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 Kendallville, IN (46755) Today Mostly cloudy with snow showers around this morning. High 37F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of snow 60%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.. Tonight Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Low 21F. Winds light and variable. 3 South Korean President Moon Jae-in is seen on small screens as participants listen to his speech during a ceremony to celebrate Korean Liberation Day at Seong Cultural Center in Seoul. China says it will resolutely safeguard its economic interests if the United States investigates Chinas possible theft of American intellectual property. Intellectual property includes inventions that are creatively produced, such as designs or technology. U.S. President Donald Trump signed what is called a presidential memorandum about the issue on Monday. The document directs the Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to investigate whether China has been illegally taking American intellectual property. The investigation will take as long as one year. On Tuesday, Chinas Ministry of Commerce warned the United States that China will not sit by and watch if the United States ignores international trade rules. Trump wants trade officials to look into the Chinese requirements for American companies to do business in China. He said the United States will stand up to any country that unlawfully forces American companies to transfer their valuable technology in order to do business there. Intellectual property owners have the right to sell their inventions to make money and competitors are barred from copying those inventions. However, if that intellectual property is stolen, the owners can lose money because other companies can make illegal versions of their product. For too long this wealth has been drained from our country while Washington has done nothing, Trump said. As president of the United States, it is my duty and responsibility to protect the American workers technology and industry from unfair and abusive actions. If the United States finds wrongdoing, it could ask the World Trade Organization to punish China or look for other solutions. Patrick Chovanec is the chief strategist at Silvercrest Asset Management, which is based in New York. He said the theft of international property by China has been happening for a long time. He said, in the past, China was unwilling to negotiate about intellectual property theft. However, Trump will need to decide, after the investigation ends, if he wants to seek trade restrictions. Chovanec said that, in the past, sanctions have caused China to react with similar measures. Before Trump signed the order, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying released a warning on Monday. Hua said Trumps action could lead to a trade war in which both sides will be the losers. Trump has criticized the U.S. trade deficit with China, which was $347 billion in 2016. Trump has suggested that he would reduce criticism of China if the country did more to control North Korea and its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. China said on Monday that it is banning imports of coal, iron ore, seafood and other products from North Korea. The move is required by new United Nations Security Council sanctions. The sanctions are aimed at cutting North Koreas yearly export income by $1 billion. I'm Mario Ritter. And I'm Olivia Liu. Ken Bredemeier reported this story for VOA News. Olivia Liu adapted this story for Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story resolutely adv. firmly, with resolve transfer v. to cause something to be moved from one place to another drained v. to slowly disappear sanctions n. punishment meant to force a country to obey international law ballistic missile n. a missile able to strike targets at great distances We want to hear from you. Write to us in the comments section below. The International Space Station, or ISS, received some interesting supplies Wednesday: ice cream and live mice. The SpaceX Dragon capsule connected with the ISS after a two-day flight from Cape Canaveral, Florida. American astronaut Jack Fisher used the space stations robotic arm to capture the Dragon capsule. At the time, they were traveling 400 kilometers above the Pacific Ocean, near New Zealand. Most of the 3-ton load is for research. But the capsule also brought a sweet treat. The United States space agency, NASA, added vanilla, chocolate and birthday cake ice cream to the food supplies. That last flavor came just in time to celebrate American astronaut Randolph Bresniks birthday. He recently reached the ISS, and turns 50 next month. Bresniks crewmate Peggy Whitson will also probably enjoy the treats. She has been on the ISS since November. Congratulations on a job well done, Mission Control radioed from Houston. You guys have just won yourselves some fresh food. Science experiments The Dragon also brought an extra-large science cargo. Among the supplies is an instrument to find cosmic rays. Cosmic rays are particles that hit the Earth from anywhere beyond its atmosphere. The U.S. Army also put a small satellite on board to be released from the station this fall. It has low-cost cameras and telescopes. The military wants to see how small satellites like this might help ground operations. The 20 live mice shipped to the station will be used in a study of an eye problem. Some male astronauts have suffered this problem in space. Scientists will study the pressure in the animals eyes and how fluid moves in their brains. Florida State Universitys Michael Delp is leading the experiment. He says thirty days in space for mice is similar to three years for humans. Sometimes the vision problem lasts long after spaceflight. Delp says the study may help explain why female astronauts do not experience the problem. Also on the space station are protein crystals that may provide information about Parkinsons disease. Parkinson's is a chronic brain and nervous system disease that affects peoples movement. The Michael J. Fox Foundation is a partner in the experiment. Fox is an actor who suffers from the disease. SpaceX is one of NASAs two main shippers for station supplies. Orbital ATK is the other. The company is set to transport supplies to the station in November from the state of Virginia. The two companies took over transporting cargo after NASA retired the space shuttles. The Space X Dragon is the only supply ship that can return cargo to Earth. Its reusable rocket landed back at Cape Canaveral shortly after sending the Dragon into space. The crew stands ready to rock the science like a boss, Fischer said, talking about the research supplies from the Dragon. He said it is enough for more than 250 experiments in the coming months. The three astronauts along with Italian crewmember Paolo Nespoli will carry out the research. Need to get back to work. Weve got a Dragon to unload, Fischer told Mission Control. The other current ISS crewmembers are Georgian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin Russian cosmonaut Sergei Nikolaevich. Im Jonathan Evans. Anne Ball wrote this story for Learning English with information from the Associated Press. Caty Weaver was the editor. We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section. _______________________________________________________________ Words in This Story capsule n. a small pressurized vehicle for space flight cargo n. something that is carried from one place to another by boat, airplane, etc. vision n. the ability to see : sight or eyesight rock v. to be very enjoyable, pleasing, or effective boss adj. great or excellent Scientists say they have identified a new, smaller search area for a Malaysian passenger airplane, which went missing in 2014. The scientists are with the Australian governments main scientific agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization. They released a report about the missing plane on Wednesday. The agency said it believed with great precision and certainty that Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 crashed in the southern Indian Ocean. It said scientists believe the plane, a Boeing 777, came down in waters northeast of an area that once was thought to be its final resting place. Two years of searches failed to find evidence of the aircraft or the 239 people it was carrying. The plane disappeared on a flight from Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, to Beijing on March 8, 2014. The new report identified a 25,000-square-kilometer area off the coast of Western Australia as a likely crash site. The scientific agency said its finding was based on satellite images taken two weeks after Flight MH370 went missing. The scientists said the images - provided by Frances military intelligence service - showed about 70 objects floating in the water. They described some of the debris as probably man-made. The agency said it thinks the new findings could now make it possible to identify a most-likely location of the aircraft. The two-year search operation was a joint effort of Australia, China and Malaysia. The operation was called off in January. About $160 million was spent on the search efforts. It was not clear whether the new report would lead to any new search efforts. The Australian government reacted cautiously to the new report. The Transport Safety Bureau said in a statement the scientists had not proven that objects seen in the images came from the Malaysian plane. Oceanographer David Griffin helped to prepare the report. He admitted the scientists cannot be totally sure that objects seen in the images are actual pieces of the plane. However, he said this still may be a really good clue to find new evidence. If you are going to search, then you'd be silly to ignore this potential clue, he said. The disappearance of Flight MH370 has become one of the world's greatest flight mysteries. The plane is thought to have gone thousands of kilometers off course before crashing in the Indian Ocean. So far, only three large pieces of debris that washed ashore from the ocean have been confirmed as coming from the missing plane. Im Bryan Lynn. Bryan Lynn wrote this story for VOA Learning English based on reports from VOANews, Reuters and the Associated Press. George Grow was the editor. We want to hear from you. Do you think the search should continue for the missing plane? Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story precision n. quality of exactness or accuracy certainty n. surety, not in doubt debris n. pieces left over from something that was destroyed cautiously adj. acting extremely carefully, avoiding risks clue n. something that helps a person solve a mystery silly adj. not serious, meaningful or important potential adj. capable of becoming something in the future President Donald Trump has again blamed both sides for deadly clashes last weekend between white supremacists and other protesters. His comments came in response to questions from reporters Tuesday at Trump Tower in New York. Trump said the groups that protested against white supremacists during the demonstrations Saturday in Charlottesville, Virginia, were also very violent. The latest remarks seemed to undo a statement Monday in which Trump condemned the actions of white supremacists and other hate groups. Trumps prepared statement Monday came after he was heavily criticized for saying earlier that the Charlottesville violence was caused by many sides. In his statement Monday, the president said "racism is evil. He added: Those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK (Ku Klux Klan), neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans." In Charlottesville on Saturday, a 32-year-old woman was killed and 19 people were injured when a man drove his car into a crowd of activists. The activists were protesting a white supremacist demonstration. Another 15 people were injured in fights between white supremacists and counter-demonstrators. Trump blames 'both sides' In his comments Tuesday, Trump called the events in Charlottesville a horrible day. But he said there was blame on both sides, and added there are two sides to a story. Trump even praised his first comments on the issue. He added that some facts about the violence still are not known. When a reporter asked Trump about the alt-rights role in the violence. Trump said, Excuse me, what about the alt-left who came charging as you say at the alt-right? Do they have any semblance of guilt? Trump added Ive condemned neo-Nazis. Ive condemned many different groups. Not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists by any stretch. The president went on to say Those people were also there because they wanted to protest the taking down of a statue of Robert Lee. White nationalists, the KKK and others had gone to Charlottesville to protest the citys decision to take down a monument. It was a statue of Robert E. Lee, an important Civil War general who fought for the southern states. The southern states were seeking to separate from the United States. Many find such monuments offensive because of the Souths support for slavery. Well-known former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke welcomed the presidents latest remarks. Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth, he tweeted. Others were quick to criticize his comments. Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown tweeted, There are not many sides to blame for #Charlottesville. There is right and wrong. White nationalism, hatred and bigotry are wrong. Texas Representative Will Hurd, a Republican, called on Trump to apologize for his latest remarks. Racism, bigotry, anti-Semitism of any form is unacceptable, he told Cable News Network. And the leader of the free world should be unambiguous about that. 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. _____________________________________________________________ Words in This Story white supremacist n. person who believes whites are better than blacks and other races evil - adj. morally bad thug n. violent criminal repugnant adj. causing a strong feeling of dislike or disgust semblance n. the state of being kind of like something else, but not truly the same thing bigotry n. strong, unfair opinions about other groups or people unambiguous adj. clearly expressed or understood We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page. Want to buy an entry-level Intel NUC mini-computer with an Apollo Lake Processor? A barebones model will set you back just $133. But that price doesnt include memory, storage, or an operating system. The best price Ive seen for a model with 2GB of RAM, 32GB of eMMC storage, and Windows 10 is $225. But there are other options: the ACEPC AK1 mini PC, for instance, is a similarly-sized, similarly-specced computer but a model with twice as much RAM currently sells for $190. The AK1 has a Celeron J3455 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of built-in storage. It also has a 2.5 inch drive bay for a hard drive or SSD. The system also features a Gigabit Ethernet port, 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, two USB 3.0 ports, two USB 2.0 ports, a USB Type-C port, a microSD card slot, and HDMI 2.0 and 3.5 audio jacks. The computer measures about 5 x 5 x 2 and weighs about 14 ounces. via AndroidPC.es Distressed women. Credit: Ben White The changed definition of polycystic ovary syndrome harms women and brings no clear benefit, say Australian scientists in today's British Medical Journal. In their expert opinion article, the authors say more research is needed to properly assess the harms and benefits of diagnosing and treating women across different ages, ethnicities, and sub-types of this controversial endocrine disorder. Women diagnosed with PCOS have higher levels of depression, anxiety, poorer self-esteem, negative body image, disordered eating and decreased sexual satisfaction according to evidence. Qualitative research also emphasises that PCOS is a deeply stigmatising condition. But it is unclear whether these impacts are due to the condition, its symptoms, or from the psychological effect of being labelled as having PCOS and its perceived long-term implications. PCOS has no cure and is associated with fertility implications, an obligation for screening for comorbidities, implementing lifestyle changes, and taking long term medications. The authors argue that given the uncertainties in the current evidence, the risk of psychological harm and the impacts of applying one-size-fits-all diagnostic criteria to an-often wide-ranging set of presenting symptoms, it is important not to rush into diagnosing women as having a lifelong condition with unknown benefit. Furthermore, without clear data, the scientists say it may be better to treat those at risk of overdiagnosis symptomatically, such as adolescents, young women and those with the milder characteristics or phenotypes, rather than on the basis of a definition that has inadvertently led to likely over-diagnosis, overtreatment and harm. Changing definitions Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) happens when a woman's ovaries or adrenal glands produce more male hormones than normal. PCOS is the most commonly diagnosed endocrine disorder in reproductive aged women, and is associated with an increased risk of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, heart disease, high blood pressure, and poorer psychological wellbeing. It is considered a lifelong condition that has no cure, and includes a wide range of symptoms, such as irregular periods, polycystic appearing ovaries, hirsutism (excess hair) and acne. First described in 1935, The National Institutes of Health (NIH) established two diagnostic criteria for PCOS in 1990. In 2003, at a meeting of experts in Rotterdam, sonographic presence of polycystic ovaries was added to the original NIH criteria. This change contributed to an increase in prevalence from about five percent to as many as 21 percent of women of reproductive age. In 2006, experts recommended that clinical or biochemical evidence of hyperandrogenism was essential for the diagnosis to be made, as "the non-hyperandrogenic phenotypes do not have the same associated risks of long-term implications that are evident in the hyperandrogenic phenotypes." Problems of overdiagnosis Symptoms tend to first appear during adolescence, and because the syndrome is linked toglucose intolerance and increased risk of type 2 diabetes, early diagnosis may help reduce long-term health issues, experts say. But diagnosing PCOS in adolescence is challenging, according to Tessa Copp of the University of Sydney who is the leading author on the BMJ article. "Many symptoms of PCOS, such as acne and oligomenorrhea, overlap with features common to pubertal development, but diagnostic criteria for PCOS don't take adolescence into account." Diagnosis of PCOS during early adulthood may also be problematic because even though a proportion of young women meet the diagnostic criteria, their symptoms may be mild and even resolve in time. The authors also note that the 2003 Rotterdam criteria widened the NIH definition by including non-hyperandrogenic PCOS phenotypes, such as women with menstrual irregularity and polycystic appearing ovaries. However, these women don't have the same long-term consequences as women with hyperandrogenism, and yet this reduced risk may not be being communicated by doctors to women, say the authors. The BMJ authors also say existing studies showing treatment benefit are difficult to interpret because studies are often low quality and there has been no long-term follow up. "As a result, it is uncertain whether these interventions provide long-term benefit, nor how the existing evidence of treatment benefit applies to the different PCOS phenotypes and women with milder symptoms," says co-author, Dr Jesse Jansen of the University of Sydney. The BMJ authors say these potential harms need to be weighed against the potential benefits of a PCOS diagnosis and early intervention, given the uncertainties in the evidence. "The definition of PCOS has expanded without clear evidence of benefits to women receiving a diagnosis," says Tess Copp of the University of Sydney. We need better understanding and research to characterise the benefits and harms of diagnosis and treatment for women with both severe and milder symptoms. "We also need age-specific cut-off points for follicle count when using modern ultrasound equipment, as 12 or more follicles, according to the Rotterdam criteria, may be normal in early adulthood. "Clinically, women need more transparent clinical conversations with their doctor so they understand the limits of current evidence and the impacts of applying one-size-fits-all diagnostic criteria to an-often wide-ranging set of presenting symptoms," she adds. "Although some women, such as those with 'classic' NIH phenotypes or those with more severe symptoms, may benefit from a PCOS diagnosis, other women may not need this label to effectively and rapidly treat their presenting symptoms." Ball-and-stick model of the testosterone molecule, C 19 H 28 O 2 , as found in the crystal structure of testosterone monohydrate. Credit: Ben Mills/Wikipedia Since the first stock market in Amsterdam in the 17th century, trading floors have been dominated by men. It turns out testosterone may be responsible for some of the dramatic bubbles and crashes we have seen since. A study led by researchers from the Ivey Business School, University of Oxford, and Claremont Graduate University for the first time has shown that testosterone directly impacts financial decisions that drive prices up and destabilize markets. "In this paper, we show that exogenously increasing testosterone in men increases bid prices and asset price bubbles, and slows the incorporation of fundamental value," says Ivey Business School's Amos Nadler, Assistant Professor of Finance. "We also show how the changes in buying and selling pressures give rise to bubbles and subsequent crashes. These results demonstrate the effects of a specific hormone, testosterone, on male traders in experimental markets." Experimental stock markets The study used experimental stock markets with some 140 male participants (called traders) taking part. Cohorts of traders were given testosterone or placebo gel prior to their trading sessions. In total, the experiment consisted of 17 sessions that allowed traders to buy, sell, bid, and offer money for shares of stock, similar to a simplified professional trading platform. Each session had three rounds of 12 trading periods where traders competed to make money against each other. The results showed the causal effects of testosterone on financial asset mispricing. By administering testosterone to traders before they trade financial assets for real money, testosterone directly increases the size and persistence of stock market bubbles. Testosterone drove these changes in market dynamics by increasing bidding, selling prices, and volume and changed traders' perception of a stock's current value even though true values were known during trading. Implications of hormones in financial markets Nadler believes the research suggests the need to consider hormonal influences on decision making in professional settings because biological factors can exacerbate capital risk for firms and market risk for all participants. "Firms may, therefore, benefit from a better understanding of when and how hormones assert their influencesuch as through exceptionally positive feedback cycles that are unsupported by fundamentals or technical indicators," says Nadler. The most straightforward recommendation is to implement "cool down" periods to interrupt exceptionally positive feedback cycles and return the focus to assets' fundamental valuations to reduce the possibility of biased decision making. More information: Nadler, Amos and Jiao, Peiran and Johnson, Cameron J. and Alexander, Veronika and Zak, Paul J., The Bull of Wall Street: Experimental Analysis of Testosterone and Asset Trading (April 27, 2017). Available at SSRN: Nadler, Amos and Jiao, Peiran and Johnson, Cameron J. and Alexander, Veronika and Zak, Paul J., The Bull of Wall Street: Experimental Analysis of Testosterone and Asset Trading (April 27, 2017). Available at SSRN: ssrn.com/abstract=2557094 Credit: Newcastle University An extra 71,000 care home places will be needed in England in just eight years to cope with rising numbers of older people unable to live independently, new research has revealed. A study led by experts at Newcastle University, published today in The Lancet, shows that as life expectancy increases so too have the number of years older adults spend with substantial care needs. While care is increasingly provided in the community placing a significant burden on families, the study warns tens of thousands of care home places will be needed by 2025 at the cost of millions of pounds. The authors raise concerns over implications for health and social care services due to the increase in care needs. It is estimated that within just four years 940m will be required for social care in England. Increase in care needs Professor Carol Jagger, from Newcastle University's Institute for Ageing, led the study which is the first to analyse the extent the current care crisis is due to greater levels of dependency rather than higher numbers of older people. She said: "If dependency prevalence remains constant, we estimate that by 2025 there will be an additional 353,000 older people with substantial care needs. "While many of these people will live in the community, at current rates of provision, this will mean a shortfall of more than 71,000 care home places by 2025. "Our findings have considerable implications for relatives as older people will have complex needs, requiring sustained input from family carers or social care teams to support independent living. "Meanwhile, Age UK projections to 2021 of the service costs to maintain the current level of social care in England suggest an additional 940m will be required, assuming a constant health profile of the older population." The Cognitive Function and Ageing Study (CFAS) compared levels of dependency for those aged 65 years and over in England in 1991 and 2011 15,000 adults in total. Adults were classed as high dependency if requiring 24 hour care, medium if they needed care at regular times each day, low if they required care less than daily or were independent. The authors estimate that if rates of dependency remain constant, there will be an additional 190,000 older people with medium care needs, and 163,000 with high by 2025 compared to 2015. Additionally, the study projects an increase in the number of people with low dependency generally looked after in the community of 885,000 by 2025. Life expectancy The research also revealed that between 1991 and 2011, life expectancy increased for both men, from age 77.9 to 82.6, and women, from 81.5 to 85.6. Over this time, the proportion of years that an adult aged 65 could expect to live independently declined from 73.6% to 63.5% for men, and from 58.0% to 47.3% for women. By contrast, the proportion of years living with low, medium or high dependency increased. In 2011, average life expectancy for men aged 65 was 17.6 years. Of this, an average of 11.2 years was spent independent, 4 with low dependency, 1.1 with medium and 1.3 with high. For women, average life expectancy at age 65 was 20.6 years in 2011. Of this, an average of 9.7 years was spent independent, 7.8 with low dependency, 1.1 with medium and 1.9 with high. The number of years spent with substantial care needs for adults aged over 65 has nearly doubled between 1991 and 2011, increasing from 1.1 years to 2.4 for men, and from 1.6 years to 3.0 for women. Professor Jagger said: "The past 20 years have seen continued gains in life expectancy, but not all of these years have been healthy. "This finding, along with the increasing number of older adults with higher rates of illness and disability, is contributing to the current social care crisis." The study highlights the need for adequately trained professionals to care for older adults with complex needs. Early interventions For people with low dependency, early interventions such as structured exercise and rehabilitation, could potentially slow down the decline and ensure fewer years are spent with higher care needs. The study compared data on cognitive function and ageing in people aged 65 or over from three areas in England Newcastle, Cambridgeshire and Nottingham. A total of 7,635 people were included in the study in 1991, and 7,796 in 2011. Levels of dependency were assessed via interviews in their place of residence, for example, their own home or a care home. The authors note that there was little ethnic diversity in the two studies and therefore the results may not be generalizable to non-white populations in the UK. Sir Andrew Dilnot, University of Oxford, who is an expert in economics, comments: "Expenditure on the care of older people will need to increase substantially and quickly. "It will be important to ensure that this expenditure is managed efficiently, and in particular that the boundary between health care and social care is well handled. "In England, for example, there is substantial difficulty in so-called delayed discharges, where patients remain in (more expensive) hospital care, despite being fit to leave, because it has not been possible to arrange social care for them, which is less expensive and also more appropriate. "Although the overall amount of care needed will increase substantially, this increase does not mean that every individual will need large amounts of care." The study was funded by the Medical Research Council, with support from the National Institute for Health Research Comprehensive Local Research Networks in West Anglia and Trent, and the Neurodegenerative Disease Research Network in Newcastle. More information: Andrew Kingston et al. Is late-life dependency increasing or not? A comparison of the Cognitive Function and Ageing Studies (CFAS), The Lancet (2017). Journal information: The Lancet Andrew Kingston et al. Is late-life dependency increasing or not? A comparison of the Cognitive Function and Ageing Studies (CFAS),(2017). DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31575-1 An overview of the study 'Genetic Regulatory Effects Modified by Immune Activation Contribute to Autoimmune Disease Associations'. Credit: New York Genome Center It is widely recognized that people respond differently to infections. This can partially be explained by genetics, shows a new study published today in Nature Communications by an international collaboration of researchers from Germany and the United States. The study, "Genetic Regulatory Effects Modified by Immune Activation Contribute to Autoimmune Disease Associations," maps genetic variants that affect how much gene expression changes in response to immune stimulus. The findings offer novel insights into the genetic contribution to varying immune responses among individuals and its consequences on immune-mediated diseases. "Our defense mechanisms against microbial pathogens rely on white blood cells that are specialized to detect infection. Upon encounter of microbes, these cells trigger cellular defense programs via activating and repressing the expression of hundreds of genes," explained one of the senior authors of the study, Dr. Veit Hornung from the Ludwig-Maxmilians-Universitat in Munich and formerly from the University of Bonn. "We wanted to understand how genetic differences between individuals affect this cellular response to infection," added Dr. Johannes Schumacher from the University of Bonn, another senior author of the study. The human immune system plays a central role in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, cancer, metabolism and aging. The researchers discovered hundreds of genes where the response to immune stimulus depended on the genetic variants carried by the individual. "These genes include many of the well-known genes of the human immune system, demonstrating that genetic variation has an important role in how the human immune system works," noted Dr. Sarah Kim-Hellmuth, the lead author of the study, from the New York Genome Center, Columbia University, the Max Planck Institute in Munich and formerly from the University of Bonn. "While earlier studies have mapped some of these effects, this study is particularly comprehensive, with three stimuli and two time points analyzed." The study captured genetic variants whose effects on gene regulation was different depending on the different infectious state of the cells. These included four associations to diseases such as cholesterol level and celiac disease. Furthermore, the researchers discovered a trend of genetic risk for autoimmune diseases such as lupus and celiac disease to be enriched for gene regulatory effects modified by the immune state. "This supports a paradigm where genetic disease risk is sometimes driven not by genetic variants causing constant cellular dysregulation, but by causing a failure to respond properly to environmental conditions such as infection," said co-senior author Dr. Tuuli Lappalainen, from the New York Genome Center and Columbia University. The investigators collected blood from 134 volunteers and treated monocytes - a type of white blood cells - in the laboratory with three components that mimic infection with bacteria or a virus. They then analyzed how cells from different individuals respond to infection by measuring gene expression both during the early and late immune response. Integrating the gene expression profiles with genome-wide genetic data of each individual, they were able to map how genetic variants affect gene expression, and how this genetic effect changes with immune stimulus. "It's been known for a long time that most diseases have both genetic and environmental risk factors. But it's actually more complicated than that because genes and environment interact. As demonstrated in our study, a genetic risk factor may manifest only in certain environments," explained Dr. Lappalainen. "We are still in early stages of understanding the interplay of genetics and environment, but our results indicate that this is a key component of human biology and disease. The molecular approach that we took in our study can be a particularly powerful way for researchers to delve deeper into this question." The study's analyses of gene expression patterns in a population scale provide a highly robust and comprehensive dataset of innate immune responses and show wide variation among individuals exposed to diverse pathogens over multiple time points. The research identified population differences in immune response and demonstrated that immune response modifies genetic associations to disease. The research sheds light on the genomic elements underlying response to environmental stimuli, and the dynamics and evolution of immune response. More information: Sarah Kim-Hellmuth et al, Genetic regulatory effects modified by immune activation contribute to autoimmune disease associations, Nature Communications (2017). Journal information: Nature Communications Sarah Kim-Hellmuth et al, Genetic regulatory effects modified by immune activation contribute to autoimmune disease associations,(2017). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-00366-1 Provided by New York Genome Center Physicians identified a majority of patients with advanced heart failure as at high risk for transplant, left ventricular assist device (LVAD) or death while few of those patients considered themselves to be at high risk, according to a study published today in JACC: Heart Failure. Physicians rated 161 patients for perceived risk for transplant, LVAD or death in the upcoming year. The patients were also surveyed about their perceptions of their life expectancy and willingness to undergo different treatment options. Sixty-nine percent of the patients were considered at high risk for transplant, LVAD or death by their physicians. However, only 14 percent of patients considered themselves to be at high risk. Over 13 months of follow-up, 38 percent of patients experienced an endpoint: 21 percent deaths, 8 percent transplants and 9 percent LVAD implants. "It was surprising that there were such drastic differences between patient perceptions and physician perceptions of heart failure disease severity," said Amrut V. Ambardekar, MD, an assistant professor in the division of cardiology at the University of Colorado and the study's lead author. "We hope better understanding these differences will facilitate improved patient-physician communication regarding advanced heart failure therapies." Researchers also assessed patient willingness to consider other life sustaining therapies to treat advanced heart failure, such as ventilation, dialysis or a feeding tube. Among the patients identified as high risk by physicians, 77 percent were willing to consider LVAD, but 63 percent indicated they would decline other simpler life sustaining therapies. "More than likely, these inconsistencies indicate a poor understanding of these treatment options," Ambardekar said. "Patients may not fully appreciate the invasive nature of some of these procedures, so we probably need to look for better ways to educate our patients both on the severity of their disease and their treatment options - well before they need these advanced therapies." "This work highlights the importance of increasing the educational awareness of our patients and the need for more research in this area," said Christopher M. O'Connor, MD, FACC, editor-in-chief of JACC: Heart Failure. Study limitations include that the categorization of physician and patient risk, as well as the patients' opinions on treatment options, were made at the time of enrollment. According to the researchers, it is likely that perceptions of risk and the patients' understanding of treatment options changed over the course of time. Some children are more susceptible to changes than others. They carry the relationship with their parents to school with them. Genetics can help explain why. When kids are happy at home and have a good relationship with their parents, children will also have a good relationship with their teachers. But the opposite is also true. "When the situation changes at home for these children, the relationship with their teacher changes too," says researcher and PhD candidate Beate W. Hygen at NTNU Social Research and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's (NTNU) Department of Psychology. This means that when things are going well at home and in the parent-child relationship, the relationship between the child and the teacher is correspondingly good. However, the teacher-child relationship deteriorates when the child's home life becomes more difficult. Genetic explanation "Some children seem to soak up environmental factors at home. This in turn affects the relationship with the teacher. For other children, the conditions at home don't have much influence on their relationship with the teacher," says Hygen. The explanation may be partly genetic. Hygen is the first author of a recent article that considers whether certain environmental factors affect children's social development differently depending on what kind of genetic variants the child has. Hygen says the researchers are finding a link between children's susceptibility to such factors and differences in a gene that regulates how individuals are affected by oxytocin. The differences found by the researchers were located in a variant of a receptor gene called OXTR, rs 53576. You can read more about this gene at www.snpedia.com/index.php/Rs53576 Oxytocin is well known, even outside research circles. It is often called the "love hormone," because it's triggered when we're together with someone we love, like a romantic love or our child. But oxytocin levels also increase when a relationship appears to be in danger, so the nickname isn't totally accurate. Oxytocin release, the level of oxytocin in the brain and how oxytocin affects us play a significant role in our human relationships and how we interact and engage with others. Study looks at ambience Genetic differences in how we are affected by oxytocin can thus create differences in the way we relate to each other. Biology largely determines how we behave, but this study shows that this happens in conjunction with our surroundings. Previous surveys that have studied conditions at home versus in school have usually primarily looked at the parents' situation. Social learning models, Hygen says, approach the issue from a starting point of "if there's just yelling and negativity at home, some children can take these experiences into other relationships, such as with their teachers." But the researchers in this survey start with the child itself and ask the question, "How vulnerable is the child to environmental factors?" "The most susceptible children will bring their home situation both good and bad into the school setting," says Hygen. The Norwegian researchers examined 652 children in two age groups: four-to-six year olds and six-to-eight year olds. This data is part of the long-term Tidlig Trygg i Trondheim study conducted by the Regional Centre for Child and Youth Mental Health and Child Welfare (RKBU) of Central Norway. The survey goes into detail about the home ambience. The study aims to identify risk and protection factors for psychosocial development and development of mental health problems in children. The researchers also asked the children's teachers to assess the relationships they had with the children. This last component might be a source of error in the study, the researchers said. Different result in the United States The Norwegian researchers collaborated with American researchers, who conducted the same analysis in the US. The American researchers included 559 children from different locations in the United States. They did not find the same connection between home and school relationships. Hygen believes she has an idea why the Norwegian and American researchers have gotten divergent results. "In the United States, the stability of the relationship between teacher and child is often not the same in this age group," she says. Norwegian children in the six-to-eight-year age group often have the same teacher for several years. In the United States, teachers change more often, and a change in the child's relationship with their teacher over time may therefore be due to a change of teacher, not necessarily an improvement or worsening of the relationship with the same teacher. So, according to Hygen, researchers are less sure whether they are able to accurately measure relationship improvement or deterioration in the US, and the more frequent teacher changes may explain why the study doesn't capture the effect of changes in the parent-child relationship. The researchers also assume that the quality of teachers varies a lot more in the United States than in Norway, since the funding of the school system differs from state to state. Greater social inequalities in the United States, which can influence relationships between teachers and children, may also affect the US results. The study has been published in the professional journal Developmental Psychology. More information: Beate Wold Hygen et al. Change in parenting, change in studentteacher relationships, and oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR): Testing a gene--environment (GE) hypothesis in two samples., Developmental Psychology (2017). Journal information: Developmental Psychology Beate Wold Hygen et al. Change in parenting, change in studentteacher relationships, and oxytocin receptor gene (OXTR): Testing a gene--environment (GE) hypothesis in two samples.,(2017). DOI: 10.1037/dev0000333 Initiatives in infection prevention and control remain critical at all levels of government and in hospitals. Credit: shutterstock.com Around 165,000 Australians contract infections in hospitals around the country every year, a study has found. The infections, which include urinary tract, staph, surgical site and respiratory infections in stroke patients, can lead to death in patients who are already sick and have weakened immune systems. Our research, published today in the Australian peer-reviewed journal Infection, Disease and Health, analysed studies on hospital-acquired infections in Australia from 2010 to 2016. Australia does not undertake surveys of the prevalence of infections in hospital, nor does it have a national surveillance system that collects and reports data on hospital-acquired infections. We are one of the only countries in the OECD that lacks such basic information. It is well recognised that surveillance of infection is the cornerstone of infection prevention. Yet this is essentially absent at a national level. Given the number of hospital-acquired infections each year, and increasing resistance to antibiotics, investment and initiatives in infection prevention and control remain critical at all levels of government and in hospitals. The risk of going to hospital Imagine you were heading out tonight. On the way home, you decide to catch public transport. You are about to hop onto a bus when the driver stops you and says: "I better tell you, there is a 6% chance we will have an accident on the way home. It could be minor, or you could die." What would you do? Many people would likely thank the bus driver, not catch the bus and look for an alternative. But now imagine you want to know what the risk of infection in a particular hospital is. This is a pretty basic question, but unfortunately, while many countries can answer it, we can't. In Europe for instance, 6% of patients have an infection acquired in hospital. Many of these hospital-acquired infections that occur as a result of a health-care intervention make patients sicker and require ongoing treatment, while others may be life-threatening. Everyone is of course susceptible to infection, but patients receiving health care are often more at risk. This is because patients may be having procedures such as surgery, receiving treatment that suppresses the immune system or have other existing medical conditions. Patients often don't have a choice about going to hospital, unlike choosing not to catch a bus. This places even more onus on hospitals and health-care facilities to reduce the risk of infection. What infections could you get? Our review of the literature found between 2010 and 2016, there were 83,096 hospital-acquired infections in Australia every year. But given the lack of or incomplete data on common infections such as pneumonia, which altogether missed up to 50-60% of infections, we calculated the incidence of hospital-acquired infections in Australia may be closer to 165,000 per year. Of these, there are an estimated 71,000 urinary tract infections and 4,900 cases of infection with the bacteria Clostridium difficile, which causes symptoms such as diarrhoea, fever, nausea, and abdominal pain. More than 1,100 cases of Staphylococcus aureus (golden staph) infections were also estimated to occur. The latter is the only infection for which data is collected and reported on nationally. Despite being less common, blood stream infections are associated with a death rate of 20%. Other infections not only contribute to sickness and death, but place pressure on the health-care system by patients staying longer in hospital and consuming resources. Health-care associated urinary tract infections have been estimated to use approximately 380,600 extra public hospital bed days each year in Australia. While not all hospital-acquired infections are preventable, many are. This study suggests 65-70% of catheter-associated bloodstream infections and catheter-associated urinary tract infections can be prevented. Infections occur when microorganisms are introduced into a part of the body that would not normally have them. For example, bacteria in a wound, in the blood stream or in the bladder, might cause an infection. In health-care settings, microorganisms - that are a normal part of the human body - are often transferred on the hands of health-care workers and can be found in the patient environment. Evidence suggests patients admitted to a room previously occupied by a carrier of bacteria that has become resistant to drugs have a significantly higher risk of acquiring that bacteria. This demonstrates the role of the hospital environment in infection transmission and infers that current cleaning practices in hospital fail to reduce the risk of infections. Cleaning is as fundamental as hand hygiene in the prevention of disease causing organisms, especially in light of growing resistance to antibiotics and difficult-to-treat superbugs. Surveillance of infection is one way we can continue to observe the effectiveness of cleaning in conjunction with other prevention initiatives. We need a national strategy Recently, Deakin University announced their researchers would conduct the first infection survey of Australian hospitals in 30 years. This is not funded or organised by government, but rather a philanthropic grant. Understanding the number and type of infections is critical to decision making, setting policy direction and evaluating the effect of interventions. It's quite remarkable a major patient safety issue in hospitals lacks such basic transparent data. The burden and impact of hospital-acquired infections is set to increase with the rise of resistance to antibiotics. Treatment of infection is getting more difficult and this is set to continue. Studies from Europe and the US suggest the most common hospital infections are pneumonia, urinary tract infections and those at the surgical site. In Australia there is no data on the incidence or prevalence of health-care associated pneumonia. There has been considerable work done in infection prevention in Australia, including a national hand hygiene initiative and a national strategy to address resistance to antibiotics. The latter is supported by millions of dollars in government grants to establish centres of research excellence focusing on resistance. However, a major gap still remains - a coordinated national hospital-acquired infections surveillance program. Such a program is needed so interventions can be appropriately planned and evaluated. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. People shouting and yelling slogans during a protest in front of the US Consulate to denounce Donald Trumps immigration policies on January 30, 2017 in Toronto, Canada. Credit: Shutterstock In the aftermath of Charlottesville, it's worth asking: Are Canadians really less racist than Americans? A recent issue of Rolling Stone magazine with a photo of a smiling Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on the cover - asks: "Why can't he be our president?" It's just the latest example of the global media's current fascination with Trudeau and Canada and their supposed stark contrast to Donald Trump and the United States. As a Canadian scholar at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, I've watched with fascination for months as media pundits both abroad and back home have promoted the idea of "Canadian exceptionalism." They argue that Canadians are especially tolerant, diverse and committed to multiculturalism. Many believe that Canada with our self-described feminist prime minister and our compassionate approach to refugees should show other countries how it's done. In the the Walrus, author Stephen Marche argued that Canada is the last defender of multiculturalism on Earth. Canadian novelist Charles Foran claimed that Canada is a "post-nationalist state." "Call it post-nationalism, or just a new model of belonging," he wrote in the Guardian. "Canada may yet be of help in what is guaranteed to be the difficult year to come." More recently, Adam Gopnik wrote in the New Yorker: "Canada is the model liberal country." But pundits are forgetting that historical circumstances rather than an exceptional tendency to be nicer or more tolerant are what truly made Canada what it is today. 'Myopic gaze' from Americans In Gopnik's New Yorker essay, "We Could Have Been Canada," he wonders why Canadians are not more similar to Americans. After all, both countries were settled by Europeans who relied on Indigenous knowledge about the land. Indigenous peoples in both places also taught settlers how to live amid different cultures and identities. So why did multiculturalism and liberality supposedly take hold in one place, but not the other? Some writers believe the key difference is the two different systems of government in Canada and the United States a republic south of the border versus Canada's constitutional monarchy and the circumstances in which those governments emerged and evolved. Americans birthed their nation-state out of violent disobedience; Canadians, out of a conference on Confederation. Gopnik agrees. He blames the American Revolution for denying Americans the opportunity to end slavery "more peacefully, and sooner." Americans, he says, could have developed their country in an orderly and peaceful fashion, as Canada supposedly did. Justin Trudeau appears on the cover of Rolling Stone. Credit: Martin Schoeller/Rolling Stone But historians know this is a simplistic narrative. In Borelia, a blog about early Canadian history, Jerry Bannister, an associate professor of history at Dalhousie University, writes: "American liberals' gaze towards Canada may be rose-coloured, but more than anything it's myopic." Gopnik assumes that without the American Revolution, slavery would have ended in 1833 when the House of Commons passed a bill to abolish slavery in the British Empire. Perhaps so. But maybe not. And even if it did, that doesn't mean Canadians are any less racist. Critical differences It's a common myth that Canada didn't have slavery. It did. As historians like Brett Rushforth, Marcel Trudel and Charmaine Nelson point out in their scholarship, thousands of Indigenous people and enslaved Africans were held captive in Canada by merchants, traders and settlers. Canada had slavery. But because of the colder climate, it did not have the conditions to grow profitable crops that relied on slave labour, including sugar, rice, tobacco and cotton. Consequently, Canada never developed a slave system akin to the entrenched and all-encompassing institution that many Americans implemented and protected for so long. As in Canada, white settlers in the U.S. invaded Indigenous lands. But unlike in Canada, those people then settled that land with a significant population of enslaved Africans and African-Americans. This is a critical difference between the two countries. Even as slavery bolstered the American economy, founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson recognized that it would be difficult for future generations to create a multicultural nation from one founded on chattel slavery and settler colonialism. Much of the white supremacy and xenophobia that Canadians deride in American culture, and overlook in our own, can be traced to the racism that developed alongside the federally protected slave system in the U.S. Given this history, it's not surprising that the overwhelming majority of white voters in former slave states voted for Trump. As Joseph Crespino, a historian at Emory University, notes in his book In Search of Another Country: Mississippi and the Conservative Counterrevolution, white southerners have succeeded in shaping the United States based on their own values. Canadians are also fortunate to have avoided trying to claim a mantle of exceptionalism, as Americans have done for so long. From the very beginning, Americans believed that they had a duty to spread, or impose, their values on others; many still do. Canada hasn't shared that belief. Trudeau sent this tweet out on Sunday August 13 in the aftermath of Charlottesville racist violence. Puritan piety The idea of "American exceptionalism" can be traced to the arrival of Puritan settlers in Massachusetts in 1620 who promoted the idea of a white American settlement as the "city upon the hill." Puritans hoped that their piety would serve as an example to the supposedly corrupt, luxurious Europeans and "savage" Native Americans. The 1776 Declaration of Independence, and America's victory in the War of Independence, further spurred American exceptionalism, as did key 19th-century concepts like the Manifest Destiny, which declared that American colonization of North America was justified and inevitable. But the hubris of American exceptionalism has rendered the country rife with hypocrisy. In the 20th century, critics noted that the self-described "leader of the free world" was defeating fascism in Europe while propping up racial segregation at home. The idea that Americans needed to spread liberty and democracy around the world led the country into catastrophic conflicts in Vietnam and Iraq. At home, it helped promote the cultural genocide of Indigenous peoples in residential schools, which Canada also enacted. As the counter-protests in Charlottesville and against Trump this week demonstrate, many Americans recognize their nation's racism and bigotry, and are working to show their skeptical countrymen that diversity is an asset. Look inward This kind of work only happens when Americans drop the self-congratulatory plaudits, look inward, and acknowledge their own flaws, which is exactly what exceptionalism discourages. Instead of asking: "How can we be better?" exceptionalism asks: "How are we the best?" Canadians know that Canada can be better. It's nonsensical to suggest that Canadians know compassion better than any country when international agencies like Amnesty International and the UN Human Rights Commission slam Canada for failing to alleviate the systematic discrimination of Indigenous peoples, and especially violence against Indigenous women and girls. Canadians have a tendency not to be less racist than Americans, but less loud about it. As Charmaine Nelson, a professor of art history at McGill University, wrote recently in the Walrus, Canadians are "more insidious and covert" in their racism. This is where the notion of exceptionalism fails. There is much to celebrate about Canada, which undoubtedly remains more tolerant and just than many countries. But Canadian patriotism should be about gratitude, not hubris. Gratitude appreciates good fortune and breaks down pride. By taking off the blinders and revealing our collective ugliness, of which there is a lot right now, a Canadian patriotism rooted in gratitude can help initiate progressive change which is exactly what Canada, as wonderful a country as it is, still needs. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Credit: Monash University International research involving a Monash biologist shows that bacteriophage therapy a process whereby bacterial viruses attack and destroy specific strains of bacteria - can be used successfully to treat systemic, multidrug resistant bacterial infections. The latest research, published in Antimicrobial Agents & Chemotherapeutics has wide implications for antibiotic resistance, which the World Health Organization has described as a major threat to public health. One of the study's authors, Dr Jeremy Barr from the Monash School of Biological Sciences, said that antibiotics can no longer be solely relied upon to halt the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections. "Last year we saw a patient die in the USA from a bacterial infection resistant to all antibiotics. 'Pan-resistant' strains of bacterial infection are inevitable," Dr Barr said. Dr Barr's lab at Monash University studies bacteriophage - specialist viruses that only infect and kill bacteria - and investigates their role and function in the human body. Bacteriophage (or phage for short) are the most abundant and diverse microbe found in the body. Phages control and manipulate bacterial populations, prevent infection and disease and have important roles in regulating the microbiome and body that have not yet been fully elucidated. The latest research, published in the prestigious Antimicrobial Agents & Chemotherapeutics,follows the remarkable case of a 69-year-old diabetic in the US who was treated successfully with bacteriophages after being infected with a life-threatening multidrug-resistant strain of Acinetobacter baumannii. The study is significant because it is the first time bacteriophage therapy has been used in the USA to treat a patient who had an antibiotic-resistant, blood stream infection. "Antibiotics were no longer working, and this infection would have very likely killed him had we not intervened." More information: Robert T. Schooley et al. Development and use of personalized bacteriophage-based therapeutic cocktails to treat a patient with a disseminated resistant Acinetobacter baumannii infection, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy (2017). Journal information: Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy Robert T. Schooley et al. Development and use of personalized bacteriophage-based therapeutic cocktails to treat a patient with a disseminated resistant Acinetobacter baumannii infection,(2017). DOI: 10.1128/AAC.00954-17 New findings from a nationwide program that links neurologists with patients with Parkinson's disease in their homes via video conferencing shows that telemedicine can successfully deliver quality care. The study, which appears today in the journal Neurology, points to a new way to improve care for people who suffer from the disease, but may have not have access to a neurologist. "Virtual house calls for chronic diseases like Parkinson's are not only as effective as in-person care but broader adoption of this technology has the potential to expand access to patient-centered care," said Ray Dorsey, M.D., the David M. Levy Professor of Neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) and lead author of the study. "We now have the ability to reach anyone, anywhere but the promise and benefits of telemedicine will not be fully realized until the changes are made in Medicare policy." "Telemedicine is especially valuable to patients in remote, rural, and underserved areas because it gives them the ability to consult specialists they would otherwise have to travel hours to see," said Peter Schmidt, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Chief Research and Clinical Officer of the Parkinson's Foundation. "The Parkinson's Foundation aims to narrow these gaps in Parkinson's care, which is why we are working with experts from URMC, a Parkinson's Foundation Center of Excellence." The results in the paper come from the Connect.Parkinson project, a research study funded by the federal Patient-Centered Outcome Research Institute. Connect.Parkinson is led by URMC in collaboration with the Parkinson's Foundation and with additional support from PatientsLikeMe, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research, SBR Health, Vidyo, and IDSolutions. The study is the first national randomized controlled clinical trial of telemedicine for Parkinson's disease. It is estimated that 40 percent of people who have Parkinson's disease do not see a neurologist soon after diagnosis. This places them at significantly greater risk of falls leading to hip fractures, ending up in a nursing home or hospital, and even death. This challenge of providing care to these individuals will become ever greater as the population agesit is projected that the number of people with Parkinson's disease will double by 2030. The most significant barriers to appropriate care for Parkinson's patients are distance and disability. Most movement disorder specialists are located in academic medical centers in large urban areas. Most patients live in suburban and rural areas, have impaired mobility and driving ability, and are faced with the challenge of making frequent trips to the doctor's office - a task that becomes more difficult as the disease progresses. The goal of the Connect.Parkinson study was to see if telemedicine would allow neurologists to deliver care to patients in the comfort of their homes. A total of 195 individuals with Parkinson's from across the U.S. were selected to participate in the study. Participants either received care through their primary care physician or had that care supplemented with up to four visits via video conference with the neurologist they had not seen before. Parkinson's disease particularly lends itself to telemedicine because many aspects of the diagnosis and treatment of the disease are "visual" - meaning that the interaction with the doctor primarily consists of listening to the patient and observing them perform certain tasks such as holding their hands out or walking. The researchers found that the telemedicine visits were as effective as in-person visits in the doctor's office, with the quality of life reported by the participants as no better or worse for people who received care in their homes compared with those who received standard care. The virtual house calls also saved patients an average of 169 minutes and nearly 100 miles of travel per visit. While the current study is one of several that have demonstrated the potential benefits of telemedicine, widespread adoption of this technology is hindered by federal healthcare policies. Approximately two-thirds of Parkinson's patients are on Medicare. However, the program does not reimburse for in-home telemedicine care. Legislation has been introduced in Congress to allow Medicare to expand reimbursement for telemedicine. "We can shop, bank, make travel reservations, take classes, and buy groceries via the internet from the comfort of our own homes, but too many patients still cannot access health care," said Dorsey. "Telemedicine is an option if you are a veteran, a member of the Armed Services, a Medicaid beneficiary, or a Canadian, but not if you have a chronic condition and are a Medicare beneficiary." Tips and tricks to help expectant mothers manage stress. Credit: University of Ottawa Parenting is a complicated journey full of questions, and when a beloved child begins to show signs of a behavioural disorder, a parent's challenges become even more difficult to navigate. Expectant mothers may want to consider adopting today's trend towards stress management, in light of new research from the University of Ottawa pointing to its ability to lower the risk of problematic behaviour in their offspring. Dr. Ian Colman, associate professor at the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Medicine, led a team of researchers in examining data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. The team found that mothers who experience significant prenatal stress may be increasing their child's risk for behavioural issues. "Mothers who are exposed to high levels of stress during pregnancy have kids who are more than twice as likely to have chronic symptoms of hyperactivity and conduct disorder," Dr. Colman said of the team's recently published findings. "Hyperactivity is a symptom of ADHD, and about 10% of school-age children are affected by ADHD or conduct disorder," he said. "These disorders can lead to poor results in school and difficulties in their relationships with family and friends." Behavioural disorders such as those seen by the researchers are characterized by aggressive or antisocial behaviour, high activity levels, and difficulty inhibiting behaviour. They are also associated with school failure, substance use/abuse, and criminal activity, according to the paper. A mother's stress can alter brain development in the fetus, and it is believed these changes may be long-lasting or permanent, said Dr. Colman. The team was unique in its approach: it studied the effects of specific stressors on participants, as opposed to gauging overall stress levels. Participants reported stressful events, such as problems at work, the illness of a relative, or an argument with a partner, family or friend. "Generally speaking, we found that the higher the stress, the higher the symptoms," Dr. Colman said. "We can't avoid most stressful events in our lives and since we can't always prevent them, the focus should be on helping mothers manage stress in order to give their children the best start in life." More information: Nathalie MacKinnon et al, The Association Between Prenatal Stress And Externalizing Symptoms In Childhood: Evidence From The Avon Longitudinal Study Of Parents And Children, Biological Psychiatry (2017). Journal information: Biological Psychiatry Nathalie MacKinnon et al, The Association Between Prenatal Stress And Externalizing Symptoms In Childhood: Evidence From The Avon Longitudinal Study Of Parents And Children,(2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2017.07.010 Researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem who studied health monitoring and communication during the recent Zika pandemic have proposed ways for health authorities to better contain future pandemics. The researchers studied online trends, incidence and health risk communication during the spread of the Zika virus in 2015-16 in South and Central America and East Asia. The pandemic aroused great concern among the public worldwide, especially due to the fear of possible harm to fetuses whose mothers contracted the virus. The study, published today in BMJ Global Health, was led by international MPH student Dr. Gbenga Adebayo, under the guidance of Dr. Hagai Levine and Prof. Yehuda Neumark and in cooperation with Wiessam Abu Ahmad, at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Israel, and Dr. Anat Gesser-Edelsburg of the School of Public Health at the University of Haifa, Israel. Looking at the period between May 1, 2015 and May 30, 2016, the researchers analyzed Google search trends for Zika disease and related concepts, and correlated them with Zika incidence globally, in the United States, and in the five countries where the epidemic was most severe. They also examined communications from the World Health Organization (WHO)/Pan America Health Organization (PAHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), including the contents of press releases, practical recommendations to the public, and how this corresponded to the public's search for information online. In four of the five countries with the highest incidence, the researchers found very strong correlations between online search trends and the number of suspected Zika cases. This suggests that monitoring online trends can complement traditional surveillance efforts during Zika and other pandemics. The researchers also found that health authorities' press releases were reactive in nature: they followed online search trends for Zika-related info, and their timing was delayed. This communication time lag represents missed opportunities for mitigating risk, controlling infection and alleviating anxiety. The content of press releases was not optimally adapted to the public's needs and ability to understand the messages. Flesch-Kincaid grade level is a measure of how easily people can understand a piece of text. The Flesch-Kincaid scores of health authorities' press releases were high, with a mean grade-level score of 17.1 years for WHO/PAHO press releases and 12.4 years for CDC press releases. This means that on average a person would need 17 years of education in order to understand the WHO/PAHO press releases. Ideally, materials for the public should have much lower grade-level score; for example, patient education material should be written at a sixth-grade or lower reading level. Compared to WHO press releases, CDC press releases were shorter, with significantly lower word counts. Not only were they more readable, but also more likely to provide advice regarding risks, to provide contact details and links to other resources, and to include figures or graphs. The research has immediate implications for health organizations and reveals gaps in their preparedness for global epidemics. It indicates deficiencies in using the internet both as a source of information and as a public outreach channel. The consequences can include missed opportunities to better contain the event, improve infection control and reduce public anxiety. The researchers recommend improving the readability of public health messages, by adding a 'layman's summary' and involving public representatives in assessing readability before releasing documents to the public. Press releases should also reiterate specific steps and behaviors people need to take to mitigate risks, and health communication should announce early. The researchers also conclude that in times of public health emergency, health authorities such as WHO could work together with companies like Google to promote reliable sources of health information. The researchers point to the "TOTAL" criteria suggested by WHO as a good benchmark against which to evaluate press releases and other communication materials. The TOTAL criteria include five elements as key for the success (or failure) of outbreak communication: Trustbuilding, Operational (and advanced) planning, Transparency, Announcing early and Listening. "In the age of social media, press releases remain an important tool for communicating information to the public in times of health crises such as the ongoing Zika pandemic. Press releases are the initial, and often the only, source of news for health and medical science journalists, and many news organizations reprint health-related and science-related press releases verbatim," said Dr. Gbenga Adebayo, a distinguished graduate of the Hebrew University-Hadassah International Master in Public Health Program. "Creating trust between the public and health authorities is a key factor in the public's perception of risk and the extent to which they are willing to act on official recommendations," said Dr. Hagai Levine, the paper's senior author and Head of the Environmental Health Track at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine. "Mass media tools are continually evolving and public health crises can move with incredible speed. In this fast-paced environment, health authorities need to effectively leverage modern communications platforms in both directions: to communicate effectively with the public, and to monitor epidemiological trends and assess the public's needs." "In an era of global health, the major health organizations need on the one hand, to receive information on the Internet and social networks to monitor and treat morbidity, and on the other and to provide real-time information, in a simple and understandable way, while addressing the public's concerns in a world-wide approach, carried out locally," said Prof. Yehuda Neumark, Director of the International MPH program at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Braun School of Public Health. More information: Gbenga Adebayo et al, Zika pandemic online trends, incidence and health risk communication: a time trend study, BMJ Global Health (2017). Gbenga Adebayo et al, Zika pandemic online trends, incidence and health risk communication: a time trend study,(2017). DOI: 10.1136/bmjgh-2017-000296 U.S. Senate declares 'death' of Republican Party after congressional elections President of Georgia Zourabichvili says about 100 thousand Russians settled in country CNN: Democrats to retain control of Senate after congressional elections Alen Simonyan: We are truly and sincerely committed to the peace agenda Artak Beglaryan: Genocidal purpose is apparent French maritime services rescue more than 140 migrants trying to swim across English Channel Biden says he is satisfied with results of midterm elections in U.S. Slovenia holds second round of presidential elections 'Witch' burned alive in India, 14 arrested COVID-19 cases are expected to surge in Germany this winter Dollar makes worst showing in week since early days of COVID-19 pandemic Macron confirms France's readiness to support normalization of relations between Yerevan and Baku Germany withdraws from Energy Charter Treaty Is Jordan country that has not supplied arms to Armenia?: 'The press usually has reliable information' European Commission approves nationalization of Russian Gazprom's German subsidiary Pashinyan: If the state interferes with the exchange rate unnecessarily, the economy will only suffer U.S. to work with strategic coalition of Southeast Asian countries Armenian PM: To reform army, it is necessary to make military service more attractive Putin and Raisi discuss topical issues of the bilateral agenda Blinken: Ukraine must decide on timing and content of any talks with Russia Catholicos expresses hope that Russia efforts will contribute to ensuring free, safe life of Artsakh Armenians More than 50 of poorest developing countries are on brink of bankruptcy, says UN official Armenia ex-ombudsman: We are facing serious national security issues (PHOTOS) Biden has no plans to meet with Saudi crown prince at G20 summit EU offers natural gas price cap assurances amid disagreements with member countries Scholz is against establishment of ceasefire in Ukraine on Kremlin's terms Turkologist: Turkey does not support agenda of achieving peace with Armenians Sweden to not permit deployment of nuclear weapons on its territory after joining NATO Erdogan signs decree on appointing Turkey ambassador to Israel Information security expert: Some Armenia officials received letter that they were victims of national hackers attack Armenia FM meets with France minister of foreign trade Foreign Policy: US to resume nuclear arms control talks with Russia Armenia opposition MP: Artsakh army reduction is impermissible Biden to warn Chinas Xi that North Korea path could lead to increase in US military presence US Treasury chief: India can buy as much Russian oil as it wants Newspaper: Armenia authorities trying to find legal grounds for signing peace treaty Newspaper: People of Karabakh not going to tolerate final destruction of their army Texas woman sentenced to death for killing pregnant woman, removing fetus from victim 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 While Illinois, Connecticut, and New Jersey have been making national headlines for their respective budget fiascos, Pennsylvania has been under the radar with its own problems. The legislature has passed a budget. Governor Tom Wolf has not announced his intentions about signing the budget. A key sticking point is that the budget is estimated to be about $2 billion short of what will be collected in taxes. The Pennsylvania state constitution requires a balanced budget, so new revenue needs to be found. One of the most talked about revenue solutions is to expand gambling. Gambling revenue can appeal to politicians on both sides of the aisle. In the eyes of some, this potentially perfect solution allows politicians to increase spending while claiming that they have not raised taxes. Thus gambling may soon be coming to Pennsylvania airports and bars. We may even have state-sanctioned online gambling. Why should government live within its means when we can spend the money our citizens lose from gambling? Pennsylvania is already a highly taxed state. The Tax Foundation ranks Pennsylvania with the 15th highest state and local tax burden at 10.2 percent. For comparison New York is ranked with the highest tax burden of 12.7 percent; Alaska 50th with 6.5 percent. Perhaps we in Pennsylvania have a spending problem rather than a revenue problem. While not part of the general fund, the Pennsylvania Lottery is also having a revenue problem. The number of senior citizens is growing and people are living longer. Thus there is a longer list of people who desire services funded by the lottery and the number of people is expected to keep growing. The original plan for the Pennsylvania Lottery in 1971 was comparatively modest; to use lottery proceeds to reduce property taxes for senior citizens. Since that time the Pennsylvania Lottery has introduced additional opportunities for residents to gamble, and expanded the benefits for senior citizens that are paid for by the lottery fund. Among these expanded benefits are home care, transportation, and rent rebates. The programs are paid for not by people creating wealth, but by people losing wealth. With demographic changes in mind, Pennsylvania Lottery officials are considering new ways to entice people to play the lottery. One possibility is that soon people will be able to pay double-digit interest rates on lottery tickets purchased with credit cards. Because there are some people who really want to buy lottery tickets but find the walk from the gas pump to the store too long, the state has experimented with allowing people to buy lottery tickets from gas pumps when filling up. State lotteries are particularly bad investments, even when compared to other forms of gambling. The Pennsylvania Lottery pays out 64 percent of the proceeds to gamblers, 27 percent to senior programs, 7 percent to retailers, and 2 percent for operating expenses. All lottery advertisements have the disclaimer to Please play responsibly. How can getting a long-run average return of losing 36 percent of ones investment ever be truly responsible? It is well known that the poor spend a higher percentage of their income on gambling than does the middle class. Thus, while promoting gambling, and the lottery in particular, the state is enticing people with little financial literacy to make bad financial choices, all while claiming to help the least among us with government programs. How many of todays economically disadvantaged seniors would be better off if the stateinstead of creating illusory visions of wealth from playing the lotterypromoted financial literacy in the schools. I have little argument with adults who choose to gamble occasionally for entertainment. People who go to a casino for a vacation come home with less money than they left with; so do people who go skiing. Most people spend money rather than earn it while on vacation. I do object to the government encouraging the least among us to lose what little they have in pursuit of a false dream of riches. I do object to a government that seeks fiscal health not by promoting wealth creation, but by creating losers. Make no mistake about it, if Pennsylvanias politicians decide to fill a huge fiscal hole by expanding gambling, they are counting on Pennsylvanians losing vast sums of money. Such politicians want and need for us to be losers. That is a game I am not playing. Joseph J. Horton is professor of psychology at Grove City College and the Working Group Coordinator for Marriage and Family with The Center for Vision & Values. He is also a researcher on Positive Youth Development. Federal Emergency Management Agency officials may be in La Crosse County this week to assess damages from recent floods. Gov. Scott Walker requested the officials begin looking at public infrastructure impacted by the flood in La Crosse and 10 other counties. Along with Vernon, counties in which FEMA will assess are Buffalo, Crawford, Grant, Iowa, Jackson, Vernon, Lafayette, Monroe, Richland, Trempealeau. Storms moved across western Wisconsin from July 19-22, causing flash floods. Damage to public infrastructure, emergency protective measures and debris removal costs are estimated to be more than $12 million in the 11 impacted counties, according to the governors office. County damage assessments to homes and businesses in those counties showed seven homes destroyed, 32 homes sustained major damage, 114 with minor damage and 871 affected. There was one business destroyed, seven with major damage and 39 with minor damage. While many families and businesses were impacted, the local damage assessments showed the state would not qualify for federal aid for individuals. State agencies and nonprofit agencies are working to help those families, according to the governors office. Right now, Netflix Inc. (NFLX) - Get Free Report is valued at about $735 for each of the 104 million streaming subscribers it had at the end of Q2. Given that the company is typically collecting around $10 per month from those subs and is still bleeding cash, it becomes understandable why -- in spite of the phenomenal growth the company has been posting -- some are queasy about the streaming giant's valuation following a 38% run-up so far in 2017. Intel Chief Joins CEOs of Merck, Under Armour in Exiting Trump Business Council Still, in the absence of a market crash, arguing that Netflix could fall 50% or more, as Barron's did in a weekend piece that's weighing a little on Netflix's shares (the stock was down about 0.7% on Monday afternoon), feels questionable. Especially when two of the arguments made for being bearish -- a rising debt load and aggressive accounting for cancelled shows -- are pretty well-understood and arguably overblown. Barron's Jack Hough asserts that Netflix's long-term debt balance -- currently at $4.8 billion -- is reason for concern, given that the company expects to burn through another $2 billion to $2.5 billion in cash this year due to heavy spending on content, and will likely bleed more cash over the next few years. However, Netflix's net debt balance, which backs out cash on hand, is only $2.7 billion. That's equal to just a fraction of the $11.7 billion in revenue Netflix is expected on average by analysts to see this year, and more importantly pales relative to a $73.4 billion market cap. This healthy market cap means that Netflix could easily choose to raise needed funds via equity offerings without badly damaging its stock price. If the company decided to launch a $3 billion stock offering tomorrow, its shares might drop 2% or 3% due to the share dilution and increased supply the offering would bring -- this, of course, would be partly offset by the fact that $3 billion would be added to Netflix's balance sheet -- but no massive drop would happen. Hough calls the attitude among Netflix lenders that the company is a low-risk borrower since its market cap is so high "a dangerous piece of circular logic," since Netflix is only worth that much because of its debt-financed growth. However, if the company had never raised a cent of debt and instead just relied on equity financing, its shares would have still blasted off. The gains would have just been a little smaller due to the dilution caused by the stock offerings. Then why is Netflix choosing to take on billions in debt? Because it's confident it can afford to, given the company's growth rates and the moderate amounts of cash it's set to burn. With the qualifier that cash burn estimates are tough to make and could be off in one direction or another depending on how Netflix chooses to spend, analysts see Netflix going through another $5.3 billion in cash between now and 2021 before turning cash-flow positive. After accounting for existing cash, such cash burn might serve to grow Netflix's debt load to around $9 billion -- a pretty reasonable number when one considers annual revenue is expected to top $22 billion in 2021. And as noted before, if Netflix starts getting squeamish about its debt load, equity raises can get the job done and do limited damage to the stock as long as investors remain confident in Netflix's long-term growth and cash-generating potential. Considering how Netflix's shares have performed over the last few years, opting to raise debt rather than dilute stockholders has certainly been a smart move thus far. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: Hough also suggests Netflix is inflating its quarterly earnings by not fully writing off the remaining costs for cancelled shows such as Bloodline, on the grounds that finished seasons of such shows are still available for streaming. He contrasts Netflix's accounting with that of Time Warner Inc. (TWX) , which has taken write-downs for cancelled HBO shows even as they remain available on HBO's streaming services. While one can argue Netflix should take Time Warner's accounting approach, it's worth keeping in mind that doing so would have no impact on accounting for popular non-cancelled shows, which make up a big portion of Netflix's $6 billion-plus content budget. More importantly, it wouldn't change Netflix's cash-flow profile for better or worse. As is often the case for telecom carriers, whose business models have a few things in common with Netflix's, Netflix's quarterly EPS numbers tend to have little impact on how its stock moves following an earnings report. Markets have been focused on subscriber growth, and to some degree, the company's cash flow and streaming content obligations. In July, the company slightly missed Q2 EPS estimates, but shares blasted off thanks to much better-than-expected subscriber adds and decent guidance. Warren Buffett Dumps GE Stake to Invest in a Lender With GE Roots This One Photo Shows Wall Street's Hate for Target, and Love for Walmart Also mentioned as a concern by Barron's: New competition from The Walt Disney Co. (DIS) - Get Free Report , which plans to launch a kids-focused streaming service and pull much of its content off Netflix, and Facebook Inc. (FB) - Get Free Report , which just unveiled a professional video platform called Watch. But it's worth keeping in mind that Disney's moves won't happen for another two years or so, which gives Netflix ample time to use the money it won't be paying Disney to invest in kids-friendly original and licensed content. And although Disney and Pixar-branded content will definitely be leaving Netflix, Reed Hastings' company is still talking with Disney about holding onto Star Wars and Marvel content -- since such content appeals to both adults and kids, it might be in Disney's interests to non-exclusively license it to Netflix, while also offering it on its streaming service. Also: A recent Piper Jaffray survey found that only about 20% of U.S. Netflix subs spent over 10% of their viewing time on Disney content, and that only 5% spent over 40% of their time on it. The firm thus sees only a "minimal impact" from Disney's move on Netflix's subscriber count. As for Facebook, the social media giant has repeatedly stressed that it's pursuing a YouTube-like ad-supported business model for professional video, and has no interest over the long run in either paying for content or selling it on a subscription basis. Facebook is a holding in Jim Cramer'sAction Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells FB? Learn more now. Meanwhile, the Barron's column doesn't pay much attention to Netflix's core competitive advantages. Namely, how the company's unmatched scale and viewing data allow it to obtain superior returns on its content investments. With the company possessing 100 million-plus subs and tons of data to both inform content investments and personalize what's recommended to a viewer, Netflix can often find it easier to produce a positive return on, say, an $80 million movie or a show with a $30 million annual budget than peers can (at least without having to partly rely on alternative forms of distribution -- for example, exclusively showing a movie in theaters for a few months -- that lower the value of its streaming service). Not even Amazon.com Inc.'s (AMZN) - Get Free Report Prime Video can fully match Netflix here: Jeff Bezos' company's 2016 "retail subscription services" revenue (primarily Prime membership fees, plus some separate content subscriptions) was 28% lower than Netflix's 2016 revenue, and is of course used to support a lot more than just Prime Video. Moreover, there's a decent amount of data suggesting that average weekly Prime Video viewing per subscriber is markedly lower than per-subscriber Netflix viewing. None of this is to say that Netflix doesn't face some real challenges. Both directly and indirectly, Amazon is undercutting Netflix's pricing, and that could help its cause in more cost-sensitive foreign markets. And complaints have been growing about Netflix's shrinking library of licensed content, particularly for older movies. If unaddressed, that might give Amazon and HBO a way to differentiate themselves. But for now, such challenges are doing little to dent subscriber growth thanks to the popularity of originals and Netflix's data-driven approach to investing in and recommending them. And this growth, along with the long-term pricing power Netflix is building up as its original show and movie launches keep swelling, has left markets comfortable with the reasonable amounts of debt raised to help make all of this possible. One can certainly question Netflix's valuation at current levels. But questioning the health of its business is much harder to do at this point. Watch More with TheStreet: That whole corner-office-to-the-Oval-Office thing isn't working out particularly well for President Donald Trump, at least among his CEO peers. Several business leaders have quit the president's manufacturing council since Monday in the wake of his lukewarm response to racist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend. Merck (MRK) - Get Free Report CEO Kenneth Frazier was first to pull the plug, followed by Under Armour's (UA) - Get Free Report Kevin Plank, Intel's (INTC) - Get Free Report Brian Krzanich and, in a tweet on Tuesday, Alliance for American Manufacturing president Scott Paul. AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka quit on Tuesday evening, and former AFL-CIO deputy chief of staff Thea Lee said she would do the same. Tesla's (TSLA) - Get Free Report Elon Musk and Disney's (DIS) - Get Free Report Bob Iger dropped out of a strategic and policy forum to the president in June following his decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate accord. Since-ousted Uber CEO Travis Kalanick quit the council over employee backlash in February. Trump addressed the CEOs quitting the manufacturing council in a tweet on Tuesday, though he did not mention them by name. "For every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, I have many to take their place. Grandstanders should not have gone on. JOBS!" he wrote. He attacked Frazier, the first to quit the council, on Twitter on Monday. It is not clear which CEOs are interested in filling the now open spots on the council. Trump has yet to fill hundreds of key roles in his administration. Some executives have affirmed their commitment to stay in -- Dow Chemical's (DOW) - Get Free Report Andrew Liveris, Blackstone Group's (BX) - Get Free Report Stephen Schwarzman -- while others have remained conspicuously quiet, including General Motors' (GM) - Get Free Report Mary Barra and PepsiCo's (PEP) - Get Free Report Indra Nooyi. Walmart (WMT) - Get Free Report CEO Doug McMillon in a statement to employees on Monday made public on Tuesday said Trump over the weekend "missed a critical opportunity" but had taken a "step in the right direction" with his later remarks. He made no mention of his place on Trump's economic council. JPMorgan Chase (JPM) - Get Free Report CEO Jamie Dimon in a message to employees said he is "disturbed by the bigotry and violence in Charlottesville" and made no mention of his place on an advisory council to Trump. But it's unlikely he'll abandon it. In April, he compared supporting Trump to flying on an airplane and hoping it won't crash. "When you get on the airplane, you better be rooting for the success of the pilot," he said. Pressure is mounting for other CEOs to follow, especially in light of the president's improvised presser in Trump Tower on Tuesday where he reverted to blaming both sides for the events in Charlottesville. "This conversation is viral in boardrooms right now," Davia Temin, head of New York-based crisis-management firm Temin & Co., told Bloomberg. "No one else? Really?" former Obama speechwriter Jon Favreau asked in a Monday-night tweet. For a guy like Trump promising his business acumen would translate well into politics, things are not going well. To be sure, the CEO councils are much more symbolic than they are functional. Trumka's statement indicates the manufacturing council has never held a "real meeting." The strategic and policy forum has met on two occasions, in February and April, and has not yet scheduled a follow-up meeting. But Trump likes the CEO meetings. He has spent much of his first months in office hosting various groups of business leaders at the White House for round-table discussions and photo ops, and while the pace of such gatherings has since slowed, he still shows much more interest with publicly engaging with private-sector leaders than his predecessors Barack Obama and George W. Bush. And the CEOs, of course, in meeting with Trump and joining his advisory councils are able to curry his favor. IBM's (IBM) - Get Free Report Ginni Rometty, who sits on the economic council, rolled out a veterans jobs announcement at the White House in March. An IBM spokeswoman did not return a request for comment on Charlottesville or her place in Trump's advisory council. Intel's Krzanich made a jobs announcement in the Oval Office just six months ago in February. Saudi Arabia pledged $20 billion to Schwarzman's Blackstone for an American infrastructure project while Trump was there for his first overseas visit. Kevin Warsh, a visiting fellow at the Hoover Institution and former member of the Federal Reserve's Board of Governors who sits on the economic advisory council, is said to be one of the names in the mix as the next head of the Fed, alongside Gary Cohn and Janet Yellen. The president on Monday attempted a do-over of his reaction to Charlottesville and delivered more forceful remarks from the White House. "Racism is evil," he said. "And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans." But the events that followed largely rolled back any gains made. He followed up the remarks with a complaint about the media's coverage of his reaction on Twitter and retweets of an alt-right figure who pushed the Pizzagate conspiracy and a since deleted train running over a CNN reporter. At the Tuesday press briefing, Trump drew a moral equivalency between white supremacist and neo-Nazi protesters and those protesting against them. "You had a group on one side that was bad. And you had a group on the other side that was also very violent," he said. He also noted that the white nationalist group of protesters had a permit. For a guy who wants corporate leaders to keep backing him, Trump seems dead set on making it as hard as possible for them. - Updated with Paul, Trumka and Lee resignations and McMillon statement. Removes reference between Pruitt and Liveris after Associated Press corrected original story. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: The Holmen Village Board is beginning the process of restoring the Halfway Creek bike/pedestrian trail after it was washed out in July. The damage occurred in the overnight hours of July 19-20 when a heavy rainstorm dumped seven to 10 inches of rain in the Coulee Region causing Halfway Creek to overflow its banks. The board voted at its Aug. 10 meeting to approve contracting with Strupp Excavating, Inc. to repair the Halfway Creek trail and spending up to $40,000 for the project. Strupp, the company that initially installed the trail, provided two bids for repairing the storm damage. One bid would repair the trail using four inches of screenings at a cost of $30,312.50 and the second bid would use three inches of recycled asphalt to resurface the trail at a cost of $35,150. Although more expensive, the village staff recommended going with the recycled asphalt. Were hoping the asphalt will be more durable, said Holmen Village Administrator Scott Heinig. Where the asphalt was, the trail didnt wash out. The funds to repair the damage would be taken out of the villages reserve fund with the hope FEMA would reimburse the village for the expenditures. Heinig and Holmen Village President Nancy Proctor toured the walking/biking trail July 24. Along with sections of the trail getting washed out, they found one of the benches had been mangled by debris carried by the flood waters. While the pedestrian bridges were still standing, they determined from the debris still hanging on the bridge trusses the height of the water had risen to about 30 feet. They also saw log jams and washed out banks, which brings the full cost of the damage to an estimated $84,800. The trail has been closed pending repairs. Vacate right-of-way The board also voted to approve going forward with the process for vacating the right-of-way previously platted for the old Holland Business Park. The previous plat was for a commercial development that is now being included in the plans for the McGilvray Park addition. The streets drawn on the previous plat were never installed. The roads exist on paper, but arent in place, said Heinig. McGilvray Park developer, Ben Thorud, is planning to build a mixed-use addition on a nearly 90-acre parcel located north of Hwy. 35 and east of Hwy. XX. The plans for the subdivision include sections for commercial, multi-residential, twin-homes and single family residents. Before the development can proceed, the village will need to vacate the right-of-way drawn in the previous plans, so the developer can redesign the infrastructure for the new subdivision. The proposal for vacating the right-of-way will need to go before a public hearing. The hearing will be held Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. Gains Made in Fingerprint Analysis: NIST An algorithm developed by NIST and Michigan State University researchers may help to reduce the chance of human error in the first step of fingerprint analysis. Scientists from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Michigan State University have developed an algorithm that automates an important step in fingerprint analysis, publishing their research in IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security. The accomplishment is important because research has shown fingerprint examination can produce erroneous results, according to the NIST news release, which cites a 2009 report from the National Academy of Sciences that found results "are not necessarily repeatable from examiner to examiner" and even experienced examiners may disagree with their own past conclusions when they re-examine the same prints later. The algorithm may help to reduce the chance of human error, it says. "We know that when humans analyze a crime scene fingerprint, the process is inherently subjective," said Elham Tabassi, a computer engineer at NIST and a co-author of the study. "By reducing the human subjectivity, we can make fingerprint analysis more reliable and more efficient." "At a crime scene, there's no one directing the perpetrator on how to leave good prints," explained Anil Jain, a computer scientist at MSU and co-author of the study. When an examiner receives latent prints from a crime scene, the first step is to judge how much useful information they contain. This first step is standard practice in the forensic community, and thus is the step automated by the researchers, Jain said. After that initial step, if the print contains sufficient usable information, it can be submitted to an Automated Fingerprint Identification System, which searches its database and returns a list of potential matches to be examined for a conclusive match. "If you submit a print to AFIS that does not have sufficient information, you're more likely to get erroneous matches. If you don't submit a print that actually does have sufficient information, the perpetrator gets off the hook," Tabassi said. It's Official: ASSP "Our members have always decided who we are and what were all about," ASSE President Jim Smith, CSP, said. "This latest vote was part of an objective process that has made us a strong organization for more than 100 years. Workplace safety is constantly evolving, so our society must adjust as well to remain strong and relevant while growing our profession. Our profession includes more occupations and industries than ever before." The American Society of Safety Engineers will be renamed the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) next year when it unveils a redesigned website at its Safety 2018 conference in San Antonio. The switch was approved by 74 percent of voting members in online voting that ended Aug. 13, ASSE announced Aug. 16. The final vote count was 3,651 in favor and 1,267 opposed, well above the minimum voting requirement of 1 percent of ASSE's eligible members because 14 percent cast ballots. The new name had been unanimously recommended by the ASSE Board of Directors in January and was supported by its House of Delegates in June at Safety 2017 in Denver. "Our members have clearly voiced that the American Society of Safety Professionals better reflects our diverse membership," said ASSE President Jim Smith, CSP. "Engineers made up our entire membership when we were formed, but today the occupational safety and health profession encompasses many disciplines." ASSE was founded in 1911 as the United Association of Casualty Inspectors after the Triangle Waist Co. fire in New York City killed 146 garment workers. The society's name was changed in 1914 to the American Society of Safety Engineers. "Our members have always decided who we are and what were all about," Smith said. "This latest vote was part of an objective process that has made us a strong organization for more than 100 years. "Workplace safety is constantly evolving, so our society must adjust as well to remain strong and relevant while growing our profession. Our profession includes more occupations and industries than ever before," he added. "Our members are knowledgeable about everything from risk assessment and hazard control to workers compensation and organizational management, not to mention the more traditional aspects of safety management and engineering." The Atlantic Forest in Southeast Brazil. Credit: Hugo Candido Galvao Characterised with its immense biodiversity and high levels of endemism, the Atlantic Tropical Forest has been facing serious anthropogenic threats over the last several decades, demanding for such activities and their effects to be closely studied and monitored as part of the forest dynamics. Cattle farming, expanding agricultural land areas and mining have reduced the Atlantic Forest to many small patches of vegetation. As a result, important ecosystem services, such as carbon stock, are steadily diminishing as the biomass decreases. Brazilian researchers, led by Dr. Ecio Souza Diniz, Federal University of Vicosa, spent a decade monitoring a semi-deciduous forest located in an ecological park in Southeast Brazil. Their observations are published in the open access Biodiversity Data Journal. The team surveyed two stands within the forest to present variations in the structure and diversity of the plants over time, along with their dynamics, including mortality and establishment rates. They based their findings on the most abundant tree species occurring within each stand. At the forest stands, the most abundant and important species for biomass accumulation are concluded to be trees larger than 20 cm in diameter, which characterise advanced successional stage within the forest. "It is fundamental that opportunities to monitor conserved sites of the Atlantic Forest are taken, so that studies about their dynamics are conducted in order to better understand how they work," note the scientists. "The information from such surveys could improve the knowledge about the dynamics at anthropised and fragmented sites compared with protected areas." In order to encourage further research into the composition, diversity and structure of the Atlantic Forest over time and the subsequent contributions to the preservation of this threatened ecosystem, the authors made their data publicly available. The datasets, including species occurrences, are now openly accessible via the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and the biodiversity informatics data standard Darwin Core. More information: Ecio Diniz et al, Long-term monitoring of diversity and structure of two stands of an Atlantic Tropical Forest, Biodiversity Data Journal (2017). DOI: 10.3897/BDJ.5.e13564 Credit: CC0 Public Domain The first domestic abuse policing strategy in UK history to be trialled under experimental conditions has found that an inexpensive two-day course in behaviour management for first offenders resulted in 35% fewer men reoffending against their partner, and reduced further harm to victims by over a quarter. Researchers at Cambridge University's Institute of Criminology worked with Hampshire Constabulary to conduct the study using the recently developed CARA (Cautions and Relationship Abuse) programme: small-group discussion workshops for men who received conditional cautions for first arrests for low-harm domestic abuse. The researchers say that, in just this initial study of hundreds of Southampton-area offenders over a 12-month period, the CARA programme prevented significant harm to victims, hundreds of prison days, and consequently saved thousands of pounds. The findings are published in full in this week's print edition of the Cambridge Journal of Evidence-Based Policing. The team behind the study say that several police forces want to replicate the use of the CARA course, developed by the Hampton Trust domestic abuse charity. However, they say that current guidance from the Crown Prosecution Service restricts the use of conditional cautions for domestic abuse across the country. "Dealing with high volumes of low-harm common assault cases against intimate partners is a significant issue for police forces across the UK, particularly in times of continued austerity," said study lead author Professor Heather Strang, Director of Research at Cambridge's Jerry Lee Centre for Experimental Criminology. "No other programme to our knowledge now has such strong evidence of yielding a substantial reduction in harm to victims of domestic abuse. "The CARA programme should be approved for general use with low-harm first offenders, preferably with further randomised trials to ensure it works for different communities across England and Wales." The study only involved adult men who admitted their offence, were not judged 'high risk', and had no record of any violence in the preceding two years. All victims agreed to their partners' participation. To be eligible for the experiment, the offence had to be classified as either common assault/battery, criminal damage, harassment, threatening behaviour, or domestic theft. Of the 293 offenders who fit the strict criteria between August 2012 and November 2015, around half were randomly assigned to attend CARA workshops, run by experienced facilitators from the Southampton-based Hampton Trust. The CARA programme consists of two five-hour group discussions of between four and seven men, held on weekends one month apart, in which facilitators raise questions that cause attendees to reflect upon their behaviour and how they might change it. Offenders in the other half, the control group, were given 'conditional cautions': meaning any repeat offence within four months would see prosecution in court. This is a commonly deployed police response to first arrests for low-harm domestic abuse. Professor Strang and colleagues including several Hampshire police leaders enrolled on the Cambridge Police Executive Programme followed up with offenders a year after the first arrest. They found that 35% fewer men in the CARA group had committed any further offence against their partner. However, Cambridge co-author Professor Lawrence Sherman describes such simplistic 'crime counts' as unhelpful when determining the real cost of crime: harm caused to victims. "The key result for the team came when we analysed all reoffending in both groups using the Cambridge Crime Harm Index," he said. This Harm Index, or CCHI, is a new tool that measures harm by weighting the severity of each crime in sentencing guidelines for different offences, rather than just totting up overall crime figures. The Office of National Statistics credits the CCHI as the stimulus for its own (modified) version of a harm index, introduced earlier this year. Overall, those in the CARA group caused 27% less harm per offender to their partners than the control group. Using the CCHI, the team calculated that the recommended number of prison days under English sentencing guidelines for reoffenders in the year following the first arrest was an average of 8.4 days for the CARA attendees, compared to an average of 11.6 days for offenders not sent to CARA. "This would mean that, for every thousand first time offenders sent to CARA workshops, 380 days of recommended imprisonment would be saved, and victims would be spared the inflicted harm equivalent to 380 common assaults, or 19 assaults with actual bodily harm," said Sherman. Men who participated in the CARA workshops described having a greater understanding of the impact of their behaviour on partners and children, and when to walk away from a fight. Some talked of going on to attend support groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous as a result. Chantal Hughes, Chief Executive of the Hampton Trust, said: "We know from consultations with victims that they want help for their partners. Those choosing not to remain in an intimate relationship often have children, and this means child contact arrangements. Victims have advised us that workshops such as CARA are a positive and much needed intervention." Study co-author Scott Chilton, Assistant Chief Constable of Hampshire Police and Chair of the Society of Evidence Based Policing, said: "CARA is an outstanding example of evidence based innovation that can influence national police policy and practices. "This type of research, where professionals from law enforcement, working with academia and charitable organisations has proved to be extremely promising." More information: Heather Strang et al. Reducing the Harm of Intimate Partner Violence: Randomized Controlled Trial of the Hampshire Constabulary CARA Experiment, Cambridge Journal of Evidence-Based Policing (2017). DOI: 10.1007/s41887-017-0007-x Projective Awareness Model: a. The field of consciousness incorporates beliefs and preferences using projective geometry and minimising free energy in order to motivate action. b. The subject imagines: option A (buying an expensive cake) and option B (making the cake him or herself) to reach the imagined situation 2 where the children at home are happy. Options A and B are very similar: both bring pleasure, but A demands an irreversible expense and B requires a one-off effort. The anticipated final free energy is minimal for B. The subject chooses B as the scenario to be realised. Credit: UNIGE A human being's psychological make-up depends on an array of emotional and motivational parameters, such as desire, suffering or the need for security. In addition, it includes spatial and temporal dimensions that also play a key role in rationalising the decisions we make and planning our actions. A team of researchers from the Universities of Geneva (UNIGE), Texas, Paris and University College London joined forces to create the first mathematical model of embodied consciousness. Their aim? To understand, study and predict human behaviour. The model, which is based on solid mathematical concepts and is demonstrated using simulations, makes it possible to anticipate and explain a host of cognitive phenomena and behavioural reactions. The researchavailable in full in the Journal of Theoretical Biologyalso paves the way for a wealth of industrial applications in robotics, artificial intelligence and the health sector. An international, interdisciplinary team of researchers, headed by David Rudrauf, professor in UNIGE's faculty of psychology and educational science, was keen to produce a psychological theory that operated on the model developed by the hard sciences. The goal was to devise a mathematical model of human psychology for predicting and evaluating (normal and pathological) human behaviour. More than a decade of researchcombining maths, psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, computer science and engineeringwas required to construct this theoretical model of consciousness. Free energy determines choices We all are constantly faced with a range of choices, some of which are important, some not. But how do we make our decisions? There are many factors at work, conscious and unconscious, which are forever colliding whenever a decision is made. "We built a model to replicate decision-making based on the time, framework and perceptions (real and imaginary) that are linked to it," explains David Rudrauf. "The next step was to analyse the best solution that the mind would naturally opt for." Depending on an individual's personal preferences (such as security), and including different real and imaginary perspectives on the world, the mind calculates the probabilities of obtaining what it wants in the safest possible way. This probability calculation, which is derived from an individual's personal preferences and values, can be expressed as free energy. "Our consciousness uses free energy to actively explore the world and to satisfy its predilections by imagining the anticipated consequences of its actions," says Karl Friston from University College London. Depending on the free energy, the mathematical model can predict the states of consciousness and behaviour adopted by the individual and analyse the mechanisms. This Projective Consciousness Model analyses possible forms of behaviour according to events: if you spot a cake in a shop window, will you buy it or carry on your way? Based on your preferenceswhether you have a sweet tooth, for example, or are a penny-pincherthe model will determine what best suits your state of mind: it will then predict your psychological state and behaviour using a combination of projective geometry and free-energy calculation. Understanding and making a mathematical model of the phenomenology of the mind: projective geometry As Kenneth Williford, professor of philosophy at the University of Texas, explains: "The aim was to understand and model the essential structures of conscious experience." Daniel Bennequin, professor in the mathematics department at the University of Paris 7, adds: "Perception, imagination and action are supported by unconscious mechanisms, we discovered that consciousness integrates them through a specific geometry: projective geometry." The researchers started with a synthesis of psychological phenomena, including basic perceptual phenomena: the illusion, for instance, that train tracks converge in the distance when they are actually parallel. The scientists were able to select the mathematical template for modelling this perception and the imagination associated with it. "It was then a question of understanding how this field of consciousness is related to affect, emotions and motivation as well as memory and intentions," says Rudrauf. Virtual reality: a space for experimenting and research "Once the theoretical components were defined," continues Rudrauf, "we implemented them in computer programs. We are now working on connecting them to virtual reality in order to reproduce a spatial, temporal and emotional environment that is as close as possible to our own." The research team is then able to make predictions about behaviour by playing with the model's mechanisms, perfecting it and bringing it closer to human psychology. It was long-term work: "But our aim is also to gradually direct the research towards psychopathological models," points out Rudrauf. "We found, for example, that if we deprive the model of the faculty of imagination, it behaves like a person with autism. This suggests research pathways on the importance of the imagination and its specific mechanisms in managing the illness." The model works on a concept of reciprocity: humans are used to test and reinforce the effectiveness of the model; and the model is used to experiment with different cases and sources of psychological illnesses in humans. The initial results show that this first mathematical model of embodied consciousness, incorporating temporality, spatialisation and emotions, can predict a vast array of known human behaviours and understand the mechanisms behind them. There is still much work to be done, however, to replicate human consciousness identically, since every possible type of behaviour must be implemented in the mathematical system. The researchers are now working on an extension of the algorithm that will produce machines that can adapt to the reactions of their interlocutors and act according to the principle of empathic reciprocity. More information: David Rudrauf et al. A mathematical model of embodied consciousness, Journal of Theoretical Biology (2017). DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2017.05.032 Journal information: Journal of Theoretical Biology Preliminary colour map of the sky. Credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC/CU5/CU8/DPCI/F. De Angeli, D.W. Evans, M. Riello, M. Fouesneau, R. Andrae, C.A.L. Bailer-Jones While surveying the positions of over a billion stars, ESA's Gaia mission is also measuring their colour, a key diagnostic to study the physical properties of stars. A new image provides a preview of Gaia's first full-colour all-sky map, which will be unleashed in its highest resolution with the next data release in 2018. Stars come in a variety of colours that depend on their surface temperature, which is, in turn, determined by their mass and evolutionary stage. Massive stars are hotter and therefore shine most brightly in blue or white light, unless they are approaching the end of their life and have puffed up into a red supergiant. Lower-mass stars, instead, are cooler and tend to appear red. Measuring stellar colours is important to solve a variety of questions, ranging from the internal structure and chemical composition of stars to their evolution. Gaia, ESA's astrometry mission to compile the largest and most precise catalogue of stellar positions and motions to date, has also been recording the colour of the stars it observes. The satellite was launched in December 2013 and has been collecting scientific data since July 2014. A special effort in the Gaia Data Processing and Analysis Consortium (DPAC) is dedicated to the challenging endeavour of extracting stellar colours from the satellite data. While these measurements will be published with Gaia's second data release in April 2018, a preview of the Gaia sky map in colour demonstrates that the ongoing work is progressing well. Star density map. Credit: ESA/Gaia/DPAC/CU5/CU8/DPCI/F. De Angeli, D.W. Evans, M. Riello, M. Fouesneau, R. Andrae, C.A.L. Bailer-Jones The new map, based on preliminary data from 18.6 million bright stars taken between July 2014 and May 2016, shows the middle value (median) of the colours of all stars that are observed in each pixel. It is helpful to look at it next to its companion map, showing the density of stars in each pixel, which is higher along the Galactic Plane the roughly horizontal structure that extends across the image, corresponding to the most densely populated region of our Milky Way galaxy and lower towards the poles. Even though this map is only meant as an appetizer to the full treat of next year's release, which will include roughly a hundred times more stars, it is already possible to spot some interesting features. The reddest regions in the map, mainly found near the Galactic Centre, correspond to dark areas in the density map: these are clouds of dust that obscure part of the starlight, especially at blue wavelengths, making it appear redder a phenomenon known as reddening. It is also possible to see the two Magellanic Clouds small satellite galaxies of our Milky Way in the lower part of the map. The task of measuring colours is performed by the photometric instrument on Gaia. This instrument contains two prisms that split the starlight into its constituent wavelengths, providing two low-resolution spectra for each star: one for the short, or blue, wavelengths (330-680 nm) and the other for the long, or red, ones (640-1050 nm). Scientists then compare the total amount of light in the blue and red spectra to estimate stellar colours. To precisely calibrate these spectra, however, it is necessary to know the position of each source on Gaia's focal plane to very high accuracy in fact, to an accuracy that only Gaia itself can provide. Artist's impression of the Gaia spacecraft, with the Milky Way in the background. Credit: ESA/ATG medialab; background image: ESO/S. Brunier As part of the effort to extract physical parameters from the data sent back by the satellite, scientists feed them to an iterative algorithm that compares the recorded images of stars to models of how such images should look: as a result, the algorithm provides a first estimate of the star's parameters, such as its position, brightness, or colour. By collecting more data and feeding them to the algorithm, the models are constantly improved and so are the estimated parameters for each star. The first Gaia data release, published in September 2016, was based on less than a quarter of the total amount of data that will be collected by the satellite over its entire five-year mission, which is expected to observe each star an average of 70 times. This first release, listing unprecedentedly accurate positions on the sky for 1.142 billion stars, along with their brightness, contained no information on stellar colours: by then, it had not been possible to run enough iterations of the algorithm to accurately estimate additional parameters. As the satellite continues to observe more stars, scientists have now had more time to feed data to the iterative algorithm to obtain estimates of stellar colours, like the ones shown in the new map. These estimates will be validated, over the coming months, as part of the overall data processing effort leading to the second Gaia data release. Since the first data release, scientists across the world have been using Gaia's brightness measurements which are obtained over the full G-band, from 330 to 1050 nm along with datasets from other missions to estimate stellar colours. These studies have been applied to a variety of subjects, from variable stars and stellar clusters in our Galaxy to the characterisation of stars in the Magellanic Clouds. Next year, the second release of Gaia data will include not only the position and G-band brightness, but also the blue and red colour for over a billion stars in addition to the long-awaited estimates of stellar parallaxes and proper motions based on Gaia measurements for all the observed stars. This extraordinary dataset will allow scientists to delve into the secrets of our Galaxy, investigating its composition, formation and evolution to an unparalleled degree of detail. Conceptual image of the Mars 2020 rover. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech NASA's Mars 2020 mission, which will look for signs of past life on Mars, will use smart methods originally developed to find the oldest life on Earth, according the mission's Deputy Project Scientist, Dr Ken Williford. The 2020 mission builds on the successes of prior rovers, to make coordinated measurements that could detect signs of ancient life - or biosignatures - in their original spatial context. These techniques, known as "spatially resolved biosignature analysis" derive from geochemical analysis of early life on Earth. Speaking at the Goldschmidt conference in Paris where he is presenting the methods to be adopted, Dr Ken Williford (who is also Director of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Astrobiogeochemistry Laboratory) said: "Previous missions to Mars have used a relatively broad brush - analyzing average chemistry over roughly the size of a postage stamp - to "follow the water" and seek ancient habitable environments. Mars 2020 takes the next natural step in its direct search for evidence of ancient microbial life, focusing measurements to the microbial scale and producing high-resolution maps over similarly postage stamp-sized analytical areas. New scientific methods for searching for the most ancient evidence for life on Earth have led to a leap forward in capabilities for biosignature detection. Rather than using "bulk" geochemistry techniques that measure the average composition of a rock, Mars 2020 is developing new capabilities including X-ray fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy to map the elemental, mineral, and organic composition of rocks at high spatial resolution, with analytical spot sizes about the width of a human hair. Understanding the spatial distribution of chemical features preserved in ancient rocks is key to determining whether or not they were formed by life. Beyond astrobiology, these new techniques enable exploration of the planet Mars at telescopic to microscopic scales - from a mountain to a grain of sand." The instruments in development for Mars 2020 have roots in the search for the earliest signs of life on Earth, as well as life in extreme environments - deep underground, or in hydrothermal settings along ocean-floor ridges. When these methods have been applied on Earth they have enabled scientists to lower limits of detection or to better understand formerly ambiguous observations. In addition, the Mars 2020 mission will use the knowledge gained from its scientific exploration to select and collect key samples that could one day be examined in laboratories back on Earth. Thirty to forty rock and sediment core samples, each about 15 grams, will be hermetically sealed in titanium tubes and deposited in a safe location on the surface of Mars for possible retrieval by a future mission. "Mars 2020 represents a crucial first step towards a possible Mars sample return. Our objective is to collect a diverse set of samples from our landing site with the best potential to preserve records of the evolution of Mars - including the presence of life if it was there. We'll use our onboard instruments to provide the critical field context that future scientists would need to understand the measurements made back on Earth." Dr Williford also discussed the three remaining candidate landing sites for the Mars 2020 mission. One site at Columbia Hills in Gusev crater, was visited previously by the Spirit rover and features silica deposits interpreted by some as analogous to hydrothermal springs known to be inhabited on Earth. The two other sites are located close together on the edge of Isidis Planitia, one of the largest (and oldest) impact craters in the Solar System. Northeast Syrtis features some of the oldest exposed Martian crust with evidence for alteration in the presence of liquid water that leads researchers to believe that this site could have hosted subsurface life. Jezero crater features an ancient river delta and a lake that could have been a prime location for life on early Mars. "We've got some hard decisions in front of us," Williford said. "Because of the possibility of sample return, the selected site could have an outsized impact on the future of Mars science compared to a typical mission. We've been working hard to understand the scientific potential of the different sites and engaging the international scientific community for input on this consequential choice. The team is extremely excited about the opportunity to bring a powerful new payload to the surface of Mars and produce some spectacular results wherever we end up." Commenting, Emmanuelle J Javaux, Full Professor, University of Liege, Belgium said; "It is exciting that now Space agencies realize how studies of early Earth and early life evolution are relevant for the search for life beyond Earth. This NASA MARS 2020 approach of mapping the elemental, mineral, and organic composition of rocks at high spatial resolution with non-destructive techniques is now commonly used on Earth to provide unambiguous evidence for early life in its preserved nanoscale context. The European Space Agency's EXOMARS 2020 mission will also use this methodology". Provided by Goldschmidt Conference As creative voyageurs commissioned by the Crystal Creek Lodge Citizen-Artist Residency program descend upon the Driftless Region, the first-year experimental program has worked its way through its summer-long artist retreat. Our first resident, Harry Graff-Kimball was the ideal citizen artist, said Crystal Creek Lodge Citizen-Artist Residency Organizer Erin Dorbin said. He jumped right in and got all over the county. The programa brainchild of newly established Houston County residents Dorbin and her partner Taylor Harrishas planned to bring artists to the county to create work based of the unique personalities and beauty of the area. Four artists are scheduled to spend three individual weeks in the county this summerwith the exception of current citizen-artists Todd Melby and Melissa Wray, who are working collaboratively on their projects. With a $445 donation by the programs partner Houston Arts Resource Council, a Tri-County Electrics MiEnergy $500 grant and a $3,000 donation from the Southeast Minnesota Arts Council the artists are expected to create their own form of inspirational work while also attending a community meet-and-greet and a community workshop. The citizen-artists are staying in Dorbin and Harris Crystal Creek Canyon Lodge, a hand-hewn 1890s Norwegian cabin in Houston County. New York City-based musician Harry Graff-Kimball was the first citizen-artist to grace the county from July 16 to 22. He has plans of coming back and doing more recordings with the participants of his workshop, Dorbin said. Graff Kimball created three-quarters of a song with his workshop participants at the Cross of Christ Church in Houston. An 11-year-old girl played a snare that boomed through the church, Dorbin said. The song has a lot of subtle observations and local identity ... There was a point where we were looking around in the workshop and we had chills. There were about 15 workshop participants that included amateur genealogists among the locals. Im excited to find a way to combine creative interests with the community, said current citizen-artist Melissa Wray. I grew up writing as an escape so it will be interesting to share that tool. The current citizen-artists are focused on audio storytelling. Caledonia-native and Minneapolis-based Wraya masters student in the arts and cultural leadership program at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and the marketing coordinator at the Loft Literary Center in Minneapoliswill create community based podcasts exploring community across the state starting with Houston County. There is this nuance in the complex subject that is rural versus urban, she said. People are quick to see the difference between rural and urban but there are universal truths like the term community that I think needs to be explored. Wrays artistic partner is Todd Melby, a media artist and freelance journalist with Reuters. Melby has previously traveled to places like Williston, North Dakota to learn about the people and communities participating in the states oil boom. Im excited to meet new people and learn new things, he said. In the workshop, I want to give people interviewing tips ... A lot of people want to interview their families and parents but they dont know what questions to ask or how to get the conversation going. Although busy with interviews, Melby and Wray plan on attending one of the countys most anticipated eventsthe Houston County Fair. The fourth and final 2017 citizen-artist Cimarron Corpe of Victoria, Canada will come to the county between Sept. 10- 16. Credit: University of Otago A Tasmanian penguin long thought extinct never even existed, University of Otago-led research has discovered. New science has debunked old science by showing the bones from the so-called Hunter Island penguin were actually from three different living penguin species, including two from New Zealand. Otago Department of Zoology PhD candidate Ms Tess Cole says the findings, using ancient DNA methods, were unexpected. The study, which also involved scientists from Landcare Research, the Museum of New Zealand-Te Papa Tongarewa and the CSIRO in Canberra, brings into question earlier claims of a penguin extinction in southern Australia during the Holocene epoch, which began about 11,700 years ago. Their results have just been published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. The Hunter Island penguin (Tasidyptes hunteri) was described as an entirely new penguin genus in 1983, based on four bones that had been excavated from an archaeological midden site on Tasmania's Hunter Island. Ms Cole says the penguin's authenticity had been questioned before, "based on the fragmentary nature of the fossil bones, the stratigraphy in which they were found, and the similarity to other crested penguin species". "However, until now, nobody had clarified what it was. In our study, we applied ancient DNA methods to genetically assess every bone that had ever been attributed to this mysterious penguin species a rare and remarkable opportunity. "It was a fun and unexpected story because we show that Tasmania's 'extinct' penguin is not actually an extinct or unique penguin at all. "Using a short DNA barcode region we showed that it was actually a jumbled mixture of three living penguin species, from two genera." Ms Cole says the bones were identified as belonging to the Fiordland crested penguin or Tawaki (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus) and the Snares crested penguin (Eudyptes robustus), both New Zealand endemics known to occasionally turn up in Tasmania, and the Australian little penguin or fairy penguin (Eudyptula novaehollandiae), a species that breeds in Tasmania. "The presence of three species of penguins in Tasmania's archaeological record can be explained in light of what is now known about the distributions and movement patterns of these species within the Australasian region. "This study shows how useful ancient DNA testing can be. Not only does it help us identify new but extinct species, but it can help us rule out previously postulated species which did not exist, as in this case." Eudyptula novaehollandiae remains the only penguin species known to have bred around mainland Australia during the Holocene. More information: Marc Rius et al. Cryptic diversity in coastal Australasia: a morphological and mitonuclear genetic analysis of habitat-forming sibling species, Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society (2013). DOI: 10.1111/zoj.12036 Journal information: Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society Credit: Birmingham City University Old office chairs are being transformed into hard-shell backpacks and bicycle panniers as part of an innovative new project. Thomas Howell-Jones, a Product Design Student at Birmingham City University, has created Rest, a new product which uses the backrests of discarded office chairs to form the durable, waterproof and impact proof bags. The sustainable solution converts the back of the chairs into a large bag which can be worn or mounted onto a bicycle. More than 810,000 office chairs go to waste every year in the UK and Rest was designed in an attempt to slash the number which need to go to waste tips. Thomas came up with the idea after collecting discarded office chairs in a bid to find a sustainable use for them. After dismantling several chairs he found that the backs could be used as a protective container and after experimenting with various other products he successfully converted chairs of different shapes and sizes into uniform bags and bicycle panniers. Thomas Howell-Jones said: "Realising that a backpack was possible from office chair waste was the turning point for the project. This allowed me to continue detailed investigation and development showing results seen today. Credit: Birmingham City University "Materialising the office chair backrest shell allowed Rest to be as functional as possible whilst also supplying an impact resistance and waterproof bag. The process from realisation to outcome was very enjoyable and I now look forward to developing the range." Thomas now plans to look at other waste materials which can be transformed into everyday use products, such as bicycle inner tubes. Rest has already won the Stepping Stone award at the RSA Student Designs Award after a panel of judges commended the creation's innovation and range of uses. Credit: Birmingham City University In this March 31, 2014 file photo, HMAS Success scans the southern Indian Ocean, near the coast of Western Australia, as a Royal New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion flies over, while searching for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. Scientists have potentially narrowed the search area for the missing Malaysian airliner to three specific locations in the southern Indian Ocean, through new satellite and drift analysis of the 2014 crash released Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith, File) Scientists have potentially narrowed the search area for the missing Malaysian airliner to three specific locations in the southern Indian Ocean through new satellite and drift analysis of the 2014 crash released Wednesday. But the Australian Transport Safety Bureau cautioned that the drift analysis by Australian science agency CSIRO is based on French satellite images of "probably man-made" floating objects without evidence that they were from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Still, the locations could provide potential starting points to search within a 25,000-square-kilometer (9,700-square-mile) expanse identified by a panel of experts in November as the most likely resting place of the Boeing 777 and the 239 passengers and crew on board. That expanse adjoins the original search zone far southwest of Australia that was identified through satellite analysis of the final hours of the flight, which apparently ended when the plane ran out of fuel. Malaysia, China and Australia agreed to suspend the deep-sea sonar search in January after 120,000 square kilometers (46,000 square miles) of seabed were combed without finding any trace of Flight 370. The new analysis is based on French military satellite images gathered on March 23, 2014two weeks after Flight 370 mysteriously veered far off course during a flight from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijingthat were taken near the original underwater search zone. The Australian bureau took over the search for Flight 370 from Malaysia a week later. Satellite experts at Geoscience Australia were not asked to analyze the images until March this year. The experts concluded that a dozen objects appeared to be man-made. CSIRO then investigated where the objects might have originated before drifting for two weeks. CSIRO identified three potential crash sites35.6 degrees S, 92.8 degrees E; 34.7 degrees S, 92.6 degrees E and 35.3 degrees S, 91.8 degrees E. "So that is a way of potentially narrowing down the search area with the very important caveat that, of course, we can't be totally sure that those objects seen in the images are actual pieces of plane," CSIRO oceanographer David Griffin said. "This might be a really good clue. It might be a red herring. But if you are going to search, then you'd be silly to ignore this potential clue," he added. The Australian bureau's chief commissioner, Greg Hood, said in a statement, "Clearly we must be cautious" of the lack a definite link to Flight 370. Malaysian Deputy Transport Minister Aziz Kaprawi said the civil aviation department would need to evaluate the data since it's based on satellite images from a few years ago. "We will need to verify the data to see if it's credible before we make any decision," Aziz told The Associated Press. Malaysia, China and Australia have decided that the search will remain suspended unless new evidence pinpoints the wreckage's whereabouts. But seabed exploration company Ocean Infinity, based in Houston, Texas, said last week it has offered to launch a private search for the Malaysian-registered airliner. Voice370, a support group for victim's families, said under the terms of the offer made to Malaysia in April, Ocean Infinity "would like to be paid a reward if and only if it finds the main debris field." They urged Malaysia to accept the offer. Aziz said Wednesday that the offer was still being negotiated. He said there were some other "monetary terms" set by the firm that were unacceptable to the government. "There are three categories of findings in the offer. The terms are a bit ambiguous," Aziz said. "The government wants the terms to be transparent and clear." He declined to give details. 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Officials at the Scottish Parliament say the legislature's IT systems are under sustained cyberattack but have not been breached. Parliament chief executive Paul Grice said Wednesday that the system was under "brute force cyberattack," with hackers making repeated attempts to crack passwords. He said in an email to staff and lawmakers at the Edinburgh-based parliament that the attack is still underway, but "there is no evidence to suggest that the attack has breached our defenses and our IT systems continue to be fully operational." Grice said the National Cyber Security Center was helping repel the attack. He said it is "not uncommon for brute force attacks to be sustained over a period of days." The British Parliament in London was hit by a similar attack in June. 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Credit: University of Liverpool Dog loving travellers can now tap into the human- canine history of New York, Paris and London on the move by using a new app developed by the University of Liverpool. The Sniffing the Past app, which can be downloaded for Android and Apple devices, pinpoints often hidden locations of human-canine history in each of these global cities and even allows users to upload their own images and points of interest to share. The app is based on the Dogopolis research of University of Liverpool historian, Dr Chris Pearson, funded by the British Academy and the Wellcome Trust. Dr Pearson said: "The everyday ways in which humans and dogs share modern Western cities can seem unremarkable. "Yet this cohabitation has a deeply historical character, and some sights have disappeared. "Urbanites treated dogs as companions worthy of protection, or pests who deserved eradication. "They separated dogs into different categories, such as "stray" and "pet," and deliberated on their correct relationship with humans. "Fears about dirt and disease led to repeated campaigns against stray, rabid and, from the mid-twentieth century, defecating dogs. "But humans also relied on pet dogs to make modern city life more bearable, and mobilized police dogs to make the streets feel safer." The app features human-canine stories and sites, many of which have disappeared from present day London, Paris and New York. It focuses on the period between 1850 and 1940, a time of significant urbanisation in each city that transformed the relationship between dogs and humans. It was during this time that kennel clubs, Pasteur Institutes, animal protection societies, municipal pounds, dog shelters, anti-excrement measures and police dog units were all introduced. More information: The download the free smartphone app, Sniffing the Past, please visit appstore.liv.ac.uk/sniffing-the-pas US National Mall lawn area facing the Washington Monument during the reconstruction process. Shown is a section of the Mall where new grass installation is complete. Credit: Joseph Roberts. It's not every day United States history mixes with microbes in the soil. But when the turf on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. was replaced, it offered scientists the opportunity to study changes in the soil underneath. The work focused on the bacteria present in the soil. To the researchers' surprise, the communities of microbes did not change a lot before and after the renovation. These communities in the soil are known as the soil microbiome. "My lab is interested in how microbes can move around in the environment, and how they change and adapt as a result of this movement," explains Jo Anne Crouch, a USDA-Agriculture Research Service researcher. Crouch is lead author of the study. "We thought that the new 'imported' turf from New Jersey would introduce different communities of bacteria to the National Mall. However, we found that they weren't significantly different." Crouch's work focused on turf grass, defined as a large area of green grass. It is made up of the grass, its roots, and the soil and microbes found with them. Think of the soil microbiome as similar to the collection of microbes found in the human gut. When the microbes are out of balance, it can make someone sick. Crouch says it's the same for the soil microbiome. Many of the worst diseases in crops or other environments are linked with changes in the soil microbiome. This is why it's important to research how changes like those at the National Mall affect the microbes underneath the turf. US National Mall lawn, right before the renovation. Credit: Joseph Roberts. "There is a lot of interest in the management of helpful plant-associated organisms as allies to keep plants healthy and fight against disease and pests," Crouch says. "Many microbes have long been appreciated for their ability to help plants stay healthy, either through better nutrition or defense." For their study, Crouch's team and University of Maryland turfgrass pathologist Joseph Roberts looked at soil bacteria before and after the renovation. Using laboratory tests, they used the bacteria's DNA to try to figure out exactly what types of bacteria were present. There were some differences in the microbes present, but not enough for the researchers to say the renovation had a big impact on the bacteria. They also found a lot of variety in the bacteria. For example, bacteria that break down nitrogen in the environment were heavily present, as were bacteria common in human-affected environments. Over 1,600 different species were detected. "We were surprised by the outcome, as we thought that the microbiome would experience big changes, and that just wasn't what the data showed," Crouch says. "However, there is still much to learn about how issues like this impact microbes that are paired with plants." US National Mall lawn area facing the Washington Monument during the reconstruction process, prior to the installation of new sod grass. Pictured in the green hard hat is Michael Stachowicz, Turf Management Specialist, National Mall and Memorial Parks. He is explaining the scope of the renovation to students enrolled in a class at the University of Maryland, College Park. Credit: Joseph Roberts. Additionally, Crouch says that even though the changes between the soil samples were small, scientists are also starting to appreciate that sometimes a really important microbe is a rare one. This means it would be hard to detect but could greatly affect how the groups function as a whole. "Agricultural areas and other natural spaces are highly vulnerable to negative changes," she says. "Microbiomes offer a new and almost entirely untapped opportunity to influence interactions among plants and microbes to improve plant productivity and health." Read more about this research in Crop Science. The USDA Agricultural Research Service funded this research. Much of this research was conducted by Zakiya Carter, then a high school senior, as part of Maryland's Prince George's County Science and Technology Internship Program. More information: Jo Anne Crouch et al, The US National Mall Microbiome: A Census of Rhizosphere Bacteria Inhabiting Landscape Turf, Crop Science (2017). DOI: 10.2135/cropsci2016.10.0849 This March 9, 2016, file photo shows a total solar eclipse in Belitung, Indonesia. A solar eclipse on Monday, Aug. 21, 2017, is set to star in several special broadcasts on TV and online. PBS, ABC, NBC, NASA Television and the Science Channel are among the outlets planning extended coverage of the first solar eclipse visible across the United States in 99 years. (AP Photo/File) Ronald Dantowitz has been looking forward to Monday's solar eclipse for nearly 40 years. An astronomer who specializes in solar imaging, he's been photographing eclipses for more than three decades, and will be using 14 cameras to capture the Aug. 21 celestial event. The cameras have solar filters to capture the eclipse in its partial phases, along with custom modifications that can photograph the corona and light wavelengths that are invisible to the human eye, allowing scientists to view and study the sun's temperature and composition in a way only possible during a total eclipse, he said. Dantowitz, who is based at Dexter Southfield School in Brookline, Massachusetts, is lending his expertise to NOVA's "Eclipse Over America," airing at 9 p.m. EDT Monday on PBS. That hourlong special, which will incorporate his images, is among extensive coverage planned on TV and online of the first solar eclipse to cross the United States in 99 years. Still, witnessing totalitywhen the sun is completely obscured by the moonis best done with the naked eye, not a camera, Dantowitz said, adding that the total eclipse is safe to view without special lenses. "Enjoying totality by eye is more rewarding," he said. "There is much to see: stars during the daytime, the million-degree solar corona, and seeing the sun blacked out during the daytime. "I have been waiting almost 40 years for this eclipse, and although I will be operating 14 cameras during totality, I will certainly take a moment to gaze at the eclipse the same way people have done for thousands of years: with wonder." For those not in the 14 states comprising the eclipse's "path of totality," here's a look at some of the viewing opportunities online and on TV: "Eclipse of the Century ": CNN plans two hours of livestreaming, 360-degree coverage accessible in virtual reality through Oculus headsets beginning at 1 p.m. EDT. Accompanying television coverage will include reporting from Oregon, Missouri, Tennessee and South Carolina. "Eclipse Over America ": The PBS science series NOVA is planning a quick turnaround on its eclipse documentary premiering Monday. Senior executive producer Paula S. Apsell said "Eclipse Over America," which delves into why eclipses occur and what scientists can learn from them, will incorporate images of the event from across the country shot earlier that day with Dantowitz's high-tech cameras. "Great American Eclipse ": The Science Channel will broadcast its live coverage from Madras, Oregon, from noon to 4 p.m. EDT, with commentary from educators and astronomers from the Lowell Observatory. "The Great American Eclipse ": David Muir will anchor ABC's two hours of live coverage, with correspondents reporting from viewing parties across the country. NBC also plans live coverage, with Lester Holt hosting special reports at 1 and 2 p.m. EDT featuring correspondents reporting from Oregon, Illinois, Wyoming and South Carolina. Shepard Smith will break into typical broadcasting on Fox News Channel from noon to 4 p.m. EDT to update viewers on the eclipse and introduce footage from NASA and observatories around the country. "Solar Eclipse: Through the Eyes of NASA ": NASA will offer hours of coverage online and on NASA Television beginning at noon Eastern. It plans livestreaming of the eclipse beginning at 1 p.m. EDT with images from satellites, research aircraft, high-altitude balloons and specially modified telescopes. "The Total Solar Eclipse": The Weather Channel is kicking off its live coverage at 6 a.m. EDT and continuing throughout the day with dispatches from seven locations along the "path of totality." ___ Follow AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen at www.twitter.com/APSandy . 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Over the last three years, Einaras Gravrock has turned his concerns as a parent into a fast-growing cybersecurity startup. Gravrock had grown anxious about his children's privacy when he heard about baby monitors being hacked. By the time they started playing with iPads, he wanted protection. What he ended up with is Cujo, a bowl-size firewall device that hard-wires into a home router, providing for digital security what a guard dog brings to physical defense. Gravrock believed enough in the idea that he divested from and stepped down as chief executive of Iconery, an online shop for jewelry that he co-founded. Iconery continues to operate. For Cujo, he's leaned on the expertise of Yuri Frayman, a friend who runs cybersecurity software maker Zenedge. Frayman had seen the need for Cujo firsthand. A couple of years before, his business clients began demanding that his home have as much cybersecurity as his corporate office. Gravrock raised $330,000 off a Kickstarter crowdfunding page, opened headquarters outside Los Angeles and agreed to a manufacturing deal with a factory in Illinois. Now, Cujo is nearing 100,000 users and 100 employees. The device is stocked at Best Buy and on Amazon.com for $250. Cujo picked up $11 million from 27 investors in a recent financing round, including earlier loans converted into stock. Investors include TA Ventures in Ukraine, USC adjunct business professor Ivan Nikkhoo and, of course, Frayman. DOES CUJO WORK? Gravrock knows what he's selling won't stop every computer virus or hacker. But he sees $250 as a necessary expense to deter the inconveniences that come with being hacked. The average user sees about five to seven suspicious connections blocked each week, he said. "For someone installing ADT or a Ring, it's the next frontier," he said, referring to home security options. "Cujo is not that silver bullet, but being vigilant and educated about the problem, you have to apply best practices." Others in the industry back up that view. "It's a good step in the right direction for home consumers," said Adriel Desautels, chief executive of Netragard, which tests security at companies in gaming, health and finance. "It's going to eliminate the low-hanging fruit." But Desautels cautioned that Cujo alone might only take a consumer to 3 from 1 on a 100-point scale of security. That score could improve if Cujo succeeds on plans to add increased functionality. Business customers who purchased Cujo for employees have brought in auditors to test Cujo's effectiveness, but Gravrock said there are no plans to publish results. Desautels said he would like to see audits of Cujo's effectiveness in protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information passing online through a home. HOW CUJO WORKS Cujo works by analyzing router traffic data. It can see what computer your own device is connecting to on the internet, how much information is being transferred and the speed at which it's being sent. In relative terms, Cujo sees cars on a road, but not the interiors of them. Unlike some rivals, the company doesn't use deep packet inspection software to analyze the innards, a tactic often used in corporate firewalls and censorship software. In a few days of testing Cujo, the firewall mostly denied connections to tracking services apparently related to online ad technology. They probably belonged on an industry list of flagged websites. The device is meant to learn a user's behavior over time, so that, for instance, a connection between a webcam and a computer in Russia is thwarted, except in homes where devices often visit Russian websites. Cujo's system is "looking for telltale signs," Gravrock said. "It collects a couple of hundred data points and builds out a decision on the fly." Traffic data are sent to Cujo's servers, where they are scrambled and stored with password protection. It hires consultants to test the security of its own system. Cujo stores data as long as a week, depending on whether the information proves useful in improving the software that detects suspicious connections. A Cujo mobile app issues alerts about blocked traffic and serves as a hub for parental controls. In testing, Cujo didn't noticeably slow website load times, but it needed to be disabled several times when websites didn't load for an unidentified reason. The setup process also produced unspecified errors, though logging out and logging back in did the trick. Most of the complaints that stem from Cujo come from complex home network setups or specific devices that lead to communications issues with the firewall. That might make it a bad fit for some users. Cujo offers customer service through video chat on its app 16 hours a day, though the hours aren't prominently displayed - an issue the company said it would address. The company further tries to ameliorate any concerns by modeling itself on video doorbell maker Ring, which includes its chief executive's emails on packaging. With Cujo, new users get an email with Gravrock's cellphone number and email address. CUJO'S COMPETITION Cujo has rivals on three fronts: Router makers, antivirus software developers and other hardware startups. Experts say there's little reason Linksys, Netgear or other router brands can't match Cujo's features - and many are moving in that direction after years of burying settings and data to which Cujo's app provides simple access. Gravrock said Cujo decided not to compete with such router makers because it would have to wade into the fierce technical competition to make Wi-Fi speeds faster, which could distract from its security focus. Antivirus protection providers are having to adapt because installing software on devices is no longer practical as a variety of new appliances go online, including toasters and light bulbs. Norton's $250 Core router doubles as a home network firewall with a $10-a-month subscription. New companies such as Bitdefender, Keezel, RATrap and Dojo offer devices comparable to the Cujo at lower prices. About 70 percent of Cujo customers pay $250 for the device upfront. The remainder opt to pay about $100 upfront, but then $9 a month indefinitely for service. The company has received marketing help by partnering with organizations, such as one promoting children's safety, to distribute devices to members. Cujo declined to identify customers or partners by name. Gravock has been leading companies since finishing at USC in 2009. Before the jewelry website, he co-founded Modnique, a once-fast-growing online retailer of clothing. Another division of the company struggled financially, leading to a bankruptcy fire sale in 2015. 2017 Los Angeles Times Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Political rebellions and riots have been associated with warmer weather, but until now, there has been little research on its potential influence on peaceful and democratic political behavior. A new study, published in the open-access journal Frontiers in Psychology, has uncovered a connection between changes in temperature and voting behavior in the United States of America. "We found that increases in state-level temperatures from one election to another are related to increases in state-level voter turnout, and increases in votes for the incumbent party," says Jasper Van Assche, who completed this research in the Department of Developmental, Personality and Social Psychology at Ghent University, Belgium. "Voter behavior data from each state was collected for all the U.S. presidential elections from 1960 to 2016 and compared to the difference between maximum temperature on voting day and that of the previous election day," explains Van Assche. "We found that for every 10C increase in temperature, voter turnout increased by 1.4%." The study also revealed that a rise in temperature motivated some citizens to cast their vote for the smaller political parties (Greens, Libertarians, Independents). Counteracting this, was the finding that warmer weather was a stronger motivator for some citizens to vote for the government currently in power. "Although these effects are rather small compared to the 'usual suspects' that predict voting, they might play a role in close races," says Van Assche. The study details one such case; the 2000 presidential election. Applying the findings of the study, Van Assche and his co-authors suggests a mere 10C (1.8oF) increase in temperature may have made Al Gore the 43rd U.S. President instead of George W. Bush, as Gore would have won in Florida. Van Assche is keen to explain that his results were not affected by other factors that can influence voter behavior. "Importantly, the relationship between voter behavior and turnout remained true even when we took into account the 'usual suspects' that can have an effect - the president being available for reappointment, the incumbent president being elected or not (Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Gerald Ford were Vice Presidents), presidential approval ratings, whether the president's party had a majority in Congress during the two last years, and change in state gross domestic product (GDP), amongst others." The study analyzed changes in temperature (an increase or decrease in temperature on voting day, when compared to the previous election day), rather than absolute temperature because of the latter's potential effects on the results. An absolute temperature of 30oC would be a normal temperature for California, but hot in Alaska. Moreover, absolute temperature can be linked to other factors that may affect voting behavior. For example, poverty is generally higher in countries with hotter climates. It is hoped that future studies will delve deeper and increase our knowledge of what can influence voter behavior. "There is a large amount of research on voter behavior, but little attention has been paid to the seemingly illogical factors that can influence the way people vote. Future studies could expand our understanding by tapping into smaller levels of analyses (e.g., cities or counties) or by including emotions (such as anger) which might explain some of the effects," concludes Van Assche. More information: Jasper Van Assche et al, When the Heat Is On: The Effect of Temperature on Voter Behavior in Presidential Elections, Frontiers in Psychology (2017). DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00929 Journal information: Frontiers in Psychology Provided by Frontiers 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. The most important part of any good animal shelter is having a safe and clean space for cats, dogs and pets of all shapes and sizes. Jackson Countys animal shelter has been looking at possible remodeling of their site to help update the building to better handle the animals they take in. Over the past few months though, as fundraisers have been held and money has been raised, the better option might be to build a completely new building. The current facility has serviced its volunteers well, but with a number of sanitary, sound and space issues, the better option seems to now be to start from scratch. Some of the initial problems with this proposal was finding a place to go, moving outside of Black River Falls means the city would no longer pay for the utilities of the building. Its proximity to the high school also allowed a lot of Tiger students take mini field trips to the animal shelter, so leaving Black River Falls meant leaving the help as well. There is hope for a new site though as the Executive and Finance board discussed in their last meeting a possible new location. After some discussion weve come up with utilizing a small portion of land, maybe an acre and a half, behind the Veterans Memorial Park and across from the DHHS, county chairman Ray Ransom said at the meeting. That new location keeps the animal shelter right in the sweet spot of being able to have volunteers and students from the BRF school district and keeps it within city limits. Its an ideal move for both the county and the animal shelter as the county isnt really having to sell or transfer the land to anyone and the shelter is moving almost laterally from its current position. No construction has started yet as the funds for a new building still need to be raised, but its one step forward for the Jackson County Animal Shelter. SPARTA Frank G. Mangin, 61, of Sparta went home to be with his Savior in the wee hours of the morning Friday Aug. 11, 2017, at his home in Sparta, surrounded by his children and his wife. He was born in Trenton, N.J. March 3, 1956, to John and Mildred Mangin (Morelli). Frank grew up in the Catholic church. He was baptized again as an adult at Living Faith Church in Viroqua. Most recently he was a member of Grace Evangelical Free Church in Viroqua. He joined the Army from Jan. 30, 1978, through Jan. 29, 1981. He was stationed in Schofield Barracks in Hawaii for all three years. He then completed an associates degree in computer science at Hesser College. Frank and Debi (Helstrom) Mangin were wed Nov. 29, 1986, in Whitinsville, Mass. They lived for two years in North Andover, Mass., where Frank worked at Modicon as a technical trainer. Then they moved to Whitinsville, where they began to build their home in nearby East Douglas, where he worked briefly at LTX prior to returning to Modicon. In 1994, Frank began working for Allen Bradley Corporation in Marlboro, Mass., and the family lived in Brookfield. In 1997, he began working for Yaskawa Electric Corp., leading them to move to Lindenhurst, Ill., in 1998 and during that time he finished his bachelors degree in business administration at Trinity International University. He was eventually laid off for two years, when he started working as an independent contractor for Watlow in Richland, Ill., and this eventually led to his job with Watlow in Winona, Minn., as a technical writer/training specialist for the past 13 years. Frank enjoyed spending time with his family, biking and hunting, and most recently shooting sports. Although Frank enjoyed many of these things, he wanted his life to be centered completely on his relationship with Jesus Christ as the Savior of his soul. His life was changed by the power of God and he greatly desired that everyone would come to a true knowledge of a deep and personal relationship with Jesus. Frank lived a life of quiet service to those he loved, and though he is no longer here on this earth, the life he lived will be cherished and remembered in the hearts of his family and friends. Frank is preceded in death by his mother, Mildred (Morelli) Mangin, his sister, Theresa McNamara; and his father, John Mangin. He is survived by his wife of 30 years; and his children, Bethany, Cameron and Mercy; as well as his brothers, John Mangyn, Fred Mangin and his children, Freddy, Julie, and Andrew, and grandson, Jackson; his brother-in-law, Peter McNamara, and his daughter, Elizabeth (McNamara) McCaron; as well as Debis parents, Barbara and Ralph Helstrom; her brothers and sisters-in-law, David and Tammy Helstrom and Eric and Heidi Helstrom and their children and grandchildren. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday Aug. 19, at the Viroqua Church of Christ. Pastor Rich Mauer will officiate. A visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at the church and from 10 a.m. until service time. The Seland Funeral Home is assisting the family. Online condolences may be given at selandsfuneralhome.com. Memorials may be directed to the family, who desires to pass along funds to Childrens Vision International in Bogota, Columbia and Pure Life Ministries. LA CRESCENT, Minn. William Bill J. Gilles of La Crescent died at the La Crescent Nursing Home Monday, Aug. 14, 2017, a few days after celebrating his 91st birthday. Bill was born Aug. 9, 1926, to Sylvester and Irene (Kolefsky) Gilles. In 1948, he married Helen (Schultz) Gilles. Helen died in 2012. He is survived by four children, Teresa (Richard) Walter, James (Anne) Gilles, Joseph (Anne) Gilles and Michael (Joan) Gilles. He also has 19 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren. He loved his family, and helped build their houses, decks, and farms. He was happiest helping others, especially family (brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, children). Bill is survived by his sisters, Joan Viner and Rosemary Malzacher; and sister-in-law, Yvonne Gilles. He was preceded in death by siblings, Colleen and George Gautsch, Jim Gilles, Wayne Viner and Lawrence Malzacher. Bill graduated from Aquinas High School in La Crosse and attended St Johns University in Minnesota until serving in the Army in World War II. He was a consummate citizen. He served as a mail carrier to roughly half of La Crescent, his smile and friendliness always visible. He also served as postmaster in Hokah, Minn., and on the La Crescent city council and planning commission. Bill was a long-term member of Crucifixion Church, singing in the choir, serving on the parish council, reading, ushering, or doing anything he could do. He was, until his death, a member of the La Crescent American Legion. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus, serving as treasurer for many years. He cared deeply for his neighbors, his community, his church. A Mass of Christian burial will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 18, at the Church of The Crucifixion, La Crescent. The Rev. Gregory Havel will officiate. Burial will be in the Crucifixion Catholic Cemetery. A visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17, at the Crucifixion Church in La Crescent and again from 9:30 a.m. until the time of services Friday. The Schumacher-Kish Funeral & Cremation Services of La Crescent, is in charge of arrangements. Online guestbook is available at www.schumacher-kish.com. Memorials may be given to the La Crescent Library or any charity of donors choice. Inventory needs to be managed and managed well, or you are going to get in recurring trouble, and lose your credibility and hard-earned conversions, whether Read more Nucor Corporation manufactures and sells steel and steel products. The company's Steel Mills segment produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and galvanized sheet steel products; plate steel products; wide-flange beams, beam blanks, and H-piling and sheet piling products; and bar steel products, such as blooms, billets, concrete reinforcing and merchant bars, and special bar quality products. It also engages in the steel trading and rebar distribution businesses. This segment sells its products to steel service centers, fabricators, and manufacturers in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Its Steel Products segment offers hollow structural section steel tubing products, electrical conduits, steel racking, steel joists and joist girders, steel decks, fabricated concrete reinforcing steel products, cold finished steel products, steel fasteners, metal building systems, insulated metal panels, steel grating and expanded metal products, and wire and wire mesh products primarily for use in nonresidential construction applications. This segment also engages in the piling distribution business. The company's Raw Materials segment produces direct reduced iron (DRI); brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron, hot briquetted iron, and DRI; supplies ferro-alloys; and processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal, as well as engages in the natural gas drilling operations. This segment sells its ferrous scrap to electric arc furnace steel mills and foundries for manufacturing process; and nonferrous scrap metal to aluminum can producers, secondary aluminum smelters, steel mills and other processors, and consumers of various nonferrous metals. It serves agriculture, automotive, construction, energy and transmission, oil and gas, heavy equipment, infrastructure, and transportation industries through its in-house sales force; and internal distribution and trading companies. Nucor Corporation was incorporated in 1958 and is based in Charlotte, North Carolina. Your Ultimate Investing Toolkit Sign up for MarketBeat All Access to gain access to MarketBeat's full suite of research tools: Portfolio Monitoring Top Stock Lists Premium Reports Stock Screeners Live News Feed Premium Support Free for your first month. The following appeared in La Crosse County Circuit Court: Kevin Vue, 27, of 1240 S. East Ave., was charged Wednesday with possession of meth, disorderly conduct and misdemeanor bail jumping. Vue on Saturday pushed a woman and had 0.8 grams of meth, according to the complaint. Paul Poehling, 56, of West Salem was charged Wednesday with threat to a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer and failure to obey a traffic officer. Poehling led a sheriffs deputy on a 2.9-mile pursuit on Sunday and threatened the deputy, according to the complaint. Jacob Lorenz, 23, no permanent address, was charged Wednesday with possession of meth and felony bail jumping. Lorenz violated his bond Saturday by having 0.3 grams of meth, according to the complaint. Kris Orosco, 54, of 2137 Mississippi St., was charged Wednesday with felony bail jumping. Orosco violated his bond Tuesday by drinking alcohol, according to the complaint. Jason Drake, 42, no permanent address, was charged Wednesday with possession of meth and THC, both as a repeat offender. Drake had 0.9 grams of marijuana 0.7 grams of meth, according to the complaint. Ryan Lemke, 35, unknown address, was charged Wednesday with possession of meth as a repeat offender. Lemke had 0.4 grams of meth on Monday, according to the complaint. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. operates as an omni-channel specialty retailer of various products for home. It offers cooking, dining, and entertaining products, such as cookware, tools, electrics, cutlery, tabletop and bar, outdoor, furniture, and a library of cookbooks under the Williams Sonoma Home brand, as well as home furnishings and decorative accessories under the Williams Sonoma lifestyle brand; and furniture, bedding, lighting, rugs, table essentials, and decorative accessories under the Pottery Barn brand. The company also provides home decor products under the West Elm brand; kids accessories under the Pottery Barn Kids brand; and an organic bedding to multi-purpose furniture under the Pottery Barn Teen brand. In addition, it offers made-to-order lighting, hardware, furniture, and home decors inspired by history under the Rejuvenation brand; and women's and men's accessories, travel, entertaining and bar, home decor, and seasonal items under the Mark and Graham brand, as well as operates a 3-D imaging and augmented reality platform for the home furnishings and decor industry. The company markets its products through e-commerce websites, direct-mail catalogs, and retail stores. It operates 544 stores comprising 502 stores in 41states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico; 20 stores in Canada; 19 stores in Australia; 3 stores in the United Kingdom; and 139 franchised stores, as well as e-commerce websites in various countries in the Middle East, the Philippines, Mexico, South Korea, and India. Williams-Sonoma, Inc. was founded in 1956 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California. Body found at Teck Whye Crescent on 16 Aug. Photo: Safhras Khan/Yahoo News Singapore *UPDATE: This story was amended at 12.15pm on 16 August 2017 to reflect a statement from the police. A body was found on the pavement near Block 165a Teck Whye Crescent on Wednesday morning (16 Aug). Arriving at the scene at 8.20am, Yahoo News Singapores correspondent saw the body of a man on the ground. About a dozen police officers were spotted at the scene. One of the residents at the block told Yahoo News Singapore that she heard a commotion at about 3am in the morning. I was asleep and I heard arguing. I got up and that was when I heard the sound of people running down the staircase followed by more shouting, said the woman, who gave her name only as Hawa. Hawa, who lives on the third floor, said that fights and arguments happened regularly at the block. This is not the first time that Ive heard fighting during the wee hours of the morning. So I went back to bed. But I am shocked when I saw the cordon when I got up later and heard that a body was found, said Hawa, who has lived there for five years. Investigators were seen at the fourth floor of the block gathering evidence. Half of the common corridor on the fourth floor of the block was cordoned off as police carried out their investigations. Blood stains were seen on the wall near the lift landing. A shop assistant working at the convenience store below the block said that police officers spoke to her when she started her shift at 7am. She said, They said a Malay man was involved in a fight and was stabbed at about 4am. They asked me questions but I told them I did not see anything, said the woman who do not want to be named. Investigators were seen at a crime scene at 165A Teck Whye Crescent. Photo: Safhras Khan/Yahoo News Singapore Investigators were seen at a crime scene at 165A Teck Whye Crescent. Photo: Safhras Khan/Yahoo News Singapore According to police, a 48-year-old suspect was arrested in connection with the case, which has been classified as murder. Police received a call requesting assistance at about 4.42am and upon arrival, a 35-year-old man was found lying motionless at the roadside. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 4.55am. Officers from Criminal Investigation Department and Jurong Police Division arrested the suspect at 10.15am. Preliminary investigations revealed that the incident is believed to have arisen from a dispute between the victim and the suspect, who are understood to be housemates. Story continues Investigations are ongoing. More Singapore stories Man with knife in bag arrested for robbing handphone shop in Bukit Batok Indian and Chinese troops clashed briefly on a disputed area of land in the Himalayas, officials said Wednesday, exacerbating tensions during a months-long standoff between the two armies. Chinese troops threw stones at Indian soldiers near Pangong Lake, a major tourist attraction in the picturesque mountain region of Ladakh on Tuesday, an Indian defence official said. He said Chinese soldiers had twice tried to enter the Indian territory but had been pushed back. The incident occurred as the nations are locked in a tense standoff in another border region. "There was a minor incident. There was some stone pelting from the Chinese side but the situation was quickly brought under control," he told AFP on condition of anonymity. The brief confrontation was resolved after Indian and Chinese sides retreated to their respective positions, he added. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she was not aware of the latest reports, but she added that "Chinese border troops are always committed to maintaining peace on the India-China border". "We always patrol along the Chinese line of control. And we urge the Indian side to abide by the line of control and relevant conventions between the two sides," Hua said. Police in the north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, where Ladakh is located, said clashes were relatively common along the de facto border known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC). "These things happen every summer but this one was slightly prolonged and more serious but no weapons were used," a police source in Srinagar told AFP. The Pangong lake area lies over 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) high on the Tibetan plateau. The latest incident comes amid an ongoing dispute between the two sides over a strategic Himalayan plateau thousands of kilometres away where hundreds of Indian and Chinese soldiers have been facing off against each other for more than two months. The border trouble began in June when Chinese soldiers started to extend a road through the Doklam territory -- known as "Donglang" in Chinese. The area is disputed between China and Bhutan. India, a close ally of Bhutan, then deployed troops to stop the construction project, prompting Beijing to accuse India of trespassing on Chinese soil. China has said India must withdraw its troops before any proper negotiation takes place. India said both sides should withdraw their forces together. The plateau is strategically significant as it gives China access to the so-called "chicken's neck" -- a thin strip of land connecting India's northeastern states with the rest of the country. Indian media said the Chinese army had this year declined to participate in ceremonial meetings usually held to mark Independence Day on Tuesday. It was the first time since 2005 that the meetings were not held. The two nuclear-armed neighbours fought a brief war in 1962 in India's border state of Arunachal Pradesh. Tensions along the LAC rose in 2014 when Chinese soldiers moved into territory claimed by India, sparking a two-week military stand-off that overshadowed a visit by China's President Xi Jinping. Investigators seen at the crime scene at 165A Teck Whye Crescent. (PHOTO: Safhras Khan/Yahoo News Singapore) *UPDATE: This story was amended at 12.15pm on 16 August 2017 to reflect a statement from the police. A woman claiming to be the girlfriend of the man found dead at Teck Whye Crescent on Wednesday morning (16 August) said that the deceased had a conflict with his housemate, whom she saw in police custody. The body of Mohammad Roslan Zaini, 35, was discovered on the pavement near Block 165A Teck Whye Crescent. Yahoo News Singapore understands that he was discovered with stab wounds in his chest. The woman, who identified herself as Azlin, rushed to the scene after receiving a call from Roslans friend, who told her that he was motionless on the ground. Having arrived at his flat on the fourth floor of Block 165A, she was told by another friend that he had died. I understand that Roslan had a conflict with his housemate Rosli. I saw the housemate in custody in the police car, said Azlin, who had been dating the deceased since May. Azlin told reporters that Roslan and Rosli rented the flat together and that the last time she had seen the deceased was two days ago. She refused to comment further on the matter. One of the blocks residents said she had heard a commotion going on at 3am. I was asleep and I heard arguing. I got up and that was when I heard the sound of people running down the staircase followed by more shouting, said the woman, who gave her name only as Hawa. According to police, a 48-year-old suspect was arrested in connection with the case, which has been classified as murder. Police received a call requesting assistance at about 4.42am and upon arrival, a 35-year-old man was found lying motionless at the roadside. He was pronounced dead at the scene at 4.55am. Officers from Criminal Investigation Department and Jurong Police Division arrested the suspect at 10.15am. Preliminary investigations revealed that the incident is believed to have arisen from a dispute between the victim and the suspect, who are understood to be housemates. Story continues Investigations are ongoing. Related story: Body found on pavement at Teck Whye Crescent US President Donald Trump sparked another political firestorm Tuesday when he doubled down on his initial response to the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville that ended in bloodshed, saying there was "blame on both sides." The Republican president -- who one day ago solemnly denounced racism and singled out the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis as "criminals and thugs" -- also hit out at what he called the "alt-left" over the weekend melee. Trump has faced days of criticism from across the political spectrum over his reaction to Saturday's unrest in the Virginia college town, where a rally by neo-Nazis and white supremacists over the removal of a Confederate statue erupted in clashes with counter-demonstrators. The violent fracas ended in bloodshed when a 20-year-old suspected Nazi sympathizer, James Fields, plowed his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters, leaving one woman dead and 19 others injured. In a rowdy exchange with journalists at Trump Tower in New York, Trump made clear on Tuesday that he was fed up with continued questioning about the issue. "I think there is blame on both sides," Trump said. His new White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, a former Marine general, appeared displeased during the president's long tirade, standing rigidly. "You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. And nobody wants to say that, but I'll say it right now," Trump continued. "What about the alt-left that came charging... at the, as you say, the alt-right? Do they have any semblance of guilt? (...) There are two sides to a story." "What about the fact they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs? Do they have any problem? I think they do. As far as I am concerned, that was a horrible, horrible day," Trump said. - 'No words' - Trump's comments were immediately welcomed by David Duke, a former "grand wizard" of the Ku Klux Klan and a key figure at Saturday's rally. "Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists," Duke tweeted. But on the political left, the president's words were met with indignation. Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, the first black US president, said on Twitter: "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion." Obama's tweet was the most liked in history, according to the site. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont launched a broadside at Trump, tweeting at the president: "you are embarrassing our country and the millions of Americans who fought and died to defeat Nazism." "Charlottesville violence was fueled by one side: white supremacists spreading racism, intolerance & intimidation. Those are the facts," said Tim Kaine, a former Democratic vice presidential candidate and senator from Virginia. The state's other Democratic senator, Mark Warner, tweeted: "No words." Trump's fellow Republicans were also quick to distance themselves from his remarks. "We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive," Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan wrote on Twitter. "This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity." And the condemnations also spilled beyond the political realm. NBA superstar LeBron James tweeted: "Hate has always existed in America. Yes we know that but Donald Trump just made it fashionable again!" After the contentious press conference, the head of the main US labor union, the AFL-CIO, joined several high-powered executives in stepping down from Trump's manufacturing advisory panel. Outside Trump Tower where the president spoke, hundreds of people protested to denounce racism. They were surrounded by police officers to prevent clashes with a handful of Trump supporters nearby. Protesters chanted: "We are here to stay, we are here to fight!" "I would not have come here if I had not seen him say that on TV 20 minutes ago," said actor Jason David, 23. - 'George Washington next week?' - When asked why he waited until Monday to explicitly condemn hate groups present in Charlottesville, Trump said he wanted to be careful not to make a "quick statement" on Saturday without all the facts. "I wanted to make sure, unlike most politicians, that what I said was correct," Trump insisted. Trump called Fields, who has been charged with second-degree murder, a "disgrace to himself, his family and this country." But he also said that while there were troublemakers at the rally, there were also many people there "to innocently protest and very legally protest" the removal of a "very important statue" of Confederate general Robert E Lee. "I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after?" he said angrily, referring to the fact they owned slaves. "Are we going to take down statues to George Washington? How about Thomas Jefferson? ... You're changing history. You're changing culture." The president also defended his controversial far-right chief strategist Steve Bannon, insisting that "he is not a racist," but without ruling out his possible departure from the West Wing. Pressed as to whether he might visit Charlottesville, Trump -- criticised by some for not telephoning victims of the violence -- said he owns "one of the largest wineries in the United States" in that area. The president bought the winery in 2011 and has given it to his son, Eric Trump. Lawmaker Gwen Moore, a Wisconsin Democrat, urged Republicans to help remove Trump from office. "My Republican friends, I implore you to work with us within our capacity as elected officials to remove this man as our commander-in-chief and help us move forward from this dark period in our nation's history," she said in a statement. Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko on Wednesday ordered an investigation into a report that North Korea procured an engine for its long-range missile from a Ukraine factory. But he nevertheless dismissed as "absurd" any suggestion Ukraine had supplied the communist state with such equipment. A report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said missiles used in recent North Korean tests were based on the Soviet-era RD-250 engine built at Dnipro, Ukraine. While the IISS report did not accuse the Ukrainian authorities or the plant managers of being involved, it did suggest the engines could have been stolen from storage there. But Kiev reacted angrily to an article in the New York Times that emphasised the engine's Ukrainian origin, in a statement posted on the president's website. Poroshenko ordered immediate checks on the New York Times' allegations of deliveries of missile engines or related technology from Ukraine to North Korea -- and a report back in three days. "However absurd the accusations against Ukraine are, we must carefully check... the alleged deliveries," the statement quoted Poroshenko as saying. The high-profile probe would be overseen by Ukraine's national security council chief, Yuzhmash, Ukraine's aerospace firm and other officials. "I am certain that this will confirm the artificiality of the claims of a 'Ukrainian trace' in the North Korean missile," Poroshenko added. In a post on his Facebook page, he said he had given orders for New York Times journalists to be invited Ukraine to "meet Ukrainian partners who were unfairly targeted by baseless suspicions". Earlier this week Kiev denounced the report as an "anti-Ukrainian campaign... provoked by Russian special services to cover their participation in North Korean nuclear and missile programmes". The controversy led IISS missile expert Michael Elleman, who wrote the report that sparked the row, to clarify his position on Twitter. "Yuzhnoye is one of several possible sources, there are other potentials in Russia" he wrote, and the current Ukrainian leadership was likely not involved or aware of any transfer. North Korea carried out a pair of successful intercontinental ballistic missile tests in July following long-term struggles, which the IISS report said could be caused by the RD-250 purchase and refurbishment. Analysis: Why US carbon emissions have fallen 14% since 2005 Posted on 16 August 2017 by Zeke Hausfather This is a re-post from Carbon Brief Before 2005, US carbon emissions were marching upwards year after year, with little sign of slowing down. After this point, they fell quickly, declining 14% from their peak by the end of 2016. Researchers have given a number of different reasons for this marked turnaround. Some have argued that it was mainly due to natural gas and, to a lesser extent, wind both replacing coal for generating electricity. Others have suggested that the declines were driven by the financial crisis and its lasting effects on the economy. Here Carbon Brief presents an analysis of the causes of the decline in US CO2 since 2005. There is no single cause of reductions. Rather, they were driven by a number of factors, including a large-scale transition from coal to gas, a large increase in wind power, a reduction in industrial energy use and changes in transport patterns. Declines in US CO2 have persisted despite an economic recovery from the financial crisis. While the pace of reductions may slow, many of these factors will continue to push down emissions, notwithstanding the inclinations of the current administration. Carbon Briefs analysis shows that in 2016 Overall, CO2 emissions were around 18% lower than they would have been, if underlying factors had not changed, and 14% lower than their 2005 peak. Coal-to-gas switching in the power sector is the largest driver, accounting for 33% of the emissions reduction in 2016. Wind generation was responsible for 19% of the emissions reduction. Solar power was responsible for 3%. Reduced electricity use mostly in the industrial sector was responsible for 18%. Without these changes, electricity sector CO2 emissions would have been 46% higher than they are today. Reduced fuel consumption in homes and industry was responsible for an additional 12% of the overall emissions reductions. Changes in transport emissions from fewer miles per-capita, more efficient vehicles, and less air travel emissions per-capita account for the final 15%. The big picture US emissions peaked in 2005 at just below 6,000 million tonnes of CO2 (MtCO2), and have declined to below 5,200MtCO2 in 2016. The figure below shows actual US emissions in black, as well as the reductions in emissions due to each different cause as a colored wedge. If underlying factors driving emissions had not changed, a growing population would have led to emissions increasing rather than declining over the past decade. Annual US CO2 emissions (in million metric tonnes) from energy in black, with estimated reductions by factor shown by colored wedges. Top chart shows zoomed-in reductions with a truncated y-axis, while bottom chart shows the same chart with a y-axis starting at zero. See methods at the end for details on chart creation. Chart by Carbon Brief using Highcharts. In Carbon Briefs analysis, overall CO2 emissions are around 18% lower than they would have been, if underlying factors had not changed, and 14% lower than their 2005 peak. No single factor is responsible for more than a third of total declines in US CO2. Increases in gas electricity generation is the largest driver, accounting for 33% of the total emissions reduction in 2016. Gas is far from zero-carbon, but reduces CO2 in the US because it mostly displaces high-carbon coal. Wind generation was responsible for 19% of emissions reduction, while reduced electricity use mostly in the industrial sector was responsible for 18%. Reduced industrial CO2 emissions from non-electric sources, such as on-site burning of oil or natural gas, accounted for an additional 7% Other important factors include reduced miles driven, increased vehicle fuel economy and lower emissions from air travel via reductions in CO2 per passenger mile. Solar power accounts for a small, but growing part of emissions reductions, representing 3% of the reduction in 2016. To assess the causes of the reduction in US CO2 emissions, it is necessary to create a business-as-usual scenario where the factors behind those reductions did not change. To do this, Carbon Brief takes the approach of fixing energy use and emissions at 2005 per-capita levels. This shows what emissions would be across various sectors of the economy if conditions had stayed the way they were in 2005. Each sector of the economy that emits CO2 from energy is explored in more detail in the sections below. This includes: electricity generation, transport, and fuel use by buildings and industry. The analysis in this article builds on similar work done by researchers at IIASA, the US Department of Energy, the Breakthrough Institute and others, and extends the data up to the end of 2016. It also extends across most of the sources of CO2 emissions in the economy, rather than just focusing on electricity generation. It is important to note that this analysis concerns itself only with CO2 from energy and not with CO2 emissions from land-use changes or other greenhouse gases. However, as CO2 emissions from energy comprise upwards of 90% of total greenhouse gas emissions, and most US non-CO2 emissions have been declining in recent years in official inventories, a more thorough assessment of all sources of greenhouse gases over the past decade would be likely to lead to similar results. This analysis also does not look at CO2 emissions embodied in trade, though since 2005 the share of CO2 emissions exported through the outsourcing of manufacturing has slightly decreased. Electricity generation Some 36% of US CO2 comes from burning coal, oil and gas to produce electricity, making the sector the single largest source of emissions. Coals share of this mix has fallen precipitously since 2005, down from 55% of total generation to only 33% today. This has largely been replaced by gas and wind. The figure below shows the amount of electricity generated by each fuel between 1990 and 2016. It also includes a business-as-usual scenario, shown in dashed lines for each fuel. In this scenario, both the electricity generation mix and per-capita electricity use remain frozen at 2005 levels, with total electricity use increasing along with the growing population. Annual electricity generation in terawatt-hours (TWh) per year by fuel (solid lines), along with a business-as-usual scenario (dashed lines) where grid mix and per-capita electricity use was held constant at 2005 levels. Chart by Carbon Brief using Highcharts. This gives a sense of what the US power sector would have looked like without the factors that have driven major shifts in recent years. Coal would have remained king, with gas and wind staying close to level and solar remaining negligible. Nuclear generation would have remained largely the same, only increasing slightly over what actually occurred. Carbon Briefs business-as-usual scenario also fixes per-capita electricity consumption at 2005 levels, across the three main sectors of the economy that use electricity: homes, business, and industry. The figure below compares this fixed-demand scenario (dashed lines) to actual demand, which fell in each sector (solid lines). Annual electricity use in TWh by sector (solid lines), along with a business-as-usual scenario (dashed lines) where per-capita electricity use by sector was held constant at 2005 levels. Chart by Carbon Brief using Highcharts. The overall decline in per-capita electricity use is primarily concentrated in industry. As the US economy increasingly moves away from heavy manufacturing, electricity use in that sector is falling. Industry also had larger declines as a result of the recent recession than other sectors, though electricity use has continued to decline even as the economy has recovered. Residential electricity use per-capita has also declined, as a result of the increased deployment of energy efficiency measures. These business-as-usual scenarios for electricity generation and consumption provide a way to calculate contributions to declining US CO2 emissions. The figure below shows actual electric sector CO2 emissions in black, along with the additional emissions that would have occurred if not for the rise of gas, wind, solar and the reduction in electricity use. Annual US CO2 emissions in MtCO2 from electricity generation in black, with estimated reductions from gas (in grey), reduced electricity use (in tan), solar power generation (yellow), and wind generation (green). Chart by Carbon Brief using Highcharts. Coal-to-gas switching is the largest driver of electricity sector CO2 emission reductions, accounting for 45% of the total in 2016. Wind and reduced electricity use each account for around 25%, while solar contributed the remaining 5%. Carbon Briefs estimates of CO2 reductions due to gas and wind are nearly identical to those from the US Department of Energys Energy Information Administration. Without the effects of gas, wind and reduced electricity use, CO2 emissions from the sector could have been expected to continue increasing in line with past trends. By 2016, electricity sector CO2 emissions would then have been almost 46% higher than they are today. This analysis of electricity sector emissions is incomplete, as it does not consider methane leakage. While official inventories suggest that methane emissions from energy have decreased during the US shale boom, other studies show emissions could be much larger. This would offset a portion of the CO2 benefit of switching from coal to gas, at least in the short term. Similarly, some have suggested that the US gas boom has depressed coal prices, potentially leading to increased imports and use by other countries. Transport Transport is the second largest source of US carbon emissions after electricity generation. It includes personal vehicles, corporate fleets, trucks, aviation, public transport, ships and any other mobile emission source. Reductions in transport emissions have primarily come from three sources: people driving less; the vehicle fleet becoming more fuel-efficient; and airlines using less fuel per passenger. The figure below shows trends in these factors since the late 1970s. The dashed black line is the business-as-usual scenario, where conditions remain at 2005 levels. Annual miles driven per capita, vehicle fuel economy (in miles per gallon) and airline fuel use per capita. Dashed black lines in each plot represent fixed 2005 levels. Chart by Carbon Brief using Highcharts. The number of miles driven in the US has increased dramatically over the past 40 years, from around 6,000 miles per person per year in 1973 to more than 10,000 miles per year in 2007. After 2007, however, miles driven per-person began to decline. While it has rebounded a bit since the end of the financial crisis, it remains well below its 2005 peak, perhaps suggesting longer-term changes in driving behavior. Cars and trucks have also become more fuel efficient in recent years. Fuel economy increased through the 1970s and 80s before levelling off after 1992, as standards were met, but not extended. It began to rise again after 2005, as new standards were brought in. These have ratcheted up in recent years, with vehicles on average now 5% more fuel efficient than in 2005. Air travel has become more efficient, too, flying more passengers using less fuel over the past decade as a result of better engines, lighter aircraft and fuller flights. The chart also show significant declines in airline fuel use per person from fewer flights, in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and the 2008/2009 recession. Jet fuel use per person has recovered slightly in recent years, but is still well below what it was a decade ago. The combined effect of these three factors is shown in the figure below, where the black area is actual emissions and the three wedges reflect the emission reductions from reduced miles driven per person, increased fuel economy, and reduced jet fuel used per person. Annual US CO2 emissions in MtCO2 from transport in black, with estimated reductions from reduced miles driven (in orange), vehicle fuel economy (purple) and aviation efficiency emissions (red). Chart by Carbon Brief using Highcharts. This is not a complete analysis of the transport sector, however, as it does not cover changes in other emission sources, including public transport and shipping. Buildings and industry Energy used by buildings and industry, excluding electricity generation, comes in the form of on-site fuel combustion. For homes and businesses, this is mainly gas and oil used for space and water heating. For industry, a number of different processes burn fuels that release CO2. The figure below shows CO2 emissions from the residential, commercial and industrial sectors between 1990 and 2016, along with a business-as-usual scenario where emissions stay constant at 2005 levels. This fixes emissions at 2005 levels rather than 2005 per-capita levels, as they were already flat or declining on a per-capita basis. Annual non-electric emissions from energy use in MtCO2 by sector (solid lines), along with a business-as-usual scenario (dashed lines) where energy use by sector was held constant at 2005 levels. Chart by Carbon Brief using Highcharts. Reduced non-electric CO2 emissions from industry are the main factor driving declines, repeating the picture in the electricity sector. Homes have also seen meaningful declines in emissions, due to a combination of energy efficiency and a switch away from using oil for space and water heating. Note that year-to-year variations are affected by the weather and other factors. Commercial non-electric CO2 emissions have remained steady. This reflects the opposing effects of economic activity and efficiency, which are both increasing. The figure below shows the combined CO2 reductions from each of these sectors. Total non-electric CO2 emissions is shown in black, while the reductions in each sector are shown by the colored wedges. This figure is much flatter than the previous ones, as the business-as-usual scenario fixes emissions at 2005 levels rather than 2005 per-capita levels. Annual US emissions in MtCO2 from non-electric fuel use in homes, businesses and industry in black, with estimated emissions reductions from industry (in light blue), businesses (yellow) and homes (dark blue). Chart by Carbon Brief using Highcharts. Conclusion Many factors have come together to drive US emissions down in recent years. While gas, wind and reduced electricity and energy use played the largest roles, other sectors made important contributions, too. Emissions continued to fall as the US economy recovered from the financial crisis and associated recession, suggesting this was not the main cause of emission reductions, though it may have served as a catalyst. The falling price of gas, wind and solar, ongoing efficiency efforts and vehicle fuel economy standards mean US emissions may remain flat or continue to decline, regardless of current federal inaction on climate change. States are also increasingly taking their own actions to meet emission reduction goals in the absence of federal policy. In this context, significant increases in US emissions would be unexpected, barring subsidies for coal or equally unconventional market interventions. However, the current rate of US CO2 reductions is not sufficient to meet the commitments it made under the Paris Agreement. It is also much too slow to avoid more than 2C of warming since the pre-industrial era. While it is useful to understand the factors behind CO2 reductions to date, both federal and local policy will need to play a role in driving the deep reductions needed to avoid potentially dangerous warming. Methodology Electricity Electricity use and emissions by sector and fuel are taken from the US Energy Information Administrations Monthly Energy Review. A business-as-usual scenario assumes that both grid mixes (percent by fuel) and per capita electricity consumption stay constant at 2005 levels. Population data is from the US Bureau of Economic Analysis. The contribution of reduced electricity use to CO2 reductions was calculated by multiplying the difference in actual and business-as-usual (BAU)scenario electricity generation by month, by the average BAU scenario grid mix emission factor for that month. To calculate the relative contribution of wind, solar and gas to CO2 reductions, their additional power output is assumed to equally displace the energy sources that declined relative to the BAU scenario. In other words, if coal, oil and nuclear have decreased relative to the BAU scenario, new generation from wind, gas and solar is assumed to replace each equally. The choice of what fuels are offset can have a big impact on the estimated emission reductions and help explain differing results from other groups. The approach taken here attempts to give all sources an equal weight and produces results nearly identical to the method used by the US Energy Information Administration. This sort of analysiscan also be done more granularly at the state-level. Transport Data on vehicle miles travelled per month is from the US Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration. Vehicle fuel economy is based on Monthly Energy Review diesel and petrol use for transport and vehicle miles travelled. Airline seat milescome from the US Bureau of Transportation Statistics, while airline fuel use is from the Monthly Energy Review. Fuel economy was calculated by dividing the total monthly vehicle fuel consumption (both petrol and diesel) by the total miles driven by all vehicles. A BAU scenario was created by assuming vehicle miles travelled per capita, airline fuel use per capita, and vehicle fuel economy all remained fixed at 2005 levels. CO2 reductions were calculated based on the difference between the BAU scenario and actual behavior for each. Buildings and industry Non-electric CO2 emissions from homes, businesses and industry are taken from the Monthly Energy Review. A BAU scenario was created by fixing non-electric CO2 emissions for each sector at 2005 levels. CO2 reductions were calculated by comparing the BAU scenario and actual behavior for each. Recently I applied for and obtained a home business license. Didnt know you needed a license to run a business out of your home? Neither did I, until recently. My journey of discovery started when I relocated my small business from Ohio to Florida. I decided to seek certification from the state of Florida as a woman-owned business. While completing the application, I was asked for evidence of my business license. At first, I assumed that since I run this business out of a home office, no license would be required. You see, back in Ohio I didnt need a license. Why would I be required to have a home business license, I thought? No employees work out of my home office, except myself. No clients visit. I dont have any inventory or business equipment on site other than a small amount of office supplies, computers and other things youd find in a typical home office. I dont even receive company mail or packages at my home it goes to an outside mailbox. Why should it matter what I do inside my home, if it doesnt affect the community outside my home? Thats what I thought. However, since I was new to Florida I decided to dig a bit further. And I soon discovered that my county in Florida in fact requires a license for a home business. Yes, you got that right. If you run your business out of a home office even if its just you, a desk and a computer youre required to have a home business license in Collier County, Florida. Its Hard to Find Out About Home Business Licenses The hardest part about home business licenses can simply be the process of finding out whether a license requirement pertains to you. And discovering where and how to apply. This was the hardest part when I got my home business license. Half of my time was spent figuring out that indeed there was a license requirement. Then I had to locate the correct forms online and file them. In many states, you may have to do some real digging to discover this. Business license requirements vary from city to city, and county to county. Unfortunately, there is no single free website or database with all local licensing requirements. You cant depend on your state government website to tell you about home business licenses, either. Heres why. When you go to the state website to search for business licenses you most likely will find a list of industries that require a license from a state board. And home business probably wont be one of those industries. Thats exactly what I found when I visited my state website. I found a list of industries that are regulated by the state. Since my industry (writing and knowledge services) didnt fall into any of those that are regulated by the state such as CPAs, barbers, harbor pilots, home inspectors and the like I assumed we were scot-free. Not so. Home business licenses typically are local very local. Thats because home business license requirements tend to be about local zoning ordinances and local business taxes. In my county, the local business license has nothing to do with whats regulated at the state level. In short, home business licenses are a matter for local government, not the state of Florida. Do I Need a Home Business License? The best way to discover if you need a home business license is to call your local government offices. If you live within city limits, this usually means city offices. If you live outside the city limits, it typically means the county (or parish in Louisiana). You could try a Web search, but you may not find anything even if a home business license requirement exists. This could be due to any number of reasons. The city or county website simply may not contain the information. Or the website may list the license under a different name, such as professional license, business tax receipt, home occupation license or occupational license tax. Or the information could be buried deep under a specific departments web pages that you didnt think to look at, such as the tax collectors department. Thats why a phone call can save time. It also leads to a more reliable result. To find out if you need a home business license, call the main number of your local government. Ask to speak to someone who handles business licenses. In the alternative, ask for the zoning department. Or you could check with the Reference Desk of your local public library. Once you find someone knowledgeable, they can point you to forms and how to apply for your business license. My county has created a YouTube video outlining home business license FAQs. However, dont expect most local governments to be quite so informative. Isnt There An Easier Way to Check? I know what youre thinking: there has to be an easier way to check for home business licenses! I tried the SBA.gov website, which has some information on licensing. But all the SBA site did was refer me to my states website (which wasnt helpful for local licenses). Municode is another site that looks useful at first glance. But I didnt find it helpful for this purpose. Municode contains a searchable library of local laws for around 3,000 cities and counties across the United States. You could try it, but those without legal training may find Municode tough to understand. Its legalese. Also, Municode doesnt contain the laws for all 20,000+ counties and cities in the United States. Then there are private companies online that for a fee claim to find all licensing requirements for you. However, there are three issues with private services: First, you have to pay a fee to use such services, in addition to any licensing fees. Second, theres no guarantee they cover home based businesses. Read their Terms carefully and you will find most make no guarantees. Third, you may not discover the important nuances you only learn by talking with local government officials. Licensing forms can be confusing. For example, at first I thought I needed to file a different form, but a phone call cleared up my confusion. It really pays to talk with local government officials yourself. Applying for a Home Business License Once I discovered the home business license requirement, applying for it was not difficult. I downloaded the license form. It was a couple of pages, with just a few sections to complete such as name, address, type of business and similar data. Pretty easy stuff. I then took the forms in person to the county offices. Once there I met with someone in the zoning office, who verified that my type of business would not violate zoning ordinances. Once the zoning department signed off, I walked my application to the business tax department in the same building. The home business license cost $80. I showed my drivers license, wrote a check, and got my home business license on the spot. All in, it took about four hours: 2 hours Research to discover the licensing requirement. Searched online. Made phone call to county offices. Watched license FAQs video twice. Then had to fill out and copy the form, and look up my state business registration (required). 1 hour Driving time to and from the county offices on a busy Friday. 1 hour Applying with county officials, including wait time. Each year I will have to renew the license for a fee of $30. So not too expensive. But it took almost half a day of time to comply with this one little regulatory headache. And since Im the business owner, I dont get a paycheck for my time. In fact, I had to work on the weekend to make up for lost time. Imagine what it must be like for owners who have more complex regulatory burdens! No License, BUT Still Subject to Zoning and Tax Laws What if your jurisdiction does not require a license? Does that mean you no longer need to worry about your home business? No. Youre not off the hook. Even in the absence of licensing requirements, you still have to comply with zoning laws. Zoning laws tend to restrict anything that could impair property values or the peace and quiet of a residential neighborhood. Zoning laws across the United States may specify what kinds of businesses owners can operate from home. They may go as far as specifying permitted professions. Zoning ordinances may also restrict visitors, equipment, business activities, deliveries, noise, noxious odors and other factors that disturb neighbors or lower property values. Lets look at two examples to see how zoning laws may apply to a home business: Example 1 Joe opens a landscaping business from his home. He has employees coming and going. Piles of mulch are stacked in the driveway among the lawnmowers and trimmers. Joe parks his trucks overnight in the street. In most residential neighborhoods, this sort of activity will get Joe a zoning citation. Joe opens a landscaping business from his home. He has employees coming and going. Piles of mulch are stacked in the driveway among the lawnmowers and trimmers. Joe parks his trucks overnight in the street. In most residential neighborhoods, this sort of activity will get Joe a zoning citation. Example 2 Sam is a freelance software developer. He works quietly in a home office writing code. He has no employees, no business equipment, no business deliveries. In Sams case, zoning laws may be no problem. When you violate a zoning law, you could face fines, orders to desist, or worse. Its always best to check, to avoid expensive consequences. Check for local tax requirements, too. For example, tangible personal property laws may apply, taxing all home business equipment you have. There may be an exemption up to a certain dollar level or home businesses may be exempt. It all depends on your local tax laws. The point is, you must discover what applies to your business. Dont Forget Your Homeowners Association Theres one other place you should check. And thats your Homeowners Association (HOA). See if anything in your HOA documentation restricts home businesses. When I searched my documentation and talked with my HOA manager, I discovered that our development is silent on the topic of home businesses like mine. There are no restrictions. I am not sure what I would have done had I discovered restrictions affecting my home business. Luckily I didnt have to cross that bridge. Many HOA documents are silent. Still, you should check. Some associations will be more strict than others. One homeowner who was hosting crossfit training sessions for neighbors in his garage was accused of operating a business out of his home in violation of HOA rules. Both sides resolved that dispute eventually. But you may not be as fortunate, if you leave it up to chance. Risk is something that few people enjoy. Sure, there are always daredevils who push things too far, but the majority of people are relatively cautious. And while theres something to be said for protecting yourself, successful entrepreneurs dont shy away from risk altogether. The Role of Risk in Entrepreneurship and Business When most people think about entrepreneurs, they picture daredevils who are always taking chances to make or break their careers. Naturally, we have this image of gutsy individuals who bet it all on a chance to make it big but this isnt usually the case. According to a study from the University of California and Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands, many entrepreneurs are driven not by a love of risk, but by loss aversion. In other words, the fear of losing a full-time salary, or the prestige that comes with having a particular job title, is directly correlated to the amount of effort an entrepreneur puts into his work. Interestingly, the research found that entrepreneurs who place a high value on avoiding losses, more than acquiring new gains, work harder and tend to have more success. One of the most important traps entrepreneurs fall into is when theyre not experiencing success and they become increasingly willing to take risks because of where they are psychologically, says Josh Morgan, one of the studys authors. One lesson from the research is to be careful when you are behind. Its not necessarily the best decision to double down. You dont want to eliminate all risk-taking from your arsenal, though. An unwillingness to take any risks will prevent you from ever standing out. You might miss out on three or four chances you take, but getting a single one right can make up for all of the previous losses and more. Business risks can move a business forward, entrepreneur Van Thompson admits. They can gain the owner a reputation as someone who knows how to make good decisions and accurate business assessments. Entrepreneurs with a well-informed risk-taking spirit might see opportunities where others dont and might be able to spot trends well before the market is saturated. Clearly, balance is required when confronting risk as an entrepreneur. Theres something to be said for avoiding unnecessary risk and protecting what you have. Theres also something to be said for being willing to confront risk in order to potentially see a big return. 4 Tips for Managing Entrepreneurial Risk Whether youre a green entrepreneur who is still learning the ropes, or a seasoned veteran with years of experience building out businesses, its always helpful to get some education on risk and what it looks like to be strategic in this area. Here are a few smart and practical tips for confronting risk the right way: 1. Surround Yourself With Information One of the worst things you can do when facing risk is to go with your gut. The idea that you can trust your gut is a piece of advice that people use when they dont know what theyre doing. Its an excuse to make bad decisions. And if the decision turns out to be good, its an opportunity to brag about your intuition. But in all honesty, your brain, not your gut, is where smart decisions are made. Furthermore, if you dont have the knowledge or expertise to make a smart decision, you need to surround yourself with people who do. When necessary, business owners should hire experts to help them make decisions. An attorney, for example, can advise about the legal risks of business decisions. An accountant can help project potential profits and losses, and industry experts can advise about trends in the field, Thompson explains. Business owners are more likely to fail when they dont have enough information or take risks without first considering all possible alternatives. They should surround themselves with trustworthy people and never make a business decision purely on a whim. 2. Know When to Get Out Whenever you enter into a situation that involves risk of any degree, you must have a plan for getting out. More specifically, you need to know when to get out. This is a principle that traders use when making financial investments. Losses are going to happen, but the successful investors are the ones who can accept small losses in order to avoid big losses. Small really means getting out of a bad trade as soon as you can, explains Shane Daly of Netpicks, an investment education and training system for day traders. That means you might have a set of criteria or are seeing some type of price action which will get you out of a trade before it hits your stop-loss order. It also means no mindlessly clinging to a trade in the red when its well beyond your stop, in the hope that it will come back for you. Letting a trade run past your predetermined stop loss is horrendous money management and will cause you to take a loss much larger than you planned for. Much like a day trader setting guidelines for getting out of a bad deal, you have to set your own limits and criteria when taking a risk. If youre investing in a new product, for example, this might look like giving yourself 90 days to market and advertise the product. If you dont get $10,000 in sales, then you scrap the investment and move on. If you dont take a calculated approach, you might get hung out to dry. 3. Ensure Theres Purpose Behind the Risk Risk for the sake of risk is pointless. Unfortunately, a lot of entrepreneurs take risks because they feel like thats what theyre supposed to do. Theyll use cliches like win big or go home as justification for their irresponsible behavior. But taking on risk just because you can isnt smart at all. There should always be purpose behind the risks you take. Spend some time writing down the possible outcomes of any risk before taking it on. Whats the best-case scenario? If that scenario were to play out, would you be better off than you are now? Then consider the second- and third-best outcomes. Would they benefit you? If you find that even the best-case scenarios dont give you that much of a return, the risk probably isnt worth taking. 4. Dont Dwell on Misses Its impossible to hit on 100 percent of the risks you take. Even if you do all of your due diligence and get advice from the foremost experts in the field, youre going to experience some degree of failure. The important thing is that you dont dwell on these misses. The faster you can move on, the better off youll be in the long run. One or two misses wont kill you, but constant dwelling on the mistakes you made will lead you to dig your own grave. Rumination, as defined by one expert, is the compulsively focused attention on the symptoms of ones distress and on its possible causes and consequences as opposed to its solutions. In other words, its what happens when you cant stop dwelling on a failure thats the real problem. The danger of rumination is that you dont just remember or notice the negatives of a past mistake or failure, but you actually relive and continually experience them over and over again. Its debilitating and ultimately prevents you from ever taking a risk again. In order to avoid ruminating, you need to be aware of the fact that youre doing it. Then, when you have negative thoughts, you have to recognize, edit and replace them. This conscious effort not to focus on negative thoughts will eventually help you avoid these thoughts altogether. Dont Automatically Avoid Risk The key word in the risk equation is balance. Too much risk isnt a good thing, just as too little risk strips you of the opportunity to be wildly successful. You need to find that happy medium that allows you to achieve optimal results. It looks different for every entrepreneur, but youll know when you find it. See Also: How to Turn Your Customer Complaints into Business Benefits Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Small business owners are constantly inundated with software solutions that promise to automate tasks, guide, track and manage projects, and improve overall productivity among employees. However, these apps often contain so many distracting bells and whistles that the core of the project becomes buried. According to Project Management Institute (PMI), for every $1 billion invested in the United States, $122 million is wasted due to lacking project performance. Too often, small businesses are orchestrating projects that become confined within the constraints of that management tool and therefore do not meet their full potential. So much so that 75 percent of business and IT execs anticipate their software projects will fail, according to Geneca. Project Management Tips In order to create a company with proper workflow and productivity, small businesses must analyze a few things as they work to implement project management software: Workflow and Productivity Tip #1: Define What You Can Control With small businesses, it is important to determine what you can control. This creates a baseline of where production should be. Once this is established, its important to determine your biggest XFactor. Shiva Rajagopalan is an expert in workflow and productivity as the software platform he founded, Seven Lakes Technologies, helps streamline processes for one of the biggest industries in the world: oil and gas. The XFactor in oil and gas is and this is no surprise the price of oil. While this is controlled by the market, many small businesses will need to overcome similar roadblocks which they have no ability to control. O and G enterprises are using some of the most advanced technologies in the field. Its time they start being innovative in terms of efficiency, says Rajagopalan. It was different when oil was over $100 a barrel. Now that its less than $45, theyre feeling the pressure to get the most amount of petroleum for the least amount of money. Whether its in exploration or services, even minor operational tweaks can have a massive impact on the bottom line. Workflow and Productivity Tip #2: Connect Disparate Teams Effectively According to research by Citrix, 15 percent of the U.S. workforce now spends one or more days a week outside a corporate facility, and they project that number to grow beyond 25 percent within five years. As the workforce goes through a fundamental shift, the rules of decades past will no longer apply. The explosion in virtual collaboration means everyone, from executives to interns, will work from various corners of the world. What becomes important is how teams stay connected and productive. Tsedal Neeley, associate professor at Harvard Business School, suggests, the central problem for global companies is social distance, or managing the emotional connection between coworkers. When people on a team all work in the same place, the level of social distance is usually low. Even if they come from different backgrounds, people can interact formally and informally, align, and build trust Coworkers who are geographically separated, however, cant easily connect and align, so they experience high levels of social distance and struggle to develop effective interactions. Improving collaboration across all departments can have a huge impact on the bottom line for all companies. Whether your business is driven by the freelance economy, or youre a field worker in the oil and gas industry, chances are you can be far removed from your team at any time. Properly connecting disparate teams is a challenge that must be conquered, especially as companies leverage talent all around the globe not just in their backyard. Workflow and Productivity Tip #3: Turn Insights into Actions Companies, large and small, are ripe with big data options. Everyone knows they need to collect it, but the important next step comes from evaluating the results and generating reports on the potential value of those findings. Why did you start collecting this set of data points in the first place? What actions need to be taken as a result of the insights gained? Is there a process that can be improved to remove roadblocks? What data sets can be added to make this more accurate for improving business processes? The goal is to equip your team to drive significant and lasting value. Disparate source systems, ungoverned information, and unreliable data block their view to operational excellence. Give them tools to turn meaningful insights into shared action, says Rajagopalan. This type of event analysis can offer new insights that turn complex data sets from siloed systems, into digestible information that drives business intelligence. The first-level warning is issued for the 16th and 17th. Font size: A - | A + Southern Slovakia will face another heat wave. The Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute (SHMU) has issued warnings for August 16 and 17, the TASR newswire reported. Read also: Read also: Towns and cities battle the heat Read more It issued a yellow (first-level) warning for August 16 for the Bratislava Region and the southern districts of Trnava and Nitra Regions, where the afternoon temperature may climb to 33 degrees Celsius. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement SHMU also issued a yellow warning for August 17, pointing to high temperatures in the southern districts of Bratislava, Trnava, Nitra and Banska Bystrica Regions. The prosecutors office did not find his business with a tax fraud suspect suspicious. Font size: A - | A + The police will not investigate the business of Interior Minister Robert Kalinak and former transport minister Jan Pociatek with tax fraud suspect Ladislav Basternak as corruption. There is no proof to launch an investigation, Deputy Prosecutor General Peter Sufliarsky told the Dennik N daily after reading the investigation file. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement We must not look at the matter from the political and journalistic point of view but from the expert one, Sufliarsky told the daily, adding that it is not the task of the General Prosecutors Office to provide the moral evaluation of its business. Dubious transaction The case concerns the transfer of shares of the B. A. Haus company, which was established in 2008. It was founded by Pociatek, Basternak and Marek Turcan, a lawyer known for doing business with Kalinak. Over three years, Basternak put a total of 850,000 registered as loans into the company. Pociatek also lent 315,000 to the firm. Basternak decided to sell his 34-percent stock in the company in October 2013. He sold 17 percent to Kalinak and another 17 percent to Pociatek. They paid 8,000. Read also: Read also: Thousands of people rallied against corruption Read more However, the real estate broker estimated the value of the shares at between 600,000 and 1 million. Since Pociatek already owned some shares, he became the majority shareholder in B. A. Haus. The rest of the shares are now owned by Kalinak and Turcan, Dennik N wrote. Basternak also sold his loan in the company to Kalinak and Pociatek, dividing it in half. Kalinak even borrowed from Tatra Banka to purchase the loan. This transaction was later noticed by Filip Rybanic, MP assistant of Jozef Rajtar from Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), who is currently facing prosecution for divulging bank secrets. Read also: Read also: MP assistant who peeked into Kalinaks account will face court Read more No actions from the prosecutors office Although the transaction resembles a business more than a gift, the prosecutor's office will not begin an investigation. There is no proof that Kalinak or Pociatek agreed to do something for the businessman in return, according to Dennik N. The General Prosecutors Office closed the case without ordering an expert opinion to assess the value of the stock purchased by Kalinak. The interior minister claims that he paid the real price, which is improbable considering the value of the real estate. Read also: Read also: Corruption is also a problem of our mentality Read more Sufliarsky says that the expert opinion would be more than required by the respective law, Dennik N wrote. Basternak, meanwhile, faces accusations of tax fraud after receiving excessive VAT refunds from the state for the purchase of flats, for which he allegedly paid 12 million in cash. The council had previously elected its new head without revealing the person's name. Font size: A - | A + President Andrej Kiska appointed Radoslav Nanista as the new chairman of the Regulatory Council of the Office for the Regulation of Network Industries (URSO) on August 15. The appointment is effective immediately, Martin Liptak of the President's Office told the TASR newswire. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement The Regulatory Council announced on June 28 that it had elected its new head from among its members, without revealing the person's name. The name of the candidate for appointment was reportedly delivered to the president, as stipulated by law. Read also: Read also: New law would reform utility regulator Read more The posts of URSO chair and Regulatory Council chair were separated by a law introduced this year after the dismissal of URSO and Regulatory Council head Jozef Holjencik following a hike in the public's electricity charges. The coalition condemned the price hike as excessive, and rates were returned to their previous levels. Read also: The Labour Ministry had not withdrawn the accreditation earlier, despite committee recommendations. Font size: A - | A + The ministry led by Jan Richter cited a statement by the Regional Police Corps Directorate in Trencin, whereby a renewed probe has resulted in sexual abuse charges against a former Cisty Den (Trnava region) employee. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Read also: Read also: Cisty Den case re-opened Read more As minister Jan Richter has made clear on several occasions that he will pay attention to any new findings in relation to this facility, the Labour Ministry will cancel the accreditation of the resocialisation facility, ministry spokesperson Veronika Husarova told the TASR newswire on August 15. However, the ministry needs to hear the opinion of the accreditation committee before it can officially issue the decision. Thus, the ministry will file a request for this opinion at the committee's upcoming meeting on August 23, Husarova said. Twists and turns in case of resocialisation centre Cisty Den has come under fire following suspicions that minors at the facility were sexually abused. The ministry originally decided not to withdraw the centre's licence, despite a recommendation by its accreditation committee to do so. The committee is set to assess the case a second time, following recently publicised events. Read also: Read also: Investigation reveals more scandals in abused teenager case Read more Last week, Richter overturned his original decision to keep the accreditation, thus obliging to the appeal of the General Prosecutor's Office. The general prosecutor protested several flaws in the ministerial decision, the Sme daily wrote. The main reason was the decision contradicting the recommendation of the accreditation committee. Opposition MP Natalia Blahova (SaS) also filed a motion with the GPO. Richter has long been criticised by the opposition for his reluctance to look more closely into the case or take steps against the centre's management. On August 19, a rainbow flag will fly over the US Embassy in Bratislava to represent the firm commitment of the United States to defending the human rights of LGBTI people, writes Ambassador Sterling. Font size: A - | A + Support for human rights and democratic values has long been a top priority of the United States, in our own country and around the world. Respect for human rights is not only the right thing to do; it makes the world a safer place. As Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson recently said, when all persons are protected on the basis of equality and with dignity, global stability is strengthened. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Respect for human rights is truly meaningful only when it applies to the most vulnerable of our fellow citizens. This is why the United States stands in solidarity with the LGBTI community and all those around the world who defend the human rights of the LGBTI community. These are the same human rights to which we are all entitled. I applaud the courage and dedication of the many Slovak NGOs working in this area. On August 19, a rainbow flag will fly over the US Embassy in Bratislava to represent the firm commitment of the United States to defending the human rights of LGBTI people. The rainbow flag was designed by American artist Gilbert Baker in 1978 and continues to serve as a symbol of the LGBTI movement. Its colours represent the diversity of the LGBTI community. The same day, people from throughout Slovakia will come to Rainbow Pride Bratislava 2017 to march for the rights of LGBTI individuals. This event is a time for both reflection and celebration. It is a time for all human rights defenders to raise awareness about the value of diversity and the contributions LGBTI people make to society. The things that make us different also make us stronger, so we should celebrate these differences. The first Pride march took place in New York in 1970 and Pride celebrations are now held every year around the world. Since that time, many LGBTI people in the United States and beyond have seen a steady confirmation of their legal rights and acceptance in society, though prejudice and discrimination still exist. In Slovakia, developing and implementing the LGBTI action plan envisioned in the national Human Rights Strategy will provide a roadmap to continue advancing the rights of LGBTI Slovaks. I hope to see a large turnout at Rainbow Pride Bratislava 2017 for a peaceful and joyous event. I also hope in the coming years to see continued growth in respect for the rights of our fellow citizens in the worldwide LGBTI community. We will all be better off in a world where no one will face violence or discrimination because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Adam Sterling is US Ambassador to Slovakia A supplier to the automotive industry plans to produce plastic components for cars. Font size: A - | A + The South Korean company Seoyon E-Hwa Automotive Slovakia wants to open its third plant in the country in Cadca (Zilina Region), planning to create 450 new jobs. The plant should produce plastic components for various parts of vehicles. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Regarding the increasing demand for our products, and also the growing automotive industry in Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland, we need to build a new production and logistics complex, the company wrote in its investment project, submitted for environmental impact assessment, as quoted by the SITA newswire. The company plans to invest 31 million into its new plant. The sum, however, is not necessarily final. Regarding the changes in the costs of construction work or technical equipment, the investment costs are only preliminary, the project reads, as quoted by SITA. Construction is expected to start this year, while production may be launched at the end of next year. The production itself will be carried out by injection moulding machines and single-purpose devices, the TASR newswire reported. Seoyon E-Hwa Automotive Slovakia already has two plants in Dubnica nad Vahom and Povazska Bystrica (both in Trencin Region). It launched its business in Slovakia in 2005 under the name Hanil E-Hwa. It is part of the Seoyon E-Hwa group, SITA wrote. The new network is expected to be finished in three years. Font size: A - | A + The network of emergency departments will undergo crucial changes in the following three years. There should be two basic types: the first will consist of only one room, while the second type will be connected with further highly specialised units. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement This stems from the amendment to the law on health care prepared by Health Minister Tomas Drucker (Smer nominee). We defined a network we expect as sufficient for Slovakia, Drucker said, as quoted by the Sme daily. Altogether 34 emergency departments will be of the first type, to be situated in regional capitals and most of the district capitals. Another 10 departments (six for adults and four for children) will be of the second type. They will be bigger and doctors will provide highly-specialised urgent medical treatment. Part of these departments will also be trauma centres. These emergency departments will be situated in the biggest hospitals in Slovakia: Bratislava, Nitra, Martin, Banska Bystrica, Poprad and Kosice, Sme wrote. Under the new rules, a doctor or paramedics will decide on where the patient will be located. Read also: Read also: Patients may pay more at emergency wards Read more As for payments from health insurers, emergency departments of the first type will receive 27,000 a month, while those of the second type nearly 100,000. The emergency departments outside this network will receive money only for actual treatment, Sme wrote. The emergency departments should provide urgent health treatment to patients who have suffered serious injury or whose life is in danger, for example after a heart attack. Moreover, part of the departments in the hospitals should also be emergency, which will treat less serious cases, Sme wrote. Under the new rules, patients will pay 10 for treatment at the emergency departments, up from the current 2. People with serious health complications will be freed from paying the charge. Moreover, hospitals will be able to draw money for building their emergency departments from EU funds, apart from those situated in Bratislava, which will receive the money from state. Drucker expects the costs for building the emergency departments to amount to dozens of millions of euros, Sme wrote. Education Minister Peter Plavcan has refused to leave, the Prime Minister demanding his resignation. Font size: A - | A + Beta Biotech does not have a long history. Founded in 2014, it focused on small selling, marketing or cleaning services, earning 102,000 in the first year and falling to 14,000 in 2016. In 2017 the Education Ministry granted Beta Biotech more than 4 million to recycle food industry by-products. It is around three times more money than the company received for selling its products in its entire history. Moreover, this company with no history and a simple website began doing business in the food industry just in May 2017. Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement Skryt Remove ad Article continues after video advertisement This is not standard, Jan Rudolf, EU funds expert from The University of Economics in Bratislava told the Sme daily. Giving eurofunds for long-term research to a firm that doesnt have any previous experiences in this field is close to violating rules for their distribution. Beta Biotech is a special purpose vehicle and the firm was transformed to do business in the food industry by its current owners, who have experiences in this field, Beta Biotech representative Boris Zitny wrote on his blog in response to the criticism. This grant is one of many given by the ministry to private firms under suspicious conditions, creating the biggest government scandal this summer. The police are investigating the distribution of EU funds based on the motion of the Special Prosecutors Office. Under public pressure and European Commissions investigation on the distribution process for these funds, Education Minister Peter Plavcan stopped the distribution of all money from the 600 million eurofund budget and cancelled one of the programs funded from the budget focused on long-term research. On the other hand, Plavcan, who is a Slovak National Party (SNS) nominee, refused to step down amid the government crisis related to the scandal caused by SNS head Andrej Danko. I will not step down, Plavcan said during the August 14 press conference. I have goals to achieve and someone else is deciding whether I will step down or not. Prime Minister Fico stated though that he asked Danko to present a new name for education minister. No government party, Smer, SNS or Most-Hid, can afford to gamble with the public trust, Fico told the press. Read also: Read also: Meeting of coalition leaders postponed again Read more Handing out eurofunds EU launched the funding programme for research and innovation in 2014 and it is available until 2020. Overall it has a budget of 2.2 billion for distribution, partly by the Economy Ministry and partly by the Education Ministry through the Research Agency falling under its jurisdiction. The Education Ministry is issuing calls for several projects related to the fund and the two largest calls amounted to almost 600 million. In May 2016, the ministry issued a call for a Long-term Strategic Research project in which it should distribute 288 million from the programme. Long-term Strategic Research was available for Slovak universities, but the rectors of the major universities in the country complained that none of their projects received funding. Their research projects did not receive enough points from project evaluators. Other projects were higher up in the rankings and received funding. The other call, aimed at supporting industrial research and development centres, was to distribute 301 million. The media reported several stories about dubious firms receiving money from the funds. Read also: Read also: What is the Plavcan scandal all about? Read more Deciding about the money Suspicion surrounds not only the winners of the tender, but also the process of deciding who should have the money. Some evaluators are either close to the governments SNS party or incompetent, according to Veronika Remisova of Ordinary People and Independent Personalities. For example, Monika Deneva was evaluating several projects and a lady with the same name is General Director at the Agriculture Ministry run by SNS. The name Pavol Blazanka also appears among the evaluators and a person with the same name is head of the Education Ministry agency, Remisova stated on July 25. She added that the project for 25 million focused on the sustainability of the steel industry was evaluated by a cardiologist. Another doctor physician was evaluating research worth 45 million and focused on industrial materials. During the ongoing scandal Frantisek Zvrskovec, head of Prefa Alfa, one of the unsuccessful companies, stated that he was contacted by one of the evaluators, Peter Klamo. He claims that Klamo told him that he needed to pay 20 percent of the projects value if he wanted it to be successful. Zvrskovec wrote an official complaint to the Office of the Government and to OLAF, the EU anti-fraud agency. Klamo is a board member of the Welding Research Institute. The institute is a partner for four other projects that have received funding. Since Klamo was evaluating his competitors projects, Transparency International Slovensko recently pointed out that he had a clear conflict of interest. There is a suspicion that he deliberately placed his competitors at a disadvantage. Read also: Read also: Dankos letter sends coalition in turmoil Read more Ministrys response After two weeks of vacation Plavcan organised a press conference on August 14 together with the rectors of universities with research programmes, the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) and Klub 500, which unites the biggest 500 employers in Slovakia. Plavcan announced that the Education Ministry will cancel the call for EU-funded project proposals in long-term strategic research and development, issuing a new one shortly. Among other measures, the ministry will also disband its current list of evaluators in charge of gauging projects seeking EU funding, organising a new selection in September. The manneer in which the projects are assessed will also undergo changes. He pointed out that the ministry has not paid a single euro towards the projects that emerged as successful from the much-disputed call for proposals. Everything was stopped at a good time to allow a proper review, Plavcan told the press. In addition, he gave assurances that businesses successful in another call for proposals, this time to support new industrial research and development centres, will be required to present their plans to the public. The media noticed that whenever Plavcan had difficulties answering their questions, he was helped by Vladimir Sotak, general director of the central Slovak metals plant Zeleziarne Podbrezova and head of Klub 500, a business lobbying group representing Slovak firms with more than 500 employees. For example, when Plavcan was asked why doctors evaluated the steel-focused projects, Sotak stepped in and stated that the ministry is not to blame. Those people should come out and say they will not evaluate projects they dont understand, Sotak told the press. Read also: Read also: 5 things you need to know about the coalition crisis Read more More criticism Plavcan also explained his refusal to step down by saying that his predecessors are responsible for the dubious distribution of eurofunds. One of the education ministers during the previous government solely led by Smer was Peter Pellegrini of Smer. He rejected any accusations that the previous government is the one to blame for current problems. It would be manlike to admit to error and not look for culprits in past, Pellegrini told the Dennik N Daily. If someone is a year and half in the ministry he is fully responsible for what is happening there. Rectors present during the press conference also criticised the event because they had no say there. After negotiations with the minister, all the university and SAV representatives also remained at the press conference until its end but were not called on to speak, the rectors wrote in their joint statement. President Andrej Kiska as well stated that he expects more decisive and comprehensible moves from Plavcan. Education Minister Peter Plavcan hasnt convinced me that the EU funds were really used for top-level research, development and innovation, Kiska told the press. He hasnt persuaded me that the funds were distributed in a transparent manner and that the evaluation process was in the hands of the top experts in the sphere. The Mississippi Valley Conservancy, founded in 1997, has renewed its land trust accreditation. The Conservancy is one of only 389 accredited land trusts across the nation and was awarded a special commendation for its Project Evaluation Worksheet. The commission will use this worksheet as an example of excellence to all land trusts nationwide. Renewing our accreditation shows Mississippi Valley Conservancys ongoing commitment to permanent land conservation in Southwest Wisconsin, said Carol Abrahamzon, executive director. We are a stronger organization than ever for having gone through the rigorous accreditation renewal process. Our strength means the bluffs, forests, streams, prairies, and farms of the Driftless Area will be protected from development, forever. Places for birds, butterflies, bees, and children to live, grow and thrive, forever. As an accredited land trust, Mississippi Valley Conservancys mission is to preserve the bluffs, farm fields, wetlands, prairies and streams in the Driftless Area. The Conservancy serves the Wisconsin counties of Buffalo, Crawford, Grant, Jackson, La Crosse, Monroe, Richland, Trempealeau and Vernon. The staff of conservation and land management experts works with landowners who voluntarily participate in conservation agreements and land acquisition efforts. The Conservancy also owns and manages nature preserves to enhance biodiversity and provide habitat for declining species. The organizations outreach team provides environmental education in efforts to enrich our local communities. A complete list of accredited land trusts and more information about the process and benefits are detailed at www.landtrustaccreditation.org. Energy Maryland School District Wraps Up Major Solar Upgrade Image courtesy of Standard Solar. On Wednesday, the fifth largest public school district in Maryland, the Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS), completed a project that will enable solar energy to power its 125 schools and nine administrative buildings. The district, which first began its green initiatives back in 2013, enlisted Standard Solar to introduce a 1.4 Megawatt ground solar mount array capable of producing 1,971 Megawatt/hour of electricity each year. AACPS signed a long-term purchase agreement with the Maryland-based solar energy company to use nearly 4,000 panels, according to a prepared statement. We have more than 13.4 million square feet of facility space and a $26 million utility budget. It is essential that we reduce our energy consumption, explore renewable energy and be efficient with our energy use, AACPS Superintendent of Schools George Arlotto said in the statement. In Maryland, a recent study by an independent nonprofit solar research and education organization found that nearly 1,870 public and private K12 schools statewide could potentially deploy solar energy systems and generate electricity valued at $18 million annually as a result. Anne Arundel was identified as one of five counties with the most potential for benefit estimated to create more than 100 jobs and save approximately $1 million over a 30-year period. Standard Solar will own and operate the system. To learn more, visit the company site. 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. By Phoebe Fronista and Alkis Konstantinidis ATHENS (Reuters) - Firefighters battled wildfires raging northeast of Athens for a third day on Tuesday as Greece asked for help from its European partners to prevent them from spreading. The fire started in Kalamos, a coastal holiday spot some 45 km (30 miles) northeast of the capital, and has spread to three more towns, damaging dozens of homes and burning thousands of hectares of pine forest. A state of emergency has been declared in the area. "The blaze is advancing with great speed. Because of the scale and intensity of the wildfires, the country submitted a request for aerial means," fire brigade spokeswoman Stavroula Maliri told a press briefing. Cyprus offered a group of 60 firefighters and a Greek airforce plane was headed there to pick them up. But a request for two pairs of CL-415 firefighting aircraft was turned down by France as it had to deal with its own wildfires, she said. Three firefighting planes and six water-throwing helicopters operated through the day, assisting 210 firefighters and about 100 military personnel battling the blaze on the ground near the town of Kapandriti. Rugged terrain dotted with small communities made the fire-fighting difficult, with winds rekindling the blaze at many spots. Thick, billowing smoke rendered operations from the air difficult. Across Greece, firefighters were battling more than 55 forest fires, an outbreak fed by dry winds and hot weather that fanned blazes in the Peloponnese and on the Ionian islands of Zakynthos and Kefalonia. ARSON? On Zakynthos, an island popular with foreign tourists, a dozen fires burned for a fifth day. Authorities declared a state of emergency there on Monday. A government minister said there was no doubt the fires had been set deliberately. "It's arson according to an organised plan," Justice Minister Stavros Kontonis, the member of parliament for Zakynthos, told state TV. Late July and August often see outbreaks of forest and brush fires in Greece, where high temperatures help create tinder-box conditions. In Kalamos, community president Dimitris Kormovitis told Reuters TV: "If we don't manage to cut it off today, there will be terrible consequences. There has been devastation of a biblical scale in our area, which is one of the last lungs of the Attica region." Andreas Theodorou, a local councillor in Kalamos, said the blaze had damaged several dozen homes. "Help did not arrive fast enough, and if you don't stop a forest fire so large as soon as it breaks out, it's very hard to put it out," he said. In the Peloponnese region of Ilia, blazes that broke out in three areas on Monday and looked tamed early on Tuesday flared up again, fanned by winds. In 2007 the same area was the site of Greece's worst fires, with more than 70 people killed. "We asked for the evacuation of the village of Peristeri. The fire has gotten very close, it cannot be contained due to strong winds," Ilia vice-prefect George Georgiopoulos told SKAI TV. (Additional reporting by George Georgiopoulos and Karolina Tagaris; Writing by George Georgiopoulos; Editing by Mark Trevelyan) JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesian police on Tuesday arrested five suspected Islamist militants and seized chemicals near the capital, Jakarta, that they said were being used to make bombs for attacks on the presidential palace at the end of August. Two of the five, a husband and wife, had been deported from Hong Kong for allegedly spreading radical ideology and the group had studied bomb-making techniques through a website run by an Indonesian believed to be fighting with Islamic State in Syria, police said. Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation, has seen a series of small-scale attacks inspired by Islamic State, but most have been amateurishly planned and executed, using basic homemade weapons that have caused few deaths and minimal damage. Police have been concerned about suspected militants getting more sophisticated after twin pressure cooker bombs killed three police at a Jakarta bus station in May. "This is perhaps the first time such a method has been used in West Java, involving very dangerous chemicals," said provincial police spokesman Yusri Yunus, adding that several stores had declined to sell the chemicals to the suspects. Yunus did not elaborate on the chemicals or the plan to attack the presidential palace. West Java is just to the east of Jakarta. Counter-terrorism police who found the chemicals in a raid on a house in Bandung, 120 km (70 miles) southeast of Jakarta, said they experienced a burning sensation and redness on their skin when they entered the house. (Reporting by Steffano Reinard; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing by Nick Macfie) Gas is hugely important to the UK. The country uses more than 65 billion cubic metres to heat most of its 25m homes and generate around a quarter of its electricity each year. Despite efforts to move to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, demand for gas is likely to remain high for the foreseeable future. Until 2004 all the gas the country needed was sourced from the UK, primarily from the North Sea and East Irish Sea. Since then, production has declined to the point where indigenous gas provides only 45% of the total. The shortfall comes from European pipelines (38%), particularly from Norway and Russia; and liquid natural gas (LNG) deliveries (17%), primarily from Qatar. This dependency on foreign gas is precarious to say the least. We saw this in March 2013, for example, when an unseasonal cold snap almost left the country short of supplies. It was averted by an LNG delivery docking at Milford Haven in Wales in the nick of time. This late in its lifespan, conventional new gas exploration in the North Sea is unlikely to reverse this situation. This is why many argue that the UK should consider all options, including onshore shale gas. They point to its success in the US and the recent announcement that Centrica will decommission the UKs main gas storage site in the southern North Sea, making the country even more reliant on imports to meet the demand. Meanwhile, opponents raise understandable concerns about the environmental impact of the hydraulic fracturing fracking that would be involved and on the industrial scale required. This seems to have resonated with the public, with support for fracking recently hitting an all-time low of 17%. The Conservatives included a commitment to shale production in their June election manifesto, but only if we maintain public confidence in the process. Yet both sides tacitly assume that fracking would work if exploration drilling went ahead. They pay little attention to whether the countrys geology is suitable for shale oil and gas production. The implication is that because fracking works in the US, it must also work here. In fact, the UKs geological history suggests this is probably wrong. Story continues Sweet spots For a sweet spot suitable for commercial fracking, a number of geological criteria need to be met. The source rock needs a relatively high organic content, a good thickness, sufficient porosity and the right mineralogy. The organic matter must have been buried and heated in such a way as to produce large amounts of gas. There must also be a relatively simple geological structure. The most successful US shale areas, such as the Marcellus, Barnett, Haynesville and Bakken, all lie at depths and temperatures that mean they are ready to expel their oil and gas when fracked. The basins in which these occur are primarily in relatively stable, undeformed areas away from the edges of active tectonic plates, which geologists refer to as intracratonic basins. They are characterised by continuous layers of rock with only gentle dips and few fractures or major faults. This all aids subsurface imaging, gas/oil detection and the directional drilling needed for shale exploration. A cursory look at the geological map of the UK shows a very different proposition. The whole land mass has been significantly uplifted by a chain of geological events that started some 55m years ago with the upward rise of a plume of magma under Iceland. This helped break the tectonic plate in two, pushing Greenland and North America in one direction and the eastern segment containing the British Isles in the other, forming the Atlantic Ocean in between. The crust moving east buckled against the stable tectonic interior of continental Europe, not only uplifting the British Isles but also tilting it so that north-west Scotland was elevated the most. For this reason, the oldest rocks in the UK are in places such as Lewis and Harris while the youngest ones occur in south-east England. This movement profoundly affected many of the basins of sedimentary rock that make up the British Isles including those considered to contain large shale resources. Areas once buried sufficiently deeply to experience temperatures where oil and gas are generated were lifted to levels where this could no longer occur unlike in the US where the relevant rock formations remain at their greatest depth of burial today. The UK rock formations have also been highly deformed by the buckling to create folds and faults that cause the shales to be offset and broken up into compartments. At the same time, the activity created pathways that have allowed some of the oil and gas to escape. Damp squibs? One example is the Weald Basin of southern England. What originated as a major area for sedimentary deposits in the Cretaceous period between 65m and 145m years ago was subsequently deformed into a major anticlinal arch, such that the original basin now sits in its uplifted core. The margins of this tectonic fold are particularly well defined since they are marked by the steeply dipping chalk ridges that form the North Downs and South Downs in south-east England. As for other UK basins said to hold large quantities of shale gas, like those containing the Carboniferous Bowland Shale in Lancashire and West Lothian Oil Shale in Scotland, they went through an additional previous episode of deformation about 290m years ago. This has compounded their structural complexity. In short, even where a shale source in the UK may have high organic content and thick and favourable mineralogy, the complex structure of the basins will be detrimental to ultimate recovery. Yet the only question that has been addressed to date is how large the shale resource could be in the UK. The inherent geological complexity of the sedimentary basins has not been fully appreciated or articulated. As a result, the opportunity has been overhyped and reserve estimates remain unknown. At the very least, there is a need to factor this considerable and fundamental geological uncertainty into the economic equation. It would be extremely unwise to rely on shale gas to ride to the rescue of the UKs gas needs only to discover it is 55m years too late. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. The Conversation John Richard Underhill's research has in part been supported by research grants from the Natural Environment Research Council and the Oil and Gas Authority. The views expressed in this article reflect his own personal views based upon this work and are not influenced by any company or funding agency. He has not received any research funding for activities associated with hydraulic fracturing. By Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. allies including Saudi Arabia and Bahrain did not uphold principles of religious freedom in 2016, while Islamic State has carried out "genocide" against religious minorities, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday. Tillerson made the comments at the State Department while introducing the agency's annual report on religious freedom, required by a 1998 act of Congress. The report is the first to be released during the Trump administration and covers 2016. Saudi Arabia, Tillerson said, ought to "embrace greater degrees of religious freedom for all of its citizens." He cited criminal penalties for apostasy, atheism, blasphemy, and insulting the Saudi state's interpretation of Islam, as well as attacks and discrimination targeting Shi'ite Muslims. The kingdom follows the strict Sunni Muslim Wahhabi school of Islam. The report said Saudi Arabia has used counter-terrorism laws to target atheists and Shi'ite Muslims. The United States and Saudi Arabia have long been close partners in counter-terrorism efforts and the kingdom was the first stop on U.S. President Donald Trump's maiden international visit. Tillerson singled out another Gulf Arab state, Bahrain, saying it "must stop discriminating against the Shia communities." Bahrain's foreign ministry said Tillerson's remarks were "inappropriate" and showed "a deep misunderstanding of the facts." It called on the State Department to discuss such matters directly with the kingdom before making statements. "The history of the Kingdom of Bahrain is characterized by coexistence and religious harmony," the ministry said in a statement. It said Bahrainis of different sects, including Shi'ites, served as government officials, judges, diplomats and other professions. Tillerson said that in Turkey, a NATO ally, "authorities continued to limit the human rights of members of some religious minority groups." American pastor Andrew Brunson has been jailed in Turkey since October on charges of being part of a terrorist organization, according to news reports. Tillerson said religious freedom is "under attack" in Pakistan, citing the marginalisation of Ahmadiyya Muslims, a minority sect which Pakistan considers non-Muslim. Tillerson said Islamic State, the Sunni extremist group that has controlled parts of Iraq and Syria, "is clearly responsible for genocide against Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims in areas it controls or has controlled." Tillerson said Iran targeted religious minorities including Baha'is and Christians, and in 2016 executed 20 people on charges including "waging war against God." He also called out China and Sudan in his remarks. The Chinese government tortures and imprisons thousands for practicing their religious beliefs, Tillerson said, citing the targeting of Falun Gong members, Uighur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists. And in Sudan, the government arrests and intimidates clergy and blocks the construction of churches while tearing down existing ones, he said. Tillerson's decision to introduce the report contrasted with how he handled the State Department's annual human rights report in March. He declined to unveil it in person, breaking with precedent, and drew criticism he was not giving rights issues adequate attention. The report did not address Trump's attempt this year to temporarily suspend refugee admissions and his decision to impose a lower cap on the number of those admissions. The report states that resettlement is a "vital tool for providing refugees protection." Many refugees admitted to the United States in 2016 were fleeing religious intolerance and persecution, it said. (Reporting by Yeganeh Torbati. additional reporting by Omar Fahmy in Cairo; Editing by Yara Bayoumy, James Dalgleish and Michael Perry) France 24 Videos In 2014, Nadia Murad was captured, alongside many other Yazidi women, by the so-called Islamic State (IS) group in the Iraqi town of Sinjar. She was held hostage, enslaved, tortured and raped, before escaping to Mosul and making her way to Germany. After sharing the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize with Congolese gynaecologist Denis Mukwege, she is now a leading global advocate for survivors of genocide and sexual violence. Nadia Murad spoke to FRANCE 24 from the Paris Peace Forum. Murad said that more needs to be done to prevent sexual violence in conflict."Progress has been made on recognising survivors' right to reparations (...) but I think it's time to put political weight and resources behind the words," Murad told FRANCE 24's Catherine Norris Trent."Not much has been done to prevent what happened to the Yazidi women and girls," Murad said. More than eight years later, "we still have 2,800 women and children who are missing in ISIS [another name for the IS group] captivity in Syria, Turkey and some parts of Iraq. No effort has been made by the international community or our own government or any international organisations to look for the missing Yazidi women and children and bring them back"."Sexual violence does not go away when war is over (...) Ukraine is sadly another example of a failure to follow through on commitments to preventing sexual violence in war," Murad continued."Women's rights were never a priority for the international community to prevent the use of sexual violence," Murad said.Read more on FRANCE 24 EnglishRead also:Amnesty International demands urgent help for survivors of sexual violence in TigrayAllegations of mass rape by Russian troops in UkraineIraqs Yazidi community: Nadia Murads ongoing fight for justice LUSAKA (Reuters) - Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema called on the government to free several members of his party who are still being detained over various charges hours after he was released from prison on Wednesday. The state prosecutor dropped charges against him of plotting to overthrow the government. Hichilema and five others were arrested in April and charged with treason after his convoy failed to make way for President Edgar Lungu's motorcade. "I can't say I am free when our members are in detention," he told hundreds of supporters outside his party's headquarters and called for the end of the arrest of his party's members, adding "if it doesn't end I am willing to go back to prison." (Reporting by Chris Mfula; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Toby Chopra) National Fuel Gas Company operates as a diversified energy company. It operates through four segments: Exploration and Production, Pipeline and Storage, Gathering, and Utility. The Exploration and Production segment explores for, develops, and produces natural gas and oil in California and in the Appalachian region of the United States. As of September 30, 2021, it had proved developed and undeveloped reserves of 21,537 thousand barrels of oil and 3,723,433 million cubic feet of natural gas. The Pipeline and Storage segment provides interstate natural gas transportation and storage services through an integrated gas pipeline system in Pennsylvania and New York; and owns and operates underground natural gas storage fields. This segment also transports natural gas for National Fuel Gas Distribution Corporation, as well as for other utilities, industrial companies, and power producers in New York State; and owns and operates the Empire Pipeline. The Gathering segment builds, owns, and operates natural gas processing and pipeline gathering facilities in the Appalachian region, as well as provides gathering services to Seneca Resources Company, LLC. The Utility segment sells natural gas or provides natural gas transportation services to approximately 753,000 customers in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and Jamestown, New York; and Erie and Sharon, Pennsylvania. The company markets gas to industrial, wholesale, commercial, public authority, and residential customers primarily in western and central New York, and northwestern Pennsylvania. As of September 30, 2021, the company also owned approximately 95,000 acres of timber property; and managed approximately 2,500 additional acres of timber cutting rights. National Fuel Gas Company was incorporated in 1902 and is headquartered in Williamsville, New York. Constellium SE, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the design, manufacture, and sale of specialty rolled and extruded aluminum products for the packaging, aerospace, and automotive end-markets. The company operates through three segments: Packaging & Automotive Rolled Products, Aerospace & Transportation, and Automotive Structures & Industry. The Packaging & Automotive Rolled Products segment produces rolled aluminum products, including can stock and closure stock for the beverage and food industry, as well as foil stock for the flexible packaging market. It also supplies automotive body sheets and heat exchangers for the automotive market; and specialty reflective sheets. The Aerospace & Transportation segment provides rolled aluminum products, including aerospace plates, sheets, and extrusions; and aerospace wing skins, as well as plates and sheets for use in transportation, industry, and defense applications. The Automotive Structures & Industry segment offers extruded products and technologically advanced structures for the automotive industry, including crash-management systems, body structures, side impact beams, and battery enclosures; and hard and soft alloy extruded profiles for various industry applications in the automotive, engineering, rail, and other transportation end markets. This segment also provides downstream technology and services, which include pre-machining, surface treatment, research and development, and technical support services. The company sells its products directly or through distributors in France, Germany, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and the United States, as well as Shanghai, and Seoul. Constellium SE was incorporated in 2010 and is headquartered in Paris, France. The Albuquerque Police Department and the FBI are investigating a reported bank robbery at the Bank of the West on Central near Old Coors Tuesday evening. Frank Fisher, an FBI spokesman, said the suspect claimed to have a suspicious device. The APD bomb squad is at the scene. Fisher did not have any further details about the case, including whether anyone was in custody or what the suspicious device is. APD posted on its Twitter feed about the activity and asked the public to avoid the area. LAS VEGAS Heavy winter snows in the Rocky Mountains have rescued the thirsty Western U.S. for another year. U.S. water managers said Tuesday there will be no water cutbacks in 2018 for millions of residents and farmers served by the Lake Mead reservoir on the Colorado River that lies behind the Hoover Dam. The projection indicates there is no chance of shortage in 2018, said Rose Davis, spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. Zero. January water levels are expected to be 8 feet (2.5 meters) above the point that triggers a drought-shortage declaration on the lake, according to a 24-month projection by the water system management agency. Thats good news for everybody in the basin, said Chuck Cullom, manager of Colorado River programs for the Central Arizona Project, which uses water from the river. The Arizona system serves a heavily populated region that includes the states largest cities: Phoenix, Tucson and Mesa. The project would be among the first hit by cutbacks in the event of a shortage, although officials say farmers would be affected before cities. The report is a turnabout from a year ago, when the Bureau of Reclamation projected a 50-50 chance the lake would fall just below the shortage point of 1,075 feet (330 meters) above sea level. Under interstate agreements governing the rivers use, a shortage declaration would force officials to cut some water to Arizona and Nevada. No official shortage has ever occurred. Overall, the river serves more than 40 million people in cities, farms and tribes in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. Mexico also gets a share. Conservation and water-banking programs involving Mexico, California, Arizona and Nevada were another big reason the largest constructed reservoir in the U.S. will not fall below the drought shortage point, Davis said. Water banking allows users to leave some of their water in Lake Mead for later use, with restrictions. Combined, conservation and water banking have added about 10 feet (3 meters) to the lake level. Thats substantial, and I think great evidence of the fact that water conservation is possible and can help protect water users from shortages, said Jennifer Pitt, Colorado River Program director for the National Audubon Society. I think its a promising sign for the future. It probably needs to be scaled up, she said. Cullom, of the Central Arizona Project, agreed that more will be required in the future. The persistent drought on the Colorado River system has forced us to look long and hard on how we use water and what the long-term future of our reliance on the Colorado River brings in the face of a warmer or drier climate, he said. Snowmelt from heavy snowfall from mountains in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming also boosted the lakes water level. We had a good water year 113 percent of average, Davis told The Associated Press. That raised our capacity in the whole system from 51 to 57 percent. The report projects a 31 percent chance of a shortage declaration in January 2019. A 1922 interstate agreement allocates a combined 15 million acre-feet of water to the states and Mexico. An acre-foot is about 326,000 U.S. gallons (1.2 million liters), enough to serve two typical homes for a year in the U.S. West. More than 16 years of drought have taken a toll on Lake Mead, which is currently just 38 percent full while farmers withdraw water to irrigate summer crops. But Lake Powell, another huge reservoir on the Colorado River upstream from Mead, has improved to 63 percent capacity. That will provide options for water managers who control the water flow from Powell to Mead. A drought shortage declaration would cut 11.4 percent of Arizonas promised 2.8 million acre-feet (3.4 trillion liter) allocation, and 4.3 percent of Nevadas 300,000 acre-feet (370 billion liters). The amount of water at stake combined would serve more than 625,000 homes. Las Vegas, which draws 90 percent of its water from Lake Mead, might not feel much effect from a shortage because conservation and reuse have cut the citys consumption by about 25 percent, Southern Nevada Water Authority officials say. Were pleased to see another year when were not in shortage. But we werent really surprised by that outcome, Colby Pellegrino, the authoritys director of water resources, said Tuesday. Even if a shortage is declared, California will be able to draw its full 4.4 million acre-foot allocation from the river. ___ Elliott reported from Denver. A man who escaped a New Mexico prison Monday was arrested Tuesday morning in Texas, according to a New Mexico State Police spokesman. Officer Carl Christiansen said Joshua Mirka was arrested in El Paso around 10 a.m. by the Texas Rangers and El Paso Police Department. Christiansen said Mirka escaped from the Luna County Detention Center in Deming, NM on Monday night. Both state and local authorities worked throughout the night trying to find him, following tips and limited physical evidence. Early this morning investigators made contact with known relatives in hopes that Mr. Mirka would attempt to contact them for support, and while the investigator was speaking with Mr. Mirkas Aunt, he called her, he said. The number was traced back to a Bus station in El Paso. Christiansen said investigators asked the Texas Rangers and El Paso Police Department for help. Shortly thereafter Mirka was located and taken into custody, he said. The case is still under investigation. Police arrested Mirka on July 27 after a pursuit in the Deming area, Christiansen said. He was being held on a failure to register as a sex offender out of Washington, California. Mirka is also a person of interest in connection with an armed robbery in California, he said. On the heels of the Charlottesville riots, religious leaders spoke out against white supremacy and policy-driven racism at a Tuesday evening rally at the University of New Mexico. Today, our president was justifying white supremacy, said the Rev. William Barber, referring to Donald Trumps statements on Charlottesville casting blame on both sides. We cant challenge what he is, because its what he ran on. Barber, president of the Repairers of the Breach ecumenical group and co-chairman of the Poor Peoples Campaign, is part a moral revival mass meeting and public event tour stopping in 15 states. At the Albuquerque gathering, Barber and other speakers addressed a crowd of over 100 people on President Trump, Charlottesville, Va., and the history of racism in America. The blame is not on Trump alone, Barber said, but also the many citizens and politicians who endorsed and voted for him. To say you are against white supremacy without standing against the rhetoric that emboldens white supremacists and the policies they endorse reeks of a terrible ignorance or deliberate hypocrisy, he said, also pointing a finger at Democrats who have refused to confront policy-driven racism. We cannot talk about racism only when a Charlottesville happens, he said. In closing, Barber spoke on the peaceful actions used by Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks to raise up a movement. Vanessa Gunther, a religious studies major at UNM, said racism has been dressed up in fancy terms, such as alt-right or neo-conservative. Its terrible, she said. I blame our president and the whole culture surrounding it. She said rallies are an important way to draw a line in the sand on important issues. Us being here is saying to our community, to our state, that were not going to let that happen anymore, she said. We have to take a stand. The allure of an open southern New Mexico congressional district seat keeps attracting candidates. Two more candidates one Democrat and one Republican have jumped into the 2nd Congressional District race in recent days, and the field still might not be set. For now, five Democrats and four Republicans are running in the district, which encompasses all of southern New Mexico and stretches north into parts of Bernalillo County. The most recent candidates to enter the race are Democrat Adolf Zubia, a former Las Cruces fire chief, and Republican Monty Newman, who was state GOP chairman from late 2010 through 2012. Zubia launched his campaign over the weekend he was introduced by Las Cruces-born boxer Austin Trout and said his public service record and management experience would distinguish him from other candidates. The son of Mexican immigrants, Zubia said he would focus on immigration, education and health care if elected to Congress. We need to have immigration reform, period, Zubia told the Journal. On the Republican side, Newman said in announcing his campaign earlier this week that Congress has a courage problem. The federal government has been broken and bloated far too long, and the people we send to Congress must have the guts to fix it, he said. Newman, who runs a real estate company, also called on Congress to stand up to the liberal special interests and media elites that, he claimed, oppose changing the federal health care law and securing the nations borders. Those have both been priorities of President Donald Trump, who took office in January. In addition to serving as state Republican Party chairman, Newman was mayor of Hobbs from 2004 to 2008. He also previously ran for Congress in 2008. The Republican-leaning 2nd Congressional District seat is currently held by U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, who recently announced he will run for governor in 2018. The other Republicans who are seeking their partys nomination for the congressional seat are state Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn, Carlsbad pharmacist Jack Volpato and state Rep. Yvette Herrell of Alamogordo. The other Democrats running are Tony Martinez of Las Cruces, David Baake of Las Cruces, Mad Hildebrandt of Socorro and Ronald Fitzherbert of Las Cruces. Dan Boyd: dboyd@abqjournal.com DENVER Police say 11 people were taken to the hospital after a van crashed into a fuel truck at Denver International Airport late Tuesday. KMGH-TV reports the crash happened at about 10 p.m. at the UPS cargo facility at the airport. The van belonged to UPS but its not clear if those inside were employees. The condition of the injured isnt known. ___ Information from: KMGH-TV, http://www.thedenverchannel.com The legal battle to keep the Albuquerque Healthy Workforce Ordinance off of the Oct. 3 ballot isnt over yet. Albuquerque attorney Pat Rogers filed an emergency petition on Monday asking the state Supreme Court to remove the proposed sick leave ordinance from the ballot. And the states high court signaled on Tuesday that it is taking up the matter, ordering attorneys in the case to file a response to Rogers petition by Aug. 28. The process used by OLE/Acorn proponents to push this extreme and onerous job killer onto the city ballot is not authorized by the New Mexico Constitution or the New Mexico Legislature, Rogers said in a statement. The proposed ordinance drafted in secret by New York City lawyers is the most expensive and extreme version of sick leave laws in the United states. It will discourage new jobs and it will cost present jobs in Albuquerque and New Mexico. If approved by voters, the Healthy Workforce Ordinance would require employers to allow workers to earn paid sick time off. It would apply to full-time, part-time and temporary workers at any business with a physical presence in Albuquerque. A coalition calling itself Healthy Workforce ABQ gathered enough signatures in favor of the sick leave initiative to trigger a provision in the City Charter that allows people to get legislation on the ballot directly, bypassing the city council. Over 24,000 people signed a petition to get the earned sick days ordinance on the ballot, Tim Davis, an attorney with the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty, said in a statement this morning. If passed, it would mean that hard working New Mexicans no longer have to choose between caring for a sick child and receiving a paycheck. Rogers filed a lawsuit on behalf of the Association of Commerce and Industry, the New Mexico Restaurant Association, NAIOP which represents commercial real estate developers and Kaufman Fire Protection Services. The suit alleged that the proposed Healthy Workforce Ordinance is a form of voter fraud known as logrolling, because it lumps 14 different issues as one, and that it therefore violates the state constitution. The suit also alleged that home rule municipalities like Albuquerque do not have the power to enact voter-initiated legislation. But state District Judge Shannon Bacon rejected those arguments in an 11-page order issued Friday. On the logrolling matter, she held that the constitutional provision Rogers cited does not apply to municipal ordinances. And she determined that the state constitution doesnt bar Albuquerque from allowing voter-initiated legislation. Rogers petition challenges the portion of the ruling dealing with whether state statute and the state Constitution allow initiatives. He argues that there is no constitutional basis nor any statutory authority for initiatives and that, as a result, the proposed ordinance should be removed from the ballot. Proponents of the Healthy Workforce Ordinance have argued that Albuquerque is a home-rule municipality, and, as such, it has the power to exercise all powers not expressly denied. A speedy resolution prior to the election is essential, Rogers wrote in his petition. At stake is an issue of great importance to the public, and it needs to be resolved before the election. The city has said that it is required to mail ballots to overseas Albuquerque voters by Saturday. Early voting begins Sept. 13. The outcome of the ordinance is now in the hands of the voters, Davis said. Just last week, Judge Bacon ruled that Albuquerque residents have a clear right to vote on the proposed law and to directly participate in the citys lawmaking process. We expect that the New Mexico Supreme Court will throw out the corporate interests flimsy legal claims, which Judge Bacon has already rejected. Majestic Research Services and Solutions Ltd (MRSS) has acquired 100 per cent stake in Singapore-based market research company Market Probe Asia Pacific Pte Ltd (MPA) from its US parent - Market Probe Inc. for SGD 0.65 million (Rs 3.1 crore) in an all cash deal from the internal accruals of the company, that is, without any dilution of shareholders stake. Market Probe Asia (MPA) will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of MRSS. MPA generated revenue of SGD 4.87 million (Rs 22.8 crore) in calendar year 2016. The total consideration payable for the acquisition of SGD 0.65 million (Rs 3.1 crore) is less than one-sixth of their 2016 sales and ~ 1/3 of MPAs networth as on December 2016. Cash balance of MPA post acquisition will be SGD 0.55 million (Rs 2.61 crore). Hence, effective net cash outflow for the acquisition would only be around SGD 0.10 million (Rs 0.47 crore). The rationale behind the strategic acquisition for MRSS is to synergise with MPAs captive client base, specialised capability and increase its geographical reach. The MPA acquisition acts as a gateway to Asia specifically in high growth markets like Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. With this acquisition, MRSS plans to expand its customer experience management practice and thereby look to engage with more airports around the world (apart from Changi and Delhi airports). MPA also gives an opportunity to bid for government contracts in Singapore worth SGD 10 million (Rs 47.44 crore) every financial year. MRSS plans to leverage its existing innovative technology backed market research solutions to enhance MPAs product offering with its existing client base as well as target new clients and markets. Commenting on the development, Raj Sharma, Chairman MRSS, said, We are glad to have closed the acquisition. We plan to deploy judicial use of technology, management expertise, cost re-engineering and reorient the customer focus, thereby aiming to increase the operating margins and bring them in line with those of Indian parent entity. Established in 1987, Market Probe Inc. is a full-service global market research and consulting firm specialising in stakeholder measurement engagements as well as a wide array of custom research assignments. MRSS India is Indias first and only listed market research company with a wide range of offerings such as Eye Tracking, Mobile Analytics, Video Analysis, Digital Tracking, Automated Audience Measurement, and more. The Google Chrome 61 Beta has been released, introducing new features that will likely be included in the stable version of the browser soon. Among these new features is the Payment Request API, which is now available in the Windows, MacOS and Linux versions of the app. The Payment Request API is an open-source standard that transforms the browser into an intermediary layer between the purchaser, payment services, and the retailer. The site first sends a payment request, which is then processed by the browsers user interface in order to collect the necessary payments. Once the purchase has been settled, the program then notifies both the payment service and the retailer website. This interface will allow the search giant to implement Android Pay on the desktop version of the app. As the standard is open source, we might see this API in the other similar programs too. A new code has also been introduced into Google Chrome that will make sharing content to social networks faster. The Web Share API removes the need for developers to manually include the icons of their website to the app. It also makes the process of sharing faster and safer as there is no longer any need to use third-party codes that pose security risks and slow down the browser. Now, sites may choose to utilize the navigator.share API on the mobile version to open the native sharing screen of the Android operating system. This option is first available among the mobile apps but web apps will also be covered soon. There are also other additional under-the-hood features included in Google Chrome. The browser now natively supports Javascript modules, allowing the program to fetch the modules in parallel and take advantage of its caching capabilities. In addition, Google Chrome now permits the web apps to communicate with specialized scientific, educational, and industrial peripheral devices. Before this change, the owners of these peripherals often had to download drivers that may contain potentially damaging code. Scrolling through web pages is also made smoother by the new parameter incorporated in the Scroll API. Given that this is the beta version, some of these features may still not work well due to bugs. Facebook has finally decided to bring its M Suggestions artificial intelligence service to Canada, as well as a few other regions which include the UK, Australia, and South Africa. This is after launching M Suggestions in the U.S. just earlier this year as it officially rolled out for U.S.-based Messenger users in April, allowing users to receive suggestions for a variety of things based on theyre discussions with family or friends in Facebooks Messenger chat app. While M Suggestions is now available to users in Canada, not all of the features that are available to users in the U.S. will be part of the launch. For example, M Suggestions can recommend users in the U.S. make a payment to the person theyre chatting with if something is said that revolves around payments. This is one such feature that will not be available to Canadian users at this time, and Facebook has not mentioned when it might plan to launch this as an available M Suggestions feature. That said there are a number of M Suggestions features that will be present as part of the launch within the country, such as sending stickers and sharing locations with other users if someone happens to ask where the other person is. M Suggestions in Canada will also initially launch with the ability to recommend making plans if users are talking about meeting up with each other, as well as recommendations for sending someone a Birthday Wish if M happens to notice that one of the people in a one on one conversation is having a birthday. M will also recommend at certain times, that specific content should be saved, prompting the user to do so, and M can even suggest that users being a voice or video call. One last feature that is part of the Canada launch will be for group chats, with M suggesting that users create a poll if the chat includes discussion of deciding on something, like where to eat or have drinks, thus letting users essentially vote on the decision to make things easier. The suggestions to play Spotify tracks within the chat, a feature which recently launched in the U.S. just this week, will not be available outside of the U.S. at this time. The Sony Xperia XZ1 renders popped up yesterday in both images and video, and now the device leaked in a couple of real life images, along with its specifications. If you take a look at the provided images, you will be able to see that yesterdays renders were more or less spot on. This phone will be made out of metal, and it will sport Xperias recognizable boxy design, the phone will feature sharp corners, and rather thick bezels all around, especially above and below the display. Now, this phones display wont be that large, so those bezels probably wont matter to many people. Having said that, if you take a look at the sticker that is placed on top of the phones display, you will be able to see the phones specs, as theyre listed on there. If this info is to be believed, and it looks pretty legit, the Xperia XZ1 will sport a 5.2-inch HDR-enabled display, along with 64GB of native storage. The device will be fueled by Qualcomms Snapdragon 835 64-bit octa-core processor, along with the Adreno 540 GPU for graphics. This handset will be both IP65 and IP68 certified for water and dust resistance, and a 19-megapixel Motion Eye camera will be included on its back. This camera will be able to capture slow motion video with up to 960 frames per second, while a 13-megapixel snapper will be included on the devices front side. The Xperia XZ1 will ship with NFC, as you can see by looking at the phones back side, and this phone will almost certainly launch on August 31, as part of this years IFA in Berlin. Sony will host a separate event, but the phone will be available for tinkering at the tradeshow, and Sonys event will be hosted in Berlin. Now, its worth noting that the Xperia XZ1 popped up on GFXBench earlier this month, and that listing suggested that the phone will ship with 4GB of RAM, which is a detail that is not listed in todays leak. GFXBenchs listing also said that Android 8.0 will come pre-installed on the Xperia XZ1, though thats not that likely, Google will release the final Android O build in a couple of days, and its not likely that a skinned Xperia-branded phone will ship with Android 8.0 that soon, the device that popped up on GFXBench was probably just a test unit, but at least we know that Sony is working on the Android 8.0 update. Free newsletter Subscribe to our FREE newsletter service and well keep you up-to-date with the latest breaking news, cutting edge opinion, and expert analysis affecting both your business and the industry as whole. Please enter your email address below and click on Sign Up for daily newsletters from Australasian Lawyer. As you already know, Volvo under Geely is stronger than ever as an automaker. Theres even talk Fiat Chrysler will be bought by the Chinese, with the latter interested in accessing the United States and Europe through the Italo-American company's network. HP Adaptive Cruise Control The official launch in Europe for the 2018 Ford Mustang is programmed for Q2 2018, and as expected, there are quite a few differences between it and the American pony. As highlighted by the Mustang 6G forum , a leaked document on the Euro-spec Mustang reveals that both the EcoBoost-powered and GT models will get clear reflectors in the headlights and clear taillights.Hood vents are go for all 2018 model year vehicles, as is a fake gas cap on the rear panel. Tri-bar DRLs come standard, as does the digital instrument cluster thats available as an option in the United States . The V8-powered GT ships with Michelin tires instead of yesteryears Pirelli rubber, with the 5.0-liter Coyote gaining between 15 and 25 horsepower from the current 421Quad exhaust tips are standard on the Euro-spec 2018 Ford Mustang GT, as is the active valve exhaust system. Interestingly enough, the Ecoboost loses a few HP but gets more torque according to the document in question. Also new for the mid-cycle revamp are three exterior colors: Burgundy Velvet, Orange Fury, and Kona Blue . In terms of kit, the EU pony brags with LED headlights and fog lights, Pre-Collision Assist, Lane Assist, rear parking sensors, heated steering wheel, leather center console, and kneepads.The highlight options in for the European pony are a couple of new packages, the Carbon Package , performance rear spoiler, Shelby GT350 Mustang-derived MagneRide damping system, as well asWatch this space for more 2018 Ford Mustang news as we get it, including developments on the long-awaited 2019 Shelby GT500 Mustang AMG DCT It's also suggested that the 8-speed would be used for sportier applications where the 9th gear isn't needed. But we don't agree with this notion. The new E63 S 4Matic+ uses a 9-speed and is pretty much the pinnacle of currenttechnology. So why would they make yet another gearbox for lesser cars when they could just use the 7-speed.That's why we think the 8-speed is being trademarked in preparation for the arrival of all-new premium compacts. The A-Class would be the first to be unveiled, but that won't come to the U.S., at least not in hatchback form. But we recently saw the first prototype of the GLA II, and that one is a certainty. The current roster of front-wheel drive Mercedes-Benz models uses a 7-speed dual-clutch which the company calls 7 G-or 7-speed DCT, depending on the market. If we're right, the name change could signal a change to pure automatics with torque converters.The move could work to their advantage in two ways simultaneously. First of all, American buyers often say that dual-clutch gearboxes are jerky off the line, so they would welcome smoother changes in their expensive Mercedes cars. Secondly, it might save some money.As far as we know, the 7G-DCT is developed in-house and not shared with other brands except Infiniti and its Q30 . But seemingly every automaker is now switching to an 8-speed automatic for front-driven cars that Japanese company Aisin assemblies. It's on a bunch of Volvo, MINIs and who knows what else. Even Volkswagen, the company best known for using two clutch packs per car, installed automatics in the Tiguan and Atlas models it sells in to Americans. The bad news surfaced last Friday in Germany with the hugely popular motorcycle accessory manufacturer based in Niedereschach filing for insolvency and with the companys press officer, Mr. Ingo Schorlemmer, making it public.The announcement tells that Touratech employees were informed by both the insolvency administrator and the executive board about the bad news. However, wages and salaries have been paid, and the initial phase of insolvency will be used to gain an overview of the economic situation of the company and to examine restructuring options.Funnily enough, it is the adventure market growth and its demand that pushed the company into filing for bankruptcy. How is that possible, you ask?Well, increased demand meant Touratech had to implement a new logistics center but for some reasons (probably being busy printing those 400+ page full-color catalogs) it delayed this operation which led to logistics and production issues. These, in turn, generated production and supply losses which ultimately led to the companys insolvency.For now, you shouldnt worry too much as most Touratech distributors have announced they will continue business as usual and keep selling the companys products until further notice.Touratech AG was founded in 1990 by Herbert Schwarz and Jochen Schanz from the experiences gained by the two from many motorcycle trips around the world. From its humble beginnings around a coffee table, the company has grown over the years to become one of the world leaders in this sector today.The company offers specific accessories for more than 42 motorcycle models along with helmets and complete moto clothing lines. Touratech equipped famous Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman in their epic adventure around the world. Also, globetrotters Michael Martin and Joe Pichler used its products among others. The prion proteins that cause chronic wasting disease survive for years in soil and are taken up by plants. Dr. Mark Zabel, associate director of the Prion Research Center at Colorado State University, thinks controlled burns may help. "I do think that it's one of the only realistic and viable, possible solutions to the problem of CWD," he said. "It's still spreading at a tremendous rate, and it's now endemic in about half of the lower 48 states, and so our options are becoming very limited." CWD is a neurologic disease, and it is always fatal to infected cervids, including deer, elk, and moose. It spreads animal to animal and through their environments, and its spread has raised concerns that the disease could cause local extinctions (see JAVMA, Aug. 15, 2017, page 371). The prions are hardy, like spores or bacteria, and they are spread over substantial wilderness areas, Dr. Zabel said. His research plan would take advantage of controlled burns already scheduled in national parks in Colorado and Arkansas, where the National Park Service is planning the fires for wildfire control and habitat restorationmanagement unrelated to CWD. Dr. Zabel has been modeling, in laboratory conditions, fire temperatures and durations and the effects those fires could have on prion titers. The pilot study he wants to conduct would involve measuring amounts of CWD-causing prions found in soil and plants before the fires, and amounts in soil and new plants that grow afterward. The fires would affect herd movements, he said, but deer would be expected to return without any long-term changes in migration or habitat. Dr. Zabel said he has heard concerns that controlled burns could push infected cervids into new areas, which he said is a possibility, and that could be measured through surveillance and disease prevalence estimates in areas around controlled burns. Dr. Zabel said CWD is an enormous problem, and many large-scale solutions are worth considering. One recent suggestion led him to deliberate whether introducing wild horses to the Rocky Mountain ranges could interrupt CWD transmission since horses are resistant to prion disease and their grazing could remove some contaminated forage. "This is such a hard thing to get ahold of because of the sheer geographical area that we're talking about and the persistence of prions in the environment," he said. For now, he said, spread of the disease shows no signs of slowing. AOPA will back off on using Canada as a flawed example of privatized air traffic control after its Canadian counterpart protested AOPAs lack of understanding of the situation in Canada. Bernard Gervais, president of the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association, particularly chafed at a column written by AOPA President Mark Baker in the September edition of AOPA Pilot in which Baker wrote: General Aviation in Canada no longer thrives, and its unfortunate to see pilots there dont have the same options we enjoy here in the United States. Gervais said in an email to Baker that GA is alive and well in Canada and his 17,000 members are largely satisfied with the service we receive from Nav Canada and all of them take exception with the idea that Canadian GA is dead. Gervais got an immediate response from AOPA Pilot Editor-in-Chief Tom Haines. He said the column by Baker was written before COPA had made its position clear during meetings at AirVenture and AOPA will stop painting with such a broad brush when referring to the impact of privatization on other nations. Nav Canada, a not-for-profit corporation created 20 years ago to take over air traffic services in Canada, is often cited by privatization supporters in the U.S. as an example of how the U.S. National Airspace System (NAS) could be managed. The proposal before Congress bears similarity to Nav Canadas structure. GA groups in the U.S. have formed a united front against the notion of privatization for a variety of reasons, chief among them the worry that airlines will end up with control of the system through dominance on the proposed corporations board of directors. Gervais told Baker he has no quarrel with his and other groups opposition to privatization in the U.S. but the Canadian experience and the system that administers it is different. We are not against your opposition to privatization, we are asking that you stop using Canada as your example, Gervais said. COPA has had some issues with Nav Canadas restriction of VFR access to some of Canadas major airports in recent months. Nav Canada has blamed the periodic closure of some terminal airspace to VFR traffic on staffing shortages. Gervais, a member of Nav Canadas Advisory Committee, said the corporation is responsive to these sorts of issues. Where improvements can be done, the board of Nav Canada actually take them on, he said. Vice President Mike Pence announced that he will cut short his trip to Central and South America originally scheduled to run through Friday and head back to Washington tomorrow for a national security meeting. What he's missing: Nothing seemed amiss as Pence tweeted a photo of the Andes from Air Force Two earlier this morning on his way to meet with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, but it looks like he'll be cutting short the Panama portion of his trip. The reason: It's not Charlottesville. On that front, Pence told reporters in Chile today that he "[stands] with the president." Instead, Trump and Pence are holding a meeting with their national security team at Camp David on Friday "to discuss the South Asia strategy." What if a doctor could use an artificial intelligence app to crowdsource" the advice of specialists from around the country to double-check a patient's diagnosis? A group called the Human Diagnosis Project is getting a lot of attention for its initiative to help doctors do that in underserved areas an initiative that got the backing of the American Medical Association last week. You can read more about the project elsewhere (here's a good writeup from Scientific American), but we wanted to check in with doctors to see how useful they thought the new technology would be. Turns out they had a few doubts. Theyre not sure how wed know if its giving good advice or bad advice, or how it could ever duplicate whats unique about the doctor-patient relationship, or whether it should even be considered a science. We ran all of this by the Human Diagnosis Project and got some answers, so if you want to check it out, read my story here. Two of the states top Republicans on Wednesday did not denounce President Donald Trump by name for blaming both white supremacists and those protesting them for deadly violence in recent days. The refusal to directly address Trumps comments contrasts with a number of other high-profile Republicans nationally who in recent days have said publicly the leader of their party should not in any way defend white supremacists. Gov. Scott Walker told reporters that Trump can speak for himself when asked whether Trumps response to the violence was adequate and whether he thought Trump was racist. My comment on this is: I denounce the bigotry and hatred, and Ill let the president and his team speak for him, Walker told reporters Wednesday. Trump was broadly criticized for blaming many sides for the violence that broke out in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend after white supremacist groups convened to protest the proposed dismantling of a statue of Civil War Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. At one point, a man who identified as a neo-Nazi drove a car into a crowd of protesters, injuring more than a dozen and killing a 32-year-old woman. Trump on Tuesday said both the protesters and the white nationalist groups were to blame, but there were very fine people on both sides. Leaders of the white nationalist movement have thanked him in recent days for his courage. Walker and U.S. Sen Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, at an event in Madison, did not directly condemn Trumps comments. I want to make it clear that I speak out against the hate and the bigotry exhibited by the white extremists, Walker said. Johnson, in separate comments, said he was not entirely comfortable with the presidents remarks. He said that elected officials should speak out about white nationalists to reduce the divisiveness. I find it just depressing that a young woman died pushing back on people that are flying under a flag of just a completely evil ideology, he said after speaking at an event hosted by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. When asked if he remains confident in Trumps leadership after his response to the events in Charlottesville, Walker responded by praising Trump administration policies. Would I occasionally like the president to do or say things slightly different than he does? Of course, Walker said. But I think when I look at the substance of what this administration is doing and the benefits it has for manufacturers, for farmers, for others in this state, Ive been overall very pleased. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, tweeted Tuesday that white supremacy is bigotry counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity, but did not address Trump by name. Democrats on Wednesday said state Republican leaders refusal to mention Trump by name and silence on the matter from other top Republicans in the state insults people of color. As an elected leader we need to do our job and that is to make sure not only do we hold ourselves accountable but we hold our colleagues and our counterparts accountable, too, and that means calling out those individuals that need to be called out when they are wrong, said Sen. LaTonya Johnson, D-Milwaukee, who is black. Its offensive to call out (both sides) because you have one entity that organized because of hatred and the only reason that they organized because of hatred is because of the color of somebodys skin or their religious beliefs. Trump revises his comments On Monday, Trump made a more muscular statement than his initial response, saying neo-Nazis, white supremacists and members of the KKK who take part in violence were criminals and thugs. But the next day he reiterated his initial comments and blamed both groups for the violence. Those comments prompted U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Green Bay, and Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, to issue the most forceful rebuke from Wisconsin Republicans of Trumps comments. White nationalism and racism are antithetical to our fundamental values, Gallagher said in a statement. The President needs to be crystal clear that hatred has no place in our society, but he is currently failing at it. Steineke said Wednesday in an interview he completely disagrees with his party leaders assertion that there are very fine people on both sides. I dont think its possible to be racist and a white nationalist and be a decent human being, Steineke said. There is no place for these kinds of racists in the Republican Party. In the face of criticism of the president, some Wisconsin Republicans have called on Democrats to denounce the leftist group Antifa, which also has used violence but did not organize the counter-rally over the weekend. Others have used the incident to recall Democratic views toward slavery during the Civil War. Steineke said this isnt the time for moral equivalency and would advise Trump to stop rationalizing. I think we need to denounce racism without qualification, he said. It doesnt matter what happened in the past in either party. At this point, were talking about today and moving forward. I think both parties are responsible they should be making sure it is clear that these people have no home in any legitimate political party in this country today. Meanwhile, some of the states top Democrats U.S. Reps. Gwen Moore, of Milwaukee, and Mark Pocan, of Black Earth have raised the idea of Trump being removed from office. Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, of Madison, on Wednesday in response to Trumps comments tweeted: The only sides here are right and wrong. Americans look to the President for moral clarity. @realDonaldTrump failed us miserably. Spokeswomen for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, did not respond to questions regarding Trumps comments and their implications for the Republican Party, nor did a spokesman for Senate President Roger Roth, R-Appleton. Vos issued a statement late Wednesday saying Assembly lawmakers on Thursday would take up a resolution condemning the ideology of racial hatred that was witnessed by the world in Charlottesville. The best antidote for hate is love. We must stand up against bigotry, racism and any violence associated with it, Vos said. Every person deserves to be treated with respect. 16 August 2017 10:40 (UTC+04:00) By Trend The World Bank (WB) is ready to assist the Azerbaijani government in developing new mechanisms of lending to the private sector, Naveed Hassan Naqvi, WB country manager for Azerbaijan, said in an exclusive interview with Trend. "Well, its not the government business to lend. Weve seen the governments in developing countries financing specific things. And sometimes it works. But in general, you want the financial sector to make the decisions independent of the governments influence," said Naqvi. He gave an example of the International Bank of Azerbaijan (IBA), over 80 percent of shares in which is owned by the government. On July 15, 2015, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on the measures for rehabilitation related to the preparations for privatizing the state-owned shares of the International Bank of Azerbaijan OJSC. These measures cover the purchase of the banks troubled assets by the government, as well as the support to ensure its liquidity and the restoration of capital. "It [IBA] owned 35 percent of assets in the market. Its balancesheet was in serious trouble which is why restructuring recently took place. I think the government is taking steps to deal with IBA. But the reason why IBA got in trouble was because these decisions [on lending] need to be taken by private actors," noted the WB official. "I think certainly the bank [WB] is more than ready to offer advice and help in thinking through mechanisms through which loans can be made available to private entrepreneurs. IFC [International Finance Corporation] has a lot of experience in this field. They can work with individuals of financial institutions, they can work with them jointly to look at opportunities," added Naqvi. Currently, there are several government sources providing concessional loans, such as the National Fund for Entrepreneurship Support (NFES) and the State Agency for Agricultural Credit. In particular, Azerbaijani entrepreneurs have been provided with loans in the amount of more than two billion manats through the NFES. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 August 2017 12:58 (UTC+04:00) By Sara Israfilbayova The Tehran Chamber of Commerce and Industry will conduct a survey among local entrepreneurs during the business forum, which will be held on August 16, to study their export potential for delivering goods to Azerbaijan. Earlier, the Chamber conducted similar surveys to study the potential for the supply of Iranian products to Pakistan, Turkey, Iraq, Russia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Oman, Financial Tribune reported. The two countries enjoy developed political, economic, cultural and humanitarian relations, have signed some 50 documents on cooperation. Currently, some 450 companies with Iranian capital operate in the country. Azerbaijan and Iran will soon launch joint manufacture of cars in the in Neftchala Industrial District. The plant will operate on the basis of joint project of AzEuroCar LLC and Irans largest car manufacturer Iran Khodro. The trade turnover between Iran and Azerbaijan amounted to $148.9 million in January-July 2017 (an increase of 42.3 percent over the year), almost $140 million of which accounted for imports from Iran, according to State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan. Earlier, Azerbaijani Economy Minister Shahin Mustafayev, within the framework of his February visit to Iran, stressed that it is possible to bring the mutual trade turnover up to $500 million a year. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 August 2017 17:25 (UTC+04:00) By Sara Israfilbayova The cash turnover in the payment of wages and other payments decreased by 75.3 percent since early 2017. Azerbaijans Deputy Minister of Taxes Ilkin Valiyev said that this indicator was achieved thanks to implementation of the law On Non-Cash Payments. Valiyev added that the law allowed to increase the share of non-cash payments in all spheres of the economy, ensure transparency of expenditures, legalize incomes, wages and other payments, which in turn led to a reduction in the number of facts of tax evasion and increased transparency in the tax sphere. "For the past period of 2017, the cash turnover in the sphere of purchasing goods and services decreased by 62.6 percent, trade objects by 67.5 percent, and in the sphere of issuing wages and other payments by 75.3 percent," noted Valiyev. The law on Non-Cash Payments has come into force since January 1, 2017. The law was adopted given the need to strengthen accounting in the financial system, through the development of non-cash payments. Under the law, trade and public catering entities (registered as VAT payers), with the annual turnover exceeding 200,000 manats ($117,591) have a right for limited volume of cash payments [not exceeding 30,000 manats ($17,638) per month], while a limit of 15,000 manats ($8,819) will be set for other taxpayers. Besides, salaries will be paid only in non-cash form. The law also envisages a limit for cashing operations. Banks and postal operators will charge a simplified tax (1 percent of the sum) for cashing of means kept in bank accounts of legal entities and private entrepreneurs. In total, the volume of non-cash payments in 2016 equaled to 856 million manats ($503.3 million), recording an increase of 122 million manats ($71.73) or 16.6 percent. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 August 2017 17:53 (UTC+04:00) By Laman Ismayilova One of Azerbaijans longest-running music festivals is coming back to Baku in October with new venues and a feast of talent. The next edition of the Baku International Jazz Festival will take place from October 20 to 28. Once again foreign and national jazzmen will perform on the same stage. The Festival will open with an official reception at Rotunda Hall Landmark on October 20, Azertac reported. The festival's first day will feature the performance the multi awarded kora player from Guinea, Sekou Kouyate. Although often mentioned as "The Jimi Hendrix of Africa", due to his fast riffs, Kouyate is really one of a kind. He combines musical styles virtuously, and blends jazz, classical Mandingo, grovy West African beats and a warm vocal, lifting and beautifying the subtle melodies, with funky rhythms or complex melodies with a spiritual feeling. His velvet soft voice adds to the elegant music he composes. The concert will take place in Elektra Events Hall on October 20. The event starts at 19:00. An exhibition of works by talented young artist Bahruz Kangarli will be opened as part of the jazz festival. The Baku Jazz Festival is a forum and musical festival including education (seminars, master classes), competition ("Best Jazz Performer"), a "Kids jazz day", art and photo exhibitions, jam sessions and jazz concerts with the participation of best performers of the world of jazz. The festival has become a member of the Europe Jazz Network, which bring together 115 members from 34 countries. The revival of jazz in the Land of Fire started in 1960s, thanks to the active efforts of great national composers such as Gara Garayev, Tofig Guliyev, Rauf Hajiyev and Niyazi. The flowering of Azerbaijani jazz is associated with the names of giants such as Rafig Babayev and Vagif Mustafazade, who experimented creating unrepeatable compositions, becoming the founders of a new jazz trend jazz-mugham. This unique genre assembles both a traditional Azerbaijan music and a classic American jazz. Today, Azerbaijani jazz performers are winners of many international jazz festivals and competitions. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 August 2017 12:00 (UTC+04:00) By Laman Ismayilova The United States remains committed to working with the parties to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict toward a peaceful settlement of the conflict, said Richard Hoagland, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair from the U.S. The U.S., along with Russia and France, is a co-chair country of the OSCE Minsk Group established to broker a peace to the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. However, all of efforts of the MG have brought no tangible results so far. Hoagland, talking to Trend, noted that the issues relating to the return of territories, return of Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs to their lands, non-use of force and status for Nagorno-Karabakh are all important elements of a comprehensive settlement the parties need to discuss. This is precisely why my fellow co-chairs and I continue to encourage the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia to meet at the earliest possible opportunity and engage in good-faith negotiations on a way forward, he said. I would like to remind that the OSCE co-chairs are mediators and facilitators. We cannot force a final decision; only the leaders of the sides can decide when it is finally time to make an historic decision that will guarantee peace and lead to eventual prosperity for the entire region. In 2016, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev met Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan twice, first in Vienna in May, and the second time in St. Petersburg in June along with Russian President Vladimir Putin. No meeting has been organized this year. During the increased diplomatic activity in the coming weeks and months, the co-chairs will be making a number of statements to reinforce policy and encourage highest-level negotiations, added Hoagland. Armenia broke out a lengthy war against Azerbaijan by laying territorial claims on its South Caucasus neighbor. Since a war in the early 1990s, Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan's territory, including Nagorno-Karabakh and seven surrounding regions. More than 20,000 Azerbaijanis were killed and over 1 million were displaced as a result of the large-scale hostilities. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and surrounding districts. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 August 2017 15:11 (UTC+04:00) By Laman Ismayilova The settlement of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is a key priority for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The Chairman of the Council of the Ambassadors and Heads of Diplomatic Missions of the OIC Yasser Shaban made the remark while addressing the Council`s meeting in Mexico City, Azertac reported. The resolutions adopted by the OIC sharply condemn Armenia's aggression against Azerbaijan, demanding Armenia to put an end to its aggressive policy. The OIC always kept the issue of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in focus. Its member states expressed concern over the occupation of Azerbaijan territories by Armenia as well as the looting and destruction of archeological, cultural and religious monuments in those areas, including those Islamic monuments included in the resolution adopted by the organization during the OIC summit in Dakar, Senegal in 2008. Moreover, the organization has also repeatedly slammed Armenia for the destruction of Islamic artifacts in the invaded lands. The principal stance of OIC member states on the condemnation of the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan is reiterated in the relevant 16th and 17th paragraphs of the communique unilaterally adopted by the heads of state and government of the member countries in Istanbul summit in 2016. The OIC also established the Contact Group on the aggression of Armenia against Azerbaijan. The above mentioned Contact Group consists of Turkey, Kingdom of Morocco, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Malaysia, Islamic Republic of Gambia and Republic of Djibouti. 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 16 August 2017 11:45 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli The Baku Zoological Park will get new tenants following the ongoing renovation work. A major reconstruction and renovation work has been recently launched at the Baku Zoological Park. The renovation work will be realized upon the initiative of Vice-President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, founder and head of IDEA Public Union, Leyla Aliyeva. Director of the Zoo Azer Huseynov said that the Baku Zoo has agreed with Uzbekistans Tashkent Zoological Park. We will give them two bears, 10 western swamphens, a swan and a tirandaz. Accordingly, they will give us a lama, an ammotragus, a rosy pelican, a common raven and an owl. The Baku Zoo will also receive new tenants from the Moscow Zoological Park, according to Huseynov. The Moscow Park will send two mountain goats, a kingsnake, a pair of decorative duck, and a pair of decorative pheasant. Guests of the Zoo for the first time will be able to see here a kingsnake and a decorative pheasant. However, the other animals already exist in the Zoo, but they are single and we will bring their couples, he added. The director said that the animals will be delivered to Azerbaijan in September-October. The weather is hot now. We will bring animals after the temperatures fall, he explained. The Baku Zoo was first opened in 1928. Currently, the Baku Zoo is located in the Narimanov district of the capital city and occupies 4.25 hectares. The zoo keeps both animals living in Azerbaijan and those that not indigenous to the country. After the renovation the zoo will offer easy access to the disabled. The Zoo will become a place where people with disabilities and visitors of all age groups can relax and learn new information. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 August 2017 10:35 (UTC+04:00) By Laman Ismayilova Indian Ambassador to Baku Sanjay Rana has hailed his country`s relations with Azerbaijan as close and friendly. Rana, addressing a reception marking the 70th anniversary of India`s Independence Day, said the bilateral cooperation between the two countries continues to strengthen in all areas, including in economic, political, social, humanitarian, cultural and educational ones, Azertac reported. The ambassador noted that India was one of the first countries to recognize Azerbaijan as an independent state after it restored its independence in 1991. "This year, India and Azerbaijan mark the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations by holding a number of cultural events in both countries as part of the Indian-Azerbaijani Friendship Festival," the ambassador said. Rana further read out Indian President Ram Nath Kovind's message addressed to the people of India on the eve of the national holiday. The participants in the event included Indian citizens residing in Azerbaijan and their family members, representatives of general public, students of the Indian Center of the Azerbaijan University of Languages and friends of India. Last year the trade and economic exchanges between India and Azerbaijan progressed from strength to strength, increasing by 63 percent in 2016 as compared to 2015. India has recently facilitated the visa application procedures for Azerbaijan. From now on, Azerbaijani nationals would be able to get online e-Visa for visits to India for recreation, sightseeing, casual visit to meet friends or relatives, short duration medical treatment or casual business. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 August 2017 11:04 (UTC+04:00) By Amina Nazarli Former Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon voiced his admiration of the Azerbaijani President. I admire the Azerbaijani president and respect his leadership abilities, said Ban Ki-moon, who visited Baku for the 41st World Scout Conference, Azertac reported. Ban Ki-moon said that President Ilham Aliyev is taking every effort to preserve peace and stability. He further added that the scouts from all over the world, who gathered in Baku, will learn of Azerbaijan`s efforts for the sake of humanity, for the sake of global peace. The former secretary-general mentioned that he visits Azerbaijan for the second time. I paid my first official visit to Baku when I was the minister of foreign affairs of the Republic of Korea. I well remember that when I served as the UN Secretary General we enjoyed closed contacts with the Azerbaijani mission. During his visit to Baku, Ban Ki-moon also met with Deputy Speaker of Azerbaijan`s Parliament, Chair of the Committee on Natural Resources, Energy and Environment Valeh Alasgarov. At the meeting, Ban Ki-moon praised Azerbaijans contribution to the establishment of global peace. Saying that he met with President Aliyev during his tenure in the UN, Ban Ki-moon hailed development of Azerbaijan since his 2006 visit to Baku. We arrived in Baku to take part in the World Scout Conference. The Republic of Korea will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Scout Movement in 2020, he said, voicing confidence that Azerbaijan will support Korea`s bid to host the 2022 World Scout Conference. Alasgarov, in turn, underlined the importance of the World Scout Conference 2017 being held in Azerbaijan, which will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its National Scout Movement in December. He said that despite being a young state, Azerbaijan has great experience in organizing important international events. The World Scout Conference is being held at the Baku Congress Center on August 14-18. The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) is the largest international Scouting organization, attracting millions of young people who become active citizens, creating positive changes in the societies in which they live. The Association of Scouts of Azerbaijan is the national Scouting organization of Azerbaijan and was founded in 1997, and became the member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement on August 20, 2000. -- Amina Nazarli is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 August 2017 10:30 (UTC+04:00) The death toll of Monday's mudslide disaster in Sierra Leones capital Freetown has surpassed 350 as rescue efforts continued through the night, Anadolu Agency reports. A whole community was buried under the rubble. Its a tragedy. We are still recovering the bodies. We cannot be certain but more scores of Sierra Leoneans were lost. The mortuary is currently overwhelmed. We are being careful to ensure we dont have a spillover effect on cholera and diarrhea outbreaks. Currently we have over 350 bodies recovered," Sierra Leones Deputy Information Minister Cornelius Deveaux told a news conference in Freetown on Tuesday. In a broadcast Tuesday evening, President Ernest Koroma called on Sierra Leoneans to unite during this moment of grief. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 August 2017 14:30 (UTC+04:00) By Ali Mustafayev Tehran and Ankara discussed the latest regional developments as Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara. The August 16 meeting focused on the regional issues, terrorism as well as cooperation between the two countries regarding the border issues, IRNA news agency reported Earlier this month, Turkey said it had begun building a security wall along its mountainous eastern border with Iran. Tehran welcomed the news. On the same day, Major General Mohammad was received by Turkish Defense Minister Nurettin Canikli. Baqeri arrived in Turkey on August 15, for a three-day official visit. The delegation accompanying Baqeri includes political representatives as well as military representatives. Baqeri is also expected to visit Istanbul on August 17. Baqeri came to Turkey following an invitation from his Turkish counterpart Chief of General Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar. Te Iranian delegation met with Akar on August 15 at the General Staff Headquarters in Ankara. The primary agenda in the meeting was the Syrian issue. In light of recent developments, it was mutually agreed that the de-escalation zones outlined during the Astana talks must be actualized quickly. Syria has been suffering from the armed conflict since 2011. The conflict erupted between President Bashar al-Assads government along with its allies and forces opposing the government. Astana, the capital city of Kazakhstan, hosted several rounds of Syrian talks since January 2017, which have resulted in a memorandum of understanding on creation of de-escalation zones in Syria. Russia, Turkey and Iran, are sponsoring the negotiations in Astana, dubbed as the Astana Process. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 August 2017 15:42 (UTC+04:00) By Trend Holding a referendum on independence in Iraqs Kurdish Autonomous Region threatens the country with a split, which can lead to disastrous consequences in the region, Cahit Tuz, vice-president of the Sarkiyat research center in Turkey, told Trend on August 16. He noted that today, not only Iraq, but also some other countries of the region are facing the threat of secession. The countries of the region should decide what their priorities are, and the preservation of sovereignty should be such priority, Cahit Tuz said. According to the expert, holding the independence referendum is an erroneous decision. This referendum is also a threat to stability in the region, he said. It should be noted that the referendum on independence will be held on September 25. Earlier, Masoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, had said that opposition to the referendum would be met with a bloody war. Preparations for the referendum have been completed, he noted. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that the Kurdish administration of Iraq will regretful of holding an independence referendum. Iraqs integrity is a priority for Turkey, noted Erdogan, adding that a referendum on independence of the Kurdish autonomy means the beginning of Iraqs disintegration. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 August 2017 23:45 (UTC+04:00) By Sara Israfilbayova The Caspian region, being a powerful energy, transportation and communication hub, currently is one of the most significant geopolitical and economic centers in Eurasia. Intensive seacoast development, high growth of the oil and gas industry, realized and planned regional projects for the development of the international logistics infrastructure, connecting Europe and Asia all this necessitates the establishment of coordinated international cooperation based on legal norms, equality and mutual consideration of interests of all Caspian littoral states, reads an article posted by the Turkmen Dovlet Habarlary state news agency. The above mentioned issues were also discussed during the recent official visit of Turkmenistans president to Baku, Azerbaijan, according to the article. The importance of the early adoption of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea is stated in the Declaration on Strategic Partnership between Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan, signed following the summit meeting. The Caspian Sea is surrounded by the five coastal countries of Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan. The legal status of the Caspian Sea has remained unsolved during the past two decades, preventing development and exploitation of its disputable oil and gas fields and creating obstacles to the realization of major projects. Russia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan hold to the principle of dividing into national sectors based on the median line principles since it is an international boundary lake, and leaving the sea surface for general use, i.e. they are for demarcation of mineral resources and the Caspian Sea shelf, but against dividing up its waters. Iran seeks an equal division of the Caspian into five even sectors, mainly because most of the offshore energy resources are located away from the Iranian coastline. Turkmenistan also demands the division of the Sea into equal parts between the pre-Caspian countries so that each country has 20 percent of the sea. Turkmenistan is one of the key players in the energy market of the Caspian region and Central Asia. Hydrocarbon resources of Turkmenistan can be connected to the western direction through the Caspian Sea - thanks to the construction of the pipeline - about 300 kilometers under the sea to the shore of Azerbaijan, from there fuel can be sent to Turkey and further to Europe. Azerbaijan is one of the Caspian region's most important strategic oil and gas export routes to the West. Azerbaijans proven oil reserves stood at 7 billion barrels, or 0.4 percent of the worlds total proven oil reserves. The countrys proven natural gas reserves are estimated at approximately 35 trillion cubic feet. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 August 2017 16:21 (UTC+04:00) By Ali Mustafayev Turkey has sent a protest note to Germany, accusing the country of providing support to a FETO member. Germany is providing an asylum to Adil Oksuz, a theology professor accused by the Turkish authorities of being an influential figure within the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO). He is also among the masterminds of the military coup attempt of July 2016. Oksuz was arrested in Turkey on July 16, 2016 but was subsequently released and has since disappeared. Ankara has informed the German authorities that Oksuz is one of the prime suspects of the July 15 defeated coup attempt and an international fugitive. Ankara also demanded the authorities of Germany to immediately extradite Oksuz to Turkey, Trend reports. FETO and its leader Gulen are accused of orchestrating the defeated coup of last year, that martyred 250 people and left nearly 2,200 injured. Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary. Since the 2016 defeated coup attempt, nearly 4,000 FETO suspects have come to Germany from Turkey and other countries, according to Anadolu Agency. Several FETO suspects, including former soldiers and diplomats, have applied for asylum in various German federal states. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu stated that Germany must change its hostile attitude towards Turkey. Cavusoglu, talking to TRT Haber network, said that an active anti-Turkish propaganda is being held in Germany. Turkey does not oppose Germany and sees no reason to spoil relations with that country, he said. If there are any problems in the relations, Germany should sit down at the negotiating table and discuss this issue with Turkey," Cavusoglu said. Earlier, Cavusoglu said that the Bundestag has parliamentarians, who actively support the terrorist Workers Party of Kurdistan (PKK). He claimed that some of them are trying to withdraw the PKK from the list of terrorist organizations. The ties between Turkey and Germany have been strained since the failed coup in Turkey in July 2016, and tensions have worsened over multiple issues including a referendum campaign to expand Turkish President's powers. German authorities banned some Turkish ministers from campaigning for ethnic Turk votes in Germany during the April referendum. The relations deteriorated further after Ankara blocked a group of German lawmakers from visiting the servicemen at the Incirlik Air Base. Despite further compromise made by the Turkish government regarding the German deputies visit to military base in Konya, the relations between the two countries are being strained to date. --- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 August 2017 17:58 (UTC+04:00) By Ali Mustafayev South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon reacted negatively to calls for his country to develop its own nuclear weapons. The calls are growing in South Korea for the nation to deploy nuclear weapons on the backdrop of soaring tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. The PM said that the move would undermine Seoul's calls for North Korea to denuclearize, trigger a nuclear arms race and put the country under international sanctions, Yonhap reported. "If we are going to possess nuclear weapons, it will result in undermining the justification for (North Korea's) denuclearization and accelerate nuclear armament (in the region) and we also have to be prepared for international sanctions," Lee said in a TV interview. "We shouldn't make a hasty decision on this," he said. However, he added that the country should consider introducing nuclear-powered submarines to cope with growing threats from the North. Pyongyang has stepped up its nuclear and missile programs, with two nuclear tests last year, as well as a series of missile launches, including those capable of reaching the continental U.S. After North Korea's second test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) this July, South Korean President Moon Jae-in ordered a speedy deployment of the U.S. THAAD anti-missile defense system. Moon told U.S. President Donald Trump in a telephone conversation that South Korea also wants to build a nuclear-powered submarine, presidential officials said. Later, the U.S. Defense Department said it was "actively" considering revising bilateral ballistic missile guidelines with South Korea to allow Seoul to build more powerful missiles -- at the South's request. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula soared higher after North Korea threatened last week to fire four ballistic missiles into waters just 30-40 kilometers off the U.S.-controlled Pacific island of Guam. In response, U.S. President Donald Trump has openly talked about military options. The US president Donald Trump warned Pyongyang saying that North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States, or they will be met with fire and the fury like the world has never seen. -- Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz 16 August 2017 11:31 (UTC+04:00) By Laman Ismayilova Gobustan, a part of the rich heritage of the rock art of Azerbaijan and the world, was visited by over 48,000 tourists this year. Roughly 48,219 people visited the Gobustan State Historical-Artistic Reserve, a home to the worlds most important petroglyphs stone and iron-age figures carved thousands of years ago, in January- June 2017. 25,663 of them were foreign tourists, said Reserve worker Rahman Abdullayev. The Reserve mainly welcomed tourists from Russia, Germany, England, Pakistan, Iran and Arab countries. The number of tourists visiting Gobustan, which has already turned into the interesting touristy spot, continues to grow, Abdullayev told Azertac.Roughly 100,000 people visited Gobustan in 2016. Gobustan is home to one of the world's largest ancient petroglyphs collections. Settled since the 8th millennium BC, the area contains more than 600,000 distinct paintings, going as far back as 20,000 years to as recent as 5,000 years ago. The pictures dating back to 8 millenniums reflect different hunting scenes, ceremonial and ritual processes of the habitants of these places. Gobustan petroglyphs were repeatedly investigated by the famous Norwegian explorer and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl, who recognized local boats petroglyphs as the oldest known images of pirogue in the world. Most of the rock engravings depict primitive men, animals, battle-pieces, ritual dances, bullfights, boats with armed oarsmen, warriors with lances in their hands, camel caravans, pictures of sun and stars. The museum in Gobustan consists of various exhibition halls, sections, equipped with interactive boards, touch screens, educational games, 3D videos, etc. In the sections "Environment of Gobustan" and "Life of the ancient people", one can see stuffed animals, mannequins, depicting ancient people that seem very realistic. Don't forget to visit the halls of the "Archaeological discovery in Gobustan", "Life of the people of the ancient period", "Time Travel", "Meaning of petroglyphs", "Animals and hunters", "Artists of the ancient period of Gobustan" . Here one can learn a lot about the meaning of Gobustan rock drawings, archaeological excavations. Also, visitors to the museum can take a virtual flight in 3D, from a height to look at the natural landscape of the Gobustan reserve. Gobustan was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 2007. The Gobustan State Historical-Artistic Reserve has been included into the list of best European Museums. --- Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @Lam_Ismayilova Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz First up, Joe Biden is thinking about dropping tariffs against China. But theres a spy in prison this morning that helps us understand why he shouldnt. Ill explain. Your second brief, If youre looking for a good paying job, you might consider being a CEO for a health insurance company. One executive made $142M dollars last year. Let's talk about that. And as always, Im keeping an eye out for developing stories. Put this one on your radar. Mexican cartels are grooming American kids online and paying them cash to traffic illegals or run drugs across the border. Ill share details. If you enjoyed this episode of the President's Daily Brief, remember to subscribe and listen daily at podfollow.com/pdb. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices The Fact Behind Gandhi's Picture In Currency Notes Life oi-Syeda Farah Have you ever wondered why the Indian currency notes have Gandhiji's side portrait on them? Or why that picture alone of Gandhiji's is used on all the notes? Well, there is a history to it and here we bring to you the actual details behind the history of this particular picture of Mahatma Gandhi's that is used in the Indian currency notes. Now, we bet this would make you wonder where did that picture come from? How did we manage to get such a perfect shot, at the right moment, for the right purpose? So, check out the details below of why this particular image of Gandhi ji is used in all the currency notes. The Original Picture... The picture was taken in 1946 by an unknown photographer. The picture is dated to have been clicked in 1946 when Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Pethick-Lawrence met each other in the viceroy house, in Kolkata. It is said that Pethick-Lawrence was a British Secretary back then. Image Source More About The Picture... This particular picture was taken at the former viceroy's house back in 1946, which is now known as the Rashtrapati Bhavan. This epic picture of Gandhiji's was later used as a portrait-sized image on all the currency notes. Image Source The Mirror Image Was Used The mirror image of the original picture has been used on the Mahatma Gandhi series of the bank notes. In 1987, when Rs. 500 note was used for the first time, a watermark of Gandhi's picture was present on the notes. pulse What These Images On The Backside Of Indian Currency Notes Signify The Notes Underwent A Transformation In 1996 The currency notes having Gandhiji's picture only came into existence from 1996. Before that, the notes had the picture of the Ashoka Stambha. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decided to make a transformation and this trademark picture of Gandhi was used in all the currency notes, starting from Rs. 5 to Rs. 1000. From then to the present day, Gandhi's picture is still being used on all the Indian currency notes. From An Army Officer To Mrs India 2017: Shalini Singhs Inspirational Story Life oi-Syeda Farah From becoming a widow at a young age of 23 while she had a 2-year-old son along with her, this woman's struggle with odds is a must read, as she teaches us on how to cope up with our difficult times. From being an Army Officer to becoming Mrs India, 2017, Shalini Singh has proved that strong determination cannot stop us from achieving what we want to in life! You May Also Like To Read: List Of Inspirational People With Down Syndrome Read her inspiration story, below... She Lost Her Husband... In 2001, Shalini's husband late Major Avinash gave up his life in a terrorist encounter in Kashmir. She was left to raise their son alone. It was a very depressing phase, where she even considered taking her own life as the loss was too big to handle for her, but it was her son who kept her will power intact. She Changed Her Life's Path Instead of taking up higher studies, she applied for the Service Selection Board. The long interviews lasted for over a week and during this time, her parents would babysit her son outside the premises. As Luck Was On Her Side! After she got selected, she began her training in Chennai. On September 7, 2002, just a few days before her husband's first death anniversary, she was commissioned as an officer in the Indian Army. Also Read:Her Bones Were Broken Even Before She Was Born! She Serviced For 6 Years! She served the Indian Army for 6 years. She is currently aged 39 and is still setting examples by adding different feathers to her cap, as she was crowned the Classic "Mrs India 2017 Queen of Substance". She Is Surely An Example! Shalini's struggle and challenges she took up in life have made her set examples for others. She continues to inspire women and single parents nation wide. She dedicated her newest feat to her late husband. We need more such brave women around us. Have any inspirational story to share? Then, do share it with us. All Images: Source GET THE BEST BOLDSKY STORIES! Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 16, 2017, 18:44 [IST] Bucks County schools help Give a Christmas reach local families in need In its 64-year history, the Give-a-Christmas drive has raised $5.26 million to help thousands of families at the holiday season. RTE has today reported that US President Donald Trump has called out Ireland as a country from which he would like to see jobs "brought back" to America. According to the report, Mr Trump was asked why three executives - including the CEOs of Merck and Intel, which both have significant operations here - had quit his American manufacturing council. All three had resigned following the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend and the US President's initial delay in specifically the neo-Nazis and white supremacists involved. At the press conference in Trump Tower, Donald Trump criticised the three executives and made a pointed reference to Ireland according to RTE. "We want products made in the country," he said. "Now I have to tell you that some of the folks will leave, theyre leaving out of embarrassment because they make their products outside. Ive been lecturing them, including the gentlemen youre referring to, about you have to bring it back to this country (the United States)." Trump added, "You cant do it necessarily in Ireland and all of these other places, you have to bring this work back to this country, thats what I want. I want manufacturing to be back into the United States so that American workers can benefit." Source: www.businessworld.ie Top Story Study Finds Possible Link Between Hair Straightening Chemicals and Uterine Cancer Women who use chemical hair straighteners and relaxers may have a higher risk of uterine cancer, according to a new study from researchers at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). Share Read More Breast Cancer Death Rates Are Highest for Black WomenAgain ACS researchers report and explain statistics about breast cancer in a new article in CA: Cancer Journal for Clinicians and in Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2022-2024. Share Read More Cancer Survivors Need More Access to Equitable Care The 2022-2024 edition of "Cancer Treatment & Survivorship Facts & Figures" is now available to help the public health community better met the unique needs of an expanding and diverse population of cancer survivors. The bottom line? The number of people living after a cancer diagnosis keeps rising, naturally due to population growth and aging, plus better treatment and early detection. And racial/ethnic disparities in cancer care persist. Share Read More For Your Best Life After CancerEat Well & Be Physically Active Updated ACS guidelines for diet and physical activity aim to help cancer survivors reduce their risk for the cancer's return and for dying from cancer. Share Read More More Black Women Die from Breast Cancer Than Any Other Cancer New Cancer Facts & Figures for African American/Black People finds breast cancer now surpasses lung as the leading cause of cancer death in Black women. Share Read More Slideshow: COVID-19 Pandemic Affects the Cancer Continuum ACS 2021 studies show how COVID-19 is affecting prevention efforts, expected cancer screening rates, treatment, quality-of-life, and research. Share Read More Risk of Dying from Cancer Continues to Drop at an Accelerated Pace New 2022 cancer facts and figures show overall improvement, with new milestones for early detection of lung cancer, but with slowing progress for prostate and breast cancer. Share Chief Minister of Telangana K Chandrashekar Rao announced that the government will begin a recruitment for filling up 85,000 vacancies. The announcement was made on the 71st celebration of Independence day. The chief minister also announced about the meeting for 'World Industrialists Forum' which will be conducted from November 28, 2017 till November 30, 2017 at Hyderabad. Rao said that the forum will be visited by the Prime Minster Narendra Modi and Ivanka Trump, businesswoman and the daughter of Donald Trump, the President of United States of America. From the formation of the state, till now 1,12,536 posts have been provided by the government. The appointments for 27,660 vacancies have been made till now. The Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) has released a notification which invited all the qualified candidates for the recruitment process in various departments in the state. The official information has yet to be uploaded by the TSPSC website. Speaking about the World Industrialists Forum, the Chief Minister said that many industrialists from around the globe will be joining at the forum to discuss and conduct a dialogue on their ideas and help budding businesspersons. The TSPSC will be conducting important examinations for the recruitment of candidates in the month of August 2017. The dates for the examination have changed because of the examinations of the Staff Selection Commission which are scheduled on the same dates and keeping in mind the request made by many candidates, the alteration has been made. The information related to the change in examination date can be found on the official website - tspsc.gov.in Kakatiya University PGCET 2017 Phase I Seat Allotment Released: Check Now! Here is an opportunity to study in UK with the Roehampton University PhD Studentship in the Department of Life Sciences. Study in UK scholarship is for international students to pursue PhD at the Roehampton University in the Dept of Life Sciences. What will the study in UK scholarship cover? The scholarship will cover Home/EU fees and provide an annual stipend at current Research Council rates. Note: International students would need to be able to pay the difference between Home and Overseas fees for the duration of the programme. Eligibility: Educational Qualification Applicants should have at least a 2:1 Honours degree (or equivalent) in Zoology, Psychology or a related subject and a relevant Master's degree. English Language International students are required to provide evidence of their proficiency in English language skills. GREAT Scholarship To Study In UK from University of Southampton How to apply for the study in UK scholarship? Download the Research Degree Application Form and Guidance Notes. Send the following documents as a single PDF to pg research-at-roehampton.ac.uk with "Life Sciences Studentship" and your surname in the subject heading with A cover letter stating the reasons you are applying for this studentship and outlining your expertise and relevant skills The completed Application Form (RDB1) If English is not your first language, an IELTS certificate (see the Guidance Notes) Your qualification documents (transcripts and certificates) Referees should be asked to submit references direct to the above email address, as soon as possible. Deadline The last date to apply is September 1, 2017. Indian Oil Corporation Offers Fellowship for Study In Canada Photo: Surveillance image Police are searching for a pair of vehicles stolen from a Kelowna auto dealer and then used in additional crimes. Just before 9 a.m. Monday, RCMP responded to a break and enter at a dealership on the 2400 block of Enterprise Way. Suspects gained entry and grabbed keys left by service department customers. A white 2015 Dodge Challenger, with B.C. licence plate AK693L, and a grey 2017 Jeep Grand Cherokee with B.C. licence plate EN986C were stolen from the lot, along with additional licence plates. At least one attempted shoplifting incident in West Kelowna and an attempted break and enter to another business on Enterprise Way are believed to be related to the stolen Challenger. RCMP continue to search for both stolen vehicles, says Cpl. Jesse ODonaghey. If you spot either of the vehicles occupied or abandoned, do not approach them and call police immediately." Anyone with information is asked to call Kelowna RCMP at 250-762-3300 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-8477. Nabors Industries Ltd. provides drilling and drilling-related services for land-based and offshore oil and natural gas wells. The company operates through five segments: U.S. Drilling, Canada Drilling, International Drilling, Drilling Solutions, and Rig Technologies. It provides tubular running, wellbore placement, directional drilling, measurement-while-drilling (MWD), equipment manufacturing, and rig instrumentation services; and logging-while-drilling systems and services, as well as drilling optimization software. The company also offers REVit, an automated real time stick-slip mitigation system; ROCKit, a directional steering control system; SmartNAV, a collaborative guidance and advisory platform; SmartSLIDE, an advanced directional steering control system; and RigCLOUD, which provides the tools and infrastructure to integrate applications to deliver real-time insight into operations across the rig fleet. In addition, it manufactures and sells top drives, catwalks, wrenches, drawworks, and other drilling related equipment, such as robotic systems and downhole tools; and provides aftermarket sales and services for the installed base of its equipment. As of December 31, 2021, the company marketed approximately 301 rigs for land-based drilling operations in the United States, Canada, and in 20 other countries worldwide; and 29 rigs for offshore platform drilling operations in the United States and internationally. Nabors Industries Ltd. was founded in 1952 and is based in Hamilton, Bermuda. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company provides solutions that allow customers to capture, analyze, and act upon data seamlessly in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and Japan. The company offers general purpose servers for multi-workload computing and workload-optimized servers; HPE ProLiant rack and tower servers; HPE BladeSystem and HPE Synergy; and solutions for secondary workloads and traditional tape, storage networking, and disk products, such as HPE Modular Storage Arrays and HPE XP. It also offers HPE Apollo and Cray products; and HPE Superdome Flex, HPE Nonstop, HPE Integrity, and HPE Edgeline products. In addition, the company provides HPE Aruba product portfolio that includes wired and wireless local area network hardware products, such as Wi-Fi access points, switches, routers, and sensors; HPE Aruba software and services comprising cloud-based management, network management, network access control, analytics and assurance, and location; and professional and support services, as well as as-a-service and consumption models for the intelligent edge portfolio of products. Further, it offers various leasing, financing, IT consumption, and utility programs and asset management services for customers to facilitate technology deployment models and the acquisition of complete IT solutions, including hardware, software, and services from Hewlett Packard Enterprise and others. Additionally, the company invests in communications and media solutions. It has a partnership with Striim, Inc. to offer high performance and mission-critical solutions with real-time analytics. It serves commercial and large enterprise groups, such as business and public sector enterprises; and through various partners comprising resellers, distribution partners, original equipment manufacturers, independent software vendors, systems integrators, and advisory firms. Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company was founded in 1939 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas. New York Community Bancorp, Inc. is the bank holding company for New York Community Bank. New York Community Bank is the nations 47th-largest financial institution and its largest thrift. As a thrift, the bank specializes in real estate and consumer accounts specifically real estate loans and savings accounts and has limited exposure to other forms of business banking. Among the benefits to consumers are interest-bearing checking and saving accounts that come with higher-than-average interest rates. New York Community Bank was founded in 1859 to serve Queens County, New York. It operated under that name, growing all the while, until 2000 when it changed its name to better reflect the business. The company IPOd in 1993 and has made multiple acquisitions in the time since. As of 6/30/2022, the bank had $63.1 billion in assets and $41.2 billion in deposits. New York Community Bank operates in greater New York City, New Jersey, Ohio, Florida, and Arizona. The company provides deposit products ranging from interest-bearing checking and money market accounts to savings accounts, IRAs, and CDs. Brands under the companys umbrella include AmTrust in Florida and Arizona, Ohio Savings Bank, Garden State Savings Bank, and Atlantic Bank. The bank offers a wide range of real-estate-related loans including but not limited to multi-family loans, commercial real estate loans, construction loans, and consumer loans and mortgages. Investment products include annuities, mutual funds, and life insurance. Customers include individuals, small businesses, and organizations and are served through a network of more than 230 branches, and 300 ATMs, online, mobile, and by phone. Many of the locations are open 24 hours and 6 days a week although those hours are not available at all branches. Clients can access their accounts digitally 24/7. New York Community Bancorp and its underlying business carry investment-grade credit ratings from all the major rating agencies. The credit outlook in the 4th quarter of 2022 was stable as it had been for some time. In New York, it is a leader in the multi-family market specializing in lower-cost housing in rent-controlled areas. As of June 30, 2022, the multi-family loan portfolio accounted for more than 75% of all investments. The company has a stock purchase and dividend reinvestment plan that help to sustain a high level of ownership. A bumpy landing can give even the most seasoned traveler the jitters, even if you know the odds are youll arrive safely. After all, flying is one of the safest modes of transportation out there. But at some airports, arrivals and departures are truly a white-knuckle experience. Flying into these airports isnt totally unsafe if the risk was too great, no airline or pilot would be attempting to land but it can still put passengers (and sometimes even the crew) on edge. A few have even been the site of deadly crashes that have killed scores of passengers. At these 15 airports, steep cliffs, fierce crosswinds, and other factors combine to test the nerve of even the most frequent flyers. Plus, find out which airlines have the worst safety ratings in the world. 15. Congonhas Airport Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil Annual passengers: 18.1 million Pilots flying into Sao Paulos infamous Congonhas Airport know they should prepare. Originally built on the outskirts of the Brazilian capital, the airport is now surrounded by high rises. The runway is short and can be slippery, though there have been improvements since a deadly accident in 2007 when a jet skidded off the runway and burst into flames. All 187 passengers and 12 people on the ground died. Next: 131 people died in a single accident at this location 14. Toncontin International Airport Location: Tegucigalpa, Honduras Annual passengers: 617,500 Mountainous terrain, a short runway, and a tricky approach make landing at Toncontin International Airport in Tegucigalpala, Honduras a nail-biter. Over the years, there have been several devastating accidents at the airport. In 1989, 131 people died when a Boeing 727 crashed into a mountain after pilots made mistakes when trying to land. Another accident in 2011 killed 14 people. Plans are underway to build a new, safer airport so that passengers can land in an airport that doesnt put their lives at risk, Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez said. Next: This U.S. airport is risky for its surroundings 13. Midway Airport Location: Chicago, Illinois Annual passengers: 21.1 million Chicagos Midway Airport is boxed in by the surrounding city, making landings and takeoffs here a bit tricky and prompting Airfarewatchdog to dub it one of the scariest airports in America. The entire airport is one square mile in area, with houses, hotels, and busy streets on all sides, leaving no buffer zone if things go wrong. In 2005, a Boeing 737 careened off a snow-covered runway and into traffic on the other side of the airport fence, killing a six-year-old boy in a car. Since then, theres a new system that will bring jets to a halt at the end of the runway, but passengers still need to be prepared for a hard landing and a fast stop. Next: Want to climb Mount Everest? Youll have to brave this scary airport first. 12. Tenzing-Hillary Airport Location: Chaurikharka, Nepal Annual passengers: Not reported For Mount Everest climbers, the adventure begins well before they reach base camp. First, they must endure the hair-raising flight into Nepals Tenzing-Hillary Airport (also known as Lukla Airport). The small airport is atop a high cliff, with a downward sloping runway thats a mere 65 feet wide and 1,500 feet long. At one end of the pavement is a 2,000-foot drop, and at the other is a wall of rock. Unpredictable weather conditions make flying into this airport even more challenging. There have been several serious accidents at Lukla, including a 2008 crash that killed 18 people and a May 2017 accident where two people died. Next: Pilots must have special training to land here 11. Cristiano Ronaldo Airport Location: Santa Cruz, Portugal Annual passengers: 2.5 million Passengers flying into Cristiano Ronaldo Airport on the Portuguese island of Madeira wont soon forget the experience. Planes landing on the single runway must contend with serious crosswinds, as well as a mountain on one side and a steep drop off into the ocean on the other. In 1977, 131 people died after a jet crashed when trying to land in bad weather. Since then, theyve extended the runway several times (much of it is now on stilts over the water) and the airport is far safer. Still, pilots need special training to fly here, and landing can be a frightening experience for visitors. Next: This airport requires planes to fly dangerously close to onlookers 10. Princess Juliana International Airport Location: Simpson Bay, St. Maarten Annual passengers: 1.8 million The approach to Princess Juliana International Airport on the Caribbean island of St. Martin is one of the most famous in the world, at least among aviation buffs. Here, large jets swoop in from over the water and fly low over a crowded beach before hitting the runway. Though the landing looks scary, there havent been any major crashes at the airport. But things can get dicey for plane-spotters on the ground. In July 2017, a woman watching flights take off died after the blast from a jet pushed her into a retaining wall. Next: Tiny planes make a steep approach to this airport 9. Gustaf III Airport Location: St. John, St. Barts Annual passengers: Not reported After gripping the armrests on their flight to St. Martin, vacationers on their way to the nearby island of St. Barts have another nerve-wracking landing to deal with. Only tiny planes carrying a max of 20 people can land at Gustaf III Airport, and theres a steep approach to the short runway. On takeoffs, planes must fly over a beach filled with lounging tourists. In 2016, a man trying to snap a picture of a landing was clipped by a plane and in 2001, 20 people died when their plane crashed while trying to land on the island. Next: Only 25 pilots are qualified to fly in and out of this destination 8. Paro Airport Location: Paro, Bhutan Annual passengers: 182,000 High altitude, surrounding mountains, and unpredictable weather conditions all combine to make Bhutans Paro Airport one of the worlds most challenging airports with no margin for error, according to Aviation Week. The runway, located in a narrow valley among the Himalayan peaks, is more than 7,300 feet above sea level, and planes land on a strip thats just 7,340 feet long and 98 feet wide. According to Popular Mechanics, the conditions are so tough that there are only 25 pilots qualified to fly in and out of Paro. Next: Winds and high altitude make for a dicey landing at this U.S. airport 7. Aspen/Pitkin County Airport Location: Pitkin County, Colorado Annual passengers: 248,000 Not all scary airports are abroad. The Aspen/Pitkin County Airport is one of the most challenging in the U.S. for pilots, according to a report from Honeywell. Winds and high altitude can make landing and taking off at this popular ski spot harrowing, especially if the pilot doesnt have much experience. Over the years, there have been several serious accidents, prompting Minnesota Public Radio to dub it one of the nations deadliest airports. Next: Sandy landings are common here 6. Barra Airport Location: Eoligarry, Scotland Annual passengers: 10,700 Many travelers hop on a plane to head to the beach. But what if the beach was the runway? Thats the case on the island of Barra in Scotlands Outer Hebrides, which has the worlds only beach airport with scheduled, commercial flights. Planes land right on the sand, provided the tide is out. Whether you find that charming or terrifying probably depends on your constitution. Next: This dangerous airport was made famous by James Bond 5. Courchevel Airport Report: Saint-Bon-Tarentaise, France Annual passengers: Not reported For the most part, weve restricted this list to airports with scheduled flights. But we couldnt leave out Frances Courchevel Airport. You may recognize this tiny, Alpine airport from the James Bond movie Tomorrow Never Dies. Pilots brave enough to attempt a landing here must contend with a runway thats just roughly 1,700 feet long and has a scary drop-off at one end. There are no lights, and the surrounding mountains mean that pilots must land successfully on their first try. Conditions are so tricky that you cant even charter a plane to take you there, though some privately-owned planes do land there. Next: The shortest commercial landing strip in the world makes for risky landings 4. Juancho E. Yrausquin Airport Location: Hells Gate, Caribbean Netherlands Annual passengers: 20,000+ The ultra-short runway at this airport on the Caribbean island of Saba makes landings a challenge. Pilots must touch down on a strip of pavement thats only 1,312 feet long, with cliffs on both ends, hills on one side, and the ocean on the other. According to the islands tourism board, its the shortest commercial runway in the world. Next: Cars have to stop to allow planes to land at this location 3. Gibraltar Airport Location: Gibraltar Annual passengers: 652,000 The British territory of Gibraltar isnt very big. With limited square footage, some areas have to pull double duty. So, you shouldnt be surprised when your plane rolls across the citys main drag upon landing. Cars on Winston Churchill Boulevard periodically have to stop in order to let jets through. It might be safe, but its definitely a little nerve-wracking for flyers and drivers alike. Next: Civil war makes this place a dangerous landing spot 2. Damascus International Airport Location: Damascus, Syria Annual passengers: Not reported Its not high mountains, sheer cliffs, or bad weather that make Damascus International Airport a dangerous airport, according to some. Its the civil war currently raging in Syria. Few international airlines currently serve the city due to the conflict, and those that do have to contend with occasional fighting around the airport. In 2012, a military helicopter hit a plane that had left the airport, but thankfully the flight returned to Damascus safely. Next: Landing here meant flying flush to apartment buildings 1. Kai Tak Airport Location: Kowloon, Hong Kong Annual passengers: 29.5 million in 1996, before closing Depending on who you ask, arriving at Hong Kongs Kai Tak airport was either thrilling or terrifying. Pilots flying into this airport had to make a low-altitude turn and then navigate over the crowded apartment buildings and busy streets of the Kowloon neighborhood (flyers could even see into peoples windows). Landings were especially challenging when it was windy. The airport closed in 1998, but aviation buffs and pilots wont forget this one-of-a-kind airport. Next: Find out which airlines have the worst safety ratings. The most dangerous airlines If you have a fear of flying, you might not just be worried about unsafe airports. Chances are, youre concerned about the airline youre flying as well. And some airlines are definitely better than others. AirlineRatings.com assigns hundreds of carriers around the world a star rating for safety. The best airlines get seven stars, while the worst only have one or two. The good news is that all major carriers in the U.S. and Europe have excellent safety ratings, as do most airlines youd be flying on trips to places like Asia and South America. Things get a little dicey with some regional and low-cost airlines in the developing world, as well as national carriers in certain countries. Some of these airlines are even banned in the EU. The worst major airlines for safety, according to Airline Ratings, include: Nepal Airlines: 1/7 stars Ariana Afghan Airlines: 2/7 AirAsia Indonesia: 2/7 Iraqi Airlines: 2/7 stars Afriqiyah Airways: 3/7 Drukair Royal Bhutan: 3/7 stars Libyan Airlines: 3/7 Somon Air: 3/7 Tajik Air: 3/7 Read more: These Are the Most Hated Airports in the United States Boko Haram: Female suicide bombers target refugee camp in northern Nigeria, killing 27 Three female suicide bombers have attacked a refugee camp in north-eastern Nigeria, killing at least 27 people. Dozens more were injured after the women blew themselves up outside the camp near Maiduguri in Borno state. The attack bore the hallmarks of Boko Haram in an area known to be a militant stronghold. The north-eastern city is at the heart of a fight between government and jihadist forces who have waged an eight year insurgency to create an Islamic state in northern Nigeria. Officials said 83 people were wounded in the blast, according to Reuters, in an attack that will shake the army's renewed control of the area. Nigeria's military won back large swathes of territory from the militants but in the last few weeks they have struck back with at least 143 people being killed since June. Boko Haram's better-known faction, led by Abubakar Shekau, has mainly based itself in the sprawling Sambisa forest, and been characterised by its use of women and children as suicide bombers targeting mosques and markets. A rival faction - based in the Lake Chad region, led by Abu Musab al-Barnawi and boasting ties to Islamic State - has in the meantime quietly become a deadly force capable of carrying out highly-organised attacks. Last month, an oil prospecting team was captured by al-Barnawi's group. At least 37 people, including members of the team, died when rescuers from the military and vigilantes attempted to free them. The Boko Haram insurgency has killed 20,000 people and forced some 2.7 million to flee their homes in the last eight years. Additional reporting by Reuters. Christian festival worshippers crushed to death by falling tree in Portugal At least 12 people have been crushed to death and another 50 injured at a Christian festival in Portugal after a tree toppled into a crowd of worshippers. The accident on the island of Madeira during a large annual Catholic celebrations that draws thousands to pay homage to the local patron saint, Our Lady of the Mount. The pilgrims were struck when a 200-year-old oak came down near a shrine in the hills above Madeira's capital Funchal on Tuesday. The Roman Catholic festival marks the Assumption - or entry into heaven - of the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. Every August 15 is a public holiday across Portugal to honour the day. Portugal's Prime Minister Antonio Costa said his government were offering support to local authorities on the island. 'My thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims and my solidarity is with the citizens of Madeira,' he tweeted. Footage of the incident was posted on social media by local media Jornal de Madeira and shows the huge tree crashing down on worshippers as dozens run for their lives. 'It was terrible, it was so sudden,' Xavier Nunes, an eyewitness, told SIC television. Local media said the tree was rotten, and had been partly supported by a metal cable. Pope Francis ally defends controversial 'ecumenism of hate' article blasting US Catholic-evangelical alliance One of the Papal allies who recently co-authored a controversial article that has become known for accusing American Catholics and evangelicals of forming an 'ecumenism of hate' has defended the piece and welcomed the debate it has sparked. Marcelo Figueroa, a Protestant pastor who has known the Pope for years, told The Tablet that the authors had 'no idea it would be a big deal' but added: 'All the opinions, reactions and points of view, both for and against, are welcome and show that it was necessary to open this debate.' The international row began when, as Christian Today reported last month, Figueroa and Antonio Spadaro condemned 'Manichaean language that divides reality between absolute Good and absolute Evil' in an article they wrote together on the 'surprising ecumenism' between the two groups. It went on to say that Donald Trump had tapped into this by promoting an 'apocalyptic geopolitics', citing the President's chief strategist Stephen Bannon, who is nominally a Catholic, as supporting a 'theopolitical vision of Christian fundamentalism'. Spadaro is a Jesuit priest who edits La Civilta Cattolica, and Figueroa is the Presbyterian editor-in-chief of the Argentinian edition of L'Osservatore Romano. Spadaro's paper is considered the official voice of the Vatican and its contents are approved before publication by the Vatican secretary of state. Following the article's publication, the Archbishop of Philadelphia, Charles Chaput, wrote that it was 'an exercise in dumbing down and inadequately presenting the nature of Catholic/evangelical cooperation on religious freedom and other key issues'. A range of other figures from both denominations have reacted, too, with the leading evangelical consultant Johnnie Moore writing to Pope Francis to ask for a meeting between the Pope, evangelicals and Catholics. In a written interview with The Tablet conducted in Spanish, Figueroa said: 'The article describes a religious and ecumenical phenomenon developing in the United States that both of us know and have studied, alhough of course no one has the absolute truth or complete knowledge. Although we've talked about this phenomenon in the USA it is also emerging in other countries, especially in Latin America where I have been studying ecumenism for more than two decades.' Figueroa said that his decision to write emerged from a 'deep personal dialogue' with Fr Spadaro and was a 'reflection and interpretation' of Francis' words and ecumenical gestures. Figueroa emphasised that there are elements of the 'ecumenism of love, encounter, peace, prayer' in the US and that the article was not an exhaustive study. 'The article did not intend to study all the expressions of ecumenism and American religiosity, but to emphasise an aspect we thought was important, opening it up to serious and respectful debate,' he told The Tablet. 'There's only one "King" that's Jesus': the Christian faith of Elvis Presley Today marks the 40th anniversary of the death of rock'n'roll icon Elvis Presley. The star defined his era, and continues to be adored by many today but some forget that the colourful character was also a born-again Christian. Soon established in his time as the 'The King' of Rock'n'Roll, Elvis didn't actually appreciate the title. 'There's only one king', he said, 'and that's Jesus Christ.' Raised in the charismatic Assemblies of God denomination, Presley went on to have a complex relationship to faith. He did identify as a Christian, and described Gospel music as 'the purest thing there is on this earth'. However, he also lived the wild life of addicted hedonism often associated with mega-stardom. He reportedly confessed to one pastor of his struggle to live the moral life he was really meant to. Despite the immense fame, riches and popularity he gained, Presley also described a life of immense misery, depression and loneliness. Some suggest Elvis was more of a general spiritual seeker than committed Christian, with an interest in many different world religions. But a glimpse of a Christian faith, or just an interest in God, remained right up to his tragic death. Presley died reading a book on the famed Christian relic the Shroud of Turin his dead body was found in a toilet with the book lying next to him. As the mysterious star continues to be remembered, here are seven of his quotes on faith and life. 1. All I want is to know the truth, to know and experience God. I'm a searcher, that's what I'm all about. 2. Music is like religion when you experience them both it should move you. 3. Whatever I will become will be what God has chosen for me. 4. We do two shows a night for five weeks. A lotta times we'll go upstairs and sing until daylight gospel songs. We grew up with it...It more or less puts your mind at ease. It does mine. 5. I believe in the Bible. I believe that all good things come from God. I don't believe I'd sing the way I do if God hadn't wanted me to. 6. Truth is like the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away. 7. The Lord can give, and the Lord can take away. I might be herding sheep next year. US Secretary of State takes aim at ISIS and global failure to stop persecution in new religious freedom report US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has condemned the prevalence of religious persecution across the world, alongside the release of the state department's 2016 International Religious Freedom Report. Not only is religious freedom an imperative of American values, Tiilerson said, but a global failure to protect it 'breeds instability, terrorism, and violence'. The spectre of the Islamist threat of ISIS was underlined by Tillerson. He wrote in his preface to the International Religious Freedom Report 2016: 'ISIS has and continues to target members of multiple religions and ethnicities for rape, kidnapping, enslavement, and death. ISIS is clearly responsible for genocide against Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims in areas it controlled. 'ISIS is also responsible for crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing directed at these same groups, and in some cases against Sunni Muslims, Kurds, and other minorities. The protection of these groups and others who are targets of violent extremism remains a human rights priority for the Trump Administration.' The annual report is the state department's first since President Trump took office. In yesterday's remarks on the report, Tillerson reflected: 'Almost 20 years after the law's passage, conditions in many parts of the world are far from ideal. Religious persecution and intolerance remains far too prevalent. Almost 80 percent of the global population live with restrictions on or hostilities to limit their freedom of religion. Where religious freedom is not protected, we know that instability, human rights abuses, and violent extremism have a greater opportunity to take root.' Summarising the report, the secretary of state noted various instances of religious freedom coming under threat across the world. These included the oppression of Baha'is and Christians in Iran, controversial 'blasphemy' laws in Pakistan, the targeting of Shia Muslims in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, and the stringent suppression of certain religions in China. He said the US would continue to advocate for the release of US pastor Andrew Brunson, 'who has been wrongfully imprisoned in Turkey'. He added: 'No one should have to live in fear, worship in secret, or face discrimination because of his or her beliefs. As President Trump has said, we look forward to a day when, "people of all faiths, Christians and Muslims and Jewish and Hindu, can follow their hearts and worship according to their conscience."' Tillerson concluded the report's preface: 'We are firmly committed to advancing the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The release of this report gives voice to all those worldwide seeking to live their lives peacefully in accordance with their conscience.' The full International Religious Freedom Report 2016 can be read here. The RSPCA has been found to have the most improved charity brand, while Macmillan has the highest ranked brand, according to the latest data released by YouGovs CharityIndex, which measures public opinion of charities. Charities overall have seen their brand health improve in the poll, suggesting that trust in the sector is once again on the rise. New data published by YouGov showed that the RSPCA had the largest improvement in its CharityIndex score which is used to measure overall brand health in the year between July 2016 and June 2017. According to YouGovs figures published today, the RSPCA saw its index score improve by 2.7 points in the 12 months to the end of June, making it the most improved charity brand in the UK. The RSPCA came ahead of other major charities in terms of improved brand health, including Cancer Research UK, the NSPCC and the British Heart Foundation. The top ten most improved charity brands in the UK were: RSPCA Cancer Research UK NSPCC Shelter British Heart Foundation Macmillan Cancer Support Battersea Dogs and Cats Home Dogs Trust Save the Children BBC Children in Need The CharityIndex surveys around 30,000 UK adults online and apportions scores based on a charitys quality, value, impression, satisfaction, reputation and whether consumers would recommend the brand to others, said YouGov. The YouGov figures, which came from an analysis of 32 charities also showed that the health of UK charity brands as a whole have increased in the last 12 months. YouGov found that the average charity brand score was 22.9 in the year to the end of July 2017 an improvement on 21.5 on the same period to June 2016 and 22.6 in the year to June 2015. Briony Gunstone, associate director at YouGov, said the latest CharityIndex results suggested charities had turned a corner after years of media and public scrutiny, particularly over fundraising practices. Charities have been under intense scrutiny over the past few years and the public perception of the sector suffered. However, this analysis suggests that the worst may be over and charities have turned a corner. What is unclear, though, is whether this is because the number of negative headlines about the sector have declined or whether it is the result of charities being better at getting across the value of their work. Macmillan tops best brand health over past year The research found that Macmillan Cancer Support had the strongest overall brand health over the last 12 months, beating out Cancer Research UK in second place and the British Heart Foundation in third. The top five was rounded out by the RNLI in fourth and Marie Curie in fifth place. The top ten charities with the best brand health were: Macmillan Cancer Support Cancer Research UK British Heart Foundation RNLI Marie Curie Guide Dogs Great Ormond Street Hospital Childrens Charity NSPCC British Red Cross Help for Heroes The case of the charity founder who mistakenly paid herself 31,000 throws up a lot of questions for charities, says David Ainsworth. This week has seen some pretty trenchant criticism of Wendy Watson, the hapless founder of the National Hereditary Breast Cancer Helpline, who paid herself 31,000 without realising that she was not supposed to. It throws up several interesting questions for the charity sector. Should we make it harder to set up charities? Should we be readier to shut down the ones which are not performing? How can we spot the poor performers more readily? And how can we make sure that we reduce the number of trustees who are as clueless as Wendy Watson? What actually happened? First, for those who havent read the news, heres what happened. A few weeks ago, the Charity Commission issued its first official warning to Watsons charity. It was belatedly picked up by the nationals when it was discovered Watson had paid herself 31,000. Watson is the founder of the charity and says she didnt realise it was wrong to pay herself while she was a trustee. She doesnt seem to have been too clear that she was a trustee. The decision was apparently taken by her accountant. The charity is also running a chain of shops which dont seem to make any money, bringing in 1m or so to pay for a relatively small helpline service for people with breast cancer. The charity is a damaging failure, essentially, but one where there appears to have been no malice. Watson is the picture of a good-hearted charity founder who suddenly discovered she was outside the limits of her competence. She still appears unclear about what she actually did wrong. I feel rather bad for Watson in this situation just as I feel a little bit for the trustees of Kids Company. If you try to do good and fall over your feet, you are judged much more harshly than if you just sat on your hands and did absolutely nothing of any use to anyone. That feels wrong to me. It feels as if we are currently bad at stopping people getting it wrong, but good at complaining afterwards. And we tend to complain much more about well-meaning incompetence than genuine crookedness. Why is Wendy Watson getting more criticism that someone who started their charity to launder funds from illegal brothels? Or someone who signed a deal with their mate to ensure that all the money fundraised went back into their mates charity? At least she was trying to help. I have a lot more to say on this subject, but the main point is one about culpability. The charity sector is a chaotic one, full of people starting little initiatives, without experience, and finding their ideas peter out as their enthusiasm or the money falls away. But from time to time we see new charities that make a huge difference, and completely upset the established order. What we need to do is ensure that we provide more help to the Watsons of the world, shut them down earlier if they are ineffective, and get better at spotting winners and funding effective interventions. So what would I do? Better and simpler communication with trustees CC3: The Essential Trustee is a good document, but at 12,500 words it is only slightly shorter than Macbeth, or the Communist Manifesto. The Wendy Watsons of the world need some briefer and pithier instruction to set them on their way. That cannot just be the job of the Charity Commission although it would be good if the regulator had an email address for every trustee. The sector must support this. More initiatives to improve governance And much more emphasis on training and support. At the moment the institutions supporting trustees are relatively weak, and they need a boost. The discussion about whether or not to pay trustees sucks all the oxygen out of the debate, when there are a hundred other more important discussions about improving trusteeship. Heres a thought. No one is going to change the law to make it normal to pay trustees. Stop fighting a straw man and get on with making things better. A change in the law This isnt likely to happen, but it would be a big help. At the moment whether you are a charity or not depends on your purposes, not your actions. The law essentially says that you are a charity indeed, have to be a charity whether you like it or not if you are trying to do good. Whether you succeed or not is largely an irrelevance. Lets change that, and base charitable status on your results. Broadly, I wouldnt make it much harder to set charities up. Its really important to preserve the instinct of people to do good, and I think the too many charities people have largely got the wrong end of the stick. But it would at least allow us to weed out the people with absolutely no prospect of success. Shut down charities which are wasting time While I feel for Wendy Watson, she should have had her charitable status taken away, and her charity shut down. The Charity Commission for reasons I fully understand finds it difficult to just close poorly performing charities. As above, I dont think we should make it harder to set organisations up, but there should be much stronger action against those who are doing poorly. See also Spot poor performers more readily The Charity Commission spotted Wendy Watsons charity after a random sample. In other words, there are probably lots more poor performers not being spotted. One thing thats clear from writing about the sector is that you can run a charity egregiously badly for a long time before anything happens. Its not surprising that the public isnt thrilled about this. Ive written before about the need to audit a charitys outcomes each year. I dont understand why we spend thousands of pounds on checking financials, but barely pay any attention to public benefit. Charities exist to deliver public benefit, and there should be an audit each year to assess whether they do so. Im not talking about incredibly complex impact assessments. Just make it compulsory that any charity with significant funding is delivering real and tangible public benefit. I tend to think that while this will cost the charities themselves money, they will more than get it back in terms of improved results. Plus, we the public will have a much clearer method of identifying the time wasters. And while were on that subject, lets have a Charity Navigator (an online tool in the US that benchmarks charity effectiveness for the benefit of donors) for the UK. The public want a simple tool for understanding which charities are doing well. If the sector does not give them one, they will continue to rely on Gina Miller. Private foundations and charities can be a perfect match and the key to long term impact, says Victor Dahdaleh, founder of the Victor Dahdaleh Foundation. Much is written about traditional fundraising and the persistent challenges faced by charities in the current climate. Against this backdrop, however, the role of private foundations is steadily growing. In the UK, charitable giving by private foundations has finally returned to pre-2008 levels and looks set to expand further in response to growing needs. This is good news, but how can we sustain that progress at a time of continued uncertainty? What sort of partnerships should a foundation be forging to grow its impact? Earlier this year I visited the House of Lords for a signing ceremony to mark the start of a programme of new research into mesothelioma, a form of cancer that affects the lungs, heart or abdomen and which is commonly caused by asbestos. The programme is the result of a collaboration between our charitable organisation, the Victor Dahdaleh Foundation, and the British Lung Foundation (BLF). Our donation to the BLF matched government funding announced last year by the UK Department of Health. These are hugely exciting developments for a cause close to my heart. While rare with around 2,500 cases in the UK each year mesothelioma is often fatal. Our donation is now being put to work in the hunt for new treatments by a joint research team from the University of Leicester and Papworth Hospital in Cambridge. At Papworth, a vital bank of tissue samples is being built up to enable researchers all over the country to carry out experiments rapidly, accelerating the overall process of developing new treatments. At Leicester, a new trial will test a range of genetically targeted therapies in 140 mesothelioma sufferers who have not responded to standard chemotherapy. This trial in the use of personalised treatments according to genetics is a world first for mesothelioma. Tying all this together, the BLF is developing and managing a Mesothelioma Research Network, which will coordinate researchers across the UK to encourage continued collaboration and reduce research duplication. What this particular programme demonstrates is the way in which foundations like ours can act as catalysts for more ambitious projects involving many stakeholders, including government. In partnership with organisations like the BLF, which have the expertise to develop major programmes, large private foundations can provide the impetus to mobilise sustained support from other sources. 'Untapped potential' Alongside our support for healthcare, we are passionate about helping young people excel in education. Todays youth are our future there is huge untapped potential in every country around the world and I believe realising more of that talent is one of the most important tasks we face today. In 2015, the Victor Dahdaleh Foundation funded a new research institute at York University in Canada. The Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research will carry out wide-ranging research into areas such as the social determinants of health, eHealth innovation and migration. As well as developing Yorks already world-class expertise in this area, the new facility will provide opportunities for young people to follow their ambitions while contributing to our understanding of some of the most important health issues of modern times. Elsewhere in Canada, the foundation last year established a new chair in neuroscience at McGill University in Montreal. The new department will enable McGills renowned research to move towards a unified approach to the study of chronic brain disease combining psychiatry, neurology and rehabilitation science. In response to that donation, a major grant from the Canadian governments Canada First Excellence Research Fund (CFREF) was awarded to support brain research at McGills Faculty of Medicine, greatly accelerating the progress of this vital work. Also at McGill, the Victor Dahdaleh Foundation funds a scholarship programme in the form of an endowment for 32 annual awards in perpetuity. These awards are aimed at outstanding candidates from low-income countries who would not otherwise have the chance to go to university. Crucially, all these initiatives have been matched and in some cases exceeded by government funding, significantly amplifying our initial contribution. These are encouraging signs and we are working hard to identify further opportunities. Long term goals The research goals we are pursuing are long term; none of them can be achieved overnight. Thats why as someone committed to these causes Im also determined to find funding models that are self-sustaining. The challenge for the modern philanthropist is how best to work with diverse partners to attract greater financial and human capital than they have on their own. While the toughest economic challenges of recent times may be behind us, the overall environment remains complex. The post-crisis years brought with them not only an inevitable slowdown in public donations but also a reining in of government, leaving gaps for private donors to fill. Those donors are indeed stepping in, but to have a genuine long term impact we need to keep growing in sophistication when it comes to harnessing resources. That means bringing together a wide range of public and third sector stakeholders from the outset, and developing programmes that acquire their own momentum. The Victor Dahdaleh Foundation is a charitable organisation supporting education, healthcare and social and economic development around the world. For more information visit http://victordahdalehfoundation.com. Growing up, Assia Boundaoui felt like she was being watched. She wasnt the only one. Just about everyone she knew in her Arab-American community of Bridgeview, just south of Chicago, suspected that the US government was spying on them. Even after Boundaoui left Bridgeview in 2010to attend New York University for her masters degree in journalism, and then to travel the world reporting for NPR, the BBC, Al Jazeera and CNNthe 31-year-old journalist and filmmaker says she has never been able to shake the feeling that someone spied on her family, her friends, and her neighbors. Four years ago, Boundaoui returned home to investigate whether the Bridgeview community had been under government surveillance in those years, as many had suspected. She found evidence of a massive pre-9/11 FBI counterterrorism investigation, conducted during the 1990s and 2000s and code-named Operation Vulgar Betrayal. The operation had been mentioned in previous news reports, but often with few details. Boundaoui has tried to get the Department of Justice to release information about the surveillance operation, which is the subject of her first feature-length film, The Feeling of Being Watched. A trailer for the film includes footage of Bridgeview residents recounting suspicious smoke-detector installations and the sound of a click when they used the phone. Weve just discovered, says Boundaoui, narrating the trailer, that these stories of surveillance are true. ICYMI: A copyeditor was looking at early Charlottesville images. While doing so, he made a big realization. Our parents were always warning us kids about the strange cars parked around the mosque, and twice in my memory we got a knock on our front door from federal agents who questioned my parents about their friends in the community, about donations they had made to charities, and recorded everything, she tells CJR. After the FBI visits, my mom regularly checked under the kitchen table and chairs for bugs. She felt that FBI agents were following her to the library, watching her behind newspapers, and started to suspect that some of our neighbors might be informants. Sign up for weekly emails from the United States Project In September 2016, using the Freedom of Information Act, Boundaoui requested that the Justice Department provide her with documents from Operation Vulgar Betrayal. She also asked that the DOJ expedite the release of all documents and waive all fees associated with the request. The DOJ declined, telling Boundaoui that it would need three years to provide her with the requested documents, which totaled more than 30,000 pages. The Justice Department also told Boundaoui that the records would not contribute to the understanding of a reasonably broad audience of persons interested in the subject, and questioned Boundaouis credentials and expertise, which government agencies consider when deciding whether to waive fees. In late June, Boundaoui filed a lawsuit to compel the FBI and Justice Department to provide her the requested documents on an expedited basis at no cost. The suit also requests that the court enter an injunction prohibiting the Defendant from continuing to withhold the requested records from the public. The first hearing in the case is scheduled for later this month in US District Court in Northern Illinois. Boundaoui spoke with CJR about the surveillance program and its impact on her neighborhood and on her as a journalist. Our conversation has been edited for clarity and length. The name of the operation, vulgar betrayal, is chilling because of its racist and xenophobic implications. What went through your mind when you first uncovered it? Yeah, its pretty wild. I remember first coming across it in an old newspaper article and my mouth just hung open. I thought, how are you going to name an investigation vulgar betrayal before youve even investigated to determine whether or not these people are traitors? The name implies that the agents working on the case did not have any presumption of our innocence; it implies that they saw Muslim identity as a proxy for criminality. How can you investigate something fairly and justly if youve begun with an assumption of guilt? What of our constitutional right to be seen as innocent until proven otherwise? The particular adjective vulgar underscores to me that we were seen by these agents not as Americans, but as foreign others, and as such our alleged treachery was that much more loathsome. How did you uncover that there was an operation in Bridgeview? The fact of the matter is that so much of the evidence I was looking for was hiding in plain sight. Its just that no one had cared to really look into it before. There were references to the investigation in local news reports as early as 1999. When my team and I started digging online, we came across a random 9/11 conspiracy website with nearly 1,000 pages of declassified records obtained via FOIA about Operation Vulgar Betrayal. I found out that it was the largest domestic terrorism investigation conducted before 9/11, and it was focused on my neighborhood. In the late 80s, the FBI began opening investigations into every major American-Muslim organization, mosque, and school in the country. They suspected these institutions were being used as covers for funding terrorism. The secret FBI fishing-expeditions that started a decade before 9/11 later turned into public indictments and prosecutions in the War on Terror. It turned out that these first 1,000 pages were just the tip of the iceberg. I went on to file more than a dozen FOIA requests to compel the government to release all documents related to Vulgar Betrayal and any files they have on my family or people in my community. After months of meeting bureaucratic resistance and hitting a wall in compelling the government to be transparent, I received a remarkable letter of admission from the FBI, stating the Bureau is releasing 33,120 records on the investigation targeting my neighborhood. To put that in some context, the number of records that the FBI released regarding COINTELPRO, which resulted in the landmark Congressional Church Commission, was 50,000 pages. A few weeks after I receive this letter, I get a call from the FBI stating that my appeal to have these records expedited has been denied. Frustrated with the delays, my team and I filed a lawsuit in the Federal District Court of Illinois demanding the FBI release these records immediately. Our first hearing in the lawsuit is later this month. What has been the reaction to your reporting? In many cases, it just confirmed what other people have believed to be true for a long time; en masse, folks werent surprised. The surprising thing was the scale. Nearly every major Muslim organization and mosque in America was referenced in these documents as targets of suspicion and surveillance, and at least 35 mosques were listed by name. The scope was astounding to me, and came as a surprise to a lot of people in the community. Being the target of an investigation by the most powerful country in the world can be one of the most isolating and alienating experiences. Folks knowing that they werent alone, that they were caught up in a large net that targeted hundreds of American-Muslim individuals and institutions across the country, was validating in a sense. It was a moment of dark humor. People who were investigated with whom I shared my findings were like, Oh, were in good company! In refusing to waive fees related to your FOIA request, DOJ essentially questioned your credentials as a journalist, saying that you did not demonstrate your expertise. That must have been a gut-punch. I felt that the DOJs attempt to undermine my credibility as a journalist is just their lazy way of shirking their responsibilities under the Freedom of Information Act to be transparent and to respect the publics right to know. I feel strongly that not only do we have a constitutional right to our security of person and privacy, but we also have a right to know when the government has unwarrantedly violated that security and privacy. The FOIA law is a remarkable one; its one of the few ways we as citizens have the power to check the executive by demanding transparency. Surveillance gets its power from secrecy, and in the absence of light, impunity flourishes. This is why dragging these secret investigations kicking and screaming into the light is so important. Truth is a precursor to justice. Why is it important to the American public, all of it and not just the Muslim community, to know about what happened in Bridgeview? DOJ claims there is no immediate public interest in this. To date, the domestic War on Terror, which started long before 9/11 and targeted thousands of law-abiding American-Muslims across the country, is perceived by the government as a shining success. [But] the harm these decades-long investigations have had on my neighborhood is profound. They transform communities into places where neighbors distrust each other, where people censor themselves, and where everyone lives with an unhealthy dose of fear and paranoia. These investigations were spurred by policies that profiled entire communities based on religion and ethnicity and used a broad brush to paint us all as suspects. This rhetoric that seeks to justify the blanket criminalizing of an entire swath of Americans in the name of national security is the same language used to justify police brutality against black people, and Homeland Securitys mass deportations and wrenching apart of immigrant families. We hope that this investigation will herald a cultural shift in public awareness on issues of government surveillance and national security and contribute to ending US government policies that allow the unwarranted profiling and surveillance of Americans. In an interview with NPR a decade ago, you talked about straddling your two identifies, one as a Muslim and one as an American. How has that process changed for you personally in the past 10 years? How have you changed? When I sat down for that interview with NPR, I knew two things for certain: that that terrorist attack would forever alter the way America saw me/us and would begin to take a toll on the way I saw myself, and second, that I never wanted to sit down on the other side of a microphone again. I wanted to be the one holding the mic. In this past decade, I think I have not so much reconciled my identities as learned to live within the discomfort. Somewhere in the gray dissonant border between the hyphens of my Muslim [faith] and my Americanness, I have discovered that my positionality allows me a liminal gaze, and because I stand in between boundaries, I am uniquely positioned to observe. I have shaped my lifes work around this in-between-ness, telling stories of those through whose eyes we rarely see the world. I tell stories in order to challenge ideas around our ways of seeing, to disrupt status quos, and to shatter conventional optics and create new ones. What is it like to be a Muslim journalist in America now, particularly as you are pursuing a story about how two decades agobefore 9/11, before Donald Trumpthe government was engaged in an operation to determine the loyalties of you, your family, and your neighbors? Seven years ago, I became a journalist in large part due to the work of the early new journalists. In Michael Herrs recounting of the Vietnam War, he writes, You were as responsible for everything you saw as you were for everything you did. The positionality that the new journalists occupied as participant-observers was the first kind of journalism I had read in which the reporters took no pains to conceal their subjectivity. Their positionality, in fact, was essential to their reportage. Responsibility for the gaze, for my own subjectivity, is why I do journalism. If you dont get the documents you need from the DOJ, do you still have a story to tell? And what is that story? The DOJ has committed to releasing these records. The lawsuit is simply an attempt to compel them to prioritize their early release. That said, they arent the only pieces of evidence we are relying on for this investigation. In addition to primary documents, we have first person sources, and all of the pieces together paint a clear picture of what the FBI was up to. In the documentary, we weave the journalistic investigation with the personal journey and use the cinematic lens as a metaphor for the various ways my communityand by extension, Muslim-American communities across the countryhave been seen. The German philosopher Friedrich Hegel wrote that seeing comes before words, and in his writing, he insists on the impossibility of existence without recognition from the other. Surveillance is, in its essence, a way of seeing without recognizing. It is preconditioned on a great physical distance from the object of its gaze. In our documentary, we confront these harmful and violent ways of seeing and try to get closer with subjects of surveillance who have for so long been seen from afar. TRENDING: Photographer behind graphic Charlottesville image recounts near-death experience Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Jackie Spinner is CJRs correspondent for Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Wisconsin. She is an associate journalism professor at Columbia College Chicago and a former staff writer for The Washington Post. Follow her on Twitter @jackiespinner. Its no secret, after this past weekends events in Charlottesville, that political polarization has reached a boiling pointand that much discontent on the right, incited by Trump, centers around the press. And we are all aware of how geographic stereotypesMain Street versus Wall Street, coastal elites versus flyover states, urban cosmopolitans versus real Americahave come to shape how different parts of our country relate to one another. But how do these national trends affect how people read the news and talk to each other? What does the filter bubble look like at the local level? In a pilot study, Andrea Wenzel and Sam Ford, fellows at the Tow Center for Digital Journalism, interviewed residents in Bowling Green and Ohio County, Kentucky about how their news consumption has changed since the 2016 election. Those residents also kept media diaries, recording and reflecting on specific news stories they discussed with other community members. The study reveals a strong skepticism around all aspects of the national media and a conscientiousness around news sources and political slant. While some participants in the study suffered from media fatigue, others went out of their way to verify stories at multiple outlets. As one Kentuckian put it, Dont let the media do your thinking for you. As full-time residents of Trump country, they were also savvy about the medias hunger for the elusive Trump voter, and how that stereotype was portrayed in broad strokes to their part of the nation. One person said: I get the feeling that [reporters] stand back and they wait and they watch and find the person thats got about four teeth, you know. Another person worried that misrepresentations of her rural area as dumb and backwards had real consequences in terms of deterring economic growth and investment opportunities. Your weekly dose of news on social media platforms and journalism: Ever wonder what social networks people use worldwide? Digiday has some interesting insights: Germans prefer Amazon for digital content; the British spend the most time on Google. The New York Times reports that Facebook, whose Facebook and Instagram apps have been banned in China, is testing the waters of the Chinese market with Colorful Balloons, an app that mimics Facebooks Moments app but with no Facebook branding. National Review has published an article advocating for social media and tech companies to be treated like public utilities, for an unlikely reason: In author Jeremy Carls words, to turn the tables on Silicon Valleys leftist censorship and restore free speech to the Internet after Google employee James Damore was fired for an internal memo on gender. From Wired, Peter Thiels secretive data company, Palantir, and its role in law enforcement. Sign up for CJR 's daily email Other notable stories Has America ever needed a media watchdog more than now? Help us by joining CJR today Nausicaa Renner is digital editor of CJR. The observant Apple analyst Toni Sacconaghi of Bernstein Research put out a pointed note Monday about Apple's growing services business. Two of his projections jumped out at me. The first was in his headline: He estimates that through licensing deals to secure its search engine as the default option on Apple's phones, Google will pay Apple $3 billion in fees in Apple's fiscal year 2017. That's all practically pure profit, Sacconaghi notes, and shows the power of Apple's premium product reach. The second data point he shares is the growing power of Apple's services business. He forecasts it will be 13% of Apple's overall revenue this year and that it's growing at a pace of 19% year over year. A couple years ago, when Apple CEO Tim Cook started talking up Apple's services revenuelargely millions of tiny purchases of songs on iTunes and apps in Apple's App Storecritics assumed this was a smokescreen to distract from weakening hardware sales. The fact is that Apple's services business, more profitable even than hardware, is becoming a growth engine for the company. Sacconaghi speculates on how Apple's business could grow further, primarily if other advertising and e-commerce apps are also willing to pay up for preferred placement. What he doesn't touch is what other types of services Apple might one day offer, given its vast database of consumer's credit card information. Google, for example, is widely believed to covet the ride-hailing market controlled in the U.S. by Uber and Lyft. And Amazon is thought to be eyeing that market too, more from a package delivery system than a human transportation platform. How might Apple, newly muscular as a service provider, view such an opportunity? One last fact about Apple can't be ignored. Sacconaghi, who maintains a price target of $175 on Apple's shares, which closed Monday a hair under $160, notes that Apple's valuation is lower than its peers as well as IBM. That's just nuts. Also from Fortune: Coach comeback continues, but it's fragile Dunkin Donuts joins list of companies offering pumpkin-flavored products...in August Is moderate drinking good for your health? The science is confusing After the August recess concludes, there will be plenty of unfinished business for lawmakers to tackle in Washington, from the debt ceiling to government funding. Despite concerns over North Korea , a national defense spending bill may get "kicked down the road" again as Congress grapples with other pressing issues, analysts say. Indeed, getting a 2018 defense spending bill that both congressional chambers can agree on remains a challenge because there's disagreement over how to pay for it. There's also the hurdle of the current statutory budget caps set by the 2011 Budget Control Act. The House passed a fiscal 2018 defense spending bill last month that includes a defense topline of $696.5 billion, above the Trump administration's $667 billion plan and also about $70 billion higher than the spending caps mandated by Congress. But the Senate has yet to vote on a national defense bill, although the Armed Services Committee's version includes a defense topline number of $700 billion, including $60 billion in war-related overseas contingency operations funding. "In order for the plan to go through, you'd have to change the law [with the Budget Control Act] or everything would be moot," said Frederico Bartels, policy analyst for defense budgeting at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. According to Bartels, the likely scenario is Congress will rely again on a short-term spending bill, or a continuing resolution known as a CR to keep the government operating and to fund defense operations. He said it likely would be a three-month CR or six-month CR since the government's new fiscal year starts October 1. In June, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, complained during his House testimony about the common practice of "repeated continuing resolutions, which hamper long-term investment and often result in increased costs." The continuing resolution keeps the spending of defense programs at the previous year or lower, and it prevents the Pentagon from starting new programs. The CR also is frustrating for defense contractors because it makes it harder for them to plan ahead and also could delay the awarding of contracts. Top Pentagon officials also have long complained about the mandated caps hurting the military. Analysts say, however, there's probably not enough votes to amend the Budget Control Act limitations. It would require at least 60 votes in the Senate, or about eight Democratic Senators to go along with it. Many lawmakers are for increasing national defense spending and adding more funding for homeland missile defense, although they are resisting efforts by the White House to cut domestic programs as a way of boosting the military. President Donald Trump has proposed cuts to domestic programs such as Medicaid, food stamps, foreign aid and general science. In all, the White House plan would increase defense spending by $54 billion, but do it by decreasing spending on non-defense programs by roughly the same amount. Some believe the House and Senate will end up setting aside the Trump plan and coming up with a different agreement that doesn't have the steep domestic cuts. "There's a deep fundamental divide between the Freedom Caucus members in the House, the more mainline conservatives in the House and the Senate, and the Democrats in the House and Senate," said Katherine Blakeley, a research fellow at the nonpartisan Center for Strategic and Budgeting Assessments. Added Blakeley, "What exactly to do about defense spending is almost certainly going to get kicked down the road until about December," she said. Last week, Trump said he planned to increase the defense spending "by many billions of dollars because of North Korea, and other reasons having to do with the anti-missile [defense]." The president's comments about more anti-missile defense followed disturbing news that nuclear-armed North Korea may now have a long-range missile capable of threatening not only the U.S. West Coast, but eastern cities such as New York. Last month, the hermit regime test-fired its second intercontinental ballistic missile, with some Western experts estimating the July 28 launch showed the Hwasong-14 long-range missile could reach half, if not most, of the continental U.S. "It is very easy to increase spending on missile defense because the government at present spends so little on it," said Loren Thompson, a defense industry consultant and chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Virginia-based public-policy think tank. Thompson said spending on missile defense has actually been trending downward over the last several years. "The actual amount of money that the U.S. government spends on defense of the homeland against missile attack is less than $2 billion per year," he said. The U.S. already has plans this year to add more interceptors to its current ground-based midcourse defense (GMD) system installed in Alaska and California. A measure in the Senate has more than two dozen co-sponsors and would upgrade the GMD homeland missile defense shield and also order concept work on a space-based sensor layer that can track missile threats. Another plan, from Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, calls for a space-based interceptor system to defeat the nuclear threat from North Korea. watch now The more President Donald Trump reveals his character, the more he isolates himself from the American mainstream. In a raucous press conference this afternoon, the president again blamed "both sides" for deadly violence in Charlottesville. He equated "Unite the Right" protesters a collection including white supremacists, neo-Nazis and ex-KKK leader David Duke with protesters who showed up to counter them. Earlier he targeted business leaders specifically, executives from Merck , Under Armour , Intel , and the Alliance for American Manufacturing who had quit a White House advisory panel over Trump's message. In a tweet, the president called them "grandstanders." That brought two related conclusions into focus. The president does not share the instinctive moral revulsion most Americans feel toward white supremacists and neo-Nazis. And he feels contempt for those like the executives who are motivated to express that revulsion at his expense. No belief in others' morality Trump has displayed this character trait repeatedly. It combines indifference to conventional notions of morality or propriety with disbelief that others would be motivated by them. He dismissed suggestions that it was inappropriate for his son and campaign manager to have met with Russians offering dirt on Hillary Clinton during the presidential campaign. "Most people would have taken the meeting," he said. "Politics isn't the nicest business." He fired James Comey after the then-FBI director, while investigating interactions between the Trump campaign and Russia, declined to pledge personal loyalty to him. "Justice has a blindfold on," Comey explained to the Senate in sworn testimony. Trump then applied the same epithet to the former investigator that he used Tuesday on the business executives who are leaving his advisory panel: "a grandstander." He called it "extremely unfair" that Jeff Sessions recused himself from overseeing the investigation after the attorney general concluded that the law required him to do so. Power matters, and morality doesn't As president, Trump has emphasized power over morality. Seeking passage of health-care legislation which violated his explicit campaign promises Trump chided a reluctant GOP senator with a veiled threat. "He wants to remain a senator, doesn't he?" Trump said of Nevada Republican Dean Heller. After the GOP effort failed, the president ripped Senate leader Mitch McConnell as someone who "couldn't get it done." He showed similar disregard for moral or ethical considerations during the campaign. After the "Access Hollywood" tape emerged in which Trump boasted that stardom allowed him to sexually assault women, House Speaker Paul Ryan vowed to no longer defend him. Trump denounced Ryan as "weak." When Pope Francis called emphasizing walls over bridge-building "not Christian," Trump ascribed it to political manipulation. The pope, he said, was a "pawn" of Mexico. Trump touted duplicity in business as a leadership credential, boasting that he once took advantage of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in a real estate deal. "I screwed him," he said. "That's what we should be doing." Though Trump cast that talent as an asset for the nation, a Fortune magazine review of his business career found this first principle: "He always comes first." 'You can't buy courage and decency' The president's fellow Republicans learned that to their chagrin in 2016, and reached common conclusions about his character. "A con man," said. Sen. Marco Rubio. "Utterly amoral," said Sen. Ted Cruz. "Dishonesty is Trump's hallmark," declared Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican nominee. "He's playing the American people for suckers." Increasing numbers of Americans have reached that conclusion. In a Quinnipiac University poll this month, 62 percent called the president not honest, up from 52 percent last November. Moreover, 63 percent said Trump does not share their values. That undercuts his ability to lead average Americans, lawmakers, business executives or foreign leaders toward common goals. "In a president, character is everything," Republican commentator Peggy Noonan has written. "You can't buy courage and decency. You can't rent a strong moral sense. A president must bring those things with him." Trump has brought other values, as Tuesday's news conference again made clear. One reporter asked about Sen. John McCain's call that he more strongly defend National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster against the same extreme-right fringe that marched in Charlottesville. "You mean Sen. McCain who voted against us" on health care? he shot back. Another journalist asked whether Trump placed white supremacists and their counterprotesters "on the same moral plane." "I'm not putting anybody on a moral plane," the president said. Watch: Trump once again blames all sides for the violence in Charlottesville Web hosting company DreamHost said on Monday that it would not comply with the U.S. Justice Department's request for data on more than 1 million visitors to a site it hosts. Last month the federal agency sent DreamHost a search warrant for files, HTTP requests, error logs and other data that contain IP addresses and email addresses of people who have visited website disruptj20.org. The activist group was behind a coordinated effort to organize "mass protests to shut down the inauguration of Donald Trump," according to its DisruptJ20's site. Other hosting companies and web service providers regularly acknowledge government data requests, but site visitor data isn't typically requested. In recent months Alphabet, Cloudflare, Microsoft and other companies have publicly posted redacted versions of national security letters they have received after disclosure bans were lifted. In most cases, the U.S. government was only seeking data for individual account holders. "A lot of these issues have only been about a single customer, a single account -- very narrow in scope," said Chris Ghazarian, general counsel at DreamHost, in an interview. "This is a completely different issue. This is not just about this account. It's not just about users of the account. It's about the internet users and about the community as a whole." DreamHost responded to the Justice Department's data request by saying it was asking for too much. The government then asked the Superior Court of the District of Columbia to compel DreamHost to hand over the data, as the company detailed in a blog post. DreamHost told the court that the search warrant violates the Fourth Amendment, which protects against unreasonable search and seizure, and would endanger First Amendment interests of website visitors. Ghazarian will attend a hearing about the case in the court on Friday. DreamHost has worked with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in the past but never this closely, Ghazarian said. Founded in 1997 and based in Los Angeles, DreamHost has 400,000 customers and hosts 1.5 million websites. In 2014 the company received 466 government data requests and fewer than 1,000 national security letters and Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act requests, according to its website. "We've never escalated a case this far," Ghazarian said, adding that he was not sure what caused the Justice Department to make such a wide-ranging request. Indian and Chinese soldiers were involved in an altercation in the western Himalayas on Tuesday, Indian sources said, further raising tensions between the two countries , which are already locked in a two-month standoff in another part of the disputed border. The Srinagar-Leh highway that connects Kashmir with the Indian region of Ladakh. The average snow buildup in the rocky territory normally stays in the level of 15 to 25 meters. Closed for a half of each year, the highway usually opens up in late spring and travelers on the pass have to deal with snowstorms, fierce air currents, and dangerous circumstances. A source in New Delhi, who had been briefed on the military situation on the border, said soldiers foiled a bid by a group of Chinese troops to enter Indian territory in Ladakh, near the Pangong lake. Some of the Chinese soldiers carried iron rods and stones, and in the melee there were minor injuries on both sides, the source said. China's defense and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to request for comment. The two sides have frequently accused each other of intrusions into each other's territories, but clashes are rare. The Indian military declined to comment on the incident. "There was an altercation near the Pangong lake," said a police officer in Srinagar, the capital of India's Jammu and Kashmir state, under which the area falls. An army source in Srinagar also spoke of an altercation following what he called a Chinese army "incursion in Pangong lake area". Six American business leaders have stepped down from Donald Trump's manufacturing advisory council after the president's response to violence at a white nationalist rally over the weekend. Trump's reaction to the departures has been repeatedly to attack Merck , the company whose CEO, Ken Frazier, was first to leave, citing on Monday morning "a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism." President Donald Trump, speaks while Kenneth Frazier, chairman and chief executive officer of Merck & Co., right, listens during a meeting with manufacturing executives in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017. Olivier Douliery | Bloomberg | Getty Images "Merck Pharma is a leader in higher & higher drug prices while at the same time taking jobs out of the U.S.," the president wrote in a tweet Monday afternoon. "Bring jobs back & LOWER PRICES!" Trump reiterated his comments about jobs in a press conference Tuesday, mentioning only Merck of all the companies that left his council. But the president, who said he waited over the weekend to renounce white supremacy groups because "before I make a statement I like to know the facts," may want to check his facts. The percentage of Merck employees in the U.S. has remained between 38 and 39 percent since 2011, the year Frazier became CEO. "Of all the companies to attack, Merck wouldn't be the one I'd choose," said Les Funtleyder, a portfolio manager at E Squared Capital, which owns Merck shares. "Clearly the president is making it personal when it really isn't." Merck employed about 68,000 people around the world at the end of last year, about 26,500 of whom were in the U.S., including Puerto Rico, according to its annual report. Its total number of employees is down by 20,000 worldwide since 2011, as the company cut jobs after its merger with Schering-Plough. But its proportion of employees in the U.S. has remained steady. "Merck is one of the better companies in the industry as far as keeping jobs around, in terms of drug assistance, and it has a history of being a good corporate citizen," said Funtleyder, who worked at Merck in the 1990s and is author of the book "Health-care Investing." Trump's "criticisms are misguided at best." Merck is headquartered in New Jersey, and its principal research facilities are in six U.S. cities as well as in Switzerland and China. Its manufacturing operations are headquartered in Whitehouse Station, New Jersey, and it has production facilities in nine locations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Outside the U.S., Merck says it has facilities in Japan, Singapore, South Africa, Western Europe, Central and South America and Asia. Merck doesn't provide a breakdown of where its products are manufactured, or a footprint of its manufacturing by employee count. Of 203 open manufacturing jobs listed on Merck's website Tuesday evening, 86 were in the U.S., the most of any country, followed by 37 in the Netherlands and 23 in Ireland. Unlike much of industry, Merck doesn't 'do it in Ireland' Talks that could set the tone for every other trade deal during the Trump administration start Wednesday, when Mexican and Canadian officials sit down in Washington to discuss the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement that President had one time vowed to tear up. Analysts say the odds are good the three sides will successfully update NAFTA by next year. Just resolving the technology issues alone will be a huge undertaking, since the agreement was written when cellphones were close to the size of a brick and there was no digital economy. At the crux of the talks, initiated by the U.S., is Trump's concern that the U.S. has not been fairly treated under NAFTA, and China has been able to use the agreement as a backdoor to slip its goods into North America. One sore point for Trump has been that Mexico is running a more than $60 billion trade surplus with the U.S. "For Mexico and Canada, a lot of their trade really is dependent on the U.S. Canada is the U.S. top trading partner, and after that it would be China. There's a lot at stake here. We've seen how the Trump administration negotiates. They kind of present the stick first and the carrot later," said Dana Peterson, U.S. and Canada economist at Citigroup. The U.S. had a $12.5 billion surplus with Canada in 2016, and it traded $628 billion in goods and services with the U.S. last year, compared with Mexico's $580 billion. The negotiations are also a major test for the Trump administration, which has failed so far to win a legislative victory at home. "I think as the administration struggle to put points on the political scoreboard, there's going to be a lot of focus on the renegotiation of NAFTA as a key indicator to move their agenda forward," said Jonathan Lieber, head of Eurasia Group's U.S. practice. Lieber said the problem for the Trump administration is it will be hard to look like a winner on a new NAFTA deal. "If they put barriers on Mexican exports, they're going to have members of Congress condemning what they've done. It's going to be hard for them to spin it into a political victory," he said. Analysts say the U.S. wish list for NAFTA looks a lot like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was a trade agreement that Trump opposed as a candidate and then threw out once he became president. The 12-nation deal included countries in the Western Hemisphere but also partners in Asia like Japan and Singapore. "I think the likely outcome based on the body language so far is they get a minor rewrite of NAFTA to include some of the TPP-like rules," said Lieber. The sectors that benefited the most from NAFTA are the automotive, agricultural and energy industries and they stand to lose the most of it falls apart. The , with Mexico now a huge producer of Peterson said the best case is that the negotiations wind up in six to eight sessions by December, and then be fast tracked so that it would be adopted before both the U.S. and Mexican elections next year. "The worst-case scenario, which we assign a 10 percent probability, is someone exits, or the U.S. backs out," Peterson said. Timing is also critical since the Mexican election next year could result in a different party in control that might decide to scuttle the talks, and there's also congressional elections in the U.S. "For Mexico, the main objective is to continue guaranteeing that Mexico has market access to the United States," said Juan Carlos Hartasanchez, senior director at Albright Stonebridge. He said Mexico wants to protect what is now in place in terms of no tarrifs, quotas or managed trade. There are a few potential hurdles to a deal. One is a are resolved. Instead of going to a panel made up of representatives of the three countries, U.S. negotiators are seeking to change the rule and open the door for resolution elsewhere, including U.S. courts. Canada and Mexico disagree. "The Trump administration wants to have all options to protect U.S. trade," said Peterson. If the rule is changed, countries might then slap tariffs on offenders even before the cases are resolved. The U.S. would also like to raise the level of duty-free import limits for e-commerce to the U.S. level of $800. Current threshold for Mexico is $50 and for Canada, just $20. Canadian retailers worry that e-commerce vendors will offer cheaper prices, and Mexicans are concerned such a move would open the door for cheap imports from Asia. This would be favorable for eBay and Amazon if adopted. Another concern for Mexico and Canada is the U.S. push to put America first, and buy American. "[Canada] wants greater access to government procurement contracts while the U.S. wants to restrict it and focus more on producing goods and services within the U.S. with people in the U.S.," Peterson said. Canada also opposes U.S. efforts to limit the free flow of workers across borders, and the U.S. is complicating its relationship with Mexico by moving ahead with efforts to build a wall on the border, to help bar immigrants from entering. The U.S. would also like to refocus the country of origin rules, which now require 40 percent content to be made in the country. "If you look at the U.S. objections in detail, they discuss rules of origin by stating that the new rules of origin should be reviewed to guarantee U.S. and North American products. They focus first on the U.S. which would be first thing for bilateral but you're trying to strengthen the region. If they push toward U.S. rules of origin that might complicate the negotiations," said Hartasanchez. "If the conversation from the U.S. focuses on trying to reduce that trade deficit, through limiting, or high and unrealistic rules of origination, then we could be in a pretty bad situation. Mexico will have no other alternative than to walk away from the negotiations altogether," Hartasanchez said. As part of the TPP, Mexico had agreed to environmental and labor changes that could put it more on par with the U.S., and Lieber said this could be a positive opening. In Mexico, "The infrastructure has improved but the wages haven't so you still have employees in Michigan making $30 an hour with health-care benefits competing against someone making $5 in Mexico without health care," Lieber said. "If you can upscale some of the environmental rules you have in Canada and the United States, in Mexico, then suddenly you have a more level playing field for workers in the three countries." There is also friction between the U.S. and Canada over dairy products and soft lumber, which the U.S. is now taxing at the border. "The U.S. objects to Canada having subsidies for dairy. Canada's argument has been the amount of U.S. exports to Canada are five times what Canada is shipping to the U.S.," Peterson said. Update: Clarifies that the U.S. ran a trade surplus with Canada The CEO of major health insurer Aetna on Wednesday blasted President Donald Trump for his controversial comments on a white supremacist protest in Charlottesville, Va. "I am ashamed of our President's behavior and comments," wrote Aetna chief Mark Bertolini in a 'Dear Colleagues" internal memo to employees, which was obtained by CNBC. The memo came to light hours after Trump announced he was disbanding two White House business advisory councils on the heels of an exodus of CEOs from those councils because of the president's comments. Bertolini was not a member of either of those councils. But like a number of other business leaders, he felt compelled to speak out after Trump on Tuesday again blamed "both sides" for the violence last weekend in Charlottesville, where neo-Nazis, members of the Ku Klux Klan and other bigots faced off against opponents. Joseph Swedish, the CEO of another leading health insurer, Anthem , wrote employees a memo on Wednesday that condemned "the bigotry, hatred and racism on display in Charlottesville last weekend." Bertolini's memo begins with a quote by slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." Bertolini then wrote: "I can't help but comment on the current national dialogue surrounding the deplorable violence in Charlottesville." "I strongly agree with the remarks of former Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush who stated: 'America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred of all forms," the CEO wrote. "I am pleased that many other political leaders from both parties have expressed similarly strong statements and I am ashamed of our President's behavior and comments." Bertolini continued: "We all breathe the same air, we all want the same thing for our children's future, and we all aspire for the pursuit of happiness and good health for our families and friends. We are not a country of hate, and we are all judged by our own god based on the compassion and humanity we show others." "I hope that each of us takes time to discuss with our family and friends the responsibility we all share, every day, to live up to the values that have made our nation so great those of tolerance and respect for others. We are a great nation because of our diversity which fosters sharing of ideas and experiences. Our country is not perfect, but it is more tolerant than any other nation I know. We can only remain great if we remain intolerant of hate." An Aetna spokesman declined to comment on the memo beyond confirming its authenticity. The spokesman said Bertolini would not be speaking to the media about the memo. In his own memo, Anthem's CEO Swedish wrote, "Intolerance and discrimination run counter to everything we value as Americans, and as Anthem associates." "The violence and radical ideology at the center of the protests were no less than an assault on human dignity and our societal foundation. There is no place for these actions or sentiments in our country," Swedish wrote. Swedish said that Anthem's "commitment to diversity and inclusion is one that is very personal to me. As some of you may know, my parents immigrated to the United States in the early 1950s." "As the child of immigrants, I witnessed discrimination against my parents and experienced it against us, as a family. That is why, throughout my career, I have worked so hard to prioritize a commitment to diversity and inclusion in my prior roles leading health care institutions and at Anthem." Swedish also quoted King: "The time is always right to do what is right." After 10 years of back-to-back slumps, global livability is finally showing an improvement, according to report released by the Economist Intelligence Unit on Wednesday. But terrorism, including several high-profile attacks in Europe, continues to threaten world living standards, a EIU statement on the report said. The average livability score worldwide has fallen from 76.1 percent in 2007 to 74.8 percent today due to a combination of economic and political risks, the statement said. This year, the report registered a marginal average improvement in global scores: 0.06 percentage points. Still, uncertainty due to perceived terror threats has resulted in lower scores for some cities. While Europe remains the region with the most livable cities, it saw a decline in ratings in the wake of several terrorist attacks, including those on Manchester, London and Stockholm. "European cities have been dealing with the aftermath of terrorist attacks, increased unease towards Brexit, and there is still a degree of unease towards migrant crisis," Stefano Scuratti, EIU consulting principal, told CNBC. "After Charlottesville and its aftermath, I will not defend Trump even if the Dow hits 50,000, unemployment goes to 1 percent, and GDP grows by 7 percent. Some issues transcend economics" But then I saw what happened last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. I saw the president of the Unites States cowardly signal tacit support of white supremacists and Nazis. Every time Trump reworked his response in subsequent days, he dug a deeper hole that revealed more and more. I realized the deep wisdom in Maya Angelou's statement: Donald Trump has now shown us who he really is, and it's time to believe it. The truth is, after Charlottesville and its aftermath, I will not defend Trump even if the Dow hits 50,000, unemployment goes to 1 percent, and GDP grows by 7 percent. Some issues transcend economics, and I will not in good conscience support a president who seems to hate Americans who don't look like him. Trump rose to political prominence touting the insidious "birther" rumor about President Obama, fomenting suspicion that Obama wasn't "a real American." But calling the president names will change nothing. Trump is a reflection of the USA today, and we must ask why there is such an appetite for dog whistle politics. I'm not smart enough to know, but I am certain banning Muslims wholesale isn't the answer. I am certain cutting immigration by 50 percent with an offensive points system ("Do you have a Nobel Prize?" and "Do you have an Olympic medal?" are real questions on the new form) isn't the answer. I am certain taking health care away from 20+ million poor people isn't the answer. Over the last 6 months, I have talked to many Trump supporters, and I believe the vast majority of them are good people with honorable intentions. They are justifiably angry about the liberal bias in the press, but I believe social media is leveling the playing field in their favor. Either way, we've arrived at a moment where the leader of the free world represents policies that are antithetical to my life story. From birth until junior high school I lived in Waukegan, Illinois, a blue-collar town near Chicago. Our next-door neighbors were African American, and our block was comprised of cops, firemen, and immigrants. I grew up with the best America has to offer, a true melting pot. In the 21st century, how can America have a president who sees diversity not as a blessing, but a curse? I am very proud to have built a successful business that employs hundreds of people, and has paid millions of dollars in taxes to the country I love more than anything. In this era of deafening polarization, why do I bother speaking out? John F. Kennedy liked to say: "The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of moral crisis preserve their neutrality." With this in mind, I have a message for our president: Mr. Trump, the only thing necessary to "Make America Great Again" is ensuring you are a one-term president, and I'm excited to start working toward that goal. Commentary by Ravin Gandhi, CEO of Chicago-based GMM Nonstick Coating. Gandhi is also a VC investor and has invested in technology companies KeyMe, Ampsy, Tred, Lettrs and Hester Biosciences. Follow him on Twitter @Ravingandhi1. For the latest commentary on markets in the U.S. and around the world, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter. The retail industry isn't the only one that can't stop talking about e-commerce giant Amazon.com . Of 460 companies in the that already have held earnings conference calls this reporting season, Amazon has been mentioned on 69 of those calls, or about 15 percent, according to a review of transcripts and data available on FactSet. The topic engaged the chief executives from mall operators to a satellite TV provider, consumer products makers, an auto parts retailer, and pharmacy and drug companies. In contrast, the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba has come up on just five calls, according to FactSet. Wal-Mart has been mentioned on 16 calls, Facebook 22 and Apple 25. President Donald Trump's name has come up on just 17 calls, the word "death" 13 times and the word "taxes" 133. Congress was mentioned in 32 cases. On Tuesday, the chief executive of outdoor and recreational retailer Dick's Sporting Goods said the retail industry is in "panic mode" in a war on prices, weighed down by the ever-lurking presence of the e-commerce firm. Amazon is shaking up the retail industry and pressuring department store chains and mom-and-pop outlets that rely on physical locations and customer foot traffic for sales. But Amazon's $13.7 billion deal for Whole Foods Market , which will give it physical locations as local distribution centers, has warmed the hearts of some real estate executives. David E. Simon, the chairman and chief executive of Simon Property Group, a luxury mall operator, said "the good news for us, as an industry, it does reinforce that, in my opinion, the importance of connecting with the consumer through a physical business." Amazon isn't just expanding in the real world through the organic grocery chain. Vornado Realty Trust cited a new 10,000-square-foot lease for Amazon's bookstore in DC's Georgetown neighborhood, where it is replacing the high-end retailer Barneys, as well as a second bookstore location on West 34th Street in Manhattan. Conor Flynn, CEO of open-air mall operator Kimco Realty, said, "The debate surrounding the death of physical retail is over." He cited not only the Amazon-Whole Foods tie-up but a similar deal between Wal-Mart and Jet.com and a new smaller store concept by Target as the new normal. Grocers as mall anchor stores are gaining as an opportunity, he said, especially with the growth of Trader Joe's and the influx of the European chains Aldi and Lidl in the U.S. market. "Those that embrace and master the omnichannel approach that combine technology, social media and physical real estate will thrive," he said. "Those that ignore will do so at their own peril." Dish Network 's CEO Charles William Ergen was asked by an analyst about the effect of tech companies trying to get into the connectivity business, like Google Fiber's internet service, and answered that Amazon may go there next. "You're going to need a core layer of how you connect. And I think that the four big incumbent carriers are pretty well-positioned there," he said. "And I think we're pretty well-positioned there too." He added that Amazon's ambitions for drone and autonomous vehicle delivery are going to need connectivity as will its video streaming to mobile devices business. "They have to look at connectivity as part of their future. They may be able to do that if they could just peel off some money and buy one of the incumbent carriers, or they could lease spectrum," Ergen said. Clorox executives said they weren't concerned about Amazon's efforts to sell household products under non-brand labels even as they sell their well-known brand alongside those other products. "I don't look at Amazon as a customer that's in any way different than our other customers, and I would look at that as an opportunity as well as a risk," CEO Benno Dorer said. "But the opportunity far outweighs the risk, and we're taking advantage of it." Auto-parts retailer O'Reilly Automotive sees physical locations as one of its competitive advantages, mostly because customers tend to need auto parts right away and can bargain in the store if they see a lower price online. "We work with them to come up with a price that makes sense for them to walk out of the store with the part," CEO Gregory Henslee said on the company's conference call. "We don't walk customers over pricing relative to Amazon and online pricing pressure." Talk that Amazon was getting into the online pharmacy sales business caught the attention of Express Scripts CEO Timothy Wentworth, who said the company would be "interested in working with them." CVS Health CEO Larry Merlo said he wasn't concerned Amazon would erode their business, especially because pharmacies offer in-person services an online provider cannot. "So listen, there's no question that Amazon is a competitor in the marketplace," Wentworth said on the company call. "They've done a great job, and you don't take anything that they're doing for granted. But at the same time, I think that we have a lot of capabilities and a value proposition that can compete effectively in the market." If there was one silver lining to President Trumps election, it was supposed to be this: Those who voted for Trump because of, rather than despite, his demonization of Muslims and Hispanics; who fear a majority minority America; and who wax nostalgic for the Jim Crow era were mostly old white people. Which meant they and their abhorrent prejudices would soon pass on and be replaced by generations of younger, more racially enlightened Americans. The white nationalist rally this past weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, shows that this is a myth. Racist grandpas may be dying out, but their bigotry is regenerating in todays youths. Yes, there were swastika-tattooed, Ku Klux Klan-hooded 50-somethings on the streets of Charlottesville. The most chilling photos, however, show hordes of torch-bearing, fresh-faced, fashy-coiffed white men in their teens and 20s. Some marchers in this youth brigade are still students, one the leader of his campus chapter of the College Republicans. And some did more than march. The driver accused of murdering counterprotester Heather Heyer and injuring 19 is a 20-year-old white man. He would of course not be the first radicalized young white man to commit an act of domestic terrorism. There was the then-21-year-old white male who murdered nine African-Americans at a Charleston, South Carolina, church in 2015, and the 28-year-old white Baltimore man who in March allegedly rode a bus to New York in search of black men to kill at random. A recent Joint Intelligence Bulletin, obtained by Foreign Policy magazine, details plenty of other attacks perpetrated by young white-supremacist men. The public faces of the white supremacist alt-right movement are likewise skewing younger. David Duke is still around, but as a charismatic figurehead he has mostly been displaced by the likes of 39-year-old Richard Spencer, 26-year-old Matthew Heimbach and 29-year-old Tim Baked Alaska Gionet. These are not people whose backwardness we can write off as an unfortunate product of their time. That is, were not talking about young white Americans whose happy formative years took place in a world with (de jure) school segregation, redlining, anti-miscegenation laws and phrenology. If any had family who fought for the Confederacy, theyve been dead for at least a century. No one is telling them about the good ol days on the plantation. If anything, parents of the Charlottesville rallygoers have professed ignorance or repudiation of their childrens odious beliefs. So why are millennials, of all people, at the forefront of the small but highly visible resurrection of neo-Nazism? Some seem to be reactionaries, essentially trolls who may or may not truly believe the anti-Semitic and racist bile that they meme and share to get a rise out of the politically correct left. If youthful rebellion in the 1960s meant embracing free love, peace and equality, then today at least for anti-anti-Trumpers it is about promoting hatred and structural inequity. Others may genuinely wish to burn the whole system down. It is a flawed system, after all, one whose recent financial crisis irreparably scarred millennials economic prospects. Most anti-establishment millennials have drifted toward leftist populist alternatives, but some have sorted into the opposite (and more violent) extreme. For right-wing populists, the key flaw with the system is not that it allows the rich to hoard all the money, but that it privileges undeserving minorities at innocent whites expense. Weve already seen a version of this bifurcated youth populism take hold elsewhere. In Frances first-round presidential election this year, more young voters chose the Communist-allied far-left candidate. But in second place was far-right ethno-nationalist Marine Le Pen. Here in the United States, extreme ideology and iconography may also no longer carry the same political baggage they once did. Just as socialism is not a toxic word to people who came of age after the Cold War, perhaps aligning with Nazis no longer seems as inherently, reflexively evil for those so far removed from World War II. More significantly, the presumption that millennials are uniformly more progressive than earlier generations is false. Millennials overall are more racially tolerant than earlier generations but thats because young people today are less likely to be white. White millennials exhibit about as much racial prejudice, as measured by explicit bias, as white Gen Xers and boomers. Yet even young people know that overt racial animus is socially frowned upon, a deal-breaker for those seeking friends, spouses or gainful employment. At least, they did, until the 2016 presidential campaign. Perhaps its no wonder that some self-aggrandizing young white men heard a siren call in all those dog whistles: Tomorrow belongs to them. President Donald Trump blasted Amazon on social media Wednesday, saying the e-commerce giant is hurting retailers and causing U.S. job losses. Tweet Link Amazon shares fell as much as 1 percent in premarket trading after Trump's tweet. The stock closed down 0.5 percent Wednesday, underperforming the SPDR S&P Retail ETF's 0.9 percent gain. "While this is not his first tweet about Amazon and taxes (and of course, the Washington Post), we do find it interesting that he is now linking Amazon and job losses in traditional retail," KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Edward Yruma wrote in a note to clients Wednesday. Trump bashed the "Amazon Washington Post" three times from July 22 to July 24 on Twitter. He also blasted Amazon in June for "not paying internet taxes." Tweet Link Andy Puzder, President Donald Trump's former pick for secretary of Labor, said Wednesday that CEOs are acting "shortsighted" by leaving Trump's special councils. "Don't give up your seat at the table. If you have a chance to influence policy, don't give up or walk away or let people drive you out of the room," the former chief executive of CKE Restaurants said on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street." Several members of Trump's special councils resigned this week after the president's comments about white supremacists in the wake of the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trump explicitly condemned white supremacists and "racist" violence on Monday, two days after he criticized hatred and violence "on many sides" without specifically denouncing white supremacist groups. At a heated news conference Tuesday, Trump doubled down on his initial response, blaming "both sides." The president is "very open to other people's opinions," Puzder said. "If you make a convincing argument, this president is willing to listen." It's very important for CEOs to "get in there and state their 2 cents," he said. Puzder said he was "very happy" with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon expressing frustration at the federal government last month. "This was very positive. I think two years ago Jamie Dimon would have never made that statement," he said. Puzder added the councils are also working on very important initiatives. "The councils are set up to increase economic growth, to increase jobs. We're working on tax reform, regulatory reform. All the things that make a difference to American businesses and I think it's a little shortsighted to pull out," he said. Puzder said at the moment, he's more concerned about Trump's legislative agenda. Billionaire hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman revealed he bought protection against a stock market drop due to rising geopolitical risk. Ackman said the firm took a "small position" in out of the money call options on a volatility index during Pershing Square Capital Management's second-quarter conference call Wednesday. This hedge "will protect against stock market risk," he said, specifically citing a potential conflict on the Korean peninsula. The firm holds a quarterly conference call to update its European closed-end fund investors on the fund's investments. The investor also revealed the firm bought and sold Hilton Worldwide shares at around a 30 percent gain. The holding's size peaked at 5 percent of the fund's assets. "We bought Hilton Worldwide last year and exited in the last 45 to 60 days," he said. His regret was "the firm was not able to make it a large enough position." The hedge-fund manager has become embroiled in a public battle concerning his latest activist position, ADP. Ackman revealed on the call he raised an additional $500 million in a co-investment vehicle for the firm's ADP investment. Pershing Square recently took an 8 percent stake in ADP . Ackman told CNBC on Aug. 4 he is seeking "transformational change" at the payroll processor. In response, ADP CEO Carlos Rodriguez said Ackman "doesn't know what he's talking about" in an interview with CNBC's David Faber last Thursday. The hedge fund has nominated three directors to ADP's board, including Ackman himself. Ackman has stumbled in recent years with high-profile losing bets on Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Chipotle Mexican Grill . Pershing Square Holdings is underperforming the market this year. The fund is down 2.2 percent year to date versus the S&P 500's 10.6 percent return through Aug. 8, according to its website. Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson is the latest in a string of iconic businessmen to talk about cash handouts, or universal basic income, as a solution to jobs being replaced by technology. "With the acceleration of [artificial intelligence] and other new technology ... the world is changing fast," Branson writes in a post published this week. "A lot of exciting new innovations are going to be created, which will generate a lot of opportunities and a lot of wealth, but there is a real danger it could also reduce the amount of jobs," he says. "This will make experimenting with ideas like basic income even more important in the years to come." Billionaire Tesla and Space X CEO Elon Musk says universal basic income will be a virtual necessity as technology replaces jobs that humans currently do. "There is a pretty good chance we end up with a universal basic income, or something like that, due to automation," Musk tells CNBC in an interview last year. "Yeah, I am not sure what else one would do. I think that is what would happen." Branson suggests that the idea of free cash handouts deserves further research and exploration. "In the modern world, everybody should have the opportunity to work and to thrive," he says. "One idea that could help make this a reality is a universal basic income. This concept should be further explored to see how it can work practically." Branson references the universal basic income experiment currently underway in Finland, where a 560 payment (the equivalent of about $655) replaces other social benefits and is still given out even after an individual finds a job. "The initiative aims to reduce unemployment and poverty while cutting red tape, allowing people to pursue the dignity and purpose of work without the fear of losing their benefits by taking a low-paid job," Branson says. However, it's worth noting that the viability of the study has been called into question. He and other leaders talked about the idea of universal basic income at a meeting of The Elders in Finland this year, he says. The Elders is a group of distinguished thought leaders including Jimmy Carter and Kofi Annan. "What I took away from the talks was the sense of self-esteem that universal basic income could provide to people. The hope is that policies like these can help people struggling just to survive and allow them to get on their feet, be entrepreneurial and be more creative," Branson says. The notion that guaranteed cash handouts provides a safety net to encourage and empower people to take risks is the same argument that billionaire Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg made when touting the idea of universal basic income in his Harvard commencement speech in May. Earlier, the 2-year Treasury note yield hit a high of 1.359 percent while the 10-year Treasury note yield hit a high of 2.285 percent, the highest levels since August 8. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note traded lower around 2.229 percent at 3:27 p.m. ET, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also lower at 2.814 percent. Bond yields move inversely to prices. U.S. Treasury yields traded lower on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve's meeting minutes showed concern about the central bank's inflation outlook. The Federal Open Markets Committee minutes showed that Fed members appeared split over when to hike rates next during their July meeting, when central bank policymakers voted to hold the target rate in a range of 1 percent to 1.25 percent. The Fed is concerned that inflation may remain below 2 percent longer than expected, with lethargic PCE, CPI, and PPI data suggesting that the economy may have to wait for increases in prices. "Some participants" who counseled patience expressed "concern about the recent decline in inflation" and said the Fed "could afford to be patient under current circumstances," according to the minutes. They "argued against additional adjustments" until the central bank was sure that inflation was on track. Rates were lower going into the minutes, and extended their decline after the release. Bonds also caught some favor as investors grew fearful of growing political backlash out of Washington. After an exodus of CEOs from the President's Manufacturing Council and business leaders' abrupt decision to dissolve the Strategic and Policy Council, President Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday that he would end both. Rather than putting pressure on the business people of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all! Corporate leaders distanced themselves from Trump this week after his tepid response to violence at a white nationalist rally over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. On the data front, the lowest mortgage interest rates since November did little to encourage people to refinance their home loans or take out a new loan to buy a home. Total mortgage application volume rose just 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, last week from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Volume was nearly 22 percent lower that a year ago. U.S. housing starts came in shy, totaling 1.155 million in July vs 1.22 million starts expected. Businesses should not be afraid of firmly standing up to white supremacists, Republican strategist Joe Watkins told CNBC on Wednesday. "Customers respect it when you take a stand and say you're on the side of right," said Watkins, a White House aide in the George H.W. Bush administration. "America took a strong stand during the Second World War and said they were against Nazism, that they didn't like that philosophy, that it was a philosophy that they were willing to fight against. And it's OK for Americans still in the 21st century to say the same thing," he added in an interview on "Squawk Box." Also on "Squawk Box," Ron Christie, former special assistant to George W. Bush, said businesses probably should leave the council if it hurts their bottom line. Christie also said President Donald Trump should have released a statement against the extreme-right-wing violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, much sooner. Trump explicitly condemned white supremacists and "racist" violence on Monday, two days after he condemned hatred and violence "on many sides" without specifically denounce white supremacist groups. A counterprotester was killed in a car ramming on Saturday, and a suspected white supremacist has been charged in her death. At a heated news conference Tuesday, Trump doubled down on his initial response, blaming "both sides." That prompted the resignations of two more members of the presidential manufacturing panel: AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and the union's deputy chief of staff, Thea Lee. Four other business leaders earlier stepped down from their advisory roles: Merck's Ken Frazier did so on Monday morning, followed by Under Armour's Kevin Plank, Intel's Brian Krzanich and Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing. Trump on Tuesday ripped into business leaders who resigned, calling them "grandstanders." The CEOs who joined President Donald Trump's councils shouldn't be surprised by his behavior, former Wells Fargo CEO Richard Kovacevich told CNBC on Wednesday. Members of the president's Strategic and Policy Forum agreed to disband the group on Wednesday after Trump's controversial remarks about the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend. Shortly after CNBC and others broke the news, Trump announced on Twitter he was ending that forum and his manufacturing council. "Is there anything here that's happened that was totally unexpected? Donald Trump throughout his business career, throughout the entire campaign, has been narcissistic, he's been uncouth, he's been offensive," Kovacevich said in an interview with "Power Lunch." "It shouldn't be surprising that it's come to something like this." Business leaders and Republicans have been distancing themselves from Trump since his response to the rally. One person was killed and 19 others were injured when a suspected white nationalist rammed a car into counterprotesters. On Saturday, Trump said both sides were to blame and on Tuesday he defended that response. He also said "not all" the people attending the rally were bad. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. CNBC's Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report. Chipotle Mexican Grill is changing how it does business, hoping that it will at last be able to put a string of food safety incidents behind it and lure back customers who ditched the brand. After a meeting with Mark Alexee, Chipotle's head of investor relations and treasury, BTIG analyst Peter Saleh said that the company will be implementing some strategies that it hasn't pursued aggressively in the past. "We came away from the meeting with the sense that management is rethinking the company's approach to many aspects of its strategy and operations and aggressively pursuing sales drivers that they previously shunned as being un-Chipotle including menu innovation and TV advertising," Saleh wrote in a research note Tuesday. While other fast-casual restaurants thrive on wacky limited-time offers, Chipotle has made few changes to its menu in its 24-year history. The company began testing chorizo in select restaurants in Ohio, New York, California, Colorado and Washington, D.C., in June 2016 before rolling out the menu item nationwide in October of that year. The addition of chorizo was uncharacteristic of the burrito chain and was indicative of Chipotle's desire to drive traffic back to its restaurants. According to Saleh, chorizo a spicy chicken and pork sausage only accounts for about 3 percent of protein sales within the company and could be swapped out in favor of other menu innovations. "We have added to our menu over the years (burrito bowls, salads, sofritas and chorizo, for example), and tested other items (including a roasted tomato salsa, and an expanded beverage offering)," Chris Arnold, a spokesman for Chipotle, told CNBC. "So we have never said never to menu innovations, it has simply not been a driver of our business the way it is for other chains. For us to add to our menu, we have always wanted to be sure that what we are adding fits within our menu overall, and does not add unnecessary complexity to our operations." Most recently, Chipotle has been testing queso in some 350 locations in Colorado and California and has been developing salad, dessert and margarita offerings at its test kitchen in New York. However, menu innovation hasn't come without growing pains for Chipotle. So far, the company has received tepid reviews of its queso. Tweet 1 Tweet 2 Tweet 3 "They've talked about queso, they have to do it," Saleh told CNBC. "They just have to get the product right." He said that the company has been testing different types of cheeses and ingredients to improve its current iteration of queso and won't roll the product out nationally until it's right. Chipotle has long avoided serving queso at its chains because of its "food with integrity" pledge, which promises that its menu items will not contain artificial flavors, colors or preservatives. In a since deleted video, Chipotle said queso is typically "made with artificial stabilizers to keep its shiny liquid form," explaining why it hadn't offered it before. In addition, Chipotle could soon be exploring more breakfast-centric items and a new beverage lineup. Saleh said that Chipotle management said the beverage category primarily nonalcoholic was a big opportunity for the brand, which hasn't changed its beverages in the past eight to 10 years. In addition to menu innovations, Chipotle is looking to update its guest experience and alter its advertising strategy. The burrito chain has been reluctant to create television ads, preferring more grass-roots efforts and quirky film shorts to entice customers. Chipotle embarked on a new ad campaign in April, which included national TV commercials. Using the tagline "As real as it gets," the campaign focuses on the quality of Chipotle's ingredients. Saleh said that Chipotle has had to pivot on some of its old strategies and adopt new ones that are more in line with what its competitors in the restaurant industry are doing. "We continue to be open to these kinds of innovations, particularly as they relate to our ongoing efforts to enhance the guest experience," Chipotle's Arnold told CNBC. The company has been testing drive-thru service at a location in Ohio, and ordering kiosks in 25 New York restaurants. Chipotle has also invested in digital ordering and delivery services. Despite these changes, Saleh remains skeptical about Chipotle's ability to woo diners back in the near term, especially after last month's norovirus incident, which put a dent in sales in the latter half of July. "We remain on the sidelines until we have greater confidence in sales trends and the initiatives mentioned above take hold," Saleh said. The market isn't moving on the turmoil from President Donald Trump's comments about the deadly violence in Charlottesville. Virginia, because it "divorced" him, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Wednesday. "The market is completely divorced from whatever is going on," Cramer said on "Squawk on the Street." "Because I think the market just says, 'Listen, we're not going to have tax reform' ... We're not going to have anything. We're just going to have total chaos, so let's focus on the companies," he added. Stocks were higher Wednesday as investors shifted their focus to the Federal Reserve's release of minutes of its most recent meeting. At a heated news conference Tuesday, Trump double downed on his initial response to the hatred and violence in Charlottesville, blaming "both sides." That prompted the resignations of two more members of the presidential manufacturing council: AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and the union's deputy chief of staff, Thea Lee. One week before, stocks were lower on tensions between the U.S. and North Korea and Trump's rhetoric about the isolated Asian nation facing "fire and fury." Regarding Trump's comments, Cramer said that "the president needs to be careful" and warned that the conflict in Charlottesville isn't a "right-left issue." "Now I typically would never say that other than in 1972, '74. He needs to be careful because these are precepts that are held by most of our country and not just by the people who protested and took down the statues," Cramer said. "These are long-held principals from Lincoln and from Eisenhower. ... You don't want to go against those guys," he added. ONALASKA Tom Krajewski of La Crosse was wary Monday of the proposed deal to bring a technology plant to Wisconsin at the price of $3 billion. Money is like manure. If you pile it in one place, its not going to do any good. Youve got to spread it around, said Krajewski, a former staff member at Wisconsin Community Development Finance Authority 30 years ago. Krajewski was one of dozens of La Crosse County residents who raised concerns ranging from the environment to the state budget to return on investment Monday in response to the Foxconn Technology Group deal being considered by the Wisconsin Legislature. About 70 people packed into the meeting room in Onalaska Public Library during a listening session organized by state Sen. Jennifer Shilling and Rep. Jill Billings, both La Crosse Democrats, to express disapproval of the deal, announced in July by Republican Gov. Scott Walker. If the deal is approved, the Taiwanese firms display screen plant would be built in southeastern Wisconsin, with proponents saying it could bring 3,000 to 13,000 jobs to the state. I love the jobs, if were going to get them, but its kind of a rosy scenario, Krajewski said. Barbara Frank, La Crosse, agreed that jobs are critical, but urged legislators to look this gift horse in the mouth, particularly after a Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau Report estimated that it would take the state 25 years to recoup the $2.85 billion in proposed cash payments to Foxconn. This just isnt a good investment, she said. Frankly, as a private investor, something that would take 25 years to get a return on, forget it. Dennis King, Onalaska, opened the discussion by asking a question that was later echoed throughout the room. Its never been explained by Foxconn wants to come here, King said. I assume its the $3 billion. However, Kings main concern was the portion of the deal to exempt the plants developers from state environmental requirements. What kind of pollution are they going to create? King asked. With a large amount of water used in the process, King questioned what effects water run-off would have on sewage and the water supply in the area. Wisconsin is pristine. Our water is good. Im not for it, King said. Shilling, whose state Senate district covers most of southern Monroe County, clarified that the exemption would not change state law. It would exempt Foxconn from statutory requirements, such as environmental impact statements. Once it is up and running, it would need to follow environmental regulations. They want to save money at our expense, King said. People also raised questions of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources enforcement, asking whether it would adequately hold Foxconn accountable. Jeff Berger, Holmen, asked whether Foxconn offered the kinds of jobs Wisconsin wants, citing poor conditions in overseas factories. This company does not have a good track record, he said. He urged people to contact Wisconsin legislators and tell them to turn down the deal. We dont want this factory in here, Berger said. The deal will go before the state Assembly this week. By Thursday, I have to vote, Billings said, despite her unanswered questions. Billings added that the deal would likely pass the Assembly, but its future is less certain in the Senate. Shilling criticized Walker and state Republicans for rushing the bill through the Assembly. As the deal was unveiled, it was lacking on details, Shilling said. We in the legislature have been asking for details, been asking for analysis, have been asking for briefings from the Department of Administration and from (the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation). Shilling said it was important to know whether this was a deal the state could afford before moving forward. An online group formed to discuss internal Facebook issues morphed into a pro-Trump forum that attracted hundreds of company workers before CEO Mark Zuckerberg shut it down, according to a report in Business Insider. The anonymous group, called Facebook Anon, gave Facebook employees the chance to candidly complain about the company's policies and culture, the report says. At the start, it was used to talk about mundane issues, like the ethics of taking home extra food from the company cafeteria. Yet the tone of the discussions became increasingly political and heated as the 2016 presidential campaign season went on, as right-leaning Facebook employees began to see the group as a safe haven. Facebook pulled the plug on the group in December, shortly after Trump was elected president. Later, at an all-hands meeting in early 2017, Zuckerberg reportedly said the group was shut down because it had been used to harass fellow workers. An email to Facebook seeking comment wasn't immediately returned. Shortly after Zuckerberg's explanation, a poster was reportedly seen on the Facebook campus with the group's beginning and end dates and the words: "Silenced, but not silent." Read the full report here. Leading Federal Reserve policymaker Stanley Fischer has hit out at plans to unwind banking regulation, brandishing it a "terrible mistake." In an interview with the Financial Times, Fischer said that efforts by the U.S. administration to strip back the rules put in place 10 years ago would lead large institutions to return to the status quo that led to the financial crisis. President Donald Trump and republican politicians have advocated the repeal of Dodd Frank, a major piece of post-crisis legislation, and the loosening of some capital and liquidity requirements in a bid to ease banks' ability to lend. "It took almost 80 years after 1930 to have another financial crisis that could have been of that magnitude. And now after 10 years everybody wants to go back to a status quo before the great financial crisis," Fischer, the vice-chairman of the Fed's board of governors, said. "I find that really, extremely dangerous and extremely short-sighted." Fischer has, however, endorsed efforts to ease regulations for small banks, claiming it would help balance the banking system. "The Congress is very involved in these things and the pressure is on now to ease up. The pressure to ease up on small banks is fine with me. "But the pressure I fear is coming to ease up on large banks strikes me as very, very dangerous." To read the full article, click here. A trader looks up at a monitor while working on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange U.S. stock index futures pointed to a positive open on Wednesday, as investors shifted their attention to the upcoming FOMC minutes. Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 48 points, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite futures advanced 4.75 points and 14.25 points, respectively. While a new batch of economic data is set to be released on Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes for the U.S. central bank's July meeting are set to take center stage during trade. Set to come out at 2 p.m. ET, investors will pore through the meeting's minutes to see what the Federal Reserve currently thinks about the state of the U.S. economy, and where their strategy could be heading. According to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, chances for a rate hike in December were about 45 percent. Some investors remain skeptical about another rate hike coming this year given the recent weak inflation data. Inflation is a key component used by the Federal Reserve to determine their course of monetary policy. Aside from the Fed, housing starts for July totaled 1.155 million, well below the expected 1.22 million. Mortgage applications rose just 0.1 percent last week on a seasonally adjusted basis. In financial news, Tencent Holdings and Target are some of the companies that reported quarterly earnings before the bell. Angela Merkel may be poised to enter her fourth term as German Chancellor, but the chances of her serving the full four years are becoming increasingly slim, according to her far-right challengers the AfD. The incumbent leader and her Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party are expected to enjoy an easy slide to victory when Germany heads to the polls on September 24, gaining an almost 50 percent lead on her closest competitors. However, dissatisfaction with public policy and European Union frustrations will undermine her efforts to stay the course, founding member of the AfD, Frank-Christian Hansel, told CNBC. The latest INSA poll released Tuesday shows the CDU and its sister Christian Social Union (CSU) party gaining 37 percent, a notable lead on the second- and third-largest parties, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), which are forecast 25 percent and 10 percent respectively. Still, the CDU will have to form a coalition to gain a parliamentary majority. Christian Democratic Union + Christian Social Union 37% Social Democratic Party (SPD) 25% Free Democratic Party (FDP) 9% Green Party (Greens) 7% Die Linke (The Left) 9% Alternative for Germany (AfD) 10% "The problems are getting so big with the migration crisis etc. that this next government will not be in power for the full four years," Hansel said over the phone, insisting that Merkel's efforts to appease all voters are unsustainable amid rising European pressures. Merkel has attempted to broaden the appeal of the center-right CDU since taking to the helm of the party in 2005 but has struggled in recent years to strike an appropriate response to divisive issues such as the EU migrant crisis. Since 2015, Germany has taken in more than a million migrants. The issue threatened to be the leader's undoing at the start of the year, when she suffered a huge drop in support following a number of terror attacks in 2016. In her re-election campaign she has sought to address this, telling crowds at a rally on Monday "of course we can't allow a year like 2015 to recur every year." But her pledges were met by AfD supporters chanting "Merkel out" and "immigration needs clear rules." "The CDU will have to ask itself whether it is with the bourgeoisie or on the more liberal side. It can't be both," he argued. A former Bank of America technology consultant used his access to the bank's internal deal tracking system to share more than 50 trading tips with friends, who generated more than $5 million in illegal trading profits, federal prosecutors said. The worker, Daniel Rivas, "serially misappropriated material, non-public information from the bank's deal tracking system and passed it along to friends so they could utilize it to make profitable trades," according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday by the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York. Prosecutors laid out 54 insider trading charges against five of Rivas' acquaintances in the indictment. Rivas pleaded guilty on Aug. 9. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced its own insider trading charges against Rivas, and six other individuals on Wednesday. The trades were in more than two dozen securities, including AstraZeneca, St. Jude Medical, Monsanto , Cabela's , Diamond Resorts International, Panera Bread, Macy's and LifeLock, the indictment said. "We fired Mr. Rivas in April and cooperated fully with the government's investigation into this matter," Bank of America said in a statement to CNBC. Rivas went on to work at RBC and has since been suspended pending further review, according to a statement from the bank. An attorney for Rivas did not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment. Rivas worked at Bank of America for about four years, and he had access to the firm's system containing "material, non-public information about potential and unannounced merger and acquisition transactions," the U.S. indictment said. He shared trading tips with his girlfriend's father, James Moodhe, and with two separate groups of friends. Moodhe also allegedly shared the inside information with Michael Siva, a financial advisor at a brokerage firm, who traded for himself and clients based on the trading tips. Moodhe was named in the SEC charges. Silva was named in both the federal indictment and the SEC case. Moodhe and Siva tried to cover up their tracks by making it appear that Siva directed the trades, the indictment said. One of their most profitable illegal trades was around AstraZeneca 's Nov. 2015 tender offer acquisition of ZS Pharma. Moodhe and Siva together purchased nearly 30,000 shares, sold out after the news was made public, and took in nearly $600,000 in illegal gains, the indictment said. In total, Siva and Moodhe generated profits of more than $3 million, according to the indictment, and Siva also earned thousands of dollars in commissions on illegal trades entered on behalf of his clients. Rivas also allegedly shared insider information with friends Roberto Rodriguez and Rodolfo Sablon, who planned to set up an investment fund trading on the tips. They were both named in the indictment and the SEC case. Two others charged in both cases were Jhonatan Zoquier, a union representative, and Jeffrey Rogiers, a computer and network security analyst who received tips. The individuals also allegedly shared the information with other people, who also made profitable trades, the indictment said. With reporting by CNBC's Jim Forkin. A makeshift memorial of flowers and a photo of the victim of the car attack is on display at the attack site in Charlottesville, Va., Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017. In the wake of the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally, which left an activist dead and many injured, some leading tech companies are taking a stand against extremist views. Last week Friday, right-wing blogger Jason Kessler organized a rally to protest Charlottesville's decision to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from a city park. The rally ended in violence as supporters and counter-protesters chanted and threw punches and newspaper stands, according to the Associated Press. In the midst of the weekend brawl, female activist Heather Heyer was killed when a car plowed into a crowd of people protesting the white nationalist rally. Far right websites have since come out supporting this act of domestic terrorism. Here's how GoDaddy, Google, Paypal, Reddit, Twitter and Facebook have responded: GoDaddy The domain name provider severed ties with the neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer after the site verbally attacked Heyer. A recent post from the site mocked the deceased 32-year-old, calling her "fat" and "childless." It added that "most people are glad she is dead, as she is the definition of uselessness." GoDaddy tweeted on Sunday that it had given The Daily Stormer 24 hours to move its domain because the site had violated the company's terms of service. TWEET In an interview with CNBC, the company's CEO Blake Irving said that the Daily Stormer crossed the line from exercising freedom of speech to provoking further mayhem. "We always have to ride the fence on making sure we are protecting a free and open internet," says Irving. "But when the line gets crossed and that speech starts to incite violence, then we have a responsibility to take that down." Google The Daily Stormer moved its domain registration to Google after hosting firm GoDaddy cut ties with the site. Customers can transfer domains to Google through an automated, online process that takes up to 20 minutes, according to the Internet company's domain registration site. But shortly after making the transition, Google promptly canceled the registration for the white supremacist website. "We are cancelling Daily Stormer's registration with Google Domains for violating our terms of service," the company representative said in a statement to CNBC. Jeff J Mitchell | Getty Images In June, the company released a blog post in which it denounced the use of Google platforms for terrorist activity. "There should be no place for terrorist content on our service," said Kent Walker, senior vice president and general counsel of Google. He added: "While we and others have worked for years to identify and remove content that violates our policies the uncomfortable truth is that we, as an industry, must acknowledge that more needs to be done. Now." Paypal The online payment platform vowed to pull its services from sites linked to hate, violence and intolerance, after reflecting on the tragic events in Charlottesville. Paypal had previously been accused of playing a prominent role in raising money for the deadly white supremacist rally. "We've been working directly with PayPal for months to cut off a number of hate groups that they allowed for years to generate revenue using their platform," says Rashad Robinson, the executive director of Color Of Change, the nation's largest online racial justice organization, in a statement to CNBC. Source: CNBC In a lengthy post published on Tuesday, PayPal says that it has a longstanding acceptable use policy and that the company strives to navigate the balance between freedom of expression and the closing of sites that advocate intolerant views. "Regardless of the individual or organization in question, we work to ensure that our services are not used to accept payments or donations for activities that promote hate, violence or racial intolerance," said the post. "This includes organizations that advocate racist views, such as the KKK, white supremacist groups or Nazi groups." Reddit The social news aggregation site confirmed to CNET that it will ban pages and groups linked to far-right extremists. Reddit's action was reportedly prompted by a subreddit, which was flagged for making inflammatory remarks and threats. The thread included calls for a return to segregation and expressed hopes that someone would "bomb CNN and kill people." TWEET Reddit users quickly called on the website to take steps in combating the hate speech. "We are very clear in our site terms of service that posting content that incites violence will get users banned from Reddit," a company spokesperson told CNET. Twitter The social networking service joined other Silicon Valley companies on Wednesday in suspending accounts linked to the Daily Stormer. A man holds a laptop showing an image of US president Donald Trump with a Twitter logo displayed in the background in this photo illustration. Jaap Arriens | NurPhoto | Getty Images At least three accounts that were associated with the neo-Nazi website led to pages saying "account suspended," according to Reuters. Although Twitter did not discuss individual accounts, the company released a statement saying that the social network will take action on accounts that violate its policies prohibiting violent threats, harassment and hateful conduct. Facebook The social media platform, which has doubled down on its war against fake news, confirmed to CNET that it has removed and banned group pages that violated hate speech policies. Facebook also confirmed that it had removed the Charlottesville Unite the Right event page and was currently removing all links to the aforementioned Daily Stormer post. Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg Photo by Antoine Antoniol Google Lunar XPRIZE, the space exploration competition sponsored by Google , is offering additional prize money to finalists who can complete two in-space missions as it extends program's deadline to 2018. Entrants whose space crafts can complete one orbit around the moon or enter a direct descent towards it, can secure $1.75 million, while those that can complete a soft-landing on its surface can win $3 million as part of Google Lunar XPRIZE's wider $30 million competition to place a robot on the moon. The additional challenges come as the deadline for completion is extended to March 31, 2018. Previously, the guidelines had stipulated a deadline of December 31, 2017. Google Lunar XPRIZE did not disclose the reason for the extension, but it points to the challenges of the mission. While the teams continue to keep working towards the deadline, technical challenges and financial constraints have in the past led to the extension of deadlines. Former competition entrant Astrobotics, which withdrew from the competition last year, is forecasting to achieve a similar moon landing but not before 2019. However, with the additional funding, Google aims to cut down on financial challenges and provide the finalists with extra incentive to embark on this journey. "XPRIZE and Google are thrilled to offer these additional in-space Milestone Prizes as a further incentive for finalist teams and to recognize the full gravity of these bold technological feats taking place in the race to the moon," Chanda Gonzales-Mowrer, senior director, Google Lunar XPRIZE, said in a press announcement Wednesday. Launched in 2007, the program requires entrants to successfully place a robot on the moon's surface that explores at lead 500 meters and transmit high-definition video and images back to earth. In January 2017, five finalists were selected to compete: SpaceIL (Israel), Moon Express (USA), Synergy Moon (International), TeamIndus (India) and HAKUTO (Japan). These teams now have until March 31, 2018 to complete the mission. Andrew Liveris Dow Chemical CEO Staying Liveris: I condemn the violence this weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, and my thoughts and prayers are with those who lost loved ones and with the people of Virginia. In Dow there is no room for hatred, racism, or bigotry. Dow will continue to work to strengthen the social and economic fabric of the communities where it operates. Bill Brown Harris Corp. CEO No comment Michael Dell Dell Technologies CEO Staying Thanks for reaching out. While we wouldn't comment on any member's personal decision, there's no change in Dell engaging with the Trump administration and governments around the world to share our perspective on policy issues that affect our company, customers and employees. John Ferriola Nucor Corp. CEO Staying Ferriola: At Nucor, we condemn the violence that occurred this past weekend in Charlottesville and reject the hate, bigotry, and racism expressed at the demonstration. As North America's largest steel producer, Nucor has engaged with several administrations to work on policies that help strengthen the U.S. manufacturing sector and provide opportunities for American workers. We believe a strong manufacturing sector is the backbone of a strong economy, and we will continue to serve as a member of the White House Manufacturing Jobs Initiative. Jeff Fettig Whirlpool Corp. CEO Staying Whirlpool Corp. believes strongly in an open and inclusive culture that respects people of all races and backgrounds. Our company has long fostered an environment of acceptance and tolerance in the workplace. The company will continue on the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative to represent our industry, our 15,000 U.S. workers, and to provide input and advice on ways to create jobs and strengthen U.S. manufacturing competitiveness. Mark Fields Ford Motor, former CEO No longer with Ford Kenneth Frazier Merck CEO Aug 14, 2017 Frazier: I am resigning from the President's American Manufacturing Council. Our country's strength stems from its diversity and the contributions made by men and women of different faiths, races, sexual orientations and policitcal beliefs. America's leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy, which run counter to the American ideal that all people are created equal. As CEO of Merck and as a matter of personal conscience, I feel a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism. Alex Gorsky Johnson & Johnson CEO Aug. 16, 2017 Gorsky: Johnson & Johnson has a responsibility to remain engaged as important policy decisions are made. That hasn't changed. The Presidents most recent statements equating those who are motivated by race-based hate with those who stand up against hatred is unacceptable and has changed our decision to participate in the White House Manufacturing Advisory Council. We will continue to support, advocate and champion policies and programs that make this country and the world healthier, stronger and more united. Greg Hayes United Technologies CEO Aug. 16, 2017 Hayes: Earlier this year I was asked to participate in the American Manufacturing Council that was established by the new administration. This council, which is made up of more than 20 CEOs of leading American manufacturers, was tasked with developing policies to revitalize the American manufacturing sector. The administration has other councils focused on other policy areas, such as developing a competitive income tax code and streamlining burdensome regulation.UTC strongly supports the goals of each of these advisory committees as a way of ensuring and enhancing Americas growth in the decades to come. However, as events of the last week have unfolded here in the U.S., it is clear that we need to collectively stand together and denounce the politics of hate, intolerance and racism. The values that are the cornerstone of our culture: tolerance, diversity, empathy and trust, must be reaffirmed by our actions every day. Accordingly, I have tendered my resignation from the Council effective today. Marillyn Hewson Lockheed Martin CEO No comment Jeff Immelt General Electric Chairman Aug. 16, 2017 Immelt: The Presidents statements yesterday were deeply troubling. There would be no GE without people of all races, religions, genders, and sexual orientations. GE has no tolerance for hate, bigotry, racism, and the white supremacist extremism that the country witnessed in Charlottesville last weekend. I joined the Presidents Committee on Manufacturing because engagement with government on economic policy is very important for GE, our employees, and partners. As a company that exports over $20 billion of American made goods to the world, I believe we are best served when we constructively engage with leaders in the United States and around the world. The Committee I joined had the intention to foster policies that promote American manufacturing and growth. However, given the ongoing tone of the discussion, I no longer feel that this Council can accomplish these goals. Therefore, I notified members of the council this morning that I could no longer serve on the Presidents Committee on American Manufacturing. Jim Kamsickas Dana CEO Not immediately available Klaus Kleinfeld Arconic, former CEO No longer with Arconic Brian Krzanich Intel CEO Aug 14, 2017 Read Krzanich's comments at his blog Rich Kyle The Timken Company, CEO Not immediately available Thea Lee AFL-CIO, deputy chief of staff Aug. 15, 2017 Issued joint statement with Richard Trumka Mario Longhi U.S. Steel, former CEO No longer with U.S. Steel Denise Morrison Campbell Soup CEO Aug. 16, 2017 Morrison: Racism and murder are unequivocally reprehensible and are not morally equivalent to anything else that happened in Charlottesville. I believe the President should have been and still needs to be unambiguous on that point. Following yesterday's remarks from the President, I cannot remain on the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative. I will continue to support all efforts to spur economic growth and advocate for the values that have always made America great. Dennis Muilenburg Boeing CEO Muilenburg is staying with the council, the company said. Elon Musk Tesla CEO June 1, 2017 Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world. Read on Twitter Doug Oberhelman Caterpillar, former CEO No longer with Caterpillar Scott Paul Alliance for American Manufacturing President Aug 15, 2017 Paul: I'm resigning from the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative because it's the right thing for me to do. Read on Twitter Kevin Plank Under Armour CEO Aug 14, 2017 Plank: I joined the American Manufacturing Council because I believed it was important for Under Armour to have an active seat at the table and represent our industry. We remain resolute in our potential and ability to improve American manufacturing. However, Under Armour engages in innovation and sports, not politics. I am appreciative of the opportunity to have served, but have decided to step down from the council. I love our country and our company and will continue to focus my efforts on inspiring every person that they can do anything through the power of sport which promotes unity, diversity and inclusion. " Michael Polk Newell Brands CEO Staying Polk: With a large portion of our business in the U.S., including a manufacturing footprint of more than 60 factories and 15,000 employees (and counting), it is in our best interests to have a voice in the conversations that can influence the environment in which we work. I plan to continue to collaborate with other leaders from diverse industries, who represent a variety of perspectives and beliefs, to help shape strategies and develop policies that foster a more vibrant economy and more jobs in the U.S. We find the events of this past weekend in Charlottesville to be incredibly troubling. There is simply no place in our society for racism of any kind, white supremacy, or Neo-Nazism. The values that form these views are intolerable and completely contrary to everything we hold true as proud Americans. We reject and condemn all that hate stands for and hope that as a society, we can come together as one in this view. For its part, Newell Brands has always been and will always be committed to diversity and inclusion in every aspect of our business. Mark Sutton International Paper CEO Staying International Paper strongly condemns the violence that took place in Charlottesville over the weekend - there is no place for hatred, bigotry and racism in our society. We are a company that fosters an inclusive workforce where all employees are valued and treated with dignity and respect. Through our participation on the Manufacturing Jobs Council, we will work to strengthen the social and economic fabric of communities across the country by creating employment opportunities in manufacturing. Inge Thulin 3M CEO Aug. 16, 2017 Sustainability, diversity and inclusion are my personal values and also fundamental to the 3M Vision. The past few months have provided me with an opportunity to reflect upon my commitment to these values. I joined the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative in January to advocate for policies that align with our values and encourage even stronger investment and job growth in order to make the United States stronger, healthier and more prosperous for all people. After careful consideration, I believe the initiative is no longer an effective vehicle for 3M to advance these goals. As a result, today I am resigning from the Manufacturing Advisory Council. At 3M, we will continue to champion an environment that supports sustainability, diversity and inclusion. I am committed to building a company that improves lives in every corner of the world. Richard Trumka AFL-CIO President Aug. 15, 2017 Lee/Trumka: The AFL-CIO has unequivocally denounced the actions of bigoted domestic terrorists in Charlottesville and called on the President to do the same. We are aware of the decisions by other members of the President's Manufacturing Council, which has yet to hold any real meeting, and are assessing our role. While the AFL-CIO will remain a powerful voice for the freedoms of working people, there are real questions into the effectiveness of this council to deliver real policy that lifts working families. American companies hold an estimated every day. That's a lot of conference room hours. Meetings may be an inescapable aspect of work culture, but Amazon CEO has implemented a very strict rule of thumb to ensure that his schedule is only filled with meetings that are worth his time. In addition to convening with Amazon investors for just six hours a year and avoiding early morning meetings, Business Insider reports that the self-made billionaire has a "two pizza rule" that helps him to banish unnecessary gatherings from his schedule. While, sadly, the rule does not mandate that pizza be present at meetings, it does mean that Bezos won't call a meeting, or even go to a meeting, if two pizzas wouldn't feed the entire group. Research shows that fewer meetings can boost employee and organizational productivity, and many other leaders have methods like Bezos' for reigning in what they see as time-wasting gatherings. uses a similar strategy at his company, which he says allows his employees to stick to a strict 32-hour workweek schedule during the summer, and a 40-hour workweek during the rest of the year. "People are always surprised by that," he tells CNBC Make It, "and I tell them you can get plenty of stuff done in 32 and 40 hours if you cut out all the stuff that's taking up your time." watch now After President Donald Trump's incendiary comments last weekend about the violence in Charlottesville, the three female CEOs on his Strategic and Policy Forum helped get the ball rolling about appropriate responses. The question, as they saw it, was whether it was better to remain on the Trump forum, with the ability to influence the White House? Or did it make more sense to back away to show disdain for the president's seeming support of white nationalists? It was several days between Trump's initial remarks and when the full forum ultimately made a decision. By Tuesday the CEOs of Pepsi , IBM and GM Indra Nooyi, Ginni Rometty and Mary Barra, respectively were involved in a process that ultimately dissolved the high-profile panel of top chief executives and launched an embarrassing, public rebuke of Trump for his comments that seemed to defend and justify some of the actions taken over the weekend by a group of neo-Nazis and white nationalists. Shortly after the forum decided to disband Wednesday, and a separate council focused on manufacturing jobs. President Donald Trump, center, speaks while Mary Barra, chief executive officer of General Motors Co. (GM), from right, Stephen Schwarzman, co-founder and chief executive officer of Blackstone Group LP, Indra Nooyi, chairman and chief executive officer of PepsiCo Inc., and Ginni Rometty, president and chief executive officer of International Business Machine Corp. (IBM), listen during a Strategic and Policy Forum meeting in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 3, 2017. Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images Trump had started the firestorm with his comment Saturday that "many sides" were to blame for the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. One woman was killed and other marchers were injured when a member of the white nationalist group rammed them with his car. Pepsi CEO Nooyi joined the conference call with the two other CEOs and Boston Consulting Group CEO Rich Lesser to see what others thought, said a source from one of the companies that had been part of the forum. As the head of a consumer products company, she was particularly aware of the building public outcry. The White House committee, formed with much fanfare as a new partnership between business and government, was getting a lot of heat. The CEOs began to feel like they and their companies had become targets just because of their association with the White House. "If you were a customer-facing business, you definitely were feeling the heat," said a source familiar with the panel's deliberations. On Monday, CEO Kenneth Frazier stepped down from the president's manufacturing council. Trump quickly responded by criticizing Frazier and Merck on Twitter. But other CEOs also quit the manufacturing panel, including Intel CEO Brian Krzanich. Meanwhile, people took to social media to pressure Pepsi, and other companies to quit Trump's panels. Steve Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone, who was tasked by Trump to form the Strategic and Policy Forum, was still hoping to keep the panel together, sources said. The panel's mission was to work on ways to make American business more competitive, boost the economy and create more American jobs. Former General Electric CEO Jack Welch was also in favor of keeping the group together. Trump on Monday toned down his comments and took steps to smooth things over with strong remarks targeting groups such as the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis. At that point, the panel might have survived. "Things seemed to be cooling off after the Monday remarks," one source said. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon was on the fence, the source added. watch now But then Trump repeated his initial remarks in an off-the-cuff press conference Tuesday that was supposed to be about the very business of business his infrastructure plans. Trump's advisers were visibly shocked and so was the business community. "They were appalled by what has happened since Charlottesville and yesterday was the tripwire," said one member of the panel. Besides Trump's comments about who was to blame in Charlottesville, Trump also criticized Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon for speaking out about Trump's response. McMillon had told employees in a memo Monday that Trump "missed a critical opportunity to help bring the country together" with his comments. But the CEO chose to remain on the president's forum. Trump lashed out at McMillon on Tuesday and accused him of being "politicial." "There was also a real chill...when [Trump] was critical of Doug McMillon at Wal-Mart," said one source. Meanwhile, the four CEOs on the Tuesday evening conference wanted Schwarzman to hold a call, said the source from a company that had been part of the forum. Then in an email he sent just before 3 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Schwarzman, called on all of the group's members to convene via conference call at 11:30 a.m. In a call that went past noon, each panel member was called upon to speak, in alphabetical order. They talked about the events over the past few days, their condemnation of Trump's comments, and the concerns expressed by their employees, customers and the public. Barra said it was time to "sunset" the panel, a source said. Likewise, Dimon made an emotional case for ending the forum, according to a source. The JPMorgan CEO later said in a statement that he disagreed with Trump's reaction to the events in Charlottesville. "Racism, intolerance and violence are always wrong," he wrote to his employees. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said on the call that he would resign if the group didn't decide to dissolve itself. "I would urge that the forum disband itself and if it doesn't disband, I'm stepping down," he said, according to one source. In a later statement, Fink said he had been telling other forum CEOs whose companies are clients of BlackRock, as well as Schwarzman, during the previous 24 hours that he was ready to resign. "The thinking was it was important to do it as a group, as a panel, not as individuals because it would have more significant impact. It makes a central point that it's not going to go forward. It's done," said a source who was a member of the panel. The decision was made and the group awaited its statement both condemning the comments and announcing that it was dissolving itself. But then Trump fired off a tweet which said he was ending both the manufacturing council and the Strategy and Policy Forum, "rather than putting pressure on the business people" on the committees. The forum's statement later Wednesday added that the president, as well as the forum, decided to end the panel. One source said Schwarzman had been in contact with Trump. "It's a shame; it did some positive things. One of the most important [things] was to stop the currency war with China," said the source who was a member of the panel. But on Wednesday, there was no debate about whether the panel should continue. "There was such a firestorm. You don't know what's coming next or what he's going to say or do next," said the member. "It's striking when the president loses the confidence of America's CEOs." Andrew Ross Sorkin and Phil Lebeau contributed to this story. Correction and clarification: This story has also been updated to clarify the timeline of when CEOs discussed their concerns about Trump and corrects that Pepsico's CEO did not speak to other CEOs until Tuesday. The story has also been updated to reflect that Trump said Saturday that "many sides" were responsible for violence in Charlottesville. WATCH: One of Trump's top CEO councils disbands This weeks question was asked by a friend. QUESTION: What is the meaning of a life well-lived? ANSWER: If you asked a dozen people that question, you would probably get a dozen different answers. I suppose it would be someone who contributed to the general well-being of people and to our planet Earth. Someone who followed the Golden Rule and a person who did their best to follow the Ten Commandments. Lets look to the scientific community for one example. William Lawrence Bragg (1890-1971) was an Australian-born British scientist who used X-rays to discover how matter is put together. His father, William Henry Bragg, was a British-born scientist and mathematician. He graduated from Trinity College and won an appointment to a teaching post at the University of Adelaide in South Australia in 1885. In 1889, William Henry Bragg met and married a skilled water-color painter, Gwendolen Todd. They had three children over the years, the oldest being William Lawrence Bragg, born in 1890. When young William Lawrence was growing up, his father experimented with the newly discovered X-rays. The manner in which X-rays pass through a material can reveal its atomic structure. When young Bragg broke his arm in a tricycle accident, the father X-rayed his sons arm. This was some years before X-rays were routinely used in the medical profession The family moved back to England in 1908, and young Bragg entered Trinity College, graduating with high honors in 1911. All the while he worked with his father on X-rays striking materials. They were able to calculate the position of atoms in a crystal. World War I interrupted the work of both father and son. Young Bragg was made an officer of the Royal Horse Artillery. He was assigned the task of developing a method for locating German artillery emplacements. He and his team set up an array of extremely sensitive microphones placed several miles apart. Their system was capable of accurately measuring the different sound wave arrival times between the microphones. By math triangulation techniques, they were able to pinpoint enemy gun positions to within 50 to 100 feet. The sound ranging techniques made possible precise direct British artillery onto German emplacements. He was awarded the Military Cross and the Order of the British Empire. On Sept. 2, 1915, while engaged with German forces on the Western Front in France, William Lawrence Bragg received word that his brother was killed in the ill-fated Gallipoli Campaign. A few days later he received a message that both he and his father had been awarded the Nobel Prize. It was the first and only time in history that a father-son team won the Nobel Prize. After World War I, both Braggs returned to university teaching and research. In 1921, William Lawrence married Alice Hopkinson. They had four children. Alice Hopkinson was elected mayor of Cambridge and served as National Chairman of Marriage Guidance, among other roles. The elder Bragg died in 1942, and his son worked on sound ranging problems for the British Navy during World War II. After the war, William Lawrence Bragg ran the Cavendish Lab at Cambridge University and oversaw the work of Watson and Crick, who discovered the double-helix nature of DNA in 1953. William Lawrence earned every high science honor that can be bestowed on any scientist. In addition to his 1915 Nobel Prize, Bragg received both the Copley Medal and the Royal Medal of the Royal Society. William Lawrence Bragg is just one example of a life well-lived; dutiful son, who worked closely with his father, soldier who served his country in two world wars, married an accomplished person in her own right. They were parents of four successful children who made their parents proud. A recommended good read; William and Lawrence Bragg, Father and Son: The Most Extraordinary Collaboration in Science by John Jenkin Send questions and comments to: lscheckel@charter.net. Larry Scheckel is a retired Tomah High School physics teacher. Josh Brown believes strong investor confidence in the power of large companies and CEOs is outweighing the turmoil in the President Donald Trump administration. CNBC's Brian Sullivan asked the CEO of Ritholtz Wealth Management why the market isn't significantly reacting to the latest executive resignations from corporate advisory councils Wednesday. "Because multinationals are the new sovereigns Brian, that's why. We have trillion dollar companies that can raise hundreds of billions of dollars at will in the debt markets," Brown said on CNBC's "Power Lunch" Wednesday. "They've got boards of directors, CEOs who can function without somebody in Washington telling them what they need to do every five minutes." The White House and Republicans are still focused on passing a tax reform package despite tensions over the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady told CNBC on Wednesday. "I think there's room for all of America to work with this White House and Congress to do this because, while there are divisions in the country, this is about delivering tax relief to all Americans," the Texas congressman said on "Squawk Alley." Some Republican lawmakers acted swiftly to condemn white supremacists after President Donald Trump blamed "both sides" for the violent clash in Charlottesville. While many did not directly criticize the president, some Republican leaders were direct on Trump's remarks. Sen. John McCain tweeted: "There's no moral equivalency between racists & Americans standing up to defy hate& bigotry. The President of the United States should say so" The president's words also prompted several CEOs and executives to leave Trump's special councils. In regard to the president's comments, Brady said it is important for every leader, including Trump, to strongly condemn the KKK, white supremacists and neo-Nazis. On Tuesday, Brady told CNBC that Republicans on Capitol Hill and Trump will be able to revamp the U.S. tax code this year. Brady said Wednesday that he's learned "not to pick certain dates" but said, "2017 is our year to deliver." He said the members working on tax reform are meeting sometimes "twice daily." Summers had particularly hash words for Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon, who on Tuesday issued a statement criticizing Trump but saying he's staying on the president's economic council. There's always room for debate on policy positions, Summers said. "But this is traducing basic American traditions of justice, inclusion, and fairness." The former Clinton Treasury secretary and ex-Obama economic aide said on " Squawk on the Street " the controversy over President Donald Trump 's comments since Saturday's deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, is "unlike anything we've seen before." Any CEO who stays on any of the White House business advisory councils will face backlash because they'll be on the wrong side of history, Larry Summers told CNBC on Wednesday. "[McMillon] is not fit to be the CEO of Wal-Mart if his judgment is so bad as to suppose that being a member of this council is giving him some kind of effectiveness," Summers argued. "What he may be and what a number of CEOs are is scared; scared that if they leave, the president using the tools of government will retaliate." If Trump has created a culture of fear among American CEOs, "that is a particularly damning indictment far beyond any in Charlottesville of his presidency," Summers said. Wal-Mart declined to comment on Summers' remarks. On Monday, Merck CEO Ken Frazier resigned from the White House manufacturing council, igniting the debate about whether corporate leaders should leave Trump's advisory panels over the president's response to Charlottesville. Less than 24 hours later, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich and Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank followed suit. On Tuesday, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, union colleague Thea Lee, and the president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, Scott Paul, resigned as well. "I cannot understand why others have not followed Ken Frazier out the door. I cannot understand why they have not endorsed his courageous action," said Summers. "This is not a happy day for American business." Summers spoke before a member of Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum told CNBC the panel has agreed to disband. Also Wednesday, Campbell Soup chief Denise Morrison and 3M CEO Inge Thulin resigned from Trump's manufacturing council. TWEET 3M In addition to calling out corporate America, Summers also said Wednesday he's surprised no officials of Trump's administration had resigned. "There's a tradition in America of people of principle when they are sufficiently offended and disagree with their president on matters fundamental resign," he said. "I have been disappointed that there have been no resignations on principle by the political appointees of this administration." [Editor's note: Marcus Lemonis later wrote an apology, asking for forgiveness for his comments. Read it here.] Serial entrepreneur Marcus Lemonis had some choice words on Wednesday about those who may support President Donald Trump's response to the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. "There's no doubt that there is probably not many consumers in this country today that are in favor of what has been said in the last couple days and if they are, quite frankly, don't shop at my business," said Lemonis, who is CEO of Camping World and host of CNBC's "The Profit." In a chaotic Tuesday news conference, Trump appeared to equate torch-bearing white nationalists with the protesters who demonstrated against them. Trump's statements led to a wave of CEO resignations from his advisory councils and on Wednesday, Trump abruptly dissolved the councils. Trump's announcement came shortly after a member of the Strategic and Policy Forum told CNBC the group had decided to disband. Lemonis told "Power Lunch" he is "horrified" by what he's been hearing and seeing from this administration. He said it's important that CEOs speak for themselves as individuals on policy and also speak for their companies as it relates to policy that affects their businesses. However, they should be very careful, he said. "I'm concerned about certain CEOs dancing on the fence, fearing retaliation or fearing something. It's scary right now," Lemonis said. As for those who believe the economy is being driven by Trump, Lemonis called that notion "somewhat laughable." "There's good fundamentals that are happening with these companies," he said. CNBC's Jacob Pramuk contributed to this report. An auto worker assembles parts that will be welded by a robot for the Dodge Dart rear wheel house at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV's Warren Stamping Plant in Warren, Michigan. Industrial robotsand the anxiety that they're taking away jobscan be found throughout the U.S. But they're not spread out equally. The Brookings Institute examined 2015 data from the International Federation for Robotics to measure the penetration of industrial robots into American industries as well as U.S. metropolitan areas. And by industrial robots, Brookings means automatically controlled and reprogrammable machines that are capable of replacing human labor. Brookings makes some fascinating discoveries that help explain the level of distress and disillusionment in some metro areas. More from Fortune: Coach comeback continues, but it's fragile Dunkin' Donuts joins list of companies offering pumpkin-flavored productsin August Is moderate drinking good for your health? The science is confusing The biggest user isand by a large marginthe auto industry, which currently employs nearly half of the 233,305 industrial robots being used in the United States. That means the robots are concentrated in 10 Midwestern and Southern states, led by Michigan, where so much of the auto industry has set up factories. For example. Michigan, where General Motors and Ford , and the North American division of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles are based, accounts for nearly 28,000 robots, 12% of the nation's total, according to Brookings. The other largest concentrations are: Ohio with 20,400 robots, or 8.7% of the nation's total Indiana with 19,400, or 8.3% of the nation's total Meanwhile, the entire West accounts for just 13% of the nation's industrial robots, Brookings says. Dig down to the city level and the data reveals that Detroit not only has more than three times the number of installed robots compared to other metros, it's also seen some of the biggest explosions of growth. In 2010, there were 5,753 robots in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn area. By 2015, those numbers leapt to 15,115 industrial robots in place, or 8.5 per 1,000 workers. The upshot? There is a correlation between robot-laden metro areas and feelings of economic anxiety, particularly in such robot-exposed "red" states as Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania where the presidential election's outcome was determined, Brookings notes. Brookings says it's not suggesting robots determined the outcome of the 2016 election. But the think tank does make this point: difficult labor market transitions and anxiety brought on by industrial automation will be particularly noticeable in red-leaning states, where these robots are most concentrated. At 19, University of Virginia student Dylan Patel opened his first Orangetheory franchise. He soon opened two more and is set to open a Hand & Stone Spa in September. Driving to the grocery store one day in Richmond, Virginia, high school senior Dylan Patel spotted droves of people flocking toward an orange tent. Curious what the commotion was about, Patel pulled over and staked out in the parking lot, where he watched employees dressed in neon orange outfits distributing flyers and talking to prospective customers. Patel went home that night and Googled the company's name: Orangetheory Fitness. What he found was an innovative, high-intensity workout program "a fitness class that aims to be for interval training what SoulCycle is for Spin classes," according to GQ. But he found something else, too something he'd been contemplating for quite some time: an opportunity to launch his entrepreneurial career. In January 2016, while a freshman at the University of Virginia, he signed a contract with Orangetheory Fitness to open his own franchise, thanks to a generous loan from his parents and some bank loans, roughly equaling a half million dollar. The doors opened the following October, in Newport News, Virginia. But he didn't stop there. In addition to juggling a full course load at one of the best public universities in the country, the 21-year-old business and finance major now owns three Orangetheory locations throughout Virginia and invested an additional $500,000 into a second franchise, called Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa. The franchises are each in different stages of their life cycle, with the second Orangetheory opening in July and the third expected to launch this fall. The original Orangetheory, meanwhile, is pulling in slightly less than $1 million annually, revenue that Patel has used to finance his other ventures. Patel purchased his first Hand & Stone in May, and although the franchise just opened, the spa has recruited 100 clients in just two weeks. Twenty-one-year-old college student Dylan Patel purchased Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa in May, bringing his total to four franchises in just two years. Source: Dylan Patel The story of the young, aspiring billionaire building a company out of their garage or dorm room has become a modern-day archetype. Zuckerberg, Jobs, Gates the list goes on and on. But in an increasingly saturated business world, it can be difficult seemingly impossible to come up with both a novel and viable idea. But some creative and precocious millennial minds have discovered an alternative to traditional entrepreneurship: franchising. According to FRANdata, a market research firm that analyzes franchise performance and operations, 9 percent of all franchises are currently owned by millennials, and the trend is growing. Over the next 10 to 15 years, the majority of existing franchisees will be approaching retirement, while in that same timeline, more millennials will reach the capital threshold needed to invest in a franchise. A balancing act So how does a 21-year-old college student find the time to run four franchises and manage nearly 50 employees? Patel has been fortunate enough that each franchise has opened during summer vacation, meaning he gets at least a month to work out the initial kinks, he said. He also claimed that having reliable managers substantially eases his workload. Still, it can be difficult to balance schoolwork and ownership duties. "There are some days where I want to come home from school after two or three tests and just hang out, watch some Netflix," Patel said. "But sometimes that's not possible." watch now Patel tries to schedule most of his classes in the morning so he can spend the rest of the day taking care of business matters. He claims that he can get a lot done in the time between classes, often communicating with his managers and taking conference calls on the go. Thursday nights are dedicated to payroll, which Patel said is one of the most demanding responsibilities of being a franchise owner. As for his plans post-graduation, Patel wants to continue learning about the business world through hands-on experience, with the hope of one day embarking on a career in investment banking, private equity or real estate. But there will always be a place in his heart for franchising, which he highly encourages aspiring entrepreneurs to get involved in. "There are a lot of resources out there and a lot of people willing to help you," Patel said. "Before buying my first Orangetheory, I reached out to a couple local franchisees and they were so helpful. ... The best part about franchising is that each one has a unique backstory and established branding. You don't have to reinvent the wheel." A young biz model Patel is far from the only millennial to discover the perks of buying into a proven business model. "The millennial generation is known for its entrepreneurial spirit, so it's no surprise that many young entrepreneurs are turning to franchising as a way to grow their businesses," said David McKinnon, chairman of the NextGen in Franchising Committee, an arm of the International Franchise Association. "The franchise business model is a proven system that's been transforming and scaling young concepts for years, but millennials are just now realizing that it's not solely reserved for big, established brands." When the Perez sisters purchased the San Antonio Wing Zone, the location had been struggling to stay afloat. Now they are pulling in monthly sales of around $170,000. Source: Jessica and Andrea Perez A willingness to take risks seems to be a driving factor for millennial entrepreneurs. Take Andrea and Jessica Perez, for example, two San Antonio-based sisters who are the franchisees of the local Wing Zone, an Atlanta-based restaurant conceived as "an alternative to late-night pizza delivery." The 20-somethings originally sought to buy the restaurant as a way to bring their family together, since their father, an executive in the music industry, was often forced to be away on business for weeks at a time. The minimum liquid capital required to purchase a Wing Zone is $60,000, in addition to a $25,000 "franchise fee" and other miscellaneous costs. The way most franchisees get their funding is through loans, the sisters said, but by spending time developing a meticulous and convincing business plan, they were able to solicit a generous investment from their father. Today the sisters run Wing Zone like a well-oiled machine, with monthly sales of around $170,000, but it took some heavy lifting to get the business off the ground. "The first month, everything went wrong," Andrea said with a laugh. "The heater, A/C, fryer and the fridge all went out. It took $25,000 out of pocket just to keep the restaurant going." More from iCONIC: They're still in college but already thinking about YouTube as a full-time job Despite Amazon effect, here's how mom and pops are thriving on Main St. 10 influential business experts you should be following on Twitter Luckily, it's a family affair down in San Antonio. Though they have a few full-time employees, the sisters get a lot of help from their mom, aunt, cousins and Jessica's husband, who all contribute where they can. It can sometimes be difficult to manage employees who are older than them, the sisters admit, recalling one especially unnerving experience with a rambunctious delivery driver. But that's why they're thankful to have such a great support system. The value of next-gen franchisees Prior to the Perez sisters purchasing the San Antonio Wing Zone, the location had been struggling to stay afloat, with the previous owner having to pay employees out of pocket toward the end. Wing Zone corporate was hesitant to hand the embattled franchise over to "a couple of kids" with no experience. Jessica was the manager at a local sushi place, but that was nothing like owning a restaurant, they said. So, along with their father, the Perez sisters flew to Atlanta to meet and persuade the team. For a week they took classes at Wing Zone University, an immersive program that taught the girls how to perform duties at every level of the restaurant from system operator to manager to delivery driver. At the end of the week, they were tested, then sent back to San Antonio for a trial period. It was only then, after Andrea and Jessica proved they were fully capable of running the place, that Wing Zone agreed to sell them the restaurant. The franchise business model is a proven system that's been transforming and scaling young concepts for years, but millennials are just now realizing that it's not solely reserved for big, established brands. David McKinnon chairman of the NextGen in Franchising Committee Much of the buzz leading up to Wednesday's kickoff has centered around so-called "rules of origin," which ensure that products from non-NAFTA countries don't receive the same benefits as goods produced by NAFTA members. While the two U.S. trading partners have said they welcome the negotiations, the outcomes are far from clear. The Trump administration's unshakable focus on reducing America's trade deficits, and the president's repeated threats to dissolve the deal altogether, could exacerbate the already-strained relationship among the three nations. Negotiators from the U.S., Canada and Mexico convene this week to begin hashing out changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement. I think there's been some confusion among people in the Trump administration on what exactly [rules of origin] are. Adjusting rules of origin holds particular significance for the auto industry. Currently, 62.5 percent of a vehicle's content must be made within the NAFTA region to avoid tariffs a higher proportion than any other trade deal, according to Mitch Bainwol , president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. Among the administration's goals is to "update and strengthen the rules of origin, as necessary, to ensure that the benefits of NAFTA go to products genuinely made in the United States and North America." Without rules of origin, non-member countries can skirt around tariffs and other trade barriers by exporting goods through the lowest-tariff member country and into the other member nations. To avoid this form of arbitrage, origin rules establish that at least a fraction of goods covered by a free trade agreement have to be produced within the NAFTA region. Chrystia Freeland, Canada's minister of foreign affairs, center, talks to Bob Lighthizer, U.S. trade representative, next to Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, secretary of economy for Mexico, right, after ope Some experts have questioned the language of the administration's objective. "I don't know what they mean by 'strengthen.' And I don't know why it's the Trump administration," said Richard Cooper, economics professor at Harvard University. He explained that U.S. tariffs on autos, at 2.5 percent, are the lowest of the three NAFTA members. The distinction made between "the United States and North America" also raised concerns about rules of origin negotiations. "I think there's been some confusion among people in the Trump administration on what exactly they are," said Caroline Freund, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. "They seem to assume that they're U.S. content requirements, which they're not. They're regional content requirements," Freund said. "It's difficult to imagine how increasing rules of origin would lead to more U.S. content in trade with our NAFTA partners." Source: United States Trade Representative Pursuing stronger rules of origin, either as a way to attack the trade deficit or to protect American producers, could raise costs, Freund said. If American companies are buying auto parts and components from other countries, it's safe to assume that an artificial barrier to trade would increase the costs of those parts. And despite the Trump administration's words and actions combating burdensome regulations, rules of origin are themselves a form of business regulation and a complex one at that. Different product classes adhere to different rules of origin, and often-tortuous supply chains can multiply the effects of tariffs and make products difficult to keep track of. A request to the U.S. Trade Representative's office for comment wasn't immediately returned. The first round of negotiations, set to begin on Wednesday, will likely focus on "Chapter 19" rules for settling disputes between NAFTA members. Canada matched the Trump administration's threats on Monday, suggesting it could walk away from the whole trade agreement if the U.S. tries to remove the rules. A U.S. Trade Representative official said "we are actually going to be quite ambitious in this first round," Reuters reported. Indeed, a U.S. renegotiation summary released in July contains well over 100 proposals for changing the 23-year-old trade deal. The large volume of proposals, however, belies uncertainty at the heart of the discussions. During the 2016 presidential campaign, President Donald Trump repeatedly threatened to pull the U.S. out of NAFTA. In April, reports surfaced that the president was considering an executive order that would begin withdrawing the U.S. from the trade deal entirely. After receiving calls from Canada and Mexico and public statements against the plan from U.S. politicians, including at least five prominent Republicans, Trump reconsidered. "I received calls from the President of Mexico and the Prime Minister of Canada asking to renegotiate NAFTA rather than terminate. I agreed," he tweeted at the time, "subject to the fact that if we do not reach a fair deal for all, we will then terminate NAFTA. Relationships are good-deal very possible!" Trump tweet 1 Trump tweet 2 But the "fair deal for all" appears to require taking measures to lower the U.S. trade deficit with Canada and Mexico. The first of the 117 objectives listed in the renegotiation summary is to "improve the U.S. trade balance and reduce the trade deficit with the NAFTA countries." Negotiating down Canada and Mexico's trade surpluses with the U.S. could be damaging to NAFTA, Harvard's Cooper said, because it will require tense negotiations about the amounts of different goods that the U.S. buys from those nations. "If the negotiators sit down with that as a primary objective," Cooper said, "this is going to be a very difficult negotiation." watch now HMD Global, the start-up that licenses Nokia's brand, launched a flagship smartphone on Wednesday, as it looks to establish itself as a major mobile player using the iconic brand. The 599 euro ($702) Nokia 8 is going on sale in early September, potentially ahead of Apple's new iPhones which are set to be unveiled next month. Nokia is also stealing a march on Samsung which is gearing up to reveal the Galaxy Note 8 smartphone next month. HMD's Nokia 8 has the following key specs: 5.3-inch display. A camera that contains sensors made by Zeiss. Dual camera mode that allows users to take pictures and videos using the front and back camera at the same time. HMD is calling this "bothie" mode rather than "selfie". Ozo Audio which is three microphones to capture 360 degree sound. Ozo is the name of Nokia's expensive virtual reality camera used by Hollywood film studios. HMD has used the audio technology in their phone. Four colors: matte silver, polished blue, matte blue, polished copper The Nokia 8 will run Google's latest mobile operating system called Android O. HMD said that the phone will have pure Android, meaning that the company has not modified the software in any way, like many manufacturers do. "We think with the Nokia brand and the combination of industry leading performance as well as immersive and innovative consumer experience, we will be immediately able to make a mark in the high end segment," Florian Seiche, acting chief executive of HMD Global, told CNBC in an interview ahead of the launch. watch now HMD was created last year by ex-Nokia execs who acquired the intellectual property required to make phones from Nokia. This included branding and technology. It has partnered with Foxconn to manufacture the devices. In the last eight months, the company has released eight devices five feature phones, and three smartphones. The Nokia 8 will be the ninth device. The three smartphones the Nokia 3, Nokia 5 and Nokia 6 are all mid range handsets. But the Nokia 8 is seen as crucial if HMD is going to make a mark on the global smartphone market. HMD Global's Nokia 8 allows users to take pictures and video with both the back and front camera at the same time. HMD Global "HMD Global needs a successful Nokia-brand flagship smartphone to re-establish the Nokia brand in the smartphone market, because the Nokia brand was always viewed as innovative and high quality. It's almost impossible to meet the expectations of the Nokia name offering only a selection of feature phones and low to mid-range smartphone models," Ian Fogg, head of mobile at IHS, told CNBC by email. Alternative to Apple, Samsung? The Android smartphone market has become incredibly competitive not only from the likes of Samsung, but also Chinese players like Huawei and Oppo stepping up their game. HMD will be hoping to differentiate itself through some of its unique features, especially as it launches ahead of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and next generation iPhones. "It is very clear that HMD Global needs to position Nokia branded devices as an alternative option for consumers who don't want the expense of a top of the line iPhone or Samsung Galaxy device," Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight, told CNBC by email. "Nokia remains a widely recognized mobile phone brand and HMD needs to capitalize on that as quickly as possible. The Nokia 8 is another important milestone as the company adds breadth to its portfolio of devices in an effort to broaden its appeal to consumers." watch now The company said its initial smartphones are performing well. In India, the Nokia 6 device received over 1 million registrations on Amazon of people interested in the handset. Seiche said HMD is confident it can meet the demand for its phones, despite being a young company. "We have significantly ramped up our supply, however, we are still catching up with the demand but we feel that is a positive thing as it helps to sustain the momentum," Seiche told CNBC. No US or China launch HMD did not release the specific markets it would be releasing the Nokia 8 in yet, but told CNBC that it would launch in countries which are accustomed to higher average selling prices of phones. These include core western European markets, areas of the Middle East, and Asia. But Seiche told CNBC it would not launch in the U.S. or China. "The U.S. requires a separate strategy, even a separate portfolio and tech investment so we are not in a rush today around that because we are seeing such strong demand across the globe," Seiche said. HMD has already launched the Nokia 6 in China, selling through e-commerce giant JD.com. Seiche said reception to the device was "beyond our expectation." While the new Nokia 8 will not launch in China, the company said it is crafting a specific strategy around the world's biggest smartphone market, and will launch specific devices tailored to consumers there. "China is a big focus market and we will make announcements on those dedicated products there in the future," Seiche told CNBC. WATCH: iPhone 8 launch will happen in September, after all President Ronald Reagan in 1982. Getty Images Thirty-one years ago today, Congress agreed on a tax-reform package. A bipartisan group of Republicans and Democrats lowered individual and corporate tax rates, closed loopholes and shifted some of the burden to corporations. Thirty-one years later, no one has repeated that effort. President Donald Trump has pledged to change that. Trump has promised to lower corporate and individual tax rates. He has not revealed how he plans to offset those cuts. Congressional Republicans have said they will work with Trump. House Ways and Means committee chairman Kevin Brady and other committee members are at the Reagan Ranch on Wednesday to show their commitment to the cause. watch now Not everyone is convinced the results will match the rhetoric. "Tax reform would be great, but it's hard to do," said Howard Gleckman, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute. "Certainly, anybody who thinks they can do broad-based tax reform in a few months is smoking an illegal substance." Here's what happened 31 years ago. Reagan signs bipartisan tax reform into law Reagan spearheaded a tax cut in 1981. Three years later, he announced in his State of the Union that he had directed his treasury secretary to develop a plan for a comprehensive tax reform. Reagan made reform a central component of his re-election campaign that year. He won 49 states. Democrats didn't really have a choice but to work with Reagan, said Steven Billet, director of the legislative affairs program at the George Washington University graduate school of political management. It was easier to find common ground because most lawmakers were moderates, Billet said. Dan Rostenkowski, a Democrat, sponsored the bill. "Some of the most liberal names in the Senate voted for it, like Ted Kennedy," said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, president of the American Action Forum. "You have to ask yourself, would that happen in today's environment? No, because they don't fear Donald Trump like they did Ronald Reagan." Even with bipartisan support, negotiations nearly collapsed multiple times in 1986. But Reagan was there to rally support in critical moments, Gleckman said. Reagan signed the bipartisan legislation into law more than 10 months after it was introduced. The plan lowered individual and corporate tax rates. It closed loopholes and shifted some of the burden to corporations to offset the lost revenue, neither of which appears to be likely now. Trump promises tax reform in polarized environment Trump has said he wants to slash the corporate tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent and simplify the tax code. To truly reform taxes rather than to simply cut them, lawmakers must offset lost revenue with additional revenue from another source. There are less obvious loopholes this time, making it a politically riskier tactic, Gleckman said. Experts say tapping business is almost certainly off the table. "They're not going to screw the corporate community this time," said Chris Edwards, director of tax policy studies at the Cato Institute. "Businesses are unified, and they're not going to be the cash cow that gets milked to cut taxes." Trump is pushing tax reform in a polarized, partisan environment. Republicans could theoretically pass tax reform without Democrats, because they control the White House and Congress. However, the collapse of their health-care plan last month revealed the party is splintered and may not be able to unite behind a reform plan. Trump has already rejected House Speaker Paul Ryan's border-adjustment tax on imported goods. Ryan abandoned the plan last month. Trump will enter tax-reform negotiations after a contentious summer. He has publicly attacked Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. His support among lawmakers appears to be eroding amid his comments about white nationalists. "You gotta wonder whether Donald Trump at 36 percent approval ... would be able to pull members of his party through the keyhole here (like Reagan did) and get them to vote the right way in this whole process," Billet said. "It's not clear we have that kind of a dynamic in place." WATCH: Do Americans even care about tax reform? President Donald Trump's defiant remarks about a deadly white nationalist rally left some notable Republicans backing away from him Wednesday and others calling him out more bluntly. On Tuesday, Trump again blamed "both sides" for the events leading to a suspected white nationalist allegedly ramming his car into counterprotesters, killing one woman and wounding 19 others in Charlottesville, Virginia. "Not all" of the people carrying torches and chanting at the white nationalist rally were bad, Trump contended, "and the press has treated them absolutely unfairly." His comments overshadowed a stronger condemnation of white supremacists and hate groups he made on Monday. Even those remarks came only after he faced enormous bipartisan pressure for blaming violence "on many sides" after Saturday's attack. Top GOP lawmakers either called out Trump outright or condemned his apparent equivalence between white nationalists and the counterprotesters. Some political observers suggested it may prove to be a turning point in Republicans' relationship with Trump. Still, most of the party's national figures have not publicly pulled their support for him, despite previous incidents, including the release of a tape in which he appears to boast about sexual assault, his firing of former FBI Director James Comey and unfounded claims that his predecessor wiretapped him, that some suspected would cause serious political damage to Trump. Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush both of whom said they did not vote for Trump issued a rare joint statement Wednesday condemning racism. They did not mention the president by name. "America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms," the Bushes said. "As we pray for Charlottesville, we are reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that city's most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence: we are all created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights. We know these truths to be everlasting because we have seen the decency and greatness of our country." The top Senate and House Republicans condemned white supremacy following Trump's remarks also without naming the president. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky made an apparent reference to the president's contention that not all the people at the rally were bad. "We can have no tolerance for an ideology of racial hatred. There are no good neo-nazis, and those who espouse their views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms," he said in a statement Wednesday. House Speaker Paul Ryan said in his statement Tuesday: "There can be no moral ambiguity" about white supremacy. Several GOP lawmakers more pointedly mentioned the president in their statements. "There's no moral equivalency between racists & Americans standing up to defy hate& bigotry. The President of the United States should say so," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., wrote in a tweet Tuesday. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., on Wednesday said "President Trump took a step backward by again suggesting there is moral equivalency between the white supremacist neo-Nazis and KKK members and the people like Ms. Heyer," the woman killed in Charlottesville. "Mr. President, you can't allow white supremacists to share only part of blame," Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., wrote on Twitter. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., on Tuesday said "no one especially the President of the United States should ever tolerate" white supremacy and bigotry. While the search for employees to fill health care positions at Tomah Memorial Hospital continues to be a challenge, officials are looking at ways to help potential employees advance their career while filling open jobs. Weve had to step back and take a look at what we can do to fill the positions that we have, said hospital human resources director Brenda Reinert. For the past couple of years the same positions have been hard to fill. Those positions continue to be more difficult to fill and include nurse practitioners, physician assistants and physical therapists. Registered nurses have now joined that list. Reinert said the hospital has been successful in filling some patient care positions by taking a grow your own attitude. Its a program where we look at bringing nursing assistants on board when they are first accepted into nursing school, Reinert said. She said the hospital works with those students providing flexible work schedules and educational funds that can be used to offset school loans. While flexibility and educational assistance are recruitment tools we have to attract applicants, our culture and our education and growth opportunities are the things we offer that retain employees, she said. Reinert said the natural progression would include having a certified nursing assistant or CNA work at TMH and while moving along with their education, progress into positions like nurse tech, graduate nurse and ultimately registered nurse. I think part of our success in recruitment is that we have this grow-your-own program, said Reinert. She added that supporting education and advancement happens on other levels too. Department directors and other staff serve as adjunct professors at a local college and regularly take on students during clinical rotations. She explained that this gives Tomah Memorial the opportunity to have employment conversations early in the students career. Tomah Memorial employs approximately 355. State hospital officials report that recruiting to rural areas can pose unique challenges. The Wisconsin Hospital Association is a strong supporter of the Rural Wisconsin Initiative, a legislative package that provides matching grant funding for the training of advanced practice clinicians and allied health professionals in rural Wisconsin hospitals. The Rural Wisconsin Initiative bolsters our states health care infrastructure by ensuring we have a workforce in place to care for our residents by creating in-state opportunities for health care professionals to complete their education and training, said WHA president/CEO Eric Borgerding. We want to do everything we can to ensure we have the workforce necessary to deliver high-quality, high-value care in all of our communities. Officials say thousands of health-related jobs are posted on Wisconsins Job Center website and the WHA Job Bulletin. Hospitals and health systems have a variety of positions, from entry level that require a high school or limited technical school training, to those that require an advanced degree, said WHA vice president, workforce and clinical practice Ann Zenk, RN BSN. No matter where you start, there is a pathway to a higher-paying, challenging career in our hospitals. Health care occupations are among the fastest growing in the U.S., and positions are available; the door will be open to all who wish to enter the health care field. Wisconsin hospitals employ more than 100,000 people, making them one of the states largest industries. GOP candidate for U.S. Senate Roy Moore, holding an article about Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speaks during the U.S. Senate candidate forum held by the Shelby County Republican Party in Pelham, Ala., on Friday, Aug. 4, 2017. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell narrowly escaped humiliation at the hands of Alabama's voters here on Tuesday, with his preferred candidate in a contested Senate primary only advancing to a runoff after a late assist from President Donald Trump. That victory could be short-lived. Hard-right conservative Judge Roy Moore looked likely to coast to a first-place finish in what will turn out to be the first round of voting, with McConnell's favored candidate incumbent Sen. Luther Strange appearing set to come in second, according to Decision Desk projections. The run-off election will be held in September. Rep. Mo Brooks, a Tea Party darling, looks likely to come in third and miss the cut. More from Vox: The huge problem with comparing Lee and Davis to Washington and Jefferson National revulsion over the Charlottesville march shows why we shouldn't ban hate speech GOP lawmakers react to Trump: "very fine people" don't participate in rallies with racist chants McConnell's leadership team threw its weight and millions of dollars behind Strange, who was appointed to the seat earlier this year and is widely viewed as an establishment ally more likely to support McConnell's agenda. But with Strange sagging in the polls, Trump surprised political observers last week and came to McConnell's aid giving Strange his "complete and total endorsement"and recording robocalls on the Alabama senator's behalf. That decision came even as the president was making his displeasure with McConnell widely known. It appears to have been enough to get Strange to the second round, but not nearly enough to top the first round of voting. Moore, a controversial figure who rose to national prominence refusing to take down a monument of the Ten Commandments at his courthouse, will enter the run-off as the favorite. Attorney General Jeff Sessions slammed Chicago and other sanctuary cities in a speech in Miami on Wednesday. Sessions suggested politicians in Chicago have prioritized politics over safety. He read aloud murder and shooting statistics for Chicago, a city that has been plagued by gun violence. He compared them with statistics in Miami, a city he praised for revoking its sanctuary city designation. "Respect for the rule of law has broken down" in the city, he said. "In Chicago, I suggest the so-called sanctuary policies are one sad example of that." Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel struck back. In a statement, he said the Trump administration could "not have picked a worse time to resume their attack" on immigrants. President Donald Trump has been criticized this week for comments he made about a deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on the weekend. "Chicago will continue to stand up proudly as a welcoming city, and we will not cave to the Trump administration's pressure because they are wrong morally, wrong factually and wrong legally," Emanuel said. Emanuel's administration sued Sessions' Justice Department earlier this month in response to its plan to cut federal funds from sanctuary cities. San Francisco and California have both filed similar complaints. The U.S. Conference of Mayors will file an amicus brief in support of Chicago's lawsuit and will invite mayors across the country to do the same, CEO Tom Cochran said in a statement Wednesday. "The U.S. Conference of Mayors stands with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and deplores the attacks which the Attorney General leveled against him today and on previous days," Cochran said in a statement. "An assault on one mayor is an assault on all mayors." Each of our presidents has faced difficult events at home and each of them rose to the challenge of helping the nation understand the context around such tragedies. They helped us find healing and hope after innocent people lost their lives. Their first instincts were to unite, pray, and offer words of encouragement to the victims, the families, and the rest of us just watching from the sidelines, trying to make sense of it all. President Reagan didn't point fingers at the NASA engineers when the Challenger space shuttle exploded in flight. President Clinton didn't attack his political enemies when Timothy McVeigh's bomb blew up an Oklahoma City federal building. But, on Tuesday, Donald Trump managed to create more division, more anger and cast blame on secondary players. Over the course of Trump's news conference, which was supposed to be about infrastructure, he 1) said there were bad people on "both sides," 2) compared counter protesters to activists chanting racial epithets, 3) equated hateful racists to anyone who disagreed with them, 4) suggested the events were tied to statues coming down, failing to fully recognize the deep seeded hate expressed by the white supremacists and, 5) he conflated the events of the Civil War to the Revolutionary War. He even debated a journalist on what "alt-right" means. To be fair, the president did, on several occasions, denounce white supremacy, neo-Nazism, and he said, "There is no place for hate in America." His very first statement, in the form of a tweet, on Saturday morning, said, "We ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Lets come together as one!" He should have just stopped there. But, he didn't. It looks like options traders are trying to get in on Alibaba ahead of the company's Thursday morning earnings report. On Wednesday, more than two call options traded for every put option. Since call options gain value as a stock rises, while put options gain value as a stock falls, this could be seen as a sign that a high number of bullish bets are being placed. In fact, out of the 20 most popular call or put options on any stock, two were Alibaba calls specifically, the calls expiring on Aug. 18, with call prices of $160 and $165. Since Alibaba is currently trading at $159, and those calls expire Friday, traders buying these specific options are betting rather directly that the stock will rise on earnings. This sort of action has not been relegated to Wednesday. Stacey Gilbert, head of derivative strategy at Susquehanna, noted Tuesday on CNBC's "Power Lunch" that the stock's options have been "incredibly popular" and that most investors appear bullish. "There's aren't a lot of investors suggesting that they're concerned about a pullback," Gilbert said. "They like owning these options that have this embedded protection, but they want to have that upside exposure." By "embedded protection," Gilbert means that those buying calls are not exposed to any losses the stock might see on earnings. A call simply grants its owner the right to buy a stock for a given price within a given time frame, not the obligation to do so. To be sure, not every call trade is initiated by a bull. On Wednesday, many of the bigger trades in Alibaba appeared to pair the purchase of stock with the sale of an upside call. This structure, known as a "buy-write," offers a touch of extra income which can protect against downside, but in exchange for that, caps an investor's potential gains. More generally, options prices are currently implying an expected move for the stock of 6 percent higher or lower, Gilbert said. The Chinese online commerce giant is expected to report earnings of 93 cents per share on $7.1 billion of revenue, according to FactSet's compilation of analyst estimates. President Donald Trump should take a page out of Bill Clinton's crisis management playbook, former Clinton White House communications director Don Baer told CNBC on Wednesday. "One of the things that President Clinton was really intense about and very good about was keeping his White House focused on the policies and the work of the American people even during the impeachment process," Baer said on "Power Lunch." "The American people never stopped believing that Bill Clinton got up every day going to work to try to help move forward an agenda that was helping them," he added. On Dec. 19, 1998, Clinton was impeached by the House on charges of lying under oath about the Monica Lewinsky affair. Clinton was later acquitted by the Senate. Baer, who had stopped working for Clinton during most of the impeachment period, said Clinton expressed remorse along the way and apologized to the nation. Although it's a different crisis, Baer said Trump should speak to the American people about the disbanding of two key business advisory panels. If he hopes to "bring them back around," Trump should also apologize to business leaders for putting them in a high-pressure position, Baer said. Trump abruptly dissolved two corporate advisory councils Wednesday after several business leaders resigned this week over his response to the deadly white supremacist rally over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. At a heated news conference Tuesday, Trump doubled down on his initial response, blaming "both sides." Shortly after some Republicans and CEOs distanced themselves from Trump. Trump must stop the "self-inflicted wounds" in his administration, Baer said, calling the CEO fallout a "Titanic rupture" between the White House and corporate America. A second person has died and five others were injured Saturday when a 32-foot boat slammed into a navigational marker on the Mississippi River, in the main navigation channel, in the town of Bergen, Vernon County, south of Brownsville, Minnesota. The 10-passenger pleasure craft was traveling south about 6 p.m. when it struck the day marker across from Wildcat Campground and boat landing. Authorities reported the boats stern was submerged and the bow went vertical. A number of other boaters were nearby and immediately began attempts to retrieve and rescue the victims none of whom were wearing personal-flotation devices, authorities said. Diana Lynn Klankowski, 56, of Spring Grove, Minnesota, was transported to shore by a private craft and pronounced dead at 6:34 p.m. Saturday, according to a joint release by Sheriff John B. Spears of Vernon County, and Sheriff Mark Inglett of Houston County, Minnesota. Five others were pulled out of the water immediately after the accident, but a seventh person Kevin Lee Hanson, 47, of Mabel could not be found. After nearly a day of search efforts, Hansons body was recovered at 4:27 p.m. Sunday. He was pronounced dead by the Vernon County coroners office. An autopsy is scheduled for Monday (today) in Madison. Authorities identified the injured as: Robert Alf Klankowski, 52, of Spring Grove was taken to Gundersen. Gerald Wayne Ladsten, 57, Spring Grove was taken to Gundersen and released. Tracy Lynn Peterson, 40, of Spring Grove was taken to Gundersen. Two others were not yet identified Sunday evening a woman who was transported to the nearest helicopter landing zone by Caledonia Ambulance and flown to Gundersen Health System by Med-Link Air, and a man who was taken to Gundersen by Sparta Ambulance. Authorities said the required number of personal-flotation devices were on board at the time of the accident, but none was being used. More than two dozen local, state and federal law-enforcement agencies took part in the recovery and investigation. The crash remains under investigation by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Vernon County Sheriffs Office and the Vernon County Coroners Office. Authorities said the required number of personal-flotation devices were on board at the time of the accident, but none was being used. Update: The Vernon County Sheriff's Office released the names of the two remaining passengers. Sonya Ann Burnikel, 47, Spring Grove, Minnesota; as of Aug. 16, Burnikel remains at Gundersen Health System. Wynn Dean Ristau, 41, Preston, Minnesota; Restau was treated and released from Gundersen Health System. President Donald Trump's bid to open Sydney's first casino 30 years ago was thwarted after regulators expressed concern over his alleged "mafia connections", it was revealed on Wednesday. Australia's New South Wales (NSW) police board recommended against approving an offer from the former New York businessman and a local developer, according to a report from The Australian, because it would have been "dangerous". The now U.S. president, in partnership with the Queensland-based Kern Corporation, was one of four groups bidding for the lucrative Darling Harbour project in Sydney. However, the NSW government rejected the pair's proposal on 5 May 1987, along with two other bidders. At the time Trump owned two casinos in Atlantic City Trump Plaza and Trump's Castle and was poised to open a third with the Trump Taj Mahal. President Donald Trump makes a statement on the violence this past weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia at the White House on August 14, 2017 in Washington, DC. Getty Images While President Trump was engaged in an uncomfortable dance around condemning white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend, North Korea quietly walked back a threat to launch missiles in the direction of American bases on Guam. That's no coincidence. Experts think this deescalation what analyst Robert Carlin calls "a decisive break in the action" happened in part because the president's focus has been on Charlottesville since Friday night. "The media (and the president) was distracted over the weekend, which gave some breathing space for the situation," Jenny Town, the assistant director of the US-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins, tells me. More from Vox: The huge problem with comparing Lee and Davis to Washington and Jefferson National revulsion over the Charlottesville march shows why we shouldn't ban hate speech GOP lawmakers react to Trump: "very fine people" don't participate in rallies with racist chants That's because Trump's own statements such as his vow to respond to threats from Pyongyang with "fire and fury like the world has never seen" were partly to blame for the increased tensions between the two countries. But as soon as the Charlottesville story broke, Trump stopped talking about North Korea. And sure enough, things calmed down almost immediately. This doesn't mean the North Korea crisis is over US-South Korea military exercises, scheduled to begin August 21, have the potential to reignite the conflict, as North Korea sees them as little more than a dress rehearsal for an invasion. But it does mean, amazingly enough, that a US domestic crisis has made a war with North Korea marginally less likely merely by taking away the president's attention. "The lack of new Trump salvos at the North does lower the risk of miscalculation," says Laura Rosenberger, who was the National Security Council director for Korea and China in the Obama administration. "But the long-term strategic threat is still the same, and getting more serious by the day," she adds. "And that's why having a coordinated policy not driven by Trump's statements and Twitter feed is so critical." How the North Korea escalation cycle worked The US-North Korea tensions were driven by a vicious cycle with North Korea, Trump, and the media each playing key roles in sustaining it. The crisis began with a North Korean missile test at the end of July. For the first time, Pyongyang managed to successfully test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with enough range to theoretically hit New York or Washington with a nuclear bomb. The US responded, as it often does, with a show of strength flying B-1B bombers over South Korea to signal its commitment to defending the South. About a week later, on August 7, the North issued its response: a threat to nuke the United States if American forces struck North Korea. "Should the US pounce upon the DPRK with military force at last, the DPRK is ready to teach the US a severe lesson with its strategic nuclear force," North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said, using an acronym for North Korea's full formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. This kind of aggressive rhetoric is pretty standard for North Korea. Issuing threats to get the West's attention and signal strength has been Pyongyang's approach for years; it did not indicate any major change in North Korea's policy toward the United States. When things really got scary, though, is when President Trump responded. During a public appearance on August 8, he warned that "North Korea had best not make any threats against the United States" or "they will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen." While threats like this are normal coming from Pyongyang, they are not how the United States usually talks to North Korea. Trump's belligerent statement raised the risk of the conflict by sending a signal to the North that its fairly normal behavior could be met with an abnormal American response potentially including military force. "His words could ... lead Pyongyang to miscalculate or believe it needs to act preemptively if it believes a US attack is imminent," Rosenberger told me at the time. "Those consequences could be catastrophic." The North, ever afraid of looking vulnerable to American intimidation, responded immediately with a threat to fire missiles near Guam. The hostility had reached a point where both sides were openly threatening military conflict. Here's where the media comes in. In a situation like this, reporters understandably ask the president how he's thinking about the crisis. With a normal president, you'd get a normal response. But Trump is so instinctively blustery that he won't back down from even his most irresponsible rhetoric. When asked whether his "fire and fury" statement was too tough, on August 10, he responded by amping up the heat. "Maybe it wasn't tough enough," he said. "[North Korea] should be nervous. Things will happen to them like they never thought possible." This sent an even more belligerent signal to the North and set off even more media frenzy. As rising North Korea tensions dominated the news, the president an avid cable news consumer continued to weigh in, sending off threatening (and false) tweets. @realdonaldtrump: Military solutions are now fully in place,locked and loaded,should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path! It was a dangerous cycle: North Korea, Trump, and breathless media coverage all egged each other on, creating a situation where each side believed the risk of war though still low was growing. "I said several times [last week] the risk of war had been minute; now it was small. But we don't expect the US president to be the one raising it," explains Mira Rapp-Hooper, a Senior Fellow at Yale Law School's China Center. Charlottesville short-circuited the cycle watch now President Donald Trump attacked again on Wednesday, saying the e-commerce giant is responsible for While 140 characters can't capture the nuance of Amazon's complex tax situation, Trump's claims aren't entirely baseless and could potentially gain support from a number of states. Amazon currently collects sales tax in every state where it's required for the products the company actually sells. But more than half of items purchased on Amazon come from third-party merchants, who use various parts of Amazon's storage, payments and logistics systems and generally aren't required to collect sales tax. That tax-free zone gives Amazon sellers a significant edge over physical retailers, who are already struggling to stay afloat. "It is an unfair advantage that's killing retailers, especially small businesses and specialty retailers," said Paul Rafelson, a state and local tax attorney and adjunct law professor at Pace University in New York. Online merchants don't have to collect sales tax if they don't have a physical presence in a particular state. It gets tricky for sellers on Amazon's marketplace. For businesses using Amazon's warehouses and delivery network, the sales tax requirement could get triggered if their products are stored in an Amazon facility in certain states. Some states are now arguing that Amazon should be responsible for collecting tax on behalf of its third-party sellers because the company controls a huge part of the sales process, including payment processing and customer support. As on Tuesday, South Carolina recently filed a complaint alleging $12.5 million in unpaid taxes for the first three months of 2016. Washington and Minnesota have already passed laws to tax marketplace sales. "Everyone in retail agrees somebody should be collecting the tax," Rafelson said. "The question is: Is it Amazon's or the third-party sellers' responsibility?" Retailers have been getting hammered by a series of stores closures and job losses. Big-box stores like Macy's and Sears have shut down hundreds of stores, while chains like Payless and RadioShack have filed for bankruptcy this year. watch now Meanwhile, Amazon has grown to become one of the world's most valuable companies and is pledging to hire 100,000 workers over the next 18 months. Trump's battle with Amazon started on the campaign trail. As the Republican nominee, Trump lashed out repeatedly at Amazon's chairman and CEO, Jeff Bezos, claiming that he was somehow using a tax shelter at the company to prop up The Washington Post, which Bezos owns. The Washington Post serves as a frequent whipping boy for Trump and his Twitter attacks on "fake news." In July, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin hinted that the administration is taking a look at Amazon's tax status. "So this is an issue that we've been looking at very carefully within the administration, and we expect to come out with a position shortly," Mnuchin told Congress. "I am encouraged that Amazon is now charging tax, I believe, on their own sales but not the marketplace. I'm not sure I understand the consistency on that, but I respect the states' ability that there's an awful lot of money that's not being collected." WATCH: Amazon's been a hot topic this earnings season Twitter is making inroads in the battle to prevent the Islamic State militant group and its supporters from using the platform as a mouthpiece, but its single-minded focus on the jihadi group is allowing competing radical Islamists to surpass ISIS and maintain a strong online presence, according to a new report. Researchers from VOX-Pol, an academic network that includes professionals from Dublin City University and the University of Sussex, said the platform was becoming less effective for ISIS "due to the rapid takedown rate of pro-IS accounts from the site" and "substantial and aggressive disruption," using another acronym for ISIS. In one example, Twitter removed almost two-thirds of the Twitter accounts posting pro-ISIS content within 17 hours, the report, entitled "Disrupting Daesh, Measuring the Takedown of Online Terrorist Material and Its Impacts," said. More from Newsweek: North Korea: Senile Donald Trump plays too much golf Alex Jones calls Charlottesville violence a false flag Trump women & stilettos: Bringing Carrie Bradshaw back But the focus on ISIS has taken the site's attention off other jihadi groups. "The platform is now a much less conducive environment for the group than it once was," said Maura Conway, VOX-Pol coordinator and professor of international security at Dublin City University. "However, this has enabled other violent jihadi groups to maintain their presence and to continue to spread their message with much less hindrance than that faced by IS." The report analyzed 722 pro-ISIS accounts, with 57,574 tweets, against 451 accounts supporting "other jihadist groups," with 62,156 tweets. Other jihadi groups have been able to "send six times as many tweets and follow or 'friend' four times as many accounts and critically gain 13 times as many followers as pro-IS accounts." Only 1 percent of "other jihadist" accounts faced disruption within five days of opening, while 25 percent of pro-ISIS accounts were "immediately suspended." The time that an account can remain open is important, as it increases the account's reach and allows the messages to be spread to a wider audience. The social media company publishes a transparency report twice a year. In March, the company announced it suspended almost 377,000 accounts in the second half of 2016 for promoting extremism. Only 2 percent of the takedowns came as a result of government requests. Seventy-four percent of them came as a result of "internal, proprietary spam-fighting tools." Twitter suspended a total of 636,248 accounts for extremism between August 2015 and December 2016, it said. ISIS militants and sympathizers have used social media for years to spread their message, as well as reach out to potential supporters and coerce them into joining the group. Many simply create new accounts when their accounts are suspended. The most famous supporters share their account on other platforms and can gain thousands of followers within hours. Social media companies have come under fire from governments and radicalization experts for a lack of action against extremist content on their platforms. Facebook and Google are now using automated tools to remove extremist content. YouTube also removes extremist content but continues to host sermons of extremist preachers, saying that the content of their speeches does not specifically violate YouTube's terms and conditions. In one instance, a British attacker, part of the three-man cell who launched an assault on London Bridge in June, killing eight, viewed videos of a radical American preacher known as Ahmad Musa Jibril, who has a significant following online. Many of his videos, filmed from his home in Detroit, remain online. Jibril preaches a Salafist version of Islam, one of the most conservative strands of the religion and the ideology from which members of ISIS and Al-Qaeda derive their beliefs. The video-sharing platform tells Newsweek in a statement: "We take our role in combating the spread of extremist material very seriously. YouTube has clear policies prohibiting terrorist recruitment and content intending to incite violence, and we act quickly to remove flagged videos violating these policies. We also terminate accounts run by terrorist organizations or those that repeatedly violate our policies." A truck passes a former customs post in Jonesborough, Co. Armagh, on the northern side of the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland Niall Carson | PA Images | Getty Images The British government has defended its plans to establish a "frictionless" border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic post-Brexit, saying that the plans are both workable and mutually beneficial. In a white paper published Wednesday, the government said that there should be no border posts separating Britain from its only EU land neighbor and instead there should be "technological measures" to help monitor the movement of goods once the U.K. leaves the customs union. These could include number plate recognition technology and spot vehicle checks, the paper, which was published ahead of the third round of Brexit talks, said. The announcement comes after the U.K. government was accused of fantasizing about its post-Brexit plans on Tuesday, when it published a white paper proposing a temporary three year customs union agreement with the EU after Brexit. The customs union is a deal which allows for the tariff-free movement of goods between EU countries. The plans are no 'fantasy' Northern Ireland's secretary of state James Brokenshire said Wednesday that he did not accept that the government's plans were a "fantasy." "This isn't just some sort of unilateral, one-way issue that I'm talking about here. When you look at the trade that the U.K. has with Ireland it's around 13.6 billion ($17.5 billion). But equally the trade from Ireland to the U.K. is around 9.1 billion. It is that flow of trade that we see in both directions which is why this matters for both of us," Brokenshire told the BBC's 'Today' Program. The continuation of a free and open border is not just an economic issue, but a highly sensitive political one given the decades of violence over whether Northern Ireland should be part of Britain or Ireland. Garda, Irish police, checkpoint in Donegal on border with Northern Ireland. Alain Le Garsmeur | Getty Images The white paper outlined plans to protect the Good Friday Agreement, which was developed to ensure peace between Northern Ireland and the Republic, as well as the Common Travel Area and the rights of U.K. and Irish citizens. Writing in the Irish national newspaper the Irish News on Wednesday, British Prime Minister Theresa May also said that the U.K. would consider replacing some EU funding for peace projects in Northern Ireland. "The U.K. Government is determined to protect the unique arrangements between Northern Ireland and Ireland, and the wider relationship between the UK and Ireland. Protecting your citizenship rights, and protecting the Belfast Agreement, are at the heart of our approach," she wrote. The Irish government welcomed the proposals and called for talks in Brussels at the end of August to focus on resolving key issues of citizens' rights and Britain's divorce bill in order to move onto talks of future partnerships, including regarding the customs union. Britain on the front foot U.S. coal exports are rising this year, giving the fossil-fuel friendly Trump administration reason to cheer, but analysts believe the good times won't last. The surge in exports doesn't herald a reversal of coal's fortunes, but a temporary blip to be expected every few years, according to experts. The latest spike is due to a temporary rise in coal prices that is opening a window of opportunity for miners. Coal exports were up 58 percent in the first quarter from the same period last year, but analysts say the long-term trend is down. "I don't think 2017 will be a typical year, but it might be a typical every fourth or fifth year. We'll get these strong years and we'll get these years of lower exports in between," said James Stevenson, senior director of IHS Markit's global coal practice. The U.S. Energy Information Administration forecasts growth in coal exports will moderate in the coming months. Total exports are on pace to rise about 20 percent this year from 2016. The lumpy nature of U.S. coal exports illustrates the challenge President Donald Trump faces in delivering one of his core campaign promises: reviving an ailing coal industry and putting miners back to work. As cheap natural gas and policies that favor renewable energy erode coal's share of U.S. electricity generation, the White House has looked overseas for growth opportunities. The Trump administration recently helped broker a deal to ship 700,000 tons of thermal coal from mines owned by Pennsylvania-based Xcoal Energy to Ukrainian state-owned power generator Centrenergo PJSC. Ukraine cannot access much of its domestic supply because of an ongoing conflict with rebels who control its coal-producing region. To be sure, the United States is a dominant exporter of metallurgical coal the type used in industrial processes like steelmaking but it plays a much smaller role in trading thermal coal, which supplies power plants. Thermal coal accounts for most of the current spike. It surged from about 4 million short tons in the first quarter of 2016 to more than 10 million short tons in the first three months of this year. The international market for thermal coal is split down the globe. Australia and Indonesia dominate trade in the Pacific basin, where China, India, Japan and South Korea are the biggest buyers. Colombia and South Africa outmatch the United States in the Atlantic basin, which includes the European, African, Latin American and Middle Eastern markets. Straddling Asia and Europe, Russia exported about four times as much thermal coal as the United States shipped in 2014. American miners essentially mop up the remaining demand for thermal coal, though they do steady business with some foreign buyers. The United States, Canada and Mexico held a joint news conference in Washington on Wednesday, as discussions began to amend the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement. After statements from Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Chrystia Freeland and Mexican Secretary of Economy Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, U.S Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer presented a list of demands on behalf of the White House. "I want to be clear, [President Donald Trump] is not interested in a mere tweaking of a few provisions and a couple of updated chapters," Lighthizer said. "NAFTA has fundamentally failed many, many Americans and needs major improvement." The U.S. is entering the talks with the goal of reforming problems perceived by Trump, such as trade deficits, rules of origin, currency manipulation and market-distorting practices. Lighthizer went into what he, on behalf of the White House, expects to achieve during the renegotiations, beginning with trade balances among the three nations. "We need to assure that the huge deficits do not continue, and we have balance and reciprocity," Lighthizer said. Rules of origin must change according to Lighthizer. The regulations stipulate how much of a final product may include non-NAFTA country components to qualify for NAFTA tariff benefits. Lighthizer put special emphasis "on autos and auto parts," saying that a new agreement "must require higher NAFTA content, and substantial U.S. content" for products to qualify. A new accord must include a product's country of origin is "verified, not deemed," he said. Lighthizer also said "labor provisions should be included in the agreement and should be as strong as possible," referencing the White House's complaint regarding U.S. jobs leaving the country. "The agreement should have effective provisions to guard against currency manipulation," Lighthizer added. "We should include provisions to guard against market-distorting practices of other countries, including third-party dumping and state-owned enterprises." After the Twitter account @YesYoureRacist began exposing and shaming attendees of Saturday's violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, one man was reported to have been fired from his job. His former employer, Berkeley-based hot dog vendor Top Dog, later announced that he resigned, but the incident begs the question: Can your political speech get you lawfully fired? Oftentimes, it can. "Private employers can fire you at will," Lata Nott, executive director of the Newseum Institute's First Amendment Center, tells CNBC Make It, as long as their reasoning does not infringe upon your civil rights. Title VII protects your age, national origin, race, ethnic background, gender, religious beliefs and pregnancy status from discrimination. But it's not always so clear. Take the case of James Damore, the software engineer fired by Google because of his controversial diversity manifesto. Damore may have been partially protected by federal labor law it's illegal for employers to punish employees for taking "concerted action" to improve working conditions, something Damore could argue he was doing. Neo Nazis, Alt-Right, and White Supremacists encircle and chant at counter protestors at the base of a statue of Thomas Jefferson after marching through the University of Virginia campus with torches in Charlottesville, Va., USA on August 11, 2017. Samuel Corum | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images But because the memo was interpreted as sexual harassment, which violates Title VII and Google's code of conduct, Damore's protection was trumped. In typical cases, if the boss doesn't like you, she has the power to fire you. While such a dynamic allows companies to reprimand employees who spend their weekends espousing hate, it also has consequences. During the Second Red Scare, for instance, Joseph McCarthy led a paranoid movement to remove communist sympathizers from the workforce. Even today, an employer can still fire someone for quietly endorsing socialism. Unions offer employees extra measures of protection by providing contracts that demand that employers provide "just cause" before terminating their members. And public employees are typically even safer, says Nott. The government cannot easily fire an employee because of their political speech that would mean the government is suppressing what you say and would violate the First Amendment. But government employees don't enjoy total impunity. "There have been police who have been fired for posting racist things on social media," says Nott. In these instances, she explains, the officers raised First Amendment claims, but the government successfully rebutted that because the officers worked in a racially diverse community, their online posts made it harder for them to do their job and harder for the government to do its job. I am writing to express concerns about the opening of a hog slaughtering operation on the site of the former Driftless Meats, located in the town of Viroqua, along Three Chimney Road, between Viroqua and Westby, near the multi-use path. The plant was recently purchased by Lynch Meats, based in Iowa, and is scheduled to initially slaughter up to 700 hogs per day. Plants of this magnitude typically require the establishment of a concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO) within a 50-mile radius of the slaughter facility. Concentrated hog operations of this size are not compatible with the topography of Vernon County. The recent heavy rains and run off created by them would have washed huge amounts of animal waste materials, generated by such large hog operations, down our gullies and into our streams, polluting our water and destroying our precious trout streams. These streams are a boost to our local economy and annually draw fisherman, from throughout the Midwest, to Vernon County. Another concern is the potential impact the slaughtering business would have on some 100 single family residential homes located within 1/2 mile radius of this slaughtering facility. At the time I wrote this letter it is believed the new facility is looking to develop a holding pond, or ponds, for processing the wastewater generated at the new business. This wastewater could total 30,000 gallons a daily. Given the fragile geological makeup of the soil in this area, there is a real possibility that such a ponds, could eventually reach and contaminate the aquifer from which many of the nearby residents draw their drinking water from. What might have been a Good Buy for Premium Iowa Pork, could well result in a Good-Bye to a quality way of life that the citizens of Viroqua, Westby and Vernon County have enjoyed for decades. I petition is currently being drawn up by a group of concerned citizens and will soon be available for signatures. Paul Stuebs Resident, town of Viroqua The Missourians Opinion section is a public forum for the discussion of ideas. The views presented in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missourian or the University of Missouri. If you would like to contribute to the Opinion page with a response or an original topic of your own, visit our submission form Capital One Financial Corporation was founded in 1988 with the goal of revolutionizing the credit card industry. The companys ground-breaking services were data-driven, opened the doors of credit to millions of people, and today Capital One is one of the worlds largest banks. The companys commitment to connecting people with responsible credit helped to rank it 10th in the US in regard to total assets and 72nd globally. The company has nearly $400 billion in assets in late 2022 and operated a network of subsidiary institutions including Capital One bank. Capital One Financial Corporation is headquartered in McLean, Virginia, and operates a network of branches and offices throughout the US, Canada, and the UK. Capital One Financial Corporation is the holding company for Capital One Bank (USA), National Association; and Capital One, National Association, which provides various financial products and services in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Capital One Financial Corporation operates in three segments: Credit Card, Consumer Banking, and Commercial Banking. The Credit Card segment operates a wide range of revolving consumer credit cards while the Consumer Banking segment offers a range of traditional banking and investment products including auto and home loans, savings, and certificates of deposit. The Commercial segment offers business accounts, financing, commercial and multifamily real estate, and commercial and industrial loans. In the US, the company serves its clients through digital channels, branches, cafes, and other distribution channels located in New York, Louisiana, Texas, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and California. Digital services include online accounts, account services, loan applications, and investments. Among the many features of banking with Capital One are fee-free checking accounts, cloud-based financial tracking services, and Capital One Cafes. The company operates more than 40 cafes across the US where anyone, not just account holders, can get a coffee or snack as well as improve their financial education. The cafes are equipped with ample public space, nooks for private work, and even event space for meetings. Capital One continues to advance the digital financial industry to this day. The company was among the first to move its operations to the cloud, doing so in 2012, and it is now developing machine learning, open source, and cloud technology applications to help detect and prevent fraud, secure accounts, and improve banking services. Capital One is committed to aiding the worlds fight against climate change. To that end, it is pursuing several avenues that include influencing its value chain, fostering a sustainable office culture that is in sync with its surroundings, promoting and financing sustainable energy projects, and transparency in regard to its climate goals. Although she grew up singing gospel in her native Tennessee, Chastity Brown thought that when she moved to Minneapolis some 12 years ago she was going to be an indie rocker. Before the move she describes being obsessed with the rock bands she heard around Knoxville. I think when you are first starting out you try to emulate the people youve heard, Brown said. That was no longer possible, however, when she found herself living in the Midwest. I really like the MidwestI find it fascinating, she said, but I didnt know anyone so I didnt have any local influence. I think that helped me figure out what I really wanted to sound like. I realized I wasnt an indie rocker even though some of my songs have rock in them. Brown now considers herself a folk artist and if the critical reviews of her soulful debut album with the prestigious Red House label are any indication, shes become a very good one. Silhouette of Sirens is the name of the album that NPR Music has called a work of brooding soul eloquence, alt-rock wiriness, atmospheric pop sweetening and folk-inflected naturalness. Other adjectives heard in critics responses to the album are powerful and thoughtful. Brown, who is touring Europe and America this summer will be at Driftless Books and Music in Viroqua on Saturday. At that concert shell showcase many of the songs from Silhouette of Sirens, along with favorite songs from previous albums as well as covers of songs from artists like Nina Simone and Bob Dylan. The albums opener Drive Slow is a bit of an anomaly. Its a plea to slow down and savor the moment. Unlike almost all the other songs, its not about heartbreak of one sort or another. As a child, my heart was broken, and it has taken me so long to mend that and allow love in my life, Brown said. The songs on Silhouette of Sirens were written at a particularly difficult time in her career. Halfway through the recording of an album, Brown scrapped the whole project, losing $6,000 in the process. In essence, she didnt feel like the music was being true to herself or what her band could do. The focal point of that dissatisfaction was a song called Colorado, which in an amended form is on the new album. It had been made with the musicians recording their parts in different places and different times. She said that the problem wasnt that the song was bad. It was just so perfect that it sucked the life out of it, she said. It wasnt representative of what youd get at a live show. I want listeners to experience the literal life of a song. As a songwriter, honesty and being true to ones self are crucially important to Brown. She said thats one thing she took away from touring with Ani DiFranco for much of last year. While the new album is her most personal yet, Brown didnt realize it until later. My focus, as far as this record, I guess its really been psychological, she said. Im really intrigued by the perseverance of the human spirit and the complexities and contradictions that we embody as human beings." A multi-instrumentalist piano, guitar, harmonica, saxophone and banjo Brown will be bringing her guitar to the Viroqua show, along with at least one other musician (at the time of this interview she wasnt sure who that would be). Although Brown has been touring for a decade, she said the degree of travel in support of this new album has jumped to another level. She doesnt mind, however, because she feels like shes doing what she loves. Im kind of a nomad at heart, she said. Its a hard and difficult and beautiful thing to be a touring musician. The goal when you release a new album is to travel (in support of it). As a folk musician you have to earn peoples attention and time, but this is what I want and what Ive been working toward for the last 10 years. Brown added that shed heard lots of good things about the Viroqua venue for the concert. Other songwriters and bands I know like The Pines have passed the word about what a great place it is to play, she said. GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the creation, discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of pharmaceutical products, vaccines, over-the-counter medicines, and health-related consumer products in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceuticals R&D, Vaccines, and Consumer Healthcare. The company offers pharmaceutical products comprising medicines in the therapeutic areas, such as respiratory, HIV, immuno-inflammation, oncology, anti-viral, central nervous system, cardiovascular and urogenital, metabolic, anti-bacterial, and dermatology. It also provides consumer healthcare products in wellness, oral health, nutrition, and skin health categories. The company offers its consumer healthcare products in the form of nasal sprays, tablets, syrups, lozenges, gum and trans-dermal patches, caplets, infant syrup drops, liquid filled suspension, wipes, gels, effervescents, toothpastes, toothbrushes, mouthwashes, denture adhesives and cleansers, topical creams and non-medicated patches, lip balm, gummies, and soft chews. It has collaboration agreements with 23andMe; Lyell Immunopharma, Inc.; Novartis; Sanofi SA; Surface Oncology; Progentec Diagnostics, Inc.; Alector, Inc.; and CureVac AG., as well as strategic partnership with IDEAYA Biosciences, Inc. and Vir Biotechnology, Inc. The company was formerly known as GlaxoSmithKline plc and changed its name to GSK plc in May 2022. GSK plc was founded in 1715 and is headquartered in Brentford, the United Kingdom. Invacare Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, designs, manufactures, distributes, and exports medical equipment for use in home health care, retail, and extended care markets worldwide. The company offers mobility and seating products, such as power wheelchairs under the Invacare TDX brand; custom manual wheelchairs under the Invacare, Invacare Top End, and Kuschall brand names; and seating and positioning products under the Invacare brand, as well as custom molded seat modules under the PinDot brand. It also provides lifestyle products, including pressure relieving overlays and mattress systems under the Invacare Softform and microAIR brands; safe patient handling products under the Birdie, Evo, and ISA brands; residential and institutional care beds and bed accessories, and manual wheelchairs under the Invacare brand name; and personal care products. In addition, the company offers respiratory therapy products comprising stationary oxygen concentrators under the Platinum and Perfecto2 brands; portable oxygen concentrators under the Platinum brand; and Invacare HomeFill oxygen systems. Further, it provides repair, equipment rentals, and external contracting services, as well as distributes heart rate monitors, thermometers, and nebulizers; and portable ramps. The company sells its products primarily to home medical equipment providers through retail and e-commerce channels, as well as to residential care operators, dealers, and government health service customers through its sales force, independent manufacturers' representatives, and distributors. Invacare Corporation was founded in 1885 and is headquartered in Elyria, Ohio. MetLife, Inc., a financial services company, provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits, and asset management services worldwide. It operates through five segments: U.S.; Asia; Latin America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; and MetLife Holdings. The company offers life, dental, group short-and long-term disability, individual disability, pet insurance, accidental death and dismemberment, vision, and accident and health coverages, as well as prepaid legal plans; administrative services-only arrangements to employers; and general and separate account, and synthetic guaranteed interest contracts, as well as private floating rate funding agreements. It also provides pension risk transfers, institutional income annuities, structured settlements, and capital markets investment products; and other products and services, such as life insurance products and funding agreements for funding postretirement benefits, as well as company, bank, or trust-owned life insurance used to finance nonqualified benefit programs for executives. In addition, it provides fixed, indexed-linked, and variable annuities; and pension products; regular savings products; whole and term life, endowments, universal and variable life, and group life products; longevity reinsurance solutions; credit insurance products; and protection against long-term health care services. MetLife, Inc. was founded in 1863 and is headquartered in New York, New York. PetroChina Company Limited, together with its subsidiaries, engages in a range of petroleum related products, services, and activities in Mainland China and internationally. It operates through Exploration and Production, Refining and Chemicals, Marketing, and Natural Gas and Pipeline segments. The Exploration and Production segment engages in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of crude oil and natural gas. The Refining and Chemicals segment refines crude oil and petroleum products; and produces and markets primary petrochemical products, derivative petrochemical products, and other chemical products. The Marketing segment is involved in marketing of refined products and trading business. The Natural Gas and Pipeline segment engages in the transmission of natural gas, crude oil, and refined products; and sale of natural gas. As of December 31, 2021, the company had a total length of 26,076 km, including 17,329 km of natural gas pipelines, 7,340 km of crude oil pipelines, and 1,407 km of refined product pipelines. The company is also involved in the exploration, development, and production of oil sands and coalbed methane; trading of crude oil and petrochemical products; storage, chemical engineering, storage facilities, service station, and transportation facilities and related businesses; and production and sales of basic and derivative chemical, and other chemical products. The company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China. PetroChina Company Limited is a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation. Cenovus Energy Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas in Canada, the United States, and the Asia Pacific region. The company operates through Oil Sands, Conventional, Offshore, Canadian Manufacturing, U.S. Manufacturing, and Retail segments. The Oil Sands segment develops and produces bitumen and heavy oil in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. This segments Foster Creek, Christina Lake, Sunrise, and Tucker oil sands projects, as well as Lloydminster thermal and conventional heavy oil assets The Conventional segment holds assets primarily located in Elmworth-Wapiti, Kaybob-Edson, Clearwater, and Rainbow Lake operating in Alberta and British Columbia, as well as interests in various natural gas processing facilities. The offshore segment engages in the exploration and development activities. The Canadian Manufacturing segment includes the owned and operated Lloydminster upgrading and asphalt refining complex, which upgrades heavy oil and bitumen into synthetic crude oil, diesel fuel, asphalt, and other ancillary products, as well as owns and operates the Bruderheim crude-by-rail terminal and two ethanol plants. The U.S. Manufacturing segment comprises the refining of crude oil to produce diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, asphalt, and other products. The Retail segment consists of marketing of its own and third-party refined petroleum products through retail, commercial, and bulk petroleum outlets, as well as wholesale channels. Cenovus Energy Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Deutsche Telekom AG, together with its subsidiaries, provides integrated telecommunication services. The company operates through five segments: Germany, United States, Europe, Systems Solutions, and Group Development. It offers fixed-network services, including voice and data communication services based on fixed-network and broadband technology; and sells terminal equipment and other hardware products, as well as services to resellers. The company also provides mobile voice and data services to consumers and business customers; sells mobile devices and other hardware products; and sells mobile services to resellers and to companies that purchases and markets network services to third parties, such as mobile virtual network operators. In addition, it offers internet services; internet-based TV products and services; and information and communication technology systems for multinational corporations and public sector institutions with an infrastructure of data centers and networks under the T-Systems brand, as well as call center services. The company has 242 million mobile customers and 22 million broadband customers, as well as 27 million fixed-network lines. Deutsche Telekom AG has a collaboration with VMware, Inc. on cloud-based open and intelligent virtual RAN platform to bring agility to radio access networks for existing LTE and future 5G networks; and partnership with Microsoft to deliver high-performance cloud computing experiences. The company was founded in 1995 and is headquartered in Bonn, Germany. In June the Department of Education issued guidance encouraging schools to install defibrillators as part of their first aid equipment. It says that survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in England range from two per cent to 12 per cent across different parts of the country. They are as high as 75 per cent where cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and defibrillation are delivered promptly. The guidance adds: Research has shown that an individuals chance of survival following the onset of a cardiac arrest decreases by 710 per cent for every minute of delay in commencing treatment. Lack of blood circulation for even a few minutes may lead to irreversible organ damage including brain damage. Early intervention by bystanders, even those with little or no first aid training, can therefore buy time until professional help arrives, improving the chance of a successful outcome. Modern automated external defibrillators are inexpensive, simple to operate and safe for users. The AED will analyse the individuals heart rhythm and apply a shock to restart it, or advise that CPR should be continued. Voice and/or visual prompts will guide the rescuer through the entire process from when the device is first switched on or opened. These include positioning and attaching the pads, when to start or restart CPR and whether or not a shock is advised. The Patients Forum for the London Ambulance Service have followed this up with London boroughs urging them to ensure defibrillators are available in schools and staff trained to use them to save the childs life. For my borough of Hammersmith and Fulham the response was: We expect the school to have appropriate measures in place, such as paediatric first aiders. But paediatric first aid staff do not have a defibrillator to use in school if a child suffers a cardiac arrest. So that is not good enough. This follows a similarly feeble response to a proposal from London Assembly Conservatives to put them in surplus phone boxes. Some may use the excuse of a lack of money. Yet my Council spends 23 million on its Public Health budget. As with other councils this spending is largely wasted. We have got 61 state schools in my borough including the free schools and the academies. The defibrillators would cost around 600 each so around 37,000 to provide one for each of our schools. That would come to 0.2 per cent of our annual public health budget as a one off cost. I have asked for the Health and Wellbeing Board in my borough to review the matter. Of course, as an opposition councillor, it is my role to challenge and scrutinise. However I gather the response of other London boroughs has been similar. Conservatives and Labour have displayed bipartisan inertia. Doubtless it is generally the same story elsewhere. These are the same councils with leaders who will routinely complain about lack of money while failing to show the slightest interest in how their public health budgets are being squandered on vast bureaucracy and ineffective nannying. If there is no deal between Britain and the EU, trade between the two will be conducted on WTO terms. If so, there will be mutual tariffs (unless we go flat out for free trade, and imposes none on all comers, regardless of what the EU does). And if there are such tariffs, Irish farming will be ravaged. About two-fifths of Irish agri-food exports come here. These include about half Irelands beef exports, the best part of two-thirds of its cheese ones, and nine-tenths of its mushroom exports. You may therefore wonder why the new Irish Taoiseach and Foreign Minister have been rebarbative recently about our Governments ideas for dealing with customs after Brexit, further details of which are released today, since failure to reach agreement would hurt Irelands economy even more than ours. The Central Bank of Ireland estimates that Irish GDP could shrink by three per cent over a decade, and that the country could lose more than 40,000 jobs. There are several reasons. First, there are doubts in Dublin about the capacity of technology to deliver the soft border that Theresa May wants (the Government today rejects border posts, the classic instruments of a hard border). Second, there is anxiety that any form of border control at all will undermine peace in Northern Ireland. Third, there is concern within Irelands establishment that, even if controls turn out not to be bad for peace, they will be good for Sinn Fein, both in Northern Ireland and in Ireland itself. There is evidence since the referendum that this last factor is at work. The more moderate parties were squeezed out in Mays general election. The Commons now has neither Ulster Unionist nor SDLP MPs. Sinn Fein gained three seats. Brexit was not the only reason for its advance, but it was a significant contributor. Fourth is a more subtle but pervasive factor. We all have a tendency to believe what we want to believe. And what might be called Official Ireland its equivalent of our own political and media elites wants to believe that Brexit wont happen. If your reading about Britain was concentrated on the comment pages of Guardian, the Financial Times, and the Economist, and your friends and contacts here consisted largely of Remain supporters, you might well come to believe that Brexit will somehow be stopped between now and March 2019. That there is no known means of halting the Article 50 process does nothing to weaken this hope. A variant on it is that Britain will decide, after all, to stay in the Single Market and Customs Union. Belief that the latter is possible will not have been weakened by our Governments own proposed interim solution as published yesterday. Finally, and perhaps most powerfully, there is a deep cultural antipathy to Brexit on Ireland that reaches far wider than its establishment. The attachment of the English in particular to self-government is seen as somehow unmodern. It wakes atavastic fears of the Brits throwing their weight around, unrestrained by international obligations and agreements. This anxiety is heightened by a sense that Britain is pulling the rug from under Anglo-Irish relations at a time when they have never been better, when Ireland is undergoing a transformation from being a recipient of EU funds to being a donor, and when it thus needs an Altanticist, free trade-backing, English-speaking ally within the community more than ever. The case for Ireland itself to leave the EU, put on this site by Ray Bassett and Anthony Coughlan, is very much a minority concern. EU membership and Irelands self-image are too intertwined for it to be otherwise. All this may help to explain why it was reported that the Irish Government wants the post-Brexit border to be not a land one within the island of Ireland, but a sea one between it and Britain. (Simon Coveney, Irelands Foreign Minister, says there is no such proposal.) Certainly, last years referendum result has revived hopes of Irish unity in some quarters, since Northern Ireland itself voted to Remain. But a border poll would do nothing to buttress the peace settlement there to which Irelands Government is committed, and there is no sign that opinion in Northern Ireland has swung in favour of Irish unity, since Sinn Feins electoral progress was more than matched last spring by the DUPs. In any event, Theresa Mays confidence-and-supply arrangement with it would quash any support for a sea border within our own Government of which there is none in the first place. There is an irony in the Irish Governments criticisms of our own over the border. Leo Varadkar, the new Taoiseach, has said that Ireland will not design a border for Brexiteers. (It is the British and the Brexiteers who are leaving, so if anyone should be angry its us quite frankly, he added.) However, the insistence on a border post-Brexit comes from Brussels. The EUs Brexit negotiating guidelines say that in view of the unique circumstances on the island of Ireland, flexible and imaginative solutions will be required, including with the aim of avoiding a hard border, while respecting the integrity of the Union legal order [our italics]. In other words, the EU itself believes that there must be border controls. There is no reason why London and Dublin would be unhappy with the status quo on the movement of goods if left to themselves. But as part of the EU27 the latter is scarcely going to say so. Ireland thus finds itself in a Janus-faced position as negotiations continue. On the one hand, it must stand with the other EU states against the UK if necessary if the former insist, for example, that no trade deal can be discussed because progress on money is unsatisfactory. On the other, it must quietly work with the UK against other EU states if necessary or at least further the UKs case to the Commission and within the 27 since the collapse of talks, or no deal at all, would be a disaster for Irish agriculture. In short, the logic of Irelands own interests should lead its Government to press for precisely the kind of free trade agreement between Britain and the EU that our own wants. Perhaps Irish Ministers are so rattled by Brexit that they dont see this. More likely, they think it will do them no good in Brussels to stress the point. But there is a gleam of light amidst these gathered clouds. The EU wants an early settlement on the UK-Ireland border as well as on money. Such a deal could open up a precedent for our frontiers with the rest of the 27. In 1854, it was estimated that more than 30,000 abandoned children were living on the streets of New York City. That year, a movement to find these children, and others from large cities, a home was born. Its name: The Orphan Train. The aptly named Orphan Train brought orphans cross-country, primarily to the Midwest. The most notable stop, as featured in books and plays, is the state of Minnesota. To this day children of the Orphan Train who were adopted by Minnesota families still gather annually to remember this important catalyst in their lives. With this history, its no wonder that the state of Minnesota is consistently first in the nation in adoptions per capita. Given this statistic, it makes sense that a local Minnesota credit union, like Firefly, would lead the way for a nation-wide, pro-family adoption loan that breaks down todays biggest barrier for families the expense. Today a staggering 107,918 foster children are awaiting adoption in the U.S. alone, with more than 20,000 aging out of foster care without being placed in a permanent home. The problem is drastic and according to two Minnesota adoption agencies, the biggest reason is a lack of funds to cover the costs of the adoption process. This massive gap between potential adoptive families and waiting children, is a great opportunity to remind the nation why the credit union movement is so special. The credit union philosophy is people helping people and that is the foundation of this loan. Rep. Paul Cook, R-Calif., is requesting signatures from his House colleagues on a letter asking the Department of Defense to exempt credit unions from the July 2015 amendments to the Military Lending Act. Credit unions are encouraged to urge their representatives to sign the letter. It has come to our attention that the MLA regulationparticularly the July 2015 amendmentshas caused numerous financial institutions to eliminate products and services, many of which have been relied on by servicemembers and their families, the letter states. Specifically, we have heard from credit unions that they are being forced to cut back on, or eliminate, products that help find solutions for credit for servicemembers and their families that may have few or much worse other options. The letter acknowledges that while the MLA changes have proven effective in broadening the scope of products and services targeted by lenders, it has also had the unintended effect of overregulating others, such as our nations almost 6,000 credit unions, which serve 110 million members. I shivered as the cold Kansas wind cut through my Toughskins jeans and wondered how long wed have to do this dumb thing. It was Jan. 26, 1979, and along with the other students of Oberlin Elementary School, I lacked the perspective of years gone by to understand the magnitude of this important day. We were about to witness a solar eclipse, something we wouldnt see again until 2017. That was almost 40 years away, our teacher explained. Forty years was a long time; so long, I couldnt comprehend it. I figured by then Id either be a millionaire or dead. As the moon began to pass between the earth and the sun, we obediently turned our backs to the light. Our teacher, like every other teacher in North America, had been tasked with the impossible feat of convincing school children to appreciate this major astrological event without actually looking at it. We kids rolled our perfect eyes at the idea of sun damage and thought the adults were just being overprotective. After all, the moon was blocking the sun. Duh, thats the safest time to look at it. What a bunch of bull crap. But corporal punishment was still legal at school and at home, so we held our cardboard squares with the pinholes poked in the middle over our shoulders and acted like we were impressed by the crescent shaped shadow it created on the schoolyard wall. Then, somebodys dad showed up at school bearing the most wonderful gift: a welding helmet. No more dumb cardboard pinhole bull crap for us. We were going to look directly at the sun and our eyes wouldnt even burst into flames. We lined up and took turns watching the eclipse. Sure enough, there it was the moon in front of the sun. It was cool. Later, we learned the Chinese used to believe eclipses occurred when a giant dragon ate the sun. They would bang their pots and pans together to try to frighten the dragon away. They were also Commies, which was why they didnt know any better. Life seems awfully scary these days, but back in 1979 things were even worse. The Ayatollah Khomeini returned to Iran and took power away from the Shah, a leader who had modernized Iran and opened it up to the Western world. Khomeini cut off our oil supply and our economy tanked. Iranian radicals stormed the American embassy and took Americans hostage. The Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. The Sandinistas took over Nicaragua. Reactor two suffered a meltdown at Three Mile Island. White supremacists opened fire on an anti-Klan demonstration organized by Communists in North Carolina, killing five people. The Wichita Falls tornado destroyed 4,000 homes and killed 42 people. Somebodys parents were always getting divorced. Life was also pretty inconvenient in 1979. For example, nobody could order a pair of eclipse viewing goggles from Amazon for $10 and have it delivered to their doorstep for free, with a Prime subscription, within two days. Technology has made our life easier as consumers, but it has also whipped us into a frenzy of fear. Back in 1979, our only access to world news was a nightly broadcast on TV and in the city, a daily newspaper. There was no CNN, no websites, no Twitter or Facebook. We didnt spend all day, every day, reading about everything thats wrong in the world. Despite world events that were arguably more frightening than they are today, we didnt feel as though the earth had been sentenced to life under a dark shadow. Not like we do today. This post should probably lay out a clever analogy that presents the welding helmet as a simple business solution that delivers better service to members, but who can focus on business when were too busy banging our virtual pots and pans in an attempt to scare away the sun eating dragon? Lets instead overcome hate and fear with love, the way we did back in 1979. Be like the thoughtful parent who took time out of his day to help some school kids improve their memory of a rare astronomical event. If you have eclipse goggles, ask the guy at work youve been avoiding because he probably voted for Trump if hed like to borrow them. Send a card a real, paper card to someone who could use a pick-me-up. Call your mother. Its easy to get caught up at work worrying about the CFPB, exam exceptions, the threat of taxation, this weeks major data breach and whether or not youre properly engaging your employees. But its important to remember why you love your job. Its about people helping people. Its about service. Its what keeps the Earth spinning and guarantees the sun will shine again. Interpol/Group-IB Unmasking Pro-ISIS Hackers Interpol has teamed up with Russian security firm Group-IB in an effort to identify the members of a pro-ISIS hacker group that has taken credit for many website defacements and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks. The group, calling itself the United Islamic Cyber Force (UICF), has carried out numerous attacks since January 2014. It has contributed to hacktivist campaigns such as OpFrance, which included attacks on the TV5Monde TV station and Notepad++, OpIsrael, OpIndia, Operation Free Palestine and Operation Free Al-Aqsa. According to Group-IB, UICF has had over the years at least 40 members who were connected to over 60 pro-Islamic hacker groups from around the world. The security firm has traced the online monikers used by UICF hackers to individuals in Indonesia, Pakistan, Morocco, Algeria, Nigeria, India and Kosovo. Using the aliases and email addresses posted by the hackers on the websites they defaced, researchers managed to identify several individuals allegedly involved with UICF. Their low level of technical training, a sense of impunity and excessive ambitions cause hacktivists not to pay due attention to their own security, despite the various instructions for ensuring anonymity popular in their milieu, said Dmitry Volkov, Group-IB co-founder and head of the companys threat intelligence department. Information published by the hacktivists helped us a great deal in our investigations. The email addresses and aliases were linked by Group-IB to personal websites and social media profiles that appear to have been registered using the hackers real names. The security firms report includes censored pictures, social media accounts, and redacted phone numbers and email addresses allegedly belonging to members of the hacker group. From their profiles, none of the hacktivists from the United Islamic Cyber Force looks like professional cyber-criminals who attack banks, government institutions or strategic infrastructure facilities, Group-IB said in its report. They are yesterday's school-children and students, with a limited life experience, easily amenable to someone else's influence. Their goal is not to steal money, but publicity, coverage of their actions by the world media. Security Week: You Might Also Read: Interpol Located & Shut Down 9,000 Command Servers: International Police Start Crackdown On The Darknet: Dark Web Marketplaces Shut Down: Talking Points: Westpacs leading index ticked higher in July However, it still indicates below-trend growth The Australian Dollar had been drifting upward but paused after the release See how the trading community views the Australian Dollars prospects at the DailyFX Sentiment page ! The Australian Dollars modest climb stalled Wednesday despite the release of a more solid leading index of economic activity. Westpacs barometer came in at +0.12% for July, having fallen by 0.14% the month before. The index is compiled in association with the Melbourne Institute, an economic and social research house. It consists of data from local financial, housing and labour markets along with consumer expectations about activity, employment and global economic activity. The Australian Dollar had been gently gaining on the greenback through the Asia Pacific morning, but the data seem to have curbed this process. Despite the uptick Westpac said that the index still points to below-trend near-term growth. Westpac assesses trend as being 2.75% and expects growth of 2.5% next year. A more substantial hurdle will come on Thursday with the release of official Australian employment numbers. With the Reserve Bank of Australia especially concerned about stretched household balance sheets, the labor market is held by investors be far more closely plugged in to monetary policy action. Please join us for love coverage of those key Australian employment numbers at 01:30 GMT Thursday via the DailyFX Webinars page. The Aussie has been in retreat for a few days now on its daily chart, which is possibly not surprising given RBA officials relentless focus on the dangers of too much currency strength. AUD/USD remains close to two-year highs and the market can be reasonably sure that too much more sustained strength will attract at least the verbal disapproval of the central bank. Whether there will be any more practical action is an open question. RBA Governor Philip Lowe said last week that he remains open to intervention in the market if moves were to become extreme. However, he added that in his view they were not so at the moment. On its daily chart AUD/USD remains in a clear downtrend, exacerbated by general US Dollar strength in the last day or so thank to solid retail sales numbers. --- Written by David Cottle, DailyFX Research Contact and follow David on Twitter: @DavidCottleFX The following companies are subsidiares of Prudential Financial: 210-220 E. 22nd Street SSGA Owner LLC, AIG Edison, AIG Star, AREF Cayman Co Ltd., AREF GP II Pte. Ltd., AREF GP Ltd., ASPF II - Feeder Fund GmbH, ASPF II - Verwaltungs - GmbH & Co. KG, ASPF II Management GmbH, ASPF III Scots L.P., ASSURANCE, AST Investment Services Inc., Adlerwerke CB Investment LLC, Administradora de Fondos de Pensiones Habitat S.A., Administradora de Inversiones Previsionales SpA, Aoba Life Insurance Company, Aoba Life Insurance Company Ltd., Asia Property Fund III GP S.a.r.l., Assurance IQ LLC, Assurance Intelligence LLC, BSC CP LP, Braeloch Holdings Inc., Braeloch Successor Corporation, Brazilian Capital Fund GP Limited, Broad Street Global Advisors LLC, Broome Street Holdings LLC, CB German Retail LLC, CLIS Co. Ltd., COLICO INC., Capital Agricultural Property Services Inc., Chadwick Boulevard Investment Holdings Co. LLC, Cibecue LLC, Coconino LLC, Colico II Inc., Columbus Drive Partners L.P., Commerce Street Holdings LLC, Commerce Street Investments LLC, Coolidge LLC, Coral Reef GP, Coral Reef L.P., Coral Reef Unit Trust, Cottage Street Investments LLC, Cottage Street Orbit Acquisition LLC, DICKENS AVENUE HOLDINGS VI LLC, DICKENS AVENUE PARTNERS VI Ireland L.P., DICKENS AVENUE PARTNERS VI US L.P., Dale/P Minerals Limited Partnership, Don Cesar Investor LLC, Dryden Arizona Reinsurance Term Company, Dryden Finance II LLC, EVP II GP S.a r.l., EVP II Horizon GP S.a r.l., EVP II Sprint GP S.a r.l., Edison Place Senior Note LLC, Essex LLC, EuroCore GP S.a r.l., European Value Partners GP S.a.r.l., Everbright PGIM Fund Management Co. Ltd., Flagstaff LLC, GA 1600 Commons LLC, GA 333 Hennepin Investor LLC, GA BV LLC, GA Bay Area GP LLC, GA Bay Area Investor LLC, GA Belden LLC, GA CLARENDON LLC, GA Cal Crossings LLC, GA Collins LLC, GA E. 22nd Street Apartments Holdings LLC, GA East 86 Street LLC, GA JHCII LLC, GA MENLO PARK INVESTOR LLC, GA Manor at Harbour Island LLC, GA Metro LLC, GA TRITON INVESTOR LLC, GA W Paces LLC, GA/MDI 333 Hennepin Associates LLC, GIBRALTAR BSN HOLDINGS SDN BHD, GIBRALTAR INDIA SOLUTIONS LLP, Gateway Holdings II LLC, Gateway Holdings LLC, German Retail Income CP LP, Gibraltar BSN Life Berhad, Gibraltar International Insurance Services Company Inc., Gibraltar International Service LLC, Gibraltar Reinsurance Company Ltd., Gibraltar Universal Life Reinsurance Company, Glenealy International Limited, Global Portfolio Strategies Inc., Gold GP Limited, Gold II L.P., Gold L.P., Graham Resources Inc., Graham Royalty Ltd., Green Harvest Asset Management LLC, Green Tree GP, Green Tree L.P., Greenlee LLC, Halsey Street Investments LLC, Hirakata LLC, IVP Fund GP LLC, Impact Investments Bridges UK S.a.r.l, Inter-Atlantic G Fund L.P., Inversiones Previsionales Chile SpA, Inversiones Previsionales Dos SpA, Ironbound Fund LLC, Jennison Associates LLC, Kyarra S.a r.l., Kyoei Annuity Home Co. Ltd. Kabushiki Kaisha Kyouei Nenkin Home, LINEUP LLC, Lake Street Partners IV L.P., Lotus Reinsurance Company Ltd., MC GA COLLINS HOLDINGS LLC, MC GA COLLINS REALTY LLC, MC Insurance Agency Services LLC, Manor at Harbour Island LLC, Marble Canyon LLC, Maricopa LLC, Market Street Holdings IV LLC, Montana Capital Partners, Morenci LLC, Mulberry Street Holdings LLC, Mulberry Street Investment L.P., Mulberry Street Partners LLC, Mullin TBG Insurance Agency Services LLC, MullinTBG Insurance Agency Services, National Family Assurance Group LLC, New Savanna, Northbound Emerging Manager Fund A LP, Northbound Emerging Manager Fund II - A LP, Orchard Street Acres Inc., PAI Bay Farm LLC, PAI Bayrock Groves LLC, PAI Belvidere Farms LLC, PAI Big Cypress Farm LLC, PAI Corcoran 640 Ranch LLC, PAI DeKalb Farm LLC, PAI Delano 1500 Ranches LLC, PAI Desert Falcon Farms Manager LLC, PAI Flicker Orchard LLC, PAI Good Hope Farm LLC, PAI Hawk Creek Ranch LLC, PAI Hills Valley Ranches LLC, PAI Holly Hill Groves LLC, PAI Hunt Farm LLC, PAI Jackson Bayou Farm LLC, PAI Lake Placid Groves LLC, PAI River Bend Ranches LLC, PAI Wallula Gap Vineyard LLC, PCP V Cayman AIV GP L.P., PEREF II Co-Invest 1 GP S.a r.l., PEREF II GP S.a r.l., PFI EM-Tech Fund I LLC, PG Business Service Co. Ltd, PG Collection Service Co. Ltd., PG Friendly Partners Co. Ltd., PGA Asian Retail Limited, PGA European Limited, PGI Co. Ltd, PGIM AC Co-Invest GP Pte. Ltd., PGIM AVP IV GP S.a r.l., PGIM Advisory Shanghai Co. Ltd., PGIM Agricultural Investments GP LLC, PGIM Australia Pty Ltd, PGIM Broad Market High Yield Bond Fund L.P., PGIM Broad Market High Yield Bond Partners LLC, PGIM Capital Partners Management Feeder VI LLC, PGIM Capital Partners Management Fund VI L.P., PGIM Custom Harvest LLC, PGIM DC Co-Invest GP Pte. Ltd., PGIM DC JV GP Pte. Ltd., PGIM DC Solutions LLC, PGIM European Financing Limited, PGIM European Services Limited, PGIM Financial Limited, PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives Fund II L.P., PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives Fund L.P., PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives GP LLC, PGIM Fixed Income Alternatives II GP LLC, PGIM Foreign Investments Inc., PGIM Holding Company LLC, PGIM Holdings Limited, PGIM Hong Kong Ltd., PGIM INDIA ASSET MANAGEMENT PRIVATE LIMITED, PGIM INDIA TRUSTEES PRIVATE LIMITED, PGIM IRELAND LIMITED, PGIM Inc., PGIM International Financing Inc., PGIM Investments Ireland Limited, PGIM Investments LLC, PGIM Japan Co. Ltd., PGIM Korea Inc., PGIM LTIF Berlin GP S.a r.l., PGIM LTIF Berlin MLP S.ar.l., PGIM LTIF GP S.a.r.l., PGIM Limited, PGIM Loan Originator Manager Limited, PGIM M Campus GP S.a r.l., PGIM Management Partner Limited, PGIM MetaProp Investor LP LLC, PGIM Netherlands B.V., PGIM Overseas Investment Fund Management Shanghai Company Ltd, PGIM Private Capital Ireland Limited, PGIM Private Capital Limited, PGIM Private Placement Investors Inc., PGIM Private Placement Investors L.P., PGIM QUANTITATIVE SOLUTIONS LLC, PGIM REF EUROPE SCSp, PGIM REF Europe GP S.a r.l., PGIM REF Europe Member LLC, PGIM REF Intermediary Services Inc., PGIM Real Estate CD S.a.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Capital VII GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest L.P., PGIM Real Estate Carry & Co-Invest SCSp, PGIM Real Estate Co-Invest Holdings LLC, PGIM Real Estate Debt GmbH, PGIM Real Estate Finance Holding Company, PGIM Real Estate Finance LLC, PGIM Real Estate France SAS, PGIM Real Estate Germany AG, PGIM Real Estate Global Debt GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate Global Master Fund GP S.a r.l., PGIM Real Estate Inmuebles II S de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate Inmuebles S. de R.L. de C.V, PGIM Real Estate Italy S.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Japan Ltd., PGIM Real Estate Loan Services Inc., PGIM Real Estate Luxembourg S.A., PGIM Real Estate MVP Administradora IV S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Administradora V S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Inmuebles IV S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate MVP Inmuebles V S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate Management Luxembourg S.a.r.l., PGIM Real Estate Mexico S.C., PGIM Real Estate S. de R.L. de C.V., PGIM Real Estate U.S. CORE Debt Fund GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate U.S. Debt Fund GP LLC, PGIM Real Estate UK Limited, PGIM Scots Limited, PGIM Securities Investment Trust Enterprise, PGIM Senior Loan Opportunities Management (Feeder) I LLC, PGIM Senior Loan Opportunities Management Fund I L.P., PGIM Shanghai Company Ltd., PGIM Singapore Pte. Ltd., PGIM Strategic Financing LLC, PGIM Strategic Investments Inc., PGIM Taronga Investor GP LLC, PGIM U.S. Agriculture Fund LP, PGIM USPF VI Manager LLC, PGIM Wadhwani LLP, PGIM Warehouse Inc., PGLH of Delaware Inc., PIFM Holdco LLC, PIIC Limited, PIISC Holdings UK Limited, PIM KF Blocker V Holdings LLC, PIM USPF V Manager LLC, PLA Administradora Industrial SRL, PLA Administradora LLC, PLA Administradora S. de R.L. de C.V., PLA Asesoria Profesional II S. de R.L. de C.V., PLA Asesoria Profesional S.de R.L. de C.V., PLA Co-Investor LLC, PLA Mexico Industrial Manager I LLC, PLA Mexico Industrial Manager II LLC, PLA Retail Fund I Blue LP, PLA Retail Fund I Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II Aggregating Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II LLC, PLA Retail Fund II LP, PLA Retail Fund II Manager LLC, PLA Retail Fund II U.S. Carry/Co-Invest LP, PLA Services Manager Mexico LLC, PLAI Limited, PMCF Holdings LLC, PMCF Properties LLC, PPPF General Partner LLP, PR GA SCP Apartments LLC, PRAMERICA LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY LIMITED, PRAMERICA PRECAP VI GP LLP, PRAMERICA PRECAP VI GP SCOTS FEEDER LLP, PRECO Account IV LLC, PRECO Account Partnership IV LP, PRECO III GP LLP, PREFG Hanwha Manager LLC, PREI Acquisition I Inc., PREI Acquisition II Inc., PREI Acquisition LLC, PREI HYDG LLC, PREI International Inc., PRIAC Property Acquisitions LLC, PRICOA Management Partner Limited, PRISA Fund Manager LLC, PRISA II Fund Manager LLC, PRISA II Pooled Manager LLC, PRISA III Fund GP LLC, PRISA III Fund PIM LLC, PRREF Debt Fund Manager LLC, PRREF II Fund Manager LLC, PRU 3XSquare LLC, PRUCO LLC, PRUDENTIAL CAPITAL ENERGY PARTNERS MANAGEMENT (FEEDER) LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP MEMBER LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP REIT LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP VENTURE 2 LLC, PRUDENTIAL MORTGAGE SKP VENTURE LLC, PT PFI Mega Life Insurance, Passaic Fund LLC, Pine Tree GP, Pine Tree L.P., Platinum GP Limited, Platinum II L.P., Platinum L.P., Pramerica Business Consulting Shanghai Company Limited, Pramerica EVP CP LP, Pramerica Financial Asia Headquarters Pte. Ltd., Pramerica Financial Asia Limited, Pramerica Fixed Income Funds Management Limited, Pramerica Fosun Life Insurance Co. Ltd., Pramerica Holdings Ltd, Pramerica Hong Kong Holdings Limited, Pramerica Insurance Agency China Company Ltd., Pramerica Luxembourg CP GP S.a.r.l., Pramerica PRECAP I GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP II GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP III GP LLP, Pramerica PRECAP IV GP LLP, Pramerica Pan European Real Estate Scots LP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital I GP Scots Feeder LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital I Scotland Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital II Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital III Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV GP Limited, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV GP Scots Feeder LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital IV Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital V Netherlands GP LLP, Pramerica Real Estate Capital V Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Real Estate Capital VI Scots Limited Partnership, Pramerica Scots CP GP LLP, Preco III Scotland Limited Partnership, Pru 101 Wood LLC, Pru Alpha Partners I LLC, Pru Fixed Income Emerging Markets Partners I LLC, PruVen Capital Partners Fund I L.P., Pruco Assignment Corporation, Pruco Life Insurance Company, Pruco Life Insurance Company of New Jersey, Pruco Securities LLC, Prudential 900 Aviation Boulevard LLC, Prudential Affordable Mortgage Company LLC, Prudential Agricultural Property Holding Company LLC, Prudential Annuities Distributors Inc., Prudential Annuities Holding Company Inc., Prudential Annuities Inc., Prudential Annuities Information Services & Technology Corporation, Prudential Annuities Life Assurance Corporation, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Captive Company, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Term Company, Prudential Arizona Reinsurance Universal Company, Prudential Bank & Trust FSB, Prudential Capital Energy Opportunity Fund L.P., Prudential Capital Energy Partners L.P., Prudential Capital Energy Partners Management Fund L.P., Prudential Capital Partners Management Fund IV L.P., Prudential Capital and Investment Services LLC, Prudential Chile II SpA, Prudential Chile SpA, Prudential Commercial Property Holding Company LLC, Prudential Equity Group LLC, Prudential Financial Inc., Prudential Fixed Income Global Liquidity Relative Value Partners LLC, Prudential Fixed Income U.S. Relative Value Partners LLC, Prudential Funding LLC, Prudential General Services of Japan Y.K., Prudential Gibraltar Agency Co. Ltd. Prudential Gibraltar Agency Kabushiki Kaisha, Prudential Global Funding LLC, Prudential Holdings of Japan Inc., Prudential Huntoon Paige Associates LLC, Prudential IBH Holdco Inc., Prudential Impact Investments Mortgage Loans LLC, Prudential Impact Investments Private Debt LLC, Prudential Impact Investments Private Equity LLC, Prudential Insurance Agency LLC, Prudential International Insurance Holdings Ltd., Prudential International Insurance Service Company L.L.C., Prudential International Investments Advisers LLC, Prudential International Investments Company LLC, Prudential International Investments LLC, Prudential Investment Management Services LLC, Prudential Japan Holdings LLC, Prudential Legacy Insurance Company of New Jersey, Prudential Mortgage Asset Holdings 1 Japan Investment Business Limited Partnership, Prudential Mortgage Asset Holdings 2 Japan Investment Business Limited Partnership, Prudential Mortgage Capital Asset Holding Company LLC, Prudential Mortgage Capital Funding LLC, Prudential Mortgage Capital Holdings LLC, Prudential Multifamily Mortgage LLC, Prudential Mutual Fund Services LLC, Prudential Newark Realty LLC, Prudential QOZ Investment Fund 1 LLC, Prudential Realty Securities Inc., Prudential Retirement Financial Services Holding LLC, Prudential Retirement Holdings LLC, Prudential Retirement Insurance and Annuity Company, Prudential Securities Secured Financing Corporation, Prudential Seguros Mexico S.A. de C.V., Prudential Seguros S.A., Prudential Select Strategies LLC, Prudential Servicios S. de R.L. de C.V., Prudential Structured Settlement Company, Prudential Systems Japan Limited, Prudential Tax Services LLC, Prudential Term Reinsurance Company, Prudential Trust Co. Ltd., Prudential Trust Company, Prudential Universal Reinsurance Company, Prudential Workplace Solutions Group Services LLC, Prudential do Brasil Seguros de Vida S.A., Prudential do Brasil Vida em Grupo S.A., Prudential/TMW Real Estate Group LLC, Pruservicos Participacoes Ltda., QMA JP EM All Cap Equity Partners LLC, Quartzsite LLC, Residential Services Corporation of America LLC, Rio CP LP, Rock European Real Estate Holdings S.ar.l., Rock Global Real Estate LLC, Rock Kensington Limited, Rock Marty GP S.a r.l., Rock Oxford S.a r.l., Rock UK Real Estate II S.a.r.l., Rockstone Co. Ltd., Rosado Grande LLC, Ross Avenue Energy Fund Holdings LLC, Ross Avenue Minerals 2012 LLC, SCP Apartments LLC, SENIOR HOUSING PARTNERS VI GP LLC, SENIOR HOUSING PARTNERSHIP FUND VI GP LLC, SHP IV Carried Interest LP, SHP V Carried Interest L.P., SMP Holdings Inc., SVIIT Holdings Inc., Sanei Collection Service Co. Ltd. Kabushiki Kaisha Sanei Shuuno Service, Senior Housing Partners V LLC, Senior Housing Partnership Fund V LLC, Sterling Private Placement Management LLP, Stetson Street Partners L.P., Strand Investments Limited, TBG Insurance Services Corporation, TENSATOR HOLDINGS LTD, TF Proveedora S.C., TMW ASPF I Verwaltungs GmbH & Co. KG, TMW ASPF Management GmbH, TMW Management LLC, TMW Real Estate Group LLC, TMW Realty Advisors LLC, TMW USPF Verwaltungs GmbH, TRGOAG Company Inc., The Gibraltar Life Insurance Co. Ltd., The Keynes Dynamic Beta Strategy US Fund GP LLC, The Prudential Assigned Settlement Services Corp., The Prudential Brazilian Capital Fund LP, The Prudential Gibraltar Financial Life Insurance Co. Ltd., The Prudential Home Mortgage Company Inc., The Prudential Insurance Company of America, The Prudential Life Insurance Company Ltd., The Prudential Real Estate Financial Services of America Inc., The WMF Group, Thurloe Commercial Guernsey Limited, USPF V - Verwaltungs - GmbH & Co. KG, USPF V Carry LLC, USPF V Co-Invest LLC, USPF V Investment LP, United States Property Fund VI GP S.a r.l., VIP Australia Holding Company LLC, VIP Australia Trustee Pty Ltd, Vailsburg Fund LLC, Vantage Casualty Insurance Company, Wabash Avenue Holdings V LLC, Wabash Avenue Partners V L.P., Wadhwani Capital Limited, Waveland Avenue Holdings I LLC, Waveland Avenue Partners I Ireland L.P., Waveland Avenue Partners I US L.P., Wellness Services Ecossistema De Bem Estar Ltda., Wellness Services SRL, Yamato Life, and Yavapai LLC. Read More Rentokil Initial plc, together with its subsidiaries, provides route-based services in North America, the United Kingdom, rest of Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and internationally. It offers a range of pest control services for rodents, and flying and crawling insects, as well as other forms of wildlife management for commercial and residential customers. The company also provides hygiene services, including the provision and maintenance of products, such as soap and hand sanitizer dispensers, hand dryers, air care and purification, cubicle and surface sanitizers, feminine hygiene units, toilet paper dispensers, and floor protection mats. In addition, it engages in the supply and laundering of workwear, uniforms, cleanroom uniforms, and protective equipment. Further, the company installs and services interior and exterior plant displays, flowers, replica foliage, Christmas decorations, and ambient scenting for commercial businesses; offers property care services consisting of damp proofing, property conservation, and woodworm and wood rot treatment; and provides a range of specialist cleaning services, such as graffiti removal deep cleaning of kitchens and washrooms, trauma cleaning, and flood or fire damage cleaning, as well as specialist industrial cleaning and disinfection services, including the professional and discreet disinfection of areas that have been exposed to bio-hazardous situations, such as crime and trauma scenes, prison cells, void properties, emergency vehicles, and healthcare establishments. Additionally, it offers a range of healthcare waste management services comprising the collection, disposal, and recycling of hazardous and offensive waste produced by businesses and organizations associated with the provision of healthcare; and color-coded sharps disposal bins to deal with various types of waste. Rentokil Initial plc was founded in 1903 and is headquartered in Crawley, the United Kingdom. The following companies are subsidiares of D.R. Horton: 10700 Pecan Park Austin Inc., 11241 Slater Avenue NE LLC, 2 C Development Company LLC, 8800 Roswell Road Bldg. B LLC, 91st Avenue & Happy Valley L.L.C., ANN & 215 LLC, Austin Data Inc., BP456 Inc., C. Richard Dobson Builders Inc., CH Funding LLC, CH Investments of Texas Inc., CHI Construction Company, CHM Partners L.P., CHTEX of Texas Inc., CV Mountain View 25 Inv LLC, Cane Island LLC, Continental Homes Inc., Continental Homes of Texas L.P., Continental Residential Inc., Continental Traditions LLC, Crown Operating Company Inc., Cypress Road L.P., D.R. Horton - CHAustin LLC, D.R. Horton - Colorado LLC, D.R. Horton - Crown LLC, D.R. Horton - Emerald Ltd., D.R. Horton - Georgia LLC, D.R. Horton - Hawaii LLC, D.R. Horton - Highland LLC, D.R. Horton - Indiana LLC, D.R. Horton - Iowa LLC, D.R. Horton - MV LLC, D.R. Horton - Nebraska LLC, D.R. Horton - Permian LLC, D.R. Horton - Regent LLC, D.R. Horton - Terramor LLC, D.R. Horton - Texas Ltd., D.R. Horton - WPH LLC, D.R. Horton - Wyoming LLC, D.R. Horton BAY Inc., D.R. Horton CA2 Inc., D.R. Horton CA3 Inc., D.R. Horton CA4 LLC, D.R. Horton Commercial Inc., D.R. Horton Cruces Construction Inc., D.R. Horton Inc. - Birmingham, D.R. Horton Inc. - Chicago, D.R. Horton Inc. - Denver, D.R. Horton Inc. - Dietz-Crane, D.R. Horton Inc. - Greensboro, D.R. Horton Inc. - Gulf Coast, D.R. Horton Inc. - Huntsville, D.R. Horton Inc. - Jacksonville, D.R. Horton Inc. - Louisville, D.R. Horton Inc. - Midwest, D.R. Horton Inc. - Minnesota, D.R. Horton Inc. - NNV, D.R. Horton Inc. - New Jersey, D.R. Horton Inc. - Portland, D.R. Horton Inc. - Torrey, D.R. Horton Inc. Foundation, D.R. Horton Insurance Agency Inc., D.R. Horton LA North Inc., D.R. Horton Life Insurance Agency Inc., D.R. Horton Los Angeles Holding Company Inc., D.R. Horton Management Company Ltd., D.R. Horton Materials Inc., D.R. Horton Realty LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Atlantic County LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Central Florida LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Delaware LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Georgia Inc., D.R. Horton Realty of Melbourne LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Northwest Florida LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Southeast Florida LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Southwest Florida LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Tampa LLC, D.R. Horton Realty of Virginia LLC, D.R. Horton Seabridge Marina Inc., D.R. Horton Serenity Construction LLC, D.R. Horton Urban Renewal LLC, D.R. Horton VEN Inc., D.R. Horton Corpus Christi LLC, DBC54 LLC, DHI Commercial - Lakeview LLC, DHI Commercial - Signal Butte LLC, DHI Commercial - Tamarron LLC, DHI Commercial Inc., DHI Communities Construction LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Arizona LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Colorado LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Florida LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Iowa LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Nevada LLC, DHI Communities Construction of North Carolina LLC, DHI Communities Construction of South Carolina LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Texas LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Utah LLC, DHI Communities Construction of Virginia LLC, DHI Communities II LLC, DHI Communities Inc., DHI Engineering LLC, DHI Insurance Inc., DHI Mortgage Company, DHI Mortgage Company GP Inc., DHI Mortgage Company LP Inc., DHI Mortgage Company Ltd., DHI Ranch Ltd., DHI Realty of Alabama LLC, DHI Realty of Mississippi LLC, DHI Title GP Inc., DHI Title LP Inc., DHI Title of Alabama Inc., DHI Title of Arizona Inc., DHI Title of Florida Inc., DHI Title of Minnesota Inc., DHI Title of Nevada Inc., DHI Title of Texas Ltd., DHI Title of Washington Inc., DHI Verandah South Shores Communities LLC, DHIC - Bridges LLC, DHIC - Brittmore LLC, DHIC - Carolina Forest LLC, DHIC - Desert Peak LLC, DHIC - Durbin Creek LLC, DHIC - Freestone LLC, DHIC - Hammock Landing LLC, DHIC - Heritage LLC, DHIC - Horizon Uptown LLC, DHIC - Jacobs Reserve LLC, DHIC - Lakeview LLC, DHIC - Lipoma LLC, DHIC - Minton Cove LLC, DHIC - Mountain Vista LLC, DHIC - Naco LLC, DHIC - Northshore LLC, DHIC - Prairie Village LLC, DHIC - South Creek LLC, DHIC - Tamarron LLC, DHIC - Valley Vista LLC, DHIC - Varina Gateway LLC, DHIC - Waterleigh II LLC, DHIC - Waterleigh III LLC, DHIC - Waterleigh LLC, DHIC - Westridge LLC, DHIC LLC, DHIC Glendale LLC, DHIC Grove West LLC, DHIC South Park LLC, DHIC Westinghouse LLC, DHIR - Aspen Vista LLC, DHIR - Avian Pointe LLC, DHIR - Emerald Lakes LLC, DHIR - Fosters Ridge LLC, DHIR - Gulf Stream LLC, DHIR - Parkview at Lynn Haven LLC, DHIR - Poplar Terrace LLC, DHIR - Properties I LLC, DHIR - Rock Ridge LLC, DHIR - Sunset Village LLC, DHIR - Village at Hickory Street LLC, DRH - ARK LLC, DRH - ASG LLC, DRH - HWY 114 LLC, DRH Cambridge Homes LLC, DRH Capital Trust I, DRH Capital Trust II, DRH Capital Trust III, DRH Colorado Realty Inc., DRH Construction Inc., DRH Energy Inc., DRH FS Mortgage Reinsurance Ltd., DRH Land Opportunities I Inc., DRH Land Opportunities II Inc., DRH Mountain View LLC, DRH Oil & Gas Inc., DRH Opportunities I Inc., DRH Properties Inc., DRH Realty Company Inc., DRH Realty of Iowa LLC, DRH Regrem L LLC, DRH Regrem LI LLC, DRH Regrem LII LLC, DRH Regrem LIII LLC, DRH Regrem LIV LLC, DRH Regrem LV LLC, DRH Regrem VII LP, DRH Regrem XII LP, DRH Regrem XIV Inc., DRH Regrem XIX Inc., DRH Regrem XLIX LLC, DRH Regrem XLV LLC, DRH Regrem XLVI LLC, DRH Regrem XLVII LLC, DRH Regrem XLVIII LLC, DRH Regrem XV Inc., DRH Regrem XVI Inc., DRH Regrem XVII Inc., DRH Regrem XVIII Inc., DRH Regrem XX Inc., DRH Regrem XXI Inc., DRH Regrem XXII Inc., DRH Regrem XXIII Inc., DRH Regrem XXIV Inc., DRH Regrem XXV Inc., DRH Southwest Construction Inc., DRH Tucson Construction Inc., DRHI Inc., Deer Valley Office Park LLC, Desert Ridge Phase I Partners, Emerald Creek No. 4 L.P., Emerald Realty of Alabama LLC, Emerald Realty of Central Florida LLC, Emerald Realty of North Florida LLC, Emerald Realty of Northwest Florida LLC, Emerald Realty of Southeast Florida LLC, Emerald Realty of Southwest Florida LLC, Encore II Inc., Encore Venture Partners II (California) L.P., Encore Venture Partners II (Texas) L.P., Encore Venture Partners L.P., Express Realty of Central Florida LLC, Express Realty of North Florida LLC, Express Realty of Northwest Florida LLC, Express Realty of Southeast Florida LLC, Express Realty of Southwest Florida LLC, Forestar Group, Forestar Group Inc., Founders Oil & Gas II LLC, Founders Oil & Gas III LLC, Founders Oil & Gas IV LLC, Founders Oil & Gas LLC, Founders Oil & Gas Operating LLC, GP-Encore Inc., Georgetown Data Inc., Germann & McQueen L.L.C., Grand Title Agency LLC, Grande Realty Incorporated, Grande Realty of Pennsylvania LLC, Greywes LLC, HPH Homebuilders 2000 L.P., Hadian LLC, KDB Homes Inc., Kaomalo LLC, Lexington Homes - DRH LLC, MRLF LLC, Martin Road Lake Forest LLC, McQueen & Willis LLC, Meadows I Ltd., Meadows II Ltd., Meadows IX Inc., Meadows VIII Ltd., Meadows X Inc., Melody Homes Inc., Pacific Ridge - DRH LLC, Rielly Carlsbad LLC, Rielly Homes Madison LLC, SFTEN LLC, SGS Communities at Grand Quay L.L.C, SHA Construction LLC, SHLR of California Inc., SHLR of Nevada Inc., SHLR of Washington Inc., SRHI LLC, SSHI LLC, Schuler Homes of Arizona LLC, Schuler Homes of California Inc., Schuler Homes of Oregon Inc., Schuler Homes of Washington Inc., Summerlin Pkwy & Cimarron LLC, Surprise Village North LLC, The Club at Cobblestone LLC, The Club at Hidden River LLC, Tierra Financial Advisors LLC, Travis County Title Company, Treasure Assets LLC, Venture Management of South Carolina LLC, Vertical Construction Corporation, WPH-Camino Ruiz LLC, WPH-Copper Canyon II LLC, WPH-Copper Canyon LLC, Walker Drive LLC, Western Pacific Brea Development LLC, Western Pacific Housing - Mountaingate L.P., Western Pacific Housing - SDG LLC, Western Pacific Housing - Westlake II L.P., Western Pacific Housing Inc., Western Pacific Housing Management Inc., Western Pacific Housing-Antigua LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Broadway LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Canyon Park LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Carrillo LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Communications Hill LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Copper Canyon LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Creekside LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Lomas Verdes LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Lyons Canyon Partners LLC, Western Pacific Housing-McGonigle Canyon LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Norco Estates LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Pacific Park II LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Park Avenue East LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Park Avenue West LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Playa Vista LLC, Western Pacific Housing-River Ridge LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Terra Bay Duets LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Torrey Meadows LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Torrey Village Center LLC, Western Pacific Housing-Windemere LLC, and Wilson Parker Homes. Read More 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. Telefonica Brasil S.A., together with its subsidiaries, provides mobile and fixed telecommunications services to residential and corporate customers in Brazil. Its fixed line services portfolio includes local, domestic long-distance, and international long-distance calls; and mobile portfolio comprises voice and broadband internet access through 3G, 4G, 4.5G, and 5G as well as mobile value-added services and wireless roaming services. The company also offers data services, including broadband and mobile data services. In addition, it provides pay TV services through direct to home satellite technology, IPTV, and cable, as well as pay-per-view and video on demand services; network services, such as rental of facilities; other services comprising internet access, private network connectivity, computer equipment leasing, extended service, caller identification, voice mail, cellular blocker, and others; wholesale services, including interconnection services to users of other network providers; and digital services, such as entertainment, cloud, and security and financial services. Further, the company offers multimedia communication services, which include audio, data, voice and other sounds, images, texts, and other information, as well as sells devices, such as smartphones, broadband USB modems, and other devices. Additionally, it provides telecommunications solutions and IT support to various industries, such as retail, manufacturing, services, financial institutions, government, etc. It markets and sells its solutions through own stores, dealers, retail and distribution channels, door-to-door sales, and outbound tele sales. The company was formerly known as Telecomunicacoes de Sao Paulo S.A. - TELESP and changed its name to Telefonica Brasil S.A. in October 2011. The company was incorporated in 1998 and is headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Everest Re Group, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance and insurance products in the United States, Bermuda, and internationally. The company operates through Reinsurance Operations and Insurance Operations segments. The Reinsurance Operations segment writes property and casualty reinsurance; and specialty lines of business through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies in the United States, Bermuda, Ireland, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The Insurance Operations segment writes property and casualty insurance directly, as well as through brokers, surplus lines brokers, and general agents in Bermuda, Canada, Europe, South America, Canada, Chile, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Netherlands. The company also provides treaty and facultative reinsurance products; admitted and non-admitted insurance products; and property and casualty reinsurance and insurance coverages, including marine, aviation, surety, errors and omissions liability, directors' and officers' liability, medical malpractice, mortgage reinsurance, other specialty lines, accident and health, and workers' compensation products. In addition, it offers commercial property and casualty insurance products through wholesale and retail brokers, surplus lines brokers, and program administrators. Everest Re Group, Ltd. was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda. In June 2017, three critically endangered North Atlantic right whale carcasses were spotted floating in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In the weeks that followed the number of dead right whales rose to 10, while three more were found entangled alive in fishing gear. (The total number of deaths may be as high as 12.) For a species with approximately 500 surviving animals in the world, this was a crisis an unprecedented die-off signalling a troubled outlook for the species. But over the last few years scientists have been concerned that the small population of surviving whales has been doing poorly on several fronts. Females have been bearing fewer calves and population growth has not just been at a standstill since 2012 its likely in decline after this years losses. Lower numbers of whales have been spotted in some well-known feeding areas including Grand Manan Basin in the Bay of Fundy, an important nursery habitat for young. Experts combing over photographic data say some whales bodies are in poor condition, suggesting the animals are using more energy to traverse longer distances in search of food. Scientists believe its this search that has likely brought large numbers of right whales into the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Now, with almost two per cent of the population dead in a matter of months, Canadians are expressing an urgent need for action. Efforts to prevent further fatalities are crucial in the quest to keep this endangered species from the brink of extinction. The great pursuit Dalhousies Kimberley Davies is a leading expert on the North Atlantic right whale. Shes been responding to both the presence of many live whales in the southern Gulf this summer and the abnormal death toll. In between, shes been vocal about the die-off in the international media coverage thats followed, often responding to unsubstantiated theories. People want answers. They want to know why the right whales are dying and how to stop it, says Dr. Davies (left), a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Oceanography. The right whale research community is collecting some of the data required to try and answer those questions. But its going to take time. Dr. Davies, who completed her PhD in oceanography at Dal followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in the Faculty of Engineering, has been studying right whales and their habitats for a decade. In 2010, surveys started to notice a decline of whales in their known habitats that had persisted over 2-3 years and we became concerned, says Dr. Davies. The community started asking Where are these animals we know and love? With 500 animals potentially spread along the eastern seaboard from Massachusetts to Newfoundland in the summertime, how do we go searching for a needle in a haystack? Those questions formed the idea behind Dr. Davies current postdoctoral fellowship working with Chris Taggart, a renowned biological oceanographer at Dal. The pair developed the Whales, Habitat and Listening Experiment (WHaLE) project. Its funded primarily by the Dal-hosted Marine Environmental Observation Prediction and Response Network (MEOPAR), and Environment and Climate Change Canada, with support from the Dal-hosted Ocean Tracking Network (OTN) and more than 20 other organizations. WHaLE uses acoustic technology, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and an existing marine tracking infrastructure to tackle a critical issue facing the surviving right whales: vessel strikes. Ship strikes or entanglement have caused most North Atlantic right whale mortalities on record. In fact, preliminary results of necropsies performed on some of the dead whales this summer indicate three of them suffered from internal bleeding typical of blunt force trauma consistent with a ship strike. But necropsy results only go so far when addressing how to protect the surviving whales in high-traffic shipping regions. Read also: Under the skin Dal researchers work to determine cause of death for North Atlantic right whales Those are the dead whales, she says. So, what are the live whales telling us? Thats the question WHaLe was built to answer. Listening that lasts As a habitat ecologist, Dr. Davies focuses on where the whales are and why. As a biological oceanographer, shes also interested in the ocean conditions present where right whales congregate. WHaLE helps her study both. It starts with acoustics. Dr. Davies mentor and colleague, Mark Baumgartner of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, is well-known for his work using acoustics and computer programming to monitor right whales present around the busy shipping lanes off Boston, MA. His team built a unique system WHaLE uses to detect right whale sounds in real-time and transmit their locations to researchers via satellite. Hydrophones, which are tools that detect soundwaves underwater, listen for whales within a 10 km radius. Theyre affixed to OTN-operated slocum gliders akin to aerial drones. Once deployed, the gliders and their hydrophones move about the ocean for months at a time, continuously recording data and location along the way. Currently, one glider is deployed in the Gulf and a second in Roseway Basin, a known right whale feeding ground off southwestern Nova Scotia. One WHaLE team goal is to package this real-time data and broadcast it to vessels in the area, in the hopes that a ships crew will take precautions if alerted to a right whale nearby. Thats not all WHaLE is accomplishing. Another OTN-operated glider is equipped with an active acoustic echo sounder that emits pulses of sound to measure the food that right whales eat: a tiny zooplankton called Calanus. Kim Davies and Moira Brown of the New England Aquarium planning field work in their study of North Atlantic Right Whales (New England Aquarium photo) These crustaceans go through a hibernation-like period called diapause in the spring and summer. Dr. Davies explains that during diapause the usually free-swimming zooplankton sink, and large numbers gather in bowl-shaped basins on the continental shelf. Right whales flock to these small areas. Those working with Dr. Davies and Dr. Taggart use WHaLE gliders to scope out where the zooplankton in diapause can be found while simultaneously listening for right whales in those areas. In this way, Dal researchers like masters student Gennavieve Ruckdeschel and PhD candidate Hansen Johnson are helping find these special spots in the ocean where right whales feed. Enough studies have been done to confirm that the Grand Manan Basin and Roseway Basin are feeding grounds for right whales. In contrast, very little habitat research has been done in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. But researchers, including Dr. Davies, suspect that this area could be a prime feeding ground too. Shifting focus Evidence indicates that the Orpheline Channel located near Northern New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island contains significant concentrations of Calanus, similar to Grand Manan Basin and Roseway Basin. Large numbers of the resting zooplankton would be easy prey there, too. The whales may have been frequenting that source of food for a while, but researchers werent looking for them there before 2015. Based on advice from Dr. Davies, Dr. Taggart and other prominent experts, a National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA) team from the U.S. did the first aerial survey of the southern Gulf that year. The same year, three dead right whales were found in the area. Sure enough, NOAA found 40 whales in the Gulf. Since then, WHaLE gliders have consistently detected whales in the area and more sightings have been recorded. What matters is that the whales have been there for at least three years now, explains Dr. Davies. Their food is there, their food has been there in the past, and it will probably be there in the future, she says. Today there are more research efforts to better understand this area of the Gulf as a newly discovered right whale habitat; the body of evidence continues to grow. And when theres proof that whales are present in an area where policy hasnt required their consideration before, there are grounds for improved marine management. Protecting a habitat The federal government has taken some immediate measures to protect the right whales. Transport Canada is enforcing a temporary vessel speed restriction of 10 knots in the area because a slower speed lessens how lethal a ship strike can be. Fisheries and Oceans Canada also closed a large snow crab fishery in Northeastern New Brunswick early this year. Its nets were found on the three live whales entangled this summer. Listen: Recording of Right Whales in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, recorded by the WHaLE project These efforts reflect how serious the issue is, but Dr. Davies emphasises the importance of getting the science right before large-scale, permanent measures are taken. WHaLE will eventually collect enough data to better understand the spatial distribution of right whale prey fields, the boundaries of their habitats and more. When youre trying to decide where a closed off area should be, it should encompass not only where youre seeing the whales today, but where you might expect them to be over longer time and space scales, explains Dr. Davies. Pushing ahead For Davies, these creatures are more than a study subject. To her, the North Atlantic right whales are beloved animals. Animals that have brought together a tight-knit community of scientists, wildlife experts, and community volunteers. Animals that have captured the worlds attention and concern this year. That makes this species plight not only a challenge for conservation and marine management, but a profoundly personal one too. The stoicism and leadership of those involved in the response to this summers crisis should not be left out of the story. It has been an emotional situation. We have to push our emotions aside and continue methodically collecting data, so science will be able to answer the questions that are asked of us in a logical way, says Dr. Davies. Thats what scientists are for. Earlier this year, Kimberley Davies was awarded the Canadian National Committee for the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Researchs (CNC-SCOR) Early Career Ocean Scientist Award. Dr. Davies has been recognized in her field for the impressive breadth of expertise behind her oceanography research, which has led to effective and practical conservation policy changes. Read also: Under the skin Dal researchers work to determine cause of death for North Atlantic right whales Facebook has quietly begun offering a new photo-sharing app in China via a local company with which it has no affiliations. The social media company has been blocked in China since 2009, necessitating the secretive launch of the new app, which is named Colourful Balloons. The app was launched via Youge Internet Technology, which could be a bone of contention between the tech firm and the Chinese authorities. While the move might ruffle some feathers and despite the social networks nationwide ban in China - Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made no secret of his interest in the country, holding held talks with Chinese politicians and sharing images of himself jogging in Tiananmen Square as well as videos of himself speaking Mandarin. A statement from the company noted: We have long said that we are interested in China, and are spending time understanding and learning more about the country in different ways. Our focus right now is on helping Chinese businesses and developers expand to new markets outside China by using our ad platform. Colourful Balloons reportedly functions very similarly to Facebooks Moments app, which automatically sorts users photos and videos according to the time and location at which they were taken, as well as by indentifying the people who appear in them. It also facilitates the creation of shareable photo albums; however, Colourful Balloons shares data via Chinese social network WeChat rather than Facebook. Facebook is not the only major global internet firm to be banned in China, with Twitter and Snapchat also unavailable in the market. China blocked Facebooks main app in 2009, with Instagram being banned in 2014 and WhatsApp facing partial censorship last month as the government tightened restrictions on user-generated content. With 700 million individual internet users, Chinas market represents a $750 billion opportunity to tech giants such as Google and Facebook. Accordingly, they are eager to gain access to the Chinese internet market in whatever ways they are able to. However, they face tough demands from the Cyberspace Administration of China, which wants all app stores to be registered, and typically places blanket bans on technologies such as augmented reality until it is satisfied that they pose no security risks. In November last year, it emerged that Facebook had engineered its own censorship software that could expedite its entry into the Chinese market. The tool was designed to prevent certain content from appearing in the news feeds of users based on their location. Analysts at Credit Suisse reiterated their 'outperform' recommendations on shares of Weir and Hunting on the back of the latest "solid" official US data on well completions. Those figures, they said, supported their estimates for Weir's Oil & Gas arm in the backhalf of 2017. On top of that, they believed there were upside risks for Weir. According to the Energy Information Administration, the US Department of Energy's statistical arm, well completions in the States were 65% higher year-on-year last month. True, in comparison to June completions were only 3% ahead, but in year-on-year terms the rate of improvement continued to be "dramatic", they said. Indeed, if completions simply stayed at their current levels then that would equate to year-on-year growth of 46%, just below Credit Suisse's estimate for a rise of 47%. Yet Weir's shares had given up all of their gains in the time since its positive second quarter pre-announcement, when it reported 106% growth in Oil & Gas versus completions up by 48%. Furthermore, drilling and completions were still 26% and 35% below their previous peaks, respectively. Credit Suisse's forecast was for the horizontal rig count to end the year 6% below its level in the second quarter of 2017, alongside continued month-on-month gains projected for completions in the second half despite a moderation in drilling. Furthermore, if completions caught up with drilling or if clients began replacing part of their ageing fracking fleet then the risk was of further upside to Weir's orders in the second half of 2017 and into 2018. Credit Suisse had a 2,200p target on Weir. Shares in Amazon fell in pre-market trading after US President Donald Trump lashed out at the "great damage" the online retail giant was doing to the country's bricks and mortar retailers. Lashing out on Twitter, Trump said: "Amazon is doing great damage to tax paying retailers. Towns, cities and states throughout the US are being hurt - many jobs being lost!" Amazon stock fell just over $5 to $977.66, a slip of 0.52%, in premarket trade two and half hours before Wall Street opens officially. Amazon and other online behemoths, generally from the US, have mostly come under fire in Europe for not paying their fair share of tax. Last week Amazon was revealed to have paid just 16.5m tax on European revenues of 21.6bn, with a 50% fall in its annual UK corporate tax bill. The Seattle-based retailer, which has seen its market capitalisation in the US soar to over $500bn in recent months to make founder Jeff Bezos the richest person in the world for a short while, has been investigated by the European Commission over its tax deal with Luxembourg, with regulators believing it locked in a preferentially low tax rate, using a system of internal royalty payments. Amazon saw profits slump in its most recent quarterly results as it spends big on further attempts to diversify its business operations, with profits in 2016 falling to 24m last year. Bezos's plans to buy grocer Whole Foods for around $13.7bn have put the cat among the retail pigeons the world over, however, causing carnage among stocks of US retailers and hitting shares in London too. Bezos is personally the owner of the Washington Post newspaper, object of the President's ire over any unfavourable coverage he deems "fake news" and other reporting practices of the "very dishonest" media. Target announced Wednesday it had earned $1.23 per share in the second quarter of the year on reported revenues of $16.43bn, a 1.6% increase. Target said more shoppers had returned to its traditional brick-and-mortar stores, leading the discount retailer to raise its outlook for 2017 as its turnaround efforts were starting to bear fruits. "We are pleased that second-quarter traffic increased more than 2 percent, reflecting growth in both our store and digital channels," chief executive Brian Cornell said in a statement. "We continue to focus on our long-term strategy [...] While our recent results are encouraging, we will continue to plan prudently as we invest in building our brands, our digital channel, the value we provide our guests and elevating service levels in our stores." The rise in existing store sales almost doubled analysts' expectations, increasing by 1.3%, as digital revenues increased by an impressive 32%. "This continues to be a challenging, competitive environment, that's why we're particularly pleased by the ongoing progress we saw on the second quarter," chief marketing officer of Target, Mark Tritton said on Wednesday's earnings conference call. For 2017, Target updated its earnings forecast to between $4.34 and $4.54 per share. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had called for earnings per share of $4.39, falling on the lower end of Target's updated range. As of 1415 BST, Target shares were gaining 3.55% to $56.28. Tension between India and China heightened on Tuesday after Indian and Chinese soldiers briefly clashed in a disputed area of the Western Himalayas, according to a report from Indian officials that was denied by Beijing. Chinese troops allegedly threw stones at Indian soldiers near the Pangong Lake in the Ladakh region and had twice tried to enter the Indian territory but were then pushed back, Indian officials said. The confrontation exacerbated tensions between the two countries which were already engaged in a two month standoff in another part of the border over a strategic Himalayan plateau. Reuters reported on Tuesday that after India demanded Chinese troops pull back 250 metres, China counter offered to move its troops back 100 metres. The two sides have frequently accused each other of invading each other's territories, although clashes are rare in the area. India and China began disputing in June when India sent troops to prevent China from extending a road through the Doklam territory- otherwise known as "Donglang" in Chinese, prompting Beijing to accuse India of trespassing on Chinese soil. While, China told India to withdraw its troops before any proper negotiation to take place, India said both sides should withdraw their forces at the same time. Beijing's foreign ministry dismissed the report that China offered to reposition its troops, saying, "China will not trade its territorial sovereignty under any circumstances Chinas position on solving this incident is clear and firm. India must immediately and unconditionally withdraw all its trespassing troops and equipment back to the Indian side of the border." Sun Hongnian, a borderland expert of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the SouthAsian Monitor agency the Reuters report was fake news coming possibly from India, which intends to turn Donglang into a disputed area. Reports that European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi was not planning to signal a policy shift at a key conference next week weighed on the euro, in turn giving a lift to stocks across the Continent. As of 1203 BST, the benchmark Stoxx 600 was higher by 0.79% or 2.96 points to 379.45, alongside an advance of 0.79% or 96.53 points in Germany's Dax to 12,274.31. In Italy, the Milan FTSE Mibtel was ahead by 1.12% or 243.37 points at 21,965.05. According to a sourced report from Reuters, Draghi was not planning any fresh messages for the upcoming Jackson Hole Symposium in the States. Instead, his intention was reportedly to focus on the venue's main theme, namely fostering a dynamic global economy, preferring to hold off on any debate until autumn. That weighed on the euro/dollar rate,which was down by 0.28% to 1.1702, although for Michael Hewson at CMC Markets UK, as long as the pair remained above 1.1620 another move towards 1.20 continued to be the most likely scenario. During the night Anthony H Cordesman at CSIS minimised the purported risk from North Korea's missile test, explaining that "firing an unproven missile with an unproven warhead in an unproven re-entry vehicle with unproved accuracy and reliability at these ranges against a major nuclear power goes from stupidity to insanity." Nevertheless, recent events on the Korean peninsula did hold the potential for escalating tension in Northeast Asia over the next decade, he said. Front month Brent crude oil futures were also gaining altitude, rising 0.86% to $51.24 per barrel after the American Petroleum Institute reportedly revealed a 9.16m barrel stockdraw for last week. The Stoxx 600's gauge of Basic Resource companies' shares was among the best performers with an advance of 1.77% to 412.18 despite a Bloomberg report that hedge fund manager Crispin Odey was 'shorting' metal stocks in anticipation of slower economic growth in China. On the economic front, Eurozone gross domestic product growth picked up from a 0.5% clip in the first three months of 2017 to a 0.6% pace in the second quarter, amid strong expansions in the Netherlands and Spain. Later in the day, the US Commerce Department is expected to release July data on housing starts and permits, followed by the minutes of the most recent Federal Reserve policy meeting at 1900 BST. On the corporate front, shares in Carlsberg were holding lower after the company disappointed investors by failing to raise its full-year earnings forecasts, instead reiterating it was expecting a mid-single digit increase in profits. Maersk was headed in the other direction; despite under-delivering with its second quarter results, while company chief Soren Skou sounded a cheery note on the industry's outlook. Akzo Nobel reached a three-deal truce with activist hedge-fund Elliot Management. Arcelor Mittal's South African unit was reportedly mulling layoffs in a bid to lower costs. Fiat was in the spotlight amid reports that a Chinese suitor had presented a bid for the company this month. A UK government positioning paper has said that ensuring there is no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will be a top priority as Brexit negotiations continue. The issue of the border between the north and southern parts of the island has become one of the main factors to be thrashed out by David Davis Brexit team and their EU counterparts, with some fearing border posts could return along with a restriction in the movement of goods and people. Davis department released its latest positioning paper on Tuesday in which it outlined two alternatives to the Irish border question. It suggests either a streamlined border operated by the UK or a customs partnership between the two states which allows trade and movement to continue freely as it currently does. A government source told The Guardian that it was Davis and his teams priority to ensure there would be no 'physical infrastructure' on the border. "Top of our list is to agree upfront no physical border infrastructure that would mean a return to the border posts of the past and is completely unacceptable to the UK," the source said. Irish officials have been vehemently opposed to any reinstating of the hard border, and said in response to the position paper that it was a 'subtle repositioning' of the UKs stance. "This essentially means extending the customs union to incorporate the UK while it is outside of the European Union. That is effectively what the Government has been suggesting is needed for Northern Ireland for some time," a spokesperson said. In its first results as a FTSE 250 company, Sirius Minerals reported a larger loss as its development of its Woodsmith polyhalite fertiliser mine under the Yorkshire Moors prepares to move to sinking of a first shaft in the new year. At the end of June, Sirius had 584.6m of bank funds available, having spent 121m during the first six months of the year, of which 48.3m was capital expenditure. With no revenue coming in, a 14.7m operating loss was reported, all from operating costs. This rose to a loss of 151.3m before tax, resulting from 137m accounting losses that were principally from a 112m loss from the fair value re-measurement of the derivatives associated with a convertible bond, plus 21m losses from royalty financing derivatives and 15m of interest. "With the share price increasing by 57% over the period, the size of the loss attributable to the derivatives has increased materially," the company explained. "As the convertible bonds are converted and the royalty financing is drawn, these derivative liabilities will be reclassified from liabilities to equity and require no cash settlement by the group." Planning ahead the company has continued to expand its sales and marketing team in North and South America, Asia and Europe, where commercial discussions are continuing regarding sales of the POLY4 fertiliser product, as well as in key growth markets such as Africa. "Each of these opportunities represent material volume prospects in key markets for Sirius." In July, a shaft sinking scope contract was awarded, with the scope encompassing roughly three quarters of the mine site development from the initial financing plan, with the remainder of the funds to be used for preparation work, provision of utilities to site and shaft bottom development. Sirius, which was promoted to the FTSE 250 in June's reshuffle after moving up from AIM in March, six years after acquiring the potash project, has publicly announced its intention to conduct another fundraising round in 2018 in order to raise further funds to complete development and reach commercial production. Chief executive Chris Fraser said the half year has been "marked by excellent progress" on the development of the mine and associated infrastructure. "With highways and enablement works completed, and site preparation into the latter stages, we eagerly anticipate the commencement of shaft sinking activities. Good progress has also been made at Lockwood Beck, the intermediate site for the mineral transport system." He said interest in future supplies of the polyhalite product "remains strong", with marketing discussions "supported by ever-present and expanding research and development work, which will support customers and farmers in the years to come". The number of first-time buyers is increasing rapidly because of the support of the governments Help to Buy scheme and ultra-low mortgage rates. First-timers borrowed 5.9 billion in mortgages in June, up by 26 per cent compared with May and 9 per cent on June last year. This equated to 36,000 loans, a rise of 22 per cent from the previous month, according to UK Finance, the trade organisation. - The Times A government plan to copy European customs controls after Brexit has run into immediate difficulties in Brussels and the UK, with ministers being accused of making unrealistic promises in pursuit of frictionless trade. The long-awaited policy paper proposes to keep Britain in a near identical customs union with the EU for an unspecified period after departure while it seeks to negotiate a permanent arrangement that will also mirror much of the existing system. - Guardian Chinas credit-fuelled economic strategy has been branded as dangerous by the International Monetary Fund in a strongly-worded statement warning that its approach risks financial turmoil. The IMF used its annual health check on the worlds second biggest economy to stress that faster expansion in 2017 was coming at the cost of a jump in private sector debt and an increasing use of complex financial instruments. - Guardian The UK government will insist there must be no return to the hard borders of the past as it publishes its proposals for ensuring goods and people can continue to travel freely between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic after Brexit. In the latest of a series of papers covering different aspects of Britains future relationship with the EU, David Daviss Brexit department will say it hopes to agree upfront with the EU that there will be no need for physical infrastructure such as new border posts. - Guardian A Glencore unit in the Democratic Republic of Congo has admitted that it understated its copper production in a disclosure that analysts say risks fuelling suspicions among African governments that mining groups are underpaying tax. Katanga Mining, which is 86 per cent-owned by Glencore but is listed separately on the Toronto stock exchange, has applied to the Canadian regulator for trading in its shares to be halted after an external investigation into incorrect recording of output in 2014 and 2015. - The Times Germanys constitutional court said yesterday that it saw significant reasons to believe that the European Central Bank had overstepped its mandate with its 2.3 trillion bond-buying scheme. As they referred a legal challenge to the ECBs actions to the European Court of Justice, judges at the federal constitutional court in Karlsruhe expressed doubts over whether the scheme complied with rules designed to prevent richer nations being forced to bail out weaker ones. - The Times French pilots have claimed easyJet is risking passenger and crew safety by scheduling too many flights. Captains are being pressed into flying more hours than they are legally allowed and face intimidation if they refuse, Frances pilots union said. - Guardian Air Berlin sought to put years of financial turbulence to an end yesterday by filing for insolvency when Etihad, its main shareholder, pulled the plug on further financial support. The German government immediately sparked controversy by announcing a bridging loan of 150 million to enable Air Berlin to keep its aircraft in the air for the next three months, including the tail end of the busy summer holiday period, and to secure the jobs of 7,200 staff while talks continue. - The Times Institutional investors have sharply increased efforts to shame individual company directors into better behaviour by voting against their re-election, according to new figures. Revolts against single directors of FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 companies rose fivefold this year in protest against them taking too many jobs or to curb egregious pay packages. - The Times Millions of Britons are having their health and home life put at risk because bosses are not offering them regular shift patterns, a new study by Oxford and Cambridge Universities has shown. Nearly 15 per cent of the workforce, 4.6 million people, are the victims of precarious scheduling where their hours are so inconsistent that they cannot make plans, leading to stress and domestic strife. - Telegraph David Daviss former chief of staff launched a series of Twitter tirades yesterday, accusing the Brexit secretary of leering, bullying and laziness. James Chapman, 40, claimed that Mr Davis, 68, had been working a three-day week since day one in the cabinet and suggested he did not bother to read the contents of his red box. - The Times Energy companies face a fresh public battle after new findings revealed that consumers have still been overcharged by an unacceptable 100m as a result of billing blunders, even as complaint rates fall. The industrys second major spat in as many weeks has erupted after a survey of energy users found that around 1.3 million bill payers claim to have been overcharged by their energy supplier in the year ending in May. - Telegraph More than 70,000 extra care home places will be needed by 2025, with pensioners now spending twice as long living without independence, a Lancet study suggests. Women over the age of 65 can now expect to spend the last three years of their lives in a care home, or receiving help several times daily, the research shows. Two decades ago, they could expect to spend the last 18 months of their lives in need of such help. - Telegraph The number of official appeals against business rates has collapsed since the introduction of reforms branded disastrous by representatives of small companies. The check, challenge and appeal system for making an appeal against the contentious bills has made it nearly impossible to challenge calculations that may be incorrect, businesses claim. - The Times The government is to cancel all contracts with Learndirect, the adult training provider that tried to suppress a damning regulators report into its poor standards. The Department for Education said on Tuesday that it would withdraw all funding from the organisation, which is responsible for almost 73,000 trainees, by July 2018 and that it had already banned it from taking on new apprentices. - Guardian The problem of native speakers gaming the system and taking a language exam in their native tongue has become so great that Ofqual, the exam regulator, attempted to measure it. It discovered that almost one in five candidates taking German A level was, in fact, German. In Spanish it was one in ten and French one in 11. - The Times They may conjure images of rainy British summers, tedious scrabble games and cramped bathrooms, but sales of caravans and motor homes have boomed over the past 12 months, figures show. Although Britain's "staycation" trend is a factor behind increase, it has emerged that another, even less glamorous phenomenon is behind the rise; the housing crisis. - Telegraph Britains first big pumped hydroelectric power station is to undergo a 50 million refurbishment to extend its life by 20 years. The Ffestiniog plant in Snowdonia was built in 1963 and can generate 360 megawatts of electricity, enough to supply north Wales, for up to three and a half hours at a time. - The Times ETHIOPIA The Ethiopian government has expressed disappointment at the rate of progress of its developing textile and apparel manufacturing sector after a slowdown in recent investments in new ventures; together with the failure of existing projects such as a controversial manufacturing business previously controlled by Turkish investors where swathes of biodiverse land was bulldozed in the Lower Omo Valley to make way for cotton agriculture. Both China and Turkey have been heavily involved in the development of Ethiopias textile and garment manufacturing industries over the past few years. By Gail Koffman The fox guarding the hen house aptly describes the inner workings of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Trump administration. A major case in point: The EPA official tasked to head up the Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention office, Nancy Beck, came to the job after working as a former high-level official for a chemical industry association. She was charged with updating the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which addresses the production, use and disposal of such chemicals as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), asbestos, radon and lead-based paint. Not surprisingly, Becks updated TSCA regulations significantly weaken government regulations over these chemicals in consumer products and building materials by removing the provision for regulating all uses of chemicals. In response, Earthjustice filed two lawsuits against the EPA late last week for weakening these regulations. The suits were filed on behalf of organizations representing populations that are most at risk from weakened chemical regulationslow-income communities, parents and teachers of children with learning disabilities, workers and indigenous populations. The lawsuits challenge two EPA regulations that set ground rules for how the EPA will prioritize chemicals for safety review and then evaluate the risks of those chemicals under TSCA. The EPAs newly adopted rules will leave children, communities and workers vulnerable to dangerous chemicals, said Earthjustice attorney Eve Gartner. This lawsuit is about one thing: holding the Trump EPA to the letter of the law and ensuring it fulfills its mandate to protect the public. Under the Obama administration, Congress strengthened the TSCA, requiring the EPA to conduct comprehensive risk evaluations of chemicals. These evaluations devoted special attention to all of the risks posed to vulnerable populations and to consider all the ways a chemical may be used to account for all possible sources of exposure, otherwise known as the conditions of use provision. The Trump administrations revision of TSCA is an entirely different matter. The most significant change is whether the EPA must consider all conditions of use as part of the risk evaluation process, explained attorney Eve Gartner. If the EPA can pick and choose which uses of a chemical it will consider, it could ignore some sources of exposure. And that could lead the agency to underestimate the risk the chemical poses to public health. For more than six years, Earthjustice has fought for TSCA reform to ensure the EPA adequately protects the public and environment from harmful chemicals. Earthjustice filed Fridays complaints in federal court in San Francisco on behalf of WE ACT for Environmental Justice, Learning Disabilities Association of America, United Steelworkers, Alaska Community Action on Toxics, the Union of Concerned Scientists, Environmental Health Strategy Center, the Environmental Working Group and the Sierra Club. What Mr. Trump may not realize is that many residents, especially tenants living in poor or substandard housing, disproportionately suffer from respiratory problems such as asthma, said Dr. Adrienne Hollis, director of federal policy at WE ACT for Environmental Justice. We need to know the risks of chemicals used in our communities because exposure often exacerbates health disparities and outcomes. Enforcement of chemical laws to keep our communities healthy should be a top priority for the EPA. Regarding the harm of toxic chemicals to children, Patricia Lillie, president of the Learning Disabilities Association of America, said, These rules give the EPA authority to choose to ignore chemical uses that could result in prenatal and childrens exposures to chemicals that are linked to learning and developmental disabilities. Earthjustice also joined the Safer Chemicals Healthy Families in sending a strong letter to EPA director Scott Pruitt, expressing concern about Nancy Becks conflict of interest in overseeing chemical regulations. Becks weakening of TSCA is a toxic case in point. We know that the massive amount of plastic thats continually dumped into our oceans can end up in the stomachs of marine species (and ultimately on our plates), but why would they want to eat it? Well, new research suggests that fish are not just accidentally gobbling up our plastic trashthey could be actively seeking it out because they like how the debris smells and are confusing it for their natural prey. The study, published Wednesday in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, presents the first behavioral evidence that plastic debris may be chemically attractive to marine consumers. These chemical cues may lure consumers, such as anchovy, into regions of high plastic density and activate foraging behaviors, thus making it difficult to ignore or reject plastic items as potential prey, the paper states. As New Scientist explains from the study, when plastic enters the ocean, the debris gets quickly covered by algae and releases an odor similar to krill, the natural prey for certain fish such as anchovies. The smell of the plastics then sets off the anchovies foraging and feeding behavior. Matthew Savoca, from the NOAA Southwest Fisheries Science Center in Monterey, California and the lead author of the study, told to the Guardian, When plastic floats at sea its surface gets colonized by algae within days or weeks, a process known as biofouling. Previous research has shown that this algae produces and emits DMS, an algal based compound that certain marine animals use to find food. [The research shows] plastic may be more deceptive to fish than previously thought. If plastic both looks and smells like food, it is more difficult for animals like fish to distinguish it as not food. And yes, the study also suggests that since these fish are confusing plastics for food, it could impact species that are higher up on the food chain, including humans. Given the trophic position of forage fish, these findings have considerable implications for aquatic food webs and possibly human health, the authors conclude. By Kevin Kalhoefer U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Scott Pruitt has appeared on Fox News twice as often as on other cable and broadcast networks combined, and he has frequently granted interviews to right-wing talk radio shows and other climate-denying outlets, Media Matters has found. Pruitts media strategy is right in line with that of his boss. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump eschewed mainstream media outlets; its a pattern his administration has continued since the election, favoring conservative and right-wing media outlets that are friendly to President Trumps agenda. By following the same approach, Pruitt has been able to push misinformation, avoid tough questioning and appeal to the presidents political base. Pruitt Appeared on Fox News Twice as Often as He Did on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS and NBC Combined Sarah Wasko Scott Pruitt has been a guest on Fox News a total of 12 times since his confirmation. From February 17, when he was sworn in, to August 14, Pruitt made twice as many appearances on Fox News (12) as he did on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS and NBC combined (6).* With the exception of two appearances on Fox News Sunday, Pruitt rarely faced tough questions on Fox News and was able to use the network as a platform for pushing misleading talking points without rebuttal. Pruitt appeared most frequently on Fox & Friends, Trumps favorite show, which some journalists have criticized as state TV and a daily infomercial for the Trump presidency for its sycophantic coverage of the president and his administration. Pruitt made the following appearances on Fox News: Three appearances on Fox & Friends on March 28, April 13 and May 17. Two appearances on Fox News Sunday on April 2 and June 4. Two appearances on Special Report with Bret Baier on February 21 and June 1. Two appearances on The First 100 Days on February 28 and April 27. One appearance on Hannity on March 28. One appearance on The Story with Martha MacCallum on June 5. One appearance on Americas Newsroom on June 30. Sarah Wasko By comparison, Pruitt made only six appearances on the other major cable and broadcast television networks combined. From the time Pruitt took the helm at the EPA through August 14, he was a guest just six times total on CNN, MSNBC, ABC and NBC, and he made no appearances at all on CBS. On each of these non-Fox programs, Pruitt faced questions either about whether Trump still believes climate change is a hoax or about Pruitts own views on climate change. In response, Pruitt either avoided answering the question or repeated his lukewarmer stance that climate change is happening but we dont know how much is human-caused. In all but one of these appearances, Pruitt repeated false or misleading talking points about the Paris climate agreement. Here are Pruitts guest appearances on cable news and broadcast networks other than Fox: One appearance on CNNs The Situation Room on February 28. One appearance on CNNs The Lead with Jake Tapper on June 1. One appearance on MSNBCs Morning Joe on June 6. Two appearances on ABCs This Week on March 26 and June 4. One appearance on NBCs Meet the Press on June 4. *Pruitts appearance on Meet the Press aired on both NBC and MSNBC, but for the purposes of this study, we only counted it as an NBC appearance. Pruitt Has Been a Frequent Guest on National Right-Wing Talk Radio Shows Sarah Wasko Pruitt has also been a frequent guest on nationally broadcast right-wing talk radio shows since his confirmation, Media Matters found. We examined the top 10 shows listed on Talkers.coms Top Talk Audiences list, as well as numerous shows broadcast on the SiriusXM Patriot channel and found the following: Three appearances on Salem Radio Networks The Hugh Hewitt Show on March 29, May 11 and June 2. Two appearances on Fox News Radios Brian Kilmeade Show on April 27 and May 19. One appearance on SiriusXM Patriots David Webb Show on April 26. One appearance on SiriusXM Patriots Breitbart News Daily on June 5. One appearance on Westwood Ones The Savage Nation on June 1. All of these hosts or outlets have denied climate change: Hugh Hewitt has a years-long record of climate denial: He wrote in a 2011 blog post that we dont know how much humans contribute to global warming, adding if it will be harmful or if theres anything we can do about it. Hewitt also downplayed the threat of climate change in a September 2016 episode of his show in which he said that warming might be a real problem over 500 years. Brian Kilmeade has denied climate change, both as a host on his radio show and as a co-host on Fox & Friends. On a 2013 episode of his radio show (then called Kilmeade & Friends), Kilmeade suggested that only corrupt climatologists accept human-caused climate change. On the same day, Kilmeade disputed on Fox & Friends that it is settled scientific collective thought that human activity causes climate change. On the January 12 episode of the David Webb Show, Webb cast doubt on the scientific consensus around climate change, arguing that its not significant that the vast majority of climate scientists publishing peer-reviewed research agree on the human causes of warming: You can have 99 percent of peer-reviewed, but it doesnt mean that the one percent like that guy named Copernicus wont be correct about the fact that the Earth was not flat and we were not the center of the universe. Breitbart.com has a long track record of pushing blatant climate science misinformation and attacking climate scientists and climate science, calling researchers talentless low-lives and abject liars and climate change a hoax. Breitbart is also a go-to outlet for fossil fuel industry-funded academics who want to get publicity for their work. Michael Savage (Host): Please explain to me how come ancient core samples from the Antarctic show that there was climate change going on hundreds of thousands of years before man industrialized. [Whitehouse] would not have an answer for us, Mr. Pruitt. The science is fake science that theyve been foisting upon a gullible public. Scott Pruitt: You know whats interesting, Michael? There was a great article in The Wall Street Journal to your point, by Steven Koonin, a scientist at NYU, called red team/blue team. I dont know if you saw it or not. But he proposed that we should have a red team/blue team approach with respect to CO2. We should have red team scientists and blue team scientists, in an open setting, debate, discuss, and have an open discussion about what do we know, what dont we know, and the American people deserve truth. Savage: Amen to that, because weve had no debate whatsoever. All Obama told us was 98 percent of scientists agree. So what? There was a time when 100 percent of scientists said the Earth is flat. Did that make them right? Pruitt: No, look, I mean the reason theres not consensus, through policy in Washington, DC, is because, truly, the American people dont trust what has happened in the past several years with respect to regulatory policy and this issue. Pruitts right-wing radio appearances have extended beyond nationally broadcast shows. E&E News reported in May that Pruitt appeared on the local morning talk radio show of a North Dakota blogger who described the Obama administrations EPA as an enemy to the well-being of his state. ThinkProgress noted that during a state listening tour in North Dakota earlier this month, Pruitt stopped by the conservative talk radio show Whats On Your Mind to share his thoughts on a number of EPA-related issues. During that conversation, Pruitt referred to the so-called settled science of climate change. And on August 10, Pruitt appeared on a Texas radio show, Politico reported, where he said his staff will assess the accuracy of a major federal climate report thats been drafted by scientists from 13 agencies. Frankly this report ought to be subjected to peer-reviewed, objective-reviewed methodology and evaluation, he said, ignoring the fact that the report has already undergone extensive peer review. Pruitt also used his appearance on the show to cast doubt on climate science in general. Pruitt Has Given Interviews to Other Climate-Denying Outlets, Including Online Publications and Cable Business Shows In addition to his June interview on Breitbarts radio show, Pruitt granted the Breitbart website an interview in March. Pruitt also sat for a lengthy video interview in July with the fossil fuel-funded Daily Caller, another denialist online outlet. And he gave an interview in May to The Daily Signal, an online news outlet run by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that casts doubt on climate change. Besides his appearances on cable news shows, Pruitt also went on cable business shows and networks that serve as platforms for climate denialmost notably CNBCs Squawk Box, where he told climate-denying host Joe Kernen that he did not believe carbon dioxide is a primary contributor to global warming. Pruitt has also frequently given interviews on Fox Business Network, which mirrors Fox News denialist stance on global warming. Pruitt made the following appearances on the Fox Business Network: One appearance on Cavuto: Coast to Coast on March 9. One appearance on The Intelligence Report with Trish Regan on April 12. Pruitts Courting of Conservative Media is On an Entirely Different Level from Predecessors Scott Waldman of E&E News reported that after weeks of blowback from Pruitts appearance on Squawk Box, the EPA chief shifted his media appearances to friendlier venues, a move that allowed him to tee off on a favorite series of talking points: Obamas energy policy was America second, energy industry innovations have reduced the U.S. carbon footprint, the so-called war on coal is now over, EPAs job is to encourage business growth in concert with the environment, and the era of punitive action against energy companies is over. Waldman also noted that Pruitts courting of conservative media is on an entirely different level from previous EPA administrators. From Waldmans article: To be sure, all administrations seek out friendly press. President Obama talked about health care on the Between Two Ferns comedy program with Zach Galifianakis, which Republicans criticized as undignified. And former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy granted exclusive interviews to left-leaning outlets like Mother Jones and Grist. But critics say Pruitts courting of conservative media is on an entirely different level. [] Liz Purchia, a former EPA spokeswoman under the Obama administration, said its extremely unusual to place an administrator only on partisan outlets. She noted that McCarthy regularly interacted with reporters from outlets that produced coverage EPA officials did not appreciate. [] Only talking to far right-wing media outlets, they are only talking to a small group of Americans that regularly follow them, and they are intentionally going to reporters who will only ask them questions they want to hear and arent speaking to the broader American people about their actions, Purchia said. In Mother Jones, Rebecca Leber also reported that since taking office, Pruitt has almost exclusively relied on a small number of conservative media outlets to tell an upbeat version of his leadership at the EPA, with occasional detours into the Sunday news shows, creating an echo chamber cheerleading the EPAs regulatory rollbacks, Trumps withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, and its newfound anti-science denial. Leber also quoted Purchia remarking on how Pruitts approach to media interviews isolates him from most Americans and instead plays to Trumps base: Liz Purchia, an Obama-era EPA communications staffer, says the EPAs attention to right-wing audiences resembles Trumps tactics at the White House. Theyre tightly controlling [Pruitts] public events and interviews, which isolates him from most Americans and instead plays to Trumps base, Purchia said in an email. Theyre not trying to use communications tactics to reach a broad audience. Methodology Media Matters searched the following terms in Nexis, iQ Media and TVEyes to find Scott Pruitts on-air TV appearances from the date of his swearing in as EPA Administrator on February 17 to August 14: Pruitt, EPA administrator, E.P.A. administrator, EPA chief, E.P.A. chief, EPA head, E.P.A. head, head of the EPA, head of the E.P.A., head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator, or Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. We did not count instances of networks airing Pruitts appearance at the White Houses June 2 press briefing. For radio appearances, Matters Matters searched the same terms in Veritone for the top 10 programs in Talkers.coms Top Talk Audiences list and the following programs that air on SiriusXM Patriot: Breitbart News Daily, David Webb Show, Brian Kilmeade Show and The Wilkow Majority. Reposted with permission from our media associate Media Matters for America. Two American solar manufacturers squared off with solar executives, state officials, foreign diplomats, conservative groups and ALEC in a hearing before the International Trade Commission Tuesday to halt possible imposing tariffs on the import of solar cells and modules. Georgia-based Suniva and Oregon-based SolarWorld argued that competition from foreign manufacturers, particular Chinese manufacturers, poses an unlawful threat to domestic manufacturers and are calling for relief under an obscure U.S. trade law as their last hope. Solar Energy Industries Association, on the other hand, contended that imposing such tariffs could erase nearly a third of the industrys 250,000 jobs. This case could determine the future of the American solar industry and is one of the first major trade decisions of the Trump administration. As reported by the New York Times: At issue is whether the financial woes of Suniva and its co-petitioner, SolarWorld Americas, are a result of unfair competition from Chinese companies benefiting from state subsidies, or of their own business practices. And though the sharp drops in the cost of panels have made it difficult for domestic manufacturers to compete, they have also fueled a boom in solar development throughout the country, providing a lift to an industry that says it now has more than 250,000 jobs. For a deeper dive: Washington Post, Houston Chronicle, ClimateWire, New York Times, Reuters, Greentech Media For more climate change and clean energy news, you can follow Climate Nexus on Twitter and Facebook, and sign up for daily Hot News. By Agnel Philip, Elizabeth Sims, Jordan Houston and Rachel Konieczny As many as 63 million peoplenearly a fifth of the countryfrom rural central California to the boroughs of New York City, were exposed to potentially unsafe water more than once during the past decade, according to a News21 investigation of 680,000 water quality and monitoring violations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The findings highlight how six decades of industrial dumping, farming pollution and water plant and distribution pipe deterioration have taken a toll on local water systems. Those found to have problems cleaning their water typically took more than two years to fix these issues, with some only recently resolving decades-old violations of EPA standards and others still delivering tainted water, according to data from the agencys Safe Drinking Water Information System. Many local water treatment plants, especially those in small, poor and minority communities, cant afford the equipment necessary to filter out contaminants. Those can include arsenic found naturally in rock, chemicals from factories and nitrates and fecal matter from farming. In addition, much of the countrys aging distribution pipes delivering the water to millions of people are susceptible to lead contamination, leaks, breaks and bacterial growth. Experts warn contamination in water can lead to cancer, gastrointestinal diseases and developmental delays in children. The EPA estimates local water systems will need to invest $384 billion in the coming decades to keep water clean. The cost per person is more than twice as high in small communities as it is in large towns and cities. The EPA and water treatment industry consider the coming years a crucial period for American drinking water safety as pipes and treatment plants built in the mid-20th century reach the end of their useful lives. Were in this really stupid situation where, because of neglect of the infrastructure, were spending our scarce resources on putting our fingers in the dike, if you will, taking care of these emergencies, but were not doing anything to think about the future in terms of what we should be doing, said Jeffrey Griffiths, a former member of the Drinking Water Committee at the EPAs Science Advisory Board. As water systems age, 63 percent of Americans are now concerned a great deal about drinking water pollution, according to a Gallup poll released in March that showed such worries at their highest level since 2001. Drinking water pollution has long been a top environmental concern for Americansabove air pollution and climate change, according to the same poll. Many of the nations largest city systems violated EPA safety standards during the past decade, potentially exposing tens of millions of people to dangerous contaminants. New York Citys system, which serves 8.3 million people, failed standards meant to protect its water from viruses and bacteria two times during that period. The system still hasnt addressed its most recent violation from February for not building a cover for one of its water reservoirs, according to EPA records. The problems extend to the countrys large suburbs. Tacoma, Washingtons, system failed to meet a federally mandated timeline for installing a treatment plant meant to kill the parasite cryptosporidium. Chris McMeen, deputy superintendent for the Seattle suburbs system, which serves 317,600 people, said the pathogen has never been found in dangerous levels in the citys water. The system was also cited for failing to test for dozens of chemicals during the past decade. In Waukesha, Wisconsin, 18 miles west of Milwaukee, decades of radium contamination from the citys underground aquifer prompted officials to draft a proposal to draw water from Lake Michigan for its 71,000 residents. The Great Water Alliance, a $200 million project, is expected to be completed by 2023. Thousands of rural towns have the most problems because communities often lack the expertise and resources to provide safe drinking water. In several Southwestern states, 2 million people received groundwater tainted with arsenic, radium or fluoride from their local water systems, with many exposed to these chemicals for years before hundreds of small, low-income communities could afford to filter them out. Some still havent cleaned up their water. Contamination in rural areas from these naturally occurring chemicals, found in the bedrock of aquifers, made Texas, Oklahoma and California the top states for EPA drinking water quality violations during the past decade. Sometimes its orange, sometimes its green, sometimes its brown, said Melissa Regeon, a lifelong resident of Brady, Texas, which is trying to secure money for water system upgrades to filter out the radium in its water. You just never know. It looks horrible. Small water systems in Californias San Joaquin Valley have battled both farming pollution and natural contamination from arsenic for years. High levels of nitrate from farm runoff and groundwater rock are linked to low oxygen levels in babies and cancer. Those levels have been found in systems serving 317,000 people during the past decade in the valley, 10,000 square miles of concentrated farming in the states center. The crash of the coal mining industry in southern West Virginia has left hundreds of residents in charge of their own small water systemssome of which date to the Civil War. Residents in the mountains of Wyoming and Fayette counties say they are getting too old to maintain water treatment plants and pipes, and they lack funding to carry out proper treatment on the water, which comes from springs in old coal mines. What is pretty clear is that a lot of these small communities, especially in lower-income areas, have a real problem ensuring compliance or even treating the water, said Erik Olson, director of the health program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. A lot of these smaller communities, they dont even have the wherewithal to apply for available funding. Drinking water quality is often dependent on the wealth and racial makeup of communities, according to News21s analysis. Small, poor communities and neglected urban areas are sometimes left to fend for themselves with little help from state and federal governments. Contaminated water runs toward the Grand Calumet River and Lake Michigan, the source of drinking water for East Chicago, Ind. Michael M. Santiago / News21 In recent years, drinking water crises in minority communities, like Flint, Michigan, and East Chicago, Indiana, made national news when old pipes leached lead into the water of thousands for months before state and federal officials responded. In Texas, Corpus Christis water system shut down for nearly four days in December because of a chemical spill at an asphalt plant, closing schools and businesses throughout the predominantly Hispanic city. These are not isolated incidences, the Flints of the world or the Corpus Christis or the East Chicagos, said Manuel Teodoro, a researcher at Texas A&M University who co-authored a report on the disproportionate effect of drinking water quality problems on poor minority communities. These incidents are getting media attention in a way that they didnt a few years ago, but the patterns that we see in the data suggest that problems with drinking water quality are not just randomly distributed in the populationthat there is a systemic bias out there. Many residents of Tallulah, Louisiana, where 77 percent of the population is black and 40 percent lives in poverty, have turned to bottled water as their crumbling utility failed to keep water free of toxic disinfectant byproducts. Systems serving thousands of others in predominantly black communities around the state have struggled to keep these carcinogens out of their taps. Many Latinos along the U.S.-Mexico border who live in unincorporated low-income rural areas lack the resources to maintain their systems or dont have access to treated water. Although the EPA sets minimum drinking water standards, almost all state governments are in charge of testing requirements and operator licensing, creating a maze of regulations and protections that differ from state to state. A 2011 Government Accountability Office report found the EPAs database isnt complete, with some states incorrectly reporting or failing to report many violations. The EPA also hasnt created a rule for a new contaminant since 2000. Millions of Americans are also exposed to suspect chemicals the EPA and state agencies dont regulate. Two of these chemicals, perfluorinated compounds PFOA and PFOS, remain unregulated after decades of use as an ingredient in firefighting foam, Teflon and other consumer products. These perfluorinated compounds have been linked to low birth weights in children, cancer and liver tissue damage, according to the EPA. Americas drinking water remains among the safest in the world and protecting drinking water is EPAs top priority, an agency spokesperson said in a statement to News21. More than 90 percent of the countrys drinking water systems meet all of EPAs health-based drinking water standards every day throughout the year. The EPA did not make any officials available for an interview. While most Americans get their water from local utilities, the 15 million homes with private wells, especially in rural areas, are vulnerable to the same contamination issues but are not required to install treatment systems. The limited data available shows wells in many parts of the country draw groundwater containing dangerous levels of toxins from naturally occurring elements and man-made sources. Small Systems, Big Problems The majority of local water systems serve fewer than 5,000 people, accounting for a majority of the 97,800 instances when regulators cited water systems for having too many contaminants during the past decade. For example, Wolfforth and Brady, two small communities in western and central Texas, received the most citations for water quality in the U.S. Wolfforth, where the tallest structure is a blue and white water tower, racked up 362 violations in 10 years for arsenic and fluoride in its groundwater source. Since arsenic can cause cancer and fluoride can weaken bones, the contaminants required a rapid solution. The city of 4,400 is rapidly growing like much of suburban Texas, but City Manager Darrell Newsom said it still took time to find funding for the $8.5 million water treatment project. Theres a lot of angst about how much money we spent, and there was a tremendous amount of angst about how long it took, Newsom said. It was just so long and so much money that we had tied up for so long. Even though the system is running, the city will send water notices to residents until the system doesnt violate the arsenic standard for a full year. Many continue to buy bottled water instead of drinking from the tap. We need some more clean water, said Shreejana Malla, who co-owns a convenience store in Wolfforth with her husband. So I would want them to, as soon as possible, to get the clean water. I dont feel comfortable taking a shower, but weve got to take a shower. The city got a loan and raised water rates about 30 percent to pay for the upgrades, Newsom said. Generally, systems rely on customers to pay for upgrades, presenting a challenge for small communities who have fewer people to charge for water. Areas without growth are often forced to choose between keeping up with maintenance costs or keeping water payments low. The EPA and state governments provide some grants and low-interest loans, but there isnt enough money available to meet most needs, and they often require complicated applications. The average person looks at (water) like electricity, said Alan Roberson, executive director of the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators. They just want it to be there, and they want it to be at a fair price. For instance, 260 miles southeast of Wolfforth is Brady, a city proudly known as the Heart of Texas. The community is trying to secure funding from the states Economically Distressed Areas Program for a $22 million water system project to get rid of the underground radium contaminating its drinking water. This fund only has $50 million left, and Brady is not the only city in contention for the money, leaving some concerned about the future of Bradys water if it doesnt receive part of the last allocation. If we dont get it this time and the state doesnt reauthorize that program, I dont know what well do, said Amy Greer, a sixth-generation farmer at the locally operated Winters Family Beef. I really want our state legislators to know how terrible it is that they are not renewing a program that will help small rural communities face and tackle these kind of massive health and safety problems, and Im just ashamed of them. Despite funding uncertainty and mounting pressure from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the states drinking water authority, the city is determined to get clean water for its 5,400 residents. The answer is solving the water problem because EPA and TCEQ has placed a timeline on us, Mayor Tony Groves said. If we dont do that, theres always the risk that they could come in and say, OK, you lose your water system, and were gonna pay somebody to operate your water system better than youre operating it and youre gonna pay for it.' Whats in the Water? Bobby Kirby was nominated by his neighbors in Kanawha Falls, West Va. to be their water system treasurer. The job sometimes entails performing maintenance on the Civil War-era system, which sits in a wooded area on a mountain, about a half mile above the town and only accessible by a footpath. Rachael Konieczny / News21 While many communities with small systems, like Wolfforth and Brady, struggle to address contamination issues, thousands more of these communities arent sure if their water is safe because their systems dont test properly or report the results. In southern West Virginia coal country, a number of communities failed to test their water hundreds of times after the miners that operated them left when their camps shut down. Many of these systems are now run by the residents. In Garwood, a 55-person Wyoming County town surrounded by coal mines, the community water system stopped testing in 2014. Everybody just up and quit, said lifelong resident Jessica Griffith, who drank untreated water from an old coal mine for nine months before learning it wasnt being tested. There was no warning, no nothing. Nobody handed it over to anybody else. The stay-at-home mom and her neighbors say maintenance seems like a full-time job, and they can only afford to patch up leaks and fix busted pipes. Weve just been trying to keep the water flowing because we dont have the money to treat it, Griffith said. We dont know how to treat it. Two hours north, Kanawha Falls Community Water in Fayette County was cited for not testing or reporting more than 2,000 times in 10 years, the most in the country. No one is sure when the system stopped being maintained, but residents say they experience the consequences daily. Joe Underwood, who had skull surgery after a four-wheeler accident, said he showers with a cap after doctors told him the towns water gave him two infections near his brain. The old-style ways of getting water is not healthy, Underwood said. And Im meaning that for people that have serious injuries. Im meaning that for little babies. Im meaning that for anybody that has any kind of health problems. The unincorporated community relies on volunteers like Bobby Kirby, nominated by his neighbors to be water system treasurer, to pour chlorine into the storage tanks to disinfect the water. After years of not testing and reporting, Kirby said the state threatened to arrest him for failing to turn in paperwork. They came here and said they was going to lock me up, he said. Well, I told them, You can lock me up if you want to, but I dont own it. Im just a property owner that wants water.' The West Virginia Infrastructure and Jobs Development Council, the agency responsible for improving infrastructure in the state, announced several projects to link communities like Kanawha Falls and Garwood to surrounding city water systems. Kanawha Falls $1.8 million extension is scheduled to be completed by the end of the summer. While some systems in West Virginia have no operators, other small systems throughout the country dont have the money to ensure full-time maintenance. Scotts Mills, a city of 370 tucked away in the tree-lined foothills of northwest Oregon, cannot afford to hire a full-time staff for its water system and relies on local volunteers to step up. We rely on a neighbor complaining about an odor or something like that. We really dont have any staff to drive around and look, said Dick Bielenberg, the city councilman in charge of water. If theres a water leak or something like that well take care of that, sometimes with volunteer labor, sometimes well hire an outside contractor, depends upon how big the project is. Resident Jake Ehredt volunteered to be the water commissioner when he moved into community three years ago. However, Ehredt is also a full-time water system operator for the neighboring city of Molalla and said he can only spend an hour or two a day in Scotts Mills for routine checks. While he is away, residents with water problems are directed to call Bielenberg by a sticky note on the city hall door. One thing we have out here is contact with our elected officials. We know them, said Ron Hays, whose family has lived in and around Scotts Mills since 1899. If the water main breaks, you know who to call. Though surveys from the Oregon Health Authority showed the citys water system hasnt violated any safety standards, Bielenberg says the city needs a plan for at least the next 20 years should any problems arise. Theres not a lot of money so you learn to get by and improvise, Ehredt said. We are going to work on updating little small things. Replacement Era According to the EPA, most of the $384 billion needed to keep the countrys water systems safe should go toward upgrading pipes buried underground that distribute the waterout of sight and mind to most Americans until one of them bursts. The plants are visible. If EPA makes a regulation, and you have to comply with it, then the utility manager can go to the board and say, Hey, I have to do this, EPA is making me do it, and then get the money to build the treatment improvements, said Roberson, of the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators. Its a little harder, then, when youre talking about the pipes that are buried in the ground because you dont see the pipes. You dont know if you have a problem until you get a big leak or a big geyser comes out in the street. Even if water service is not disrupted by a pipe break, millions of miles of lead pipes in the U.S. are at risk of leaching the toxic metal into drinking water without proper oversight from system operators. In Milwaukee, about 70,000 homes are connected to the citys water system with aging lead pipes, many of which run under low-income and African-American communities in the citys northside neighborhoods. Many residents fear this has contributed to the citys high rate of lead poisoning among children. Pipes that leak or break can also introduce bacteria and chemicals from the surrounding soil after the water has already been treated. Government officials acknowledge the daunting challenges ahead for water utilities. In the final months of the Obama administration, the EPAs Office of Water published a report highlighting aging infrastructure, unregulated contaminants and financial support for small and poor communities as top concerns for drinking water quality going forward. The actions proposed here go far beyond what EPA alone can do; all levels of government, utilities, the private sector and the public each have critical roles to play, the report said. Utilities ultimately must take many of the critical actions needed to strengthen drinking water safety, and communities must be actively engaged in supporting these actions. Industry groups are sounding the alarm about the bill coming due for water infrastructure as it enters a replacement era. The American Society of Civil Engineers gave the U.S. a D grade for the quality of its drinking water systems based on an evaluation of their safety, condition, capacity and other criteria. Of the 25 states with individual grades, none scored higher than a C+. Pennsylvania, Louisiana, Arkansas and Alaska all received D level grades. The American Water Works Association estimated water systems will need about $1 trillion in investment during the next 25 years just to maintain and expand water service. This price tag doesnt include the costs associated with getting rid of lead service lines or upgrading water treatment plants. A part of that, not all of it, but a part of it, is a lack of investment when it should have started earlier, Steve Via, American Water Works Association director of federal relations, said about the upgrades necessary in coming years. Methodology News21 analyzed 680,000 violations from a 10-year period starting Jan. 1, 2007, in the EPAs Safe Drinking Water Information System. The database only contains active community water systems in U.S. states and tribal lands because they are the most likely to serve homes. The EPA data also shows how many people were affected by violations. The EPA has acknowledged this database might not reflect all violations that have occurred and some information may be incorrect. The violations included two types: health-based violations and monitoring/reporting violations. Health-based violations are instances when water was found to be contaminated or not properly treated for contaminants. The story refers to these violations as water quality violations. Monitoring/reporting violations occur when a water system either fails to test for a contaminant or report its test result to the state and customers. Correction: An earlier version of this article misspelled Natural Resources Defense Council. Bridgewater looks to become a regional nightlife hub in western PA Bridgewater bars offer patrons a nightlife experience that is unique from any other in western Pennsylvania From the lab of City College of New York chemical engineer and Fulbright Scholar Teresa J. Bandosz comes a groundbreaking development with the potential to thwart chemical warfare agents: smart textiles with the ability to rapidly detect and neutralize nerve gas. The fabric consists of a cotton support modified with Cu-BTC MOF/oxidized graphitic carbon nitride composites. The latter were developed in the lab previously and tested as nerve agent detoxification media and colorimetric detectors. Combining Cu-BTC and g-C3N4-ox resulted in a nanocomposite (MOFgCNox) of heterogeneous porosity and chemistry. Upon the deposition of MOFgCNox onto cotton textiles, a stable fabric with supreme photocatalytic detoxification ability towards the nerve gas surrogate, dimethyl chlorophosphate, was obtained. The detoxification process was accompanied by a visible and gradual color change, which Bandosz said can be used for the selective detection of chemical warfare agents and for monitoring their penetration inside a protective layer. "These smart textiles adsorbed almost 7g of CWA surrogate/its detoxification products per gram of Cu. The superior performance was linked to the high dispersion of the MOF crystals on the fibers, and a specific texture promoting the availability of the active copper centers," said Bandosz, who is seeking funding for additional research. ### Her research team included Dimitrios A. Giannakoudakis, a PhD student; Yuping Hu, visiting scientist from China; and postdoctoral research associate, Marc Florent. Their study appears in the journal Nanoscale Horizons. Bandosz received a 2016-2017 Fulbright Senior Scholar Award for her pioneering work. She did research at the University of Malaga in Spain to help alleviate global warming and solve energy problems. LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Aug. 16, 2017--A potential new state of matter is being reported in the journal Nature, with research showing that among superconducting materials in high magnetic fields, the phenomenon of electronic symmetry breaking is common. The ability to find similarities and differences among classes of materials with phenomena such as this helps researchers establish the essential ingredients that cause novel functionalities such as superconductivity. The high-magnetic-field state of the heavy fermion superconductor CeRhIn5 revealed a so-called electronic nematic state, in which the material's electrons aligned in a way to reduce the symmetry of the original crystal, something that now appears to be universal among unconventional superconductors. Unconventional superconductivity develops near a phase boundary separating magnetically ordered and magnetically disordered phases of a material. "The appearance of the electronic alignment, called nematic behavior, in a prototypical heavy-fermion superconductor highlights the interrelation of nematicity and unconventional superconductivity, suggesting nematicity to be common among correlated superconducting materials," said Filip Ronning of Los Alamos National Laboratory, lead author on the paper. Heavy fermions are intermetallic compounds, containing rare earth or actinide elements. "These heavy fermion materials have a different hierarchy of energy scales than is found in transition metal and organic materials, but they often have similar complex and intertwined physics coupling spin, charge and lattice degrees of freedom," he said. The work was reported in Nature by staff from the Los Alamos Condensed Matter and Magnet Science group and collaborators. Using transport measurements near the field-tuned quantum critical point of CeRhIn5 at 50 Tesla, the researchers observed a fluctuating nematic-like state. A nematic state is most well known in liquid crystals, wherein the molecules of the liquid are parallel but not arranged in a periodic array. Nematic-like states have been observed in transition metal systems near magnetic and superconducting phase transitions. The occurrence of this property points to nematicity's correlation with unconventional superconductivity. The difference, however, of the new nematic state found in CeRhIn5 relative to other systems is that it can be easily rotated by the magnetic field direction. The use of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory's pulsed field magnet facility at Los Alamos was essential, Ronning noted, due to the large magnetic fields required to access this state. In addition, another essential contribution was the fabrication of micron-sized devices using focused ion-beam milling performed in Germany, which enabled the transport measurements in large magnetic fields. Superconductivity is extensively used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and in particle accelerators, magnetic fusion devices, and RF and microwave filters, among other uses. ### Reference: "Electronic in-plane symmetry breaking at field-tuned quantum criticality in CeRhIn5," Nature 23315 (2017). DOI 10.1038/nature23315. Researchers: Filip Ronning, Mun K. Chan, Brad J. Ramshaw, Ross D. McDonald, Fedor F. Balakirev, Marcelo Jaime, and Eric D. Bauer (Los Alamos National Laboratory); Luis Balicas (Florida State University); Toni Helm, Kent Shirer, Maya Bachmann, and Philip J.W. Moll (Max-Planck-Institut for Chemical Physics of Solids - Dresden). Funding: Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Division of Materials Sciences and Engineering, the Max Planck Society, and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (German Research Foundation). Work at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory was supported by National Science Foundation Cooperative Agreement no. DMR-1157490, the State of Florida, and the US DOE. M.J. acknowledges support from the IMS Rapid Response program at Los Alamos. Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, BWX Technologies, Inc. and URS Corporation for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration. Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health and global security concerns. An Italian-led team of astronomers used the MUSE (Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer) instrument on the Very Large Telescope (VLT) at ESO's Paranal Observatory in Chile to study how gas can be stripped from galaxies. They focused on extreme examples of jellyfish galaxies in nearby galaxy clusters, named after the remarkable long "tentacles" of material that extend for tens of thousands of light-years beyond their galactic discs [1][2]. The tentacles of jellyfish galaxies are produced in galaxy clusters by a process called ram pressure stripping. Their mutual gravitational attraction causes galaxies to fall at high speed into galaxy clusters, where they encounter a hot, dense gas which acts like a powerful wind, forcing tails of gas out of the galaxy's disc and triggering starbursts within it. Six out of the seven jellyfish galaxies in the study were found to host a supermassive black hole at the centre, feeding on the surrounding gas [3]. This fraction is unexpectedly high -- among galaxies in general the fraction is less than one in ten. "This strong link between ram pressure stripping and active black holes was not predicted and has never been reported before," said team leader Bianca Poggianti from the INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Padova in Italy. "It seems that the central black hole is being fed because some of the gas, rather than being removed, reaches the galaxy centre." [4] A long-standing question is why only a small fraction of supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies are active. Supermassive black holes are present in almost all galaxies, so why are only a few accreting matter and shining brightly? These results reveal a previously unknown mechanism by which the black holes can be fed. Yara Jaffe, an ESO fellow who contributed to the paper explains the significance: "These MUSE observations suggest a novel mechanism for gas to be funnelled towards the black hole's neighbourhood. This result is important because it provides a new piece in the puzzle of the poorly understood connections between supermassive black holes and their host galaxies." The current observations are part of a much more extensive study of many more jellyfish galaxies that is currently in progress. "This survey, when completed, will reveal how many, and which, gas-rich galaxies entering clusters go through a period of increased activity at their cores," concludes Poggianti. "A long-standing puzzle in astronomy has been to understand how galaxies form and change in our expanding and evolving Universe. Jellyfish galaxies are a key to understanding galaxy evolution as they are galaxies caught in the middle of a dramatic transformation." ### Notes [1] To date, just over 400 candidate jellyfish galaxies have been found. [2] The results were produced as part of the observational programme known as GASP (GAs Stripping Phenomena in galaxies with MUSE), which is an ESO Large Programme aimed at studying where, how and why gas can be removed from galaxies. GASP is obtaining deep, detailed MUSE data for 114 galaxies in various environments, specifically targeting jellyfish galaxies. Observations are currently in progress. [3] It is well established that almost every, if not every, galaxy hosts a supermassive black hole at its centre, between a few million and a few billion times as massive as our Sun. When a black hole pulls in matter from its surroundings, it emits electromagnetic energy, giving rise to some of the most energetic of astrophysical phenomena: active galactic nuclei (AGN). [4] The team also investigated the alternative explanation that the central AGN activity contributes to stripping gas from the galaxies, but considered it less likely. Inside the galaxy cluster, the jellyfish galaxies are located in a zone where the hot, dense gas of the intergalactic medium is particularly likely to create the galaxy's long tentacles, reducing the possibility that they are created by AGN activity. There is therefore stronger evidence that ram pressure triggers the AGN and not vice versa. More information This research was presented in a paper entitled "Ram Pressure Feeding Supermassive Black Holes" by B. Poggianti et al., to appear in the journal Nature on 17 August 2017. The team is composed of B. Poggianti (INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Padova, Italy), Y. Jaffe (ESO, Chile), A. Moretti (INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Padova, Italy), M. Gullieuszik (INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Padova, Italy), M. Radovich (INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Padova, Italy), S. Tonnesen (Carnegie Observatory, USA), J. Fritz (Instituto de Radioastronomia y Astrofisica, Mexico), D. Bettoni (INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Padova, Italy), B. Vulcani (University of Melbourne, Australia; INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Padova, Italy), G. Fasano (INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Padova, Italy), C. Bellhouse (University of Birmingham, UK; ESO, Chile), G. Hau (ESO, Chile) and A. Omizzolo (Vatican Observatory, Vatican City State). ESO is the foremost intergovernmental astronomy organisation in Europe and the world's most productive ground-based astronomical observatory by far. It is supported by 16 countries: Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, along with the host state of Chile. ESO carries out an ambitious programme focused on the design, construction and operation of powerful ground-based observing facilities enabling astronomers to make important scientific discoveries. ESO also plays a leading role in promoting and organising cooperation in astronomical research. ESO operates three unique world-class observing sites in Chile: La Silla, Paranal and Chajnantor. At Paranal, ESO operates the Very Large Telescope and its world-leading Very Large Telescope Interferometer as well as two survey telescopes, VISTA working in the infrared and the visible-light VLT Survey Telescope. ESO is also a major partner in two facilities on Chajnantor, APEX and ALMA, the largest astronomical project in existence. And on Cerro Armazones, close to Paranal, ESO is building the 39-metre Extremely Large Telescope, the ELT, which will become "the world's biggest eye on the sky". Links * Research paper in Nature: https://www.eso.org/public/archives/releases/sciencepapers/eso1725/poggianti_final_bis_withfigs.pdf * Photos of the VLT: http://www.eso.org/public/images/archive/category/paranal/ * Photos of MUSE: http://www.eso.org/public/images/archive/search/?adv=&subject_name=MUSE * Further details about the GASP (GAs Stripping Phenomena in galaxies with MUSE) programme: http://web.oapd.inaf.it/gasp/index.html * Jellyfish galaxies 3D models: JW100, JO175, and JO194: https://www.eso.org/public/products/models3d/JW100/ Boston, Mass. - A new in-depth analysis of results from 27 national public opinion polls by 12 survey organizations finds that the failure of the recent U.S. Senate debate over proposals to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA) relates to deep divisions among Republicans, as well as between Republicans and Democrats, on the future of the ACA. In addition, the analysis suggests that the outcome of the debate was influenced by a substantial growth since the ACA's implementation in public support for the principle that the federal government should ensure that all Americans have health insurance coverage. The article, which provides a framework for understanding how the American public viewed the recent congressional debate over repealing and replacing the ACA, will be published online August 16, 2017 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The analysis finds that Republicans in the general public are much more divided on health care issues than was recognized by many commentators at the time of President Trump's election, making it more difficult to enact major legislation. When asked what Congress should do about the ACA, 50% of Republicans said they preferred to repeal the law and replace it, but 14% preferred to repeal the ACA without replacing it, while 29% wanted to keep the law but work to improve it, and 4% wanted to keep the ACA as it is. In addition, the polls show how polarized Republicans and Democrats are about the overall future of the ACA. On most specific policy issues in the debate, the two parties disagreed, but there is one major exception: Majorities of both agree that the number of people covered by Medicaid should not be reduced. The most significant change since the implementation of the ACA has not been the increase in public approval of the ACA, which has gone from 44% in 2012 to 49% at the time of the recent debate in 2017, but rather the rise in overall support for universal coverage. When it comes to the question of whether or not the federal government should make sure that all Americans have health care coverage, six in ten (60%) now say that it should be the federal government's responsibility. As the chart at the top of this press release shows, the proportion of the general public saying they believe it is the federal government's responsibility has risen from 42% in 2013 to 60% in June 2017. "When confronted with millions losing coverage, the public became more supportive of the principle that the federal government should ensure coverage for these people," says Robert J. Blendon, Richard L. Menschel Professor of Health Policy and Political Analysis at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and lead author of the article. "This substantial change likely impacted the outcome of the Senate debate." ### "Public Opinion about the Future of the Affordable Care Act," Robert J. Blendon and John M. Benson, NEJM, online August 16, 2017, doi: 10.1056/NEJMsr1710032 Visit the Harvard Chan School website for the latest news, press releases, and multimedia offerings. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health brings together dedicated experts from many disciplines to educate new generations of global health leaders and produce powerful ideas that improve the lives and health of people everywhere. As a community of leading scientists, educators, and students, we work together to take innovative ideas from the laboratory to people's lives--not only making scientific breakthroughs, but also working to change individual behaviors, public policies, and health care practices. Each year, more than 400 faculty members at Harvard Chan teach 1,000-plus full-time students from around the world and train thousands more through online and executive education courses. Founded in 1913 as the Harvard-MIT School of Health Officers, the School is recognized as America's oldest professional training program in public health. After decades of relative neglect, star-shaped brain cells called astrocytes are finally getting their due. To gather insight into a critical aspect of brain development, a team of scientists examined the maturation of astrocytes in 3-D structures grown in culture dishes to resemble human brain tissue. The study, which confirms the lab-grown cells develop at the same rate as those found in human brains, was published in Neuron and funded in part by the NIH's National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS). "This work addresses a significant gap in human brain research by providing an invaluable technique to investigate the role of astrocytes in both normal development and disease," said NINDS program director Jill Morris, Ph.D. In 2015, a team directed by Sergiu Pasca, M.D., an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral science at Stanford University in California, and Ben Barres, M.D., Ph.D., a Stanford professor of neurobiology, published a method for taking adult skin cells, converting them to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), and then growing them as 3-D clusters of brain cells called human cortical spheroids (hCSs). These hCSs, which closely resemble miniature versions of a particular brain region, can be grown for many months. The cells in the cluster eventually develop into neurons, astrocytes, and other cells found in the human brain. "One of the challenges of studying the human brain is the difficulty of examining it at different stages of development," Dr. Pasca said. "This is a system that tries to simulate brain development step by step." In the new study, Steven Sloan, a student in Stanford's M.D./Ph.D. program, led a series of experiments comparing astrocytes from hCSs to those found in tissue from the developing and adult human brain. The team grew the hCSs for 20 months, one of the longest-ever studies of lab-grown human brain cells. The results verified that the lab-grown cells change over time in a similar manner to cells taken directly from brain tissue during very early life, a critical time for brain growth. This process is considered critical for normal brain development and deviations are thought to cause a variety of neurological and mental health disorders, such as schizophrenia and autism. Creating hCSs using cells from patients could allow scientists to uncover the underlying developmental biology at the core of these disorders. "The hCS system makes it possible to replay astrocyte development from any patient," Dr. Barres said. "That's huge. There's no other way one could ever do that without this method." The current study showed that hCS-grown astrocytes develop at the same rate as those found in human brains, in terms of their gene activity, their shapes, and their functions. For example, astrocytes taken from hCSs that were less than six months old multiplied rapidly and were highly engaged in eliminating unnecessary connections between neurons, just like astrocytes in babies growing in the womb. But astrocytes grown in hCSs for more than nine months could not reproduce and removed significantly fewer of those connections, mirroring astrocytes in infants 6 to 12 months old. On the other hand, just like astrocytes from developing and adult brains, the early- and late-stage astrocytes from hCSs were equally effective at encouraging new connections to form between neurons. "Astrocytes are not just bystanders in the brain," Dr. Pasca said. "They're not just there to keep neurons warm; they actually participate actively in neurological function." "Since astrocytes make up a greater proportion of brain cells in humans than in other species, it may reflect a greater need for astrocytes in normal human brain function, with more significant consequences when they don't work correctly," added David Panchision, Ph.D., program director at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), which also helped fund the study. The researchers caution that hCSs are only a model and lack many features of real brains. Moreover, certain genes that are active in fully mature astrocytes never switched on in the hCS-grown astrocytes, which they could conceivably do if the cells had more time to develop. To address this question, the researchers now hope to identify ways to produce mature brain cells more quickly. hCSs could also be used to scrutinize precisely what causes astrocytes to change over time and to screen drugs that might correct any differences that occur in brain disease. "These are questions that are going to be very exciting to explore," Dr. Barres said. ### The study was funded by NINDS (NS081703), the National Institute of Mental Health (MH099555, MH107800, MH106261), the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (GM007365), the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (TR001085), the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, the MQ Fellow Award, and Stanford University. References: Sloan et al. Human astrocyte maturation captured in 3D cerebral cortical spheroids derived from pluripotent stem cells. Neuron. August 16, 2017. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.07.035 The NINDS is the nation's leading funder of research on the brain and nervous system. The mission of NINDS is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease. About the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH): The mission of the NIMH is to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for prevention, recovery and cure. For more information, visit the NIMH website. The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) supports basic research that increases understanding of biological processes and lays the foundation for advances in disease diagnosis, treatment and prevention. For more information, visit the NIGMS website. The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) was established to transform the translational process so that new treatments and cures for disease can be delivered to patients faster. For more information, visit the NCATS website. About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit http://www.nih.gov. BROOKLYN, New York - A team of university researchers has devised the first automated techniques to identify ads potentially tied to human trafficking rings and link them to public information from Bitcoin - the primary payment method for online sex ads. This is the first step toward developing a suite of freely available tools to help police and nonprofit institutions identify victims of sexual exploitation, explained the computer scientists from the New York University Tandon School of Engineering; University of California, Berkeley; and University of California, San Diego. Human trafficking is a widespread social problem, with an estimated 4.5 million people forced into sexual exploitation, according to the International Labor Organization. In 2016, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimated that 1 in 6 endangered runaways reported to the group were probably sex-trafficking victims. The Internet has enabled and emboldened human traffickers to advertise sexual services. Law enforcement efforts to trace and disband human trafficking rings are often confounded by the pseudonymous nature of adult ads and the tendency of ring leaders to employ multiple phone numbers and email addresses to avoid detection. Adding to the difficulty: Determining which online ads reflect willing participants in the sex trade and which reflect victims forced into prostitution. The research team's approach relies on two novel machine learning algorithms. The first is rooted in stylometry, or the analysis of an individual's writing style to identify authorship. Stylometry can confirm authorship with high confidence, and in the case of online trafficking ads, allows researchers and police to identify cases in which separate advertisements for different individuals share a single author: a telltale sign of a trafficking ring. By automating stylometric analysis, the researchers discovered they could quickly identify groups of ads with a common author on Backpage, one of the most popular sites for online sex ads. (Since this research was conducted, the adult advertising section of Backpage was discontinued; however, the researchers noted that adult ads remain prevalent, now appearing in multiple sections of the site.) After identifying groups of ads with a single author, the researchers tested an automated system that utilizes publicly available information from the Bitcoin mempool and blockchain -- the ledgers that record pending and completed transactions. Because Backpage posts ads as soon as payment is received, the researchers compared the timestamp indicating submission of payment to the timestamp of the ads' appearance on Backpage. All Bitcoin users maintain accounts, or "wallets," and tracing payment of ads that have the same author to a unique wallet is a potential method for identifying ownership of the ads, and thus the individuals or groups involved in human trafficking. Damon McCoy, an NYU Tandon assistant professor of computer science and engineering and one of the paper's co-authors, explained that combining these techniques to identify sex ads by both author and Bitcoin owner represents a considerable advancement in assisting law enforcement and nonprofit organizations. "There are hundreds of thousands of these ads placed every year, and any technique that can surface commonalities between ads and potentially shed light on the owners is a big boost for those working to curb exploitation," he said. "The technology we've built finds connections between ads," said Rebecca Portnoff, a UC Berkeley doctoral candidate in computer science who developed the algorithm as part of her dissertation. "Is the pimp behind that post for Backpage also behind this post in Craigslist? Is he the same man who keeps receiving Bitcoin for trafficked girls? Questions like these are answerable only through more sophisticated technological tools - exactly what we've built in this work - that link ads together using payment mechanisms and the language in the ads themselves." The research team also includes NYU Tandon doctoral student Periwinkle Doerfler; Danny Yuxing Huang, a doctoral student at UC San Diego; and Sadia Afroz, a senior researcher at the International Computer Science Institute. The researchers deployed their automated author identification techniques on a sampling of 10,000 real ads on Backpage, a four-week scrape of all adult ads that appeared on Backpage during that time, as well as on several dozen ads they themselves placed for comparison. They reported an 89 percent true-positive rate for grouping ads by author -- significantly more accurate than current stylometric machine learning algorithms. The team also reported a high rate of success in linking the ads they placed themselves to timestamps in the Bitcoin blockchain. They acknowledge, however, that they were unable to verify whether matches they made using real-life ads and Bitcoin transaction information truly correspond to individuals tied to human trafficking - that matter must ultimately be pursued by police. "Sex trafficking of children hides in plain sight within the vast online escort environment. It's difficult for investigators to sift through the mounds of data and figure out what is important and what is not when looking for a child," said Julie Cordua, CEO of Thorn, a nonprofit organization working to prevent human trafficking. "This type of research is critical to advancing this work and helping investigators find children faster and reduce the time in trauma. We're grateful to academics and researchers who are willing to lend their time and talent to this issue to help find new solutions that move this work forward." The researchers intend to refine their strategies in collaboration with law enforcement and nonprofit organizations. Portnoff will present their paper, Backpage and Bitcoin: Uncovering Human Traffickers, this afternoon at the Association for Computing Machinery's SIGKDD Conference on Knowledge Discovery and Data Mining, one of the world's leading data mining conferences, which will publish the paper in its proceedings. ### This work was supported by grants from the Amazon Web Services Cloud Credits for Research program, Giant Oak, Google, the National Science Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Education. The researchers also wish to acknowledge Chainalysis for providing access to its platform for analyzing transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain, and Thorn. About the New York University Tandon School of Engineering The NYU Tandon School of Engineering dates to 1854, the founding date for both the New York University School of Civil Engineering and Architecture and the Brooklyn Collegiate and Polytechnic Institute (widely known as Brooklyn Poly). A January 2014 merger created a comprehensive school of education and research in engineering and applied sciences, rooted in a tradition of invention and entrepreneurship and dedicated to furthering technology in service to society. In addition to its main location in Brooklyn, NYU Tandon collaborates with other schools within NYU, the country's largest private research university, and is closely connected to engineering programs at NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU Shanghai. It operates Future Labs focused on start-up businesses in downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn and an award-winning online graduate program. For more information, visit http://engineering.nyu.edu. NEW YORK (August 16, 2017) - It is widely recognized that people respond differently to infections. This can partially be explained by genetics, shows a new study published today in Nature Communications by an international collaboration of researchers from Germany and the United States. The study, "Genetic Regulatory Effects Modified by Immune Activation Contribute to Autoimmune Disease Associations," maps genetic variants that affect how much gene expression changes in response to immune stimulus. The findings offer novel insights into the genetic contribution to varying immune responses among individuals and its consequences on immune-mediated diseases. "Our defense mechanisms against microbial pathogens rely on white blood cells that are specialized to detect infection. Upon encounter of microbes, these cells trigger cellular defense programs via activating and repressing the expression of hundreds of genes," explained one of the senior authors of the study, Dr. Veit Hornung from the Ludwig-Maxmilians-Universitat in Munich and formerly from the University of Bonn. "We wanted to understand how genetic differences between individuals affect this cellular response to infection," added Dr. Johannes Schumacher from the University of Bonn, another senior author of the study. The human immune system plays a central role in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, cancer, metabolism and aging. The researchers discovered hundreds of genes where the response to immune stimulus depended on the genetic variants carried by the individual. "These genes include many of the well-known genes of the human immune system, demonstrating that genetic variation has an important role in how the human immune system works," noted Dr. Sarah Kim-Hellmuth, the lead author of the study, from the New York Genome Center, Columbia University, the Max Planck Institute in Munich and formerly from the University of Bonn. "While earlier studies have mapped some of these effects, this study is particularly comprehensive, with three stimuli and two time points analyzed." The study captured genetic variants whose effects on gene regulation was different depending on the different infectious state of the cells. These included four associations to diseases such as cholesterol level and celiac disease. Furthermore, the researchers discovered a trend of genetic risk for autoimmune diseases such as lupus and celiac disease to be enriched for gene regulatory effects modified by the immune state. "This supports a paradigm where genetic disease risk is sometimes driven not by genetic variants causing constant cellular dysregulation, but by causing a failure to respond properly to environmental conditions such as infection," said co-senior author Dr. Tuuli Lappalainen, from the New York Genome Center and Columbia University. The investigators collected blood from 134 volunteers and treated monocytes - a type of white blood cells - in the laboratory with three components that mimic infection with bacteria or a virus. They then analyzed how cells from different individuals respond to infection by measuring gene expression both during the early and late immune response. Integrating the gene expression profiles with genome-wide genetic data of each individual, they were able to map how genetic variants affect gene expression, and how this genetic effect changes with immune stimulus. "It's been known for a long time that most diseases have both genetic and environmental risk factors. But it's actually more complicated than that because genes and environment interact. As demonstrated in our study, a genetic risk factor may manifest only in certain environments," explained Dr. Lappalainen. "We are still in early stages of understanding the interplay of genetics and environment, but our results indicate that this is a key component of human biology and disease. The molecular approach that we took in our study can be a particularly powerful way for researchers to delve deeper into this question." The study's analyses of gene expression patterns in a population scale provide a highly robust and comprehensive dataset of innate immune responses and show wide variation among individuals exposed to diverse pathogens over multiple time points. The research identified population differences in immune response and demonstrated that immune response modifies genetic associations to disease. The research sheds light on the genomic elements underlying response to environmental stimuli, and the dynamics and evolution of immune response. ### About the New York Genome Center The New York Genome Center (NYGC) is an independent, nonprofit academic research institution at the forefront of transforming biomedical research with the mission of advancing clinical care. A collaboration of premier academic, medical and industry leaders across the globe, the New York Genome Center has as its goal translating genomic research into the development of new treatments, therapies and therapeutics against human disease. NYGC member organizations and partners are united in this unprecedented collaboration of technology, science and medicine, designed to harness the power of innovation and discoveries to advance genomic services. Their shared objective is the acceleration of medical genomics and precision medicine to benefit patients around the world. For more information, visit our website at http://www.nygenome.org. Member institutions include: Albert Einstein College of Medicine, American Museum of Natural History, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Columbia University, Hospital for Special Surgery, The Jackson Laboratory, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, The New York Stem Cell Foundation, New York University, Northwell Health, Princeton University, The Rockefeller University, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Stony Brook University, Weill Cornell Medicine and IBM. SCIENTIST CONTACTS: Dr. Tuuli Lappalainen M: 1-917-753-2661 tlappalainen@nygenome.org Dr. Veit Hornung hornung@genzentrum.lmu.de Dr. Sarah Kim-Hellmuth skim@nygenome.org Dr. Johannes Schumacher johannes.schumacher@uni-bonn.de MEDIA CONTACTS: Karen Zipern Director of Communications, New York Genome Center O: 646-977-7065 M: 917-415-8134 kzipern@nygenome.org Judy Quinn Senior Communications Associate, New York Genome Center O: 646.977.7315 M: 252-481-1221 jquinn@nygenome.org Characterised with its immense biodiversity and high levels of endemism, the Atlantic Tropical Forest has been facing serious anthropogenic threats over the last several decades, demanding for such activities and their effects to be closely studied and monitored as part of the forest dynamics. Cattle farming, expanding agricultural land areas and mining have reduced the Atlantic Forest to many small patches of vegetation. As a result, important ecosystem services, such as carbon stock, are steadily diminishing as the biomass decreases. Brazilian researchers, led by Dr. Ecio Souza Diniz, Federal University of Vicosa, spent a decade monitoring a semi-deciduous forest located in an ecological park in Southeast Brazil. Their observations are published in the open access Biodiversity Data Journal. The team surveyed two stands within the forest to present variations in the structure and diversity of the plants over time, along with their dynamics, including mortality and establishment rates. They based their findings on the most abundant tree species occurring within each stand. At the forest stands, the most abundant and important species for biomass accumulation are concluded to be trees larger than 20 cm in diameter, which characterise advanced successional stage within the forest. "It is fundamental that opportunities to monitor conserved sites of the Atlantic Forest are taken, so that studies about their dynamics are conducted in order to better understand how they work," note the scientists. "The information from such surveys could improve the knowledge about the dynamics at anthropised and fragmented sites compared with protected areas." In order to encourage further research into the composition, diversity and structure of the Atlantic Forest over time and the subsequent contributions to the preservation of this threatened ecosystem, the authors made their data publicly available. The datasets, including species occurrences, are now openly accessible via the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) and the biodiversity informatics data standard Darwin Core. ### Original source: Diniz ES, Carvalho W, Santos R, Gastauer M, Garcia P, Fontes M, Coelho P, Moreira A, Menino G, Oliveira-Filho A (2017) Long-term monitoring of diversity and structure of two stands of an Atlantic Tropical Forest. Biodiversity Data Journal 5: e13564. https://doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.5.e13564 HOUSTON - (Aug. 16, 2017) - Rice University materials scientists have created a light foam from two-dimensional sheets of hexagonal-boron nitride (h-BN) that absorbs carbon dioxide. They discovered freeze-drying h-BN turned it into a macro-scale foam that disintegrates in liquids. But adding a bit of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) into the mix transformed it into a far more robust and useful material. The foam is highly porous and its properties can be tuned for use in air filters and as gas absorption materials, according to researchers in the Rice lab of materials scientist Pulickel Ajayan. Their work appears in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Nano. The polyvinyl alcohol serves as a glue. Mixed into a solution with flakes of h-BN, it binds the junctions as the microscopic sheets arrange themselves into a lattice when freeze-dried. The one-step process is scalable, the researchers said. "Even a very small amount of PVA works," said co-author and Rice postdoctoral researcher Chandra Sekhar Tiwary. "It helps make the foam stiff by gluing the interconnects between the h-BN sheets - and at the same time, it hardly changes the surface area at all." In molecular dynamics simulations, the foam adsorbed 340 percent of its own weight in carbon dioxide. The greenhouse gas can be evaporated out of the material, which can be reused repeatedly, Tiwary said. Compression tests showed the foam got stiffer through 2,000 cycles as well. And when coated with PDMS, another polymer, the foam becomes an effective shield from lasers that could be used in biomedical, electronics and other applications, he said. Ultimately, the researchers want to gain control over the size of the material's pores for specific applications, like separating oil from water. Simulations carried out by co-author Cristiano Woellner, a joint postdoctoral researcher at Rice and the State University of Campinas, Brazil, could serve as a guide for experimentalists. "It's important to join experiments and theoretical calculations to see the mechanical response of this composite," Woellner said. "This way, experimentalists will see in advance how they can improve the system." Rice graduate student Peter Owuor is lead author of the paper. Co-authors are Ok-Kyung Park, a visiting scholar at Rice and a postdoctoral researcher at Chonbuk National University, Republic of Korea; Rice postdoctoral researchers Almaz Jalilov and Rodrigo Villegas Salvatierra and graduate students Luong Xuan Duy, Sandhya Susarla and Jarin Joyner; Rice alumnus Sehmus Ozden, now a postdoctoral fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory; Robert Vajtai, a senior faculty fellow at Rice; Jun Lou, a Rice professor of materials science and nanoengineering; and James Tour, Rice's T.T. and W.F. Chao Chair in Chemistry as well as a professor of computer science and of materials science and nanoengineering; and Professor Douglas Galvao of the State University of Campinas. Ajayan is chair of Rice's Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, the Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor in Engineering and a professor of chemistry. The Air Force Office of Scientific Research and its Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative funded the research. Read the abstract at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acsnano.7b03291 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.7b03291 This news release can be found online at http://news.rice.edu/2017/08/16/boron-nitride-foam-soaks-up-carbon-dioxide-2/ Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews Video: https://youtu.be/vijzvef8KPc CAPTION: A molecular dynamics simulation shows carbon dioxide (red and teal) molecules being adsorbed by a hexagonal-boron nitride (yellow and blue) foam held together by polyvinyl alcohol (white). Researchers at Rice created a macroscale foam that may be useful for capturing carbon dioxide. (Credit: Cristiano Woellner/Rice University/State University of Campinas) Related materials: Tough foam from tiny sheets: http://news.rice.edu/2014/07/29/tough-foam-from-tiny-sheets-2/ Ajayan Research Group: http://ajayan.rice.edu Galvao bio: http://www.escience.org.br/douglas.galvao Rice Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering: https://msne.rice.edu Images for download: http://news.rice.edu/files/2017/08/0821_FOAM-1-WEB-1w27ar1.jpg Blocks of hexagonal-boron nitride foam treated with polyvinyl alcohol proved able to adsorb more than three times its weight in carbon dioxide. The reusable material was created at Rice University. (Credit: Ajayan Research Group/Rice University) http://news.rice.edu/files/2017/08/0821_FOAM-2-WEB-1xv05ti.jpg A microscope image shows the high surface area of hexagonal-boron nitride foam glued together with polyvinyl alcohol. The tough, light foam can be used to soak up carbon dioxide or as a material to shield biological tissues from lasers. (Credit: Ajayan Research Group/Rice University) http://news.rice.edu/files/2017/08/0821_FOAM-3-WEB-235rmpn.jpg A molecular dynamics simulation shows polyvinyl alcohol molecules of carbon (teal), oxygen (red) and hydrogen (white) binding two-dimensional sheets of hexagonal-boron nitride (blue and yellow). The reusable material created at Rice University can sequester more than three times its weight in carbon dioxide. (Credit: Ajayan Research Group/Rice University) Located on a 300-acre forested campus in Houston, Rice University is consistently ranked among the nation's top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has highly respected schools of Architecture, Business, Continuing Studies, Engineering, Humanities, Music, Natural Sciences and Social Sciences and is home to the Baker Institute for Public Policy. With 3,879 undergraduates and 2,861 graduate students, Rice's undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio is 6-to-1. Its residential college system builds close-knit communities and lifelong friendships, just one reason why Rice is ranked No. 1 for quality of life and for lots of race/class interaction and No. 2 for happiest students by the Princeton Review. Rice is also rated as a best value among private universities by Kiplinger's Personal Finance. To read "What they're saying about Rice," go to http://tinyurl.com/RiceUniversityoverview. Jeff Falk 713-348-6775 jfalk@rice.edu Mike Williams 713-348-6728 mikewilliams@rice.edu ### Flow of the Greenland Ice Sheet is likely to speed up in the future, despite a recent slowdown, because its outlet glaciers slide over wet sediment, not hard rock, new research based on seismic surveys has confirmed. This sediment will become weaker and more slippery as global temperatures rise and meltwater supply becomes more variable. The findings challenge the view that the recent slowdowns in ice flow would continue in the long term. The research, published in Science Advances, was led by Professor Bernd Kulessa, a glaciologist at Swansea University, and involved experts from the UK, Canada, Sweden and Norway. Previous research has identified two possible mechanisms for controlling the speed of the ice flow. The first is self-regulation, which proposes that glaciers slow down at the end of the summer because large networks of channels drain water away at the base, increasing frictional resistance to ice flow. The second is to do with the soft sediments that recent research has shown underlie glaciers; in this model, changing patterns of water flow alternately weaken or strengthen the sediment, making it more or less slippery, and thus enhancing or decreasing the speed of ice flow. The team's aim was to test the sediment theory for the first time using measurements on the ice sheet. They carried out seismic surveys at a surface lake on the Greenland Ice Sheet, where the ice is around 1.2 km thick. This involves using a series of controlled explosions to send acoustic waves through the glacier, which then bounce back to a series of geophones -small microphones - set up on the glacier. The data are then analysed to delineate and characterise the physical properties of the sediment underneath the ice. Their seismic observations confirmed that: sediment played the key role in controlling ice sheet flow; variability in meltwater supply controls sediment's slipperiness; weakening of subglacial sediment leads to accelerated ice flow. They conclude that: The future response of the ice sheet to climate warming will be more complex than a simple case of the flow slowing down due to self-regulation Understanding how widespread sediments are and how their properties change with meltwater supply is essential if we are to build up an accurate picture of future patterns of ice flow Professor Bernd Kulessa of the College of Science at Swansea University, lead researcher on the project, said: "Greenland's margin has many outlet glaciers that act as fast conveyor belts of ice. Thousands of surface lakes act as taps that deliver meltwater to the ice base, turning it into a slippery bathtub. Because it is difficult to see beneath them we surmised until recently that the glaciers slip over hard rock, but we realise now that they often slip over sloppy wet sediments instead. In a warming Arctic climate more ice will melt and make the sediments even sloppier and more slippery, so that fast ice flow can occur long into the future. This discovery leaves us concerned because we have so far accepted the exact opposite - that Greenland's icy conveyor would slow down." ### Notes to editors: The research paper is called "Seismic evidence for complex sedimentary control of Greenland Ice Sheet flow". It is published in Science Advances, and is available here after the embargo lifts. The team included researchers from Swansea, Aberystwyth, Leeds and Cambridge universities in the UK, and from the Arctic University of Norway, the Norwegian Polar Institute, University of Waterloo (Canada) and Uppsala Universitet (Sweden). Swansea University is a world-class, research-led, dual campus university. The University was established in 1920 and was the first campus university in the UK. It currently offers around 350 undergraduate courses and 350 postgraduate courses to circa 20,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students. The University's 46-acre Singleton Park Campus is located in beautiful parkland with views across Swansea Bay. The University's 65-acre science and innovation Bay Campus, which opened in September 2015, is located a few miles away on the eastern approach to the city. It has the distinction of having direct access to a beach and its own seafront promenade. Both campuses are close to the Gower Peninsula, the UK's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Swansea is ranked the top university in Wales and is currently The Times and The Sunday Times 'Welsh University of the Year'. It is also ranked within the top 350 best universities in the world in the Times Higher Education World University rankings. The results of the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 showed the University has achieved its ambition to be a top 30 research University, soaring up the league table to 26th in the UK, with the 'biggest leap among research-intensive institutions' (Times Higher Education, December 2014) in the UK. The University has ambitious expansion plans as it moves towards its centenary in 2020, as it continues to extend its global reach and realising its domestic and international ambitions. Swansea University is a registered charity. No.1138342. Visit http://www.swansea.ac.uk Contact details: Kevin Sullivan, Public Relations Officer, Swansea University press office. k.g.sullivan@swansea.ac.uk Tel 44 (0)1792 513 245; 07768 670 581 Follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/SwanseaUni Find us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/swanseauniversity A new species of damselfly from the Cretaceous period has been named after the iconic naturalist and TV presenter Sir David Attenborough. The new discovery, described in detail in Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, was made in the Hukawng Valley of Kachin Province in Myanmar. The fossil was found in a piece of mid-Cretaceous Burmese amber. The full scientific name for the new species, belonging to a group more commonly known as shadowdamsels, is Mesosticta davidattenboroughi. Researchers decided to name the new species after David Attenborough because of his long-standing appreciation of dragonflies, and to celebrate his recent 90th birthday. Co-author Professor Edmund A. Jarzembowski said, "Dragonflies in amber are extremely rare and the recent discoveries by my Chinese colleagues are a new window on the past. It is tradition in taxonomy (the naming of a new species) to contact the person concerned. Sir David was delighted because he is not only interested in the story of amber, but also a president of the British Dragonfly Society." The fossil itself is extremely well preserved as it is encased in yellow transparent amber and includes a complete set of wings. With the aid of photo technology, researchers were able to digitally enhance and build a clear three-dimensional picture of the new species, showing that it differed from previously described fossils, notably in the shorter wing length. Lead author Daran Zheng from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, commented, "Mesosticta davidattenboroughi is quite unique because we have uncovered a new species and it confirms the previous attribution of Mesosticta to the Platystictidae. It is the first fossil group of modern platystictid damselflies and documents the appearance of Platystictidae as early as mid-Cretaceous." The discovery of insect remains in amber is not uncommon, however this particular family of damselflies are much less frequently found and their fossil record is poor compared to many other families making the discovery especially unusual. Mesosticta davidattenboroughi joins a long list of animals which have been named after Sir David Attenborough, including a weevil and fossil species of a plesiosaur and a fish. ### This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Youth Innovation Promotion Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the HKU Seed Funding Program for Basic Research. NOTE TO JOURNALISTS When referencing the article: Please include Journal title, author, published by Taylor & Francis and the following statement: * Read the full article online: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14772019.2017.1348395 PLEASE NOTE: This link will not be live until 16th August, when it will be free to access For more information, please contact: Krystina Sihdu, Press & Media Relations Executive Email: newsroom@taylorandfrancis.com Follow us on Twitter: @tandfnewsroom About Taylor & Francis Group Taylor & Francis Group partners with researchers, scholarly societies, universities and libraries worldwide to bring knowledge to life. As one of the world's leading publishers of scholarly journals, books, ebooks and reference works our content spans all areas of Humanities, Social Sciences, Behavioural Sciences, Science, and Technology and Medicine. From our network of offices in Oxford, New York, Philadelphia, Boca Raton, Boston, Melbourne, Singapore, Beijing, Tokyo, Stockholm, New Delhi and Cape Town, Taylor & Francis staff provide local expertise and support to our editors, societies and authors and tailored, efficient customer service to our library colleagues. A human being's psychological make-up depends on an array of emotional and motivational parameters, such as desire, suffering or the need for security. In addition, it includes spatial and temporal dimensions that also play a key role in rationalising the decisions we make and planning our actions. A team of researchers from the Universities of Geneva (UNIGE), Texas, Paris and University College London joined forces to create the first mathematical model of embodied consciousness. Their aim? To understand, study and predict human behaviour. The model, which is based on solid mathematical concepts and is demonstrated using simulations, makes it possible to anticipate and explain a host of cognitive phenomena and behavioural reactions. The research -- which you can read in full in the Journal of Theoretical Biology -- also paves the way for a wealth of industrial applications in robotics, artificial intelligence and the health sector. An international, interdisciplinary team of researchers, headed by David Rudrauf, professor in UNIGE's faculty of psychology and educational science, was keen to produce a psychological theory that operated on the model developed by the hard sciences. The goal was to devise a mathematical model of human psychology for predicting and evaluating (normal and pathological) human behaviour. More than a decade of research -- combining maths, psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, computer science and engineering -- was required to construct this theoretical model of consciousness. Free energy determines choices We all are constantly faced with a range of choices, some of which are important, some not. But how do we make our decisions? There are many factors at work, conscious and unconscious, which are forever colliding whenever a decision is made. "We built a model to replicate decision-making based on the time, framework and perceptions (real and imaginary) that are linked to it," explains David Rudrauf. "The next step was to analyse the best solution that the mind would naturally opt for." Depending on an individual's personal preferences (such as security), and including different real and imaginary perspectives on the world, the mind calculates the probabilities of obtaining what it wants in the safest possible way. This probability calculation, which is derived from an individual's personal preferences and values, can be expressed as free energy. "Our consciousness uses free energy to actively explore the world and to satisfy its predilections by imagining the anticipated consequences of its actions," says Karl Friston from University College London. Depending on the free energy, the mathematical model can predict the states of consciousness and behaviour adopted by the individual and analyse the mechanisms. This Projective Consciousness Model analyses possible forms of behaviour according to events: if you spot a cake in a shop window, will you buy it or carry on your way? Based on your preferences -- whether you have a sweet tooth, for example, or are a penny-pincher -- the model will determine what best suits your state of mind: it will then predict your psychological state and behaviour using a combination of projective geometry and free-energy calculation. Understanding and making a mathematical model of the phenomenology of the mind: projective geometry As Kenneth Williford, professor of philosophy at the University of Texas, explains: "The aim was to understand and model the essential structures of conscious experience." Daniel Bennequin, professor in the mathematics department at the University of Paris 7, adds: "Perception, imagination and action are supported by unconscious mechanisms, we discovered that consciousness integrates them through a specific geometry: projective geometry." The researchers started with a synthesis of psychological phenomena, including basic perceptual phenomena: the illusion, for instance, that train tracks converge in the distance when they are actually parallel. The scientists were able to select the mathematical template for modelling this perception and the imagination associated with it. "It was then a question of understanding how this field of consciousness is related to affect, emotions and motivation as well as memory and intentions," says Rudrauf. Virtual reality: a space for experimenting and research "Once the theoretical components were defined," continues Rudrauf, "we implemented them in computer programs. We are now working on connecting them to virtual reality in order to reproduce a spatial, temporal and emotional environment that is as close as possible to our own." The research team is then able to make predictions about behaviour by playing with the model's mechanisms, perfecting it and bringing it closer to human psychology. It was long-term work: "But our aim is also to gradually direct the research towards psychopathological models," points out Rudrauf. "We found, for example, that if we deprive the model of the faculty of imagination, it behaves like a person with autism. This suggests research pathways on the importance of the imagination and its specific mechanisms in managing the illness." The model works on a concept of reciprocity: humans are used to test and reinforce the effectiveness of the model; and the model is used to experiment with different cases and sources of psychological illnesses in humans. The initial results show that this first mathematical model of embodied consciousness, incorporating temporality, spatialisation and emotions, can predict a vast array of known human behaviours and understand the mechanisms behind them. There is still much work to be done, however, to replicate human consciousness identically, since every possible type of behaviour must be implemented in the mathematical system. The researchers are now working on an extension of the algorithm that will produce machines that can adapt to the reactions of their interlocutors and act according to the principle of empathic reciprocity. ### One of the key questions in stem cell and cancer biology is to understand the cellular hierarchy governing tissue development and maintenance and the cancer cell of origin. In a study published in Cell Reports, researchers lead by Cedric Blanpain, MD/PhD, WELBIO investigator and Professor at the Universite libre de Bruxelles, Belgium, identified a novel lineage-restricted stem cell in the mammary gland. The mammary gland is composed two main cellular subtypes: the basal cells and luminal cells. While luminal cells secrete water and nutriments to produce the milk during lactation, the basal cells, through their contraction, guide the circulation of the milk throughout the ductal tree. Luminal cells can be subdivided into estrogen (ER)/progesterone (PR) positive and negative cells. In this study published in Cell Reports, Alexandra Van Keymeulen and colleagues generated a new transgenic line-allowing lineage tracing of ER+ luminal cells to investigate luminal cell heterogeneity and identify the origin of ER+ luminal cells and the mechanisms regulating their pubertal expansion and adult maintenance. Surprisingly and in sharp contrast with the common thought, which hypothesized the existence of a population of common progenitors that give rise to ER+ and ER- cells, Alexandra Van Keymeulen and colleagues found that the ER+ lineage is maintained by a lineage restricted ER+ luminal stem cells, able to ensure ER+ lineage expansion during pubertal development, and long-term renewing capacities of ER+ lineage in adult mice during cycle of pregnancy-involution. "These new data challenge the current model of the cellular hierarchy and lineage restriction that governs the mammary gland expansion and maintenance and provide clear evidence that the ER+ and ER- cells are maintained by distinct pool of lineage restricted stem cells." comments Cedric Blanpain, the lead author of the Cell Reports publication. This finding are very important for researchers working in the field of stem cells, mammary gland and breast cancer, providing a new paradigm in these fields. In the future, this model will be used to assess whether the clinical heterogeneity observed in breast cancers arises from their different cancer cell of origin. ### This work was supported by the FNRS, TELEVIE, a research grant from the Fondation Contre le Cancer, the ULB fondation, the IUAP program, the fond Gaston Ithier, the foundation Bettencourt Schueller, the foundation Baillet Latour and the European Research Council (ERC). AURORA, Colo. (August 16, 2017) - Researchers at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and UC San Diego have found that compounds produced by the creosote bush, a desert shrub common to American Southwest, exhibit potent anti-parasitic activity against two deadly parasites responsible for Giardia infections (Giardia lamblia) and the amoeba that causes an often-lethal form of encephalitis (Naegleria fowleri). Standard treatment for both infections involve antibiotics and anti-parasitic drugs. The findings, published online this month in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, may give researchers the chance to widen their arsenal of antimicrobial agents effective against deadly parasitic infections. The World Health Organization estimates giardiasis, a diarrheal illness, is linked to approximately 846,000 deaths worldwide each year. Infection usually occurs through ingestion of contaminated water or food. Though rarely lethal in the United States, it's estimated there are more than a million cases of giardiasis in the country annually. Infections due to N. fowleri, sometimes called the `brain eating amoeba,' are much less common than Giardia. "However, it is a far deadlier parasite that is found in warm fresh waters and infects the central nervous systems of their victims through the nasal passages causing lethal brain damage known as primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM)," said principal investigator Dan LaBarbera, PhD, associate professor of drug discovery and medicinal chemistry at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at CU Anschutz. Due to its rapid infection cycle and high mortality rate, the CDC has been given special approval to provide the drug miltefosine to clinicians as a treatment option for N. fowleri infection. But it is still not FDA approved and has limited availability in the U.S. This new compound potentially provides a less expensive, more effective treatment option. Scientists from CU Anschutz and UC San Diego collaborated as part of the Skaggs Scholars program, which matches investigators from Skaggs-funded schools of pharmacy with complementary expertise to discover potential drug breakthroughs. UC San Diego scientists provided expertise in parasitology, while the CU Skaggs School of Pharmacy provided expertise in natural products, compound libraries and active compounds from plants. The researchers investigated these tropical diseases because of their occurrence in Mexico and South America and found indigenous peoples treating infections with creosote compounds. "The significance and intrigue about our study is that it shows the value of prospecting for new medicines from plants traditionally used by indigenous people as medicine," said co-principal investigator Anjan Debnath, Ph.D., an assistant adjunct professor at Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at UC San Diego. The creosote bush (Larrea tridentata), is a tough evergreen bush with small waxy leaves, yellow flowers and a distinctive turpentine-like scent. Native Americans in both the United States and Mexico have long used the plant for a variety of ailments, including intestinal complaints. There is also an existing body of scientific work documenting the plant's pharmacologically active compounds, notably nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA). NDGA has antiviral, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and anticancer properties. The study is the first to show that NDGA and five other compounds are active against both pathogenic parasites. In other studies, NDGA has been shown to be a neuroprotective agent. It protects human monocytes and other cells and tissues through its powerful antioxidant activity. "In our study the creosote natural product, NDGA, proved to be a more potent anti-parasitic agent against N. fowleri compared to miltefosine," LaBarbera said. "Therefore, NDGA may lead to a more effective drug therapy option for N. fowleri infection." ### This research was funded in part, by a grant from the ALSAM Foundation and National Institutes of Health. Whether you call it effervescent, fizzy, or sparkling, carbonated water is making a comeback as a beverage. Aside from quenching thirst, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have discovered a new use for these "bubbly" concoctions that will have major impact on the manufacturer of the world's thinnest, flattest, and one most useful materials -- graphene. As graphene's popularity grows as an advanced "wonder" material, the speed and quality at which it can be manufactured will be paramount. With that in mind, the research group of SungWoo Nam, assistant professor of mechanical science and engineering at Illinois, has developed a cleaner and more environmentally friendly method to isolate graphene using carbon dioxide (CO2) in the form of carbonic acid as the electrolyte solution. The findings are published in the most recent Journal of Materials Chemistry C. Nam, an expert in the area of 2D materials, is especially interested in graphene for its use in sensors or flexible devices -- for instance, a wearable patch that, when placed directly on skin, is so thin and transparent, it isn't noticeable. Nam currently has projects with industry for making wearable graphene sensors. Graphene is synthesized by using chemical vapor deposition onto a metal substrate, typically copper foil. One particularly tricky aspect of producing graphene is how to separate this atomically thin material from its native metal substrate for integration into useful devices. This typically involves either dissolving away the high-purity metal or delaminating it from the substrate - which require the use of harsh chemicals that leave stubborn residue. The ultra-thin graphene also needs to be coated with a polymer support layer such as polycarbonate or PMMA (poly methyl methacrylate), which requires the use of often toxic and carcinogenic solvents. "In our case, we are using a bio-mass derived polymer, ethyl cellulose, for the coating," said Michael Cai Wang, Nam's PhD student and lead researcher on the project. "A common and inexpensive polymer often used as a food additive, ethyl cellulose is solvated in just ethanol. This not only makes our graphene transfer process more environmentally friendly, it is now also compatible with a variety of polymeric and soft biological materials such as common plastics and hydrogels that would otherwise not tolerate harsh solvents." "After you transfer the graphene, the carbonic acid simply evaporates away as carbon dioxide and water, which doesn't require any further rinsing," Nam noted. "We're thus saving both water and time by eliminating the conventional need for the repetitive and tedious rinsing process. In using electrolytes such as NaOH or NaCl, for example, the sodium tends to remain on the graphene, which is very difficult to completely get rid of." "By delaminating the graphene off from the copper foil using carbonic acid, we are also able to reuse the growth substrate multiple times instead of expending it, realizing significant material and cost savings" Wang said. "I think scientifically what we are bringing to the community is to really motivate people to think about a cleaner way for making graphene," Nam said. "We are trying to improve upon the well-established protocols so that industry can easily adopt our techniques. Because a lot of devices are contaminated by these previously used chemicals, it inevitably affects the property of graphene." "Graphene is just starting to mature from the laboratory and into commercial applications," Wang said. "Once you start large-scale manufacturing, workers' health is also a major consideration, another benefit of our greener process." In addition to making our favorite cup of decaf or glass of champagne, the group also hopes the scientific community might take this as inspiration to find novel ways to utilize otherwise nuisance CO2 for practical applications. They envision extending the useful life cycle of carbon in the industrial ecosystem while diverting and mitigating its emission into the atmosphere. While ocean acidification is an undesirable consequence of the ever-increasing carbon dioxide concentration in the Earth's atmosphere, the research team took this as an inspiration to harnessing this very same mechanism to sustainably manufacture this new "wonder" material. Nam also believes this method can have an impact on not just the production of graphene, but also provide a green and affordable technique to use for etching and delamination processing of other materials as well. "If you are interested in making the best transistor in the world, you have to have the cleanest, purest material that you can synthesize and transfer," he concluded. "Here we provide that opportunity to the community. In addition, a lot of people are trying to measure the intrinsic properties of other materials as well. Our approach will help them do that." ### In addition to Nam and Wang, Widianto Moestopo, Satoshi Takekuma, Shama Barna, and Richard Haasch were coauthors of this study. The National Science Foundation (NSF), the Air Force Office for Scientific Research (AFOSR), the NASA's Space Technology Research Grants Program, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), provided funding for this research. URBANA, Ill. - Without advanced sensing technology, humans see only a small portion of the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Satellites see the full range--from high-energy gamma rays, to visible, infrared, and low-energy microwaves. The images and data they collect can be used to solve complex problems. For example, satellite data is being harnessed by researchers at the University of Illinois for a more complete picture of cropland and to estimate crop yield in the U.S. Corn Belt. "In places where we may see just the color green in crops, electromagnetic imaging from satellites reveals much more information about what's actually happening in the leaves of plants and even inside the canopy. How to leverage this information is the challenge," says Kaiyu Guan, an environmental scientist at the U of I and the lead author on the research. "Using various spectral bands and looking at them in an integrated way, reveals rich information for improving crop yield." Guan says this work is the first time that so many spectral bands, including visible, infrared, thermal, and passive and active microwave, and canopy fluorescence measurements have been brought together to look at crops. "We used an integrated framework called Partial Least-Square Regression to analyze all of the data together. This specific approach can identify commonly shared information across the different data sets. When we pull the shared information out from each data set, what's left is the unique information relevant to vegetation conditions and crop yield." The study uncovers that the many satellite data sets share common information related to crop biomass grown aboveground. However, the researchers also discover that different satellite data can reveal environmental stresses that crops experience related to drought and heat. Guan says the challenging aspect of crop observation is that the grain, which is what crop yield is all about, grows inside the canopy, where it isn't visible from above. "Visible or near-infrared bands typically used for crop monitoring are mainly sensitive to the upper canopy, but provide little information about deeper vegetation and soil conditions affecting crop water status and yield," says John Kimball from University of Montana, a long-term collaborator with Guan and a coauthor of the paper. "Our study suggests that the microwave radar data at the Ku-band contains uniquely useful information on crop growth," Guan says. "Besides the biomass information, it also contains additional information associated with crop water stress because of the higher microwave sensitivity to canopy water content, and microwave can also penetrate the canopy and see through part or all the canopy. We also find that thermal bands provide water and heat stress information," Guan says. "This information tells us when leaves open or close their pores to breathe and absorb carbon for growth." Coauthor David Lobell from Stanford University, who crafted the idea with Guan, says leveraging all of this satellite data together greatly increases the capacity to monitor crops and crop yield. "This is an age of big data. How to make sense of all of the data available, to generate useful information for farmers, economists, and others who need to know the crop yield, is an important challenge," Guan says. "This will be an important tool. And, although we started with the U.S. Corn Belt, this framework can be used to analyze cropland anywhere on the planet." The study, "The shared and unique values of optical, fluorescence, thermal and microwave satellite data for estimating large-scale crop yields," is published in Remote Sensing of Environment. The work was initiated and designed by Kaiyu Guan from U of I and David Lobell from Stanford University. It is coauthored by a multi-institute team of Jin Wu (Brookhaven National Lab), John S. Kimball (University of Montana), Martha C. Anderson (USDA ARS), Steve Frolking (University of New Hampshire), Bo Li (University of Illinois), and Christopher R. Hain (NOAA). ### Funding was provided by the NASA New Investigator Award (NNX16AI56G), U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF-SES-1048946), a Terman Fellowship from Stanford University, the University of Illinois, NSF grant NSF-EF1065074, and NASA (NNX14AI50G). All the data used in this study are available by request (kaiyug@illinois.edu). In addition to being an assistant professor in ecohydrology and geoinformatics in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences in the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences at U of I, Guan has a joint appointment as a Blue Waters professor affiliated with the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). AMHERST, Mass. - Phillipa Gill, assistant professor of computer science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, has been named one of MIT Technology Review's "Innovators Under 35" for her groundbreaking work on Internet censorship and network security. The recognition, first given by the magazine in 1999, celebrates young innovators who are poised to be leaders in their fields. Gill is recognized in the "Pioneer" category, joining peers who are developing new approaches to tackling technology challenges. She says, "I am honored and excited to be listed among the Innovators under 35. The award encourages me to continue to push the boundaries in my work on Internet security and censorship measurements." This year's honorees will be featured in the online magazine starting today, and in the September/October print version on Aug. 29. They will appear in person at the upcoming EmTech MIT conference on Nov. 6-9 in Cambridge. College of Information and Computer Sciences Dean Laura Haas says, "Acknowledging and supporting young innovators is essential to moving our field forward. We are pleased that the editors of the MIT Technology Review share our view of Phillipa, she is a true pioneer. Her interdisciplinary work towards forwarding human rights is an excellent example of the impact computer science can have on society." Gill says her interest in Internet censorship began when she was postdoctoral researcher in the University of Toronto's Citizen Lab. Speaking with political scientists there, she found that her research on network measurement was directly related to problems around accurately identifying and measuring Internet censorship in high-risk, and sometimes dangerous, locations around the globe. As she told the magazine, when she was at the Citizen Lab, she was surprised to find that there was no accepted approach for empirically measuring censorship. Tech Review reports, "So she built a set of new measurement tools to detect and quantify such practices. One technique automatically detects so-called block pages, which tell a user if a site has been blocked by a government or some other entity. In 2015, Gill and colleagues used her methods to confirm that a state-owned ISP in Yemen was using a traffic-filtering device to block political content during an armed conflict." At UMass Amherst since 2016, Gill and a group of graduate student researchers are now developing a software platform to address these and related problems by measuring online information controls. The software, dubbed ICLab, has been installed on 14 small, low-cost computers known as Raspberry Pis, and also runs on hundreds of Virtual Private Network (VPN) servers worldwide. The Raspberry Pis are deployed to countries such as Pakistan, Turkey and Yemen, where a network of volunteers connect them to the Internet. Once connected, ICLab uses techniques developed by Gill's research team to study traces of network packets to automatically identify whether content is blocked, as well as understand how governments implement censorship. In addition to her research on Internet censorship, Gill recently worked to create incentives for deploying BGPSec, a more secure version of BGP, a standard network protocol. BGP was designed in the early 1990s when the Internet was less dangerous, and has been vulnerable to attack because it lacks authentication mechanisms. Gill says her work spurred the Federal Communicatons Commission to create a working group, whose recommendations to encourage use of the security upgrade were agreed upon by major U.S. Internet Service Providers. ### (NewsUSA) - Viscount Mining Corp (TSX-V: VML, OTCQB: VLMGF) is a Vancouver-based mining project generator. Its strategy is to seek out and acquire properties that have potential to contain large amounts of silver, gold, and other valuable metals. Then it conducts new rounds of exploration to see what's actually in the ground and to pin down what the property is worth. Now it appears that this approach is paying off big time for Viscount. The company was able to acquire a property in the historic Hardscrabble Silver District of Colorado that had been assessed in the 1980s as containing more than 50 million ounces of silver. The property, named Silver Cliff, hadn't been mined at the time. Last year, Viscount conducted a new round of test drillings at Silver Cliff. The results recently came in recently and confirmed that the property has some of the highest levels of silver ore ever measured in North America. Stock analysts are impressed. According to a new equity research report from Alex Cutulenco of Ubika Corporation, "the enterprise value of [Viscount] could increase to at least $50 million, about five times today's enterprise value." Moreover, the company's potential extends beyond just the Silver Cliff property. As Viscount CEO Jim MacKenzie explains in a recent interview with Stock-Sector, the company also has painstakingly acquired a valuable mining property in Nevada called Cherry Creek. Recent mapping and analysis shows great promise for gold and silver on that property as well. To fully assess the new exploration data and the historical records, Viscount has hired one of the nation's top mining experts, Dr. Gilles Arseneau. Dr. Arseneau has more than a quarter-century of experience evaluating gold and base metal deposits everywhere from North and South America to China and Europe. Once all of the exploration work is done and the data is fully analyzed, Viscount will be looking for experienced partners to mine the property. Place Your Advert Register or sign in to advertise your job Dairy farmers have criticised BBCs Countryfile show after a segment suggested that thousands of dairy bull calves were commonly shot at birth. The episode, which aired on Sunday (13 August), provoked widespread criticism from farmers on social media. Presenter Tom Heap explained that tens of thousands of dairy bull calves were shot on farms every year. However, he couldnt find a farmer who currently shoots newborn calves. The programme was criticised heavily on social media when it used archive footage from 2008 of a farmer saying he shot bull calves at times due to low prices and TB restrictions. He explained that no farmer wants to shoot calves. Data surrounding the issue is scarce. A Twitter user named @ingham_tabitha said: Thanks #countryfile 4 covering this I'm ignorant never thought had 2 keep cows preg 4 milk+shooting bull calves I may have 2 give up milk. Another said: Apart from anything else dairy bull calves are worth a fortune at the moment so no one is likely to shoot them #madness #Countryfile The UK government has put forward the idea of a temporary customs union with Europe to avoid the damage of a cliff-edge departure. A government paper, published this week, said the UK is seeking a new customs arrangement that facilitates the freest and most frictionless trade possible in goods between the UK and the EU. The paper said it wants to allow the UK to forge new trade relationships with its partners in Europe and around the world. The NFU has welcomed the idea, saying that sheep farmers could suffer the most from any return of tariffs. However, the Welsh Government said it was disappointed a permanent post-Brexit customs union was not discussed. The Welsh farming sector has previously warned the government that it is in danger of 'being set back decades' when the UK leaves the European Union. It also comes as farm leaders say uncertainty is 'damaging' farming and that trade with Europe was 'vital' for the sector. Stability Commenting on the Governments paper on future customs arrangements, NFU President Meurig Raymond said: The NFU, along with other farming organisations, has long called for a transitional deal that maintains as free and frictionless trade in agri-food products as possible and it is pleasing to see Government recognise the concerns of the sector. In recent discussions with the Chancellor, the NFU reinforced the need for a transitional arrangement post-Brexit that sees the UK and EU continuing to trade within a customs union, and Im pleased to see the government appear to accept this as the best way forward. Such an arrangement would provide farmers and growers with the stability and continuity needed to continue running competitive and profitable farming businesses. It is crucial that swift progress is made on the current phase of Brexit negotiations so the crucial issue of the UKs future trading relationship with the EU, including the precise nature of both the interim and long-term customs agreements, can be discussed as soon as possible. Britain has also promised the Irish Government there will be no 'hard border' after Brexit, after rising tensions between the two governments. Farmer-owned wool company Kent Wool Growers Ltd (KWG) has gone into administration after one hundred years of trading. KWG was established in Ashford, Kent in 1920 as a co-operative, compromising 73 members to start with, but eventually growing to support more than 4,000 today. KWG offers a range of farming services, in addition to owning three retail outlets in Ashford and Eastry in Kent and Handcross, West Sussex. The stores sell farming products ranging from clothing and footwear, to equine supplies, feed, medicines, shotguns and shooting accessories, as well as a fuel brokerage service. KWG is also classed as an 'A' merchant for the British Wool Marketing Board. A statement from joint administrators Steve Absolom and Will Wright of KPMG said the move followed a downturn in both retail and account sales, greatly affecting cashflow. Steve Absolom said: "We have received a number of expressions of interest in the business and assets, and so our efforts are focussed on achieving a going concern sale which will secure as many jobs as possible. "The stores remain open and KWG continues to support the farming community as best it can in these circumstances." Britain is promising the Irish Government there will be no 'hard border' after Brexit, after rising tensions between the two governments. A document to be published by the British government will lay out a 'seamless and frictionless border' between the North and the Republic. It will outline the official stance that there will be 'no return to the hard borders of the past.' Goods and people passing the Irish border is one of the key issues the European Commission has insisted must be resolved early. The document will also dismiss any suggestion of a customs border on the Irish Sea. It comes after both the Taoiseach and foreign affairs minister had floated the idea in the first place, leaving Irish hopes severely dashed. 'Completely unacceptable' A British government source said: "As Michel Barnier himself has said, the solution cannot be based on a precedent so were looking forward to seeing the EU's position paper on Ireland. "But it's right that as we shape the unprecedented model, we have some very clear principles. "Top of our list is to agree upfront no physical border infrastructure that would mean a return to the border posts of the past and is completely unacceptable to the UK." The Ulster Farmers Union says the movement of goods, and access to labour across the border, after Brexit are key concerns for farmers and dairy processors. UFU dairy chairman William Irvine said Northern Irelands unique situation and the complexities of what will be a land border between the UK and EU are well recognised. A large number of dairy farmers here are members of co-ops in the South. Clearly, there are strong links between farmers here and processors south of the border, and indeed vice versa. This applies to other sectors as well as dairy, and we were encouraged that the will seems to exist in Brussels for a soft border. Scottish venison producers are to supply the Chinese medicine market with a shipment of red deer antlers. An important shipment of Scottish Red Deer antlers has started its 35-day journey from Dumfries and Galloway to the Far East. The shipment, organised by Kirkcudbrightshire deer farmer Rupert Shaw, left Gledpark Farm, Borgue on Friday 11 August for Grangemouth before traveling by sea to Hong Kong. Having identified a potential buyer for the antlers through his website, a year-long process saw Mr Shaw go on to secure the necessary export licence for the load and the complete the deal. Most of the Red Deer antlers in the shipment came from Gledparks herd of farmed Red Deer with several other Scottish venison producers contributing antlers to fill the container. Valued Antlers, exclusively found on stags, are cast annually and can be collected. Producers of Chinese medicine have valued Scottish Red Deer Antler at up to 16 per kg in Scotland, depending on antler condition, colour, cleanliness and age. In an important development for the region, future shipments to Hong Kong are already being planned. Mr Shaw, who is also NFU Scotlands Regional Chairman in Dumfries and Galloway, said: Although it is early days, the potential demand for Scottish deer antlers in Chinese medicinal products could represent a very valuable market for those who are already producing venison, or are planning to keep deer in the future. At current prices of up to 16 per kg of antler, and many adult stags casting a set of antlers that could weigh more than 15 kgs, there is a valuable return to be gained if we can secure a foothold in this market. Welsh farmers have presented the British Heart Foundation with a cheque worth over 39,000, following two years of successful fundraising. Farmers have held many events, including breakfast functions, walks and bingo events to help the charity. The cheque was given to the BHF at Eisteddfod, a traditional Welsh festival. The British Heart Foundation was founded in 1961 by a group of medical professionals wanting to fund extra research into the causes, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of heart and circulatory disease. After half a century of scientific and societal progress they have helped to transform the landscape of heart disease. Most babies born today with heart defects now survive, pacemakers help people control their heart conditions, statins are lowering cholesterol levels for millions, reducing risk of heart attack and stroke. In addition, heart attack treatment has been revolutionised and many inherited conditions can now be diagnosed and successfully treated preventing sudden death. Vital work Presenting the cheque to BHF Cymru, FUW President Glyn Roberts said: It gives me great pleasure to present this cheque worth over 39,000 to BHF Cymru today. The work they do is vital in saving lives and their research into heart disease must continue, especially as each day in Wales 25 people lose their lives to cardiovascular disease, which can devastate those they leave behind. The money raised will help BHF Cymru to continue their pioneering research, which is central to discovering vital treatments for people living with these conditions. BHF Chief Executive Simon Gillespie said: I would like to say a big thank you to the Farmers Union of Wales. Over the past two years, our partnership has raised vital funds that have helped power our life saving research in Wales. For over 50 years weve pioneered research that has transformed the lives of millions of people living with heart disease. But heart and circulatory disease still kills more than 750 people per month in Wales alone, stealing them away from their families and loved ones. Summary Company Announcement Date: August 14, 2017 FDA Publish Date: February 08, 2018 Product Type: Drugs Reason for Announcement: Recall Reason Description Due to Misprinted Dosing Droppers Company Name: Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC Brand Name: Brand Name(s) Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC Product Description: Product Description Lorazepam Oral Concentrate, USP 2mg/mL Company Announcement Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC is voluntarily recalling 13 lots of Lorazepam Oral Concentrate, USP 2mg/mL, to the Consumer level due to a defect in the dropper markings. The Lorazepam Oral Concentrate, USP 2mg/mL, product is packaged with a dosing dropper, supplied to Amneal by a third party. In a few instances, the dropper is printed with the dose markings in reverse number order, has no dose markings or has dose markings that are shifted. Amneal learned about the issue from a Consumer's report. To date no adverse events related to these dropper defects have been reported to Amneal. The below picture shows examples of a dropper with the correct print, along with examples of droppers with the defects. Risk Statement: There is a significant likelihood that the dropper marking errors will result in dispensing either less than, or more than, the prescribed dose. There is a significant probability of a serious health consequence if more than the prescribed dose is dispensed and potential serious adverse events include drowsiness causing trauma; increased anxiety; increased accidental injury to self or others (e.g., hip fracture, motor vehicle accident); which in the most serious circumstances could result in permanent decreased function or death. The product is indicated for the management of anxiety disorders for the short-term relief of the symptoms of anxiety or anxiety associated with depressive symptoms. It is packaged in an individual carton, identified with the code: NDC 65162-687-84, which contains a 30mL amber glass bottle of liquid produced by Amneal, a package insert with patient information, and a plastic dropper sealed in a clear plastic bag. The affected Lorazepam Oral Concentrate, USP 2mg/mL, lots are the following: Lot Number Expiration Date 06876016A 08/2018 06876017A 08/2018 06876018A 08/2018 06876019A 09/2018 06876020A 09/2018 06876021A 09/2018 06876022A 09/2018 06876023A 11/2018 06876024A 12/2018 06876025A 12/2018 06877001A 02/2019 06877002A 02/2019 06877003A 03/2019 The product can be identified by the lot number printed on the bottom-right side of the blue and white label, with the Amneal logo, on the amber bottle supplied with the dropper, in a blue and white carton, with the Amneal logo. The Lorazepam Oral Concentrate, USP 2mg/mL was distributed nationwide to wholesalers. Amneal Pharmaceuticals has notified its wholesale customers by a Recall Letter to return all recalled lots. Amneal is notifying pharmacies by providing a Recall Letter and a supply of replacement droppers to all pharmacies that may have received any of the recalled lots. There is no safety issue with the bottled product itself. To avoid any interruption in supply or access to the medication by the patient, pharmacies are instructed to immediately discard the dropper included with the recalled lots and replace it with the dropper included with the Recall Letter. Amneal also is providing the pharmacist with a sticker which the pharmacist is required to place on the box to alert the patient and other pharmacists that the dropper has been replaced. Pharmacists are instructed to notify all Consumers impacted by the recall of the potential defect and the need to exchange a defective dropper. Consumers are instructed to discontinue use of any defective dropper and return it to the place of purchase for a replacement. If Consumers are unsure whether their droppers are defective they are encouraged to confirm with their dispensing pharmacy. Consumers with questions regarding this recall can contact Amneal Pharmaceuticals at 631.952.0214 x338 or amnealreg@amneal.com on Monday through Friday from 9AM through 5PM Eastern Time. Consumers should contact their physician or healthcare provider if they have experienced any problems that may be related to taking or using this drug product. Adverse reactions or quality problems experienced with the use of this product may be reported to the FDA's MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program either online, by regular mail, or by fax. Complete and submit report Online: www.fda.gov/medwatch/report.htm Regular Mail or Fax: Download form www.fda.gov/MedWatch/getforms.htm or call 1-800-332-1088 to request a reporting form, then complete and return to the address on the pre-addressed form, or submit by fax to 1-800-FDA-0178. This recall is being conducted with the knowledge of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. About Amneal: Amneal Pharmaceuticals LLC, a privately-held, global, company headquartered in Bridgewater, New Jersey, was founded in 2002 and is one of the largest and fastest growing generic pharmaceutical manufacturers in the United States. Click here to view full prescribing information for Lorazepam Oral Concentrate. ONEOK (OKE 1.97%) recently reported solid second-quarter results as rising volumes and fees pushed earnings higher. That said, the real story this quarter was closing the acquisition of its MLP because it sets the company on a path to significantly improve in its balance sheet while also delivering healthy dividend growth. The deal is already starting to pay dividends for the company and investors, which was evident from the comments of management on the accompanying quarterly conference call. Here are four things they wanted investors to know about the progress they made on their long-term growth plan during the quarter. No. 1: We've completed our merger and are ready to execute on our growth strategy CEO Terry Spencer led off his prepared remarks by pointing out: Our second quarter ended with the completion of the ONEOK and ONEOK Partners merger transaction, which included the acquisition of all of the common units of ONEOK Partners we did not previously own. ONEOK is even better positioned to execute our long-term growth strategy for the benefit of both our legacy and new ONEOK shareholders. ONEOK accomplished its primary objective by closing the purchase of its MLP. The rationale behind this transaction is that it would lower the combined company's cost of funding by eliminating fees and complexity, which should improve cash flow and its access to the capital markets. Those factors would put it in a stronger position so it could deliver on its strategy to create lasting value for investors. No. 2: Our balance sheet is getting better The transaction is already starting to pay off. CFO Walter Hulse noted on the call: The successful completion of the ONEOK and ONEOK Partners merger transaction, combined with the proactive steps we've taken to improve our leverage position and balance sheet, are being recognized. In July, ONEOK received credit rating upgrades to investment grade from both S&P and Moody's. Both agencies also have established stable outlooks on the company. Hulse further pointed out that the company's leverage ratio was down to 4.9 times at the end of the quarter after adjusting for one-time transaction costs. That's a significant improvement from a peak of 6.7 times in 2013 and down from the 5.1 times average of last year. Meanwhile, the company is on pace to hit its target to get leverage below 4.0 times by the end of next year or early 2019, driven primarily by increasing earnings through the completion of high-return growth projects it has in development. Meanwhile, the credit rating upgrade has already had an impact on its access to lower-cost funding. In July, the company issued $500 million of 10-year notes at 4% and $700 million of 30-year notes at 4.95%. It used that money to refinance existing debt, including redeeming all $87 million of its 6.5% notes due in 2028. No. 3: The dividend is on rock-solid ground Hulse also pointed out that thanks to the company's strong financial results in the quarter, it boasted a "healthy dividend coverage of approximately 1.5 times for both the second quarter and through the first half of 2017." In an industry where many of its rivals push the envelope by maintaining coverage ratios closer to 1.0 times, it suggests that ONEOK's payout is on rock-solid ground. Further, that robust coverage ratio enabled the company to boost its dividend by 21% after closing the merger deal, which is exactly what it said it would do. No. 4: Growth projects are starting to develop Another thing the company said it would do as a result of closing the merger is increase the payout by a 9% to 11% annual rate from 2018 through 2021 while maintaining a 1.2 times coverage ratio. While it currently has some room in the coverage ratio to continue increasing the dividend, it still must secure high-return growth projects to give it the cash flow needed support that forecast. However, that's not something Spencer is worried about: We have many opportunities for organic growth across our businesses through our diversified and integrated midstream asset footprint in some of the nation's most active shale plays. We can provide our current and new customers with full service of midstream capabilities. As I've said before, growth opportunities continue to develop in the areas we operate. In fact, several came to fruition over the past few months. In June, the company announced plans to expand its Mid-Continent natural gas liquids gathering system and Sterling III pipeline, backed by long-term agreements with EnLink Midstream Partners (NYSE: ENLK) and EnLink Midstream (ENLC -1.31%). Overall, ONEOK expects to invest $130 million in these projects, which should enter service by the end of next year and support EnLink's growth in Western Oklahoma. In addition to that, the company plans to expand its Canadian Valley gas processing plant in the region after securing additional customer contracts. The $155 million to $165 million project should enter service and start generating cash flow by 2019. These recently secured growth projects enhance the likelihood that ONEOK can achieve its dividend growth forecast. Full speed ahead ONEOK's solid second-quarter results, along with management's comments, confirm that the company is right on track with its growth strategy. That increases the likelihood that the company can deliver healthy dividend growth along with an improving financial position over the next several years. That's great news because it means the company's eye-catching 5.7% yield is not only sustainable, but should only get better in the years ahead, making it an excellent option for income-seeking investors. 2016-2017 has been a great time to invest in military stocks. Over the past year, the five biggest defense stocks have averaged returns of more than 37% -- and have become a whole lot more expensive. Military Stock Trailing-12-Month Stock Performance Dividend Yield Total Return Boeing (BA -0.05%) 76.2% 2.4% 78.6% General Dynamics (GD -4.08%) 32.8% 1.7% 34.5% Northrop Grumman (NOC -7.32%) 25.3% 1.5% 26.8% Lockheed Martin (LMT -5.48%) 16.3% 2.4% 18.7% Raytheon (RTN) 26% 1.8% 27.8% Despite the run-up, with things heating up again in North Korea (in the Middle East, they never cooled off), investment banker Morgan Stanley thinks military stocks could continue to post strong financial returns for some time to come (as they explained in a recent series of defense stock ratings). Then again, like Yogi Berra used to say, "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future." Yes, Donald Trump has promised to increase defense spending bigly next year. Yes, he's authorized billions of dollars worth of arms sales to foreign militaries. And, yes, all of that should mean more money for defense companies, which should mean (and already has meant) good news for defense stocks. Problem is, as the defense budget swells, so, too, do the prices of aerospace and defense stocks, which are no longer as cheap as they once were. If you have been thinking about how to invest in military stocks, it's more important than ever to keep an eye on valuation. How to value a defense stock Military stocks are just like any other stock, in that you can value them on earnings, dividends, and free cash flow. But I've said this before and I'll say it again: Over long periods of time, military stocks tend to revert to an average valuation based on their annual sales. Over the 17 years since this century began, military stocks as a group have sold for about one times annual sales on average -- but they're selling far more than that average today. Currently, the five defense stocks named above sell for an average of 1.8 times annual sales -- 80% above their long-term average valuation. Valued at 1.5 times sales, Boeing is the cheapest of the five, while Raytheon is the most expensive -- 2.1 times sales. Lockheed Martin is right in the middle at 1.8 times sales. But every single one of the large biggest defense contractors costs nearly twice its average valuation over the past two decades today. Two reasons military stocks are not great bargains... Why is that? Despite the headlines, it's not because these companies have above-average growth prospects. Actually, the average defense stock is expected to grow its earnings at no more than 10% annually over the next five years -- roughly in line with the growth rates expected elsewhere on the S&P 500. Nor is it because military stocks pay great dividends -- at least, not anymore. Rather, dividends within this group average a bit less than the 2% common among other S&P 500 stocks. Moreover, both the average growth rate and the average dividend yield of the defense companies rely on a big boost from Boeing, which pays the highest dividend yield in the group (2.4%) and boasts the fastest projected growth rate -- 18%. If not for Boeing being in the group, military stocks as a whole would look even less attractive relative to the rest of the market. ... and one big reason why they cost so much No, the real reason investors are paying up for defense stocks today (I think) is because military stocks are presently earning some of the highest profit margins they've ever earned in recorded history. This fact has not gone unnoticed by President Trump, who's called upon Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and others to roll back their prices. If and when defense stocks' profit margins return to historical norms, I'd expect to see their price-to-sales ratios revert to the norm as well, which brings me to my most practical bit of advice: The one military stock that still sells for less than its annual sales (i.e., less than one times sales) is Textron (TXT -0.90%). Textron stock is a bargain in the rough Priced at 0.9 times sales today, Textron doesn't sell at a huge discount to the average valuation for military stocks. But Textron stock does offer a modest margin of safety -- and it's a whole lot cheaper than its peers. This is probably partly a function of Textron's operating profit margin, which at 7.6%, is below the group. It's a function partly of its debt load, which at $3.1 billion net of cash, is rather high for a military stock with only a $13 billion market capitalization. Those caveats aside, beggars can't be choosers. With military stocks as a group clearly overvalued, Textron is the closest thing to a bargain defense investors will find on the market today. Industry leaders have sounded an upbeat note after holding talks with chancellor Philip Hammond about the future of UK agriculture post Brexit. Mr Hammond, Conservative MP for Runnymede and Weybridge, attended the Chertsey Agricultural Show on Sunday (13 August) along with NFU president Meurig Raymond. Berkshire farmer Colin Rayner, president of the Chertsey Show, introduced Mr Raymond to Mr Hammond and all three held talks about future farm policy for 40 minutes. See also: Whats driving future of farm support post Brexit Afterwards, Mr Raymond told Farmers Weekly the talks had gone very well and that the chancellor was keen to ensure British agriculture will get a good deal after the UK leaves the EU in March 2019. He [Mr Hammond] is very much wanting to direct support into investment, access to capital and how we become more efficient, said Mr Raymond. We talked about food inflation, provenance and UK product and standards. I said to him I was delighted that [Defra secretary] Michael Gove said he was against importing food produced to lower standards. But I said I get very nervous when Mr Gove starts talking about enhancing welfare standards. He did say that Michael sticks up for farming at Cabinet. The chancellor also explained that, although the UK will leave the single market and customs union on 29 March 2019, the government would be seeking a Turkish model customs union agreement which would allow the UK to trade freely with the EU during the transitional period. Stay positive Mr Rayner agreed discussions had gone well. He urged farmers to stay positive about Brexit and back politicians to deliver the right result for the industry. I think that we are in a safe place, that we have the right team negotiating it, said Mr Rayner. I have great confidence in Philip Hammond and Michael Gove to deliver the right result for the industry. We need to support this government as much as we can to get the right deal and we shouldnt be criticising and complaining until we know the results. Sony Xperia XZ1 hands-on images leak revealing specs News oi -Abhinaya Prabhu Sony Xperia XZ1 specs leak. The days are running faster and the pre-IFA days are approaching closer. Sony has a big announcement to make during the pre-IFA days and we know that the talk is about the Sony Xperia XZ1. Of late, we have been seeing a slew of leaks regarding the Sony Xperia XZ1 giving us a glimpse of what we can actually get to see when the smartphone is announced officially. Earlier today, we saw the rear panel of the smartphone revealing its design and now we have some live images of the device shedding light on the specifications as well. Basically, these Sony Xperia XZ1 shots look like the real life photos of the soon to be announced smartphone. These live hands-on images of the Sony Xperia XZ1 have been leaked by Slashleaks from Sony Xperia Ailesi. The images show the positioning of the antenna lines and the NFC logo. Apart from these, the other design elements seem to be placed in order. Similar to the previously leaked images, this one also shows the signature OmniBalance design language of the Sony Xperia XZ1. The front of the smartphone appears to be identical to those of the Xperia XZ, Xperia Xzs and Xperia XZ Premium. As you can see from the images, the entire display seems to be concealed by a text-rich sticker. It is not clear whether this is a dummy unit or a real working model of the upcoming Sony smartphone. However, the good thing is that the sticker on the Sony smartphone reveals a large amount of information about the specifications of the device. Interestingly, these specifications seem to be in line with the ones that the previous leaks have revealed. From the images, it can be seen that the Sony Xperia XZ1 will arrive with a Snapdragon 835 SoC paired with 4GB RAM and 64GB storage space. The display is said to be a 5.2-inch panel (could feature FHD 1080p resolution) and support for HDR. The device is believed to have a 13MP selfie camera and a 19MP MotionEye camera with 960fps recording capability. The other aspects tipped by the images are IP68 or IP65 rating for dust and water resistance, HDR capable display and front-facing stereo speakers. It is known that the Sony Xperia XZ1 will be unveiled on August 31 at the pre-IFA 2017 Sony event. We can expect the company to launch three smartphones at the IFA 2017 showfloor - a smaller variant dubbed Xperia XZ1 Compact and a mid-range model dubbed Xperia X1. Best Mobiles in India Facebook, To stay updated with latest technology news & gadget reviews, follow GizBot on Twitter YouTube and also subscribe to our notification. Allow Notifications New Delhi / Srinagar : Indian and Chinese soldiers were allegedly involved in an altercation in the western Himalayas on Tuesday, said sources in the government. Indian soldiers reportedly foiled an infiltration bid by Chinese Peoples Liberation Army to enter Ladakh, near the Pangong lake. The incident took place on the morning of Indian Independence Day, August 15. There was an altercation near the Pangong lake, said a police officer in Srinagar, the capital of India`s Jammu and Kashmir state, under which the area falls. An army source in Srinagar also spoke of an altercation following what he called a Chinese army incursion in Pangong lake area. A source in New Delhi told Reuters, Chinese soldiers carried iron rods and stones. Both sides suffered from minor injuries. The scuffle reportedly lasted for 30 minutes. Another report suggests that the confrontation occurred after a Chinese patrol lost its way due to bad weather conditions, coming across Indian soldiers at Pangong Lakes northern bank near areas known as Finger Four and Finger Five, sources told India Today. Indian and Chinese authorities have not responded to the situation yet. Indian government is likely to raise the issue with its Chinese counterparts in a flag meeting on August 16. These developments have further escalated the ongoing tensions between the two countries which are already locked in a two-month standoff over Dokalam. The two armies are engaged in a standoff in the Doklam plateau further east, in another part of their 3,500 km (2,175 mile) unmarked mountain border. Source : Zee News TownePlace Suites by Marriott Orlando at SeaWorld, managed by LBA Hospitality and owned by Mandala Holdings, is now open in the heart of the city"s magical attractions. Located across the street from SeaWorld Orlando and right around the corner from Discovery Cove, Aquatica Orlando, Orange County Convention Center, Universal Studios and Walt Disney World, the hotel will serve travelers the utmost in hospitality in the city known as the number one meeting destination in the U.S. and the location for a record of 68 million visitors last year. As an all-suites hotel, TownePlace Suites by Marriott Orlando at SeaWorld consists of 6 floors with 188 rooms featuring full kitchens, kids" suites, an outdoor pool, an on-site fitness center, a business center, free continental breakfast and concierge. In addition, as an Official Hotel of SeaWorld, guests at the property will also have exclusive park benefits at SeaWorld and Aquatica including complimentary transportation, and discounts on merchandise and culinary purchases in the parks. Led by general manager Alex Figueroa, named LBA"s General Manager of the Year in 2016, and Biljana Djokovic, director of sales, TownePlace Suites by Marriott Orlando at SeaWorld is one of two properties LBA plans to launch this summer in Orlando. Holiday Inn Express and Suites Orlando at SeaWorld, a six story hotel with 181 guest rooms, an outdoor pool, fitness center, business center and meeting space, will open in a few short months. Hotel website Sheraton Los Angeles San Gabriel Hotel, the premier luxury property scheduled to open fall 2017 on East Valley Boulevard, has announced that Sunny Saha has been appointed Assistant General Manager. In Mr Sahas new role, he will help oversee the hotels day-to-day operations, financial performance, customer and employee relations, and ensure the overall success of the property. With more than 30 years of managerial and hospitality experience, Mr Saha has worked at some of the worlds finest hotel destinations. Prior to Sheraton San Gabriel, he was the Director of Food & Beverage at Millennium Biltmore Los Angeles, where he oversaw 295 employees and a $23.5 million budget. Mr Saha brings a unique international perspective to the Sheraton Los Angeles San Gabriel Hotel, having worked at hotels in Thailand, Miami, Switzerland, New York, Philadelphia, and Singapore. Mr Saha holds a certificate in restaurant management from Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne and a masters certificate in revenue management and marketing from eCornell. Mr Saha is also fluent in English, French, Italian and German. You're feeling rejuvenated on the tail end of a glorious island getaway, with the hotel quickly receding in your rearview mirror, when panic suddenly strikes. Shocked, you realize a pivotal personal item was left behind your carry-on backpack the one holding not only your half-devoured novel, but most importantly, your passport. With stress-induced clarity, you picture where it was left in the hotel room wardrobe next to the safe. Speeding back to the hotel, you call to notify the staff of your urgent loss. When you arrive to the reception desk, not only is your bag missing, but it seems the multiple staff you ask in desperation have no idea about your dilemma. Valuable time is wasted and your peaceful beach memories are flushed out by fear, angst, and confusion. This stressful scenario and others like it are the unfortunate reality for many travelers. Now there's a simple solution to waylay the anxieties around lost items for guests and staff alike - the new "Lost & Found" feature of ALICE's concierge technology, ALICE concierge. Human error is inevitable wherever you go, but ALICE's Lost & Found logbook provides intuitive functionality for managing guest items, enabling any hotel staff member to track lost items in detail from any device. ALICE Lost & Found features: Smart search across any description of the item Photo attachments of items for precision Digital signature of guest upon pickup Disposal reporting to see which items are ready to be removed from storage We at ALICE are confident this tool will improve the lost and found experience. Staff already using our Lost & Found feature have garnered powerful insights to more seamlessly assist guests in an event of missing items. "We use it mainly for lost and found credit cards that are left at the bar or the pool, whether it's for a guest or a visitor in the public spaces," said Ben Edwards, chef Concierge at SIXTY LES. "It's simple to do a search in the corresponding category to locate items. It's great how you can search using any keyword of name or location of where the item was found. The search is really intuitive, flexible, and fast." In the last 30 days, 3,202 lost and found items were recorded for all ALICE clients using the new module that's about 163 items per hotel, per month. The most common left-behind items have been chargers, books, shirts, bags, glasses, and shoes. With Lost & Found in action at your hotel, guest panic will melt into relief when the front desk agent knowingly hands you a coveted lost parcel, or calls you having found it before you even realized it was missing. ALICE's Lost & Found will keep your team ahead of the curve, so they can continue to exceed your guest's expectations through the consistency in service and cross-departmental organization this feature provides. Informed staff lead to happy, repeat guests. Your success is our success. Lost & Found is part of the ALICE Concierge module, used by Front Desk and Concierge teams in hundreds of hotels across the United States and around the world. Learn more about ALICE Concierge and schedule a demo here. About ALICE ALICE is the leading all-in-one hospitality operations platform that enables hotel staff to do their most impactful work. Task management, real-time communication, and operational analytics reduce the complexity and chaos of hotel operations providing the transparency and flexibility needed to run efficiently. Founded in 2013, ALICE works with more than 2,500 hotels and tens of thousands of hotel staff across many of the world's leading brands, including Hilton Hotels & Resorts, Graduate Hotels, and Grupo Posadas. ALICE won 7 HotelTechAwards in 2022: winner of Best Concierge Software & Best Housekeeping Software; finalist for its Guest Messaging, Maintenance, and Staff Collaboration Tools; Top 10 People's Choice; and Top 10 Best Places to Work in Hotel Technology for the fifth straight year. https://www.aliceplatform.com/. Lola Feiger Marketing Lead Munich TrustYou, the world's largest guest feedback platform, expands its client portfolio and reports successful new partnerships with numerous independent and chain hotels across the globe. Thereby, the platform reinforces its global market presence and continuous growth in the field of feedback management, guest communication, and review marketing. The internationally operating NH Hotel Group, with almost 400 properties in 31 countries, recently integrated TrustYou's Meta-Review and Rich Snippets onto their brand website with the goal to also add independent, third-party review summaries to their direct booking experience. NH Hotels registered immediate improvements to conversion and traffic as well as to the resulting revenue. Due to this positive experience, the hotel chain recently also started to utilize the semantic analysis of TrustYou's guest feedback platform to enhance the overall customer experience, operations, and quality of their properties. Wyndham Vacation Ownership, headquarter in in Orlando, Florida, USA, has started to utilize TrustYou's guest feedback platform for their resorts across the US, Canada, Mexico, and many more countries. The convenient portfolio function allows the management of chain to keep track of the reputation and quality of their 200+ properties in order to ensure maximum guest satisfaction. "A positive guest experience is the main goal for all our Wyndham Vacation Ownership resorts. TrustYou was the ideal solution to monitor scores, quality, and operations from a guest perspective. Managing all properties in one tool helps us to identify shortcomings immediately and accelerate issue resolutions, which results in better scores and, eventually, in more bookings", says Tiffany O'Connell, Director of Digital Engagement at Wyndham Vacation Ownership. Berlin-based Travel Charme Hotels & Resorts operates 11 properties in Germany and Austria, focusing on vacation and leisure with a very personal vibe. The group chose TrustYou in spring 2017 to analyze, manage, and reply to feedback in all properties to guarantee the best possible interaction with the guests - before, during, and after the stay. With TrustYou's survey solution, Travel Charme Hotels & Resorts can easily enquire about their guests' experience directly after their stay. Best Hotels relies on TrustYou's review analysis features for its 30 hotels on Spain's mainland and islands locations since spring 2017. The goal is to improve the overall guest satisfaction and service quality across all properties. In order to increase direct bookings and to improve the user experience, Best Hotels furthermore integrated Meta-Reviews and rich snippets on their hotel website. In Japan, the boutique hotel chain Villa Fontaine recently decided to work with TrustYou's platform. The 17 properties in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kobe will analyze, manage, and solicit their own guest feedback with TrustYou's analytics solution and post-stay surveys to increase the volume of reviews and positive ratings. In the Asia Pacific region, the Erawan Group, with an extensive hotel network in Thailand and the Philippines, designed the Hop Inn Hotels for the budget conscious, business, and leisure travelers and joined the TrustYou client portfolio in July 2017. Hop Inn Hotels use the feedback platform to better oversee and examine guest reviews for its 26 existing and four soon-to-open hotels in 2017. Additionally, numerous renowned independent hotels chose TrustYou for guest feedback management, such as Hotel Lancaster in Paris (FR), Hotel Allgau Sonne in Oberstaufen (DE), Hotel Sonnenburg in Lech am Arlberg (AT), and Chancellor's House in Oxford (UK). "We look back on a very successful first half of 2017 with exciting new partnerships across the globe and we are proud to have gained the trust of so many hospitality partners to rely on our guest feedback platform. TrustYou provides the technology and features that meet today's requirements of both, internationally operating hotel chains and independent hotels, to market, manage, and collect guest feedback in a mobile-first society", says Benjamin Jost, CEO at TrustYou. More information about TrustYou can be found at www.trustyou.com. Katharina Heitmann Marketing Director +49 89 54 80 29 25 Stockholm Hotel Las Americas, a five star hotel located in Cartagena, Colombia, is further increasing onsite security with the installation of the Elsafe SENTINEL II in-room safes from ASSA ABLOY Hospitality in all 530 guestrooms at both Las Americas Casa de Playa and Las Americas Torre del Mar. Sitting on the shores of the Caribbean Sea, the hotel now offers guests an efficient and easily accessible in-room security option in addition to high-class amenities, leisure activities, onsite restaurants, a relaxing spa and state-of-the-art workout facility. After using a competing in-room electronic safe, Hotel Las Americas looked to ASSA ABLOY Hospitality's Elsafe SENTINEL II because of its long battery life, ability to store and remember access events, safe depth, advanced futuristic design, and user-friendliness. The property has also successfully employed a mix of ASSA ABLOY Hospitality's VingCard electronic locks with RFID technology and knew that quick and continuous customer support would be guaranteed for the installation of the safes, especially with an ASSA ABLOY Hospitality office based in Colombia. "We have already been working with the team at ASSA ABLOY Hospitality, using the latest in RFID locking solutions from them, so we had no doubt they could supply us with an electronic in-room safe that met both our needs and the needs of our guests," said Juan David Montes, purchasing manager at Hotel Las Americas. "Since the installation, we've not only streamlined our standard maintenance services, but we're now able to provide our guests with an in-room safe that is large enough to store laptops and tablets, increasing the security of their valuables." The Elsafe SENTINEL II is a functional, design-conscious and high security in-room safe that consists of a one-piece, cold-pressed steel door that is 70 percent stronger than a flat steel door. In combination with the revolutionary locking system ASSA ABLOY Hospitality is known for, the Elsafe SENTINEL II resists forcible entry and possesses anti-tamper labyrinths that protect the safe's electronics from manipulation. Since the installation, the property has already seen significant improvements in maintenance efficiencies. Due to the safe's ability to have its batteries changed without actually opening the safe and its long battery life, maintenance staff is able to cut down on the time it takes to perform this task and the frequency with which it needs to be done. The property is also saving money from cutting costs on battery replacement purchases. Additionally, in-room security is now greatly increased due to the Elsafe SENTINEL II's ability to hold larger items, such as laptops, and properly store access events at the safe. For more information about ASSA ABLOY Hospitality and its comprehensive line of electronic in-room safes and locking solutions, please visit www.assaabloyhospitality.com. About ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions The ASSA ABLOY Group is the global leader in access solutions. Every day, we help billions of people experience a more open world. ASSA ABLOY Global Solutions is dedicated to reimagining how people move through their world. Our expertise in customer journey mapping, innovation and service design leads to the invention of new security solutions that create value for our clients and exceptional experiences for end users. For the hospitality market, these solutions include integrated software systems, mobile access and location solutions designed to help our customers enhance the hotel guest experience, while improving operational efficiency. In order to provide best-in-class customer service, we offer support in more than 166 countries. For more information, please visit assaabloyglobalsolutions.com/hospitality and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Andrea Mane President, Plan A PR & Marketing 407-905-0608 In France, the negotiation to determine whether the hotel's employees are employed by the owner or the operator is a contractual key matter. French owners require more frequently to pass the responsibility of employment to the operator, which has significant consequences on the negotiating and on the drafting of hotel management agreements. In principle, a hotel management agreement is a contract between a hotel management company (the operator) and a property owner, under which the operator assumes full responsibility for managing the property by providing all the necessary services (direction, supervision, expertise, etc.) using established methods and procedures. For the owner (investment funds / financial institutions, etc.) the main objectives are to: select the operator who will maximise profitability and consequently the value of the asset, secure, under the best possible conditions, the terms of the agreement signed with the operator whereby the owner is freed from all responsibility for the operation of the property, and at the same time, ensure that the fees paid to the operator correspond to them meeting or exceeding the agreed performance criteria. The operator agrees to provide the owner with his experience and know-how, particularly in terms of human resource management and organisation procedures, even though under traditional management agreements, the owner usually remains the legal employer of staff. A hotel's human resources are an essential key to its success and help validate the company image. However, from a purely financial point of view, payroll constitutes a high expense item, and if not properly structured can present a significant source of legal and social risks. Yet owners may find themselves accountable for human resource strategies, which in practice, have been exclusively developed by hotel operators, since they alone, are familiar with the hotel business. Given this, certain French financial owners will only enter into 'reverse' management agreements under which the operator is the sole employer of the hotel's staff. Quick comparison with hotel lease management contracts " contrats de location gerance " Under a lease management contract, the tenant by law rents the business at his own risk and is pursuant to the law, the sole employer of the personnel. A lease management contract thus appears to offer a more simple solution, so why aren't they used more often? In practice, the hotel operator agrees to employing staff, but subject to being able to pass the burden on to the property operated. The contractual management of staff thus constitutes the major challenge in negotiating a 'reverse' hotel management agreement. Given this, an owner will pay particular attention to negotiating the key terms of contracts relating to the supervision of staff, specifically examining the conditions and brand standards submitted by the operator, notably with regard to human resources. The owner must, in fact, control the operator in terms of the contract's execution, the key objective being to ensure the project's financial success. The owner then enters into negotiations with the brand by prioritising the essential clauses of the contract in this respect from those that are non-negotiable to those that are up for discussion, and by setting out defined objectives and a clear vision of the owner's legal and financial interests. HOW OWNERS AND OPERATORS SUCCESSFULLY NEGOTIATE IN FRANCE REVERSE HOTEL MANAGEMENT AGREEMENTS | By Christopher Boinet and Stanislas Dublineau Photo by In Extenso Avocats DESCRIPTION OF THE PROCESSES INVOLVED IN FRANCE IN DRAFTING A 'REVERSE' HOTEL MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT The owner may launch a tender to select a hotel operator, often requesting and in reality imposing in the term sheet that the operator accept full responsibility for the hotel's staff. The selected operator will then propose an extremely detailed management contract to cover the risk of employing the personnel. A 'reverse' hotel management agreement often stipulates that the owner is the sole employer of the hotel's staff, including the General Manager. The operator will then be extremely vigilant in ensuring that all expenses related to personnel management are translated into operating costs for the hotel. For this reason, agreements generally specify that the operator alone may exercise authority over staff (management and disciplinary power). The operator is granted all rights/ prerogatives and obligations relating to their role as an employer with regard to individual and collective working relations in accordance with the applicable legislation in France. The operator is thus responsible notably and amongst others for: the selection, recruitment and training of staff, administrative management (monitoring of absences, holidays, etc.), career management (promotions) and contract terminations, the setting and monthly payment of staff salaries, the determination of working conditions, the drafting and updating of all legally required documents and notices, and the organisation of professional elections and the maintenance of industrial relations (employee representative bodies, unions). However, these stipulations useful as they are need to be applied in practice. In fact, the owner must refrain from giving orders and instructions to staff, otherwise these contractual provisions have no value. Further, they cannot exonerate the owner from any possible liability. The parties contractually agree that the appointment of the General Manager (and sometimes other key positions, too) will be subject to the owner's prior written approval. However, the owner has no right of veto, and cannot unreasonably defer or refuse their agreement. For example, in order not to obstruct the management of the property, hotel management agreements often include a provision stipulating that the owner may not reject more than two candidates proposed by the operator for the position of General Manager. Similarly, management agreements generally require the operator to communicate the General Manager's salary to the owner at the time of hiring, and as part of the budgetary procedure thereafter throughout agreement's term. The operator's criteria with respect to salary levels, retirement and employee participation schemes are often established by taking into account habitually observed practices in hotels of a comparable category. These criteria are regularly benchmarked against competitor hotels, preselected by the operator and owner. Parties must also pay particular attention to clauses relating to 'hotel staffing costs' (covering, in particular, recruitment expenses, salaries, benefits and bonuses, employee participation schemes, contract terminations and other expenses, employer contributions and taxes including the CVAE, a tax based on a company's added value). These expenses must be set out as comprehensively as possible, with particular consideration given to debts, claims, miscellaneous costs, reasonable legal fees and all costs and benefits associated with expatriate contracts and the application for work permits and visas. These expenses are re-invoiced down to the last euro by the operator and absorbed by the property under operating expenses. Foreign workers employed by the hotel To the extent that the employment of overseas workers is authorised by the owner, the operator is often requested to bear any risk inherent in the recruitment of foreign staff. As the sole employer, the operator is required to undertake all the necessary formalities with regard to filing employee work permit or visa applications and obtaining these documents thereafter. Expenses related to these applications, along with any legal, tax or other advice required to obtain permits and visas or to negotiate and sign expatriate employment contracts, will be listed as hotel operating costs. The end of the hotel management agreement Upon termination of the hotel management agreement, whether it has expired or been terminated early for any reason whatsoever, hotel employees are automatically and fully transferred to the owner of the business (fonds de commerce) or to the new hotel operator. This situation is the result of the application of Article L. 1224-1 of the French Labour Code and is often emphasised in management agreements. Furthermore, the hotel management agreement may specify that if the conditions laid down in Article L.1224-1 of the Labour Code are not met, the owner must make every effort to ensure employees are transferred to a possible new hotel operator. The owner may officially request to be kept informed of the content of agreements and transactions concluded with staff and any resulting expenses. The owner may impose a contractual right of veto on possible agreements considered disproportionate, although care should be taken with regard to this. Indeed, by imposing such practices, the hotel owner runs the risk that their 'control' be considered as 'interference' in the management of the hotel's employees. If this intrusion becomes too great, the recognition of the owner as a co-employer of the hotel's staff cannot be ruled out. Similarly, the 'flat rate' remuneration of such transactions, where they exist, must be examined in connection with the legislation covering bargaining and the lending of for-profit labour. In the event that the hotel ceases trading, parties stipulate in the agreement that the operator is responsible for terminating employment contracts. The owner then contractually undertakes to reimburse the operator in full and upon presentation of receipts all expenses relating to staff termination, compensation of any kind, litigation costs and generally speaking, any monies due to hotel employees or social welfare organisations (unless, of course, the operator is liable for such). Hotel management agreements thus often specify that this contractual commitment be subject to the double condition that the operator has made every effort to: transfer or redeploy hotel staff, or properly instigate the redundancy information and consultation procedure within a reasonable period of time (for example, no later than three months prior to the expiry or termination of the hotel management agreement). The legally and financially sensitive case of transferring or redeploying staff to other properties: the operator specifically requires that the owner reimburse all costs and monies due to employees or social welfare organisations in connection with such transfer or redeployment. The terms of payment of monies owed by the owner to the operator with regard to such: the operator necessarily imposes a system under which invoices are refunded without delay via a direct debit authorisation from the hotel's bank account. What is more, operators generally request a financial guarantee from owners in return for managing and assuming the responsibility for the hotel's staff. To conclude, in France,'reverse' hotel management agreements are not the most prevalent amongst hotel operators. However, operators do accept the constraints of these contracts, notably in return for their ease of implementation and the guarantees that can be obtained from owners. Each co-contracting party can therefore assess from the time the agreement is signed the extent and limits of their commitments. As Claude Lelouch the famous French director said, 'constraint solicits the imagination' (2016, Le dictionnaire de ma vie), and the fertile imagination of hoteliers will no doubt enable them to shape hotel agreements to take into account the constantly-evolving constraints of labour law regulations. 1 Assuming an average of one employee per room, payroll can equal 40% of total turnover in luxury hotels and 30%, even, in 3 or 4 star hotels. 2 Amounts mentioned in these contracts are also included in the accounts under operating costs. Christopher Boinet FR - IE Paris - Avocats In Extenso Avocats Named after the world-famous waterfall trio, Niagara Falls is blessed with year-round natural attractions complemented by weekly fireworks shows, annual festivals and a range of river and parkway attractions. This Canadian city is a popular honeymoon destination, but also draws travellers with its historical museums, performing arts centres and themed restaurants. Things to do in Niagara Falls If youre heading to Niagara Falls, the iconic Horseshoe Falls is probably near the top of your sightseeing list. This mammoth 820-metre-wide waterfall is best viewed from Table Rock, on a scenic flight, during an adrenalin-pumping zipline ride or in a boat up close from the Maid of the Mist Pool. Visit the Niagara Falls at night to see them illuminated in colourful lights and fireworks. Families flock to Marineland of Canada, which boasts the worlds largest orca habitat as well as sea lions, walruses and bottlenose dolphins. More fun awaits at Fallsview Indoor Waterpark, home to multiple waterslides, hot springs and interactive play areas. Kids will also love the oddities on display at Ripleys Believe It or Not, including shrunken heads and ceremonial skulls. Niagara Falls sets the scene for a memorable night out with a wealth of fine-dining and themed restaurants, from Dave and Busters to Keg Steakhouse and Bar, which overlooks the Falls. Enjoy drinks with citywide vistas in the revolving restaurant at Skylon Tower, before testing your luck on the slot machines and table games at Fallsview Casino Resort. Interested in the local history? Explore the interactive exhibits on the culture and geology of the area at Niagara Falls History Museum, before learning about the citys military past at Niagara Military Museum. Getting around Niagara Falls If youre staying near the Falls, most attractions are within an easy walking distance of each other. You can also use the WEGO bus system, Falls Shuttle or numerous local taxi companies to get around. Theres also daily parking available if you choose to drive. Acadgild sees 20% to 30% increase in course takers post spike in IT layoffs Posted by Press Releases on Wednesday, 08-16-2017 2:30 am Currently 0.0/5 Stars. 1 2 3 4 5 0.0 from 0 votes Need for reskilling becoming apparentwith rise of automation acrossmany jobsEmployees understand the importance of getting reskilled in the latest technologies Acadgild, a Bangalore-based technology education start-up that provides skill-based training, has seen a 20% to 30% spike in its course takers. The increase is in strong correlation to the rise in automation across sectors and also more layoffs in the IT industry. With the IT industry leaning towards automation, there is a growing demand for professionals skilled in the areas of Analytics, Big Data, Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, Cloud computing and Cyber Security, and Blockchain technology. The knowledge that existing working professionals possess is limited to traditional skills which are no longer adequate, and consequently, there is an increasing need to re-skill these professionals. The skill development must evolve to adapt to and keep up with the needs of this dynamic environment. A su... Close Forgot Your Password? Enter in your email address and we will send it to you. Send Email An HR.com member profile provides you with access to a multitude of information and education along with the opportunity to network with the largest HR community on the web. If you need any help, call .877.472.6648 and ask for our Member Experience Co-ordinator. Hi Please check your email for an activation link. If you do not receive your activation email within a few minutes, check your spam folder or call our Help Desk at 1.877.472.6648 For faster assistance, dial extension 4. Thank you! Continue Hi Verification error - Please enter the correct code above. Verified Wow! You have successfully verified the account Continue Hi your HR.com account is ready Your Profile completion: 30% Complete your profile Your age isnt the only number that increases over time. As you accrue more experience in the workplace, your value to employers inevitably increases, and salary expectations should follow in line. Theres a direct correlation between age and salary for most of your life they will increase together as you learn new skills, gain more experience and increase your potential. But it also depends on several variables, including your industry, development, skill set and even gender. Heres what you need to know according to Instant Offices. Average Wages in the UK The average UK annual salary or monthly wage of full-time employees differs drastically across industries. According to the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), average gross annual earnings for full-time employees was 27,600 in 2015, which was a 1.6% increase from the previous year. Depending on which sector you join and where youre situated, your salary could quickly outstrip this amount. According to Graduate Jobs, the median starting salary for UK graduates in 2016 is between 19,000 and 22,000, which isnt far from the national average. However, this figure is heavily influenced by several factors that will determine just how much you earn at what age. Factors that Influence Salary Growth These factors play a significa... New Delhi, Aug 16 (IBNS): The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday has given its approval for 7 posts of Principal Director and 36 posts of Director on regular basis in the Armed Forces Headquarters (AFHQ) Civil Service, Ministry of Defence as part of restructuring . Creation of regular posts in the AFHQ Civil Service will alleviate stagnation the cadre. It will be in the interest of better cadre management and bring improvement in the efficiency of the service. This would be an innovative measure entailing no additional cost but would bring benefits from the perspective of cadre management and enable its better utilisation, read a government statement. Creation of regular posts in the place of in situ promotions will ensure more transparency in cadre management. Assigning of higher responsibilities on regular posts will result in greater productivity and accountability with respect to AFHQ CS officers. Kolkata, Aug 16 (IBNS): Paint company Berger on Wednesday announced a new ad campaign for the launch of their Silk Glamor Luxury Emulsion paint. The new ad campaign of Berger Paints features Katrina Kaif telling the story of her home and how she nurtures the feeling of decorating her home to make it picture perfect. According to a release issued by the company, the philosophy behind this new ad campaign is to create a unique brand identity in the super premium interior emulsion category around luxury & glamour. This campaign aims to give the viewers an imagery to find out the reflection of themselves in their individual homes. The product epitomizes luxury for the walls due to its ultra smooth finish, supreme sheen and exotic colors. Formulated with 100% acrylic binders to enhance scratch resistance, anti-fading pigments for those rich hues and bio-resistant additives for enhanced durability, the release said. Commenting on the concept, Sudhir Nair, General Manager, Marketing, Berger Paints India Limited, said: The new advertisement harps on the idea of giving a stylish makeover to the walls of our home with new reflective technology, Silk Glamor. The idea of roping in Katrina Kaif is to explain the beauty of the product to the customers and to accentuate the Silk Glamor brand to higher levels. Commenting on the concept, Priya Shivakumar, Vice President & Executive Creative Director, JWT said: While thinking of the story line I looked at the wall as not just a physical structure. You know the walls have emotions and soul and it actually gets a meaning when we put objects on it. Each one of us should be very specific while painting our homes and walls and thereby choosing so supreme and sensual touch makes them stay special. New Delhi, Aug 16 ((IBNS): Amid the Doklam stand-off, Chinese troops clashed with their Indian counterparts in Ladakh on Tuesday, media reports said. Soldiers from both the countries received injuries as they were involved in stone pelting along the line of control in eastern Ladakh. Reports said the Chinese troops later withdrew themselves from the confrontation. The ongoing military standoff has heightened tension at the Bhutan-India-China tri-junction in Doklam, a disputed territory claimed by both Bhutan and China, where the Indian Army personnel have reached to stop China from building a road. China has accused India of trespassing into its territory and demanded withdrawal of troops leading to a prolonged standoff. While India and Bhutan say the land belongs to the tiny Himalayan kingdom and that the Indian troops are there at the request of Bhutan, China has warned that it will not accept any dialogue till Indian soldiers pull out from Doklam. Image: File. twitter.com/potus Chicago, Aug 16 (IBNS): US President Donald J. Trump lauded the "irreplaceable contributions of Hindus and Indian Americans" in shaping the character of his country on the occasion of India's 71st Independence Day. "Thanks to the irreplaceable contributions of Hindus and Indian Americans, the future of our valued partnership has never looked brighter, and we continue to foster even greater cooperation for future generations," Trump said in a message to the India Day parade in Chicago on Tuesday. "As we celebrate this magnificent milestone for the people of India, we proudly recognise all of Hindus and Indian Americans who have been influential in shaping the character of our great nation," Trump's message said. Trump also spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday to congratulate the 1.2 billion citizens of India, who celebrated freedom and independence. The leaders resolved to enhance peace and stability across the Indo-Pacific region by establishing a new 2-by-2 ministerial dialogue that will elevate their strategic consultations. As the leaders of two of the worlds largest and fastest-growing major economies, President Trump and Prime Minister Modi looked forward to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in India this November. Trump has asked Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump to lead the United States summit delegation. President Trump further welcomed the first ever shipment of American crude oil to India, which will occur from Texas this month, pledging that the United States would continue to be a reliable, long-term supplier of energy. PM Modi thanked President Trump for his strong leadership uniting the world against the North Korean menace. New York, Aug 16(Just Earth News): After learning Monday that devastating floods and mudslides left hundreds dead in Sierra Leone, the United Nations migration agency released $160,000 in emergency, first-response aid relief for the West African country. IOM [International Organization for Migration] is ready to work with Sierra Leone's Government in any capacity it can, to respond to this terrible event, said IOM Director General William Lacy Swing on Tuesday morning from the UN agency's headquarters in Geneva. Speaking from Dakar, Senegal, IOM's West Africa Regional chief, Richard Danziger, said that IOM was joining Sierra Leone authorities and the UN country team in conducting damage assessment throughout the impacted region near the capital, Freetown. Hundreds of citizens are reported dead with many more missing after mudslides and floods tore through several communities; search teams expect to discover more remains in the coming days and weeks. Access to potable water and widespread homelessness are expected to be immediate concerns for thousands of people in the capital, whose population exceeds one million. Flooding has wreaked havoc in Sierra Leone in the recent past. Last week, IOM and the Government of Japan presented Sierra Leone's first water purification facility to the resettled community of Mile 6, Koya Rural. Located about 50 kilometres outside Freetown, it provides safe drinking water to the resettled population after flash floods ravaged the capital in September 2016. Photo: UNICEF Source: www.justearthnews.com New York, Aug 16(Just Earth News): More than 1,500 Congolese refugees who have fled violence and ethnic tensions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been relocated from reception centres in northern Angola to a newly established settlement, the United Nations refugee agency on Tuesday said. Addressing journalists in Geneva, Adrian Edwards, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said the Lovua settlement was created to improve the living conditions of refugees. Built on about 33 km2 of land allocated by the Government of Angola, the site allows refugees to receive a plot of land to build shelters and to grow food to supplement their food rations. UNHCR and partners plan to relocate tens of thousands of Congolese refugees to the new site, which is some 100 km inland from the border with the DRC. While the security situation in the Kasai region remains volatile, the Angolan authorities and UNHCR with partners are ready to provide protection and assistance for up to 50,000 Congolese refugees by the end of 2017 at Lovua, Edwards said. Some 33,000 refugees are currently in reception centres that Edwards termed over-crowded. The UN agency has called for financial support to assist the refugees. A humanitarian appeal for $65.5 million launched in June is only about 32 per cent funded. Additional funding is urgently needed to continue developing infrastructure and services for refugees in Lovua settlement, Edwards said. Photo: UNHCR/Rui Padilha Source: www.justearthnews.com New York, Aug 16(Just Earth News): The Central African Republic (CAR) has spiralled into violence and remains one of the worst countries in the world to be a child and aright now there are few eyes looking at them and few hands trying to help,a the United Nations children's agency said on Tuesday. The past year, and especially the last quarter, has seen a dramatic increase in violence, Donaig Le Du, spokesperson for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), told reporters at the regular press briefing in Geneva. There are now an estimated 600,000 internally displaced people, up from 440,000 at the end of April a big increase in the past 2-3 months, she continued, pointing out that 600,000 was the April 2014 count, right after the peak of the crisis. And there are still 480,000 CAR refugees in neighbouring countries. So out of an estimated population of a little over five million, one in five is either a refugee or displaced, half of them children, Le Du added. UNICEF noted that as the country spirals into violence, Bangui, the capital, is quiet. The roads are bad, and with the rainy season and insecurity, it becomes nearly impossible to travel. There is limited cell phone coverage, the spokesperson explained. She gave the example of six Red Cross volunteers whose deaths were not reported until after took two weeks after they were killed in Gambo earlier this month. Two-thirds of the country is controlled by armed groups Beyond Bangui, two-thirds of the country is controlled by armed groups. In the cities and villages that were recently affected by violence, that means that schools are closed. That teachers don't dare to go to schools. Several NGOs [non-governmental organizations] have retreated, which means no health care. Supplies are looted at one health centre, solar panels were stolen from solar fridges for example, which means no immunizations, Le Du elaborated. Horrendous reports on children's rights violations have surfaced over the past months and weeks. Precise numbers are impossible to know but we know for a fact that children have been killed; there have been incidents of sexual violence, and that recruitment into armed groups is happening. But there are less direct violations with lasting consequences having to flee or take refuge in the bush; having no education or health care, she said. One specificity of the CAR conflict shows little fighting between armed groups, which instead attack civilians on the other side and increasingly target the UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission (MINUSCA) and humanitarian actors. An open letter to the UN Secretary-General from major international NGOs identifies the CAR as the most dangerous country in the world to deliver humanitarian assistance with the world's highest level of violence against humanitarian workers, accounting for one-third of all incidents targeting aid workers. The CAR is also the world's least developed country, placing 188th out of the 188 countries on the Human Development Index. But the world cannot abandon CAR's children and right now there are few eyes looking at them and few hands trying to help, Le Du concluded. As of end-July, UNICEF's $46.3 million humanitarian appeal for CAR children was 42 per cent funded. Having been revised up to $52.8 million, it now has a 63 per cent funding gap. Photo: OCHA/Yaye N. Sene Source: www.justearthnews.com New York, Aug 16(Just Earth News): Over the past three days, the UN migration agency has found more survivors and victims' remains from last week's tragedy a when hundreds of migrants were forced from two boats into the sea off the coast of Yemen. Last week, 280 migrants heading toward Gulf countries were removed from two boats off the coast of Yemen's Shabwa Governorate. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) found, from the first incident on 9 August, the remains of 29 people 12 Ethiopian men, 12 Ethiopian women and five Somali men. The number of people still missing has reduced from 22 to six, all of whom are Ethiopian males, IOM said in a press statement. Through contact or from other survivors' reports, IOM was able to account for a majority of the missing. This makes 35 people presumed dead from the first incident, the statement added. IOM provided urgent medical care, as well as food and water, to 27 survivors 22 Ethiopian and five Somali men. While 85 people survived this incident, many others left the beach before IOM arrived to assist. On Thursday, 10 August, another 160 people were forced from a second boat, again off the coast of Yemen, but in a different location from the first tragedy and closer to the shore. That same day IOM found six bodies on the beach. IOM assisted 57 survivors on 10 August. Thirteen of the survivors, whom IOM had helped, returned to the beach the following day realizing that they were too weak to make the trek through the desert to Yemen's land borders, the statement continued. On 11 August, IOM and local people found another four and on 12 August, another two. The current total number of confirmed dead from the second incident is 12 eight Ethiopian males and four Ethiopian females. In the immediate aftermath of the smugglers' actions during the second incident, 13 people were missing. Only six people remain missing and so, 18 are now presumed dead, continued the statement. On 13 August, IOM located five more survivors and assisted them with medical support, food and water. In total, IOM aided 65 people who survived the second incident 62 Ethiopian males and three Ethiopian females. Some 142 people survived the second incident and, as on the previous day, people left the beach before IOM arrived. Of the 280 people forced into Yemen's rough seas on both mornings, 226 survived, 41 were confirmed dead and 12 remain missing, according to IOM. The total number of presumed dead is currently 53. Due to the security situation in the country, the migration routes through Yemen are constantly changing. The surviving Ethiopian and Somali migrants left IOM's care and are most likely making their way to Yemen's borders with the Gulf countries a journey which takes a week or more depending on the route. IOM will continue to patrol Yemen's beaches to provide assistance to migrants in distress and to search for the migrants still missing, concluded the statement of the UN migration agency. Photo: UN Migration Agency (IOM) Source: www.justearthnews.com New York, Aug 16(Just Earth News): The joint task force by the so-called Group of Five (G5) a Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger a to tackle the threat of terrorism in Africa's Sahel region is now operational, but a number of challenges remain, including funding, the United Nations Security Council was on Tuesday told. The creation of the G5 Sahel Joint Force has the potential to make a significant contribution to efforts already under way to stabilize the region, the Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, El-Ghassim Wane, told the 16-member Council in New York. But we must also be realistic about the challenges that remain and the issues that remain to be resolved. The success of the Joint Force depends as much on deepening this regional partnership and on the applicable policy framework, as on the determination of its members to achieve its operationalization, and the unfailing support of their international partners. Wane said the Joint Force offers a unique opportunity to respond to regional challenges, but only if other aspects and cases of instability in the region are addressed. Addressing the root causes of instability in the Sahel requires going beyond military action and tackling the governance gap, chronic poverty and unemployment, climate change and financing for development, he said. Abject poverty, fast population growth, climate change, recurrent food and nutrition crises, armed conflicts and violence converge dangerously and undermine the lives and assets and future prospects of millions of families across the Sahel region, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has said. More than 30 million people face food insecurity, one in five children under the age of five suffers from acute malnutrition and at least 4.9 million are displaced by the effects of conflicts. Speaking to the Security Council, the senior UN official also noted the need to tackle cross-border crime and to impose targeted sanctions, as well as to create a political strategy to guide the activities of the Joint Force and align them with the Malian peace process and other regional initiatives. He noted also that the Joint Force should work closely with the recently established working group of the Executive Committee on the Sahel chaired by UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed and the African Union's peace and security architecture. Among the greatest needs are funding, Wane said praying the five Member States for contributing funds to the project. Those joint contribution, combined with the European Union's pledged contribution, as announced by Commissioner Federica Mogherini in June, amount to 108 million, or 25 percent of total requirements. While generating pledges and contributions to meet the requirements of the Joint Force will be critical, the setting up of transparent, coordinated and effective funding will be equally as important, Wane said, noting the planned meeting in September hosted by German and French Defence Ministries to discuss further opportunities to support the Joint Force. The Joint Force is ready to conduct its first coordinated operations along Mali's borders with Nigeria and Burkina Faso in October, with greater capacity in spring 2018. A written report on the workings of the Joint Force is expected in October. Visiting injured 'blue helmets' in Mali Meanwhile, in Mali on Tuesday, the Head of the UN Mission, Mahamat Saleh Annadif, along with the Malian Prime Minister and governmental officials, visited the UN camp in Timbuktu and met with the wounded following yesterday's attacks on UN camps in Douenza and Timbuktu. A UN peacekeeper, a Malian soldier and a member of the Malian gendarmerie were killed, along with six Malian contractors in the attacks. A number of other people were also wounded. The UN Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA) said the situation in Timbuktu on Tuesday is calm but tense, with the presence of a large number of Malian security and defence forces. Photo: OCHA/Ivo Brandau Source: www.justearthnews.com New York, Aug 16(Just Earth News): A ground-breaking global convention on mercury on Wednesday goes into effect, the United Nations environment wing said, protecting millions of children and infants from possible neurological and health damage. Governments that are party to the Convention are now legally bound to take a range of measures to protect human health and the environment by addressing mercury throughout its lifecycle, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a statement. The Minamata Convention commits Governments to specific measures, which include banning new mercury mines, phasing-out existing ones, regulating artisanal and small-scale gold mining, and reducing emissions and mercury use. Since the element is indestructible, the Convention also stipulates conditions for interim storage and disposal of mercury waste. The Convention the first new global convention related to the environment and health in close to a decade entered force on Wednesday, 90 days after the fiftieth party ratified it on 18 May. There are now 74 parties to the Convention and 128 countries have signed it. The Minamata Convention shows that our global work to protect our planet and its people can continue to bring nations together. We did it for the Ozone layer and now we're doing it for mercury, just as we need to do it for climate change a cause that the Minamata Convention will also serve. Together, we can clean up our act, said Erik Solheim, head of UNEP. The Convention takes its name from the most severe mercury poisoning disaster in history. In 1956, local villages suffered convulsions, psychosis, loss of consciousness and coma from eating the fish in Minamata Bay, Japan, in which industrial wastewaters had been dumped since the 1930s. Thousands of people were certified as having directly suffered from mercury poisoning, now known as Minamata disease. According to UNEP, up to 8,900 metric tonnes of mercury are emitted each year. It can be released naturally through the weathering of mercury-containing rocks, forest fires and volcanic eruptions, but significant emissions also come from human processes, particularly coal burning and artisanal and small-scale gold mining. Mining alone exposes up to 15 million workers in 70 different countries to mercury poisoning, including child labourers. Other man-made sources of mercury pollution include the production of chlorine and some plastics, waste incineration and use of mercury in laboratories, pharmaceuticals, preservatives, paints and jewelry. There is no safe level of exposure to mercury nor are there cures for mercury poisoning, which at high levels causes irreversible neurological and health damage, UNEP said, particularly among unborn children and infants. The first meeting of the parties to the Convention will be held 24 to 29 September in Geneva. Photo: Global Environment Facility Source: www.justearthnews.com Culture The Textured Lives of the Chin Hills Yo Ya May, on the first floor of Yangons bustling Bogyoke Market, seems less a textile shop than a museum. / The Irrawaddy The Irrawaddy revisits this story from June 2015 about Khun Shwe and her husband Kyin Lam Mang, who have become advocates for traditional Chin crafts. YANGON At a sideways glance, Yo Ya May seems less a textile shop than a museum. Sitting on the first floor of Yangons bustling Bogyoke Market, cofounders Khun Shwe and her husband Kyin Lam Mang clearly feel blessed by their success, and in the course of their lives become the citys most eager advocates for traditional Chin craft. Their store is an undeniable labor of love. My children tell me, you are really absorbed in this job. Your soul will stay circling around the shop after you die, Khun Shwe told The Irrawaddy. Founded in the 1990s, Yo Ya May has been based at the tourist hotspot since 2003, garnering praise from Lonely Planet and enjoying the dividend from the tourist boom of recent years. Both 56-year-old Khun Shwe and her husband hail from Tedim Township in northern Chin State, and walking into their store is a window into their world. Sitting by hand-woven dresses and fabrics are photos of women in tribal dress and a librarys worth of books on ethnic weaving styles, techniques and fashions. For the women behind Yo Ya Mays wares, there are no worthier ambassadors than the stores owners. We started this as a family business, Khun Shwe said. We continued with pride because with our work we are able to support Chin women as well. The mother of seven children herself, Khun Shwe said that most Chin women dont get the chance to have a formal education, with many villages in the remote mountainous state lacking even primary schools, and with most parents unwilling to send them away for their studies. In many of Chin States most isolated communities, the women instead devote all of their efforts to craft. They pour all of their creativity and imagination into their weaving, that becomes their masters degree, she said. When the business started, their stock came exclusively from the work of three elderly women from the southern Chin State township of Paletwa. Each weaved in keeping with the traditions of the Khami ethnic group, which according to Khun Shwe is the most complicated in design and technique of all local Chin styles. As demand grew with the years, Yo Ya May has expanded to take work from members of the ethnic Chin community living in Sagaing Division and Arakan Statesome of whom are also trained in Naga craftsmanshipand have begun to stock the work of Kachin and Karen women. Around 100 women in all are now working for the store. Cheery Zahau, a Chin womens rights activist who will be contesting this years general election, told The Irrawaddy that Chin textiles are becoming more popular with higher tourist numbers, reinvigorating traditions that have until recent years been quarantined by the isolation of one of the countrys least developed communities. The larger the market is, the better for Chin women, she said. These women will have more income and they will be encourage to preserve their culture. With a vast collection of vintage materials, Khun Shwe said she would like to open a museum in the future dedicated to promoting Chin culture. With most of her trade dependent on foreign buyers, she believes that more should be done to foster a local appreciation of ethnic traditions. It is rare for local people to come to our shops, she said. Only foreigners buy souvenirs here. It would be better more locals knew the true value of these products. Burma Deadline Approaches for Supreme Court Appeal in Koh Tao Murder Case Myanmar migrant workers Zaw Lin (L) and Win Zaw Htun (R) arrive at the Koh Samui provincial court in Koh Samui, Thailand, on December 24, 2015. / Athit Perawongmetha / Reuters CHIANG MAI, Thailand Five months after the District Court of Appeal in Koh Samui, Thailand, turned down an appeal for two Burmese migrant workers sentenced to death, the legal defense team for the pair are ready now to file an appeal to the Thai Supreme Court in Bangkok. Win Zaw Htun and Zaw Linboth in their early 20swere sentenced by the Koh Samui Township Court in Dec. 2015 for charges they have denied, involving the 2014 deaths of British nationals Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, on Koh Tao island. The legal defense teammade up of members of the Thai Lawyer Council, legal advisers from the Myanmar government, and members of non-government organizations advocating for labor rightswould have to file the Supreme Court appeal no later than the Aug. 21 deadline. They have been preparing for the appeal since early March 2017 and have requested monthly extensions to complete the procedure. U Aung Myo Thant, a defense lawyer in the case, said they are likely to file the appeal on Friday. If not, the appeal would be submitted next Monday, on the due date, he said. The defense team expects that once they submit this appeal, the Supreme Court ruling will come within a years time. Win Zaw Htun and Zaw Lin are reportedly in good health and have met with family members and supporters at least twice since the last appeal application, according to the defense teams U Min Min, representing the Foundation for Education Development. We are optimistic about the upcoming appeal and hope that it will not be dismissed this time, as we have more strong evidence for the case, U Min Min said. Their first appeal to the district court was submitted in 2016 and included nearly 200 pages of supporting documents, in which the defense team argued that the DNA evidence which led to the mens conviction was inadmissible, because it had not been collected or analyzed according to international standards. Lawyer U Aung Myo Thant said that while a death penalty conviction must be particularly solid, the allegations against the two migrant workers have brought up inconsistencies in the case and have led to a questioning of the evidence presented by the prosecution. The defense team is also preparing to file an appeal for a royal pardon from the Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn, but whether they will need to submit it will depend on the results of the upcoming Supreme Court appeal. If the two men are still in prison even after the appeal at the Thai Supreme court, we will have to file appeal for a pardon from the King of Thailand within a month, U Aung Myo Thant explained. Still, the lawyer said that they hope to win their case through legal efforts, as he insists that the two men in question have no relation to the 2014 murders. Burma Detained Student Union Member Released on Bail The former student union members face charges for performing songs with the Kaytu Oh-Way Thangyat group during Thingyan. Their parade car is in the background. / Kaytu Oh-Way Thangyat Group / Facebook MANDALAY A court in Taungoo Township, Bago Region, released a detained student union member on bail on Tuesday. Ko Aung Htet, a former member of the Student Union of Taungoo, was detained at Taungoo Prison in early August and faces trial under Article 505(b) of Burmas Penal Code. My lawyers asked the court for bail, as I need proper medical treatment. They stated that my life would be at risk if I had to wait for my trial inside a prison, said Ko Aung Htet. The court released me on bail. Everyone was surprised. I have to thank the court for considering my health. While in prison, Ko Aung Htet was attacked by an inmate a few days into his detention and suffered an injury to his head. Ko Aung Htet believes that he was attacked because the other inmate wanted to be transferred to another facility. He will seek treatment at Yangon General Hospital now that he has been released on bail. The inmate who attacked Ko Aung Htet was charged under prison law and is currently detained in an isolation cell. Ko Aung Htet, along with another former Student Union member Ko Victor, was sued by a local lieutenant colonel of the Myanmar Armys Southern Command for traditional Thangyat songs, which they composed and sang during Thingyan Water festival in Taungoo in April. The songs advocated for the amendment of the military-drafted 2008 Constitution. The two men are facing a lawsuit for incitement under Article 505(b), which is punishable by a maximum of two years imprisonment, a fine, or both. The article generally does not allow the accused persons to be released on bail. It is because we used a graphic picture of the Constitution in flames on our parade car and our shirts, said Ko Aung Htet. Accusing us under 505(b) shows that the army is still afraid of the abolishment or the amendment of the Constitution. We will take any risk to push for its amendment, he added. The next court hearing for Ko Aung Htet is set for August 29. Ko Victor is still on an arrest warrant. Burma Govt Spokesperson Denies Establishment of Peoples Militias in Rakhine Border guard security forces on patrol along the Myanmar-Bangladesh border in Maungdaw, October 2016. / The Irrawaddy NAYPYITAW Spokesperson from the Myanmar Presidents Office U Zaw Htay has denied that the government will establish peoples militias in Rakhine State. We are paying special attention to countering terrorism and the security of the local people. But speaking of the formation of peoples militias, I want to make it clear that it is not the policy of the government, U Zaw Htay told The Irrawaddy. The National League for Democracy (NLD) government stated after taking office in 2016 that it had no plan to establish paramilitary forces in Rakhine State, the spokesperson added. There have been media reports, which quoted the chairman of Sittwe Township NLD chapter U San Shwe Kyaw, about a government plan to provide arms and military training to ethnic Arakanese Buddhists in the states northern township of Maungdaw. According to U Zaw Htay, Myanmar Army troops have been conducting security operations in the Mayu mountain range in cooperation with border police, following talks between State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and military leaders. Sittwe District NLD chairman U Thinn Kha Kyaw told The Irrawaddy that U San Shwe Kyaws statement did not represent the party. There are only three spokespersons for the NLD in Rakhine Statethe chairman of the Rakhine State NLD, me and another one. U San Shwe Kyaw is not a spokesperson. We only knew about it after the media reported it. It is just his personal view, he said. On Sunday, Buddhist monks and locals took to the streets in 15 Rakhine State townships, demanding that the government provide greater security and arm local Buddhists, citing a fear of Muslim militants. The Irrawaddy was not able to obtain a comment from Rakhine State chief minister U Nyi Pu and spokesperson of the Rakhine State government U Min Aung on Wednesday. Members of the Arakan National Party (ANP), which holds the majority of seats in the Rakhine State parliament, made the suggestion during a meeting with Myanmar Army Commander-in-Chief Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing last week to arm Arakanese youth, but the army chief did not give a clear answer. Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko Burma Questions Raised About $300 Million Downtown Development Project The former Defense Services Museum is pictured in the process of being demolished on Aug.14. / Thet Htun Naing / The Irrawaddy YANGON Land clearing and demolition for a project worth more than US$300 million on the former site of a Defense Services Museum, near Shwedagon Pagoda, has prompted a lawmaker to inquire about the initiative in the upcoming parliamentary session. U Kyaw Zay Ya, a Yangon regional lawmaker representing Dagon Townshipwhere the site is locatedtold The Irrawaddy that the scale of the project on a nine-acre plot of land attracted his attention. The lawmaker said that in the upcoming legislative session on Aug. 31, he would ask the government about the project details, which have not yet been made public. The project is the first such undertaking granted permission for investment under the new Myanmar Investment Law. He also pointed out that some of his constituents were unhappy with the new project, which includes the construction of a hotel on the site where Jubilee Hall, once a landmark in countrys struggle for independence from British colonial rule, was located. In the 1970s, the historic building was demolished to make way for the Defense Services Museum, which has since moved to Naypyitaw. In 2011, the government announced plans to privatize land in Yangon, including state-owned colonial heritage buildings and military-owned land. Most of the areas were handed over to well-connected companies, while critics pointed to a lack of transparency in the selection and leasing processes. The Irrawaddy has learned that the development project at the former Defense Services Museum was first approved under previous U Thein Sein-led government. The local Ayeyar Hinthar Holdings Co. Ltd. initially won the tender announced in December 2011, for developing and operating a hotel, offices and service apartment, and a shopping mall. Ko Ne Ne Hlwam Moe, vice chairman of Ayeyar Hinthar, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday that the company signed a leasing contract in 2013 with the government for 50-year terms with two 10-year extensions. Since 2013 we have been paying annual land use fees of US$2 million to the government, he added. But according to written correspondence seen by The Irrawaddy from the Yangon Region government to the company in January this year, the owner of the land in question is mentioned as the Ministry of Defense. Later, the company partnered with the Japanese companies Fujita Corporation, Tokyo Tatemono Co. Ltd, and Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transport & Urban Development (JOIN). The Myanmar Investment Commission granted investment permission for the joint venture in May 2017. Under the joint venture, they will develop a nine-floor five star hotel operated by Japans Hotel Okura Co. Ltd., as well as offices and commercial facilities. The total cost of the project is expected to reach $332.5 million, with construction to start at the end of 2017 and be completed by 2020, according to the vice chairman of Ayeyar Hinthar. It is a more than a $300 million investment in Myanmar. A nice project will be developed in this place. Many job opportunities will come and the government will get around $170 million in profits from leasing, Ko Ne Ne Hlwam Moe said. He said they are now doing a traffic impact assessment, as the Yangon City Development Committee is curious about how the project will impact the gridlock of the city. News Thai PM to Visit White House in October: Thai Foreign Minister US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson shakes hands with Thailands Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha at Government House in Bangkok, Thailand August 8, 2017. / Athit Perawongmetha / Reuters BANGKOK Thailands prime minister and junta chief Prayuth Chan-ocha will visit the White House in October, Thailands foreign minister said on Tuesday, adding trade and security would be on the agenda, the latest sign of warming ties between Bangkok and Washington. Last week US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson paid a visit to Thailandthe highest level visit by a US official since the military took power in a 2014 coup. Tillersons trip and Prayuths invitation from US President Donald Trump to visit the White House are the latest sign that Bangkok and Washington are re-establishing normal diplomatic relations following the coup. There will be discussions with President Trump about trade, investment, military security and the regional situation which is a big issue, Thai foreign minister Don Pramudwinai told reporters. The Thai government had previously said the visit would take place in July. A spokesman for the US Embassy in Bangkok said he had no new information on Prayuths visit to the White House, which follows an invitation extended by Trump to Prayuth during an April telephone call between the two. We look forward to the Prime Ministers visit to Washington, DC. We continue to seek a mutually agreeable day for the prime ministers visit to the White House, spokesman Steve Castonguay told Reuters. Tillersons priority has been urging Southeast Asian countries to do more to cut funding streams for North Korea as tensions mount between the United States and North Korea. The United States has said it believes North Korean front companies are active in Thailand and is trying to encourage the Thais to shut them down. Tillerson, however, made no public comment on North Korean firms during his 5-hour stay in Bangkok where he met with Prayuth. Don said the issue was not specifically raised during Tillersons visit. The United States has not pressured Thailand to shut North Korea business, Don said. The secretarys visit discussed broad issues. Guest Column Peace in Nagaland: Myanmar and India Both Have a Role to Play Boys play with a ball at sunset in Yansi village, Donhe Township in the Naga Self-Administered Zone in northwest Myanmar in December 2014. / Reuters There is much talk and speculation about a new solution to ongoing peace negotiations between the Indian government and the National Socialist Council of NagalandIsak Muivah faction (NSCN-IM). There is also an emerging belief among many Naga that a solution to the decades-old conflict may be just around the cornersentiments held by Naga residents on both the Indian and the Myanmar sides of the border. This expression of hopeas auspicious at it may seemcoincides with some recent significant developments in the history of the Naga struggle for repossession of its homeland. The Nagaunder the aegis of the Government of the Peoples Republic of Naglan (Nagalim) (GPRN)celebrated their independence day on August 14 at Hebron near Dimapur in Nagaland, a day ahead of Indias own national Independence Day. Monday also marked a year since the joint announcement made by NSCN-IM general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah and the government of India interlocutor R.N. Ravi that both sides were getting closer to a final settlement. The joint statement issued on August 13 last year said: We assure the people that the talks have been progressing in the right direction with determination. We are closer than ever before to the final settlement and hope to conclude it sooner rather than later. A ceasefire agreement was signed between the NSCN-IM and the government of India in 1997 and since then there have been more than 80 rounds of talks paving the way for a framework agreement, that was signed in August last year. Very recently, V.S. Atemmember of the collective leadership of NSCN-IMis said to have told a visiting Naga delegation from Myanmar that a solution will arrive soon. Meanwhile in Myanmar, the National Socialist Council of Nagland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) has, for the first time, made its position clear on the nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) that frames the Myanmar peace process. Leaders of the NSCN-K told the Myanmar government the group is willing to sign the NCA if it covers all Naga including those living across the international boundary with India. The NSCN-K has, in fact, proposed a tripartite dialogue, involving India, Myanmar and the Naga, to find a solution for peace. Recently, the NSCN-IM General Secretary Muivah also reiterated the call for the integration of all Naga territories. He was quoted in a report in Indian news site FIRSTPOST as saying: The historic Framework of Agreement recognizes the unique history, the identity, the sovereignty, the territories of the Naga. It also recognizes the legitimate right of the Naga to the integration of all Naga territories. The backdrop of all thisand what perhaps assumes great significanceis the call for a tripartite dialogue involving the government of India, Myanmar and the various Naga groups on both sides of the geographical divide. Most Naga in Myanmar feel this is the best way forward as they dont believe the countrys NCA addresses their needs. They desire an alternative platform that addresses the key issue of Naga Homeland, according to Muivah. Similar views were expressed by Athong Makury, the president of the Council of Naga Affairs, in a recent interview. According to Makury: Tripartite dialogue is a must in order to solve this conflict. We are also observing the situation on both sides. There are many capable people who can lead this. Also, India as a big nation with a long history of democracy should take initiative on this. It is an opportunity for India. Young leaders like Makury certainly see merit in a joint dialogue involving all the different stakeholders, as they feel that a peace process only involving the Government of India and the NSCN-IM is not sufficient. Though he is confident that uncle Muivah will not give up on the sovereignty issue, he is also wary of the lack of transparency of the agreement. He sees no logic in a Naga solution if its one-sidedmeaning without taking into account the larger aspirations of all Naga. If they are going to solve the conflict in accordance with imaginary boundary lines, it will be a fatal blunder, Makury cautioned. Displays of optimism among Naga residents on both sides of the border are rarely felt, perhaps because most Naga view the peace process with much skepticism and the content of the framework agreement between New Delhi and NSCN-IM is still unknown. Even if the framework agreement is made known, will it answer questions regarding the integration of Naga-inhabited areas in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur in India and some areas of Myanmarareas considered to be the rightful homeland of the Naga? Local ethnic groups of states bordering Nagaland in India have vehemently opposed the idea of a Greater Nagaland by incorporating the Naga-inhabited areas of those states. The pre-conditions put forth by NSCN-K to sign the NCA certainly give the Naga homeland issue a new dimension. The NSCN-K has been fighting with the Indian government but it has rarely come to blows with the Myanmar Army. A bilateral agreement between Myanmars government and the NSCN-K signed in 2012 allows the outfit to keep arms and to freely move unarmed personnel within Myanmar. The organization was allowed designated military camps in the Naga Self-Administered Zone, which includes Lahe, Leshi, and Namyun townships in Sagaing Division. Even though the chance of a conflict with the Myanmar military is remote, the issue of territorial integrity for the Naga is supremely important, and declared widely on social media. The eastern Naga hold on to their history and text rejecting the division of the Naga homelands in the Anglo-Burmese Yandabo Treaty of 1826, and later in 1953 under the India-Myanmar demarcation of Naga territory by prime ministers Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and U Nu. Like most ethnic armed organizations in Myanmar, the Naga opposed the countrys military-drafted 2008 Constitution, which they claimed badly damaged and sliced Naga territories into pieces. A Facebook post by the Naga in Myanmar (Eastern Naga) states: The hill townships, Lahe, Leshi, and Namyun, were given as a Naga Self-Administered Region but not Hkamti, Homalin and Tamu townships, which now fall under Sagaing Division. This was done by the junta without the consent of the Naga public. The military knew it belonged to the Naga but intentionally annexed major parts of the Naga territory into their fold. It is a deliberate human rights violation [against] the Naga! The issue of integration of Naga-inhabited areas has proven to be extremely sensitive on the Indian side of the border and could throw up similar challenges on the Myanmar side. It is hard to forget the June 2001 violence in Manipurs Imphal Valley, in which protests and riots broke out over an extension to a ceasefire between the government and Naga forces. It remains to be seen how the concept of shared sovereignty plays out in reality. On August 14, 2015, speaking at Hebron, Muivah claimed that it was clearly stated in the agreement that both sides respect the peoples wishes for sharing sovereignty, adding that, We have to work out to what extent to share our rights to sovereignty. On the Myanmar side of the Naga story, the big question is whether the same concept of a shared sovereignty applies to the tripartite dialogueif and when it happens. It may be too early to comment, but recent developments in the Indian governments framework agreementwhich is expected to provide a possible solutionand the call for a tripartite dialogue by the NSCN-K certainly are certainly positive steps going forward. Bidhayak Das is a veteran journalist who has also spent more than a decade working on promoting democracy in Myanmar. He is currently working as an independent consultant on elections, media and communications. Specials Displaced Mothers Struggle to Feed Their Children A woman in Sadung IDP camp, Kachin State, brings some plants back to her home. / Moe Myint / The Irrawaddy SADUNG, Kachin State On a foggy evening, a few women trundled along the slope of a valley, grasping bundles of green leaves, and carrying their babies in slings on their backs. They entered a compound of dozens of bamboo homes roofed with blue tarpaulin, some displaying the UNHCR logo, in the backdrop of paddy fields lush with rain and leading to mountains. The women walked inside homes venting smoky waves, a sign that dinner was cooking in the camp for internally displaced people (IDPs). Based in Sadung town in Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, about 70 kilometers from the Kachin capital of Myitkyina, the camp was established with 408 people in early 2017. It was the result of renewed fighting between the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and the Myanmar Army, or Tatmadaw, near Zai Awng camp, which forced thousands of IDPs to flee to Waingmaw and Myitkyina townships. Known locally as an area of displaced Lisu people, an ethnic minority of several hundreds of thousands living mostly in Kachin and Shan states, the residents of the camp often gather edible plants from nearby highlands, as international aid agencies in 2016 changed their ration schemes to provide cash rather than food. The change has proved crippling for IDPs such as Daw Wo Mi, a Lisu mother-of-five who is fluent in Burmese, unlike most other people in the camp who only speak the Lisu language. I cannot afford to cook meat for my children very often in one month. Our table is mostly decorated with a couple of side dishes, she said. Cash Rations According to the most recent UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) estimation, nearly 100,000 IDPs have been sheltering for up to six years across Kachin State and along the border of neighboring Shan State since the collapse of a 17-year ceasefire agreement between the Tatmadaw and the KIA in 2011. IDPs make up 9 percent of jade-rich Kachin, and among this figure, 70 percent are women. Many of themincluding residents of the Sadung camphave little hope of returning home and reclaiming the lives they had before the conflict. From 2011 to early 2016, international aid agencies provided rice bags for Kachin IDPs, but in March 2016, the World Food Programme (WFP) replaced the food with cash, because of the refugee crises in the Middle East and donor fatigue, according to Hka Li, the director of the humanitarian department in the Kachin Baptist Convention (KBC). U Thein Soe, committee member of Thagara IDP camp in Waingmaw Township, told The Irrawaddy that each beneficiary used to receive 13.5 kilograms of rice, two bottles of oil, salt and two cups of beans every month from 2011 to 2016. Now, each IDP is given 9,000 kyats (US$6.60) monthly, or, for those deemed the most vulnerable, 13,000 kyats ($9.53). Nang Shwe, a 23-year-old Shan mother of two who lives in Thagara camp, said, We cant even buy meat for a few days a month. How can I pay for tuition fees for my children? Not Enough Food The current aid package means most IDPs receive just 300 kyats per day ($0.22)in the commercial capital of Yangon, this is not even enough to take a round trip journey on a public bus, and will barely cover the cost of a bind of watercress and roselle, the leaves of which can be fried or boiled in soup. During The Irrawaddys recent visit to Kachins IDP camps, Lisu, Shan and Kachin women spoke through the assistance of a translator of their financial hardships. Shan mother-of-two Nang Shwe said, I cannot even give 100 kyats ($0.07) of pocket money to my child when he goes to school. Daw Wo Mi, the Lisu mother, explained that her family of seven recently arrived at the camp and falls under the most vulnerable category, therefore receiving 91,000 kyats ($66.70) altogether every month from the WFP. She initially focused on buying low-grade rice bags of 50 kilograms instead of clothing for her family. A rice bag costs between 30,000-40,000 kyats ($22-29) in Sadung town and her family consumes at least two bags per month. She used the remaining 30,000 kyats on oil, salt, and other basic commodities. I have to spend at least 4,000 kyats ($2.93) if I want to buy meat in the market, so vegetables are the main dishes on the table, she said. The children, she added, sometimes even refuse these dishes and eat only rice. Mother-of-three Daw Lang Yu, 44, who recently arrived at the camp on the compound of Lhavo Church in Waingmaw Township said, We eat rice with salt when we have no money to go shopping. Finding Work The struggle to put enough food on the table was a story that repeated itself in every camp The Irrawaddy visited in Waingmaw, Myitkyina, and Sadung towns. IDPs and aid workers told The Irrawaddy that the typical tasks of women in the camps include cooking, washing clothes, and parenting, while their husbands look for day labor in town, cutting bamboo or collecting firewood. Some women would leave the camps to seek recruitment on paddy farms, and some IDP camps located near urban areas see residents earning small amounts of money for selling crafts such as amber beads and necklaces in local markets. KBC humanitarian department director Hka Li said aid organizations give vocational training to IDPs as well as small grants for livelihood projects. International religious organizations occasionally give donations, he added. However, he conceded, I suppose meals with meat would be very limited for IDPs. Local relief organizations reported that dire financial needs drive some young women to travel to China in order to find work; some marry Chinese men, and others are known to get trafficked, although the organizations said there is no systematic data available on trafficking cases among these populations. A lawyer in Waingmaw Township who asked for anonymity said IDP women have been working as prostitutes at an illegal casino near Bala Min Htin Bridge that is under the control of militia groups. The Irrawaddy could not verify this claim. KBC delegates told Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw last month that addressing the food shortage of IDPs must be prioritized, Hka Li said, but it was undecided when the problem would be addressed. But mostly, the women in camps are burdened by the perpetual fear of more armed clasheseven more than cash or food concerns. Tatmadaw battalions, militias, and KIA Regiment No. 6, for instance, contest the area of Sadung. Daw Wo Mi, the Lisu mother of five, fled the fighting in 2011 and again in 2016. I have no idea about politics, but we are always caught in the crossfire whenever they fight, she said. German technology company Siemens has announced what it says is the biggest software grant in Australia, a $135 million industrial software grant to the Swinburne Institute of Technology to support training, education and higher degrees through research. A statement said the grant would support the establishment of Australia's first Industry 4.0 "Factory of the Future" facility in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn. It will help to completely digitise the Swinburne Institute of Technology. Siemens Australia chief executive Jeff Connolly said the money would help students prepare to take advantage of the many opportunities offered by the rapid spread of digitalisation. The software grant provides a suite of advanced product lifecycle management software and new generation cloud-based Internet of Things platform "Mindsphere". Jeff Connolly and Professor Aleksandar Subic after the grant was announced. Photo: supplied This would allow students and researchers to have access to the same apparatus being used by leading industries on the most advanced projects, according to Connolly who is also chair of the Prime Ministers Industry 4.0 Taskforce. These are the same tools used to create digital shipyards for the US Navy. The same software used to design, build and operate everything from the latest oil and gas platforms to hi-tech production lines such as the Maserati Ghibli. We provide the innovation tools so that Australia can provide the ingenuity, he said. Imagine creating a digital twin, not only of the product but of the entire manufacturing process, so you dont need to have costly and time-consuming physical prototypes. Everything from the assembly line to tooling, ergonomics and resources can be fully simulated digitally. This is exactly what our software grant will help students achieve in Swinburnes Factory of the Future. Professor Aleksandar Subic, deputy vice-chancellor, Research and Development and chair of Industry 4.0 Testlabs on the Prime Ministers Industry 4.0 Taskforce, said digitalisation of manufacturing was critical to help Australian industry transition to the future. Were immersed in the fourth industrial revolution and we want to make sure that students and researchers are equipped with the required advanced capabilities and technologies to help Australia access global value chains," he said. "The international competition will be fierce in the Manufacturing domain, which is why this development is so timely and critical." Prof Subic said he had experienced the Siemens automation technology and digitalisation software and hardware first-hand in Germany and the US and was able to see how this approach would help transform the manufacturing sector and develop future members of the workforce to participate and compete globally. We have already made significant progress in aligning our research and education strategy with the Industry 4.0 roadmap in collaboration with our industry partners both locally and internationally," he said. "The partnership with Siemens and our co-investment in digitalising the Swinburne Factory of the Future will allow us to make the step change in how we support our SMEs and develop future graduates across the entire education life cycle from apprenticeships to PhDs. "We are committed to transforming industries and developing the workforce of the future in support of a more competitive Australia. The fully digitalised Swinburne 'Factory of the Future' will set an Industry 4.0 benchmark and provide an environment for workforce transformation that is in line with the most advanced economies in the world. This is an aspiration that we shared on the PMs Industry 4.0 Taskforce." ICT architects are the top salary earners across Australia, according to the latest report on jobs and salaries from SEEK. And the national average advertised annual salary on SEEK for ICT architects over the 12 months from July 2016 to June 2017 was $135,744 slightly ahead of management roles across engineering and mining resources and energy. According to SEEKs Kendra Banks, ICT architects play a fundamental role in structural designs of shared information environments within organisations, and its no surprise that the ICT architect job was the highest advertised salary on SEEK in FY17. More and more businesses are relying on technology and software solutions to support their operations. Businesses require the highly technical skills of ICT architects to organise and manage these assets so thats why they command a high salary. ICT architects also topped the highest paying job title across the following states and territories, with the average advertised annual salary varying across these labour markets: Behind ICT architects, at a national level, management roles across engineering ($133,264) and mining resources and energy {$130,628) were the next highest paying jobs on SEEK, Banks says. "These management roles directly support the growth and prosperity of our nation, and professionals in these positions are being highly remunerated to manage and build teams to deliver the needs of businesses. Improved demand from infrastructure projects and residential construction on the eastern seaboard, as well as some turnaround in mining investments, are other likely drivers of high salaries for managers in the engineering industry. High salaries across mining management reflects recent improvements in mining conditions and the pick-up of exploration activity by mining companies as they aim to maintain production levels after having cut back on expenditure over a couple of year, Banks says. According to Banks, during the past financial year, advertised salaries on SEEK were relatively flat, with little to no growth, but in June this year salaries started to tick higher after dipping in May. This improvement is very encouraging, especially since salaries fell sharply in 2012 to early 2014. This period of decline predominately reflected the downtrend in advertised salaries on SEEK in Western Australia and Queensland, in turn driven by much weaker salaries being advertised in mining, resources & energy and other associated sectors - i.e. engineering and construction, Banks says. SEEK also reveals that average advertised salary increased across all states and territories in FY17. Western Australia and Tasmania experienced the sharpest increases in average advertised annual salaries on SEEK (up 3.7 per cent y/y and 2.8 per cent y/y respectively], says Banks. However, Tasmania offered the lowest average advertised annual salary [$71,665] on SEEK of all the states and territories during FY17. Increases were enjoyed in Victoria (up 2.4% y/y), the Northern Territory (up 2.3% y/y) and South Australia (up 2.2% y/y). Growth was also seen in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) (up 1.1% y/y), NSW (up 1.2% y/y) and Queensland (up 1.9% y/y). In FY17, the ACT followed by NSW then WA topped the states/territories list for offering the highest average advertised annual salaries on SEEK, Banks said. SEEK reports that the average advertised annual salaries across the states and territories during FY17 and growth year on year were: Attackers have managed to penetrate the defences of a company named NetSarang and install a backdoor in its software which is used to manage servers and networks. NetSarang Computer develops a family of PC X server and SSH client software for PC-to-Unix and PC-to-Linux connectivity and its products are sold in more than 90 countries. The security firm Kaspersky Lab discovered the presence of the backdoor, which it has dubbed ShadowPad, when one of its partners, an unnamed financial institution, became suspicious of DNS requests made to a number of IPs. The exploit was found on 4 August. NetSarang has offices in the US and South Korea and develops, markets and supports secure connectivity solutions. It specialises in developing server management tools for large corporate networks. It said that thehad been found in software builds beginning on 18 July. Affected builds were Xmanager Enterprise 5.0 Build 1232; Xmanager 5.0 Build 1045; Xshell 5.0 Build 1322; Xftp 5.0 Build 1218 and Xlpd 5.0 Build 1220. Kaspersky said its analysis showed that the backdoor was embedded in one of the code libraries, nssock2.dll, used by the software. The embedded code acted as a modular backdoor platform and had the ability to download and execute arbitrary code from a command and control server and also maintain a virtual file systems inside the registry. The command and control server domains had been registered between July and December, confirming the start of the attack about July, the company said. It said it could confirm that an activated payload existed on the servers of a company in Hong Kong. On Nov. 1, Linn Benton Food Shares warehouse in Tangent received two truckloads of food and household supplies arranged by the local branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A lone attacker in Nigeria has been found to be responsible for a wave of relatively unsophisticated intrusion attempts into about 4000 companies worldwide. The security company Check Point said among the companies that the man had managed to infect were: a marine and energy solutions company in Croatia; a transportation company in Abu Dhabi; a mining company in Egypt; a construction company in Dubai; an oil and gas firm in Kuwait; and a construction organisation in Germany. While the initial expectation was that a number of people would be needed to stage this many attacks, Check Point said its researchers had finally tracked the attacks down to a Nigerian who was working on his own. The man, who was located close to the Nigerian capital Abuja, had the following motto on his social media accounts: "Get rich or die trying". Check Point said the man used bogus emails which appeared to originate from the Saudi Arabian oil giant, Saudi Aramco. His targets were staff on the financial side of companies, trying to trick them into revealing company bank details or else to open the malware attachment in the email. He was found to be using a remote access trojan known as Netwire which allows an attacked to have full control over infected machines, and a key-logging tool known as Hawkeye. The attacks were launched from two Yahoo! email addresses: sale.cement_till_tw@yahoo.com, and cciticarinternational@yahoo.com. "Whats more, the malware he uses is old, generic and readily available online and he uses freeware to scrape email addresses from corporate websites which he then uses as targets for his campaigns," the Check Point researchers said. "The fact that the campaign was still effective, despite using only basic cyber-criminal techniques, highlights just how much of a problem these business email compromise attacks have become." Check Point said it had informed authorities in Nigeria about its findings. The container shipping company A.P. MollerMaersk Group expects that a Windows ransomware attack it suffered in June will cost it between US$200 million and US$300 million. In a note accompanying the company's interim report for the second financial quarter of 2017, chief executive Sren Skou said: "In the last week of the quarter we were hit by a cyber attack, which mainly impacted Maersk Line, APM Terminals and Damco. "Business volumes were negatively affected for a couple of weeks in July and as a consequence, our Q3 results will be impacted. We expect that the cyber attack will impact results negatively by USD 200-300m." Maersk is a Danish business conglomerate that operates in the transport and logistics, and energy sectors. It has been the largest container ship and supply vessel operator since 1996. The ransomware attack in question wasby various names: Petya (nomenclature given to ransomware that already exists), NotPetya, ExPetr, Nyetya and GoldenEye. It began in Europe and then spread to other regions, encrypting files on Windows machines and demanding 100 bitcoin for decrypting the same. According to CNBC, Maersk first announced on 28 June that the ransomware could affect its earnings. At the time it said: "We can confirm that Maersk has been hit as part of a global cyber attack named Petya on the 27 June 2017. IT systems are down across multiple sites and select business units. "We have contained the issue and are working on a technical recovery plan with key IT-partners and global cyber security agencies. "We have shut down a number of systems to help contain the issue. At this point our entities Maersk Oil, Maersk Drilling, Maersk Supply Services, Maersk Tankers, Maersk Training, Svitzer and MCI are not operationally affected. Precautionary measures have been taken to ensure continued operations. "Maersk Line vessels are manoeuvrable, able to communicate and crews are safe. APM Terminals is impacted in a number of ports." CNBC quoted the company as saying on Tuesday: "This cyber attack was a previously unseen type of malware, and updates and patches applied to both the Windows systems and anti-virus were not an effective protection in this case. "In response to this new type of malware, A.P. Moller Maersk has put in place different and further protective measures and is continuing to review its systems to defend against attacks." The head of a Tasmanian retail service provider has taken issue with statements made by Robin Eckermann, an adjunct professor at Canberra University, about CVC pricing and its impact on prices for NBN packages. Damien Ivereigh, the chief executive of Launtel, was quoted in The Australian earlier this month, saying that the speed woes experienced by NBN users could be eradicated if telcos paid an additional $9.75 per month for each connection. He also said that NBN connections were slow simply because telcos were fighting a price war and refusing to buy adequate bandwidth. Prof Eckermann had contested this, telling iTWire that based on CVC pricing at $15.25 per month, an additional $6.25 per customer would mean about 400kbps additional CVC capacity per user while $9.75 translated to about 640kbps additional capacity. Ivereigh said today that he found it surprising that Eckermann was not across the the "They (NBN Co) are now offering deep discounts (greater than 50%) to those carriers that are willing to buy more CVC. In order to keep the playing field level between the small and larger players, they are providing the discount based on the average amount of CVC purchased per client," he told iTWire. "To calculate it, just total up the amount of CVC purchased across all the POIs and then divide it by the total number of services. NBN Co calls this the 'CVC Dimension'. For most carriers this number comes in at less than 1000kb (1Mb). To get the maximum discount, the carrier would need to raise this to 3100kb." He said assuming a carrier was dimensioning just less than 1000kb (CVC allocation per client), then they would be paying at a rate of $15 per 1000kb, which worked out to $15.00 per client. "If they were to raise this to 3000kb, they would be paying just $8.25 per 1000kb, so $24.75 per client - an increase of just $9.75. So to increase the amount of CVC by three times would cost just $9.75 per month to the carrier." Ivereigh said Prof Eckermann was wrong in his original assumption of the pricing of CVC being $15.25 per month. Prof Eckermann had also said: "It's difficult to see this doing a lot towards addressing the deficit users regularly see when comparing actual speeds with the nominal speeds they are paying for (12/25/50/100 Mbps etc download speeds) during busy times. The problem is a multi-Mbps problem, not a multi-kbps problem!" Ivereigh said he was "frankly astounded" by this statement. "Prof Eckermann clearly does not understand how networks work, which for someone of his background, I am amazed about," he said. "The CVC Dimension is about how much shared bandwidth is available to all the clients. As a number it is not equivalent to the peak speed (which unfortunately is what plans are sold on), but it is a good measure of the quality of the network (i.e. how well the network will perform during peak periods). "For the non-technical (person), it may as well be a star rating. To use an analogy, the water network will fail if everyone turns on all their taps at once. However, in practice this does not happen and it would be ludicrous to design a water pipe network to handle this. "So as with water networks, the RSPs should size their network (and their CVC purchase) on an average peak load with some headroom for some unexpected peaks. Indeed, if I were the ACCC, I would be forcing companies to publish their CVC Dimension (they can read it off their monthly NBN bill)." In the same article, iTWire had quoted Mark Gregory, RMIT network engineering assistant professor, and Rod Tucker, Laureate Emeritus Professor at the University of Melbourne and a member of Labor's Expert Panel that advised on the NBN, as well. Ivereigh said he had no substantial disagreement with the points they had made about other issues around the NBN. "However at this point I don't think it is that relevant," he added. "When a patient presents to hospital complaining of chest pains, the staff deal with a possible heart attack, they don't start talking about the diabetes that got the patient to that point or whether they should quit smoking." Ivereigh also took issue about the frequent contrasting of the broadband rollout in New Zealand with that in Australia. "I agree that the CVC model leaves a lot to be desired, with New Zealand being the oft quoted counter example. However, it is important to point out that Chorus (the New Zealand equivalent of NBN Co) was handed almost $10 billion to do the fibre rollout," he said. "Not a loan, just an on-budget expense which all New Zealand taxpayers will pay for. NBN Co was set up during the 2007/2008 global financial crisis and it was decided to keep it off budget and make it a government-owned business, which means it has to pay interest on government loans. "The net result is that in New Zealand taxpayers are subsidising the Internet. I am not saying either way is better, just pointing out that this is a conversation that needs to be had." He said Prof Tucker had pointed out that there were other bandwidth constraints, such as the cost of bandwidth between Tasmania and the mainland. "As a Tasmanian ISP, I am well aware of this. However, this is no longer the issue it used to be and right now the CVC pricing is a much bigger constraint, which has been improved dramatically by the CVC Discount model," he added. UTC Overseas, recognized leaders in global project cargo logistics, today announced the expansion of its presence in Guyana with the appointment of Bob Stevens, the firms Caribbean Field Director, to support its recently opened Guyana office. Stevens, who holds dual Belize/British citizenship, has detailed experience in the region. He has lived in Belize for nearly three decades and worked with an array of major companies, including past service as a Country Operations Manager for ExxonMobil in Belize. He has worked for UTC for the past 14 years on project logistics planning for oil and gas projects in Africa, Asia and South America. Most recently, he has helped guide UTC safety planning and analysis for Guyanese materials management. In his new capacity, a prime goal will be recruiting and training a 100% Guyanese staff to service the companys newest of 53 offices in 26 countries worldwide. As Oil, Gas and Energy sectors expand their operations in Guyana, the need for UTCs services and expertise is growing, notes Marco Poisler, UTC Executive Vice President. The work ethic of UTCs global controller, Michael Deane, originally from Guyana, has always impressed me. We are excited to establish a physical presence in-country, combining our staff expertise and experience with that of carefully vetted third-party service providers with direct presence and experience in Guyanese operations. We are particularly committed to investing in the recruitment, education and training of Guyanese staff as part of our efforts. UTC Project Director Diana Davila adds, Our customers can feel confident, knowing that we are fully ready to provide the skills and experience in this emerging market that have helped us establish a global reputation for leadership and excellence in project cargo logistics and freight forwarding. In addition to the industry-leading services of UTCs Heavy Equipment Division and its extensive experience in managing the logistics of large-scale project moves in the mining, construction and energy sectors in this region, we offer in-house expertise in transport management, including specialized vessel chartering, Stevens explains. Couple that with a set of strategic partnerships that bring real value to our customers operating in the Guyanese market. Bringing global project cargo expertise to Guyana, as ExxonMobil prepares to deliver first oil from the Liza project in 2020, means an accelerated program by UTC to hire Guyanese staff. UTC has partnered with TOTALTEC Oilfield Services Guyana, Inc., a 100% Guyanese firm focused on providing training, support and consultancy services to local communities, the government, and international operators and service companies operating in-country. UTC will be also be providing scholarships for a number of students of the International Petroleum and Maritime Academy, to be set up in Georgetown by TOTALTEC. Lars Mangal, Chairman and CEO of TOTALTEC, said that in addition to partnering in a shore base in support of ExxonMobils Liza field operations, his firm is establishing the Academy in Georgetown to educate and train Guyanese personnel. The curriculum will be tailored to the needs of the oil and gas industry and firms like UTC, covering subjects such as health and safety, lifting and rigging, logistics and office operations. Brian Chia, TOTALTEC Senior Vice President for Business Development, said the academy will use instructors from The University of Texas/Austin for petroleum-related training. We are working with the Guyanese government to create oil and gas related job opportunities for Guyanese citizens and hope to have as many as 450 people complete Academy training over the next three years. Mangal and Chia said UTCs office opening and the appointment of Stevens, with his long experience in the region and in the industry, shows UTCs commitment to Guyana. The hiring, training and scholarship support means a great deal to our country. UTC is also working with other firms and individuals well versed in the country and industry: Guyana Offshore Base, Inc. (GYSBI) , a partnership between Muneshwers Ltd, Pacific Rim Constructors, TOTALTEC, and LED Offshore to construct and run an offshore logistics and warehousing base facility for first-phase development of Guyanas Liza field. , a partnership between Muneshwers Ltd, Pacific Rim Constructors, TOTALTEC, and LED Offshore to construct and run an offshore logistics and warehousing base facility for first-phase development of Guyanas Liza field. ISIKA/APAN Parika-based specialists in facilities development, logistics equipment and maintenance, tanks and storage, fabrication, and supply vessel equipment. Parika-based specialists in facilities development, logistics equipment and maintenance, tanks and storage, fabrication, and supply vessel equipment. John Fernandes, Ltd . has nearly six decades of demonstrated excellence as the leading shipping services provider in Guyana including stevedoring, terminal, warehousing, and transport contracting. . has nearly six decades of demonstrated excellence as the leading shipping services provider in Guyana including stevedoring, terminal, warehousing, and transport contracting. Rafeel & Moore Licensed Customs Brokers specializing in customs and clearance processes, brokerage, import licensing, tax, and VAT consulting. Licensed Customs Brokers specializing in customs and clearance processes, brokerage, import licensing, tax, and VAT consulting. John Chin, a director of the Guyana Oil and Gas Association, is a liaison in assuring transparency in local and regional jobs training associated with service to the industry. a director of the Guyana Oil and Gas Association, is a liaison in assuring transparency in local and regional jobs training associated with service to the industry. Michael Deane, UTC Overseas Global Financial Controller, is a Guyanese native, and will help facilitate operations of the Guyana office. He has been part of UTC for nearly two decades. We are confident our strong background in air and ocean freight, our in-country partnerships and our focused, cost effective approach to project logistics and supply chain management solutions, will help UTC Overseas customers achieve their goals in the challenging Guyanese market, Poisler concludes. For additional information, contact: Bob Stevens +5926841733 Diana Davila +001.713.422.2809 TORONTO, Aug. 16, 2017 /CNW/ - Jaguar Mining Inc. ("Jaguar" or the "Company") (TSX:JAG) today announced results from its investment in its near-mine high priority growth exploration drilling program, including 4 holes, involving 1,689 metres ("m") at the Company's emerging Pilar mine in Minas Gerais, Brazil. During the first half of 2017, the Company remained focused on reducing its cash costs, generating operating cash flow, and maintaining a disciplined approach to the allocation of sustaining capital which enabled the Company to continue deploying capital towards key growth exploration. The Company also announced it has successfully acquired a strategic Mineral Exploration License (the "License") over a prospective greenstone terrane adding approximately 15% to the Pilar Mine License footprint. At Turmalina, three diamond drill rigs commenced growth exploration drilling targeting projected down-plunge extensions, below current mining levels and infrastructure, on both Orebody A and Orebody C. Pilar Growth Exploration Drilling Highlights and Key Intercepts Completed a series of deep drill holes targeting the down-plunge continuity of the principal mineralized Banded Iron Formation Orebodies between Levels 11 to 16, up to approximately 350 m vertically below the current development and 250 m below the current Inferred Resources at the Pilar mine (refer to Figure #1). Significant intercept grading 10.8 g/t Au over 29.3 m (estimated true width 22.5 m) reported in hole PPL449A (refer to Table #1). This intercept along with the additional highly significant drill intercepts confirms the expected continuity of high grade gold mineralization within the principal Orebody package down-plunge over a considerable distance. (refer to Table #1). This intercept along with the additional highly significant drill intercepts confirms the expected continuity of high grade gold mineralization within the principal Orebody package down-plunge over a considerable distance. Drilling successfully intersected deep extensions with the deepest mineralized interval in hole PPL449A intersecting well mineralized Banded Iron Formation between Levels 14 and 15, approximately 300 m vertically below the current deepest underground development at the mine. intersecting well mineralized Banded Iron Formation between Levels 14 and 15, approximately 300 m vertically below the current deepest underground development at the mine. Drill intercepts confirm an expected increase in thickness of the mineralization with the widest intercept in hole PPL449A also the deepest to-date. Drill results provide the potential to add substantial new Inferred Resources at Pilar and include the following key intercepts: Figure 1. Figure showing the location of growth exploration diamond drill holes reported relative to the current mine infrastructure and the projected down-plunge position of the principal Pilar Mine Orebodies. The program targeted mineralization between Levels 11 to 16, up to 350 m vertically below current development and 250 m below the current Inferred Resources. Banded Iron Formation Orebodies: Drill hole PPL449A intercepted 10.8 g/t Au over 29.3 m (ETW 22.5 m) Including an intercept of 17.3 g/t Au over 10.2 m (ETW 7.8 m) Drill hole PPL449A intercepted 4.6 g/t Au over 34.2 m (ETW 26.2 m) Drill hole PPL449A intercepted 9.0 g/t Au over 7.6 m (ETW 7.0 m) Drill hole PPL441 intercepted 6.8 g/t Au over 29.0 m (ETW 7.2 m) Drill hole PPL441 intercepted 5.5 g/t Au over 6.5 m (ETW 6.4 m) Definitions: ETW - estimated true width g/t Au - grams per tonne gold m - metres Rod Lamond, President and CEO of Jaguar Mining commented: "Our employees' tremendous efforts to reduce and control costs across the Company in the first half of 2017 has enabled the Company to continue its investment in key growth exploration projects at Pilar and Turmalina. This investment has created sustainable value as today's drill results demonstrate the expected continuity of high grade mineralized structures well beyond current mine plans. The increased grade and thickness of mineralization at depth will build confidence in the potential for adding substantial new resources to the Pilar mine and to significantly extend its mine life. Plans for additional drilling at Pilar are being finalized. We are also optimistic that the drill program commenced at Turmalina may deliver similar exploration success when we report drill results before year-end. Moving forward, we will continue to remain disciplined in deploying capital towards the highest priority targets across all of our operating mine sites." Jon Hill, a senior Exploration Geologist and Jaguars newly appointed Senior Expert Advisor to the Management Committee commented: "Today's results confirm the presence of increased gold mineralization and identify opportunities for the extension of additional gold mineralization and an expanded drill program at Pilar. These results are very encouraging and we are pleased to have commenced additional near-mine drilling at Turmalina targeting Orebody A and Orebody C. While growth exploration has initially been focused on consolidation of the resource base and demonstrating long-term sustainable production at both the Pilar and flagship Turmalina operations, these latest positive results now allow management to move forward confidently with aggressive, but focused and disciplined, growth exploration programs within the Company's greater tenement portfolio." New Strategic Land Position at Pilar Mine Concession In July, the Company successfully acquired a new strategic exploration license contiguous to the Pilar Mine License package adding 436.62 hectares, or 15%, to the Pilar Mine License footprint. This area is underlain by prospective Archean greenstone geology including the same stratigraphic sequence and equivalent structural setting as the Pilar Mine Mineralized sequence (see Figure #2). The newly acquired License was originally staked in 1981 and became publicly available on July 24, 2017 when it was awarded to Jaguar under the ordinance number 831.233/2017 by the Departamento Nacional de Producao Mineral ("DNPM"). Figure 2. The recently acquired Mineral Exploration License increases the total registered area of the Pilar Mine License area by 15% (436.62 hectares). Turmalina Mine Commenced drilling in July at Turmalina with three diamond drills targeting down-plunge depth extensions to the high grade Orebody A at depth, to approximately 300 m below current development and resource limits, while also targeting extensions of Orebody C at shallower depths. Orebody A drilling is being undertaken from a hanging wall development specifically prepared and completed for this program on Level 10-1. Drilling is intended to reach Levels 12 16, up to 420 m vertically below the current development and 300 m below the current Inferred Resources (refer to Figure #3). At shallower levels, drilling will target projected down-plunge extensions to Orebody C which, once confirmed, will allow access for mining from existing infrastructure between Levels 4 and 10 (see Figure #4). Regular updates on progress with results will be released over the coming months prior to reporting updated Mineral Reserves and Mineral Resources in March 2018 . Figure 3. This figure shows the planned drilling configuration for targeting the down-plunge extensions of Orebody A at Turmalina and the current GT contours. Figure 4. This figure shows a longitudinal section (SE to NW) of Orebody C at Turmalina highlighting the south-east portion of the orebody and the planned layout of drill holes for the recently started program targeting projected down-plunge extensions to the orebody between Levels 7 and 16. Qualified Person Scientific and technical information contained in this press release has been reviewed and approved by Jonathan Victor Hill, BSc Hons (Economic Geology - UCT), Senior Expert Advisor to the Jaguar Mining Management Committee, who is also an employee of Jaguar Mining Inc., and is a "qualified person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). Quality Control Jaguar continues to use a quality-control program that includes insertion of blanks and commercial standards in order to ensure best practice in sampling and analysis. HQ, NQ, and BQ size drill core is sawn in half with a diamond saw. Samples are selected for analysis in standard intervals according to geological characteristics such as lithology and hydrothermal alteration contents. All diamond drill hole collars are accurately surveyed using a Total Stations instrument and down-hole deviations are surveyed using non-magnetic equipment with Icefield Tools' Gyro Path NSG equipment and SPT Stockholm Precision Tools with GyroMaster Solid State [North Seeker]. Mean grades are calculated using a variable lower grade cut-off (generally 0.5 g/t Au). No upper gold grade cut has been applied to the data. However, the requirement for assay top cutting will be assessed during future resource work. Half of the sawed sample is forwarded to the analytical laboratory for analysis while the remaining half of the core is stored in a secure location. The drill core samples are transported in securely sealed bags and sent for physical preparation to the independent ALS Brasil (subsidiary of ALS Global) laboratory located in Vespasiano, Minas Gerais. The analysis is conducted at ALS Global's respective facilities (fire assay are conducted by ALS Global in Lima, Peru and multi-elementary analysis are conducted by ALS Global in Vancouver). ALS have accreditation in global management system that meets all requirements of international standards ISO/IEC 17025:2005 and ISO 9001:2015. All major ALS geochemistry analytical laboratories are accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2005 for specific analytical procedures. For a complete description of Jaguar's sample preparation, analytical methods, and QA/QC procedures, please refer to the "Technical Report on the Roca Grande and Pilar Operations, Minas Gerais State, Brazil", a copy of which is available on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. The Iron Quadrangle The Iron Quadrangle has been an area of mineral exploration dating back to the 16th century. The discovery in 1699-1701 of gold contaminated with iron and platinum-group metals in the southeastern corner of the Iron Quadrangle gave rise to the name of the town Ouro Preto (Black Gold). The Iron Quadrangle contains world-class multi-million ounce gold deposits such as Morro Velho, Cuiaba, and Sao Bento. Jaguar holds the second largest gold land position in the Iron Quadrangle with just over 25,000 hectares. About Jaguar Mining Inc. Jaguar Mining Inc. is a Canadian-listed junior gold mining, development, and exploration company operating in Brazil with three gold mining complexes, and a large land package with significant upside exploration potential from mineral claims covering an area of approximately 192,000 hectares. The Company's principal operating assets are located in the Iron Quadrangle, a prolific greenstone belt in the state of Minas Gerais and include the Turmalina Gold Mine Complex and Caete Gold Mine Complex, which combined produce more than 95,000 ounces of gold annually. The Company also owns the Paciencia Gold Mine Complex, which has been on care and maintenance since 2012. Additional information is available on the Company's website at www.jaguarmining.com. HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA--(Marketwired - Aug. 16, 2017) - Erdene Resource Development Corp. (TSX:ERD) ("Erdene" or "Company") is pleased to provide shareholders with an update on second quarter corporate and project activities. The Company has several significant programs underway related to expansion and delineation of gold projects, regional and district-scale exploration, and preparatory work for resource estimates, economic studies and mining license applications, summarized as follows: Highlights Financial As of August 10, 2017, the Company's working capital position is $8.3 million, sufficient to fund the planned 2017 exploration program and extend into the 2018 program. Bayan Khundii Gold Project The 2017 drill program has established continuity of gold mineralization over a 1.3 kilometre long trend that is locally up to 450 metres wide and remains open. On-going drill program with 14,688 metres completed in 81 holes since April 2017 bringing the total drilling since 2015 discovery to 25,988 metres in 177 drill holes. 85% of all holes intersected anomalous gold mineralization and 17% intersected 1 metre samples of greater than 32 g/t gold, up to 307 g/t gold. Drilling improved confidence in the continuity of Midfield high-grade zones with up to 80 metres of 6.0 g/t gold (BKD-98). New step-out discovery extended mineralization for up to 280 metres north of the Midfield Zone with up to 108 metres of 2.8 g/t gold, including 20 metres of 7.2 g/t gold (BKD-110). Drilling between Midfield and Striker Zones established broad zones of gold mineralization, up to 150 metres of 1.5 g/t gold (BKD-153). New near surface zone south of Striker being defined, including 14 metres of 2.8 g/t from surface (BKD-128). Area west of Striker being defined with 250 metre step-out intersecting 58 metres of 1.1 g/t gold (BKD-105). New zone identified in 90 metre step-out northeast of Striker with 10 metres of 12.8 g/t gold (BKD-118). Metallurgical testing to date has indicated Bayan Khundii material is free milling and amenable to conventional processing techniques; further metallurgical testwork results anticipated before end of August. Altan Nar Gold Polymetallic Project Altan Nar drilling returned high-grade gold and base metal values at depth in Discovery Zone including 14 metres of 7.9 g/t gold, 43.7 g/t silver and 1.8% combined lead and zinc (TND-105). Drilling underway targeting an expansion of Q1-2015 resource boundaries and testing of newly defined geophysical targets. Regional and District-Scale Exploration Both Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar are the first grassroots gold discoveries in this emerging gold district. Erdene has discovered multiple gold and copper occurrences within the district where it continues to evaluate new gold and copper targets for acquisition. Erdene plans to drill test its Altan Arrow gold-silver prospect, 3.5 kilometres north of Bayan Khundii, in Q3/Q4-2017 to test continuity of the high-grade zones identified in recent drilling. Detailed geologic mapping and rock chip sampling between Bayan Khundii and north of Altan Arrow have identified new epithermal and porphyry gold and copper targets for Q3-Q4 testing. Teck Alliance exploration program on-going in southwest Mongolia. Hydro-geologic drilling program underway in basins adjacent to Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar. "With our strong financial position and experienced and focused management team we are well positioned to create further value in this emerging, under-explored gold district characterized by large, near-surface, high-grade mineralized systems," said Peter Akerley, Erdene's President and CEO. "We will continue to evaluate new opportunities in the district while continuing to focus on exploring and expanding both the Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar discoveries, 16 kilometres apart, as we move towards more advanced resource and economic studies in 2018. In today's gold industry of declining reserves and grades we believe we offer a potentially unique and sought after combination that will create a compelling value opportunity." Please refer to the Company's Q2-2017 financials and MD&A, posted to the Company's website and SEDAR, for additional details on the following summary. Three plan maps have been attached for reference: Advancing the Bayan Khundii Gold Project - 100% Erdene The 2017 drill program has included 14,688 metres in 81 holes since April 2017, establishing continuity of gold mineralization over a 1.3 kilometre long trend that is locally up to 450 metres wide and remains open. Highlights include: o Striker Zone: - Drilling along the northern Striker boundary successfully connected a 100-metre wide, untested area with Midfield, where several holes returned broad, lower grade mineralization, including 146 metres of 0.8 g/t gold (BKD-101), as well as higher grade zones, including 24 metres of 6.5 g/t gold within 150 metres of 1.5 g/t gold (BKD-153). - Near-surface zone south of Striker was further defined with 14 metres of 2.8 g/t gold from surface (BKD-128). o Midfield Zone: - Drilling improved confidence in the continuity of Midfield high-grade mineralization, demonstrated greater depth potential, and established the presence of wider, higher-grade quartz adularia "feeder" veins. Results included 80 metres of 6.0 g/t gold (BKD-98) and 56 metres of 6.1 g/t gold (BKD-99). o Northern Midfield Extension: - A series of 40 to 80 metre spaced step-out holes were completed in areas north and northeast of Midfield. - Majority of these holes intersected gold-bearing host silicified and illite-altered Devonian volcanic units, extending mineralization for up to 280 metres north of Midfield Zone, doubling the length of the known mineralized trend under cover. - Results include up to 108 metres of 2.8 g/t gold, including 20 metres of 7.2 g/t gold (BKD-110); 55 metres of 2.9 g/t gold, including 25 metres of 5.3 g/t gold (BKD-111); and 60 metres of 1.5 g/t gold including 18 metres of 3.0 g/t gold (BKD-140). - On August 14, 2017, results were released for a series of step-out holes north of Midfield that included: 40 metres of 3.3 g/t gold, including 9 metres of 12.5 g/t gold (BKD-179); and 72 metres of 1.6 g/t gold, including 19 metres of 4.6 g/t gold (BKD-178). o Western Extension of Striker and Midfield Zones: - Fourteen holes were completed at 50 to 100-metre spacing; all holes except one intersected anomalous gold mineralization. - Results include 58 metres of 1.1 g/t gold (BKD-105), 21 metres of 1.3 g/t gold (BKD-107), and 28 metres of 1.4 g/t gold (BKD-172). o Eastern Extension: - Step-out hole BKD-118, 90 metres east of Striker, returned 10 metres of 12.8 g/t gold, opening a large untested area east of Striker for additional exploration. o Northeast Zone: - Eight holes have been completed to date over a 600 metre by 400 metre area. - Hole BKD-122, on the southern boundary of the Northeast Zone (500 metres northeast of Midfield), returned 14 metres of 0.75 g/t gold from surface, including 2 metres of 4.4 g/t gold, and 21 metres of 0.72 g/t gold at 65 metres depth. - Two rock chip samples collected 600 metres northeast of hole BKD-122 returned gold assay values of 6.9 g/t and 0.4 g/t gold. On-going Q3-Q4 Bayan Khundii drill program to include testing of six target areas within the broader 2.0 by 1.8 kilometre prospect area, as well as continued definition, with close-spaced drilling, of recently discovered targets north of Midfield Zone and west of Striker-Midfield Zones. Based on upcoming Q3/Q4-2017 drill results, and on drilling completed in 2015 and 2016, the Company anticipates generating a maiden resource estimate for Bayan Khundii in 2018. Expanding the Altan Nar Gold-Polymetallic Project - 100% Erdene Erdene has designed a follow-up drill program for the Altan Nar gold-polymetallic project, 16 kilometres northwest of Bayan Khundii. The program will test new targets and complete step-out drilling in areas adjacent to the deposits previously reported NI 43-101 mineral resource estimate at Altan Nar (see Erdene news release dated March 31, 2015). Subsequent to Altan Nar's Q1-2015 resource estimate, several holes successfully intersected high-grade mineralization and expanded original resource boundaries; o Q2-2017 drilling in the central area of the Discovery Zone deposit, where mineralization was previously thought to narrow, suggests an increase in intensity of the gold-polymetallic mineralization at depth. Evidence of this comes from hole TND-105, with 14 metres of 7.9 g/t gold, 43.7 g/t silver, and 1.8% combined lead-zinc, and from hole TND-104, with 16 metres of 3.6 g/t gold, 50.5 g/t silver, and 1.4% combined lead-zinc. Additional drilling in this area will be conducted in Q3/Q4-2017. o At the Union North deposit, step-out hole TND-97 (completed in Q4-2016), located 155 metres east of the Q1-2015 Union North mineral resource boundary, returned 22 metres of 1.08 g/t gold, 5 g/t silver and 0.81% combined lead-zinc at a depth of 34 metres. Additional drilling in this area will be conducted in Q3/Q4-2017. In Q2-2017, Erdene completed the following geophysical surveys at Altan Nar: o A high-resolution ground magnetic survey using 10 metre-spaced lines over the entire Altan Nar project area. It provided increased detail, including identifying areas of low magnetic response interpreted as altered mineralized zones. o A six-line, 12-kilometre induced polarization dipole-dipole survey over the Discovery Zone to enable follow-up drilling of deep, high-grade gold-copper targets. Based on upcoming Q3/Q4-2017 drill results, and drilling completed in 2015 and 2016, the Company anticipates generating a revised resource estimate at Altan Nar in 2018, in addition to a maiden resource estimate for Bayan Khundii. Drilling is now underway on the Altan Nar project targeting an expansion of known deposit areas and testing of newly defined geophysical targets. Regional and District Scale Exploration The Company plans to drill test its Altan Arrow epithermal gold-silver prospect ("Altan Arrow"), 3.5 kilometres north of the Bayan Khundii project, in Q3/Q4-2017 to test continuity of the high-grade zones identified in recent drilling, 23.5 g/t gold over 2 metres (AAD-03), and on surface, with up to 57 g/t gold in hand samples and 1 metre of 31.4 g/t gold and 6 metres of 4.5 g/t gold in trenching. Drilling is planned to test several new targets in the area between Bayan Khundii and north of Altan Arrow in Q3/Q4-2017, where detailed geologic mapping and rock chip sampling has identified new epithermal gold and porphyry gold and copper targets for Q3-Q4 testing. Since 2008, Erdene has undertaken systematic regional exploration work in southwest Mongolia, an under-explored region of the prolific Tian Shan Gold Belt and part of the Central Asian Orogeny that hosts some of the world's largest gold deposits. As a result, Erdene has discovered multiple gold and copper occurrences within the district where it continues to evaluate new gold and copper targets for acquisition. The 2017 Teck Alliance exploration program was funded through a non-brokered private placement with Teck Resources Limited ("Teck"), which involved the issuance of 543,478 shares to Teck at a price of $0.92 per share, for gross proceeds of $500,000. The program is underway and consists of follow-up work on anomalous targets identified during the 2016 program, including surface geochemical sampling, geological mapping/prospecting, ground-verification of multispectral anomalies and sampling of alteration zones for hyper-spectral analysis. Independent Consultants In Q2-2017, Dr. Jeffrey Hedenquist, an Ottawa-based independent consultant and one of the world's leading experts on epithermal gold systems, worked for a second consecutive year at Erdene's gold projects. He provided ongoing geological interpretation and drill targeting expertise. Also in Q2-2017, Mr. Imants Kavalieris of Plus Minerals LLC, who specializes in alteration studies of epithermal and porphyry systems, also worked for a second consecutive year at Erdene's gold projects. He completed field and drill core evaluations, and identified alteration zonation within the hydrothermal systems for future drill targeting. Erdene has also engaged a number of consulting firms in preparation for eventual mining license applications, resource estimates and preliminary economic studies. Water, Energy and Environment Erdene has commenced a 12-hole, 1,800-metre, water exploration program in two basin areas proximal to the Bayan Khundii and Altan Nar projects. Both sites have the potential to host water resources (in subsurface aquifers) to support mineral processing requirements. Drill targets were identified following an IP geophysical survey carried out in Q4-2016. The environmental and social baseline data collection program initiated in 2016 for the Altan Nar and Bayan-Khundii continues under the direction of EcoTrade LLC, a specialized Mongolian contractor permitted to undertake environmental impact assessments of mining projects, compiled field-based and secondary source information. Baseline data covers the key areas of land use conditions, air quality, flora and fauna, water, cultural heritage, and socio-economic conditions. The current work underway will also result in a complete land condition audit report, required by the Government of Mongolia before mine development. Moving forward, the Corporation plans to initiate a gap analysis of baseline data with a view to working towards compliance with international performance standards for managing the potential environmental and social impacts of future mine development and operation at Altan Nar and Bayan Khundii. Energy Mongolia, including the Oyu Tolgoi copper gold processing operation, is dependent on its neighboring countries for peak and base load electricity supply. The Corporation has initiated an assessment of the viability of procuring electricity from the Central Energy System through a dedicated, new grid connection. The grid viability assessment is designed to inform future mine planning and enable the Corporation to benefit from early integration of optimal energy supply solutions. In addition, through an initiative of the International Finance Corporation, the Corporation agreed to participate and co-finance the study of renewable energy supply options at Altan Nar and Bayan Khundii projects. The renewable energy study is expected to result in a preliminary, site-specific business case for renewable energy as well as the potential co-benefits of integrating renewables into a future mine in terms of supporting the country's pledges towards the Sustainable Development Goals. Financial and Corporate Summary As of August 10, 2017, the Company has a working capital position of $8.3 million. Erdene's Q2-2017 financial statements and Management Discussion and Analysis were filed with regulatory authorities on August 14, 2017 and are available on the Company's web site and on SEDAR. For the six months ended June 30, 2017, the Company recognized a net loss of $2,664,797, or $0.02 per share, compared to a loss of $1,935,432, or $0.02 per share for the same period in 2016. Exploration expenditures, including capitalized costs, totalled $4,799,360 for the first six months of 2017 compared with $1,916,425 for the same period in 2016, an increase of 150%. Erdene's 2017 exploration programs are expected to be the largest carried out in the Company's history. The Khundii license expenditures (Bayan Khundii and Altan Arrow projects) represented $3,278,508 of exploration expenditures year-to-date 2017 compared with $1,492,830 for the first six months of 2016. The Tsenkher Nomin license (Altan Nar project) expenditures accounted for another $475,438 in the first six months of 2017 compared to $161,623 in 2016. Corporate and administrative expenses were $1,725,192 for the six months ended June 30, 2017 compared to $932,140 in 2017. Excluding non-cash share-based compensation and depreciation, the year to date June 30, 2017 corporate and administrative expenses were $904,207 compared with $631,766 in 2016. Although the cash spent on corporate and administration expenses has increased largely because of the need for additional management services to manage programs, investor relations to communicate to stakeholders and higher regulatory costs, the percentage of corporate and administrative cash expenses relative to cash exploration expenditures incurred decreased to 21% at June 30, 2017 compared to 35% at June 30, 2016, which compares favourably with our peers. Qualified Person Michael MacDonald, P.Geo. (Nova Scotia), Vice President Exploration for Erdene, is the Qualified Person as that term is defined in National Instrument 43-101, and has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release. About Erdene Erdene Resource Development Corporation is a Canada-based resource company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of base and precious metals in underexplored and highly prospective Mongolia. The Company has 100% ownership of four exploration licenses and one mining license in southwestern Mongolia. In addition to the flagship Bayan Khundii gold project and Altan Nar gold-polymetallic project, Erdene's other 100%-owned greenfield projects, prospects and discoveries include: Khuvyn Khar, an early stage copper-silver porphyry project with multiple drill targets and significant copper intersections; Nomin Tal, a narrow, high-grade copper-gold discovery; Zuun Mod, a large molybdenum-copper porphyry project; and Altan Arrow, an early stage gold-silver prospect near Bayan Khundii. In addition to the above assets, the Company has a Strategic Alliance with Teck Resources Limited on regional copper-gold exploration in the prospective Trans Altai region of southwestern Mongolia. For further information on the Company, please visit www.erdene.com. Erdene has 145,963,086 issued and outstanding common shares and a fully diluted position of 156,592,160 common shares. Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCwire) - Canada Zinc Metals Corp. (TSX Venture Exchange: CZX) is pleased to announce that an additional two holes have been completed on the Akie property bringing the total number of completed holes drilled in 2017 to six. Work continues on two additional holes with the program expected to be completed by the end of August. All holes drilled to date have targeted specific areas within and around the Cardiac Creek deposit. The 2017 exploration program commenced in June with two diamond drill rigs and is focused on resource expansion and new target development, building on the success of earlier drill programs that have outlined a robust and high-grade zinc-lead-silver system in the central core of the Cardiac Creek deposit. The Company owns 100% of eleven, large, contiguous property blocks that comprise the Akie and Kechika Regional projects. The Companys flagship Akie Project is host to the Cardiac Creek deposit. The Kechika Regional Project includes the Pie, Yuen, Cirque East and Mt. Alcock properties, extending northwest from the Akie property for approximately 140 kilometres along strike of the highly prospective Gunsteel Formation shale; the main host rock for known SEDEX zinc-lead-silver deposits in the Kechika Trough of northeastern British Columbia. These projects are located approximately 260 kilometres north northwest of the town of Mackenzie, British Columbia, Canada. 2017 Drill Exploration Update Approximately 3,580 metres of HQ diamond drill core has been completed on six holes. The first four holes targeted both the central core and the up-dip strike extents of the high-grade core. The following two holes targeted the lower central core area but at its known extents to the NW and the SE. The two holes currently being drilled are focused on expansion of the known limits of the indicated resource. Both drill rigs are operating and the Company anticipates having two additional holes completed within the next week. Approximately 400 meters of drilling was abandoned due to excessive deviation. The holes were restarted with slightly different head orientations and then carried through to successful completion intersecting the intended target areas. Drillhole A-17-140 encountered thickly bedded pyrite mineralization in the hangingwall at a depth of 695.82 to 719.82 metres downhole. The massive sulphide beds consist predominantly of pyrite, interlaminated with nodular barite and occasional rare bands of light grey, very fine-grained sphalerite. The Cardiac Creek Zone was intersected at a depth of 719.82 metres and extended to a depth of 758.23 metres. The Footwall Zone was present from 766.46 to 775.16 metres. Both the Cardiac Creek and Footwall Zones are characterized by thick beds of dull brown pyrite, light grey sphalerite rich bands, and mottled textured bands enriched in sphalerite, galena, quartz and carbonate. Various footwall lithologies were intersected down to the bottom of the hole and the hole was stopped at 847.96 metres in dolomitic siltstone of the Silurian Road River Group. Drillhole A-17-141 intersected the hangingwall mineralization at a depth of 551.80 metres, characterized by thick beds of laminated pyrite, nodular barite and occasional bands of sphalerite. The hole transitioned into the Cardiac Creek Zone at a depth of 562.62 metres which continued downhole to 587.67 metres. The mineralisation consists of thick beds of steel grey sphalerite rich bands and sphalerite, galena, quartz, carbonate enriched mottled textured bands are readily apparent. The central section of the zone is faulted by a localized brittle structure which is atypical and is not apparent in the neighboring drill holes. Below a depth of 580.27 metres the sulphide beds contain abundant steel grey sphalerite rich bands, massive barite and laminar pyrite. Locally these sulphide beds appear to be overprinted and enhanced by coarse grained red-brown sphalerite. Similar to hole A-17-137, a 2-metre thick massive sulphide lens was intersected at a depth of 594.94 metres. The hole ended in the Silurian Siltstones with localized areas of alteration at a depth of 651.36 metres. Geological logging and sampling is now complete on six holes. A total of 900 samples including standard QA/QC samples have been taken through the Cardiac Creek Zone. Samples from the first four holes have reached the Acme Analytical Laboratories (a Bureau Veritas company) in Vancouver, BC; and 2 holes will soon be in transit from site to lab. The true width estimates of each Cardiac Creek intercept are not yet available but are being modeled and will be calculated upon release of pending assay results. Assays results from the first two holes are expected in approximately 2 weeks. Peeyush Varshney, CEO, commented: We are very pleased with the rapid progress of the drill program this season. We have intersected the Cardiac Creek Zone in all 6 holes so far and fully anticipate the next 2 holes to be similarly successful. The highlight of the program has been hole A-17-137 with a massive Cardiac Creek Zone intercept. The presence of strongly mottled mineralization throughout has been demonstrated in many holes to be indicative of very strong sphalerite mineralization and thus significant zinc content. QA/QC Canada Zinc Metals has implemented a rigorous quality assurance/quality control program at the Akie property using best industry practices. All drill core is logged for geology, structure, veining, alteration, mineralisation, and geotechnical parameters. Sections of sulphide mineralisation are marked for sampling by a geologist and a series of standards, duplicates and blanks are inserted into the sample stream for QA/QC purposes. Prior to the cutting of samples, all core boxes are photographed for due diligence and record keeping purposes. The samples are split by a diamond saw, tagged and bagged and forwarded by bonded carrier to Acme Labs (a Bureau Veritas Group Company) of Vancouver, BC, for analysis. Documentation recording the chain of custody is kept for each shipment. Assays for zinc, lead and silver are obtained using Acme Labs AQ270 analytical package with sample digestion using aqua regia solution followed by ICP-ES and ICP-MS analyses. Barium content is determined by Acme Labs LF300 analytical package using LiBO2/LiB4O7 fusion and ACS grade nitric acid followed by ICP-ES analysis. Overlimit values of lead and zinc are rerun using Bureau Veritas AQ371 analytical package using a hot aqua regia solution followed by ICP-ES analyses. Check assays on drill pulps are routinely conducted by ALS Minerals of North Vancouver, BC with their OG46 analytical package using aqua regia digestion and ICP-ES analysis. All remaining drill core is stored at the Akie exploration camp. The Akie Zn-Pb-Ag Project The Companys flagship Akie property is situated within the Kechika Trough, the southernmost area of the regionally extensive Paleozoic Selwyn Basin, one of the most prolific sedimentary basins in the world for the occurrence of SEDEX zinc-lead-silver and stratiform barite deposits. Drilling on the Akie property by Canada Zinc Metals since 2005 has identified a significant body of baritic-zinc-lead-silver SEDEX mineralisation known as the Cardiac Creek deposit. The deposit is hosted by siliceous, carbonaceous, fine grained clastic rocks of the middle to late Devonian Gunsteel Formation. The Company has outlined a NI 43-101 compliant mineral resource at Cardiac Creek, including an indicated resource of 19.6 million tonnes grading 8.2% zinc, 1.6% lead and 13.6 g/t silver (at a 5% zinc cut-off grade) and an inferred resource of 8.1 million tonnes grading 6.8% zinc, 1.1% lead and 11.2 g/t silver (at a 5% zinc cut-off grade). Ken MacDonald P.Geo., Vice President of Exploration, is the designated Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101 and is responsible for the technical information contained in this release. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alianza Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V:ANZ) (Alianza or the Company) announces that, further to its July 20, 2017 news release, it has completed the first tranche of its private placement financing pursuant to which it sold 1,785,715 units (each, a Unit), at a price of $0.14 per Unit, for gross proceeds of $250,000. Each Unit consists of one common share and one half of a common share purchase warrant valid for a period of three years at an exercise price of $0.20 expiring on August 16, 2020. Insiders of the Company purchased Units in the aggregate amount of $119,100. $3,654 cash finders fee and 26,100 finders warrants were granted. Each finders warrant is exercisable into a common share at $0.14 for a period of 3 years expiring August 16, 2020. All securities have a four-month hold period from the date of issuance. The financing has received the TSX Venture Exchange approval. The funds will be used to advance exploration projects in Nevada and Peru. In keeping with the Companys business model, projects in its portfolio will be upgraded to attract partners to fund further exploration. Management is planning first pass programs on newly acquired concessions prospective for zinc in central Peru and continued preparations for a fall drill program at the Horsethief Property in Nevada. Our focus is to complete planning and permitting for the fall 2017 drilling at Horsethief, Nevada, stated Jason Weber, President and CEO. Completing the proposed financing will allow us to prepare for exploration in both Nevada and Peru in the coming months. About Alianza Minerals Ltd. Alianza increases the chances of success in mineral exploration by using the Prospect Generator business model, focussing on gold and copper exploration in Latin America and Nevada. The Company has 35.1 million shares issued and outstanding, and is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSX-V: ANZ). Mr. Jason Weber, BSc, P.Geo., Alianzas President and CEO is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument 43-101. Mr. Weber supervised the preparation of the technical information contained in this release. Montreal, Quebec / TheNewswire / August 16, 2017 - SRG Graphite Inc. (TSXV: SRG) ("SRG" or the "Company") is pleased to announce a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") with CORIS Capital SA ("CORIS") of 7,500,000 units (the "Units") at a price of C$0.40 per Unit, for total gross proceeds of C$3,000,000. Each Unit will be comprised of one common share of the Company (a "Share") and one-half of one non-transferable share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant (a "Warrant") will entitle CORIS to purchase for a period of 24 months from the date of closing (the "Expiry Date"), one additional common share of the Company (a "Warrant Share") at an exercise price of $0.50 per Warrant Share. "CORIS is a leader in the West African banking, financial and investment sectors and has been actively involved in the mining industry for quite some time," said Benoit La Salle, Executive Chairman, SRG. "We are privileged to welcome CORIS as a strategic partner and contributor to the development of SRG as the Company continues its quest to become a leader in the production and delivery of cost effective, quick-to-market, quality graphite." "This strategic investment by CORIS is a significant vote of confidence in SRG's ability to successfully and efficiently develop the Lola Graphite project in Guinea," added Dr. Marc-Antoine Audet, SRG's President and CEO. The Company has also agreed to grant to CORIS a pre-emptive right pursuant to which, for so long as CORIS holds any equity interest in the Company on a fully-diluted basis, it will have the right to participate in any future equity private placement or public offering of the Company (an "Offering") to allow it to maintain the same percentage interest in the Company after completion of the Offering (assuming the conversion or exchange of any convertible securities issued under the Offering) as existed immediately prior to completion of the Offering. Upon closing of the Offering, CORIS will have the right to nominate up to two members to SRG's board of directors. The number of board members to be nominated will be determined based on the percentage interest held by CORIS. The Offering, which remains subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, is expected to close by the end of August 2017. No finders' fees or commissions will be payable. Net proceeds from the Private Placement will be used for exploration purposes and general working capital requirements. The securities issued under the Private Placement will be subject to a four-month restricted period. ABOUT CORIS Capital SA Coris Capital SA is a Mauritius-based company and a member of the Coris Group, which is controlled by Mr. Idrissa Nassa and includes Coris Capital SA and Coris Holdings SA. It has activities and investments in finance, telecom, mining and in the industrial sector. Coris Holdings SA is a private company based in Burkina Faso with investments in the banking (Coris International Bank), insurance (Coris Insurance), wealth management (Coris Financial Management) and industrial sectors (General Mining Logistics). Its activities are focused mainly in West Africa. ABOUT SRG SRG is a Canadian-based company focused on developing the Lola Graphite deposit, located in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa. SRG is committed to operate in a socially, environmentally and ethically responsible manner. VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Aug. 16, 2017) - New Pacific Metals Corp. ("New Pacific" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:NUAG) is pleased to announce the appointment of Gordon Neal to the position of President of the Company. Mr. Neal has extensive experience in the metals and mining sector, capital markets and government communications. He was most recently the Vice President of Corporate Development for Silvercorp Metals Inc., New Pacific's largest shareholder. Previous to that role he held the same position at MAG Silver Corp. Mr. Neal's career also saw him working in the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada as a senior communications advisor. Among other roles, Mr. Neal will be responsible for overseeing the management team in Bolivia, working to develop the recently acquired Alcira properties (see news releases of April 10, 2017 and June 20, 2017). The team's primary focus will be establishing strong community and government relations accompanied by an extensive drill program at the Company's flagship Silver Sand property. Mr. Hongen Ma, the Company's previous president, will assume the role of Vice President. Terry Salman, President and CEO of Salman Capital Inc., Appointed as Advisor The Company has also appointed Mr. Terry Salman, President and CEO of Salman Capital Inc. as an advisor. Mr. Salman has been a leader in financing junior exploration and mid-cap to large mining companies, helping to raise $20 billion for more than 400 companies over the past 35 years. In addition to his highly successful career, Terry has tirelessly devoted his services to many community organizations, including fundraising for the Britannia Mine Museum, sitting on the Government of Canada's Expert Panel on Securities Regulations and serving as Chair of the Investment Dealers Association of Canada, the Vancouver Public Library Foundation, the St. Paul's Hospital Foundation, and was a Director of the Prostate Cancer Research Foundation of Canada. In recognition of his outstanding volunteer contributions, he was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012, and in 2017 received the Murray Pezim award from the Association for Mineral Exploration BC for his career in the Canadian mining financial industry. About New Pacific New Pacific Metals Corp. is a Canadian exploration and development company which owns the Silver Sand Project, in the Potosi Department of Bolivia, the Tagish Lake gold project in Yukon, Canada and the RZY Project in Qinghai Province, China. Silvercorp Metals Inc. (TSX/NYSE American: SVM), the largest primary silver producer in China, is the major shareholder. The memory of a beloved pet inspires one couple's fight against injustice. TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Aug. 16, 2017) - Highlights: 8.2 g/t Au over 7.2 metres within a broader zone of 2.0 g/t over 59.9 metres, located 500 metres North of the New Beliveau Deposit 9.2 g/t Au over 5.4 metres and 9.8 g/t Au over 3 metres intersected in expansion drilling at the New Beliveau Deposit New shallow discoveries grading 1.7 g/t Au over 10.4 metres and 4.1 g/t Au over 3.0 metres located 200 metres South of the Main Zone at New Beliveau Four drills turning along the 4.5 kilometre strike length of the Pascalis Gold Trend and a fifth drill added this week to start testing targets on the surrounding exploration properties Probe Metals Inc.(TSX VENTURE:PRB) (OTCQB:PROBF) ("Probe" or the "Company") is pleased to announce results from the ongoing drill program at its 100% owned Val-d'Or East project located near Val-d'Or, Quebec. Results from twenty-seven drill holes, totaling 11,358 metres, were received. The current 75,000-metre drill program at Val-d'Or East focuses on expansion and exploration drilling in and around the New Beliveau gold deposit including follow-up drilling on the surrounding new discovery areas. As of the most recent drilling, the New Beliveau gold deposit mineralization has been identified over an expanded area of approximately 650 metres by 450 metres (See Figure 1) and to a depth of over 900 metres. Expansion drilling to the south has returned interesting results grading up to 2.5 g/t over 39.2 metres including 9.2 g/t Au over 5.4 metres, at vertical depth of approximately 100 metres. Expansion drilling to the West has also returned interesting results with intercepts grading up to 2.7 g/t over 16.8 metres, including 9.8 g/t Au over 3 metres, at a vertical depth of approximately 350 metres. A high-grade shear vein structure grading 29.8 g/t Au over 0.8 metres was intersected at 90 metres depth, and is located 80 metres west of Hole PC-17-100, which previously returned 1122 g/t Au over 0.7 metres (see Company's press release dated March 6, 2017). New drilling continues to expand our understanding of the mineralizing controls and geometry at New Beliveau, including the identification of a stacked set of at least thirty (30) shallow dipping East-West auriferous veins, seven (7) North-South sub-vertical mineralized dyke and one East-North-East sub-vertical high grade structure. Ongoing drilling continues to indicate strong potential for additional resource expansion. New results also include the best drill intercept to date in the North Zone located 500 metres North of New Beliveau with an intersection returning 2 g/t Au over 59.9 metres at 100 metres depth including a high-grade intercept grading 8.2 g/t Au over 7.2 metres. Additionally, new shallow gold discoveries of 1.7 g/t Au over 10.4 metres and 4.1 g/t Au over 3 metres located 700 metres south of the former Beliveau Mine may represent the lateral extension of the Main Dyke Zone mined at Beliveau. Mineralization intersected at the North Zone and in the new discoveries is similar to that observed in the Beliveau Deposit, and is characterized mainly by sulphide-bearing quartz-tourmaline veins associated with mineralized diorite dykes. The Company has recently completed a new phase of induced polarization ("IP") geophysical program covering more than 500 kilometre-lines on the Val-d'Or East property. The survey represents the first large geophysics to ever be undertaken over the Pascalis Gold Trend and the surrounding areas. Processing is on-going and selected targets will be drilled this fall and next winter. David Palmer, President and CEO of Probe, states "Our exploration efforts at New Beliveau and along the Pascalis Gold Trend continue to produce positive results, increasing our confidence that the project can host significant gold deposits. The resource drilling program has advanced considerably, with over 47,500 metres drilled since January, and regional exploration programs have identified numerous targets within the Company's 316 square kilometre land package. We are well on our way to achieving some significant milestones for the project in 2017, including an updated 43-101-compliant resource estimate and the commencement of the regional drill programs, which have the potential to identify new gold discoveries in this virtually unexplored part of the Val-d'Or Mining Camp. With exploration programs ramping up in the second half of the year, we are looking for some interesting developments on the project in the months ahead." Assay results from selected drill holes are reported in the table below. Selected drill results from the Val-d'Or East drilling program Hole Number From (m) To (m) Length (m) Au (g/t) Area/Host Rock PC-17-145 81.2 88.8 7.6 2.3 NB/Dyke 216.8 256.0 39.2 2.5 NB/Volcanics and Dyke Including 216.8 217.9 1.1 26.6 NB/ Volcanics 250.6 256.0 5.4 9.2 NB/Dyke 565.2 573.0 7.8 2.4 NB/Dyke 784.6 787.8 3.2 4.6 NB/ Volcanics PC-17-146 496.0 499.3 3.3 4.6 NB/ Volcanics 541.0 557.8 16.8 2.7 NB/ Volcanics and Dyke Including 541.0 544.0 3.0 9.8 NB/ Volcanics and Dyke 555.9 557.8 1.9 7.6 NB/ Volcanics 600.2 602.0 1.8 6.6 NB/Dyke PC-17-149 103.8 106.2 2.4 3.8 SZ/Dyke PC-17-155 113.0 113.8 0.8 29.8 SZ/ Volcanics PC-17-156 121.8 132.2 10.4 1.7 SZ/ Volcanics Including 124.0 132.2 8.2 2.1 SZ/ Volcanics 218.8 221.8 3.0 4.1 SZ/ Volcanics and Dyke PC-17-160 50.3 51.3 1.0 12.1 SZ/ Volcanics 145.5 152.7 7.2 1.3 SZ/ Volcanics and Dyke 162.8 174.9 12.1 1.7 SZ/ Volcanics Including 171.8 174.9 3.2 4.3 SZ/ Volcanics PC-17-161 136.4 143.0 6.6 2.3 SZ/ Volcanics PC-17-162 157.7 161.8 4.1 2.3 NZ/ Volcanics and Dyke PC-17-167 534.5 565.0 30.5 1.5 NB/ Volcanics and Dyke Including 550.7 557.7 7.0 3.9 NB/Dyke PC-17-168 126.7 186.6 59.9 2.0 NZ/ Volcanics and Dyke Including 126.7 133.9 7.2 8.2 NZ/ Volcanics and Dyke Including 158.4 165.8 7.4 2.8 NZ/Dyke Including 176.3 184.8 8.5 3.8 NZ/Dyke (1) All the new analytical results reported in this release and in this table, are presented in core length and uncut. Additional drilling is planned for the immediate area which will enable the true width determination. (2) Definitions: NB =New Beliveau, SZ = South Zone, NZ = North Zone Figure 1. Surface Map - New Beliveau Area Also, the Company is pleased to provide an update on the Cadillac Break East property which is under option from Alexandria Minerals (see the Company's press release dated December 1st, 2016). During H1-2017, the Company completed the airborne, regional geochemical, geological mapping as well as ground geophysical surveys. Target generation is well-advanced and a 4,000-metre drill program is planned to test geophysical anomalies in Q3-2017. The Cadillac Break East property contains the Sleepy gold deposit as well as 14 kilometres of under-explored strike extent along the Cadillac Break Fault, one of Val-d'Or's most prolific gold structures. The New Beliveau Gold Deposit The New Beliveau deposit consists predominantly of a series of parallel, east-west trending, moderately dipping, mineralized zones hosting gold-bearing quartz-pyrite-tourmaline veins. Gold mineralization occurs in the veins but also in their immediate wall rocks. The sulphide content is generally 1 to 5%, but may reach up to 10% in the higher-grade sections. The extent of the alteration zone, which consists of a mixture of quartz, tourmaline, dolomite, albite, and euhedral pyrite is commonly twice the thickness of the vein itself. The north-south trending diorite dykes also contain significant gold with gold grades typically increasing in areas where the dykes are intersected by the east-west quartz-tourmaline veins. Wall rocks for both systems consist of intermediate volcanics rock. Together with the Highway and North Zones, the New Beliveau Deposit host a NI 43-101 inferred resources of 770,000 ounces at 2.6 g/t gold calculated at a 1.0 g/t cut-off above 350 metres depth and 1.5 g/t cut-off below 350 metres depth (see NI 43-101 technical report: Mineral Resource Val-d'Or East Property - January 4, 2013). Qualified Persons The scientific and technical content of this press release has been reviewed, prepared and approved by Mr. Marco Gagnon, P.Geo, Executive Vice President, who is a "Qualified Person" as defined by National Instrument 43-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects ("NI 43-101"). Quality Control During the last drilling program, assay samples were taken from the NQ core and sawed in half, with one-half sent to a certified commercial laboratory and the other half retained for future reference. A strict QA/QC program was applied to all samples; which includes insertion of mineralized standards and blank samples for each batch of 20 samples. The gold analyses were completed by fire-assayed with an atomic absorption finish on 50 grams of materials. Repeats were carried out by fire-assay followed by gravimetric testing on each sample containing 3.0 g/t gold or more. Total gold analyses (Metallic Sieve) were carried out on the samples which presented a great variation of their gold contents or the presence of visible gold. About Probe Metals: Probe Metals Inc. is a leading Canadian gold exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of highly prospective gold properties. The Company is well-funded and controls a strategic land package of over 1,000-square-kilometres of exploration ground within some of the most prolific gold belts in Ontario and Quebec: Val d'Or, West Timmins, Casa-Berardi and Detour Quebec. The Company is committed to discovering and developing high-quality gold projects, including its key asset the Val-d'Or East Gold Project. The Company was formed as a result of the sale of Probe Mines Limited to Goldcorp Inc. in 2015. Goldcorp currently owns a 13.8% stake in the Company. VANCOUVER, Aug. 16, 2017 /CNW/ - Euromax Resources Ltd., (TSX: EOX; OTCQX: EOXFF): ("Euromax" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce a management restructuring to facilitate the timely and efficient development of its Ilovica-Shtuka Copper-Gold Project in Macedonia (the "Project"). Martyn Konig, currently Chairman, will become Executive Chairman and assume management responsibility for the overall day-to-day activities of the Company. This will allow the Management team to concentrate on the permitting, construction preparation and financing activities. In particular, Steve Sharpe, President and CEO, having made positive progress in liaising with the newly formed government of the Republic of Macedonia, will be primarily focused on securing the last remaining permits for the construction of the Project. Since coming to power in early June this year, the new government has provided a stable political environment and been supportive of the Project in recognition of the important contribution it can make to the national and local economies. Patrick Forward, Chief Operating Officer, will continue to manage the engineering, design and construction of the Project through the anticipated EPC contract with Ausenco, as announced in February of this year and Varshan Gokool, Chief Financial Officer, will be focused on the funding of the business and the construction finance plan. Commenting on the announcement, Martyn Konig, Executive Chairman, stated: "I am pleased to be even more involved with the management of Euromax and to ensure the team is absolutely focused on securing the final construction permits and finalising finance plans for the Ilovica-Shtuka Project. By adding to and capitalising on the varied skills within the Management team we can ensure the timely completion of these activities to deliver a robust Ilovica-Shutka Project as quickly as possible." About Euromax Resources Ltd. Euromax is a Canadian development company, focused on building and operating the Ilovica-Shtuka copper and gold project in Macedonia. Lazada seeking to introduce more Korean products By Kim Jae-kyoung Will Ross, Lazada Crossborder CEO SINGAPORE Southeast Asia is a land of opportunity for global companies. The region has gained greater attention following the official launch of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) at the end of 2015. ASEAN refers to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. With a combined GDP of over $2.6 trillion, the collective ASEAN economy is the seventh-largest in the world and the third-largest in Asia. Its population is also the third-largest in the world with 625 million people. Against this backdrop, Korean firms are stepping up efforts to expand their presence in the region but struggling to grow due to high entry barriers, market complexity and fierce competition with global players, particularly those from Japan and China. Will Ross, CEO of Lazada Crossborder, said Korean firms should capitalize on the e-commerce boom in ASEAN to strengthen their foothold in the region. With more than 100,000 local and international sellers, Lazada is the number one online shopping mall in Southeast Asia, present in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Lazada Crossborder is the firm's sourcing hub based in Hong Kong to serve onboard sellers from Hong Kong, China, Korea, Taiwan and Japan to enrich Lazada's selection of products to the growing e-commerce consumer base in the region. Ross, who is in charge of acquiring and developing sellers across the world, said ASEAN's e-commerce market will provide great opportunities for Korean sellers thanks to the region's growth potential. "E-commerce has a huge growth potential in Southeast Asia, home to over 560 million consumers," Ross said in a recent interview. "With only about 3 percent of retail conducted online in the region, there are significant opportunities for growth in Southeast Asia." He compared this with 11 percent in China and 13 percent in the U.S. Ross, who recently visited Singapore to host the K-Beauty Showcase 2017 together with the Singapore office of Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), stressed that Korean sellers should pay attention to two converging factors continued mobile and internet penetration, and the huge popularity of Korean products and culture. Citing an AT Kearney report, he said the region's online retail has the potential to grow at up to 25 percent per year on the back of increasing purchasing power, growing internet penetration and improving online offerings. Winning hearts of ASEAN consumers In particular, he believes Korean companies are able to benefit from hallyu, or the Korean wave, that continues to rise in ASEAN nations. "Korean culture has slowly found its way, winning the hearts and minds of a wide range of Southeast Asian consumers in a way reminiscent of Hollywood's global ascendance in the postwar era," he said. He pointed out it is now entering a new era of evolution driven by business innovations by, for example, focusing on cross-selling and key opinion leaders in multimedia. "For example, if you go to Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand, you will see people listen to Korean songs, follow Korean dramas and turn to them for style inspiration, making South Korea clearly the tastemaker du jour of Southeast Asia," he said. "In Southeast Asia, Korea in itself is a brand with immediate connotation to quality products, in particular health and beauty." Ross said Korean brands across several categories have already entered the market successfully. "Health and beauty, home appliances, electronics and fashion are the key categories at the moment but the market is open for more." Lazada aims to attract more Korean sellers to help them tap into the region's booming e-commerce scene. "With the ever-growing influence of Korean products and culture in Southeast Asia, the Lazada and KOTRA collaboration is our commitment to deliver the best-in-class online retailing experience to our sellers and a premium shopping experience to our customers," he said. In cooperation with KOTRA, Lazada hosted the showcase event in six Southeast Asian countries Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam from July 18 to Aug. 8. "At Lazada, we help Korean sellers capture this opportunity. We guide the sellers in finding tailored solutions whether the seller focuses on health and beauty or fashion," he said. However, he said that while the region is full of opportunities, the barriers of entry are also high. "Southeast Asia is a vast and diversified market, where each country has its own distinct culture, payment and spending habits," he said. "The lack of logistics and payment infrastructure is also a problem." Key success factors in ASEAN The Hong Kong-based chief executive boiled down Lazada's key success factors in Southeast Asia to three things end-to-end ecosystem enabled by best-in-class logistics and payments capabilities, tailored seller support program and quick response to consumer demands. "We empower our sellers with our end-to-end ecosystem to address key challenges in Southeast Asia," Ross said. "Our unique business model as well as tailored seller support program allow the online portal to successfully distinguish itself as a secured, effortless one-stop online shopping and selling destination for both buyers and crossborder sellers." He said new technology is changing the e-commerce market landscape. "Technology is bringing new disruptions, online sellers are becoming quicker to react to market changes in a way that traditional retailers can't, and consumers are embracing online shopping at an exponential rate of growth," he said. To brace for the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Lazada is now exploring artificial intelligence (AI) and associated machine learning and natural language processing. Ross said his firm is seeking to use internet bots to help respond to a list of query options on orders and recommend the most relevant products to users based on their interests. End of preview - This article contains approximately 1613 words. Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article Not a Subscriber? Choose from one of the following options Quilts Around the Block delights COZAD A potpourri of events was held in Cozad this weekend in conjunction with Quilts Around the Block, an event held every two years to showcase and celebrate quilts. A photography display of barns by Kathy Chase was displayed at Rustic and Red in Cozad. Chases photography exhibit, titled "A Nebraska Barn Journey," featured 27 framed and matted Nebraska barn prints and a 13-inch by 28-inch acrylic cutout in the shape of the state with a barn shown from each county. To celebrate the 100th birthday of the Wilson Public Library, 100 barn quilts were placed inside the library for visitors to view. Quilts and barn quilts were also on display at the 100th Meridian Museum and filled Chipper Hall. The guest speaker of Quilts Around the Block was Suzi Parron, a barn quilt instructor and historian on the subject. On Friday, a free showing of the documentary "Pieced Together," was shown at Chipper Hall. The film talks about the rise of the barn quilt trend across the country, beginning with Donna Sue Groves, in rural Adams County, Ohio. Julie Geiger, owner of Prairie Point Junction, a quilt shop in Cozad, and organizer of the event along with the Cozad Chambers Tourism committee said this years Quilts Around the Block was very successful. "We had visitors sign our guest book from Eustis, Elm Creek, Axtell, Lexington, Cozad, Waverly, Doniphan, Johnson Lake, Gothenburg, Crete, North Platte, Farnam, Arapahoe, Brady, Omaha, Kearney, Overton, Sutherland, Holdrege, Callaway, Odessa, Central City, Maywood, Pleasanton, Bertrand and even Killian,Texas; Fort Morgan, Colo.; and Los Angeles, Calif.," she said. Geiger said the event appealed to a wide variety of people who were interested in barns, barn quilts and cloth quilts. The combination of so many types of media including cloth quilts, barn quilts, art, and photography really drew a wide demographic of visitors to enjoy the events in Cozad. She said guests enjoyed learning more about the barn quilt movement from Suzi Parron. "It was fascinating to discover how the barn quilt movement started and very quickly expanded across the U.S. Suzi commented that she is drawn to the idea that while each community creates its own take on barn quilts, its comforting to know that each individual trail, while unique, is part of something much larger," Geiger said. Laurie Yocom, director at Wilson Public Library, worked hard to include the community in the event, Geiger said. The library sponsored several Crafternoons to encourage community members to paint the 100 12-inch by 12-inch barn quilt blocks that were on display at the library. This was a significant draw for visitors to enjoy, Geiger said. The library also sponsored the "Pieced Together" documentary shown Friday evening, she said. Geiger said the showing of the film was an exclusive opportunity to view the documentary. The movie showcased the story of Donna Sue Groves, who founded the barn quilt movement, Geiger said. "It was very emotional to hear Donna Sues story of struggles with her health and unemployment and how the barn quilt movement has given her a sense of purpose and belonging, while bringing joy across the country," Geiger said. The ability of Quilts Around the Block to draw the businesses in the Cozad community together to showcase Cozad in such a positive light was a huge plus, Geiger said. "As I visited with business owners today, it was very encouraging to hear how many guests learned more about what Cozad has to offer," Geiger said on Monday. This coin, called a denarius, was minted by Rome 108 B.C.-107 B.C and likely made of silver that originated in southeastern Spain. The three red marks indicate where the coin was drilled into for purposes of accessing unweathered metal. Rome wasn't born big. Back before it blossomed into an empire that sprawled across 2.2 million square miles (5.7 million square kilometers), twice the size of modern-day Argentina, Rome was an up-and-coming force threatened by a formidable city-state: Carthage. Historians have long thought that Rome's wealth blossomed after Carthage best known for the general Hannibal Barca's ill-advised decision to have his army traverse the Alps with almost 40 war elephants was defeated by Rome in the Second Punic War (218 B.C. to 201 B.C.). Now, a new study of ancient coins provides evidence that this was, in fact, a critical turning point for Rome. The wealth Rome received from booty and war reparations paid by Carthage helped fund Rome's budding empire. In addition, as part of the peace treaty, Carthage passed control over the Iberian Peninsula to Rome, which gave the Romans access to Spanish silver mines, according to a statement. Katrin Westner, a postdoctoral researcher in archeometry (a branch of archaeology that focuses on dating ancient specimens) at Goethe University in Germany, and her team found that most of the Roman coins analyzed date to a period beginning during the Second Punic War. Those coins, the team discovered, were made of silver that probably came from Spanish mines, not from Greek colonies in southern Italy and Sicily. [Photos: Gladiators of the Roman Empire] "It was kind of this 'hooray!' moment in the lab," Fleur Kemmers, a professor of ancient numismatics (the study of currency) at Goethe University, told Live Science, The researchers analyzed the lead isotopes, the signature that marks different types of lead, of samples using mass spectrometry, from 69 coins from the period between 310B.C. to 101 B.C. This helped the scientists determine during which geological period the silver had been mined. (Since lead is either present in the ore from which silver is extracted or added as part of the extraction process, it is a useful indicator of the source of silver.) The team then matched the time periods of the coins to the geological time periods when various ore deposits were formed in the western Mediterranean, including in Spain, France, North Africa, Italy and Asia Minor, which encompasses part of present-day Turkey and Armenia. The researchers found that of the 69 Roman coins they examined, 52 were most likely made from metal that came from Spain. These same 52 coins were also found to date between 209 B.C. and 101 B.C., which is significant because in 209 B.C. Rome conquered a Carthaginian stronghold in Spaina turning point in the Second Punic War. While the silver in the coins before then came from mining districts in southern Italy and Sicily, which was not under Roman control, the period following the Second Punic War marked a new era for the Roman economy, the researchers said. Bolstered by war reparations and booty obtained by plundering cities, and then later by the ore from mines in conquered lands, Spanish silver contributed to Rome's transformation into a leading superpower, according to a statement. "[Rome's wealth after 209 B.C.] really helped to promote this kind of thinking that wars actually are a financial investment that can pay off afterwards, if you win it," Westner told Live Science. This study is part of a wider project to analyze 164 coins from across the western Mediterranean spanning the period between 550 B.C. to 101 B.C., in order to obtain more evidence of how political power can be traced through the metal supply. Original article on Live Science. This false-color image, captured on June 25, 2017, by an instrument aboard the Landsat-8 satellite, shows a cloud phenomenon called von Karman vortices above the South Atlantic. Rotating winds paint the sky with a series of cotton-candy spirals in a new satellite image over the South Atlantic. The spirals are properly known as von Karman vortices, according to NASA's Earth Observatory, which released the stunning satellite shot this week. The mechanism that creates clouds like these is fairly simple. Wind moving at just the right speed flows into a blunt object in this case, the island of Tristan da Cunha and separates into two distinct flows, which rotate in opposite directions. The rotating air sculpts water vapor in the air into a line of spirals. NASA's Landsat-8 satellite captured this false-color image on June 25, 2017, using its Operational Land Imager instrument. The candy color of the clouds is artificial, better to differentiate cloud from sea in the image. A month earlier, the Suomi NPP satellite captured a similar view in an entirely different spot. A second image released by NASA's Earth Observatory shows von Karman vortices in their true color. In this image, taken May 24, vortices twirl away from Guadalupe Island off the coast of Baja California, Mexico. On May 25, 2017, the Suomi NPP satellite captured this image of a swirling cloud phenomenon above Guadalupe Island off the coast of Baja California, Mexico. (Image credit: NASA Earth Observatory) The vortices are a frequent subject of satellite glamor shots. In May 2016, a satellite captured an image of the cloud swirls created by wind hitting Mawson Peak on Heard Island in the Indian Ocean. In 2012, the vortices popped up behind St. Helena, a volcanic island in the South Pacific. They even made another appearance by Guadalupe Island that year, accompanied by a double rainbow. Wind and land often combine to create impressive cloud formations. Coastal breezes can cause low, tube-shaped clouds called "roll clouds," which are almost always associated with thunderstorm downdrafts above dry land. Some wind patterns create not spirals on the lee side of islands, but stripes. These so-called "gravity waves" look like ripples in the sky. Tristan da Cuhna is known as the most remote inhabited island on the planet. ("Inhabited" is a limited term fewer than 300 people call the island home.) St. Helena, that other vortice-generating island, is the closest land mass, 1,510 miles (2,430 kilometers) away, according to tristandacunha.org. The island's closest land mass that could not itself be described as "remote" is South Africa, 1,750 miles (2,816 km) away. Original article on Live Science. The image on the left shows a scan of the man's abdomen. The blue and white arrow points to the olive in the man's small intestine, which appears as a small white oval. The image on the right shows an olive and its pit; the inset image is a scan of a single black olive, which is similar in appearance to the olive in the man's gut. When a 24-year-old man in Belgium went to the hospital because he had belly pain, doctors found an olive stuck in his small intestine and soon after, diagnosed him with Crohn's disease. The man had sudden and severe abdominal pain for two days before he went to the doctor, according to a report of the man's case, published Aug. 9 in the journal BMJ Case Reports. The incident took place about six months ago. The doctors performed a CT scan of the man's abdomen to see if they could spot the reason for his pain. They found that a portion of the wall of the small intestine was thickened, and within that thickened tissue, they discovered an odd-looking spot that turned out to be a black olive. [Here's a Giant List of the Strangest Medical Cases We've Covered] Olives were one of the man's favorite foods, and he had accidentally swallowed the olive whole, pit included, said lead author Dr. Halil Yildiz, an internal-medicine physician at University Hospital Saint-Luc in Belgium who treated the man. To confirm that the spot on the scan was an olive, however, the doctors did something that had never been done: They performed another CT scan a scan of a single fresh olive. "This is the first time that CT acquisition of a fresh olive has been compared with patient images," the doctors wrote in the report. The olive scan did its part: It confirmed that the small fruit really was lodged in the man's bowels, Yildiz told Live Science. No surgery was required to remove the olive; instead, the man was given steroids to reduce the inflammation in his gut, and eventually, the olive passed out of his body in his feces, Yildiz said. In most cases when a person swallows a "foreign body" in other words, something they shouldnt have swallowed it passes safely through the gastrointestinal tract and out the other end, according to the report. Occasionally, something may get stuck, but "this complication is very rare with olives," the authors wrote. Indeed, it turns out that there was another factor at play that made it much more likely for the olive to get stuck in the man's gut, Yildiz said: He had a type of inflammatory bowel disease called Crohn's disease. But neither the man nor the doctors knew that the patient had Crohn's disease until after the olive had passed out of his body and the patient returned for a follow-up colonoscopy, according to the report. It was during that exam that the doctors diagnosed the man with Crohn's disease. "If there was no bowel disease," the olive wouldn't have caused a problem, Yildiz said. "Crohn's disease [made] the obstruction more likely." Originally published on Live Science. A bizarre-looking dinosaur discovered by a young boy in Chile may be the missing link showing how members of one major dinosaur lineage evolved into a completely new dinosaur group, a new study finds. Researchers in the United Kingdom say the species, dubbed Chilesaurus diegosuarezi, explains how some theropods, mostly meat-eating, bipedal dinosaurs, evolved into the herbivorous, long-necked ornithischians. Previously, it was unclear how the "ornithischian group just suddenly appeared and became this well-adapted herbivorous group," said the study's co-lead researcher, Matthew Baron, a doctoral student of paleontology at the University of Cambridge in England. "There was no intermediate step. This is the first one we've found." [See Photos of the Missing Link, Chilesaurus diegosuarezi] If future research confirms this finding, this would make Chilesaurus the earliest member of Ornithischia, a group that includes the armored dinosaurs, such as Stegosaurus and Ankylosaurus, as well as horned dinosaurs, such as Triceratops. But not everyone is on board with this interpretation. Rather, more "grunt work" is needed to determine Chilesaurus' true identity, said Thomas Carr, an associate professor of biology at Carthage College in Wisconsin and a vertebrate paleontologist. Carr was not involved in the study. Hodgepodge dinosaur This isn't the first time Chilesaurus has turned heads. In 2010, 7-year-old Diego Suarez, the son of two geologists, found the 145-million-year-old beast in southern Chile's Toqui Formation. After Diego found the first specimen, excavations in Chile yielded more than a dozen Chilesaurus individuals, including four complete skeletons that ranged from turkey-size young dinosaurs to nearly 10-foot-long (3 meters) adult dinosaurs. But despite the abundance of fossils, Chilesaurus' anatomy was a real head-scratcher. The creature looked like a mixture of lineages. It had the long neck, small skull and clunky feet of a sauropodomorph (a group of long-necked, herbivorous dinosaurs with lizard-like hips); the beak, teeth and pubic bone of an herbivorous, bird-hipped ornithischian; and the bipedal stance, robust forelimbs and ilium (the upper part of the pelvic bone) of a meat-eating theropod. An artist's representation of the enigmatic, herbivorous species found in Chile. (Image credit: Gabriel Lio) To determine where Chilesaurus fit in the dinosaur family tree, the South American researchers looked at four data sets to compare the dinosaur's features with those of theropods, mainly from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, as well as with sauropodomorphs. In the end, they deemed Chilesaurus an enigmatic plant-eating theropod, a relative of Tyrannosaurus rex and the fearsome Velociraptor, according to a 2015 study published in the journal Nature (opens in new tab). Family-tree bombshell Chilesaurus diegosuarezi walked on its hind legs as other theropods did. It also had robust forelimbs that looked like those of other Jurassic theropods, such as Allosaurus. (Image credit: Gabriel Lio) However, not everyone was satisfied with Chilesaurus' classification as a theropod. Earlier this year, Baron and his colleagues stunned dinosaur researchers when they published a study revising the dinosaur family tree. According to their analyses, theropods and ornithischians were more closely related than previously thought. Baron wanted to see where Chilesaurus fit on the new family tree. So he reached out to Fernando Novas, a paleontologist at the Bernardino Rivadavia Natural Sciences Museum in Buenos Aires, Argentina, who was the lead researcher on the 2015 Nature study. Novas provided data on Chilesaurus to Baron and study co-lead researcher Paul Barrett, a paleobiologist at the Natural History Museum in London. Once Baron and Barrett had Chilesaurus' information, they plugged it into their enormous data set, which has data on the earliest dinosaurs on record. [Gory Guts: Photos of a T. Rex Autopsy] "[Chilesaurus] came out as basically the first diverging member of one of the major groups, which is a position that had never been suggested before," Baron told Live Science. "It was a bit of a surprise." However, evolution is a long, complicated process. There are ornithischians that are older than the Late Jurassic Chilesaurus, but they likely evolved from earlier theropods, Baron said. The fossils of these older, transitional creatures have yet to be found, he said. "More and more evidence is now appearing that the ornithischian group might just be entirely Jurassic and Cretaceous, that they weren't present in the first period of dinosaur history [the Triassic]," he said. Next steps It's difficult to say which interpretation is correct that is, whether Chilesaurus is a theropod or an early member of Ornithischia, Carr said. "Having read these works side by side, I can understand why the [2015 researchers] thought what they thought: The evidence is convincing that it's a theropod," Carr told Live Science. "[But] this new paper is just as convincing that it's an ornithischian." There's only one way out of this conundrum, Carr said: "All of these data sets have to be combined" so researchers can determine, once and for all, where Chilesaurus fits a task that can't be completed unless all of the relevant and available data from the Mesozoic is used. Chilesaurus diegosuarezi has characteristics of three different dinosaur groups. Its pubic bone points backward like that of an ornithischian dinosaur, perhaps because it provided the gut more surface area with which to digest plant matter. (Image credit: Gabriel Lio) Even though the family trees are different, it's possible to combine the data sets of the early dinosaurs that Baron used and the Sauropodomorpha and later theropod data sets that Novas and his colleagues used, Carr noted. "It does take a lot of work, but in the end, what you get is a data set that includes all of the relevant characters from all of the relevant analyses," he said. Only then can researchers "get the single truth, the historical truth of the universe as it happened," Carr said. Baron accepted the critique in stride. "That's genius because that's exactly what we need to do," Baron said. "And that's exactly what I am doing at the [moment]." Combining data sets is arduous work and could take four or five years to complete, Baron said. But the end result would shine a light on dinosaur evolution, which is a valuable step forward because "we actually are finding we know less and less about dinosaur evolution," Baron said. [Photos: Newfound Tyrannosaur Had Nearly 3-Inch-Long Teeth] If that's the case, then the discussion on Chilesaurus' relationships has just begun, Novas told Live Science. "However, I welcome the novel interpretation by Baron and Barrett, because it promotes a necessary debate on poorly known aspects of dinosaur evolution as a whole," Novas said. The new study was published online today (Aug. 16) in the journal Biology Letters. Original article on Live Science. Elon Musk speaks in front of employees during the delivery of the first Tesla vehicle Model 3 on July 28, 2017. Simmering tensions between the United States and North Korea have many people concerned about the possibility of nuclear war, but Elon Musk says the North Korean government doesn't pose as much of a threat to humanity as the rise of artificial intelligence (AI). The SpaceX and Tesla CEO tweeted on Aug. 11: "If you're not concerned about AI safety, you should be. Vastly more risk than North Korea." The tweet was accompanied by a photo that features a pensive woman and a tag line that reads, "In the end the machines will win." Concerns about the possibility of nuclear missile strikes have escalated in recent weeks, particularly after President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un threatened each other with shows of force. The North Korean government even issued a statement saying it is "examining" plans for a missile strike near the U.S. territory of Guam. But, Musk thinks humanity's most pressing concern could be closer to home. The billionaire entrepreneur has been outspoken about the dangers of AI, and the need to take action before it's too late. In July, he spoke at the National Governors Association summer meeting and urged lawmakers to regulate AI now before it poses a grave threat to humanity. And in 2014, Musk said artificial intelligence is humanity's "biggest existential threat." See more Original article on Live Science. by Sara Guaglione , August 16, 2017 Alaska Dispatch News is filing for Chapter 11 protection under federal bankruptcy law. Publisher Alice Rogoff is handing over the reigns to a group of lifelong Alaskans who have come together to save the ADN during this interim time, according to a note published Sunday on ADN's site, penned by Ryan Binkley and Jason Evans, who are leading the group. Binkley is a fourth-generation riverboat captain who has led his family business,The Riverboat Discovery and Gold Dredge 8, in Fairbanks for the last 11 years. Evans is the president of Rural Energy Enterprises and the owner of Alaska Media LLC, which owns three newspapers in rural Alaska. Binkley and Evans wrote in the memo: This weekend, we made a bold first step to ensure the future of the Alaska Dispatch News going forward. At the same time, the paper has filed for bankruptcy protection, we've entered an agreement to purchase the ADN and immediately take control of the operations of the paper, beginning Sunday. advertisement advertisement While Rogoff technically still owns the site through Alaska Dispatch News LLC while it files for bankruptcy, the Binkley/Evans group is managing the company. Rogoff wrote in a memo: I am acutely sad to be handing off the stewardship of this great newspaper, while relieved that under new ownership, the Dispatch will live on, hopefully for years to come. In 2014, ADN acquired Alaskas largest newspaper, the Anchorage Daily News, from McClatchy. But according to ADN, Binkley said Monday the business lost $4 million in the first six months of 2017. He told staff he would focus on increasing revenue and reducing expenses, but did not specify if this would include layoffs. Rogoff wrote: Like newspapers everywhere, the struggle to make ends meet financially eventually caught up with us. I simply ran out of my ability to subsidize this great news product. ADN will "emerge" from the bankruptcy process "in a short time," she added, and will soon be "able to navigate these challenging economic times in a stronger position. by Steve McClellan @mp_mcclellan, August 16, 2017 Mitsubishi Motors is taking advantage of the upcoming solar eclipse to promote its new 2018 Eclipse Cross CUV. Its doing so with a live stream from Salem, Oregon, starting a 9 a.m. PDT). The brand will attempt to capture both Eclipses in the same shot during the 1:57 duration of the total eclipse there. Salem is one of the first U.S. cities that will experience a total eclipse on Aug. 21. Mitsubishi is also hosting social influencers from 10 different countries to be onsite just south of Salem, so they can share the experience with their followers. The brands in-house marketing team is coordinating with agency Omelet on the activation. As part of our marketing launch effort around the all-new Eclipse Cross, we felt it was important to position our cars and our cameras in one of the first places Americans could view the total solar eclipse, stated Francine Harsini, senior director, marketing, MMNA. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to photograph Mitsubishis Eclipse Cross during the total solar eclipse. advertisement advertisement Mitsubishi has also signed on as the exclusive sponsor of ABC News live coverage of the eclipse. The new vehicle will be featured on Good Morning America that day. Footage of the vehicle during the total eclipse will air exclusively on the ABC Television Network and live streamed on ABCNews.com and the Good Morning America Facebook page. In addition, Mitsubishi will air five cobranded promos during the broadcast. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, August 16, 2017 Siding against LinkedIn, a federal judge this week ordered the company to stop blocking the startup HiQ Labs from accessing publicly available data on the site. U.S. District Court Judge Edward Chen in the Northern District of California ruled that HiQ's business could suffer "irreparable harm" if prevented from accessing information about LinkedIn's members. The 5-year-old HiQ scrapes LinkedIn's publicly available pages, analyzes the information to determine which employees are at risk of being poached, and then sells its findings to employers. This May, LinkedIn demanded that HiQ stop scraping data from the service, arguing that HiQ's activity violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. That anti-hacking law prohibits companies from accessing computer servers without authorization. The social networking service, now owned by Microsoft, also implemented technical measures aimed at blocking HiQ. advertisement advertisement HiQ responded by suing LinkedIn, arguing that the company was acting anti-competitively. HiQ sought a declaratory judgment that it wasn't violating the anti-hacking law, and asked for an injunction requiring LinkedIn to stop blocking HiQ. LinkedIn countered that it has the right to control its servers. The company also argued that HiQ was disregarding employees' privacy and that its products could harm them. The social networking service said that even users who make their profiles public have a privacy interest in preventing third parties from analyzing the information. The company said that more than 50 million people have used its "do not broadcast" tool, which enables users to change their profiles without having other users notified of the revision. This week, U.S. District Court Judge Edward Chen in the Northern District of Columbia sided with HiQ, ruling that the company was entitled to an injunction. "hiQ unquestionably faces irreparable harm in the absence of an injunction, as it will likely be driven out of business," Chen wrote. "The asserted harm LinkedIn faces, by contrast, is tied to its users' expectations of privacy and any impact on user trust in LinkedIn. However, those expectations are uncertain at best, and in any case, LinkedIns own actions do not appear to have zealously safeguarded those privacy interests." Chen also preliminarily rejected LinkedIn's arguments that a company can violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by accessing publicly available web pages. That ruling appears to run contrary to a 2013 decision by U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer in the Northern District of California, who ruled that Craigslist could proceed with claims that the data scraper 3Taps violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act by scraping publicly available listings. by Wayne Friedman , August 16, 2017 Mitsubishi Motors will be the exclusive sponsor of ABC News The Great American Eclipse to help launch the 2018 Eclipse Cross CUV. The live coverage event -- to be aired Monday, August 21 (1:003:00 p.m. EDT) -- is the first total solar eclipse visible in America in 38 years. Mitsubishi will have five co-branded promos during the broadcast. As part of the effort, the automaker will capture footage during the start of the eclipse just south of Salem, Oregon. The car itself will make its television debut in New York Citys Time Square during Good Morning America on August 21. Footage will air at the point of totality -- exclusively on The ABC Television Network. It will also be live streamed on ABCNews.com and the Good Morning America Facebook page. Between August 16, 2016 and August 15, 2017, Mitsubishi ran four spots 54 times on ABC, a total of $3.4 million in national advertising, according to iSpot.TV. Looking at all national TV during that period, Mitsubishi ran 19 spots 22,486 times, a total media spend of $115.8 million. Astros GM Jeff Luhnow suggested today that he doesnt anticipate making another significant acquisition this month. In an appearance on the Josh Innes Show on SportsTalk 790, the Houston executive said in particular that the team isnt likely to add a starter. Right now I would set expectations very low that anything happens between now and the end of the month, Luhnow said when asked about the possibility of bolstering the rotation. While he noted that the club will continue to monitor the market, Luhnow indicated there are no ongoing talks to pick up another arm. While we heard yesterday that the Stros have had some recent chats with the Tigers about Justin Verlander, it also seemed that there was no real momentum toward a deal. The longtime Detroit ace is just one of many players to have cleared waivers this month, though hes actually the only starter to have reportedly done so to this point. Despite Luhnows understandably cautious comments, perhaps its still possible something could come together. Houston and Detroit have a good understanding of the others position in trade talks, Jon Morosi of MLB.com reports (Twitter links). That situation, he suggests, could yet set the stage for a late-breaking deal later this month. Beyond Verlander, its tough to identify a plausible target for Houston during the August trade season. An unknown organization has placed a claim on Blue Jays righty Marco Estrada, though theres no indication it was the Astros or that any deal is likely. A variety of other hurlers could also conceivably make for August trade candidates, though none have been tied to Houston. While the Astros would surely like to upgrade their overall pitching mix, the team has made clear it wont reach on a valuation to do so. And theres little reason for the club to add an arm for depth purposes, with the division in hand and plenty of viable rotation pieces on the staff. If anything, it would seem the organization would have potential interest in adding a hurler worthy of taking the ball to start a postseason game. Its worth your time to give a listen to the remainder of the interview as well. Luhnow discussed a variety of topics, including the recent acquisition of Tyler Clippard a pitcher the team has had [its] eye on for a couple years and the outlook on young contributors Derek Fisher and Francis Martes. Ghana Poetry Festival, an annual event for poets and spoken word artistes will be held in November 2017. The organizers, therefore, invite people to take part in the activities marking the event. By volunteering for the festival, one gets to participate in an educative and exciting event that showcases established and emerging poets and performers in terms of poetry, spoken word and music. Nana Asaase poet Slots include social media management, souvenir sales, photography and video, graphics, program and communications. The Ghana Poetry Festival is an annual event where poets, spoken word artists, wordsmiths and poetry lovers from different parts of Ghana and other African and European countries come together to learn, perform and showcase their craft to the world through workshops, poetry enactments, master classes etc. No major experience needed. All that is needed is your dedication and commitment. To volunteer, please send an email to [email protected] or call/WhatsApp: Albert 0265068758, Afia 0548373658 or Festus 0246451229. Ghana Poetry Festival Facebook Ghana Poetry Festival Twitter Gh Poetry Festival (@GhPoetryFest) Instagram Ghana Poetry Festival (@gh_poetry_festival) Organizer: By: Kwame Dadzie/citifmonline.com/Ghana 16.08.2017 LISTEN Popular Ghanaian DJ and musician, Vision DJ has for the first time opened up about allegations that Nigerian musician Burna Boy had used his song without authorization. Vision DJ, who is also the star DJ on Tonight starring Andrew Tandoh Adote called out Burna Boy last Sunday on the show. He [Burna Boy] is a thief, Vision DJ told host Andrew Tandoh Adote. The Nigerian Dancehall act a few days ago shared an artwork announcing his plans to premiere what he labeled as a re-up of Vision DJs Grind featuring 2Ligits A.I. Vision DJ stated that his team was not contacted by Burna Boy before using the song and he is considering taking legal action against the Nigerian star. Check out full interview below: By Joyce Danso,GNA Accra Aug. 14, GNA- Charles Nana Frimpong, a businessman, who allegedly shot a 33 year- old driver and a mechanic at Alajo Railway Crossing over an argument has been charged with murder. This follows the death of Yaw Boadi, the victim at the Ridge Hospital in Accra Last Wednesday. Appearing before the Abeka District Magistrate Court on Monday amidst heavy Police presence, the Police informed the court that they were substituting the charge sheet of Nana Frimpong, who was earlier on charged with attempted murder. The court presided over by Victoria A. Ghansah did not take the plea of Nana Frimpong and remanded him into Prison custody to reappear on August 30. It further ordered the Police to give the accused person the necessary medical attention. Meanwhile Nana Frimpong's lawyer, Mr Paul Asibi Abarigah has expressed his condolence to the bereaved family and prayed the court that charge sheet of his client be made available to him. According to Mr Abarigah, Nana Frimpong has complained of pains and prayed the court to order the Police to provide his client with the necessary medical attention. Defence Counsel also prayed the court to allow his client to remain in Police custody while the Police continued with their investigations instead of prison custody. The deceased family and friends who thronged to the court clad in red and black shouted at the accused person 'we thank you for killing our relation'. Others however broke down in tears as the accused person was whisked away in a Police vehicle. At the Court premises others were seen carrying the accused person's obituary amidst singing. On August, 8, the victim was shot after an argument with Nana Frimpong. The accused who had packed his red Hyundai car at the shop got angry when the deceased allegedly asked him to park it well to enable him park a 207 Benz bus. This, generated into a heated argument, and the accused allegedly vehicle pulled out a gun and shot the mechanic in the stomach. The victim immediately fell unconscious and was rushed to the hospital by his colleagues. GNA The Ghana Police Service is an important arm of the Ministry of the Interior with responsibility to ensure peace within the country. Being peace officers members of the Police service have over the years lived up to expectation by embarking on night patrol duties while citizens are asleep. During the day they are seen roaming in vantage points of our cities, towns and villages to maintain law and order. The police stations dotted across Ghana are always full of people who are there to lodge complaints and to get the police to push their cases to courts for settlement. They are called upon in times of emergencies to guide groups during demonstrations and also move out to maintain law and order during conflicts and rowdy behaviors of groups such as workers and students. Without looking at the statistics it can be said that the crime situation has improved significantly indicating that the situation in the country would not have been relatively peaceful if the police had not been deploying a huge number of their men to work for the nation and its people. In spite of the beautiful picture painted about the police a few members of the service are engaged in activities that are dragging their reputation downhill. Most police men on patrol duties have their eyes fixed on drivers of private and commercial vehicles. The police are right in checking unlicensed cars and motorbikes that are often used to commit crimes. They are right to find out whether or not the drivers possess licenses or the right papers on the vehicles. But the question begging for an answer is, do they have the right to demand cash payments from the drivers for the alleged wrongs done by them?. While harassing poor taxi and tro-tro drivers the police seem to be treating people in responsible positions courteously even when they commit road offences. Some of our policemen manning our police stations have often ill-treated accused persons reported to them by complainants. The rule to them is that the complainants are always right and the accused persons wrong. These policemen seem to accept all reports lodged without confronting the complainants about the truth of the matters concerned. After locking suspects in custody some police officers are said to have demanded payments from accused persons before granting them bail. The question is under which regulation of the police should they demand payment before granting police bail to accused persons? The police in some parts of the country have become debt collectors on behalf of some complainants whose complaints might be doubtful. The Ghana Police Service have so far lived up to expectation. Therefore, the hierarchy of the service must accept this complaint to investigate these allegations just as done by the service to sanitize the Police service to stop a few members of the service from dragging it down. Executive Director eanfoworld for sustainable development [email protected]/[email protected] 0244370345/0208844792/0274853710 The Chaplain of the Sunyani Senior High school (SUSEC), Reverend David Boakye, has urged parents to value their children welfare more than their work. The Principal of University of Education College of Agriculture Education, Reverend Professor Anthony Afful-Broni speaking at the matriculation of the college at Asante-Mampong said Cyber crime and occultism are on the ascendance in the tertiary institutions in the country. Sharing his thought on the subject, Rev. David Boakye said the situation must be blamed on the negligence of parents who have neglected their responsibilities of caring and bringing up their children in the society. He said there are multi factors that have contributed to this social problem, including parents not having much and quality time for their children in their various home, bad friendship, negative use of social media and invasion of foreign movies on the Ghanaian market. He said the consequences of parents valuing and acquiring more money than taking good and proper care of their children are enormous and serious, which is affecting the socio-economic development of the country negatively. The Chaplain of SUSEC asked parents to monitor the moments, friends, and the current life style of their children and if they notice some changes, they should sit them down and talk to them or better still seek counselors advice for them. Rev. David Boakye said children uncared for by their own parents associate with bad company which influences their lives negatively. He also cautioned parents to be careful with some of the newspapers, pamphlets and other materials they send home, since some of them affect childrens lives and sense of judgments negatively, if they get hold of them. The Chaplain said since the sense of judgment of some children is low, parents should guide them in most decision they take. He asked Gospel ministers to teach their members, especially children about life principles and also educate them to accept the fact that, there is no short-cut in life. Rev. David Boakye said if the children are initiated into Cyber-crime and Occultism, it affects their academic performance. He observed that most discipline committees in the various institutions in the country are not performing very because of certain challenges. He therefore called on the authorities to adequately resource institutional committees to enable them function effectively. Former Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Mr. Michael Nsowah Agyei, has said that it is illegal for teachers closing at 2pm. Speaking on the Space FM Morning Flight 877 hosted by Kwadwo Owusu Ansah, he pointed out that teachers are part of public servants who are supposed to close at 5 pm as mandated by law. Minister of Education, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has proposed the extension of closing time for basic from 2pm to 4pm. The Minister has subsequently tasked the National Council for Curriculum Assessment to consider the proposal. According to the minister, the current closing time of 2pm for most schools is not favorable for some parents and guardians because, they are compelled to leave work to go for their children. Mr. Nsowah Agyei said the education minister said nothing different from the laws in this country which says working hours starts from 8am and end at 5pm. The former education director said there is no law in this country which permits some staff of GES to close at 2pm, whiles others also should close at 5pm. The former director general of GES stated that some people in the country are ignorant of the laws governing the teaching profession. He wondered why some office staff of the GES and the Ministry of Education close at 2pm whiles others close at 5pm. He explained it was the 1987 Educational Reforms which made teachers rest at 2pm, but that was for a particular. The retired educationalist said, that educational reforms also made it mandatory for teachers to use that period to also mark the pupils exercise, prepare their notes for the following day and also go to library to study, but it was not time for them to close from school as it is happening today. Mr. Nsowah Agyei said it would be unwise for anybody to fight the education ministers proposal because teachers are not different from other government workers who close at 5pm He asked the public who are joining the debate not to expose their ignorance but rather seek for further understanding of the proposal. Mr. Nsowah Agyei said because education is a total development, some activities which are not to be taught in the classroom could be designed and reserved for the children from 2pm to 4pm. Closing at 4pm he said cannot have any negative effect on the educational performance of the children if the education minister proposal is accepted by the National Council for Curriculum Assessment, he concluded. 16.08.2017 LISTEN The Deputy Minister of Education, Dr. Yaw Osei Adu-Twum, has praised the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) for proposing 1 percent increase in the VAT rate to help sustain the New Patriotic Party (NPP) governments Free Senior High School policy. The its press briefing in Accra recently to discuss the Mid-Year review budget presented by the Finance of Minister, the IEA director of Advocacy and Programs, Dr. Frankie Asare- Donkor urged the government to increase VAT by 1 percent to support the free SHS policy. Speaking at a press briefing in Sunyani on Monday, Dr. Osei Adu-Twum said there have been some school of thoughts and IEAs suggestions is a good one. The Brong- Ahafo Regional press briefing was to highlight the key components of the free SHS policy. The minister stated that under the free SHS policy, no child should be sent home for non-payment of school fees, there would be removal of cost barriers, provision of school infrastructure, improvement in secondary education and there would be equity. About 120, 000 students would have not been in school if not because of the free SHS policy being introduced by the government. He said the IEA is a reputable organization and he would not question why the IEA was saying that, because they might have done a research on that, but added that VAT increase has its implications. He said it is above him to tell the media how the government is going to sustain the free SHS policy. Dr. Osei Adu-Twum called on every organization in the country to offer suggestions as to the sustainability of the policy. The deputy Education minister said the government appreciates the fact that the IEA was offering a suggestion about the policy and it is very important the government welcomes the IEA suggestion and praise them for spending their time on the free SHS policy. Accountability is a key requirement of good governance.As a tenet of democracy, accountability helps promote transparency and aneffective institutionalization in everycivilized society. For the forward match and the stability of any society, it is imperative that there is a solid system ofaccountability in place. Accountability, in all democratic dispensations is regarded as an important prerequisite for the proper and effective delivery of public service by a government. Indeed, the overall progress of any country owes itself largely to accountability and transparency. In view of this, it surely was never out of place for the architects of the 1992 constitution of Ghana to insert article 103 which underscores the need for establishing the Public Accounts Committeeand other committees of parliament. The establishment of the Public AccountsCommittee in my view was part of theParliament of Ghanas efforts to promote accountability, combat corruption, strengthen budgetary oversight and improve resource allocationthrough an annual examination of the Auditor Generals report. As a young boy, growing up and listening to GBC, Joy FM, Citi FM and other major mediaoutletsbroadcast the proceedings of the Public Accounts Committee of Parliament under the chairmanship of Honourable (s) Samuel Sallas Mensah, Albert Kan-Dapaah and Kwaku Agyemang Manu brought me lots of joy because it was one of the rare media through which I could monitor parliamentary proceedings. My interest in the activities of this committee heightened overtime because aside the earlier stated reason, I had also been made to believe thatas a country we had a body that was trusted with the responsibility of helping to bring to book individuals and institutions that wasted tax payers money. Fast forward to today, my first reason still stands but the second, I must say, was an illusion. Yes, this is the truth in my view; because I believe that expending money to establish, maintain and promote the activities of the public accounts committee with no apologies is a waste of public resources and a waste of everybodys time.Yes, you might have lost count of the number of times the Public Accounts committee has sat to grill heads of ministries, agencies and departments since the inception of our parliament. Yet, take a moment and count the number of times people who were found culpable for misusing public funds were brought to book under the laws of this country based on a report of the Public AccountsCommittee, and you will realize that there is no such instance. One is in no doubt that the architects of our constitution who made provisions for the Public Accounts Committee ofparliament envisaged a committee that will help promote accountability in Ghana, but I think the vision with which this committee was instituted has been dashed. Instead of an asset, this committee has overtime become a liability that the state keeps pumping funds into without achieving any result. It is of course a liability because as a country we gain virtually nothing through the activities of the public accounts committee with regard to the core reasons for its establishment. Dear reader, dont conclude that I am too harsh, take a second to recollect when last you heard or read that a report of the public accounts committee had been acted upon to bring people to book for their wrong doing? You see, there is no suchinstance for you to remember? If such a committee is not worthless, which other adjective best describes it? I am amazed at the long period we as a state have continually fed and payed sitting allowances to 25 members of parliament, persons amongst whom are suspects of state funds misuse, without taking time off to review the activities of this committee. In fact, the works of the committee can be best described as an exercise in futility because suspected wrong doers and fraudulent persons who appear before it always walk away with no sanctions. These fraudulent public servants often leave to commit greater fraud with impunity and also provide examples for other criminally-minded persons. More importantly, it is worth noting that, the life proceedings of this committee have increased the blood pressure of most people and also contributed to the death of many ordinary Ghanaian tax payers who could not master the courage to stand revelations made by public officials at the sittings of the public accounts committee. A majority of us have developed pressure because the little we pay as tax to the government at the end of every month could have been put together to provide for ourselves, three squared males, educate our children and siblings, take care of our health needs, etc. Listening to the radio and realizing that these huge sums of funds that we have collectively contributed through taxation go down the drains through corruption every year surely escalates ones level of blood pressure. If nothing at all should get you thinking, is not the selling of a stateMitsubishi pick up at three hundred Ghana Cedis. Yes! now ask yourself how much you bought your scooter, your mobile phone or your pressing iron. As a student of politics, I will never fail to recognize that democracy is expensive. However, the expensive nature of it as a system of government does not give us the greenlight to expend state resources recklessly on some unimportant bodies like the public accounts committee and the commissions of enquiry before which people went to shed tears for the forgiveness of sins. Surely, our wild preferences for democratic governance will expose us as a country to very high expenditures in the course of making our institutions work effectively and also trying to implement all the tenets of democracy. But I strongly believe that as a country we must take a look again at the activities of some unproductive institutions like the public accounts committee of Parliament. It is high time we had a national dialogue to restructure and reorganize certain state institutions to suit the exigencies of time. Upon these reconsiderations, if we as a people realize theuselessness of the public accounts committee and other similar state institutions, we should go ahead and do away with them other than constantly wasting funds on their upkeep. Citizens of Ghana, at no point in time should we ever forget thatthe true function of a state institution is primarily to formulate and articulate guidelines for political and social behavior and to translate them into concrete plans and goals for state and society. To be reasonably effective, to release popular energies and direct them toward specific socio-economic objectives, the plans and activities must be manageable in practice, must be articulate, consistent, and economically relevant, and must be perceived by the opinion and action of leaders throughout the state in approximately the sense intended, anything short of this therefore, is not worth the attention and the economic expenditure of any progressive polity. It is a well respected axiom in every democratic dispensation that the interest of the country supersedes that of any individual citizen or political party. In the case of Nigeria, the fight against corruption and Boko Haram and the several agitations to restructure the country are national issues that cannot be left for the ruling party alone to resolve. They call for the concerted effort and contribution of every well meaning Nigerian. However, it is now becoming obvious that while some Nigerians are trying their best to mend fences and build up the country by addressing its socio-political problems and finding sustainable solutions to them, a few miscreants in the country are busy creating conditions of fear among the people, believing they are serving the purpose of one political party or another. These groups of people use the social media to spread hate messages in the hope of either discrediting the ruling party or creating false alerts that tend to unnecessarily agitate the people of Nigeria. I have taken the liberty to study many forms of marriages that exist today not because I was thinking about Nigeria when I studied them but because I was hungry for the knowledge which I felt was necessary to tackle the challenges I was personally experiencing at the time. And I found out that arranged marriages were about the most stable, because siblings are always in them. It is not like one individual marrying another. It is one entire family marrying another. Such marriages last longer and are the most unlikely to call for a divorce because siblings are involved. Now, get me right. There is absolutely nothing wrong with arranged marriages. I had mine, and I am still enjoying it, nearly 40 years after the contract was signed and sealed. By extension, I now tend to believe that the various ethnic groups that make up what we know today as Nigeria fall into the group called arranged marriage. It was not that the Hausa or the Igbo or the Yoruba as the major ethnic groups saw themselves, liked themselves and decided to marry themselves into one country. Their marriage was arranged by their colonial master, Britain. We should also not forget that Nigerias colonial master, Britain was itself once a colony of Rome. And as we speak, Britain has never found it necessary to totally shrug off all the vestiges of its colonial past. That is why the mottos of most of its important institutions like its colleges and universities are still in Latin. A few examples will suffice. The University of Aberdeen has as its motto Initium sapientiae timor domini which means The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. Birkbeck University of Londons motto is In nocte consilium meaning In night is counsel. The University of Birminghams motto is Per Ardua Ad Alta which means Through efforts to higher things. Bournemouth Universitys motto is Discere mutani est which means To learn to change. University of Buckinghams motto is Alis volaris propiis meaning Flying on our own wings. The University of Kents motto is Cui servire regnare est meaning Whom to serve is to reign. Imperial College, London has its motto as Scientia imperii decus et tutamen which means Knowledge is the adornment and safeguard of the Empire. Kings College, London has its motto as Sancte et sapienter meaning With holiness and with wisdom. Queen Mary University of Londons motto is Coniunctis viribus meaning With United Power and London School of Economics and Political Science has its motto as Rerum cognoscere causas meaning To understand the causes of things. Even the Royal Stool of England has its motto as Dieu et mon droit meaning God and my right. What I am saying in effect is that while many Nigerians hold what can now be seen as erroneous views that Britain lumped together the various incompatible ethnicities that make up modern Nigeria for its own economic benefit, they can still take the liberty today to compare modern London with its former colonial master, Rome. When they do that, they will be left in no doubt that given good and focused leadership, Nigeria stands a fair chance of comparing favourably with Britain tomorrow, just as Britain compares with Italy today. The vestiges of colonial experience are never so easy to shrug off and instead, countries with wise leaders can capitalise on the experience. So, I was very upset when someone sent me a message which claimed to be a security alert. The message in effect was saying privileged information was that Boko Haram fighters had landed in both Southern and North Central Nigeria, ostensibly in Lagos, Ilorin and Port Harcourt. It advised Christians to take adequate precautionary measures, especially in Churches and on Sundays. Adequate precautionary measures were also to be taken in places with large gatherings such as markets, shopping malls, cinemas and parks. It contended that this plan to bomb the South was the reason military patrols on Nigerian highways had been withdrawn so as to pave an easy way for the Boko fighters to have a field day. The message further said the news was that the enemy was planning some massive bombing activities that would make the Nyanya experience a childs play. It, therefore, warned Nigerian citizens in the South to mind their movements and to be careful because where the fighters were likely to attack was still unknown. As is routine with these charlatans, the message was said to have been sent from the United Nations Office (possibly in Abuja) and it gave the rapid response police numbers in all of the 36 states of the Federation to call in case of an emergency. I really think these people are simply dragging the country backwards by trying to diminish all the dividends of democracy the country has acquired so far. An example is the recent misunderstanding between the Arewa Youths of Northern Nigeria and their Southern Ohaneze counterparts. The Northerners had given the Igbo an ultimatum to quit the North by the first of October or face trouble. The Igbo argued that the Northerners had no right to say or do such a thing. The Igbo said they were Nigerians at least as at October One because while they were agitating for a referendum to enable Nigerians determine their future, there was no visible sign that the federal government was going to do so any time soon. And while that idea remained unsettled, the issue of who was a Nigerian and who was not a Nigerian could not be a subject of constitutional contention. The Igbo emphasised that they do not need passports to travel to any other part of Nigeria and that it was wrong for any Northern Nigerian citizen to see a Southern Nigerian citizen as an alien in his own country and vice versa. Somewhere along the line, sanity prevailed because the Northern leaders were divided in their opinion of sanctioning the Igbo. The Northern governors particularly assured the Igbo that they were safe and that any attempt to uproot them from the North would be vehemently resisted by the government. Now, it has become necessary to make Nigerians understand that the pedlars of the message of fear and hate among Nigerians are not doing any good to the country. Some of them may be doing this in order to discredit the ruling party and portray it as incompetent. But then, that is not the right way to go about a responsible opposition. If the PDP must be seen as relevant in the current political dispensation, and I have said this elsewhere, it must sincerely desire to nurse itself as a responsible opposition. In advanced democracies, the opposition is also known as the Shadow Government. But the way the PDP is going about, I doubt if there is anything Nigerians can conveniently call a Shadow Government in their current political dispensation. The way lovers of PDP are going about it all is just not the right way to nurse a responsible Shadow Government. They need to change their strategy into something that will be an asset and not a problem to the country. At the end of the day, no marriage is perfect. It is the people involved in the marriage that will make it work for them. Naturally, there will be temptations. There will be misunderstandings. There could even be fights. But it still remains the duty of those in the marriage to convince the world that the marriage was not a mistake and that it would work or that it is working. If they fail, the marriage will not work. And they should recognise that some of the factors that militate against a successful marriage are greed, selfishness and not caring about the children who are offsprings of that marriage. If Nigerian politicians can eschew greed and selfishness, and take the issues confronting the welfare of the poorer families in their constituencies more seriously, I think the marriage will work. The question is: do they have the political will? Mr Asinugo is a London-based journalist and publisher of Imo State Business Link Magazine imostateblm.com Johannesburg (AFP) - South Africa on Wednesday marks five years since the Marikana massacre when police shot dead 34 striking mineworkers, with commemorations focused on the lack of prosecutions over the killings. The 34 miners were gunned down after police were deployed to break up a wildcat strike that had turned violent at the Lonmin-owned Marikana platinum mine, northwest of Johannesburg, in August 2012. It was the worst police violence in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994. On Wednesday, family members, miners, trade unionists, activists and politicians will gather at the site of the massacre to honour the dead and call for criminal prosecutions and improved compensation. An official inquiry established by President Jacob Zuma put much of the blame for the deaths on police tactics used to disperse the 3,000 strikers, but no prosecutions have been brought. "The tragedy of the Marikana killings is compounded by the shocking fact that no one responsible for the bloodshed has yet been held accountable," said Shenilla Mohamed, director of Amnesty International South Africa. She added that the government "needs to ensure that the wheels of justice start turning far faster than they have done over the past five years." The Pretoria-based Institute of Security Studies (ISS) think-tank issued a new report into accountability for the massacre, in which 70 others were injured alongside the 34 dead. The only person to be penalised over the deaths has been the then national police commissioner Riah Phiyega, who was suspended on full pay in 2015. The ISS called for fair compensation for those affected, prosecution of police officers who acted unlawfully, and reforms to police recruitment and training. "Government must demonstrate to South Africans and the world that the senseless loss of life at Marikana has resulted in lessons learned and will never occur again," said ISS justice specialist Gareth Newham. Nairobi (AFP) - Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga is expected to unveil his next move Wednesday to contest a presidential poll he claims was rigged in favour of President Uhuru Kenyatta. The 72-year-old cried foul shortly after vote counting began in last Tuesday's election, sparking deadly protests in his strongholds that left at least 17 dead and 177 injured. The unrest quickly gave way to a tense limbo as his supporters wait to hear if their leader will take his grievances to court, as he has been urged to do, or out onto the streets. Initially his decision had been planned Tuesday, however he pushed this back by a day citing the "complexity and delicate nature" of discussions with his allies in the National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition. His vow that "there is no turning back", and comments by NASA officials that court is not an option have placed the country on tenterhooks over the likelihood of a protracted vote dispute, more violence and economic disruption. Odinga visited the Mathare district of Nairobi to speak with the family of young girl killed in election-related violence The international community and many within Kenya have urged Odinga to use legal means to express his grievances. The veteran opposition leader has now lost four elections and cried foul over results in the previous two. After the 2007 vote, Odinga's supporters took to the streets, and a resulting crackdown coupled with a wave of politically motivated tribal violence left over 1,100 dead. In 2013 he challenged the presidential results in court and lost. Any legal challenge must be lodged by Friday. 'Can of worms' A legal petition can also be filed by members of civil society. The Kenyan government's NGO Board regulatory body has since Monday moved to shut down two rights organisations, one of which said it was mulling Supreme Court action over election "inconsistencies". Kenyatta said Odinga's supporters could demonstrate, but without violence. 'Just do it peacefully, orderly... As a government we will not allow loss of life, destruction of property and looting,' he said Maina Kiai, board member of both the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and the Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG), said the move was politically motivated. "People who may go to court are being deregistered," he said. "Once you close off avenues for legal, non-violent, peaceful redress, you open up a can of worms." Speaking this week, Kenyatta said that if Odinga chose not to go to court, he was welcome to protest legally. "Just do it peacefully, orderly... As a government we will not allow loss of life, destruction of property and looting," he said. While police deny the use of excessive force, outrage is growing over brutality during the crackdown on protesters. On Tuesday a six-month-old baby succumbed to her injuries after four days in a coma after being clubbed in a police raid on a house during protests on Friday night, her father told AFP. Among the dead was also a nine-year-old girl hit by a stray bullet when police opened fire in a slum. The opposition claims the electronic voting system was hacked and the results manipulated. One of their complaints is that not all of the scanned forms meant to back up the electronic results have been provided to them. Rights groups such as KHRC had also raised the alarm about votes being streamed electronically before back-up evidence was made available. The dispute has plunged Kenya into its worst political crisis since the 2007 post-election violence that laid bare decades-old political and ethnic grievances over access to power and land. Three of Kenya's four presidents -- including Kenyatta and his father -- have come from the Kikuyu ethnic group. The other was Kalenjin. That has left the Luos -- Odinga prominent among them -- and other major ethnic groups feeling excluded from power and marginalised for over half a century. Lusaka (AFP) - Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema is set to stand trial for treason on Wednesday in a case that threatens to rock a country known for its relative stability. Hichilema, leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND), has been in custody since April over an incident where he allegedly failed to give way to President Edgar Lungu's motorcade. Lungu, who narrowly beat Hichilema in last year's presidential election, has dismissed allegations of growing authoritarianism and has accused his rivals of trying to overturn the election result. Hichilema and five aides denied the treason charges at a plea hearing on Monday where police officers in riot gear had sealed off the court precinct as scores of UPND supporters waited outside. Foreign journalists were barred from proceedings. Zambia has enjoyed relative stability since its first multi-party election in 1991. But last year's election was marked by clashes between supporters of Lungu's Patriotic Front (PF) party and the UPND. Hichilema, 55, says the vote was rigged and has refused to recognise Lungu as the president of Zambia. Parliament suspended 48 UPND lawmakers after they boycotted a Lungu address in March. Lungu also invoked emergency powers in July, increasing police powers of arrest and detention after he blamed opposition parties for a string of arson attacks. The government has increased pressure on media outlets that support the opposition, eroding Zambia's reputation as a stable democracy. Hichilema was arrested after he allegedly put Lungu's life in danger when his convoy failed to make way for the presidential motorcade in a high-speed road drama caught on video camera. The two men were both travelling to Western province for a traditional ceremony. Days later, more than 100 armed police surrounded Hichilema's house outside Lusaka, firing tear gas before detaining him and his aides. A businessman turned politician, Hichilema has claimed he was assaulted by police during his arrest and suffered mistreatment in detention. Treason is an offence in Zambia that carries a minimum 15-year jail-term and, in theory, a maximum sentence of death. A person accused of treason is not allowed to post bail. When he was arrested, Amnesty International said Hichilema and the five other accused were "victims of longstanding persecution" by authorities and faced charges designed to "harass and intimidate". Lungu did not mince words during the election campaign, warning political rivals and activists that "if they push me against the wall, I will sacrifice democracy for peace". Katapei, a farming community in the Tepa of the Ahafo Ano North constituency of the Ashanti Region has finally gets electricity for the first time. The Solar electrification project which was solely funded by the Black Star Energy at the cost of $200, 000 was inaugurated by the Management Team and the Community Consultative Committee and Nananom on August 15, 2017. The Director and Engineer of the company, Mr Richard Arthur, said the extension of electricity to Katapie community was at the request of the community, the MP for the area Hon. Suleman Adamu Sanid and it was also in line with the Corporate Social Responsibility of the company. He gave the assurance that the Black Star Energy would continue to support deprived communities in its catchment area to improve the socio-economic wellbeing of the inhabitants. We expect small and micro businesses to spring up while many employees living outside the area are likely to take up residence in the community, he added. However, the Apedwahene of Kumasi, Oheneba Owusu Afriyie IV, who was the chairman for the occasion thanked the management for the kind gesture as it would impact positively in the lives of the community and transform the fortunes of the residents within the catchment area. Oheneba Owusu Afriyie IV, then advised the residents to make good use and maintain the project as the community's property and entreated students to study hard and pass better than the previous years. The Member of Parliament (MP) for Ahafo Ano North, Hon. Suleman Adamu Sanid, lauded the initiatives by private organisations like Black Star Energy to alleviate the development burden on the District Assembly and the Government in the part of the Ahafo Ano North. Some of the community members who spoke to the media, said that prior to the project, darkness was all the community which grappled with several security threats at night, and not even power to charge their phones was available. The people lamented that prior to the completion of the project they depended on bush lanterns, touch lights and bonfires to wade off the darkness indicated that teachers can't prepared their lesson notes and that was their biggest challenge. The Assemblyman of the area, Hon Sampson Awuah, then expressed his profound appreciation to the management of the Black Star Energy for removing the burden from the people of Katapei community and promised to take very good care of the project. As part of government's effort to fight against illegal mining popularly known as (galamsey) canker in Ghana, 15 galamsey operators were arrested by the 'Operation Vanguard' security men at Nanakaba a suburb of Prestea in the Prestea-Huni Valley District of the Western Region on August 15, 2017. Speaking to Energy FM, some of the small scale operators were peeved with the Operation Vanguard personnel conducted their operation. Allegedly, some residents around the galamsey pit believe the Operation Vanguard team did not come for an operation but to rob innocent citizens. They also alleged that when the operation was ongoing, some of the galamsey operators were still inside the pit operating, but the Operation Vanguard team went ahead to disconnect the light cables and blower machine which blows air into the pit due to the heat inside the pit of which they fear some galamsey operators who were still inside the pit may suffocate to death. 'Operation Vanguard', 400 security men made of the personnel of Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) and Ghana police service was launched on August 1, 2017 to stop the illegal mining in Asante, Eastern and Western Regions. The activities of the Operation Vanguard has been seriously criticized by some Ghanaians. Some Ghanaians have called on government to ban the work of the Operation Vanguard. An emerging youth movement of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Volta Region christened, Integrity Against Corruption (I.A.C) has condemned recent attacks on the party founder, Former President, Jerry John Rawlings for speakin about the state of the party. The former President at the recent Ada Asafotsufiame was said to have criticized the perceived corruption that has engulfed the party accusing some leaders of failing to instill the probity and accountability ideals of the party. However his comments met with reactions from some party members who argued, Rawlings has no moral right to judge any member. The group said backlash is being coordinated by some persons who are bent or destroying the hard won reputation of the founder. Addressing the media at a press conference in Agbozume, the group said, the attacks on J.J. Rawlings is a calculated attempt to shield corrupt elements in the party. Ladies and Gentlemen of the press, will recall how NDC has trumpeted over the years for a country devoid of corruption. You will also easily recall the passion with which our founder has fought corruption all his life. Unfortunately however, the word corruption seems to have become a taboo word within certain circles of the NDC, especially if it comes from the lips of His Excellency, former President Rawlings. His mention of the word corruption, recently, in Ada Annual Asafotsufiame, attracted and provoked the corrupt element of our great party led by Valerie Sawyer and supported by his grand corrupt uncle , Dr. Obed Asamoah and their cohorts . Ladies and gentlemen, insulting J. J Rawlings is nothing but a tactical move to overshadow the truth. The convener, Daniel Selorm Hamenu who questioned the credibility of those attacking Rawlings called on party members to support the founder in weeding out corrupt members of the party. What is Valerie and Sherry Ashietey running away from in connection with the fishing Licence and other corrupt deals? If the former minister has a just issue to defend, let her put it across. The Corrupt stinky grand strategy to prevent the people of Integrity to emerge come 2020 and beyond will surely collapse. Can Alhaji Baturi, a self-acclaimed saint of the media, sincerely declares his source of income? Why cant they bring their so called evidence against Former President Rawlings now and be free? Where from Dr. Obed Asamoah ,when the party was passionately searching for legal luminaries to defend us in difficult moments? Should we liken him to a vulture or a Latter Day Saint ? Is he now discovering from his law textbook about who a founder is and what makes him a founder ? I thought our former chairman wanted to enjoy a private life ? Please lets perpetually retire these corrupt characters from our party .We want to put it in a simple language, No Rawlings, No NDC!!! Hes the moving spirit and energy for the party . Check it up, he stated. By: King Norbert Akpablie/citifmonline.com/Ghana They woke up rattled and afraid as Boko Haram launched another double attacked on the soil of Madagaki Local Government Area of Adamawa State. The bashing in of doors was accompanied by the breach of the premises by heavily armed Soldiers in battle fatigues. The UN Humanitarian workers stood groggy eyed and in shock as they tried to comprehend why troops of the Nigerian Army should be invading the United Nations Head Office along Pompomari Bye- Pass road in Maiduguri Borno state. "Where is he they screamed" as they ransacked the UN Compound looking for their prey violating over 100 diplomatic conventions. Even while the search was ongoing on Media Centre Fiends were already celebrating on social media that Abubakar Shekau has been caught . One was baffled how such information could be bandied by regime sycophants when the dust was still being raised in the UN Compound. After ripping the place apart the soldiers came up empty after 3 hours of ransacking the premises. They left without fanfare to report back to their theatre commander. Meanwhile the UN is displeased at this unauthorized incursion. Through Samantha Newport its Spokesperson, the Head of Communications, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, has asked why the military broken all the ethics of diplomatic convention to ransack their head office. Indeed the nation is falling into lawlessness where diplomatic conventions are broken because of unfounded rumours. And the rumours being peddled on the streets is that Abubakar Shekau is hiding in the UN compound and that the recent upsurge in Boko Haram attacks is due to NGOs assisting the terrorists. Instead of tracking down and prosecuting parents who donate their children to Boko Haram Suicide Bombing School, the Government is barking up the wrong tree. And when one remembers how high value Boko Haram targets were found in the homes of politicians in the days of Lucky Irabor one must ask if the military has finished ransacking the homes of all the political class in Borno before searching the UN? This is not how to look for Shekau. Searching for Shekau involves both HUMMINT and ELINT. Break into his communications. Determine who are his couriers. Starve him of logistics and finance. No insurgency survives without the support of the people in the enclave. Unmask those who provide recruits for Shekau. Name and shame families who give their young girls to be indoctrinated as Female Suicide Bombers. Win hearts and minds. The Government should issue an unreserved apology to the UN. This is not likely to be done for one is not too sure which office issues such documentation, Acting President in Aso Rock or Ailing President in Abuja House London. The UN needs to bear with Nigeria for now because it is running a confused system of Government with everyone unsure of who really is in charge. They should continue their humanitarian work unperturbed while the Military look else where for the elusive Shekau. The Council of State has backed the creation of new regions by the Akufo-Addo government. The creation of three new regions out of existing ones featured prominently in the campaign of the then presidential candidate of the NPP in the run-up to the 2016 general election. Last week, the President told Chiefs in the Western region that all is set for the creation of the new regions. For the first time in the Fourth Republic, a new region is going to be created and so I want you to rally solidly behind me and vote 100 per cent to make the deal successful. Meanwhile, the Council of State in a statement after a meeting with the President Tuesday said they have perused the proposal for the regions submitted to them by the minister for the sector Dan Botwe and are convinced that is it in the right direction. Your Excellency, in the latter part of June, the Council received a communication under your hand, seeking the Councils advice on the creation of new regions. Enclosed in the communication were copies of the petitions from the Chiefs and people of the Western, Northern, Brong-Ahafo and Volta Regions from where the demands from the creation of new regions had been the most vociferous. Mr. President, the Council has meticulously gone through these petitions which numbered some 312 pages with accompanying maps and statistical data, the statement said. It continued: The Council was also briefed by the Hon. Minister for Regional Reorganization and Development Hon. Dan Kwaku Botwe, on his interactions with the Chiefs and peoples of the four regions. The Hon. Minister did impress the Council with the elaborate home work he has done on this exercise including the extensive literature review on Ghanas geo-political structure. Mr. President, the Council of State has the honour to inform you that, having studied the petitions submitted and the detailed briefing by the Hon. Minister for Regional Reorganization and Development, it is of the unanimous opinion that there is a SUBSTANTIAL DEMAND for the creation of new regions. The Council therefore advises that Your Excellency appoint a Commission of Enquiry to inquire into the need and to make recommendations on all the factors involved in the creation of the new regions The Lands and Natural Resources Minister, John Peter Amewu has asked the public to disregard what he describes as propaganda by some persons to derail the work of the anti-galamsey taskforce Operation Vanguard, by falsely accusing them of killing illegal miners. The minister stressed that no member of the task-force has been sanctioned to take the life of any miner following allegations the task-force had a hand in the death of some four persons at Kwabeng in the Atiwa District of the Eastern Region. Some reports suggest that the four who were transporting an excavator to a mining site fled and abandoned their equipment upon seeing a team from Operation Vanguard. Mr. Amewu tempered down the speculation and urged the public to let investigations go on with regard to the four killings He said he had absolute trust in the ant-galamsey task-force and had perfect confidence in what they are doing in the field. It is unfortunate that this is happening at the time we have deployed the forces but these forces are very disciplined they have terms of references that they are adhering to strictly on the field, the Minister noted. The task force also attracted some criticism, with some describing as extreme its burning of mining equipment believed to belong to small-scale miners. The Commanding Officer for Operation Vanguard, Colonel William Agyapong, admitted as much when he said the burning of excavators was not part of the task-forces mandate. The personnel that burned the mining equipment said they were provoked by the miners who are said to immobilize their machines making it difficult to impound them. Operation Vanguard personnel also shot and killed an illegal miner at Obuasi Anyimadukrom in the Ashanti Region. 15 more arrests Meanwhile, 15 illegal miners have been arrested in Prestea in the Western Region by Operation Vanguard. According to reports, at the time the task force arrived the miners were busily carrying out their activities. The latest apprehension brings the number of arrests to 115, of which 90 have been arraigned. By: Kojo Ageyman/Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana Lusaka (AFP) - Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema was released from prison Wednesday and the treason charges against him were dropped shortly before his trial was to begin in Lusaka. Hichilema has been in custody since April over an incident in which he allegedly failed to give way to President Edgar Lungu's motorcade. His trial, which was due to begin during the morning, had threatened to rock a country known for its relative stability. "Hakainde Hichilema and his 5 co-accused have been released from prison with the treason charge dropped," the United Party for National Development (UPND) said in a statement. Lillian Kayuni, director of public prosecution, told the court she would be "entering a nolle prosequi" -- a formal notice of abandonment. Lungu, who narrowly beat Hichilema in last year's presidential election, has dismissed allegations of growing authoritarianism and has accused his rival of trying to overturn the election result. Hichilema and five aides denied the treason charges at a plea hearing on Monday where police officers in riot gear had sealed off the court precinct as scores of UPND supporters waited outside. Zambia has enjoyed relative stability since its first multi-party election in 1991. But last year's election was marked by clashes between supporters of Lungu's Patriotic Front (PF) party and the UPND. Hichilema, 55, says the election was rigged and has refused to recognise Lungu as the president of Zambia. High-speed road drama In June, parliament suspended 48 UPND lawmakers for boycotting a Lungu address three months earlier. And last month, Lungu invoked a state of emergency, increasing police powers of arrest and detention after a series of arson attacks blamed on opposition parties. The government has also increased pressure on media outlets that support the opposition, eroding Zambia's reputation as a stable democracy. Hichilema was arrested after he allegedly put Lungu's life in danger when his convoy failed to make way for the presidential motorcade in a high-speed road drama caught on video camera. The two men were both travelling to Western province for a traditional ceremony. Days later, more than 100 armed police surrounded Hichilema's house outside Lusaka, firing tear gas before detaining him and his aides. Harassment and intimidation A businessman turned politician, Hichilema has claimed he was assaulted by police during his arrest and suffered mistreatment in detention. Treason is an offence in Zambia that carries a minimum 15-year jail-term and, in theory, a maximum sentence of death. A person accused of treason is not allowed to post bail. When he was arrested, Amnesty International said Hichilema and the five other accused were "victims of longstanding persecution" by authorities and faced charges designed to "harass and intimidate". Lungu did not mince words during the election campaign, warning political rivals and activists that "if they push me against the wall, I will sacrifice democracy for peace". 16.08.2017 LISTEN Abibiman Foundation welcomes into force legally binding of the Minamata Convention on Mercury. A turning point for the Planet & Human health and together the journey has just begun Today, 16 August 2017 is a historic day; the Minamata Convention on Mercury, which aims to protect human health and the environment, becomes legally binding and enter into force today. Adopted in October 2013 and in accordance with Article 31, the Minamata Convention enters into force, ninety days after the date of deposit of the fiftieth instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession, which happened on May 18th, 2017. So far, there are 128 Signatories and 74 Parties to the Convention. The Government of the Republic of Ghana signed the Convention on 24 September 2014 and ratified it this year on 23 March 2017. From today, we have the opportunity to chart a new course; a course that is expected to control the anthropogenic releases of mercury throughout its lifecycle in order to protect people and the environment from the harmful effects of mercury and its related compounds. Exposure to mercury have debilitating effects on the brain and nervous system, digestive system and the kidney, among others. Memory loss and language impairment as well as harmful effects on unborn children and infants are also known to be products of exposure to mercury and environmental damage estimated at $22 billion," according to a UNEP From 2020, the Convention will ban the production, import and export of products that contain mercury, including blood pressure monitors, clinical thermometers, high-pressure mercury lamps, and topical antiseptic agents. Until 2020, the Convention will encourage signatory countries to gradually reduce their use of mercury. In the case of small-scale gold mining, for which mercury is being used indiscriminately, the Convention has stipulated reduction in usage of mercury. The treaty also states that for constructing coal-powered thermal power plants, the countries which are signatories will be required to include equipment to help minimize mercury emissions. Environmental Protection Agency of Ghana (EPA), which is the main regulatory body for ensuring the enforcement of the provisions of the Convention, has put together national planning committee. Notwithstanding, Abibiman Foundation believes that knowledge of this Convention and governments approach is limited among several stakeholders, we call on the EPA to adopt a bottom-up rather than a top-down approach and ensure all relevant stakeholders are actively involved in the process. Further, Abibiman Foundation believes the following areas also require pressing attention: Researching sources of illegal mercury imports, including the existing or likely mercury entry points into Ghana, and the distribution networks within the country Coordination with our neighboring countries Involving Stakeholders in the Implementation and Continuing Development of the National Action Plan Ensuring transparency, monitor and implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury, however, will definitely fail if the monitoring, evaluation and accountability structure is weak Government of Ghana must go beyond verbal and written statements, and make available resource allocation for the National Action Plan to address challenges relating to the reduction and elimination of Mercury Abibimman Foundation wish to congratulations all the 74 countries who have ratified the Convention and call on other countries to make history today by ratify the Minamata Convention on Mercury #MakeMercuryHistory #mercurypollution By Abibiman Foundation www.abibimanfoundation.org , Email:[email protected] Accra, Aug. 15, GNA - Ms Nike Szkarosi, the ChargA d' Affaires of the Hungary Embassy, has noted that media reports that Ghanaian students are starving in her country could undermine bilateral relations and affect future scholarship packages. She says relations between Ghana and Hungary of late have been very warm on the political, business and trade fronts, hence the need for caution about such media reports. Ms Szkarosi told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra that the scholarship offer was part of a long standing relations between Ghana and Hungary and her country's new policy towards the South Mr Zoltan Balog, the Hungarian Minister of Human Capacities, who led a government delegation to Ghana, last April, announced a scholarship agreement that would enable 50 Ghanaian students to study in various disciplines in his country including slots in agriculture, the oil industry, IT, arts and music. The scholarship was also part of Hungary's reactivation of relations with Ghana after a 30- year stalled diplomatic ties. Ms Szkarosi said the monthly stipends of 40,460 HUF (Hungarian Forint) for undergraduate and Masters Students and 140,000 HUF for PHD students were meant for basic living cost being offered by the Hungarian tax payer. 'This is a lot of money and Hungarian parents give less to their children in school,' she said. She said the scholarship made it possible for the students to work and so from June - August the students were at liberty to earn a living. Ms Szkarosi said what made the publication very disturbing was that Mr Andras Szabo, the Hungarian Ambassador visited Hungary with members of the Ghana -Hungarian Friendship Association, including Dr Lawrence Tetteh, the Co-ordinator of the body for the slot for the scholarship from Ghana to be raised from 50 - 100 students per each academic year. She said the visa applications of the second batch of students, awaiting orientation were also being processed. The ChargA d' Affaires advised the Ghanaian students to make minimum sacrifices for their education as a long term venture, 'since the future is knowledge and knowledge is power'. Dr Tetteh told the GNA that: 'Some of these kids have all of a sudden forgotten how they cried to be given this opportunity to study in Hungary. This is ingratitude.' He said during his time of studies in Hungary the country was offering only four scholarships to Ghanaian students 'and so I feel very disappointed with the turn of events'. Dr Tetteh appealed to the students to channel their grievances to the government and not Hungary. GNA 16.08.2017 LISTEN By Christopher Arko Accra, Aug.15 GNA - The Minority in Parliament has called for a bi-partisan investigation into circumstances that led to the collapse of UT and Capital banks. Members said the Minister of Finance and the Governor of the Bank of Ghana, should be invited by Parliament to brief the House about the development and give the assurance that the depositors would suffer no loss. Mr Cassiel Ato Forson, the Minority Spokesperson on Finance, made the call when he addressed a press conference on issues relating to the collapse of UT and Capital banks. The Bank of Ghana announced the revocation of the licenses of the two banks due to severe impairment of their capital and, as a result, approved a Purchase and Assumption transaction with GCB Bank Limited that transfers all deposits and selected assets to it. Mr Forson also urged the Bank of Ghana to conduct an investigation as to what occasioned the development. He said the BOG's approved 'Purchase and Assumption' transaction between UT Bank, Capital Bank and GCB Bank Ltd could be viewed as a relatively smooth takeover rather than the earlier speculation of a simple and forced liquidation, which would have had a devastating effect on the economy. He urged all depositors and customers of UT and Capital banks to exercise restraint while they patiently monitored the activities of the acquiring bank (GCB), BOG, and the receivers; PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC). Mr Forson called on the BOG, GCB, PwC, and the Ministry of Finance to ensure strict adherence to the distinct benefit of the Purchase and Assumption transaction, so that no single depositor losses his or her investment. 'Needless to say, should this happen, it will result in an unforeseen burden on taxpayers instead of the original owners of UT and Capital banks,' he added. He urged the BOG to ensure that the acquiring bank; GCB Bank, which is the largest indigenous bank with both public and private shareholders, was not overburdened unnecessarily with non-performing loans and impaired assets. Mr Forson further called on the BOG to, as a matter of urgency, start implementing the Specialised Deposit Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930) without delay. He said the Act sought to facilitate the development of the financial sector and provide an appropriate and robust legal framework to deal with emerging risks and vulnerabilities in the banking system. He said the Act addressed supervisory and regulatory gaps to enable the Bank of Ghana superintend over financial service providers in the micro-finance industry. The Act also ensures financial consumer protection, promotion of innovation and financial inclusion. GNA Johannesburg (AFP) - South African police Wednesday said they knew the whereabouts of Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe, who faces accusations of assault, but declined to say if she had fled the country. The 52-year-old wife of President Robert Mugabe is accused of beating model Gabriella Engels, 20, on Sunday evening at the Johannesburg hotel where her two sons were staying. Engels said she suffered deep cuts to her forehead and the back of her head, and on Monday she registered a case with the police alleging assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm. "We know where the suspect is," South Africa's police spokesman Vishnu Naidoo told AFP. "We are still continuing with the investigations. No warrant of arrest has been issued," he added after some reports suggested Grace Mugabe had hurriedly returned to Harare late Tuesday. The alleged attack threatened to spark a diplomatic tiff between the two neighbouring countries, which have strong political and economic ties. Grace Mugabe allegedly arrived at the Capital 20 West Hotel with bodyguards and accused Engels of partying with her sons Robert and Chatunga, who are both in their 20s and live in Johannesburg. 'Kept beating me' Pictures on social media appeared to show Engels bleeding from her head after the alleged assault at the hotel in the upmarket business district of Sandton. Engels said she had been attacked with an electrical extension cord. "She flipped and just kept beating me with the plug. Over and over. I had no idea what was going on. I was surprised I needed to crawl out of the room before I could run away," she told the News 24 website. Zimbabwe's president is expected to fly to South Africa later this week for a regional SADC summit which opens in Pretoria on Saturday. Grace Mugabe is 41 years younger than her 93-year-old husband and the couple has two sons and a daughter. She regularly speaks at rallies in Zimbabwe and is seen as one possible contender to take over from her increasingly frail husband. Last month she urged him to name his chosen successor, reviving speculation about the race to take over from the world's oldest national leader. President Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from British colonial rule in 1980. South African Police Minister Mbalula told reporters on Tuesday that "in terms of foreign citizens, they must understand they have responsibilities, especially those who hold diplomatic passports. "We have had to act in the interests of the victim." Earlier this week, we woke up to hear from the Ghana Education Service and her agencies of how plans are far advanced to license teachers. Many plans according to GES is to be rolled out to ensure the effective implementation of the issuance of the license which includes but not limited to re-registration of all teachers and the controversial license examination that will churn out incompetent teachers from the system. I was amazed when Ghanaweb new agency published a news item with the caption; BAD TEACHERS REASON FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF LICENSE EXAMS-GES, on 16th August 2017. I was in a dilemma. Who is constitutionally mandated to employ teachers into the service? Dont they make sure a teacher has the requisite qualifications before employing them? And do they think making teachers write license exams would solve the problem? I dont think teacher will be afraid to write exams. My fear is the impending impunity and corruption that will characterize this exercise. Is this exercise relevant at all? Is it not the same institution (GES) who supervised the employment of the so called Bad Teachers, going to be the implementers of this exercise? These are a few questions I need answers to. The problem facing our educational system is a collective problem in which all stakeholders of education are to be blamed. When it comes to poor academic performance by our pupils and students, teachers are sent to the altar for crucifixion by the same people whose actions and inactions has caused a great disservice in our educational system. Government, Teachers, Parents and the Community are all stakeholders who have a sacred responsibility to make sure we bring out good, productive, responsible and patriotic students who will sacrifice their all for the development of this beloved country of ours. If the training and formation teachers receive in their various institutions of study are not good enough, then license exams is also not good enough. This wont solve our problems as a nation. What will solve our woes, is a redesign of our curriculum from theory based knowledge to productive and practical based knowledge. Periodic in-service training for teachers to adopt and be abreast with new teaching methods, and monitoring and supervision are very fundamental to raising the standards of quality education in the country. Stakeholder consultations and appraisal of same is very fundamental to improving our educational system. Motivation and a well-planned conditions of service for teachers must be a priority to enhancing quality education. Teaching and learning materials must be provided for teachers and students. It is a pity to know that there are inadequate TLMs in our public schools. Many teachers sacrifice their little amount of salaries to buy text books and other relevant materials for teaching. How can students pass if these materials are not readily available? So the focus must not be on one stakeholder (the teacher), for the woes in our educational sector. Parents also have a role to play in ensuring quality education for their wards. How many parents occasionally or on a regular basis, have gone to the school of their wards to know how they are performing? How many parents make sure that they spend time with their kids to revise what their wards learnt in school or supervise them to do same? How many parents buy reading and writing materials for their wards to study when they are at home? A food for thought! The community also have a responsibility to know what is pertaining in their schools. There should be regular visits to the school to encourage and motivate both teachers and students to put up their best. Where government fails in its responsibility to provide materials for effective teaching and learning, chiefs and opinion leaders must marshal resources to help the school deliver on its mandate. After all, governance is also a shared responsibility. Inasmuch as it is good to license teachers, it is not a priority. Licensing is not the issue, ensuring quality education is. Lets not do unnecessary comparisons as to what pertains in other professions or country, but rather shape our educational sector to meet the aims and aspirations of mother Ghana. BY: DOUGLAS PETERS (A stakeholder in Education) 0240810989 [email protected] President Akufo Addo has reiterated government's commitment to improving the standard of roads in the country. According to him, plans are underway to construct roads in the country with the use of concrete. This he believes will bring an end to the fast deterioration of roads soon after they are constructed. As we have indicated, our government is considering a transition for the use of concrete for the construction of more durable roads in Ghana. This means we shall be needing, even more, cement than before. Speaking at a ceremony to lay the foundation stone for CBI Ghana Ltd, President Akufo Addo said he will ensure the continued strength of the countrys cement industry. My government will on its part continue to ensure that the private sector gets the regulated support. I cannot over emphasize how critical it is for the cement industry to prosper. Cement forms the backbone of the country's development which contributes about a quarter to the country's GDP. The local manufacturers of cement help create jobs and boost trade with our foreign reserve from having to import cement. Meanwhile, Director of CBI Ghana Ltd, Ernest Kwesi Minta said the company will provide about 400 jobs and produce a capacity of six hundred thousand tones within forty-eight hours. The indirect jobs are as numerous as possible because as we are selling the cement to those who buy and distribute. People will be employed and our sales team is going down stream to ensure that job penetration will be massive. CBI Ghana is a newly established cement company in Ghana. The company applies technologically-advanced cement grinding plant at the Tema Free Zones to produce bagged and bulk cement and ready-mix concrete used in building projects ranging from small, local projects to high tech ones. CBI Ghana is affiliated with Lafarge Holcim, the world-leader in cement manufacturing. Lafarge Holcim operates in 90 countries including 30 in Africa alone. Lafarge Holcim is based in Switzerland with its central functions divided between Zurich and Paris, France. The company employs 115,000 people worldwide. CBI Ghana produces Supacem, a premium-quality cement product. They also offer Supacemin two grades Fast Dry 32.5R and 42.5N. Their products are manufactured to meet GS 1118 and EN 197 quality standards. By: Anita Arthur/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana Nairobi (AFP) - Kenya's interior minister on Wednesday suspended plans to shut down two rights bodies, a move that had raised alarm and suspicion just days after a hotly disputed election. The country's NGO board, a regulatory body attached to the interior ministry, had earlier this week moved to shut down the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) as well as the Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG). Officials from both organisations viewed the move as highly suspicious at a time when they are weighing legal action over last week's presidential election, which opposition leader Raila Odinga claims was rigged in favour of President Uhuru Kenyatta. "Every single thing happening at this moment rotates around the elections... it is all about keeping this election as opaque as possible," said Maina Kiai, a board member of both bodies. On Wednesday morning, police and revenue authorities tried to search AfriCOG's headquarters but were denied access, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene. Shortly afterwards, Interior Minister Fred Matiangi released a statement urging the NGOs Coordination Board to "suspend any action (against) these organisations for up to 90 days" pending an exhaustive review of their status. The board had said it was acting against the KHRC over unpaid taxes, a lack of work permits for foreign staff, and illegal bank accounts. It requested police shut down AfriCOG and arrest its members because it was registered as a business and not an NGO and was therefore illegally operating as a "charitable organisation". 'Very alarming' "We interpret this as an attack on two of the most prominent human rights organisations in this country," said Amnesty International regional director Muthoni Wanyeki. "Motives for that attack are hard to determine, but coming at the time that they do... it is certainly very alarming." Civil society members saw in the move yet another attempt by Kenyatta's government to clamp down on their activities. Haron Ndubi, a lawyer for AfriCOG, said Kenyatta has a "vendetta" against rights groups who played an active role in seeing him indicted at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for his alleged role in orchestrating violence that left over 1,100 people dead after the disputed 2007 poll. In 2014 the ICC dropped charges against Kenyatta citing the disappearance of witnesses and lack of evidence. Chairman of the Council of State presenting the report to President Akufo-Addo The Council of State has given its approval for the creation of new regions out of the existing 10. Information reaching DAILY GUIDE indicates that about six new regions are in the pipeline. The six regions would be created from existing four where petitions have come from to extend development at the grassroots. According to the sources, the regions are likely to come from Western, where Western North is expected to be created; Brong-Ahafo where two new regions Brong East and West are expected. The Northern Region may also see two more regions and Oti Region is being created from the Volta Region. However, whereas there is the strong need for the creation of new regions, the thorny issue is the location of the capitals. So far, Sefwi Wiaso and Damango appear to have no challengers for their selection as possible capitals for two of the new regions. The Council of State, after studying a report submitted to it by the Minister for Regional Reorganisation and Development, Dan Kwaku Botwe following petitions from the chiefs and people of the Western, Northern, Brong-Ahafo and Volta Regions for the creation of new regions from their respective regions said there is a substantial demand for the creation of new regions. At a meeting with President Akufo-Addo at the Flagstaff House yesterday, Chairman of the Council of State, Nana Otuo Siriboe II, stated, Mr. President, the Council has meticulously gone through these petitions which numbered some 312 pages with accompanying maps and statistical data the Council therefore advises that Your Excellency appoint a Commission of Enquiry 'to inquire into the need and to make recommendations on all the factors involved in the creation of the new regions' He indicated that the Council was not only briefed by the Minister for Regional Reorganization and Development on his interactions with the chiefs and people of the four regions, but the Honourable Minister did impress the Council with the elaborate home work he has done on this exercise, including the extensive literature review on Ghana's geo-political structure. Nana Otuo Siriboe II said with emphasis, The Council of State has the honour to inform you that having studied the petitions submitted and the detailed briefing by the Honorourable Minister for Regional Reorganization and Development, it is of the unanimous opinion that there is a substantial demand for the creation of new regions. Describing the gesture as extremely welcome, and an indication of the Council of State's determination to work closely with the Executive to the benefit of the Ghanaian people, President Akufo-Addo also thanked the council for the expeditious manner in which it had assisted the Presidency. I am emboldened in taking this step (creating new regions) by the support that you have given in the response to my request. I think that the quality of people who are assembled in this Council of State, expressing themselves unanimously on this, is a very important development in the history of our country, and I have to express my gratitude towards you for doing that, the President underscored. President Akufo-Addo has since resolved to set up a commission of enquiry to look into the advice of the Council of State for the creation of the new regions. He was hopeful that when established, the Commission of Enquiry would work in an expeditious manner. The president's letter to the Council of State was dated June 29th, 2017 and by August 15, 2017, [six weeks] it had submitted its advice. I'm expecting broad national support for this initiative that together we have begun, he prayed. By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent Joseph Siaw Agyepong 16.08.2017 LISTEN Joseph Siaw Agyepong, Executive Chairman of Jospong Group of Companies, has indicated that he is not a greedy man as some Ghanaians think, but a creative person who cares about job creation for the unemployed masses. There is a strong perception among a section of the Ghanaian populace that greed is what drives Mr. Agyepong's business interests. The top businessman, commonly associated with waste management giant Zoomlion owns more than 40 companies and is still strongly poised to set up new ones. Scandals Some of his businesses have over the years suffered some damages over alleged scandals, especially those that have to do with government contracts, which have apparently given rise to public perception that he is greedy and corrupt. One of such scandals has to do with the Ghana Revenue Authority's (GRA's) engagement with Subah Info Ghana Limited, a subsidiary of the Group, which came to light in 2013. Subah Info Ghana Limited was in that particular case accused of receiving payments which were allegedly made to its Stanbic Bank account at the time by GRA for no work done for the Ghana. Recently, a subsidiary of the Jospong Group, Road Safety Management Services Limited, was awarded the mandatory car towing contract, which has caused huge public uproar, as a section of Ghanaians believe that the government is seeking to collect monies from the masses for an individual (Mr. Agyepong). The apprehension has led to the temporary suspension of the towing service, but Mr. Agyepong in an interview with Joy FM on Tuesday in Accra, debunked allegations that greed drives his business interests. 'I'm Not Corrupt' He also said that he's not a corrupt businessman, indicating that he is a blessed and creative individual who is concerned about empowering the poor, considering his humble beginnings. Mr. Agyepong, fondly called 'Chairman' by ex-President Mahama for his passion to excel in whatever he does, made it clear in the said interview that what excites him as a businessman is to see people working. I'm saying that I'm not greedy; one company is enough to take care of me and my five children. When I create a business, it's because of employment, Mr. Agyepong said. I am someone trying to be able to help people, create employment, create an environment that people can work in, he added. Sharing Blessings He stressed that I consider myself as someone blessed and I have to share the blessing with society. He spoke about his family background, pointing out that he was born on a farm to poor parents, and indicated that his poor background had been the motivating factor for his generosity to others. Lamentation According to Mr. Agyepong, the current Ghana system practically makes it impossible for young people to start up a business after college education. The sad thing is that you are doing business as a local businessman, and at the same time you have foreigners competing with you for the same business. BY Melvin Tarlue Former President John Mahama has commiserated with the bereaved family of former Member of Parliament (MP) of Tamale North, Alhaji Abukari Sumani during the final funeral adua. Former President Mahama was in the company of party bigwigs, including former appointees, MPs and some senior citizens. He described the late MP as a great man and senior brother. The former President indicated that the late MP, who was a devote Muslim, played an instrumental role in his career. Mr. Mahama said he was informed that he (Alhaji Sumani) brought the Imams together to offer prayers for him. According to him, the nation has lost a true son, dedicated legislator and committed Muslim. Alhaji Abukari Sumani, until his electoral defeat in 2012, was one of the veteran lawmakers in the legislature, serving the constituents from the year 2000. He also served as former Ambassador to Saudi Arabia. He was the Board Chairman of Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) under the erstwhile Mills administration. The former MP died at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra after battling with illness. Alhaji Sumani was a founding member of the largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC). He was the first MP of the Tamale North Constituency, a Prince of Zuggu and candidate of Zangblin Skin in the Northern region. He was also the first Northern Regional Secretary of the party. The deceased was the secretary to the Northern Regional Development Corporation in the 1960s and a ranking member of Defence during in Parliament. Many politicians and chiefs across the country have paid tribute to the father of 10. FROM Eric Kombat, Tamale When a bird is alive, it eats the ants and when the bird is dead ants eat the bird. Time and circumstances can change at any time. Don't devalue or hurt people. You may be powerful today. But remember time is more powerful than you. One tree makes a million match sticks but only one match stick is needed to burn a million trees. So be good and do good KARMA Throughout my life on this wonderful world with its beautiful people, I have always been guided by the Laws Of Karma. One of the maxims which I admire most is that As you sow, so shall you reap. Another maxim which fits into the NDC cabinet is the one which says: Whatever we put out in the Universe is what comes out back to us. The NDC has come face to face with the Law of Karma and that is good. When the NDC was in power, it tried all ways to make Ghanaians understand that the NPP cannot rule the country because there were divisions in the party. The choir leader in the singing band was Mr. John Dramani Mahama. Mr. Ibrahim Mahama, the brother of ex-President Mahama was able to lure Dr. Nyaho-Nyaho Tamakloe to start working against the NPP. This man who is a founding member of the elephant family begun acting as if he was not the same man who traversed the land with then candidate J.A Kufour way back in 1996 till the party grabbed power in 2001. At a point in time, Dr. Tamakloe made it look as if the NPP was made up of devils who had nothing good for the nation. During those wish-to-be- forgotten days of betrayal, I wondered how ex-president Kufour saw Nyaho-Nyaho Tamakloe who used to be his confidant. When the NDC saw that despite the scheming of Dr. Tamakloe it could not sway Ghanaians to vote for the NDC, the same Ibrahim Mahama and his brother, then President Mahama planned yet another devilish scheme which backfired badly. Having amassed wealth from whatever source, the two, under the cover of darkness invited the Northern Regional chairman of the NPP in the person of Mr. Bugri Naabu to a secret location for a discussion. The plan was to sow a seed of discourse in the NPP. They told the man to turn against candidate Nana Akufo Addo and make him look so bad in the Northern Region and all Northerners for that matter. They told him to announce to the good people of Ghana that he was leaving the NPP because Nana Akufo was not a peaceful person and that if Ghanaians did the mistake and voted him into power they will regret. That was barely two weeks to the general election. At the said meeting, Mr. Bugri Naabu was offered huge sums of money and a brand new V6 Mitsubishi Pajero. The guy cleverly received the car and the money and ran to report to Nana Akufo Addo the plans president Mahama and his brother had against him (Nana Akufo Addo). If that desperate and cruel plan had materialized, I can bet with my last Ghana Cedi that the NPP would have lost the election. When the cat came out of the bag, we never heard any word from the president and his brother. No wonder the sages say silence means consent. When the NPP suspended Mr. Afoko and Kwabena Agyapong in the run-up to the 2016 general election, the NDC became so agitated and went about kicking as if the world was coming to an end. On every platform, they took the issue up and lambasted Nana Akufo Addo as if he single-handedly suspended the two gentlemen. That was when then President Mahama referred to the acting NPP National Chairman, Mr. Freddy Blay as Opana. Then president Mahama told Ghanaians during his campaign tour that a divided army cannot win a battle so Ghanaians should not vote for the NPP. When Ghanaians voted massively for the NPP it might have dawned on the ex-president how contemptuous Ghanaians treated him. Today, the NDC is in opposition and fire is burning in Soweto. Mr. Rawlings, the founder of the NDC, like Prophet Jeremiah, his namesake, foresaw what would happen to the NDC so he told them at Cape Coast where they launched their campaign that he was not going to speak much because after the election he would go round the country and re-organize the NDC. They did not understand him so they gave him a standing ovation. A bird whispered into my angelic ear that when Charlotte Osei declared Nana Akufo Addo as the winner of the 2016 general election, J.J. Rawlings and his dear wife, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings danced 'borborbor' at their residency. If indeed, a divided army cannot win a battle as Mr. Mahama had said, then the NDC should not think of coming to power again. The party has become so fragmented that I do not think they will ever become united again in the foreseeable future. Currently, we have three factions in the party. We have the Rawlings faction, the Mahama faction and the Fante Confederacy. The Rawlings and Mahama factions are working so hard to take control of the party by throwing salvos and going down the gutter at the least opportunity. As for the Fante Confederacy led by the Ahwoi brothers, they are standing on the touchline, waiting for the ball to pass the line so that they could easily grab it and play their own game. What you are hearing as far as dirty comments of supporters of the factions are concerned is just a warm up. When nominations of national positions are opened you will then realize how muddy the whole situation will be. By now Rawlings is lacing his boots, preparing to hit the ground running like Usain Bolt when nominations are opened. The guy is charismatic and he is loved by the grassroots supporters of the party. He will form his team and campaign with corruption and indiscipline in the NDC as campaign messages. He will tell the grassroot supporters to look at the way they were neglected by the party when they were in power and ask them to compare their sorry state after eight years in power and compare their sorry state to the luxurious life being displayed by their leaders. He will have the cadres behind him. Even though some of them may be old by now, they will use their experience to convince the younger generation to come on board to save the party. The Mahama faction will find it very difficult to clean their bodies of the corruption tag since almost every Ghanaian knows the truth. The Mahama faction may try to use monies and other goodies to convince delegates to vote for their candidates but like what happened during the run-up to the 2016 general election, it will never work. The babies with sharp teeth who contributed hugely to the electoral defeat of the NDC should not venture to enter the race because the grassroot supporters know very well that their unguarded utterances, downright insults and recklessness led to the party losing power. Mr. Martin Amidu is standing alone and fighting his own battle in the party singlehandedly. He has a crocodile skin and fears nobody, not even death. Unlike Mr. Goosie Tanoh and Dr, Obed Asamoah who left the NDC to form their own parties, Mr. Amidu thinks it will be proper for him to stay in the party and fight for a reform rather than leaving the party in the hands of corrupt and crook officials. Mr. Amidu, a cadre knows how hard they fought to come out as revolutionaries to form the NDC. He knows how some of them fell along the way and the punishment meted out to corrupt officials during the revolutionary days. For a long time now, Mr. Amidu has been a thorn in the flesh of the NDC and no Jupiter can do anything to him. VALERIE WHO? Those who pushed Valerie Sawyerr into the gutter to fight Mr. Rawlings have done more harm than good to the woman. And if she thinks she is fighting a proxy war, she will regret ever embarking on that journey. She has woken up too early and the dew of dawn will surely soak her in due cause. Valerie Sawyerr is very lucky. If she had offloaded her rubbish into the bowl of President Akufo Addo, she will have regretted the day she was born. Because of politics, respect has been thrown to the dogs. Where was Valerie when Rawlings did put his nose on the grindstone to launch two coup d'etats? And where was this Valerie woman when Rawlings formed his NDC to contest the 1992 general election? A former Deputy Chief of Staff and so what? Habba!! I implore Mr. Rawlings to treat the ranting of Valerie Sawyerr with ordinary contempt. Rawlings will be glorifying the woman if he decides to take her on. Until Mr. Mahama appointed her as the Deputy Chief of Staff, few people in the NDC knew her. The position Mahama gave her has made her so swollen-headed that she thinks anyone who will try to attack her boss will incur her wrath. I do not know her age but looking at her face I know she might be a tiny kid when the going went tough and the tough kept going in 1979. And did I hear Alhaji Bature well? That Rawlings has forfeited any legitimate right to remain the founder of the NDC? Times have changed and so even birds with broken wings can fly!!! By Eric Bawah Lusaka (AFP) - Hakainde Hichilema, who was released from custody after treason charges against him were dropped, is a self-made entrepreneur who has made five unsuccessful attempts to become the Zambian president. He alleges that the 2016 election was rigged and, as leader of the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND), he has refused to recognise President Edgar Lungu. Hichilema, 55, accused the authorities of election fraud, and of undermining his campaign by banning rallies and allowing violent attacks on his activists. An articulate speaker, he drew large crowds to his rallies, ran a slick social media campaign and worked hard to shed his image as an elitist lacking the common touch. But he again failed to win office by a slim margin. He spent the last four months in custody after a bizarre incident in which he allegedly put Lungu's life in danger when his convoy failed to make way for the presidential motorcade. The high-speed road drama was caught on video camera, and Hichilema was charged with treason. The charges were finally dropped on Wednesday -- the day his trial was due to begin. Business success Hichilema was born to a poor family in the southern district of Monze, and says his "grit and determination" at school won him a priceless scholarship to the University of Zambia where he graduated in 1986 in economics and business administration. He then took an MBA degree at the University of Birmingham in Britain. He started off small, buying and selling houses, eventually becoming one of the country's richest businessmen with major interests in finance, ranching, property, healthcare and tourism. At the age of 32, he was Zambia CEO of Coopers and Lybrand consultancy accountants, and he has sat on the boards of several large Zambian corporations. Despite his series of election defeats, Hichilema still hopes to win power. He has promised to build a business-friendly Zambia and attract investment, while at the same time pledging to alleviate hardship among the country's millions of poor. On his website he describes himself as a "Christian and a philanthropist" who funds clinics, schools, boreholes and dam building. Before his release, he marked his 100th day in jail saying in a statement "we habour no hate for anyone as we believe that everything that happens in life is for a purpose". He described the conditions inside prison as "atrocious" and "inhuman". Hichilema is married and has a daughter and two sons. When he was arrested, Amnesty International said Hichilema and the five other accused were "victims of longstanding persecution." 16.08.2017 LISTEN When you are in a dark place, it is just right to keep your lights on. Poverty and streetism is one of the commonest problem in the world today. With the rise in the number of beggars and the homeless on the streets of our cities including kids, there is a growing campaign among NGOs and some concerned individuals on how to help alleviate the menace of poverty and streetism. And with Africa being the hub of this odd we cant but to help fight it. And one of the major moves in helping fight streetism particularly among kids is that which one of the fast rising and very dedicative charitable organization on the African continent plans to embark on. On August 20, 2017, Love Foundation Club, the youthful charitable organization made up of some young people in Ghana and across some other African countries looks forward to make some donations and have a deep interaction or familiarization with those living on our streets so as to know and hear from them what they go through, how they ended up on the streets, their aspirations or dreams and plans for a better tomorrow. This is to help the foundation carry out its mission of charity to the less privileged on our streets and to get itself up to search more on how to precisely help these people get out of the streets with some good things to do. The interaction side will also be a moment for the organization to give messages of hope and love to these people. The event which has been slated to be carried on from 5pm to late night at Okashie-Accra on that faithful Sunday will also see some of the street kids send to orphanages. The registered organization will take charge of these kids as they continue to find home for more children on the streets as the days and years go by. The Youth-Charity Organization, Love Foundation Club, purposely have at heart the needy and impoverished children who lay their beds in the streets and have to wake up every morning to struggle for what they will eat during the day. Love Foundation Club is dedicated to the cause of liberating street children of their daily struggles and plights on the streets and helping them secure the bright future they always envision and hope for. The event will also be carried out as a documentary which will reveal to the general public what the homeless on our streets are going through, especially the kids. With malaria on the rise and as a killer disease destroying so many lives on our streets, the club will donates items such as treated mosquito nets, mosquito coils among others. Other items such as clothes, foodstuffs, toothbrushes, toiletries will also be donated. And with prayer being the driving force of all things in life, the young members of Love Foundation Club will make prayers of intercession and petitions for the homeless and the street kids. Public support and donations are highly welcome through the numbers +233202945723/+233242509275 or through [email protected] . Love Foundation Club; a shoulder for the poor to lean on. Love Foundation Club; a hand that gives save lives!!! Akakpo Elikem Kwabla P.R.O. Love Foundation Club Alhaji Abubakari Abdul-Rahman 16.08.2017 LISTEN Alhaji Abubakari Abdul-Rahman (Alhaji Short) wishes Ghanaian Pilgrims and Muslims the world over a successful and accepted Hajj. Hajj (Pilgrimage) is a yearly Islamic journey to the Holy City of Mecca, and a compulsory religious obligation for Muslims that must be completed at least once in a lifetime by every single grown-up Muslim who are physically and financially equipped for undertaking the adventure, and can bolster their family amid their nonappearance. As commanded in suratul al-Hajj And [O Muhammed], We designated for Abraham the site of the House, [saying], Do not associate anything with Me and purify my House for those who perform tawaaf and those who bow and prostrate. And proclaim to the people the hajj [pilgrimage]; they will come to you on foot and on every lean Camel; they will come from every distant pass. (22:26-27). It has also been narrated that Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) said: I heard the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said: Whoever performs Hajj for the sake of Allah and does not utter any obscene speech or do any evil deed, will go back (free of sin) as his mother bore him. al-Bukhaari, 1449; Muslim, 1350. Insha Allah, the last batch of pilgrims from our great nation will be airlifted today to the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Our thoughts and prayers are with you as you embark on this sacred journey. It is also worth empathizing that we need to reflect deeply over the blessings of Hajj. We should not allow the worldly preoccupations which are our habitual engagements to occupy our hearts as we embark on this journey. In the atmosphere of monotheism and unadulterated divinity, you should let your craving hearts soar and collect the necessary provisions to persevere on the path of Allah and by the remembrance of Allah, penitence and supplication, a resolute will of truthfulness, good thinking & rectitude; and seeking the help of Allah. Let me also use this opportunity to show my debt of gratitude to H. E. Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (President of Ghana); Vice President, H. E. Alhaji Mahamudu Bawumia (PhD); the government of Ghana; National Chief Imam, Sheikh Dr. Osmanu Nuhu Sharubutu; the Hajj Board led by Sheikh Ibrahim Cudjoe Quaye; the Muslim community and all Ghanaians for your diverse contributions in making this years Hajj memorable and successful. Wishing you a Hajj Mabroor (an accepted Hajj). SIGNED Prince Anuwar-Sadat Amadu (General Secretary) National Youth for Alhaji Short (NAYAS) (0500240009) Lagos (AFP) - Nigeria must step up security for those displaced by Boko Haram violence, a global humanitarian agency said Wednesday after suicide bombers killed 28 people at the entrance to a refugee camp. "Camps sheltering innocent families fleeing war should be places of refuge. But instead they are turning into death traps," said a statement by Ernest Mutanga, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) in Nigeria. "We need to see the Nigerian government stepping up to protect civilians in displacement camps. It's their primary responsibility." His remarks came after three female suicide bombers blew themselves up at the entrance to a camp for displaced people in Mandarari near Maiduguri in northeastern Borno state. Another 82 people were wounded. "Camps like the one attacked yesterday sheltering displaced women and children are being indiscriminately targeted. Towns we previously considered safe for civilians are also under attack," Mutanga said. He said the insurgents had stepped up their attacks on "soft" targets, indicating there had been 190 security incidents involving civilians in the region last month -- more than the total combined for May and June. There was also "an increase in the number of attacks on sites sheltering displaced civilians," he said. He said there had been two other attacks targeting the displaced in July which had killed eight people. "Armed groups in this conflict are pushing people from one hell into another." Rising insecurity was also hampering relief efforts in a region facing a dire humanitarian crisis. "Northeast Nigeria is already experiencing a widespread food crisis, with food security experts forecasting a rise in the number of people facing crisis, emergency and famine conditions from 4.7 million to 5.2 million by the end of the month," he said. The eight-year Boko Haram violence has killed at least 20,000 and forced some 2.6 million others to flee their homes. A.R. Gomda 16.08.2017 LISTEN DAILY GUIDE's Chief News Editor, A.R. Gomda, is one of the Saudi King's guests for this year's Hajj. The Chief News Editor, who is also the Head of Communications of the Ghana Hajj Board, will leave for the assignment on 17th August 2017. The Saudi government annually sponsors selected media persons worldwide to cover the Hajj rituals in the Kingdom. A.R. Gomda is also the Head of Communications of the Ghana Hajj Board. He said that being a guest of the Saudi King would offer him a rare opportunity to report more indepth than he could have otherwise done as an ordinary pilgrim to the Kingdom. THE PEACEFUL approach chosen by the Director-General of the National Lottery Authority (NLA) in getting all unlicensed lotto operators across the country to register with the central government for the purposes of revenue mobilization for the state, is beginning to yield positive results. Mr. Kofi Osei Ameyaw upon assumption of office has been consistently engaging lotto writers, operators, agents, among others, in an open dialogue in a move to foster collaboration between the Authority and its stakeholders. In that regard, NLA on Tuesday, July 25, held its maiden stakeholder's forum under the leadership of Mr. Ameyaw, to solicit the views and concerns of lotto operators with the aim of helping to address the challenges adversely affecting lotto operations in the country. As a follow-up to that meeting, the Authority on Tuesday August 15, met with unlicensed lotto operators and it emerged that about 200 of them, in Accra alone, have willingly agreed to register and get licensed by the NLA. Mr. Ameyaw told the media on the sidelines of the meeting that the collaboration between NLA and the operators has been very successful. According to him, the operators have all agreed to pay a fee to be set by the NLA for legal operations. He indicated that the NLA is yet to settle on the supposed fee, but noted that it may vary from region to region and from community to community. In regularizing the operators, he said the NLA will undertake due diligence to ensure that criminals were not licensed, noting that the move to license all operators shall help greatly in raising revenue for government. BY Melvin Tarlue 16.08.2017 LISTEN I have seen that picture too. The picture in which Nana Addo DankwaAkufo-Addo is shown standing on a mounted podium, or platform, at what appears to be a durbar of chiefs and people of an unidentified township, with the platform draped in the Red, Gold, Green and lone Black Star-spangled flag of the Democratic Republic of Ghana (See Akufo-Addos Flag-Stepping Photo Sparks Controversy Starrfmonline.com / Ghanaweb.com 8/13/17). The debate over whether Nana Akufo-Addo is standing on the upper red-bar section of the flag or not, or that he may be standing on a red carpet unfurled over the upper portion of the flag, is decidedly beside the point. If, indeed, the President is guilty of desecrating our National Flag, then, of course, the most logical question to ask is this: Was President Kwame Nkrumah guilty of flag desecration when in 1964, or thereabouts, he prohibited the original and current flag of our Republic with the Red-Cockerel Flag of his so-called Convention Peoples Party? For me, though, there can be absolutely no gainsaying that it was an inveterate detractor of Nana Akufo-Addo, very likely from the postelection-traumatized ranks of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), who either photoshopped or doctored the picture and put it into the public domain,in order to expose the President to ridicule. But, of course, like the propagandistic tricks mounted by his most ardent political detractors and stone-cold enemies, this too will not wash. At any rate, a critical examination of the long activist and mainstream political career of Nana Akufo-Addo would readily bear out the fact that when it comes to the question of patriotism or serving the needs, interests and aspirations of the Ghanaian people, Nana Akufo-Addo has few peers on the ground, as it were. At any rate, the guilty party here are the operatives of the protocol department of the Presidency, if, indeed, the photograph in question was taken after the swearing in of Nana Akufo-Addo. On the other hand, if the photograph was taken in the heat of the 2016 electioneering campaign, then, of course, the responsibility rests with then-Candidate Akufo-Addos handlers or electioneering campaign managers and directors, both at the local and national levels. I personally dont think and believe that this is such a big deal, or of any significant indication of the Presidents abject lack of any sense of patriotism one way or another. The fact of the matter is that, by and large, Ghana is a predominantly Christian country that does not believe in the psycho-pathology of flag worshipping. The fact that the citizens of even some of the technologically and culturally advanced countries in the world accord a level of reverence to their national flags verging on religion or idol worship, has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with us, Ghanaians, as a people. What matters most, as some of us have been emphasizing for quite some time now, is an altruistic or sacrificially responsible leadership. I mean, I prefer the leadership of a flag-stepping or trampling politician or statesman, in the case of Nana Akufo-Addo, who takes good care of our monetary and other capital resources for the development of the country, to a flag-worshipping politician with an inordinate penchant for scamming the Ghanaian taxpayer a la AMERI-Deal style. Whether President Akufo-Addo is able to successfully and/or effectively stamp out the deadly activities of Galamseyers, or illegal small-scale miners, is far more important to me than whether, indeed, he was standing on a red-carpeted podium or the red upper bar of our National Flag. *Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs 16.08.2017 LISTEN Turning and turning in the widening gyre, the falcon cannot hear the falconer, things fall apart, the centre cannot hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world so says William Butler Yeats. The case of the Sampa traditional area is not different from what Butler Yeats described in his poem. Over the years, chieftaincy has met a great deal of opposition since many are those who consider chieftaincy in recent times as an institution that causes unnecessary pandemonium between members of the same lineage. They vehemently hold the view that chieftaincy is an archaic institution which has outlived its usefulness and should therefore be completely discarded to the museum of history. Nonetheless, chieftaincy as an enviable institution in Ghana emanated from the social fabric of the land and should therefore be noted that Ghanaian chieftaincy is nobodys creation and cannot be completely eliminated with ease. Chieftaincy was characterized by good governance and strict accountability to the masses. As we procreate for population to increase, the views of people will differ. Chaos and anarchy may take place when two or more people disagree on a pertinent issue and resort to the use of force, violent behaviour and other cruel and deviant means to resolve the matter. Chieftaincy disputes normally occur when there is a succession to a vacant stool. It is unarguable and therefore agreeable that there is no community that does not go through chieftaincy disputes at some point in time. But the case of Sampa will definitely call for the raise of eyebrows. No doubt, many indigenes of good standing have made a grimace of disgust concerning this whole issue but the parties involved have failed to see and hear the untold plight of the masses. In order not to be at sea, it is prudent to know that Sampa is the Capital town of the Jaman North District in the Brong- Ahafo Region of Ghana. The tonic of success started early when the Sampa Traditional Area was elevated to a paramount status in 1982. As it stands now, it is sickening, saddening and heart-breaking to know that Development has come to a halt due to its Chieftaincy crises. One will surely be stunned to the marrow to discover that there has not been a chief in Sampa after the then Chief, Nana Kofi Sono Apim II joined the heavenly choir on the 8th May, 2007. It is apparent that for almost ten years now, the people of Sampa are still mourning their dead Chief. Seven years earlier, the queen mother, Nana Yadwo Kakala II had passed on. Its been almost two decades now the people of Sampa have not been able to unanimously enstool a queen mother. The town has no king and a queen mother. So I ask; for how long shall Sampa Traditional Area remain an emaciated orphan? The parties involved in this brouhaha of chieftaincy dispute keep on treading the rugged path of the law court but all to no avail. Well, the old lady will never be at ease anytime dry bones are being mentioned in a conversation. These parties who are locked up in the supremacy of power may justify their deeds as being patriotic. But I beg to differ. This act is unheard of and unpatriotic. It is only hampering the hand of progress and still taking us to the primitive times of fear and chaos. The role of chieftaincy can never be undermined. But for the presence of some vibrant chiefs, some districts we know today would have been nothing good to write home about. It is therefore not surprising that the Sampa Traditional Area has been left off the hook in terms of development. Many politicians, who are trapped in the deceptive game of politricks keep on lavishing promises that the town shall see a road made of asphalt if only they are rocketed into the realms of power. But what do the masses see? They only come to the masses to renew their promises in a year of election. Truth be told, the mere presence of a vibrant chief in the town could make these politicians spare us some of these unfulfilled promises. The present chief palace doesnt befit a modern day palace. The people of the town cant erect a modern chief palace because there is no chief in the land. Need I say more? Such issues become quite dicey because none of the parties involve would like to seem defeated. But in this case, we plead with the parties involve to bite the bullet and bury the hatchet for peace and tranquillity to prevail in the Sampa Traditional Area. These two parties should know that their positive decision on this matter will definitely turn back the clock ten years. It is high time these parties knew that it will be more appropriate to lose this case and make peace than to win the case and cause conflict. I do not need the foresight of a Jewish prophet in order to prophesy that Sampa Traditional Area is heading towards doom if this issue is not settled amicably. Every Tom, Dick and Harry in every nook and cranny of the Sampa Traditional Area should respond to this clarion call. We call on the various stakeholders, the Regional House of Chiefs, the concerned youth of the town and the Ministry responsible for chieftaincy to intervene quickly in order to maintain peace in the town. The dispute between these two parties should cease forthwith and off pronto. There is no place like home. Sampa Traditional Area is our home and pride. THE WRITER, EFFAH ELVIS, IS A STUDENT OF UCC AND A CONCERNED CITIZEN OF THE SAMPA TRADITIONAL AREA. Blogs @ elvis1site.wordpress.com Ouagadougou (AFP) - Militants who shot and killed 18 people at a restaurant in Burkina Faso's capital most likely came from Mali, a security source in Ouagadougou told AFP on Wednesday. "Looking at the tactics of the assailants, their physical traits, they probably came from northern Mali or closer to the border" with Burkina Faso, an army officer said on condition of anonymity. At least eight foreigners were killed at a Turkish restaurant in Ouagadougou on Sunday night when gunmen attacked diners on its terrace. No group has so far claimed responsibility but Burkina Faso has witnessed a string of such attacks blamed on Islamist extremists. The landlocked country shares a largely lawless border region with Mali, where jihadist fighters frequently ambush security forces. Ouagadougou prosecutor Faso Maiza Sereme has said Sunday's attack bore similar hallmarks to last year's assault on a hotel and cafe in the capital that killed 30 people and wounded more than 70. That attack was claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). "The fact that the attack hasn't been claimed just suggests that it's an isolated act that could be linked to Ansarul Islam or AQIM," the officer said. Ansarul Islam is active in northern Burkina Faso and has claimed responsibility for several recent attacks, including one that killed 12 soldiers in December. Security Minister Simon Compaore said all possibilities were being investigated. "The inquiry could take a long time and we need to work with other countries," he said. Zambias opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema, who has been held in prison since April on treason charges, has been released. Mr Hichilema was due to stand trial, but instead walked free from Lusaskas high court after 100 days in custody. Sources say the charges against Mr Hichilema and five aides were dropped after a deal was negotiated by the Commonwealth. He narrowly lost the election to President Edgar Lungu last year. Mr Hichilema, the leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND), alleges the vote was fixed, and does not recognise Mr Lungu as president. Mr Lungu, meanwhile, faces accusations of growing authoritarianism. Mr Hichilema was arrested in April, accused of endangering the presidents life after his motorcade allegedly refused to give way to the one transporting Mr Lungu. He and his aides strongly denied the charge, which carries a sentence of at least 15 years. Those found guilty can also be sentenced to death. But all charges have now been dropped, apparently after a visit by Commonwealth Secretary General Patricia Scotland, who was in Zambia last week and met Mr Lungu and Mr Hichilema. She later hinted Mr Hichilema could be released in the public interest. A source had earlier told the BBC he was definitely being released today unless theres a last minute development. The inability one of Ghanas biggest commodity trading companies to meet its financial obligations is crippling the operations of about twenty-six local banks in the country. The situation has sparked concerns it might hurt the banking sector in ways similar to what caused the collapse of two major national banks about two decades ago. Finatrade Group is indebted to the various banks to the tune of about Gh1billion which is almost half of the Gh2.6billion stated capital of the entire banking industry, which boasts nearly Gh47billion in total assets. This, according to Graphic Onlines sources within the banking sector was seriously hitting hard and threatening the survival of the banks. The banks extended a lifeline credit facility to Finatrade and according to the company bad business was obstructing its ability to honour its repayment schedule. The company has consequently been blacklisted by some banks for its continuous default of several repayment schedules and as a result, the banks have threatened to institute legal action to retrieve the debts owed it. Graphic Online has gathered that some of the banks have planned to attach the companys assets through court actions in moves to recover the debts, which were pushing up their non-performing loans. Finatrades exposure to each bank goes beyond the single obligor limit of most of the banks it dealt with. (The limit beyond which you cannot exceed in giving out loan) Graphic Online has also gathered that the Ghana Association of Bankers (GAB) was conducting a forensic audit to establish the actual extent of the banks exposure to Finatrade. The Finatrade Group, in spite of the its several subsidiaries in Ghana, such as Sucatrade, Akuafo Adamfo, Dry Foods, Foods Inn and CCTC embarked on massive expansion in the last five years that has significantly affected its cash flow and liquidity. The company reportedly borrowed from the banks to fund its expansion drive, whilst at the same time using short term loans to support long term capital projects, including a major venture into the cocoa sector of neigbouring Cote dIvoire. High volatility in commodity prices, especially rice and sugar, has however resulted in trade losses that have affected the working capital of the company. Sources also told Graphic Online the company incurred high losses in the manufacturing business due to the power crisis in Ghana - dumsor - and low economies of scale. One of the companys subsidiaries, Akuafo Adamdo, which is a licensed cocoa buying company, also defaulted in supplying cocoa beans to the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) to meet a seed fund guarantee totalling Gh18million. The venture is currently facing liquidity squeeze as a result of Akuado Adamfos default, which has consequently led to the freezing of its working capital by the commercial banks, a source told Graphic Online. The net effect was that the group became heavily geared, with unsustainable debt levels thereby affecting the liquidity and operational performance across the group. When the company was contacted, the Corporate Affairs Manager of the Finatrade Group, Mr John Awuni in a telephone response said the company was still engaging its creditors on a repayment schedule. The country owes and everybody is in one way or the other indebted and so let us be careful and not to do anything that will shake the public confidence in the banks, Mr Awuni said. At the moment all the banks were taking individual actions to recover the loans but sources tell Graphic Online when that fails, a joint action would be pursued. For some analysts, they are worried about the rising levels of non-performaing loans that have forced many banks to review their credit policies in order to reduce bad debts on their books. They also see the possibility of such a huge debt spread across the banking industry as an indictment on managers in that sector, including the regulator Bank of Ghana. The Bank of Ghanas Economic and Financial Data, show that non-performing loans for the 11 months of 2015 stood at 14.1 per cent, as compared to 11.3 per cent at the end of December 2014. But the worry is that some banks have more than the average number as they have about 40 per cent of their loans books remaining non-performing, a condition which could force some of them to limit their credit creation capabilities, especially to the private sector. Writer's email: [email protected] 16.08.2017 LISTEN I have heard a lot about an Africa, about a side of Africa- the dogmatic side, the faith filled, blindly believing Africa. There has been an overwhelming focus on the magical, witch-bound African continent. A lot has been said about an Africa that makes sense and can only be understood, in its ancient and modern forms, through the lens of witchcraft, mysticism and superstition. This notion of Africa looms large, but it is partial and one-sided. It ignores and overlooks so much. It leaves out a lot from its image and impression of Africa. Interestingly, there has been a lot of attention paid to the religious-Christian, Islamic and traditionalist Africa even though the word religion is an English, not an African word. The byword for Africa has incidentally become piety or better prayerfulness. Religion has mistakenly become the only prism for understanding this region and its peoples. However, I am interested in another Africa, the questioning Africa or better the critical and inquisitive Africa. This is the Africa that thirsts for explanations, answers and truths. The Africa that is not contented with received wisdom and seeks to understand the source and credibility of the said wisdom. I am fascinated by the debating, questing Africa, the Africa that doubts and disbelieves; the Africa that challenges claims and demands evidence for claims. Indeed, this Africa that is of interest to me exists. It has always existed in some form or another. But it has often not been highlighted by Africans and non-Africans alike. Instead many have largely taken the one sided view, the magical Africa, as a complete picture, as the essential Africa. The typical Africa. To correct this imbalance one should not deny or refuse to acknowledge that the magico-religious Africa exists. Yes, the superstitious African society is there, and visibly there. But it is important to recognize that it exists alongside the other, the counter magical and magic-critical Africa. For instance, many across Africa believe in God or gods. The notion of a theistic Africa is a fact that cannot be disputed. At the same time, there are Africans who doubt or disbelieve the existence of some gods, and of all gods. Such persons may not identify openly and publicly as skeptics. They go about their daily business as if they are believers in all respects. Such persons do not take the idea of god or religion seriously. In addition, there are Africans who think that faith healing is fraud. There are those who think that the idea of witchcraft is nonsensical. In all, doubts underpin these views and perspectives. Africans who doubt especially religious beliefs have largely been invisible because of the price placed on such exercise. Critical examination of religious claims is a dangerous undertaking. In some cases, it is a matter of life and death. Questioning religious and superstitious claims could lead to overt and covert sanctions from individuals and the society. In muslim majority communities where sharia is implemented, comments that are critical of Islam or of Allah could lead to violent reactions, prosecution, and execution. It is important to note that there is more to dubious claims than religion. There are questionable cure claims, dubious or biased media reports. Some companies use false and misleading information to advertise and market their products. So skepticism is important in navigating through life. To enhance the cause of skeptical inquiry into paranormal claims in Africa, an online face book group, the African skeptics , has been created. It provides a forum for skeptics in Africa or skeptics who are interested in African issues to share their thoughts. The African skeptics' forum on Facebook encourages the application of critical inquiry in all areas of human endeavor. This forum is open to all who entertain doubts about issues whether religious or secular. This includes those who are critical of other peoples criticisms; those who are skeptical of other persons' skepticism. Those who demand evidence or question what people present as evidence. The African skeptics' forum will feature posts, news and reports that are of interest to skeptically minded people. So, are you one of such people in Africa or elsewhere who entertain some critical thoughts? Do you have issues with the claims and activities of African faith healers, medicine men and women and other peddlers of fake claims? Do you have some doubtful news? Then come on board this ship of African skepticism and share your ideas with us. See you there! Johannesburg (AFP) - Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe has claimed diplomatic immunity after being accused of assaulting a 20-year-old model, South African police said Wednesday, confirming she had not fled the country. "The suspect('s) lawyers and her government representatives made verbal representations... that the suspect wished to invoke diplomatic immunity cover," a statement from the police ministry said. The 52-year-old wife of President Robert Mugabe is accused of attacking Gabriella Engels on Sunday evening at a Johannesburg hotel where the first lady's two sons were staying. Engels has registered a case with the police alleging assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, saying she suffered deep cuts to her forehead and the back of her head. The police said that Grace Mugabe had been expected to report to a police station on Tuesday to give her version of the events and "obtain a warning statement", but that she failed to show up. They added that she was scheduled to attend a regional summit of the Southern African Development Community in Pretoria where her husband and other heads of state will be present. "We know where the suspect is," South Africa's police spokesman Vishnu Naidoo told AFP earlier Wednesday. "We are still continuing with the investigations. No warrant of arrest has been issued," he added, after some reports suggested she had hurriedly returned to Harare late Tuesday. 'Kept beating me' The alleged attack threatens to spark a diplomatic tiff between the two neighbouring countries, which have strong political and economic ties, though Zimbabwean officials have made no comment on the case. Grace Mugabe allegedly arrived at the Capital 20 West Hotel with bodyguards and accused Engels of partying with her sons Robert and Chatunga, who are both in their 20s and live in Johannesburg. Pictures on social media appeared to show Engels bleeding from her head after the alleged assault at the hotel in the upmarket business district of Sandton. Engels said she was attacked with an electrical extension cord. "She flipped and just kept beating me with the plug. Over and over. I had no idea what was going on. I was surprised... I needed to crawl out of the room before I could run away," she told the News 24 website. Grace Mugabe is 41 years younger than her 93-year-old husband, and the couple has two sons and a daughter. She regularly speaks at rallies and is seen as a possible contender to take over from her increasingly frail husband, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from British colonial rule in 1980. Prampram (GAR) Aug 16, GNA - A three-week military exercise of the Southern Command of the Ghana Armed Forces dubbed: 'Exercise Starlight Stretch', has opened at the Bundase Military Training Camp, with a call on Ghanaians to be vigilant and security conscious. Lieutenant Colonel Isaac Amponsah, the Command Operation Officer, Southern Command, who made the call at the opening of the exercise in the Ningo-Prampram District of the Greater Accra Region, exhorted the public to complement the efforts of the security agencies by providing timely information on suspicious activities for immediate action to be taken. He emphasised the responsibility of the citizenry to support the security forces to deal with the threat to internal security and the counter activities of insurgents. The training covers the units under the command which are: First Infantry Battalion, Michel Camp, Second Infantry Battalion, Myohaung Barracks, Takoradi; Five Infantry Battalion, Burma Camp, with supporting arms- Armed Recce Regiment, 66 Artillery Regiment and 48 Engineers Regiment. Lieutenant Colonel Amponsah said the conventional warfare exercise, was aimed at refreshing the skills of the Command to be ready combat to deal with perceived and potential threats of the peace and security of Ghana. He said it was also designed to assess the physical fitness of troops as well as to practice the planning, preparation, battle procedure, conduct and execution of deliberate defence, advance to contact, hasty defence, patrols, ambushes and air mobile operations. Brigadier General Thomas Oppong-Peprah, the General Officer Commanding, Southern Command, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency said the exercise was also to practice and assess commanders at various command levels in the practical leadership, command and control of troops in the field. He added that it was also to practice the receipt, planning and issue of orders and enhance cooperation of the members in operations. The simulation exercise is being held within the Miotso, New Ningo and Prampram areas. Southern Command encompasses soldiers from the Western, Central, Eastern, Greater Accra, and Volta Regions. Scenario The exercise is based on a scenario that an Aggressor which borders Ghana to the East has invaded the country and has attacked the Immigration and Custom Officers at the border with an intention to advance to capture the Tema Port. The Government complained to ECOWAS, African Union and the United Nations (UN) about the infiltration of the Aggressor elements into the country and the UN passed a resolution asking the Aggressor to redraw his forces immediately but refused. The Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) observed some Aggressor Special Forces units around the Sogakopke area trying to advance towards Tema to capture the Port. The President who is the Commander of the GAF therefore tasked the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) to clear the Aggressor elements and restore the territorial integrity of Ghana. The CDS has therefore tasked the Army Commander to make sure that all Aggressor elements are cleared to restore the territorial integrity of Ghana. The Army Commander has therefore launched operation 'Cat Chase' with the Southern Command as the lead Command of the GAF to clear all Aggressor elements on Ghana's territory. GNA By Kwamina Tandoh, GNA Accra, Aug. 16, GNA - A 27-year old teacher, who defiled his 13-year old student twice at Abokobi, has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by an Accra Circuit Court. Emmanuel Yeboah Emrys charged with defilement pleaded guilty. The court presided over by Mrs Abena Oppong Adjin-Doku in sentencing Emrys said she had taken a serious view of the fact that the accused person was the victim's class teacher. According to the trial judge, being a teacher put him in a position of trust and he assumes parental care of the victim. On the accused, the court noted that he had not wasted the court's time and the fact that he has begun life hence she would not hand down the maximum sentence. Prosecuting Chief Inspector Kofi Atimbire said the complainant was also a teacher and the victim's mother. The complainant resides with the victim at Madina, Accra. According to the prosecutor, the victim is a Junior High Student at a school in Abokobi where the convict teaches. On July 27, this year, the complainant travelled to Atebubu, her hometown but before travelling she left her mobile phone with the victim and her sister so she could communicate with them. According to Chief Inspector Atimbire anytime she tried calling the victim, the phone line was always engaged. On August 1, when the complainant returned to Accra, the victim's younger sister informed their mother that while she was away, the victim made calls at night so she should question the victim. Prosecution said while quizzing the victim Emrys called the victim and the complainant put the phone on a loud speaker. During the conversation, prosecution said the convict questioned the victim as to why she had refused to answer his phone calls, reply his messages and furnish him with her photographs. The victim, prosecution said informed her mother that while she was away, the convict had sex with her on two occasions. The prosecutor said on August 3, this year, a report was made to the Police and a medical form was issued so the victim could be examined and treated. The convict was then picked up by the Police, Prosecution added. GNA By Joyce Danso, GNA Koforidua, Aug 16, GNA - The Eastern Regional Minister, Mr Eric Kwakye Darfour, has rallied the private sector to give strong support to the fight to halt the spread of the HIV/AIDS infection. This should come by way of contribution of money to the AIDS Fund to aid the national response to the disease. He said the expectation was that corporate bodies and institutions would forge partnership with the government to promote sustained public education and bring treatment to people living with the disease. He was speaking in Koforidua during a monitoring visit to the region by the Deputy Untied States Ambassador, Ms. Melinda Tabler Stone. She was there to assess the progress that US-funded HIV Projects was making in this part of the country. Mr. Darfour spoke of moves to ensure that all those living with HIV-AIDS benefitted from the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme - social intervention for the poorest of the poor. This, he said, would prevent the situation, where some of them because of financial constraint were unable to travel outside their communities to the treatment centres for anti-retroviral drugs. Ms. Stone applauded Ghana for adopting the right strategies in its response to the disease and the protection of the rights of people living with infection. She pledged the continued support of the US Government to the West African nation's HIV Response Strategic Plan. Mr. Stephen Ayisi-Addo, Programme Manager of the National AIDS Control Programme, refuted claims of cure for the infection, saying 'there is no cure for AIDS in the world as of now'. GNA By Edmund Quaynor, GNA 16.08.2017 LISTEN A woman in her early 30s, is in the grips of the Ho Police after she allegedly stabbed her lover in the chest. Eyewitnesses said, the two lovers were heard yesterday [ Tuesday ] engaged in one of their usual fierce fights in the room and the man was later lying in a pool of blood at their doorstep. The deceased Francis Dzodogbe believed to be in his early 40s was pronounced dead after being rushed to the hospital. The incident occurred in a house at the Mawuli Gate suburb of Ho where they both live. It is unclear what ensued between the two but neighbours claim the suspect, Precious Doku is fond of wielding sharp devices during their fights. She was said to have inflicted knife wounds on the deceased a month ago. The Police who are carrying out investigations into the case said blood stains were spotted on the floor of the room together screw drivers and a knife. There were also indications of struggle in the room. The body of the deceased has since been deposited at the Ho Municipal Hospital mortuary. By: Norbert Akpabli/citifmonline.com/Ghana Johannesburg (AFP) - Jailed South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius briefly left his Pretoria prison on Wednesday to attend his grandmother's funeral. "He left in the morning under supervision of our officials and by 20-minutes-past-one he was back at the facility," Correctional Services spokesman Singabakho Nxumalo told AFP. He was driven from Atteridgeville prison in Pretoria after he had been granted permission to bury his maternal grandmotheras Joyce Bekker, who according to local media, died last week aged 93. The funeral took place in Johannesburg's northern Bryanston's suburb. Nxumalo said there was nothing special about Pistorius being let out because regulations permit low-risk prisoners compassionate leave to attend the funerals of, or visit critically ill direct family members. Earlier this month Pistorius was removed from prison and kept in a hospital overnight after he had reportedly complained of chest pains. Pistorius, 30, is serving a six-year jail term for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, in his Pretoria home in 2013. The "Blade Runner", as the double amputee sprinter was known, has always maintained that he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder when he fired four high-calibre bullets through a locked toilet cubicle. A group calling itself Network for Young Mentees for Hon Alban Bagbin has specially congratulated the veteran law maker for Nadowli Kaleo Constituency who doubles as the second deputy speaker for receiving an honorary Doctorate. The Law maker received an Honorary Doctorate degree from UPSA for his selfless contributions to shaping democracy and development in Ghana. The experienced lawmaker has been the member of Parliament for Nadowli- Kaleo since 1992. He is currently the longest serving MP in the National House of Ghana Parliament. He has since played different key roles in his life as a fine politician. In a statement dated 16/08/17, the Young Mentees showed their gratification and joy for the recognition of their mentor and father by the University. The Network for Young Mentees of Alban Bagbin, is a national youth group that admire the fine legislator and hence consider him as their mentor. They are happy that their mentor has been making such remarkable achievements, having received numerous awards. They also thank the management/administration of UPSA for recognising the contributions of this illustrious son of Ghana Below is the full statement released by the group. CONGRATULATIONS, HON. ALBAN S.K BAGBIN. In deep joy of admiration and pleasure of satisfaction, we, fellows of the Network of Young Mentees of Bagbin, NYMB-Ghana, wish to officially use this opportunity to congratulate our mentor, Hon. Alban S.K. Bagbin, Second Deputy Speaker of Ghana Parliament, and MP for Nadowli/Kaleo Constituency, for once again making us proud with his very recent achievement, DOCTOR OF LAWS, Honoris Causa, LLD, h.c., awarded to him by the University of Professional Studies, Accra, Ghana, in recognition of his well distinguished and luminous roles in shaping the growth of democratic governance in Ghana through the legislative arm of government, The Parliament of Ghana. He has come far, and we are very proud of him. Hon. Bagbin, a celebrated illustrious son of mother Ghana, a legal practitioner, a consultant, a legislator and an astute politician, was born to a peasant family of nine, unlike many of his compatriots. He faced many challenging odds of a typical student in northern Ghana, having had to start fending for his education at a very early stage. He easily talks about his Wa Senior High School days where he had to make and sell aluminum pots, in Wa town. During vacations, he would sometimes trek barefooted, carrying his ware on his head, to nearby communities for sale on market days, to enable him generate some money for the next academic term. He also talks about his trips to southern Ghana to work on people farms on by-day labour basis to enable him raise money to support himself through school. However, due to his determination, hard work and prayers, he was able to level the odds and grow into the enviable and formidable leadership giant that he is today. And so for us at NYMB-Ghana, the life experiences and achievements of Hon. Alban S.K Bagbin are a full package of motivation and inspiration for us, and many of our compatriots across the country. It is worth noting that this honorary degree comes to add to many other awards and recognitions that the outstanding good works of Hon. Bagbin has earned him. This year alone, Hon. Bagbin has so far achieved six top notched awards and recognitions for his excellent, diligent and competent service to mother Ghana. Earlier this year, Hon. Bagbin received the Governance Peace Award, the Parliamentary Peace Award, the Community Spirit Peace Award, and the Humanitarian and Service Peace Award, all awarded by the Ghana Peace Council. In June this year, Hon. Bagbin was once again recognized and awarded as an Exclusive Man of the Year, Governance Category, at the EMY Africa 2017 awards night. And now, we are proudly celebrating him for yet another milestone. For the years gone by, the awards and recognitions are uncountable. In his presence, one is welcomed and accommodated by an aura of hypnotizing magnetic love resonating with his confident and ever smiling handsome face that transmits soft, soothing and catching words which magically tune the mind of his audients. He is solemn, organized, focused and composed. His seemingly unquenchable compassion, makes him always want to help everyone who approach him for help, usually without regards to tribal or political considerations. His can do it spirit, which one easily notices in his exemplary leadership, is very infectious, making his team members always want to achieve target goals. We also wish to use this opportunity to thank the administration of UPSA for their well thought decision to deservedly recognize, honour and award the hard work of our mentor as Dr. of Laws. It is an achievement he well deserves. We at NYMB-Ghana are enthused and motivated, and we belief that this gesture will spur him on to do more for mother Ghana. We count ourselves very lucky to have the caliber of Hon. Bagbin as our mentor. We believe in him. We will continue to learn from him. With Hon. Bagbin, Ghana has a future. Thank You. Signed Mr. Solace Bataabanyira Farhan General Secretary (0247468112) Dabaga Angan-mwine James National Coordinator (0241377973) Biekpe T. Sylvestor Public Relations Officer (020710414) Nairobi (AFP) - Kenya's embattled opposition leader Raila Odinga vowed Wednesday to take his election rigging claims to court, while urging his supporters to protest peacefully against the "death of democracy". Appearing tense and drawn, the 72-year-old Odinga ended days of suspense over his plans to contest last week's presidential poll which he claims was hacked and rigged in favour of President Uhuru Kenyatta. The veteran opposition leader and his National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition had previously said court was not an option, raising the spectre of further violent protests after 17 people were killed and scores injured over the weekend. "We have now decided to move to the Supreme Court and lay before the world the making of a computer-generated leadership," he told journalists. He said the u-turn was driven by government attempts this week to shut down two leading rights organisations that had been contemplating taking the disputed election to court. He also called for peaceful forms of protest, recalling that rights to demonstrate, strike and carry out acts of civil disobedience were enshrined in the constitution. "We will preach peace... we will uphold our rights to assemble and protest. We shall hold vigils, moments of silence, beat drums and do everything else to peacefully draw attention to the gross electoral injustices ... " he said. After a peaceful day of voting last Tuesday, Odinga and NASA cried foul shortly after ballot counting began, with a series of complaints about the electronic tallying system. 'Democracy's slaughter' Odinga, after initially resisting calls to test his claims that the election was rigged in the courts, announced on Wednesday that his coalition would be taking its case to the Supreme Court They claimed the system had been hacked, and an algorithm installed to ensure that as results streamed in, Kenyatta maintained an unwavering lead over Odinga of about 11 percent. NASA has also complained that the electoral commission (IEBC) has still not provided thousands of scanned forms from polling stations meant to back up the electronic results. The European Union observer mission on Wednesday called on the IEBC to "publish all results forms online promptly." The election was Odinga's fourth and probably final shot at the presidency -- and the third time he believes it was stolen from him. "For the third straight election in a row, the voice of the people has been stilled, and for the third time in a decade, the candidate who lost the election has been declared president," he said. Official final results of the Kenyan presidential election "No one should believe, and especially not those behind this election fraud theft, that Kenyans are sheep who will willingly go along with democracy's slaughter." After the 2007 vote, Odinga's supporters took to the streets, and a resulting crackdown coupled with politically motivated tribal violence left over 1,100 dead. In 2013 he challenged the presidential results in court and lost. "Accepting such a crime for the third election in a row would irredeemably entrench the triumph of anti-democratic impunity and the permanent death of democracy," said Odinga. Civil society attacks Any legal challenge must be lodged by Friday and the Supreme Court will have two weeks to hear the petition and make its decision. A legal petition can also be filed by members of civil society. Two of Kenya's leading rights organisations suggested this might be behind efforts this week to shut them down -- citing tax and registration issues -- but on Wednesday, the government appeared to back-pedal on the matter. If Kenya's election dispute is not resolved peacefully, there are widespread fears it could lead to further violence and economic disruption Interior Minister Fred Matiangi suspended action against the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and the Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG) for 90 days pending an exhaustive review of their status. Odinga said NASA was taking its appeal to the courts despite consistent rulings in the government's favour during a series of pre-election petitions. "The court can use this chance to redeem itself or, like in 2013, it can compound the problems we face as a nation," he said. The dispute has plunged Kenya into its worst political crisis since the 2007 post-election violence that laid bare decades-old political and ethnic grievances over access to power and land. Three of Kenya's four presidents -- including Kenyatta and his father -- have come from the Kikuyu ethnic group. The other was Kalenjin. That has left the Luos -- Odinga prominent among them -- and other major ethnic groups feeling excluded from power and marginalised for over half a century. 16.08.2017 LISTEN I am not following the bandwagon of nonsense. I am not allowing anyone to pull me by the nose. I am not buying politically motivated propaganda. I am not allowing mischievous and dishonest elements play on my intelligence. I refuse to be inflicted with selective amnesia. I refuse to be unfair. I refuse to champion inequity and injustice. Yes, I may hate corruption. Yes, I may dislike Diezani Allison Madueke, but I refuse to buy the stories of protected thieves like Ibrahim Magu, the so-called EFCC chairman. I refuse to buy anything that comes out of House of Lies called Aso Rock. I refuse to believe in the guilt of Diezani. I refuse to join the proverbial Roman crowd to shout "Crucify her! Crucify her!" No! You can take it or leave it. Or if you like as usual, abuse me. All this media trial is blackmail. It is not justice. The motives are unholy. They are satanic. They are evil. They seek not justice or equity. They seek not to cleanse the reeking society. They are designed to mislead the people. They are designed to misinform the unwary. They are designed to divert attention away from the extant evils and shenanigans in Aso Rock. The continued media propaganda against Diezani has ulterior motives. It serves not the interest of the people except some Hausa Fulani oligarchs who are upset that a Southerner, and a woman for that matter, had the effrontery, the audacity, the courage, the bravery and the boldness to participate in the so called looting, something considered an exclusive preserve of their own. They want to make her pay for it. From my own understanding, this is the crux of the matter. And for this reason and others, I refuse to accept the GUILTY VERDICT against Diezani. Even when pronounced guilty in a Nigerian Court of Law, I will refuse to buy it until Mohammadu Buhari is arraigned and tried. Or Lamido Sanusi. Or Ibrahim Babangida. Or General Abdulsalaam. Or Olusegun Obasanjo. All of them have stolen from Nigeria. More so, until she is convicted in a court of law, it remains what it is, an ALLEGATION. There are so many allegations of corruption against MOHAMMADU BUHARI with a lot of EVIDENCE in the public space. But because he was never convicted by a court of law, he is the President of the God-forsaken country today. In addition, the majority of those who have stolen our money are of the Hausa Fulani stock. Nothing has happened to any of them . They are still stealing Nigeria dry as we speak and nothing is happening to them. So, why Diezani? Is it because she is a Southerner? Or because she is a woman? Why Diezani? Why? When Buhari was asked to defend himself at Oputa Panel over the $2.8 billion that disappeared under him as Minister of Petroleum among other crimes, he baulked and acted above the law. He refused to show up. He knew he would be found wanting. He dodged it. No one says nothing about that. Now everyone is opening their mouths to vilify Goodluck Jonathan and Diezani as if they are the only corrupt people in Nigeria. What did GEJ do that Buhari has not done worse? What did Diezani do that the Hausa Fulani thieves have not done worse since 1960? Who are the real thieves in Nigeria beyond the Hausa Fulani oligarchy and their sentries all over? What kind of conscienceless people would apply different rules for the same crimes? What kind of evil crowd would cheer on this kind of odious hypocrisy? It is more annoying when you realize that the PETROL which provided all the stolen money comes from the Southsouth. All the money came and are still coming from Jonathan and Diezani 's homeland. If the Hausa Fulani are entitled to steal the money why not GEJ and Diezani? Why not them? Buhari and his Fulani brethren have been stealing our money since 1960 while the core North produced nothing. Now just for once, a Southerner or Southsoutherner, has a little chance and they want to bring the World to an end? They could not even bring charges against her. They keep trying her in the media. They keep blackmailing her. They keep lying against her in most situations. For your attention, all fake corruption fighters, NOTHING is gonna happen to DIEZANI ALLISON -MADUEKE in Nigeria. Can't say anything about anywhere else. As long as BUHARI, or IBB or Abacha or his family and all the HAUSA FULANI thieves who have been stealing our money since 1960 did not go to jail, NOTHING MUST and NOTHING WILL happen to GEJ and Diezani. Until we break the useless country up, we are in the "shit" together. Anyone is free to accuse me of supporting corruption. You are free to insinuate that I have been paid. I don't care. I don't give a damn! My conscience is clean and clear. All I want is FAIRNESS. What is good for a Hausa Fulani kleptomaniac should be good for an Ijaw kleptomaniac. It should be good enough for any other kleptomaniac from any other ethnic group. Yes, what is good for the goose should be good for the gander. I am tired of HYPOCRISY. I am tired of UNFAIRNESS. I am tired of IMBALANCE. I am tired of fake SUPERIORITY COMPLEX. We either fight corruption or leave it. No selective JUSTICE. Corruption did not start under GEJ and obviously, it has continued under Buhari. You can all hala all you want, MAGU knows what he is doing. He would not dare cross the line. He cannot, because he is aware of the consequences. If you can't try Buhari and others, please, leave Diezani alone. Justice Ore in the middle introduces Justice Matusses on the right Guinea Bissau President on the left 16.08.2017 LISTEN Bissau (Guinea Bissau), Aug. 16, CDA Consult President Jose Mario Vaz of the Republic of Guinea Bissau has pledged to ratify the Protocol establishing the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights. Guinea Bissau signed the Protocol establishing the African Court in June 1998 but is yet to ratify the Protocol and deposit the Declaration that allows its citizens and Non-Governmental Organisations access to the African Court. My commitment to my people is to guarantee basic human rights in my country...am therefore ready to set in motion the necessary legal requirement to ratify the Protocol, President Mario Vaz stated during discussion with African Court Delegation at the capital Bissau. The African Court delegation was led by its President Justice Sylvain Ore, the Vice President Justice Ben Kioko, Justice Angelo Matusse and the Registry staff. President Mario Vaz expressed satisfaction over the objectives behind the establishment of the African Court, adding that human rights issues are fundamental to achieving socio-economic development in African countries. The African Court delegation also paid courtesy call on the Prime Minister H. E Umaro Sissoco Embalo who noted that the government will immediately task the relevant authorities to prepare documents for submission to the National Assembly for ratification of the African Court Protocol. He said: I am a strong believer in Pan-Africanism and will do whatever possible to strengthen AU organs and institutions...I will be an Ambassador for the Court. Justice Sylvain Ore, President of African Court commended the President Mario Vaz for exhibiting total commitment to ratify the Protocol within reasonable time and explained that the visit form part of the broader strategy to project the Court to achieve its objectives. He said there is a need for more countries to ratify the Protocol and deposit the Declaration that allows access to the African Court by Non-Governmental Organizations and individuals, It is therefore refreshing to hear the President of Guinea Bissaus assurance to ratify the Protocol. He said the success of the African Court as a human rights protection mechanism requires much wider ratification of the Protocol by Member States, as well as their acceptance of the competence of the Court by making the Declaration under Article 34(6). This universal ratification will give the African Court the legitimacy it needs to effectively discharge its mandate. So far, 30 out of 55 AU Member States have ratified the Protocol, and only eight countries have made a declaration under Article 34(6) that allows access to the Court by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and individuals. It is within this framework that since 2010, the African Court has embarked on a sensitization programme, which has enabled it to carry out outreach visits, seminars and conferences at national, regional and continental levels, Justice Ore said. He added: These activities are aimed at enabling the African Court to interact with different actors in order to afford them the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the Courts mission and possibilities that it offers in terms of human rights protection. The African Court undertook similar sensitizations to the Arab Republic of Egypt and Republic of Tunisia in April this year which resulted in Tunisia depositing a declaration allowing NGOs and individuals to access the Court, whereas Egypt expressed its willingness to work towards the ratification of the Protocol establishing the Court. The African Court was established by virtue of Article 1 of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the establishment of an African Court on Human and Peoples Right to complement the protective mandate of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights with a view to enhancing the protection of human rights on the continent. The African Court mission also held talks with the Chief Justice; the Minister for Public Affairs (standing-in for the Minister of Justice); the First Vice President of the National Assembly; the Bar Association; and the Guinea Bissau National Commission on Human Rights, among others. Communication for Development and Advocacy Consult (CDA Consult) provides tailor made development communication tools necessary for operational transformation and translating dreams into achievable goals and equips clients with mechanism for public education on specific issues. It also provides effective back-up or frontline monitoring and evaluation tools to ensure value for money delivery of projects, whilst providing clients with skills to deliver timely and accurate information on their activities, work, programmes and projects. CDA Consult is also aimed at building a responsive working culture for corporate growth through a social process at institutional levels based on dialogue using a broad range of tools and methods. It also assists client to use continuous and adaptive process of gathering, organising and formulating information and data into argument and to communicate to policy-makers through various interpersonal and mass media communication channels. Freetown (AFP) - Sierra Leone began a weeklong period of national mourning on Wednesday as it emerged that 105 children were killed by the mudslides and torrential flooding that have left 600 people still missing in Freetown, in one of the worst natural disasters to hit the country. President Ernest Bai Koroma said flags would fly at half-mast after calling the humanitarian challenge ahead "overwhelming" and seeking urgent help after visiting the devastated hilltop community of Regent on Tuesday. Officials at Freetown's central morgue said Wednesday that 105 of the more than 300 officially dead were children, and burials began on Tuesday for some of the bodies too mutilated to identify. An independent but unofficial morgue estimate put the toll at 400 dead. Sierra Leone's capital Freetown was hit by three days of torrential rain that triggered deadly flooding and mudslides The government of Sierra Leone, one of the poorest countries in the world, has promised relief for what the Red Cross says is more than 3,000 people left homeless, opening an emergency response centre in Regent and registration centres to count those left on the streets. The United Nations said Tuesday that it was evaluating humanitarian needs in country, while the first Israeli aid packages were sent from Senegal and the World Food Programme (WFP) distributed two-week rations of rice, pulses and cooking oil to 7,500 people. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in New York that the UN country team was "supporting national authorities in rescue operations, helping evacuate residents, providing medical assistance to the injured, registering survivors, and providing food rations, water and dignity kits to those affected." Several aid organisations warned that the rainy season was not yet over and that more flooding could arrive at any moment in the west African coastal city of around a million people. From shock to anger Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma fought back tears on Tuesday as he visited the devastated hilltop community of Regent, saying the scale of the challenge ahead was "overwhelming us" Speaking to AFP at the mortuary at the Connaught Hospital, technician Mohamed Sinneh Kamara said his team lacked equipment to process and identify the bodies that are still piling up. "We have logistical constraints including a lack of gloves, PPE (personal protective equipment) and rain boots," he said as families gathered to identify their loved ones' bodies. Mabinty Sesay's family had gone to Regent for an all-night prayer session when their church was buried in the mudslide. "I have lost 13 of my family members but was only able to identify two," she told AFP at the morgue. One woman collapsed after seeing her husband's dead body among the piles of corpses, amid a powerful stench of decomposing flesh. Adele Fox, national health coordinator for Sierra Leone at the charity Concern Worldwide, told AFP that the search for bodies continued but that survivors were facing difficult conditions. "There is basic need for food, water, sanitation equipment and medical assistance. Since it is still the rainy season, further flooding is also a possibility," she said. The sentiment among those in the disaster areas had shifted from shock and grief to anger at what is an annual problem in Freetown, though never before on this scale. Sierra Leone environment group Society 4 Climate Change Communication has called the tragedy a "wake-up call" "There is some frustration over the regularity of flooding and destruction during the rainy season and its effects," Fox said. The British charity Oxfam said it was trying to prevent a cholera outbreak by distributing clean water and hygiene kits to 2,000 households. "These are some of the poorest areas in Freetown. Water and sanitation in homes is at best very basic, but at worst nonexistent. Overcrowding is a serious health risk and a potential breeding ground for the spread of disease," said Daniel Byrne, part of the Oxfam team in the city. Wake-up call? There was growing concern that the warning signs had been missed in a city where illegal construction on precarious ground is common, and President Koroma said in a statement released by his office that "relocation and opening up of a new settlement around the Freetown peninsula" would be considered. Many homes are now without a water supply due to damage to a reservoir near Regent, according to the Guma Valley Water Company. At least 300 people have been killed in the flooding and mudslides in Sierra Leone's capital Freetown An official with Freetown's city council said that 150 burials took place on Tuesday evening and that many victims would be laid to rest in graves alongside those of the country's last humanitarian disaster, the Ebola crisis, in nearby Waterloo. But a government statement said the burials of unidentified bodies would take place on Thursday and Friday. Guinean President Alpha Conde visited to express his solidarity with Sierra Leone on Tuesday and was galvanising other west African nations to provide aid, his aide Naby Youssouf Kiridi Bangoura told AFP. Three days of torrential rain culminated on Monday in the Regent mudslide and torrential flooding elsewhere in the city, one of the world's wettest urban areas. Freetown is hit each year by flooding during several months of rain, and in 2015 bad weather killed 10 people and left thousands homeless. Sierra Leone ranked 179th out of 188 countries on the UN Development Programme's 2016 Human Development Index, a basket of data combining life expectancy, education and income and other factors. 16.08.2017 LISTEN You see, the days when the key operatives of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) used intimidation tactics to have their way and literally shortchange Ghanaians of our hard-won democratic political culture are well behind us. And any dastardly attempt by the NDC apparatchiks to regress the onward movement of the removal petition against Electoral Commissioner Charlotte Kesson-Smith Osei, will be met with fierce resistance and consequences which the cynical likes of Mr. Daniel Allotey-Jacobs, the Central Regional Chairman of the main opposition National Democratic Congress will not be able to handle (See Petition Against EC Boss a Bomb at Nana Addos Doorstep Allotey Jacobs Peacefmonline.com / Ghanaweb.com 7/26/17). For starters, as already detailed in several previous columns, short of having a glaring motive of rigging the polls to mischievously entrench himself at the Flagstaff House, former President John Dramani Mahama had absolutely no meaningful reason to have transferred Mrs. Osei from one statutory commission to another. Indeed, in removing the latter from her chairwomanship of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), President Mahama flagrantly breached the statutory independence that went with the job. Functionally speaking, Mrs. Oseis transfer did not constitute a promotion from the NCCE to the EC. What it obviously did was that it prevented the young woman from gaining adequate administrative experience at the deliberately cash-famished NCCE. Thus, the latter institution continues to woefully underperform its major statutory mandate of educatingall Ghanaian citizens about their civil rights and responsibilities in our otherwise robust and progressive democratic culture. Her unorthodox transfer to the EC had only one major motive, to shamelessly and unconscionably rig the 2016 general election in favor of her benefactor. We have all witnessed enough from the EC Chair, particularly her fierce, contumelious and obnoxious running battles with the erstwhile Wood Supreme Court to be facilely deceived by the real motive behind her transfer. Needless to say, it was absolutely no stroke of genius on her part that Election 2016 did not go the way of the sort of veritable circus act vis-a-vis the infamous pink sheets litigation that characterized the 2012 Afari-Gyan-presided Presidential Election. But, really, what I want to highlight here is the vicious strategic jujitsu so deftly orchestrated by a pathologically tribalistic Mr. Mahama, who had decided to use tribesmen and women from the ethnic group of his main challenger and most formidable political opponent against Nana Akufo-Addo, namely, Messrs. Julius Debrah and Ofosu-Ampofo, and then Mrs. Charlotte Osei. And, indeed, for quite a while, this tendentious gambit appeared to be working wonders, except that the infamous military fatigues-addicted Bole-Bamboi petty warlord had scandalously forgotten that Nana Akufo-Addos kinsmen and clanswomen had started doing modern politics long before the Ganger Boy first sighted the trundling waves of the Atlantic and Gulf of Guinea. What is significant to observe here, and for the edification of the other NDC operatives who think like Mr. Allotey-Jacobs, is the fact that any decisions ultimately taken on the EC petition by either President Akufo-Addo or Attorney-General Gloria Akuffo would be squarely and categorically based on the strength of the evidence, rather than either sheer political expediency or partisan considerations. It would also definitely not be based on whether supporters and sympathizers of the main opposition National Democratic Congress are in agreement with the same or not. And these NDC apparatchiks and their supporters, sponsors and sympathizers had better not raise capricious Cain, or they would be promptly made to understand the fact that they are no more entitled to Ghanaian citizenship than their political opponents among the rank-and-file membership of the ruling New Patriotic Party. *Visit my blog at: kwameokoampaahoofe.wordpress.com Ghanaffairs The share price of Fastbrick Robotics Ltd [ASX:FBR] has jumped 34.29% at time of writing thanks to a massive deal. What deal? Fastbrick has agreed to build a minimum of 50,000 homes by 2022 in Saudi Arabia, with a target of half a million homes by 2022. No small feat, but it represents a big win for this Aussie tech company. Fastbrick will need to provide 100 of their Hadrian X bricklaying robots to make it happen. Its an ambitious goal, but one the Saudi government is desperate to facilitate. The country is currently in the midst of a housing shortage and is desperately trying to remedy the problem. Can Fastbrick make it happen? The finer details on the deal are yet to agreed upon, with the company commenting: Final pricing in relation to the Hadrian X robots has not yet been settled however initial pricing discussion indicate a significant potential opportunity for the Company. Whats more, the agreement could lead to more business opportunities in the region. Fastbrick has its sights set on a few potential markets already. There is no doubt this could be a breakout moment for the company. It also comes roughly a month after Fastbrick signed a deal with Caterpillar Inc. [NYSE:CAT], which develops and sells manufacturing machinery. For now, investors will have to wait and see how the deal unfolds. But both the company and its shareholders can take a moment to celebrate. Regards, Ryan Clarkson-Ledward Junior Analyst, Money Morning PS: You wont find overnight gains like Fastbricks in blue-chip stocks, so why not look into small-caps? Small-cap stocks offer some of the best returns on the market. Youve just got to know where and what to look out for. Sam Volkering, our small-cap guru, reveals his three best small-cap picks for 2017 in his report The Top Three Aussie Small-cap Stocks To Own In 2017. To get your free copy, click here. 'The big truck is still on ... Angels Camp Police Dept. logo View Photos Angel Camp, CA The California Attorney Generals office is getting involved with an investigation into alleged misappropriation of funds by former Angels Camp City Administrator Michael McHatten. Today the Angels Camp Police Department released a statement in reaction to public questions regarding its role in the investigation. The department noted that the release was done in the interest of maintaining transparency and trust with the public. It went on to state that in February of 2017 information was presented to the Police Chief and the Calaveras County District Attorney regarding approximately $29,000.00 in public funds that were potentially misappropriated by McHatten during his time with the City of Angels Camp. The Angels Camp Police Department reports that due to the nature of the allegations, and lack of local investigative resources, the decision was made to seek outside, independent investigative assistance. The release also acknowledged that city staff is cooperating fully with their (the states) investigation, and providing whatever assistance is requested to facilitate a timely and thorough investigation. Since an outside law enforcement agency is handling the investigation, it would not be appropriate to comment further on this matter. Angels Camp Police report that most if not all of the monies in question have since been repaid to the city. This issue was referenced in the recent Grand Jury report, click here for that story. For quite a while now, Nigeria has been stigmatised by the international community due to the runaway corruption prevalent in the country. This has seen the creation of numerous bodies and campaigns to try and slay the corruption monster, often to no avail. Things began to change in 2000 with the creation of the ICPC. What is the full meaning of ICPC and its functions? The ICPC logo. Photo: @icpcnigeria Source: Instagram The ICPC was established and mandated to educate, prohibit, detect, investigate, and prosecute corrupt practices and related offences in Nigeria. The body also offers protection to whistleblowers to foster public support for the fight against corruption. What is the ICPC meaning in Nigeria? What is the full meaning of ICPC? What is the meaning of ICPC? The ICPC full meaning is the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission. Formation of the ICPC The body was created and signed into law in June 2000. It was created and empowered under the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act of 2000. It was later inaugurated on September 200 by the then Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo. It is governed by the ICPC chairperson. PAY ATTENTION: Subscribe to Digital Talk newsletter to receive must-know business stories and succeed BIG! What is the ICPC's mandate? An image depicting corruption. Photo: pexels.com, @cottonbro Source: UGC The ICPC's mandate includes the investigation, prosecution, and prevention of offences of corruption. The body reviews any lax laws in government parastatals, ministries, and agencies that could provide corruption loopholes. The body also provides civic education against corruption and enlists the help of the Nigerian populace to fight corruption. What are the duties of ICPC? Here are the three main functions of the ICPC. To educate and enlighten the public on and against corruption and related offences with a view to enlisting and fostering public support for the fight against corruption. To examine, review and enforce the correction of corruption-prone systems and procedures of public bodies, with a view to eliminating or minimising corruption in public life. To receive and investigate reports of the conspiracy to commit, attempt to commit or actual commission of the offences as created by the act and, in appropriate cases, prosecute the offenders(s). Why was the ICPC formed? Before the formation of the ICPC, Nigeria had seen numerous failed attempts to deal with widespread corruption. The first one was the 1977 Jaji Declaration by then General Olusegun Obasanjo. The second attempt was the 1981-1983 Ethical Revolution of President Shehu Shagari. This was then followed by the National Orientation Movement by General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida in 1986. After these and more attempts, the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act of 2000 was finally passed, marking the first somewhat successful attempt at curbing corruption in Nigeria. Still, the ICPC has faced numerous challenges, most related to its scope. What is the operational structure of the ICPC? A person holding a roll of money. Photo: pexels.com, @cottonbro Source: UGC The body is divided into 10 departments and 6 units. The departments, which are directorates, include the operational departments and general service departments. The former includes operations, legal services, asset tracing, recovery & management, special services, systems study & review, and public enlightenment & education. The general services departments are administration & human resources, finance & accounts, planning research & statistics, and the Anti-Corruption Academy of Nigeria (ACAN). The 6 units are internal audit, procurement, reform, protocol, internal security & support, and the clinic. Who are the former ICPC chairmen? Here is a look at the people who have served as ICPC chairmen or acting chairmen since its inception. Chairman Period Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye January 2018-Present Barrister Ekpo Una Owo Nta June 2012-January 2018 Barrister Abdullahi Bako August 2011-November 2011 Dr Rose Abang-Wushishi April 2011-August 2011 Professor Uriah Angulu March 2011 Justice Emmanuel Ayoola 2005-2010 Justice Mustapha Akanbi 2000-2005 What timeline does the ICPC cover? The Commission can only investigate and prosecute acts of corruption committed from 13th June 2000, when the act came into existence. The body's mandate is not retroactive. Have you been looking for the full meaning of ICPC, as well as its mandate and its functions? This guide has you covered. The body, formed in 2000, has become quite essential in Nigeria's persistent fight against corruption. READ ALSO: What are the 10 economic problems that Nigeria is facing? Legit.ng recently explored the main economic problems plaguing Nigeria. Like other middle-income countries with emerging markets, the country has witnessed gradual expansion in communication, technology, finance, manufacturing, and service sectors. However, problems such as poor health facilities, high levels of crime, unemployment, and corruption continue to be pressing issues in the country's economy. Source: Legit.ng If you want to study abroad, then you have a desire to have a memorable experience! South Africa is definitely a place where you will want to study! This country is a cultural mix where you can make a lot of interesting choices! Therefore, Legit.ng presents you top 5 cheap universities in South Africa for international students! Why Universities in South Africa for International students? South Africa is one of the leading countries in Africa by education! It also offers a great variety of languages! You can choose one out of ten languages to study in South Africa. South Africa also has great teachers who can ensure your knowledge. Living in South Africa is also cheap. You can survive in South Africa even if you have as much as $400 in your pocket. It will be enough to cover expenses for food, traveling, accommodation and utility bills. According to the Low Tuition Universities, the undergraduate programmes in South Africa will cost you $2,500-$4,500. At the same time, the postgraduate programs will cost you about $2,700-$3000. The price is for one academic year. Why these top 5 cheap universities in South Africa for international students? These universities are considered to be the best for international students not only because of the price but also by the quality of education. It`s quite possible to find a business school or lower level universities in South Africa. Nevertheless, regarding quality and price, these universities in South Africa are the best. If you enter one of these best universities in Africa, then you will certainly be successful in your future career! Top 5 List of Universities in South Africa for international Students READ ALSO: Safety measures when using chemicals: top 10 rules 5. Rhodes University If you want to enter Rhodes University, then you need to know about two basic types of fees. The first fee is the tuition fee which ranges from R29,200 ($2174) to R50,700 ($3.775). This payment is for undergraduate programmes in the university. You will also need to pay residence fee which ranges from R51,900 ($3864) to R54,500 ($4058). Do not forget that you will also need to pay registration fee R4,400 ($328). This university is one of the oldest in Africa! It was established in 1904. For today, it has over seven thousand students. There are six faculties in this university of Africa: - harmacy; - Education; - Science; - Law; - Commerce; - Humanities. Choose one of the faculties above and become a student of Rhodes University! 4. North-West University Do you want to become a student of the North West University in South Africa? Then you may start with the application fee to study there. It will cost you just R150 ($11). Still, do not forget to have the R500 ($37) for application placement fee which will also be required! If you are wondering about the cost of the undergraduate programmes, then you will not be disappointed. According to the tuition fees from the previous year, you will need to pay somewhere from R31,000 ($2313) to R47,000 ($3507). You will also need to pay residence fees to stay in the university. You will need to pay R17,630 ($1315) for a standard room and R18,280 ($1364) for a single room. 3. University of Cape Town It`s also one of the best universities in Africa. According to the list of payments from the official website of the University of Cape Town. The international student may be required to pay R90,000 ($6716) for full-time undergraduate programmes.and R60,000 ($4478) for Master`s programmes. You will also need to pay the residence fee of R28,000 ($2089). If you want to get the Ph.D. degree in this university, then you will need to pay the full Master`s Degree Fee plus R3,750 ($279). Nevertheless, it may not be the full cost for international students. The number can be changed depending on the circumstances and University policies. 2. University of Fort Hare It`s another university that can provid good education for you. From the official webpage of this university of Africa, it`s clear that international students will need to pay the Application fee of R425 ($32) and the repatriation fee R500 ($37). What about undergraduate programmes? According to the official website of the university, the fee charges range between R26,000 ($1940) and 45,000 ($3358). In addition, you will also need to pay the residence fees which are in the range of R14,500 ($1082) and R25,000 ($1865). 1. Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University is one of the best universities for internationals students. The reason for that is the wide range of tuition fees. The fees will differ from year to year. For instance, if you pay for the first year of study R19,000 ($1418), then you may pay R15,000 ($1119) for the second year. The application fee for the university is R500. The university fees for the undergraduate programmes range from R3,000 ($224) to R47,000 ($3507). Do not forget about the residence fees that can start from R15,000 ($1119). Universities in South Africa for International Students South Africa opens its arms to international students every year! It`s your opportunity to study in the best universities in Africa. Also, it`s quite affordable to study in South Africa. It`s also possible to work there during study. Do not miss this chance to study abroad! READ ALSO: What is micro teaching? Source: Legit.ng Legit.ng came across videos shared by a Facebook user who has been left confused by a strange foam-like substance falling instead of rain in Enugu state. According to a post shared by the Facebook user identified as Francis Obumneme Oha, they experienced something different from the usual when foam-like water fell instead of rain recently. The young man who sounded really baffled while recording the videos, said he was even afraid as he had put his leg into the water. He referred to it as 'a mysterious flood with foam' and also as 'something else...natural detergent'. Sharing the post, he wrote: "Serious rain in Enugu now,with mysterious detergent foam. Almost entered my room. This is first of its kind." The streets were filled with the foamy substance. Photo: Facebook/Francis Obumneme Oha READ ALSO: Instead of rain, hailstone falls in Jos See the videos below: Na wa o! Meanwhile, see this video to learn how to get rid of the cold in this rainy season: Source: Legit.ng The importance of crude oil in Nigeria is massive because oil generates about 5.9% to 9% of the country's GDP and over 95% of Nigeria's export revenue. Nigeria is the leading oil exporting country in Africa and eighth in the world. Find out the benefits of crude oil in Nigeria and other essential details from this article. A cropped image of a man refueling a sports car at the gas station. Photo: pexels.com, @Erik Mclean (modified by author) Source: UGC Oil production funds numerous multi-billion investments in Nigeria. The government finances almost all developing sectors, infrastructure, etc., using revenue from oil production. Additionally, the sector provides jobs for millions of Nigerian citizens and has greatly improved people's living standards. When was oil discovered in Nigeria? Several international companies began exploring oil in Nigeria and its commercial value in 1907. Shell-BP (Shell and British Petroleum) got a license to begin its research in 1937. It was the first company to discover this natural resource in 1956 in the Niger Delta at Oloibiri, Bayelsa State. Shell-BP succeeded and drilled the first commercial oil in Nigeria in 1958. Nigeria's major reserves are the low deltas of the Niger River. Meanwhile, there are many minor reserves spread countrywide. According to OPEC's report (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries), the world has around 1,241.82 billion barrels of oil. Here are current statistics about oil in Nigeria: Facts about the oil industry in Nigeria in 2022 Value of petroleum exports $41,378 million Current account balance $3,638 million Proven crude oil reserves 37,050 million barrels Proven natural gas reserves 5,848 billion cubic meters Crude oil production 1,323,000 barrels per day Marketed production of natural gas 48,572 million cubic meters Refinery capacity 486,000 barrels per calendar day Output of petroleum products 5000 barrels per day Oil demand 495,0000 barrels per day Crude oil exports 1,592,000 barrels per day Exports of petroleum products 11,000 barrels per day Natural gas exports 38,464 million cubic meters Oil production companies in Nigeria focus on the most productive oil fields in the coastal Niger Delta Basin. Nigeria extracts several types of oil of the highest quality, including Forcados, Esquavos, Odudu, and Bonnie. Check out the benefits of crude oil in Nigeria's economy below. Importance of crude oil in Nigeria's economy Nigeria has a total of 159 oil fields and 1481 wells in operation. The coastal Niger Delta Basin has 78 oil fields. Small unproductive fields accounted for 62.1% of Nigeria's oil production capacity, while the sixteen largest fields produced 37.9% of Nigerias petroleum. Below is a list of 10 importance of crude oil in Nigeria: 1. Oil production is the country's main source of revenue Nigeria's oil revenue has totaled $340 billion in exports since the 1970s. Nigeria's major clients for decades are the UK, Germany, and China. OPEC's Oil Market Report for July 2022, obtained by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), showed an increase of 5,000 barrels per day compared to the average 1.233 million BPD produced in May 2022. Despite the improvement in fossil fuel prices, the oil sector contributed 5.19 percent to total real GDP (N1.055trn) in Q4 2021 and 7.24% for the entire year 2021. The figure is less than the preceding year because high inflation has reduced private sector optimism and weakened consumer spending. Nigerians hope the current economic situation will be short-term. Oil revenue is projected at N3.16 trillion, FGN Independent revenues are projected to be N1.82 trillion, and Non-oil taxes are estimated at N2.13 trillion by the end of 2022. 2. Oil is the main source of power for industries Nigeria's cars, trains, and industrial machinery use petrol and diesel. In addition, most small businesses use petrol/diesel generators for lighting and operating machines. 3. Oil is a major source of energy for households Most families in Nigeria use petrol or diesel-powered generators to light their homes and run appliances like cookers, washing machines, televisions, etc. Many households also use domestic natural gas for cooking and lighting. Families that use electricity still have generators as alternative energy sources during electricity blackouts. An oil refinery plant. Photo: pexels.com, @Tom Fisk Source: UGC 4. It promotes industrial growth and development Oil is used to make many products for different sectors. Some of them are listed below: Schools: rulers, crayons, glue, book covers, binders, ink, cartridges, etc. rulers, crayons, glue, book covers, binders, ink, cartridges, etc. Hospitals: binding agent for creams, coatings for pills, disposable syringes, contact lenses, etc. binding agent for creams, coatings for pills, disposable syringes, contact lenses, etc. Fashion and beauty sector: clothing, fabrics, cosmetics like nail polish, deodorants, shampoo, clothing, fabrics, cosmetics like nail polish, deodorants, shampoo, Out shopping: shopping bags, credit cards, egg cartons, plastic milk bottles shopping bags, credit cards, egg cartons, plastic milk bottles Home: non-stick cooking pans, upholstery, carpets, cling film, laundry detergents, dry-cleaning products, storage containers, etc. non-stick cooking pans, upholstery, carpets, cling film, laundry detergents, dry-cleaning products, storage containers, etc. Building: roofing tiles, paint, pipes, insulating material, paint, etc. roofing tiles, paint, pipes, insulating material, paint, etc. Transportation: asphalt road surfaces, bike crash helmets, bicycle handlebar grips, car and bike tires, etc. asphalt road surfaces, bike crash helmets, bicycle handlebar grips, car and bike tires, etc. Office: computer hardware, diskettes, faxes, pens, printing ink, chairs, etc. computer hardware, diskettes, faxes, pens, printing ink, chairs, etc. Sports and entertainment: cassette tapes, camera film, artists' paint, trainers, football boots, shin pads, roller blades, windsurfers, etc. cassette tapes, camera film, artists' paint, trainers, football boots, shin pads, roller blades, windsurfers, etc. Farming: fertilizers, pesticides, garden furniture, etc. 5. The oil industry attracts foreign investors Foreign investors who want to cut the cost of importing oil as a raw material for their products establish manufacturing companies in Nigeria. Additionally, some oil mining and production companies in Nigeria are foreign firms. 6. It creates jobs for many Nigerians Another importance of crude oil 194 is that it creates jobs for many Nigerians. 0.03% of Nigeria's 69.54 million labor force worked in the oil industry as of 2018. These were about 2 million people, and the figure has been increasing gradually. Oil companies hire diverse professionals from petroleum engineers, finance and accounting specialists, offshore technicians, petroleum and wellsite geologists, heavy equipment operators, and more. A Shell petrol station. Photo: unsplash.com, @James Frewin Source: UGC 7. Oil production promotes infrastructural developments The Nigerian government spends less money budgeting for road construction and renovation because they do not import oil used on asphalt road surfaces, fuel used by construction machines and trucks, or other activities that need oil or fuel. The same goes for other public projects, and the government also uses revenue from oil production for other infrastructural developments like building and expanding train, water, and aviation transportation systems. 8. The oil industry improves people's standards of living Another economic importance of petroleum in Nigeria is that the sector improves people's living standards. For example, the government used oil production revenue to build and improve social amenities like schools, hospitals, police stations, recreation centers, and more. In addition, people who work in the oil industry also make enough money to afford quality education, health services, recreation services, and more. 9. Oil production promotes security in the country Households and businesses use generators for lighting at night. Others use generators to power their CCTV cameras, electric fences, and other security systems during electricity blackouts. Excellent security is one of the main boosters of economic growth. 10. Oil production lowers energy costs and promotes energy security A massive oil and gas supply lowers energy costs for the people. People and businesses can avoid high electricity costs by using oil and gas as main or alternative energy sources. Additionally, a country that produces oil and gas in large quantities achieves energy security because it invests less in electricity, solar, and other energy sources. NIPC road-map on how to maximize the importance of crude oil in Nigeria A tanker truck is on the road. Photo: pexels.com, @Chrofit the man to call Source: UGC The Nigerian Investment and Promotion Commission has plans (road-map) for improving oil production and increasing its economic benefits to the country. The commission wants to achieve these goals: 1. The commission aims at improving security and environmental safety in oil-producing areas Oil facilities in Nigeria are constantly being attacked. The conflict in the Niger Delta (between Nigerian government troops, oil companies' mercenaries, and ethnic groups) began in the 1990s, and the "Boko Haram" terrorists usually attack oil pipelines, towers, and workers. Improving environmental security and safety will increase national crude oil production, investments, and infrastructural development in these regions. 2. NIPC wants to shift focus from oil to gas because Nigeria has more gas than oil Experts say that the country has the potential to move from the world's ninth gas-producing country to the fourth position if it fully exploits this natural resource. 3. They want to reduce the importation of petroleum products by 60 percent Nigeria will become a net exporter of petroleum products and value-added petrochemicals if it reduces the importation of petroleum products by 60 percent. Therefore, an aggressive revamping of local refining capacity through greenfield, co-location, and modular refineries is necessary. 4. NIPC suggests a review of old policies and laws in the oil and gas industry The commission wants to split the Petroleum Industry Act into three bills for easier passage by the National Assembly. The new laws will focus on the financial and legal governance of the petroleum industry. 5. The commission wants to create a suitable business and investment environment to accelerate Nigeria's income from the oil industry Nigeria's primary oil investors are the US, UK, Germany, and China. PetroChina Corporation signed an agreement with Nigerian representatives to supply more than 30,000 barrels per day in 2005. In 2006, China allocated $1 billion to Nigeria for railway developments, and the Chinese company China Railway Construction won a tender for railway construction in areas controlled by Chinese representatives. In addition, Beijing invested over $4 billion in Nigeria's oil industry in the 2000s, and PRC purchased a controlling stake in the refinery. 6. The commission wants to improve on stakeholder management and international coordination NNPC wants to make Nigeria visible in global oil production by eliminating constraints on crude oil and gas production. 7. NNPC and its subsidiaries want an efficient and transparent oil production industry in Nigeria Conducting affairs in the national oil company more transparently will create more revenue for the nation. An outer oil port. Photo: pixabay.com, @hpgruesen Source: UGC Which oil companies are in Nigeria? NNPC (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation) oversees the operations of oil production companies and TNCs (transnational corporations) in Nigeria's oil fields. Local companies support the "Nigeriazation" policy in the oil sector. As a result, the government withdrew oil production licenses for 16 companies in 1999. New foreign oil companies in the country do not have a joint venture with NNPC but can be technical partners of local Nigerian oil companies on the condition of the division of products. Here is a list of some established oil companies in Nigeria: Shell Mobil Chevron Agip Elf Texaco Ashland Consolidated Oil Limited Dubri Oil Company Limited List 5 importance of crude oil to Nigeria Oil production is the country's main source of revenue. Oil is the main source of energy for industries. It creates jobs for many Nigerians. Oil production lowers energy costs and promotes energy security. The oil industry improves people's standards of living. Oil-producing states are yet to fully experience the importance of crude oil in Nigeria due to corruption, high insecurity, and other factors. As a result, the country develops at a slower rate than expected. The government is trying to find better ways to manage this natural resource and eliminate factors affecting it negatively. READ ALSO: List of natural resources in Nigeria and their locations Legit.ng also shared a detailed list of Nigeria's valuable natural resources and locations. The country is blessed with coal, gold, zinc, and more minerals. Information penned in this article is essential for local and foreign investors. If you want to invest in Nigeria's mining sector, find out where minerals are located. Source: Legit.ng - The Niger Delta Peoples Congress has assured Yorubas and Igbos of their safety in the region - They asked them to disregard the quit notice issued to them by militants - The group insisted the Niger Delta is in support of one Nigeria The Niger Delta Peoples Congress (NDPC) has sent a message of assurance to Igbos and Yorubas living in the Niger Delta region to disregard the quit notice issued to them by a group. Legit.ng had earlier reported that the Coalition of Niger Delta Agitators (CNDA) had issued a statement on Thursday, August 11, asking Yorubas and Igbos in the region to vacate before October 1. READ ALSO: President Buhari lacks integrity - Anti-Buhari protesters The Punch reports that the Chief Mike Loyibo who is the convener of NDPC spoke on Tuesday, August 15, where he said the quit notice issued by the militants did not represent the position of leaders from the Niger Delta. He reiterated that the Niger Delta was in support of the unity of the country but said the government must review the rejection of devolution of power to the states. He said the rejection has heated the polity of separation and that the government must review its move. Loyibo said: "The good people of the Niger Delta region have always been peace-loving and accommodating. We see strengths and opportunities in diversity rather than divisions. The statement allegedly made by a Niger Delta militants group is not a true representation of our position. We believe in one Nigeria where every citizen is free to live, visit or do business in any part of the country. Hate speeches will never take us anywhere. Despite years of oppression, our region has remained resolute and committed to one Nigeria where justice, equity, and peace reign. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app The statement should be disregarded and all Nigerians should feel free in the Niger Delta region. He also expressed disappointment at similar quit notice issued to Igbos by Hausas living in the north. Meanwhile, the Niger Delta Youth Congress categorically separated themselves from the quit notice as they stated that it was aimed at inciting violence in the region and creating an atmosphere of hatred. Watch a Legit.ng TV video below of Nigerians speaking about whether the country should be restructured or split. Source: Legit.ng - Nnamdi Kanu said Igbos will not hesitate to defend themselves if need be - He said its only Biafra or nothing else - The IPOB leader said the group was not afraid of going to a war against Hausa Fulani people Nnamdi Kanu who is the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has said that they are not afraid of fighting against Hausa people in order to actualise Biafra. According to report, Kanu spoke through Chinasa Nworu who is the directorate of state of the group. READ ALSO: Trouble for PDP as strong chieftain dumps party (photos) He faulted the federal government for failing to grant IPOB its desired independent Biafra state and warned that if it comes to war, it would gladly and happily, go to war again. He also lashed out at Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state for preaching in support of One Nigeria. He said: We ask for a referendum to go our separate way, but you, Okorocha and your Hausa Fulani brothers are conversing for war. If it comes to that, Biafrans shall defend themselves, we have done it before and we shall gladly and happily do it again. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app Remember that 2017 shall never be compared to 1967-1970. As you summoned the pastors, traditional leaders and your so called leaders also dont fail to summon the Arewa youths to build bridges over the lives of Biafran in the Northern Nigeria over their quit notice of October 1st, 2017. Meanwhile, Ibrahim Hassan, Jigawa state deputy governor disclosed what will happen to Igbos resident in the state if the northern youths insist on sending them out of region. Reports have it that Hassan made this known while briefing journalist in Duste. Legit.ng gathered that he promised that the state government would provide security for the Igbos resident in the state. Watch a Legit.ng TV video below of Nnamdi Kanu speaking about his Biafra agitation: Source: Legit.ng - There had been rumour that Rabiu Kwankwaso has returned to PDP - Kwankwaso is reportedly one of the top northern leaders eyeing the presidency in 2019 - The news of his alleged defection is causing some fear in the All Progressives Congress There is palpable anxiety in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) following the rumoured defection of Rabiu Kwankwaso, a former governor of Kano state, to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). It was learnt that the PDP had been speaking with Kwankwaso to return to its fold and were anxiously waiting for his next move. The Nation reports that Kwankwaso confirmed on Tuesday that he was still in the APC. READ ALSO: Trouble for PDP as strong chieftain dumps party (photos) The report quoted top sources in the APC as getting uncomfortable as the rumour spread that he had moved to the PDP. It quoted an APC leader as saying: We were all shocked by the news of Kwankwasos exit from APC because Kano State was strategic to our victory in 2015. We have not been able to get in touch with the ex-governor, but we have doubts on the veracity of the news in some media. We know that Kwankwaso is a straightforward politician, he does not take action through the backdoor. We are however trying to establish contact with him to know the truth. The source added: The party is no doubt aware of a disagreement between the ex-governor and some APC leaders, especially his successor, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje. The leadership of APC has been doing its best to resolve the intra-party crisis. And in fairness, Kwankwaso has been cooperating with the party. The report also quoted a member of the National Working Committee (NWC) of APC as saying: We have been receiving enquiries from our leaders on Kwankwaso. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app We believe that some elements somewhere were flying a kite to create a crisis in our party. We suspect desperation on the part of some PDP elements. We dont know why the opposition is interested in defection of APC leaders. Are they short of credible leaders and trying to poach some in APC? Legit.ng had reported that the 2019 presidential election will definitely be more of a battle among brothers as a third northern group emerged recently and declared support for Senator Rabiu Kwakwanso, former governor of Kano state. The group spoke out just days after two other groups made their declarations, one for President Muhammadu Buhari and the other for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Ahead of the 2019 election, campaign posters of President Muhammadu Buhari have flooded some states. Watch this video: Source: Legit.ng - Airman Kalu Bernard has been sentenced to death despite plea from his counsel that he is the breadwinner of his family - Kalu reportedly killed Solape Oladipupo in Makurdi, Benue state on March 12, 2017 - Abimiku Ewuga, his counsel, said he would appeal the judgement The Nigerian Air Force on Tuesday, August 15, sentenced Airman Kalu Bernard to death for killing his lover, Solape Oladipupo, aka Shomzy Shomzy, on March 12, 2017. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the judgement started at about 9:00 am and lasted till 4:00 pm for a break. The panellists reconvened at 7:30 pm to continue with the 70-page court findings. The judge advocate, Flight Lieutenant MA Umoh, reportedly listed the eight-count charges against the 21-year-old Kalu to include murder, house breaking, impersonation, attempted murder, among others. READ ALSO: We are ready for war with Hausa/Fulani people - Nnamdi Kanu The report said the defence counsel, Abimiku Ewuga, pleaded with the court to temper justice with mercy. According to him, Kalu was his familys breadwinner. However, the president of the court, Group Captain Elisha Bindul, declared Kalu guilty in six out of the eight counts in his final judgement. He, therefore, sentenced him to death by hanging, subject to the confirmation of the conveying authority. Speaking with journalists after the judgement, Ewuga said he would appeal the ruling. Officer Kalu Bernard had on March 12, 2017, broken into Oladipupos home before shooting her in the neck at close range on the suspicion that she was in a love relationship with another man. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app The incident happened at Corporal and Below Quarters, Compound 9, Air Force Base, Makurdi, Benue state. Legit.ng recently reported that the jealous Air Force officer, Lieutenant Kalu, who shot dead his girlfriend has been arrested and his currently in custody. Lieutenant Kalu allegedly shot his girlfriend/colleague, Oladipupo Solape, to death on Sunday, March 12, in Markurdi Benue state. Watch this video of the fear that now grips Ikorodu people in Lagos as a result of attacks by the Badoo cukt group: Source: Legit.ng About two weeks ago on August 2, 2017, Legit.ng reported the robbery that took place at former President Goodluck Jonathan's house and what he lost. This is not the first time a political leader has lot valuables to acquaintances, burglars or robberies in Nigeria. Below is a list of some of the people who have been robbed or defrauded: 1. Former President Goodluck Jonathan In a statement by his spokesperson, Ikechukwu Eze, Mr Jonathan confirmed the vandalization of his house, which he bought from CITEC in 2004. Former President Goodluck Jonathan's house robbed Source: Premium Times He said: The house, which the former President bought from CITEC estate developers in 2004, was totally stripped bare by the thieves who stole every movable item in the house, including furniture sets, bed, electronics, toilet and electrical fittings, as well as all internal doors and frames." The police have since dismissed four sergeants over the vandalization. Those dismissed, according to the FCT Police Commissioner, Musa Kimo, areMusa Musa, F/No. 436691; John Nanpak, F/No. 235422; Ogah Audu, F/No.261898 and Gabriel Ugah, F/No. 425210. READ ALSO: Jonathan speaks on Abuja house burglary 2. Senate President Bukola Saraki On June 6, 2016, the home of Bukola Saraki in Ilorin was robbed and at least N12 million in cash was carted away. Yusuph Olaniyonu, Sarakis media aide said the money was stolen from the administrative office located next door to his house. The statement released was as follows: Unknown persons broke into the safe in the administrative office and stole the N12 million. The incident had since been reported to the police and the Kwara State Police Command is investigating the matter, with a view to nailing the culprits. There is no truth that the money ran into hundreds of millions, that it was in foreign currency or that the incident happened in Dr. Sarakis room. The amount was simply in naira and the money has nothing to do with the Kwara State Government as being insinuated by some people. Once again, in March 2017, while being paraded by the police, a dismissed operative of the State Security Service, Abdulrasheed Maigari, confessed that he stole N310 million from Mr. Sarakis home in Maitama District of Abuja in 2015. 3. Turai Yar'Adua In September, 2016, Turai YarAdua, the wife of the former president Umar u Musa YarAdua lost cash and property worth N91.4 million to one Yusuf Sarkin-Gida, a domestic servant to the family of the late president. The 70-year-old Mr Sarkin-Gida who had served the family for 40 years was arrested by the police following a complaint. It is not clear if he was ever charged to court. It will surprise you to know that that man has been serving the family for over 40 years and the whole keys to the house are under his custody. "There are materials and raw cash that got missing. If I give you the keys to my house and I come back and see that some things are missing, who do I ask? The rough estimate of what is missing is about N91.4 million. The suspect is the custodians of all the keys and property of Hajiya Turai YarAdua for the past 40 years. There are 37 boxes in the custody of the suspect, but only 27 boxes are in the store. The several items in the 27 boxes are completely missing and the suspect has failed to give full explanation on the goods and items in the boxes," Turai Yar'Adua. READ ALSO: Notorious robbery gang led by 22-year-old arrested in Lagos (photos) 4. Titi Abubakar Mrs Titi Abubakar, the wife of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar revealed how her business partner, Nsikakabasi Akpan-Jacobs and two others, allegedly defrauded her of N918 million in May 2017. Mr Akpan-Jacobs, who was also the firms managing director and secretary, was alleged to have gone to the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) and altered the shareholding in his favour and forging its board resolution. She said: I thought the first defendant, being a pastor, will not defraud me. I thought that he was being genuine with me during our business dealings. PAY ATTENTION: Watch more videos on Legit.ng TV Meanwhile, gunmen suspected to be armed robbers attacked the home of a former acting governor of Bayelsa state, Wenipreye Seibarugu. Seibarugu, who confirmed the incident to journalists in the state capital, Yenagoa on Tuesday, August 8, described the incident as worrisome and outrageous". Also, watch this Legit.ng video on former Nigerian presidents: Source: Legit.ng - Another group namely the Niger Delta Youths are currently staging a protest in Abuja - The protesters said they will be marching to the Presidential Villa to make their demand on the fight against corruption known - The third group's emergence comes after an attack on the Charly Boy led anti-Buhari protesters A new group, the Niger Delta Youths, are presently at the Unity Fountain to protest the level of corruption in Nigeria. The third group's emergence comes after an attack on the Charly Boy led anti-Buhari protesters at the populous Wuse Market in Abuja. READ ALSO: Hundreds of youths volunteer for Biafra Security Service The Niger Delta Youths said they will be marching to the Presidential Villa to make their demand on the fight against corruption known. Another group, the Niger Delta Youths are currently staging a protest in Abuja. Photo credit: Nnenna Ibe Speaking during the protest, the leader of the Concerned Nigerians, Deji Adeyanju, said the group will not be discouraged by the attack. Adeyanju said the #ResumeOrResign protest will continue irrespective of attacks on it from all quarters. Meanwhile, security at the Unity Fountain is tight with officers from the Nigerian Police Force, Department of State Services and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps present at the venue. The third group's emergence comes after an attack on the Charly Boy led anti-Buhari protest. Photo credit: Nnenna Ibe Legit.ng earlier reported that the anti-Buhari group was attacked by marketers in Abuja most populous market. This attack came after the group led by Charly Boy stormed Wuse market to garner support for the protest against President Muhammadu Buhari's long stay in London. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Charly Boy and his group were attacked by angry counter-protesters who are believed to be supporters of Buhari. The protesters said they will be marching to the Presidential Villa to make their demand a on the fight against corruption known. Photo credit: Nnenna Ibe He was rescued by security operatives who shot tear-gas into the air to disperse the attackers and he was then whisked away to safety. Watch Charly Boy's Our Mumu Don Do protest on Legit.ng TV held in Lagos few months ago: Source: Legit.ng - Rabiu Kwankwaso, former governor of Kano state (APC, Kano Central) has spoken up on leaving his party for another - Kwankwaso however said that he did not dump his party for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) - Kwankwaso declared that he played a key role in the formation of APC and he is still one of the strong pillars of the party Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, former Governor of Kano State, (APC, Kano Central), has debunked rumour that he dumped his party for Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Reports had it on Tuesday, August 15, that Kwankwaso and 10 members of the House of Representatives from Kano state dumped APC for PDP. According to Daily Trust, Kwankwaso however denied the reports through Nafiu Dankura, personal assistant. READ ALSO: Hundreds of youths volunteer for Biafra Security Service Dankura said: ''I want to categorically dispel the rumour and fake news that is circulating in some online media and radio stations that distinguished Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso has defected to the PDP. ''This is not true as we all know he played a key role in the formation of the APC and he is still one of the strong pillars of the party''. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app He said Kwankwaso, who prided on the senate committee on national planning, had no intention of dumping the APC. He said. ''I think we should think positive; we are taking the negative side now. It is just like me asking you: If your employers do this or that, would you leave your place of work? We should think positive; it depends on how you put it. ''We are happy now in APC, we are comfortable with our leaders in Abuja and they have not done anything wrong''. Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that there was palpable anxiety in the ruling APC following the rumoured defection of Kwankwaso to PDP. It was learnt that the PDP had been speaking with him to return to its fold and were anxiously waiting for his next move. Ahead of the 2019 election, campaign posters of President Muhammadu Buhari have flooded some states. Watch this video: Source: Legit.ng - The Charly Boy group has cancelled its planned procession to the Presidential Villa - The group said the procession was cancelled to avoid a clash with a pro-Buhari group marching to the Villa on Wednesday, August 16 - The group however said its events scheduled for different days in Lagos, London and New York will hold as planned The leaders of the Our Mumu Don Do protest on Wednesday, August 16, cancelled a proposed march to the Presidential Villa from the popular Unity Fountain for fear of clash with a pro-Buhari group. The group led by popular musician and former television presenter, Charles 'Charly Boy' Oputa, said it will not continue with its march to the Presidential Villa as scheduled. Speaking to Legit.ng, Deji Adeyanju, the convener of the Concerned Nigerians, a civil society organization, said: "It would not be wise for us to march to the Villa as planned. The group said the procession was cancelled to avoid a clash with a pro-Buhari group marching to the Villa on Wednesday, August 16 READ ALSO: Nnamdi Kanu inspects 'Biafra army' in his father's house (Video) "We cancelled the march because we understand that this other group will be going there. The group said the procession was cancelled to avoid a clash with a pro-Buhari group marching to the Villa on Wednesday, August 16 "If we decide to march there, there might be a clash." Adeyanju however, said that the candle light vigil and march at the Abuja House in London and Lagos and New York respectively, will still hold as scheduled. The daily sit-out will also continue at the Unity Fountain everyday until the president 'honourably does the needful' The group said the procession was cancelled to avoid a clash with a pro-Buhari group marching to the Villa on Wednesday, August 16 READ ALSO: 4 top Nigerian politicians who have been robbed (photo) The group had earlier announced that it will conduct a peaceful procession from the Unity Fountain to the Presidential Villa on Wednesday, August 16, at 8.30 am in Abuja. The group said the procession was cancelled to avoid a clash with a pro-Buhari group marching to the Villa on Wednesday, August 16 The #ResumeOrResign protesters also said a peaceful procession will be conducted at the Gani Fawehinmi Park (Freedom Park) in Lagos and in front of the Nigerian Consulate, 828 Second Avenue, New York on Wednesday, August 16, by 8.30 am. The group said the procession was cancelled to avoid a clash with a pro-Buhari group marching to the Villa on Wednesday, August 16 But arriving at the Unity Fountain it was observed that a third group, the Niger Delta in Total Support for President Buhari were present at the venue. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app The convener of the NDTSPB, Michael Jonny, who spoke to Legit.ng said the group was at the Unity Fountain to march in total support of the Buhari-led administration. Jonny said the NDTSPB have also converged to pass a vote of confidence on the president. He said contrary to the claims by the anti-Buhari group, the president did the needful before embarking on his medical treatment in London. Jonny said: "There is not problem with what Buhari has done, we are here to pass a vote of confidence on Buhari. "He fully transmitted power to Yemi Osinbajo who is the Acting President of Nigeria. And from all we have gathered the anti-Buhari group calling for the resumption or resignation of President Buhari are being instigated by the opposition party. READ ALSO: BREAKING: Niger Delta youths storm Abuja to protest against corruption after attack on Charly Boy "At least, if not anything else, we have seen a transparent government through the leadership of President Buhari in Nigeria. "All we want as a group is the peace and unity of Nigeria and all Nigerians rather that the disruption caused by the anti-government people." Legit.ng earlier reported that the group were at the famous Unity Fountain to protest the activities of the anti-Buhari group. The group in their score flooded the Unity Fountain with their banners and various placrads which read: "Sickness is not a crime, PDP stop! Anti-Buhari protest, Buhari was only sick not corrupt" among many others. Watch Charly Boy's Our Mumu Don Do protest on Legit.ng TV held in Lagos few months ago: Source: Legit.ng - The court has ruled that the fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by billionaire kidnapper Evans can proceed - Evans initiated a suit against the Police over infringement on his fundamental rights before a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos - The Police argued that the suit was not ripe for hearing since the Inspector-General of Police and the commissioner have not been personally served Billionaire kidnapper Evans has won the first round of his court battle as the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on Wednesday, August 16 ruled that the fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by him can proceed. The objections of the Lagos state Police Commissioner and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad was dismissed by Justice Abdulaziz Anka who agreed with counsel to Evans, Olukoya Ogungbeje, that service on the first and second respondents had been properly effected. READ ALSO: Third group present at Famous Unity Fountain as Charly Boy, others converge In the case against Evans, the first and second respondents are the inspector general of Police and the Nigeria Police Force while other respondents are the Lagos state Police Commissioner and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Punch reports. Justice Anka in his ruling said that Order 4 Rule 5 of the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules of 2009 enjoins the court to pursue speed and justice on issues of fundamental human rights. Legit.ng had reported that counsel to the police Mr Eze argued that the suit was not ripe for hearing since the Inspector-General of Police and the commissioner have not been personally served. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app In countering Ezes argument, Ogungbeje insisted that Order 5 Rule 2 of the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules of 2009, gives him the opportunity to the agents of the respondent. Watch this video as Nigerians speak on the fate of Evans: Source: Legit.ng - Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers state has debunked rumours which claimed that he vowed to kill members of All Progressive Congress (APC) - Wike said the rumour is a futile attempt at misinformation and irresponsible journalism - He however alleged that the report was sponsored by APC Governor Nyesom Wike through his special assistant on electronic media has reacted to a video that he allegedly threaten to unleash violence on members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers state. Reports have it that Nwakaudu said the footage which was photoshopped was a product of those sponsoring ''media campaign'' against Wike. Legit.ng gathered that the reports was said to have aimed at misleading unsuspecting members of the public. READ ALSO: Hundreds of youths volunteer for Biafra Security Service The statement read: ''Our attention has been drawn to a negative online media campaign being waged against the Rivers state Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike by elements within the Rivers APC, for which they have employed some online and traditional media managers. ''I didnt come here with this machete, it was when I came here that they gave it to me and the implication of using this tool is to clear all the unwanted. ''All those that know dont come closer to me because my people have given me the instrument to go to war and with this you dont want me to catch you. ''This time, the APC has sponsored the cut-editing of a video-footage during the commissioning of Ozuoba-Rumuoparaeli-Choba road in Obio/Akpor local government area on Tuesday, January 10, 2017. ''This manipulated footage by the APC has been forwarded to APC propaganda merchants for circulation for a handsome fee. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app ''Already, Vanguard Newspaper has uploaded this manipulated video, online. Members of the public are enjoined to disregard the contrived video. This is a futile attempt at misinformation and irresponsible journalism. An attempt to help the impotent Rivers APC through the back door. ''The machete was significant as it was handed over to the governor for the protection of the state from electoral fraudsters, criminals and treacherous elements who are conspiring to steal the mandate of the people''. Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that a total of 1,886 schools were shut down in the state. Wike explained that the action was because they did not have government approval. He stated this when the management of Jesuit Memorial College, Mbodo-Aluu, visited him in Port Harcourt. Watch this video of what Rotimi Amaechi, former governor of Rivers state, says about the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari: Source: Legit.ng Nearly 400 members of the Jewish community of Curitiba, Parana, in South Brazil packed a lavish hall last Monday evening to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the victory of the Six Day War and the launching of the Lubavitcher Rebbes tefillin campaign. Organized by Beit Chabad Curitiba representatives Rabbi Yoseph and Tila Dubrawsky, the evening featured a video presentation about the Six Day War, which vividly portrayed the threat against Israel and the Lubavitcher Rebbes inspiration and encouragement to Israels citizens during the frightening days preceding the war. Dr. Luiz Fux, minister of the Supreme Federal Court, spoke about his personal connection with the Rebbe. Fux, who carries a photo of the Rebbe with him, shared the deep value he places on the mitzvah of tefillin, which he says enables him to pursue true justice, time honored values, and ethical decisions. One hundred Curitiba residents who had served in the Israeli army were awarded medals for their self-sacrifice. One of the honorees, Mr. Amnon Czerny, shared his memories of serving in Unit 101 together with Arik Sharon and Moshe Dayan during the early years of the IDF. As the evening came to an end, adopt a soldier magnets were distributed to all guests, each magnet bearing the photo of a soldier killed during the Six Day War and a request that the recipient either don tefillin or kindle Shabbat candles in memory of their soldier. We wanted to ensure that everyone walked out with a commitment to do something positive, in a practical sense, explained Rabbi Dubrawsky. To learn more about Chabad in Curitiba, visit www.chabadcuritiba.com. - IPOB members clashed with security operatives in Anambra - This was as a result of Nnamdi Kanu's scheduled visit to for his anti-election campaign - The police however denied that anyone was killed One person has reportedly died after members of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) clashed with policemen and soldiers over the anti-election campaign in Anambra According to The Punch, the incident happened on Wednesday, August 16 in Ekwulobia, Aguata Local Government Area of the state. READ ALSO: President Buhari to return to Nigeria for Sallah festival - Popular media Nnamdi Kanu who is the leader of IPOB was scheduled to visit the area in furtherance of his anti-election campaign. Policeman and soldiers reportedly converged on Ekwulobia to take charge of the security situation. It was reported that the situation degenerated into a clash with one member of IPOb killed. A source said: The security operatives came in 14 trucks. But despite the heavy presence of security in the area, the IPOB members were still parading the area, singing and chanting Biafran songs. The Biafran flags, caps, shirts and other items being sold by some youths were seized and burnt by the security operatives. One members of the inaugurated Biafra Army was killed by police. Credit: Facebook The situation angered the IPOB members and they tried to attack the security operatives who tear-gassed everybody and in the process, one of their (IPOB) members was killed. The police however denied that anyone was killed in the confrontation. Nkeiruka Nwode who is the spokesperson of the Anambra state police command said it received a complaint that the secessionists were breaching the peace of the are. She said: There was nothing like that (death). The presence of the security men was to secure the people of the area from being attacked by hoodlums. Her statement read in part: A complaint was received by the police that there was a gathering and blockage of road by some people at Central School, Ekwulobia in Aguata LGA. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app The Police with other security agencies on joint patrol went to the scene, dispersed and cleared the road peacefully without any clash. However, normalcy has been restored and people are going about their business without any threat or molestation. Kanu has not showed up as at the time of the confrontation. Meanwhile, the youth wing of Igbo socio-political organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo gave reasons why Kanu and the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) are agitating. Reports have it that the group said youths in south east are not well being catered for by the political parties. Watch a Legit.ng TV video below of Kanu speaking about his Biafra agitation Source: Legit.ng - The Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide stated that the Ijaw people were a distinct nation even before the 1914 amalgamation of Nigeria, with distinct dreams and aspirations - The group noted that the late Ijaw leader, Major Isaac Boro, had declared a Niger Delta Republic even before the world got to hear about the term Biafra - According to the group, the late Ojukwu had fought against the establishment of the proposed Niger Delta state - The IYC also warned against further insults on respected Ijaw leaders like Ankio Briggs by overzealous members of IPOB, stating that such would not be tolerated Pro-Biafra groups including the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) have been warned to stop including Ijaw land into their Biafra territories, by the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, New Telegraph reports. The IYC made its comments via a statement released by its spokesman, Daniel Dasimaka, on Monday, August 15. READ ALSO: Stop playing politics with Buharis health, let us continue to pray for him - CAN President Legit.ng notes that the IYC stated that the Ijaw people have never been Biafrans, neither did they ever give their consent to becoming Biafrans. The statement read in part: The Ijaw are a distinct ethnic nation, even before the 1914 amalgamation, that has its own dreams, wishes and aspirations that should not be submerged as footnotes in any other peoples struggles. We, the Ijaw people, are not Biafrans. Therefore, if or when any Ijaw person or group feels a sense of allegiance to Biafra and speak in its favor, let it be known that such statements are the personal opinions of such persons. They do not reflect the thoughts, views and wishes of the entire Ijaw nation and the Niger Delta people. The group further stated: It is a known historical fact that a year before the world got to hear of the term Biafra Republic, the Ijaw led by the late Major Isaac Boro of blessed memory had declared a Niger Delta Republic in pursuit of the emancipation of the Niger Delta people which the progenitor of Biafra, late Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu, of blessed memory fought against as the then Governor of the old Eastern Region when the going was good with him in the Nigerian state. It is also on record that a year before MASSOB was founded, the IYC, through the Kaiama Declaration, had affirmed our commitment to joint struggle with the other ethnic nationalities in the region for self-determination. We express our solidarity with all the peoples, organizations and ethnic nationalities in Nigeria and elsewhere who are struggling for self-determination and justice. The IYC also warned against further insults on respected Ijaw leaders like Ankio Briggs, by overzealous members of IPOB. They stressed that further insults would not be tolerated, as these Ijaw leaders have committed so much to the Niger Delta region. PAY ATTENTION: Install our latest app for Android, read best news on Nigerias #1 news app Recall that Legit.ng previously reported that the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide lashed out at the Movement for the Actualization of a Sovereign State Of Biafra (MASSOB) for including the Niger Delta region in its Biafra map. MASSOB and other pro-Biafra groups have been agitating for an independent Biafra state, insisting that the Niger Delta region is part of its territory. Watch this Legit.ng TV video of Ojukwu's bunker during the Biafra War: Source: Legit.ng - ASUU may soon call off the strike it embarked upon on Monday August 14 - The Senate has appealed to the union to call off the strike for negotiation to commence - The Chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND, Jibrin Barau, urged the union to re-consider its position and return to the re-negotiation to save the students The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may soon call off the strike action it embarked upon on Monday August 14 if the Senate is able to convince the union on its demands. The senate is rushing through a law raising university teacher's retirement age, but ASUU said that is not enough to get its members back to work. READ ALSO: BREAKING: Police uncover human parts in church, arrest 77-year-old pastor, 3 others in Ogun state Legit.ng gathered that the Senate has appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call off its ongoing strike in the interest of the students and Nigerians in general. Jibrin Barau, Chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND, made the appeal while addressing journalists on Wednesday August 16 in Abuja. He said that while the Senate sympathised with the union, its members should call off the strike while negotiating with the federal government towards finding lasting solution to the problem. Mr. Barau said the Senate, in a letter sent to it by ASUU, learnt that part of the grievance was lack of confidence in the committee set up by the federal government to re-negotiate the 2009 agreement. The lawmaker recalled that when the union declared warning strike earlier this year, the Senate intervened and ensured that the problem did not linger. He said that ASUU did not report back to the Senate on the difficulties it had in the re-negotiation with the committee before embarking on the strike. He urged the union to re-consider its position and return to the re-negotiation to save the students, parents and the entire nation the negative effects that would result from the action. Mr. Barau assured that the committee would monitor the settlement process between ASUU and the committee set up by the federal government to ensure amicable resolution of the problem. He said: Let me say that we are very concerned about what is happening in our universities.The Senate and indeed, the National Assembly, has been in the forefront of making sure that we act swiftly whenever it is necessary to nip in the bud any problem that is rearing its head. I want to say that it was the reason why we decided to intervene immediately when the warning strike action was about to take place and we did all our best to bring the two teams together to negotiate. That was what led to the setting up of the Wale Babalakin committee. ASUU raised issues that had to do with their allowances and part of it was captured in the supplementary budget that we passed as of that time. In the subsequent budgets, some of these areas were also taken care of. Asked if the Senate would promulgate law to bar Nigerians from taking their children outside the country to study, Mr. Barau said that such law would not be in the best interest of Nigeria. It is something that we know will not be good for our country. We know that it is always good to mingle with people from other parts of the world when it comes to the issue of education. PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 new app "You cannot be an island to yourself; that you will remain here in Nigeria and say you would not want to interface with others. It is not something that has been done in any part of the world. You are aware that students from Cameroon, Niger and other parts of the world come here. We have exchanged students who come from even the European nations to this country. You must have that interaction. What we should say is this: we should make sure that we develop universities and educational institutions to the level of those that we send our children to. That is something that should be done. But saying that students should not go to other countries, that I think is not going to be good for us, he said. (NAN) Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) began an indefinite strike on Monday August 14. Watch this Legit.ng video on the salary of teachers in Nigeria below. Source: Legit.ng I hate disagreeing with a guy as smart as Matt Bruenig, but a new article of his, Common Ownership And The New Antitrust Movement, is fundamentally off base. Bruenig contends that shared ownership of companies in industries contributes to monopoly/oligopoly behavior. Here is the core of his argument: At the same time as the new antitrust movement has gained steam, others have been raising the alarm about the way companies are owned. Like the antitrust advocates, these folks also argue that our economy features an illusion of choice. But for them, the source of the illusion is not that massive holding companies own most of the brands we choose from. Rather, the illusion results from the fact that all public companies, no matter their size, are commonly owned by the same diversified investors. The most popular example of this kind of common ownership has been the airline industry. There consumers can choose between companies like American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Airlines, and Southwest. However, since the stock of these companies is all owned in significant part by the same set of investors, it hardly matters which one you choose: the money all goes to the same place. Despite its lower stage of development, the movement against common ownership presents an interesting challenge to the new antitrust movement. If the common ownership critics are right about the source of our economys rot, then antitrust remedies aimed at increasing the number of firms in a given market will be inadequate. After all, multiplying the number of firms operating in a particular sector will do nothing about the fact that those larger number of firms will still be jointly owned by the same people who owned the smaller number of firms that preceded them. Ill go into more detail, but there are two big problems with the argument. The first is that he misconstrues what what public company ownership amounts to. Second, we see precisely the same propensity to create monopolies and oligopolies in private businesses, so why should ownership arrangements be depicted as an important factor? On the first big problem, Bruenig ignores the vast economics and corporate governance literature on principal/agency problems with public stock ownership. The failing is not that too many of the same people own shares in similar companies (which is less true than he believes; Ill get to that as well) but that the inmates run the asylum and the management gets to do as it bloody well pleases, save in extreme events where things get so bad that normally cronyistic boards of directors decide they must Do Something. One recent example is how long it took the Wells Fargos board to force CEO John Stumpf out. This has nothing to do with the concentration in the fund management industry, which has increased greatly over the last 30 years, and everything to do with how we do public share ownership, fund management and retirement investing as in the US legal regime (such as SEC regulations, fiduciary duties, ERISA), and the behaviors that have developed around them. The shareholders of public companies do not own them in the way Bruenig implies. Equities are a weak and ambiguous legal promise, and public stocks even more so. They amount to, You get a vote on a few important matters like big mergers and you get to choose among board members pre-screened by management but will favor their interest regardless, which really isnt a choice. That vote can be diluted at pretty much any time. Oh, and you might get a dividend if we earn enough money and we are in the mood to give some of it to you. One of many indicators of how little power these supposed owners have: after the crisis, word got out that Lloyd Blankfein was going to pay himself a big bonus. Normally dont rock the boat big institutional investors were so upset that the tromped into Blankfeins office to tell him to cut it out. He paid himself his planned bonus anyhow. The longer-form version of this argument comes in a 1994 Harvard Business Review article by Amar Bhide, Efficient Markets, Deficient Governance. A key section: But theres a catch: U.S. rules that protect investors dont just sustain market liquidity, they also drive a wedge between shareholders and managers. Instead of yielding long-term shareholders who concentrate their holdings in a few companies, where they provide informed oversight and counsel, the laws promote diffused, arms-length stockholding. Pension and mutual fund rules that require extensive diversification of holdings make close relationships with a few managers unlikely. ERISA further discourages pension managers from sitting on boards; if the investment goes bad, Labor Department regulators may make them prove they had adequate expertise about the companys operations. Concerned about overly cozy relationships between unscrupulous fiduciaries and company managers, the regulators have effectively barred all but the most distant relationships. If Bruenigs thesis were true, you would expect to see different behavior in privately owned companies. But guess what? We come to the second problem: Private equity firms, who typically own a company 100% via a fund, are if anything even more eager monopolists than public companies. 1 One popular strategy is roll-ups which is buying up companies in a particular line of business. The objective is to achieve both operating efficiencies and pricing power meaning monopoly or oligopoly status. Moreover, these are often achievable in niches that most students of monopoly power would not recognize as capable of being dominates. Medical products and services have long been a target for private equity. For instance, private equity firms have targeted kidney dialysis centers because no one can or will travel far to get this treatment. If you can buy most of the centers in a geographic area, you can influence the pricing. Another area that private equity has targeted is pet products and services. They have even moved on to rolling up animal hospitals. From a 2014 press release: Shore Capital Partners (Shore Capital or Shore) is pleased to announce that it has completed the recapitalization of Oak View Animal Hospital (Oak View), Patton Chapel Animal Clinic (Patton Chapel), and Williams Animal Hospital (Williams) to form Southern Veterinary Partners (SVP or the Company). The Company provides general practice veterinary services to companion animals including vaccinations, surgery, wellness exams, oncology, ophthalmology, allergy treatment and dermatology. As part of our sector-focused investment approach, weve spent significant time studying the veterinary services industry and we are confident that the sector benefits from a number of attractive industry dynamics and is ripe for continued consolidation. Bruenig ignores the fact that what every MBA in business school is taught can be boiled down to creating market inefficiencies. And this behavior long predates the professionalization of management. None other than Adam Smith said: People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices. We gave the financial services industry example in ECONNED: But opacity, leverage, and moral hazard are not accidental byproducts of otherwise salutary innovations; they are the direct intent of the innovations. No one was at the major capital markets firms was celebrated for creating markets to connect borrowers and savers transparently and with low risk. After all, efficient markets produce minimal profits. The problem is that we dont tend to think of corporate behavior as oligopolistic or monopolistic when the results look consumer friendly. A highly differentiated product seeks to establish a market niche and appeal to a distinct set of consumers and charge a premium price for that. Apples celebrated iPhone is the archetypal example. A convenience store that can charge high prices by virtue of being open at 3:00 AM when all other stores nearby are closed is another example. But these practices generally take place in narrow markets and consumers perceive that even though the price is above a market price, the premium is justified due to the value attributed to the differentiated features (as witness how serious techies are mystified by the prices Apple gets consumers to pay for its computers). So this is the way businessmen try to change the playing field to favor them. To try to pin it on the stock market is backwards. Bruenigs line of thinking likely rests to a badly flawed study done years ago by a group of physicists on share ownership (Im not going to dignify it by linking to it). I should have roused myself to debunk it then and didnt, not that that would have made a difference. They did a network analysis and found that most shares were owned by remarkably few companies, such as Goldman, Blackrock, Fidelity, and Vanguard. First, the entire analysis was garbage in, garbage out because the physicists had bad data. Retail shareholders almost without exception hold shares in street name and they would be attributed to the broker executing the trades for them, and not the actual owner. A study like this would be unable to correct for that. Retail shareholders own roughly 33% of common shares. Those holders would most assuredly vote their own proxies. Moreover, these investors would be most likely to hold their shares over a longer period of time and be bona fide investors. Pension and other government funds own 15% of all shares, international investors own 16%, and hedge funds own 4%. In addition, some large investors such as family offices and the larger endowments and foundations, have fund managers run dedicated funds. The sole investor would also vote its own proxy. Second, Blackrock does not own shares. Blackrock manages funds, which are legal entities. They are managed by different managers with different mandates. The voting of those proxies is generally outsourced, either to outside proxy specialist firms or to in-house teams, or a hybrid. But the voting is highly rule-based, and the focus is on corporate governance matters. In other words, proxy votes, save on major mergers (and companies do tons of merger not big enough for shareholders to have a say) have very little to do with monopoly policy or not. As Bhide points out, the public ownership regime in the US (arms-length, transient investors) makes it impossible for companies to discuss their strategic plans with investors and get their input. Moreover, if a merger were to increase a companys market power, an investor would favor that, regardless of whether it was a retail investor, a private equity fund manager, or a wealthy individual who owned businesses. Third, despite the corporate governance theater of having experts figure out how to vote mutual and diversified institutional fund proxies, the reason that funds in these fund families generally vote their proxies in line with management recommendations is that they want to get the 401(k) business of big companies. They fear, almost certainly correctly, that defying them on the proxy side would lead them to getting removed from consideration for having their funds included in 401(k) offerings. Finally, the average time of shareholding has collapsed. The average share holding time is now estimated at four months. So most investors arent owners, they are traders. While I applaud the work being done by the anti-monopolists, this is a case of barking up the wrong tree. For instance, going after financial firms as monopolists or oligopolists in particular activities, like payment services, is a very important focus. But the fact that the trusts like Standard Oil, targeted by the Populists, were all created well before shares were regularly sold to large members of the public, is a strong indicator that businessmen understand the economic power of monopolies and oligopolies and will seek to create them regardless of the ownership structure. The rents they can extract are too lucrative for them to ignore the opportunity. ____ 1 PE firms sometimes have different portfolio company ownership structures, for instance, letting some limited partners in the fund get a bigger stake in a particular company via a co-investment, or for large deals, inviting another PE fund in as a partial owner. But any limited partners who act as co-investors are not playing an active management role, and aside from a brief period of club deals that were deemed to run afoul of anti-trust laws, the number of private equity funds sharing ownership of a portfolio company is usually pretty small. Vijaya B. Kolachalama, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), has received a Scientist Development grant from the American Heart Association (AHA). The $231,000 award will fund his three-year study, "Mechanisms of drug-coated balloon therapy." This project will focus on developing models for smarter artery care including improving drug coated angioplasty balloons that could benefit patients with clogged arteries. Devices such as stents and balloon catheters are used millions of times each year to help manage coronary heart disease, the leading cause of global mortality. Kolachalama's research involves machine learning which is a type of artificial intelligence that provides computers with the ability to learn without being explicitly programmed. His laboratory is focused on three areas: machine learning and image processing for precision medicine, machine learning and cardiovascular simulation and mechanisms of endovascular therapies. For more than a decade, his research has been within the cardiovascular domain, specifically on endovascular device-based therapies. Kolachalama received his undergraduate degree in aerospace engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur. He then obtained a PhD from the University of Southampton, UK. His doctoral research under the guidance of Neil Bressloff, PhD, and Prasanth Nair, MD, was focused on developing machine learning approaches to quantify the benefits of interventions such as stenting or bypass grafting, as a means of individualizing therapies. Upon completing his PhD, Kolachalama joined Elazer Edelman's laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as a postdoctoral associate. His work focused on expanding computational and imaging paradigms to better quantify the mechanisms of local drug delivery from cardiovascular devices. As an Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education fellow at the FDA, Kolachalama helped define and promote the role of computational modeling for medical device development and regulatory evaluation. Before joining BUSM, he was a principal member of technical staff in the machine intelligence group at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, in Cambridge, Mass. The goal of the Scientist Development grant is to support promising young scientists in cardiovascular and stroke research in the gap between completion of their research training and readiness as an independent investigator By 2050, the number of people 65 and older with dementia in the United States is expected to nearly triple from 5 million to more than 13 million increasing the numbers in assisted living and nursing homes. Antipsychotic medications are prescribed to more than half of patients with dementia despite warnings about serious and life-threatening adverse drug reactions. Experts from Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research and Duke University School of Nursing presented research findings on what is being done to improve the safety of care for nursing home residents with dementia at the 21st World Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics. Rutgers Today spoke with symposium co-chairs Olga Jarrin of Rutgers School of Nursing and Stephen Crystal, chair of the Division on Aging and AIDS Research Group at the Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research, about the top concerns and solutions surrounding care in nursing homes for residents with dementia. Why is reducing antipsychotic use in nursing home residents with dementia important for patient safety? Crystal: Although non-pharmacologic management of dementia is universally recommended, use of antipsychotic medication to manage behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia is common in nursing homes worldwide and is associated with significantly increased mortality. The Food and Drug Administration has placed its highest level of warning a "black box warning" on these medications. The warning notes that in clinical trials, patients randomized to antipsychotics experienced a 1.6 to 1.7-fold increase in mortality, with about two more deaths per 100 antipsychotic-treated than placebo-treated patients. What is being done in the United States to address this problem, and has it been effective? Crystal: Beginning in 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services led a campaign to improve nursing home dementia care and reduce antipsychotic prescribing. Steps included public reporting of facilities' antipsychotic use, strengthening regulatory oversight, education of nursing facility staff and the formation of state quality improvement consortia. As of the end of 2016, the United States achieved a one-third reduction in antipsychotic use from 24 percent to 16 percent of residents. Several states achieved a reduction of more 40 percent. Where can consumers find information about which nursing homes provide the best care? Jarrin: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid have an online tool called Nursing Home Compare that the public can use to research quality and safety data for nursing homes. Nursing homes receive an overall rating from 1 to 5 stars, and detailed information is available about quality measures, including the percentage of patients who are physically restrained or who have received an antipsychotic medication. Other important factors include the percentage of patients who have lost too much weight, experienced a fall with injury or developed a pressure ulcer or a urinary tract infection. The website also reports staffing data, including the amount of time a registered nurse, licensed nurse, certified nursing assistant and physical therapist spends with a resident each day. For example, in New Jersey, registered nurses spend an average of one hour and two minutes per resident per day, compared with the national average of 50 minutes. What are some ways that nursing homes can prevent pressure ulcers among residents with dementia? Jarrin: Major risk factors include poor mobility, poor nutritional status, poor circulation and incontinence. Nurses can prevent the development of most pressure ulcers by frequently encouraging residents to move and change position to improve circulation and relieve pressure over bony areas. One innovative strategy developed by Tracey L. Yap at the Duke University School of Nursing is the use of musical cuing playing music through the public address system in the nursing home to prompt staff and resident interaction and improve care practices. Her team found that residents of nursing homes that adopted the intervention were 45 percent less likely than residents of comparison facilities to develop a new pressure ulcer. How can nursing home staff prevent unintentional weight loss in residents with dementia? Jarrin: Nursing home residents with dementia who require assistance to eat are at risk for malnutrition. Supportive hand feeding is recommended, but residents may sometimes refuse or resist food. My colleague Melissa Batchelor-Murphy of Duke University has created a video that demonstrates multiple hand-feeding techniques that may be used to assist older adults with dementia. Reframing resistant-feeding behaviors as a form of communication is one strategy to help nursing home staff and family caregivers select between multiple hand-feeding techniques. Changing life-style in urban areas is increasing the risk of heart diseases. Recent research done in an urban population of Nepal's capital Kathmandu to assess their risk factors to cardio vascular diseases has found that the risk factors are high. The research studied the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors - insufficient physical exercise, high waist circumference, obesity, hypertension, tobacco consumption, dyslipidaemia such as abnormal amounts of lipids (e.g. cholesterol) in the blood and diabetes - in a randomly selected sample size of 130 in densely populated urban Kathmandu. "The prevalence rate of some risk factors related to sedentary life style was alarmingly high in the study area," says Dr. Amrit Bogati the lead author of the article published in the Nepal Heart Journal. "Insufficient physical activity prevailed in 69% of the population, while high waist circumference prevailed in 68% of the population and obesity prevailed in 59% of the population." "The research was carried out by a group of doctors at the Shahid Gangalal National Heart Centre as an effort to contribute research based knowledge in the area as very little research was done on this subject," he adds. The prevalence of other cardiovascular risk factors hypertension (38%), tobacco consumption (38%), dyslipidaemia (22%) and diabetes (17%) were also significantly high in the study area. Dr. Bogati notes that this research has been done with a small population in one part of Kathmandu so the findings may not be quite representative of the overall situation in Nepal. He now plans to continue the study in other areas of Kathmandu. He adds: "Our observation is that at Shaheed Gangalal National Hearth Centre also receives a lot of cases from the villages and Terai where sedentary lifestyle should not have been a problem. We should do more research in different areas so that we can have a better idea of the situation." Dr. Bogati's research highlights the need for an aggressive preventive strategy to prevent epidemic of cardiovascular disease in Nepal. He suggests routine health check-up and sensitization to better health practices from the central level to reduce the risk factors and be protected from cardiovascular diseases. The use of new technologies in geriatric psychiatry shows promise for advancing personalized medicine and improving patient care. A new study in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry describes the successful adaptation of an integrated medical and psychiatric self-management intervention to a smartphone application for middle-aged and older adults with serious mental illness. Care of middle-aged and older patients with serious mental illness is complicated. Often these patients suffer from other medical conditions and are at increased risk of premature death. They have two to three times higher health costs than individuals in the general population. In order to help patients cope with their illness, researchers from Dartmouth developed a smartphone-based intervention using an adaptive systems engineering framework and principles of user-centered design. They found that even patients with limited technical abilities could use this App successfully. The App and intervention protocol were developed using commercially available products from Wellframe. "The use of mobile health interventions by adults with serious mental illness is a promising approach that has been shown to be highly feasible and acceptable," explained lead investigator Karen L. Fortuna, PhD, of the Dartmouth Centers for Health and Aging and the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. "These technologies are associated with many advantages compared with traditional psychosocial interventions, including the potential for individually tailored, just-in-time delivery along with wide dissemination and high population impact. Nevertheless, the process of adapting an existing psychosocial intervention to a smartphone intervention requires adaptation for a high-risk group with limited health and technology literacy." Following multiple design iterations, investigators tested the App's usability. Ten participants (mean age of 55.3 years) with serious mental illness and other chronic health conditions reported a high level of usability and satisfaction with the smartphone application. The App takes patients through 10 sessions over a period of approximately three months, covering topics such as stress vulnerability and illness, medication adherence and strategies, and substance and medication abuse. Physicians can remotely monitor App use, and intervene when problems are detected, facilitating telemedicine for less accessible populations. According to Dr. Fortuna, "Smartphone applications also potentially facilitate patient engagement in participatory, personalized, and preventative care. As the healthcare industry increasingly embraces prevention and illness self-management, it is important for physicians and patients to be actively involved in designing and developing new technologies supporting these approaches." The use of smart devices is poised to revolutionize how we think about clinical information and facilitate personalized interventions in a way that could not have been conceptualized before these technologies came into existence. This study is part of a special issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry that captures an important moment in the evolving relationship between technology and the clinical care of older adults. "It has often been noted that with the pace of technology development being so rapid, research may not be able to keep up. While this may be true in the most literal sense, this set of nine papers represents a major step in developing a body of research to guide how technologies can interface with clinical care," noted guest editor Ipsit V. Vahia, MD, McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, and the Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. These papers highlight the potential of technology based-approaches, provide direction on how this area of work needs to develop, and put a spotlight on the major pitfalls that the field must consider in order for technologies realize their full potential. They also address the relative lack of evidence to date supporting use of these technologies and the lack of clarity on data security and privacy related to use of these devices. Dr. Vahia continued, "While the potential of technology to impact geriatric psychiatry care in this manner has long been recognized, this issue provides substantial evidence to demonstrate that this potential is translating into reality. Simultaneously, it also makes clear that the work is just getting started." Source: https://www.elsevier.com/ Thought Leaders Dr. Rebecca Prevots, PhD, MPH Epidemiology Unit, Division of Intramural Research, NIH An interview with Dr. Rebecca Prevots, PhD, MPH, conducted by April Cashin-Garbutt, MA (Cantab) Why has nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) infection traditionally been associated with immunosuppressed people or those with severe underlying lung damage and how has this changed over recent years? It is important to keep in mind that nontuberculous mycobacteria are environmental, and so unlike mycobacterial tuberculosis, generally this is not a person to person transmitted disease. The organisms are found universally in water and soil and so most people are exposed on a daily basis. Kateryna Kon / Shutterstock.com People who are immunosuppressed are at a higher risk of infection, but we do not know exactly why this is, and we don't understand all the mechanisms involved. More research is being carried out to answer these questions, but presumably it is related to their reduced ability to fight off the infection. We know that certain high risk populations, for example persons with cystic fibrosis, mechanistically are unable to clear lung infections. Therefore, this high-risk population has impaired lung clearance mechanisms, and along with immune suppressed people, also has a higher susceptibility to infection. Another example of a high risk population is persons with rheumatoid arthritis who are taking anti TNF-alpha medicines and again we don't know why this is, but somehow that interferes with their ability to fight these mycobacteria and they are at a much higher risk of infection too. How has the prevalence of NTM increased globally over the last 20 years? Before the advent of antiretroviral therapies for persons with AIDS, there was a lot of AIDS associated non-tuberculosis mycobacterial infections, primarily Mycobacteria avium complex or MAC. With the advent of these anti-retrovirual therapies, the frequency of disease associated with AIDS related immunosuppression has gone down and that's made the non-AIDS infections more apparent. I also think that with increasing the use of rapid diagnostic technology, it has been quicker and cheaper to use those molecular tools to identify NTM in the human population. I would note first that unlike the disease tuberculosis, which is a reportable condition in most of the world, pulmonary disease from NTM is not generally a reportable condition, which makes it much harder to track. We don't have systematic data globally that would allow us to compare rates and trends across the globe. However, where we do have data from, we are seeing increases almost everywhere. In the US and Canada, for example, it is mostly not reportable but we do have lab data that allows us to have some insight. In the US, looking at infections in older adults from the end of the 90's through to 2008, there has been an increase at a rate of 8% per year. In Ontario, Canada, where there has been a lot of work carried out, it has also shown to be increasing, but at a slightly higher rate. In addition, in one province of Australia, Queensland, NTM non-tuberculosis infections are reportable, and by tracking it, an increase in has been seen. There appears to be a lot of infections in Asia, such as South Korea and Taiwan. Although the data are not standardized globally, it has come from a variety of systems such as healthcare systems and laboratory systems. These are not typically explosive increases but the rate varies and there seems to be a steady increase over the last 20 years. What are the main theories for this increase? There are a few theories as to why we are seeing this increase. I would say first that there is an increased awareness of this condition and so to diagnose it, you have to get the right samples, you have to get a sputum sample, a sample from the lungs. Unless you're thinking about it and taking the right sample, you can't diagnose it. Therefore, an increased awareness with physicians suspecting it has lead to an increase in taking the right sample, and sending it off for the right testing. A second theory is that, in the US, in the 70's with the passage of the Clean Water Act, there was increased chlorination of the water system and we know that chlorine doesn't kill these mycobacteria. It kills everything else but leaves the mycobacteria, so they are more concentrated. There is a theory that there's more increasing prevalence of these mycobacteria leading to increased exposure. Ill get into more detail later, but I would say most people are not at risk. Although it is increasing, it is still a relatively rare disease. Exposure alone is not enough to cause this disease because most people are exposed regularly to water and soil Another theory is it could be due to changes with human behaviour, for example, people spending more time indoors with more aerosolization from air conditioners or other indoor appliances like humidifiers. Those are the three main theories. How can these theories be tested? It is difficult to know or have the data to show the relative contribution of those factors, but in terms of increased awareness, we can look at that by getting data to look at the rate by which physicians are ordering the right tests. We can look at the rate at which samples are sent for acid fast bacilli (AFB) testing, which detects a mycobacteria infection. Some of the other theories, for example could there be an increase to the susceptible population. We know it is more frequent in older adults and in people with conditions like COPD or immunosuppressive conditions or conditions where there is an underlying structural lung damage. There are also other special high risk populations, such as people with rheumatoid arthritis or people with CF. This could be due to an increase in the older adult population. We can test that theory by looking at what we call age specific rates, which allows us to adjust for age and we found that it is not due to an increase in older adults. In terms of COPD we can also look at stratified rates separated within each population to see is it due to that. An example is a study in Canada, showed that the increase in NTM there was not due to the prevalence of people with COPD. Then, looking at changes in human behavior, we can do some observational studies in people at high risk to see if changes in behavior lead to changes in reinfections and reduced the risk of reinfection. So far, there are no data but that is something that potentially could be done in high risk populations. What further data is needed? I think what would really help in tracking this condition and monitoring the effect of interventions, is collecting more standardized data globally both within states in the US and within other countries. The way to do that would be to make pulmonary NTM a notifiable condition, as part of routine disease surveillance. Genetics & Genomics eBook Compilation of the top interviews, articles, and news in the last year. Download a copy today Making it notifiable ensures that the same information is collected the same way across a state, province, orand country. That in turn would really help with tracking the impact of interventions. You also need special studies to answer specific questions, like, are physicians looking for it more than previously? I think getting more data from especially large data sets, which is one thing we've been doing would help an answer the unanswered questions, and could also lead to more focused studies. At NIH, we work a lot on trying to understand the relative role of host and environmental factors. We know clearly there are certain host susceptibilities that play a big role; e want to better understand what genetic factors underlie susceptibility to this condition. It is important for us to do more studies to better understand the genetics underlying this disease, which I think will help us, in turn, better understand host susceptibility. We're trying to approach it from both angles, both monitoring disease transmission in terms of risk and doing studies and specialized studies to understand the genetics of susceptibility to this condition. How can we tackle the rise in NTM infections? What challenges will need to be overcome in terms of identifying NTM species? This is where genetics is especially important. To answer the first part of the question, to tackle the rise, we need to fully understand the risk factors. We can't make progress without understanding the risks. The main risk is in terms of host susceptibility and moving this research forward is doing the genetic studies that will help us better understand and know how to prevent it. Then in terms of a susceptible host in regards to behaviors and environmental risk factors, doing the studies of the environmental risk would help us further our knowledge of this. There are also things that we can't control that have an effect, for example, we know that certain environmental factors such as higher humidity, and other factors that relate to increased moisture in the air are associated with an increased risk of disease. These are things that are only controlled by where you live. It would not usually be feasible to suggest that patients move from one area to another, however, there may be household factors that could be modified to reduce risk and some research is being done on that. We know that these mycobacteria concentrate in biofilm on the surfaces of water distribution pipes and some types of piping material may be more predisposed to have biofilms than others. In addition, we know that these mycobacteria are like legionellae and other opportunistic bacteria, concentrating inside hot water heaters. In the US, we have big hot water tanks and if you increase the temperature, some of the bacteria will be killed. That's the kind of research where you're looking at intervenable risk factors and more work needs to be done on that. Because we know these are environmental mycobacteria, they have optimum conditions of temperature and pH for growing, and this information can be used to reduce the concentration of them in your household water supply for example. This is something that patients who have been infected and are cured commonly want to know, how they can reduce the risk of exposure. Not a lot has been published on this, but that's the kind of thing that people are looking at. It is key to look in high risk populations where people have been infected once. We do know that treatment is lengthy and difficult, but even people who have cleared their infection, they are at high risk of getting re-infected by other mycobacteria. When identifying species, a critical factor is better and more rapid diagnostics, because right now we have to wait 2-6 weeks for these mycobacteria to grow. If you want to get a quicker answer and start treatment, you would need more rapid diagnostics. I think there also needs to be more work done on rapid molecular diagnostics. When will more effective and more tolerable NTM treatment regimens be available? A number of investigators are working on developing more tolerable, safe, and effective treatments for NTM, but it is hard to predict when these would be widely available. A recently published study showed promising results for an inhaled formulation of the antibiotic amikacin in high risk populations, I am most familiar with the process in the US, but I think it is not that different in Europe and other countries. The path to licensing is very lengthy, but there are efforts being made to try to speed up that process. Over the last ten years, I've seen much more interest in trying to develop more effective and well tolerated treatment regimens. What do you think the future holds for the prevalence of NTM infections are they likely to continue to rise? It is very difficult to predict the future. I anticipate at some point, the rate of infection will most likely stabilize. However, in the near future it will continue to increase at the current rate as awareness increases. One example where the data has shown a stabilizing rate is for among people with cystic fibrosis, about one in five have pulmonary NTM, and in our recent analysis, we've seen that has remained stable. There will likely be a point at which it stabilizes in other areas too, but I don't know at what point this will happen and in some populations there is currently not sufficient awareness and so, in the near future it will continue to increase. Before it can stabilize, we also need to better understand the risk factors so we can know and better predict the trajectory. I would like to emphasize that there needs to be increased awareness among physicians, and we need to think of ways to achieve that. We hear stories from patients about taking a really long time to get diagnosed. A huge problem is patients being misdiagnosed and spending several years with a chronic cough, not getting diagnosed until they get sent to the right specialist. Where can readers find more information? http://www.thoracic.org/statements/resources/tb-opi/nontuberculous-mycobacterial-diseases.pdf NTM Info & Research, Inc. This is for patients, it is a good patient advocacy group in the United States It is called NTMIR and that stands for NTM information research. In the medical literature, there was recently a series of chapters and a special issue of Clinics and in Chest Mmedicine that covered epidemiology treatment and pathogenesis of NTM. https://www.elsevier.com/books/nontuberculous-mycobacteria-an-issue-of-clinics-in-chest-medicine/huitt/978-0-323-35652-7 About Dr. Rebecca Prevots, PhD, MPH Dr. Prevots began her epidemiology and public health career at the New York City Department of Health in 1985, working as a public health advisor in the AIDS Surveillance and Epidemiology Unit. From there she went to the University of Michigan, where she earned her M.P.H. in 1988 and her Ph.D. in epidemiology in 1991. Upon completing her Ph.D., she joined the Epidemic Intelligence Service at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). During her time at CDC, she worked primarily on the epidemiology of vaccine preventable diseases, as well as on HIV/AIDS. After joining the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the National Institutes of Health in 2003, she began focusing on studies related to the epidemiology of tuberculosis and nontuberculous mycobacteria. In 2007, she became chief of the newly created Epidemiology Unit in the Division of Intramural Research. Currently the Unit is involved in a range of infectious disease research, including studies of nontuberculous mycobacteria, antibiotic resistance, malaria, and Zika. Generation Orbit is developing GOLauncher 1. It is an air launched single stage rocket capable of serving microgravity, astrophysics, and hypersonics researchers. GO1 can fly a range of suborbital trajectories including high altitude and suppressed. Multiple payload configurations can accommodate both integrated and recoverable experiments, as well as deployable hardware. Currently in development, the GOLauncher 1 will serve the hypersonic flight test and suborbital research communities with an affordable air-launched single-stage booster. The GOLauncher 1s liquid propulsion system maximizes performance and mission flexibility compared to traditional solid booster solutions. Generation Orbit Launch Services as been awarde a Follow-On Phase II SBIR (Small Business Innovative Research) contract from the Air Force Research Laboratory, Aerospace Systems Directorate, High Speed Systems Division (AFRL/RQH) for development and flight testing of the GOLauncher 1 (GO1). Payloads can be accommodated in two configurations: Recoverable: payload modules similar to traditional sounding rocket configurations. Deployable: similar to traditional launch vehicle configuration with a deployable fairing, and separation system for the payload Payload masses range from 30 to 200 lbm for high altitude microgravity research trajectories and up to 700 lbm for hypersonic flight test trajectories. High Altitude/Microgravity: Optimized for maximum altitudes ranging up to 300 km and microgravity times up to 7 minutes Suppressed: Optimized for sustained high Mach, high dynamic pressure, offering captive carry and free-flyer hypersonic flight testing While advances in computational methods and ground test facilities have matured technologies like scramjet engines, light weight high temperature composite structures, and autonomous flight controls, flight research and testing is still the key linchpin in transitioning these technologies to operational systems. GOLauncher 1 offers researches the flexibility to conduct both captive carry and free-flyer experiments at high dynamic pressure/high Mach number flight conditions for substantially lower cost has previously been demonstrated. GOLauncher 2 Generation Orbits smallest orbital launcher, the GOLauncher 2 consists of a modified Gulfstream IV business jet as the carrier aircraft platform for a two-stage expendable rocket. GO2 targets the Nanosatellite and CubeSat markets with payloads up to 40 kg to Low Earth Orbit at a price point of under $3M for the entire launch. Partial launches can also be accommodated. Selected by NASA under the 2013 NASA NEXT program, GOLauncher 2 and its development partners also formed the basis of our win at the 2013 NewSpace Business Plan Competition. GOLauncher 3 Mini GOLauncher 3 mini is the next step on their roadmap. Utilizing a larger, transport-class carrier aircraft like the DC-10, the GO3 mini will include an all liquid rocket capable of delivering up to 150 kg of payload to sun synchronous orbit (SSO). This capability would accommodate dedicated launch of single small satellites those in the Skybox or OneWeb class. The target price for GO3 mini is approximately $5M. The GO3 mini is currently in preliminary design. GONext GOLauncher Next represents our vision for highly responsive space access for small payloads up to 1,000 kg or global delivery of payloads up to 3,000 kg. Built around advanced combined-cycle propulsion and reusable high temperature structures, the GONext is being positioned to significantly reduce the cost of space launch and ultra high-speed point-to-point (PTP) flight while preserving the advantages of horizontal launch, basing flexibility, responsiveness, and aircraft-like operations. The concept pictured here is just one option for GOLauncher Next. A consortium of Chinese organizations is teaming up with state-owned China National Nuclear Power Company to develop and produce small, floating nuclear power plants. The new venture will have $150 million in funding and will include Zhejiang Zheneng Electric Power, Shanghai Guosheng Group, Shanghai-based Jiangnan Shipyard Group and Shanghai Electric Group. The plants will be able to sail to where they are needed and could be used to operate drilling equipment for offshore oil and gas fields, to power facilities on the remote islands of the South China Sea, to meet heating and desalination needs or to run nuclear-powered icebreakers. The reactors may also be exported to economies with large populations but scarce land resources, including economies participating in the Belt and Road Initiative, such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The technology used may involve high temperature gas-cooled reactors which China is jointly developing with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. China is expected to build 20 floating nuclear power stations. In a separate notice the state power giant said the new company will also seek to promote the development of nuclear-powered vessels including a nuclear powered aircraft carrier. China emphasized in its announcement that the floating reactors have commercial uses,. They can be used to operate drilling machinery for offshore oil and gas fields, and remote power and desalination needs. These objectives are expected to bring investors to support the new venture and with the parallel support from the military as the first customer for the plants, the effort seems positioned for growth. He said it would also make them safer. According to Buongiorno. a reactor anchored on the seabed would never lack emergency cooling, the problem that caused the Fukushima meltdown. Nor would it need to be protected against the risk of terrorists flying an aircraft into it. It would be tsunami-proof, too. Though tsunamis become great and destructive waves when they arrive in shallow water, in the open ocean they are mere ripples. Buongiorno goes further and suggests that the reactors could be built in a shipyard and then towed to their destination, and then sunk in place. Once underwater (100 meters or so), such a submarine reactor would not even be affected by passing storms. Russia has floating nuclear reactors for commercial purposes. Neuroscientists who painstakingly map the twists and turns of neural circuitry through the brain are about to see their field expand to an industrial scale. A huge facility set to open in Suzhou, China, next month should transform high-resolution brain mapping, its developers say. Where typical laboratories might use one or two brain-imaging systems, the new facility boasts 50 automated machines that can rapidly slice up a mouse brain, snap high-definition pictures of each slice and reconstruct those into a 3D picture. This factory-like scale will dramatically accelerate progress, says Hongkui Zeng, a molecular biologist at the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, Washington, which is partnering with the centre. Large-scale, standardized data generation in an industrial manner will change the way neuroscience is done, she says. The institute, which will also image human brains, aims to be an international hub that will help researchers to map neural connectivity for everything from studies of Alzheimers disease to brain-inspired artificial-intelligence projects, says Qingming Luo, a researcher in biomedical imaging at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) in Wuhan, China. Luo leads the new facility, called the HUST-Suzhou Institute for Brainsmatics, which has a 5-year budget of 450 million yuan (US$67 million) and will employ some 120 scientists and technicians. Luo, who calls himself a brainsmatician, also built the institutes high-speed brain-imaging systems. Old maps often require months or years of effort. The process involves shaving centimetre-long mouse brains into 15,000 ultrathin slices with a diamond blade, staining each layer with chemicals or fluorescent tags to pick out particular features, imaging each layer with a microscope and then reconstructing the images into a 3D map. High-speed mapping Thats where Luos institute can help. Its vast number of machines have impressive speed and resolution, collaborators say. According to Zeng, the devices can gather the same amount of detail on a mouse brain in two weeks as would require months using other technologies, such as super-resolution confocal imaging. The Suzhou institute will generate a huge amount of data: each mouse brain map alone will be 8 terabytes, Luo says. But the volume of a human brain is nearly 1,500 times that of a mouse brain; it would take a single machine around 20 years to digitally reconstruct one at the institutes current rate. Luo aims to increase the speed of his machines and to use multiple devices in parallel. Luo is keen for worldwide collaboration; along with the Allen Institute and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Stanford University in California is forming a partnership with the centre. But Luo says that interest is so high that he wont be able to accommodate everyone. We are already turning people down. The Metallic Hydrogen WignerHuntington transition is only a piece of the story, the problem of high pressure hydrogen metallization is much more interesting than we thought just a few years ago, with intriguing intermediate phases with unexpected physical properties that continue to be discovered along the way. In February 2017, it was reported that the sample of claimed metallic hydrogen (at Harvard) was lost, after the diamond anvils it was contained between broke. High pressure researcher Paul Loubeyre of the Atomic Energy Research Centre for Military Applications in France, calls the new results much ado about nothing. In particular, he sees no reason to believe that Dias and Silvera really achieved such high pressures. Earlier work, he says, has shown that diamond anvil cells cant attain pressures higher than 350GPa. It has been demonstrated that to explore the pressure domain above 400GPa will require new types of anvils, he says. If youre going to claim that using a standard high pressure cell configuration you can obtain 50% higher pressure than previously, you should at least do a benchmark experiment [to prove it]. Loubeyre also believes that the analysis of reflectivity is wrong the correction for diamond absorption was incorrectly done. He and his co-workers have explained their reservations in detail in a preprint. Eremets and his Mainz colleague Alexander Drozdov also say the pressure was overestimated. They say that the Harvard duo stopped raising the pressure as soon as the sample became reflective which can happen, according to earlier measurements by the Mainz group, above just 350GPa. In a third preprint criticising the Harvard work4, Alexander Goncharov and Viktor Struzhkin of the Carnegie Institution of Washington reiterate several of these criticisms and say that the observations have nothing to do with the properties of metallic hydrogen. They also charge that the proposed implications [for example, for energy and rocketry] are highly speculative, making this paper very confusing for a broad audience. Silvera and Dias have rebutted these criticisms. They say that their methods of estimating the pressure by looking at the shift in the vibrational spectra of the diamond and of a small added ruby grain are widely used and well established, although they had stated that they can have large systematic uncertainties. They defend their calculations of reflectance and argue that the possibility of the alumina coating becoming metallic doesnt fit with what is currently known about this material. There is no doubt that metallic hydrogen was produced at the highest pressures, the pair insist. Members of Trumps former advisory councils Members who resigned from Trumps advisory councils Resigned Bob Iger Walt Disney Resigned Brian Krzanich Intel Resigned Denise Morrison Campbell Soup Resigned Elon Musk SpaceX, Tesla, OpenAI Resigned Jeff Immelt G.E. Resigned Ken Frazier Merck & Co. Resigned Kevin Plank Under Armour Resigned Thea Lee A.F.L.-C.I.O. Resigned Scott Paul Alliance for American Manufacturing Resigned Richard Trumka A.F.L.-C.I.O. Resigned Travis Kalanick Uber Adebayo Ogunlesi Global Infrastructure Partners Alex Gorsky Johnson & Johnson Andrew Liveris Dow Bill Brown Harris Corp. Daniel Yergin IHS Markit Dennis Muilenburg Boeing Doug McMillon Walmart Ginni Rometty IBM Greg Hayes United Technologies Indra Nooyi PepsiCo Inge Thulin 3M Jack Welch G.E. (retired) Jamie Dimon JPMorgan Jeff Fettig Whirlpool Jim Kamsickas Dana Jim McNerney Boeing (retired) John Ferriola Nucor Kevin Warsh Hoover Institution Larry Fink BlackRock Marillyn Hewson Lockheed Martin Mark Sutton International Paper Mark Weinberger EY Mary Barra G.M. Michael Dell Dell Michael Polk Newell Brands Paul Atkins Patomak Rich Kyle Timken Rich Lesser BCG Stephen Schwarzman Blackstone Toby Cosgrove Cleveland Clinic Wendell Weeks Corning It has become a ritual of the modern presidency to appoint the chief executives of big corporations to largely ceremonial committees that are meant to show the public that the White House is soliciting advice from important and serious people. But under President Trump even this anodyne tradition has become a farce. Mr. Trump said on Wednesday that he was disbanding two such committees the Strategic and Policy Forum and the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative after members of the forum had decided in a conference call to dissolve the group and several executives had resigned from the manufacturing initiative. The business leaders were fleeing because they did not want to be seen as supporting a president who on Tuesday sought to blame both sides white supremacists and counterprotesters for the violence in Charlottesville, Va., last weekend. By disbanding the groups, Mr. Trump was sparing his administration the humiliation of having executives step up one by one to announce their departures on Twitter and through corporate press releases. It was clear that the forum and the manufacturing initiative were rapidly coming apart. Members of the forum, which was led by Stephen Schwarzman of the Blackstone Group, held their conference call late Wednesday morning, The Times reported. Members of the manufacturing initiative were planning to hold a call in the afternoon. The discussions followed a number of departures from the committees. Kenneth Frazier of Merck, Kevin Plank of Under Armour and Brian Krzanich of Intel left the manufacturing group on Monday. And they were followed on Tuesday by Scott Paul, the president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, an organization backed by the steel industry and the United Steelworker and Richard Trumka and Thea Lee, the president and deputy chief of staff for the A.F.L.-C.I.O. Brian Krzanich C.E.O., Intel Corporation blog post read: "I resigned to call attention to the serious harm our divided political climate is causing to critical issues, including the serious need to address the decline of American manufacturing." Denise Morrison Campbell Soup Company In a statement, she said: "Following yesterday's remarks from the President, I cannot remain on the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative." Jeff Immelt Charman of the board, General Electric "The Committee I joined had the intention to foster policies that promote American manufacturing and growth. However, given the ongoing tone of the discussion, I no longer feel that this Council can accomplish these goals." Ken Frazier C.E.O., Merck & Co. A statement on Twitter read: As C.E.O. of Merck and as a matter of personal conscience, I feel a responsibility to take a stand against extremism. Kevin Plank C.E.O. and chairman, Under Armour press release read: "I love our country and our company and will continue to focus my efforts on inspiring every person that they can do anything through the power of sport which promotes unity, diversity and inclusion." Thea Lee Deputy chief of staff, A.F.L.-C.I.O. According to a statement from A.F.L.-C.I.O. president Richard Trumka: "We cannot sit on a council for a president who tolerates bigotry and domestic terrorism." Scott Paul President, Alliance for American Manufacturing He tweeted : "I'm resigning from the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative because it's the right thing for me to do." Richard Trumka President, A.F.L.-C.I.O. Tweeted : "I cannot sit on a council for a President that tolerates bigotry and domestic terrorism; I resign, effective immediately." These were not the first executives to disassociate themselves from his administration. In February, Travis Kalanick, who was then chief executive of Uber, left the presidents Strategic and Policy Forum after Mr. Trump issued an executive order barring travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries. And in June, Elon Musk of Tesla and Robert Iger of Disney quit the forum after Mr. Trump withdrew from the Paris climate agreement. Bob Iger Chairman and C.E.O., The Walt Disney Company Tweeted : As a matter of principle, Ive resigned from the Presidents Council over the #ParisAgreement withdrawal. Elon Musk C.E.O. and C.T.O. of SpaceX, C.E.O. of Tesla, co-chairman of OpenAI Tweeted : Am departing presidential councils. Climate change is real. Leaving Paris is not good for America or the world. Travis Kalanick Former C.E.O., Uber In an email to employees, he wrote: "There are many ways we will continue to advocate for just change on immigration, but staying on the council was going to get in the way of that." These executives took an important stand and did so knowing that Mr. Trump might lash out at them as he did with Mr. Frazier, who is one of the few black chief executives of Fortune 500 companies. He also blustered in a tweet on Tuesday that For every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, I have many to take their place. So much for that boast. Many business leaders were clearly uneasy being tied to the president. Some corporate officials who did not resign earlier in the week issued statements critical of Mr. Trump. Walmarts chief executive, Doug McMillon, said before Mr. Trumps remarks on Tuesday that the president had missed a critical opportunity to help bring our country together by unequivocally rejecting the appalling actions of white supremacists in an email to his staff later published online. Yet, many corporate executives were also reluctant to leave the committees because they wanted to retain the influence and prestige that come with those positions. They were possibly still hopeful that Mr. Trump and Republicans in Congress would shower big tax cuts and other benefits on them and their companies and organizations. They might have even believed that they could positively influence Mr. Trump's thinking on issues aside from economic and tax policy. But it probably became clear to many of them after Mr. Trumps bizarre press conference on Tuesday that they could no longer lend their companies credibility to Mr. Trump without badly damaging their own brands and reputations. One thing is certain, those who took an early principled stand will come out looking better than those who stuck around until the bitter end. Richmond, Va. Mayor directed a commission to consider removing Confederate statues from Monument Avenue Mayor Levar M. Stoney says he believes the towering Confederate statues on Monument Avenue, considered by some to be the historic backbone of Richmond, the former capitol of the Confederacy, should be removed. Mayor Stoney had said as recently as Aug. 14 that he believed the statues should stay up with added context, but changed course two days later and directed a previously formed commission to consider removing all or some of them. Big ICO Event Taking Place in Moscow in September Published August 16, 2017 by Ivan P The ICO (Initial Coin Offering) event will gather a dozen industry experts and will cover a wide range of interesting and relevant topics. Smile-Expo, the company that set the stage for Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference that took place in Moscow will be organizing another specialized event in the capital of Russia. This time around, its an ICO (Initial Coin Offering) event, the idea for which came from the aforementioned conference. The event is dubbed ICO Event Moscow. Something for Everyone The ICO event will take place on September 20, and it will offer presentation and speeches bound to cover a wide array of interests. All the presentations will generally be divided into three sections: for startups, investors, and marketing analytics. Cryptocurrency specialists and industry insiders will gather in Moscow in September, with more than 10 expert-speakers sharing their insights, ideas, and advice. Founders of several successful companies, dealing with and developing software based on the blockchain technology, which also participated in a number of ICOs are expected to attend. Wide Array of Cryptocurrency Topics The ICO event in Moscow will cover many interesting and relevant topics for everyone involved with cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. Some of the panels will focus specifically on the differences between an ICO and an IPO (Initial Public Offering) and the ways to successfully present ICOs to pique the investors interest. The conference will also discuss relevant regulatory issues as well as technical difficulties that come with the preparation of an ICO. These presentations should offer valuable insights for those less experienced and making their first steps in the world of blockchain technologies. Finally, a portion of the event will also focus on the current state of the market, bringing interesting analysis and evaluating risks and benefits of crowdsales. Insiders and experts will present their opinions and views of the industry prospects, also sharing some of the biggest success stories as examples and for motivation. The ICO event in Moscow represents an excellent opportunity for everyone involved or looking to get involved with the ICO market to find out about possibilities, potential difficulties, and general prospects for the future of the blockchain technology. White nationalists held a rally and killed at least one counter-protester in Charlottesville, Virginia, August 12, as reported by the Washington Post and AP in this Boston Globe article. Read this article carefully and you will see how America's liberal-establishment wing of the ruling class (Democratic party politicians and the Ford and Rockefeller foundations, among other ruling-class agents) bear enormous responsibility for helping white nationalist organizations recruit working-class whites. Here's how establishment liberal leaders did it. For years now they have been doing things to make white working-class people feel under attack by anti-racists. First, these liberal leaders spent a few decades making sure that working-class whites applying for a job or admission into a college would hear back, "We're sorry. We can't give you the position you are seeking because we had to give it to a less qualified minority person." This "Affirmative Action" was designed (largely by President Richard Nixon, actually) to produce white resentment against non-whites, and to destroy the solidarity between whites and non whites that had developed during the earlier Civil Rights Movement. It worked! (Read " We Need THIS, Not Affirmative Action" to see what a genuine plan to redress past racial discrimination would have been.) Then the establishment liberal leaders waged a campaign, funded (as shown here) by the Ford and Rockefeller foundations, to replace the unifying good phrase "racial discrimination against non-whites" (which unified whites and non-whites on the basis of their shared opposition to racial discrimination) with the terrible divisive phrase "white privilege," which as is carefully explained in "Is It a 'Privilege' Not To Be Discriminated Against?", and which you really need to read it if you don't already understand it is designed to make working-class whites believe that anti-racism is code for anti-white. This too has been very successful, for the ruling class's divide-and-rule strategy, that is. If you doubt that this is what's enabling the white nationalist organizations to recruit, then take a look at the evidence in today's newspaper report of the Charlottesville rally, which reported: "Tensions began Friday night, as several hundred white nationalists chanted 'White lives matter!' 'You will not replace us!' and 'Jews will not replace us!' as they carried torches marched in a parade through the University of Virginia campus." Clearly these white nationalist chants are the chants of people who feel they are under attack. This is not a fluke of the Charlottesville rally; it is the main theme that white nationalist organizations use to recruit new members, as I discuss in some detail in my article, "What Do 'White Supremacists' Believe?" The white nationalist recruiting posters at the University of Central Florida illustrate this same defensive theme: One portrays a white man and woman above the text that reads, "We have a right to exist." The other portrays a white man in chains that are labeled "white guilt" and the text below reads "Free yourself from cultural Marxism." If white working-class people had good organizations that truly championed their interests--interests that they share with working-class people of all races--then white nationalist organizations with their crackpot science would not appeal to them. But the liberal-establishment wing of the ruling class (along with its conservative wing) has done its best to make sure that there are no such good organizations welcoming white working-class people. The Republican Party welcomes them, but only on the basis of "social issues" such as abortion and same-sex marriage and "being tougher on crime" (which means incarcerating in prison more blacks and Hispanics who are demonized as criminal races by the racist War on Drugs that is supported and implemented by the Liberal Establishment). The Republican party never ever dreams of championing the economic interests of working-class people against the contrary interests of capitalists, nor of championing the values of working-class people equality and mutual aid (a.k.a. solidarity) against the contrary capitalist values of inequality and dog-eat-dog competition. The Democratic Party is just as bad, but in a different manner. The Democratic Party's recent presidential candidate dismissed white working-class people as "deplorables" and the party has been in the forefront of using Affirmative Action, and "white-privilege" rhetoric, to demonize white working-class people as guilty of benefiting from racial discrimination. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Charlottesville car attacker Fields may have been an agent provocateur. Divide and rule is a strategy that can help some political causes more than others. Some dark forces may be attempting to seed a race war between Americans. We do know crisis actors have been reappearing in these events, and that they're actually hired to participate. So the possibility of a staged or directed event is quite high. Plus, Fields may have been a Hillary supporter, and the organizer of "Unite the Right," Jason Kessler, had been part of Occupy as recently as November 2016. Swings of loyalty are a real red flag; if Fields were so devoted a white nationalist, where's the history? The notion of an agent provocateur dates back to ancient times where one side will insert a covert agent who provokes a mob into doing acts of violence which then precipitate a violent reaction by the other party. America's seen its share of this tool, dating back to strikes and other demonstrations in our not-too-distant past. Air Berlin Plc filed for insolvency after leading shareholder Etihad Airways PJSC withdrew its financial support, marking the second failure of a major European airline in four months after the Persian Gulf carrier pulled the plug on funding Italys Alitalia SpA in May. While Air Berlin said in a statement Monday that it will continue flying with the help of government loans, the filing puts thousands of German jobs at risk weeks before German Chancellor Angela Merkel stands for re-election. Deutsche Lufthansa AG said it may buy parts of its main national rival. Air Berlin has racked more than 2.7 billion euros (USD3.2 billion) of losses in a little over six years and has net debt of 1.2 billion euros. Etihad bought a 29 percent stake in 2012 as part of a plan to feed more passengers through its Abu Dhabi hub by building a network of minority investments, a strategy that its now unraveling after itself suffering losses of $1.87 billion in 2016. Etihad has notified Air Berlin of the fact that it will not provide any further financial support, the German carrier said in its statement, adding that the move has led it to conclude that there is no longer a positive continuation prognosis. Etihads two board representatives have resigned. Etihad said that it withdrew funding after Air Berlins operations deteriorated at an unprecedented pace in recent months. The state-owned Mideast carriers links to Germany, which include a code-share agreement with Lufthansa, remain important and it is ready to assist in finding a commercially viable solution for Air Berlin, according to an emailed release. Lufthansa and another unidentified airline are far advanced with plans for a partial rescue and a deal could be finalized in coming weeks, Air Berlin and Germanys economic ministry said in separate statements. The government is supporting the process by providing a 150-million-euro bridging loan through its Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau promotional bank. Air Berlin submitted the insolvency filing in a local Berlin court, though it said it wont seek bankruptcy protection for the Niki Luftfahrt GmbH and Leisure Cargo GmbH units. The discount carrier already has links to Lufthansa, once its arch-rival, following an agreement to lease out part of its fleet to Europes third-biggest airline group. Plans to merge Niki with TUI AGs German unit in a further restructuring of Air Berlin fell apart in June after Etihad said no agreement had been reached on the joint venture proposal. Rome-based Alitalia began bankruptcy proceedings for the second time in a decade on May 2 after workers rejected a 2 billion-euro refinancing plan involving 1,600 job losses. Etihads then-chief James Hogan said at the time that his company wasnt prepared to carry on in investing without the support of all stakeholders. Hogan has since left the Gulf company, which last month also announced that it was exiting another so-called Equity Alliance partner with the sale of a stake in Swiss regional carrier Darwin to Slovenias Adria Airways. Bloomberg According to Night Watch a Pentagon Intelligence report through KGS (Kforce Government Solutions) that since just before 26 July 2016 the United States government put an embargo on all North Korean funds within the United States for penalties over lack of humanitarian considerations, which was including those finances of Kim Jung Un. This caused him to begin a military buildup as a form of intimidation. The Pentagon released their comments in revealing that North Korea would not declare war as a matter of policy, and their threats are their way to encourage outside influences to declare war upon them. Thus the NKPA build-up or even attack would leave open the argument that the foe was perpetrator and North Korea the victim. The idea that President Trump was elected as a brazen leader makes Kim Jung Un's strategy a viable one that Trump seems to be playing into. The United States government defenses certainly don't need to counter-threat in order to prove our military superiority, but our president seems compelled to answer verbally in an unnecessary show of force, because it is rather well known we are the superior military force in this saber-rattling stage of Kim Jung Un outrage. President Trump seems to think he can negotiate out of the North Korean threat. The reason we are in this tit-for-tat show of force in the first place is over the financial embargo based on North Korea's humanitarian penalties. There has been no mention by the Trump administration of any reference to the embargo or the reasons for this embargo. It therefore seems likely that our president wants to "use some of those nuclear warheads we have stockpiled," as he stated during his campaign. And, his negotiations have been with the leadership of China and Russia to ensure moot alliances with North Korea. What's to negotiate with North Korea? Hiroshima was a strategic target where Japan had a ball-bearing factory, and we certainly know where the PRNK missiles are being built. New intelligence turns up where their missile engines are coming from and that takes money, so how effective is the US financial embargo? In the final analysis, what does our president Trump have with which to negotiate? Diplomatic negotiations with China and Russia will be public, and arguments in US Congress will not be any manner of secret. Saudi Arabia's crown prince has told two former US officials that he "wants out" of the two-year war he started in Yemen, and that he is not against US rapprochement with Iran, Al Jazeera reported Tuesday (August 15) quoting leaked emails published by Middle East Eye. The revelation sheds light on the thinking of Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the 31-year-old heir to the Saudi throne, also known as MBS, Al Jazeera said, adding: The leaks pertain to discussions he held on the Middle East with Martin Indyk, a former US ambassador to Israel, and Steven Hadley, who served as US national security adviser during George W Bush's presidency. The conversation took place at least one month before Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic and economic ties with Qatar, accusing it of trying to undermine their war in Yemen and for having friendly relations with Iran. The details of the meeting between MBS and the former American officials were revealed in an email exchange between Indyk and Yousef al-Otaiba, the UAE's ambassador in Washington, DC. The email exchange was obtained by the GlobalLeaks campaign group, according to Middle East Eye. The conflict in Yemen has escalated dramatically since March 2015, when Saudi-led forces launched a military operation against the Houthi fighters who toppled the government of President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi in September 2014. Casualties Since the conflict began, more than 10,000 people have been killed, and millions have been driven from their homes. The Saudi-led operation has been blamed for the spread of cholera in Yemen, where an estimated 500,000 have reportedly been afflicted. The war has also left the country on the brink of a famine, with millions of people displaced, and an estimated seven million people going hungry, according to a UN report. In Sanaa, Emma O'Leary of the Norwegian Refugee Council told Al Jazeera that the needs of the civilians are "enormous" and "difficult to describe". "We are doing our best to respond to the crisis, but the reality is that this is an extremely difficult environment for all of us," O'Leary said. "Security issues, such as the air strikes and the ground fighting, as well as bureaucratic constraints" are a real concern, and that the warring parties must return to the negotiating table, she said. Yemen crisis 'an absolute shame on humanity' International human-rights organization CARE has denounced the humanitarian crisis in war-torn Yemen, which is also suffering from a cholera epidemic, as "an absolute shame on humanity". Wolfgang Jamann, the head of the CARE, told a news conference after a five-day visit to the impoverished Arabian Peninsula country last month: "We are now in the 21st century and the current situation is an absolute shame on humanity. "Thousands of civilians have died since the start of the conflict and millions more have been displaced inside the country," he said, adding: "60 percent of the country is food insecure and over half the population is unable to access safe drinking water. Many areas in Yemen are just one step away from a famine situation," he said, and urged the international community to "end the suffering". The situation in the country of some 27 million has been worsened by a massive outbreak of the bacterial infection cholera. More than 600,000 people are expected to contract cholera in Yemen this year, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) warned recently. Yemen's war is actually a multifaceted predicament Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). This piece is appearing this week in newspapers in my conservative congressional district (VA-06) ********************* It is not difficult to see that a phenomenon like "white supremacy" represents a profound form of human brokenness. This can be seen in both moral-spiritual and historical perspectives. In moral and spiritual terms, one need merely ask: what kind of psychological space must people live in for the superiority of their race to be the central belief and the main motivating force in their political life? Even if it were true that one's own race was "superior" in some way to another race, no people who were well put-together would feel impelled to proclaim that superiority in a way that expresses hostility and contempt for others of flesh and blood and human feeling. That runs directly contrary to the kind of wholeness Jesus encouraged when he taught "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" (Matt. 7:12). That "Golden Rule" engenders an entirely different kind of community from the one fostered by the white supremacist who treats another race in a way he would not tolerate for himself--forcing those others, to whom he claims superiority, into second class citizenship and deprivation, imposed by intimidation and (as in the age of lynchings) by terror. Where did this form of human brokenness come from? Part of the answer will be in general terms, involving the kind of upbringing of children that inflicts psychological wounds that drives people to seek out conflict and to assert their dominance over some "out-group." This we see happening at times and places throughout history and across the world. But the case of "white supremacy" in America also has its own specific historic roots. From the beginnings of our history, there was not only the general difficulty that flawed people have with respecting people who are different from themselves. In addition, there formed an economy and society where wealth and power were achieved through a system of chattel slavery, where one race used another race as an especially capable form of livestock. While there are some people who are simply amoral, and will permit themselves to do whatever best serves their selfish desires, most human beings feel a need to justify what they do. That's how it was in the self-identified Christian culture of the South, where property in the form of slaves represented the majority of the region's wealth, and where slave-holders with large plantations worked by slaves formed the ruling elite. The notion of white supremacy developed to provide moral support for the region's defining (its "peculiar") institution. The supremacist argument faced not only the challenge of reconciling with Christian ethics, it also faced the challenge of reconciling with the foundational values of the American nation, according to which (as Thomas Jefferson wrote in The Declaration of Independence) "all men are created equal." On the eve of the Civil War, Alexander Stephens -- a relative moderate who would soon become the Vice President of the Confederate States of America -- could attempt to argue the moral rightness of the idea. But he was compelled to repudiate as false the American idea of equality. In contrast with the United States, Stephens said, the Confederacy "is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its cornerstone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery, subordination to the superior race, is his natural and moral condition. This, our new Government, is the first, in the history of the world, based on this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth." Clearly, for the slave-holding class, the "great"moral truth" of white superiority was a belief of supreme importance--worth breaking up the nation, worth fighting a bloody war, to maintain -- because this belief permitted the dominant elite to maintain not only their power and wealth but also their sense of their own righteousness. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Belarus: NATO expansion in Eastern Europe 'inflames confrontation' - Lavrov Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held a joint press conference with his Belarusian counterpart Vladimir Makei following their meeting in Minsk, Monday. (Image by YouTube, Channel: Ruptly TV) Details DMCA Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaking in Minsk, Belarus on Monday In less than a month Russia and neighboring Belarus are to conduct defensive military exercises which are routinely scheduled every four years and within their own territory. Here's a sample of how they've been depicted in the West. The New York Times characterized them as "an exercise in intimidation that recalls the ominous days of the Cold War". [1] Defense Secretary James Mattis referred to the exercises as "destabilizing". The "Economist" dubbed the exercises as "Russia's biggest war game in Europe since the cold war alarming NATO" claiming these maneuvers "could be a cover for skullduggery" adding, "People are worried this is a Trojan horse". The US and NATO claim the number of troops involved are in the range of 100,000. Russia and Belarus claim some 13,000 troops are involved. The Russian envoy to NATO, Aleksandr Grushko submitted an inventory supporting the Russian number. Finian Cunningham in his latest piece skewered the Times and other Western media outlets calling their reporting "The selective hysteria and double think over Russia-Belarusian military defense exercises, which occur every four years...is the brain-dead condition of NATO governments' thinking and Western media reporting...hyping up the forthcoming drill as a foreboding event with the double think inevitably gone into overdrive." [2] Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov put it simply, "accusations that these war exercises are anything more sinister than defensive preparations are nonsense". It's all a continuation of the Russia bashing we've seen since the 2014 US inspired coup in Kiev, Ukraine falsely blamed on Russia. The defense maneuvers with Belarus are just another mischaracterization of the Russian "enemy" being sinister. Russia the "enemy" contrived by "official" Washington, fostered by its complicit corporate MSM- the un-official organ of the state- and all of it part of the neo-con playbook's "Project for the New American Century", June 3, 1997. Getting back to the Russia-Belarus maneuvers. The idea they are somehow a prelude to a possible Russian invasion of a NATO country is absurd. Sure Russia could invade Poland, the Baltic countries with conventional weapons and with its superior military probably overwhelm opposing forces in days or weeks. But why would Russian President Vladimir Putin ever contemplate such a move? Invading any NATO country would require ALL other NATO countries to come to the immediate aid of the invaded country. It would be insane-something Putin is not. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). Quicklink Not Found Sometimes, authors delete their quicklinks after publishing them. To see if the quicklink was renamed or re-published, please click here. antifa (Image by gregorfischer.photography) Details DMCA The antifa and alt-left labels are bogus frames based on the same approach corporate media use to create false dichotomies on issues where there really are not two sides. One strategy that dishonest media, the people they enable and trolls use is to create false equivalencies. There's an actual alt-right, comprised of white supremacists, neo-nazis and a collection of haters and bigots. They are real. The groups have names and websites. So, right wingers and neoliberal Democrats have created their false equivalency frame, attacking the 90% of Americans who oppose fascism, calling them Antifa. I am not saying that Antifa does not exist. It does exist in Europe. But I don't believe there is a real Antifa presence in the USA. If there are violent anti-police or anti-alt-right actors, I believe they come from the same places as the people who became violent at Occupy Wall Street locales-- Black Bloc anarchists and undercover operatives/ agents provocateur working for police or other DHS operations or, right wingers operating as agents provocateur, like Patrick Howley. OEN writer Charlie Grapski described in his article, Anatomy of a Deception: How a Conservative Magazine Attempted to Discredit the Occupy Movement, how Howley attempted to discredit Occupy protesters by precipitating a response from the guards at the National Air and Space Museum. The centrist Dems who gave the world Donald Trump by voting for Hillary in the Democratic primary, who continue to hate and vilify Bernie Sanders supporters, rather than smelling the coffee and seeing that the future of the Democratic party is progressive, have created a disparaging label, the "alt-left." Pretty soon they'll be creating antisla for anti-slavery, antipol for anti-pollution and who knows what else. These establishment people are a part of the problem. The 2016 election made it clear that the Democrats have a huge problem. The question is who. Are the people, mostly young people, who participated in a massive populist uprising supporting Bernie Sanders the problem? Or are the primary voters who were deluded to believe that Hillary Clinton was a highly qualified candidate, without seeing that she had huge problems with being untrusted and disliked, the problem? The reality is, progressives and their media are under a massive assault, both from the far right and the near right, which includes establishment Democrats and their limp liberal supporters. If you are still calling yourself a liberal, when you have progressive values, wake up. Read Chris Hedges book, Death of the Liberal Class. Understand that we have Donald Trump because liberals accepted Hillary's can't-do-ism and her history of incompetence and failure. Some will say to let go of what happened in 2016. But the truth is, many centrist Democrats and their supporters are ratcheting up their attacks on progressives, on Sanders supporters, on Medicare for all supporters. We need to fight back and make it clear that these faux progressives are frauds and shills for the system that is killing the middle class. So, when people attack progressives with "alt-left" framing, don't take it. Call them on their bullsh*t. When people, almost entirely right wingers, accuse protesters of being antifa, as though that's a bad thing, be aware of what they are doing. And don't let them frame who you are what progressives do as anything other that healthy exercise of Democratic rights. There's a movement to recruit Bernie Sanders or someone else to run as a third party candidate, since it is becoming clear the Democrats are gearing up to shove neoliberal corporatist Kamala Harris down America's throat-- another fake progressive. Expect Harris's backers, i.e., establishment Democrats, to ramp up their attacks on progressives and our values and issues using the antifa and alt-left labels and, since the media is licking them up, more of the same. From Paul Craig Roberts Website Slavery in America (Image by flickr.com) Details DMCA In Durham, North Carolina, the seat of Duke University, a gang of largely white males destroyed public property by pulling down a statue of a Confederate soldier. Perhaps they took their cue from the neo-Nazis installed in Ukraine by Obama and Hillary following the US-engineered coup that overthrew the elected democratic government. The first thing the new Obama-installed neo-Nazi regime did was to pull down all the Soviet war memorials of the liberation of Ukraine from Nazi Germany. The neo-Nazis who pulled down the war memorials were the descendants of the Ukrainians who fought for Nazi Germany. These neo-Nazis comprise the government of the "democracy" that Obama and Hillary brought to the Ukraine and is the government that the US government and its European vassals support. What did the destruction of public property in Durham achieve, and where were the police? What the films of the event reveal is a collection of crazed white people, mainly white men, kicking and spitting at a bronze statue and jumping back as if the statue were going to strike back. It was a display of ignorant psychopathic hatred. Where did this hatred come from and why was it directed at a statue? To the ignorant gangsters, most likely Duke University students, the destroyed statue is a symbol of slavery. This ignorant association between a Confederate soldier and slavery contradicts all known history. Slavery in the Southern states was confined to large agricultural tracts known as plantations. Slaves were the agricultural workforce. This institution long predated the Confederacy and the United States itself. It was an inherited institution from the time that the New World was colonized by European economic interests. Slaves were not a Southern invention. They were brought in long prior to the Declaration of Independence, because there were resources to be exploited but no work force. The first slaves were white slaves, but they died like flies from malaria and yellow fever. Next indigenous Americans ("Indians") were used as slaves, but they would not work. Then it was discovered that some Africans had immunity to malaria and resistance to yellow fever, and finally a work force was located. The slaves were purchased from the African tribes that annually conducted warfare between themselves, the booty of which was slaves. Socialist historians, such as Karl Polanyi, the Jewish brother of my Jewish Oxford professor, the distinguished physical chemist and philosopher Michael Polanyi, to whom my first book is dedicated, wrote detailed and exacting histories of the African slave trade conducted by black Africans. Confederate soldiers did not own slaves, and as every honest historian knows, they were not fighting for slavery. They were fighting, because their country had been invaded. The Confederacy was not their country any more than the United States had been. Their country was their state. In those days people's loyalty was to their state. They thought of their state as their country. To their minds, the United States was something like the EU is to the French, Italians, Dutch, British, etc. The French still think of themselves as French, not as EU. Remember, when Robert E. Lee was offered command of the Union Army, he declined on the grounds that he could not bring war to his own country, by which he meant Virginia. Lee's army was the Army of Northern Virginia. As President Lincoln said over and over, the war is not about slavery. It is about "preserving the union," that is, the empire. If the South were permitted to separate, it would mean that there would be two countries competing for the vast lands to the west of the Mississippi River. The budding empire in Washington did not want any such competition. If the South were permitted to separate, the North would lose its market for its relatively high-priced manufactured goods that it hoped to sell to the South by placing a tariff against the cheaper British goods. The South figured, correctly, that it would be doubly hit. Higher prices from the North and retaliatory tariffs from the British on its cotton exports. Next Page 1 | 2 (Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher). In public comment before the LAUSD School Board last June, I provided the District with copies of Granada Hills Charter High School's (GHCHS) "Pre-enrollment Forms". This form requested that parents of prospective students provide copies of Individual Education Plans (IEP) or 504 Plans. This directly contradicts the school's charter which states that "Granada Hills Charter shall not request or require submission of a student's IEP, 504 Plan, or any other record or related information prior to admission, participation in any admissions or attendance lottery, or pre-enrollment event or process, or as a condition of admission or enrollment." (emphasis mine) In a letter dated July 28, 2018, the CSD informed me that they will not be taking any action to force GHCHS to comply with their charter. While they conceded that "GHCHS requests and obtains at the time of enrollment certain information and documentation", they ignored the very specific language in this charter with the excuse that this information is used "to assist the school in providing an appropriate academic placement and program, and access to resources and services". No explanation was given as to why this information cannot be requested immediately after enrollment. This would accomplish the same result while maintaining compliance with the charter and eliminating the appearance that the charter is dissuading parents from enrolling their children with special needs in this neighborhood school. As presented to the Board, children with an IEP comprise of 6% of the GHCHS student population. Just 1.7 miles down the road, 14% of Northridge Academy High School's students have an IEP. However, the CSD determined that the "demographic gaps by themselves cannot fairly be considered affirmative evidence of discrimination." Instead, the public must present specific "credible evidence of an intent or act to discriminate against students with disabilities or any other student subgroup." Putting aside the fact that "much of our thinking, laws, litigation and public policy [regarding discrimination] are based on proportionality being the norm", the blatant disregard of the rules regarding enrollment is evidence that GHCHS is actively pursuing policies that can dissuade students with disabilities from enrolling in their school. The demographic data suggests that these policies are having an effect, but the District chooses to ignore this evidence. Is it surprising that the "LAUSD spent $9,888 for every student with a disability, while charters spent $1,291 per student with a disability", a ratio of "7.6 to 1 per student"? Meanwhile, the LAUSD speeds towards bankruptcy. The CSD's letter concludes by affirming that the GHCHS charter does not allow parents to elect their representative to the school's Governing Board. Unfortunately, this did not address the concerns that were expressed before the LAUSD Board, specifically that the school did not follow the procedures outlined in the charter (interviews were not conducted with all applicants for the position) and that absent an elected representative the LAUSD needs to appoint a member to the Governing Board as allowed by the charter. It is unfortunate that while reviewing the Governing Board requirements in the GHCHS charter the CSD did not address the fact that, contrary to the charter approved by the District, Granada does not have any teachers who are "currently employed at GHCHS in a certificated position" or a classified representative who is "currently employed at GHCHS" on its Governing Board. Without a material revision from the District, GHCHS eliminated these seats and increased the number of "At Large/Community" members. The CSD claims that it provides "annual and ongoing oversight", but somehow has missed numerous problems with the management of Granada Hills Charter High School. Their reaction to information that was directly handed to them suggests that perhaps this oversight was intentional. Under a Board controlled by the charters, this problem can only get worse. LAUSD students - you are on your own. ____________________________________________ Carl Petersen is a parent and special education advocate and was a Green Party candidate in LAUSD's District 2 School Board race. He was endorsed by Network for Public Education (NPE) Action and Dr. Diane Ravitch called him a "strong supporter of public schools." His past blogs can be found at www.ChangeTheLAUSD.com. People forget all kinds of things in Walmartswallets, credit cards, that last bagful of Chinese-made goods. Last night, Scottish band Belle & Sebastian managed to leave a Walmart in North Dakota without their drummer and proceeded to drive to their next gig in Minnesota without him. According to frontman Stuart Murdoch, the group had stopped at the Walmart in Dickinson, N.D., for water on their way out of the state. I was coming out of the Walmart, and [drummer Richard Colburn] was coming into the Walmart, and he was waving very happily, in a good mood, Murdoch told the Current. And that was the last time that we saw him. How do you forget a person in a Walmartand not realize it until the next day? As Murdoch explained it, the band used to have a system for alerting the bus driver that everyone was back onboard, involving a pass left on the passenger seat. In the era of cellphones, though, everybodys got a little bit blase about it. Colburn, who of course had left his phone on the bus and was wearing his PJs, sat in the Walmart for several hours figuring that the band would realize he wasnt there and circle back. When that didnt happen, he checked himself into a local hotel and went to bed. Thats when Murdoch turned to Twitter, of course. I just remember there was an episode of The West Wing where the Presidents daughter went missing, he told the Current. And I thought, What did they do then? And the word was, get the word out there! Belle & Sebastian, after all, had a gig to play in St. Paul the next night. Shit, we left Richard in North Dakota. Anyone want to be a hero and get him to St Paul, Minnesota somehow. The gig hangs in the balance..???? stuart murdoch (@nee_massey) August 15, 2017 A hero is what they needed, and a hero is what they got. UPDATE: we're getting him in a car to Bismarck, a flight to Minneapolis. we should be ok for tonight. ???? stuart murdoch (@nee_massey) August 15, 2017 Thanks for your help folks. We have Richard on a plane now, so everything is ok. He's in his pyjamas, sitting with a mimosa ???????? stuart murdoch (@nee_massey) August 15, 2017 Colburn eventually made it to St. Paul in time for Belle & Sebastian's show at the Palace Theatre. No hard feelings? The Legislative Assembly (AL) gathered yesterday to discuss the proposal presented by lawmaker Au Kam San. In debate was the request for a change on the current system used by the government to allocate public housing to households. Under scrutiny was the fact that the current system is based on three different ordination groups and a lucky draw process, which is considered unfair by many sectors of the society. The lawmaker requested the government return to the prior point-based system in which applicants were ranked according to their household, assets, income and special attention is given to households with elderly or handicapped people at their duty. Following the words of Au was lawmaker Mak Soi Kun who was quick to add, We have to take in good note the people with more needs. The lucky draw seems to be fair but in fact isnt, its just a matter of luck. The ranking by points is the most fair one. Such debate of the proposal and related comments received an immediate response from the Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Raimundo do Rosario: We also agree with the by points method so I dont think that we have a problem here, he said. We already said that we would revise the law and when we do that we will have this in note. Lawmaker Ella Lei addressed the plenary to add that a points-based system should take into account the duration of residence in Macau, as a way to prevent public housing resources ending up in the hands of new immigrants, an idea which was also mentioned by Au. Rosario then explained that he always agreed with the idea of a regime based on points and that this was not implemented earlier because he faced a problem when he took office. At that time that was a tender already open and there were 40,000 candidates for about 1,000 houses, he said. We opted for this regime because it was faster. It was a matter of time limitation. Adding to Rosarios explanation, the president of the Housing Bureau (IH) Arnaldo Santos warned that although it is widely agreed upon, the points system is a slow process that can take from 6 to 9 months to conclude. We will try our best that the candidates can present all documents right from the moment of application so we can accelerate the process, Santos said. Ng Kuok Cheong questioned the timing, asking when the government will introduce the new rules and if such a decision is still dependent on a public consultation. The lawmaker noted, whatever the system we will use, we will still have a problem as the demand tops by far the supply, he said. In reply, Rosario remarked that as he had mentioned during his previous visit to the AL early this month, I will not open a tender to 200 housing units only, this makes no sense at all. We have to do big things not small. He added that first we need to review the law of affordable housing, first of the affordable renting and then of the affordable acquisition, explaining that the one of affordable renting is already on going and noting that during the upcoming Policy Address (LAG) for 2018 I will have already more precise information that I will reveal. Several lawmakers insisted on the need to establish a permanent system or a fixed time for the tenders to happen, an idea that Rosario refuted by explaining that it would be impossible to keep a stable offer of housing units, which is an essential condition for such a system. The secretary also advanced that according to his estimated figures for the upcoming years, we will have on Area A and E [of the new landfills] more than 90,000 housing units both in public and private market which will raise the total to about 314,000 housing units. I believe this offer will be sufficient for the upcoming future needs. As for schedules, the secretary noted that only when there is a preliminary project will it be possible to know exactly the number of housing units, at which point it will be possible to open the tender to receive applications. Au Kam San expressed dissatisfaction with Rosarios explanations. He said that the new system (without a permanent ranking list) is indeed a fake points system noting that to keep the list would help the remaining candidates to understand more clearly when they would finally get a house. The IH president explained that such an idea had been discarded since, keeping a ranking list for a long period of time, its complicated and that can cause many issues at the time of the final attribution since the applicants at that time might not be eligible anymore. Vice president Lam Heong Sang remarked that the current system has a big flaw as we cant know what kind of applications have more urgency noting that the decision to implement the ranking lists is a matter of political opinion within the government. The Secretary tried to cool down the debate around the details of what the new system would be like, noting that such an amendment to the law would have to be discussed at the AL in the coming legislature. The most advanced project, he said, is Avenida Wai Long, which is expected to occur 2019. Lam also noted that over the next 2 years Macau will see an increase of 13,000 housing units to the market (3,000 public houses and 10,000 in the private sector), which according to Rosario will relieve some of the pressure. Melinda Chan suggested that instead of the expiration of the ranking lists after each tender, the government could adopt rules that require the applicants to update their applications. In a laconic way, Rosario reaffirmed his opinions and noted that he would not promise something that he knew he would not be able to fulfill due to pressure from the lawmakers. Finishing the debate, Cheung Lup Kwan suggested the government to do studies and to resort to the civic associations in order to obtain real and concrete data about the real needs [for public housing quantity and typology]. Samuel L. Jackson says motherfucker many times in The Hitmans Bodyguard. Thats not surprisinghis characters often utter that colorful vulgarity, and few actors are as consistently funny as he is saying itbut its hard to remember a movie of his in which it felt so calculated and thus so tiresome. Thats a relatively small problem with this clanking piece of action-comedy junk, but its indicative of the films overall weaknesses. An assembly line of ostensibly hip gestures and snarky attitude, The Hitmans Bodyguard wants very badly to be a naughty, R-rated guilty pleasure. Nobody tell its makers that its mostly just mildly boring. The film stars Ryan Reynolds as Michael Bryce, a former elite protection specialist who has yet to get over the fact that he let a high-profile client die two years ago. Now reduced to being a bodyguard for coked-up corporate executives, he finds a shot at redemption when his ex-girlfriend, Amelia (Elodie Yung), an Interpol agent, asks him to escort a dangerous assassin named Darius Kincaid (Jackson) from a London prison to the Hague to testify against the former president of Belarus (Gary Oldman), whos on trial for genocide. Michael and Darius despise each othertheyve had their run-ins in the pastbut they have to work together if theyre going to make it to the Netherlands alive. The challenge of criticizing an irreverent, over-the-top action movie like The Hitmans Bodyguard is that protesting its smart-ass, blase bent can feel akin to being the fuddy-duddy who needs to lighten up. But director Patrick Hughes (The Expendables 3) has cast two actors who know how to do this kind of proudly disreputable genre piece very well. Sadly, were a long ways away from the inspired snottiness of Deadpool or even the lovably trashy Snakes on a Plane. Instead, Reynolds uber-ironic nonchalance and Jacksons bad-ass swagger are left to marinate in a ho-hum storyline and some pretty dull characters. The Hitmans Bodyguard tries relying on a familiar oil-and-water dynamic between its main characters. Michael is the uptight, careful craftsman, always thinking out every step of his plan with sharp precision. Predictably, Darius is the exact opposite, smashing through every scene without fear. This juxtaposition is meant to signal the difference in their professionsthe bodyguard needs to be cautious to save lives, while the hitman throws caution to the wind to create chaosbut like many of screenwriter Tom OConnors thematic gambits, its rather uninteresting. As a result, were left with a wan Midnight Run rip-off without the same comic friction. Hughes giddily earns his films R rating, staging violent action sequences with copious blood. (The Hitmans Bodyguard has the most fatal headshots since the John Wick movies.) On occasion, like during a simultaneous boat-and-foot chase, the film can stir up some pretty electric momentum. But for as much as The Hitmans Bodyguard tries to be a bro-tastic mixture of intense spectacle and rat-a-tat-tat bickering, it also aspires to be earnestly emotional, giving both of its leads love interests were meant to take seriously. The better of the two is Salma Hayek as Darius incarcerated wife, whos an expert ass-kicker while flashing lethal amounts of cleavage. Hayek taps directly into the films loony, pulpy spirit with a knowing wink, but when Hughes slows things down for a little romantic poignancy, it falls terribly flat. (As a sign of The Hitmans Bodyguards lack of nerve, the movie uses two flashbacks to show how Michael and Darius met their lady lovesand, in both cases, theyre scored to knowingly cheesy 1980s ballads that are meant to elicit reflexive guffaws from the hipper-than-thou crowd.) But the movie isnt done there in its attempts to be about something. On occasion, Michael and Darius will take a moment to debate the morality of their jobs, with Darius refusing to be seen as wicked just because he kills people. (To his mind, hes only killing bad people, while Michael has protected plenty of heinous individualsso whos really worse?) In theory, these ought to be silly back-and-forth exchanges, but The Hitmans Bodyguard seems genuinely invested in their argumenta decision that ends up, unintentionally, becoming one of the films funniest bits. A lot of these shortcomings could be forgiven if Reynolds and Jacksons chemistry was sufficiently entertaining. It isnt. Their characters are at each others throat, but we dont quite care, and its only sporadically hilarious. (The Hitmans Bodyguard supplies a lame twist about halfway through thats meant to ramp up their animosity, but its weightless.) Consequently, the film feels like competing solo showcases rather than an appealing double act. Reynolds is reduced to doing snarky asides and slow-burn bitching, while Jackson cackles and swears. Honestly, its exhausting. And one final note. As the movie heads to the finish line and our wisecracking heroes descend upon the Hague, a bombing and a choreographed assault take place, sowing havoc and threatening the lives of hundreds of nameless characters played by extras. Escapist piffle like The Hitmans Bodyguard isnt required to anticipate what will be going on in the world at the time of its releasethats impossible to ask of any filmbut when a movie is as loud, dumb and disposable as this one is, its incongruence with the tenor of national events only makes its inadequacies starker. I dont think I would have enjoyed The Hitmans Bodyguard any week that I saw it. But of all weeks, this was certainly not the one to find out. GRADE: C Director: Patrick Hughes Writer: Tom OConnor Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, Salma Hayek, Elodie Yung, Richard E. Grant Release Date: August 18, 2017 Grierson & Leitch write about the movies regularly and host a podcast on film. Follow them on Twitter or visit their site. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe told Deray McKesson on Pod Save the People on Monday that we had picked up different weapons [white supremacists] had stashed around the city. The mainstream media has done a good job reporting on the events in Charlottesville, but this is a crucial detail that they have ignored seemingly in favor of chasing the madness that has been Donald Trumps reaction to this mess (to be fair, McAuliffe probably should have also said this in a press conference instead of burying it in a podcast). UPDATE: The Virginia police have pushed back against the words of the Virginia governor, and so we have tweaked the title and reached out to the governors office for comment, and will update accordingly if we get a response. If it turns out the police are correct, and there were no weapons stashes, then we will issue an apology to the mainstream media, but given that the governor and his police force are saying two entirely different things, it gives even more justification to the idea that the media should dig in to this portion of the saga to figure out what really happened. Im not saying that this story should knock Trump off the front pages, but there is no excuse for not reporting this statement that was revealed by as legitimate a source as it gets. All you need to do is print McAuliffes words and the report is written. This continues a disturbing trend that the mainstream media initiated over a year agowhere Donald Trump takes up so much media oxygen that we spend more time debating his reaction to an issue than the issue itself. The fact that there may have been weapons stashed around the city reveals that the Nazis may have planned for far more violence than we witnessed, and it needs to be reported as widely as possible. It demonstrates that this is more of a violent uprising than a peaceful protest. The Nazis intimated as such when they said that: This is more than just a Confederate monument. This is images of white people. This is images of white heroes, images of white warriors, that are being torn down to attack and demoralize our people. Make us think that we dont have a future. They dont want us to have a future. They want to destroy our future. They want to replace us with some sort of mixed muddy people that would just be easy consumers that wont stand up for themselves. We are at a dangerous crossroads in this countrys history. White supremacy has always been an undercurrent that rips souls out of the public sphere, but we have done a decent job of pushing those ideas to the fringe since the passage of the Civil Rights Act. Political and racial violence has not stopped, but they have found little to no mainstream backers to justify their hatred. Donald Trump changed that, and the media and us media consumers need to alter our behavior and expectations in kind. These Nazis didnt bring guns to this protest to not use them, and one may have shot and killed a counter-protester if not for the timely snap of a camera. Downplaying the violence in this movement will not make it go away. We must face it head on and come to grips with the fact that we are likely to see more of these armed insurrections as long as Donald Trump is out there apologizing for Nazis. The media needs to be much more explicit in calling out orchestrated violence so we all understand the exact kind of evil we are up against. Jacob Weindling is a staff writer for Paste politics. Follow him on Twitter at @Jakeweindling. Turning and turning in the widening gyre, the falcon cannot hear the falconer, things fall apart, the centre cannot hold. Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world so says William Butler Yeats. The case of the Sampa traditional area is not different from what Butler Yeats described in his poem Over the years, chieftaincy has met a great deal of opposition since many are those who consider chieftaincy in recent times as an institution that causes unnecessary pandemonium between members of the same lineage. They vehemently hold the view that chieftaincy is an archaic institution which has outlived its usefulness and should therefore be completely discarded to the museum of history. Nonetheless, chieftaincy as an enviable institution in Ghana emanated from the social fabric of the land and should therefore be noted that Ghanaian chieftaincy is nobodys creation and cannot be completely eliminated with ease. Chieftaincy was characterized by good governance and strict accountability to the masses. As we procreate for population to increase, the views of people will differ. Chaos and anarchy may take place when two or more people disagree on a pertinent issue and resort to the use of force, violent behaviour and other cruel and deviant means to resolve the matter. Chieftaincy disputes normally occur when there is a succession to a vacant stool. It is unarguable and therefore agreeable that there is no community that does not go through chieftaincy disputes at some point in time. But the case of Sampa will definitely call for the raise of eyebrows. No doubt, many indigenes of good standing have made a grimace of disgust concerning this whole issue but the parties involved have failed to see and hear the untold plight of the masses. In order not to be at sea, it is prudent to know that Sampa is the Capital town of the Jaman North District in the Brong- Ahafo Region of Ghana. The tonic of success started early when the Sampa Traditional Area was elevated to a paramount status in 1982. As it stands now, it is sickening, saddening and heart-breaking to know that Development has come to a halt due to its Chieftaincy crises. One will surely be stunned to the marrow to discover that there has not been a chief in Sampa after the then Chief, Nana Kofi Sono Apim II joined the heavenly choir on the 8th May, 2007. It is apparent that for almost ten years now, the people of Sampa are still mourning their dead Chief. Seven years earlier, the queen mother, Nana Yadwo Kakala II had passed on. Its been almost two decades now the people of Sampa have not been able to unanimously enstool a queen mother. The town has no king and a queen mother. So I ask; for how long shall Sampa Traditional Area remain an emaciated orphan? The parties involved in this brouhaha of chieftaincy dispute keep on treading the rugged path of the law court but all to no avail. Well, the old lady will never be at ease anytime dry bones are being mentioned in a conversation. These parties who are locked up in the supremacy of power may justify their deeds as being patriotic. But I beg to differ. This act is unheard of and unpatriotic. It is only hampering the hand of progress and still taking us to the primitive times of fear and chaos. The role of chieftaincy can never be undermined. But for the presence of some vibrant chiefs, some districts we know today would have been nothing good to write home about. It is therefore not surprising that the Sampa Traditional Area has been left off the hook in terms of development. Many politicians, who are trapped in the deceptive game of politricks keep on lavishing promises that the town shall see a road made of asphalt if only they are rocketed into the realms of power. But what do the masses see? They only come to the masses to renew their promises in a year of election. Truth be told, the mere presence of a vibrant chief in the town could make these politicians spare us some of these unfulfilled promises. The present chief palace doesnt befit a modern day palace. The people of the town cant erect a modern chief palace because there is no chief in the land. Need I say more? Such issues become quite dicey because none of the parties involve would like to seem defeated. But in this case, we plead with the parties involve to bite the bullet and bury the hatchet for peace and tranquillity to prevail in the Sampa Traditional Area. These two parties should know that their positive decision on this matter will definitely turn back the clock ten years. It is high time these parties knew that it will be more appropriate to lose this case and make peace than to win the case and cause conflict. I do not need the foresight of a Jewish prophet in order to prophesy that Sampa Traditional Area is heading towards doom if this issue is not settled amicably. Every Tom, Dick and Harry in every nook and cranny of the Sampa Traditional Area should respond to this clarion call. We call on the various stakeholders, the Regional House of Chiefs, the concerned youth of the town and the Ministry responsible for chieftaincy to intervene quickly in order to maintain peace in the town. The dispute between these two parties should cease forthwith and off pronto. There is no place like home. Sampa Traditional Area is our home and pride. Source: Effah Elvis, A Student of UCC And a Concerned Citizen of Sampa Traditional Area 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 government is preparing to send relief supplies to Sierra Leone, a nation mourning the tragic loss of nearly 400 lives in a flooding disaster. "We are also trying in our own small way to put together a package", Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, Charles Owiredu said after contacting NADMO officials and the Finance Ministry. The Deputy Minister said Ghana is responding to a call for help made by President Ernest Bai Koroma, the Sierra Leonean President. Addressing the media following the Monday's disaster, President Ernest Bai Koroma said the devastation was overwhelming us. Entire communities have been wiped out, Koroma said. We need urgent support now. Ghana's Deputy Foreign Minister said clothes, mosquito nets and blankets are some of the items that would be heading to Sierra Leone, 738 miles away by air travel. "We are sisters," he told Joy News Wednesday and recalled Ghana's support for the country during the outbreak of the Ebola virus between 2014 and 2015. The mayor of Freetwon, Sierra Leonean capital, Sam Gibson, said 270 corpses had been recovered and were being prepared for burial, while the chief coroner told Reuters that nearly 400 bodies had been found. Estimates of the numbers missing vary: the Red Cross reported that 600 people have not been traced, while the countrys Interior Minister has said thousands are unaccounted for. At least a hundred houses were hit when a hillside in Regent, a mountainous town 15 miles east of Freetown, collapsed in the early hours of Monday. Everything is gone. Weve lost everything our house, everything. The mud came down with the water so fast and my son did not escape. We found him lying in the mud. He was just a boy". "They took his body with the others to I dont know where. God help Sierra Leone. Why are we cursed? What are we supposed to do now, with nothing?, Issatu Koroma who lives in Regent, where over a hundred buildings collapsed. Source: myjoyonline.com with files from Guardian 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 Clint Trahan photo You won the Fox Air DH at Crankworx Whistler last year and took third in the Crankworx Rotorua Air DH . Youre starting to distinguish yourself as an Air DH ninja. Whats your secret? We've really seen this niche downhill discipline grow with the Crankworx World Tour? We now have an Air DH in Rotorua, and we added one in Les Gets this year. Are there a lot of racers that are really into this kind of track. Do you think thats why its become so popular? You talked a little bit about A-Line and how its so legendary. People are always coming to Whistler and talking about A-Line. Can you describe it for someone who may not have ever ridden it? What makes A-Line so good? You called it never-ending. Is that part of the challenge in this race? Is stamina something really key to be successful? Scott Robarts photo How is it different? What do you do to prepare for a race day on A-Line? Can you take us through your 2016 run? I remember you ended up in the hot seat super early and were just sitting there, sweating it out for a substantial amount of time as some of the world's top riders came down. What was it about your run that day that you think really set your run apart? Sweating it out in the hot seat... Clint Trahan photo And that ended up being your first Crankworx gold as a Pro. So how did that feel to take that win? Your first Crankworx win as a Pro, in Whistler, biggest event of the year. The brothers van Steenbergen at Crankworx Whistler 2016. Scott Robarts photo People love to talk about your style. How would you describe it? 2016 had some top career moments for you: winning the Fox Air DH in Whistler and racing against your brother for the bronze. How can you top that? Have there been any moments in 2017 thatve come close so far? Cruising into a third place finish at in the Crankworx Rotorua Air DH. Fraser Britton photo Its been said that wherever youre riding, you seem really at home, that when youre travelling you seem instantly at home on the trails and have a really natural style. Where does that come from? That ability to ride all these different places and have it seem like youre riding your home trails? Maybe, in a way, its a more relatable type of riding. Youre not doing any crazy tricks, so while you're a Pro, and you clearly ride like a Pro, your riding looks a little bit more similar to what they can relate to? Is there one particular type of terrain that feels the most home to you? So then coming into a week thats looking pretty bone dry, how are you feeling? What are your goals heading into Crankworx Whistler 2017? Do you have a favourite event? Battling out on the Giant Dual Slalom course at Crankworx Whistler 2016. Clint Trahan photo Does it change the dynamic for you at all, that the win last year was so big and so exciting for everyone watching, does it change things for you coming in with a lot of eyes on you and people wondering, Can he do it again? Bas van Steez-bergenBas Van Steeze-meisterBas VantasticBoss Van SteezburgerCall him what you will. One thing's for certain, Bas van Steenbergen has style. Lots of it. Style, skill, and speed, in fact. Last year he brought them all together when it mattered most, taking his first win as a Pro at Crankworx Whistler . Can he do it again this year?We chatted with him ahead of this year's Fox Air DH as he takes on Whistler's most iconic trail to defend his title.I think I just enjoy riding that kind of stuff a lotmore pumpy and smooth. I have a hard time on steep tracks and just letting go of the brakes. Im way better at maintaining speed through sections. So I think thats a big part of it. I used to race BMX when I was younger so I think that helps a lot with it too, knowing how to pump those transitions and those types of skills.Sure. I think it could still be a lot better, too. Obviously the A-Line one is super legendary, and that shouldnt change, but I think theres also so much room for improvement and adding exciting features to these tracks as well, so that its not just sprinting and scrubbing over little jumps. I dont know. Id love to see changes like that, and hopefully it just keeps growing.I dont know what makes it so awesome. It just kind of works. Theres a lot of really well-built jumps, a lot of good corners, and its just kind of never-ending. Youre in the air half the time, and its just a really fun trail.No, its definitely more of a sprint, and I think its gotten a little less physical and more technical over the last couple years, just with the way theyve changed the trail a bit. But its definitely a different skill-set to ride A-Line, versus how to race it. I never ride A-LIne at race pace. Usually Im just cruising through it. Its definitely very different.I try to tell myself its just another A-Line lap, but do it as fast as I can possibly go. I definitely look for very different lines, more off the sides of the lips, and make sure I set up good into turns to carry speed and not drift around too much. When youre just riding it, youre just kind of blasting the jumps and doing big whips and cutting in turns and drifting. Its all fun but its not necessarily fast.Im not too sure, to be honest. I was riding well. I was feeling comfortable on the trail and comfortable on the bike. I didnt necessarily think the run was anything too special. When I came down I thought, OK, Im going to be top 10. But definitely wouldnt have thought I was going to win. When I was sitting in the hot seat I thought, Yeah, Im pretty sure Ill get a top 10 but then it was like, Oh, maybe Ill get a podium and then "I might actually win this. It was better than I expected it to finish, thats for sure.Yeah, in Elite Men. Ive won the event in Junior too, actually. But thats obviously a whole different thing.The whole week was awesome. I raced my brother in Speed and Style, and we battled it out. That was super fun. I was like, Aw man, this week is already great. Cant get any better. Then the Air DH, and that obviously was super good. It was definitely the best feeling result Ive had so far.I dont know. I definitely try really hard to keep it smooth. Sometimes Im a little too smooth, which might sound cocky, but what I mean is that Im almost kicking out little tiny things too much to try and stay smooth. And then, I dont know, I guess pretty loose at the same time, with what Im doing in the air. So loose and smooth, hopefully.I was happy with how I rode in Rotorua. Actually, I went to a big freeride event in Belgium, Loosefest, not long ago, and just riding those massive jumps felt like winning a race. But other than that, I dont know. Winning is a whole different thing, thats for sure. I havent felt anything quite like it this season.I dont know. I dont necessarily feel like that. I think one of the things is Im not necessarily trying to do the biggest tricks, or even the biggest hucks, Im just always working on being smooth and being fast, and kind of trying to make it look easy I guess. So I guess just putting all my efforts toward that instead of tricks, just makes it look like Im more at home maybe.Yeah, absolutely. I think thats a big thing. Its crazy seeing, because my brother will do something insane, and people will be like, Yeah, thats cool. And then Ill do, like, a drift, which... I could do that every day, and he could do that every day, and yet people are blown away by it.I think just that tacky, perfect dirt we get around here. I feel like I have the best chance in that. Maybe a little toward the dryer side, but usually when its a little tackier.Pretty good. It's what I usually ride at home, so Im not too worried about it. It would be more concerning for me if it was super wet. Im feeling really good going into it. Should be fun.I try to come into it as much as possible just wanting to do my best, but its kind of hard not to want to win, and obviously the Fox Air DHId really like to win that again. So thats a big goal. Everything else, Im just going to try and do well. Id like to win everything, but I try not to set too much of a goal because I feel like if I just ride to the best of my abilities, without putting too much pressure on myself, thats when I ride my best.I really like slalom, actually. Thats probably the most enjoyable to compete in. But then, obviously Im looking forward to the Air DH a lot. But its a pretty painful event. Youre just sprinting the whole time, just wanting to give up. So I think slalom is my favourite to compete in, but Im definitely looking forward to the Air DH the most.Yeah, I think its changed it in that Im a lot more confident that I can do it. I know that last year wasnt a fluke and I should be able to it again if I have a good run. Im not feeling too much pressure. Just excited for it.Watch Bas defend his Fox Air DH title LIVE on crankworx.com and right here on Pinkbike.Wednesday, August 16, 3:305:30pm PDTThursday, August 17, 12:302:30am CESTThursday, August 17, 10:30am12:30pm NZST John Andress Wins SHRPO $25K High Roller August 15, 2017 Mo Nuwwarah Editor Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open hosted its famed "Big 4" series of tournaments scheduled to end Tuesday, all sporting hefty prize pools and star-studded fields. The biggest of those in terms of buy-in was the $25,500 High Roller, which attracted 117 players for one of the richer prize pools SHRPO has doled out. American John Andress emerged as the champion after a prolonged heads-up battle with Canadian star Mike Leah. Andress pulled off a spectacular comeback after being down to just one big blind on the money bubble to get his biggest cash, $801,450, which nearly doubles his career tournament cashes of $984,573. Official Final Table Results Place Player Prize 1 John Andress $801,450 2 Mike Leah $561,600 3 Brandon Adams $351,000 4 Chris Hunichen $242,775 5 Tom Marchese $155,025 6 Omar Zazay $114,075 7 Chance Kornuth $93,600 8 Sam Panzica $78,975 As any big high roller will do nowadays, the tournament drew a who's who of poker stars, including the likes of Doug Polk, Isaac Haxton, Nick Petrangelo, Jason Mercier and Bryn Kenney. However, none of those players would prove to be much of a factor as all fell before the money bubble burst. Kathy Lehne was the unfortunate soul to get felted on the bubble, according to the live updates, which left two tables eight in the money. Andress somehow snuck in with less than one big blind, but he would nonetheless outlast players like Marvin Rettenmaier, Joseph Cheong, Anthony Spinella and Rainer Kempe en route to the final table. Brandon Adams eliminated Matt Glantz on the final table bubble after Glantz lost most of his short stack shoving with pocket fives and running into the aces of Andress. However, even his leading stack of 2,245,000 was less than 50 big blinds at 25,000/50,000/5,000, and barely over double the amount bagged by short stack Sam Panzica (910,000). So, it was still anyone's game going into the final day. Unable to run up his short stack, Panzica did wind up being first to go. He lost about half of his chips before shoving in for about seven big blinds with and losing to the of big blind Tom Marchese despite turning a live 14-out draw to go with two live cards. SHRPO ambassador Chance Kornuth has had his share of success in $25K events with wins in both Aussie Millions and WPT bestbet Jacksonville, as well as a second-place finish at EPT Dublin in 2016. However, he'd have to settle for seventh on his adopted home turf, as he pushed with a desperately short stack holding on the button and lost to Andress' to go out seventh. Adams took control of nearly half of the chips when he busted Omar Zazay in sixth with against all in preflop, but Leah made his big move right after that. Marchese shoved under the gun for 16 big blinds, Chris Hunichen reshoved with 20, and Leah woke up with in the big blind. He called off his own stack of 17 bigs, and he was up against the of Marchese and of Hunichen. An ace-high board hit, along with four diamonds, so Leah got everything he needed to score the knockout and collect a double. "Big Huni" was left with dust and managed one double before falling to Adams. Adams and Leah were the two big stacks, and Leah wrested the lead from the resurgent Adams, who scored just his third cash since 2013 this January with second place in the Aussie Millions $25K. The tangled on a board that ran out . Leah bet all three streets and shoved river, and Adams called him down with . However, the Canadian had made a flush with and took the pot and a huge lead into heads-up play. Down 3-1 to start, Andress turned the tables on Leah and moved into the lead. However, it proved to be fleeting as Leah returned to his dominant position. It would take about three hours before one finally toppled the other. In the end, it would come to a flip, and when Leah's didn't improve against , securing Andress a trophy and his biggest cash. "Mike is real tough, and Brandon was playing a lot of hands, Andress said afterwards to tournament reporters. I had some good spots, and things went well when it mattered. Photo courtesy of Seminole Hard Rock Grizzly Bear have just released "Mourning Sound." It's a colorful, astonishingly beautiful music video for the single off their upcoming LP, 'Painted Ruins.' The video, directed by Beatrice Pegard, revolves around actress Clemence Poesy and several other leading ladies in the streets of Paris. The band describes it as "a playful, pastel-drenched commentary on women's liberation." The video features women running and dancing around a French mansion, with some brief NSFW shots involving buttocks, rituals, and nods to the power of motherhood. As OUT Magazine writes, "There are allusions to motherhood and marriage throughout, highlighting the strength in femininity. After a woman navigates a field of standing men, the group of featured femmes dance together in what appears to be a strange, celebratory ritual. The grand finale? Rainbows shooting from one of the subject's breasts." "Mourning Sound" is their second single off their upcoming record and boy, is it a treat. The track recalls older Grizzly Bear (think "Ready, Able" meets "Yet Again") while infusing a freshness that only comes with knowing your musical style and knowing it well. Lead vocalist Ed Droste offers some heartbreaking vocals here, touching on feelings of "I move at a pace that I cannot survive." [rebelmouse-proxy-image https://media.rbl.ms/image?u=%2F10220310%2F1200x600.png&ho=https%3A%2F%2Fassets.rbl.ms&s=145&h=7c9d14490835e68344784296af0581c1a530e80fa3f8c3b3fdfc24c03e2617c5&size=980x&c=3942353523 crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//media.rbl.ms/image%3Fu%3D%252F10220310%252F1200x600.png%26ho%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fassets.rbl.ms%26s%3D145%26h%3D7c9d14490835e68344784296af0581c1a530e80fa3f8c3b3fdfc24c03e2617c5%26size%3D980x%26c%3D3942353523%22%7D" caption="" pin_description="" image-library="0" expand=1 photo_credit=""] Painted Ruins marks Grizzly Bear's first record since 2012's crowning gem Shields. For a while there, no one was sure what to expect from them - the band was scattered between New York and LA and, when asked about recording, offered little to no comment on the status of it all. What were they up to in that five year interim, you ask? Occasional frontman and guitarist Daniel Rossen embarked on his very own solo tour, following the release of his solo debut EP Silent Hour/Golden Mile. Drummer Christopher Bear worked on arranging soundtracks for the HBO series High Maintenance. Lead vocalist Ed Droste, amidst all the Swift backlash that (wrongfully) kicked him off Twitter, collaborated with a variety of performers, such as DEDE (which you can listen to here). The band rarely does press, but in a recent interview with SPIN, songwriter Daniel Rossen shed some light on the recording process: "I was trying to avoid overly personal, depressing material, I'll say that much. [I wanted to write] stuff that feltnot really topical, but not confessional. Sort of like using my own personal experiences to try and access something outside of my life. I like the idea of really literal scenes that are so small that they could almost mean anything. In "Wasted Acres," lines like "howling at the fields" and "where does the hound run" is literally just me directly talking about the fields upstate, and collecting firewood with the dog. Or waking up and hearing passing trucks and people hunting in the woods in "Mourning Sound." [rebelmouse-proxy-image https://media.rbl.ms/image?u=%2F2017%2F04%2Fgrizzly-bear-new-music.jpg&ho=https%3A%2F%2Fconsequenceofsound.files.wordpress.com&s=447&h=9b37cd790d15275981a7e4c3bc1a57e1638a4e9d4b6f5ac8ebf5bd7f4ae702ad&size=980x&c=3715991878 image-library="0" caption="\u200b" pin_description="" crop_info="%7B%22image%22%3A%20%22https%3A//media.rbl.ms/image%3Fu%3D%252F2017%252F04%252Fgrizzly-bear-new-music.jpg%26ho%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fconsequenceofsound.files.wordpress.com%26s%3D447%26h%3D9b37cd790d15275981a7e4c3bc1a57e1638a4e9d4b6f5ac8ebf5bd7f4ae702ad%26size%3D980x%26c%3D3715991878%22%7D" expand=1 photo_credit=""] Consequence of Sound Find Grizzly Bear on Twitter, Instagram and official website. Painted Ruins is out 8/18. Vanessa is a music and culture writer. She will probably dance to "Laura Palmer's Theme" x Britney Spear's Everytime at her wedding. Follow her on twitter. READ MORE ABOUT MUSIC... INTERVIEW | a Q&A with Rooney's Robert Schwartzman REVIEW | Nick Hakim's "Green Twins" is a soulful trip through the future INTERVIEW | A conversation with Chris Baio PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-16 14:00:42 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 397 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Ashburton Ventures Inc.--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - Ashburton Ventures Inc. (TSX Venture:ABR). has issued a press release with the following headline:Ashburton Announces Increased Yields of Marijuana Produced in Cannabis-Zeolite StudyTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on Ashburton Ventures Inc., or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/Ashburton Ventures Inc.Source: Ashburton Ventures Inc. (TSX Venture: ABR, FWB: ARB, WKN: A1J3M5, ISIN: CA0437832086)Date: August 16, 2017Time: 8:00 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Ashburton Ventures Inc. and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.) North Koreas military yesterday presented leader Kim Jong Un with plans to launch missiles into waters near Guam and wring the windpipes of the Yankees, even as both Koreas and the United States signaled their willingness to avert a deepening crisis, with each suggesting a path toward negotiations. The tentative interest in diplomacy follows unusually combative threats between President Donald Trump and North Korea amid worries that Pyongyang is nearing its long-sought goal of accurately being able to send a nuclear missile to the U.S. mainland. Next weeks start of U.S.-South Korean military exercises that enrage the North each year makes it unclear, however, if diplomacy will prevail. During an inspection of the North Korean armys Strategic Forces, which handles the missile program, Kim praised the military for drawing up a close and careful plan and said he would watch the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees a little more before deciding whether to order the missile test, the Norths state-run Korean Central News Agency said. Kim appeared in photos sitting at a table with a large map marked by a straight line between what appeared to be northeastern North Korea and Guam, and passing over Japan apparently showing the missiles flight route. The missile plans were previously announced. Kim said North Korea would conduct the launches if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity, and that the United States should think reasonably and judge properly to avoid shaming itself, the news agency said. Lobbing missiles toward Guam, a major U.S. military hub in the Pacific, would be a deeply provocative act from the U.S. perspective, and a miscalculation on either side could lead to a military clash. U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis said the United States would take out any such missile seen to be heading for American soil and declared any such North Korean attack could mean war. Kims comments, however, with their conditional tone, seemed to hold out the possibility that friction could ease if the United States made some sort of gesture that Pyongyang considered a move to back away from previous extremely dangerous reckless actions. That could refer to the U.S.-South Korean military drills set to begin Monday, which the North claims are rehearsals for invasion. It also could refer to the B-1B bombers that the U.S. has occasionally flown over the Korean Peninsula as a show of force. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, meanwhile, a liberal who favors engagement with the North, urged North Korea to stop provocations and to commit to talks over its nuclear weapons program. Moon, in a televised speech on the anniversary of the end of World War II and the Korean Peninsulas liberation from Japanese colonial rule, said that Seoul and Washington agree that the crisis over the Norths nuclear program should absolutely be solved peacefully, and that no U.S. military action on the Korean Peninsula could be taken without Seouls consent. Moon said the North could create conditions for talks by stopping nuclear and missile tests. Our government will put everything on the line to prevent another war on the Korean Peninsula, Moon said. Regardless of whatever twist and turns we could experience, the North Korean nuclear program should absolutely be solved peacefully, and the (South Korean) government and the U.S. government dont have a different position on this. The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, on Monday met with senior South Korean military and political officials and the local media, and made comments that appeared to be an attempt to ease anxiety while also showing a willingness to back Trumps warnings if need be. Dunford said the United States wants to peacefully resolve tensions with North Korea, but Washington is also ready to use the full range of its military capabilities in case of provocation. Dunford is visiting South Korea, Japan and China after a week in which Trump declared the U.S. military locked and loaded and said he was ready to unleash fire and fury if North Korea continued to threaten the United States. North Koreas military had said last week it would finalize and send to Kim for approval the plan to fire four ballistic missiles near Guam, which is about 3,200 kilometers from Pyongyang. The plans are based on the Hwasong-12, a new missile the country successfully flight-tested for the first time in May. The liquid-fuel missile is designed to be fired from road mobile launchers and has been previously described by North Korea as built for attacking Alaska and Hawaii. The North followed the May launch with two flight tests of its Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile last month. Analysts said that a wide swath of the continental United States, including Los Angeles and Chicago, could be within reach of those missiles, once theyre perfected. The Norths latest report said Kim ordered his military to be prepared to launch the missiles toward Guam at any time. Kim said that if the planned fire of power demonstration is carried out because of U.S. recklessness, it will be the most delightful historic moment when the Hwasong artillerymen will wring the windpipes of the Yankees and point daggers at their necks, the North reported. Even with North Korea and the Trump administration exchanging tough talk, back-channel diplomatic contacts between the countries have continued, The Associated Press reported Saturday. People familiar with the contacts who spoke on condition of anonymity say those discussions have addressed deteriorating relations and issues including three Americans still detained in the North. A foreign ministry spokesman for the North yesterday denied that the country is currently discussing the detainees with Washington. The issue on detained Americans is not an object to discuss in view of the present atmosphere of DPRK-U.S. relations, the state-run Korean Central News Agency quoted the spokesman as saying. North Korea is angry about new United Nations sanctions over its expanding nuclear weapons and missile program and the upcoming military drills between Washington and Seoul. Kim said the United States must make a proper option first and show it through action, as it committed provocations after introducing huge nuclear strategic equipment into the vicinity of the peninsula and that it should stop at once arrogant provocations against North Korea, state media said. Foster Klug & Kim Tong-Hyung, Seoul, AP PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-16 14:00:34 Press Information Published by ACCESSWIRE News Network 888.952.4446 e-mail http://www.accesswire.com # 388 Words ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446 FSCwire / Press ReleaseThe following press release was disseminated by FSCwire for Canyon Copper Corp--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---Vancouver, British Columbia (FSCWire) - Canyon Copper Corp (TSX Venture:CNC). has issued a press release with the following headline:Canyon Announces Completion of Share ConsolidationTo view this press release on the FSCwire website, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:If you would prefer, you can also view this press release as a PDF file, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser:For more information on Canyon Copper Corp, or to see additional press releases issued by this company, please either click on the link below, or copy and paste the link into your browser: http://www.fscwire.com/public-company/Canyon Copper CorpSource: Canyon Copper Corp (TSX Venture: CNC)Date: August 16, 2017Time: 8:00 AM EDT--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---The story mentioned above was issued on behalf of Canyon Copper Corp and disseminated through FSCwire.About FSCwireFSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.), is a global newswire dissemination, SEDAR, SEDI, and EDGAR / XBRL service provider.FSCwire is a full service global newswire dissemination company and is fully approved by all exchanges in Canada and the U.S. Press releases can be distributed for all sizes of public, private or not for profit companies and any other organization requiring news distribution. In addition to individual companies; public relations, communications and investor relations firms trust FSCwire to distribute press releases for their respective clients.In addition to newswire dissemination FSCwire also offers EDGAR, XBRL, SEDAR, SEDI, and additional services for publicly traded companies. For more information, please go to our website: http://www.fscwire.com Maximum News Dissemination by FSCwire. http://www.fscwire.com Copyright 2017 - FSCwire (a division of Filing Services Canada Inc.) PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-16 14:17:49 Press Information Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 714 Words Abhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 The automobile industry is one of the most critical for any nations economic development which is why countries focus so much attention on it. Global carmakers have shifted their focus to emerging markets as the strong economic growth there has led to an increased desire for personal mobility. With a number of emission scandals dominating headlines in the last few years, customers would naturally be concerned with the quality of fuel used in their vehicles, making the car fuel filter market get its fair share of the limelight. Proactive customers, coupled with stricter governmental regulations pertaining to emissions, are expected to make the fuel filter market boom in the long term.The car fuel filter market is on track to record a modest CAGR of 2.8% and be worth approx. US$ 435 million by the end of the forecast period i.e. 2022.Request For Sample Report @ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=136 Highlights of the Car Fuel Filter MarketDiesel has had a reputation for some time now as the dirtier fuel which is why it is expected to comprise nearly 3/5th revenue share in the car fuel filter market by fuel type. Commercial vehicles in particular, both light commercial vehicles as well as heavy commercial vehicles often rely on diesel over gasoline and they would need fuel filters to ensure that their emissions are in-line with governmental norms. Diesel is much more popular in Europe as opposed to North America and the Europe diesel fuel filter market is on track to be worth almost US$ 64 million in 2022.Gasoline occupies the balance 2/5th revenue share in the car fuel filter market. Gasoline is generally considered cleaner than diesel which explains its popularity in the passenger vehicle segment. However, the fuel quality in emerging markets is often of an inferior quality when compared to developed countries for a number of reasons. If fuel filters are not deployed, there is a high probability that the combustion engine can get damaged with dust particulates. Thus, a market opportunity of just under US$ 180 million by 2022 exists in the gasoline fuel filter market as well. Companies could look at targeting North America over Europe as consumers there express an overwhelming preference for gasoline vehicles over their diesel counterparts.Check Discount @ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=D&rep_id=136 The premium passenger car segment represents a small market opportunity in the car fuel filter market in terms of vehicle type. However, it would be unwise to ignore a market of nearly US$ 50 million by end 2022 as rising disposable incomes would make consumers demand premium passenger cars in the long run. Europe and APEJ are neck-and-neck in the premium passenger car segment and it will be interesting to see if and when APEJ outpaces Europe.The compact car segment accounts for a third of the revenue share in the car fuel filter market by vehicle type and is especially important in emerging economies where the price-sensitivity is higher than in Europe or North America. The compact car segment is predicted to be worth roughly US$ 120 million in 2022 and companies in the car fuel filter market are advised to make their business strategies keeping this in mind.The mid-sized segment consists of a quarter of the revenue share by vehicle type in the car fuel filter market but is likely to lose market share to both premium and compact cars. Key stakeholders are advised to target Europe and APEJ as these are the only two regions that should push past US$ 28 million by the end of the study period.The car fuel filter market report has profiled prominent companies such as Champion Laboratories, UFI Filters SpA, Valeo SA, Hengst SE, Cummins Inc., and Sogefi SpA.Click to View Complete Report @ https://www.factmr.com/report/136/car-fuel-filter-market About Us Fact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsOffice: Dublin 2Suite 988427 Upper Pembroke Street,Dublin 2, IrelandTel: +353-1-6111-593( Dublin 2 )Email: sales@ factmr.com Web: https://www.factmr.com Chocolate Powdered Drinks Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-16 07:56:06 Press Information Future market insights Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States 3479183531 email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 575 Words Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United States3479183531Abhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 Chocolate powdered drinks can be mixed with water or milk to prepare instant chocolate drinks. Water based chocolate powdered drinks are generally cold beverages which include soft drinks or energy drinks. Whereas milk based chocolate based drinks include chocolate drinks, protein shakes, cappuccino mixes. Chocolate powdered drinks can be served cold or hot form depends on consumer needs and wants. Chocolate powdered drinks are beneficial for health with good taste and flavor which attracts all age of consumers, especially kids, teenagers and youngsters consume it in large scale. Vigorous aspects of chocolate powdered drinks are low-cost production and have various health beneficial features to the end user. The potential growth of chocolate powdered drinks has a niche market as compared from tea and coffee globally. Chocolate powdered drinks are mainly consumed at breakfast. Due to hot and humid climatic region of the world, the cocoa market is facing a significant challenge for the overall market growth.Chocolate Powdered Drinks Market: SegmentationChocolate powdered drinks market is segmented on the basis of types, end users and distribution channel. On the basis of product type chocolate powdered drinks are segmented in dark chocolate powdered drink, milk chocolate powdered drinks, white chocolate powdered drinks. On the basis of end users chocolate powdered drinks is segmented in energy drinks, milk beverages, cappuccino mixes, protein shakes and chocolate drinks which can be served hot as well as cold and it also enhances the taste of the drinks, which attracts a large number of consumers. On the basis of distribution channel, the chocolate powdered drinks are segmented into supermarket/ hypermarket, convenience stores, Speciality stores, online and grocery stores. Among the distribution channel segment, hyper/supermarket segment contributes larger market share in terms of revenue. Increasing online purchasing of food and beverage is expected to drive market growth of online segment.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4202 Chocolate Powdered Drinks: Region wise outlookDepending on geographic regions, chocolate powdered drinks market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. Africa, particularly West African countries (Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon) produce 70% of the worlds cocoa, according to the World Cocoa foundation are the major producer of cocoa seeds. Brazil is the largest market for chocolate powdered drinks. The countries which are global leaders in cocoa products are Ghana, Belgium, The United Kingdom and Switzerland. The markets of the Middle East, North America as well as Asia-Pacific is rising in both consumption and production of cocoa products and growth is mainly expected from emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4202 Chocolate Powdered Drinks: DriversThe growing impact of western culture, increasing disposable incomes of consumers, rising population are the major factors to fuel the growth of global chocolate powdered drinks in Asia-Pacific region. Innovation in the field of chocolate powdered drinks with health benefits such as fortification with DHA, dry fruits, natural herbs , natural flavours, is driving the demand chocolate powdered drinks in Europe and North America. Organic chocolate powdered drinks remain rare and niche which may offer an opportunity for the entrants of several organic brands.Chocolate Powdered Drinks: Key playersSome of the key participating players in chocolate powdered drinks globally are Mondelez, Nestle S.A., Gatorade, Mars Inc., GlaxoSmithKline Plc, PepsiCo Inc., Kanegrade Ltd, and others.Full Report Analysis@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/chocolate-powdered-drinks-market PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-16 07:54:43 Press Information Bright Light Australia 1/49 Links Ave Nth, Eagle Farm, QLD 4009 email https://www.brightlightled.com.au/ Published by Cam Wilkes 006499503888 e-mail https://www.pureseo.co.nz # 353 Words 1/49 Links Ave Nth,Eagle Farm,QLD 4009Cam Wilkes006499503888 Australasian LED lighting suppliers Bright Light has started an online shop aimed at the signage supply market, cabinet makers and shop fitters, promotional companies and electrical contractors.There is a wide range of products available that are listed by category LED lighting, power supplies, LTech control gear and signage modules. The store makes it simple to search by industry such as electrical contractors, signwriters and others. There are a variety of colours to choose from along with the wattage. The search filter allows customers to easily find what they are looking for such as Ingress Protection ratings for Indoor use, IP65 (exterior) and IP68 (submerged).The quality products can be conveniently delivered in 3 to 6 working days anywhere in Australia. It can take an additional two days for rural delivery. The dedicated customer service and sales team is available to provide expertise and recommendations in providing LED lighting solutions, and discussing how to best achieve the desired lighting effect for any project. The contact form can be used to email the support team for queries and feedback. The toll free number 1800 793 185 can also help customers find the perfect solution for any lighting need.Bright Light has been supplying LED light fittings and power supplies for residential and commercial facilities, hospitality, marine and architectural lighting industries. All Bright Light products have undergone strict quality checks, including local testing, to ensure they comply with Australasian safety regulations and come with a three-year warranty. The company provides warranty and returns information on the website.With the phasing out of incandescent light bulbs in many countries, LED suppliers are racing to compete with newer products with exceptional quality. Bright Light has been sourcing and supplying LED lights for discerning consumers in Australasia. The advantages of LED lighting products are almost too many to list, covering financial and ethical concerns that are universal to Australian consumers. They are energy efficient, have a longer life span, are non-toxic and can save money on electricity bills. Ninety per cent of LED lights components can be recycled.To shop online: Co Extruded Films Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-16 07:54:15 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.com Website: www.futuremarketinsights.com Shrikant Ghuge Analyst 1-347-918-3531 email http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/co-extruded-films-market # 669 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: www.futuremarketinsights.comAnalyst1-347-918-3531 Packaging has turned into a key constituent of present day life because of the simplicity of transportation, logistics and slant of the buyer towards a wide utilization of bags. The rising demand for packaging items is fundamentally because of its simple accessibility. Co extruded films market has emerged as a dynamic industry for packaging market owing to the light sensitive nature of these films. Co extruded films gives assurance to sensitive material from harm jolt such as dampness, oxygen, and dust, which can debase nature of items. This type of co extruded films packaging are reasonable substitutes for food and pharmaceutical packaging, to keep food and healthcare items secured, and develop time span of usability. Co extruded films in flexible packaging are regularly used to guarantee item trustworthiness and keep up quality motel instance of water penetration dampness, oil, oxygen, smell, flavor, gas, and light.Global Co extruded Films Market- Market Dynamics:The global co extruded films market is principally determined by the famous properties of co extruded films, which thus is significantly increasing the demand for co extruded films in food and beverage industries. Another factor advancing the development of co extruded films market is that more than a single item can be packed together permitting large dispersion of the item. Co extruded films are favored by brands keeping in mind the end goal to announce, advance and display the item. Consumer preferences has change the market structure coupled with supply side push to offer new and creative items for co extruded films and this trend is expected grow over the forecast period 2017-2025. Owing to stringent norm regarding the usage of plastic films from regional government are hampering the growth for co extruded films market.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4219 Global Co extruded Films Market- Market Segmentation:The global Co extruded films market is segmented on the basis of material type, layer type, and end use industries.Based on the type of material type, co extruded films market can be segmented into:PEPPEVOHPVDCPETPAOthersBased on the type of layer type, co extruded films market can be segmented into:3 layer5 layer7 layer9 layerBased on end use industries, co extruded films market can be segmented into:Food & BeveragePharmaceuticalsHealthcareDairyOthersGlobal Co extruded Films Market- Regional Overview:The global Co extruded films market is segmented on the basis of region such as:North AmericaLatin AmericaEastern EuropeWestern EuropeAPEJMiddle East & AfricaJapanCo extruded films market is having an upsurge growth potential over the forecast period of 2016-2024. North America region is the leading market for co extruded films and is fueling demand owing to advance technology. Europe region is also expected to witness a stagnant growth of co extruded films market for the forecasted period. Latin America would also have a presence in co extruded films market and is expected to grow at a noticeable rate. Countries such as the UK, Germany, Italy and France are the top markets for co extruded films. There is an expectation that Asia-Pacific excluding Japan region would witness the highest growth over the forecast period for co extruded films market owing to increase in revenue contribution. Co extruded films market in China and India is expected to be dominating the globe due to a substantial increase in the growth for the retail industry and technological advancement of these emerging economies. The Middle East and Africa region are expected to have an anticipation of the growth of co extruded films market for GCC countries and South Africa. Japan is also expected to witness a significant increase in the growth of co extruded films market.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4219 Global Co extruded Films Market- Key Players:Some key players of co extruded films market are Winpak Ltd., Sealed Air Corp, Amcor Limited, Berry Plastics, 3M Company, Bemis Company, Inc., Huhtamaki Oyj, Ampac Holdings, LLC, Smurfit Kappa Group, Sonoco Products Company, etc. PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-16 09:53:14 Press Information Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 608 Words Abhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 The global dermatology devices market is estimated to expand at an above-average CAGR over the forecast period (2017-2022). The global market for dermatology devices is expected to account for over US$ 1,000 Mn revenues by 2022-end. Dermatology devices have been installed in various hospitals and dermatology clinics for assisting physicians in treatment of skin disorders.Request For Sample Report @ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=97 Procedures associated with non-invasive cosmetic correction have witnessed a surge in demand, with growing geriatric population, soaring healthcare expenditure, and rising disposable income of people in developing and developed countries. In contrast, high costs of dermatology devices have made the dermatological treatments expensive, which may act as a restraining factor to adoption of these treatments. Moreover, several side effects are associated with dermatological treatments, which in turn, incurs significant challenges for leading players in the global dermatology devices market.The prevalence of skin-related disorders has been increasing around the world. As per The Skin Cancer Foundation, more than 10,000 people died owing to melanoma in 2016. In order to lower such high mortality rates, diagnosis of skin diseases, such as skin cancer. In addition, several diagnostic equipment have been utilized for treating various types of skin cancer. For instance dermatoscopes are playing an indispensable role in detecting melanoma, with evaluation of the pigmented lesions. A number of technological advancements are being made in dermatology devices, for example laser instruments, and light therapy improved aesthetic appeal of people. The advanced liposuction equipment have improved body contouring treatment. Power- and vibration-assisted liposuction devices have aided in reducing significant amount of fat in shorter time period. Developments such as these will impact growth of the market in the upcoming years.Check Discount @ https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=D&rep_id=97 9 Key Estimations for the Global Dermatology Devices MarketRadiofrequency electrosurgery devices are expected to remain the most lucrative product in the market, and sales of these devices are estimated to account for more than one-third revenue share of the market over the forecast period.Revenues from ultrasonic electrosurgery devices sales are anticipated to hold the lowest share of the market.Although hospitals are estimated to remain the largest end-users in the global dermatology devices market, sales of these devices in dermatology clinics are expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period.On the basis of application, dermatology devices are anticipated to witness the largest adoption in procedures of hair removal.Stretch marks reduction will continue to be the second largest application of dermatology devices in the market.North America is estimated to remain dominant in the global market for dermatology devices, in terms of revenues.Dermatology devices sales across Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) are expected to exhibit the fastest expansion over the forecast period, followed by Europe.Europe is projected to remain the second most lucrative market for sales of dermatology devices.Key market players profiled in the report include Erbe Elektromedizin GmbH, Johnson & Johnson Private Limited, Medtronic Plc, Smith and Nephew Co., B. Braun Melsungen AG, Heal Force Bio-meditech Holdings Limited, Bovie Medical Corporation, and AngioDynamics, Inc.Click to View Complete Report @ https://www.factmr.com/report/97/dermatology-devices-market About Us Fact.MR is a fast-growing market research firm that offers the most comprehensive suite of syndicated and customized market research reports. We believe transformative intelligence can educate and inspire businesses to make smarter decisions. We know the limitations of the one-size-fits-all approach; that's why we publish multi-industry global, regional, and country-specific research reports.Contact UsOffice: Dublin 2Suite 988427 Upper Pembroke Street,Dublin 2, IrelandTel: +353-1-6111-593( Dublin 2 )Email: sales@ factmr.com Web: https://www.factmr.com Dry Powder Refilling Machine Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-16 06:41:50 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 700 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 The Automatic Dry Powder refilling machine is used for various applications such as spice filling, medicine filling, etc. and works on auger based filling principle. An Automatic dry powder refilling machine helps to reduce the operating cost and time and increase the overall operating efficiency. It is also suitable to fill sterile powder into vessels. A fully automatic dry powder refilling machine are reliable and easy to use. It is widely used in various industry such as pharmaceutical, cosmetics, food & beverage and retail & consumer goods. Various manufactures are designing robotic based dry powder refilling machines which will help to increase the accuracy and enhance the performance.Global dry powder refilling machine market: DynamicsThe key factors which drive the global dry powder refilling machine market include increasing demand for packaged food & beverage products along with increasing health consciousness among consumers.The macroeconomic factors which are responsible for the growth of global dry powder refilling machine market are increasing per capita income, the rapid rate of urbanization, changing lifestyleand emerging economy such as China, and India. High technological advancement in dry powder refilling machine will fuel the dry powder refilling machine market across the globe, attributed to high investment in innovation of the dry powder refilling machine. Other factors driving the global dry powder refilling machine market includes rapid rate of industrialization and safety and rapid increase of durability of fast moving consumer goods. Furthermore, significant growth in the cosmetics industry and robust growth in the pharmaceutical industry are the major factors which help to grow the global dry powder refilling machine market due to its high demand for the packaging of powder form cosmetics products as well as its robust demand for medicines packaging. The key factor which is restraining the dry powder refilling machine market is the high maintenance cost of dry powder refilling machines across the globe. Fully automatic dry powder refilling machine embedded with Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) as well as the touch screen is the key trend of the global dry powder refilling machine market.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4226 Global dry powder refilling machine market: SegmentationGlobal dry powder refilling machine market can be segmented by end-use industry, head type, technology type and region type.Global dry powder refilling machine market can be segmented based on end use type as follows:-PharmaceuticalspackagingFoods and Beverages.CosmeticsRetail & consumer goodsChemicalGlobal dry powder refilling machine market can be segmented based on head type as followsSingleDoubleTripleGlobal dry powder refilling machine market can be segmented based on technology type as follows:Semi-AutomaticFully-AutomaticGlobal dry powder refilling machine market: Regional OutlookBased on the geographies, global dry powder refilling machine is segmented into seven regions includes Eastern Europe, Western Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. Among the above-mentioned region, North America captures large market share in the dry powder refilling machine across the globe followed by Western Europe, due to robust growth in pharmaceutical as well as cosmetics industry in this region. Western Europe is expected to witness a positive growth in the global dry powder refilling machine market over the forecasted period, owing to the high demand of dry powder refilling machines for industrial purpose in this region. The Asia-Pacific excluding Japan region also captures for the significant share of the global dry powder refilling machine market with high growth rate, attributed to its robust demand for spice packaging, increasing per capita income and the rapidly growing population in the region. Latin America is estimated to showcase a positive growth rate in the global dry powder refilling machine market, attributed to its high demand for the coffee packaging in this region. The Middle East and Africa is estimated to witness positive growth rate in global dry powder refilling machine market, owing to its increasing demand for the pharmaceutical industry in this region.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4226 Few prominent players of global dry powder refilling machine market as follow:-Firefighter industry SDN BHDVista Technopack Machines.Adinath InternationalMultipack Packaging RussiaVitro Pharma MachinerySS Automation & Packaging MachinesShree Bhagwati Group of Companies PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-16 10:02:01 Adds a new metropolitan network to its European footprint Directly connecting 12 data centres, with dc connect providing near instant high bandwidth data centre to data centre connectivity in the city Long haul network diversity between London and Manchester as well as direct connection from Manchester to Europe and Ireland euNetworks Adds New High Density Fibre Network in Manchester euNetworks Hannah Fox Senior Director Marketing hannah.fox@eunetworks.com email hannah_britt skype +44 20 7952 1338 office +44 7717 896 446 mobile euNetworks, a provider of bandwidth services in Europe, today announced it has made further investment in Manchester in the United Kingdom, having built out a new high density fibre network covering over 40 route kilometres in the city. This follows initial expansion into Manchesters MediaCityUK in May 2016, which supported euNetworks Media customers bandwidth needs, as well as enabling a seamless network experience from London through to Manchester and Dublin and onwards to Europe. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201708160050 euNetworks Fibre in Manchester (Photo: Business Wire) This new network in Manchester city was designed for resilience, with fully diverse nodes. euNetworks undertook a combination of new construction and duct acquisition to complete this network, with duct acquired from The Loop and sub-duct from CityFibre. We are delighted to have been selected by euNetworks to provide parts of this important network development for Manchester, said Ashley Griffiths, Managing Director of The Loop Manchester. euNetworks is a bandwidth infrastructure company that continues to support the growing connectivity requirements of businesses both in the UK and across Europe. They are a great compliment to The Loops activity in Manchester, with an impressive approach to supporting their customers demands. euNetworks dc connect solution is now enabled in the city, which means customers have access to an interconnected network of 12 data centres using pre-spliced fibre. This pre-deployed capacity delivers simple, near instant and seamless connectivity. This is a new ultra dense fibre metro network comprised of 864 fibres per route, 3 international connectivity nodes and pre-deployed Ethernet and Wavelength capacity. The solution includes a 20 working day service delivery commitment between data centres including Equinix MA1, MA2, MA3 and MA4, LDeX2, MediaCityUK, UKFasts MaNOC4, MaNOC5 and MaNOC 6/7, and M24Seven DC1/ DC2 Trafford Park. euNetworks direct connection into our Manchester data centres offers a strong connectivity solution for our customers, said Russell Poole, Managing Director, Equinix UK. Equinix works closely with euNetworks across Europe and we look forward to growing our Manchester business with their local team in the coming quarters. We invest in our network to provide high bandwidth scalable connections in the markets in which we operate, said Brady Rafuse, Chief Executive Officer of euNetworks. Data centre connectivity remains critically important to business today, enabling the agility and flexibility customers seek in response to dynamic market conditions and cost efficiencies. Manchester is a significant UK growth market and our investment in constructing a new fibre network and rolling out dc connect in the city is in response to the demand we see from our customers here. We look forward to working closely with both the data centre operators in Manchester, such as Equinix and with our customers, to ensure bandwidth availability continues to support this growth. With this investment euNetworks owns and operates 14 metropolitan networks in the key cities across Europe, namely London, Manchester, Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg, Cologne and Dusseldorf. About euNetworks euNetworks is a bandwidth infrastructure provider, owning and operating 14 fibre based metropolitan networks across Europe connected with a high capacity intercity backbone covering 48 cities in 13 countries. The company leads the market in data centre connectivity, directly connecting over 300 in Europe today. euNetworks is also a leading cloud connectivity provider, directly connecting 13 cloud platforms with access to a further 7. The company offers a portfolio of metropolitan and long haul services including Dark Fibre, Wavelengths, and Ethernet. Wholesale, finance, content, media, data centre and enterprise customers benefit from euNetworks unique inventory of fibre and duct based assets that are tailored to fulfil their high bandwidth needs. euNetworks is headquartered in London. For further information please visit www.eunetworks.com. To view the euNetworks map go to http://map.eunetworks.com/. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/201708160050 .@euNetworks builds fibre network in Manchester, connecting datacentres plus diversity to London, Ireland & Europe Cosmetology Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-16 07:57:47 Press Information Future market insights Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States 3479183531 email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 624 Words Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United States3479183531Abhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 Cosmetology is the study of beauty, treatments and its applications. There are various branches of specialty in the cosmetology market, i.e. hairstyling, skin care, cosmetics, manicure/pedicure, and others. Cosmetology or Aesthetics is an inclusive term for specialties which focus on improving appearance through cosmetic procedures. Cosmetology market is primarily focused on the increasing demand by the end users, and lowering of pricing for implants and surgeries and high efficiency of the method.Cosmetology Market: SegmentationCosmetology market can be segmented by various types of procedures offered for skin care:SurgicalNon-SurgicalSurgical procedures include scar revision, facelift, rhinoplasty liposuction, micro-pigmentation and others whereas non-surgical procedures include chemical peels, non-permanent hair removal, skin tightening, acne treatment, lip enhancement and others.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4203 Cosmetology market has a broad scope due to the various applications of the procedures offered. By the different procedures we can segment the market into the following:Hair transplantButtock Augmentation and ReductionBreast Augmentation and ReductionCosmetic ReconstructionOthersCosmetology Market: DynamicsCosmetology market is driven by new product innovation and new technologies as end users focus on new methods of skin and hair enhancement, healthcare expenditure, rising disposable income, and the emergence of technologically superior products. In addition to this cosmetology market is growing due to the rising awareness among end users towards breast cancer, mastectomy, has also impacted the cosmetology market. However, as the cosmetology market progresses, there are associated risks such as the risk of failure, associated malfunctioning of the implants, high prices of the surgery, regulatory scenario to maintain the standards of the implants used and cosmetic implants. Cosmetology market is also facing significant challenges as the government does not grant reimbursements. Also, not many initiatives are taken by the government of incentives. A major drawback which cosmetology industry faces is that the insurance does not cover the costs of cosmetology procedures.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4203 Cosmetology market has multiple opportunities such as the development of low-cost implants by major companies.Cosmetology Market: Region-wise OutlookBased on geography, the cosmetology market can be segmented into five major regions: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. At present, North America holds a leading position in the cosmetology market followed by Europe. The major driving factors which have driven the growth of the cosmetology market in these regions are continuously increasing demand from the end users for new methods of enhancements and continuous improvements in the cosmetology market. Following North America, European countries are also anticipated to show steady growth in the cosmetology market. In the next few years, Asia-Pacific would show remarkable growth in the cosmetology market as it is developing at a very rapid pace and has shown the emergence of many regional players. The factors which would fuel the growth of cosmetology market in Asia-Pacific are increasing awareness regarding various medical procedures, increase in the number of key players and rapid development in the healthcare infrastructure across the Asian countries. Cosmetology market would evolve at a rapid rate across the regions, however, North America would maintain its position in the overall cosmetology market.Cosmetology Market: Key PlayersIn the past decade, the cosmetology market has witnessed a massive influx of well-established players which provide raw materials in the cosmetology market. Some of the top players operating in the cosmetology market are GC Aesthetics, Mentor Worldwide LLC, Sientra Inc., Zimmer Holdings Inc., 3M Health Care, Allergan, Inc., Implantech Associates Inc., Institut Straumann AG, Nobel Biocare Holding AG, Spectrum Designs Medical, and many others. Cosmetology market has the presence of many regional players which have a huge market share in emerging countries.Full Report Analysis@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/cosmetology-market China criticized President Donald Trumps order for a possible U.S. trade investigation of Beijings technology policies as a violation of global rules and said yesterday it will resolutely safeguard Chinese interests. Trade groups for technology companies welcomed Trumps order Monday but Chinese officials said Washington was violating the spirit of its trade commitments. They said Beijing will take unspecified action if Chinese companies are hurt. The United States should not be the underminer of multilateral rules, a foreign ministry spokeswoman, Hua Chunying, said at a regular briefing. If the U.S. side disregards the fact it does not respect multilateral trade rules and takes action to damage the economic and trade relations between the two sides, said Hua, then the Chinese side will never sit back and will take all appropriate measures to resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese side. Beijing requires automakers and other foreign companies in China to work through joint ventures, usually with state-owned partners. They often are required to give technology to partners who might become competitors. More than 20 percent of 100 American companies that responded to a survey by the U.S.-China Business Council, an industry group, said they were asked to transfer technology within the past three years as a condition of market access, according to Jake Parker, the groups vice president for China operations. We dont believe market access should be contingent on transferring technology, said Parker. It goes counter to Chinas WTO commitments. Foreign business groups complain companies are being squeezed out of promising Chinese markets or pressured to hand over technology for electric cars and other emerging industries. Trump said in April he was setting aside trade disputes while Washington and Beijing worked together to persuade North Korea to give up nuclear weapons development. But American officials have resumed criticizing Chinese policy in recent weeks. The White House is right to make clear all options are on the table, said Robert D. Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, an industry group in Washington, in a statement. Parker noted then-President Barack Obama ordered a similar investigation of Chinese policy on green technology in 2010. That ended in a negotiated settlement. It didnt lead to any unilateral sanctions against the Chinese, said Parker. Nor did it undermine the overall U.S.-China trade relationship. AP No SQL Database Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-16 07:50:42 Press Information Future market insights Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States 3479183531 email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 585 Words Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United States3479183531Abhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 No SQL database is also known as non relational, non SQL, not only SQL database. No SQL database is used to implement big data and real time web applications. No SQL database provides users facility of storage and retrieval of data from the database used mainly for storage, access, and retrieval of unstructured data. This database system is used for many purposes in businesses of all sizes. Enterprises prefer no SQL databases due to an availability of elastic scaling option for them which helps to manage larger database dynamically according to company requirements and data availability. The other benefits of using No SQL database include simpler designs, scalability, and higher availability with precision control. No SQL database provides facilities for ad hoc query and analysis. Enterprises are preferring No SQL database over traditional RDBMS because No SQL databases often trade on ACID (atomic, consistent, isolated, and durable) transactions for improved performance. The cost for handling exponentially rising data traffic and transaction volume is reduced because cheap commodity servers are used for implementing No SQL database.Global No SQL Database Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe major factor in driving the market for No SQL database is enablement for managing big data easily because of this feature the rate for adaptation of No SQL database is rising substantially. The demand for No SQL database is expected to grow significantly in forecasted period because of the growing e-commerce industries, businesses also the sectors such as retail, gaming, IT and others. Enterprises are focusing on social media for improvising their customer relationships this factor is also expected to fuel the market of No SQL database. Owing to rapid industrialization and rise in day by day data traffic is going to drive the market for No SQL database globally. Moreover, the lack of awareness regarding benefits of No SQL database over relational database approaches is going to restraine growth of No SQL database market.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4197 Global No SQL Database Market: SegmentationBy types of No SQL databaseObject databaseTabularTuple storeHostedDocument storeKey-value storeGraphMulti-model databaseMultivalue databaseBy ApplicationData storagee-CommerceWeb applicationsSocial networkingMobile applicationsData analyticsBy data modelColumnDocumentKey valueGraphMulti-modelVisit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4197 Based on the basis of geography:The Middle East and Africa (GCC, South Africa, North AfricaNorth America (U.S., Canada)Western Europe (Germany, Italy, France, U.K, Spain, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg)Asia-Pacific (China, India, ASEAN, Australia & New Zealand)JapanLatin America (Mexico, Brazil)Eastern Europe (Poland, Russia)Global No SQL Database Market: Region wise outlookThe global No SQL Database market is divided into seven regions, namely Japan and the Middle East and Africa (MEA), North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ). Among these regions, North America is going to account for a large share of the market and lead the global market owing to the increasing usage of IT and the growing internet access across North America followed by Latin America. APEJ, Japan, MEA is expected to grow with highest CAGR due to rising in demand of data management solution in all verticals.Global No SQL Database Market: Industry Key PlayersNo SQL database providing leading market players of the industry are:OracleDynamoDBMapR Technologies, Inc.ObjectLabs CorporationThe Apache Software FoundationSkyllBasho TechnologiesMarkLogicAerospikeInfiniteGraphFull Report Analysis@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/no-sql-database-market With the view of over a dozen of majestic Himalayan peaks astride the worlds deepest gorge, Ghorepani village is one of the most scenic places in the world. View of three highest peaks in the world, Kaligandaki valley wedged between two 8,000 m peaks and the land of famous solders Gurkhas have made the place popular among foreign trekkers as well as locals. Ghorepani village with Mt Dhaulagiri (8,167 m / 7th highest in the world) PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-16 11:43:32 Press Information iTourNepal.com P Ltd. Nasanh Dyah Marg, Thamel Kathmandu 44600 , Nepal Rabindra Adhikari Tour Manager 14363643 email http://www.itournepal.com # 413 Words Nasanh Dyah Marg, ThamelKathmandu 44600 , NepalTour Manager14363643http://www.itournepal.com In last 2 years number of tourists visiting Ghorepani village in Annapurna have increased more than double. Number of tourist visiting Ghorepani in 2015 was 19,348 which increased to 45,685 in succeeding years. Significant number of domestic tourists visiting the place increased the trekkers in the region. Ghorepani is the most scenic place that could be accessed easily from cities like Kathmandu and Pokhara. This attracted the youths looking for short active holiday. Trekkers going to Annapurna base camp, Mustang and Annapurna circuit also make a detour of Ghorepani.said Kedar Pun a hotel entrepreneur from Ghorepani village.Ghorepani is 2,810 m mountain pass along the ancient salt trading route in the Himalayas. The place gave access to the worlds deepest Kaligandaki gorge wedged between two 8,000 m peaks Annapurna I (8,190 m) and Dhaulagiri (8,167 m). The place is overlooking into the Himalayan range of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna and Manaslu. The village has got comfortable teahouse run by locals to accommodation and cater tourists.Poon Hill is a ridge top at 3,190 m above Ghorepani. Most of the tourists coming to Ghorepani climb to Poon Hill for sunrise view over the Himalayas and the sweeping Kaligandaki valley. The view is mesmerizing. Whole scenery changes its color from pink to red, orange and yellow with in short time making everyone just click all the time.Ghorepani TrekThe trek is about 5 days long starting and ending in Pokhara. It starts with a short drive from Pokhara and then climbs 1,700 m to Ghorepani in two days. It is moderately difficult trek with long stretch of climbing. The trail first passes through the farming terraces and charming villages with thatch and slate roofs. In the higher reaches, it enter into the Rhododendron forest which is recognized as the worlds biggest Rhododendron forest.Trekkers come across two ethnic territory of Magars and Gurungs. Both of the ethnic groups are culturally rich, simple farmers. In last century they were the most preferred recruits for the British Gurkha. Gurkha have their reputation for being bravest solders. The trek will also let you closely observe their social and cultural life. One will be defiantly touched by their smile despite hardship.iTourNepal.com P Ltd have been promoting sustainable treks and tours in Annapurna region to help locals make money but also preserve their nature and culture. We choose the local teahouse that uses clean energy and consume local products. Experienced and licensed local guides are well insured and paid fairly.https://www.itournepal.com/trek/short-trek-annapurna.php Semi-Auto Egg Tart Forming Machine Market PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-16 06:43:51 Press Information Future Market Insights 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States email Published by Abhishek Budholiya +1-347-918-3531 e-mail http://www.futuremarketinsights.com # 738 Words 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesAbhishek Budholiya+1-347-918-3531 Automation in the food industry is becoming more of a need than an option. The cost controls and rigorous quality required in the food industry is making it more critical. The production of high-grade food requires capable and efficient egg tart forming machine, in the production line. Semi-auto egg tart forming machine is used for egg tart forming in various industries and is designed with professional pneumatic power to provide egg tart shape standard. Semi-auto egg tart forming machine can use various types of mold to give all types of required shape of the egg tart skin. The semi-auto egg tart forming machine is high efficient due to mass production and save the operating as well as labor cost. This machine is quite easy to operate and can be kept in small space due to its compact size. The Semi-auto egg tart forming machine has low maintenance cost and widely used in food industry. It has high demand in restaurants, hotels and bakery shops.Global semi-auto egg tart forming machine market: DynamicsThe key driving factor of global semi-auto egg tart forming machine is increasing automation in food processing industry along with increasing health consciousness among consumers. The macroeconomic factors are driving the global semi-auto egg tart forming machine market such as growing economy, increasing per capita income and rapid rate of urbanization in emerging countries such as China, Brazil, Mexico, and India. The growth of the global semi-auto egg tart forming machine market is driven by growing demand for processed food, significant growth in the poultry industry and increasing investments in the food industry. The key restraining factor which restricts to grow the global semi-auto egg tart forming machine market is the compliances related to food security. Some of the factors trending the semi-auto egg tart forming machine market include mergers and acquisitions with local players as well as the internationalization of the food platter. In addition, technological advancement such as semi-auto egg tart forming machine which is embedded with touch screen PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) and different molds select option are the major trends of semi-auto egg tart forming machine market across the globe.Request Report Sample@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4227 Global semi-auto egg tart forming machine market: SegmentationGlobal semi-auto egg tart forming machine market can be segmented by end-use industry, distribution channel type, production capacity type and region type.Global semi-auto egg tart forming machine market can be segmented by end-use industry type as follows:FoodHospitalityGlobal semi-auto egg tart forming machine market can be segmented by production capacity type as follows:HighMediumLowGlobal semi-auto egg tart forming machine market can be segmented by distribution channel type as follows:OEM(Open Equipment Manufacturer)E-commerceWholesalers/DistributersGlobal semi-auto egg tart forming machine market: Regional OutlookBased on the geographies, global semi-auto egg tart forming machine is segmented into seven regions globally such as Eastern Europe Western Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. Among the regions as mentioned above, North America accounts high market share in the semi-auto egg tart forming machine across the globe followed by Western Europe, owing to rapidly growing hospitality industry in this region. Western Europe is predicted to contribute the significant share in global semi-auto egg tart forming machine market over the forecasted period, due to the high manufacturing of semi-auto egg tart forming machines along with high consumption of egg products in this region. The Asia-Pacific excluding Japan region also captures for the significant share of the global semi-auto egg tart forming machine market with high growth rate, attributed to increasing per capita income, the rapidly growing population, and changing the lifestyle of the consumers in the region. Latin America is estimated to showcase a positive growth rate in the global semi-auto egg tart forming machine market, owing to its high demand for the hospitality industry and changing the life style of consumers in this region. The Middle East and Africa is estimated to witness high growth rate in global semi-auto egg tart forming machine market, attributed to high consumption of egg products in this region.Visit For TOC@ http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4227 Few associated players of global semi-auto egg tart forming machine market as follow:CHUNG WAH KITCHEN MACHINE LTD.European Pastry & Bakery MachineryAll Champ Food Production Machinery and Utensils Co., Ltd.Henan GELGOOG Machinery Co.,Ltd Solo Bakery Machinery Co., Ltd. PR-Inside.com: 2017-08-16 08:28:34 Press Information Francesca Jewellery Shop 212, 70 MUrray Street, Hobart, TAS, 7000, Australia Francesca Jewellery Company Representative 0487 893 650 email https://www.francesca.com.au/ Published by Cam Wilkes 006499503888 e-mail https://www.pureseo.co.nz # 350 Words Shop 212, 70 MUrray Street, Hobart, TAS, 7000, AustraliaCompany Representative0487 893 650Cam Wilkes006499503888 Tasmanian designer jewellery company Francesca has restocked the popular freshwater pearl studs. The much-loved Australian brand, is the on-trend designer label that works with sterling silver and solid gold to create contemporary pieces. The studs are available through Francesca stores and online under the back in stock tab.The studs feature the pearl and a solid sterling silver post. The white studs are available in three sizes: 6 mm, 8 mm and 10 mm. They are the perfect choice for everyday wear daytime or evening. The price ranges from $39.00 to $59.00. Gift wrapping is available for all products at stores and can be selected from the shopping cart online. There are no exchanges or returns on earrings unless faulty.With Francesca Collections customers can opt for an interest-free, shop now and pay later plan. This allows customers to buy all that they desire, have it posted and pay for it in fortnightly instalments. This plan, called Afterpay, is available online only. For more terms and conditions customers can contact Francesca Collections.Francesca is the fun, fashion-forward jewellery label by young Australian designers and sisters, Hannah and Rachel Vasicek. A melding of two minds and two styles, Francesca is the perfect blend of classic and edgy. Using only the finest quality materials, each Francesca creation is designed and made with the utmost love and care. Hannah started making jewellery in 2011 and opened the first Francesca store in 2013. Rachel joined her in 2014 as the company expanded and to include the online store.The sisters aim to make the company a brand with conscience. Each month they select a charity to create an Awareness Bracelet in the colour of their cause. Along with the awareness mail out $20 from every Awareness Bracelet sold is then donated to the charity.Francesca supports I=Change, a social platform that helps businesses and consumers give back. A dollar from every online Francesca sale is donated to I=Change. Customers can decide where they want their money to be donated.The jewellery is available in the following stores: Hobart, Centrepoint and Melbourne, Melbourne Central level 2For online shopping: www.francesca.com.au The Monetary Authority of Macao announced yesterday that the trade-weighted exchange rate index for the pataca dropped 0.84 points month-to-month and 0.73 points year-on-year to 105.7 in July. This movement suggests that overall, the exchange rate of the pataca declined against the currencies of Macaus major trading partners. The preliminary estimate of Macau SARs foreign exchange reserves amounted to MOP157.9 billion at the end of July. The reserves reduced by 0.8 percent from the revised value of MOP159.2 billion for the previous month while the regions foreign exchange reserves at the end of July 2017 represented 11 times the currency in circulation of pataca. Chan calls for real names in mobile registration Lawmaker Chan Meng Kam suggested that the government should establish a policy to prevent people from using unknown mobile numbers. Chans suggestion took into consideration the tactics used in phone scams. He believes that the government can collect information on phone scams through technology, and then use computer settings from Macaus telecommunication operators to disable the phone scammers accounts, as well as to establish an alarm system to prevent phone scams. Chan also made an inquiry asking the government about the required processes for launching a real name registration policy. Woman cheated out of MOP10m by phone scam A local woman aged around 40 years was cheated out of MOP10 million by a male con artist who was claiming to be a British engineer. The victim met the criminal through Facebook, and began a dating relationship entirely based on their interactions via the internet. In June of last year, the engineer told the woman that he would transfer USD15 million to her as funds for their future life together. However, he said that the money had to be transferred to both mainland and Thailand accounts and told the woman that she would first need to transfer USD1.46 million to said accounts. The woman did so, and her family revealed the fraud later. 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. The sentences of nine defendants related to the case of the regions former top prosecutor, Ho Chio Meng, were read yesterday at the Court of the First Instance. Six defendants were found guilty. Three others were found innocent. The trial started on February 17 of this year. Four of the defendants, including Ho Chio Mengs older brother, Ho Chio Shun, Ho Chio Mengs brother-in-law Lei Kuan Pun, previous consultant at the Prosecution Office (MP) Wang Xiandi, and Alex Lam, who was one of the employees of the shell companies established by Ho Chio Meng, never showed up at any previous trial sessions. Hos older brother was sentenced to 13 years in jail, Lei Kuan Pun was sentenced to 12 years, and businessman Wong Kuok Wai was sentenced to 14 years. Another businessman, Mak Im Tai, was sentenced to jail for 12 years. The four defendants will not become eligible for probation at any point during their sentences. The crimes for which they were for included their involvement in illegal operations within shell companies and taking MPs contracts without ever providing services to MP. Consultant Wang Xiandi was sentenced to six years in jail. Ho Chio Mengs wife, Chao Sio Fu, had her three years and six months jail term suspended. The other three defendants included Lai Kin Ian, the Director of public Prosecution of the Prosecutor General Office, Chan Ka Fai, a former department head at the Prosecutor General Office, and the aforementioned Alex Lam. The international pharmaceutical company H. Lundbeck A/S has divested part of the headquarters in Valby no longer needed for their operations. The investors are the two Danish pension funds, Danske civil- og akademiingenirers Pensionskasse (DIP) and Juristernes og konomernes Pensionskasse (JP). Catella Corporate Finance acted as exclusive financial advisor. [] Vastint Romania has leased 1,300 m of office space to Tremend Software Consulting, a technology company in Romania, in the mixed-use development project at Timpuri Noi Square in Bucharest. Tremend has decided to relocate to Timpuri Noi Square after several years of significant growth. Timpuri Noi Square will become the [] What once seemed a highly unlikely call on euro-sterling is gaining momentum, with two of the worlds leading banks predicting that Europes shared currency will attain and even go beyond parity with the pound for the first time. Morgan Stanley sees the pair at 1.02 by the end of March, which represents a 12 percent gain for the euro from current levels, while HSBC Holdings Plc is sticking to its forecast that the euro will trade one-for-one against the pound by year-end. Standard Bank strategist Steve Barrow said its not a huge leap of faith to suggest we could get up to the parity area. It would be foolhardy to rule out the prospect of the euro reaching the one-pound mark, according to Rabobank Internationals senior currency analyst Jane Foley. The euro has surged more than 6 percent against the pound this year amid speculation that the European Central Bank will announce a tapering of bond purchases by autumn. By contrast, the pound is being held down by uncertainty surrounding Brexit negotiations. In euro-sterling weve had a very strong conviction and its one of the biggest forecasts I ever remember making on a major currency, David Bloom, HSBCs London-based global head of currency strategy said in an interview last week. Thats a 20 percent move and thats quite something. Its very unusual that we make such, what was at that time, an outrageous forecast but we are roughly half way there and we believe in it, he said. Bloom first made his parity call a year ago, when the euro was around 83 pence. HSBC predicts the euro and the pound ending this year at $1.20, which are both strong views, he said. Euro-sterling was little changed at 0.9085 as of 9:20 a.m. in London yesterday, having reached 0.9119 on Aug. 11, its strongest level since October. The pair reached a record 0.9803 in December 2008. Since France elected pro-European leader Emmanuel Macron in May, risks of the currency bloc fragmenting have diminished. In addition, euro-region economic data are showing signs of improvement. In contrast, Brexit negotiations are far from clear and thats weighing on the pound. Thats the main concern for Standard Banks Barrow. It all depends a lot of how the Brexit negotiations go, he said. On euro-sterling previously we thought the 90-92 area might be the peak, but obviously now I no longer do. While Morgan Stanleys parity call is partly due to a bullish-euro outlook, the U.K. currency is likely to weaken in its own right, driven by weak economic performance, low real yields and increasing political risks, Hans Redeker, head of foreign-exchange strategy, wrote in a client note dated Aug. 10. Still, the number of analysts calling for parity in the pair is relatively small. Of the 62 participants in a Bloomberg currency survey, only HSBC and Morgan Stanley see the pair at or above 1.00 by mid-2018.Anooja Debnath, Bloomberg San Antonio's new bookstore; Wisconsin used bookstore is for sale; an Indian mobile store seeks support; and more. San Antonio Couple Opens Bookstore: Dead Tree Books is one of very few bookstores in the the city's south side, and was opened on a retirement savings earned at Walmart. Wisconsin Bookstore is For Sale: Bookends on Main, a used bookstore in Menomonie, is being sold. On the Closing of American Bookstores: A journalist laments several bookstores that have closed and the next generation's lack of commitment to running bookstores. Toronto Bookstore Likely to Close: Eliot's Bookshop on Yonge Street may close after seeing its property taxes double. Michigan Indie Celebrates 35 Years: Book Beat bookstore in Oak Park will celebrate its anniversary this Sunday, Aug. 27 A Brooklyn Bookstore's Keys to Success: NPR talks to Jessica Stockton Bagnulo, co-owner of the Greenlight Bookstore, about how it competes with bigger bookstores. Indian Chain Sapna to Expand: The bookstore chain with 15 locations across India plans to add up to 50 more stores in the coming few years. Saving an Indian Bookstore: Walking BookFairs in Bhubaneswar is in financial trouble and looking to raise a million rupees ($15,000) via crowdfunding to stay open. In Around the World in Eighty Wines (Rowman & Littlefield, Nov.), Mike Veseth, an emeritus professor of economics at the University of Puget Sound who blogs at The Wine Economist and who has authored several books on wine, takes readers on a global journey through the contemporary wine scene, with stops in regions, such as Lebanon and Syria, that even vino aficionados may not be familiar with. How did your background as an economist inform this book? I lead two lives. This book brings the two together. As a professor, I was very interested in how globalization plays out, how it changes things, the problems that it forces us to confront. The wine guy looks for things in the wine world that answer those questions. [With Around the World in Eighty Wines], I wanted to try to do something explicitly global in its focus. The book looks at wines from familiar places, such as France and Italy, as well as ones from less familiar countries, such as Georgia and Syria. How did you come up with the list of regions you wanted to include? I was driven by the stories about the wines. Georgia and Syria got in the book because I wanted to write about a wine from Lebanona powerful, moving story of a wine and winemaker in a war-torn place. In researching that, I learned about a particular winemaker in Syria. That, and some travels, led me to Georgia, where theres a different wine-and-war kind of story. Do you feel that some of the wines or winemaking regions that you spotlight in the book will soon become better-known in the U.S.? In one of the chapters, I go through Bali, and then Thailand, and then India. The wines from all three of those places are now becoming available in the U.S, and some of the Indian wines will become better-known, I think. Georgian wines are now kind of a cult favorite in the U.S. Theres a group of people interested in natural winemakingwinemaking with the fewest possible additions and manipulationsand it's taken [to Georgian wines] . What surprised you most while working on this book? If you take this journey with me, you go to places where you expect to find wine, like France and Italy and California, and you go to places that you would never think could make wine, or where anybody would make wine. [You] see how wine inspires people to overcome such natural and political and human odds. In South Africa, for example, I write about a wine that is very popular in the black townshipsa place where cider and beer, I think, are traditionally the drinks. To see how that [wine] has changed some things is very interesting. The power of winewhich is just an alcoholic beverage: water and acid and some alcoholto transform how people think about food, how they think about themselves and the places that they live: its inspiring. Alex Field, v-p and publisher at WaterBrook and Multnomah, is leaving the company in September to start an author-consulting business, according to an announcement made Wednesday by Tina Constable, senior v-p and publisher of Christian Publishing for the Crown Publishing Group. Speaking to the staff at WaterBrook and Multnomah, which are imprints of Penguin Random House/The Crown Publishing Group, Constable praised Field for helping her "position WaterBrook and Multnomah for the future." He was integral in our Christian consumer analytic marketplace overview, helping to refine our imprints mission statements and working with the team to shape a vision for our acquisition strategy," she said, adding that Field "will be missed by all." Constable said a search has begun for Field's successor. The Pardee RAND Graduate School (PardeeRAND.edu) is home to the only Ph.D. and M.Phil. programs offered at an independent public policy research organizationthe RAND Corporation. For months, farmers in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu have been protesting, sometimes naked, sometimes carrying skulls, sometimes lighting candles in remembrance of six protesting farmers killed earlier by policeto gain the attention of authorities to their plight. Among the farmers' demands are forgiveness of loans they cannot repay as the worst drought in 140 years cripples their harvests. In one part of the state, a million coconut trees have died, driving the migration of many farmers to cities where they hope to work as day laborers. Elsewhere, under cover of night, farmers pump water from below the ground of a depleted reservoir. Meanwhile, the lakes that once supplied the 8 million inhabitants of the city of Chennai have gone dry, and the city's water supply has dropped by half. Drought, temperature and tensions rise in tandem, with the implicit threat of violent conflict not far behind. Drought, temperature and tensions rise in tandem, with the implicit threat of violent conflict not far behind. In East Africa, 26.5 million people are in need of food assistance as the result of recurrent droughts and failed harvests, conflict and growing insecurity. Now a new report by the Center for Climate and Security calls on countries to prepare for global crisis sparked by climate change. It identifies 12 epicenters where climate change could ignite conflict that could engulf large populations and often cross national boundaries. This connection between human conflict and climate change is no mere coincidence. In fact, researchers have quantified a precise relationship between rising temperatures and conflict around the world. As the report found, with each significant deviation upward in a country's normal temperature or rainfall, the frequency of interpersonal violence rises by 4 percent and intergroup conflict increases 14 percent. Rising rates of human conflict appear to be another alarming impact of climate change. On an intuitive level, it seems to make sensehasn't most everyone felt irritable when forced to be out in the heat? Psychological studies have shown that people subjected to uncomfortably hot temperatures in laboratory settings have increased levels of aggression. New research is finding that what is true for the individual also holds true for populations. Conflicts have been a part of humankind's story since ancient times, and the connection between climate change and conflict needs to be understood in its complexity. There are immediate causes of conflictspolitical, social and otherwisebut climate change can act as an enzyme, accelerating and exacerbating it. Or as the Pentagon might say, climate change can be a threat multiplier. Data from sub-Saharan Africa show that temperature increases over the past 30 years match up with outbreaks of civil war. The UC Berkeley study reports that civil wars were much more likely to happen in warmer-than-average years, with one degree Celsius warmer temperatures in a given year associated with a 50 percent higher likelihood of conflict in that year. The authors predict that by 2030 the expected one degree Centigrade increase in global temperature would translate to a 55 percent increase in civil war in some African countries, and to about 390,000 additional battle deaths. Similar conflicts have been predicted elsewhere, including in the South China Sea, the Arctic and Central America. Of course, no one wants this to happen. Avoiding such an outcome will likely take enormous commitment from the global community; strong support for the Paris Convention on Climate Change (weakened by the United States' withdrawal); and urgent action by countries, cities and industry to help populations adapt to a changing climate. The underlying pathways that connect climate change and conflict also need to be understood. Several scientific studies indicate that three underlying pathways connect climate change and conflict: resource shortages, disasters and human migration. Resource shortages: Rainfall variation affects agricultural production, and increases in global temperatures are expected to lower crop yields, leading to increased hunger and declines in rural incomes. In the absence of other economic opportunities, conflicts are expected to intensify. For example, when global food prices increased dramatically in 2008 it led to political and economic instability ( PDF ) and social unrest in dozens of countries. Three underlying pathways connect climate change and conflict: resource shortages, disasters and human migration. In largely agricultural societies like those in India and many African countries, farm productivity affects those individuals dependent upon agriculture for their livelihoodand consequently the entire economy. Indeed, India has a history of famine, starvation deaths still occur and thousands of farmers commit suicide each year. Agricultural distress is already an issue, and as in Tamil Nadu, could well take more heated forms. Disasters: With increasing temperatures, heat waves are likely to increase in frequency, intensity, duration and cause more deaths. The climate impact of other natural disasters also has been modeled and observed, and ranges from flooding to super-typhoons. These impact human health, livelihoods, and stability as well as the broader economy and society. In the absence of effective risk-reduction and response strategies, these disasters would affect poor and vulnerable communities the hardest and could lead to cycles of poverty and violence. Human migration: In 2015, there were 244 million international migrants. Taken together, they would make up the fifth-most populous country in the world. As living conditions become intolerable or economic options dry up, people move in search of opportunity. Climate change is already causing mass human migration. The International Organization for Migration fears that the scale of such movement will rise, with unprecedented impact on lives and livelihoods[1]. Parts of western Asia, for example, are likely to become inhospitable for humans from heat by the end of this century, with temperatures projected to exceed the human adaptability threshold. Temperatures exceeding 45 degrees Celsius will become the norm in most low-lying cities and could go as high as 60 C in Kuwait City, Al Ain and Doha during late summer months. Heavily populated cities like New Delhi could have up to 200 days a year of temperatures greater than 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 C). These alarming findings show the need for immediate action to stop temperature increases by mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and for governments to urgently adopt policies that will help populations adapt to climate change, ranging from improved management of soil resources from small farms to vast rangelands, and advance planning to maintain and conserve water resources. And while some may feel that the Paris accord could be a hindrance to economic growth, proponents assert that its push to mitigate greenhouse emissions makes it a critical component to addressing climate change and would have economic co-benefits. For example, in Chennai, experts point out that the regular de-silting of lakes and reservoirs, and efforts to capture excess water during periods of heavy rain and ensure recharging of groundwater have been lacking. Climate change is a threat to civilization. With increasing temperatures, conflicts are likely to increase in the future. Earth has been here for 4.5 billion years, and humanity has inhabited it for just 0.005% of that time. The mighty dinosaurs once roamed the planet slow and unafraid, and all it took was one meteor to end their days. In their defense, they perhaps didn't see it coming. But humans do. Dr. Gulrez Shah Azhar is an Aspen New Voices fellow, an assistant policy researcher at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation and a Ph.D. candidate at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. A version of this commentary originally appeared on www.project-syndicate.org. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis. Bodies of at least 36 victims of a recent attack claimed by Islamic State militants in the village of Mirza Olang in northern Afghanistan were reburied on August 16. Security forces were searching for more mass graves in the province of Sar-e Pul, where at least 62 people have been confirmed dead in the attack last week against Shi'ite Muslims. (Reuters) Afghan police have discovered mass graves containing the bodies of at least 36 victims of a recent militant attack on a village, officials have said. Provincial government spokesman Zabihullah Amani said on August 16 that one grave in the northern province of Sar-e Pul contained 28 bodies and another held eight. "Most of the victims were beheaded," he said, noting that all were men, except for three boys between the ages of 8 and 15. A third mass grave had been located in an area under Taliban control, Amani said, adding that security forces were searching for more possible graves. Residents on August 16 held funerals for several victims of the raid. The office of the Sari Pul governor said at least 62 people had been confirmed dead in the attack on the Mirzawalang village last week, with the number expected to rise. Afghanistan's Independent Human Rights Commission said a preliminary probe suggested that militants from the Taliban and Islamic State (IS) militant groups, who are normally bitter enemies, acted together. The Taliban, however, said it had carried out the attack alone and did not kill any civilians. IS issued a statement on August 14 claiming it had led the attack and killed about 54 Shi'ite Muslims, a minority group in Afghanistan that has often come under attack from IS. Based on reporting by Reuters and Tolonews.com Following a controversy sparked by the New Macau Association (ANM) in relation to the governments partnership with the mainland technology-led giant Alibaba Group, the government stressed that the partnership via direct contract awarding was done in accordance with existing legislation. In a statement issued by the Government Information Bureau yesterday, the government insisted that the absence of a tendering exercise was in conformity with existing regulations, as the project is considered to be beneficial to Macau. The statement recalled that after publishing the Five-Year Development Plan, the government initiated a research and analysis process regarding digitalization development, while searching for the best possible candidate among eligible companies in the market to provide support services to implement this policy. After more than six months of discussions and exchanges, the government decided to sign a Framework Agreement with Alibaba Group, which was conducted on August 4. The budget for each specific project to be developed under the Framework Agreement will be supported by the governments budget for each respective fiscal year. In the 2017 fiscal year budget, the government allocated a total of MOP500 million to foster the development of the citys information technology sector. According to preliminary estimates, the SAR is set to allocate about MOP200 million in the next two years to implement related projects. Last week, the ANM called for the government to halt its cooperation with the technology giant, fearing that a government monopoly on big data and cloud technologies would imperil liberal democracy. The association demanded that the government take steps to ensure that residents remain informed of any statistics derived from data obtained by smart city technology. The group also recalled Alibabas business issues with an express courier where data exchange contracts were violated. In response the government defended its move, noting that Alibaba Cloud a unit of Alibaba Group has strong big data processing capabilities, citing its experience in technology-based governance. Macau pays great attention to information security, regional security and data security, as these are understood to be key issues relating to national security. In this regard, Alibaba Cloud is a widely-recognized service provider in the Asia-Pacific region, the statement noted. The government said it will have ownership of the entire facility, its equipment, systems, platforms, algorithms, and in particular of any data collected and stored in the cloud computing data center. Alibaba Group will only provide technical support, without having access to any government data, which is to be stored in Macau and not be transferred overseas, the statement added. In a TDM Forum held on Sunday, a member of the Construction of World Tourism and Leisure Centre, Lai U Meng defended Alibaba Group, noting that it has a proven track record of providing the innovative technologies that are needed for this project. It includes the articulation, integration, maintenance, and its complex. Cloud computing and big data platform is an advanced technology. Therefore, after comprehensive consideration, Alibaba would be the overall responsible, Lai told the press, as cited in a TDM report. Although the regions privacy watchdog is backing the project and has vowed to ensure the safety of residents personal data, some residents who attended the forum doubted the advantages of the partnership. It sets the direction of cooperation between the SAR Government and Alibaba, as well as the implementation of the actual projects in the areas of focus, which would be applied and approved independently, the commission member explained. Further, the governments statement emphasized that there is no need to change its existing systems as Alibabas cloud platform and big data management systems are compatible with different systems. LV Agreement with Alibaba stirs doubts The president of a local consumer association, Cheang Chong Fai, expressed doubts over the governments transparency regarding the agreement the MSAR government has signed with Alibaba. In Cheangs opinion, the government should have compared Alibaba with other companies before signing the agreement. He said that the government at the beginning of its discussion with Alibaba, should have reported to the public. He also noted that, until now, the government has not publicized related information regarding the agreement, and that such behavior is escaping the publics attention. Welcome back to The Farda Briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter that tracks the key issues in Iran and explains why they matter. To subscribe, click here. I'm RFE/RL correspondent Golnaz Esfandiari. Here's what I've been following during the past week and what I'm watching for in the days ahead. The Big Issue Iran has for the first time admitted that it sent "a small number" of drones to Russia, but it said they were supplied months before Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February. Kyiv and its Western allies have accused Russian forces of using Iranian-made combat drones to destroy civilian infrastructure in Ukraine in recent weeks. Following Iran's admission, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Tehran was lying about the number of drones it had supplied Russia. He said Ukrainian air defenses shoot down at least 10 Iranian-made drones every day. The U.S. envoy to Iran, Rob Malley, said Iran had transferred dozens of drones to Russia in recent months and deployed military personnel to help Russia use the drones. Why It Matters: Iran's decision to supply combat drones -- and potentially ballistic missiles -- to Russia is a sign of the deepening ties between Tehran and Moscow. Both countries, which have pledged to work together against the West, have been hit by international sanctions and isolation. The move also reflects Tehran's policy of looking to the East -- turning to allies Russia and China -- after then-U.S. President Donald Trump withdrew Washington from the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and reimposed sanctions in 2018. Ali Vaez, the director of the Iran project at the International Crisis Group, told me Tehran has concluded that Russia's potential defeat in Ukraine would "weaken Iran." Raz Zimmt, a research associate at Tel Aviv University, said Tehran is looking to exploit Russia's "weakness in Ukraine in order to make their relations with Moscow more equal and beneficial toward Iran." He added that Tehran can also "now show that it has the ability of using its military asymmetric capabilities even outside the Middle East." What's Next: Britain and the European Union have imposed sanctions on Iran for supplying Iranian-made drones to Russia that are being used in attacks on Ukraine. Tehran could face further punitive measures from the West, but it is unlikely to change course. Henry Rome, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told me that "Iran probably calculates that the strategic and security benefits outweigh greater opprobrium from the West." Rome also said Iran's decision to send drones to Russia allows Tehran to deepen its relationship with Moscow, "a country that the leadership likely considers essential to Iran's geopolitical and security interests, especially in a world in which the [nuclear deal] is not revived." Stories You Might Have Missed A new investigation by Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, found that the Iranian combat drones Russia is deploying in its war against Ukraine use Western components, raising questions about how Tehran obtains this technology despite sanctions. Iran's Mohajer-6 drones contain components produced by companies from the United States and the European Union, both of which have sanctions restricting the export of such technology to Iran. A resident of Iran's Kurdistan region, Yahya Rahimi, was allegedly shot dead by security forces for honking his car horn in support of the ongoing anti-government protests. His father, Ahmad Rahimi, told RFE/RL's Radio Farda that the authorities had pressured him to declare his son was a member of the Basij paramilitary forces, a branch of Iran's powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), in an apparent attempt to blame his death on protesters. What We're Watching Iranian lawmakers urged the judiciary on November 6 to "deal decisively" with anti-government protesters as the authorities struggle to suppress the biggest show of dissent in years. A majority of 227 lawmakers from Iran's 290-seat, hard-line parliament made the request. The lawmakers called for the judiciary to enforce the Islamic "eye for an eye" retribution law. Separately, a judicial spokesman said sentences against "rioters" should create "regrets" and teach them a lesson. Why It Matters: At least 300 people have been killed and several thousand arrested in the state's violent crackdown on nationwide protests since mid-September. Yet, the protests have continued. The call by lawmakers for harsher sentences appears to be an attempt by the establishment to stoke fear and pressure protesters to end the rallies. That's all from me for now. Don't forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you have. Until next time, Golnaz Esfandiari If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your inbox every Wednesday. The Grozny trial of two young men on charges of allegedly planning to travel to Syria to sign up with the Islamic State extremist group has elicited a public demonstration of support for the accused by their relatives and fellow villagers that is unprecedented in recent years, Novaya Gazeta reported on August 7. Similarly unprecedented is the failure of the Chechen authorities to punish those who dared step out of line and question the official indictment. Whether that forbearance was prompted by the international outcry triggered by Novaya Gazetas revelations four months ago about reprisals against gays in Chechnya is unclear, however. It is a truism that Chechen Republic leader Ramzan Kadyrovs unique position among the heads of Russias 83 federation subjects derives in the first instance from the unwritten pact between him and President Vladimir Putin, under which Moscow provided astronomical sums of money to fund postconflict reconstruction in Chechnya while the various armed units subordinate to Kadyrov waged a low-level war of attrition against the surviving remnants of the pro-independence Chechen resistance and the so-called Caucasus Emirate that superseded it in 2007. Whether because the resistance was widely believed to be behind the terrorist bombing that killed his father in May 2004, or because his standing with Putin was contingent on keeping his side of that bargain, Kadyrovs stance toward any manifestations of armed resistance to the regime has been consistently brutal and implacable. He routinely demonized militants as shaytans (Satans) and terrorists either recruited by Western intelligence services or motivated by radical Islamist sentiment. And Kadyrovs wrath was not confined to the fighters themselves: over the past several years, human rights watchdogs have chronicled numerous cases in which the homes of fighters relatives have been torched and their families expelled from Chechnya. Public warnings by Putin that Kadyrov, like any other Russian citizen, is required to abide by the law have had no visible impact. Neither has the argument advanced by federal Nationalities Minister Igor Barinov that such reprisals against militants families can prove counterproductive, insofar as they lead to even more people becoming radicalized. Nor is there any statute of limitations with regard to suspected involvement with the Chechen resistance: a man suspected of participating in the mass hostage-taking in June 1995 in Budyonnovsk masterminded by Kadyrovs onetime idol, maverick field commander Shamil Basayev, was arrested in Grozny last month. The last remnants of the Chechen wing of the Caucasus Emirate left Russia three years ago to join the armed resistance to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but Kadyrovs crackdown continues nonetheless. These days the target is not just the few desperate figures who periodically take up arms against the police and security forces, as in Grozny in December 2016 and the northern settlement of Naurskaya in March 2017. In the wake of such attacks -- and perhaps to appease Kadyrovs anger -- police are ordered to round up any young men whose loyalty to his brutal regime is open to question. The two young men currently on trial, Magomed Taramov and Djamalay Tazbiyev, fall into the latter category. They were apprehended in late January in a roundup of men suspected of contacts with the group that launched armed attacks on police in and near Grozny in December. According to Novaya Gazeta, the two testified in court that they were subjected to beatings and electric shocks to induce them to confess that since June 2016 they had been preparing to travel to Syria to sign up with Islamic State. Both had categorically denied any such intention. Despite the risk of official reprisals -- such as being dismissed from ones job or being deprived of social benefits -- their families and neighbors have come out unanimously in their support and hired lawyers to defend them. No punitive action against them has been reported to date. That anomaly may reflect a belated realization of the damage caused by negative media coverage, particularly in terms of deterring investment. Chechnyas hard-line Nationality Affairs, Foreign Affairs, and Press and Information Minister Djambulat Umarov announced last month that his ministry has signed an agreement with a public relations company with the aim of improving Chechnyas image and its potential for investment and tourism. At the same time, a group of 20 journalists from France, Japan, China, Georgia, Tajikistan, and elsewhere were invited to Chechnya in the hope that they would dispel what Umarov termed the myth that human rights are routinely violated there. Meanwhile, nine more young men are on trial in the northern Nadterechny district on similar charges of planning to travel to Syria to fight against the Assad leadership even though, according to their pretrial testimony, which was made available to RFE/RLs North Caucasus Service, they were unable to put those plans into practice because none of them could raise the $3,000 they calculated was needed to cover travel costs via Moscow and Turkey. All nine were apprehended and indicted on the basis of the testimony of one man, Islam Dzukayev; their own testimony coincides in some instances word for word. Several of them are said to have been acquainted with Islam Naibov, who was killed in October 2016 after a knife attack on a police officer, or with Islam Altamirov, one of the young men killed during the Grozny fighting in December 2016. They are quoted as saying both Naibov and Altamirov sought to persuade them to join a group of militants based in Chechnya, rather than head for Syria, but they refused. The nine were detained in early February; the insurgency website Kavkazcenter quotes their families as saying the very fact that they were not summarily executed, as some other suspects reportedly were, is grounds for hope. All nine deny the charges against them, which they say were fabricated. The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL. Firefighters who have been battling a wildfire in Armenia's Khosrov forest reserve for days have succeeded in localizing the fire with help from a Russian air tanker, officials say. The fire broke out on August 12 and has burned hundreds of hectares of vegetation since then. One Defense Ministry helicopter had been fighting the blaze alone, but it received help when the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry dispatched a firefighting plane filled with tons of water on August 15. The heavy-lifting Il-76 aircraft dumped 250 tons of water in six passes over the burning forest, the Russian ministry said. Preliminary assessments found the fire, which spread quickly, has done considerable damage to the vegetation and wildlife in the reserve, Armenian Nature Protection Minister Artsvik Minasyan said. With reporting by TASS The United Nations says the failure by Kosovo lawmakers to form a government more than two months after elections is causing the country to miss out on "important" economic and social opportunities. The head of the UN mission in Kosovo, Zahir Tanin, said on August 16 that the deadlock sparked by an inconclusive June 11 snap election has caused the cancellation or deferral of financial aid and investment in the country. "The election process itself consumed the energy of institutions during these past months," Tanin said at a UN Security Council meeting on Kosovo. "Important economic and social opportunities were missed during such a period The climate of political uncertainty during the last quarter is tied inextricably with these facts," he said. Parliament failed for a fifth time on August 14 to vote on a speaker, the first crucial step toward forming a new government, raising worries that Kosovo, one of Europes poorest countries, could be headed for a political crisis and fresh elections. A coalition headed by the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), which includes the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), won 35 percent of the vote on June 11. President Hashim Thaci has said that he would give Ramush Haradinaj, leader of the AAK, a formal mandate to try to form a government -- despite speculation that Haradinaj may not be able to find enough partners to get the 61 deputies needed in the 120-seat legislature needed to approve the speaker. The president only issues the mandate once a speaker and his deputies are approved. Officials from the European Union and other Western institutions have expressed concerns that the inconclusive June election results could plunge the country into the same constitutional crisis it faced after a 2014 vote failed to produce a clear winner, delaying the formation of a government for nine months. The failure to move forward on creating a government prompted Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and the United States to issue a statement on August 13 that said it was "the responsibility of Kosovo's leaders" to end the deadlock. BISHKEK -- A Kyrgyz court has sentenced opposition leader Omurbek Tekebaev and his co-defendant to eight years in prison each on corruption charges. A court in Bishkek found Tekebaev and former Emergency Situations Minister Duishonkul Chotonov guilty of bribe-taking on August 16. The court also ordered the confiscation of the two men's assets and barred them from holding public offices for three years. After the judge pronounced the verdict and sentence, Tekebaev's supporters started shouting in protest. Tekebaev told them, "Everything will be fine!" The prosecutor at the trial had asked the judge to sentence Tekebaev to 10 years and Chotonov to eight years in prison if they were convicted. Tekebaev is the leader of the opposition Ata-Meken (Fatherland) party, which says the trial is a politically motivated effort to keep him out of a presidential vote this autumn. Investigators say Tekebaev and Chotonov received a $1 million bribe from a Russian businessman in 2010, when Tekebaev was deputy prime minister. Both denied any wrongdoing. Ata-Meken has alleged that the government launched the case in an effort to stifle dissent ahead of the October 15 presidential election in the Central Asian country and keep Tekebaev off the ballot. Tekebaev was arrested in late February. On March 5, Ata-Meken named him as its candidate for the presidential election. Both Tekebaev and President Almazbek Atambaev were members of the interim government that came to power after a popular revolution ousted authoritarian President Kurmanbek Bakiev in 2010. But Ata-Meken strongly opposed a referendum on constitutional changes that passed in December with a strong push from Atambaev's office, and Tekebaev last year called for the president to be impeached. Atambaev cannot stand for reelection, according Kyrgyzstans constitution. Ukrainian officials and local residents moved to stabilize conditions in the freshly recaptured southern city of Kherson, as Russian symbols were being torn down and with the restoration of Ukrainian radio and television service and a new police presence. 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. The action on November 12 came after months of occupation by Russian forces following their unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February and as Ukrainian and Western officials hailed Kyivs latest extraordinary battlefield success and Moscows strategic failure. Separately, Russian occupying forces said late on November 12 that they were preparing to leave the city of Nova Kakhovka, the site of a damaged dam on the Dnieper River, to a safer location, according to Russian state-run TASS news agency. As jubilant Kherson residents awoke the morning following the arrival of the first Ukrainian troops, Ukraines military said it was putting stabilization measures in place to ensure safety. Ihor Klymenko, chief of the National Police of Ukraine, said about 200 officers were at their posts in Kherson and that checkpoints had been set up. Authorities also began seeking out any evidence of possible Russian war crimes, he said in a Facebook post. The Ukrainian communications watchdog said national TV and radio broadcasts had resumed in the strategic southern city and officials said aid supplies had begun to arrive from nearby regions. Social media postings on November 12 showed local residents removing memorial plaques put up by Kremlin-installed authorities during the occupation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other officials warned that while special forces had entered central Kherson, the full deployment of Ukrainian troops was still under way and that some Russian soldiers could have shed military uniforms for civilian clothing and remained in the city. Even when the city is not yet completely cleansed of the enemys presence, the people of Kherson themselves are already removing Russian symbols and any traces of the occupiers stay in Kherson from the streets and buildings, Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. But he said that medicine, communications, social services are returning. Life is returning. 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. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, speaking to world leaders at an ASEAN summit in Cambodia, warned that the celebratory mood could turn grim with the possible discovery of war crimes evidence in Kherson. Such evidence was discovered after Russian troops pulled out of the Kyiv and Kharkiv regions months ago. Every time we liberate a piece of our territory, when we enter a city liberated from the Russian Army, we find torture rooms and mass graves with civilians tortured and murdered by the Russian Army in the course of the occupation of the territories," he said. "Its not easy to speak with people like this. But I said that every war ends with diplomacy and Russia has to approach talks in good faith. The White House on November 12 hailed Russias withdrawal from Kherson as an "extraordinary victory" for Ukraine. "It does look as though the Ukrainians have just won an extraordinary victory where the one regional capital that Russia had seized in this war is now back under a Ukrainian flag -- and that is quite a remarkable thing," U.S. national-security adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters as he accompanied President Joe Biden to the ASEAN summit. Sullivan said that the Russian retreat would have "broader strategic implications," including relieving the longer-term threat by Russia to other southern Ukrainian cities such as Odesa. "It's a big moment, and it's due to the incredible tenacity and skill of the Ukrainians, backed by the relentless and united support of the United States and our allies," Sullivan said. Asked about reports that the Biden administration has started to press Zelenskiy to explore negotiations with Moscow, Sullivan said Russia, not Ukraine, was the side that has to decide whether or not to go to the table. "This whole notion, I think, in the Western press of, 'When's Ukraine going to negotiate?' misses the underlying fundamentals," Sullivan said. Russia, he added, continues to make "outlandish claims" about its self-declared annexations of Ukrainian lands, even as it retreats from Ukrainian counterattacks. "Ultimately, at a 30,000-foot level, Ukraine is the party of peace in this conflict and Russia is the party of war. Russia invaded Ukraine. If Russia chose to stop fighting in Ukraine and left, it would be the end of the war. If Ukraine chose to stop fighting and give up, it would be the end of Ukraine," he said. "In that context, our position remains the same as it has been and fundamentally is in close consultation and support of President Zelenskiy. Separately, British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said on November 12 that Moscow's "strategic failure" in Kherson will sow doubt among the Russian public about the point of the war in Ukraine. "Russia's announced withdrawal from Kherson marks another strategic failure for them. In February, Russia failed to take any of its major objectives except Kherson," Wallace said in a statement. "Now with that also being surrendered, ordinary people of Russia must surely ask themselves: 'What was it all for?'" Meanwhile, Pavel Filipchuk, the head of the occupation government in Nova Kakhovka, told administrators and residents that Russian forces will be pullng back from the city on the right bank of the Dnieper River. He cited concerns that the key dam could be damaged by missiles, which would result in flooding. Both Kyiv and Moscow have accused each other of planning to blast the dam, which has already been severely damaged. With reporting by AFP, AP, dpa, and Reuters Like squabbling siblings, New Zealand and Australia have close ties but also a rivalry that can sometimes turn ugly. That tension spilled into politics yesterday, when Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop accused New Zealands opposition Labour Party of conspiring to undermine her government, a claim New Zealand lawmakers said was false and utter nonsense. The unlikely dispute involved Barnaby Joyce, Australias deputy prime minister. Joyce said Monday hed been advised he was a New Zealand citizen and an Australian court was being asked to determine if he should be kicked out of parliament because Australias constitution bans lawmakers from being dual citizens. If Joyce was disqualified, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbulls center-right government could lose its single-seat majority in the House of Representatives, where parties need a majority to govern. But Joyce told Australias parliament yeterday that New Zealand had just told him verbally that his citizenship had been renounced after he requested as much over the weekend, and he was now awaiting written confirmation. Renunciation wont affect the court decision since the case rests on his eligibility to run in the last election. Bishop said Australias opposition Labor Party had used their New Zealand counterparts to raise questions about Joyce in the New Zealand parliament. This is highly unethical at least, but more importantly it puts at risk the relationship between the Australian government and the New Zealand government, Bishop told reporters in Canberra. New Zealand is facing an election, she said. Should there be a change of government, I would find it very hard to build trust with those involved in allegations designed to undermine the government of Australia. New Zealands election is next month. New Zealand Labour Party Leader Jacinda Ardern said the claims were false and highly regrettable. She said shed contacted the Australian High Commission to register her disappointment and would be meeting with the commissioner in person. Bishop was referring to two questions lodged in the New Zealand parliament by Labour lawmaker Chris Hipkins, who asked whether children born in Australia to a New Zealand father automatically had New Zealand citizenship. Ardern said she had no knowledge of the questions lodged by Hipkins and knew nothing about the Joyce case until it broke in the media this week. She told Radio New Zealand that somebody connected with the Australian Labor Party had put the questions to Hipkins without mentioning Joyce, and that Hipkins wouldnt have asked them if he knew how they were going to be used. She called the questions inappropriate. I greatly value New Zealands relationship with the Australian government, she said in a statement. I will not let false claims stand in the way of that relationship. I would happily take a call from Julie Bishop to clarify matters. New Zealands Internal Affairs Minister Peter Dunne said Hipkins had not started the row. This is so much utter nonsense while Hipkins questions were inappropriate, they were not the instigator, Dunne tweeted. Australian media inquiries were. Joyce is perhaps best known abroad for the tough stance he took on Johnny Depps pet dogs Pistol and Boo. Joyce threatened to have the Yorkshire terriers euthanized after saying they were smuggled into Australia in 2014 where Depp was filming the fifth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series. Depps then-wife Amber Heard pleaded guilty to falsifying an immigration document to conceal the dogs in a private jet. She avoided jail under a deal that included Heard and Depp appearing in an awkward video warning against others breaking Australias strict quarantine laws. The Australian and New Zealand opposition parties are kindred center-left parties, although the Australian party uses the American spelling for its name. Nick Perry & Rod Mcguirk, AP A court in the Russian city of Arkhangelsk has fined a local activist for placing a plaque commemorating a victim of Soviet persecutions on a house that has protected status. The Lomonosov district court in Arkhangelsk ruled on August 16 that Dmitry Kozlov must pay a fine of 15,000 rubles ($250) for endangering the wooden house, which is listed a building of architectural heritage. Kozlov's lawyer Maksim Olenichev said the ruling will be appealed. In July, Kozlov, who is a coordinator of The Last Address project in Arkhangelsk placed a plaque with persecution victim Ignaty Bezsonov's name on the house where he lived and from which he was taken away by Soviet Interior Ministry officers and later shot. The project was launched in 2014. Activists place plaques with names of the victims of the Great Purge launched by the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin in the 1930s on the houses where they lived before their arrests. The city body protecting historic buildings accused Kozlov of "endangering an object of cultural heritage" and sued him. Activists of The Last Address say the old wooden building is dilapidated and is expected to be demolished. Russia's presidential Council for Civil Society Development and Human Rights urged the governor of the Arkhangelsk region, Igor Orlov, not to bring the case to court. With reporting by Interfax Former Russian Economic Development Minister Aleksei Ulyukayev has told a Moscow court that the bribery charge against him was fabricated and accused powerful state oil company chief Igor Sechin of targeting him in a "provocation." Ulyukayev, whose arrest in November 2016 send shock waves through the business and political circles surrounding President Vladimir Putin, spoke as his trial got under way on August 16. Prosecutors say Ulyukayev was caught red-handed receiving a $2 million bribe in exchange for his ministry's approval for state oil giant Rosneft to acquire a majority stake in regional oil company Bashneft from the government. Ulyukayev told the court that he was set up by Sechin and the Federal Security Service (FSB), which Kremlin critics say the Russian authorities use as a tool in political and economic disputes. "The cash handover was planned by the FSB," Ulyukayev said. "Sechin personally telephoned me and persuaded me to come to Rosneft, saying that he needed to discuss corporate issues with me." At the Rosneft office, he alleged, Sechin "handed me the cash." Ulyukayev claimed that Rosneft's security chief at the time, Oleg Feoktistov, was also involved in organizing what he called the "bribery provocation." Feoktistov, a veteran FSB officer, was hired by Rosneft as security chief in September 2016. In March, Rosneft announced he had left the company and returned to "military service." Judge Larisa Semyonova rejected a defense motion to send the case back to investigators and adjourned the trial until September 1 after witnesses for the prosecution failed to show up. Ulyukayev, 61, faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted. He says he is innocent. His arrest sparked speculation about high-stakes battles in circles close to Putin, who analysts say seeks to maintain his grip on power by playing rival camps against each other. Sechin is a Kremlin insider who is regarded as a close Putin ally and one of the most powerful people in Russia. Ulyukayev, who had headed the Economic Development Ministry since 2013 and was deputy chairman of Russia's central bank for a decade before that, was seen as a member of the more liberal camp. Minutes before the trial began, Ulyukayev -- who was fired by Putin after his arrest -- told reporters he was broadly optimistic. "In the historical sense this trial will bring advantages to the people, no matter what the result is," said Ulyukayev, who appears to have lost a lot of weight since his arrest in November 2016. Ulyukayev, who had overseen the massive privatization of state companies, initially opposed the sale of the stake in Bashneft to Rosneft, but later endorsed it after Putin said it could give the state budget a boost. His arrest came amid a high-profile antigraft campaign and shake-ups among senior Russian officials that observers tied to the presidential election due in March 2018, in which Putin is widely expected to seek and secure a fourth term. In June 2016, liberal Kirov Oblast Governor Nikita Belykh was arrested and accused of accepting a 400,000-euro bribe. He is in jail and has yet to be tried. In September 2016, Interior Ministry Colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko was arrested after police found $120 million in cash during a raid on his Moscow apartment. A poll conducted by the state-run Russian Public Opinion Research Center after Ulyukayev was detained indicated that most Russians saw the allegations as the result of a clan war in the government. The polling agency said that 54 percent of respondents believed the it was most likely an "assertion of power, a settling of scores or a conflict between competing clans." With reporting by Rapsinews.ru and Tvrain.ru MOSCOW -- The Russian opposition is hailing it as modern-day poetry. The top broadsheets are pondering its business potential. And a pro-Kremlin lawmaker is mulling legislation to keep a lid on it, denouncing it as moral squalor. This week, the chattering classes were scratching their heads over a newcomer to Russias hectic news landscape: freestyle rap battles. The profanity-laced underground music form -- in which lyricists duel by trading creative, rhyming insults -- barged into the national conversation this week after a much-anticipated rap battle published on YouTube on August 13 garnered staggering online audiences overnight. The hourlong rap face-off recorded on August 6 pitted Oxford University-educated Miron Fyodorov, 32, under his stage name Oxxxymiron, against Vyacheslav Karelin, performing as Gnoyny (The Rotten One). Karelin, who also goes by the name Slava KPSS (Glory to the Communist Party of the Soviet Union), won the encounter by unanimous vote. The aggressive lyrical sparring saw opponents making eclectic allusions to dystopian author Yevgeny Zamyatin, George Orwell, and notorious NKVD police chief Lavrenty Beria, as well as modern political references to, for instance, opposition leader Aleksei Navalnys corruption allegations against Prime Minister Dmitry Medvdev. The video on YouTube gained over 3 million views overnight and has been watched more than 14 million times since it was posted. As state news agencies and the independent press wrote about the huge viewership and the scope for advertising, public debate rapidly began on what constitutes contemporary Russian culture and whether the expletive-laden lyricism of rap qualifies. Meanwhile, opposition figures made overtures to the rap battlers whose enormous viewing figures illustrate how Internet platforms such as YouTube can connect sprawling constituencies in a country where the Kremlin has traditionally controlled the public narrative through state-dominated TV. Writing on Twitter, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the tycoon turned Kremlin critic, praised the rap battle as poetry, describing Oxxxymiron as an intellectual and calling Gnoyny too good for that crowd. Navalny, who is mounting an improbable bid for the Russian presidency in Marchs election, dedicated an entire blog post to it. This is a real poetry competition. Im sorry, but there isnt really rap in it," he said. "The guys write poetry and shout it at each other. And 30 million people watch it. That is to say, all the young people in the country. Navalny continued: Isnt that wonderful? Yes, there is bad language. Yes, there is fairly often quite base humor. Nonetheless, this is a competition of Russian poets. But as they really are. And in Russian. As it really is in its modern form. During his presidential election campaign, the 41-year-old opposition politician has made transparent attempts to woo young people who have formed the vanguard of both his mass antigovernment protests this year. Moral Squalor The rap battle, meanwhile, angered conservatives in the State Duma. On August 15, lawmaker Gennady Onishchenko proposed legislation punishing state media for publishing news items about the rap encounter, accusing them of unaccountably promoting what he called "this miserable language. In comments to the Govorit Moskva radio station, Onishchenko said: The Internet today reflects the moral squalor of our society as this [clip] received such broad popularity. Despite this short shrift in the Russian parliament, strongman President Vladimir Putin has himself made overtures in the past to Russias young hip-hop lovers. In 2009, in a bid to shore up his then-sagging popularity, he appeared in a polo shirt at a rap and break-dancing contest where he spoke of the need for healthy living. Putin has also received support from Russian rappers. In 2015, Timati, one of the most famous Russian rappers and a friend of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, performed in a music video, rapping my best friend is Vladimir Putin. Mikheil Saakashvili, the former Georgian president and ex-governor of Ukraine's Odesa region who was stripped of his Ukrainian citizenship in July, says he plans to return to Kyiv next month. "I am returning to Ukraine. I will arrive on September 10 travelling from Poland through the Krakovets checkpoint [in the Lviv region]," he said in a live broadcast on Facebook on August 16. President Petro Poroshenko stripped Saakashvili of his Ukrainian citizenship on July 26, a move the former Georgian president condemned as an "illegal way to move me from the political scene in Ukraine." Ukrainian authorities have said that if he tries to enter the country they will bar him and confiscate his passport. The 49-year-old Saakashvili, who served two terms as president from 2004 to 2013, is an adamantly pro-Western reformist who came to power in Georgia as a result of the peaceful Rose Revolution protests of 2003. But his popularity declined in his later years in office, in part because of the 2008 five-day war with Russia during which Moscow's forces drove deep into the South Caucasus country. Saakashvili was stripped of his Georgian citizenship in 2015 after he took Ukrainian citizenship in order to become governor of the Odesa region. Georgia is seeking Saakashvili's extradition to face charges related to the violent dispersal of protesters and a raid on a private television station. He says those charges are politically motivated. Saakashvili resigned as Odesa's governor in November 2016 -- complaining of official obstruction of anticorruption efforts, accusing Poroshenko of dishonesty, and charging that the central government was sabotaging crucial reforms. Now, without Ukrainian citizenship, Saakashvili cannot seek political office in Ukraine, where his party is calling for early parliamentary elections. However, he said in the Facebook broadcast that he has been travelling on his Ukrainian passport. Ukraine is scheduled to conduct its next presidential election in March 2019. Serbia offered citizenship to the family of a 10-year-old Afghan boy who has become known as "Little Picasso" for his impressive artworks. Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic made the offer on August 16 after a meeting in Belgrade with Farhad Noory and the other four members of his family. He also promised a scholarship for the boy to continue to develop his artistic talent and work for his father. Noory and his family have been living for eight months in a refugee camp on the outskirts of the Balkan nations capital. His impressive portraits of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, surrealist painter Salvador Dali, and others have made him a local media star. Last week he had an exhibition of his paintings and photographs in Belgrade, hoping to raise money for a Serbian child's treatment for brain cancer. His family entered Serbia as part of a huge wave of migrants hoping to start new lives in Western Europe in recent years, but they got stuck in Belgrade after the so-called "Balkan route" was shut down last year. Noorys father has said they had hoped to resettle in Switzerland. We are not rich as Switzerland, but you will see that Belgrade is a nice city and if you want to stay we would give you Serbian citizenship right away, Vucic said. Our policy is a policy of sincere friendship, solidarity, and love for the refugees and for people who are looking for a future, Vucic added. "If you see this future here in Serbia, consider yourself welcome in our country." The family did not say if it would take Vucic up on his offer. The boy's gift for art was spotted during painting workshops in Belgrade that were organized by local aid groups for refugees and migrants. The Refugees Foundation, a local charity, said it sent him to an art school and photography workshop to help him develop his talents. Noory chose to dedicate proceeds from the art he produced to help the sick Serbian boy pay for thousands of euros worth of treatments and therapy after brain surgery. Serbian authorities say about half of the 4,000 refugees living in Serbia are children. With reporting by AP and Blic ON MY MIND Today marks the 18th birthday of the era of Vladimir Putin. On August 16, 1999, the Russian State Duma confirmed Putin as prime minister by a vote of 233-84, with 17 abstentions. A week earlier, on August 9, Boris Yeltsin nominated Putin and anointed him as successor to the presidency. A child born at this time would now be entering adulthood -- and would know no other leader than Putin (Dmitry Medvedev's interim placeholder "presidency" notwithstanding). And if you believe, as I do, that the true era of Putin's rule began on August 16, 1999, then next month, the current Kremlin leader will surpass the longevity in power of Leonid Brezhnev, who ruled the Soviet Union for 18 years and one month -- from October 1964 until his death in November 1982. But as Grigory Golosov writes in a piece featured in The Morning Vertical earlier this week, the problem with the Putin era isn't just that it has been so long. In November, after all, German Chancellor Angela Merkel will have been in office for 12 years (and, if you believe the polls, she appears headed for a fourth term). The problem, Golosov writes, is that in addition to ruling for a long time, Putin has also ruled without the the checks and balances that constrain and limit the powers of leaders like Merkel. "A democracy," he writes, "can afford to use the experience accumulated by individuals like Angela Merkel, without much risk of slipping into personal dictatorship." Longevity plus unchecked power, on the other hand, leads to stagnation and autocratic rule. IN THE NEWS The bribery trial of former Russian Economic Development Minister Aleksei Ulyukayev, the highest-ranking government official to be arrested on corruption charges since the Stalin era, has started in Moscow. Police in St. Petersburg have launched an investigation into an attack on LGBT activists and journalists after local lawmakers urged them to do so. A Russian nationalist activist has been charged in absentia with making public calls for extremist activities. Russian diamond giant Alrosa says rescuers have abandoned a search for four of eight missing workers at a flooded diamond mine in eastern Siberia. The search for the other four continues. The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned the "harassment" of reporters in Ukraine after security services raided the offices of an independent news website and a member of parliament criticized the head of the national press union for his response to the raid. Russian social-network prodigy Pavel Durov has called on his fans to photograph themselves topless and post the pictures online as part of a flash mob poking fun at President Vladimir Putin's penchant for bare-chested photo ops. WHAT I'M READING New CSIS Report On U.S.-Russian Relations Olga Oliker and Andrey Kortunov have a new report out for the Center for Strategic and International Studies: A Roadmap For U.S.-Russia Relations. Exposing Fake News BuzzFeed has a report looking at "a coordinated effort to spread false stories designed to inflame international tensions." According to the report, "a completely fake article, made to look as if it were published by The Guardian and containing explosive comments attributed to the former head of British intelligence, was likely created to serve as propaganda material for Russian media." Why Zapad Matters Chatham House's Keir Giles has a commentary for CNN looking at Russia's upcoming Zapad military exercises. The National Guard One Year On Mark Galeotti of the Institute for International Relations in Prague has a piece in the Dutch publication RaamopRusland looking at Russia's National Guard one year after its creation. Five Prototypes Of Russian Leaders In Republic.ru, political analyst Tatiana Stanovaya outlines the five types of leaders who rule Russia. NATO's Cybercapabilities On The Atlantic Council's website, Barbara Roggeveen of The University of Amsterdam argues that NATO needs to develop cyberoffense as well as cyberdefense capabilities. Lessons From The Baltics Political analyst Viktor Denisenko has a piece in Newsader on what the Baltic states can teach Russia's other neighbors about resisting Moscow's domination. The Plight Of Russia's Technocrats In Intersection magazine, Vladimir Gelman, a professor at the European University in St. Petersburg, looks at why technocratic reforms fail in Russia. Russia's Post-2018 Economy Also in Intersection magazine, Georgy Bovt looks at Vladimir Putin's economic options post-2018 and argues that "without reforms, economic sclerosis awaits." The Battle Of The Russian Rappers In Global Voices, Aleksei Kovalev looks at Russia's battle of the rappers, pitting Oxxxymiron against Gnoyny, and its political subtext. A Russian web-hosting provider says it has suspended the Russian domain of the prominent U.S. neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer after the government's media regulator asked it to look into the site's "extremist content." Ru-Center, a private Moscow-based domain registrar, told RFE/RL on August 17 that the company received an official letter from Roskomnadzor requesting that the company look into possibly suspending the domain Dailystormer.ru. The Daily Stormer lost control of the Dailystormer.com domain earlier this week after Google and GoDaddy refused service to the publication. The two domain registrars were responding to a social-media campaign against the website spawned by its attacks on a woman who died protesting against racism at a white-supremacist rally in Virginia over the weekend. The Silicon Valley firms' decisions made the controversial website inaccessible on August 15, but by the morning of August 16, the Daily Stormer -- which takes its name from Der Sturmer, a newspaper that published Nazi propaganda -- was back online with the Russian domain name Dailystormer.ru. The Russian domain was registered with Ru-Center on August 15, according to public records. But the site quickly became unavailable. Ru-Center spokesman Yegor Timofeyev told RFE/RL in an e-mail that Roskomnadzor's letter asked the company "to look into [the] possibility of register suspension due to extremist content of this domain." "So we decided to suspend [the] domain Dailystormer.ru," he said. Roskomnadzor head Aleksandr Zharov confirmed in an August 17 statement that the agency had sent the letter to Ru-Center. "Russian law has established a very strict regime for combatting any kind of extremism in the Internet," Zharov said. He said that the agency appealed to Ru-Center "with a request to quickly examine the question" of canceling the Daily Stormers Russian domain because the publication "propagates neo-Nazi ideology and stirs up racial, national, and other forms of social discord." The Daily Stormer's publisher declared earlier that he has been "completely banned from the Internet" after the site briefly secured the Russian domain name and then disappeared again on August 16. Andrew Anglin told The Associated Press that after being booted off platforms in the United States and Russia he could no longer find a place to air his white-supremacist views. "Clearly, the powers that be believe that they have the ability to simply kick me off the Internet," Anglin told AP in an e-mail. Anglin for a while kept up his inflammatory statements through the Russian domain, mocking Heather Heyer, the woman who was killed when a suspected Nazi sympathizer rammed his car into a crowd of demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia. Anglin's original story called Heyer, among many other things, "the definition of uselessness," provoking an outraged response on social media. Anglin told AP that he had been kicked off four domains and had run out of options since most domain registries explicitly ban "hate speech." "They have effectively banned me from registering a domain," he told AP. Also late on August 16, Twitter and Facebook said they had suspended accounts and removed websites linked to the Daily Stormer, which helped organize the rally in Charlottesville that resulted in Heyer's death. With reporting by AP, Reuters, and Arstechnica.com The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has said Iran is trying to "hold the world hostage" by warning that it might abandon the 2015 nuclear agreement because of continued U.S. "sanctions and coercion." Ambassador Nikki Haley was responding to a warning from Iranian President Hassan Rohani earlier on August 15 that U.S. President Donald Trump, who has imposed several rounds of new sanctions on Iran, has shown he is "not a good partner" by repeatedly threatening to walk away from the agreement. Rohani said that could lead Iran to abandon its commitment to curb nuclear activities under the deal "within hours." Haley, in a statement at the UN in New York, said the sanctions imposed by Trump were unrelated to the nuclear deal, under which the United States and other world powers agreed to lift most economic sanctions on Iran. She said Tehran must be held responsible for "its missile launches, support for terrorism, disregard for human rights, and violations of UN Security Council resolutions." "Iran cannot be allowed to use the nuclear deal to hold the world hostage," Haley said."The nuclear deal must not become 'too big to fail'." Haley added that "Iran, under no circumstances, can ever be allowed to have nuclear weapons." 'Not A Good Partner' Rohani earlier in the day told lawmakers in Tehran that the Trump administration seemed to want to go back to the way it was before the nuclear agreement by repeatedly trying to force Iran to change through pressure tactics rather than negotiations. "The failed experience of sanctions and coercion brought their previous administrations to the negotiating table," he said in a televised speech. "If they want to go back to that experience, definitely in a short time -- not weeks or months, but in the scale of hours and days -- we will return to our previous situation very much more stronger," he said. Rohani said Trump since taking office had shown the world he is "not a good partner," not only with respect to the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), but on other global treaties. "In recent months, the world has witnessed that the U.S., in addition to its constant and repetitive breaking of its promises in the JCPOA, has ignored several other global agreements and shown its allies that the U.S. is neither a good partner nor a reliable negotiating party," Rohani told parliament. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert on August 15 did not address Rohani's comments directly, but insisted that Washington was in full compliance with its side of the nuclear agreement. Nauert also said Washington was reviewing its policy toward Iran and that it believes the nuclear deal didn't put an end to Tehran's other "destabilizing activities" in the region. Trump once again asserted earlier this month that Iran was not "living up to the spirit" of the nuclear deal, which he described as a "horrible agreement." The accord with world powers gave Iran relief from international sanctions in exchange for curbing its nuclear activities. U.S. and UN watchdogs monitoring compliance with the agreement have found Iran has adhered to the deal. With reporting by AP, AFP, Reuters, and IRNA Uzbekistans prime minister, Abdulla Aripov, arrived in the Kyrgyz capital on August 16, leading a delegation attending a session of the Kyrgyz-Uzbek intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation. That might not sound like much, but considering the poor state of Kyrgyz-Uzbek relations during the last couple of decades, the first meeting of this intergovernmental commission since December 2009 should be seen as a positive development. And its not the only sign of better ties between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. Since Shavkat Mirziyoev came to power in Uzbekistan in September 2016 after the death of longtime Uzbek President Islam Karimov, Uzbekistans foreign policy has been a clear departure from the 25 years of Karimovs rule. Probably nowhere is that more evident than in Uzbekistans new ties with Kyrgyzstan. One year ago, in August 2016, troops from Uzbekistans Interior Ministry seized a television relay station on Ungar-Too Mountain, in Kyrgyzstan, beginning a standoff that lasted several weeks. A similar standoff had already occurred in the same place in March 2016. The major cause of those tensions was the dispute over where the border between the two countries lies, an issue that has plagued Kyrgyz-Uzbek ties since the two countries became independent after the U.S.S.R. collapsed in late 1991. So it is another good sign that a second commission -- the intergovernmental commission on the delimitation and demarcation of the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border -- will also be meeting in Bishkek. Kyrgyz Deputy Prime Minister Jenish Razakov will be leading his countrys delegation in those talks. Razakov said it would mark the first time that commission had met since 2006. Kyrgyz-Uzbek border talks started barely a week after Mirziyoev was formally named Uzbekistans acting president. It's not just that the 1,378-kilometer Kyrgyz-Uzbek border is poorly marked, it's more that there never were any borders there until Soviet mapmakers penciled them in. There have been at least nine rounds of border demarcation talks since the September 2016 meeting. There have also been visits by officials from border cities and towns. Aitmamat Kadyrov, the mayor of Kyrgyzstans second city, Osh, crossed the border to meet in Andijon, Uzbekistan, with that citys mayor, Dilmurat Rakhmatullaev, on August 10. Officials and business delegations from those two cities had already exchanged visits starting last September. It is an interesting choice of venues. Andijon and Osh are big cities that are close to one another -- some 50 kilometers. But the two cities also have the unfortunate distinctions of being the scenes of the worst violence in Central Asia so far in the 21st century. In both cases -- in Andijon in May 2005, when government troops opened fire indiscriminately on a crowd that was made up of overwhelmingly unarmed protesters, sending tens of thousands of Uzbek citizens fleeing into Kyrgyzstan; and in Osh in June 2010, when interethnic rioting broke out between the Kyrgyz and Uzbek communities, also sending tens of thousands of ethnic Uzbeks to the border of Uzbekistan -- the violence hardened attitudes on both sides. And that is added to shootings along the border that have gone on for two decades. The big question is: What is motivating Uzbekistans abrupt turnaround in policy toward Kyrgyzstan? The Kyrgyz-Uzbek border area has probably been the most dangerous border in Central Asia, though its worth mentioning that Uzbekistan laid mines along part of the border with Tajikistan, limiting the potential for mischief from that quarter. Dozens of people, at least, have been killed and many more wounded along the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border. Kyrgyz and Uzbek border guards shoot at smugglers and rustlers, and sometimes at each other. Angry locals have assaulted border guards from the other country and border guards have crossed uninvited into their neighbor's territory to drag back suspects. Since the border talks restarted last September, there is a calm along the Kyrgyz-Uzbek frontier that has not been seen since the first years of independence. In fact, Uzbekistans border guards even reported last October that its troops received an ailing Kyrgyz border guard and brought the latter to an Uzbek medical facility for treatment since it was closer than any Kyrgyz medical facility. There are other indications of warming Kyrgyz-Uzbek ties. Representatives of the two countries have discussed increasing the number of flights between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan, and the number of trains, from Uzbekistan to Kyrgyzstans Issyk-Kul mountain resort area. The big question is: What is motivating Uzbekistans abrupt turnaround in policy toward Kyrgyzstan? The easy answer would be that now Mirziyoev is Uzbekistans president and he wants Uzbekistan to have friendly relations with its neighbors. But Mirziyoev was Uzbekistans prime minister from 2003 to 2016, the last half of Karimovs rule as Uzbekistans president, when the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border was increasingly sealed and bilateral ties continually plummeted. A better answer is that Mirziyoev is being pragmatic. His country is in an economic bind, caused in no small part by Karimovs fortress Uzbekistan policy that changed Uzbekistan from a natural regional transit country to a semi-isolationist state. There is nothing to gain in continuing the antagonism with Kyrgyzstan. Uzbekistan once sold natural gas to Kyrgyzstan and Karimovs government used that as leverage to punish Kyrgyzstan for decisions Karimov did not like, by suspending supplies. But Gazprom bought state company Kyrgyzgaz in April 2014 and supplies Kyrgyzstan with gas, ironically from gas fields Gazprom is working in Uzbekistan. Uzbekistan also often obstructed road and rail traffic to and from Kyrgyzstan, but now the long-awaited China-Kyrgyzstan-Uzbekistan railway project seems finally to be making progress. This will be a shorter route for Uzbekistan to export goods to China than the current route through Kazakhstan, but it involves cooperation with Kyrgyzstan. For the people living along the Kyrgyz-Uzbek border, Tashkents motivations for improving ties are probably not important. Being able to trade openly with partners on the other side of the border and being able to visit friends and relatives more easily are a change for the better already. The views expressed in this blog post do not necessarily reflect those of RFE/RL. The top U.S. military officer told his Chinese counterpart yesterday that the U.S. and China have many difficult issues to work through, during a visit that comes amid tensions over North Koreas missile program, Taiwan and Chinas claims in the South China Sea. Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the remarks at the opening of a meeting with Fang Fenghui, chief of the Peoples Liberation Armys joint staff department. U.S. officials say Dunfords visit aims to create a mechanism for improving communication between the sides, especially on sensitive issues such as North Korea. Dunford and Fang signed an agreement committing the sides to that goal, with the details to be discussed during talks in Washington in November. Fang said Dunfords visit was a key part of efforts to expand dialogue between the U.S. and China as agreed by President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, when they met earlier this year. To that end, China has arranged a series of important meetings and visits to help Dunford know more about our military, (boost) our cooperation and build up our friendship, Fang said. Dunford responded that the U.S. considered the meetings important to making progress on areas of disagreement, without citing any specific examples. I think here, we have to be honest we have many, many difficult issues where we dont necessarily share the same perspective, Dunford said. I know we share one thing: We share a commitment to work through these difficult issues, he added, saying that with the guidance of political leaders we are going to make some progress over the next few days. This is the highest-level meeting between the two countries militaries since Trump and Xi met in Florida in April. The U.S. delegation will be flying to the northeastern city of Shenyang today to observe an exercise staged by the Peoples Liberation Armys Northern Theater Command. Fang cited the event as being among the measures aimed at building mutual trust and understanding. While the sides agreed several years ago to establish a hotline between the Pentagon and Chinas defense ministry, that mechanism has never gone into operation. U.S. officials say theyve attempted to use it, but that the Chinese side has never answered their requests. The Chinese and U.S. militaries have joined in naval exercises off the coast of Hawaii and other limited multinational drills mainly aimed at dealing with humanitarian disasters. Theyve also tried to improve mutual trust through agreements on dealing with unexpected encounters at sea. Despite those, China deeply resents the presence of the U.S. Navy in the South China Sea, which Beijing claims virtually in its entirety. Last week, China expressed its strong dissatisfaction with the U.S. over the Navys latest freedom of navigation operation in which a warship sailed past one of Chinas man-made islands. Dunford is visiting South Korea, Japan and China after a week in which Trump said he was ready to unleash fire and fury if North Korea continued to threaten the U.S. In a phone call with Trump on Saturday, Chinese President Xi said all sides should avoid rhetoric or action that would worsen tensions on the Korean Peninsula. AP Human Rights Watch (HRW) says that a former UN employee and government official has been released in Uzbekistan after being unjustly imprisoned for more than a decade. Erkin Musaev, who was "tortured and unjustly jailed for 11 years in Uzbekistan," was freed on August 11, HRW said in an August 16 statement, citing his family. The New York-based rights group quoted relatives as saying that Musaev, who had been imprisoned since 2006 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison for espionage in 2007, was granted early release on orders of President Shavkat Mirziyoev. Mirziyoev "should release all those imprisoned on politically motivated charges and ensure effective investigations into the torture of detainees, including Musaev," HRW said. "Erkin Musaev's release is a joyous occasion for him and his family, but Musaev's 11-year ordeal won't end until those who tortured him are brought to justice," said Steve Swerdlow, Central Asia researcher at HRW. Mirziyoev "should see to it that all torture of detainees finally ends and all victims get a remedy." Musaev, 50, is a former Uzbek Defense Ministry official who worked in the ministry's foreign-trade department and participated in international cooperation programs with Western governments, including the United States and the European Union, for which authorities later accused him of espionage. He was involved in a UN counternarcotics project at the time of his arrest in 2006. According to HRW, Musaev is the fifth political prisoner released since Mirziyoev became acting president after the death of longtime autocrat Islam Karimov was announced in September. Mirziyoev was elected president in December. "The Uzbek government should also immediately and unconditionally release the other peaceful activists and human rights defenders who remain in prison following politically motivated and unfair trials," HRW said. With reporting by Worldaffairsjournal.org The 2017 solar eclipse is nearly upon us. The path of totality will travel across 14 states, starting in Oregon and ending in South Carolina, and may trigger what some have called a "zombie apocalypse" across the contiguous U.S. as people flood the roads, skies and rails to travel to their viewing locations. While the celestial event will be spectacular and, for many, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the disk of the sun completely blocked by the moon most "eclipses" don't involve the sun and the moon at all. Astronomers use chance alignments of celestial bodies to study objects in our interplanetary backyard and those orbiting distant stars. [Total Solar Eclipse 2017: When, Where and How to See It (Safely)] Occulting stars When an object passes in front of a star, it's called a "stellar occultation." Astronomers can predict when these occultations will happen and then observe these fleeting "eclipses" of distant stars. "Stellar occultations occur when a [celestial] body completely hides another as seen by the observer," Kimberly Ennico Smith, project scientist at the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), told Space.com. "'Occult,' from the Greek, means 'to block out.'" SOFIA, a modified Boeing 747SP aircraft that carries a 2.5-meter (8.2 feet) reflecting telescope to observe the universe in visible and infrared wavelengths, is very adept at tracking down occultations, which may be visible only from certain locations depending on the object's position. The airborne observatory is a partnership between NASA and the German Aerospace Center and is based at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, California. It flies at high altitude above most of Earth's atmosphere that can have a blurring effect on ground-based astronomical observations and can be used to fly in the path of an occulting shadow wherever it may happen around the world. "SOFIA is a unique tool to observe these events because we can bring SOFIA to intercept the shadow of an occultation event, especially if it is over water, where we cannot have an equivalent ground-based telescope," Ennico Smith said. A recent example: The next target for NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, which famously flew past Pluto in July 2015, is 2014 MU69, an object in the ring of icy bodies beyond Neptune known as the Kuiper Belt. The object was set to drift in front of a star on July 10, completely blocking the pinpoint of starlight. SOFIA collaborated with dozens of ground-based telescopes to observe the event, and it was able to fly into the tiny and fast-moving shadow of 2014 MU69. By studying the brief disappearance of starlight, SOFIA astronomers can compare their observations with others and measure the size and characteristics of the otherwise invisible object, Ennico Smith said. Occultations of stars can be caused by many celestial objects, Ennico Smith added. These objects include asteroids, moons (including Earth's moon) and even dwarf planets and trans-Neptunian objects (objects beyond Neptune's orbit) in the outer solar system. Also, trojans (asteroids that follow along a planet's orbit) and centaurs (objects with characteristics of both asteroids and comets) can be studied as they pass in front of stars. "[These] are excellent opportunities to measure the size/shape of the body 'blocking out' the background star, search for (or confirm) the presence of rings or other satellites about the object, confirm its location in the sky, and confirm or provide limits to an atmosphere about that object," Ennico Smith said. NASA's airborne observatory SOFIA measured the Kuiper Belt Object 2014 MU69 as it traveled in front of a distant star. The object is the next target for the New Horizons spacecraft, which flew by Pluto in 2015. (Image credit: NASA) Kepler's eclipses Whereas occultation studies use distant stars to help scientists learn about mysterious objects in Earth's solar system, astronomers can also look for "eclipses" occurring in distant star systems to reveal information about alien worlds many light-years away. NASA's Kepler space telescope is one such mission that looks for the eclipses caused by extrasolar planets, or exoplanets, that dim the light from their stars. If these exoplanets' orbits are aligned just right, Kepler detects a very slight dip in star brightness as the exoplanet drifts in front of the star from our perspective. This is known as a "transit." And although the dip in brightness is nowhere near as dramatic as that from a solar eclipse as seen from Earth or as sudden as an asteroid occulting the pinpoint of starlight these distant eclipses reveal fascinating insights about exoplanets of all sizes. [NASA's Kepler Space Telescope Finds Hundreds of New Exoplanets, Boosts Total to 4,034] "You can learn two main things [during an exoplanet transit]: The amount of light being blocked will tell us the size of the planet, and the frequency by which the light is blocked will tell us the orbital period of the planet," or how long it takes to orbit its star, said astrophysicist Geert Barentsen, guest observer office director of NASA's Kepler and K2 missions at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. Launched in 2009, Kepler's prime mission was to stare unblinkingly at one region of the sky, toward the constellation Cygnus, continually monitoring the brightness of over 150,000 stars. "It was an incredible success and found over 2,000 confirmed exoplanets and more than 4,000 candidate exoplanets," Barentsen told Space.com. When the second of four gyroscope reaction wheels inside Kepler malfunctioned in 2013, however, the space telescope lost its ability to point at the single region of the sky. But by using the slight pressure of sunlight exerted on the spacecraft's body, NASA scientists came up with an ingenious plan to stabilize the spacecraft enough to begin a new mission, called K2. "Since 2013, Kepler has been used to survey different parts of the galaxy," Barentsen said. "So not only did K2 give us more exoplanets we are now at about 160 confirmed exoplanets [from that mission] but we are also able to survey different parts of our galaxy." More to eclipses than planets and moons Eclipses aren't caused only by planets, exoplanets, asteroids and moons, Barentsen noted. During Kepler's mission, the spacecraft has been able to observe eclipses not only between planets and stars, but also between stars and other stars. Because many of the stars in our galaxy are known to orbit together in binary pairs, a situation may arise where one of the stars in the orbiting pair may drift in front of its partner from our perspective, just as an exoplanet transits its host star. And though Kepler may be better known for its exoplanet-hunting prowess, it's also a prolific "eclipsing binary hunter." "Kepler has discovered thousands of eclipsing binaries so far," Barentsen said. Studying eclipsing binaries is very important for models of stellar evolution. Star clusters, for example, are known to contain stars of various masses and luminosities, Barentsen said, and if scientists can calibrate our view by measuring eclipsing binaries, they can precisely measure the stars' physical sizes and further develop these stellar-evolution models. Faking it Total solar eclipses have been useful to scientists for centuries. When the moon blocks the glare of the sun, fainter objects surrounding the sun become visible. One stunning example is the revelation of faint scattered light emanating from the sun's magnetized corona (the sun's hot, yet very tenuous atmosphere). As the moon blocks the sun from view, solar astronomers will take the opportunity to observe the delicate detail in the sun's extended magnetic field. In addition, planets in our solar system will be visible during the daytime as the sky goes dark during totality a natural occurrence that astronomers try to replicate when seeking out distant exoplanets. "When people are going to look at the total solar eclipse, during totality, they will in fact see Jupiter, Mercury, Venus and Mars, because the light of the sun will be blocked," Barentsen said. "And this is the exact same method that NASA is going to be using in the future to study exoplanets." [You Can See These Stars and Planets During the 2017 Total Solar Eclipse] This method is known as direct imaging, and it differs from the transit method of exoplanet detection in several key ways. "Direct imaging works the same way as eclipses are used to observe the sun," Franck Marchis, senior researcher and chair of the exoplanet group at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, California, told Space.com. "We simply block, or 'occult,' the bright light coming from the star, so we can see the faint features surrounding the star." With transits, on the other hand, changes in the star tell researchers about the planet. Marchis works on several exoplanetary projects, including the development of the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI) instrument that is located at the Gemini South Telescope in Chile. The imager can precisely position a device called a coronagraph to block a stars glare, revealing the faint light coming directly from exoplanet atmospheres. The GPI and tools like it create "fake" eclipses to better see the faint objects orbiting distant stars. "Direct imaging means that you get photons coming direct[ly] from the object," Marchis said. "When you get photons from an object, you don't see the shadow like you do in a transit; you see the object itself. You can derive the temperature of the object, the composition of the upper atmosphere." In some cases, researchers can also use the data to learn about clouds and haze at the top of the atmosphere, he added. And because GPI observes stars specifically with infrared light, it could potentially detect the infrared signals of methane and water in the planets' atmospheres. As the technology and observational techniques become more sophisticated, Marchis said, scientists are on the verge of directly imaging a bona fide "Earth-like" planet. "The aim isn't to survey for exoplanets; it's to detect just one exoplanet like Earth to get the Pale Blue Dot of our generation," Marchis said. He suggested that Alpha Centauri the nearest neighboring star system to our own (including red dwarf star Proxima Centauri), which is less than 4.4 light-years away could be a target to search for such a world. Moreover, the image of its discovery would be as significant, if not more so, than the famous "Pale Blue Dot" photograph of Earth taken by the faraway Voyager 1 spacecraft. If there is a small planet orbiting Alpha Centauri, and astronomers can photograph it, that photo will motivate the next generation of astronomers," he said. "That will motivate them to build better instruments, to be more imaginative, to design new technologies to be able to detect and characterize Earth-like exoplanets." Next-generation exoplanet hunters Marchis is currently working on the next generation of direct imaging instruments, called TIKI, that could be attached to existing ground-based observatories such as the 8-meter-aperture (26 feet) telescope at Gemini. But things will get interesting over the next few years, when planned large-mirror observatories such as the Thirty Meter Telescope and the Extremely Large Telescope go online, he said. High-contrast coronagraphs and large-aperture telescopes will be capable of spotting planetary systems containing small exoplanets around nearby stars. There are also some very big exoplanetary missions that will launch to space soon. "In the near term, we have the TESS [Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite] mission launching next year, which is going to do a much wider survey of the sky [than Kepler], so we're going to find lots more planets around bright nearby stars," Barentsen said. "And also, next year, theJames Webb Space Telescope is going to launch, and it will hopefully be able to look at the atmospheres of exoplanet targets discovered by both Kepler and TESS. "Further in the future, there's going to be [the space telescopes] WFIRST, LUVOIR and HabEx, which are very much in the study phase. [Those telescopes will be able to] use a coronagraph to block the light of the host stars so they can see the photons directly from the exoplanets," he added. So, on Aug. 21, if you have the opportunity to see the moon totally eclipse our sun, remember that there's more to eclipses than what happens to our nearest star eclipses of celestial objects happen all the time, giving us invaluable new insight into objects that we'd otherwise never see. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. The JAXA/NASA Hinode mission captured this image of an eclipse Jan. 6, 2011. Combining Hinode measurements with those on the ground during a solar eclipse lets researchers track the formation of solar features from the bottom of its outer atmosphere, called the corona. As a solar eclipse researcher, Alphonse Sterling knows the challenges of his work all too well: Even just one cloud can ruin crucial solar readings, and his next opportunity to witness the fleeting event may be years and thousands of miles away. Space.com talked with Sterling, a scientist in the solar research group at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, about one of his research projects for the eclipse and how he's planning for the unpredictable. Space.com: Tell me about what unique data we can get during a solar eclipse. Researchers can get a clear view of the sun's outer atmosphere, called the corona, right? Alphonse Sterling: From the ground, we can see the white-light corona. We can see it from space, too, but only further out than we can see it from the ground. From the ground, we can see it really close to the limb [edge of the sun], and extending out to distances of about two solar radii, where we can see it with coronagraphs from space. That's the zone in between which it's just not visible in normal times in a lot of high detail, anyway. There are some ground-based coronagraphs, but they don't exactly do what an eclipse does. [What the Sun's Outer Atmosphere Will Look Like During the Total Solar Eclipse] Eclipse views of the corona are really obtainable at this time only in this way, and especially going down to essentially the base of the corona. Space.com: What's the advantage of viewing that part of the sun's outer atmosphere? Sterling: I myself am interested in some features that go on in the very low corona they start off in the very low corona and the upper chromosphere [the layer of the sun just above the bright "surface" layer, or photosphere], and they stretch into the corona. I want to be able to see how those features interact with the very lowest parts of the corona. What I've been looking at recently are called coronal jets. They're features that become very long and narrow; they shoot out from the sun's lower atmosphere. They're kind of like Old Faithful-type geysers, but on the sun, and it's solar material that's shot up. We've recently recognized that these jets are really miniature versions of larger-scale eruptions in the sun So we can learn both about larger eruptions by looking at these little guys, and we can also learn about the jets by looking at the larger ones. Space.com: And you'd be comparing eclipse observations with those from satellites focused on the sun at the time. Will you be collecting the ground data yourself? Sterling: It's something that I'm particularly interested in, so I will try to collect my own data and use those first, from the ground 2 minutes, 20 seconds, that's it. Basically, you need a few good snapshots at appropriate exposure levels that you can combine much easier said than done. And there are broader data that are going to be collected in other projects. I tried doing plume studies before; I think that was all before we had the most recent realizations about jets. The last three eclipses or so where I tried that, I've always been hampered by clouds. [Solar Eclipse 2017: Traffic and Weather Forecasts for States in Totality] Space.com: I was just about to ask what your plans were and how you'd deal with weather. Sterling: Well Right. Oh boy. Yes. Right now, I have a reservation in Casper, [Wyoming], but I also have an invitation to something private in eastern Idaho. If the logistics can work out for the Idaho area, I'm going to probably do that, because it will be easier to have more space, for example. I'm going to keep my Casper reservation until as late as I can with the hotel's restrictions. But my restrictions are going to be more than that, because I would have to drive there from Idaho Falls or something, and also, I need time to set up equipment and test things. I need to make a final decision in the few days before the eclipse. But until then, I'll keep both options open. And the thing I've learned about seeing a number of eclipses is, what you do is, you gain a deep appreciation for probability, because your selection is based on the historical records of these places. And if it says 70 percent chance of clear skies, it is what it is, and it's a 30 percent chance that it's not going to be clear. It could be some puff of cloud that decides to come by it really is a probability game. Space.com: Can you react to incoming weather, as a researcher? Sterling: Back in the day, when I used to only look at eclipses I did that for the first three then you have much more mobility, and you can almost literally eclipse chase, or cloudless area chase. But with equipment, it's not that easy. I found that out [on] my first attempt to take data in Ghana, in 2006. I moved at the last minute at the last hour, literally with equipment I was not so familiar with yet, and basically, I misused the equipment because of the lack of familiarity and the incredible stress at times just for eclipses. Then, I was unable to relax about eclipse photography until two years later, in China, where I finally was able to photograph it. I determined that in the Ghana one, a mistake I had made was, I had planned to try and look at the back of the camera from totality, to be sure that I was taking the picture. And when I looked through the eyepiece to do an adjustment mideclipse, the sun had moved off. What must have been doing was, I was sighting along the side of the telescope, looking at real totality, and thinking that I was actually looking at totality in the back of the camera. And so, in [China's] Gansu province in 2008, I made up my mind that I did not even want to see the eclipse. I turned my back to it, and I only looked at the back of the camera. So I missed that eclipse, but I have the photographs. Finally, redemption. Space.com: Did that get the worry out of your system? Or are you doing that again this time? Sterling: [I'll be using] different equipment, and I still watch it pretty closely. But now, after some last checks In Indonesia last year, I did have the setup automated. I did some last checks that I had planned to do in the minutes leading up to totality, and then at the start of totality, I verified that the system was working and then I was able to just forget about it for the short minutes of totality and just enjoy that. It was through thin clouds, but we could see it. The data weren't of the quality that I wanted, but I was able to enjoy the visual experience. Space.com: If the weather were to change, would you adapt the data you wanted to collect? Sterling: I would adapt a little bit. I would adapt probably in the exposures I would set to use to observe the eclipse, because if there are thin clouds, then a longer exposure just tends to scatter the light rather than let you see the outer corona. Before eclipse day, I plan to have a second program in case of a thin-cloud situation. This interview was edited for length. Email Sarah Lewin at slewin@space.com or follow her @SarahExplains. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. The nonprofit group For All Moonkind is working to protect all six Apollo landing sites on the moon, such as Apollo 11's Tranquility Base, seen here in 1969. MONTEREY, California The six Apollo moon landing sites are international cultural treasures that deserve protection, a nonprofit organization says. The group, called For All Moonkind, aims to work with space agencies around the world to draw up a protection plan, which will be submitted to the United Nations in the summer of 2018. "The goal is to present them something that's already pre-agreed, so they can't turn it down," For All Moonkind co-founder Michelle Hanlon said last week at the Starship Congress 2017 conference here. [NASA's 17 Apollo Moon Missions in Pictures] The effort will be modeled on the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's World Heritage Convention, which preserves sites of cultural and natural significance here on Earth, For All Moonkind representatives said. The Apollo sites where 12 astronauts walked and worked during six separate moon missions from 1969 to 1972 do not yet have formal protection. And it's not a great idea for the United States to unilaterally declare these zones off-limits, because the 1967 Outer Space Treaty states that nations cannot claim territory on the moon or any other cosmic object, Hanlon said. (The U.S. does own the flags and other gear that the Apollo astronauts left behind, but their footprints and other parts of the lunar surface do not belong to anyone or any country.) Hence the push for international cooperation involving the U.N. (specifically, the body's Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space). "If we cannot achieve peace on Earth, certainly we can work together to preserve peace in the heavens," For All Moonkind representatives wrote on the group's website. "And conserving the Apollo landing sites as human accomplishments, protected by United Nations decree, is a first step toward affirming the universality of our shared posterity under a unified regime." The time to get the ball rolling is now, Hanlon said at Starship Congress 2017. She cited a coming boom in private moon exploration, the first stages of which may kick off just a few months from now as the five teams left in the Google Lunar X Prize work to claim the $20 million grand prize before it expires on Dec. 31. Enforcement of any U.N. decree regarding space sites will likely fall to the signatory nations, not the U.N. itself, Hanlon said, citing restricted launch licenses and fines as possible penalties for violations. "Ideally, it would work on the principle of reciprocity," Hanlon told Space.com. "The U.S. could say to China: 'You agree to leave the Apollo sites alone, and we won't touch the Jade Rabbit [Chinese moon rover]." Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. Artists illustration showing Moon Express MX-1E spacecraft descending toward the lunar surface carrying a suite of science and exploration instruments. Florida-based Moon Express is one of five teams left in the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize. The five teams left in a $30 million race to the moon now have a bit more time to accomplish their missions and the chance to win some additional money along the way. The Google Lunar X Prize (GLXP) is offering $20 million to the first privately funded team that soft-lands a spacecraft on the moon, moves it at least 1,640 feet (500 meters), and transmits high-definition photos and video back to Earth. The second team to complete those tasks gets $5 million, and another $5 million is available for a variety of other accomplishments, bringing the total purse to $30 million. GLXP guidelines had stated that teams must launch by Dec. 31 of this year to be eligible for the grand or second-place prize. But that has changed: Teams now must complete their missions by March 31, 2018, and the launch date is not a factor anymore, GLXP representatives said today (Aug. 16). [Google Lunar X Prize: The Private Moon Race Teams (Images)] Contest organizers are dangling an additional $4.75 million in new "milestone prizes" as well: $1.75 million for arriving at the moon (descending directly to the surface or completing at least one lunar orbit) and $3 million for proof of a soft lunar landing. This money will be split evenly among all the teams that pull off the feats, GLXP representatives said. (Milestone prizes count toward, and do not boost, the total purse of a team that wins the grand or second prize. For example, if one team alone claims the $4.75 million for arrival and proof of landing, and it also later wins the grand prize, its purse will still be $20 million, not $24.75 million.) "X Prize and Google are thrilled to offer these additional in-space milestone prizes as a further incentive for finalist teams and to recognize the full gravity of these bold technological feats taking place in the race to the moon," GLXP Senior Director Chanda Gonzales-Mowrer said in a statement. The five teams left in the competition out of more than two dozen that have vied for the prize at some point over the last decade are Florida-based Moon Express, Israel's SpaceIL, Hakuto from Japan, India-based TeamIndus and the international collaboration Synergy Moon. Follow Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. A SpaceX Dragon cargo ship arrived at the International Space Station early Wednesday (Aug. 16), delivering 3 tons of supplies, experiments and even some ice cream for the orbiting lab's crew. The uncrewed Dragon spacecraft was captured by astronauts using the station's robotic arm at 6:52 a.m. EDT (1052 GMT) as the two spacecraft were flying over the Pacific Ocean, just north of New Zealand. "Congratulations on a job well done," astronaut Andreas Morgenson of the European Space Agency radioed the station's crew from NASA's Mission Control in Houston. "You've just earned yourself some food." [Watch SpaceX Launch Dragon, then Land a Rocket] The Dragon cargo ship is filled with more than 6,400 lbs. (2,900 kilograms) of supplies, science experiments and food - and yes, ice cream - for the space station's Expedition 52 crew. SpaceX launched delivery mission Monday (Aug. 14) on a Falcon 9 rocket, which then returned its first stage to Earth in a smooth landing. Called SpaceX-12 or CRS-12, this flight is SpaceX's 12th cargo flight for NASA under the Commercial Resupply Service program. NASA initially agreed to buy 12 delivery flights from SpaceX, but has extended the agreement to include 20 flights. SpaceX did lose one mission in 2015 when a Falcon 9 rocket failed during liftoff, but the rest have been a success. "Today has special significance because SpaceX-12 is the last flight on the original cargo resupply contract," NASA astronaut Jack Fischer said from the station. "And this, the 36th flight of a Dragon, stands as a testament to a burgeoning commercial industry that has become a pillar of support to NASA's and really all of humanity's quest to explore the universe." SpaceX's Dragon cargo ship flies over Italy (the country's boot shape can be seen upside in the background) while delivering vital NASA supplies to the International Space Station on Aug. 16, 2017. (Image credit: NASA TV) Fischer and ESA astronaut Paolo Nespoli captured the Dragon using the station's robotic arm. At one point, cameras on the space station captured Dragon as it soared high over Italy, Nespoli's home country. Most of the cargo riding on Dragon is science gear, a massive haul that includes a protein crystal experiment to research a new treatment for Parkinson's disease, an experiment to grow lung tissue from stem cells and 20 live mice to help scientists study the effects of long space missions. The U.S. Department of Defense also has a small microsatellite prototype on board, and the Cosmic Ray Energetics and Mass for the International Space Station (which has the tasty acronym ISS-CREAM) will study cosmic rays. The Dragon spacecraft will stay docked to the space station for about a month, after which it will be filled with science experiment results and other items for the return to Earth. NASA has used SpaceX and another spaceflight company, the Virginia-based Orbital ATK, to make commercial resupply flights the space station since 2012. The space agency has since picked SpaceX, Orbital ATK and a third company Sierra Nevada Corp. to make future deliveries under a new agreement. In addition to cargo delivery flights, SpaceX will fly NASA astronauts to the space station on a crewed version of the Dragon spacecraft. (NASA has also picked Boeing for astronaut trips to space using that company's CST-100 Starliner spacecraft.) The first crewed flights on Dragon and the Starliner are expected in mid-2018, NASA has said. Email Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com or follow him @tariqjmalik and Google+. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Original story on Space.com. This eclipse on Aug. 11, 1999, captured from Romania, is in the same saros series as the one coming Aug. 21 in fact, it was the most recent related eclipse in the sequence. The next will come Sept. 2, 2035. Last month, I reminisced about seeing my first total solar eclipse in July 1972. But my interest in solar eclipses actually began nine years before that, with a partial eclipse of the sun that I viewed from the Bronx on a rather cloudy, muggy Saturday: July 20, 1963. Toward the end of last month's story, I mentioned that the 1963 eclipse had a direct connection to our upcoming Great American Solar Eclipse. So now, allow me to explain. It is an interesting phenomenon that an eclipse, whether of the sun or the moon, will repeat itself or return in a later year. Yet, to most people in today's society, the entire situation regarding eclipse times is seemingly a haphazard pattern. [Total Solar Eclipse 2017: Here Are the Best Live-Video Streams to Watch] Not so, however, to those who lived more than two millennia ago. Astronomers in Assyria and Babylonia kept track of time by carefully observing the motions of the sun and moon. By recording the details of solar and lunar eclipses, they markedly increased the accuracy of their measurements. And as they studied the record of centuries of eclipses, a pattern began to emerge: Eclipses tend to repeat themselves at intervals of just over 18 years, though they recurred at different localities on Earth. Such an interval is known as a saros. Actually, the length of a saros amounts to about 6,585 days and it is composed of three different, and independent, lunar cycles that amazingly will periodically line up to create an eclipse. The first of these is the phase of the moon, which for a solar eclipse must be new. The mean interval between new moons, called a synodic month, is 29.5306 days. If we multiply this number by 223, we get 6,585.32 days. Then, we need to get the moon to pass in front of the sun. This happens when a new moon occurs at or near a node, where the paths of the sun and moon appear to cross. The nodes skew westward around the ecliptic over a time frame of 18.6 years. Because of this, the sun will encounter the same lunar node every 346.6201 days, on average a period that is known as the "draconic," or eclipse, year. Nineteen of these years works out to be 6,585.78 days. Last, but not least, the moon's distance from Earth must also repeat to re-create the same type of eclipse. If the moon is closer to Earth than average, we'll end up with a total eclipse, but if the moon is farther away from Earth than average, its shadow will be too small to cover the sun completely, resulting in a ring, or annular, eclipse. All this depends on the "anomalistic month," which is the mean interval between lunar perigees (when the moon is closest to Earth) or apogees (when the moon is farthest away). The mean time scale here amounts to 27.55455 days. Multiplying this value by 239 gives us 6,585.54 days. So all three cycles almost exactly coincide in 18 years and 15 1/3 days, minus the number of leap years that intervene between eclipses. In most cases, this is equal to either 18 years, 10 1/3 days, or 18 years, 11 1/3 days, since five or four leap years, respectively, almost always occur in this cycle with nearly equal frequency. As such, the circumstances of a particular eclipse will very nearly repeat after this 18.03-year interval. The saga of saros 145 The most changeable factor can be traced to that one-third of a day fraction. During that 8-hour interval, our planet rotates one-third of the way around on its axis, causing the paths of subsequent eclipses to occur about 120 degrees of longitude farther to the west. Thus, after three repetitions (54 years and 32 days, plus or minus one day) an eclipse will recur in the same general part of the world. This is sometimes referred to as a "triple saros," although the Greeks called such a period an "Exeligmos." After three saroses, the longitude of the eclipse path is approximately the same as the first one, but it is now shifted about 600 miles to the north or south. Typically, a saros period lasts between 1,244 and 1,514 years. Eclipse paths migrate north or south from pole to pole, and the period begins and ends with partial eclipses. In the interim, as many as six- to seven-dozen member eclipses can occur. The upcoming eclipse belongs to saros 145, which began with an exceedingly slight partial eclipse over western Siberia on Jan. 4, 1639, and will continue until April 17, 3009, ending with a small partial eclipse over Antarctica and involving a total of 77 events. [Solar Eclipses Through the Ages: From (Possible) Beheadings to Science] Relatives of the Great American Solar Eclipse Now, as to the relationship between the 1963 eclipse of my childhood and the upcoming Great American Solar Eclipse, check out the graphic below, courtesy of Michael Zeiler's wonderful greatamericaneclipse.com/ website, depicting three globes representing the Earth and some of the eclipse paths belonging to members of saros 145. In particular, concentrate on the middle globe, where we see the paths of the July 20, 1963, eclipse and the upcoming Aug. 21, 2017, event. If you do a quick calculation, the 1963 and 2017 eclipses are separated by 54 years and 31 days a triple saros/Exeligmos. So you can see that both eclipses are indeed "related." The 1963 eclipse cut a path starting at Japan's Hokkaido Island (check the left globe), then headed southeast across southern Alaska through Canada and also through Maine. Some eclipse paths from Saros from members of saros 145. (Image credit: Courtesy of Michael Zeiler, greatamericaneclipse.com Now look at the globe on the right. One saros (18 years, 11 1/3 days) prior to the 1963 eclipse, a total eclipse on July 9, 1945, swept across northern Europe. Go back to the middle globe for a moment, and you'll see that the westernmost extension of this path started over the northern Plains of the U.S. In 1963, that one-third of a day kicks in, and the path falls over North America, about 120 degrees to the west. One saros later, check the left globe and examine the path of the July 31, 1981, eclipse that streaked over Siberia. Another 18 years and 11 1/3 days go by, and if you check the right-hand globe again, we come to Aug. 11, 1999 a total eclipse that crossed parts of Europe. So after three saroses, the 1963 eclipse has returned in 2017 to North America, except it has now shifted farther to the south, setting the stage for the first coast-to-coast totality for the contiguous U.S. in 99 years. Ranking eclipse-observing expertise George Lovi (1939-1993), a longtime friend of mine, for many years wrote the Ramblings column in Sky & Telescope magazine. Whenever we were coming up on an impending total eclipse, George would rather cryptically ask prospective observers, "How many saroses have you completed?" George always considered seeing two consecutive members of a saros family something akin to a "black belt" accomplishment. I am hoping to complete my fourth saros on Monday from a special eclipse flight charted by Alaska Airlines that will fly about 1,000 miles west of the Oregon coast over the Pacific Ocean. I had seen the previous member of saros 145 from a ship off Nova Scotia on Aug. 11, 1999 (check the middle globe). Interestingly, I've seen two eclipses from saros 120, but they are not consecutive. I saw the Feb. 26, 1979, total eclipse from Roy, Montana, and the March 20, 2015, totality from an aircraft flying over the Faroe Islands near the Arctic Circle. However, I decided to pass on the March 9, 1997, eclipse for some reason, I just couldn't get excited about trekking to Mongolia! And George never provided a criterion for seeing two nonconsecutive members of a particular saros. So maybe for saros 120 I should get a red belt instead of a black. Joe Rao serves as an instructor and guest lecturer at New York's Hayden Planetarium. He writes about astronomy for Natural History magazine, the Farmers' Almanac and other publications, and he is also an on-camera meteorologist for Fios1 News in Rye Brook, New York. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com. Glowing "jellyfish" galaxies have revealed a new way to power some of the most powerful objects in the universe. The same process that feeds the most voracious black holes at the galactic centers may also create dangling "tentacles" of newborn stars, a new study found. While most galaxies, including the Milky Way, hide massive black holes at their centers, only a few produce enough electromagnetic radiation as they eat to create active galactic nuclei (AGN). AGN shine brilliantly in the universe, and why they form around some black holes and not others has been an ongoing mystery. But jellyfish galaxies may help crack the case. "When a galaxy enters a galaxy cluster, falling into it at high velocity, the hot, dense gas that fills the cluster the so-called intracluster gas acts like a strong wind on the galaxy gas," Bianca Poggianti, lead author on the new study, told Space.com by email. "It strips it away and creates the tails," which give the galaxies their "jellyfish" nickname. [When Galaxies Collide: Photos of Great Galactic Crashes] A jellyfish galaxy, JW100, captured by ESO's Very Large Telescope. (Image credit: ESO/GASP collaboration) This same wind that forms the jellyfish galaxies may also feed growing AGNs, she said. Poggianti, a researcher at the INAF-Astronomical Observatory of Padova in Italy, is part of an international team of scientists using the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE) instrument on the European Space Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile to examine jellyfish galaxies. The researchers found that an unexpectedly high fraction of the tentacled galaxies contain AGN. "Ours is the first study that systematically searches for [jellyfish galaxies] and tries to have a complete census in different regions of the local universe," Poggianti said. Solving a mystery Supermassive black holes constantly feed. As they draw in surrounding gas and dust, they produce intense radiation that can sometimes be seen from Earth, leaving scientists to ponder these objects' food source. While black holes are common, the more powerful and visible AGN are rare. Poggianti and her team are part of an ongoing program to observe 114 jellyfish galaxies, an order of magnitude more than previously observed in detail, she said. Of the seven galaxies with the longest tails, the researchers found that six housed a supermassive black hole, suggesting a link between the two types of object. Previous studies suggested that the powerful cluster winds stretched the tentacles out for tens of light-years in a process known as ram-pressure stripping. These same winds could feed the supermassive black holes, constantly nourishing them by carrying material to the center of the galaxy. Another jellyfish galaxy, JW206, imaged by ESO's Very Large Telescope. (Image credit: ESO/GASP collaboration) But, the scientists wondered, did the winds feed the black holes, or did the black holes produce the winds? "In a sense, this is similar to the problem of the chicken and the egg which one comes first," Poggianti said. "While both effects are probably at work, we have good reason to think that the first effect prevails." By studying the positioning and velocity of the galaxies, the researchers found that all of these objects lie close to the center of the cluster and have high speeds compared to that of the cluster itself. "They are in the ideal conditions for ram-pressure stripping to be the strongest," Poggianti said. On the other hand, if effects from the galactic center formed the massive tentacles, she said, the galaxies would be scattered more randomly. The new work was detailed Aug. 16 (opens in new tab) in the journal Nature. A jellyfish galaxy like this, called JO204 and imaged with ESO's Very Large Telescope in Chile, may have helped cracked the mystery of what feeds supermassive black holes. (Image credit: ESO/GASP collaboration) Blooming jellyfish As cluster winds sweep away the dust and gas in a galaxy, the tentacles they create fill with brilliant young stars. These stars shine brightly in optical wavelengths of light, making the objects stand out to researchers who picked through images of over 70 galaxy clusters hunting for tails, Poggianti said. The scientists also found jellyfish outside of clusters, some as part of galaxy groups and others off on their own. Galaxies found in groups tend to lack the spectacular tails of their cluster compatriots, and all of those found with AGN lie in clusters, Poggianti said. Simulations combining ram-pressure stripping and AGN-hosting galaxies would be both complicated and computationally expensive, requiring significant time and computer power, Poggianti said. That's why no such simulations exist yet, she said. "I imagine that, following our discovery, there will be research groups in the world that will attempt to simulate the two processes together," she said. The paper said that such simulations would be valuable for interpreting the new connection. The seven jellyfish are only part of a larger swarm. Within the GAs Stripping Phenomena in galaxies with MUSE (GASP) program, Poggianti and her colleagues are continuing to investigate over a hundred more of the intriguing galaxies. [Amazing Space Views of ESO's Very Large Telescope (Photos)] "When all of the observations will be in our hands I expect [in] about a year from now we will be able to have a complete picture," Poggianti said. Once the researchers have obtained all of the data, the team will be able to see how features change and evolve. Observing the jellyfish some at the beginning of gas removal, others with long tails and still others devoid of gas with no fuel to birth young stars will allow the researchers to investigate the various stages of the jellyfish lifecycle, Poggianti said. "This is like seeing galaxy evolution happening in front of your eyes from a front row," she said. The team is planning, and in some case already working, to observe the galaxies at different wavelengths with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array in New Mexico and the Atacama Pathfinder Experiment and Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array in Chile, Poggianti said. Such observations will help researchers to understand how gas in the jellyfish galaxies evolve over time, she said. "This is really great, because these are the most powerful astronomical observational facilities in the world, each in its own field and wavelength," Poggianti said. "Their combination will allow us to study all the different gas phases, [and] how they relate to each other and to the formation of new stars." Follow Nola Taylor Redd at @NolaTRedd, Facebook or Google+. Follow us at @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. This artist's illustration shows Cassini making one of its final five dives through Saturn's upper atmosphere in August and September 2017. After orbiting Saturn for more than 13 years, NASA's Cassini spacecraft is getting ready to say goodbye. On Monday (Aug. 14), Cassini made the first of five passes through Saturn's upper atmosphere, kicking off the last phase of the mission's "Grand Finale." After completing those five dives, Cassini will come back around again one last time, plunging into Saturn's atmosphere on Sept. 15. This will be a suicide maneuver: Cassini will burn up in the ringed planet's thick air, turning into a meteor in the Saturn sky. [Cassini's 'Grand Finale' at Saturn: NASA's Plan in Pictures] Cassini will keep sending back data on Sept. 15 until it gets to an altitude where atmospheric density is about twice what it encountered during its final five passes, NASA officials said. At that point, mission controllers will lose contact with the probe because its thrusters won't be able to keep Cassini's antenna pointed toward Earth; there will simply be too much air to push against. During these last few orbits, Cassini will come so close to Saturn 1,010 to 1,060 miles (1,630 to 1,710 kilometers) above its cloud tops that atmospheric drag will be a factor, and the craft will need to use its thrusters to maintain its altitude. Scientists aren't sure how dense the atmosphere is in this region. Mission controllers can adjust the amount of thrust as needed. If Saturn's atmosphere in this region is denser than the models predict, Cassini's thrusters will "pop up" the spacecraft on the first pass and increase the minimum altitude of subsequent passes. If the atmosphere proves thinner, then the probe can "pop down" and decrease the altitude, NASA officials said. Cassini's last orbits should deliver a wealth of data, NASA officials said. The spacecraft will study Saturn's auroras and temperature, as well as the vortices at the planet's poles. Cassini's radar will be able to look into the atmosphere and see features as small as 16 miles (25 km) wide, about 100 times smaller than what it could see from its usual orbital positions. The Grand Finale will include one final swing by Saturn's largest moon, Titan, on Sept. 11. Titan's gravity will slow Cassinis orbit around Saturn and bend its path to send the spacecraft toward its Sept. 15 encounter with the planet. "As it makes these five dips into Saturn, followed by its final plunge, Cassini will become the first Saturn atmospheric probe," Cassini project scientist Linda Spilker, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said in a statement. "It's long been a goal in planetary exploration to send a dedicated probe into the atmosphere of Saturn, and we're laying the groundwork for future exploration with this first foray." Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook or Google+. Originally published on Space.com. Algiers (Algeria), August 15, 2017 (SPS) - The Speaker of the Saharawi National Council (Parliament), member of the National Secretariat of the Frente POLISARIO, Jatri Adduh, affirmed at his conference 'The contribution of the Saharawi solution in the promotion of security and stability in the region, "organized by the forum of the Algerian newspaper" Achaab "that" the continuation of the blockade of the Western Sahara conflict is a danger to regional and international security. " "It is not only the Saharawis that call for a speedy resolution of the conflict. The international community also demands it and is reflected in UN Security Council resolutions and UN Secretary General reports," Adduh said before assuring that the Saharawi issue "is in the agenda of the highest European and African bodies ", as well as the" legal aspect, as demonstrated by the European Court ruling last year ", which prevented the exploitation of natural resources by Morocco without the" consent of the only representative of the Saharawi people, the Frente POLISARIO. " SNCs speaker clarified that the UN-sponsored settlement efforts since 1988 are based on the principle that "the resolution of the issue is the exercise of the Saharawi people's right to self-determination," and that "it remained Morocco clearly hindered all attempts to the solution. " The Saharawi official criticized Morocco's negative role in security as "it is involved in drug trafficking along the Algerian and Saharawi border, as well as illegal migration to Spain." On the other hand, Jatri Adduh reiterated the strong desire of the SADR to collaborate with all the mechanisms of the African Union, either its Special Envoy or the Committee of Wise Men, in the search for a negotiated solution. Finally, he called on Europe, and especially France, to change its stance on the conflict, on the grounds that "it is one of the members of the Security Council that hampered the efforts of the Council in the solution." SPS 125/090/TRA A surge in the silver price has served Hochschild Mining well over the past six weeks, but it had only itself to blame as its recent stock market rally unravelled today. Shares in the FTSE 250 silver miner plunged 54.92p, or 17%, to 273.1p as it revealed pre-tax profits fell by a third to $40 million (31 million) in the first six months of the year. Revenues were flat at $340 million. The South American miner said that although production had increased 9% in the period to 8.9 million ounces of silver, the cost of production surged 10% to $12 per ounce, only a few dollars below the present silver price. There were several factors for the higher costs, including an end to rebates in Argentina. Despite the sharp drop, the shares are still trading higher than in early July before the silver surge took hold. Hochschild was by far the biggest casualty on the mid-cap index on a day when stocks were generally in positive territory. The FTSE 100 moved 45.22 points, or 0.6%, higher to 7429.07 as it continued to recover from losses last week amid rising tensions between the US and North Korea. Investors logged onto accountancy software firm Sage after a strong endorsement of its latest acquisition. UBS removed its Sell rating and upgraded the shares to Neutral, deciding that Sages takeover of US cloud firm Intacct was a good deal, even if it has to part with 650 million. Price apart, we like the Intacct acquisition, said Michael Briest. It fills a key gap in Sages cloud portfolio, the UBS tech analyst said, adding, if Sage is quick to internationalise it, it can put the group on the front-foot in addressing the shift to the cloud in the UK and elsewhere in Europe. Airline stocks again gained altitude on the back of yesterdays news Air Berlin, Germanys second-largest carrier, has filed for insolvency. EasyJet, which has been named as a potential buyer for parts of Air Berlin, rose 22p, or 1.7%, to 1344p. Jet2 owner Dart Group was up 11p at 543.5p. Sirius Minerals, the company developing a potash mine under the North York Moors national park, edged up 0.4p, or 1.5%, to 27.56p. The rise came as it confirmed the shaft sinking contract had been awarded in its half-year results, which revealed a 15 million operating loss. IWG the serviced office group formerly known as Regus shrugged off a downgrade from Peel Hunt as it climbed 3.53p to 301.9p. The broker cut its rating from Add to Hold after last weeks disappointing results. Investors welcomed the appointment of Jim Johnson as chief executive of Hunting. Shares in the oil services firm were up 9.35p to 437.9p. Online procurement minnow CloudBuy, whose boss Ronald Duncan once claimed it could become bigger than Apple and Google, was off 0.01p at 2.59p on AIM as it revealed that revenues in the first half of the year rose just 4% to 800,000. T he unfortunate episode with the apple in the Garden of Eden had two disagreeable consequences. The curse of Adam was he would have to work with the sweat of his brow, something we lost no time undermining. The curse of Eve was just as dismal: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children. Well, that was a challenge that modern obstetrics has pretty well sorted. The inherent problem of childbirth, which Nancy Mitford compared with trying to squeeze an orange through your nostril, has been solved through a combination of caesareans, epidurals and the monitoring of foetal wellbeing during childbirth. Yet you can never please some people. The most striking development in this area during the past half century has been the movement for natural childbirth. Birthing pools, hypnosis, doulas and the embrace by some feminists of the active childbirth movement has meant lots of women have gone for home births, water births and non-medicalised births in preference to the hospitalised, doctor-led sort. And many have loved it. I know women who had a life-enhancing time giving birth at home in a paddling pool; I also know a couple of doulas, professional friends of women in labour. But the rise in non-medicalised birth has had a predictable downside. There were 232 claims for brain-damaged babies last year, up from 188 cases the year before. The NHS faces claims of some 2 billion for the costs of caring for the unfortunate victims. Some, we dont know how many, are attributable to a fixation with normal births, a term the Royal College of Midwives dropped last week, noiselessly. Certainly, a study by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists suggested three-quarters of 1,136 births which ended in neonatal death, injury or stillbirth in 2015 could have been avoided with the right care. Not all of them are attributable to the natural birth cult but some will be. Ive been here myself, when my chidren were born 10 and 13 years ago. I too signed up with a Notting Hill pregnancy yoga guru, who doubled as a doula and took pride in shouting medics out of the labour room. I too went for the NCT course in going the natural route, though when they asked for suggestions of how to keep energy levels up during labour, my first suggestion was chocolate, the second, champagne. The correct answer was bananas. But all that apparatus of natural birth the hypnosis tapes, the TENS machines bit the dust when my nice consultant in Dublin told me that since the foetus was sitting upright it would be safer to have a caesarean. And, because he was an expert and I wasnt, I said yes. And thank God, all was well. No question about labour pains, because there was a competent anaesthetist. Morphine galore. No trauma whatever. Second time around same again: he said after one caesarean, another would be safer. As ever, blindly obedient to authority, I agreed. So another medicalised birth: safe and supervised by a consultant. There are any number of downsides to modernity but one obviously redemptive aspect of living in the 21st century is that women here hardly ever die in childbirth and babies are rarely born brain-damaged. And yet there are people in flight from medicalised obstetrics, who repudiate the advances that women up to a couple of generations ago would have begged for. A male lawyer friend who specialises in injuries compensation took the firmest line on this. He had no time for non-hospital births, he told me firmly. Hed handled compensation claims for botched births and was certain it wasnt worth the risk. He was right. By all means go for a natural birth if a professional says you can. But its nuts to repudiate the blessings of epidurals, caesareans and bleeping monitors because its natural. So is dying in childbirth. Booze holds the answer to the Irish border The Government has promised that, post Brexit, there will be no return to the hard borders of the past. Which is fine, dandy and all to the good. The only question is, how we do it. Through technology, the way trade is managed on the US-Canada border? By giving Northern Ireland some sort of special intermediate status between the EU and the UK? The Irish PM, Leo Varadker, has been conspicuously unhelpful in proposing ways around the problem. As for Sinn Fein, its tough-nut vice-president and would-be PM, Mary Lou McDonald (right), has joyfully seized on the problem as proof that the border is essentially a false construct. For me it boils down to what we might call the Jamesons question or Bushmills if you prefer. If the UK is outside the EU customs regime, well, that means no duty on whiskey, no? But if Jamesons is, say, a fiver cheaper in the north than the republic, I can tell you what that means: a Gadarene rush of thirsty purchasers from the republic cleaning up stocks in the north and taking them south. If we can sort out this question, the rest, frankly, will be easy. D ozens of elephants helped rescue tourists and residents left stranded after monsoon rain flooded a jungle safari park in Nepal. Swathes of northern India, southern Nepal and Bangladesh have been devastated by floods, with at least 218 people killed and millions of people's homes destroyed. Dramatic pictures have emerged of collapsed bridges and roads submerged in water, with monsoon rain causing flooding over the past few days. In the Sauraha jungle park elephants were used to pick up stricken tourists after the nearby Rapti Rivers banks overflowed. Elephants help rescue tourists from the flooded safari park Footage has since emerged of the elephants wading into flooded streets and fields and picking up the stranded tourists, who are then carried to safety on the animals backs. The national park is popular among tourists, as it is home to more than 600 rhinoceroses among other wild animals. Nepali police spokesman Pushkar Karki said on Tuesday: We will now focus more on rescue of those trapped in floods and relief distribution. People have nothing to eat, no clothes. So we have to provide them something to eat and save their lives." Across the country's southern border, flooding swamped 13 districts in the Indian state of Bihar. Some 200,000 people were temporarily living in more than 250 relief camps that the government has set up in school and government buildings. Residents look out from their homes in a flooded area of Sauraha, Chitwan district / AFP/Getty Images Indian soldiers in boats and helicopters helped distribute food packets, medicine and drinking water to people affected by the floods. Monsoon rains start in June and continue through September. They are vital for farmers in India, Nepal, and Bangladesh, but can prove deadly and property is damaged every year. Call Me Mr Lucky 11 Southwark St, SE1 1RQ, twitter.com All the hidden bars at the Breakfast Clubs around the capital are popular, with perhaps The Mayor of Scaredy Cat Town being the best known. Call Me Mr Lucky, on Southwark Street, happens to be our favourite. Once youve flirted with the staff ask to get lucky youre taken through the restaurants kitchens to a lively bar decorated like some twisted take on a kids party. Have a go on the wheel of fortune, where youll really want to get lucky, and win a free shot, and then work your way through the cocktail list. Like any good-time bar worth its salt, this place is big on tequila, and the drinks are light-hearted fun, but here we go getting lucky again along with the quirks comes quality. By the of the evening, before youre porured back onto the street, youll swear tequila is your new favourite drink, and youll be singing the party hits they play all the way home. B read Ahead doughnuts are one of the best things about London. If you are near the Borough Market stall that sells them its worth a detour for a plump cushion of light dough with vanilla cream custard inside. Have a tissue to hand eating one of these is a messy undertaking. But sometimes the stall runs out, or its closed. So its welcome news that now you can make them yourself. The bakery has let its secret out with a book of recipes that founders Justin and Louise Gellatly and Matt Jones say they spent ages perfecting. It joins volumes from Trullo (handy because its near-impossible to get a table at this Italian restaurant or its sister, Padella) and The London Cookbook, which has recipes for the capitals cult dishes, from elaborate curries such as those at Gymkhana in Mayfair to cheese on toast a la St John. But how easy is it to reproduce the efforts of the experts? We put their recipes to the test. Padellas pici cacio e pepe Cost at restaurant: 6.50 Cost to make: 1.43 Time to make: 15 minutes to make dough, 30 minutes for it to rest, 30 minutes to cook and make sauce Im caked in flour and bent over the kitchen counter meticulously rolling dough into finger-sized worms. Apparently Im making an award-winning pasta dish but it feels more like Ive gone back to playschool. Im attempting to make pici cacio e pepe, a classic Tuscan recipe from Borough Markets Padella. The homemade pasta was voted Best Dish at last years London Restaurant Festival Awards. Its simple, they say, but Im feeling the heat. Chefs Tim Siadatan and Jordan Frieda have been professional cooks since school and make regular trips to Italy. I went to Venice when I was 13 and occasionally boil tagliatelle for my long-suffering housemates. Ive certainly never made pasta from scratch before. Its science, they say. I quit chemistry at GCSE. Pici is a bit like thick spaghetti, except its made from a denser dough and doesnt contain egg. Its very labour-intensive (argh!) and, as a result, its not common in London restaurants. The recipe tells me the worms should weigh 15g so I check mine against the scales and the dial rises to 27g. Oops. Ive already made 15 of a similar size. I set about cutting my worms in half and they end up looking more like sausages but at least Im sticking to the book. Once the dough is done its simple boil then add butter, black pepper and lemon juice. The final stage tells me to add cooked pasta to a buttery mixture and pop grated parmesan on top. It melts together and suddenly I have what looks like a servable dish. The result tastes like macaroni cheese and Im pleasantly surprised, though my wiggly worms are still far too big and doughy. Perhaps, faced with this effort, my dinner guests would rather brave the Padella queue. Katie Strick Bread Ahead vanilla custard doughnuts Cost at stall: 2.50 each Cost to make: 45p each Time to make: 15 minutes to make dough, a day for it to rise, 30 minutes to fry, make custard and fill. The first challenge was finding time to make the dough on an evening when I had time to fry the next day. These doughnuts are impossible to make in a working week when you have a smattering of evening plans and want some room for spontaneity. When I was finally ready and had stopped being intimidated by the elaborate two-page recipe, making the dough was easy maybe Im actually a baking natural, I thought confidentially. Then came the frying. Heres where it gets messy and you start to see why the doughnuts cost so much they are hard work. I separated the huge master orb of dough into smaller balls only they didnt stay small for long, rising like alien creatures to a size I doubted would fit in my pan. This meant they took twice the time to fry but the process was entertainingly dramatic, as they hissed in the oil and puffed up to look not unlike the professional ones. I filled half with homemade custard and half with raspberry jam (shop bought because making it would be a step too far towards a Fifties housewife). Filling was clumsy with just a piping bag and I needed helpers to hold the doughnuts while I squeezed in the liquid. My creations were better than expected you cant go wrong with warm dough coated in sugar and I enjoyed surprising friends with them as I am not known for my baking. But next time I have a doughnut craving I will go to the stall surely the joy of living in London is not having to rely on your own culinary skills? Susannah Butter Gymkhanas potato chaat Time to make: 30 minutes Cost at restaurant: 10 Cost to make: 6.77 per head This was my vegetarian Everest. Its actually a relatively simple dish from one of Karam Sethis London institutions (JKS Restaurants other venues include Hoppers and Trishna). As a delectable heap of fried new potatoes, chickpeas, chaat masala and rose raita (a mix of Greek yoghurt, mint, rose petals, green chilies and ginger) this potentially mouth-watering dish is sympathetic to those with an inferior flair for presentation (me!). Once youve got the ingredients its easy enough to throw together: simply boil potatoes while whipping up the rose raita. Im sure theres an art to this mine didnt look nearly as irresistible as the one in the recipe book but its essentially a case of finely chopping herbs, mint and chilies, getting the masala mix right and then drawing it all together. My mates enjoyed it and no one died of food poisoning. Success. The ingredients, however, are fiendishly hard to track down. Where do you get dried rose petals on a Sunday afternoon? I spent an hour searching in Bethnal Green usually a peerless hub for sourcing ambitious ingredients, with Asian food stores aplenty and tracked down tamarind chutney, chaat masala and amchoor powder from a Bangladeshi grocer, but even Columbia Road Flower Market failed to deliver on the petals. I also spent about 27.08 overall on a meal that serves four. However, Im now the proud owner of a tonne of curry ingedients and yogurt, and hope economies of scale will kick in. Dinner at mine, anyone? Samuel Fishwick St Johns Welsh rarebit Time to make: 30 minutes Cost at restaurant: 6 Cost to make: 2.50 each When we were divvying up the recipes in the office the Welsh rarebit was offered, generously, to me I normally pale at the prospect of cooking anything. No matter how idiot-proof the recipe I am hapless in the kitchen and not even comically so. It was assumed, though, that even I could manage to prepare a glorified cheese toastie. Its touch and go for a bit: my first attempt at melting the butter and the flour together created a thick, greying wallpaper paste. For take two I got a grip and managed to create the vaunted biscuity mixture from the recipe and then hit a bit of a roll adding the various other ingredients to create a viscous, gooey cheese mixture. I spread it generously on thick rectangles of toast and grill each sandwich, only burning one of the four, which I give to my housemate, with the unburned side face up to conceal my failings. Doing it yourself is definitely worth it, for cost alone. And once Ive had a few more shots at it, it might just be as good as the real thing. Phoebe Luckhurst Trullo is published by Square Peg, price 17; Baking School, The Bread Ahead Cookbook is out on August 31 (23, Fig Tree); The London Cookbook is published by Sphere, price 11 W hen youre thinking about starting a family, choosing where to live is a massive factor that would-be parents need to consider. You want to find somewhere that has good access to schools and amenities, as well as being a happy environment for your child to grow up in. And for gay and lesbian couples, theres also the added consideration of your little ones feeling safe in their community as part of an LGBT family. Now Newham is being touted as the best area for gay and lesbian couples to raise a family, having topped a list of London boroughs in a recent survey. The My Future Family Show which gives expert advice to thousands of would-be parents on adoption, fostering, surrogacy, IVF and co-parenting has ranked the best boroughs for LGBT parents to start a family, after surveying gay and lesbian couples on what theyre looking for ahead of starting their brood. As well as good schools, house prices and quality of life, they said safety and an existing LGBT community were among the most important factors in finding a family home. To compile the findings, the researchers then compared the average house price of a semi-detached in each London borough, alongside the access to open spaces, local Ofsted results and reports of hate crime against people based on their sexual orientation. Newham prospered in the rankings, the fertility advice company said, because of its reasonable house prices, as well as its 13 Outstanding-rated schools. The East London borough , which takes in Stratford, Canning Town and the Royal Docks, has experienced a huge growth in buyers, with house prices increasing by an average of 14 per cent to 372,000. The new faces of LGBTQ+ London: in pictures 1 /13 The new faces of LGBTQ+ London: in pictures TeTe Bang, 26 Club personality, drag artist, DJ, professional fun producer Johnny Cochrane Tayylor Made, 26 DJ and club promoter Johnny Cochrane Lyall Hakaraia, 49 Creative director, designer, owner of VFD and fairy godperson to the LGBTQ+ scene Johnny Cochrane Sadie Sinner, 26 Founder and curator of Cocoa Butter Club Johnny Cochrane Charlie Craggs, 25 Writer and activist Johnny Cochrane Whiskey Chow, 27 Artist and drag king Johnny Cochrane Lasana Shabazz, 30 Performance artist, actor and writer Johnny Cochrane Drelle Khan, 29 Creative director Johnny Cochrane Alexandre Simoes, 22 Artist, muse, nightclub promoter Johnny Cochrane Bishi, 34 Singer, composer, co-founder of WITCiH, label boss at Gryphon Records Johnny Cochrane Krishna Istha, 23 Performance artist and actor Johnny Cochrane Dolly Pawton, 2 Instagram star Lucy London, 40 Fashion lecturer Stella Clements, 34 Writer Johnny Cochrane Umber Ghauri, 25 Make-up artist Johnny Cochrane This is in no small part due to the "Olympic legacy" where the boroughs have benefited from regeneration schemes and improved transport links. More than four out of ten people in diverse Newham are aged 25 or under, and two thirds are from minority ethnic backgrounds. Barking & Dagenham came in at a close second, with the South West borough of Sutton following in third. My Future Family Show Sarah Garrett MBE said: This list definitely threw up a few surprises, but it just shows that when it comes to starting a family it can be worth looking beyond the most obvious locations. By ranking the London boroughs on sexual orientation hate crime as well as other essential factors, weve found out where LGBT parents might feel safest starting a family. Newham is a potentially brilliant place for LGBT parents to raise a family. It offers more affordable alternatives to neighbourhoods such as Shoreditch and Stoke Newington for those looking to settle down. In the coming years, the Elizabeth Line will vastly improve its transport links." According to the survey, here are the top 10 boroughs for gay and lesbian couples to raise a child: 1. Newham 1. Barking & Dagenham 3. Sutton 4. Harrow 5. Merton 6. Lambeth 7. Hillingdon 7. Tower Hamlets 9. Kingston-upon-Thames 10. Hounslow P olice investigating the alleged drugging and kidnapping of a British model in Milan have arrested the brother of the main suspect in the case. London model Chloe Ayling claims she was kidnapped after attending what she believed to be a modelling shoot in the Italian city. Police investigating her accusations have arrested Michal Konrad Herba, the brother of suspect Lukasz Pawel Herba. The 36-year-old was detained on a European Arrest Warrant in Tividale, West Midlands, the National Crime Agency said. Victim: Chloe Ayling said she was kidnapped in Italy / Instagram He will appear at Westminster Maginstrates' Court on Thursday. Ms Ayling is believed to have been snatched by a masked group calling itself Black Death but Lukasz has denied knowingly taking part in any crime. Italian police said she was drugged and transported in a bag to an isolated village near Turin, where she was held for six days as her captors tried to auction her online. Chloe: The model said she was told she would be sold off as a sex slave / Instagram The 20-year-old said she was injected with ketamine after being lured to the shoot and was told she was going to be sold as a sex slave. Ms Ayling, from Coulsdon, south London, was eventually taken to the British Consulate in Milan after the "horrific ordeal", but could not return home to London for almost three weeks. Lukasz Pawel Herba has said his involvement stems from wanting to raise money to treat his leukaemia and that he was hired by a group of Romanians to rent properties around Europe to store garments they were selling, according to reports. He is also said to have told investigators he posed as a photographer and met Ms Ayling. Kidnapped Model Breaks Down On This Morning He said he was paid 500,000, found out the Romanians intended to kidnap her, and backed out of the plan. he NCA said in a statement: "Officers from West Midlands Police and Emsou (East Midlands Special Operations Unit) this morning arrested the brother of Lukasz Pawel Herba in connection with the kidnapping of Chloe Ayling. Suspect: Handout photo issued by the Polizia di Stato (Italian State Police) of Lukasz Pawel Herba / PA "Michal Konrad Herba, 36, was apprehended at an address in the Tividale area of Birmingham on a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Italian authorities. He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 17 August. "The National Crime Agency and Emsou are providing specialist support to the Italian Polizia di Stato as part of this ongoing investigation." A daughter of a retired British Army general was caught stuffing 50 notes into her sock while working as a casino croupier, a court heard. Sarah Clarke, 54, used sleight of hand to grab the cash while counting up at the end of her shift at the Sportsman Casino in Marylebone. She hid 550 in her sock to try to smuggle it past security, but had been spotted on CCTV swiping the money. Southwark crown court heard Clarke, from East Molesey, blamed the theft on a fit of pique at being demoted from her senior position at the casino. Her barrister, Michael Riley, said Clarke, who pleaded guilty to one count of theft last month, had also had to face the shame of telling her family, including her father, what she had done. She comes from a distinguished family who served this country at levels of extreme importance and responsibility in the armed forces, he said. She had to face the indignity not only of coming to the crown court, but to deal with these matters with her father, a distinguished member of the British Army, retired, in respect of what could only be described as a complete moment of madness. Prosecutor Arizona Asante said Clarke was caught stealing on August 17 last year. She appeared to separate a mixture of notes, holding some with her index finger, and then she was seen to pass the notes from the right hand to her left hand, he said. Ultimately she hid the notes between her fingers, and then put the money into a sock she was wearing. Mr Riley told the court Clarke had suffered a leg injury that meant she was unable to fulfil her normal role as a senior supervisor and was instead working in the count team. She had served the company since the age of 18 in various capacities and had risen through the ranks, but in 2016, as a result of problems with her health, she had effectively been demoted, he said. Mr Riley said Clarke had got into a dispute with her manager about her demotion and promotion of younger staff on the day of the incident. That is her explanation why she did it, in a fit of pique, he said. It is totally impossible to explain what she did other than dissatisfaction at how she had been treated by the company over the injury to her leg and the demotion she suffered. He added that Clarke, who has no previous convictions, was also dealing with the ill health of her parents-in-law at the time. Sentencing her to a 12-month community order including 140 hours of community service, Recorder Michael Kent QC told her: You acted in breach of trust during the course of your employment. He ordered Clarke to pay the 500 costs of the case and an 85 victim surcharge. T ributes were today paid to a father-of-two who was fatally stabbed in an apparently random attack outside his local shops. Laurent Volpe, 49, an engineer who recently moved to London from France with his wife and their children, was described as a loving family man with a brilliant mind. Witnesses said he was walking home after a trip to the Co-op in Eltham, when he was attacked and stabbed at just before 7pm on Friday. A murder hunt was launched following his death in hospital on Monday evening. The killing happened less than 500 yards from the spot where teenager Stephen Lawrence was fatally stabbed in 1993. A neighbour said Mr Volpe, who was staying in London temporarily on a house swap, was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He said: It was a shock. You dont know what to think or what to say or what to do. You dont think its going to happen. I think its just bad luck. Its so sad. A manager at the Co-op in Well Hall Road, a two-minute walk from the terraced house where Mr Volpe was living, said staff had gone to help after hearing shouts. Another neighbour said: There was no motivation whatsoever, just a random attack, its unbelievable. A friend described him as a wonderful man who was very honest and open. Detectives have launched an appeal to trace a woman who told officers at the scene that she had been threatened by the suspect. Detective Chief Inspector Jamie Piscopo said the woman was black, tall, around 30 and wearing a long, floral-patterned cardigan. He said: She may have vital evidence that could assist this investigation. Anyone with information about the attack is asked to call 020 8345 3715 or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Nicholas Foye, 38, is due to appear at Bromley Magistrates Court today charged with murder. T he family of Rashan Charles must wait almost a year for a full inquest into the death of the man who died after being chased by police in east London. Rashan Charles, 20, died on July 22 having earlier been apprehended by Metropolitan Police officers after running into a shop in Dalston. An inquest into Mr Charles death which sparked riots on the streets of the capital was opened today but authorities are waiting for test results before revealing a cause of death, his family were told. CCTV appeared to show an officer struggling with Mr Charles on the shop floor, following an attempted vehicle stop moments before. An Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation into his death has so far shown that, after he was detained, attempts were made to remove an object from his mouth or throat. The family of Rashan Charles arrive at Poplar Coroners' Court / Lauren Hurley/PA It was later revealed that a package removed from his throat contained a mixture of caffeine and paracetamol. The inquest opening at Poplar Coroner's court on Wednesday heard that there had been two post mortems carried out on the unemployed man, who lived in South West London - the second on behalf of his family and the police. But coroner's officer David Brereton told the hearing that "no medical cause of death has been offered at this time", pending the results of toxicology and other tests. Protesters gather in the wake of Rashan Charles' death / AFP/Getty Images He added that the London Ambulance Service paramedic who took Mr Charles to hospital from the shop in Kingsland Road noted a "foreign body was found in his airway". Mr Charles's father Esa, a great uncle and a family friend were in court for the brief hearing. They left without speaking to reporters. Mr Charles's family had previously expressed concerns over the "openness and transparency" of the IPCC investigation into his death. Detained: Rashan Charles died in hospital after being chased into a shop and handcuffed by a police officer Mary Hassell, the senior coroner for Inner North London, said the full inquest would be held in front of a jury next June, and was likely to last "weeks rather than days". She told Mr Charles relatives: "I'm sorry that seems a long way away - it is a long way away. "But it is my experience that when the IPCC is investigating a death like this, it's impossible to have the inquest sooner." Riot police on Kingsland Road. / PA The brief inquest came hours after police released images of three people following a protest over the young fathers' death. Angry demonstrators took to the streets of Hackney just days after he died, chanting: "We want justice, justice for Rash." But the Kingsland Road march escalated into violence, with demonstrators allegedly fighting with riot police, smashing windows, starting fires and hurling items at officers. The Met are now appealing for information about two men and one woman who officers would like to speak with in connection with the disorder, which erupted during the afternoon of July 28. Anyone with information about those pictured in the appeal is asked to call 0207 275 3632. Or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or at crimestoppers-uk.org. Additional reporting by Press Association. P olice are hunting for three people after a protest over the death of a young father being pursued by police descended into a riot. Rashan Charles, 20, died in hospital after being chased into an off-licence by a police officer who attempted to remove an item from his throat. Angry demonstrators took to the streets of Hackney days later to protest against his death, chanting: We want justice, justice for Rash. But the Kingsland Road march escalated into violence, with demonstrators allegedly fighting with riot police, smashing windows, starting fires and hurling items at officers. Police horses are drafted in to the riot. / PA The Met are now appealing for information about three people officers would like to speak with in connection with the disorder, which erupted during the afternoon of July 28. Suspect: Police would like to speak with this woman in connection with the violence Hackney detective Sergeant Gareth Coffey has released images of the suspects, one woman and two men, and said: "We would like to speak to those pictured in connection with the disorder that took place that day." Appeal: One of the suspects police are looking for The police statement said the demonstration was planned and initially peaceful but was used by a small number of people as an opportunity to commit disorder. Protest: Suspect three The appeal came as the inquest into the father-of-ones death was due to open on Wednesday. His family released a statement stressing their objective to establish what happened to Rashan, and to do this using all lawful means available". Protest: Riot police were called to Kingsland Road during the demonstration / PA Before his death on July 22, Mr Charles was seen running into a shop on Kingsland Road, Dalston, where he was apprehended by a police officer. CCTV appeared to show the officer struggling with Charles on the shop floor, following an attempted vehicle stop moments before. CCTV of the moment Rashan Charles enters shop An Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation into his death has so far shown that, after he was detained, attempts were made to remove an object from his mouth or throat. And it was later revealed that a package removed from his throat contained a mixture of caffeine and paracetamol. Detained: Rashan's family said they want to get the truth about his death Charles was taken to the Royal London Hospital in nearby Whitechapel, but pronounced dead at 2.55am. No cause of death has yet been determined. Mr Charles's family have previously expressed concerns over the "openness and transparency" of the IPCC investigation into his death. Anyone with information about those pictured in the appeal is asked to call 0207 275 3632. Or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or at crimestoppers-uk.org. T his is the dramatic moment a gang of moped thugs armed with a sledgehammer targeted a luxury jewellers in Knightsbridge. The dramatic footage shows the armed gang leaping onto three mopeds following the raid at Boodles jewellers in Basil Street this morning. Smoke from a security alarm poured out into the street as the suspects, said to be armed with a machete as well as the sledgehammer, sped away from the scene shortly after 10.30am. Scotland Yard said they smashed their way through the counter displays and made off with a quantity of jewellery. The moped gang leap onto their vehicles outside Boodles jewellers in Knightsbridge / @f0od1samazing The robbers - six in total on three scooters - carried out the raid and were in and out in under a minute. One witness, 21, who filmed the footage from the window of an office opposite the store, said the gang appeared to be armed with a machete and a sledgehammer. He told the Standard that brave passers-by attempted to intervene to stop the robbery. He said: I was working in the office two floors above ground opposite the shop Boodles when I heard screams and shouting. The group, one clearly carrying a slegehammer ride, ride away from the jewellers in Basil Street / @f0od1samazing Members of the public tried to help but they had a machete. There were six of them on three scooters who came and smashed the shop up. I quickly got my phone and recorded it. Another witness said: "There were six of them on two scooters. They were carrying black clubs or sticks and one had a sledgehammer. "One scooter mounted the pavement they were waving sticks and shouting at people. It was terrifying. There is so much security around here they were taking a big risk." A local shop manager said: "The road where the jewellers is has only just reopened after works. They must have been casing the area this was well planned." Police at the scene in Basil Street The main entrance to the jewellers is on Sloane Street but the thieves broke through the window on Basil Street. The shop sells luxury watches by the likes of Patek Phillipe and high-end jewellery. A Boodles staff member said that although in shock no workers in the jewellers had been injured in the raid. He said: "Everybody is ok no one has been injured. it's a shock though. They didn't get away with that much." Forensics in Basil Street A Boodles spokesperson said: "I can confirm that there was unfortunately a robbery at Boodles Knightsbridge showroom this morning. I can also confirm that nobody has been hurt. The police are handling the situation and Boodles is unable to comment any further." Police said there were no reports of any injuries and that no arrests had been made. A Met Police spokesman said: Police are investigating after the robbery of a jewellers in Chelsea. Boodles Jewellery Store Robbery in Basil Street 1 /9 Boodles Jewellery Store Robbery in Basil Street @f0od1samazing / Saif Mukhtar @f0od1samazing @f0od1samazing @f0od1samazing @f0od1samazing @f0od1samazing / Saif Mukhtar @f0od1samazing Police were called at 10.37am on Wednesday, August 16 to reports of a robbery at a jewellers at Basil Street at junction with Sloane Street, SW1. A number of suspects had arrived on motorscooters, entered the store and then used hammers to smash their way through counter displays. The robbers removed property from the displays and then made off on the bikes. Anyone with information is asked to call police on 101 or Tweet @MetCC or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org. A glass of wine or a bottle of beer every night could reduce your risk of an early death, according to new research. Drinking up to seven alcoholic drinks a week for women and 14 for men slashes the risk of heart disease and other health problems by a fifth, the study found. Scientists from the University of Texas and Shandong University in China monitored 333,247 Americans for an average of just over eight years, finding that moderate drinkers were less likely to die during that time. The study also found that alcohol consumption could prove protective of the heart, with deaths from cardiovascular disease falling by 29 per cent. The experts did however say there is a delicate balance between the dangers and benefits of drinking alcohol. Similar studies in the past have been dismissed by leading health groups, which have claimed such studies are often skewed by sick participants. Professor Bo Xi, who is the lead author to the study, said: Light-to-moderate drinking might have some protective effects against cardiovascular disease, while heavy drinking can lead to death. A delicate balance exists between the beneficial and detrimental effects of alcohol consumption, which should be stressed to consumers and patients. The study, which was published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, said positive health effects could be down to alcohols ability to reduce inflammation in the body. Health authorities in the UK have continued to warn against excessive alcohol consumption. Rosanna OConnor, of Public Health England, told the Mail Online: Consuming alcohol excessively contributes to a vast number of other serious disease. S hocking figures have revealed the number of women left in pain, unable walk or have sex after undergoing vaginal mesh surgery to help with incontinence. NHS figures show that one in every 15 women fitted with the vaginal mesh implants in the past ten years has had it removed. The implant known as trans-vaginal tape (TVT) is a small mesh support used to treat urinary incontinence or prolapse occurring after childbirth. Implantation of the tape can cause serious long-term complications for some women who are left in chronic pain, requiring invasive surgery to have the mesh removed. According to figures released by NHS Digital, between 2006 and 2016, more than 75,000 people had the TVT implant fitted. And, in the same period, more than 4,900 procedures were carried out to remove them equating to 6.5 per cent. Complications: The mesh is used to treat incontinence after childbirth / PA Sohier Elneil, a consultant at University College Hospital told the Guardian the figures were a scandal and others called for a public inquiry into the use of the treatment. The implants have become a popular method of treating post-birth complications as a less invasive alternative to traditional approaches. But removing the mesh, which is designed to embed itself in the surrounding tissue, can require long and complex surgery and risks damaging nerves and nearby organs. The surgeon would have to perform the operation by entering both through the vaginal opening and the patients stomach where they have to chisel out small sections of the mesh. Ms Elneil said that many patients expect a simple and easy fix but stressed the removal is a completely different story. The mesh treatment has been the centre of a suspicion after NHS meeting minutes, obtained by the Press Association from 2016, revealed bosses plotted to avoid media attention about complications. When the minutes were published, authorities were accused of covering up the true risks of the treatment. And these latest figures do not tally up with those published in a 2014 government report, which estimated the removal rate for TVT was just 0.9 per cent, sparking more accusations that the complications relating to the treatment is being played down. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), who published the report conceded that no device was without risk. But, in a statement, it added: In common with other medical device regulators worldwide, none of whom have removed these devices from the market, we are not aware of evidence which would lead to the conclusion these devices are inherently unsafe if used as intended. And Johnson & Johnson, the leading manufacturer of the meshes, released a statement saying: We empathise with those patients who have had complications associated with pelvic mesh procedures, but we believe it is important to recognise that their experiences do not speak for the vast majority of women whose lives have been improved through treatment with pelvic mesh devices. A film-maker who covered the aftermath of a building collapse in Bangladesh has turned his camera on himself and his neighbours after their London tower blocks were declared unsafe. Hannan Majid, his wife Danielle Gregory and two daughters are among some 500 residents who face being moved out of the Ledbury estate in Peckham during repairs. Safety tests after the Grenfell fire found the four 13-storey blocks are at risk of collapse. Mr Majid said: After spending years filming in places like Bangladesh, Cambodia and Iraq, Ive ended up living in a building that has been in danger of collapse for more than 40 years. His production firm, Rainbow Collective, worked on a campaign after the Rana Plaza disaster in 2013 when an eight-storey clothing factory collapsed in Bangladesh, killing 1,129 people. Hannan: Pictured with daughters Tianna, seven, and Layla, six months / Lucy Young He said: It is the same issues of the working class versus a larger body: the garment industry in Bangladesh, Kensington council with Grenfell and here Southwark council. We are seeing these issues across London and it is time one of these councils came forward and took the lead for all other councils to follow and acknowledge the housing problems. Mr Majid, 38, originally from Bradford, has won awards in Dubai, France and the Czech Republic. He said: As a filmmaker you can normally do the smart thing and get yourself out of there but I have a very different situation now. These are our homes... I am filming everything to collect evidence for our own community campaign. Evacuation: Residents have been evacuated from four tower blocks on the Ledbury Estate / London Assembly Gas supplies have been shut off and hobs replaced with hotplates, while residents have been given free passes to leisure centres to bathe. The council says it expects to move tenants out next year for works to fix building cracks. Mr Majid and his wife, whose girls Tianna and Layla are seven and six months, are helping co-ordinate tenants to ensure families are rehoused nearby and repairs finished as quickly as possible. They are also requesting a rent freeze. Mr Majid said: Let us go into next week when people are going to get even more frustrated after more days without a bath or it taking hours to cook a family meal. We were one of the first to put our names on a list to leave so it means we are one of the first to move. Although we are lucky and we are moving we are not going to be happy until everyone else is safe. Southwark council leader Peter John said: The situation is far from ideal, but we had to turn the gas off as soon as we knew there was a potential risk. Residents safety and wellbeing is our absolute priority. R esidents are fighting plans that could see Notting Hill police station closed and officers using local shops or council offices as a base. The station is one of a number earmarked for closure across London as Scotland Yard bids to streamline the force and save cash. At a meeting held about the proposals yesterday, residents expressed concerns that the consultation has been launched in the wake of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and days before the Notting Hill Carnival, one of the capital's biggest policing operations. Resident Marion Gettleson told the Standard: "In light of Grenfell, things are different. How would they have been able to respond if there was no station. Another resident said: "In the north of the borough there is a feeling of mistrust, especially from the poorer communities, in relation to authorities. Removing the police station here and putting a distance will put in place a further separation. A third said: "We have the outfall from Grenfell, we have got knife crime. There is a need for this police station to be here. Borough Commander Chief Superintendent Ellie OConnor, who does not support the closure, said: I do not think you could be prepared for Grenfell to be honest. I know what my staff did that night. I saw what they did. "That is why I have brought in six extra officers, because it is not just about the residents [of Grenfell], the whole community needs that support and people to talk to." She told residents to "speak from the heart" in their response to the consultation. It is our borough, we work together and we want to get this right. We have the chance to make a difference, she said. If ever there is a time when we should be supporting this borough it is now. We, as a borough, have gone through the most extraordinary eight weeks. Referring to the Grenfell tragedy, she added: I was there, I have been in the building, I have been dealing with the families, I have been trying to keep my staff together and the community. And the one thing that nobody, perhaps, elsewhere is doing is listening to the people. This is a real chance for this community to truly tell the Mayor your opinion. I genuinely want to keep a policing presence with a police building, whether it is Notting Hill or somewhere else quite frankly I dont care, but I want to keep a policing building in the north of the borough because I think it is critical and that is exactly what I have written to my senior manager. The draft plan outlines proposals to close costly and underused police front counters in London and provide better ways to contact the Met online. This would mean providing more public access Met Police services via smartphones, tablets and computers. And would result in the older police stations being sold off, with 24-hour counters then moved to other areas of the borough which are yet to be specified. The consultation is open until October 6. An official date for possible closure of the police station has not been set. A charity swim aimed at raising money to fund a cure for Motor Neurone Disease was today backed by sufferer Professor Stephen Hawking. The London City Swim race will take place in Docklands next month where hundreds of swimmers will raise money to tackle the debilitating disease. It is the first MND-focused open water swimming race to be held in the capital and is open to competitive swimmers over a 500-metre course. MND sufferers can also get into the water using flotation devices to have fun with their families. It has won the backing of the Stephen Hawking Foundation, with Professor Hawking appealing to swimmers to get involved. The London City Swim will be held next month with hundreds expected to take part / London City Swim Hawking, 75, said: Please jump in and swim for me and all of us with MND, you can really make a difference. Races in Amsterdam and New York have raised more than 7.5 million since 2012. The London City Swim takes place on Friday September 22 at the Royal Victoria Dock. For details, go to londoncityswim.com S arah Champion has resigned as shadow equalities secretary and apologised for her extremely poor choice of words in controversial news story about child abuse. The Labour MP initially claimed her column in the Sun had been altered and should not have gone out in my name. But the newspaper said her team had fully approved the final piece. She has now said she was concerned continuing in her shadow cabinet role would distract from the "crucial issues" around child protection. And Ms Champion cited her article, which was published last Friday, as the reason for her apology and resignation. She said: "I apologise for the offence caused by the extremely poor choice of words in The Sun article on Friday. "I am concerned that my continued position in the shadow cabinet would distract from the crucial issues around child protection which I have campaigned on my entire political career. "It is therefore with regret that I tender my resignation as shadow secretary of state for women and equalities." Her piece carried the headline: British Pakistani men ARE raping and exploiting white girls and its time we faced up to it. In it she warned that Britain has a "problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "I have accepted Sarah Champion's resignation and thank her for her work in the shadow cabinet. I look forward to working together in future." A spokeswoman for the Sun said: "Sarah Champion's column, as it appeared on Friday, was approved by her team and her adviser twice contacted us thereafter to say she was 'thrilled' with the piece and it 'looked great'. "Indeed, her only objection after the article appeared was her belief that her picture byline looked unflattering. Her office submitted five new pictures for further use." B ritains largest ever warship the HMS Queen Elizabeth has arrived at her home port for the first time. Crowds lined the seafront to welcome the UKs 3 billion aircraft carrier into Portsmouth Naval Base, where she will be based for its estimated 50-year lifespan. The 919ft (280m), 65-000 tonne vessel, the Royal Navys newest and biggest warship, has been undergoing training and tests at sea after setting out from Scotland's Rosyth dockyard in June. A flotilla followed the aircraft carrier as she sailed into the Solent before heading into Portsmouth, where, at its narrowest point, there was less than 66ft (20m) clearance on each side. Grand arrival: HMS Queen Elizabeth docks in Portsmouth / PA Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said: "Today we welcome our mighty new warship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, to her home for the very first time. "She is Britain's statement to the world: a demonstration of British military power and our commitment to a bigger global role. HMS Queen Elizabeth at Portsmouth - In pictures 1 /26 HMS Queen Elizabeth at Portsmouth - In pictures HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK's newest aircraft carrier, arrives in Portsmouth PA HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK's newest aircraft carrier, arrives in Portsmouth PA Crew members work in the Operations room for weapons systems and air traffic control on board HMS Queen Elizabeth PA General view of HMS Queen Elizabeth from an approaching Merlin helicopter as she prepares to enter her home port of Portsmouth for the first time PA Crew on the deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth PA Captain Jerry Kyd, the Commanding Officer looking from the bridge of HMS Queen Elizabeth PA HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK's newest aircraft carrier, arrives in Portsmouth for the first time PA Crew members work in the ship control centre on board HMS Queen Elizabeth PA General view of one of the gyms on board HMS Queen Elizabeth as she prepares to enter her home port of Portsmouth for the first time PA Dinner is prepared in one of the ship's galleys on board HMS Queen Elizabeth as she prepares to enter her home port of Portsmouth for the first time PA Crew on the deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth PA HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK's newest aircraft carrier, arrives in Portsmouth PA HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK's newest aircraft carrier, arrives in Portsmouth PA HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK's newest aircraft carrier, arrives in Portsmouth for the first time PA General view of HMS Queen Elizabeth as she prepares to enter her home port of Portsmouth for the first time PA A sailor looks out at spectators on the Round Tower as HMS Queen Elizabeth PA HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK's newest aircraft carrier, arrives in Portsmouth PA A member of the crew on guard aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth PA Spectators on the Round Tower welcome HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK's newest aircraft carrier, as she arrives in Portsmouth for the first time PA Sailors stand on board the Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth as it arrives in Portsmouth, Reuters "The thousands of people across the UK who have played a part in building her and her sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, should be immensely proud as our future flagship enters Portsmouth. "She has made good progress in sea trials and will now embark on the next phase of preparations that will see the return of Britain's carrier strike ability. The 65-000 tonne vessel, the Royal Navys newest and biggest warship, has been undergoing training and tests at sea / PA "When she enters service she will help keep Britain safe at a time of increased threats, able to fill multiple roles from providing air power anywhere at any time to fight future campaigns, supporting allies or delivering humanitarian aid." The warship docked at about 7.40am. With boots polished and caps perfectly placed, all the ship's available company stood at the edge of the vessel as she arrived in the harbour and naval base. Crowds line the shore in Portsmouth to watch the arrival of HMS Queen Elizabeth / PA As eager crowds waved and welcomed her in, Commander Darren Houston could be heard saying over the Tannoy to those on the shore: "Good morning, Portsmouth". Those on board and watching from the shore were also treated to two separate flypasts of Royal Navy helicopters - the first featuring a Sea King, two MK2 Merlins and two MK3 Merlins - which were then joined by two Hawk jets for the second. Some of the keen well-wishers had camped out over on the Round Tower, the traditional spot in Old Portsmouth to view navy ships leaving and arriving at the base, in order to get a good view. The waterfront was packed with people waving flags and banners. Fireworks were let off as the giant carrier arrived, dwarfing the historic buildings at the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour. An 820ft (250m) exclusion zone, enforced by armed police in small boats, meant the port was effectively closed to the flotilla of boats which had turned out to greet the Queen Elizabeth. A Champagne breakfast was held on board the Type 45 destroyer HMS Diamond for "VIPs and "VVIPs" from the Ministry of Defence. HMS Queen Elizabeth Facts Weight: 65,000 tonnes Length: 280 metres long Top speed: In excess of 25 knots Number of crew: 700 eventually increasing to 1,600 Navy officers and family members also lined the jetty in the Navy base to welcome the ship, while the band of the Royal Marines played to entertain the crowds. Lieutenant Commander Ian Pratt, who took a moment to take a photograph of the carrier as it sailed past, said: "Absolutely fantastic. "What a wonderful day for the Royal Navy, for Portsmouth and the whole of the country, the flagship of our nation is home. Fantastic." HMS Queen Elizabeth sails into Portsmouth / Sarah Freemantle Louise Bond, 30, from Fareham, Hampshire, whose husband, Petty Officer Greg Bond, 33, is serving on board, said: "It's my first homecoming, it's brilliant, I was up at 2.30am, first in line. "It's amazing, I wouldn't miss it for the world, it's a historic moment, once in a lifetime to see." Tanya Baker, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, came with daughter Eloise, two, to meet her partner Petty Officer Craig May. She said: "We are really proud that my partner is coming in on the Queen Elizabeth, it's been a long time since I've seen him and we are both proud to be part of the aircraft carrier." HMS Queen Elizabeth pictured sailing the seas with US warships 1 /12 HMS Queen Elizabeth pictured sailing the seas with US warships HMS Queen Elizabeth, which is undergoing sea trials, sails with the USS George HW Bush and her carrier strike group, during Exercise Saxon Warrior, off the coast of Scotland, Britain August 8, 2017 REUTERS HMS Queen Elizabeth (third right), the Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier, meeting up with a task group of ships taking part in Exercise Saxon Warrior as it takes part in contractor sea trials off the coast of Scotland PA HMS Queen Elizabeth (third right), the Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier, meeting up with a task group of ships taking part in Exercise Saxon Warrior as it takes part in contractor sea trials off the coast of Scotland PA U.S. Navy F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornets fly in formation above the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth during exercise Saxon Warrior in the Atlantic Ocrean August 5, 2017 REUTERS U.S. Navy F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornets fly in formation above the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth during exercise Saxon Warrior in the Atlantic Ocrean August 5, 2017 REUTERS U.S. Navy F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornets fly in formation above the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth during exercise Saxon Warrior in the Atlantic Ocrean August 5, 2017 REUTERS HMS Queen Elizabeth, which is undergoing sea trials, sails with the USS George HW Bush and her carrier strike group, during Exercise Saxon Warrior, off the coast of Scotland REUTERS HMS Queen Elizabeth, which is undergoing sea trials, sails with the USS George HW Bush and her carrier strike group, during Exercise Saxon Warrior, off the coast of Scotland, Britain August 8, 2017 REUTERS U.S. Navy F/A-18E and F/A-18F Super Hornets fly in formation above the Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth during exercise Saxon Warrior in the Atlantic Ocrean August 5, 2017 REUTERS Lt Cdr Neil Twigg, a fast jet pilot responsible for integrating the F35 fighter jet into the carrier group, said: "We are very ready, there is still a lot more work to be done, the aircraft is still going through its testing programme in America and the ship has still some more sea trials but we are on the right track. "The sheer size, this is the 65,000 tonne aircraft carrier, the largest the Royal Navy has ever had, she is specifically built for the F35, the only aircraft carrier in the world designed for that air system, so a pretty unique capability the UK now has." HMS Queen Elizabeth, which is set to be the nation's future flagship, and her 700-strong ship's company have been taking part in maiden sea trials over the summer. During sea trials, HMS Queen Elizabeth was pictured sailing alongside US warships during a military exercise off the coast of Scotland. The warship was pictured alongside the HMS Westminster, HMS Iron Duke, HNoMS Helge Ingstad from Norway, USS Donald Cook and USS Philippine Sea and USS George HW Bush. More than 60 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines boarded the USS George HW Bush to hone their carrier strike skills ahead of HMS Queen Elizabeth's entry into service. During the exercise UK staff worked with their American counterparts to fight off a series of simulated threats from enemy forces, using all the air, surface and sub-surface assets of the entire task group. HMS Queen Elizabeth, the most powerful ship ever built for the Royal Navy, set sail for the first time in June from Rosyth in Fife. A holocaust memorial in Boston has been vandalised for the second time in months. One of the New England Holocaust Memorials glass panels, which was intricately engraved to represent the six million Jews killed in the genocide, was shattered into pieces by a rock thrown at the memorial. The latest alleged act of vandalism comes after hundreds of neo-Nazis and other white supremacists marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, against the removal of a Confederate statue. Many rioters shouted anti-Semitic chants. Barry Shrage, president of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, told CNN of the vandalism: "How can this be in this country, in this city, so near to the graves of patriots who fought for freedom and liberty in this place? "What did we see over the weekend in Charlottesville? What do we have to think about this? A worker cleans up glass at the Boston memorial. / Getty Images When we see those clownish figures in their Nazi uniforms pretending to be human, pretending to be something more than they are, pretending to be important. It's important to remember what that represents." Mr Shrage added: Where is the Franklin Roosevelt who led our country against Nazism. Where is our president? Where is the condemnation of evil?" The memorial was first vandalised in June when another of the sites glass panels was shattered. Members of the community came together to condemn what had happened at a gathering. According to the mayor of Malden, Gary Christenson, the most recent alleged act of vandalism "in no way reflects what our community stands for." The senior imam at the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center, Shaykh Yasir Fahmy, said: Unequivocally as Muslims we stand firmly side by side with our Jewish brothers and sisters who have faced so much pain and have been the object of so much hurt over this period of time," the imam said. "Twice in one summer to have their sacred memorial desecrated is emblematic of a toxic reality that's playing out. "To hear those chants in Charlottesville, to see what was being said about our Jewish brothers and sisters, was extremely painful." A 17-year-old has since been charged with disorderly conduct, malicious destruction of property over $250 and causing injury over $5,000 in a church, synagogue or memorial. A huge fire has broken out at Southend Airport after witnesses reported hearing an explosion. Thick, black plumes of smoke could be seen billowing out of an airport hangar at the Essex airport on Wednesday morning, visible for miles around. Six fire engines were on the scene battling to extinguish the fire, which started at around 10.30am. There have not been any delayed flights at the airport as a result. An Essex County Fire & Rescue Service spokesperson said: Firefighters have been called to an incident this morning involving an aircraft hangar. When firefighters arrived at the scene they reported the large hangar was on fire. Six fire engines were requested to help tackle the fire. Witnesses claimed to have heard an "explosion" before the fire erupted. Peter Gettings, 37, who was waiting to board a flight when he saw the fire, told Essex Live: "I spoke to airport staff and they said it was a fire at one of the hangers on the perimeter of the airport. "I could see the flames from the terminal - they were not particularly high but it was really thick black smoke." Firefighters were using an aerial ladder platform (ALP) to pour water on the large building from above. The fire was eventually brought under control shortly before 1pm. A fire brigade spokesperson added: "A full investigation will be carried out to find the cause of the fire, however at this stage we believe the fire started accidentally." Pictures from the scene appeared to show extensive damage to the airport hangar. A Southend Airport spokesperson said: "Essex County Fire and Rescue Service is currently dealing with an incident at the Air Livery hanger on the north side of the airfield. London Southend Airport is still open and operating as normal". Southend Airport, located 40km east of London, operates international flights to destinations including Ireland, Spain and France. A rnold Schwarzenegger has donated $100,000 to an anti-hate organisation after being left horrified by the far-right rally in Charlottesville. The actor and former governor of California issued a statement in the wake of the weekends violent protest, which left a young woman dead after a car ploughed into counter-protesters during the fierce clashes. He said: I have been horrified by the images of Nazis and white supremacists marching in Charlottesville. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of Heather Heyer, Lt. Cullen, and Trooper-Pilot Bates. The former bodybuilder added: While these so-called white nationalists are lucky to live in a country that defends their right to voice their awful, incorrect, hateful opinions, the rest of us must use our voices and resources to condemn hate and teach tolerance at every opportunity. A member of the KKK at the neo-Nazi rally. / REUTERS My message to them is simple: you will not win. Our voices are louder and stronger. "There is no white America - there is only the United States of America. You were not born with these hateful views - you can change, grow, and evolve, and I suggest you start immediately. Mr Schwarzenegger, who is perhaps best known for his career in the Terminator film series, added that he donated the money which equates to around 77,800 to the Simon Wiesenthal Centre. Counter-protesters respond to the neo-Nazi rally with anti-fascist messages. / AP The human rights organisation, named after the well-known Nazi hunter, researches anti-Semitism, hate and terrorism in both historic and modern society. I have spoken to its founder, Rabbi Marvin Hier, and I know that my contribution can help advance the Center's mission of expanding tolerance through education and fighting hate all over America - in the streets and online, Mr Schwarzenegger said. My dream is that all of you will join me in helping your favourite anti-hate organizations in any way you can. United, we are greater than the hatred we saw this weekend. Saturdays protest began with a rally of white nationalists angry at plans to remove a Confederate generals statue. Rabbi Hier said: Arnold has been a support of the SWC for over three decades. Weve never been prouder of his leadership than when we saw his tweet last night challenging everyone to do more in the fight against hate. The centre called on American leaders and President Trump to specifically condemn the alt-right and white nationalists who sow seeds of hate, distrust and violence. They and all other extremists, left or right, have no place in the mainstream of our nation," it added. A Chinese fishing boat crew suspected to have illegally caught endangered sharks in the Galapagos Islands has been detained in Ecuador. The Fu Yuan Yu Leng 999 cargo ship was intercepted by authorities in the Galapagos archipelago marine reserve, with more than 300 tonnes of fish on board. The huge catch included endangered species of shark, with hammerheads found butchered on the ship. The crew, which contained roughly 20 members, could now face up to three years in prison if they are found guilty of trafficking the protected species. About 300 tonnes of fish were found on the ship / EPA It is believed the vessel is the largest ever captured inside the reserve. Ecuador's environmental minister Tarsicio Granizo said on Tuesday that the crew were to be held in custody pending court proceedings. He said: Not necessarily all of the catch came from the marine reserve, but the fact that it included young sharks, even baby sharks, indicates that they could have been caught inside the reserve. The Galapagos' archipelago reserve is an UNESCO world heritage site protected because of the bio-diversity found there. A n international news agency has banned journalists from using the phrase alt-right amid claims it disguises racism. The Associated Press will no longer publish the term in articles following clashes between white supremacists and anti-racism protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, which left one woman dead. The news agency advised reporters to only use the phrase when quoting speech or when describing somebody as so-called or self-described alt-right. APs current guidelines, published this year, read: Depending on the specifics of the situation, such beliefs might be termed racist, white supremacist or neo-Nazi; be sure to describe the specifics. Whenever alt-right is used in a story, include a definition: an offshoot of conservatism mixing racism, white nationalism and populism, or, more simply, a white nationalist movement. A protest held following violence in Charlottesville / AP Guidelines have also been published noting the differences between the terms white nationalist and white supremacist. Despite many people using the terms interchangeably the agency describes white nationalism as a subset of racist beliefs that calls for a separate territory and/or enhanced legal rights and protections for white people. Protesters march against racism in Virginia / Reuters White supremacy is described as the racist belief that whites are superior to justify political, economic and social suppression of non-white people and other minority groups. The guidelines also give a definition of neo-Nazism as a combination of racist and white supremacist beliefs with admiration for an authoritarian, totalitarian style of government such as the German Third Reich to enforce its beliefs. A state visit to Britain by Donald Trump should be "unthinkable" after the US President appeared not to condemn far-right groups following violence in Virginia, Nicola Sturgeon has said. Scotland's First Minister joined calls for Theresa May to withdraw the honour after the US president failed to condemn racist protesters in Charlottesville. Ms Sturgeon said Mr Trump was "on the wrong side" of the debate after he appeared to equate the actions of far-right and counter protesters. Civil rights activist Heather Heyer, 32, died when a car was driven into crowds as anti-fascist demonstrators clashed with the white supremacists on Saturday. Donald Trump during the press conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan / REUTERS Mr Trump has been heavily criticised at home and abroad after suggesting there were some "very fine people, on both sides". Speaking to LBC radio, Ms Sturgeon said many people would be "deeply disturbed" by the comments. She said: "You cannot draw an equivalence between far-right Nazis, people who peddle hate and racism and bigotry, and those who protest against that kind of ideology, and when you've got the former leader of the Ku Klux Klan praising the president's comments, I think it is time for him to perhaps reflect that he is on the wrong side of this debate. Anti-racism protesters in Virginia / Reuters "I know there is a convention that leaders in one country will not comment on the comments or the actions of leaders in another country, but some issues are too fundamental for diplomatic silence. "It matters to all of us across the world that we stand up and are counted to combat the ideology of the far-right, and I think that's a responsibility of all of us. Nicola Sturgeon said a visit from Donald Trump would be "unthinkable" / AFP/Getty Images "I never thought it was the right thing to announce a state visit at the time that Theresa May did, but I think the idea, at the moment, of president Trump making a state visit to the UK is unthinkable and perhaps it is time for the Prime Minister just to put that beyond doubt, that given these controversies, given some of the issues that are to the fore in America, now would certainly not be the time." On Twitter, Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson said: "The President of the United States has just turned his face to the world to defend Nazis, fascists and racists. For shame." Additional reporting by Press Association. A singer whose R&B cover of Abbas Dancing Queen was viewed 21 million times in only two days has signed to a major label. Daecolm, 24, has been snapped up by Polydor after his version of the 1976 classic went viral when it was posted it on Facebook last month. He has written songs for Chris Brown, Trey Songz and Craig David, but now hopes to launch a career singing his own music. He said: I just enjoy the idea of taking an older song and giving it a modern twist. If I was going to be covering anything, I didnt want to go down the normal route of taking a top 20 hit to grab attention, which is what a lot of artists today do. I wanted to take a risk. As I watched the hits increase I thought, If only this was my bank account! I would be sitting on my own island by now! Daecolm, who was born in Zimbabwe and moved to south-west London when he was six months old, said: My dad got me into music. I wasnt interested in the slightest until I was about 13 or 14. I used to play the piano in secret because I was too embarrassed to play in front of anyone. My dad heard me playing and put me in touch with a songwriter friend of his. I started writing songs and thats when I began to realise music could be a possibility. I now want to do my original music, and show what I can do with my own stuff. D aniel Craig has finally put the rumour mill to rest after confirming he will reprise his role as James Bond. Craig, 49, announced the news on US chat show The Late Show, where he told fans the next film will be his last outing as the 007 agent. Ive been quite cagey about it, he said. Ive been doing interviews all day and people have been asking me and I think Ive been rather coy. But I felt if Im going to speak the truth I should speak the truth to you. 007: Daniel Craig as James Bond Host Stephen Colbert asked him if he was going to play the British spy, to which Craig replied: Yes. The actor who revealed he has known for a couple of months said: We've been discussing it, we've just been trying to figure things out. I always wanted to, I needed a break. Pierce Brosnan: Daniel Craig's 007 can be the rock of agents The as-of-yet untitled 25th film is set for release in November 2019, and will mark the end of Craigs tenure as Bond. I just want to go out on a high note, and I can't wait, he said. Craigs confirmation came hours after he denied signing a contract for two more films and claimed he was yet to make a decision about his future in the franchise. Speaking to US radio station Morning Magic 106.7 on Tuesday he said: Theres a lot of noise out there and nothing official has been confirmed and Im not, like, holding out for more money or doing anything like that. Its just all very personal decisions to be made at the moment. I know theyre desperate to get going and I would, in theory, love to do it, but there is no decision just yet. 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To help you find what you are looking for: Enter Search Term(s): Still cant find what youre looking for? Send us a message using our contact us form. To report a broken link or other problems with the website, please include the URL. Thank you for visiting state.gov. In July 2017 Iran announced it had begun mass production of its Sayyad 3 anti-aircraft missile which, when used with the Bavar-373 radar and fire control system, can intercept aerial targets up to 150 kilometers distant. Each Bavar-373 system can simultaneously track 30 aircraft and direct Sayyad 3 missiles at twelve of those targets. Iran insisted that it had developed its own clone (Bavar-373) of the Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missile system. Iran began work on the Bavar-373 in 2010, after Russia refused to deliver S-300 systems Iran had ordered. International sanctions, plus pressure from the United States and Israel led Russia to cancel the Iranian order. Iran has issued progress reports ever since and Bavar-373 was supposed to be ready for final testing in 2014, then 2015, then 2016 when some tests apparently took place. The final testing is supposed to take place before the end of 2017. The Israelis indicate they are not concerned about the Bavar-373 and that they can handle it. Russian and Western air defense experts doubt that the Iranians have managed to create anything close to the capabilities of the S-300 systems Russia has already delivered once the sanctions were lifted in mid-2015. The Iranian designed and built Sayyad 3 missile for the Bavar-373 appears to be the same size and shape as the S-300 missile and carried in similar canisters. Iran insists that Bavar-373 is superior to the S-300. Now that Russia has delivered S-300s Iran will be under pressure have to reveal if it believes its own propaganda about which system is superior. The original S-300 was known to NATO, during the Cold War, as the SA-10 and it entered service in the late 1970s and was upgraded several times since then. One major upgrade came to be called the SA-12 and it entered service in the late 1980s. Finally, there was the SA-21, which was so different from the original S-300 that it was given a new name by the Russians: the S-400. These systems began entering service, slowly, in 2007 and one battery was sent to Syria during 2016 to protect Russian troops there. Each S-300/400 battery consists of 4-8 launcher vehicles (each with two missiles, plus two reloads). There are also radar vehicles and a command vehicle. The S-300V/SA-12 missiles had a range of 75 kilometers and were considered somewhat similar to the American Patriot systems. Later models of the S-300V had some capability to shoot down short range ballistic missiles. The SA-10/12 launcher vehicle also contains a guidance radar. The most recent version of S-300 (S-400) is supposed to be (according to Russia) superior to the American Patriot. But while the Patriot has over two decades of combat experience the S-300 has none. Meanwhile Bavar-373 is not the first anti-aircraft missile system Iran claims to have developed. In 2013 Iran announced it had built a factory to produce the Sayyad-2 anti-aircraft missile. This is an upgrade of the Sayyad-1, which was based on the old (1950s) Russian SA-2. Sayyad-1 entered service in 1999. Both Sayyad 1 and 2 copied much from the Chinese HQ-2, which is itself an upgrade of the Russian S-75/SA-2 system. Sayyad-2 appears to have incorporated technology from the American HAWK and Standard surface to air missiles. Sayyad-2 is a two ton, two stage anti-aircraft missile with a maximum range of 80 kilometers and max altitude of 20,000 meters (65,000 feet). The Sayyad-2 has better electronic countermeasures than Sayyad-1 but it is still dependent on the ground radar for guidance to a target and is vulnerable to electronic interference. Sayyad-2 is believed to have a more effective warhead. None of the Sayyad missiles has been in combat and test firings have not been impressive. The Chinese HQ-2 has been in use since the late 1960s and has been upgraded several times with modern electronics, an improved warhead, better rocket motors, and more maneuverability and turned it into a much more effective HQ-2 early in the 21st century. Iran has been getting military technology from China since the 1980s. This apparently included the tech for the solid fuel rocket motors used by the Sayyad-2 and possibly some of the electronics. If an attacker does not have good electronic countermeasures the Sayyad-2 could be quite effective. China also has lots of S-300 and may have sold or leaked technical data on that system to Iran. In mid-2016 Israel received the last of 30 Italian M-346 jet trainers it ordered in 2012. The first ones arrived in mid-2014 and Israel began using them and planning modifications and upgrades. Israel was mainly carrying out modifications to make the M-346 more capable for training fighter pilots who will operate aircraft already modified for Israeli use. In addition the M-346s were being modified so they could also serve as a light bomber in wartime. So far the M-346 software has been modified to emulate the use of Israeli smart bombs and guided missiles launched from most Israeli warplanes. These software mods also simulate Israeli aircraft radars and other electronics. Israel is also adapting the M-346 to carry dummy versions of these weapons for training. Israel has also modified flight simulator software to represent the M-346 with these weapons capabilities. This was expected and the Italian manufacturer cooperated with the mods. This was important for Italy because Israel is not shy about praising the M-346 and providing versions of its M-346 modifications for export. At the moment Israel is the largest user of M-346s. The M-346 is a 9.5 ton, twin engine, two-seat aircraft. Top speed is 1,000 kilometers an hour. Max range with two drop tanks is 2,500 kilometers. The aircraft can also carry three tons of weapons including bombs, missiles, a cannon pod or external fuel (drop) tanks. For that purpose the aircraft has nine hard points, seven of them capable of using drop tanks. The M-346 is an excellent dual use (as a trainer and fighter-bomber) aircraft. The M-346 began production in 2011 although development started in the 1990s as a joint venture with Russia. But the two projects split in 2000 with the Russians continuing to develop theirs as the Yak-130. The market for post-Cold War jet trainers is intense and Italy had to be creative to make the M-346 competitive. So far 68 M-346s have been delivered or ordered. Customers include Italy, Israel, Singapore and Poland. Italy had a hard time getting M-346 sales going but now the aircraft has a growing record of good performance and satisfied customers. Italy needed Israel as a customer and Israel was interested but it took a creative barter deal to make the sale. Israel paid for the M-346s with Israeli weapons and military equipment. Since Israel is paid $993 million for the M-346s, the Italian armed forces had to buy an equal value of Israeli stuff to complete the transaction. Since Israel is one of the top ten arms exporters on the planet, Italy has no problem finding needed useful items to buy. Italian defense firms were not happy with this deal. While the barter arrangement may cost Italian firms some sales, the Italian military realizes that Israeli firms make a lot of high-tech military gear that is not produced in Italy. American and other European firms are likely to lose more sales from this deal. Thus the Italian military gets gear not produced locally and increases exports of Italian weapons. As the M-346s began to arrive in Israel the Italians realized there was another justification for the deal, the tinkering Israelis do with all imported aircraft. by Austin Bay August 16, 2017 On August 11, the U.S. island territory's Homeland Security Office of Civil Defense posted a website fact sheet entitled "In Case of Emergency...Preparing for an Imminent Missile Threat" in response to North Korea's threat to launch a volley of ballistic missiles in Guam's direction. The fact sheet included a warning reminiscent of late 1950s Cold War "duck and cover" advice American citizens were to follow during a nuclear attack: "Do not look at the flash or fireball...it can blind you." Guam, located west of the International Dateline, likes to call itself the place "where America's day begins." Last week, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un threatened to make Guam the place where Asia's next major war begins and the Korean War reignites. Reignite is the right verb. The Korean War has never officially ended, which makes it simultaneously a Cold War relic and a current, very dangerous conflict. Today, South Korea is an economic, political and cultural dynamo. If wealth, societal vitality and health determined victory, South Korea and its allies won the war hands down. Neither side, however, obtained a military victory. In 2017, South Korea likely has the edge in conventional combat power. Seoul's air, ground and naval forces are modern and well led. They are also well fed. North Korea fields a huge conventional force, but one armed with many poorly maintained and obsolete weapons. Since two to three million people in North Korea are near starvation, reports that non-elite ground units are short on rations have credibility. Despite endemic poverty, starvation and social decay, North Korea has obtained an edge in long-range missiles and weapons of mass destruction (both chemical and nuclear). The North's relentless pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles began with Communist dictator Kim Il Sung, the man who started the Korean War. He also founded the Kim dynasty. In 1994, the patriarch made a deal with the Clinton Administration, the Agreed Framework, where he agreed to end his nuclear quest in exchange for aid. He lied. His heirs, son Kim Jong Il and Guam-threatening grandson Kim Jong Un, have systematically violated every subsequent agreement to end the nuclear weapons quest. The systematic violations are why the U.S., Japan and South Korea have little interest in making deals where North Korea receives any kind of reward. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson made that clear in March when he declared, "strategic patience is over." Strategic patience was a waiting game -- with South Korea and its allies waiting on North Korea to mellow. Mellowing didn't occur. In 2011, Kim Jong Un began an accelerated missile development program. North Korea has now tested missiles that can strike Hawaii -- and likely the U.S. Pacific Northwest. Some analysts believe North Korea now has miniaturized nuclear weapons that can be mounted on missiles. That's why the Trump Administration is pursuing coercive diplomacy aimed at denuclearizing the Korean peninsula. That's diplo-speak for forcing North Korea to get rid of its nuclear weapons. The Trump team is employing diplomacy, economic power, military power and information power. This U.S. is also urging China to add additional pressure. And interestingly enough, China has. Kim threatened Guam after he engaged a belligerent exchange with U.S. President Donald Trump. Perhaps Kim decided shooting at Guam would trump Trump. But after he made the threat, China warned that North Korea will be on its own "if it launches missiles threatening U.S. soil and there is retaliation..." China, however, "would intervene if Washington strikes first." North Korea remains a threat. However, China is clearly separating itself from the Kim regime. China is no longer North Korea's certain shield. Colombia is at peace with the dismantling of FARC. But despite the nearly two decades of effort to eliminate FARC there is still the second largest leftist rebel group (ELN, a third the size of FARC) that is willing to talk peace as well. At this point the ELN is trying to get some kind of ceasefire, without much luck. In response they have offered to declare a unilateral one, for 90 days, to accommodate the coming visit by the pope (the first one from South America). ELN is smaller because its members are more into the goal of a communist dictatorship for Colombia. But Colombians have noted what happened when that was tried in Venezuela and, as a result, ELN has lost most of the popular support it once had. ELN has become a coalition of leftist gangsters, some of them more into it for the money than the politics. The ELN understands that if it does not make peace the security forces will probably hunt down and kill or capture most of them. Meanwhile the Colombian drug gangs and the criminal organizations in general are not interested in negotiating and are still thriving, often by recruiting some of the former FARC personnel. All these leftist rebels got going in the 1960s but by the 1990s were rapidly losing popular support. The gangsters (drug and otherwise) never had much public support to begin with and preferred to be feared. These gangs even corrupted the leftist rebels because after 2000 the drug gangs and leftist rebels basically merged in many parts of the country, and the war was increasingly about money, not ideology. A new reform government took advantage of this and organized an offensive that sharply reduced crime and gave the economy a chance to become the most successful in South America. But there is still a lot of popular support for the gangster life, especially among young unemployed men. That will be a lot more difficult to deal with. This can be seen already in how reluctant FARC leaders are about helping to curb the drug gangs. Many FARC members that surrendered still have links to drug gangs and the temptation is always there to return to the outlaw life. Venezuela After more than half a century of Colombia being chaotic country next to peaceful and prosperous Venezuela, the roles are reversed. Colombia has become peaceful and prosperous while neighboring Venezuela has officially turned into a socialist dictatorship. With the help of Cuban advisors and diehard, discredited, unelected and now outlaw Venezuelan socialist politicians the elected legislature was recently replaced by an unelected dictatorship that will do whatever is can to remain in power. Cuba, Iran, Russia, China and Colombian drug cartels all see this as an opportunity and will do what they can to keep the new dictatorship in power. For that they expect to be compensated. Venezuelas neighbors have all condemned the new dictatorship but cannot agree on what to do about it. Neighboring countries are concerned about the increasing lawlessness in Venezuela and how the place has become a sanctuary for drug gangs, Islamic terrorists and all sorts of outlaw activity. Adding to the border control problem is that fact that most of the people coming out of Venezuela are simply seeking to escape the hunger, unemployment and violence that have become the norm there. Prosperity and democracy died in Venezuela because of a decade of corruption and inept government created by the radical populist president Hugo Chavez. This former soldier got elected in 1999 and died of cancer in March 2013. Along the way Chavez trashed the Venezuelan economy and democracy. His handpicked replacement, Nicolas Maduro, was even worse. The old Chavez dream of Venezuela becoming a socialist dictatorship supported by oil revenue eventually faded along with cash reserves and the national credit rating. Venezuela currently owes about $100 billion for foreign lenders, mainly in China and Russia. Maduro has put priority on making scheduled payments on that secured foreign debt because if they dont the credit rating is damaged while China and Russia become less helpful. While most Venezuelans want reconstruction (under a non-socialist government) rather than civil war the leftists still in the government chose to risk all and stay in power, even at the risk of further chaos and suffering. President Maduro first tried to stay in power by manipulating the law and use a Supreme Court filled with recent pro-government appointees to try and outlaw democracy and grant him dictatorial power. This was opposed by most Venezuelans and in response Maduro staged a coup by forcing a July 30 vote (rigged by the government) to select 545 Maduro supporters for a Constituent Assembly that will legally revise the constitution and make Maduro a legal dictator. The armed forces leaders openly backed Maduro on this and it was made clear that no compromise was possible. The opposition organized a national vote of their own on July 18th and an overwhelming number of voters opposed the Maduro plans but since Maduro controls the security forces (he selected the current military and police generals for their loyalty and willingness to be bought and stay bought) massive peaceful demonstrations had no effect. What Maduro has done is clearly illegal but he feels the need to change the current constitution to survive. According to the original constitution only the parliament (an anti-Maduro national assembly) can perform a lot of key functions. But the Supreme Court ruled that the current parliament was illegal. The parliament describes these actions as a coup and most Venezuelans agree. Unlike most other democracy constitutions Venezuela does not allow the legislature to impeach (remove) the president. Rather the Supreme Court, whose members are appointed by the president (and approved by the legislature) do so. But before Maduros party lost control of the legislature in the 2015 elections he appointed enough loyal new judges to the Supreme Court to block any efforts to remove him from power. The legislature and the government were not able to agree on a compromise solution for any of this and Venezuelans were spending most of their time coping with continued economic collapse. Now Venezuelans must either submit to a Maduro dictatorship, support a civil war or flee the country. It is unclear how many Venezuelans would fight and Maduro and his followers are betting on being able to suppress whatever armed opposition develops. The increased visibility of Cuban political, police and military advisors indicates that any armed opposition will be expertly and ruthlessly dealt with. For Maduro suppressing popular opposition is the easy part. A more difficult problem is the economic wreckage he helped create. Venezuela has not got enough cash to support a police state and feed the population. Because of the coup Maduro is facing economic sanctions by the United States (the largest customer for Venezuelan oil and largest supplier of all sorts of essentials) and most other nations in the Americas and the industrialized world. Sanctions include bans on obtaining equipment and technology for reviving the Venezuelan oil industry. But at the moment Maduro does not have the cash to pay for that and credit is all used up as well. The UN and all of the neighbors condemn Maduro but the international community is unwilling to do much more than that. Some South American nations have expressed a willingness to join in on sanctions. In part that is because it is no secret that millions of sick and hungry Venezuelans are preparing to flee to neighboring countries, mainly Colombia and Brazil. Many will find they cannot get to and across the border because of health or financial problems, but this demonstrates how desperate the situation has become. Despite diverting most food and other consumer goods towards the security forces did not prevent a growing number of soldiers and policemen from complaining that their families were going hungry, often because one soldier or policemen was under pressure to help get food for his extended family and was unable to do so. Commanders are seeking solutions to this growing problem but there is no easy fix. What many commanders do is informally tolerate their subordinates stealing from any Venezuelans that can be seen as Maduro opponents. This now includes most Venezuelans so there are plenty of potential victims. Commanders who are caught doing this often get away with it by explaining it is an effective way to reduce open opposition to the Maduro government. The new leadership of the security forces was selected mainly for loyalty not competence in military of police work. The Cuban advisors have solutions for all these problems and it includes a violent and bloody imposition of universal social control. In Cuba this led to thousands of deaths and the continued use of prisons full of people considered politically unreliable. Cuba would, like most dictatorships, tolerate organized crime if the gangsters followed orders and helped keep the government in power and the people under control. Maduro is already doing that but some of his popular militias have turned against him because the food distribution system is now controlled by the military and many officers do not regard the popular militia as loyal or deserving of scarce food supplies. In the four months since it became clear what Maduro had planned there were nearly 400 demonstrations a week. Over 140 people died and at least 5,000 were arrested and at least a third of them are still imprisoned. Now it gets worse. Since the July 30 vote the number of Venezuelans fleeing the country has reached over 20,000 a day. Most head for Colombia, which is scrambling to cope with the surge of refugees. Over a million Venezuelans have already fled, most in the last few years and most of these people with skills and some money. The next few million Venezuelan refugees wont be so welcome because they will be those who could not afford to get out earlier and are now driven by hunger and fear of the new police state. Many Colombians on the border are optimistic mainly because they are familiar with Venezuelans, often because some kin are over there. A shared language and culture make it easier, at least in the border areas, to absorb the influx. But the number expected is larger than Colombia has ever had to deal with, especially in a short period of time. Cuban advisors point out that this rids the new dictatorship of potential opponents and reduces the number of people to be controlled. The Cuban advisors are less public about the problem of dealing with long land borders in rural areas of the country that have always been porous. Dictators prefer short, well-guarded borders or, preferably, no land borders at all. For Maduro the payoff is all that oil and the fact that China and Russia have loaned him so much money that it is in their interest to provide the tech and technicians to get the Venezuelan oil facilities going again. China and Russia will do that, for a price. That is being negotiated. Iran and Cuba also provide special skills and are also negotiating their fee. Thats how a dictatorship works. You steal what you can and pay what you must. Since 2013 Venezuelan GDP has dropped 35 percent and per-capita GDP is down 40 percent. Things will get worse before they get better even with a police state. Thats because the new government must put priority on keeping the government employees, especially the ones with guns, satisfied and content to follow orders. You dont need a Cuban advisor to point that out but the Cubans provide practical advice on how to get it done as quickly as possible. Maduro has a bigger problem because most Venezuelans, especially most of those who supported Chavez, oppose this attempt at forming what amounts to a military dictatorship. Part of the problem that the opposition includes a lot of lawyers and members (until recently) of the Maduro government. The lawyers and senior officials who oppose Maduro (openly or not) have assisted in getting a lot of documentary evidence (of the corruption and illegal behavior of Maduro and his supporters) out of the country. This evidence is going to be used to indict Maduro for all sorts of crimes and justify all manner of sanctions. Maduro must be able to sell his oil and do business internationally to survive. Maduro needs a minimum number of loyal (out of fear or greed) supporters to form and operate a police state. Despite support from Cuba, Iran, China and Russia, it is not a sure thing. August 15, 2017: In Colombia the FARC disarmament process was officially completed today as the last of 8,123 weapons and 1.3 million rounds of ammo (and other explosive devices) was taken from the demobilization camps by the UN observers. The weapons and ammo will be destroyed. The personnel demobilization ended in late June with 6,803 FARC members showing up with 7,132 weapons. These weapons were locked up in containers under UN supervision and some will be melted down for a peace monument. Some FARC members still retained 700 weapons which were used to maintain order at the 26 camps where FARC members assembled for demobilization. These 700 weapons were surrendered on August 1st when the camps were turned into civilian retraining centers and security became a police matter. The demobilized FARC also announced a name change. The group would still be known as FARC but that would now mean Revolutionary Alternative Force of Colombia rather than Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. August 7, 2017: In the southwest a UN team recovering an old FARC weapons cache (with the help of demobilized FARC who had operated in this area) was ambushed by unidentified (as yet) gunmen. One member of the UN team was wounded and the armed team escort returned fire and the attackers fled. August 6, 2017: In northern Venezuela a group of men in army uniforms attacked an army base outside Valencia and stole a quantity of weapons and equipment. It later turned out that only four of the 20 attackers were currently on active duty and most of the others were former members of the security forces in army uniforms. The government said it was a coup attempt planned by the United States. July 30, 2017: A national poll before the Constituent Assembly vote today indicated only 23 percent approved of a Constituent Assembly. At the same time only 19 percent of Venezuelans believed a Constituent Assembly could solve the current problems. It did not make any difference because the only candidates allowed were those who supported Maduro. So naturally Maduro won. July 28, 2017: Avianca airlines in Colombia joined a growing list of foreign airlines and shut down its operations in Venezuela. Aeromexico did so a year ago and most major airlines in the Western hemisphere followed. This is something that began in 2014 because the government would not let the airlines get money out of the country to pay for operating foreign flights into and out of Venezuela. The extreme foreign currency restrictions were deemed necessary because the shrinking economy was providing less foreign currency to buy essential imports of food and consumer goods. Air Canada was the first of many foreign airlines that halted operations in Venezuela until foreign firms could again move cash out (mostly to pay for foreign goods and services, not profits). Cuba, since the 1960s, has cheated foreign companies out of billions of dollars by never letting them get their money or assets out of the country and, in most cases, eventually simply stealing the company assets in Cuba. Many companies operating in Venezuela have lost money in Cuba years ago and have not forgotten, so Venezuela wont have the opportunity to steal as much as Cuba did. Not many Venezuelans can afford to use air travel anymore and the government officials can make special arrangements. At this point there are still ten major foreign airlines (American Airlines, Air Europa, Air France, Caribbean Airlines, Copa Airlines, Cubana, Iberia, Latin American Wings, Tame, TAP and Turkish Airlines) flying in and out of Venezuela, often only occasionally. The Internet of Things (IoT) has been growing at a rapid rate. It seems that every day there is a new connected product that is designed to make our lives easier. Some have connections that are obvious; smart speakers and televisions are good examples. Other products are connected in an unobtrusive way and simply download updates without you even knowing. LockState's RemoteLock LS-6i is just such a device. The LS-6i is a lock designed to be used on home or business doors. It is very popular for Airbnb businesses because the knob has a programmable keypad, which is excellent for generating guest codes. The lock is equipped with wifi, which allows for remote control, as well as for keeping the firmware updated quietly in the background. Last week owners of the 6i began finding themselves locked out of their residences and businesses. Customers started flooding Twitter with complaints. @lockstate Update your Twitter feed on massive 6i/6000i lock failure. 14-18 days for a replacement? All #Airbnb Guests locked out #lockstate --- Paul Falworth (@pfalworth) August 8, 2017 LockState CEO Nolan Mondrow sent out an email to impacted customers explaining that the lock failures were due to a "fatal error" caused by a bad firmware update. Worse yet, the error prevented the components from connecting to the company's servers. Therefore, remotely fixing the software was impossible. "We realize the impact that this issue may have on you and your business, and we are deeply sorry," Mondrow apologized. "Every employee and resource at LockState are focused on resolving this for you as quickly as possible. We hope that you will give us a chance to regain your trust." At least 500 LS-6i customers had been affected including as many as 200 Airbnb businesses. According to Kaspersky-run blog Threatpost, the update also bricked 10 other LockState products. Most of the customers voicing complaints on Twitter are unimpressed at the time it is taking for the company to handle the situation. @lockstate Your firmware update bricked at least 500 locks. Very costly. Replacement in 14-18 days? Email response over 12 hours? Not OK. --- Coffee Review (@coffeereview) August 8, 2017 I sent an email. You are on the clock. Still unsatisfactory with how @LockState has handled this. #someoneshouldbefired --- paul robert (@PRobert406) August 8, 2017 To fix the problem, bricked devices have to be sent back to LockState for a manual reset, which takes five to seven days. Customers may also opt to receive a replacement lock and send back the faulty unit. Inexplicably this process takes much longer - two to three weeks. The company claims that it has fixed 60 percent of the failed devices. At that rate, it looks like the remainder of the locks should be taken care of by the end of this week. In addition to paying all shipping costs, the firm is including one year of its premium LockState Connect Portal free to impacted customers. LinkedIn's legal battle with workforce analytics startup hiQ Labs has seen a federal judge rule against the Microsoft-owned service. San Francisco US District Judge Edward Chen granted a preliminary injunction stopping the social networking site from restricting hiQ's access to public profiles. Back in May, LinkedIn sent hiQ Labs a cease and desist letter demanding that it stopped scraping its members' public profile data; something hiQ Labs did approximately every two weeks. The company called its business "a crystal ball that helps you determine skills gaps or turnover risks months ahead of time, and a platform that shows you how and where to focus your efforts." LinkedIn said hiQ "is using processes to improperly, and without authorization, access and copy data from LinkedIn's website" and it is "impermissibly and illegally accessing and scraping data from LinkedIn," thereby violating its members' trust. In response, hiQ Labs hit LinkedIn with a lawsuit. Judge Chen has sided with hiQ labs and given LinkedIn 24 hours to remove any technology that prevents the scraping of members' public data. "To the extent LinkedIn has already put in place technology to prevent hiQ from accessing these public profiles, it is ordered to remove any such barriers," Chen's ruling states. "We're disappointed in the court's ruling," said LinkedIn company spokeswoman Nicole Leverich. "This case is not over. We will continue to fight to protect our members' ability to control the information they make available on LinkedIn." hiQ has assured LinkedIn users that it only monitors members who work for companies that have engaged its services, and it does not alert bosses when employees make changes to their profiles, according to the BBC. "We only review public profile information. We don't republish or sell the data we collect. We only use it as the basis for the valuable analysis we provide to employers," said an hiQ Labs spokeswoman. "Moreover, LinkedIn doesn't own the data contained in member profiles. It is information the members themselves have decided to display publicly, and it is available to anyone with access to a web browser." The case could have far-reaching implications when it comes to social media companies and the amount of control they have over members' publicly available information. AAA Reminds Motorists: School's Open! Tips & Suggestions for Drivers as Summer Ends, School Begins The end of summer means 55.4 millionA children headingA back to school in the United States.A AAA East Central reminds drivers to be extra cautious as school zones become more active, and be aware of school bus safety.A According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, a pedestrian struck by a vehicle traveling at 20 mph is about two-thirds less likely to be killed as compared to a pedestrian struck by a vehicle traveling at 30 mph.A aSchool zone speed limits are in place to save lives,a??? says Lynda Lambert, AAA East Central Safety Adviser.A aAs families prepare for the upcoming school year, we encourage parents to talk about the importance of school zone safety with their children and teen drivers.a???A AAAas Schoolas Open a Drive Carefully campaign was launched nationally in 1946 to help reduce the number of school-related pedestrian injuries and fatalities.A The campaign kicks off each fall and continues throughout the school year to remind motorists to watch out for children as they travel to and from school.A In addition to slowing down, AAA offers the following advice for motorists to keep children safe as they navigate their way through school zones: Ditch distractions.A Research shows that taking your eyes off the road for just two seconds doubles your chances of crashing.A Reduce risk by not using your cell phone, eating, or practicing any other form of distracted driving. Stay alert. Donat rush into and out of driveways.A Expect pedestrians on the sidewalk, especially around schools and in neighborhoods.A Also, mind your vehicleas blind spots; check for children on the sidewalk, in the driveway, and around your vehicle before slowly backing up.A Stop at stop signs. It sounds obvious, but research shows that more than one third of drivers roll through stop signs in school zones or neighborhoods.A Always come to a complete stop, checking carefully for children on sidewalks and in crosswalks before proceeding.A Watch for bikes. Children on bicycles are often unpredictable; expect the unexpected.A Slow down and allow at least three feet of passing distance between your vehicle and a bicyclist.A Brake for buses. It may be tempting to drive around a stopped school bus, but not only is it dangerous, itas against the law. Plan ahead.A Leave early for your destination and build in extra time for congestion.A If possible, modify your route to avoid school zones. Look for AAA School Safety Patrollers. With more than 600,000 AAA School Safety Patrollers at 31,000 schools across the country, theyare a sure sign that youare approaching a school zone. AAA East Central is a not-for-profit association with 81 local offices in Kentucky, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia serving 2.7 million members. Consolidated Edison, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in the regulated electric, gas, and steam delivery businesses in the United States. It offers electric services to approximately 3.5 million customers in New York City and Westchester County; gas to approximately 1.1 million customers in Manhattan, the Bronx, parts of Queens, and Westchester County; and steam to approximately 1,555 customers in parts of Manhattan. The company also supplies electricity to approximately 0.3 million customers in southeastern New York and northern New Jersey; and gas to approximately 0.1 million customers in southeastern New York. In addition, it operates 533 circuit miles of transmission lines; 15 transmission substations; 64 distribution substations; 87,564 in-service line transformers; 3,924 pole miles of overhead distribution lines; and 2,291 miles of underground distribution lines, as well as 4,350 miles of mains and 377,971 service lines for natural gas distribution. Further, the company owns, operates, and develops renewable and energy infrastructure projects; and provides energy-related products and services to wholesale and retail customers, as well as invests in electric and gas transmission projects. It primarily sells electricity to industrial, commercial, residential, and government customers. The company was founded in 1823 and is based in New York, New York. The following companies are subsidiares of Centene: AT Learning Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, AT Medics Holdings LLP an English and Welsh LLP, AT Medics Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, AT Technology (Private) Ltd. a Pakistan private company, AT Technology Services Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, AWC of Syracuse Inc. a New York corporation, Absolute Total Care Inc. a South Carolina corporation, AcariaHealth Inc. a Delaware corporation, AcariaHealth Pharmacy #11 Inc. a Texas corporation, AcariaHealth Pharmacy #12 Inc. a New York corporation, AcariaHealth Pharmacy #13 Inc. a California corporation, AcariaHealth Pharmacy #14 Inc. a California corporation, AcariaHealth Pharmacy #26 Inc. a Delaware corporation, AcariaHealth Pharmacy Inc. a California corporation, AcariaHealth Solutions Inc. a Delaware corporation, Access Medical Acquisition LLC a Delaware LLC, Access Medical Group of Florida City LLC a Florida LLC, Access Medical Group of Hialeah LLC a Florida LLC, Access Medical Group of Lakeland LLC a Florida LLC, Access Medical Group of Miami LLC a Florida LLC, Access Medical Group of North Miami Beach LLC a Florida LLC, Access Medical Group of Opa-Locka LLC a Florida LLC, Access Medical Group of Perrine LLC a Florida LLC, Access Medical Group of Tampa II LLC a Florida LLC, Access Medical Group of Tampa III LLC a Florida LLC, Access Medical Group of Tampa LLC a Florida LLC, Access Medical Group of Westchester LLC a Florida LLC, Accountable Care Coalition Direct Contracting LLC a Florida LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Chesapeake LLC a Maryland LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Community Health Centers II LLC a Texas LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Community Health Centers LLC a Texas LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers II LLC a Delaware LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers III LLC a Delaware LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers IV LLC a Delaware LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers LLC a Hawaii LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers V LLC a Delaware LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Elite Providers VII LLC an Arizona LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Florida Partners LLC a Florida LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Georgia LLC a Georgia LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Maryland LLC a Maryland LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Maryland Primary Care LLC a Maryland LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of New Jersey Inc. a New Jersey corporation, Accountable Care Coalition of North Texas LLC a Texas LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Northeast Georgia LLC a Georgia LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Northeast Partners LLC a Pennsylvania LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Northwest Florida LLC a Florida LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Prime Health LLC an Oregon LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Quality Health II LLC a Delaware LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Quality Health III LLC a Delaware LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Quality Health LLC an Oregon LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Partners LLC a Georgia LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Physician Partners LLC a South Carolina LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Texas Inc. a Texas corporation, Accountable Care Coalition of Southeast Wisconsin LLC a Wisconsin LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Tennessee LLC a Tennessee LLC, Accountable Care Coalition of Texas Inc. a Texas corporation, Agate Resources Inc. an Oregon corporation, AirLogix, Ambetter of Magnolia Inc. a Mississippi corporation, Ambetter of North Carolina Inc. a North Carolina corporation, Ambetter of Peach State Inc. a Georgia corporation, America's 1st Choice California Holdings LLC a Florida corporation, American Progressive Life and Health Insurance Company of New York a New York corporation, Apixio, Apixio Inc a Delaware corporation, Arch Personalized Medicine Initiative LLC a Missouri LLC, Arkansas Health & Wellness Health Plan Inc. an Arkansas corporation, Arkansas Total Care Holding Company LLC a Delaware LLC, Arkansas Total Care Inc. an Arkansas corporation, B2B Gestion Integra S.L.U. a Spanish S.L.U., B2B Salud S.L.U. a Spanish S.L.U., BMI Healthcare Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, BMI Hospital Decontamination Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, BMI Imaging Clinic Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, BMI Southend Private Hospital Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, BMI Syon Clinic Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Bankers Reserve Life Insurance Company of Wisconsin a Wisconsin corporation, Bishopswood SPV Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Bridgeway Health Solutions LLC a Delaware LLC, Bridgeway Health Solutions of Arizona Inc. an Arizona corporation, Buckeye Community Health Plan Inc. an Ohio corporation, Buckeye Health Plan Community Solutions Inc. an Ohio corporation, CCTX Holdings LLC a Texas LLC, CEF Holding Company Limited a limited liability Malta company, CMC Real Estate Company LLC a Delaware LLC, CT Poprad s.r.o. a Slovakia S.R.O., CT Presov s.r.o. a Slovakia S.R.O., California Health and Wellness Plan a California corporation, Cantina Laredo Clayton LP a Delaware limited partnership, Cardium Health Services, Care 1st Health Plan of Arizona Inc. an Arizona corporation, Care1st Health Plan Administrative Services Inc. an Arizona corporation, Carolina Complete Health Holding Company Partnership a Delaware partnership, Carolina Complete Health Inc. a North Carolina corporation, CeltiCare Health Plan Holdings LLC a Delaware LLC, CeltiCare Health Plan of Massachusetts Inc. a Massachusetts corporation, Celtic Group Inc., Celtic Group Inc. a Delaware corporation, Celtic Insurance Company an Illinois corporation, Cenpatico Behavioral Health LLC a California LLC, Centene Center I LLC a Delaware LLC, Centene Center II LLC a Delaware LLC, Centene Center LLC a Delaware LLC, Centene Company of Texas LP a Texas limited partnership, Centene Europe Finance Company Limited a limited liability Malta company, Centene Health Plan Holdings Inc. a Delaware corporation, Centene Institute for Advanced Health Education LLC a Delaware LLC, Centene International Financing Company Limited a limited liability Malta company, Centene International Ventures LLC a Delaware LLC, Centene Management Company LLC a Wisconsin LLC, Centene Technology Europe S.L.U. a Spanish S.L.U., Centene Technology UK Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Centene Venture Company Alabama Health Plan Inc. an Alabama corporation, Centene Venture Company Florida Inc. a Florida corporation, Centene Venture Company Illinois Inc. an Illinois corporation, Centene Venture Company Indiana Inc. an Indiana corporation, Centene Venture Company Kansas Inc. a Kansas corporation, Centene Venture Company Michigan Inc. a Michigan corporation, Centene Venture Company Tennessee Inc. a Tennessee corporation, Centene Venture Insurance Company Texas Inc. a Texas corporation, Centro Inmunologocia De La Comunidad Valenciana S.L. a Spanish S.L., Centurion Correctional Healthcare of New Mexico LLC a New Mexico LLC, Centurion Detention Health Services LLC a Delaware LLC, Centurion LLC a Delaware LLC, Centurion of Arizona LLC an Arizona LLC, Centurion of Delaware LLC a Delaware LLC, Centurion of Florida LLC a Florida LLC, Centurion of Indiana LLC an Indiana LLC, Centurion of Kansas LLC a Kansas LLC, Centurion of Minnesota LLC a Minnesota LLC, Centurion of Mississippi LLC a Mississippi LLC, Centurion of New Hampshire LLC a Delaware LLC, Centurion of Pennsylvania LLC a Pennsylvania LLC, Centurion of Tennessee LLC a Tennessee LLC, Centurion of Vermont LLC a Vermont LLC, Centurion of West Virginia LLC a West Virginia LLC, Centurion of Wyoming LLC a Wyoming LLC, Chrysalis Medical Services LLC a New Jersey LLC, Circle Birmingham Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Circle Clinical Services Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Circle Harmony Health Ltd. a Hong Kong private company, Circle Health 1 Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Circle Health 2 Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Circle Health 3 Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Circle Health 4 Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Circle Health Holdings Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Circle Health Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Circle Holdings Ltd. a Jersey private company, Circle Hospital (Reading) Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Circle International an English and Welsh PLC, Circle Nottingham Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Circle Rehabilitation Services Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Clinica Santo Domingo De Lugo S.L. a Spanish S.L., Collaborative Health Systems IPA LLC a Florida LLC, Collaborative Health Systems LLC a New York LLC, Collaborative Health Systems of Maryland LLC a Maryland LLC, Collaborative Health Systems of Virginia LLC a Virginia LLC, Community Medical Group, Community Medical Holdings Corporation a Delaware corporation, Comprehensive Health Management Inc. a Florida corporation, Coordinated Care Corporation an Indiana corporation, Coordinated Care of Washington Inc. a Washington corporation, DELMARVA Collaborative Care LLC a Delaware LLC, Discare CZ a.s. a Czech Republic A.S., District Community Care Inc. a Washington D.C. corporation, Dr Magnet s.r.o. a Slovakia S.R.O., Elche-Crevillente Salud a Spanish S.A., Envolve Benefits Options Inc. a Delaware corporation, Envolve Dental IPA of New York Inc. a New York corporation, Envolve Dental Inc. a Delaware corporation, Envolve Dental of Florida Inc. a Florida corporation, Envolve Dental of Texas Inc. a Texas corporation, Envolve Health, Envolve Holdings Inc. a Delaware corporation, Envolve Inc. a Delaware corporation, Envolve Optical Inc. a Delaware corporation, Envolve PeopleCare Inc. a Delaware corporation, Envolve Pharmacy IPA LLC a New York LLC, Envolve Pharmacy Solutions Inc. a Delaware corporation, Envolve Total Vision Inc. a Delaware corporation, Envolve Vision Benefits Inc. a Delaware corporation, Envolve Vision IPA of New York Inc. a New York corporation, Envolve Vision Inc. a Delaware corporation, Envolve Vision of Florida Inc. a Florida corporation, Envolve Vision of Texas Inc. a Texas corporation, Essential Care Partners LLC a Texas LLC, Fidelis Care, Forensic Health Services LLC a Delaware LLC, Foundation Care LLC a Missouri LLC, GHG (DB) Pension Trustees Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, GHG Healthcare Holdings Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, GHG Intermediate Holdings Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, GHG Leasing Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, GHG Mount Alvernia Hospital Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, General Healthcare Group Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, General Healthcare Holdings 2 Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, General Healthcare Holdings 3 Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Generale de Sante International Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Golden Triangle Physician Alliance a Texas not-for-profit corporation, Granite State Health Plan Inc. a New Hampshire corporation, HHS Texas Management Inc. a Texas corporation, HHS Texas Management LP a Texas limited partnership, HLM Strategic Investment Fund L.P. a Delaware limited partnership, Hallmark Life Insurance Company an Arizona corporation, Harmony Health Management Inc. a New Jersey corporation, Harmony Health Plan Inc. an Illinois corporation, Harmony Health Systems Inc. a New Jersey corporation, Health Care Enterprises LLC a Delaware LLC, Health Net Access Inc. an Arizona corporation, Health Net Community Solutions Inc. a California corporation, Health Net Community Solutions of Arizona Inc. an Arizona corporation, Health Net Federal Services LLC a Delaware LLC, Health Net Health Plan of Oregon Inc. an Oregon corporation, Health Net LLC, Health Net LLC a Delaware LLC, Health Net Life Insurance Company a California corporation, Health Net Life Reinsurance Company a Cayman Islands corporation, Health Net of Arizona Inc. an Arizona corporation, Health Net of California Inc. a California corporation, Health Plan Real Estate Holdings Inc. a Missouri corporation, HealthSmart Benefit Solutions Inc. an Illinois corporation, HealthSmart Benefits Management LLC a Texas LLC, HealthSmart Care Management Solutions LP a Texas partnership, HealthSmart Information Systems Inc. a Texas corporation, HealthSmart Preferred Care II LP a Texas partnership, HealthSmart Preferred Network II Inc. a Delaware corporation, HealthSmart Primary Care Clinics LP a Texas partnership, HealthSmart Rx Solutions Inc. an Ohio corporation, Healthy Louisiana Holdings LLC a Delaware LLC , Healthy Missouri Holdings Inc. a Missouri corporation, Healthy Washington Holdings Inc. a Delaware corporation, Heritage Health Systems Inc. a Texas corporation, Heritage Health Systems of Texas Inc. a Texas corporation, Heritage Physician Networks a Texas not-for-profit corporation, Home State Health Plan Inc. a Missouri corporation, HomeScripts.com LLC a Michigan LLC, Hospinet S.L. a Spanish S.L., Hospital Polusa S.A. a Spanish S.A., Hospital Povisa S.A. a Spanish S.A., Illinois Health Practice Alliance LLC a Delaware corporation, Infraestructuras y Servicios de Alzira S. L. a Spanish S.L., Integrated Mental Health Services a Texas corporation, Interpreta Holdings Inc. a Delaware corporation, Interpreta Inc. a Delaware corporation, Iowa Total Care Inc. an Iowa corporation, Kentucky Spirit Health Plan Inc. a Kentucky corporation , LifeShare Management Group LLC, LifeShare Management Group LLC a New Hampshire LLC, Louisiana Healthcare Connections Inc. a Louisiana corporation , MH Services International Holdings (UK) Limited an English and Welsh private company, MHM, MHM Correctional Services LLC a Delaware LLC, MHM Health Professionals LLC a Delaware LLC, MHM Services Inc. a Delaware corporation, MHM Services of California LLC a California LLC, MHM Solutions LLC a Delaware LLC, MHN Government Services LLC a Delaware LLC, MHN Services LLC a California LLC, MHS Consulting International Inc. a Delaware corporation, MHS Travel & Charter Inc. a Wisconsin corporation, MR Centrum Melnick s.r.o. a Czech Republic S.R.O., MR Poprad s.r.o. a Slovakia S.R.O., MR Zilina s.r.o. a Slovakia S.R.O., Magellan Health Inc, Magnolia Health Plan Inc. a Mississippi corporation, Managed Health Network LLC a Delaware LLC, Managed Health Network a California corporation, Managed Health Services Insurance Corporation a Wisconsin corporation, Marina Salud S.A. a Spanish S.A., Maryland Collaborative Care LLC a Maryland LLC, Maryland Collaborative Care Transformation Organization Inc. a Delaware corporation, Mauli Ola Health and Wellness Inc. a Hawaii corporation, Medicina NZ spol s.r.o. a Slovakia S.R.O., Meriden Hospital Advanced Imaging Centre Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Meridian Health Plan of Illinois Inc. an Illinois corporation, Meridian Health Plan of Michigan Inc. a Michigan corporation, Meridian Management Company LLC (a/k/a Meridian Administration Company LLC) a Michigan LLC, Meridian Network Services LLC a Michigan LLC, MeridianRx IPA LLC a New York LLC, MeridianRx LLC a Michigan LLC, MeridianRx of Indiana LLC a Michigan LLC, Michigan Complete Health a Michigan corporation, Mid-Atlantic Collaborative Care LLC a Maryland LLC, Mount Alvernia PET CT Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Nations Healthcare Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Nebraska Total Care Inc. a Nebraska corporation, Network Providers LLC a Delaware LLC, New York Quality Healthcare Corporation a New York corporation, Next Door Neighbors Inc. a Delaware corporation, Next Door Neighbors LLC. a Delaware LLC, North West Cancer Clinic Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Northern Maryland Collaborative Care LLC a Maryland LLC, Novasys Health Inc. a Delaware corporation, OB Care a Czech Republic S.R.O., OB Klinika a.s. a Czech Republic A.S., Ohana Health Plan Inc. a Hawaii corporation, Oklahoma Complete Health Holding Company LLC a Delaware LLC, Oklahoma Complete Health Inc. an Oklahoma corporation, One Care by Care 1st Health Plans of Arizona Inc an Arizona corporation, Operose Health (Group) Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Operose Health (Group) UK Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Operose Health Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, OptiCare Health Systems - Managed Vision Business, PANTHERx Rare Pharmacy, PRIMEROSALUD S.L.U. a Spanish S.L.U., Panther Pass Co LLC a Pennsylvania LLC, Panther Specialty Holding Co LLC a Pennsylvania LLC, Pantherx Access Services LLC a Pennsylvania LLC, Pantherx Specialty LLC a Pennsylvania LLC, Parker LP LLC a Nevada LLC, Peach State Health Plan Inc. a Georgia corporation, Penn Marketing America LLC a Delaware LLC, Pennsylvania Health and Wellness Inc. a Pennsylvania corporation, Preamed s.r.o. a Slovakia S.R.O., Premier Marketing Group LLC a Delaware LLC, Primary Care Partners Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Pro Diagnostic Group A.S. a Slovakia A.S., Pro Magnet CZ s.r.o. a Czech Republic S.R.O., Pro Magnet s.r.o a Slovakia S.R.O., Pro Nuclear a.s. a Slovakia A.S., Pro RTG s.r.o a Slovakia S.R.O., Progress Medical A.S. a Czech Republic A.S., Prowl Holdings LLC a Delaware LLC, QCA Healthplan Inc. an Arkansas corporation, Qualchoice Life and Health Insurance Company and Arkansas company, Quincy Coverage Corporation a New York corporation, Rhythm Health Tennessee Inc. a Tennessee corporation, Ribera Diagnostics S.L.U. a Spanish S.L.U., Ribera Healthcare S.L.U. a Spanish S.L.U., Ribera Lab S.L.U. a Spanish S.L.U., Ribera Management S.L.U. a Spanish S.L.U., Ribera Salud II a Spanish UTE, Ribera Salud Proyectos S.L. a Spanish S.L., Ribera Salud S.A. a Spanish S.A., Ribera Salud Tecnologias S.L.U. a Spanish S.L.U., Ribera Slaud Infraestructuras S.L.U. a Spanish S.L.U., Ribera-Quilpro UTE a Spanish UTE, Runnymeade SPV Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Salus Administrative Services Inc. a New York corporation, Salus IPA LLC a New York LLC, Secure Capital Solutions 2000 S.L.U. a Spanish S.L.U., SelectCare Health Plans Inc. a Texas corporation, SelectCare of Texas Inc. a Texas corporation, Servicios De Mantenimiento Prevencor S.L.U. a Spanish S.L.U., Shanghai Circle Harmony Hospital Management Limited a Chinese private company, SilverSummit Healthplan Inc. a Nevada corporation, Social Health Bridge LLC a Delaware LLC, Social Health Bridge Trust a Delaware trust, Specialty Therapeutic Care GP LLC a Texas LLC, Specialty Therapeutic Care Holdings, Specialty Therapeutic Care Holdings LLC a Delaware LLC, Specialty Therapeutic Care LP a Texas limited partnership, Sunflower State Health Plan Inc. a Kansas corporation, Sunshine Health Community Solutions Inc. a Florida corporation, Sunshine Health Holding LLC a Florida LLC, Sunshine State Health Plan Inc. a Florida corporation, Superior Health Management Advisors LLC, Superior HealthPlan Community Solutions Inc. a Texas corporation, Superior HealthPlan Inc. a Texas corporation, TKH Holding Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, Terapias Medicas Domiciliarias S.L. a Spanish S.L., The Pavilion Clinic Ltd. an English and Welsh private company, The Practice Properties Limited an English and Welsh private company, The WellCare Management Group Inc. a New York corporation, Three Shires Hospital LP an English and Welsh limited partnership, Torrejon Salud S.A. a Spanish S.A., Torrevieja Salud S.L.U. a Spanish S.L.U., Torrevieja Salud UTE a Spanish UTE, Transplant Health Solutions IPA Inc. a New York corporation, Trillium Community Health Plan Inc. an Oregon corporation, UAM Agent Services Corp. an Iowa corporation, US Script, Universal American Corp. a Delaware corporation, Universal American Financial Services Inc. a Delaware corporation, Universal American Holdings LLC a Delaware LLC, Vivamed s.r.o. a Slovakia S.R.O., WCG Health Management Inc. a Delaware corporation, WellCare Health Insurance Company of America an Arkansas corporation, WellCare Health Insurance Company of Kentucky Inc. a Kentucky corporation, WellCare Health Insurance Company of Louisiana Inc. a Louisiana corporation, WellCare Health Insurance Company of Nevada Inc. a Nevada corporation, WellCare Health Insurance Company of New Hampshire Inc. a New Hampshire corporation, WellCare Health Insurance Company of New Jersey Inc. a New Jersey corporation, WellCare Health Insurance Company of Oklahoma Inc. an Oklahoma corporation, WellCare Health Insurance Company of Washington Inc. a Washington corporation, WellCare Health Insurance of Arizona Inc. an Arizona corporation, WellCare Health Insurance of Connecticut Inc. a Connecticut corporation, WellCare Health Insurance of Hawaii Inc. a Hawaii corporation, WellCare Health Insurance of New York Inc. a New York corporation, WellCare Health Insurance of North Carolina Inc. a North Carolina corporation, WellCare Health Insurance of Southwest Inc. an Arizona corporation, WellCare Health Insurance of Tennessee Inc. a Tennessee corporation, WellCare Health Plans, WellCare Health Plans Inc. a Delaware corporation, WellCare Health Plans of Arizona Inc. an Arizona corporation, WellCare Health Plans of Kentucky Inc. a Kentucky corporation, WellCare Health Plans of Massachusetts Inc. a Massachusetts corporation, WellCare Health Plans of Missouri Inc. a Missouri corporation, WellCare Health Plans of New Jersey Inc. a New Jersey corporation, WellCare Health Plans of Rhode Island Inc. a Rhode Island corporation, WellCare Health Plans of Vermont Inc. a Vermont corporation, WellCare National Health Insurance Company a Texas corporation, WellCare Prescription Insurance Inc. an Arizona corporation, WellCare of Alabama Inc. an Alabama corporation, WellCare of Arkansas Inc. an Arkansas corporation, WellCare of California Inc. a California corporation, WellCare of Connecticut Inc. a Connecticut corporation, WellCare of Georgia Inc. a Georgia corporation, WellCare of Illinois Inc. an Illinois corporation, WellCare of Indiana Inc. an Indiana corporation, WellCare of Maine Inc. a Maine corporation, WellCare of Michigan Holding Company a Michigan corporation, WellCare of Mississippi Inc. a Mississippi corporation, WellCare of Missouri Health Insurance Company Inc. a Missouri corporation, WellCare of New Hampshire Inc. a New Hampshire corporation, WellCare of New York Inc. a New York corporation, WellCare of North Carolina Inc. a North Carolina corporation, WellCare of Ohio Inc. an Ohio corporation, WellCare of Oklahoma Inc. an Oklahoma corporation, WellCare of Pennsylvania Inc. a Pennsylvania corporation, WellCare of South Carolina Inc. a South Carolina corporation, WellCare of Texas Inc. a Texas corporation, WellCare of Virginia Inc. a Virginia corporation, WellCare of Washington Inc. a Washington corporation, Western Sky Community Care Inc. a New Mexico corporation, Windsor Health Group Inc. a Tennessee corporation, Winning Security S.L. a Spanish S.L., and Worlco Management Services Inc. a New York corporation. Read More Under Armour, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the developing, marketing, and distributing performance apparel, footwear, and accessories for men, women, and youth. The company offers its apparel in compression, fitted, and loose fit types. It also provides footwear products for running, training, basketball, cleated sports, recovery, and outdoor applications. In addition, the company offers accessories, which include gloves, bags, headwear, and sports masks; and digital subscription and advertising services under the MapMyRun and MapMyRide platforms. It primarily offers its products under the UNDER ARMOUR, UA, HEATGEAR, COLDGEAR, HOVR, PROTECT THIS HOUSE, I WILL, UA Logo, ARMOUR FLEECE, and ARMOUR BRA brands. The company sells its products through wholesale channels, including national and regional sporting goods chains, independent and specialty retailers, department store chains, mono-branded Under Armour retail stores, institutional athletic departments, and leagues and teams, as well as independent distributors; and directly to consumers through a network of 422 brand and factory house stores, as well as through e-commerce websites. It operates in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia-Pacific, and Latin America. Under Armour, Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland. Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. provides financial products and services in South Korea and internationally. The company operates through six segments: Banking, Credit Card, Securities, Life Insurance, Credit, and Others. It offers retail banking services, including demand, savings, and fixed deposit-taking; checking accounts; mortgage and home equity, and retail lending; electronic banking and automatic teller machines (ATM); and bill paying, payroll and check-cashing, currency exchange, and wire fund transfer services. The company also provides corporate banking services, such as investment banking, real estate financing, overseas real estate and development project financing, infrastructure and structured financing, equity/venture investments, mergers and acquisitions consulting; securitization and derivatives services comprising securities and derivative products, and foreign exchange trading; and working capital loans and facilities loans. In addition, it is involved in treasury and investment activities in international capital markets consisting of foreign currency-denominated securities trading, foreign exchange trading and services, trade-related financial services, international factoring services, and foreign banking operations. Further, the company offers trust account management, securities brokerage, and asset management services, as well as leasing and equipment financing, savings banking, loan collection and credit reporting, collective investment administration, private equity investment, and financial system development services. As of December 31, 2021, it operated a network of 784 service centers; 5,234 ATMs; 7 cash dispensers; and 85 digital kiosks. Shinhan Financial Group Co., Ltd. was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Hope Hicks has a new role in the White House. Photo: Pool/Getty Images After the unceremonious ouster of Anthony Scaramucci, the White House is on the hunt for a new director of communications preferably one who doesnt go on on-the-record profanity-filled rants to reporters. But until they find one, the New York Times reports that Trump aide Hope Hicks will fill the role. Hicks, whose current title is director of strategic communications, has long served as a spokesperson for Trump, and reportedly has the final say over which media outlets are granted access to him. A former PR rep for Ivanka Trumps fashion line, she was rather unexpectedly roped into Donalds campaign as press secretary, and made up most of her role on the fly. According to a profile of Hicks in GQ, she wasnt expecting to be press secretary for long but months went by, and Trump made no move to replace her. Indeed, he seemed pleased with her work: If you see her phone going he raised both hands and mimicked Hicks answering several devices This is Hope. This is Hope. This is Hope. He hung up the make-believe phones. She gets a call a minute, probably. As interim communications director, one of Hickss primary jobs will be helping to find someone to fill the position permanently; the Times Maggie Haberman reports shes not expected to take on the jobs official title, or to move desks. Temporary though her role may be, theres no denying she has a lot to live up to. TWIN FALLS So you waited too long to make plans for the eclipse and you cant find a motel room anywhere. Cheer up. You arent alone. Many plan to wing it, said Melissa Barry, executive director of Southern Idaho Tourism. U.S. Bureau of Land Management offers first-come, first-serve designated campgrounds as well as dispersed camping in undeveloped areas. But plan ahead: The moons eclipse of the sun will move from west to east across Idaho in about 10 minutes. Barry said its predicted that one in 10,000 people in the U.S. will travel to the path of totality as it crosses the country, meaning most are staying put. Cathy Wilson and her husband, Bud, plan to have an eclipse party at their home in Buhl.{span class=print_trim}(tncms-asset)1ad63f36-7e1e-11e7-9abf-00163ec2aa77[0](/tncms-asset) The couple were unable to get a room in Stanley when they first searched for motels. And when rooms were available in Idaho Falls, they were too expensive. In the end, we may be thankful we dont have to fight traffic, Wilson said. Bev Stone and her husband, Gary, plan to watch the eclipse from their deck.{span class=print_trim}(tncms-asset)9c1e35de-7e24-11e7-a2bc-00163ec2aa77[1](/tncms-asset) The tremendous amount of hype surrounding this event helped make our decision to watch from the comforts of home, she said. It wont last long enough to make it worth the traffic and mayhem. Nikki Miller will be working at her job with Twin Falls Parks and Recreation. I will try and catch it at work, Miller said.{span class=print_trim}(tncms-asset)ca3be768-7e1f-11e7-ba6e-00163ec2aa77[2](/tncms-asset) Twin Falls City Councilman Greg Lanting said the Council moved its meeting next week from Monday to Wednesday so as to not interfere with eclipse plans. Lanting will watch the eclipse from a friends house north of Hailey. Lantings cousin and Magic Valley native Tammy Lanting of Moscow plans to watch the eclipse on television. Photographer Joy Pruitt, who is soon moving from Twin Falls back home to Texas, will watch the eclipse from her front yard unless my house sells crazy fast, she said.{span class=print_trim}(tncms-asset)5c43eb2e-7ec0-11e7-9439-00163ec2aa77[3](/tncms-asset) But she doesnt plan to take photos of the eclipse. Im just going to enjoy it, Pruitt said.{span class=print_trim}(tncms-asset)d4d489e0-7ec0-11e7-9e96-00163ec2aa77[4](/tncms-asset) Kelly Klaas of Twin Falls has a nice camera with a solar filter. Im going to watch it from my house and take pictures, he said. Scott Truax and his wife, Yelena, are going to watch the eclipse from the Craters of the Moon National Monument.{span class=print_trim}(tncms-asset)62ad8ec0-7e20-11e7-ba6e-00163ec2aa77[5](/tncms-asset) I think its one of the coolest places on earth, Truax said. Yelena and I are both interested in geology and astronomy as well. Ken Stafford, a Twin Falls native who now lives in Kansas, said he and his wife, Burley native Kristie Kunau Stafford, plan to stake out a spot on the prairie.{span class=print_trim}(tncms-asset)d636a08e-7e20-11e7-8d09-00163ec2aa77[6](/tncms-asset) Im staying far away from the crowds, Stafford said. Julia Oxarango-Ingram of Shoshone also wants to avoid the traffic.{span class=print_trim}(tncms-asset)228012f4-7e21-11e7-bfc3-00163ec2aa77[7](/tncms-asset) Maybe Ill get on a knoll out of town, Oxarango-Ingram said, but close by so I dont have to fight the crowds on the highways!{span class=print_trim}(tncms-asset)cd774bda-7e1e-11e7-856f-00163ec2aa77[8](/tncms-asset) Andrea Skaggs Rich of Rupert will be watching the eclipse with 19 friends and family from her sheep-ranch-turned-cattle ranch in Soda Springs. Jesse Perkins and Stephanie Long are mail carriers. Perkins delivers mail in Rupert and Long delivers in Twin Falls. Both say they will watch the eclipse on their mail routes. Kim Brackett and her husband, Chet, were planning to drive to see the eclipse, but decided against it.{span class=print_trim}(tncms-asset)8e23e54e-7e21-11e7-a417-00163ec2aa77[9](/tncms-asset) We decided that driving up on the mountain south of our ranch in Three Creek will be better, out of the smoke and people, Brackett said. We might even have a picnic and listen to the cows as they try to decide what in the world is going on. TWIN FALLS If youve been teaching for eight or more years, you could qualify as a master educator. The Idaho State Board of Education approved a master educator premium plan last week during a meeting at Idaho State University in Pocatello. It allows experienced kindergarten through 12th grade teachers to apply for a $4,000 yearly stipend. With a teacher shortage across Idaho, the state wants to reward those who stick around and have a positive impact in their classroom. As parents, students and community members, we kind of know who those teachers are, said Debbie Critchfield of Oakley, vice chairwoman of the Idaho State Board of Education. How do we capture what it is that those exceptional teachers are doing? A state law in 2015 created master educator premiums. Since then, committees have worked on deciding how a teacher can apply and what criteria they must meet. I am pleased that there is attention and a desire to reward our teachers whove been in the profession for a long time and who really are masters at what they do, Critchfield said. There isnt a cap on how many Idaho teachers can qualify. In the Cassia County School District, 175 of 301 teachers have worked for eight years or more. About 60 percent of Twin Falls School District teachers have eight or more years of experience. Thats 318 of 533 certified employees. One of them is Peggy Hoy, a middle school math teacher whos going into her 27th year of teaching. She plans to apply for the premium. As a state as a whole, weve got to start recognizing veteran teachers, said Hoy, whos co-president of the Twin Falls Education Association, a teachers union. Were going to keep losing them. She said about applying for the premium: I know that its going to take a lot of time and effort. But she said its beneficial to reflect on her teaching and find ways to improve. Teachers must undergo a rigorous application process, which includes putting together a portfolio. It must be submitted to the state by July 1, 2019 for review by Idaho peer teachers. The first premiums will be awarded during the 2020 fiscal year. Teachers will receive $4,000 each year for three years and can qualify for continued awards after that. Master teachers will receive money directly, not through their school districts. Student achievement is one piece of the puzzle used to determine whos a master teacher. But not every subject area has a state standardized test to measure how children are doing. We wanted the characteristics to be able to transition through any type of subject area from kindergarten through 12th grade, Critchfield said. A teachers portfolio, a collection of artifacts and evidence of exemplary practice, must show each of 22 characteristics in five standards: leadership; professional collaboration and partnerships; students and learning environment; content, instruction and assessment; and professional growth, according to the state board of educations meeting packet. Idahos standards and rubric are modeled after Ohio, where fewer than 2 percent of its teachers qualify for a premium. Critchfield was on a committee that helped create the Idaho rubric. Its on the heels of the passage of the career ladder, she said. The law, implemented in 2015, is boosting teacher pay over five years to help better attract and retain teachers. But one complaint among experienced teachers: It doesnt do enough for those whove been in the classroom for many years. When the career ladder was first proposed, it included three rungs, with the top one at a $60,000 salary for the most experienced teachers. That was scrapped. But state officials wanted to look for another way to financially reward teachers whove been around for a long time, Critchfield said. Jolene Dockstader, a middle school language arts teacher in Jerome, was a teacher representative on the states master educator committees. She has a doctoral degree and 25 years of teaching experience. Dockstader said she has mixed feelings about the idea behind master educator premiums. She thinks veteran teachers should receive a higher salary through the career ladder, not by having to put together a portfolio. And shes concerned about whether there will be enough state funding to pay for stipends. But its valuable for teachers to reflect on what theyre doing, Dockstader said, and would be even more helpful for those with less experience. The reflection piece of it was very powerful for me, Dockstader said, adding it took her out of her comfort zone. Even if there is not any stipend attached, its worth it for veteran teachers to do. In Twin Falls, nearly 100 teachers over the past 18 months have attended classes through the Idaho Education Association on master educator premiums and how to create a portfolio, Hoy said. Dockstader leads trainings. The number one question she receives from veteran teachers: Why do we have to jump through this hoop to make the amount of money we already deserve? During the training, she asks teachers why theyre pursuing a premium. If youre doing it for the money, youre going to be disappointed. *Editors note: This story was changed Aug. 16 to correct the starting date for when teachers can receive a master educator premium. LONDONU.S. President Donald Trump once again unloaded on Amazon.com, tweeting that the company is hurting other retailers and implying that its killing industry jobs across the U.S. Amazon is causing great damage to tax paying retailers, Trump said in a Twitter post Wednesday, causing shares in the online retailer to fall as much as 1.2 per cent in early trading. Towns, cities and states throughout the U.S. are being hurt many jobs being lost! Trump said in the tweet. Read more: With Whole Foods deal, Amazon creeps further into every aspect of consumer life Retail stores face biggest funk since Great Recession Trump is losing the support of many company executives. On Wednesday, he said he would be disbanding two advisory groups of business leaders, after CEOs quit this week as the president faced blowback for failing to sufficiently condemn white supremacists. In the past, Trump has often taken particular aim at Amazon and the Washington Post, owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, for its coverage. (The Post is in a business partnership with Bloomberg.) While its unclear what prompted Trumps tweet, which seems to be taking on two issues taxes and jobs the Washington Post ran a scathing editorial Wednesday about Trump in the paper, and pro-tax reform advertisements also ran on early morning talk shows. Its often difficult to parse Trumps tweets, but he seems to be focusing partly on how Amazons sales and market share growth is hurting the traditional retail industry. His remarks come amid one of the most tumultuous years in the industrys history. Brick-and-mortar chains, especially apparel sellers, are suffering from sluggish mall traffic and an exodus of shoppers to e-commerce. A rash of chains have filed for bankruptcy this year, including Payless, Gymboree, H.H. Gregg and RadioShack. And the biggest department-store companies, such as Macys, Sears and J.C. Penney, are shuttering hundreds of locations. The total number of store closings is expected to hit a record in the U.S. this year, with Credit Suisse Group analyst Christian Buss estimating that the number could exceed 8,000. On the other hand, Amazon is hiring rapidly. The online behemoth has pledged to hire more than 100,000 workers by 2018 and has been holding job fairs all over the U.S. In some cases, fired department store workers are ending up at Amazon fulfilment centres. In his tweet, Trump also hammered Amazon again on tax-related allegations. Its unclear exactly what he means since the company has been opening distribution centres everywhere and now collects sales tax in each state that has one. In June, Trump posted a tweet attacking AmazonWashingtonPost, sometimes referred to as the guardian of Amazon not paying internet taxes. In December 2015, Trump also described the Post as a tax shelter that Bezos uses to keep Amazons taxes low. Without these arrangements, Trump argued, Amazons stock would crumble like a paper bag. Bezos actually owns the Post via a holding company separate from Amazon. Amazon did not respond to a request for comment. Amazon has been battling a number of politicians from both the U.S. and Europe about its stance on tax. In the U.S., Amazon previously fought to only collect sales taxes for purchases in states where it doesnt have a physical presence. Now it has a legion of distribution centres and collects sales tax in every state that has one. The U.S. retailer is currently fighting the European Union over its tax bill, while in March it won a $1.5-billion (U.S.) tax dispute with the IRS. Read more about: SHARE: Live-music highlights for the week of Aug. 17 to 23. Portugal. The Man Feel It Still Partner Play the Field Alaska-breds Portugal. The Man have always been a cheeky, somewhat underrated lot. But underpaid? Not so much, at least lately. Feel It Still, a single with their former producer Danger Mouses influence all over it, has via commercial placement earned them an overdue payday and spawned I was into Portugal. The Man before they sold out T-shirts at the merch table. Having spent the previous weeks tuning up on the festival circuit, they start off their summer tour proper around eighth LP Woodstock here in Toronto, and hopefully that means a few of the shirts remain. More certain a proposition is New Brunswick duo Partner, rapidly gaining friends and acclaim and surely worth arriving early for though theyll be right back Sept. 8 at the Horseshoe. (Thursday and Friday, Danforth Music Hall, doors 6:30 p.m.) Jessy Lanza Oh No You could do worse than just pitching your tent for the weekends Camp Wavelength, except that literal option no longer exists, given the island flooding and the events resultant move to the mainland. As it is, itll be off and running with this Friday night kickoff, wherein Lanzas voice and electronica touches several sweet spots between avant-R&B and direct pop a heady start that continues with weekend afternoons at Sherbourne Common and evenings at the Great Halls Longboat Hall, where anarchic Bay Area stalwarts Deerhoof are a fitting choice to bring down the curtain on Sunday. As for this opener, Lanza figures to get strong, diverse support from former A Tribe Called Red beat-maker DJ Shub, rising Filipino duo Datu and tropicalia shapers Os Tropies. (Friday, Garrison, doors 7 p.m.) Zeshan B Cryin In the Streets Zeshan Bagewadi brings a lot to this Toronto debut, including his four-man backing band the Transistors and a laundry list of influences from blues and soul, whether the American or Indo-Pakistani variety. Out of Chicago, he comes off like a Desi Sam Cooke on this years album Vetted, including his harmonium-pumped version of civil rights-era classic Cryin In the Streets. Expect him to flit between English, Urdu and Punjabi and with a background covering gospel, opera, qawwali and ghazals, hes among the most absorbing and uniquely situated of retro stylists to emerge in recent years. (Saturday, Adelaide Hall, doors 7 p.m.) Kiefer Sutherland Ill Do Anything Meghan Patrick Be Country With Me Hey, its the Ex, back again this week, and with Sutherland landing amid the kitschy fairground nostalgia you might be thinking uh-oh, vanity side project. Thatd be a little harsh, as Sutherland appears to be a number of admittedly safe steps up from the dubious track record for these kind of crossovers, with his own record label and a distant past that included rodeo ropin and ridin. Last years Down In A Hole LP earned decent notices and led to a Horseshoe date that sold out, so expect the celebrity factor to kick in again, but what tilts this one into consideration beyond all that is the addition on the bill of emerging star Meghan Patrick, up for three CCMA awards out of debut LP Grace & Grit and perfectly capable of blowing Jack Bauer away. (Sunday, CNE Bandshell, 7:30 p.m.) Cult of Luna and Julie Christmas Chevron Dalek Echoes Of . . . Quite the pairing here as the Swedish post-hardcore vets return with vocalist Julie Christmas in front and carrying equally heavy repute. The pairing joined on 2016 release Mariner and amid the dark and guitar-heavy going, Christmass wails and whimpers drop some colour on to the viscous mass. The support on the bill doesnt seem on the surface to be a match for the headliners, but they do bring credentials and ought to lay down some opening sludge for the headliners to swim in: its noise-rap trio Dalek, ahead of Sept. 1 release Endangered Philosophies and an Oct. 23 date as Hard Luck Bar headliners. (Tuesday, Mod Club, 7 p.m.) SZA Love Galore Solana Imani Rowe got the assistance of some Top Dawg labelmates to help out on debut LP CTRL, including Travis Scott on lead single Love Galore. Her strengths on her own appear more than enough; shes developed her own voice and songwriting considerably from the monotonic tendencies of her earlier EPs and has the look and future-leaning sound to suggest theres more of interest to come. This one offers evidence of her momentum, upgraded to this overhauled venue with more than double the capacity of the original Phoenix booking original tickets honoured. (Wednesday, Rebel, 8 p.m.) SHARE: Since his new song dropped on iTunes earlier this month, a few folks on Twitter have said Samir Mezrahi is living in 3017. The 35-year-old New York City residents A a a a a Very Good Song a silent track that runs for just under 10 minutes is sitting in the 95th spot on American iTunes and is being praised for solving what some iPhone owners have found to be a wildly annoying glitch. Hey I released a blank song that will play 1st so that one song wont play every time u plug your phone into ur car, Mezrahi tweeted on Aug. 9 with a link to his track on iTunes, where it is on sale for $0.99. (It is also available on Google Play.) Last year, Mezrahi wrote a Buzzfeed post about a frustrating problem: every time he plugged his iPhone into his car, it would automatically play the first track on the phone, in alphabetical order in his case, A-Punk by American rock band Vampire Weekend, a song Mezrahi said was being ruined for him. Its a headache by no means particular to his car or his phone. So many people have grown to hate these songs they really like, Mezrahi said this week in an interview with the Star. So he did something about it a kind of hack for people whod rather hear nothing than hear that one song, over and over. He picked the title so it alphabetically tops any playlist. The song was initially supposed to be longer, but Mezrahi went with just under 10 minutes to avoid having to pay the full-album fee. I wanted it to be long to give people enough time to pick their song, he said. If it was like 20 seconds it might not be that useful. Mezrahi said his understanding of the same-song default issue is that its not an Apple or a phone problem, but a USB/car issue though he said hes never reached out or attempted to address this beyond the blank track. Hes just happy that he found a fix, and, apparently, so is the internet. On Twitter, people have called the song the best thing to ever happen to me, and another claimed youve just blessed my life in the most wonderful and unexpected of ways. Apple did not respond to the Stars questions before deadline. Mezrahi said hes had no issues with selling a silent track in the stores pop category in fact, he isnt the first person to release a sound-free track. In 2014, American-band Vulfpeck attempted to fund their own tour by releasing a silent album on Spotify, attempting to cash-in on streaming income while fans listened on repeat for hours while snoozing. According to media reports, the band earned just under $20,000. That same year, Taylor Swift briefly topped Canadian iTunes charts with eight seconds of static an accident called Track 3, which overeager fans mistook for a new song from her then-upcoming album 1989. For now, Mezrahis track sits sandwiched between Old Dominions Written in the Sand and Jon Pardis Dirt on My Boots on American iTunes charts. The creator of A a a a a Very Good Song is having fun with it; last week he tweeted to Justin Bieber, warning him that Despacito a smash hit Bieber sings on wasnt safe at No. 1. The current first song on Mezrahis phone alphabetically, by the way, is Taylor Swifts All You Had To Do Was Stay. SHARE: A historic education agreement signed on Wednesday between 23 First Nations and the province is being hailed as a step toward self-governance because it gives full educational authority to Indigenous communities. The Anishinabek Nation, a political organization of 40 central and northern Ontario First Nations, has been working on the Anishinabek Education System plan for more than a decade. Twenty-three of its member nations signed the agreement. The remaining 17 nations can come on board later if they choose. Wake up, this is no longer a dream, this is a reality, the AES is here, said Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Patrick Madahbee at a press conference at the Chippewawas of Rama First Nation. Under the agreement, teachers at participating First Nation schools will be paid the same as provincial Ontario teachers and, for the first time, Anishinabek educators will be able to sign the graduation certificates of its students. Previously, this was done by provincial authorities. The province will work with the AES, the Kinoomaadziwin Education Body and regional education councils and local education authorities in every community. The AES will create education laws to govern itself and will oversee the delivery of programs and services. On reserve schools, each First Nation has power and authority over education from junior kindergarten to Grade 12 and they will be in charge of creating the education councils and authorities. System-wide standards will be put in place and imposed and the AES will work with the provincial schools to ease the movement of students to off-reserve high schools. To go to high school, most Indigenous students in the Anishinabek Nation must leave their communities. The agreement is called a major step forward to self-governance, according to federal Minister of Indigenous Affairs Carolyn Bennett, who was at the Rama signing along with her provincial counterpart Minister David Zimmer and Ontario Education Minister Mitzie Hunter. This is the largest self-government agreement in Canada due to the number of First Nations involved, Bennett said. This marks a key step out from under the Indian Act. The Indian Act was signed in 1876 and governs nearly all aspects of life for Indigenous people in Canada everything from who gets status as an Indigenous person to education, land and resources. The legislation also ensured nearly 150,000 Indigenous children were sent to residential schools, which were government-funded and church-run institutions. For more than 100 years, children were taken from their culture, language and families and sent away to school. Many students were the subject of physical, emotional and sexual abuse. Many were neglected and even starved in malnutrition experiments. The trauma from those days can be seen in generations of Indigenous families. They beat us but they'll not beat us, Madahbee said, recalling days from his own church run schooling. He urged Anishinabek nations to sign on and be a part of the AES. We are not being co-opted into something, he said, adding they have spent years hammering out details. This will enhance our treaty rights with the Crown. All students, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, are enriched in understanding by the exchange of knowledge from Anishinabek nations in history, culture and perspectives, Hunter said. Provincial schools will be supported to advance Anishinabek practices. Hunter added that Indigenous elders, who hold an honoured and guiding place in First Nations culture, should always be part of a students day and not just for special events. About 90 per cent of 26,000 Anishinabek students attend provincially funded schools. Nearly 200 information sessions were held in Anishinabek Nations regarding the AES and ratification votes were held in communities. Anishinabek Grand Council Deputy Chief Glen Hare said he travelled more than 1 million kilometres to various communities to inform First Nations about the need for the AES. I have eight grandsons to think about. Each one of us has to stand behind this paper and our kids, Hare said. SHARE: Calling the Dafonte Miller case the poster child for all that is wrong with Ontarios independent police oversight system, the lawyer for the Black teen alleged to have been severely beaten by an off-duty Toronto police officer and his brother called for the provinces police watchdog to conduct a systemic review of the two police forces he claims deliberately covered up the incident. On Wednesday, Julian Falconer released a lengthy formal complaint filed this week to Ontarios Office of the Independent Police Review Director (OIPRD) detailing allegations against police in the high-profile case including what Falconer called undeniable proof that police attempted to protect Toronto Const. Michael Theriault and his brother Christian Theriault from criminal charges in the teens beating. Both men are now charged with aggravated assault, assault with a weapon and public mischief in connection to Millers injuries during the December incident, in which the teen incurred eye damage so severe it will have to be surgically removed. The public mischief charges are based on allegations Michael and Christian Theriault misled investigators. But Falconer alleges misconduct by police on a greater scale, both by Toronto police and Durham regional forces including attempts by the Theriaults father, himself a Toronto officer, to conceal his sons alleged crimes. In my opinion, (there was a) deliberate and intentional effort on the part of police authorities to conceal a crime by one of their own, Falconer told a news conference at Queens Park on Wednesday. Falconer and a coalition of rights groups together called for stronger police oversight including giving the Special Investigations Unit (SIU), Ontarios police watchdog, more explicit powers to lay criminal charges against officers who interfere with its investigations. Mark Pugash, spokesperson for the Toronto police, said he could not comment on any of the allegations made in Millers complaint because the case is now before the OIPRD. Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders has previously denied allegations of a coverup, saying officers acted in good faith. To say that this is a coverup is misleading, Saunders said last month. Durham police spokesperson Dave Selby said he could not comment, citing the Theriault brothers criminal cases. But he referred the Star to previous comments made by Durham police Chief Paul Martin, who said in a statement that Durham police will participate in any and all reviews of the details of this case. Miller, 19, suffered serious injuries on Dec. 28, 2016 after an early morning encounter on a residential Whitby street with Michael Theriault, 25, and Christian Theriault, 21. In addition to his eye damage, his injuries included a broken orbital bone, broken nose and fractured wrist. According to Falconers summary of the incident, which has not been tested in court, Miller and his friends were confronted by the Theriaults, who had been sitting in the garage of their home nearby. Michael Theriault, who was off-duty, identified himself as a police officer and asked what the young men were doing, the summary says. Miller and his friends did not reply and kept walking, but the brothers then chased after them and caught up to Miller. They proceeded to punch him, kick him, beat him with a metal pipe and strike him in the face, according to Falconer. When Durham regional police arrived at the scene soon afterward, they charged Miller with theft under $5,000, assault with a weapon and possession of a small amount of marijuana. The charges were later withdrawn by the Crown. Despite the involvement of an off-duty officer, neither Durham or Toronto police communicated Millers injuries to the SIU, the civilian police watchdog that probes deaths, serious injuries and allegations of sexual assault involving Ontario police officers. The SIU instead only learned of the incident when Falconer contacted the unit in April, leading to an investigation that resulted in charges against the Theriault brothers last month. Ontarios Police Services Act dictates that a police service must notify the SIU immediately of any incident that falls under its mandate, including cases of serious injuries involving police officers. The SIU typically does not investigate incidents involving off-duty officers, but will take on a case if the off-duty officer identifies himself as a police officer during an occurrence, if it leads to serious injury or death. Saunders told reporters last month that Toronto police determined they would not contact the SIU because they understood that Michael Theriault had not identified himself as a police officer during the incident. Meanwhile, Durham police have said they did not contact the SIU because it was Toronto polices role to contact the SIU as the employer. Toronto police have since asked Waterloo Regional police to conduct an independent review of officer actions in the case, while Durham police have announced they, too, will conduct an internal review of their handling of the case. Millers complaint to the OIPRD chronicles, in detail, allegations of misconduct by police in the case, including John Theriault, the father of Michael and Christian Theriault. John Theriault is a 30-year Toronto police veteran and who currently works in the professional standards unit, which deals with officer misconduct. The complaint alleges John Theriault repeatedly contacted DRPS investigators to gain information relating to the status of the investigation and provided false information about injuries suffered by Christian to aid in the concealment of the crimes committed by his sons. The complaint also alleges Toronto police permitted John Theriault to communicate with and have access to Durham investigators. John Theriault did not respond to a request for comment from the Star on Wednesday. Millers OIPRD complaint also alleges Durham police simply accepted the Theriault brothers account, failing to interview witnesses or inquire as to how Miller had sustained serious injuries. The call for an OIPRD systemic review of Toronto and Durham regional police services handling of the Miller case coincided with a broader call for stronger police oversight by a coalition of rights groups. What happened to this young, Black man illustrates a pervasive problem in Ontario, said Renu Mandhane, chief commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission. Ontario needs more effective oversight of police services, especially in relation to alleged systemic discrimination. The coalition, which includes the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and former Toronto police board chair Alok Mukherjee, issued an open letter calling on Attorney General Yasir Naqvi to immediately implement police oversight recommendations recently made by Court of Appeal Justice Michael Tulloch. Released in April, Tullochs report calls for substantial changes to police oversight, including clarifying the rules around when police services must notify the SIU and officers duty to co-operate with the investigation. In a statement Wednesday, Naqvi said he will introduce legislation in the fall session of the legislature that will transform Ontarios police oversight system. We will be ready to introduce a bill shortly after the House resumes sitting, Naqvi said. Falconer said that Tullochs report should have made it explicitly clear that its an offence for an officer to interfere with an SIU investigation. Technically, the SIU could lay a criminal charge of obstruction justice against an officer but you will never see that happen because its career-limiting for an SIU director, Falconer said. We have to create consequences for the police when they undermine an investigation the way, in my opinion, this investigation was deliberately undermined. Michael and Christian Theriault are currently released on bail. Michael Theriault has been suspended with pay from the Toronto police. Wendy Gillis can be reached at wgillis@thestar.ca SHARE: How does an inmate in Ontario jail, marked for mental health assessments over multiple court appearances and with a self-identified history of mental health concerns, wind up in segregation indefinitely without a criminal conviction? He asked for it. With only months left before Ontario is set to introduce new legislation for a promised reform of their corrections system and within weeks of an expected independent advisors report to guide their work Michael Storms has been awaiting trial from segregation for 49 days and counting as of Wednesday. Storms is charged with forcible confinement and uttering threats in a hostage-taking at a Toronto massage parlour on June 28. Read more: What is the impact of a terror watchlist? I want it all known accused in hostage-taking tells court Transcript: How the hostage-taking unfolded after the Toronto Star became involved The plan is for Mr. Storms to remain in segregation indefinitely, Storms lawyer Caryma Sad told the Star, adding that the arrangement at Toronto South Detention Centre came at the 35-year-old inmates own request. Although Ontario capped disciplinary segregation at 15 days last fall, Storms is in administrative segregation a gray area that may be addressed in the coming report and legislation, but that, for now, doesnt have a limit. Administrative segregation is allowed in Ontario if a jail superintendent believes the inmate is in need of protection, if the inmate is a threat to the security of the institution or other inmates, if the inmate was alleged to commit serious misconduct or upon their own request. Canada is currently seeking to eventually limit administrative segregation in federal prisons down to 15 days. But Ontario is still working out what to do about the practice. International ire has been raised over Canadas use of both disciplinary and administrative segregation. In 2012, the United Nations Committee Against Torture expressed concern over Canadas often extensively prolonged use of segregation, even for persons with mental illness. They urged the country to limit both types of segregation to a last-resort, and to avoid it entirely for those with serious mental illnesses. Storms revealed a history of mental health concerns when he called the Star during the hostage-taking, and later elaborated in a letter to the newsroom from inside segregation. Look man, I dont know. When I say I need help, I need help, right? And jails not going to help me, Storms said over the phone, alleging surveillance dating back nearly two decades by federal agencies leading to mounting stress and attempts to seek medical attention for his mental state. Over the course of multiple court appearances following his arrest, judges and justices of the peace asked for Storms mental health to be assessed. Sad is currently weighing the option of requesting his case be moved to mental health court, and is waiting on his medical records. To her knowledge, no diagnosis has been formally made inside the jail. Since arriving at Toronto South, Storms has met with psychiatrists and counsellers, his lawyer said. But there was some distrust between her client and the institutions health team, so Sad is in the process of trying to find someone to assess him independently. She added that her client had been moved cells four times within segregation. The Ontario Human Rights Commission reported data in 2015 that revealed nearly 40 per cent of provincial inmates placed in segregation during the latter portion of the year had a mental health alert on their file. Both Howard Sapers, the independent advisor to the provincial corrections ministry, and Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dube raised serious concerns about the provinces segregation practices this spring. Dube released a report into the tracking and review processes of segregated inmates, and Sapers released his interim corrections report, which focused specifically on segregation. Dubes report noted that 52 per cent of inmates who had been continuously segregated for 30 days or longer in 2015-16, like Storms, had requested it themselves. The 2015 statistics from the Ontario Human Rights Commission also revealed that only 4.3 per cent of segregations were disciplinary. In practice, (segregation) means confining individuals to a six-by-nine foot cell for 22 or more hours a day, with little human interaction, Sapers wrote in his report, though he added that inmates in administrative segregation are officially to have as far as practicable the same benefits and privileges as non-segregated inmates. The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services was unable to publicly address Storms case due to privacy restraints, but spokesperson Andrew Morrison did discuss the ongoing reform of correctional services. Short-term plans for the government currently include enhancing the oversight and governance of the provincial adult corrections system, and exploring options to shift oversight of health care services, he said. The shift would move oversight from the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. Ensuring that all inmates, including those that are most vulnerable, have access to mental health care and supports are key priorities, he said. SHARE: The Twin Falls Chapter of Idaho Writers League will hold a meeting and critique session from 10 a.m. to noon on Saturday at the KMVT Meeting Room, 1100 North Blue Lakes Boulevard. The Meeting Room is on the north side of the building. This event is free and open to the public. There is no charge to attend. The first hour is critique time. Anyone attending can bring three or four copies of a manuscript of four or five pages, double spaced, for critique. The September Idaho statewide conference in Pocatello will be discussed from 11 a.m. to noon, among other business needs. For more information, contact Linda 208-421-6632. They were all friends until the Charlottesville protest happened on the weekend. Then the so-called alt-right bared its fangs, running afoul of Canadas more euphemistic brand of racism. The rally to Unite the Right ended up fracturing it instead at least in Canada. Exhibit A is the exodus at The Rebel news site, the Canadian Tiki torch bearers of the far right, whose contributors celebrate the deaths of desperate migrants at sea. An exodus so fast it was hard to keep up with all the names by Tuesday evening. On Monday, Ezra Levant condemned Richard Spencer, the founder of the supremacist alt-right group in a letter to staff and tried to differentiate his philosophy from that of the Charlottesville supremacists. Then, The Rebel co-founder Brian Lilley went one step further and left the site altogether because hes no longer comfortable with it. On Tuesday, key contributor Barbara Kay jumped ship, writing a wishy-washy goodbye, still claiming admiration for Levant and reporter Faith Goldy, whose characterization of Charlottesville protesters as rising white racial consciousness left even conservatives uncomfortable. Soon after, contributor John Robson was out, saying he found the tone at The Rebel too unconstructive. Perhaps this marks the end of The Rebel as we know it. What went wrong between the natural bedfellows conjoined by their demonization of the other? Its now exposed: Not all whites are equal. And U.S. President Donald Trumps unhinged press conference on Tuesday in which he once again drew a false moral equivalence between racists and counter-protesters, just cemented that thinking. White supremacists openly espoused neo-Nazi ideology that singled out Jews as being an inferior, unwanted race or class of people. It was made clear: Jews do not belong. Now, after years of spouting vitriol about Muslims, about Roma, about Black people, about immigrants, Levants note said: We are not white supremacy. That term now effectively means racism, anti-Semitism and tolerance of neo-Nazism. Like many of you, I had family that fought the Nazis, I never want to be in the same room as one, Lilley said. Cue the slow clap. The likes of Levant and other white-passing Jewish people of the far right, are finally realizing that although many of them enjoy the privileges of white people, white supremacy casts upon them the same contemptuous gaze as it does on Black and brown people, that their common divisive ideology was not sufficient glue for true alignment. Lilley has interviewed me in the past for his Bell Media radio show and he was not hostile; in fact he was friendly and reasonable. However, if he had grown uncomfortable with The Rebels ideology, its taken far too long for him to show it. And given his contempt of General Romeo Dallaires work on child soldiers, I cant bring myself to feel grateful that the hard right has fewer champions. The folks at The Rebel had probably failed to understand the underlying differences between ideologies under the umbrella of white nationalism. There has been this bizarre infighting that has gone on within the alt-right groups, says Lily Herman, a New-York based writer, who recently wrote a piece called We need to talk about the anti-Semitism at the Charlottesville protest. What do you do when you have white nationalists who are Jewish? Jews actually did fight with the Confederate army in the Civil War which a lot of people dont know. There were almost equal number of Jews fighting on both sides. Herman, who grew up Jewish in Jacksonville, Fla., a place she calls the Southern tip of the Bible Belt, also identifies as white. However, shes puzzled by Jewish white nationalists. You know this history of Jewish people in western civilization, so why are you supporting these people who when they say white people they mean a pure white race? There have been incidents of anti-Semitism from The Rebel contributors and Levant was by all accounts sensitive to accusations of being a Nazi apologist. Here, Im going by what reporter Jonathan Goldsbie writes in Canadaland. I must confess I lost interest in Levants brand of journalism long ago and have not kept close track of goings-on there. Levants memo says flying Nazi flags, chanting Nazi slogans and the Nazi salute makes the alt-right racist. I say being anti-immigration, demonizing people based on identity and then claiming not to believe in identity politics, makes the far-right hypocritical, xenophobic and racist. For all the pains Levant takes to draw out the differences, the only line he has drawn to separate his far right from Richard Spencers alt-right is one ism: Nazism. Other than that, they still look like mirror images to me. Shree Paradkar writes on discrimination and identity. You can follow her @shreeparadkar SHARE: NEW YORKNeither of Bill Cosbys two lawyers wants to return for the retrial of his criminal case in Pennsylvania this fall. On Tuesday, Angela Agrusa, the second of the two lawyers who represented Cosby during the first trial, told Judge Steven ONeill of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania that she, too, would like to step down from representing Cosby, whose first trial on sexual assault charges in June ended in a mistrial. This month, the lead lawyer in the case, Brian McMonagle, made a similar request for withdrawal. Read more: Bill Cosbys defence attorney wants off the case before retrial Bill Cosbys retrial on sex assault charges is set for November Juror in Bill Cosby trial says 2 holdouts blocked conviction McMonagle, a prominent Philadelphia lawyer, has not given a reason for his plan to quit the high-profile case and neither did Agrusa, of Liner LLC of Los Angeles. Agrusa did not return a call seeking further explanation Tuesday. A spokesperson for Cosby, Andrew Wyatt, said he had no comment about the reason for Agrusas departure. But he said she would remain as Cosbys lawyer in several civil cases relating to sexual assault allegations. Our new counsel will be named at the end of the month, Wyatt said. When McMonagle announced his wish to withdraw this month, Wyatt said Agrusa was remaining on the team. ONeill still has to agree to the lawyers requests. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for this month, although such withdrawals are typically granted. The trial is scheduled to start Nov. 6. Cosbys team has already said it is looking for a replacement for McMonagle, although the court filing Tuesday requested more time to find replacement legal representation and asked that the hearing be postponed until September. Agrusas filing requesting the delay in the hearing said that the lag in hiring replacement counsel was explained by factors outside of Cosbys control, including limited availability of lawyers during the summer and their existing commitments, as well as the import and particularities of this high-profile and sensationalized matter. During the first trial, Agrusa had led the cross-examination of Cosbys accuser, Andrea Constand, a Toronto woman and former Temple University staff member. Constand had testified that she was assaulted in 2004. Prosecutors say the veteran entertainer drugged and digitally penetrated her at his home outside Philadelphia. Cosby says the sexual encounter was consensual. The jury could not reach a decision on his guilt or innocence, despite deliberating for six days. Read more about: SHARE: Against the back wall of the command centre at Guam Homeland Security, a nondescript telephone is perched on a shelf. Its the phone no one in the room wants to hear ringing: It alerts Guam to an incoming ballistic missile. A call on this phone would only come from the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii to inform Guam of the impending strike. If it were to ring, a blue light would flash and immediately set into motion a chain of emergency response procedures to alert all of Guams roughly 162,000 civilians of the threat within two minutes. The system includes mass notification sirens that are positioned around the island, radio and television emergency broadcasts, and emergency medical workers and village mayors equipped with mobile public address systems. Read more: Why North Korea is threatening Guam with its ballistic missiles North Korean threats arent deterring tourists from visiting Guam Workers at the Homeland Security office have been on 24-hour duty fielding questions from residents and the media since North Korea warned last week it was preparing a missile test that would create an enveloping fire in the waters off Guam. Guam has been through supertyphoons, an 8.2 earthquake, tsunami warnings just about anything and everything that can threaten this tiny little island so weve been conditioned to stay calm in a situation like this, said Dee Cruz, the offices grants manager and senior desk watch officer. Im not saying we look danger in the face and dare it to do its worst, she added, we just know what to do to prepare. But being ready for a ballistic missile strike is not like preparing for a typhoon. For one thing, tropical storms move at an average speed of about 20 kph, giving people in Guam several days to prepare. A ballistic missile launched from North Korea, however, would take just 17 minutes to hit the waters off the island. From the moment the sirens sound off, everyone should be ready to shelter in place, Cruz said. Its important to make a plan now so that when its time for an emergency youll know what to do. Cruz detailed the preparations people needed to take. Create a family group chat so you can quickly communicate with each other instead of making individual calls, Cruz suggested. Make sure you have an emergency kit with basic supplies small items like water and a first aid kit can save a life in an emergency situation. For many on the island, which is home to Andersen Air Force Base and Naval Base Guam, being prepared for an emergency is second nature, said Andrew Lee, a local firefighter and former Marine. The nature of my job is to be ready to respond in the capacity that we are able thats the way it is in any fire department, not just the Guam Fire Department, he said. At home, we have a bug-out bag prepared for an emergency, but were always hoping for the best, he said, referring to the portable survival kits many families here have. Despite North Koreas threat to lob a missile toward Guam, many residents seem to be taking things in stride. Guams largest supermarket chain, Pay-Less Supermarkets, has not seen any unusual shopping activity in its eight stores, said Kathy Sgro, the companys executive vice president. While we havent noticed an increase in sales of canned goods, bottled water, or emergency items such as candles and batteries, we have seen a small spike in sales of antacids and milk of magnesia, which makes me wonder if people are experiencing higher levels of anxiety than usual, Sgro said. Regine Biscoe Lee, a senator in Guams Legislature, thinks there is a heightened sense of anxiety among the people of Guam but said that her office had not received any calls regarding the North Korean threat. Here on Guam its business as usual, but that doesnt mean were turning a blind eye to the situation, she said. Faith and family thats what people cling to here on Guam. When things get serious, we stick together, and were here for one another. Adding to anxieties, a local broadcaster conducted an unscheduled test on Tuesday of the emergency broadcast system and did not realize it went live. Anthony Matanona, a baker who runs a traditional hotnu bakery in Inarajan, Guams oldest and best-preserved village from the Spanish era, noted that Guams history had inured people to coping with outside threats. Guam and our people have been through hell and back and not just through the destruction of natural elements like typhoons and earthquakes, Matanoma said as he greeted customers and took orders for coconut bread. We were colonized under Spain for 300 years and occupied by Japan for four years of war before we became Americanized, he said. We survived all of that, so Im not worried. I still have to grate the coconut, I have to make sure I open up in the morning I have to continue living. Some people on Guam are even seizing on the medias current obsession with the territory to draw attention to the plight of Guams civilians, portraying them as innocent pawns in a fight between two nuclear-armed nations. In a Facebook post that went viral, An Open Letter From Guam to America, Victoria-Lola M. Leon Guerrero wrote, This land, this beautiful island everyone wants to bomb because of you, is my land, not yours. I want to go to sleep peacefully knowing that my family is safe in our home, she wrote. So please, stop all this bomb talk. And instead, ask yourself why Guam is still your colony in 2017. Read more about: SHARE: The death of an Ontario teenager in Cuba last month has been attributed to natural causes by local authorities, according to her Cuban death certificate. Alexandra Sagriff, 18, was found dead in her Varadero hotel room on July 6, while on a graduation trip organized by S-Trip, a private travel company geared toward high school students. Sagriff died of heart- and lung-related issues including acute pulmonary edema, acute myocardial infarction and ischemic heart failure, says a death certificate issued by Dr. Sergio Piera, director of Cubas Institute of Legal Medicine. No alcohol was found in Sagriffs system, says the certificate, which was provided to the Star by S-Trip. Sagriffs family declined to comment on the findings of the Cuban autopsy, but issued a written statement through S-Trip. It is unfortunate and hurtful that there continue to be individuals who insist on talking about Alexandra in a way that questions her character and dishonours her memory, her family wrote. She was a loving and caring young woman who was always well respected and loved by all. S-Trip has been in consistent contact with Sagriffs family since the death, said Samia Makhlouf, a public relations professional working for S-Trip. Sagriff was a recent graduate of St. Theresa Catholic Secondary School in Belleville, and was preparing to attend Loyalist College in the fall, her family said shortly after her death. Alex was an amazing young woman, she had a ton of friends, and has a ton of family who loves her, her family said at the time. SHARE: CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA.With tires screeching and bodies flying, Marcus Martin shoved his fiancee out of the way of a car charging through a crowd of peaceful protesters in Charlottesville, Va. Marcus Martin was promptly hit and upended by the car as it plowed through the crowd. Flat on his back with a broken leg, he says he experienced several minutes of terror. The only thing running through my mind was: please dont let her be dead, Martin, 26, said. Please dont let her be dead. Marissa Blair was OK, and Martins body was captured in a photograph as he tumbled over the crashing car that fatally hit Heather Heyer, a friend who had been marching with Blair and Martin. Nineteen others were injured. Read more: U of T denies group with white nationalist views to hold rally on campus Shame the Charlottesville white supremacists on social media: Teitel Donald Trump defends far-right extremists in astonishing tirade, again blames both sides for Charlottesville violence Martins mother, Kimberly Martin, was terrified as she watched the scene replayed on television. Im thanking God because after seeing that photo, and then Im seeing videos and Im seeing my son behind this car and then when I see the car backing back up the street, it was nobody but God that got him out of the way, you know? And it was just a cruel, cruel, act because those peaceful people: it was like going to a battleground without any protection from anybody, she said. While her son survived, Kimberly Martin said shes pained by Heyers death. As a mother it hurts, you know, because I could have lost my child, but somebody else did and, like I said, it just hurts, she said. James Alex Fields Jr., a 20-year-old Ohio man who was said to idolize Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany in high school, has been charged with second-degree murder in Heyers death. Authorities say he drove into a group of counter-protesters at a white nationalist rally on Saturday after the crowd had moved from a nearby park to downtown. Fields has been held without bail. Blair said she has never had a close friend pass away. She saw Heyer every day, at work at a local law firm, and on weekends. They had met up in Charlottesville on Saturday to march as counter-protesters against participants in the white nationalist rally. Even when distraught by her death, she brightens at the thought of Heyer, who was 32. I just smile when I think about Heather, Blair said Sunday night after attending a vigil at the spot of the crash now covered with flowers. She always spoke with so much conviction and she stood up for what she believed in, and she liked to make you laugh and she didnt care what she said. It was Heather. She cared about people. She wanted the best for everyone. She stood up for equality. She didnt want hate. She just wanted everybody to be equal. Blair said the crash was an act of terror, a hate crime that she believes should be treated as such. The group that was here, the alt right, the neo-Nazis, they stood for hate, and he knew what he was doing. It was a deliberate act, Blair said. Martin said he attended the march in a peaceful response to the white nationalist rally, at a time when he is focusing on turning his life around. He pleaded guilty to robbery in 2013 and was released last summer in July. He said in an interview he is a 100-per cent different person. Martin, who may have surgery this week on his ankle, said the crash shouldnt have happened. He doesnt think the white nationalist rally should have been allowed near the city. Other cities should consider what happened in Charlottesville before allowing similar rallies, he said. A total of three people died as a result of Saturdays violent protests. As the violence of that days rally waned, a state police helicopter deployed in a large-scale police response to the violence crashed outside the city. Both troopers on board, Lt. H. Jay Cullen and Berke M.M. Bates, were killed. An investigation into the crash is ongoing. Is not one life enough? Martin said. Do you need more of that? Read more about: SHARE: WASHINGTONThe first day of NAFTA talks, Foreign Affairs Minister Chrystia Freeland said, was just about setting the table. Well, the host welcomed his guests by smashing some dishes. U.S. President Donald Trumps top trade official opened the North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiations on Wednesday with aggressive criticism of the deal, declaring that it has fundamentally failed many, many Americans and promising to seek major change rather than marginal tweaks. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizers opening statement stood in sharp contrast to the friendly language of Freeland, who called NAFTA an engine of job-creation and economic growth, and Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, who said the agreement had fostered continental harmony. We cannot ignore the huge trade deficits, the lost manufacturing jobs, the businesses that have closed or moved, Lighthizer said at a hotel in Washington. Freeland shrugged off Lighthizers words, saying Canada was prepared for moments of rhetoric during the talks. And trade experts were divided on whether Lighthizers public aggressiveness suggested the actual negotiating would be contentious. Lighthizers audience for the statement was not Canadian or Mexican negotiators but Trump himself, said Bob Fisher, a U.S. negotiator in the original NAFTA talks and now managing director of Hills and Co. There are public statements and there are private negotiations. And most negotiators will tell you, you dont negotiate in public, you negotiate in private. The dynamics between the two can be very different, Fisher said. Mickey Kantor, U.S. commerce secretary and trade representative under Bill Clinton, said Trumps team has a tendency to say things that are either not correct or political positioning. Im not saying thats what Bob Lighthizer was doing. All Im saying is you can take all of this with a grain of salt and sit down at the table, Kantor said in an interview. But Lawrence Herman, a trade lawyer in Canada, said the administration was signalling that Canada is in for some very tough and I think unsettling discussions with our American friends. When you open with a rather aggressive and somewhat unyielding demand, its somewhat hard to then walk away from those without appearing to have made concessions. And I dont think the Trump administration is amenable to making many concessions, Herman said in an interview. Freeland, who met with her two counterparts jointly and one on one, emphasized that the talks had not proceeded into the detailed weeds on any issue. She declined to discuss Lighthizers manner behind closed doors. Our discussions at the table are private, and its important to be able to have private discussions, she said at a news conference at the Canadian Embassy. The launch of the high-stakes negotiations was a major moment for the economies of the three countries and personally for Trump, who campaigned on a promise to transform or terminate the 23-year-old deal. But it was overshadowed in the U.S. by the continuing fallout from Trumps inflammatory response to the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday. Freeland condemned the racists in remarks before a meeting with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and then again at the embassy. Trump did not speak or tweet about the negotiations. And they were not treated by the U.S. media as even the top Trump-related economic news: Trumps primary advisory council of big-business chief executives decided on Wednesday to disband. There was broad agreement from the three countries that NAFTA needs to be updated for the modern digital economy. Beyond that, there were substantial differences not only on policy but on the actual state of the trade relationship. Lighthizer, channelling Trump, railed Wednesday about trade deficits, suggesting they would be a major focus for him. Freeland said Canada-U.S. trade is almost perfectly balanced and, echoing the views of most economists, said deficits are not a good method for measuring whether a trade relationship is working. Canada is and always has been a trading nation. Our approach stems from one essential insight: we pursue trade, free and fair, knowing it is not a zero-sum game, she said. There was one early substantive disagreement, on the subject of auto manufacturing. As Canada and Mexico expected, Lighthizer raised the issue of rules of origin. Trumps administration would like to raise the percentage of cars and auto parts that must to be manufactured in North America for the product to be exempted from tariffs. But Lighthizer went beyond North America content requirements in his opening statement, floating the idea of introducing a U.S.-specific minimum. Freeland and Villarreal later said they opposed a national-origin rule. Obviously, it will not be the best practice to introduce that type of rigidity, Villarreal said. Jerry Dias, president of the Unifor union, which represents Canadian auto workers, said Lighthizer was probably just loading up his Day One list of demands, a common bargaining tactic. Dias said he was confident the U.S. would not punish Canadas auto industry. Ultimately, they will say unequivocally: When it comes to auto, the problems not Canada; the problems Mexico, he said. Other remarks from the three officials hinted at further challenges to come. Lighthizer said the U.S. wants a system for resolving NAFTA disputes that respects its sovereignty. Canada, conversely, wants to preserve the independent Chapter 19 tribunal system that exists outside of U.S. courts. The three countries are ambitiously attempting to conclude negotiations by the beginning of 2018, mindful of the mid-2018 Mexican elections. The first round of negotiations will run until Sunday; the second and third rounds will be held in Mexico and Canada. This round will run from Wednesday to Sunday. Read more about: SHARE: U.S. Vice President Mike Pence expressed his support for Donald Trump in carefully worded remarks as the administration coped with the fallout over controversial statements from the president on the deadly weekend violence in Virginia. The president has been clear on this, and so have I, Pence said Wednesday during a news conference in Santiago, Chile. Pence went on to refer to his own forceful condemnation of white supremacists issued on Aug. 13 after the melee, saying, I stand with the president, and I stand by those words. Pence didnt directly address a reporters question on the vice presidents opinion of Trumps statement on Tuesday, when the president returned to his controversial position that there was blame on both sides for the weekend violence and likened the actions of white supremacists chanting anti-Jewish slogans to those of the people who came out to confront them. Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump The violence erupted as white nationalists gathered in Charlottesville over the weekend to protest the citys decision to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee, a Confederate general in the Civil War, from a public park. One woman was killed and at least 19 others were injured after an Ohio man allegedly rammed a group of counter-demonstrators with a vehicle, and two Virginia state troopers who were observing the demonstrations died in a helicopter crash nearby. Photographs showed a group of whites using long metal poles to beat a black man crouching on his knees. Trump has faced intense criticism from business leaders and lawmakers in both parties since saying Aug. 12 that many sides bore blame for the melees that erupted in Charlottesville. Several corporate chief executives quit White House business panels in recent days and the president announced right after Pence spoke that he was disbanding business advisory groups on manufacturing and strategic policy. Even inside the White House, some staff were deeply dismayed by Trumps comments Tuesday, according to a person close to the White House. Read more: Critics slam Trump after he declines to call out Charlottesville white supremacists, some of whom are his supporters UN experts say Charlottesville exemplifies rising racism in U.S. Former presidents Bush rebuke Trumps stance on neo-Nazis Prominent Republicans continued distancing themselves from Trump on Wednesday, though in most cases without directly criticizing the president. America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms, former Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush said in a joint statement Wednesday without mentioning Trump. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky followed the same course, releasing a statement Wednesday on hate groups without mentioning Trump or the presidents remarks. There are no good neo-Nazis, and those who espouse their views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms, McConnell said. We all have a responsibility to stand against hate and violence, wherever it raises its evil head. Trump criticized alt-left counter-protesters as very, very violent. Facing them, he said, were people protesting very quietly the taking down the statue of Robert E. Lee. I am sure in that group there were some bad ones. Protesters objecting to Confederate generals could move on next to heroes of the American Revolution, he warned. So this week, it is Robert E. Lee. I noticed that Stonewall Jackson is coming down too, Trump said. I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know, you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop? In a reference to a former Ku Klux Klan leader who has praised Trumps comments, Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday in a statement, Many Republicans do not agree and will fight back against the idea that the Party of Lincoln has a welcome mat out for the David Dukes of the world. Read more about: SHARE: NEW YORKWith corporate chieftains fleeing, U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly abolished two of his White House business councils on Wednesday the latest fallout from his combative comments on racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trump announced the action via tweet, although only after one of the panels had already agreed to disband earlier in the day. A growing number of business leaders on the councils had openly criticized his remarks laying blame for the violence at a white supremacists rally on both sides. Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all! Trump tweeted from New York. Read the latest news on U.S. President Donald Trump The decision came as the White House tried to manage the repercussions from Trumps defiant remarks a day earlier. Presidential advisers hunkered down, offering no public defence while privately expressing frustration with his comments. Some Republicans and scores of Democrats denounced Trumps statements as putting white supremacists on equal moral footing with counter-protesters in Charlottesville and called for an apology. Most of those Republicans, including congressional leaders, did not specifically criticize the president. Three Democrats on Wednesday announced plans to introduce a House resolution censuring Trump for his remarks, which included the suggestion made Tuesday that some very fine people were among those who participated in the racist Unite the Right march and that both sides were to blame for violence that killed a Charlottesville woman and injured many others. Were at a very significant juncture here, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey, one of the measures co-sponsors, said. We can either have peace, or we can have this president fuel and fan the fires of violence, and that is scary. He needs to be held accountable. The move to censure the president which has been accompanied by parallel efforts to increase scrutiny of white-supremacist groups and to remove symbols of the Confederacy from federal property, including the U.S. Capitol reflects a growing frustration among Democratic lawmakers and activists with the seemingly never-ending cycle of Trump controversies. There is no indication, however, that Republican leaders will be inclined to take action on a censure resolution, a step that the has not been invoked against a president by the House since 1848. Trump himself stayed out of sight, tweeting occasionally about a primary in Alabama, the stock market and, once, his campaign slogan. Midday, he travelled from New York to his golf club in New Jersey for the night. The president told associates he was pleased with how his press conference on Tuesday went, saying he believed he had effectively stood up to the media, according to three people familiar with the conversations but not authorized to speak publicly about them. Business leaders felt differently. Denise Morrison, chief executive of Campbell Soup, declared she was leaving Trumps manufacturing council, saying, The president should have been and still needs to be unambiguous in denouncing white supremacists. CEOs had begun tendering their resignations from White House panels after Trumps initial comments following the Saturday violence. The first to step down, Kenneth Frazier of Merck, drew a Twitter tongue-lashing from the president. Later, Trump called those who were leaving grandstanders and insisted many others were eager to take their places. On Wednesday, he appeared to pre-empt the CEOs own decision to disband. Members of the Strategy and Policy group, led by Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, concluded after a 45-minute conference call in the morning that they would end the council and announce their decision in a statement, according to two people familiar with the discussions. They insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations. In a subsequent call with Trump, the president agreed it was the right course of action. He tweeted before they could announce the decision theyd reached making it appear it was his choice. Though not as outspoken as the business leaders, some fellow Republican leaders are going after Trump forcefully, too. South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said Wednesday the president took a step backward by again suggesting there is moral equivalency between the marching white supremacists and the people who had been demonstrating against them. Other leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan, made forceful anti-racism statements but steered clear of mentioning Trump and his comments. On a trip through South America, Vice-President Mike Pence skirted questions about whether he agreed with Trumps assessment that some fine people participated in the Charlottesville rally. However, he said he stands by the president. With files from The Washington Post Read more about: SHARE: GENEVAThree United Nations human rights experts decried rising racism and xenophobia in the United States, citing the white nationalist demonstrations in Charlottesville, Virginia, as the latest example and urging U.S. authorities Tuesday to punish perpetrators of hate crimes. The call by the experts in a sharply worded statement along with comments by politicians in Germany and Britain demonstrated that the Charlottesville violence has the international community paying attention to the racial climate in the United States regarded by many as a standard-bearer on human rights principles. One of the experts, Anastasia Crickley, said the three were shocked and horrified by the weekend events and the racial hatred of the white supremacists, of the right-wing extremists, and of the neo-Nazi groups that flocked to Virginia. Read more: Donald Trump defends far-right extremists in astonishing tirade, again blames both sides for Charlottesville violence Charlottesville victims mother urges supporters to channel anger into righteous action She noted the terrible and unfortunate death of Heather Heyer, 32, who was killed by a car that drove into a crowd of counterdemonstrators. Crickley, who heads the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination under the UN Human Rights office, said the events were the latest example of an increase in racial discrimination in the U.S.A. There is an issue here that needs to be addressed by President Trump and by all of the United States, she said. The legacy of slavery is still very evident throughout the United States, and indeed in many other countries, in the oppression of people of African descent. U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday there was "no place" in the United States for the kind of violence that broke out at a white nationalist rally in Virginia and appealed to Americans to "come together as one." (The Associated Press) Crickley sidestepped commenting directly on U.S. President Donald Trumps statements that there were very fine people on both sides in Charlottesville and hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides. Instead, she quoted a tweet U.S. Sen. John McCain sent out Tuesday: There can be no moral equivalency between racists and Americans standing up to defy hatred and bigotry. British Prime Minister Theresa May offered a similar view while criticizing Trumps remarks on Tuesday, declaring that there was no equivalence between those who propound fascist views and those who oppose them. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkels main challenger in next months election, Martin Schulz, said in an interview with media group RND that the downplaying of Nazi violence in Trumps incoherent comments is highly dangerous. In their statement, the UN experts expressed concern about the proliferation and increasing prominence of organized hate and racist groups in the U.S. The other experts joining Crickley in the statement were Sabelo Gumedze, head of the Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent, and Mutuma Ruteere, a rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance. Crickley also clarified their call for an independent investigation of what happened in Charlottesville, saying that lessons needed to be learned from it. What we are calling for is an investigation that seeks to go beyond this particular set of circumstances, she said. Read more about: SHARE: GAINESVILLE, FLA.The University of Florida on Wednesday denied a request by a group headed by white nationalist Richard Spencer to rent space on the campus for a September event and his supporters vowed to file a court challenge. UF President W. Kent Fuchs said in a statement that the decision was made after assessing risks to the campus, community and law enforcement following last weekends deadly violence during a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Members of the National Policy Institute, which is headed by Spencer, had contacted the university about renting space on the campus in Gainesville on Sept. 12. Read more:Cities accelerate Confederate statue removal after Charlottesville rally White nationalist groups are planning to be more active than ever after Charlottesville violence Donald Trump defends far-right extremists in astonishing tirade, again blames both sides for Charlottesville violence I find the racist rhetoric of Richard Spencer and white nationalism repugnant and counter to everything the university and this nation stands for, Fuchs statement said. Fuchs said UF is dedicated to free speech and public discourse, but the First Amendment does not require risk of imminent violence to students. Spencer said he was angry with the universitys decision, and his supporters planned to file a legal challenge. Such a brazen attack on free speech from a public university is infuriating, Spencer said in a text message. Cameron Padgett, a Georgia resident affiliated with Spencers group who was co-ordinating the campus event in Gainesville, told The Associated Press he would file the legal challenge after conferring with lawyers. I signed an agreement and sent it in to the event co-ordinator, Padgett said. I dont know whos advising them on why they think they can do this. Padgett filed a challenge after Auburn University tried to ban Spencers appearance there in April. A federal judge ruled against Auburn, and the talk was held as planned. The university was also ordered to pay nearly $30,000 in legal fees. Several hundred people attended the event and three people were arrested outside the building during clashes between Spencers supporters and his opponents. Janine Sikes, a UF spokeswoman, said this is the first time that officials can recall the university denying such a request due to fears of violence or hate speech. I cant say for the last 100 years, but were not aware of ever doing this in recent history. The move comes after Texas A&M University cancelled a planned September white nationalist protest on its campus featuring Spencer, due to security concerns. Spencer, a leading figure in the white nationalist movement, has popularized the term alt-right to describe a fringe movement that is a mix of white nationalist, white supremacist, anti-Semitic and anti-immigration beliefs. Spencer has advocated for an ethno-state that would be a safe space for white people. After Donald Trump was elected president, Spencer hosted a conference in Washington that ended with audience members mimicking Nazi salutes after Spencer shouted, Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory! SHARE: ALBION An Albion couple with a penchant for scaring people hosted a famous ghost hunting crew as they looked for evidence of paranormal activity at the old Albion State Normal School Campus. Heather and Troy Mortensen, owners of the Albion Campus Retreat and the Haunted Mansions, allowed Zak Bagans and the Travel Channels Ghost Adventures crew to scour the buildings on the campus and do an in-depth investigation last month. The Mortensens signed a contract with the show that prevented them from letting anyone know the crew was in Albion on July 18-20. They didnt want to be bombarded by fans and have their work disrupted while they were filming, Troy Mortensen said. So we kept it quiet. During the investigation the ghost hunting crew chose to focus on Comish Hall, which the Mortensens say is one of the most haunted buildings. Heather Mortensen describes herself as a skeptic. I dont normally believe in ghosts, she said. But things have happened here that cant be explained. Heather has heard people speaking to her and footsteps when no one else was in a building. Before there was electricity on the campus, the couple saw lights in windows. The production team conducted thorough research on the campus, and the crew interviewed people who had connections to it, she said. Former campus caretaker John Kay Powell of Albion was one. Powell said that while many people focus on Comish Hall, his most chilling encounter happened during daylight while he was mowing the lawn at Miller Hall before the Mortensens owned the property. There was a horizontal pipe coming out of the building that could be hooked to an irrigation hose and as he was mowing the lawn, the pipe slid out from the wall another two feet right in front of him. The building was all boarded up at the time and I thought there must be some kids in there, Powell said. So I got off the riding lawnmower to check, but all the doors were locked. After musing over the event he concluded it was just a ghost, I guess. Over the years, he said, there has been ample talk about Miller Hall being haunted, which was the mens dormitory when the campus was a school for teachers. During WWII all the young men were at war and Miller Hall was boarded up and used for a spook alley for Halloween. Soon, Powell said, there were rumors circulating that there was something in there helping things along. The college was established in 1893 by the Idaho Legislature and closed in 1951 due to lack of funding. The school was reopened by a Christian college but closed again in 1969. It sat vacant for decades. The Mortensens first ghost report happened right after they purchased the property in 2007. An excavator operator working on the property said he saw a young girl in the windows of one of the buildings. He wouldnt go into the building, Troy said. After they got the request from the show to film at the campus, Heather said, she had to do some research to find out who they were. But the experience, she said, turned out to be a good one. Zak is really intense, Troy said. He is all about it, and he takes it very seriously. While Aaron Goodwin, he said, is very personable and fun loving. Heather said it was a difficult decision to let the show come because they wanted to film during the retreats busiest time of year. The retreat rents buildings for family reunions and other events, and Comish Hall is rented for special occasions like weddings and parties. Each fall the Mortensens turn five of the buildings on campus into the Haunted Mansions, complete with props and actors in ghoulish makeup. And they were very concerned about our guests getting in their space while they were working, Heather said. During the preliminary investigation, the Ghost Adventures crew honed in on a very strong presence in Comish Hall, Troy said. Most of the reports of unexplained activity stem from that building, Troy said, and many include sightings of a pale woman with dark eyes bustling between the kitchen and the living quarters. The description, he said, matches that of a woman who was the cook at the school for 40 years. The Ghost Adventures team picked up voices on their electronic devices in the building, Troy said. Different crews came in each day, and they performed reenactments that included an event that happened on a closing night of the Haunted Mansions where eight staff members came running out of the gym after they saw a large dark shadow of a man going into the balcony. It was really cool to watch the whole process as they filmed, Heather said. The episode will air at the end of October or first of November. JOHANNESBURGSouth African officials are debating whether to grant diplomatic immunity to Zimbabwes first lady Grace Mugabe who is accused of assaulting a 20-year-old model in Johannesburg earlier this week. Mugabe is still in South Africa after a day of intense speculation over her whereabouts, South African police said in a Wednesday statement. The police said the Zimbabwean government asked for diplomatic immunity for a suspect involved in the alleged assault. The police have declined to name Mugabe in the case as she has not yet appeared in court. Read more: Grace Mugabe, wife of Zimbabwes president, enters political life Mugabes immunity request is currently under consideration, Clayson Monyela, a spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, told The Associated Press. Acting national police commissioner Lesetja Mothiba said earlier on Wednesday that police and national prosecutors wanted to charge Mugabe, according to the African News Agency. Our position was that she must go to court, he said. Gabriella Engels registered a case with police on Monday accusing Mugabe, 52, of attacking her with an extension cord in a luxury hotel in a Johannesburg suburb late Sunday evening. Engels said she been in a hotel room with mutual friends of Mugabes two sons, who live in Johannesburg, when the first lady burst into the room and allegedly assaulted her. Photos of Engels posted on social media show a bloody gash to her forehead that she claimed was a result of the encounter. Confusion over whether Mugabe was still in the country flared up on Tuesday after South Africas police minister said she was due to appear in a South African court and she did not show up, fuelling speculation she may have returned to Zimbabwe. Police clarified on Wednesday that while the suspect had failed to present herself to police to obtain a warning statement about the case, she remained in the country and had sent her lawyers and Zimbabwe government officials to tell police she intended to request diplomatic immunity. Discussions with the suspects lawyers and the Zimbabwean High Commission representatives are taking place to make sure that the suspect is processed through the legal system, the police statement said. Engels told the AP she would be willing to face Mugabe in court. I want to go to court because I really feel like she should go to jail for what she did to me, she said. I dont want her to get away with this. Because what happened to me was not OK. Mugabe has been accused of assaults during other overseas trips, including a 2009 visit to Hong Kong in which a photographer accused her of beating him up. Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is expected to join his wife in South Africa to attend the summit of the Southern African Development Community later this week. SHARE: The Ontario Medical Association, which represents 29,000 doctors, may be the most dysfunctional professional group in the entire province, if not all of Canada. Since January, the powerful OMA has been torn apart by vicious infighting that saw the sudden resignation of its entire executive team, a nasty campaign of cyberbullying pitting doctors against doctors, the election of a slate of dissident doctors to lead the association and the resignation of nine hardline members of its governing council who claimed the OMA still muzzles dissenting voices. And now the OMA is on the verge of damaging its already-tattered reputation even more. Thats because the union is expected to launch a major public relations campaign soon aimed at winning the hearts and minds of taxpayers who the OMA fears rightly will be angered when they learn how much money some doctors are getting in OHIP fees. The OMA is considering such a campaign in the delusional view that it can appease vocal doctors who think the association can control the narrative and minimize the damage when OHIP billings are made public. As revealed by the Toronto Star this week, the OMA could soon voluntarily release the names of its top OHIP billers along with favourable stories about how hard those doctors work, how much they pay in taxes, staff and office overhead, along with their final take-home income. The OMA believes the public is clueless when it comes to understanding such things. Under the proposal, first reported by Star reporters Theresa Boyle and Jayme Poisson, the OMA would deliberately leak the information not to the Star, but to another newspaper it believes would provide more favourable coverage. Definitely open to the idea. Better for us to control the message, OMA president Dr. Shawn Whatley wrote last week on a Facebook forum for Ontario doctors. We are discussing it this week. The OMA issued a statement just before the Stars story broke saying the union isnt acting on the program at this time. Importantly, the OMA has opposed the Stars legal efforts over the last two years to force the release of the names and OHIP billings of top-billing doctors. In June, an Ontario court ruled against doctors attempt to keep the names secret. The OMA says it will appeal the ruling. At stake here is the publics right to know how its tax dollars are being spent or misspent. Collectively, Ontario doctors bill nearly $12 billion a year. The vast majority of doctors are working flat out, putting in long hours in clinics and hospitals, working in underserved communities and emergency rooms. But questions linger about some of the biggest billers. How, for instance, can one doctor bill for 100,000 patients in a single year, as an audit last year by the provincial health ministry revealed. How can the top 12 billing doctors average $4 million a year? How did six claim to have worked for 356 days in a one-year period? Not surprisingly, the angry doctors are trying to portray the Stars efforts to see the billing data released as a deliberate attempt to negatively smear all doctors. Scoop the Stars story. They spent a fortune fighting for this. Lick their lollipop before they have a chance to enjoy it, wrote Dr. David Jacobs, vice-president of the Ontario Association of Radiologists, on Facebook. But a major flaw in the proposed OMA strategy is that its based on the mistaken belief that if it simply gives the data voluntarily to another news outlet then it will gain all sorts of favourable coverage that masks news of possible overbilling. The reality is, however, that regardless of where the OMA leaks its own data, taxpayers and politicians are likely to be shocked by the scope of billings. For example the Canadian Institute for Health Information released a report in April that estimates one third of all tests and treatments are potentially unnecessary. No amount of public relations spin will be able to counteract the possible public outrage to such revelations. Ultimately, the public deserves to know if there is fraud and waste, even possible criminal activity, within the OHIP system. If it wants to win the publics trust and respect, the OMA should stop looking at this issue as merely a public relations exercise it can manipulate to their own advantage. Instead, it should work cooperatively with provincial authorities to release as much relevant billing information as reasonable. That would help the public in determining for themselves if their health dollars are being spent properly. Bob Hepburns column appears Thursday. bhepburn@thestar.ca Read more about: SHARE: Since Donald Trump managed to put trade back at the centre of the Canadian political agenda, the dominant response has been to see this as a threat. In her speech at the University of Ottawa this week, Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland seems to have decided to treat the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement as an opportunity. Hers is a welcome approach, and despite the naysayers, it just might work. Freeland outlined a vision for a more progressive trade agreement that would give greater focus to workers rights and environmental protections, as well as incorporating new chapters on gender and Indigenous issues. While the foreign minister offered few details on what she hopes these provisions might look like, her speech was an acknowledgment that any new NAFTA must do more to protect globalizations potential losers than does the existing one. Freeland also promised a more progressive approach to the controversial Investor-State Dispute Settlement process, pointing to advances made in the recently struck Canada-EU trade deal. Under NAFTA and other trade agreements, this mechanism allows foreign firms to challenge domestic laws if they feel they are being unfairly discriminated against - a process that has often been criticized for giving corporations undue power to shape government policy. Read more: Labour groups press Freeland to raise work standards in NAFTA talks 9 key terms youll need to know as NAFTA negotiations start Wednesday Canadas NAFTA demands unlikely to be considered, U.S. trade vets say Under the deal with Europe, the EU and Canada agreed to change the system with the intent of tipping the balance away from corporations in favour of governments. Thats the right direction. In her speech, Freeland rightly insisted that governments have an unassailable right to regulate in the public interest. There was much in Freelands remarks to admire, but inevitably important questions remain unanswered. For instance, while the talk of improved labour and environmental protections is most welcome, how exactly does Ottawa propose to give these measures teeth, especially as the EU trade deal does not? Moreover, Freeland has suggested that Ottawa is unwilling to budge on Canadas system of dairy protectionism. But given that this is one of Washingtons stated priorities, and given the costs to Canadian consumers of so-called supply management, is this really a hill Ottawa wants to die on? On a number of other issues, from government procurement to the movement of professionals across the border, we need to know much more about not only our objectives, but our priorities. What Freeland has made clear, however, is that Canada is not starting from a point of concession. Thats as it should be. Since the foreign minister delivered her speech, some have pointed out the oddity of Canada pushing a more progressive deal as it enters negotiations with the highly regressive Trump administration. But in fact Freeland is right to boldly set out our goals. For one thing, it would be foolish to concede objectives on the basis of what Donald Trump seems to believe or not. Trying to follow the every caprice of this president is a recipe for dizziness. And even if Trump knew what he wanted, its not at all clear he could get it. Faced with dismal approval ratings, the nagging Russia probe, a string of failures on health reform, and a decreasingly deferential Congress, the president enters negotiations weaker than ever. We should not conflate Trump with the American government. Nor can we forget, as the U.S. and many state governments surely have not, that both countries benefit from our strong trade relationship and both countries stand to lose a great deal if it is harmed. Capitulation, then, would be a strange starting position. In its approach to the EU trade deal and now in its rhetoric around NAFTA renegotiations, the Trudeau government has shown a welcome sensitivity to the changing global conversation on trade. In recent years, we have seen a growing awareness that while globalization has yielded enormous benefits, it has also left too many behind. This view has gained traction not just on the right and left fringes, but also among a good number of mainstream critics who acknowledge that trade deals in their current form too often exacerbate economic inequality and environmental degradation. The future of trade negotiations, these critics suggest, ought now to focus less on promoting economic integration, and more on mitigating globalizations worst consequences by, for instance, harmonizing public policies on labour rights, environmental protections and the integrity of the tax system. Even those trying to hang on to the old model of trade have been shaken by displays of anger at the globalization project. Whether or not Trump truly believes in these new directions or understands these concerns, he has no doubt benefited politically from anti-globalization rhetoric and has a stake in seeing some version of this reflected in a new NAFTA. Canada can be a leader in redefining the grammar of global trade. The foreign ministers approach may at first seem out of step in the current context, but in setting a more ambitious course for Canada she may just have read the moment right. SHARE: Lufthansa (DLAKF) and Ryanair (RYAAY) - Get Free Report could be the big winners following the collapse of Air Berlin, one of Europe's biggest carriers, with both airlines poised to pick up short-haul market share into and out of Germany. Air Berlin declared bankruptcy on Tuesday, August 15, after Middle Eastern backer Etihad Aviation Group pulled finance guarantees. Germany's No.2 Airline will keep flying for the time being after its larger domestic rival Lufthansa and the German government stepped in to prevent a complete collapse. Air Berlin plc shares traded in the early afternoon Wednesday at 0.414 ($0.48), down 18% on the day and 46% since news of the bankruptcy broke on Tuesday. Lufthansa shares were back to Tuesday's closing price of 20.66 after an initial surge of almost 1%. Ryanair was up 1.2% on Wednesday to 19.44 and has climbed 4.7% over two days. "We see Lufthansa and Ryanair as the biggest potential beneficiaries from possible reduced supply in the medium term...with other European airlines also benefiting from better short-haul supply and demand," wrote Goldman Sachs analysts including Daniil Federov and Patrick Creuset. "In the long term, we believe that legacy exits in Europe should support market share gains for LCCs (low cost carriers) and for Ryanair in particular." Air Berlin has about 3.4% of Europe's short-haul market and 13% of the German market. Its collapse means that about 5% of Europe's short-haul capacity is now operated by bankrupt carriers, after Italy's Alitalia tumbled into administration in May when its employees rejected a restructuring plan. Alitalia is 49% owned by Etihad. Lufthansa fills about 39% of its seats in Germany, while German passengers account for about 7% of Ryanair's traffic, making them the most exposed airlines to the German market. Ryanair has targeted the German market for expansion, opening operations in Frankfurt earlier this year as part of plans to ramp up capacity. Low cost carriers like Ryanair and EasyJet Plc (EJTTF) control 27% of the German market, compared to the European average of 44%, suggesting that there is room for them to expand in Europe's biggest economy. Cologne-based Lufthansa had previously expressed interested in buying routes and some assets from Air Berlin and its role as Germany's proxy-flag carrier, and the assistance it is providing Air Berlin, means it is in pole position to pick up assets. "Lufthansa is already in negotiations with Air Berlin to take-over parts of the Air Berlin Group and is exploring the possibility of hiring additional staff," the company said on Tuesday. "Lufthansa intends to conclude these negotiations successfully in due time." Ryanair on Tuesday attacked Lufthansa's involvement in the rescue claiming a deal "was clearly being set up for Lufthansa to take over Air Berlin." The Irish-based carrier called the apparent cooperation between Lufthansa and the German government a "conspiracy," and said it had filed a complaint with the European Commission, arguing the deal excluded major competitors and ignored both EU competition and State Aid rules. The German government seemed to confirm its support for a Lufthansa deal for Air Berlin, claiming that its own intervention was designed to support the failed carrier as it negotiated with "Lufthansa and another, unnamed airline." That second airline could be London-based EasyJet, which is in talks to buy some of Air Berlin's assets according to an unconfirmed Reuters report that cited unnamed sources. Easyjet declined to comment. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: While Walmart Stores Inc. (WMT) - Get Free Report is intent on boosting its e-commerce business to combat Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) - Get Free Report , Target Corp. (TGT) - Get Free Report is focused on bricks-and-mortar. Is that its wisest decision? "Despite the rapid growth that we're seeing online, as we all know, the majority of retail shopping in America still takes place in a physical store," Brian Cornell, Target CEO and chairman, said on a call with representatives from the media on Wednesday, Aug. 16, after the big-box retailer reported a better-than-expected second quarter. Cornell's statement is true today, but retail experts believe it's more prudent and profitable to take the long view. One-fifth of the $3.6 trillion retail market in the U.S. is set to shift online over the next five years, Stacy Mitchell, co-director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, and co-author of "Amazon's Stranglehold," told TheStreet. Amazon is already on track to capture two-thirds of that enormous share. Stocks Higher as Target, Urban Outfitters Rise, Wall Street Waits for Fed In 3 Seconds I Will Tell You What You're Missing About Target's Big 'Comeback' Target is now remodeling 110 of its 1,802 stores, to be completed at the end of this year, and, on Monday, the retailer announced its plans to acquire Grand Junction, a transportation tech company, for an undisclosed amount. Target said the purchase allowed it to now expand its same-day shipping tests throughout New York City and its next-day delivery service, Target Restock, in the Denver and Dallas markets. Walmart, on the other hand, has taken a different approach to growth. The discount giant has been on a recent acquisition frenzy of online apparel retailers that began with its $3.3 billion purchase of e-commerce company Jet.com in August. Walmart's acquisition of Jet.com helped it boost online sales by 63% in the first quarter and allowed it to begin testing same-day shipping and upgrade its stores with futuristic enhancements, such as launching an automated pickup tower, which creates a seamless way for customers to retrieve small packages. In response to a question from TheStreet on Wednesday's call, Cornell said that Target decided to buy a tech company to improve its supply chain, rather than take the Walmart route of adding online retailers to its stable. "We know some days our customers are going to shop in stores, some days they're going to order online, some days they're going to come in and pick up when it's convenient for them. Some days they're going to ask us to simply put their packages right in their trunks in their neighborhood and some days they'll want us to deliver directly to their homes," Cornell said in response to TheStreet's question. "We want to make sure we have the capabilities and technology to meet the needs of Target's guests, no matter how they choose to shop." Target has also began testing a pickup delivery service in which its employees deliver packages to customers' cars. Still, some analysts, including John Zolidis, president of Quo Vadis Capital Inc., question if Target is doing enough in the e-commerce space. "Last quarter, we wrote that better-than-expected first-quarter results were probably not enough to change investors' views of the company, most of whom had written it off as yet another big box retailer laying down in front of the Amazon steamroller," Zolidis said. "We remain concerned about the threat from e-commerce competition, including declining traffic trends to terrestrial retail, but we believe Target is likely to be a retail survivor." Last week, Wall Street saw a wave of disappointing retail earnings reports from Macy's Inc. (M) - Get Free Report , J.C. Penney Co. Inc. (JCP) - Get Free Report and Kohl's Corp. (KSS) - Get Free Report , all of which have focused, too, on bricks-and-mortar. Before the market open on Wednesday, Target reported second-quarter earnings of $1.23 a share on revenue of $16.4 billion, higher than Wall Street's estimates for earnings of $1.19 a share and revenue of $16.27 billion. The retailer's same-store sales rose 1.3% in the quarter, helped by a surprising 2.1% lift in traffic. Comparable online sales grew 32%. Meanwhile, investors are anxiously awaiting Walmart's second-quarter earnings release, set for Thursday, Aug. 17. Barclays analyst Karen Short wrote in a recent research note that she expects Walmart's second-quarter online sales to be just as strong as they were in the first quarter. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: ALMO Lack of wildfire has changed the ecosystem in some parts of the Sawtooth National Forest in southeast Cassia County. The U.S. Forest Service is working to establish a program that will treat nearly 4,200 acres to reduce sub-alpine fir and restore healthy aspen stands, but some people who live nearby arent happy with the plan. If we didnt put out every fire these areas would have burned by now, said Stacy Smith, U.S. Forest Service fuels planner. The project will include lop and scatter, cut and hand pile and prescribed fire treatments to reduce the conifer and trigger aspen regeneration from burning. Aspen is one of the key species in the ecosystem that contributes to plant diversity and the abundance of animals and it has to be disturbed occasionally to regenerate, Smith said. Humans have caused the disruption of the natural balance because of increased fire suppression, Smith said. The interval between burns for aspen average 20 to 60 years but the aspen in the treatment areas hasnt burned in more than 100 years. Along with creating good habitat for wildlife, the aspen provide a natural fire break because they hold more moisture than the conifer. When the larger conifer encroaches into an aspen stand, they cover the aspen and kill them. Properly functioning aspen stands benefit mule deer, moose and elk along with nesting birds, raptors and migratory birds, which use aspen for completion of their life cycle. Aspen is a critical food for big game during the summer and fall months and in the spring stands provides cover for fawns. Where there is little conifer encroachment, lop and scatter treatment will be used, and in most areas fire will be used. In areas that are hand piled, up to five piles per acre will be left unburned for wildlife use. U.S. Forest Service and Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials met with a handful of Almo residents on Tuesday to tour some of the targeted treatment areas near Logger Springs. The project also includes acreage in the George Peak area on the west end of the Raft River Mountains near Lynn, Utah. I can pretty much speak for the people in Almo, Larry Edwards, of Almo said. About 90 percent of them are opposed to it. Edwards is concerned about what will happen to the people who hold grazing permits in the treatment areas. District ranger Loren Poppert said they are working directly with the four people who have grazing permits in the program areas. Im not saying there will be no impact but we are working to minimize it, Poppert said. Under the program, Poppert said, the prescribed burns will have a mandatory two-year rest period from grazing. But if wildfire went through the same area it would be uncontrolled and the ranchers would not be able to plan at all for it. Prescribed burns are also the cheapest method of treatment, averaging about $45 per acre, he said. Poppert said the forest services land management plan and the science behind it directs their action and the need exists for the treatment. Almo residents expressed concern about burn sediment entering Almo Creek and how the treatment will affect hunting season. Matt Ginder, fire management officer for the U.S. Forest Service, said care will be taken during the burning to keep sediment away from the creek and they will not do any prescribed burns during opening weekend of hunting season. Ginder said the agency is open to constructive comments about how the district can move forward with the project. Poppert said the National Environmental Policy Act process will be signed off on by early 2019 and it will be 2020 to 2021 before any burning begins. We are spending a lot more time up front talking with people and less time on the NEPA analysis, he said. The agency is also trying to work on ways to allow the public to have access to firewood and Christmas trees from the areas. Almo resident Base Ward said he wants to know how the large burned areas will affect their use of the land. Ward cuts firewood in the area, and he operates an outfitter business near the Logger Springs site, which provides day and overnight horseback trips. And, he asked, how many pine trees in an aspen stand were considered too many. If the conifer is more than 50 percent of the canopy, its too much, Smith said. Ireland rejected a demand from the European Commission to collect 13 billion euros in back taxes from Apple Inc (AAPL) - Get Free Report Wednesday, Reuters reported. The European Commission ruled last year that Apple paid so little tax for its Ireland-based operations that it amounted to state aid. But Irish finance officials said the tax benefit had been available to all corporate entities and not just to U.S.-based Apple. Irish Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said Apple didn't violate European or Irish law. Collecting taxes related to this issue isn't Dublin's job, Donohoe said. "We are not the global tax collector for everybody else." Apple stock was up 0.4% in early afternoon trading Wednesday. Apple is a holding in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells AAPL? Learn more now. More of What's Trending on TheStreet: Snap Inc. is a social media company operating globally. The company was founded in September 2011 by Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy. Originally known as Snapchat, the company changed its name to Snap in order to represent its offerings better as it grew over the years. The companys headquarters are in Santa Monica, California and it is a very tightly held company. The original founders, Evan Speigel and Bobby Murphy own a combined 45% of non-dilutable shares with ownership transferable to the other upon death. The two remain active in the company today serving on the board and acting as CEO (Speigel) and CTO (Murphy). The company was formerly known as Snapchat, Inc. and changed its name to Snap Inc. in September 2016. Snap Inc. was founded in 2010 and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California. Over the years it has been courted by most of the big tech companies including Facebook and Google but has always opted to remain a standalone company. The business went public in 2017 and raised $30 billion on its opening day which is about 10 times the expected amount. Today, Snap operates as a camera company internationally. The companys main revenue streams are Snapchat, a mobile app for cameras and communications, and Spectacles, a wearable augmented reality device. Snapchat is a camera app that allows users to take pictures and tell stories, the platform also permits ad sales which is an integral part of the revenue and earnings. The companys mission? To empower people to express themselves in todays digital world. Spectacles is a hardware device that can connect with Snapchat to deliver pictures and video from a point-of-view perspective. The company has since made three upgrades to the original version and has a Next Generation model available too. The Next Generation of Spectacles are not intended for sale but will be made available to creators who wish to push the boundaries of video and digital communications. In October 2022 the company reported it had more than 347milion daily active users with more than 250 million engaging with AR each day. The platform had more than 250,000 Lens creators (Lenses are AR experiences) with more than 2.5 million lenses created. There were more than 6 billion lens plays each day and more than 75% of 13-34-year-olds in 20 countries were users. The following companies are subsidiares of NOV: APL France SAS, APL Norway AS, APL do Brasil Ltda., ASEP Otomotiv Sanayi Ticaret Ltd., Acker Holdings LLC, Ackerman Holdings C.V., Ackerman Holdings GP LLC, Advanced Production and Loading, Advanced Wirecloth S. de R.L. de C.V., American Pipe and Construction International, Ameron B.V., Ameron International, Ameron International Corporation, Ameron Pole Products LLC, Ameron Polyplaster Industria E Comercio de Tubos Ltda., Ameron Singapore Holding LLC, Andergauge Limited, Andergauge Redback LLC, Arabian Rig Manufacturing Company, Big Red Tubulars Limited, Bondstrand Ltd., Brandt Oilfield Services (M) Sdn. Bhd., C.M.A. Canavera S.R.L., CJSC Fidmash, CJSC Novmash, Chemineer Inc., Coil Services Middle East LLC, Cooperatie Intelliserv Holding U.A., Cooperatie NOV NL U.A., Danco AS, Elmar Far East Pty Ltd, Enerflow Industries, Environmental Procedures LLC, Fiber Glass Systems (Qingdao) Composite Piping Co. Ltd., Fiber Glass Systems L.P., Fiber Glass Systems Oman L.L.C., Fiberspar, Fiberspar Australia Pty. Ltd., Fibra Ingenieria y Construccion S.A., FidService LLC, Fjords Processing (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Fjords Processing AS, Fjords Processing Australia Pty Ltd, Fjords Processing France SAS, Fjords Processing Korea Co. Ltd., Fjords Processing Limited, Fjords Processing Middle East DMCC, Fjords Processing UK Ltd., Fryma S.a.r.l., GPEX L.P., Grant Prideco (Jiangsu) Drilling Products Co. Ltd, Grant Prideco (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Grant Prideco III C. V., Grant Prideco Inc., Grant Prideco Jersey Limited, Grant Prideco Mauritius Limited, Grant Prideco Netherlands B.V., Grant Prideco PC Composites Holdings LLC, Grant Prideco S. de R.L. de C.V., Grant Prideco de Venezuela S.A., GustoMSC B.V., Hebei Huayouyiji Tuboscope Coating Co. Ltd., Hydralift AmClyde Inc., Hydralift France SAS, Inspecciones y Pruebas No Destructivas S. de R.L. de C.V., IntelliServ Norway AS, Intelliserv GP Holdings LLC, Intelliserv Inc., Intelliserv International Holding Ltd, Intelliserv LLC, JiangYin Tuboscope Tubular Development Co. Ltd, Keystone Tower Systems Inc., MSI Pipe Protection Technologies UK Limited, Merpro Group Limited, Midsund Bruk AS, Mono Group Pension Trustees Limited, Mono Pumps New Zealand Company, Monoflo NOV S.A.I.C., Moyno Inc., NKT Flexibles I/S, NOV (Asia) Inc., NOV (Barbados) Holding SRL, NOV (Barbados) SRL, NOV (Caymans) Ltd., NOV (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., NOV - Oil Services Angola LDA., NOV APL Limited, NOV Africa Pty Ltd, NOV Australia Pty Ltd, NOV Azerbaijan LLC, NOV Brandt Europe France, NOV Brandt Oilfield Services Middle East LLC, NOV CAPS Pte. Ltd., NOV CV1 GP LLC, NOV CV2 GP LLC, NOV Canada ULC, NOV Completion Tools LLC, NOV Completion and Production Solutions Korea Ltd., NOV Denmark Cooperatief U.A., NOV Downhole Argentina LLC, NOV Downhole Bolivia S.R.L., NOV Downhole Colombia LLC, NOV Downhole Comercializacao de Equipamentos para Petroleo Ltda., NOV Downhole Congo LLC, NOV Downhole Eurasia Limited, NOV Downhole Italia S.R.L., NOV Downhole Kazakhstan LLC, NOV Downhole Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., NOV Downhole Pty Ltd, NOV Downhole Thailand LLC, NOV EU Acquisition SNC, NOV Elmar (Middle East) Limited, NOV Eurasia Holding LLC, NOV Expatriate Services Inc., NOV FGS Malaysia Sdn Bhd, NOV FGS Singapore (Pte.) Ltd, NOV Flexibles Equipamentos E Servicos Ltda., NOV Flexibles Holding ApS, NOV Fluid Control B.V., NOV GEO GP LLC, NOV GEO LP1 C.V., NOV GEO LP1 LLC, NOV GEO LP2 C.V., NOV GEO LP2 LLC, NOV Gabon SARL, NOV Germany GmbH, NOV Germany Holding GmbH, NOV Ghana Limited, NOV Grant Prideco Drilling Equipment Manufacturing LLC, NOV Grant Prideco Drilling Products Middle East FZE, NOV Grant Prideco L.L.C., NOV Holding Danmark ApS, NOV Holding Sub UK 1 Limited, NOV Holding UK 1 Limited, NOV Holding UK 2 Limited, NOV Holdings B.V., NOV India Private Limited, NOV Intelliserv UK Limited, NOV International Holdings C.V., NOV International Holdings GP LLC, NOV International Holdings LLC, NOV Intervention & Stimulation Equipment US LLC, NOV Intervention and Stimulation Equipment Aftermarket Comercio de Equipamentos e Servicos Ltda., NOV Kenya Limited, NOV Kostroma LLC, NOV Kuwait Light & Heavy Equipment Repairing & Maintenance Co., NOV LP (Trading) LLC, NOV MFG India Private Limited, NOV Mexico Holding LLC, NOV Middle East FZCO, NOV Mozambique Limitada, NOV NL Mexico Holding B.V., NOV Oil & Gas Services Egypt (S.A.E), NOV Oil & Gas Services Senegal S.A.R.L., NOV Oil & Gas Services Uganda Limited, NOV Oil and Gas Services Ghana Limited, NOV Oil and Gas Services Namibia (Proprietary) Limited, NOV Oil and Gas Services Nigeria Limited, NOV Oil and Gas Services South Africa (Pty) Limited, NOV Oilfield Services Tanzania Limited, NOV Oilfield Services Vostok LLC, NOV Oilfield Solutions Ltd., NOV Park II B.V., NOV Process & Flow Technologies AS, NOV Process & Flow Technologies Malaysia Sdn. Bhd., NOV Process & Flow Technologies Pte. Ltd., NOV Process & Flow Technologies UK Limited, NOV QFZ LLC, NOV Rig Solutions Pte. Ltd., NOV Romania LLC, NOV Saudi Arabia Co. Ltd., NOV Saudi Arabia Trading Co., NOV Services Ltd., NOV Servicios de Personal Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., NOV Tanajib Kuwait for Services and Maintenance of Oil Rigs Refineries and Petrochemicals W.L.L., NOV Tuboscope Italia S.R.L., NOV Tuboscope Middle East LLC, NOV Tuboscope NL B.V., NOV Tubulars and Connectors Ltd., NOV UK (Angola Acquisitions) Limited, NOV UK Finance Limited, NOV UK Holdings LLC, NOV UK Holdings Limited, NOV UK Korea LP, NOV Wellbore Technologies Norway LLC, NOV Wellbore Technologies do Brasil Equipamentos E Servicos Ltda., NOV Wellsite Services Germany GmbH, NOV Worldwide B.V., NOV-BLM SAS, NOVM Holding LLC, NOW International LLC, NOW Nova Scotia Holdings LLC, NOW Oilfield Services LLC, NQL Holland B.V., National Oilwell (U.K.) Limited, National Oilwell Algerie, National Oilwell Varco (Beijing) Investment Management Co. Ltd., National Oilwell Varco (Thailand) Ltd., National Oilwell Varco Algeria, National Oilwell Varco Almansoori Services, National Oilwell Varco Bahrain WLL, National Oilwell Varco Belgium SA, National Oilwell Varco Denmark I/S, National Oilwell Varco Egypt LLC, National Oilwell Varco Eurasia LLC, National Oilwell Varco Guatemala Limitada, National Oilwell Varco Guyana Inc., National Oilwell Varco Hungary Limited Liability Company, National Oilwell Varco Korea Co. Ltd., National Oilwell Varco L.P., National Oilwell Varco MSW S.A., National Oilwell Varco Mexico S.A. de C.V., National Oilwell Varco Muscat L.L.C., National Oilwell Varco Norway AS, National Oilwell Varco Peru S.R.L., National Oilwell Varco Petroleum Equipment (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., National Oilwell Varco Poland Sp.z.o.o., National Oilwell Varco Pte. Ltd., National Oilwell Varco Rig Equipment Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., National Oilwell Varco Romania S.R.L., National Oilwell Varco Solutions S.A. de C.V., National Oilwell Varco UK Limited, National Oilwell Varco Ukraine LLC, National Oilwell Varco de Bolivia S.R.L., National Oilwell Varco de Chile - Servicios Limitada, National Oilwell Varco do Brasil Ltda., National Oilwell de Venezuela C.A., National-Oilwell Pte. Ltd., National-Oilwell Pty. Ltd., PT Fjords Processing Indonesia, PT H-Tech Oilfield Equipment, PT NOV Oilfield Services, PT National Oilwell Varco, PT PROFAB INDONESIA, Pesaka Inspection Services SDN.BHD., Pipex Limited, Pipex PX Limited, Pridecomex Holding S. de R.L. de C.V., R&M Energy Systems Australia Pty Ltd, R&M Energy Systems de Argentina S.A., R&M Energy Systems de Venezuela C.A., R&M Singapore Holding LLC, RE.MAC.UT. S.r.l., RHI Holding LLC, ReedHycalog International Holding LLC, ReedHycalog L.P., ReedHycalog LLC, ReedHycalog UK Limited, Robannic Overseas Finance A.V.V., Robbins & Myers B.V., Robbins & Myers Foundation, Robbins & Myers GP LLC, Robbins & Myers Holdings LLC, Robbins & Myers Holdings UK Limited, Robbins & Myers Inc, Robbins & Myers Inc., Robbins & Myers Italia S.R.L., Robbins & Myers N.V., Rodic S.A. de C.V., Romaco S.a.r.l., STAR Sudamtex Tubulares S.A., STSA, Screen Manufacturing Company Unlimited, Slip Clutch Systems Limited, South Seas Inspection, Subseaflex Holding ApS, T-3 Energy Preferred Industries Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., T-3 Energy Services Cayman Holdings Ltd., T-3 Energy Services Cayman Ltd., T-3 Energy Services LLC, T-3 Energy Services Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., T-3 Investment Corporation IV, T-3 Mexican Holdings Inc., Telluride Insurance Limited, Tianjin Grant TPCO Drilling Tools Company Limited, Tuboscope & Co. LLC, Tuboscope (Holding U.S.) LLC, Tuboscope Brandt de Venezuela S.A., Tuboscope Norge AS, Tuboscope Vetco (France) SAS, Tuboscope Vetco (Osterreich) GmbH, Tuboscope Vetco Capital Limited, Tuboscope Vetco Moscow CJSC, Tuboscope Vetco de Argentina S.A., Tubular Coatings Solutions Ltd., Tucom Composites Polyester Sanayi Ticaret Ltd., Urban WLY LP, Varco BJ B.V., Varco CIS LLC, Varco International de Venezuela C.A., Varco L.P., Varco US Holdings LLC, Vetco Enterprise GmbH, Vetco Saudi Arabia Ltd., Visible Assets Inc., Wilson International, Woolley Inc., XL Systems Antilles N.V., XL Systems Europe B.V., XL Systems International Inc., voestalpine Tubulars Corporation, voestalpine Tubulars GmbH, and voestalpine Tubulars GmbH & Co KG. Read More KETCHUM Three solar eclipse experts will speak in Ketchum days leading up to the big event. All presentations are free and open to the public. Eclipse chaser Leona Rice and astronomer Carolyn Rankin-Mallory will speak at noon on Saturday in Town Square. Rice was elected to the California legislature for three terms and retired after 20 years as executive director of The Doctors Company Foundation. Rankin-Mallory was recently a member of the NASA team that discovered 17 previously unknown stars and divides her time between NASA research participation and college teaching. Astronomer Jeff Silverman will speak at noon on Sunday in Town Square. Silverman is a data scientist, but was a National Science Foundation Astronomy and Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin. He received his PhD. in astrophysics at the University of California at Berkeley, working on observations of exploding stars and dark energy. He is heavily involved in science communication and public outreach programs. Silverman will also speak on Monday at the viewing party hosted by the cities of Ketchum and Sun Valley at Festival Meadow. The partial phase of the eclipse will begin at 10:12 a.m. on Monday, with full totality beginning at 11:29 a.m. and lasting for over a minute. Special viewing glasses are needed to provide adequate protection for those wishing to look directly at the sun during the eclipse. For more information, go to ketchumsunvalleyeclipse2017.com. The following companies are subsidiares of Abbott Laboratories: 3A Nutrition (Vietnam) Company Limited, ABON Biopharm (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., AGA Medical Belgium, AGA Medical Corporation, AGA Medical Holdings Inc., ALR Holdings, AML Medical LLC, APK Advanced Medical Technologies LLC, ATS Bermuda Holdings Limited, ATS Laboratories Inc., Abbott, Abbott (Jiaxing) Nutrition Co. Ltd., Abbott (UK) Finance Limited, Abbott (UK) Holdings Limited, Abbott AG, Abbott Asia Holdings Limited, Abbott Asia Investments Limited, Abbott Australasia Holdings Limited, Abbott Australasia Pty Ltd, Abbott B.V., Abbott Bahamas Overseas Businesses Corporation, Abbott Belgian Investments, Abbott Bermuda Holding Ltd., Abbott Biologicals B.V., Abbott Biologicals LLC, Abbott Bulgaria Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Capital India Limited, Abbott Cardiovascular Inc., Abbott Cardiovascular Systems Inc., Abbott Delaware LLC, Abbott Diabetes Care Inc., Abbott Diabetes Care Limited, Abbott Diabetes Care Sales Corporation, Abbott Diagnostics GmbH, Abbott Diagnostics International Ltd., Abbott Diagnostics Technologies AS, Abbott Doral Investments S.L., Abbott Equity Holdings Unlimited, Abbott Equity Investments LLC, Abbott Established Products Holdings (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Finance Company SA, Abbott Financial Holdings SRL, Abbott France S.A.S., Abbott Fund Tanzania Limited, Abbott Gesellschaft m.b.H., Abbott GmbH & Co. KG, Abbott Health Products LLC, Abbott Healthcare (Puerto Rico) Ltd., Abbott Healthcare B.V., Abbott Healthcare Costa Rica S.A., Abbott Healthcare LLC, Abbott Healthcare Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Healthcare Private Limited, Abbott Healthcare Products B.V., Abbott Healthcare Products Ltd, Abbott Holding (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding GmbH, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited Luxembourg S.C.S., Abbott Holdings B.V., Abbott Holdings LLC, Abbott Holdings Limited, Abbott Holdings Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Hungary Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Iberian Investments (2) Limited, Abbott Iberian Investments Limited, Abbott India Limited, Abbott Informatics Asia Pacific Limited, Abbott Informatics Canada Inc, Abbott Informatics Corporation, Abbott Informatics Europe Limited, Abbott Informatics France, Abbott Informatics Germany GmbH, Abbott Informatics Netherlands B.V., Abbott Informatics Singapore Pte. Limited, Abbott Informatics Spain S.A., Abbott Informatics Technologies Ltd, Abbott International Corporation, Abbott International Enterprises Ltd., Abbott International Holdings Limited, Abbott International LLC, Abbott International Luxembourg S.ar.l., Abbott Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Ireland, Abbott Ireland Financing Designated Activity Company, Abbott Ireland Limited, Abbott Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Abbott Knoll Investments B.V., Abbott Korea Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Bangladesh) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco (Dos) SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Laboratories (Mozambique) Limitada, Abbott Laboratories (Pakistan) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Philippines), Abbott Laboratories (Puerto Rico) Incorporated, Abbott Laboratories (Singapore) Private Limited, Abbott Laboratories A/S, Abbott Laboratories Argentina Sociedad Anonima, Abbott Laboratories B.V., Abbott Laboratories C.A., Abbott Laboratories Finance B.V., Abbott Laboratories GmbH, Abbott Laboratories Inc., Abbott Laboratories International LLC, Abbott Laboratories Ireland Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited, Abbott Laboratories Limited - Laboratoires Abbott Limitee, Abbott Laboratories NZ Limited, Abbott Laboratories Pacific Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Laboratories Products B.V., Abbott Laboratories Residential Development Fund Inc., Abbott Laboratories S.A., Abbott Laboratories SA, Abbott Laboratories Services Corp., Abbott Laboratories Slovakia s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Laboratories Trustee Company Limited, Abbott Laboratories Uruguay S.A., Abbott Laboratories Vascular Enterprises, Abbott Laboratories d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories de Chile Limitada, Abbott Laboratories de Colombia S.A., Abbott Laboratories de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Abbott Laboratories druzba za farmacijo in diagnostiko d.o.o., Abbott Laboratories s.r.o., Abbott Laboratories(Hellas) Societe Anonyme, Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios S.A., Abbott Laboratorios del Ecuador Cia. Ltda., Abbott Laboratuarlari Ithalat Ihracat ve Ticaret Ltd.Sti, Abbott Laboratorios Lda, Abbott Laboratorios do Brasil Ltda., Abbott Limited Egypt LLC, Abbott Logistics B.V., Abbott Management GmbH, Abbott Management LLC, Abbott Manufacturing Singapore Private Limited, Abbott Mature Products International Unlimited Company, Abbott Mature Products Management Limited, Abbott Medical (Hong Kong) Limited, Abbott Medical (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Abbott Medical (Portugal) Distribuicao de Produtos Medicos Lda, Abbott Medical (Schweiz) AG, Abbott Medical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Abbott Medical (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Australia Pty. Ltd., Abbott Medical Austria Ges.m.b.H., Abbott Medical Balkan d.o.o. Beograd (Novi Beograd), Abbott Medical Belgium, Abbott Medical Canada Inc./ Medicale Abbott Canada Inc., Abbott Medical Danmark A/S, Abbott Medical Devices Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Espana S.A., Abbott Medical Estonia OU, Abbott Medical Finland Oy, Abbott Medical France SAS, Abbott Medical GmbH, Abbott Medical Hellas Limited Liability Trading Company, Abbott Medical Ireland Limited, Abbott Medical Italia S.p.A., Abbott Medical Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Medical Korea Limited, Abbott Medical Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Medical Laboratories LTD, Abbott Medical Nederland B.V., Abbott Medical New Zealand Limited, Abbott Medical Norway AS, Abbott Medical Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Medical Sweden AB, Abbott Medical Taiwan Co., Abbott Medical U.K. Limited, Abbott Medical spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Middle East S.A.R.L., Abbott Molecular Inc., Abbott Morocco SARL, Abbott Nederland C.V., Abbott Nederland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Netherlands Investments B.V., Abbott Norge AS, Abbott Nutrition Limited, Abbott Nutrition Manufacturing Inc., Abbott Operations Singapore Pte. Ltd., Abbott Operations Uruguay S.R.L., Abbott Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Overseas Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Overseas S.A., Abbott Oy, Abbott Point of Care Canada Limited, Abbott Point of Care Inc., Abbott Poland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Procurement LLC, Abbott Products (Philippines) Inc., Abbott Products (Spain) S.L., Abbott Products Algerie EURL, Abbott Products B.V., Abbott Products Distribution SAS, Abbott Products Egypt LLC, Abbott Products Limited, Abbott Products Limited Liability Company, Abbott Products Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Products Operations AG, Abbott Products Operations LLC, Abbott Products Romania S.R.L., Abbott Products Tunisie S.A.R.L., Abbott Products Unlimited Company, Abbott Resources Inc., Abbott Resources International Inc., Abbott S.r.l., Abbott Saudi Arabia Trading Company, Abbott Scandinavia Aktiebolag, Abbott Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, Abbott South Africa Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Strategic Opportunities Limited, Abbott Trading Company Inc., Abbott Universal LLC, Abbott Vascular Devices (2) Limited, Abbott Vascular Devices Limited, Abbott Vascular Inc., Abbott Vascular Instruments Deutschland GmbH, Abbott Vascular International, Abbott Vascular Japan Co. Ltd, Abbott Vascular Limitada, Abbott Vascular Netherlands B.V., Abbott Vascular Solutions Inc., Abbott Ventures Inc., Abbott West Indies Limited, Abbott drustvo sa ogranicenom odgovornoscu za trgovinu i usluge, Advanced Neuromodulation Systems Inc., Alere, Alere (Shanghai) Diagnostics Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Healthcare Management Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Medical Sales Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Technology Co. Ltd., Alere A/S, Alere AB, Alere AS, Alere AS Holdings Limited, Alere BBI Holdings Limited, Alere Bangladesh Limited, Alere China Co. Ltd., Alere Colombia S.A., Alere Connect LLC, Alere Connected Health Limited, Alere Connected Health Ltd., Alere Diagnostics GmbH, Alere DoA Holding GmbH, Alere GmbH, Alere GmbH (Austria), Alere GmbH (Germany), Alere HK Holdings Ltd., Alere Health B.V., Alere Health BVBA, Alere Health Corp., Alere Health Sdn Bhd, Alere Health Services B.V., Alere Healthcare (Pty) Limited, Alere Healthcare Connections Limited, Alere Healthcare Inc., Alere Healthcare Nigeria Limited, Alere Healthcare S.L., Alere Holdco Inc., Alere Holding GmbH, Alere Holdings Bermuda Limited, Alere Holdings Pty Limited, Alere Home Monitoring Inc., Alere Inc., Alere Informatics Inc., Alere International Holding Corp., Alere International Limited, Alere Lda, Alere Limited, Alere Limited (New Zealand), Alere Medical BVBA, Alere Medical Co. Ltd., Alere Medical Pakistan (Private) Limited, Alere Medical Private Limited, Alere North America LLC, Alere Oy Ab, Alere Philippines Inc., Alere Phoenix ACQ Inc., Alere Pte Ltd, Alere S.A., Alere S.r.l., Alere S/A, Alere SAS, Alere San Diego Inc., Alere Scarborough Inc., Alere Spain S.L., Alere Switzerland GmbH, Alere Technologies GmbH, Alere Technologies Holdings Limited, Alere Technologies Limited, Alere Toxicology AB, Alere Toxicology Inc., Alere Toxicology S.r.l., Alere Toxicology Services Inc., Alere Toxicology plc, Alere UK Holdings Limited, Alere UK Subco Limited, Alere ULC, Alere US Holdings LLC, Alere s.r.o., Alisoc Investment & Co, Amedica Biotech Inc., Ameditech Inc., American Generics S.A.S., American Medical Supplies Inc., American Pharmacist Inc., Antares S.A., Apica Cardiovascular Limited, Aquagestion Capacitacion S.A., Aquagestion S.A., Arriva Medical LLC, Arriva Medical Philippines Inc., Arvis Investments Limited, Atlas Farmaceutica S.A., Avee Laboratories Inc., Axis-Shield AD III AS, Axis-Shield AD IV AS, Axis-Shield AS, Axis-Shield Diagnostics Limited, Axis-Shield Ltd., BBI Animal Health Limited, BBI Diagnostics Group 2 Public Limited Company, Banco de Vida S.A., Bioabsorbable Vascular Solutions Inc., Bioalgae S.A., Biohealth LLC, Biosite Incorporated, Bosque Bonito S.A., Branan Medical Corporation, Brandex Europe C.V., British Colloids Limited, CFR Chile S.A., CFR Interamericas EL Salvador Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, CFR Interamericas Nicaragua Sociedad Anonima, CFR Interamericas Panama S.A., CFR Pharmaceuticals, California Property Holdings III LLC, CardioMEMS LLC, Caripharm Inc., Cephea Valve Technologies, Cephea Valve Technologies Inc., Colibri Medical Aktiebolag, Comercializadora y Distribuidora CFR Interamericas Honduras S.A., Concateno South Limited, Concateno UK Limited, Consorcio Tecnologico en Biomedicina Clinico-Molecular S.A., Continuum Services LLC, Cozart Limited, Dextech S.A., Diagnostik Nord GmbH, Distribuciones Uquifa S.A.S., Domesco Medical Import-Export Joint-Stock Corporation, Duphar International Research B.V., Endocardial Solutions, Epocal (US) Inc, Esprit de Vie S.A., European Chemicals & Co, European Drug Testing Service EDTS AB, European Services S.A., Evalve Inc., Evalve International Inc., FARMINDUSTRIA S.A., Fada Pharma Paraguay Sociedad Anonima, Fadapharma del Ecuador S.A., Farmaceutica Mont Blanc S.L., Farmacologia Em Aquicultura Veterinaria Ltda., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV Ecuador S.A., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV S.A., Fernwood Investment S.A., First Check Diagnostics LLC, Focus Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Forensics Limited, Forestcreek Overseas S.A., Fournier Pharma Corp., Fournier Pharma GmbH, Fournier Pharmaceuticals Limited, Framed B.V., Gabmed GmbH, Garden Hills LLC, Global Analytical Development LLC, Globapharm & CO LP, Glomed Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Golnorth Investments S.A., Gynocare Limited, Gynopharm Sociedad Anonima, Gynopharm de Centroamerica S.A., Gynopharm de Venezuela C.A., Hi-Tronics Designs Inc., IDEV Technologies Inc., IG Innovations Limited, IMTC Finance B.V., IMTC Holdings B.V., IMTC Technologies Inc., Ibis Biosciences LLC, Igloo Zone Chile S.A., Igloo Zone S.L., Inmobiliaria Naknek S.A.C., Innovacon Inc., Instant Tech Subsidiary Acquisition Inc., Instant Technologies Inc., Instituto de Criopreservacion de Chile S.A., Integrated Vascular Systems Inc., Inverness Canadian Acquisition Corporation, Inverness Medical (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Australia Pty Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Hong Kong Limited, Inverness Medical Innovations SK LLC, Inverness Medical Investments LLC, Inverness Medical LLC, Inverness Medical Shimla Private Limited, Inversiones K2 SpA, Inversiones Komodo S.R.L., Ionian Technologies LLC, Irvine Biomedical Inc., Kalila Medical, Kangshenyunga S.A., Knoll UK Investments Unlimited, LLC VeroInPharm, Laboratoires Fournier S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano Lafrancol S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano del Ecuador S.A., Laboratorio Internacional Argentino S.A., Laboratorio Synthesis S.A.S., Laboratorios Lafi Limitada, Laboratorios Naturmedik S.A.S., Laboratorios Pauly Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Laboratorios Recalcine S.A., Laboratorios Transpharm S.A., Laboratory Specialists of America Inc., Lafrancol Dominicana S.A.S., Lafrancol Guatemala S.A. Sociedad Anonima, Lafrancol Internacional S.A.S, Lafrancol Peru S.R.L, Lake Forest Investments LLC, Lightlab Imaging Inc., Limited Liability Company Abbott Laboratories, Limited Liability Company Abbott Ukraine, Limited Liability Company VEROPHARM, Lung Fung Hong (China) Limited, Mansbridge Pharmaceuticals Limited, MediGuide LLC, MediGuide Ltd., Medscreen Holdings Limited, Metropolitana Farmaceutica S.A., Midwest Properties LLC, Murex Argentina S.A., Murex Biotech Limited, Murex Biotech South Africa, Murex Diagnostics Inc., Murex Diagnostics International Inc., Natural Supplement Association LLC, Negocios Denia Sociedad Anonima, Neosalud S.A.C., Nether Pharma N.P. C.V., NeuroTherm LLC, Normann Pharma-Handels GmbH, North Shore Properties Inc., Novamedi S.A., Novasalud.com S.A., Nutravida S.A., OJSC Voronezhkhimpharm, Omnilab Iberia Sociedad Limitada, OptiMedica, Orgenics France SAS, Orgenics International Holdings B.V., Orgenics Ltd., PBM-Selfcare LLC, PDD II LLC, PDD LLC, PT Alere Health, PT. Abbott Indonesia, PT. Abbott Products Indonesia, Pacesetter Inc., Pantech (RF) (PTY) LTD, Pembrooke Occupational Health Inc., Penagos S.A., Pharma International Sociedad Anonima, Pharmaceutical Technologies (Pharmatech) S.A., Pharmatech Boliviana S.A., Polygon Labs S.A., Quality Assured Services Inc., RF Medical Holdings LLC, RTL Holdings Inc., Ramses Business Corp., Recben Xenerics Farmaceutica Limitada, Redwood Toxicology Laboratory Inc., Rich Horizons International Limited, SC VEROPHARM, SJ Medical Mexico S de R.L. de C.V., SJM International Inc., SJM Thunder Holding Company, SPDH Inc., Saboya Enterprises Corporation, Salviac Limited, Scanax AS, Sealing Solutions Inc., Selfcare Technology Inc., Shandong Abbott Dairy Product Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Medical Devices Science and Technology Co. Ltd., Shanghai Abbott Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Shanghai Si Fa Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Sinensix & Co., Spinal Modulation LLC, St. Jude Medical, St. Jude Medical AB, St. Jude Medical ATG Inc., St. Jude Medical Argentina S.A., St. Jude Medical Asia Pacific Holdings GK, St. Jude Medical Atrial Fibrillation Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Brasil Ltda., St. Jude Medical Business Services Inc., St. Jude Medical Cardiology Division Inc., St. Jude Medical Colombia Ltda., St. Jude Medical Coordination Center, St. Jude Medical Costa Rica Limitada, St. Jude Medical Europe Inc., St. Jude Medical Export Ges.m.b.H., St. Jude Medical GVA Sarl, St. Jude Medical Holdings B.V., St. Jude Medical India Private Limited, St. Jude Medical International Holding, St. Jude Medical LLC, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings II, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings NT, St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings SMI S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Luxembourg Holdings TC S.a r.l., St. Jude Medical Mexico Business Services S. de R.L. de C.V., St. Jude Medical Middle East DMCC, St. Jude Medical Operations (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., St. Jude Medical Puerto Rico LLC, St. Jude Medical S.C. Inc., St. Jude Medical Systems AB, St. Jude Medical Turkey Medikal Urunler Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Standard Diagnostics Inc., Standing Stone LLC, Swan-Myers Incorporated, TC1 LLC, Tendyne Holdings Inc., Tendyne Medical Inc., Thoratec Delaware LLC, Thoratec Europe Limited, Thoratec LLC, Thoratec Switzerland GmbH, Tobal Products Incorporated, Topera GmbH in Liquidation, Topera Inc., Tremora S.A., Tuenir S.A., TwistDx, UAB Abbott Laboratories, UAB Abbott Medical Lithuania, Union-Madison Realty Company Inc., Unipath Limited (dba Alere International/aka Cranfield), Unipath Management Limited, Unipath Pension Trustee Limited, Veropharm, Veropharm Limited Liability Partnership, Vida Cell Inversiones S.A., Vida Cell S.A., Vivalsol, W&R Pharma Handels GmbH, Western Pharmaceuticals S.A., X Technologies Inc., Yissum Holding Limited, ZonePerfect Nutrition Company, eScreen Canada ULC, eScreen Inc., ( ), and Abbott Laboratories Baltics. Read More TWIN FALLS It wont be in totality, but its on the way. Twin Falls will be a major passage for many of the thousands of people expected to come to Idaho for the Aug. 21 eclipse. Some estimates say anywhere from 500,000 to 1 million visitors may be driving and flying into the state. And travel-oriented businesses will be the most affected by the extra traffic, Southern Idaho Tourism Director Melissa Barry said. Which means gas stations, restaurants and hotels are gearing up for a busy week that might be reminiscent of the 1974 Evel Knievel rocket launch over the Snake River Canyon. People here are definitely taking advantage that there will be more business in the area, Barry said. Some hotels are already full for the days leading to the eclipse. As of Aug. 4, the Fairfield Inn & Suites had a few rooms available, but restricted reservations to multiple-night stays. As of right now, were probably close to 90 percent sold out, sales manager Jeremy Heward said. Although the hotel is used to seeing high occupancy, it was unusual to see it that far out from an event, he said. The company had predicted about six months ahead that there would be a surge in bookings, so it raised prices. Rooms cost several hundred dollars a night. Because of the reservation restrictions in many area hotels, Heward recommends anyone who still needs a room to call hotel managers directly to see what options are available. But expect prices to go up the longer you wait. Convenience stores, gas stations and grocery stores are also likely to get more sales the couple of days right before and after the eclipse, Barry said. She is recommending residents stock up now to avoid the crowds. Steve Goolsby, owner of Ziggys Express in Bliss and Hagerman, feared the event could be a repeat of the 74 Evel Knievel jump for which he had been unprepared. It was a crazy week, he said. It was intense. We had empty shelves in our store. On eclipse day, it will be all hands on deck at his stores. Goolsby attended an eclipse forum for businesses Aug. 2 in hopes that he wouldnt be caught off-guard by the sheer numbers of travelers stopping at his businesses off of Interstate 84. Oasis Stop N Go, which as 24 convenience stores across the Magic Valley, expects its busiest stores will be the Travelers Oasis truck stop in Twin Falls, those near the Jerome exit of 1-84, and the stores in Mackay, Bellevue and Downey. The Mackay store will extend operations to a 24-hour business for a week, Oasis Stop N Go President Dan Willie said. Im expecting that two-week period around the 21st to be the biggest period weve ever had in August, he said in early August. Were telling them all to make sure theyre fully stocked on fuel and inventory. Besides gas, beer, pop, water and snacks are likely to be in high demand. Its really hard to predict, Willie said. Given the high percentage of hotel bookings in Twin Falls, Hagerman, Jerome and even Mini-Cassia, its likely that restaurants will also be flooded with visitors. Dont plan on going to a restaurant, because that going to be terrible, Idaho Transportation Department spokesman Nathan Jerke said at the Aug. 2 forum. Bill Ystueta, owner of Chick-fil-A in Twin Falls was expecting a 10 to 20 percent increase on the Friday and Saturday before the eclipse, and a 20 to 30 percent increase above normal on eclipse day. But these estimated fluctuations arent more than the deviation Chick-fil-A typically has on weekends, he said. My plan didnt change because of this, Ystueta said. Although the restaurant will be fully staffed, he has purchased eclipse glasses for his employees to safely view the partial eclipse in Twin Falls. Another type of business in the Magic Valley has received inquiries from eastern Idaho and north of Stanley: portable toilet rentals. Jerke said agencies from that region have reserved portable toilets across the state. But at Bear Necessities and Western Waste Services, theyve been turned down. Its an extensive driving distance for drop-off and maintenance, and both businesses said they were gearing up for the busy harvest season and focusing on local customers. There may be some spillover of tourists before and after the eclipse taking advantage of the areas outdoor recreation, Barry said. But those numbers are likely to be far fewer than what other businesses will see. Just weeks before the event, she hadnt heard of too many businesses preparing for the worst. Most people are just thinking were going to get by and were not going to see that much of an impact, she said. TWIN FALLS Theres a lot of buzz around the total solar eclipse Aug. 21. Here in Idaho, some communities including in the Wood River Valley are in the path of total totality and theyre gearing up for big crowds. Chris Anderson, who manages the College of Southern Idahos Centennial Observatory in Twin Falls, is excited. Ive been waiting 38 years for this, he said. Idaho could see anywhere from 200,000 to one million visitors for the eclipse, Anderson said. If theyre on the high end, its like the entire state of Montana is coming for a visit. But theres no way to accurately predict how many people will come, he said. Whats the big deal anyway? An eclipse occurs any time a celestial body hides another celestial body. The only total solar eclipses visible in the United States over the past 40 years were in 1979 (in the northwest) and 1991 (Hawaii only). The next one wont be visible in Idaho until 2169. If youre planning to view the eclipse, here are eight things you should know: Partial versus totality Theres a huge difference between a partial eclipse and totality, Anderson said. From Twin Falls, you can view a 97 percent eclipse, but thats not the same as totality. Anderson compared it to someone giving you a Super Bowl ticket, but you only go 97 percent of the way to the stadium. You may have a really awesome tailgating party, but youre missing the main show, he said. When to watch The best times to watch the eclipse will depend on where you are in Idaho. But plan to be to your destination by 10 a.m., Anderson said. In Twin Falls, the partial eclipse will last from 10:12 a.m. to 12:54 p.m. Mountain Time with 97 percent totality at 11:30 a.m. The schedule is similar for elsewhere in the state. Totality will begin around 11:30 a.m. and last only a couple of minutes. Where to go NASAs website shows where you can go to view the eclipse and which locations will be in the line of totality. One of the nearest places to Twin Falls is Stanley, Anderson said. But nobody could pay him to go there for several reasons. Theres a higher chance of cloudiness in the mountains compared with valleys, he said. Plus, there arent many roads in that area and theyll be clogged up with traffic, making it difficult to find a place to pull off the road to watch the eclipse. Other reasons: One ornery cloud could park itself in front of the sun and there arent any east-west roads in the area to get a better view, Anderson said. And if there are any wildfires in the area, the view could be obscured by smoke and roads could be closed. The biggest crowds will be found where the weather is predicted to be good, close to the center line of the eclipses path, and where people will be able to find gas, food and restrooms, Anderson said. If you can be independent of gas, food and restrooms, Anderson said his recommendation for watching the eclipse is on Highway 33 from Rexburg to Mud Lake. That stretch of highway almost perfectly follows the center line of the eclipse, he said. There arent any major cities along that route. Plus, there are rural roads parallel to the highway in either direction if you really want to get off the beaten path. It requires planning ahead, though, and bringing your own food and gas. And for restrooms, be creative and respectful of the environment, Anderson said. The number one place to view the eclipse with the least potential for cloud cover will likely be in central and eastern Oregon, said Vernon Preston, warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Pocatello. That area extends from Redmond to Baker City. The second best place: eastern Idaho, followed by Casper, Wyo. in third place. If a storm system is edging in off the west coast and high clouds develop that day, Preston said, some people may try to migrate eastward to try to catch clear skies. Bring necessary supplies Be prepared by making sure you have cash on hand and gas in your car, Preston said. All residents need to think for a four-day period. Make sure to bring extra food and water if youre hitting the road. With so much traffic, theres a potential for delays or closures if theres an accident. Watch the weather If youre heading out of town for the eclipse or even to your own backyard be sure to keep an eye on the weather forecast. Average daytime highs will likely be mid-80s in the Magic Valley, with lows in the 50s. Prepare for regular summertime temperatures, Preston said. If youre heading up to the mountains, such as north of Sun Valley, temperatures could get below freezing at night, he said. Daytime highs will likely be in the 70s to low 80s. If youre going to a mountaintop, youll get sunburned a lot faster, so make sure to bring sunscreen and an umbrella, Preston said. And take precautions to cool off if youre starting to get overheated. For those planning to camp ahead of time in the mountains particularly, in a remote area pay attention to the cloud cover, Preston said, to prepare for thunderstorms and any potential lightning strikes. You dont want to be caught in a flash flood. The National Weather Services Pocatello office has eclipse information on its website. And during the week prior to the eclipse starting Aug. 14 it will post a daily weather forecast video for eclipse weekend. Protect your eyes Anderson said his number one priority is emphasizing safety. I dont want anyones memory of the eclipse to be of when they did permanent damage to their eyes. Eclipse shades are popping up in many stores around Twin Falls, he said, such as Walmart and Lowes. And theyre cheap even offered for free at some community organizations and schools. Im really trying to get that word out, Anderson said. Theres no reason to risk it using a sketchy method. One of the most common, but unsafe techniques is trying to use welders glass. An average piece and anything below No. 14 isnt safe enough to block out the light, Anderson said. Its possible someone could stare at the sun for a long time without feeling pain or realizing theyre doing damage to their eyes, he said. Its the ultraviolent and infrared rays that do that damage. Potential issues down the road could include early-onset cataracts. If youre observing in the path of totality, you can observe the sun without the shades during totality. With the eclipse shades, youll see nothing during totality, Anderson said. It will be completely black. During the time of totality, you can use a telescope or binoculars. But a word of caution: You must stop looking at the sun with your naked eye when the flight glimpse of light returns. How do you know when thats going to happen? There are phone apps to help, such as Solar Eclipse Timer which even announces out loud when you must stop looking at the sun. Learn about the eclipse CSIs Faulkner Planetarium is offering a show, Eclipse: The Sun Revealed, from now until the day before the eclipse. For showtimes and ticket information, visit herrett.csi.edu. Put down your camera Anderson encourages people to put down their cameras. Just enjoy it, he said, because it will go by so quickly. Plus, many expert photographers will be taking pictures, anyway. AviaAM Leasing, a global aviation holding company engaged in the business of commercial aircraft acquisition, has delivered a recently acquired Airbus A321 aircraft to one of its customers under a lease to purchase agreement. The Airbus A321-211 aircraft was acquired from Russian carrier Aeroflot. Produced in 2004, the aircraft recently underwent a 12-year maintenance check with major modifications to interior design and seating configuration (from 170 to 220 economy class seats) implemented prior to delivery. Tthe aircraft was then delivered to a new operator under the lease to purchase agreement. The aircraft delivery took place at Kaunas International Airport, Lithuania. The Airbus A321 is among the most desirable aircraft types demanded by air carriers across Europe and Asia. Weve conducted a number of the re-sale projects, including various modifications, and this one is supposedly to be not the last one as well, said Tadas Goberis, chairman of the Board and CEO of AviaAM Leasing. - TradeArabia News Service It is time the southern African region takes charge of its own narrative and tells the story about its major achievements and challenges. According to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Executive Secretary, Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax, for a long time the region has been painted by stories of diseases, conflict, hunger and poverty. But as a region, we have moved many steps in the positive direction. Today we are here to send a clear message that we have positive stories to tell, Dr Tax said while launching the second edition of the SADC Success Stories publication ahead of the 37th SADC Summit which opens 19 August in Pretoria, South Africa. Since its inception in 1980 as the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), SADC has achieved a number of milestones aimed at advancing political and economic freedom. Major milestone include the launch of the SADC Free Trade Area (FTA) in 2008. By attaining the status of the FTA, consumers in the region are now getting better products at lower prices due to increased production, while producers are benefiting from a tariff-free trade for all goods originating within the region. On energy development, SADC has facilitated the establishment of the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), where regional utilities are afforded the platform to sell and buy surplus electricity from each other, thereby helping some countries to meet their growing demand for energy. Latest SAPP figures show that cooperation through electricity trading among member utilities has seen the region moving from a power deficit situation a few years ago to surplus capacity of around 900 megawatts as of the beginning of 2017. With respect to political stability, the region has succeeded in consolidating peace and security in the region through various initiatives. These include peace mediation in countries where there have conflicts such as in Lesotho and Madagascar, as well as sending election observer missions, and providing troops to help SADC countries defend their sovereignty, as in the case of the Democratic Republic of Congo in 1998. Dr Tax said the regional media plays an important role in the integration agenda through educating and informing SADC citizens about the benefits of belonging to the Shared Community of southern Africa. She said thanks to the dreams of our Founding Fathers, SADC is moving towards deeper regional integration and sustainable development. I therefore encourage the media in the region to take pride and continue to disseminate these achievements, Dr Tax said. German Ambassador to Botswana and SADC, Ralf Andreas Breth concurred, saying SADC belongs to its citizens, hence it is critical for regional integration to benefit the people. Southern Africa is a region of tremendous opportunities, and regional integration has great potential to improve peoples lives in SADC Member States, he said. Breth said the SADC Success Stories publication is an innovative way to make SADC achievements visible for the people of the SADC region. The second volume of the SADC Success Stories was produced by Frayintermedia with support from German. The first edition of the publication, done by the Southern African Research and Documentation (SARDC), was launched in 2015 and, according to the SADC Secretariat, the publication reached more than one million people. The SADC Success Stories publication is one of the communication tools aimed at reaching out to SADC citizens to enhance awareness about the achievements and impacts of SADC programmes, actives and projects on communities and lives of the people in the region. The second volume of the SADC Success Stories covers a variety of achievements including those in various sectors such as agriculture, climate change, infrastructure, peace, tourism and water. The 37th SADC Summit is scheduled for 19-20 August and is running under the theme Partnering with the private sector in developing industry and regional value-chains. At the summit, South African President Jacob Zuma will assume the rotating SADC chair from King Mswati III of Swaziland. Prior to the SADC Summit, there will be meetings of senior officials, followed by the Council of Ministers and a Double Troika meeting on 18 August. Concluding today, in Kampala: ATAF, URA, AfDB high-level dialogue on the nexus between tax policy and tax administration Concept note (pdf): Much of the traditional tax regime for taxing cross-border transactions is based on the taxing of small flows of cross border investment, relatively small numbers of companies engaged in international operations, heavy reliance on fixed assets for production and value creation, relatively small amounts of cross-border portfolio investments by individual and minor concerns with international mobility of tax bases and international tax avoidance. But all this has changed in recent years with the rapid globalisation and digitalisation of the world economy. Effective revenue administrations have to monitor changes in their countrys business and legislative environment and adapt their tax policies and implementation practices accordingly. There is a growing focus on the challenges African faces from multinational corporations who often adapt their business strategies so as package to shift their profits to low tax jurisdictions. These challenges have been exacerbated by the growth in from the digital economy. The corporate income tax base is also being eroded as a result of highly geared financing structures, mismatches between countries domestic tax rules and the abuse of double taxation agreements. [Updates: ATAF on Facebook, ATAF twitter: @ATAFtax] Concluding today, in Pretoria: Association of African Central Banks. Theme: Monetary integration prospects in Africa - lessons from the experience of the European monetary and financial integration Concept note (pdf): The main objective of the symposium is to promote exchanges among Central Bank Governors, policy-makers and the academic community on the prospects and challenges of monetary integration in Africa in the light of lessons learned from the experience of Europe, which established the single European monetary area in 1999, with the introduction of the euro as the common currency. It also aims at conducting in-depth reflections on the relevance of such a project in Africa, given the difficulties encountered by the euro area, in particular with the sovereign debt crisis, following which the issue of the exit of some countries from the euro area was raised. During this meeting, discussions should focus on the strategies to be adopted for the establishment of a sustainable monetary area in Africa, but also on sharing the experiences of countries or sub-regions that have already created a single currency in Africa as well as on the prospects of monetary integration in the Sub-regions. The discussions would focus on the following four sub-themes: (i) President Zumas address at symposium of Governors of the Association of African Central Banks: South Africa remains committed to the development of the region and continent. I am very pleased to note that the South African Reserve Bank will assume the Presidency of the Association in the next year. I am sure that the Bank will, in collaboration with the other central banks on the continent, drive some concrete initiatives in support of Agenda 2063 during its Presidency. South Africa will also assume the chair of the SADC this month. We will ensure that the projects to be pursued in SADC are closely aligned with those of the African Union. Furthermore, South Africa will also chair the BRICS forum next year. The BRICS Africa Regional Centre of the New Development Bank will be opening its doors in Johannesburg next month. It is envisaged that this office will contribute to accessing the much needed resources to pursue our developmental goals on the continent. Finally, as the only African country in the G20, South Africa remains committed to ensuring that African interests are well represented in international deliberations and agreements. (ii) Address by Dr Andreas Dombret (Deutsche Bundesbank): You may be thinking of specific regional disparities among African countries right now. But also in the euro area, convergence was a key word from day one. Even today, although almost all member states in the euro area are experiencing an economic upturn by now, economic cycles are not synchronous. And unemployment rates are highly divergent, standing at over 22% in Greece and below 7% in Ireland. So even 25 years after we initiated a far-reaching treaty of European integration, and after 18 years of sharing a common currency, we are not marching in step. Those asymmetries and structural differences between neighbouring countries are not necessarily a bad thing. But in a monetary union, dissimilar developments have extensive implications for two important challenges: Second Annual SADC Industrialization Week: Sunninghill Declaration 2017 (Nepad Business Foundation) Key points of the Sunninghill Declaration: (i) Conventional policy approaches are not always appropriate for rapidly changing conditions. Responsible policy-making requires: considered research and groundwork, taking into account the evolving regional political economy. (ii) There is the need to acknowledge the inequalities that exist within Member States, and particularly between Member States in the SADC region. (iii) Regional protocols, strategies and plans must be implemented at domestic level, subject to the sensitivity to the changing socio-political, economic and technological environments. (iv) It is essential to develop common awareness among the public and private sectors on the main elements of quality infrastructure for SADC (and the African context), assessing the net long-term benefits and trade-offs. (v) A dearth of information discourages particularly micro, small and medium enterprises from participation in regional and global value chains. Table of contents: The SADC region prepares for industrialization; Key points of the Sunninghill Declaration; SADC value chain development; Agro-processing; Mining; Pharmaceuticals; SADCs infrastructure sectors in support of value chain development; Supporting intra-regional and intra-African trade; Annex I. [Note: Additional conference documentation can be downloaded here, after registration] Annual Review of Country Eligibility for Benefits under AGOA in Calendar Year 2018: documentation posted ahead of 23 August public hearing (i) South Africa: Joint National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa, National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers submission. On the elimination of barriers to US Trade and Investment (pdf): Other than certain regulatory technical, safety and health provisions, NAAMSA and NAACAM are unaware of any significant barriers to US Trade and Investment. Automotive trade between the United States and South Africa has shown consistent growth with imports into South Africa from the USA growing at a substantially faster rate, in many years, than South African automotive exports to the United States. [Please refer the economic commentary in section 4]. Where there are legitimate concerns on the part of US interests regarding barriers to trade and investment- these can and should be addressed between the respective governments/administrations. It is our understanding that the South African government remains open and willing to consider issues in this regard. NAAMSA and NAACAM are aware of the concern by the US administration and various US businesses about the unfair advantage enjoyed by European companies as a result of the South Africa/European Union Free Trade Agreement. Moreover, the United States has indicated a desire to move to more permanent trade and investment relations with South Africa. NAAMSA and NAACAM herewith reiterate preparedness to participate in discussions with the United States administration, via the South African government, on the possibility of a future bilateral trade agreement between the two countries. The South African government is aware of this. [The importance of AGOA for the SA Automotive Industry] (ii) AFL-CIO submission on Swaziland (pdf): The Government of Swaziland has not established or made continual progress towards establishing internationally recognized worker rights, as required under 19 USC 3703(1)(F). The country should remain ineligible for benefits under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. The Government of Swaziland continues to restrict internationally recognized worker rights in both law and practice, including the right to freedom of association and the right to organize and bargain collectively. Efforts at reform have been slow and only partially address the legal barriers that prevent workers for exercising their rights. (iii) The Secondary Materials and Recycled Textiles Association (pdf): Conclusion and Recommendation: The proposed EAC ban on second hand clothing imports violates the requirements for continuing eligibility for benefits under AGOA. Moreover, the aforementioned negative effect on the second hand clothing industry in the United States from increased duties on imports of used clothing into Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda, coupled with the anticipated negative economic consequences and dramatic job losses if the proposed ban on imports of used clothing is implemented, further justifies taking action through this annual review. SMART, therefore, requests that the TPSC recommend suspending duty-free access to the United States under AGOA for all currently eligible apparel imports from Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda until such time as those countries roll back all increased import duties on used clothing and commit not to implement their proposed ban on imports of used clothing. Zimbabwe: Grain imports reach $201,4m (NewsDay) Zimbabwe imported grain worth $201,4m in the first half of the year, an indication the nation was still a net importer of agricultural products despite the land redistribution programme, latest trade data from Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency has shown. Data gathered from Zimstat revealed that Zimbabwe was still a net importer of grain, with maize imports leading with $91m. This also comes at a time when the country was boasting of a bumper harvest. In the period under review, the southern African nation imported durum wheat worth $52 million, rice $44 million, soya bean ($13m) and sorghum worth $1,4 million. Lord Price: Setting the stage for the UKs post-Brexit trade relations with southern Africa (New Era) That was the key purpose of my visit to Southern Africa meeting with trade ministers and representatives from Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland, to discuss how we can work together on an arrangement that replicates the effects of the EPA once the UK has left the EU. Im pleased that were like-minded on this: we agreed that this should be a straightforward task in our mutual interest. As a development-focused trade agreement first and foremost, the EPA provides a high degree of market access. This will continue. More than this, however, the EPA aims to increase development, support regional integration around trade, help develop regional value chains, and ultimately create a stable business climate so UK and African businesses can trade with confidence. Plans afoot to spearhead Dar, Cairo agreements (Daily News) Following agreements reached by Presidents John Magufuli and Abdel Al-Sisi of Egypt, the Joint Permanent Commission, which met for the last time 20 years ago, is to meet immediately to push for realisation of the pacts. Among key areas discussed include investments in the health sector such as construction of a pharmaceutical industry; exchange of experts and increase of local students to study in Egypt, tourism and construction of a meat factory. Tanzania: Ex-CAG stresses effective monitoring of tax exemptions (Daily News) The Retired Controller and Auditor General, Mr Ludovick Utouh, under his umbrella organisation, WAJIBU, yesterday launched Accountability Report which among others show low implementation of the CAG 2015/16 recommendations and called for close and effective monitoring on tax exemptions as they can be abused. The WAJIBU accountability report dwells on CAG 2015/16 reports, and is based on three areas of central government, local government and public institutions. Speaking at the launch of the report, Mr Utouh who is the WAJIBU Executive Director said for the 2015/16 financial year, the audited reports show that 1.10tr/- tax exemptions were offered which is equal to 1.14 per cent of tax revenue. Whats the current state of solar equipment import trade in Africa? Updates from Kenya, Nigeria (Solar Magazine) To enforce proper standards across the value chain, Kenyas Energy Regulatory Commission specifies certifications and qualification for manufacturers, distributors and contractors, which helps to limit the negative impact of substandard products and substandard services. This has provided a conducive environment for quality imported products to thrive. This narrative on solar equipment import is not uniform across Africa. In Nigeria, arguably one of the largest solar markets in Africa, the market is a little less structured and a little less regulated. Solar power equipment use and deployment in Nigeria does not boost of similar levels of order made possible by Kenyas ERC. Frameworks for certification and training across the value chain are still being fine-tuned. East African Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency: executive board meeting update The meeting also took note of the proposal presented by UNIDO on the tentative agenda for conducting a sustainable energy forum for EAC by EACREEE in February 2018. The meeting commended the initiative by UNIDO and requested the formation of a joint organizing committee. The nature of trade and growth linkages (World Bank) In this paper, we aim at shedding some light on these issues by focusing on whether the structural features of trade connections affect the trade-growth nexus. That is, the main contribution of this paper lies in providing new cross-country empirical evidence on how the growth effect of openness depends not only on the size of cross-border trade but also on a variety of characteristics of trade relations. Following several recent studies, we analyze the issue empirically with a two-step system-GMM approach that addresses endogeneity and controls for unobserved country-specific factors in order to estimate the growth effect of openness as well as those of other relevant variables. Our sample covers 118 countries during 1960-2010. Overall, two set of results emerge from our analysis. - NASA is torn between calling for mass action and taking the election outcome to court - Reports indicate NASA leaders are divided over the mass action move - Some are opposed while others are of the idea - They have ruled out court action National Super Alliance (NASA) leaders are allegedly divided on whether to call for mass action to protest what they have claimed was a sham election that gave President Uhuru Kenyatta a win. The leaders held a six-hour meeting on Tuesday, August 15, to deliberate on a number of issues, among them the way forward after they lost any election they were convinced they would win. Daily Nation reports that a number of options were put on the table among them call for mass action by NASA supporters to protest the August 8 polls outcome. NASA leaders pondering on the next move after losing to Uhuru Kenyatta Photo: Capital FM READ ALSO: IEBC commissioner blocked and removed from plane shortly before takeoff They also deliberated on whether to file a case in court to challenge the results. There was a unanimous no on this one. However, according to the paper, the leaders who comprised flag bearer Raila Odinga, his deputy Kalonzo Musyoka, Musalia Mudavadi, Moses Wetangula and Isaac Ruto, failed to agree on mass action. While some were of the idea to take to the streets, others objected the move as it would soil their relations with the international community. Uhuru Kenyatta was declared winner of the August 8 General Election Photo: Nation READ ALSO: IEBC finally explains why it cannot give NASA forms 34A as demanded Those who objected the move also feared the repercussions which include post-poll chaos and loss of lives which will be entirely blamed on the NASA team. NASA is set to make a 'major announcement' on Wednesday, August 16, on the way forward. There have been pockets of violence in some parts of the country, notably Nairobi and Kisumu counties. At least 10 people have been killed in the protests, among them young girls aged 10 years and six months. Raila rejects results Have something to add to this article or suggestions? Send to news@tuko.co.ke Source: TUKO.co.ke - Police officers and KRA officials have raided AFRICOG offices in Lavington, Nairobi - Police said AFRICOG was not legally registered as an NGO - AFRICOG petitioned against President Uhuru's win in 2013 and were looking into the preparations of the disputed 2017 election - The NGO Co-ordination Board had written to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations urging it to immediately shut down the Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG) and arrest its directors Police and Kenya Revenue Authority officers raided the Africa Center for Open Governance (AFRICOG) offices on Wednesday, August 16. The raid came after the NGO Coordination board wrote to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations asking it to shut down the organisation. According to the Board's Executive Director, Fazul Mohammed, the organisation is not legally registered as an NGO as the organisation maintains they indeed aren't a non governmental organisation. READ ALSO: Larry Madowo and Dennis Itumbi in a 'bitter fight' over IEBC's forms 34A NGO Coordination Board Executive Director Fazul Mohammed. Photo: Capital FM. READ ALSO: Young lady found killed with IEBC ICT manager Chris Msando buried quietly Apparently, Mohammed also wrote to the Central Bank of Kenya to have the organisations' bank accounts frozen. Investigations have also been launched into members of AFRICOG for allegedly "contravening the NGO provisions. It, therefore, remains unknown why the AFRICOG officers were raided but the organisation believes the government has a vendetta against them. READ ALSO: You are on your own- UN turns down Raila's request in his grievances against Uhuru's victory AFRICOG Chairman John Githongo. Photo: Business Daily. Install TUKO App To Read News For FREE Chaired by John Githongo, AFRICOG petitioned President Uhuru Kenyatta's win in 2013. AFRICOG was also looking into the preparations of the 2017 election that the National Super Alliance disputed At the time, the late Mutula Kilonzo's daughter, Kethi, represented the organisation in the suit. On Tuesday, August 16, Mohammed also de-registered Makau Mutua's Kenya Human Rights Commission that has been vocal about Uhuru's regime. READ ALSO: Dejected father breaks down on live TV after his 6-months-old daughter dies following police beating in Kisumu (video) Maina Kiai. He is a board member at AFRICOG and have been vocal about rigging in the 2017 General Election that saw Uhuru win. Photo: UN. The NGO Board claimed KHRC was also operating illegal bank accounts and had employed expats fraudulently. KHRC had been critical of Uhuru's win. Have something to add to this article? Send to news@tuko.co.ke Source: TUKO.co.ke - The United States of America has spoken following NASAs declaration to contest Uhurus win in court - Through the US ambassador to Kenya,the US lauded NASAs move saying it would give the parties the opportunity to present their evidence - Railas declaration to move to court comes barely days after he had said he would not to give up and move on Americas president Donald Trump has lauded NASA flag bearer, Raila Odingas plan to take to court to contest President Uhuru Kenyattas victory in the just concluded General Election. Trump, delivered his message through the US ambassador to Kenya Robert F. Godec who said the oppositions move to go to court is highly impressive, because it would give the concerned parties the opportunity to present their case and evidence.Speaking to journalist immediately after the NASA declaration, US ambassador to Kenya Bob Godec said; I welcome their decision, It's important they can provide evidence to court and I look forward to seeing the process to determine whether the elections were free and fair American president Donald Trump. Photo: Reuters READ ALSO: This is just the beginning.We'll not accept and move on- Raila declares war against Uhuru's win The United States message was echoed by the United Kingdom, who through their Ambassador to Kenya welcomed Railas move. The opportunity to go to court gives him and any other aggrieved party a chance to give evidence UK ambassador to Kenya, Christian Turner told journalists. READ ALSO: EU observers ask IEBC to comply with Raila's demands on Forms 34A and 34B NASA flagbearer Raila Odinga Photo: Nation READ ALSO: NASA wants IEBC mole to install Raila as president- Mutahi Ngunyi Raila Odinga, on Wednesday, August 16 gave in to pressure from religious leaders and the international community to challenge Uhuru Kenyattas win in court. In a presser, Raila said he would move to the Supreme Court and challenge Uhurus win despite fears that the court had not been fair to NASA in the recent past. Install App And Read News For FREE Railas declaration to move to court comes just days after he said he would never go to court after Uhuru was declared winner in presidential race. Well, with the new development, NASA now has up to Friday, August 18 to file a petition in court, meaning that Uhuru Kenyattas swearing in ceremony will be delayed by two weeks, should he win the court case. Have something to add to this article or suggestions? Send to news@tuko.co.ke Businesses re-open after elections but are they picking? Source: TUKO.co.ke - Gabriella Engels claims she was assaulted by Grace Mugabe - She has shared her terror in an interview - She said she thought she was going to die Gabriella Engels, the 20-year-old South African model who claims she was assaulted by Zimbabwean First Lady Grace Mugabe, has shared the terror she felt. In an interview with Daily Mail, she said she thought "it was the end of me" and that she was going to die. She recalled shielding herself while she was on her knees as Mrs Mugabe hit her with an electrical extension cord until she bled. Engels re-lived the terror of the alleged assault. Photo: Facebook/Gabriella Engels The model said she required 14 stitches for the cuts on her forehead and skull. Mrs Mugabe was reportedly furious at her for partying with her sons Robert Jr and Chatunga Bellermine. Engels said: "She beat me so badly, with all her power and might, I honestly thought it was the end of me." She added that Mrs Mugabe's bodyguards ignored her appeals for help. READ ALSO: Beautiful lady claims to be 16 years old but nobody believes her She said she required 14 stitches for the cuts she suffered. Photo: Gabriella Engels She denied partying with the Mugabe brothers and said she had just been introduced to Chatunga when his mother arrived. She had never met them before and did not know their surname, she said. READ ALSO: Hindu and Jewish couple ties the knot in rare interfaith lesbian wedding The 52-year-old First Lady was due to hand herself over to police on Tuesday, August 15 but she didn't. Grace Mugabe allegedly assaulted Engels. Photo: Reuters Earlier reports indicated that she had returned to Zimbabwe. However, South Africa's police service has denied this. It is now reported that she has sought diplomatic immunity. Engels shared a photo showing the cut she suffered on her forehead. Photo: Twitter/Gabriella Engels Watch a related video below. Have something to add to this article or suggestions? Send to news@tuko.co.ke Source: TUKO.co.ke Friday will be the 97th anniversary of the day that Tennessees legislature voted to ratify the 19th Amendment which gave women the vote. I note that final vote because not all the states had done so. Tennessee only gave ratification the two-thirds vote needed for it to pass. Mississippi did not ratify it until 1984 after rejecting it in 1920! In fact, most of the Southern states voted to reject it in 1920, not beginning to pass ratification until Maryland did in 1941. Contrast this with the tales of the wolf and the sage grouse. EPA endangered-species regulations, administered by an agency admittedly centered in Washington, D.C., (where the most endangered species may be homo common senseius) has proposed answers which land owners in the West find unworkable. It appears to me that reason has prevailed with the sage grouse after protracted wrangling about the wolf. Western states often have differing opinions with anyone whose basic understanding of nature was forged by living east of the Mississippi. The easterner has been changing the ecosystem with development for at least 200 years longer than the West. They did not have to deal with our kind of dry-land farming or the need for large tracts of land to graze livestock. They prefer the landscape aesthetic of dense green forest and green grass. Some are familiar with animals only as beloved pets or darling exhibits in zoos. Interestingly, Wyoming was the first state to allow women to vote. No doubt the men recognized that their women were intelligent and strong enough to carry out that duty or that they would not settle there without their say. In this case, Western sensibilities led the nation. The sciences of conservation and ecology are relatively late developments, spawned by the enormous increase in populations around the world. As Western islands of urbanization have sprawled across the landscape, easterners have, perhaps, formed the opinion that westerners are just like us. This is true in an existential sense, of course. It is not true when you consider the life experiences which make up the strategies we use when considering how to go about living. The Constitution wisely established the rights of individual states vs the rights of the federal government. Geography matters. People are first influenced by the possibilities of life which the world around them suggests. Of course, there are man-made cultural differences, too. With the advent of modern transportation and communication, cultural differences may be blending at what, to some, seem an alarming rate; geography cannot be changed without adding complexity to the equation. A country as vast as the United States cannot be governed by a one-size-fits-all central structure. Idaho has the right to tip the balance of federal regulation to favor the needs of both the people and the ecology of our state. In fact, I applaud every effort to work out local solutions to Idahos problems. If we had addressed the problem of wolf endangerment earlier, we might not have been subjected to insertion of a non-native species into our ecosystem to preserve the predator balance and save the wolf. It seems to me that we are learning more with the protection of the sage grouse. Idaho land owners are learning how to protect them and at the same time use our vast space for commercial purposes. Although regulation by the state or the county is still unacceptable to those who want to say, My land, my rules, those regulations are by far more likely to be suited to the facts on the ground. The frontier is closed. The rugged individualist is probably mankinds most endangered species in the sense of being able to make their own rules. The press of population, technology, and, yes, globalization, will require laws and regulation. After all, who doesnt want to string robocallers up by their thumbs? Idahoans can be as proactive as those men in Wyoming and recognize the need for new laws. Idahoans must give up their hands-off approach to lawmaking. They must at the same time be more inclusive when considering legislation, less imperious in prohibiting local jurisdictions to have their own rules, and consider the needs of the many to be more important than the needs of the few. The rule of law in our country has always been that, although the majority rules, the rights of the minority are protected. Hence, the Bill of Rights. Legislators are preparing for their next session. I hope they will take the example of womens suffrage and the sage grouse into consideration. Militants launched 33 attacks on positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in ATO area in Donbas over the past day. This is reported by the ATO press center. In Mariupol direction, militants used 120mm and 82mm mortars to shell Ukrainian positions near Krasnohorivka (29 km west of Donetsk). In addition, illegal armed formations launched attacks on ATO troops outside Pavlopol (30 km northeast of Mariupol), using grenade launchers, mortars, small arms and Grad (Partizan) rocket launcher system. In Luhansk direction, Russian-backed militants used mortars to fire at Ukrainian strongholds near Krymske (42.5km north-west of Luhansk) and Troitske (69km west of Luhansk). ATO troops also came under grenade launcher fire outside Novooleksandrivka (65km west of Luhansk) and Novozvanivka (70km west of Luhansk). In Donetsk direction, militants continued to launch attacks on industrial area of Avdiivka (18km north of Donetsk), using mortars, grenade launchers and small arms. ol The U.S. Department of State has commented on the scandal regarding alleged shipments of Ukrainian rockets to North Korea, Ukraine's Channel 5 has reported. State Secretary spokesperson Heather Nauert said that Ukraine had always complied with its commitments and prevented the shipment of prohibited materials to North Korea. "There have been a lot of UN Security Council resolutions, and they obligate all nations, including Ukraine, to prevent transfers of sensitive technology to the DPRK. In the past, I know that Ukraine has prevented the shipments of some sensitive materials to nations that we would be certainly very concerned about. We have a good, solid relationship with Ukraine," she said. Meanwhile, Michael Elleman, a missile expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, who was quoted by The New York Times in an article on the possible use of Ukrainian technologies in North Korea's missiles, said that journalists had made incorrect conclusions from his words. He said that he had not blamed Ukraine for such actions and that he himself was not a supporter of Russia, although his wife was born there. After that, he deleted his accounts on social networks. U.S. intelligence officials said that North Korea can produce its own missile engines, without the help of other countries. op The Defense Ministry of Ukraine monitors the situation around the West-2017 Russia-Belarus military exercises and is aware of all the movements of Russian troops along the common border. Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said this to journalists, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "We are aware of all the movements of Russian troops along our border. We understand what threats may arise, and we will respond adequately to the threats that exist," the minister said. He noted that the Ukrainian side realized the scale of threat posed by the Russia-Belarus exercises, and the General Staff had foreseen a number of activities to respond to those threats. Poltorak specified there was a threat of invasion. He noted that "such a threat is not ruled out in general, not in particular case of these exercises." The Ukrainian Defense Minister also stressed that the Ministry also monitored the situation with the deployment of Russian air defense systems on the border with Ukraine and Belarus. ol Jordan has lifted temporary restrictions on chicken and poultry meat imports from Ukraine, which were imposed due to the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza. This is reported by the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection. "The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has lifted restrictions on chicken and poultry meat imports from Ukraine, which were imposed due to registration of cases of the outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza," the statement reads. As a reminder, Hong Kong, Yemen and China have not yet lifted ban on imports from Ukraine due to the outbreaks of avian influenza. ol Latvian airline airBaltic plans to conduct flights on the Kyiv-Lisbon route, the Kyiv-based Center for Transport Strategies has reported. The first flight is scheduled for March 27, 2018. Thus, the Baltic carrier will be three weeks ahead of Wizz Air in launching air services with Portugal. According to the report, unlike the Hungarian low-cost carrier, airBaltic will perform flights to Lisbon with one stop (1 hour 15 minutes) at Riga's airport. Passengers will be able to take off from Kyiv at 09.40, stay in Riga from 11.35 to 12.50, and arrive in Lisbon at 15.25. A return flight from Lisbon starts at 16.10 and arrives in Kyiv at 09.10. The stop in Riga from Lisbon will last from 22.35 until 07.20 the next day. Flights will be performed twice a week - on Tuesdays and Fridays. The cost of a flight from Kyiv to Lisbon starts from 116.99 euros and a return flight from 112.99 euros. op Ukraine can continue to rely on the support of the Czech Republic in defending its territorial integrity and deepening its relations with the EU, Ukrainian Ambassador to the Czech Republic Yevhen Perebyinis has said. The diplomat wrote this on Facebook after a working meeting with Czech Deputy Foreign Minister Jakub Durr. "I had an extremely friendly and fruitful working meeting with Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic Jakub Durr. We managed to discuss a number of urgent and important issues for both sides, from the priorities of EU-Ukraine cooperation to the issues of confronting Russian aggression in Ukraine, Russia's violation of human rights, including in the occupied Crimea, and sanctions," Perebyinis wrote. He added that the sides had also discussed the upcoming plans in the development of bilateral cooperation and political dialogue between the two countries, assistance from the Czech Republic in implementing reforms in Ukraine, in particular, in the field of education. "In short, the conclusion from this meeting is the following: the Czech Republic is a reliable partner of Ukraine, and we can continue to count on its support in the context of ensuring our territorial integrity and struggle with the aggressor, as well as in terms of deepening Ukraine-EU relations," the diplomat said. op Merck Chief Executive Kenneth Frazier deserves congratulations for resigning from a White House business council to protest President Donald Trumps shameful response to last weekends white supremacist riot in Charlottesville, Virginia. So do two other CEOs who followed his example. More corporate leaders should do the same. Its in their interest to do so. Corporate leaders lend credibility to a presidential administration when they sit on official councils and commissions. When an administration, or a president, is as morally deficient as Trump was this weekend, the reputations of leaders and their companies stand to be hurt by that association. And surely it is the case that social stability is in the long-term interest of corporate Americabusiness leaders and investors alike. We should not underestimate the danger posed by a U.S. president who gives a wink and a nod to white nationalists. Even before Charlottesville, Ive been surprised that more corporate leaders havent spoken out against the administrations support for protectionism, opposition to globalism and retreat from American leadership abroad. Drawing back from the world, moving away from free trade and global openness, and cozying up to foreign strongmen will hurt American business. Speaking out might move the needle. Its hard to know for sure, but the timing of Mondays White House public statements suggests that public support for Frazier may have played a role in the presidents decision to finally denounce white supremacists by name. Corporate leaders may be reluctant to speak out in part because they dont want to be attacked by the president. This must have been on Fraziers mind when he made his announcement Monday morning. And, predictably, Trump fired back Monday on Twitter: Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from Presidents Manufacturing Council,he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES! The president is acting like the leader of a banana republic, not as the head of state of a nation dedicated to the rule of law. Corporate interests are served by strengthening the rule of law and the culture and norms surrounding it. The chilling effect of the presidents threats grows stronger with the silence of corporate leaders in its face. The decision to resign from a presidential commissiongiving up the ability to influence an administration from the inside in exchange for the opportunity to publicly criticizerepresents a real trade-off. Penning an op-ed or going on television to criticize an administration carries with it significant potential costs, to both the CEO and the corporation. But corporate America has been too cautious. Now is not the time for cautious citizenship. Creation of right conditions for business and investments is one of the main tasks for the Ukrainian government. Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman said this to journalists on Wednesday during his working visit to Kherson region, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. "It is very important for me that investments in Ukraine are carried out. Domestic investments are very important as they will enable us to apply new technologies, create new jobs, increase our country's competitiveness in global markets and, most importantly, provide quality products to Ukrainian citizens," Groysman said. He stresses that the development of the national economy is the key task for the Ukrainian government. As known, during a working trip to Kherson region, the prime minister plans to hold a meeting with business representatives and discuss a package of important issues. ish 08/12/2017 Eagle-Tribune By Zoe Mathews For a few minutes in the middle of the day Aug. 21, the sky will go completely dark over parts of the country. Thousands of people will do what countless others have done before them spanning across history; look up, and marvel at the celestial body that gives life to all on Earth. A total solar eclipse is rare, and the August event will mark the first time since 1918 that an eclipse has been visible in the United States from coast to coast. A total solar eclipse occurs when the moon aligns between the Earth and the sun. The shadow directly under the moon, called the umbra, is the total eclipse. The moon will also have a penumbra, which is a lighter shadow around the umbra. This is viewed as a partial eclipse. The path of the moons umbra as it moves across Earth is called the path of totality. The total eclipse will be visible along a path spanning from Salem, Oregon, through the heartland to Charleston, South Carolina. The Merrimack Valley isn't in the path of totality, meaning sky gazers in New England will only see a partial eclipse. About 60 percent of the sun will be eclipsed by the moon in Massachusetts. For those in the path of totality, the totality when the sun is completely blocked out by the moon is about a two-minute event, flanked by the moon slowly moving from in front of the sun. Peak viewing time in the Merrimack Valley is around 2:45 p.m., when the moon will be in front of about 60 percent of the sun, but viewers will probably see the moon start to creep across the sun starting at around 1:30 p.m. A natural laboratory The unusual conditions spawned by eclipses make them natural laboratories for scientists. Local universities are taking advantage of the Aug. 21 eclipse to send teams to locations along the path of totality to take atmospheric readings. UMass Lowell Center for Space Science and Technology has assembled an "eclipse team" to measure how the atmosphere changes during an eclipse. As the moon moves in front of the sun, the atmosphere cools off, mimicking sunset. "What we're expecting to see as the cold spot moves across the country, is as the cold spot shrinks, hot atmosphere should be rushing into it," said Tim Cook, a physics professor at UML. The team is comprised of the science and tech center's director Supriya Chakrabarti, Cook, research scientist Susanna Finn, astronomer Silas Laycock, and grad students Saurav Aryal and George Geddes. They will split into two groups, one in Jackson, Wyoming, and one in Carbondale, Illinois, where they will deploy instruments called spectrographs they built themselves that separate light waves into a spectrum. A camera records the results. "This is a fairly new instrument; it's unique in its ability to take readings even when the sun is out," said Cook. As with most scientific discoveries, Cook is prepared to analyze data they gather even if it's not what they expected. "Even if we get it wrong, it will still give us clues," Cook said. Merrimack College Physics professor Ralph Pass also is planning a trip to the path of totality. "I'm going to just enjoy it," said Pass, who is going with his grandson to southern Idaho. "Solar eclipses are totally overwhelming. They're very moving experiences, and I'm going to have a camera with me and take some pictures." As the sky darkens, birds come out, and the entire horizon glows like the sun is setting. The temperature drops, and stars come out. Pass said local viewers should find anything that creates a pinhole effect and projects the image of the sun on the ground. Or, just go under a tree where the leaves don't block the light completely. "You'll be able to see the crescent shape where the moon is over the sun," Pass said. And for solo viewers like Dick Ciampa, in Salem, Mass., a deck is sufficient. "My plan is to watch it from my deck ... and if anyone is walking by let them have a look with the solar glasses," he said. Ciampa, 67, said the last time he saw a total eclipse was in the 1970s. That eclipse did not expand from coast to coast. "It's kind of eerie since it gets dark," he said. "Animals and birds start getting ready to bed down, and it gets noticeably cooler." Safety first In order to safely watch the eclipse, viewers outside the path of totality should use glasses made with special lenses to block out the sun and protect their eyes. NASA recommends using a pair that meets an international safety standard approved in 2015. Ordinary sunglasses, however dark they may seem, are not sufficient to protect your eyes. The space agency and the American Astronomical Society recommends consumers choose eclipse glasses made by five companies Rainbow Symphony, American Paper Optics, Thousand Oaks Optical, TSE 17, and Baader Planetarium. The proper lenses should meet whats called ISO 12312-2 (sometimes written as ISO 12312-2:2015) international safety standards, according to the group. Public libraries across the Merrimack Valley have organized viewing parties, so amateur astronomers should check with their local branch for details. Giving back Shabnam wants to repay the country that has welcomed her. You have to do something for the society you currently live in. You cannot just come with empty hands and leave with empty hands, she says. You should definitely learn something and give something back to the society and, just like the society is providing me with knowledge, when I grow up, I want to give something back to the society." She and her brother want to use knowledge to make this a better world to live in. If you ask Shabnam how she will achieve that, she has a ready answer "I will practice law, I will be a lawyer". Shabnam has a dream. There is no doubt that she will give it all she's got to make it come true. For now, she's practicing what comes before that conjugation. "I sleep, you sleep, he sleeps..." Right to education UNICEF, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development and the Centre for Education Policy, runs a project to support the education of refugee and migrant children in Serbia. Shabnams school is one of 10 in Serbia that have welcomed refugee and migrant children. Everyone is provided with transportation to school, interpreters and school supplies. Shabnam and many other children living in refugee and migrant reception centres, including unaccompanied and separated children, can now realize their right to education the right of every child. Activists and residents from the Boeung Kak Lake area of Phnom Penh this week petitioned the embassies of Asean member states and the office of the U.N. High commissioner calling for the release of jailed land rights activist Tep Vanny. Cambodias Court of Appeals last week upheld a decision by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, which sentenced Vanny to 30 months in jail for her involvement in a protest outside Prime Minister Hun Sens house in 2013. On Monday last week, the Boeung Kak activists submitted a petition to Rhona Smith, the U.N.s rights envoy to Cambodia, who is in the country on a fact-finding mission. Bov Sophear, one of the activists, said the petitions were filed to mark the one-year anniversary of Vannys incarceration. In the courtroom, we saw that there was no evidence or witnesses, while the police report was also wrong. But the judge and prosecutor said Tep Vanny couldnt be released, she said. She added that a protest campaign often led by Vanny, known as the Black Monday Campaign, which was suspended ahead of elections in June, would restart if Vanny was not released. Song Sreyleap, another of Vannys supporters, said Smith had yet to respond to the activists petition. Tep Vanny was detained because she took part in freedom of expression activities, particular freedom of assembly, she said. Six embassies accepted the petitions on Monday, including the embassies of Malaysia, Myanmar, and the Philippines. The embassies of Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam, however, rejected the petitions. A Laos embassy official told VOA Khmer that the Boeung Kak Lake dispute was an internal problem of Cambodia and subject to Asean states non-interference policy. Wan-Hea Lee, country director of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in an email that the concerns expressed by the activists were regularly taken up with the relevant authorities. Prime Minister Hun Sen has threatened to order the arrest of people expressing critical views about his deployment of troops to the border with Laos earlier this month. Hun Sen ordered the deployment after reports that Laotian soldiers had entered Cambodian territory in an attempt to stop the construction of a road by military engineers near the border. Many took to social media following the announcement to suggest that the move was a pre-election strategy on the part of Hun Sen to win votes and boost his popularity. However, Hun Sen dismissed the claims, saying people who had expressed that view would be held accountable in front of the law. You cannot presume that an action against an invasion of an outsider is a strategy to gain popularity, he said. It is not acceptable. This is a warning to those who express this opinion. If you are in my nation, you will be arrested... and please dont say that I am a dictator. His speech came after the arrest of Sourn Serey Ratha, head of the Khmer Power Party (KPP), who criticized the deployment on Facebook last week. Hun Sen called the comments an insult that could not be forgiven, adding that the KPP could face dissolution. Serey Ratha was charged Monday with three charges, including inciting military personnel to be disobedient, demoralizing military personnel and provocation to commit crimes. Following the deployment, Hun Sen flew to Vientiane to strike a deal with his Laos counterpart, Thonglun Sisoulith, to withdraw both sides forces, which Hun Sen labeled a huge victory. Ly Sophanna, a municipal court spokesman, said the court had already determined that Serey Rathas comments undermined national security. Serey Ratha is due to stand trial on August 24. Yemen suffered more airstrikes in the first half of this year than in the whole of 2016, increasing the number of civilian deaths and forcing more people to flee their homes, according to a report by international aid agencies. The pace of clashes on the ground has also intensified this year, especially around Yemen's third largest city, Taiz, which is besieged by the Iran-aligned Houthis, said the report. The number of airstrikes in the first six months of 2017 totalled 5,676, according to the report by the Protection Cluster in Yemen, which is led by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), up from 3,936 for all 2016. Average monthly clashes between the warring sides have increased by 56 percent from last year, the figures also showed. "[We are concerned by] the increasing impact on the civilian population, particularly in terms of civilian casualties, fresh displacement and deteriorating conditions," said Shabia Mantoo, UNHCR spokesperson for Yemen. Yemen's nearly 30-month-old civil war pits President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi's Saudi-backed government, which controls south and eastern Yemen, against the Houthis, who control the more populated north and eastern parts of the country. The conflict shows no sign of ending and U.N.-sponsored peace efforts remain deadlocked. The report did not identify any party as being responsible for the airstrikes, but the Saudi-led coalition backing Hadi has controlled Yemeni airspace since the war began in March 2015. U.S. forces have also conducted occasional airstrikes or raids using drones. A coalition spokesman declined to comment on the report. Civilian casualties Most clashes and air strikes have been concentrated in frontline provinces, including Taiz, Saada, Hajjah, Sanaa, al-Jawf and Marib, the report said. The United Nations has put the death toll since the war began in March 2015 at more than 10,000. Figures released in a periodic update issued in August by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), with input from other aid agencies in Yemen, estimated the civilian death toll as of April 2017 at 8,053, with more than 45,000 injured, but the real figures could be much higher. "[The figures are considered] to significantly undercount the true extent of the casualties, considering the diminished reporting capacity at health facilities and peopleas difficulties accessing healthcare," the OCHA said. The war has destroyed much Yemeni infrastructure, including the main Hodeidah port, as well as hospitals, schools and roads, pushing the country to the verge of famine and causing a cholera epidemic that has killed some 2,000 people since April. The number of displaced people stands at two million, while 946,000 people are internally displaced returnees, so more than 10 percent of Yemen's 27 million population are either displaced or facing the immediate challenges of return, the OCHA said. "Ongoing hostilities in Yemen, compounded by cholera and widespread food insecurity, continue to increase the humanitarian needs of an already vulnerable population," said UNHCR's Mantoo. Argentina's president Mauricio Macri is the latest Latin American leader to say U.S. military intervention is not "the way to go" to bring back democracy to Venezuela. Macri and visiting U.S. Vice President Mike Pence met with reporters following their talks Tuesday in Buenos Aires. "The way to go is not the use of force," Macri said through an interpreter. "We must refine diplomatic and economic skills in order to ensure that a democracy is restored as swiftly as possible." Macri said there is unanimity across Latin America against a military solution. Pence heard the same objections Monday from Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. President Donald Trump said last week he is not ruling out force for Venezuela. Pence said Tuesday that Trump has "made it clear ... that the United States has many options and we reserve those options." He said the U.S. will not stand by as Venezuela crumbles into dictatorship and that a failed democracy in Venezuela is a threat to the United States. Argentina is currently hosting about 60,000 refugees in Venezuela, where the economy is a wreck and such basic foods as bread, sugar and cooking oil are in drastically short supply. "Venezuela has the potential to be one of the wealthiest nations in our hemisphere with its oil reserves alone," Pence said. "And yet the poverty and deprivation that is resulting from their collapse into dictatorship speaks for itself." Pence congratulated Macri for his reforms that helped revitalize Argentina's economy, calling its revival an inspiration for the world. Pence continues his Latin America tour this week in Chile and Panama. It all started with the death of a goat. When Bangladeshi journalist Abdul Latif Morol was arrested two weeks ago, his case made headlines because of the absurdity of the circumstances. A senior official had donated livestock to residents in a rural part of Khulna, southwest of the capital, Dhaka. But one of the goats died. Morol, a correspondent for the Daily Probaho, took to Facebook to pithily report the given by state minister in the morning dies in the evening. He was accused by a pro-government newspaper correspondent of defaming the official under Section 57 of Bangladeshs Information and Communications Technology Act. Although Morol received bail, the case casts a fresh spotlight on the increased use of the law against journalists and the shrinking space for media freedom in Bangladesh. Journalists arrested under 'Section 57' law At least 25 journalists have been accused of violating Section 57 since March 1, according to the Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star. The section provides for a maximum prison sentence of up to 14 years for a variety of offenses committed online, including defamation, hurting religious sentiment, and tarnishing the image of the state or an individual. The Editors Council released a statement last month calling for it to be repealed, and prominent figures in Bangladeshs media scene have spoken out against the provision. Section 57 of the ICT Act is a serious problem. It contains draconian provisions that apply to anyone publishing online, which is all of us, said Zafar Sobhan, the editor of the Dhaka Tribune. He added, however, that even if the government got rid of the law, which has been proposed, there are other pieces of legislation that could be used to crack down on journalists. Confusion over what is allowed While the goat incident was especially silly, Sobhan said, it points to a fundamental problem: that no one knows what is within bounds and what is not. Iftekhar Zaman, the executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh, said the law contradicted constitutional guarantees as well as international commitments to freedom of expression. A quick look at the cases and the manner in which the provision has so far been used will show how arbitrarily and purposefully it has been used more often than not, he said. Hence, it must be scrapped. History is replete with examples of how such controls of fundamental freedoms turn out to be counterproductive in the long run even for the proponents of such measures. Rights agencies have criticized Bangladesh The trend is occurring at a difficult time for journalists in Bangladesh. Amnesty International documented the harsher environment in a May report, citing incidents of legal and physical harassment of journalists, loss of advertising due to alleged pressure from authorities, and self-censorship when reporting on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the ruling Awami League government, which was reelected in 2014 in a vote boycotted by the opposition. The restrictions are also occurring amid resurgent Islamic fundamentalism that has led to the death of at least six bloggers, writers and activists since 2013, and which culminated in the July 2016 attack on Dhakas Holey Artisan Bakery that killed more than 20 people. Militants tied to the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack. In addition, rights groups point to allegations of secret detentions and enforced disappearances, some of them involving opposition members and activists. Last month Human Rights Watch said there were 48 reported disappearances in the first five months of 2017. Bangladesh government denies limits on media freedom Hasinas government has generally dismissed criticism related to rights abuses and media clampdowns, and she was quoted in October last year saying there is enough freedom for journalism in Bangladesh right now. Last month the prime minister defended Section 57 and urged caution against its misuse, saying it wasnt meant to be deployed against journalists, The Daily Star reported. But considered together the problems facing Bangladesh suggest a shrinking democratic space, which applies to the practice of journalism. Media freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of expression, theres a link to the state of democracy, said Badiul Majumdar, the Secretary of Citizens for Good Governance. And the media often finds itself in the middle. We are extremely critical of Islamist extremism and have spoken out strongly against misuse of religion, but we have to be cautious. We dont want to take unnecessary risks. On the flip-side, we also need to be careful what we say about the government and law enforcement. Some criticism is acceptable, but there are definitely lines one cannot cross and no-go areas, said Sobhan, the Dhaka Tribune editor-in-chief. My job is to push as hard as we can given the existing limitations and sensitivities, to know what can be said and what cannot. But the goal posts are always moving and so it is not an easy task, he added. At the same time, one cant simply take the safe route, as then we would be doing our readers a disservice, and who would read such a newspaper, anyway? Suicide bombers attacked a camp for internally displaced people and a nearby market in a northeastern Nigeria village Tuesday, killing at least 20 people, a local official said Tuesday. Village chief Lawan Kalli said Tuesday at least three suicide bombers entered Mandarari's market around 5 p.m. posing as buyers, then an undetermined number went to the nearby camp for people displaced by Nigeria's conflict while at least one stayed at the market. They all detonated their explosives almost simultaneously, he said. "Our village is right at the entrance into Konduga town and that is where both the camp and the makeshift market are situated, which made us an instant target point of the insurgents," Kalli said. At least 80 people were injured and were rushed to the hospital in Maiduguri, a town about 30 kilometers (18 miles) away, he said. Musa Bura, a youth volunteer in nearby Konduga town, said most members of the local defense force were on guard at the market and not the nearby camp. "The suicide bombers came, three in number. One went into the camp and detonated and almost immediately everywhere turned into disarray, and in the confusion, the two other suicide bombers detonated in the market," he said. The death toll will likely rise, he predicted. Boko Haram's eight-year insurgency has displaced millions in Nigeria and neighboring countries and has killed more than 20,000 people. The Islamic insurgents also staged attacks late Monday that killed seven people in the communities of Nyibango and Muduhu in the Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa, said the chairman of the Madagali Local Government Council, Yusuf Muhammed. The Federal Appeals Court has ordered a conservative Brazilian congressman to pay a colleague more than $3,000 for saying she wasn't worth raping. Judge Nancy Andrighi on Tuesday ordered Jair Bolsonaro to pay Maria do Rosario 10,000 reals ($3,125) for saying in a December 2014 newspaper interview that she is not "worth raping; she is very ugly." One day before the interview, Bolsonaro said on the floor of Congress that do Rosario had called him a "rapist" in 2003 and added that he would not rape her because she didn't "deserve it." Brazilian lawmakers enjoy parliamentary immunity that protects their speech, opinions and votes in congress. However the court said that immunity does not apply to Bolsonaro because he made similar remarks later in the interview. There should be no border posts between Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland after Brexit, Britain said in an early attempt to resolve one of the most complex aspects of its European Union exit. Some 30,000 people cross the 500-kilometer border every day without customs or immigration checks, testing negotiators who have to work out how to tighten controls without inflaming tensions in a region where around 3,600 people were killed before a peace agreement in 1998. The British government said in a paper due to be published on Wednesday that it wanted a seamless and frictionless frontier without "physical border infrastructure and border posts," arguing that new customs arrangements it proposed on Tuesday would allow the free flow of goods. The issue of how the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland will fare is particularly sensitive given the decades of violence over whether it should be part of Britain or Ireland. "Both sides need to show flexibility and imagination when it comes to the border issue in Northern Ireland," a British government source said. Britain put forward two options for future customs arrangements with the EU on Tuesday the first would involve no customs border at all, while a second detailed "highly-streamlined" customs checks. However, the idea met with skepticism among some of Britain's soon-to-be former EU partners, with one EU official describing the idea of an invisible border as "fantasy." "We have some very clear principles. Top of our list is to agree upfront no physical border infrastructure that would mean a return to the border posts of the past and is completely unacceptable to the U.K.," the British source said. Frictionless trade? The EU has repeatedly warned that Britain cannot expect to maintain the benefits of the European single market after Brexit, with chief negotiator Michel Barnier saying in July that "frictionless trade" with the EU was not possible. However, the British government also said it wants to maintain a Common Travel Area, a pact that allows free movement between the United Kingdom and Ireland for British and Irish citizens. And it rejected the idea of a customs border in the Irish Sea that separates England, Wales and Scotland from Ireland and Northern Ireland as "not constitutionally or economically viable." Northern Ireland sold 2.7 billion pounds ($3.47 billion) of goods into Ireland in 2015, according to official figures, and many businesses have complex supply chains that involve crossing the border multiple times during the production process. Commenting on the advance briefing of the position paper, the Irish government said it was "timely and helpful" and that it hoped enough progress could be made to move talks forward. "Protecting the Peace Process is crucial and it must not become a bargaining chip in the negotiations," the Irish government said in a statement, in reference to the Good Friday Agreement which was signed on April 10, 1998, after multiparty talks and led to the creation of an elected assembly in Belfast. The border is one of three priority issues that the EU is insisting must be dealt with during the opening rounds of talks before moving on to Britain's future relationship with the bloc. The first two rounds of divorce talks in Brussels have made limited progress, prompting the EU to warn the next phase which Britain is keen to get to could be delayed unless Prime Minister Theresa May's team comes armed with more detail. But pro-EU campaign group Open Britain said the government's proposal lacked specifics. "They don't outline how a frictionless or seamless border can be achieved when the U.K. leaves the EU and won't reassure anybody about the impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland," Labor Party lawmaker Conor McGinn said. Canadian financial regulators have approved the public sale of a new digital currency in the country's first official endorsement of money created independently of the government or central banks, company officials said on Wednesday. Produced with digital encryption techniques, cryptocurrencies like Montreal-based impak Coin allow users to create their own money supply - with potentially significant impacts for how wealth and property rights are controlled. Impak Coin has already raised more than C$1.5 million ($1.18 million) for the new currency and plans to launch an Initial Coin Offering - or a public sale of the digital money - this month. By allowing people to create a new currency, the project aims to reduce the power of big banks in determining how property rights are managed and money is created, said Paul Allard, chief executive of impak Finance, the social enterprise behind the project. "It is up to communities to decide how to manage a currency, it is not only for the government to decide," Allard told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. 'No need for government' Throughout modern history governments have had control over how money is created and the power to enforce contracts and determine how goods and services are transferred. Cryptocurrencies - through blockchain, the information storage and database system they use - have challenged that power, said Simon Trimborn, a professor at the Free University of Berlin who studies digital networks. "The link between cryptocurrencies and individual property rights is the information storage and transaction system behind cryptocurrencies, the blockchain," Trimborn told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "It is a database which can guarantee property rights while there is no need for relying on a company or government." Contracts are made digitally between peers and transactions are often conducted without government oversight, reducing the state's power over the market. The move by financial authorities to approve the sale of the digital money means "confidence and trust for investors", said Jean-Philippe Vergne, a professor at the Ivey Business School in Ontario, Canada, who studies cryptocurrencies. "We are observing a profound change in the nature of capitalism," Vergne told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "For the first time we have a technology that allows us to remove intermediaries such as government or central banks." Digital impact Impak Finance hopes to raise up to C$10 million from its first sale of coins. Users who buy the new currency will be able to spend it via a mobile wallet connected to their phones. More than 500 businesses have signed up to accept the new currency when it launches, Allard said. He expects that will grow into the thousands as the project develops a "critical mass" of users, leading to more buyers and sellers making transactions. Users will be able to exchange impak coins for traditional money which will be credited to their accounts after an initial waiting period in order to stop speculators from causing volatility in the currency's value, Allard said. Impak Finance will initially keep 40 percent of the money invested in the new currency as reserves in order to have cash on hand if users want to exchange it for traditional money. Only businesses adhering to social and environmental standards are able to use the currency, said Allard, who hopes consumers interested in ethical purchasing will be attracted to the plan. The "impact economy" - a small but growing sector that seeks to put the achievement of social good at the center of business - is expected to grow by more than 15 percent next year in North America, Allard said. New type of property Impak Finance will be entering a crowded market of new digital currencies, analysts said. Following the growth of bitcoin, the most well known cryptocurrency, there are now more than 1,000 similar digital currencies being traded over the internet, said Arvind Narayanan, a computer science professor at Princeton University in the United States. Most of these new digital offerings, however, are used for speculation - investors hoping the currency will gain popularity and then rise in value - rather than buying and selling tangible goods and services, Narayanan said. "People are trying to get the state out of money and various forms of property," Narayanan told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "regulators and law enforcement are trying to adapt to a new technological development." ($1 = 1.2707 Canadian dollars) British actor Daniel Craig has confirmed he will reprise the role of James Bond one last time, ending months of speculation. Craig made the revelation during an appearance on the U.S. TV program The Late Show Tuesday. Asked by host Stephen Colbert whether he would return as James Bond, Craig responded: Yes, to cheers from the audience. Craig has appeared four times as the spy with a taste for martinis: in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre. Eon Productions, the company that runs the movie franchise, said on its website that the 25th Bond movie would be released in U.S. cinemas on Nov. 8, 2019, with a traditional early release in Britain and the rest of the world. Asked by Colbert whether he would appear in any further Bond movies after that one, Craig said no. I think this is it. I just want to go out on a high note and I cant wait, he said. The impact of the latest round of U.N. sanctions leveled against North Korea could be greater than the projected $1 billion cut in its export revenue if fully implemented, a high-profile North Korean defector told VOAs Korean Service, and this would deal a significant financial blow to a regime intent on advancing its nuclear and missile programs. The new U.N. restrictions are perhaps the strongest sanctions ever imposed on Pyongyang because they demand a complete shutoff of markets for its most lucrative exports, said Ri Jong Ho, who previously served various high-level roles in central agencies of the ruling Workers Party of Korea, overseeing the countrys overall production and trade and replenishing the Kim regimes foreign currency reserves. They certainly could threaten the Kim Jong Un regimes lifeline. In response to North Koreas two tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles in July, the U.N. Security Council unanimously passed another round of sanctions earlier this month the seventh since the regimes first nuclear weapons test in 2006. Many experts in Washington welcomed the measure, calling it the biggest diplomatic victory of the Trump administration, which has been seeking to build international pressure on North Korea. I think the latest U.N. resolution is yet another good, incremental step toward increasing pressure on North Korea, said Bruce Klingner with the Heritage Foundation Asian Study Center. Each U.N. resolution is better than its predecessor and each one is the strongest in history against North Korea. The sanctions call for, among other things, a total ban on the Norths principal exports, including coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood. The goal is to slash a third of the regimes annual revenue, which total about $3 billion by U.N. estimates in the August 5 resolution drafted by the United States. Garment production Ri said North Koreas annual export earnings are in fact significantly lower averaging about $2 billion in recent years. Pyongyangs garment production, which on the record brings up to $1 billion, actually yields $100 million at best, he said, covering only labor and costs incurred in maintaining production facilities and equipment. Garment processing not included in the U.N. sanctions has been one of the countrys biggest exports, with many firms, particularly based in China, taking advantage of low-cost labor available in the North to produce various kinds of clothing. Suppliers often send fabrics and other raw materials to North Korean factories where garments are assembled and exported with a Made in China label. From 2014 until 2016, Pyongyang exported some 15 to 22 million tons of coal and 2.5 million tons of iron ore per year, worth roughly $1.1 billion and $200 million respectively, Ri said, adding lead and lead ore exports in the same period averaged about $100 million and seafood sales $300 million a year. If countries including China, which accounts for nearly 90 percent of North Korean trade thoroughly implement the recent ban on these principal exports, addressing all the potential loopholes, the North may face up to $1.7 billion a year in losses or more than 80 percent not just a third of its annual export revenue, Ri said. This is a country whose economy is heavily reliant on its exports of natural resources a major source of hard currency for the regime and banning its coal, iron and iron ore, lead and lead ore, and seafood exports is tantamount to a total blockade on all trade. Natural resources exports The effects of sanctions arent limited to these key exports, Ri said. Prohibiting North Koreas exports of natural resources would cut off its supply of foreign currency, with an anticipated resulting drop in imports of strategic goods including fuel, food and fertilizers as well as various other raw materials and equipment necessary to keep production and construction activities going, said Ri. In that case, he added, the North Korean regime will inevitably experience financial strains, which would put a damper on its pursuits such as building a nuclear-tipped missile that can strike the U.S mainland. The new sanctions omit crude-oil supplies from Russia and China, which Ri said would be a crippling measure for the regime, one that Pyongyangs traditional allies would not want to take. But because the current sanctions are expected to further diminish North Koreas limited holdings of hard currency, the regime would be unable to purchase as much oil as it did before. In an earlier interview with VOA, Ri said North Korea imports up to 200,000 to 300,000 tons of diesel from Russia and some 50,000 to 100,000 tons of gasoline from China every year. China also supplies the North with roughly 500,000 tons of crude oil by pipeline, all of which though goes toward Kims massive military, all of which is free of charge. Ri added the sanctions could also result in an increase of the already rampant smuggling activities across China's border and a fierce competition for survival within North Korea. For three decades, Ri worked in "Office 39," which the U.S. Treasury Department once described as a North Korean government branch that engages in illicit economic activities and managing slush funds and generating revenues for the leadership. His last posting was in Dalian, China, as the head of the Korea Daehung Trading Corporation. Ri defected to South Korea in October 2014, and came to the United States in March 2016. Jenny Lee contributed to this report which originated with VOA's Korean service (www.voakorea.com). Five years after South African police shot dead 34 striking miners in the worst show of brutality since apartheid, South Africans are looking back on the Marikana Massacre and how it sparked frustration over unchanging conditions for the nation's poor. On Aug. 16, 2012, striking workers in Marikana, the site of British company Lonmin's platinum mine, gathered with sticks and machetes on a scrubby plain outside the mine to demand better pay, chanting, singing and dancing the toyi-toyi, a Southern African protest dance. And then the shooting began, shocking the nation. "Marikana was a watershed in post-apartheid South African politics and post-apartheid society," said activist Mark Heywood. "It seemed unthinkable that in the free South Africa, in a democracy, 34 striking mine workers who were not threatening anybody could be mowed down in cold blood by the police." But five years later, activists say the poverty and inequality the miners were striking against remain. Rights watchdog Amnesty International says many of the surviving strikers still face criminal charges over their actions that day, and families of the victims are still fighting for compensation. In addition, although an inquiry was established, none of the police officers involved have faced criminal charges. In the shack settlement around Marikana, conditions have not improved, Heywood says. "All of those conditions are pretty much the same as they were five years ago," he said. "And there is a significance and a symbolism of that, because it is the story of the wider South Africa. It is the story of the way poor people are marginalized." But township-based organizer General Moyo says that some hope has sprung up around the tragedy. "The massacre itself gave confidence to many struggles across the country, even if the real achievements, or the real victory, was not actually won by the strikers, because it was silenced by the massacre, of course. But it really raised consciousness to most of the struggles that [are] taking place around South Africa, and outside South Africa," he said. He says residents of his Johannesburg informal settlement are protesting their lack of basic services. As a shack-dweller in South Africa's largest city, he says, he does not have running water or electricity. He spoke to VOA at a Johannesburg screening of a new film, Strike a Rock, about the female activists of Marikana. The film follows the path of one woman, Primrose Sonti, as she went from being a local organizer to a member of parliament for the then-emerging far-left Economic Freedom Fighters party. Sonti has spent three years in parliament delivering fiery speeches in her native Xhosa, seeking better conditions for marginalized South Africans. She has also leveraged her maternal fury in verbal attacks against President Jacob Zuma, who faces 783 corruption charges. "I am Primrose Sonti," she states, refusing to recant after calling Zuma a liar and a thief, "... Withdraw, never!" That is the mixed legacy of Marikana: pain, anger and grief, but also hope and determination that one day things will get better. British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday there was no equivalence between fascists and those who opposed them, a rare rebuke of U.S. President Donald Trump by one of his closest foreign allies. Trump inflamed tensions after a deadly rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, by insisting that counter-protesters were also to blame, drawing condemnation from some Republican leaders and praise from white far-right groups. "There's no equivalence, I see no equivalence between those who propound fascist views and those who oppose them and I think it is important for all those in positions of responsibility to condemn far-right views wherever we hear them," May told reporters when asked to comment on Trump's stance. WATCH: May responds to Trump's comments On Monday, May's spokesman had said that while Britain condemned racism, what the U.S. president said was "a matter for him". May has been widely criticized by domestic political opponents for her efforts to cultivate close ties with Trump, who she visited at the White House days after his inauguration and invited for a state visit to Britain. Her openly critical comment on Wednesday was an unexpected shift from May, who is keen to cement what she and many other Britons see as a "special relationship" between London and Washington as Britain prepares to leave the European Union. The invitation to Trump to make a state visit to Britain sparked immediate controversy in Britain when the U.S. head of state announced his widely-criticized ban on travel from Muslim-majority countries just hours after May left the White House. Trump's stance on the Charlottesville violence drew renewed calls for Trump's state visit, which would be hosted by Queen Elizabeth and involve lavish pageantry, to be cancelled. May had rejected similar calls after previous Trump-related controversies. "Donald Trump has shown he is unable to detach himself from the extreme-right and racial supremacists," said Vince Cable, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrats. "It would be completely wrong to have this man visit the UK on a State Visit." No date has been announced for the visit. After his rescue from abuse and overwork as a bonded laborer in a brick kiln in south India, Shanmugam Paneer has set up his own business making household items from bamboo. But the lifeless monotone he uses to describe his five-year ordeal betrays an inner struggle to move on from one of India's most prevalent forms of human trafficking. "For many, the process of coming out with the truth is far more painful than actually living those years in bondage," said Loretta Jhona, a counselor with the U.S.-based charity International Justice Mission. "Freedom becomes an alien concept and they constantly battle with their captivity mentality." Though India banned bonded labor in 1976, it remains widespread, with millions working in fields, brick kilns, rice mills and brothels, or as domestic workers to pay off debts. India announced an ambitious goal last year to rescue more than 18 million bonded laborers by 2030 and to increase fivefold the compensation that is paid to them, as part of a wider drive to tackle modern slavery. Rescued workers need more psychological help to become truly free, counselors say, as they are often too scared to admit to suffering, such as sexual abuse, for fear of retribution from their former owners. "People are released physically but not really released from the burden of the debt, or the mental trauma they have undergone," said Umi Daniel, a migration expert at the Aide et Action International charity. Many former slaves instinctively curl up in their beds, used to spending a couple of hours sleeping in a cramped space, Jhona told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. While survivors of sex trafficking often receive help in shelter homes, rescued bonded laborers simply return to their villages and completely shut down. "Very often there is no talk of the years spent in bondage," said Jhona, adding that workers often find it hard to tell her of their hopes for the future. "They ask us how they can have aspirations, when even to eat or sleep they needed permission from their owners," she said. "It is heartbreaking to see people with nil dreams and no aspirations, even for their children. They don't think a better future can exist and most refuse to talk about any of it for months." No fear Some rescued bonded laborers are coming together to lobby for their rights and share their stories. Rukamana Deep says he finally "felt free" when he gave a lecture at the Odisha National Law University in April, describing how his family of four were trapped in a brick kiln. Deep was able to tell his tale in detail, recounting his anger, despair and helplessness as they worked round the clock to make up to 1,000 bricks a day for 100 Indian rupees ($1.56). "There was no fear that day," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in a telephone interview from his village in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. "I just wanted to tell my story." Deep says his confidence comes from the fact that he knows he is not alone, after attending monthly meetings of a migrant bonded labor forum, Dadan Goti Shramik Surakshya Manch. "We just talk about a lot of things, including the present challenges and the past problems," he said. "We understand each other and also create teams that immediately reach out to recently rescued workers. It's important for them to talk." Daniel, of Aide et Action International, believes such forums are critical. "It's a big step in their healing process," he said. Indian security officials say their troops engaged in a stone-throwing clash with Chinese forces in a disputed area of the Himalayas Tuesday. The incident occurred after Indian soldiers prevented their Chinese counterparts from entering the mountainous region of Ladakh in Indian-controlled Kashmir. The confrontation ended after both sides retreated to their respective positions. China did not immediately comment on the incident. Indian and Chinese forces are locked in a 2-month-old standoff in a disputed area between Indias close ally, Bhutan, and China. The tensions began when Indian troops were deployed to obstruct a Chinese road-building project at Doklam Plateau. The area also known as Chickens Neck is hugely strategic for India because it connects the countrys mainland to its northeastern region. New Delhi cites its treaties with Bhutan, with which it has close military and economic ties, for keeping its soldiers in the area despite strident calls by Beijing to vacate the mountain region. The standoff is believed to be the most serious confrontation between the two Asian giants, who fought a brief war in 1962. A day after the U.N. chief voiced concern about Indian plans to potentially deport tens of thousands of Muslim Rohingya refugees, an Indian government official said Wednesday that authorities are only working to identify those who fled persecution in neighboring Myanmar not expel them. An estimated 40,000 Rohingya Muslims have taken refuge in various parts of India, though fewer than 15,000 are registered with the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. Last week, India's Home Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told lawmakers that state authorities had been asked to identify and deport illegal immigrants, including but not only Rohingya. A ministry memo sent August 8 to the states warns that immigrants are susceptible to recruitment by "terrorist" organizations and "not only infringe on the rights of Indian citizens but also pose grave security challenges." On Wednesday, a Home Ministry official said worries of Rohingya being shipped back to Myanmar were overblown, and that the government was only trying to count and identify how many refugees were in the country. Contrary to what was said in last week's memo, the official said no decisions had been made about deporting any refugees. He refused to give his name as he was not authorized to speak with media. A day earlier, the head of the United Nations said any plan to send refugees back to a country where they face persecution was cause for alarm, according to his spokesman. "Obviously, we have our concerns about the treatment of refugees," said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres. It was not immediately clear if Rohingya who had yet to be registered with the UNHCR would receive any of the same protections. Targets of violence The Rohingya face severe discrimination in Buddhist-majority Myanmar and are the targets of violence in Rakhine state, where security forces have been accused of abuses against them. They have long been denied citizenship, freedom of movement and basic rights in Myanmar. In recent years, tens of thousands have fled either to neighboring Bangladesh, India and other countries, where they are often seen as illegal immigrants even those who have lived there for decades. Many who have come to India have settled in areas with large Muslim populations, including the southern city of Hyderabad, the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, the capital of New Delhi and the disputed Himalayan region of Jammu. Earlier this year, a body of traders and industrialists launched a campaign to "identify and kill" the thousands of Rohingya settled in Hindu-dominated Jammu. "We did issue a threat to them. But we didn't execute it, because the government of India promised action against them," said Rakesh Gupta, who heads the body. "The government said they [Rohingya] would be deported from the state soon, and we accordingly withdrew the threat. But we will review the situation soon." No official word of deportation Myanmar's presidential spokesman said the government had yet to receive any official notification of planned deportations. "The Indian government had told the Myanmar ambassador about the deportation of the refugees," spokesman Zaw Htay said. "But as to the government, we have not been told directly by the Indian government, and that's why we cannot tell anything yet and the issue is still under discussion." Rights activists said any discussion of moving Rohingya back to Myanmar was upsetting. "Instead of deportations, India should be discussing the issue with Myanmar and Bangladesh with a view to resolving the situation in Rakhine state, ending discrimination, and holding soldiers accountable" for an alleged campaign of collective punishment that for months has targeted the Rohingya with deadly violence and rape, said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director for Human Rights Watch. "India should be showing leadership in protecting rights, and has the responsibility now to ensure the safety of the Rohingya refugees who have sought shelter in India," she said. Iraq asked for international help Wednesday to collect and preserve evidence of crimes by Islamic State militants and said it was working with Britain to draft a U.N. Security Council resolution to establish the investigation. Britain, international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney and Nadia Murad, a woman from the Yazidi religious minority who was enslaved and raped by IS fighters in Mosul, have been pushing Iraq to allow a U.N. inquiry. The 15-member Security Council could have established an inquiry without Iraq's consent, but Britain wanted Iraq's approval in a letter formally making the request. Iraq sent the letter, seen by Reuters, on Monday. "We request assistance of the international community to get benefited from international expertise to criminalize Daesh terrorist entity," Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari wrote in the letter, which was translated from Arabic. Daesh is another name for Islamic State, as is ISIS. Britain's mission to the United Nations said on Twitter that it was working with Iraq on a draft resolution. It was not immediately clear when it could be put to a vote in the council. Caliphate collapsed IS's self-proclaimed caliphate effectively collapsed last month, when U.S.-backed Iraqi forces completed the recapture of Mosul, the militants' capital in northern Iraq, after a nine-month campaign. Parts of Iraq and Syria remain under IS control, especially along the border. "I hope that the Iraqi government's letter will mark the beginning of the end of impunity for genocide and other crimes that ISIS is committing in Iraq and around the world," Clooney said in a statement. "Yazidis and other ISIS victims want justice in a court of law, and they deserve nothing less," Clooney said. The Yazidis' beliefs combine elements of several ancient Middle Eastern religions. IS militants consider the Yazidis to be devil worshippers. U.N. experts said in June last year that IS was committing genocide against the Yazidis in Syria and Iraq to destroy them through killings, sexual slavery and other crimes. The Iraqi government said in the letter that it was important to bring IS militants to justice in Iraqi courts. Ireland's finance minister rejected the European Commission's demand that it retroactively collect 13 billion euros in taxes from Apple, saying this was not Dublin's job in an interview with Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine (FAZ) newspaper. In the interview, extracts from which the FAZ published on Wednesday, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said the tax rules from which Apple benefited had been available to all and not tailored for the U.S. technology giant. They did not violate European or Irish law, he added. "We are not the global tax collector for everybody else," the paper quoted him as saying. The European Commission last year ruled that Apple paid so little tax on its Ireland-based operations that it amounted to state aid. Kenyan officials say a top electoral official, among those who oversaw Kenyas disputed presidential election, was delayed while on her way to the U.S. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission said via Twitter Wednesday that commissioner Roselyn Akombe delayed at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport by officials who have since apologized. She is to return from the U.S. on Sunday. Earlier Wednesday, officials who insisted on anonymity for fear of reprisals said Akombe was stopped by security agents from boarding a flight to New York late Tuesday. Officials say her luggage was offloaded and she was told to seek clearance to travel from the director of immigration. Opposition leader Raila Odinga has rejected the official results of the presidential election, which show he lost to incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta. Odinga claims that the vote was rigged. Kenyans voted mainly along ethnic and geographic lines to give President Uhuru Kenyatta a second term in office, according to election data analyzed by VOA. Over the weekend, the country's Elections Observation Group deemed the Aug. 8 vote valid and reiterated Kenyatta's victory, despite the opposition's rejection of the outcome and allegations of vote rigging. The U.S. State Department also supported the results of the election. To understand how the country voted, VOA looked at ballot tallies provided by Kenya's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, along with demographic data from census reports and the World Bank. According to the official results, Kenyatta won the popular vote by about 10 percent, with 54 percent of the overall vote. However, tallies at the county level reveal deep divisions across Kenya. Kenyatta and his chief rival, opposition leader Raila Odinga, won 27 of 47 counties by a margin of at least 80 percent. Together, these counties account for 59 percent of the country's population. Ethnic, regional divisions Kenya's diverse ethnic composition has long influenced the country's politics. Over 70 ethnic groups are in Kenya, with the largest group, the Kikuyu, accounting for about 20 percent of the population. Kenyatta won all 12 counties where the Kalenjin or Kikuyu are the predominant ethnic groups. He belongs to the Kikuyu ethnic group and, in the six counties where they are the main group, received 96 percent of the vote. The same voting patterns held for the opposition party. Odinga won all eight counties where the Luhya or Luo are the main groups. He belongs to the Luo ethnic group and received 95 percent of the vote in the four counties where they are predominant. Similar differences were evident at the provincial level. Kenyatta swept the Central and North Eastern provinces. Odinga swept Coast and Nairobi provinces. Kenyatta won 12 of the 14 counties in Rift Valley province, and Odinga won five of the six counties in Nyanza province. Only Eastern province was roughly split, with Kenyatta winning five counties and Odinga winning three. Opposition challenge Odinga said Wednesday that, contrary to its earlier statements, the opposition will challenge the election outcome in the Supreme Court. He questioned the voting results given by the electoral commission, saying it shamelessly cooked the numbers to reach a predetermined result. No such criticism has come from international election observers. The head of the European Union delegation, Marietje Schaake, said last Friday that her team had seen no signs of centralized or localized manipulation of the voting process. Historic tensions Kenya's latest election is part of an ongoing, bitterly contested political saga. In 1964, Kenyatta's and Odinga's fathers vied for the country's presidency following independence. [Kenyas] politics now remain really in the grip of a few ethnic, oligarchic families that essentially practice machine politics, Murithi Mutiga, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, told the Associated Press in the run up to the election. In late 2007 and early 2008, ethnic violence resulted in over 1,000 deaths following Mwai Kibaki's victory over Odinga, who went on to serve as the country's prime minister until 2013. Amid the violence, over a half-million people were forcibly evicted from their homes. Top-ranking officials, including Kenyatta and longtime ally William Ruto, were accused of crimes against humanity for allegedly orchestrating the violence. At the time, Kenyatta was deputy prime minister. Upon winning the 2013 election, Kenyatta became the first head of state to face charges at the International Criminal Court. The charges were eventually dropped, with prosecutors alleging witness tampering. Some deaths have also been reported around the country leading up to and following this year's vote. Economic factors There is also some evidence that Odinga was a more popular candidate in regions that haven't benefited equally from Kenya's economic growth, including those counties with more poverty and greater public health concerns. Odinga won 12 of the 14 counties with the greatest portion of women and girls. He also won 11 of the 14 counties with the highest HIV infection rates for women and nine of the 14 counties with the highest HIV infection rates for men. Kenyatta, meanwhile, won eight of the country's 10 most affluent counties and just four of its 10 poorest. Lebanese and Syrian ministers pledged Wednesday to boost economic ties. The announcement was part of a visit that has challenged the Lebanese state's policy of neutrality toward Syria's war. Government ministers from Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Shiite Amal party arrived in Syria for a trade fair, a trip that has ignited a political row in Lebanon. The Lebanese government has refused to sanction the visit as official business, but Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan has insisted they will be there as government representatives. Calls to normalize relations with Damascus are testing Lebanon's official policy of "dissociation," agreed upon in 2012. The policy has aimed to keep the deeply divided state out of regional conflicts such as Syria, even as Iran-backed Hezbollah got heavily involved there. The Damascus International Fair is to open this week for the first time since the Syrian conflict began six years ago. In a village at the Lebanese-Syrian border, Hajj Hassan, a Hezbollah member, said the Lebanese ministers would meet with Syrian officials. "The historic Syrian-Lebanese ties ... will continue and we as Lebanese have every interest in them continuing," he said. "We are reactivating the trade and economic ties between the two countries," he later told Reuters. Hezbollah has sent thousands of its fighters to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government in the battle against Syrian rebel groups and militants. Syria's economy minister said the visit marked "a chance for joint action, for reinforcing cooperation, whether it's in terms of investment or of trade." In a speech Sunday, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah pressed the Lebanese state to strengthen relations with Assad's government. Nasrallah said Lebanon needed its larger neighbor for its security interests, as well as agricultural, gas and oil exports. Lebanon's Saudi-allied Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri has said any minister who goes to Syria does so in a personal capacity. Samir Geagea, a leading Lebanese Christian politician and long-standing opponent of Hezbollah and Syrian influence in Lebanon, said the visit to Syria would "shake Lebanon's political stability and put Lebanon in the Iranian camp." Mourners will gather in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Wednesday to honor the woman who was killed when a car rammed into a crowd of people protesting a white nationalist rally that descended into violence last weekend. A memorial service for Heather Heyer is scheduled Wednesday morning at a downtown Charlottesville theater. Attendees were asked to wear purple, Heyer's favorite color, in her memory. The 32-year-old was a Charlottesville resident and legal assistant whose mother described her daughter as a courageous, principled woman and firm believer in justice and equality. Heyer was among the hundreds of protesters who had gathered Saturday in Charlottesville to decry what was believed to be the largest gathering of white supremacists in a decade including neo-Nazis, skinheads and Ku Klux Klan members. They descended on the city for a rally prompted by the city's decision to remove a Confederate monument. Chaos and violence erupted before the event even began, with counter-demonstrators and rally-goers clashing in the streets. Authorities forced the crowd to disperse, and groups then began roaming through town. Counter-protesters had converged for a march along a downtown street when suddenly a Dodge Challenger barreled into them, hurling people into the air. Video shows the car reversing and hitting more people. The Ohio man who police say was driving, 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr., was described by a former high school teacher as an admirer of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. He was quickly taken into custody and has been charged with second-degree murder and other counts. Heyer grew up in nearby Greene County and worked as a legal assistant at a law firm. Her boss, Larry Miller, said the young woman was active in the firm's bankruptcy practice and was like a family member to him. "She's very compassionate, she's very precise, got a big heart, she wants to make sure that things are right. She cares about the people that we take care of. She's just a great person," Miller said. Her mother, Susan Bro, said she would prefer to grieve in private but felt compelled to try to follow her daughter's example. "I miss her so, so much, but I'm going to make her death worth something," Susan Bro told The Associated Press. Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas said this week that his department is working with Heyer's family to ensure the safety of those at vigils and other memorials. The Paramount Theater, which is hosting the vigil, said in a statement that it had made arrangements for overflow attendees to view the service through a livestream. Also killed Saturday were two Virginia State Police troopers who were aboard a helicopter that was providing video of the event before it broke off to lend support to a motorcade for Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. The helicopter crashed outside of Charlottesville. An investigation into the crash is ongoing. A funeral for Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates has been set for Friday and a funeral for Lt. H. Jay Cullen, the helicopter's pilot, is scheduled for Saturday. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has spent more time outside of the country than in it this year. Buhari returned from London in March after being away for nearly two months, seeking treatment for an undisclosed illness. He left again on May 7. During both absences, Buhari followed the constitution, temporarily passing executive power to his vice president. However, citizens say it is time for the Nigerian president to make a decision: Either get back to work or step down. A street rally Tuesday was one of several held in the capital of Abuja over the past week. Participants carried banners with the words "Resume or Resign." The slogan stems from a hashtag campaign that started online earlier this month and quickly spread. In Lagos, there also have been street demonstrations. On Tuesday in Abuja, the "Resume or Resign" activists entered an open market and came face-to-face with the market traders, many of whom are avid supporters of Buhari. "Sai Buhari, Sai Buhari," the pro-Buhari supporters chanted, which means "Only Buhari" in the local Hausa language. Some pro-Buhari supporters beat the "Resume or Resign" activists, according to reports. Local newspaper reporter Oludare Richards said he had to seek medical treatment after the Tuesday rally. "I was hit with sticks and stones and I was covered in blood," Richards said. While Nigerians are divided over Buhari's presidency, the calls for resignation are getting louder. "Him remaining as president is just a virus to the country because someone sick for the first time will always be sick," said Edwin Agbo, 23. Gloria Egere, 26, disagrees. "He should be allowed to recover and come back and continue being our president, and we love him so much," she said. Jim Esomugha, 40, holds a different view. "It is only in this country that a president will try to run a whole country like this from another country," he said. "Don't we have shame anymore? What is going on?" Chukwudi Aniobi, 33, argues that Buhari should focus on his own well-being. "It's better for him to resign and face his health," Aniobi said. "He should hand over power to his vice. I think his vice will do better." Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has been an active acting president. He has carried out the daily duties of state, and he has been pushing an economic agenda to attract foreign investors in hopes of lifting Africa's most populous nation out of its recession. Constitutional rules Last week, Buhari announced that he is ready to return from London and is waiting for his doctor's approval, though the Nigerian people remain in the dark about the president's exact state of health. His advisers and the first lady say he is recovering and doing fine. But doubts persist. Nigeria's constitution requires a two-third's vote of the president's Cabinet, as well as confirmation by a medical panel that the president is "incapable of discharging the functions of his office," before he can be removed. "There is nothing in the constitution that limits the time of absence of the president while on medical or other forms of vacation," said Mohammed Zoro, a representative in the lower chamber of the National House of Assembly and a member of the ruling party. "So constitutionally, he has not breached anything and there is no cause for alarm." But the "Resume or Resign" campaigners are determined to have a say, vowing to continue protesting in the streets until the president returns to Nigeria. Researchers at a top U.S. laboratory announced Tuesday that they have produced the highest resolution scan ever done of the inner workings of a fossilized tyrannosaur skull using neutron beams and high-energy X-rays, resulting in new clues that could help paleontologists piece together the evolutionary puzzle of the monstrous T. rex. Officials with Los Alamos National Laboratory and the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science said they were able to peer deep into the skull of a Bisti Beast, a T. rex relative that lived millions of years ago in what is now northwestern New Mexico. The images detail the dinosaurs brain and sinus cavities, the pathways of some nerves and blood vessels and teeth that formed but never emerged. Never-seen-before views Thomas Williamson, the museums curator of paleontology and part of the team that originally collected the specimen in the 1990s, said the scans are helping paleontologists figure out how the different species within the T. rex family relate to each other and how they evolved. Were unveiling the internal anatomy of the skull so were going to see things that nobody has ever seen before, he said during a news conference Tuesday. T. rex and other tyrannosaurs were huge, dominant predators, but they evolved from much smaller ancestors. The fossilized remnants of the Bisti Beast, or Bistahieversor sealeyi, were found in the Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness Area near Farmington, New Mexico. Dry, dusty badlands today, the area in the time of the tyrannosaur would have been a warmer, swampy environment with more trees. T. rex family member The species lived about 10 million years before T. rex. Scientists have said it represents one of the early tyrannosaurs that had many of the advanced features, including big-headed, bone-crushing characteristics and small forelimbs, that were integral for the survival of T. rex. Officials said the dinosaurs skull is the largest object to date for which full, high-resolution neutron and X-ray CT scans have been done at Los Alamos. The technology is typically used for the labs work on defense and national security. The thickness of the skull, which spans 40 inches (102 centimeters), required stronger X-rays than those typically available to penetrate the fossil. Thats where the labs electron and proton accelerators came in. Sven Vogel, who works at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, said the three-dimensional scanning capabilities at the lab have produced images that allow paleontologists to see the dinosaur much as it would have been at the time of its death, rather than just the dense mineral outline of the fossil that was left behind after tens of millions of years. The team, which included staff from the University of New Mexico and the University of Edinburgh, is scheduled to present its work at an international paleontology conference in Canada next week. More detail in new scans Kat Schroeder, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of New Mexico who has been working on the project for about a year, said the scanning technology has the ability to uncover detail absent in traditional X-rays and the resulting three-dimensional images can be shared with fellow researchers around the world without compromising the integrity the original fossil. Schroeders work centers on understanding the behavior of dinosaurs, so seeing the un-erupted teeth in the Bisti Beasts upper jaw was exciting. Looking at how fast theyre replacing teeth tells us something about how fast theyre growing, which tells me something about how much energy they need and how active they were, she said. Its those little things that enable us to understand more and more about prehistoric environments. Leaders of a New York Episcopal diocese say theyll remove two plaques honoring Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a church property in Brooklyn. Bishop Lawrence Provenzano, leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, told Newsday the two plaques outside St. Johns Episcopal Church are being removed Wednesday. The United Daughters of the Confederacy markers commemorate the spot where Lee is said to have planted a tree while serving in the U.S. Army at Fort Hamilton in New York in the 1840s. Two decades later, he became commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The removal comes in the wake of last weekends deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where white supremacists protested plans to remove a Lee statue from a public park. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence urged Brazil, Peru, Chile, and Mexico to break ties with North Korea on Wednesday, adding that "all options" are on the table with regards to the Asian state. "The U.S. places great importance on the ongoing diplomatic isolation of the Kim regime and we strongly urge Chile today, and we urge Brazil, Mexico, and Peru to break all diplomatic and commercial ties to North Korea," Pence said during a visit to Chile in a joint news conference with Chile's President Michelle Bachelet. U.S. President Donald Trump warned North Korea last week it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States, prompting North Korea to say it was considering plans to fire missiles towards the Pacific island of Guam. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un later delayed the decision to fire the missiles, a move Trump praised earlier on Wednesday. The governments of countries Pence mentioned mostly said they did not have immediate plans to break off ties. Brazil, the region's largest economy, opened an embassy in Pyongyang in 2009 while North Korea has an embassy in Brasilia. "Brazil follows the decisions of multilateral organizations," a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry said when asked if Brasilia would break off trade and diplomatic ties. Peru's Prime Minister Fernando Zavala said in a news conference the country had not been formally asked to break ties by the United States and would evaluate the issue at the right time. Lima, which has condemned North Korea's missile tests in the past, asked North Korea to reduce its embassy personnel a couple of months ago over an unrelated matter, a government source said. The Mexican government did not have an immediate comment in response to Pence. North Korea has an embassy and a consulate in Mexico, while Mexico is accredited to Pyongyang from its Seoul embassy. Trade between Latin American countries and North Korea is not significant. Brazil, the region's largest economy, had just $2.1 million worth of exports - mainly coffee, meat, tobacco and leather - and $8.7 million of imports with North Korea in 2016, according to government figures. Last year Bolivia, which does not have diplomatic relations, imported $1.16 million of goods from North Korea, mostly machinery, and exported $7,000 largely of alpaca and llama products, official data showed. Chile has a joint arrangement of diplomatic relations with North Korea and China but has not presented credentials for four years, according to Pence. "I've requested of Bachelet today to terminate that relationship," he said. Pence said he would "especially welcome" Chile reclassifying its wine exports as a luxury good, which would bring it under the umbrella of United Nations sanctions against the isolated country. Chile is the world's leading wine exporter outside of Europe. Neighboring Argentina, Latin America's No.3 economy, said it has no diplomatic relations with North Korea. The leftist governments of Cuba and Venezuela, meanwhile, have remained largely quiet on the current standoff, although the North Korean ambassador to Venezuela recently said the two countries were interested in boosting relations. Pence said that there were recent glimmers of hope on the North Korea situation. "Our administration has been marshalling the support of nations around the world, and as the president acknowledged this morning, we are beginning to see progress in dealing with North Korea's provocations," he said. Pence also reiterated recent comments that Latin America "should do more" on Venezuela, where over 120 people have been killed since anti-government protests began in April. Trump's comments last week that a "military option" was on the table for Venezuela caused shockwaves through the region. "Chile will not support coups or military intervention," said Bachelet at the news conference. "In the case of sanctions, we will support any measures adopted by the U.N. Security Council." Pence is on his third stop of a Latin America tour that also included Argentina and Colombia. He said he would end the trip "a little bit early" on Thursday after visiting Panama. The statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, was the focus of an emotional debate in the state's Republican primary election weeks before it became a flashpoint in the nation's struggle over race. Corey Stewart, an outsider candidate for governor sometimes compared to President Donald Trump, seized on possible removal of the Confederate general's memorial as an "attempt to destroy traditional America." Stewart, who said in an interview Tuesday that such an action "hits people in the gut," found unexpectedly strong support, forced his main opponent to defend the statue and almost won. Now the fight over "traditional America" is throwing a spotlight on the Republican Party's struggle with race in the age of Trump. The deadly white supremacist rally against removal of the Lee statue served as a painful example of the uncomfortable alignment between some in the party's base and the far-right fringe. Despite the party's talk of inclusiveness and minority outreach, it's clear white fears continue to resonate with many in the GOP base. Politicians willing to exploit those issues are often rewarded with support. One big beneficiary, critics say, has been the president himself. For those critics, on both the left and right, Trump's response to Charlottesville was a glaring example. On Saturday, he denounced hatred and violence on "many sides," seeming to assign blame equally to counterdemonstrators as well as hate groups protesting the proposed removal of the statue. He waited until Monday to specifically name the groups he was condemning the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and white supremacists. On Tuesday, he was back to assigning partial blame to those protesting against the white supremacists. 'Two sides' "I think there's blame on both sides," Trump charged in a fiery Trump Tower news conference. He added, "There are two sides to a story." "Not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists, by any stretch," Trump continued. "Those people were also there because they wanted to protest the taking down of the statue of Robert E. Lee." For Republicans who hoped the president might use the moment to send a new message about racism and their party, Trump failed the test. "We have reached a defining moment," New Hampshire GOP chair Jennifer Horn said. "We, as Republicans, every single one of us, need to speak up and make it very clear that this is not our party, these are not our values." Such moments have the potential to undermine years of attempts to portray the party as more welcoming to minority voters. The Republican National Committee, led by Trump's former chief of staff, Reince Priebus, released an exhaustive report in 2013 noting that the GOP's traditional base of older, white voters was becoming a smaller and smaller portion of the electorate in America. "If we want ethnic minority voters to support Republicans, we have to engage them and show our sincerity," the RNC wrote. Yet Republican officeholders, including the president, have found success by seizing on semi-hidden "dog whistle" rhetoric and policies largely designed to appeal to whites. Across the Midwest, Trump and others have appealed to suburban white voters by decrying a rise in urban violence, even as statistics show violent crime is down in many cities. With no evidence of widespread voter fraud, Republicans nationwide have promoted voter ID laws that several courts determined discriminate against minority voters. Trump's promise to build a massive wall along the southern U.S. border resonates with conservatives across the West and even in overwhelmingly white Northeastern states where Republicans fear the influx of illegal Hispanic immigrants. And, particularly in the South, some conservatives continue the fight to preserve symbols of a Confederate Army that fought for Southern states' right to continue slavery. The relics are simultaneously denounced as symbols of oppression by most blacks and celebrated as marks of Southern pride by many whites. Alabama contest This week in Alabama, three Republicans running in Tuesday's special U.S. Senate primary demonstrated the careful tiptoeing politicians do around the subject. Representative Mo Brooks generally bemoaned "bigotry." Former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore rejected "violence and hatred." Senator Luther Strange, appointed to the seat when Trump tapped Jeff Sessions as attorney general, made no reference to racial motivations at all. Brooks and Strange also expressed support for Trump's remarks, and Strange seemed to echo the president's assertion that "many sides" were at fault, as he encouraged "Americans to stand together in opposition to those who encourage hate or promote violence." Trump recently endorsed Strange. The careful language reflects a political reality in a state where nearly all Republican votes come from white voters, said David Mowery, an Alabama political consultant who has worked for Republicans and Democrats. That doesn't mean Republicans actively pursue racist votes, he said, but sometimes it means they take the most cautious path to avoid controversy. "I don't think here that any Republican benefits by talking about it or is necessarily hurt by not talking about it," he said. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, now Trump's representative to the United Nations, said as recently as 2014 that the Confederate battle flag should fly at the state Capitol. She changed course two summers ago only after a white supremacist who was photographed holding a Confederate flag murdered nine black people inside a South Carolina church. About the same time, then-Governor Robert Bentley of Alabama removed Confederate banners from a Confederate monument outside his office, though the monument remains. Gillespie targets 'vile hatred' In this year's Virginia primary for the Republicans' candidate for governor, outsider Stewart lost to establishment favorite Ed Gillespie, but by less than 2 percentage points. On Sunday, Gillespie attended church in Charlottesville and minced no words in naming names and urging those responsible for the violence to take their "vile hatred" out of the state. "We have stared down racism and Nazism and white supremacy before, and we will stare it down again," the Republican candidate for governor told a local TV station. His campaign later added that Gillespie continues to oppose removal of Confederate statues, but "believes it is an issue best resolved at the local level." Stewart is now running for the Senate in 2018. An influential London think tank is urging the British government to stop Britons from enlisting with a Western-backed Kurdish militia in Syria that's battling the Islamic State terror group on the ground that it, too, is a terrorist organization. The Henry Jackson Society warns in a study released Thursday that the militia, known as the People's Protection Units, or YPG, is a "subsidiary" of Turkey's outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a separatist movement designated a terrorist organization by both the European Union and the United States. YPG leaders have insisted they are not connected to the PKK or guided by its leaders, who are based mainly in the Qandil Mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan. But the think tank argues, "It is clear that the YPG leadership answers, in matters large and small, to the PKK leaders." That was the official assessment of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, too, until Washington forged an alliance with the YPG in 2015 as part of the anti-IS operation. Some dissent The father of a British YPG recruit who died fighting IS in March 2015 told the BBC he and other families of British volunteers were deeply hurt by the think tank's report. Chris Scurfield, the father of Erik Scurfield, one of four British YPG recruits who have been killed, said, We are speaking with other bereaved parents whose children also lost their lives in Syria, fighting alongside coalition forces to defeat ISIS and save the lives of civilians. One British family sought to block the publication of the report with a threat of legal action. 'Forgotten' fighters In The Forgotten Foreign Fighters: The PKK in Syria, analyst Kyle Orton argues the PKK has engaged in "deceptive propaganda" to mask the real "nature to its [separatist] project in Syria" a spinoff has seen hundreds of foreign fighters enlisting with the militia to fight IS. The think tank maintains they could pose risks to the West upon their return. Turkish officials are likely to cite the study in their continued efforts to persuade the West, particularly the U.S., to drop its support of the YPG, and to cease using the militia as the international coalition's main ground ally in northern Syria. Turkish leaders have long argued that the YPG is just the PKK, which has maintained an insurgency in Turkey for more than three decades a separatist agitation that's been met with a ferocious Turkish response. The PKK has engaged in terrorism against Westerners in the past when it has served the organization's purposes, kidnapping and killing tourists in Turkey. It also has built a moneymaking apparatus in Europe centered on organized crime and narcotics trafficking, as well as extortion from Kurdish expatriates, the think tank said. The study profiles 60 foreign fighters from 12 countries who joined the YPG to fight IS in Syria and analyzes their reasons for enlisting. Twenty-eight of those profiled have been killed in action. Orton argues the foreign fighters could present risks when they return. "The potential use of these individuals in the PKK's vast criminal-terrorist apparatus in Europe is a serious cause for concern," he says in the study. "Though the YPG has been lionized in much of the Western press and political discourse since it became the West's primary ground force against IS, there are important questions moral, legal, political and diplomatic about how the YPG/PKK fighters are handled by Western governments," he adds. According to Orton, many of the Western volunteers, who probably number about 500, are unaware of the YPG's link with PKK, although some are, and they revel in the links. Most of the YPG's foreign recruits come from English-speaking countries. Orton believes that most likely reflects the YPG's earmarking of those countries for its propaganda and social media efforts. Volunteer categories In the study, Orton says that foreign volunteers fall into four broad categories, and their reasons for joining are varied. "Military veterans formed a clear majority of the recruits in 2014, though that number has declined every year since as the YPG has altered its outreach strategy, focusing on the political far left," he says. Many of the former soldiers enlisted because they missed the military life and had difficulty adapting to civilian life. "Other former soldiers who had served in the post-9/11 wars, specifically Iraq, felt a responsibility to finish the job and/or not to let the sacrifices made go to waste," he says. The study lists another category of volunteers before the YPG established a systematic screening process as motivated by "self-serving considerations, notably avarice sometimes directly pecuniary and sometimes in terms of reputation or fame." Among their number are some eager to satisfy an impulse to kill, although most of them now have been combed out of the YPG's ranks, according to the study. Other categories are defined as adventurers, including those seeking redemption for past crimes or drug addiction, and hard-left ideologues, including communists and anarchists. The think tank recommends that the British government screen returning Britons to "assess if they require any further state attention, either from the criminal justice system or social services." British intelligence officials have told VOA there are worries that some YPG volunteers may return suffering from trauma-related mental issues or that their warlike urges could be exploited by other ideological groups. Last month, Turkey's National Security Council accused the United States of allowing weapons it provided to the YPG to be passed on to the PKK. "This shows that both are the same organization," the council claimed. A spokesman for U.S. Central Command, which oversees American military operations in Syria and Iraq, told VOA after the Turkish claims that the weapons the United States has supplied the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces "will be returned to the coalition on completion of the mission" against IS. Shortly afterward, Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency published the locations of nearly a dozen U.S. military bases across a 200-kilometer stretch of northern Syria. The bases listed by Anadolu are where American military advisers and special forces oversee the assault on Raqqa. A SpaceX shipment arrived at the International Space Station on Wednesday, delivering a bonanza of science experiments. The SpaceX Dragon capsule pulled up following a two-day flight from Cape Canaveral. NASA astronaut Jack Fischer used the space station's hefty robot arm to grab the Dragon 250 miles (400 kilometers) above the Pacific, near New Zealand. The Dragon holds 3 tons of cargo, mostly research. The extra-large science load included a cosmic ray monitor, a mini satellite with cheap, off-the-shelf scopes for potential military viewing, and 20 mice for an eye and brain study. A variety of ice cream including birthday cake flavor was also stashed away in freezers for the station's six-person crew. Astronaut Randolph Bresnik turns 50 next month. "Congratulations on a job well done," Mission Control radioed from Houston. "You guys have just won yourselves some fresh food." Fischer said he was honored to catch the 12th Dragon contracted by NASA, the last one under the original agreement with more on the way under new deals. It's a testament to the commercial space effort, which "has become a pillar of support" to NASA, he said. "The crew stands ready to rock the science like a boss," Fischer said, giving a rundown on the research inside the Dragon's "belly." It's enough for more than 250 experiments in the coming months, he noted. "Need to get back to work. We've got a Dragon to unload," Fischer told Mission Control. SpaceX is one of NASA's two prime shippers for station supplies. Orbital ATK is the other; its next delivery is in November from Wallops Island, Virginia. The two companies have taken over the cargo hauls formerly handled by NASA's now-retired space shuttles. Technology companies, such as Microsoft and Cisco Systems, have ramped up lobbying ahead of talks to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement, looking to avoid any future restrictions on cloud storage and to promote an international pact to eliminate technology goods tariffs. U.S., Mexican and Canadian negotiators are due to start talks on the 23-year-old trade pact on Wednesday. Farming and transportation groups have traditionally dominated lobbying on NAFTA, but technology lobbyists are helping lead the recent surge in efforts to influence Washington, according to data from the Center for Responsive Politics. Tech companies and trade organizations disclosed they had 48 arrangements with lobby groups that discussed NAFTA with administration officials or lawmakers in the second quarter, up from 17 groups in the first quarter and one group at the end of 2016, according to the data. "It's both defensive and offensive," Devi Keller, director of global policy for the Semiconductor Industry Association, said of the industry's position on the new talks. "There is an opportunity for expansion." The industry now has almost as many lobby groups representing its views on NAFTA as the transport sector, which includes automakers. That sector had 52 lobbying groups discussing the trade pact with government officials between April and June. Agriculture still dominates the NAFTA lobbying effort with 86 arrangements with lobbying groups. While the auto and farm lobbies are seeking to preserve cross-border supply chains and to retain access to markets in Mexico and Canada, the tech sector wants a revamped NAFTA to help it grow future business. President Donald Trump has blamed NAFTA for the loss of U.S. manufacturing jobs and threatened to withdraw from the pact unless it can be reworked in the United States' favor. Tech firms want a ban on any future government requirements that providers of services, such as cloud computing, store data in a particular country. They also seek a commitment by NAFTA members to join a broader international pact to eliminate all tariffs on a broad range of information technology goods, including computers, smartphones, semiconductors and medical devices. Today, the United States and Canada already subscribe to the broader tech agreement but Mexico does not. Template for future trade While tech goods already face no tariffs under NAFTA and industry representatives said there are no data flow restrictions in the region hampering trade, U.S. firms want an updated NAFTA to help them access other markets by serving as a tech template for future trade pacts. Tech industry associations have sent letters to the Trump administration asking negotiators to prioritize free flows of data and low tariffs as well as global cybersecurity standards, and have met with staff at the U.S. Trade Representative. "We're fairly confident the issues we identified will be addressed in the negotiations," said Ed Brzytwa, director of global policy at the Information Technology Industry Council. It remains unclear, however, how prominently tech concerns will feature at NAFTA talks given Trump's focus on manufacturing. The CRP, a nonprofit group that advocates for government transparency, includes media and publishing firms in the technology sector, but the overwhelming majority of the sector's disclosures on NAFTA came from hardware, software and digital services firms. The CRP's database incorporates disclosures to both the Senate and the House of Representatives and includes both in-house lobbyists and external lobbying firms. Cisco, Microsoft, Amazon Cisco Systems, a networking hardware company, had as many as 10 lobbyists working on NAFTA issues. On a lobby disclosure form reviewed by Reuters, Cisco Systems listed NAFTA and government procurement as the trade issues handled by its lobbyists. Microsoft, which counts cloud computing and software as core businesses, had as many as 13 lobbyists working on NAFTA, according to the CRP database. The disclosure forms filed by Microsoft do not make clear whether all 13 lobbied on NAFTA, which is listed along with several other trade-related issues and cloud computing. Amazon, a major cloud services provider and internet retailer, also cited NAFTA as well as "customs procedures" in its lobbying disclosure. The Trump administration has proposed easing customs barriers for online purchases. Cisco Systems and Amazon declined to comment for this story, while Microsoft representatives did not respond to a request for comment. Thousands of Iraqis have fled an Islamic State-held town west of Mosul as Iraqi and coalition warplanes step up strikes ahead of a ground offensive to drive out the militants. Tal Afar and the surrounding area is one of the last pockets of IS-held territory in Iraq after victory was declared in July in Mosul, the country's second-largest city. The town, about 150 kilometers (93 miles) east of the Syrian border, sits along a major road that was once a key IS supply route. On Monday, hundreds of exhausted civilians were brought by Iraqi army trucks from the front line to a humanitarian collection point just west of Mosul. Many described a harrowing journey of a day or more from Tal Afar, with no food or water. Jassem Aziz Tabo, an elderly man who arrived with his 12-member family, said he had left Tal Afar months ago and gone to a village on the outskirts to escape hunger, airstrikes and violence from the militants. "Those who tried to escape were captured and shot in the head. They killed my son," he said. "He tried to escape, he was caught and they killed him." He said severe shortages had caused the price of food to skyrocket in Tal Afar, which has been besieged by Iraqi forces for months, with a kilogram (2.2 pounds) of sugar selling for $50. "There was nothing. We were eating pieces of bread with water," he said. Alia Imad, a mother of three whose family paid $300 to a smuggler to lead them to safety, said there was no drinking water left in the town. "Most people drink water that's not clean. The majority are surviving on that and a bit of bread," she said. The people she was with had come under fire during their escape from the militants, she said. A woman was killed, and they had to bury her by the road. 'Very tough' conditions Lise Grande, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator, said conditions in Tal Afar were "very tough." "Thousands of people are leaving, seeking safety and assistance. Families escaping northeast are trekking 10 and up to 20 hours to reach mustering points. They are exhausted and many are dehydrated when they finally arrive," she said. Lieutenant General Anwar Hama, of the Iraqi air force, told The Associated Press that airstrikes this week had targeted IS headquarters, tunnels and weapon storage sites. But Iraqi forces, closely backed by the U.S.-led coalition, are not expected to push into the town for another few weeks, according to an Iraqi officer overseeing the operation. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Iraqi army, federal police and special forces units are expected to participate in the operation, as well as state-sanctioned mostly Shiite militias known as the Popular Mobilization Forces. Militiamen plan bigger role The militiamen largely stayed out of the operation to retake Mosul, a mostly Sunni city, but have vowed to play a bigger role in Tal Afar, which was mostly Shiite before it fell to IS, a Sunni extremist group. The militias captured Tal Afar's airport, on the outskirts of the town, last year. Their participation in the coming offensive could heighten sectarian and regional tensions. Tal Afar was once home to Shiite and Sunni Arabs, as well as a sizable ethnic Turkmen community with close ties to neighboring Turkey. Turkish officials have expressed concern that once territory is liberated from IS, Iraqi Kurdish or Shiite forces may push out Sunni Arabs or ethnic Turkmen. Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said his country would be watching the operation closely. "Tal Afar is a town where almost the entire population is Turkmen. We have always considered it a priority for the region to be cleared from [IS] and for it to be returned to its owners," Bozdag said after a Cabinet meeting Tuesday. "Turkey has always said that the region's demographic and religious makeup must be taken into consideration," Bozdag said. The state-backed militias "should not enter the region." On Monday, the Iraqi army began moving an armored brigade to the front line south of Tal Afar, while an infantry division was deployed about 30 kilometers (19 miles) to the town's east. Brigadier General Abdul Hussein al-Khazali, deputy commander of the army's 15th division, said his forces were going to inch closer to Tal Afar village by village before launching the final attack, partly to ensure they can protect fleeing civilians. The United Nations says 49,000 people have fled the Tal Afar district since April, compounding a humanitarian crisis that has lingered despite the cessation of major fighting inside Mosul. It says nearly a million people were displaced by the Mosul campaign. Negotiators from Canada, Mexico and the United States will kick off an ambitious first round of trade talks Wednesday as the countries try to fast-track a deal to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement by early next year. The key issues facing negotiators include: RULES OF ORIGIN: NAFTA says that in order for a good to be traded duty-free within the three countries, it must contain a certain percentage of North American content, which differs for various products. The rule of origin is most contentious in the auto industry; cars must contain at least 62.5 percent American, Canadian or Mexican content. The United States wants to increase the content threshold for NAFTA goods in a bid to return manufacturing jobs to the United States, and the auto industry has conceded that the rules should be updated to account for auto components that did not exist when the original deal was signed. Canada has said it is prepared to discuss some strengthening of rule of origin in the auto sector, but that any change must apply equally to all three countries. Mexico is willing to look at strengthening rules, but warns that going too far will make the region less competitive. DISPUTE RESOLUTION: The United States has sought to ditch the so-called Chapter 19 tool, under which binational panels hear complaints about illegal subsidies and dumping and then issue binding decisions. The United States has frequently lost such cases since NAFTA came into effect in 1994, and the mechanism has hindered it from pursing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy cases against Canadian and Mexican companies. Washington also argues that Chapter 19 infringes on the sovereignty of its domestic laws. Canada has said Chapter 19 can be updated, but said a dispute settlement mechanism is its redline and must be part of any updated NAFTA. Mexico also says dispute settlement mechanisms are a vital part of the deal to give investors security. SUPPLY MANAGEMENT: Quotas are a feature of NAFTA in several agricultural commodities including dairy and sugar, but Washington is seeking to eliminate non-tariff barriers to U.S. agricultural exports. Most notably, U.S. President Donald Trump has called Canadas restrictions on dairy imports a disgrace. Although dairy was excluded from the original 1994 deal, the United States is seeking to eliminate nontariff barriers to its agricultural exports. CURRENCY MANIPULATION: The United States is seeking a provision to deter currency manipulation. While Washington wants a mechanism to ensure the NAFTA countries avoid tinkering with exchange rates to gain a competitive advantage, neither Canada nor Mexico is on the U.S. Treasurys currency manipulation watchlist. Critics say the U.S. demand is an attempt to get currency manipulation into a global trade agreement to establish a precedent with other trading partners, including China. GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT: The United States is pushing for national, state and local governments in Canada and Mexico to open up their tender processes to U.S.-made products but at the same time is defending existing Buy American procurement laws. The Buy American provisions have blocked the use of Canadian steel to build U.S. bridges, and Canada is pushing for a freer market for government procurement. Mexico says it expects government procurement, already included in NAFTA, to be part of the renegotiation. INVESTOR-STATE DISPUTE SETTLEMENT: The United States has proposed minor tweaking of the NAFTA Chapter 11 provisions, which are designed to ensure firms that invest abroad receive fair and equitable treatment by foreign governments. As with Chapter 19, opponents of the provisions argue they infringe on sovereignty, which benefits multinational corporations. Canada wants to update the mechanism to allow governments to regulate in the interest of the environment or labor, as in the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement that Canada recently negotiated with the European Union. U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made "a very wise and well reasoned decision" to postpone a plan to launch missiles toward the shores of the U.S. territory of Guam. In a Twitter comment, Trump said, "The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!" The North Korean leader was quoted Tuesday in state media as saying that he would, for the moment, call off the plan to fire four missiles over Japan into the waters near Guam, 3,400 kilometers to the south, to see "if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous, reckless actions." Vice President Mike Pence, while giving a joint statement with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, called on Chile and a number of other Latin American countries to "break all diplomatic and commercial ties" with North Korea. "As President Bachelet and I discussed today, the United States places great importance on ongoing diplomatic isolation of the Kim regime," Pence said. While North Korea has no diplomatic offices or banking institutions in Chile, the two countries share a trading relationship. Pence specifically encouraged Chile to reclassify its wine exports as luxury goods, which would prevent North Korea from obtaining them under current U.S. sanctions. China, North Korea's economic lifeline and its only major ally, is telling Pyongyang and Washington that both should "hit the brakes" on the bellicose threats they have made against each other in recent days and weeks. Kim has boasted that North Korea has the capability of striking the U.S. mainland with a missile, while Trump says the U.S. would answer any attack with "fire and fury like the world has never seen." A day later, Trump said maybe his warning was "not tough enough." China said Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday told his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, that the two countries need to work together to curb tensions so that no one can "stir up an incident on their doorstep." "The most important task at hand is for the U.S. and North Korea to `hit the brakes' on their mutual needling of each other with words and actions, to lower the temperature of the tense situation and prevent the emergence of an `August crisis,'" Wang was quoted as saying. China quoted Lavrov as saying tensions could mount again next Monday when the U.S. and South Korea are set to launch large-scale military exercises. "A resolution of the North Korea nuclear issue by military force is completely unacceptable and the peninsula's nuclear issue must be peacefully resolved by political and diplomatic methods," Lavrov was quoted as saying. China and Russia both supported a recent U.S. move to approve new United Nations sanctions against North Korea that are aimed at cutting a third of North Korea's export income, $1 billion annually. The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, was in China and on Wednesday viewed a Chinese military exercise outside the northeastern city of Shenyang. Dunford said he told his Chinese counterpart, General Fang Fenghui, that Washington hopes diplomatic and economic pressure would convince North Korea to end its nuclear weapons development, but that it remains prepared militarily. "We hope for a peaceful resolution but we needed to seriously have a conversation about what might happen if there was military action," Dunford told reporters. Ukrainian officials and analysts were quick to deny allegations that the Soviet-era Yuzhmash arms factory was a likely source of engine technology used in North Koreas missiles and to redirect suspicions to Russia. It is a complex and bulky piece of equipment. It is simply not possible to supply it by bypassing export procedures, said Mykola Sunhurovskyi, director of military programs at the Razumkov Center, a Kyiv think tank, to VOAs Ukrainian Service. What is possible, is for North Korea to obtain engines left behind after rocket dismantling in Russia. That could be possible. Meaning Russia could have kept the engines after it had taken apart the rockets, which had been slated for dismantling. Those could have been supplied. Michael Elleman, the author of a research report by the International Institute for Strategic Studies, says Pyongyang probably got illicit help from inside Ukraine. But Elleman acknowledges that help also could have come from Russia. Theres a lot of uncertainty as exactly how it could have been transferred. But, I think the likelihood is that the source is either in Russia or Ukraine, Elleman told VOAs Ukrainian Service. Elleman says he first became aware of the possibility of Ukrainian technology when he noticed similarities in photos of North Koreas September 2016 ground test. Well, according to two sources that Ive spoken with, the modifications that weve seen in North Korea - that modified engine has actually been seen in Ukraine. That doesnt mean it was done by Yuzhnoye [Yuzhmashs design bureau], it could have been done by others or simultaneously. This was a product that was made long ago and its just been leveraged by unsavory types who were able to extract it from either Ukraine or Russia. Completely untrue Yuzhmash, the Ukrainian factory, called the claims completely untrue and said it had not produced military-grade ballistic missiles since Ukraine's 1991 independence from the Soviet Union. "There is such a high level of confidentiality at the factory and in general it is ensured by a multi-level system of security, which includes not only Yuzhmash services, but also municipal and state services, Yuzhmash Deputy Director Oleh Lebedev told Reuters TV. Elleman was first quoted in The New York Times, which cited its own intelligence sources, saying that Ukraine was a likely source. But Elleman says that even if Ukraine was a source, he sees no indication Ukrainian authorities would have been involved. I dont believe the Ukrainian government was responsible in any way," he said. "And I suspect if it did occur in Ukraine, they may not have known. Its likely they would not have known. Other analysts argue that North Korea can build its own engines and would not need help. But all agree it would be a good idea for Ukraine to allow an investigation. I believe in this situation, the MFA [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] of Ukraine needs to invite the international community, with the first invitation to be extended to the USA, to conduct an investigation here in Ukraine, as well as globally to study exactly how North Korea was able to develop its missile program, whether there is a Chinese connection or a Russian connection, said the director of Ukraines National Institute for Strategic Studies and former head of Ukraines National Security and Defense Council, Volodymyr Horbulin. These are the two countries which maintain close relations with the DPRK [North Korea]. The proposal from Ukraine for such an investigation should put an end to constant attacks on our country by those who suggest that it is constantly trading in something banned by international accords or agreements, said Horbulin. Possible implications for U.S.-Ukraine cooperation Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Tuesday ordered an official inquiry into whether any missile engine technology could have been supplied to North Korea. Some experts in Ukraine worry that the allegations could affect any U.S. decision on whether to provide Ukraine with defensive weapons to fend off Russia-backed separatists. Theres ongoing discussion about the possibility to transfer lethal weapons to Ukraine, noted the Ukrainian Center for Armys Ihor Fedyk. This story may have a negative impact on the process, he told VOAs Ukrainian Service. There are concerns that other areas of bilateral cooperation, such as space programs, could be affected. America is our strategic partner, a very serious strategic partner, in space programs, said the acting head of Ukraines State Space Agency, Yurii Radchenko. It is not in our interests to harm relations with U.S. official agencies. U.S. State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert commented Tuesday, saying We're certainly aware of those reports that have come out. That's an issue that we would take very seriously if that were to be the case." "As a general matter, we don't comment on intelligence reports. Ukraine, though, we have to say, has a very strong nonproliferation record. And that includes specifically with respect to the DPRK, Nauert added. The allegations surfaced as North Korea threatens to send missiles near the U.S. island territory of Guam. While Elleman's allegations are investigated, the North Korean government appears to have stepped back from its threat to Guam, saying it will wait to see what further actions the United States takes. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said a political solution must be found to the North Korean nuclear issue, because the potential consequences of military action are too horrific to even contemplate. Tensions related to the Korean peninsula are at levels not seen in decades, Guterres said during a brief news conference Wednesday at the United Nations. As tensions rise, so does the risk of misunderstanding, miscalculation or escalation, he warned. That is why it is so important to dial down rhetoric and to dial up diplomacy. Last week, tensions hit a new high between the United States and North Korea, when leader Kim Jong Un threatened to fire missiles into the waters around the Pacific U.S. island territory of Guam. U.S. President Donald Trump warned in response that North Korea would see fire and fury like the world has never seen if they made good on their threat. On August 5, the U.N. Security Council unanimously imposed new economic sanctions against Pyongyang for two prohibited missile launches it carried out in July. The latest round of sanctions are the toughest yet, and if fully implemented will deprive North Korea of a third of its annual export revenue, money that fuels its illicit weapons program. The U.N. chief said the Security Council resolution represents an opportunity for diplomatic engagement and renewed dialogue to solve the crisis, and he offered his good offices in seeking a solution. He urged North and South Korea to engage in credible and meaningful dialogue, including confidence-building measures to defuse tensions. A United Nations inquiry found that two U.N. investigators were murdered by a group of Congolese, likely militia members from central Democratic Republic of Congo, but an absence of evidence does not preclude the possibility that others are involved. Michael Sharp, an American who was coordinator of an independent sanctions monitoring group, and Zaida Catalan, a Swede, were killed in central Congo on March 12 while carrying out investigations for a report to the U.N. Security Council. The bodies of Sharp and Catalan were found in a shallow grave two weeks later. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres set up an internal board of inquiry and gave an executive summary of the findings to the Security Council on Tuesday. Without further investigation and the necessary judicial processes, the identity, affiliations, and motives of the group that participated in killing Mr. Sharp and Ms. Catalan cannot be fully established, read the inquiry's executive summary, seen by Reuters on Wednesday. The Congolese government screened a film to reporters in Kinshasa on April 24, which they said showed members of the anti-government Kamuina Nsapu militia killing the U.N experts. The pair were shot and Catalan was subsequently beheaded. More than 3,300 people have been killed and 1.4 million forced to flee their homes in Kasai since the start of an insurrection nearly a year ago by the Kamuina Nsapu militia, which wants the withdrawal of military forces from the area. Many analysts say the grainy video of the murders raises more questions than it answers, such as why one of the assassins from the Tshiluba-speaking militia gave orders in Lingala, which is the language of western Congo and the army. It is the judgment of the Board that information circulating regarding the possible involvement of various government individuals or organizations does not provide proof of intent or motive, the U.N. inquiry said. An absence of evidence however does not preclude the possibility that others are involved, it said. A Congolese military prosecutor has said there was no evidence Congolese forces were involved in the murders. The Board of Inquiry recommended the Congolese government conduct a criminal investigation with the support of other member states. The inquiry said Congolese authorities had arrested a dozen people and would try them in a military court. It's naturally my intention to do everything ... with the Congolese government and with the Security Council for the criminals to be punished," Guterres told reporters on Wednesday. The remaining members of Sharp and Catalan's monitoring group recommended last month that the Security Council ask Guterres to establish an independent international investigation. The United States has also called for Guterres to establish a special investigation. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is urging the government and opposition in Venezuela to restart negotiations to find a political solution to the country's political crisis. Venezuela needs a political solution based on dialogue and compromise between the government and the opposition, Guterres said Wednesday during a short news conference. I recognize the efforts that the international facilitators and regional leaders that are assisting Venezuelan government and opposition in trying to advance political negotiations, Guterres said. I strongly support those efforts. The U.N. chief said he has been in close contact with the facilitators. At least 120 people have died in political violence engulfing the country since April. It is very clear that Latin America has successfully struggled over the last decades to free itself from both foreign intervention and authoritarianism, Guterres said when asked about the governments repression of protesters. And I think that this is a legacy that must be safeguarded. The U.S. State Department imposed sanctions on a Pakistan-based Kashmiri militant group, labeling it a foreign terrorist organization. The Department of State has designated Hizbul Mujahideen also known as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, also known as HM as a Foreign Terrorist Organization, the State Department said in a statement Wednesday. The sanctions prohibit U.S. companies and U.S nationals from doing business with the militant group, block its assets in the United States and make it a high-profile target for law enforcement authorities worldwide. In June, the State Department declared Syed Salahuddin, the Pakistan-based chief of Hizbul Mujahideen, a global terrorist and imposed sanctions aimed at suppressing his organization. Salahuddin posed 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, the State Department said in a statement after it imposed the sanctions. Party of Holy Warriors Founded in 1989 in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistan-controlled Kashmir, Hizbul Mujahideen the Party of Holy Warriors is considered to be the largest militant group in Kashmir. The group has been branded a terrorist organization by India and the European Union as well. Hizbul Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for several attacks, including the April 2014 explosives attack in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which injured 17 people, the State Department statement reads. HM has a large number of operatives on both sides of Kashmir, but its numbers have been shrinking in recent years. The group was estimated to have 10,000 members in 1990, but that figure had reportedly declined to 1,500 by 2011. Islamabad has historically disputed the allegations against HM and maintained that the militants fighting New Delhis rule in Kashmir are involved in a legitimate struggle for self-determination. Declaring HM a terrorist organization is selective justice and is an effort by the U.S. to please its ally, India, Abdul Qayyum, a Pakistani lawmaker who represents the ruling Muslim League party, told VOA. Hizbul Mujahideen is not a terrorist group; they are fighting for their legit cause of liberation, freedom and self-determination. Qayyum added that the U.S. should not turn a blind eye towards the grave issue of Kashmir where Indian army is killing people and making their lives miserable. Not bound to follow decision Following the designation of HMs leader as a global terrorist by the U.S. State Department in June, Sartaj Aziz, a former adviser on foreign affairs to Pakistans prime minister, told the media that Islamabad was not bound to follow the decision as it was not a U.N. declaration. India has repeatedly blamed Pakistan-based, anti-India militant groups for inciting violence in Kashmir. More than a dozen militant separatist groups are fighting in Indian-held Kashmir. According to the India Express news outlet, HM leader Salahuddin has played a key hand in fueling militancy in Kashmir over the last 27 years. He is also known for supplying arms and training young recruits and sending them to Kashmir for militant activities, according to the Indian paper. The State Departments decision will strain the Pakistan-U.S. relations, but it seems Pakistan will keep quiet and will not take any step against HM at the moment, Hasan Askari Rizvi, a Pakistan-based security analyst, told VOA. It is an embarrassment for Pakistan that U.S. has declared HM a terrorist group. It is said that Syed Salahuddin, HMs leader, lives in the Pakistani side of Kashmir, but he moves around in the country freely, Askari said. HM will still carry out with their activities, only now they will do it quietly. The two South Asian powers and archenemies have gone to war over Kashmir three times: at the time of partition in 1947, and later in 1965 and 1999. Since both India and Pakistan now have nuclear weapons, the element of risk in such conflicts has now risen exponentially. With its wall-sized screens simultaneously showing America's air wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, this war room at the heart of America's biggest military campaigns is already something of a technological marvel. It's state of the art but too slow for the future, said General David Goldfein, chief of staff of the Air Force, who is visiting the center at Qatar's Al Udeid Air Base this week with Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson. Enter innovation to bridge the gap. The Qatar-based operations center is undergoing a series of upgrades to its top-secret computer systems to transform how war planners here do business. Combined Air Operations Center The Combined Air Operations Center, known in military-speak as the CAOC, is grappling with a dizzying amount of data and intelligence flowing in from sources like satellites, drones, radar and U.S. aircraft flying over Middle East hot spots and bombing Islamic State positions. Lieutenant General Jeffrey Harrigian, head of U.S. Air Force's operations throughout the region, has championed the technology push with Goldfein's support to take better advantage of that data. That will often mean lessening the roles of humans in jobs that can now be done more efficiently and accurately by computer software. New software is being developed in partnership with the Pentagon's Silicon Valley arm, known as the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, the goal of which is to speed delivery of technology to the front lines. I saw an opportunity to provide a tool to our airmen in a short period of time that would not only improve our effectiveness but our efficiency, Harrigian said in an interview, adding that the effort got underway last year. 'Tanker planning tool' One such application in the works will simplify the way the Air Force plans air strikes against potential targets, consolidating data from separate programs that, as of now, do not synch with each other. Perhaps the biggest advancement so far is a software tool introduced early this year that is already guiding one of the most logistically complicated missions of the wars refueling U.S. warplanes while they are in flight. Previously, war planners used an excel worksheet and a white board to pair U.S. warplanes with specialized tanker jets that can refuel them in the air. It used to take a planning team a combined 35 to 40 hours each day to get the job done. With the new software, that time has been cut in half, the Air Force said. The so-called tanker planning tool was also developed in months, not years, something that is an anomaly in the Pentagon's often laborious acquisition system. The standard acquisition system was not going to get us the product we wanted, Harrigian said, explaining that his own team could sit next to the coders, telling them what they needed the tanker planning tool to do. Harrigian said his team in Qatar has also taken important steps to improve the way it reviews intelligence data, helping him to view battlefield trends in new ways. Syria air defenses Of particular interest to Harrigian are air defenses in Syria, employed by Russian and Syrian forces. I said, I need a better understanding of a pattern of life of what the Syrian and Russian (integrated air defenses) are doing, Harrigian said. "So those guys reached back to locations in the States where they had basically the software and infrastructure." The United States, Mexico and Canada opened negotiations Wednesday to reform the North American Free Trade Agreement, with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer demanding at the outset an overhaul that would cut U.S. trade deficits and increase the use of regional parts for autos produced in North America. At an opening news conference in Washington, Lighthizer said U.S. President Donald Trump does not want "a mere tweaking" of NAFTA, which has "fundamentally failed many, many Americans and needs major improvement." The 1994 trade deal was one of Trump's top priorities during his run for the White House, often calling NAFTA "the worst trade deal in history," and one that has unfairly swollen the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico while allowing manufacturing jobs to migrate there. The U.S. had a $64-billion trade goods deficit with Mexico last year. Mexican economic minister Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal defended the pact, saying major revisions are not necessary. "The issue is not tearing apart" NAFTA, but negotiating how the agreement can "even work better." Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland also came to NAFTA's defense and said any decisions on the modernization of the pact should not be made by simply measuring trade surpluses or deficits. "We are the biggest client of the United States," she said. "Canada buys more from the U.S. than China, UK and Japan combined. Trade is about people. It's about creating the best possible conditions for jobs, for growth and for prosperity." US stresses need for 'balance and reciprocity' But Lighthizer said negotiators must "ensure that the huge trade deficits do not continue and we have balance and reciprocity." He added that "The rules of origin, particularly on autos and auto parts, must require higher NAFTA content and substantial U.S. content." Addressing the imbalance is a key U.S. goal in the talks, along with seeking to do away with a dispute mechanism the three countries use to resolve disagreements. Negotiators will use multiple sessions to try to come up with reforms with the aim of finishing their work before the end of the year. If the process stretches into 2018, there are worries the process could be complicated by a presidential election in Mexico and U.S. congressional elections. A U.S. trade official who spoke to reporters on the condition of anonymity said the U.S. is seeking a "more balanced, reciprocal trade agreement that supports high-paying jobs for Americans and grows the U.S. economy." Vow to cause no harm Gary Hufbauer, an economist with the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics, told VOA that renegotiating NAFTA will not bring back U.S. manufacturing jobs. "Most economists don't think that's possible but, obviously, the president does and he's the president," Hufbauer told VOA. He said the topics under discussion will be ones such as state-owned enterprises, digital commerce, labor and environment. He also said U.S. negotiators have promised to work in a way that will "cause no harm." "What that means is that if they're doing anything which causes Mexico or Canada to limit, for example, U.S. agricultural exports, which are quite substantial to both countries, that would be harm. And that would be harm to red states. So, that's a line they don't want to cross," Hufbauer said. U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joe Dunford said Thursday theres no place for racism and bigotry in the United States or its military, and that he is very saddened by the deadly violence that erupted last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. Speaking during a visit to Beijing, Dunford praised similar comments made earlier by the top officers in the various U.S. military branches. They were speaking directly to the force and to the American people, Dunford said. To the force to make it clear that that kind of racism and bigotry is not going to stand inside the force, and to the American people to remind them of the values for which we stand in the U.S. military, which are reflective of what I believe to be the values of the United States. The comments Dunford referred to came Wednesday from the leaders of the four major U.S. military services. Their comments on Twitter and in longer written statements made no mention of President Donald Trump's responses to the incident. Military officers are trained to avoid politics. They traditionally see it as their duty to emphasize to troops core values such as racial equality and tolerance. The man accused of ramming his car into a crowd of counterprotesters during the violence in Charlottesville, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer, enlisted in the Army and began basic training in 2015 but was released from active duty four months later for what the Army described only as a failure to meet training standards. The Navy's top officer, Adm. John Richardson, was the first of the military chiefs to respond to Saturday's violence in Charlottesville. That evening he took to Twitter to say the events there were unacceptable and mustn't be tolerated. In a fuller version of his statement, Richardson called the events shameful. Our thoughts and prayers go to those who were killed and injured, and to all those trying to bring peace back to the community, Richardson wrote. The Navy will forever stand against intolerance and hatred. For those on our team, we want our Navy to be the safest possible place a team as strong and tough as we can be, saving violence only for our enemies. Other service chiefs followed Richardson but did not explicitly mention Charlottesville. On Tuesday, Gen. Robert Neller, commandant of the Marine Corps, wrote on Twitter: No place for racial hatred or extremism in (at) USMC. Our core values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment frame the way Marines live and act. Gen. Mark Milley, the Army chief of staff, then tweeted on Wednesday: The Army doesn't tolerate racism, extremis, or hatred in our ranks. It's against our Values and everything we've stood for since 1775. He was followed a short time later by the top Air Force officer, Gen. David Goldfein, who wrote on Twitter: I stand with my fellow service chiefs in saying we're always stronger together it's who we are as Airmen. An Air Force spokesman, Col. Patrick Ryder, said Goldfein's statement had no political aim. In an impromptu encounter with reporters at the Pentagon on Monday, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was asked his thoughts about Charlottesville. "I was saddened by it, very saddened about what I saw,'' he said. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday Washington remains ready for talks with North Korea, as Kim Jong Un postponed a threat to fire missiles towards the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. We continue to be interested in finding a way to get to a dialogue, but that's up to him [Kim Jong Un], Tillerson said. While diplomacy deserves a chance, Washington said Pyongyang must stop ballistic missile and nuclear tests before negotiations can begin on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Watch: US is Open to Talks if North Korea is Ready to Disarm 'Foolish and Stupid Conduct' Kim Jong Un, we would like to have talks with him. When the time is right, said State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert on Tuesday. When they show that they are serious about an effort to move towards denuclearization. We have not seen that yet, added Nauert, citing North Korea's several nuclear tests last year and two intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests in the last month alone. Analysts said Pyongyang's ICBM tests on July 4 and July 28 demonstrated its capability of hitting Alaska and the mainland United States. North Korea's official news agency KCNA said Tuesday that Kim had received a report from his army on its plans to strike the area around Guam, which is home to a number of U.S. military facilities. The report said Kim would continue to observe the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees before making a final decision. But he was also quoted as saying if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean Peninsula, the North would follow through with its plans. US Ready to Defend Itself Shortly after Pyongyang pulled back from its earlier threat of a missile strike, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Tuesday that Washington stands ready to defend itself should North Korea proceed after all with a missile attack on Guam. Experts say the crisis in the Korean Peninsula can only be solved diplomatically so that it will not end up in another war in the region. They said China needs to be on board for effective economic leverage. The reason is simple, it's money. China controls 90 to 95 percent of the Korean economy. They have the land border with North Korea. They control the ocean and the sea around it, if they desire to. China can shut down North Korea instantly, former NATO Commander James Stavridis told VOA's Serbian service. China has choices to make in the time ahead. I hope they chose to stand with the rest of the world and the United States and create a diplomatic outcome here, Admiral Stavridis said. On Monday, China moved to tighten economic pressure on North Korea by implementing a new package of U.S. sanctions, stopping the import of coal, iron ore and seafood from North Korea. 'Trending in Right Direction' The U.S. sees a gradual change of China's attitude towards North Korea that Kim's government is more as a liability than an asset. Washington said China's recent support for U.N. Security Council actions against North Korea is trending in the right direction. Kim urged the United States to, show through actions if they wish to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula and prevent a dangerous military clash, according to the KCNA report. The statement was an apparent reference to the annual joint U.S.-South Korean military drills that are scheduled to begin next week. Pyongyang considers the drills a dress rehearsal for an invasion of the North, a charge denied by both Washington and Seoul. Venezuela's controversial Constituent Assembly on Tuesday ordered that cases of protesters detained this year be held in civilian rather than military courts, following complaints from various rights groups and the United Nations. The country underwent four months of nationwide unrest, in which more than 120 people were killed. Venezuelan rights group Penal Forum estimated that at least 120 people were detained during protests since April and tried in military courts. Government critics say the trials were held under military jurisdiction in order to scare people from protesting. One of the Assembly's first moves last week was to fire dissident chief prosecutor Luisa Ortega. She is now on the run from authorities. "We all know why these situations occurred: given the inaction and inactivity of the prosecutor's office," said the president of the pro-government Assembly, former Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez, referring to the trials of civilians in military courts. The Assembly has been criticized globally as a sign that Venezuela is turning into a dictatorship. President Nicolas Maduro says it is necessary in order to bring peace to the country. Embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro traveled to Cuba on Tuesday to pay homage to deceased leader Fidel Castro, in a surprise visit days after U.S. President Donald Trump warned of possible military action against Venezuela. State-run television on Wednesday showed Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, accompanied by Cuban President Raul Castro, visiting the stone monument in eastern Santiago de Cuba containing Fidel Castros ashes and placing flowers at the grave. Castro, who died last November, would have turned 91 on Sunday. Communist-run Cuba remains Maduro's staunchest defender in the region. Maduro's surprise visit to shore up ties with a close ally coincided with U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's tour of Latin America, where he has downplayed Trumps threat last week to use military force against Venezuela. Pence argued economic sanctions and political pressure can restore democracy to the country. Cuba and Venezuela see themselves united against what they call U.S. "imperialism." Over 120 people have been killed in Venezuela since anti-government protests began in April, driven by outrage over shortages of food and medicine. The country last month, at Maduro's behest, elected a "constituent assembly" that governments around the world say is dictatorial. Cuba and Venezuela became strategic allies in 2000 with the rise to power of Socialist Hugo Chavez in the South American country, which holds the worlds largest oil reserves. An agreement to exchange oil for medical and other technical services underlies their economic relationship and continues despite a drop in oil deliveries by Venezuela and payments to Cuba for services. Maduro became president in 2013 after Chavezs death. However, oil prices had fallen by more than 70 percent by 2016, throwing the country into crisis. Mexico's foreign minister Luis Videgaray, a fierce critic of Maduro's government, is due to visit Cuba on Thursday, the Mexican and Cuban governments say. An 18-year-old student who attended the white nationalist rally in Virginia last weekend says he has withdrawn from college in Boston in part because of death threats. Nicholas Fuentes tells The Boston Globe he has received 15 death threats via email and social media. Fuentes said he considered leaving Boston University in January after protests in the city against President Donald Trump. He gave it more serious consideration in recent weeks and on Tuesday had an exit interview with the school. The university confirmed he is no longer enrolled. Fuentes flew from Chicago to attend the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville on Saturday. A woman was killed there when a car drove into a crowd of counter-protesters. Fuentes says he doesn't advocate violence and is not a racist. Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe has sought diplomatic immunity in South Africa, where she is under investigation over the assault of a 20-year-old model in an upscale hotel, South African police said on Wednesday. Police also confirmed that Mugabe, the 52-year-old wife of Zimbabwe's leader Robert Mugabe, had failed to appear at a court hearing Tuesday relating to allegations she attacked Gabriella Engels with an electric extension cord. Engels' mother Debbie told Reuters her daughter had received 14 stitches on her head from Sunday's assault - which the mother did not witness - and demanded Mugabe face justice. She also showed Reuters photographs taken in the hours after the incident showing gashes on Gabriella's forehead and back of the head. Another picture, taken on Wednesday, showed a large, livid bruise on her right thigh. It's about justice "I just want justice for my daughter. It's not about money. It's about justice. She attacked my child for no reason," she said. The police statement said Harare had sought diplomatic immunity for Mugabe which, if granted, would exempt her from prosecution - but said she would be "processed through the legal system". Reuters has not been able to verify key aspects of the assault allegations independently, and multiple requests for comment from Mugabe's spokesman in Harare and from Information Minister Chris Mushowe went unanswered. Mugabe, a potential successor to her 93-year-old husband, was in South Africa to receive treatment to an injured foot, according to local media reports. A Zimbabwean intelligence source told Reuters she was not traveling on a diplomatic passport. Criminal attorney Riaan Louw said diplomatic immunity would not apply if Mugabe had indeed entered on private business. "If she wasn't here on official business, that rules out the possibility of diplomatic immunity," Louw said. Diplomatic fallout? However, given the potential for diplomatic fallout, South African prosecutors could yet decide not to prosecute if they thought the injuries were not too severe, he added. "They can fail to prosecute her," he said. "They've got the powers to decide that it's not in the interests of the community or it might create animosity between us and Zimbabwe." Police said Tuesday's abortive court hearing was designed to obtain a statement from Mugabe, along with her version of the events, but that she failed to appear as arranged. Police spokesman Vish Naidoo did not comment on the specifics of the case, other than to say it related to assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Reuters has been unable to identify Mugabe's lawyers in Johannesburg. Isaac Moyo, Zimbabwe's Ambassador to Pretoria, said he "knew nothing". "I have to go to my office to get briefed," he said. Gabriella Engels said she was attacked while waiting to meet up with Chatunga, one of Mugabe's two adult sons, in the hotel in Johannesburg. The News24 website quoted Engels' version of events in the hotel room. "When Grace entered, I had no idea who she was. She walked in with an extension cord and just started beating me with it," the model said. The incident is not the first time Mugabe has been accused of assault. In 2009, a newspaper photographer in Hong Kong said she and her bodyguard had assaulted him. Police there said the incident was reported but that no charges were brought. Zimbabwes first lady Grace Mugabe has requested diplomatic immunity after being accused of assaulting a 20-year-old model, South African police said Wednesday, confirming she had not fled the country. The suspects lawyers and her government representatives made verbal representations that the suspect wished to invoke diplomatic immunity cover, a statement from the police ministry said. Mrs. Mugabe, who was expected to appear in court on Tuesday to face assault charges laid against her by South African model Gabriella Angels, allegedly committed the offence at a Sandton Hotel where her sons, Robert Junior and Bellamine Chatunga, are staying. Initial reports indicated that she had fled to Zimbabwe. A Zimbabwean lawyer, Matshobana Ncube, told VOA Studio 7 that diplomatic immunity is a politically-designed scheme meant to protect foreigners with government links from arrest and public prosecution. Zimbabwean First Lady Grace Mugabe's lawyers and South African authorities appear to be holding discussions with Zimbabwean authorities over claims by South African model Gabriella Engels that she was attacked by Mrs. Mugabe while socializing with her sons, Chatunga and Robert Junior, at a Sandton hotel in Johannesburg. VOA Studio's Blessing Zulu reached South African police spokesperson Vish Naidoo for more details about the assault case and efforts being made to ensure that the law takes its course. Below is a transcript of an interview conducted by Zulu on Wednesday. Question (Blessing Zulu): Im making a follow up about the Zimbabwean first lady if any warrant of arrest was ever issued by South Africa. Answer (Vish Naidoo): Why would you ask me that? Why would you ask me if a warrant was issued for the first lady Grace? Question: Because there are these allegations against her and there were reports that she was expected to appear in court yesterday. Answer: Said who? Who said that there are allegations against Grace because in all my communication I have never named a suspect Here in South Africa we dont name a suspect until they appear in court. Question: OK but is there any warrant of arrest as we have heard or this is not true? Answer: No, its not true. Regarding the suspect in the assault case we have not issued a warrant of arrest. Im not aware of that. Question: But is she still in South Africa, do you know? Answer: Who is still in South Africa? Question: The suspect Answer: Why would you ask a question like that? We dont know. Dont you know who the suspect is? Question: There are reports that its the first lady but you are saying you cant name the suspect. Answer: We havent heard those reports, I guess you can ask them that question. But where I am concerned the status of the suspect Im not in a position to communicate that because I dont think there is a suspect named. Question: But was there a meeting between the police and the suspect. Answer: No, there was no meeting. There was supposed to be a meeting but it didnt materialize. Question: What was the reason? Answer: I dont know We dont know We didnt get the reason. South African police say Zimbabwean authorities and lawyers representing First Lady Grace Mugabe are engaged in discussions with police over allegations that she assaulted a young woman in an upmarket Sandton hotel found socializing with her sons. In a statement, the Ministry of Police said these discussions are to make sure that the suspect is processed through the legal system. The ministry noted that the suspects lawyers and her government representatives made verbal representations to SAPS (South African Police Services) investigators that the suspect wished to invoke diplomatic immunity cover and thus she elected to change her mind about giving a warned statement to the police. The Government of Zimbabwe has dispatched a diplomatic note verbale to the Department of International Relations and Cooperation invoking diplomatic immunity cover. The ministry further said, The suspect remains in South Africa and has not departed the republic, we are advised her itinerary includes amongst private matters, her attendance and participation at the scheduled SADC Heads of Sates/Governments Summit and Bi-lateral Diplomatic Meetings already underway in Pretoria. In the statement, the ministry said Mrs. Mugabe initially made arrangements acceptable to SAPS that she would present herself to the police in Sandton on Tuesday morning. The time scheduled was changed several times. By end of business yesterday (Tuesday) she had failed to present herself as arranged. Her attorneys and government of Zimbabwe representatives did arrive at the police station in Sandton for channels of communication. The Ministry of Police said the purpose of the arrangement was to obtain a warning statement, obtain the suspects version (of the assault case) if any and present the docket to NPA (National Prosecuting Authority) for a decision whether to prosecute or not). Mrs. Mugabe allegedly assaulted Gabriella Engels said to have been found with her children Chatunga and Robert Junior at a hotel in South Africa. Engels claims that the Zimbabwean first ladys bodyguards stood by when she was attacked by Mrs. Mugabe. The model told independent media in South Africa that she fears being victimized for telling it all, noting that she now spends most of her time at home. Google has been embroiled in a debate about diversity in the workplace since it fired an engineer who wrote a memo about women in technology jobs and leadership.(AP) Organizers of a free speech protest planned at Google locations across the United States said late Tuesday that the marches were postponed because of threats from left-wing terrorists. The Peaceful March on Google has been postponed due to credible Alt Left terrorist threats for the safety of our citizen participants, organizers wrote on a blog post on the protests website. The postponement of Saturdays rally comes on the heels of bloody clashes in Charlottesville in which a man who was reportedly a Nazi sympathizer allegedly crashed into a crowd of activists, killing one person and injuring 19. On Tuesday, President Trump used the term alt-left and said both sides were to blame for the violence. [Defiant after backlash, Trump reiterates both sides to blame in Va.] The rallys organizer, Jack Posobiec, is an alt-right activist and self-described reality journalist who used conspiracy theories to galvanize Trump supporters during the presidential campaign, including the infamous Pizzagate rumors of child trafficking. The alt-right, short for alternative right, is a small, far-right movement that seeks a whites-only state. Adherents of the alt-right are known for espousing racist, anti-Semitic and sexist points of view. (The Washington Post) Posobiec gained national attention from the conspiracy theory that claimed Hillary Clinton and her campaign chief harbored a child sex ring in a pizza restaurant in Washington. The Internet-fueled falsehood led a gunman in December to fire an assault-style rifle as he searched the pizzeria, Comet Ping Pong. In his blog post announcing the postponement, Posbiec blamed the mainstream media, and in particular CNN, for making malicious and false statements that our peaceful march was being organized by Nazi sympathizers. He said that someone had threatened to use a vehicle to drive into the march. The protests were triggered by Googles firing of engineer James Damore, who wrote a 10-page internal memo criticizing the companys diversity policies and advocating negative stereotypes about women. The march appeared to be hastily scrubbed. Earlier Tuesday, the website announced that four cities had been added to the protest schedule. [Im not a sexist: Fired Google engineer stands behind controversial memo] But Posobiec was also facing pressure to postpone the march from other members of far-right movements, who said that it was ill-timed. (Jhaan Elker/The Washington Post) The rallies this weekend are being created by the alt-light so they are going to suck, alt-right leader Richard Spencer said in an interview Tuesday afternoon. Alt-light is a term used by some alt-right figures to disparage more conciliatory elements of the movement. Mike Cernovich, another far-right commentator, said in an interview that the march was ill-timed in the wake of events in Charlottesville. Id be surprised if the march on Google happens this weekend, he said in an interview before the postponement. Brittany Caine-Conley hugs a fellow mourner outside Wednesdays memorial service for Heather Heyer in Charlottlesville, Virginia. Heyer was killed after a car rammed into a group of people protesting a white nationalist rally on Saturday. (Salwan Georges/The Washington Post) A woman killed when a suspected white nationalist crashed his car into anti-racist demonstrators in Charlottesville was remembered Wednesday at a memorial service in the Virginia college city. Heather Heyer, 32, was killed after hours of clashes Saturday between white nationalists attending a Unite the Right gathering and people who were protesting that rally. Mark Heyer, her father, told the audience of about 1,000 people at the memorial service that no father should have to bury his child. He said his daughter wanted to put down hatred. The service for Heyer was held at the site of the deadly rally. Many of those attending wore purple, Heyers favorite color, in her memory. Mark Heyer said, Heathers passion extended to her ideas and her thoughts. She could tell if someone wasnt being straight with her, and shed call them on it. Heyer, who lived in Charlottesville, was among the hundreds of protesters who had gathered there Saturday to decry what was believed to be the largest gathering of white supremacists in a decade including those who support Adolf Hitlers hatred of Jews and members of the Ku Klux Klan, an organization with a long history of violence against black people and other minorities. They descended on Charlottesville for a rally prompted by the citys decision to remove a monument to Robert E. Lee, a Confederate Army general during the Civil War. [Other cities have wrestled with what to do about Confederate statues. ] Chaos and violence erupted before the event began, with counterdemonstrators and rallygoers clashing in the streets. Authorities broke up the gathering, and groups began roaming through town. Counterprotesters had converged for a march along a downtown street when suddenly a car barreled into them, hurling people into the air. Video shows the car reversing and hitting more people. Nineteen were injured. The Ohio man who police say was driving, 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr., was described by a former high school teacher as an admirer of Hitler and his Nazi Party, which controlled Germany during World War II and carried out the murder of about 6 million Jews. Fields was quickly taken into custody and has been charged with second-degree murder and other counts. President Trump was criticized by people from both major political parties over his initial response, in which he blamed many sides for the unrest. On Monday, the Republican president bowed to political pressure and denounced neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan by name, but Tuesday he raised tensions again by insisting that counterprotesters were also to blame. Residents of the usually quiet, liberal-leaning Virginia city were horrified by the weekend violence they said was brought by outsiders. The way [Heyer] lost her life, doing what she did, really stood for Charlottesville. It makes me wish that I knew her, said Sam Welty, 42. Its a shame that people who dont live here had to come and unleash hate and violence and put Charlottesville on the world map for something that it does not deserve. President Trump on Aug. 15 said that theres blame on both sides for the violence that erupted in Charlottesville on Aug. 12. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) President Trump on Aug. 15 said that theres blame on both sides for the violence that erupted in Charlottesville on Aug. 12. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) Hes the false-equivalency president. During the 2016 presidential campaign, the national news medias misguided sense of fairness helped equate the serious flaws of Hillary Clinton with the disqualifying evils of Donald Trump. But her emails . . . goes the ironic line that aptly summarizes too much of the medias coverage of the candidates. In short: Clintons misuse of a private email server was inflated to keep up with Trumps racism, sexism and unbalanced narcissism all in the name of seeming evenhanded. In a devastating post-election report, Harvard Universitys Shorenstein Center concluded that media treatment was rife with false equivalency: On topics relating to the candidates fitness for office, Clinton and Trumps coverage was virtually identical in terms of its negative tone. That was a factor one of many that helped to put Trump in the Oval Office. Elected with the help of false equivalency, Trump is now creating some of his own. In the aftermath of last weekends disaster in Charlottesville, he is being widely criticized for treating white supremacists and those who protest them as roughly equal. His phrases are all too memorable. There were some very fine people on both sides, he said, backing up his initial condemnation of the violence on many sides. Winston Churchill a politician with a moral core disparaged this idea for all time: I decline utterly to be impartial as between the fire brigade and the fire. And Brian Levin, the director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University at San Bernardino, told the New York Times that comparing the leftist protesters to the white supremacists is like comparing a propeller plane to a C-130 transport. Using the fact that some counterprotesters were, in fact, violent, creates a structural and moral false equivalency that is seriously undermining the legitimacy of this president, he said. With the issue of false equivalency front and center once again, a profound question arises for journalists: What does true fairness look like in covering this president? Were starting to see some answers. CBS News on Tuesday night took the rare step of giving over its whole evening news broadcast to the aftermath of Charlottesville. On CNN, Jake Tappers commentary was blunt: To anybody out there [thinking]: I thought that the Klan and neo-Nazis and white supremacists, I thought there was no debate about this among civilized people? There isnt a debate about it. And a Washington Post analysis by Philip Bump dispassionately observed that Trump had doubled down on what he originally said: Hes sympathetic to the goals of the men who marched Saturday night carrying Confederate and Nazi flags and even to the peaceful torchlight protest on Friday in which marchers chanted anti-Semitic and Nazi slogans. [Trump puts a fine point on it: He sides with the alt-right in Charlottesville] All had impact. Does finding these powerful ways to frame the situation amount to abandoning journalistic impartiality? The whole doctrine of objectivity in journalism has become part of the [medias] problem, Jay Rosen, a journalism professor at New York University, said this week in a talk at the Chautauqua Institution in Western New York. He believes that journalists must state their biases up front and not pretend to be magically free of the beliefs or assumptions that everyone has. If objectivity is a view from nowhere, it may be out of date. Whats never out of date, though, is clear truth-telling. Journalists should indeed stand for some things. They should stand for factual reality. For insistence on what actually happened, not revisionism. For getting answers to questions that politicians dont want to answer. At Tuesdays contentious Trump Tower news conference, the president disparaged reporters, sometimes calling them as if saying their names fake news. Earlier that day, he circulated on Twitter a cartoon image of a CNN reporter being run down by the Trump Train. Appalling, yes, but nothing new, just another page in Trumps blame-the-media playbook. In response, reporters kept asking questions, bringing the president from his preferred topic of infrastructure to what was on everyones mind: racism and violence. Their words were respectful, their tenor insistent. It looked about right to me. And yes, it was certainly fair. Can journalism be both impartial and forceful? Thats not only a possibility but, more than ever, a necessity. In dealing with the false-equivalency president they helped to get elected, the news media may have learned something. The best way to be fair is not to be falsely evenhanded, giving equal weight to unequal sides. Its to push for the truth, and tell it both accurately and powerfully. For more by Margaret Sullivan visit wapo.st/sullivan Alexandria These were among incidents reported by the Alexandria Police Department. For information, call 703-746-4444 or visit alexandriava.gov. SEXUAL ASSAULTS Alfred St. N., 500 block, 11 a.m. Aug. 4. A sexual assault was reported. ASSAULTS Bashford Lane, 800 block, 9:37 p.m. Aug. 2. An assault was reported. Duke St., 1600 block, 2 p.m. Aug. 9. An assault was reported. Duke St., 3100 block, 4 p.m. Aug. 8. An assault was reported. An arrest was made. Edsall Rd., 6100 block, 10:41 p.m. Aug. 4. An assault was reported. Florence Dr., 3800 block, 8:54 a.m. Aug. 2. An assault was reported. Four Mile Rd., 600 block, 2:20 p.m. Aug. 7. An assault was reported. An arrest was made. Henry St. N., 1000 block, 4:31 p.m. Aug. 8. An assault was reported. An arrest was made. Jamestown Lane, 2600 block, 10 a.m. Aug. 2. An assault was reported. John Carlyle St., 800 block, 2:55 a.m. Aug. 6. An assault was reported. An arrest was made. Jordan St. N., 700 block, 1:20 p.m. Aug. 6. An assault was reported. An arrest was made. King and N. Beauregard streets, 5:11 p.m. Aug. 7. An assault was reported. Mount Vernon Ave., 1000 block, 6:55 a.m. Aug. 9. An assault was reported. Mount Vernon Ave., 3300 block, 9:12 p.m. Aug. 8. An assault was reported. Mount Vernon Ave., 3900 block, 9:40 p.m. Aug. 6. An assault was reported. An arrest was made. Old Dominion Blvd., 3900 block, 8:58 p.m. Aug. 4. An assault was reported. An arrest was made. Oronoco St., 1200 block, 10:31 p.m. Aug. 3. An assault was reported. An arrest was made. Prince St., 600 block, 10:30 p.m. Aug. 5. An assault was reported. Quaker Hill Dr., 1200 block, 10:50 p.m. Aug. 4. An assault was reported. Quantrell Ave., 5800 block, 9:37 p.m. Aug. 8. An assault was reported. Raleigh Ave., 4200 block, 11:42 p.m. Aug. 3. An assault was reported. An arrest was made. Sanger Ave., 5700 block, 5:22 p.m. Aug. 6. An assault was reported. Seminary Rd., 4600 block, 9:48 p.m. Aug. 6. An assault was reported. Tower Ct., 6000 block, 1:31 a.m. Aug. 2. An assault was reported. An arrest was made. Union St. S., 100 block, 8:27 p.m. Aug. 7. An assault was reported. An arrest was made. Van Dorn St. S., 200 block, 10:33 p.m. Aug. 3. An assault was reported. Whiting St. S., 200 block, 9:16 p.m. Aug. 8. An assault was reported. An arrest was made. Whiting St. S., 400 block, 5:23 a.m. Aug. 4. An assault was reported. An arrest was made. Wythe St., 1200 block, 3:28 a.m. Aug. 10. An assault was reported. PEEPING TOM Alfred St. N., 500 block, 11 a.m. Aug. 4. A peeping tom incident was reported. ROBBERIES Holmes Run Pkwy., 5300 block, 11:34 p.m. Aug. 7. A robbery was reported. THEFTS/BREAK-INS Armistead St. N., 400 block, 2:16 a.m. Aug. 8. A theft was reported. Ascot Ct., 5500 block, 1:02 p.m. Aug. 7. A theft was reported. Barrister Pl., 5400 block, 7:44 a.m. Aug. 3. A theft was reported. Beauregard St. N., 1400 block, 4:30 p.m. Aug. 6. A theft was reported. Braddock Pl., 1200 block, 12:26 p.m. Aug. 6. A theft was reported. Brenman Park Dr., 4800 block, 4:12 p.m. Aug. 2. A theft was reported. Carriage House Cir., unit block, 10:30 a.m. Aug. 2. A theft was reported. Century Dr., 100 block, 3:54 p.m. Aug. 6. A theft was reported. An arrest was made. Cliff St. N., 1700 block, 8:14 p.m. Aug. 5. A theft was reported. Duke St., 1600 block, 2 p.m. Aug. 9. A shoplifting incident was reported. An arrest was made. Duke St., 2800 block, 7:10 a.m. Aug. 5. A theft was reported. Duke St., 4300 block, 2:58 p.m. Aug. 5. A theft was reported. Duke St., 4300 block, 3:46 p.m. Aug. 5. A theft was reported. Duke St., 4600 block, 3:11 p.m. Aug. 4. A theft was reported. Duke St., 5900 block, 8:36 p.m. Aug. 3. A theft was reported. Dunster Ct., 5700 block, 10:30 p.m. Aug. 2. A theft was reported. Edison St., 3600 block, 3:01 a.m. Aug. 5. A theft was reported. An arrest was made. Edsall Rd., 5700 block, 8:48 p.m. Aug. 8. A theft was reported. Edsall Rd., 6000 block, 11:23 a.m. Aug. 2. A theft was reported. Eisenhower Ave., 2200 block, 4:36 p.m. Aug. 3. A theft was reported. Fillmore Ave., 5300 block, 10:45 a.m. Aug. 9. A theft was reported. Henry St. N., 900 block, 2:35 a.m. Aug. 3. Property was entered. An arrest was made. Howard St. N., 500 block, 1:10 p.m. Aug. 7. A theft was reported. Howell Ave. E., 500 block, 10:37 p.m. Aug. 9. A theft was reported. Jefferson Davis Hwy., 3100 block, 9:12 a.m. Aug. 8. A theft was reported. Jefferson Davis Hwy., 3800 block, 2:48 p.m. Aug. 9. Property was entered. An arrest was made. Kenmore Ave., 4700 block, 12:06 p.m. Aug. 9. A theft was reported. King St., 2700 block, noon Aug. 6. A theft was reported. King St., 4300 block, 7 a.m. Aug. 2. A theft was reported and property was damaged. King St., 4300 block, 7:30 a.m. Aug. 7. A theft was reported and property was damaged. Knole Ct., 5300 block, 1:46 p.m. Aug. 4. A theft was reported. Mount Vernon Ave., 3000 block, 9:11 a.m. Aug. 6. A theft was reported. Mount Vernon Ave., 3100 block, 12:39 p.m. Aug. 4. A theft was reported. Mount Vernon Ave., 3100 block, 12:40 p.m. Aug. 8. A theft was reported. Mount Vernon Ave., 3100 block, 6 p.m. Aug. 8. A theft was reported. Patrick St. S., 600 block, 8 a.m. Aug. 8. An employee theft was reported. Pendleton and N. Pitt streets, 4:17 p.m. Aug. 8. A theft was reported. An arrest was made. Pickett St. N., 200 block, 5:33 p.m. Aug. 7. A theft was reported. Pickett St. S., 400 block, 7 a.m. Aug. 7. A theft was reported. Raleigh Ave., 4300 block, 8:03 p.m. Aug. 5. A theft was reported. Rayburn Ave., 5700 block, 7:20 p.m. Aug. 2. A theft was reported. Sanger Ave., 5400 block, 4 p.m. Aug. 2. A theft was reported. Seminary Rd., 4600 block, 6:17 a.m. Aug. 3. A theft was reported. Seminary Rd., 5000 block, 10:20 a.m. Aug. 7. A theft was reported. Shirlington Rd., 2300 block, 9:23 a.m. Aug. 4. A theft was reported. Union St. N., 200 block, 8 a.m. Aug. 8. A theft was reported. Union St. N., 200 block, 8:21 p.m. Aug. 7. A theft was reported. Van Dorn St. N., 200 block, 8:39 a.m. Aug. 3. A theft was reported. Van Dorn St. N., 2200 block, 8:30 a.m. Aug. 3. A theft was reported. Van Dorn St. N., 900 block, 7:01 a.m. Aug. 4. A theft was reported. Washington St. S., 500 block, 5:51 a.m. Aug. 8. A theft was reported. White Post Ct., 3800 block, 4:46 p.m. Aug. 4. A theft was reported. Whiting St. S., 200 block, 1:47 p.m. Aug. 6. A theft was reported. Whiting St. S., 200 block, 4:29 p.m. Aug. 2. Property was entered. An arrest was made. Yoakum Pkwy., 200 block, 12:20 p.m. Aug. 7. A theft was reported. MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS Armistead St. N., 400 block, 7:26 a.m. Aug. 6. A vehicle was stolen. Barrister Pl., 5400 block, 7:44 a.m. Aug. 3. A vehicle was stolen. Commonwealth Ave., 2900 block, 2:12 p.m. Aug. 7. A vehicle was stolen. Duke St., 5300 block, 3:37 p.m. Aug. 7. A vehicle was stolen. Michigan Ct., 1100 block, 11 a.m. Aug. 5. A vehicle was stolen. Mill Rd., 2100 block, 8:29 a.m. Aug. 4. A vehicle was stolen. VANDALISM Barrister Pl., 5400 block, 7:44 a.m. Aug. 3. Property was damaged. Bashford Lane, 800 block, 9:37 p.m. Aug. 11. Property was damaged. Beverley Dr., 300 block, 2:29 p.m. Aug. 3. Property was damaged. Braddock Rd. W., 4800 block, 6:03 p.m. Aug. 9. Property was damaged. Brenman Park Dr., 4800 block, 4:12 p.m. Aug. 2. Property was damaged. Duke St., 1700 block, 12:36 p.m. Aug. 6. Property was damaged. Duke St., 4300 block, 5:07 p.m. Aug. 2. Property was damaged. Duke St., 4300 block, 7:50 a.m. Aug. 3. Property was damaged. Duke St., 5300 block, 3:37 p.m. Aug. 7. Property was damaged. Dunster Ct., 5700 block, 10:30 p.m. Aug. 2. Property was damaged. Edsall Rd., 6100 block, 10:52 a.m. Aug. 5. Property was damaged. Edsall Rd., 6100 block, 7:45 p.m. Aug. 6. Property was damaged. Fairfax St. S., 600 block, 11 a.m. Aug. 8. Property was damaged. Ford Ave., 4400 block, 6:24 a.m. Aug. 9. Property was damaged. Four Mile Rd., 600 block, 2:20 p.m. Aug. 7. Property was damaged. An arrest was made. Jackson Pl., 400 block, 6:50 p.m. Aug. 2. Property was damaged. Linden St. W., unit block, 4:33 p.m. Aug. 4. Property was damaged. Mark Dr., 3700 block, 11:30 a.m. Aug. 7. Property was damaged. Merton Ct., 5800 block, 3:34 p.m. Aug. 6. Property was damaged. Monroe Ave. E., 300 block, 7:36 p.m. Aug. 4. Property was damaged. Mount Vernon Ave., 3200 block, 9:18 a.m. Aug. 8. Property was damaged. Park Center Dr., 3100 block, 10:20 a.m. Aug. 4. Property was damaged. Payne St. S., 200 block, 11:08 p.m. Aug. 4. Property was damaged. Peyton St. N., 400 block, 7:23 p.m. Aug. 6. Property was damaged. Pickett St. N., 200 block, 5:33 p.m. Aug. 7. Property was damaged. Skyhill Rd., 100 block, 1:14 p.m. Aug. 2. Property was damaged. Taney Ave., 4500 block, 8:59 a.m. Aug. 6. Property was damaged. Taney Ave., 5300 block, 3:50 p.m. Aug. 8. Property was damaged. Taney Ave., 5300 block, 4:25 p.m. Aug. 4. Property was damaged. Whiting St. S., 400 block, 5:23 a.m. Aug. 4. Property was damaged. An arrest was made. Arlington These were among incidents reported by the Arlington County Police Department. For information, call 703-558-2222 or visit newsroom.arlingtonva.us. SEXUAL ASSAULTS Wilson Blvd., 2900 block, 10:18 p.m. Aug. 6. A sexual assault was reported. ASSAULTS George Mason Dr. N., 1600 block, 1:15 p.m. Aug. 7. An assault was reported. Glebe Rd. N., 2100 block, 3 p.m. Aug. 6. An assault was reported. Hayes St. S., 1000 block, 12:01 a.m. Aug. 5. An assault was reported. Little Falls Rd. and N. Nottingham St. An assault was reported. Stafford St. N., 1300 block. Threats were reported. Thomas St. N., 500 block, 8:20 p.m. Aug. 4. An assault was reported. Walter Reed Dr. and S. 11th St., 5:17 p.m. Aug. 2. An assault was reported. Washington Blvd., 4600 block, 12:20 a.m. Aug. 3. Two people. 11th St. and S. Walter Reed Dr., 5:17 p.m. Aug. 2. An assault was reported. 11th St. N., 2300 block, 8 a.m. Aug. 2. Two people fought. INDECENT EXPOSURE Washington Blvd. and N. 10th St., 9:13 a.m. Aug. 5. An indecent exposure incident was reported. PEEPING TOM Pershing Dr. N., 2600 block, 1:40 a.m. Aug. 5. Police observed a man peering into a residential window who fled when he was confronted. After a brief foot pursuit, the man was taken into custody. An Arlington man, 24, was charged. THEFTS/BREAK-INS Arlington Blvd., 4500 block, 5 a.m. Aug. 8. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Army Navy Dr., 800 block, 6 p.m. Aug. 2. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Carlin Spring St. S., 400 block, 11 p.m. Aug. 6 to 6:30 a.m. Aug. 7. A bicycle was stolen from a residence. An investigation is ongoing. Clarendon Blvd., 1500 block, 12:03 a.m. Aug. 7. A resident returned home from a trip and discovered the apartment had been cleaned and items were moved. Nothing was reported missing. Clarendon Blvd., 1500 block, 11 a.m. Aug. 3. A residence was entered. Clarendon Blvd., 2700 block, 6:35 p.m. Aug. 2. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Colonial Ter. N., 1600 block, 6:30 p.m. Aug. 7 to 12:15 p.m. Aug. 8. A residence was entered by force. Nothing was reported missing. Columbia Pike, 2800 block, 8:22 a.m. Aug. 3. A theft was reported. Columbia Pike, 3600 block, 2:02 a.m. Aug. 6. A shoplifting incident was reported. Columbia Pike, 5500 block. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Courthouse Rd. N., 2000 block, 3:30 p.m. Aug. 4. A theft was reported. Culpeper St. N., 1900 block, 1:30 p.m. Aug. 5. A theft was reported. Daniel St. N., 1900 block, 10:03 a.m. Aug. 4. A theft was reported. Emerson St. S., 800 block. A vacant residence was entered and empty beer cans were found inside. Nothing was reported missing. Glebe Rd. N., 700 block. 1:49 p.m. Aug. 3. A shoplifting incident was reported. Hayes St. S., 1100 block, 1:30 p.m. Aug. 5. A shoplifting incident was reported. Hayes St. S., 1100 block, 3:39 p.m. Aug. 4. A theft at a shopping mall was reported. Hayes St. S., 1100 block, 6:13 p.m. Aug. 3. A shoplifting incident was reported. Hayes St. S., 1200 block, 4:59 p.m. Aug. 7. A theft was reported. Highland St. N., 100 block, 5:30 p.m. Aug. 6. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Highland St. N., unit block. Property was entered. Jackson St. N., 600 block, 9:15 a.m. Aug. 5. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Jefferson Davis Hwy., 2000 block. A theft was reported. Joyce St. S., 1100 block, 8:43 p.m. Aug. 3. A shoplifting incident was reported. Kenmore St. N., 400 block, 11 p.m. Aug. 6. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Kenmore St. N., 500 block, 7 p.m. Aug. 2. A theft was reported. Lee Hwy., 4700 block, 12:57 p.m. Aug. 2. A theft was reported. Lincoln St. N., 400 block, 6:30 p.m. Aug. 6. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Lynn St. N., 1800 block, 9:33 a.m. Aug. 2. A pocket picking incident was reported. Nelson St. N., 700 block, 8:35 p.m. Aug. 6. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Oakland St. N., 700 block, 8 p.m. Aug. 6. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Quincy St. N., 1000 block. Property was entered. Quincy St. N., 1700 block, 3:54 a.m. Aug. 5. A theft was reported. Thomas St. N., 200 block, 10:30 a.m. Aug. 5. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Uhle St. N., 1900 block, 6 a.m. Aug. 2. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Veitch St. N., 1300 block, 9 p.m. Aug. 6. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Walter Reed Dr. S., 1000 block. A theft was reported. Wayne St. N., 1200 block, noon Aug. 6. A theft was reported. Wilson Blvd., 4200 block, 7:54 p.m. Aug. 4. A shoplifting incident was reported. Wilson Blvd., 4200 block, 8:28 p.m. Aug. 6. Three male perpetrators approached a man delivering pizzas. One of them gave him cash and another grabbed the pizza. All of them fled on foot. The cash provided was less than the cost of the order. An investigation is ongoing. Wilson Blvd., 4200 block, 9:15 p.m. Aug. 6. A theft was reported. First Rd. S., 3700 block, 7:48 a.m. Aug. 4. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Third Rd. N., 4100 block. Property was entered. Fourth St. N., 3100 block, 10:15 p.m. Aug. 6. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Fourth St. N., 3200 block, 11:30 p.m. Aug. 6. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Fourth St. N., 3900 block, 8 p.m. Aug. 6. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Fourth St. N., 3900 block, 9 p.m. Aug. 6 to 9 a.m. Aug. 7. Property was stolen from seven vehicles. An investigation is ongoing. Fifth Rd. N., 4000 block, 10:37 p.m. Aug. 5. A theft was reported. Eighth St. S., 2700 block, 11:30 p.m. Aug. 2. Parts of a vehicle were stolen. Eighth Rd. S., 5400 block, midnight to 1 a.m. Aug. 8. A resident awoke to noise outside a window and observed a male perpetrator climbing a ladder with another male perpetrator holding it at the base. After they were confronted by the resident, both fled from the area in a vehicle. An investigation is ongoing. Eighth St. N., 5600 block, 12:15 p.m. Aug. 2. Property was stolen from a vehicle. 11th St. N., 2300 block, 6:45 p.m. Aug. 6. A theft was reported. 23rd St. N., 3200 block, 9:43 a.m. Aug. 4. Two men were observed attempting to steal a bicycle from a front porch of a residence. Shortly after, police received another report of two men seen attempting to steal a bicycle from a parking garage in the 1900 block of N. Daniel Street. Police found two men matching the descriptions provided by witnesses. A man, 24, of no fixed address, and a Capitol Hills man, 25, were charged. MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS Florida St. S., 700 block, Aug. 8. A white 2005 Dodge Caravan was stolen. Jefferson Davis Hwy., 2000 block, Aug. 2. A grey 2015 Chrysler was stolen. VANDALISM Adams St. S., 2500 block. Property was damaged. Army Navy Dr., 800 block. Property was damaged. Columbus St. N., 200 block, 5:55 p.m. Aug. 6. Property was damaged. Fair St. S., 1300 block, 3 p.m. Aug. 4. Property was damaged. Fillmore St. N., 1200 block. Property was damaged. Key Blvd., 3100 block, midnight Aug. 3. Property was damaged. Lincoln St. N., 400 block. A vehicle was tampered with. Wayne St. N., 1200 block, 1 p.m. Aug. 2. Property was damaged. Wilson Blvd., 1500 block. Property was damaged. First Rd. S., 3700 block. A vehicle was tampered with. Eighth St. S., 2700 block. A vehicle was tampered with. 12th St. S., 400 block. A vehicle was tampered with. 17th St. S., 1000 block. Property was damaged. On April 20, an unofficial holiday for marijuana users, Capitol Police arrested eight protesters for handing out marijuana joints on land near the U.S. Capitol under local jurisdiction. Only two of those arrested were charged with a crime, and on Monday, the U.S. attorneys office said it would drop charges against one of those protesters. Adam Eidinger, a marijuana activist in the District who helped spearhead the citys legalization efforts, faced misdemeanor possession charges for allegedly carrying 78 joints that day. He spent the night in jail and made multiple court appearances in the case. But the Drug Enforcement Administration determined that he was carrying less than two ounces the legal limit in D.C. and the Justice Department dropped the charges. To me, this means that they dont understand that people have a right to give cannabis away in the District and they dont have a very good legal argument to prosecute them, Eidinger said. [Capitol Police arrested a woman with pot, but charges were dropped. She wants her marijuana back.] Eidingers case highlights the clash between federal marijuana laws and looser local regulations. Before the April 20 demonstration, in which activists distributed joints to congressional staffers, Eidinger said he measured the marijuana to ensure that he was possessing a legal amount, then strategically placed himself on land under local jurisdiction. (The DEA weighs only the amount of cannabis, not the smoking paper it is contained in.) Capitol Police also have jurisdiction on local land, and the agency has said that federal law applies throughout the District. It is unusual although not unprecedented for Capitol Police to make arrests on District grounds while applying federal laws. Federal laws apply throughout the District of Columbia and the federal law was applied by the Capitol Police, wrote Eva Malecki, a spokeswoman for the federal police agency, in a June email. Bill Miller, a spokesman for the U.S. attorneys office for the District, confirmed that charges against Eidinger were dropped, although he said the office could not comment on why local charges, instead of federal charges, were pursued. Under federal law, it is illegal to possess any amount of marijuana. Jessica Laycock is arrested by Capitol Police in April. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post) Eidingers attorney, Mark Goldstone, said he thinks the arrests were part of Attorney General Jeff Sessionss efforts to toughen the Justice Departments stance on marijuana. Sessions has been a vocal opponent of marijuana usage and legalization, although a Justice Department memo obtained earlier this month by HuffPost suggests that the agency is following an Obama-era document that lays out a policy of federal noninterference with state laws, as long as public health and safety are not threatened. But the letter also includes a list of concerns compiled by federal authorities, potentially laying the groundwork for more-aggressive federal interventions in coming years. [ Is Sessions planning to crack down on legal pot? This letter suggests he might be. ] This is a clear example of the federal government prosecuting low-level marijuana offenders, Goldstone said. From the beginning, this was just bogus, and it took four months to figure out that he had less than two ounces. If convicted, Eidinger would have faced up to six months in prison. One protester, Jessica Laycock, who was arrested at the same demonstration, is seeking to get her marijuana and paraphernalia back from Capitol Police. The agency said that even though charges were dropped against Laycock, marijuana is a controlled substance and the drug would not be returned. Eidinger and other activists still face charges from another marijuana protest April 24. During that protest, activists more clearly violated federal law by smoking marijuana on federal property, authorities allege. Eidingers trial is set for Sept. 11 in D.C. Superior Court. Anne Arundel County The following were among incidents reported by the Anne Arundel County police. For information, call 410-222-8050. No incidents report was received from Anne Arundel County this week. Annapolis These were among incidents reported by the Annapolis Police Department. For information, call 410-268-9000. ASSAULTS Kirby Lane, 10 p.m. Aug. 6. A person was hit in the head with an object and found in a road suffering from a a head wound. Tyler Ave., 1400 block, 1:23 a.m. Aug. 5. A person cut an acquaintance on the arm with a knife. HOME INVASIONS Tyler Ave., 1400 block, 5 a.m. Aug. 5. Several people broke into a home, assaulted an occupant and fled. THEFTS/BREAK-INS Boucher Ave., 1000 block, 5:15 p.m. Aug. 6 to 9:20 a.m. Aug. 8. A cellphone was stolen from an unlocked vehicle. Catlyn Pl., 1400 block, 5 p.m. Aug. 6 to 7 a.m. Aug. 7. A cellphone was stolen from an unlocked vehicle. Constitution Ave., 1 p.m. Aug. 4 to 7:20 a.m., Aug. 5. Property was stolen from a vehicle. Forest Dr., 1300 block, 11:58 p.m. Aug. 4. A cellphone was stolen from a business. Homewood Lane, 1300 block, 6 p.m. Aug. 6 to 9 a.m. Aug. 7. Property was stolen from an unlocked vehicle. Jefferson St. and Boucher Ave., 10:30 a.m. Aug. 7 to 12 a.m. Aug. 8. Property was stolen from an unlocked vehicle. Lee St., Aug. 6 to 8 a.m. aug. 7. A trunk, four wheels and tires were stolen from a vehicle. Lee St., July 31. Airbags were stolen from a vehicle. SHOOTINGS Annapolis, 5:30 a.m. Aug. 5. An Annapolis man, 27, walked into a hospital emergency room with a gunshot wound to his torso. He was flown to a shock trauma unit. Investigation found he was shot in the 1100 block of Madison St. Howard County These were among incidents reported by the Howard County Police Department. For information, call 410-313-2236. CLARKSVILLE AREA THEFTS/BREAK-INS Walnut Creek, 6800 block, 1:53 p.m. Aug. 5. Credit cards were taken from a wallet left in a garage. COLUMBIA AREA ROBBERIES Little Patuxent Pkwy., 10300 block, 4:20 p.m. Aug. 5. A female stole cash from a register at a store. When an employee confronted her, she assaulted the employee and fled. Stevens Forest Rd., 5700 block, 11:46 p.m. Aug. 4. Four males and a female, armed with a knife, stole cash from a man, and fled. A Columbia man, 18, was charged with armed robbery. THEFTS/BREAK-INS Columbia 100 Pkwy., 8800 block, 4:32 a.m. Aug. 5. A window was broken at a business. Deep Earth Lane, 6200 block, 6:50 a.m. Aug. 9. An airbag was stolen from a vehicle. Little Patuxent Pkwy., 10400 block, 10:28 p.m. Aug. 3. Alcohol was stolen from a locked cage at a business. An Odenton man, 18, was charged with burglary, theft, destruction of property and trespassing. Oakland Mills Rd., 5700 block, 9:49 p.m., Aug. 6. A 4-by-4 vehicle was stolen from a shed. Red Branch Rd., 9100 block, 11:42 p.m. Aug. 4. Cash was stolen from a business. MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS Basket Ring Rd., 9600 block, 9:34 a.m. Aug. 6. A 1999 Ford Explorer was stolen. Cloudleap Ct., 8700 block, 4:37 p.m. Aug. 8. A 1996 Honda Accord was stolen. Eden Brook Dr., 7300 block, 10:14 a.m. Aug. 4. A Jeep Cherokee was stolen. Green Meadow Dr., 12200 block, 8:13 p.m. Aug. 8. A 2014 Ford Fusion was stolen. COOKSVILLE AREA THEFTS/BREAK-INS Riggs Meadow Dr., 14600 block, Aug. 2 to 3. A bow and arrow were stolen from a barn. ELKRIDGE AREA THEFTS/BREAK-INS Amberton Dr., 6600 block, 10:21 p.m. Aug. 4. A window was broken at a business. Irwin Way, 6500 block, Aug. 5 to 6. A window was pried open at a home; entry was not gained. Marshalee Rd., 6000 block, Aug. 4 to 5. Two businesses were entered by breaking glass in the doors; nothing was reported stolen. MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS Ducketts Lane, 7000 block, 10:22 a.m. Aug. 8. A 2013 Nissan was stolen and recovered. ELLICOTT CITY AREA THEFTS/BREAK-INS Baltimore National Pike, 8400 block, 12:14 a.m. Aug. 7. A glass door was broken at a business; it was unclear whether anything was stolen. JESSUP AREA MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS Assateague Dr., 7300 block, 8:54 a.m. Aug. 8. A 2001 Ford Econoline E-350 was stolen. Lincoln Dr., 8200 block, 5:05 a.m. Aug. 3. Keys were stolen from a home and used to steal a Honda CRV. Montevideo Rd., 7400 block, 1:52 p.m. Aug. 4. A 2017 Ford F-250 was stolen. Washington Blvd., 8800 block, 9:52 a.m. Aug. 3. A 2013 Toyota Camry was stolen. LAUREL AREA ROBBERIES Hitching Post and Covered Wagon Dr., 11:34 p.m. Aug. 4. Two males attempted to steal a backpack from a man. MOUNT AIRY AREA THEFTS/BREAK-INS Long Corner Rd., 1400 block, Aug. 4 to 6. Construction tools were stolen from an unoccupied home, and toy cars were stolen from a shed at another home. Old Frederick Rd., 16100 block, Aug. 3 to 4. A swim club was broken into and vandalized, and property was destroyed. A D.C. schools official who addressed a group of teachers gathered for professional development sparked outrage Wednesday after making a comment about children in the poorest, predominantly black part of the city that many attendees perceived as derogatory. The topic was social and emotional learning, a priority for the new chancellor, Antwan Wilson, that puts an emphasis on educating with the well-being of the child in mind, not just grades and test scores. But the mood in the Alice Deal Middle School auditorium turned sour after a white presenter said the teaching style isnt just for those children in Southeast Washington, according to three teachers in the room. The comment, apparently meant to dispel stereotypes, prompted groans, murmurs and, later, shouting. Several other D.C. Public Schools officials tried to mitigate the remark, culminating with an apology from the districts head of instruction and a letter from the chancellor. For teachers and administrators preparing for classes to start next week, this exchange turned into a learning opportunity for themselves. With the climate how it is the things going on in Virginia, the administration everyone is kind of tense at the moment, said Paul Brown, a fourth- and fifth-grade teacher who was at the meeting. So when you have a white guy talking about a predominantly minority school system and hes saying those children, it was just a bad choice of words. DCPS did not identify the employee or confirm what he said but acknowledged that it was a poor choice of words. [One in four D.C. public schools have had at least three principals since 2012 ] The comments said today do not reflect our approach to supporting our students, families, and staff, Wilson said in a statement. The social emotional well-being of all students, families, and staff at D.C. Public Schools is a priority for all of us, and we are working to include these practices in our work. In an email to teachers, Wilson said he wanted to lean into the tension from the meeting as an example of how social and emotional learning is applicable to adults, too. Educators experience frequent and sometimes extraordinary stress working in our schools, and we should make sure they have the supports they need to attend to that stress, he wrote. Inequality between predominantly black schools east of the Anacostia River and schools with greater white populations in wealthier areas is one of the most vexing problems for the school district. Many teachers and Southeast residents are sensitive to depictions that treat its children as outsiders. Do not ever exclude any child, teacher, owner or person in Southeast District of Columbia because, guess what, we pay taxes, we are not stupid, we are educated, one teacher shouted, according to a video of the contentious meeting posted on Twitter. Brown said that once things calmed down, the exchange boiled down to a reminder of the importance of effective communication. He wasnt actually putting down the children in Southeast, Brown said. He was saying its not just for them, its for everyone. These were among incidents reported by the Loudoun County Sheriffs Office and the Leesburg, Middleburg and Purcellville police departments. For information, contact your police or sheriffs department. ASHBURN AREA THEFTS/BREAK-INS Bittner Sq., 42000 block, 8 p.m. Aug. 8 to 7 a.m. Aug. 9. A laptop computer was stolen from a vehicle. Farmingdale Dr., 42000 block, 6 p.m. Aug. 9 to 11:45 a.m. Aug. 10. Two unlocked vehicles were entered. A gun, ammunition, suitcases and a purse were among items stolen. Seneca Sq., 20000 block, 6:50 p.m. Aug. 6 to 9 a.m. Aug. 7. A wallet was stolen from an unlocked vehicle. Weatherwood Dr., 43000 block, 9:30 p.m. Aug. 9 to 9 a.m. Aug. 10. Cash, keys and sunglasses were stolen from an unlocked vehicle. VANDALISM Apollo Ter., 20000 block, 10 p.m. Aug. 5 to 11:35 a.m. Aug. 6. A vehicles window was damaged. Ashburn Rd., 21000 block, Aug. 9. A rear area of a school was spray-painted with graffiti. LEESBURG AREA ASSAULTS Breckinridge Sq., 500 block, 3:01 a.m. Aug. 6. A domestic assault was reported. Crestwood St., 400 block, 11:08 p.m. Aug. 5. A domestic assault was reported. Crestwood St., 400 block, 1:42 p.m. Aug. 6. A domestic assault was reported. Dodona Terr., 1500 block, 9:23 p.m. Aug. 5. An assault was reported. Heritage Way, unit block, 7:53 p.m. Aug. 5. A domestic assault was reported. Mcarthur Terr., 500 block, 8:39 p.m. Aug. 5. A domestic assault was reported. Musket Ct., 1200 block, 12:39 a.m. Aug. 10. A domestic assault was reported. Plaza St., unit block, 9:59 p.m. Aug. 9. An assault was reported. Revelstore Terr., 800 block, 1:45 p.m. Aug. 9. A domestic assault was reported. Smartts Lane, 900 block, 9:50 p.m. Aug. 5. A domestic assault was reported. Smartts Lane, 1000 block, 11:36 p.m. Aug. 8. An assault was reported. Washington St., 100 block, 10:28 p.m. Aug. 7. A domestic assault was reported. THEFTS/BREAK-INS Butler Pl., 43500 block, 9:06 a.m. Aug. 10. A theft was reported. Canby Rd., 18100 block, 10:06 p.m. Aug. 8. A theft was reported. Catoctin Cir., 100 block, 10:14 p.m. Aug. 5. A theft was reported. Evergreen Mills Rd., 19600 block, 11:04 a.m. Aug. 7. A theft was reported. Edwards Ferry Rd., 900 block, 2:13 p.m. Aug. 8. Shoplifting was reported. Fort Evans Rd., 200 block, 3:18 p.m. Aug. 7. Shoplifting was reported. Fort Evans Rd., 200 block, 4:06 p.m. Aug. 7. Shoplifting was reported. Glen Abbey Ct., 18200 block, 10:39 a.m. Aug. 10. A theft was reported. Glen Abbey Ct., 18200 block, 4 p.m. Aug. 10. A theft was reported. Hampstead Ct., 100 block, 11:40 a.m. Aug. 10. A theft was reported. Radford Terr., 500 block, 8:17 a.m. Aug. 7. A theft was reported. Upperville Belmont Pl., 19000 block, 10:10 a.m. Aug. 11. A theft was reported. Village Market Blvd., 1600 block, 7:49 p.m. Aug. 9. Shoplifting was reported. MOTOR VEHICLE THEFTS Edwards Ferry Rd., 900 block, 9:59 a.m. Aug. 10. A vehicle was stolen. Sunday Morning Lane, 41600 block, 10:32 p.m. Aug. 6. A vehicle was stolen. PURCELLVILLE AREA ASSAULTS Dominion Terr., 600 block, 8:31 p.m. Aug. 4. A domestic assault was reported. VANDALISM Dunraven Way, 800 block, 9:27 a.m. Aug. 6. Eggs were thrown at several vehicles. Maple Ave. S., 600 block, 12:28 p.m. Aug. 6. Eggs were thrown at a vehicle. Pickwick Dr., 17200 block, 10:19 a.m. Aug. 5. Eggs were thrown at several vehicles. Pipers Brook Dr., 700 block, 10:12 a.m. Aug. 5. Eggs were thrown at several vehicles. Telegraph Springs Rd., 18000 block, 11 p.m. Aug. 6 to 5:45 a.m. Aug. 7. A mailbox was damaged. 26th St. S., 300 block, 5:01 p.m. Aug. 5. A rock was thrown at a vehicle, damaging a headlight. ROUND HILL AREA THEFTS/BREAK-INS Bell Rd., 35000 block, Aug. 4 to Aug. 7. Tools were stolen from a job site. STERLING AREA THEFTS/BREAK-INS Colby Ct., 46000 block, Aug. 7. A package was stolen from a front porch at a residence. Livingstone Station St., 45000 block, 11 p.m. Aug. 4 to 4 p.m. Aug. 6. A laptop computer was stolen from a vehicle. Westminster Pl., 21000 block, 6:30 p.m. Aug. 4 to 7:30 a.m. Aug. 5. Items were stolen from a vehicle. Some of the items were later recovered in a drain hole nearby. THE DISTRICT Md. candidate, others arrested at protest Maryland gubernatorial candidate Ben Jealous, a former NAACP president, and Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.) were among those arrested at an immigration protest near the White House on Tuesday. At least 80 people joined a march defending the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, which granted deportation reprieves to hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants, often called dreamers, who came to the United States as children. The fate of the program under President Trump, who has criticized it, is unclear. [GOP officials in 10 states push Trump administration to end DACA program] A spokeswoman for the U.S. Park Police did not respond to a request for comment. Justin Wm. Moyer Teen, 13, is arrested in attempted carjacking D.C. police have arrested a second 13-year-old boy in the armed carjacking attempt of a woman in the Brightwood neighborhood of Northwest Washington. Police charged him with carjacking and assault with a dangerous weapon in the Aug. 10 attack in the 6000 block of 13th Place NW. Authorities previously arrested and charged another 13-year-old boy in the case. The victim told police that two assailants opened the drivers door and yanked her sweater as they tried to pull her out of her car about 7:15 p.m., according to a police report. The woman fought off the attack and drove away. Clarence Williams Police have warrant for suspect in slaying D.C. police are searching for a 24-year-old man they identified as a suspect in the early morning killing of a Severn man during a double shooting near the Georgetown waterfront last month. Detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Demarius Anton Jackson on a charge of second-degree murder while armed in a July 8 incident in the 3500 block of Water Street, officials said in a statement. Investigators named Jackson a suspect in the killing of Kennedy Javier Amaya-Olivares, 19. VIRGINIA Police describe suspect in sex abuse of girl, 5 Fairfax County police have released a sketch of a man they think abducted and sexually assaulted a 5-year-old girl Sunday. The man took the girl from a common area of an apartment complex in the 6700 block of Tower Drive in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County about 5 p.m. Sunday and transferred her to another location, where the assault occurred, police said. A family member noticed the girl was missing, and she returned a short time later and told the family what had happened, police said. The suspect is described as a light-skin Hispanic man in his mid-20s to early 30s. He is about 5-foot-8 to 5-foot-9 and weighs about 200 pounds. The man is clean-shaven and has black hair. Justin Jouvenal THE REGION Lincoln Memorial vandalized with paint The Lincoln Memorial was vandalized with red spray paint early Tuesday, authorities said. About 4:30 a.m., graffiti was found on a column at the memorial, the National Park Service said in a statement. The graffiti was difficult to read, but appeared to say [expletive] law, the statement said. Justin Wm. Moyer Crews quietly removed Baltimores Confederate monuments early Wednesday, days after deadly unrest in Charlottesville as white nationalists rallied to defend a statue in that city. The sudden removal of four statues, without fanfare or advance notice, marks an attempt by Baltimore leaders to avoid a long, bruising conflict that has embroiled Charlottesville and other communities rethinking how they honor figures who fought to preserve slavery. Baltimore Mayor Catherine E. Pugh (D) announced Monday she was in talks with contractors to haul away the statues, and the city council approved a removal plan that night. Some activists had vowed to destroy the monuments before the government could act. A bystander takes a picture of a monument dedicated to the Confederate women of Maryland after it was taken down Wednesday morning. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun) The Jackson-Lee Monument in Wyman Park is removed Wednesday morning. (Denise Sanders/Baltimore Sun) Photos and video on social media Wednesday morning showed crews using cranes to remove statues of Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. Stonewall Jackson, then hauling them away on a flatbed truck. Statues honoring Confederate women and Roger B. Taney, the U.S. chief justice who authored the pro-slavery Dred Scott decision, also were removed. [Removing a slavery defenders statue: Taney wrote one of Supreme Courts worst rulings] A statue honoring Confederate soldiers and sailors, defaced with bright red paint over the weekend, is also gone. On the base of the now-empty Jackson and Lee monument are messages saying Black lives matter and F--- the Confederacy. By noon, an artist was erecting a statue of a black woman to take the generals place. Pugh said in an interview that she decided Tuesday to get rid of the statues through a stealth operation after a contractor was ready for the task. I said, We want to do it tonight, away from fanfare, said Pugh, who stayed up all night monitoring the statue removals between 11 p.m. Tuesday and about 5 a.m. Wednesday. We all are seeing lessons via the media of uprisings and violence, and violence is not what we need in our city. Just a day earlier, Pugh said she would seek approval from the Maryland Historical Trust, a state agency, to remove the Lee-Jackson monument, then provide a public timeline for removal. But she defended skipping those steps as necessary for keeping the community safe. She did not have an estimate for how much the statue removal cost taxpayers. Carolyn Billups, former president of the Maryland division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, criticized Pugh, saying she bypassed rules in the rush to remove the statues. Thats an act of lawlessness in my mind, said Billups, who lives in St. Marys County. This is a public figure. This is the leader of a city. If you expect . . . your constituents to respect the law, you have to toe the line. Pugh said Wednesday she did not know where the monuments were taken, adding that their fates would be determined by a group created to address their future. She said she hopes to see plaques where the monuments once stood that explain why the statues were removed. The mayors office is also reaching out to cemeteries where Confederate soldiers are buried to see whether they are interested in the statues. Baltimore City Council member Brandon Scott said the statues should be melted down and used to create a statue of Kurt L. Schmoke, the citys first elected black mayor. He praised the mayors handling of the issue. Taking the right action in a swift way kept all of Baltimore safe, Scott said. My worry was that some young kid that wants them to come down goes out and gets hurt. He said he was thinking of Durham, N.C., in particular, where a woman faces felony charges in connection with the vandalism and toppling of a monument. The empty pedestal where a statue of former U.S. chief justice Roger B. Taney had stood is seen before dawn Wednesday in Baltimores Mount Vernon area. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun) A commission, appointed by then-Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake after a white supremacist killed nine African Americans in a historically black South Carolina church, recommended the removal of the Lee-Jackson monument, with signs adding historical context to two other statues. Pugh had criticized the previous administrations inaction after the commissions recommendations. Pugh also consulted New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu (D), who oversaw a contentious removal of Confederate statues this spring. The first company hired to remove New Orleanss monuments withdrew after receiving death threats. [Anarchists and the antifa: The history of activists Trump condemns as the alt-left] Baltimore is setting an example that others should follow, said Del. Cheryl Glenn (D-Baltimore City), who chairs the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland. If this neo-Nazi movement is intent on exacting violence where we have these Confederate statues, then if you take the statues down, you reduce the potential for this kind of divisiveness. Across the nation, Confederate monuments have come under renewed scrutiny following widespread disgust at how a Lee statue in Charlottesville became a rallying point for white supremacists this year. President Trump on Tuesday seemed to defend Confederate monuments during a combative news conference in which he declared both sides were to blame for the violence in Charlottesville and suggested memorials for slave-owning Founding Fathers would be next if monuments for Confederate generals were removed. Pugh said that Trumps comments played no role in her decision-making and that she had not listened to them, because she was busy with Baltimores monument removals. The mayor of Lexington, Ky., is seeking approval to relocate two Confederate monuments in the city, citing the Charlottesville clashes for the timing of his decision. Officials in other cities have been considering removals as well. At a news conference Wednesday, Pugh offered this advice to the mayors of those communities: Do it quietly. And quickly. The vestiges of Confederate veneration in Maryland are also shaping up as an issue ahead of next years governors race. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) on Tuesday announced he would support removing the statue of Taney from State House grounds. The statue had been defended by Democrats and Republicans, and Hogan last year described calls to remove it as political correctness run amok. Former NAACP president Benjamin Jealous, who is seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, applauded the removal of the Baltimore statues and called on Hogan to support the removal of other Confederate memorials including the Talbot Boys statue in Talbot County. The question is whether he has the courage to stand up in a Republican stronghold in Eastern Shore and say the statues there should come down as well, Jealous said. That will be a real test of leadership for him. The politics are very different than in Baltimore. At least three other Democratic gubernatorial candidates Baltimore entrepreneur Alec Ross, former Michelle Obama policy director Krish Vignarajah and state Sen. Richard S. Madaleno Jr. (Montgomery) also praised Pugh. Workers remove a monument dedicated to Confederate women early Wednesday in Baltimore. (Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun) Calla Kessler contributed to this report. The study that projected massive job losses in Montgomery County if the hourly minimum wage increased to $15 is flawed, according to the consulting group that conducted the survey. PFM, the Philadelphia-based consulting group behind the study, initially predicted 47,000 jobs would be lost by 2022 if the county raised its hourly minimum wage to $15. But on Sunday the group recognized a computation error, said PFM Managing Director Dean Kaplan. They are now reexamining their methodology and expect to have a revised projection, which they expect will be lower than the initial estimate, Kaplan said. We take full responsibility for this error, Kaplan said. Weve identified what went wrong and plan to release a revised report in the next week. We will stand by our analysis. The development marked a victory for Montgomery County lawmakers leading the charge for the $15 minimum wage, who have said the studys results are not valid. County Executive Isiah Leggett, who commissioned the study when he vetoed an increase to the minimum wage in January, sent a letter to PFM on Tuesday requesting that the group review its methodology and findings before the council begins discussing new legislation to bring the hourly minimum wage from $11.50 to $15 by 2022. PFM notified Leggetts office about the studys errors on Monday, Kaplan said. Theyre going to double check the numbers, Leggett said. We want to make sure all our Is are dotted, and our Ts are crossed. PFMs mistake, Kaplan said, was failing to accurately reflect responses from business owners, which were collected through electronic surveys and both phone and in-person interviews. This is kind of a case of somebody just using the wrong input, he said. County Council member Marc Elrich (D-At Large), who introduced new legislation to raise the minimum wage in July, said PFM should return the $149,600 it was paid by the county for the study. Kaplan said the group would be willing to discuss funding with the council. Elrich, who is running to replace Leggett as county executive, said its not possible to fix the study. The question which asked business owners to predict the effect of raising the minimum wage rather than look at the impact of an actual wage hike is designed to produce negative results, Elrich said. He also questioned the qualifications of PFM, which he said has little experience conducting analysis of minimum-wage hikes. Anybody who reads this study honestly would see it is a piece of garbage, Elrich said. The 47,000 jobs that PFM projected the county would lose represent 8.5 percent of Montgomery Countys total current employees. That figure drew the attention of Robert Hagedoorn, chief of Montgomery Countys fiscal management department, who emailed PFM in July, before the study was published, saying the number sounded very steep to him. Despite Hagedoorns reservations and what Leggett said were his consistently expressed concerns, the study was released by the county Aug. 1. When Leggett commissioned the study and vetoed an increase to the minimum wage in January, he cited concern that the wage hike would put Montgomery County at a competitive disadvantage with other jurisdictions. The only locality that has adopted a $15 minimum is the District of Columbia, which will require employers to pay that wage by 2020. [D.C. gives final approval to $15 minimum wage] Leggett left the door open to accepting possible revisions to the bill, and in July Elrich introduced his new bill to bring the hourly minimum wage up to $15. The bill attempted to address opponents concerns about the impact of an increase by giving nonprofit organizations, adult day-care providers and companies with fewer than 26 employees until 2022, instead of 2020, to raise wages. Unemployment decreased in Montgomery between 2013 and 2017, during the same time period that the hourly minimum wage in the county increased from $7.25 to $11.50, which Elrich said indicates that increasing the current minimum wage over the course of the next five years would also have little affect on overall unemployment. But Leggett maintained in an interview Tuesday that if even half of the projected job loss was accurate, then the county should pay attention. These are extraordinary numbers were talking about here, he said. This story has been updated. A women takes a photo of the statue of former U.S. chief justice Roger B. Taney on Wednesday in front of the Maryland State House in Annapolis. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images) Marylands State House Trust on Wednesday approved plans to remove from the capitol grounds a statue of former U.S. chief justice Roger B. Taney, who authored the majority opinion in the 1857 Dred Scott decision that said African Americans cannot be U.S. citizens. Gov. Larry Hogan (R), who chairs the State House Trust board, said the previous day that he wanted the memorial taken down, echoing earlier calls from House Speaker Michael E. Busch (D-Anne Arundel) and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Benjamin Jealous, who pushed for its removal in the wake of violence that turned deadly during a white-supremacist rally in Charlottesville. Hogan, Busch, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) and Maryland Historical Trust Board Chairman Charles L. Edson make up the State House Trust board, which oversees the capitol building and its grounds. The group traditionally votes by email. Busch, Edson and Lt. Gov. Boyd Rutherford (R), who was acting as Hogans designee on the board, voted Wednesday to move forward with a plan to remove the Taney statue and plan for its storage or relocation. It was unclear how Miller, who said Monday that he would not try to prevent Hogan from removing the statue, would vote on the proposal. It was our understanding that there would be a public meeting to vote on this and discuss other issues, said Miller spokesman Jake Weissman. Thats where we last left it. More Maryland residents will see yellow and brown water flow from kitchen taps, showers and washing machines over the next several weeks as discolored water makes its way from a Potomac River filtration plant into more homes and businesses, utility officials said. Carla A. Reid, general manager of the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC), said the discolored water is safe to drink and use but called it unacceptable from an aesthetic standpoint. She said the problem stems from changes required in the disinfection process due to an unusually large amount of organic matter decayed leaves, grass and other vegetation that has washed into the Potomac during recent heavy rainstorms. WSSC, which provides water and sewer services to 1.8 million people in Montgomery and Prince Georges counties, said that as of Wednesday afternoon, it had received more than 730 complaints of discolored water since Aug. 8. That nine-day total compares to 200 complaints in a typical month. So far, the problem has mostly affected areas closer to WSSCs primary filtration plant on the Potomac in western Montgomery, including Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Rockville and Gaithersburg. However, with each passing day, officials said, the water will reach areas farther away, such as northern Montgomery and into Prince Georges. [WSSC looks to its own pipes for partial cause of brown water complaints] The discoloration comes from higher-than-usual levels of a natural mineral called manganese. WSSC officials advise against washing clothes with the discolored water because it can stain laundry but say its otherwise fine. Manganese is regulated as a secondary aesthetic issue for the color of drinking water but not as a public health concern, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Its an aesthetic issue that people have to understand, but its safe to consume, said J.C. Langley, WSSCs director of production. We want people to understand that we take their safety very seriously. Even so, convincing customers to ignore the yuck factor might not be easy. Mary Hills, of Potomac, said shes had yellowish-brown water two days in the past week. She said she changed the water filter in her refrigerator and that her family is drinking more bottled water. Shes heard WSSC say the tap water is fine, but when brownish water filled her tub last week, she skipped the bath. It didnt make sense to me that its clean if its discolored, Hills said. You dont look at a tub full of brown water and want to take a bath in it. Paul Tibbits Jr., also of Potomac, said hes still comfortable drinking water thats passed through his refrigerator filter, even though hes noticed discolored water in the bathtub twice over the past week. He said hes accepted WSSCs assurances that the water is safe, but hed like some independent testing done as well. As the tub was filling up, the water just became darker and darker, Tibbits said. My daughter asked why she was taking a bath in brown water. WSSC officials say an unusually rainy summer has created a high and fast-flowing Potomac full of more grass, leaves and other organic matter than usual. Like other Washington-area water utilities, WSSC draws water from the Potomac before it disinfects it and sends it out to homes and businesses through pipes. Unlike other local utilities, however, WSSC relies on chlorine to disinfect the river water and control manganese levels. The problem: When chlorine combines with organic matter, it produces disinfection byproducts, which the EPA regulates because of their potential for increasing cancer risks, according to the agencys website. To limit such byproducts, WSSC officials said, they had to scale back the amount of chlorine they used starting Aug. 8. The lower levels of chlorine are still enough to kill bacteria but leave behind more discoloring manganese, officials said. We'll always side with water quality over an aesthetic issue, Langley said. [How the brown water problems started] He said he expects that customers will see discolored water for several more weeks, depending on how long the heavy rains continue to carry vegetation into the Potomac. Were asking our customers to be patient with us, Langley said. Manganese has been linked to neurological problems in children, but at levels more than 10 times higher than what WSSC is finding in its testing, officials said. Theres a big difference in the levels of manganese that cause health problems and whats in our water, said Jin Yeong Shin, WSSCs water quality section manager. [This summer has been exceptionally wet. Heres how strange its been] Officials at the Washington Aqueduct, which serves the District and the Falls Church area, and Fairfax Water, which serves much of Northern Virginia, said theyve also seen more organic matter in the river but have had no problems with discolored water. Both said they use other treatment methods that have kept manganese in check. Shin, WSSCs water quality manager, said WSSC uses chlorine because its good at keeping water safe for long periods. Because WSSCs distribution system is so large, he said, water can spend a couple of days to a week or so in pipes before reaching its destination. WSSCs other filtration plant, which draws water from the Patuxent River, hasnt had any manganese problems because it has a reservoir that allows organic matter to settle before it reaches the plant, Shin said. WSSC has had previous problems with manganese. In 2015, the utility received thousands of complaints about brown water. WSSC initially blamed the problem on winter road salt washing into the Potomac and later said the saltier waters impact might have been exacerbated by the utilitys decades-old iron pipes, which hadnt been regularly flushed in 15 years. Ian Livingston contributed to this report. Gerald Halpin in front of the Freddie Mac building in Tysons Corner in 1999. (Shawn Thew for The Washington Post) Gerald T. Halpin, the first real estate developer to build in Tysons Corner and one of the most prolific and successful developers in the Washington area, died Aug. 14 in Jackson, Wyo. He was 94. His daughter, Christina Halpin Bourdeaux, confirmed the death but did not disclose the cause. Mr. Halpin moved to Jackson from Fairfax County, Va., a few years ago. The son of an elementary school custodian who had gone bust during the Great Depression, Mr. Halpin developed more than 100 major real estate projects during a career spanning more than five decades. They included four major projects at or near Tysons Corner and several thousand apartments in Northern Virginia. Jerry Halpin is Tysons Corner, said Bill Lecos, former president of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, told The Washington Post in 2009. He and few others are the creators of Tysons. Hes defined it for the last 40 years. At the peak of his career, Mr. Halpin either founded or headed more than 100 real estate corporations and partnerships. His company, West*Group Management LLC, developed more than 14 million square feet of office space, most of it in the Washington area. Mr. Halpin directly supervised all activities in the finance, accounting, planning, legal, construction, property management, business development and corporate administration departments. Mr. Halpin always began projects with OPM Other Peoples Money, since I didnt have any, he once said. Gerald Thomas Halpin was born in Scranton, Pa., on Feb. 15, 1923. As a boy, he sold cherries, apples and currants from the familys back yard to residents of wealthier neighborhoods. His father allowed him to keep half the money. Mr. Halpin paid his way through night classes at what is now the University of Scranton by working as a plastics manufacturer and glass blower. He served in the Navy during World War II, where he learned building trades and carpentry as a member of a construction battalion. Mr. Halpin and his fellow Seabees supported Marine Corps invasions in the Pacific. After his discharge in 1946, Mr. Halpin enrolled at Syracuse University on the GI Bill. He painted houses to cover expenses and saved what he could. The savings staked him to two rooming houses. He lived in one and rented out the other. Mr. Halpin met his future wife, Helen Richter, at Syracuse. After he graduated in 1950, he sold the rooming houses for a modest profit and moved to Northern Virginia, where his wife had been hired as an accountant and secretary by Atlantic Research Corp. Mr. Halpin enrolled at Georgetown University Law School and worked on the side as a credit investigator and a carpenter. He also was already an accomplished poker player, a skill that led to his career in real estate. One evening, while still in law school, he emerged the big winner in a game that included Atlantics president. The man was impressed and asked Mr. Halpin to oversee ARCs business operations. Mr. Halpin never went back to classes. He first cut his teeth on Fairfax County real estate during his decade with ARC. The company wanted to expand into Alexandria, Va., but available land was too expensive. Mr. Halpin learned of an 89-acre parcel at Edsall Road and Shirley Highway and bought it on behalf of ARC for $600,000. The firm built its headquarters there in 1958 a distinct building with a parabolic roof that looked like a bicycle seat. Meanwhile, Mr. Halpin and his wife bought a piece of land in nearby Springfield. Mr. Halpin built much of their house himself. Besides his wife, of Jackson, survivors include three children, Peter Halpin and Michael Halpin, both of Jackson, and Christina Halpin Bourdeaux of Cape Elizabeth, Maine; a sister; and seven grandchildren. In 1960, Mr. Halpin founded West*Groups predecessor, Commonwealth Capital, with three partners who had been colleagues at ARC. The men developed Landmark Center, a 700,000-square-foot shopping mall in Alexandria. But Mr. Halpin had his eye firmly on Tysons at the same time. In 1962, he and his partners made a deal with the Ulfelder family dairy farmers who owned 125 acres just east of the now-famous intersection. The parcel soon became West*Gate fueled by an insurance companys OPM. By 1970, 20 research and development companies were operating out of the complex. By the mid-1970s, West*Group owned and managed 560 acres of office campuses at West*Gate and West*Park. Much of the space was and is leased to federal government agencies and to consulting firms that do business with them. In 1976, West*Gates assessed value was $16.6 million, making it the third most valuable commercial parcel in the country (Theodore Lerners nearby shopping center, at $19.6 million, was second). In the 1990s, Mr. Halpin began to devote much of his time and energy to reimagining Tysons Corner. He envisioned what he called a mini-Manhattan of varied and more densely built residential and commercial properties and worked diligently with county officials to plan it. Mr. Halpin announced plans to replace the two-story Wests he had built there in the 1960s with taller, more dense developments. He also lobbied state and federal officials for an extension of Metrorail to Tysons, which was approved in 2002. The publicity-averse Halpin was active in political and civic circles. In the 1970s, he served on a committee of Northern Virginia business leaders that successfully lobbied Richmond for Northern Virginias fair share of state tax revenue. In the 1980s, he was a founder and enthusiastic member of The 123 Club, a lobbying group named for the well-known highway in Vienna that arranged funding for George Mason University. Mr. Halpin was also the first finance chair of the Wolf Trap Foundation and raised the bulk of the funds that built the 7,000-seat Filene Center in 1971. In 2005, he received an award from the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce for his invaluable contributions to the economy and quality of life in Northern Virginia. Much of his work late in life touched on the environment. He had chaired the Grand Teton National Park Foundations board of directors and served as a director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. His hobbies were hiking, fishing and snowmobiling. He was heralded by the Urban Land Institute and other organizations for being environmentally conscious in his development work. But his vision for the future of his company and Tysons Corner itself was one of continued construction. The Washington area is the worlds capital of democracy, he told The Post in 2003. Its going to keep growing. As much as you may not like the people and the traffic, its going to keep coming, and we have to respond. PRINCE GEORGES COUNTY These were among cases received recently by the Prince Georges County Animal Management Division. Call 301-780-7200 for directions to the county animal shelter, hours of operation, and adoption and licensing procedures. The department website is princegeorgespets4us.com. White dog on the loose: Corning Ave., 2400 block, Fort Washington, Aug. 2. A man reported a stray dog running through a parking lot. An animal control officer picked up the 2-year-old white male pointer mix. The dog was claimed by its owner Aug. 5. Wandering dog: Sturdee Dr., 12600 block, Upper Marlboro, Aug. 2. Animal management received a call from a man reporting a stray dog on his property. He said he got the dog on a leash and was holding it in his backyard. An animal control officer picked up the 2-year-old male cream-colored Patterdale terrier mix. The dog was reunited with its owner Aug. 7. Stray kitty: Riggs Rd., 7800 block, Hyattsville, Aug. 4. Animal management received a call about a stray kitten that a woman dropped off at a fire station. An officer removed the 1-month-old orange tabby domestic shorthair. When not claimed, the kitten was taken to a rescue group. Dogs left in car: Pratt St., 14800 block, Upper Marlboro, Aug. 4. Police communications contacted animal management to request pickup of two dogs found alone in a car with the window slightly open. At the time of the report, the temperature was 77 degrees, with a real feel of 83. Animal control and police gained access to the vehicle, in which they found two white-colored male bichons frises, 3 and 8 years old. An empty water container was also found in the car. The dogs owner was identified as a Florida resident on her way home. Police issued a warning, and the dogs were returned to her custody the same day. Snake in basement: Johensu Dr., 6300 block, Upper Marlboro, Aug. 8. A woman reported seeing a snake caught on a sticky trap in her basement. An animal control officer removed the healthy black snake and returned it to the wild. Low-cost clinic on Thursdays The Prince Georges County Department of the Environments Animal Management Division will sponsor a low-cost wellness and vaccine clinic noon to 3 p.m. the first and third Thursday of each month at the Spay Spot Clinic, 3750 Brown Station Rd., Upper Marlboro. Contact 301-254-8151 or thespayspot.org. Pet adoption clinic on Saturday The SPCA/Humane Society of Prince Georges County is sponsoring cat and dog adoptions, noon to 2 p.m. Saturday at Petco, 2319-D Forest Dr., Annapolis. The pets foster owners will answer questions and accept adoption applications for the animals. Adoption fees are $75 for cats, $180 for dogs. For information, call 301-262-5625 or visit pgspca.org. Two women injured during the chaos surrounding a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville last week have filed a $3 million lawsuit against individuals they say were the organizers and naming more than two-dozen right-wing and neo-Nazi groups in a suit accusing them of inciting violence Saturday. Sisters Tadrint and Micah Washington were headed home in their car Aug. 12 when they turned down an open Charlottesville side street where counterprotesters were marching. Within minutes, a Dodge Challenger slammed into the crowd and rammed into the rear of their car, causing a chain-reaction crash that killed one and injured 19 others. Charlottesville police have charged 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr. of Maumee, Ohio, with second-degree murder after Heather Heyer was killed in the collision. The Washington sisters were not participating in the protests and had been visiting a friend when they got caught in a maze of detours. Lawyers for the Washingtons Tadrint, 27, who recently finished EMT training, and Micah, 20, who works in the hospitality industry say at the point their car was hit, they had nowhere to move as bodies flipped over them and onto their vehicles windshield. Their car was splattered with blood, and emergency personnel tried to revive Heyer, a 32-year-old counterprotester from Charlottesville, a few inches away. In their suit, the women assert Fields deliberately accelerated into the group of people on the street in an attempt to kill and maim as many individuals as possible. Attorneys for the Washingtons argue Fieldss actions were part of a well-orchestrated conspiracy by Unite the Right attendees and promoters to inspire mayhem, homicide and violence, said Timothy Litzenburg of the Miller Firm. Its exactly like 1930s Germany, he said. We want the people who incited this catastrophe to sit in a courtroom and face a jury of normal Charlottesville citizens. That jury can decide what it is that they owe to the citizens of this city. The Washington sisters were stopped behind a van and waiting patiently, they said in an interview Tuesday, when they felt the sudden force of the vehicle that struck from behind. They said they did not know what happened and thought a bomb had gone off. For several seconds, Tadrint Washington said could not see or hear and had a deep burning in her legs. When things came back into focus, she said, all she could hear was screaming. It took her awhile to organize her thoughts and realize, Im alive. It came out of nowhere, said Micah Washington, who was in the passenger seat and conscious after flying forward and hitting her head on the dashboard and windshield. She saw a body thrown over the side and tumbling over the hood of her sisters Toyota Camry, as well as bodies on the ground. She checked her sister, who was shaking, and tried to calm her. Micah Washington said she is having a hard time dealing with what she saw as people tried to revive Heyer. It was something I never thought Id ever have to experience in Charlottesville in 2017, she said. The sisters, originally from Mississippi, said they never anticipated they would experience racial violence in their adopted home town. Tadrint Washington said she hopes the lawsuit will give them a voice and role. They didnt care about our safety, she said, referring to the rally organizers. We hope it ends here. The firm in the lawsuit gained notoriety for civil suits against the governments of Iran and Sudan, accusing them of providing material support to international terrorists in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Africa. A lot of the same legal principles will translate in what attorney Jeff Travers and his colleagues expect to litigate as an act of domestic terrorism. Litzenburg said they are prepared to add more defendants and plan to use statements made by white nationalists in the local and national new media to show that rally organizers approved of the violence that occurred. A D.C. man was acquitted Wednesday of all murder charges in connection with the fatal stabbing of a transgender woman at a bus stop in Northeast Washington in 2012. After a week-long trial, a D.C. Superior Court jury spent nearly two days deliberating before they declared Gary Montgomery, 60, not guilty in the slaying of 23-year-old JaParker Deoni Jones. [Trial in 2012 murder of transgender woman begins] Prosecutors argued Montgomery became infatuated with Jones when he saw her for the first time on the night of Feb. 2, 2012, as they sat at a bus stop in the 4900 block of East Capitol Street NE. Jones ignored his stares and a spurned Montgomery stabbed her in a rage, prosecutors contended. JaParker Deoni Jones (the U.S. Attorney's Office) Montgomerys attorneys argued that police had arrested the wrong man and that although Montgomery was at the bus stop that evening, he had left Jones sitting at the stop minutes before another person arrived and plunged a kitchen knife into her right temple. After the jury foreperson delivered the not guilty verdicts, Joness mother and sister ran from the courtroom in tears. He killed my baby. He killed my baby, and you let him go, Judean Jones yelled as one of her daughters tried to comfort her. Joness screams were so loud, people in nearby courtrooms poured into the hallway to see what was happening. Also standing nearby were four of the jurors, three wiping away their tears while watching Joness sobbing. Those jurors pointed to several issues that led to the decision to acquit: There was no DNA evidence presented, no eyewitnesses to the attack. A security video showed Montgomery limping as he went to the bus stop and sat beside Jones. But the four jurors said what convinced them Montgomery was not the killer was a four-minute segment of the grainy security video, which did not show Montgomery or Jones. When Jones reappeared on camera, Montgomerys attorneys argued their client never returned and, instead, the killer appeared at the bus stop. We just couldnt get around that four-minute gap, one juror said. There just wasnt enough evidence, one juror said. We looked over every piece of evidence. We made charts. We reviewed every statement and video. There was nothing that indicated he was the killer. Another juror said it was likely Jones was killed for being transgender, but there was no evidence tagging Montgomery as the killer. I know this result will withhold closure from the victims family, and I am sorry for that, the juror said. I just wish there had been sufficient evidence to convince me beyond a reasonable doubt. During the trial, Assistant U.S. attorneys Jennifer Kerkhoff and David Gorman played numerous security videos and put on several witnesses who testified to seeing Montgomery at the bus stop. One witness said Montgomery kept staring at Jones as she ignored him. As they looked for the killer, detectives released security video from a nearby restaurant which led several people to identify Montgomery as the man walking to the bus stop, and he was arrested. Prosecutors also played a police video in which Montgomery talked about how he crushed the pretty lady at the bus stop. David Knight and Monica Douglas of the Districts Public Defender Service argued Montgomery was using street slang for flirting and detectives took advantage of him by charging him with murder at the age of 55 and with a history of mental illness. The government didnt care about getting it right. They only cared about getting a conviction, Knight told the jury during his closing arguments Monday. Montgomerys attorneys played a security video from a different restaurant near the bus stop in the minutes after Joness killing that showed a man in a black jacket and gray hooded sweatshirt minutes after Joness killing. A bystander in a car that night had described that type of clothing on a man the bystander had pursued but lost in the darkness. Montgomery was wearing a light brown jacket that evening, his attorneys argued. As the verdict was read, Montgomery showed no reaction. Judge Lynn Leibovitz ordered Montgomery released from custody. He had been a patient at St. Elizabeths Hospital, the Districts psychiatric facility, since his arrest. The case took more than five years to make it to trial after an extended back-and-forth as to whether Montgomery was competent to stand trial. A trail in Great Seneca Stream Valley Park in Montgomery County. (Photo by Victoria St. Martin / The Washington Post) Montgomery County police have arrested a man on suspicion of attempting to rape a woman who was walking her dog in a Gaithersburg-area park, authorities announced. Jeffrey Michael Uy, a 22-year-old West Virginia resident, has been charged with assault and attempted second-degree rape, Montgomery County police said. Around 10:42 a.m. on Monday, officers responded to a call reporting an assault in the southern side of Great Seneca Stream Valley Park near Game Preserve Road. A 24-year-old woman told officers she had been walking her dog on a trail when a man approached her. He started by striking up a conversation about her dog, but then asked her twice to have sex, police said. When she refused, the man grabbed her by the arms and tried to restrain her. She broke free and fled, calling 911 when she could no longer see him chasing her. While talking to officers, the woman spotted Uy on a nearby trail and identified him as the man who allegedly assaulted her. Police say Uy told them he came to the park looking for sex, and admitted to grabbing the woman planning to have sex, consent or not. Uy further said that he did not care if the victim refused his requests and that he was going to have intercourse with her regardless, police said in a news release. Uy is being held without bond. Police suspect Uy may have assaulted other women. Anyone with information is asked to call the departments nonemergency line at 301-279-8000. A woman fatally shot her boyfriend before turning the gun on herself in a murder-suicide, according to Prince Georges County police. Police identified the couple found dead in an apartment as Kiwa Toomer, 53, of Upper Marlboro and Bernard Williams, 54, of New York. Officers responding to a call for a welfare check shortly before 7:45 p.m. Tuesday in the 14000 block of New Arcadia Lane in Upper Marlboro found Williams and Toomer with gunshot wounds, police said. Toomers wound appeared to be self-inflicted, police said. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities are still working to determine a motive in the case. Police are asking anyone with information about this case to call 301-772-4925 or 1-866-411-TIPS (8477). A small fire Wednesday morning on the third floor of the Smithsonians administrative building, known as the Castle, was extinguished by sprinklers and caused minimal damage, D.C. fire officials said. The fire department ruled the cause of the 11:43 a.m. fire as accidental and said it started in the electrical wiring. There were no injuries. Linda St. Thomas, spokeswoman for the Smithsonian Institution, said the fire occurred in a meeting room called the Library. No artifacts or books were stored there, and St. Thomas described that damage as minimal. The fire department initially reported the fire as on the fourth floor. The Smithsonian tweeted that the building a National Historic Landmark erected on the Mall in the mid-1800s would be closed for the remainder of the day Wednesday. All other museums remain open, the tweet said. The building was open at the time of the fire and was evacuated, officials said. Only the first-floor visitors center is open to the public. It is at 1000 Jefferson Dr. SW between the Freer and Sackler galleries and the National Museum of African Art. THE DISTRICT Fire forces evacuation of Smithsonian Castle A small fire on the third floor of the Smithsonians administrative building, known as the Castle, was extinguished Wednesday by sprinklers and caused minimal damage, D.C. fire officials said. The fire department ruled the cause of the 11:43 a.m. fire as accidental and said it started in the electrical wiring. There were no injuries. Linda St. Thomas, spokeswoman for the Smithsonian Institution, said the fire occurred in a meeting room called the Library. No artifacts or books were stored there. The Smithsonian tweeted that the building a National Historic Landmark erected on the Mall in the mid-1800s would be closed for the rest of Wednesday. All other museums remain open, the tweet said. The building was open at the time of the fire and was evacuated, officials said. Peter Hermann MARYLAND Police: Woman shoots boyfriend, then herself A woman fatally shot her boyfriend before turning the gun on herself, according to Prince Georges County police. Police on Wednesday identified the woman as Kiwa Toomer, 53, of Upper Marlboro. The man was identified as Bernard Williams, 54, of New York. Officers responding to a call for a welfare check shortly before 7:45 p.m. Tuesday in the 14000 block of New Arcadia Lane in Upper Marlboro found Williams and Toomer with gunshot wounds, police said. Toomers wound appeared to be self-inflicted, police said. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. Lynh Bui Man allegedly tried to assault woman in park A 24-year-old woman told officers she was walking her dog on a trail in the Gaithersburg area when a man approached her. He talked about her dog and then asked her twice to have sex, police said. She refused, and the man grabbed her by the arms, police said. She ran and called 911. While talking to officers, the woman spotted Jeffrey M. Uy, 22, a West Virginia resident, and identified him as the man who assaulted her. He has been charged with assault and second-degree rape. Uy is being held without bond. Fenit Nirappil VIRGINIA Woman killed while standing at mailbox A woman was struck and killed by a pickup as she stood at her mailbox in Fairfax County on Tuesday, possibly as a result of the trucks driver experiencing a medical emergency, police said. Glenda Quiroz, 46, died after a pickup that was southbound on Beulah Street in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County left the roadway and then returned to the street before hitting her, Fairfax police said. The incident occurred about 2:45 p.m. in the 7000 block of Beulah Street. The driver was taken to a hospital with a life-threatening condition. Speed and alcohol do not appear to have been factors in the incident. Justin Jouvenal Man dies in crash in Fairfax County A driver died in Fairfax County late Tuesday after his vehicle veered off a road and struck two trees, authorities said Wednesday. Emergency responders pronounced Shahram Johanshad, 46, of Fairfax dead after arriving at the scene about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. No one else was in his car. A preliminary investigation showed Johanshad was driving north on the Fairfax County Parkway when he went off the roadway while trying to make a slight turn before Waterline Drive, Fairfax County police said. He veered off on the left side, came back across the parkway and slammed into trees on the right side of the road. Fenit Nirappil Hundreds of white nationalists and white supremacists carrying torches march through the University of Virginia campus Friday night. They encountered a small group of counterprotesters at the base of a statue of Thomas Jefferson. (Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post) The University of Virginias president Tuesday defended the schools response to torch-wielding white nationalists who marched on campus last week, saying that university police were aware in advance of the event but that the demonstrators changed their plans. The march Friday night led to a confrontation between the white nationalists and a small group of U-Va. students who formed a circle around a statue of Thomas Jefferson on the public universitys historic campus. But after hundreds of marchers surrounded the students with torches, fights broke out and chemicals were sprayed by both sides. The marchers also threw torches toward the students. Some students who were there described those moments as terrifying and questioned why the university didnt do more to help those at the scene and warn others. One senior, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because she is worried about safety, called it a jarring lack of response from our school administration. These are people tasked with protecting their students. And yet they let torch-bearing Nazis come on the Lawn, she said. Students didnt feel safe, said Nathan John, a leader in the Black Student Alliance who spoke with many after the event. They wanted more protection from university and city police. U-Va. President Teresa Sullivan wrote to the campus community that law enforcement learned Friday afternoon that a protest was planned at the Rotunda, and officers were staged along the route that the white nationalist group said it would walk. But the group took another route and turned onto the Lawn, Sullivan wrote. She wrote that law enforcement stepped in within minutes of the violence and ordered people to disperse. They made one arrest, charging the person with assault and disorderly conduct. Given the short duration of the physical altercation and the law enforcement response to mitigate the threat, a university alert was not issued, Sullivan wrote. There was a compelling interest in not attracting more protestors and heightened violence. She said that the university does not prohibit flames in open spaces but that officials would review that policy. I write today to reassure you that your safety is our most important concern, she wrote. Dominion Energy said Wednesday that it will probably seek permission to build a controversial power line in Northern Virginia along Interstate 66 instead of through a community occupied by descendants of a former slave an option that would spare residents on Carver Road but that could affect property values for several hundred other homeowners. In a legal brief filed with the State Corporation Commission, the utility said it appears that Prince William Countys Board of County Supervisors will block construction along Carver Road by refusing to grant Dominion permission to use a parcel of county-owned land the company needs for a project to accommodate a computer data center in the Haymarket area. Greg Mathe, a company spokesman, said Dominion considers building the 230,000-volt power lines above Interstate 66 as the next best option given the relatively few impacts to the surrounding environment and the convenience of building along an existing highway. But, Mathe said, the company is still reviewing all options, including Carver Road, where the descendants of Livinia Blackburn Johnson have lived for at least 118 years. We continue to evaluate all the easements needed for approval along that route and will work with the county on anything we may need from them, Mathe said. But in an often heated dispute over whether the power lines are even needed to serve the proposed data center and a steadily growing portion of western Prince William County, cooperation from county officials is unlikely. Corey A. Stewart (R-At Large), chair of the county board, cheered the idea of moving away from Carver Road and said hed oppose any request for use of county land. Stewart said the county will also fight plans to build along I-66 that dont include partially burying the lines a hybrid route option estimated to cost $167 million that the state commission rejected as too expensive. Dominion estimates that building above I-66 would cost about $51 million, though the state commission previously rejected that idea because it would affect too many surrounding homeowners. Theres only one acceptable route, and thats the hybrid route, said Stewart, who earlier this year engineered the defeat of another route preferred by Dominion that would have placed the power lines along a freight railroad line near a development of 528 homes opposed to the idea. In Wednesdays filing, Dominion contested assertions from area homeowners that the lines arent needed, pointing to plans for a 490-home development in Gainesville as proof that the area is consuming more electricity. The filing includes a letter from an attorney representing VAData, owner of the data center site, saying the company is eager to finish all three warehouse-size buildings planned for the site. The letter from T. Preston Lloyd Jr. also emphasized that VAData has no say in how the power it needs is provided. We have consistently reiterated that how Dominion will service the Haymarket area is Dominions decision (not the Companys), Lloyds letter said. (VAData is a subsidiary of Amazon.com, whose founder and chief executive, Jeffrey P. Bezos, is the owner of The Washington Post.) With a final outcome to the controversy that began in 2014 still seemingly far off, residents along Carver Road greeted the possibility that their community may be spared with a mixture of hope and disbelief. The idea of being uprooted has caused anxiety in the community of mostly elderly residents, said Nathan Grayson, one of Johnsons descendants. Im kind of neutral on this because I dont trust them, Grayson said about Dominion. Wed like all this to be over. A statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee sits in Emancipation Park, Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, in Charlottesville, Va. The deadly rally by white nationalists in Charlottesville, over the weekend is accelerating the removal of Confederate statues in cities across the nation. (AP Photo/Julia Rendlema) Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe said Wednesday that he wants Confederate statues across the state relocated from public spaces to museums, saying they had become a barrier to progress, inclusion and equality in Virginia. McAuliffe (D) urged municipalities and the state legislature, which he said had the legal authority to do so, to heed his words. It was a reversal for McAuliffe, who has said he did not support taking down monuments and the decision should be up to local communities. The governor made the announcement after attending the morning memorial service for Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old woman who died Saturday after a car plowed into a crowd of counterprotesters at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. The debate over Confederate monuments in Virginia roiled the race to replace McAuliffe, who is restricted by law from seeking a second term. Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, the Democrat hoping to succeed his boss, called for relocating statues to museums earlier in the day. Bob Brown/Richmond Times-Dispatch/AP I believe these statues should be taken down and moved into museums. As governor, I am going to be a vocal advocate for that approach and work with localities on this issue, Northam said in a statement. We should also do more to elevate the parts of our history that have all too often been underrepresented. Its a firmer stance for Northam, who previously treated debates over Confederate memorials as a local issue. Virginia Attorney General Mark R. Herring, a Democrat who is running for reelection, said he agreed with McAuliffe and Northam that the statues should be removed from public spaces. Justin Fairfax, a Democrat running for lieutenant governor who would be the first African American elected statewide since Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, did not urge relocating statues to museums, instead saying localities should be empowered to decide how to deal with these divisive and harmful symbols. [Baltimore, in dead of night, hauls away Confederate statues] Meanwhile, GOP nominees for lieutenant governor and attorney general blasted the idea of moving the statues as erasing history. Republican gubernatorial nominee Ed Gillespie urged a nuanced approach to the statues that emphasizes education, not glorification. [Baltimore, in dead of night, hauls away Confederate statues] 1 of 25 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad Charlottesville remembers Heather Heyer View Photos The 32-year-old was killed Saturday when a car drove into a crowd of protesters gathered to oppose a white supremacist rally. Caption The 32-year-old was killed Saturday when a car drove into a crowd of protesters gathered to oppose a white supremacist rally. Aug. 16, 2017 People make their way into the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville to attend a funeral for Heather Heyer, who was killed Saturday when a car plowed into a crowd of protesters gathered to oppose a white supremacist rally. Salwan Georges/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue. In an essay on his campaign website, Gillespie said he opposes removing Confederate statues but understands the issue is freighted with emotion. I know that for many of my fellow Virginians, statues of Confederate soldiers are offensive and should come down, he wrote. I know that for many others, they are a reminder of heritage and we cannot erase history by taking them down. Gillespie barely won the GOP nomination in June against Corey A. Stewart, who made defending the states Confederate heritage his signature issue. There is a balance that can be struck here, one that recognizes the outsized role Virginia has played in our history, while acknowledging that we have not always been on its right side, Gillespie wrote. Rather than glorifying their objects, the statues should be instructional. On Wednesday, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said he wants to see the removal of four statues of Confederate figures that line Monument Avenue, a prominent boulevard through the heart of the former capital of the Confederacy. It was a sharp reversal for Stoney, who less than two months ago said he wanted to maintain the statues but add historical context and perhaps other monuments as a counterbalance. Stoney formed a commission to study ways to achieve those goals. [Richmond mayor vows to keep but confront Confederate statues] But Charlottesville was apparently a turning point for Stoney. While we had hoped to use this process to educate Virginians about the history behind these monuments, the events of the last week may have fundamentally changed our ability to do so by revealing their power to serve as a rallying point for division and intolerance and violence, he wrote in a statement. In response to Northams proposal to relocate Confederate statues, State Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel (R-Fauquier), who is running for lieutenant governor, tweeted: This makes me very sad. We should teach history not erase it. [Marylands GOP governor says its time to remove Taney statue] John Adams, Republican candidate for attorney general, tweeted: Terrible idea. Tearing down our history will not be unifying, and all should be concerned about a government that attempts to erase history. Aides to Northam responded to those tweets by quipping that museums teach history. Removing Confederate monuments in Virginia involves several legal hurdles that could complicate Northams proposal. Supporters of Confederate heritage often point to a state statute that says Virginia towns have no authority over war memorials inherited from past generations. But a Danville judge ruled legal protections do not apply to memorials erected before 1998. Still, officials in Loudoun County and Alexandria determined they could not remove their Confederate memorials under state law. Last year, McAuliffe vetoed a bill that would have strengthened protections for Confederate monuments by prohibiting cities and counties from removing war memorials. Laura Vozzella contributed to this report. White nationalists clash with counterprotesters at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville on Saturday. (Steve Helber/AP) The anger and violence of the white nationalists who marched on Charlottesville has awakened many people to the in-your-face racists who supposedly had been left behind to another era. Now you know Jim Crows grandchildren have goose-stepped their way into the 21st century. But we as a nation cannot afford to overlook the more subtle strains of racism that are just as harmful as hate-spewing marchers dressed in khakis and polo shirts. Im talking about institutional racism, which creates and perpetuates racial disparities in pay, employment, wealth and the administration of justice. The problem is that many whites who would never associate with the Charlottesville protesters and quite a few black people discount the impact of institutional racism, if they even acknowledge that such a thing exists. A 2016 survey by the Pew Research Center found that when it comes to discrimination against blacks, 70 percent of whites say individual prejudice is a bigger problem than institutional racism. Only 19 percent think thats the problem. Among blacks, 48 percent say individual prejudice is a bigger problem; 40 percent cited discrimination that is built into the countrys laws and institutions. But the same poll found that 7 in 10 black people believe that racial discrimination makes it more difficult for them to succeed. Any black person who thinks thats the result of individual prejudice needs to think again. Of course, its much easier to condemn a hateful violent group of individuals that march across the University of Virginia campus shouting racial epithets than to wrap ones arms around the policies that can hold an entire people back. [Charlottesville hopes to wash away the stains of hate] Most people have no trouble condemning a man who would plow his car into a group of protesters and then hit reverse and strike again. (Although President Trump was slow to do so, and has gone as far as to blame some of the counterprotesters. It may have slipped his mind that one of those counterprotesters was killed, and nearly two dozen more were injured.) But the everyday racism that doesnt involve violent confrontations can be easy to miss. In 1921, torch-carrying white mobs burned down black homes, businesses and churches along the Black Wall Street of Tulsa. In 2008, Wells Fargo was accused of targeting black and Hispanic homeowners in the Washington and Baltimore region for unfavorable loans. The bank was accused of using a tactic known as reverse redlining, in which banks steer minority buyers including those who quality for more favorable terms into riskier, more expensive mortgages. In 2012, Wells Fargo agreed to pay at least $175 million to settle a federal lawsuit over the policies, but officials denied any wrongdoing. Apparently, it takes a torch to garner widespread, bipartisan opposition to racism, because it took a nationwide housing crisis to move Congress to action over banking policies that left black people with bad loans. By then, the mortgage scam had cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in home equity and contributed to the largest wealth gap between blacks and whites in over two decades. These are the kinds of discriminatory policies that will affect black people for generations to come. We have a right to be enraged over white nationalists, their obscenity and violence. But torches, bottles and clubs arent the only ways that racism rears its head. Nor are they necessarily the most harmful. And black people should never be intimidated by those who would equate the fruits of justice and equal opportunity with a undeserved handouts. The racial discord Trump promoted during his campaign, and most recently by belatedly condemning the neo-Nazis and Klansmen at the Charlottesville rally and saying counterprotesters shared blame for the violence only serves to distract both blacks and whites at the lower ends of the economic ladder from realizing how badly both groups are being shafted. [Charlottesville victim was there standing up for what was right ] There is precedent for that kind of behavior. In Colonial Virginia, there was a time when enslaved Africans, indentured white servants and Native Americans got along just fine. But then the oligarchs decided to make black people slaves for life. That meant the friendships had to be killed. Whites were needed to work as slave catchers and plantation overseers. So the wealthy landowners literally invented race, made up a concept called white superiority and began a centuries-long effort to teach white people how to hate black people. The racist hate is now self-sustaining, passed down from one generation to another. It is insanity. Youd think those white nationalists would be protesting on Capitol Hill, where their elected officials tried to take away affordable health care that benefits lots of working-class white people. Instead, they were marching around the U-Va. campus evoking the spirit of Adolf Hitler and the Confederate dead, so blinded by racism and hatred that they cannot see that black people, or Hispanics, or Jews, or whomever theyve been told to blame arent the root of their problems. Were a nation wealthy enough for everybody to have a share of the economic pie if only we could rid ourselves of the policies set up to divide us. To read previous columns, go to washingtonpost.com/milloy. ARKANSAS Planned Parenthood funding can be halted A federal appeals court panel ruled Wednesday that Arkansas can block Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, two years after the state ended its contract with the group over videos secretly recorded by an antiabortion group. In a 2-1 ruling, an 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel vacated preliminary injunctions a federal judge issued preventing the state from suspending Medicaid payments for services rendered to patients from Planned Parenthood. Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) ended the states Medicaid contract with the organization in 2015. The court ruled the unnamed patients suing the state did not have the right to challenge the defunding decision. The panel did not directly address Arkansass reason for terminating the contract. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker initially ordered the state to continue the payments to three patients who had sued over the move and later expanded that order to anyone who sought or wanted to obtain services from the organizations health centers in Arkansas. The ruling does not take effect until the court issues its mandate in one to two weeks, and Planned Parenthood said its still serving Medicaid patients in Arkansas. Associated Press CALIFORNIA Monument taken off Interior review list U.S. Department of the Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke will not recommend that any changes be made to the Sand to Snow National Monument in Southern California. Zinke said in a statement Wednesday that the monument is no longer under the Interior Department review ordered by President Trump in April. Zinke said the monument has some of the most diverse terrain in the West and is home to incredible geographic, biologic and archaeological history. The monument in the inland region east of Los Angeles was created by President Barack Obama in February 2016. It encompasses more than 240 square miles from the floor of the Sonoran Desert to mountains topping 10,000 feet in the San Gorgonio Wilderness of the San Bernardino National Forest. It was among 27 national monuments Trump ordered to be reviewed. Associated Press Five missing after Army helicopter crashes off Hawaii: U.S. Coast Guard and military crews searched the ocean off Hawaii on Wednesday for five people aboard an Army helicopter that went down during a nighttime training exercise. Officials at Wheeler Army Airfield near Honolulu reported losing communications around 10 p.m. Tuesday with the crew of a UH-60 Black Hawk. Stone Mountain rejects KKK plan to burn cross: A Ku Klux Klan groups request to burn a cross atop Stone Mountain in Georgia has been denied. The Stone Mountain Memorial Association on Monday rejected the application, submitted May 26, from the Sacred Knights of the Ku Klux Klan to hold an Oct. 21 lighting ceremony. The ceremony was proposed to commemorate a November 1915 cross-burning on top of Stone Mountain that marked the KKKs revival. Crosses were burned there annually, decades ago. From news services PHILIPPINES 32 dead in deadliest day of war on drugs Philippine police killed 32 people in dozens of anti-drug operations in a province north of the capital, Manila, in the single deadliest day of President Rodrigo Dutertes unrelenting war on drugs. About 109 petty criminals, including street-level drug peddlers, were arrested and dozens of guns seized in operations across Bulacan province from Monday night until Tuesday afternoon, said the provincial police chief, Romeo Caramat. Caramat said the deaths occurred during shootouts and were not executions, as activists have often alleged. Thousands of people have been killed in the anti-drug campaign, Dutertes signature policy, since it was launched in June 2016. Most of the fatalities have been users and small-time dealers from poor neighborhoods. The intensity of the crackdown has alarmed the international community, and activists and human rights groups say police have been executing suspects and planting drugs and guns at crime scenes. Police and government officials reject the allegations. Reuters SOUTH AFRICA Immunity weighed for Zimbabwes first lady South African officials are debating whether to grant diplomatic immunity to Zimbabwes first lady, Grace Mugabe, who is accused of assaulting a 20-year-old model in Johannesburg this week. Mugabe is still in South Africa, police said Wednesday, after intense speculation on her whereabouts. The police said the Zimbabwean government asked for diplomatic immunity for a suspect involved in the alleged assault. The police have declined to name Mugabe in the case, as she has not yet appeared in court. Mugabes immunity request is under consideration, said Clayson Monyela, a spokesman for South Africas Department of International Relations and Cooperation. Gabriella Engels registered a case with police on Monday accusing Mugabe, 52, of attacking her with an extension cord in a hotel in a Johannesburg suburb on Sunday evening. Engels said she was in a hotel room with mutual friends of Mugabes two sons, who live in Johannesburg, when the first lady burst into the room and assaulted her. Confusion over whether Mugabe was still in the country flared Tuesday when she did not show up in court, after South Africas police minister said she would make a court appearance. Police clarified Wednesday that she remained in the country and had sent her attorneys and Zimbabwean officials to tell police that she intended to request diplomatic immunity. Associated Press Spain rescues 339 migrants in Mediterranean: Spains maritime rescue service said it picked up 339 migrants from seven boats trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea from Morocco. The rescue service said one boat had 34 migrants from sub-Saharan countries. It said the rest of the migrants were from the Maghreb countries of northwest Africa. Tens of thousands of migrants from Africa attempt the perilous crossing to Europe in smugglers boats each year. Lebanon repeals marry the rapist law: Lebanons parliament has abolished a law that allowed rapists to avoid prison if they married their victims, joining other Arab states that have repealed marry-your-rapist laws in recent weeks. The clause remains on the books in Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, the Palestinian territories and Syria, as well as countries in Latin America, the Philippines and Tajikistan, according to Human Rights Watch. Detained Iranian opposition leader starts hunger strike: An Iranian opposition leader under house arrest since 2011 has begun a hunger strike over his detention. A website associated with Mehdi Karroubi said the 79-year-old cleric has stopped eating and is taking only heart medication. The website quoted his wife as saying that he wants a public trial and security agents out of his home. Karroubi, a reformist, and Mir Hossein Mousavi, another opposition leader, were put under house arrest in 2011 amid Arab Spring protests in the Middle East. From news services KC Johnson is a professor at Brooklyn College and co-author of The Campus Rape Frenzy: The Attack on Due Process at Americas Universities. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos ignited a firestorm in recent months after signaling that she might pull back Obama administration policies intended to protect victims of sexual assault at college campuses. But amid the intense criticism directed toward DeVos, one lawsuit out of Amherst College demonstrates just how unfairly the Obama policies can operate for students wrongly accused of sexual misconduct. On a factual basis, the Amherst case settled out of court this month between the university and an expelled student accused of sexual assault is one of the most egregious since the Obama administration implemented its policy in 2011. The lawsuit revealed documents that the public almost never gets to see, such as the full investigative file, the transcript of the disciplinary hearing and other material from the campus process. As a result, this case is perhaps the most comprehensive documentation of any single campus sexual assault adjudication in recent years. The lawsuit arose out of a sexual assault complaint filed by an Amherst student 18 months after the assault was alleged to have occurred. The complainant claimed that she was forced to perform sexual acts, so the college conducted an investigation and held a disciplinary hearing before three administrators, expelling the accused student. But the hearing failed to include key evidence suggesting that the complaint was false, so the accused student sued the university in federal court. As laid out in the legal complaint and subsequent filings, the controversy over the investigation has focused mostly on a string of texts that the accuser sent the night of the incident. The texts suggest that she had initiated the sexual encounter and that she was in search of a good lie to avoid fallout for having hooked up with the accused student, her roommates boyfriend. Initially, the accuser denied sending any texts relevant to the case. During the colleges disciplinary hearing, however, the accuser appeared to contradict that claim, twice admitting that she had sent relevant texts. Inexplicably, none of the panel members asked her to address the contradiction. When the accused student eventually learned of the texts, Amherst said he had found them too late, according to the schools response to the legal complaint. The college later clarified that the timing didnt matter, since investigators only sought texts indicating that the incident had been non-consensual. Exculpatory evidence, it seems, was irrelevant. The accused student claimed in a suit that the college had violated his Title IX rights, and a federal district judge allowed the case to proceed. After the judge expressed strong skepticism toward Amhersts investigation, the two sides came to a settlement. Defenders of the Obama administrations policies which re-interpreted Title IX to require all colleges receiving federal funds to use the lowest possible standard of proof when adjudicating sexual assault cases argue that the change was needed to bring justice to college rape cases. Such crimes often go unpunished because prosecutors rarely try ambiguous campus claims of sexual assault. But Amhersts procedures, which typify Title IX tribunals nationwide, show the danger of schools moving too far in the other direction. The college found the student guilty by a preponderance of the evidence in other words, that more than 50 percent of evidence points to guilt. Amherst denied him and his lawyer the opportunity to directly cross-examine the accuser. It conducted the investigation and the hearing so quickly that college officials never discovered the text messages, the key piece of evidence in the case. The desire to protect students from sexual assault has produced a system that struggles to determine the truth. Bypassing the criminal-justice system sacrifices the legal power to uncover relevant electronic, photographic or video evidence. Coupled with one-sided campus procedures, students such as the one from Amherst are forced to prove their innocence under conditions that make it virtually impossible to do so. And theres no indication that Amherst plans to implement fairer procedures in the future. The college issued a five-word response to the settlement: The matter has been resolved. In recent weeks, accusers rights organizations have leveled the most intense criticism of DeVoss efforts to reform Title IXand have praised the expulsion of the wrongfully accused Amherst student. Certainly such advocates should be commended for standing up for sexual assault survivors. But in their willingness to defend manifestly unfair results, activist groups have been too quick to dismiss concerns that innocent students can be found guilty. Extremists, of course, exist on both sides of this issue: DeVos has correctly received criticism for meeting with a mens rights group. And for important social and historical reasons, we should sympathize with student survivors of sexual assault. But due process is all the more important when addressing highly charged issues, especially when schools make life-altering decisions on the basis of wildly incomplete evidence. DeVos can, and should, demand that higher education do better. Undergraduates shouldnt need to spend years in court to achieve justice from their colleges. James Fields Jr., charged with murder for allegedly driving his car into a crowd of strangers, is the latest evidence that white supremacy is a self-refuting proposition. There appears to be nothing at all supreme about the pudgy Ohioan. Theres a pattern among these violent haters. Take away Dylann Roofs pistol and he is just another shiftless high school dropout the one voted Most Likely to Lose a Thumb Lighting Firecrackers. Or Frazier Glenn Miller Jr., the hatemonger residing on death row in Kansas. He spent decades spouting white-nationalist hogwash based on his supposed deep knowledge of human differences. Eventually he decided to murder some Jewish people. And kill he did his victims turned out to be two Methodists and a Catholic. So much for telling people apart. If you were to tell me that George Clooney had become a supremacist, I would be shocked but I would have to admit that he had a data point smiling from his bathroom mirror. The man is handsome, rich, talented, funny, suave, intelligent and for all I know trustworthy, loyal and brave. Were Clooney to make a leap from his individual reality to a more generalized theory of Clooney supremacy, I could at least follow his train of thought. But these guys? Judging from their mug shots, white nationalism seems to hold a special appeal for disheveled alcoholics, repressed jackboot fetishists and guys who might keep their mothers taxidermied in the basement. The gap between the rhetoric and the reality made the odious Daily Stormer website look downright ridiculous in the wake of the Charlottesville violence. Go out and enjoy yourselves, the website counseled wannabe Nazis. Random girls will want to have sex with you. Because youre the bad boys. . . . Every girl on the planet wants [you] now. Sure they do. Fascism, it seems, means never having to say youre squirrelly. But that doesnt make it less dangerous. No neutral observer in 1927 would have looked at Hitler, Goebbels and Himmler and thought: Eureka, the master race! Mass hatred is an existential threat not because its rational but because it is pre-rational. All evidence suggests it is a basic element of the human operating system, liable to erupt at any time and any place, from the age of the Crusaders to the age of violent jihad, from Rwanda to Cambodia, from Cold Harbor to Sarajevo. Its sometimes said that hatred must be taught, but the frequency with which it shows up on such far-flung stages argues that it must be latent, an ugly seed awaiting its moment to sprout unbidden. Some writers assert that it feeds on economic dislocation, but the fact is that America is plastered with help wanted signs. Besides, road-tripping to Virginia to hang with the Ku Klux Klan is a poor way to advance a career. To greet the world with love, on the other hand, is an attitude that must be cultivated through storms of adversity and droughts of trust. And this hard work of cultivation is the thing that was missing from President Trumps stinting remarks afterward. Trumps language is often blunt but rarely concrete. Whatever his intention, his vague reference to many sides of the melee had the effect of allowing the concrete problem of group hatred to go unchallenged. The Daily Stormer swiftly noted this, and celebrated. Trumps comments were good, the website marveled. . . . Nothing specific against us. Where the Nazis had their Friedrich Nietzsche, we Americans have Ralph Waldo Emerson, optimistic, life-affirming and unlike the German philosopher perfectly sane. This supreme molder of the American mind once wrote: The civility of no race can be perfect whilst another race is degraded. It is a doctrine alike of the oldest and of the newest philosophy, that man is one, and that you cannot injure any member, without a sympathetic injury to all the members. This idea is hardly unique to American philosophy, but it is of special importance to our past and future as an open society. Our issues have many sides indeed, and that is exactly the reason that torch-bearing marchers chanting Nazi slogans must be explicitly and vigorously denounced. They are a clear and present danger. Trump might think such things need not be said, that they are obvious. Clearly, he resented criticism of his failure to state it plainly. But its also obvious that people should wash their hands to avoid spreading germs, pay attention when theyre driving and look both ways before crossing the street, yet these truths must be repeated because people are prone to forget and lives are at stake. Mass hatred is humanitys deadliest tendency, the epidemic to end all epidemics. We cant say it enough. Read more from David Von Drehles archive. After weeks of belligerent rhetoric, North Korea took a pause Tuesday. But where is the mercurial Kim Jong Un headed next? U.S. officials are debating whether he may want direct talks with Washington about a formal treaty to replace the 1953 armistice agreement that ended the Korean War. The United States has been pursuing a dual path, threatening military conflict (semi-believably because of President Trumps verbal thunderbolts) while also urging stabilization of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. The diplomatic trick here is simultaneously reassuring North Korea, China, South Korea and Japan that their vital interests would be protected. This process of negotiation was hinted at Sunday by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, they warned North Korea to take a new path toward peace, prosperity and international acceptance, or face increased isolation. Tillersons one, fuzzy condition for negotiations has been that Pyongyang demonstrate its seriousness by halting missile and nuclear tests. Arguably, Kim took a grudging step in that direction Tuesday, when the Korean Central News Agency announced that he had decided to watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees, rather than carry out his threat to launch four ballistic missiles toward Guam. Kims problem in the escalating crisis has been that he faces a united front from the United States and China backed by South Korea, Japan and Russia. Beijing has joined Washington in calling for denuclearization and supporting additional U.N. sanctions, including a ban on new Chinese imports of North Korean coal, iron ore and lead. Grateful for Chinese help, the Trump administration appears to have backed off its threat to sharply limit Chinese steel exports and to have shelved measures that could affect internet giants Alibaba and Tencent. Instead, the administration on Monday called for an investigation of Chinas alleged theft of technology and trade secrets a serious problem for U.S. companies but not one that requires an immediate penalty. Trumps rhetoric has been almost as volatile as Kims, ranging from his statement in May that he would be honored to meet the dictator to his warning last week of fire and fury. But the centerline of this crisis is the same question that has vexed U.S. policy for decades how to deal with a rogue nation that delights in defying international norms and now does so with nuclear weapons. One approach to the North Korea riddle is the possibility of a peace agreement. The armistice specified that it was only a cessation of hostilities . . . until a final peaceful settlement is achieved. North Korean propaganda describes the document as an abject declaration of surrender. But the regime understands that its a hinge point, too. Pyongyang announced suspension of the armistice at least three times, in 2003, 2009 and 2013 only to return to observing its precepts. As U.S. officials ponder the path of negotiation that might lead to a permanent treaty, they have signaled several basic American positions: First, the United States would offer assurances to North Korea that its regime wouldnt be toppled; second, it would guarantee the security of South Korea, a close U.S. ally; third, Washington would pledge not to seek any quick reunification of the Korean Peninsula, reassuring China and Japan, which fear a unified, resurgent Korea; and finally, the United States would express willingness to discuss the future status of its military presence in South Korea, if a peace agreement proved durable. Tillerson has already publicly offered the first three assurances. The fourth is the most delicate, because all parties recognize that, for now, U.S. troops are an essential stabilizing force, curbing not just Pyongyang but also greater militarization in Seoul and Tokyo. Though North Koreas nuclear-weapons program is often seen as a matter of regime survival, some U.S. officials are skeptical of that rationale. After all, conventional deterrence in the form of hundreds of North Korean artillery and rocket launchers that target Seoul has checked any attack on Pyongyang for three generations of Kims. B.R. Myers, whose 2010 book The Cleanest Race is being closely read by U.S. officials, argues that North Korea isnt really a communist regime but one propelled by right-wing talk of Korean racial purity. Its goal may be the victory and unification it failed to achieve in 1953. A Chinese-American partnership has helped move this crisis back from the brink. But thats a sideshow for Kim. The encounter he may truly want is with the dealmaker himself, Donald Trump. For that showdown, you could sell tickets. Read more from David Ignatiuss archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. The Confederate undead have a way of rising, zombie-like, to haunt the American landscape. First as ghostly hooded Klansmen right after the Civil War, and now as battle-flag-waving hate groups, rallying round a statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville. The last Billy Yank passed quietly in Minnesota in the 1950s, but the spirit of Johnny Reb refuses to let go. Even so, it appears were nearing the end of the Confederacys interminable after-life. The white nationalists in Charlottesville may not have known or cared much about Robert E. Lee. But in using his statue as a pretext for bigotry and violence, while wrapped in the rebel flag, theyve demonstrated, yet again, that the Lost Cause cant be cleansed or cloaked as benign Southern heritage. In fact, racists in Charlottesville may have unwittingly given America a truer image of the Confederacy than the 150-year fiction of the Lost Cause. When Southern states seceded, they baldly stated their reasons, including Northern hostility to the beneficent and patriarchal system of African slavery, and the undeniable truths that Africans were rightly held and regarded as an inferior and dependent race. Or, as Confederate vice-president Alexander Stephens said of his new government: Its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man. Efforts to sanitize the Confederacy began soon after Lees surrender in 1865. As white Southerners struggled to make sense of devastating loss, they forged a potent mythology that endures to this day. The Civil War wasnt about slavery. Rather, the South seceded and fought to defend its sovereignty against Northern aggression and federal tyranny. Confederates made a sublime sacrifice, knowing they would be overwhelmed by the Norths manpower and industrial might. The war was inevitably lost, but the cause was right. White Southerners etched this faith on monuments to their many martyrs. No nation rose so white and fair; None fell so pure of crime reads an inscription in Augusta, Ga. At the head of this blameless legion rode Lee, a marble avatar of Southern honor and allegiance to homeland. The Lost Cause, as this creed became known, was embroidered with nostalgic paeans to a plantation society of genteel masters, hoop-skirted belles and happy servants. As wartime hatreds waned, and the nation turned to sectional reconciliation rather than racial justice, Northern whites bought into the Souths chivalric fictions. In 1923, the Senate even authorized a statue in Washington in memory of the faithful slave mammies of the South. It wasnt built, but then came Gone With the Wind, a novel and movie that infected millions with the romance of the antebellum South. This love affair soured in the Civil Rights era, when Southern politicians and the Ku Klux Klan brandished the rebel battle flag as a totem of segregation and white supremacy. Civil War historians put new emphasis on the role of slavery, and beginning in the 1980s, African Americans led the first concerted push to remove Confederate symbols, particularly the rebel emblems atop Southern capitols. Defenders of the flag regrouped and fought back with a repackaged version of the Cause in the 1990s. The mantra of this resurgent movement was heritage, not hate. In this telling, the Klan and other hate groups hijacked the flag and unfairly tainted the many white Southerners who saw it solely as a symbol of the courage and sacrifice of their ancestors. The heritage movement lost as many battles as it won, but managed, like Lee in 1864, to bring about a grinding stalemate. Until, that is, Dylann Roof murdered nine African Americans in a Charleston church in 2015, in hopes of sparking a race war. He had posted pictures of himself at Confederate and slave sites and waving a rebel flag. Thereafter, South Carolina removed the flag from its capitol grounds, and cities and states across the South began debating the removal of other symbols. The white supremacists in Charlottesville appear to have finished the demolition work Roof began, by recharging the movement to take down symbols of the Confederacy. In the days since the violence, leaders in several other Southern cities have stated their intention to remove rebel statues, and Baltimore took down four of its monuments in the night. As the debate over Confederate memory continues, it may be worth heeding the words of Robert E. Lee himself: I believe it to be the duty of every one to unite in the restoration of the country. I think it wisest not to keep open the sores of war, but to follow the example of those nations who endeavored to obliterate the marks of civil strife. Its a case of being careful what you wish for. Critics left, right and center panned President Trump for his initial refusal to denounce the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, one of whom allegedly drove his car into counter-demonstrators, killing one and injuring 19. When Trump finally gave a canned and grudging disavowal of white supremacists, he was urged anew to say more, to be presidential, to bring the nation together. Well, late Tuesday, Trump said more and told the nation what he really thought. It was downright ugly. There, from Trump Tower in New York, was the president of the United States declaring that those protesting against Nazis were . . . the same as Nazis. You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, and nobody wants to say that, said Trump. Nobody wants to say that because there is and there can be no moral equivalence between Nazis and those who oppose Nazis. But Trump saw them as equal. He said the anti-Nazi demonstrators didnt have a permit and were very, very violent. Trump maintained that those marching with the white supremacists have been treated absolutely unfairly by the press, and there were very fine people, on both sides. 1 of 25 Full Screen Autoplay Close Skip Ad What lawmakers have said about the tragedy in Charlottesville and Trumps reaction View Photos Some condemned the violence and the white supremacist beliefs held by demonstrators, while others criticized President Trumps statement in the wake of the protest. Caption Some condemned the violence and the white supremacist beliefs held by demonstrators, while others criticized President Trumps statement in the wake of the protest. Former Republican Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney In response to Trumps Aug. 15 comments, Romney tweeted: No, not the same. One side is racist, bigoted, Nazi. The other opposes racism and bigotry. Morally different universes. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post Wait 1 second to continue. Trump was not done with his apology for white supremacists. He went on to endorse the cause that brought these racists, David Duke among them, to Charlottesville: the Confederacy. Ive condemned neo-Nazis. Ive condemned many different groups, the president said. But not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists, by any stretch. Those people were also there because they wanted to protest the taking down of a statue, Robert E. Lee. Right. The man who led an army against the United States. So this week its Robert E. Lee. I noticed that Stonewall Jacksons coming down, Trump went on. I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? Thus did Trump, after putting Nazis on the same moral plane as anti-Nazis, put the father of our country and the author of the Declaration of Independence on the same moral plane as two men who made war on America. Duke and white-nationalist leader Richard Spencer applauded Trumps performance. The nationalist-turned-presidential-adviser Stephen K. Bannon used to say that the publishing outfit he led, Breitbart, was a platform for the alt-right, a euphemism for white nationalists and related far-right extremists. But now there is a new platform for the alt-right in America: the White House. It looks more and more like the White Nationalist House. Trump, who this week retweeted an alt-right conspiracy theorist and ally of white supremacists, continues to employ in his White House not just Bannon and Stephen Miller, two darlings of the alt-right, but also Sebastian Gorka, who uses the platform to defend the embattled white man. Its this constant, Oh, its the white man. Its the white supremacists. Thats the problem. No, it isnt, Gorka said in an interview with Breitbart days before the Charlottesville mayhem. Go to the Middle East, and tell me what the real problem is today. At an inaugural ball in January, Gorka wore a medal from the Hungarian nationalist organization Vitezi Rend, a longtime anti-Semitic group that claimed Gorka as one of its own. (He denies it.) (The Washington Post) Its more than words. The administration proposed eliminating the Countering Violent Extremism program; officials argued that the effort should target only Islamist radicalization, not right-wing extremism. In June, the Trump administration canceled a grant to a group called Life After Hate, which rehabilitates neo-Nazis. At a time when this is the biggest threat in our country, to pull funding from the only organization in the United States helping people disengage from this is pretty suspect to me, the groups co-founder Christian Picciolini told me. And now we have the spectacle of the president, in response to reporters questions, defending the character and motives of the neo-Nazi demonstrators in Charlottesville. Trump, who has issued scores of tweets without benefit of accurate information, explained his initial unwillingness to single out the white supremacist who drove into a crowd of demonstrators: Before I make a statement, I like to know the facts. Trump, who has criticized others for failing to use the phrase radical Islamic terrorism, declined to call the incident terrorism, dismissing the question as legal semantics. Asked about the culpability of the alt-right in the Charlottesville attack, Trump replied: Okay, what about the alt-left that came charging them? Political violence, by anybody, is wrong. But to equate neo-Nazis with those who oppose them is, even for our alt-right president, a new low. Twitter: @Milbank Read more from Dana Milbanks archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. MARYLANDS STATE corrections system is looking for a few hundred good prison guards. The fact that it cant find them is a problem that Gov. Larry Hogan (R) and lawmakers in Annapolis need to address sooner rather than later. In 2009, 752 guards were hired from an applicant pool of more than 7,700 candidates. Last year, only 63 applicants made the cut from a drastically diminished pool of just 2,400 applicants. In most of the about 30 corrections facilities around the state, scores of officers jobs are unfilled. The state has scrambled to plug the gap by offering, and sometimes demanding, overtime, at a cost of tens of millions of dollars annually. In some cases, guards are working week-long double shifts, meaning 80-hour weeks. The job is grueling enough for officers who are well rested and alert; it is dangerous for those who arent. The shrunken applicant pool and paltry harvest of successful hires are a function of several factors, including Marylands low unemployment rate, the diminished status of law enforcement careers and, critically, the requirement since 2015 that all prison-guard candidates undergo polygraphs. That polygraph requirement, enacted by the General Assembly in response to a scandal involving guards having sex with and supplying contraband to inmates at the Baltimore City Detention Center, has depressed application numbers, while at the same time has yielded information during the tests that disqualifies many applicants. About 600 guards jobs are unfilled, among the roughly 1,000 vacancies overall in the state corrections department. Alarmed that they cannot fill enough jobs to guard even a prison population that has shrunk by 10 percent so far this decade, corrections officials are taking steps to improve recruitment. The steps include offering walk-in testing in communities around the state, developing a cadet program to hire and develop teenagers who can become guards once they turn 21, and offering $500 finders fees to current employees who recruit successful applicants. Discarded is a policy that barred most candidates who had smoked marijuana, even in college; now, three years without toking up is enough to pass muster. Those are helpful moves, but theyre not enough. In advance of negotiations to replace a labor contract due for renegotiation shortly, the union representing corrections officers has announced it wants an across-the-board pay increase. The amount will be subject to bargaining, but the need is clear enough. State prison guard salaries now start at about $38,000, with full retirement benefits after 20 years. That was enough to attract a healthy applicant pool until a few years ago; these days its inadequate. The union has been irresponsible by citing short-staffing and excessive overtime hours as excuses for corruption scandals involving corrections officers. But it is correct that safety at Maryland prisons is impaired without an adequate number of guards. Mr. Hogan will need to step up. TUESDAY WAS a great day for David Duke and racists everywhere. The president of the United States all but declared that he has their backs. When a white supremacist stands accused of running his car into a crowd of protesters, killing one and injuring 19, Americans of goodwill mourn and demand justice. When this is done in the context of a rally where swastikas are borne and racist and anti-Semitic epithets hurled, the only morally justifiable reaction is disgust. When the nations leader does not understand this, the nation can only weep. On Saturday, after the murder of an innocent protester in Charlottesville followed marches that included armed men and Nazi salutes, President Trumps instinct was to blame both sides. Widespread criticism followed, including the resignations of business leaders from a White House advisory council and condemnation from political leaders of both parties. On Monday, Mr. Trump read a prepared statement condemning white supremacists and racism, delivering it in a manner suggesting he neither wrote nor endorsed the words. On Tuesday, he removed any doubt: His initial reaction, putting Nazis and those protesting them on equal moral footing, is how he really feels. I think theres blame on both sides. You look at you look at both sides, Mr. Trump said to reporters in Trump Tower, adding that there were very fine people, on both sides. Weve all seen the videotape: One side was composed of Nazis, Klansmen and other avowed racists chanting Jews will not replace us. The other side was objecting to their racism. Yes, there are good and moral Americans who oppose the removal of statues of Confederate generals. Yes, there are reasonable Americans who fear that slaveholding Founding Fathers will be the next target. Notwithstanding Mr. Trumps comments Tuesday, we dont find it difficult to distinguish between a monument to George Washington, say, and statues to Confederate generals that were erected in the 20th century with the goal of maintaining white supremacy. President Trump speaks to reporters. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images) There may be a time to debate such questions but not, as any national leader with a sense of decency would understand, now. Not in a time of mourning, with the wounds so fresh. Not when Mr. Trump has not even bothered to call the family of Heather Heyer, the young woman mowed down on Saturday. Not when Americans are looking for a clear and unequivocal condemnation of the hatred that brought those 700 marchers to Charlottesville. That car in Charlottesville did not kill or wound just the 20 bodies it struck. It damaged the nation. Mr. Trump not only failed to help the country heal; he made the wound wider and deeper. FOR ALL his talk during the 2016 campaign about taking on China for stealing American jobs, President Trump has hardly launched the trade war against Beijing that many feared. He has not slapped across-the-board tariffs on Chinese goods; he has delayed what once seemed an imminent crackdown on aluminum and steel imports; he has declined to brand Beijing a currency manipulator. Rather than trade, Mr. Trumps approach to China has emphasized enlisting President Xi Jinpings help in defusing the crisis over North Koreas nuclear weapons. Given that, Mr. Trumps announcement Monday that he is ordering his special trade representative to determine whether to investigate any of the acts, policies, or practices of China that may be unreasonable or discriminatory and that may be harming American intellectual property, innovation, and technology strikes us as a variation on a theme, not necessarily a portent of dangerous new trade tensions. Chinas state-run English-language newspaper suggested that the move could poison bilateral relations, and that it was impossible not to see Mr. Trumps announcement as some kind of payback for Beijings failure, thus far, to rein in Pyongyang. But if Mr. Trump is trying to signal China that it cant use the North Korea issue to get its way on trade, this is a relatively low-risk way of making that point. He did not order an investigation, but rather an investigation of whether an investigation is needed, which could take months, and its actual policy result under the relevant statute, Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, might not be evident until well after that. In fact, Mr. Trumps order Monday targeted legitimate issues that have troubled presidents before him: Beijings habit of tolerating massive theft of American software, and its requirement that U.S. and other foreign businesses transfer technology in return for permission to invest directly in China. Fast-growing Chinese direct investment in the United States faces no reciprocal obstacles (though it does face reviews when national security is potentially involved). There is bipartisan agreement that China has turned these areas of its relationship with this country into a one-way economic street, contrary to the spirit of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to which it acceded with U.S. support more than a decade and a half ago. Yet Beijing plays U.S. companies off one another a collective-action problem that can be solved, if at all, only if companies get support from Washington. Controversially, Mr. Trumps decision could ultimately lead to retaliatory tariffs or other measures under Section 301, which broadly authorizes such steps against countries found to be persistently and unfairly harming U.S. interests but which previous administrations have generally eschewed in favor of seeking remedies at the WTO. This is indeed strong medicine and would invite WTO litigation, if not a stronger response from China, and so it would be better not to use if at all avoidable. Mr. Trumps order gives China plenty of time to head off Section 301 penalties by meeting the United States reasonable concerns in negotiations. It would be in Chinas best interest to do so. The movement away from President Trump had become a stampede. Republican lawmakers from Paul Ryan and Mitch McConnell to lowly backbenchers dissociated themselves from the president for saying there were very fine people marching among the neo-Nazis in Charlottesville. Trump disbanded his corporate advisory panels after eight members quit in protest of his moral parallels between white supremacists and those who opposed them. The two living former Republican presidents, military leaders and even the vice president issued statements making plain their differences with Trump. Condemnations poured in from the conservative prime minister of Britain and from Germany, where they know what comes of coddling Nazis. Trump was in need of a friend. And thats what Fox & Friends is for. A side-by-side look at how President Trump and Fox News pundits discussed the Charlottesville violence. (Thomas Johnson/The Washington Post) [As Trump embraces both-siderism, media abandons it] On Wednesday morning, I entered the echo chamber, watching all three hours of Fox & Friends Trumps favorite show, to judge from his tweets to see if the hosts would defend Trump even after he aligned himself with white supremacists. It was a delicate task some parts of Fox News Channel had already gone wobbly, with Kat Timpf calling Trumps remarks disgusting but Trumps Fox & Friends friends gave it a try. Host Steve Doocy began the 6 a.m. hour by saying Trumps real mistake was to take questions from reporters. He figured the president was just trying to be very careful in his remarks, and Doocy read out White House talking points (The president was entirely correct . . . ) Host Todd Piro allowed that Trumps comments may not have been the smartest, but said, He could cure cancer tomorrow and other people in the media are going to attack him. Another host, Abby Huntsman, joined in to say that although this was a missed opportunity for Trump to stand up a little stronger against hate groups, some people are going to hate on this president anyway. The hosts tried mightily to change the subject from Trumps unconscionable defense of neo-Nazis to his claim that those taking down statues of Confederate heroes (Doocys phrase) would soon attack George Washington. Hmm, interesting point there, said Huntsman, introducing her panel to debate this phony issue. President Trump on Aug. 15 said that theres blame on both sides for the violence that erupted in Charlottesville on Aug. 12. (Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post) First came Johns Hopkins professor Wendy Osefo. She replied that the issue was beyond monuments and more about Nazis killing and beating people. This is not talking points, she said. This is human life. Huntsman turned to Gianno Caldwell, a black Republican and reliable Trump defender. I mean, there are good people on both sides of this debate, she coaxed. Caldwell wasnt having it: President Trump, our president, has literally betrayed the conscience of our country, the very moral fabric in which weve made progress when it comes to race relations in America. Hes failed us. . . . Mr. President, good people dont pal around with Nazis and white supremacists. By the end, both Caldwell and Osefo were dabbing tears. Huntsman, after trying one more time to talk about statues, gave up: You know, its a tough debate. Its not a tough debate. Its not a debate at all. There are Nazis, and there are the rest of us. [Fox & Friends co-host: The president made a very big mistake yesterday] It was obscene and unthinkable that the president of the United States let white supremacists know its okay to hold and act on their hateful views. In defending Trump, Fox is further encouraging these racists to crawl out from under their rocks and preach in the open. A Huffington Post/YouGov poll shows the effect. Only 22 percent think Trump is opposed to white nationalism. And when the president winks at racism, more racists are emboldened. Among Trump supporters, 48 percent think the white nationalists in Charlottesville were mostly right (11 percent) or went too far but have a point (37 percent). Half of Trump supporters, thus given the green light by the president, express sympathy for white nationalists. That is, to coin a phrase, deplorable. But its happening. In the 7 a.m. hour, Trumps Fox friends continued their Trump defense. Not everyone there was out to hurt someone or was evil, Huntsman said, adding that, even so, its incredibly important to call out bigotry and hatred. Which he did, Doocy interjected. Which he did, Huntsman agreed. Piro read aloud emails from listeners: Trump was right. . . . No matter what he says, he will be condemned. . . . It wasnt eloquent, but it was pure Trump and common sense. To their credit, the hosts interviewed, near the end of the show, conservative pundit Rich Lowry, with a dissent. When Doocy again raised the prospect of Washington becoming the next victim after Robert E. Lee, Lowry explained that theres a huge historical and moral difference between the first president and the Confederate commander. Lowry said Lee probably would have wanted his statue taken down, because he wanted to put the Civil War behind us and focus on national unity. Would that Trump and his friends could do the same. Twitter: @Milbank Read more from Dana Milbanks archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. Throughout his tour of Latin America, Vice President Pence has cast himself to his hosts as a dutiful, even earnest messenger for President Trump. But in visits this week to Colombia, Argentina and Chile, Pence has acted more like Trumps translator. Again and again, the vice presidents statements have sounded somewhat discordant from the ones his boss has been delivering back home in the United States. More than delivering Trumps messages, Pence is repackaging them with a decidedly sober and diplomatic spin. Peter Wehner, an adviser in President George W. Bushs White House, said Pence is traveling around the world like the butler who cleans up the spilled milk and rug stains. Keenly aware of how much Trump demands loyalty, Pence has been careful not to allow any substantive daylight between their positions, even though their rhetoric diverges. After Trump alarmed leaders across the hemisphere by threatening military action in Venezuela, whose authoritarian government has plunged the nation into political crisis and economic collapse, Pence labored to all but erase the specter of U.S. intervention. Although the president reserves many options, Pence said, he of course wants to restore democracy in Venezuela through a peaceable solution, such as diplomacy and targeted economic sanctions. What the world heard last week in the voice of President Donald Trump was resolve and determination, he said. [Pence praises Argentina as a model partner while raising pressure on Venezuela] Trump has enforced strict migration policies, banning refugees from Syria and other majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States. Yet when Pence stopped by a church in Cartagena, Colombia, to meet with a few dozen people who had fled neighboring Venezuela, the vice president said that Trump sent me here with a message of compassion. He pointed out the United States long and storied history of generosity with regard to refugee populations. Trump has framed his presidency around two words America first a slogan that has led U.S. allies to conclude that the United States was ceding its leadership position around the world. But Pence has sought to assure allies, as he put it in remarks Wednesday alongside Chiles president here in Santiago, that America first does not mean America alone. And on trade, Trump routinely rails against agreements that he believes harm U.S. workers. Bad deals, he thunders, or stupid trade. But consider Pences choice of words in a Tuesday speech to business and political elites in Buenos Aires: As President Trump often says, every deal can be improved. Then there is the case of Charlottesville. Pence opened his trip in Cartagena on Sunday, the day after a spate of violence in Virginia. At his joint news conference with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Pence was asked about the sharp criticism of Trump for not directly condemning white supremacists. He defended Trump. President Trump clearly and unambiguously condemned the bigotry, violence and hatred which took place on the streets of Charlottesville, Pence said. Then, using far tougher language than Trump had, Pence added: We have no tolerance for hate and violence, from white supremacists, neo-Nazis or the KKK. These dangerous fringe groups have no place in American public life. On Wednesday, Pence aides said he was cutting short his Latin America trip by one day after a quick stop in Panama City and would return to Washington for a strategy meeting Friday at Camp David with Trump and the national security team. In the 14 months since Trump tapped him to be his running mate, Pence has regularly explained and excused Trumps comments and actions to fellow Republican elected officials and to the national media, as well as to world leaders. Vice President Pences role has developed into him becoming the administrations top Trump translator calmly communicating and reinforcing Trumpology to the GOP economic and social base, members of Congress and the business community, said Scott Reed, a fixture of the Republican establishment and the chief strategist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. [Pence vows to end the tragedy of tyranny in Venezuela through peaceable means] Wehner, now a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said he could not think of an analogous time in American history when a vice president has so deliberately sought to explain the president around the world. The fact that he has to do so is a commentary on the sad state of affairs were in, Wehner said. Arguing that the president has a disordered mind, he added, Trump will say what he wants, and any effort by Pence to interpret Trumps comments will come off as an exercise in futility. It will be like trying to piece together a shattered mirror. Some Republican strategists see clear benefits for the country in Pences adopted role. Credit goes to Trump for extending authority, autonomy and an all-inclusive portfolio to his vice president, and credit goes to the vice president for always, to quote Vice President Cheney, salute smartly, said Mary Matalin, a former adviser to Richard B. Cheney. GOP strategist Alex Conant, who advised the presidential campaign of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), said Pence is an invaluable asset for President Trump. While Trump is inconsistent and unfocused, Pences presence is reassuring to allies on [Capitol] Hill and overseas, Conant said. The more Trump listens to Pence, the better it will be for his presidency. During a visit Tuesday to Quinta de Olivos, the presidential compound outside of Buenos Aires, Pence was asked by a journalist whether each time Trump steps on his own message, such as with his threat of military action in Venezuela, it results in the vice president having work to do overseas. For a moment, Pence appeared taken aback by the question. But after collecting his thoughts, the vice president answered by heaping praise on Trump, saying, We have an American president who says what he means and means what he says. President Trump, in a very real sense, I believe, has brought the kind of broad-shouldered leadership to the world stage that has been lacking for too long, and the world welcomes it, Pence said. And its my great honor to be able to represent him around the world. Activists supporting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals and other immigration issues protest near Trump Tower in New York on Aug. 15, 2017. (Craig Ruttle/AP) The Trump administration on Wednesday formally terminated an Obama-era program that granted Central American minors temporary legal residence in the United States, shutting the door on 2,714 people who had won conditional approval to enter the country. President Barack Obamas administration established the CAM parole program in 2014 to respond to a massive spike in the number of unaccompanied minors and families entering the country illegally from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Under the terms, minors who failed to win refugee status could enter on a two-year, renewable parole if they had a parent already legally present in the country. But the programs future was put in doubt in February when the Department of Homeland Security froze it and announced an internal review as part of President Trumps executive orders aimed at tightening immigration controls. DHSs termination announcement in the federal register means that the agency will begin the process of notifying families that the minors who had been approved for entry would have to reapply through other immigration channels that could be more difficult. In addition, 1,465 minors already in the United States under the CAM (Central American Minors) program will not be allowed to renew their status and must go through other means to try to extend their stays. Immigrant rights advocates condemned a decision that they said would plunge thousands of families into uncertainty. Our concern is that the administration is completely abandoning these children and leaving them in a real situation of immediate danger, said Lisa Frydman, a vice president at Kids in Need of Defense. DHS officials confirmed that the program had been rescinded and cited Trumps executive orders on immigration from January as the impetus. Carter Langston, a spokesman at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which oversees the immigration parole system, said the department will no longer automatically consider parole requests from individuals denied refugee status in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. The Obama administration launched the program in December 2014 as part of a wide-ranging response to a surge in the number of minors making the often-treacherous journey from the Northern Triangle countries to reach the United States. That year, more than 60,000 unaccompanied children and about the same number of families entered the country illegally, flooding border patrol stations and adding to already lengthy immigration court backlogs. Obama aides cited rising poverty, drug trade and gang violence as causes of the spike. The CAM program aimed to provide an alternative path to enter the country for those who were unable to win refugee status or political asylum, either of which often requires applicants to prove they are victims of government-sponsored persecution. It was a safety net for children who were in danger but whose parts of their stories might not match a certain class under refugee status, said J. Kevin Appleby, a senior director at the Center for Migration Studies. Appleby said that ending the program is mean-spirited. Its not a large number of kids, and theyre really vulnerable. USCIS officials said that 99 percent of those who applied won admission to the United States under the CAM refugee and parole programs. They emphasized that the Trump administrations decision to terminate the special parole did not end their chances of coming to the country. Rather, they will now have to apply through the standard parole program that has been in place for far longer. According to USCIS, those who had won conditional approval under the CAM program but will no longer be permitted entry are 2,444 minors from El Salvador, 231 from Honduras and 39 from Guatemala. Since Trump took office, the number of people trying to enter the United States illegally across the border with Mexico has plummeted. The president has taken credit for the reduction, and immigrant rights groups acknowledge that Trumps tough immigration rhetoric and DHSs new enforcement policies have had a significant impact. But they emphasized that the administration is also shutting off important pathways to legal immigration. Its the drip, drip, drip of Trump trying to eliminate protection programs, Appleby said. President Trump points to members of the media as he answers questions in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP) House Democrats are exploring ways to push wary Republican lawmakers to go beyond measured statements denouncing last weeks white-nationalist rallies in Virginia and President Trumps equivocal response to them. Three Democrats on Wednesday announced plans to introduce a House resolution censuring Trump for his remarks, which included the suggestion made Tuesday that some very fine people were among those who participated in the racist Unite the Right march and that both sides were to blame for violence that killed a Charlottesville woman and injured many others. Were at a very significant juncture here, Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), one of the measures co-sponsors, said in an interview. We can either have peace, or we can have this president fuel and fan the fires of violence, and that is scary. He needs to be held accountable. The move to censure the president which has been accompanied by parallel efforts to increase scrutiny of white supremacist groups and to remove symbols of the Confederacy from federal property, including the U.S. Capitol reflects a growing frustration among Democratic lawmakers and activists with the seemingly never-ending cycle of Trump controversies. There is no indication, however, that Republican leaders will be inclined to take action on a censure resolution. The House has not censured a president since 1848. There was one sign of bipartisan cooperation Wednesday though one not aimed directly at Trump. The House Homeland Security Committee said a hearing next month on terrorist threats would include a discussion of racist extremism, following a demand from the panels Democrats for a public examination of the white nationalist movement. Racial intolerance deserves no place in America and it is imperative that we find ways to rid our nation of the scourge of white supremacism, panel chairman Michael McCaul (R-Tex.) wrote in a letter agreeing with the Democrats request. Since Trump launched his presidential run two years ago, his words and actions have repeatedly prompted his fellow Republicans to issue carefully crafted responses condemning particular episodes but without denouncing Trump personally. Several, including House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), have simply refused to comment on many of the presidents tweets. A spokesman for Ryan declined to comment on the Democrats censure effort. But many Democrats believe Trumps effort to draw an equivalence between the racist marchers and counterprotesters crossed a new line of misbehavior and should draw a more serious level of accountability. The irony for Republican leaders is that they thought they could weasel out of Trump being Trump by blaming it on Twitter and saying, I dont like it when he tweets, said Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic political strategist. The problem is, he stood at a mic with cameras running and provided the opportunity for 20 minutes to defend the behavior of Nazis and white supremacists. Theyve sort of run out of excuses. Both top congressional leaders issued statements clearly denouncing the white-nationalist marchers after Trumps Tuesday news conference. White supremacy is repulsive, Ryan tweeted. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Americans can have no tolerance for an ideology of racial hatred. There are no good neo-Nazis, and those who espouse their views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms, he added. We all have a responsibility to stand against hate and violence, wherever it raises its evil head. Their rebuke of Trump remained implicit, however, even as other GOP lawmakers chose to explicitly criticize the president. Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.), for instance, tweeted Wednesday, White nationalism and racism are antithetical to our fundamental values. The President needs to be crystal clear that hatred has no place in our society, but he is currently failing at it. Blind allegiance to the supreme leader? No thanks, tweeted Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.). Hes dead wrong here and I wont stop saying it. And Rep. Patrick J. Tiberi (R-Ohio), a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee who is close to Ryan, said Trump deflected from the fact that a young woman was killed & others were injured by a bigoted follower of the white supremacist movement. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), a co-sponsor of the Trump censure resolution, said GOP members have been approached about supporting the effort but none have yet signed on. I am hoping that they will put their money where their mouth is, Nadler said Tuesday. This should not be viewed in normal political terms. What Donald Trump did was not a normal political reaction for a president of the United States. Another House Democrat, Rep. Gwen Moore (Wis.), issued a statement after Trumps news conference Tuesday calling for Trumps removal as president: For the sake of the soul of our country, we must come together to restore our national dignity that has been robbed by Donald Trumps presence in the White House. Top House Democrats have so far resisted calls to impeach Trump over his alleged ties to Russia or his potentially unconstitutional business dealings. Instead, they have called for more aggressive investigations of Trump and a rigorous inquiry into the recent resurgence in white-nationalist activity. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) again played down impeachment calls at a Wednesday event in Los Angeles, but she flagged the deafening silence of Republican lawmakers on Trumps behavior. What we saw yesterday was the president clearly demonstrating that he doesnt know right from wrong, true from false, American patriotism from white nationalism, she said. Very sad for our country. Read more at PowerPost President Trump speaks to the press Tuesday about protests in Charlottesville in the lobby at Trump Tower in New York. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images) In the hours after President Trumps wavering response to the neo-Nazi-fueled clashes last weekend that left one dead and 19 injured in Charlottesville, Sen. Cory Gardner assumed the role of moral conscience of the Republican Party. Mr. President we must call evil by its name, the Colorado Republican tweeted within hours of Trumps assertion Saturday that many sides were to blame for the mayhem. Gardner reiterated those comments on the Sunday talk-show circuit, directly calling out Trumps equivocation on who had prompted the clashes. But for the next six weeks, one of Gardners prime responsibilities will be to tout Trumps virtues to Alabama Republicans in an effort to help Sen. Luther Strange secure the nomination for a special election later this year. Gardner is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the political arm of GOP leadership that is staunchly behind Strange. And Stranges path to victory, after finishing second in Tuesdays initial ballot, will rely heavily on reminding Alabama conservatives that they continue to support Trump and that they should transfer that support to Trumps choice for senator Strange. This is what Trump has done to congressional Republicans. Its almost the definition of what Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), in his new book Conscience of a Conservative, labeled the Faustian bargain between Trump and the GOP. At a moment when Republicans are horrified by Trumps moral equivalence on white supremacy, they also rely on him to continue endorsing and promoting their colleague, Strange, who was appointed interim senator after Jeff Sessions became Trumps attorney general. To do otherwise might cede the nomination to Roy Moore, a controversial former judge who might put the seat, held by Republicans for more than 20 years, at risk of falling to the Democratic nominee in the general election. [Sen. Luther Strange will face jurist Roy Moore in Alabamas Republican Senate runoff] The NRSC and Senate Leadership Fund, a super PAC run by close allies of Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), went out of their way to praise Trump late Tuesday night after Strange and Moore advanced to the Sept. 26 runoff election. President Trumps pick for Senate successfully advanced to the runoff election, and we are confident he will be elected to remain in the Senate come December, Gardner said in a statement. We are proud to have strongly supported President Trumps number-one ally in this race, and we believe the Presidents support will be decisive as we head into the next phase of this campaign, Steven Law, president of the Senate Leadership Fund, said in his statement. Law was McConnells most senior adviser until 2001, when he became chief of staff to Elaine Chao, McConnells wife, who had just been confirmed as labor secretary. Law remained close to Chao and eventually won confirmation as deputy secretary in his own right, the No. 2 position in that department. On Tuesday afternoon, at Trump Tower in Manhattan, Chao stood over the presidents left shoulder, ostensibly there to tout the still-undefined infrastructure package Trump wants to promote. Shes now the presidents secretary of transportation. Chao endured last weeks volley of angry comments from Trump toward her husband, as he blamed McConnell for the Senates failure to advance legislation to repeal the Affordable Care Act. On Tuesday, she stood to Trumps left and listened to the president describe the many good people in the Charlottesville marches which had been organized by white supremacists and included people carrying flags in honor of Hitlers Nazi regime. Chaos family roots lie in the Shanghai region of China. Her father, a merchant marine fighting Mao Zedongs rebels, fled to Taiwan as China fell to a communist regime that would slaughter millions. It was a brutal reign that in some ways echoed the Nazis in Germany. She faced questions after Trump ended his comments Tuesday. I stand by my man both of them, Chao said, declining to criticize Trump. McConnell waited until after 10 a.m. Wednesday to comment after Trumps Tuesday pronouncement that there were two sides to a story about Charlottesville, taking note that the same groups now want to come to McConnells home states capital of Frankfort. Their message of hate and bigotry are not welcome in Kentucky and should not be welcome anywhere in America, he said in a prepared statement. In his book, Flake took barely veiled shots at McConnell for not building up a real conservative policy agenda in the early years of Barack Obamas presidency, instead publicly declaring that defeating Obama in 2012 was his top priority as GOP leader. The corollary to this binary thinking being that his failure would be our success and the fortunes of the citizenry would presumably be sorted out in the meantime, Flake wrote. Flake went on to mock GOP leaders who believed that, despite Trumps erratic behavior and sometimes repudiation of conservative principles, unified Republican control of Washington would lead to big victories such as tax cuts. If this was our Faustian bargain, then it was not worth it, Flake wrote. Now Republicans find themselves once again clashing with Trump on moral grounds, denouncing his position on white supremacists. This follows their critiques of Trump as a candidate when he attacked the war heroics of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), referred to Mexicans as rapists, engaged in a weeks-long feud with a Pakistani American father whose son died on the battlefield in Iraq, called for a travel ban of all Muslims, and was discovered to have bragged in vulgar terms about kissing, groping and trying to have sex with women during a 2005 conversation caught on a hot microphone. But down in Alabama, one of the most conservative states in the nation and one with its own racially divisive history, Trump remains extraordinarily popular. Among Alabama Republicans, Trumps favorability rating tops 85 percent, according to two GOP strategists following the Senate race there. And Trump has endorsed Strange, which the NRSC and McConnells super PAC plan to tout as the single biggest reason the states Republicans should rally around Strange. These same Republicans say they will continue to denounce Trump every time he equivocates when they see moral clarity. The hope in the short term is to avoid the political and moral association with the presidents more troubling words and deeds. My answer will never change on this issue, Gardner tweeted Tuesday, after wrapping up several town halls. We must all call evil by its name and never back down from denouncing hate and racism. The risk in the long term, however, is having to face what increasingly feels like an unanswerable question: why they continue to repeat the cycle, again and again, without any real change from the president. Editors Note: An earlier version of this story misidentified the capital of Kentucky. Read more from Paul Kanes archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook. Kenyas opposition leader doubled down Wednesday on his claim that this months presidential election was rigged in favor of President Uhuru Kenyatta, saying he would take his allegations of fraud to the countrys supreme court. Raila Odinga, 72, lost to his longtime rival Kenyatta in the Aug. 8 vote, according to the official results, but Odinga has refused to concede after his fourth electoral loss. His followers took to the streets in the wake of the official announcement, and more than 20 people have been killed in clashes with police. Odinga amplified his charges Wednesday, saying that the countrys election commission carried out widespread fraud bigger than in any democratic election, anywhere in the world. He told his supporters that he would take his case to Kenyas supreme court. For the third time in a decade, the candidate who lost the election has been declared the president, Odinga said. He has not shown any evidence of fraud. Odinga said his supporters wont accept it until they have answers to the disturbing questions that have been raised. A newspaper features Odingas photo on its front page in Kibera slum, one of the opposition leaders strongholds in Nairobi. (Dai Kurokawa/European Pressphoto Agency) In a news conference, Odinga encouraged continued opposition to the election results and Kenyattas presidency, saying those who accept the outcome are prepared to live under autocracy. Kenya is the wealthiest country in East Africa and has emerged as a pillar of stability in a fragile region, which includes war-torn neighbors Somalia and South Sudan. But Kenya remains riven by tribal rivalries that come to a head in every election cycle, largely between Kenyattas Kikuyu tribe and Odingas fellow Luos. [In the worlds largest refugee camp, one man tries to explain Trump views] That rift predates the countrys independence in 1963, and some worry that Odingas refusal to concede will further complicate reconciliation efforts. In his reelection speech, Kenyatta urged the nation to remember that we are brothers and sisters. But in the wake of the 2007 elections, the International Criminal Court accused Kenyatta of fostering the wave of ethnic violence that left more than 1,000 people dead. Those charges were later dropped for lack of evidence. In his first term, however, Kenyatta did little to assuage tribal tensions, leaving many of Odingas supporters feeling excluded and angry. When Kenyatta was declared the winner last Friday, some young men set fire to tires in the streets of Nairobi slums and threw rocks at police. The Kenya National Human Rights Commission accused security forces of using excessive force which is unlawful and unacceptable against demonstrators. Although international election monitors said last week that they saw no sign of rigging or manipulation, Kenyas election commission has not published the official result forms online, fueling speculation among Odingas supporters that the panel is covering up some form of fraud. Odinga speaks at a news conference at the offices of the National Super Alliance coalition in Nairobi on Wednesday. (Thomas Mukoya/Reuters) On Wednesday, the European Union called for the release of those forms, saying in a statement that they would enable all stakeholders to examine the accuracy of the announced results and point to any possible anomalies. Meanwhile, Kenyan tax authorities attempted to raid the office of the Africa Center for Open Governance, a nongovernment group that was critical of election preparations. Officials had said that the open governance organization and the Kenya National Human Rights Commission were being suspended for not formally registering with the government. But within hours, the Interior Ministry reversed that suspension. In a letter, the ministry said it would give the two groups 90 days to resolve any outstanding noncompliance issues, without specifying what those issues were. Michelle Kagari, deputy director of Amnesty International for the region including Kenya, called the suspensions a cynical attempt to discredit human rights organizations. But after a week of paralysis, with businesses closed and streets empty, Nairobi had come back to life. On television, tourism officials said reservations were steady. Traffic jams had returned to the city center. Even in Kibera, the sprawling slum where much of last weeks violence occurred, Odinga supporters said they were ready to move on. Packed minibuses streaked through the slums main arteries. We just want our lives to go back to normal, said David Kinara, 60, an Odinga supporter and a Kibera resident. There is nothing much we can do. Life has to go on because if it does not, everyone is vulnerable, said Owino Kotieno, another Odinga supporter and Kibera resident. You are vulnerable from police brutality and hooligans. In 2013, Odinga also claimed that the election was rigged and took his case to the supreme court. After several months, he lost his case. Rael Ombuor contributed to this report. Read more Kenyas elections are still decided almost exclusively by ethnicity Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news Michael Steiger at the Democracy station in Anklam, Germany. Steiger leads the German Scouts in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommen. (Alexandra Rojkov/The Washington Post) Because this is Germany, where militarism is taboo, many Scouts in this far-northeastern region forsake a traditional pledge. But they are on the front lines of a battle for the hearts and minds of young people in a part of the country where the contest over nationalism and democracy still rages. Their leader is Michael Steiger, who heads a Scouting division in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a federal state deep in the former communist east. His lifes work, inserting politics into Scouting, is what landed President Trump in hot water last month, when the Boy Scouts of America apologized after the president turned an address at the organizations National Scout Jamboree into a political diatribe, gloating about his electoral victory and lashing out at Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. [Trumps Boy Scouts speech broke with 80 years of presidential tradition] Steiger, a heavyset man with a bald head and bushy eyebrows, said it was a ridiculous display. But the 51-year-old makes no apologies for infusing traditional Scout activity canoeing and pitching tents with politics, particularly as the stakes rise before Germans go to the polls next month. He organizes meetings between young people and nearby politicians and holds mock votes before elections. His message is different from Trumps. He presses Scouts to question nationalism and defend human rights. Through Scouting, they learn they have choices and freedom, he said. I hope they choose democratic values. Young people occupy a fraught position in German politics, particularly in the east, where the experience with communist youth organizations is so recent, said Catherine J. Plum, a German historian and the author of Antifascism After Hitler: East German Youth and Socialist Memory, 1949-1989. Still present, too, is the memory of the Hitler Youth, a paramilitary organization that molded young people to follow the Nazi leader. Because of our bad history, we try to avoid any connection with military symbols, said Marcus Klapdor, international commissioner of Germanys Catholic Scout association, the largest national federation, which counts about 95,000 members. He estimated there were more than 200,000 German Scouts overall, a minuscule number by American standards. Unlike in America, we dont have that much attention on individual leadership and strength. In Germany, politics doesnt just mark local Scouting activity. Klapdors national association released a brochure in June that said its values were incompatible with those of the far-right Alternative for Germany, AfD, declaring, AfD For us no alternative! Compared with the overwrought state of American politics, the German debate is staid. The center-right chancellor, Angela Merkel, appears to be sailing toward a fourth term, shrugging off the left and far right. But Steiger worries that Trumps presidency speaks to broader tensions still simmering in Germany. Its not just Trump. Were in a more comfortable position now, but a year ago, right-wing parties seemed as popular across Germany as they were in this area, said Steiger, pushing open the double doors of the Demokratiebahnhof, the Democracy station, a civic center he helped establish in the central transit hub of the hardscrabble town of Anklam. A stronghold of the far right, Anklam has among the highest unemployment rates in the country. It has lost about a quarter of its population since the fall of the Berlin Wall and stands as a counterpoint to the image of Germany as a unified, affluent society; for parts of the former socialist state, the transition to capitalism has been touch and go. Theres a lot in the local powder barrel that we cant get a lid on, the citys mayor, Michael Galander, told the German daily Die Tageszeitung last year. The refugee crisis, he said, brought dissatisfaction to the surface. Steps from the train station, festooned with a rainbow flag and a sign declaring, Fascism is not an opinion but a crime, sits the offices of the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party of Germany, a faction even further to the right than the anti-immigrant AfD, which captured 26 percent of Anklams vote in state elections last year. The prominence of right-wing parties conflicts with Steigers efforts. Last year, his car was torched. This June, a molotov cocktail landed in the station when Scouts were sleeping inside. Police traced the attack to two teenagers. As a form of reparations, the city stopped asking for rent from the democracy station, which was founded in 2014. During the school year, the center teems with people ages 10 to 25, Steiger said. They participate in printing workshops and hold discussions about human rights and anti-racism. Many refugees use the space, he said, adding with a grin, sometimes I come in and find them playing with Nazi kids. The center is unique, the mayor said in an interview, in not shutting its doors to youngsters from the right side of the spectrum. Steiger relishes the juxtaposition. We make the abstract issues personal for the youngsters, and this is also where the trips come in, Steiger said. All over the world, we encounter people who help us, who bring us into their homes and give us food. Its a lesson about understanding and hospitality. Born in Hamburg in 1966, Steiger got his Scouting start in the green valleys of Ireland, where he went on his first trip as a 10-year-old. His mother was a hairdresser; his father sold office supplies. By age 15, Steiger was planning his own trips. He finished high school in Hamburg and then learned how to build houses, stoves and fireplaces. That was my profession, he said. But the role he cherished was that of chief of Scouts in Hamburg. After the wall came down, an opportunity arose to develop youth groups in eastern Germany. He moved 165 miles east to Greifswald, at a moment when most people were flocking west. My parents thought I would stay in eastern Germany for two years and then come back, he said. Instead, he decided to focus on Greifswald, where he still lives, and nearby towns, such as Anklam. About a decade ago, he built up a young peoples party and got an 18-year-old elected to local office. Steigers ideal, he said, would be for every citizen to spend several years working in politics. I think politics has to open up a bit, he said. Still, he knows there will be setbacks. Several years ago, one of his own, a 14-year-old who had been on Scouting trips, joined a neo-Nazi demonstration. The Scouts did a silent vigil and then, suddenly, we saw our guy marching with the Nazis, Steiger recalled. The lesson, he said, is that democratic training should begin earlier, because rival forces are already at work on young minds. Two boys about that age sat outside the train station on a recent weekday. We havent covered democracy in school yet, said Julian Beck, 15. My dad says its a nice idea, but too much democracy is also not good. Read more Boy Scouts leader apologizes for Trump speechs political rhetoric Germanys far right preaches traditional values. Can a lesbian mother be its new voice? Germans are learning to love Germany again, and Merkel takes note Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres issued a veiled but unmistakable rebuke of President Trump on Wednesday, saying the world must reject intolerance and speak up against irrationality. Racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism or Islamophobia are . . . poisoning our societies, Guterres said in response to a question about Trumps remarks on the events in Charlottesville. It is absolutely essential for us all to stand up against them everywhere and every time, he told reporters at U.N. headquarters in New York. British Prime Minister Theresa May said there is no equivalence between fascists and their opponents, a reference to Trumps equivocation on who was to blame for racially charged violence over the weekend. Neither Gutteres nor May mentioned Trump by name, although other political figures around the world had more direct critiques. It is unbearable how Trump is now glossing over the violence of the right-wing hordes from Charlottesville, German Justice Minister Heiko Maas said in a statement. No one should trivialize anti-Semitism and racism by neo-Nazis. Violence erupted in Charlottesville after white supremacist groups that had gathered for a Unite the Right rally clashed with counterprotesters. After the planned rally was canceled, a car plowed into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing one person and injuring 19 others. Police later arrested 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr. of Ohio, who was identified by a former teacher as being a Nazi sympathizer. Trump has spread responsibility for the violence among many sides. And he expressed apparent sympathy with some of the marchers and their cause of protesting the potential removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. [Trump again blames both sides in Charlottesville ] Trumps remarks renewed calls by some British politicians and activists for May to rescind her invitation for a state visit by the president. The visit was penciled in for fall but has been pushed to next year, apparently out of concern about protests. May had been criticized for remarks Monday in which she condemned racism but would not directly criticize Trump. What the president says is a matter for him, she said then. Trumps combative news conference Tuesday prompted fierce denunciations from other members of Mays Conservative Party and a stronger statement from her. Words matter. Silence matters, Sam Gyimah, a Tory member of Parliament, tweeted Wednesday. We must call out hate unambiguously to preserve the free & tolerant society many have fought & die for. Guterres made clear he sees dangers from the brand of nationalism and populism that fueled Trumps election as well as political changes elsewhere. The Portuguese diplomat said that while his role means he speaks for the world, his own European heritage gives him a perspective on what he cast as assaults on civilization and reason. Tolerance, the respect for the other, the importance of recognition of diversity, Guterres said, listing what he called legacies of the Enlightenment. To condemn all forms of irrationality that undermine those values is essential, at the present moment, be it in the United States or everywhere else in the world, he said. Unfortunately, these demons are appearing a little bit everywhere. Guterres spoke several blocks from where Trump had been staying this week at his home in Trump Tower. The two men are due to meet next month at the United Nations, when Trump addresses the world body for the first time as president. [Trump expected to host leaders at his N.J. golf club during U.N. meeting] Guterres was also asked about Trumps recent threat that the United States could use military force in Venezuela, where an authoritarian leader has expanded his powers. The remark was immediately criticized as risky and historically tone deaf, given the bitter legacy of U.S. involvement in military coups in Latin America in the past century. Latin America has successfully managed to get rid of both foreign intervention and authoritarianism, Guterres replied. This is a lesson that is very important to make sure that this legacy is safeguarded and, namely in Venezuela, both aspects of it. It was March 2020, and the world was closing down as the COVID-19 pandemic spread. At first, the news of... Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/08/2017 (1916 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. More than 500 nurses will see their jobs change over the next two months during the early stage of the Winnipeg Regional Health Authoritys system overhaul. However, what exactly that change will mean A new shift? A new unit? A new hospital? remains unclear, even with the closure of the Victoria General Hospital ER and Misericordia Urgent Care Centre looming. Some will most certainly need to apply for new positions, although the WRHA remains adamant that there are jobs for all nurses who want them (it cant yet say the same for health care aides or unit clerks). JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS The nurses at Victoria and Grace Hospitals, as well as the Misericordia Urgent Care Centre, will be the first to go through the changes. These are the most significant changes to health care in Manitoba in a generation, said Karlee Blatz, the WRHAs senior labour relations counsel. Blatz spoke at length with reporters Tuesday morning about the nursing changes required to further the provinces plans to drastically change how Winnipeggers access health care, in keeping with the recommendations of the 2015 Peachey report. Throughout the summer, the WRHA has been serving numerous unions with notice that their members jobs may change. However, the nurses at Victoria and Grace Hospitals, as well as the Misericordia Urgent Care Centre, will be the first to go through the actual process, which involves multiple steps in accordance with individual union agreements. Over the next few weeks, roughly 250 nurses at Victoria Hospital and and 250 nurses at Grace Hospital will receive deletion notices, meaning their jobs, as theyve performed them, are being eliminated. Twenty-five nurses at Misericordia will receive the same notice. Some will have the chance to stay in their current unit and pick a new role or new rotation, while some specialty nurses will be allowed to follow their patients to new facilities. For instance, critical care nurses at Victoria Hospital will be offered the chance to move with their patients when critical care beds are moved to Grace Hospital and St. Boniface Hospital. Nurses can also choose to apply for another open job the WRHA says it currently has 400 vacancies for permanent nursing jobs or choose to be laid off. If theyre still unhappy with their options, nurses will then have the opportunity to bump one of their peers, meaning use their seniority to take over an already-occupied position if they are qualified for it. This entire process, including training to ensure a smooth transition, is to be finished during October. We wont have staff who are waking up and going to a brand-new environment, expected to deliver the same level of care, said Lori Lamont, WRHA vice president and chief nursing officer, stressing there is a plan for the transition. Justin Samanski-Langille / Winni JUSTIN SAMANSKI-LANGILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Karlee Blatz, regional director of labour relations and senior legal counsel for human resources, WRHA speaks at a press conference Tuesday providing more details on the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority reorganization and consolidation reforms currently being undertaken. 170815 - Tuesday, August 15, 2017. The WHRA says its unclear yet how many of the more than 500 nurses will be able to stay at their current facility or have to move to another one. At least in the interim, while Victoria Hospital undergoes renovations to consolidate mental health care services, Blatz said it wont be possible for all nurses who want to to stay there to actually stay. But, she went on, we want to focus our staff on the end state because in the end state there is an opportunity for every nurse. Ultimately, whether to stay or to go is a personal decision, explained Sandi Mowat, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union, as some nurses will want to stay in the field theyre involved in while others will want to stay with the facility theyre experienced with. Our point from the beginning was the sooner we could get to this, the smoother it would go, she said. Whether the WRHA is actually able to push through these changes come October remains to be seen, Mowat said, it depends when the deletion notices come out, Im hoping its going to be in the next couple of weeks. Although disappointed the WRHA didnt give the union advance notice the announcement would be Tuesday, she said shes ultimately pleased with the process the MNU helped devise to transition jobs. The problem is nurses have been in limbo for a long time so we need to get on with things, Mowat said. JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Sandi Mowat, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union Nurses arent the only ones in limbo, said the president of the Manitoba Government and General Employees Union. Theyre saying theres a job for every nurse, said Michelle Gawronsky, whose union represents health care aides and unit clerks, among other workers. We have not been given those reassurances at all. Each new tidbit of information only seems to raise additional questions. Theyre moving too far, too fast, Gawronsky said, weve got some real concerns on the amount of chaos thats out there. In a release, the NDP called on the Manitoba government to halt the fall closures in light of further evidence the WRHA is unprepared. Blatz said the WRHA plans to keep workers in the loop as these changes progress. Nurses at St. Boniface and Health Sciences Centre, whose jobs will also transition as part of phase one of the city-wide overhaul, will be dealt with at a later date. jane.gerster@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @Jane_Gerster Hey there, time traveller! This article was published 15/08/2017 (1916 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current. OTTAWA Manitoba bureaucrats have fixed an error on their website that tracks a deadly pig disease, revealing its spread has been even more persistent than reported. The update comes as the federal and provincial agriculture ministers meet today in Winnipeg, where theyll likely talk about the porcine epidemic diarrhea (PED) outbreak ravaging a swath of land around Steinbach. The virus doesnt contaminate meat or spread to humans, but it easily kills piglets. JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Last Thursday, Glen Duizer of Manitobas Chief Veterinary Office told farmers in a conference call that a sample had tested positive the day before, meaning a 61st barn had been contaminated this year. We had not had any positive cases since the 14th of July, Duizer said at the time. Within hours, the agriculture ministrys website was updated to show an Aug. 8 case of PED. But according to a website-tracking software used by the Free Press, that incidents date was changed to July 27, while a 62nd case was added with the date of Aug. 1. That means that instead of a 25-day stretch without a new case, the province hadnt yet reached a full two weeks without PED hitting a new farm since the outbreak started May 2. (The website was last updated Friday.) The Chief Veterinary Office said it made an error in recording the data. The agency lists the day that we have determined through our investigation that the farm most likely became infected. This involves diagnostics, but also clinical disease and risk activities such as contacts with other infected premises. Meanwhile, federal Agriculture Minister Lawrence MacAulay is visiting his provincial counterpart Ralph Eichler in Winnipeg today. While MacAulays staff couldnt confirm the subject of their talks, they said its likely the two would discuss the PED outbreak. PED hit Manitoba in 2014 when it engulfed U.S. farms, but there were only 10 reported cases in the province up until fall 2016. The virus came back in May, just as federal regulators dropped a 2014 requirement that trucks be washed in Canada, after allegations that shoddy U.S. washes helped spread PED. dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca Some 70 agricultural workers have made history by becoming the first workers under the H-2A visa program to walk out on strike. The contract workers, also known as contratados, refused to come to work at Sarbanand Farms in Sumas, Washington on August 4. The work stoppage was sparked by the death of 28-year-old and father of three, Honesto Silva Ibarra. On August 2, Ibarra complained about intense headaches to his supervisors who then told him that if he stopped working, he would be fired for abandoning work. After collapsing in the field, Ibarra was taken to a Bellingham hospital where he collapsed again. Ibarra was then transported to Harborview Hospital in Seattle where he died on August 6. Sarbanand is claiming that Ibarra died from meningitis, which they said he had before coming to work there. Those close to the farmworker doubt that meningitis was the cause of Honestos death, but also assert that the grower failed to provide adequate medical attention. In their official statement, CSI Visa Processing, the recruiter for Sarbanand, claimed on their web site, The companero who is hospitalized, the cause was meningitis, an illness he suffered from before, and is not related to his work. There has been no explanation of the exact cause of Ibarras death by Harborview Medical Center or the King County medical examiner. Some 600 workers at Sarbanand have been harvesting blueberries under intense heat and breath-stifling conditions caused by wildfires that have been raging just across the US-Canada border in British Columbia. The agricultural laborers have been forced to work 14-hour days for the H-2A required minimum of $13.38 per hour, but $20 is subtracted every day for water that is rationed out in small amounts and is dirty. A further $12 is subtracted per day for food that is minimal and poorly cooked at that. In addition, Sarbanand has threatened workers with deportation back to Mexico for failing to meet performance standards. Upon the workers were fired for what Sarbanand described as insubordination, the contratados joined a farmworkers union new to Washington state known as Familias Unidas por la Justicia. FUJ describes itself as an independent labor union and has secured a bargaining agreement with one grower in the area. Sarbanand gave the strikers just one hour to remove their belongings and themselves from company property and left them penniless, without valid visas, and no way to work for another employer. In refusing to pay the fired workers immediately, Sarbanand claimed that they would send a check for their last four days of work to their address in Mexico. Such action is in violation of H-2A regulations. CSI Visa Processing, the largest such recruiter in Mexico, did take some of the workers to a nearby bus station, but refused to buy their tickets home, another violation of H-2A regulations. When 100 workers marched on August 6 to Sarbanand to talk to management about their conditions, Whatcom County Sheriffs officers along with Sumas city police dispersed them after telling them not to block the roadway, telling the workers they needed a permit to march. Support for the strikers has been abundant. Local residents Joaquin and Lucy Suarez have invited the strikers to stay in their backyard in tents. Donations of food, freezers, refrigerators, and generators to power them have been forthcoming from literally hundreds of local citizens, farmers, restaurant businesses and churches. Advocacy volunteers stated that five of the workers were sent to hospitals for dehydration and that others were suffering from ear and throat ailments. Dehydration has been so bad as to induce paralysis in the faces of some of the workers. The workers at this point have managed to avoid deportation. However, Sarbanand has put them in a difficult position. If they return to work, they face the same conditions that caused them to walk out in the first place. If they return to MexicoSarbanand is legally obligated to pay for their airfarethey face blacklisting by recruiting firms or being forced to work in Mexico for one-eighth of what they were currently being paid, starvation wages. Sarbanand workers have charged management with deliberately refusing to renew their visas in order to turn them into virtual indentured servants where they can threaten them with deportation at any time and make them unable to reapply for visas for 10 years, the penalty for overextending their visas. Sarbanand is owned by Munger Farms, which is headquartered in Delano, California, the site of bitter struggles of the United Farmworkers Union. Munger Farms, in turn, is part of a larger group of growers known as Naturipe. The banner for the Munger Farms web site home page ironically reads, Spreading Goodness Around the World. As a cosmetic gesture, the US Department of Labors Wage and Hour Division has initiated an investigation into Sarbanand Farms while the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries has also launched an investigation of health and safety dangers, pay, rest, meals and working hours. Hundreds of protesters marched Saturday in Mission, Texas against the construction of the border wall proposed by President Donald Trump. The demonstration crossed the section of the Rio Grande levee where one of the first sections of the wall is being planned, a half mile or more inland from the US-Mexico border. The government has proposed to erect 60 miles of wall through the region, creating a no mans land in the areas between the wall and the Rio Grande, which comprises the legal border between the two countries. Saturdays march was the first major protest against the proposed wall and is expected to be the prelude to further protests in southern Texas against Trumps xenophobic immigration and border policy. The organizers of the weekends protest aimed to bring national attention to the deep local opposition to the new border wall. It was reported that 40 groupsfrom environmentalists to landowners rights groups to immigrant advocatestook part in the protest. According to the Austin American-Statesman, local officials and landowners near the river report that government contractors have already been taking soil samples along the Rio Grande levees and have begun to examine property ownership records for the land condemnation lawsuits a border wall would likely require. A map released by CBP shows tentative plans to build 28 miles of wall on the levee in Hidalgo County, the most populous county of the Rio Grande valley. The remaining 32 miles would cut through sections farther west, in Starr County, separating border towns from the Rio Grande. The portion of the wall passing through Mission would seal La Lomita Chapel, a religious shrine and historic site, on the southern side of the levee. The wall would also cut through the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, a lush sanctuary for 400 species of birds and nearly half of the butterfly species found in North America. The reckless nature of the Trump administrations efforts to physically divide the working class in the United States and Mexico is revealed in a report released earlier this week showing concerns about the environmental impact. Plans for building a physical barrier were scrapped nearly half a decade ago due to flooding concerns. In January 2010, the US Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission, which regulates water flows in the Rio Grande along with its Mexican counterparts, concluded that the barriers could cause substantial increases in floodwaters and denied approval for the border wall project in the county. Just one year later, though, the commission reversed course, reportedly under pressure from Homeland Security Department officials who made it clear that the project needed its support as soon as possible. Environmentalists continue to stress the danger posed by placing a physical barrier in the region. In 2012, Sierra Club Borderlands co-chair Scott Nicol spoke out against plans for a border wall being formulated by the Obama administration, warning property will be damaged and people may drown on both sides of the river if these walls are built. Last month, the US House passed a $790 billion spending bill with $1.6 billion allocated towards constructing a wall along 74 miles of the US-Mexico border. While passage of the bill seems uncertain in the Senate, efforts are already under way to shore up the hundreds of miles of barriers erected along the border by successive Republican and Democratic administrations. George W. Bush signed the Secure Fences Act in 2006, which authorized the construction of 700 miles of fencing along the southern border of the US, including through the Rio Grande valley. Then Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, current Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and 23 other Democrats voted for the bill. The current US Customs and Border Protection budget includes funding for gates which would fill in gaps of the valleys existing border fences built by the Obama administration. For the 2017-19 fiscal years, the Texas State Legislature is expected to spend $800 million on state border security efforts for policing the 1,200-mile border shared with Mexico. The increase in funding will go towards more personnel and equipment on the border, aimed at terrorizing immigrants and paving the way for mass deportation. In 2015, the funding for border security was increased from $550 million to the current $800 million. Katey Johnson, a blogger and mother of two, posted a photo of herself wearing a fitted dress that makes her feel good. (Photo: Facebook/The Mother Octopus) A blogger who shared a photo of herself in an LBD she has no business wearing has unintentionally emboldened other women to reject beauty standards in the name of body positivity. Katey Johnson is a mother of two on Long Island, N.Y., who blogs at The Mother Octopus when shes not running a photo-frame business from home. Her Aug. 14 post, called A Dress I Have No Business Wearing, was picked up by the Facebook group Love What Matters, where it swiftly went viral for its DGAF sentiment. A photo of Johnson wearing a little black dress was accompanied by her post: This is me in a dress I have no business wearing. Its not the first time Ive worn it and it wont be the last time. I know its not flattering, but I dont want you to say, OMG, YOU LOOK GREAT! I dont want you to say, GOOD FOR YOU! I want you to know why Im wearing a dress I have no business wearing. Johnson explains that a friend had snapped the image two days earlier on the way to dinner. Someone could say that I look a little pregnant in it, because of, you know, that part sticking out in the front. I do look a little pregnant. Thats fine. Once upon a time I grew two babies in that part sticking out in the front, but I assure you, now its just where I keep my cheeseburgers and sauvignon blanc. Despite feeling that the dress was not made for her 160-pound, 5-foot-2 body, Johnson felt amazing wearing it. I dont know why. I just did. Im not known to wear form-fitting clothes. At all. But I wanted it, so I bought it. And I was proud of myself for it. Describing herself as currently the heaviest shes ever been and someone who has always struggled with her weight, Johnson made a declaration. After 40 years of telling myself I have no business wearing things I want to wear, Ive decided to change the subject. Ive decided to start being kind to myself. She concluded, So heres the thing: If I can put on a dress I have no business wearing to go out with my husband or to go to a fancy dinner at a nice restaurant with my best friend because it makes me feel good, you can too. If the hard part is talking yourself into it, tell yourself lifes too short to worry about things you have no business wearing. Story continues Johnsons Love What Matters post got 35,000 reactions and more than 5,000 shares (the post on her personal Facebook page received 10,000 reactions and 2,500 shares), but the comments section for both entries generated the most impact. Women began posting selfies wearing clothing they loved but didnt feel comfortable wearing because of their weight. Whats more, Johnsons post was flooded with comments from women vowing to follow her lead, such as: Youve given me something to think about and be proud of, thank you, and This couldnt have come at a better time. After wearing [an outfit] for baptism last week and seeing pictures I thought I looked horrid in it and was absolutely dreading wearing it. Thank you for this post! Another woman commented: I have got a gown for my birthday that I should have no business wearing. I also have my mommy pouch from my little person and its not going anywhere. Thats not stopping me from wearing a dress that makes me feel amazing. I wont spend the next 6 weeks starving myself or hurting myself in a gym to satisfy anyone else. Johnson tells Yahoo Style that she didnt read all the comments at first. The first comment I read on my post was someone writing that I need a tummy tuck, so I decided to not read anymore to avoid getting into a downward spiral, she says. But my friends kept saying Read the comments! and Im glad I did. Although Johnson had worn the $16 dress from Marshalls in the past, that night felt different. I was with my best friend, we were having a blast, and even though my tummy was hanging out, suddenly I didnt care, she says. If I could let go for a little bit, I wanted other women to do know they could too. Johnson says that sharing the fitted-dress photo was a milestone. Weve all felt at some point that we have no business wearing certain types of clothing and we probably think it about other people but its important to turn off that voice, she tells Yahoo Style. While the mom didnt intend to kick-start a body positive revolution, shes grateful for the moment. Im definitely wearing that dress again, she says. Read more from Yahoo Style + Beauty: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty. President Trumps manufacturing council wasnt getting much work done, AFL-CIO chief Richard Trumka said Wednesday on CBS This Morning. After the AFL-CIO leader left the presidents manufacturing council following Trumps highly criticized response to the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Va., Trumka slammed the councils lack of productivity. The council itself was totally ineffective. Its never met, Trumka said. Its a subterfuge to be able to deregulate industry. Trump disbanded the council Wednesday afternoon following the resignations of several business leaders, writing on Twitter, Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all! Trumka said that the councils inefficiency wasnt behind his resignation, which was inspired by what he called the presidents spirited defense of racism and bigotry following the violent rally in Charlottesville, Va. After Trump was widely criticized for failing to condemn in his initial remarks the white supremacists and neo-Nazis involved in the violent clashes, he denounced white nationalism and racism on Monday. But at a Tuesday press conference, Trump reiterated his earlier remarks, blaming both sides for the violence. AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka speaks at the National Press Club in Washington on April 4, 2017. (Photo: Alex Brandon/AP) AFL-CIO deputy chief of staff Thea Lea resigned with Trumka Tuesday night. Trumka and Lea represent the largest group of labor unions in the U.S. Its not acceptable to even tolerate racism and bigotry, let alone defend it, Trumka said. Before Trump disbanded the manufacturing council, at least six other business leaders had left Trumps council over the past few days. Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, 3M CEO Inge Thulin and Campbell Soup Company CEO Denise Morrison all quit the council after Trump made his remarks about Charlottesville. After Trumka heard the presidents shocking Tuesday comments, he said: I thought to myself, Ill pray for you, [Trump], because you really need to be prayed for when you make those kind of statements. Story continues Earlier Tuesday, Trump had lashed out on Twitter at the leaders who had left the council. For every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, I have many to take their place. Grandstanders should not have gone on. JOBS! Trump wrote. For every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, I have many to take their place. Grandstanders should not have gone on. JOBS! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 15, 2017 Update [8/16/17]: This story has been updated to reflect news that Trump disbanded the manufacturing council. Read more from Yahoo News: Johannesburg (AFP) - Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe has claimed diplomatic immunity after being accused of assaulting a 20-year-old model, South African police said Wednesday, in an incident that could test cross-border relations. The 52-year-old wife of President Robert Mugabe is accused of attacking Gabriella Engels on Sunday evening at a Johannesburg hotel where the first lady's two sons were staying. Engels has registered a police case alleging assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, saying she suffered deep cuts to her forehead and the back of her head. "The suspect('s) lawyers and her government representatives made verbal representations... that the suspect wished to invoke diplomatic immunity cover," the police ministry said in a statement. The police said that Grace Mugabe had been expected to report to a police station on Tuesday to give her version of the events and "to obtain a warning statement", but that she failed to show up. - Public or private trip? - They added that she would attend at the weekend a summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Pretoria where her husband and other heads of state will be present. Her official duties at the summit could bolster her claim to diplomatic immunity, after her trip to see her sons was widely described as private. Foreign affairs spokesman Clayson Monyela had told AFP on Tuesday that her trip was "a private visit, so government cannot get involved." Her husband flew out of Harare for South Africa early Wednesday evening for the summit, according to the Zimbabwean public broadcaster ZBC. The summit of heads of state starts on Saturday. "We know where the suspect is," South Africa's police spokesman Vishnu Naidoo told AFP earlier Wednesday. "We are still continuing with the investigations. No warrant of arrest has been issued," he added, after some reports suggested she had hurriedly returned to Harare late Tuesday. Story continues The alleged attack threatens to spark a diplomatic tiff between the two neighbouring countries, which have strong political and economic ties. Zimbabwean officials have made no comment on the case. - 'Kept beating me' - Grace Mugabe allegedly arrived at the Capital 20 West Hotel with bodyguards and accused Engels of partying with her sons Robert and Chatunga, who are both in their 20s and live in Johannesburg. Pictures on social media appeared to show Engels bleeding from her head after the alleged assault at the hotel in the upmarket business district of Sandton. Engels said she was attacked with an electrical extension cord. "She flipped and just kept beating me with the plug. Over and over. I had no idea what was going on. I was surprised... I needed to crawl out of the room before I could run away," she told the News 24 website. Grace Mugabe is 41 years younger than her 93-year-old husband, and the couple has two sons and a daughter. She regularly speaks at rallies and is seen as a possible contender to take over from her increasingly frail husband, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980. The succession battle is expected to pit Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa against a group called "Generation 40" or "G40" because its members are generally younger, and which reportedly has Grace's backing. While Grace Mugabe has in the past denied harbouring ambitions to take over from her husband, at other times she has said she would be prepared to serve in any political position. She has taken on a larger public role in recent years, drumming up support for her husband and heading the women's league of the ruling ZANU-PF party. In speeches this year the president has often slurred his words, mumbled and paused for lengthy periods. His reign has been marked by brutal repression of dissent, mass emigration, accusations of vote-rigging and a sharp economic decline. A woman in Alabama has been reunited with her family after being lost in the woods for a month, sheltering among the trees and surviving on mushrooms and berries. Lisa Theris, 25, was found on Saturday afternoon after she finally reached a road, and managed to signal to a motorist for help. She had lost 50lbs and was covered in scratches and insect bites, but was not severely harmed. "I've been doing this now going on 15 years and I've never seen anything like it, said Chad Faulkner, of the Bullock county sheriffs office. Her will to live is incredible. I hate to classify it as a miracle, but it's a miracle." Lisa Theris was rescued after almost a month in the woods in Alabama - Facebook/WTVY-TV Miss Theris had set off into the woods near Midland with two men, who broke into a hunting lodge in Midway. She told her family that she did not want to be part of the robbery, and so ran away from the pair. On July 23 her family reported her missing. The two men, Manley Davis, 31, and Randall Oswald, 36, were arrested and charged following the theft of $40,000 (31,100) worth of goods, including four-wheel drive cars and chainsaws. She's not familiar with this area and apparently on the night she ran, she went into the woods at night and got lost, said Raymond Rodgers, sheriff of Bullock county. Lisa Theris Miss Theris told police that she drank water from the streams and tried to walk to safety, but ended up disorientated and walking in circles. We didn't ask her too many questions, said Mr Rodgers. We want to make sure her health is good so we got her on to the hospital. We did not interrogate her at that time. Mr Faulkner said they expect to have more details about Miss Theriss movements in the coming days. Elizabeth Theris, her sister, said the missing woman was now back at home in Louisville, Alabama. Lisa Theris's legs, covered in scratches and bites She is severely weakened, she is in pain, she is emaciated, she said. There is not an inch of her that has not been affected. Story continues We are lucky that she is alive, she is so strong and has made it through so much. Her brother, Will, said that she was standing strong and full of jokes as ever. He added: The next few weeks will be rough, but she is handling it all like a trooper. Controversial far-right commentator Alex Jones has suggested attendees at a white supremacist rally that descended into violence were Jewish actors dressing up as Nazis. The "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday saw aggressive clashes between demonstrators and counter protesters, with an anti-fascist killed after a car ploughed into the group she was demonstrating with at speed. But Jones claimed leftist Jews has dressed up as white supremacists to create clashes and discredit the rally. I mean, quite frankly, I've been to these events, a lot of the KKK guys with their hats off look like theyre from the cast of Seinfeld, Trump supporter Jones said on The Alex Jones Show on Sunday. Literally theyre just Jewish actors. Nothing against Jews in general, but they are leftists Jews that want to create this clash and they go dress up as Nazis, he added. Jones also showed footage from 18 years ago of him protesting the KKK, whom he claimed later turned out to be federal agents. I have footage in Austin, we're going to find it somewhere here at the office, where it literally looks like cast of Seinfeld or like Howard Stern in a Nazi outfit, Jones said. They all look like Howard Stern. They almost got like little curly hair down, and theyre just up there heiling Hitler. You can tell they are totally uncomfortable, they are totally scared, and its all just meant to create the clash, he added. Jones is not the first person to attempt to shift blame for the violence away from attendees of the white supremacist rally, with organizer Jason Kessler on Sunday blaming the local police for the violence, claiming the white supremacists were victimized by pepper spray used by counter protesters, and adding: due to the police not maintaining order, many people were hurt. One man has been arrested and charged with murder over the death of counter-protester Heather Heyer, 32, who was killed after a car plowed into the group she was demonstrating with. Story continues The man has been named as white supremacist James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Maumee, Ohio, who is being held on suspicion of second-degree murder, as well as malicious wounding and failure to stop in an incident that resulted in death. Related Articles Hyeon Soo Lim spent two years and seven months in custody, sentenced to hard labour for allegedly attempting to overthrow the countrys regime Pastor Hyeon Soo Lim, who returned to Canada from North Korea on 9 August, holds his granddaughter as he leaves the Light Presbyterian Church in Mississauga. Photograph: Mark Blinch/Reuters Days after being released from a North Korean prison, a Canadian pastor who spent more than two years in custody has spoken about his ordeal, detailing the hard labour he was forced to carry out and his ongoing battle against overwhelming loneliness. From the first day of my detainment until the day I was released, I ate 2,757 meals in isolation, Hyeon Soo Lim said in a prepared statement handed out before his first public appearance at a church near Toronto on Sunday. It was difficult to see when and how the entire ordeal would end. Lim landed on Canadian soil on Saturday, days after North Korea said it had released the 62-year-old on sick bail. A former pastor at one of Canadas largest churches, Lim attended a church service the following day, telling his congregation of the tasks he was forced to carry out after being sentenced to hard labour for allegedly attempting to overthrow the countrys regime. During his two years and seven months in custody, winters were spent digging holes that measured one metre wide and one metre deep. The ground was frozen. The mud was so hard that it took two days to dig one hole, he said. My upper body was sweating; my fingers and toes were frostbitten. Other times he was put to work breaking apart frozen coal at a storage facility. Spring and summer were spent outside, toiling eight hours a day in the scorching sun. One year of this difficult labour took a toll on my body and I was admitted to hospital for two months, he said. He was hospitalised four times in total while in custody, he said. He learned of his release just moments before it happened. After a Canadian delegation travelled to North Korea last week, Pyongyang announced it would release Lim for humanitarian reasons. Despite losing 51lb while in prison, his family said he was in good health. Story continues Lim told congregants that he suspected his release was a bid by Pyongyang to lessen the escalating tensions between North Korean and Washington. I believe [North Korean leader] Kim Jong-un let me go as a gesture of goodwill in the face of so much rhetoric, Lim said in Korean, according to a translation by Reuters. Lim, who moved to Canada from South Korea in the 1980s, had travelled to North Korea more than 100 times in the past two decades, according to his family, in order to support humanitarian efforts that ranged from a nursing home to an orphanage. He was arrested in January 2015. Since then, congregants at the Light Presbyterian Church in Mississauga who greeted their former pastor with tears, ecstatic cheers and standing ovations on Sunday worked tirelessly to secure his release. They stepped up their efforts in June, after the death of American student Otto Warmbier days after his release from a North Korean prison. Lim said he was indebted to his church and the many others who pushed for his release. He thanked Canadian officials and noted that, as Canada has no office in North Korea, Swedens embassy in Pyongyang had also played a critical role in securing his release. A mix of faith and propaganda had helped him through the ordeal, he said. During his first year in captivity, he read more than 100 books and watched some 300 films on North Korea. I also read the Bible in both English and Korean five times and memorised over 700 Bible verses, he said. There were moments of discouragement, resentment and grumbling that soon changed in courage, joy and thanksgiving. Speaking to his congregants in Korean, he added: Its a miracle for me to be here today. Since President Donald Trumps political rise, pundits and news junkies have learned what seems like an entirely new vocabulary to discuss his rhetoric: gaslighting, alternative facts, fake news. What about whataboutism? Analysts have been dinging Trump for whataboutism for months, particularly in recent weeks. In fact, during a press conference on Tuesday, Trump spouted a textbook example of the practice. In addressing his tepid, vague denunciation of the protests that led to fatal violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend, he responded, What about the alt-left that came charging at, as you say, at the alt-right? ... You had a group on one side that was bad. You had a group on the other side that was also very violent. That is to say, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members may be bad, but people on the other side have also done bad things. What about them? So what is whataboutism, and why do we keep hearing about it? What it means Whataboutism refers to the practice of deflecting criticism by pointing to the misdeeds of others. Oxford Dictionaries defines it as the technique or practice of responding to an accusation or difficult question by making a counter-accusation or raising a different issue. Essentially, its an appeal to hypocrisy a logical fallacy also known as tu quoque. Instead of proving that your opponents claim is wrong on its face, whataboutism argues that its hypocritical of the opponent to make that claim at all. (Oh, you think I shouldnt cheat on a test? What about that time you took a crib sheet into your calculus exam last year?!) Where did it come from? Perhaps unsurprisingly, considering the Trump administrations murky ties to Vladimir Putin and his associates, whataboutism is viewed by many as a Russian import. Though it may not have been invented there (see linguist Ben Zimmers June column in the Wall Street Journal for an etymological exploration), it became a trademark form of Soviet propaganda, as attacks on Soviet human rights abuses and other failures were rebutted with references to apartheid in South Africa or lynchings in the U.S. In 2007, British journalist Edward Lucas blogged for The Economist from Russia and described a popular joke from the Soviet era: For example: A caller to a phone-in on the (fictitious) Radio Armenia asks, What is the average wage of an American manual worker? [...] Then the answer comes: u nich linchuyut negrov [over there they lynch Negroes]. By the later part of the 1980s, he wrote, that rejoinder became the derisive catchphrase that summed up the whole bombastic apparatus of the Soviet propaganda machine. While true, it prevented the Soviet people or international observers from ever advancing necessary criticisms of the Soviet Union. Story continues Lucas saw a resurgence of whataboutism during his reporting, and its been observed to be a favorite tactic of Putins. Like many other Soviet traditions, whataboutism has resurfaced in the Putin era, observed Olga Khazan in The Atlantic in 2013. Specifically, she noted, Putins offer to shelter Edward Snowden offered a perfect opportunity: It allows the Kremlin a moment of whataboutism, a favorite, Soviet-era appeal to hypocrisy: Russia is not that bad, you see, because other countries have also committed various misdeeds, and what about those? Why have we been talking about it? The perils of whataboutism have numbered among the warnings issued by Russian writers to their American counterparts, amid fears that the Trump administration would resemble Putins. In January, Russian journalist Alexey Kovalev wrote a viral Medium post to his doomed colleagues in the American media, in which he cautioned reporters to expect answers packed with false moral equivalences and straight, undiluted bullshit. For example, he predicted: [I]f youre raising a serious issue, [hell] respond with a vague, non-committal statement (Mr President, what about these horrible human rights abuses in our country? Thank you, Miss. This is indeed a very serious issue. Everybody must respect the law. And by the way, dont human rights abuses happen in other countries as well? Next question please). Fears of impending whataboutism do not appear to have been exaggerated. Pundits have been noticing Trumps proclivity for the what about defense for months. Even since taking office, the president has been quick to respond to accusations of collusion or corruption by pointing to the alleged misdeeds of his former opponent, Hillary Clinton. So many people are asking why isn't the A.G. or Special Council looking at the many Hillary Clinton or Comey crimes. 33,000 e-mails deleted? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 22, 2017 ...What about all of the Clinton ties to Russia, including Podesta Company, Uranium deal, Russian Reset, big dollar speeches etc. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 22, 2017 Hes also resorted, weirdly enough, to the inverse. In a February interview, Bill OReilly challenged Trump on his support for Putin, calling him a killer. There are a lot of killers, retorted Trump. You think our countrys so innocent? In a Foreign Policy column, Jake Sullivan explained what he was doing: The American president is taking Putins what about you tactic and turning it into what about us? Its a free-for-all of multidirectional moral equivalency. If we can do it, Russia can; if Hillary can, so can I. It justifies anything Trump or his allies might want to do, somehow or another. Whataboutism is once again in the news in the aftermath of the tragic violence instigated by a white supremacist rally that united neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan in Charlottesville, Virginia, and Trumps initial comments condemning the hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides. This might not exactly be whataboutism, but if not its a close relation: By vaguely condemning many sides rather than specifically denouncing the white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups that gathered in Charlottesville to spread bigotry and violence, the president fostered the impression that the hate groups and the protesters who gathered to oppose them were morally equivalent in his eyes. Or, in other words, You think the alt-right is fostering violence by gathering in groups to spout hateful ideologies? Well, what about Black Lives Matter? Its an absurd comparison, suggesting that people opposing hate is in itself hateful. Of course, Trump made his whataboutism more explicit on Tuesday when he suggested the alt-left are also to blame for violence in Charlottesville. Oddly, many American conservatives typically the wing that rejects moral relativism in favor of upholding strict, traditional values have rushed to the defense of whataboutism in recent months, as media attention on Trumps use of the fallacy has intensified. The National Reviews Dan McLaughlin called it the liberal/progressive-pundit buzzword du jour in February. The attack on whataboutism is a defense of hypocrisy, wrote Joel Pollak on Breitbart Tuesday. Why should we be worried about it? To be sure, hypocrisy is bad. The Soviets were not incorrect in pointing out that the countries that criticized them often harbored their own systemic human rights issues. Its no wonder that whataboutism exists, to some degree, on (as Trump would say) many sides. When Clinton was slammed during the 2016 primary season for helping to sell the 1994 crime bill, which many now believe greatly exacerbated the mass incarceration crisis that disproportionately affects black Americans, her boosters rushed to point out that her opponent, Bernie Sanders, had actually voted for it. Political supporters of every stripe are eager to hold opponents accountable for their double standards, and that is a human and, to some extent, good impulse especially during a campaign, when making clear the actual distinctions between candidates is useful. It is, however, unusual for an American political leader to engage in the practice so frequently and blatantly; deflecting accountability is for surrogates and supporters, not elected officials themselves. The problem with whataboutism is that hypocrisy is a durable problem (humans being flawed and inconsistent), but it is not the only problem. Forever circling around each others hypocrisies pulls us away from necessary conversations about how to reach for and enforce the values we aspire to and hold each other accountable for wrongdoing. This is particularly crucial when it comes to our leadership. With all the power of the American government behind him, the president has every responsibility to reach toward our most aspirational ideals. Whataboutism provides an excuse for our most powerful to evade self-reflection and self-improvement. Thats not an excuse the American president needs not now, not ever. This story has been updated to include quotes from President Donald Trumps Tuesday afternoon press conference. Also on HuffPost A man holds up a sign during a protest against racism gathered in front of the White House, on August 14, 2017 in Washington, DC. Protestors rally on Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower. Hundreds of protesters gather outside of Trump Tower. A woman raises her fist at the front of a march down Washington Avenue to protest racism and the violence over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. Protestors rally on Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower ahead of President Donald Trump's arrival, August 14, 2017 in New York City. Supporters of anti-Trump protestors hold up signs inside Trump Tower ahead of President Donald Trump's arrival, August 14, 2017 in New York City. Pedestrians walk past a 15-foot tall inflatable rat in the likeness of U.S. President Donald Trump at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street up the road from Trump Tower, August 14, 2017 in New York City. A President Donald Trump supporter (left) argues with anti-Trump protesters as they gather outside of Trump Tower. Protestors rally on Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower. Hundreds of protesters gather outside of Trump Tower. Protestors rally on Fifth Avenue. A man holds up a sign during a protest against racism in front of the White House. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Buenos Aires (AFP) - US Vice President Mike Pence heard more complaints from Latin American allies Tuesday about President Donald Trump's warning of a possible US military option to deal with the crisis in Venezuela. "The use of force is not the way," but rather political pressure, Argentine President Mauricio Macri said at a news conference alongside Mike Pence, who is on a tour of Latin American countries. Trump warned on Friday that he was considering various options to resolve the Venezuela crisis, "including a possible military option if necessary." Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro responded by ordering his armed forces to carry out a national exercise next week. Pence moved to soften the impact of Trump's announcement, stressing that peaceful pressure is the priority. But he did not rule out Trump following through on his threat. "The United States has many options, and we reserve those options," Pence said. "But we truly believe that by increasing economic and diplomatic pressure on the Maduro regime -- not just across the Americas, but across the wider world -- that we can achieve a restoration of democracy in Venezuela by peaceable means." The United States along with Argentina and other regional allies have joined in international condemnation of Maduro. But the South American bloc Mercosur, of which is a member, over the weekend rejected any use of force to resolve the Venezuela crisis. Maduro has been tightening his grip on power in response to economic chaos and angry street protests by opponents demanding elections. Nearly 130 people have died in recent months of unrest. The US vice president was on the second stop in a tour of Latin America to rally the region over the Venezuela crisis. He earlier visited Colombia and was due to travel to Chile on Wednesday and later to Panama. Pence said a million Venezuelans had fled to Colombia and more than 60,000 to Argentina to escape the chaos in their country. Story continues Pence and Macri said they discussed increasing trade between their countries. Pence praised the economic reforms Macri has introduced since taking office in 2015. The conservative president has moved to open up Argentine trade and finance, though his critics say the measures have worsened hardship for the poor. (Reuters) - Rescue teams searched for a downed Army Black Hawk helicopter with five crew members aboard that was last reported off the west coast of Hawaii, the U.S. Coast Guard said on Wednesday. Coast Guard Hercules and Army Black Hawk aircrews spotted debris near Kaena Point, Oahu at 11:28 p.m. local time after staff at Wheeler Army Airfield said they had lost contact with one of their UH-60 Black Hawk aircrews, the Coast Guard said. Rescue crews searched for five missing people who were training between Kaena Point and Dillingham Airfield, also on Oahu, when communications were lost. (Reporting by Gina Cherelus in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Jeffrey Benkoe) Australia is scrapping secrecy laws designed to stop whistleblowers from speaking out about alleged abuse at offshore asylum-seeker detention camps, in a move which campaigners Monday hailed as a victory for free speech. Asylum-seekers who try to reach Australia by boat are either turned back or sent to remote camps in Nauru and on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island. Refugee advocates and medical professionals have long criticised conditions in the camps, where some detainees have been held for years. The secrecy provisions were introduced in 2015, making it a jailable offence for immigration department workers to speak out about conditions in the centres. But Immigration Minister Peter Dutton last week moved an amendment to the law to restrict the definition of unauthorised disclosures to information relating to the national or public interest. He told parliament last week the 2015 changes had "not kept pace with the developments in the modern border environment". "The definition of the information to be protected has been refined to include only certain kinds of information" such as national security and defence, Dutton added. The previous provisions were set to be challenged in the High Court by rights group Doctors for Refugees, which welcomed the government's U-turn. "This is a stunning victory for anyone in Australia who believes people who are concerned about abuse or neglect should be allowed to speak out," Barri Phatarfod from Doctors for Refugees said in a statement Monday. A PNG court ruled last year that holding people on Manus was unconstitutional, and Canberra is set to shut the camp later this year. The detainees will be moved to third countries such as the US and Cambodia or be resettled in PNG. Canberra has been criticised for its asylum-seeker policies but defends its tough stance as necessary to stamp out people-smuggling and stop asylum-seekers dying at sea in rickety boats. On Tuesday, an initial coin offering launched by the real estate startup Propy Inc. sent shockwaves throughout the blockchain community. The tokenized fundraising campaign raised more than $5 million, attracting investors like billionaire TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington. Demand for Propys tokens, called PRO, was so high it overloaded the Ethereum network. Although the final earnings tally isn't in yet, because of the peak in Ethereum transaction volume, PRO token sales aren't expected to be a record-breaking sum like recent ICOs by Filecoin or Tezos. Its not the cash that set tongues wagging; Its Propys radical combination of cryptocurrency and Ethereum-based smart contracts, which could revolutionize the global real estate market. Propys approach could turn property into a highly liquid investment, easily tradable via a digital marketplace. This idea could fundamentally change the concept of real estate investments. If youve ever purchased property, its a particularly cumbersome transaction, Aaron Wright, co-director of Cardozo Law Schools Blockchain Project and newly appointed chair of Enterprise Ethereum Alliance s legal working group, told International Business Times. These transactions take time because there is so much paperwork, mountains of paperwork. What if blockchain technology created a simple, smooth way to condense that data, verify it and send it across the world in mere seconds? Then theres the issue of payments. With the kind of money real estate investments require, its rarely as simple as writing a check or sending a single wire transfer. Propy has seven different types of smart contracts, including ones that work with a money transmitter to automatically transfer ownership once payment has been processed. Another smart contract in development will notify local governments about the property transfer and taxes. We help the government not interrupt the deal, but to get the information about the taxes, Propy CEO Natalie Karayaneva told IBT. These smart contracts are only the tip of Propys iceberg. Story continues Propy founder Natalie Karayaneva Photo: Propy Inc. The San Francisco-based startup already established on an online marketplace where international investors can shop for real estate in several languages. Eventually, the platform will enable peer-to-peer trading, like a cryptocurrency exchange for property investments. This will take a little more time for American buyers, because of the local legal framework. However, Karayaneva said the P2P conduit will go live much sooner in other countries, possibly within the next year or two. In other countries, such as the Ukraine, we are already signing an agreement that they will use our blockchain, primary ledger as a base for storing and changing title deeds, Propy CEO Natalie Karayaneva told IBT. With several governments, we are in negotiation with them to use our blockchain ledgers so they can make their countrys real estate market transparent.so foreign investors will trust their land registry and will have more liquid opportunity to trade real estate. Some of the biggest names in the tech and real estate industries are backing Propy, including Jeremy Gardner of Blockchain Capital and real estate mogul Alain Pinel. JLL, a leading real estate and investments management firm, already signed an agreement to use PRO and Propys blockchain property deeds in cross-border transactions, regardless of whether the local governments recognize electronic contracts yet. According to Wright, the U.S. has a solid legal basis for electronic contracts. Smart contracts are considered legally binding on a federal level. On a local level, some jurisdictions are taking that a step further, not just allowing electronic contracts but facilitating them. Cook County in Illinois already ran a successful pilot program for blockchain property records. Lets say Im in another country and wanted to enter into a transaction in Cook County, it would be a lot easier for me to do that, Wright said. I wouldnt have to come physically to the U.S., interface with county offices, in order to effectuate a real estate transaction. Its not hard to imagine Propys Amazon-style real estate store offering both P2P and more traditional property sales, using blockchain technology for everything from recordkeeping to the purchase itself. The closing of the transactions is now in the prototype phase, Karayaneva said. In order for this idea to really take off, it would need widespread government support because governments maintain the land registries themselves. Like many startups relying on smart contracts, ultimately the technologys full potential will only be realized if legal decision-makers get on board. A lot of the contemplated use cases for blockchain technology ultimately reduce down to legal technology, Wright said. Talking about new agreements and new ways to memorialize commercial relationships. EEAs newly established legal group, with members from 14 top law firms and legal institutions, could work together almost like a bar association. If a whole bunch of law firms say this is the way we are going to construct these smart contract programs, and the agreements that rely on those programs, Wright said. Well, you know what, that probably will influence how other countries and other parties view that. Wright said the EEA's legal group is sign the blockchain industry is maturing. If blockchain contracts overall continues to garner legal support, Propys approach could dramatically simplify international real estate investments. Instead of 20 middlemen, they [buyers] will have only one broker. And he will also be online, Karayaneva said. Its so easy, they [investors] will also have the feeling they can easily sell it. So the market will be really liquid. Karayaneva, a real estate veteran from Bulgaria who came up with this startup idea after years of helping international investors buy property in Europe, said Propys blockchain approach could triple the global real estate market. It would also drastically reduce bureaucratic fees. PRO will be the cryptocurrency at the crux of it all, unlocking ownership transfers and contract changes. There are 100 million PRO tokens, with only around five million sold so far. The plan is to use tokens to attract new investors and invigorate the market as the network grows. Within two years, most of Propys innovations should be up and running. Weve seen an incredible demand for our tokens already, Karayaneva said. Well see transactions happening in real-time. Well see kind of like a Bloomberg terminal for stocks, but for real estate. Related Articles The Daily Beast Marina Tanaka / EyeEm via GettyTwo planes crashed into each other mid-air Saturday during a Dallas air show that was packed with families marking Veterans Day weekend, with both planes plummeting to the ground in a fiery explosion, video footage shows. Six people who were aboard the planes are feared to have died, ABC reported. The collision took place during the Wings Over Dallas World War II Airshow. A spokesperson for the Dallas Fire-Rescue said he didnt know the status of the pilots, but th Theresa May has criticised Donald Trump and said he has a responsibility to condemn far right views following his response to the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. However, despite this, Number 10 has confirmed that the state visit from Donald Trump will go ahead, despite anger from MPs. The US President has been accused of losing his "moral authority" by Ministers and MPs after he claimed in a combative address on Tuesday that both sides were "very violent". He said there were some "very fine" people on both sides of the protests over the weekend, in which neo-Nazis clashed with anti-racism demonstrators leaving one woman dead and several injured. Neo-Nazis: bad Anti-Nazis: good I learned that as a child. It was pretty obvious. Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) August 16, 2017 Words matter. Silence matters. We must call out hate - unambiguously - to preserve the free & tolerant society many have fought & die for. https://t.co/04rYQYGj3O Sam Gyimah MP (@SamGyimah) August 16, 2017 The leader of the free world loses moral authority when he cannot call fascism by its name. Sam Gyimah MP (@SamGyimah) August 16, 2017 The Prime Minister said: "I see no equivalence between those who propound fascist views and those who oppose them. "I think it's important for all those in positions of responsibility to condemn far right views wherever we hear them."# Number 10 confirmed that he is coming to the UK, a decision Chuka Umunna labelled "shameful". Sajid Javid, the British Secretary of State for Communities, tweeted: "Neo-Nazis: bad Anti-Nazis: good I learned that as a child. It was pretty obvious." Story continues Sam Gyimah, the Prisons Minister, added: "Words matter. Silence matters. We must call out hate - unambiguously - to preserve the free & tolerant society many have fought and die for. "The leader of the free world loses moral authority when he cannot call fascism by its name." A series of MPs have also raised concerns about the prospect of a state visit from Mr Trump next year. Ruth Davidson, the Conservative leader in Scotland, said: "The President of the United States has just turned his face to the world to defend Nazis, fascists and racists. For shame." Shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith tweeted: "A state visit by DonaldTrump would shame this country and betray all we stand for. Theresa May should revoke the invitation immediately." The President of the United States has just turned his face to the world to defend Nazis, fascists and racists. For shame. Ruth Davidson (@RuthDavidsonMSP) August 15, 2017 I've looked at Trump from both sides now From up and down, and still somehow It's Nazi hatred I recall I really don't trust Trump at all Chris Bryant (@RhonddaBryant) August 16, 2017 It comes after Mr Trump claimed the "alt-left" bears some responsibility for the violence and refused to condemn the "alt-right" activists. You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent," he said. "No one wants to say that, but Ill say it right now: You had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit and they were very, very violent. "They came at each other with clubs ... it was a horrible thing to watch," Mr Trump said. Donald Trump approval rating tracker Hundreds of white nationalists converged in Virginia over the weekend to protest plans to remove a statue of General Robert E Lee, commander of the pro-slavery Confederate army in the US civil war. They were met by crowds of anti-racism demonstrators as tensions escalated to violent clashes. A suspected Nazi sympathiser, James Fields, plowed his car into a group of the counter-protesters, killing a young woman and injuring 19 other people. US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May walk at the White House on January 27, 2017 Credit: AFP/BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI Mrs May has faced repeated criticism over her decision to offer a state visit to her US counterpart shortly after he took office. However the controversial occasion was reportedly put on hold after Mr Trump grew concerned that he would be greeted by protests on arrival. Number 10 sources said at the time that no date had been fixed, but officials were believed to be looking at 2018. This post was updated at 2:01 p.m. EST on Aug. 16, 2017. Shortly after two more top CEOs abandoned the White Houses manufacturing council, President Donald Trump announced that he would be disbanding his two councils of business leaders. Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both, Trump tweeted on Wednesday afternoon. 3M CEO Inge Thulin and Campbell Soup Company CEO Denise Morrison joined a slew of business leaders resigning from the manufacturing council and distancing themselves from the president. This follows Trumps widely-criticized response to this past weekends white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which turned deadly. During a press conference on Tuesday, Trump insisted that both left- and right-wing groups were to blame for the violence that erupted in Charlottesville, where white nationalists went to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Army general Robert E. Lee. Many CEOs only distanced themselves once others had done so. Racism and murder are unequivocally reprehensible and are not morally equivalent to anything else that happened in Charlottesville, Morrison said in a tweeted statement. I believe the president should have been and still needs to be unambiguous on that point. I joined the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative in January to advocate for policies that align with our values and encourage even stronger investment and job growth in order to make the United States stronger, healthier and more prosperous for all people, said Thulin. After careful consideration, I believe the initiative is no longer an effective vehicle for 3M to advance these goals. As a result, today I am resigning from the Manufacturing Advisory Council. Tesla CEO is seen here leaving Trumps council. He left permanently after the President pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Climate Agreement. (AP) Early on Monday, Merck CEO Kenneth C. Frazier quit the manufacturing council following Trumps muted response to the rally where a Nazi sympathizer drove a car into the crowd and killed a woman who was protesting. Two police officers died as well. Story continues After Fraziers resignation, more CEOs followed. Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank announced his resignation late Monday evening, saying Under Armour engages in innovation and sports, not politics. Intel Corp CEO Brian Krzanich announced his resignation after Plank late on Monday evening. I resigned to call attention to the serious harm our divided political climate is causing to critical issues, including the serious need to address the decline of American manufacturing, Krzanich said. Politics and political agendas have sidelined the important mission of rebuilding Americas manufacturing base. Immediately after Frazier resigned, President Trump took to Twitter to attack the pharmaceutical company boss. Krzanich addressed such attacks in his statement. I resigned because I want to make progress, while many in Washington seem more concerned with attacking anyone who disagrees with them, he said. We should honor not attack those who have stood up for equality and other cherished American values. For every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, I have many to take their place. Grandstanders should not have gone on. JOBS! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 15, 2017 On Tuesday morning, Frazier, Plank, and Krzanich were joined by a non-CEO member of the council, Scott Paul, the president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing who said leaving was the right thing for me to do on Twitter. Richard Trumpka, president of the AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the U.S., followed on Tuesday evening. He was joined by another AFL-CIO representative on the council, Thea Lee. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and I have resigned from the Manufacturing Council. https://t.co/eto66KAzTf Thea Lee (@TheaLee1) August 15, 2017 After Trump tweeted that he was disbanding the councils, more business leaders announced they would exit, despite there not being any council left to leave. Johnson and Johnson CEO Alex Gorsky and GE non-executive president Jeff Immelt just missed the cutoff to resign, though Immelt told Yahoo Finance that he notified members of the council Wednesday morning. Heres a list of who was on the manufacturing council, along with any responses weve received from the companies. Resigned from council Elon Musk, Tesla Musk left following Trump pulling the U.S. out of the Paris Climate agreement. Ken Frazier, Merck & Co., Inc. Kevin Plank, Under Armour Brian Krzanich, Intel Scott Paul, Alliance for American Manufacturing On Tuesday, August 15th, Scott Paul announced on Twitter that he was leaving because it was the right thing for me to do. Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO Thea Lee, AFL-CIO Inge Thulin, 3M Denise Morrison, Campbell Soup Company No longer CEOs (still listed on White House web site) Klaus Kleinfeld, Arconic Mark Fields, Ford Motor Company Mario Longhi, U.S. Steel Doug Oberhelman, Caterpillar Were on council until the end Andrew Liveris, The Dow Chemical Company The Dow Chemical Company said Liveris would remain on the council. Bill Brown, Harris Corporation Harris declined to comment. Michael Dell, Dell Technologies Dell declined to say whether Michael Dell would leave the council. John Ferriola, Nucor Corporation Jeff Fettig, Whirlpool Corporation The company will continue on the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative to represent our industry, our 15,000 U.S. workers, and to provide input and advice on ways to create jobs and strengthen U.S. manufacturing competitiveness, a Whirlpool spokesperson told Yahoo Finance. Alex Gorsky, Johnson & Johnson Gorsky announced his resignation on Wednesday, but the announcement came after Trump disbanded his councils. Greg Hayes, United Technologies Corp. Marillyn A. Hewson, Lockheed Martin Corporation A Lockheed Martin spokesperson declined to comment. Jeff Immelt, General Electric GE said its non-executive chair Immelt will remain on the council. After Trump shut down his councils, Immelt told Yahoo Finance he was leaving the council. Jim Kamsickas, Dana Inc. Rich Kyle, The Timken Company Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing Michael Polk, Newell Brands Mark Sutton, International Paper According to Business Insider, the company will remain on the council. Wendell Weeks, Corning Ethan Wolff-Mann is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering consumer issues and personal finance. President Donald Trump speaks to the media in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York: AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais President Donald Trump has defended the timing of his "excellent" statements on the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The President who had labelled the London Bridge attack an act of terrorism even before the British authorities said he waited to condemn white nationalist protestors because he needed "the facts" "When I make a statement, I like to be correct. I want the facts," he told reporters assembled at Trump Tower. Democrats and Republicans alike had criticised the President for failing to explicitly condemn the KKK and other white supremacist groups over the weekend. When he did call out these groups by name in scripted remarks from the White House Diplomacy Room it was three days after the protests began. Standing behind a podium embossed with the White House seal on Tuesday, Mr Trump removed a copy of his previous remarks from his jacket pocket and began reading them aloud eliminating his controversial comments about violence and hatred "on both sides". "Honestly, if the press were not fake, and if it were honest, the press would have said what I said was very nice," he said, adding that the mother of a young woman who died at the rally had thanked him for his comments. "Making the statement when I made the statement, it was excellent," he said. Trump defends his response to the violence in Charlottesville: "When I make a statement, I like to be correct. I want the facts." pic.twitter.com/66ujFlHcz5 BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) August 15, 2017 The President's handling of the situation over the weekend drove three prominent business leaders to step down from his manufacturing advisory council. It drove fellow Republicans such as Senators Tim Scott, Orrin Hatch, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Cory Gardner to rebuke his initial statement. And it drove white nationalists, posting on the Daily Stormer website, to celebrate his tepid comments. Story continues Mr Trump, however, appeared convinced that the negative reaction stemmed from inside the "fake news" media. "I watched [the protests] very closely - much more closely than you people watched it," he told reporters on Tuesday. "And you had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. And nobody wants to say that, but I'll say it right now." The protests in question started when white nationalists, alt-right activists, and others poured into Charlottesville, Virginia to protest the removal of a Confederate monument. On Friday night, protestors marched on the University of Virginia campus, carrying tiki torches, some of them shouting "Jews will not replace us". By Saturday, the group had started clashing with counter-protestors. Local officials declared the rally an "unlawful assembly," and attempted to disperse the crowds. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency. Later that day, police say, a man reported to be a Nazi sympathiser drove through a crowd of counter-protestors, injuring dozens and killing one 32-year-old Heather Heyer. Mr Trump on Tuesday called her death a "horrible, horrible thing," but refused to label it an act of terrorism. I think the driver of the car is a disgrace to himself, his family, and his country," he said. "You can call this terrorism, you can call it murder, you can call it whatever you want. The Justice Department has opened a civil rights investigation into her death. The last post on her Facebook page before she died read: "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention." Brawls between people holding KKK banners and confederate flags, and groups of anti-fascist counter protestors spilled onto the streets: Getty Images Donald Trump's decision to slash funding to counter right-wing extremism in the US is facing fresh scrutiny in the wake of the Charlottesville violence that left three people dead. The US President froze $10 million (7.7m) of grants destined to fight violent extremism in the US back in May. More than 30 organisations had been pegged by former President Barack Obamas office to receive the funding, but the White House put the grants on hold pending review soon after Mr Trump took office. Among those approved were local governments, city police departments, universities and non-profit organisations fighting all forms of violent extremism in the US. Former white supremacist Chuck Leek, who has since become a volunteer with Life After Hate - one of the organisations that was due to receive government funding - warned at the time that white supremacy in the US was becoming more active. His prediction came true at the weekend when deadly violence broke out between those opposed to the removal of a statue from a local park of Civil War Confederate General Robert E Lee and counter-protesters. The rally was the largest assembly of white nationalist groups in over a decade and saw brawls between people holding KKK banners and confederate flags, and groups of anti-fascist counter protestors spill onto the streets. Critics pointed to the US President's campaign rhetoric for enabling far-right extremist groups in the country to regain a foothold. Mr Trump's slow response to the demonstrations was also condemned, after he spoke out against "violence on many sides" in the wake of the attacks - despite white nationalist James Fields allegedly ploughing a car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, he said. On many sides. More than 30 people were injured in the car ramming and Fields has been charged with second-degree murder. Story continues Neo-nazis applauded Mr Trumps first response to the violent clashes, saying that it was really, really good that the President did not condemn them. Two troopers also died when a Virginia State Police helicopter monitoring the violence crashed near the city. The White House released a statement on Monday following a second press conference by Mr Trump, saying: The President said very strongly in his statement yesterday that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry and hatred and of course that includes white supremacists, KKK, neo-nazi and all extremist groups." The US leader eventually condemned those groups directly, in a spoken statement on Monday night - in which he labelled them "evil". But earlier this year, the Trump administration was pushing to downplay the threat of white extremism by erasing neo-Nazis and white supremacists from the US governments counter-extremism programme and moving it to focus exclusively on Islamist terrorism. American officials briefed on the proposed changes said the Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) initiative could be renamed Countering Radical Islamic Extremism. The reclassification would remove its work combatting far-right attacks and mass shootings, such as the massacre of black churchgoers in Charleston, which are rarely classified as terrorism by American authorities. A Fox News presenter has torn into Donald Trump over a "disgusting" press conference in which he blamed "both sides" for white supremacist violence in Charlottesville. Kat Timpf described the President's latest extraordinary comments on the neo-Nazi rally that left one anti-fascist protester dead as "one of the biggest messes I have ever seen". She was speaking on The Fox News Specialists, which she co-hosts on the typically Trump-friendly right-wing news channel. Earlier on Tuesday the President had said there were "two sides to every story" after being questioned about Charlottesville, blaming the "alt-left" as well as far-right extremists for the disorder. You had a group on one side that was bad. You had a group on the other side that was also very violent. Nobody wants to say that. Ill say it right now," he told reporters. The President also defended right-wing hate groups who converged in the Virginia city to protest the removal of a Confederate statue, saying: "Not all of those people are neo-Nazis, not all of those people are white supremacists." Ms Timpf said: "It shouldnt be some kind of bold statement to say, 'Yes, a gathering full of white supremacist Nazis doesnt have good people in it.' Those are all bad people, period. "It is disgusting." The President's press conference at Trump Tower came just a day after he yielded to 48 hours of mounting pressure and denounced the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups as "repugnant". But in his latest remarks, Mr Trump insisted his initial Charlottesville statement - in which he condemned hatred and violence "on many sides" - had been " a fine statement". "You dont make statements until you know the facts. It takes a little while to get the facts," he added. The occasionally surreal press conference - in which the the President also boasted of owning "one of largest wineries in the United States" in Charlottesville - prompted widespread disbelief and criticism. Story continues "It was one of the biggest messes Ive ever seen. I cant believe it happened," said Ms Timpf It is honestly crazy for me to have to comment on this right now because Im still in the phase where I am wondering if it was actually real life, what I just watched." Mr Trump's insistence that left-wing protesters were partly to blame for the violence in Charlottesville was enthusiastically applauded by the far right, including former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. "Thank you President Trump for your honesty and courage to tell the truth about Charlottesville and condemn the leftist terrorists," he wrote on Twitter. Mr Trump sparked anger for initially failing to reject Mr Duke during last year's Presidential election campaign. He later disavowed the white supremacist under growing pressure. Mr Long said the police stood by and did nothing when white supremacists lashed out: AP A care worker who fought off white supremacist attackers in Charlottesville with an improvised flame thrower said he had set out for a peaceful protest against Nazis who took over my town. Corey Long had joined the hundreds of demonstrators in the Virginia city who turned out to heckle at radicals including Ku Klux Klan members who were marching in an ultra right-wing rally. But the 23-year-old said the scene quickly turned violent when one of the thousands of extremists who had taken to the streets fired a gun next to his feet - while police nearby failed to react. Another extremist later lunged at Mr Long with a confederate flag and he fought back with a spray can he said he found on the ground, putting a lighter to the nozzle and turning it into a weapon. The image of the counter-protester firing flames at the radical marchers went viral and is said to capture the horror of the protests that sparked clashes and left one woman dead. Mr Long said: I went out to voice my opinion. To have my freedom of speech. Just like the racist Nazis who took over my town. At first it was peaceful protest. Until someone pointed a gun at my head. Then the same person pointed it at my foot and shot the ground. But he claimed the police stood by and did nothing when the right-wing marchers turned violent against counter-protestors in clashes that left 19 injured. The cops were protecting the Nazis, instead of the people who live in the city, Mr Long said. The cops basically just stood in their line and looked at the chaos. The cops were not protecting the people of Charlottesville. They were protecting the outsiders. Related: For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android. Mr Long said he and his friend Deandre Harris were forced to flee when scores of the right-wing protesters charged at them, and they ran for cover in a car parking area. The white supremacists told us to die nigger in the garage. Story continues He said he fought off his attackers with a stick and fled again but extremists continued to pursue the pair. The Nazis tried to force their way into the stairway that we were hiding in. The fact was that they (photographers) just stood around recording everything. The fact that they didnt help us . . . It was outrageous. Mr Harris later said he suffered serious injuries to his head after white supremacists beat him with metal poles. The violence erupted after thousands of extremists marched on the streets of Charlottesville on Saturday before demonstrators turned on counter protestors and lashed amid violent clashes. Pure hatred is what happened in Charlottesville, Mr Long said. The fact that anyone can hate someone because of their skin colour is ridiculous, but the fact that the President doesnt speak on it is outrageous. Donald Trump was criticised for failing to explicitly condemn far-right groups for the violence waged by white supremacists in the Virginia city only tweeting that he abhorred hatred on many sides. But the US President caved in under pressure from critics including fellow Republicans, and in a brief statement in the White House, said: Racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans. Charlottesville Mayor Michael Signer on the Downtown Mall in Charlottesville, Va., Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017. (Photo: Julia Rendleman/AP) WASHINGTON In the days leading up to the white nationalist Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., that left one counterprotester dead and scores injured, Mayor Michael Signer took to Twitter to highlight the counterprogramming going on at the University of Virginia, the school where he earned his law degree in 2004 and where today he lectures at the Batten School for Leadership and Public Policy. Saturday, Aug. 12, was set to be a day of reflective conversation to coincide with the arrival of alt-right, neo-Nazi and white supremacist protesters in the central Virginia town of less than 50,000 people. Shops and restaurants in downtown Charlottesville, which is 23 percent black, posted signs in their windows declaring We are a safe space and If equality and diversity arent for you, then neither are we. It turned out the reflection would come later, after a morning of clashes between right-wing protesters and a mix of antifascist, Socialist and Black Lives Matter counterprotesters led the governor to declare a state of emergency and prompted a young man with alleged Nazi sympathies to speed his car down a street filled with counterprotesters on the march, sending them flying and killing Heather Heyer. Since then, Signer, 44, has emerged as a fierce public critic of the presidents slowness to condemn the violent attacks in his city and also as an important voice for the new Souths reckoning with its difficult history. [Trump] made a choice in his presidential campaign and with the folks around him to go right to the gutter, to play on our worst prejudices, and I think youre seeing a direct line from what happened here this weekend to those choices, Signer said Sunday on CBS Face the Nation. The Forward, a Jewish newspaper, dubbed him an unlikely hero, and the Washington Post called him one of Trumps strongest critics. Few people in American politics, it turns out, were as well-positioned as Signer for the face-off. Signer wrote his PhD dissertation at the University of California, Berkeley, on demagogues and how the Founding Fathers sought to prevent their rise in America. It became the basis of his first book, Demagogue: The Fight to Save Democracy From Its Worst Enemies, published in 2009. His second tome was on James Madison, the fourth American president, who also served as the second rector of U.Va. Story continues Trump is a demagogue. Not just in a casual sense, but in the most powerful meaning of the word, and he should be confronted as such, Signer wrote in December 2015. Demagogues, he wrote in February 2016, imperil their countries in the international arena, surround themselves with incompetent and dangerous advisers, threaten dissenters and are at risk of falling prey to their own passions. After Trumps disastrous Tuesday press conference, in which the president angrily described some of the torch-bearing night protesters who chanted against Jews as some very fine people, that analysis looks prescient. Related slideshow: Violent clashes erupt at Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. >>> Clashes at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., Aug. 12, 2017. (Photo: Evelyn Hockstein/For The Washington Post via Getty Images) A product of public schools and a progressive Arlington, Va., family Signers mother was president of the Virginia chapter of the National Organization for Women he attended Princeton and bought a home in Charlottesville in 2005, shortly after graduating from law school, before returning to the city full-time in 2013. For a number of years he worked as a counsel to now-Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., as well as other Virginia and national politicians, and in 2009 he ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor. Elected to the Charlottesville City Council in 2016, he was selected by other members of that five-member body to be mayor. He is married to Emily Blout, an incoming faculty member at U.Va., and has twin boys. One easy misconception about whats been happening in Charlottesville is that its a Southern city seeing a resurgence of old racial dynamics, with local Ku Klux Klansmen standing up against African-Americans. That couldnt be further from the truth, Signer told Yahoo News: Charlottesville has become a target for white supremacists from around the country because it is a progressive college town thats been working hard to grapple with its complicated history, including questions about what to do about a statue of Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Confederate forces, and a city park named after him. A debate over the statue that had been percolating since 2013 came to a head in March 2016 thanks to the efforts of council member Wes Bellamy and a local high school student, who petitioned the City Council to take down the statue and rename the park. That prompted a broader examination by the city, culminating in a February 2017 vote by the council to take the statue down. Supporters of leaving the statue in place sued to challenge their authority. Virginia is the state with the highest number of Confederate monuments in the country. It also has rules on the books barring localities from taking them, or other war memorials, down. The case remains open and awaits judicial ruling. In the meantime, the park has been renamed Emancipation Park. Related slideshow: Confederate statue toppled in Durham, N.C.; others vandalized as cities consider removal of such monuments >>> When this protest first started a year and a half ago about the Robert E. Lee statue, my interest was in taking the issue as broadly as possible, not just having a debate on one statue or another statue but looking at the issue of race in our public spaces writ large, said Signer, who has taught seminars on Race and Policy at U.Va. and co-founded the Center for the Study of Race and Law there while a student. So we created a blue ribbon commission on race, memorials and public spaces. It had nine members, the majority of whom were African-American. They held 17 public hearings over six months. They were charged by the City Council with changing the narrative by telling the full story of race in our public spaces. Their conclusions surprised a lot of people, he said. The commission recommended that the statue stay within city limits of Charlottesville. When they did that, they cited numerous African-Americans who came and spoke to the commission and said that they were opposed to removing or erasing them because they feared that we would repeat the past if we dont remember it, Signer said. But they also recommended a whole host of other ideas to us, most of which weve enacted, like rehabilitating an African-American cemetery that had fallen into disrepair. We spent $80,000 on the Daughters of Zion Cemetery. We put almost a million dollars toward the African American Heritage Center, which does really important work on programming on race. And we committed a million to overhauling those two Confederate parks installed during the height of the Jim Crow era so that we know the full story of how that happened in our city. The visible public grappling with that history caught the eye of the alt-right, drawing people to Charlottesville from elsewhere in the state as well as places like Ohio and Kentucky for a protest march in May and then again over the weekend for the Unite the Right rally, which the New York Post notes was advertised online without even mentioning the Lee statue. The vast percentage of these people were outsiders, Signer said of the neo-Nazi and other alt-right protesters. Charlottesville is one of the most diverse, progressive, dynamic and tolerant places youve ever seen. We became a target because we decided about a year and a half ago at long last to start telling the whole story of race in our city, as a Southern city. That made us a target for people who dont want the narrative changed and the story told about race and our history. So they came here to try and terrorize us and intimidate us away from our work. Flowers are seen on the street on Aug. 16, 2017, where Heather Heyer was killed when a suspected white nationalist plowed his car into a group of anti-racist demonstrators in Charlottesville, Va. (Photo: Joshua Roberts/Reuters) But the thing is, they picked the wrong city. We will not be dissuaded, and we will not be intimidated, and if anything this will result in a more dynamic, more diverse and more effective city working for racial harmony and racial equity. That work involves bridge building across parties Signer sat down with local Rep. Tom Garrett, R-Va., for the first time on Monday and working with the Department of Justices community relations service, an office started under the 1964 Civil Rights Act that works with communities that have experienced racial and ethnic tension and civil disorder. While Ive been critical of the choices [Trump] made in his campaign, and while Im very wary of the dangers of dancing with the devil in American public life, I am much more focused right now on the work that we all have before us of rebuilding and strengthening our democracy, Signer said. If he wants to join, thats terrific. And if he doesnt want to, the rest of us are going to do it without him. Correction: Due to an editing error, Garrett was initially listed as a Democratic lawmaker instead of a Republican. Read more from Yahoo News: White supremacists and protesters clash in Charlottesville, Virginia (PA) A Californian restaurant has fired an employee who was identified online as taking part in a far-right rally in Virginia, where one person was killed after a car was driven into anti-fascist protestors. Management at Top Dog in Berkeley confirmed in an email on Sunday that Cole White, who was pictured holding a torch at the rally, no longer works for the company. He was outed on Twitter by the @yesyoureracist account, which has been identifying participants in the Charlottesville rally, where protestors waved Confederate and Nazi flags and gave Hitler salutes. Groups of white nationalists including neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members and elements of the so-called alt-right descended on the city for the Unite the Right rally. The account has been asking followers to help name and shame those who appeared at the rally. The account posted images of Richard Spencer, a well-known white supremacist and figurehead of the alt-right movement, being arrested, as well as Peter Cvjetanovic, a 20-year-old studying at the University of Nevada. & now that Peter Cvjetanovic will NEVER find a job, perhaps he should work 4 Nazis hand-cranking the mimeograph they use 4 their flyers. pic.twitter.com/eX1cwegEBW Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) August 13, 2017 Cvjetanovic, who was pictured holding a torch at the rally, released a statement saying he is not a racist and cares for all people. Pictures of other people at the rally, including Cole White, could not be independently verified at this time. A car rammed into a group of people peacefully protesting against the gathering, killing one person, Heather Heyer, 32, and injuring 19. MORE: Ivanka and Donald Trump Finally Condemn Nazis, but Not Really, a Day After Charlottesville Violence MORE: Charlottesville Vigil For Protest Crash Victim Ahead of the protest, Heyer, a paralegal and campaigner, posted to Facebook: If youre not outraged, youre not paying attention. Story continues Police confirmed that 20-year-old James Fields, of Ohio, had been arrested following the attack on Saturday. If you recognize any of the Nazis marching in #Charlottesville, send me their names/profiles and I'll make them famous #GoodNightAltRight pic.twitter.com/2tA9xliFVU Yes, You're Racist (@YesYoureRacist) August 12, 2017 Condolences to the family of the young woman killed today, and best regards to all of those injured, in Charlottesville, Virginia. So sad! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2017 Photographer Pat Jarrett, who witnessed the incident, said: A grey Dodge Charger plowed into a sedan and then into a minivan. Bodies flew. People were terrified and screaming. Those closest to it said it was definitely a violent attack. The driver, who people later described as a skinny white guy with a straggly beard, reversed out of there and drove off, the front end of his car all smashed up. The governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, told the white supremacists: Go home Shame on you. You pretend you are patriots, but you are anything but a patriot. In the wake of the attack, Donald Trump condemned the violence on many sides, but was widely criticised after he failed to directly denounce the far-right. Hate and the division must stop, and must stop right now, he said. We have to come together as Americans with love for our nation and true affection for each other. On Sunday, the White House issued a statement attempting to expand on the presidents remarks. It said: The president said very strongly in his statement yesterday that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry and hatred and of course that includes white supremacists, KKK, neo-Nazi and all extremist groups. He called for national unity and bringing all Americans together. Cory Gardner, a Republican senator, tweeted: Mr. President we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism. Another Republican senator, Marco Rubio, also tweeted that Trump should describe the event as a terror attack by white supremacists. By Gina Cherelus (Reuters) - Baltimore removed four monuments to the pro-slavery Civil War Confederacy before dawn on Wednesday, working quickly so the city could avoid protests like the one organized by white nationalists that turned deadly in Charlottesville, Virginia. The statues, including one of General Robert E. Lee and another of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, were taken off their bases in Wyman Park Dell, beside the Baltimore Museum of Art, and carried away on a flatbed truck. Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh said she and the city council decided to remove the monuments "quickly and quietly." "I think any city that has Confederate statues (is) concerned about violence occurring," she told reporters. City Councilman Brandon Scott had called for immediate action following the "domestic terrorism" carried out on Saturday by white supremacists in Charlottesville. A 32-year-old woman was killed and 19 people were injured in the Virginia college town when an Ohio man crashed a car into anti-racist protesters. Following the violence, calls increased for removal of Confederate memorials, flags and other symbols from public places around the United States. Maryland was a slaveholding state during the Civil War. In Los Angeles on Wednesday, the United Daughters of the Confederacy asked the Hollywood Forever Cemetery to remove a monument that since 1925 honored Confederate veterans. Cemetery spokesman Theodore Hovey said the organization made the request after hundreds of people demanded it be taken away. "I think the owner's main concern was for the monument's well-being in light of the current atmosphere, and we were concerned about maintaining the tranquility and peace of the cemetery," Hovey said, adding that the United Daughters would find a new location for the statue. In Birmingham, Alabama's largest city, Mayor William Bell ordered workers on Tuesday to obscure a Confederate monument in a city park using wooden boards. The state attorney general, Steve Marshall, sued the city in response, saying the barriers broke a state law passed in May that banned local governments from moving or altering historical monuments that have been on public property for more than 40 years. Story continues The mayor said the city will fight the lawsuit and ultimately try to get the monument removed from the park. "When you really look at what the Confederacy and the monuments really represent, they represent acts of sedition against the United State of America," Bell said in a telephone interview. In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo wrote to the U.S. Army urging it to remove the names of Jackson and Lee from streets on Fort Hamilton Army Base in Brooklyn. Cuomo said the Charlottesville violence and the tactics of white supremacists "are a poison in our national discourse, and every effort must be made to combat them." New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Twitter that, following the violence in Charlottesville, the city will conduct a 90-day review "of all symbols of hate" that may be on its property. (Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee, and Gina Cherelus, Jonathan Allen and Peter Szekely in New York; Editing by David Gregorio, Toni Reinhold) There are more than 230 memorials to the Civil War in North Carolina, and just before lunchtime on Tuesday, an elderly man in a cowboy hat stood at the foot of what remained of one of them in Durham. I dont care how you feel about what is going on, bellowed the man, who would give his name only as Gary. I refuse to allow socialists and rabble-rousers to come in here and vandalize this town. Some passers-by wondered if it was a stunt. Gary is African-American, and the statue he was defending, which had been pulled from its pedestal by protesters eighteen hours earlier, honored the memory of Confederate soldierswho fought for enslavement and murder and the right to hold slaves, as Rann Baron, a bearded Duke University mathematics professor who stood nearby, chided him. That didnt go over well either. Youre ignorant, retorted another passerby, who cradled his toddler son and wore a black T-shirt with a Confederate flag advertising the Sons of Confederate Veterans, retorted in a thick Eastern Carolina drawl. The Civil War was about states rights. You can spout your false narrative all you want. You do not know what youre talking about. It was a tense day in Durham. After a white nationalist protest over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, about three hours north, turned violent, leaving one woman dead, a group of Bull City activists gathered by a statue of a young Confederate soldier outside the former courthouse. Using a thick yellow cord, they uprooted the statue. Video of the moment went viral on Twitter, and one protester, a 22-year-old student at the historically black North Carolina Central University, now faces felony charges. The protesters argued they were forced to take the law into their own hands. Under a state law passed not long after white supremacist Dylann Roof shot and killed nine African-American worshippers at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, local governments cannot remove or modify historical monuments, including those that commemorate the Confederacy. Story continues We wont accept memorials to people who held slaves, said Baron, who had participated in the Durham protest. If the city wont do it, if the state wont do it, then the people will do it. Local officials werent exactly rushing to condemn the vandalism. People are outraged, Durham Mayor Bill Bell said. Bell, the citys longest-serving mayor and the second African-American to hold that office, sounded tired. The tearing down of the statue represents the frustrations of the people in attendance last night, given the climate in this country and specifically what happened in Charlottesville. Durham is not alone in the state in being divided. In recent years, the states urban centers in Raleigh and Charlotte have become more populous and more cosmopolitan, setting up a tension with the more conservative areas in the rest of the state. In 2016, the seven most populous counties went for Hillary Clinton, while 76 of the remaining 93 were won by Trump. That tension played out in a contentious fight over state legislation in 2016 that aimed to restrict which bathrooms transgender people could use. The fight over statues will likely prove another flashpoint. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper said in a statement Tuesday that he hopes to remove the remaining Confederate monuments, saying that we cannot continue to glorify a war against the United States of America fought in the defense of slavery. But for now, the restrictions on removing memorials remain in place, and the Republican-led legislature would have to agree to change that law. In Durham, local leaders werent eager to put the statue back up either. We dont know what our options are legally, Durham County Commissioner Brenda A. Howerton told me over the phone. Im not speaking for the rest of my fellow commissioners, but personally and politically, Im not interested in using the taxpayers dollar to put it back up. A Massachusetts police officer is under investigation by his own department after reports emerged that he wrote a Facebook post mocking the victims of Saturday's attack on protesters in Virginia. Conrad Lariviere has been named in multiple reports as the officer with the Springfield Police Department who's been accused of making the remarks after cops say a counter-protester at the weekend's Unite the Right march in Charlottesville was struck and killed by a driver behind the wheel of a Dodge Challenger. Read: Charlottesville Suspect Once Called Concentration Camp 'Where the Magic Happened': Classmates "Hahahaha love this, maybe people shouldnt block roads," Lariviere wrote in the now-deleted post, according to MassLive.com. In response to detractors in the thread, Lariviere reportedly responded that he's also been hit by a car. "Ive been hit by a s***bag with warrants but who cares right you ignorant brat live in a fantasy land with the rest of America while I deal with the real danger." Lariviere's conduct is now under internal investigation by the police department, according to a post from Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. "I just got done issuing a statement this morning on how upsetting the tragic incidents were in Charlottesville, VA, and one of our own officers does this? Unbelievable! There is no place for this in our society, let alone from a Springfield Police Officer," Sarno said Sunday night. In their own statement on the contoversy, Springfield Police Commissioner John Barbieri told reporters: "I received notification of this Facebook post earlier today via email from a complainant. The post is purportedly from a Springfield police officer. I took immediate steps to initiate a prompt and thorough internal investigation. "If in fact this post did originate from an officer employed with the Springfield Police Department, this matter will be reviewed by the Community Police Hearings Board for further action." Story continues Speaking to MassLive through his Facebook, which has been set to private, Lariviere called his post "a stupid comment about people blocking streets." "Never would I want someone to get murdered. I am not a racist and dont believe in what any of those protesters are doing," he wrote. "Im a good man who made a stupid comment and would just like to be left alone." The controversy around Lariviere erupted after Saturday's Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville turned violent when police say James Alex Fields Jr. plowed through protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. Nineteen others were injured, some seriously. Read: Woman Pushed Out of the Way of Speeding Car in Charlottesville Recalls Moment Fiance Saved Her Life Fields, 20, made his first court appearance on Monday. He is charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and failure to stop in an accident that resulted in death. No bond was set, and Fields remains in custody. Watch: Trump's 'Fire and Fury' Remark About North Korea Was Improvised: Report Related Articles: New York (AFP) - Daniel Craig, the British actor who famously complained he'd rather slash his wrists than play James Bond a fifth time, has finally confirmed he's returning as 007 after all... one last time. The New York Times first reported last month that the 49-year-old's return to the big screen in 2019 was a "done deal" for the 25th movie in a franchise that has thrilled generations of cinemagoers. But the actor had previously stopped short of confirming the reports. "I've been quite cagey about it," he admitted Tuesday to US television host Stephen Colbert on CBS's "The Late Show." "I've been doing interviews all day and people have been asking me and think I've been rather coy, but I kind of felt like if I was going to speak the truth, I should speak the truth to you," he said. Asked if he was returning as Bond, Craig replied: "Yes" before standing up and shaking Colbert's hand with a grin. "I couldn't be happier," he added. But the star said it would be his last outing as the fictional British secret agent: "I think this is it. This is it. I just want to go out on a high note." Craig's return had been subject to furious speculation for years. In 2015, he told Time Out magazine: "I'd rather break this glass and slash my wrists... We're done. All I want to do is move on." He has since distanced himself from those remarks, attributing them to being tired straight after a grueling shoot for the 2015 Bond movie "Spectre." "Instead of saying something with style and grace, I gave a really stupid answer," he told Colbert. Asked how long he had known he would be back for a fifth Bond, Craig said it had "been a couple of months." "I always wanted to, I needed a break." Bond is set return to US cinemas on November 8, 2019 with an earlier release in Britain and worldwide, says Eon Productions, which oversees everything Bond, and Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, which holds rights to the franchise. Craig is the seventh actor to play Bond, following Sean Connery, Roger Moore, David Niven, George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan. A group of at least 1,000 demonstrators gathered in front of the White House on Sunday to demonstrate solidarity with counterprotesters who had suffered in violent clashes with white nationalists the day before. From there, they marched toward the District of Columbias only remaining outdoor monument to a Confederate general a reminder that the issue that had supposedly drawn neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan to Charlottesville, Virginia, is not yet settled in the nations capital. Earlier in the weekend, throngs of Tiki torch-wielding white supremacists descended on Charlottesville to protest the removal of a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee, who led the Confederacy to a weary surrender in the Civil War. Just over 100 miles northeast, his comrade, Brig. Gen. Albert Pike, stands memorialized in a statue in Washingtons Judiciary Square. Pike should arguably be a more divisive figure than Lee. While there have been some contested suggestions that Lee may have opposed slavery, Pike certainly did not. Pike was born in Massachusetts in 1809 and moved to Arkansas in his 20s. He joined the Know-Nothing Party, but left because they werent pro-slavery enough. He wrote news, composed poetry and practiced law, with his clients including members of Native American tribes. Pike joined the Confederate army as a brigadier general in 1861. He resigned his military post the next year after the Battle of Pea Ridge in northwest Arkansas, where he proved unable to control his troops. He died in Washington in 1891. Pike was also a Freemason, and it was his role with that organization, including as grand commander of the Scottish Rite Masons, that earned him a memorial in the nations capital. The Freemasons erected the statue in 1901. Standing on his pedestal, Pike wears civilian attire. The engravings talk about his work as an author, poet and philanthropist. But his legacy as a Confederate general and proud supporter of slavery is conspicuously absent. The engravings do not mention that he wrote the Confederate battle song Dixie to Arms or that troops under his command were accused of committing atrocities against Union soldiers in battle. Story continues The memorial and its selective homage to Pike the Freemason should bother people, argues Eugene Puryear, an organizer with the Stop Police Terror Project D.C., which helped organize Sundays rally. Even if that was the only reason they erected it, still by erecting it youre deciding that the white supremacy legacy of slavery, the legacy of segregation that he left was something that wasnt problematic to you and that you were happy to platform and raise up, he told HuffPost. Whatever good Albert Pike may have done to afford the Masonic organization, to me, is completely and utterly tainted by his racist views, added Sean Blackmon, who is also with the Stop Police Terror Project D.C. Demonstration organizers chose to end Sundays march at Pikes statue, Puryear said, in order to draw attention to the racist sentiments still pervasive in American society. Confederate statues like Pikes represent the rise of white supremacist governments after the failure of Reconstruction, he said. Pike also hopes the statues and thus the protests proximity to the citys Metropolitan Police Department will help draw attention to issues of police violence and racial inequality in the criminal justice system. Chants of "tear it down" in front of statue of Confederate general Albert Pike in D.C. pic.twitter.com/Zh5mcrTqRx Nick Wing (@nickpwing) August 14, 2017 The Stop Police Terror Project D.C. supports the removal of Pikes statue, but has not yet taken any formal steps calling for its removal. The statue falls under the purview of the National Park Service and is considered part of the National Mall and Memorial Parks in D.C. Mike Litterst, a spokesperson for the National Mall, said they have not received any recent calls or petitions for the statues removal, although it did face opposition in the early 1990s. The Freemasons no longer have any official connection to the Pike memorial. I understand the fervor over it, because I think that its a sensitive topic these days, said Jason Van Dyke, director of communications for the Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia. The Confederacy in general is a very, very sensitive topic, considering the mood of the country. So I get it. But if you know anything about Pike, he was much, much more than just a Confederate general. Van Dyke added that the Freemasons, whose members served on both sides of the Civil War, have always supported freedom of speech and open discourse, and he expressed hope for a more civil conversation about the monument. On Monday evening, another march ended at Pikes statue with protesters carrying signs reading White Supremacy is Terrorism and Black Lives Matter. Once again, they vowed to fight racism and held a moment of silence for Heather Heyer, who was killed in the violence in Charlottesville on Saturday. To Puryear and Blackmon, the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, the recent surge in white supremacist movements and the growing debate over the public honor paid to historic racist figures are a direct result of the rise of Donald Trump. Its no secret that the Republican Party especially has used racist, dog-whistle politics, and Trump just brought it out of the shadows, Puryear said. While the monument debate may have just begun in the District, protesters in Durham, North Carolina, took matters into their own hands on Monday evening, tearing down a statue of a Confederate soldier that stood outside a courthouse. I think at this moment in time, Puryear said, when we are realizing in such a raw way how deep issues of racism and the legacy of racism and slavery continues to be with us, I think its just extraordinarily inappropriate for these monuments to be up, based on what they represent. Also on HuffPost Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. I am taking action to relocate the Confederate statues. We have thoroughly examined this issue, and heard from many of our citizens. Mayor Jim Gray (@JimGrayLexKY) August 12, 2017 Citing events in #Charlottesville #Baltimore City Council adopts resolution calling for immediate destruction of confederate monuments #WBAL pic.twitter.com/9IiiGpfr99 Vanessa Herring (@VanessaWBAL) August 14, 2017 I'm sending a letter to @NatlParkService & will intro a resolution calling for the removal of Gen. Pike statue once we're back in session https://t.co/NuoFDTXNgr David Grosso (@cmdgrosso) August 14, 2017 JUST IN: Jacksonville City Council President calls for starting process of moving confederate monuments/memorials off public property. pic.twitter.com/AVJGqZ9CPs Stephanie Brown (@SBrownReports) August 14, 2017 Its time to move forward. These monuments should come down. - RC https://t.co/Lw9m6ZYbQJ Governor Roy Cooper (@NC_Governor) August 15, 2017 JUST IN: City of Franklin to remove Robert E. Lee monument in Warren County. @Enquirer Jason Williams (@jwilliamscincy) August 16, 2017 A look at the now covered Confederate Monument in Linn Park. Mayor Bell ordered the statue covered this afternoon. @WBRCnews #Birmingham pic.twitter.com/VbqYLSwZ1t Jamiese Price (@ThePriceReport) August 16, 2017 This article originally appeared on HuffPost. After 37 years of fishing, Deadliest Catch captain Johnathan Hillstrand decided it was time to retire. But first, the captain had to finishing catching his 250,000-pound quota of crabs. Hillstrand had no doubts he was ready to retire. He said, You see me back out here again, kick me right in the nuts and gouge my eyes out. Ill do it myself if I come out here again. Ill kick myself in my own nuts and poke my own eye. Hillstrand managed to find the crustaceans, and it wasnt too long before his tanks were too full to hold anymore. As the last crab pot was being pulled up, Hillstrand said of his retirement, Hasnt resonated in my head yet, but I dont believe this is real. It chokes me up. The crew thanked their captain by break-dancing for him. And his loyal friend and deck boss, Freddy Maugatai, visited the wheelhouse to tell his captain how much he meant to him. Throughout the fleet, fishermen set off flares to bid the skipper a fond farewell. Hillstrand made a speech that was broadcast across the fleet: Thirty-seven years out here and, man, just know when its time to go, and its time to go and do something else. Deadliest Catch regularly airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on Discovery. Watch as a deckhand is injured when falling while stacking crab pots: Read more from Yahoo TV: Tell us what you think! Hit us up on Twitter , Facebook , or Instagram , or leave your comments below. And check out our host, Kylie Mar, on Twitter , Facebook, or Instagram. In Gainesville, Florida, workers hired by the Daughters of the Confederacy chipped away at a Confederate soldiers statue, loaded it quietly on a truck and drove away with little fanfare. In Baltimore, Mayor Catherine Pugh said shes ready to tear down all of her citys Confederate statues, and the city council voted to have them destroyed. San Antonio lawmakers are looking ahead to removing a statue from a prominent downtown park. The deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, is fueling another re-evaluation of Confederate statues in cities across the nation, accelerating their removal in much the same way that a 2015 mass shooting by a white supremacist renewed pressure to take down the Confederate flag from public property. We should not glorify a part of our history in front of our buildings that really is a testament to Americas original sin, Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe said Monday after the statue known as Old Joe was returned to the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which erected it in 1904. Some people refused to wait. Protesters in Durham, North Carolina, used a rope to pull down the nearly century-old Confederate Soldiers Monument on Monday at a rally against racism. Dozens cheered as the statue of a soldier holding a rifle fell to the ground in front of an old courthouse building. Many officials who were horrified by the events that killed one person and injured dozens more Saturday in Charlottesville soon began publicizing plans to take down statues. The Southern Poverty Law Center last year counted more than 1,500 things around the country named after Confederate figures or dedicated to the Confederacy, including holidays, statues, flags and the names of cities, counties, schools and parks. Nearly half are monuments, which are in 24 states. Most of the dedications are in the South, but 24 are in the North and 21 in states that did not exist at the time of the Civil War. Not everyone is in favor of immediate destruction. Story continues Martin Blatt, Northeastern Universitys director of public history, said there should be a discussion at the local level about adding context to existing Confederate statues and adding new statues to mark prominent slavery or lynching sites throughout the South. I think simply destroying them or removing them and turning them into junk metal, theres a nihilistic element to that. Its wiping out history, Blatt said. However, looked at from the perspective of African-Americans I can understand destruction. I think I would prefer removal out of public spaces. In Jacksonville, Florida, City Council President Anna Brosche ordered an immediate inventory of all of the Confederate statues in her city in preparation for their removal. These monuments, memorials and markers represent a time in our history that caused pain to so many, she said Monday. Lexington, Kentucky, Mayor Jim Gray moved up his announcement by a day in reaction to the weekend bloodshed. Memorials to John C. Breckinridge and John Hunt Morgan are perched outside a former courthouse that was the site of slave auctions before the Civil War. San Antonio Councilman Roberto Trevino is promoting a measure that would remove the Confederate statue at the center of Travis Park, where for years people have mistakenly identified the figure as being that of Col. William Travis, a Texas hero who died at the Alamo. This is not an important art piece, but a monument to power. It was put in to remind people of that power. It is an unfortunate message of hate, and we think its important to relocate it, Trevino said Monday. In Memphis, Tennessee, City Attorney Bruce McMullen said Monday that he plans to file a petition to remove a statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate cavalry general and an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan, from a park. The state historical commission has been blocking the move under a law that makes any push to remove historical markers harder. In Nashville, protesters draped a black jacket over the head of a Forrest bust at the Tennessee Capitol while cheering, Tear it down! Republican Gov. Bill Haslam later said he didnt think Forrest should be honored at the Capitol. In Baltimore, Pugh announced Monday that she would move forward with the removal of Baltimores statues of Roger B. Taney, a Marylander who wrote the 1856 Dred Scott Supreme Court ruling that denied citizenship to African-Americans, and a statue of two Virginians, Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas Stonewall Jackson. Pugh said she was making plans to send the statues to cemeteries with Confederate dead outside the city. But hours later, the city council voted unanimously to have the statues destroyed instead of moved. It was unclear whether anything would happen to the statues immediately. The violence in Charlottesville probably will speed up efforts to do away with the monuments, experts said. The convergence of white nationalists and neo-Nazis with Confederate imagery in Charlottesville will make it difficult for government agencies to defend having Confederate statues on their property, Boston University history professor Heather Cox Richardson said. The idea that this somehow is about Southern heritage, I think that ship sailed, Richardson said. Violence and death change things, agreed University of Georgia political science professor M.V. Trey Hood III. Photos of gunman Dylann Roof, who fatally shot nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina, showed him with a Confederate flag and triggered a swift sea change in perception of the banner, Hood said. Then-South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley successfully led calls to bring down a Confederate flag that had flown on Statehouse grounds for 54 years. Other cities and organizations began accelerating their removal of Confederate imagery following Roofs arrest. Now local officials will find it harder to ignore or shelve questions about Confederate statues, Richardson said. It was always possible for people to look the other way, she said. After Charlottesville, I do not see how Americans can look the other way. You have to make a choice at this moment. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) is a frequent critic of Donald Trump. But on Tuesday, he offered a rebuke of the president that was strong even for him. As a Jew, as an American, as a human, words cannot express my disgust and disappointment. This is not my President, Schatz tweeted, in reaction to a press conference in which Trump once again blamed both sides for the violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend. As a Jew, as an American, as a human, words cannot express my disgust and disappointment. This is not my President. Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) August 15, 2017 In his tweet, Schatz borrowed a phrase popularized by the grassroots political resistance movements that have sprung up since Trumps election last year. In February, for example, thousands of people took to the streets in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and elsewhere to mark Not My Presidents Day on the Presidents Day federal holiday. Its not uncommon for sitting lawmakers to express their disagreement with a president. But rarely do they question a presidents legitimacy in such a direct way. During a press conference in New York on Tuesday, Trump seemed to walk back the previous days condemnation of white nationalist groups, including neo-Nazis and the KKK. You had a group on one side who was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, and nobody wants to say that, but Ill say it right now, Trump said Tuesday. You have people who are very fine people on both sides, he added. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also reacted to the presidents press conference on Twitter, calling his words sick. The President of the United States just defended neo-Nazis and blamed those who condemn their racism and hate. This is sick. Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) August 15, 2017 Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. By Stephanie Kelly NEW YORK (Reuters) - Denver City Council approved on Tuesday a $1.8 billion public-private partnership project to redesign the Jeppesen Terminal of Denver International Airport (DEN), the latest airport to use this financing structure for redevelopment. P3s, which are more commonly used in Europe, Australia and Canada, are typically made up of a private consortium of companies to design, build and finance a project while ownership remains with the public entity. The contract, which is for the next 34 years, is the largest in the city's history, according to DEN. Some U.S. airports are showing increased interest in using P3s to fund larger-scale projects, said Kurt Forsgren, an infrastructure analyst for S&P Global Ratings. New York's LaGuardia Airport is using a $4 billion P3 structure, working with LaGuardia Gateway Partners to renovate the airport's decrepit central terminal. "Its all driven by alternative ways of delivering complicated projects and additional consideration of the full life-cycle costs of these projects," Forsgren said. "Not just the costs of constructing it, but operating and maintaining over time and having that be a known, upfront cost has made them something that's worthy of consideration for a lot of airport operators." Two members of Denver's City Council, out of 12 who voted, opposed the contract. "For me, private money isn't cheaper than bonding with our stellar credit rating," said councilman Rafael Espinoza, who voted no, saying he did not see the need for a P3 structure. Private financing is generally accepted to be a more expensive way of paying for a project. However, proponents of P3 projects say the entire life cycle of the asset needs to be considered when looking at the bottom line. PARTNERS The airport and Great Hall Partners, the consortium of private partners involved in the contract, will share the costs of design and construction in the first four years of the project, Mindy Crane, another DEN spokesperson, said. Story continues Over the next 30 years, Great Hall Partners will manage concessions in the terminal. They will be repaid for their initial investment by receiving 20 percent of concession revenues and payments from DEN, Crane said. The airport will fund its costs through revenue bonds, cash reserves and other sources, Crane said. The project is expected to create 400 to 450 construction jobs, more than 800 permanent jobs and "generate an additional $3.5 million in annual taxes and general fund revenue for the City of Denver," DEN said in a statement. (Reporting by Stephanie Kelly; Editing by Daniel Bases and James Dalgleish) President Donald Trump on Monday plugged his winery at his press conference where he blamed both sides for white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. As he left the podium, a reporter asked the president if he planned to visit Charlottesville. Does anyone know that I own a house in Charlottesville? Trump responded. Oh boy, its Charlottesville, youll see. The president was referring to Trump Winery, and said he knows a lot about the city as a result. Trump called it a great place thats been very badly hurt over the last couple of days. Then, he boasted of his winery. I own actually one of the largest wineries in the United States. Its in Charlottesville, he said. It turns out Trump may not own the winery. And its not one of the largest in the nation. Trump bought the winery in 2011, but has since handed control to one of his sons, Eric Trump, according to The Hill. A statement on the winerys website says its not owned, managed or affiliated with Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization or any of their affiliates. Last year, PolitiFact looked at Trumps claim that it was the largest winery on the East Coast, and found the boast not true in terms of either acreage or production. Also on HuffPost Neo-Nazis and white supremacists encircle and chant at counter-protesters at the base of a Thomas Jefferson statue on Aug. 11, 2017, after marching with torches through the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville, Virginia. Neo-Nazis and white supremacists take part in the "Unite the Right" rally. The group marched through the University of Virginia campus with torches. A man wears Nazi regalia before the "Unite the Right" rally. Counter-protesters arrive at the "Unite the Right" rally. White supremacists carry Nazi flags on Aug. 12, 2017. A white supremacist carries the Confederate flag as he walks past counter-demonstrators. White nationalists march through the street. A sign on a business in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia. Police arrive at the scene of protests after a state of emergency is announced in Charlottesville, Virginia. A man is down during a clash between white nationalist protesters and a group of counter-protesters. White nationalists and counter-protesters clash. A protester receives first-aid during a clash between white nationalists and counter-protesters. A man makes a slashing motion across his throat toward counter-protesters as he marches with other white nationalists and neo-Nazis during the "Unite the Right" rally. A white supremacist stands behind militia members after he scuffled with a counter-demonstrator. Virginia State Police use pepper spray as they move in during a clash between white nationalist protesters and counter-protesters. Hundreds of white nationalists and neo-Nazis march down East Market Street toward Lee Park during the "Unite the Right" rally. A smoke bomb is thrown at a group of counter-protesters. Virginia State Troopers stand under a statue of Robert E. Lee. White nationalists descended on Charlottesville to protest the statue's removal. Anti-fascist counter-protesters wait outside Lee Park to hurl insults as white nationalists and neo-Nazis are forced out after the "Unite the Right" rally was declared an unlawful gathering. A group of counter-protesters rally against white nationalists. A man is seen with an injury during a clash between white nationalists and counter-protesters. Protesters and counter-protesters after being pepper-sprayed and/or maced. David Duke (C), participates in the white nationalist rally. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Attorney Michael Cohen at Trump Tower: AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump's lawyer has been ridiculed online after making a collage of himself pictured with black people to prove he is not racist. Michael Cohen tweeted a selection of selfies in an apparent bid to distance himself from anger over the President's response to white supremacist violence in Charlottesville. "As the son of a holocaust survivor, I have no tolerance for racism," Mr Trump's personal attorney wrote alongside eight pictures of himself with African Americans. He added: "Just because I support @POTUS @realDonaldTrump doesn't make me a racist." As the son of a holocaust survivor, I have no tolerance for #racism. Just because I support @POTUS @realDonaldTrump doesn't make me a racist pic.twitter.com/lfIwdosreE Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) August 16, 2017 Twitter users mocked the post, described by some as "weird". "You really just made a grid of the 10 black people you know," suggested Daniel Aubry. Another said: "Did you really tell your assistant 'Find me a bunch of pictures of me with black people' for this tweet?'" A third asked: "Did you collect photos of yourself with black people specifically in case this came up?" Others told Mr Cohen he was "complicit" in the emboldening of white supremacy under Mr Trump's administration. Questioned about the tweet by journalist Olivia Nuzzi, he replied: "Trump is not a racist and neither am I. The attacks against him and all of us who support him are disgusting, disgraceful and hurtful." Asked "why do pictures of you with black people prove that", the lawyer added: "All morning I am receiving horrific comments about being anti-black, racist etc, for supporting Trump. Wrong! Story continues You really just made a grid of the 10 black people you know Daniel Aubry (@Aubs89) August 16, 2017 Did you collect photos of yourself with black people specifically incase this came up? hrtbps (@hrtbps) August 16, 2017 Mr Trump's attitude to race has been under the spotlight after he defended neo-Nazis who demonstrated in Charlottesville and partly blamed left-wing activists for violence that left an anti-fascist protester dead. His claim that there was "blame on both sides" for the deadly disorder won applause from David Duke, former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, who praised the President's "honesty and courage". Last year Mr Cohen was forced to backtrack after speaking of the "African American problem" in the US during an interview. "What I meant to say is the problem that exists in the African American community," he later clarified, referring to the police shooting of 23-year-old black man Sylville Smith and ensuing riots. He added that Mr Trump was colourblind about people, but was aware of the racial tensions in the US. Steve Bannon: Getty Donald Trump is facing increased pressure to get rid of the nationalist wing of his White House following a racial protest in Charlottesville that led to deadly violence. Multiple former and current allies, reportedly including media mogul Rupert Murdoch, have called for the ousting of Chief Strategist Steve Bannon a self-proclaimed nationalist who ran the Breitbart website and called it a platform for the alt-right. The alt-right a name given to the group that has rejected mainstream conservatism in favour of white nationalism drew considerable controversy during Mr Trumps bid for the White House. Mr Bannon, who embodies the populist movement at the centre of the Presidents agenda, is credited as being one of the key players that helped Mr Trump win the 2016 election. In a press conference on Tuesday, Mr Trump told reporters that Mr Bannon is not a racist, I can tell you that. Well see what happens to Mr Bannon, Mr Trump said. But hes a very good person, adding that the press treats the strategist unfairly. The real estate mogul was said to be reciting Mr Bannons words as well as those of senior policy advisor Stephen Miller when he declared to a crowd during his inauguration ceremony that he is the protector of the countrys forgotten men and women and described the nation as a landscape of rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones. Mr Miller one of the main architects of the Presidents immigration policy and advisor Sebastian Gorka, who once wrote for Breitbart, have also come under scrutiny. Bannon, Miller, Gorka must go. Probably more, tweeted John Weaver, an advisor to Ohio Governor John Kasich, who ran against Mr Trump in the Republican primaries. If the President is sincere about rejecting white supremacists, he should remove all doubt by firing Steve Bannon and the other alt-right white supremacist sympathisers in the White House, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a statement. Story continues She added that the Presidents first response to the Charlottesville violence in which he did not denounce white supremacist groups was a direct reflection of the fact that Mr Bannon is an alt-right white supremacist sympathizer and a shameless enforcer of those un-American beliefs. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter in November, after Mr Trump was elected, Mr Bannon said he was not a white nationalist, Im a nationalist. He also emphasised that his ideology runs counter to those of both the Democratic and Republicans parties, which he believes have sold out the country and effectively created a middle class in Asia. Former White House communications advisor Anthony Scaramucci, sacked by Mr Trump after just 10 days on the job, suggested to ABC that Mr Bannons time at the White House could be cut short. I think the president knows what he's going to do with Steve Bannon, said Mr Scaramucci, who had railed against the senior strategist in a profanity-laced conversation with the New Yorker before being fired. [The President has] got to move more into the mainstream, hes got to be more into where the moderates are and the independents are, Mr. Scaramucci told ABCs This Week. And so if he does that, hell have a very successful legislative agenda that hell be able to execute. And if he doesnt do that, youre going to see inertia and youre going to see this resistance from more of the establishment senators that he needs to curry favor with. But a decision by Mr Trump to purge the White House of Mr Bannon, Mr Gorka and Mr Miller would be a slap in the face to the President's base of supporters, longtime Tea Party activist Debbie Dooley told the Independent. Ms Dooley said voters elected Mr Trump for his America First agenda. He was not elected as a moderate, she said. In an interview with Breitbart News Daily three days before the violence in Charlottesville, Mr Gorka accused the media for focusing too much on white supremacists. Its this constant, Oh, its the white man. Its the white supremacists. Thats the problem. No, it isnt, Maggie Haberman, Mr Gorka said, referring to the prominent New York Times reporter. Go to Sinjar. Go to the Middle East and tell me what the real problem is today. Go to Manchester, he added, suggesting that the real threat to the US is radical Islamic terror. The White House did not respond to the Independent's request for comment regarding reports that the President is under pressure to get rid of some of his top advisors. President Donald Trump: AP Donald Trump has plunged headfirst into hot water on the issue of race relations, comparing the removal of a Confederate general's statue to one of George Washington three days after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville erupted into deadly violence. In a press conference that started with the President discussing US infrastructure, Mr Trump heatedly defended his first response to the bloody protests on Saturday as well as attacked the media for its coverage of the event. When asked if race relations were better or worse under his presidency, Mr Trump replied, they've been frayed for a long time, adding that he believes creating jobs is going to have a tremendous positive impact on the issue. Mr Trump had received bipartisan criticism over the weekend for not directly denouncing the actions of neo-Nazis and members of the Ku Klux Klan who descended on Charlottesville to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee. The rally of white nationalists, met by counter-protests, quickly became violent, prompting the governor to declare a state of emergency. The incident for which Mr Trump had placed blame on many sides resulted in the death of a young woman after a car plowed into a crowd. On Tuesday, the President said that before I make a statement, I like to know the facts. I think the driver of the car is a disgrace to himself, his family, and his country, Mr Trump said. And that is you can call this terrorism, you can call it murder, you can call it whatever you want. The alleged driver, James Fields, 20, is being held without bail on charges of murder and malicious wounding in the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer. When asked why he did not immediately condemn neo-Nazis, Mr Trump replied, I didnt wait long. I want to make sure, unlike most politicians, that what I said was correct and not make a quick statement. The statement I made on Saturday, the first statement, was a fine statement," the President said. But you dont make statements until you know the facts. Story continues He also criticised alt-left groups that he claimed were very, very violent when they sought to confront the nationalist and Nazi groups, again saying there is blame on both sides and that there are two sides to the story. Many of those people were there to protest the taking down of the statue of Robert E Lee, Mr Trump said. This week, it is Robert E Lee and this week, Stonewall Jackson. Is it George Washington next? You have to ask yourself, where does it stop? he said, later noting that both the first and third American presidents had owned slaves. George Washington was a slave owner. Are we gonna take down statues of George Washington? ... you're changing history, you're changing culture...you had many people in that group other than neo-Nazis and white nationalists. And the press has treated them absolutely unfairly. Mr Trump's comments received backlash from both Republicans and Democrats on Twitter as well as the praise of David Duke, a former KKK leader, who viewed the President's remarks as a condemnation of leftist terrorists. Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville, Mr Duke said in a tweet. Senate Democratic Leader Charles Schumer said great and good American presidents seek to unite, not divide. Donald Trumps remarks clearly show he is not one of them, Mr Schumer wrote on Twitter. By saying he is not taking sides, Donald Trump clearly is. When David Duke and white supremacists cheer, youre doing it very very wrong. Blaming both sides for #Charlottesville?! No, wrote Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Republican of Florida. Back to relativism when dealing with KKK, Nazi sympathizers, white supremacists? Just no. The President said not all of those gathered in the Charlottesville park to protest the statue's removal were white supremacists or Nazis, adding that it was unfair to suggest they were. Ive condemned neo-Nazis. Ive condemned many different groups. Not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists by any stretch. On Monday, in much more measured and rehearsed language, Mr Trump declared to reporters in a statement that racism is evil and that the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups are repugnant. But in front of reporters at Trump Tower in New York, the President seemingly spontaneously said there were bad people on both sides in Charlottesville, reopening the controversy and raising new questions as to how his administration will be viewed over race relations. You had a group on one side that was bad. You had a group on the other side that was also very violent, the President said. Nobody wants to say that. Ill say it right now. You had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit and they were very, very violent. Donald Trump has provoked more anger on Twitter - AFP Donald Trump, already under fire for a lukewarm condemnation of violence that led to the death of a woman at the weekend, on Tuesday morning shared a cartoon of a man covered in a CNN logo being hit by a train via Twitter before deleting it minutes later. It came as he endures more criticism for his public handling of clashes in Charlottesville at the weekend, where a 32-year-old protester was killed after after being struck by a car. A White House official said the image of the train had been posted inadvertently and was deleted as soon as the error came to light. This tweet was deleted after about 30 minutes Credit: Twitter The president also apparently accidentally retweeted a post by someone calling him "a fascist", much to the amusement of critics. Mike Holden, who posted the original, wrote: "I'm announcing my retirement from Twitter. I'll never top this RT." He also updated his Twitter biography to: "Officially Endorsed by the President of the United States." Mr Trump was criticised at the weekend for failing to single out the far-Right and white supremacists for their role in the Charlottesville unrest. He relented on Monday, reading a statement declaring that racism is evil. Yet the flurry of activity on his Twitter account, using violent imagery against CNN and in another incident retweeting a conspiracy theorist, raised concerns that Mr Trumps words of condemnation about Charlottesville were being immediately and deliberately undermined. Hank Sheinkopf, a New York political strategist, said Mr Trump had demonstrated his discomfort at openly criticising the hard Right. He said posting and deleting an image of an attack on CNN fooled no-one. Its a dog whistle to the Right, he said. Its attacking the news media, attacking those he sees as the enemy. Late on Monday, Mr Trump also shared a Tweet from a conspiracy theorist claiming the news media is ignoring violence in Chicago part of an argument that liberal journalists are focused only on violence perpetrated by supporters of the president. Meanwhile: 39 shootings in Chicago this weekend, 9 deaths. No national media outrage. Why is that? https://t.co/9Crutnnrp8 CNN is FakeNews (@JackPosobiec) August 14, 2017 Jack Posobiec, the account owner, has made waves in far Right circles by promoting a conspiracy theory about the murder of a Democratic aide and by spreading untrue rumours about a satanic child pornography ring centred on a Washington pizza restaurant. AP Overshadowed by his decision to describe some of those who took part in the far-right rally in Charlottesville as very fine people, Donald Trump announced plans to scrap regulations designed to protect roads and other infrastructure from climate change. Under Barack Obama, the US federal government was required to consider the effects of global warming when planning infrastructure, such as the risk of flooding from predicted sea level rise. Mr Trump complained that such regulations were slowing down projects, claiming it had taken 17 years to build a road in a state that he would not name. The US President wants to spend $200bn of government money over 10 years on improving infrastructure as part of a $1 trillion programme involving private funds. However a Republican from South Florida, where recent flooding has seen fish swim in the streets of Miami, one of the most vulnerable cities in the world to sea level rise, condemned Mr Trumps plans saying they were not fiscally conservative but irresponsible. Speaking at Trump Tower in New York, Mr Trump said: I just signed a new Executive Order to dramatically reform the nations badly broken infrastructure permitting process. Just blocks away is the Empire State building. It took 11 months to build. But today, it could take as long as a decade. We used to have the greatest infrastructure anywhere in the world, and today were like a third-world country. No longer will we allow the infrastructure of our magnificent country to crumble and decay. He suggested the Democrats in Congress, who joined forces with rebel Republicans to defeat his healthcare proposals, would back his infrastructure plans. Mr Trump has described global warming as a hoax and has appointed a string of climate science deniers to key posts. Hes also announced the US will withdraw from the Paris Agreement on climate change. Carlos Curbelo, a Republican in the House of Representatives who serves South Florida, said spending vast amounts of infrastructure that would not stand up to the changing weather was a false economy. Story continues Sea level rise and the risk of severe flooding are a reality for communities across the country, he said in a statement. When youre on the front lines like South Florida, we know the importance of having more resilient building codes to protect our infrastructure, especially when taxpayer dollars are used. This Executive Order is not fiscally conservative, its irresponsible, and it will lead to taxpayer dollars being wasted on projects that may not be built to endure the flooding we are already seeing and know is only going to get worse. And Jessica Grannis, of the Georgetown Climate Centre, told ABC News: What this order will do is ensure that we will waste more taxpayer money because federal agencies will no longer have to consider long-term flood risks to federally funded infrastructure projects. Rafael Lemaitre, former director of public affairs at Federal Emergency Management Agency, who worked on the Obama-era order, told Reuters that Mr Trump was getting rid of the most significant action taken in a generation to safeguard US infrastructure. Eliminating this requirement is self-defeating; we can either build smarter now, or put taxpayers on the hook to pay exponentially more when it floods. And it will, he said. The director of a state-run hospital in northern India has reportedly been suspended as officials scramble to appease grieving citizens and resolve a medical crisis that has left about 60 children dead over the past week. The Washington Post reports that at least 30 children passed away within just 36 hours beginning late Thursday at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital in Gorakhpur, a city in Uttar Pradesh, as oxygen supplies dwindled following a dispute over an unpaid bill from the supplier. A home affairs ministry spokesman told the Press Trust of India that 21 deaths were determined to have been directly linked to a shortage of oxygen, while the rest of the deaths were still being investigated. According to the Post, the death toll over the past week has reached an estimated 60. Suspended director Rajeev Misra said he had repeatedly requested government funding to help settle the hospitals debt to a medical supply company. Documents obtained by the Post indicate that the hospital owed some $89,750 to the distributor, Pushpa Sales, which had reportedly written several letters to the hospital and district magistrate over the past six months to demand payment. Pushpa discontinued the hospitals oxygen supply on Aug. 4, after the July 31 expiry of their contract. The states health minister and hospital representatives have denied that the sudden string of deaths were related to the cutoff of the oxygen supply, the Post reports. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath reportedly suggested that the deaths were instead caused by poor sanitation and encephalitis. [Washington Post] Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has declared war on drug users - EPA Thirty two suspected drug dealers were killed in police shootouts in the Philippines on Tuesday night, during the bloodiest 24 hours so far of a state war on drugs that has killed over 7,000 people in the last year. The police conducted 49 buy-bust operations, using undercover officers to attempt to buy drugs from suspected dealers, and 14 raids, in the province of Bucalan, just north of the capital, Manila, said police superintendent Romeo Caramat. Filipino students stage a protest rally against the war on drugs in Manila Credit: EPA Describing his forces actions as one time, big time, he said that 25 of these operations had resulted in armed encounter during which 32 were killed and 107 were arrested. Officers also confiscated over 200 grams of methamphetamine, 786g of marijuana, and firearms. Mr Caramat told reporters that while the police tried to avoid casualties during their operations, that we do not have control of the situation. He repeated a common line issued by the Philippine authorities, that the suspects were killed because they fought back. The subjects are notorious drug pushers and we all know that they are called notorious because they will refuse to be caught alive, he said, according to local news-site, Rappler. More than 3,200 alleged drug offenders have been killed in gunbattles with law enforcers since President Rodrigo Duterte unleashed a brutal war on drugs after coming to power last year. #Philippines mandatory student drug testing may create a "school-to-cemetery track" for kids testing positive @hrwhttps://t.co/OC0MQMce3upic.twitter.com/Jpysuh1pTs Phelim Kine (@PhelimKine) August 14, 2017 Human rights groups have accused the police of acting with impunity and deliberately staging shoot-outs to kill suspects without giving them the right to a trial. Story continues They report that at least 7,000 alleged drugs dealers and users in total have been killed, with the majority being gunned down by vigilante assassins accused of having links to the authorities. Critics of Duterte have demanded an investigation into his possible role in the violence. Rachel Chhoa-Howard, Philippines researcher at Amnesty International said it was extremely worrying that the killings had picked up pace in recent weeks. This is another horrific milestone in President Dutertes bloody war on drugs, she said of Tuesday nights death toll. This shows clearly the urgent need to establish an international-led investigation into the carnage taking place every night. Phelime Kine, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, added his voice to calls for an independent inquiry, urging the United Nations to investigate Dutertes drugs war slaughter. Dutertes consistent cheerleading for an unlawful killing campaign that killed at least 7,000 and perhaps as many as 12,000 of the countrys most poverty-stricken citizens makes him complicit in the incitement and instigation of mass killings he said. In quotes | Rodrigo Duterte, President of the Philippines Meanwhile, HRW has warned that the safety of Philippine high school and college students could be endangered by government plans to introduce random mandatory drugs tests on campus. The ministry of education has approved a proposal to introduce drugs tests at the start of the school year to deter and determine the prevalence of drug abuse among students. Imposing mandatory drug testing of students when Philippine police are committing rampant summary killings of alleged drug users puts countless children in danger for failing a drug test, said Mr Kine. Education officials should be protecting students, not putting them in harms way through mandatory drugs tests. The Smythe Duchess one-button blazer has been a major staple for Kate Middleton over the years so much so that she has it in two different colors: green and blue. Kate was first spotted rocking the blue blazer in 2011 during the duke and duchesss North American royal visit. Kate rocks the Smythe blazer in blue, while visiting Alberta as part of her 2011 North American royal visit. (Photo: Samir Hussein/WireImage/Getty Images) We believe she was making a diplomatic effort to wear a Canadian designer, and our navy tailored blazer fit the bill, Andrea Lenczner and Christie Smythe, the designers behind the Smythe blazer, told Vogue in an interview. And, yes, every time she appears in the blazer, we see a surge in demand. The duchess was later seen sporting the blue blazer at the 2012 Summer Olympics, then while attending a SportsAid workshop at the Olympic Park in London, and again at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. In 2013, while attending a SportsAid workshop at the Olympic Park in London, Kate wore a white-and-blue Ralph Lauren Tori Breton-striped top, blue Stuart Weitzman Corkswoon wedges, and her staple navy blue Smythe blazer. (Photo: Getty Images) Kate wears the Smythe blazer at Hampden Park during the 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, in 2014. (Photo: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images) The 35-year-old royal also has the jacket in army green, which she broke out in 2016 while visiting Haida Gwaii, B.C., as part of her royal tour of Canada. Kate visits the Haida Heritage Centre and Museum in Haida Gwaii, B.C. (Photo: Karwai Tang/WireImage/Getty Images) Now, Smythe is rethinking pink for October. The brand will show its support for Breast Cancer Awareness Month by creating a limited-edition pink version of the Duchess blazer as part of its pre-spring 2018 collection. Partnering with Rethink Breast Cancer, Smythe will donate $50 from the sale of every pink Duchess to the organization. (Photo: Courtesy of Smythe) Partnering with Rethink Breast Cancer, Smythe will donate $50 from the sale of every pink Duchess to the organization. The pink Duchess blazer retails for $595 and will be available for purchase on Smythes website in October. No word on whether Kate will pick up her staple blazer in a third color but the sweet hue would look great on her. Read more from Yahoo Style + Beauty: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty. Donald Trump, the US president, defended his response to the weekend's racially charged protests in Charlottesville in a bruising exchange with reporters. In his remarks, Mr Trump described the rally as largely over the removal of a Confederate monument, although an organiser billed it as pushback against the "anti-white climate". Mr Trump also misstated his levels of political support in the 2016 election. Here, we look at his claims - and the facts. On the 'rough, bad people' in the crowd What Mr Trump said "But not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists, by any stretch. Those people were also there because they wanted to protest the taking down of a statue, Robert E Lee... "There were people in that rally, and I looked the night before. If you look, they were people protesting very quietly the taking down of the statue of Robert E Lee. I'm sure in that group there were some bad ones. "The following day, it looked like they had some rough, bad people - neo-Nazis, white nationalists, whatever you want to call them. "But you had a lot of people in that group that were there to innocently protest and very legally protest, because you know - I don't know if you know, they had a permit. The other group didn't have a permit." The facts The organiser of the rally, a local right-wing blogger and activist, has said he initially was spurred because of the city's decision to remove the statue. But he has also said the event, dubbed "Unite the Right," came to represent much more than that. Jason Kessler said last week before the event that it was "about an anti-white climate within the Western world and the need for white people to have advocacy like other groups do". Those in the crowd included Ku Klux Klan members, skinheads and members of various white nationalist factions. Many were heavily armed. Some flew Nazi flags. They hurled racial slurs at counter-demonstrators and gave Nazi salutes. Story continues Charlottesville far-right protest White nationalist Richard Spencer - who popularised the term "alt-right" to describe the fringe movement mixing white supremacy, white nationalism, anti-Semitism and anti-immigration populism - said on Tuesday that the event was more than "just a Southern heritage festival". He said Confederate monuments are "a metaphor for something much bigger, and that is white dispossession and the de-legitimisation of white people in this country and around the world". On what the protest victim's mother said What Mr Trump said "In fact, the young woman, who I hear is a fantastic young woman and it was on NBC, her mother wrote me and said through, I guess Twitter, social media, the nicest things and I very much appreciated that. "I hear she was a fine, really actually an incredible young woman. But her mother on Twitter thanked me for what I said." The facts Mr Trump is correct. On Monday, NBC News tweeted that Susan Bro, the mother of the counter-protester killed on Saturday, had thanked the president for "denouncing those who promote violence and hatred". Susan Bro, mother of Charlottesville attack victim Heather Heyer, thanks Pres. Trump for "denouncing those who promote violence and hatred" pic.twitter.com/E46OnwE5fW NBC News (@NBCNews) August 14, 2017 When asked in an interview on Tuesday about her comments, she did not repeat the praise for the President. "I was so tired I don't remember saying something nice or derogatory about him," she said, adding she did not want to criticise the president. Kim Bro, her husband, said he did not think it was fair for the president to use a grieving mother for his own personal gain. He added that he thinks the focus should be on his stepdaughter - "what she stood for and what will come out of it". On the 'alt-Left' and violent confrontations What Mr Trump said When asked about the "alt-Right" - a term used by white supremacists, neo-Nazis and nationalists to describe themselves, Mr Trump replied: "What about the alt-Left that came charging them? Do they have any semblance of guilt?" The facts The term "alt-Left", coined by Mr Trump, is not widely used. Whereas members of white supremacist groups would define themselves as belonging to the "alt-Right", the "alt-Left" is far less easy to understand. The majority of those who assembled to protest against the neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville did so peacefully. But photos and videos from Saturday's riot do show people dressed in black, their faces covered, engaging the neo-Nazis in violent confrontation. According to an article in the current issue of The Atlantic, Antifa, a militant Leftist organisation, traces its roots to the 1920s and 30s, when militant leftists battled fascists in the streets of Germany, Italy, and Spain. Protesters listen during a peace rally on Sunday in New York, as speakers address the violence in Charlottesville Credit: Bebeto Matthews/AP "When fascism withered after World War II, Antifa did too," wrote Peter Beinart, a professor at New York University. "But in the 70s and 80s, neo-Nazi skinheads began to infiltrate Britains punk scene. After the Berlin Wall fell, neo-Nazism also gained prominence in Germany. "In response, a cadre of young leftists, including many anarchists and punk fans, revived the tradition of street-level antifascism." The group of rioters seek to meet "alt-Right" activity with violence. In the same way that Left-wing anarchists in Greece battled police during protests against austerity measures, masked groups in America will challenge Right-wing rallies and speeches. On Inauguration Day, a masked activist punched the white-supremacist leader Richard Spencer, and a month later protesters violently disrupted plans by the University of California in Berkeley to host a speech by Milo Yiannopoulos, a former Breitbart.com editor. According to Mr Beinart: "Antifascists call such actions defensive. Hate speech against vulnerable minorities, they argue, leads to violence against vulnerable minorities. "But Trump supporters and white nationalists see Antifas attacks as an assault on their right to freely assemble, which they in turn seek to reassert." On removing Confederate statues What Mr Trump said "Was George Washington a slave owner? Will George Washington now lose his status? Are we going to take down statues to George Washington? How about Thomas Jefferson? ... Because he was a major slave owner," Mr Trump said. The facts Mr Trump's statements echoed an exchange on Monday night on Fox News between former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and the show's host, Martha MacCallum. Mr Trump's comments also mirrored rhetoric from the far-right fringe. A post on Monday by the publisher of The Daily Stormer, a notorious neo-Nazi website, predicted that protesters are going to demand that the Washington Monument be torn down. Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, two founding fathers of the United States, were slave owners, but Robert E Lee was a general who fought for the Confederacy in the American Civil War, an organisation of states that fought to maintain a system of slavery. On his 2016 election victory results What Mr Trump said "I went through 17 senators, governors, and I won all the primaries." The facts Mr Trump won most of the Republican presidential primary contests. He lost in Ohio to John Kasich, the state governor. Texas Senator Ted Cruz beat Mr Trump in primaries in his home state and in Wisconsin. Mr Trump also lost Puerto Rico's primary to Marco Rubio. Primary elections were also held on the Democratic side, none of which Mr Trump would have won. Show live US election results A police officer photographs a motorcycle after a female stunt driver working on the movie A female stunt driver has died after reportedly losing control of her motorbike while filming "Deadpool 2" in Vancouver. According to eye witnesses, the motorbike hurtled off the set and through the window of a building. Her name has not been released. Ryan Reynolds, the film's star, paid an emotional tribute to driver, saying the crew were "heartbroken, shocked and devastated" by the tragedy. An eye witness gave a graphic description of the accident. "She lost control really quickly, it happened in a split second. She was going full throttle, and then there was a building there," Nathan Kramchynski, who works on the seventh floor of a nearby office building told CBC News. "She went from zero to really quick. She just disappeared from view," he added. Police tape surrounds the scene as ramps for a motorcycle stunt are seen on the steps outside the Vancouver Convention Centre Credit: Darryl Dyck/AP The sequel to the 2016 superhero film Deadpool is currently being filmed in Vancouver. The studio did not say whether production had been halted on following the accident. "We are deeply saddened by the accident that occurred on the set of Deadpool 2 this morning," Dan Berger, a studio spokesman said. "Our hearts and prayers are with the family, friends and colleagues of our crew member during this difficult time," he added. A spokesman for the British Columbia Coroner's Service said an investigation had been opened into the accident. Anytime there is a fatality in the province we investigate. We have a mandate to prevent future deaths and to make any recommendations that could come from our findings. After images of white nationalists rallying in Charlottesville, Va., circulated widely on social media last weekend, the internet went to work to identify the tiki torch-bearing participants. Efforts to expose the white nationalists had immediate effects online posts revealing their identities led to employers finding out that some of their workers had marched in Charlottesville. The Twitter account @YesYoureRacist led to a mass outing of the demonstrators of about the dozen people identified, one person was publicly disowned by his family, while another lost his job. While Logan Smith, who runs the @YesYoureRacist account, did not directly contact employers of the demonstrators, he said in an interview with TIME that marching in white nationalist rallies should have consequences. Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from criticism, he said. This applies to the workplace in particular, and is an issue that has cropped up among employers multiple times this month. The firing of a Google engineer earlier in August after he wrote an anti-diversity memo claiming that biological differences between men and women prevent gender equality in tech intensified the debate over free speech in the workplace. Following the rally in Charlottesville, employers quickly became embroiled in their workers off duty conduct when their identities disseminated online. In the last decade, a growing number of companies have taken action against employees whose behavior off the clock reflects badly upon employers, according to Katherine Stone, a labor and employment law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Social media makes it easier for companies to get shamed or informally boycotted, or to get a bad reputation, Stone told TIME. Firms are much more conscious that their reputations are much more public or fragile or much more vulnerable. Depending on the kind of job, a person can get fired for espousing racist beliefs if the employer feels it reflects poorly upon them, according to law experts. While those who work in the public sector or in a state that has protective laws for workers cannot be fired for expressing political opinions, non-union workers in the private sector exist at the whim of their employers. Story continues In the case of Cole White, one of the first marchers to be identified in the Charlottesville rally, being outed on the internet had a direct effect on his employer. White, who previously worked for a hot dog restaurant in California, voluntarily resigned from his position last weekend, his employer told the Washington Post. The restaurant, Top Dog, was inundated with inquiries after White was linked to it, and eventually posted a sign on its door condemning the rally and saying that White no longer worked at the establishment. Top Dog did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sign on the door of Top Dog on Durant Ave confirms Cole White is no longer employed by the chain pic.twitter.com/ROwAed2NOl Harini Shyamsundar (@hshyamsundar) August 13, 2017 Samuel Estreicher, director of the Center for Labor and Employment Law at New York University, said he found the campaign to expose the white nationalists a little problematic. The white supremacists had a right to march, he said, and were not associating with their employers until people identified them from photographs and videos. The fact that they themselves did not link what they were doing what they were doing with their employer should count for a lot, he said. Estreicher noted, however, that employers have the right to fire workers if they feel implicated in an employees actions. To Stone, the recent move to publicly identify white nationalists is part of a wave of shaming anyone who takes part in hateful causes. Its the idea that people who engage in hateful and evil practices should be called out and named and shamed. Theyre trying to say that people who have engaged in this cant go pretend they didnt do anything, she said. Its no secret that President Donald Trump and Fox News have a close relationship. But on Tuesday, the hosts and commentators of the conservative news network had a clear split in opinions on Trumps off-topic press conference in New York City. He was supposed to focus on infrastructure at the event, but Trump opened the floor to questions and began defending his first statements on the violence that unfolded at a white supremacy rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, as well as his initial hesitance on calling out specific hate groups. Trump once again apportioned some of the blame on counterprotesters and defended rally organizers, arguing that they had permits while anti-fascist demonstrators did not. Fox News hosts had wildly different reactions to President Donald Trump's press conference on Tuesday. (Photo: Fox News) A visibly upset Kat Timpf of Fox News Specialists slammed Trumps tirade about the weekends Charlottesville events as one of the biggest messes Ive ever seen. Timpf said she could not believe that they even had to comment on whether or not it was controversial to say white supremacist Nazis are all bad people. Im wondering if its actually real life what I just watched, Timpf said of Trumps defensive press conference. It shouldnt be some bold statement to say a gathering full of white supremacist Nazis doesnt have good people in it. Those are all bad people. Period, she added. And the fact that its controversial I dont know if I should just laugh so, I have too much eye makeup on to start crying right now. Its disgusting. Fox News host @KatTimpf absolutely goes off on Trumps disgusting presser: Im wondering if its actually real life what I just watched. pic.twitter.com/BS0xFwxk3o Andrew Kirell (@AndrewKirell) August 15, 2017 Commentators Charles Krauthammer and Laura Ingraham got into an intense debate on the panel of Fox News Special Report. Krauthammer appeared disturbed when Ingraham dismissed Trumps behavior as the president getting sidetracked and caught in kind of the pundit trap. Story continues To critique what he did today on the grounds that it distracts from the agenda or was a tactical mistake I believe is a cop-out, Krauthammer said to Ingraham. What Trump did today was a moral disgrace. What he did is he reverted back to where he was on Saturday, and made it very clear that what he read on ... Monday, two days later, was a hostage tape, he added. That wasnt Trump speaking. That was the aides speaking. Watch: Charles @krauthammer called Trump's latest press conference a "moral disgrace". pic.twitter.com/txMj9g31on Ryskeldi Satke (@RyskeldiSatke) August 16, 2017 Sparring continued on the set of Fox News The Five, between hosts Jesse Watters and Juan Williams. I just didnt understand why he felt the need to double down, Williams said of Trump. He had some healing ... given the statement yesterday to move on. Instead, he has dived back into the mess ... These folks came armed with guns. Watters came to Trumps defense, saying that the president was brave to defend those protesting the removal of the statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Then Watters blamed the media for focusing on white supremacists and said that Trumps image was damaged when a woman was killed at the rally. The fact that the media is focusing on this skirmish I know that a woman died, but, its not representative of American society, Watters said, arguing that the media exploited the death for ratings. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. Unsurprisingly, the criticism of Trump lessened dramatically when Fox News most provocative hosts Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlsons shows came on air. Hannity, a staunch defender of Trump, praised the president for not commenting immediately on the hate groups at the Charlottesville rally, while criticizing former President Barack Obama for making statements that supported the Black Lives Matter movement after the deaths of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown during his own presidency. Carlson also defended the president and tried to condemn slavery while simultaneously justifying it. Fox News now pic.twitter.com/v1io9bnrrQ John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) August 16, 2017 He likened left-leaning protestors to white supremacists, suggesting that the end-game is violence whenever any group of Americans acknowledge race. I see people with signs attacking white supremacy its always about race for them as well, Carlson said of anti-racism demonstrators as clips of the fighting at Charlottesville played on the screen. They seem every bit as race-obsessed and angry as the people theyre fighting. But no one acknowledges that for some reason. Also on HuffPost A man holds up a sign during a protest against racism gathered in front of the White House, on August 14, 2017 in Washington, DC. Protestors rally on Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower. Hundreds of protesters gather outside of Trump Tower. A woman raises her fist at the front of a march down Washington Avenue to protest racism and the violence over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. Protestors rally on Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower ahead of President Donald Trump's arrival, August 14, 2017 in New York City. Supporters of anti-Trump protestors hold up signs inside Trump Tower ahead of President Donald Trump's arrival, August 14, 2017 in New York City. Pedestrians walk past a 15-foot tall inflatable rat in the likeness of U.S. President Donald Trump at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street up the road from Trump Tower, August 14, 2017 in New York City. A President Donald Trump supporter (left) argues with anti-Trump protesters as they gather outside of Trump Tower. Protestors rally on Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower. Hundreds of protesters gather outside of Trump Tower. Protestors rally on Fifth Avenue. A man holds up a sign during a protest against racism in front of the White House. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. German election polls and odds tracker The German election has entered a final month of campaigning before the country elects a new Bundestag on 24 September, with Chancellor Angela Merkel defending her position against Martin Schulz for a fourth term in power. Polls currently show that Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party - with its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU) - will be the largest party after the election, but they will fall short of a majority. This is common in Germany, and so the resulting parliament is in part determined by how the smaller parties perform, and which coalition possibilities will be born. German election poll tracker How does the German voting system work? Each person casts two votes in the Bundestag election, to allocate a total of 598 seats. Half of these are to elect a local MP by constituency, in a first-past-the-post fashion. The remaining 299 votes are elected via party lists, allocated near-proportionately to the party vote share in each of Germanys 16 federal states. To be included in this seat allocation process, a party must achieve five per cent of the national vote. This second round of seat allocation also means that the total number of MPs can be higher, with politicians elected in "overhang seats" in order to balance the state- and constituency-level votes. The most recent parliament had 32 overhang seats, taking the total up to 631 MPs. This allows voters to represent their interests locally through their chosen representative, as well as nationally in the party they feel will be strongest in the Bundestag. In the end, the seat share for each party ends up very similar to their vote share - unlike the system used in the UK's parliamentary elections. Graphic: The German electoral system So who will win the German election? Merkel's CDU is looking most likely to win the most seats in the Bundestag - for the fourth election in a row. The SPD, led by former President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz, is in second place - securing around a quarter of the vote. Story continues The AfD - the far-right Alternative for Germany party - had enjoyed a slight rise in the polls in 2016 but have since collapsed into in-fighting and unpopularity. In reality, the CDU will have to seek a coalition agreement - with the SPD or one of the other minor parties to form a government. German election: Potential Bundestag composition Potential coalitions The centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD) has been in coalition with centre-right CDU in this current government, as well as in Merkel's first term. These two parties are Germanys biggest, leading to a union dubbed the "Grand Coalition". The polls are currently suggesting that the German public is content with their current government, which means a Grand Coalition could happen for a third time in just four elections. Another option is a Black-Yellow coalition, consisting of Merkel's CDU party propped up by the smaller Free Democratic Party (FDP). This would take Merkel over the target needed for a majority, and was the option the party opted for in 2009-2013. The only situation that poses a risk to Merkels leadership is a left-wing "Red-Red-Green" coalition, led by Martin Schulz of the Social Democratic Party (SPD). He would have to gather enough seats together alongside the Linke (Left) and Grune (Greens) parties. Potential ways to coalition government What do the parties stand for? The main parties standing in the election are as follows: Christian Democrats (CDU) : The leading party in Germany, headed by Angela Merkel. The centre-right group - made up of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) and the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU) - they have employment, tax cuts and ongoing public investment at the forefront of their manifesto. Social Democrats (SPD) : Led by Martin Schulz, the centre-left are vying to make another Grand Coalition to remain in government. The party polled well following the election of their new leader, but then suffered once again in regional polls. The SPD is a traditionally working class party, pledging investment in education and infrastructure, funded by higher taxes for the rich. Left (Linke): Led by Sahra Wagenknecht and loosely descended from the East German communists. This small party, often used as a protest vote, is campaigning for a rise in national minimum wage, a rejection of military missions abroad and the dissolution of NATO. Green (Grune) : Led by co-chairs Katrin Goring-Eckardt and Cem Ozdemir, this party could be the coalition kingmakers. They rely on educated, urban citizens, focusing on the environment, taxes and social policies. Free Democratic Party (FDP) : Led by Christian Lindner, the party was Merkel's junior coalition party in her second term. It failed to reach five per cent of the vote to allow another coalition in 2013. The party campaigns for tax cuts and to remain in financial markets - particularly within the EU. Alternative for Germany (AfD): A right-wing populist party lead by Alice Weidel and Alexander Gauland. The party's hardline anti-EU, anti-immigration views have attracted voters from almost all of the other parties, especially among lower income households. Graphic: Germanys political spectrum What are the betting odds for the German Bundestag election? Political pollsters have taken a beating recently after failing to predict a British Hung Parliament in 2017, a Leave vote last summer and a Donald Trump victory in November. For those who have lost faith in polling, there is another way of predicting electoral outcomes: ask people who are prepared to put their money where their mouth is. Many now believe that political betting markets can better predict elections, relying on the wisdom of a crowd of punters to sort and weigh all the probabilities. Coral's latest odds for the election have Mrs Merkel as most likely to continue as Chancellor after the election. The latest odds for the party to emerge with the most seats are: CDU/ CSU - 1/14 SPD - 8/1 AfD - 66/1 Die Linke - 100/1 Greens - 100/1 FDP - 100/1 Our poll tracker takes in national polls from a range of German pollsters: INSA, Infratest Dimap, Emnid, Forsa, Forschungsgruppe Wahlen, Allensbach and IPSOS. Their individual polls, while of different sample sizes, use nationally representative samples. Our seat share projection is based on the average of the last eight polls, excluding any parties that are polling at under five per cent, as the German proportional top-up system does. People in Guam were shocked to be given an emergency warning over the radio that the Pacific islanders were at risk. The US territory is currently on edge after North Korea threatened to fire a missile into waters nearby. Two radio stations activated an alert using the Emergency Alert Broadcast System, about "a civil danger". The warning, which was issued at 12.25am, was later confirmed to have been a mistake. Several concerned listeners had called police over the alarm. The alert prompted Guam's homeland security adviser George Charfauros to urge residents and visitors to "remain calm". He said: "There is no change in threat level, we continue business as usual." The North Korean regime said on Friday, it was "carefully examining" a plan to strike Guam with missiles. A spokesman for the country's military said the plan could be "put into practice in a multi-current and consecutive way any moment". The threat came hours after President Donald Trump told Pyongyang that any threat to the US would be met with "fire and fury" . In a new development, the North's leader Kim Jong-un is said to have delayed a decision on striking Guam as he continues to observe US behaviour, opening up the possibility of a diplomatic solution to the crisis. Guam's Homeland Security Department confirmed in a statement that the "unauthorised test was not connected to any emergency, threat or warning". It said it would be working with the radio stations "to ensure the human error will not occur again". Overnight on Monday, images were release showing Mr Kim looking at plans to fire missiles into waters near US military bases on Guam. Psst! Turn off the TV and get some sleep. (Photo: Getty Images) If youre wide awake in the wee hours of the night, your addiction to House of Cards may be to blame. According to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, investigators have discovered a link between binge watching in young adults and poorer sleep quality, more fatigue, and increased insomnia. In the study, the researchers asked 423 men and women between the ages of 18 to 25 years to complete an online survey that assessed their regular television viewing, binge watching, sleep quality, fatigue, insomnia, and pre-sleep alertness. Binge watching was defined as watching multiple consecutive episodes of the same television show in one sitting on a screen, be it a television, laptop, computer or tablet. An average binge watching session lasted three hours and eight minutes, with 52 percent of binge watchers viewing three to four episodes in one sitting. After compiling the data, the study authors concluded the following: 80 percent of young adults identified themselves as binge watchers 20.2 percent of these volunteers had binge-watched at least a few times a week in the previous month The participants who identified as binge watchers reported more fatigue, more symptoms of insomnia, poorer sleep quality, and greater alertness prior to going to sleep Overall, binge watchers had a 98 percent higher likelihood of having poor sleep quality compared with those who did not consider themselves to be binge watchers Bingeable shows often have a complex narrative structure that makes viewers become completely immersed into the story, co-author Jan Van den Bulck, professor in the department of communication studies at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, stated in a press release. This intense engagement with television content could require a longer period to cool down before going to sleep, thus affecting sleep overall. Robert Oexman, director of the Sleep to Live Institute, tells Yahoo Beauty that he agrees with these findings, as well as applauds the choice of the control group. Not only are they probably the ones more inclined to binge-watch, but also because thats typically a population group who sleep very well, he says. So for this to make that kind of an impact for a group of people who normally sleep well, thats significant. Story continues Oexman, who is a member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, believes that if this research had also included older individuals, the results would have most likely indicated more serious sleep issues. If you have adults in their 50s binge watching Game of Thrones, Id actually suspect it would impact them more because the quality of deep sleep, and sleep in general, begins to decrease as we age, he continues. In order to balance your viewing and sleeping habits, Oexman first suggests watching your favorite shows in the morning, like a Saturday morning binge watch. But since nighttime tends to be the most convenient TV time for the majority of people, Oexman advises binge watching as early as possible in the evening, avoiding anything with alcohol and caffeine during the binge-a-thon, and setting an alarm for your desired stop time. We set an alarm clock to wake up, but very few people set an alarm clock to go to sleep, he explains. Even if you say youre only going to watch two episodes, people tend to lose track of time because theyve gotten snacks, gone to the restroom, taken some phone calls, and may have been on social media, so limiting the number of shows is probably not the correct way to do it. Its better to say, I need to be in bed by 10:30 p.m., so Im going to set my alarm for 10 p.m. And during those 30 minutes before bedtime, Oexman says its important to practice bedtime rituals that can lead to better sleep, such as engaging in relaxation techniques (e.g., taking a hot bath or shower), dimming the lights, and turning off all electronic devices especially when youre in the bedroom. You should not associate your bedroom with watching television, he concludes. Your bedroom is for sleep and intimacy only. Read more from Yahoo Style + Beauty: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, please follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty. A makeshift memorial to honour Heyer after she died in Charlottesville: AP The father of the woman who was killed during protests in Charlottesville over the weekend says that he forgives his daughters killer. My daughter was a strong woman who had passionate opinions about the equality of everyone and she tried to stand up for that. And for her it wasnt lip service, it was real. It was something that she wanted to share with everyone, Mark Heyer told the Asburg Park Press of his 32-year-old daughter Heather Heyer. And my thoughts with all of this stuff is that people need to stop hating and they need to forgive each other. I include myself in that forgiving the guy that did this. He dont know no better. I just think about what the Lord said on the cross. Lord, forgive them. They dont know what theyre doing, Mr Heyer continued. Ms Heyer was killed when a grey Dodge Charger plowed through a crowd of protesters in Charlottesville who had assembled to demonstrate against a gathering of White Supremacists in that Virginia city. Ms Heyer was the only immediate casualty, but 19 others were injured in the attack. The alleged driver of the vehicle that killed Ms Heyer was 20-year-old James Fields, who had reportedly driven down to Virginia from his home in Ohio in order to participate in the white supremacy rally, which included various groups including neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, and members of the alt-right. Mr Fields was arrested after the attack, and has been held on charges that include second degree murder. He was denied bail in his first court hearing after the incident. WATCH: Father talks about daughter killed at Charlottesville protest pic.twitter.com/EbSdoFm0pW Asbury Park Press (@AsburyParkPress) August 15, 2017 But, while the death of Ms Heyer and the general conflict at the rallies in Charlottesville have sparked national outrage and heated debate, Mr Heyer has instead decided to take the position of forgiveness. He says that he is proud of his daughter, and hopes that her death helps people to love one another. Story continues My daughters life Im proud of her. Im proud of her for standing up. She had more courage than I did. She had a stubborn backbone that if she thought she was right she would stand there and defy you. But if I understand her, she wanted to do it peacefully and with a fierceness of heart that comes with her conviction, he said. I hope all this stuff thats come out isnt twisted into something negative but there comes a positive change in peoples hearts, in their thinking, in their understanding of their neighbor, he continued. We just need to forgive each other. And I just hope thats what comes out of all this. Lusaka (AFP) - Hakainde Hichilema, who was released from custody after treason charges against him were dropped, is a self-made entrepreneur who has made five unsuccessful attempts to become the Zambian president. He alleges that the 2016 election was rigged and, as leader of the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND), he has refused to recognise President Edgar Lungu. Hichilema, 55, accused the authorities of election fraud, and of undermining his campaign by banning rallies and allowing violent attacks on his activists. An articulate speaker, he drew large crowds to his rallies, ran a slick social media campaign and worked hard to shed his image as an elitist lacking the common touch. But he again failed to win office by a slim margin. He spent the last four months in custody after a bizarre incident in which he allegedly put Lungu's life in danger when his convoy failed to make way for the presidential motorcade. The high-speed road drama was caught on video camera, and Hichilema was charged with treason. The charges were finally dropped on Wednesday -- the day his trial was due to begin. - Business success - Hichilema was born to a poor family in the southern district of Monze, and says his "grit and determination" at school won him a priceless scholarship to the University of Zambia where he graduated in 1986 in economics and business administration. He then took an MBA degree at the University of Birmingham in Britain. He started off small, buying and selling houses, eventually becoming one of the country's richest businessmen with major interests in finance, ranching, property, healthcare and tourism. At the age of 32, he was Zambia CEO of Coopers and Lybrand consultancy accountants, and he has sat on the boards of several large Zambian corporations. Despite his series of election defeats, Hichilema still hopes to win power. He has promised to build a business-friendly Zambia and attract investment, while at the same time pledging to alleviate hardship among the country's millions of poor. Story continues On his website he describes himself as a "Christian and a philanthropist" who funds clinics, schools, boreholes and dam building. Before his release, he marked his 100th day in jail saying in a statement "we habour no hate for anyone as we believe that everything that happens in life is for a purpose". He described the conditions inside prison as "atrocious" and "inhuman". Hichilema is married and has a daughter and two sons. When he was arrested, Amnesty International said Hichilema and the five other accused were "victims of longstanding persecution." Andrew Harrer/Getty Images Hope Hicks, the former Trump campaign spokesperson and a top presidential aide, has been named interim White House Communications Director following the dramatic departure of former Director Anthony Scaramucci. Ms Hicks, who is Mr Trumps longest-serving political aide and one of his most trusted will fill the position while the White House looks for a permanent replacement. The 28-year-old Greenwich, Connecticut native started working for the Trump family 2014, when Ivanka Trump hired her away from her public relations job at Hiltzik Strategies. Ms Hicks worked closely with the President's eldest daughter at the Trump Organisation until January 2015, when Mr Trump asked the then-26-year-old political ingenue to be his campaign press secretary. "I think its the year of the outsider, Ms Hicks says the President told her at the time. It helps to have people with outsider perspective. Since Mr Trumps inauguration, Ms Hicks has served as both presidential adviser and White House Director of Strategic Communications. She earns the White Houses top salary, and is said to play a key role in deciding which reporters get access to the President. She maintains close ties with Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner. Ms Hicks enters a position fraught with tension, following her predecessor's headline-making departure. Mr Scaramucci lasted 10 days in his White House role, departing after giving a profanity-laden tirade to a reporter for the New Yorker. His predecessor, Michael Dubke, left the office in May amid rumours that he would be fired. The position is a difficult one, centred in the middle of an ongoing fight between Mr Trump and the media. The President, who has denounced the mainstream press as fake news and retweeted violent memes about CNN, is also said to crave attention from outlets like the New York Times. Mr Trump furthered inflamed tensions with the press this week, in an unscheduled, unscripted question-and-answer session at Trump Tower. In the 20-minute press conference, Mr Trump defended the preservation of Confederate monuments and equated leftist protestors with neo-Nazis and white nationalists. Story continues You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, he said. Like many of his previous comments, Mr Trumps words on Tuesday drew outcry from both the left and right. Ms Hicks, however, has defended the Presidents unconventional tactics. There is just no way that a camera or an episode or a documentary could capture what has gone on, she told Marie Claire during Mr Trump's campaign. There is nothing like it. She added: I would say 90 percent of that is the people you see and the things they say, and the way they react to Mr. Trump. It is the most unbelievable, awe-inspiring thing. CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. Gone but not forgotten, read a sign above Charlottesvilles Paramount Theater Wednesday, as hundreds gathered to pay homage to Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old killed over the weekend during a violent rally in the city. Many mourners wore purple, Heyers favorite color. Photos of Heyer flashed on the screen posing with friends, on the beach, out to dinner, holding a baby. Mourners gather inside the Paramount Theater for a memorial service for Heather Heyer. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters) She loved people. She wanted equality. And this issue of the day of her passing she wanted to put down hate, her father, Mark Heyer, said while holding back tears. We just need to stop all this stuff and forgive each other. Kathy Brinkley, a close friend of Heyers mother, said the young woman lost her life defending the lives of people. Heyers grandfather, Elwood Shrader, recalled that Heyer had a passion for justice at an early age, calling out inequalities wherever she saw them. President Donald Trump spoke out again about Heyer, whom he called an incredible young woman during a Tuesday news conference, in a tweet Wednesday: Memorial service today for beautiful and incredible Heather Heyer, a truly special young woman. She will be long remembered by all! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2017 She always had a very strong sense of right and wrong. She always, even as a child, was very caught up in what she believed to be fair, her mother, Susan Bro, told HuffPost in an exclusive interview on Sunday. Somehow I almost feel that this is what she was born to be, is a focal point for change. Im proud that what she was doing was peaceful. She wasnt there fighting with people. White supremacists and members of the alt-right had planned a Unite The Right rally Saturday to protest the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue in downtown Charlottesville. They clashed with counter-protesters throughout the weekend, culminating in an attack by James Alex Fields Jr., a 20-year-old Nazi sympathizer. Fields drove a car through the crowds, killing Heyer and injuring 19 others. He has been charged with second-degree murder. Story continues Two state troopers also died after their helicopter which was patrolling during the violence crashed nearby. Susan Bro, Heyer's mother, speaks during her service. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters) Solidarity protests spread across the country like wildfire following Saturdays events. People in Durham, North Carolina, toppled a Confederate statue on Monday evening. The Baltimore City Council also voted to take down four Confederate statues. Leaders of white nationalist and neo-Nazi movements have failed to decry Heyers death, instead hailing Saturdays demonstration as a success and blaming law enforcement for not respecting their right to free speech. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. Bro reminisced during the memorial about the close relationship she had with her daughter. She paid attention. She made a lot of us pay attention, she said. She and I would talk, and I would listen and we would negotiate. Although Heather was a caring and compassionate person, so are a lot of you, Bro said. And I think the reason that what happened to Heather has struck a chord is because we know that what she did is achievable. They tried to kill my child to shut her up. Well guess what? You just magnified her. By golly, if Ive got to give her up, were going to make it count, Bro said. A man wears a purple ribbon to remember Heather Heyer, who was killed protesting during a white supremacist rally, as he arrives for her memorial service at the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 16, 2017. The Paramount Theater marquee bears the name of Heather Heyer. Heather Heyer's mother, Susan Bro, walks by a picture of her daughter after speaking at her memorial service. Mourners gather inside the Paramount Theater. Heather Heyer's father, Mark Heyer, speaks at her memorial service. Mourners inside the Paramount Theater wear purple, as Heyer's family had requested. Purple was her favorite color. People line up to attend the memorial service. Marcus Martin (center), who was injured in the same car attack that killed Heyer, leaves the memorial service. Anna Quillon hands out purple pieces of cloth outside the memorial service. People wore stickers and ribbons to the memorial service. A poster announcing the memorial service. Mia Jones shows off the "NO H8" message written on her hands. Outside the service, people carry guns to provide security in the event of far-right protesters. A person tapes a note to the front door of a bookstore to announce that it will close during the memorial service for Heather Heyer. A man puts on a purple ribbon while waiting in line. People carry bats and shields to provide security. America does not do a good job of tracking incidents of hate and bias. We need your help to create a database of such incidents across the country, so we all know whats going on. Tell us your story. Also on HuffPost Four-year-old Leo Griffin leaves an Aug. 13 Chicago protest that mourned the victims of the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the day before. People hold signs at a vigil on Aug. 13 in Chicago for the victims in the previous day's violent clashes in Charlottesville. People gather in downtown Chicago on Aug. 13 to protest the alt-right movement and to mourn Heather Heyer, who was killed in Charlottesville when a car plowed into a crowd of counterprotesters. Demonstrators hold signs outside the White House on Aug. 13 during a vigil in response to the death of a counterprotester in the Aug. 12 "Unite the Right" rally. A woman writes "Silence is Compliance" with a chalk on the ground at Federal Plaza Square in Chicago during an Aug. 13 protest in response to the violence that erupted in Charlottesville. People gather in downtown Chicago on Aug. 13 to protest the alt-right movement. Ahead of President Donald Trump's visit, about 400 demonstrators on Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower in New York attend a rally protesting the violence in Charlottesville. A demonstrator holds a banner reading "Only 1 Side Love" during a protest at Federal Plaza Square in Chicago on Aug. 13. People gather in front of the White House to hold a vigil on Aug. 13, one day after the violence in Charlottesville. A demonstrator holds a banner reading "Hate Has No Home Here. Love Will Win" during an Aug. 13 protest at Federal Plaza Square in Chicago. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. UPDATE ON AUG. 16: On Tuesday, President Donald Trump defended people who attended the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. He condemned neo-Nazis and white nationalists, but also suggested that anti-Nazi counterprotesters instigated the weekends violence. What about the alt-left that came charging at the, as you say, the alt-right? he asked reporters. PREVIOUSLY: WASHINGTON President Donald Trump refused to immediately denounce white supremacists who launched protests that turned deadly in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend. Trump, who typically tweets swiftly and strongly in response to things he dislikes, initially issued vague rebukes to the violence, saying there was hate on many sides. He did not personally denounce specific hate groups until Monday. Racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans, Trump said. The fact that Trump didnt immediately call out the ideology by name tracked with members of the so-called alt-right themselves, who use a variety of misleading terms to describe their racist beliefs. And during Trumps presidential campaign, white nationalists intentionally toned down some of their language in order to appeal to mainstream voters. Its helpful first to parse the various phrases that have been thrown around. White supremacy refers to a full-fledged ideology that asserts whites should have dominance over people of other races, according to the Anti-Defamation League. White separatists promote physical separation of races. A white nationalist emphasizes that countries or regions should be defined by a white racial identity. Other ideologies under the nationalist umbrella neo-Nazi groups, for example openly praise Adolf Hitler. The founder of Aryan Nations, Richard Butler, wanted an all-white homeland in the Pacific Northwest. Story continues But delving into the specifics of each of these subgroups can sometimes miss the point. Very often its useful to call people what they are: racists or white supremacists, said Mark Potok, senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center. (Photo: Jonathan Ernst / Reuters) Complicating these distinctions even further, white nationalist groups often use euphemisms to make their ideas appear less repugnant. Jared Taylor, publisher of American Renaissance, a website that regularly features racist screeds, says that he is not a white supremacist, a Nazi or a racist. A racist... is always considered to be a moral inferior, he wrote in an email. I totally reject that view. Terms that Taylor and others who hold similar views prefer: race realist or white advocate. They may also refer to themselves as advocating for Western civilization or European heritage, or say they are merely combating white dispossession or the administrative removal of Americans of European extraction. They also love the term alt-right, which SPLC defines as a set of far-right ideologies, groups and individuals who believe white identity is under attack. The term is merely a relabeling of white nationalism for the digital age, Potok said. Its a little more pitched to young people. (Millennials may be well aware that being seen as a racist is a bad thing, even if they embrace racist viewpoints.) Breitbart has published a glowing guide to the alt-right, suggesting its members are different from old-school racist skinheads because they are a much smarter group. In one post, a headline described political analyst Bill Kristol as a renegade Jew. Another article published last year, weeks after the mass shooting at a black church in South Carolina, celebrated the Confederate flag, a symbol embraced by racists. I am very frustrated by the normalization of these ideas and the notion that they are finding acceptability in mainstream discourse, said Ted Shaw, a law professor at the University of North Carolina School of Law at Chapel Hill. Last year, the Trump campaign denied allegations that now-White House chief strategist Steve Bannon is a white nationalist or a part of the so-called alt-right, the movements latest preferred moniker. Nothing could be further from the truth, and its irresponsible for anyone to even make such a baseless accusation, Jason Miller, communications director for Trumps transition team, said in a statement provided to HuffPost. But at the time, anti-extremist groups, such as the SPLC and the Anti-Defamation League, disagreed with the Trump camps characterization of Bannon. [He] was the main driver behind Breitbart becoming a white ethno-nationalist propaganda mill, the SPLC said on Twitter. Breitbart News is the premier website of the alt-right, a loose-knit group of white nationalists and unabashed anti-Semites and racists, the ADL said. As David Pilgrim, founder and curator of the Jim Crow Museum at Ferris State University in Michigan, said, its useful to look at an individuals statements, associations and sentiments. It becomes one of those if it walks like a duck, looks like a duck and quacks like a duck kind of things, he said. Last year, Pilgrim also said he had no doubt that as time goes on, alt-right adherents would be seen as promoting white nationalism, even if theyre not dressed up like neo-Nazis or wearing KKK hoods. Weve allowed someone, and Im not sure whom, to restrict the use of the term white supremacist to only the guy in the racist uniform. But in light of the violence in Charlottesville, Republican lawmakers, including Trump supporters, have not backed away from immediately condemning the racist movements by name. Calling out people for their acts of evil lets do it today. White nationalist. White supremacist, Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), who also tweeted condemnation of white supremacists on Saturday, told CNN. A version of this story was published on Nov. 18, 2016. Also on HuffPost Neo-Nazis and white supremacists encircle and chant at counter-protesters at the base of a Thomas Jefferson statue on Aug. 11, 2017, after marching with torches through the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville, Virginia. Neo-Nazis and white supremacists take part in the "Unite the Right" rally. The group marched through the University of Virginia campus with torches. A man wears Nazi regalia before the "Unite the Right" rally. Counter-protesters arrive at the "Unite the Right" rally. White supremacists carry Nazi flags on Aug. 12, 2017. A white supremacist carries the Confederate flag as he walks past counter-demonstrators. White nationalists march through the street. A sign on a business in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia. Police arrive at the scene of protests after a state of emergency is announced in Charlottesville, Virginia. A man is down during a clash between white nationalist protesters and a group of counter-protesters. White nationalists and counter-protesters clash. A protester receives first-aid during a clash between white nationalists and counter-protesters. A man makes a slashing motion across his throat toward counter-protesters as he marches with other white nationalists and neo-Nazis during the "Unite the Right" rally. A white supremacist stands behind militia members after he scuffled with a counter-demonstrator. Virginia State Police use pepper spray as they move in during a clash between white nationalist protesters and counter-protesters. Hundreds of white nationalists and neo-Nazis march down East Market Street toward Lee Park during the "Unite the Right" rally. A smoke bomb is thrown at a group of counter-protesters. Virginia State Troopers stand under a statue of Robert E. Lee. White nationalists descended on Charlottesville to protest the statue's removal. Anti-fascist counter-protesters wait outside Lee Park to hurl insults as white nationalists and neo-Nazis are forced out after the "Unite the Right" rally was declared an unlawful gathering. A group of counter-protesters rally against white nationalists. A man is seen with an injury during a clash between white nationalists and counter-protesters. Protesters and counter-protesters after being pepper-sprayed and/or maced. David Duke (C), participates in the white nationalist rally. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Ankara (AFP) - Iran's Armed Forces chief of staff said Wednesday after talks with Turkey's president that a referendum on independence in Iraq's Kurdish region would trigger conflict and negative consequences for the entire region. General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri's remarks, carried by Iran's official IRNA news agency, underlined the firm opposition shared in Tehran and Ankara to the poll next month. "Both sides stressed that if the referendum would be held, it will be the basis for the start of a series of tensions and conflicts inside Iraq, the consequences of which will affect neighbouring countries," Bagheri was quoted as saying. "Holding the referendum will get Iraq, but also Iran and Turkey involved and that's why the authorities of the two countries emphasise that it is not possible and should not be done." President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted Bagheri at his presidential palace in Ankara with Turkey's top general Hulusi Akar also in attendance, the presidency said. Turkey and Iran have substantial Kurdish minorities and they vehemently oppose the plan by Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region to organise a vote on independence on September 25. Analysts have little doubt that the referendum would result in a 'Yes' for an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq. But the result would be non binding and leave the approximately five million Kurds of northern Iraq some way away from actual independence. Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said the talks lasted 50 minutes. "Coordination for creating peace and security in Syria," was also discussed, the IRNA report quoted Bagheri as saying. Turkey and Iran lie on opposing sides of the Syrian conflict, with Erdogan seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad to end the war. Tehran, along with Moscow, remain the Syrian leader's key allies and backers. But Turkey and Russia have been cooperating more over Syria in recent months, helping to extract civilians from Aleppo and then co-sponsoring peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana. Story continues Relations between overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim Turkey, a secular state, and the mainly Shiite Islamic Republic of Iran have on occasion been tense in recent years. Erdogan has sometimes lashed out at the rise of "Persian nationalism" in the region, especially concerning the power of Shiite militias in Iraq. The rise of jihadists in the province of Idlib, neighbouring Turkey, has alarmed Ankara, Moscow and Tehran. A senior official from Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards earlier said Bagheri's trip was prompted by the presence of "terrorist groups" in the border area, without saying which ones. "We are seeking a good agreement with Turkey to provide better security for Iranian and Turkish borders especially in the west and northwest," said Guards spokesman General Ramezan Sharif, quoted by IRNA. Tehran (AFP) - President Hassan Rouhani warned on Tuesday that Iran could abandon its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers within hours if the United States keeps on imposing new sanctions. In a speech to parliament, he also hit out at US counterpart Donald Trump saying that he had shown the world that Washington was "not a good partner". Rouhani's comments come with the nuclear deal under mounting pressure after Tehran carried out missile tests and strikes, and Washington imposed new sanctions -- with each accusing the other of violating the spirit of the agreement. Rouhani warned that Iran was ready to walk out of the deal, which saw the lifting of most international sanctions in return for curbs on its nuclear programme, if Washington persisted. "The failed experience of sanctions and coercion brought their previous administrations to the negotiating table," Rouhani said in the televised address. "If they want to go back to that experience, definitely in a short time -- not weeks or months, but in the scale of hours and days -- we will return to our previous situation very much more stronger," he said. Rouhani said Trump had shown he ws an unreliable partner not just for Iran but for US allies. "In recent months, the world has witnessed that the US, in addition to its constant and repetitive breaking of its promises in the JCPOA (nuclear deal), has ignored several other global agreements and shown its allies that the US is neither a good partner nor a reliable negotiating party," he said. Tehran (AFP) - Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, under house arrest for the past six years, was hospitalised Thursday after going on hunger strike a day earlier to demand a trial date, his family told local media. "His health condition deteriorated after the hunger strike and he is now hospitalised," said Sahamnews website, which is affiliated to Karroubi's family. He was admitted to Shahid Rajaei hospital due to high blood pressure, less than 24 hours after beginning a hunger strike Wednesday morning, it said, adding that he was still refusing to eat. His son Mohammad also confirmed the news on Twitter. "At 1:00 AM, Thursday father was sent to hospital due to the hunger strike. Pray a lot," he said. Karroubi's wife Fatemeh Karroubi told Sahamnews that his first demand was the removal of intelligence ministry agents inside their home as well as recently-installed security cameras, which she said "has no precedent before or after the (1979 Islamic) revolution in any house arrest". "Second... in case of continuation of the house arrest, they should arrange a public trial," she said. Karroubi "does not expect a fair trial" but wants it to be public and would respect the verdict, she added. He and fellow reformist leader Mir Hossein Mousavi were candidates in Iran's disputed 2009 presidential election which sparked months of mass protests over claims they were rigged in favour of hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Both men were placed under house arrest in 2011 for their role in the protests -- which were brutally suppressed by the regime -- but have never been charged. In March, Iran sentenced Karroubi's eldest son, Hossein Karroubi, to six months in prison for "propaganda against the regime" after he published a letter that his father had written to Iran's current president, Hassan Rouhani, a reputed moderate, calling for a trial. The 79-year-old Karroubi was hospitalised earlier this month and underwent a heart operation, Sahamnews reported. A reformist MP, Mostafa Kavakebian, raised Karroubi's hunger strike in parliament on Wednesday, calling for action from the health and intelligence ministries. Tehran (AFP) - Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei joined the international criticism of race-related violence in the United States on Wednesday with a mocking tweet. "If US has any power, they better manage their country, tackle #WhiteSupremacy rather than meddle in nations' affairs. #Charlottesville," Khamenei's official Twitter feed posted. Khamenei's office was responding to the furore in the US over an attack in Charlottesville by a suspected Nazi sympathiser, who ploughed his car into anti-racism protesters, leaving one dead and 19 injured. US President Donald Trump has raised another huge controversy by saying there was "blame on both sides". The deepening divisions in US society have provided ample fodder for the Islamic republic to deflect allegations of human rights abuses in its own country, and turn the criticism back on its traditional enemy. Earlier, the foreign ministry accused Washington of hypocrisy for its annual report on religious freedom, which was published on Tuesday and sharply criticised Iran. "It is clear that religious and racial discrimination, Islamophobia, and xenophobia are a widespread and frequent phenomenon among American politicians," spokesman Bahram Ghasemi hit back on the ministry's website. Related Video: For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android. Kobar (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Israeli forces on Wednesday demolished the home of a Palestinian who fatally stabbed three Israelis in a nearby Jewish settlement last month at a time when tensions soared over Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound. The military confirmed the demolition in the village of Kobar in the occupied West Bank. Residents said that army vehicles and bulldozers entered the area north of Ramallah at around 3:00 am (0000 GMT) and surrounded the two-storey house, one floor of which was still under construction. Clashes broke out in the area between stone-throwing Palestinians and Israeli soldiers. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, 12 people were wounded by rubber bullets. Video appeared to show a Palestinian news cameraman, Mohammed Radi, being hit in the nose with a rubber bullet. It seemed from the video that clashes were not taking place at that time and location. Radi was later treated at a hospital in Ramallah, while Israel's army said it was looking into the report. "During overnight activity in the village of Kobar, a riot of about 100 Palestinians erupted," an army spokeswoman said. "The protesters ignited tyres and hurled rocks toward (Israeli) soldiers. The forces used crowd control measures to disperse the riot." Israel regularly demolishes the homes of Palestinian attackers, calling it a deterrent against future violence. However, human rights groups say it amounts to collective punishment. In recent weeks, Israeli authorities also arrested the father, mother and three brothers of 19-year-old Omar al-Abed who attacked the settlement, according to fellow villagers. The family members are suspected of having known of Abed's plans to carry out the attack in nearby Neve Tsuf, also known as Halamish, and of failing to prevent it, Israeli media reported. The army said the assailant, who was shot while carrying out the attack and later arrested, had spoken of Al-Aqsa and of dying as a martyr in a Facebook post. Story continues The July 21 attack came with tensions high over the highly sensitive mosque compound in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, known to Jews as the Temple Mount. Violence erupted in and around the compound last month after three Arab Israelis shot dead two policemen on July 14 before being killed by security forces. Israel responded to that attack by installing metal detectors at the entrance to the holy site, used as a staging point for the attack. For nearly two weeks, worshippers refused to submit to the checks and held mass prayers in surrounding streets. Ensuing protests and clashes left seven Palestinians dead, and the stabbings of the Israelis at the settlement was carried out at the height of the tensions. The crisis abated when Israel removed the detectors, but Israeli police have been carrying out arrests linked to the unrest. Seventy-two Palestinians have been arrested in the past week, including 43 charged and still in custody over the troubles in July, police said in a statement. By Chehui Peh and Teppei Kasai TOKYO (Reuters) - China and South Korea called on Japan to face up to its wartime past after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent an offering to a shrine to war dead on Tuesday, the anniversary of Japan's World War Two surrender. Masahiko Shibayama, a lawmaker who made the offering on Abe's behalf, said he did so to express condolences for those who died in the war and to pray for peace. He added Abe said he was sorry he could not visit the Yasukuni shrine. Past visits by Japanese leaders to Yasukuni have outraged Beijing and Seoul because it honors 14 Japanese leaders convicted by an Allied tribunal as war criminals, along with other war dead, sometimes chilling ties for months. China's relations with Japan have long been poisoned by what Beijing sees as Tokyo's failure to atone for its occupation of parts of China before and during World War Two. Japan occupied Korea from 1910-1945. But maintaining harmony with China and South Korea is now more important than ever amid heightened tensions in the wake of North Korean missile tests, threats from North Korea to strike the area around the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam and U.S. President Donald Trump's warning of retaliation. "After the war, our country has consistently taken steps as a country that abhors war and treasures peace, and has made efforts to promote the peace and prosperity of the world," Abe said at a national ceremony. "We intend to keep this immovable policy firmly, throughout the ages, while facing history with humility." Dozens of Japanese lawmakers visited the shrine along with scores of ordinary Japanese, prompting protests from the South Korean and Chinese governments. "We express our deep concerns that responsible leaders of Japan's government and parliament are again paying tribute at the Yasukuni Shrine and visiting the shrine that glorifies the history of the war of aggression," South Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China resolutely opposed Japan's "wrong actions" over the shrine. "China urges Japan to earnestly face up to and deeply reflect upon its history of militarism," she told a daily news briefing. Abe visited Yasukuni in 2013, an action that prompted criticism from key ally the United States as well as from Asian nations, but has since only sent offerings on August 15 and during Yasukuni's twice yearly festivals. Tensions in the region weighed on the minds of many who visited the shrine. "I am furious about the threat from North Korea," said Katsuhiko Ikeda, 78. "North Korea's missile threat towards Guam means anything would pass by Japan, and if anything happened, it could affect us." (Additional reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka and Linda Sieg in TOKYO, Ben Blanchard in BEIJING and Christine Kim in SEOUL, writing by Elaine Lies; Editing by Linda Sieg and Nick Macfie) Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the attack on counter-protesters at a neo-Nazis rally in Charlottesville "could be considered a hate crime". Mr Sessions said federal authorities were waiting for more details from the investigation before filing charges over the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer who was killed when a car ploughed into a group of anti-fascist protesters at the white supremacist event last week. Yet there are no firm indications as to what the charges might be, he said. Speaking to NBC News, Mr Sessions said: "It very well could be a civil rights violation or a hate crime, and there might be other charges that could be brought." Charlottesville police have charged 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr of Maumee, Ohio, with second-degree murder after he allegedly drove his car into the group of counter-protesters killing Ms Heyer and injuring up to 20 people. But the federal government has not yet brought charges against Mr Fields. Asked whether the federal government was close to bring charges, Mr Sessions said "it didn't have to be done immediately" because the investigation was ongoing. "We can bring charges whenever the investigation justifies them. I don't feel like we should feel like we have to do it in a matter of hours or even days," he said. But Mr Sessions said he and his team were working "intensely on the assumption that we may well might want to prosecute him". He said: "We're also working with the state and local authorities who clearly have jurisdiction too. And often they're the ones that have the best charges. "Our people we'll work with the state and locals, in a collaborative wat, and decide together what the best charge will be. And you can be sure it will be fully investigated and thoroughly prosecuted." On Monday, Mr Sessions vigorously defended Donald Trump's response to the deadly protests after the US President faced widespread criticism for not singling out neo-Nazis, white supremacists and the KKK in his condemnation of the violence during the rally. Story continues Mr Sessions, a Republican, said President Trump "clearly denounced" the violence and that "he totally opposes" the values of white supremacist groups. Mr Trump had initially sought to say there had been wrong on all sides, but under intense pressure from within his own party and without, he then issued a statement in which he said racism was evil and denounced white supremacy and neo-Nazism. Questioned on Tuesday about his slow-paced response to the incident, Mr Trump defended his first response to last week's protests by insisting "there are two sides to every story" and accusing the counter-protesters of being "also very violent". Jimmy Fallon departed from The Tonight Shows traditional joke-laden monologue Monday night to take two minutes to reflect on what he called the disgusting events that happened in Charlottesville last weekend. Even though the Tonight Show isnt a political show, Fallon opened, its my responsibility to stand up against intolerance and extremism as a human being. He described the weekends events as disgusting and said the Nazi flags, and torches, and white supremacists made him sick to my stomach. Jimmy takes a moment at the start of the show to address the events in #Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/gCvv1OM8gq Fallon Tonight (@FallonTonight) August 15, 2017 Fallon then spoke directly about President Donald Trump. The fact that it took the President two days to come out and clearly denounce racists and white supremacists is shameful, he said. I think he finally spoke out because people everywhere stood up and said something Ignoring it is just as bad as supporting it. He also paid tribute to 32-year-old protestor Heather Heyer, who died after a car rammed into protestors. The presenter faced backlash for a September interview with Trump, in which they joke and Fallon tussles the Presidents hair. They have a right to be mad, Fallon told the New York Times in May. If I let anyone down, it hurt my feelings that they didnt like it. I got it. Fallon has previously been criticized for the apolitical stance of The Tonight Show, the New York Times reported in March that ratings had dropped against the more political The Late Show, hosted by Stephen Colbert. Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R), like President Donald Trump, has said that both white supremacists and counterprotesters are to blame for the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend. The violence erupted as white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups descended on Charlottesville, ostensibly to protest a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee being removed from a public park in the city. Tiki torch-wielding white nationalists surrounded protesters with anti-Nazi and anti-Ku Klux Klan signs who had gathered near the statue on Friday night, while others affiliated with white nationalist groups were caught on film using flagpoles to beat Deandre Harris, a 20-year-old African-American man. A Kentucky man with ties to white nationalist groups drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters on Saturday, killing one woman and injuring least 19 people. Bevin responded by criticizing the white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups, but also said all sides were to blame for the violence. The kind of racial hatred that were seeing from people, as has been said by the president, on all sides people are offended at the idea that people take exception with a particular type of hatred versus another, Bevin said Tuesday in an interview with West Virginia radio station WVHU. All of it is reprehensible. It just is. Theres no reason for it, theres no room for it. It doesnt further anything. And the fact that it has been allowed to accelerate out of control, as it has, is is irresponsible on the part of people who allowed it to happen. The fact that people were allowed to clash with one another as they were in Virginia, that people were encouraged to come in and counterprotest and be just as violent and angry as the hateful people that came in in the first place people knew what was gonna happen, and its unfortunate, Bevin said. And the result of that is that innocent lives were lost. And I find the whole thing disgusting. Story continues Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R) is opposed to relocating Confederate statues. (Photo: Scott Olson via Getty Images) In his initial remarks on Charlottesville, Trump said many sides were to blame for the violence. His comments were widely criticized and condemned by Republicans and Democrats alike for enabling the white supremacist groups that had chanted racist, anti-Semitic and anti-LGBT slogans during their rallies. Trump reiterated those comments in an unnerving press conference on Tuesday afternoon, saying that both sides shared blame. You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, Trump said. There were very fine people on both sides. Leaders of some white nationalist groups have viewed Trumps comments as an accurate description of the events in Charlottesville, while others have described his previous tepid rebuke of them as Kumbaya nonsense that he doesnt believe. Bevins decision to lay some blame at the feet of people protesting white supremacists comes at a tenuous time for his state. White nationalist leaders told the Lexington Herald-Leader on Tuesday that that they were planning rallies in the city to protest Mayor Jim Grays efforts to remove two Confederate statues from outside a historic downtown courthouse. The monuments stand on land that was once home to one of the Souths largest slave auction sites. They depict Confederate secretary of war and former U.S. Vice President John C. Breckinridge and Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan; Jake Gibbs, the Lexington city councilman who represents the area, said the monuments were erected during and after Reconstruction as a way to show that white supremacy was back. There is no set date for the rallies, and a Lexington Police Department spokesperson told HuffPost that police are monitoring the situation but have not heard of specific plans for demonstrations. Lexington Mayor Jim Gray wants to remove two statues -- including one of former U.S. vice president and Confederate secretary of war John C. Breckinridge -- from outside the city's historic courthouse. (Photo: Bryan Woolston / Reuters) Lexington currently doesnt plan to destroy statues. Rather, it intends to find a another location for them, which Gray and other lawmakers have said will allow them to exist in the proper context of Kentuckys Civil War history. I think moving the statues and providing info about them why they were placed there, what their meaning is, providing more information about Reconstruction and how it was handled in Kentucky would be useful, Lexington vice mayor and city council member Steve Kay told HuffPost this week. And the people who have a legit interest in maintaining that history will find that acceptable. Bevin also criticized the nationwide efforts to move Confederate statues, saying he is opposed to the sanitization of history. Kentucky, where slavery was legal, has more monuments to the Confederacy than any other state that did not leave the Union, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. I absolutely disagree with this sanitization of history. If we want to learn from history, if we dont want to repeat the mistakes of our past, then we better teach it to our young people, Bevin said in the radio interview. It better be known. It doesnt have to be celebrated, as in, This is something we did and should do again. But to pretend it didnt happen, to remove from society, because where do you draw the line? In 2015, however, Bevin said he thought it would be appropriate to remove the statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis that stands in the rotunda of the Kentucky state Capitol in Frankfort. The Kentucky NAACP and some state residents have called on lawmakers to remove the statue. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. Related Coverage This Is Why You're Seeing The Confederate Flag Across Europe This Twitter Account Is Exposing The White Nationalists At Charlottesville It's Now Illegal In Alabama To Remove Confederate Monuments Demonstrators Pull Down Confederate Monument In Durham How You Can Identify A White Nationalist Last year, Louisville relocated a Confederate monument that had been on the the University of Louisvilles campus. Mayor Greg Fischer has called for a review of any Confederate memorials remaining in the city. Bevin, in the radio interview, was also critical of Charlottesville law enforcement officials, who have been scrutinized for how they handled the weekends demonstrations. Bevin pointed to a white supremacist rally that took place in Kentucky earlier this year to say that his state would be prepared to ward off any violent outbreaks if white nationalist groups demonstrated in Lexington. I cant speak for what the city of Lexington will do if the rallies occur, he said. But I will speak for the state of Kentucky. As happened when people met in our state parks to try to do the exact same thing a few months ago, as I said, such activity will be discouraged to the degree possible, as in, we dont want that nastiness and foolishness in our state. But because this is a free society and theres only so much that can be shut down in advance, then such activity if it moves forward will be met with an overwhelming amount of preparation. And it will not be allowed to accelerate to that degree. America does not do a good job of tracking incidents of hate and bias. We need your help to create a database of such incidents across the country, so we all know whats going on. Tell us your story. Also on HuffPost A man wears a purple ribbon to remember Heather Heyer, who was killed protesting during a white supremacist rally, as he arrives for her memorial service at the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 16, 2017. The Paramount Theater marquee bears the name of Heather Heyer. Heather Heyer's mother, Susan Bro, walks by a picture of her daughter after speaking at her memorial service. Mourners gather inside the Paramount Theater. Heather Heyer's father, Mark Heyer, speaks at her memorial service. Mourners inside the Paramount Theater wear purple, as Heyer's family had requested. Purple was her favorite color. People line up to attend the memorial service. Marcus Martin (center), who was injured in the same car attack that killed Heyer, leaves the memorial service. Anna Quillon hands out purple pieces of cloth outside the memorial service. People wore stickers and ribbons to the memorial service. A poster announcing the memorial service. Mia Jones shows off the "NO H8" message written on her hands. Outside the service, people carry guns to provide security in the event of far-right protesters. A person tapes a note to the front door of a bookstore to announce that it will close during the memorial service for Heather Heyer. A man puts on a purple ribbon while waiting in line. People carry bats and shields to provide security. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. A Ku Klux Klan leader has said he is happy a woman died while taking part in a protest against white supremacists in Charlottesville. Heather Heyer was killed after a car drove at speed into a crowd of anti-fascist protesters in the Virginia city over the weekend and left scores injured. The 32-year-old counter-protester was one of hundreds who descended on the city to protest against the largest gathering of white nationalists in America in decades. James Alex Fields Jr, a 20-year-old white nationalist from Ohio, was arrested on Saturday and charged with second-degree murder and other criminal counts. He is being held in a Virgina jail in connection with the deadly crash. Justin Moore, the Grand Dragon for the Loyal White Knights of the KKK, has now said he is pleased about the fact Ms Heyer was killed. "I'm sorta glad that them people got hit and I'm glad that girl died," Mr Moore said in a voicemail message to WBTV. "They were a bunch of Communists out there protesting against somebody's freedom of speech, so it doesn't bother me that they got hurt at all." He also warned the deadly violence which erupted was going to become more common. He said: "I think we're going to see more stuff like this happening at white nationalist events." Mr Moore added: "We were out there and I seen a lot of communist flags and anti-fascist and we're going to see more stuff like this. White people are getting fed up with the double standard setup in America today by the controlled press. "We should have been able to go out there and have our protest and it should have been peaceful but it's the anti-fascist and the communists ... continuing to try and stop us. So I think there will be more violence like this in the future to come." Neo-Nazis, skinheads, and members of the KKK assembled in the ordinarily quiet university town shouting racial epithets, holding flaming torches, carrying assault rifles and wearing paramilitary clothing. Tensions with anti-fascists boiled over into street clashes with rocks and pepper spray, with two policemen killed in a helicopter crash while trying to bring peace to the area. Story continues David Duke, the former head of the KKK, has been similarly supportive of the young man who is suspected of ploughing into anti-fascist protesters. He said Mr Fields had reacted consistently with the violent chaos which ravaged Charlottesville. When youre under attack you panic, and you do things that are stupid and you do things that are wrong, Mr Duke said in Periscope video. President Donald Trump prompted yet further shock and outrage yesterday after he defended far-right extremists at the Charlottesville rally and claimed blame should be shared by both sides. In the immediate wake of the violence, Mr Trump faced a torrent of criticism after refusing to condemn the actions of white supremacists and instead insisting the blame was on "many sides". We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, he said during a press conference. On many sides. While he read another statement approximately 48 hours after the violence in which he specifically said "racism is evil" and condemned white Supremacists, KKK, neo-nazi and all extremist groups he has now performed a drastic U-turn. During a raucous press conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York in which he repeatedly called the gathered press "fake media, he said: Im not putting anybody on a moral plane. You had a group on one side and group on the other and they came at each other with clubs there is another side, you can call them the left, that came violently attacking the other group. You had people that were very fine people on both sides. Not all those people were neo-Nazis, not all those people were white supremacists. Many of those people were there to protest the taking down of the statue of Robert E Lee. So this week, it is Robert E Lee. I noticed that Stonewall Jackson is coming down. I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know, you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop? David Elliot Moran (left) and Charles Thomas Newcomb were found guilty of plotting to kill a black inmate. (Photo: Alachua County Jail) Two former Florida prison guards who were members of the Ku Klux Klan have been convicted of plotting to murder a black inmate after his release. A Columbia County jury found David Elliot Moran, 49, and Charles Thomas Newcomb, 45, guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Tuesday. These Klansmen plotted to murder a black inmate after he was released from prison, but swift action and clever investigative tactics on behalf of investigators foiled their plot and may have saved a life, Bondi said in a statement. We will continue to work daily to ensure the KKK or any other hate-filled organization is unable to inflict violence on the citizens of our great state. Both Moran and Newcomb, who worked for the Florida Department of Corrections, pleaded not guilty to the charges in April 2015, News Jax 4 reported at the time. A third guard, Thomas Jordan Driver, 27, pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiracy to commit murder. He was sentenced to four years in prison, according to Bondis office. Authorities said the murder plot was in retaliation for a fight between Driver and the inmate. At one point Driver was bitten by the inmate, whom the men believed to be infected with HIV and hepatitis, The Tampa Bay Times reported, citing an affidavit. The former guards then plotted to kill the inmate, but their plan was leaked to an FBI informant who had infiltrated the Traditional American Knights of the KKK and recorded the men discussing their intentions, authorities said. After gaining the mens trust, the informant discussed ways to kill the inmate for them. Eventually, the informant staged a mock murder scene that suggested the inmate was dead. They then sent photos of it to the guards, who expressed their approval, authorities said. They were very proud of this killing, Bondi told reporters after the mens 2015 arrest. A sentencing date has not been set but the men face up to 30 years in prison, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Story continues Related... College Student Hilariously Smacks Down White Supremacist Richard Spencer Portland Hate Killer Ranted About Stabbings And Muslims On Facebook Amid Rising U.S. Hate Crime Klan Members Rally Against Removal Of Robert E. Lee Statue In Virginia Ex-KKK Leader David Duke Is Absolutely Thrilled With Trump Blaming 'Both Sides' In Charlottesville Also on HuffPost Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) The Latest on the Alabama Senate race (all times local): 1:15 p.m. The campaign of Sen. Luther Strange says President Donald Trump has recorded robocalls urging Alabama Republicans to vote for Strange in Tuesday's contentious GOP primary. Strange's campaign says Trump tells voters to "go to the polls and vote for Luther Strange." Trump says his administration is accomplishing many of his promises "but I need Luther to help us out." Strange's campaign announced the calls on Monday. Strange was appointed in February and is attempting to keep the U.S. Senate seat that previously belonged to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Strange has been forced into a tight primary battle with a slate of firebrand challengers including former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. The Strange campaign paid to send Trump's recorded message to more than 150,000 GOP households. ___ 11:30 a.m. U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks says voters can send a "huge message" to the U.S. Senate establishment by defeating the candidate backed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Brooks on Monday did a blitz of campaign stops and media interviews to rally votes ahead of Tuesday's Republican primary. He is challenging Sen. Luther Strange. Strange is backed by a super political action committee tied to McConnell. Brooks said it would send "chills down the spine" of McConnell for the race to end up in a runoff between him and Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore. Brooks said he is the candidate with the strongest voting record in support of President Donald Trump's agenda. Brooks said he, unlike Strange, supports Trump's request to change Senate filibuster rules that make it easier for Democrats to defeat legislation. 7:51 a.m. President Donald Trump has tweeted out more support for Alabama Sen. Luther Strange ahead of Tuesday's contentious Republican primary. Story continues Strange, who was appointed in February, is attempting to keep the U.S. Senate seat that previously belonged to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Trump on Monday morning tweeted Strange has his endorsement and is "strong on Border & Wall, the military, tax cuts & law enforcement." The message followed a tweeted endorsement by Trump last week in an attempt to boost Strange in what could be a close race. Strange faces a slate of challengers in the GOP primary, including former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, state Sen. Trip Pittman and Christian Coalition leader Randy Brinson. The heads of Congress black, Hispanic, Asian and progressive caucuses sent a letter to the White House on Monday demanding the dismissal of top aides Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller and Sebastian Gorka, saying their presence in the White House has emboldened white supremacists. The letter came after a white supremacy rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned violent, leaving one person dead and others injured when a man drove a car into a crowd of counterprotesters. Trump has faced criticism for his delay in condemning white supremacist groups following the violence, first blaming many sides before denouncing the hate groups on Monday. The letter accuses the three advisers of encouraging white supremacist groups and says they should be removed because Americans deserve to know that white nationalists, white supremacists, and neo-Nazis are not in a position to influence U.S. policy. The authors cite Bannons role as former chairman of Breitbart News, a site that promotes white nationalist views. The New York Times reported Monday that Bannon could be on the verge of being dismissed from the White House. The lawmakers also express concern over links between Miller and Richard Spencer, a prominent white nationalist, and Gorkas ties to a far-right Hungarian group aligned with the Nazi party. In this time of tumult in our country, Americans deserve a leader that will bring us all together and denounce those who seek to tear us apart. In that vein, we strongly urge you to move expeditiously to remove Steve Bannon, Sebastian Gorka and Stephen Miller from the White House. The ideology and political agenda of these men have no place in the highest office in the land, the letter says. The letter is signed by Democratic Reps. Barbara Lee (Calif.), Judy Chu (Calif.), Cedric Richmond (La.), Michelle Lujan Grisham (N.M.), Mark Pocan (Wis.), Raul Grijalva (Ariz.) and David Cicilline (R.I.). Christopher Huntley, a Lee spokesman, said Lee led the effort on the letter and wanted to united lawmakers across a diverse range of backgrounds to speak to the White House after the Charlottesville violence. Story continues Read the full letter below: Lawmakers ask Trump to fire top aides by Samuel Levine on Scribd This article has been updated with the signed letter and list of lawmakers who sent it. Related Coverage White Supremacist Rally Triggers Violence In Charlottesville Trump's Unwillingness To Directly Denounce White Supremacy Grows Conspicuous More CEOs Quit Trump Advisory Council After Merck Chief Resigns Over Charlottesville Also on HuffPost A man holds up a sign during a protest against racism gathered in front of the White House, on August 14, 2017 in Washington, DC. Protestors rally on Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower. Hundreds of protesters gather outside of Trump Tower. A woman raises her fist at the front of a march down Washington Avenue to protest racism and the violence over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. Protestors rally on Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower ahead of President Donald Trump's arrival, August 14, 2017 in New York City. Supporters of anti-Trump protestors hold up signs inside Trump Tower ahead of President Donald Trump's arrival, August 14, 2017 in New York City. Pedestrians walk past a 15-foot tall inflatable rat in the likeness of U.S. President Donald Trump at the corner of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street up the road from Trump Tower, August 14, 2017 in New York City. A President Donald Trump supporter (left) argues with anti-Trump protesters as they gather outside of Trump Tower. Protestors rally on Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower. Hundreds of protesters gather outside of Trump Tower. Protestors rally on Fifth Avenue. A man holds up a sign during a protest against racism in front of the White House. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Beirut (AFP) - Lebanon's parliament on Wednesday scrapped a controversial law allowing rapists who marry their victims to go free, official media and activists said, after a high-profile campaign for its repeal. A proposal to repeal Article 522 of the penal code -- which deals with rape, assault, kidnapping and forced marriage -- was introduced last year and approved by a parliamentary committee in February. On Wednesday, it was ratified by the full parliament, the official National News Agency and activist group ABAAD said. "Congratulations to women in Lebanon," the NGO wrote in a statement on its Facebook page. "Today's win is a victory for the dignity of women," it added. "It is no longer possible to escape punishment for rape and sexual acts carried out by force and coercion," said the group, which has spearheaded the campaign to repeal the much-reviled article. The article, which also dealt with the rape of minors, allowed for the perpetrator of sexual assault to avoid prosecution by marrying their victim. There are no precise figures on how many rapists marry their victims to avoid punishment, but activists say the practice mainly took place in rural areas. Danielle al-Hweik, a lawyer with ABAAD, hailed the ruling as the result of pressure from activists, but said there would be new battles ahead. "There are many other issues that we're working on," she told AFP. "We remain concerned by other articles." Among the legal provisions rights groups want repealed are articles that allow a person accused of "consensual" sexual relations with a minor under 15 to avoid sanction by marrying the minor. Lebanon's decision comes just over two weeks after Jordan's parliament binned a similar article in its penal code. And in July, Tunisia passed legislation doing the same as part of a bill designed to "end all violence against women". Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned Monday that an attack by North Korea against the United States could quickly escalate into war, and said the military would try to shoot down any missile that threatened Guam. North Korea last week said it was drawing up plans to test-fire four missiles that would fly toward Guam but splash into the sea before hitting the small US Pacific island territory, after President Donald Trump promised to meet ongoing threats from Pyongyang with "fire and fury." "If they fire at the United States, it could escalate into war very quickly," Mattis told Pentagon reporters. Mattis's comments came after he and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said America has "no interest" in regime change in Pyongyang or the accelerated reunification of the two Koreas, and stressed the importance of a diplomatic solution to the crisis. The defense chief said the Pentagon is able to tell "within moments" where North Korea's missiles are headed, and said the United States would try to shoot down anything that threatened America. "We will defend the country from any attack at any time from any quarter," he said. If North Korea fires missiles deemed to be a threat to Guam, "then it's game on, and we will try and do our best to make sure it does not hit the United States," Mattis said. When asked if he would order the shoot-down of missiles headed toward Guam -- but which would fall short of actually hitting the island -- Mattis said he did not want to signal whether the United States would still try to stop them. "If it falls short of Guam, then it becomes an issue that we take up however the president chooses," Mattis said. "I need a certain amount of ambiguity on this because I am not going to tell them what I'll do in each case." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell declared Wednesday that neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups should not be welcome anywhere in America and that we all have a responsibility to stand against hate and violence, wherever it raises its evil head. Unlike some Republicans, such as Sen. Marco Rubio, McConnell made no direct mention of President Trump. But his statement seemed and was viewed by one White House adviser as a pointed rebuke to the presidents press conference remark Tuesday that you also had some very fine people on both sides in the violent protests in Charlottesville over the weekend. There are no good neo-Nazis, and those who espouse their views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms, McConnell said in a statement released by his press office. Hes basically saying f*** you to the president, said one White House adviser when he was read McConnells statement by a reporter. Because he has said relatively little since the public uproar over Trumps reaction to the Charlottesville protests, McConnells comments were being watched closely in GOP circles Wednesday. McConnells wife, Elaine Chao, serves in President Trumps Cabinet as labor secretary and stood next to the president Tuesday while he made his controversial remarks at a press conference at Trump Tower. McConnells comments were also prompted by reports that the same group of white supremacists and neo-Nazis were planning a rally in Lexington, Ky. Their messages of hate and bigotry are not welcome in Kentucky and should not be welcome anywhere in America, McConnell said. Mitch McConnells wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, looks on as President Donald Trump speaks at Trump Tower on Tuesday. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images) Here is the full text of McConnells comments: WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) released the following statement today condemning hate groups and reports of a rally in Lexington, Kentucky: The white supremacist, KKK, and neo-nazi groups who brought hatred and violence to Charlottesville are now planning a rally in Lexington. Their messages of hate and bigotry are not welcome in Kentucky and should not be welcome anywhere in America. We can have no tolerance for an ideology of racial hatred. There are no good neo-nazis, and those who espouse their views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms. We all have a responsibility to stand against hate and violence, wherever it raises its evil head. Story continues Read more from Yahoo News: New York (AFP) - The chief executives of Merck, Intel and Under Armour resigned Monday from a White House advisory panel on manufacturing after President Donald Trump's initial failure to explicitly condemn a white supremacist rally. The resignations came as criticism grew over Trump's slow response to the weekend demonstration which ended in bloodshed when a suspected Nazi sympathizer plowed his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters, killing one and wounding 19. Trump initially blamed "many sides" for Saturday's violence, sparking a welter of criticism and prompting Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier, a prominent African-American businessman, to quit the presidential advisory panel. "America's leaders must honor our fundamental values by clearly rejecting expressions of hatred, bigotry and group supremacy, which run counter to the American ideal that all men are created equal," Frazier wrote on Twitter in announcing his resignation on Monday. "As CEO of Merck and as a matter of personal conscience, I feel a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism." Trump didn't wait long to respond. "Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President's Manufacturing Council, he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!" he wrote. In a later post, Trump accused Merck of being "a leader in higher & higher drug prices while at the same time taking jobs out of the U.S. Bring jobs back & LOWER PRICES." Several hours later, Under Armour founder and chief executive Kevin Plank also announced he would step down from the panel. "Under Armour engages in innovation and sports, not politics," he said in a subtly-worded statement "I love our country and our company and will continue to focus my efforts on inspiring every person that they can do anything through the power of sport, which promotes unity, diversity and inclusion." Story continues Earlier this year, Plank had publicly expressed support for Trump in comments which sparked a backlash. - 'Serious harm' - Intel chief Brian Krzanich also announced his departure from the panel in a blunt statement which said he wanted to "call attention to the serious harm our divided political climate is causing to critical issues." "Politics and political agendas have sidelined the important mission of rebuilding America's manufacturing base," he said in a statement which underlined his "abhorrence" over the violence in Charlottesville. "I resigned because I want to make progress, while many in Washington seem more concerned with attacking anyone who disagrees with them. "We should honor -- not attack -- those who have stood up for equality and other cherished American values. I hope this will change, and I remain willing to serve when it does." Shortly after Frazier's resignation, Trump made a statement calling out specific hate groups. "Racism is evil. And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans," he said in nationally televised remarks. - Panel pullouts - The Justice Department has launched a civil rights inquiry into the incident, and the driver of the car, a 20-year-old Ohio man who was said to have had a history of neo-Nazi beliefs, has been charged with second-degree murder. Frazier is a Harvard Law School-trained attorney whose experience includes pro bono work that won the release of a wrongly-convicted death row inmate in Alabama. He is not the first executive to depart a Trump advisory panel. After Trump announced he would withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement, Disney CEO Bob Iger and Tesla Motors chief Elon Musk both left a White House advisory council, joining former Uber head Travis Kalanick, who stepped down in February following criticism of Trump's travel ban. But other executives on the panel appear to be staying put. "Heartbroken by the violence in #Charlottesville. Hate and intolerance are a betrayal of what we stand for as Americans," said Pepsi CEO Indra Nooyi in a statement that did not address the Trump panel. Other executives, including those from General Electric and Dow, planned to stay on Trump panels, US financial news media reported. Rome (AFP) - Italy has seen a sharp fall in the number of migrants arriving on its shores, a decline that has left experts scrambling for an explanation. Summer is traditionally the peak season for migrants attempting the hazardous crossing of the Mediterranean from North Africa to Europe. But, to much surprise, only 13,500 have arrived in Italy since July 1, compared to 30,500 over the same period in 2016 -- a year-on-year fall of more than 55 percent. Many migrants are from poor sub-Saharan Africa, fleeing violence in their home country or desperate for a better life in prosperous Europe. "It's still too early to talk of a real trend," cautions Barbara Molinario, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). One mooted reason for the fall is tougher action by the Libyan coastguard. The force which has been strengthened by help from the European Union (EU), which trained about 100 personnel over the winter, while Italy has provided patrol vessels, recently supported by Italian warships in Libyan waters. But according to figures from UN's International Office of Migration (IOM), the Libyan coastguard have intercepted fewer than 2,000 migrants since early July, compared to more than 4,000 in May. Another reason put forward to explain the decline is tougher action by NGOs who have been accused by critics of colluding with smugglers to pick up migrants at sea to prevent them from drowning. But these organisations have been involved in only a fraction of migrant rescues -- and three NGO vessels are still operating in the hope of picking up those in need. - Blocked routes - For Mussie Zerai, an Eritrean priest who campaigns for migrants in distress, the likelier cause for the decline lies inland. Agreements between the EU and transiting countries mean "the routes are blocked, the crossing points are more monitored," Zerai told AFP. In Sudan, the authorities have said they have beefed up border patrols, but deny reports from humanitarian organisations that they have been using violent militia which have been fighting rebels in Darfur. Story continues "In Libya, the tribes in the south have also sign agreements. The migrants are thrown into nightmarish detention centres in the desert or are turned back," Zerai said. In West Africa, awareness campaigns have been launched to try to dissuade young people from making the hazardous trip to Libya, where violence and exploitation await, before they even try the perilous sea crossing. "We are working very hard back home to discourage our youngsters from trying to cross to Europe by sea," a Ghanaian community chief who has been in Libya for 26 years said. "We dont want them to perish for a dream that may not come true. We talk to them, explain how things really are and let the elders in the villages and the bishops and priests in churches make them promise to be careful if they decide to go to Libya." He added: "There are still a lot of Ghanaians in Libya. They are here for work and to send money back home for their families. Many of them decided to return, especially the young ones, with the help of the embassy and the Libyan authorities." Fears of the risks in Libya may explain why the number of migrants arriving in Spain, via Morocco, has tripled since the start of the year to 8,200, according to IOM figures. Molinario said that an EU ban on selling inflatable boats to Libya may also have made life a bit more uncomfortable for smugglers. Even so, demand is likely to remain high, given that there are still hundreds of thousands of migrants in Libya, who find themselves in a war-torn country and at risk of violence and abduction. OIM spokesman Flavio di Giacomo suggested that one reason could be conflict between rival smuggling rings, or perhaps a shift in strategy by smugglers to take into account tougher conditions. But, he acknowledges, "we don't really know what's happening". The decline in numbers has eased the political pressure resulting from the inflow -- but only temporarily. - Migrant conditions - Since 2014, 600,000 migrants have landed in Italy, but more than 14,000 have died. Italian newspapers which, just a few weeks ago, were accusing NGOs of abetting an influx that seemed uncontrollable have now switched to reports on the terrifying conditions faced by migrants in Libya. "Sending them back to Libya right now means sending than back to Hell," the deputy foreign minister, Mario Giro, said earlier this month. Italy is pushing for centres for refugees to be set up in Libya that could provide safety. "We are working on it, but it's difficult," said Molinario. "We need funds, agreements with the authorities and access to the country," she said. The UNHCR itself had had to withdraw its foreign staff from Libya in 2014. WASHINGTON No vice president in modern political campaigning formed their own fundraising committee independent of the president so far in advance of an election until Vice President Mike Pence launched the Great America Committee in May. The mere hint that Pence is working to boost his own political brand instead of President Donald Trumps has already led the vice president to blast the fake news bullhorn. The New York Times reported earlier this month that Pences fundraising was part of an effort to promote himself amid uncertainty for top-level Republicans created by the investigations into Trumps ties to Russia. Pence responded to the Times article with over-the-top bombast characteristic of the Trump administration, calling the piece disgraceful and offensive to me, my family, and our entire team. The allegations in this article are categorically false and represent just the latest attempt by the media to divide this administration, Pence said. The vice president further insisted that he will continue to focus all our efforts to advance the presidents agenda and see him re-elected in 2020. Despite the denial, it is notable that Pence is the first vice president to launch a personal fundraising effort, particularly during the first months of a first term in office. Pence has already raised more than $500,000 and spent more than $230,000 through his political action committee. The funds largely come from donors residing in his home state of Indiana, where he has hosted at least one fundraiser this year. Pences committee spent more than $130,000 on political and fundraising consultants, and $68,000 on fundraising events. The committee made the maximum allowed donation of $5,400 to Trumps re-election campaign. Pence also has raised additional money at fundraisers for Republican Party committees around the country. Pence is different than vice presidents Americans have known in the past 16 years. He has clear political ambitions, while the previous two vice presidents did not. Story continues None of the vice presidents before Pence who held office since the enactment of campaign finance reforms in 1971 and 1974 have established independent political fundraising efforts to promote themselves to donors prior to announcing their own presidential campaigns. Instead, previous vice presidents grew their personal political base mainly by raising money for the president, the party, and congressional and state-level candidates. Dick Cheney, vice president from 2001 to 2009, never considered running for president, and required heart-replacement surgery soon after leaving office. Joe Biden, vice president from 2009 to 2017, considered running for president in 2016, but chose to defer to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Before them, vice presidents who clearly aspired to the highest office did not take the steps that Pence has so early in a presidential administration or even at all. Ron Klain, a former chief of staff to both Vice President Al Gore and to Biden, told HuffPost in an email that both Gore and Biden focused their political activities on directly helping candidates, the party, and their party committees. The same was true of Gerald Ford, Walter Mondale, George H.W. Bush and Dan Quayle. Ford, of course, stands out among this collection of second-in-lines. Unlike the others, he ascended to the presidency during his vice-presidential term. The story of how the 38th president came into office is pretty well known and part of the reason people perk up when they see that Pence is minding his own political brand in a way no vice president has before. In 1973, Congress approved President Richard Nixons selection of Ford as his vice president after the previous office-holder, Spiro Agnew, resigned as part of a corruption plea deal. Ford entered the office less than two months after Nixon orchestrated the Saturday Night Massacre by causing his attorney general and deputy attorney general to quit as he successfully sought the firing of the special counsel investigating his 1972 re-election campaign for criminal misdeeds known as Watergate. With Nixon increasingly unpopular, Ford became the face of the administration at fundraisers for congressional candidates and the Republican Party. At the time, Ford was well aware that he was going to be next president and before the 1976 election. He mused in an interview with The New Republic about which Nixon Cabinet members he would keep, and admitted as much to reporter Tom DeFrank in comments made off the record at the time. Even though Pence has taken the unusual step of forming a political action committee, he like Ford is insistent on appearing loyal to the president. Klain said Pences loyalty to Trump may be the real negative for him not his personal fundraising. My bottom line is that I do not share the growing view that Pence is doing unusual things to distance himself from Trump; my criticism would be just the opposite: he is linking himself more tightly to Trump every day, Klain said. That is the mistake that will come back to haunt him in future endeavors. Also on HuffPost Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. In the wake of the violent white supremacist protests in Charlottesville, multiple American cities are set to move forward with plans to tear down more Confederate statues upon realizing that being associated with literal Nazis is not a great look. Baltimore, Maryland and Lexington, Kentucky both confirmed Tuesday that the monument removal process was underway. Lexington mayor Jim Gray actually accelerated plans in light of the Charlottesville protests, according to an interview he gave Reuters on Monday. The city governments of Memphis, Tennessee and Jacksonville, Florida also kicked off initiatives to remove Confederate statues from their public property. Other cities were quicker on the uptake, and have already gotten to work dismantling these racist lawn ornaments. A Confederate statue named Old Joe in Gainesville, Florida was removed Monday after 116 years of display. And for cities that havent quite caught the fuck-the-Confederacy bug yet, protesters have taken remodeling into their own hands. On Monday, protesters in Durham, North Carolina pulled down a statue commemorating the boys who wore gray to raucous applause. The above video is a treat for a number of reasons. The visual element alone of a statue being destroyed is, simply put, a ton of fun. Ask Roland Emmerich. Then theres the destruction of a tangible symbol of white supremacy and a particularly shameful chapter in Americas history being dismantled. And the fact that this is an visual representation of the power of organized, direct action? Delicious. Some conservatives have extrapolated that as Confederate statues fall, other monuments are soon to follow. But such speculation betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of what drives the push behind the removal of the Confederate monuments and further reenforces the idea that patriotic iconography is the domain of conservatives alone. The Confederate statues arent offensive because they portray a time period in American history. They are offensive because they glorify a government so intent on the right to own other human beings that they forfeited their American-ness. Story continues Also, the Iwo Jima Memorial is straight up way too big to topple that easily, so there. Written by Katie Way More articles by Katie Follow Katie on Twitter More From Inverse From Popular Mechanics Yesterday, NASA Watch reported that Oklahoma Congressman and Naval Aviator Jim Bridenstine has been selected as the new NASA Administrator, and Aerojet Rocketdyne Vice President John Schumacher has been identified as Deputy Administrator. Ars Technica then confirmed the selections with multiple sources. However, one source familiar with the situation warned that "this is Trump world," implying that nothing is certain until a formal nomination is announced by NASA, which is expected to occur sometime in September. Bridenstine, the third-term Republican Representative of Oklahoma's 1st congressional district, is a passionate advocate of increased U.S. operations in space, including a return to the moon to construct a permanent base. He has been rumored as a likely candidate for NASA's top job since Donald Trump was elected in November, and he sponsored a bill last year known as the American Space Renaissance Act, which outlines many of his space policies. The Congressman supports fostering private industry in space and shifting some space operations away from NASA and the Defense Department to the private sector. "Our civil and defense space enterprises must not compete with the private sector, but enable domestic, commercial launch and space capabilities," Bridenstine wrote on his space policy website. Bridenstine also supports a return to the moon to harvest resources. He called a U.S. return to the lunar surface to build a permanent outpost "our Sputnik moment," in a speech posted on his website: From the discovery of water ice on the moon until this day, the American objective should have been a permanent outpost of rovers and machines at the poles with occasional manned missions for science and maintenance. The purpose of such an outpost should have been to utilize the materials and energy of the moon to drive down the costs and increase the capabilities of cis-lunar space. Story continues The reported incoming NASA Administrator is also an active aviator and lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy Reserve. Bridenstine flew combat missions in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and he flew missions to South and Central America as recently as 2012 to combat the drug trade. John Schumacher, the likely Deputy Administrator to serve under Bridenstine, served as NASA Chief of Staff from 2003 to 2005. He is the current vice president of Washington D.C. operations for rocket and propulsion company Aerojet Rocketdyne. The selections for NASA's top two leaders, which comes a couple months after the Trump administration created a new Space Council chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, represents the new administration's desire to expand commercial space operations, but also seems to honor a commitment to traditional aerospace contractors and the Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion program. The controversial new launch vehicle and spacecraft have suffered multiple delays and cost overruns. While Bridenstine represents a shift toward supporting the efforts of companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin to make access to space more affordable, Schumacher could be an indication that the SLS is safe, as Aerojet Rocketdyne is one of the primary contractors for that program, having received a $1.16 billion contract from NASA to manufacture new RS-25 engines for the mammoth rocket. The new NASA leadership, if indeed Bridenstine and Schumacher are to head the space agency, will likely work with the Space Council to push for human spaceflight and robotic exploration of the outer solar system at the expense of some Earth science and educational missions. U.S. military presence in space is also expected to expand under the Trump administration, and cooperation with the private space industry will continue to remain a priority. Source: Ars Technica You Might Also Like The 82nd Airborne Division fought several campaigns against Nazi Germany during World War II. So after a man in a hat bearing the elite Army paratrooper units insignia was pictured throwing a Ku Klux Klan salute (which resembles and is sometimes mistaken for a Nazi salute) during the weekends Charlottesville protests, the division delivered a pointed message. "U really think that guy is an active member of the 82nd just because he has that hat? My mom has that same hat. She's 78 & has never served," said the operator of the 82nd Airborne Division's Twitter account in response to this viral image. (Photo: Twitter) Anyone can purchase that hat, 82nd Airborne wrote on its official Twitter page. Valor is earned. The infantry unit, nicknamed the All American Division, was reacting to a photograph that Brandon Friedman, a former Obama administration official, shared of the demonstrator on Twitter. The image was retweeted more than 20,000 times Monday. Would *LOVE* to know the name of Mr. 82nd Airborne Division here rendering Hitler's Nazi salute. The 82nd jumped into Normandy on D-Day. pic.twitter.com/oObJNgXzEI Brandon Friedman (@BFriedmanDC) August 13, 2017 The 82nd Airborne, which played a critical role in the Allied win at Normandy, northern France, on D-Day in 1944, was swift and scathing in its response to the image. Our WWII Airborne forefathers jumped into Europe to defeat Nazism. We know who we are. We know our legacy. All American (@82ndABNDiv) August 14, 2017 U really think that guy is an active member of the 82nd just because he has that hat? My mom has that same hat. She's 78 & has never served All American (@82ndABNDiv) August 14, 2017 Andy - Respectfully, anyone who thinks this man represents our culture and values has never worn the maroon beret...and never will All American (@82ndABNDiv) August 14, 2017 Anyone can purchase that hat. Valor is earned. pic.twitter.com/qk6rQHBwui All American (@82ndABNDiv) August 14, 2017 In response to one Twitter user who asked for the identity of the man in the hat, the division replied that it did not know. Instead, it shared an image showing what a real All American Paratrooper looks like: Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. Who knows? THIS is what an All American Paratrooper looks like. Rock Merritt jumped into Normandy on D Day, Njiemgen, fought in Bulge pic.twitter.com/vaps5fU0jb All American (@82ndABNDiv) August 14, 2017 It seems the 82nd Airborne continues to battle fascists. Only this time, its on American soil. CLARIFICATION: This article has been updated to note that the men in the photograph appear to be giving a KKK salute, which is similar to the Nazi salute but is performed with the left hand, with fingers spread and the thumb folded against the palm. America does not do a good job of tracking incidents of hate and bias. We need your help to create a database of such incidents across the country, so we all know whats going on. Tell us your story. Related... How What Happened Here In Charlottesville Was Inevitable Neo-Nazi Site Daily Stormer Praises Trump's Charlottesville Reaction: 'He Loves Us All' Jennifer Lawrence Joins Call To ID White Supremacists From Charlottesville March Heather Heyer 'Murdered While Protesting Against Hate' In Charlottesville, Friends Say What To Do About Charlottesville After Charlottesville, #ThisIsNotUS Hashtag Shows An America Fed-Up And Frustrated Also on HuffPost This article originally appeared on HuffPost. The statue has been taken off-site as the investigation gets underway: AP The protesters who tore down a Confederate monument in North Carolina could face charges for the vandalism if local investigators are able to figure out their identities. Durham Sheriff Mike Andrews said that he was relieved nobody was hurt when the protesters wrapped a yellow strap around the Confederate Soldiers monument and pulled it off its pedestal. Collectively, we decided that restraint and public safety would be our priority Mr Andrews said in a statement. As the sheriff, I am not blind to the offensive conduct of some demonstrators more will I ignore their criminal conduct. Videos captured at the scene are being analysed by investigators, he said, to figure out who was responsible for the actions. The sheriff emphasised that racism and incivility wouldnt be allowed to run rampant in his county. The statue, which is nearly a century old, is called the "Confederate Soldiers Monument". The statue was dedicated in 1924. Protests were held outside of the Durham County Courthouse to protest racism there just days after a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, turned violent when a vehicle plowed through a group of counter protesters. A 32-year-old woman was killed by that vehicle, and 19 others were injured. That rally in Charlottesville was organised to protest the recent decision by city officials to remove a statue honouring Confederate General Robert E Lee. Those officials reasoned that Lee had no real historical connection to the city, and that its continued placement on public grounds in the city was inappropriate. The rally quickly fell into chaos, however, and police attempted to disperse crowds soon after the planned start time. Reports of the two sides brawling ran amok, and videos showed white supremacist demonstrators beating up counter protesters. Some demonstrators used tear gas, while others used police batons and other weapons. Confederate monuments have been a point of contention since at least 2015, when Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old white man, entered a historically black church and shot nine black people to death in Charlotte, South Carolina. Investigations into that attack carried out by Roof in the hopes of sparking a race war later unveiled pictures of Roof posing with a gun and the Confederate flag. Story continues The flag photos quickly sparked a national debate over why the Confederate flag which was flown by the Confederate army when the South seceded from the United States in protest of pro-emancipation policies in the North was still flying on public grounds. That uproar later led the South Carolina governor at the time, Nikki Haley, to force her legislature to write a law to remove the flag from state grounds. Other states and localities have since followed suit or have considered it, and the topic of monuments has been considered as well. There are over 1,500 Confederate monuments or tributes on public grounds in the United States, according to a database compiled by the Southern Poverty Law Center. That includes 718 monuments or statues, 109 public schools, 80 counties, and 10 US military bases named for Confederate soldiers. The North Korean military has shown their leader Kim Jong Un plans to strike the U.S. territory of Guam, with carefully staged pictures released by the state-controlled North Korean media on Monday. The undated photos, taken at an undisclosed location, portray the North Korean ruler surrounded by army generals inspecting maps of the Pacific. The men appear to be discussing one particular map, titled Strategic Force's Firing Strike Plan, which showed a flight path for the missiles launching from the east coast of North Korea, flying over Japan and heading south to the island of Guam, which lies around 2,100 miles away from Pyongyang. The map matched the plan detailed in North Korean media last week. General Kim Rak Gyom, the commander of the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army (KPA), the military branch overlooking missile units, said the plan involved launching four Hwasong-12 rockets, ground-to-ground medium long-range strategic ballistic missiles, over Japans Shimane, Hiroshima and Kochi prefectures, covering 3,356.7km [2,085 miles] for 1,065 seconds and [hitting] the waters 30 to 40 km [18-25 miles] away from Guam. The general said the military would be able to follow through with the plan as soon as the North Korean leader gave the order, but Kim Jong Un appeared in no rush to strike. He would watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees spending a hard time of every minute of their miserable lot, he said, according to the North Korean media reports. Kim Jong Un Guam plans KRT/via Reuters Kim warned the U.S. should stop at once arrogant provocations and, should they persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions, North Korea will carry through with their threats as they will be ready to strike at any time. The North Korean leader's appearance was the first time he had been seen in public in two weeks, raising concerns over a new possible test launch for a submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) as the second missile ballistic test in July also followed a 14-day period of absence from public view. Story continues High levels of activities at North Koreas Sinpo South Shipyard, the site of the fourth ejection test for a missiles cold-launch system so far this year, could indicate that an at-sea SLBM test may be forthcoming, analyst Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. wrote for the U.S.-based North Korea monitoring website 38 North on Friday. The picture released Monday seems to show a launch location in the vicinity of Sinpo, Kim Dong-yub, a military expert at Kyungnam University's Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Seoul, told Reuters. "Every North Korean must have seen this photo on TV and newspapers. North Korea is showing its confidence, telling the United States: If they want to stop it they can try," he said. "It also signals that the North has been studying this for a long time and getting ready to act if it decided to." It isnt the first time North Korea has shown off plans to strike the U.S. In 2013, Kim Jong Un threatened a strike on Guam following a period of escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula that led the U.N. Security Council to unanimously vote on sanctions on the countrys banking, trade and travel sectors in March that year. Kim Jong Un 2013 KCNA/Reuters A month later in April, North Korean media released a picture of Kim Jong Un reviewing plans for missile strikes, with a sign reading "Strategic Force's plan to hit the mainland of the U.S." The country has never carried out its threats to hit U.S. targets. Speaking to the press on Monday, Defense Secretary General Jim Mattis said the military was ready to defend the country from any attack, at any time, from any quarter. Related Articles North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has been briefed on a plan to fire missiles near Guam but hinted that he would hold off on the launch, Pyongyang's state media said Tuesday. Kim "examined the plan for a long time" and "discussed it" with commanding officers on Monday during his inspection of the command of the Strategic Force in charge of the North's missile units, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). He said that "the US imperialists caught the noose around their necks due to their reckless military confrontation racket". But Kim hinted he would hold off on the plan to test-fire missiles towards the US Pacific island territory, saying he would "watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees spending a hard time of every minute of their miserable lot". "In order to defuse the tensions and prevent the dangerous military conflict on the Korean peninsula, it is necessary for the US to make a proper option first and show it through action, as it committed provocations after introducing huge nuclear strategic equipment into the vicinity of the peninsula", he was quoted as saying by KCNA. He urged the US to "stop at once arrogant provocations" against the North and not provoke it any longer. - War of words - North Korea's military said last week that it would finalise by mid-August its detailed plan to test-fire four intermediate-range ballistic missiles in an "enveloping fire" around Guam and report it to its leader for approval. Tensions have been mounting since the North tested two intercontinental ballistic missile tests last month, which appeared to bring much of the US within range. Responding to the tests, US President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang of "fire and fury like the world has never seen". The North in turn threatened to test-fire its missiles towards the US Pacific island of Guam. The war of words has sparked global alarm, with world leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping urging calm on both sides. Story continues South Korean President Moon Jae-In also waded in on Monday, calling for calm in the standoff with North Korea, saying there should never be another war on the peninsula. US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned Monday that an attack against the United States could quickly escalate into war, as he and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson moved to dial down tensions. Mattis's comments came after they said in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal that America has "no interest" in regime change in Pyongyang or the accelerated reunification of the two Koreas, and stressed the importance of a diplomatic solution to the crisis. The two statesmen decided to write the piece a couple of weeks ago, and it had not been in response to last week's heated rhetoric, Mattis said. Mattis and Tillerson said the United States favors a diplomatic solution to the nuclear stand-off, especially with help from China, though they stressed diplomacy is "backed by military options." Since Monday morning, seven top executives have quit President Donald Trumps American Manufacturing Council in protest against his tepid response to a deadly attack by an accused white supremacist following a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Yet no one has left the presidents other business brain trust. The Strategic and Policy Forum, a council of 16 big-name executives tasked with advising Trump on economic policy, includes some huge consumer brands, making those members more susceptible to public pressure through boycotts. Still, most of them did not respond to HuffPosts request for comment on Tuesday. On Wednesday, however, the Strategic and Policy Forum reportedly disbanded. The fastest responses to HuffPost had tended to come from executives who lead finance and financial services giants that generally dont count ordinary consumers among their clients. Steve Schwarzman, the billionaire chief executive of the investment goliath Blackstone Group, issued a strongly worded statement on Monday, condemning bigotry, hatred and extremism as an affront to core American values. But his spokesman told HuffPost he had no plans to leave the council. Mark Weinberger, CEO of the professional services firm EY, put out a similar statement against hate. His spokesman told HuffPost, There is also no change to Marks participation in the forum. Adebayo Ogunlesi, the chairman and managing partner of the $40 billion investment fund Global Infrastructure Partners, declined to comment. A spokesman for Daniel Yergin said the Pulitzer Prize-winning author and vice chairman of the financial services firm IHS Markit has been on vacation and is unavailable to comment. A spokeswoman for Toby Cosgrove, chief executive of the nonprofit hospital chain Cleveland Clinic, explained why he planned to remain on the panel. At this time, his status has not changed, she told HuffPost. He has the ability to access the highest level of government to give direct input on healthcare issues. Story continues Jack Welch, the former chairman of General Electric who now serves as a corporate gadfly and conservative pundit, could not be reached for comment, according to a spokeswoman. Mr. Welch is on vacation and ... he will not be home until this evening, she said. He did not bring his cell phone with him, so I cant reach him for a comment. Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, who did not specifically respond to HuffPost, issued a strong rebuke of Trumps response to the Charlottesville violence in a statement posted on the companys website. But he indicated that he plans to stay on the Strategic and Policy Forum, according to The New York Times. Flowers surround a photo of 32-year-old Heather Heyer, who was killed when a car plowed into a crowd of people protesting against the white supremacist Unite the Right rally. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, General Motors CEO Mary Barra, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, Patomak Global Partners CEO Paul Atkins, Boston Consulting Group CEO Rich Lesser, former Boeing Company CEO Jim McNerney and Hoover Institute fellow Kevin Warsh also did not return requests for comment. People protested in New York on Wednesday to demand that Schwarzman and Dimon step down from the council. Over the past few months, three chief executives have resigned from the Strategic and Policy Forum in opposition to other decisions by Trump. In February, then-Uber CEO Travis Kalanick stepped down in hopes of distancing his ride-hailing service from Trumps executive order barring travelers from several Muslim-majority nations. In May, Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk resigned after Trumps withdrawal from the Paris climate accord left him no choice. Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger also resigned over the presidents decision to pull the U.S. out of the historic climate agreement, which was signed by every country except Syria and Nicaragua. The departures from the manufacturing council began on Monday morning when Merck & Co. CEO Ken Frazier, the only African-American in the group, stepped down to take a stand against intolerance and extremism. Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank and Intel CEO Brian Krzanich resigned on Monday evening, hours after Trump gave a press conference in which he said racism is evil and called out the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis. On Tuesday, Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, quit the group, tweeting that Its the right thing for me to do. Later that evening, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka also announced his resignation amid mounting pressure from unions in the federation. On Wednesday, Inge Thulin, chief executive of the industrial conglomerate 3M, dropped out after careful consideration. Campbell Soup Company CEO Denise Morrison resigned soon after. Racism and murder are unequivocally reprehensible and are not morally equivalent to anything else that happened in Charlottesville. I believe the President should have been and still needs to be unambiguous on that point, Morrison said in a statement. Following yesterdays remarks from the President, I cannot remain on the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative. In response, Trump lambasted Frazier for his companys high drug prices. He did not call out the other corporate chieftains specifically, but he vowed to replace them in a tweet on Tuesday morning. For every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, I have many to take their place. Grandstanders should not have gone on. JOBS! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 15, 2017 But its not clear that he will. The White House did not replace Klaus Kleinfeld after he stepped down as chief executive of the manufacturing giant Arconic in April and left the council. The administration did not even invite Ford Motor Company CEO Jim Hackett to join the manufacturing council after his predecessor, Mark Fields, retired in May. No one has replaced Kalanick, Musk or Iger on the Strategic and Policy Forum, either. Related Coverage UPDATE: Elon Musk To Stop Advising Trump As U.S. Departs Paris Climate Accord CEO Quits White House Council Over Trump's Charlottesville Response And Trump Attacks Him Big Business Blasts Donald Trump's Decision To Exit Paris Climate Accord Trump Advisory Council Members Say Leaving The Paris Accord Is A Bad Move Uber CEO Travis Kalanick Stepping Down From Trump Economic Advisory Council Sign up for the HuffPost Must Reads newsletter. Each Sunday, we will bring you the best original reporting, long form writing and breaking news from HuffPost and around the web, plus behind-the-scenes looks at how its all made. Click here to sign up! Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. Also on HuffPost Four-year-old Leo Griffin leaves an Aug. 13 Chicago protest that mourned the victims of the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the day before. People hold signs at a vigil on Aug. 13 in Chicago for the victims in the previous day's violent clashes in Charlottesville. People gather in downtown Chicago on Aug. 13 to protest the alt-right movement and to mourn Heather Heyer, who was killed in Charlottesville when a car plowed into a crowd of counterprotesters. Demonstrators hold signs outside the White House on Aug. 13 during a vigil in response to the death of a counterprotester in the Aug. 12 "Unite the Right" rally. A woman writes "Silence is Compliance" with a chalk on the ground at Federal Plaza Square in Chicago during an Aug. 13 protest in response to the violence that erupted in Charlottesville. People gather in downtown Chicago on Aug. 13 to protest the alt-right movement. Ahead of President Donald Trump's visit, about 400 demonstrators on Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower in New York attend a rally protesting the violence in Charlottesville. A demonstrator holds a banner reading "Only 1 Side Love" during a protest at Federal Plaza Square in Chicago on Aug. 13. People gather in front of the White House to hold a vigil on Aug. 13, one day after the violence in Charlottesville. A demonstrator holds a banner reading "Hate Has No Home Here. Love Will Win" during an Aug. 13 protest at Federal Plaza Square in Chicago. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Several prominent Republicans denounced President Trumps latest comments blaming both sides for the violence that erupted between white supremacists and counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend. One side is racist, bigoted, Nazi, former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney tweeted. The other opposes racism and bigotry. Morally different universes. We must be clear, House Speaker Paul Ryan wrote on Twitter Tuesday. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell released a statement on Wednesday morning condemning hate groups. Like Paul, McConnell did not mention Trump by name. There are no good neo-nazis, and those who espouse their views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms, McConnells statement read. We all have a responsibility to stand against hate and violence, wherever it raises its evil head. Theres no moral equivalency between racists & Americans standing up to defy hate & bigotry, Sen. John McCain tweeted. The President of the United States should say so. Former Presidents George W. Bush and George H. W. Bush issued a rare joint statement saying America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms. As we pray for Charlottesville, we are reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that citys most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence: we are all created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights, their statement read. We know these truths to be everlasting because we have seen the decency and greatness of our country. Related slideshow: Violent clashes erupt at Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. >>> Saturdays violence and tragic loss of life was a direct consequence of the hateful rhetoric & action from white supremacists demonstrating, House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., wrote. Story continues Race-based supremacy movements have no place in our melting pot culture, McCarthy added. They do not reflect the ideals enshrined in our Constitution that treats and respects every American equally. During a heated exchange with reporters in the lobby of Trump Tower on Tuesday afternoon, the president defended his initial statement that asserted many sides were to blame for the violence on Saturday in Charlottesville, where white nationalists and neo-Nazis clashed with counterprotesters. One woman, Heather Heyer, was killed when a 20-year-old reported Nazi sympathizer allegedly drove his car through a group of counterprotesters. Trump called the man, James Alex Fields Jr., a murderer but declined to characterize the incident as domestic terrorism which several members of the GOP had urged him to do. You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, Trump told reporters. And nobody wants to say that, but Ill say it right now. I think theres blame on both sides, the president added. If you look at both sides I think theres blame on both sides. And I have no doubt about it, and you dont have any doubt about it either. Late Tuesday, the White House distributed a sheet of talking points to congressional Republicans about Charlottesville. The President was entirely correct, the first bullet point read. Both sides of the violence in Charlottesville acted inappropriately, and bear some responsibility. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said that the organizers of the white supremacist rally deserve all of the blame. Mr. President, you cant allow #WhiteSupremacists to share only part of blame, Rubio tweeted. We can not allow this old evil to be resurrected. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., issued a statement addressing the president directly. Your words are dividing Americans, not healing them, Graham said Wednesday: Through his statements yesterday, President Trump took a step backward by again suggesting there is a moral equivalency between the white supremacist no-Nazis and KKK members who attended the Charlottesville rally and people like Ms. Heyer. Graham added: Many Republicans do not agree with and will fight back against the idea that the Party of Lincoln has becone a welcome mat out for the David Dukes of the world. Related slideshow: Confederate monuments removed in wake of Charlottesville violence >>> The president of the United States needs to condemn these kinds of hate groups, Ohio Gov. John Kasich said on NBCs Today show on Wednesday. The president has to totally condemn this. And this is not about winning an argument. This is about the fact that now these folks are apparently gonna go to other places and they think that they had some sort of a victory. There is no moral equivalency between the KKK, the neo-Nazis and anybody else. Trump also said that were some very fine people in the torch-bearing group protesting the removal of a very, very important Confederate statue. Not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me, he said. Not all of those people were white supremacists by any stretch. Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., tweeted, Very fine people do not participate in rallies with groups chanting racist and anti-Semitic slogans and displaying vile symbols of hate. In a statement, Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wisc., said that the president needs to be crystal clear that hatred has no place in our society, but he is currently failing at it. [The President] just doesnt get it, Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla., tweeted. No moral equivalence between manifestations for and against white supremacy. Hes got to stop. I dont understand whats so hard about this, Rep. Steve Stivers, R-Ohio, wrote on Twitter. White supremacists and Neo-Nazis are evil and shouldnt be defended. Read more from Yahoo News: The Maryland couple who gained internet infamy after a video of them playing an expletive-laced prank on their children went viral may face up to 10 years in prison. Michael and Heather Martin have been charged with two counts each of neglect of a minor after making headlines in April for posting a since-removed video to YouTube that many viewers blasted as abusive. The video, posted to their channel, DaddyOFive, shows Heather Martin spreading what she said was ink that would soon disappear, but she and her husband later blame two of the children for the stains. Both dad and stepmom can be heard cursing and shouting during the ordeal, which left the children in tears an outcome typical of some of the 300 videos they posted online. The videos have since been removed from YouTube. One month after the video surfaced, Michael Martins children, 12-year-old Emma and 9-year-old Cody, were removed from the home by Frederick County officials and placed in the custody of their biological mother, Rose Hall. Read: 2 Children Taken From Home of Couple Blasted for Controversial YouTube Prank Videos In a May 1 clip posted by Hall and her attorney, she called the videos and behavior pictured very heartbreaking and disturbing. The two children removed from the home were the youngest of five kids in total. Michael and Heather Martin issued an apology for their behavior in April, telling Inside Edition, We got carried away in the moment. I acknowledge and I respect how everyone feels about this and I do agree we put things on the internet that should not be there," Michael Martin said in a video posted online. "We did things we should not do." Heather Martin added that the videos began as something the family did together and the children were excited about them. Read: Pranksters Blamed for Turning On City's 156 Emergency Sirens All at Once But they went from something that wasnt so bad and then we just kept going more and more for the shock factor... to see what could get more views, she said. Story continues Prosecutors filed charges against the Martins on July 27. They said the couple neglected Emma and Cody between November 2016 and April 2017, the Frederick News Post reported. The pair face up to five years in prison per count and a $5,000 fine. Their attorney, Stephen Tully, told the Frederick News Post that his clients have reached a plea agreement with prosecutors, but would not comment further. They are due in court for a plea hearing on Sept. 11. Watch: Dad Who Pranked Their Kids: We Got Carried Away In the Moment Related Articles: Paris Hilton (left), Princess Diana (Photo: Getty Images/AP Images) Paris Hilton was on her way to becoming the next Princess Diana if it werent for her sex tape. This, according to Paris Hilton. The socialite-turned-businesswoman sat down with Marie Claire for a wide-ranging interview on everything from family friend President Trump to that infamous video. Hilton, now 36, says the sex tape with then-boyfriend Rick Salomon is something she regrets. Hilton was 18 and Salomon 33 when the tape was released without her consent. The heiress denies she participated in the videos release for fame or profit. Thats one thing that really pisses me off when I hear it, because I never, ever received one dollar from that video, she says. (According to TMZ, Salomon made $10 million in the first year.) That is the last thing that I would want out there. Its really hurtful, because my whole life I really looked up to Princess Diana, all these elegant, amazing women, and I feel like [Salomon] just took that all away from me, Hilton adds. I could have been like that, but because of that tape, I will always be judged and thought of as whatever they say about me because of a private moment between my boyfriend and me. Hilton continues, I wish I had never met him. That is actually the one regret in my life. I wish that I had never met that guy. I could not leave my house for months. I was so depressed, humiliated. I didnt want to be seen in public. Paris Hilton and ex-boyfriend Rick Salomon. (Photo: Getty Images) One person who admits to watching the tape? Hilton family friend Trump. Hes been close with Pariss father, Rick Hilton, for decades. Paris was asked if it creeped her out that Trump watched the intimate video, and the Marie Claire interviewer writes that Paris shrugs it off: It was on Howard Sterns show. Hilton says she didnt vote for Trump she didnt vote at all but also dismisses his infamous grab them by the pussy tape. Ive heard guys say the craziest things ever, because Im always around guys, and I listen to them speak, she says. As for the women who alleged that Trump sexually assaulted them, she told the magazine, I think that they are just trying to get attention and get fame. Story continues Nicky Hilton, Donald Trump, and Paris Hilton in 2001. (Photo: Frank Micelotta/ImageDirect) Still, Hilton views herself as a feminist. I just feel its about womens empowerment and girl power, and Im very into that, she says. The love is mutual between Paris and Trump, who once called the heiress dumb like a fox. Her sister, Nicky Hilton Rothschild, also tells the magazine, [Paris] didnt get this far by being dumb. People love to talk s***, Paris says. Im used to it, over the years. I love how, anyone I meet, I always change their mind right away. Im not what people think. Its fun to kind of laugh with it and say Im in on the joke. For example? Her baby voice. Paris says she used to use it when I was little, anytime I wanted something. The producers on her 2003 reality show, The Simple Life, wanted the baby voice and then some. I was really kind of shy in the beginning, she says. So the producers just said, Act spoiled, a kind of blond airhead. I did that and then I realized it was a brand, so I played along with it. And when I felt shy, I would just do it. Paris continues, Now I actually think its cuter to be intelligent and to have a normal, low, sexy voice. Now when I hear the baby voice, I want to punch myself. For those thinking Paris is a has-been, thanks in part to her former assistant Kim Kardashian for filling the worlds sex-tape-turned-reality-star void, Hilton is laughing all the way to the bank. According to Marie Claire, her 25 fragrances alone have brought in almost $3 billion globally. She has 18 product lines sold in at least 63 countries, is about to open her second hotel property in the Philippines, and is the highest-paid female DJ in the world, sometimes making $1 million in one night. Were sure Donald Trump is proud. Read more from Yahoo Celebrity: Philippine police have killed 32 people in a series of drug raids near the capital Manila, in whats believed to be the bloodiest night of President Roderigo Dutertes drug war. Those killed from Monday to Tuesday in Bulacan province were suspected drug offenders, police said according to the BBC. Since Duterte came to power just over one year ago, he has waged a brutal campaign to crack down on suspected drug dealers, users and other personalities in an effort to clean up drugs and crime in the Philippines. More than 7,000 people have been killed in connection to the drug war, most of those were poor residents of city slums. According to Agence France-Presse, 67 police operations were carried out cross Bulacan province, resulting in the 32 deaths. Police said 109 others were arrested and illegal drugs and firearms were also seized. Despite condemnation from rights groups and the international community, Duterte has vowed to press on with his war on drugs, saying last month that offenders would end up in jail or hell. On July 30, police gunned down the mayor of the southern Philippine city of Ozamiz, along with his wife, two of his siblings and 11 others. Reynaldo Parojinog was the third mayor in less than a year to die in a shoot out with police after being accused of having links to the drug trade. [BBC] Mothers are tired of being told when and where to breastfeed their babies. To illustrate how natural it is to nurse out in the open, Arizona photographer Alicia Atkins recruited 27 mothers for a powerful shoot against the backdrop of a gorgeous desert sunset. This image of 27 mothers nursing their babies in an Arizona desert is making an impact. (Photo: Alicia Samone Photography) This image of 27 mothers nursing their babies in an Arizona desert is making an impact. (Photo: Alicia Samone Photography) THIS is for everyone that says to cover up. THIS is our right. THIS is for everyone that rolls their eyes. THIS is for the ones that say go feed your baby in the bathroom, Atkins wrote on Facebook, where she posted the photo on Sunday night. THIS is for US. THIS is for or children. THIS IS OUR RIGHT! The post already has more than 690 reactions and 350 shares. This was the Glendale photographers third year of organizing a breastfeeding mothers photo, but something about the timing this year led to an overwhelming response. I had moms from all over Arizona tagging other moms, saying, Please do this, Please do this, You have to go do this, Atkins tells Yahoo Beauty. While 55 signed up, she wound up with 27 mothers at the park on Sunday at 6:50 p.m. As anyone whos raised a baby knows, thats typically a difficult time (aka the witching hour) for little ones, so its doubly impressive that this photo took only 15 minutes to capture. That was the beauty of the picture: Breastfeeding isnt easy, Atkins says. Theres one mom in there that has a baby and shes kind of falling out of her arms because she really didnt want to be in the picture. Some of the moms we had to do a really quick 1-2-3 so they could put the baby there and nurse really fast. It was overwhelming for the babies to be out in the desert. It was hot, it was bedtime, they were on camera. It was a little bit of work, but everybody worked out really well. The breathtaking backdrop, apparently untouched by civilization, helps illustrate her point. We try to stay away from buildings and major crossroads, just to make sure that everything is natural and beautiful and brings attention to the actual beauty of breastfeeding, she says. Story continues Though she hadnt initially planned it, Atkins managed to present a variety of ways women feed their children in the shot: Theres a woman using a breast pump, one using a bottle, one tandem-feeding twins, and another tandem-feeding her baby and toddler. I breastfed for 5 years total, Atkins, a mother of three, wrote in her post. I support it. I will ALWAYS advocate for it. BUT This does NOT put down moms who dont, or cant. I SUPPORT YOU AS LONG AS YOU FEED YOUR BABY!! While woman have been more vocal about their breastfeeding rights in recent years, Atkins has found thats also made those who disapprove bolder too. A few of those responded to Atkinss post, which went viral almost immediately after she published it on Sunday night, and on the local news coverage of the shoot. Its your CHOICE to breast feed, wrote a woman calling herself Ladybug Bugzy. My CHOICE is I dont want My Family to see PORN before their time. I BREAST FEED ALL MY CHILDREN I carried a light blanket when in public. But most women proudly shared their own breastfeeding selfies in the comment thread that followed, drowning out any negativity. Atkins said there were a couple of park employees who questioned whether she could take the photo without a permit, but she was able to argue that there was no commercial intent behind the shoot. Now, due to its popularity, shes arranging to do another one this Sunday, with 73 mothers already signed up. Read more from Yahoo Style + Beauty: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, please follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty. President Donald Trump went on another Twitter spree early Tuesday when he mistakenly retweeted a post that called him a "fascist." The tweet posted by a user named Mike Holden was in response to a Fox & Friends article with the headline "FOX NEWS EXCLUSIVE: President Trump 'seriously considering' a pardon for ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio." The by Holden tweet read: "He's a fascist, so not unusual." However, the president realized his mistake and deleted the tweet from his personal account a few moments after retweeting it. However, Twitter users were quick enough to take screenshots before it disappeared. Holden himself tweeted a picture of the retweet and jokingly said he was announcing his retirement from the social networking site after his newfound fame. In the tweet, it appears as if Holden is saying that ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio was a fascist, and because Trump is one too, he is considering pardoning Arpaio. According to reports, Apario was recently convicted of criminal contempt after ignoring a judges order to stop detaining people as he suspected them of being undocumented immigrants. Meanwhile, Twitterati who were amused at Trump's mistaken retweet made sure to voice their opinion on the social media platform. One user replied to Holden saying: You're today's Twitter hero". Another said: He probably was half asleep and saw "that is fantastic". In a reply to his own tweet, Holden wrote: "I'm going to put "Endorsed by the President of the United States" in my bio, as soon as tiny have a decent one!" This is not the first time the president has endorsed tweets that were attacking him. Last week, Trump liked a tweet that accused the him of rape and conducting orgies using the models at his former agency, Trump Model Management. Although he unliked the tweet within a few seconds, he was not spared the humiliation as many had captured screenshots already. Story continues The user, Alexander Hamilton, who posted the tweet wondered if perhaps Trumps thumb was trembling and the favorite was an accident. Trump has had a history of retweeting many disstrubing tweets. On Tuesday, he shared a tweet from an alt-right conspiracy theorist a few hours after condemning the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and white supremacists over Saturdays violence at a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, after facing huge criticism for not doing so. The same day he also revoked a retweet of a post about which depicted the "Trump train" running over a person with the word CNN written on their head which was in line with his tirade on "fake news media." In 2016, he recirculated a tweet from a user with the handle "WhiteGenocideTM. He manually retweetd it by copy pasting the full tweet into his post rather than clicking on the retweet button. The same year he also retweeted a post about his then-opponent Sen. Ted Cruz's book"A Time for Truth." The post had a photoshopped image of the book to show a balding and pudgy version of the Texas Republican in the image with the title "A Time to Lie." The account of the user who posted original tweet containing the photoshopped image has since been suspended. Related Articles Donald Trumps press conference was a grotesque display of empathy for violent racists. At least it united the Republicans in disgust at their president Donald Trump the neo-Nazi sympathizer has achieved what Donald Trump the president has singularly failed to do: unite the nation. An immensely fractured country riven by race, class, culture and politics finds itself transfixed by one grotesque display of empathy for violent racists. These are the same violent racists whom White House aides previously called, in remarks that Trump read out loudly and very carefully: Criminals and thugs. But that was so Monday. One short day later, the leader of the nation that daily proclaims its commitment to liberty and justice for all declared there were very fine people in Charlottesville, who simply joined a neo-Nazi rally to protest about a statue. What happened in Charlottesville on 12 August? White nationalists gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia, to protest against a plan to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee, the Confederacys top general in the American civil war. Demonstrators chanted racist statements, carried antisemitic placards and held torches during the Unite the Right rally, which was organised by white nationalist Jason Kessler. The march was met by anti-fascist demonstrators, and some skirmishes broke out before James Fields, 20, allegedly ploughed a car into a group of counter-demonstrators. Civil rights activist Heather Heyer, 32, died and others were injured. Fields has been charged with murder. You had a lot of people in that group that were there to innocently protest, and very legally protest because I dont know if you know, they had a permit, Trump helpfully explained to the astonished press corps at Trump Tower. The other group didnt have a permit. So I only tell you this: there are two sides to a story. Sadly for Trump, there is only one side to the political reaction to his comments: sheer disgust. As an apologist for racist protestors even though they obtained a precious permit Trump has magically created a sense of spine in his own Republican party. Story continues This is something of a biological miracle because people like Marco Rubio, his vanquished former rival the man he used to deride as little Marco was previously classified by entomologists as an invertebrate. Mr President, you cant allow #WhiteSupremacists to share only part of blame. They support idea which cost nation & world so much pain, tweeted the Florida senator. The #WhiteSupremacy groups will see being assigned only 50% of blame as a win. We can not allow this old evil to be resurrected. Mr. President,you can't allow #WhiteSupremacists to share only part of blame.They support idea which cost nation & world so much pain 5/6 Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 15, 2017 Even in the abbreviated hashtag world of tweets, this counts for something. No doubt, Rubio will return to his spineless state when the next vote comes around. No doubt, he and his fellow Republicans in Washington will later excuse the abuse of a nation as the drunken talk of an otherwise good-hearted man. But at this moment of testing, there is no excuse for standing on the sidelines in silence. Those who speak out deserve some praise for doing the right thing, if only to remember what the right thing looks like next month, when Congress returns. So mazeltov to Paul Ryan for siding against the anti-Semites like this: We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity. We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity. Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) August 15, 2017 Of course this country also stands for the statues of Confederate generals. In fact, those statues were themselves erected in a concerted effort to resurrect the old evil that Rubio describes. Theres a reason why so many of them rose up in the 1920s, a generation or more after the Civil War. This was the era when the KKK was reborn, thanks in no small part to the new media of its day: specifically, the moving picture known as The Birth of a Nation. Those statues were the larger-than-life resurrection of the dead and defeated Confederacy at a time when lynchings were the strange fruit of the south, and the civil rights struggle was led by a relatively new group known as the NAACP. Those Confederate statues had nothing to do with the statues erected to commemorate the slave-owning founding fathers, as Trump argued on Tuesday. So this week its Robert E Lee, complained Trump. I noticed that Stonewall Jackson is coming down. I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know, you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop? Youre changing history, he added. Youre changing culture. Never mind that these statues themselves were an effort to change history and change culture. Never mind that the culture they represent was an abomination on Americas history and a moral affront to the values enshrined in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. There is no finer expression of the white supremacist mindset than this kind of cultural defense. The so-called citizens councils of the 1950s also argued they were just trying to protect their culture from sliding down the slippery slope of civil rights, integrated schools, voting rights and economic opportunity for minorities. What drives Donald Trump to such extremes? Yes, we know he has a long history of racism: from his belief in the guilt of the Central Park Five to his announcement speech riff about Mexican immigrants as rapists. Yes, we know Ivana Trump said he kept a copy of Hitlers speeches by his bedside. But it would be an omission to leave out the driving force of his candidacy and his presidency: his visceral hatred of Barack Obama. Trump has no clear ideology and no clear purpose to his presidency, other than his obsession with overturning everything Obama stood for. His presidential campaign began with a racist lie about Obamas birth certificate; his presidency continues to smolder with resentment about the enduring life of Obamacare. As they say on Scandal, and in too many American homes for too long, you have to be twice as good as them to get half of what they have. How it must pain Donald Trump to know that his predecessor was twice as good at everything from inauguration crowds to legislative victories. Lets be honest. Trumps sympathy for neo-Nazis is no more shocking than his pussy-grabbing boasts, his continued profiting from the presidency, his coddling of (and alleged collusion with) the Russians and his obvious obstruction of justice by firing the FBI director. There is, amid all the random tweets and undisciplined press comments, a remarkable consistency to Donald Trump. He is the very man Hillary Clinton warned us that he would be. How he can continue as commander-in-chief of the worlds most diverse military force is something of a mystery. How he can continue as the leader of a big tent Republican party is inconceivable. Perhaps the civil rights movement itself holds some lessons of what lies ahead: the moment of most violent white-lash is the moment when civil rights takes its biggest steps forward. When James Meredith enrolled as the first black student at the segregated University of Mississippi in 1962, there were riots from a white mob, quelled only by federal troops. After a year of studies, racial harassment and protection by US marshals, Meredith graduated in a peaceful commencement ceremony. Four decades later, Meredith returned to see his son graduate with the top honors from the business school at Ole Miss. He said he was far more proud of his son than he was of his own time there. For his part in changing its culture and its history, the university made an important statement about Meredith, the man it had so roundly abused: it installed a statue of him striding towards its entrance. AMMAN (Reuters) - The Syrian military said on Tuesday that one of its jets crashed in southern Syria, state television reported, hours after Western-backed rebels said they had shot it down and captured the pilot. State-owned Ikhbariya television quoted a Syrian army source as saying an investigation was under way to determine what caused the crash. It did not mention the fate of the pilot. Rebels released photos of a pilot they identified as Major Ali al Hilwa, with bruises on his face, and the wreckage of a jet they said was a Russian-built MiG brought down by anti-aircraft guns. Saad al Haj, spokesman for the Osoud al Sharqiya rebel group, earlier told Reuters the rebels shot down the jet in the eastern countryside of Sweida province in southern Syria near the border with Jordan. "The pilot is being treated for wounds and we are interrogating him," said Younis al-Salameh, another official from Osoud al Sharqiya, one of two major rebel groups operating in the area. The eastern part of Sweida province borders Jordan in a front where the Syrian army, alongside Iranian-backed militias, had established control last Thursday over checkpoints and border posts. Mainly Western-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) rebel groups still control much of Syria's southwestern frontier with Jordan and Israel. Sweida province was not included in a U.S.-Russian brokered ceasefire that took effect in nearby areas of the southwest in July. Free Syrian Army rebels who get support from a command room in Jordan run by Arab and Western backers of the insurgency say the plane was downed during heavy fighting in the area where they were trying to regain lost ground. They blamed recent losses on the sudden retreat by a Jordanian-backed tribal militia known as Jaish al Ashair that had patrolled the border area. This had allowed the army to quickly overrun the border posts and establish a presence in a border strip abandoned in the early years of the conflict. Jordan has expressed concern about the presence near its border of Iranian-backed militias whose role has been crucial in recent gains by the army in the south eastern Syrian desert known as Badiya. Last June Osoud al Sharqiya said a military jet had come down about 50 kms east of Damascus in a rebel-held territory near a frontline with army troops. (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Richard Balmforth) The man who has been exposing the names of the torch-wielding white supremacists from last weekends rallies in Charlottesville, Va. said he wont stop his work until the demonstrators rethink their actions and stop marching. Logan Smith who runs the viral Twitter handle, @YesYoureRacist has revealed on the account the identities of about a dozen people who participated in rallies in the Virginia city over the weekend. The mass outing has led to one demonstrator losing his job and another being publicly disowned by his family. Its a real shame these people were led down a path of bigotry and white supremacy, and they are so filled with hate they feel the need to go intimidate people of color with torches, Smith, 30, told TIME on Tuesday. Smith works full-time as a spokesman for Progress North Carolina Action, a liberal policy advocacy group. Hes also been running the @YesYoureRacist Twitter account since 2012, when he started it as a lighthearted way to poke fun at people who tweeted Im not racist but, and then something completely racist, he said. Since then, hes used it mostly to tweet political commentary and criticize President Trumps administration. But when violence erupted in Virginia over the weekend, he decided to shifts the accounts focus, and spent the weekend fielding online tips and digging on social media to find the protesters pictured in photographs from the rallies. If you recognize any of the Nazis marching in #Charlottesville, send me their names/profiles and Ill make them famous, Smith tweeted from his @YesYoureRacist account on Saturday. His efforts were quickly and widely shared on Twitter and ultimately led to a barrage of death threats from people who wanted to shut him down. Intimidation is how these people work. Its how they worked when they were burning crosses in peoples yards, Smith said. By giving into that intimidation, its how they win. I refuse to give into that. I refuse to let them win. Story continues Among the first names to be published was Cole White, who voluntarily resigned at a hot dog restaurant in California, his employer told the Washington Post. Peter Cvjetanovic, a 20-year-old University of Nevada student, was also outed and later admitted to being part of the Friday night rally at the University of Virginias Thomas Jefferson statue in an interview with KTVN. This angry young man is Peter Cvjetanovic, a student at @unevadareno pic.twitter.com/7rLGJkcT3o Yes, You're Racist (@YesYoureRacist) August 12, 2017 Another was Peter Tefft, a self-proclaimed pro-white activist who defended his participation in the march and said the group was ushering in a new civil rights era during a recent appearance on KXJB. His father, Pearce Tefft, denounced his sons actions and publicly disowned him in an open letter published Monday in the INFORUM newspaper in North Dakota. I, along with all of his siblings and his entire family, wish to loudly repudiate my sons vile, hateful and racist rhetoric and actions, the elder Tefft wrote. We do not know specifically where he learned these beliefs. He did not learn them at home. Peter Tefft barely reacted when KXJB asked about the letter, saying only that the part where his father claims his son once joked about throwing bodies into ovens was untrue. Identifying strangers online as white supremacists comes with plenty of potential pitfalls, as Smith discovered when he misidentified at least two rally participants. In one case, Smith said the person he incorrectly named had claimed on Twitter that he was at the rally, even though he wasnt. In another case, Smith correctly identified a person in a photo, but the photo was from a different event, where the subject said he wore a swastika armband as part of a social experiment. Smith issued a correction in both cases, but as the New York Times reported, false stories and identifications can spread quickly online, and it can be hard to stop attacks on alleged white supremacists once they begin. Smith said he did not directly notify any of the protesters employers, though his posts did lead to employers finding out about protesters on their payrolls, which was part of his goal. Smith believes marching in a white supremacy rally should come with consequences. Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from criticism, he said. If someone goes to a rally and stands shoulder to shoulder with KKK members, they should be prepared to face any backlash they may experience. Im certainly not trying to ruin anyones day or anything like that, but its something that these people should look in the mirror and consider before they grab their Tiki torches and Game of Thrones cosplay shields. Smith hopes the exposure will move some of the white supremacists to question their beliefs and choices. Hopefully these people will look in the mirror and ask, Is this the person I want to be? I hope theres a chance for them to change, Smith added. Richard Spencer claimed A white nationalist who organised the rally in Charlottesville has vowed to carry on protesting, despite the violent clashes which left one person dead and 35 injured. Richard Spencer, who heads up the white nationalist National Policy Institute, told the Daily Mail that he had the will to win in the battle not to pull down the statue of a Confederate General, Robert E Lee. Were going to be back here and were going to humiliate all of these people who opposed us," he said. Well be back here 100 times if necessary. I always win. Because I have the will to win, I keep going until I win. Mr Spencer took to Twitter to blame the Mayor of Charlottesville, Mike Signer, for the violence. He said the attempt to halt the protest was an attack on free speech, and claimed that Charlottesville was a total set-up. .@MikeSigner You are responsible for allowing this chaos. Blood is on your hands. https://t.co/4iIafqzHpq Richard Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) August 14, 2017 Mr Spencer is a leading figurehead in Americas white nationalist movement and attracted worldwide attention after he chanted Heil Trump during a presidential election campaign speech in 2016. Some members of the audience responded with Nazi salutes. The doctors son has claimed he invented the term alt-right which he considers to be a term about white identity rather than white supremacy. A graduate of the University of Virginia, he has called for peaceful ethnic cleansing to stop what he calls the deconstruction of European cultures. His promise flies in the face of the instruction from Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, who told the white nationalists to go home after they descended on the usually quiet university town in droves. You are not wanted n this great commonwealth, Mr McAuliffe told the protesters, who included members of the Klu Klux Klan as well as neo-Nazi and so-called alt-right groups, who clashed with counter-protesters and police. Story continues You are not patriots. You came here today to hurt people and that is not patriotic. My message is clear that we are stronger than you. You will not succeed. There is no place for you here and there is no place for you in America. Heather Heyer, 32, was killed after a man slammed his car into the protesters before reversing at speed, flinging bodies into the air and leaving another 19 injured. A 20-year-old, James Fields, has been charged with her murder. It followed ugly clashes with fist fights breaking out in the street and pepper spray released onto the fighting crowds. Authorities eventually declared the protest an unlawful gathering and later announced a state of emergency. President Trump faced widespread criticism after he at first failed to explicitly name white supremacists as the aggressors in the clashes, blaming hatred on many sides. Robert and Grace Mugabe - REUTERS Zimbabwes first lady Grace Mugabe could face legal action after allegedly beating up and injuring a young woman who was partying with her two sons in South Africa. Gabriella Engels, 20, said she is going to take Mrs Mugabe to court and sent out pictures of a wound in her head which she said was caused by the first lady during the confrontation on Sunday night. Mrs Mugabe, 52, had been in South Africa for medical treatment but returned home to Harare on Saturday - only to fly back to Johannesburg 24 hours later. Bulawayo 24 , a Zimbabwe news site, claimed the countrys first lady then attacked Ms Engel with an extension cord after finding her in a hotel with her sons, Robert Jnr, 25, and Chatunga 21. Both sons were allegedly unsteady on their feet after a long party. Writing on Twitter, Ms Engels, a model from Johannesburg, claimed that the first lady attacked her while her guards looked on and did nothing to help her. I have to more injuries at the back of my head pic.twitter.com/fz3olUz9tN Gah-bee (@DaNamesGaby) August 14, 2017 "What is a girl compared to a women beating you and 10+ body guards standing back leaving her to do this s***," she wrote. She split my head open in 3 places with an extension cord and used the plug to hit me, she added. Gabrielle's mother Debbie Engels has said via social media that she is going to the police to lay charges of assault against Mrs Mugabe. Mrs Mugabes spokesperson has not commented on the incident. She split my head open in 3 places. With an extension cord and used the plug to hit me. https://t.co/WNf2Y1C5uK Gah-bee (@DaNamesGaby) August 13, 2017 The Mugabe sons used to live in Dubai in a palatial house rented by their parents but had to leave suddenly, allegedly in connection with incidents connected with drug or alcohol abuse. Story continues They are supposed to be studying in Johannesburg but are well known at various luxury night spots where they are reportedly generous with their cash for imported champagne. Both were recently evicted from their luxury Johannesburg apartment after they were caught up in a drunken brawl in which a security guard was injured. Garnet Basson, CEO of the Capital Hotel group, declined to name Mr Mugabe by confirmed that guests were asked to leave a hotel after an incident. Robert and Grace Mugabe at his 92nd birthday in 2016 Credit: Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP We did have the guests removed from the premises due to a scenario where we thought it was not good for them to stay there," he said. The incident comes amid mounting speculation about power struggles within Zimbabwes ruling Zanu PF party over the succession to the presidency when Mrs Mugabe's elderly husband dies. Robert Mugabe, 93, has said he will run for the presidency again next year, but he is in increasingly frail health. He has declined to name a successor, despite reported pressure from Mrs Mugabe to do so. Mr Mugabe used a public appearance on Monday to reveal that Emmerson Mnangagwa, the vice president and a favourite for the succession, has been flown to South Africa for emergency medical care. Mr Mnangagwa, 74, fell ill at a rally where Mugabe spoke on Saturday in the southern town of Gwanda suffering from severe suspected food poisoning. President Donald Trump is coming under fire for his refusal to take a clear stand against racists after blaming both sides for white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. But one of his Republican predecessors had no problem calling out bigots. Former President Ronald Reagan spoke to the NAACPs annual convention in 1981 when he was commander in chief, and his comments stand in sharp contrast to Trumps tepid response to racist violence. A few isolated groups in the backwater of American life still hold perverted notions of what America is all about, he said in a clip going viral. Recently in some places in the nation theres been a disturbing reoccurrence of bigotry and violence. Then, Reagan sent a direct message to those who still adhere to senseless racism and religious prejudice. You are the ones who are out of step with our society. You are the ones who willfully violate the meaning of the dream that is America. And this country, because of what it stands for, will not stand for your conduct. My administration will vigorously investigate and prosecute those who, by violence or intimidation, would attempt to deny Americans their constitutional rights, he promised. Trump has also been invited to speak to the NAACP, but refused the offer. Also on HuffPost Four-year-old Leo Griffin leaves an Aug. 13 Chicago protest that mourned the victims of the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, the day before. People hold signs at a vigil on Aug. 13 in Chicago for the victims in the previous day's violent clashes in Charlottesville. People gather in downtown Chicago on Aug. 13 to protest the alt-right movement and to mourn Heather Heyer, who was killed in Charlottesville when a car plowed into a crowd of counterprotesters. Demonstrators hold signs outside the White House on Aug. 13 during a vigil in response to the death of a counterprotester in the Aug. 12 "Unite the Right" rally. A woman writes "Silence is Compliance" with a chalk on the ground at Federal Plaza Square in Chicago during an Aug. 13 protest in response to the violence that erupted in Charlottesville. People gather in downtown Chicago on Aug. 13 to protest the alt-right movement. Ahead of President Donald Trump's visit, about 400 demonstrators on Fifth Avenue near Trump Tower in New York attend a rally protesting the violence in Charlottesville. A demonstrator holds a banner reading "Only 1 Side Love" during a protest at Federal Plaza Square in Chicago on Aug. 13. People gather in front of the White House to hold a vigil on Aug. 13, one day after the violence in Charlottesville. A demonstrator holds a banner reading "Hate Has No Home Here. Love Will Win" during an Aug. 13 protest at Federal Plaza Square in Chicago. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Kasatka died after a long battle with a bacterial infection: Getty Images An Orca Whale at SeaWorld has died after a long struggle to overcome a bacterial infection The theme park made the decision to euthanize the mother of four six weeks after it was rumoured that she was on the brink of death. "Despite their best efforts, her health and appetite significantly declined over the past several days despite continually tailored treatments, SeaWorld said in a statement. Kasatkas veterinarians and caretakers made the difficult decision to humanely euthanize her to prevent compromising her quality of life. The 42-year-old whale was the grandmother of six, and the great grandmother of two. There are now 10 orcas in the San Diego theme park, including five males and five females. Those whales appear to e healthy, according to SeaWorld. But were monitoring and watching for any changes in their behaviour, said the statement. While the loss of Kasatka is heartbreaking for the animal care, veterinary and training teams, as well as the entire SeaWorld family, our focus is to continue the care of the rest of the orca family at the Orca Encounter facility. The death is the third death in relatively quick succession at the theme park. The famed whale Tillikum died in January. The three-month-old orca calf Kyara died at SeaWorld San Antonio three weeks ago. SeaWorld critic and former orca trainer John Hargrove told the Times of San Diego in June that the theme park was doing "everything known to science to keep her alive," hoping to avoid that third death. He had shared photos of Kasatka with open sores and lesions on her face and skin, which indicated a massive fungal infection. "I tried to get the media to expose it, I tried to have ANYONE force them to take pics of her," he tweeted following the death. "Why didn't the media ever force SeaWorld to answer why they forcibly impregnated her in August 2011 while chronically ill & given major drugs?" he tweeted later. Story continues SeaWorld says that it now cares for 21 orca whales in three facilities across the United States. A team of veterinarians will conduct a full post-mortem examination of Kasatka's illness to study how it affected her organ function, the theme park said. It could take weeks for that examination to be completed. "Nobody knows more about caring for killer whales than the professionals at SeaWorld, said Dan Ashe, president and CEO of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, told the Times of San Diego. Having the privilege of working with these animals daily provides veterinarians and other animal care staff with the expertise and insight to make very difficult choices, like with Kasatka. Certainly, this was a difficult and wrenching decision, but I have absolutely no doubt that it was made with Kasatkas best interest in mind. On behalf of the entire AZA family, we offer condolences to the dedicated SeaWorld professionals who have loved and cared for Kasatka throughout her life, he said. Kasatka's captivity began when she was caught in 1978 when she was captured and then sold to SeaWorld. She was moved to SeaWrold facitilies and performed as many as eight shows a day for crowds. After giving birth, she reportedly became more aggressive, and, in 1999, she attacked her trainer Ken Peters. A video of that attack shows Kasatka violently pulling Mr Peters down into her tank, before eventually going back up to allow Mr Peters to get air. Mr Peters was later able to pull free of Kasatka's grasp, and left the tank to safety. SeaWorld did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Independent. An orca at SeaWorld San Diego was euthanized Tuesday evening after a long battle with a bacterial respiratory infection. Kasatka was nearly 42 years old, according to a park statement that described her as the beloved matriarch of our orca family. Kasatka and one of her calves in 2004. (Photo: Mike Aguilera/SeaWorld San Diego via Getty Images) The park said it had been treating Kasatka for a respiratory infection, also known as lung disease, for several years. Its the same illness that ultimately killed Tilikum the orca featured in the 2013 documentary Blackfish who died last year at the age of about 35. Orcas in the wild can live up to about 50 to 80 years, according to the Alaska Fisheries Science Center. Kasatka was captured from the wild in 1978, near the coast of Iceland, and had numerous descendants born at SeaWorld. She was a mother of four, a grandmother of six and a great-grandmother of two whales, according to the parks statement. Kasatka's daughter, Kalia, and her newborn calf on Dec. 4, 2014. Kasatka, seen in the background, stayed close to Kalia during labor and delivery. (Photo: Mike Aguilera/SeaWorld San Diego via Getty Images) Kasatkas death comes a month after the death of Kyara, a 3-month-old orca who was the last whale born as part of SeaWorlds now-discontinued orca breeding program. Kyara died at Texas SeaWorld San Antonio after exhibiting signs of pneumonia. SeaWorld has said that bacterial lung infections and pneumonia are among the most common causes of death in whales and dolphins, both in the wild and in captivity. However, some whale experts dispute this assertion, saying that we really dont know that much about the deaths of whales in the wild. The fact of the matter is that most wild whales and dolphins do not wash up on shore after they die (unless they have beached due to acoustic/sonar blasting) so we dont know why they die, Deborah Giles of the Center for Whale Research told HuffPost in an email. And Joseph Gaydos, science director at the marine research nonprofit SeaDoc Society, made a similar comment to LiveScience last month, saying researchers arent really sure what diseases hit wild orcas the hardest. SeaWorld's zoological team watches Kasatka and one of her calves in 2013 in San Diego. (Photo: Mike Aguilera/SeaWorld San Diego via Getty Images) SeaWorld halted its orca breeding program after Blackfish sparked a wave of backlash against the park. The documentary, which focused on how Tilikum pulled a trainer underwater and killed her, provoked larger conversations about the ethics of keeping orcas in captivity. Attendance at SeaWorld parks dropped dramatically after the films release. Story continues The park announced in 2016 that it would stop breeding orcas, though it continues to breed other marine mammals. SeaWorld also modified its orca performances into orca encounters, which it says are more educational and naturalistic. These shows still involve whales jumping and splashing for crowds, however. Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. Kasatka, left, moments after giving birth to a calf in 2004. (Photo: SeaWorld via Getty Images) This story has been updated with a comment from Deborah Giles. Also on HuffPost A Humpback whale jumps in the surface of the Pacific Ocean at the Uramba Bahia Malaga natural park in Colombia, on July 16, 2013. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) migrate annually from the Antarctic Peninsula to peek into the Colombian Pacific Ocean coast, with an approximate distance of 8,500 km, to give birth and nurse their young. Humpback whales have a life cycle of 50 years or so and is about 18 meters. AFP PHOTO/Luis ROBAYO A Humpback whale jumps in the surface of the Pacific Ocean at the Uramba Bahia Malaga natural park in Colombia, on July 16, 2013. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) migrate annually from the Antarctic Peninsula to peek into the Colombian Pacific Ocean coast, with an approximate distance of 8,500 km, to give birth and nurse their young. Humpback whales have a life cycle of 50 years or so and is about 18 meters. AFP PHOTO/Luis ROBAYO A Humpback whale jumps in the surface of the Pacific Ocean at the Uramba Bahia Malaga natural park in Colombia, on July 16, 2013. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) migrate annually from the Antarctic Peninsula to peek into the Colombian Pacific Ocean coast, with an approximate distance of 8,500 km, to give birth and nurse their young. Humpback whales have a life cycle of 50 years or so and are about 18 meters long. AFP PHOTO/Luis ROBAYO A Humpback whale jumps in the surface of the Pacific Ocean at the Uramba Bahia Malaga natural park in Colombia, on July 16, 2013. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) migrate annually from the Antarctic Peninsula to peek into the Colombian Pacific Ocean coast, with an approximate distance of 8,500 km, to give birth and nurse their young. Humpback whales have a life cycle of 50 years or so and are about 18 meters long. AFP PHOTO/Luis ROBAYO NUUK, GREENLAND - JULY 27: Boats follow a whale as it swims in the water on July 27, 2013 in Nuuk, Greenland. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) A whale jumps to the surface off the coast of Libreville in Gabon on August 19, 2013. AFP PHOTO / STEPHANE BERRY A Southern Right Whale breaches on September 5, 2013 in Hermanus, which has become known as a mecca for whale watching. During the southern hemisphere winter months (June - October) the Southern Right Whales migrate to the coastal waters of South Africa, with in excess of 100 whales known to be in the Hermanus area. Whilst in the area, the whales can be seen with their young as they come to Walker Bay to calve and mate. AFP PHOTO / ALEXANDER JOE A Southern Right Whale breaches on September 5, 2013 in Hermanus, which has become known as a mecca for whale watching. During the southern hemisphere winter months (June - October) the Southern Right Whales migrate to the coastal waters of South Africa, with in excess of 100 whales known to be in the Hermanus area. Whilst in the area, the whales can be seen with their young as they come to Walker Bay to calve and mate. AFP PHOTO / ALEXANDER JOE A humpback whale tail breaches off Sydney Heads at the beginning of whale watching season during a Manly Whale Watching tour on June 23, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images) A humpback whale emerges from the surface of the Pacific Ocean at the Uramba Bahia Malaga natural park in Colombia, on July 22, 2011. (LUIS ROBAYO/AFP/Getty Images) A humpback whale is seen breaching outside of Sydney Heads at the beginning of whale watching season during a Manly Whale Watching tour on June 23, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. An 8.5 metre-long juvenile humpback whale remains stranded on Anaconda beach in La Paloma, department of Rocha, in southeastern Uruguay, on January 27, 2011. AFP A humpback whale is seen breaching outside of Sydney Heads at the beginning of whale watching season during a Manly Whale Watching tour on June 23, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images) The tail of a humpback whale emerges from the surface of the Pacific Ocean at the Uramba Bahia Malaga natural park in Colombia, on July 22, 2011. (LUIS ROBAYO/AFP/Getty Images) A franco-austral whale surfaces off the coast of Antoniopolis, in the Uruguayan department of Rocha, 220 km east of Montevideo, on September 22, 2012 during the migration to the south. AFP PHOTO/Pablo PORCIUNCULA A franco-austral whale surfaces off the coast of Antoniopolis, in the Uruguayan department of Rocha, 220 km east of Montevideo, on September 22, 2012 during the migration to the south. AFP PHOTO/Pablo PORCIUNCULA A Franco-austral whale surfaces off the coast of Arachania, Rocha, 225 km east of Montevideo, Uruguay, on September 21, 2012 during the migration to the south. AFP PHOTO/Pablo PORCIUNCULA This article originally appeared on HuffPost. Seth Myers never shies away from getting political, and on Monday night, he did not mince words when speaking about Donald Trump and the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia this weekend. "On Saturday, you didn't hear [Heather Heyer's] name, the terrorists name, or even the word terrorist from our president," Myers explained, before showing footage of Trump declaring that there was bigotry and violence on "many sides." "If that choice of words made you feel sick to your stomach, the good news is that you're a normal and decent person," he said. "The jury's still out on the president as he initially refused to condemn the white supremacist movement in this country." Myers went on to recount all of Trump's racist moments before he took the White House and condemned the president for not acting presidential. "If he does not preside over our society, he is not a president. You can stand for a nation or you can stand for a hateful movementyou cannot do both," Myers said. Say it one more time for the people in the back, Seth. JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's police minister ordered an investigation on Tuesday into reports that Zimbabwe first lady Grace Mugabe had assaulted a woman in Johannesburg's up-market Sandton district over the weekend. South African media said 52-year-old Grace, a possible successor to her 93-year-old husband Robert, attacked the woman and injured in the head at a hotel in the upscale district of Sandton on Sunday night. Local media said Grace was in South Africa to have her foot examined after suffering an injury in Harare. South African police minister Fikile Mbalula told reporters that he expected to get a report from investigators on Tuesday. It was unclear whether she was travelling on a diplomatic or normal passport. "Arresting a person of her status, she can be arrested, but if she came here with a diplomatic passport she can have diplomatic immunity. But it does not mean that she cannot be arrested," Mbalula said. Neither Grace Mugabe, Zimbabwe information minister Christopher Mushohwe or Mugabe spokesman George Charamba were available to comment. (Writing by James Macharia) By James Macharia and MacDonald Dzirutwe JOHANNESBURG/HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe returned home on Tuesday from South Africa after failing to turn herself in to police in Johannesburg to face accusations of assaulting a model in a hotel room. There was no immediate public comment on the case from Grace, 52, a possible successor to her husband President Robert Mugabe, 93, who has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980. But Zimbabwe government sources confirmed she had returned home. "Yes, she is back in the country. We don't know where this issue of assault charges is coming from," said a senior government official, who declined to be named because they were not authorized to speak to the press. A second official also confirmed that Grace had returned, saying "she is around now" and accused the media of a plot to tarnish the first family's name. Earlier, South African police had been negotiating with Grace's lawyers to get her to turn herself in to face charges of assault in a court room, a senior police source said. Twenty-year-old Gabriella Engels told South African media Grace had attacked her after the model had gone to see the Mugabes' sons Robert and Chatunga at a hotel in Johannesburg's upmarket Sandton district on Sunday. Confusion surrounded the case on Tuesday. South African police minister Fikile Mbalula said early in the day that Grace had already handed herself in to police and would appear in court shortly. But in the afternoon, the magistrates' court where police said Grace would be formally charged closed for the day without her appearing. The police source said Grace had earlier agreed to hand herself over at 10 a.m. but failed to do so. The source said police were investigating allegations of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm. The source said Grace Mugabe was not being considered a fugitive because no arrest warrant had been issued. "One cannot be a fugitive for not appearing at a court to which they have not been summoned & when they have not been charged of any crime!" Jonathan Moyo, Zimbabwe's higher education minister and a close ally of Grace tweeted. South African media said Grace had been in the country to have an injured foot examined. It was unclear whether she was traveling on a diplomatic passport. FOREHEAD GASHED A Zimbabwean intelligence source said Grace had been traveling on an ordinary non-diplomatic passport and was in South Africa on personal business. The News24 website quoted Engels' version of events in the hotel room. "When Grace entered, I had no idea who she was. She walked in with an extension cord and just started beating me with it," the model said. "She flipped and just kept beating me with the plug. Over and over. I had no idea what was going on. I was surprised ... I needed to crawl out of the room before I could run away." News24 published a picture of what it said was Engels with a large gash in her forehead. "I am a model, with this scar over my face my whole career is ruined," she said. It was unclear what triggered the incident. "I just want justice," Engels told Talk Radio 702. "She just completely lost it. I was hit all over my body. I have bruises all over my body ... I have two open wounds at the back of my head as well." Mugabe's two sons were asked to leave the Regent luxury apartment complex in Sandton last month after an incident in the middle of the night, staff at the complex told Reuters. Regent manager Imelda Fincham did not elaborate but confirmed the pair had left. "They're no longer here," she said. In 2009, a press photographer in Hong Kong said Grace and her bodyguard had assaulted him. Police there said the incident was reported but that no charges were brought. President Mugabe spoke at a public event marking Defence Forces Day in Harare on Tuesday, but did not mention Grace. Grace was in the news in late July when she challenged her husband to name his preferred successor. The issue of who will succeed Mugabe has deeply divided Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party. One faction supports Grace and the other Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is recovering in a South African hospital after he fell ill and was airlifted from Zimbabwe. (Additional reporting by Ed Cropley, TJ Strydom and Tanisha Heiberg in Johannesburg; Editing by Andrew Roche and Janet Lawrence) By Ed Cropley JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe has sought diplomatic immunity in South Africa, where she is under investigation over the assault of a 20-year-old model in an upmarket hotel, South African police said on Wednesday. Police also confirmed that Mugabe, the 52-year-old wife of Zimbabwe's leader Robert, had failed to appear at a court hearing on Tuesday relating to allegations she attacked Gabriella Engels with an electric extension chord. Engels' mother Debbie told Reuters her daughter had received 14 stitches on her head from Sunday's assault - which the mother did not witness - and demanded Mugabe face justice. She also showed Reuters photographs taken in the hours after the incident showing gashes on Gabriella's forehead and back of the head. Another picture, taken on Wednesday, showed a large, livid bruise on her right thigh. "I just want justice for my daughter. It's not about money. It's about justice. She attacked my child for no reason," she said. The police statement said Harare had sought diplomatic immunity for Mugabe - which if granted would exempt her from prosecution - but said she would be "processed through the legal system". Reuters has not been able to verify key aspects of the assault allegations independently, and multiple requests for comment from Mugabe's spokesman in Harare and from Information Minister Chris Mushowe went unanswered. Mugabe, a potential successor to her 93-year-old husband, was in South Africa to receive treatment to an injured foot, according to local media reports. A Zimbabwean intelligence source told Reuters she was not traveling on a diplomatic passport. Criminal attorney Riaan Louw said diplomatic immunity would not apply if Mugabe had indeed entered on private business. "If she wasn't here on official business, that rules out the possibility of diplomatic immunity," Louw said. DIPLOMATIC FALLOUT? However, given the potential for diplomatic fallout, South African prosecutors could yet decide not to prosecute if they thought the injuries were not too severe, he added. "They can fail to prosecute her," he said. "They've got the powers to decide that it's not in the interests of the community or it might create animosity between us and Zimbabwe." Police said Tuesday's abortive court hearing was designed to obtain a statement from Mugabe, along with her version of the events, but that she failed to appear as arranged. Police spokesman Vish Naidoo did not comment on the specifics of the case, other than to say it related to assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Reuters has been unable to identify Mugabe's lawyers in Johannesburg. Isaac Moyo, Zimbabwe's Ambassador to Pretoria, said he "knew nothing". "I have to go to my office to get briefed," he said. Gabriella Engels said she was attacked while waiting to meet up with Chatunga, one of Mugabe's two adult sons, in the hotel in Johannesburg. The News24 website quoted Engels' version of events in the hotel room. "When Grace entered, I had no idea who she was. She walked in with an extension cord and just started beating me with it," the model said. The incident is not the first time Mugabe has been accused of assault. In 2009, a newspaper photographer in Hong Kong said she and her bodyguard had assaulted him. Police there said the incident was reported but that no charges were brought. (Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by James Macharia and Janet Lawrence) SpaceXs latest rocket launch and landing was a success. The Elon Musk-led space technology company launched its Falcon 9 rocket on Monday from NASAs Kennedy Space Center in Florida as part of SpaceXs contract to send supplies to the International Space Station. Nearly 10 minutes after the launch at 12:31 PM, the rocket separated from the Dragon cargo capsule, and returned to a landing pad near Cape Canaveral. The Dragon capsule is expected to eventually reach the International Space Station, which will use a giant robotic arm to latch onto the capsule and bring the cargo onboard. Get Data Sheet, Fortunes technology newsletter. Falcon 9 first stage has landed at Land Zone 1. pic.twitter.com/XqDji1sWZ6 SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 14, 2017 Theres roughly 6,400 pounds of cargo inside Dragon capsule, including equipment and supplies that will help researchers perform experiments seeking a better understanding of Parkinsons disease and the origin of cosmic rays, NASA said. The cargo capsule also contained a Hewlett Packard Enterprise hpe supercomputer intended to help researchers understand how supercomputers function in space over extended periods. 12th mission of our Dragon robotic space freighter in support of the @NASA @Space_Station https://t.co/vlGbGLgBcR Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 14, 2017 The latest rocket launch is SpaceXs twelfth cargo resupply mission for the International Space Station. NASA said it expects the Dragon capsule to leave the space station in mid-September, when it will return to Earth with 3,300 pounds of science, hardware and crew supplies. SpaceX typically tries to recover its launched rockets in the hope that it can reuse them for other space missions and thereby reduce their cost. So far, the company has landed six rockets from on landing pads at Cape Canaveral, and another eight Falcon rockets after landings on barges in the sea, USA Today notes. In March, SpaceX relaunched one of its previously used rockets for the first time, and then landed the rocket for a possible third space mission. Warsaw (Poland) (AFP) - It will take two years to clear the tens of thousands of trees smashed by the weekend storms that devastated Poland's forests, the country's forest service said Wednesday. "We're dealing with what is undoubtedly the worst disaster in the history of Polish -- and perhaps even European -- forestry," Poland's chief forester, Konrad Tomaszewski, told reporters. The storms that hit Poland overnight Friday to Saturday killed six people, including two Girl Guides crushed by a falling tree while camping in a forest. Aerial television footage in vast swathes of forest where trees had been snapped like matchsticks. According to Tomaszewski, the storms brought down an estimated 8.2 million cubic metres of lumber. It would take two years to clear the debris and begin replanting trees and decades to recover the lost natural habitats of birds and other wildlife, he added. More storms are forecast for the coming weekend. The storms also caused serious damage to thousands of households, ripping off roofs and downing power lines, mostly in northern and western regions of Poland. Critics have accused the country's rightwing populist Law and Justice (PiS) government of being slow to send in help to areas that suffered the most damage. The disaster comes as Poland is under fire for ignoring a ban imposed by the EU's top court on logging in the Bialowieza forest, Europe's last primeval woodland. The European Court of Justice on July 27 ordered Poland to suspend logging in the forest pending a final judgement. The EU had taken Poland to court arguing that the operations were destroying a UNESCO-listed forest that boasts unique plant and animal life. According to Poland's forest service, loggers harvested some 111,993 cubic metres of wood in Bialowieza between January and August. A Florida student is facing serious charges after cops say she threatened to kill her teacher on social media. The Pasco County Sheriff's Office said in a press release this week that 18-year-old Desiree Zio posted on the River Ridge High School teacher's Facebook her intent to find and fatally stab her. Watch: Trump's 'Fire and Fury' Remark About North Korea Was Improvised: Report Police say Zio, a former student at River Ridge, admitted to the threat. Zio now attends Marchman Technical College in New Port Richey, according to reports. She's charged with making a written threat to kill or do bodily harm. Read: Woman Who Urged Boyfriend to Kill Himself Gets Jail Sentence, but Remains Free Pending Appeal Pasco County Schools communications director Linda Cobbe told reporters that Zio will face disciplinary action that could include expulsion. An email sent to Marchman Technical College did not immediately get a response Tuesday morning. Zio is being held in Land O' Lakes jail in lieu of $10,000 bond. Watch: Woman Kidnapped As A Newborn 18 Years Ago Finally Meets Her Birth Parents Related Articles: There are many people who dont believe in climate change -- starting with President Donald Trump and the head of the Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt -- and it seems like climate change deniers and believers wont ever understand each other. Those who dont believe in climate change are often portrayed as being out of touch, ignorant or as someone that cannot comprehend science facts. However, Jacob Lipsman, a doctoral student in Sociology at the University of Kansas, found there might be a way to approach those who deny climate change, and talk about the issue even if they dont want to accept the problem. Read: South Carolina Attorney General Sues Opioid Manufacturer Purdue Pharma Over Drug Crisis The study comes as Trump and other Republicans continuously deny climate change. Trump previously said global warming was a hoax invented by the Chinese, and promised to bring the coal industry back throughout his campaign. Among Americans, there is a strong divide when it comes to climate change, with both sides constantly arguing with each other over the issue. In a recent worldwide survey, Americans said ISIS was the biggest threat to national security, followed by cyberattacks and climate change. However, the story was different among political lines, as 86 percent of liberals said they saw climate change as a major threat, compared to 31 percent of conservatives. Lipsman has been looking into the economic, social or cultural influences that could play a part in why people dont want to accept climate change. Its worth noting that those who tend to deny climate change depend on certain industries for jobs, which has an impact on how they feel about the issue. The most obvious example of this is the instance of an individual who works for an industry, such as in oil and gas production, that may be negatively impacted by regulatory policy," said Lipsman in a statement. "This also functions on the community level; for instance, in southeast Louisiana, oil and gas represents a disproportionate source of revenue for coastal parishes." Story continues Through his research, Lipsman found that climate change denial is not because of lack of information or whether someone fails to understand scientific facts, but how the issues is communicated, especially through empathy and local issues. Read: Solar Eclipse Viewing: Amazon Refunding Customers For Fake Glasses Lipsman looked at two parishes in Louisiana, Plaquemines and St. Bernard, which are near the mouth of the Mississippi River. The area has been vastly affected by climate change. The state has already lost nearly 2,000 square miles of land, almost the size of Delaware, because of coastal erosion. "This land loss has major impacts on communities both directly in terms of increased flood vulnerability and indirectly through potentially decreased economic productivity," said Lipsman, who was scheduled to present his findings at the American Sociological Association's 2017 annual meeting in Montreal Tuesday. Although the area is impacted by rising waters, southeast Louisiana still a has a high number of climate change deniers. However, the study found parish residents are aware of the local environmental problems and care about solutions. "Local residents are aware of coastal erosion and are focused on addressing this issue, whether or not they attribute this land loss to climate change," said Lipsman. Southeast Louisiana relies heavily on oil, gas industries, which are to blame for greenhouse emissions. Because the communities are so dependent on those industries, it could play a part on why locals dont embrace the idea of climate change. Strong environmental regulations could disturb oil and gas companies, which could affect jobs in the area. Nonetheless, Lipmans study shows climate change deniers still care about where they live, especially as we see waters rise in Louisiana. Lipmans findings could help climate change advocates engage with people who disagree with them on global warming. "If an individual or a community is resistant to the idea of climate change for economic or social reasons, climate advocates will not be able to effectively communicate with these individuals about climate change simply by presenting more data," Lipsman said. "By better understanding the processes of climate change denial, climate advocates will be better equipped to have an effective dialogue with individuals and communities that are skeptical of these ideas." This means scientists should put their graphs and talk about how locals feel instead. Related Articles Taiwan on Tuesday urged Beijing to exercise restraint after a Chinese military aircraft entered its air defence identification zone (ADIZ) following a recent spate of drills that have ratcheted up cross-strait tensions. The Chinese military plane was spotted in the ADIZ on Sunday, according to the defence ministry. Chinese military aircraft have flown near the zone on seven other occasions since July. The ADIZ stretches beyond Taiwan's airspace and is used to give an early warning of possible incursions. Taiwan has scrambled aircraft to monitor the Chinese planes each time they have flown near the island. "We keep on high alert to prevent unidentified or Chinese planes and ships from entering our air and sea space. We urge restraint to maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait," said ministry spokesman Chen Chung-chi. Relations with Beijing have rapidly deteriorated since the inauguration of President Tsai Ing-wen last year who refuses to acknowledge both sides are part of "one China". Beijing considers Taiwan part of its territory to be brought back into the fold and has said it would respond with force if the island ever announced a formal breakaway. Although Taiwan is a self-ruling democracy, it has never declared independence. Beijing has cut all official communication with Taipei and stepped up pressure on Tsai's government, including staging a string of naval and air drills near Taiwan since last year. China sent its only aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, through the Taiwan Strait in January during a drill and in July when it was en route to Hong Kong. The Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan's top China policy-making body, also urged restraint on Tuesday and protested Beijing's moves saying they heightened regional tensions. "China's provocation and intimidation is unhelpful for long-term development in cross-strait relations," said spokesman Chiu Chui-cheng. In 2014, two Chinese Y-8 aircraft also entered Taiwan's ADIZ on their way to a disputed area in the South China Sea under Tsai's Beijing-friendly predecessor Ma Ying-jeou. Story continues Related: Watch news, TV and more Yahoo View, available on iOS and Android. A post shared by MEEGAN HEFFORD (@meeganheff) on Nov 17, 2016 at 3:31am PST Protein, protein, protein is touted time and time again for its ability to help with weight-loss, but can too much be incredibly dangerous? According to the NY Post, for 25-year-old Meegan Hefford, it was. You May Also Like: 5 People Have Died After Doing This Weight-Loss Treatment As reported, the Australian mother of two and bodybuilder, who was prepping for a competition, "died after an overconsumption of protein shakes, supplements and protein-rich foods." A post shared by MEEGAN HEFFORD (@meeganheff) on May 22, 2017 at 6:32am PDT Unknown to the Hefford, according to PerthNow, was the fact that she had "a rare genetic disorder that stopped her body from properly breaking down the protein. Urea cycle disorder, which affects one in 8,000 people, caused a build-up of ammonia in her blood and accumulation of fluid in her brain." While the disorder is rare, Hefford's family is now calling for tighter regulations on supplements. I know there are people other than Meegan who have ended up in hospital because theyve overloaded on supplements, her mother told PerthNow. The sale of these products needs to to more regulated. Washington (AFP) - US President Donald Trump will meet Friday with his national security team at Camp David, as he mulls whether or not to send more American troops to war-ravaged Afghanistan. The administration is split over what stance to adopt on the longest-running war in US history. Possible plans include sending thousands more troops into the nearly 16-year conflict, or taking the opposite tack and pulling out, leaving private military contractors to help the Afghans oversee the fragile security situation. "The president along with the vice president will meet with the national security team on Friday at Camp David to discuss the South Asia strategy," the White House said. Trump's generals have called the Afghan conflict a "stalemate" and even after years of intensive help from the US and other NATO nations, Afghanistan's security forces are still struggling to hold back an emboldened Taliban. In an early move to address the situation, Trump gave his Pentagon chief, former general Jim Mattis, broad powers to set troop numbers. But several months later, the level remains stuck at about 8,400 US and about 5,000 NATO troops, mainly serving in a training and advisory capacity. Mattis wants to wait until the White House has come up with a coherent strategy for not just Afghanistan but the broader region, notably Pakistan and how it deals with terror groups, before he commits to adjustments. But reports have suggested that other Trump advisers, including his influential strategy chief Steve Bannon, favor cutting American losses by pulling out or sending private military contractors to replace troops. As CEOs of major corporations began fleeing President Trumps two business advisory councils yesterday to protest his remarks on the neo-Nazi violence in Virginia, Trump disbanded both groups. Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all! Trump tweeted. A few minutes earlier, the 16 remaining members of the Strategic and Policy Forum had unanimously voted to disband in an emergency conference call convened by its chairman, Stephen Schwarzman, chairman and CEO of the investment firm Blackstone Group and one of Trumps biggest Wall Street supporters. The call was demanded by members of the group who were deeply upset about Trumps comments at a Tuesday press conference about Charlottesville. Of the 19 business leaders who were originally named to the group, three had already quit because of Trumps positions on climate change or immigration. At least six of the 28 members of the American Manufacturing Council had quit in the days since Trump blamed many sides for the deadly violence that erupted in the wake of a Unite the Right march that enlisted neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups. Senior officers in the U.S. Armed Forces are strongly condemning the resurgent white nationalism that has shocked the country the past few days in what many read as an implicit rebuke of their commander in chief. President Trump has vacillated between blaming both sides and specifically condemning the white nationalists who organized a violent rally last weekend in Charlottesville, Va., that left one counterprotester dead. On Tuesday, Trump insisted there were some very good people at the Charlottesville Unite the Right rally, which opposed the removal of a Confederate statue from the city. Related slideshow: Violent clashes erupt at Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va. >>> Not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists by any stretch, he said at Trump Tower. Mere hours after Trump spoke, the Marine Corps commandant, Gen. Robert B. Neller, said that racial hatred or extremism have no place in the United States Marine Corps. No place for racial hatred or extremism in @USMC. Our core values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment frame the way Marines live and act. Robert B. Neller (@GenRobertNeller) August 15, 2017 Early Wednesday morning, Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chief of staff of the Army, affirmed that racism, extremism and hatred are against everything his organization has stood for since the Continental Army was founded in 1775 to fight the American Revolutionary War. The Army doesn't tolerate racism, extremism, or hatred in our ranks. It's against our Values and everything we've stood for since 1775. GEN Mark A. Milley (@ArmyChiefStaff) August 16, 2017 Retired four-star Adm. William H. McRaven, the former commander of the United States Special Operations Command, has been outspoken in his criticism of Trump. He told Yahoo News Wednesday, I have nothing to add to what the Commandant and the Army Chief said. Glad they spoke up! Story continues Gen. Robert B. Neller, commandant of the Marine Corps, attends a 240th birthday celebration for the Marines in the Russell Building on Nov. 3, 2015. The actual birthday is November 10. (Photo: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty) Gen. David Goldfein, chief of staff of the Air Force, released a statement Wednesday backing up his fellow service chiefs that borrowed a phrase from former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clintons campaign: Stronger together. I stand with my fellow service chiefs in saying we're always stronger together-it's who we are as #Airmen pic.twitter.com/9XxOry93nf Gen. Dave Goldfein (@GenDaveGoldfein) August 16, 2017 Heather Wilson, the secretary of the U.S. Air Force, retweeted Goldfeins message. Gen. Joseph L. Lengyel, the chief of the National Guard, said that he stands with his fellow joint chiefs in opposing racism and supporting diversity. I stand with my fellow Joint Chiefs in condemning racism, extremism & hatred. Our diversity is our strength. #NationalGuard Gen. Joseph Lengyel (@ChiefNGB) August 16, 2017 In the immediate aftermath of the violent clash on Saturday, Adm. John Richardson, the chief of naval operations, released a statement affirming that the Navy will forever oppose intolerance and hatred: The shameful events in Charlottesville are unacceptable and must not be tolerated. Our thoughts and prayers go to those who were killed and injured, and to all those trying to bring peace back to the community. The Navy will forever stand against intolerance and hatred. For those on our team, we want our Navy to be the safest possible placea team as strong and tough as we can be, saving violence only for our enemies. And its not just current or recent military officers who are frustrated with the presidents surprisingly restrained critique of Nazism. Americans who lived through World War II refuse allow neo-Nazis to spread bigotry unchallenged. I signed up to fight Nazis 73 years ago and I'll do it again if I have to. Hatred, bigotry, & fascism should have no place in this country. John Dingell (@JohnDingell) August 12, 2017 We should call evil by its name. My brother didn't give his life fighting Hitler for Nazi ideas to go unchallenged here at home. -OGH Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) August 12, 2017 World War II veteran and former President George H.W. Bush released a joint statement with his son, former President George W. Bush, on Wednesday calling on Americans to reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms. Read more from Yahoo News: At the age of 28 Hope Hicks is set to become President Donald Trumps new White House Communications Director. Hicks will replace Anthony Scaramucci as head of the Trump administrations communications team, according to the Daily Caller, citing a White House insider. The job is a promotion from her role as White House director of strategic communications. The White House did not return Newsweeks request for confirmation of whether Hicks is taking up the role. Scaramucci, nicknamed The Mooch, infamously lasted just 10 days in the job. He was fired in early August by recently appointed White House Chief of Staff John Kelly following an expletive-filled conversation with a New Yorker reporter in which Scaramucci accused senior White House staff of being leakers. RTX2R0JA Carlo Allegri/Reuters White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer resigned after refusing to work under Scaramucci and his presence in the White House also led to the resignation of former chief of staff Reince Priebus. Hicks, a Connecticut native, was a fixture throughout the Trump campaign, serving as Trumps campaign press secretary. She weathered candidate Trumps scandal in October 2016 over the Access Hollywood tape in which he was recorded bragging about groping women, as well as accusations of sexual assault against Trump from nearly a dozen women. Read more: Trump retweets alt-right leader who has praised white supremacist Richard Spencer She also crafted Trump's rebuttal to Pope Francis after he criticized Trump's campaign pledge to build a border wall, saying a person who thinks only about building walls and not building bridges is not Christian. Hicks also spun accusations against former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski after he allegedly grabbed Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields's arm. Immediately after the incident in March 2016 Hicks called Fields a liar and attention seeker before video of the incident emerged. Story continues Hicks is a true Trump insider. She joined the Trump Organization as a PR in October 2014. She got the job after working with Ivanka Trump who had hired the New York PR firm Hiltzik Strategies that Hicks worked at to help with with her fashion line expansion. At the time Hicks was just two years out of her English degree at Southern Methodist University. According to a 2016 profile of Hicks in GQ, she began dressing like Ivanka and soon won over Donald Trump. Trump poached her from Hiltzik Strategies. Hicks has no experience in politics apart from her work on Trumps campaign and current White House role. When Trump tapped her to join his campaign in January 2015, she reportedly said Trump told her I think its 'the year of the outsider.' It helps to have people with outsider perspective. In June a White House release of top staff salaries showed Hicks makes $179,700 a year, placing her among the highest paid White House aides, including Kellyanne Conway and Steve Bannon. As director of communications Hicks will now be tasked with overseeing the White House communications strategy, dealing with the fallout from the Russia investigation, President Trumps response to white supremacists in Charlottesville, and working closely with press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. I thought Hope was outstanding, Trump said during the 2016 campaign about his first impressions of her. She was very natural when it comes to picking it up, and a lot of people can't pick it up, because it's so fast-moving. It's faster-moving than anything else." Related Articles President Donald Trump praised Kim Jong Uns decision to hold off a strike on Guam, even as the North Korean ruler slammed the U.S.s conduct as foolish and stupid. After talking about fire and fury and locked and loaded military solutions last week, the president tweeted on Wednesday his appreciation for Kims decision to stand down on a strike against the U.S. territory. Kim Jong Un of North Korea made a very wise and well-reasoned decision. The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable! the tweet, published on Trumps personal account, read. In his first public appearance in two weeks, Kim on Monday ordered the army to be ready to strike at any time, to retaliate against possible U.S. provocations. North Korean state-controlled media released pictures of their leader surrounded by army generals, intent on studying a much-advertised plan to hit waters near the island of Guam with four ballistic missiles. However, the North Korean ruler was in no rush to strike, as he said he would watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees spending a hard time of every minute of their miserable lot, according to the North Korean media reports. Trumps tweet signals a reduction in tension on the Korean peninsula, which escalated in recent weeks after North Korea conducted two intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests in July and threatened a strike on Guam. Trump warned Pyongyang of fire and fury like the world has never seen in response. Kims statement was widely interpreted as a way to back away from the nuclear cliff without losing face, according to the U.S.-based North Korea monitoring website 38 North. At this point, having broken the tension, it would not be unusual for Pyongyang to pivot to diplomacy, Robert Carlin, a visiting scholar at Stanford Universitys Center for International Security and Cooperation, wrote in his analysis for 38 North. Signs that North Korea may be interested in talks were reported in the Japanese press late on Tuesday. An unnamed government official quoted in Japans news agency Jiji said North Koreas Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho offered to open discussions during informal talks with his Japanese counterpart at the ASEAN Regional Forum in the Philippines earlier in August. Story continues North Korea apparently wants to hold dialogue with the United States, and for this purpose, it may be considering using Japan, the official said. The U.S. has repeatedly said that dialogue with North Korea is an option, but one that could only happen if Pyongyang stopped missile tests and ended its nuclear development program. We continue to be interested in trying to find a way to get to dialogue, but thats up to him, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters on Tuesday, adding that he had no response to Kim Jong Uns decision on Guam. In May, Trump said he would be honored to meet with Kim Jong Un, but such a high-level meeting would only occur as a final step of a multilateral negotiation process in which North Korea would likely be represented by either the foreign minister or his deputy, while the U.S. would send Special Representative for North Korea Policy Joseph Y. Yun and would see other regional powers taking a seat at the table. Related Articles WASHINGTON Furthering his attack on Obama-era climate policies, President Donald Trump has rescinded a rule that requires federal, state and local agencies to account for rising sea levels caused by climate change and to construct buildings, highways and other infrastructure to withstand flooding. The sweeping change is included in an executive order on federal permitting for infrastructure projects that Trump signed Tuesday in New York City. During an appearance Tuesday, Trump said the existing permitting process is over-regulated, calling it a massive self-inflicted wound. No longer will we allow the infrastructure of our magnificent country to crumble and decay, he said. Eli Lehrer, president of the libertarian think tank R Street Institute, told HuffPost that weakening the flood standard will prove extremely problematic for taxpayers, resulting in more structures being built in places where they shouldnt be. Theres obviously legitimate things to be done to speed up infrastructure, but saying that were not going to pay attention to flood risks is not the way to do it, Lehrer said. And while its possible more infrastructure will be built... it is also quite likely that a lot of what is built will be destroyed in relatively short order. So this does no good for anybody. Trumps order rolls back the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard, which President Barack Obama established via executive order in January 2015. The policy which the Federal Emergency Management Agency and other agencies have been working to implement aimed to reduce the risk and cost of future flood disasters and help ensure federal projects last as long as intended, the White House said in a release at the time. Flood-related damages are anticipated to increase over time due to the effects of climate change and other threats, Obamas order read. Losses caused by flooding affect the environment, our economic prosperity, and public health and safety, each of which affects our national security. Story continues A woman rides her bicycle through a flooded street after Hurricane Matthew, near Jacksonville Beach, Florida, Oct. 8, 2016. (Photo: Henry Romero / Reuters) Environmentalists, lawmakers and watchdog groups were quick to slam the White Houses decision Tuesday as reckless, infuriating and irresponsible. Repealing the standard would be fiscal mismanagement and wasteful, the government budget watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense said in a statement. It would effectively force taxpayers to subsidize construction that puts people and property in harms way. This isnt even penny wise, pound foolish its just foolish. Rep. Carlos Curbelo (R-Fla.) said the move would waste taxpayer dollars and put communities at risk. When youre on the front lines like South Florida, we know the importance of having more resilient building codes to protect our infrastructure, especially when taxpayer dollars are used, Curbelo said in a statement. This Executive Order is not fiscally conservative, its irresponsible, and it will lead to taxpayer dollars being wasted on projects that may not be built to endure the flooding we are already seeing and know is only going to get worse. Rafael Lemaitre, the public affairs director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency under Obama, told The Hill that the Obama-era standard is the most significant action taken in a generation to protect American infrastructure. Eliminating it, he said, is self-defeating. We can either build smarter now, or put taxpayers on the hook to pay exponentially more when it floods, Lemaitre told the publication. And it will. As HuffPost reported in 2015, the standard directs agencies to use the best-available, actionable hydrologic and hydraulic data and methods that integrate current and future changes in flooding based on climate science when evaluating what is in the flood plain. It also gives agencies the option of building 2 feet above current base flood elevations for non-critical infrastructure and 3 feet above for critical infrastructure, or building to the standard of a 500-year flood (a flood with an estimated 0.2 percent chance of happening in any given year). The Trump administration has both dismissed the threat of climate change and moved quickly to derail Americas actions to combat it, in part by rolling back Obamas Clean Power Plan, a policy limiting greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, and announcing plans to pull the U.S. out of the historic Paris Agreement on climate change. Meanwhile, scientists from 13 federal agencies have concluded in a nearly 700-page draft report that the planet has rapidly warmed over the last 150 years, triggering many other changes to Earths climate. The report calls it extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century. This article has been updated to reflect that Trump signed the executive order Tuesday. Also on HuffPost Our carbon footprint says it all. This graph shows the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, as measured at Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii, from 1958 to today. In September, scientists at Mauna Loa announced that C02 levels had likely surpassed the threshold of 400 parts per million permanently. Year over year, the trend becomes more obvious. This graphic by climate scientist Ed Hawkins shows 167 maps of temperature change from 1850 to 2016. Spiralling global temperatures | updated to August 2016: https://t.co/rPSSxkS2mn pic.twitter.com/yMo0GNAsxk Ed Hawkins (@ed_hawkins) September 30, 2016 2016 #Arctic sea ice minimum ties with 2007 for 2nd lowest. https://t.co/BGLZYZvGMY pic.twitter.com/vJghT6HGDc Arctic Sea Ice News (@NSIDC_ArcticIce) September 15, 2016 Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. After President Donald Trump held a press conference on Tuesday about the white supremacist conflict in Charlottesville, Virginia last weekend, he decided to brag about his winery there. I own actually one of the largest wineries in the United States its in Charlottesville, Trump remarked after the conference, referencing Trump Winery. But there are two problems with his claim (other than the fact that he spoke about his own winery after defending violent white supremacists). First of all, its questionable whether the president actually owns Trump Winery. According to the winerys own website, his son, Eric Trump, is the owner. Trump Winery is a registered trade name of Eric Trump Wine Manufacturing LLC, which is not owned, managed or affiliated with Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization or any of their affiliates, the disclaimer reads on the legal section of the website. However, the messaging on the Trump Organization website conflicts with that statement, as the winery is listed as part of the real estate portfolio of the Trump Organization. When Trump became president he said he would switch management of his companies to his sons but would maintain ownership. Whether he did or not, theres definitely some mixed messaging on the two sites. Heres the second issue with Trumps statement. The winery isnt one of the largest in the U.S. Its also not even the largest vineyard in Virginia, by winemakers standards. PolitiFact, a fact-checking website that looks at claims made by elected officials and prominent people speaking about politics, proved it wasnt after looking into Trumps claim last year after he made it several times during his campaign. Trump brand wine is seen inside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada on Feb. 23, 2016. (Photo: JOSH EDELSON via Getty Images) Annette Boyd, director of the Virginia Wine Board, told PolitiFact that based on acres planted, which is called acres under vine, Trump winery would be the largest vineyard in Virginia. But PolitiFact also confirmed that wineries are generally measured by the cases of wine produced per year, not acreage. Story continues Boyd said that Trump winery produces about 36,000 cases of wine per year. But the Williamsburg Winery and Chateau Morrisette in Viriginia make nearly double that, at around 60,000 cases a year. Michael Kaiser, vice president of WineAmerica, the National Association of American Wines, confirmed Boyds sentiments in a statement to HuffPost. When measuring winery size the question of acres under the vine is not taken into consideration, Kaiser said. So while it is true that the presidents namesake winery has the largest acre under vine in Virginia, it is not one of the largest in the country or the East Coast. It is one of the larger wineries in Virginia. The other large wineries in Virginia are Barboursville, Chateau Morrisette and Williamsburg Winery. Most Virginia wineries are small production. Kaiser explained that when experts discuss winery size, they usually reference the below numbers to describe the size of a winery as it pertains to status in the United States: 500,000 or more cases produced a year: Large 50,000 to 499,999: Medium 5,000 to 49,000: Small 1,000 to 4,999: Very small 1,000 or less is limited production In 2016 Trump Winery produced 36,000 cases of wine, putting them in the small category, Kaiser said. In terms of largest wineries in the country, a lot of them are owned by larger conglomerates, these include: E. and J. Gallo, The Wine Group, Constellation Brands are the three largest producers. He added, In terms of individual wineries, names like Kendall-Jackson, Sutter Home ... are larger single producers that might be owned by a larger company but are wineries in their own right. Woodbridge is also up there. Despite all of the above, were sure Trump will continue making his claims. Related... Trump Vineyard Requests Visas For Still More Foreign Workers Donald Trump Defends People Who Attended White Supremacist Rally In Charlottesville (Plus A Whole Lot More) Donald Trump Actually Plugged His Winery Right After Defending Racists And Bigots Also on HuffPost This photo taken on December 24, 2016 shows a giant chicken sculpture outside a shopping mall in Taiyuan, north China's Shanxi province. A Chinese shopping mall is ringing in the Year of the Rooster with a giant sculpture of a chicken that looks like US president-elect Donald Trump. Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images Workers stand in front of inflatable chickens, bearing a likeness to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and produced ahead of the Lunar New Year of the Rooster, at a Caile Inflatables Products Co. factory in Jiaxing, China, on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg via Getty Images An inflatable rooster figure with a Donald Trump hairstyle and hand gestures, stands outside a gold shop to attract customers on Jan. 31, 2017 in Nanjing, China. Photographer: Zhang Peng/LightRocket via Getty Images An inflatable chicken sits on a truck bed as demonstrators march towards City Hall during the Tax March Los Angeles in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Saturday, April 15, 2017. The Tax March is an organized nation wide protest, held on the traditional deadline date to file taxes, that seeks to promote transparency by calling on U.S. President Donald Trump to release his personal tax returns. Photographer: Troy Harvey/Bloomberg via Getty Images The "Trump Chicken" is seen near Trump Tower while activists take part in a Tax Day protest on April 15, 2017 in New York City. Thousands of activists march to Trump Tower to demand that President Donald Trump release his tax returns. Photographer: by Eduardo MunozAlvarez/VIEWpress/Corbis via Getty Images An inflatable chicken mimicking US President Donald Trump is set up on The Ellipse, a 52-acre (21-hectare) park located just south of the White House and north of the Washington Monument. Photographer: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images The chicken was set up in the morning. Within hours, passersby flocked to check it out. Photographer: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images President Trump was on vacation at his golf club in New Jersey when the protest occurred. Photographer: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today. This article originally appeared on HuffPost. By Chris Kenning (Reuters) - The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Nebraska state prison system on Wednesday to remedy what it says is overcrowding that has fueled riots, assaults and created unconstitutional conditions for prisoners. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Lincoln, Nebraska, on behalf of prisoners, asks a federal judge to order the state to fix problems including the overuse of solitary confinement and neglect of medical, disability and mental health needs. "For over twenty years, Nebraska state prisons have been overcrowded, under-resourced, and understaffed. The result is a dangerous system in perpetual crisis," the lawsuit said. Officials with the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, named in the suit along with the Board of Parole, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Republican Governor Pete Ricketts said in a statement that prison reform was already under way and the state had invested millions to expand corrections facilities. "This litigation from the ACLU threatens public safety by seeking the early release of dangerous criminals and could endanger our Corrections officers by further limiting the tools they have to manage the inmate population," he said. But the ACLU alleges officials have failed to take sufficient action. A similar lawsuit in California led to a 2011 court ruling that officials said eventually reduced its prison population by 30,000 inmates. (http://www.reuters.com/article/us-california-prison-budget-insight-idUSKBN0UK0J520160106) The Nebraska lawsuit also comes as various states are seeking to reduce prison populations through sentencing reforms and other measures, said James Austin, head of the JFA Institute in California, a corrections research and policy organization. In Nebraska, the ACLU said the prison system is at 159 percent of capacity and that it has been at overcapacity for more than two decades. There are currently 5,228 inmates housed in a system meant for 3,275. Story continues The lawsuit lists numerous problems, including allegations that inmates with disabilities or medical needs do not receive adequate care. It said the system's shortcomings created dangerous conditions. In March, after a melee at a maximum-security prison in which two inmates were killed, Corrections director Scott Frakes said increased use of parole was easing overcrowding, but that reforms were slowed by problems including high levels of inmate violence and staff shortages. The suit asks a judge to order reductions in prison population, increases in trained correctional staff, better policies to classify and house prisoners, and new procedures for screening their healthcare needs. (Reporting by Chris Kenning in Chicago; Editing by Sharon Bernstein and Matthew Lewis) By Jon Herskovitz AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) - A U.S. court struck down two Republican-drawn U.S. congressional districts in Texas on Tuesday, calling them discriminatory and ordering a remedy ahead of elections in 2018, court papers showed. In the case that has been contested in federal courts for about six years, a three-judge panel at U.S. District Court in San Antonio ruled lawmakers drew up the districts to undermine the influence of racial minority voters, who plaintiffs argued typically show more support for Democrats than Republicans. The court also said that the maps laying them out must either be fixed by the state or the courts. The court said the 27th and 35th congressional districts were drawn in violation of the U.S. Voting Rights Act. Texas has 36 districts, with Republicans holding 25 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and Democrats 11. The court also faulted the state's legislature for not heeding previous judicial plans and for making inadequate fixes to the maps drawn in 2011. "The discriminatory taint was not removed by the Legislatures enactment of the Courts interim plans," the judges said in their decision. Texas did not deny that many districts are serpentine, but its lawyers argued in court that the boundaries were drawn for Republican partisan advantage, which they said is legal. They dismissed claims the districts were drawn illegally with the intention to disenfranchise racial and ethnic groups. (Reporting by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by Tom Brown and Diane Craft) By Mica Rosenberg NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security terminated a program on Wednesday that allowed minors fleeing violence in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to settle in the United States, ending travel hopes for more than 2,700 children awaiting approval. In a notice published in the Federal Register that goes into effect Aug. 16, the government said it was ending the practice of granting parole under the Central American Minors (CAM) Program, which was offered to children even if they had been denied refugee status. The program started at the end of 2014 under the administration of former President Barack Obama as a response to tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors and families from Central America who arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border seeking entry into the United States. An executive order on border security signed by U.S. President Donald Trump days after he took office in January triggered a review of the program, putting on hold applications of more than 2,700 children who had been conditionally approved for entry into the United States. Now those applications will be canceled. The bulk of the children approved for the program were from El Salvador. Immigration advocacy group Kids in Need of Defense (KIND) said that cancelling the program would lead to more children to try to find other means to enter the United States. "These children have been repeatedly told by the U.S. government, including the Trump Administration, not to migrate to the United States due to safety concerns," the organization said in a statement. "Now this Administration is cutting off the only authorized channel and leaving children no choice but to make the perilous journey to the United States." The program allowed children under 21 years old with parents lawfully living in the United States to apply for a refugee resettlement interview before making the journey to the United States. As of August 4, more than 1,500 children and eligible family members had arrived in the United States as refugees under the CAM program, according to the State Department. Story continues Children who did not qualify for refugee status and had no other means of reuniting with their parents in the United States could also apply for entry under the program. They would be approved for parole for two years, allowing them to travel and stay in the United States and apply for work permits. Since its inception, more than 1,400 children were granted parole and allowed to travel to the United States. They included 1,110 from El Salvador, 324 from Honduras and 31 from Guatemala, according to a spokesman from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Now, they will have to re-apply for parole once their two-year term expires but will only be able to have it renewed if they can demonstrate "an urgent humanitarian or a significant public benefit reason" for them to stay, the federal register said. Parole decisions would be determined on a case-by-case basis. More than 13,000 people have applied for the program since it began, the State Department said. Around 1 percent of applicants were denied both for refugee status and parole, according to the USCIS spokesman. The refugee portion of the program will not be affected by Wednesday's termination and children stranded abroad can still apply as refugees. (Reporting by Mica Rosenberg; Additional reporting by Nelson Renteria in San Salvador; Editing by Marcy Nicholson) UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said on Tuesday Iran must be held responsible for "its missile launches, support for terrorism, disregard for human rights, and violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions." Haley was responding to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, who said earlier on Tuesday that Iran could abandon its nuclear agreement with world powers "within hours" if the United States imposes any more new sanctions. "Iran cannot be allowed to use the nuclear deal to hold the world hostage ... The nuclear deal must not become 'too big to fail'," Haley said in a statement, adding that new U.S. sanctions were unrelated to the Iran nuclear deal. Haley will travel to Vienna next week to discuss Iran's nuclear activities with U.N. atomic watchdog officials as part of Washington's review of Tehran's compliance with a 2015 nuclear deal. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by James Dalgleish) By Ben Blanchard and Tim Kelly BEIJING/TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday praised North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for a "wise" decision not to fire missiles towards the U.S. territory of Guam, which has eased escalating tension between the two countries. Reclusive North Korea has made no secret of its plan to develop a missile capable of firing a nuclear warhead at the United States to counter what it perceives as constant U.S. threats of invasion. Trump warned North Korea last week it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States, prompting North Korea to say it was considering plans to fire missiles towards the Pacific island of Guam. But North Korean media reported on Tuesday Kim had delayed the decision while he awaited to see what the United States did next. "Kim Jong Un of North Korea made a very wise and well reasoned decision," Trump wrote on Twitter. "The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!" North Korea's threat to fire towards Guam had prompted Trump to say earlier that the U.S. military was "locked and loaded" if North Korea acted unwisely. North Korea has long ignored warnings from the West and from its lone major ally, China, to halt its nuclear and missile tests which it conducts in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions. The United States has been hoping China can press the North to rein in its weapons programs. The top U.S. general reiterated that in talks in Beijing this week. Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford told Fang Fenghui, chief of the Joint Staff Department of the People's Liberation Army, in Beijing that North Korea's weapons programs threatened the entire international community, including China. "He emphasized that the U.S. and China have the same goal - a denuclearized Korean peninsula achieved through peaceful means ... North Korean actions threaten the economic and military security of China," a U.S. military spokesman said in a statement. Story continues "In the interest of regional stability, he said the U.S. views with growing urgency the need for China to increase pressure on the North Korean regime," the spokesman said. "Should preferred diplomatic and economic peaceful options fail, General Dunford reiterated America's resolve to use the full range of military capabilities to defend our allies in the Republic of Korea and Japan, as well as the U.S. homeland." 'SOLIDARITY AND RESOLVE' China has repeatedly called for all sides to exercise restraint and remain calm, and while it has signed up for tough U.N. sanctions on North Korea, it says the key to a resolution lies in Washington and Pyongyang talking to each other, rather than expecting China to do all the work. German Chancellor Angela Merkel echoed that viewpoint on Wednesday. "I am totally against the rhetorical armament that is being used by all sides ... There is no military solution for this conflict, it must be worked out via negotiations," Merkel said in response to a question on North Korea in a YouTube interview. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said while everyone was concerned about the situation, Chinese pressure on North Korea had made him more upbeat. "Since yesterday we are a bit more optimistic; I think that above all Chinese pressure contributed to the statements from North Korea about definitely putting aside these ideas of firing a missile," Gabriel said. Japan conducted air maneuvers with U.S. bombers southwest of the Korean peninsula on Wednesday involving two U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flying from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam and two Japanese F-15 jet fighters, Japan's Air Self Defence Force said in a news release. "These training flights with Japan demonstrate the solidarity and resolve we share with our allies to preserve peace and security in the Indo-Asia-Pacific," the U.S. Air Force said. The U.S. aircraft have flown several sorties in East Asia over recent weeks. In addition to air drills with Japanese fighters, the bombers have also exercised with South Korean aircraft. North Korea regards the U.S. exercises with South Korea and Japan as preparations for invasion. The exercises also upset China, which says they do nothing to ease tension. 'RECKLESS ACTIONS' In his first public appearance in about two weeks, Kim on Monday inspected the command of North Korea's army, examining the plan to fire four missiles aimed at landing near Guam, the official KCNA news agency reported. "He said that if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity, testing the self-restraint of the DPRK, the latter will make an important decision as it already declared," KCNA said. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name. Wednesday's air exercise took place close to Japanese-controlled islets in the East China Sea which are also claimed by China. The uninhabited territory is known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. While the United States has declined to take sides in the dispute over the tiny islands, it nonetheless has said it would defend them from attack under its security alliance with Japan. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in a telephone conversation with Sigmar Gabriel, Germany's minister for foreign affairs, said tension on the Korean peninsula was showing some signs of easing but had not passed. The parties involved should "make a correct judgment and wise choice by taking a responsible attitude toward history and people", Wang said, according to a statement on his ministry's website. (Additional reporting by Nobuhiro Kubo in TOKYO, Ben Blanchard in BEIJING and Paul Carrel and Andreas Rinke in BERLIN; Editing by Nick Macfie and Robert Birsel) By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA (Reuters) - United Nations human rights experts called on U.S. political leaders "at all levels" on Wednesday to combat rising racist violence and xenophobia and urged prosecution of perpetrators of hate crimes. U.S. President Donald Trump insisted on Tuesday that both left- and right-wing extremists had become violent during a weekend rally by white nationalists in Virginia, reigniting a political firestorm over race relations in the United States and his own leadership of a national crisis. After clashes between the two sides at Saturday's rally, a car ploughed into opponents of the gathering, killing one woman and injuring 19 others. A 20-year-old Ohio man, James Fields, said to have harbored Nazi sympathies, was charged with murder. "We are outraged by the violence in Charlottesville and the racial hatred displayed by right-wing extremists, white supremacists and neo-Nazi groups," the independent U.N. experts said in a joint statement issued in Geneva. "We call for the prosecution and adequate punishment of all perpetrators and the prompt establishment of an independent investigation into the events," they said. The legacy of slavery in America has left two "invidious" aspects, the "ongoing racial discrimination" and the notion of white supremacy, said Anastasia Crickley, chair of the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, who is one of the three experts who issued the statement. "This notion of white supremacy as far as many of us can see is being re-articulated from top to bottom in the USA at the moment," she told Reuters. "In looking to addressing racial discrimination, we have got to look to very clear, unequivocal statements from political leaders at all levels," she added. Crickley, asked whether Trump was providing leadership on the issue and whether she had concerns on his public statements, replied: "Already leaders across the political spectrum are calling for more political leadership from the White House and from the leadership spectrum. I think yes we do need that." Story continues The events in Virginia were the "latest examples" of increasing racism, racial discrimination, Afrophobia, racist violence and xenophobia "observed in demonstrations across the USA", the U.N. experts said. Recent incidents in California, Oregon, New Orleans and Kentucky had demonstrated "the geographical spread of the problem", they added. The statement was also issued by Sabelo Gumedze, chair of the U.N. working group of experts on people of African descent, and Mutuma Ruteere, U.N. special rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Gareth Jones and Alister Doyle) By Michelle Nichols and Aaron Ross UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A United Nations inquiry found that two U.N. investigators were murdered by a group of Congolese, likely militia members from central Democratic Republic of Congo, but an absence of evidence "does not preclude the possibility that others are involved." Michael Sharp, an American who was coordinator of an independent sanctions monitoring group, and Zaida Catalan, a Swede, were killed in central Congo on March 12 while carrying out investigations for a report to the U.N. Security Council. The bodies of Sharp and Catalan were found in a shallow grave two weeks later. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres set up an internal board of inquiry and gave an executive summary of the findings to the Security Council on Tuesday. "A group of Congolese, likely militia members from the Kasai Central province, was responsible," read the inquiry's executive summary, seen by Reuters on Wednesday. "It also found that there was a reasonable likelihood that the killings were committed after consultation with other local tribal actors." "Without further investigation and the necessary judicial processes, the identity, affiliations, and motives of the group that participated in killing Mr. Sharp and Ms. Catalan cannot be fully established," the report said. The Congolese government screened a film to reporters in Kinshasa on April 24, which they said showed members of the anti-government Kamuina Nsapu militia killing the U.N experts. The pair were shot and Catalan was subsequently beheaded. OTHERS INVOLVED? More than 3,300 people have been killed and 1.4 million forced to flee their homes in Kasai since the start of an insurrection nearly a year ago by the Kamuina Nsapu militia, which wants the withdrawal of military forces from the area. Many analysts say the grainy video of the murders raises more questions than it answers, such as why one of the assassins from the Tshiluba-speaking militia gave orders in Lingala, which is the language of western Congo and the army. "It is the judgment of the Board that information circulating regarding the possible involvement of various government individuals or organizations does not provide proof of intent or motive," the U.N. inquiry said. "An absence of evidence however does not preclude the possibility that others are involved," it said. A Congolese military prosecutor has said there was no evidence Congolese forces were involved in the murders. The Board of Inquiry recommended the Congolese government conduct a criminal investigation with the support of other member states. The inquiry said Congolese authorities had arrested a dozen people and would try them in a military court. "It's naturally my intention to do everything... with the Congolese government and with the Security Council for the criminals to be punished," Guterres told reporters on Wednesday. The remaining members of Sharp and Catalan's monitoring group recommended last month that the Security Council ask Guterres to establish an independent international investigation. The United States, Sweden and rights groups have also called for Guterres to establish a special investigation. "We can't rely on the Democratic Republic of Congo government to find the killers since Congolese security forces may have been responsible for the killings," said Human Rights Watch U.N. director Louis Charbonneau. (Reporting by Michelle Nichols; Editing by Leslie Adler and Sandra Maler) WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States on Wednesday said it had sanctioned Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest of the anti-Indian Kashmiri militant groups fighting in the Himalayan territory divided between Pakistan and India. The U.S. Treasury Department, in a statement on its website, said it had listed the Pakistan-based group as a counter- designated group, freezing any assets it may hold in the Untied States and prohibiting Americans from dealings with it. "These designations seek to deny HM (Hizbul Mujahideen) the resources it needs to carry out terrorist attacks," the U.S. State Department said in a separate statement. In announcing the designation, the State Department said the group had claimed responsibility for several attacks, including one in 2014 in Jammu and Kashmir that left 17 people injured. Last month, the United States also designated Syed Salahuddin, a militant commander for the group, as a terrorist - a label he denounced. Such designations are aimed at denying individuals and entities access to the U.S. financial system. Both India and Pakistan claim Kashmir as a whole. Pakistan has denied giving material help to Kashmiri separatists but has pledged to provide continued diplomatic and moral support. India blames Pakistan for stoking the 28-year-old revolt in Muslim-majority Kashmir and has stepped up its pressure on Pakistan over the conflict. (Reporting by Susan Heavey and Tim Ahmann; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Paul Simao) Geneva (AFP) - A group of UN experts voiced alarm Monday at the widespread detention of immigrants and asylum seekers in the United States, and warned of "systemic problems" in the country's criminal justice system. In a fresh report, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention voiced concern over soaring detention rates as President Donald Trump's administration cracks down on illegal immigration and works to deport legal immigrants with criminal records. "The Working Group is of the view that the mandatory detention of immigrants, especially asylum seekers, is contrary to international human rights and refugee rights standards," the five independent experts said. The report, based on visits to a range of US detention facilities late last year, found that non-criminal immigrants were subjected to "punitive conditions that were often indistinguishable from those applicable to persons who had been sentenced to punishment in the criminal justice system". The report also highlighted the difficulty for detained immigrants to access legal representation, unreasonably long incarceration -- including of children -- and the separation of family members during detention. "Immigration detention should be the exception rather than the rule," the experts said, insisting that the current "excessive use of immigration-related detention" could not be justified by necessity. They warned that current system "appeared to be implemented to deter individuals from continuing their immigration claims and could result in asylum seekers revoking their legitimate immigration claims." Monday's report also examined the broader rights situation in US jails and prisons, pointing to "several areas where systemic problems in the criminal justice system are resulting in the arbitrary deprivation of liberty." The panel listed lengthy pretrial detention, the lack of effective legal representation, economic and racial disparities, disproportionate sentences and the practice of treating minors in certain cases as adults. Story continues They voiced concern that some states are increasing their use of the death penalty, especially in light of the problems they had seen in guaranteeing fair trials, arguing: "Imposing the death penalty after a trial at which the defendant was not afforded all necessary safeguards constitutes arbitrary deprivation of life". The experts also decried the continued operation of the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, urging Washington to close the facility. Former president Barack Obama promised to do so, but his successor Donald Trump has signalled he instead plans to ramp up use of the prison. Caracas (AFP) - The United States "dropped the mask" by threatening Venezuela with possible military action, the South American country's defense minister, General Vladimir Padrino, said Monday. US President Donald Trump's warning last Friday that he was mulling various scenarios against Venezuela, "including a possible military option if necessary," was "delirious" and "crazy," Padrino said in an address on state television. "Apparently they've moved from all other paths, all other soft-coup methods... to drop the mask by going with the direct path of military aggression," said Padrino, who is also commander of the military. The minister -- surrounded by other uniformed brass and a tank -- read a statement swearing the armed forces' loyalty to President Nicolas Maduro and saying they would take "all measures" to defend the country. Maduro's regime has seized on Trump's threat as proof of its oft-repeated argument that the US "empire" wanted to topple Maduro to get its hands on Venezuela's vast oil reserves. All Latin American countries -- even those fiercely opposed to Maduro for steps he has taken to usurp democratic institutions -- have rejected possible US military intervention, which recalled past American adventures in the region. The issue even prompted Venezuela's opposition, which has staged months of protests seeking Maduro's ouster, to denounce a threat of force "by whatever country against Venezuela." US Vice President Mike Pence, visiting US allies in Latin America this week, reaffirmed that Trump "says what he means and means what he says," but expressed hope a "peaceable solution" could be found on Venezuela. Beirut (AFP) - US-led coalition air strikes on the Islamic State group's remaining territory in Syria's Raqa city killed 17 civilians on Wednesday, including children, a monitor said. The coalition is providing air support in the form of heavy air strikes for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia as it battles to oust IS from its onetime stronghold. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the deaths on Wednesday followed two days of deadly strikes. Since Monday, the monitor said, 38 civilians have been killed in US-led air strikes on the city. Wednesday's deaths included five children, according to the monitor, which relies on a network of sources on the ground. The coalition says it takes measures to avoid civilian casualties and investigates credible allegations of civilian deaths. The United States has admitted that coalition strikes have killed 624 civilians in Syria and Iraq since 2014. But rights groups and monitors say the figure is exponentially higher than that. The SDF launched an operation to capture Raqa province from IS last year, and in June the militia broke into Raqa city for the first time. It now holds more than half of the city, but the fighting has proved fierce and civilians have been killed both in the crossfire and while trying to flee. Tens of thousands of people have fled Raqa, but the UN estimates between 10,000 and 25,000 civilians may still be trapped inside. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned Monday that an attack by North Korea against the United States could quickly escalate into war, as he and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson moved to dial down tensions. North Korea last week threatened to test-fire four missiles that would fly toward the small US Pacific island territory of Guam, following a promise from President Donald Trump to meet ongoing threats from Pyongyang with "fire and fury." "If they fire at the United States, it could escalate into war very quickly," Mattis told Pentagon reporters. Mattis's comments came after he and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal that America has "no interest" in regime change in Pyongyang or the accelerated reunification of the two Koreas, and stressed the importance of a diplomatic solution to the crisis. The two statesmen decided to write the piece a couple of weeks ago, and it had not been in response to last week's heated rhetoric, Mattis said. "We were thinking it would be wise to put out something that shows how the State Department and the Defense Department work together, it's not one or the other, it's the two working together," he said. Mattis and Tillerson said the United States favors a diplomatic solution to the nuclear stand-off, especially with help from China, though they stressed diplomacy is "backed by military options." "The US has no interest in regime change or accelerated reunification of Korea," Mattis and Tillerson wrote. "We do not seek an excuse to garrison US troops north of the Demilitarized Zone. We have no desire to inflict harm on the long-suffering North Korean people, who are distinct from the hostile regime in Pyongyang." Mattis and Tillerson called on China, which is North Korea's main trading partner and ally, to take advantage of an "unparalleled opportunity" to assert its influence on Pyongyang. Story continues "If China wishes to play a more active role in securing regional peace and stability -- from which all of us, especially China, derive such great benefit -- it must make the decision to exercise its decisive diplomatic and economic leverage over North Korea," the US officials wrote. Mattis and Tillerson also credited UN efforts and said the United States was willing to negotiate with North Korea, but said Pyongyang should indicate a desire to show good faith by halting weapons and nuclear tests. General Joseph Dunford, who chairs the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and is the nation's top uniformed military officer, met Monday with South Korea's defense minister Song Young-Moo and defense chief General Lee Sun-Jin. He "conveyed America's readiness to use the full range of military capabilities to defend our allies and the US homeland," said spokesman Captain Darryn James. North Korea has moved missile equipment into position ahead of a possible launch, according to US defence officials. American satellites detected the transportation of launchers capable of firing intermediate-range ballistic missiles (IRBMs) amid tension over threats by Pyongyang. The movement is "not believed to be directly related to the threat issued by North Korea last week to strike the waters near Guam," a source told CNN. But they added the activity was being "watched closely" by the US military. It comes after James Mattis, the American Defence Secretary, warned a North Korean missile attack "could escalate into war very quickly". He said the US would "take out" any such launch aimed at its territory, in an apparent reference to missile defence systems around Guam. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un said on Tuesday he would hold off on plans to fire four missiles towards the Pacific island and would instead "watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees," according to a state news agency. In photos released with the report, Kim was seen pointing at a map showing a flight path for the missiles from North Korea's east coast, flying over Japan towards Guam. But the island's Homeland Security Adviser George Charfauros said the movement of missile launchers was likely "just a show of force" to mark the country's Liberation Day on Tuesday. It may be just a ruse. Today is an historic day for the Korean peninsular.... North Korea tends to use symbolism as part of their decision making," he said. "There doesn't appear to be any indication, based on what we're hearing, that there will be any missiles attacking in the near future or in the distant future," Lieutenant Governor Ray Tonorio added. Islanders were given a brief scare on Tuesday when two Guam radio stations accidentally broadcast an emergency danger warning for 15 minutes. Story continues Listeners were warned of an unspecified threat at 12.25am local time. Authorities stressed a real warning would describe the type of threat and said they were working with the stations to ensure the "human error" would not be repeated. Tensions have been heightened on the island, home to 162,000 people and two military bases, since Pyongyang's threat last week. But Mr Charfauros told residents to "remain calm", adding in a statement: "Remember there is no change in threat level, we continue business as usual and know there are US Department of Defence capabilities in place. "We continue communication with our federal and military partners and have not received official statement warranting any concern for imminent threat to Guam or the Marianas. US President Donald Trump said last week his military was "locked and loaded" and ready to unleash "fire and fury" if North Korea acted "unwisely". The Los Angeles skyline seen through a cloud of smog: Lucy Nicholson/Reuters The massive increase in wind and solar energy helped prevent the premature deaths of up to 12,700 people over a nine-year period in the US, according to new research which illustrates the wider benefits of ditching fossil fuels beyond limiting global warming. The lower carbon emissions were worth billions of dollars as a result of the avoidance of the range of problems caused by fossil fuels, according to a paper about the study published in the journal, Nature Energy. The UK Government has pledged that the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles will be banned from 2040 a deadline criticised by environmentalists as being too far in the future to make a difference. In contrast, Norway plans to phase out such vehicles by 2025. According to the Royal College of Physicians, about 40,000 deaths a year in the UK are attributable to exposure to outdoor air pollution, which has been associated with cancer, asthma, stroke and heart disease, diabetes, obesity and changes linked to dementia. The new research, which was funded by the US Department of Energy, found there had been significant declines in major air pollutants between 2007 and 2015. Carbon dioxide fell by 20 per cent, sulphur dioxide by a staggering 72 per cent, nitrogen oxide by 50 per cent and tiny particles known as PM2.5 by 46 per cent. While some of this was due to fossil fuels being replaced by renewable energy, tougher emission regulations also played a part. Sulphur dioxide emissions fell from nine million tonnes in 2007 to 2.5 million tonnes in 2015 after coal power plants were forced to fit equipment that filters the gas out to meet air quality standards. The growth in solar and wind power was dramatic, increasing tenfold from about 10 gigawatts in 2007 to roughly 100GW in 2015. From 2007 to 2015, solar and wind power deployment increased rapidly while regulatory changes and fossil fuel price changes led to steep cuts in overall power-sector emissions, the researchers wrote in the paper. Story continues We find cumulative wind and solar air-quality benefits of $29.7bn to $112.8bn [during 2007 to 2015] mostly from 3,000 to 12,700 avoided premature mortalities." In 2015 alone, some 1,850 premature deaths were avoided. The researchers, led by Dr Dev Millstein of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, also estimated the increased generation of renewable energy was worth between $5.3bn and $106.8bn in cumulative climate benefits over the same period. These include changes to agricultural productivity, energy use, losses from disasters such as floods, human health and general ecosystem services. Sam Bright, a lawyer at environmental activist group ClientEarth, which has twice successfully sued the Government over sub-standard air quality plans, said it was clear that "moving away from coal brings major health benefits". But he added: "It's essential that we make sure we use the opportunity the end of coal gives us to create the energy system of the future. "That means replacing coal power stations with renewables, yes, but also making sure energy efficiency is top of the agenda and we build storage and flexibility into the system to lower and manage demand. "A cleaner, more flexible energy system will mean fewer emissions of those pollutants that are harming people and our planet." Nina Schrank, energy campaigner at Greenpeace UK, said: "Our energy system is radically transforming. Milestones such as the falling costs of offshore wind and solar, and the first working day without coal in Britain, are coming thick and fast as we move towards a low carbon economy. Now research also suggests that renewable power could be beginning to clean up the air by displacing some fossil fuels, but we need so much more. "Our Government should prioritise speeding up the energy transition and making the UK a world leader in clean, green technology. Public opinion polls show that more than three quarters of people in the UK already support renewable energy. It's time to grasp the enormous potential of renewable energy and energy efficiency, which can give us cleaner air, skilled jobs and fair bills, whilst also helping towards our climate targets." This article has been corrected. Up to 12,700 premature deaths were avoided between 2007 to 2015 inclusive, not in 2015 alone. President Hassan Rouhani warned Tuesday Iran would quit the 2015 nuclear deal if Washington imposes new sanctions despite compliance with the historical deal. If America wants to go back to the experience (of imposing sanctions), Iran would certainly return in a short time not a week or a month but within hours to conditions more advanced than before the start of negotiations, Rouhani told a session of parliament broadcast live on state television. The re-elected Iranian leader has been under fire at home for signing a deal, which did not yield any fruit. The 2015 deal, known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), with the United States, Russia, China and three European powers prevents the Islamic Republic from advancing its nuclear program and ensures gradual lift of economic sanctions. US President Donal Trump has rejected the deal, saying it does not completely curb Irans influence in the region. Early August, he endorsed a law by Congress to press new sanctions against Iran for its ballistic missile program and poor human rights record, despite the State Departments judgement that Iran has complied with the terms of the nuclear agreement. The US treasury in July imposed sanctions against 18 people and entities for their support for missile program. The department also accused the targeted individuals of the theft of US and Western software programs and selling them to Iran. In response to Rouhani, US envoy to the UN, Nikki Haley argued that the sanctions were unrelated to the Iran nuclear deal and that Iran must be held responsible for its missile launches, support for terrorism, disregard for human rights, and violations of UN Security Council resolutions, report say. Iran cannot be allowed to use the nuclear deal to hold the world hostage The nuclear deal must not become too big to fail, Haley said in a statement. The US official is to travel to Vienna next week to discuss Irans nuclear activities with UN atomic watchdog officials as part of Washingtons review of Tehrans compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal, Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reports. Early this month, Ali Larijani, speaker of the Iranian parliament indicated that Iran turned to the JCPOA supervisory body, which qualified the US action as a breach of the agreement. North Koreas apparent walk back of its threat to fire missiles near the U.S. territory of Guam could mean military tensions with the United States have been diminishedor at least postponed. Or it could indicate that much of the seeming escalation in tensions between the two sides last week was more rhetoric than reality to begin with. State media reported Tuesday that Kim Jong Un, the North Korean leader, made the decision following a meeting with military commanders, but he reserved the right to fire the Hawsong-12 near Guam if the U.S. grows more reckless. The move comes after a week marked by bellicose rhetoric from both sides. It began last weekend when the UN Security Council unanimously voted to tighten sanctions on North Korea for its tests last month of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of reaching the U.S. (though South Koreas vice-defense minister said the North still lacks the technology for its ICBMs to re-enter the Earths atmosphere, adding Pyongyang was still at least one to two more years way from that). Then came reports that U.S. intelligence agencies had assessed that North Korea had miniaturized a nuclear warhead that could be fitted onto the ICBMs. Recommended: The Road to Radicalism in Charlottesville President Trump responded saying any North Korean threat will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. North Koreas responded, warning it planned to strike near Guam as soon as mid-August, and was merely waiting for Kim to give the go-ahead. Trump, however, doubled down, saying if Pyongyang threatened U.S. interests and allies things will happen to them like they never thought possible. He then said U.S. military solutions were locked and loaded, adding he hoped Kim will find another path. The remarks led to concerns the two countries were one errant comment away from a conflictpossibly involving nuclear weapons. Trump has previously said that while the U.S. was open to diplomacy, two-plus decades of talks with North Korea had not persuaded the country to renounce its nuclear-weapons or missile programs. In fact, North Korea has repeatedly been found cheating on its international obligations, part of the reason why the Obama administration did not talk with the North. Story continues Still, it emerged that despite the presidents comments, the Trump administration had been engaged in regular back-channel diplomacy with Kims regime at the UN. The two sidesrepresented by Joseph Yun, the U.S. envoy for North Korea policy, and Pak Song Il, the North Korean diplomat at the UN missionhad been discussing U.S. citizens detained in North Korea as well as relations between the two countries. Meanwhile, Rex Tillerson, the U.S. secretary of state, and James Mattis, the defense secretary, in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal said the U.S. wanted a diplomatic solution to the tensions, and insisted the U.S. wasnt seeking regime change in the North. Recommended: The White House Is Under Siege What also emerged was that amid the escalating rhetoric, there was little evidence of a parallel increase in U.S. military preparedness. As Defense News pointed out: In Yokosuka, Japan, the U.S. Navys forward-deployed ready aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan sits peacefully pier-side, along with the U.S. 7th Fleet command ship Blue Ridge. On the Korean Peninsula, the State Department has not advised American citizens to leave the country and U.S. military family members are not being evacuated. No Marines are being loaded on amphibious ships; no sailors have been recalled off leave to prepare for emergency operations; and no ballistic missile defense ships have been sortied to North Korea, the waters off Japan or to Guam, three sources said. Nor were there signs that the U.S. was flying B-1 bombers, stationed at the Andersen Air Force Base on Guam, over the Korean peninsula. Those flights have long been a source of irritation for North Koreaand Major Phil Ventura, a spokesman for Pacific Air Forces, said in an email that the last B-1 mission that went into Korean airspace was August 7, one day before Trumps remarks about fire and fury. The B1s are part of the continued U.S. bomber presence in the region since 2004. Ventura said the missions are scheduled weeks in advance: Sometimes they are scheduled to support an exercise; at other times, the schedules of U.S. partners play a role, he said. But two recent flightson July 7 and July 29were carried out as deliberate, direct responses to North Korean aggression after Pyongyangs launch of ICBMs. Recommended: There's No Equivalence Between Antifa and White Supremacists Perhaps most significant in the reduction of tensions, though, is Chinas role. Beijing wields much influence over North Koreathough it says the West overstates its influenceand through the crisis it urged restraint. It also took steps to ban the import of iron, lead, and coal from North Korea in line with the new UN sanctions. China accounts for more than 90 percent of trade with North Koreaand though the sanctions have been criticized as inadequatethe restrictions are expected to cost the North about $1 billion annually. But there might be another reason for North Koreas rationale to apparently back off its threat: Its threats arent unusual. As The Wall Street Journal pointed out: Two years ago, during another August standoff, North Korea issued a 48-hour ultimatum to South Korea to switch off loudspeakers blaring propaganda critical of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un across the demilitarized zone that separates the two countries, following the explosion of a land mine there that maimed two South Korean soldiers. North Korea threatened to use force to stop the broadcasts. South Korea ignored the deadline, and days later, North Korea expressed regret for the land mine, dismissed several senior officials and put inter-Korean relations back on what it called a track of reconciliation and trust. South Korea shut off its loudspeakers. In March last year, also during U.S.-South Korea military exercises, Pyongyang threatened to attack Seouls presidential palace unless it received an apology from then South Korean President Park Geun-hye. No apology was forthcoming, and the threat never materialized. Ultimately, though the threat of conflict has reduced in the short term, the North Korean statement did not completely rule out the use of military force near Guam, saying the U.S. must at once arrogant provocations against [North Korea] and unilateral demands and not provoke it any longer. Thats an apparent reference to next weeks long-planned U.S.-South Korea military exercises. North Korea usually reacts in anger at such exercises, calling them an act of war. Last year it conducted a nuclear test soon after the joint exercises. Any similar action this time would almost certainly result in international condemnationor worse. Read more from The Atlantic: This article was originally published on The Atlantic. President Donald Trump holds up a signed memorandum calling for a trade investigation of China on Monday, Aug. 14, 2017 in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) President Donald Trump authorized an inquiry on Monday into Chinas alleged theft of American technology and intellectual property, a problem US companies have faced for decades when they do business in China. The inquiry will look at Chinas practice of mandating that foreign companies partner with local firms. In the course of those partnerships, companies often feel pressure to give their intellectual property to Chinese firms, the US Trade Representative wrote in a January report. But giving up some of intellectual property to local Chinese companies may be the cost of doing business in China, which is quickly becoming a technology powerhouse. Moreover, rules set by World Trade Organization (WTO) rules give China wide latitude in restricting foreign investment, which may complicate any potential investigation by the Trump administration. Entering the Chinese market comes with risks Employees work at a production line inside a factory of Saic GM Wuling, a joint venture of GM and local Chinese carmakers in Liuzhou, China. REUTERS/Norihiko Shirouzu For US companies, gaining access to the worlds second-largest consumer market comes with risks. As a condition of operating in China or gaining a more favorable market presence, foreign companies may need to operate with local partners. By doing so, US companies can take advantage of low production costs and local expertise, but may be coerced into sharing their intellectual property, as the Department of Commerce has warned. Douglas Clark, a Hong Kong-based intellectual-property lawyer, thinks foreign companies are not usually forced to hand over their intellectual property. But if you want to do business or invest in China, youre encouraged to transfer technology, Clark said. There are certain calculations you make. Its always a cost-benefit calculation for every company. Though its a companys own call to do business in China or not, some argue market access shouldnt be contingent on transferring technology. For certain industries like airplanes and automobiles, the Chinese government has been clear on requiring foreign companies to form joint ventures with local firms, due to concerns over national security and the desire to have foreign partners use advanced technologies and management practices. Story continues Take Chinas fast-growing automotive industry. Back in 1980s when automobiles were nascent in China, officials directed foreign carmakers such as General Motors Co. (GM), Toyota Motor Corp. (TM) and Volkswagen AG to form joint ventures with locals and capped foreign investment at 50%. More recently, the high-tech industry has become the main battlefield for China and US competition. To capture market share and gain favor from the local government, American tech giants like Intel (INTC) Qualcomm (QCOM) partnered with local chipmakers. The tradeoff is to support Chinese companies with chip development and design. China is on its way to becoming an innovation powerhouse Visitors look at a model of Chinas domestically made C919 passenger jet at the China Beijing International High-Tech Expo in Beijing, Saturday, June 10, 2017. The annual forum and exhibition is a showcase for Chinese domestic technology companies and innovation. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) If the WTO ends up taking a look at Trumps allegations of intellectual-property theft, China can fight back, as The New York Times has reported. Under special rules negotiated with the WTO, China enjoys relatively broad rights to restrict market access as a developing country. And the US agreed to these rules. Nicholas Lardy, a trade expert, told The New York Times that the US dropped the ball when negotiating the deal back in 2001 as they didnt think China was very important. US trade negotiators didnt anticipate Chinas ambition back then. However, these days, China has been doubling down on indigenous innovation and aims to be the worlds technology powerhouse by 2020. Back in 2010, McKinsey & Company suggested that companies safeguard their intellectual property by bringing only older technology to China. But its becoming harder to go that route, as local players in China become more competitive and as Chinese consumers grow to expect up-to-date technology. China may also have a growing interest of its own in protecting intellectual property in the country. Last year, Chinese telecom giants ZTE and Huawei filed the most patents in the world. The World Intellectual Property Organization projects that within two years, China will overtake the US as the largest international patent filer. It is in Chinas long-term economic interest to improve protection of IP in China, so this will eventually happen irrespective of any possible Section 301 or WTO actions by the US, Stephen Creskoff, an international trade consultant, told Yahoo Finance. Krystal Hu is a reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter Read more: Alibaba wants to be more than the Amazon of China One Quote from Jack Ma sums up a huge shift in Chinas economy Why Uber had to abandon 2 big international markets Russia and China Raf Simons is behind the $200 duct tape now for sale. (Photo Illustration: Getty Images/Quinn Lemmers for Yahoo Style) When Belgian designer Raf Simons sent models down the runway during his labels Fall-Winter 2017 menswear show, critics fawned over it, focusing at times on the use of an unlikely home object: duct tape. And someone on the Simons team decided it was an opportunity not to be wasted, as the duct tape just became available for purchase, for roughly $200. Its perhaps not all that surprising since, as is typical, commentary attempted to assign larger meaning to, well, duct tape, after the February show. Vogue editor Luke Leitch said the duct tape was absolutely the standout detail, before connecting the dots between Donald Trumps America vis-a-vis Raf Simonss collection and the DIY subversion of British punk under Margaret Thatcher. Dazed said the collections details seemed to hint at the notion of security and protection. (Yahoo Style has reached out to Raf Simonss team for a firsthand explanation and will update as we hear.) Scoff if you will; it is duct tape, after all. Still, consumers whether earnestly or in jest decided then that they had to have Raf duct tape. can i wrap my coat in duct tape and pretend im wearin raf simons juck (@JShanks123) February 2, 2017 I, for one, would buy Raf Simons duct tape. Jian DeLeon (@jiandeleon) February 2, 2017 The brand takes a cue from other buzzy design houses that have marketed kitsch-cum-commodity: Balenciaga sold Ikea look-alike tote bags for $2,145 and, at a more accessible price point, coffee mugs, sleep masks, and travel pillows with a Bernie Sanders-inspired logo. See also: Moschino cardboard couture, lowercase c, courtesy of one Jeremy Scott. And the idea that fashion literally meets function is not terribly novel. Versace used safety pins in the mid-90s, after all. But theres something particularly shocking about selling $200 duct tape, distinguishable from the average silver roll only by the words walk with me. Story continues If the Raf Simons menswear show was meant in some small way to reflect the current state of American democracy, as Simons suggests to Leitch, then its tone deaf, at best, to sell a cheap material that resourceful, cash-strapped designers might use in their own exercise in fashion democratization. That is, Raf Simons duct tape isnt selling for $200 because its worth that much after factoring in things like cost of production. Its selling for $200 because it can, thanks to Raf-mania evolved from cult status as it permeates a more mainstream fashion consciousness. And so, behold the new class system, measured by whether you can afford $200 tape or create your own knockoff version for $6 keeping in mind that paying $200 for glorified packing material affords you the luxury of owning a designer product you will quite literally destroy and discard after one use. Even those $600 distressed Golden Goose sneakers guilty of poverty appropriation could be worn more than once. Read more from Yahoo Style + Beauty: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day. For Twitter updates, follow @YahooStyle and @YahooBeauty. Alexandra Mondalek is a writer for Yahoo Style + Beauty. Follow her on Twitter @amondalek. 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SPONSOR: The Sponsor of these Sweepstakes is Hearst Communications, Inc., 300 W. 57th Street, New York, NY 10019. You Might Also Like Last week, a prototype of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 surfaced online, and now new details have surfaced regarding the upcoming smartphone. A new rumor has surfaced claiming the Mi Mix 2 will arrive in two variants on Sept. 12. The information of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 release date was first reported by the Chinese website My Drivers. The Sept. 12 release date is earlier than expected because the original Mi Mix launched last October in China, but was only made available to purchase in November. The reason for the early release wasnt given, but it could be Xiaomis way of stealing some of the Apple iPhone 8s thunder. Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 8 in the same month. If this new rumor is true, Xiaomi is positioning the release of the Mi Mix 2 quite strategically. The Sept. 12 release date will be just a few days after IFA Berlin 2017, and possibly just a few days before Apples iPhone 8 event in California. It may seem a bit farfetched for Xiaomi to release the Mi Mix 2 this early, but the company did cut the price of the original Mi Mix recently, as pointed out by GizBot. The report claims the Mi Mix 2 will arrive in two models. The first will feature 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, while the other will have 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. That may sound a bit ridiculous, but large memory and storage is sought after in Chinese markets. The 6GB RAM variant is said to cost 3,999 Yuan (around US$599), while the 8GB RAM variant will cost 4,999 (around US$749). The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 is also said to carry the codename Chiron, and features a 6-inch display supplied by Japan Display Inc. Mi Mix 2 Photo: Slash Gear/Weibo The Mi Mix 2 is once again rumored to arrive with Qualcomms Snapdragon 835 processor, the same chipset thats on the Galaxy S8 and the OnePlus 5. There was also mention of a 3,400mAh battery and a 12-megapixel Sony IMX386 sensor for the rear-facing camera. The inclusion of a Sony camera sensor might mean better camera performance since the original Mi Mix only had a 16-megapixel OmniVision OV16880 sensor. Story continues The report also claims that the Mi Mix 2 will have a front-facing camera equipped with a 5-megapixel OmniVision OV5675 sensor. The mention of the front-facing camera is also significant since the leaked render of the Mi Mix 2 prototype suggests that there wouldnt be any room for it. Its being speculated that the front-facing camera may have simply been placed beneath the display itself, but theres no confirmation of that yet. There was no specific mention of what materials are going to be used for the Mi Mix 2, but its likely that it will still have the same ceramic and metal design from the original Mi Mix, as pointed out by Android Headlines. Android Nougat is expected to be installed, along with Xiaomis MIUI 9 OS running on top. Xiaomi Photo: REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon Related Articles Israel will soon become a major exporter of medical cannabis and be one of the only nations in the world to officially export the plant to countries that approved it for medicinal use, all the while marijuana remains an illegal, controlled substance in Israel. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter According to estimates, revenues from the export of Israeli cannabis could reach about NIS 1 billion a year. A government committee appointed to examine the issue by Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon and Health Minister Yaakov Litzman has recently recommended to approve the export of medical cannabis. Medical cannabis (Photo: Shutterstock) Ministers Kahlon and Lizman made it clear in advance they intend to adopt the recommendations of the committee, which was headed by Finance Ministry Director-General Shai Babad and Health Ministry Director-General Moshe Bar Siman Tov. Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan, meanwhile, said Tuesday he is against exporting cannabis from Israel. In a letter to Kahlon and Litzman, Erdan wrote he was "surprised" to see reports of the inter-ministerial committee's recommendation to allow exports under government supervision. He expressedreservations about the economic gain from the cannabis market and asserted it does not justify "the damages that could be caused by Israel waving the flag of cannabis export." Erdan also noted the timetables proposed by the Ministries of Finance and Health are unrealistic in regards to police preparations to issue export permits, adding "there is a great problem in promoting exports, certainly at this time, before examining the implications and finalizing the regulation of medical cannabis in Israel." Yaakov Litzman (L) and Moshe Kahlon (Photo: Gil Yohanan, Alex Kolomoisky) He then insisted the police will have to significantly increase its drug enforcement activities, including expanding the inspection system for workers and owners of cannabis greenhouses, increasing enforcement systems for local and international supervision, developing means for remote detection of illegal greenhouses, supervising the burning of confiscated cannabis, secured transportation to laboratories throughout the country, and an increase in the legal system's allotments for attorneys in drug cases. He went on to argue it would be "irresponsible, unprofessional and unwise" to do so as long as the regulations are not finalized for growing the plant in a more limited capacity for the immediate needs of patients in Israel. Erdan claimed promoting the export of cannabis abroad requires more strict and meticulous regulation. He noted that an examination of the cannabis markets in the Netherlands, Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy and France shows most countries do not export medical cannabis, and those that do, do so under government supervision. "As long as Israel wants to break through and lead in the field of medical cannabis export, it must first prove to itself and to the world it is making every effort to crack down on illegal use of cannabis and to disseminate information to the public about the dangers of the drug," Erdan concluded. Legal advisor to the Ministry of Public Security, Yoel Hadar, also wrote that expanding the cannabis market beyond domestic consumption will lead to the drug also making its way into the black market, which will help organized criminal groups take control of the cannabis market and reach young people and teenagers. Another point the ministry made is that "there is concern patients who require cannabis for medicinal purposes will be affected because of the preference for exporting cannabis abroad over local supplies. At the same time, there is also concern the quality of local produce marketed in Israel will suffer compared with that directed abroad." Gilad Erdan (L) and Shai Babad (Photo: Yossi Zeliger, Motti Kimchi) However, Finance Ministry Director-General Babad claimed Israel is already one of the most advanced countries in the world in the field of research and development of medical cannabis. "There is already a market operating in the country (for medical cannabis) and more than 30,000 patients consume it," Babad said in an interview with Ynet. "The committee recommended the export of medical cannabis that was approved by the Ministry of Health, and there are quite a few countries that have already contacted us." Is it possible for an Israeli living in, for example, Los Angeles to receive the drug faster than one living in Israel, who even has difficulty obtaining a permit? "Regulation of medical cannabis in Israel is something new that began last year following government decisions on the issue. There are already more than 70 licensed physicians and, in time, more doctors will join, and I suppose (obtaining a permit) will be easier. "Our concern is of leaks of medical products into non-medical markets, and that greenhouses that grow the medical products will not meet the high standards required. We will demand the highest standards in order to reach a high-quality medical product that we will allow to export." Photo: Elad Gershgoren The special inter-ministerial team was established by virtue of a government decision in June 2016. In addition to the director-generals of the Ministries of Finance and Health, the committee included representatives from the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, Public Security, Justice and Economy. The committee examined the economic, legal and regulatory aspects of exporting medical cannabis and concluded there is nothing to prevent Israel from being one of the only countries in the world where cannabis can not only be grown for medicinal purposes, but also permitted by law to be exported to other countries. The committee's position is that there is significant economic potential for cannabis export to the international market, and Israel has many advantages for export, including the most advanced R&D in the field, clinical experience and a hospitable climate that can be exploited by farmers, researchers and entrepreneurs to produce Israeli medical cannabis products. "The export of quality medical-standard products entails the possibility of establishing a global standard on the matter, ensuring the safety and effectiveness of its use, and increasing the ability to control and monitor the cannabis products that will be exported," the committee noted. Therefore, the committee recommended the government to allow the export of cannabis products from local growers who will meet the quality standards set by it for growth, production, storage, distribution and supply chain security. The team also recommended that the government allows exports by the growers themselves, under the strict supervision of the state, as is the practice in the export of controlled narcotics such as painkillers. The team determined that anyone who meets all the requirements can obtain a license to grow, manufacture, store and/or distribute medical cannabis, even in large quantities. This could make cannabis exports one of Israel's leading export industries within a few years, including smoking products, oils, tablets and evaporation-based products. Israeli cannabis medical products (Photo: Dima Haver) The team thoroughly examined the export potential of medical cannabis and reviewed the situation in other Western countries. In addition, representatives of the Israel Police and the Anti-Drug Authority, as well as commercial companies, licensed cannabis growers, and entrepreneurs interested in growing cannabis, appeared before the committee to discuss the export potential of medical cannabis and the benefits it could bring to the economy. In recent years, medical cannabis use has increased in many countries around the world, including Israel. At the same time, there has been progress in scientific research in the field leading to the clinical establishment of the cannabis plant as one containing compounds with medicinal effects beneficial to a variety of symptoms and diseases. Israel currently has eight licensed growers in various areas, from the Aravah region in the south to Israel's north. To date, more than 500 entrepreneurs have submitted applications for growing cannabis, which are currently being examined. Since the price of medical cannabis worldwide is estimated at about $10 per gram, the value of exports from Israel today at world prices stands at NIS 600 million a year. As more growers enter the market, a senior source told Yedioth Ahronoth that within a year or two the value of exports is expected to reach NIS 1 billion. There is already a keen interest today from many countries to import medical cannabis from Israel. Australia, Germany, Denmark, the Czech Republic and Cyprus have already applied for it. The market size of medical cannabis just in the countries that expressed interest in importing medical cannabis from Israel is between NIS 1 and 4 billion a year. The committee stated that "In view of the general trend in the industry, it is expected that additional countries will potentially be interested in Israeli exports." The committee determined the Israel Police and the Ministry of Health must preparewithin a maximum of three months from the date of the committee's recommendations adopted by the governmentfor the export of medical cannabis from Israel. Iran could abandon its nuclear agreement with world powers "within hours" if the United States imposes any more new sanctions, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter "If America wants to go back to the experience (of imposing sanctions), Iran would certainly return in a short timenot a week or a month but within hoursto conditions more advanced than before the start of negotiations," Rouhani told a session of parliament broadcast live on state television. Iran's President Hassan Rouhani (Photo: AFP) Iran says new sanctions that the United States has imposed on it breach the agreement it reached in 2015 with the United States, Russia, China and three European powers in which it agreed to curb its nuclear work in return for the lifting of most sanctions. The US Treasury imposed sanctions on six Iranian firms in late July for their role in the development of a ballistic missile program after Tehran launched a rocket capable of putting a satellite into orbit. In early August, US President Donald Trump signed into law new sanctions on Iran, Russia and North Korea passed by the US Congress. The sanctions in that bill also target Iran's missile programs as well as human rights abuses. The United States imposed unilateral sanctions after saying Iran's ballistic missile tests violated a UN resolution, which endorsed the nuclear deal and called upon Tehran not to undertake activities related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, including launches using such technology. It stopped short of explicitly barring such activity. Iran denies its missile development breaches the resolution, saying its missiles are not designed to carry nuclear weapons. "The world has clearly seen that under Trump, America has ignored international agreements and, in addition to undermining the (nuclear deal), has broken its word on the Paris agreement and the Cuba accord...and that the United States is not a good partner or a reliable negotiator," Rouhani said. Trump said last week he did not believe that Iran was living up to the spirit of the nuclear deal Switzerland's tourism office on Tuesday decried an "unfortunate" incident in which a small Alpine hotel posted a sign asking "Jewish guests" to shower before swimming in the hotel pool. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The Simon Wiesenthal Center demanded the closure of the Paradies Arosa hotel in the eastern town of Arosa, and issued a statement on Tuesday calling on "the broader Jewish community and their Gentile friends to blacklist this horrific hotel." On Twitter, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely called for "justice" against the hotel's management. Officials said the hotel had apologized for the incident and taken the sign down. Swiss Tourism spokesman Markus Berger called the sign unacceptable, adding: "It always needs to stay in perspective: This is one unfortunate incident." Under "To our Jewish Guests," the sign read: "Please take a shower before you go swimming. If you break the rules, I am forced to cloes (sic) the swimming pool for you. Thank you for your understanding." Tzipi Livni, a former Israeli foreign minister, posted an image of the sign on her Facebook page and wrote that "there can be no tolerance and no indifference" to anti-Semitism and racism, in comments that also alluded also to violence around a white supremacist rally in Virginia in the United States. We "must not let there be a place in the free world for Nazi flags or Ku Klux Klan masks or ugly signs in hotels directed at Jews only," she wrote. "We cannot allow acts of hate against Jews around the world to become normal." Hotel management did not immediately respond to an e-mail from The Associated Press seeking comment. Berger cited a recent trend of Orthodox and other Jews traveling to four Alpine villages in the area in the summertime, including Davos. He said didn't know the origin of the trend, but that numbers "definitely in the thousands" have grown in recent years. He said many area hotels serve kosher food, and that Jewish guests "feel well-treated" there. "It's just this one lady at this one hotel who was not on top of the situation," Berger said. "It's an isolated incident that doesn't need for greater action to be taken." Switzerland's foreign ministry, responding to a request for comment from The Associated Press, said that it has been in touch with the Israeli ambassador and "outlined to him that Switzerland condemns racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination in any form. Switzerland has been strongly committed for yearsas it is at the moment, for example, within its presidency for the International Holocaust Remembrance Allianceto raise awareness to the dangers of racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination." Italys Ambassador to Egypt will be returning to Cairo more than a year after being recalled for consultations in protest to the murder of Italian citizen Guilio Regeni, 28. Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano said sending an Ambassador to Cairo does not have an impact on Romes commitment to clarify the tragic disappearance, but the victims family criticized the move as trampling on our dignity without finding those behind the murder. Alfano argued that sending an authoritative liaison (ambassador) will help, through contacts with Egyptian authorities, reinforced judicial cooperation and as a consequence the search for truth. Magistrates in Rome and Cairo have met a half-dozen times over the past year without making any charge. A video footage of a CCTV near the metro station where Regeni lived has been recently recovered and it is expected to boost investigations. Romes chief prosecutor Giuseppe Pignatone said they have agreed with their Egyptian colleagues that the investigative activity and collaboration will continue until the truth about all of the circumstances that led to the kidnapping and death of Giulio Regeni is discovered. The new Ambassador Giampaolo Cantini will present a letter to Cairo stressing Romes determination to discover the truth. It is unclear when he will depart for his post. After disappearing in January, Guilos corpse was found in a ditch on the outskirts of the Egyptian capital on February 3 with signs of torture. Italy recalled its ambassador in April 2016 as it sought to obtain evidence from Egypt to solve the murder. An Italian autopsy showed that his body was covered with cuts and his bones were broken, indicating he had been hit with fists, batons and hammers. Regeni disappeared on a day Cairo police were on a tense watch for protests on the fifth anniversary of the 2011 popular uprising. A crowdfunding campaign raised over NIS 1 million for police officer Tzipi Yaakobiyan, who was paralyzed as a result of a terror attack at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem a year ago. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Yaakobiyan was working as a police officer at the Shalem police station in east Jerusalem. As she was making her way to work with a colleague one morning, terrorist Ayman al-Kurd attacked her and stabbed her in the neck. Yaakobiyan spent several weeks in the hospital in serious condition in a medically induced coma. Upon recovering, she began the long and difficult rehabilitation process. She recently described the operations she had to undergo and the ramifications of the injury when testifying against her attacker. "I have no feeling in my legs, my back, and my chest. My hands are very weak," she said. Tzipi Yaakobiyan (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky) Tzipi is wheelchair-bound and requires constant care and an accessible home with the proper facilities. Her home also has to be close to Hadassah Medical Center and the Jerusalem center for disabled veterans. The few apartments that might be able to meet her needs cost about NIS 1 million more than the family can afford, even with the aid from the Defense Ministry. When Uri Shechter, who heads the Shoreshim Department at the Tzohar organization, heard about Tzipi's story, he launched a campaign to raise the needed money. The campaign surpassed the NIS 1 million goal on Tuesday. Tzipi Yaakobiyan (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky) "This morning, one of the employees at the hospital came to see me, all smiling and happy, and showed me that we surpassed NIS 1 million. It's impossible to describe how I feel. We didn't believe we'd get there," Yaakobiyan said. "When we started the campaign, we knew our goal was high, we didn't expect to reach it because it seemed impossible. I'm really excited to learn we reached it." She thanked all of those who "donated, promoted and supported (the campaign) along the way. Without knowing me and only hearing my story, they chose to give their supportthis isn't something I take for granted. Thank you." The campaign has a little over 24 hours left to go. "Every shekel that adds up is a shekel that will help us: in mortgage payments, in expensesand there are a lot of expenses. We'll be happy with any help we get," she said. Yaakobiyan and her family are now waiting for the Defense Ministry to transfer the funding for them to buy an accessible home, so she could finally leave the hospital. Shechter, who started the campaign, said, "Putting politics aside, we once again discovered we have a wonderful nation that could be counted on. Now all we have left is to wish Tzipi, her husband and children good luck on their new journey. May it be as happy as possible." Jordan is unwilling to allow the return of Israeli Ambassador to Amman unless the Israeli security official, involved in the killing of two Jordanians, is tried in court. Ambassador Einat Schlein and guard Ziv Moyal are both in Israel after the July 23 incident that strained ties between Tel Aviv and Amman. Moyal claimed he was attacked with a screwdriver before he opened fire killing the attacker and a bystander. The head of the Jordanian parliaments Palestine Committee, Yahya al-Saud, is highly critical of the ties that exist between the two countries, describing the relationship like a five star hotel it only benefits the heads of the country and not the average person. Saud said an order was issued banning the Israeli ambassador in the absence of an initial investigation in Israel over the actions of the security guard. Moyal was accorded a heros welcome on his return to Israel by Prime Minister Netanyahu. The welcome was deemed unacceptable and provocative by King Abdullah. Israel has begun investigations into the matter. It was hailed by the Jordanian speaker of parliament as a step in the right direction before adding that justice must be served. Yahya al-Saud, for his part, demanded that Jordan must be involved and kept aware of the proceedings. Spokesman Hassan Kabia of the Israeli Foreign Ministry claimed that there are no issues between Israel and Jordan and that two sides are to meet next week together with the Palestinian Authority to discuss the borders. About the shooting incident at the compound of the Israeli embassy in Amman, he explained that the investigation is ongoing and Jordanian authorities will be informed of the findings in accordance with the law. Saud noted that the return of Ambassador Schlein depends on guarantees of a serious and thorough investigation of the embassy guard and the bringing of him to trial. President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika Tuesday sacked his Prime Minister Abdulmajeed Tabboun less than three months after he appointed him to the position and replaced him by veteran politician Ahmed Ouyahia. Tebbounes sacking was made public through a statement carried out by the state news agency. In line with Article 91 of the Constitution, the president ended the term of Prime Minister Abdul-Majeed Tabboun, the statement said. According to the same constitutional provision, and after consulting the parliamentary majority, the president entrusted Ahmed Ouyahia with the Premiership, it added. Tabboun, who was appointed on May 24, told the media that he remained faithful to the President despite his replacement. Ouyahia, 65, a well-known political figure, is hailed by parties close to the ruling FNL as the right man to work out the countrys lift out of economic hardship. Critics of the president said sacking of Tabboun underlines the instability at the top of the state. They also point out that snap change is a sign of authorities lack of vision to address the economic crisis. The North African country has been facing economic downturn over the sharp collapse of oil revenue over the past few years. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres announced in New York, the appointment of Former German President Horst Kohler as his new Personal Envoy for the Sahara, succeeding to Christopher Ross. Kohler, who boasts over 35-year expereince in the German government and international organizations, was appointed by the new UN Secretary General Antonio Gueterres after receiving the approval of the parties to the conflict: Morocco and the Polisario, which acts upon the orders of its paymaster and host, Algeria. By opting for Kohler, the new UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres upholds the principle of rotation in Sahara personal envoy between the US and Europe. Given his background, Kohler is expected to lead UN mediation in the regional dispute over the Sahara with pragmatism, unlike his predecessor Christopher Ross whose stands reflected connivance with Algeria and a willingness to change the parameters of negotiations. After eight years as UNSG Personal Envoy, Ross left a legacy of failures on the Sahara issue. His term was marred by partial reports and a stagnating negotiation process. Kohler is an economist by profession. Prior to his election as President, he had a distinguished career in politics and the civil service and as a banking executive. He was President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development from 1998 to 2000 and head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 2000 to 2004. From 2012 to 2013, he served on the UN Secretary Generals High-level Panel on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Chicken will be the best-positioned protein due to its low price position in times of pressure on consumer spending power but rises in production costs and the long-term impact of COVID-19 threaten to disrupt the sector, according to Rabobank. Suicide bombers on Tuesday killed at least 27 people and wounded 83 in northeast Nigeria, local media reported. A suspected Boko Haram woman bomber blew herself up and killed 27 others at a market in the village of Konduga near Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. According to the regional Emergency Agency, 45 people were critically injured. The death toll could be as high as 30. Two other suicide bombers also blew themselves up at the gates to a nearby refugee camp. No one was killed but many were injured, according to Reuters. The Nigerian military is still fighting against the terror group, which once controlled large parts of North-Eastern Nigeria and had huge, crowded camps. The United States earlier this month, approved the selling of 12 light attack aircraft to Nigeria to support the countrys fight against the militant group. Several officials from the State Department, the Pentagon and the White House said that the sale of the attack airplanes, valued at $600 million, would help the Nigerian Air Force battle the extremist Boko Haram. Boko Haram, which has allied itself with the Islamic State, has been leading a bloody jihadist insurrection in Nigeria since 2009 that has left at least 20,000 people dead and forced another 2.6 million people from their homes. The Zambian state prosecutor on Wednesday released the countrys opposition leader, Hakainde Hichilema, from jail after the government dropped treason charges against him and five others. The prosecutor, in the early hours of Wednesday filed a nolle prosequi in the case where Hichilema and five others were supposed to stand trial. The defendants had pleaded not guilty to the charges. Once a nolle prosequi is entered, it means that the prosecution team will no longer prosecute a case, though the suspect may be re-arrested in future on the same case. The decision to drop the charges had been reported over the weekend by Reuters, which cited Commonwealth political intervention that saw the Secretary-General of the group, Patricia Scotland, visiting the Southern African nation. Hichilemas party, the United Party for National Development (UPND) confirmed that the leader has been released from prison custody. The UPND leader was arrested in April during a police raid on his home in the capital Lusaka. Hichilema was said to have endangered the life of the president when his motorcade refused to give way to a presidential convoy months back. He was charged along five other persons with three offenses: treason, disobeying lawful orders and using insulting language. The state prosecutor on Wednesday dropped the second charge whiles the magistrate struck out the third citing incoherent and untruthful testimonies. Algerias presidency on Tuesday named former Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia back in the job he has previously held three times, the state news agency APS reported. The move comes hours after the stroke-afflicted president, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, fired the Prime Minister Abdelmadjid Tebboune, who held the position for just three months. The presidency statement gave no reason for the change. Ouyahia, 65, served three terms as prime minister, the first being in the 1990s when Algeria was battling an Islamist insurgency. Most recently he was Bouteflikas chief of staff. He is the leader of the National Rally for Democracy, a party close to the presidency that increased its number of seats in recent parliamentary election. A career diplomat, he also served as Minister of Justice, and is considered by Western observers to be close to the military of Algeria and a member of the eradicator faction in the 1990s civil war against Islamist militants. Ouyahia has been widely credited with mediating a longstanding dispute between protesting leaders from his native Kabylie and the government. The North African OPEC state is in the middle of economic reforms to cope with lower world oil prices. President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, 80, has rarely been seen in public since he suffered a stroke in 2013. Russian energy firm Inter RAO demands $175m from Government of Georgia A Russian energy firm, Inter RAO, has launched a new dispute against the Government of Georgia.As the Russian news agency Commersant reports, Inter RAO structures, the Netherlands-incorporated Silk Road Holding B.V. and Gardabani Holdings B.V is seeking compensation for losses worth $175 million stemming from Georgia's currency devaluation.Inter RAO claims the loss was due to a refusal to raise energy tariffs when the Georgian national currency, the Lari, was devaluated.The company bought Georgias two hydro-power plants, Khrami-1 and Khrami-2, in 2011. Inter RAO also owns a 75 percent stake in the Telasi electricity distribution company, which serves the capital Tbilisi.The Inter RAO structures are registered in the Netherlands and are protected by a Georgia-Netherlands agreement on mutual protection of investments.The new dispute was applied to the World Banks International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.Earlier in June, Inter RAO began arbitration proceedings in Stockholm against Georgia over electricity tariffs. The company demanded to raise the electricity tariffs and claimed compensation of $125 million. MONTICELLO -- Republican candidate for governor Adam Putnam told party activists Tuesday night that the violence by white supremacists in Charlottesville last weekend "is just awful. And it's hate and it's violent and it's dark, and it's got no place in our society and all of us ought to stand up together and say we're just not going to do that. That's not welcome in our society, that type of white supremacy and hatred and just going after each other." The agriculture commissioner spoke at a Reagan Day barbecue to members of Leon and Jefferson county Republican parties. While he condemned the acts of those in Virginia, he stopped well short of calling for the removal of Confederate monuments in Florida and in other southern states. "We need to be learning from that process, not just eradicating it from memory," Putnam told the crowd. "We ought to be focused more on eradicating hate today than eradicating yesteryear's history ... Are we going to have to rename Jefferson County? Are we going to have to rename Washington County? Rename Jackson County? Where does it end?" "No," Putnam said, answering his own question. "That's not the lessons for our kids. The lesson for our kids is you better know your history or you're doomed to repeat it." He said future children should watch video of helpless victims jumping out of the World Trade Center to escape flames during the 9/11 attacks. In the aftermath of Saturday's shocking events in Virginia, when a man rammed through a crowd of counter-demonstrators in his car, killing a woman, Putnam's initial tweet said: "Hate is not welcome in this country and it will not be tolerated." About 150 people endured stifling humidity at the barbecue, where another prospective candidate for governor, House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land O'Lakes, took part in the state GOP giving $7,000 to the Jefferson County Republican Party. Speaking with reporters, Corcoran said it was wrong to criticize President Donald J. Trump's choice of words in his initial reaction to the events, when he criticized violence "on many sides." Said Corcoran: "I think the scrutiny on that is wholly unnecessary ... Focusing on the missing one word in an initial statement when I think it's patently clear from the administration that this was an atrocity, it was evil, and it was evil because of those by name -- neo-Nazis, white supremacists, that they named -- it's all addressed." Corcoran has said he may run for governor, but he won't make a final decision until next March, when the 2018 legislative session is scheduled to end. @PatriciaMazzei Jack Latvala, Floridas newest Republican candidate for governor, struggled Wednesday to fully blame the deadly violence that took place during a Charlottesville rally over the weekend on white supremacists. Latvala formally launched his 2018 bid in Hialeah with a moment of silence for the 32-year-old woman and two state troopers who died in Virginia. But he later declined to lay all responsibility for their deaths on the racist neo-Nazi and Ku Klux Klan groups that staged two days of demonstrations. I wasnt there, Latvala, a state senator from Clearwater, told reporters. I condemn all violence of people that are protesting. If people are peacefully exercising their rights whether they be, you know, white supremacists, or whether they be Black Lives Matter folks you know, they have a right to demonstrate without having a mob attack them. The three dead were innocent, he said. Pressed on whether he was equating neo-Nazis with the Black Lives Matter activists, Latvala added: No, Im not supporting Nazis. Latvala also said he did not see President Donald Trumps extraordinary news conference Tuesday in which the president appeared to put white supremacists and those who protested them on the same moral plane. Ive been focused on what Jack Latvalas doing. I dont know what youre even talking about, he said. I denounced [white supremacists] and all of us Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, all of us that look at these things responsibly denounced it. So, specifically what he said yesterday, I cant comment unless I saw it. Latvalas Charlottesville exchange with reporters came moments after a campaign-launch speech in which he portrayed himself as the straight-talk candidate. More here. Photo credit: Scott Keeler, Tampa Bay Times Michael-in-Norfolk disclaims any and all responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, completeness, legality, reliability, operability, or availability of information or material displayed on this site and does not claim credit for any images or articles featured on this site, unless otherwise noted. All visual content is copyrighted to it's respectful owners. Information on this site may contain errors or inaccuracies, and Michael-in-Norfolk does not make warranty as to the correctness or reliability of the site's content. If you own rights to any of the images or articles, and do not wish them to appear on this site, please contact Michael-in-Norfolk via e-mail and they will be promptly removed. Michael-in-Norfolk contains links to other Internet sites. These links are provided solely as a convenience and are not endorsements of any products or services in such sites, and no information or content in such site has been endorsed or approved by this blog. Jason Williams, the CEO of Blackfoot Telecommunications in Missoula, believes that U.S. laws that protect a free and open internet are outdated, confusing and subject to the whims of the Federal Communications Commission, an agency whose chairman is replaced every time a new president is elected. Eric Fulton, the co-founder and CEO at Treasure State Internet, agrees. As the heads of companies that provide internet services to rural and urban Montanans alike, both want the federal government to find a bipartisan solution to net neutrality. Net neutrality, according to Williams, means having a free and open internet, where companies cant throttle or block their customers access to competitors, or give priority to an ally. On Tuesday, they joined educational technology entrepreneur Alli DePuy for a panel discussion on the topic and urged representatives for both of Montanas U.S. Senators, Steve Daines and Jon Tester, to come up with a way to have predictability and stability for Internet Service Providers, or ISPs, in the future. We can all agree that it's time for Congress to step in and end the uncertainty around net neutrality," Williams said. "The current uncertainty not only creates uncertainty for ISPs and technology companies, but causes confusion for customers, and stifles investment and innovation. We support a bipartisan solution that makes permanent a free and open internet once and for all." Williams and Fulton dont believe the FCC should have all the power to change internet laws. Recently, the FCCs new Republican chairman Ajit Pai has proposed repealing the strict net neutrality rules put in place by his Democratic predecessor Tom Wheeler. Politics arent my bag, but the arguments against net neutrality is it increases regulations on private businesses. But that argument is an outright farce because the existing oligarchy is just trying to prevent additional regulation that creates a more level playing field, Fulton explained. Fulton said many large companies are using loopholes to erode a free and open internet. For example, Google was fined $2.7 billion by European Union antitrust regulators for manipulating search results to favor its own advertisers this past June. "As a company, we support modernizing regulations that will encourage companies to invest in broadband infrastructure in states like Montana," Fulton said. "From a personal standpoint, I also believe that net neutrality supports entrepreneurship and more competition in society, which ultimately benefits consumers." DePuy, who co-owns an interactive distance learning company called Inspired Classroom in Missoula, said Congress should put the interests of the people in front of large corporations. "Net neutrality has virtually ubiquitous support from the likes of consumers, students, service providers, and many prominent companies," DePuy said. "There must be a way to find common ground and establish permanent rules for an open internet that offers net neutrality protections." The event was moderated by the Missoula Economic Partnerships economic development director Jenni Graff, who said that technology is a huge part of Montanas economy. The tech sector was responsible for $1 billion in revenue in Montana last year, and the majority of new growth in the industry was from firms with between one and six employees. The tech sector is booming in Montana, and fair and equal internet access is important to all of us, Graff said. Over the objection of a county prosecutor, District Court Judge Karen Townsend on Tuesday released a 19-year-old who had just pleaded guilty to raping multiple teenage girls and exploiting others for nude photos. Justin Robert Weider's release is in effect until he is sentenced in October. Every other time Wieder has been out of jail since being charged with his first set of felonies in June 2016, he has been rearrested for either contacting his victims or raping them again. On Monday, he pleaded guilty to two felony counts of sexual intercourse without consent Montanas law for rape and another felony for sexual abuse of children as part of a plea agreement to resolve all of his outstanding Missoula criminal cases. The agreement calls for a 20-year sentence to the Department of Corrections with 15 of those years suspended. You understand that even though [the victim] may have agreed to this, because of her age this is sexual intercourse without consent, Townsend said when Wieder entered a guilty plea to one of his rape charges. Wieder was charged with raping a 15-year-old girl in June last year. Before Tuesday, he had been let out by the judge or posted bail and was released three times, each time being rearrested for either violating release conditions by contacting the girls or for having additional charges leveled against him. Most recently he was arrested in late July for a new felony charge that included allegations he recorded sexual contact between himself and one of the girls. Following his most recent arrest, two other Missoula judges had set "stacking" bails that totaled $400,000 to hold Wieder. After Wieder entered his pleas Tuesday, his attorney asked Townsend to release him until the Oct. 10 sentencing hearing. Wieders father, who lives in Augusta, told Townsend he would watch his son to make sure he didn't violate his release conditions and would drive him back and hand him over if he did. Over objections from prosecutor Jennifer Clark and a crime victim advocate who said the girls do not want Wieder out in the community, Townsend chose to release him until sentencing. This is the second time Townsend has released Wieder to live with his father in Augusta. The previous time, Wieder left, came back to Missoula and was arrested again after contacting his victims. The enemy no more, 93-year-old Marvin Strombo of Missoula cut a dashing and humble figure Monday night in the faraway mountain village of Higashishirakawa, Japan. It was Tuesday morning there, Aug. 15, the 72nd anniversary of Japans surrender to end World War II. More to the point, it was the peak of the four-day Obon holiday, the Japanese summer festival of welcoming back the spirits of ancestors and returning to ones family roots. Strombo, who grew up in the even smaller village of Dixon on the Flathead Indian Reservation, was feted in a ceremony at which he handed a special good-luck flag to the brother of one of the towns lost sons who died on the tiny island of Saipan in July 1944. I can almost smell my brothers skin from the flag, so we know that you have kept it well for so long, said 89-year-old Tatsuya Yasue during the moving hourlong ceremony that was also attended by one of his two surviving sisters. The Obon Society, which tracked down Yasue Sadaos family after Strombo sent it to its Oregon office in March, live streamed the returning ceremony and archived it on its Facebook page, www.facebook.com/OBONSOCIETY. Strombo, dressed in a dark-blue suit and tie and at times wearing a blue Marine cap, was flanked by his daughters Brenda of Portland and Sandra Williamson of Missoula, as well as granddaughter Emily Williamson. The first U.S. veteran to return a flag in person to Japan through the Obon Society, Strombo spoke quietly but eloquently, pausing at intervals for an interpreter to relay his message to the crowd. A battery of photographers snapped and filmed the proceedings, which were reported in Stars and Stripes, on CBS and ABC evening news, National Public Radio and a number of major U.S. and Japanese newspaper sites. Strombo told of the day his five-man squad from the 6th Marine Regiment of the Second Marine Division crept behind enemy lines to the city of Garapan, capital of the Northern Mariana Islands. He came across the body of the Japanese officer whose identity he learned only a few months ago. Strombo claimed as souvenirs of war the young mans saber and the folded flag with the red rising sun that bore the signatures of some 180 friends, family and neighbors. It was almost like he was asleep. There was no wound, no shrapnel wounds. Thats the way I found him, Strombo said from a podium in a large hall. I knew the only way I could take the flag was I made a promise to your brother that I would return it and you (the family) would get it back. And I felt better with that. The saber was stolen from his home in Missoula decades ago. But Strombo kept the flag in safekeeping for more than 70 years, always wondering who it belonged to, even as Yasues family wondered how their brother had died. Strombo got the break he needed when his quest was publicized in the Missoulian last fall. With the help of author Joseph Tachovsky of Wisconsin, who is writing a book about the Forty Thieves platoon his father commanded and that Strombo served in, and assistant professor Robert Tuck of the University of Montana, the flag was sent to the Obon Society and its co-founders Rex and Keiko Ziak. Tachovsky and the Ziaks accompanied Strombo and his family to Japan. Tatsuya Yasue had requested the returning ceremony be delayed until August so he could plant his rice and harvest his tea. His older sister, Sayoko Furuta, 93, sat in a wheelchair with the flag on her lap as Yasue recounted the last time he saw his big brother. The day before he left Japan, the unit my brother belonged to gave us the permission to meet him, Yasue said through the interpreter. It was in another town in Gifu Prefecture, and Yasue talked about sitting with two older siblings on the grass and visiting with their war-bound brother. It was such a short time that we were able to talk with our brother, he recalled. We had only five minutes left until we had to say goodbye, and our brother whispered to us saying, It seems that they are sending me off to a remote island in the south ocean. He said, I will probably not come back alive, so please take care of our parents well. Those were the last words that we heard from our brother. In an interview before the ceremony at his 400-year-old house with Mari Yamiguchi of the Associated Press, Yasue said the return of the flag brings closure. Its like the war has finally ended and my brother can come out of limbo, he said. The Facebook video captured Yasue as he pointed to a photo of his brother among many fallen warriors that lined a wall. A very handsome man, Strombo remarked. Do you recognize the face? he was asked. I remember seeing the profile is all, he answered. Now you can finally return the flag and feel relieved, but dont feel too relieved, Yasue joked later. We want you to stay strong and well. I feel," he added, "as if Im talking to you on behalf of my brother. Furuta, his older sister, wept silently when he draped the flag on her lap. Strombo gently rubbed her shoulder. Im so glad to meet your family after 73 years, Strombo said when he walked with a cane to the podium. I had such a moment with your brother 73 years ago, and I promised him at that time I would return the flag someday to the family. It took a long time but with the Obon Society and Keiko and Rex and other people, it finally came to pass. To the Ziaks, the trip to Japan that ends Thursday with a press conference in Tokyo has been a resounding success. "The bottom line is Marvin survived the travels very well, we arrived in the village in perfect time and he met the brother and sisters, returned the flag and left there feeling wonderful," Rex Ziak said in an email Tuesday afternoon. "He is surrounded by family and the Japanese treated him with upmost respect." The line for the Back to School Bash stretched two city blocks as families waited to get free school supplies, haircuts and fluoride rinses for their children Tuesday. For the third year running, different charitable organizations in Missoula partnered to provide 1,200 children with backpacks filled with school supplies, said Erin Steele, director of development and marketing for United Way of Missoula. United Way partnered with the Salvation Army this year, using the Salvation Army building on Russell to house the event. Families received popcorn and cotton candy as they waited in line, and the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church provided outdoor activities for the kids, and free dinner. As part of the event, St. Patrick Hospital donated 30 bike helmets. Seven stylists from Boom Swagger Salon offered free haircuts. Holy Spirit Episcopal Church collected books from seven different congregations for distribution, and dental hygienist Liz Rolle with Partnership Health Center provided free fluoride rinses. Alone, these different organizations might have helped a few families here and there, but by partnering they could make a greater impact, Steele said. Plus, when people donate to a group event the organizations can make the money go farther, getting bulk prices rather than families going and buying everything individually, Steele said. By working together we can help hundreds of families, Steele said families like that of Cassy Broxterman, a single parent with five children, who said it was her second year getting supplies through the Bash. She found out about it through fliers at the food bank and said it was a huge help. Just for the supplies, its about $50 per kid and that doesnt include the backpack, Broxterman said. Schools nowadays require so much. In Western states, shoppers are expected to spend about $455 per child on schools supplies, according to a survey by The Deloitte Center for Industry Insights. The back-to-school shopping is the second biggest shopping season and Americans are expected to spend about $27 billion total from July through September on supplies, new clothes, computers and other electronics kids need for school, according to the center. Parents shouldnt have to choose between replacing a backpack with a broken zipper and dinner for their family, Steele said. Children should look good and feel confident on their first day of school, said Mario Llantin, a stylist at Boom Swagger. Llantin volunteered at the event last year, but rallied more stylists to the cause this year so the children didnt have to wait as long. Cheyenne Deehm, 9, sat in one of the stylists chairs as her mom explained about Deehms layers and how her bangs should look. Deehm is going into fourth grade and her favorite subject in school is science. I like how all the different chemicals interact, she said. Like when you put baking soda and vinegar together, it blows up. Deehm wants to be a scientist when she gets older, she said. School can already create a lot of anxiety, said Josh Boyd, corps officer with the Salvation Army. The Bash puts all the kids on a level playing field. Donald Trump has a major empathy problem. That's not new -- but it is very, very important both to understand his reaction to Charlottesville as well as his presidency going forward. Way back in May 2016, I wrote this: "As the nation turns its eyes to the general election, I have one question that continues to nag at me as I think about the possibility of Trump in the White House: Can he be empathetic? Like, at all? And does he need to be?" Watching Trump fumble his initial response to the violence following white supremacist protests in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday, I was reminded of that question. Trump ran as an unapologetic tough guy. But, what happens when you need a softer touch -- in moments like the one that transpired in Charlottesville over the weekend? "Ultimately, I think a lack of empathy is just one piece of a portrait of a person who is unbalanced and damaged," Stuart Stevens, a Republican consultant who has long vocally opposed Trump, told me of Trump at the time. "He has spent his life in a bubble, surrounded by hired yes men and women who have never told his inner child to grow up." That may be an overly-harsh analysis. But, it's hard to dispute Stevens' assertion that Trump's capacity for empathy is extremely low and, when he is required to reach out to people who he doesn't know or who don't support him, he is extremely uncomfortable and often simply unwilling to do it. Trump's two Charlottesville speeches are prime evidence. In his Saturday remarks, Trump seemed to be entirely focused on ensuring that people didn't blame him for these violent acts and making clear that protesters "on many sides" were responsible for what happened. On Monday, Trump, defying all political logic, started by touting his many accomplishments as president before turning to denounce the neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups responsible for the violence -- which left a woman dead and dozens injured -- in Charlottesvile. Particularly in Monday's speech, it was clear that Trump was checking a box that his advisers insisted he needed to check after swinging and missing so badly Saturday. They told him to read the speech, so he did. But, he quite clearly didn't feel as though it was necessary to do so. Ask people close to Trump and they will insist he is a kind and understanding person. "He is a compassionate person," said ousted White House communications director -- and longtime Trump pal -- Anthony Scaramucci in an interview with Stephen Colbert on Monday. (See! Told you!) And, there is little question that Trump is extremely close and fiercely loyal to his family and a very small inner circle of friends. But that is a very different thing than being empathetic about the struggles of people you've never met or who you know didn't vote for you or don't like you. For Trump, being president has always been about kicking ass and reasserting America's spot at the front of the line. It's sort of like this moment at a NATO summit at the end of May: And, it worked for him during the campaign! People -- especially Republicans -- were sick of politics as usual. The color-within-the-lines politicians hadn't done much of anything they liked so they were willing to take a chance on someone who didn't sound or act like anyone who had ever run for president before. The 2016 exit poll bears this out. Of the 15% of voters who said knowing the candidate "cares about me" was the most important trait in making up their mind who to vote for, Hillary Clinton beat Trump by 23 points. Among the 39% of the electorate who said a candidate who "can bring change" was most important, Trump won by 68(!) points. People didn't think Trump really cared much about them. But they wanted change more than they cared about being cared about. The problem for Trump -- as so starkly exposed by his response(s) to Charlottesville -- is that being president is a very different thing than running for office. Where a lack of empathy doesn't stand out all that much as a candidate -- there is a president in place doing that empathizer-in-chief job -- it stands out hugely when you are actually the President and the country turns to you for unity and inspiration. And when you deliver a speech in which you cast an incident of white supremacist violence that left a woman dead as a both-sides-do-it situation, you lose credibility even with people who want to believe you have it in you to be more and better than you were as a candidate. Empathy is not usually the sort of thing you can just start having. And it's not something that Trump even seems terribly concerned that he lacks. But, as president, empathy matters. There will be more moments over these next three and a half years where Trump will be called on to recognize and identify with the real grief people are feeling while also reassuring them that better days will come. After what happened over the last 96 hours in Charlottesville, it's not clear Trump has it in him to do that. CNN's Polo Sandoval reported from New York, and Dalila-Johari Paul wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Amanda Jackson, Shachar Peled, Steve Brusk, Laura Ly and Sonia Moghe contributed to this report. Pacific halibut is an excellent eating fish. Right now its making its way to us from Alaska fisheries where populations are carefully managed. Halibut grow slowly and do not reproduce until theyre about 8 years old. It is illegal to harvest these smaller fish that are under 3 feet long. Adult halibut can be huge, some tipping the scales at over 400 pounds. How did halibut get its name? The Merriam-Webster dictionary says that the most popular fish for the holy days was the largest variety of flatfish, or butte. In Middle English, this particular fish came to be called halybutte, meaning literally holy flatfish, from haly, a form of holy, and butte. In modern English the spelling has been changed to halibut. So now you know. Because halibuts texture is compact its a very lean fish it holds up well no matter how you cook it. Whether you braise, fry, or bake it, you will be well rewarded. But Ive not had luck smoking halibut because it is quite low in fat. Halibuts bones and skin and flesh trimmings make an excellent stock. Simply simmer them for about 30 minutes in water, a little dry white wine, some cut onion, carrot, and a few parsley stems. Strain, and its ready to use. One of my favorite ways of cooking halibut is to marinate boneless and skinless filets in extra-virgin olive oil and lemon juice for about 2 to 4 hours. This step partially cooks the fish and the fishs surface turns white in spots. Then I dip the fish into beaten egg, and coat the filets in fresh breadcrumbs ground together with fresh basil and parsley. After putting the fish on a baking dish, I drizzle some of the marinade on top and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the halibut is cooked through. A perfect side to serve with the halibut is Peperonata, an Italian dish of braised multicolor peppers, onion, and a few anchovies. Get this dish going while the fish is marinating. The aromas may drive you wild. Herb Crusted Halibut You can marinate and coat the halibut hours or even a day before serving. Just refrigerate. When ready to cook, let them wait at room temperature as the oven preheats. For the fresh breadcrumbs, use a firm-textured bread, preferably a day old, crusts removed. Cut the bread into chunks about 1-inch in size and either use a food processor or blender to turn them into coarse/fine crumbs. Ingredients 4 skinless halibut fillets, each 6 to 8 ounces and at least 1-inch-thick cup extra-virgin olive oil cup freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 teaspoon salt teaspoon black pepper 3 cups fresh breadcrumbs cup loosely packed basil leaves cup loosely packed flat-leaf parsley leaves 1 tablespoon fresh lemon thyme leaves or fresh oregano or marjoram 1 large egg Directions 1. Check the fish for any renegade bones and remove them with tweezers. Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a glass or ceramic dish and add the halibut. Marinate in the refrigerator for 2 to 4 hours, turning the fillets occasionally. 2. While the fish is marinating, prepare the herbed crumbs. In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, process the breadcrumbs and herbs for about 30 seconds until herbs and crumbs are fine. Transfer to a large sheet of wax paper. (Now is also a good time to get the Peperonata going). 3. Beat the egg in a pie plate with a fork to combine the yolk and white well. One piece at a time, lift a halibut fillet out of the marinade, let any clinging marinade drip off, and put the fish into the egg. Repeat with the remaining halibut. Roll fillets around to coat with the egg. One at a time, lift fish out of the egg, let drain a few seconds and transfer to crumbs. Coat the fish with the crumbs, pressing them firmly onto the halibut. Once all the fish is coated, if not cooking within a half hour or so, wrap each tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to one day. 4. To bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees with a rack in the center position. Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet and arrange fish slightly apart on the pan. Drizzle 1 to 2 tablespoons marinade over each fillet. Bake 15 to 20 minutes, until sides of fillets feel springy, not firm or mushy, when pressed gently. An instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of a fillet should register about 140 degrees. Dont overbake. 5. Serve immediately with the peperonata. Makes 4 servings. Peperonata This classic Italian dish calls for a combination of colored sweet peppers. Ive found 1-pound bags of organic red, yellow, and orange peppers in supermarkets. If not available, use one large green, red, and yellow pepper. Or use peppers of one color if you prefer. Cut the peppers into wedges and remove membranes and seeds. Start the peperonata while the fish marinates. It will keep in the refrigerator for 3 or 4 days and may be reheated. Ingredients 1 pound small colored sweet peppers (or see suggestions above) 1 large yellow onion, peeled, cut in half, and sliced thinly crosswise Extra-virgin olive oil 3 or 4 anchovy fillets, packed in oil, drained (optional) 3 or 4 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped Salt and pepper Directions Prep the peppers and onion. Pour 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil into a large saucepan, about 4 quarts, and set it over medium heat. When hot, add the optional anchovies and cook 1 to 2 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon, until fish practically dissolves. Add the onions, stir well, and cover the pan. Cook about 10 minutes, until onions are translucent. Add the peppers, stir well, and cook, uncovered, until peppers have cooked down considerably, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the garlic, salt and pepper to taste, cover the pan, and reduce the temperature to low. Cook, stirring occasionally, until peppers are tender and seasonings are balanced. The aroma of this dish, especially with the anchovies, is quite wonderful. If there is too much liquid in the pan, raise the heat to medium high and cook, stirring often, to drive off most, but not all, the moisture. Cool to warm and taste again before serving. Makes 4 servings. The president says, "We'll rain fire on North Korea," which likely gets the attention of the loudmouth little worm who runs that country. And then we have lots of junior politicians, on both sides of the aisle, and "presstitutes" saying he "doesn't really mean it." Are those folks so stupid they think that contradicting the president is not counterproductive? Not only does it encourage the worm, it challenges the president. This president is not "red-line-in-the-sand" shoot-hoops Barack Hussein Obama. I wouldn't challenge him to keep his word. These same blowhards say the president's expectations are too high in regards to getting Congress to accomplish something. I guess they want a president who sets his goals low so he can brag about getting something done, even if it's something not as important as he was elected to accomplish? I think the swamp needs draining but it takes a tough guy to get 'er done. More and more, D.C. is discovering that a guy who came back from a billion dollars upside down to billions ahead is no take-the-easy-way Washington D.C. wimp. I personally love watching them squirm. L. J. Martin, Clinton Buttes Zoning Board of Adjustment will hear a proposal Thursday that, if passed, would allow the owner of the 1898 Hodgens Ryan Mansion to convert a portion of the property into a bed and breakfast. The mansion, 105 N. Excelsior, is being operated as a boarding house for extended stays. Owner Margaret Guccione of Historic Montana Properties LLC wants to add bed-and-breakfast amenities to four of the home's rooms while continuing to offer long- and short-term rentals in the remaining four rooms. All rooms would have a maximum occupancy of two people and the whole facility would be limited to 16 people per night, according to zoning board staff analysis. The property resides in a multi-family residential zone, and Guccione is asking the board for a conditional use permit. Although operating a boarding house is allowed in the zone, Guccione needs the permit because bed and breakfasts are considered hotels. Zoning board staff is recommending conditional approval of Gucciones request. Also on Thursdays agenda: RV storage area An use-variance application by El and El Properties LLC and Dave and Cathy Isakson that would allow the applicants to operate a vehicle, RV and camping-trailer storage yard at 2405 and 2443 Amherst Avenue, a residential zone. According a zoning board staff analysis, the proposed lot would have 20 spaces for recreational and camping vehicles, for which the owners will charge a monthly rent. The analysis said that the applicants have already been renting the property for a number of years, but that in June Buttes planning department received a complaint from a neighbor about the lots parked vehicles. In response to the complaint, the applicants applied for and were granted two variances in July that allowed them to operate the facility for 180 days so that owners could remove their vehicles and the storage area could be shut down. Thursdays variance application would allow the applicants to continue to operate the storage facility indefinitely. Zoning staff is recommending that the board deny the application. Detached garage addition A variance application by Cordell and Judith Wackerbarth and Paul Werkmeister to construct a 14-foot-by-26-foot addition to an existing detached garage at 431 W. Mercury St. The proposed addition would be located within 12 feet of the western boundary line, less than the minimum parking-apron requirement of 20 feet. The property is located in a residential zone. Zoning staff is recommending approval of the application. The board meets at 5:30 Thursday, Aug. 17, in the Butte-Silver Bow County courthouse courtroom. Anti-hate rally set Friday in Butte The local political action group Butte Area Rising Coalition will rally anti-racist supporters at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18, on the steps of the Butte-Silver Bow County Courthouse, 155 W. Granite St. The rally will support the citizens of Charlottesville, Va., in their opposition to racist alt-right demonstrations in that community, according to a news release from Butte Area Rising Coalition. Participants in the Butte rally will also call for the firings of Steve Bannon, Sebastian Gorka and Stephen Miller from the White House staff, in solidarity with the Black, Hispanic, Asian and progressive caucuses of the U.S. Congress, because these staff members presence in the White House encourages white supremacists. Butte Area Rising Coalition supports a broad array of progressive political actions and invites all people to join. Find the group on Facebook. Gun show coming to Whitehall WHITEHALL The Whitehall Fall Gun, Knife, and Antique Show sponsored by the Whitehall VFW and American Legion Post and the Weapons Collectors Society of Montana is Friday-Sunday, Sept. 8-10, at the Whitehall Community Center, 11 N. Division St. Items on display will be guns, archery, leather, optics, art, antiques and more. Hours for Sept. 8, 2 to 6 p.m.; Sept. 9, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sept. 10, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Admission is $1 per day and free for children 12 and under. No loaded firearms are allowed. Ladies AOH picnic Aug. 21 ANACONDA Due to the smoke, the Ladies Ancient Order of Hibernians will have their picnic indoors at 6 p.m. Monday, Aug. 21, at the AOH hall. Members are asked to bring an entree to cook and utensils for dinner. The cost is $5. Hostesses are Rona McOmber, Linda Corcoran, Trudy Sturm, Kathy Swanson and Ann Caulfield. Old Time Fiddlers play Sunday VIRGINIA CITY The Montana Old Time Fiddlers will be jammin in their debut performance from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 20, at the Bale of Hay Saloon in Virginia City. The program is free and dancing is encouraged. Guitar, mandolin, and banjo players are also welcome to participate in the jam. The Montana Old Time Fiddlers are dedicated to the preservation of old time fiddle music in Montanas cultural environment, and providing educational and performance opportunities for all. Details: Dave, 406-685-3481. Animal Control impounds listed These animals have been picked up by Butte Animal Control. Details: Chelsea Bailey Butte-Silver Bow Animal Shelter, 699 Centennial Ave., at 406-497-6528 or stop by from 1 to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Dog: One-year-old male husky, black and white, picked up Sunday on Coyote Lane Chicken: Adult Americana hen, picked up Thursday on the 2500 block of South Main Cat: One-year-old female gray and white tabby, shorthaired, extra toes, picked up Aug. 8 on 100 block of Hobson A former state legislator implicated in a 2010 political dark money scandal has been jailed in Billings for refusing to produce documents proving he is unable to pay a $59,000 fine issued in 2016. Former state Representative Wesley Prouse, 48, of Shepherd was jailed Tuesday by District Judge Michael Moses. Prouse also had the option of paying the 2016 fine. The unpaid fine stems from Prouses involvement in a 2010 political campaign scheme in which candidates running in Republican primaries pledged loyalty to national anti-union groups, which in turn spent thousands of dollars in unreported campaign support. Prouse was running for state Senate that year. He lost a four-way primary race to Alan Olson. In 2010, he received illegal contributions from Western Tradition Partnership, a group aligned with the National Right to Work Committee. Prouse reported receiving only $261 in campaign donations for the primary, according to an investigation by then Montana Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl. The candidate also reported spending no money during his campaign. Western Tradition Partnership provided Prouse with a free mail-based campaign of several thousand letters, some attacking Prouses opponents, others promoting Prouse. Prouse was a state representative in 1997-1998. Though no official vote was taken, the Helena City Commission has directed the city manager to remove a Confederate memorial from a city park. Native American lawmakers in Montana called on the city to remove the granite fountain from Hill Park in downtown Helena Tuesday, following a weekend of violence, including a death, at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. During an administrative meeting that included nearly two hours of public comment Wednesday, commissioners said the removal should be completed as quickly as possible, citing public safety concerns. Helena City Manager Ron Alles said he will meet with his staff to figure out the best process of removal. The timing will be part of the discussion. Now, its up to me, Alles said after the meeting. I need to digest it as well. I need to get the logistics and specs, he added. Helena Mayor Jim Smith said city officials have not yet decided what will happen to the monument after it is removed. Smith has previously said he opposed removing or altering the fountain, which was commissioned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and dedicated in 1916, but he has changed his mind in light of recent events. "I believe the time has come for the removal of the fountain," Smith said. Commissioners Dan Ellison, Robert Farris-Olsen and Ed Noonan agreed that the fountain should be removed. They did not waver after listening to statements from 40 people, whose comments ranged from pleas to keep to monument honoring fallen soldiers to queries about the possibility of rededicating the fountain. Ellison spoke to the urgency of the matter. In the past, he has expressed concern with quick action without much community involvement. He said he will accept any reproaches that result from my doing the same today. I believe that if the fountain remains in the park there will likely be a confrontation where high emotions coupled with strong beliefs spill over into violence, Ellison said. "Rather than the commissions usual approach of starting with a discussion, gathering input, resolution of intention, public hearings and proceeding deliberately to a consensus decision, taking action today seems to be the best option before us, he added. Commissioner Andres Haladay, who in 2015 proposed that the commission give the fountain a new name, said Wednesday he was conflicted about whether it should be removed altogether. "I'm still equivocal on it," he said. In their letter to the city commission, members of the American Indian Caucus in the Montana Legislature said such monuments have stood for segregation, secession and slavery. The monument first gained significant public attention two years ago, after a man who had been photographed with the Confederate flag shot and killed nine people at a South Carolina church. At the time, Smith cautioned against "obliterating history." Commissioners instead decided to install a plaque to explain the origin of the fountain and the group that dedicated it. The plaque has not yet been installed. Smith said the monument would be removed even if the signage were in place today. Officials said they have been working to perfect and condense the wording for the sign, which has contributed to the delay. The plaque was to have acknowledged that the United Daughters of the Confederacy openly supported the Ku Klux Klan and its mission of white supremacy. Alles said the first draft of the wording was so long, a billboard would have been needed to fit it all. Requirements of the Americans with Disability Act also contributed to the delay, he said. Noonan said he wasnt on the commission when the decision to install sign was made, but he is in support of the signage. He said that because that didnt happen, the monument needs to be removed. Underneath it all is a history of racism, he said, adding his concern that the fountain could be used as an excuse for violent acts. At the history of this moment, thats what these monuments have become. I see the seriousness of it, Noonan added. Farris-Olsen also voiced safety concerns but said the racism issue is a much larger one. I think we have an obligation to take it down, he said. I wish we would have two years ago. *** Public comments Of all the citizens who voiced their views at Wednesday's meeting, a slight majority supported the removal of the fountain. One speaker called the fountain a blight on the City of Helena. Another referred to the monument as a stain on the city. A group of Helena-area legislators, some of whom spoke at the meeting, released a statement earlier in the day encouraging the council to remove the fountain. The letter was signed by Sens. Mary Caferro and Jill Cohenour, as well as Reps. Kim Abbott, Mary Ann Dunwell, Jenny Eck, Janet Ellis and Moffie Funk. White Supremacy, Neo-Nazism, and White Nationalism should not be accepted or supported in any way here in Helena. Our city embraces diversity and pluralism, they wrote. This fountain stands as a symbol of racism and slavery. It simply has no place in our city. Elected officials in cities and states in the east and southeast are removing similar statues and symbols and Helena should join them. A few asked if the monument could be rededicated or repurposed in some fashion. By removing the fountain, were erasing history, said Paul Pacini, who serves on the Helena Citizens Council. Pacini said the monument could serve as a catalyst for further conversations for which residents could learn and grow. We need to make a change, he said. Wilmot Collins, who is running against Smith for mayor, said he wanted to support a plaque but now believes removal is the right decision. He said its not about erasing the past but more a safety concern. This is about its time to move on, he said. The ACLU of Montana and the Montana Racial Equity Project also supported the removal in a joint statement released Wednesday. "This monument romanticizes one of the most dehumanizing, violent, and destructive periods in our history. It honors those who fought with the Confederacy to preserve slavery and willfully disregards the horrific legacies of the Confederacy, including lynchings, segregation, and the systemic oppression of Black Americans, Native Americans, and immigrants that continues to this day, the statement reads. We must ensure that each person who walks the streets and parks of our town feels welcome. We, as Helenans and Montanans, cannot expect to communicate such equality when a symbol of racism, inequality, and oppression stands prominently in Hill Park. Some asked for the fountain to be relocated and preserved, saying it belongs in a museum with extensive background information. Barbara Kirkland said the fountain is a testament to grieving women and should remain in place. They were not making a political statement. And its not a political statement, she told the commission. It isnt that important. Its a fountain, Kirkland said. Why dont we just get on with living? WASHINGTON White House chief of staff John Kelly needs to draw a red line. Not with North Korea, but with President Trump. For the sake of Kellys own reputation but even more for the sake of the country, there can be no more presidential improv on the subject of North Korea or military threats in general. This red line should be both invisible and impregnable. Only Kelly and the president should know it exists, but they should also have a clear understanding: If it is crossed, Kelly will leave. This is essential and, more important, achievable. Drawing this line is essential because Trumps bellicose impetuosity must be contained. Words matter, and the words of a president matter most. Therefore, they must be carefully calibrated and vetted. President Obamas ad-libbed blunder on Syria and chemical weapons taught that red lines once drawn are not easily erased; if they are crossed without consequences, presidential credibility erodes. Thus the danger of Trumps off-the-cuff warning: North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. Predictably, North Korea responded with escalating threats of its own: on Tuesday (Aug. 8) that it was carefully examining plans for an enveloping fire around Guam, and on Wednesday that it would turn the U.S. mainland into the theater of a nuclear war at the first hint of an impending U.S. attack. Administration officials were left scurrying to clean up and reframe language that none had reviewed in advance. The words were his own, said White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. The tone and strength of the message were discussed beforehand. Translation: No one knew precisely what was coming. This is no way for any president to conduct foreign policy, certainly not this president and certainly not in a situation with stakes so high. Mopping up, Defense Secretary James Mattis approach was to suggest that Trump should be taken seriously but not literally; his retelling moved the red line from threat to action, as in, North Korea should cease any consideration of actions that would lead to the end of its regime and the destruction of its people. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson took the tack of advising that Trump should be taken seriously and not seriously, depending on the listener; Tillerson encouraged Americans to sleep well at night and have no concerns about this particular rhetoric even as he asserted that Trump had to employ language that Kim Jong Un would understand, because he doesnt seem to understand diplomatic language. White House aide Sebastian Gorka met Tillersons call for calm with ominous analogies to the Cuban missile crisis. A senior White House official told The Washington Post, incredibly, that fire and fury doesnt always mean nuclear. It can mean any number of things. It is as if people see him [Trump] as an unhinged madman. At the State Department, spokesman Heather Nauert gamely insisted that we are all singing from the same hymnbook. Uh-huh. This atonal cacophony is what happens without message control. But is it realistic to speak of controlling Trump? No president likes being told what to do; Trump does not merely chafe at such instruction, he actively rebels against it. So some people look at Kellys thankless task and conclude that he would be lucky to be able to manage down -- to contain staff chaos and feuding. In this assessment, managing up is unattainable when up means Trump. Yes, but, this is a matter of managerial triage. Let Trump be Trump, when it comes to domestic policy and politics. Let him pick Twitter fights galore, whether with fellow Republicans such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell or with Democrats like Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, just to name this weeks targets. Let him watch Fox & Friends to his hearts content; let him even assail the Russia witch hunt or the Fake News Suppression Polls. Just cordon off foreign policy, or the parts of foreign policy that could lead to military confrontation. Instruct the president that statements on those subjects must be debated and scripted. Would Trump agree? Would he -- could he comply? The chaotic, risky alternative makes it worth the try. Kellys power is at its apex. Trump cannot afford to lose another chief of staff. So the president needs Kelly more than Kelly needs this headache of a job. And if the general wants to avoid being treated as just another menial fly-swatter, he will seize this moment to assert control, or leave having at least tried. SPOKANE A rescue call from the Great Outdoors will prompt some people to ask, How can we help? or at least How are you doing? Others focus on, How much will it cost taxpayers? Its no surprise that critics chimed in by phone, email and social media after reading the Spokesman-Review's (and in Montana Lee Newspapers) story on Wednesday about a Spokane hiker being rescued following a freak accident high in the mountains near Bozeman. While trekking Bridger Ridge with her husband and daughter, Yvonne Haas suffered a serious wound to her leg from rockfall dislodged from above by a mountain goat. The family had what they needed to stabilize her condition before responders arrived and called in a helicopter to pluck her off the 8,000-foot ridge and fly her to medical care. The story is even more unusual because the Haas family had called for a rescue from the same remote ridge route near Bridger Bowl ski area last year after a sudden storm left them stranded with Yvonne suffering hypothermia. Some of the story comments received here at the S-R Outdoors Department were blatantly mean, suggesting the family shouldnt be allowed to go outdoors if theyre going to require emergency assistance. Excuse me, but that sets off the alarm on my BS meter. Society would save a lot more money by banishing people from bars, motorcycles and fireworks stands, county fair food stalls, couches and Cheetos bags. Outdoor recreation is among the least costly to society of the many lifestyle choices people make. And to answer the critics question: Neither of the Haas family rescues cost you a dime. That is unless you live in Gallatin County, Montana, or youre one of the many people who has offered a donation to Gallatin County Search and Rescue. And in either of those cases, the cost was voluntary. Los Angeles has beaches and provides life guards; we have mountains and Search and Rescue (SAR), said Cpt. Jason Jarrett of the Gallatin County Sheriffs Department in Bozeman. Because they are frequent travelers, Yvonne and Mark Haas have insurance that covers rescues. But they didnt need it in Gallatin County. We dont charge for search and rescue, Jarrett said. Very, very few places charge for search and rescue. In 1982, the good citizens of Gallatin County voted overwhelmingly to tax themselves and support SAR. The program also gets money from use fees such as ATV licenses and boat licenses and people donate to us. The county includes world-class recreation areas including the Bridger Range and Jarrett supervises SAR posts at Big Sky and West Yellowstone. We have a lot of great country that attracts a lot of outdoor recreation, he said. The county handled 134 SAR calls in 2016. Some of the calls we get are handled by on-duty deputies at virtually no extra cost while the occasional one might range to $20,000, he said. It averages to about $400 a call. Thats it. Thats the story. Its all volunteer except for the deputies. Critics might find this strange, but some outdoors enthusiasts are generous with their skills when it comes to saving a life. This is a very outdoor recreation-oriented community, Jarrett said from his office in Bozeman. That community and the area draws world-class outdoor athletes from climbers to divers, not to mention our group of Ham radio operators who are world-class in their field and world-champion Morse Code senders. We have climbers listed among the top 10 in the world. And theyre all willing to volunteer to support that outdoor recreation lifestyle. In the 32 years Jarrett has been involved with SAR, he said there have been a few other people who have been repeat rescuees. Yes, weve come to know the Haas family, and they are very nice people, Jarrett said. After their rescue last year, (Mark Haas) wrote an eloquent piece about the experience for a Washington State Troopers publication. It moved us. In that piece, Haas wrote about the series of events spawned by a sudden intense thunderstorm that led to three rescues that night, including theirs. He also praised the two SAR volunteers who hiked up with clothes, built a fire and kept them alive until the helicopter could fly the next morning. We apologized repeatedly for calling them, but they smiled and said they were exactly where they wanted to be, Haas wrote. Taylor pointed out shooting stars and commented on the beauty of this place as Jeff told us he had to be rescued one time on an Alaskan adventure so not to be embarrassed. These gentlemen will always be heroes in our minds. The Haas family and about 98 percent of our callers are people out doing what we want people to do, Jarrett said. Theyre healthy and physically active outside instead of being in their basements eating Twinkies and playing video games. That percentage of people who need SAR assistance are good people who just happen to have a bad day. When youre in the backcountry and you fracture an ankle or blow out a knee you cant just hobble to a car and drive to the urgent care. The vast majority of our rescuees are good people doing what we value in this community, they just had a bad run-in with nature. About 150 names are on the Gallatin County SAR list under 11 specialized categories such as alpine, dogs, radio, dive, horse, snowmobile and Civil Air Patrol. Im the luckiest SAR commander on the planet, Jarrett said. Technology is making outdoor recreationists more self-sufficient and helping reduce the number of SAR calls. People dont get lost like they used to because they have hand radios, GPS that tracks them and their partners and cell phones so they can get up to a ridge and communicate. If Spokane critics of the Haas family rescue are still grumbling, perhaps this will calm them down Yvonne Haas posted on Facebook, assuring her well-wishers that she was recovering from her leg injury and that the next Haas family adventure will be in Disney World. But even in the Magic Kingdom, theres a response team on call to respond to emergencies from heart attacks to tumbles off the Matterhorn bobsled ride. The cost is built into the price we pay for a thrill. President keeps placing blame on everyone else I think the President (POTUS) has a serious problem; his inability to accept responsibility for his decisions. He keeps wanting to place blame on everyone other than himself. Mr. Trump's worst enemy is himself. Hopefully someone can reach him with some common pragmatic thought; I think he may have regressed into his own alternate reality. There should be a nation rejection of what happened in Virginia recently. I want to hear that from the President in his own voice (his own words); not by way of his assistants or associates. I think the President is losing my confidence is his integrity. Thank you for listening; public service is about not just hearing from but also listening from those that you work for. Douglas Grant, Butte Trump is out of touch, dangerous The net is closing around Trump. With the Aug. 9 news from NPR, the FBI has raided the home of his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and found incriminating documents relating to Manaforts role as an unregistered agent of a foreign power (Russia). On at least two other counts, it is now clear that Donald Trump is out of touch with reality. His recent comment threatening to unleash fire and fury on the North Koreans for their nuclear ambitions was his own creation. This while his secretary of State was making milder comments about negotiating with Pyongyang to attempt to get their compliance with the U.N. Security Council resolution introduced and promoted by Trumps U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley. The administration cannot get a stable policy as long as we have a 5-year-old narcissist in the White House. He cares nothing about the millions of South Koreans and Japanese who would suffer most from an American attempt to bomb North Korean missile sites. Yet our president thinks only of deflecting attention from his own political troubles. This week, a group of American and international climatologists released a report documenting their opinion that the warming temperatures which our president says dont exist are primarily the result of human activity. Why Trump refuses to accept this when his own Florida home is rapidly becoming isolated from rising sea levels is incomprehensible. It is time the Republican Congress put a stop to the most dangerous man in America. Dave Grimland, Columbus NOTICE: TO BE CLEAR: WE HAVE OUTLINED UNDER OUR RECORD MAINTENANCE POLICY WHAT WE BELIEVE TO BE A FAIR PROCESS FOR ALL. SIMPLY PUT: IF THE COURT SAW FIT TO EXPUNGE YOUR RECORD,SO WILL WE, FREE OF CHARGE. ARRESTS DO NOT IMPLY GUILT AND CRIMINAL CHARGES ARE MERELY ACCUSATIONS,EVERYONE IS PRESUMED INNOCENT UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY IN A COURT OF LAW AND CONVICTED. FCRA DISCLAIMER: MUGSHOTS.COM DOES NOT PROVIDE CONSUMER REPORTS AND IS NOT A CONSUMER REPORTING AGENCY. OUR DATABASE CANNOT BE USED TO MAKE DECISIONS ABOUT CONSUMER CREDIT, EMPLOYMENT, INSURANCE, TENANT SCREENING, OR ANY OTHER PURPOSES THAT WOULD REQUIRE FCRA COMPLIANCE. MUGSHOTS.COM PARTICIPATES IN AFFILIATE PROGRAMS WITH VARIOUS COMPANIES. WE MAY EARN A COMMISSION WHEN YOU CLICK ON OR MAKE PURCHASES VIA LINKS. MUGSHOTS.COM IS AN AGGREGATOR OF THE TODAYS CRIME NEWS. IN EACH FRONT-PAGE POST, THE HYPERLINK TO THE PRIMARY SOURCE IS SPECIFIED. 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MOST OF, IF NOT ALL MUGSHOT LAWS WERE CRAFTED TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC FROM FEES FOR REMOVAL OF ONLINE MUGSHOTS AND TO FURTHER PROTECT THE PRESS FROM THOSE VERY SAME "MUGSHOT LAWS".WE DO NOT ACCEPT PAYMENT FOR REMOVAL OF ARREST INFORMATION AND/OR BOOKING PHOTOGRAPHS. MORE... 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 [] : , , . Radio presenter Felix Odiwuor better known as Jalango has penned an insightful letter to the man of the moment, Githeri Man. Martin Kamotho from Kayole became an overnight celebrity after he was pictured with a bag of Githeri on Tuesday last week. Since then, his life has completely been transformed after well-wishers came out to offer help. As he continues to be celebrated for bringing the much-needed humour when the tensions were high, Mzee Jalas has some choice words for the 41-Year-Old. According to the Hot96 radio presenter, Githeriman is not special and neither did he do anything special but you are what I call a Kenyan Moment ! A Kenyan moment is that moment where Kenyans come together to celebrate nothing , be happy about nothing and anything! A few examples are Nikama drama ni Kama Vindeo Kifi kifi bwana yangu ameenda na maji and many more, wrote Jalas. Jalas warns Mr Kamotho that Kenyans will soon forget about him and advises him to make the best out of his Kenyan moment. Read the full open letter below: Dear Getheriman First let me thank you for bringing the much-needed humour when the tensions were at 102 degrees and rising , I would log in the IEBC portal to see how my preferred candidates were fairing on and I would be sad or happy but seeing your photos with Trump,Obama,Kanye and many more whom you were photoshopped with I smiled and laughed! Now back to my letter, Githeriman you are not special neither did you do anything special but you are what I call a Kenyan Moment ! A Kenyan moment is that moment where Kenyans come together to celebrate nothing, be happy about nothing and anything! A few examples are Nikama drama ni Kama Vindeo Kifi kifi bwana yangu ameenda na maji and many moremaybe readers will remind me of others in their comments! All of them are gone and forgotten! So people forget Kenyan moments and life goes on! They will soon forget you and move on! I hear people saying that there are people taking advantage of you and exploiting you, dont listen to them but make the best out of it now, take everything you are being offered, eat everything, collect everything, accept everything before they forget you! The same people saying these things have not offered you anything and will not! Soon and very soon as early as next week nobody will be talking about you because the brand Getheriman cannot stand beyond 1 month! Make sure that your team keeps tabs on everything everyone is offering you so that they can hold them accountable to deliver their promises before they forget you and their promises! I have seen a few good people around you the likes of Chris Kirwa, keep him close! For now enjoy the moment and if possible reach out to the young man who took your photo because without him you would still be in Kayole eating your githeri! Yours Trully Jalango Former Nairobi County Governor Evans Kidero has reiterated that he did not lose to Mike Sonko. Dr. Kidero has come out to address reports doing rounds on social media that he has conceded defeat to Sonko in the just-concluded General Election. The claims have been made through a fake Facebook account in the name of Dr Kidero. The account released a statement indicating that he had conceded defeat and was ready to support Sonko as the governor-elect and urged those who voted for him to support Sonko. Kideros communication team says: The governors account is verified and at no time has he posted such a statement on his account. Kidero, while addressing the media after attending a service at ACK St Marks church in Westlands, said that they were putting together their analysis into the polls and thereafter would give the next course of action. Everybody knows what happened in Nairobi. This formula of 54 per cent and 43 per cent cannot be a coincidence. We are putting this together and once it is ready we will announce our course of action, said Kidero. Nairobi County Police Commander Japhet Koome has rubbished widespread reports of Mungiki attacks in Mathare, Lucky Summer and Dandora on Sunday night as a false alarm. He said the reports, contained in videos, texts, photos and Facebook live posts, were fabricated to cause panic and incite the public. The police boss said a manhunt has been launched for a banker suspected to have circulated the videos alleging the presence of Mungiki sect members dressed in police uniform. The only people who were on patrol at night were police and since we have heightened security in all estates in the city, we had very few incidents of crime. The city was actually very peaceful, said Mr Koome during a press briefing yesterday. Koome also dispelled claims that the military had been deployed to disperse demonstrators. I am in charge and I know who I am working with. The officers are well equipped and trained to handle the situation. We have not reached to the level of needing the military, Mr Koome said. He also noted that several people had been arrested and others were being sought in connection to the false and alarming information. Also Read: Fake News Country: Did The Mungiki Conduct a Massacre in Mathare and Lucky Summer on Sunday Night? Remember Kingwa Kamencu? The enigma who created a buzz in the Kenyan political scene in 2011 following her declaration to run for the presidency in the 2013 Kenyan Presidential election? Perhaps you have been wondering what she has been up to. The controversial writer, known for her mind-boggling sex-related statements on social media, had given Kenyans a break from her madness but she is back with some more. Kingwa has been working on a new reality show aptly titled after her nickname, Madame President. Last week Tuesday, as Kenyans went to cast their ballots, Kingwa released the first episode of the new show. Excited to share with you the first Episode of my new reality show, Madame President. Put together by the countrys finest production crew, its laughter galore as we watch the thrills, spills (and God-almighty awkwardness and bizarreness ) of Madam Presidents life, Kingwa announced on social media. Yesterday, she released the second episode and the show is fast gaining traction for its comic relief. Its nice to know Madame President is putting her enigmatic ideas to good use. You dont want to miss out on this if you dont take life too seriously. Watch episode 1 below: Nairobi governor-elect Mike Mbuvi Sonko has written to Dr. Evans Kidero asking him not to carry out any further activities at City Hall. The former Nairobi senator has asked Kidero not to withdraw any funds from the City County account with the Central Bank of Kenya. Sonko also wants Kidero not to remove any materials from City Hall or any other Nairobi County Offices. Further, Sonko wants Kidero not to enter into any contract with any third-party committing the Nairobi County resources in any manner effective August 8, 2017. In the letter addressed to Kidero, Sonko wanted the outgoing governor to appoint a transition committee constituting of three members by the close of business yesterday (August 15). Failure to comply with the demands, Sonko has threatened to file a suit in court. According to Sonko, it is necessary to ensure a smooth transition of the reins of power in the Nairobi County from Kidero, stem financial hemorrhage, forestall the collapse of services, and to maintain accurate and proper records of the county government. Please liaise with us in the meeting of the foregoing objectives to enable us secure the best interests of the residents of the Nairobi City County and note further that our client has instructed that in default of your responses by the close of business August 15, 2017, we have instructions to seek legal redress, reads the letter. PayPal, the popular online payment platform, announced late Tuesday night that it would bar users from accepting donations to promote hate, violence and intolerance following revelations that the company played a key role in raising money for a white supremacist rally that turned deadly. The company, in a lengthy blog post , outlined its longstanding policy of not allowing its services to be used to accept payments or donations to organizations that advocate racist views. PayPal singled out the KKK, white supremacist groups or Nazi groupsall three of whom were involved in organizing last weekends Charlottesville rally. Intolerance can take on a range of on-line and off-line forms, across a wide array of content and language, the company wrote. It is with this backdrop that PayPal strives to navigate the balance between freedom of expression and open dialogueand the limiting and closing of sites that accept payments or raise funds to promote hate, violence and intolerance. Corporate watchdogs and civil rights organizations have pressured the company for years to ban such groupsto little avail. For the longest time, PayPal has essentially been the banking system for white nationalism, Keegan Hankes, analyst for the Southern Poverty Law Center, told The Washington Post. Its a shame it took Charlottesville for them to take it seriously. While PayPal has at times prevented some prominent hate groups from raising money through its platform, it also allowed at least eight groups and individuals openly espousing racist views to move money through its site before and after Charlottesville, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a legal advocacy organization that monitors hate groups. PayPal, one of the worlds largest online payment processors, was integral in raising money to orchestrate the event, the Southern Poverty Law Center posted on its Hatewatch blog Tuesday, just hours before PayPal publicly banned such groups. Organizers, speakers, and individual attendees relied on the platform to move funds in the run up to the ultimately deadly event. The Unite the Right march in Charlottesville ended with one person dead and 19 injured after a car driven by an alleged Nazi sympathizer crashed into a crowd of activists protesting the hate rally. Two other state troopers were killed when their helicopter monitoring the demonstrations crashed. PayPals decision to kick nearly three dozen hate groups off its platform is long overdue, Hankes said. He said his center has been lobbying the company for more than two years to take action against the groups, providing extensive lists and dossiers about them. After a white supremacist killed nine black worshipers in a Charleston church in 2015, PayPal banned the Council of Conservative Citizens, a white supremacist group that the helped inspire the attack. But the current purge is of an unprecedented scale, activists say. Our understanding is that this is just whats the first to come, and that they are taking a hard stance, Hankes said. PayPal has agreed to removed at least 34 organizations, including Richard Spencers National Policy Institute, two companies that sell gun accessories explicitly for killing Muslims, as well as all accounts associated with Jason Kessler, the white nationalist blogger who organized the Charlottesville march, according to a list provided to the Post by Color of Change, a racial justice organization seeking to influence corporate decision makers. Color of Change has been in private conversations with PayPal leaders since February to ban racist groups for using the platform to raise money. The organization spoke with PayPal representatives Tuesday afternoon and was given a list of hate groups to be banned. Once the events of Charlottesville happened, we gave all the companies we had been talking to a final warning that we were going to be moving this campaign forward, said Rashad Robinson, executive director of Color of Change. Enough talking, cajoling and educating. This is not a question of policy. Its a question of practice, and whether or not these companies are willing to actually put their values and policies into practice. Could you use a good belly laugh? Do you yearn for a film that simply makes you laugh until you cry? Alliance Francaise de Napa, in conjunction with the Jarvis Conservatory presents Lost in Paris, in English and French with subtitles. It opened in the U.S. recently and will be shown at the conservatory in Napa on Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. Lost in Paris is the latest in a series of films (The Fairy, LIceberg, Rumba) written, produced directed and acted by the comic geniuses Dominique Abel and Fiona Gordon. In this film, Fiona plays a Canadian (which she is) who visits Paris for the first time with limited French language skills, to assist her myopic Aunt Martha. Catastrophes ensue, mainly involving Dom, a homeless Frenchman (the actor is indeed French) who has yet to have an emotion or thought he is afraid of expressing. The film also features Emmanuelle Riva (Hiroshima Mon Amour) as the batty aunt. Riva passed away shortly before the films opening in France. With physical comedy reminiscent of Buster Keaton or Jacques Tati, the film offers laughs aplenty and enough pathos to provide some sweet romance as well. Judging by the laughter in response to the films trailer by recent Jarvis audiences, it will be warmly welcomed in Napa. Advance tickets are available through jarvisconservatory.com. The Alliance will offer appetizers and will sell wine by the glass starting at 6 p.m. The Jarvis Conservatory is at 1711 Main St., Napa. Napa has hosted pop-up retail stores and pop-up restaurants in the past. Now pop-up health care can be added to that list. OLE Health is celebrating National Health Center Week Aug. 13 to 19 by hosting pop-up health centers throughout the valley. OLE Health is giving people who may have trouble getting to the doctor the opportunity to speak with a provider directly at their work site. The pop-up phenomenon started in recent years, using social media to build interest and awareness around a brand. What were doing is taking that same approach to healthcare, said Tanir Ami, chief executive officer at OLE Health. On Tuesday, more than 50 farmworkers and other employees gathered to see a health care provider at the pop-up clinic at Beckstoffer Vineyards. Providers included a medical assistant, a registered nurse and a medical doctor. There was no charge for the visit. Many of these folks go years without seeing a doctor, said Patrisia Vigil, patient services manager at OLE Health. Having one right outside makes it much more appealing and convenient for them. Beckstoffer Vineyards employee Fernando Rivera said he hasnt had a primary care doctor for nine years. He would like to have one, he said, especially now that his back has begun to hurt again from an old car accident injury. Rivera spoke in Spanish and used a translator, as did all the Beckstoffer workers interviewed for this story. Such gaps in health care can be typical, said Vigil. Some workers prefer to tough it out, instead of seeking help. Others may have a harder time getting time off work, or even a ride to a doctors office or clinic. Employee Luis Garcia usually goes to see a doctor every three months, but because the clinic came to him, its easier and more practical to visit, he said. Many people are scared to go to the doctor, said worker Mario Perez, adding they may think it will cost too much. The expense of doctor visits and other medical expenses could mean the worker sends home less money to his or her family in Mexico that month, Vigil said. Maria Beatriz, another Beckstoffer worker, said shes been diagnosed as diabetic. While she believed she had no symptoms on Tuesday, she stopped by the clinic to check her blood sugar and blood pressure. Its convenient, she said of the pop-up clinic. OLE Health has been working with representatives from Napa Valley Community Housing to provide services for low-income residents, as well as engaging some of the Valleys most prominent grape growers including Beckstoffer Vineyards and Garvey Family Vineyards to provide services for farmworkers. A healthy workforce is a strong workforce, and we are happy to host our partners at OLE Health to ensure our staff can take advantage of the chance to speak with a provider and learn more about protecting their health, particularly during this hot summer said David Beckstoffer, president at Beckstoffer Vineyards. Our residents include the working families of Napa, who often do not have time during the day to visit the doctor, which can delay much-needed care, said Marlene Santiago, vice president of Resident Services at Napa Valley Community Housing. The fact that OLE Health will plan their visit with us during the evening hours, drastically increases the access to care available to our community and thats something were very excited about, Santiago said. Each of OLE Healths pop-up health centers will provide an array of services for residents including acute care, first-aid and wound care, behavioral health screenings, connections to community resources and educational opportunities. OLE will also have giveaways that are focused on wellness and occupational health for Napa Valleys farmworkers including cooling packets, first-aid kits, sunscreen and cooled lunchboxes. OLE Health, which is based in Napa, typically charges for services on a sliding-fee scale based on federal poverty guidelines. Ole Health serves more than 33,000 patients a year. Patients at the pop-up centers who need further care are referred to OLE Healths brick-and-mortar clinic. Students and parents arriving at El Centro Elementary School Wednesday morning faced a maze of chain-link passageways separating them from ongoing construction work. The north Napa school is being expanded to accommodate an influx of students from Salvador Elementary, which will become the future home of the River School. Patrick Sweeney, superintendent of the Napa Valley Unified School District, and Don Evans, the districts head of construction, were on hand Wednesday morning to monitor how first-day arrivals went at El Centro. Some Salvador students those enrolled in transitional kindergarten, kindergarten, and first grade will attend school at El Centro starting this week. The remainder of the Salvador students will move over in the fall of 2018. By this time next year, the district will have constructed six new buildings at El Centro that will house about 600 students following the Salvador merger. El Centro students this year will make do without a playing field. The contractor hired by NVUSD needed the field as a staging area for machinery and equipment that will be used throughout the year. Kids will be limited to using an asphalt play area for the 2017-2018 school year. SAN FRANCISCO -- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi Tuesday called on the National Park Service to reconsider allowing a right-wing rally to go ahead later this month at San Francisco's Crissy Field, arguing that the event poses a threat to public safety. The National Park Service has issued a permit for the Aug. 26 rally by the alt-right group "Patriot Prayer." The event is one of two scheduled in the Bay Area that weekend, with a second rally by a different group scheduled in Berkeley on Aug. 27, and follows a violent right-wing rally last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, in which a man allegedly drove a car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing one woman and injuring 19 other people. A park service spokeswoman on Monday said the agency is generally required by law to grant all First Amendment permits, and is currently working with U.S. Park Police and San Francisco law enforcement to develop plans for security at the event. However, Pelosi, D-San Francisco, said today the event raised "grave and ongoing concerns about public safety." "I am deeply alarmed by the hateful and dangerous nature of the event, its timing so soon after the horrors in Charlottesville, and the serious questions over whether the National Park Service is at all equipped to ensure public safety during a white supremacist rally," Pelosi said. "The NPS should reevaluate its decision and its capacity to protect the public during such a toxic rally," she said. "Free speech does not grant the right to yell fire in a crowded theater, incite violence or endanger the public in any venue." Patriot Prayer, which has been described as an "alt-right" group by the hate group watchdog Southern Poverty Law Center, has dubbed its event "Free Speech, Unity and Peace San Francisco." The group, organized by Joey Gibson, also held an event in Seattle on Sunday, only a day after the Charlottesville rally. The Seattle event was greeted by a loud and angry group of counter-protesters, a tense atmosphere and a heavy police presence, according to published reports. Police deployed pepper spray and worked to keep the two groups separate and the day ended without major violence. Counter-protests are expected at both the Aug. 26 and 27 events in the Bay Area. San Francisco city officials are planning a media briefing later this afternoon to discuss their concerns over the Aug. 26 event. AB 1250, which is currently moving through the California Legislature, would have detrimental effects on critical public safety reforms in California. In short, the bill makes the process excessively onerous for county departments to contract with third parties for services. The goal of the bill is to use county employees to deliver all services at the county level. While this goal may be well-intentioned, it is simply not possible to do this without sacrificing the great public safety work implemented by local governments. California has undertaken brave and bold steps in our criminal justice system that have created a responsive system with more localized control to better meet public safety needs through an integrated approach of rehabilitation, accountability, and mental health services. Third-party contracts are vital partnerships in delivering a continuum of evidence-based programming for the youth and adults probation serves. One of the aspects of probation that has made these reforms so successful is our ability to innovate and be responsive to the needs of our clients and a changing criminal justice system. More and more probation is tasked with implementing a very complex system that is full of intricacies within the laws we enforce, services we provide and system reforms we implement. Yet, largely based on the flexibility third-party contracting gives us, probation has continued to innovate and move quickly to meet the needs of an ever-changing population while also meeting the vision of system reforms given to us by the state. If we lose our ability to be innovative and responsive, the historic justice reforms California is undertaking are ultimately going to fail. We must continue to have the flexibility to innovate and be responsive to reforms in order for us to be successful in our mission of protecting public safety, lowering recidivism and rehabilitating those coming back to our communities. And thus far, we have been very successful. But the effects of AB 1250 will significantly impact probation and how we deliver services to some of the most vulnerable Californians. Probation departments work very closely with community-based organizations, nonprofits, and other providers to deliver these critical services for the care, treatment, and programming services for youth and adults. AB 1250 would severely slow this process down and tie our hands, making us unable to do what we do best. Historic reforms have never been successful when the process is weighed down by making an already complex system even more complex. Constraining our ability to contract with those who have the most expertise, and can provide the most efficient and cost-effective services would heap new layers of bureaucracy on an already extremely complex system. In Napa County, for instance, our probation department uses third-party contracts to deliver a variety of services, including a contract with Aldea Children and Family Services to provide mental health and substance abuse services to youth in Juvenile Hall, at Chamberlain High School and in the Evening Reporting Center. These services have enabled youth to stay in their community rather than being placed in residential treatment. The staff at Aldea is critical to delivering the programming we need to rehabilitate the youth on probation. The positive impacts of this program simply would not be possible under the stipulations of AB 1250. Napa County is too small of a county to realistically employ a staff like Aldea with the history, knowledge and expertise needed to deliver specialized services to adolescents. Adding to this would mean we simply could not deliver these services that protect public safety and rehabilitate our youth. The requirements in AB 1250 that must be met in order for a county to enter into a contract for services is so laborious and expensive that it would effectively stifle the ability of probation to contract for very important services for both the juvenile and adult populations we serve. In doing so, the measure would increase taxpayers costs and seriously jeopardize public safety reforms. AB 1250 is widely opposed by 49 California county Boards of Supervisors, including Napa County, and a vast coalition that includes childrens advocates, hospitals and health care providers, public safety groups, businesses, and advocates for seniors. In the interest of California successfully implementing historic public safety reforms, we strongly urge a No vote on AB 1250. Background: Our representatives on city councils and the board of supervisors hire helpers, collectively called staff, to research topics they need to decide on. Our elected representatives routinely rely on staffs recommendations regarding the issues that affect us. Noteworthy: At a recent St. Helena City Council meeting, when dozens of citizens objected to a staff proposal, something remarkable happened. The council heard the citizens and actually voted as the people wished, counter to its staffs recommendation. It was remarkable because too often in this county, elected officials hide behind staff. Mr. Pedroza did the other night trying to justify his vote to allow more winery visitors up Soda Canyon Road. But staff takes its cues from its boss, the board of supervisors. In this county---where planning commissioners and supervisors profess respect for our semi-rural character but incongruously allow ever more visitors and non-agricultural winery events; and where wineries which ignore their permits are forgiven then actually rewarded for their transgression---staff is not blind. It sees how friendly its bosses are to rampant development. Its not likely to recommend denial of a project if it can be in any way permitted. And staff, being expert, as Pedroza avers, is educated enough to articulate objectivity and defend those recommendations that it understands its bosses like. Yet---what do the residents of Soda Canyon Road care about staffs recommendations? They didnt elect staff. They elected a representative they thought would respond to their legitimate concerns. They know from daily experience the hazards of that road and the danger of tippling tourists. But as for their supposed representative---he heard staff, not them. No wonder Napans appealing to their representatives about development feel cynically like Sisyphus. Over and over, same old thing: less than significant impact. Maybe theres a glimmer of hope. For years, Upvalley residents have been remarking the loss of the semi-rural character of the valley as tourism vies with agriculture for the countys soul. The Soda Canyon Road travesty is just one example. But its been difficult for Down-valley residents, mostly in urban Napa or suburban American Canyon, to appreciate the extent of the countys transformation from a semi-rural arcadia to a tourist mecca. Now, at last---judging from robust attendance at the Napa Vision 2050 town forum, and from recent letters to the Register---the tourism plague is infecting Down-valley too. Big hotels are planned. Crowds jam the streets with music festivals. The model trains will vanish. Good-bye small- town Napa. As for quiet, rural Upvalley Napa County: just a memory. Unless -- unless we voters realize the decision is ours. We dont have to elect people wholl use staff to justify the degradation of Napa County. We can choose representatives who actually hear and respond to what residents want. St. Helena City Council voted out incumbents. So can we. Donald Williams Calistoga Cannabis issues continue to vex county Napa County supervisors want the tension resolved between federal and California marijuana laws as they continue formulating marijuana policies for the unincorporated county. California voters in 1996 legalized medical marijuana and, with last years Proposition 64, legalized adult recreational use. Meanwhile, the federal Controlled Substances Act makes it a crime to possess, use, cultivate and distribute marijuana. The Obama administration made federal enforcement of marijuana laws a low priority in states with their own regulations, a county report said. But the Trump administration could reverse course. On July 18 supervisors gave Napa Countys endorsement to House of Representatives Bill 975, the Respect State Marijuana Laws Act. This proposed amendment to the Controlled Substances Act would prevent people who are complying with state marijuana laws from facing federal penalties. The St. Helena Police Department held its first Volunteers in Police Service (VIPS) Academy meeting on Aug. 8 which attracted a small number of volunteers. The program is aimed at reducing crime and enhancing the services the department can provide to the St. Helena community. Program participants were greeted by Chief of Police Bill Imboden. The volunteers were then provided with an overview of duties that would be assigned to volunteers and given a tour of the police department by Officer Steve Peterson. Duties discussed included assisting stranded motorists, directing traffic, performing neighborhood patrols, enforcing Municipal Code, towing abandoned cars, running the Livescan fingerprinting system and performing other tasks. Each participant was to be given a number of tests on police codes, policies and procedures over a period of seven meetings culminating in a graduation ceremony at 7 p.m., Aug. 22. Peterson said that successful volunteer cadets will be provided with a marked car, but will not carry guns. The volunteers will provide their own regulation uniforms. Petersons tour of the small St. Helena Police Department included a Power Point presentation in the police departments briefing room, the interview room, the locker rooms, the lock-up facilities, and the evidence room. The five volunteers at this meeting squeezed through the narrow hallways and listened as Peterson described some of the procedures that each volunteer must master in dealing with common duties, warning that sometimes individuals detained can be very wily in their attempts to escape. In one instance, Peterson, who said he was a 12-year veteran of the department, recalled how years ago one detained individual awaiting transfer to county jail hid inside the mattress coverings in one of the two lock-up rooms. People can be very crafty when they dont want to go to jail, he said with a knowing smile. When we opened the door, he had disappeared. It wasnt until I grabbed the end of the mattress that I felt his weight inside. He ended up taking the mattress with him to county jail. During the 1960 presidential campaign, Senator John F. Kennedy spoke to a crowd of 10,000 students at the University of Michigan, who responded enthusiastically to his challenge for them to serve their country by living and working in developing countries. After he was elected, in his memorable inaugural address, President Kennedy appealed to Americans, Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. He also pledged to help the worlds poor, to break the bonds of their misery. On March 1, 1961, JFK issued an Executive Order establishing the Peace Corps. Since then, more than 225,000 Americans have served in 141 countries. Angwins John and Marsa Tully were college students on opposite sides of the country when they heard Kennedys brother-in-law, Sargent Shriver, speak about the Peace Corps. Although only a junior, John immediately rushed off to take the qualifying exam. Marsa recalls initially thinking the Corps might be too tough. Nevertheless, she persisted and eventually chose to serve in Thailand because one of her Berkeley professors had done research there. John and Marsa met during a highly selective Peace Corps training that John describes as scary. Their terms of service were two years: however, both continued teaching English in Thailand for 15 more years and currently are longtime professors at Santa Rosa Junior College. Kennedy envisioned his initiative as a vehicle that would promote a better understanding of America through personal interactions with American Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs). He also hoped young Americans would develop a better understanding of the worlds diverse peoples and cultures. JFK grasped the concept of soft power, whereby America gains the support of other nations through the power of example. President Obama echoed those sentiments in proclaiming, The true strength of America comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals liberty, opportunity, and unyielding hope. While the popular image of PCVs is of young people, the agency welcomes older adults, like Vineyard Valleys Eve Breckenridge, currently serving in Madagascar. A visit to the Volunteering at 50 Plus website finds this comment from Dorothy Woodbrige, who served in Ghana. I love sharing my story about being a Peace Corps Volunteer, especially with people who say, I wanted to do that when I was in college, but my parents wouldnt let me go, and Im too old now. I turned 80 during my service. Kathy Collins son, Hank, served as a volunteer in Kenya. She remembers helping him apply to medical school because the lack of technology posed significant challenges. Kathy says the experience changed Hanks life and he still communicates with people he met abroad. Our daughter, Dr. Yasi Safinya-Davies, and son-in-law, Patrick, served in Suriname. On our visit to their riverside village, we found them treated as members of that community. Following their service, Patrick became a PCV coordinator, while Yasi managed the opening of that nations Habitat for Humanity program. Steve Thewlis, former director of International Programs at Saint Marys College, served in Afghanistan and his partner, Michael Mercil, in Malaysia before the latter continued as a staff member. Steve says the Peace Corps 50th anniversary Washington celebration drew thousands of former volunteers, adding, You make friends while serving who become friends for life. Clarence Say is a PCV in Thailand after graduating from UC San Diego. His father, Geoffrey, says Clarence always displayed unselfish concern for others and earned an award for service as a Justin-Siena student. Imagine moving into the house of someone you just met who lives in a place you have never been, learning to eat with your hands, taking your first bucket shower while a spider family watches from overhead, Clarence writes in his blog. He continues, I wake up every morning with a smile on my face. Tired but happy. Content with my life in a way that I have never before been. The challenges have been many, but the opportunities for learning and growth, are infinite. We live in little bubbles worlds that we call personal perspectives within which we carefully safeguard our most cherished thoughts and opinions about everything other that exists outside ourselves. Being here has taught me the importance of traveling to other worlds. As Princeton Professor John Ikenberry notes, Americans national security has always hinged as much on winning hearts and minds as it does on winning wars. So, Peace Corps Volunteers, thank you for your service to America and to the world! There have been several letters to the Star in recent weeks supporting the sale of the Adams Street property, with other key city assets for a luxury hotel. We also know that in two public meetings and a City Council meeting there was practically unanimous lack of support for the three proposals that were put up for consideration. Like most problems, the key to solving them starts with trying to find common ground on the issue. Most agree that the city needs money, even though at present we really dont know how much. Most understand that the city has saleable assets that could be turned into revenue producing scenarios. Most also agree that we have significant traffic, water and housing issues. How do we solve the problem while balancing the challenges? The answer is by using a logical decision making process. Even the Council essentially agrees this has not been done to date. The public that have taken the time to weigh in on the situation largely agree. Do we really think that the three standing proposals represent the best overall solution for the city? Perhaps the most expedient. I am happy to hear that the council, as a whole, seems to recognize that the process needs to be improved before we make what is likely one of the most impactful decisions the city will ever make. Given the never ending bad news stemming from the last huge city decision (levee project), we have a right to demand a thorough vetting. The current process reminds me of the story of the gent who was searching for his car keys blocks from where he dropped them because the light was better. Lets agree that action needs to be taken, a logical process established and undertaken, and we may well find that by finding common ground, we can solve this problem. Chuck Vondra St. Helena The Emory University Class of 2021 already has a unique distinction: The campus orientation day for the first-year students will occur beneath a nearly total solar eclipse. From about 2:38 to 2:41 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 21, the moon will cover 97.7 percent of the sun over Atlanta. A couple of solar telescopes will be set up on the roof of the Mathematics and Science Building between 1 and 4 p.m. for staff, faculty, students and their family members who want to observe the sun through them weather permitting. But a pair of certified solar eclipse glasses, a simple pinhole camera or even the leaves of a tree will also make it possible to safely view the eclipse anywhere on campus where the sun is visible. Emory first-year students plan to gather on the Quad between 2:15 and 3 p.m. for eclipse watching. At the Oxford campus, first-year students will gather in front of the Oxford Science Building starting at 2 p.m. where there will be music, a solar telescope and sun-themed snacks and drinks. The Emory Police Department will also host group eclipse viewing on the field of the Student Activity and Academic Center at the Clairmont Campus. All students, faculty and staff are welcome to attend these events. Atlanta Science Tavern has also compiled this list of solar eclipse events in and around Atlanta. A total solar eclipse will sweep across a 70-mile-wide area of the United States, starting on the Pacific coast of Oregon and continuing all the way to South Carolina and the Atlantic Ocean. Even though Atlanta lies just beyond the path of totality, if the weather is clear the near-total eclipse will be worth pausing from work or school to go outside and experience. To begin with, its rare. The last time the sun over Atlanta was nearly obscured by the moon was on May 31, 1984, when it was 99.7 percent covered. The New York Times described what happened as the skies began to darken about 20 minutes after noon: The temperature dropped six degrees, flowers closed their petals, dogs howled, pigeons tucked their heads under their wings as if to sleep and the whole city was bathed in a kind of diffused light, not unlike that accompanying the approach of a severe storm. New team members at MCDA ready to welcome students Fall semester is about to get underway, and four new staff members are on hand at the University of Floridas Multicultural and Diversity Affairs office, joining a highly capable team already in place to help cultivate a more inclusive campus community. At the helm is Will Atkins, who served as interim executive director of MCDA and who co-led the Black Student Affairs Task Force. Following a national search, Atkins was elevated to the position full time. He is a proud Gator alum and honored to serve the university in this capacity. Atkins previously served for two years as assistant director of UFs Machen Florida Opportunity Scholars Program, where he advised first-generation, low-income undergraduate students and connected them with campus and community resources. At Miami University before that, he was associate director sorority and fraternity life. He also worked at the University of Michigan in Greek Life and campus activities. Under Atkins leadership, MCDA partnered this summer with the Career Resource Centers inclusive recruiter initiative and with UF Human Resources on inclusion efforts for faculty and staff. MCDA also held sessions on Understanding our Global Community with incoming students, and led committees toward developing plans for the Institute of Black Culture and the Institute of Hispanic-Latino Cultures, known as La Casita. Currently, the department has revised the ambassador program and is enhancing one of its signature social justice education programs called Gatorship. The department also is revitalizing the PAACT program, a four-day welcome for incoming Black students. Also, new this fall are: LGBTQ Affairs The new director of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender and Queer Affairs, Billy Huff, comes to UF from the University of South Florida, where he was an instructor in the department of communication. He previously taught in communication at Florida Gulf Coast University, where he also served as the adviser for the Gender and Sexuality Alliance. I come to MCDA after 15 years in faculty and teaching positions, Huff said. I was always the most passionate, however, about the work I did with students outside the classroom. This work included working with LGBTQ youth in the community and advising LGBTQ student organizations. I am thrilled to have a position that allows me to unite my academic work in Queer Theory, Trans Studies, and social movements with my passion for supporting and advocating for students. I hope to work with students to create a welcoming and affirming space for all LGBTQ students at UF. As part of MCDA, LGBTQ Affairs educates, advocates and supports LGBTQ people at UF and in the local community via student-centered programming, outreach, community building and advocacy in order to create a safe and developmentally supportive campus community for people of all sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions. APIA Affairs Jack Nguyen, who was named director of Asian Pacific Islander American Affairs, began in mid-July. As intercultural specialist in the Student Life Multicultural Center at The Ohio State University, he oversaw planning, development and implementation of all Asian American intercultural programming to address and highlight engagement. My journey into higher education and student affairs stems from my involvements during my undergraduate career within a number of student organizations and initiatives created by the university to support first year students as well as learning in depth about this field as I had a number of work study positions within the Division of Student Affairs, Nguyen said. I believe what excites me the most about the opportunity as the incoming director of Asian Pacific Islander American Affairs is building an inclusive and just space with my colleagues, peers and students for all who utilize our space. The potential possibilities are endless, and I hope that I can work toward advocating the needs of our underrepresented, underserved and marginalized communities on and beyond our campus. As part of MCDA, APIA Affairs promotes deeper understanding of APIA issues and identity while empowering and advocating for the needs of the community. Black Affairs Overseeing Black Affairs, which creates, sustains, promotes and affirms black scholarship, culture history and leadership is Carl Simien, who served as director of the Gwendolyn Brooks Cultural Center at Western Illinois University. A former college and career director at Umoja Student Development Corporation in Chicago, he also has served as the program coordinator of the Roberts Family Development Center in Sacramento. Simiens student development background and experience working with TRiO programs, the U.S. Department of Education student support services, have shaped his ambition for empowering students, he says. I love being in community with students and having the opportunity to support them as they pursue their goals and aspirations, Simien said. I love getting to witness students discover their ability to have a meaningful impact on campus and in their communities. My vision for Black Affairs includes initiatives focused on supporting student retention, leadership and professional development of students and engagement with UF alumni. UMMP Danielle Domingo is a proud Gator grad who earned her degree in family, youth, and community sciences with minors in leadership and nonprofit organizations. She brings valuable experiences to MCDA, especially her leadership with the Preview Staff Orientation Program, the Dean of Students Office, and the Machen Florida Opportunity Scholars Program. She volunteers with local youth in Gainesville and has served as the Mission Trip Coordinator for a local nonprofit called Projects for Haiti, Inc. Domingo is passionate about organizational leadership, mentorship and empowerment. In her role with MCDA, she will oversee the University Minority Mentor Program. UMMP is the only mentoring program that matches a first-year undergraduate student with a faculty or staff mentor to assist with the students transition to college. This program makes a large university campus seem smaller as connections are made and mentors encourage our students to complete a degree. The search process for each new post included on-campus and live-streamed interviews with search committees. This is truly an exciting time for MCDA. We have a dynamic team with great passion, vision and commitment for our students and our work, said Atkins. We are focused on providing identity-based and culturally responsive resources, education and community for our campus. We know that The Gator Nation comprises students, faculty and staff from various backgrounds, identities and experiences. They are meaningful, powerful, and should be respected by all. Our role is to use education as a vehicle for our community to embrace humanity. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 03:38:35|Editor: ying Photo taken on July 25, 2017 shows an emergency call box on the campus of University of Chicago in Chicago, the United States. Holding top-10 positions in numerous national and international rankings, University of Chicago (UoC) attracts students in U.S. and all over world, even if the university stands in an unsafe neighborhood at city's southern side. However, UoC manages to protect students by setting up a safety network consisting of free bus service, heavy monitoring and expanded policing. (Xinhua/Wang Ping) CHICAGO, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Holding top-10 positions in numerous national and international rankings, University of Chicago (UoC) attracts students in U.S. and all over world, even if the university stands in an unsafe neighborhood at city's southern side. Being called "Murder Capital of America," Chicago saw a surge in gun violence in 2016 with 762 murders, which was more than New York City and Los Angeles combined, according to the Chicago Police Department. Most of the criminal incidents took place in the southern area where most African Americans reside. However, UoC manages to protect students by setting up a safety network consisting of free bus service, heavy monitoring and expanded policing. "I think the campus is very safe. When you are walking back to dorms at night, there is always somebody on the corner, protecting you, making you feel safe," UoC student Kenneth Rogers said. However, view of a 3rd year PHD student, Liu Jialu, is somewhat different. "Neighborhoods near UoC are kind of special. One neighborhood is called Hyde Park, where most of the students live. It is adjacent to UoC, but is not safe around there." She said areas south to 60th and west to Drexel Street are minority neighborhoods. It means that the university's surrounding areas are not very safe, but people don't usually go to those places," she said. Established in 1890, UoC is a private research university with around 15,000 students overall. For safety concern, UoC has bought the neighborhoods. Every single apartment building between 47th street and 61st street is now owned by UoC. They filled the apartments with their own students, faculty and staff. Then they make sure to rent the other spare rooms to people whose background they had checked and trusted. UoC's another step is to hire the third largest police force in the state of Illinois, after the City of Chicago and the City of Springfield. Liu said "on campus there is a blue emergency box every 10 meters with its serial number on it. Once you are in need, you can run to the nearest emergency box and press the button on it. It will send off alarm and you get positioned automatically." David, a UoC student, said "if you press the button, UoC police will usually come to that location. If you are not able to stay in that location because maybe someone is following you, you can keep on pressing the blue lights and UoC police will know where you are." Liu said usually there will be an university security guard every one or two blocks." They keep on guard until 2:00 a.m., so they can keep students safe." During freshman orientation, the university will give the new students police's phone numbers. If anything happens, they are supposed to call the police, who will be here in three or five minutes, she added. Free bus service is an extra measure to protect the students in UoC. "The university provides bus service during day time, and then there are shuttles at night. The shuttles will stop at your wave at any bus stop, and take you home," Liu said. Keeping safety on minds, students of UoC have their own tips to avoid potential danger. "First of all, don't walk alone on the street at night. Even during daytime you should stick to main roads, and try to avoid remote roads. It is better to travel with classmates and in groups," Liu said. "When you are walking, especially at night, do not just walk or play your smart phone. Your phone could be robbed. At the same time it is hard for you to see the surroundings. You should keep aware of the situation while walking," Liu suggested. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 03:38:52|Editor: yan Video Player Close NICOSIA, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Cyprus sent 60 firefighters to help in combating fires which are raging out of control in several areas of the country, including some popular tourist islands. The firefighters, along with some vehicles, were flown to Greece by transport planes of the Greek Airforce. Greece appealed to the European Union for help in fighting the fires which have been raging for several days near Athens and also in the Peloponnese. A spokeswoman said Greece asked European countries to send mainly firefighting aircraft. Authorities in Athens have said that some of the fires were caused by high tension electric wires passing through forests, but consider most others to be the act of arsonists and have arrest some suspects. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 03:38:56|Editor: yan Video Player Close by Li Jizhi, Elina Xu HELSINKI, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- "Look at the fandom! Most of them are at their 40s or 50s. If a literature is welcomed by the chubby middle aged only, then where is the future of it?" Chinese leading sci-fi writer Liu Cixin still remembered that the science fiction used to enjoy a golden age when almost all the writers and readers were vigorous youngsters. Xinhua reporters talked with Liu following an awarding ceremony of the Hugo Awards, deemed the highest honors for science fiction works, at the 75th World Science Fiction Conference in Helsinki last weekend. Liu's novel "The Three-Body Problem III: Death's End" did not win out although it was within the finalists of the Hugo Award for Best Novel. The winner was "The Obelisk Gate", the second book of a popular series written by American novelist N. K. Jemisin, who was the winner of the same award last year. While Jemisin set the plot on a strange planet, she portrayed a picture that actually happens on the earth, with great effort in depicting the disparities between social classes. LIGHT FANTASY STYLE Liu Cixin witnessed a lot more of the Hugo winning works focusing on real lift problems such as ethnic discrimination, sexual bias, the impact of AI on human society etc in recent years. Different storytelling styles have also been adopted, he added. Another example is the series of epic novels "A Song of Ice and Fire", which features what Liu described "a light fantasy style". "The fantasy element is not so evident in the novel, and the writer has shown great restraint in application of the super natural force," he elaborated. Unlike the legendary work written by George P. R. Martin, the Chinese bestseller "The Three-Body Problem" written by Liu Cixin is considered representative of the traditional faction, or known as "hard science fiction". It won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2015, and was said to be possible to revive the taste of the genre. "Actually it hasn't, and will never revive," said Liu. He told Xinhua, not without regret, that he would probably never again win the Hugo Award in his life. Similarly regrettably, another excellent traditional science fiction series, "The Exapanse" has not won any of the Hugo Awards or Nebula Awards at all, noted Liu. LACK OF MYSTERY The cause of the decline of the traditional science fiction literary, Liu believes, is the lack of sense of mystery of science. The science has been developed to an extent that people are surrounded and bombarded by all kinds of new technologies "so that people are not any more curious about the science fiction," he said. The Americans started to try to turn the tide in 1970s, putting more effort on literariness, describing more of human thoughts than the aliens'. "But the effort seems to have little effect," said Liu. The shortened distance between real science and the science fiction is the fatal challenge to traditional sci-fi writers, and what adds to the frustration is that Liu can "see no way out of the dilemma." Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 03:49:02|Editor: yan Video Player Close ASTANA, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Kazakh government has approved national investment strategy for 2018-2022 on Tuesday, seeking to increase inflow of foreign investments by 26 percent in the next five years. According to the strategy, Kazakhstan is also to create more favourable investment climate and effectively cooperating with 36 countries, which are important investors. Minister of Investment and Development Zhenis Kassymbek said that the strategy was developed with the participation of Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev and the World Bank. He said if the strategy is successfully implemented in the next five years, Kazakhstan is expected to increase direct investment by 26 percent. The absorbed investments are expected to help raise the country's export by 50 percent, he said. He also emphasised that the main goal of the strategy is to create favourable investment climate and attract investments. He explained that government is interested in foreign investments in non-resource industries, which will give the state an opportunity to develop own export potential. Kassymbek said that Ministry for Investment and Development will cooperate with Ministry of Foreign Affairs to develop an individual approach and a concrete plan of actions for each country. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 04:34:30|Editor: ying Photo taken on Aug. 15, 2017 shows the mudslide site in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma has declared seven days of mourning across the country with immediate effect. The president made the announcement through national TV, the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday after a devastating mudslide early Monday killed nearly 300 people on the outskirts of Freetown. (Xinhua/Liu Yu) FREETOWN, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma has declared seven days of mourning across the country with immediate effect. The president made the announcement through national TV, the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday after a devastating mudslide early Monday killed nearly 300 people on the outskirts of capital city Freetown. According to a statement from the Office of the President, the national mourning will start from Aug. 16 to Aug. 22, during which period all flags would be flown at half mast. The general public is also requested to observe a minute of silence at 12 midday on Wednesday, the statement said. "The President has further decided to invoke MAC-C (Military Aid to Civil Community) and to raise the national security threat level to level 3 in direct response to the unfolding emergency situation," the statement said. The government also requests bereaved families to continue to identify their fallen loved ones at the Connaught Hospital Mortuary between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Wednesday at the mortuary where they will be advised on the burial procedure, according to the statement. It said that unidentified corpses will be given dignified burial at Waterloo between Aug. 17 and Aug. 18. It added that the government will continue to provide the public with regular updates on the situation. Deputy Minister of Information and Communication, Hon. Cornnelius Deveaux told journalists earlier Tuesday in an emergency press briefing that the total number of deaths reported at the Connaught Hospital is 297, including 109 children, 83 women and 105 men. He said the search to identify corpses and possible survivors is still in progress as hundreds more are feared to remain missing after the mudslide hit. Mourners and passersby surround an impromptu memorial of flowers and chalk notes written on the street commemorating the victims at the scene of the car attack on a group of counter-protesters during the "Unite the Right" rally inCharlottesville, Virginia, August 14, 2017.(REUTERS/Justin Ide) by Matthew Rusling WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- The United States is reeling after one woman died and several people were injured during the weekend's clashes between white power protesters and counter demonstrators. Experts fear such incidents could increase amid a recent jump in the number of white supremacy groups. On Saturday, in the city of Charlottesville, Virginia, reports depicted a violent scene, in which white supremacists - and those demonstrating against them - threw fists, wielded sticks and shields and left each other bruised, bloodied and battered. Suddenly and without warning, in the middle of the chaos, a driver plowed his car through a group of counter demonstrators, sending bodies flying into mid-air, killing one 32 year-old woman and wounding nearly two dozen more. The weekend's violence underscores a growing white supremacy movement in the United States. While such groups remain on the fringe, some experts fear their numbers could grow. "What happened in Charlottesville is the toxic outcome of a growing neo-Nazi, white nationalist movement that has felt emboldened partially by some of President Trump' s statements," Dan Mahaffee, senior vice president and director of policy at the Center for the Study of Congress and the Presidency, told Xinhua. "And more significantly (the groups have been spurred on) by the growth of right wing movements that have found an echo chamber in which to grow and flourish on the Internet," Mahaffee said. The liberal Southern Poverty Law Center, which keeps tabs on hate groups, said in a report published earlier this year that the number of U.S.-based hate groups operating in 2016 rose to 917 - up from 892 in 2015, although the list included all hate groups, including anti-white hate groups comprising African Americans. The number is 101 shy of the all-time record set in 2011, but high by historic standards, the group said. The organization said the radical right has been energized by U.S. President Donald Trump. Some on the radical right perceive Trump to be on their side, on comments he made during his campaign, in which he compared Mexican illegal immigrants to rapists during a speech in which he promised to stem the massive tide of illegal immigration into the United States. Trump was blasted over the weekend for what critics said was dragging his feet on condemning white hate groups such as the KKK and Neo Nazis, although on Monday Trump spoke from the White House on the issue, calling racism "evil" and lambasting Neo Nazis and KKK members as "criminals and thugs." Chapters of the KKK - a racist, white power group that was once powerful in the American South but has lost much of its former influence -- grew from 72 in 2014 to 190 last year. The group was invigorated by the 364 pro-Confederate battle flag rallies that took place after South Carolina took down the flag from its Capitol grounds following the 2015 massacre of nine black churchgoers by a white supremacist flag enthusiast in Charleston, South Carolina, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Speaking of the weekend's protests, Mahaffee said: "Combined with other right wing militia movements, in the case of Charlottesville, they were better armed and better organized than the police," Mahaffee said. Indeed, media reports said police failed to form a barricade between the two groups, which is standard police procedure in such cases, and seemed to be overwhelmed by the chaos. "What is most concerning about Charlottesville is that at least one member appears to have adopted the car attack tactics that were utilized by ISIS, and the concern is that this will inspire copycats who want to carry out further acts of domestic terrorism," Mahaffee said, referring to a common method attack used by an Islamist terror group. MORE VIOLENCE TO COME Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua that, going forward, the United States may see more such violence if the lives of Trump supporters - many of whom voted for him because they were struggling financially -- do not see their lives improve. "Trump supporters expect the President to make their lives better. If that does not happen, they will be deeply disillusioned and likely to grow even more frustrated," West said. That, West believes, could increase the number of those engaging in racism and political mayhem. "There is the risk they will join other like-minded people and engage in racist behavior and political violence," he said. "The coming years may be more volatile and tumultuous in the United States," he said. WHITE, WORKING CLASS FRUSTRATION The growth of such groups is a radical manifestation of myriad changes impacting white, working class Americans, a demographic that has felt the sting of joblessness in recent decades as factory jobs have moved down to Mexico or overseas. Indeed, while the official U.S. jobless rate hovers around 5 percent, that figure only calculates those who are actively seeking full time employment, and many believe the real number is dramatically higher. Millions of Americans - many are whites in rural areas - have given up seeking work on the utter lack of prospects. Moreover, critics say the rate skews the real situation. For example, an out-of-work engineer, who cuts his neighbor's lawn for one day and receives 20 U.S. dollars - enough to buy a couple of meals - is counted as employed for that entire week by the government bureau that compiles the U.S. jobless reports. Many others are finding only part time work, although that situation differs sharply from the employment situation in major cities like Washington DC and New York. In those and other large cities, wages are high and jobs are abundant. Moreover, many working class whites feel their lifestyle and belief systems are being threatened by what they see as an elite government in Washington that does not have their best interests in mind. And at a time when there are 11 million illegal immigrants in the country, many believe - rightly or wrongly - that wages in such industries as construction are being driven down by illegal migrants. This demographic has been angry for some time, and saw in Trump someone who would put them back to work, deport illegal migrants they believed were taking their jobs, and correct what they saw as unfair trade practises they feel threatened their livelihood. Many Trump supporters, however, are quick to point out that the weekend's violence constitutes only a fringe group of Trump supporters. Others point out that most Americans are not as focused on the nation's political situation as are vocal minorities on both sides. Some non-radical Trump supporters argue that it is not Trump's fault that right-wing radicals follow him, and contend that many radical whites have interpreted Trump's statements to mean whatever the radicals want them to mean. Others maintain that every word out of a U.S. president's mouth can have consequences, and Trump must be much more careful with what he says, as he is known for emotional outbursts and over-the-top statements. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 07:25:56|Editor: ying Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- A new study by the University of California, Berkeley, suggests that elemental sulfur, the most heavily used pesticide in California, may harm the respiratory health of children living near farms that use the pesticide. Published this week in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, the study establishes associations between elemental sulfur use and reduced lung function, more asthma-related symptoms and higher asthma medication use in children living about a half-mile, namely 800 meters, or less from recent elemental sulfur applications compared to unexposed children. The research was conducted at the agricultural community in Salinas Valley, south of San Francisco Bay. Generally considered to be safe for the environment and human health by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), elemental sulfur is allowed for use on conventional and organic crops to control fungus and other pests. It is the most heavily used agricultural pesticide in California and Europe, according to a news release from UC Berkeley. In California alone, more than 21 million kilograms of elemental sulfur were applied in agriculture in 2013. However, previous studies have shown that elemental sulfur is a respiratory irritant to exposed farm workers. The chemical's effect on residential populations, especially children, living near treated fields has not previously been studied despite its widespread use and potential to drift from the fields where it is applied. In the first study to link agricultural use of sulfur with poorer respiratory health in children living nearby, Rachel Raanan, a UC Berkeley postdoctoral fellow and the study's lead author, and her colleagues examined lung function and asthma-related respiratory symptoms in hundreds of children living near fields where sulfur had been applied, leading to the discovery of several associations between poorer respiratory health and nearby elemental sulfur use. Among them, a 10-fold increase in the estimated amount of elemental sulfur used within 1 kilometer of a child's residence during the year prior to pulmonary evaluation was associated with a 3.5-fold increased odds in asthma medication usage and a two-fold increased odds in respiratory symptoms such as wheezing and shortness of breath; and each 10-fold increase in the amount of sulfur applied in the previous 12 months within a 1-kilometer radius of the home was associated with an average decrease of 143 milliliters per second (mL/s) in the maximal amount of air that the 7-year-old children could forcefully exhale in one second. For comparison, the research has shown that exposure to maternal cigarette smoke is associated with a decrease of 101 mL/s after five years of exposure. The study's authors call for more research to confirm these findings and possible changes in regulations and application methods to limit impacts of sulfur use on respiratory health. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson delivers remarks on August 1, 2017, at the briefing room of the US State Department in Washington, DC. (AFP PHOTO/PAUL J. RICHARDS) WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday that the United States remains open to talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). "We continue to be interested in trying to find a way to get to dialogue but that's up to him (DPRK) top leader Kim Jong-un," Tillerson told reporters here at a press conference. Tension has remained high on the Korean Peninsula over the past days between the United States and the DPRK after the DPRK military said last Thursday that its plan to strike Guam with intermediate missiles will be ready by mid-August and its implementation will depend on a decision by the DPRK's top leader Kim Jong-un. It was a response to U.S. President Donald Trump's unusually stern warning to the DPRK last week, when he said the DPRK "best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen." Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 07:39:18|Editor: ying A man leaves after receiving bread from a charity center in Sanaa, Yemen, on Aug. 15, 2017. Auke Lootsma, UN Development Program (UNDP) Country Director, said on Aug. 1 that the war-torn Yemen, already reeling from malnutrition and dwindling health care, is plummeting into further distress amid a deadly cholera outbreak and looming famine. (Xinhua/Mohammed Mohammed) Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 07:35:59|Editor: ying Video Player Close SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, have found that administering a fragment of the klotho - a life-extending protein hormone that a minority of people naturally produce at high levels - to young, aging or impaired mice rapidly improves their cognitive and physical performance. While previous studies had revealed associations between elevated klotho levels and better cognition, that research had been done with mice genetically engineered to continuously produce high klotho levels and in people carrying genetic variants that caused them to have high klotho levels throughout life. As a result, it was unclear whether klotho could be administered like a drug to rapidly enhance cognitive functioning in mice or people with normal or low levels of the hormone. Published online recently in Cell Reports, the new study by Dena Dubal, associate professor of neurology and senior author of the paper, and her colleagues found clear evidence of improved cognition across a range of domains, including spatial learning and memory, as well as working memory. The beneficial effects that the team saw in young mice occurred within hours, and they far outlasted the time that klotho remained active in the body, suggesting that there is a long-lasting effect of even a single treatment. And in testing aged mice that, at 18 months old, are at about the same stage in the mouse lifespan as a 65-year-old human, the team found that a single injection of klotho was enough to significantly improve their ability to navigate and to learn new tasks. In addition, the researchers looked at mice that were engineered to produce a human protein called alpha-synuclein, which is a hallmark of Parkinson's disease and contributes to Alzheimer's disease. Giving klotho to these mice improved their motor function. The klotho-treated mice also learned better and were more willing than untreated mice to explore new territory, even though their brains remained loaded with toxic proteins. Naturally produced in both the kidney and the brain, klotho is a complex hormone that affects many different systems in the body. Once produced, it lodges itself in cell membranes, then enzymes cleave off a portion that circulates in the blood and the cerebrospinal fluid that bathes the brain and spinal cord. The new findings about klotho, according to Dubal in a news release from UCSF, are helping to illuminate the dimly understood connections between the body and the brain. | 2017-08-16 08:20:56|Editor: ying Egypt ian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi (C) lays a wreath to honor the victims of the 1994 genocide at Kigali Genocide Memorial in Kigali, capital of Rwanda, on Aug. 15, 2017. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi on Tuesday arrived in Kigali, starting his two-day visit in Rwanda as part of the visit to four African countries. (Xinhua/Gabriel Dusabe) KIGALI, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Tuesday arrived in the Rwandan capital Kigali , starting his two-day visit in Rwanda as part of the visit to four African countries. Upon landing at Kigali International Airport at around 11:55 a.m., Sisi was received by Rwandan President Paul Kagame, and greeted by an honor guard detachment mounted by Rwanda Defence Forces. The visit comes within the framework of Sisi's effort to strengthen political and economic ties with other African countries to accelerate cooperation on various issues geared towards the growth of the continent. At his arrival, the Egyptian leader headed to Kigali Genocide Memorial to honor the victims of the 1994 genocide where he laid wreath on mass graves of genocide victims at the memorial. Speaking to reporters, Namira Negm, Egyptian ambassador to Rwanda said that Egypt and Rwanda enjoy cordial relationship but the visit will cement it further. "Our president's visit to Rwanda and the region will focus mainly on promoting trade ties and boosting political and economic relations," she said. Before visiting Rwanda, Sisi visited Tanzania and he is expected to visit Chad on Thursday, and then to Gabon. Diplomatic relations between Rwanda and Egypt have been strengthened in recent years with both countries establishing diplomatic missions in the two respective capitals. In 2015, Rwanda appointed the first ambassador resident in Egyptian capital Cairo, the former mufti of Rwanda, Sheikh Saleh Habimana. Statistics from the Rwandan ministry of trade indicated Rwanda generated 30 million U.S. dollars in 2015 in exports to Egypt while Egypt earned 64 million dollars from exports to Rwanda. Every year, the Egypt and Middle East trade show is organized in Rwanda, during which products made in Egypt are exhibited which attracts local market from Rwanda hence boosting Egyptian investments to the small central African country. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 09:34:26|Editor: An People of Yi ethnic group dance with tourists during a celebration of the annual torch festival in Qinglong County, southwest China's Guizhou Province, Aug. 15, 2017. The 7th Torch Festival "Colorful Guizhou" kicked off in Qinglong on Tuesday. Local people of Yi ethnic group and tourists from across China gathered to enjoy dancing and singing here. (Xinhua/Chen Haining) Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 09:41:17|Editor: ying Video Player Close LOS ANGELES, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- More than 150 lightning strikes sparked wildfires throughout the Glacier National Park of the United States, which may continue to burn till snow season comes, according to a press release on the park's Facebook account Tuesday. Last Thursday, a storm brought a small blanket of rain and a lot of lightning through the area, sparking a wildfire coded "Sprague Fire" in such dry conditions, which scorched 100 acres (0.4 square km), said the press release. Local fire department has evacuated dozens of visitors before closing the park, and used "a confine and contain suppression strategy" against the fire, since it burned in a steep terrain. "The park expects that this fire may continue to burn in some capacity throughout the summer season before a snow event this fall," said the press release, with a picture showing two spots of bright flames burning on a green steep ridge. Glacier National Park, located in the U.S. state of Montana on the Canada-U.S. border, is one of the most popular outdoor adventure places during summer time in the country, with 3 million people visiting it last year. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 10:27:32|Editor: ying Video Player Close CANBERRA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- More than a third of Australia's emergency doctors face "ongoing, severe" workplace bullying or harassment, a national study has found. More than 2,100 members of the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine took part in the survey which asked them about their experience at work. One third, or 700, respondents said they had been bullied in the workplace during their career. Tony Lawler, president of the college, said the results "sickened" him. "It is a tragedy that any individual would feel so disempowered and threatened in their workplace that is supposed to be a safe and supported place for them," Lawler told Australian media on Wednesday. Examples detailed in the study, released on Wednesday, included cases of physicians feeling humiliated by other doctors when presenting patients' cases, trainees facing personal attacks when seeking feedback and doctors being physically abused by their peers. "It was confronting and disconcerting for the college to see the scale of the problem." The study said that doctors in Australian emergency departments were being subjected to "ongoing, severe, daily bullying." According to one respondent, who remained anonymous, female trainees were regularly singled out and told "not to apply for a resident job if they planned on getting pregnant." "We were told that we should put our eggs on ice if we want to get through training," the respondent said. Trainee doctors, in particular women and trainees who spoke English as a second language, experienced higher rates of bullying and harassment. More than 20 percent of respondents said they experienced harassment while more than 6 percent went through sexual harassment. "What really concerned us was that there was a strong element of individuals experiencing bullying from within our own professional group, within emergency medicine," Lawler said. "This is something that we find obviously completely unacceptable." Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 10:47:39|Editor: ying Video Player Close CANBERRA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has criticized a local government for its decision to abolish any reference to Australia Day. Melbourne's Yarra Council on Tuesday night voted unanimously to stop referring to Jan. 26 as Australia Day and stop holding citizenship ceremonies on the day. Australia Day marks the anniversary of the arrival of the First Fleet in Australia in 1788, but Indigenous Australians have long referred to it as Invasion Day, calling it a symbol of the loss of Aboriginal culture associated with the landing. Turnbull on Wednesday morning said the council's vote was a rejection of the values associated with Australia Day. "The council is using a day that should unite Australians to divide Australians," Turnbull told reporters in Canberra on Wednesday. "I recognize Australia Day, and its history, is complex for many Indigenous Australians but the overwhelming majority of Australians believe the 26th of January is the day and should remain our national day. "The citizenship ceremonies around Australia are all about inclusion. We begin with a welcome to country and an acknowledgment of country, and we celebrate our multicultural nation; we celebrate the oldest continuous human culture on earth, of our First Australians, just as we celebrate the youngest baby in the newest citizen's arms." He said that the Yarra Council would be stripped of its authority to conduct citizenship ceremonies as early as Thursday. Stephen Jolly, a City of Yarra councillor, said that people within the area would still be free to celebrate however they saw fit on Jan. 26. "We are a small council. If the City of Yarra decides to call it January 26 ... that does not stop the vast majority of people in the council area calling it Australia Day," Jolly said. "No one is going to jail because they are having an Australia Day barbecue." Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 11:17:46|Editor: ying Video Player Close HO CHI MINH CITY, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- A Vietnamese court handed down a death sentence on a 34-year-old leader of a trans-provincial drug trafficking ring and life imprisonment on three of his underlings, local media reported Wednesday. The court in southern Binh Duong province on Tuesday passed the death penalty on Do Xuan Loi from central Thua Thien Hue province, and the three life sentences on three other men from central Binh Thuan province, southern An Giang province, and Ho Chi Minh City, including an elder brother of Loi's wife, daily newspaper Tuoi Tre (Youth) reported. Till their arrest in 2015, Loi and his accomplices had traded and transported 7 kg of drugs from northern Hai Phong city to Vietnam's southern region for retail sales, and illegally possessed three guns. According to Vietnamese law, those convicted of smuggling over 600 grams of heroin or more than 2.5 kg of methamphetamine are punishable by death. Making or trading 100 grams of heroin or 300 grams of other illegal drugs also faces death penalty. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 11:27:49|Editor: An by Xinhua Writer Zhi Linfei CAIRO, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- As the Middle East continues to be mired in chaotic violence, rivalry and terrorism, an old question is raised again: what is the way out for the volatile region? Far too often, people are inclined to look to the U.S.-led West for answers. But, unfortunately, it seems that the West has over the decades nearly run out of options for peace in the Middle East without achieving a major breakthrough. One fact that is too often ignored is that the West itself is part of the problem in the Middle East. For example, the one-sided U.S. support to Israel is blamed for the deadlock in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which has been punctuated from time to time by violent clashes like those in East Jerusalem in July. A visit to the Gulf in May by U.S. President Donald Trump is suspected to be behind the ongoing standoff in the Gulf between Qatar and the Saudi Arabia-led quartet. Not to mention the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, as well as the U.S.-led military intervention in Libya and Syria, which have sown seeds of hatred, suffering and poverty, and have further have spawned violence and terrorism. Disappointed at the West, many people in the Middle East are longing for a new voice, or a new initiative from parties beyond the Western world to help push forward the regional peace process. A rising China ready to take more international responsibilities stands out as an alternative. China has been impartial and fair on the issues that have plagued the Middle East, presenting a unique vision of the region's future. In sharp contrast to many Western powers' arrogance, selfishness and inclination to resort to the use of force, China's option upholds that dialogue is key to overcoming differences and development to eliminating poverty and conflicts. First, China always calls for resolving differences and feuds through diplomacy and political dialogue. Regarding the recent Israeli-Palestinian violence and the standoff in the Gulf, it has urged all parties to seek a solution through dialogue and talks. Second, China is working hard to promote economic development in the Middle East, trying, in a creative way, to lead the region out of chaos, poverty and inequality, which are the major root causes of violence and terrorism. While stepping up its humanitarian aid to the war-torn or hunger-stricken countries in the region, such as Syria, South Sudan, Yemen and Palestine, China has also welcomed all countries in the region to join its Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to build trade and infrastructure networks along ancient Silk Road trade routes to seek common development and prosperity. The initiative is designed to enable participating countries to create more jobs and bring a better life to their people. With projects for new roads, bridges, railways and ports, among others, China has offered real hope for building a new Middle East that will enjoy peace and prosperity in a foreseeable future. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 12:23:12|Editor: Yurou Video Player Close SEOUL, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's highest economic policymaker and top central banker agreed Wednesday to take measures, if necessary, to stabilize financial markets amid rising geopolitical risks on the Korean Peninsula. Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon, who doubles as deputy prime minister for economic affairs, met with Bank of Korea (BOK) Governor Lee Ju-yeol to discuss the peninsula's geopolitical risks and the relevant effect on the financial market. The BOK governor said volatility rose last week both in the domestic and international financial markets due to geopolitical risks, noting that market anxiety could be heightened again though the volatility eased more or less. He said South Korea's economic fundamental remained fine given the large-scale current account surplus and the significant amount of foreign currency reserves, but he noted that the BOK and the government would make active efforts to stabilize markets. The financial minister said the government would sternly take market-stabilizing measures together with the BOK, if necessary, while closely monitoring market moves. It was agreed upon by the central banker. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 12:23:13|Editor: Liangyu Villagers carrying a patient wade through a flooded road in Sitamarhi, India's eastern state of Bihar, on Aug. 17, 2017. The floods in India's eastern state of Bihar killed at least 91 people and affected over 9.6 million others, officials said Wednesday. (Xinhua/Stringer) NEW DELHI, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The floods in India's eastern state of Bihar killed at least 91 people and affected over 9.6 million others, officials said Wednesday. According to officials, heavy rains for the past three days triggered flash floods, inundating large swathes of land in the districts north and east of Patna city, the capital of Bihar. The incessant rains in catchment areas of neighbouring Nepal too have contributed to the worsening situation, reports said. The deluge has hit 12 districts and flood situation continues to be grim. "Rescue and relief work is being carried out," state's Chief Minister Nitish Kumar told media. "The increasing water level and incessant rains have caused floods inflicting a heavy loss." Thousands of residents have been forced to flee their homes even as disaster relief force personnel and troops were carrying rescue operations. The authorities have set up relief camps for the affected people. "Around 12 districts are reeling under the impact of flood," an official said. "More than 340 relief camps have been set up in the affected areas, where thousands of people are taking shelter." The local government has announced a compensation of 6,216 U.S. dollars for each family that has lost member in the floods. Authorities said two helicopters have also been pressed into service to airdrop food packets in the affected areas. The deluge has hampered rail traffic in the areas as rail traffic between Sitamarhi and Darbhanga has been stopped in the wake of damaged railway tracks. The state's chief minister conducted an aerial survey of the flood-hit districts. A government spokesman said the chief minister was closely monitoring the situation. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 13:13:23|Editor: ying Video Player Close SEOUL, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Foreign holdings of South Korean stocks hit a new monthly high last month despite the rising geopolitical risks on the Korean Peninsula, financial watchdog data showed Wednesday. Foreign holdings of domestic listed stocks amounted to 605.7 trillion won (530.7 billion U.S. dollars) as of end-July, topping the 600 trillion-won mark for the first time, according to the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). The figure accounted for 33.4 percent of the total market capitalization. The expansion was attributable to the record-breaking trend of the main stock index. Foreigners continued to buy local stocks by mid-July. Foreigners, however, began to reduce local stock holdings as tensions mounted on the peninsula. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) test-fired what it called intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) twice in early and late July. Offshore investors purchased a net 579 billion won worth of local stocks in July. U.S. and European investors were net buyers, but Middle East investors dumped shares. Meanwhile, foreign ownership of local listed bonds reached 106.5 trillion won as of end-July, taking up 6.4 percent of the total listed bonds. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 13:23:29|Editor: ying Video Player Close HANOI, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam is considering to levy a special consumption tax on soft drinks, the Tax Policy Department under the country's Finance Ministry said on Wednesday. The ministry will propose a tax rate of either 10 percent or 20 percent which is expected to be imposed from 2019, the department said, explaining that the tax is in line with international practice and helps regulate consumption of sugar-containing drinks that can lead to obesity. The Finance Ministry will also propose increasing special consumption taxes on cigarettes to 75 percent in 2019 from the current 70 percent. Vietnam annually produces some 5 billion packs of cigarettes and consumes around 4 billion packs, so if the absolute excise tax rate of 1,000 Vietnamese dong is imposed, its state budget will expand by about 4,000 billion Vietnamese dong (177 million U.S. dollars) a year, said the department. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 13:23:30|Editor: ying Video Player Close SYDNEY, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Melbourne in Australia was rated the world's most livable city on Wednesday, for the seventh consecutive year. The Economist Intelligence Unit in Britain measures the livability standards of 140 countries around the world each year, by comparing stability, culture and environmental conditions. According to the report, the main reason Melbourne ranks so high, is due to its strong healthcare, education and infrastructure scores, but the city's low crime also helped to keep it at top spot. Victorian State minister for tourism John Eren, explained in a statement obtained by Xinhua, that "Victoria has the best of everything - big events, great schools and more jobs than anywhere in the country." "Every Melburnian knows that they're living in the world's greatest city - and this proves it yet again," Eren added. Coming in at second, third and fourth where Vienna, Vancouver and Toronto respectively. Another Australian city, Adelaide, took out fifth spot and Western Australia's Perth was as high as seventh. But the soaring cost of housing, along with the increasing threat of terrorism saw Sydney miss out on the top 10 for the second year in a row, to be ranked at 11th place. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 14:08:57|Editor: ying Video Player Close by Yan Lei, Yang Ting, Wang Kejia TOKYO, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- A documentary recently released by Japan's public broadcaster NHK has triggered heated discussions and calls for reflection upon the war history in Japanese society. The documentary, titled "The Truth of Harbin Unit 731," revealed the outrageous crimes committed by Unit 731, a covert biological and chemical warfare research and development unit of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. OUTRAGEOUS ATROCITIES Unit 731, notorious for cold-blooded lethal human experimentation among other crimes, is a subject seldom touched in Japan, with the authorities eager to cover up and even deny that part of history. The documentary, released on Aug. 13 by NHK, however, through testimonies of Unit 731 participants and authentic records of the Khabarovsk War Crimes Trials in 1949, presents vividly the cruel yet irrefutable historical truth to the unwitting public. Unit 731 was based at the Pingfang district of Harbin, the largest city then in northeast China. The unit, set up around 1936, conducted experiments on live human beings to test germ-releasing bombs and chemical bombs among other atrocities. The majority of the victims they experimented on were Chinese, while a small percentage were Soviet, Mongolian, Korean, and soldiers of the Allied Forces taken captive. Some of them were children. "I have seen no one left the camp alive (after being experimented on)," testified Kiyoshi Kawashima, an officer of Unit 731, according to an audio record of the Khabarovsk War Crimes Trials in 1949. Toshihide Nishi, a medical officer, testified at the trials that they had taken the captives outside where the temperature was below minus 20 degrees Celsius, and fanned the victims to cause frostbites. Kurakazu, another officer, testified that he had seen fingers of three Chinese victims in such an frostbite experiment turn black and chip off in the freezing temperature. Takeshi Misumi, only 14 years old when he joined the unit as a junior member, told NHK that he saw with his own eyes how the unit conducted lethal human experimentation. He also testified that just before the war ended in 1945, in order to cover up their atrocities, the unit, under the order of Japanese military, killed all the people they were experimenting on and who were still alive. Misumi was ordered to pour gasoline on the bodies and put them on fire. The horrible scenes have since haunted him for the rest of his life. "The war is so cruel, so inhuman ... It is something that should never have happened," he said with tears in eyes in the documentary. HISTORY SHALL BE REMEMBERED The documentary, while irritating the ultra-rightwing forces, exposed many Japanese people to the truth of the war, and many start to reflect upon history. Nobuo Okimatsu, veteran at World War II and head of a civil group dedicated to promoting Sino-Japanese friendship, said that in Japan, the truth about Unit 731 is a part of the history that has been touchy to many, but it is also something that the people shall know about. "The Japanese people shall know about the crimes that Japan has committed in the past," he said. Tamaki Matsuoka, a former primary teacher who has devoted 30 years of her life conveying the historic truth about the 1937 Nanjing Massacre to the Japanese people, said it was great for the documentary to make public the audio records about Unit 731 and the Khabarovsk Trials. But she also pointed out that the documentary failed to ask the question why most of the officers and researchers responsible for the crimes of Unit 731 went back to Japan untried and unblamed after the war, and even enjoyed academic fame afterwards. Instead of being tried for war crimes, the researchers involved in Unit 731 were secretly given immunity by the United States in exchange for the data they gathered through human experimentation. Only those few that had been arrested by Soviet forces first were tried at the Khabarovsk War Crime Trials in 1949. "Japan has been trying to cover up the history for over 70 years ... Whitewashing the war crimes and highlighting its own sufferings to pretend to be the victim instead of the victimizer, does no good to Japan if it wants to rebuild relationship with its neighbors in Asia," she added. AN ALARM FOR THE PRESENT While calling for the war crimes of Unit 731 to be never forgotten, scholars in Japan are alarmed about the current situation that has some similarities to those before the end of the war, especially as the government is attempting to revise the pacifist Constitution, and is allocating more funds for military research programs in universities. During the World War II, Japanese military and universities had rather close bonds, with the military providing research funds for the universities, while universities supplied the military with the so-called "research talents." For instance, according to NHK, Kyoto University sent 37 medical researchers to help the invading Japanese army in China in 1936, and the yearly number rose to 75 in 1942. Other universities such as the University of Tokyo and Keio University were also sending an increasing number of researchers to the army. "As the documentary showed, the best universities at that time in Japan all provided research personnel for the invading army and became accomplices to the war crimes," said Hiroshi Onishi, a professor of economics at Keio University in Tokyo. He added that the documentary sounded the alarm bell for the present, as Japan's Defense Ministry started a research funding program called National Security Technology Research Promotion in the fiscal 2015, which assists and supports the research of technologies that could be used for military equipment. "Budget for the program was 300 million yen (2.71 million U.S. dollars) in fiscal 2015, 600 million yen (5.42 million U.S. dollars) in fiscal 2016, and surged to 11 billion yen (100 million U.S. dollars) in fiscal 2017," said Onishi. "While the government is cutting funds for fundamental research, the surge in budget for the funding program for military research could lead astray the research in universities and research institutions, especially public universities which rely on government support," said Onishi. Satoru Ikeuchi, professor emeritus at Nagoya University, said the researchers, once in the government funding program, have to report their research results to the Defense Ministry, and even after the sponsorship ends, follow-up surveys on the researcher could still be conducted, and researchers involved could hardly get rid of the influence of the Defense Ministry. Japanese academic circles have been stepping up their protests against this research funding program. Science Council of Japan (SCJ), an organization set up in 1949 to represent Japan's scientists both domestically and internationally, issued a statement in March, reiterating the commitment not to conduct research for military purposes, and calling for scientists not to join that program. Takashi Okada, commentator from Japan's Kyodo News, said that stepping up support for military research was consistent with the Abe administration's previous policies including the attempts to revise pacifist Constitution, lifting the ban on collective self-defense rights, and allowing exports of military equipment by changing the "Three Principles on Arms Exports." If this trend goes on unchecked, academic freedom and independence would be infringed upon and the past mistakes of scholars becoming accomplices of war crimes could be repeated in Japan, a number of Japanese scholars told Xinhua. "In this sense, records about the atrocities committed by Unit 731 should also be listed on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register, just like the documents about the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, so that that historical lesson could never be forgotten," Okada said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 15:10:54|Editor: Zhou Xin People collect the bodies of victims of militants attack in Mirza Olang district of Sari Pul province, Afghanistan, Aug. 15, 2017. Local Afghans and security forces discovered around 40 bodies in a mass grave in the northern Sari Pul province on Tuesday amid government forces' cleanup operations in the troubled region. (Xinhua/Mohammad Jan Aria) SARI PUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Local Afghans and security forces discovered around 40 bodies in a mass grave in the northern Sari Pul province on Tuesday amid government forces' cleanup operations in the troubled region. Militants loyal to the Islamic State (IS) group and Taliban outfit have reportedly massacred more than 50 people, all civilians, including women and children, after overrunning the strategically important Mirza Olang district two weeks ago. The IS group has claimed responsibility for the carnage and said in a statement that its fighters had killed 54 people in the troubled district during the onslaught. Although, the Taliban group has rejected its involvement in the bloodshed, villagers said that both the Taliban and IS insurgents jointly attacked Mirza Olang and committed the "crimes against humanity." Most of the victims, according to locals and media reports, had been shot dead and some beheaded. To clean up the area, the government forces launched a massive offensive over the weekend and recaptured the district of Mirza Olang on Tuesday. "The security forces succeeded in evicting the rebels from Mirza Olang and restoring government control there following heavy bombardment and ground forces operations which lasted until Tuesday," General Amanullah Mubin, commander of 209 Shaheen Corps based in the region, told the media. People in the country have described the killing of civilians in Mirza Olang as carnage and strongly condemned it. "Killing civilians including women and children is against the teaching of Islamic values and those behind the heinous crimes should be bring to justice," Kabul resident Mohammad Asghar told Xinhua. Sayed Musa, a resident of Mirza Olang district, expressed his hatred to insurgents, noting that the militants killed his son "mercilessly" although he had never taken up arms in his life. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 15:26:03|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Tuesday's terrorist attacks in Nigeria, which killed at least 27 people. In a statement released by his spokesman Stephane Dujarric late Tuesday night, the UN chief called for those responsible for the attacks in Nigeria and neighboring countries to be swiftly brought to justice. The secretary-general reiterated the UN's solidarity with the government of Nigeria in its fight against terrorism and violent extremism, said the statement. Guterres also renewed the world body's commitment to support the counter-terrorism initiatives of the Lake Chad Basin Commission, it said. Two separate suicide attacks in the northeastern Nigerian state of Borno left at least 27 people dead and many others wounded on Tuesday. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 15:46:10|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Washington has newly released an annual international religious report, which attacked China's religious policies and status and kept listing China among "countries of particular concern." The groundless assertions were nothing but a political bigotry held by the U.S. government. They once again laid bare Washington's penchant for interfering in another country's internal affairs. While still reeling from the death and violence seen at a white-nationalist rally in the city of Charlottesville, the United States should take a minute to reflect on its own human rights situation before pointing accusing fingers at China. As a matter of fact, Chinese people of all ethnic groups have enjoyed full religious freedom in accordance with the Constitution and state laws. The 2016 report released by the U.S. State Department on Monday drew its conclusions largely from unconfirmed media and NGO reports, which were not reliable sources of information. In fact, some NGOs cited are probably outlawed for harboring ulterior motives. The report also accuses China of societal discrimination of Uyghur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists, a claim distorting the truth in every way. China's ethnic policies, featuring equality, unity, regional ethnic autonomy and common prosperity, enable the country to take the lead in protecting the rights of ethnic minorities with a comprehensive set of theories, policies, systems and laws. Meanwhile, flaunting the banner of religion should by no means become a loophole that enables the avoidance of penalties for criminal activities. Some religious extremists, splittists and terrorists advocate violence within Chinese territory in the name of seeking religious freedom and human rights. As a sovereign country, China has every right to maintain its social stability and territorial integrity by cracking down on those vicious groups. China has been making great progress in recent years in human rights protection. The United States needs to give "particular attention" to its own human rights problems, including high crime rates and deteriorating race relations. Against the backdrop of the recent clash between white supremacists and their opponents, the U.S. accusations against China simply lay bare the double standard it employs. During the weekend's deadly clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, a driver plowed his car through a group of counter demonstrators, sending bodies flying into mid-air, killing a 32 year-old woman and wounding nearly two dozens more. The violence highlighted the danger of racism, which is a serious problem in a still divided U.S. society. It also caused serious concerns that the IS-style car attack tactics seen at the clashes could inspire copycats to carry out further acts of domestic terrorism. Despite its self-proclaimed role as the world's human rights champion,the fact is the world's sole superpower is far from becoming a respected role model in this regard. Therefore, Washington should end its political bigotry against China and stop interfering in China's domestic affairs by issuing inaccurate reports one year after another. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 16:11:25|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close RIYADH, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia denied on Wednesday seeking any sort of mediation with Iran, describing such news reports as baseless, Saudi News Agency reported. Different news outlets published this week reports quoting Iraqi Interior Minister, Qasim al-Arraji that Saudi Arabia asked Iraq to mediate with its rival Iran. Saudi Arabia severed all ties with Iran in 2016 over allegations that the country interferes in its internal affairs. A source from Saudi Arabia asserted in a statement on Wednesday the firm stand of his country that rejects any form of relation with Iran, accusing the country of spreading terrorism and sectarianism in the region and the world. The source said that Saudi Arabia sees the current Iranian government is non-negotiable for its disrespect of diplomatic rules and norms and international ties principles. The statement called upon the world to deter the Iranian government from its hostile acts by forcing it to stick to international law and United Nations resolutions. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 16:16:31|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close LUSAKA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- A court in Zambia on Wednesday released the country's leading opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema after the treason charge against him was dropped. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 16:51:42|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close Photo taken on Aug. 14, 2017 shows the flooding site in Freetown, Sierra Leone. More than 300 people were killed in a mudslide and flooding on Monday in the area of Sierra Leone's capital Freetown, the national broadcaster said. (Xinhua/Liu Yu) FREETOWN, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Starting on Wednesday, Sierra Leone will have a week-long national mourning for hundreds of people killed in a mudslide earlier this week as countries in Africa and elsewhere offer assistance to the poverty-stricken West African country to cope with the disaster. The massive mudslide, which occurred Monday morning following heavy rains, swept across a large area on the outskirts of Freetown, killing at least 297 people, over a third of them children, according to the latest update of casualties by the country's Emergency Response Center. Some 200 people are still missing from the mudslide, the agency said. Information from the Red Cross showed that at least 3,000 people became homeless as a result of the disaster and the number could rise further. Sierra Leones President Ernest Bai Koroma announced the decision to hold a seven-day national mourning for the mudslide victims on Tuesday. According to a statement from the Presidential Office, the national mourning will start on Aug. 16 and last until Aug. 22, and during the period all flags would be flown at half mast. The general public is also requested to observe a minute of silence at midday on Wednesday, the statement said. "The President has further decided to invoke MAC-C (Military Aid to Civil Community) and to raise the national security threat level to level 3 in direct response to the unfolding emergency situation," the statement said. The government also requests bereaved families to continue to identify their fallen loved ones at the Connaught Hospital Mortuary between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Wednesday at the mortuary where they will be advised on the burial procedure, according to the statement. It said that unidentified corpses will be given dignified burial at Waterloo between Aug. 17 and Aug. 18. It added that the government will continue to provide the public with regular updates on the situation. The total number of deaths reported at the Connaught Hospital is 297, including 109 children, 83 women and 105 men, Cornnelius Deveaux, the country's deputy minister of information and communication, told the press earlier Tuesday. Some 100 rescuers, including around 30 foreigners as well as local officers and medical workers, were at the site conducting rescue work, backed by five excavators, Wang Bo, a staff member of China Railway Seventh Group who also took part in the rescue effort, told Xinhua Tuesday. A Chinese medical team based in the country also participated in the rescue effort. In the wake of the disaster, one of the deadliest Africa has seen in recent years, many countries have sent their condolences and promises of assistance. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari expressed condolence to Koroma in a phone call from London, saying the hearts of Nigerians are with the people of Sierra Leone in this tragic period, according to his spokesperson. Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta also sent his condolences. "Kenya and Sierra Leone are allies, partners and friends, so our thoughts and prayers are with those whose lives were lost, and with all those who were injured," Kenyatta said in a statement. Kenyatta said the spirit of African solidarity remains strong and has assured Koroma that Kenya will provide any necessary assistance. Meanwhile, the African Union (AU) has called for support from all Africans and international partners to Sierra Leone, helping its public health system respond to this disaster. "My thoughts and prayers go out to the families who lost loved ones. The entire AU family stands united with the people and government of Sierra Leone during this difficult time," said Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairperson of the AU Commission China, a long-time supporter of Africa, said it is ready to provide assistance to mudslide-hit areas of Sierra Leone. Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a press conference on Tuesday that the Chinese Embassy in Sierra Leone has launched emergency procedures and is closely monitoring the situation. Photo taken on Aug. 9, 2017 shows eggs sold in a Belgian market, in Brussels, Belgium.(Xinhua/Ye Pingfan) BRUSSELS, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Several European countries are affected by fipronil contaminated eggs, causing millions of eggs to be removed from shelves in European markets. So far, contaminated eggs from the Netherlands have been found in Belgium, Germany, France, Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Denmark, Switzerland, and China's Hong Kong, according to European Commission's spokesperson Daniel Rosario. SLOW REACTION With the development of the contaminated eggs incident, legal procedures have started in some of the countries affected. The Dutch public prosecutor has said that two people had been arrested in the country for being involved into the contamination. A spokesman of Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel also confirmed that Belgium would set up a task force to examine all possible measures to support the poultry sector following the insecticide-contaminated egg scandal. Despite these measures, the incident has provoked concern in different sectors of society in Europe over the slow reaction of governments to the problem. Ruben Sanchez, the spokesperson for the Spanish consumer association, Consumers in Action (FACUA), told Xinhua that some European Union (EU) counties were late to inform about the detection of the contaminated eggs, provoking anger in other EU and also non-EU nations. It was known in November 2016 that the problem existed in the Dutch company, Chickfriend, and the adequate measures were not taken. Moreover, the Belgian food safety agency discovered the contaminated eggs on June 2, but reported the issue to the EU on July 20. Ingmar Streese, Head of consumer policy department of the Federation of German Consumer Organisations, said that to their surprise and disappointment, public authorities in Belgium and the Netherlands were very slow in reaction and very slow in putting these information into the European database rapid alert system. This has been handled very poorly by authorities of these states, he added. He continued that they hope all European countries, in the future in any kind of food crisis or toxins within food, immediately inform the other countries. TRANSPANRENCY AND COOPERATION EU has long been famous for its high standard of good safety, however, the incident of contaminated eggs not only provoked concerns in Europe about the slow reaction of the governments, but also about their capacity to deal with such public health crisis. Sanchez said that the EU should "work to find out who is responsible, investigate and consider sanctions against those countries who have committed irregularities and also shown a lack of transparency". And he believed that transparency is very important and governments should join hands with civil society. "We believe that a serious government should give information to consumer protection organizations. The (Spanish) Health Ministry, however, failed to publish any declaration until FACUA issued a press communique criticizing their lack of transparency and publically talked about our worries of what could happen and the need to set up a protocol," he said. He added that governments have to inform the organizations of civil society. Streese had the same view on the importance of civil society. He said, "We will hold government and authorities accountable, to react immediately to be really consumer-oriented, not business-oriented because it's a matter of toxication. We will ask them on a regular basis what they have changed." "We will also focus on the industry. We still have to wait for results what exactly happened in this crisis. We will see if there is criminal intent to contaminate the natural cleaning agent with fipronil. We will be a loudspeaker for any warnings given to consumers," he added. In an increasingly globalised world, a great amount of food circulates around the earth. Thus, there might be loopholes in any part of the food supply chain. When an incident which may risk public health takes place in one country, it is extremely difficult to guarantee that it will not spread to other countries. Therefore, EU countries should be transparent on such important public crisis and cooperate with civil society to better protect their consumers. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 16:56:44|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close JAKARTA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian students were scheduled to perform the nation's UNESCO-inscribed intangible heritage traditional music instrument of angklung in Japanese cities from Aug. 24 to Aug. 30, aimed at promoting the nation's tourism. The students would perform the angklung orchestras in Tokyo and Kanagawa respectively, to be featured with performances of Indonesian traditional dances. Those students previously performed the angklung orchestra for the same purposes in six European countries last year. Angklung is an Indonesian traditional music instrument constructed of bamboo tubes suspended with bamboo frame tied with rattan, and should be played in a group of players. Angklung was inscribed as UNESCO Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2010. Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya hailed the upcoming angklung concert in Japan, saying that it would highly promote Indonesia and the spirit of togetherness in the world. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 17:01:53|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close HANOI, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Zuan Phuc on Wednesday decided to dismiss Ho Thi Kim Thoa from the post of deputy minister of industry and trade for her violations when she led a company, local media reported. After being relieved from the post, Thoa, born in 1960 in central Nghe An province, will be assigned to do a specific job, online newspaper VnExpress reported. On Aug. 8, the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee's Secretariat decided to deprive her of her party membership. While serving as director of former state-owned Dien Quang Lamp Company, Thoa violated state regulations on land management when the company signed a contract with another firm to invest in a land area in Ho Chi Minh City. She also failed to properly handle the 30 billion Vietnamese dong (1.3 million U.S. dollars) collected from the transfer of the right of the land area's use. Thoa bought more shares than the permissible level and her transfer of shares also violated the company's regulations. Now, Thoa and some of her family members, including her mother, daughter and younger brother, hold roughly 11.8 million shares, or nearly 34.6 percent of charter capital of Dien Quang Lamp Joint Stock Company. The shares are now worth nearly 500 billion Vietnamese dong (22.1 million U.S. dollars), reported VnExpress. FILE PHOTO: Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman meets with Iraqi Shi'ite leader Muqtada al-Sadr in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia July 30, 2017. (Reuters photo) RIYADH, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Saudi Arabia denied on Wednesday seeking any sort of mediation with Iran, describing such news reports as baseless, Saudi News Agency reported. Different news outlets published this week reports quoting Iraqi Interior Minister, Qasim al-Arraji that Saudi Arabia asked Iraq to mediate with its rival Iran. Saudi Arabia severed all ties with Iran in 2016 over allegations that the country interferes in its internal affairs. A source from Saudi Arabia asserted in a statement on Wednesday the firm stand of his country that rejects any form of relation with Iran, accusing the country of spreading terrorism and sectarianism in the region and the world. The source said that Saudi Arabia sees the current Iranian government is non-negotiable for its disrespect of diplomatic rules and norms and international ties principles. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 17:47:27|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close SRINAGAR, Indian-controlled Kashmir, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Troops of India and Pakistan exchanged heavy fire and targeted each other's positions Wednesday on the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Kashmir, officials said. The two sides exchanged fire on LoC in Mendhar sector of frontier Poonch district, about 185 km southwest of Srinagar city, the summer capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir. "The firing aimed at targeting Indian positions and civilian areas in Mankote sector started around 5:30 a.m. local time and continued until 1:00 p.m," an official said. Indian army officials said their side retaliated to the firing and and gave a befitting reply to Pakistani troops. According to officials, the Indian side has not suffered any damage or casualty in the skirmishes. Last week a woman and an Indian army trooper were killed in similar exchange in the district. According to Indian officials, over 300 incidents of ceasefire violations were recorded along the LoC this year. New Delhi and Islamabad accuse each other of resorting to unprovoked firings and violating ceasefire agreements. And both the sides maintain that their troops gave befitting reply to the other side. Kashmir, the Himalayan region divided between India and Pakistan, is claimed by both in full. Since their independence from Britain, the two countries have fought three wars, two exclusively over Kashmir. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 17:52:33|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close NAIROBI, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The UN human rights chief has called on Kenyan leaders to act responsibly by calming volatile political climate peacefully amid reports of police brutality that has led to deaths and injuries, including children. United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said the government should make an immediate announcement that it will cooperate and ensure accountability for reported abuse by security forces. "Kenya is at a critical juncture. The country's political leaders must do their utmost to calm a volatile political climate. If there are claims to make about the conduct of the elections, they should be made through constitutional and legal means," Al Hussein said in a statement issued on Tuesday night. He commended the peaceful voting in the Aug. 8 presidential election in Kenya but urged Kenya's political leaders "to take the responsible path and exercise their leadership to avoid violence." The UN human rights chief expressed concern about reports that Kenyan security forces used live ammunition against protesters, and about reports of police brutality, leading to several deaths and injuries. Protests erupted after the announcement of results on Aug. 11 soon after the electoral body declared President Uhuru Kenyatta the winner of the presidential polls, with instances of individuals resorting to stone throwing, looting and destruction of property. The UN human rights chief also decried the use of violence by protesters, but also stressed that political leaders should send clear messages to their supporters urging peaceful conduct. "People have the right to assemble and protest peacefully, and the authorities have a responsibility to ensure they can do so. The government also has a responsibility to ensure that security forces prioritize dialogue, non-violent means and exercise restraint, using proportionate force only when unavoidable," Al Hussein said. "All acts of violence, including the serious allegations of excessive use of force by security forces, must be promptly and independently investigated," he added. As part of that effort, Al-Hussein called on the government to make an immediate announcement that it will cooperate fully and unequivocally with the Independent Policing Oversight Authority and with subsequent efforts to ensure accountability. Al-Hussein also expressed deep concern that Kenya's NGO Coordination Board called for a prominent NGO, the African Center for Open Governance (AFRICOG) to be shut down and for its directors and members to be arrested. This comes after Tuesday's decision by the NGO Coordination Board to de-register another well-respected NGO, the Kenya Human Rights Commission. The High Commissioner called for civil society actors and media to be allowed to work without hindrance or fear of retaliation. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 17:57:36|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close BANGKOK, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's Board of Investment (BOI) is promoting overseas manufacturing and trading ventures by Thai investors, especially in the ASEAN community, said BOI Secretary General Hirunya Suchinai on Wednesday. Speaking during the Thailand Overseas Investment Forum 2017 in Bangkok, the BOI secretary general confirmed that the Thai investors will be given promotional privileges and technical support from the BOI and other government agencies for their overseas investment projects in Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, among other ASEAN member states. Thailand's neighbors have remarkably registered economic growths whereas the Thai investors' projects could potentially be attractive to them, the BOI chief said. The Thais would likely be given lowly-paid workforce, raw materials and energy sources if they launched investment ventures in those countries, she said. Hirunya's agency recently led some 70 Thai businesspersons to Laos and Vietnam to find investment opportunities after they had undergone a Bangkok-based orientation course which a total of about 400 prospective investors have finished so far. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 18:02:39|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close TIKRIT, Iraq, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- At least ten security members were killed on Wednesday in three attacks by Islamic State (IS) militants on military bases in Iraq's northern central province of Salahudin, a provincial security source told Xinhua. In one of the attacks, six suicide bombers wearing explosive vests carried out a pre-dawn attack on military bases of the federal police in the town of Baiji, some 200 km north of Baghdad, sparking heavy clashes for several hours, the source said on condition of anonymity. The clashes resulted in the killing of nine policemen and four suicide bombers, the source said, adding that the clashes continued to midday as the policemen were still fighting two suicide bombers near a police headquarters in the town. IS terrorist group seized Baiji in June 2014, but the Iraqi security forces liberated the town in late 2015. The liberation of the town gave the Iraqi forces complete control of the highway stretching from Baghdad to Baiji, and allowed Iraqi forces later to use Baiji as a launching pad for a further advance toward IS major stronghold in Mosul. Baiji is almost totally destroyed by the previous battles despite more than a year and a half of being freed from IS militants. Its former inhabitants cannot return to their devastated town, as the security forces, including the Hashd Shaabi units, are stationed in some bases in the town. Separately, IS militants attacked the posts of the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units in Zuwiyah area, some 30 km north of Baiji, but the units fighters fought back and prevented IS militants from taking a foothold in the military bases, the source said. Initial reports said at least one Hashd Shaabi member was killed and three others wounded, the source added. The third attack occurred in the early morning on a military base of the Kurdish forces, known as Peshmerga, in al-Zarga area near the town of Tuz-Khurmato, leaving two Peshmerga fighters wounded, while an IS militant was killed and another wounded by the clashes, the source said. In Salahudin province, IS is still in control of Makhoul mountain range and the villages between the range and the Tigris River. The eastern bank of the town of Shirqat, about 280 km north of Baghdad, as well as its surrounding villages and rural area that stretch to the IS-held town of Hawijah in the western part of the oil-rich province of Kirkuk are also under IS rule. Iraqi security forces and allied paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units have freed the provincial capital Tikrit, about 170 km north of Baghdad, and other key cities and towns in the predominately Sunni Arab province of Salahudin. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 18:17:46|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close MOGADISHU, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The United States on Wednesday called on the Somali government to facilitate ways in which fighters of Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab can reject terrorism and join efforts in reconstruction of the country. The U.S. embassy in Somalia also lauded the efforts of the government to facilitate the defections of former and current Al-Shabaab members. "The U.S. encourages the Somali government to continue to create pathways for Al-Shabaab members to reject terrorism and join efforts to build a peaceful and prosperous country for all Somalis," the embassy said in a statement issued in Mogadishu. The statement comes after former deputy leader of the militant group Al-Shabaab Mukhtar Robow surrendered to the government on Sunday. Robow, also known as Abu Mansur, officially announced Tuesday that he left Al-Shabaab more than five years ago. "I fell out with the group over ideological differences five years and seven months ago. I was living in the Bakol region and Al-Shabab attacked me there. They tried to kill me, but I defended myself," Robow told journalists in Mogadishu on Tuesday. Robow, who co-founded Al-Shabaab leader who once had a 5 million U.S. dollar bounty on his head had been on the run from his former fellow militants, and set up a base in his hometown Abal area, in southwest Somalia. The United States said it supports a Somali-led process of degrading Al-Shabaab's influence using a comprehensive approach, including through high-level defections, reconciliation, and improved governance and service delivery. Meanwhile, U.S.-based human rights group has urged the Somali government to investigate alleged human rights abuses by Robow. The Human Rights Watch said the Somali government needs to investigate Robow's role and ensure that those responsible for the worst abuses are not able to escape just punishment. "International law prohibits amnesties for those responsible for grave abuses. Mukhtar Robow had a leadership role in Al-Shabaab at a time when we documented indiscriminate attacks on civilians, forced recruitment of children and other abuses against residents under the group's control," HRW said. A person takes an instant HIV/AIDS detection test during an activity to raise public awareness against HIV/AIDS on the World AIDS Day in Tegucigalpa, capital of Honduras, on Dec. 1, 2016. (Xinhua/Rafael Ochoa) LUSAKA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Edgar Lungu has launched a campaign to promote HIV testing with a declaration that HIV testing, counseling and treatment has now become compulsory in all public health institutions. Lungu said Tuesday the development was official government policy and was in response to the government's agenda of ending HIV by 2030. Lungu said that the cabinet during its sitting on Monday approved the move to make HIV testing compulsory unlike the current situation where testing was voluntary. "Just the same way we don't consult you for consent when we are testing for malaria, we will go ahead and test you for HIV and we will counsel you and if you are positive, we will commence you on treatment," he said. The Zambian leader said contrary to claims by some people that the decision was against human rights and rights to privacy, the move will go a long way in protecting life as those who will be found positive will be put on treatment. The government, he said, has since launched self-HIV testing kits and that people should take advantage of the service to know their status. He particularly called on men to take a keen interest in knowing their HIV status. While 67 percent of the country's population knows their HIV status, the Zambian leader expressed concern that the percentage of men going for testing was lower than that for women. He said while women undergo HIV testing each time they went for antenatal clinics, it was not the same for men and urged stakeholders to find ways of encouraging men as well. The HIV scourge, he said, has continued to pose one of the biggest threats to the country's development, with about 1.2 million people currently living with the virus. United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator Janet Rogan said more people needed to know their status in order to ensure sustained fight against HIV. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 18:43:01|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close LHASA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Police have detained 28 ticket scalpers at the 1,300-year-old Potala Palace in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, accusing them of reselling tickets to tourists at high prices. May to October is the busy season for visitors to the World Heritage site, as well as scalpers. The scalpers stockpile tickets and resell them at high margins, according to the public security bureau of Lhasa on Wednesday. One ticket for Potala Palace could be sold for up to 1,000 yuan (150 U.S. dollars) which can be purchased for only 200 yuan through official channels. To minimize damage to the wood and earth structure, the number of visitors is limited to 5,000 a day in peak travel season, failing to meet demand from the growing number of tourists. Visitors must book in advance through the palace's official website or at the ticket window with a valid ID card. The scalpers used their own ID cards or borrowed from others to secure the reservation in advance, then resold tickets to those who failed to make reservation. Some of them even lied to tourists at the site that there were no more tickets, forcing them to participate in group tours that would give the scalpers kickbacks. Police said that the ticket scalpers "have severely disturbed the market order." The Potala Palace was built by Tibetan King Songtsa Gambo in the 7th century and expanded in the 17th century. It was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994. Around one million visits were made to the palace last year, according to the site's administrative office. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 18:43:03|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close ANKARA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkey on Wednesday asked Berlin to investigate if a prime suspect of Turkey's failed coup last year has escaped to Germany, a Turkish Foreign Ministry official said. Ankara issued a diplomatic note to the German authorities about news reports that Adil Oksuz, one of the chief plotters of the failed coup attempt, is hiding in Germany, the official told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. Turkey has asked Germany for "investigation of the accuracy of the news reports, detention and extradition of the suspected plotter if the reports are accurate," the official said. Oksuz, a professor who was briefly taken into custody at Akincilar Air Base in the capital Ankara on the night of the July 15 coup attempt, is referred to as "Imam of the Air Force" by the Turkish government. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 19:08:16|Editor: Xiang Bo Video Player Close BERLIN, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The scandal surrounding Fipronil contaminated eggs in Germany is far larger than first admitted by authorities, a report on Wednesday by the newspaper Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung (NOZ) suggests. According to the report, 28.1 million eggs contaminated with the pesticide could have been delivered to the German state of Lower Saxony alone. The Germany Federal Ministry for Agriculture had previously estimated that only around 10.7 million Fipronil eggs entered the country from the Netherlands. The NOZ report bases its larger estimate on an analysis conducted by the state agricultural ministry of Lower Saxony using data from the European Union's rapid warning system. The ministry confirmed that "recalls for these batches (some 28.1 million eggs) were ordered. "Nearly 17 million Fipronil eggs were re-exported from Lower Saxony to other German states. The latter figure included batches from poultry farms under suspicion as well as those where Fipronil contamination had been proven by authorities. Lower Saxony's minister for agriculture Christian Meyer was shocked by the high number of contaminated eggs and accused the federal government of inaction. "The numbers are deduced from the EU rapid warning system. The federal government could have taken a look at those themselves," he told NOZ. As of Wednesday, the Fipronil scandal has reached twelve European countries. Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany are the worst affected. A total of 180 farms in the Netherlands are confirmed to have used an anti-lice poison, which contained Fipronil. In one case the concentration was so high that Dutch authorities warned against "acute danger" to consumers of the affected eggs. The insecticide Fipronil is considered poisonous by the World Health Organization and is forbidden for use on animals destined for the food chain to prevent damage to the liver, thyroid and kidney. Liu Cixin, Chinese science-fiction writer, talked with Xinhua reporters on August 12 at the venue of the 75th World Science Fiction Convention in Helsinki, Finland. (Xinhua/Zhang Xuan) by Li Jizhi, Elina Xu HELSINKI, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- "Look at the fandom! Most of them are at their 40s or 50s. If a literature is welcomed by the chubby middle aged only, then where is the future of it?" Chinese leading sci-fi writer Liu Cixin still remembered that the science fiction used to enjoy a golden age when almost all the writers and readers were vigorous youngsters. Xinhua reporters talked with Liu following an awarding ceremony of the Hugo Awards, deemed the highest honors for science fiction works, at the 75th World Science Fiction Conference in Helsinki last weekend. Liu's novel "The Three-Body Problem III: Death's End" did not win out although it was within the finalists of the Hugo Award for Best Novel. The winner was "The Obelisk Gate", the second book of a popular series written by American novelist N. K. Jemisin, who was the winner of the same award last year. While Jemisin set the plot on a strange planet, she portrayed a picture that actually happens on the earth, with great effort in depicting the disparities between social classes. LIGHT FANTASY STYLE Liu Cixin witnessed a lot more of the Hugo winning works focusing on real lift problems such as ethnic discrimination, sexual bias, the impact of AI on human society etc in recent years. Different storytelling styles have also been adopted, he added. Another example is the series of epic novels "A Song of Ice and Fire", which features what Liu described "a light fantasy style". "The fantasy element is not so evident in the novel, and the writer has shown great restraint in application of the super natural force," he elaborated. Unlike the legendary work written by George P. R. Martin, the Chinese bestseller "The Three-Body Problem" written by Liu Cixin is considered representative of the traditional faction, or known as "hard science fiction". It won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2015, and was said to be possible to revive the taste of the genre. "Actually it hasn't, and will never revive," said Liu. He told Xinhua, not without regret, that he would probably never again win the Hugo Award in his life. Similarly regrettably, another excellent traditional science fiction series, "The Exapanse" has not won any of the Hugo Awards or Nebula Awards at all, noted Liu. LACK OF MYSTERY The cause of the decline of the traditional science fiction literary, Liu believes, is the lack of sense of mystery of science. The science has been developed to an extent that people are surrounded and bombarded by all kinds of new technologies "so that people are not any more curious about the science fiction," he said. The Americans started to try to turn the tide in 1970s, putting more effort on literariness, describing more of human thoughts than the aliens'. "But the effort seems to have little effect," said Liu. The shortened distance between real science and the science fiction is the fatal challenge to traditional sci-fi writers, and what adds to the frustration is that Liu can "see no way out of the dilemma." Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 19:43:38|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close HOHHOT, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- A total of 16 suspects were arrested and 27 tonnes of narcotic materials were seized in an operation in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, local police announced Wednesday. Police received information late March that a drug-making ring, headed by a suspect surnamed Chen, had come to Chifeng City. Police raided their works in late June and found 17 devices used to produce drugs. With a daily production capacity amounting to one tonne of drugs, it is by far the largest drug-making workshop ever found in Inner Mongolia, the police said. An investigation in early August netted 16 suspects and confiscated over 27 tonnes of raw materials. Investigation into the case continues. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 19:48:41|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close MANILA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Philippine government on Wednesday urged its more than 10 million citizens working or living outside the country "to heighten their vigilance" in the wake of terrorist attacks abroad. Philippine Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano issued the warning after a foiled terrorist attack in Russia and Burkina Faso, a landlocked country in West Africa. "We want our (fellow countrymen) wherever they are abroad to always remain vigilant and to always be prepared because these senseless acts of violence can happen anywhere and when we least expect them," Cayetano said in a statement. Quoting a report from Philippine Ambassador to Russia Carlos Sorreta, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Russian intelligence was able to prevent militants from carrying out a series of terrorist attacks in the country. The terrorist plot reportedly included two suicide attacks. In Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, the DFA said 18 people were killed when gunmen opened fire at a restaurant frequented by foreigners. The DFA said it monitored other small-scale attacks that took place in others parts of the world, mostly in Africa and the Middle East, during the past few days. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 19:58:57|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close BERLIN, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- "It is as if the Song of the Nibelungs in the form of Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' had come upon us; 'Game of thrones' is Kindergarten when compared with it." It was the introduction of China's crown-jewel ancient literature, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, by German newspaper Die Welt in an article, following the publication of the first complete German translation of the classic by sinologist Eva Schestag. Prior to this edition, presented by S. Fisher publishing house earlier this year with the name of Die Drei Reiche (meaning Three Kingdoms in English), only 35 of the total 120 chapters had been translated into German by sinologist Franz Kuhn in the mid 20th century. "It goes without saying that it was an honor and pleasure at the same time to have a chance to dedicate six years to the translation of this book," Schestag told Xinhua in an inclusive interview, adding the importance of this classic as well as the lack of a full-length German translation were motivations behind her work. "It's a key to understanding the Asian culture," she said. Besides, the novel is so popular in China that the history of Three Kingdoms comes alive even in modern times through an array of media renditions, including movies, TV series, video games, and board games, Schestag wrote in the postface of her book. Looking back into the translation process, Schestag still recalled what a daunting task it seemed when she first started. "It almost took my breath away, when I opened page 1 of about 2,000 to be translated - as if looking up from the foot of a high and steep mountain up to the peak." Since 2011 when she was officially commissioned with the translation, she had stayed for a long time at Looren Translators' House, a translators' residence nestled in the pre-alpine mountains in Switzerland, to retreat from almost all obligations other than translating. The Romance of Three Kingdoms, acclaimed as one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, is set in a tumultuous history across the second and third century A.D. when feudal lords of three states scramble for the rule of China following the decline of Han Dynasty(202 B.C.-220 A.D.). The novel depicts plots, intrigues, battles, military strategies, lives of feudal lords, and original Han Dynasty poems and prose, and above all, the Confucian values of loyalty and "Yi", a term that generally translates into justice but means a variety of virtues. Schestag believed the novel can only be paralleled with by Homer's Odyssey in terms of its influence and significance. "These two literary works are comparable on the basis of the complexity of the plot and subplots and, last but not least, their influence on the subsequent literature of their respective cultural areas." Also like Odyssey, the Romance of Three Kingdoms is embedded with a motif that transcends time and national borders. To Schestag, the motif of this Chinese classic is the clash between tradition, order and values as inherited by the forefathers, and pragmatism, necessary to adapt to the changing requirements of the modern world. Apart from this motif, the strategies applied to outwit the enemy, opposing values like loyalty and pragmatism, courage and recklessness as discussed in the novel are all elements that make the book "relevant and interesting at all times and for all peoples". Schestag would not rest on the laurels of translating of this monumental work, but will continue introducing ancient Chinese literature to the German language world, perhaps, with a translation of Shiji, or Records of the Grand Historian, another monumental history book of ancient China compiled about 2,000 years ago, as she planned. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 20:04:01|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close BERLIN, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The number of deportations by air from Germany which are cancelled at short notice has risen dramatically, Bild newspaper reported Wednesday, referencing data from the German interior ministry. According to Bild, 387 deportations were halted in the first six months of 2017, an increase of around 70 percent compared to the same period last year. The report cited 186 cases of resistance from migrants regarding their relocation as the most common reason for the cancellations. In 133 cases, flight staff refused to grant access to the plane for those scheduled to be deported. A total of 61 migrants reported sickness at short notice and were officially deemed unfit to fly. In 27 cases, countries of origin refused to take back their citizens. In general, the number of deportations had fallen by nine percent during the first half of 2017 to 12,500 from 13,700 last year. Simultaneously, less asylum seekers are returning to their country of origin voluntarily. Until the end of June this year, 16,700 individuals had participated in the German government's program for voluntarily re-patriation, which offers migrants financial help. Meanwhile, in the first six months of 2016, more than 30,500 individuals accepted financial incentives to leave Germany this way. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 20:14:07|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close WINDHOEK, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- As Namibia seeks to improve citizens' livelihoods through education, a China-funded school in the national capital Windhoek is contributing to the realization of the goal. Chairman Mao Zedong High School, named after the Chinese communist revolutionary leader, has become a beam of hope for students, who had to receive lessons in makeshift temporary structures. According to George Louw, the principal, the school in Otjomuise 7de Laan informal settlement in Windhoek is bridging gaps of education provision in the community. "The school has given hope not only to educators and the community, but also to our learners who now have the privilege of accessing inclusive education in a conducive learning environment. The learners were previously taught in tents before moving to this school," he said on Wednesday. Gerard Vries, Director of Education in Khomas region, said the opening of the school has addressed a major challenge -- school and classrooms space shortages -- and obviated classes in tents. The school, which had its first intake of learners in May last year, culminated from a bilateral agreement signed between the Nambian education ministry and the China Youth Development Foundation in 2011. A year on, the school now accommodates a total of 653 students registered for the 2017 school year in the grades 8 to 12. Louw added that its facilities comprising 23 classrooms, chemistry and physics laboratory, computer laboratory, music room, multi-purpose hall and a sport field is not only offering learners access to academic education, but holistic learning approach in other social elements. "Our learners are given a chance to social and inclusive quality education while teachers have access to a resource center for continuous professional development. This way they have an opportunity to groom other skills and identify other talents," Louw said. The mantra of the school is to groom learners into disciplinary visionary leaders, he added. Parents and the community are delighted, too. "The Chinese-funded school has not only changed the landscape of the location but also brought educational services at the community's doorsteps," said Naemi Shikongo, a 7de Laan resident. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 20:24:17|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying (Photo source: fmprc.gov.cn) BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- China firmly opposes a U.S. report that made unreasonable assertions on religious freedom in China, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said here Wednesday. Media reported the United States on Tuesday issued its annual religious freedom report, calling out seven countries, including China, for serious problems in terms of religious freedom. Spokesperson Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing that the report ignores the facts on religious freedom in China. "China firmly opposes it, and has lodged serious representations to the United States on the issue," Hua said. "We calls on the United States to respect the facts, mind its own business, and stop using the religion issue to intervene in other countries' internal affairs," she said. Hua said China fully respects and protects freedom of religious belief, and Chinese people of all ethnic groups and all regions enjoy religious freedom in accordance with law. Related: Commentary: Groundless U.S. religion report nothing but political tool to tarnish China WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Washington has newly released an annual international religious report, which attacked China's religious policies and status and kept listing China among "countries of particular concern." Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 20:29:19|Editor: ying Zambia's leading opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema (C) waves to the crowd after being released from prison in Lusaka, Zambia, Aug. 16, 2017. Zambia's leading opposition leader on Wednesday said he has always been innocent of the treason charges he was slapped with. Hakainde Hichilema, who was freed by a judge on Wednesday morning after the state prosecutor dropped charges against him of plotting to overthrow the government, said he remains resolute that the treason charge was a political machination meant to silence him. (Xinhua/David Kashiki) LUSAKA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Zambia's leading opposition leader on Wednesday said he has always been innocent of the treason charges he was slapped with. Hakainde Hichilema, who was freed by a judge on Wednesday morning after the state prosecutor dropped charges against him of plotting to overthrow the government, said he remains resolute that the treason charge was a political machination meant to silence him. Hichilema and five others were arrested in April this year and have been in custody since then as treason is not bailable in Zambia. "We have been innocent and shall be," he said in a brief statement posted on his Facebook page. He however said he wanted a better Zambia. The opposition leader later told his supporters at the party's secretariat that he was committed to peace and stability of the country in order to ensure development. He said the country was divided on political lines and called for purpose of unity from all stakeholders. The opposition leader further said the time he spent in prison had not crushed him but made him even stronger. "We cannot continue living the way we are, it is uncomfortable. It is our collective duty to bring back unity in our country. We are so divided," he added. His release sparked wide celebrations in the Zambian capital as his convoy was driven from the Chimbokaila Prison where he was held to the party's secretariat. Hichilema's arrest had heightened tension in the southern African nation after last year's disputed elections, with stakeholders calling for dialogue to ease the tension. Last week, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scott visited Zambia and met both President Edgar Lungu and the opposition leader where she facilitated a process of dialogue between the two political foes. Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo also visited the southern African nation and held talks with Lungu and the opposition leader. In June, church leaders from the influential Catholic Church held talks with Lungu and called for the release of the opposition leader in order to ease tension in the country. The church leaders also visited the opposition leader in prison. Hichilema, 55, is a wealthy businessman who narrowly lost to Lungu in last year's elections but has refused to concede defeat, claiming the vote was stolen from him. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 20:29:27|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The United States law enforcement handed over an economic suspect, who fled overseas more than three years ago, to Chinese police Wednesday. The suspect, surnamed Zhou, allegedly falsified documents and swindled loans and acceptance bills worth 354 million yuan (53 million U.S. dollars) from four financial institutions from October 2013 to April 2014, according to the Ministry of Public Security. Zhou is also suspected of cheating others of more than 31 million yuan in November 2013 by selling them shares in his Guangdong company which was already mortgaged to a bank. Zhou fled to the United States on May 6, 2014. He was listed on an Interpol red notice and the United States cooperated in his arrest. In a statement issued Wednesday, the ministry called Zhou's return another major achievement in cooperation between law enforcement agencies from China and the United States in catching fugitives following the return of suspect Zhu on June 1. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 20:29:29|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close TIRANA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Albanian firefighting teams and army troops can finally take a breath after more than three weeks of battling massive wildfires that spread all over Albania following the cooling of temperatures as well as the rainfalls earlier this week. However, Albanian state police informed Wednesday that heatwave that gripped Albania in the last two month further worsened the fires' situation but was not the main factor that caused the fires. "The fires of the recent weeks in Albania have not only been caused by the high temperatures and the drought, but also by the human hand," a report of Albanian state police informed. Police authorities also informed that they had put 35 people under investigation on charges of arson. So far, Albanian authorities have arrested 12 people for arson, 19 have been released on bail and four others have been declared wanted. According to police, the renewal of pastures and the opening of new lands by people who manage forests, with the scope of evading taxes and destroying forests to benefit grants in order to cultivate new trees were some of the motives behind these fires. The Civil Emergencies Department presented its statistics according to which, around 600 fires have been registered in the country in the last two months. The damage caused by the fires is considered enormous. Hundreds of hectares of pasture, land and forests were burned. Some houses in a southern Albania village were burned too, leaving several families without shelter. Besides that, the Albanian defense ministry has reported high costs due to the deployment of some helicopters and other machineries. Meantime, hundreds of Albanian army personnel and over 3,500 police forces have been deployed in the most problematic areas to help the firefighters control the fires in different parts of the country. Actually, the Army forces have played a crucial role in battling the fires considering that the number of the firefighters is considered relatively low. Albania's neighboring countries such as Greece and Italy also helped Albanian authorities to put out fires in some remote zones by sending water-dropping helicopters. The assistance by the Greek Air Force took place following a request made by Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati to his Greek counterpart Nikos Kotzias, leading to the activation of the European Civil Protection Mechanism. Now the situation is less problematic as most of fires were put out. However, the authorities are still on alert as there are still wildfires raging in some districts. In the last 24 hours, the civil emergencies experts reported around 10 blazes so the work is underway to extinguish them. They also said that the fires' situation is under constant monitoring while they made an appeal to citizens to report fires immediately. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 20:34:31|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close MANILA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The death toll in the 24-hour police anti-drug raids in Philippine's Bulacan province that started Monday night had reached 32, a police spokesman said on Wednesday. Police Senior Superintendent Romeo Caramat, the Bulacan police director, said 32 alleged drug dealers had been killed in shootouts and at least 107 others had also been arrested during the series of raids that lasted till Tuesday night. Caramat told a news conference that police conducted 66 simultaneous raids in the province and the drug suspects clashed with police resulting in the killings of 32 drug suspects. He said the Bulacan operations had so far yielded the largest number of casualties. "We have conducted several one-time, big time operations in the past but so far this is the highest number of killed perhaps during our operations," he said. Caramat said during the operations, the police seized several kilograms of illicit drugs of methamphetamine and marijuana, and 34 firearms. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte lauded the police for killing 32 drug suspects "in a massive raid." "That's nice. If only we could kill 32 every day then maybe we can reduce the ... what ails this country," Duterte said in a speech at the Malacanang presidential palace, referring to the illicit drug menace facing the country. The Duterte administration has launched a drug war to destroy the drug syndicates operating in the country. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 20:49:41|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close ARUSHA, Tanzania, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Villagers in central Tanzania's district of Bahi are living in fear following the frequent invasion of wild elephants, authorities said Wednesday. In the latest attack, villagers in Chikopelo were the highly affected, after a herd of nine elephants stormed into their localities, causing mayhem in the area located 470km from the Tanzania's commercial capital, Dar es Salaam. Rachel Chuwa, Bahi District Executive Director confirmed the report, noting that the wild animals, however, did not cause serious damage. "But, people are in fear of the new wave of elephant invasion in their localities, something which wasn't the case in the past," the official said. She, however, said: "I got a report from the villagers who also said the animals normally come to the village at different times, and sometimes goes directly to the village dam, the only source of water in the village, drink water and later disappear." According to the official, a week ago another group of elephants were spotted in the village and later disappeared in the thicket not far from Chikopelo Primary School. "But, another group of the nine animals resurfaced again in the area and disappeared. As district authorities, we've informed the national Wildlife Division's anti-poaching unit (KDU) for further action. I, therefore, urge villagers to always report such cases." Chuwa maintained that the elephants that frequently visit villages in the district are coming from Ruaha National Park. Experts argue that after the dramatic loss of many elephants in the past few years to poaching, the elephants are making a comeback in some areas, leading to human wildlife conflicts across the east African nation. In May, this year, four elephants roamed the University of Dodoma campus, bringing the state-run University to a standstill for the day; Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) rangers were called in and the elephants were eventually scared off. In June, elephants in Arusha destroyed 43 hectares of crops. A day later two farmers in Singida were killed by a herd of 32 elephants. While human wildlife conflict can result in deaths of human beings, destruction of crops and homes, likewise wild animals bear the same brunt as some such as elephants get killed by humans who live in communities adjacent to protected areas. Lack of buffer space between protected areas and human settlements is a "call for alarm" likely to leave "a trail of destruction" as argued by experts. It is believed that one innovative study is using beehive fences to deter naturally bee-shy elephants from farms but others believe the best permanent solution is to remove people from the buffer zones. Experts say there should be the provision of an effective conservation awareness education among local people so that they can understand the importance of wildlife resources in terms of socio-economic, cultural and ecological aspects. Other ways could be the creation of an effective buffer zone or provision of compensation and evacuate people from conflict zones. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 20:49:46|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close ANKARA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Turkey objected on Wednesday against a planned referendum for independence by Kurds in northern Iraq, saying it could lead to civil war. "The independence referendum will lead to a worse situation in the country, even might lead to civil war," Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a televised interview. The Turkish government expects Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government to change its mind about an independence referendum set for September 25, the minister said. The minister also said that Russia's military chief would visit Turkey for discussions on developments in Syria's Idlib province, where jihadists linked to a former al-Qaeda affiliate have taken control. Turkey opposes the independence of Iraqi Kurdistan, saying it would threaten the integrity of Iraq. Turkish government also sees that such a step would threaten Turkey's territorial integrity, as larger populations of Kurds live in the country. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 20:59:53|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close ROME, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Italy's statistics office said Wednesday the country's GDP rose 1.5 percent in the second quarter in year-on-year terms. According to statistics agency ISTAT, the GDP rose 0.4 percent in the second quarter this year from the first quarter and 1.5 percent over the first quarter of 2016. The second quarter's 1.5 percent year-on-year rise is the biggest in six years, since the start of 2011 when it was 2.1 percent, the agency said. In its seasonally adjusted estimate, ISTAT said the GDP rise for 2017 is so far 1.2 perent. If the current trend continues, however, the year-end gain will be 1.5 percent, it said. The better-than-expected GDP figures made Italian Premier Paolo Gentiloni tweeted that "#ISTAT 1.5% 2017 growth forecast, a good basis to relaunch the economy and jobs". Italy's Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan also hailed GDP increase as "the most sustained gain since the start of the financial crisis". The government deserved credit for this and it had forged policy "along a narrow path", Padoan said. The focus would now be on young people with incentives for hiring aimed at cutting high youth unemployment, he was quoted as saying by ANSA news agency. Hakainde Hichilema, opposition leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND), speaks to the media after casting his vote at a polling station at Kabulonga Boys Secondary School in Lusaka, capital of Zambia, Jan. 20, 2015. (Xinhua/Peng Lijun) LUSAKA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Zambia's leading opposition leader on Wednesday said he has always been innocent of the treason charges he was slapped with. Hakainde Hichilema, who was freed by a judge on Wednesday morning after the state prosecutor dropped charges against him of plotting to overthrow the government, said he remains resolute that the treason charge was a political machination meant to silence him. Hichilema and five others were arrested in April this year and have been in custody since then as treason is not bailable in Zambia. "We have been innocent and shall be," he said in a brief statement posted on his Facebook page. He however said he wanted a better Zambia. The opposition leader later told his supporters at the party's secretariat that he was committed to peace and stability of the country in order to ensure development. He said the country was divided on political lines and called for purpose of unity from all stakeholders. The opposition leader further said the time he spent in prison had not crushed him but made him even stronger. "We cannot continue living the way we are, it is uncomfortable. It is our collective duty to bring back unity in our country. We are so divided," he added. His release sparked wide celebrations in the Zambian capital as his convoy was driven from the Chimbokaila Prison where he was held to the party's secretariat. Hichilema's arrest had heightened tension in the southern African nation after last year's disputed elections, with stakeholders calling for dialogue to ease the tension. Last week, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scott visited Zambia and met both President Edgar Lungu and the opposition leader where she facilitated a process of dialogue between the two political foes. Former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo also visited the southern African nation and held talks with Lungu and the opposition leader. In June, church leaders from the influential Catholic Church held talks with Lungu and called for the release of the opposition leader in order to ease tension in the country. The church leaders also visited the opposition leader in prison. Hichilema, 55, is a wealthy businessman who narrowly lost to Lungu in last year's elections but has refused to concede defeat, claiming the vote was stolen from him. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 21:04:57|Editor: Mengjie Fishing boats sail from the Yazhou Central Fishing Port in Sanya, south China's Hainan Province, Aug. 16, 2017. The fishing season of the South China Sea started on Wednesday after this summer's fishing ban. (Xinhua/Chen Wenwu) HAIKOU, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- With a marine police guard, around 100 fishing vessels set out from south China's Hainan Province Wednesday noon, marking the end of fishing ban in the South China Sea this summer. The boats, departing from Yazhou Port in Sanya, will head to the waters of Beibu Gulf, Xisha and Nansha sea areas, according to the provincial maritime and fishery department. A total of 18,000 fishing boats returned to Chinese ports from May 1 when the ban started, a record high for the past 19 years since China first enacted the annual fishing ban. The ban was extended by one month this year to a total of three and half months. During this period, 92 cases of illegal fishing were reported, down 30 percent from last year, according to the department. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 21:10:05|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian aviation authorities said Wednesday that several proposals by interested parties to resume search for the missing Malaysian Airlines MH370 are being assessed, following latest reports that significantly narrow down the potential areas. "The MH370 Response Team has received several proposals from interested parties to search for MH370," said Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, director general of Malaysia's department of civil aviation and head of MH370 response team. In the statement, Azharuddin said Malaysia "acknowledged" the latest reports but "we remain to be guided as to how this can be used to assist us in identifying the specific location of the aircraft." "The team is currently assessing these offers in light of all available information including this newly released report which will subsequently be brought to the attention of Australia and China to seek their views," he said. Flight MH370 disappeared in March 2014 with 239 passengers and crew on board, most of them Chinese nationals, en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. Joint search efforts were suspended in January after almost three years. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), which oversaw the underwater search for MH370, said Wednesday that the two reports from Geosciences Australia and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) may help pinpoint where the Boeing 777 disappeared. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 21:20:17|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close GUANGZHOU, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese smuggling suspect was repatriated from Indonesia to China on Wednesday. The suspect, Ji, former people's congress deputy in a district of south China's Shenzhen City, and founder of a tech company, was involved in a smuggling case worth 321 million yuan (about 50 million U.S. dollars). Interpol issued a red notice, the closed instrument to an international arrest warrant, for the suspect in October at the request of China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS). The suspect, who had been on the run for 15 months, was arrested by Indonesian police on Aug. 4. A team for the General Administration of Customs (GAC) brought him from Indonesia to China. According to the police, Ji's company purchased luxury clothing in Europe and America and shipped it to Hong Kong, before hiring individuals to take with them or clearing the goods to Shenzhen as personal items to avoid taxes. Another 13 suspects involved stood trial on June 9, 2017. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 21:45:38|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close NAIROBI, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- A South Sudanese expert on Wednesday said the recent attack on the rebel stronghold of Pagak by government forces near the Ethiopian border leaves a weakened armed opposition with no option but to embrace negotiations. Professor of political science at the University of Juba, Jacob Dut Chol told Xinhua in Juba that last week's assault on the rebel headquarters located northeast of the capital, curtails the power of the SPLA-in opposition (rebels) to fight on, and will force their hands toward embracing the national dialogue initiated last year by President Salva Kiir. "It means the opposition has been weakened. That means they will not have any activity and are left with no choice, but to join the national dialogue," Chol revealed. He also added that the latest escalation in violence breaches any seriousness about the ceasefire announced last year, and that both parties should show the will to stop further escalation of hostilities that have led to thousands of displacements in the border area. "It (fighting) is retrogressive. It is not a good thing on the ceasefire both parties have committed to upholding. You talk of ceasefire yet it is not holding meaning," he said. Both the rebels allied to Former First Vice President Riek Machar and government forces have given contradicting accounts over ownership of the strategic Pagak area, following the clash that has been condemned by the UN Mission in South Sudan. The political science don added that the violence could further escalate affecting livelihoods, if not stopped by the warring parties. "The people there (in Pagak) also need to live, the fighting if not stopped can affect their socio-economic fabric," he disclosed. South Sudan descended into violence in December 2013 after political dispute between President Kiir and his former deputy Machar led to fighting that pitted mostly Dinka ethnic soldiers loyal to Kiir against Machar's Nuer ethnic group. The 2015 peace agreement to end the violence was again violated in July 2016 when the rival factions resumed fighting in the capital forcing Machar to flee into exile. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced millions that have sought refuge in neighboring countries. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 21:55:46|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close Nepalese President Bidhya Devi Bhandari (R) meets with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang in Kathmandu, Nepal, Aug. 16, 2017. (Xinhua/Sunil Sharma) KATHMANDU, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- China and Nepal agreed on Wednesday to boost bilateral pragmatic cooperation, especially under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, to further strengthen friendly ties between the two countries. At a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang, Nepalese President Bidhya Devi Bhandari expressed appreciation for China's consistent support and assistance for Nepal's national development and post-disaster reconstruction. The president said the Nepalese government and people cherish the traditional friendship with China and the two countries have always been good neighbors and real friends sharing good and bad times over history. The president pledged that Nepal supports the Belt and Road Initiative put forward by China and will actively participate in the initiative to further promote bilateral pragmatic cooperation for mutual benefit. She noted that Nepal and China have maintained frequent high-level contacts and bilateral cooperation in various fields have been carrying on smoothly. She also pledged that Nepal sticks to the one-China policy and will never allow any anti-China activities taking place on Nepalese soil. Wang Yang pledged that China will work together with Nepal to implement the important consensus reached between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Nepalese leaders, maintain close high-level contacts and strengthen political mutual trust. He also promised that China will work together with Nepal to intensify bilateral pragmatic cooperation under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, strengthen interconnection and intercommunication, maintain close coordination in international and regional affairs as as to push forward the traditional friendly ties. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 21:55:47|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close MOSCOW, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Economic pressure on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is not an alternative to a political solution to the Korean Peninsula issue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday. "We cannot support the idea, which some of our partners are hatching, of economically suffocating the DPRK, since it may cause negative and tragic humanitarian consequences," Lavrov said at a press conference. He recalled all the United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions on the DPRK and called for the resumption of political talks to reach a peaceful and diplomatic settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue. While the sanctions were observed, the appeal to seek a political solution was largely ignored, Lavrov said. Russia joins China in a "double suspension" proposal, which requires the DPRK to suspend its missile and nuclear activities in exchange for the suspension of large-scale U.S.-South Korean military drills. Lavrov criticized the United States for rejecting this plan, saying that Washington's position is based on "falsely understood ideas of prestige" rather than on consideration for the fate of the region and numerous people, who may suffer if hostilities start there. The top Russian diplomat said that both Washington and Pyongyang had toned down their threats against each other. "Probably we should cheer for this, or at least, hope that the hot heads have cooled down a little bit," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 22:00:50|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said Wednesday that the country would establish a new intervention brigade and a naval station in northern Stung Treng province bordering Laos. "All preparation does not intend to wage war with the neighboring country, but aims at defending the nation and people and increasing good relations with the neighboring country," he wrote on his official Facebook page while flying by helicopter to Stung Treng province for a troop visit. Border dispute between Cambodia and Laos began in April when Cambodia accused Laos of sending about 30 soldiers to occupy the areas of O Alay and O Ta Ngav in Stung Treng province bordering Laos' Attapu province; however, all Lao soldiers pulled back from the areas on Saturday afternoon, hours after an urgent meeting between Hun Sen and Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith in Vientiane. Cambodia shares about 540 km of border with Laos to the north and northeast. To date, the two neighbors have achieved 86 percent of the border demarcation. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 22:00:52|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close NAIROBI, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Kenyan government on Wednesday ordered three-month suspension on the crackdown against two civil society organizations amid uproar from Kenyans and the international community. Acting Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i issued the directive following a raid by security and government agencies at African Center for Open Governance (AFRICOG) offices after it was shut down on Tuesday together with the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) over allegedly tax violation, employment laws and for operating without a license. In a letter to NGOs Coordination Board Executive Director Mohamed Fazul on Wednesday, Matiang'i acknowledged the weighty legal, non-compliance and regulatory issues against the organizations. He directed Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho to immediately form an inclusive and representative committee to review their compliance with the help of the NGOs' board. "This would include an opportunity for the organizations and any concerned stakeholders to engage with the board and effectively address any outstanding non-compliance issues that may have led to the de-registration of the two organizations," he said. Matiangi said a review of the two organizations' compliance status must be undertaken before any action against them. High Court last year declared a similar attempt to deregister the KHRC, as unconstitutional and faulted the NGOs Coordination Board of wrongfully deregistering the commission as well as intimidating an investigation against it. The Wednesday raid came a day after the NGOs Coordination Board wrote to the directorate of criminal investigations (DCI) to shut down the organizations over claims they are operating illegally. Fazul said the AFRICOG has not been registered and should be shut down. He also said its directors and members should be arrested for contravening the NGO provisions. The raid and de-registration of the two organizations has been roundly condemned by Kenyans and the international community who termed it retrogressive. AfriCOG Vice chairperson, Maina Kiai, has strongly condemned the action, again reading mischief as to why the government wants to shut down the body. AfriCOG Lawyer, Harun Ndubi, and KHRC Executive Director, George Kegoro, have also condemned the raid, terming it ill-motivated and meant to intimidate NGOs that are critical of the government further discrediting the authenticity of the search warrant provided by the police. Heads of EU missions in Kenya expressed great concern at the decision taken by the NGO Coordination Board regarding the two organizations. "It is vital, particularly during this important period, that Civil Society Organizations are able to operate without harassment or hindrance in line with due process," said the envoys from 28 European bloc said in a joint statement issued in Nairobi. The envoys also welcomed the announcement by the government to suspend the purge on the two organizations as well as his reassurances that President Uhuru Kenyatta and the government "are committed to ensuring unrestrained space for civil society, in all its diversity." On its part, the EU observer mission which has been monitoring the elections in the country, called for the respect for the rule of law and constitutional rights, including freedom of association. "We call on the Kenyan authorities to give civil society the space and security to work towards greater democracy for Kenyans," the EU observer mission said in a statement. Meanwhile, the High Court has suspended a crackdown on the two civil society organizations after AfriCOG and seven rights activists moved to court to stop the board from interfering with its operations. The petitioners said earlier on Wednesday that they wanted the board to bar the board headed by Mahamed from winding up its operations. They also sought an order for the board to be stopped from freezing the lobby group's bank accounts. The High Court negated the raids carried out on the organization. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 22:05:54|Editor: Mengjie Video Player Close PHNOM PENH, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian Health Minister Mam Bunheng will attend the Belt and Road High Level Meeting for Health Cooperation to be held in Beijing on Aug. 18 and 19, a health ministry statement said on Wednesday. The meeting will bring together health leaders from the participating countries in the Belt and Road initiative and development partners, the statement said, adding that the participants will discuss ways to utilize the Belt and Road initiative to support health projects and to expand health coverage in the countries included in the initiative. According to the statement, Bunheng will deliver his speech in the opening of the Belt and Road High Level Meeting for Health Cooperation on Aug. 18. The Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, known as the Belt and Road initiative, was proposed by China in 2013 with the aim of building a trade and infrastructure network connecting Asia with Europe and Africa along the ancient trade routes. To support the initiative, China has established the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Silk Road Fund. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 22:10:57|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close LUSAKA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations children's agency UNICEF on Wednesday reaffirmed its commitment towards addressing issues affecting children in Zambia. Newly-appointed United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund representative to Zambia Noala Skinner said she will continue building on the successful cooperation with government, the international community and civil society organizations to support the rights and well-being of children and women during her tour of duty, according to a statement released by the agency. The agency, she said, was committed to supporting Zambia's integrated and inclusive approach to development so that no one was left behind, adding that it recognizes the country's multi-faceted nature of sustainable development. "Zambia is a young nation, we are confident that UNICEF, through its diverse programs, will continue to reach the majority of Zambia's population (children under the age of 18)," she said. Photo taken on Aug. 15, 2017 shows Richard Saindon, a retired reporter from Radio Canada, who has chosen to be a trucker mostly to avoid touching his pension. (Xinhua/Yuan Yue) by Xinhua writers Yang Shilong, Yuan Yue, Wang Wen BUFFALO, New York, the United States, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- For Eugene Bosioc, trucking is his way of life. The Romanian immigrant from Stoney Creek, Ontairo, Canada, has been hauling freight between the United States and Canada for 40 years. Driving on seemingly endless stretches of pavement is challenging, yet also rewarding. The average pay of a long-haul trucker is good compared with other industries. Bosioc earns even more than those employed by truck companies since he drives his own vehicle. Yet Bosioc seems less optimistic about his livelihood as the renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) are scheduled to start Wednesday and expected to last six or seven months. "I listen to CNN every day, I know what (U.S,) President (Donald) Trump says about NAFTA, sometimes I am worried about the renegotiation," Bosioc told Xinhua one afternoon at the Angola Travel Plaza, a service area about 22 miles (35 km) south of the U.S.-Canada border city of Buffalo via I-90 W. Trump, who on the election campaign trail last year called NAFTA "the worst trade deal signed maybe anywhere," has blamed the 23-year-old trade agreement for the lost of American jobs in automobile factories. In regard to Canada, the United States has faced difficulties securing market access for its dairy, wine, grain and other products, but the current agreement is unequipped to address the barriers to the market, according to the objectives for NAFTA renegotiations released by the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Office on Monday. For the first time the USTR has included deficit reduction as a specific objective for NAFTA negotiations. Washington also seeks to retain power to impose a tougher trade enforcement against Canadian and Mexican products, and to include policing currency manipulation in the renegotiation. Richard Saindon, a retired reporter from Radio Canada, chose to be a trucker mostly to avoid touching his pension. "Trucking for three months, I can make enough money for my two months holiday in Europe," chuckled Saindon from Quebec City. "It is also for fun, I love travelling." The obvious upside of NAFTA is it has quickened the flow of goods between the United States and Canada, he said. "Crossing the border is very easy. the company I work with have the papers they need. so when I arrive, it is easier to pass their border with this truck than when I was a tourist. It is faster, it only takes 30 seconds." But Saindon wonders if Canada has sufficient "bargaining power" for the new round of negotiations. "In Canada, we want to protect many things, our dairy, our lumber...many many Canadian people are in this industry. Do we have any power against the U.S.? They have the strongest economy in the world," he asked. "So what can we do? Maybe we can turn more to Europe and Asia, we don't know." "If we can become a partner of Mexico, if we can join Mexico, we will be stronger. Our position will be stronger. But if we are alone, I'm not sure what will happen," he added. Some truckers, though, are hopeful that the Trump administration will not follow through with his tough talk against its North American neighbors. "I know President Trump is looking at improving things on the American side, but I don't think that's going to be too negative to Canada," commented Andrew, a trucker, who is delivering goods from Ontario, to the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. "Maybe in certain sectors like softwood. Overall I don't think so. This is because I know trade is important to both countries." "I think there will be an agreement because Canada...it is almost impossible that we don't have one in North America," Saindon agreed. Canadian truckers are not alone in worrying about the potential revamping of the NAFTA. Shannon Newton, president of the Arkansas Trucking Association, told the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette that people throughout the industry are concerned that rapid changes could ripple through supply chains before anybody has time to adapt. "The industry has anxiety over change, and it's not necessarily that the way we are doing it is the best way," Newton said. "It's that the way freight currently flows is dependent upon the methodologies that are currently in play." The Trump administration's protectionism, if fulfilled, would not only crash the cross-border trade between the United States and Canada, but also harm the two country's economy as a whole, said Cliff Lilly, a retired Canadian engineer who joined the truckers discussions over the NAFTA negotiations. "The NAFTA is good on either side of the border, I think it is important to keep free trade open, and keep our borders open for everyone," said Lilly, who was on route back to his home in Ontario. "He (Trump) wants to keep all the manufacturing in the states. Economically that is not sensible," Lilly added. "Everybody wants to shop at Walmart so we can get the best deal. You can't shop at Walmart and get the best deal when everything is made in the United States unless their labor costs go down." Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 22:21:04|Editor: Yamei Video Player Close BERLIN, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Deutsche Post DHL Group and Ford presented their jointly produced electric transporter in Cologne on Wednesday following the announcement of the cooperation in June. Both companies are "thrilled" about the collaboration and would consequently "think about additional joint activities," member of the Deutsche Post AG board of management Juergen Gerdes said. The planned location for a second production site in North-Rhine Westphalia is expected to be announced within the next month. Steven Armstrong, Ford Motor Company Vice President and President Europe praised the project as a big step on the way towards cleaner buses, cars and delivery vehicles. The vehicle named "StreetScooter WORK XL" is based on the Ford Transit chassis equipped with a battery-powered drive train and a car body set up according to Deutsche Post DHL Group's requirements. According to company data, the van has a range of between 80 and 200 kilometers. Its modular battery system has an average charging time of three hours. Next to the two smaller models StreetScooter Work and Work L, the new WORK XL is the company's third and largest electric van model. Gerdes, spoke of an "optimal vehicle for the delivery of parcels in large cities," which would enable the company to cope with the increasing volume of deliveries in an environment friendly and quiet manner. The electric delivery van will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by five tons and safe 1,900 liters of diesel annually, according to Gerdes. Deutsche Post DHL Group owns Germany's largest fleet of electric vehicles with over 3,000 electric delivery vans and around 10,500 pedelecs. Around 150 pre-production vehicles of the transporter are to be built at the StreetScooter plant in Aachen and will be used by the German postal service for package delivery. Both companies are currently planning to produce 2,500 vehicles of this model by the end of 2018. Like the previous models, the new van is planned to be sold to third parties as well. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 22:21:06|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close MOSCOW, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Moscow hopes the United States will refrain from unilateral steps leading to the collapse of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said here Wednesday. "I hope that the United States will not violate the obligations it has assumed," Lavrov said at a press conference. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned Tuesday that Iran's nuclear program could be restarted within hours if the U.S. administration imposes additional sanctions on Tehran. The U.S. Congress earlier this month approved a series of new sanctions against Iran for its ballistic missile program and other activities in the region. Iran said these tests did not go against the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action it signed in July 2015 with the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain, Germany and the European Union on stopping its nuclear program. Lavrov condemned the new U.S. sanctions as illegitimate and capable of "undermining and destroying the carefully built balance" reached to curb Iran's nuclear program. He said Russia upholds the principle of abstaining from unilateral sanctions but honors the measures of influence agreed upon within the United Nations (UN) Security Council. "The Americans are categorically against the principle ... We will necessarily defend it (the principle) in all future discussions," Lavrov said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 22:26:10|Editor: Zhou Xin Video Player Close NAIROBI, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The UN Environment Program (UNEP) and Kenya's mobile phone firm, Safaricom on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to promote low carbon development in the country. Erik Solheim, UNEP Executive Director, said a partnership with the private sector will help reinvigorate the green agenda through investments in clean energy, waste management and watersheds protection. "The private sector deserves a larger space to help build a more resilient, inclusive and sustainable world," Solheim remarked, adding that businesses that invest in environmental sustainability are more profitable and appealing to consumers. He revealed that a new partnership with Safaricom will focus on implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs) that have a bearing on green economy and inclusive prosperity. "The agreement we have just signed with Safaricom will focus on rapid transformation to renewable energy in Kenya, reduce pollution, promote electric mobility and green finance in the country," Solheim said. He urged the Kenyan government to enact policies that encourage businesses to invest in clean technologies and conservation of vital ecosystems such as forests and watersheds. Kenyan businesses have embraced the green and sustainability agenda in line with their corporate social responsibility ethos. Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore said that said that a partnership with the UN Environment will help revitalize action on carbon emissions, deforestation and pollution that jeopardizes green economy in Kenya. "Modern businesses have realized that integrating sustainability agenda in their core activities not only generates long-term benefits but have the capacity to transform livelihoods," Collymore remarked. He disclosed that Kenya's leading mobile phone services provider has endorsed global pacts to reduce carbon and water footprints in key value chains. "Our vendors are bound by a strict code of conduct that obliges them to cut down on waste and adopt energy efficiency measures," said Collymore. He added that Safaricom has rallied behind Kenya's efforts to reduce plastic waste in urban centers alongside restoration of major water towers in the country. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 22:31:17|Editor: yan Video Player Close COPENHAGEN, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Danish brewer Carlsberg reported a 20-percent growth in operating profit for the first half of 2017 on Wednesday. Operating profit for the first half of 2017 stood at 4.13 billion Danish kroner (650 million U.S. dollars), up 20 percent from 3.45 billion kroner for the same period last year, with all three regions delivering double-digit growth, the company said in a financial statement. The operating profit was supported by a 200-million kroner positive currency impact that more than offset the small negative scope impact from divestment of businesses, Carlsberg added. Net revenue for the first six months of 2017 rose 2.0 percent to 31.77 billion kroner, up from 31.24 billion kroner year-on-year. "We delivered a strong set of results for the first half-year, improving earnings and cash flow and reducing leverage," said Carlsberg chief executive officer Cees't Hart, adding that the group was on track to deliver on its key priorities for this year. Carlsberg maintained its full-year guidance of mid-single digit percentage growth in organic operating profit, and said it now expects a positive translation impact of around 50 million kroner against a previous forecast of 300 million. (1 U.S. dollar = 6.36 Danish kroner) Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 22:36:22|Editor: yan Video Player Close BAOTOU, Inner Mongolia, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Tanks are rumbling past and missiles roaring. These are not scenes from a war film, but highlights of a weaponry exhibition held in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Wednesday. In the city of Baotou, where the country's first domestically made tank rolled off the assembly line nearly 60 years ago, the 2017 Armour Day event was hosted by China North Industries Group Corporation (NORINCO), the largest manufacturer of armored vehicles for China's armed forces and police departments. Aiming at showcasing some of China's latest innovations in weapons for land operations, the event attracted officials from the army and defense authorities, as well as foreign ambassadors and military officers from various countries. A live fire demonstration was the highlight on Wednesday. Nearly half of the weapons on display were never shown before with live ammunition, NORINCO said at a press conference Tuesday. The star of the day was the VT5. Debuted at Airshow China 2016 in Zhuhai, the newly-developed light tank finished its first dynamic demonstration Wednesday after a maneuverability and a live fire display. Equipped with a domestically-made engine, auto gear box and a 105-mm tank gun, the lightweight tank is compatible with various types of terrain. Wednesday's exhibition also featured the live fire debut of the Red Arrow 10 and Red Arrow 12, China's famous anti-tank and multi-purpose missiles. The Red Arrow missiles can automatically locate and engage targets. In the live fire demonstration, the missiles hit and destroyed the targets without a single miss. The VT4 and several other battle tanks and armored vehicles also took part in the event. Seven major programs were in display, including an active protection system demonstration, a mine-resistance demonstration and a firing demonstration by a multitude of battle tanks and armored vehicles. China is stepping up efforts to reform and modernize its army and national defense, with weaponry innovation weighing heavily on the cause. "I think innovation is one of the major priorities in the field of weapon manufacturing," said Zhu Zheng from NORINCO. "The innovative spirit of generations of scientists has driven the development of Chinese defense." China's military manufacturers like NORINCO should continue to innovate to facilitate the country's defense and military modernization, Zhu told Xinhua. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 22:41:26|Editor: yan Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Commanding General of U.S. Army Central Command, Lieutenant General Michael Garrett, led a six-member delegation on a three-day visit to Pakistan this week, the American embassy here said Wednesday. While in Islamabad, Lt. Gen. Garrett and the delegation met with the Pakistan Army's Chief of General Staff, the Director General of Military Training, and the Director General of Military Operations at the Army General Headquarters, an American embassy statement said. Lt. Gen. Garrett also met with the Director General of Joint Staff and Director General of Joint Warfare and Training to discuss operations, training, and other areas of military cooperation between the United States and Pakistan. Lt. Gen. Garrett also visited the National Counter Terrorism Training Centre in Pabbi, Punjab province. While at the training center, the center's director briefed the delegation on Pakistani efforts to train soldiers to fight terrorist groups. "This visit is significant in continuing to build the relationship between our two militaries and countries, one of our key partnerships in the region," he said. This is General Garrett's first visit to Pakistan. U.S. Army Central Command engages with Pakistan's military leadership and organizations primarily through military-to-military information exchanges, regional symposia, and multilateral and bilateral exercises, the embassy said. These events allow both countries to build relationships necessary to advance counterterrorism efforts in the region, it said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 22:46:27|Editor: yan Video Player Close LONDON, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- In its second Brexit position paper, the British government said Wednesday it did not want any border customs posts along the 500-km border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic when Britain leaves the European Union (EU). The paper outlines the government's principles for maintaining a seamless and frictionless border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, which will leave the EU along with the rest of the UK. The paper makes it clear Britain does not want a return to the hard borders of the past on the Irish island. The paper also makes it clear Britain plans to protect the Common Travel Area (CTA) and associated rights for UK and Irish citizens, and uphold the Belfast Agreement which ended almost three decades of violence in Northern Ireland. The CTA began almost a century ago when the Irish Republic was established. It will mean a clear guarantee of no change to the ability of British and Irish citizens to move freely around the CTA that exists now. Brexit Secretary David Davis said Wednesday that the UK and Ireland had been clear all along about the need to prioritize protecting the Belfast Agreement signed in 1998 that includes cross-border agreements between the two. "In committing to keep the Common Travel Area, which has existed for nearly a century, we're making sure British and Irish citizens will continue to be able to travel, live, work and study across both countries," Davis said. The British government said it would push to avoid any physical border infrastructure and border posts between Ireland and Northern Ireland for any purpose following Brexit. In its first position paper on future customs arrangements published Tuesday, Westminster set out two approaches that Britain could adopt. One is no customs border at all between the UK and Ireland. A second possibility is a highly streamlined customs arrangement that could include a cross-border trade exemption, meaning no new customs processes for smaller traders. Currently, over 80 percent of cross-border trade is by SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises). The paper also suggests a continued waiver on submitting entry/exit declarations and continued membership of a Common Transit Convention to help Northern Ireland and Irish companies to transit goods. It also recommends a new "trusted trader" arrangement for larger businesses. The new paper also dismisses the idea of a customs border in the Irish Sea as not constitutionally or economically viable. A spokesman for the government's Brexit Office said: "Both sides need to show flexibility and imagination when it comes to the border issue in Northern Ireland and that is exactly what our latest position paper will do." "We have some very clear principles. Top of our list is to agree upfront on no physical border infrastructure. That would mean a return to the border posts of the past and is completely unacceptable to the UK." Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Brokenshire said: "The paper provides flexible and imaginative ideas and demonstrates our desire to find a practical solution that recognises the unique economic, social and cultural context of the land border with Ireland, without creating any new obstacles to trade within the UK." Media reports in Ireland said the Irish government welcomed the position paper as "timely and helpful" as it offers more clarity on the UK's strategy. A spokesperson in Dublin was quoted as saying Irish government leaders would analyse Britain's ideas in detail and discuss them with the European Commission and the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 23:01:35|Editor: yan Video Player Close ISLAMABAD, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Pakistan on Wednesday started documentation of around 1 million unregistered Afghan refugees, Pakistani and Afghan officials said. Pakistan continues to host approximately 1.45 million registered refugees, according to the UN refugee agency. Around 1 million are still unregistered, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Pakistani officials. The registered Afghans have Proof of Registration ( PoR) cards to stay legally in Pakistan till Dec. 31 this year. Pakistani officials say that documentation of the un-registered Afghans will enable the authorities to know the exact number of the un-registered refugees, where they live and what they do in Pakistan. They will be given cards for their identification. Officials said that 21 registration centres have been established across Pakistan, including capital Islamabad, for the registration purpose. Pakistan's National Data Base Registration Authority is providing technical support to the government in the documentation process. Afghan government has also sent officials to monitor the process. The registration follows three years of consultations between the governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan and UNHCR. It forms part of Pakistan's Comprehensive Policy on the Voluntary Repatriation and Management of Afghans, which was endorsed by its cabinet in February this year. The UNHCR says the program seeks to register undocumented Afghans living in the country, many of whom have lived in Pakistan for nearly four decades and raised children there. Under the scheme Afghans will be issued with an Afghan Citizen, or AC card providing legal protection from arbitrary arrest, detention or deportation under Pakistan's Foreigner's Act. The documentation process is expected to be completed in six months, Pakistani officials said. UNHCR officials welcomed the program and said it will allow Afghans to stay in Pakistan for the time being, until they can be issued documents such as passports, by the Government of Afghanistan. Afghan government has already launched the passport program for the refugees in Pakistan and Iran. They said Wednesday that the initiative will bring much needed relief for many Afghan families where some were registered refugees. It will also help regularize the stay for many refugees at a time when return to their home country may not be possible, they added. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 23:01:37|Editor: yan Video Player Close OTTAWA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- A smoldering fire at Toronto's landmark Canadian National Tower, which broke out around 4 a.m. (0800 GMT) Wednesday, has been put out, according to Canadian television network CTV. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire isn't clear. The tower management turned off power to the antenna mast which is responsible for broadcasting more than 30 television and FM radio signals across southern Ontario before Toronto firefighters extinguished the fire. The tower operating office said there was no threat to public safety and the tower structure and the tower will be opening to the public Wednesday once the Toronto fire department gives the green light. The Canadian National Tower is a concrete communications and observation tower in downtown Toronto that is more than 550 meters high. It held the record for the world's tallest free-standing structure until 2007. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 23:21:52|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close by Saud Abu Ramadan GAZA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The endless feuds between Islamic Hamas movement, which rules the Gaza Strip, and 82-year-old Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who rules parts of the West Bank, may end up with a complete geographical and political isolation of the coastal enclave, analysts say. These feuds, which started long before Hamas' violent control of Gaza in the summer of 2007, have created a deep political division between the two rivals, despite a series of reconciliation agreements and understandings reached over the past decade in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Egypt. Abbas started his unprecedented harsh measures with cutting 30 percent of 70,000 employees. He then sent thousands of employees working for more than 15 years to an early retirement. He also refused to pay for fuels to generate electricity and for medical and educational services in Gaza. Last week, Hamas presented an initiative to end the internal split between Gaza and the West Bank. Meanwhile, Abbas accepted a similar initiative presented by 200 Palestinian figures. However, nothing substantive has been implemented yet. "Over the past ten years of division, the arguments between the two rivals have looked like who comes first the egg or the chicken," Talal Oukal, a political analyst in Gaza, told Xinhua. "As long as both don't change their attitudes and political agendas, the internal split will last forever," he noted. According to Oukal, such division would ultimately lead to "a complete political and geographical isolation of the Gaza Strip." In order to end Abbas' policy of punishing Gaza and Hamas, a top Hamas delegation visited Cairo in June to hold talks with Egyptian security intelligence and Mohammed Dahlan, a dismissed Fatah leader who has close ties to Egypt. The talks lasted nine days and ended up with a series of understandings aimed at easing the pressure imposed by Abbas on Hamas and Gaza, including helping patients to get medicine and medical treatment, buying fuel to generate more electricity to end the severe power shortage in Gaza, and opening Rafah crossing with Egypt to allow the Gazans freer movement. Analysts, however, fear that the Egyptian-sponsored understandings reached between Dahlan and Hamas may cause Israel and the U.S. to further obstruct the Palestinian cause of establishing an independent state. "If Abbas insists on his policy of increasing pressure on Hamas, the suffering of the Gaza population increases and the understandings reached between Dahlan and Hamas are implemented, I think it will cause a disaster to the Palestinian cause," said Mustafa Ibrahim, a political analyst from Gaza. The 11th Panchen Lama, Bainqen Erdini Qoigyijabu, performs an abhiseca -- a Tibetan strength-giving ceremony -- for thousands of monks and pilgrims at the Zhaxi Lhunbo Lamasery in Xigaze, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, July 4, 2016. (Xinhua/Jigme Dorje) WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Washington has newly released an annual international religion report, which attacked China's religious policies and status, and kept listing China among "countries of particular concern." The groundless assertions were nothing but a political bigotry held by the U.S. government. They once again laid bare Washington's penchant for interfering in another country's internal affairs. While still reeling from the death and violence seen at a white-nationalist rally in the city of Charlottesville, the United States should take a minute to reflect on its own human rights situation before pointing accusing fingers at China. As a matter of fact, Chinese people of all ethnic groups have enjoyed full religious freedom in accordance with the Constitution and state laws. The 2016 report released by the U.S. State Department on Monday drew its conclusions largely from unconfirmed media and NGO reports, which were not reliable sources of information. In fact, some NGOs cited are probably outlawed for harboring ulterior motives. The report also accuses China of societal discrimination of Uyghur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists, a claim distorting the truth in every way. China's ethnic policies, featuring equality, unity, regional ethnic autonomy and common prosperity, enable the country to take the lead in protecting the rights of ethnic minorities with a comprehensive set of theories, policies, systems and laws. Meanwhile, flaunting the banner of religion should by no means become a loophole that enables the avoidance of penalties for criminal activities. Some religious extremists, splittists and terrorists advocate violence within Chinese territory in the name of seeking religious freedom and human rights. As a sovereign country, China has every right to maintain its social stability and territorial integrity by cracking down on those vicious groups. China has been making great progress in recent years in human rights protection. The United States needs to give "particular attention" to its own human rights problems, including high crime rates and deteriorating race relations. Against the backdrop of the recent clash between white supremacists and their opponents, the U.S. accusations against China simply lay bare the double standard it employs. During the weekend's deadly clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, a driver plowed his car through a group of counter demonstrators, sending bodies flying into mid-air, killing a 32 year-old woman and wounding nearly two dozens more. The violence highlighted the danger of racism, which is a serious problem in a still divided U.S. society. It also caused serious concerns that the IS-style car attack tactics seen at the clashes could inspire copycats to carry out further acts of domestic terrorism. Despite its self-proclaimed role as the world's human rights champion,the fact is the world's sole superpower is far from becoming a respected role model in this regard. Therefore, Washington should end its political bigotry against China and stop interfering in China's domestic affairs by issuing inaccurate reports one year after another. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 23:26:55|Editor: yan Video Player Close CAIRO, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian army killed on Wednesday two militants in Egypt's North Sinai province, military spokesman said. A military raid targeted trucks carrying terrorists in North Sinai, killing two of them, military spokesman Tamer al-Refaay said in a statement. The army forces also seized materials used in manufacturing explosives as well as big amounts of drugs. Bordering Israel and the Gaza Strip, Egypt's North Sinai province has been the center of anti-government terrorist attacks that killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers since the military removal of former President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013. The army removed Morsi in response to mass protests against his one-year rule and now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group. Since then, most of the terrorist operations were claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the regional Islamic State (IS) militant group. The Egyptian military in cooperation with the police killed hundreds of militants and arrested a similar number of suspects as part of the country's anti-terror war declared in 2013 by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, the army chief then, following Morsi's removal. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 23:37:06|Editor: ZD Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- As the 96-year-old Communist Party of China (CPC) prepares to hold its 19th national congress later this year, the world is watching how the long-ruling party will remain vigorous in the future. In fact, the CPC's efforts in self-reform since its 18th national congress held five years ago have provided answers to that question. Xi Jinping, who took office as general secretary of the CPC Central Committee in 2012, has led the efforts to fight corruption, calling on the whole Party to stay fully alert and describing corruption as a threat to the Party's very survival. Nothing is off-limits in the anti-corruption efforts, and zero tolerance has been shown toward corruption, Xi said at the seventh plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) earlier this year. FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION On Dec. 4, 2012, the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee convened a meeting to deliberate on the eight-point frugality code to address "si feng," or "four forms of decadence" -- formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance. According to the CCDI, as of the end of May, a total of 170,400 violations against the eight-point frugality code had been investigated across the country, with 231,100 people punished, including 20 ministerial-level Party officials. Yang Xiaodu, deputy secretary of the CCDI, said, "The tests we are facing now are no less challenging than those in war times, only in different forms. If our Party members can't resist the risks of corruption, they could end up using power for illegitimate purposes." On April 19, 2013, the Politburo decided to launch education activities within the Party. The "three stricts and three earnests" campaign, advanced by Xi in 2014, urges officials to be strict in morals, power and self-discipline, and to be honest in decisions, business and behavior. The Party also advanced a campaign for members at all levels to study the theoretical and practical issues of Party building in an effort to strengthen ideology and Communist beliefs while serving the people. The Party has shown hardened resolve in the fight against corruption when the Central Committee decided to investigate and punish senior officials for discipline violations, including Zhou Yongkang, Bo Xilai, Guo Boxiong, Xu Caihou, Ling Jihua and Su Rong. The Party not only exercises self-discipline within the country, but also reaches abroad to hunt down fugitives. Yang Xiuzhu, who was once number one on the list of China's top 100 fugitives released in an Interpol "red notice," turned herself in to the country in November 2016 after 13 years on the run. So far, over 40 fugitives on the Interpol red list have either voluntarily returned or been extradited to China, according to the Ministry of Public Security. DISCIPLINARY INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION In November 2013, the third plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee required innovation in the disciplinary inspection system, focusing on problems related to corruption, Party rules and regulations as well as the Party's leadership. The CPC has carried out inspection work covering CPC organizations in provincial-level regions, central CPC and government organs and major state-owned enterprises, according to Li Xiaohong, an official with the central inspection group. According to the CCDI, from 2012 to the end of 2016, 240 centrally administered officials were investigated, with 223 receiving punishments. A total of 57,000 Party members took the initiative to confess to their wrongdoings in 2016. Meanwhile, the National People's Congress Standing Committee, the top legislature, approved a pilot reform program to establish an integrated supervision system that will see the establishment of local supervisory commissions at three levels -- province, city and county. Supervisory commissions have been set up in Beijing Municipality and the provinces of Shanxi and Zhejiang this year as the initial step toward establishing a national supervisory commission. Besides supervising the performance, integrity and ethical conduct of civil servants, the commission will also investigate and punish anyone implicated in corruption or other job-related offenses. Any serious cases will be transferred to procuratorates for criminal investigation. Thanks to the concerted efforts of the entire Party, the Party's discipline has been strengthened, Xi said, adding that "the spread of corruption has been effectively contained and the battle against corruption has gained crushing momentum." "The objective of ensuring officials do not dare to be corrupt has been basically achieved," Xi said, concluding that a new atmosphere is emerging in political life within the Party. INNOVATE OFFICIAL APPOINTMENT In December 2014, Xi proposed "Four Comprehensives," a four-pronged strategy to create a moderately prosperous society in all respects, deepen reform, advance rule of law and strengthen Party governance. Having realized that the core of governing while deepening reform is the selection and appointment of officials, the Party issued guidelines to make the process more democratic, giving more weight to public opinion about the candidates. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, several scandals involving bribery by officials for votes have broken out across the country, shocking the public. Wang Weiping, an official with the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, said the Central Committee has learned lessons from the scandals and required organization departments to strengthen gathering of knowledge about officials in major posts from different sources. The guidelines tackled an long-standing difficulty in lowering the official ranks of Party officials. As of the end of 2016, 60,845 officials had been appointed to other posts because they had been deemed inappropriate for their previous jobs. The guidelines also explicitly specified that officials whose spouses have moved overseas will not be promoted. For officials who do not have spouses, if all of their children have moved overseas, they will not be promoted either. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 23:42:13|Editor: Yang Yi Representatives from BRICS nations pose for a photo in the 3rd BRICS Anti-Drug Working Group Meeting in Weihai, a port city in east China's Shandong Province, Aug. 16, 2017. Representatives from BRICS nations have agreed on establishing a communication mechanism on narcotics control and cooperation in information sharing and drug control enforcement. (Xinhua) JINAN, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Representatives from BRICS nations have agreed on establishing a communication mechanism on narcotics control and cooperation in information sharing and drug control enforcement. More than 20 officials from drug control departments of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa attended a meeting held Wednesday in Weihai, a port city in east China's Shandong Province. At the meeting, they discussed topics including the control of chemicals that are easily processed into drugs, training of drug control personnel, and technical exchanges between the nations. Liang Yun, head of the narcotics control bureau of the Ministry of Public Security, led the Chinese delegation at the meeting. The parties passed a guideline for the future work of the BRICS Anti-Drug Working Group, which will be submitted to the preparatory committee of the ninth BRICS summit. China, which holds BRICS presidency this year, will host the ninth BRICS summit in Xiamen, Fujian Province in September. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 23:47:15|Editor: yan Video Player Close MADRID, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish Maritime Rescue Service Wednesday saved 339 immigrants from rubber dinghies in which they were attempting to cross the Straits of Gibraltar that separates North Africa from the south of Spain. The service informed that seven dinghies were intercepted, with the first rescue made in the early hours of Wednesday after the service had been informed that 139 people, including eight children and a baby, had been located in three separate dinghies that had set off from Morocco. Thirty-nine people rescued on the first dinghy were described as men from the Maghreb region in good health. The second rescue happened at around sunrise when a dinghy with 66 immigrants, including a woman and six children on board, was found. A third dinghy had 34 people on board, including 11 women, two children and a baby. All of the migrants rescued were taken to Tarifa. Four more dinghies in the region, three of which were transporting a total of 120 migrants, were rescued and the last vessel was rescued from an area approximately 11 miles off the Spanish coast. Fifty-four migrants were in this boat. This busy day for the Maritime Rescue Services comes less than a week after the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said that Spain was on the way to overtake Greece in the number of migrants arriving by sea in 2017. Around 8,200 people have crossed from North Africa to Spain between Jan. 1 and Aug. 6 this year. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 23:52:26|Editor: yan Video Player Close NAIROBI, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga on Wednesday said he will proceed to the Supreme Court to seek a legal redress on disputed election results that put him behind the incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta. Odinga told a news conference in Nairobi that he will file a case at the highest court in the land to challenge last Friday's declaration of Uhuru Kenyatta as the winner of hotly contested presidential elections. "We have now decided to move to the Supreme Court and lay before the world the making of a computer generated leadership," Odinga remarked in the wake of pressure from foreign observers, religious leaders and captains of industry to seek legal channels in solving election dispute. Odinga said they decided to go to the Supreme Court for the second time following wide consultations and the current oppression on civil societies despite earlier declining to pursue legal means. "The court can use this chance to redeem itself, or, like in 2013, it can compound the problems we face as a country," he said. The Supreme Court dismissed the opposition leader's case on the March 4, 2013 presidential poll that the polls body said Kenyatta won, citing lack of evidence. Odinga who has unsuccessfully contested three elections before, said he will provide evidence to prove how results were inflated in order to give Kenyatta undeserved victory. The 72-year-old Odinga was making his fourth stab at the presidency during the August 8 elections. He garnered 44.7 percent of votes cast compared to Kenyatta who obtained 54.2 percent. Odinga rejected the presidential election results saying they were manipulated by a hacker who gained access to the electoral agency's servers to favor the incumbent. The declaration of Kenyatta as the winner of presidential race triggered protests in the perceived opposition strongholds of Nairobi's slums and western Kenyan towns. Odinga's eagerly awaited announcement of his next course of action on Wednesday minimized post-poll jitters that have engulfed the country since last Friday. He however did not rule out civil disobedience in his quest for a fair and credible election outcome. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 23:52:28|Editor: Zhou Xin The pedestal where the Roger B. Taney Statue stood is seen after being removed in Baltimore, Maryland, the United States, on Aug. 16, 2017. Four confederate statues were taken down in Baltimore in the early hours of Wednesday, as the city moved swiftly to avoid violent protests similar to the ones Charlottesville had seen over the weekend. (Xinhua/Shen Ting) WASHINGTON, Aug.16 (Xinhua) -- Four confederate statues were taken down in Baltimore in the early hours of Wednesday, as the city moved swiftly to avoid violent protests similar to the ones Charlottesville had seen over the weekend. The four removed monuments were those of confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, along with statues honoring confederate women, a confederate soldier and former chief justice Roger Taney. Baltimore mayor Catherine Pugh said Monday that talks were underway to haul away the monuments, and the city council agreed Monday evening to the plan. Many of the monuments were sprayed with graffiti, as some activists vowed to destroy the monuments before the city could act. The low-key move by Baltimore was seen as an effort to avoid protests by white nationalists, as in the case of Charlottesville, Virginia, protests had turned violent over the weekend, resulting in three deaths and scores of injuries. Confederate statues have become a contentious issue countrywide, as left-leaning groups say they are the remnants of a horrid past of slavery while white nationalists rally to protect the statues. In a press conference Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump questioned the effort to remove monuments of historical figures who practiced slavery. "I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after?" he said. "Where does it stop?" On Wednesday, the U.S. leader said there was "blame on both sides" for the Charlottesville unrest, departing from his previous remarks that he firmly denounced racism. Trump's new statement has aroused wide criticism among politicians, media and the public. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-16 23:52:29|Editor: yan Video Player Close TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday dismissed a recent annual report by the U.S. government on the lack of religious freedom in the Islamic republic. The Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qasemi said that the U.S. Department of State's report is "unrealistic, baseless and biased," and the document has been prepared to serve only political purposes, Tasnim news agency reported. Qasemi said the report is "undoubtedly unacceptable," presenting "once again a distorted image of the status of religious freedom" in Iran with wrong allegations. Qasemi hit back at the U.S. government with what he called "the U.S. dark record of racial and religious discrimination, Islamophobia and xenophobia, as well as violent attacks and police brutality against Muslims." He suggested that the U.S. government take legal and practical measures to protect religious freedom itself, and particularly make sure that Muslims' rights are respected in the United States, instead of judging the status of religious freedom in other countries. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-17 00:07:39|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- China's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday once again asked India to withdraw all its troops and equipment from Chinese territory, as the border standoff in the Dong Lang (Doklam) area approaches its second month. On June 18, over 270 armed Indian troops with two bulldozers crossed the boundary in the Sikkim Sector and advanced more than 100 meters into China. As of end of July, there were still over 40 Indian troops and one bulldozer in Chinese territory. The Dong Lang area borders India's Sikkim state to the west and the Kingdom of Bhutan to the south. Dong Lang is described as a disputed territory in some western media reports, which is simply untrue. In 1890, China and the UK signed the Convention Between Great Britain and China Relating to Sikkim and Tibet, which delimited the boundary between the Tibet region of China and Sikkim. According to the Convention, Dong Lang is Chinese territory. Chinese troops patrol the area and Chinese herdsmen graze livestock there. "This Convention of 1890 also defined the boundary between Sikkim and Tibet; and the boundary was later, in 1895, demarcated. There is thus no dispute regarding the boundary of Sikkim with the Tibet region," read a letter from Indian prime minister Jawaharal Nehru to Chinese premier Zhou Enlai in 1959. China is building roads on its own territory, did not cross the boundary and notified India in advance. India did not raise any objection at that time, or any other, until its troops suddenly invaded Dong Lang. "India intentionally started this standoff to test China," said Li Qingyan of the China Institute of International Studies. China's bottom line is the border line, as shown in the 1962 incident with India. As a Chinese saying goes, a good neighbor is better than a distant brother. China of course has no desire to enter into a war with its neighbor. China and India are two developing giants with a wide range of common interests. A sensible bilateral relationship will definitely benefit over two billion people. But Chinese people will never back down in defending sovereignty and no country should underestimate China's resolve. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-17 00:17:48|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close CHENGDU, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Government officials, scholars and religious leaders agreed upon development and cooperation as a means to eliminate extremism and terrorism at a meeting in southwest China's Chengdu Wednesday. Over 70 attendees from China, 16 Arab countries and the Arab League discussed Belt and Road building and anti-extremism during a two-day round table that ended Wednesday. A very important cause of extremism is developmental failure, according to Deng Li, director-general of the Department of West Asian and North African affairs at the Chinese foreign ministry. Development in Arab countries under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative will be beneficial in removing the grounds for extremism, he said. Muslims should be the major force in combating extremism, Shawki Allam, the Grand Mufti of Egypt, said. He called for a theoretical system to contend incorrect ideas and guide young Muslims onto the right path. Huang Hui, director of the Arabic department of University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, noted the huge young population in Arab countries. "High rates of unemployment and poverty have deprived young people of dignity and hope, which must be addressed so that terrorism does not draw them in," Huang said. The round table was a part of a seminar and dialogues on China-Arab relations, which was initiated in 2005 and is held every two years. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-17 00:37:59|Editor: yan Video Player Close LONDON, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- A new funding competition that has the support of both the Chinese and British governments is to be launched next year to develop solutions to the threat of antimicrobial resistance, Innovate UK announced on Wednesday. Innovate UK will make up to 10 million pounds (12.9 million U.S. dollars) available to UK businesses on behalf of Britain's Department of Health while China's Ministry of Science and Technology will invest up to 60 million yuan (9 million U.S. dollars) to fund the Chinese partners. The funds will be used to support projects that develop new products or services to fight antimicrobial resistance. Neither country would be able to conduct such projects within the same time frame without the other's expertise. The goals of the competition are to advance the discovery of new agents to prevent or treat drug-resistant bacterial infection in humans or livestock, maximize the clinical utility of current antibiotics, and improve capabilities for the diagnosis, treatment selection and surveillance of bacterial infections and antibacterial resistance. It has been estimated that failure to tackle drug-resistant infections will lead to at least 10 million additional deaths a year by 2050, according to Innovate UK. To lead a project that qualifies in the competition, an applicant needs to be a UK-based business of any size. There must be at least one partner from the UK and one for China in a project team as well. (1 British pound = 1.28 U.S. dollars; 1 U.S. dollar = 6.69 Chinese yuan) Farmers from different states, holding a banner, take part in a march against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) talks in front of the Angel of Independence Monument in Mexico City, Mexico July 26, 2017. (Xinhua/REUTERS) by Xinhua Writers Wang Wen, Yang Shilong BUFFALO, the United States, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- On the eve of the opening round of renegotiating North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), experts are urging the U.S. government to get rid of its misconceptions about a trade imbalance and genuinely discuss the issues at hand with Canada and Mexico. The trade pact reduced tariff barriers to zero for the three countries and led to tripling of trade among them over the last 23 years. However, it is one of the most controversial trade agreements in the world, criticized by some as a job destroyer and praised by others as a propeller of economic growth. Now the world is watching if the five-day trade talks could put a positive spin on the future of NAFTA, or lead to the breakup of one of the the world's largest free trade compacts. U.S. MISCONCEPTIONS U.S. President Donald Trump has frequently expressed his determination to address the U.S. trade deficit issue during the renegotiations. But experts say his approach is a misguided one, potentially leading to a deadlock in the talks. "Trade agreements are inappropriate and ineffective vehicles for attempting to reduce trade imbalances," according to a report titled "A Path Forward for NAFTA" released by Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE). The report explained that external imbalances are created by internal macroeconomic imbalances and can be remedied only by changes in the latter. "Continued U.S. insistence on cutting its trade deficit, especially via bilateral efforts with Mexico, would almost surely lead to dissatisfaction with the outcome and potential blowup of the entire agreement," the report said. In July, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) office listed "Improve the U.S. trade balance and reduce the trade deficit with the NAFTA countries" as the first and foremost goal for the renegotiation. It's the first time that the USTR has included deficit reduction as a specific objective for the U.S. trade talks with Mexico and Canada, reflecting the Trump administration's determination to address the issue. Another misconception held by the Trump administration according to experts is that trade is the primary cause for job losses. Edward Alden, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, told Xinhua in a recent interview the job losses in the manufacturing industry has been real and the impact on the manufacturing-dependent states significant. "But the primary cause was automation, technology," said Alden, who added that changing consumer demands was also a major cause of manufacturing job loss. Instead of blaming trade for it, experts said the country should really start investing in its own people again like it used to do in the past and help who have lost jobs in manufacturing industry to meet the needs of the new era. MAJOR DIFFICULTIES IN RENEGOTIATION The toughest issue in NAFTA renegotiation will be how to settle disputes, experts said. A dispute-resolution mechanism under Chapter 19 of NAFTA allows Canada and Mexico to appeal countervailing and anti-dumping duties imposed by the United States through independent tribunals that have often ruled against Washington rather than through judicial reviews in U.S. courts. "The Trump administration wants to eliminate that mechanism. Both Canada and Mexico see it as tremendously important because they believe that otherwise they could face arbitrary restrictions on their access to the U.S. market so that will be a very hard issue," said Alden. On Monday, Canada suggested it could walk away if the United States seeks to remove the mechanism. "Canada will uphold and preserve the elements in NAFTA that Canadians deem key to our national interest, including a process to ensure anti-dumping and countervailing duties are only applied fairly when truly warranted," Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said in a speech at the University of Ottawa's Center for International Policy Studies. Another difficulty will be government procurement. The Trump administration wants to expand the use of "Buy American" rules for government purchases, while Canada and Mexico want more opportunities for their companies to sell to all levels and branches of governments in the U.S. Experts said modifying or scrapping the procurement chapter to close U.S. markets to the two NAFTA partners could backfire. "The two NAFTA partners could retaliate by adopting rules favoring their own companies in contracting, thus adversely affecting American companies and jobs," according to PIIE's report. If the chief aim of a NAFTA renegotiation is to "do no harm," as some U.S. officials emphasized, NAFTA's procurement chapter should remain untouched, suggested the report. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-17 00:53:03|Editor: ying Video Player Close VIENTIANE, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- China and Laos have in recent years made great progress in exchange and cooperation in information, culture and tourism and the two countries will further enhance cooperation in these fields, officials said Wednesday. Lao Deputy Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Savankhone Razmountry and Chinese Consul General in northern Laos' Luang Prabang Li Baoguang, made the pledge Tuesday at an annual meeting on information and media work in northern Laos, according to a press release from the Consulate General on Wednesday. The two sides exchanged views on promotion of information, culture and tourism cooperation in the six provinces of northern Laos. The launching of Laos' first satellite by China in 2015 has greatly improved the broadcasting conditions of Laos radio and television. In 2014, Laos' state television and China central television, China's Guangxi broadcasting station signed a cooperation agreement on strengthening exchanges of video data and live signals, Lao officials said. Meanwhile more and more Chinese tourists are travelling to Laos, advancing the development of Lao tourism industry. According to Lao media report, in 2016, 70,000 out of a total of 640,000 person-times which visited Luang Prabang were Chinese tourists. Bilateral economic, trade and personnel exchanges are expected to further increase on the completion of China-Laos railway in 2021. Savankhone suggested the northern part of Laos take advantages of its border position and further strengthen exchanges and cooperation with Yunnan and Guangxi of China. He hoped that China will intensify efforts in training media personnel, upgrading media equipment and the broadcasting of Chinese radio and television programs in Laos. Li Baoguang spoke highly of Savankhone's positive evaluation of bilateral cooperation and appreciated his suggestion on promoting bilateral exchanges and cooperation in information, culture and tourism. Combo photo shows U.S. President Donald Trump (L) in Washington D.C., the United States, July 12, 2017 and Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in Pyongyang on June 6, 2017. (Xinhua) MOSCOW, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Economic pressure on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) is not an alternative to a political solution to the Korean Peninsula issue, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday. "We cannot support the idea, which some of our partners are hatching, of economically suffocating the DPRK, since it may cause negative and tragic humanitarian consequences," Lavrov said at a press conference. He recalled all the United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions imposing sanctions on the DPRK and called for the resumption of political talks to reach a peaceful and diplomatic settlement of the Korean Peninsula issue. While the sanctions were observed, the appeal to seek a political solution was largely ignored, Lavrov said. Russia joins China in a "double suspension" proposal, which requires the DPRK to suspend its missile and nuclear activities in exchange for the suspension of large-scale U.S.-South Korean military drills. Lavrov criticized the United States for rejecting this plan, saying that Washington's position is based on "falsely understood ideas of prestige" rather than on consideration for the fate of the region and numerous people, who may suffer if hostilities start there. The top Russian diplomat said that both Washington and Pyongyang had toned down their threats against each other. "Probably we should cheer for this, or at least, hope that the hot heads have cooled down a little bit," he said. Simorgh rocket is launched and tested at the Imam Khomeini Space Centre, Iran, in this handout photo released by Tasnim News Agency on July 27, 2017. (Xinhua/REUTERS) MOSCOW, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Moscow hopes the United States will refrain from unilateral steps leading to the collapse of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said here Wednesday. "I hope that the United States will not violate the obligations it has assumed," Lavrov said at a press conference. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned Tuesday that Iran's nuclear program could be restarted within hours if the U.S. administration imposes additional sanctions on Tehran. The U.S. Congress earlier this month approved a series of new sanctions against Iran for its ballistic missile program and other activities in the region. Iran said these tests did not go against the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action it signed in July 2015 with the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain, Germany and the European Union on stopping its nuclear program. Lavrov condemned the new U.S. sanctions as illegitimate and capable of "undermining and destroying the carefully built balance" reached to curb Iran's nuclear program. He said Russia upholds the principle of abstaining from unilateral sanctions but honors the measures of influence agreed upon within the United Nations (UN) Security Council. "The Americans are categorically against the principle ... We will necessarily defend it (the principle) in all future discussions," Lavrov said. Photo taken on March 20, 2014 shows cartoon stories of The Romance of Three Kingdoms published in French by a Chinese publisher at the 2014 Paris book fair. (Xinhua/Chen Xiaowei) BERLIN, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- "It is as if the Song of the Nibelungs in the form of Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' had come upon us; 'Game of thrones' is Kindergarten when compared with it." It was the introduction of China's crown-jewel ancient literature, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, by German newspaper Die Welt in an article, following the publication of the first complete German translation of the classic by sinologist Eva Schestag. Prior to this edition, presented by S. Fisher publishing house earlier this year with the name of Die Drei Reiche (meaning Three Kingdoms in English), only 35 of the total 120 chapters had been translated into German by sinologist Franz Kuhn in the mid 20th century. "It goes without saying that it was an honor and pleasure at the same time to have a chance to dedicate six years to the translation of this book," Schestag told Xinhua in an inclusive interview, adding the importance of this classic as well as the lack of a full-length German translation were motivations behind her work. "It's a key to understanding the Asian culture," she said. Besides, the novel is so popular in China that the history of Three Kingdoms comes alive even in modern times through an array of media renditions, including movies, TV series, video games, and board games, Schestag wrote in the postface of her book. Looking back into the translation process, Schestag still recalled what a daunting task it seemed when she first started. "It almost took my breath away, when I opened page 1 of about 2,000 to be translated - as if looking up from the foot of a high and steep mountain up to the peak." Since 2011 when she was officially commissioned with the translation, she had stayed for a long time at Looren Translators' House, a translators' residence nestled in the pre-alpine mountains in Switzerland, to retreat from almost all obligations other than translating. The Romance of Three Kingdoms, acclaimed as one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature, is set in a tumultuous history across the second and third century A.D. when feudal lords of three states scramble for the rule of China following the decline of Han Dynasty(202 B.C.-220 A.D.). The novel depicts plots, intrigues, battles, military strategies, lives of feudal lords, and original Han Dynasty poems and prose, and above all, the Confucian values of loyalty and "Yi", a term that generally translates into justice but means a variety of virtues. Schestag believed the novel can only be paralleled with by Homer's Odyssey in terms of its influence and significance. "These two literary works are comparable on the basis of the complexity of the plot and subplots and, last but not least, their influence on the subsequent literature of their respective cultural areas." Also like Odyssey, the Romance of Three Kingdoms is embedded with a motif that transcends time and national borders. To Schestag, the motif of this Chinese classic is the clash between tradition, order and values as inherited by the forefathers, and pragmatism, necessary to adapt to the changing requirements of the modern world. Apart from this motif, the strategies applied to outwit the enemy, opposing values like loyalty and pragmatism, courage and recklessness as discussed in the novel are all elements that make the book "relevant and interesting at all times and for all peoples". Schestag would not rest on the laurels of translating of this monumental work, but will continue introducing ancient Chinese literature to the German language world, perhaps, with a translation of Shiji, or Records of the Grand Historian, another monumental history book of ancient China compiled about 2,000 years ago, as she planned. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-17 01:48:45|Editor: yan Video Player Close ACCRA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese government has offered scholarships to 65 Ghanaian students for further education in various fields in Chinese institutions of higher learning in the 2017/2018 academic year, Ambassador Sun Baohong disclosed here late Tuesday. Speaking at a farewell dinner attended by 40 of the beneficiaries, Sun expressed delight in the growing number of Ghanaian students who had been studying in Chinese institutions. "China has been receiving Ghanaian students since 1960. Up to now, a total of 1,006 Ghanaian students have received Chinese government scholarships. Currently, 5,516 Ghanaian students are studying in China and this number has ranked top among African students in China for three consecutive years," the ambassador said. "The Chinese government has been continuously providing human resource training programs to the Ghanaian government. Last year, 1,200 Ghanaians received training in China and this number ranked top of all foreigners who received training programs in China," she said. Ambassador Sun urged the beneficiary students to become worthy ambassadors of the China-Ghana friendship in the new era. Accompanying the First lady were the Minister for Education, Matthew Opoku-Prempeh, Minister for the Interior, Ambrose Derry, Minister for Tourism, Catherine Afeku, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Charles Owiredu as well as the Registrar of the Scholarship Secretariat, Kingsley Agyemang. First Lady of Ghana Rebecca Akufo-Addo expressed gratitude to the Chinese government for the opportunities offered to young Ghanaians annually. "I am so excited that the Chinese government has graciously offered our young people this opportunity to learn and to be in a better position to contribute to the development of our dear country. "To my dear scholarship awardees, you have the obligation to seize this opportunity and make the utmost best out of it. You have the obligation to soak up every bit of knowledge and orientation that you would be given in China "Do not limit yourselves to the classroom. Study the Chinese society, their culture and their history. Trust me, you would find positive things to learn that would shape your future," the First Lady urged. Edem Ayivi Mawugbe, who had his Masters degree from the China University of Geo-Sciences from Wuhan, was among the beneficiaries. "The education system was very good and there were a lot of things I learnt. I had my Ph.D at the China University of Petroleum in Qingdao, so I am going to Qingdao to study Petroleum Engineering for my Ph. D. I have come to appreciate Chinese culture, the language, and the people. "I have learned a lot of things from them and it changed the way I think about foreigners, especially the Chinese. They are very warm people and they made me feel at home," Mawugbe said. Robert Lighthizer, U.S. trade representative, attends the first round of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) renegotiations in Washington D.C., the United States, on August 16, 2017. (Xinhua/Ting Shen) WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The United States, Canada and Mexico on Wednesday kicked off the first round of renegotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) amid widespread uncertainty and anxiety over the future of the decades-old trilateral trade deal. "We all agree that NAFTA needs updating. This is a 23-year-old agreement and our economies are very different than they were in the 1990s," U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer said in his opening remarks for the inaugural round of NAFTA talks, which will last until Sunday in Washington D.C. "We need to modernize or create provisions which protect digital trade and service trade, e-commerce, update customs procedures, protect intellectual property, improving energy provisions, enhance transparency rules and promote science-based agricultural trade," Lighthizer said. He hoped that the three countries could develop model provisions in each of these areas that can be used for years ahead and have the flexibility to adapt to future innovations. Lighthizer also claimed that NAFTA "has fundamentally failed many, many Americans", and the United States "cannot ignore the huge trade deficits, the lost manufacturing jobs, the businesses that have closed or moved" because of incentives in the current agreement. The top U.S. trade official said President Donald Trump, who has threatened to quit NAFTA, was not interested in "a mere tweaking of a few provisions and a couple of updated chapters," and the United States would seek "major improvement" of the agreement. "We need to assure that huge trade deficits do not continue and we have balance and reciprocity. This should be periodically reviewed," Lighthizer said. In July, the USTR's office for the first time included deficit reduction as a specific objective for the NAFTA negotiations, reflecting the Trump administration's determination to address the issue. However, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland dismissed the use of trade deficits as indicators of the success of a trade agreement. "Canada doesn't view trade surpluses or deficits as a primary measure of whether a trading relationship works," Freeland said in her opening remarks, adding current trade between the U.S. and Canada is "balanced and mutually beneficial." Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-17 02:19:15|Editor: yan Video Player Close RIGA, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Russia and Belarus have invited three Latvian representatives to observe their joint military exercise Zapad in September this year, the Latvian Foreign Ministry informed on Wednesday. The invitations extended to Latvia include two issued by Belarus under the Vienna Document of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and one from Russia that has been presented to the Latvian defense attache in Moscow. Russia's decision to invite the Latvian attache to the Zapad maneuvers has to be taken as a positive gesture, representatives of the Latvian Foreign Ministry said, adding that international pro-transparency mechanisms like the OSCE Vienna Document "enable countries to obtain objective information about military activities and exercises and thus avoid misunderstandings and unnecessary tensions". Janis Garisons, State Secretary of the Latvian Defense Ministry, has already confirmed that representatives from Latvia would be participating in the observation of the Zapad 2017 exercise. Zapad 2017, a joint strategic exercise of the Russian and Belarusian armed forces, is scheduled to take place from Sept. 14 to 20. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-17 02:44:23|Editor: yan Video Player Close WINDHOEK, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- A Namibian nurse is upholding the provision of health to Namibians at the Chinese Acupuncture department at Katutura Intermediate Hospital in Namibian capital, Windhoek. Rosalia Tuhadeleni, a registered nurse with Namibian Ministry of Health and Social Services attributes her gained skills in traditional Chinese acupuncture treatment to on-the-job training provided by successive Chinese medical doctors at the centre over the years. A course in acupuncture therapy treatment she attended from November 2009 to January 2010 at Taiyuan in Shanxi province in China has also been instrumental in transforming and honing Tuhadeleni's skills. "When I was assigned to work here some years ago, I struggled to assist patients as I knew little about acupuncture. But the training was an invaluable exposure. I gained hands-on experience in Chinese acupuncture treatment which has enabled me to serve patients better," she said on Wednesday. According to Tuhadeleni, recovery of patients is her joy, citing that acupuncture has made a big difference in the lives of many Namibians. "Acupuncture has brought healing and hope to many people across the country, which is evident in positive testimonies we witness. They call acupuncture the miracle treatment," added a passionate Tuhadeleni. Wu Gaofei, a Chinese Medical Doctor at the Chinese Acupuncture Department said that the centre provides treatment for paralysis and back pain amongst other illnesses to more than 40 patients daily. In 2016 alone, the centre received 6,000 patients, who contribute a once-off 30 Namibian dollars for consultation. Meanwhile, due to the growing demand of acupuncture in Namibia, Tuhadeleni called on health authorities to roll out acupuncture treatment to other state hospitals in the various regions. Acupuncture treatment is currently only offered in Windhoek. Furthermore, like she was trained, she called on the Chinese and Namibia governments to train Namibians with a keen interest in acupuncture. "Many nurses and therapists have approached the centre seeking for training opportunities in order to acquire skills and qualifications in this field in China," she said. This way, she said, Namibia and China will build capacity to meet the skills gap the Chinese Acupuncture Department faces at the moment. "With trained people, we will improve and accelerate the provision of health services in order to achieve sustainable development," she concluded. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-17 03:09:34|Editor: ZD U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer (C) attends the first round of renegotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in Washington D.C., the United States, on Aug. 16, 2017. The United States, Canada and Mexico on Wednesday kicked off the first round of renegotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) amid widespread uncertainty and anxiety over the future of the decades-old trilateral trade deal. (Xinhua/Ting Shen) WASHINGTON, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The United States, Canada and Mexico on Wednesday kicked off here the first round of renegotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) amid widespread uncertainty and anxiety over the future of the decades-old trilateral trade deal. "We all agree that NAFTA needs updating. This is a 23-year-old agreement and our economies are very different than they were in the 1990s," U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) Robert Lighthizer said in his opening remarks for the inaugural round of NAFTA talks, which will last until Sunday in Washington D.C. "We need to modernize or create provisions which protect digital trade and service trade, e-commerce, update customs procedures, protect intellectual property, improving energy provisions, enhance transparency rules and promote science-based agricultural trade," Lighthizer said. He hoped that the three countries could develop model provisions in each of these areas that can be used for years ahead and have the flexibility to adapt to future innovations. Lighthizer also claimed that NAFTA "has fundamentally failed many, many Americans", and the United States "cannot ignore the huge trade deficits, the lost manufacturing jobs, the businesses that have closed or moved" because of incentives in the current agreement. The top U.S. trade official said President Donald Trump, who has threatened to quit NAFTA, was not interested in "a mere tweaking of a few provisions and a couple of updated chapters," and the United States would seek "major improvement" of the agreement. "We need to assure that huge trade deficits do not continue and we have balance and reciprocity. This should be periodically reviewed," Lighthizer said. In July, the USTR's office for the first time included deficit reduction as a specific objective for the NAFTA negotiations, reflecting the Trump administration's determination to address the issue. However, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland dismissed the use of trade deficits as indicators of the success of a trade agreement. "Canada doesn't view trade surpluses or deficits as a primary measure of whether a trading relationship works," Freeland said in her opening remarks, adding current trade between the U.S. and Canada is "balanced and mutually beneficial." Lighthizer said the U.S. would also seek to tighten the rules of origin for automobiles and auto parts by requiring a higher NAFTA content and "substantial U.S. content" . The existing rules of origin allows the autos with a regional value content of 62.5 percent or higher to qualify for shipping them duty-free in North America. That's already the highest among the 12 free trade agreements that the U.S. currently has, according to Matt Blunt, head of American Automotive Policy Council. Blunt said the current threshold for local content requirement strikes the right balance, warning that tightening the rules of origin in NAFTA could be disruptive and hurt the competitiveness of automakers in U.S., Canada and Mexico. Mexico's Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo, in his opening remarks, said objectives for NAFTA renegotiations should be to "have more trade" and "do no harm." "The issue is not tearing apart what has worked, but rather how we can make the agreement work better," Guajardo said, adding negotiators have to work with all participants for successfully reaching a deal. Jeffrey Schott, a trade expert and senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a Washington-D.C. based think tank, said many U.S. lawmakers are also very reluctant to see major changes to NAFTA because of potential losses or uncertainty over the renegotiations. "If you ask many of the members, they will say that their constituents have benefited from the NAFTA and they're very reluctant to change what is going on now in part because they know the potential losses," Schott told Xinhua. "If they don't know what the potential losses are, they are concerned that there will be increased uncertainty and that would be a negative factor for investment," he said. Schott expected that negotiators from the U.S., Canada and Mexico would table negotiating proposals for a variety of different issues at this week's round of talks. "I think there will be a lot of proposals put on the table, detailed texts on a variety of different issues, and a lot of time will be needed just to explain what each country wants to see in this modernization of the NAFTA," he said. It's still early to say whether the three countries would reach an upgraded trilateral trade deal or the negotiations could break down. While every member has the option to withdraw from NAFTA six months after it provides the written notice to the other parties, Schott warned the costs of breaking up would be very high "because the economic disruptions to all three economies would be very severe." "If the U.S. withdrew it, it would cause significant pain for many U.S. exporters including many farmers that rely on the Mexican market for a large share of their crop sales," he said. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-17 03:55:01|Editor: yan Video Player Close BEIRUT, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Lebanese and Syrian ministers pledged to boost economic ties on Wednesday, state media reported. Syria's economy minister said the visit marked "a chance for joint action, for reinforcing cooperation, whether it's in terms of investment or of trade." The Damascus International Fair is to open this week for the first time since the Syrian conflict began six years ago. In a village at the Lebanese-Syrian border, Hajj Hassan, a Hezbollah member, said the Lebanese ministers met with Syrian officials. "The historic Syrian-Lebanese ties will continue and we as Lebanese have every interest in them continuing," he said. Hezbollah has sent thousands of its fighters to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government in the battle against Syrian rebel groups and militants. Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah urged the Lebanese state to strengthen relations with Syria. Nasrallah said Lebanon needed its larger neighbour for its security interests, as well as agricultural, gas and oil exports. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-17 05:10:36|Editor: yan Video Player Close TEHRAN, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday called on the European Union (EU) to play a bigger role in implementing the 2015 nuclear deal. In a meeting with new Austrian Ambassador to Tehran Stefan Scholz who submitted his credentials, Rouhani said the nuclear deal is "a win-win agreement" which removed Western states' concerns while ending the cruel sanctions against the Islamic republic. In July 2015, Iran signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with five powers, including the U.S., United Kingdom, China, Russia and Germany, and the EU, after years of tough negotiation. Under the deal, Iran agrees to halt its nuclear weapons program in exchange for easing the economic sanctions imposed by the U.S.-led countries. Rouhani underlined that Iran is determined to use the new atmosphere to attract investment, transfer new technologies and facilitate economic cooperation, especially the banking interactions. "The full implementation of the nuclear deal benefits the EU and the region; therefore, it is necessary that the EU increases its efforts and role in this regard," Rouhani was quoted by the FARS news agency as saying. Rouhani's remarks came after the U.S. administration under President Donald Trump recently imposed new sanctions on Iran and threatened to revoke the nuclear deal. But EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in June that the EU was determined to continue its engagement with Iran regardless of others' policies. Mogherini said that she was very confident that the U.S. review of the nuclear deal will lead to "wise decisions." She promised that, in any case, the EU will guarantee that the agreement "continues to be in place and our policy of engagement with Iran will continue." Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-17 05:55:47|Editor: yan Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- A Russian envoy to the United Nations on Wednesday urged the United States and South Korea to scale down their planned joint military exercises to cool down the situation on the Korean Peninsula. "In my humble view, even the reduction ... in the scale of exercises, if not cancelled altogether, would help reduce those tensions (on the Korean Peninsula)," Vassily Nebenzya, the Russian ambassador to the United Nations, told reporters at UN Headquarters in New York. On Aug. 5, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution to tighten sanctions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in response to its ballistic missile launches in July. Tension remained high after Pyongyang and Washington exchanged threats. It is time to demonstrate that the parties are willing to move toward de-escalation, said Nebenzya. "We are saying to both sides that they should refrain from anything that would deteriorate the situation." "We've heard and seen some reconciliatory language in the last couple of days and that's a good sign that it's cooling down," he commented. He stressed the need for a political roadmap. "We are stressing there is a need for a political way out of it, we need a political roadmap." For the time being, he said, there is only one roadmap on the table: the Russia-China joint proposal for dual suspension and for a peace and security architecture in Northeast Asia. The Russia-China stance, issued on July 4, envisages parallel efforts to move forward both denuclearization and the establishment of a peaceful mechanism on the peninsula. It also includes China's initiative of suspension-for-suspension: DPRK's suspension of its nuclear and missile activities, and the United States and South Korea's suspension of their large-scale war games. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-17 06:00:52|Editor: yan Video Player Close AMMAN, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- Jordan on Wednesday said talks were still ongoing with Russia to secure the best financing solutions to build the country's first nuclear power plant. The Jordan Atomic Energy Commission said in a statement that the two countries were still committed to the project to build a nuclear power plant in Jordan with two reactors each having a capacity of 1,000 megawatts. Russia's Rosatom, the state atomic energy corporation, has been keen on implementing the project since its inception and is involved in the project with all its technical and financial aspects, the commission said, quoted by the Jordan Times. The commission's statement came following some local reports claiming that the Russian company was looking into withdrawing from the project and it has already submitted a request to Jordan in this regard. The commission said technical studies related to the project were completed as well as other studies, emphasizing that the project will not put any burden on the treasury. Early 2017, Jordan and Russia have floated tenders to attract bids for supplying turbines and electrical systems for the kingdom's first nuclear power plant. Jordan will secure 1.5 billion U.S. dollars and Russia will do the same for building the plant, which is estimated to cost 10 billion dollars. The rest will be financed by banks and funds. In March 2015, Jordan signed an inter-governmental agreement with Russia to build and operate the nuclear power plant. Russia's Rosatom will own 49 percent of the project. The first reactor is expected to be operational in 2025. Energy-poor Jordan imports about 97 percent of its energy needs annually. Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-17 07:01:13|Editor: Yang Yi Video Player Close UNITED NATIONS, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- China on Wednesday called on Belgrade and Pristina to engage in dialogue and negotiations to settle their disputes. UN Security Council Resolution 1244 serves as an important legal basis for the settlement of the Kosovo issue, and parties should seek a solution that is acceptable to them within the framework of relevant UN Security Council resolutions, said Wu Haitao, China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations. China respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Serbia, understands Belgrade's legitimate concerns over the issue of Kosovo, and commends Serbia's efforts to seek a political solution, Wu told a Security Council meeting on Kosovo. Kosovo is faced with complex and difficult issues although the security situation remains stable, he said. China welcomes contacts between Belgrade and Pristina that are designed to push dialogue to a new chapter. Beijing hopes that the two sides will stick to the direction of political settlement and resume high-level political dialogue as soon as possible. China urges the two sides to implement agreements and increase mutual trust so as to create conditions for an ultimate peaceful settlement of their disputes, said Wu. National reconciliation and peaceful coexistence are in the interests of all ethnic groups in Kosovo and are in line with the need of development and prosperity of Kosovo and other countries in the region, said Wu. China hopes that the parties concerned should put people's well-being first, protect the legitimate rights of all ethnic groups in Kosovo and refrain from rhetoric and acts that would escalate tension. The UN Security Council should keep its attention to the Kosovo issue and push for a suitable solution, he said. China supports the work of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo and encourages constructive cooperation between the mission and other parties. China hopes the UN mission in Kosovo, the EU mission in Kosovo ( EULEX) and the international forces in Kosovo would work together and play a constructive role in the improvement of the situation in Kosovo and the ultimate settlement of the issue. Man charged for cursing in police station Yesterday, Miguel Roberts appeared before Magistrate Adrian Darmanie in the Port of Spain Magistrates Court where he pleaded guilty to the disorderly conduct charge but not guilty to the others. Police said Roberts visited the station on Sunday and began speaking loudly and using obscene language against them. His attorney Orin Kerr said Roberts was deeply apologetic and said his response was as a result of drinking heavily the night before. Roberts admitted that he was drunk and was unaware of the seriousness of his actions. Sir my friends and I were returning from a party when I went to the police station and I was drinking. I had a lot of alcohol in my system and I couldnt recall the incident until the following day. He said he was aware alcohol was no excuse for his actions and said he was sorry for the incident. Darmanie granted Roberts bail with a surety in the sum of $10,000 and fined him $200 for the offence of disorderly conduct. Three in court for poaching Scarlet Ibis The charges read to the trio alleged that on Monday, they had in their possession a protected animal namely the Scarlet Ibis. They have also been charged with entering the Caroni Bird Sanctuary, a prohibited area, without acquiring permission. The men pleaded not guilty. They were charged under the Wild Life Conservation Act of 1958. It is alleged they were caught with bird parts in a boat near the bird sanctuary by a team of game wardens. The wardens said they were conducting surveillance in the area when they spotted the men. They attempted to escape in a boat but were held shortly after. The men were granted bail and the case was adjourned to September 5. Authority sued for delay in Haleemas funding The heart-rending plight of fiveyear- old Haleema Mohammed who is afflicted with a blood disorder known as beta thalassaemia, moved many to reach out to her family financially when Newsday last week featured her parents call for funds from the CLA, to save their childs life. But with no definite word from the CLA, attorneys yesterday petitioned a judge of the High Court with a lawsuit to compel the State body to deal with the application with urgency. Justice Devendra Rampersad, presiding in the San Fernando High Court, after hearing attorney Gerald Ramdeens arguments, expressed concern over what he described as a lack of compassion in meeting and treating with the funding of life-threatening illnesses involving children. Medical doctors say Haleema must have a bone marrow transplant. She requires a blood transfusion every three weeks. The cost of the operation in India is TT$400,000, but Haleemas mother, Kristal Carmel Mohammed, stated in a lawsuit filed yesterday against the CLA, that if the operation is not done soon, her child will die. Ramdeen, instructed by attorney Sean Sobers, contended that the funds of the CLA are derived from money voted on by Parliament and it is the taxpayers who fund it. He pointed out in the lawsuit, which was served on the CLA and the Attorney-General, that on July 28, Mohammed had submitted her application for funding to the CLA. She was told that her application would not be entertained between less than a week and three months. The attorney pointed out in the lawsuit, however, that applications on behalf of other children, who are afflicted with the same illness, were determined by the CLA in a matter of a week. There is no lawful justification for the different treatment that has been afforded to the daughter of the intended claimant (Mohammed, Ramdeen submitted to the judge. Ramdeen apologised for the absence of the childs mother in court yesterday, because she had taken Haleema to the San Fernando General Hospital for yet another blood transfusion. Attorney for the AG, Nadine Nabbie, responded that the matter of the application for Haleema would be looked into and the court would be informed by midday tomorrow of the result. Five students get Cuban medical scholarships The undergraduates in medicine are Marie Siewnarinesingh, Sophia Ali, Neil-Ann Mc Millan, Randel Hamilton, and undergraduate scholar in health technology, Anand Hanuman. The signing took place at the Ministry of Educations Towers on Edward Street, Port of Spain. Speaking at the signing ceremony for the scholars yesterday, Minister of Education Anthony Garcia told the recipients every opportunity given to an individual should be grasped with both hands. It is an important date for all of you and I am sure it is an occasion you all will remember for the rest of your lives. It is one of the foundation stones that you will be laying in terms of your future development. He continued, The area of medicine is one that many of our students cannot afford, not all of them have the opportunity of perusing studies in these areas. It is a very competitive field, even here at the University of the West Indies, we have been told that there are hundreds of applications every year but not all persons, although they might be qualified academically, will be able to afford the opportunity to access studies in this area simply because of space. Thanking the Cuban government for making the scholarships available, Garcia told the five students they are now ambassadors for Trinidad and Tobago, but more than that they were worthy of accepting and receiving the scholarships. It is a time that will give you the opportunity for growth. Embrace this opportunity with both hands, set your goals and walk toward your goals with very bold steps and I am sure when you return to Trinidad and Tobago you will be in a good position to assist the development of our country. The students tuition and accommodation will be paid in full by the government of Cuba and they will receive $200 US per month as a stipend to help them with their incidentals. Young defends ferry investigator After a rotary club luncheon in Woodbrook, reporters asked Young why Mouttet was chosen to undertake the investigation. Young replied, Mr Mouttet is one of the stalwarts of TT. He is someone who is very respected. He said Mouttet is also someone Government sees as being quite independent and would be a good sole investigator into what he has been asked to look into. Young said Mouttets appointment does not mean Government has lost faith with the Port Authoritys board of directors. He said if Mouttets investigation unearths anything that warrants a police investigation, as a government, we will send it to the police and where it needs to go. Young said, I would expect persons to fully participate with a Cabinet appointed investigator. If they choose not to, they will have a lot of questions to answer. Young declined to say whether Mouttets findings could serve as the basis for future legal action against anyone involved in the procurement of the two vessels. He also said at this stage, there is no cost attached to Mouttets engagement as an investigator. Mom: Alliyah asked me about heaven Alliyahs mother Nicole Gopaul fought to hold back tears as she spoke about her dead daughter . Days before, my daughter was asking me what does heaven look like, she said, adding that Alliyah was a lively child who never failed to bring laughter and happiness to her home and that of her parents. Alliyah, Nicole said, was not a perfect child. In fact she was rude and would show attitude for everything. She recalled a day when she sent an email to Alliyahs father, Kitson Primus, asking him to come by and pick up his child. When I did not see him, I phoned her father. He said he did what was asked of him in the email. When I read the email once more, Alliyah had sent another message saying, Dont bother ok, Nicole said causing laughter in the church. She said Alliyah was always designing clothes and she would take a vest and make it into a skirt and wear it. So gifted was Alliyah that she would use bags to design dresses. She said Alliyahs dream was to go to Disneyland and her mother was making arrangements by getting her passport so that she could go with her father in December. Nicole said she loved her daughter dearly and would not allow even an ant to bite her toes. She said she was the only parent who would be at the St Marys Baptist School everyday before 2.30 pm to pick up her child. Nicole said since the incident on Friday last, she has not rested or eaten properly. She recalled when Alliyah was born, she was placed on life support for three days at the San Fernando General Hospital. She survived and lived to make us all happy. But the devil decided to take my child. As she reflected on her eighth birthday on February 3, Nicole said she held a thanksgiving for Alliyah. Nolenes cousin Karlene Ali said she was loud and always in a festive mood. My cousin would carry on loud, boisterous conversations with her neighbours, she said, adding that Nolene found great happiness in cleaning her home and decorating. She also said Alliyah was very fond of her. She would feed the child and get her dressed for school in the absence of her sister Nicole, she said, adding that Alliyah was spending the night at Nolenes home when the fire took place. Gopaul was married to Terrence Mc Intosh and had one child Terisha Ms Intosh, 15. Terisha was spending the night at her grandmothers house when tragedy struck. Meanwhile, the cause of the fire has not yet been determined, police said. Fire officers worked over the weekend to gather evidence. Police were told by family members that fire was set outside the two main doors, making it difficult for anyone to escape. Nolene and Alliyah were asleep in the same bedroom on the first floor of the concrete house when the fire started during the early hours of the morning. The remains were taken to the familys home at noon yesterday and then to the St Marys Open Bible Church. Pastor Valerie Samuel conducted the service. The two were buried at the Paynter Cemetery. BIGWU denies reports of agreement on GML cuts GML is a subsidiary of the ANSA McAL Group of Companies (ANSA McAL). The union was responding yesterday to a report published in Newsday last Saturday, in which ANSA McAls Group Human Resource Director and Media Sector Head, Teresa White, said, The union has been informed of the names. Weve agreed with the union (on) the process, the selection criteria. Were doing it strictly on a LIFO (last in, first out) basis; as is deemed best practice. White was responding to a question about the planned GML job cuts while addressing an August 10 press conference on the Group`s results for the six months ended June 30, 2017. According to BIGWU, While Ms White is correct in stating that the selection criteria of Last In, First Out (LIFO) was agreed on, Ms White who is not even directly involved in the consultation process but perhaps is pulling the strings behind the scenes, neglected to mention a few key points. These are, In the first phase of this restructuring exercise when 16 workers were retrenched, there was never any agreement on criteria and (GML) failed to follow the LIFO principle; No scientific evidence was ever produced to support surplus labour; No rationale or justification has been provided with respect to the second phase to support any proposed retrenchment; and the consultation process was scuttled by the Company on both occasions as evidenced by a letter to the Union dated August 7, 2017 indicating that the Company had compiled its list of employees deemed surplus to its operations. Citing an article published in the Trinidad Guardian last Saturday, BIGWU said GML was quoted as saying we remain committed to positive and fruitful dialogue with the union in search for the best possible long term outcome. Similar sentiments were echoed by (GMLs) Managing Director (Lucio Mesquita) in an email to staff dated August 7, 2017, where he is quoted as saying: We are continuing the consultation process with the union regarding the latest phase of our restructuring. The consultation is going well, with both parties working in good faith and maintaining a spirit of open and honest dialogue. These statements belies what has taken place by virtue of the (GMLs) calculated abortion of the consultation process, BIGWU argued. Wife pleads for detained Nigerian husband According to Haddaway, her husband was first arrested following a raid on their home in March 2013 and in spite of paying the required immigration bond, he was held in custody for another 16 months without explanation. After his release in July 2014, Haddaway tried to get her husband regularised, writing to then Minister of National Security, Gary Griffith and meeting with Junior Minister, Embau Moheni who promised to look into her problem with no apparent follow through. After his release into his wifes custody, Kings was in and out of the hospital for head injuries sustained following an alleged beating by six officers with batons while held at the Immigration Detention Centre. As a result of these hospital visits, Kings was forced to miss a few of his weekly supervision appointments and though his wife presented a doctors letter, he was branded a fugitive in December 2014. Kings surrendered wilfully with the presence of a lawyer and has been in custody ever since. Since then, Haddaway said she has consistently pleaded to various outlets inclusive of the media and the previous and current government to no avail and has only received empty, unfulfilled promises. Judge steps aside from COP election lawsuit Justice Devendra Rampersad, presiding in the San Fernando High Court, yesterday recused himself from adjudicating in the case when it came up before him. The case involves an injunction filed by COP member Kirt Francis against interim political leader Dr Anirudh Mahabir and general secretary Clyde Weatherhead. Attorneys appearing for them, however, told the judge that Mahabir and Weatherhead have since resigned from their posts in the party. The election is carded for Sunday amid turmoil over the return of Dyer-Griffith who had resigned from the COP. She is among three women vying to lead the party which is seeking to revamp its membership as a third political force. The other contenders are former deputy political leader Carolyn Seepersad-Bachan and Sharon Gopaul-McNicols. Rampersad told attorneys he once represented one of the defendants in the injunction lawsuit and if the attorneys were so minded, he would recuse himself. In his lawsuit filed by attorney Lester Chariah, Francis cited article 16.3 of the COPs constitution which states that except for the political leader and deputy political leader, all other national executive members of the party shall be elected for two years. Another judge is to be assigned to the case which is expected to be heard today at the Hall of Justice, Port of Spain. Incidents of "outing" of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students by teachers in Japan have been on the rise, discouraging other LGBT students from coming forward due to concerns about discrimination and confidentiality. Teachers who may simply wish to show consideration to LGBT students by informing parents or other classmates about their situations may in fact be causing irrevocable harm, experts say. While the issue of disclosing the sexual orientation or gender identity of LGBT students without their voluntary consent has become a controversial debate in the United States, Japan still lacks a framework for even understanding the issue in the education system. Minako "Minata" Hara, representative director of Kyosei Net, or All Japan Sexual Minorities Support Network, says there has been a rise in the number of LGBT students seeking consultations at the nonprofit organization after being outed at school. Outing is the action of disclosing a person's gender identity or sexual orientation when such information has not previously been made public. Hara recently had a student seek consultation over such a disclosure. "Although the LGBT student only consulted with the teacher in charge, the parents found out immediately," said Hara, adding that some parents have difficulty accepting the LGBT status of their children and may scold or rebuke them. She says parents often blame themselves for "a problem with the child's upbringing." We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. Russia Monday welcomed Khalifa Haftars efforts seeking the restauration of a central government in Libya, six years after the collapse of the Gaddafi regime. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov told visiting Commander of Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Haftar that Moscow stands on his side to flash out extremism. Unfortunately, the situation in Libya remains difficult, the threat of extremism has not been overcome, Lavrov told his interlocutor, adding that Russia actively supports the tendency of intensification of political resolution processes, the full-scale restoration of the statehood of your country. Lavrov hailed the efforts being made with the participation of both Haftar and head of the UN-backed Presidency Council Faiez Sarraj, which are aimed, he said, at ensuring generally acceptable agreements on optimal ways of implementing the Skhirat agreement. The Russian official mentioned in this vein the agreement reached by the two men at a meeting held near Paris last month under the French Presidents auspices. The Russian top diplomat however made it clear that Moscow remains faithful to the Libyan Political Agreement signed in Skhirate in December 2015 under the aegis of the UN. We believe that it is very important to focus all mediation efforts and ideas on the political front on the basis of the activities of the United Nations, he said. However, although Moscow aligns itself with the UN mediation, he insisted that only Libyans can decide the way forward and that the UN must not impose choices on the Libyan factions. Russia wants all major political forces, tribes and regions to undertake the path of dialogue, he said. Haftar, who also held talks with Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, condemned the UN arm embargo on Libya as affecting the military operations against terrorists and claimed that the terrorists his army is fighting have unlimited financial and military support. Iran has warned that it will quit the 2015 nuclear deal and reactivate its controversial nuclear program if the US continues to target it with sanctions. If America wants to go back to the experience [of imposing sanctions], Iran would certainly return in a short time not a week or a month but within hours to conditions more advanced than before the start of negotiations, President Rouhani told the Iranian parliament on Tuesday. Under the deal, known as Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), reached in 2015 between Iran and the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany, Iran halts its nuclear program while the West lifts gradually the economic sanctions. Washington has been unilaterally imposing sanctions on Iran claiming that it is not related to the nuclear program but to its missile launches, support for terrorism, disregard for human rights, and violations of UN Security Council resolutions, according to the US Ambassador to the U.N Nikki Haley. President Rouhani accused the new administration at the White House of turning its back to commitments made by Washington on the international stage. The world has clearly seen that under Trump, America has ignored international agreements and, in addition to undermining the (nuclear deal), has broken its word on the Paris agreement and the Cuba accord and that the United States is not a good partner or a reliable negotiator, he observed. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres wants the nuclear agreement to be upheld, describing it as one of the utmost diplomatic achievements in our collective search for peace and security, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an international arrest warrant for Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf Al-Warfalli, accused of war crimes for the execution of terrorist suspects in Benghazi, when the city was re-conquered by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftars forces. ICCs Pre-Trial Chamber I indicted the Field Commander of the Special Forces Brigade (Al-Saiqa) for alleged direct or indirect involvement in the murder of 33 persons, which took place from on or before 3 June 2016 until on or about 17 July 2017 in Benghazi. Such egregious crimes, including the cruel and dehumanising manner by which they were perpetrated against helpless victims, must be stopped. Accountability for atrocity crimes is better suited to advance the ends of peace and stability, not more violence, said ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. Mahmoud Al-Warffali has been singled out after he appeared in a series of videos showcasing execution operations by Haftar forces in Benghazi. The UN last month expressed concern over the execution of terrorist suspects in Benghazi in the name of war against terrorism. We are deeply concerned that, after recent fighting in Benghazi, people taken prisoner by members of the Libyan National Army, which effectively controls eastern Libya, may be at imminent risk of torture and even summary execution, said UN human rights spokesperson Liz Throssell. We urge the LNA to ensure there is a full, impartial investigation into these allegations, Liz Throssell said. Over the UN outcry, the commander stepped down but the chief of the Special Forces maintained him. In November last year, the ICC told the UN Security Council that it would increase efforts to investigate cases of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Libya by factions vying for power. Jerry Drake Varnell. The 23-year-old man who was taken into FBI custody on Saturday after trying to detonate a fake bomb in Oklahoma City is mentally ill and was aided and abetted by the FBI, his family said in a statement to the Huffington Post. Jerry Drake Varnell, who allegedly followed far-right anti-government groups and told the FBI he wanted to start the next revolution, is a paranoid schizophrenic and is extremely susceptible to different types of ideology that normal people would deem immoral, the statement said. His parents, Charlie and Melonie, wrote that a court in Oklahoma had found their son mentally incompetent and given them legal guardianship over him. The FBI clearly knew that he was schizophrenic because they have gathered every ounce of information on him, they said. I consider this entrapment, Melonie Varnell told the Daily Beast earlier this week. They got him to do this. The statement to HuffPost expands on this: What the public should be looking at is the fact that the FBI gave our son the means to make this happen. He has no job, no money, no vehicle, and no drivers license, due to the fact that he is schizophrenic and we; his parents do everything we can possible to keep him safe and functional. The mental health system has consistently failed us due to the lack of establishments and health care coverage for a person like him. He has attended college and just enrolled in welding school. His medications allow him to be somewhat functional but he will never be completely functional in life. His brain does not work like a normal person and never will due to the nature of his mental illness. The family also disputed details of the FBIs court filing against Varnell. We do not have an underground bunker! the statement said. The bunker that Varnell allegedly told the FBI about is a shipping container used as a storm shelter and storm unit. They sent HuffPost photos of a disorganized shipping container to prove this. The statement ends with Varnells parents writing that they wished the FBI would have come to them, rather than stringing their son along toward a fantasy terrorist attack. We would have committed him into a mental institution for help, it says. This is nowhere near the first time the FBI has been accused of exploiting the mentally ill by manufacturing terror plots and then stepping in later to solve them. In 2014, a report from Human Rights Watch identified that tactic as one of the agencys favorites when it comes to carrying out counterterrorism stings. The FBI often targeted particularly vulnerable people, including those with intellectual and mental disabilities and the indigent. The government, often acting through informants, then actively developed the plot, persuading and sometimes pressuring the targets to participate, and provided the resources to carry it out. In addition to the FBI, Varnells mother also placed some blame for his arrest on the radicalizing powers of internet communities. With her son on summer break from college, he spent a lot of time online, where his delusions were fed, she told the Daily Beast. He has all kinds of conspiracy theories in his brain, she said. Trump reversing course at Tuesdays press conference. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images Republican lawmakers who thought they could rest easy after President Trump finally condemned the KKK, neo-Nazis, and white supremacists by name two days after the deadly rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, clearly havent been paying attention for the past seven months. Trump started undermining his revised response almost immediately, and at a Tuesday afternoon press conference he reversed course in spectacular fashion, saying that both white supremacists and the so-called alt-left counterprotesters deserve blame for Saturdays violence. He even defended some who attended the Unite the Right rally, saying you also had some very fine people who showed up to defend the statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee, who fought to preserve slavery. The combative press conference in Trump Tower was supposed to be about infrastructure, and from their body language it was clear that some of the aides standing by including National Economic Council chairman Gary Cohn and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who are Jewish were deeply uncomfortable. Heres the reaction of new White House chief of staff John Kelly, who was supposed to help bring order to the Trump administration: WATCH: White House chief of staff John Kelly reacts to President Trump's latest remarks on violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. pic.twitter.com/O9gwSCxwp8 NBC News (@NBCNews) August 16, 2017 According to the New York Times, Trump staffers were stunned not by the presidents troubling views, but the fact that he was voicing them in public: No word in the Trump lexicon is as tread-worn as unprecedented. But members of the presidents staff, stunned and disheartened, said they never expected to hear such a voluble articulation of opinions that the president had long expressed in private. Nevertheless, the White House issued an evening communications briefing urging Republicans in Congress to say the president was entirely correct both sides of the violence in Charlottesville acted inappropriately and bear some responsibility. A few tried their best, like New York representative Lee Zeldin. He condemned anyone associating themselves with the KKK and Nazism, then argued that Trump was right to point out the violence on both sides, noting, There is an element of our country that has pledged to resist, oppose, and obstruct this President entirely on absolutely everything and anything. Anyone associating themselves with the KKK and Nazism is associating themselves with hatred, bigotry, racism,... Posted by Congressman Lee Zeldin on Tuesday, August 15, 2017 Then there was Senator Jim Inhofe, who chose to pretend the president had delivered a different press conference: I look forward to continuing to work with the president to remove barriers to improving our nations infrastructure. Jim Inhofe (@JimInhofe) August 15, 2017 A handful of Republican lawmakers called out President Trump for reverting to his claim that both sides were to blame for the violence in Charlottesville. Blaming "both sides" for #Charlottesville?! No. Back to relativism when dealing with KKK, Nazi sympathizers, white supremacists? Just no. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (@RosLehtinen) August 15, 2017 Mr. President,you can't allow #WhiteSupremacists to share only part of blame.They support idea which cost nation & world so much pain 5/6 Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 15, 2017 Mr. President, there were not "very fine people" on the NeoNazi, white supremacist side; only haters. Grateful DOJ understands this. https://t.co/MDmYPcUP5h Barbara Comstock (@BarbaraComstock) August 15, 2017 GOP Rep. Will Hurd to President Trump: "Apologize ... Racism, bigotry, anti-Semitism of any form is unacceptable" https://t.co/fXX8j6DDid CNN (@CNN) August 15, 2017 Many more Republicans opted to issue another round of statements condemning white supremacy, without spelling out whom they were subtweeting. When it comes to white supremacists & neo-nazis, there can be no equivocating: theyre propagators of hate and bigotry. Period. Senator Thom Tillis (@SenThomTillis) August 15, 2017 The violence in Charlottesville was caused by racists & hate groups. We must unite against them. Sen. Susan Collins (@SenatorCollins) August 15, 2017 KKK, neo-Nazi, & white supremacist groups spew bigotry & racism. These groups & their ideals are the antithesis of American patriotism. David Perdue (@sendavidperdue) August 15, 2017 Saturday's violence and tragic loss of life was a direct consequence of the hateful rhetoric & action from white supremacists demonstrating. Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) August 15, 2017 We must speak out clearly against the hatred, racism and white supremacists who descended upon #Charlottesville. Rob Portman (@senrobportman) August 15, 2017 I was clear about this bigotry & violence over the weekend and I'll repeat it today: We must defeat white supremacy and all forms of hatred. https://t.co/iOaVvE8txs Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) August 15, 2017 "We should never hesitate to call out hate. Whenever and wherever we see it." -OGH https://t.co/Zy2YaJwFlV #Charlottesville #utpol pic.twitter.com/Kqe8SLp70z Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) August 15, 2017 This is simple: we must condemn and marginalize white supremacist groups, not encourage and embolden them. Senator Todd Young (@SenToddYoung) August 15, 2017 We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity. Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) August 15, 2017 And of course there were those who found the presidents rant refreshing. Kayleigh McEnany, the new national spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, claimed that by declaring theres blame on both sides President Trump was preaching unity: President @realDonaldTrump once again denounced hate today. The GOP stands behind his message of love and inclusiveness! Kayleigh McEnany (@kayleighmcenany) August 15, 2017 On Fox News, Tucker Carlson tried to bolster the presidents case: Fox News just now pic.twitter.com/kChT5oitV2 Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) August 16, 2017 And, of course, white supremacists were thrilled: Trump's statement was fair and down to earth. #Charlottesville could have been peaceful, if police did its job. https://t.co/3FUgmWoiWi Richard Spencer (@RichardBSpencer) August 15, 2017 The appointed incumbent limped into a runoff by leading Representative Mo Brooks, while the Ten Commandments Judge showed impressive statewide appeal. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call In an impressive show of his statewide appeal to conservatives, Judge Roy Moore seems sure to finish first in tonights Alabamas special GOP Senate primary to fill Attorney General Jeff Sessionss old seat. But Moore will now face appointed senator Luther Strange in a September 26 runoff where the incumbent will have a big financial advantage and the backing of President Trump. It was not a particularly good sign for Stranges popularity that his (or rather Mitch McConnells super-pacs) domination of the Alabama airwaves and late endorsement from Trump earned him no more than second place in a very low-turnout contest though he did win a runoff spot with a decisive edge over Representative Mo Brooks, who at one point in the campaign seemed poised to knock Big Luther right out of the top two. In retrospect, Brookss effort to pose as the pro-Trump candidate facing a pro-McConnell swamp candidate in Strange was really screwed up by Trumps surprise endorsement of his rival. Meanwhile, while Moore echoed Strange and Brooks in singing hymns of praise to Trump, he posted his best performance yet in a non-judicial race thanks to his own virtually universal name ID and a reputation for principled probity (wrapped tightly in a theocratic commitment to defy all princes, principalities, and federal judges, at the price of being removed once and suspended once as chief justice of the state Supreme Court). With more than three-fourths of the vote in, Moore was leading Strange by a 40/32 margin, with Brooks at 20 percent. The Ten Commandments Judge (in honor of the courthouse monument to the Decalogue he erected, which cost him his gavel the first time around) was winning all but six of the states counties. But Strange will probably begin the runoff as the favorite. He will continue to enjoy financial backing from McConnells wealthy friends and the moral support of Trump, whose current embattled defense of neo-Confederate monuments will only enhance his wild popularity among Alabama Republican voters. Moreover, you can expect Alabama business interests to help Strange out of fear that Judge Roys teeth-grinding theocratic posture wont exactly enhance the states image as an economic development site and tourism destination. Alabamas Democratic minority dodged a bullet today as the consensus party favorite for the Senate nomination, former U.S. Attorney Doug Jones, easily dispatched obscure but fortunately named candidate Robert Kennedy Jr., without a runoff. Its hard to imagine a Democrat winning a statewide race in Alabama at the moment, but Roy Moore might be beatable, and a vicious Moore-Strange runoff could soften up the GOP more generally. Photo-Illustration: Daily Intelligencer; Photo: Mark Makela/Getty Images The Obama-Trump voter is either the author of our current political crisis or, a marginal, irrelevant freak whos been as overrepresented in political commentary as disaffected male comedians have been in half-hour dramedies. It all depends on when and whom you ask. On November 9, it looked like a critical mass of white, working-class Obama voters in the Midwest decided to vote for the kind of change Barack couldnt believe in. One month later, some studies argued that this was a geographic illusion: Obama counties did switch to Trump, but only because so many traditionally Democratic voters stayed home. By spring of 2017, however, a consensus formed in favor of the first hypothesis: In a few razor-tight swing-state races, Obama-Trump voters were decisive. Now, the only question was whether Democrats should care. In the Washington Post last week, Dana Milbank answered in the negative: New data from the Democracy Fund Voter Study Group showed that there were fewer Obama-to-Trump voters than popularly believed, and that most of these voters were less Trump Democrats than they were Obama Republicans people who were willing to turn left to express their displeasure with the smoldering ruins of the George W. Bush presidency, but who are otherwise more at home in Red America. There are swing voters in every election. The fact that the latent conservatism of white Obama voters in the Rust Belt combined with Clintons idiosyncratic weaknesses, mistakes, and improbable misfortunes tipped the last contest to the GOP is of no great consequence, Milbank argues. The Democrats should just focus on improving the turnout rates of the groups that agree with them and avoid nominating the subject of an active FBI investigation in 2020 instead of pandering to a bunch of Trump Democrats who barely exist. As Milbank writes: These people arent Obama-Trump voters as much as they were Bush-Obama voters. This is important, because it means Democrats dont have to contort themselves to appeal to the mythical Trump Democrats by toughening their position on immigration, or weakening their support for universal health care, or embracing small government and low taxes. What Democrats have to do is be Democrats. The New York Times Nate Cohn begs to (partially) differ. Cohn accepts that white, working-class Obama-to-Trump voters made up a tiny slice of the national electorate. And he agrees that most of these voters lean Republican, oppose the Affordable Care Act and liberal immigration policies, and were attracted to Trump primarily on the basis of his reactionary racial politics. But Cohn insists that such voters were, nonetheless, decisive and that a small, but significant subset of the demographic appears to be winnable for Team Blue: The [Cooperative Congressional Election Study] found that 26 percent of Obama-Trump voters identified as Democrats in their postelection studythats a significant share who continue to identify with the Democratic Party despite voting for Mr. Trump. Democrats were probably still winning a lot of these voters in 2016. The results speak for themselves to some extent. Jason Kander lost his Senate race in Missouri by just three percentage points, even as Mrs. Clinton lost by 20 points. Even Democrats who didnt run ahead of Mrs. Clinton over all like Tammy Duckworth in Illinois, Russ Feingold in Wisconsin or Katie McGinty in Pennsylvania nonetheless ran far ahead of Mrs. Clinton in traditionally Democratic, white working-class areas. Mrs. Duckworths performance is probably the most telling. She won Illinoiss 12th Congressional District a downstate, working-class district now held by Republican Mike Bost by nine points. Mr. Trump won it by 12 points. Cohn further notes that a significant portion of the Republican Obama-to-Trump voters saw little appeal in the GOP before the populist demagogue came onto the scene: A Pew Research Center study found that 18 percent of non-college-educated white votes who leaned Democratic in late December 2015 ended up identifying as Republican-leaning one year later. Which is to say: They switched parties only after the Republican Party nominated an idiosyncratic celebrity who promised to protect entitlements, deliver universal health care, pass a $1 trillion infrastructure stimulus, and restrict the freedom of corporations to move overseas. In my view, Cohns analysis shows that Milbank is both right and wrong. On the first count: It makes little sense for the national Democratic Party to make winning over the typical Obama-to-Trump voter its guiding ambition. The Democrats are never going to be number one with whites who believe they are oppressed by racial minorities. But Milbank is wrong to suggest that Democrats can comfortably ignore all Obama-to-Trump voters, and to imply that the only alternative to ignoring them would be to embrace small government conservatism. Heres the thing about non-college-educated white people in America: Theres a lot of them. And the design of our Constitutional system amplifies their clout not just in the Electoral College, but also in the House and Senate. The Democratic Party has no major problem at the presidential level. Theyve won the popular vote in six of the last seven elections, and lost the Electoral College in two of those by freakishly tight margins. Team Blues crisis is in the states, and theres no way out of that crisis without winning more working-class white voters than they did during the Obama years. This will continue to be the case, even as America grows more diverse and urban: The structure of the Senate ensures that predominately white, rural states will continue to exert great political influence, no matter how absurdly unrepresentative (of the nation as a whole) their populations become. The Congressional Map Is Historically Biased Toward The GOP https://t.co/2gtYjde0mJ pic.twitter.com/k1HAJGoKri oneFive38 (@oneFive38) August 7, 2017 To build sturdy Senate majorities and liberate poor and nonwhite Red State residents from reactionary rule Democrats are going to need to win over more non-woke white people. This should be possible, given how unpopular the GOPs fiscal agenda is. In political scientist Lee Drutmans analysis of the Voter Study Group data, most culturally conservative voters in 2016 espoused left-of-center views on economic policy. Just 26.5 percent of the entire electorate expressed broadly conservative positions on pocketbook issues. If Team Blue is gonna try to add some economically liberal, cultural conservatives to its big tent, the ones who identified as Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents before 2016 seem like prime targets. And, contra Milbank, health care may be a winning issue for Democrats with such voters. Its true that 75 percent of Obama-Trump voters supported repealing the Affordable Care Act, according to CCES data. But Donald Trump and most other Republicans didnt say that they wanted to replace Obamacare with a less generous, market-based program that would leave more people uninsured, because cutting taxes on the rich is more important than guaranteeing Americans affordable health care. Rather, they promised to deliver care that was cheaper, better, more patient-centered, and universally accessible than that which the Affordable Care Act had provided. A recent NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll found that only 10 percent of Republicans wanted the GOP to replace Obamacare with a program that does less. And yet, every health-care plan Trump & Co. have pushed over the past six months would have done exactly that. The public is broadly aware of this, which is why Trumpcare has proven to be the least popular piece of major legislation in at least three decades. Last month, a Vox/Survey Monkey poll found that one in seven Trump supporters feared that the GOP health-care bill would hurt them. These voters were, in the aggregate, poorer and less economically secure than the presidents other supporters. Critically, their fear of Trumpcare appeared to be alienating them from the president more broadly: Compared to other Trump backers, they were less confident in the presidents economic management, and more concerned about the Russia scandal and the administrations alleged ethical violations. Recent focus groups with Obama-to-Trump voters produced a similar finding: When these voters were informed that Trump was pushing a conventionally conservative Republican agenda, they became more skeptical about the authenticity of their populist champion. Further, a growing body of evidence suggests that foregrounding the GOPs grotesquely regressive plans for our health-care system would boost Democrats fortunes in a wide variety of 2018 districts. To take just one example: The first publicly released poll of New Jerseys 11th district finds that longtime Republican incumbent Rodney Frelinghuysens support for Trumpcare (a.k.a. the American Health Care Act) has put his seat in jeopardy. As Farleigh Dickinson political scientist Dan Cassino writes: In the modified voter list sample, Frelinghuysen is down nine points against an unnamed Democratic challenger, 37 to 46. That, in and of itself, is surprising for an incumbent whos won every re-election bid by a wide margin. Whats more surprising is the effect of his vote on healthcare. Embedded in the survey was an experiment: half of the respondents (412 respondents) were asked about their vote choice in next years election early in the survey, and the other half (398 respondents) were asked only after being asked Frelinghuysens AHCA vote. Respondents disapproved of his vote by a wide margin, 60 to 24, and while Frelinghuysen was down by 9 points among respondents who werent primed with his healthcare vote, the unnamed Democrat was up by 20 points, 50 to 30, among respondents who were asked about healthcare first. To put it simply, his vote on healthcare is costing him 11 points overall in the district, much of that among independents. In the baseline condition, independents favor him over the Democrat by 14; when primed with the AHCA vote, they prefer the Democrat by 15. Priming voters with the AHCA dramatically reduces support for GOP incumbent Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11). https://t.co/7aKuqYmtQ2 pic.twitter.com/qeYvPCkpnj were going to pass AVR (@SeanMcElwee) August 15, 2017 Democrats need to win more (non-woke) white people. Upon obtaining federal power, the Republican Party made cutting Medicaid to finance a tax cut for the rich its top legislative priority. The vast majority of Americans did not appreciate this. Before Team Blue resigns itself to permanent irrelevance in rural America, it should try to make that last fact matter in 2018. Chief of staff John Kelly looks on as Donald Trump defends white-supremacist protesters. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images Donald Trumps aides have been angry with him frequently indeed, usually since the beginning of his presidential campaign. But they have rarely registered their dismay as nakedly as they did Tuesday night, when he spontaneously altered a plan to deliver remarks on infrastructure without taking questions into a free-form defense of white supremacists. One official told NBC News that Trump had gone rogue. Mike Allen reports that chief economic adviser Gary Cohn is between appalled and furious, and that there is a danger one or more high-level officials could resign. Chief of Staff John Kellys disgust was registered on his face: WATCH: White House chief of staff John Kelly reacts to President Trump's latest remarks on violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. pic.twitter.com/O9gwSCxwp8 NBC News (@NBCNews) August 16, 2017 It is impossible to recall a presidential aide contemporaneously broadcasting his disgust with his own president. But it is important to understand the precise nature of their distress. It is emphatically not because they are shocked to learn their boss is a racist, a fact that has been established through numerous episodes, such as Trumps insistence a Mexican-American judge was inherently biased against him, his call for a Muslim immigration ban, his slander of Ghazala Khan, and so on. They are angry that Trump revealed beliefs they wish to keep hidden. Members of the presidents staff, stunned and disheartened, said they never expected to hear such a voluble articulation of opinions that the president had long expressed in private, reports the New York Times. This raises the question once again of why they are working for Trump at all. A legitimate public rationale can be made for serving the administration in certain roles. The federal government plays a vital role in domestic and global security, Trump is a dangerous and erratic figure, and somebody needs to try to steer him away from decisions that would provoke unalterable tragedy. That justification covers serving Trump as a foreign-policy adviser, or as homeland security and disaster-response officials. But what justification can the domestic and political advisers offer? Any benefit they can get by helping produce what they regard as better policies is surely offset by the cover they (and their policy successes, should they produce any) provide him. Suppose yesterdays remarks had gone off as planned. Suppose Trump had pushed his message of infrastructure. Suppose further every subsequent step also worked as planned Trump manages to build political support for the huge infrastructure build-out he campaigned upon, and created millions of jobs and the backdrops for several powerful reelection campaign ads. All they would have done is fulfill Steve Bannons dream of a workers party uniting economic populism with ethnonationalist grievance. Shipyards, ironworks, get them all jacked up, he told Michael Wolff after the election, Were just going to throw it up against the wall and see if it sticks. It will be as exciting as the 1930s, greater than the Reagan revolution conservatives, plus populists, in an economic nationalist movement. Trump certainly has revived certain aspects of the political excitement of the 1930s: Nazi torchlight parades, presidential attacks on the media as enemies of the people, and street battles between armed extremist factions. He has not yet revived the infrastructure build-up that supplied a great deal of the Nazi partys political capital. The apparent objective Trumps domestic advisers hope to achieve is to create a political constituency for a president they consider racist, while concealing his racism as best as they can. A West Wing official tells the Times that Trump has expressed sympathy with nonviolent protesters who he said were defending their heritage. (This is a rally that began with chants like Jews will not replace us.) Preventing Trump from doing something damaging is a legitimate and even noble calling. But that admirable motivation can easily mutate into rationalization. Are Trump aides really working to protect the country from him? Or are they working to keep the country from seeing his real nature? A woman casts her vote during the 2014 Ukrainian presidential election. Photo: Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP/Getty Images While the intelligence community continues to look into Fancy Bear, the hacking group widely believed to have broken the Democratic National Committees cybersecurity last year, authorities are reportedly getting help from Ukraine. The New York Times reports that a hacker credited with developing one of the tools used during the DNC infiltration has been speaking with police (just writing malicious code is not criminal, so he hasnt been charged) and been made available to the FBI. Profexer, as he is known online, created the P.A.S. web shell, though Serhiy Demediuk, head of the Ukrainian Cyber Police, told the Times that he told us he didnt create it to be used in the way it was. The software was freely available online. Also newly reported in the Times report is that the FBI is in possession of evidence of a Russia-linked electoral hack that happened in Ukraine in 2014. Traces of the same code from that hack were found by researchers investigating the DNC. Whats interesting is that the Ukrainian election cyberattack revealed damning connections between the Russian government. Heres how it played out: Intriguingly, in the cyberattack during the Ukrainian election, what appears to have been a bungle by Channel 1, a Russian state television station, inadvertently implicated the government authorities in Moscow. Hackers had loaded onto a Ukrainian election commission server a graphic mimicking the page for displaying results. This phony page showed a shocker of an outcome: an election win for a fiercely anti-Russian, ultraright candidate, Dmytro Yarosh. Mr. Yarosh in reality received less than 1 percent of the vote. The false result would have played into a Russian propaganda narrative that Ukraine today is ruled by hard-right, even fascist, figures. The fake image was programmed to display when polls closed, at 8 p.m., but a Ukrainian cybersecurity company, InfoSafe, discovered it just minutes earlier and unplugged the server. State television in Russia nevertheless reported that Mr. Yarosh had won and broadcast the fake graphic, citing the election commissions website, even though the image had never appeared there. The hacker had clearly provided Channel 1 with the same image in advance, but the reporters had failed to check that the hack actually worked. The DNC hack shared code with the 2014 Ukrainian hack, in which circumstantial evidence points to Russia government collaboration. As has often been the case throughout this process, the evidence falls short of conclusive, though the similarities in tools and tactics during both hacks are tough to ignore. Parliaments committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (Cosase) has started investigations into the irregular procurement process of 350 branded pens by Bank of Uganda at Shs 125 million. According to an internal audit report seen by The Observer, BOU procured the branded pens as souvenirs for distribution among a special list of recipients during celebrations to mark 50 years of the banks existence, as well as the Joseph Mubiru Memorial Lecture in 2016. While meeting officials from BOU led by deputy governor Louis Kasekende, committee chairman Abdu Katuntu directed the central bank to submit all documents relating to the procurement of the pens, whose purchase has caused public furor. BOU deputy governor Louis Kasekende (R) and his team at parliament today We want to look at the procurements of that occasion when you celebratedWe shall then be looking at other procurement processes in the bank. In all these institutions, we are always having a problem with procurement; so, we are going to take samples from BOU which the committee will look at, Katuntu said. He added: We were intrigued yesterday to see something on TV and when we have something that eventually becomes public debate, whether it is an overzealous press or not, it has to be sorted outAfter the auditing process, we are going to require you to have clarification on the matter. MP Elijah Okupa (Kasilo) further demanded that BOU officials present a sample of the branded pens. You should come with a sample of that pen because I know there are pens which cost $2,000 like the Monte Blanc, but this is public money. We need to see that sample pen, Okupa said. FLAWED PROCUREMENT According to documents seen by The Observer, the director of communication at BOU, Christine Alupo, in a letter dated July 26, 2016, made a request for procurement of BOU @50 branded rolling ball pens for distinguished guests. Alupo wrote that Aristoc Booklex Ltd had been identified locally to supply the 350 branded pens at Shs 125 million. The pens, whose eventual cost was summed at Shs 357, 142, were curiously delivered on August 2, 2016, way before the procurement process kicked off. At a meeting held on August 4, 2016, the banks contracts committee deferred approval of tender documentation for supply of the branded pens because the date of requirement for the pens had been exceeded, questioning the relevance of the pens. The committee further wondered whether the market price for these pens was considered when the price was being estimated. On August 18, 2016, Pelly Mugasi, the director of procurement and disposal department, wrote to Alupo asking her to avail more information to the contracts committee regarding the concerns they raised on the procurement of these pens. In an August 23, 2016 letter to the procurement and disposal department, Claire Lwasa, a senior procurement officer at BOU, submitted the market price for the specified pens from two online stores, Amazon Business and SOUQ store, quoting the cost price, shipping costs and logo engraving. One branded rolling pen on Amazon Business was quoted at Shs 285, 777 while those at SOUQ store cost Shs 311, 455. On September 1, 2016, the contracts committee approved the tender documentation and issued a letter of caution to the communications department because the procurement process was initiated after the required items had been ordered for, contrary to the provisions of the law. The tender documentation approved was already taken by events given that the goods being ordered had already been received in the bank and the supplier has submitted an invoice for payment, Gloria Wakooba, the acting director contracts committee wrote in another letter on September 23, 2017. Do we still have genuine icons in our leadership, business and religious circles? My father and his friend, one Mr Xavier, are my primary role models for reasons I cant exhaust here. But through wider reading, I have discovered people who did great things that the world respected them for. Among these are Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Theresa. As a secondary school student, I learnt of a man called Barack Obama who had been nominated to run for the office of the president of the United States of America. This man was black and would later win the unprecedented election to become the first black US president. But this is not why I admired him. I would later learn of a one Martin Luther King Jr who had fought hard for the civil rights of the Negroes (blacks) in America then. In fact, my Literature teacher at St Charles Lwanga SS Kasasa told us in class that Obamas assumption of the office of the president was a sort of fulfillment of the I have a dream speech by Martin Luther King Jr. In this speech, Martin Luther foretold that at some point, the Negroes would not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the quality of their brain. As a way of creating a lasting impact, Obama championed the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) that has so far empowered a multitude of young African leaders in civic leadership, entrepreneurship and business and public management tracks. This is more reason for Obama to be remembered as a hero, an icon and a role model. In my opinion, we no longer have such leaders especially in Africa. The spirit of selflessness and service above self are more of an ideal than a reality. The opposition leader in Kenya is asking people not to go to work over an election he claims to have won and was rigged. Last year, the opposition leader in Uganda was asking the wananchi not to go to work over the same claims. The difference between these two and my role models is that the current leaders are ready to sacrifice people for own benefit. I think this is wrong and we may have to craft a different leadership narrative on which the future generations will pick role models and heroes. Alexander Kyokwijuka, kyokwijuka.ug@gmail.com Revival of LC elections a good move For a long time, Uganda has not conducted Local Council one (LC-I) elections largely because of lack of funds. The last elections were held in 2001 and the Electoral Commission is set to announce the date for new elections. I commend the government for finally releasing money to conduct the LC-I and LC-II elections. Local councils were prominent in the 1990s mainly because they assisted government in service delivery by improving access to basic services, increasing peoples participation in decision-making and enhancing governments responsiveness, transparency and accountability. In addition, they were in charge of security in their respective areas through neighborhood watch. They were also in charge of issuing identity cards to their residents as well as solving family disputes. With their revival, it will legitimize their work which will make them work hard and even better. The problem of insecurity that has been rampant of late will be combated since they are the leaders mandated to ensure village security. I, therefore, call upon Ugandans to participate in these elections to ensure development of their communities and the country as a whole. Mariam Natasha, Kampala. Ugandans abroad should vote too! On August 8, 2017, some 739 Kenyans in Uganda turned up at their high commission in Kololo to vote, in the highly-contested presidential election won by the incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta. However, Uganda has never experienced the same. For example, in the February 2016 general elections and preceding elections, Ugandans in the diaspora were not granted the opportunity to vote, not even those within the East African Community. This position breaches Article 59(1) of the Constitution which grants all citizens the right to vote after attainment of 18 years of age. Uganda ought to emulate Kenya or even Rwanda who allowed their citizens to vote, particularly those within East Africa. Not only does the constitution give the Electoral Commission the enabling legal framework, but also spells out under Article 59 (3) thus: The state shall take every step to ensure that all citizens qualified to vote, register and exercise their right to vote. The right to vote is not a right in isolation, but one that must be interpreted as enabling or directly linked to several other rights in the Constitution including Article 1, clauses (2), (3), and (4) all of which talk about Ugandans being governed with and by their consent. Badru Walusansa, Kampala. Kudos to FDC on elections The Forum for Democratic Change has this week started the process of choosing the next party president, with about six people vying for the seat. This is the only political party in Uganda where all elective positions are fairly contested and the loser congratulates the winner. In other parties, people have taken party leadership to be a birth right whereby we recently saw some people assuming the title of sole candidate. If we are going to promote democracy at the national level, inspiration should be drawn from our respective parties and FDC seems to be taking the lead. We should all accept competition and let people decide who should lead them. Olivia Mukasa, Nakawa. letters@observer.ug The 2008 global food crisis engendered grave concern over the future of food security, especially for the most vulnerable populations within the so-called global South. Large-scale land acquisition in arable land-rich states of the global South, Uganda included, has come to characterize one of the ways out of this crisis. The objectives in seeking long-term large-scale land leases are undoubtedly varied, as are the objectives of governments that extend such leases. The interplay of these forces can be understood within the context of globalisation and within the debate over what is the best or most appropriate way to bringing about economic development and who gets to make these decisions within societies that still have large percentages of their populations living in rural areas and making their livelihoods off land. I wish to suggest the unfolding pull-and-push for large-scale land acquisition in the district of Amuru since 2012 as being microcosmic of this broader debate over land governance for development. Indeed, this case of Amuru demonstrates that there is no single answer to this debate. Some forces within and beyond the district advocate for large-scale mechanised agriculture, and argue that the land is underutilised. Other forces want to maintain the status quo, and simply argue to be left alone. Within this debate, questions over access to resources, the role of government, rights and responsibilities of citizens, and the most appropriate drivers of (economic) development are not agreed upon. Not long ago, I carried out seven-day fieldwork in two sub-counties of Amuru district Amuru and Atiak engaging a host of clan elders (seven), sub-county leaders (eight), local small-scale farmers (16) as well as large-scale farmers (three), and local investors (two). Within Amurus quasi-urban settings and along highways to the district headquarters are farmers stores or produce kiosks with bold words painted on them: Kica Ber farmers (loosely translated as merciful farmers) or Pur Ber farmers (loosely translated as good farming). Ugandas National Development Plan 2010/11-2014/15 asserts that agriculture needs to be modernised. Expectedly, such a move for modernisation of agriculture could only tantamount to increased mechanisation in the agricultural sector, taking place on large-scale whether intensively or extensively. The Constitution asserts in Section XI (iii) of the National Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy that: In furtherance of social justice, the state may regulate the acquisition, ownership, use and disposition of land and other property, in accordance with the Constitution. In Chapter 15 (Land and Environment), 237 (1) of the Constitution, it is stated that Land in Uganda belongs to the citizens of Uganda and shall vest in them in accordance with the land tenure systems provided for in this Constitution. The next sub-section asserts the governments right to acquire land when it is in public interest. The tension over what constitutes public interest is remarkably influenced by many factors local, state and global and has implications for a myriad of social, economic and political institutions within these societies. Rhetorically, for instance, one clan elder interviewed during my field visit pondered upon the values which ought to underpin the conduct of a large-scale commercial farming venture in todays Amuru in the following terms: Large-scale commercial farming for whom? Why embrace a move benefitting a few at the expense of many locals? If governments idea to develop Amuru through large-scale commercial farming is eventually undertaken by disempowering Amuru people [indigenous farmers], then they [the government] better stay with their development and leave us alone! Looking at specific cases of large-scale land acquisition deals, one, indeed, cannot help ask the following questions: Who are the winners and losers? By and large, however, there seemed to be no correlation between the embrace of large-scale commercial farming and decrease in food security at household levels in the two sub-counties I visited. Furthermore, my respondents (small-scale farmers) in Labongogali village pointed out some threat borne out of the embrace of large-scale commercial farming to food sovereignty of the people of the area where such farming takes place. Indeed, there is every reason to worry about the local communitys food security as well as sovereignty when a private entity in the agriculture sector emerges to dictate their whims to the local community. What is even more worrying is the sustainability of such large-scale mechanised farming. DNTshimba@gmail.com The author is a PhD fellow at Makerere Institute of Social Research. The Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) will this November elect a new party president. The five-year term of office for the current president, Maj Gen Gregory Mugisha Muntu, will expire in November. Gen Muntu was nominated on Monday to contest and if he wins, this will be his last term. Muntu will face off with Kawempe South MP Mubarak Munyagwa, Moses Lukubira, Dan Matsiko and former Kumi MP Patrick Oboi Amuriat. One of the deficits in this campaign is that no woman has shown interest. Otherwise, all FDC members should pat themselves on the back for subscribing to the only party in Uganda with such an elaborate and honest internal democracy. And fighting to institutionalize the FDC will be Gen Muntus lasting legacy. The first time he offered himself to contest against Dr Kizza Besigye, some members doubted his judgement. I remember my sister Proscovia Salaamu Musumba, one of the reasons I am in FDC, telling me: I dont know what is wrong with these Banyankore. That is how many FDCs, including sophisticated ones like Musumba, viewed anyone who dared contest against Besigye. This is because Besigye is the most charismatic and selfless leader that the FDC either has inherited or produced. He is nearly more popular than the party. Contesting against him is almost criminal, punishable by isolation and other social boycotts. Yet that is exactly what motivated Muntu. I remember interviewing him while still working with The Observer and he feared FDC was making the same mistake senior leaders in the NRM made not contesting against Museveni. Today, we still have people in FDC who think Col Besigyes word is law and opposing it is a crime. Unfortunately, some of them are senior leaders. When you win over state power with that sort of mentality, I am sure you will be another criminal gang. Because Besigyes mobilization and presidential campaign catchword was defiance, even those who have never chased a caterpillar in their lives are dismissing the rest of the party members as being compliant. Therefore, to them, this campaign for the FDC presidency is between defiance and compliance. The truth of the matter is that this campaign is between blind loyalists and those opposed to the idea. If this was a contest between Muntu and Besigye, I would still vote for Besigye but wouldnt allow anyone to turn me into a blind supporter of an idea or person. This is to ask me not to be a leader. That is why I had refused to vie for any office in FDC during the last election. Group discipline is very limiting. The media training I underwent as a young man prepared me to be a free thinker and to be critical. I am also a Muslim and in my faith we worship only the Almighty. I didnt support Muntu in 2012 because I considered it suicidal for Besigye of Rukungiri to hand over the party leadership to Muntu of neighbouring Ntungamo. But even then, I recognized in all my statements that Muntu is a fantastic human being. And there are testimonies. One of the last assignments I did before quitting active journalism was interviewing senior statesmen who had honourably retired and were going on with their lives outside the state. Those I interviewed included former finance minister Gerald Ssendawula, former Supreme court judge Prof George Kanyeihamba, Prof Edward Rugumayo and former Buganda Katikkiro Joseph Mulwanyamuli Ssemwogerere. Mulwanyamuli and Kanyeihamba both met Muntu when he was the army commander and his humility left a lasting impression on them. Mulwanyamuli told me he had last seen Muntus humility in Tanzania. It is this humility that many people abuse. Mind you, this Muntu they dismiss as soft descended on Luweero jungles when he was 23 years old to fight a dictatorial regime. Senior leaders of the regime included his own father, Enock Muntuyera, a former UPC coordinator in Ankole. His credentials are impeccable. Of course his excessive discipline and adherence to procedure is an inconvenience even to me the chairman of his campaign team, but that is his strength and that is what defines who he is. The restless population, especially the youth, cannot be patient with these attributes. That is why Besigye who combines this with urgency is more popular, but there can only be one Besigye. But as I wrote in a previous article, when these two and the like leave the FDC leadership stage, genuine supporters will know their departure was a great loss. I have been involved in identifying and recruiting people into the FDC, and finding credible ones is not simple. Many politicians have become fortune-hunters because that is the seed that our revolutionary leader has planted. That is why I fear for the future of political institutions in the country. It is, therefore, important to continue building for One Uganda, One People. semugs@yahoo.com The author is Kira Municipality MP and spokesperson of the Forum for Democratic Change. Forum for Democratic Change, the largest opposition political party in the country, has just concluded the nomination exercise for candidates who will compete for its leadership during internal elections to be held in November. Three candidates were nominated on Monday, including the incumbent Maj Gen Mugisha Muntu, and two more joined them yesterday. Front-runners in the race are believed to be Gen Muntu and former Kumi MP Patrick Amuriat. This is one exercise where the process is just as important as the outcome, if not more so. FDCs presidential candidate Dr Kizza Besigye may not have managed to take power from NRMs Yoweri Museveni over the last three elections both have competed in, but the contribution of his political party in developing Ugandas democratic institutions cant be taken for granted. Mugisha Muntu in particular is one individual whose contribution to Ugandas democratic growth deserves recognition. In losing to Besigye thrice once for party president and twice for party flag-bearer in national presidential elections and yet falling in line with humility and dignity thereafter, Muntu has helped build a democratic culture that will influence future FDC and possibly Ugandas leaders. Political parties in Ugandas current political system work under very difficult circumstances. They are cash-strapped and their officials are constantly being lured to join the riches in the ruling party. They are also up against not just NRM as a party, but the state in its full force. As a result, most of the parties, including FDC, are at war within, with camps forming, top leadership being openly challenged, and legitimacy lacking. As this internal electoral process shows, somehow FDC has coped better amid these challenges, and should be commended for it. Years from now, Ugandans will look back at the role this political party and its leaders have played in the countrys political journey and they will be filled with pride. When all political parties get used to the culture of encouraging, rather than stifling, internal competition, and banish the fear to change their leaders, Uganda will be a better place. lmaooo Reply Parent Thread Link im dooone Reply Parent Thread Link i read that super fast as "dementia" and i was like ontd is getting meaner everyday Reply Parent Thread Link lmao Reply Parent Thread Link I never thought i would see the day where Demi Lovato is a more tolerable person than Selena Gomez Reply Thread Link I would like to see an expose on Selena. All I've heard is what she's done within the past two years. It's enough for her to be cancelled but I want all of the tea. Reply Parent Thread Link I can deal with OTT comments ridden in low self esteem before behavior that basks in social complacency/obtuseness Reply Parent Thread Link Selena is insufferable too Reply Parent Thread Link well it's great that she's voicing her opinion, but it's not like taking a stand against nazis is a bold statement. (unless you are donald trump, apparently) edit - wait i think i'm missing some context, what are people in this post referring to with the selena comments? Edited at 2017-08-16 05:14 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link Finally she woke up from a nap! Reply Thread Link I'll give Dementia a pass, but she really needs to take it to Capitol Hill! Reply Thread Link YASSSS. Although slight shade at her PR towards her song. NOT THE TIME DEMI. Reply Thread Link Has Selena even commented on something that fucking matters yet? Reply Thread Link Besides the ~not wanting to see women's bodies~ on Instagram, nope. Reply Parent Thread Link Slay me queen of knowing what fucking matters! I'm glad she's still woke! Reply Parent Thread Expand Link When will my faves speak up about what truly matters - chocolate or candy? Reply Parent Thread Link a deep blue steaming pile of shit. Reply Parent Thread Link Lmao The hero we need and deserve tbh Reply Parent Thread Link Remind myself what I stand for https://t.co/Do8pztYOLu Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) August 14, 2017 nah but she was even asked & chose to be an ignorant knob Reply Parent Thread Link Her opinion is invalid after her All Lives Matter tweet. Reply Parent Thread Link wow look at her taking it to capitol hill when it matters, good for her. Reply Thread Link ur wcw stays silent about white supremacy yet manages to advertise her shit song and sign on for a child molester's movie in the same week https://t.co/iAdZPBJsfu emily annette (@sifuerasrosa) August 13, 2017 Reply Thread Link like trump, selena doesn't like to take sides~ Reply Parent Thread Link bloop Reply Parent Thread Link Go in! Reply Parent Thread Link Is your icon from The Young Pope? I still need to watch it and that style is honestly making me think of moving it up my list. Reply Parent Thread Link I wish people would give timothee as much shit as they're giving Selena and Elle over this Reply Parent Thread Expand Link Spill dat Reply Parent Thread Link I can't at her stans defending her. There's nothing to defend. Oh the promo for that movie is gonna be epic... Can't wait for her to show her talentless, hypocrite and pretentious ass. Reply Parent Thread Link clock ha! Reply Parent Thread Link o o p Reply Parent Thread Link is she really trying to promote her song with that hashtag Reply Thread Link I love when Demi tweets about politics. Main reason I continue to follow her tbh. Reply Thread Link I JUST HAVE NO WORDS STILL. Trump needs to GO. SOMEONE take one for the team omg. Edited at 2017-08-16 12:27 am (UTC) Reply Thread Link THE CIA CAN COME AT US IDGAF YAS BB!!!!THE CIA CAN COME AT US IDGAF Reply Parent Thread Link I can completely agree with you on this. I'm still reeling from that presser. Reply Parent Thread Link Omg what are you saying? My phone shows "He needs to be [redacted], [redacted] and [redacted] alive." Reply Parent Thread Expand Link I'm gonna fill in the "redacted" spaces with my own morbid fantasies of what should happen. Although that last one seems obvious enough as it is, lol. Reply Parent Thread Link i need someone to REALLY take one for the team and give rump a blowjob in the oval office. might be the only thing that will make the GOP disown him. Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i dont see an official post on ontd for this whole thing? i figured i'd come on here and there would be 2,000 comments Reply Parent Thread Link the layout choices etc on the nytimes homepage rn somehow perfectly express my incredulity Reply Parent Thread Link damn, go in gurl question though, does she wear wigs? her hairline in that pic is weird Reply Thread Link I don't think she wears wigs but she has extensions. Her hair is much shorter. Edited at 2017-08-16 12:34 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Link I think it is just bad photoshop. Reply Parent Thread Link Do you think @realDonaldTrump @POTUS saying "both sides are to blame" in #Charlottesville makes him a racist supporter? Yes or no? xoxo, Gaga (@ladygaga) August 15, 2017 It's no Gaga poll but it'll do Reply Thread Link . @realDonaldTrump @POTUS You should read my poll I have a lot of followers. https://t.co/59LcPxPWxJ xoxo, Gaga (@ladygaga) August 14, 2017 literally wtf is she doing? i particularly liked this one too lmao Reply Parent Thread Expand Link germanotta needs to reel it in a bit wtfff yikes Reply Parent Thread Link The results for this poll are so depressing Reply Parent Thread Link lmao looks like someone just discovered twitter poll Edited at 2017-08-16 12:33 am (UTC) Reply Parent Thread Expand Link 52% yes 48% no....wtf Reply Parent Thread Expand Link just wait til she discovers what a meme is Reply Parent Thread Expand Link i've decided to cancel her, i'm done lmao Reply Parent Thread Link she has been SUCH a mess with this Reply Parent Thread Link Legit laughed when I saw this earlier. She needs to stop with the fucking polls. Reply Parent Thread Link At this point she's obviously a complicit, trying to stir shit and what not Reply Parent Thread Link She sounds like a teenager who is rushing to complete an essay at the last minute - she can't be bothered to research things but wants people to answer the question for her. Reply Parent Thread Link Gurl Reply Parent Thread Link Gurl bye. A poll is not necessary for this. Reply Parent Thread Link Lmao omg I hate this dumb bitch Reply Parent Thread Link Lmao Reply Parent Thread Link GaGa poll >>> Gallup poll Reply Parent Thread Link Enough with the fucking polls, JFC. Can she really not think/research for herself that she wants other people's opinions to help come up with her own? Reply Parent Thread Link tf is she on rn? enough.gif Reply Parent Thread Link she needs to log off Reply Parent Thread Link Is she trying to audition for a job at 538 now or what? lmaoo Reply Parent Thread Link she'll start making ONTD posts with LJ polls at this rate. Reply Parent Thread Link Elon Musks orphaned hyperloop project may soon be Asias next transportation superstar, but competitive prices from fossil fuel-heavy options could derail the new technologys business model. CEO Dirk Ahlborn of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies (HTT) says he sees a working hyperloop, which would propel passengers across vast distances in pods at speeds of up to 750 miles per hour, within the next three or four years. Introducing the magnetic transit technology, which was first described by Musk conceptually, but released to be developed by competing agents in the private sector, is now the subject of a feasibility study in South Korea. The study stems from a licensing agreement between HTT and the government for a 200-mile hyperloop between Seoul and Busan. The biggest hurdle is to get government approval, so we have been working with governments around the world to advance the legislative framework, Ahlborn told CNBC last week. India could be the pods next manufacturing site, if ongoing negotiations prove fruitful. But Indian engineers arent just taking a backseat in masterminding the new travel category. Based in Bengaluru, Hyperloop India is designing an OrcaPod for the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition in California this year. Related: Oil Rises, But Saudis Face Daunting Dilemma To governments in developing countries, the economics of public transport systems create a systemic capital loss, which should encourage countries to adopt public-private partnerships to fund the infrastructure instead, the CEO added. If you look at public transportation itself, its not really working the way it should; its not making money, he said. It depends heavily on government subsidies. Taxpayers are paying for it. It doesnt make business sense. The costs of constructing and managing the hyperloop would be shared with a private partnerthat is, if feasibility tests administered by HTT and/or its competitors confirm a technical future for the futuristic pod-based travel. Hyperloop One, another company racing to create Musks dream, achieved a small, but important milestone this month. It hit a speed record of 192 miles per hour for 1,433 feet, proving that Hyperloop is real, according to a press statement. The speed is a far cry from the 750-mph target envisioned by Musk. The Shanghai Maglev, the fastest high-speed train in the world, only hits 374 mph at its quickest, meaning the hyperloop tests have failed to demonstrate speeds that would seriously compete with existing and proven options. Part of hyperloops original appeal was its promise to transport groups of three to four humans in chic car-sized pods. Hyperloop One and HTT promise no such luxurious pods. Instead, the projects concept art, as well as the size of test tunnels, show the developers preparing for a bus load of passengers to travel within a single mega-pod. This isnt altogether a bad idea. Trains, trams, and buses have accustomed the public to gathering in small spaces with strangers who they may not have anything in common with, other than their initial or final destinations. In Asia, poverty bars large swaths of the population from owning cars, paving the way for taxis, trains, and trams to profit from the high transportation demand. The introduction of a hyperloop system in major Asian countries would eat into the governments earnings from long distance public transit, depending on how affordable the service becomes. Air travel costs have fallen significantly over the past 20 years, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. But a 750-mph hyperloop would be faster than an airplane and more environmentally friendly due to its low fossil fuel demand. Related: Daily OPEC Oil Prices Now Public For The First Time Ever Marketed as a luxury commute option, the hyperloop would compete with cars or high-end tiers of train transport for cross-country travel. This is especially true for widespread nations such as India and China, which frequently require multi-day journeys to traverse. Not all work can be completed remotely, and while the internet successfully connects the intellect of people in a virtual world, bringing citizens of the most populous continent in the world togetherphysicallyis the next step in this evolution. It remains to be seen whether the super-speed tubes can be offered to Asian consumers at doable non-dollar rates. By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: While the UK government has vowed to end the sale of all new conventional gasoline and diesel cars by 2040, as part of a wider plan to fight air pollution, there is talk that electricity demand will lead to a fast and dirty response to a strained power grid. But heres what everyones missing in that debate: While EV sales are going to rise and electricity demand to power them will strain the grid and lead to less-than-ideal power generation solutions, the whole plan will help clean power generation to increase its market share. Nothing is black and white. And big transformations are never immediate. Were not talking about an overnight elixir that will magically clean up the air; were talking about a step-by-step process that is gradually less dirty. Overloading the Grid (Mind the Gap) The UKs National Grid anticipates peak demand from electric vehicles alone being around 5 GW, which represents an 8 percent increase from todays peak demand. This peak demand forecast assumes what the National Grid calls the Two Degrees scenario, in which most cars would be EVS, with only 6 percent of them hybrids. But by 2045, only pure EVs would be on sale. According to Wood Mackenzie, the UK plan to ban the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars by 2040 will have a massive impact on the refining sector and the oil markets. To handle the extra peak demand, the most flexible way is to build open-cycle gas power plants. One of the options for a rapid response plug-in capacity to make up for shortfalls could come from certain open-cycle gas-fired plants that are more polluting and less efficient. So, while its still better than burning coal, the massive anticipated demand for energy to power up EVs on British roads may require some additional environmental triagebut, again, this is to be expected if renewables are ever to gain the market share they need to bring prices down and make it all mainstream. Related: Shale Producers Hedge At Much Lower Prices The first step is dealing with coal-fired plants, which the UK is proposing to close by 2025. And open-cycle gas-fired plants are certainly cleaner than coal, even if they arent the end-all ideal. Coal is rapidly losing share in the UK electricity generation fuel mix, while natural gas and renewables are boosting their respective shares. Coals share dropped to 11.3 percent in Q1 2017 from 15.9 percent in Q1 2016, government figures show. At the same time, natural gas boosted its share to 39.9 percent from 37 percent a year earlier, while the renewables share increased to 26.6 percent in Q1 2017, from 25.6 percent in 2016. Open-cycle plants may be more polluting than combined-cycle gas power generation, but their flexibility could help keep the system stable while increasing the share of renewables, according to Drax Group plc which is responsible for generating 7 percent of the UKs electricity. Drax is developing four rapid response gas power plants to increase the flexibility, Drax Power CEO Andy Koss said earlier this month. Once the plants are given consent, they will secure Capacity Market contracts and become operational in the early 2020s. A spokeswoman for Drax told Bloomberg that under UK environmental regulations, such plants are allowed to be operated for a maximum of three months a year, and the company doesnt expect to operate the units for that long. The UK subsidiary of Germanys utility RWE plans to submit proposals to redevelop the former site of coal-fired and biomass plants in Tilbury, Essex, into a CCGT with capacity of up to 2,500 megawatts, 100 MW of energy storage facility, and a 300-MW open-cycle gas turbines plant. No Fighting the EV Wave Across Europe, EVs are on the edge of a major breakoutand they have a lot of help from the government and an excited auto industry. But its also getting a boost from European Union regulations, which dictate that by 2021, the average emissions of all new cars sold must be 40 percent less than todaya challenge that can only be met with EVs. In the meantime, Norway leads the way, with almost 40 percent of all new registered passenger cars now EVs. The country also now boasts the biggest fast-charging station in the world (28 cars can be charged in 30 minutes). The Netherlands is the No. 2 leader in EVs, and is phasing out all conventional cars by 2025. In July, plug-in EV sales hit a record 1.50 percent market share in Germany. This is the new era in electromobility, and 2017 is a definitive one. Though questions remain about powering up these vast new fleets of EVs, were not at the finish line yet. Norway, for one, isnt concerned in the least: 98 percent of its electricity comes from hydropower, so its about as clean as it can be. Related: Barclays: Oil Prices To Drop This Quarter Denmark has also come up with a creative solution its using parked EVs to feed back into its grid--and even paying EV owners to do it. Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) models working under the Parker Project in Denmark, and in collaboration with Nissan, Mitsubishi and otherscan both receive grid electricity and give it back, helping to solve the peak demand issue. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, owners are earning up to $1,530 per year doing this. At the end of the day, the UK, too, will find an answer, but the EVs have to come first because the market must dictate terms. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: In response to Pyongyangs latest nuclear missile tests, the world is stepping up sanctions on North Korea with bans on its mining, manufacturing, and seafood exports. The latest round of restrictions is expected to cripple North Koreas economy and further hurt the ordinary citizens of the reclusive country, analysts believe. However, the current sanctions are not targeting the most vital commodity for North Koreas military: Oil. According to experts, oilmost of which North Korea imports from Chinais critical for the regime. If oil supplies were cut, Pyongyang could no longer fly jets or generate electricity. If this were to happen though, Kim Jong Un has ways to raise supplies and cash from illicit channels to keep the military going, analysts say. Sanctions on North Korea have been ratcheted up over the past two weeks, with U.S.-North Korea tensions rising. On August 5, the United Nations Security Council further strengthened sanctions with a full ban on coal, iron, and iron ore, and added lead and lead ore to the banned commodities subject to sectoral sanctions. The U.N. also banned all seafood exports by North Korea. The new restrictions were a response to Kims two missile tests in July, and aim to cut off around US$1 billion from the US$3-billion of annual North Korean exports. ChinaNorth Koreas biggest trade partner accounting for around 90 percent of the tradesaid on Monday that it was halting imports of coal, iron, iron ore, and seafood from North Korea starting on Tuesday, implementing the UN sanctions and thus cutting an important foreign revenue source for Pyongyang. The latest round of sanctionsand the fact that its China that is implementing those sanctionsare sure to cut deep into the impoverished country of 25.1 million people, 70 percent of whom are food insecure. Related: Daily OPEC Oil Prices Now Public For The First Time Ever But this is unlikely to deter Kim from pursuing his nuclear program, because the regime and the military still have access to oil. North Koreas dependency on Chinese fuel is Chinas choke hold on Pyongyang, Dennis Wilder, former senior director for Asia at the National Security Council during the George W. Bush Administration, told Bloomberg. If this goes, the North Korean air force cant fly jets and their electricity system cant function, Wilder noted. Yet, no one really knows how much oil China is selling to North Korea, because theres no official statistics, and there are several illicit channels via which Kims regime is procuring oil for the army. Earlier this year, senior-level North Korean defector Ri Jong Ho said that North Korea was likely still buying diesel from Russian oil companies via trading companies in Singapore. According to Ri, China supplies North Korea with around 500,000 tons of crude oil by pipeline, all toward the military, and all free of charge. Now the U.S. is said to be ready to target oil trade in North Korea in its latest push with the United Nations to further step up sanctions. According to UN diplomats who spoke to Reuters, North Koreas textile exports and the oil supplies to the government could be cut off in an attempt to stymie another US$2 billion worth of North Korean exports. Related: The Next Big Catalyst In The U.S. Oil Export Boom In an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis said: The U.S. will continue to work with our allies and partners to deepen diplomatic and military cooperation, and to hold nations accountable to their commitments to isolate the regime. That will include rigorous enforcement of sanctions, leaving no North Korean source of revenue untouched. In particular, the U.S. will continue to request Chinese and Russian commitments not to provide the regime with economic lifelines and to persuade it to abandon its dangerous path. If oil supplies to the regime are cut along with all its revenue sources, it could be a blow not only to North Koreas economy, but to its military as well. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: U.S. shale is poised to outlast OPEC. It has long been the suspicion of many oil market analysts that the U.S. shale industry was likely too nimble for OPEC to really hammer it into oblivion. That proved to be the case after two years of low prices shale production came off from peak levels, but held up through 2016. That was long enough to force OPECs hand. The deal that OPEC put in place late last year, taking a combined 1.8 million barrels per day (mb/d) off the market, really took the pressure off of shale producers. OPEC decided that it would sacrifice some production in order to boost revenues through higher prices. That threw a lifeline to shale producers, and shale output has made a swift comeback since last year. Now, there is a growing expectation that OPEC cant keep its cuts going. The OPEC/non-OPEC coalition had hoped that the market would have balanced after six months of cuts, but they were forced to agree to a nine-month extension through the end of the first quarter of 2018. Few analysts, at this point, see the extension as sufficient, which raises the question of what happens after March of next year. If OPEC really wants to balance the oil market, they would have to keep the cuts in place through 2018 at least. Theyre going to have to dig in for the long haul, Neil Atkinson, head of the IEAs oil markets and industry division, told Bloomberg TV. Re-balancing is a stubborn process. Related: Shale Producers Hedge At Much Lower Prices The latest IEA report shows that OPECs current production at 32.8 mb/d is higher than what the call on OPEC the implied demand for OPECs oil for next year. In other words, the global market will be oversupplied next year given the current figures. If OPEC wants to keep oil prices in the $50s and hit $60, the organization will have to keep a lid on supply for several more years, Sarah Emerson, energy principal at ESAI, told Bloomberg. But, that just does not seem to be in the cards. The original six-month deal was relatively painless for a lot of OPEC members, save Saudi Arabia, who took on the lions share of the reductions. Some of the participants, such as Venezuela and Mexico (a non-OPEC member), are suffering from declining production anyway. Countries like Russia tend to see their output dip in the winter. Iraq and the UAE did not even fully comply with the deal. Iran was allowed to increase from its baseline, and Nigeria and Libya were exempted entirely. However, the nine-month extension is a trickier proposition. Russia and Saudi Arabia see their production rise in summer months, which means the cuts are much more painful. More importantly, many predicted that compliance would falter as time goes on. Recent data suggests the groups resolve is fraying OPECs production in July rose to its highest point in 2017. Even if they can hold things together until March 2018, there are much lower odds that they will extend again. In the end, the markets are going to win and its going to be shale, Citis Ed Morse told Bloomberg TV. The OPEC position, even with Russia, is really not sustainable over a long period of time. They are losing revenue by doing what they have done. Yes, they may be having a little bit higher revenue than they otherwise might have. But, youve got the prices up, youve got the U.S. producers hedging through 2017 now, pretty much into 2018, and they can survive at a lower price. So theyre going to win. Morse also dismissed recent concerns over the Permian, where companies like Pioneer Natural Resources reported higher gas-to-oil ratios in their production, suggesting wells are performing worse than expected. Morse said this is a hiccup and a temporary problem, and that the Permian will grow at a hefty rate this year and probably the same rate next year. If this turns out to be true and U.S. shale doesnt miss a beat, then production will grow substantially, up to almost 10 mb/d, according to EIA estimates. If that is the case, OPEC might throw in the towel next year and return to full production, at which point, prices could very well crash again. Related: Barclays: Oil Prices To Drop This Quarter While many will claim this is a win for shale, this will be cold comfort to actual shale drillers that will once again have to suffer through another bout of low prices. We expect the total liquids balance to return to a more pronounced surplus over 2018, bringing with it a return to stock builds and a firm lid on prices, JBC Energy wrote in a recent note. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: One of the key objectives for OPEC is to bring down inventories, a goal that has been elusive this year. But if the oil futures curve is anything to go by, the oil market is showing signs of tightening. Brent futures have recently begun to exhibit a state of backwardation, which is when near-term oil futures trade at a premium to contracts dated further off into the future. This is the first time in years that backwardation has occurred, and most analysts are taking it as a sign that the oil market finally could be getting closer to rebalancing. In the past, backwardations have accompanied a rebound in the oil market after a bust, while a contango (the opposite of backwardation) tends to occur when the market crashes because of a supply glut. There are several reasons why backwardation is bullish, which has been discussed in previous articles. A declining futures curve makes it uneconomical to store oil, so backwardation could accelerate the drawdown in inventories. It also complicates the hedging strategies of shale producers, which could hold back expansion plans. It also is a symptom of tightening near-term supplies, although, to be sure, the flip side of that argument is that it could merely be a reflection of expectations that the supply glut will reemerge at some point in the future. Still, backwardation is occurring at a time when there are other bullish indicators starting to crop up. The U.S. has seen a sharp drawdown in inventories in recent months, down more than 60 million barrels since March. The IEA and OPEC both recently upgraded their oil demand estimates. "World economic growth has gained momentum," OPEC said. "With the ongoing growth momentum and an expected continued dynamic in second-half 2017, there is still some room to the upside." Related: Oil Futures Point To Higher Oil Prices The view of Wall Street is also becoming more bullish. Hedge funds and other money managers have amassed a large number of long positions on recent weeks. For the week ending on August 8, investors stepped up their bullish bets on Brent by the equivalent of 58 million barrels, according to the FT, which was the largest weekly increase towards net length since December. Its hard to be aggressively negative if every week youre getting stronger numbers, Paul Horsnell, global head of commodities research at Standard Chartered, told the FT, although he added that there is still resistance. The market is not willing to push prices too far up. Indeed, there is little prospect of oil prices moving much beyond $50 per barrel. Not everyone is even sold on the notion that the market is tightening. OPEC production is at its highest point so far in 2017, U.S. shale continues to rise, and some long-planned projects are coming online later this year in Canada and Brazil, for example. There is no way this oil can be accommodated into the market so prices are going to have to give at some point, Mr Dei-Michei of JBC Energy told the FT. This bullish sentiment cannot last. In fact, swings in sentiment, like a pendulum, are typical. More than once this year, the bullish positions have built up too far, only to be undone when sentiment shifted, causing a steep selloff in oil prices. Following the price crash in June, the profoundly bearish positioning amongst hedge funds and other money managers also went too far, causing shorts to be liquidated and bullish bets to remerge which, again, accompanied a rebound in prices. Related: This $65 Billion Oil Opportunity Will Never Be Tapped All of that is to say that the most recent shift towards long bets on oil futures probably cant carry oil prices all that far. The underlying fundamentals simply dont justify significant price gainsat least for now. Theyre going to have to dig in for the long haul, Neil Atkinson, head of the IEAs oil markets and industry division, said on Bloomberg TV, referring to the OPEC cuts. Re-balancing is a stubborn process. In short, the shift into backwardation in the futures market suggests that the supply balance is heading in the right direction, and it probably puts a floor beneath prices for the time being. But it doesnt necessarily mean that oil be heading much higher than $50 per barrel anytime soon. By Nick Cunningham of Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: OPECs compliance with the output cuts will continue to slip in the second half this year, despite recent rhetoric reiterating the cartel members commitment to stick to the production quotas, according to JP Morgan. More positive overtures from the Saudi Arabian and Iraqi Energy Ministers on their respective commitments to the agreed cuts helped bolster market sentiment on the outlook for prices, JP Morgan said in a note, as quoted by the Trend news agency. At the beginning of last week, OPEC held a meeting with some of the producers and cited its members Iraq and the UAE, as well as non-OPEC signatories to the deal Kazakhstan and Malaysia, as laggards in compliance. OPEC however added that they all expressed their full support for the existing monitoring mechanism and their willingness to fully cooperate. The jawboning continued when Iraqi oil minister Jabar al-Luaibi visited Saudi Arabia last week to speak to Saudi oil minister Khalid al-Falih. Talks were centered around the need to intensify efforts to urge all parties to strengthen their commitment to the agreement to reduce production, to maintain the balance of global energy markets, al-Falih said. Just two weeks before Saudi Arabia chastised Iraq and other non-compliant members, al-Luaibi said that Iraqs crude oil output could hit 5 million bpd by the end of the year, adding that these projections will not be affected by any fluctuations. According to JP Morgan, Previous comments from Jabbar Al-Luaibi, in mid-July, offered the prospect of Iraq increasing output to 5 million barrels per day by the end of this year, some 65,000 barrels per day over its production target. It is hard to reconcile both stated aims of the Iraqi government, but our assumption remains that OPEC member compliance with agreed production cuts will fade over the course of 2h17. Despite the whatever it takes rhetoric coming from OPEC, Saudi Arabia and other cartel members appear to have little appetite for deeper cuts, according to JP Morgan. Shortly after OPEC extended the cuts into March 2018, JP Morgan was the investment bank that made the most drastic cut to its oil price projections, expecting not only U.S. shale to continue roaring back at OPEC, but also the cartels deal falling apart by the end of this year. Related: These Major Oil Buyers Are Quietly Prepping For A Supply Shock JP Morgan slashed its 2018 WTI forecast by US$11from US$53.50 to US$42. The latest monthly oil market report by the IEA showed that OPEC compliance slipped to 75 percent in July, from 77 percent in June. Compliance within the non-OPEC group of producers party to the cuts was 67 percent. All 22 producers that have committed to cut production are overproducing a combined 470,000 bpd above their quotas. There would be more confidence that re-balancing is here to stay if some producers party to the output agreements were not, just as they are gaining the upper hand, showing signs of weakening their resolve, the IEA said in the report. By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: Over the past 12 years, Turkish energy companies have moved into the Kurdish energy sector at great pace in line with the sectors rapid expansion under the semi-independent government in Erbil. Energy cooperation between the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the Turkish government is the single greatest factor for energy companies involvement in the region and the commercial realization of this cooperation is no doubt the result of high-level political alignment. The recent downturn in the global petroleum market, the outbreak of war in North-Western Iraq, and internal political tensions have dampened investors expectations vis-a-vis energy sector viability in Iraqi Kurdistan. However, questions still remain as to which parties were the key beneficiaries of energy cooperation and how some of the most lucrative contracts were negotiated during the sectors peak many of these parties are primed to benefit should the industry pick up again. Humble Origins The KRG began exporting oil for the first time to Turkish ports by truck in June 2009 when Jalal Talabani was Iraqs President. Supplies originated from Genel Energys Taq Taq and Tawke fields, which is where Genels concessions from the KRG are still focused today. Between 2011 and 2012, a secret diplomatic energy agreement was negotiated between Turkey and KRG, with Ankara toning down its relations with the Maliki government - ostensibly due to Sunni-Shia tensions. Between 2009 and 2012, Baghdad allowed oil to be exported from the Kurdistan region to Turkeys Mediterranean Ceyhan port, with the KRG receiving a share of the revenue it is alleged that oil companies were allowed to claim expenses but made no profits. However, those exports ended in April after the KRG complained that it received no money at all. To circumvent Baghdad, and avoid the financial losses that its agreements with Iraq incurred, the KRG launched the construction of a new oil pipeline to bypass the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline from its fields to the Turkish border, with help from the Turkish government. However, until the completion of the oil pipeline from Kurdistan to the border of Turkey, Erbil needed a novel way of exporting its oil without consultation with Baghdad. The KRG began selling its oil and gas through convoy trucks, taking the condensate liquid fuel bi-products into Turkey. In return, Turkey sent back diesel fuel and kerosene to use in KRGs power plants. Genel Energy reportedly loaded almost 500 trucks a day while waiting for a new pipeline. In short, Turkey became a facilitator in liberating Kurdistans energy sector from oversight and management by the political authorities in Baghdad, who are constitutionally responsible for the management of Iraqi oil. In doing so, Turkish and Kurdish elites put in place an informal status quo whereby mutually beneficially energy deals could flourish between them without Iraqi oversight. The Political-Commercial Nexus Solidifies Cal?k Energy, whose former CEO is Erdogans son-in-law, Berat Albayrak, applied to Turkeys Petroleum Directorate for a license to build a crude oil pipeline from the KRG-Turkish border to Ceyhan in early 2012. The pipeline from Khurmala to Fish Khabur, 5 kilometres from the Turkish border, was subsequently completed at the end of 2013. PowerTrans was granted rights to transport the oil from Northern Iraq by trucks, having been founded four months prior to the resolution. The rights given to PowerTrans to transport oil was extended to the 31st of December 2020 (Resolution 2015/7583), being finalised only one week before the 7th of June 2015 elections in Ankara. Its access to the logistics side of the emerging Turkish-Kurdish energy collaboration strongly suggests that it enjoys privileged access to the industry before it became a high-profile sector. In May 2013, Turkey sealed an energy agreement with ExxonMobil to cooperate on ExxonMobils six blocks in the KRG region. Erdogan said this deal made it suitable for a (unnamed) Turkish company to become a partner with Exxon and KRG. Afterwards, Erdogan and the KRG Prime Minister, Nechirvan Barzani, signed a comprehensive energy deal in November 2013, which was never officially shared with the public. As part of the deal, the state-backed Turkish Energy Company (TEC), founded in Jersey, Channel Islands, signed a contract to operate in 12 exploration blocks, six of them with ExxonMobil. According to the deal, the two parties agreed to build a new oil and gas pipeline. Nechirvan Barzani announced that Turkey and the KRG signed a 50-year deal to export Kurdish oil in June 2014 despite the FGIs position on the matter. However, the KRG did not permit the international audit firms Deloitte or Ernst & Young to see the terms of this energy agreement, thereby bringing into question the integrity of the deal. Related: Oil Futures Point To Higher Oil Prices Furthermore, Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) officials in Erbil said that they were not aware of the 50-year energy deal with Turkey, illustrating the clear dominance of the Kurdistan Democratic Partys (KDP) influence in the energy relations. Sherko Hama Amin, a member of the Iraqi Kurdistan Parliaments Education Committee, wrote that this deal included security issues such as the deployment of Turkish troops, the defence of KDP members and its allies, and the fight against the PKK. Thus, it is evident that Turkey and the KRG signed several energy deals despite opposition from Baghdad to brokering regional agreements independent of national authorities. As a result, the oil flow has been cut many times since 2011 due to these legal disputes; and more recently, for security reasons. Today, oil flowing from Kirkuk to KRG, and KRG to Turkey, remains governed by the rules and approval of Baghdad. However, none of the revealed signed accords have been approved by the Parliaments of Erbil and Baghdad to-date. Turkish Energy Companies Operating in KRG Genel Energy (GE) was established by Mehmet Emin Karamehmet, a former Turkish media mogul chairman of Cukurova Holding that owns Turkcell - and Mehmet Sepil. In 2016, Sepil sold all his shares in GE which triggered the merging of the company with UK-based Vallares PLC on September 2011, registered in the Channel Islands. GE was registered on the London Stock Exchange in 2011, after merging with Vallares PLC. The same year ex-BP CEO, Tony Hayward, was appointed its CEO. Currently, GE operates six fields in the KRG the oil production fields of Taq Taq and Tawke, gas production at Miran and Bina Bawi, and the Chia Shurkh and Peshkabir exploration fields. GE began its operations in Taq Taq field in 2002. Although GE rapidly grew between 2002 and 2013, the companys shares plunged more than 40 percent after it slashed the estimated value of its largest oilfield by U.S. $1 billion. In April 2017, its market share value on the London Stock Exchange was 215 million whereas it was U.S. $4.8 billion in 2013. GE suffered severely not only because of the decline in oil prices and payment problems, but also because of declining reserves, which went from 683 million barrels to 356 million bpd in the Taq Taq field. On the 28th of March 2017, GE released the latest results of the Taq Taq field, which stated a further drop in reserves. Genel Energys Competent Persons report put gross 2P (proved and probable) reserves at 59 million barrels as of 28th of February 2017, down from 172 million bpd at the end of 2015. In this sense, GEs only exit from this difficult situation is to produce natural gas in the KRG fields and sell it to Turkey. The company has started talks with TEC (Turkish Energy Company) regarding a gas sales agreement between Turkey and the KRG. Moreover, GE announced that Tony Hayward is to be replaced by Stephen White, who was previously head of exploration and production at Portugals Galp Energia. Turkish Energy Company (TEC) When Tayyip Erdogan and Nechirvan Barzani signed energy agreements in June 2013, Turkey withheld the name of the Turkish Entity which was given stakes in the Choman (80 percent), Hindren (80 percent), Arbat (80 percent), Pulkhana (40 percent), Jabal Kand (40 percent), and Khalakan (40 percent) blocks. It was subsequently disclosed that this Turkish Entity was TEC - Turkish Energy Company - which was initially registered as Salus Energy in the Channel Islands on 12th of October 2012. Today, the identity of TEC is disclosed in KRG oil and gas infrastructure maps. According to the latest map published by Western Zagros (2017), TEC has three blocks in KRG which are Jabal Kand, Pulkhana, and Arbat. Apparently, the reason why Ankara sought to maintain confidentiality around TEC was to protect Turkey from possible international lawsuits initiated by Baghdad, and to bypass Turkish state auditing institutes. It remains unknown what the KRG government received in exchange for providing block shares to TEC. Although none of the maps include TECs name on any ExxonMobil blocks, TEC has shares in the six blocks owned by ExxonMobil. Exxon Mobile created a subsidiary company, EMKRGL ExxonMobil Kurdistan Region of Iraq Limited to exclusively operate in the Kurdistan region. Since January 2016, the General Manager of TEC and TPIC is Ahmet Turkoglu, who worked for Cal?k Holding as a marketing director between 2003 and 2010. As a result of a Production Share Agreement (PSA) between Turkey and ExxonMobil, signed on the 18th of October 2011, TEC received a 16 percent share in all ExxonMobil blocks where ExxonMobil had 64 percent, and KRG had 20 percent. For this reason, TEC paid U.S. $271.8 million for six blocks until June 27, 2016. No further public information confirms whether the concession or these blocks was extended or simply expired. EMKRGL pulled out of three blocks - Qara Hanjeer, East Arbat, and Betwata - in December 2016 and raised many questions. It is unknown whether TEC purchased the EMKRGL shares in the blocks or not. TEC was also interested in buying half of Western Zagros shares in the Kardemir (40 percent) and Garmin (40 percent) blocks in 2016. It seems that TEC officially operates 6 blocks: Jabal Kand, Pulkhana, Arbat, Al-Qush, Bashiqa (operations suspended for security reasons), and Pirmam. Political Consequences While none of the energy deals signed between the KRG and Turkey have been approved by either the Parliaments of Ankara and Baghdad, trade between these two countries is being carried out anyway. In this sense, the companies benefiting from this informal agreement are owned by individuals directly related to both Turkish and Iraqi Kurdish governing elite, meaning that energy relations are highly personalised and closed-off to outsiders. Related: This $65 Billion Oil Opportunity Will Never Be Tapped Besides the case of Petoil, which has ultimately fallen under the economic sphere of influence of businessmen with strong ties to Erdogan, the other Turkish companies have members with direct political, economic or blood ties to Erdogan. Berat Albayrak, for example, has played a key role in the Ankara-Erbil energy relations, benefiting economically and politically. His ministerial role has further upgraded his presence in the KRG energy sector, and his familial ties with Erdo?an make him a potential successor to Turkeys President, and therefore an enduring power player in these energy relations. Additionally, Albayraks network in the KRG has also been a crucial factor in the development of these relations, and has allowed Kurdish families with strong ties to the KDP to benefit from these deals as well. This is the case of Mushin Nezir, who is present in the Turkish energy company, PetroTrans. Furthermore, it is important to highlight the case of GE, which through some key principals - possess significant levels of political exposure and has arguably benefitted from close ties to the Turkish political elite, arriving to the KRGs energy sector in tandem with the political consolidation of Erdogan. In this sense, all of them directly depend on Turkeys foreign policy, and any modification in this policy could directly affect their presence in the KRG. By Shadow Governance Intel More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The Nigerian railroads are getting a facelift as part of the national plan to diversify away from an economy in which the oil industry dominates, according to the African countrys transport minister. The plan we have now will go to every nook and corner, Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi said in an interview in Abuja announcing the $41 billion expansion project, according to Fin24 news. Theres no economic development or growth without logistics, and for logistics to be efficient, you have to deal with the issue of railways. An additional $16 billion has been earmarked for a special railway linking all of the nations state capitals, as well as Maradi, a city in southern Niger, the ministry said. The rail in Nigeria was neglected for too long, Oke Maduegbuna, of the logistics consulting firm Pete, Moss & Sam, said. Theres a new awareness among government officials of the economic benefits of a good rail network, the Abuja-based expert told Fin24 over the phone. Oil profits represent over 90 percent of Nigerias oil revenues, meaning the past three years of low oil prices have been especially detrimental to the nations economy. Related: This $65 Billion Oil Opportunity Will Never Be Tapped Another obstacle in 2016 had been the rise of militant groups in the Niger Delta, who demanded Abuja spread the boon of the nations oil wealth evenly across the country. For most of 2017, the effect of said groups has been suppressed via a diplomatic campaign between President Muhammadu Buharis administration and local Niger Delta leaders. But recently, a band of militant groups in the Niger Delta demanded that Abuja stop working with the Pan Niger Delta Forum to find a lasting peace solution and announced a plan to restart its attacks on oil facilities to begin an official separation from Nigeria. By Zainab Calcuttawala for Oilprice.com More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: The State Department is white, male and Yale Sen. Bob Graham (D-FL) This past week has seen a rapid escalation in the capabilities of North Korea to deliver nuclear weapons via intercontinental ballistic missiles (IBM) that can penetrate deep into the heartland of America. In response, President Donald Trump has issued a promise that America will devastate North Korea should its dictator Kim Jong Un attack America or its allies. Not only has North Koreas missile capability increased dramatically but a recent intelligence report indicates that they have miniaturized its nuclear weapons to the point that they can be delivered by the improved missile capability. All of this rapid improvement in the nuclear capabilities of North Korea has come since Mr. Trump became President. While that is the clear impression left by the mainstream media, the fact of the matter is such technological improvement simply does not proceed in that short of period. What is more probable is that President Barack Obama suppressed intelligence reports regarding the growing threat of North Korea so that neither he nor unsuccessful Democrat presidential candidate and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (D) needed to publicly confront the problem or acknowledge the failure of their diplomatic efforts with either North Korea or the pivotal China. An August 9, 2017 article by former CIA analyst Fred Fleitz carried by FOX News stated: Tuesdays bombshell Washington Post story that the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) has determined North Korea is capable of constructing miniaturized nuclear weapons that could be used as warheads for missiles possibly ICBMs left out a crucial fact: DIA actually concluded this in 2013. The Post also failed to mention that the Obama administration tried to downplay and discredit this report at the time. During an April 11, 2013, House Armed Services Committee hearing, Congressman Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., inadvertently revealed several unclassified sentences from a DIA report that said DIA had determined with moderate confidence that North Korea has the capability to make a nuclear weapon small enough to be launched with a ballistic missile. This is not the first time that the Obama administration suppressed information that contradicted or impeded its narrative about the state of terrorism and international hostility. There was Benghazi, Syria, Iraq, and Iran. (Such suppression of information on international affairs joins a consistent stream of similar disinformation on much of Mr. Obamas domestic agenda.) The Washington Post reported: In their first and only meeting, President Obama explicitly warned Donald Trump days after the election about the urgency of North Koreas nuclear weapons threat. By failing to acknowledge publicly what he knew privately for over three years, Mr. Obama was able to avoid the very difficult decisions that Mr. Trump must now make in his stead. But Mr. Obama is not alone in responsibility for the decades long march to nuclear capability by North Korea. For at least the past twenty-five years, each new administration has succumbed to the diplomacy of appeasement that is resident in the State Department and has been fostered and fed by an broken stream of Ivy League graduates who have sniffed and shuttered at the base instincts of mankind assuming a superior intellect will drive even miscreants like Joseph Stalin, Mao Tse-tung, Fidel Castro, Saddam Hussein, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Muammar Gaddafi, Bashar al-Assad and a list too long to detail, to a better tomorrow. But the fact of the matter is that diplomacy only works between two (or more) parties seeking a peaceful solution to a conflict. It has never worked and never will work with tyrants, despots and lunatics. They will push forward so long as you are willing to back up. The fact of the matter is that resolution of conflicts with the unwilling is just as what it was in kindergarten you can only stop a bully with a bloody nose. It is an axiom that almost everybody, except those in State Department, the Foreign Service and many in Congress, knows to be true. And no where is the policy of appeasement practiced with such earnest failure than among the intelligencia of the Ivy League schools and most particularly Yale, which provides and extraordinarily disproportionate share of graduates to Foggy Bottom including its Foreign Service branch. To say that the State Department is monolithic in its approach to foreign affairs is an understatement. So routine is their urging of appeasement that the department should erect a statue of former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in its entryway. And the policy of appeasement found favor in the Obama administration through both of his heads of the State Department John Kerry and Hillary Clinton both Yale graduates. While none of the heads of the State Department under either former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush were Yale graduates both Mr. Clinton and Mr. Bush were themselves Yale graduates and their state departments were riddled with appeasement advocates from Yale. And appeasement is precisely how Mr. Clinton, Mr. Bush and Mr. Obama dealt with North Korea and its barbarous regimes. Yes, there were a series of sanctions adopted by the United Nations that virtually everyone thereafter ignored the equivalent of passing gas in the elevator and looking the other way. Yes, there were threats of military reprisal but the Kim family of North Korean dictators knew with certainty that it was all talk and no action would be taken. And while Messrs. Clinton, Bush and Obama dawdled, the Kim family not only developed nuclear weapons and delivery systems, they so overwhelmed the border between North and South Korea with conventional missiles and armor that it threatened the continued existence of Seoul, South Koreas capitol and population of nearly 10 million people. Just as appeasement has failed elsewhere every time, it has failed in North Korea. And now we are left with precisely what the predecessors to Mr. Trump vowed they would never let happen a nuclear armed North Korea with the ballistic missile capability of reaching all of Asia and most of North America. And yet the same voices that urged the appeasement that has brought us to this calamitous result are appalled at Mr. Trumps resolute promise to turn North Korea into ashes should it use its nuclear weapons against the United States or its allies. It is those same voices that urge further appeasement and will continue to urge appeasement when Seoul or Guam are leveled by North Korea. And now we are left with two options economic sanctions that destroy the Pyongyang administration and forces a regime change that is less militant and simultaneous preparation for a nuclear response to active engagement by the North Koreans. What a choice. But that is where appeasement has brought us. The next time the Clintons, Bushes or Obamas host a public forum, thank them for the Hobsons choice. Lets hope that Mr. Trump remembers his lessons on bullies from his days in the schoolyard. Like most states, New York doesn't offer clear-cut guidelines on when you can leave your children home alone, but leaving kids alone can be a positive experience that builds their self-esteem and encourages independence 2. The key to safely leaving kids at home alone is careful preparation and smart risk management. State Law As of the date of publication, the state of New York has no laws stipulating when a child can be left home alone 2. The decision is left to the discretion of parents. According to the New York State Office of Children and Family Services, "All children develop at their own rate, and with their own special needs and abilities 1. Some children are responsible, intelligent, and independent enough to be left alone at 12 or 13 years of age. Likewise, there are some teenagers who are too irresponsible or who have special needs that limit their ability to be safe if they are left alone." Legal Responsibility To further complicate the issue, although state law is ambiguous on when you can leave your children home alone, you can be held legally responsible if anything happens to your children while you are gone. According to a 2008 article in "The New York Times," Kim Brathwaite of Brooklyn was arrested on charges of criminal recklessness after her two children, ages 9 and 1, died alone in a house fire 2. She left the children alone to go to work because the babysitter didn't come. The charges were later dropped, but cases such as these add to parents' trepidation and confusion. Determining Readiness Before you leave your child home alone, carefully consider her emotional maturity and readiness. Talk with your child about how she feels about being left home alone. Some children relish the thought of a little independence, while other kids feel anxiety and fear. A child who doesn't feel ready to be home alone probably isn't. Additionally, some children are perfectly capable of staying home alone, but might not be mature enough to babysit younger siblings. Take younger children with you the first few times you're away. Bottom line: You know your kids better than anyone. Trust your intuition and good judgment. Preparation Preparation for leaving your kids home alone starts months, and even years before. Even preschoolers can learn their address, phone number and how to call 911. Teach your children basic safety rules, such as never giving personal information over the phone or answering the door when you're not home. Children should know how to use appliances safely and how to treat minor cuts and scrapes. Before you leave kids home for an extended time, leave them home for a few minutes while you run to the neighbors. Make a short trip to the store and slowly work up to an hour or two. Give your children specific instructions for while you're gone. Set boundaries on activities, such as no going outside, as well as ideas for snacks. Talk through potential situations, such as what to do if someone comes to the door. Leave your cellphone number and check in frequently. If possible, ask a trustworthy neighbor to keep an eye on things while you're gone. Nawaz Sharif filed review petition against SC 28 July verdict ISLAMABAD: Ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday filed a review petition, along with two separate applications, in the Supreme Court against its July 28 verdict in the Panama Papers case. The petition filed through senior advocate Khawaja Haris Ahmad requested the court to stay further implementation of the verdict until a decision on the review petition is announced. The three pleas have raised a total of 19 reasons as to why the former prime minister could not be disqualified. As far as disqualification of petitioner (Nawaz Sharif) by way of declaration in terms of Section 99(f) of ROPA and Article 62 (1)(f), for non-disclosure of his un-withdrawn income from Capital FZE in his nomination papers for 2013 general elections is concerned, it is submitted that this declaration also suffers from an error apparent on the face of the record, the petition said. In the 36-page application, Sharif has requested the court to review its July 28 verdict. He submitted that he did not conceal the documents in his nomination papers for the 2013 general elections the reason for which the court termed him not honest and trustworthy. It is also submitted that under the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001, salary is to be declared as income only after it is received, the petition reads. The review plea states that under Article 188 of the constitution, Sharif cannot be disqualified without a trial. Being deprived of the right to appeal against the verdict is in violation of the constitution, it said, pleading the court to dismiss petitions filed by Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad, Imran Khan and Siraj-ul-Haq. Documents concerning iqama- the United Arab Emirates residence permit- that led to Sharifs disqualification, have also been attached with the petition. The petition states that July 28 decision should have been given by a three-member bench since Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Gulzar Ahmeds jurisdiction had expired after their dissenting judgment on April 20. By signing the final order of the court on July 28, Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Gulzar Ahmed have actually passed two judgments in the same case, which is unprecedented in the judicial history, the review petition maintains. On the face of the record, there are four final judgments passed in this case; the first of these final judgments being the minority judgment dated 20.04.2017 of the two members of the originally constituted five-member bench; the second being the majority judgment dated 20.04.2017 passed by the three-member bench; the third judgment dated 29.07.2017 again passed by the three-member bench of the court; and the fourth being the final order of the court dated 28.07.2017 passed by the originally constituted five-member bench, the review plea maintained. The commendation and appreciation of the joint investigation team (JIT) and its subordinate staff is a gross transgression of Nawaz Sharifs fundamental right to fair trial, the review petition reads, and calls for paragraph six of the final judgment to be expunged. The members of the JIT considerably overstepped authority and the courts bench assumed National Accountability Bureaus function by directing it, the petition maintains. The petition states that the non-disclosure of iqama in nomination papers of Nawaz Sharif for 2013 elections, which became the ground for his disqualification, was not included in any of the petitions against Nawaz Sharif, thus, the bench did not have any authority to rule over it. The appeal also contests the definitions of the terms receivable, asset and salary used by the bench in July 28 verdict. Five more petitions are expected to be filed soon by Sharif`s three children Maryam, Hussain and Hassan Nawaz, his son-in-law Capt (r) Safdar and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. On July 28, 2017, a five-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, had disqualified the then prime minister Nawaz Sharif, declaring him not honest. The court had held that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was chairman of the board of Capital FZE, a UAE-based company, and had receivables in the form of a salary from that company, which constituted assets, a fact he failed to disclose in his nomination papers for the 2013 general elections. DEAR ABBY: My mother is dating a married man, and this is not the first time. While I love her, I dont think what shes doing is right. This affair has been going on for years. I tried broaching the subject with her, but she said its her business and unless Im helping to pay her bills, I dont have the right to give my opinion. Its frustrating because shes driving all over the state with this man. She has two younger daughters at home and shes rarely home with them. Our entire family dislikes her lover, but she insists on bringing him around so we can get to know him. I dont want to judge her, but its hard sometimes. Am I wrong for trying to give her my two cents, or should I mind my own business? DISAPPOINTED IN CALIFORNIA DEAR DISAPPOINTED: You have already given your mother your two cents and she has discounted it. It should be apparent to you by now that she has no intention of ending this relationship, regardless of your disapproval. Rather than mind your own business, because you want to do something helpful, be as loving and supportive of your younger sisters as you can. From your description of your mothers behavior, they need love and attention from an adult they are not receiving from her. DEAR ABBY: I was divorced 23 years ago. Before I started dating again, I got a hairpiece and have worn one ever since. Some people are aware that I wear a hairpiece, including my current wife of 20 years. It does make me look a lot younger. I will be turning 55 this year. Id like to stop wearing the hairpiece and shave my head instead because I have only a fringe of my own hair left. How should I go about it without getting 50,000 questions from friends and family, and what would be a good answer when Im asked? HAIR TODAY, GONE TOMORROW DEAR H.T.G.T.: Removing your hairpiece will be a statement in itself. Afterward, do not be surprised if you receive compliments about your new look. Should anyone ask why you decided to do it, tell the truth. Many men with receding hairlines shave their heads and look terrific. DEAR ABBY: My son died two months ago. He was 51. It happened on my daughters birthday. She says that her birthdays have now stopped. Next year will be a milestone for her as she will be turning 50. How in the world do we celebrate her 50th birthday when we will be thinking about the one-year anniversary of her brothers death? Some friends suggested we have her birthday celebration a few days early, which I feel is not right. Please help. CAROLE IN ARIZONA DEAR CAROLE: Im sorry for the loss of your son. From now on, your daughters birthday will likely always be bittersweet for her as well as you. Thats why I think she should take your friends suggestion and separate the two events, if possible. A small family get-together around the anniversary date of your sons death might be more appropriate for everyone, at least this time around. BALLSTON SPA A Corinth man has pleaded guilty to a felony criminal mischief charge for a domestic incident that left another person injured. Brandon L. Sitts, 31, of county Route 24, pleaded guilty in connection with a June 4 arrest in Corinth. He faced a felony assault count and felony criminal mischief charges for allegedly injuring another person and damaging property. He pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal mischief, with the understanding the assault charge would be dropped. Sitts faces up to 4 years in state prison when sentenced Oct. 2 by Saratoga County Judge James Murphy. He could also avoid a jail or prison term and be sentenced to probation. This is the latest in a series of posts about second quarter campaign contributions in the 21st Congressional District race. U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a 2016 presidential candidate, through his political action committee, contributed $1,000 to the re-election campaign of Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-Willsboro in the second quarter, according to a report Stefaniks campaign filed with the Federal Election Commission.House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., through his political action committee, contributed $10,000 to Stefaniks re-election campaign. Stefaniks campaign received a total of $32,000 in contributions from political action committees or campaign funds of House Republican colleagues in the second quarter. Other colleague contributions are as follows: Charlie Dent, R-Fla. $1,000 Mimi Walters, R-Calif. $1,000 Rick Crawford, R-Ark. $1,000 Rodney Alexander, R-La. $1,000 Susan Brooks, R-Ind. $2,500 Richard Hudson, R-N.C. $1,000 Ann Wagner, R- Mo. $2,500 Bill Shuster, R-Pa. $2,000 David Young, R- Iowa $500 Tom Reed, R-Corning $2,500 Jackie Walorski, R-Ind. $2,500 Patrick McHenry, R-NC $2,500 Patrick Meehan, R-Pa. $2,000 Legislation update Legislation Stefanik introduced May 17 to extend the federal Perkins Loan college financial aid program for two years now has 81 co-sponsors, an increase of five since last report, according to the Library of Congress government information website. The legislation HR 2482 had co-sponsors from 28 states, the District of Columbia and Guam, as of Wednesday, 63 of them Democrats and 18 Republicans. New co-sponsors are as follows: Rep. Andre Carson, D-Ind.; Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md.; Rep. James Himes, D-Conn.; Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.; Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo Libertarian candidate The Warren County and Capital Region chapters of the Libertarian Party will host a forum with 2018 Libertarian gubernatorial candidate Larry Sharpe at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 12 at the Malta Community Center at 1 Bayberry Drive in Ballston Spa. The forum is open to the public free of charge and will include a question-and-answer session with the candidate. Political history Establishing a state minimum wage and a permanent workmans compensation system in New York were among the issues on the platform when Hudson Falls Village President Russel C. Paris ran for state Assembly in 1912 on the Progressive Party line. Paris, a physician and bank board member, was the opening speaker at a Sept. 27, 1912 rally at Monument Park in Saratoga Springs with Frederick M. Davenport, the Progressive Party candidate, for lieutenant governor. The gathering was a representative one, being composed of Democrats, Republicans, Bull Mooses (Progressive Party) and the fairer sex, the latter being in attendance in considerable numbers, The Post-Star reported on Sept. 28, 1912. There was a large Washington County presence.The Hudson Falls Band escorted Davenport into the park. Silas E. Everts of Granville, lawyer Howard L. Montgomery of Fort Edward, and Major Sheldon W. Mott of Kingsbury joined Paris and Davenport on the platform at the rally, held at the same time the state Republican Convention was meeting in Saratoga Springs. Paris praised Davenport, a state senator from Oneida County.The man to whom you are to listen to is no new convert to the doctrines of progressivism, Paris said. He is one of the men who in the Senate of this state so aptly upheld the hands of that pioneer among Progressives, our own Governor Charles Evans Hughes, a Glens Falls native who as a child lived in Sandy Hill, as Hudson Falls originally was known. Davenport, in his remarks, took a stab at Republicans, who were meeting to select their candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, according to The Post-Star report, which can be found at The New York State Historic Newspapers web site, a project of public libraries.They are waiting for an angel of light to make his appearance and then they will nominate him, Davenport said, an apparent reference to a New Testament scripture verse about the devil disguising himself as an angel of light. Later that day, Paris and Davenport spoke at rallies in Hartford and Granville. Iranian leaders are responding to the latest round of sanctions signed by US President Donald Trump with a two-pronged approach: increased defense and intelligence spending by roughly $600-800 million and marshalling military vessels to the Atlantic Ocean. "We moved into the Atlantic and will go to its Western waters in the near future," Sayyari added. In April, Sayyari reportedly said, "redeployment in the Atlantic Ocean, intelligence superiority, development of communications, progress in the development of the Makran coast and building new vessels are among the Navys plans this year." The legislative measure was reportedly passed to chants of Death to America. About half of the new funding will go to ballistic missile development, the Wall Street Journal reported, while $61 million will be allocated to Irans nuclear program. The bill has the backing of moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, according to Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi. The next step for the bill is to go to an oversight body, the Guardian Council, which is expected to support it. "The bill had very wisely tried not to violate the [nuclear deal] and also gives no chance to the other party to manipulate it. This bill is an astute response to the enmity and wickedness of the United States against Iran," Araqchi told Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), an Iranian state-run media outlet. On August 2, US President Donald Trump signed into law a new round of sanctions targeting Iran, North Korea and Russia. The bill overwhelmingly passed the House by a margin of 419-3 and the Senate by a vote of 98-2 . Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul were the two no votes in the upper legislative chamber. "Neither the US nor Iranian leaders want to seem soft to their domestic constituencies," Abrahms noted, adding "sanctions against Iran, I predict, is just one of a broader set of countermeasures coming against Iran." Within the past week alone, unarmed Iranian drones have harassed US aircraft and carriers in the Persian Gulf on two separate occasions, which the US Navy described as "unsafe and unprofessional" encounters. On Tuesday, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement that the "IRGCs drones are equipped with standard navigation systems and are guided accurately and professionally; therefore, claims made by Americans are rooted in weakness of their diagnostic and identification systems or otherwise in their intention to mislead the public opinion." China and Russia pushed Tuesday for talks to defuse the "confrontational spiral" between the US and North Korea after Kim Jong-Un stepped back from a planned missile strike near Guam. The North Korean leader said he would wait and see how the United States behaved before deciding whether to execute the planned launch of four missiles over Japan towards the tiny US territory in the Pacific. Some analysts suggested Kim was opening a possible path to de-escalating tensions, which spiked dramatically with recent bellicose exchanges between US President Donald Trump and Pyongyang. The North's official KCNA news agency said Kim was briefed on the "plan for an enveloping fire at Guam" during an inspection on Monday of the Strategic Force command in charge of the nuclear-armed state's missile units. But it said Kim would "watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees" before executing any order. "In order to defuse the tensions and prevent the dangerous military conflict on the Korean peninsula, it is necessary for the US to make a proper option first," he added. China said Tuesday that the North Korean nuclear crisis had reached a "turning point" and it was time to enter peace talks. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: The Quad-City International Airport narrowed its decline in passengers in July as airport officials announced an 11 percent decline in enplanements and deplanements. Bruce Carter, the airport's aviation director, announced the monthly results at the Rock Island County Metropolitan Airport Authority's regular meeting Tuesday. Enplanements totaled 29,013 in July compared to 32,616 for the same month a year ago. Total passengers, or enplanments and deplanements combined, also decreased 11 percent to 57,614 vs. 64,743 a year ago. Carter said he expected a stronger July from the summer travel season, but attributed the decline in passengers to the economy and higher air fares. He told the governing board that none of the carriers appear to be adding any seats to the market this fall, but Allegiant still plans to restore its Punta Gorda, Florida, flight in December. "We'll be getting a new city, which people have been wanting, but not until Dec. 15,'' he said after the meeting. The largest decline percentage-wise was by United Express, which enplaned 6,875 passengers compared to 9,672 a year ago. Other carriers posted these enplanements in July: Allegiant, 5,336, down 2 percent; American Eagle/Envoy, 6,193, -10 percent; Delta Airlines, 10,445, -2 percent. Charter planes saw a 720 percent increase in July, with 164 passengers compared to 20 a year ago. Carter said part of the increased charter traffic was from the John Deere Classic. Meanwhile, Carter said airport staff have aggressively pursued additional cargo freight business "and cargo is really exploding." He credited Jason Sandefur, who runs the airport's airline fueling operation, QCIA Airport Services, with undergoing forklift training to allow the airport to expand its services to include cargo handling. "There wasn't a mechanism in place for someone to unload the airplane (cargo) and load a truck. Now we've got people trained and people who are aggressive," Carter said. The QCIA Airport Services deplaned, or offloaded, 41,579 pounds of freight in July, which was part of the 88,688 total freight deplaned at the airport. Total deplaned freight was up 114 percent from July 2016. On a summer night in LeClaire, as live music entertains full crowds at at least three outdoor patios, this town, with a population of less 4,000 people, is undeniably small. But there's nothing quiet about it. A decade ago, the streets of LeClaire didn't buzz past 5 p.m., when the retail and coffee shops closed and families maybe went out to eat at Happy Joe's or Sneaky Pete's Steakhouse. Now that wine bars, a brewery and a cocktail house have joined LeClaire, its streets -- well, really just one street, its main drag on Cody Road -- bustles during the day and well past dinner time. "It's changed a lot," Cindy Bruhn, the town's tourism manager, said. "Right now, you'll see people all over town every day of the week. And it doesn't go away at night." Cody Road has become an unlikely hub specifically for wine-lovers, housing a locally-owned winery and upscale wine bars, the Faithful Pilot Cafe & Wine Spirits and and 129 Coffee and Wine Bar, which each offer weekly tastings, live music and specially-curated wine pairings and dinners. Many have views of the Mississippi River. LeClaire's wine scene got a kick when Wide River Winery came to town in 2011, initially opening in the basement of the building now occupied by the LeClaire Olive Oil Company. That marked the second location for the family-run winery, which produces wine at its home base in Clinton. "It was an experiment," said Liz Quinn, who handles sales and marketing for the winery her mother started. "LeClaire was really starting to take off, with the 'American Pickers' and all of the tourists coming by off of the interstate." Expanding to LeClaire also meant being around higher foot traffic, according to her mother, Dorothy OBrien, the winerys owner, viticulturist and wine-maker. "In Clinton, we're kind of out in the sticks," OBrien said. "LeClaire is a vibrant community and they have scene. We get to be right in the heart of all the people walking around." As it turned out, locally produced wine fit right in as a tourist attraction. "We all had the mission of getting people to LeClaire," Quinn said. "And things started really happening." In 2013, the winery unveiled its relocated and renovated storefront at 106 N. Cody Road, complete with an outdoor courtyard where live music plays each Friday in the summer through Sept. 30. When other bars began hosting local and regional musical acts, it sparked First Fridays, a town-wide celebration that includes specials at area restaurants and late-night shopping on the first Friday of the month. And Wide River Winery got more popular, as OBrien says, business is pretty darn good. Its third location, in the Village of East Davenport, will celebrate its first year of being open this weekend during the Wine Walk, a wine-tasting event and fundraiser for the Gilda's Club of the Quad-Cities. Because of state law, the winerys LeClaire and Davenport locations cant serve wine by the glass, since the wine isnt produced there. Patrons may sip bottles of wine on site, and if they dont finish it, may take it to-go, with the bottle closed and covered in stapled plastic bag. That hasnt been too much of a roadblock, Quinn said, especially because visitors may sample for free a variety of 12 Wide River red and white wines before buying a bottle, which range from sweet to dry, and that cost $14-30. This summer, wine slushies are also available. Plus, the winerys staff is passionate about being welcoming, and tries to demystify wine a little bit, Quinn said. "In the state of Iowa, wine is a very young industry; we're all new to it, so we try to help people find what they like," she said. "We're not some snotty winery from Napa." Thats part of what draws in tourists, according to OBrien. "When they're visiting they want that local flavor," she said. "People want a sense of place and drinking wine made there gives them that." And, tourists dont expect to find a winery or wine bar in LeClaire, or the Midwest, OBrien said. "People are always surprised that were here," she said. "I'm surprised. There's like 99 wineries in Iowa." When it comes to booze, it's all there in LeClaire. In promotions, Cody Road has been dubbed Libations Lane, since Wide River Winery, Green Tree Brewery and Mississippi River Distilling Co. are located within a short walk of each other. And on weekend nights in the summer, its likely all three establishments are happening. "It's unique to have all of this within a block or so in a small town, and they all do well," Bruhn said. "We definitely have all of the adult beverages covered." The race to replace fill Davenport's soon-to-be vacant 6th Ward seat continues to get more crowded as Chris Webster has announced his bid to replace former Alderman Jeff Justin. The lifelong resident of the 6th Ward is currently the EMS System Coordinator at Genesis Health System and touted his knowledge of local government given his involvement in public safety and emergency preparedness in the Quad-Cities. Webster expressed excitement for the new economic development opportunities in the city, but also the need to develop best practices to continue the momentum. "Moving Davenport ahead will need to encompass an understanding of economic development that draws the talent and unique preferences of a younger generation," Webster said. "In order to continue funding amenities that may create a vibrant community, we need to ensure ongoing economic growth to hold the line on taxes, while maintaining sustainable funding for the basic services and reliable infrastructure we all value." While acknowledging improvements in getting information online, Webster has also suggested the need for the city to better connect residents with public officials. "My goal will be to open the doors of communication and listen to those that I represent through both community meetings and an online presence," Webster said. "Platforms like Facebook are making online interaction much easier and even my grandparents have caught on, despite the caps lock still being an issue at times." Justin's tenure of nearly 10 years on the City Council ended in June when he resigned to take a job with Lee County Electric Co-op in Cape Coral, Florida. Former Alderman Gene Meeker was appointed to the seat until the Nov. 7 election. Webster can be reached via email at webster6th@gmail.com or through Facebook using his campaign page @Webster6th. The content of Iowa license plates is more important than design. The new plates should include " traveliowa.com " to help the Iowa Tourism Office deliver the vital message to visit Iowa. A few hundred thousand no-cost mini-billboards on vehicles traveling the state, Midwest and nation are especially needed at a time when Iowa's tourism marketing budget and programs have been slashed and more cuts may be on the way. I was born and raised Catholic, converted to Judaism many years ago and now attend St. Pauls Lutheran Church with my husband. I have always believed there is only one Supreme Being and many ways to worship him. All mainstream religions have more in common than not. It doesnt matter what we call our God or what color our skin is, we are all more alike than different. Racism, bigotry, the need to blame others and people failing to stand up when they saw others being persecuted led to the Holocaust. Now our president refuses to condemn the protesters by name and holds both sides responsible. Former Davenport Mayor Phil Yerington thinks the anti-protesters are un-American. This doesnt sound like the America I know, and the one my son and others in the military sacrifice to keep safe and free. I highly recommend Jodi Picoults book Small Great Things. This thought-provoking book is fiction, but based on the interactions of a real black nurse and a former Ku Klux Klan member. It is especially timely in today's environment. Barbara Katz Kitzman Davenport SIOUX FALLS | A federal judge has sided with the state of South Dakota in its order against a fair amusement game operator. The South Dakota Department of Revenue ordered Lonnie Fowler to turn off his six machines at the Sioux Empire Fair, saying they violated an attorney general's opinion that identified coin-operated machines as games of chance. The Argus Leader reports the case is about whether Fowler's machines are games of skill or games of chance. Fowler's attorney asked a judge for a restraining order against the state's order which would have allowed Fowler to operate at the Brown County Fair. Judge Larry Piersol on Monday refused to do that. The machines have been determined to be games of skill in other states, including New Mexico. A group of school administrators sits quietly in a classroom Tuesday afternoon at Rapid City Central High School, their faces obscured by protective masks. They're expecting a gunman. Then, unexpectedly, a man in a bright blue shirt jumps up with a fake knife and goes berserk. Then the yelling starts, as people shove into each other and desks clatter. A swarm of people surrounds "the bad guy" with the knife, who is soon on the ground under a dog pile of fellow trainees. "Safety, safety, safety!" rings out through the room a literal safety word, in this case and the scenario is over as quickly as it began. This is ALICE. ALICE stands for "Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate" and is an active shooter response training for civilian organizations like schools and churches. It teaches a variety of tactics and strategies for handling violent situations, subscribing to a more proactive approach than the "lockdown" procedure many schools and other organizations use. Prior to ALICE, the Rapid City school district implemented the lockdown procedure, which mainly entails turning off the lights in a classroom, locking the doors and instructing students to get under their desks. In April, the Rapid City Area Schools board of education approved a three-year, $36,500 contract with ALICE to provide training to approximately 1,500 district employees, and to certify 50 employees within the district as instructors. The first round of that training was held Monday and Tuesday for about 50 school administrators and school liaison officers. Joe Chavalia, a national trainer with the ALICE Training Institute, was on hand for the two-day training, which alternated between classroom-style instruction complete with a PowerPoint and a white board, and active shooter (or stabber) drills, complete with a "bad guy." "You can't be more places than one, but you can be prepared for the one place that you are," he told an audience of about 50 administrators. Chavalia said ALICE offers an options-based approach developed from evidence-based research that emphasizes the need to adapt to different situations, communicate information about the intruders location, evacuate when safe and resist when necessary. "The standard protocol everybody had been using for decades doesn't work. It doesn't incorporate basic human responses of fight or flight," he said. Training empowering for staff ALICE has come under fire from some critics, who take particular issue with the "counter" portion of the training. Countering can include throwing things (soft, red balls were distributed during the training to throw at the pretend bad guys), making noise, or otherwise attempting to distract the aggressor. But Chavalia said what it means to "counter" is often misunderstood, and emphasized that the training does not teach, or even encourage, fighting. Instead, countering is meant as a means to exploit a distraction like a Nerf ball to the face as a means to gain control in a situation where escape is not an option. Holly Yamada, principal at Black Hawk Elementary School, said she sees the new training as a positive, calling it empowering for staff and students. She and her husband, Kyle Yamada, principal at Corral Drive Elementary, were both in the room on Tuesday when Valley View Elementary School Principal Gregg McNabb wielded the plastic knife. Described afterward by his colleagues alternately as "a fury of turquoise," "the teal bandit" and Aquaman, McNabb successfully caught multiple people off guard, including the Yamadas. "I got stabbed right in the kidney," Kyle Yamada said ruefully. For a few seconds, the training felt almost real. Holly Yamada saw McNabb right away, as he "stabbed" her husband. Then she remembers screaming. "You dont expect it, because we all work together. So it just was so out of context," Holly Yamada said. "Which would be like a classmate jumping up and doing something in a classroom, it just, for kids, it would be unexpected." Rapid City Police Officer Jake Kelley, school liaison officer for North Middle School, was among the law enforcement officers helping to facilitate the training on Tuesday. He said the program gives power back to the victims by giving them options and choices for how to respond in a deadly situation. As a police officer and the father of a sixth-grader attending East Middle School, he sees that as a very good thing. "I think giving the power back to the victim empowers people, and these crazy numbers we see from these active killer situations, it helps bring those numbers way down," he said. "Because the active killer, statistically when confronted with resistance in any form, thats when the situation normally stops." Running through scenarios On Tuesday, trainees split between two classrooms at Central High, the Spanish room and the German room, while going through different scenarios. In the first scenario, administrators milled in the hallways until an air horn blasted, signifying gunshots. The idea of the training is to use things already in the classroom environment. In one classroom, the trainees quickly set to work barricading the door by stacking desks in front of it. Things like an extension cord can also be tied to the door to help secure it. After each scenario, the administrators gathered back in the hallway to "debrief" and talk about the drill how did they respond? How long did it take to secure the door? Did anyone think to call 911? After the debriefing, trainees file back into the auditorium for more classroom-style instruction. For the Yamadas, though, the point of ALICE really became clear on Monday, when they did a similar scenario to Tuesday's drills, but implementing the lockdown procedure. Kyle Yamada said they did the lockdown like they've been doing it for years hiding under desks, locking doors and turning out the lights. Then the "gunmen" breached the door, entered the room with airsoft rifles and started "shooting." Even in a drill, Kyle and Holly both described feeling powerless to do anything. "And all you can think about is, hoping youre lucky. Hoping he doesnt see you. Wanting to be invisible. You just feel helpless," Holly said. After Tuesday's training, however, they see the ALICE program as a positive for the school district, as something that can empower the students and staff members. "You feel empowered, and I think thats one of the most important things with our students and staff, so they dont feel helpless," Holly said. BROOKINGS - SDSU Extension will hold the seventh drought meeting in Wall Aug. 23 at the Wall Community Center (501 Main St.). The meeting will run from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. This meeting is free and there is no registration is necessary. For livestock safety, attendees are encouraged to bring water and/or standing forages such as corn, millet, sudangrass and sorghum for testing (exceptions to the forage nitrate quick test include: baled forages, such as, grass and alfalfa. These forages should be sampled via bale core method and sent directly to a lab for best results). Presenters include: Laura Edwards, SDSU Extension State Climatologist; Heather Gessner, SDSU Extension Livestock Business Management Field Specialist; Dave Ollila, SDSU Extension Sheep Field Specialist; Adele Harty, SDSU Extension Cow/Calf Field Specialist and Chris Graham, SDSU Extension Agronomist. SDSU Extension Cow/Calf Field Specialist, Robin Salverson will be available for quick nitrate testing for forages/feed and livestock suitability water testing. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) staff will also be available to discuss drought disaster programs. DEADWOOD Deadwood History, Inc. and the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission will host a presentation by author and historian James McLaird at 12 p.m. on Friday, August 18, 2017, at the Historic Adams House. The event is wheelchair accessible. Please feel free to bring your lunch. James McLaird will present the story of Hugh Glass, noting how the legendary tale emerged, but also commenting about the movie, The Revenant, and how the actual Hugh Glass of history is different from that described in popular biographies, fiction, and film. He will relate how the first stories about Glass and his mauling by the grizzly bear in 1825, 1830, 1840, and the 1850s changed and added new facts, and how writers such as John G. Neihardt, Frederick Manfred, and Michael Punke made him even more heroic in their poetry and fiction. McLaird also looks at the grizzly bear itself, examining popular sentiments towards the creature that led to its near-extinction. James McLaird is a retired professor emeritus from Dakota Wesleyan University where he taught history for 37 years. He was born in Lake Benton, Minn., and graduated from high school in Miller, S. D. After receiving his B.A. at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, S. D., he did graduate work for one year at Boston University School of Theology and three years at the University of Wyoming, where he completed his M.A. Although interested in many aspects of history, McLaird has specialized in the history of South Dakota and the American West. He has published numerous articles on South Dakota history, including an examination of east river/west river differences, the legend of the white Mandan Indians, and Calamity Jane. Twice, he received the Schell Award for the best article in South Dakota History. In 2012, he received the Robinson Award for lifetime achievement from the South Dakota State Historical Society. His book Calamity Jane: the Woman and the Legend was named Best Non-Fiction Book Published in 2005 by Westerners International and was released in a paperback edition in 2012. The South Dakota State Historical Society published McLairds Wild Bill Hickok & Calamity Jane: Deadwood Legends in 2008. His most recent work, Hugh Glass: Grizzly Survivor, was published in 2016. Currently, McLaird is working on a biography of Wild Bill Hickok. The lecture is co-sponsored by the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission, Deadwood History, Adams-Mastrovich Family Foundation, A&B Business Solutions, Celebrity Hotel, and the Deadwood Chamber & Visitors Bureau. She was born in Rapid City, SD, and raised in Sturgis and the Camp Creek Ranch near Mud Butte, SD. She graduated from Sturgis Brown High School and subsequently served in the U.S. Navy from 1975 to 1979. During that time, she met and married her husband, and settled in Norfolk, VA. She served in the Naval Reserves until 1983 while concurrently attending Old Dominion University, graduating with a B.A. in English. She also completed several graduate courses in engineering. Her outgoing personality combined with her technical knowledge led her to establish a technical writing-publishing business in downtown Norfolk from which she retired in 2016. Maggie loved playing card games (pinochle, cribbage, gin) and enjoyed crocheting and living life to the fullest. HULETT, WYO. Get ready to ride and help out a neighbor in need! The 12th Annual Ride a Horse, Feed a Cowboy charity event is set for Aug. 26 in Hulett, Wyo. Each year, the event benefits someone in the tri-state area that needs a helping hand. This year, Roseanne Olson has been chosen. She has been diagnosed with HER2 breast cancer. She is part of the community and active throughout Crook County, said organizer Chanda Snook. Chanda and her husband, Clint, along with their two sons, Austin and Taylor Bug, are the main organizers of the charity event. Local announcer, John Costello, uses his talent for the event. Jackie Tinsley runs the music. The pickup men are regulars, too. Cody Shaw and a partner of choice are present in the arena. Jim Thybo and Roxee Holloway are judges. The event consists of roughstock only rodeo, with bareback riding, saddle bronc, bull riding, and ranch bronc riding. A wild ride, which consists of the top ranch bronc riders and a Calcutta, is the final event. After the rodeo, a BBQ and live auction will be the highlights of the evening. Topping off the event will be the Paul Bogart Band. Entries are due by Aug. 17. Taylor Snook can be contacted at 307-290-2273. Chanda said that so far this is the biggest rodeo theyve had with over 50 roughstock entries so far. This years rodeo will be a tribute to TC Holloway, Roxees brother. Everyone is encouraged to wear purple to honor him. It all begins Aug. 26 at 2 p.m. Ride a Horse Feed a Cowboy, reach out to someone in the neighborhood. BELLE FOURCHE The newest project for the Belle Fourche High School began Aug. 14 when the empty lot to the north and east of the present career and technical classrooms becomes the site of a new two story building that will house a new wave of technical classes slated for the 2018 school year. The new Career Technical Education (CTE) building will have classrooms for welding, vocational agriculture, Family Consumer Sciences (FCS), various business classes and others. The vision took form in 2010. Dr. Steve Willard, BF School Superintendent, said that they have always looked at the property next to the school for possible purchase and expansion of facilities. The lot across the street provided a place to begin to build after the district purchased the three houses through Capital Outlay funds. The cost of the new building comes in with a bid at $2,870,000 from Scull Construction of Rapid City. According to Dr. Willard, Capital Outlay funds will be used along with a $500,000 workforce grant from the state and $900,000 zero per cent REDL&G loan from the USDA through Butte Electric Cooperative. The new vocational agriculture teacher, Naomi Lermon, has been hired to fill the gap left by Graydon Dailey who has retired from teaching carpentry and woodworking According to high school principal, Mathew Raba, Lermon will bring a new diversity to the curriculum of the school. She will teach four classes in the high school and two classes in the middle school. Other teachers are already in place to teach FCS, welding, and other business classes. Raba is enthusiastic about the interest in the ag related classes. It has been several years since Belle Fourche has had an agriculture program and there seems to be a number of students who are interested in becoming veterinarians, he pointed out, and this will aid in those endeavors. The classrooms that are utilized now for the CTE classes will be used for other purposes after the new building is finished. Raba said he had no concrete ideas formed yet, but there are several ideas floating around. Two of the ideas are that the current welding area could be used for a band and music room or for auto mechanics. However, Raba said, the idea of auto mechanics may sound simple but a teacher would need to be hired, equipment purchased, and all the necessary things would need to be added to make the program complete. The best part, he said, is that there is a year to work on any ideas. What does the future hold for high school students? Raba is passionate about the future of education in Belle Fourche. Plans are being geared toward career and technical education. One of Rabas goals is to get more offerings that appeal to that technical and career side. Not every kid is cut out to get that four-year degree, he said. There is a push, nevertheless, to get some post-secondary education. Part of the process is trying to implement internships or mentorships, he said, to get those hands-on types of opportunities. Another area that is growing in the high school education system in Belle Fourche is the dual-credit class. These are classes that are available from college courses or technical school classes. The classes count for high school and college credit and are part of the GPA of the student, if the student has taken advantage of a special program through the State of South Dakota Board of Regents. The program has become more obtainable since the state has stepped up and will help to pay for the courses. A portion is paid by the student with the remainder paid by the State to the Board of Regents. If a student chooses not to participate in the special program, they may have to pay full costs of the class. This allows the student to exclude the grades received from the college course to be included in their high school GPA. This year an adjunct professor from Western Dakota Vo-Tech will come from Rapid City to teach sociology one semester and psychology another semester. If students take both classes they have the potential to earn nine college credits. Thats without leaving the building, Raba commented, and thats good for the students. Theres an additional program that has been quietly growing in the background, Raba said, and it seems to be working very well. Three years ago, the Belle Fourche Independent Learning Academy was initiated. According to Raba, the Mastery Based Learning program transforms instruction into a more personal level. Curriculum and teaching is based on how the student learns and is comfortable with the process. Some will move through classes more quickly, while others may have a class that is difficult and can sit and take time to grasp the concepts. Mastery Based Learning takes a major role in teaching. The students dont move on until mastering each level, Raba pointed out. The first students that began this program are now seniors this year. Those students will be able to spend more class time narrowing in on career choices. The idea of customizing classes is becoming more popular. Students must sign up for the customized learning which makes for an incentive to accomplish the goals they have set for themselves. Through this program, students have a classroom schedule, but the students classroom time is more flexible. For instance, if a student starts out in first period math and the work seems to be clicking and the student desires to continue working, he then has the ability to stay in that class. The teacher notifies the students next class teacher. The student is allowed to continue. According to Raba, this allows the student to learn to manage time and make use of available resources. Sophomores and juniors are now part of the program and Raba is looking forward to seeing the students grow. The 2017-2018 school year looks to be promising for the future of students at Belle Fourche High School. The staff is ready to help students set their sights on bright prospects and lead them to the future. Shirley F. Butler was born Sept. 29, 1935, in the family home of Ralph Sr. and Nan Heaton Strotheide of Hay Springs, and passed away Aug. 8, 2017, in Rapid City, S.D. She attended grade school in rural Sheridan County near the family ranch. After graduating from high school in 1952, she attended Chadron State College and began teaching at age 16. After three years of teaching, she was married to James B. (Bud) Johnson of Hay Springs. To this union, three sons were born Larry, Jerry, and Gene. After the death of Bud in 1959, she returned to college and received her degree in 1965. She taught one year in Hyannis, then married Gary L. Butler, of Chadron. To this union were born twins Tim and Tara. Teaching was a driving force in her life and she worked as a substitute teacher for many years in Kansas while the children were small. In 1978, she and the twins moved to McCook and lived there for six years before moving to Chadron in 1984 to be near her elderly mother. She then taught in rural Dawes County schools for many years. She was a member of Eastern Star of Hay Springs and NEA. She is survived by her five children: Larry Butler (Gail) of Colorado Springs, Jerry Johnson of McPherson, Kans., Gene Johnson (Danette) of Andover, Kans., Tara Butler of Sheridan, Wyo., and Tim Butler (Amy) of Madison, GA, eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She volunteered at the library, participated in multiple books clubs, card clubs and Bunko. She enjoyed her dogs and horses over the years, including her current dog Mister. Funeral services will be in Hay Springs Saturday, Aug. 19, at 10 a.m. at the United Methodist Church. A Celebration of Life will be in Rapid City, S.D., at 5:30 p.m. Aug.18 at the Canyon Lake Senior Center. COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. | (This feature is part of the "Through Airmen's Eyes" series on AF.mil. These stories focus on a single Airman, highlighting their Air Force story.) The Air Force affords its Airmen a plethora of opportunities and benefits; many advance their education and obtain degrees, skills are learned and can often be applied in future careers -- but for some, their service can grant them U.S. citizenship. This is the case for a dual military couple at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi, who were born and spent the early part of their life in Ecuador. Both are now Airmen and U.S. citizens. Staff Sgt. Luis Chiriboga, a 14th Civil Engineer Squadron engineering technician, and his wife, Airman 1st Class Estefania Briceno Ron, a personnel and administration technician assigned to the 14th Medical Support Squadron, were both born in Ecuador and later moved to the U.S. Chiribogas journey Chiribogas road to citizenship began much earlier than his wifes. A native of Quito, Ecuador the nations capital Chiriboga arrived in Long Island, New York, with his parents and three brothers in 2003 when he was 15. A major part of why we moved is because [my] parents thought we were gonna have a better future here than [in Ecuador], Chiriboga said. He added that Ecuador was a very hard place for people to find jobs even with an advanced education and degree. Moving to New York came with its challenges for Chiriboga and his family. His family had to overcome a language barrier and adjust to American culture, as well as find jobs to support themselves. His mom found a job cleaning houses with his aunt, who was already living in New York. His dad, who was a surgeon in Ecuador, found jobs sporadically and eventually started practicing natural medicine. Chiriboga said he was surprised how young people were when they began working in the U.S. He said it seemed normal for someone to have a job at age 16, where in Ecuador, a 16-year-old would be focused on school. However, to help pay for bills and rent, Chiriboga and his three brothers all found jobs at a restaurant almost within a year after arriving. I was helping my mom and dad pay for the house; we were all trying to pitch in and pay for everything, he said. After graduating high school, Chiriboga earned his bachelors degree in digital electronics from Suffolk Community College, New York. He said constantly going to work and school was eventually too much for him, and he didnt have enough time to focus on himself. I didnt want to go to school anymore by that time I was kind of working full-time and going to school full-time, trying to help my parents, he said. So, when he started looking for different avenues to take he said he knew he was destined to join the Air Force. I always wanted to join the Air Force since I was a kid, he said as he recalled the countless times he passed a big mural of the Ecuadorian air force as he rode the bus on his way to school in Ecuador. From a young age he was inspired. Enlisting in 2008, Chiriboga went on to receive his U.S. citizenship while stationed at Scott AFB, Illinois. In fall 2009, Chiriboga ventured to St. Louis by himself, where he and many others took the Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America. I was pretty excited, he said. However, having to renounce his Ecuadorian citizenship was kind of hard, he said. There was a part when they told me you have to give it up, and I was like uh, I dont know if I want to do this. Although he struggled briefly, Chiriboga said he feels this opportunity is great for those serving this country. Marriage While home on leave in 2010, Chiriboga attended a Christmas party with his parents. Briceno Ron and her family were also there. Although both were originally from Ecuador, they had not known each other previously. The two began dating and Chiriboga said their common life objectives and her goal-oriented drive is what attracted him to her. They married in March 2011. Briceno Ron joined Chiriboga at Scott AFB and the two would move to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, before moving to Columbus AFB several months ago. Briceno Rons journey Before becoming accustomed with military life, Briceno Ron and her family moved to Long Island from Guayaquil, Ecuador, when she was 12. Growing up, Briceno Ron said her family lived in Ecuador during a time when they changed from Ecuadorian currency to the U.S. dollar. Young at the time, Briceno Ron said, When you are a kid you dont notice stuff, but my mom said it was pretty rough. She said her mom did a good job of never portraying the family was in trouble. After arriving in New York, Briceno Ron also said the language barrier and American culture proved to be obstacles, just like during her husbands transition. After attending a primarily Hispanic middle school, she said the transition to high school was more difficult because not many people spoke Spanish. It was really hard to communicate with people I was kind of like thrown in there to learn, she said. The big-city landscape was also an adjustment. Briceno Ron said the part of Ecuador in which she grew up was nothing close to a big city and Long Island was a 360-degree change for her. It was a different culture, I was used to little tiny Ecuador, she said. After high school, Briceno Ron earned her bachelors degree in psychology. But school proved to be costly and she said it was time to look at another approach to help further her education, because she wants to earn her doctorate in clinical psychology. Thats where the Air Force came in. I wanted to join for school, education; I wanted a way to pay for my doctorate, she said. Her husband, who at the time had eight years of service, was able to prepare Briceno Ron and ensure she was ready for the voyage ahead of her. He did a pretty good job of telling me heres what to do, she said. Briceno Ron started basic military training in July 2016 and less than six months later she was in Memphis, Tennessee, accompanied by her husband, giving her Naturalization Oath of Allegiance to the United States of America. She said giving her oath was a time filled with mixed emotions, because I am the first one in my family to be a U.S. citizen. It [felt] good. Briceno Ron said her decision to join the Air force more than a year ago has opened many doors. Im definitely grateful and Im definitely thankful for the opportunities that has brought up for me, she said, like my citizenship and by being able to do more than just being a resident. One thing she can now do is set her sights on her doctorate and go for her goal of being in the Air Force as a commissioned officer, something she said she couldnt do before obtaining her citizenship. Its been a while since weve heard optimism about the economy. The unemployment rate is hovering around 4 percent. The economy is consistently producing more than 200,000 jobs per month. Nearly 7 in ten Americans feel good about where the economy is headed thats up five percentage points since June alone and comparable to what folks felt in the early 2000s, according to a recent CBS News poll. Even the New York Times posted a headline that read: Jobs Roar Back. While momentum must continue on key growth issues like regulatory relief and tax reform, we must also focus on another area: our workforce. Are young people getting the training and qualifications they need to compete and win in this new, modernized, and growing economy? Too often, the answer I hear is not quite. In South Dakota, we are incredibly blessed to have a network of tech schools that provide training for the most in-demand jobs. Recently, WalletHub ranked us as having the nations best system of community colleges. So, this August, I stopped by Lake Area Tech in Watertown to discuss with local businesses and educators what makes South Dakota stand out. At Lake Area Tech, 99 percent of graduates are employed after graduation, and theyre often landing good jobs, earning around 25 percent more than other new hires. What makes the difference? For one, South Dakota tech schools, like Lake Area Tech, are providing quality training and education. But they are also putting in the work necessary to connect those educating our workforce with those hiring our workforce. That connection can be instrumental to a students success. This partnership between educators and employers ought to be a model for the nation. Earlier this year, I helped pass the Strengthening Career and Technical Education Act through the U.S. House of Representatives. The legislation takes many of the ideas that are working at places like Lake Area Tech and creates an infrastructure for them to work nationwide. More specifically, the legislation would better align education with in-demand jobs. It does so by lifting some of the barriers that discourage strong partnerships between job creators and educators. It also grants states and local community leaders more flexibility in using federal education dollars, opening opportunities for innovative learning experiences. Finally, the bill would increase transparency to ensure career and technical education programs are delivering real results. These are smart reforms that Im hopeful the Senate will take up soon, so we can get them to the presidents desk. Theres a lot of focus right now on economic development, which is necessary and a good change of pace from the previous administration. Im going to continue to build on the successes weve had repealing job-killing regulations while also pursuing tax reform that leaves more money in peoples pockets and helps businesses create jobs and increase wages. But alongside economic development, we have a responsibility to pursue workforce development. Americas most valuable asset is and always has been our people. We are hardworking and smart. We take pride in a Made in America label. And we live by a set of values that celebrate freedom, liberty, and personal responsibility. By continuing to innovate new, more effective workforce development programs, we can help Americans from all walks of life not only find good-paying jobs, but meaningful careers they can grow in. Today, as threats to the United States continue to grow across the globe, it is important to remind ourselves that we remain the strongest, most powerful country in the world and can face any challenge presented by Americas enemies. The U.S. military is the most sophisticated and capable fighting force the world has ever seen, and, with continued support from Congress and the president, can regain the required level of readiness lost during years of underfunding. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Im extremely proud of our ability to come together to support our troops and their missions each year. Recently, news broke that North Korea has allegedly developed a nuclear warhead that could be mated to a missile and reach United States soil. Many Americans are rightly concerned about this development. In response to North Koreas nuclear weapons initiatives, the United Nations Security Council unanimously voted to approve new, global sanctions against North Korea. This came shortly after Congress passed and President Trump signed into law an expanded set of sanctions against hostile actors, to include North Korea. While the United States is capable of taking military action against those wishing to do us harm, sanctions can be a helpful tool we can use to deter and respond to destabilizing, dangerous behavior without the risks associated with a military response. The United States has a long history of using sanctions as a tool of foreign policy, and I support its use as a peaceful attempt to apply pressure to rogue nations. Further, if North Korea takes steps toward becoming a more responsible actor in the international community, the U.S. and international community could reward such behavior by rolling back selected sanctions. A successful implementation of sanctions on North Korea will require international cooperation, especially from China. Specifically, these sanctions would directly affect North Koreas senior leadership and their supporters. However, we must keep all options on the table as we continue our efforts to stabilize and de-escalate dangerous situations, including that with North Korea. As Ive said many times before, the defense of our nation is the primary responsibility of the federal government. The North Korean regime has threatened the United States and our allies countless times, and we must continue to send a strong message that aggression will not be tolerated. But the Korean peninsula isnt the only area in which we must keep a careful watch on rogue actors. Elsewhere in the world, Iran continues to violate international restrictions prohibiting ballistic missile testing and illicit arms transfers. Russia has invaded Ukraine and, in violation of international law annexed the Crimean peninsula. It also brazenly engages in cyberattacks, as exemplified by their efforts during the 2016 U.S. presidential election. The recent sanctions legislation that President Trump signed into law punishes both of these nations, in addition to North Korea, for their continued aggressive, destabilizing behaviors. Earlier this summer, I wrote about the importance of rebuilding our armed forces and promoting Peace Through Strength, a philosophy implemented by President Ronald Reagan to successfully end the Cold War in the 1980s. Now more than ever, we must be prepared to use our military strength along with non-military measures to deter aggression and, if deterrence fails, make certain that attacks on our country or our allies are soundly defeated. The 24-hour cable news cycle is typically dominated by front burner issues of the day everything from the latest news in Washington to updates about events or instability in other parts of the world. Many of these stories rightfully deserve the American peoples attention, but whether its a national cable network or a small town newspaper, theres never enough time in the day or space on the page to cover every single story. One story that isnt likely to generate a breaking news alert or land above the fold is the good work happening behind the scenes in our Senate committees. Ive always believed that Congress can walk and chew gum at the same time. We can focus on the big picture issues of the day while keeping our nose to the grindstone on other priorities. For the last several years, thats been my goal as chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. This year alone, the committee has sent nearly forty bills, almost all of them bipartisan, to the full Senate. More than a quarter of those bills made it to the House, and weve already had a handful signed into law. In early August, the Senate passed a half dozen committee-approved technology and telecommunications bills that are now one step closer to becoming law. Among them was my MOBILE NOW Act, which would help lay some important groundwork for next-generation gigabit wireless broadband services throughout the country. If you grew up in the 80s or 90s or are interested in film and television, youre probably familiar with Hollywoods take on the future, which at the time only seemed possible on the big screen. Dick Tracy had a two-way radio wrist watch, Marty McFly had self-tying shoes, a smart jacket, and a hoverboard, and Elroy Jetson had, well, every kind of toy or gadget a young kid could imagine. While some of Hollywoods futuristic portrayals have since become reality, thanks in large part to the explosive growth of wireless broadband technology, Americas innovators and entrepreneurs have the capability and desire to do so much more. Thats one of the main reasons why I introduced the MOBILE NOW Act. My bill would help get the government out of innovators way by cutting red tape and ensuring more spectrum (the airwaves that help make todays wireless technology possible) is made available to folks in the private sector. The government currently controls a large portion of underutilized spectrum, so my bill sets a realistic timeline for transferring a significant amount of it to the commercial sector for innovators and entrepreneurs to use. My bill would also accelerate and streamline the process for the creation of physical infrastructure projects, like antennas and towers, which will be required for next-generation gigabit wireless broadband services, like 5G, for example. Think about all of the technological advancements that have occurred just in your lifetime. Now imagine what could be accomplished in the next 10 or 20 years if innovators had the tools and opportunities to take the next step, free from unnecessary government obstacles and red tape. Im excited for whats to come, and I hope I can help South Dakota be a pioneer in this upcoming digital revolution. BROOKINGS - Tom Brokaw, best known as the anchor and managing editor of NBC Nightly News from 1982-2004, will visit South Dakota State University Oct. 19 to participate in the third Daschle Dialogues. The event brings nationally relevant figures to campus for an appearance with alumnus Tom Daschle, a 1969 graduate and former U.S. Senate Majority Leader who represented South Dakota in Congress for 26 years. Brokaw hosted all three major NBC News programsNBC Nightly News, TODAY, and for a brief time, Meet the Press. He still serves as a special correspondent for NBC News. Brokaws career highlights include being the only American network anchor to report from the call of the Berlin Wall in 1989, and he conducted the first interview with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Brokaw anchored NBC News coverage of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center. It is an honor to have Tom Brokaw as the next guest at South Dakota State University, Daschle said. He is recognized around the globe for his work as a journalist and he will certainly bring an insightful and seasoned perspective on both national and international developments during a most transformational time in our country. Brokaw is the author of The Greatest Generation, a book about the generation of Americans who grew up during the Great Depression and then went to fight in World War II or contributed to the war effort at home. The opportunity to welcome Senator Daschle back to SDSU and have Tom Brokaw as our guest is special and I look forward to having them both to our campus, said Barry Dunn, president of SDSU. Tom is certainly well-known for his work as a journalist, but more importantly, he is recognized for his role in American history. He is an individual who had a prominent impact on great moments in both American and world history. Brokaw has earned numerous awards, including nearly 10 Emmys and Peabody Awards. He was most recently awarded a Peabody in 2013 and was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2014 and the French Legion of Honor in 2016. Brokaw was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 2006. Brokaw was born in Webster, South Dakota, and graduated from Yankton High School. He attended the University of Iowa before earning a degree from the University of South Dakota in 1964. Brokaws television career began at KTIV in Sioux City, Iowa. The Daschle Dialogues is held in support of the Senator Thomas A. Daschle Congressional Research Study, which consists of more than 2,000 linear feet of materials from his distinguished 26-year public career. The study is located in the Archives and Special Collections of the Hilton M. Briggs Library on the South Dakota State University campus. This year will mark the third Daschle Dialogues. Sen. Trent Lott joined Daschle in 2014, while former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright was a guest in 2015. Tickets to the Daschle Dialogues will be available online at sdstate.edu/daschle-study/tickets beginning Sept. 19. Tickets are free and limited to two per person. An eight-acre plot of land near the southern edge of Rapid City limits with no real prospects for future development is likely going to cost taxpayers about $18,000. The only question that remains is which tax-collecting body will pay: the city or the school district? Public Works Committee members discussed a request Tuesday to waive the requirement to build a sidewalk along Enchanted Pines Drive at the corner of Fifth Street. The request was made by Rapid City Area Schools. The requirement comes as the school district looks to have the lot northwest of the intersection officially platted before transferring it to the city. Public Works Director Dale Tech explained at Tuesday's meeting that typically before a building permit is issued, any necessary improvements to the lot are identified by city staff and are required to be constructed prior to the permits approval. But because the lot in question is a drainage lot with a detention pond and no other prospects for future development, the developer in this case the school district is required to construct the improvements. There will never be a building permit issued for those lots, Tech said in response to a question from Alderwoman Lisa Modrick. Committee members ultimately recommended denying the request for a variance in an unanimous vote. Council President Jason Salamun was absent. The matter will be formally decided upon at the next city council meeting Aug. 21. Alderman John Roberts seemed to already have made up his mind, though. One way or another, taxpayers are paying for it, Roberts said. Were going to get back nothing but cost to the city of Rapid City. Were going to have an ongoing cost for the rest of our life to take care of that drainage lot. City documents estimate the project will cost about $18,850 based on current bid prices. In other committee action, members recommended: Approving three separate construction fee resolutions that would require future property owners along Country Road and 143rd Avenue northeast of Rushmore Mall to cover some of the cost of a recent city water main extension project. The fees will reimburse the citys utility support and water enterprise funds. More than $1.7 million must be paid by future property owners to reimburse the city for the project before they can hook into the citys water system. Future property owners along 143rd Avenue between Seger Drive and Country Road and on Country Road between 143rd Avenue and Marino Drive will be required to pay a fee based on the amount of frontage along the water main and/or the amount of property acreage. The fees will be $54.58 per front footage along the main and/or $409.59 per acre. Approving an agreement with the South Dakota Department of Transportation that could lead to the city receiving about $170,000 in funds after construction to Anamosa Street between East North Street and Lacrosse Street came in under budget. If the agreement and application for repurposing the funds meets the federal guidelines and deadline of Sept. 5, the money would likely be deposited in the Capital Improvement Program. The funds can then be used for street or bridge construction or repairs within city limits. So far the responses of our South Dakota congressional delegation to the events in Charlottesville have been tepid, ambiguous and cowardly. Why these three can't bring themselves to condemn specifically the Nazis and KKKers who were the most visible elements in the march to "Unite The Right" shows a dismaying lack of moral specificity. Rep. Kristi Noem blathers on about "anyone spreading hate and fear" while Sen. John Thune called "the hate and bigotry ... disgusting and unacceptable." According to the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Sen. Mike Rounds deferred questions to a written response (that I haven't found) that condemned violence but didn't criticize President Trump's response. Do our congressional representatives know anything about the history of the Nazis and the Klan? Why can't they bring themselves to call out these two organizations for condemnation? I wish this trio of South Dakota Republicans had the same no-nonsense rejection of moral equivocation that Ronald Reagan did when queried about the support he'd received from the Ku Klux Klan. Said President Reagan in 1984: "The politics of racial hatred and religious bigotry practiced by the Klan have no place in this country and are destructive of the values for which America has always stood." As to Nazis, Reagan's wartime service (his vision deferred him from a combat assignment) was distinguished by a long list of of anti-Nazi film productions and public appearances that put his status as a popular actor to work in the war effort. More than 2,000 South Dakotans were killed or wounded fighting the Nazis and their allies in World War II. I'm a life member (by virtue of my 13-month tour of duty as a Marine in Vietnam) of the F.J. Willuweit VFW post in Quinn at the eastern end of Pennington County. Willuweit was killed fighting Nazis in Europe. I had an employee, long since dead, who fought with Gen. Patton in Europe. He once told me that when he landed at Normandy the bodies floating in the water were so thick that you could practically walk on top of them to get to the beach. My own dad, who fought the Nazis in the Balkans while serving in the Greek army, was shot and captured in Macedonia in 1942, then subsequently trucked to a POW camp near Dachau, the infamous concentration camp. He spent the rest of the war as a forced laborer, including a stint as a hod-carrier for German bricklayers constructing the ovens in which thousands of murdered Jews were incinerated. That so many of us in South Dakota have direct linkage to the generation that sacrificed much, if not all, in the battle against Nazism should be enough to spur our elected leadership into condemning the latter day resurgence of this hideous legacy. It really isn't that difficult or politically perilous. Along with those demented paramours of Nazism, the Ku Klux Klan, they're easy enough to target with the simple, clear, unequivocal and direct language of modern conservatism's towering warrior Ronald Reagan: They have no place in this country. Get it, Noem, Rounds and Thune? They have no place in this country. Hamilton graduate Rylie Cook, a junior at Utah State University studying social work and mental health, is the recipient of the medical providers and Marcus Daly Memorial Hospital scholarship. Cook said she is grateful for the $4,000 scholarship and sees mental health services as an area of great need in western Montana. It was validating to me to receive a scholarship from a hospital, she said. It is nice to know they see it in the same light. Mental health is critical. So many emergency rooms are filling with (people with) mental health issues. Mental health is just as important as physical health for having a stable and healthy life. Each year the scholarship is awarded to a Ravalli County high school graduate who is currently enrolled as a student in any mainstream health or medical field. Medical providers donate and the hospital matches the funds. Cook graduated from Hamilton High School in 2014 and credits clinical licensed social worker Jessica Randazzo for influencing her. I knew the family well and when I was in school and looking at social work, I went to talk to her and that got me interested, Cook said. Cook initially went to Utah State University to study elementary education, but realized she wanted to work with the entire family. I realized that I like working with people and love the kids, but Im more interested in when they come into school, why they are the way they are, how their home life is affecting them and the things I cant help as a teacher Im only academic, she said. I want to help these children succeed in all aspects of their life. I felt I could make more of a difference than just academics. Cook is in the senior year of her undergraduate degree, and said the scholarship will impact her life immensely. This sets me up to succeed, she said. My husband is in school as well and this allows me to really focus on my academic and extra-curricular. In addition to her class load, Cook has a 16-hour a week internship and volunteers as a therapy aid, working with life-skill students off-campus. She is also co-chair of her social work organization. This scholarship sets me up to be free to work on my career, opportunities, and masters program, without worrying about what job I can squeeze in to pay for school, she said. It is making a really big impact for me. Cook explained that Utah State has an accelerated masters program that combines her senior year of classes with the 480-hour internship. I can mold my masters into what I want to go into and I can complete that in one year, she said. Cook said there is a great need for mental health workers. One out of three adults will go through some sort of mental health issue or crisis in their life time, Cook said. And thats a conservative number. The shortage of mental health workers in rural areas like Montana is astounding. Problems like bi-polar and schizophrenia can be controlled by medications, but if you dont have access to mental health practitioners it is hard. Cook said she hopes to return to Montana upon completion of her masters degree. Id love to come back in my own private practice or work in a community hospital setting, she said. I absolutely love Montana. I dont want to live anywhere else. Dr. John Moreland presented the scholarship to Cook, and said it is important to keep encouraging students in the medical profession. It is something we are all part of, Moreland said. The hospital gives the scholarship to anybody in the professional area of medicine. Weve done pharmacy students, medical students, nursing students, physical therapy, so everything, he said. CLEVELAND, Ohio - One of downtown Cleveland's worst eyesores finally changed hands Monday, after years of court fights and false redevelopment starts. Alto Partners bought the long-vacant John Hartness Brown complex on Euclid Avenue for $9.1 million, in a deal that sprang from a messy foreclosure fight. The developer, a relative newcomer to the Cleveland real estate market, expects to fill the buildings with apartments, a hotel, retail and parking. Construction could start during the first few months of 2018. Stretching from 1001-1101 Euclid Ave., the John Hartness Brown complex spans three addresses and five facades on north side of the street. Thanks to troubled ownership, financial hurdles and lingering fallout from the Great Recession, the property has languished despite the surge in downtown living and the trend of turning historic buildings into housing and hotels. Alto will be the third developer in a decade to attempt a revival of the block. A rendering shows what the John Hartness Brown complex on Euclid Avenue could look like after renovations into apartments, a hotel, retail and indoor parking. In an email Tuesday, an Alto executive confirmed that the privately held company paid cash for the buildings and doesn't foresee financing hurdles to forging ahead on a project. "We will be working with our architects [and] local and state authorities on plans and approvals to redevelop the property," Michael Sabracos, the company's chief executive officer of U.S. operations, wrote. The project will include 20,000 square feet of retail, 250 parking spaces, 154 apartments and 140 hotel rooms, he added. Citing a confidentiality agreement, Sabracos would not identify the hotel brand. But he said the product will be a limited-service hotel similar to a Courtyard by Marriott, an Aloft or an AC Hotel. Back in 2011, the John Hartness Brown complex was earmarked for a Le Meridien hotel, a 206-room redevelopment that also would have featured indoor parking and storefronts along Euclid. But the Le Meridien project team, led by California businessman Steve Goodman, never seemed able to close the deal. The funding plan kept shifting. Valuable historic preservation tax credits were in peril. And investors started asking questions - and filing lawsuits. Goodman didn't respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Nearly two years ago, a New York-based lender initiated foreclosure proceedings on the property. The litigation stemmed from a series of loans that traced back to 2006, to a previous ownership group that left a pall on the buildings. Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Brendan Sheehan quickly appointed a receiver, an outside expert who took control of the real estate with the goal of preserving its value during litigation. The Cleveland Division of Fire posted a sign on the building in July, after a break-in and a small fire. The property has been vacant for years, serving as a temptation to squatters, thieves and urban explorers. That receiver, Mark Dottore, received permission 12 months ago to sell the buildings to Alto. But legal wrangling and appeals filed by the Le Meridien team and investors in that project delayed the transfer. Now court records show that most of the litigation has been resolved - at least enough that the receiver saw a clear path. Now the question is whether Alto will succeed where other developers have struggled. "That's the $86 million question - which is how big the project is," said David Wagner of Hanna Commercial Real Estate, which marketed the property for Dottore through a process that ultimately led to Alto's acquisition. "The good news is it's no longer speculative that there's hot demand for loft housing." Interest in downtown is up dramatically from a decade ago, when plans for a revival of the John Hartness Brown complex first materialized. But so is the supply of competing projects, prompting speculation about whether there's enough appetite to go around. That's particularly true in the hotel market, which experienced a building boom leading up to Cleveland's starring turn last year as the host city for the Republican National Convention. Dottore seemed confident about Alto's odds. "They've got $9.1 million tied up in it right now," he said. "Nobody plays around with that kind of money." Alto bought the 55 and 65-75 Erieview buildings just off East Ninth Street early this year. The company, based in Istanbul, is renovating those buildings and rebranding them as the Fives at Erieview. Sabracos has talked about Alto's aspirations to develop and acquire several million square feet of real estate here. The John Hartness Brown purchase was particularly byzantine. Dottore and Wagner said it was one of the more complicated deals they've worked on, requiring teamwork by the judge, the city, the state and other partners during the receivership. In 2007, the state awarded preservation tax credits to the property. The Ohio Development Services Agency never rescinded the credits, but the award doesn't automatically transfer to a new building owner. An agency spokeswoman said Alto must ask for a transfer. As of Tuesday afternoon, the state hadn't received such a request. Property owners don't actually get the tax credits until their projects are complete. But the promise of state credits, plus federal tax credits for historic preservation, helps developers secure investors and cut the costs of often-challenging deals. The John Hartness Brown complex won $11 million in credits - more than twice what it would be eligible for today, if Alto had to start fresh and reapply under a more restrictive state program. Even if the credits stay in place, though, the amount could change based on the scope and size of Alto's redevelopment proposal. Tom Yablonsky, executive director of the Historic Gateway Neighborhood Corp. and executive vice president at the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, said he's talked extensively with Alto and expects a "very solid" relationship with the developer. Historic Gateway, a nonprofit group, holds a conservation easement on the John Hartness Brown building. The easement is, essentially, a preservation tool that permanently limits changes to the building and, in return, generates money for the property owner through a tax deduction. The stretch of Euclid between East Ninth and East 12th streets is "the big no-man's land" in a historic district where other buildings have been revived, Yablonsky said. "This is a major win for downtown that the project would more forward," he added. Dirgha Raj Prasai A Swiss geologist and scholar, Toni Hagen first came in 1950 as a member of the Swiss Mission for Development Aid. His first job was to conduct Nepal's first geological survey. About the reality of the Nepalese politics and the intention of King Mahendra he said- 'I call back December 1960 when King Mahendra staged the royal coup. I never agreed with King Mahendra this step. On the other hand, I would say looking back into the history that King Mahendra was a very great personality. It is mainly for his merit that Nepal survived as an independent country between two big neighbors. He was very clever and handled the dedicate issues.' 25 Nov.1992- Weekly newspaper- The Independent' King Mahendra incorporated the phrase Hindu Kingdom in the constitution upgrading the morale of India and Hindus all over the world. His work increased Nepal's prestige. He introduced Nepal in the United Nations by adopting the ideology of foreign policy. He maintained a balanced friendship with Chinese powerful leader Mao Ze Dong and Indian powerful Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. It has to be noted that Prithvi Narayan Shah has mentioned a dream in his divine message as a source of encouragement for greater Nepals unification, a girl of 8/9 years of age came to me holding two 'Kadga'(sword) and I asked- whos daughter are you and she said she was the daughter of Priest Rana and handed me both the 'Khadga'(Sword). Brought something from 'Khokila' and asked me to eat it. Your wishes have been fulfilled. The girl of Magar caste had incited the king to create the foundation for national unification. In the initial stage Magar, Gurung, Khas, Thakuri, Bhramin including Kami, Damai, Sarki among other castes had helped in the campaign for unification. Prithvi Narayan Shah unified the more than 54 small Hindu states and Nepal created the only one 'Hindu kingdom' in the entire world protecting Buddhism and other religions in this zone. The king had kept the originality of mountainous Nepal was kept alive by allowing the Moon-Sun depicting flag to flutter, we Nepalese are proudly known in the world. The great king Prithvi Narayan Shah united Nepal and the king Mahendra could reform all the discriminations among the Nepalese people and created the developed sovereign-Nepal. Bhadra 1st is the memorial day of King Mahendra who eradicated the unsociability problem from Nepal. The caste discrimination, particularly untouchables, in the Hindu society was one of the major concerns of the Nepalese and Indian societies. The adoption of Constitution- 2019 B.S. and Naya Muluki Ain in 2020 B.S. by King Mahendra of Nepal has officially abolished untouchables and caste discriminations, and directs to reorganize the Nepalese society along democratic lines, is a milestone. Although, there are so many hindrances and orthodoxy in grassroots level in Nepal. Talks have been held in Nepal from all quarters to end the trend of discrimination (unsociability) on ethnic terms. King Mahendra contributed to eradicate the unsociability trends in Nepal. From 2020 B.S. there are no discriminations in cabinet, parliament, government offices, industries, organizations, meetings-assemblies, educational institutions, education, hotel, club and social organizations. This discrimination is nowhere to be found in the national level. However, the problem remains intact. This trend has a deep root in remote villages and towns. The possibility is not there that the discrimination could be ended with minor efforts. The efforts undertaken by the Dalit leaders, albeit entering the parliament through the act of proportionality and being appointed in the parliament, cabinet and commissions, has done little to emasculate the continuing discriminatory trend. The human right activists have been passing their time by presenting working papers at bigger hotels. The civil society runners, marred with the disease of taking money from political activists and foreigners, have not shown any concern towards gender-discrimination. Those making a living by using the Dalits' issues think that it is achievement to walk carefree by giving only speeches. We can find so many evidences that the villages of Doti (Nepal) have a persisting belief that if Dalit drinks milk blood will flow from the cow and buffallo's nipples. This is why the residents of Doti do not sell milk. The villagers use powder-milk when making tea and milk cannot be found in teashops. When travelling to Bajang and Bajura it was the same disease afflicting them. A Dalit is obliged to wash the teacup after drinking tea from it in a shop. The political leaders are well-aware of the situation but they do not speak. Dalits are the people that craft and embroider the jewels in a temple but they are the ones forbidden from entering it. In reality, their failure to complain of this is a lacking factor in their capability. In the Sunar village in Kalanki, Kathmandu the Lord Shiva's temple was erected by the Sunar (goldsmith) people and they are carrying out the rituals of prayers in the temple. On the auspicious days of Shivaratri, and the Monday of Sawan and so on, it is thronged by all castes including Bhramins, Chetris and all castes- there is no stench of discrimination. So, the Dalits also, themselves, must contribute in reforming the society. Some years ago, Jaggi Prasad Upadhaya of Hollu village in Mugu district, committed suicide by throwing himself into Karnali River after the Maoist activists forcibly made him drink water touched by an untouchable. His body was found 18 days later in a state with a Veda (Hindu's religious rule) book strapped around his neck for emancipation. Similarly, in 2056 B.S., villagers in Putalibazaar of Syangja district, near by Pokhara, socially boycotted Priest Ram Chandra Koirala after the latter preached Gayatri Mantra to 27 Dalit youths at a week long preaching of religious epics and hymns (Saptaha Purana). According to Dinbhandhu Aryal-former minister, since that time, that village has witnessed the passing of many festivals of Dashain, Tihar, Bratabandha and wedding ceremonies but no one has invited Priest Ram Chandra. And no one has attended the ceremonies he has held. His mother and father say that they do not like to eat what he touches. The state and Dalit organizations could not confer award on such a great social reformer, who preached Gayatri Mantra to untouchables and challenged the prevailing discriminatory trend, and present him forward as an icon. If the government declares an incentive to provide employment and award as a motivation to those ready for inter-caste marriage with Dalits, it could be one of the bases to end this discrimination. If Nepal's political parties, social organizations and religious Groups go to villages with determined programmed it can make a huge impact in the rural level. But the political parties are not ready to launch any campaigns in this direction as yet. The parties passed the proposal of declaring Nepal a discrimination free nation through the reinstated parliament in 2006. This only became an act of throwing dust into the eyes. How can a deep embedded disease lasting for eras be removed by passing a resolution motion at the parliament? Mere study of the Vedas cannot be the criteria for determining a persons social position. A revolutionary programmed ought to be brought by the state to end discrimination. The eradication of the discrimination will be possible only after running a psychological and revolutionary campaign with a joint effort between the state and the state's all sectors from the rural level. The government must create an environment conducive to formation of joint committees comprising political party activists, local organizations and Dalit leaders to end such flaws and discriminatory trend. Email:dirgharajprasai@gmail.com Kathmandu, Nepal: The Government of Japan has extended grant assistance of up to three hundred million Japanese Yen (300,000,000), equivalent to two hundred eighty million Nepalese Rupees (NRs280,000,000) to the Government of Nepal for the School Sector Development Program (SSDP). His Excellency Mr. Masashi OGAWA, Ambassador of Japan to Nepal, and Mr. Shanta Raj Subedi, Secretary of the Ministry of Finance signed notes to this effect at the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday (15 August, 2017). Another set of grant agreements for implementing the program were signed by Mr. Jun SAKUMA, Chief Representative of JICA Nepal, and Mr. Baikuntha Aryal, Joint Secretary of the International Economic Cooperation and Coordination Division of the Ministry of Finance. Speaking at the event His Excellency Mr. OGAWA said that education is an investment in human capital and the foundation of a nations sustainable social and economic development. He added that education can help eradicate poverty and contribute towards nation building and that the assistance intended to support Nepal's poverty reduction efforts through exclusively executing the SSDP. The Ambassador said that Japan is aware of the strong commitment Nepal has for implementing the SSDP for assuring access to quality education for all children and added that proper implementation can enable Nepal to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In addition to this support, Japan has been assisting Nepal through various programs in education to support Nepal's efforts to attain sustainable socio-economic growth. The Government of Japan has been implementing the Emergency School Reconstruction Project for rebuilding and retrofitting schools in the districts severely affected by the 2015 earthquake. His Excellency Mr. OGAWA added that Japanese support would lead to the provision of equitable, efficient and quality education, while also helping to develop the governance and management of the education sector, and make the nation more resilient to future disasters. Embassy of Japan is confident that the objectives envisaged by the program will be achieved, and contribute towards further strengthening the existing relationship of friendship and cooperation between the peoples of Japan and Nepal. Contents The Revolt In 1760, some fifteen hundred enslaved black men and women perhaps fewer but probably many more took advantage of Britains Seven Years War against France and Spain, to stage a massive uprising in Jamaica, which began on April 7 in the windward parish of St. Marys and continued in the leeward parishes until October of the next year. Over the course of eighteen months the rebels killed as many as sixty whites and destroyed many thousands of pounds worth of property. During the suppression of the revolt over five hundred black men and women were killed in battle, executed, or committed suicide. Another 500 were transported from the island for life. Colonists valued the total cost to the island at nearly a quarter of a million pounds. Whether we consider the extent and secrecy of its plan, the multitude of the conspirators, and the difficulty of opposing its eruptions in such a variety of places at once, wrote planter-historian Edward Long in his 1774 History of Jamaica, this revolt was more formidable than any hitherto known in the West Indies.[1] Long was convinced that the rebellion was the culmination of an island-wide plot by Coromantee compatriots from the Gold Coast of West Africa who hoped to conquer the colony and create a series of principalities in the African mode. Yet his and subsequent historical accounts have left a number of important questions unanswered. Was the revolt a unified and coordinated affair, or was it instead a series of opportunistic riots? What in fact did the rebels hope to achieve? Was there ever a real danger to the British Empire in America or was the threat blown out of proportion by panicked whites? If the insurrection was as well planned as the colonists feared, why didnt it succeed? These questions can be partially addressed by examining how the insurrection played out in space. What the Map Shows Mapping the revolt and its suppression illustrates something that is difficult to glean from simply reading the textual sources. The colonists and imperial officials who produced the historical record were universally unsympathetic to the rebellion, and we have no documents produced by the rebels. So the written record skews our understanding toward the insights, fears, hopes, and desires of slaveholders. But we learn something else by plotting the combatants movements in space. Tracing their locations over time, it is possible to discern some of their strategic aims and to observe the tactical dynamics of slave insurrection and counter-revolt. The uprising encompassed three major phases of sustained action discounting the various conspiracies discovered by the whites alongside more dispersed and sporadic skirmishes. The first was the revolt in St. Marys, generally named Tackys Revolt after one of its principal African leaders. This was followed by a much bigger revolt in Westmoreland parish. Finally, survivors of the Westmoreland insurrection trekked across two parishes, raiding estates along the way. These campaigns adapted to geographical constraints. On the windward side of the island the north side heavy rainfall and dense vegetation limited movement more than on the leeward side, where the drier climate allowed for greater mobility. Still, within each phase of the rebellion, the routes traveled by the rebels through woods, mountains, hills, swamps, and rivers indicated strategic objectives. The initial revolt in St. Marys parish targeted the British fort at Port Maria. At Fort Haldane insurgents gathered arms and ammunition before marching up the main road to the heads of the parishs most important waterways, which fed Port Maria Bay and Annotto Bay, principal strategic ports on the islands north side. From there, fleeing the imperial counterattack, the rebels broke into small bands and traversed the areas deep woods and ravines, conducting raids all the way down to the coastal inlets. The objective in St. Marys, then, seems then to have been control of the commercial zone along the rivers, which lends some credence to Longs suggestion that the insurgents hoped to conduct trade on their own account, perhaps even keeping the plantations geared to the production of exports. On May 25, not long after the suppression of the uprising in St. Marys parish, and just before Lt. Governor Henry Moore was to declare the suspension of martial law, the revolt broke out in Westmoreland parish. Colonists and imperial officials believed that the Westmoreland and St. Marys uprisings were connected. According to the Jamaica squadron commander, Rear Admiral Charles Holmes, the whole Island remained in great Terror and Consternation for some time, having had more Evidence than before of their Disobedience & Revolt being intended to be universal.[2] Certainly, the Westmoreland revolt was anything but haphazard. On the map, we can see how the rebels selected a small and detached mountain range, presumed to be defensible from both planters and their maroon allies. Uprisings occurred on estates all around the base of this range, indicating a shared strategic focus arising from a network of communication and planning that ran through the mountains. It is plausible to assume from the location of the rebel encampment and the presence there of many women and children that the rebels hoped to build an enduring society, perhaps another maroon village free of the direct control by the British. Following the defeat and dispersal of the encampment in early June, the map highlights a long rebel march that continued for months, ultimately extending as far as the parish of Clarendon. Topography was crucial to this phase of the revolt. The rebels kept to an elevation that remained within a fairly precise scope between the colonists estates on the plains and the steep mountains commanded by the maroons. Trekking through the foothills, into swamps, and to other detached peaks, the insurgents could strike estates and then melt back into wilderness. Their cartographic traces show how movement expressed political intention. May 30, 1760 This map also highlights the geography of British counterinsurgency. Reaction to slave insurrection followed a fairly clear pattern. First, militia units composed of white men from the surrounding plantations confronted the rebels, often with poor success. At the same time, white women, children, and elders fled the estates for the port towns, where they huddled in fear. The countryside then became a militarized free-fire zone where any black person who seemed suspicious could be taken, tortured, or killed on sight. As soon as he received word of the uprising Lieutenant Governor Henry Moore declared martial law and mobilized the formal counterinsurgency: the army, who were much more effective than the militia at traveling long distances in fighting formation and in fighting set-piece battles; the navy, which conducted relief and resupply efforts while lending sailors to engagements on land; and the maroons, who excelled at pursuing rebels through dense forest and mountains. The militia, sticking close to the plantations, continued to skirmish with the bands of rebels that had survived major engagements. Viewed on the map, the insurrection appears to have been the product of genuine strategic intelligence, one that utilized Jamaicas distinctive geography and aimed toward the creation of alternative enduring societies. Recognizing a real threat to the maintenance of the colony, the British mounted a rapid and diversified response, drawing upon the highly coordinated efforts of the regular military, the haphazard and decentralized tactics of the local militia, and the rough-terrain warfare of maroon allies, each of which traversed the landscape in distinctive ways. The interpretive focus of this story emerges from its visual design. Design Four elements provide the principal content of the narration: the base map, the locational database, the symbol design, and the interface. The Maps First, several eighteenth-century maps were adapted to create the Terrain Map and the Estate Map, which form the base maps for the narration. The historical mapsa topographical view of the entire island and three separate maps of Cornwall, Middlesex, and Surrey counties were printed in 1763 for Henry Moore, who, as Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica in 1756-61, was responsible for suppressing the insurrection. Drawn from surveys conducted by engineer Thomas Craskell and surveyor James Simpson, these maps show both the mountainous topography of the island and the placement of estates. Most interestingly, the map for Westmoreland marks the location of the Rebels Barricade, where the rebels built a fortified encampment and repulsed an attack by the militia before succumbing to a combined force of militia, soldiers, sailors, and maroons.[3] The base maps were geo-referenced to give rough latitudes and longitudes, so that movements gleaned from a locational database could be plotted as points on the graticule. Symbology Second, the thematic map graphically depicts a chronological database of locations. Contemporary accounts of the revolt drawn from diaries, letters, military correspondence, newspapers, and retrospective accounts like those written by planter-historians Edward Long and Bryan Edwards yielded descriptions of the positions, movements, and engagements of rebels and counterinsurgents. These locations were cross-referenced with multiple sources wherever possible; latitudes and longitudes were then reckoned by correlating the base maps with satellite images so the information could be plotted as points. The database also records numerical values where they accompanied reports of rebel forces, and killings and captures. The third major element of the exhibit is the symbol design. A simple color scheme differentiates the fighting units, with icons for conspiracies, clashes, and judicial executions. Fading tracer lines track the movement of units. It was challenging to account for the uncertainty of much of the data. Symbols such as pushpins inappropriately signified too much clarity. Blurred circles were confusing. Solid lines tracking movement did not reflect the nature of guerilla warfare, in which rebels dispersed over the landscape in loose formations and their pursuers hunted rumors and chance sightings. Yet without traces between the points, it became difficult for the map to suggest that the movements were directional. The graphics attempt to balance intelligibility with uncertainty, while maintaining viewers sense of the interpretive character of the database. The interface allows users to navigate the timeline of the revolt. The color tones and typefaces were chosen to evoke a sense of the period. On the left side of the screen, quotations from contemporaneous documents provide sourcing and context for the movements shown on the map. A simple legend is accessible beneath the quotations. The map can be animated to provide an overview of the rebellion or played step by step, which allows closer inspection of the data. The overall goal of the interface is to convey an understanding of the tactical and strategic movements that shaped the events of the insurrection. Uncertainty There are obvious limitations to plotting a turbulent slave revolt on a map like this. By using British maps that highlight the placement of forts, towns, and estates, our maps tend to reify colonial geography. Even more fundamentally, cartography presumes the natural existence of points on a grid much as history naturalizes the timeline, though these are ultimately folkways for representing space and time that have more in common with slaveholders epistemes than with those of their slaves. The spatial schemas of the rebels, their landmarks and pathways, and their sense of temporality are probably irretrievable in cartographic form. Maps orient viewers by offering an orderly aerial view. But gazing down from a great height makes it hard to see chaos and confusion, the most essential features of a protracted insurgency. Indeed the sources used to locate the events of the revolt are themselves artifacts of desperate attempts to make sense of a fast-changing and bewildering predicament. A crucial source, the April 14, 1760, Letter from a Gentleman at St. Mary almost certainly written by Zachary Bayly, who played a key role in organizing the militias response to the initial outbreak begins with a disclaimer: I am informed you have received several erroneous and contradictory Accounts of the proceedings of the rebellious Negroes; which I am not surprized at, as the Truth is difficult to come at here on the Spot. The following is the best information I can give you. [4] This map represents such imperfect efforts to grasp the way the rebellion unfolded, which are only shadows of the actual insurrection. Of course, if this limitation arises from the sources, it also reflects the nature of guerilla warfare. Uncertainty was the rebels best weapon. They stood a chance of success only when they could surprise and confuse imperial forces. As a frustrated Admiral Holmes lamented, Experience has proved that it is much easier to Vanquish & Rout them in the Field, or in a Collective Body Entrenched, than to Grab them out of the Woods.[5] The implication for cartography is clear: rebel movements are extremely difficult to map for the periods when they were dispersed or hidden from the view of the counterinsurgency. Nonetheless, concurring reports of the same activities allow for more confident narration. Readers may compare the multiple contemporary descriptions of major episodes like the battle at the rocky gully near Downess Cove, described by the Letter from a Gentleman at St. Marys and by Edward Long; or, of the battle at the Rebels Barricade (June 2, 1760), described in several accounts, to determine how descriptions of events vary and change over time. Readers should be aware that the earliest descriptions are not necessarily the most accurate. In chaotic events of this kind, the reverse is just as often true; accurate sequences of events are only known in time. Thus the portrayals by Edward Long and Bryan Edwards can be understood as products of careful investigation, even if they also probably indulged in some retrospective myth making. Quantitative information reported by the sources must be taken as impressionistic. Numerical tallies often conflicted, highlighting the fact that uncertainty suffused the entire episode. Like words, numbers produced during the chaotic and disorienting events were the products of aspiration, fear, and rumor. For example, the military report compiled by Lt. Gov. Henry Moore and conveyed to the UK by Admiral Charles Holmes lists seventy-five rebels killed at the June 2 assault on the rebels encampment, while a resident of St. Elizabeth parish, reporting news from a man who took part in the attack, claims that the rebels had been reduced from twelve hundred to not above 400. The precise numbers here are not as relevant as the general sense of the event: They Killed them with great Slaughter & the Prisoners they took, they hanged up without ceremony or Judge or Jury, hoping to leave a Terrour on the Minds of all the other Negros for the future.[6] Summary Mapping the great Jamaican insurrection of 1760-61 allows us to see how the islands topography shaped the course of the revolt, how the rebellion included at least three major uprisings, and how its suppression required the sequenced collaboration of several distinct elements of British military power. From the cartographic evidence, it appears that the insurrection was in fact a well-planned affair that posed a genuine strategic threat, checked ultimately by an effective counterinsurgency. Yet if the map draws a clearer picture of the extent and contours of the insurrection, it cannot convey the ambition, hope, desperation, shock, dread, alarm, cruelty, bloodlust, and sheer mayhem of the experience. These are matters left to the historical imagination of viewers and readers. Notes 1 For eighteenth-century histories of the war and its aftermath see Edward Long, History of Jamaica, II (London, 1774), 447-472, quotation on 462; Bryan Edwards, History of the West Indies, II (London, 1793), 75-79. 2 Holmes to Cleveland, 11 June 1760, TNA, ADM 1/236, f. 41. 3 Map of the Island of Jamaica, 1763, TNA, CO 700/JAMAICA16; Map of the County of Cornwall, 1763, TNA, CO 700/JAMAICA17; Map of the County of Middlesex, 1763, TNA, CO 700/JAMAICA18; Map of the County of Surrey, 1763, TNA CO 700/JAMAICA19. 4 Extract of a Letter from a Gentleman at St. Mary, April 14, 1760, The Pennsylvania Gazette, June 5, 1760. 5 Holmes to Cleveland, 25 July 1760, TNA, ADM 1/236, f. 53. 6 John Hamilton to Robert Hamilton, 12 June 1760, Ayrshire Record Office, AA/DC/17/113. WARNING for European visitors European Union laws require you to give European Union visitors information about cookies used on your blog. In many cases, these laws also require you to obtain consent. As a courtesy, we have added a notice on your blog to explain Google's use of certain Blogger and Google cookies, including use of Google Analytics and AdSense cookies. Peoples Voice In its recommendation to NCERT, Shiksha Sanskriti Uthan Nyas, an RSS affiliate asks for removal of English, Urdu and Arabic words, the thoughts of Rabindranath Tagore; extracts from painter M F Husainas autobiography; references to the Mughal emperors as benevolent, to the BJP as a aHindua party., an apology tendered by former prime minister Manmohan Singhover the 1984 riots; and a sentence that anearly 2,000 Muslims were killed in Gujarat in 2002a . (25th July 2017) As such these recent recommendations to NCERT are continuation of the same agenda which is working for its goal of Hindu Rashtra. Education has been the major area of work for RSS all through. Since it has a view of Nationalism which is opposed to the concept of Indian Nationalism, it already had made lot of efforts to promote its views through Shakhas, through Sarswati Shishu Mandirs and through Ekal Schools. It has set up organizations to influence the policies in the field of education like Vidya Bharati. It has also started putting its followers in the top positions in Universities and major research institutes of the country. The previous BJP led NDA regime had already started the process of saffronisation by changing the school books and by introducing like courses like Paurohitya (priest craft) and Karmakand (rituals). The attempt to bring in their viewpoint on ancient, medieval and modern history have been intensified during last few years (from 2014) with BJP being in the seat of power. RSS leaders have been interacting with MHRD ministry to overall change the education system. One can say that the gradual changes in education and forthcoming education policy by BJP is aimed to bringing it in tune with golbalisation, privatisation along with Hindutva agenda of manuwad. The type of education aimed to be introduced aims to change the thinking pattern of the coming generations. The goal is to instill a pattern in consonance with the Brahminical norms, to promote orthodox medieval mind set and to undermine the scientific temper. Now in a recent meeting their leaders are saying that the past governments have written history and other subjects the way they wanted. It was their history. Now its time to teach genuine history and take the education system in the right direction. Their aim is to introduce aProject Bhartiyakarana in education. Already there are signs that RSS volunteers are out to change the total education system and the content of history, social science and other books. Even before BJP led NDA Government came to power, with the rise of Modi on political firmament, with the perception that he is likely to come to power, the Right wing organizations intensified their offensive against genuine scholarship. Dinanath Batra of Shiksha Bachao Abhiyan Samiti and RSS-affiliated Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas from many decades, succeeded in pressuring Penguin, the Worldas largest publisher, to pulp Wendy Donigers scholarly book aThe Hindus: An Alternate Historya. This book brings out through the interpretation of mythology the need to understand the caste and gender aspects in a sensitive manner. The history she has focused on goes against the hierarchical mind set of RSS combine and so pressure was put to pulp it. Already a set of nine books authored by Mr. Batra have been translated in to Gujarati and introduced in 42000 schools in Gujarat. This may be a trial run before doing similar things at larger scale. Union minister M Venkaiah Naidu explicitly stated as early as last year (June 23, 2013) that ait (the BJP) will change textbook syllabi, if it returns to powera . Batra wants a nationalistic education system has to be developed to address the requirements and through this we have to develop a young generation that is committed to Hindutva and nationalism. As a part of this scheme of things the Hindu mythology is looked up as a part of history. All the RSS pronouncements like Aryans were the original natives of this land are being given a higher projection. The distorted interpretation of Mohanjo Daro/Harappa being the Aryan civilisation are being presented forcefully and lot of money is being spent in the research of the river Sarswati and to prove the historicity of Ramayana and Mahabharata. These two epics Ramayana and Mahabharata are being given the status of History and attempts are being made to introduce these in the schools as part of the History curriculum. The assertions that this civilization had achieved all the peaks of development in stem cell research, aviation (Pushpak Vimana), Plastic surgery are being brought in as the part of our achievements. Similar distortions in medieval period have been made part of the curriculum. Now it is being said that the Qutub Minar was built by emperor Samudragupta and its real name was Vishnu Stambha. At another level, the battles for power between Shivaji and Afzal Khan, the battle between Akbar and Maharana Pratap, Guru Govind Singh and Aurangzeb, are being given a religious color. The syncretic traditions, the core of spirit of India, are being sidelined and sectarianism is at the forefront in this version of history. These changes have come under scholarly criticism from the professional, progressive, secular historians. Even earlier when previous NDA regime made similar changes in books, the term aSaffronisation of educationa for this presentation of history was used. Now this process is being done very blatantly. This ideological understanding of RSS, that all the kings who fought against Muslim rulers are Hindu nationalists. Itas a total distortion of understanding of history as kings did not fight for religion; their fights were for power and wealth. And kings of same religion also had running battles with each other. With present recommendations to NCERT, the agenda of Hindu nationalism is marching in a very blatant way. The ancient, medieval modern History is being given a tilt along with doing away with the scientific temper. It seems RSS is out to create not just history but a whole knowledge system running parallel to its worldview of sectarian nationalism. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. If you are currently a print subscriber but don't have an online account, select this option. You will need to use your 7 digit subscriber account number (with leading zeros) and your last name (in UPPERCASE). "Let Prisoners Learn While They Serve" | Main | US Sentencing Commission to hold public meeting to finalize policy priorities and perhaps vote on guideline amendments As reported in this Washington Post piece, "Lee Boyd Malvos six life sentences, for the six Montgomery County, Md., slayings he committed as a 17-year-old in 2002, were allowed to stand Wednesday after a Montgomery judge found that Malvo was not given mandatory life terms." Here is more about this latest ruling in a high-profile case: Malvo, now 32, could still have the sentences overturned by a federal court in Maryland, which is also considering his appeal. In Virginia, life sentences for his jury conviction in one murder case and his guilty pleas to two other murders were overturned in May by a federal judge because of the Supreme Courts ruling. Virginia is appealing the order that Malvo must be resentenced in those three cases. Malvo and John Allen Muhammad began a cross-country shooting rampage in Washington state in February 2002 and concluded with a series of 13 shootings, 10 of them fatal, in the D.C. area in October of that year. Malvo was tried first for a fatal shooting in Falls Church, Va., and a jury in Chesapeake, Va., convicted him but chose a life sentence without parole rather than a death sentence. Muhammad was tried for a slaying in Manassas, Va., and a jury in Virginia Beach convicted him and sentenced him to death. Malvo then pleaded guilty to two more slayings near Fredericksburg, Va., and received two more life sentences. Having already been convicted of three slayings in Virginia, Malvo in 2006 testified against Muhammad in his trial in Montgomery County and then pleaded guilty to six counts of first-degree murder. Montgomery Circuit Court Judge James L. Ryan then imposed six more consecutive life sentences on Malvo.... Judge Ryan has since retired. But Judge Robert A. Greenberg issued a 20-page ruling Tuesday, released publicly on Wednesday, that concluded that Judge Ryan is presumed to have known the law, and that Malvo was not facing mandatory life-without-parole sentences when he was sentenced. Clearly, Maryland employs a discretionary sentencing scheme, Greenberg wrote, noting that Ryan had a range of options from a suspended sentence to life without parole. Judge Ryan would have been well aware that a juvenile (albeit one four months from majority) ought to be beyond rehabilitation before life-without-parole could be imposed the court expressly considered Defendants youth in sentencing him. But even if Malvos sentences were mandatory, Greenberg ruled, Judge Ryan affirmatively considered all the relevant factors at play, to include extensive biographical and psychological reports on Malvo, and the plain import of his words at the time of sentencing was that Defendant is irreparably corrupted. Ryans ruling does not affect Malvos appeal of his sentences in the federal court in Maryland or his Virginia cases. Homeless mom panhandles on Market Street with newborn baby: Im not harming her in any way.https://t.co/nSmkszW1qZ via @hknightsf pic.twitter.com/2NItA9gsLe SFChronicle (@sfchronicle) July 30, 2017 Pitchforks aplenty were brought out in comment-section condemnation two weeks ago when we covered the story of a homeless mom panhandling with an infant on Market Street. But deep in the reeds of that story was the fact that the homeless mom was not technically homeless. 34-year-old Megan Doudney and her infant daughter did have a private room at the Tenderloins Hamilton Family Shelter. Certainly there is a fair semantic debate over whether someone staying at a shelter is, in fact, homeless that particular shelter offers private rooms and three square meals a day for up to six months, not as a permanent arrangement. But that debate is totally irrelevant to the demonstrable fact that many homeless moms are not actually homeless. Some are not even the mothers of the children they tote. Chronicle writer Heather Knight, who wrote the original piece that brought national attention to Doudney and her baby, follows up by speaking with several City Hall and law enforcement officers on their experience with the women who panhandle with children in tow. Former SFPD Central Station captain David Lazar told the Chronicle he often encountered panhandling moms with Need Help signs. I would say, Well, are you staying in a shelter? Nine times out of 10, they would say, Oh no. I have a home. I live in Union City or Fremont, and Im just here for the afternoon,'" Lazar said. He added that many of the children were not even the panhandlers children, but essentially borrowed kids. They have the children with them in an effort to get people to donate money or other items to them thinking theyre homeless with a child, and theyre not, he added. We should note that San Francisco Child Welfare Services will not remove children from panhandling parents. They remove children only in the case of abuse, malnourishment, or health issues panhandling with a kid does not qualify. And we should also note that there are indeed homeless youth in San Francisco, with the most recent homeless point-in-time count finding that there are 1,363 children and transitional-age youth on the streets of the city. Related: Lady Gaga Passed Out Money To Homeless People After Her SF Concert Hue told Ng Keng Hooi, Chief Executive and President of AIA Group Limited, in Hanoi on August 15 that the Vietnamese Government will work harder to raise public awareness of life insurance and issue more relevant policies to make it easier for businesses, including AIA, to participate in the local insurance market. The Deputy PM also called on AIA and other life insurance companies to diversify their products in order to meet demands of Vietnamese customers. He suggested the group join Vietnams derivatives market, saying AIA will have more changes to expand their financial investment in the country as the Vietnamese Government will employ an array of measures to restructure the financial and banking sectors and equitise State-owned enterprises. Appreciating AIAs engagement in Vietnams with tenures ranging from 20-30 years, Hue noted his hope that the group will pour more capital resources into the market. For his part, Ng Keng Hooi applauded the Vietnamese Governments efforts to improve local investment and business climate over the past years and described Vietnam as a promising market for financial investors. AIA will continue to invest in Vietnams long-term G-bonds and pay attention to life insurance in the country, he said. AIA is the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group with a presence in 18 markets across the Asia-Pacific region. The groups vision is to be the worlds pre-eminent life insurance provider and its purpose is to play a leadership role in driving economic and social development across the region. VNS SAC CITY, Iowa | A Schaller, Iowa, man was placed on probation Wednesday for growing marijuana in his home. District Associate Judge Adria Kester suspended a five-year prison sentence and placed Keegan Cross on probation for three years. Cross, 35, pleaded guilty last month in Sac County District Court to possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. Cross also must undergo a substance abuse evaluation and follow any recommendations for treatment or counseling. Cross and his mother, Glenda Turnquist, were arrested March 30 after Sac County Sheriff's deputies executed a search warrant at a home in the 500 block of Perth Street and found 80 marijuana plants, growing lamps, watering pumps, potting soil and fertilizer. Cross was accused of using his grandfather's credit card to buy supplies needed to grow the marijuana. Turnquist, 58, of Schaller, is scheduled to stand trial in September on charges of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, failure to affix a drug tax stamp and dependent adult abuse. SIOUX CITY | A day after some areas of Woodbury County saw heavy rainfall, more showers and storms continued to drop significant precipitation totals around Siouxland. Mike Gillispie, a hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls, said radar estimates on Wednesday morning showed far southeastern Woodbury County had received between 4 and 5 inches of rainfall Tuesday. Most of the county had received 1 to 2 inches, with the heavier totals south of Sioux City. Rain continued throughout the morning Wednesday, with Sioux Gateway Airport reporting an additional 2.17 inches of rain as of 2:45 p.m. As of 3 p.m., rain in Spencer, Iowa, had hit 1.28 inches, breaking the daily record of 1.05 inches set in 1946, according to the weather service. Gillispie said it remains to be seen how the past two days' precipitation will affect the drought conditions in the area, but some areas should be improving. "Looking at the river gauges, there's not a lot of rise on the river, which means it's soaking into the soils," he said. "Areas that received 2 to 4 inches of rain, they're going to see conditions improving over the next several days." After Tuesday's rainfall, Sioux City was still about 5 1/2 inches short of normal rainfall for this time of year, according to the NWS. Thursday is expected to be mostly sunny with a high near 80 degrees. Thursday's low will be 58 degrees. Friday, Saturday and Sunday will have highs in the low-to-mid 80s. SIOUX CITY | A Siouxland man sought by the U.S. Marshals Service Northern Iowa Fugitive Task Force was apprehended Tuesday evening, a day after authorities had requested information from the public on his whereabouts. The task force reports that 40-year-old Trent Booe was arrested at a house on the west side of Sioux City Tuesday evening after U.S. marshals received a tip from a local resident. He was arrested without incident and booked into Woodbury County Jail. He was being held on $7,500 bond. Booe was wanted by the Woodbury County Sheriffs Office for absence from custody. Booe failed to turn himself in as ordered by a judge to serve a jail sentence. SIOUX CITY | Woodbury County residents on Tuesday told the County Board of Supervisors that they want more oversight on where large hog lot confinements are built. As a result, the county supervisors said they will seek changes to the 1990s state rules governing Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs. Ann Hardy, of rural Anthon, said she represents several neighbors who think the enjoyment of a peaceful rural lifestyle is imperiled by stinky livestock confinements where up to 2,500 hogs are raised for food. Hardy also said she is worried about hog waste spills into the county's water supply, and wants officials to require animal feeding operations to be placed longer distances away from other residences and waterways. "We rural residents are opposed to factory farms in Woodbury County," Hardy said. Thirty people were in the audience, and the majority of speakers said they want more oversight and local control of where large animal confinements could be built. They also said they were not against rural livestock operations, but particularly those large units with corporate owners who live out of state. Larry Fillippi, of Anthon, cited three large hog units recently planned or built in the county, including one with a distant California investor. "I bet he is not smelling a pig farm," Fillippi said. Added Stephanie Semanus, of Anthon, "It is not a family farm, it is a corporation. We have to remember this when we are letting these investors in." Hardy and the others spoke four weeks after the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors said their hands were tied and unanimously approved the final plat for the CDR Swine Addition subdivision in rural Lawton, Iowa. Several members of the public who live near that pending CAFO spoke against approval of the subdivision plat at that July meeting. Hardy said she is also concerned about a large hog confinement near Jasper Avenue, east of Anthon. County Planning and Zoning Department Director John Pylelo in July said the key point is that the Zoning Commission and county supervisors recognize Iowa law does not allow people to halt rural farm businesses they may not like, so long as the addition matches the existing zoning. That message was again repeated Tuesday by Pylelo and the county supervisors. Pylelo said if people want changes, they should be speaking with Iowa lawmakers. County supervisors Jeremy Taylor, Matthew Ung and Marty Pottebaum said they would speak with legislators, while Supervisor Rocky De Witt said lawmakers would be more receptive to hearing such entreaties from rural residents rather than members of the Board of Supervisors. "There is so much more that we can do. I plan to take part in that advocacy," Taylor said, and to applause from the crowd. "We should ask our legislators if they believe in home rule," Pottebaum said. Randy Riediger said he plans to build a hog barn structure as part of the CDR Swine business near County Road D-12. Riediger had filed to create a 25-acre parcel with two lots, one of which will hold hundreds of hogs in a 102-by-159-foot structure. Riediger said before any talk with legislators ensues, the county supervisors should "go talk with the boys up in Sioux County." Riediger said Sioux County to the north is full of large livestock units that have fostered thriving communities. "Let's not over-regulate," Riediger said. Also on Tuesday, an advocacy organization pressed state environmental regulators to strengthen a program designed to add additional layers of environmental protection to large-scale animal feeding operations. Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement submitted a petition urging the states Environmental Protection Commission to strengthen Iowas master matrix program and put a moratorium on large-scale farming operations until the permit process has been reviewed. "This battle did not start today and it is not going to go away tomorrow," Kim Alexander, a farmer from Smithland, told the Woodbury County Supervisors. SIOUX CITY | Facing financial issues, Siouxland Paramedics Inc. has initiated talks with the City of Sioux City to transition the community's medical ambulance services to a "more sustainable model" by January. The discussions center on a greater involvement from the city's side, leaving the exact future of the 35-year-old ambulance services organization uncertain. Some potential scenarios include formation of a new city division to handle ambulance services or a request for proposals from private companies to take over the services. "All options are currently on the table at this point," said Karen Van De Steeg, executive director of Health Inc., the governing body of Siouxland Paramedics. Currently, Siouxland Paramedics jointly responds to emergency medical calls in Sioux City and with regional emergency medical services to provide paramedic assistance. It employs 57 people, 31 of whom are full-time employees, and serves more than 10,000 people each year. A news release issued Wednesday cited the "increasingly difficult healthcare financing environment" as the cause for the talks. Van De Steeg specified that the organization is facing a rising number of uninsured patients, declining reimbursements from Medicaid and Medicare and increased personnel costs. "It's a situation going on nationwide," she said. "Most healthcare reimbursement has been going down fairly significantly over the years. That continues to happen." Sioux City Fire Rescue Chief Tom Everett said options under evaluation include creating a new division within the city under Sioux City Fire Rescue, or sending out a request for proposals from private companies that would replace Siouxland Paramedics. He said he's not certain at this point how those scenarios would affect current Siouxland Paramedics staff. "In either situation, I think, there are some unknowns," he said. "Obviously, there is going to be change." Under a potential scenario in which the services are put under the city's umbrella, Everett said, the impact on the city's budget remains unknown. "Thats really early to talk about, and it's part of what were analyzing," he said. Siouxland Paramedics was conceived in 1982. In 2000, the City of Sioux City and North Sioux City's EMS District entered agreements to provide financial support for emergency medical ambulance services to Siouxland Paramedics. Sioux City currently owns Siouxland Paramedics' ambulances, Everett said. To figure out the best move, Siouxland Paramedics has been in discussion with Sioux City Council members, the city manager and Sioux City Fire Rescue about the transition. Everett said the city will continue looking into its options and could have information before the City Council within a few weeks. He said the longstanding partnership between Siouxland Paramedics and Sioux City Fire Rescue has worked well over the years, and his goal is to keep the current level of ambulance service intact. "The high-quality customer care system itself is good now, and we want to maintain that," he said. "With that in mind, we're looking at those options." Sioux City Fire Rescue provides paramedic-level first response emergency medical service with 32 paramedics, 24 advanced emergency medical technicians (EMTs), 54 EMTs, 113 total employees and seven fire stations. It is accredited by the Commission on Fire Accreditation International and is a Class 1 Insurance Services Organization department. WASHINGTON -- Things could go well for the Democrats in next year's midterm elections -- if they don't Bern out. President Trump is woefully unpopular, feuding with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans. The GOP can't manage to repeal Obamacare or do much of anything. Voters say they'd like Democrats to run Congress. But here come the Bernie supporters to the Republicans' rescue: They're sowing division in the Democratic Party and attempting to enact a purge of the ideologically impure -- just the sort of thing that made the Republican Party the ungovernable mess it is today. Bernie Sanders's advisers are promoting a "litmus test" under which Democrats who don't swear to implement single-payer health care would be booted from the party in primaries. Sanders pollster Ben Tulchin penned an op-ed with a colleague under the headline "Universal health care is the new litmus test for Democrats." Nina Turner, head of the Sanders group Our Revolution, told Politico that "there's something wrong with" Democrats who won't "unequivocally" embrace "Medicare-for-all." That notion -- not just taking a stand but excommunicating all who disagree -- is what Republicans have done to themselves with guns and taxes, and it would seriously diminish Democrats' hopes of retaking the House next year. At the same time, Our Revolution has stepped up its attack on the Democratic Party. Turner last week sent an email to supporters complaining that she and others attempted to deliver a petition to Democratic National Committee headquarters but "were shut out." In a follow-up interview with BuzzFeed, Turner expressed particular outrage that the DNC offered her ... donuts. "They tried to seduce us with donuts," she said, calling the gesture "pompous" and "arrogant" and "insulting." It's not just about breakfast confections. The Bernie crowd has begun accusing freshman Sen. Kamala D. Harris of California, a rising Democratic star, of being beholden to corporate money. Also in California, Kimberly Ellis, who ran for state Democratic chairman with the support of Sanders and lost in a close race to a former Hillary Clinton delegate, is refusing to concede and threatening to sue. Ellis told the New York Times that the "Democratic Party is in many ways right now where the Republican Party was when the tea party took over." And that's a good thing? Republican fratricide, instigated by tea-party purity police, made Trump possible and left the GOP unable to govern. This is what Sanders's people would emulate. Fortunately, Sanders seems to have lost clout. Candidates backed by Our Revolution have lost 31 races in 2017 and won 16, and the wins include "Portland Community College Director, Zone 5" and "South Fulton (Ga.) City Council 6." Candidates endorsed by Sanders have struggled in high-profile races. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) lost the DNC chairman race (he was appointed deputy chairman). Sanders-backed Tom Perriello lost the Democratic gubernatorial primary in Virginia, and a Sanders campaign official was blown out in a California congressional primary. Neither did the Sanders magic get the job done for Democrats in special congressional elections in Kansas, Georgia or Montana, and his candidate lost the Omaha mayoral race. Yet the attempt by the Sanders movement to impose a health-care litmus test on Democratic candidates shows their destructive potential within the party. Support for single-payer health coverage has been growing, and it would become a real possibility if Republicans sabotage Obamacare but don't help the tens of millions who would lose insurance. But to force Democrats to take some kind of single-payer purity oath would set back the cause. Democrats need to pick up 24 seats to take control of the House, yet there are only 23 Republicans in districts won by Clinton -- and only eight of those were won by President Barack Obama in 2012. There are a dozen Democrats in districts Trump won. In such swing districts, it would be suicidal to pledge support for something Republicans will brand as socialism. A Pew Research Center poll in June found that while a majority of Democrats (52 percent) favor single-payer health care, only 33 percent of the public does overall. A Kaiser Health Tracking poll in June had better results: 53 percent of the public favored single-payer coverage. But Kaiser found that opinions were "malleable." If recent trends continue, and particularly if Republicans undermine Obamacare without an adequate replacement, the time for single-payer will come, and soon. But the litmus test distracts Democrats from protecting Obamacare, diminishes their chances of retaking the House and chops up the party over something that has zero chance of becoming law under Trump. That Berns. The sweetness of nothing is something the Italians know all about when it comes to completely enjoying or savouring every day life. Here in Samoa, Dear Tourist finds newly weds, Martina and Matteo Fadda, doing just that. The Italian couple are spending their honeymoon here after being married in June. They have spent most of their time in fale-style accommodation at Lalomanu Beach where they are enjoying the simple and relaxed way of life that they had hoped to find in Samoa. We arrived three days ago and we are leaving the day after tomorrow, Martina said. We are on our honeymoon. We went to New Zealand and then we started looking around and we chose Samoa because of the culture and landscape and beaches. We just decided by looking at a map. We were at Lalomanu beach and it was amazing, fantastic. We stayed in a fale that was owned by a family that we found on the internet. This is the first Pacific Island we have been to. The people, obviously -- so friendly, so nice. Matteo shares with us that they are enjoying the change from their busy chaotic lifestyle in Italy and that its one of the many reasons why they chose to come to this part of the world. Here it is really relaxed, he said. This is why we chose this part of the world to come to. I think everyone is helping each other. We came for the people, the spirit, the ambience we prefer the fale styles -- its the best. They want to help you, they want to make you happy, its more relaxed -- the perfect holiday. The newlyweds have moved on to Return to Paradise Resort, and while they are enjoying the modern European-style facilities there, they will never forget their experience staying in a fale by the beach, even with the pesky mosquitos as house mates. When Dear Tourist asked the couple if they minded the mosquitos and being without air conditioning, Matteo shrugged, saying it was all a part of the journey and that he would still recommend it to his family and friends back in Italy. Its an experience and an adventure -- everyone should try that coming here. Anti-Racism, Social Movements August 16, 2017 CUPE Ontario and Democratic Socialists of America We Will Not Let the Virus of Hate Spread Hate crawled up from the sewers of Charlottesville, Virginia on Friday and flooded the streets with thousands of white men bearing torches and chanting unbelievable hatred. Many thought we were past such horrors, that the days of torches and pitch forks held high by angry white men screaming hate were gone for good. We might have hoped that the racist haters that still exist understand that this kind of venom just wont be tolerated by most people in our society. With Fridays rally of violent white supremacists this hope died. What happened in Charlottesville was an overt manifestation of what is experienced by millions of First Nations, Black, south Asian, Hispanic and most non-white people everyday. What is exceptional about this moment, is that there is a President in the U.S. who has been fanning the flames of racist hatred. None of us can afford to stay silent. The future of our society is at stake. And we cannot be fooled into believing this is a problem only south of the border. In Canada Too We have already seen branches of the so called Proud Boys, attack a First Nations rally in Canada. Affiliates of the white supremacists behind Charlottesville are organizing in Canada. Their propaganda has been found postered in neighbourhoods all across the country. It is true that we are living through difficult times because of increasing economic inequality. Many working people here and in the United States are losing their jobs, being forced to take low-paid and precarious work, struggling to make ends meet. It is this vulnerability that racist haters, white supremacists and neo-nazis are trying to exploit to pit us against each other. We cannot let this happen. Lets be clear, it is not racialized people that are taking jobs away from working people or responsible for the increase in part-time, temporary low-wage jobs. It is the largely white corporate elite who keep shipping jobs off shore so they can exploit other racialized workers in sweatshops. They are the ones who rake in hundreds of billions in profits while cutting jobs, privatizing the things we all own in common and refusing to pay a living wage. We must all rise together against racism and hate. It is only together that we can truly address the inequalities in our society. This statement was first published on the CUPE (Ontario) website cupe.on.ca. Statement on Nazi Violence in Charlottesville Yesterdays events in Charlottesville, Virginia are a stark reminder that we must fight for socialism or succumb to the barbarism of white supremacy. We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the white supremacist, racist, anti-Semitic terrorist attack on our comrades in the DSA, the ISO, IWW, Antifa and all others who joined forces in the streets of Charlottesville, VA yesterday. The final number remains unknown. However, latest reports suggest that at least one person has lost their life and at least 19 injured. Two DSA members were hospitalized and have since been discharged. There are reports that an ISO comrade was also injured. A comrade reportedly from the Industrial Workers of the World lost their life on the front line of the battle against fascism. In the face of growing racist, anti-Semitic, white supremacist violence, comrades from across the left came together in an incredible display of left unity. They came from many different organizations but spoke with one voice, chanting Black Lives Matter and other pro-solidarity slogans. Undaunted, they held the line and showed the fascists that they shall not pass. The day ended with the streets of Charlottesville free of Nazi scum. Build a Strong United Front We call on the left to build a strong united front against this emboldened right wing. We need to be clear and recognize that white supremacist terrorism will not simply go away if its ignored. This violent and dangerous movement should never be allowed to have a platform. It should always be fought against by the strength of our united front. It is important to acknowledge the differing responses of the police to white supremacist marches and terrorism and their reactions to Black Lives Matter protests and marches. Black Lives Matter protests are always met with the worst police brutality and suppression while white supremacist marches are allowed to freely attack counter-protesters on many occasions. In this way, we plainly see whose side the police are on. From the days of the creation of the modern day police in the 1800s, they were used as a violent force for the physical suppression of a resistant working class, of Black slaves, and indigenous people. Today, their role of social control and oppression remains largely the same. Trump delivered a meandering and at times incoherent statement Saturday afternoon. During the statement, where at one point he even talked about totally unrelated record employment, he predictably blamed all sides for the violence, as if the left has a centuries-long history of state, systemic, and societal violence against oppressed groups. This is a tired line that the right wing uses to justify its terror. Trump also spoke of the need for law and order, but we know that this is a signal for more police and vigilante terrorism against Black and Brown communities and the left. We believe that the terror unleashed on our comrades can be defeated. We also believe that the wider system of racist oppression can be defeated, but only with the ending of the capitalist system which birthed it. We encourage you to donate to help with the medical costs of comrades injured in the attack. As we mourn for the dead, we must also fight like hell for the living. DSA members across the country are turning out for solidarity actions in their communities. Get in touch with your local chapter to find ways to participate. Together, we will fight fascism and build the better world we know is possible. Solidarity forever. After the Murder in Charlottesville, We Must All Unite to Defend Ourselves and Each Other We are horrified but not surprised at the rise of political violence and murder from the alt-right and other fascist groups across the country. Todays murder was not an isolated incident, but is the latest in a string of violent attacks and murders from fascists. These include the shooting of an IWW/GDC member in Seattle, the stabbing double murder on the Portland MAX train, and the recent bombing of Dar Al Farooq mosque in Minnesota, among many others. Fascism is a deadly threat to all of us. There is no escape from the demand that we confront it. Politicians, the police, and the university will not save us. We cannot vote our way to safety. As always, police aided and protected the fascists, while permitting and assisting wholesale violence against counter-protesters. University officials refused to use campus security to protect students and others from a gang of hundreds of fascists. The General Defense Committee calls upon all people who value human life, freedom, and dignity, to enter the struggle against fascism in every way they can. Give to the fundraisers for survivors and surviving family members of todays fascist murder. Talk to your family and friends, your coworkers and neighbors, and determine a way to directly and concretely confront fascist hate wherever it appears. If you can, join your local General Defense Committee or another local antifascist group. We may be entering a new stage of struggle. We are determined to meet the challenges ahead of us. We will beat back and defeat the fascists. We must defend each other. That means all of us. An injury to one is an injury to all! This Is the Time to Unite and Fight Far-Right Terror The mask has been ripped off the supposedly new alt-right movement to reveal the familiar and horrifying face of fascism that most people thought was a relic of history. Last weekends Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, wasnt about some fake defense of free speech, but championing a Confederate statue. It welcomed open Nazis into its ranks, who roamed the streets looking for people to assault and ultimately committed a vehicle-terror attack against a crowd of peaceful protesters, killing 32-year-old local activist Heather Heyer and injuring several dozen others, many seriously. The outraged response to Nazi terror in Charlottesville was immediate and powerful, with protests and vigils in hundreds of cities and denunciations of the violent racists coming from everywhere. Everywhere but Donald Trumps White House, that is. This is a decisive moment. Will the overt displays of racism return the extreme right-wing to the margins of politics, or will they serve to normalize the movement, allowing it to weave itself deeper into the national conversation? asked the New York Times . The answer depends on what the millions of people who despise Donald Trump and want to stand against him and the right do in the coming weeks and months. Now is the time to overcome the fear that the fascists want us to feel and organize demonstrations with overwhelming numbers to stop this cancer now, before it can grow into something far more threatening. That means organizing broad protests open to everyone affected by this threat which is just about everyone to prove the far right is a tiny minority. After the sickening violence of the storm troopers in Charlottesville, we know that the far right isnt looking to gain power through winning votes, and they dont care about approval ratings. We cant defeat them by following the liberal advice to just ignore them. If we dont stop the far right today, they will stop us from organizing tomorrow its that simple. This isnt a battle that we chose, but its one we have to win. Lets also be clear that we cant rely on the police to protect us from fascists or on the government to deny them permits. Its up to all of us to defend our communities and our movements from the right. If were successful, Charlottesville could be remembered as a turning point, not only in our fight against the right, but in our ability to organize for our own demands. A United Fight to Confront and Defeat Fascism The International Socialist Organization is wholly committed to this urgent struggle, and we join with the call that has come from so many organizations and individuals since Charlottesville: for a united fight to confront and defeat fascism. There will be flash points in the coming weeks, from Boston to Berkeley, but this fight needs to be taken into every city and town, into every community, onto every campus, and into every workplace. We appeal to all our supporters and the whole left to take this stand: Now is the time to unite and fight. The most horrifying incident from Charlottesville last weekend was, of course, neo-Nazi James Fields terror attack, in which the Vanguard America member plowed his car into a contingent of marchers that included members of the International Socialist Organization, Democratic Socialists of America and Industrial Workers of the World, among others. But the project of fascism is a lot larger than solitary terror strikes. They want to build an organization of disciplined thugs to systematically brutalize and intimidate the oppressed a program that, as history shows, inevitably involves murder. In this instance, it was James Fields who was the killer. But the Nazis and far-right peacekeepers who came heavily armed to Charlottesville were prepared to inflict violence on people of color, Jews and the left. They are more than willing to kill individuals in order to pave the way for their real aim mass murder and genocide. The real face of fascism was apparent throughout the weekend in Charlottesville: Hundreds of torch-wielding men, chanting Blood and soil! and assaulting counter-protesters; groups roaming the streets with weapons and shields, looking out especially for people of color like 20-year-old Deandre Harris to brutalize. As ProPublica reporter A.C. Thompson wrote, the far right in Charlottesville: exhibited unprecedented organization and tactical savvy. Hundreds of racist activists converged on a park on Friday night, striding through the darkness in groups of five to 20 people. A handful of leaders with headsets and handheld radios gave orders as a pickup truck full of torches pulled up nearby. Within minutes, their numbers had swelled well into the hundreds. They quickly and efficiently formed a lengthy procession and begun marching, torches alight, through the campus of the University of Virginia. The fascists in Charlottesville were confident. One smug little Nazi named Sean Patrick Nielsen bragged to the Washington Post , Im here because our republican values are, number one, standing up for local white identity, our identity is under threat, number two, free market, and number three, killing Jews. All of which made Donald Trumps initial statement condemning violence on many sides all the more sickening to millions of people and a cause for celebration for the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer website. This is another warning sign of the dangers of the current moment with a Trump administration infested with far-right racists, from alt-right promoter Steve Bannon to Euro-fascist ally Sebastian Gorka to Confederacy enthusiast Jeff Sessions. We shouldnt have any illusions: The toxic combination of a far right that spans the range from open Nazis to people with access to key White House personnel produced the biggest show of force for American fascism in generations in Charlottesville. Solidary Demonstrations Our side has a powerful potential weapon to use against this growing threat: overwhelming numbers. The events of Charlottesville not only the terror attack, but the Nazi flags, the torch-wielding march and the thuggish violence horrified the vast majority of U.S. society. From Saturday night through Monday, solidarity demonstrations were called in more than 400 cities across the country an explosion of protest that recalled the days after Trumps election last November. Jason Kessler, the Charlottesville resident who initially called the Unite the Right rally, was chased from his own press conference by furious local residents. Statements poured in from across the country condemning white supremacy, domestic terrorism and Trumps weak response. The corporate media suddenly stopped referring to Richard Spencer and his pals as alt-right and called them the more accurate white supremacists. Dozens of Republicans in Congress, who made their careers out of pandering to racism and reaction, rushed to condemn the Nazis and distance themselves from Trump who was finally forced on Monday to explicitly condemn white supremacists. Even then, though, it should be noted that Trumps response to Charlottesville is to call for more law and order a racist buzzword that means giving police and immigration authorities more unchecked power to detain and brutalize people of color. The forces of law and order were all over the streets of Charlottesville and they stood by as the orgy of right-wing violence took place. Instead of appealing to the government to defend us, we have to build mass protests to defend ourselves and one another. The strategy of relying on small groups of anti-fascists to fight on behalf of the oppressed was shown to be insufficient in Charlottesville by the bigots large mobilization. This is the moment to build united fronts with as many organizations as possible to confront the right not only left-wing groups, but unions and civil rights organizations, down to every possible club on campuses. In Portland, Oregon, this type of coalition brought out more than 1,000 people in June to confront hate groups that celebrated the racist murders of Ricky John Best and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche. We need more of this kind of organizing in the coming weeks when the far right descends on Boston on August 19, and throughout the school year as fascists like Richard Spencer attempt a provocative tour of campuses. The Movement for Black Lives has called a national day of action for August 19. On August 27, the far right is planning an all-out mobilization in Berkeley, California, for a No to a Marxist America rally, where they will try to repeat their racist rampages of last spring. But anti-fascists have been preparing for weeks to send the message that we will not retreat in the face of their violence and hate. Fighting Back Against Racist Terror Amid the many condemnations of the far right in Charlottesville, there has been one distinctly false note coming from many political leaders: that these fascists are somehow un-American. Violent racism has deep roots in this country, and terrorism in defense of the rights twisted ideals is as American as white sheets and a swinging rope. But fighting back against racist terror is also very much a part of U.S. history. Those who tell us to ignore the racists and theyll go away are either ignorant of that or they dont want us to build movements against the far right because they instinctively sense that our movements wont stop there. This is the time to learn the history of previous generations who fought the KKK and the courageous struggle against fascism in Europe. And its time to come together in action to give ourselves the courage to confront the forces that want us to stay home. Just as weve taken strength from the bravery shown by the residents of Ferguson, Missouri, we can take strength from the words of Heather Heyers mother about her daughter: She would never back down from what she believed in. And thats what she died doing, she died fighting for what she believed in. The threat of the right is growing, but it has to be faced and overcome in order to fight for any of our demands. One organizer in Columbus, Ohio, gave voice to the instinct for solidarity and struggle that has been felt around the country since Charlottesville: When we started planning the Columbus airport protest [against Trumps Muslim travel ban] in January, several right-wingers and Islamophobic scum started posting graphic photos of animals and people being run over by cars. Their aim was clear: to bully and threaten, and make people scared to come out. For several hours late at night, we just kept taking those photos down. Hundreds and hundreds of people showed up anyway to fight the ban. We kept a look out for errant cars, but they didnt show up. And so we became part of the historic airport actions that beat back the first version of the Muslim ban. These fascists will try to silence us, they will try to intimidate us, they will try to make us feel afraid. But we are many, they are few. WASHINGTON (August 16, 2017)The U.S. Department of Defense recently announced the following contract awards that pertain to local Navy activities., is being awardedfor modification P0083 to a previously awarded fixed-price-incentive-firm contract (N00019-15-C-0114) for recurring logistics services of F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter in support of the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, non-Department of Defense (DoD) participants, and foreign military sales (FMS) customers. Support includes material for depot stand-up and activation, canopy systems and avionics subsystems. Work will be performed in Fort Worth, Texas, and is expected to be completed in August 2019. Fiscal 2015 aircraft procurement (Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps); non-DoD participant, and FMS funds in the amount of $24,112,000 will be obligated at time of award, $19,735,811 of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract combines purchases for the Air Force ($10,854,795; 45 percent); Marine Corps ($5,866,310; 24 percent); non-DoD participants ($3,267,207; 14 percent); Navy ($3,014,706; 13 percent); and FMS customers ($1,108,982; 4 percent), under the Foreign Military Sales program. The, is the contracting activity., is being awardedfor firm-fixed-price order N00019F0235 against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-17-G-0001) for the procurement of six ScanEagle unmanned aircraft systems, related support equipment, training, site activation, technical services, and data for the government of the Philippines. Work will be performed in Bingen, Washington, (70 percent); and Hood River, Oregon (30 percent), and is expected to be completed in July 2019. Foreign military sales funds in the amount of $7,407,625 are being obligated at the time of the award, none of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. The, is the contracting activity. CSM Math Professor Dr. Stephanie McCaslin speaks at a Women in STEM event held at CSM's La Plata Campus. McCaslin will be a featured speaker about the math related to a total eclipse at an eclipse festival in Broken Bow, Nebraska, on Aug. 21. LA PLATA, Md. (August 16, 2017)CSM Math Professor Dr. Stephanie McCaslin missed the last total eclipse of the sun visible to the United States, which took place in 1979. But McCaslin has a starring role in the upcoming eclipse August 21. "I am incredibly excited," she said."I was 4 and living in the Southwest," McCaslin said of the last eclipse. "We were out of the path of totality [the 70-mile-wide area where the sun is completely blocked out by the moon], and it was a cloudy day. So, I've never seen a total eclipse."Making up for that disappointment, McCaslin is excited to be participating in the Aug. 21 eclipse as part of a four-day event in Broken Bow, Nebraska, which is within the path of totality. McCaslin, at the invitation of the city and Custer County Development in Nebraska will be presenting on the mathematics of eclipses following days of events like a chicken-wing eating contest, live music concerts, a street dance and barrel racing that will make up the Broken Bow NeClipse 2017 festival.McCaslin is featured in the festival schedule to present "The Math of It All" at Broken Bow's scenic byway barn on the day of the eclipse, first at 10:30 a.m. (CT) for a safety briefing and then at 2 p.m. (CT) for the math talk."There's math everywhere, but especially in any astronomy," McCaslin said. "I'll be talking about the statistical frequencies, the probabilities and geometry. As a mathematician, I love to play with numbers, and I love that the slight tilt of the moon's orbit, combined with its elliptical shape, and the ratio of the size of the moon compared to the distance of the earth from the sun create the perfect circumstances for an eclipse like this one to occur."The town of Broken Bow will be filming both McCaslin's talk and the eclipse, and have offered to connect with CSM to live stream both. The live stream will feature three locations: Carhenge, an art piece in western Nebraska where a replica of Stonehenge has been created using junked cars; Broken Bow, where McCaslin will be speaking; and Nebraska City, where Bill Nye the Science Guy will be speaking."I've always been fascinated with space and read astrophysics texts for fun," she said. "I'm also feeling incredibly fortunate to have been asked to participate in this event. It's a huge honor."From what I understand, a total solar eclipse is life-changing," McCaslin said. "It is a magical moment. The temperature will drop up to 20 degrees, I will be able to look directly at the sun during totality (not something that is safe to do otherwise) and see the cornea of the sun, the glow of the sun's power behind the black void of the moon. Other spectacular parts of the eclipse that are only visible during a total eclipse are the Bailey's beads, which are beads of light that are caused by the hills and valleys of the moon's surface. A total solar eclipse is magnificent, in that everyone will stop, and we will collectively be looking up at the heavens together, a true community of observers."McCaslin's roots are in Nebraska. Both of her parents are from a small community in central Nebraska, and they currently live in Custer County. Her father served in the U.S. Air Force when McCaslin was growing up, so the family moved frequently and was never stationed in their home state."Even though I've never lived in Nebraska, I've been adopted as an honorary Nebraskan," she said. One way she has demonstrated that connection is, for the last 10 years or so, she has worked with communities across central Nebraska to honor their military veterans. She has hosted two to three of these groups a year to Washington, D.C., and acted as their tour guide, showing them the monuments, contacting their representatives and more.A Southern Maryland resident, McCaslin has been employed at CSM since 1996, serving as an adjunct instructor from 2000-2006 and a full-time professor in the Math, Physics, and Engineering department since 2006. With a doctorate in mathematics education, her specialty is teaching math methods courses to CSM's education majors. She has also been involved with the college's annual Women + STEM efforts over the past years to introduce and inspire young women in math-related careers.While McCaslin will experience the total eclipse in Nebraska on Aug. 21, a partial eclipse will be visible in all of the United States. Southern Maryland will experience close to an 80 percent eclipse, where the moon will cover 80 percent of the sun.NASA warns against looking directly at the sun without appropriate protection during the eclipse. That could severely hurt your eyes. For details on how to safely view the eclipse, visit eclipse2017.nasa.gov/ The livestream of McCaslin's presentation and the eclipse is available at ncnsportsnow.com/ , with coverage beginning at 10 a.m. (EST). To learn more about CSM's programs and faculty, visit www.csmd.edu. ST. MARY'S CITY, Md. (August 15, 2017)Katharina von Kellenbach, professor of religious studies and her colleague Matthias Buschmeier (German literature, University of Bielefeld) were awarded a prestigious grant for over 500,000 (about $600,000) by the Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZIF) at the University of Bielefeld for the 2018-2019 academic year. She and Dr. Buschmeier will lead 15 scholars from different continents representing the disciplines of anthropology, art, classics, law, medieval studies, philosophy, psychology, religious studies, and sociology to examine the idea of guilt as an enduring and generative force in the aftermath of violent conflicts. Titled "Felix Culpa? Guilt as a Culturally Productive Force," the research group will be in residence at the ZIF in Bielefeld to exchange theoretical perspectives on the notion of 'productive guilt' and to pursue individual projects examining a variety of topics ranging from white guilt in the United States to the Turkish denial of the Armenian genocide, from religious healing rituals in Mozambique to the reception of Syrian refugees in Germany as negotiation of different kinds of guilt. The project closely examines the intersections of violence, shame, and guilt to ask how guilt consolidates social orders in the cultural production of jurisprudence, art, literature, and religion. Each scholar pursues their own research project while engaging in collaborative discussion across disciplines and different religious, cultural, and linguistic contexts to explore the wealth of symbolic representations and discourses of guilt. UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (August 16, 2017)The Homicide Unit of the Prince George's County Police Dept. is investigating a domestic-related murder/suicide in Upper Marlboro. The victim is 54-year-old Bernard Williams of Miller Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. The suspect is 53-year-old Kiwa Toomer of the 14000 block of New Arcadia Lane. The victim and suspect were in a relationship.On August 15th, at about 7:45 pm, officers were called to the suspect's apartment for a welfare check. When the officers arrived, they found the victim suffering from a gunshot wound. Toomer was discovered with what appears to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Both Williams and Toomer were pronounced dead on the scene.Detectives are working to establish a motive in this case.Anyone with information is asked to call the Prince George's County Police Department's Homicide Unit at (301) 772-4925. Callers wishing to remain anonymous may call Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477), text "PGPD plus your message" to CRIMES (274637) on your cell phone or go to www.pgcrimesolvers.com and submit a tip online. PRINCE FREDERICK, Md. Disclaimer: In the U.S.A., all persons accused of a crime by the State are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. See: so.md/presumed-innocence. Additionally, all of the information provided above is solely from the perspective of the respective law enforcement agency and does not provide any direct input from the accused or persons otherwise mentioned. You can find additional information about the case by searching the Maryland Judiciary Case Search Database using the accused's name and date of birth. The database is online at so.md/mdcasesearch . Persons named who have been found innocent or not guilty of all charges in the respective case, and/or have had the case ordered expunged by the court can have their name, age, and city redacted by following the process defined at so.md/expungeme. (August 16, 2017)The Calvert County Sheriff's Office today released the following incident and arrest reports.WEEKLY SUMMARY: During the week of August 7August 13, deputies responded to 1,284 calls for service throughout the community.DAMAGE PROPERTY 17-42687: On August 10, Sergeant M. Naecker responded to the Walnut Creek subdivision for a report of damage property. The complainant located a mailbox that had been removed from the ground and a street light that had been damaged. A stop sign in the area was also removed from the ground. No suspects in the case. Approximate damage is $500.THEFT 17-42366: On August 8, Deputy First Class Weems responded to Bay Drive, Lusby for a theft complaint. The victim stated that 4 landscaping pavers had been removed from their landscaped wall. There are no suspects in the case. The value is $250.THEFT 17-43150: On August 12, Deputy First Class Hardesty responded to Maple Way, Lusby for a theft complaint. The victim stated that sometime between August 11thAugust 12th someone removed the front tag from their vehicle. The value is $25.THEFT 17-43123: On August 12, Deputy Williamson responded to Lyons Creek Rd., Dunkirk for a theft complaint. The victim reported a lion statue was stolen from the end of their driveway. The theft occurred sometime between August 10thAugust 12th. The value is $500.Arrests:8/10/2017William Brown, Jr., 59, of Huntingtown, Indecent Exposure and Trespassing.8/10/2017Barry Quigley, 51, of Pasadena, CDS Possession Marijuana 10+ grams, Possession of Paraphernalia.8/12/2017Joseph Young, Jr., 27, of Leonardtown, Disorderly Conduct.8/13/2017Rashaun Peebles, 39, of Prince Frederick, Theft less than $100. BALTIMORE, Md. (August 16, 2017)The Maryland Board of Public Works approved more than $6.9 million in grants and loans for four projects today to reduce pollution, improve drinking water quality and save energy and money state-wide. Two of the four projects are based in southern Maryland: St. Clement Shores Water System Replacement Phase I projectSt. Mary's County A $3,368,474 Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund loan to the St. Mary's County Metropolitan Commission will fund the St. Clement Shores Water System Replacement Phase I project. The project includes the design and construction of waterlines, valves and fire hydrants to replace the existing aging and deteriorated water distribution system. Piney Point Water System Replacement projectSt. Mary's County A $2,491,768 Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund loan to the St. Mary's County Metropolitan Commission will fund the Piney Point Water System Replacement project. The project includes the design and construction of waterlines, valves, fire hydrants, and all necessary appurtenances to replace the existing aging and deteriorated water distribution system. The Board is composed of Governor Larry Hogan, Treasurer Nancy K. Kopp and Comptroller Peter Franchot. Jerrome Leon Martin, Jr., 36, of White Plains Johnathan Pugh, 18, of Bryans Road Kemonte Fleet, 18, of La Plata Kevin Levelle Holloway, 49, of Suitland Previous Next LA PLATA, Md. Disclaimer: In the U.S.A., all persons accused of a crime by the State are presumed to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. See: so.md/presumed-innocence. Additionally, all of the information provided above is solely from the perspective of the respective law enforcement agency and does not provide any direct input from the accused or persons otherwise mentioned. You can find additional information about the case by searching the Maryland Judiciary Case Search Database using the accused's name and date of birth. The database is online at so.md/mdcasesearch . Persons named who have been found innocent or not guilty of all charges in the respective case, and/or have had the case ordered expunged by the court can have their name, age, and city redacted by following the process defined at so.md/expungeme. (August 16, 2017)The Charles County Sheriff's Office today released the following incident and arrest reports.THEFT OF RIMS: Between August 13August 14, unknown suspect(s) stole rims and wheels from two cars parked at a car rental business in the 2200 block of Crain Highway in Waldorf. Pfc. R. Gass is investigating.RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT: On August 13 at 10:36 p.m., officers responded to the 7300 block of Tottenham Drive in Waldorf for the report of gunshots. Officers located a car matching the description of the suspect vehicle. A traffic stop was initiated, and officers observed a handgun in the car., was charged with reckless endangerment and carrying a handgun illegally. Pfc. K. Barry investigated.OFFICERS IDENTIFY SUSPECTS IN MULTIPLE THEFTS FROM AUTOS: Recently, a large number of thefts from motor vehicles occurred in the La Plata area. A joint investigation between the La Plata Police Department and the CCSO resulted in the arrests of several suspects. Search and seizure warrants were served, and evidence linking the suspects to the crimes was recovered.were arrested and charged with multiple counts of theft. The investigation is ongoing, and anyone with additional information should contact Sgt. G. Draheim at (301) 609-6451.SUSPECT IN WHEEL THEFT APPREHENDED: On August 8 at 11:08 p.m., officers responded to the rear of the 7-11 located at 2850 Crain Highway in Waldorf for the report of the theft of rims from a motor vehicle. The caller reported seeing a male wearing dark clothing stealing rims from a vehicle parked behind the store. The caller advised the suspect vehicle was a tan Lexus. Officers arrived and observed the male placing tires in the back of the Lexus., was arrested and charged with theft. Pfc. S. Cook investigated.SUSPECT IN MULTIPLE THEFTS IDENTIFIED AND CHARGED: Over the last few months, multiple thefts and vandalisms resulting in significant loss and damage occurred at construction sites in Waldorf. Through investigation, detectives identified and arrested, in connection with the thefts. Pfc. A. Bringley is investigating. HOLLYWOOD, Md. It's August. The Dog Days of Summer. According to Wikipedia, it's the hottest time of the year, a time that among other things, makes "dogs mad." Surely, it's not a time for dogs, or humans for that matter, to be out in the sun for long periods of time. Yet that is the fate of many dogs who are tied up 24/7, hidden from view in the backyards of Southern Maryland.This is a story about a group of those dogs who have been dubbed the Mill Bridge Dogs. They live outside 24/7 (in the Dog Days of Summer and the dead of winter) at two homes along Mill Bridge Roada rural road on the west side of Routes 2/4 in Lusby. Those dogs have recently become the center of a controversy between neighbors and animal advocates, and Calvert County and its Animal Control (AC) agency.The controversy has been brewing for almost three years. In 2014, Jackie Miesner, a neighbor of the two houses on Mill Bridge Road, complained to AC about the conditions of the dogs living there. Meisner contends, as do a number of representatives of animal welfare organizations in the county, that's there's a breeding operation going on at the two houses, with dogs being interchanged between the two, with dogs from one being bred to dogs from the other.In December of 2014, Meisner elicited the aid of Ellen McCormick Ament, president of Southern Maryland Spay and Neuter, Inc.a non-profit organization that operates the Stop Pet Overpopulation Thrift shop (SPOT) in St. Leonard. Ament, who is a humane officer, said Meisner told her about "dogs tied up outside with lousy shelter and underweight and (with) overly heavy chains."Ament also complained to AC officers, who told her everything was alright there. Ament's organization, which provides low-cost spay/neuter services from the proceeds of the thrift shop, supplied the dogs' owners with "dogloos, pads and dog food to get the dogs through the winter." Ament said she brought food three more times and was told "not to come back."Miesner, who passes by the two houses every day, kept observing dogs outside in all types of weather. Also, a relative of hers was friendly with someone living in one of the houses and brought reports back to her about what was going on there. What was reported to her was that there was a pit bull breeding operation there.In 2016, Miesner purchased a pit bull puppy from one of the litters and the dog became her loyal pet. She kept reporting what she saw to AC. This spring she observed what she felt were continuing conditions which she felt constituted cruelty to the animals. She and Calvert County Animal Control Supervisor Craig Dichter began a series of back and forth emails on the situation.On March 24, she wrote to Dichter: "My only concern is these dogs. These people have no heart. I see it every day." Miesner's daughter also complained. Miesner wrote on March 29: "We are both very passionate about animals, one because they are defenseless (and. they are) ignorant people and two, no animal should suffer because of their owner's selfishness and senseless care of these animals."Dichter responded on March 29, "All I can tell you is the officer is still actively checking on this case. As soon as I can provide more information, I will. As for what the animal needs I can only enforce the law. If they decide to surrender the animals to us, then we will take them to the shelter as I can't give them to you." Miesner had offered to take them. Dichter then concluded, "The hard part of his job is that we have to keep personal and professional opinions separate."Calvert County Animal Control regulations do give the county authority to seize animals in an alleged animal cruelty case.Miesner met with the County Times on July 21 along with representatives of a group called Calvert County Pet Coalition, which is made up of members of SPOT, Calvert County Humane Society, Calvert Animal Welfare League, Patuxent Animal Welfare Society and Friends of Felines. All except the cat organization had representatives at the meeting.The humane representatives told the County Times that the occupants of the two homes were shuttling dogs in and out to thwart AC directives. They would be told to get veterinary care for a dog and when the officers returned, the dog would be gone, the pet coalition representatives said.Ament was contacted by Miesner again in March of this year. Ament said Miesner reported two very thin female dogs and pups being sold on Instagram. Ament also complained to AC.The occupant of one of the houses not only posted the puppy pictures on Instagram on March 3 but also the following text: "Got a master plan going right now. Another litter drop tonight or tomorrow."Ament brought the situation to the coalition, which asked AC to investigate. Dichter then met with the group in May and according to Ament told them, "he took a picture of a mother dog to a veterinarian and that the vet said the dog was 15 pounds under weight. Said AC is working with the owners to rectify the problem."Ament on July 10 went on the property to deliver four bags of dog food. What she saw, she said, included "emaciated dogs with fly eaten ears, two pups at large, one listless and weak, one active, pitiful shelters, and empty water bowls (noon in the summer). I take pictures but owner runs me off the property."Ament supplied the pictures to Miesner, who posted them on Facebook. She also immediately supplied them to AC.County Commissioner Mike Hart visited the homes after the pictures hit Facebook. He was not allowed into the back yards, but a dog was brought out to him and he reported on Facebook that it looked like the dog's ears were healing and the owner insisted the dog was getting veterinary care. Miesner contends that Hart was duped, that he was shown a different dog. A call to Hart for comment was not returned.This is a critical time for Calvert County Animal Control. Up until July 1 they were under the supervision of the sheriff's office. With the county reorganization, on July 1 the function came under the supervision of the Office of Public Safety whose director is Jacquelyn Vaughn.Dichter and Vaughn talked to the County Times by phone on July 26. Angela Small and Mark Volland from the county's Public Information Office were also on the conference call. During the call, Dichter insisted that there is no breeding operation going on at Mill Bridge Road. He said he knew of only one litter being produced there, and that didn't constitute breeding.County Animal Control regulations require a special license for breeders.Miesner points out the Instagram assertion of an additional litter and the fact that she personally purchased a pup from another litter last year as evidence of more than one litter. She said she knows a woman who used to live close enough to be able to observe what was going on at the two houses, and that she personally observed one female having three separate litters. Miesner believes there have been eight litters produced at the homes since 2014.Dichter insists that the investigation into what is going on at Mill Bridge Road is ongoing. Small said the county attorney had advised them not to talk to the County Times, but they felt since the pictures were out on Facebook they should reply.Vaughn asked for patience, considering she only has had responsibility for the operation since July 1. She said the AC officers have acted on cases that the public is not aware of. Small later in the week supplied statistics that showed 84 citations issued in calendar year 2016 and 57 warnings issued.She also reported: "Animal Control officers have visited the site on Mill Bridge Road numerous times to monitor care of the dogs." She added, "Animal Control officers have confirmed the animals are receiving proper care. There were no signs that the conditions of the animals required additional veterinary care."Miesner and Ament are incredulous and are pondering additional options. "They should not be allowed to have any more puppies," Miesner said. The animal advocates wonder why anyone is breeding pit bulls, considering the large number now in shelters.Meanwhile, Small during the conference call offered the County Times a ride-along at any time with AC. When the County Times asked to be able to ride along during the next visit to Mill Bridge Road, she responded: "Due to the sensitive nature of this open case, no ride-along participant will be invited to respond to the Mill Bridge Road residence with Animal Control Officers." In a year of changes for Poverello, one traditional event endures. People came to Sawgrass Lanes on Saturday afternoon for many different reasons. Brianna Finnk and Jasmin Henry were bowling on the National Voices for Equality, Education and Enlightenment (NVEEE) team. The teenagers were far from bowling professionals but said they were having a good time nevertheless. The last time I went bowling, I think I scored like an 18 in total, Im very uncoordinated, Finnk said. I just want to support the community and anything I can do to help others Id like to. Henry is a rising junior at West Broward High School. Before coming to Sawgrass Lanes, Henry said she was not aware of Poverellos role in the community, but had participated in Relay for Life events and understood the importance of helping those in need. NVEEE is an anti-bullying and teen suicide prevention organization. I like helping people, said Henry, 16, a Pembroke Pines resident. I really like expressing myself in the arts and I feel I can help someone in the future through dance. While the teams bowled, Nicole Halliwell, a local drag queen announced prize winners from raffle tickets and silent auction items. Attendance and donations were down from last year, said Kevin Clevenger, Poverello Events Coordinator. I had to give away lanes this year, Clevenger said. Thomas S. Pietrogallo, Poverello Chief Operations Officer, estimated when the dust settled on this years Bowling to Fight Hunger the organization would clear a net gain of $40,000. When the event launched 27 years ago, bowling to raise money for HIV/AIDS care was unique. Now that pool contains several agencies. Bowling is now a fundraising vehicle for other local organizations such as the Pet Project and SMART Ride. Poverellos event was held in Tamarac, 12 miles west of its headquarters in Wilton Manors. Pietrogallo said the bowling event is Poverellos second biggest fundraiser behind the Florida AIDS Walk. I think there will always be a place for events like this one, Pietrogallo said. Theres a reason so many people have tried to duplicate our success. People enjoy meeting together within our community. What makes it so special is that events like these are the relationships, reconnecting with old friends and making new ones. This has been a memorable year for Poverello, which lost its founder Father Bill Collins, who died in May at the age of 86. Collins launched Poverello by giving away food out of the trunk of his car. Thirty years later Poverello has expanded its mission to provide life-saving meals to not only people living with HIV/AIDS but those suffering from chronic illnesses such as cancer and/or cardiac and kidney conditions. Im a cancer survivor, Ronny Nadiv said. I believe in Poverellos cause of helping those in need and Im proud to be here. Nadiv is the director of membership for the Greater Fort Lauderdale Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. He said his team was an example of the business communitys support for Poverellos mission. In addition to food, Poverello also provides a thrift store, gym and massage and acupuncture services. Bowling alley meetings are a great way to unwind, Pietrogallo noted. Corporate teams get to play together and enjoy their relationships outside of work, Pietrogallo said. A contract between Broward County Public Schools and Celebration Church Fort Lauderdale has some members of the LGBT community accusing school officials of sheltering bigotry. The school system has entered into a three-year contract with Celebration. In exchange for allowing Celebration to use Fort Lauderdale High School for worship services on Sundays, the church will install a $251,000 sound system at the school which will remain after the contract expires. But local LGBT residents and activists are saying the contract should be rescinded because of Celebrations viewpoints on homosexuality and transgender issues. Increased traffic and noise problems were also concerns. Dave Mills, a gay Wilton Manors resident, said he was dismayed. It appears to me, Commissioner, the School Board has sold out sexual minorities for the sake of some media equipment, wrote Mills in an email to School Board Member Heather P. Brinkworth. Tell me, Commissioner, how much is the well-being of a trans kid or staffer worth to you? $251,000? Will we also be seeing an increase in harassment of LGBT kids and employees? Will they demand teaching of 'Biblical' Creationism? Will they demand the School Board reject informative sexual education in favor of 'abstinence-only'? On its website, celebration.org, the church advocates that marriage should only be between one man and one woman and that God wonderfully and immutably creates each person as male or female. These two distinct, complementary genders together reflect the image and nature of God. Rejection of ones biological sex is a rejection of the image of God within that person. The church also writes that We believe that every person must be afforded compassion, love, kindness, respect, and dignity. Hateful and harassing behavior or attitudes directed toward any individual are to be repudiated and are not in accord with Scripture nor the doctrines of Celebration Church. Some of those against the churchs contract say that although Celebration may not look like well-known anti-gay bigots such as Pat Robertson and Focus on the Family, the message is essentially the same. This community will not allow bigotry, said Fort Lauderdale Commissioner Dean Trantalis, who remembers a time when real estate deeds could specifically spell-out restrictions against gays, lesbians, blacks, Jews and other minority groups owning homes. We have, for too long, suffered discrimination. Its important to stand up. Without that, we wouldnt be here. Trantalis was one of at least two dozen people who packed Warsaw Coffee in Fort Lauderdale on Aug. 14 during a meeting of the Middle River Terrace Neighborhood Association. He was joined by Brinkworth, activists, residents, community leaders, and the pastor of Celebration, Layton Germann and his wife, Hannah. At times, passions ran high but Colleen Lockwood, president of the Middle River Terrace Neighborhood Association, asked everyone to remain civil. I think its important the contract be rescinded, said Steve Glassman. Barbara Myrick, legal counsel for Broward County Public Schools, said the school district cant discriminate against Celebration because of its moral beliefs. By law, there will be no reconsideration [of the contract]. We have to accept everyone has freedom of speech. She also cited the case in 2000 where the Boy Scouts of America sued the school system after the youth organization was banned from using school facilities because of its policy against allowing openly-gay leaders to join its ranks. We were taken to court and we lost, said Myrick. She added that the church is only legally guilty of discrimination if it stops someone from attending a service because of who they are, not just because of the language on its website. If it did discriminate, she said, that would be in violation of its contract and that would be cause for termination. Go ahead and learn from this, said one man. Brinkworth said the only way to keep controversial groups from renting school facilities in the future is to change the policy and stop rentals completely. If we rent to one person, we have to rent to everyone. Activist Michael Rajner addressed Pastor Germann directly and asked him to keep in mind how the churchs rhetoric makes LGBT individuals feel. He also asked how someone who is gay or transgender is supposed to feel welcome if the church has spoken out against our mere existence. Germann responded, saying that he heard the thoughts, concerns, and fears expressed and was not in favor of discirimation. We are not for that. He asked those in attendance to give his congregation time to prove we can be a good neighbor . . . show you who we are. As for the wesbite, Germann said the controversial language may be removed. Check out the latest news from around the world! Lawmaker: Florida Governor's Office Broke Promise to LGBTQs (AP) When 49 people were killed at a gay nightclub in Florida in 2016, Gov. Rick Scott publicly offered his sympathy to the victims' families and the LGBT community. "These are individuals. Let's love every one of them," he said then. Behind the scenes, gay rights advocates say his staffers went a step further, promising to pursue an executive order prohibiting discrimination against LGBTQ state workers and contractors. More than a year later, no such order has been issued. The advocates believe the order has become even more important in the past couple of weeks as the U.S. Justice Department, under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, filed court papers in a New York case saying that sexual orientation is not covered by Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The law bans workplace discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, however, enforces the law against private employers and says sexual orientation is covered. The Republican governor wouldn't talk about the alleged commitment his staff made when asked by an Associated Press reporter on Tuesday. But he said federal guidelines protect the gay community and the state follows them. State Rep. Carlos Smith, a gay Democrat, accused Scott of using the nightclub shooting to his political advantage. "Many political leaders used the tragedy at Pulse to leverage their own political careers and to make promises to our community that they could have delivered on but they did not," Smith said at a recent forum for Orlando's gay and Latino communities. Challenge Filed in Court to Australian Gay Marriage Ballot (AP) Gay-rights advocates filed a court challenge Thursday to the government's unusual plan to canvass Australians' opinion on gay marriage next month, while a retired judge said he would boycott the survey as unacceptable. The mail ballot is not binding, but the conservative government won't legislate the issue without it. If most Australians say "no," the government won't allow Parliament to consider lifting the nation's ban on same-sex marriage. Lawyers for independent lawmaker Andrew Wilkie and marriage equality advocates Shelley Argent and Felicity Marlowe, applied to the High Court for an injunction that would prevent the so-called postal plebiscite from going ahead. "We will be arguing that by going ahead without the authorization of Parliament, the government is acting beyond its power," lawyer Jonathon Hunyor said. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said the government had legal advice that the postal ballot would withstand a court challenge. "I encourage every Australian to exercise their right to vote on this matter. It's an important question," Turnbull said. Gay-rights advocates and many lawmakers want Parliament to legislate marriage equality now without an opinion poll, which they see as an unjustifiable hurdle to reform. Retired High Court judge Michael Kirby, a gay man who supports marriage equality, dismissed the ballot as "irregular and unscientific polling." "It's just something we've never done in our constitutional arrangements of Australia, and it really is unacceptable," Kirby told Australian Broadcasting Corp. Kirby would not comment on the legality of the government proceeding with the 122 million Australian dollar ($96 million) ballot without Parliament's approval, but said: "I'm not going to take any part in it whatsoever." Major Catholic News Outlet Calls for Dialogue on LGBTQ Acceptance, Hardliner Balks (EDGE) The rift between hardline Catholics and progressives played out online Wednesday when, in an effort to bridge-build to LGBT Catholics, the editorial board of a major Catholic news outlet published a piece calling for the church's hierarchy to reexamine the how sex and sexuality is taught. In Wednesday's editorial, NCR's board called out the church's 1500-year-old "procreative norm" from the Augustine era dictating that any sex acts between married couples must be "ordered per se to the procreation of human life." "The institutional church's vocal objections to same-sex marriage often mask the fact that church teaching is fundamentally opposed to sexual acts that a majority of human beings participate in," NCR's board wrote. "The church condemns any sex acts -- including those engaged in by married couples -- that do not respect the procreative norm. Therefore, in reality, few Catholics ever live up to the church's moral norms governing sexual activity." Hard right wing Bishop Thomas Paprocki, who made headlines this year for instructing parish priests to deny funeral rites to Catholics in legal same-sex marriages, was singled out by NCR's board as an example of the kind of thinking that holding the church back. "If bishops like Paprocki were more vocal about their opposition to masturbation, in vitro fertilization or vasectomies as they are in their campaign against same-sex marriage, perhaps more Catholics would realize how urgent the need is to rethink the entirety of the church's sexual ethics," the board wrote. Houston Sued Over Possible Denial of Benefits to Gay Spouses (AP) Three city employees and their spouses who are concerned that Houston could be forced to stop paying benefits to same-sex spouses due to an ongoing civil case on Thursday sued the city, asking for a court order to stop any such action. The employees' lawsuit, filed in federal court, comes after the all-Republican state Supreme Court in June overturned a lower court's decision favoring same-sex marriage benefits and ordered the case back to a civil court in Harris County, where Houston is located. After the Supreme Court's decision, the conservative activists who had initially sued Houston filed a motion seeking an injunction that would block the city from paying same-sex spousal benefits to its municipal employees while the case goes to trial. The activists also asked that any such benefits that have already been given be paid back by employees. Kenneth Upton, an attorney for the three city employees and their spouses, said his clients and others who have received benefits for their same-sex spouses would be greatly harmed if they lost access to health insurance, disability and other benefits and also if they were forced to pay back such benefits. One of the employees suing is a Houston police officer who is worried that if she is hurt or killed in the line of duty, her wife would not be entitled to the same benefits that the spouses of other police officers would have access to, said Upton, a Dallas-based attorney for Lambda Legal. So let me get this straight: today is National Rum Day. Sure, its probably a fake holiday by Captain Morgan et al. to get us to consume an above average amount of rum. That sounds more like they did us a favor that coerced us into doing something against our wills. At this point, youre probably all thinking, Rum? Can I put coffee in it? Why, yes. Yes you can. To help sherpa you through these newfound festive times, weve scoured the internet for five of the very best rum coffee cocktails for you to make when you get home from work. Or order at a bar during your lunch break. Were not here to judge. Night Spirit by Evan Holder (Barista Parlor) & Andrew Hannigan (Rolf and Daughters) 1.5 ounces Stolen Smoked Rum 0.75 ounces Barista Parlor Colombia El Cascabel cold brew 0.25 ounces lemon demerara syrup 0.5 ounces Bodegas Yuste Aurora Oloroso sherry 0.25 ounces Carpano Antica Formula sweet vermouth 2 dashes Angostura bitters Rinse glass with Stolen Jamaican Overproof Rum. Mix ingredients in tumbler. Light rinse in glass and douse with cocktail. Garnish with cocktail-infused blueberry covered in Trinidad chocolate. Mr. Bali Hai Cocktails by Kevin Beary of Three Dots and a Dash (adapted by Tasting Table) 1 ounce Black Strap rum 1 ounce Madeira 1 ounce lemon juice 1 ounce pineapple juice 1 ounce coffee liqueur ounce spiced rum ounce dark Jamaican rum ounce Falernum 3 dashes tiki bitters Crushed ice Pineapple wedge, for garnish Pineapple leaves, for garnish Coffee beans, for garnish In a shaker, add all of the ingredients, except for the garnishes, and shake until well chilled. Pour the contents of the shaker into a tiki glass and garnish with a pineapple wedge, pineapple leaves and coffee beans, then serve. Coffee Grog by Jeff Berry in Sippin Safari (adapted by Imbibe Magazine) 1 sugar cube 1 tsp. Dons Coffee Grog Batter Pinch of ground nutmeg Pinch of ground clove Pinch of ground cinnamon 3 strips orange peel 1 strip grapefruit peel 6 oz. freshly brewed hot coffee (Kona is traditional) oz. aged Jamaican rum oz. 151-proof Demerara rum Tools: barspoon, matches or lighter Glass: coffee or tiki mug, preheated Garnish: cinnamon stick Place the sugar, batter, spices and citrus peels in a preheated, heat-proof glass, then add the coffee, stirring until the batter dissolves. Place the rums in a fireproof ladle, carefully ignite with a match, and pour the flaming rum into the glass (pyrophobes may want to skip this step and just stir in the unlit rum). Garnish. Dons Coffee Grog Batter: Combine 1 oz. of softened sweet unsalted butter and 1 ounce of honey with a teaspoon of your favorite vanilla syrup, a teaspoon of allspice dram and 1 teaspoon of your favorite cinnamon syrup. Makes 18 servings. Dark Moon by Duane Sorenson of Stumptown Coffee Roasters (via Bon Appetit) 1 cups cold-brew coffee cup coffee liqueur cup spiced rum 1 12-oz. bottle Coca-Cola, preferably Mexican cup heavy cream Combine coffee, liqueur, rum, and cola in a large pitcher. Divide among rocks glasses filled with ice; add cream, dividing evenly. DO AHEAD: Cold brew, coffee liqueur, and rum can be combined 4 hours ahead. Cover. King Coffee by Erick Castro of Polite Provisions (via Imbibe Magazine) 1 oz. aged rum (Castro uses Flor de Cana) oz. rich vanilla syrup 2 oz. stout beer 2 oz. coffee oz. heavy cream Tools: mixing glass, barspoon Glass: mug Garnish: cookie (optional) Combine all ingredients, except heavy cream, and roll between a mixing glass and mug. Finish with drink in mug and float heavy cream on top by slowly pouring over the back of a barspoon. Garnish. For the rich vanilla syrup, combine 1 cup granulated sugar with cup water and 1 split vanilla bean in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a simmer and stir until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Remove vanilla bean and transfer to a clean glass jar. Refrigerate and use within 1 month. Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network. Play at the new site will be free and first come, first served through the... Editors note: Todays editorial originally appeared in The Seattle Times. Editorial content from other publications is provided to give readers a sampling of regional and national opinion and does not necessarily reflect positions endorsed by the Editorial Board of The Daily News. Two out of five unsheltered homeless people in King County live in a vehicle. That fact has been mostly lost in the last few years, especially in Seattle, as tent cities became the locus of superheated homeless politics. Seattle has done a lousy job getting the vehicle campers into permanent shelter. That goal must be the North Star for county and city homeless-response efforts. Car camping, like tent camping, is a Band-Aid, not a solution. Get people inside. Yet Seattle City Council Councilmember Mike OBrien now proposes to stand down enforcement of parking laws for homeless vehicles, if theyre parked in industrial lands. This new plan is in the same vein as last years wrongheaded plan to de-police homeless tent camps in city parks. A deluge of protests by Seattle voters killed the tent camping plan; this one deserves a similar response. An early draft of OBriens proposal, earlier last week, would have given a sweeping break from parking fines for people camping in cars and RVs. OBrien released a narrower version on Thursday, with a one-year parking ticket amnesty for RVs in industrial zones. Both plans miss the point. Homeless camping, in vehicles or tents, is a system failure in this affluent city. Get people inside. How to do that? A task force on homeless vehicle camping, convened by OBrien, recommended expanding a successful type of outreach, called Navigation teams. The existing team, focused on tent campers, makes repeated one-on-one contact with campers, offering an array of help, including housing. If the housing offer is declined, the tent can be removed and the campers belongings stored. The outreach approach works because it is coupled with the threat of having the tent removed. It is compassionate, but firmly devoted to the larger goal of bringing people indoors. A similar approach must be applied to vehicles, especially RVs. The task force also recommended a big expansion of sanctioned homeless camping car and RV lots. That approach makes sense only if the lots are effectively short-term train stations to get homeless vehicle campers into permanent housing. They also have to be more cost-effective than version 1.0, which cost an astonishing $1,700 per RV per month. Seattle is on track this fall to rebid all of the services in its huge $50 million-plus homeless system, and add accountability benchmarks for city contracts. This retooling is badly overdue, and one of Mayor Ed Murrays best ideas to confront homelessness. If the Seattle City Council grants parking amnesty, it moves in the exact opposite direction. Advocates for the homeless describe OBriens approach as humanitarian, and tend to portray the thousands of people who complain each month about illegally parked homeless cars and RVs as heartless. That, again, misses the point. It is heartless to turn a blind eye and turn off parking enforcement for homeless car and RV campers. Get people inside. It should not have taken the death and injury of innocents to move our nation toward moral clarity. It should not have taken President Trumps disgraceful refusal to condemn white supremacy, bigotry and Nazism to make clear to all who he is and which dark impulses he is willing to exploit to maintain his hold on power. Those of us who are white regularly insist that the racists and bigots are a minority of us and that the white-power movement is a marginal and demented faction. This is true, and the mayhem in Charlottesville, Virginia, called forth passionate condemnations of blood-and-soil nationalism across the spectrum of ideology. These forms of witness were a necessary defense of the American idea and underscored the shamefulness of Trumps embrace of moral equivalence. There are not, as Trump insisted Saturday, many sides to questions that were settled long ago: Racism, anti-Semitism, discrimination and white supremacy are unequivocally wrong. A president who cannot bring himself to say this immediately and unequivocally squanders any claim to moral leadership. Advisers to the president tried to clean up after this moral failure, putting out a statement Sunday morning attributed to no one declaring that of course his condemnation of violence includes white supremacists, KKK, neo-Nazi and all extremist groups. But if that of course is sincere, why didnt Trump say these things in the first place? And why hang on to the presidents inexcusable moral equivalence by adding that phrase and all extremist groups? This was simply a weak philosophical cover-up for a politician who has shown us his real instincts throughout his public life, from his birtherism to his reluctance to turn away 2016 endorsements from Klansmen and other racists. More Republicans than usual broke with Trump after his anemic response, and Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, was especially poignant in offering historical perspective on this episode: My brother didnt give his life fighting Hitler for Nazi ideas to go unchallenged here at home. But that so many others in the party preferred to keep their discomfort on background was itself a scandal. I cant tell you how sick & tired I am of the privately wincing Republicans, Peter Wehner, a veteran of three Republican administrations, tweeted. Its a self-incriminating silence. Yes, it is. The proper response is for Democrats and Republicans willing to take a stand to force a vote in Congress condemning the president for his opportunistic obtuseness and making clear where the vast majority of Americans stand on white supremacy. This is important for many reasons, but especially to send a message to Americas minorities that whites are willing to do more than offer rote condemnations of racism. For make no mistake: No matter how accurate it is to say that neo-Nazis and Klansmen represent a repugnant fringe, the fact that our president has consistently and successfully exploited white racial resentment cannot help but be taken by citizens of color as a sign of racisms stubborn durability. The backlash to racial progress is an old American story, from the end of Reconstruction forward. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.s words from 1967 speak to us still: Loose and easy language about equality, resonant resolutions about brotherhood fall pleasantly on the ear, but for the Negro, there is a credibility gap he cannot overlook. He remembers that with each modest advance the white population promptly raises the argument that the Negro has come far enough. Each step forward accents an ever-present tendency to backlash. This is what we saw this weekend. The battles over Confederate monuments, in Charlottesville and elsewhere, reflect our difficulty in acknowledging that these memorials are less historical markers than political statements. Many were erected explicitly in support of Jim Crow and implicitly to deny the truth that the Southern cause in the Civil War was built around a defense of slavery. Taking them down is an acknowledgement of what history teaches, not an eradication of the past. But history is also being made now. As is always true with Trump, self-interest is the most efficient explanation for his actions: Under pressure from the Russia investigation, he is reluctant to alienate backlash voters, who are among his most loyal supporters. The rest of us, however, have a larger obligation to our country and to racial justice. As the late civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer might suggest, it is time to ask about Trump: When will we become sick and tired of being sick and tired? In a recent story by TDN reporter Rose Lundy, we learned the Longview City Council voted 42 to allow campaign speeches during council meetings. The vote came after City Attorney James McNamara advised the use of council time for campaigning is against the law. We would like to see city council meetings used for city business not campaign speeches. Council was given the option to address that policy, McNamara said. Council declined and thats councils prerogative. I feel, though, as city attorney, it is my obligation to advise you of my understanding of the law. My advice is that it is not permissible, and it is not appropriate to use City Council time for advocacy of a campaign. So why did council vote to allow campaigning during council meetings? Council member Mike Wallin wanted to strike the item from the agenda citing free speech rights. Others simply felt hearing people talk on any issue was ok. Council member Chet Makinster said, I dont have a problem with my opponent getting up and talking if she wants to. We appreciate some of the council members openness in terms of wanting to let people speak, but think the existing laws cited by McNamara are right council time is for the peoples business, not campaign speeches. Council member Steve Moon commented, If the candidates want to use the constituents comment time as their time to speak thats fine, but theyre taking the opportunity from other citizens that have concerns or issues that may need to be brought up to this council. Moons outlook on taking away time from council business and other taxpayers is right on. Outgoing council member May Jane Melink voted against allowing political speeches, as did council member Ken Botero. Regarding the issue Melink said, He (McNamara) is the attorney in the room and is assigned to represent us. The RCW that he recited is an issue that has been reviewed in the courts in the past. I think we need to pay attention to it. Can you also imagine what public meetings would be like if campaigning was allowed by constituents and elected officials? In last weeks meeting an individual spent time singing an excerpt of a song. Really? Is that what city council meetings are for? Can you imagine a close political race where a sitting council member is allowed to give their stump speech on the publics time? We cant either. The issue of free speech seems to come about under many different situations, and it seems many folks think free speech means they should be able to say or do whatever they want. This just isnt true. We face the free speech argument constantly at TDN. People will call about the Letter to the Editor they wrote and demand it be published because its their right to free speech. Protesters in various situations use free speech as their excuse to interrupt meetings or in an effort to get someone to listen. The reality is free speech, and the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, is not what many think. The First Amendment protects citizens right to free speech from government interference. What the First Amendment doesnt do is extend to all aspects of life. In this case, using taxpayer money and taxpayer time for political speechmaking is against the law and should be. There is no free speech protection at work. You cannot say something overtly sexual to a co-worker and be protected by your right to free speech. School districts face the same issue when trying to get a levy passed. School district personnel are not allowed to use district resources (taxpayer money) to get a levy passed. The tax money we pay to support the City of Longview needs to be used wisely. We have water, road, homeless and homeless shelters, economic development and other issues needing attention. Thats what taxpayers are paying for. Not to hear people singing songs. Kaspersky Lab made a splash with the announcement of its latest range of products. Alongside their power-packed features that give one the best security across all devices, it comes with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to win an exclusive trip to Maranello, Italy, to the outstanding Ferrari factory. This offer comes with Kaspersky Labs latest versions of flagship security solutions Kaspersky Anti-Virus, Kaspersky Internet Security and Kaspersky Total Security. After entering the contest, 6 lucky winners will be chosen from Asia Pacific (APAC) region throughout the contest. They get an opportunity to visit Ferraris state-of-the-art factory in Maranello, Italy, the carmakers hometown. Even if Lady Luck doesnt smile for the big prize, one still stands a chance to win the Ferrari Fan Kit, which is the best keepsake for fans. Original Ferrari accessories such as a miniature car, keychain, cap and a fashionable bag would be theirs to keep. 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The missions of Bangladesh in Washington DC in the USA, Colombo in Sri Lanka, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata in India, Karachi in Pakistan, Tashkent in Uzbekistan, Paris in France, Tokyo in Japan and the Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York organized elaborate programmes on the day. The programmes included wearing of black badges by the members of staff of the missions, hoisting of the national flag at half-mast, reading out the messages of the President, the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister, placing wreaths at the portraits of Bangabandhu, observing one-minute silence to pay homage to Bangabandhu, holding discussions, poster exhibitions, screening of documentary on Bangabandhu, blood donation, charity programmes, offering special prayers, milad and doa mahfil. Bangladesh Embassy in Washington DC organized a discussion titled 'Life and Achievement of Bangabandhu'. Prime Minister's Political Advisor HT Imam, Ambassador Mohammad Ziauddin, Professor Zia Khan and Engineer Mizanur Rahman, among others, addressed the discussion. Later, Anis Ahmed of VOA recited poems on Bangabandhu and a documentary on life and works of Bangabandhu was screened. Bangladesh High Commission in Delhi, India organised a discussion titled, 'Bangabandhu's Vision for Peace, Progress and Prosperity in South Asia and Beyond' at the High Commission office at 3 pm. Bangladesh High Commissioner Syed Muazzem Ali, former Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army General Deepak Kapoor, Professor S D Muni of Jawaharlal Nehru University and President of Delhi Press Club Gautam Lahiri spoke, among others, at the event. Marking the day, Bangladesh Deputy High Commission in Mumbai, India paid tribute to the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and other family members who were assassinated by a group of disgruntled army personnel in a pre-dawn gruesome attack on August 15 in 1975. Over one third of 2005 series blast cases await disposal Over one third of the cases related to 2005 nationwide series blasts staged by outlawed JMB still await disposal while the outfit of late emerged with a reconstituted structure called Neo-JMB on the face of an intensified anti-militancy campaign. Talking to BSS coinciding with the 12th anniversary of the event police's inspector general (IGP) AKM Shahidul Haque said 56 out of 159 cases filed to expose to justice the blast perpetrators were under still under trail while the rests were disposed of in different trial courts. "Trial in the rest 93 cases has by now been disposed by the trial courts which handed down 334 perpetrators to different jail terms . . . in the ongoing 56 cases 400 JMB operatives are being tried," he said. Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) staged the synchronized nationwide near simultaneous explosions at 500 points in 63 out of 64 administrative districts except Munshiganj to make visible their strong presence on August 17, 2005. In the capital Dhaka, JMB on that day exploded 17 bombs while public prosecutor Advocate Abdullah Abu of Dhaka Metropolitan said 18 cases were lodged with different police stations in connections of these blasts and trial in four of cases was completed and five others are under trial as final reports were given in the rest of nine cases. The nationwide August 17, 2005 blasts had killed only two people and wounded 50 others as the militants at that time preferred not to use stronger devices but in subsequent period they showed up with their brutal face carrying out deadly attacks on innocent people including judges. The police chief said the main law enforcement agency submitted 149 charge sheets against 1106 JMB operatives in 149 cases and gave final report in 10 other cases relating to the cross-country bombings. Haque said several JMB kingpins, however, were by now executed after trial in several cases of deadly militant attacks in subsequent years while several of them were on the run with death sentences to evade gallows. "A total of 27 operatives accused in the August 17, 2005 bombing have already been handed down death penalty in other militant cases and eight of them were hanged in execution of their death sentences," the IGP added. He said with the execution of JMB founder Shaikh Abdur Rahman, his- second-in-command Siddiqul Islam Bangla Bhai, military commander Ataur Rahman Sunny, think-tanks Abdul Awal, Khaled Saifullah and Salahuddin "JMB's organizational activities suffered a huge setback execution of their death sentences". China's Xi looks to party congress to cement authority Chinese President Xi Jinping stands on a military jeep as he inspects troops of the People\'s Liberation Army during a military parade to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the PLA at Zhurihe training base in north China\'s Inner Mongolia AP, Beijing : In a ritual of summer, China's leaders have been holding an unofficial retreat at a beach resort ahead of a key fall Communist Party congress at which President Xi Jinping will launch his second five-year term as party chief and move to cement his status as China's most powerful leader in decades. The absence of top leaders from state media reports is a general indication that the secretive Beidaihe retreat is underway. In a hint that leaders have gathered at the resort's quiet beaches and closely guarded guest houses, the official Xinhua News Agency last week carried an account of a meeting at the resort between party propaganda boss Liu Yunshan and a group of vacationing technical experts. The strength of Xi's position likely means the goings-on this year on the coast east of Beijing will be even tamer than usual, analysts say. Xi, 64, has been shoring up his authority and sidelining rivals, leaving him primed to install allies in top positions and press his agenda of tightened state control and muscular diplomacy. That appears to include a push to insert his thoughts on theoretical matters into the party constitution and further cultivate a burgeoning cult of personality that could allow him to hold on to power beyond his second term. "The nuance this time is that there is much less 'trading' among various factions and more obsequious affirmation of the supreme leader's supremacy," said Miles Yu Maochun, an expert on Chinese politics at the U.S. Naval Academy. At the fall party congress, Xi is expected to deliver a keynote address as a prelude to having his take on theory written into the party constitution during the event, analysts believe. If indeed the case, the move's significance would be that predecessor Hu Jintao was able to insert his theory only upon leaving office. Amid regional tension, Japan, US conduct live-fire drill A Japan Ground Self Defense Force\'s Type 90 tank fires during their joint exercise, named Northern Viper 17, with U.S. Marine Corps at Hokudaien exercise area in Eniwa, on the northern island of Hokkaido, Japan on Wednesday. AFP, Eniwa : Some 300 Japanese and US military personnel on Wednesday carried out live-fire artillery training in northern Japan, officials said, amid high regional tensions over North Korean missile threats. The drill, part of a 19-day exercise, came after a tense war of words between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang's threats to fire missiles towards the Pacific island of Guam. Troops from Japan's Ground Self-Defence Force (GSDF) and US Marines fired live ammunition from armed vehicles at a manoeuvre area on the northern island of Hokkaido. The two forces began the Northern Viper 2017 exercise on August 10, involving a total of 1,300 GSDF troops and 2,000 Marines. "It is the first joint exercise between the GSDF and US Marines in Hokkaido," a defence ministry spokesman said. The spokesman denied any link between the drill and recent regional tension over North Korea. "This is not conducted with a particular country or region in mind," he said. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said Tuesday he would hold off on a plan to fire four ballistic missiles towards Guam, a US Pacific island territory. The threat had come after US President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang of "fire and fury" over intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development. Japan has deployed the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile defence system in Shimane, Hiroshima and Kochi prefectures in western Japan, which North Korea had warned could be along its missiles' flight path. It also deployed the system in nearby Ehime prefecture. Meanwhile, the defence ministry said US Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft will join the Northern Viper drills starting on Friday despite growing concerns after a fatal crash off Australia earlier this month. The MV-22 -- a hybrid helicopter-turboprop-has two engines positioned on fixed wingtips that allow it to land and take off vertically. The aircraft, which can travel much faster than a helicopter, has been involved in a series of deadly incidents, mostly in the United States. Even people from West Bengal are coming for shelter THE flood situation is aggravating as the water levels in major rivers and their tributaries in the north and northeast are still rising or not showing enough sign of slow down. Government has ignored flood warning only to be caught unguarded by scarcity of arrangement to save affected people. Over 100 people have so far drowned and several lakhs marooned in most places like Lalmonirhat, Patgram, Thakurgaon, Sunamgonj living on few embankments with their livestocks. Even people from West Bengal have taken shelter in some parts of Bangladesh as this flood has affected the entire regions such as Nepal, northeast Indian state of Assam, Bihar and other areas. We are glad that border guards are allowing the distressed people from across the border to enter the country. But shortage of food, medicine and pure drinking water, besides cash in hands to buy food is forcing most affected families in Bangladesh to starve. More acute is the sanitation problem. A serious humanitarian crisis is unfolding in the affected areas but enough government response to mitigate the problem is not in sight. Vast swath of land in 20 districts is already severely affected and some more are at high risks. The administration has so far distributed limited quantity of puff rice and from 30 to 40 tonnes of rice in most of the affected districts. But any estimates suggest it is not enough to feed 30 to 40 thousand families for one day. How will people survive more days as many of the flood victims are in temporary shelters for past five to six days? If enough fund is not available for relief what is the usefulness of such funds in the hands of the government. The cry for help is everywhere in the affected areas and news report said whenever people see some boats hoping the area carrying relief, they rush to stop the boats only to be disappointed. The flood affected people are living in miserable conditions. The local authorities also admit that much more needs to be done. The leaders in Dhaka appear busy with senseless personal politics. To them the people do not matter. 16th amendment Govt pleas for certified copy of verdict The government has sought the certified copy of the full Supreme Court verdict upholding a High Court judgment that had scrapped the 16th amendment to the Constitution. Deputy Attorney General Ekramul Haque Tutul on Wednesday said they have recently filed a petition with the apex court seeking the certified copy of the full verdict. Earlier, on August 1, the Supreme Court released the full text of its verdict upholding the High Court verdict that declared illegal the 16th amendment to the Constitution establishing Parliament's authority to remove Supreme Court judges. The Jatiya Sangsad passed the 16th amendment on September 17, 2014. On May 5 last year, the HC declared the 16th amendment illegal. The government on January 4 last filed an appeal with the apex court challenging the HC decision. On July 3, the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, upheld the HC verdict. 2 BD students killed in US road crash Jago News : Two Bangladeshi nationals were killed and two others injured at Wilkinson County area in the US state of Georgia around 8pm on Monday (US local time). The deceased were identified as Pracheta Dutta Tumpa and Imtiaz Ikram Ali. They were PhD students at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte.The two friends were also students of Aeronautical Engineering at the Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) and they left for the US to pursue PhDs in 2016. According to the Department of Public Safety, the driver of a white Mazda 3 travelling on Ga. Highway 112 attempted to cross Ga. Highway 29 just before 8 p.m., but pulled in front of a tractor trailer that was traveling southbound on Highway 29. The driver of the tractor trailer could not stop in time and struck the passenger side of the Mazda, killing the driver and front seat passenger on impact. A passenger in the back of the car was taken to Navicent Health in Macon. The driver of the tractor trailer was taken to Fairview Park Hospital in Dublin. 3 major rivers overflowing Another 5 drown: Flood situation deteriorates in Dinajpur, Gaibandha, Sirajganj: More army deployed in flood-affected areas About 3 thousand families went under water following the seven embankment that washed away triggered by incessant rain and onrush of waters from the upstream at Naogaon. This photo was taken from Sapahar area on Wednesday. Staff Reporter : The overall flood situation in Dinajpur, Gaibandha and Sirajganj districts deteriorated further as major rivers there kept overflowing on Wednesday, leaving five people dead and several lakh people marooned. Besides, with flood situation deteriorating in the north, the water level in the rivers around the capital has started to increase, though it is still flowing below the danger level, according to our correspondents and agencies. The water level in Buriganga, Balu, Turag, Sitalakya, Dhalaswari, Kaliganga and in Tongi canal registered a rise, of which Kaliganga recorded a 25-cm rise in last 24 hours, according to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre or FFWC. "These rivers are now flowing below the danger level, but if the rising trend continues they will cross the danger limit within 3 to 4 days," said an FFWC official. "The river Jamuna is flowing over the danger levels in many points. This will rush to rivers around the capital after flooding the north and central region," FFWC executive engineer Sazzad Hossain said, adding, "this is the reason the water level in these areas will rise in 3 to 4 days". He told journalists that "the Jamuna at Bahadurabad point crossed the danger limit. Those water will come towards the central region increases the risk of flooding." This is the second spell of flooding this year in which more than 600,000 people in 20 districts in the north of the country are affected. The water from the north would reach the Bay of Bengal through Meghna river, so there is danger of flooding in Dhaka, Munshiganj, Shariatpur, Narayanganj, Narshingdi and adjoining areas. According to FFWC, the Buriganga in Dhaka registered a rise of 20cm in last 24 hours. Moreover, Balu in Demra point 12cm, Sitalakhya in Narayanganj 11cm, Turag in Mirpur 8cm and the water level in Tongi canal recorded a rise of 5cm during that period. The Kaliganga at Taraghat point rose by 25cm, Dhalesweri at Jagir point 19cm and Rikabi bazar point 6cm, and Bangshi river increased by 8cm in Nayarhat point. The FFWC official said that the Buriganga was still flowing 138cm below the danger level. All other rivers were still under the danger level, but FFWC said the onrush of water from central region coupled with rains might burst the banks of those rivers. In Dinajpur, four more people, including two children, lost their lives in Chirirbandar upazila of Dinajpur, raising the death toll from the floods all over the country to 44. District administration control room relief and rehabilitation officer Mokhlesur Rahman told journalists that Rina Akter, 10, daughter of Iman Ali of Nanderai village, Arafat, 7, son of Aminul Islam of Uttar Para village, Fajir Uddin, 60, son of Shamsher Ali of Usufpur union drowned in floodwaters. On the other hand, Majeda Begum, 65, wife of late Hafiz Uddin of Amorpur union was killed in wall collapse due to flood. With this, 17 died in Dinajpur while nine in Lalmonirhat, three in Nilphamari, two in Thakurgaon and one each in Netrakona and Sirajganj. In Gaibandha, nearly two lakh people living in chars (shoals) and river basins in the district have been marooned with deterioration of the ongoing flood situation as water in the Brahmaputra and other rivers marked a further rise in 24 hours ending at 9 on Wednesday morning. The officials of Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) here said the water level in the Brahmaputra rose by 03-cm during the period and it was flowing 103-cm above its danger level at Fulchharighat point of the district. The other major rivers the Ghagot and the Karotoa also registered a further rise during the period and were flowing above their respective danger marks. The Ghagot rose by 01-cm during the period and was flowing 83-cm over its danger mark at New Bridge Road point of the district town and the Karotoa rose by 14 and was flowing 44-cm over its danger mark at Katakhali Bridge point of Gobindaganj. With the rise of water level in the rivers, the chars and the river basin including the mainland of 38 unions of Sundarganj, Sadar, Fulchhari, Saghata and Gobindaganj upazilas were submerged. A total of 20,9239 people of 52,776 families of the upazilas have been marooned, said district relief and rehabilitation officer AKM Idris Ali. As many as 16,708 flood affected people of 4,177 families of the upazilas took shelter at 69 flood shelter centres along with their movable assets, including domestic animals and poultry birds, he also said. Deputy director of Department of Agriculture Extension AKM Ruhul Amin said the flood has submerged 17,178 hectares of land with standing crops particularly Aman seed bed, T-Aman land, and summer vegetables. District Education Officer M Aminul Islam Mondal said 167 government primary schools of the upazilas have been closed as the flood water entered the schools. The BWDB is carrying out maintenance work at vulnerable points of river embankments with the help of members of Bangladesh Army. Deputy Commissioner (DC) Gautam Chandra Pal said 376 tonnes of rice and TK 8.60 were distributed to the flood victims of the upazila so far on an urgent basis. In Sirajganj, the flood situation in Sirajganj has worsened following a rise in the Jamuna water level on Wednesday morning. "The Jamuna River was flowing 146 centimetres above the danger level at Sirajganj point at 6:00 am," said executive engineer of Water Development Board (WDB) in Sirajganj Syed Hasan Imam. Fresh areas were inundated as water level of the Jamuna River had risen by 19 centimetres in the last 24 hours, he added. Low-lying areas of Sadar, Kajipur, Belkuchi, Chouhali and Shahjadpur upazilas remained submerged by Jamuna water since Tuesday. In Rangpur, the flood situation marked improvement at most places and deterioration at some areas during the past 24 hours on Wednesday in ten northern districts on the Brahmaputra basin. Officials in the Water Development Board (WDB) said water level of the major rivers marked both rise and fall and the situation might start improving further during the next 48 hours as the pressure of onrushing water from the upstream reduced during the period. Water levels of the Brahmaputra marked fall by 11cm at Noonkhawa and 8cm at Chilmari and rise by 3cm at Fulchhari, Dharla marked fall by 20cm at Kurigram while Teesta remained steady at Dalia points during the period. Besides, water levels of the Punorvoba marked fall by 23cm at Dinajpur while Ich-Jamuna rise by 12cm at Phulbari points during the period. Meanwhile, water levels of the Jamuna marked rise by 1cm at Bahadurabad, 9cm at Sariakandi 16cm at Kazipur and 20cm at Sirajganj while Jamuneswari marked rise by 3cm at Badarganj and Kartoa by 8cm at Chalk Rahimpur during the period. The Jamuneswari was flowing 142cm above DM at Badarganj, Dharla 96cm above DM at Kurigram and Ghaghot 83cm above DM at Gaibandha points. The Brahmaputra was flowing above DM by 3cm at Noonkhawa, 79cm at Chilmari and 103cm at Fulchhari points. The Jamuna was flowing above DM by 134cm at Bahadurabad, 126cm at Sariakandi, 151cm at Kazipur and 148cm at Sirajganj points. The Punorvoba was flowing below its DM by 35cm at Dinajpur while Kartoa was flowing above the DM by 25cm at Chak Rahimpur in Gaibandha and Ich-Jamuna by 7cm above DM at Phulbari points. "The Teesta was flowing 45cm below DM at Dalia point in Nilphamari at 12 this noon improving the flood situation in the area," said Executive Engineer of Dalia Division of WDB Mostafizur Rahman. Officials in the district administrations said the displaced people started returning homes since Monday last following recession of floodwater from inundated areas of Rangpur, Panchagarh, Thakurgaon, Lalmonirhat and Nilphamari districts. District Relief and Rehabilitation Officer (DRRO) of Dinajpur Mokhlesur Rahman said 54,950 displaced people have taken shelters at 384 flood shelters in the district. "We have been continuing distribution of 485 tonnes rice and Taka 16 lakh among flood-hit people in the district," Rahman added. Kurigram DRRO Enamul Haque said the district administration allocated 851 tonnes rice and Taka 21 lakh till today for distribution among flood-hit people of all nine upazilas in the district. Gaibandha DRRO Idris Ali said distribution of 576 tonnes rice and Taka 12.60 lakh allocated by the district administration was progressing in flood- hit areas of the district. Talking to journalists, Divisional Commissioner Kazi Hasan Ahmed said the flood situation started improving at most areas and deteriorated in few other areas during the past 24 hours in Rangpur division. "We have taken adequate steps for reaching relief goods and cash to the flood-hit people in the affected areas," Hasan added. Meanwhile, more army personnel have been deployed in flood-affected areas as situation has deteriorated in northern parts of the country due to heavy rainfall and fresh onrush of water from the upstream. A platoon of soldiers was sent to Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari and Panchagarh districts with essential life- saving equipment, said a press release of Inter-Services Public Relations today. Earlier, army personnel were deployed in Dinajpur, Gaibandha, Rangpur and Syedpur to help flood-affected people of those areas, added the release. The army officials have joined hands with local administration to tackle the flood. Stratocaster, iconic US rock guitar flourished under NAFTA AFP, Washington : Fifty years ago in California, Jimi Hendrix poured lighter fluid on his Fender Stratocaster and, in a scene seared into music iconography, knelt and watched as the guitar-from American rock 'n' roll's most cherished brand-burned. The truth is, however, that for about half of its 63-year existence, those guitars have to a large extent been manufactured in Mexico. And as US, Mexican and Canadian officials open talks Wednesday in Washington on revamping the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, the Mexican-made Stratocaster stands as an example of how liberalized trade has encouraged seamless cross-border supply chains-ones that may be almost impossible to undo. Unlike major automakers benefitting from NAFTA, the half-billion-dollar US guitar industry does not employ hundreds of thousands of workers who ship billions in product. Still, in common with the bigger manufacturers, guitar makers like Fender, CF Martin & Co and Taylor have turned to Mexico as a source of cheaper yet still skilled labor, and to take advantage of NAFTA's duty-free export to the United States. The regional trade deal means they can compete with cheap imports from Asia. "Trade is vital to guitar manufacturers and any US manufacturer that can get any of its manufacturing done internationally will benefit," Rory Masterson, an industry analyst at the research firm IBISWorld, told AFP. The Stratocaster's sleek and ergonomic body gave an unmistakable silhouette to British and American bluesmen and rock heroes like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Eddie Van Halen, and created a market among wannabe rockers who tried to emulate them. Since the US Congress ratified NAFTA in 1993, US imports of Mexican-made guitars valued at $100 or more have risen 90 percent, reaching $38 million last year, according to US government data. Largely thanks to NAFTA, Mexico is now the third-largest source of US guitar imports after China and Indonesia, generating 21 percent of foreign-made guitars sold in the United States, according to Masterson. Zia regime 'stopped' UK jurists entering BD to probe bdnews24.com : British jurists, who set up the first enquiry into the murder of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and four national leaders, were barred from entering Bangladesh in January of 1981. General Ziaur Rahman, the founder of Bangladesh Nationalist Party or BNP, was then the president of Bangladesh. The Commission of Jurists aimed to investigate the circumstances which had "impeded the normal processes of law and justice from having taken their course in these cases". Their preliminary report was published on Mar 20, 1982, a copy of which is with bdnews24.com. The report concludes that the processes of law and justice have not been permitted to take their course following the murders. "It would appear that the government has duly been responsible for impeding their process. These impediments should be removed and law and justice should be allowed to take their course." Bangaldesh's founding father and President Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed along with most of his family members on Aug 15 of 1975. Among his children, Sheikh Hasina, now prime minister, and Sheikh Rehana survived as they were in Europe at that time. Four national leaders-Syed Nazrul Islam, Vice-president, Tajuddin Ahmed, first Prime Minister, M Mansur Ali, Prime Minister, and AHM Qamaruzzaman, Industries Minister- were shot dead during detention inside Dhaka Central Jail on Nov 3, 1975. According to the report, the commission was set up amid concern felt in many quarters in Bangladesh, and in the international community, at the failure to bring their murderers to justice. It was in response to an appeal made by the family of Bangabandhu and the other victims, as well as other supporters who held meetings in different parts of Britain, Europe and in Bangladesh, said the commission's first press release issued on Sept 19, 1980. A day before, the committee met in London and agreed to start the inquiry. The aim was "to make its appraisal of the legal issues involved in order to determine action that may be initiated to bring those responsible for the commission of these grave crimes to justice". "Members of the Committee expect to visit Bangladesh shortly in this connection," it said. Sir Thomas Williams, QC MP, headed the commission, which also had Sean MacBride, former president of Amnesty International and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize. The others were Jeffrey Thomas, QC MP, and Aubrey Rose, who acted as secretary. The Bangladesh High Commission in London received an application seeking visa for Jeffrey Thomas and his assistant, who planned to visit Bangladesh in January of 1981. "That visit could not take place as visas were not issued for Mr Thomas and his assistant, no letter of refusal was ever sent to the commission or its secretary, and, despite a number of letters and requests to the High Commission, no letter has ever been received from the High Commission in relation to the proposed visit," said the preliminary report. Hasina wrote the foreward of the report. "Unable to get satisfaction from the Bangladesh authorities, the families of the victims and their democratic minded supporters in Britain, determined that the matter must not be allowed to rest, persuaded a number of distinguished jurists to set up a commission to inquire into the murder of Bangabandhu and his family and of the four national leaders while under detention without trial in the Dacca Central Jail," said the Awami League chief. "Their names and reputations are a guarantee that the inquiry will conform to the highest standards of judicial propriety." The trial process of Bangabandhu's murder started 21 years after the gruesome carnage, when the Awami League was elected to power in 1996. Five individuals convicted of murdering Bangabandhu were hanged in 2010. They are Syed Faruque Rahman, Sultan Shahariar Rashid Khan, Bazlul Huda, Mohiuddin Ahmed and AKM Mohiuddin. Another, Abdul Aziz Pasha, who was hiding in Zimbabwe, died there in 2001, police say. The authorities said they were not sure about the whereabouts of convict Risaldar Moslehuddin (Khan). The other five are Abdur Rashid, Shariful Haque Dalim, M Rashed Chowdhury, AHMB Noor Chowdhury and Abdul Mazed. Rashid had gone to Pakistan from Libya while Dalim was in Pakistan, Prime Minister Hasina had earlier said. Four others are either in the US or Canada. Hasina's government has repeatedly said that it is trying to bring them back to the country. Twelve army officers involved in the assassination had been rewarded with jobs in diplomatic missions abroad in 1977 when Ziaur Rahman came to power through a military coup. Victims angry Relief in flood-hit areas inadequate People of flood affected districts have expressed their anger over the slow pace of relief operation and inadequate relief supplies. According to our district correspondents, conditions of flood victims are dismal. Many people have no food and shelter while some others are drinking polluted water because they have been left with no alternative. Relief operations have largely been concentrated on the victims who took shelter at the makeshift flood centers. As a result, majority victims have flown into fury. A third of Bangladesh has gone under the floodwater affecting about 33 lakh people, said Secretary (current charge) for Disaster Management and Relief Md Golam Mostafa to the reporters at his office on Wednesday. He said almost 1,599 shelters have been erected in flood-affected districts and about 4.11 lakh people took shelter in these shelters. The water breached flood fences inundating dozens of low-lying northern districts forcing residents to flee to makeshift shelters on higher ground, roads and embankments. "We are hungry and homeless. But we are yet to get relief from the local administration," said a group of flood victim at Gangachara upazila in Rangpur district, to The New Nation yesterday. At least 1.5 lakh people of six upazilas--Gangachhara, Pirgachha, Badarganj, Taraganj, Pirganj and Kaunia-- in Rangpur have been badly hit by flood. At least 70,000 people in 50 villages of Gangachhara upazila have been affected and many of them are yet to get any relief, said a local union parishad chairman. "Supplies of relief goods are poor causing fury among the flood victims," he said. He also demanded adequate relief and compensation for flood victims. Upazila administration admitted the dismal situation and said that submerged roads are hindering the relief operation. Similar reports are coming from other flood-affected northern districts like Nilphamari, Dinajpur, Gaibandha, Lalmonirhat and Kurigram. "We are stranded by flood for the last three days. We get no relief from local administration," Shafir Ali told The New Nation yesterday. Shafir Ali (50), a resident of Ramaniganj village of Hatibandha upazila in Lalmonirhat district, and his family took shelter on Lalmonirhar-Burimari highway. "The devastated flood rendered us homeless and we had taken shelter on road. We need tents, food and portable water," he said. More than 4.0 lakh people of the district have been marooned by flood. The authorities admitted that the relief goods were inadequate and said submerged roads were the main cause of hurdles in the relief operation. "We have come to know that flood victims are complaining of inadequate relief. Roads and railway communication have been overwhelmed by the floodwaters, isolating whole of northern part from the rest of the country and severely hampering the relief operation," said Md Golam Mostafa. "We have directed officials to speed up rescue and relief operations in the flood affected areas," he added. He further said affected people would not be left alone in this hour of critical juncture, and all necessary support would be extended to mitigate their suffering. 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Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Photo by Gordon Lewis, from the almost-last post of Shutterfinger, December 2013 I'm about to take some time off for my usual August vacation, and this year our friend Gordon Lewis has offered to act as Guest Host of TOP while I'm a-chillaxin'. Gordon wrote the popular photography blog "Shutterfinger" from April 2008 to December 2013, so he's well versed in how to pilot such a ship. Those of you who remember Shutterfinger will no doubt be happy about this "slight return," as Jimi Hendrix once called a repriseI've always found Gordon to be a steady, measured note of sanity in the sometimes tumultuous stew of online photo talk. He's one of them Harvard grads, and made his bones writing sitcoms in Hollywood before migrating to the corporate world for more regular paychecks and (ironically) less drama. Really, he's the master of many talents, including cooking (he owns a small paleo granola company) and martial arts. He's a musician, too, so you might get a few words about music, or even guitars, as well. He'll be here all next week. Mike P.S. Oh, and by the way, in case you missed the update, our test of the waters a few days back was very positivethank you for your enthusiasmso we will reprise our offer of a fine print of Gordon's "Precipitation," 11x14 size, for a reasonable price, in time for delivery before the holidays. 'Open Mike' is the grab-bag editorial page of TOP. It appears on Wednesdays, except when it appears on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday. Original contents copyright 2017 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. Like what you read? Give Mike a Like or Buy yourself something nice (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.) Featured Comments from: No featured comments yetplease check back soon! Codell Rodriguez Codell Rodriguez is the night editor for The Southern Illinoisan, and he writes a movie column for Scene618. Follow Codell Rodriguez Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today The older I get, the more susceptible I become to the siren call of nostalgia. Not blind nostalgia, mind you. Modern forced nostalgia that's equatable to South Park's 'member berries has little effect on me, though I felt the '80s-nostalgia-packed "Stranger Things" was effective. Probably because it didn't use it as a crutch. But really, nostalgia for me is actually watching the old movies of my childhood and few were more beloved than the Indiana Jones series. Let me tell you, I was enamored with the films. I can still vaguely remember arguing with other kids in kindergarten over who got to be Indiana Jones that recess. They were some of the few movies where mom would let me sit through even the gruesome and scary scenes. And 33 years later, the adventures of Dr. Jones still manage to let me relive some of those childhood memories. But as an adult, as with many childhood favorites, I can appreciate much more of the films, particularly "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "The Last Crusade." I actually like "Temple of Doom" and "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" well, that one brought back Indy's best love interest. So that's a positive, I guess. Now there's plenty to love about "Raiders" and "Crusade." The action is timeless, the jokes still hold up and they flirt wonderfully with Biblical mysticism. Also my god, John Williams' score. Sure, his main fanfare is what most remember, but I still get chills every time I hear the "Ark" theme. But what drew me to the movies as a kid and still as an adult is Indiana Jones himself. Masterminds George Lucas and Steven Spielberg wanted to make a sort of American answer to James Bond, and they knocked it out of the park. It's a great callback to 1940s-era serials with the perfect hero. Indiana Jones is a whiskey-drinking, fedora- and bomber jacket-wearing tough guy with a five o'clock shadow, a bull whip and sidearm, who can speak a dozen languages and has contacts in every shady corner of the world. He acts cool. He's a natural cynic with a warm heart for those close to him and sense of honor to do what's right. And man, could that guy fight Nazis. It never really hurt "Raiders" and "Crusade" that his main foes are history's most easy-to-hate villains goose-stepping fascists who want to commandeer powerful Biblical relics to pervert for their own mission to spread their disease all over the world. In "Raiders," one of commanders even objects to having to use a Jewish ceremony to test the power of the Ark of the Covenant. Then his stupid face melted. What makes Indy so effective as a hero isn't just the fact that he often fights an ideal that would make any decent human being nauseous. What makes Jones a quintessential hero of cinema is that there's something about him that speaks to us as Americans, regardless of race, gender or religion. He can be flawed. He can be selfish at times, irritable and quick to anger. He can jump head first into a plan without really thinking things through. But he can also take a ridiculous beating and keep fighting. He knows that sometimes, there are things worth fighting for bigger than he is. He may start his quest to find the Ark with his only interest being the discovery of a rare antiquity, but in the end it's all about standing against the greatest evil of modern history. Alone, if need be. There's a scene in Raiders where the Nazis have the ark and Indy's main squeeze, Marion. What's his plan? Eh, he just stands up and points a rocket launcher at them. God Bless America. I'm grateful Lucas and Spielberg gave us this icon and answer to Bond. I love a lot of British films, music and television, but I'll take the disheveled finder of rare antiquities over 007 any day. MOUNT VERNON This town may not be getting full totality when the solar eclipse occurs on Aug. 21, but its proximity to the greatest duration is expected to bring an influx of visitors nonetheless. And there are several plans to keep them entertained. Totality Fest kicks off at 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17, with Cedarhursts Thursday Night Live, featuring music by Moonbeam Lane. The event is free. Fridays Food & Art will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. at the outdoor Broadway Market located at 205 S. Seventh St. Attendees can shop for crafts and foods, enjoy local beer and wine, and listen to local band The Morels play from 5 to 8 p.m. Free inflatables and other children's activities will be available. Cedarhurst will hold a Pre-Eclipse Blackout at The Happening from 7 to 11 p.m. Admission is $5 for non-Cedarhurst members and the event is only for people 18 or older. A cash bar and food concessions will be available. At 7:30 p.m., Kenneth Sembach, director of the Space Science Institute, will present on Seeing the Unseen: Special Views of the Universe. The Monolithic, a Pink Floyd tribute band, will provide live music following the program. Families can also enjoy a showing of "Apollo 13" at 7:45 p.m. Friday in Veterans Park. The event is free. On Saturday, Ash Bash Art & Music Festival will take place from 2 to 11 p.m. on Ninth Street downtown. Proceeds from this event benefit Lymphoma-Leukemia research. Live music will be provided by ZZ Top tribute band Trezz Hombres, Backlash, Moonbeam Lane, D-N-A Acoustic, and Led Zeppelin tribute band Trampled Under Foot. It will also feature a variety of food and craft vendors, a custom car cruise in, face painting, balloon release and more. From 2 to 11 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 20, visitors and residents can head to Lowerys Irish Pub for a Sunday Funday. Music will be provided by Chris Slone from 4 to 7 p.m. A bags tournament with prizes will begin at 3 p.m. At 7 p.m. on Sunday, Rend Lake College professor Greg Hollman will explain the significance of the solar eclipse phenomenon with hands-on activities at the Mount Vernon High School Audition. Following Hollmans presentation, Kenneth Sembach will present on his work with the Hubble Telescope. Attendees will go outside around 9 p.m. for stargazing while Hollman identifies some of the night sky. Two exhibits from the Space Telescope Science Institute, Visions of the Universe and Hubbles Magnificent Universe, will be on display from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Cedarhurst. Admission is free. The appellate courthouse will be open for tours at 10 a.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday. The Hall of Honor Military Museum Mount Vernon Airport will also offer a tour at 11 a.m. Saturday, and the historical village will be open for tours at 1 p.m. Saturday. Cedarhurst will host a tour at 3 p.m. Saturday. CARBONDALE They may be famous for poor aim, but even Imperial Stormtroopers cant miss the eclipse festivities at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Thats right stormtroopers. The 501st Stormtrooper Legion, to be exact. The Southern Illinois Jedi Order will be there, too. But dont worry about a fight breaking out. Eclipse Comic Con rules forbid bringing operable weapons. The Eclipse Comic Con is part of eclipse weekend at SIU. Events are set for Aug. 19-20 starting both days at 10 a.m. A full but still developing schedule is available online at thesouthern.com. A comic con is a celebration of all things related to comics particularly superhero comics graphic novels, video gaming and science fiction. Costuming, known as cosplay, is an important feature for many participants. While some prize authenticity, others feel free to improvise, creating their own versions of characters who might inhabit sci-fi, superhero or video game adventure worlds. More recently, steampunk aficionados have joined, bringing their deliberately anachronistic version of the Victorian era to gear-and-gadgetry life. A costume contest rewards those who come in character; it takes place at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 20. Comic cons typically include informative panels led by guest stars, and the Eclipse Comic Con is no exception. Special guests include artists, writers and film animators who have worked on everything from the Justice League Unlimited, Star Trek and the Transformers to Scooby Doo and independent comics. This comic con blends the fantastic and sci-fi with science education. Planetary Radios Mat Kaplan will talk about the The Science of Star Trek at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 19. After the convention closes on Sunday, hell host an event from Shryock Auditorium with the help of WSIU Radio. Other educational features include the documentary Countdown to the Eclipse and a Crossroads Eclipse 2017 research workshop, both set for Saturday. Visitors can stroll the convention floor and visit vendors, including 4th Moon Collectibles, Brainstorms Laboratory, Cakes Reanimated, Castle Perilous, several independent comic publishers and more. And of course there are gaming opportunities for players of Magic the Gathering, Pokemon, Dungeons and Dragons and other games. Tickets are available as day passes, two-day passes and VIP passes. Get them in advance or at the door. SIU students with valid ID enter the convention free. CARBONDALE State Rep. Terri Bryant stopped by Prairie Living at Chautauqua Tuesday to give eclipse safety information to the residents during a pre-eclipse party. I feel a little like Elvis, Bryant joked as she stood in the center of a group residents. Do you remember when Elvis used to perform on that round stage? The audience smiled and nodded, but Bryant was there to do something more important than share memories. She brought eclipse viewing glasses and information on eclipse safety to those living in the facility. She explained how to fold in the arms of the glasses, then told everyone when they needed to put them on. We checked the numbers on these, and they are approved, Bryant said. One resident will be viewing her second total solar eclipse on Monday. Ninety-nine year old Jewell Wells saw the total solar eclipse that occurred in 1927. Theres not very many people who see any (eclipses), Wells said. I get to see two. Wells said she does not remember anyone wearing eclipse glasses, but they punched a pin hole in a piece of paper. An image of the eclipse shown through to a second piece of paper. Bryant told residents she had a special request for them, then she asked if any squirrel hunters were in the audience. There were a few. I love to go squirrel hunting. Its one of my favorite activities, Bryant said. She explained that to properly hunt squirrels, you have to go into the woods very early, before sunrise. Night sounds are different than day sounds, and at sunrise, the sounds in the woods change. One of the reasons she likes squirrel hunting is that she gets to hear that change. Bryant told residents that similar changes happen during a total solar eclipse and asked them to watch and listen for those changes. During a full eclipse, we get to see the sun and the moon at the same time. There is a moment when day sounds will turn to night sounds, Bryant said. I want you to listen for that moment. Prairie Living at Chautauqua has planned an eclipse party for residents and friends to view the total solar eclipse, according to marketing director Ryan Gurley. The day of the eclipse, we will have games, snow cones and popcorn outside. Right after lunch, it will be a party outside, Gurley said. Staff has plans in place to assure resident safety, too. Gurley said they have identified residents who need more assistance and will have extra staff on hand to meet those needs. Bryant, who serves as the minority spokesperson on the Illinois House Aging Committee, regularly visits assisted living centers to spend time with the residents, often calling bingo games. During a bingo visit to Prairie Living, Gurley asked if Bryant had eclipse glasses. When she said yes, Gurley asked her to speak to residents. Sometimes places like this are forgotten. I like to spend a little time at several of them, Bryan said. By Azernews By Ali Mustafayev Turkey has sent a protest note to Germany, accusing the country of providing support to a FETO member. Germany is providing an asylum to Adil Oksuz, a theology professor accused by the Turkish authorities of being an influential figure within the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO). He is also among the masterminds of the military coup attempt of July 2016. Oksuz was arrested in Turkey on July 16, 2016 but was subsequently released and has since disappeared. Ankara has informed the German authorities that Oksuz is one of the prime suspects of the July 15 defeated coup attempt and an international fugitive. Ankara also demanded the authorities of Germany to immediately extradite Oksuz to Turkey, Trend reports. FETO and its leader Gulen are accused of orchestrating the defeated coup of last year, that martyred 250 people and left nearly 2,200 injured. Ankara also accuses FETO of being behind a long-running campaign to overthrow the state through the infiltration of Turkish institutions, particularly the military, police and judiciary. Since the 2016 defeated coup attempt, nearly 4,000 FETO suspects have come to Germany from Turkey and other countries, according to Anadolu Agency. Several FETO suspects, including former soldiers and diplomats, have applied for asylum in various German federal states. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister of Turkey Mevlut Cavusoglu stated that Germany must change its hostile attitude towards Turkey. Cavusoglu, talking to TRT Haber network, said that an active anti-Turkish propaganda is being held in Germany. Turkey does not oppose Germany and sees no reason to spoil relations with that country, he said. If there are any problems in the relations, Germany should sit down at the negotiating table and discuss this issue with Turkey," Cavusoglu said. Earlier, Cavusoglu said that the Bundestag has parliamentarians, who actively support the terrorist Workers Party of Kurdistan (PKK). He claimed that some of them are trying to withdraw the PKK from the list of terrorist organizations. The ties between Turkey and Germany have been strained since the failed coup in Turkey in July 2016, and tensions have worsened over multiple issues including a referendum campaign to expand Turkish President's powers. German authorities banned some Turkish ministers from campaigning for ethnic Turk votes in Germany during the April referendum. The relations deteriorated further after Ankara blocked a group of German lawmakers from visiting the servicemen at the Incirlik Air Base. Despite further compromise made by the Turkish government regarding the German deputies visit to military base in Konya, the relations between the two countries are being strained to date. Emirates NBD (ENBD), a leading bank in the region, has launched its Advance Account facility, which will enable employees of the banks payroll customers who are new to the UAE to receive their account number on the first day of employment. The bank is currently piloting Advance Account with select employers across the UAE with the aim to ease and accelerate newcomers transition to the country. Emirates NBD staff will work in collaboration with the payroll employers HR teams to deliver the Advance Account welcome pack to employees on their first day of employment in the UAE which will include current and savings account numbers, access to the banks award-winning online and mobile banking platforms and a debit card. Suvo Sarkar, senior EVP & group head Retail Banking and Wealth Management said: The UAE is home to among the worlds largest expatriate workforces and we are delighted to collaborate with our local payroll customers to provide their new employees a seamless start to life in the UAE. Having an account number from day one in the UAE will empower our customers, offering them convenience while saving valuable time. Advance Account raises the bar in terms of banking in the region and we are certain it will be well received. Following visa processing, customers can apply for a range of products including a cheque book and their choice of credit card from Emirates NBDs product suite, a statement said. TradeArabia News Service Nucleus Software, a leading provider banking solutions, will showcase digital lending and advanced analytics at the upcoming Middle East Banking Innovation Summit 2017 in Dubai, UAE. Nucleus is participating as a gold sponsor at the event which will be held September 18-19 at Sofitel Dubai The Palm Resort & Spa. Organized by global conference producers, Expotrade, the summit in its 7th year will focus on the regions fintech market, technology driven banking trends and the emerging challenges with digitalization. According to Capgemini, 64 per cent of banking customers in the Middle East and Africa are already using fintech products and services. However, while 96 per cent of banking executives agree that the industry is evolving toward a digital banking ecosystem, only 13 per cent say they have the systems in place to support it. Daragh OByrne, global head, Marketing and Alliances, Nucleus Software will be speaking at this event on how innovative the use of digital, personalization and analytical capabilities can help financial service companies drive the future of lending and help them become the Bank of Tomorrow - Today. The Middle East is one of the world's fastest growing markets in the banking and capital markets sector and is making significant progress in digital transformation. Agility, innovation and digital are the keystones for future growth, said OByrne. With the three decades of expertise gained by working with 150 of the worlds most innovative banks and financial services companies, we know we can help banks in the Middle East address the challenges presented in the financial services sector today. For more than a decade we have been helping banks across the Middle East automate and streamline their operations, to provide their customers with innovative lending products and outstanding customer service. Brad Hariharan, regional director, Expotrade Middle East, said: It gives us great pleasure to welcome Nucleus Software once again for the seventh edition of the Middle East Banking Innovation Summit. As one of the sponsors for the past editions of the summit, it indeed means a lot to us to have Nucleus Software recognize the value in our summit and join as a Gold Sponsor. Solutions offered by Nucleus Software allow banks to offer an enhanced banking experience to their consumers. The summit predominantly focuses on the technological innovations in the banking domain, highlighting products and solutions that bring about a fundamental difference in the banking services, and we are confident this event resonates with Nucleus Softwares brand vision. We look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with them, he added. During the event, Nucleus Softwares experts will engage in discussions with leading banks to show them how to leverage the power of digital and analytics to attain their business objectives. The Middle East Banking Innovation Summit will gather over 450 senior bankers based in the UAE and across the globe. Over 40 global and regional CIOs, practice heads will participate as speakers and plenaries at the summit. TradeArabia News Service Saudi Aramco has signed a contract with a consortium comprising Saudi Archirodon Company and Huta Hegerfeld AG Saudia Company for dredging, reclamation and marine structures for King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services in Ras Al-Khair. The contract is the first major deal for the maritime complex where contractors will conduct dredging and reclamation of approximately 37 million cu m of fill, in addition to ground improvement over an area of 7.4 million sq m. The contract will also provide for constructing 4,500 linear metres of concrete quay walls and wharves, in addition to 12,000 linear metres of rock revetments and breakwaters to protect the integrity of the complex. It is an important milestone for King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services, the largest of its kind in the region. said Ahmed Al-Saadi, Saudi Aramcos senior vice president for technical services. The complex is in line with the kingdoms economic diversification objectives, it will position the kingdom as a strategic logistics hub and will create vast job opportunities, he said. Execution of the initial phase of the contract will be completed by 2020. It is instrumental for the whole programme as it will prepare the projects land for subsequent construction of a dry dock and ship building and maintenance facilities, the statement said. The complex was launched in November 2016 by King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in Ras Al-Khair, near Jubail in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The complex is a commercial maritime project that complements the growth of the Saudi energy industry and helps to meet the development and diversification objectives outlined by Saudi Vision 2030. The facility will offer quality, efficiency and economies of scale, and when completed will offer vessel and rig build, maintenance, repair and overhaul services. The project will comply with all of the Saudi governments environmental and sustainability requirements, the statement added. - TradeArabia News Service Dubais Cofely Besix Facility Management (CBFM) has been awarded the ISO 50001:2011 Energy Management System (EnMS) certification for the provision of facilities management services at Masdar City. The EnMS framework ensures energy management activities are carried out in a systematic manner to improve energy performance. Objectives and targets are regularly set and reviewed to drive year-on-year energy performance improvement for Masdar City. We have chosen to integrate the EnMS into our CAFM system to assure ourselves of a standardised use, management and monitoring of utility consumptions and carbon emissions, explained Bart Holsters, operations manager of Cofely Besix Facility Management. Moreover, this integration with our CAFM platform enables us to manage, share and benchmark energy conservation measures (ECMs) in a centralised manner which, in turn, empowers knowledge sharing across our organisation. The EnMS includes the understanding of the premises' efficiency and benchmarking, and setting objectives and targets to improve energy performance. Opportunities are identified and managed through the CAFM system, whilst an operational control plan which includes operational and management best practices is created. Annual energy audits are carried out, and all employees receive the required energy management awareness training to ensure consistency throughout the company. Implementing and obtaining the ISO50001 certification for our developed EnMS was a very important step within Cofely Besix FMs overall sustainability programme, added Holsters. We are very pleased with this achievement which will help us to further improve on our operational efficiency service delivery models and also to continuously reduce carbon emissions and utility expenditures within our operation. In partnership with Masdar City, we have proven that an energy management system a client might already have in place can be shaped easily into a standardised ISO50001 EnMS model. Ultimately our goal is to make sure energy efficiency becomes a mandatory target, whilst preserving our precious environment, concluded Holsters. CBFM was initially awarded the three-year facilities management contract for Masdar City in January 2017. The scope of services includes full hard, soft and civil facility management services including operations and maintenance of electrical systems, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems, potable water, fire detection systems, life-safety critical systems, elevators, building management system (BMS), low-voltage systems and civil infrastructure work. At CBFM, we regard energy consumption as a business cost, like all other business costs, explained Andre Mars, quality, health safety and environment manager of Cofely Besix Facility Management. Being certified to ISO 50001 standards will not only yield benefits in terms of cost reduction to us as a business, but it also generates additional gains for our clients through energy savings, as we continually monitor their energy consumption and resolve anomalies that may cause energy waste. Masdar City, one of the worlds most sustainable urban communities, is a rapidly growing clean-tech cluster, business free-zone and residential neighbourhood containing one of the largest groups of low-carbon buildings in the world. The application of sustainable best practice is at the heart of Masdar Citys vision, from planning and design through to construction and operations, and it is essential that our suppliers have the same philosophy, said Dr Nawal Al Hosany, executive director of Sustainability and Brand at Masdar. We welcome the award of this certification, which demonstrates the robustness of energy management activities at Masdar City, as well as reflecting our commitment to constantly improving energy performance. Masdar City is currently experiencing the most rapid development in its history. More than 176,000 sq m of completed buildings are fully leased and occupied, while a further 740,000 sq m of projects at Masdar City have firm development agreements in place, including schools, offices, hotels, shops, restaurants and private homes. TradeArabia News Service IBS Software, a leading IT solutions provider to the global aviation industry, has set up a test factory for Lufthansa Cargo to ensure that all its application software are fit for purpose and meet the highest quality standards. Lufthansa Cargo, a world leader in the air cargo industry, is known for its highly efficient processes, reliability and service excellence. With this test factory, it will derive benefits from IBS' air cargo domain knowledge and vast experience of building, testing and implementing mission critical systems for a large number of airlines and travel companies around the world, said a statement. IBS is a strategic IT partner for Lufthansa Cargo. Under this engagement, IBS is responsible for managing end-to-end testing of all applications under the core IT platform, enabling a smooth roll out of product upgrades, new services and innovations, it said. The test factory also uses IBS' enabling assets of testing frameworks, proven processes and effective tools to provide cost and quality advantage to Lufthansa Cargo. It also ensures that the testing services are delivered in a scalable, flexible and cost effective manner, it added. Dr Jochen Gottelmann, chief information officer, Lufthansa Cargo, said: With the IBS Test Factory, we have enhanced our strategic partnership with IBS on a next level. Bundling product development, project implementation and the important quality assurance for our core IT platform, we have succeeded to reduce the IT complexity and to streamline our provider relationships. With IBS as a trusted partner, we get these business critical services now out of one hand only, ensuring smooth transition of projects into operations, he said. Akshay Shrivastava, senior vice president and global head of IBS' Services Business, said: Our independent verification and validation team has played a key role in the IT program of Lufthansa Cargo and we take pride in the fact that we have been able to meet the expectations and needs of a leading cargo airline who is known for its highest quality standards in the industry. Our success has been made possible by the extraordinary collaboration, professionalism and commitment demonstrated by both Lufthansa Cargo and IBS teams throughout this engagement, he said. We are pleased that we have taken the relationship to the next levels by setting up this test factory, which will contribute to the successful implementation of Lufthansa Cargo's IT strategy, he added. We look forward to being a part of a continued Lufthansa Cargo success story in which technology will play an increasingly important role in coming years, he concluded. TradeArabia News Service Dubai Quality Group has started accepting the submissions to the sixth cycle UAE Ideas Conference & Award 2017. Under the patronage of HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, president of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, chairman of Dubai Airports, chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline & Group and patron of Dubai Quality Group, the 6th UAE Ideas Conference & Award 2017 will take place in Dubai this October. The award forms an integral part of the conference, which was introduced in the year 2012 by the group to encourage the extensive adoption of innovation. The annual conference in Arabic will bring together Emirati as well as other local talents, industry leaders and innovation experts under a single platform to speak on the significance of incorporating innovative practices at work and how profoundly it impacts todays economy and society. In line with UAEs strategy, UAE Ideas adopts creativity, innovation & continual improvement as key factors that lead to the development of the nation its citizens and residents. Fatma Buti Al Mheiri, chairman Dubai Quality Group, said: We are keen every year to organise the UAE Ideas Conference in order to promote the culture of creativity and innovation, and in turn contribute towards achieving the vision of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, which aims at making UAE among the best countries in the world by recognising innovation as a cornerstone of social and economic development. Innovation is a key to promoting economic growth, increasing competitiveness and productivity." She added: Considering the value that UAEs large expat population can add to the conference, owing to the years of experience that many of them have in the local market, we have decided this year to widen the scope of the award and accept submissions from both Emiratis as well as their expatriate counterparts, therefore, Im inviting all the organisations to apply. Dubai Quality Group invites all the organizations in UAE to apply, as the best creative and innovative ideas will be awarded according to the following categories: 1. Innovation in promoting Arabic language 2. Innovation in promoting National Identity 3. Innovation in promoting, encouraging and empowerment of UAE citizens 4. Promoting marketing and representation of UAE abroad 5. Promoting voluntary and humanitarian work 6. Promoting e-Government 7. Promoting environmental work (Eco Applications) 8. Promoting business 9. Media coverage of a national initiative 10. Promoting Emirati inventors (Young Inventor and Overall Inventor) Submissions for the award will close on September 20. - TradeArabia News Service Qatar has launched a project to generate around 500MW of electricity through solar power, which includes a plan to install solar panels on the rooftops of houses across the country, a report said. "Kahramaa is currently working on using solar power to desalinate ground water for using the same for agriculture but the high cost is the real challenge. However, if the idea worked out commercially, it will be reflect positively on food production in the country, Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa) president Essa bin Hilal al-Kuwari was quoted as saying in the Gulf Times Qatar report. Kahramaa has also adopted smart cities solutions, he added, noting that more than 20,000 smart meters have been installed and connected to its communication centre. Similarly, Msheireb Downtown Doha is set to be completely smart and Kahramaa is taking part in this, he said. Qatargas recently delivered the first Q-Max cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) under a long-term sale agreement with PTT Public Company to Thailand. The cargo arrived on board the Q-Max LNG vessel, Bu Samra, at Thailands Map Ta Phut LNG receiving terminal. This is the first Q-Max vessel to arrive at Map Ta Phut terminal since the start-up of the terminal in 2011, when Qatargas delivered the first commissioning cargo to Thailands first LNG receiving terminal Map Ta Phut. Since then, Qatargas has supplied PTT with approximately 9 million tons of LNG, delivering most of these cargoes via Q-Flex vessels. In December 2012, Qatargas 3 and PTT Company signed an SPA to deliver two million tonnes per annum (MTPA) of LNG for a period of 20 years from 2015. This agreement marked PTTs first long-term LNG SPA and Qatargas first long-term agreement in South-East Asia. Currently, Map Ta Phut LNG Receiving Terminal is the only LNG receiving terminal operating in Thailand, and it can receive both Q-Flex and Q-Max vessels. TradeArabia News Service When the final contracts for the El Dabaa nuclear power plant are signed this year, Egypt is edging ever closer to fulfilling its nuclear ambition being nurtured for more than half a century now, says a study. Over the intervening six decades, Egypt has come a long way and, after many hiccups, is finally on the cusp of reaping the benefits from its first very own nuclear power plant. Other than the sheer historic significance of Egypts most ambitious project since the Aswan High Dam, what does the El Dabaa NPP construction mean for Egypt and its people? Considering how technologically advanced the nuclear industry is today, its development almost inevitably puts a nuclear newcomer country into the premier league of the worlds leading states, through the economic, technical and social progress it necessarily entails. First of all, obviously, there is the power generation itself. With its total 4,800 MWe net capacity, the El Dabaa NPP will not only ensure the security of supply, providing affordable electricity to millions of people, but opens up the potential of Egypt becoming an energy exporter in the future, solidifying its standing in the region. Importantly for a project of this scale, its effect will be felt both long before the plant is even built. For instance, the localization level for the project will amount to approximately 20%, which is remarkably high for a country with no pre-existing nuclear power plants. Even better news is that this figure is likely to increase with the construction of each subsequent power units (of the four units of the plant design). During the construction phase, the project will also provide employment for 10,000 to 12,000 skilled local workers. As far as job creation goes, the El Dabaa NPP will be a major employer, requiring 2,500 to 3,000 specialists for operation and maintenance. No less importantly, these jobs come with improved training and education opportunities for Egypts nuclear industry. Russias Rosatom, the main contractor for the El Dabaa NPP project, will be conducting training, both in Russia and in Egypt, for 2,000 Egyptian specialist cadre who will service the future NPP. It also has joint nuclear education programmes for Egyptian students and partnerships with Egypts leading universities such as Alexandria University. Rosatom has plans to expand these programmes, with some 300 Egyptians students set to study nuclear science in Russia over the next few years alone. No less significant is the indirect effect the El Dabaa NPP project will have on Egypts economic development, stimulating growth in related non-nuclear industries such as construction and utilities as well as in the consumer services sector, and driving the populations purchasing power. Early estimations put this indirect effect on Egypts economy at $7-9 billion during the NPP construction phase alone. An added and, considering the failing state of Egypts tourism industry important benefit of the project is that, by bringing state-of-the-art infrastructure to the relatively underdeveloped El Dabaa region, it will help turn the area into a tourist destination. The link between nuclear power and tourism development has been proven by precedent most notably in Angra Dos Reis, a resort on Brazils south-east coast. The region is home to Brazils only nuclear power plant, Angra, which is the regions largest employer and, since the start of construction in 1971, was instrumental in turning Angra Dos Reis from a backwater village into a popular resort, and driving the development of both traditional and modern industry sectors as well as the populations living standards. Back in 2015, when Egypt and Russia signed an intergovernmental agreement on the construction of the El Dabaa NPP, Egypts president Abdel Fattah As-Sisi noted that having its own nuclear programme for power generation had been a long-time dream of Egypts. With the El Dabaa NPP, the dream come true is set bring Egypt infinitely more than just electric power. AirAsias Think Asean, Think AirAsia campaign was named Best Asean Marketing and Promotional Campaign at the 30th Aseanta Awards for Excellence held at the Borobudur Hotel in Jakarta last night. The campaign, which ran from August 8 to 14, 2016, in conjunction with Asean Day, featured a photo look book and dedicated posts of must-see places in Asean on social media and Travel 3sixty digital platform, highlights of AirAsias Asean-inspired inflight menu and a YouTube video series on things to do and food to eat in each Asean country - all supported by a promotional fare from as low as RM10 to all Asean countries. The Best Asean Marketing and Promotional Campaign award recognises promotional or marketing campaigns made by any entity within or outside the region that effectively increases the awareness of Asean as a single destination. The award was presented by Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya to AirAsia Group CEO for Indonesia Dendy Kurniawan, who accepted it on behalf of AirAsia Group. The annual Aseanta Awards for Excellence recognise Asean individuals or organisations that have contributed to the development and promotion of Asean tourism products. A total of six categories were contested, which also included Best Asean Travel Article, Best Asean Tourism Photo, Best Asean New Tourism Attraction, Best Asean Airline Programme and Best Asean Cultural Preservation Effort. AirAsia Group Branding Head Rudy Khaw said: It is an honour to be chosen once again for the best Asean marketing campaign. Being a truly Asean airline, we are always ready to bat for the region, and we are thrilled this showcase of the best Asean has to offer could play a role in making it the destination of choice for more travellers. AirAsia flies direct to all 10 Asean countries and has operations in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines, as well as India. - TradeArabia News Service Hospitality Industry Technology Exposition and Conference (Hitec), the world's largest hospitality technology conference brand, will be coming to Dubai, UAE on November 14-15, 2017 at the Conrad Dubai. Produced in partnership by Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP), the only organization producing nonprofit hospitality events at an international level, and Naseba, Hitec Dubai is set to be the region's largest hospitality technology showcase hosting over 500 leading hospitality decision makers and technology vendors. Hitec Dubai is an extension of HFTP's tremendously successful Hitec, which just completed its 45th year. To plan the event's educational programme, an advisory council of experts with over 200 years of combined industry experience has been formed. The council met on August 9, 2017 at the Jumeirah offices in the Dubai Design District to discuss and design an agenda that is most relevant to the Middle East's challenges, needs and upcoming hospitality technology trends. Nancy Wolff, Senior vice President of technology at Jumeirah Group is the chairwoman of the HITEC Dubai advisory council, and spearheaded the kick-off meeting. Chairing the council for the first Hitec Dubai is a privilege I do not take lightly. Our kick-off meeting was a crucial first step for discussing with peers what technology opportunities really matter in this region. The entire Advisory Council is committed to bringing tangible value to each and every participant. The other members of the council are senior executives from leading local and global chains, and the solution providers segment. They include Nigel Hattersley, senior director of IT MEA, Marriot International; Radi Karnib, senior director of IT MEA and Turkey, Hilton Worldwide; Iftikhar Hamdani, cluster general manager, Ramada Hotel & Suites; and Laurent Voivenel, senior vice president of operations and development for MEA and India, Swiss-Belhotel, among others. "The Middle East hospitality industry is one of the fastest growing in the world," said HFTP CEO Frank Wolfe. "Combining HFTP's 65 years of hospitality finance and technology education, regional expertise from an industry advisory council and Naseba deal facilitation will create the ultimate hospitality information exchange that the region has experienced thus far." Some of the most important topics identified include: bandwidth and HSI, power of data analytics and intelligence, intuitive technologies, sustainable technologies and the future of management systems. There were also deliberations on the use of robotics, ethical implications of AI, blockchain and the rising risk of cyber-attacks. Production director of Naseba and Hitec Dubai, Naveen Bharadwaj noted: "Dubai is the regional leader of hospitality and an epitome of innovation. By bringing Hitec to Dubai and working with the expert advisory council, HFTP and Naseba aim to facilitate knowledge sharing, networking and deal flow amongst hoteliers and hospitality technology providers." Hitec Dubai will feature an expo floor for exhibitors to showcase their latest solutions; and a summit floor for panel discussions, tech talks and pre-scheduled one-to-one business meetings between pre-qualified hoteliers and cutting technology providers. So far, over 40 sponsors and exhibitors have confirmed their attendance at the event. With more than 500 hospitality stakeholders in attendance, the event is set to be the Middle East's largest hospitality technology showcase and deal flow platform. - TradeArabia News Service Etihad Airways and Lakme Fashion Week today announced a collaboration with one of the most lauded and inspiring international contemporary designers, Paris-based Manish Arora, who returns to the prestigious Mumbai fashion event after more than five years. The celebrated Indian couturier marks the 10th anniversary of his colourful Paris collection by presenting CosmicLove at the Lakme Fashion Week Winter Festive 2017 on August 19. His show, Etihad Airways Presents Manish Arora, will take the star-studded audience of Bollywood celebrities, lifestyle media and fashion lovers on a visual journey that spans the tribes of Africa and the outer reaches of the universe. Known for his astute craftsmanship and unique play on colours his trademark being pink and gold Aroras designs are inspired by Indian heritage but with a contemporary vibe. Etihad Airways flew Manish Arora on its recently-launched Airbus A380 Paris Abu Dhabi service and onwards to India, capturing his journey on film from the French capital to Delhi, during which he speaks candidly about his inspiration from the varied cultures and environment for his renowned creations. From the iconic Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe and the fashionable Canal Saint-Martin in Paris to Delhis historic India Gate and one of the countrys oldest and busiest markets, Chandni Chowk, the video charts Manish Aroras trip that also takes in his flagship stores in both cities. Manish Arora said: I am delighted to celebrate the 10th anniversary of my Paris collection CosmicLove by showcasing it during Lakme Fashion Week. The line I am bringing to Mumbai is inspired by the tribes of Africa and outer reaches of the cosmos. Having spent 10 years of my working life in Paris after launching my career in Delhi, I have drawn much inspiration from my travels to the work I create. Its wonderful to be associated with Etihad Airways, an airline I have admired and travelled with for so many years. The collaboration with Manish Arora is the latest initiative by the Abu Dhabi-based carrier to demonstrate its position as the fashion industrys preferred airline. This will be the airlines third presence at Lakme Fashion Week over the past 12 months, further elevating its premium brand presence alongside the worlds most revered luxury names. Last year, Etihad Airways struck a comprehensive global agreement with WME | IMG to become a long-term partner of the fashion community. The relationship helps further connect the airline with fashion capitals of the world and build travel loyalty with this vibrant sector. Patrick Pierce, Etihad Airways vice president marketing partnerships, said: Working with esteemed designers such as Manish Arora strengthens Etihad Airways commitment to the fashion industry, where we are fast becoming the airline of choice. Our video is a unique portrait of Manishs journey back to Lakme Fashion Week, one of the leading events on the international fashion calendar. Mumbai is the latest stop in Etihad Airways global fashion calendar, supporting 17 mens and womens fashion events worldwide every year, with shows in London, Milan and New York following next month. Jaspreet Chandok, head-fashion, IMG Reliance Ltd, added: It is a moment of absolute pride for us to announce the return of Manish Arora to Lakme Fashion Week. The tie-up between a global brand such as Etihad Airways and Indias greatest fashion export Manish Arora is organic on many levels and will lead to a showcase that people will remember for a long time. During Lakme Fashion Week, Etihad Airways will present Runway to Runway, an exclusive travel programme tailored specifically to the international fashion community, including editors, designers, models, photographers, stylists, students of fashion, bloggers and fashion industry executives, plus the global community of fashion devotees. Visitors will be encouraged to sign up and enjoy benefits such as airport lounge access and priority boarding and check-in. Etihad Airways positioning as a premium lifestyle airline is reflected by its innovative and stylish designs in product and service offering onboard its luxurious aircraft. The carriers award-winning Airbus A380s, currently serving Sydney, New York, London, Melbourne and Paris from Abu Dhabi features The Residence, an iconic three-room suite in the air a perfect fit for high flyers from the fashion industry. Etihad Airways will be reporting from Lakme Fashion Week between August 16 and 20. Follow coverage at #LakmeFashionWeek #EtihadAirways #ManishArora #Manisharorafashion #RunwayToRunway. - TradeArabia News Service TrustYou, the worlds largest guest feedback platform, has expanded its client portfolio with new partnerships forged with numerous independent and chain hotels across the globe. The internationally operating NH Hotel Group, with almost 400 properties in 31 countries, recently integrated TrustYous Meta-Review and Rich Snippets onto their brand website with the goal to also add independent, third-party review summaries to their direct booking experience. NH Hotels registered immediate improvements to conversion and traffic as well as to the resulting revenue. Due to this positive experience, the hotel chain recently also started to utilise the semantic analysis of TrustYous guest feedback platform to enhance the overall customer experience, operations, and quality of their properties. Wyndham Vacation Ownership, headquartered in in Orlando, Florida, USA, has started to utilise TrustYous guest feedback platform for their resorts across the US, Canada, Mexico, and many more countries. The convenient portfolio function allows the management chain to keep track of the reputation and quality of their 200+ properties in order to ensure maximum guest satisfaction. A positive guest experience is the main goal for all our Wyndham Vacation Ownership resorts. TrustYou was the ideal solution to monitor scores, quality, and operations from a guest perspective. Managing all properties in one tool helps us to identify shortcomings immediately and accelerate issue resolutions, which results in better scores and, eventually, in more bookings, said Tiffany O'Connell, director of Digital Engagement at Wyndham Vacation Ownership. Berlin-based Travel Charme Hotels & Resorts operates 11 properties in Germany and Austria, focusing on vacation and leisure with a very personal vibe. The group chose TrustYou in spring 2017 to analyse, manage, and reply to feedback in all properties to guarantee the best possible interaction with the guests - before, during, and after the stay. With TrustYous survey solution, Travel Charme Hotels & Resorts can easily enquire about their guests experience directly after their stay. Best Hotels relies on TrustYous review analysis features for its 30 hotels on Spains mainland and islands locations since spring 2017. The goal is to improve the overall guest satisfaction and service quality across all properties. In order to increase direct bookings and to improve the user experience, Best Hotels furthermore integrated Meta-Reviews and rich snippets on their hotel website. In Japan, the boutique hotel chain Villa Fontaine recently decided to work with TrustYous platform. The 17 properties in Tokyo, Osaka, and Kobe will analyse, manage, and solicit their own guest feedback with TrustYous analytics solution and post-stay surveys to increase the volume of reviews and positive ratings. In the Asia Pacific region, the Erawan Group, with an extensive hotel network in Thailand and the Philippines, designed the Hop Inn Hotels for the budget conscious, business, and leisure travelers and joined the TrustYou client portfolio in July 2017. Hop Inn Hotels use the feedback platform to better oversee and examine guest reviews for its 26 existing and four soon-to-open hotels in 2017. Additionally, numerous renowned independent hotels chose TrustYou for guest feedback management, such as Hotel Lancaster in Paris (FR), Hotel Allgau Sonne in Oberstaufen (DE), Hotel Sonnenburg in Lech am Arlberg (AT), and Chancellors House in Oxford (UK). We look back on a very successful first half of 2017 with exciting new partnerships across the globe and we are proud to have gained the trust of so many hospitality partners to rely on our guest feedback platform. TrustYou provides the technology and features that meet todays requirements of both, internationally operating hotel chains and independent hotels, to market, manage, and collect guest feedback in a mobile-first society," said Benjamin Jost, CEO at TrustYou. - TradeArabia News Service A federal judge has blocked a proposed 176-million ton expansion of a central Montana coal mine in a ruling that criticized U.S. officials for downplaying the climate change impacts of the project and inflating its economic benefits. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy issued an order Monday barring Signal Peak Energy from mining in the 11-square mile expansion area at the Bull Mountain coal mine pending a new round of environmental studies. Molloy says the Interior Departments Office of Surface Mining must consider the environmental effects of shipping the fuel to customers in Asia and from the greenhouse gases and other pollutants emitted when the fuel is burned to generate electricity. Courts in Colorado and Montana previously have issued similar rulings about greenhouse gas emissions from mine expansions. In those cases, the expansions ultimately were allowed to proceed following further environmental reviews. Molloys ruling stems from a 2015 lawsuit filed by the Montana Environmental Information Center, Sierra Club and Montana Elders for a Livable Tomorrow. The groups argued that the government did not look closely enough at the effects of the expansion on waterways, air pollution and the health of people who live along the coals shipping routes. A Signal Peak spokesman said Tuesday that the company was reviewing the ruling, which was not expected to immediately affect operations. Federal mining officials said the proposed expansion would contribute almost $24 million annually in tax revenues. They also said there would be no additional environmental impacts from burning more coal from Bull Mountain because its customers would simply go somewhere else if the expansion were not approved. But Molloy rejected the claim. This conclusion is illogical, and places the (Interior Departments) thumb on the scale by inflating the benefits of the action while minimizing its impacts, the judge wrote. Bull Mountain, near Roundup, is a major employer in central Montana, with more than 250 workers at the underground mine and a coal preparation plant on the site. As much as 95 percent of its coal has been exported in past years, to South Korea, Japan and the Netherlands, according to court volumes. The mines production volumes dropped sharply in recent years as overseas coal markets have been in decline. Signal Peak extracted 5.6 million tons of coal last year, down by 35 percent since peaking at 8.7 million tons in 2013, according to company filings with the U.S. Mine Health and Safety Administration. Under the proposed expansion, the company anticipated mining up to 12 million tons annually. Office of Surface Mining spokesman Chris Holmes referred questions on the ruling to the Department of Justice, where a spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Casper residents gathered Tuesday evening to show support for people in Charlottesville, Virginia, after the weekends violence. The event was organized by Jane Ifland, coordinator for Indivisible Casper. Im so glad to see how many people are ready to stand up against the alt-right even in this reddest of the red states, Ifland said. A 32-year-old woman died and 19 others were injured Saturday when a car plowed into a group protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. Originally planned to be a silent assembly, about 80 people gathered in Pioneer Square to peacefully protest and talk to one another. Many held signs with messages like Love not hate makes America great, We stand with you, and Love trumps hate, which they displayed for drivers making their way down Center Street. One man held an anti-fascist flag. One sign holder, Vicki Windle, who has lived in Casper since she was in junior high, said she wanted to support people who dont enjoy the same privileges she does. Im standing for people who have had trouble standing for themselves, Windle said. Toward the end of the gathering, Ifland stood up to thank everyone for coming and to ask them to promote the values that make America great. Ill fight for that, Ifland said, Ill fight for that every day. Among Caspers many features, in addition to being in the path of totality for Monday mornings eclipse, is the North Platte River with its much-used trails system. The primary fundraising event for those trails is the family-friendly craft beer festival, Riverfest, which is Saturday inside Mike Lansing Field, off of North Poplar Street. There is no admission fee to enjoy the festival if you are not drinking beer. Hours are 12:30 to 5:30 p.m. It is the 25th year of the festival, and operations will be a bit different in anticipation of the large crowds. Because we are expecting so many more, we thought we would simplify the entrance process, said Angela Emery, executive director of the Platte River Trails Trust. We are selling these really cool commemorative cups. You buy it one time, then you walk in and taste beer all afternoon. Cups are available online at casperriverfest.com for $25 until midnight Friday. They will be $30 at the event. For craft brew tasters, Emery said there are so many, perhaps 25 or 30 different beers from Wyoming and also regionally from Colorado and Utah. VIP parking is also available in advance for $30. If the lot is not full, spaces will be sold for the same price on Saturday. For those wanting to bike to the festival, the Crazy Pedaler is offering a bike valet for $5 just to the left of the entrance. We dont want to be lost in the eclipse shuffle, we want to be a part of it, Emery said. We think we have an awesome event. Were prepped and ready to go and we just want people to come now. Three live bands will entertain, including local favorite Barrel House, slide guitar-playing bluesman Grant Sabin and the Kris Lager Band. For those hungry while they sip, Emery said she has lined up Caspers best food trucks, including La Texanita, Mad Flatters, Primetime, On Common Ground, Q n Stew, Northern Ice, Flour Tops, The Flour Bin and more. Family friendly activities include bounce houses, face painting, gold panning, a Science Zone area and lawn games. In addition, Riverfest is continuing to partner with the Casper Rotary Club for its Great Duck Derby. We love having the ducks at this party, Emery said. The two events have been combined since 2000. Duck tickets are $20 and may be purchased in advance from Emerys office at the Tate Pumphouse on West First Street, or from any Rotarian. They will also be available in the parking lots and at the festival until about 3 p.m. At an appointed time on Saturday afternoon, the numbered rubber ducks are dropped in the river. When they cross the finish line, the ducks are joined with corresponding numbered prizes, and lucky duck ticket holders win dozens of prizes with the proceeds going to Casper Rotary projects. Eleventh-graders in Wyomings public schools performed slightly worse on the ACT compared with last year, with Natrona County students lagging just behind the statewide average, according to results released Wednesday. Meanwhile, district and statewide averages on the ACT Aspire test taken online by ninth- and 10th-graders partially as a gauge of college readiness were essentially the same as last years scores, according to state Department of Education data. On the ACT, 11th-graders in the district averaged a 19.3 (a perfect score is a 36), down from 19.7 last year. Statewide, the average was 19.7, also a slight decrease compared with last years 20.0. Of Natrona Countys four high schools, Kelly Walsh had the highest average, at 20.3. Natrona County High averaged 19.1, Midwest School was at 16.1 and Roosevelt High averaged 15.3. To be admitted into the University of Wyoming, a student generally needs to score a 21. A message left for comment from the district was not returned Wednesday. Fremont County School District Nos. 21 and 14 had the lowest average scores, at 14.8 and 15.1, respectively. Park County School District No. 16 one of the smallest districts in the state had the highest average, at 22.1 Of the other large districts in the state, Natrona scored roughly in the middle. Albany County, which is about a third the size of Natrona County, averaged a 21, while Laramie County No. 1, the states largest district, averaged a 19.7. Campbell County and Sweetwater County School District No. 1 both averaged an 18.9. In a press conference, education department spokeswoman Kari Eakins said the results both on the ACT and Aspire did not represent a statistically significant change from last year. This past year was also the last year that Aspire will be administered to underclassmen. They will take the new WY-TOPP test starting next year. The ACT scores have taken on an even larger role this year as lawmakers scrutinize Wyoming students performance amid a broader conversation about how the state funds education. Last week, Sen. President Eli Bebout said Wyoming doesnt get a satisfactory return on its educational investment, and at a key legislative meeting late last month, Sen. Dave Kinskey pointed out the ACT scores specifically as a sign that Wyoming schools are underperforming, especially given that each student is worth more than $16,000 in state funding to his or her district. Last year, Wyomings ACT scores ranked 39th nationally. However, Wyoming is also one of only 14 states to administer the test to every student (although a few more states require students take either the SAT or the ACT). The requirement is an especially important bit of context given that a large share of high school graduates here dont pursue their education past high school. To that effect, state Superintendent Jillian Balow said during the press conference that the ACT can be used both as a way to apply to colleges and to test general post-secondary readiness. Department officials told media Wednesday that it was too early to tell how Wyoming stacked up against other states. A federal grand jury on Monday indicted a Casper couple on charges of bankruptcy fraud. The IRS alleged James Edward Knight II, 41, and Ashley Elizabeth Knight, 41, lied on an application for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in an attempt to avoid paying back taxes, at least some of which were related to the couples failed business, Ikon Welding. The IRS said that although the two claimed in bankruptcy court in September 2015 that they owned no businesses and had no bank accounts, Ashley Knight had used a bank account for a company called Superior Fabrication in late 2014. James Knight claimed ownership of Superior Fabrication on a job application in March 2015, IRS investigators said. James Knight is also facing a charge of making a false statement under oath. If he were found guilty, each of the two charges could result in five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000. Knights attorney declined comment Tuesday. Ashley Knight faces the same charges as well as 12 counts of laundering of monetary instruments. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years imprisonment on each count. Her attorney did not immediately respond to a message left seeking comment. Online court records indicated their jury trial will begin Oct. 10 in Casper. U.S. District Court Judge Scott W. Skavdahl was scheduled to preside. CODY Two brothers have pleaded not guilty to charges that they abandoned three horses in northern Wyoming last winter. Brad and David Flint, of Park County, entered their pleas Tuesday to misdemeanor charges in Park County Circuit Court. They have been released on $3,000 bail each, and a Dec. 21 trial date has been set. The two are accused of "cruelly abandoning" three horses in the Shoshone National Forest last winter. Two of the horses were eventually rescued, while the third apparently died. Forest Service Law Enforcement officer Ron Ostrum says the horses were lost during a hunt in the Meeteetse area last September. The two surviving horses were found by the horn hunter in April. Natrona County School District has 900 empty elementary school seats as the new academic year draws near, and officials are seriously considering shuttering more buildings because of the excess capacity. (T)here is a need to right size district facilities, concluded a press release from the district sent Tuesday. The closure of an elementary school or other district facility is far from certain, officials said. They are still awaiting a more concrete enrollment count, which will be available in mid-September. But officials could know by mid-October, said Michael Jennings, executive director of human services. He added that the district wants to inform any potentially affected families and staff as early as possible. Jennings and Rick Skatula, the executive director for school improvement, stressed that no specific building has been targeted for closure. Every school and facility in the district is under review, and officials are examining each based on its capacity, its enrollment, its programs, its staff, maintenance needed, and the condition of the building and the site upon which it sits. Last November, the district announced that it would close Grant Elementary, which had excess capacity and needed more than $500,000 in repairs. At that time, the district had around 570 empty seats, Jennings said. At Grant, all staff with the exception of those leaving the district voluntarily were reassigned to other schools within the district. Though its unclear what the future holds as lawmakers consider a complete overhaul of the state school funding system, the district has maintained that it will do all it can to avoid layoffs. School closures, however, are being seriously considered by the board construction steering committee, Jennings said of the group of board members who oversee the districts facilities. Officials also announced the closure of the former Jefferson School which acted as the districts main office for special education services. Personnel who worked in that building will now work out of the main district headquarters. The building will likely be put up for sale. Westwood School will also close and be vacated by next summer. The district finds itself caught between past expectations and a post-bust reality. For years leading up to 2015, elementary enrollment was growing at a steady clip, and Casper officials were told they needed to create space to accommodate the influx of students. Construction money was still flowing steadily into state coffers, and the district authorized the construction of Journey Elementary which can hold 420 students and will open in the coming weeks and an addition to Bar Nunn Elementary. That was before the economic downturn and before families taking with them Natrona County students left the state in search of work. Since then, elementary enrollment here has been declining. Overall enrollment is nearly flat, but thats largely because of the strong growth of younger students during the pre-bust period. The enrollment piece is critical to the broader education funding puzzle in Wyoming. Each district receives state money per student, so as enrollment has fallen in the past two years, Natrona County schools have lost $2 million. The enrollment drop helped create a hole in the districts coffers and caused excess capacity, which in turn makes schools more vulnerable to closure. In November, when the district announced Grants closure, they revealed that several other buildings including the old Roosevelt High School, Fairgrounds Center, Mills Elementary, North Casper School and the Star Lane Center would also shutter. To date, Roosevelt and Fairgrounds have been sold. Skatula said there were groups interested in both Grant and Mills. Star Lane has moved its services to the Pathways Innovation Center campus. The district will also continue to examine what to do with other facilities, like the McKinley Annex and its old bus garage. Gov. Matt Mead and other Wyoming political leaders said Tuesday they believe the states latest effort to diversify its economy, known as ENDOW, would be successful. Mead, Senate President Eli Bebout, House Speaker Steve Harshman and ENDOW co-chair Greg Hill spoke after the groups advisory council held a day-long workshop in Jackson. While diversification has long been a stated goal of Wyomings elected officials, Mead said that he has heard several new ideas since he created ENDOW last year. Mead emphasizes $2.5M economic diversity plan Gov. Matt Mead says his new $2.5 million initiative to develop a comprehensive plan to diver One of those ideas was starting a pre-approval process for industrial parks that could house facilities like power plants. While the state has long worked on receiving pre-approval from the federal government for pipelines, Mead said that streamlining could apply to more sectors. Another was simply the need to promote Wyoming as a place to do business. We really are a great place to do business, but a lot of people outside just look at us as a place for fun, Mead said. How do we let the outside world know? Bebout, who has served in the Legislature for decades, said that ENDOW strikes him as more promising than previous efforts to diversity Wyomings economy not so much because it is raising different issues as because of the people involved. What was lacking then and I really dont see that now was a commitment, Bebout said. They really believe in Wyoming. ENDOW, which stands for Economically Needed Diversity Options for Wyoming, was funded with $2.5 million and a mandate to develop a comprehensive plan for diversifying the states economy. Ideas mentioned at the press conference included improving transportation and water infrastructure, leveraging the states broadband connection and ensuring that any improvements seen in added-value efforts in the energy industry carry over to the higher education system. Harshman echoed Bebouts enthusiasm. He said that ENDOW could harness the attractive draws that Wyoming already has and convert that into economic growth. Capitalism and opportunity and freedom and just this whole anything is possible, Harshman said. Thats really Why Wyoming. Harshman said it was not clear exactly what ENDOW would result in but that it was bound to pay dividends for the state. Were not just going to wait and print one more sticker: Lord, give us one more boom and I promise not to waste it, he said. A heated feud between two Casper City Council members appears to be on the mend. Councilwoman Amanda Huckabay -- who called Councilman Jesse Morgan ignorant at last week's City Council work session when he stated he had learned at a sexual assault panel that Casper bar patrons are commonly getting too intoxicated -- said at Tuesday nights meeting that she regretted her words. In hindsight, I recognize that I was triggered personally, she said. Huckabay, who has previously identified herself as a sexual assault survivor, said on Tuesday that she struggles with post-traumatic stress. If I could go back and change how I handled the situation, I would, she added. Morgan said that he mentioned the sexual assault panel only because that is where he learned the information and said he never meant to connect alcohol and sexual assault. "I'm sorry that it was received that way," he said. Morgan, who sent an email to colleagues last Thursday asking for the mayor and vice mayor to issue a formal reprimand to Huckabay, said he is no longer pursuing the charge. A group from the Wyoming Women Warriors spoke to Council on Tuesday to say they supported Huckabay. The group's leader said she was pleased with Council's response to the issue. Check trib.com for more on this story. PHOENIX Regulators agreed Tuesday to allow Arizona Public Service, the states largest electric company, to collect another $95 million a year from its customers. The nearly 3.9 percent overall rate increase is effective Saturday. For residential customers, the increase is closer to 4.5 percent, which APS says will mean an average $6-a-month increase for its more than 1 million residential customers. APS serves primarily the Phoenix area and central Arizona but also portions of Southern Arizona including Ajo, Bisbee and Douglas. The 4-1 vote by the Arizona Corporation Commission came after the majority rejected a bid by Bob Burns to delay the rate case until his lawsuit against APS and his fellow commissioners is resolved. Burns contends he was denied what he believes is his constitutional right as a commissioner to subpoena utility executives over how theyve spent ratepayers money in the past, including whether they were the source of money spent anonymously on campaigns in the 2014 election. Burns had no better luck with a proposal to allow the rate hike to take effect but require APS to post a bond equal to the new dollars in case a judge ultimately sides with him. If courts conclude the rate case was not handled properly, consumers will be entitled to refunds, Burns argued. APS legal counsel Thomas Loquvam declined to comment on the possibility of refunds because of the pending lawsuit. Regulators voting with the majority said the rate increase worked out by APS, commission staff and the Residential Utility Consumer Office was a good deal. Commissioner Andy Tobin pointed out that groups representing low-income residents were in support. And Boyd Dunn said his support was based on the relevant facts and not personal attacks he called unfortunate. Within the rate increase, there also are some significant changes in how bills will be computed. People who are currently paying a flat rate will find their basic charges what they pay no matter how much or little energy they use going up sharply. For basic customers, the figure is going from less than $9 a month to $15; for large-use customers, meaning homeowners using more than 1,000 kilowatts a month, the base rate will be $20. Much of that is designed to encourage customers to switch to alternate rate structures. One is a time-of-use rate, where the charge per kilowatt hour is higher during peak periods but lower at off-peak times. APS currently has such a program, with higher rates from noon until 7 p.m. The new rate structure sets the peak hours from 3 to 8 p.m. That drew concern from some consumer advocates who noted the higher overall rates and said it will be difficult for customers to use less power during that early evening hour. Any new APS customer will be automatically put into a time-of-day rate for at least 90 days. Only after that would they be able to decide that a flat per kilowatt hour makes more financial sense. Burns attempted to insert a provision to guarantee a refund for new customers who pay more under a time-of-use rate than they would have under a flat rate. APS opposed the move, a position that Steve Jennings of AARP said shows what this is really about: corporate profits. I think you can see by the companys position on this that theyre admitting that theyre going to charge people more than people need to pay for the power, Jennings told regulators. People should only have to pay what it costs for them to get the power, not one penny more. But APS Vice President Barbara Lockwood said all this is part of the companys need to move to more modern rates that reflect the cost and availability of electricity. Lockwood said promising customers a refund if a flat rate would have cost them less undermines the goal of getting customers to work with the rates to see if they can save money by adjusting their energy use. If its a flat guarantee, then theres really no purpose or reason for customers to actually experience the rates, she said. In hammering out a deal, APS made some concessions. For example, one provision provides a special discount rate for schools, a move that brought on the Arizona School Boards Association. There also is a new rate to attract data centers and customers with multiple locations, like grocery chains, will be able to have a single aggregate rate with lower costs. Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems ceremonially delivered its 4,000th Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile to the Navy on Tuesday. But the latest Tomahawk missile is far more capable than the first ones launched in combat during Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and future versions will add technology to tackle new missions, Raytheon and Navy officials said at a company event marking the delivery milestone. The satellite-guided Tomahawk already is the nations weapon of choice for striking high-value targets with pinpoint accuracy from long range, with more than 2,300 fired in combat in 15 military operations. It is often the weapon that clears the path for the rest of the force and at times its the only weapon necessary to meet the mission objectives, Capt. Mark Johnson, the Navys Tomahawk program manager, said during a private Raytheon event at the UA Tech Park. Though Americas Navy is dispersed around the globe, the Tomahawk allows the nation to project its power when needed through the 141 destroyers, cruisers and submarines that carry the cruise missile, Johnson said. When a country sees a U.S destroyer sitting off its coast, one of the primary reasons they grow concerned is due to the capabilities they know the Tomahawk missile brings, he said. The Tomahawk Block IV debuted in 2004, adding the ability to loiter over targets, transmit images and allow commanders to retarget the missile in midflight. Raytheon Missile Systems President Taylor Lawrence noted that just a few years ago the Navy was looking to halt Tomahawk production to save money as it sat on an inventory of some 4,000 Tomahawks and looked toward developing a future cruise missile. But that plan was turned back by Congress and production continued at a minimum sustaining rate, Lawrence said, crediting Sen. John McCain and Rep. Martha McSally for their efforts to keep the Tomahawk production lines in Tucson humming. Tomahawks are initially assembled at Raytheons sprawling plant at the UA Tech Park on South Rita Road. They are loaded with fuel and explosives and tested at the companys factory near Tucson International Airport before being sent for final packaging to the companys plant in Camden, Arkansas. Were excited now that we still have that line running, because if you look around the world, theres a lot of places where Tomahawks could be called into action, he said, citing their most recent use in Syria and Yemen. Every time you hear Tomahawk on the news, you know its done something its either knocked down a door or been an instrument of American policy and demonstration, he said. Lawrence said Raytheon will continue to upgrade the Tomahawk to meet emerging threats, citing current work with the Navy to develop a multi-mode seeker to enable the Tomahawk to hit moving targets at sea. Were going to add an entirely new mission set to the Tomahawk land-attack missile, to go after maritime targets, the Navys Johnson said. All that capability doesnt come cheap. The cost of each Tomahawk varies with the version and the number purchased in each production lot, but the most recent average cost is about $1.09 million apiece, Johnson said. Raytheon also is working on a new multi-effects warhead for the Tomahawk, as well as networking the missile with other sensor operators in the battle space, such as aircraft. Block IV Tomahawks currently in service will get communications and other upgrades as they enter the recertification program that marks the halfway point of their 30-year service life, said Dave Adams, Raytheons Tomahawk program manager. The company also is helping General Dynamics Electric Boat to triple the Tomahawk capacity on the Navys Virginia-class submarines. McSally, a former Air Force combat pilot, recalled how as she served as an officer in air operations following the 9/11 attacks and later helped lead counter-terrorism operations in Africa Tomahawks were often called on to hit targets more quickly than jets could be scrambled to respond. It was a critical weapon in our arsenal, she said. As we were running time-sensitive targets, Tomahawk was ready to go. McSally said the Tomahawk Block IVs in-flight retargeting capability was invaluable in targeting terrorists on the run. Were talking about people, and people can move, so you may have it all coming together but something changes or you have civilians coming in the way, she said. The Block IV is obviously a game-changer for us. We need this capability as a country, really as a global community. Mike Jarrett, Raytheon vice president of air warfare systems, recalled how he was in charge of transitioning from the Tomahawk Block III to the Block IV, as the invasion of Iraq commenced in 2003. We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some Aug. 16 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 Chicago man was sentenced in federal court to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to plans to travel to Mexico to engage in commercial sex with children. Asael Rodriguez-Alvarado, 21, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Raner C. Collins last week, according to an Aug. 15 news release. After Rodriguez-Alvarado serves his prison term, he must adhere to a lifetime of supervised release with stringent sex offender conditions, including register as a sex offender. Authorities said Rodriguez-Alvarado used the internet to negotiate and plan a trip to Mexico to engage in sex acts with children between the ages of 9 and 11. He traveled from Chicago to Arizona and was arrested after purchasing presents for the children at a Tucson store, states the release. "This sentence should serve as a powerful deterrent to child predators who mistakenly believe they can make international travel arrangements to indulge their perverse desires with impunity," said Scott Brown, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Phoenix. "The sexual exploitation of children is a despicable crime and, as this sentence makes clear, there are serious consequences for those convicted," said Brown. He said federal investigators will work closely with law enforcement partners in the United States and around the world "to hold these dangerous sexual predators accountable for their actions." The case was part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. The project was launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. A Pima County corrections officer was fired in May following the alleged assault of an inmate that resulted in criminal charges being filed against him, documents show. Mathew Granado is facing a misdemeanor charge of assault in Pima County Consolidated Justice Court, for which he has a case management conference in September. On March 21, the Pima County Sheriffs Department Office of Professional Standards received notice that Granado allegedly assaulted an inmate in his jail cell on Feb. 15, according to the dismissal letter issued to Granado. The investigation was referred to detectives in the robbery-assault unit, who interviewed four inmates who said they witnessed Granado enter the victims cell, strike him in the midsection repeatedly and grab him by the throat, the letter said. A review of jail surveillance videos shows Granado entered the victims cell and remained inside for more than a minute while other inmates watched. Granado declined to give a statement to detectives regarding the incident. The case was referred to the Pima County Attorneys Office, which filed the assault charge against Granado in May. During the sheriffs investigation into the incident, Granado said he went into the inmates cell to speak to him, but denied striking or choking him, the letter said. A month later, investigators received a report that Granado allowed three physical altercations to occur between inmates assigned to his pod. Video surveillance showed that three fights took place on the lower floor of the pod within four minutes of one another, while Granado stood on the upper level. It appeared that you looked towards the location where the first fight occurred and were in a position where you should have been able to see the second fight and the third, Sheriff Mark Napier wrote in Granados letter of dismissal. At no point did you document any of these incidents or request assistance from other corrections officers. None of the inmates were sent for a medical evaluation. Granados assaultive behavior and failure to follow procedures for officer and inmate safety violated Arizona law and numerous Sheriffs Department regulations, according to the letter. You have clearly demonstrated that you are both unwilling and unable to meet the moral standards required of department members, Napier wrote in the letter. Granado is appealing his termination with the Pima County Merit System Commission, according to the appeal form. Granados hearing is scheduled for Aug. 28. For a few days, the regular critics of Rep. Martha McSally have demanded that we find out where she stands on the violence in Charlottesville. Everyone else was making a statement condemning the white-supremacist terrorist attack and the marching Nazis. What about her? I bristled a bit. Why does everybody need to make a formal statement denouncing whatever atrocity has occurred in the country? Then finally, on Tuesday, McSally made a formal statement, and it hit me. Heres what McSally said in an email from her office to my colleague Joe Ferguson: White supremacy or any form of racism, bigotry, violence or domestic terrorism have no place in our society and run counter to our values as a country. What hit me was that taking a verbal stand on the issues of the day may matter, especially on potent issues like white supremacy, but what matters even more is action. Now, McSally, Gov. Doug Ducey and President Trump, among others, have all issued statements condemning white supremacy. The words were pro forma, but there is one way to judge their sincerity: By the speakers actions. In McSallys case, theres a pretty simple thing she can do to demonstrate she meant what she said. Democrats on the House Homeland Security Committee are asking for hearings and investigation into right-wing extremist groups like the ones that marched in Charlottesville over the weekend. McSally is a leading member of that committee a chair of one of its six subcommittees. Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, a Republican like McSally, has so far denied the Democrats efforts to hold these hearings. Using her leverage to cajole McCaul to hold them would be a demonstration of good faith, and potentially very useful. Violent extremism is obviously real and may be getting worse. If she needs to demand that the hearings also cover the anti-fascist groups that sometimes instigate violence, thats fine. Dont leave out any violent extremists of any stripe. That seems like a condition Democrats should agree to. Whats important is that she use her position to dig into whats going on with these extremists, some of them anti-government types willing even to shoot police. Over the weekend, the FBI arrested a man who tried to blow up a bank in Oklahoma City with an inert bomb provided by an undercover FBI agent. Its the latest of dozens of planned or carried-out right-wing extremist attacks that have occurred in the last decade. If you think domestic terrorism and white supremacy have no place in our society, this is one place where you can take a stand. Ducey was not as slow as McSally to come up with a statement on the Charlottesville violence. Late Sunday, he published a statement on Twitter: I categorically 100% condemn neo-nazi, KKK, Klan, race/white supremacy groups+the violence & hate they preach. No place 4 it in #AZ or USA. It was a definitive statement, but he didnt look good in light of the immediate controversy over Confederate memorials, which is what had initiated the Charlottesville protest in the first place. Pressed by reporters on the issue, Ducey said: Its important that people know our history. I dont think we should try to hide our history. The problem with that comment is this: Almost none of the six Confederate memorials on state property in Arizona actually represent Arizonas history. As the Phoenix New Times ably reported in June, the one Confederate memorial that does have to do with Arizona history is at Picacho Peak, where there indeed was a small engagement between Union and Confederate soldiers. Why would Ducey let stand something as absurd as a stretch of Highway 60 commemorated on a plaque near Apache Junction as the Jefferson Davis Highway? Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, had nothing to do with that highway or this state. What happened was, as the New Times reported, the Daughters of the Confederacy tried to piece together a coast-to-coast highway named after Davis early last century and failed, but they did erect the Davis memorial in 1943. Theres nothing sacred or representative of Arizonas history there, and its weak of Ducey to effectively defend the memorial by taking no stand. Now, those arent the only race-related issues on which Ducey can take action. He has made various efforts at reducing recidivism and drug addiction among state prison inmates, for example. Thats good. But while hes at it, how about ensuring that felons have their voting rights automatically restored once theyve paid their debt to society? Now for Trump, because hes president, his words are almost equivalent to actions. They weigh more than those of McSally or Ducey, and yet he seems to consider them less. Lately, his words are contradictory. He blamed both sides for violence in Charlottesville on Saturday, then under pressure condemned white supremacists on Monday. Then on Tuesday, Trump essentially cast as a bunch of innocents the people who chanted the Nazi slogan Blood and soil and Jews will not replace us on Friday. Not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists by any stretch, Trump said. After his comments Tuesday, there is little question where Trump stands: He sympathizes with the alt-right. There is an important Arizona-related decision that could highlight this perspective: The decision on whether to pardon former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. If you go back to the origins of the controversy over Arpaios immigration enforcement efforts, the problem was that it profiled Latinos without adequately distinguishing who might be in the country illegally. Innocents were swept up. Arpaio was ordered by a federal judge to stop the sweeps, and he didnt, earning a criminal conviction for contempt of court. A pardon of Arpaio which Trump said he is considering would put an exclamation point on the presidents comments on Tuesday. It would put his words of sympathy for white-supremacist demonstrators into action. Thats the opposite of what we need. When Stephen Trejo, one of four finalists in the running to become Tucson Unified School Districts next superintendent, was asked at a public forum Monday night how he would build consensus with a divided school board, the crowd chuckled. To many in the room, the term divided board was an understatement. Trejo the first of the four finalists to face the public at a series of forums scheduled this week sounded like somewhat of a relationship counselor as he responded to the question, saying he would work with board members to attempt to reset relations. Its really hard to apologize to someone when you think they have wronged you. But Ive found that to be very effective even if they have wronged you, you sincerely apologize to them, he said, adding that board members all want the best for students but dont know how to get along with each other. Trejo noted that board relations are an important part of student success, citing a study that looked at the interactions of school board members across the country and found a correlation between school board members that dont get along with each other, and poorly performing school districts. Standing on a stage in front of about 100 parents, teachers, TUSD board members and employees, Trejo fielded two hours of questions from the audience, offering his opinion on everything from TUSDs low test scores, the districts decades-old desegregation lawsuit, Mexican American Studies, teacher certification and retention, and how hell stop the revolving door plaguing the superintendents position. Trejo retired from TUSDs C.E. Rose K-8 School in July 2016, capping a 23-year career with the district. In his 13 years as C.E. Rose principal, he turned the formerly failing south-side campus into a nationally recognized school and a gem of Tucsons largest school district. Since leaving TUSD, he has been working as the chief academic officer for the American Leadership Academy, a Gilbert-based charter school with campuses in Arizona and Nevada. Roughly two-thirds of TUSD students failed the AzMERIT test administered in the spring, according to unofficial results, and turning around student performance on standardized tests was on many minds at the forum. Trejo said improving student achievement is his top goal, and while some may not like standardized tests, thats how the district is judged. To that end, he wants to reorganize the district leadership to ensure theyre focused on results. That, he said, would allow teachers to focus on both lead measures, such as ongoing grades, and lag measures, such as standardized test scores. But, he noted, even the best plans to help improve student performance will fall flat if the execution is botched. Its not just about having great ideas, Trejo said. Really, where the rubber hits the road is execution. As C.E. Rose principal, Trejo said he visited every classroom every day, and he wants to implement that concept districtwide. When principals are in every classroom, they know whats working and whats not, he said. And they can recognize teachers who are succeeding and zero in on helping teachers who are struggling. Some teachers may take that as micromanaging, but I never took it that way, he said. Perhaps the biggest issue facing the next superintendent will be whether they can bring TUSD out from under a federal desegregation order. And although Trejo acknowledged that in his capacity as a principal, he wasnt actively involved in the legal negotiations, he said he believes everyone involved wants to end the case and that the district is getting closer to satisfying some of the judges demands. I think were close but we need to continue to fulfill the criteria theyve set in front of us, he said. When faced with questions of TUSDs controversial Mexican American Studies program, Trejo noted he has a degree in Spanish with a minor in Latin American Studies and has spent his career working with Hispanic students. Its really important to me that they love their heritage and that they understand it and that they have the opportunity to learn more about it, he said. Trejo also may have jumped into hot water with the teachers union, which has pushed back against a new state law that allows uncertified teachers to teach in the classroom. Trejo said he would love to be able to hire non-certified teachers. We have a lot of classrooms without teachers, and we have lots of talented people out there with degrees. And some, frankly, without degrees, he said. The forum crowd again chuckled when Trejo was asked how he would address the strong sense among TUSD employees that the superintendents office is plagued by a revolving door. If selected, Trejo would be the seventh permanent, interim or acting superintendent in the past decade. Trejo replied that he didnt have a silver bullet to stay in the boards good favor, but as a longtime principal of TUSDs C.E. Rose, Trejo said he often just tried to ignore the board. I think part of the reason C.E. Rose was successful was because the same person was there; there wasnt this revolving door that kind of creates a new program, a new approach to education year after year, he said. In fact, I hate to say this because some of the board members are in the room, but sometimes we just kind of did our own thing. Maria Marin, one of four candidates vying to be the next superintendent of Tucsons largest school district, had a message for Tucsonans who are tired of hiring a new leader every few years: Shes here to stay. In her first public appearance as a candidate for the job of superintendent Tuesday, the 24-year veteran of the Tucson Unified School District emphasized her deep roots in the community, large family and the fact that shes spent her entire educational career in TUSD. Marin is a native Tucsonan who currently serves as director of elementary and preK-8 schools, and previously as principal of John B. Wright Elementary, Roskruge Bilingual K-8 Magnet School and Carrillo Magnet School. Before that, she was a teacher at several TUSD schools. Marin was the second of the four finalists to face the public at a series of forums scheduled this week. In a conversational, two-hour appearance in front of about 100 parents, teachers, TUSD board members and employees, she intertwined personal stories about her time as a teacher, principal and administrator in TUSD, with her views on the problems, solutions and bright spots in the states second-largest school district. The audience got straight to the point, asking how she plans to run a massive K-12 district without having any background in high school administration. Marin said while she doesnt have high school experience, her years in K-8 administration have given her a good overview of many integral parts of TUSD, such as academic directors, Mexican American Studies, finance and purchasing. But more importantly, Marin said, shes a fast learner who will ask a lot of questions of the experts around her. I have to hit the ground listening, she said. Listen, and then ask questions of our leadership, our students, parents and the community, so I can identify key priorities and so I know how to support them. Marin voiced support for the districts Mexican American Studies program, and noted that although the Legislature essentially banned the old program, the district still offers culturally relevant courses and services. As a certified bilingual and English as a Second Language instructor, Marin is also a big supporter of dual-language programs, which aim to produce bilingual students, saying the ability to speak more than one language is important for students to be competitive in not just Southern Arizona but the world. Much of the world is bilingual, trilingual, multilingual, she said. Its good culturally, economically, politically. An audit last year found those dual -anguage programs, however, had significant weaknesses, and TUSD has since been working to improve them. The districts longstanding desegregation order may soon be coming to an end, Marin said. And if that happens, it will be both a boost for TUSD and a hardship. Schools will no longer have to file the many reports showing theyre complying with the unitary status agreement, but funding to help TUSD comply will also dry up, she noted. Marin said to make up for those lost funds, the district could take a page from her playbook at John B. Wright Elementary, where she brought in members of the business community to support students by helping pay for programs and offering their time to do presentations and lessons. They didnt just give us money. They were an active part of the school. And guess what? I have been gone for three years and those donors fell so deeply in love with Wright and the staff and their commitment, they continue today to donate in a variety of ways, she said. In her first 100 days as superintendent, should TUSDs five-member school board choose her, Marin said one of her big goals would be to do a full analysis of the district budget. When posed a question about her experience dealing with the Legislature which does not seem to care about public education, Marin responded that she doesnt have much lobbying experience, but shes a good talker. I learn fast. I ask a lot of questions. Im never quiet, and if you know me, you know thats the truth. So I just figure if I they dont want to give us money, Id just talk to them so much until they got sick of me and sent me away with a bunch of money. Its worked with some business leaders, she said. Audience members also asked how Marin would deal with low morale among TUSD employees. Marin responded that its up to all TUSD employees to make a conscious decision to go to work every day and feel good about their jobs. Marin, however, said she has a hard time focusing on the negative and prefers to look at the districts assets and what she hopes will be a bright future. I really believe that we are just on that trajectory. All the work has been done and its time to harness our energy so we just take off, to what seems to the world like overnight success, she said. NEW YORK President Donald Trump plans to rally supporters in Phoenix next week. Trump's campaign announced the event Wednesday a day after the president blamed "both sides" for weekend violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, between white supremacists and counter-demonstrators. The campaign says the Aug. 22 rally will take place at the Phoenix Convention Center. The president has been holding campaign-style events in Trump-friendly areas since he took office. Next week's rally will be Trump's first in the West. Trump told Fox News in an interview this week that he may pardon Joe Arpaio, the former Phoenix-area sheriff who recently was convicted in federal court. Trumps sudden proclamation threatening to attack North Korea was a brilliant ploy to pull the focus off his problems. Instead of the news media focusing on 1) Trump-Russia collusion, 2)Trump firing Comey, 3)Trump family meetings with Russians or 4)Trump using his office to enrich himself; our short attention-span news media leaped to the more spectacular war is coming breaking news. They have forgotten the old negative news. Trump now looks like a strong leader, a defender of America, a bold, righteous protector. The news media jumps on his every threatening word to keep viewers pinned to their televisions. The president has no intention of attacking anyone. His calculated threats served his purpose to divert attention from his problems. The problem is this could actually start a war with the loose cannon dictator in North Korea. The result could be hundreds of thousands to millions of innocent people killed. That does not seem to bother our president. Hopefully these threats to attack North Korea are just more fake news. Kenneeth Budic SaddleBrooke With shock not felt since the l968 Democratic Convention in Chicago I watched the violent clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia. All this over a superb southern general who went to Westpoint. In fact, Robert E. Lee was first asked to lead the northern troops. All that said, the conflict is over. Lee is part of OUR history. We remained one country after Lee's surrender. The statue should remain where it is. There will be no justice, not even the poetic kind, as far as former Sheriff Joe Arpaio is concerned. He will not be stopped and harassed for the way he looks. He will not be paraded before onlookers, forced to wear pink underwear or live inside a tent in triple-digit heat. He wont, most likely, spend any time in jail over his recent conviction. Those indignities and humiliations he visited upon others will never be atoned for. And, if President Trump follows through, Arpaios criminal record will always have a powerful caveat: He was pardoned. This must not happen. In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, the president said he was seriously considering a pardon for the man once dubbed Americas toughest sheriff. He has done a lot in the fight against illegal immigration. Hes a great American patriot and I hate to see what has happened to him, Trump told Fox. He has protected people from crimes and saved lives. He doesnt deserve to be treated this way. But he does. Even if the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office which Arpaio headed for more than 20 years undoubtedly protected people from crime and saved lives, the former lawman was found guilty of criminal contempt. He willfully violated a federal court order and must be held accountable. That flouting of the law is what got Arpaio in trouble in the first place. The Justice Department launched a civil-rights investigation in 2008, alleging the sheriffs office was engaging in discriminatory practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures in its enforcement of federal immigration laws. Three years later, the DOJ accused the Maricopa County Sheriffs Office of racial profiling in traffic stops and immigration sweeps and discriminating against Spanish speakers in county jails. By then, Judge G. Murray Snow of the United States District Court in Phoenix ruled the sheriffs office could not stop and detain Latinos based only on the suspicion that they were in the country illegally. But the sheriff did not follow the judges ruling, continuing his immigration patrols for 17 months, according to U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton, who found him guilty of misdemeanor contempt of court late last month. For Arpaios critics who watched him stall federal agents, destroy records and duck investigations alleging misuse of jail funds and retaliation against political enemies his ultimate conviction and re-election loss in November was cold comfort, but comfort nonetheless. Still, it may be colder than they thought. A presidential pardon is granted in recognition of the applicants acceptance of responsibility for the crime, according to the Office of the Pardon Attorney at the Department of Justice, but Arpaio is far from contrite, telling Fox News he would accept the pardon because I am 100 percent not guilty. Legally, a pardon does not signify innocence, and in pardoning Arpaio the president may believe that he would only be rewarding an early supporter and signaling to his followers that hes got their back. But in this case, a pardon for Sheriff Joe would send a clear message: Feel free to discriminate, to make people live in fear. Dont let a little thing like the Constitution stop you. Despite telecom carriers offering price promotions that have made 4G data plans in Vietnam even cheaper than 3G packages, many customers remain reluctant to make the switch. Those who have switched to 4G-ready SIM cards have been left disappointed by the connection speed of the new technology, which they feel is no faster than existing 3G speeds. 4G is the fourth generation of mobile communication, succeeding 3G and allowing wireless internet access at a much faster speed. The technology has been commercially available in Vietnam since April when military-owned telecom carrier Viettel began offering the service. Compared to 3G data plans, 4G is cheaper, said Ai Hang, one Viettel customer who recently switched to a 4G SIM card for free. For the same monthly charge of VND70,000 [US$3.08], I now have access to two gigabytes of mobile data instead of 600 megabytes as before. In July, two other major carriers MobiFone and Vinaphone also released their 4G data plans for a monthly charge of between VND70,000 and 90,000 ($3.08-3.96), including up to 500 megabytes more data than Viettels plan. Refusing to fall behind, Viettel has launched another data package tailored towards frequent Facebook users, offering postpaid users unlimited data to browse the popular social media site with for only VND30,000. Prepaid users can access 20 gigabytes of Facebook-browsing data for the same price. Disappointing connection speed I dont see any difference, said Huy Chinh, who has been using 4G for the last two months. The connection speed is sometimes really slow and unstable. I feel like mobile carriers are pulling the same trick they did when they launched 3G; promoting wine and selling vinegar. According to a report by American content delivery network Akamai Technologies, Vietnams average mobile internet speed in the first quarter of 2017, including 3G and 4G, was 5.3Mbps, making it among the slowest in the Asia-Pacific region. On average, Asia-Pacific countries enjoyed a connection speed of 9.69Mbps, while Australian and Japanese users had access to mobile internet speeds of 15.7Mbps and 15.6Mbps, respectively, according to the same report. Only 56 percent of Vietnamese 4G users are satisfied with the current service quality, according to another report published by the International Data Group in July. Seven percent of survey respondents said they were not satisfied with the connections stability, 5.8 percent were not happy with the quality, 81 percent were not satisfied with their carriers promotions, and 17 percent were dissatisfied with the price of data plans. Thieu Phuong Nam, general director of Qualcomm telecom company in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, said that Vietnamese data plans were among the cheapest in the region and across the globe. Nam expects data prices to continue to fall due to increased competition amongst carriers as well as the implementation of new technologies allowing more cost efficient operations. 3.5 million 4G users in Vietnam According to the Vietnam National Telecommunications Authority (VNTA), there are 60 million broadband subscribers in Vietnam, 48 million of which are mobile subscribers, including 3G and 4G. Nationwide, 6.3 million mobile subscribers have switched to 4G-ready SIM cards, however, only 3.5 million of those are subscribed to 4G data plans, according to VNTA. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! The announcement came at a press conference on Tuesday, where the ministry said it would amend five laws that govern personal income tax, VAT, corporate income tax, special consumption tax and natural resources tax. The new VAT law would see a reduction in the number of services and goods exempt from the tax, as well as the list of those that currently enjoy a favorable VAT of only five percent. Current laws impose a VAT of zero percent on all exported goods, and a five-percent VAT on a number of goods essential for agriculture, medicine, education, science and technology. For other goods and services, the VAT is set at ten percent. According to the finance ministrys announcement on Tuesday, the amended VAT law would impose a six-percent VAT on services and goods currently enjoying a VAT of five percent, and raise the across-the-board ten-percent VAT to 12 percent. A number of VAT-free goods such as fertilizers, agricultural equipments and off-shore fishing vessels would also begin to be taxed under the new law, the ministry added. The Ministry of Finance also proposed a doubling of the current special consumption tax (SCT) rates on pickup trucks. Specifically, pickup trucks with a cylinder capacity of up to 2,500cm3 will be subject to a 15-percent SCT. For pickup trucks with cylinder capacities of up to 3,000cm3, the proposed new SCT is 20 percent, and 30 percent for anything above that. Twenty-cigarette packs will be subject to a 75 percent SCT starting from 2019, and from 2020, all cigarette packs will be levied an extra VND1,000 (US$0.04) in SCT. Also beginning in 2019, the ministry is looking to impose an SCT of 10 percent on soft drinks, an item currently exempt from the tax. Revisions to corporate income tax laws will offer a favorable tax rate of 15 percent for any small to medium enterprise (SMEs) with a yearly revenue of less than VND3 billion ($132,200). For SMEs with a yearly revenue of between VND3-50 billion ($132,200-$2.2 million), the proposed tax rate is 17 percent, less than the current corporate income tax rate for SMEs of 20 percent. The Ministry of Finance also plans to revise current personal income tax calculations, allowing those with a taxable monthly income of up to VND10 million ($440) to enjoy five-percent tax rate. Currently, only the first VND5 million ($220) in taxable income falls under the five-percent category, while the next VND5 million ($220) is subject to an income tax rate of ten-percent. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Police in the southern Vietnamese province of Dong Nai have broken up a high-tech criminal gang that hacked businesses email accounts to steal money. The ring had been operating in multiple provinces and cities across the country and successfully appropriated tens of billions of dong (VND10 billion = US$439,096), the Dong Nai Department of Police said on Tuesday evening. According to the case file, officers received a report in early August from a company working under the Hyundai Corporation, based in Amata Industrial Park in Dong Nai, claiming that the financial information in its email system had been compromised. An investigation later revealed that a group of hackers had breached the email accounts of the firms executives to make financial approvals and change the names of recipients. After following the digital footprints left by the hackers, investigators were able to locate where the gang members would withdraw the money. In coordination with their counterparts in Ho Chi Minh City, police from Dong Nai arrested B.V.K. as he was taking out VND960 million ($42,153) wired from the Hyundai Corporation. They also nabbed N.H.O., an alleged accomplice to the ring, and confiscated evidential documents after carrying a search at K.s house. Initial statements reveal that the gang had been reading emails exchanged between the company and its partners after hacking their accounts. They waited until both parties reached the transaction phase, then put their own bank account numbers as the recipients, an investigator elaborated. Speaking with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, Senior Lieutenant Colonel Phan Trong Loc, an official from the Dong Nai police department, said that the ring was very sophisticated in its operation. The criminals took advantage of the fact that many businesses exchange information and carry out their transaction via emails and bank accounts. The gang had hacked some 30 companies and appropriated nearly VND30 billion [$1.31 million], Senior Lt. Col. Loc added. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Help India! Lucknow, (IANS): Social activist Nutan Thakur on Wednesday filed a PIL in the Allahabad High Court with regard to the death of over 60 children at a Gorakhpur hospital last week, seeking a judicial probe into the tragedy. As per the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in the HCs Lucknow bench, the Uttar Pradesh government and its agencies were trying to deny facts coming out in the media about the deaths occurring due to oxygen shortage at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital in Gorakhpur, which gives out the message that they were trying to hide facts and shield the guilty. Support TwoCircles Thakur said she had sought a judicial inquiry in the matter so that the facts emerge and the guilty do not go unpunished. She said she represents a large cross-section of people who believe that the inquiry commission under the state Chief Secretary will only toe the official line taken so far. Her plea also sought strict implementation of an earlier High Court order on a complete ban on private practice by government doctors. Help India! New Delhi, (IANS): Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Wednesday discussed the option of sending Haj pilgrims from India through the sea route with Saudi Arabian Ambassador Mohammed Alsati, who called on him at his office. Naqvi said that various issues related to the ongoing Haj 2017 were discussed in an about 45-minute meeting. The issue of reviving the option of sending Haj pilgrims by the sea route was also discussed. Support TwoCircles Naqvi said talks on sending Haj pilgrims through the sea route are already on with the Saudi Arabian government and the response is very positive. He said that a meeting in this regard would be held between the Minority Affairs Ministry and the Union Shipping Ministry under the chairmanship of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari at New Delhi on August 28. The Minister said that the new Haj policy for 2018 would be unveiled this month with a focus on providing world class facilities to Haj pilgrims. The practice of ferrying Haj pilgrims between Mumbai and Jeddah by ship was discontinued in 1995. Help India! By Siddhant Mohan, TwoCircles.net Clerics across Madhya Pradesh have criticised the Shivraj Singh Chouhan-led Madhya Pradesh government for ignoring and insulting Muslim freedom fighters in an advertisement published on Independence day, August 15. Support TwoCircles The advertisement listed freedom fighters like Rani Lakshmibai, Chandrashekhar Azad, Ramprasad Bismil, Bheema Nayak, Shankar Shah, Raghunath Shah and many others. But the government has not mentioned any Muslim freedom fighter in their advertisement. Condemning this act, the MP unit of Coordination Committee for Indian Muslims, an umbrella organisation for various Muslim organisations, issued a press statement, asking the Chouhan government why it was not able to find a single Muslim freedom fighter? What makes this advertisement interesting is that all the freedom fighters listed are either related to MP or born there. The statement said, People know that followers of every religion took part in freedom struggle. They did not do it to make their name, but to give us a free country. It further said, PRO of MP government published names and photos of 12 freedom fighters. But there is not any single Muslim name among them. PRO limits freedom fighters to a specific religion. We condemn this act, and ask a public apology from PRO of the government, said the statement. Masud Ahmad Khan, the secretary of the committee, told TwoCircles.net, Any Chief Minister does not want to taint his image. The PRO and government should clear the confusing situation. Khan noted that freedom fighters were related to Madhya Pradesh. He said, Rani Lakshmibai was from Uttar Pradesh, but Bundelkhand was a part of MP during her times. But it is strange that government forgets Muslim freedom fighters of the state. Khan counted a couple of freedom fighters from Madhya Pradesh. He counted Mohammad Risaldar, who belonged to Sehore district. British army captured Risaldar and shot him for burning the British flag. Khan also counted Barkatullah Bhopali, a freedom fighter who belonged to Bhopal itself. He concluded, If this is an attempt to rewrite the history with a different colour, this is disappointing. And people should not let this happen. Help India! New Delhi, (IANS): Days after he was removed as the partys leader in the Rajya Sabha, former Janata Dal-United (JD-U) president Sharad Yadav on Wednesday said that people are living in fear and the Constitution of the country is being tinkered with. Yadav also announced that the Opposition will hold Sajha Virasat Bachao (Save Composite Culture) conferences across the country to be coordinated by him starting from Delhi on Thursday. Support TwoCircles Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would be participating in the programme. Yadav said although the preamble of the Constitution speaks of securing justice, liberty, equality and fraternity for all citizens but what is happening in the present India is totally reverse and that people are living in fear. Asked if he meant that after Narendra Modi came to power the Constitution was in danger, the Rajya Sabha member said, I think the Constitution is being tinkered with from here and there. Elaborating on the Sajha Virasat Bachao conference, he said Apart from leaders of all Opposition parties, intellectuals, farmers, unemployed youth, Dalits and tribals from all parts of the country will be participating. He said that JD-U President and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has also been invited to participate. The Nitish faction sacked Sharad Yadav as its Rajya Sabha leader last week for opposing the partys alliance with the BJP. The Congress on Wednesday blamed the BJP government for destroying the composite culture of the country and said that the conference organised by Sharad Yadav would help in upholding it. Our country is known for its composite culture, which is in danger. The BJP and its allies are working 24 hours to destroy the composite culture, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said. The Daily Mirror is reporting that many Dr Who fans, known as Whovians, are decidedly unhappy about the 13th Doctor Who. The fact that she is a woman may have something to do with it, and the new actor for the role was announced after the Wimbledon Men's final. To label Whovians as sexist is perhaps a little unfair as the Doctor has always been a man and many probably wish it to stay that way. None the less Jodie Whittaker is the new Doctor, and she has admitted she kept news of the role secret. Going under the pseudonym of 'Clooney' she kept her new acting job secret until the very last minute even from her husband and agent. Peter Capaldi, the current doctor, has given Whittaker his backing and he thinks she will make a great Doctor Who. Is the BBC wrong in picking a woman? Fans of the long running series are threatening to boycott the show and refuse to watch because the Doctor is a woman. Certainly, if fans switch off in their droves it will impact viewing figures, and this was already the case with Peter Capaldi. This is similar to when rumours were doing the rounds that Idris Elba could be in the running for Bond. This caused a storm amongst ardent Bond fans saying that the character of Bond is a white man and should stay that way. It was not out of anything racist it was because Bond is a white role and some thought it would be like portraying John Shaft as a white man. The BBC says it is committed to diversity and that's fine however tampering with something like Dr Who could be asking for trouble. Somethings should be left alone, and Dr Who is is one of those things judging by many Dr Who fans at least. Maybe fans are pre-judging Jodie Whittaker known for roles in 'St Trinians' and 'Broadchurch' featuring ex-Doctor Who David Tennant. Perhaps it will feel strange to have a female Doctor Who but maybe fans should give her a chance. Doctor Who has a massive following around the world and perhaps the Beeb should have consulted fans before installing Jodie Whittaker. Whittaker takes on the role after Christmas, and the ratings for this show will be interesting to see if they reflect the disillusionment of some fans. Dr Who: A tried and trusted format Dr Who has been running since the early 60's, and people from all ages returned each Saturday to watch the Timelords adventures. Battling such favourites as the Daleks and Cybermen, it kept audiences on the edge of their seats for years. The most successful Doctor of late has been David Tennant, and the BBC will be hard pushed to find someone as popular as him. Since he left the show, it has struggled to get the popularity it had with Tennant in the role. The show in appointing a female Doctor and allowing for more diverse people to be represented could either make or break the show. Korea is at a flashpoint for a world war; something that has up till now looked impossible, mainly because of the near destruction it will bring on the planet, and in this particular case, the Korean peninsula. The jingoism was started by the Korean dictator Kim Jong -Un who boasted of hitting the United States with Nuclear weapons. Donald trump joined issue with him and unlike other presidents replied in similar language that in case North Korea dared to attack the USA he would unleash forces that the Korean leader will regret. The insinuation was clear, Trump was talking about an air strike on the North. This sent alarm bells ringing and Trump's further statement that the military option is ready added fuel to the fire. The North Korean leader then stepped back and said that before he would do anything he would wait for the Americans do something foolish so then he could react. It appears Trump is inclined to a military option but is restrained by his close advisors and South Korea. South Korea holds a veto In a military adventure launched by the USA, the biggest loser will be South Korea. That is the reason in a recent meeting with the topmost US general on a visit to Korea, the South Korean president Moon made it amply clear that South Korea would veto any attack on the North. He also told General Joseph Dunford that no attack should be launched without South Korean approval. President Moon has all along been talking about a face-to-face meeting with the North with negotiations. He cannot afford a US strike, even a limited one on the North. High stakes The stakes for the South are very high. An attack on the North will unleash forces that will devour the Korean peninsula. Kim Jong has made it clear, time and again that any attack on the North will invite "merciless" retribution. The south is at a great disadvantage as its population centres and the capital Seoul are just 35 km from the DMZ and even if Kim only launches an artillery barrage, it would lead to terrible destruction. US Secretary of Defence General Mattis has already said that a war on the Korean peninsula will bring untold hardship on the Korean people. US cannot afford a strike Kim Jong is an unpredictable man and woe betide in case he launches a nuclear attack, North Korea would lose but the South and almost 28,000 US soldiers would be at great risk. Realising the danger the Chinese president Xi has asked Trump to tone down his rhetoric. The USA cannot afford to attack the North and despite all talk by Trump, he is really in a bind. What of the future? It looks that the USA, in the long run, will have to accept some nuclear weapons negotiations with North Korea. David Davis is in an unenviable position. The Prime Minister has tasked him with the job of organising the most significant constitutional shift this country has witnessed since 1688; Brexit. Whoever was awarded with this position was never going to find it easy and leaving the EU was not intended to be a simple task either. But under these circumstances, the Brexit Secretary is doing a better job than many commentators have provided him with credit for so far. A foolish error that demonstrated David Cameron's failure to grasp reality Prior to the EU Referendum, the Department for Exiting the EU never existed. Theresa May's predecessor, David Cameron, never established any contingency plans in preparation for the likely event of Brexit. This was a foolish error that demonstrated the former prime minister's failure to grasp reality. Whilst engaging in a desperate struggle to recruit sufficient numbers of civil servants able to arrange the UK's EU exit, Mr. Davis and his formidable team, which includes Brexit Minister Robin Walker, were under pressure from a public eager to see the will of the people being implemented quickly and a timetable prepared by Mrs May to trigger Article 50 by March this year. Facing considerable cross-party opposition, the Brexit Secretary's plans were disrupted by the Prime Minister's decision to call a general election to silence her opponents. Sadly that call backfired and the Conservatives failed to achieve a majority, thereby weakening her hand in her discussions with Brussels. This has allowed many centrist Tories to try and water down Mr. Davis' plans, with notable figures like Ruth Davidson, William Hague and the spineless David Cameron urging him to consider the option of a "soft" Brexit. An attempt to appease both the Tory Europhiles and Brussels He has also encountered opposition from the EU's Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier, who has stubbornly resisted Britain's proposals over the divorce bill, citizens' rights and Ireland. Yesterday's offer of a transitional customs union was an attempt to appease both the Europhiles lurking in the Conservative Party and Brussels. Yet the latter has dismissed these plans altogether, showing they have no desire to provide the UK with a simple free trade agreement. Brussels' hypocrisy knows no bounds. For these reasons, Mr. Davis deserves a lot more credit than he receives. He is trying to achieve the impossible and very few politicians are making his life easy. The days of massive trading blocs are over. Even though Britain was the first country to choose to leave one this century through Brexit, President Donald Trump left the Transpacific Trade Partnership earlier this year and is in the middle of renegotiating his country's North Atlantic Free Trade Association membership terms. It seems that bilateral trade agreements are the way forward now. Pure fantasy But according to an Irish Member of the European Parliament and its Vice President, Mairead McGuinness, huge nations like the United States are still interested in forming trade agreements with gigantic blocs like the EU first. Even though Australia has expressed its desire to form a trade partnership with the UK post-Brexit, they would prefer to arrange one with Brussels first apparently. The great irony behind her claim that Britain's post-EU trading ambitions are pure "fantasy" is that her argument the US and China both want trade agreements with trading blocs are actually pure fantasy. The EU has a history of incompetence when it comes to forming trade deals. These actions speak louder than Ms McGuinness's words. Brussels has failed to forge trade partnerships with some of the globe's largest economies. The US and China both trade with them under World Trade Organization rules. Canada had to wait a total of ten years before it could finalise a trade deal with Brussels. There are many other countries that they have failed to form trade deals with, and this list includes India, Brazil and Australia. Why would any of them intend to chase the EU for a trading agreement? The EU's days are numbered Since Britain voted to leave the EU on June 23rd last year, these nations have lined up to offer the UK trade deals that they are not able to negotiate whilst remaining members of the trading bloc. Earlier this year, India reiterated its commitment to forging a trading agreement with Britain at the G20 summit. President Trump has also offered the UK a post-Brexit trade partnership. Regardless of how one feels about the current US President, he is this country's best hope of thriving outside the trading bloc. That is why former UKIP leader Nigel Farage was right to warn the Government that he may be finishing his second term by the time Britain leaves the EU completely. Ms McGuinness is aware that the EU's days are numbered. She is more anxious about when, not if, the trading bloc collapses. Brexit represents the first step in achieving that aim. An Irish MEP has blasted the Brexit Secretary's and International Trade Secretary's ambition to secure quick trade deals after Britain leaves the European Union as a "fantasy." Mairead McGuinness MEP, who is also Vice President of the European Parliament, contradicted claims from David Davis and Liam Fox that nations were interested in forging post-Brexit trade agreements with Britain because it would no longer be part of a massive trading bloc like the EU. She said that after having discussions with ambassadors from countries like Australia, it is clear that they are more interested in negotiating a trade agreement with the EU first. The Irish MEP said it is a fantasy if the UK can form trade deals with some of the globe's biggest nations in a short period of time. The European Parliament's Vice President said that she wants the trading bloc to maintain a favourable trading relationship with the EU post-Brexit, but she said this will not be achieved at any cost. Only a temporary trade arrangement The news comes as Mr. Davis confirmed yesterday that he intends to negotiate a temporary customs unions with the EU after the UK formally leaves the trading bloc. The Brexit Secretary said it will only be a temporary trade arrangement that will enable business to continue as usual while a final trade deal between both sides has been finalised. He said that a transitional deal is in the UK's and the trading bloc's best interests, but the maximum amount of time it would be allowed to endure would be until the 2022 General Election. Mr. Davis said there was still a great deal of work to be done before Britain can finally leave the EU and that a transitional deal would provide more space to complete it all. Britain will withdraw from the Customs Union The Department for Exiting the EU produced a comprehensive plan for the UK's future relationship with Brussels. The paper will formally outline the transitional agreement and provides two options to withdraw Britain from the trading bloc's Customs Union completely. The first choice would allow the Government to organise a new customs border with the EU to reduce trade barriers. The second would provide a new customs partnership which would remove a customs border. But the paper has already been criticised by EU negotiators. A spokesman for the European Commission acknowledged the Government's request for an implementation period and said they will discuss this proposal when sufficient progress has been made on the terms of Britain's withdrawal from Brussels. The EU's Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier, said it is not possible for the UK to trade with Brussels if it cancels its membership of the Customs Union and the Single Market. The European Parliament's lead coordinator on Brexit, Guy Verhofstadt, said the Government's proposals are pure fantasy. According to the lead negotiator, they must agree with them on citizens' rights, the divorce bill and Ireland first. A cliff-edge for businesses and individuals Mr. Davis said these plans are necessary to avoid a cliff-edge for businesses and individuals. He said companies require an interim period to adapt to new trading rules being implemented as Britain prepares to quit the trading bloc. Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's First Minister, wrote on Twitter that the Government returned to its "have its cake and eat it" approach to Brexit. She said the UK should remain a member of the Single Market and the Customs Union if it wants to avoid disruptions to trade. The Confederation of Business Interests welcomed this measure as a progressive step forward in the face of difficulties Whitehall officials are finding themselves in, trying to balance the need for sensible customs arrangements and freedom to form new trade deals. The Brexit Secretary defended the Government's lack of clarity over its negotiations with the EU. He said that he understands it is difficult to read what they intend to do, but discussions require constructive ambiguity. China and india have locked horns on the tri-junction at Dhokla between Tibet, the Indian state of Sikkim and Bhutan. The Indian and Chinese troops are facing each other as India has claimed that the construction of a road by China at Dhokla is illegal. The Chinese claim Dhokla by an 1890 treaty between British India and Tibet. Bhutan claims Dhokla is part of its territory. This confrontation is going on, and the importance of two air bases at Baghdogra and Hasimara in the region closest to Dhokla cannot be underestimated. India is now upgrading the Hasimara base which will be one of two air bases to house a squadron of Rafale fighter jets in 2019. The Rafale is a Mach 2 supersonic air superiority fighter. It is superior to any Chinese air force plane.The aircraft is directly purchased by the IAF from France. India is to buy over a 100 of these fighters in a direct one-time purchase, reported The Times of India. Hasimara and the Rafale fighter The air force base at Hasimara is located in North Bengal and close to the India-Bhutan border. The base has a critical role to play to guard against any offensive by China in the narrow area called the Chickens neck, that joins India with the North East states including Assam. The base had earlier two squadrons of Mig -27 fighters. One of the squadrons is number plated (decommissioned) and the base is being upgraded to house the Rafale jets. This French plane was selected by the Air Staff team of the IAF from a host of competitors including the Euro Fighter, MIG 31 and F-16. The French Air Force technicians and engineers are at the base to revamp the technical facilities to make the base operational. The Chinese are watching the developments with interest. China has its bases in Tibet, but due to the high altitude, their fighters cannot operate at optimum efficacy. India faces China India has a string of forwarding bases at Hasimara, Tezpur, Chabua, and Baghdogra to face the possible threats. Many of these bases were used by the Royal Air Force and US Army Air Air Force in operations to support the Chinese nationalists, led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek during the Second World War against Japan. India inherited these bases and had developed them after 1962 to face the Chinese threat. 1962 was a watershed year as an unprepared Indian army was thrown to fight the Chinese attack. At that time the Chinese had the better of the Indian army.Hopefully, this won't be repeated. ATO Records2001 CMA Female Vocalist of the Year Lee Ann Womack returns October 27 with her first new album since 2014s The Way Im Livin. The daughter of the Lone Star State traveled back to her native Texas for The Lonely, the Lonesome & the Gone, recording most of the album at the legendary SugarHill Studios in Houston. In fact, she stood on practically the same spot to record her cover of George Jones Take the Devil out of Me, as the legend did for the original in 1959. I wanted to get out of Nashville and tap the deep music and vibe of East Texas, Lee Ann says. I wanted to make sure this record had a lot of soul in it, because real country music has soul. I wanted to remind people of that. Lee Ann co-wrote most of the albums 14 tracks, which was produced by her husband, Frank Liddell, whos also known for his work with Miranda Lambert. Heres the complete track listing for The Lonely, the Lonesome & the Gone: All the Trouble The Lonely, the Lonesome & the Gone He Called Me Baby Hollywood End of the End of the World Bottom of the Barrel Shine On Rainy Day Mama Lost Her Smile Wicked Long Black Veil Someone Elses Heartache Sunday Talking Behind Your Back Take the Devil Out of Me Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Casualties are mounting for the U.S. armed forces all over the world. Along with deaths during routine exercises, the U.S. armed forces are also losing men due to the hazards of combat. One of the latest deaths is that of two soldiers in Iraq, who died while attempting to fire an Artillery gun. It appears the soldiers were training the howitzer at an Islamic State target when the shell, instead of firing, exploded. This resulted in the death of 2 soldiers and 5 were injured. They were all evacuated by helicopter but two of the seven succumbed to injuries sustained during the blast. The place where the accident took place has not been identified but it could have been in Northern Iraq which now has a sizeable ISIS presence. With Mosul captured the ISIS fighters have regrouped in Northern Iraq and the Iraqi army, with help from the U.S. army and air support are attacking them. Pentagon spokesperson Rob Manning said that the incident took place on Monday and despite the quick evacuation, two of the soldiers who have now been identified died, Fox News reported. Deaths of U.S. soldiers It was learned that the two who died belonged to the 82nd Airborne Division which has its peacetime location at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The crew of seven was firing an M777 Howitzer which is a heavy 155mm artillery gun with a range of 10-15 miles. They were directing their fire towards an ISIS position when the gun malfunctioned and the shell exploded. This is the version given out by the military but ISIS has claimed that the soldiers were killed by rockets fired by them. This has been denied by the U.S. army. An investigation into the accident and deaths has been ordered and the inquiry report will pinpoint why the gun exploded. The next of kin of the fallen soldiers have been notified and this brings the death toll to nine U.S. soldiers who have died while fighting ISIS in Iraq. In addition, nearly 50 have been injured since the start of the campaign in August 2014. Role of U.S. troops The U.S. troops are in a support role and the brunt of the fighting is being done by the Iraqi army. However, this support is critical and if the U.S. were to withdraw, the Iraqi army offensive would just peter out. ISIS still controls large areas of the desert as well as three towns. The towns under their control are Tal Afar, Hawija in northern Iraq, and al-Qaim which is close to the Syrian border. The U.S. has estimated that about 2000 Islamic State fighters are still operating in the area. Battle not over Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and other top U.S. officials have pledged to support the Iraqi army in its fight against ISIS with all means at their disposal including air power until the Islamic State is defeated. If the battle continues, the US army has to be prepared to suffer more battle casualties. Over the last 48 hours, Donald Trump has come under fire for how he handled his response to the white nationalist rally turned riot in Charlottesville, Virginia. After initially failing to condemn the white nationalism, the president held a news conference to do just that on Monday afternoon. Trump on white nationalism This past Saturday in Charlottesville, Virginia, hundreds of white nationalists took part in the "Unite the Right" rally. As expected, counter-protesters appeared, but the peaceful protest quickly spiraled out of control into violence. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe was forced to declare a state of emergency as a rally goer drove his car into a group of protesters. As a result, over 30 individuals were left injured, with one female protester killed. Donald Trump condemned what took place, but came under fire after refusing to call out white nationalism by name. After making his initial statement, Trump has since caved to the pressure and backlash and decided to attempt to right the ship with a press conference on Monday, as reported by NBC News on August 14. Trump: "Racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists" pic.twitter.com/fFPth5qSuH NBC News (@NBCNews) August 14, 2017 While speaking at the White House on Monday afternoon, Donald Trump finally spoke out against White Supremacy in regards to the Charlottesville rally. "To anyone who acted criminally in this weekends racist violence, you will be held fully accountable," Trump said. POTUS: "We will spare no resource in fighting so that every American child can grow up free from violence & fear https://t.co/0ja7yDbpJg NBC News (@NBCNews) August 14, 2017 "Racism is evil, and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists," Donald Trump continued. "We will spare no resource in fighting so that every American child can grow up free from violence and fear," the president went on to say. Twitter reacts Not long after Donald Trump made his comments, critics on social media were quick to fire back. "Wow! took you 3 days to say the words!!" one Twitter user wrote. Why didn't @realDonaldTrump NOT call them terrorist? Why give MS-13 an hour long speech, But #WhiteSupremacistTerrorists 5 minutes? LaMonica (@LaMonica) August 14, 2017 "TOO LATE. He only mentioned them, he didn't disavow them. He didn't say he wants nothing to do with them nor #DavidDuke's statement," another social media user added. "A day late and a dollar short!" another tweet read. "Too little, Too late. If this is what you truly believed you would have said this on Saturday not wait until you were shamed into saying it," a Twitter user added. Too little, Too late. If this is what you truely believed you would have said this on Saturday not wait until you were shamed into saying it Sheri Fauber (@vtmoneyobx) August 14, 2017 He "finally" said it. Whew! Took 2 days, but he did! Your audience buy his sensitivity? Honesty? I heard what he read.. didn't come from HIM Benjie Anderson (@BenjieTheMan) August 14, 2017 "He 'finally' said it. Whew! Took 2 days, but he did! Your audience buy his sensitivity? Honesty? I heard what he read.. didn't come from HIM," yet another tweet noted. As the backlash to Donald Trump's remarks continued, it showed that the rift between the political left and right in the United States was not going to end anytime soon. Yemen has been torn because of the armed conflict between the Iran-supported Houthi fighters and the Saudi-led military coalition for more than two years. Unfortunately, the war-torn nation is not only fighting to survive the conflicts but also to live through the largest cholera epidemic in the world. The Arab country is currently facing one of the worst humanitarian crises globally. Apart from the Cholera Outbreak, Yemen is also on the verge of starvation, where more than 60 percent of the nations total population doesn't know where to get their food. In addition, the United Nations (U.N.) revealed that almost two million children are suffering from acute malnutrition. Cholera outbreak Based on the press release from the World Health Organization (WHO), the nation's total number of suspected cholera cases has already reached 500,000 on Sunday. Ever since the beginning of the outbreak in late April, almost 2,000 people have already died, while 5,000 people are estimated to get infected on a daily basis. According to ABC News, the U.N. has reported that the most affected victims are the elderly and the children. The organization added that almost 30 percent of the recorded deaths are over the age of 60. But 41 percent of the suspected cases and 25 percent of the individuals who died are children. The International non-governmental organization Save the Children added that over one million malnourished kids below the age of 5 are living in areas at high risk of contracting cholera. In fact, one child is being infected with the disease every 35 seconds. Deadly waterborne disease As Yemen faces this deadly waterborne disease epidemic, many may be asking what exactly cholera is. According to WHO, cholera is an acute enteric infection or diarrheal disease caused by the ingestion of gram-negative bacterium called Vibrio cholerae, which could be found in fecal-contaminated food and brackish water. If untreated, the disease can lead to death within hours due to shock and severe dehydration. A person can show mild or no symptoms between 12 hours and 5 days following the ingestion of contaminated food and water. Signs and symptoms may include rapid heart rate, low blood pressure, muscle cramps, loss of skin elasticity, severe watery diarrhea, vomiting, and dehydration. Even though the disease can be successfully treated with oral rehydration solution, access to safe water and sanitation also play a vital role to control the transmission of the disease. Unfortunately, the spread of the disease seems difficult to control due to Yemens deteriorating health and sanitation systems. Yemens health system In some areas, the spread of the disease has significantly slowed but in affected districts, the transmission continues to increase. This is due to the fact that the nations health system is failing, not to mention the water supply disruptions all over the country. The outbreak is also attributed to the nations deteriorating hygiene and sanitation conditions, where clean and safe water sources aren't accessible to millions. The waste collection in major cities across the country has also stopped. WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that the health workers in the country are operating in impossible conditions. In fact, 30,000 of them have not received their salaries in almost a year. Apart from inadequate funds, there are also shortages in supplies and medicines, and more than 50 percent of all health facilities in the country were closed due to damage and destruction. In order to address the current crisis in Yemen, Tedros is calling for support to the nations health system, particularly to the health workers. #Yemen's #cholera epidemic has spread rapidly due to deteriorating hygiene and sanitation conditions and disruptions to the water supply. pic.twitter.com/259tk23EeG WHO Yemen (@WHOYemen) August 14, 2017 US, UK blamed for Yemen-Saudi conflicts Meanwhile, Oxfam head of advocacy Katy Wright considered Yemens cholera outbreak a man-made disaster caused by the national and international politics. Wright even blamed the U.K. and the U.S. for sparking the armed conflicts in the Arab nation by giving intelligence and weaponry to Saudi Arabia, saying the two superpower nations are complicit in the suffering of millions of Yemenis, Common Dreams reported. "Game of Thrones" season 7 episode 4 featured a lot of hidden clues and interesting details. Here are the best ones I found! Who saved Jaime? After Jaime's foolish charge against a full grown dragon, someone pushed him out of the line of fire. Who saved him? Bronn, of course! When Drogon was about to burn Jaime alive, the former sellsword knocked the Lannister into the water. We don't know if Jaime is going to be okay (in the last seconds of episode 4 he is sinking because of the armor), but we certainly hope so. Daenerys and Jon's words Daenerys and Jon's conversations are loaded with callbacks and hidden clues. During the scene inside the dragonglass cave, Jon convinces Dany that the White Walkers are real and she promises to help him if he bends the knee. Jon says that his men will not accept a Southern ruler and Dany asks him "Isn't their survival more important than your pride?" Those are the exact same words Jon Snow said to Mance Rayder back in season 5. The spirals again We already saw the drawings made by the Children of the Forest in the cave. The spirals and the other symbols appeared in the previous seasons of the show: both the Children of the Forest and the White Walkers used them (but the Others uses human body parts to create this kind of drawings). It's interesting to note that the Children and the First Men, according to the drawings, ultimately joined their forces to fight the White Walkers. The guards never trust Arya When Arya arrives at Winterfell in "The Spoils Of War", the guards don't believe the young Stark is still alive and warn her to get lost. This is exactly what happened back in "GOT" season 1 when Arya tried to get inside the King's Landing gates and the guards, noticing how dirty and miserable she was thought that she was some low-born girl trying to sneak in the castle. Fewer! There is a funny callback to Stannis in episode 4. While Jon and Davos are walking side by side at Dragonstone, the King in the North asks the Onion Knight how many men do they have in the North. "Ten thousand?" asks Jon, "Less?" "Fewer", Ser Davos corrects him. Apparently, Davos learned something from Stannis, after all. Robert's brother was kind of a Grammar Nazi; he corrected Davos in the past when he was using incorrectly the word "less" and now the Onion Knight apparently think that it's time to pass on his knowledge to Jon. Arya and Brienne on how they learnt to fight At the end of the wonderful fight scene featuring Arya and Brienne, the "Big Lady" asks, in astonishment, "Who taught you to do that?" "No one", Arya replies. This is a callback to season 4 when Brienne meets Arya and the young Stark asks her "Who taught you how to fight?". Brienne replies that her father taught her and the two share a nice moment. Then the Hound approaches Brienne and the meeting degenerates into an epic swordfight. The Golden Company After Cersei and the Iron Bank's emissary's new meeting, it's clear what the queen wants to do: she intends to take out a new loan from the Iron Bank of Braavos to hire The Golden Company. But who are they? According to the books, The Golden Company are one of the largest and most skilled sellsword companies in Essos. Consist of ten thousand highly trained soldiers, several thousand horses and a number of elephants. The company is reputed to have never broken a contract; It was founded by the Great Bastard, Aegor Rivers aka Bittersteel, and is made up in part of Westerosi exiles. The mercenaries' motto is "Our word is good as gold" and their war cry is "Beneath the gold, the bitter steel." Sansa loves her family and is aware of Littlefinger's dangerousness This is really important. It's clear that Sansa still loves her family members. In "The Spoils of War" she also warns Bran about Littlefinger, showing that she's well aware of Baelish's dangerousness. Maybe we have all underestimated her. She doesn't look like someone who can be easily manipulated! The dagger In episode 4, the dagger used in Bran's assassination attempt is given to Bran by Littlefinger. The Three-Eyed-Raven immediately gives the weapon to Arya, fueling a lot of theories. The blade is made of Valyrian steel, which suggests that it could be used to kill a White Walker... We should also point out that a drawing of the same weapon was featured in one of the forbidden books Sam was reading a few episodes ago. This ancient dagger is totally going to play a role in the next episodes of the show. Daenerys' good heart This is, by far, the best-hidden detail in season 7. It's just too funny. After correcting Jon's grammar, Davos accuses him of staring at what Jon called "Daenerys' good heart." Well, as you can see from the picture above, Davos wasn't joking: in one of the previous scenes there is a moment when Jon actually looks at "Daenerys' heart"! Don't forget! "Game of Thrones" season 7 episode 5 air on August 13, on HBO. Smartphone enthusiasts spotted Xiaomi Mi MIX 2s prototype on the web last week. Now, smartphone fans might be in for another treat as new details of the upcoming Xiaomi mobile device have mounted up on the internet. A new report made it known that the tech company might roll out the handset in two models on September 12. The My Drivers website was the first media outlet to report the release date and the two variants of the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 Android smartphone. However, considering that the tech company rolled out the original model in October last year, the launch date of Xiaomi's new smartphone appears to be earlier than expected. While the Chinese media outlet did not reveal the reason for the early release of the device, IB Times pointed out that the tech company might unleash its new device to get the attention of tech fans away from the iPhone 8. Wherein, Apple seems to be preparing to announce its 10th-year anniversary iPhone in the same month. The Chinese electronics company appears to position the release of its latest mobile device strategically. The release date of Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 will be just a few days after the IFA 2017 event, and just a few days before iPhone 8s event. However, GizBot pointed out that it may seem a bit unlikely for the Chinese company to release its latest handset this early, but the tech firm recently cut the original devices price. With Xiaomi deciding to release the smartphone that early, the handset might snatch some market share from Apples iPhone 8. According to Gizmo China, the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2 will go by the codename Chiron. The smartphone is expected to come along with a 6-inch Japanese International display. The JDI display of the smartphone was made available in collaboration with Hitachi, Toshiba, and Sony. Smartphones specs The upcoming mobile device will be powered by Qualcomms Snapdragon 835 system on chip (SoC) with Adreno 540 GPU. The handset is expected to be available in two models. The 6GB of RAM model will have a 3,999 Yuan price tag or approximately $599, while the 8GB of RAM model will be up for grabs at 4,999 Yuan or approximately $749. Design of the device In terms of the Mi Mix 2 design, the handset will boast a rear ceramic panel but will arrive with a higher screen to body ratio than its predecessor. Just like the original variant, the new smartphone will have an acoustic earphone technology. On the connectivity front, the smartphone will be equipped with a Wi-Fi 802.11, A-GPS, USB Type-C and a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor. The device will be available in two color options - Black and White. Kim Jong Un has toned down his utterances, and Guam appears to have gone out of reckoning for the time being. However, Donald Trump has run into another war of words, this time with President Hassan Rouhani of Iran. The US reached a deal with Iran in 2015 under President Obama. The deal limited Iran's ability to produce a nuclear weapon, and if complied with, would put an end to most of the sanctions against it. However, President Donald Trump wants to do away with the accord and impose fresh sanctions to which President Rouhani has reacted by saying that such an action would amount to a breach of the 2015 deal. If that happened and the United States went ahead with its threats and sanctions, Iran could abandon the nuclear deal on short notice. US wants to impose fresh sanctions on Iran Daily Mail UK reports that US legislators have sanctioned imposing mandatory penalties on those who are involved in Iran's ballistic missile program and also on those who have business dealings with them. Iran retaliated by increasing its spending on the missile program. President Hassan Rouhani told his lawmakers that if the nuclear deal fell apart, it would mean tension with America, and in case Washington insists on following the line of threats and sanctions, Iran could change tracks and turn to a more advanced level of nuclear applications. However, it prefers to honor the accord and expects the United States to do the same, but it seems that it is relying more on the language of threats and sanctions. What is Irans strategy? Iran had been tied down by sanctions for a long time, but under Barack Obama's presidency an agreement was signed in 2015. Under the agreement, a cap was put on the uranium enrichment levels of Iran and in return international sanctions would be lifted. President Rouhani always maintained that the nuclear programs of Iran were for peaceful applications while the US and the world felt Iran wanted to produce atomic weapons. That finally led to the accord with Obama, and Rouhanis recent statements have created a confusion of whether he plans to restart centrifuges that enrich uranium to higher and more dangerous levels for use in bombs. Iran has a stock of centrifuges that can create low-level uranium for use as reactor fuel and for medical and research purposes. However it could produce the much higher levels needed for a nuclear weapon. In the opinion of observers, the remarks of Rouhani were aimed at his domestic audience who want him to take a tough stand against the United States. Of course, he has added that Iran had agreed to the nuclear deal but it can always take a relook if the situation demands. By HU YUANYUAN in Belgrade and JING SHUIYU in Beijing | China Daily | Updated: 2017-08-16 07:51 Construction of the first stage of the Hungary-Serbia railway, China's debut rail line in Europe, will start in November, a top Serbian official said on Tuesday. Zorana Mihajlovic, Serbia's deputy prime minister and minister of construction, transport and infrastructure, said in an interview that the project will be completed in two to two-and-a-half years. The 350-kilometer flagship railway will link Hungary's capital Budapest with Serbia's capital Belgrade, with 166 km on the Hungarian side and the rest in Serbia. With a designed maximum speed of 200 kilometers per hour, it expects to reduce the intercity travel time from eight hours to just two-and-a-half hours. "China and Serbia are set to sign an agreement to construct the second phase by the end of this year," said Li Manchang, Chinese ambassador to Serbia. The original Hungary-Serbia line was a monorail built at the end of the 19th century. Upon completion, it will be upgraded into an electric railway. In November 2013, China, Hungary and Serbia signed a memorandum of understanding to jointly build and refurbish the rail line. Almost one year later, the three sides reached an official agreement. Construction of the Hungarian section started in late 2015. It was financed by the Export and Import Bank of China, and undertaken by a consortium of China Railway International and China Communications Construction Co. The Hungary-Serbia railway project, with a total investment of $2.89 billion, is projected to serve as a shortcut for transporting Chinese goods from Greece to Western Europe. Prior to the rail line, China had completed the 250 million-euro ($292.5 million) Zemun-Borca Bridge, across the Danube and its approach roads in Belgrade, Mihajlovic said. By Cao Yin in Beijing and Zhou Huiying in Harbin | China Daily | Updated: 2017-08-16 08:53 Student with sleeper ticket says people were lighting up between train carriages A female railway passenger who had to endure cigarette smoke during a journey is suing the Harbin Railway Bureau for allowing passengers to smoke. The Beijing Railway Transport Court has accepted the case and will hold a hearing on Aug 24, according to a report by thepaper.cn on Tuesday. "On June 9, I traveled to Tianjin from Beijing on train K1301 operated by Harbin Railway Bureau," Li Ying, a student in Hebei province, told news portal thepaper.cn. "In order to enjoy a comfortable journey, I specifically chose to buy a soft sleeper ticket." However, the environment was much less comfortable than she expected. "When I got on the train, I noticed a strong smell of tobacco," Li said. "There were lots of passengers, as well as some conductors, smoking between the two carriages." "In fact, the company's safety tips clearly state that smoking is banned anywhere on the train," she said, "but nobody expressed surprised or attempted to stop the behavior." After the journey, Li filed a series of complaints with the National Railway Administration, and the Beijing and Tianjin health commissions, but to no avail. She decided to sue. According to court documents, Li is demanding compensation for her ticket, valued at 102.5 yuan ($13), and her legal expenses. She also demanded that the Harbin Railway Bureau issue a smoking ban on train K1301 - which is not a high-speed train - as well as on the platforms of the Beijing and Tianjin railway stations, in addition to removing the smoking areas and ashtrays. Li is asking the Harbin Railway Bureau to pay 1 yuan as compensation for her mental suffering and 19 yuan for the face mask she bought. An official of the Harbin Railway Bureau who asked not to be named said the bureau had just been informed of the case and will wait for the court's judgment. "This case is quite significant because it is the first time that managers have been sued for allowing smoking in public places," said Wang Zhenyu, an environmental lawyer and an expert committee member of the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control. "Smoking on the train violates the principles of public health and also poses a hidden danger to the health and safety of passengers," Wang said. "The State Council is working on a national regulation banning smoking in public places, which makes it more necessary for the railway sector to promote a smoking ban on conventional trains." Members of a Japanese delegation mourn outside the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing on Tuesday. YANG BO/CHINA NEWS SERVICE China urged Japan to "face up to and deeply reflect upon its history of aggression" after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sent a monetary offering to the notorious Yasukuni Shrine on the 72nd anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II. "We are firmly opposed to Japan's wrongdoings," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Tuesday at a daily news conference in Beijing. The Yasukuni Shrine honors 14 Class-A war criminals from World War II and is regarded as a symbol of past Japanese militarism. It is the fifth consecutive year that Abe sent a ritual offering to the shrine. "China urges the Japanese side to earnestly face up to and deeply reflect upon its history of aggression, draw a line with the militarism and win trust from its Asian neighbors and the global society with actual deeds," Hua said. This year also marks the 80th anniversary of Lugou Bridge Incident, which triggered Japan's full-scale invasion of China in 1937; and the Nanjing Massacre, in which 300,000 Chinese were killed by Japanese soldiers. A documentary aired by the Japanese broadcaster NHK on Sunday disclosed the atrocities of Japan's infamous Unit 731 in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province during World War II. NHK uncovered a 20-plus-hour voice recording used in a trial, in which former members of the unit confessed to conducting human experiments on Chinese and Soviets to develop biochemical weapons. "The historical evidence about the Japanese army's monstrous crimes in China are ironclad and undeniable," Hua said, adding that China appreciates the courage of people with vision in Japan to reveal the truth. "We hope Japan could carefully listen to the cry for justice at home and abroad... and respect the feelings of people in China and other war victim countries in Asia," she said. Lyu Yaodong, a researcher of Japanese foreign policy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that while NHK has done something meaningful, Abe's behavior is a sharp contrast to the documentary. Zhou Jin contributed to the story. Top generals open communication channels, look to cooperate further General Fang Fenghui, chief of the People's Liberation Army's Joint Staff Department, holds a welcoming ceremony for his US counterpart, Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, in Beijing on Tuesday. WANG ZHUANGFEI/CHINA DAILY Top Chinese and US military officials agreed to further develop military relations and exchanges amid growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The two militaries also signed the framework to build a new communication mechanism for their joint staff departments. Since the department plays a crucial role in actual combat operations, experts said the new mechanism would strengthen effective communication, reduce miscalculations and improve risk management in Asia's increasingly complex geopolitical climate. General Fang Fenghui, chief of the People's Liberation Army's Joint Staff Department, met his US counterpart, Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, in Beijing on Tuesday. This is Dunford's first visit to China in his position and the highest-ranking military official to visit China since US President Donald Trump took office. Dunford also will visit a military base in the PLA's Northern Theater Command on Wednesday to interact with Chinese soldiers and officers, as well as to observe a military exercise by the Chinese military. During the meeting, Fang said that President Xi Jinping and Trump valued the friendly development of the two militaries and developed the blueprint and direction for its development. He said cooperation is the only right option for China and the US, and the two sides could be great partners. The Chinese military is willing to work with its US counterpart to strengthen mutual understanding and trust, deepen cooperation and manage risks and differences in an appropriate and effective manner, Fang said. Dunford said the US military will continue to develop Sino-US military relations and added both sides should take every opportunity to deepen communication and tackle current issues in a constructive way. "Although we might not share the same perspective on many of the difficult issues," he said, "we do share the same commitment to solve them." The two officials also exchanged opinions on Taiwan, the South China Sea and the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula and other issues of mutual concern. Dunford's visit to China is the second of three stops in his trip to Asia. He visited the Republic of Korea on Sunday and travels to Japan later this week. The two militaries already have dialogue mechanisms across many military ranks and services, including the Defense Policy Coordination Talks for senior military officials, and dialogue and cooperation mechanism for the armies and navies, said Senior Colonel Zhao Xiaozhuo, a researcher at the PLA Academy of Military Science. "But most of those mechanisms typically focus on policies, military building or exchanges on a specific issue or a branch of military," Zhao said. "It is very important for joint staff departments, which encompass all military branches and serve as one of the backbones of military operations, to have regular exchanges. This is a very positive step in building mutual trust and cooperation." Dunford's visit came on the heels of intense exchanges between President Trump and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. This month, China agreed to the toughest United Nations Security Council sanctions to date against the DPRK. China's Ministry of Commerce and customs administration enforced the sanction on Tuesday by fully banning imports of coal, iron, lead, ores, and seafood from the DPRK. On Monday, the US staged joint military exercises with Japan and would also hold similar exercises with the Republic of Korea in the region next week, which may antagonize the DPRK and undermine regional peace. "China and the US both have responsibility in maintaining regional peace in Asia," Senior Colonel Zhou Bo, a security expert, said. "The new mechanism will play a significant role in exchanging ideas for dealing with major military issues in the region, which in term will reduce the chance of miscalculation and improve risk management between the two militaries." As the numbers of "comfort women" dwindle, activists are urging the South Korean government and its newly elected President Moon Jae-in to renegotiate its 2015 "comfort women" agreement with Japan. "Time is of the essence. Every month we hear of another grandma's passing," said Phyllis Kim, a "comfort women" advocate and executive committee member of the San Francisco- based Comfort Women Justice Coalition, on Monday, a day before the 72nd anniversary of Japan's unconditional surrender in World War II. "We know justice delayed is justice denied, and the longer justice is denied, the fewer former 'comfort women' will be alive to see it," said Kim. On Saturday, Huang Youliang, a former "comfort woman", died at 90 at her home in China's Hainan province, bringing the total number of survivors to 14 in China. During WWII, an estimated 400,000 girls and women were forced into prostitution by the Japanese military. Half of them were from China, 140,000 to 160,000 from Korea, and the rest were from Japan and other Asian countries. Grassroots organizations, including the San Francisco-based Comfort Women Justice Coalition, have been raising voices and visibility for the "comfort women" justice struggle to preserve history and to seek redress for the human rights violations. Last month, those groups drafted a statement containing "seven demands" to resolve the "comfort women" issue according to international standards. The demands include a full acknowledgment of Japan's crime, an official apology, direct and legal reparations, a thorough investigation of the crime, prosecution of any surviving perpetrators, ongoing education in Japan's public schools, and the building of memorials and museums. "In December 2015, the Japanese and South Korean governments colluded and struck a deeply problematic deal that they said would 'finally and irrevocably' resolve and end the issue," said the joint statement. "However, not only were the Korean survivors never consulted during the negotiation, the survivors in all other affected countries were ignored completely, as were the Seven Demands," says the statement. The groups demand that the South Korean government "take necessary steps to declare the current agreement null and void" and renegotiate with Japan in a manner that meets the survivors' demands. The joint statement has been signed by more than 70 organizations in the US, Canada, China, Japan, Australia, Germany and the Philippines. "A former 'comfort woman' said, "Our worst fear is that our painful history during World War II will be forgotten," said Lillian Sing, co-chair of the Comfort Women Justice Coalition. "We will never allow that to happen. Our San Francisco Comfort Women Memorial will forever bear witness to the sufferings of those women." The memorial's design and inscription in English, Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages have recently been finalized. "This monument bears witness to the suffering of hundreds of thousands of women and girls, euphemistically called 'Comfort Women' This dark history was hidden for decades until the 1990s when the survivors courageously broke their silence. They helped move the world to declare that sexual violence as a strategy of war is a crime against humanity..." A Japan Ground Self Defense Force's Type 90 tank fires during their joint exercise, named Northern Viper 17, with US Marine Corps at Hokudaien exercise area in Eniwa, on the northern island of Hokkaido, Japan, August 16, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] US President Donald Trump on Wednesday praised the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Kim Jong-un for a "wise" decision not to fire missiles towards the US territory of Guam, which has eased escalating tension between the two countries. Reclusive DPRK has made no secret of its plan to develop a missile capable of firing a nuclear warhead at the United States to counter what it perceives as constant US threats of invasion. Trump warned DPRK last week it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States, prompting DPRK to say it was considering plans to fire missiles towards the Pacific island of Guam. But DPRK media reported on Tuesday Kim had delayed the decision while he awaited to see what the United States did next. "Kim Jong-un of DPRK made a very wise and well reasoned decision," Trump wrote on Twitter. "The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!" North Korea's threat to fire towards Guam had prompted Trump to say earlier that the US military was "locked and loaded" if DPRK acted unwisely. DPRK has long ignored warnings from the West and from its lone major ally, China, to halt its nuclear and missile tests which it conducts in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. The United States has been hoping China can press DPRK to rein in its weapons programs. The top US general reiterated that in talks in Beijing this week. Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford told Fang Fenghui, chief of the Joint Staff Department of the People's Liberation Army, in Beijing that North Korea's weapons programs threatened the entire international community, including China. "He emphasized that the US and China have the same goal - a denuclearized Korean peninsula achieved through peaceful means ... DPRK actions threaten the economic and military security of China," a US military spokesman said in a statement. "In the interest of regional stability, he said the US views with growing urgency the need for China to increase pressure on the DPRK regime," the spokesman said. "Should preferred diplomatic and economic peaceful options fail, General Dunford reiterated America's resolve to use the full range of military capabilities to defend our allies in the Republic of Korea and Japan, as well as the US homeland." US President Donald Trump answers questions about his response to the violence, injuries and deaths at the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville as he talks to the media in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, US, August 15, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] US President Donald Trump disbanded two high-profile business advisory councils on Wednesday after corporate CEOs quit in protest at his remarks blaming violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, not only on white nationalists but also on the protesters who opposed them. A parade of prominent Republicans and US ally Britain rebuked Trump after his Tuesday comments on Saturday's bloodshed further enveloped his seven-month-old presidency in controversy and paralyzed his policy aims. Trump announced the break-up of the advisory councils after 3M Co's Inge Thulin became the latest of several chief executives to leave Trump's American Manufacturing Council, and the president's Strategic and Policy Forum broke up of its own will. "Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both," Trump wrote on Twitter. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Ohio Governor John Kasich, Senator Lindsey Graham, former US presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush and others took aim at the remarks by Trump that worsened deep divisions within a Republican Party that controls both chambers of Congress and the White House. A former senior Trump administration official raised the prospect that some White House officials could quit because of Trump's comments. "If you have some high-profile individuals leaving, you may have a whole host of high-profile individuals leaving," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. McConnell, who last week drew Trump's ire over the Senate's failure to pass healthcare legislation, issued a statement saying "messages of hate and bigotry" from white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazi groups should not be welcome anywhere in the United States. McConnell's statement did not mention Trump by name. "We can have no tolerance for an ideology of racial hatred. There are no good neo-Nazis, and those who espouse their views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms. We all have a responsibility to stand against hate and violence, wherever it raises its evil head," McConnell said. US stocks had been trading near the day's high when the latest trickle of CEO resignations emerged in early afternoon and the market weakened substantially. In light of the developments, investors moved into the safety of US Treasury debt, sending their yields, which move in the opposite direction to bond prices, to their lows of the day. The benchmark 10-year note yield was last down 2 basis points to yield 2.24 percent. 'BLAME ON BOTH SIDES' Trump's remarks on Tuesday were a more vehement reprisal of his initial response to Saturday's bloodshed around a white nationalist rally. In his comments at a heated news conference in New York on Tuesday, Trump said "there is blame on both sides" of the violence in Charlottesville, and that there were "very fine people" on both sides. Kasich said there was no moral equivalency between the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and anybody else. "This is terrible. The president of the United States needs to condemn these kind of hate groups," Kasich said on NBC's "Today" show. Failure to do so gave such organizations a sense of victory and license to hold more events elsewhere, said Kasich, one of Trump's rivals for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election. In London, British Prime Minister Theresa May offered a rare rebuke of Trump by one of the United States' closest foreign allies. "I see no equivalence between those who propound fascist views and those who oppose them and I think it is important for all those in positions of responsibility to condemn far-right views wherever we hear them," May told reporters when asked to comment on Trump's stance. May has been widely criticized by political opponents in Britain for her efforts to cultivate close ties with Trump since he took office in January. Vice President Mike Pence, who is cutting short a trip to Latin America, said at a news conference in Chile that "I stand with the president and I stand by those words." REUTERS Workers remove the monuments to Robert E. Lee, commander of the pro-slavery Confederate army in the American Civil War, and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, a Confederate general, from Wyman Park in Baltimore, Maryland, US August 16, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] Workers in Baltimore removed four monuments to the pro-slavery Civil War Confederacy before dawn on Wednesday as the city sought to avoid the sort of protests that occurred last weekend in Virginia over the planned removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The commanding statues, including one of Lee and one of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, were dislodged from their bases in Baltimore's Wyman Park Dell and taken away on a flatbed truck after the city council on Monday approved the action. Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh said she and the city council decided to remove the monuments "quickly and quietly." "I think any city that has Confederate statues (is) concerned about violence occurring in their city," Pugh told a news conference. "This is not something that is needed." "Following the acts of domestic terrorism carried out by white supremacist terrorist groups in Charlottesville, Virginia, this past weekend, cities must act decisively and immediately by removing these monuments," Baltimore City Councilman Brandon Scott wrote in a resolution calling for removal of the statues. In Charlottesville on Saturday, white nationalists protesting plans to remove a statue of Lee clashed with counter-protesters. The demonstrations turned deadly when a car rammed into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing a woman and injuring 19 people. After Saturday's violence in Virginia, calls increased for memorials, flags and other symbols of the Confederacy to be removed from public places around the United States. During the American Civil War, Maryland was a slaveholding state. In Los Angeles on Wednesday, the United Daughters of the Confederacy asked the Hollywood Forever Cemetery to remove a monument that since 1925 had honored Confederate veterans. Cemetery spokesman Theodore Hovey said the organization made the request after hundreds of people demanded it be taken away. REUTERS Please turn JavaScript on and reload the page. Loading... Checking your browser before accessing the website. This process is automatic. Your browser will redirect to your requested content shortly. Please wait a few seconds. HCM CITY Emirates announced the launch of its promotional fares across its network of destinations around the world to encourage passengers to experience the beauty of autumn and the festive season on Tuesday. These special fares are available for booking from August 15 to September 5, 2017 and are valid for travel until March 31, 2018. From HCM City, economy fares start from VN12,610,000 (US$548) to Dubai, VN17,777,000 ($773) to Paris, VN21,395,000 ($930) to New York or 24,080,000VN ($1,046) to Washington. From Ha Noi, economy fares start from VN12,290,000 ($534) to Dubai, VN17 million ($738) to Amsterdam, VN20,940,000 ($910) to London, VN21,510,000 ($935) to New York or VN22,945,000 ($998) to Boston. In Viet Nam, Emirates operates daily passenger services from both Ha Noi and HCM City. From HCM City, the airline has served daily direct flights to Dubai since 2012 while the Ha Noi-Dubai route has been a non-stop one from July 2 this year. Both of these services are operated with a two-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. VNS HA NOI The Ministry of Information and Communications appointed new chairman of the member council for MobiFone Telecommunications Corporation on Wednesday. Nguyen Manh Thang, a member of the members council of Viet Nam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT), was appointed. MobiFone finally has a new chairman two months after former chairman Le Nam Tra was transferred to the ministry office. During the two months, the position was taken over by deputy minister of information and communications Pham Hong Hai. Thang was born in 1963 and has a masters degree in business administration. He was deputy director of VMS - MobiFone for nine years, head of VNPTs marketing rate department from 2005 to 2010 and in August 2010 became VNPTs Chief of Office. He has been in VNPTs members council from mid-2014. VNS HCM City The Viet Nam Medi Pharm Expo 2017 will open its door at the Saigon Exhibition and Convention Centre in HCM City on Thursday. The two-day event will showcase medical equipment, health care products, pharmaceuticals, food supplements, cosmetics, processing equipment and dental facilities, among others. Some 250 exhibitors are expected from Viet Nam, the US, Germany, Italy, France, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Uzbekistan, Iran, Turkey, Korea, Japan, mainland China, India, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Pakistan and Thailand. The Japanese booths will display high-tech medical products, the Indian booths will feature pharmaceuticals and laboratory equipment, and China will exhibit toxin detectors, rapid diagnostic tests, electric saws, medical drills for orthopedic surgery and herbal medicines. Koreas booth will introduce processing machines, pharmaceutical product packaging, cosmetics and cosmetics equipment. Several workshops will be held on the sidelines of the expo on the domestic medical market and relevant regulations. A fact-finding trip to a major hospital in HCM City will be organised for foreign exhibitors to learn about the needs of local residents in HCM City in particular and Viet Nam in general. The annual Viet Nam Medi Pharm held in HCM City since the year 2000, is organised in collaboration by the ministries of health and industry and trade, Vinexad and HCM City Medical Equipment Association. VNS HA NOI The inh Vu Polyester Fibre Plant is scheduled to restart production soon after a prolonged suspension of operations. Viet Nam National Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam), holding 75 per cent of the capital at the US$325-million plant, held a meeting recently with the Viet Nam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) to discuss a fibre consumption solution for the plant. Vinatex Chairman Tran Quang Nghi said that the fibre consumption of the plant was not only a matter of cooperation, but also of responsibility. Vinatex has always affirmed its support for the plant by consuming its fibre products. Vinatex general director Le Tien Truong said that the demand for the polyester fibre of Vietnamese enterprises had been growing 10 per cent to 15 per cent annually. It had a consistent steady growth rate in the past few years. Depending on the cotton prices in the world market, the demand for polyester for spinning may increase or decrease, but the percentage of demand between cotton and polyester is stable at about 60/40, respectively. Currently, Viet Nam needs to import some 700,000 tonnes of cotton per year and about 400,000 tonnes of polyester fibre. In 2015 and 2016, with the steady investment by foreign companies in the domestic yarn industry, the country had about 7 million spindles, double the numbers in 2015. On the other hand, fibre prices have ranged from US$1,100 to $1,120 per tonne, $200 higher than the fibre prices in 2015. Meanwhile, the cost of material for producing polyester fibre was also lower than the price of material in 2015. "These are important considerations in determining the time for recovering operations at the inh Vu Polyester Fibre Plant," Truong said. He also affirmed that Vinatex would increase the volume of polyester fibre products bought from the plant to 100 per cent from the current level, or at least by 50 per cent according to its commitment in the past, if the plant ensures quality and stability, and fulfils the commitments on payment and delivery as in 2014 and 2015. Vinatex and the Viet Nam Textile and Garment Institute will continue to support the plant to control the quality of its products and design units to test the fibre at the weaving and dyeing stages. PetroVietnams General Director Nguyen Vu Truong Son also pledged to restart operations of the plant as soon as possible and ensure the stability of polyester fibre supply to local enterprises. PetroVietnam has proposed to the Prime Minister the possible measures to recover the production of the plant. Meanwhile, Vinatex will provide information about consumption for PetroVietnam to determine the best plan for re-operation of the plant. The plant is one of the 12 projects that suffered losses in the industry and trade sector, and PetroVietnam is determined to restart production at this plant soon. VNS HA NOI The Ministry of Finance has proposed that the Government apply a special consumption tax on pickups to be set at 60 per cent of the tax on cars with nine seats or less with similar engine displacement, a move that would sharply increase their cost. Speaking at a press conference in Ha Noi yesterday, Pham inh Thi, head of the finance ministrys Tax Policy Department, said pickups mainly have engine displacement of between 2,000 and 3,000cc, so if the tax on the car with nine seats and less is currently 55 per cent of the car value, the tax on the pickups should be 33 per cent. The proposal was made after the Prime Minister required the ministry to study and check the tax on pickups in the region. The ministry found that regional countries usually levy special consumption tax on pickups lower than that of autos with nine seats or less. According to the Law on Special Consumption Tax regulations, a special consumption tax of 15 per cent is levied on pickup trucks with engine displacement of 2,500cc or less, 20 per cent for those with over 2,500cc-3,000cc and 25 per cent for those with over 3,000cc. In recent years, the number of pickups has sharply increased in Viet Nam, the majority imported. In 2012, 3,291 units were sold, of which 3,252 were imported and 39 units were locally-assembled. In 2016, sales soared to 28,233 units, of which 27,265 units were imported and 968 units were locally-assembled. Thi said the five-seat pickups had for many years enjoyed special consumption tax lower than that of vehicles with the same number of seats (lower than SUV models, with engine displacement from over 2,500cc to 3,000cc, taxed 55 per cent). Therefore, the number of consumers moving to buy pickups instead of SUVs has been seen increasing rapidly. On April 14, the Government Office announced that Deputy Prime Minister Trinh inh Dung had assigned the finance ministry to study and reevaluate the current special consumption tax and registration fees for pickups, which then would be proposed and reported to the Government and the National Assembly to supplement and revise law if needed. On April 28, the Ministry of Industry and Trade sent a document to the Prime Minister on its evaluation on auto production and assembling in Viet Nam and measures to develop the auto industry, in which it proposed the Government impose a special consumption tax on five-seats pickups with haul of less 1,500kg at the level of vehicles with nine seats or less. If the finance ministrys proposal is approved by the Government and the National Assembly, the average special consumption tax on pickups will increase by 50 to 100 per cent. VNS HA NOI Domestic steel consumption in the first seven months of 2017 rose 14.5 per cent from the same period last year to 5.14 million tonnes, the Viet Nam Steel Association (VSA) said. VSA said that by the end of July, steel inventory was 530,306 tonnes, reducing 19 per cent from the previous month. Construction steel output last month was 780,000 tonnes, increasing 24 per cent from the corresponding period last year and 7 per cent higher than the previous month. Export of construction steel reached 541,377 tonnes, posting a year-on-year increase of 75 per cent. According to the association, in recent years, many local steel producers have yielded high revenue and profit, although steel consumption has witnessed difficulties. Viet Nam is considered one of the largest steel producers in ASEAN since 2015. Hung Nghiep Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation has been able to produce hot rolled steel, reducing the annual import of steel from June 2017. VSA also said Vietnamese steel producers had had to adjust prices due to the surge of steel billet. In particular, steel plants in the north increased their selling price by four times while those in the south increased it by three-four times. In addition, the increase in demand and subsequent shortage of coal for steel production has contributed to the price rise. It is expected that the steel billet prices will remain high at VN10,500-10,700 per kilo in the future, resulting in higher steel prices this month. In the January-July period, construction steel production reached 5.2 million tonnes, posting a year-on-year rise of 13.5 per cent. VNS HA NOI Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has urged the aviation industry to tighten security and safety as they are important issues currently. This requirement was one of six in a message from the Prime Minister sent to the aviation industry at the meeting between the Government working group led by Minister-head of Government Office Mai Tien Dung and representatives of three aviation firms, including Vietnam Airlines, Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation and Airports Corporation of Viet Nam (ACV), in Ha Noi on Wednesday. The meeting aimed to urge the industry to boost business and production, contributing to hitting the countrys GDP growth target this year as well as discovering and solving difficulties. The businesses will then have to report and explain the problems to the Government and the PM. In the message, Prime Minister Phuc said the industry has grown but has to ensure security and safety, seen as the most important issue. Whatever the circumstances, we will not let danger occur, said Dung, which also mentioned problems related to air traffic management recently at Cat Bi Airport in the northern city of Hai Phong. The PM mentioned the importance of increasing the frequency of take offs and landings and said that many international airports had a frequency of two minutes per flight, or even one minute per flight. The frequency of taking off and landing in Viet Nam is quite low due to administration, management, or infrastructure? We always blame the low frequency for infrastructure but not human? The Prime Minister wanted to know if it was due to infrastructure or human? said the working groups head Dung. Dung also questioned the plan to double the annual capacity of Tan Son Nhat International Airport from its current capacity of 25 million passengers when the airport has not been expanded and Long Thanh Airport, designed to be the countrys largest airport in the southern province of ong Nai and about 40km far from HCM City, is yet to be constructed. The third issue is ensuring the security of flight information. This is a key issue for ACV, which needs to have measures to stop cyber attacks that delay flights. Delayed and cancelled flights are another issue. In July, the on-time rate of Vietnam Airlines increased compared with previous years, but the number of delayed and cancelled flights of budget airlines was still high, which was due to infrastructure, technology or facilities, Dung asked participants at the meeting. The industry had witnessed fierce competition, good development and enhanced quality but the delay and cancel of flights is a big public concern. Agencies need to pay attention and co-ordinate with each other to solve this problem. The Prime Minister also mentioned aviation culture, efficiency and profit, especially of Vietnam Airlines. The firms revenue rose nearly 10 per cent in the first months of this year, but after-tax profits did not increase in tandem. Another issue is airport security. Dung questioned why some airports control security well and stop drug transportation but others cant. He mentioned the mobilisation of social funds in aviation infrastructure. The Ministry of Transport and the ACV should study the issue and devise measures. If we set plans with investment from the State budget but do not call for social funds, we need to reconsider policy. Even for airport runways, its necessary to issue work together. Our job is to ensure security, safety as well as interests of the investors and the State. The Prime Minister requested relevant bodies to create conditions to lure investment when the State budget is stretched, Dung said. The fifth issue is equitisation. The Prime Minister wanted the ACV to hasten its equitisation and divestment. As for the sixth issue, he asked the industry to take every opportunity to maintain its annual growth rate of 17-20 per cent in recent times. The Government working group also asked the three businesses to report their difficulties in mechanisms and policies in detail. The group will collect and report the issues to the Government and the Prime Minister. VNS HA NOI Local digital content firms are claiming of unfair treatment compared to their foreign peers, with Vietnamese companies saying they face many regulations while firms like Google, Facebook and YouTube dont pay taxes and are unhindered by regulations and policies. Leaders of digital content businesses made the gripes at a forum about the law on information and technology and development orientation held in Ha Noi on Tuesday. Nguyen Thanh Hung, director of VTC Intecom was reported by online newspaper vneconomy.vn as saying that 10 years ago, revenue of digital content from added value services reached VN3 to 4 trillion (US$133-177 million). The revenue has risen due to the development of television, online services and the shift from traditional advertising to online ads and content on social networks. Nguyen The Tan, VCCorps general director said total revenue of digital content firms in was about VN 8 to 10 trillion a year. The revenue could hit VN15 to 20 trillion a year including foreign companies in Viet Nam. Tan told the newspaper that the scale of the digital content market in the next five years could reach $1 billion and $5 billion in the next 20 years. However, he said $1 billion in revenue for the digital content sector was different than for the garment and textile industry. The garment and textile sector could earn only 10 per cent or $500 million for export revenue of $5 billion while the digital content could yield $500 million for exporting $1 billion to foreign markets. This means $1 billion exports of the digital content sector could be equal to $5 billion in exports of the garment and textile sector, he said. He forecast that the digital content sector could bring benefits for Viet Nam in tourism in the next five or 10 years, surpassing garment and textile and petroleum sectors while providing a million jobs. Restricting regulations Hung from VTC Intecom said there were some restrictions on domestic digital content development, as the Government imposed tight regulations on the sector. He said his company was inspected by many management agencies when they made information websites. However, there was no one checking their companys information which was posted on Facebook. In addition, Vietnamese online game producers have to complete many administrative procedures. Digital content has also shifted from PC to mobile, meaning management policies are no longer suitable with reality. Digital content on mobile is subject to both Vietnamese and foreign regulations, he said. He added that this was why local digital content firms have not paid much attention to investment. Agreeeing, Nhan The Luan, representative of Nhaccuatui said Vietnamese businesses have faced competition from foreign firms while being restricted by regulations. Luan said that total traffic of 300 licensed websites in Viet Nam accounted for only 20 per cent compared with foreign firms which have not been locally licensed. Tan from VCCorp also said Vietnamese companies had to follow regulations and could be punished for violations while these are not applied on foreign firms. He added that Vietnamese enterprises have to pay all kinds of taxes such as VAT, individual income tax and corporate income tax. Solutions Tan said taxes should be imposed on both Vietnamese and foreign firms. In addition, he asked the Ministry of Information and Communications to ask the Government to consider the digital content sector a key economic sector to not only maintain State budget collection but also attract foreign investment. The ministry should also study policies to make foreign companies follow Vietnamese laws and regulations as they earn billions ong from Viet Nam without paying taxes and duties, he said. He asked for administrative procedure simplification to reduce the burden on local companies. Nguyen Xuan Cuong, vice chairman of Viet Nam Digital Communications Association said laws and regulations should be adjusted to ensure fairness for both domestic and foreign businesses. VNS HA NOI The 20th Viet Nam Film Festival is set to become a favourite rendezvous for cinema lovers as the best entries will be presented for free, organisers said yesterday. The biennial event will take place in the central city of a Nang on November 24-28, said Ngo Phuong Lan, head of the culture ministrys Cinema Department. The festival will feature the best Vietnamese best films and filmmakers and introduce the countrys culture and tradition to the world. This year, the theme of the festival is Building a Modern and Humane Cinema Industry. The festival will be a great opportunity for filmmakers, distributors and producers to exchange and promote Vietnamese cinema, Lan said. The five-day event will include free outdoor screenings of films, seminars introducing the ASEAN film industry and an exhibition on Vietnamese cinema. The highlight of the event this year is the ASEAN Film Award, introduced for the first time by Viet Nam. It aims to introduce the best movies in the region to the world and affirms the role of the cinema industry in strengthening friendship among the ASEAN community. Various films will be screened in Ha Noi, a Nang and HCM City.The Viet Nam Film Festival, founded in 1970, is considered as the major event of the national cinema department with awards for numerous categories including feature films, documentary films, scientific films and animations. The most prestigious prize of the festival is the Golden Lotus, followed by the Silver Lotus and the Special Jury Prize. Films remade from foreign works (based on foreign films scripts) can be sent to the festival but wont have a chance win the top awards, Lan said. VNS The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee held a working session on supervising implementation of BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) traffic projects in the wake of heated protests over one of them in the southern province of Tien Giang. VNA/VNS Photo Minh Tri HA NOI The National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee held a working session on supervising implementation of BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) traffic projects in the wake of heated protests over one of them in the southern province of Tien Giang. The BOT model, which primarily cedes construction of public traffic infrastructure to the private sector, has been utilised by the Government to alleviate the burden on the State Budget, especially after official development assistance (ODA) began running thin. Chairman of the NAs Economic Affairs Committee, Vu Hong Thanh, said BOT projects were a necessity and that in recent years, they had significantly improved the traffic system, especially roads and bridges, helped reduce travel time and raised the competitiveness of the economy. In the 2011-2016 period, the Ministry of Transport (MoT) mobilised VN171 trillion (US$7.524 billion) for traffic projects, with 59 BOT projects accounting for 90.2 per cent (55 projects have been completed). These included many key connectivity projects including the Ho Chi Minh Road (the section passing through the Central Highlands) and expansion of the trans-Viet Nam highway, National Road 1. However, a report by the thematic supervision working group has pointed out numerous issues plaguing BOT projects, especially in terms of toll collection that is used to recoup invested capital. Public feedback, especially from local residents and guild associations, has not been accounted for in determining where the toll booths would be located. In many cases, the toll has kept increasing while the quality of the roads degraded, according to the report. NA Vice Chairman o Ba Ty said the locations of tollbooths and the toll levels were the direct causes of peoples protests. Ty said the Government should buy back the rights of toll collection from booths located less than the minimum mandated 70km from the nearest booth. Many members of the NA Standing Committee agreed that in the coming time, the government needs to conduct a thorough review of all existing BOT tollbooths, promulgate fresh criteria for their installation and establishing appropriate price brackets. They also suggested application of electronic toll collection on all national roads starting from 2019. NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan said the problems afflicting BOT projects in recent times arose because legal documents were not comprehensive enough, inadequate project planning led to frequent cost overruns and incompetent sub-contractors were selected without going through a proper bidding process. Ngan asked state agencies to consolidate laws on BOT investment and soon develop the Law on Public-Private Partnership, creating a consistent legal framework for both sides the state and the private enterprises to observe signed contracts. In the meantime, state agencies should urgently deal with regulations that are impractical and unreasonable, she said. VNS Public outrage The Cai Lay BOT tollbooth (at km1999+300 on the National Road section that passes through the southern province of Tien Giang) has seen vehement protests. From last Sunday, car drivers have been heavily protesting the tollbooth, citing its inappropriate location and outrageous tolls. Drivers passing through the booth have collectively used small-currency notes to pay the toll, leading to heavy congestion as the cashiers need a lot of time to go through piles of cash to check whether the full fee has been paid. On August 13 at 6:45pm, with hundreds of cars waiting in line, the toll booth had to let all cars go through for free until 2am the next morning. The protests actually began in July, even before the toll booths were operational, when Facebook groups called on car drivers to use small-denomination currency notes to pay the toll as a means of peaceful protest. In addition, car drivers have told each other to go other routes to bypass the booth, which soon becomes a bother for nearby residents and a burden on smaller roads not designed for heavy loads of traffic. The investor of the Tien Giang BOT project said the setting up of the tollbooth on National Road 1 to collect toll from cars running on National Road 1 and the bypass road is totally reasonable, and was approved by the MoT, Ministry of Finance, and Tien Giang Peoples Committee. Tran Van Bon, Tien Giangs Director of the Department of Transportation, has asked the Viet Nam Road Administration to think up ways to reduce the tolls and the agency said the proposal could be feasible. VNS HCM CITY With HCM City authorities considering an increase in the number of hours that mini trucks are banned in the inner city, businesses are worried about its fallout. At a meeting at the beginning of this month to discuss the transportation situation in the first half of this year, the chairman of the city Peoples Committee, Nguyen Thanh Phong, urged the Department of Transport to consider banning mini trucks from 6am to 8pm. Since last March they have been banned from 6am to 8am and 4pm to 8pm, but according to the police, at other hours they come into the city and cause severe traffic jams. The city has around 210,000 trucks. Soon after news about the meeting was published in the media, enterprises reacted strongly, with most saying the longer ban would hit them severely since they supply goods every day to many small production units, restaurants and shops. Phu Nu (Women) newspaper quoted Kao Sieu Luc, director of ABC Bakery, as saying that the biggest challenge his company faces now is delivery since mini-trucks are banned during certain hours. His company used to use mini trucks to supply its buyers, but now has to rely on pick-ups, directors cars, and bikes. But his products need to be stored at under -5 degrees C. As a result his company has had to temporarily refuse some orders, while all orders for conferences at 7-8am and 5-8am have been cancelled. He said the reports that the city would expand the mini-truck ban were worrisome and would surely affect his company. For businesses producing vegetables and vegetable-based products, the problem is worse because these products have to be transported the same day. Truong Van Bao, director of the Viet Agriculture Technology Company, said after the city banned mini trucks in the morning and afternoon his companys orders fell by 20 per cent because they were unable to provide products to kindergartens in the mornings and restaurants in the afternoons. The company has three mini trucks that can each deliver products to seven or eight customers. Due to the ban it had to buy seven motorbikes. Nguyen Quoc Hoan, general director of Pan Food Manufacturing Joint Stock Company, said HCM City has many small shops and it is a reasonable demand to allow mini trucks to deliver goods to them. The city should carefully consider the ban hours, he said. Bui Xuan Cuong, director of the Department of Transport, said the issue would be carefully studied. The ban would not apply to the whole city but only to certain main streets where traffic jams occur regularly. VNS HCM CITY- The latest diagnostic criteria for infant and toddler functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) were updated for paediatricians at conferences held in HCM City and Ha Noi on August 12 and 13. These are designed to help paediatricians diagnose the disorders without tests and improve childrens digestive systems, according to experts. Prof Dr Nguyen Gia Khanh, chairman of the Viet Nam Paediatric Association, told the conferences that FGIDs do not seriously affect infants and toddlers growth or cause serious complications, but reduce the quality of their life. Prof Marc Benninga, pediatric gastroenterologist at Emma Childrens Hospital in the Netherlands, said infant and toddler FGIDs include a variable combination of often age-dependent, chronic or recurrent symptoms not explained by structural or bio-chemical abnormalities. Functional symptoms during childhood sometimes accompany normal development for example, infant regurgitation -- and could arise from maladaptive behavioural responses to internal or external stimuli like retention of feces in the rectum, which often results from an experience with painful defecation, he said. Childhood FGIDs are not dangerous when the symptoms and caregivers concerns are addressed and contained, he said. Conversely, failed diagnosis and inappropriate treatments of functional symptoms may be the cause of needless physical and emotional suffering. In 2006 a consensus on FGIDs in infants and toddlers was arrived at. But at that time little evidence regarding epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnostic work-up, treatment strategies and follow-up was available. Consequently, the criteria for the clinical entities were more experience than evidence based. In the past decade new insights have been gained into various FGIDs in these age groups. Based on those, further revisions have been made to the criteria. Benninga said when infants and toddlers get constipation, which is considered one of the symptoms of FGIDs, parents should not change their formula milk. Khanh of the Viet Nam Paediatrics Association said many studies showed that the digestive tract cannot adapt to frequent changes in milk, affecting infants and toddlers growth. Benninga advised that infants and toddlers with constipation should not eat high-fibre food or drink a lot of fluids. It is best to visit doctors and take medicines that induce bowel movements or soften or loosen up the stool, he said. Moreover, parents are often stressed, angry and worried when infants and toddlers with FGIDs cry a lot, and they usually forcefully and violently shake the child to try and stop it from crying, he said. Such shaking can affect babies development, he warned. Parents should take their children to doctors when they cry for many days, he said. The causes of digestive disorders in infants and toddlers were discussed at the conferences. Paediatricians said that changes in the structure of proteins in milk are to blame for the disorders. High temperatures while processing milk causes the changes, and the changed proteins are indigestible for babies, leading to dyspepsia, abdominal pain and constipation, they said. Parents should choose naturally high protein food to help their children digest easily, they said. Children aged more than two need a lot of proteins for developing muscles, skin, hair, nervous and immunity systems and others, they added. The conferences on ROME IV - new criteria in diagnosis and treatment of infants and toddlers FGIDs were held by the Viet Nam Paediatric Association in co-operation with FrieslandCampina Viet Nams Friso brand. HCM CITY - Students from Daegu, South Korea and Viet Nam National University-HCM City are taking part in an exchange programme at the universitys campus in Thu uc District. During their four-day stay, the delegation of South Korean students and officials will learn about Viet Nams culture and take a tour of the central city of a Nang and HCM City, including the historic Cu Chi Tunnels. Earlier, students, lecturers and staff from Viet Nam National University-HCM City took part in an exchange programme in Daegu in early July. Dr Nguyen uc Nghia, deputy director of the Viet Nam National University-HCM City, said the exchange programme was one of the activities to celebrate the 25th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Viet Nam and South Korea. Viet Nam has become an ideal destination for students of South Korea to study, according to the Embassy of Viet Nam in South Korea. Each year, around 3,000 students from South Korea enroll in short-term courses or take part in exchange activities at Viet Nam National University-HCM City, accounting for 85 per cent of its foreign students. VNS Medical authorities in the Mekong Delta Province of Ben Tre have stepped up a prevention campaign against Streptococcus suis bacteria, a pig-based pathogen capable of transmission to human beings. Photo zing.vn BEN TRE Medical authorities in the Mekong Delta Province of Ben Tre have stepped up a prevention campaign against Streptococcus suis bacteria, a pig-based pathogen capable of transmission to human beings. Since the beginning of this year, 12 cases of infection have been recorded in the province, compared with nine up to the same period last year, with one fatality. The information campaign focuses on communities highly exposed to the bacteria, such as pork farmers, transporters, and fresh pork butchers. The provincial medical sector warned residents against slaughtering or consuming bacteria-infected pigs, dead pigs and pig blood pudding, raw or underdone pork products. Those who breed, slaughter or process pork products are advised to use protective equipment. Doctor o Tan Hong, director of the local Preventive Medicine Centre, warned that people who are in direct contact with pigs or eat uncooked pork and develop symptoms such as high fever, headache and vomitting are advised to seek treatment. Hong said the extremely dangerous disease is caused by bacteria in the respiratory system and easily transmitted from pigs to humans. Some 60 per cent of patients risk meningitis, septicaemia and even death if they delay going to hospital. The disease may leave after effects such as blindness, tinnitus and deafness. More than 300,000 pigs are bred in Ben Tre Province. VNS HCM CITY Sustainable long-term, community-based care that provides health care, nursing care, housing and livelihood support for the elderly is vitally important for Viet Nam and other countries with aging populations, experts said yesterday at a forum held in HCM City. Keizo Takemi, a member of the House of Councillors in Japan, said the elderly should live the remainder of their lives in an environment familiar to them, even if they need long-term care. As the number of elderly with dementia is expected to increase, creation of an integrated community-care system is important, he said. Its necessary for municipalities and prefectures that serve as insurers to create an integrated community care system based on regional autonomy and independence. Dr Peh Kim Choo, chief executive officer of Tsao Foundation and director of the Hua Mei Centre for Successful Ageing in Singapore, said there was a need for a paradigm shift in how the role of the elderly is envisaged as well as how services can be designed from the public and private perspectives. One important role we have is joining the dots, acting as the catalyst in creating an integrated community-care system and interfacing with the health and social care system, which is largely driven by the Government in Singapore, she added. Also speaking at the forum, Prof Du Peng, director of the Institute of Gerontology at Renmin University of China, said that most long-term care services in China were operated by public institutions. Nursing homes have more than 7.3 million beds, but nearly half of them are not used, he said, adding that extension of care services to the communities is one direction of reform. China has learned from previous community-care programmes and has been trying its best to establish a long-term community care system both in urban and rural areas. The facilities are easier to establish, but the operation needs sustainable input and management, he added. Sustainable long-term care in communities also depends on qualified human resources and the integration of government agencies, according to Du. Rural aging is more serious than in urban settings, with long-term care services mainly occurring in cities, and an increasing gap between rural and urban care systems. Viet Nams Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said that aging populations were one of the biggest demographic changes occurring worldwide. The number of people over 60 is expected to increase from more than 900 million in 2015 to 2 billion in 2050, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). This great demographic transition brings great opportunities but also big challenges, affecting all socio-economic aspects of every nation, all APEC-member economies, every community and each family, she said. Viet Nam is among the countries with the fastest aging rate, with 10.1 million aged 60 and above, accounting for 11 per cent of the total population. The figure is expected to increase to 18 per cent by 2030 and to 26 per cent by 2050. Currently, there are 2 million people aged 80 or more in Viet Nam. Opportunities As set out in sustainable development goals, universal health coverage is essential to ensuring healthy, active lives for everyone, regardless of age. Coordination between the public and private sector, including civil society, is critical in incorporating innovative approaches and technologies to address the challenges ahead, experts said. Despite challenges, socially and economically active and healthy older people make significant contributions to society. Harnessing the experience and potential of older people is essential to reap the benefits of an aging society. Koji Fujimoto, deputy director general of the Office of Healthcare Policy of the Cabinet Secretariat in Japan, said that training for professional elderly care services, such as functional recovery care, should be improved as the need for more qualified staff would increase. Economic ties among industries related to elderly care should also be created, Fujimoto said. At the forum, 20 panel exhibitions as well as stage presentations and performances, organised by the Japan External Trade Organisation, showcased Japans latest innovations in elderly care-related products and services and the promotion of healthy aging. The forum, organised on the sidelines of the upcoming APECs 3rd Senior Officials Meeting (SOM), promoted collective action on a regional policy framework for aging issues. VNS HCM City s Peoples Committee has approved a project aiming to improve the quality of healthcare regarding infectious diseases and HIV/AIDS. Photo plo.vn HCM CITY HCM Citys Peoples Committee has approved a project aiming to improve the quality of healthcare regarding infectious diseases and HIV/AIDS. It aims to enhance and maintain the capacity of preventing, diagnosing and responding to contagious diseases and providing healthcare service for HIV treatment in 2017. The project, with funding of VN35 billion provided by the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, provides preventive healthcare service for HIV/AIDS in a sustainable and effective way, contributing to national HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. It offers in-person service for patients, as well as improving the techniques and capacity of medical units. The project will be implemented from this month until April next year at the municipal Health Department, some health centres and hospitals in the city such as HIV/AIDS preventive centre, Pham Ngoc Thach Hospital, Tropical Disease Hospital, pediatrics hospitals No.1 and No.2 Pasteur Institute. VNS The Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and the Montsame News Agency of Mongolia signed a new cooperation agreement yesterday to tighten their professional links in the digital era. VNA/VNS Photo Van iep HA NOI The Vietnam News Agency (VNA) and the Montsame News Agency of Mongolia signed a new cooperation agreement yesterday to tighten their professional links in the digital era. Accordingly, the two agencies will maintain the exchange of text news and photos with captions in English and increase the sharing of news videos, especially documentaries on the land and people of Viet Nam and Mongolia and investment and business opportunities in each nation. They pledged to maintain annual exchanges of reporters and continue to support each other at regional and international press forums, particularly within the framework of the Organisation of Asia-Pacific News Agencies (OANA). Speaking at the talks in Ha Noi, VNA General Director Nguyen uc Loi noted the agencies implementation of the 2001 protocol on specialised cooperation, which, as he said, had yet to tap bilateral cooperation potential, urging the two sides to strengthen their ties. Regarding APEC Viet Nam 2017, he said VNA would be ready to provide information about this event for Montsame, and it hoped that the Mongolian news agency would step up the promotion of this event on its communication channels. Congratulating the VNA on its recent achievements, Montsame General Director Ganchimeg Badamdorj also expressed her wish to reinforce cooperation between the two sides. Founded in 1921, the Montsame News Agency is one of the oldest communications organisations of Mongolia. It has 108 staff members, reporters and editors, 20 bureaus across Mongolia, and bureaus in Moscow and Beijing. The VNA boasts a network of 63 bureaus in all the cities and provinces nationwide and 30 overseas bureaus across five continents. With more than 60 media products by more than 1,000 reporters and editors out of its 2,400-strong staff, the VNA is now the media office with the largest number of products in the country: bulletins, photos, television programmes, dailies, weeklies, monthlies, magazines, pictorials, books, TV channel, e-newspapers and information programmes on mobile platforms. The agency also delivers news in the largest number of languages. In addition to official Vietnamese-language news provided for domestic and foreign media outlets, stories for foreign service are written in English, Chinese, French and Spanish, not to mention print and e-newspapers in four other languages, namely Lao, Korean, Japanese and Russian.-VNS HA NOI The Ministry of Health (MoH) has requested health departments in the northern mountainous provinces to carry out works related to health and safety for patients in flood-prone areas. Owing to heavy rainfall, and the susceptibility of northern provinces to landslides and flash floods, the ministry has asked local health departments to be prepared to respond to the situation. The ministry has requested a few provinces affected by the recent floods to cooperate with agencies in locating missing persons and supporting the affected families. It also specifically requested health departments in the affected areas to make available sufficient supply of medicines and to implement plans to protect or relocate health facilities to ensure the absolute safety of patients, health workers, as well as the medical equipment. Local health departments were asked to instruct health facilities to clean the environment and ensure food safety to prevent diseases that could be triggered by floods, such as dengue fever, diarrhoea or red eyes. The ministry also required the provincial Health Communication and Education Centres to guide people in the affected areas to help them keep the environment clean and prevent the spread of infectious and pathogenic diseases. The units under the MoH were also required to prepare drug, equipment and medical teams to assist the localities. VNS The Viet Thanh Beauty Clinic. Photo vietnamnet.vn HCM CITY Bui Minh Trang, chief inspector of HCM Citys Health Department, said various violations had been detected at cosmetic surgery clinics, such as false advertising and employing surgeon not certified to perform plastic surgery, resulting in several fatalities in recent months. In addition, many clinics hired non-professional staff, he said. An American man died while having cosmetic surgery at a clinic on Su Van Hanh Street in District 10 on July. The man, identified as Edward Hartley, 53, went to the clinic for surgery to remove loose skin around his hip. He was given an anesthetic at 4pm, but started showing signs of circuit obstruction. Doctors conducted emergency procedures but failed to revive Hartley. The municipal Health Department has concluded that he suffered anaphylactic shock. In April, a 22-year-old woman from Hoc Mon District underwent breast enlargement surgery at Van Hanh General Hospital in District 10. A few days later she was admitted to the Hoc Mon General Hospital with difficulty breathing and low blood pressure. She was diagnosed with serious post-operative infection and transferred to the 115 Peoples Hospital on April 24. Doctors found her to be 16-17 weeks pregnant and provided intensive care, but she went into a coma and died on May 4. Inspectors found that the surgeon who conducted the breast augmentation for the 22-year-old woman was not licensed to perform this type of surgery. Regarding the death of an American at the Viet Thanh Beauty Clinic, the municipal health inspectorate said the facility violated its permit. It was only licensed to perform techniques such as dimple creation surgery, eyelid surgery, nose reshaping. However, it also promoted breast augmentation and liposuction procedures on social media and on its website. The anasthetic risk Nguyen Thi Huynh Mai, chief of municipal Health Departments Office, admitted that the department faced many difficulties in examining clinics operations. "In accordance with Law on Enterprise, we have to send a notice to any enterprise or clinic before carrying out inspections, making it difficult to detect violations," she said. Apart from plastic surgery departments at public and private hospitals, HCM City has around 100 cosmetic surgery clinics, according to the official. Nguyen Phan Tu Dung, director of JW Korean Plastic Surgery Hospital, said anaphylactic shock was the most likely fatal complication in cosmetic surgery due to reaction from the anesthetic. Therefore, patients response to anesthetics must be tested before performing any surgery, he said. Facilities must also be equipped to conduct timely emergency treatment for patients when they suffer shock, he said. Simple surgeries such as eyelid surgery, rhinoplasty and dimple creation surgery can be carried out at cosmetic surgery clinics, but surgeries which require general anesthesia, such as liposuction, breast augmentation, bone-cutting surgery must be performed in specialised hospitals, Dung said. In the case of the 22-year-old breast augmentation patient, initial reports indicate that neither the patient nor the doctors knew about her pregnancy. Checking pregnancy wasnt required before performing breast augmentation surgery, but prior to administering an anesthetic the doctors should have tested her functions like coagulation function, kidney function and liver function, he said. Urine tests should also have been performed to check for other medical conditions, including pregnancy and the menstrual cycle of the patient. "If the doctor is doubtful, patients must be given a quick pregnancy test. However, most women patients know they are pregnant because this is basic knowledge," Dung said. In related news, the Ministry of Health recently asked the HCM Citys Health Department to review its cosmetic surgery services and put an end to medical facility misconduct. VNS I used to consider gumbo a hearty soup/stew best served in the colder months. Then my sweetie said that because it usually contains okra gumbo, in fact, means okra in many West African languages it should be a summer soup. I did some research just to double check its seasonality, and boy, did I fall down a rabbit hole. Ill spare you details, but the soup was originally thickened with okra so it would be most available during the summer months. Chicken and Sausage Gumbo 1/2 cup oil/fat 1/2 cup flour 1 onion, chopped 1 bell pepper, chopped 8 ounces okra, chopped 4 cloves garlic, minced 2 quarts chicken stock Creole seasoning, to taste 1 teaspoon dried thyme Salt and pepper, to taste 1 pound chicken breast, chopped 1 pound andouille sausage, sliced 1 bunch scallions, sliced, for serving Chopped parsley, to taste, for serving Cooked white rice, for about 6 servings Toss chicken with a little Creole seasoning, if desired. Then, brown chicken and sausage in a large Dutch oven, with a little bit of oil, if desired. Cook until chicken is cooked through and set on a paper-towel lined plate and set aside. Add oil or whatever fat you desire to Dutch oven. (To be honest, I use a little bit of bacon fat to add to the taste so I did half fat and half oil.) Slowly add the flour and whisk to form a roux. Cook the mixture for 3 to 4 minutes until golden brown. Add bell pepper and onion and cook for about 5 minutes until softened, stirring constantly. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add stock, okra, seasonings (an additional 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning if you used it to spice the chicken), and meats. Bring to a boil, then cover and cook for about an hour. Prepare rice while soup cooks. Just before serving, slice scallions and chop parsley. Spoon rice into a bowl and then ladle soup. Top with scallions and parsley and enjoy! Legion to host breakfast buffet PARKERSBURG -- American Legion Post 285 will sponsor a breakfast buffet from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday in the Veterans Memorial Building. Pancakes, sausage, bacon, toast, biscuits and gravy, omelets, fruit, scrambled eggs, juice and coffee are on the menu. There also will be a car show in the park across the street. Cost is $7 for adults and $3 for children ages 11 and younger. AMVETS planning Evansdale events EVANSDALE -- Evansdale AMVETS Post 31 has several events planned. There will be a steak dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday, as well as one set for Sept. 2. The Fall Poker Run will start at 11 a.m. Sept. 16. Healthy cooking course planned CEDAR FALLS -- Luann Alemao, food and nutrition educator, will lead a healthy cooking course with a Blue Zone inspired menu from 5:45 to 8 p.m. Tuesday at UnityPoint Health, 5100 Prairie Parkway. Norman Grant, executive chef with Western Home communities and native of Jamaica, will be presenting Jamaican Jive. Wine tasting and sampling will be available. Kaiser Farm will have greens available for purchase and tasting Cost is $40 per person Register by Monday with l.alemaoassoc@cfu.net or www.laanda.com. Blood drive set at New Hampton NEW HAMPTON -- A New Hampton community blood drive will take place from noon to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at New Hampton Community Center, 112 E. Spring St. Make an apppointment at lifeservebloodcenter.org or call (800) 287-4903. Woman's Club plans coffee CEDAR FALLS -- The Cedar Falls Woman's Club Friendship Coffee will take place at 10 a.m. Aug. 26 at 304 Clay St. Members, friends, relatives and interested parties are welcome to enjoy refreshments while listening to music provided by Music Campership winners and learning about the 2017-2018 meetings and activities. Yearbooks will be distributed. For information, call either 319-290-4338 or 319-266-2431. Volunteer fair at UNI Sept. 6 CEDAR FALLS -- Registrations are being accepted for the Volunteer Center of Cedar Valleys annual volunteer fair at the University of Northern Iowa. The fair will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 6 in Maucker Unions Ballroom. Community organizations are invited to campus to recruit volunteers in a fair-like set-up. Each participating organization will have one table to share materials. With hundreds of students attending, organizations should be prepared to share volunteer opportunities and have sign-up details available. These events are a significant opportunity for local nonprofit organizations to connect with students, matching specific volunteer needs to volunteers' skills and personal interests. Contact the Volunteer Center of Cedar Valley to register for this event by calling 272-2087. Concert planned in Clarksville CLARKSVILLE -- Bluegrass, old-time country, and gospel music will be featured in a concert at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 27 at the Reading Park Bandstand with the Beaver Creek Band. Admission is a free-will donation. The park is located adjacent to the public library, near downtown Clarksville. Refreshments will be available. Rachel Stone benefit slated WAVERLY The Rachel Stone benefit event will be held Aug. 26 at the Waverly Area Veterans Post, 1300 Fourth St. NW. A meal will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. with a free-will donation, including live music from 4 to 6 p.m. A silent auction will take place from 4 to 8 p.m., and a live auction to start at 7 p.m. Rachel Stone suffered an aortic aneurysm June 8, and while in surgery she also suffered a stroke. Anyone unable to attend may send a contribution to the Veridian Credit Union in any Iowa location. Contact rachelstonebenefit@gmail.com for more information. UNI art gallery sets exhibition CEDAR FALLS The University of Northern Iowa Gallery of Art will present an exhibition, Propaganda? Truth, Lies & Spin in Art, open to the public from Monday through Sept. 30; Oct. 9 through Nov. 17; and Dec. 7 through Dec. 16. This UNI permanent art collection exhibition was co-curated by Charles M. Adelman and Darrell Taylor, gallery director, and researched by UNI students of art history. Some of the artworks featured are by artists George Grosz, Kathe Kollwitz, Robert Indiana, Jack Bender and Jaune Quick-to-See-Smith as well as photographs by artists Roger Shimomura and Gosha Rubchinskiy, currently on loan from professor Jeffery Byrd. All events are free and open to the public. WATERLOO - A federal jury has convicted the leaders of a multi-state cell phone store robbery spree that came to an end after hitting a Waterloo shop in 2015. Between June and September 2015, Jeffrey A. Kemp, 41, and Lawrence Adkinson, 28, both of Illinois, directed a group that used guns to threaten employees at stores and collect phones and tablet computers in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Iowa and Kentucky. Last week, Kemp and Adkinson were found guilty of robbery, conspiracy and weapons charges following a trial in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana. Both face up to life in prison, and sentencing will be at a later date. Eight other people were involved in the holdups and have pleaded guilty, authorities said. Kemp and Adkinson provided the vehicles, weapons and other gear for the crimes and selected the targets and decided who would rob each store, prosecutors said. The investigation began when a T-Mobile store in Clarksville, Ind., and a Verizon store in Lexington, Ky., were robbed in July 2015. The investigation linked similar armed robberies of cell phone retailers in Joliet, Bloomington, Batavia and DeKalb, Ill.; St. Louis, Mo.; and Clarksville, Ind. On Sept. 15, 2015, members of the ring hit the iWireless store on East San Marnan Drive in Waterloo. Authorities, who had been tracking the group through a cell phone, determined after the Waterloo robbery they had stopped at the Pines Motel in Postville. Tactical teams, including officers from the Waterloo Police Department, raided the motel rooms and arrested Kemp, Adkinson, Dominique Taron Walker, Roosevelt Brown Jr., James Harden and Don Nell Redmond. Those six and four others Justin Martin, Tyren Lamar Windell and KRon Price were later indicted on conspiracy charges in the robberies. CEDAR FALLS -- A former University of Northern Iowa student has been arrested on sexual assault charges. Donghyuk Kim, 24, a student from South Korea, was arrested Tuesday for third-degree sexual abuse. He was taken to the Black Hawk County Jail, and bond was set at $15,000. He is accused of having sex with a woman who was incapacitated following a night of drinking at a bar and a home, according to court records. The charge stems from an incident in the early morning hours of March 16 that was investigated by UNI Police. According to court records, the victim told police Kim had taken her to his house after she was unable to locate the key card for her dorm. Kim told investigators he thought the sex was consensual, according to court records. UNI officials said Wednesday afternoon that Kim is no longer a student. WATERLOO The Iowa Court of Appeals has upheld the murder conviction of a Waterloo man who was found guilty of shooting a man who had earlier stabbed him. Authorities said William Cory Scott opened fire at a vehicle carrying Willie Guyton in April 1991, killing him. He was convicted of first-degree murder later that year and sentenced to life in prison. Jurors convicted Scott under the felony murder theory, which allows for a murder conviction in cases where a defendant causes the death of another while undertaking a separate felony crime. In Scotts case, prosecutors said Scott was participating in the crimes of willful injury and terrorism by shooting at Guytons vehicle. On appeal, Scott argued the willful injury and terrorism crimes didnt meet the criteria for the felony murder rule and pointed to a 2006 court ruling in another Iowa case that limited the use of the rule. In a decision handed down Wednesday, the Iowa Court of Appeals ruled the 2006 ruling wasnt retroactive and doesnt apply to Scotts case. Scott also appealed on an argument his life sentence amounted to cruel and unusual punishment. The appeals court denied the claim. Few, if any, criminal acts are more deserving of the maximum penalty that can be imposed than causing the death of another fellow human being, the court stated in the ruling. Scott obtained a rifle only days before and bragged that he had a rifle that could penetrate a vehicle and kill someone inside. According to court records, Scott and Guyton had a history of confrontations in the spring of 1991 that led to a fight at a convenience store where Guyton slashed Scott, who was 21 at the time. Scott later bought a rifle and had bragged about its power, records state. Scott and his brother-in-law later met Guyton at a bar. Scott left to get his rifle. Guyton went home and called authorities, who told him to stay away from the bar. He ignored the advice and drove to the bar where he saw Scott and his relative traveling in a vehicle outside. The brother-in-law stopped, and Scott exited the vehicle and saw Guyton with a shiny object he thought was a gun, court records state. Scott fired four shots with his rifle, two bullets struck Guytons vehicle and one of the shots struck Guyton, records state. CEDAR FALLS The committee working to find a replacement for the Iowa Board of Regents executive director position has narrowed the list of applicants from 42 to five after a meeting Tuesday. The governance and evaluation committee met Tuesday to discuss the candidates and winnow the list. The committee discussed 12 candidates in open session, as they did not request a closed session, and the remainder were discussed in closed session. It was clear from the open session discussions the committee members were weighing both relevant work experience and the academic requirements of the candidates. But otherwise the committee made quick work of the 12 candidates, only further considering two of them, by weeding out those who didnt meet their standards. The committee initially selected six candidates to be semi-finalists, but one of the six withdrew after the meeting Tuesday. The committee did not set up a date for doing an interview with the semi-finalists, though they discussed Sept. 13 as a possibility. They also debated whether it would be possible to interview the candidates through a video chat service, like Skype, or over the phone. The committee had originally hoped to be able to offer suggestions on the semi-finalists in time for the Iowa Board of Regents during its next regularly scheduled meeting Sept. 6-7. But on Tuesday, the committee recognized that time frame was too optimistic. The committee first met in July to set a job description for the executive director position and discuss how to advertise for it. The committee was set up after the exit of former Executive Director Bob Donley. Donley announced June 7 he would be stepping down from the position effective July 15. His resignation letter was dated June 1. Donley said at his final board meeting leaving was his decision, one he made several months before, and the timing was perfect. He served in the role since 2008. Editor's Note: This story has been updated to correct the date of the fundraisers. CEDAR FALLS Three-year-old Evie Mae Mueller is undergoing chemotherapy at Nebraska Medicine in Omaha. The intensive treatment follows the life-saving multivisceral transplant the little girl received in July after having been diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer. Friends and family of her mom, Taylor Fairman of Cedar Falls, are organizing a series of events to raise funds to help cover Evie Maes medical expenses. She is the strongest little girl Ive ever met, says Emily Moses, a family friend for more than 15 years. She returned Sunday from Omaha where she visited with Evie Mae and Taylor at the hospital. Moses is helping organize and get the word out via social media about the upcoming activities. I want to show that we care and support the toddler and her mom, she says, who has taken leave from her job and is living at the hospital to care for her daughter. An All for Evie Open House, hosted by the Childrens Organ Transplant Association and LuLaRoe with Lindsey Books, is planned from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 24 at Learn and Play Preschool, 4710 Cedar Heights Drive, Cedar Falls. The event features LuLaRoe, Tupperware ibelieve by Leia, LipSense Lips by Amber, Evies Henna Corner, Shutter Bug Photography, a bake sale, Evie gear including Go Team Evie bracelets and more. A portion of the proceeds from every purchase will be donated to COTA for Evies Freedom. Fairman is expected to attend the open house. An Eat for Evie benefit also is taking place Thursday at Whiskey Road Tavern and Grill on the Cedar Falls Parkade. A special Evie Menu, including organic chicken legs and homemade stuffed doughnuts, will be available and 100 percent of proceeds from items on that menu will be donated to COTA, earmarked for Evie. Also, a portion of all proceeds will be donated from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., according to Moses. Single Speed Brewery is involved in the event, as well. Supporters can purchase Evie gear, including shirts and bracelets, at the restaurant Thursday. On Sept. 8, Urban Pie in Cedar Falls will donate a portion of every pizza purchased, as well as offer Evie gear for sale. Evie was diagnosed with hepatoblastoma a year ago when a large tumor was discovered during an ultrasound. The liver cancer affects children from infancy to age 3, with symptoms ranging from a swollen abdomen and jaundice to pain and vomiting, according to St. Jude Hospital. She received treatment in the past year and, at one point, was declared cancer-free. But the cancer returned and spread, and doctors told Fairman her little girl needed an organ transplant. On July 4, Evie underwent organ transplants for liver, small bowel and pancreas. The surgery lasted more than 8 hours at Nebraska Medicine. The recovery process is arduous, but Evie is improving all the time and should be cancer-free at the end of treatment, Moses says. Shes had some complications, like retaining fluid that had to be drained, but doctors say thats normal. And now shes dealing with the chemo-related effects. Fairman hasnt left the hospital since the surgery, and shed never complain. Shes just so happy to have her little girl, Moses adds. CEDAR RAPIDS After 10 months as ambassador to the Asian Development Bank in Manila, Philippines, Marion resident Swati Dandekar is back in familiar territory both geographically and professionally. Dandekar, a former member of the Linn-Mar school board and of the Iowa House and Senate, has joined a former Clinton administration official as a partner in a Washington-based market research and intelligence firm serving businesses, political campaigns, public interest groups and nonprofits. She and Marc Silverman, who worked for the National Economic Council in the White House on energy, telecommunications and environmental issues, formed Thirty-Ninth Street Strategies in July. Mark Pritchard, a member of the United Kingdom Parliament, is an international adviser. Dandekar was ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, where she dealt with 60 countries in Asia and the Pacific Rim on energy, telecom, water and transportation issues, as well as helping the bank develop infrastructure projects in many of these countries. Dandekar, 66, returned to Marion in February after the new presidential administration recalled ambassadors. Im proud of what I did in 10 months, Dandekar said about her work with the regional development bank that was established in 1966. One of her priorities was on how contracts were awarded, basing them on life-cycle costs rather than simply on the lowest bid. She believes she helped build bridges between the United States and other countries. When she left Manila, Dandekar said the banks president, Takehiko Nakao, paid her a compliment, saying, I now know what Iowa nice is. In her new role, Dandekar said she is drawing on her experience as an ambassador and as a former member of the Iowa Utilities Board dealing with energy and telecommunications issues. She is doing market research, writing policy papers and working on international licensing agreements. Dandekar used Silverman as a pollster in her past campaigns. Among the firms clients are Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller. WATERLOO The Black Hawk County Board of Supervisors turned down a request from residents calling for a temporary ban on wind turbine development. The decision followed a lengthy debate Tuesday between wind energy supporters and members of Cedar Valley Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy, many of whom live south of Waterloo near proposed turbines. None of the five supervisors made a motion to approve the proposed 90-day moratorium, which would have allowed county zoning officials to review and possibly change the current zoning ordinances governing wind towers. It died without a vote. Representatives of Desoto-based RMP Access, now working on plans for a 70-megawatt wind farm south of Waterloo, had objected to the possible delay. The company is hoping to file its zoning application for the project in November. Weve been working on this project now about two years, said RPMAs Kirk Kraft. Thats a long time to be working under one set of rules and then maybe have those set of rules completely change. When we say the Black Hawk County ordinance as it stands is probably one of the most restrictive in Iowa, we know what were talking about, he added. Weve been in the other counties; weve built in the other counties. Patrick Dillon, an attorney for Cedar Valley Citizens for Responsible Wind Energy, asked for the moratorium so county officials could get more public input on potential changes to the 2011 ordinance. We agree that weve got a good ordinance, and wed like to make it better, Dillon said. We think that there are some areas that can be looked at. Resident Greg Cory lives near the proposed site of the RPM Access project and also pushed for an ordinance review. I think that 90 days is very little to ask for whats going to affect this county and the people who live in this county how they live, how safe they are and what their health is for the next 30 or 40 years, Cory said. A group of wind energy supporters also attended the meeting to call on supervisors to support renewable energy projects to mitigate global climate change, which is exacerbated by burning coal and fossil fuels. Theres no time for a moratorium on renewable energy, said resident Margaret Whiting. The supervisors generally supported the assertion Black Hawk County already had a restrictive ordinance. Personally I think we have a very quality ordinance that deals with this issue, said board chairman Frank Magsamen. Im not sure that looking at tweaking it is of a real benefit. Supervisor Chris Schwartz said the supervisors have an obligation to think globally and act locally on the issue. Weve got a real problem with climate change in this country and Black Hawk County needs to be a part of the solution, he said. I dont want to be a part of anything that jeopardizes this opportunity we have. WATERLOO The Five Sullivan Brothers Convention Center sale is still being debated in City Hall a month after being approved by the City Council. Newly released emails show Councilmen Tom Lind, Steve Schmitt and Bruce Jacobs have continued to press Mayor Quentin Hart and city staff for more financial information about Omaha, Neb.-based Leslie Hospitality. The documents include some pointed exchanges among Lind, Jacobs and Hart and include assertions Jacobs may have had a conflict of interest in pressing for information even though he abstained from voting. The emails were part of a request under Iowas Open Records Law by company president Edwin Leslie and were obtained by The Courier on Tuesday through the City Clerks Office. Lind, Schmitt and Jacobs all abstained from voting July 17 on a development agreement for Leslie Hospitality to spend $20 million buying and renovating the convention center and Ramada Hotel in return for a $1.1 million grant and tax rebates. Schmitt and Lind said they did not vote because they had not received enough financial information about Leslie Hospitality, while Jacobs did not vote because Great Western Bank in Omaha was financing the project. Jacobs works for Great Westerns Waterloo branch. Leslie said he sought the emails because he was concerned the council members were not treating him fairly and were potentially undermining the project after it had been approved. At least one councilman was calling hotel desk clerks at other Leslie properties asking if they knew him. All Im looking for is fair treatment like any other developer would receive, Leslie said. I think weve played by the rules and I cant help but think theres some underlying reason for this. Leslie said the approved development agreement spelled out his requirement to provide personal financial statements for private review by the citys chief financial officer and attorney, which has been done. A bank financing commitment letter will be provided before closing on the convention center, per the agreement, he added. Leslie was particularly concerned about Jacobs continued involvement in the debate, which he called a clear conflict of interest. The councilman reached out to our firm and was interested in establishing a business relationhip, Leslie said, referring to an email Jacobs sent May 18 expressing interest in having his bank finance the project. When that was rejected he then decided he didnt like the project and found everything he could not to like about it. Jacobs sent an email July 17 to Community Planning and Development Director Noel Anderson mentioning bankruptcy actions for projects involving Edwin Leslie in Texas and Louisiana in 2006 and 2007. He also asked for a credit report, personal financial statement and bank commitment letter from the company. The night after the vote, Jacobs emailed Hart continuing to voice his disapproval of the way the project was handled. I am embarrassed by this deal and the way council members were treated tonight, Jacobs said. I understated (sic) we are desparate to sell this building and this may be your legacy and you of course had the votes lines up, but seriously. Jacobs, reached Tuesday, said he was not aware Leslie Hospitality was a customer of Great Western when he sought the companys business. Down the road I was informed by the mayor that he was a customer of my bank, Jacobs said. Technically theyre not my customer; he is a customer of Omaha. Jacobs said he abstained from voting on the development agreement due to that possible conflict of interest but did not believe he had to give up his responsibility to look into the arrangement. I wish more council people would do research, he said. We do have a responsibility to do some research; its called councilmen doing their jobs. Both Lind and Schmitt said they were baffled by Leslies request for their emails. I was kind of shocked, Lind said. He wants a bunch of money from us and yet he wants to treat us like a bunch of criminals. Schmitt said the emails simply show his frustration over not being able to get the information he wanted about the project from the mayor or staff. I want to know why the other four (councilmen) voted in favor of this without seeing that documentation, Schmitt said. It seems like they were just rubberstamping the mayors plans. Lind, Jacobs and Schmitt are all very supportive of the development of the convention center, he added. We just want to make sure its done in a responsible manner. Meanwhile, the City Council has scheduled an Aug. 28 public hearing to vote on amending the development agreement. The change is simply to correct an error in the legal description for the convention center and does not change the terms of the deal. Leslie invited Lind, other concerned council members and two media representatives, including one from The Courier, to review documents related to other Leslie Hospitality projects and financial statements provided the content not be disclosed and remains confidential. That meeting would be prior to the Aug. 28 council meeting. DES MOINES Gov. Kim Reynolds joined others Tuesday in urging the Iowa Board of Regents to be cautious in raising tuition rates for students at the three state universities. A regents panel has received proposals from presidents of the University of Iowa, Iowa State University and the University of Northern Iowa to make up for declining state appropriations by raising tuition rates as much as 41 percent over the next five years for resident undergraduates. But the governor balked at the idea Tuesday during her weekly news conference. That is too much, she told reporters. There is no way that Iowa families could afford a 7 percent increase over five years. The governor did not say if she supported raising tuition at all and, if so, what level she would recommend. Instead, she encouraged regents to take a look at whats manageable and keep in the forefront doing everything we can do to keep higher education costs, postsecondary costs down. She pointed to past efforts that froze resident undergrad tuition at state universities for two and a half years. This month, UI President Bruce Harreld and ISU Interim President Ben Allen proposed similar plans to increase the basic resident undergrad rate by about 7 percent annually for five years. At both universities, that would result in annual tuition of about $10,500 a year by 2022 for resident undergrads. Each leader proposed increases for other classes of students as well. Although the two proposals are similar, the UIs pitch Monday drew sharper criticism during a public comment period than did ISU proposal made last week. UNI President Mark Nook proposed a more modest tuition increase a 2.5 percent annualized bump for resident undergrads, provided the Legislature also appropriates enough money. Regents would have to approve any tuition increases annually, making the university plans only suggestions. But if regents approve the proposed increases, they would usher in the first significant split in basic resident undergrad rates between the three public universities. While the UI and ISU would push resident undergrad costs to around $10,500, UNIs comparable rate would rise more slowly to $8,237 by 2022. Theyre going to work through the process, Reynolds said of the regents future deliberations. The regents will take a look at whats possible and whats the right amount moving forward. Their work is just getting started and Im going to let them work through the process. On other topics, the governor: l Acknowledged Iowa is among the states being considered as a possible site for a joint venture between Japanese automakers Toyota and Mazda to build a $1.6 billion assembly plant that would create up to 4,000 jobs. But she declined to give details. We dont want to let other states to know what were doing, she said, naming Iowas central location, talented workforce, infrastructure, certified industrial sites and low electric rates as assets. l Said state officials are monitoring dry weather conditions that continue to impact corn and soybean crops as harvest approaches. A report Monday showed 3 percent of Iowas corn crop was in very poor condition and 9 percent poor, while 81 percent was still rated in fair to good condition and 9 percent excellent. Similar conditions were reported for Iowas soybean acres. l Said she called Christina Andersen, the graphic designer who created options for a new state license plate, to thank her for her work in the face of negative social media criticism of her work. We need to treat everybody with respect and dignity. Its OK to have an opinion, but its not OK to make them personal, Reynolds said. It hurts to be reminded of how far America still has to go to deal with the racism that remains so much a part of our national experience. This time the reminder came over a weekend full of protests and counterprotests at the University of Virginia, where a series of clashes was touched off by white nationalists and others who rallied there Friday night under a call to unite the right. It ended in tragedy the next day when a driver, apparently shouting racist slogans, drove into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing one and injuring many others. The victims had gathered Saturday to stand up to protesters who use Charlottesvilles long connection to Robert E. Lee, the general who led the armies of the Confederacy in a war that ended 152 years ago, as a rallying cry for whites. President Donald Trump on Monday decried the racist violence in Virginia and said the Department of Justice had opened a civil rights investigation into what happened there. Anyone who acted criminally in this weekends racist violence, you will be held accountable, Trump said. The statement helps. But it would have helped more had he not on Saturday ducked the opportunity to condemn the groups behind the egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence and not added the words on many sides in what bestowed a false equivalency to the protests and the counterprotests. By Monday, Trump was willing to condemn hate groups, including the KKK and white nationalists. It was a welcome move from a president who has been strangely reluctant to acknowledge the role those groups have played in his political ascendancy. What the president could also have acknowledged is heartbreak in Charlottesville began long before things turned violent. It began with the hate that brought the white men and women, many of them so young, to the campus in the first place. How it is that in 2017, a rally to unite the right would use race as its rallying cry? Surely the far right is not so spiritually bankrupt, so devoid of good ideas, as to have only the color of ones skin available as a means for unity? How is it so many of the Friday night protesters, the ones with torches, were so young? More than 60 years after Rosa Parks made her stand by staying in her Montgomery bus seat, we are still reminded racism persists, like a calcified tumor were unable to cut away. Still, despite this pain, its important to remember the Friday night protesters with their torches did not speak for America. They did not speak for white people, or for conservatives. Or for the South. As the large counterprotests showed, they did not even speak for Charlottesville. This past weekend, we were reminded how far we have to go as a nation. But we must not let it blind us to how far weve come either. Q: What is going into the old UNI Museum building on the corner of University Avenue and Hudson Road? A: According to University of Northern Iowa University Relations, the space is being renovated for multiple purposes. The university will be moving the office of Environmental Health and Safety into the space, as well as a training room and storage. Q: Who would I call with the city if they plan to do any development with the lake by the dog track, such as making it into a park? A: The city of Waterloo does not own the lake. It and the former track is owned by the National Cattle Congress and is involved in a foreclosure action brought by the Sac and Fox Tribe of Iowa. Obviously you are free to call any of your elected council members to discuss city issues. Q: How do we get an article in the newspaper? A: If you need a news brief about some upcoming community event, send us a press release with the details to newsroom@wcfcourier.com, or mail it to P.O. Box 540, Waterloo 50704. If you want to suggest a staff-written feature article, you can mail a suggestion to the newsroom or call 291-1426 to speak to an editor. Q: What is the number to call in regards to discrepancies in the Dex phone book? A: According to Dex, Telephone subscribers requiring changes to their current directory White Pages listings ... should contact their local telephone service provider directly to arrange for such listing services. Q: On July 19 a tornado went through McGregor. There was nothing in the Thursday Courier and on July 21 there was a front page item. Why the 40-hour delay? A: It was impossible to get pictures from the scene before Thursday, July 20, which means the earliest we could print the story was July 21. Q: Will the Last Ship be returning to TNT? A: Yes. Right now the new season premiere is set for Aug. 20. Q: Have the salaries for the Waterloo and Cedar Falls schools been posted in the paper? A: Yes. The salaries for Cedar Falls Schools were printed July 17, and the Waterloo Schools were in the July 31 paper. Q: Where can I write to Mayor Hart? A: Write to him at City Hall, 715 Mulberry St., Waterloo 50703, or send email to mayor@waterloo-ia.org. Q: What is the mailing address to write MSNBC in New York City? A: Write to MSNBC at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112, or send email through www.msnbc.com. Q: There is a garage sale in the paper to take place on Birmingham Avenue, but there is no date or time included. Can you print that information? A: There was an error in the paper and it is running with the corrected information the rest of the week. The sale is being held through Aug. 20; hours are today-Saturday, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sunday, noon-5 p.m. Q: At what age does a child need a passport to get into Canada? A: According to the U.S. Department of State, Canadian law requires that all persons entering Canada carry both proof of citizenship and proof of identity. A valid U.S. passport, passport card or NEXUS card satisfies these requirements for U.S. citizens. Children younger than 16 need only present proof of U.S. citizenship. MARSHALLTOWN -- Two Conrad residents were arrested on marijuana charges following a search in rural Marshalltown on Thursday. Hardin County and Grundy County sheriffs deputies assisted the Mid Iowa Drug Task Force with the search on Vance Avenue in Marshalltown. Michael Weatherly, 57 of Conrad, was arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, violation of the drug tax stamp act and possession of drug paraphernalia, according to the Hardin County Sheriffs office. Melissa Weatherly, 42, of Conrad, was arrested for misdemeanor possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Roger Waltemeyer, 56, of Marshalltown, was arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, violation of the drug tax stamp act and possession of drug paraphernalia. Hardin Countys K-9 Ogon was involved in the operation. One dead in Grundy crash GRUNDY CENTER One person is dead following a single-vehicle accident in rural Grundy County on Sunday morning. The identity of the driver hasnt been released pending an autopsy by the Iowa State Medical Examiner. The crash happened about 3 a.m. Sunday on Highway 14/G Avenue about half a mile south of 240th Street when the northbound vehicle veered onto the east shoulder, struck a guardrail and cement culvert and flipped, according to the Grundy County Sheriffs Office. The vehicle landed on its wheels and caught fire, and the driver died at the scene, according to the sheriffs office. Teen arrested for mugging WATERLOO A second teen has been arrested in a Wednesday night mugging. Waterloo police arrested Korey James Benson, 17, of Waterloo, for second-degree robbery Friday. Benson was charged as an adult. Police said three assailants approached a 49-year-old man in the area of West Second Street and Sullivan Avenue and began striking him. The victim gave them $5 in cash to stop, and the suspects fled. Officers arrested 18-year-old Dontaevius Antwon Jones near the scene for second-degree robbery Wednesday. Man arrested for sex abuse WESTGATE A Westgate man has been arrested for allegedly abusing a 15-year-old girl. Fayette County sheriffs deputies arrested Justin Thomas Cavnar, 34, on Monday for third-degree sexual abuse, false imprisonment and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. His bond was set at $10,000. Other charges may be filed in this case, and the Iowa Department of Human Services also were called in to find placement for the victim, according to the sheriffs office. Deputies allege Cavnar sexually abused the 15-year-old female in June and during the assault held her against her will. A week later he allegedly attempted to assault the juvenile again, deputies said. Work release escapee sought WATERLOO -- The Iowa Department of Corrections says authorities are looking for a man who failed to report back to the Waterloo residential correctional facility from work release. Malik De'Sean Richard, convicted of domestic abuse assault -- third or subsequent offense -- in Black Hawk County, failed to report back to Waterloo residential facility on East Sixth Street as required Sunday night. He is a 25-year-old black male, height 5'7" and weighs 140 pounds. He was admitted to the work release facility May 23. 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your domain to any registrar or hosting company once you have purchased it. Since domain transfers are a manual process, it can take up to 5 days to transfer the domain. Domains purchased with payment plans are not eligible to transfer until all payments have been made. Please remember that our 30-day money back guarantee is void once a domain has been transferred. For transfer instructions to GoDaddy, please click here. Eagle Rock EntertainmentHappy Birthday, Queen of Pop! It's Madonna's birthday today, and in honor of the occasion, pre-orders for her upcoming Rebel Heart Tour concert film starts today. The Rebel Heart Tour film will be released September 15 as a digital download, DVD and Blu-ray. In addition, a live album with 22 songs from the tour is also coming out that day. The DVD and Blu-ray come with an audio CD of highlights from the tour. For a preview of the package, a live version of "Material Girl" is now available to download from all services. Even if you saw the Rebel Heart Tour live, you may still want the package, because it includes footage of Madonna: Tears of a Clown, an exclusive fan-club show Madonna did in Melbourne, Australia, to celebrate her first concerts there in more than 20 years. Madonna celebrated her birthday in Italy: She's posted photos and video of herself arriving to a party on a white horse, enjoying live dancers, and then busting herself as a group of what appears to be local musicians perform. She captioned the video, "Life Love Music Dance La Familia Thank you everyone!" Here's the track listing for all the packages: DVD/Blu-ray 1. "Rebel Heart Tour Intro" 2. "Iconic" 3. "B**ch I'm Madonna" 4. "Burning Up" 5. "Holy Water"/"Vogue" 6. "Devil Pray" 7. "Messiah" (Video Interlude) 8. "Body Shop" 9. "True Blue" 10. "Deeper and Deeper" 11. "HeartBreakCity" 12. "Like a Virgin" 13. "S.E.X." (Video Interlude) 14. "Living for Love" 15. "La Isla Bonita" 16. "Dress You Up"/"Into the Groove" 17. "Rebel Heart" 18. "Illuminati" (Video Interlude) 19. "Music" 20. "Candy Shop" 21. "Material Girl" 22. "La Vie en Rose" 23. "Unapologetic B**ch" 24. "Holiday" Extras 1. An Excerpt from Tears of a Clown 2. "Like a Prayer" CD 1. "Rebel Heart Tour" Intro 2. "Iconic" 3. "B**ch I'm Madonna" 4. "Burning Up" 5. "Holy Water"/"Vogue" 6. "Devil Pray" 7. "Deeper and Deeper" 8. "HeartBreakCity" 9. "Living for Love" 10. "La Isla Bonita" 11. "Rebel Heart" 12. "Candy Shop" 13. "Unapologetic B**ch" 14. "Holiday" Double CD/Digital Audio CD1 1. "Rebel Heart Tour" Intro 2. "Iconic" 3. "B**ch I'm Madonna" 4. "Burning Up" 5. "Holy Water"/"Vogue" 6. "Devil Pray" 7." Body Shop" 8. "True Blue" 9. "Deeper and Deeper" 10. "HeartBreakCity" 11. "Like a Virgin " CD2 1. "Living for Love" 2. "La Isla Bonita" 3. "Dress You Up"/"Into the Groove" 4. "Rebel Heart" 5. "Music" 6. "Candy Shop" 7. "Material Girl" 8. "La Vie en Rose" 9. "Unapologetic B**ch" 10. "Holiday" 11. "Like a Prayer" (Bonus Track) Life Love MusicDanceLa Familia Thank you everyone! pic.twitter.com/QzWxnfGVHd Madonna (@Madonna) August 16, 2017 Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. ALVIN, TX, August 16, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- AXXAIR USA announced today that it will exhibit at two upcoming tradeshows: CANWELD EXPO in Montreal, Canada and FabTech 2017 in Chicago. AXXAIR will have several orbital machines in their Booth at both shows. "We attend the major industry shows and we always have some of our machines in the booth so visitors can actually see AXXAIR at work," said Jonathan Forte, Managing Director for AXXAIR-USA. "If you send us pipe dimensions and specs," continued Forte, "we will be happy to cut and prep pipe or tube to meet your specific project needs." CANWELD EXPO 2017 is the premier tradeshow event for the welding, fabricating and finishing industry in Canada. 2017 is the eighth year of the world-class CanWeld Conference & Expo and will be held in Montreal. AXXAIR will be in Booth #601. FabTech 2017 is a world-class tradeshow for the latest products and developments in the metal forming, fabricating, welding, and finishing industry. This event will have more than 1,700 exhibitors in over 750,000 square feet of floor space with over 50,000 attendees. AXXAIR will be in Booth #B17082. To learn more about AXXAIR machines: http://www.axxairusa.com/orbital-welding.php?source=pr-2017-08 http://www.axxairusa.com/orbital-cutting.php?source=pr-2017-08 http://www.axxairusa.com/orbital-beveling.php?source=pr-2017-08 About AXXAIR USA AXXAIR-USA brings expertise in design, manufacturing, servicing and training of the highest quality orbital cutting, beveling and facing-squaring equipment in the pipe and tube industry. AXXAIR-USA sells and services around North America including: Dallas, Houston, Forth Worth TX, New Orleans, Lafayette LA, Albuquerque NM, Portland OR, Tulsa OK and now locations in Alberta, Canada. See the company web site: http://www.axxairusa.com/index.php?source-pr-2017-08 # # # Bet on the Jockey, not the Horse Bob Moriarty Archives Aug 16, 2017 I first wrote about Aurania Resources back in March. The shares were $1.25 then and are $2.36 now. Keith the Barron did a private placement four months ago. The shares come free trading in a week. It may be the last chance to jump on this wagon. Over the past sixteen years I have visited a lot of projects. And Ive met a thousand or more geologists. Everyone has their own idea of whom the best are at anything but after having met most of the players in the industry, Im convinced I know who are in the top five. In no particular order you would have Peter Megaw who pretty much invented mining in Mexico. The mining industry began a slow death when the Mexican Revolution began around 1910. By 1939 socialism in the country had pretty much destroyed the mining industry as investment capital dried up. Dr. Megaw saw the potential in the country and spent 25 years educating himself on various deposits. When Mexico finally realized they needed investment capital from abroad, he founded and helped dozens of companies sink roots in Mexico. Hes the brains behind Mag Silver, Excellon and many others. When someone calls me and tells me he is on board, I know everything I need to know about the deposit. I dont have to know anything about the vehicle, all I need to know is who the jockey is. Quinton Hennigh is the same. Hes the brains behind Novo Resources. They look as if they have found one of the biggest gold deposits in Australia in history, in an area where gold has been mined for well over 130 years. He recognized the potential for a massive discovery twenty years ago in Witwatersrand age basins and only lately has proved it. If Quinton Hennigh signs off on a project or a company, you need to know no more. If you ask anyone in the industry about who was behind the concept of mining massive but low-grade copper porphyries, the answer would be David Lowell. He has made more major discoveries all over the world than anyone I know including Escondida, the largest copper mine in the world and Pierina. David Lowell literally is Mr. Copper. David Lowell finds giant deposits. If he is riding, you need to belly up to the betting window. I havent met every single geologist in the world so I wont list my five best, I have to keep at least one slot open but certainly one of the best gold projects discovered in the last twenty years would have to be Keith Barron's, who restarted mining in Ecuador with his discovery of the Fruta del Norte gold mine with 13.7 million ounces of high-grade gold. Keiths company, Aurelian, sold the deposit to Kinross but the government in Ecuador turned both stupid and greedy at the same time as governments do on a regular basis. Kinross gave the project away to Lundin Gold in 2014. Ecuador turned smarter and more sober lately. They missed the millions of dollars mining companies poured into their economy. Led by SolGold juniors are hitting home runs out of the park again. In the past 18 months SolGold has rocketed from .03 to .47, a 1400% advance. Even the government of Ecuador is waking to the possibility of earning money through royalties. Keith Barron is back with yet another venture in Ecuador. This time hes looking for the two missing lost cities of gold. No kidding. If it were anyone but Keith Barron I would be convinced someone had been hitting the cerveza a little too hard. After all, the Lost Cities of Gold? Are you kidding me? Keith is doing a wonderful job of communication and has put out five videos telling the story. Its not crazy talk; there were seven major gold production areas in Ecuador under the Spanish. Five have been located. In two, the locals ran the Spanish off and told them not to come back any time soon. The Spanish didnt but the two locations did exist and need someone to find them. When I heard the story, I bought shares in Aurania. No one on earth knows more about Ecuador and the potential than Keith Barron. You and I dont need to know much as long as we know him. Let him do all the thinking and hard work. I own shares in Novo Resources and Aurania and both companies are advertisers. Naturally I am biased. Do your own due diligence. Aurania Resources ARU-V $2.39 (Aug 15, 2017) 22.8 million shares Aurania Resources website ### Bob Moriarty President: 321gold Archives 321gold Ltd Scott Atran in the Washington Post: The violence in Charlottesville last weekend may seem new to some Americans: A white supremacist terrorizing protesters with his car, killing and maiming nearly at random. But in fact, the scene is painfully familiar, recalling recent attacks by vehicles in London, Nice and Berlin all inspired by the Islamic State. In the days since, members of the Charlottesville community have grappled with what could have been done to prevent the incident. As the attackers former high school teacher said: I admit I failed. I tried my best. But this is definitely a teachable moment and something we need to be vigilant about, because this stuff is tearing up our country. Indeed, the values of liberal and open democracy increasingly appear to be losing ground around the world to those of narrow, xenophobic ethno-nationalisms and radical Islam similar to attacks on republican values by fascists and communists in the 1920s and 1930s. More here. Adam Shatz in LRB: The Unite the Right protest was a reminder that the dream of the Confederacy has never died: the vision of Herrenvolk democracy has continued to smoulder since Union troops left the vanquished but still defiant South, scarcely a decade after the end of the war. Eric Foner has described the Reconstruction era, when ex-slaves became citizens and the first biracial southern governments were elected to power, as Americas unfinished revolution. The battle over Reconstruction never ended; it has simply changed forms. And the struggle to achieve full enfranchisement for black people in the South has produced many martyrs: Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King; James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman. And now Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old paralegal killed in Emancipation Park. It is true, as some have sanctimoniously pointed out on Twitter, that even in her death, Heyer was a beneficiary of white privilege, remembered as a strong woman, rather than subjected to the invasive background check typically meted out to unarmed black people killed by the police. But her biography suggests that she would have been the first to object to any special treatment. If youre not outraged, youre not paying attention, she wrote in her last Facebook post. She broke up with a boyfriend who expressed unease over her friendship with a black man, her manager at work. White supremacists have reserved a particular loathing for white women in the civil rights struggle: nigger lovers, they call them. One white woman at the counter-demonstration reported a jeering fascist as saying to her: I hope you are raped by a nigger; Heyer is likely to have heard similar things. For white supremacists, the end of white rule has always meant the conquest of white women by men of colour, from the rapacious emancipated slaves in Birth of a Nation to Trumps immigrant rapists. The man charged with Heyers murder, James Alex Fields Jr, a 20-year-old from Ohio, fits the usual terrorist profile: a radical loser without a father, intelligent but semi-educated and isolated, drunk on visions of grandeur on the stage of history. His murder weapon was a car, rather than a gun, but he was cut from the same cloth as Dylann Roof, who shot dead nine worshippers at a church in Charleston two years ago. Fields wrote school papers celebrating the Third Reich and shouted racist curses at home, but neither his teacher nor his mother thought to report on his radicalisation. Even if they had, the government is unlikely to have cared. More here. This week, we're stretching, we're running, we're partying, and we're getting free clean makeovers. Yay! Run, Lulu, Run! On Friday, August 18th, head over to Proxy for the Bay Area launch of Lululemon's Test Trucka chic mini-gym on wheels where shoppers can hop on a treadmill to test-run Lulu gear before they buyas part of the brand's new More Than Miles campaign. With a DJ and drinks, it'll be a party. Then, watch for the truck to roll up at more locations across the Bay Area through September 1st. // Free to attend; 4-8pm, Aug. 18 at Proxy, 432 Octavia St.(Hayes Valley),facebook.com/events Restorative Ditch Day Looking for the chillest possible way to ease into happy hour this Friday? Cow Hollow's The Pad is hosting a two-hour restorative yoga workshop designed to help you unwind and uplift. Led by Amy Naber, the class will be slow enough for absolute beginners but offer stretches deep enough for pros. // $40; 1:30-3:30pm,Aug. 18, at The Pad, 1694 Union St. (Cow Hollow), thepadstudios.com Stretch & Run Yogi-runner Chelseah Healey of Love Story Yoga is hosting a stretching for runners workshop at Dolores Park on Sunday, August 19th to tease a new run/yoga series the studio's kicking off in September. The workshop will begin with a stretch, followed by a short one-mile run and then a post-run stretch and Q&A sesh. // Free to attend (BYO mat); 1pm, Aug. 20 at Dolores Park, (Mission), lovestoryyoga.com Climb On If your workout routine needs some spicing up, strap into your coolest harness and get ready to party. Planet Granite's annual Bloc Party, sponsored by The North Face, brings competition-style bouldering, raffle prizes and, yes, even booze. // Registration starts at 10am (free for members, $25 for non-members), climbing from 11am to 4pm, Aug. 19; Planet Granite, 924 Old Mason St. (Crissy Field), planetgranite.com/bloc-party Freshen Up If you spend enough time eating clean and training dirty, it's easy to forget what makeup even is. Thankfully, Portland's Alima Beauty is sending in their team to give us all free, 20-minute clean beauty makeovers at Credo this Saturday. All products are free of phthalates, sulfates, parabens, synthetic dyes, and all those other nasties that can lurk in big cosmetics brands. Go ahead, get ready for date night. // 11am to 2pm, Aug. 19 at Credo, 2136 Fillmore St. (Pacific Heights), credobeauty.com; register for free at eventbrite.com. Sweat, Sign, #Fab4Smoothies Celebrity nutritionist Kelly LeVeque and author of the new healthy living book Body Love is bringing her game to the Bay Area with a Sweat + Sign event at SoulCycle on Union Street. On Monday, August 21st, ride like the wind; then on Tuesday the 22nd, go for a kitchen demo of her #Fab4Smoothies at Bloomingdales. // Sweat + Sign: 11:45am, Aug. 21 at SoulCycle, 2095 Union St. (Cow Hollow); register via email to jillian@narrativemediagroup.com. #Fab4Smoothies demo: 6pm, Aug. 22 at Bloomingdales, 845 Market St. (SoMa), bewellbykelly.com. Jefferson cruises to 11AAA state title over Harrisburg in 2nd year Head coach Vince Benedetto asks his team the same question after every game: "Can we play better?" But Saturday, "it doesn't matter because we're champions." The Department for International Trade's Defence and Security Organisation (DIT DSO) Showcase will present current expeditionary and security capabilities with participation from 36 companies at this year's DSEI event, complementing the largest pavilion at the event which will be organised by UK aerospace, defence, security and space trade association, ADS. The Showcase is divided into the following themed areas: Infantry Zone Soldier equipment, weapons and fighting vehicles; Artillery Zone Find, Fix, Strike assets; Communications & ISTAR Zone Comms platforms, ECM systems and software; Engineering and Security Zone C-IED, EOD, CBRN and security/force protection. Stephen Phipson Head of the Department of International Trades Defence and Security Organisation said: "DSEI is one of the best global defence and security networking events and an important opportunity for UK companies to identify joint venture partnerships and industry collaboration. It is also an excellent opportunity for UK companies to profile innovative equipment in both sectors to delegations from across the world". In an age of increasingly complex challenges and global uncertainty, military allies are now collaborating to protect mutual strategic interests and maintain robust defence and security capabilities. Where traditionally Defence ministries would seek to support their requirements internally, they now look much further afield to encourage knowledge and skills transfer, and help grow their industry, economy and resources. The Defence and Security Equipment International exhibition is a key enabler for strategic cooperation among legitimate players on the global stage. Senior military representatives from countries such as Italy, Germany, Australia and Canada will join all four UK Service Chiefs in the seminar programme, providing an opportunity for visitors to learn directly from the worlds leading powers. DSEI also expects to welcome some 2,500 international delegations from traditional and emerging defence and security markets. This includes VIP representation from the Middle and Far East, where new opportunities are developing in maturing defence forces. The DSEI exhibition floor will play host to over 40 international pavilions, each of which will provide a regional hub of defence and security ingenuity. Ranging from Australia to the United States, and Norway to the Peoples Republic of Korea, the DSEI pavilions are multiplying and expanding to reflect the growing global marketplace. Several pavilions will feature for the first time, including: Bulgaria, Hungary, Malta, Slovakia, and Slovenia, while the UAE will return in force. Many other countries have increased their pavilions to accommodate more local industry and expertise. Poland has more than quadrupled its presence, with Austria and Italy nearly doubling in size, while the Czech Republic has grown by more than 50% since DSEI 2015. The Turkish pavilion at DSEI has seen significant growth and this year and is the largest Turkish pavilion to-date. This growth is in line with the continued development of the the Turkish defence industry, whose annual turnover topped $6 billion in 2016 with total annual exports of over $1.68 billion. The Turkish Under-secretariat for Defence Industries (SSM) reports that in 2016 over 500 companies added nearly 3,000 military products to the Turkish defence industry portfolio. The Finnish government has announced that it will boost its military strength by 20% through increased troop numbers against a background of increasing regional tensions. Finland will also increase its annual military spending by 55 million (47 million) over the next three years and by 150 million from 2021 onwards. The Finnish presence continues to increase at DSEI with a dedicated pavilion and 10 exhibiting companies, including Bittium Wireless, a secure communications provider who signed a 30 million ($35.1 million) Framework Agreement with the Finnish Defence Forces earlier this month. The German pavilion will host over 30 companies an indication of the renewed importance of defence spending and exports within the country. In concert with other NATO partners who are increasing their defence budgets, the German defence budget will rise by 8% this year, to 37 billion. The German defence industry will be promoting opportunities for increased collaboration. This follows on the heels of last months announcement that they will be committing to joint manned and unmanned air platforms with France. France continues to have a strong presence at DSEI with over 24 companies in its national pavilion and 10 individual companies have taken stands at this flagship event. China said on Wednesday that it was not aware of the reports of PLA soldiers entering Indian Territory along the banks of the Pangong Lake in Ladakh and maintained that it was committed to peace and tranquillity along the border. Indian border guards yesterday foiled an attempt by Chinese soldiers to enter Indian Territory in Ladakh, resulting in stone pelting that caused minor injuries to people on both sides. Asked to comment on the incident, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hu Chunying said, I am not aware of the information I can tell you that the Chinese border troops are always committed to maintain peace and tranquillity of the India-China border. We always patrol in the Chinese side along the Line of Actual Control. We urge the Indian side to abide by the LAC (Line of Actual Control) and relevant conventions between the two sides, she said. In the past too, whenever such incursions have taken place, China has always maintained that its troops were patrolling the Chinese side of the border highlighting that border is yet to be delineated as the two countries were in the process of resolving the boundary dispute. Special Representatives of China and India have held 19 rounds of talks to resolve the boundary issue. Asked whether there is any progress to resolve the standoff at the Doklam area in the Sikkim section, which has now entered the third month, Hua reiterated Chinas stand that Indian troops illegally trespassed into Chinese territory and they should unconditionally withdraw. This is pre-condition for any meaningful talks between the two sides, she said. However, China has been acknowledging that the talks are on through the diplomatic channels to discuss the issue. Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim. An anti-racism tweet by former US President Barack Obama after the Charlottesville violence in which he quoted iconic South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela has become the most liked tweet ever, garnering more than 2.8 million likes. No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion, the tweet read. "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion" pic.twitter.com/InZ58zkoAm Barack Obama (@BarackObama) 13 August 2017 It was posted on Saturday along with a photo of 56-year- old Obama looking up to a window of children of different ethnicities and races. This Tweet from @BarackObama just became the most Liked Tweet ever. It set the record at approximately 10:07 EST, a Silicon Valley-based social media company said in a statement. The tweet has been endorsed by more than 2.8 million social media users and has also been retweeted by over 1.2 million times. It is also currently the 5th most Retweeted Tweet ever, the company statement said. The record of most retweeted tweet is by Carter Wilkerson who tweeted earlier this year, Help me please, a man needs his nuggs. On Monday, Obamas tweet surpassed talk show host Ellen DeGeneres 2014 Oscars selfie tweet, which stands at number 3 with 2.4 million likes. The Obama tweet became the most liked ever, taking the top spot from pop star Ariana Grandes tweet which has 2.7 million likes. Her heartfelt tweet had come in response to a terrorist bombing that killed 22 people after she performed a concert in Manchester, England, in May. "People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love" Barack Obama (@BarackObama) 13 August 2017 "For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." Nelson Mandela Barack Obama (@BarackObama) 13 August 2017 Obamas tweet, which quotes a line from Mandelas autobiography Long Walk to Freedom came after a 32-year-old woman was killed and 19 others were injured when a car rammed into a crowd of counter-protesters at a white supremacist rally Charlottesville. Two police officers also died on Saturday when their helicopter monitoring the rally crashed. Bond fans, you can now heave a sigh of relief as Daniel Craig has confirmed he will return as Agent 007 in the upcoming movie Bond 25. While appearing on the The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Craig officially confirmed that he will essay the role of James Bond in Bond 25. When asked if he will return as the secret agent, he said, Yes! He said hes known he would reprise the role for a couple of months now. He added, Weve been discussing it, weve just been trying to figure things out. I always wanted to, I needed a break. The Lucky Logan star earlier Tuesday morning told a Boston radio program, Id hate to burst the bubble, but no decision has been made at the moment. Theres a lot of noise out there, nothing official has been confirmed, and Im not, like, holding out for more money or doing anything like that. Its just all very personal decisions to be made at the moment. The actor also shared that theyre desperate to get going and I would in theory love to do it, but there is no decision just yet. In regards to his comments, he told Colbert, Theres no point making excuses about it, but it was two days after I had finished shooting the last movie and I went straight to an interview where someone asked, Would you do another one? and I went, No!. Craig also apologised to all the people he gave interviews to because he wanted to tell this news to them. The actor has been playing Agent 007 since 2006s Casino Royale, and has since starred in three other Bond films -2008s Quantum of Solace, 2012s Skyfall and 2015s Spectre. Bond 25 was officially announced by EON Productions and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer last month with a slated November 8, 2019 release date. Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets reiterated his call for the clubs board to strengthen in the transfer market on Tuesday, but warned replacing the departed Neymar will be almost impossible. The Brazilians absence was noticeable as Barca fell to a 3-1 Spanish Super Cup, first leg defeat at home to Real Madrid in the Catalans first game since Neymar moved to Paris Saint-Germain for a world record 222 million euro fee ($262 million). It is clear that with Neymars departure the team has lost out offensively, said Busquets ahead of Wednesdays second leg at Madrids Santiago Bernabeu (kick off 2100GMT). Its obvious that you realise what kind of player Neymar is. Busquets said in the immediate aftermath of Sundays defeat that Barca had to sign after initial bids to land Liverpools Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele of Borussia Dortmund were rejected last week. However, the Spanish international believes the only way to move on from Neymars decision to jump ship to the French giants is for the Barca squad to be improved overall rather than finding a like-for-like replacement. Those that come in will be welcomed. With Neymars departure there is a lack of attacking players, but as I said before getting better means improving in all positions and all aspects. Hopefully as many players of the highest quality can come in. There is only one Neymar and now that he is no longer with us we need to look forward and try to improve as a team, he stated. Barca made Brazilian international midfielder Paulinho their first signing since Neymars departure from Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande for 40 million euros on Monday. United States United States could be called as a recent addition to Indias friends list. The reason being during the entire Cold War period the relations between India and United States remained strained. Indias friendship with Russia, wars with Pakistan and nuclear tests did not exactly get India into United States good books. India has also followed its own path which was necessary for its national interests without feeling the need for United States friendship. This situation changed after the end of Cold War. Economic relations between both the countries have certainly helped overcoming decades of political differences. United States that was a fierce critic of India on account of nuclear tests ultimately reached a nuclear deal with the latter. Indias and United States relations have been quite warm in the past few years. One of the successes of Indias foreign policy has been United States realizing the value of Indias friendship. United States has also backed Indias entry into the United Nations Security Council and Nuclear Suppliers Group. How the relations between both the countries shape during Donald Trumps presidency remains to be seen and India should be ready to respond to the changes, if any. Nuclear Tests The two nuclear tests conducted (one in 1974 and another in 1998) mark an important milestone in Indias foreign policy. But it has also proved to be a tough challenge. As much as it was necessary to strengthen nations arsenal, on both the occasions this step has met with severe reactions from a number of countries. In addition to reacting through diplomatic channels these countries also banned the transfer and sale of nuclear technology to India. India was also pressurized to be a signatory to CTBT (Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty). However India defied all the pressure and stood its ground asserting that national interest and national security are of the highest priority than anything else. Although India is yet to get entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), over the years Indian diplomacy has been successful in getting the ban removed and striking nuclear deals with countries like United States, Canada and Australia. Economic Reforms A number of internal and external situations either coincided or resulted in the economic reforms in 1991. Foreign exchange crisis was the principle reason for ushering of the economic reforms. These developments led to opening of Indian economy and brought liberalization, privatization and globalization. The economic reforms ran parallel to disintegration of the USSR and end of Cold War. New world order came into existence with the end of Cold War. The bi-polar system was replaced by uni-polar system with United States as the sole super power. Indias foreign policy also underwent changes as a result of change in the world order and changes in domestic situation. The idealism in Indias foreign policy was replaced by realism. Non-alignment seemed to lose its relevance with the changes in foreign policy. Not only did Indias economy open up but its foreign policy also opened up. The notions and ideology that were part of the policy making in the Cold War era were replaced with the changes that corresponded with time. Indias foreign policy started taking strides into the hitherto uncharted territories. New Horizons As mentioned in the previous point opening of Indias foreign policy led to increased interaction with countries and regions with which there was either restricted or no contact. With respect to regions Southeast Asia, Asia Pacific and Central Asia are prominent. Southeast Asia and Asia Pacific remained at a distance during the Cold War period on account of the influence of United States in those regions. Central Asia is the creation of disintegration of the USSR and so it is relatively a new region. In any case all these three regions are extremely important from Indias point of view both economic and strategic and hence increasing diplomatic investment there would certainly be beneficial for India in the coming years. With respect to country Israel deserves a special mention. From being a country with no diplomatic ties with India to becoming one of our close friends and a major arms supplier, Israel has come a long way. Domestic political compulsions had forced India not to establish ties with Israel. However India could find a right balance in developing friendship with Israel without neglecting Palestine. Prime Minister Narendra Modis de-hyphenating visit to Israel this year has shown the strong assertive character of Indian diplomacy. Another horizon in our nations foreign policy has been the importance attached to the Indian Diaspora in conduct of foreign relations. Indian Diaspora had remained a neglected entity for more than 40 years since independence. Today Indian Diaspora enjoys the status of an important instrument of Indias foreign policy. (The author is an Independent Researcher based in Vadodara and can be reached at (niranjanmarjani@gmail.com) Niranjan Marjani (The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.) After so many months, when Dalit politics has gone in cold storage across the country the Commission was constituted by the HRD Ministry to look into the circumstances leading to the death of Rohith Vemula came with new examination. The report says, his suicide note is on the record, which shows that Rohith Vemula had his own problems and was unhappy with worldly affairs. He was frustrated for the reasons best known to him. He also wrote that he was all alone from childhood and was an unappreciated man. This also indicates his frustration. He did not blame anybody for his suicide. After Rohith committed suicide, Vemulas family members, friends besides political parties alleged that he was a victim of caste discrimination. Vemulas suicide had triggered a huge political furore with the then HRD minister Smriti Irani coming under attack along with labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya for having written a letter related to the matter. In 2016, it was reported that the Justice Roopanwal Commission had stated that material on record did not establish that Vemula was a Dalit and attributed his suicide to personal reasons. Interestingly, the report also gave a clean chit to Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya besides absolving HCU authorities of any blame for Vemulas death. An inquiry conducted by the one-man judicial commission has found that personal frustration not discrimination on University of Hyderabad campus drove him to commit suicide. Vemulas mother, V Radhika, claimed to be a Mala (Dalit) to back the caste certificate issued to her son by a person named Uppalapati Danamma, then a corporator, with whom she stayed for one and half years. Radhikas claim that her foster parents told her that her biological parents were SC was improbable and unbelievable. It added that Vemulas caste certificate was issued without any proper inquiry. The evidence on record shows that she belongs to Vaddera Community and, therefore, the Scheduled Caste certificate issued to Rohith Vemula cannot be said to be a genuine one and he was not a Scheduled Caste candidate. Vemula was born on 30 January 1989 in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh to Manikumar Vemula and Radhika. He was an Indian PhD student at the University of Hyderabad, belonging to the Mala community. His father is from Veddera (OBC) community and his mother is from Mala (scheduled caste) caste. In July 2015, the University reportedly stopped paying him the fellowship of 25,000 (US$370) per month after he was raising issues under the banner of Ambedkar Students Association (ASA, though a university official denied the allegation of non-payment of scholarship, citing the delay on paperwork. Beginning of August 2015 Rohith Vemula and four ASA members protested against the death penalty for Yakub Memon, a convict in 1993 Bombay bombings in which 257 people were killed. They also condemned the ABVP attack on the screening of the documentary Muzaffarnagar Baaqi Hai in Delhi University. On 3rd August 2015, Rohith Vemula and other ASA activists demonstrated at the Hyderabad campus. In response, ABVPs university unit president Nandanam Susheel Kumar called them goons on Facebook. The next day Kumar was taken to hospital and operated for an acute appendicitis, but stated that he was roughed up by around 40 ASA members who barged into his room. According to news in various newspapers, an anonymous ASA member stated, When we confronted Susheel in his hostel room, he tendered a written apology in the presence of the universitys security officer. But the next day he got himself admitted in a hospital and alleged that members of ASA had manhandled him. The university ordered an inquiry while ABVP lodged a police complaint. The ABVP wrote to BJP MP from Secunderabad and Union Minister Dattatreya, alleging that the ASA members were indulging in casteist and anti-national activities. Dattaatreya stated that he forwarded the letter on my official letterhead to Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani. The letter was then forwarded to the universitys Vice-Chancellor professor P. Appa Rao. In response, further action was taken against Rohith Vemula by college on 5 August 2015, expelling him from his hostel along with the other four members of the Ambedkar Students Association (ASA), while ABVPs Kumar was let off with a warning. In September the five students were suspended, a decision which was upheld at 17 December 2015. Meanwhile, his family struggled to help him, and Rohith Vemula had to borrow money from a friend. At 3 January 2016, after the suspension was confirmed, the five moved out of their hostel rooms to a tent they set up inside the campus and began a relay hunger protest. On 17th January 2016, Rohith Vemula committed suicide hanging himself with a banner of the Ambedkar Students Association. In the suicide-note, which he left behind, he blamed the system for his death. According to the suicide note, he committed suicide in the room of one Umma Anna, in whose room he was staying after being expelled from the hostel by the authorities at the University of Hyderabad His suicide sparked protests and outrage from across India and gained widespread media attention as an alleged case of discrimination against Dalits and low status caste in India, in which elite educational institutions have been purportedly seen as hotbeds of caste-based discrimination against students belonging to lower caste. (Any suggestions, comments or dispute with regards to this article send us on feedback@afternoonvoice.com) The Justice (retd) AK Roopanwal Commission has said that Hyderabad Central University (HCU) research scholar Rohith Vemula, who allegedly committed in January 2016, was a troubled individual and did not end his life over the varsity action. The report, made public on Tuesday, confirmed that Vemula was a troubled individual and was unhappy for several reasons. The inquiry commission report by the one-man judicial commission under former Allahabad High Court Judge AK Roopanwal, said, His suicide note is on the record which shows that Rohith Vemula had his own problems and was not happy with worldly affairs. He was frustrated for the reasons best known to himHe also wrote that he was all alone from childhood and was an unappreciated man. This also indicates his frustration. He did not blame anybody for his suicide, it added. In addition, the report indicated that the then HRD minister Smriti Irani and BJD leader Bandaru Dattareya were not responsible for the event. Reports at the time of his death suggested that Vemulas death was a result of disciplinary action against him, prompted by BJP leaders. If he would have been angry with the decision of the university, certainly either he would have written in specific words or would have indicated in this regard. But he did not do the same. It shows that the circumstances prevailing in the university at that time were not the reasons for committing the suicide, the report said. It further added that Vemula was not a Dalit by caste one of the main reasons why the case gained prominence, leading to protests by student groups thus causing disruptions at the university. The student groups had alleged that Vemula was a victim of oppression and discrimination by BJP leaders. However, the report did address the fact that the university does not have a solid mechanism to redress students for grievances, especially in the case of scholars belonging to reserved categories. Regarding the disciplinary action taken in the case of Vemula, Justice Roopanwals report said: In my opinion, the view taken by the Executive Council was the most reasonable one in the circumstances prevailing at that time. The Executive Council mainly focused that the students should keep concentration on their academic career and not on other things. The leniency shown by the Executive Council itself shows that the university administration was not functioning under any influence or pressure, otherwise, there could be no occasion to be lenient or to reduce the punishment recommended by the Proctorial Board. The inquiry commissions report was submitted to the HRD ministry in August 2016, following the tragic suicide, which created an uproar among students in India. The University of Hyderabads Council in November 2015 expelled five students all of whom were said to be Dalits from the hostel and barred them from access to public places within the campus premises. Vemula was one of the five students who were expelled. The diktat from the university came after the five students allegedly assaulted an ABVP student leader. Following his expulsion, Vemula had committed suicide in the hostel on January 17, 2016. You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Eclipse glasses, like the pair being worn by Shana Donahue, Aiken Standard night editor, are difficult to find in the Aiken area as the time nears for the Aug. 21 solar eclipse. Iraq's Yazidis and Assyrians Remain Unconvinced By Kurdistan Referendum The world is slowly becoming aware of the plight of Iraq's minorities, and yesterday US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters that "ISIS is clearly responsible for genocide against Yazidis, Christians and Shia Muslims". The term 'genocide' is a rare one in the discourse of US officials, reserved only for the most serious of cases. But even with the international community awaking to the plight of Iraq's minorities - especially the Yazidis and Christians, the path of their recovery is far from clear. Now with a referendum on Kurdish independence looming, minority groups' qualms with both the Baghdad and Erbil governments are becoming all the more prominent, and the minorities are refusing to see their concerns go ignored. Iraq's Christian community has dwindled in recent years. Once home to some 1.5 million Christians, the country now boasts a population of barely 250,000, according to a recent report by the World Council of Churches. Dozens more are leaving every week for new lives in North America and Europe, but the ones who have remained do not appear convinced by the Kurdish case for independence. In July, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) authorities forcefully removed elected Assyrian mayor Ayez Abed Jawahreh, only to replace her with a Kurdish figure more friendly to the ruling Kurdish Democratic Party's (KDP) agenda. Although there were murmurs of corruption on Jawahreh's part, no evidence was presented and many believe it was just an exercise in restricting opposition to the KDP's agenda. Diana Sarkisian, an Assyrian human rights activist, suggested "this removal and meddling in the political leadership in Alqosh has shown how little minorities are respected by the KRG". Assyrians quickly gathered in Al-Qosh to protest, and the Kurdish flag was notably absent from their demonstrations, with the Iraqi one instead proudly held up by many of those present. Assyrians further voiced their disagreement with referendum at an event involving the KRG's representative to the United States in Washington earlier this month. Protesters rushed the stage holding aloft placards such as "KRG is not a democracy" and "Assyrians say no to referendum". Sarkisian added that most of the Assyrians in Iraq wanted to remain so, in an "independent province" similar to "that of the KRG", but that obviously it was for the people to decide for themselves. One minority that has received far greater attention from the Iraqi and Kurdish governments is the Yazidis. The victims of the world's latest genocide have been widely courted by Barzani's KDP party, which traditionally attempts to portray itself as something of a protector of minorities. Indeed Haydar Shasho, the head of the YBS, or Sinjar Resistance Units, a Yazidi militia charged with defending Yazidi homelands in Northern Iraq, went as far as saying that the genocide carried out against the Yazidi people by the Islamic State group "would not have happened" if there had been an independent Kurdistan. The Iraqi parliament's sole Yazidi MP, Vian Dakhil, has also aligned with the KDP-led push for Kurdish independence, suggesting that an independent Kurdistan would be a "beacon of hope and stability." However this is a far cry from the perspective of most Yazidis, who feel that Barzani's Kurdish Peshmerga - who fled their defensive positions in Sinjar in August 2014 as IS approached - abandoned the Yazidis in their hour of need. Several weeks after IS' capture of Mosul, the jihadists marched on Sinjar, and the thousands of Peshmerga charged with maintaining security withdrew without a fight. What subsequently took place has been labelled genocide by the United Nations - as many as 5,000 were executed and 7,000 women and children were kidnapped and exploited as sex slaves by IS fighters and officials. As Hishah Bashir, a Yazidi student now living in Erbil, said: "Barzani and the KDP abandoned us, the only Yazidis that support them now are the ones they are paying. We don't want to be with them, we don't want their referendum." He added: "If we stay with Baghdad, at least we can push for a federal or independent Yazidi province in Sinjar and Nineveh. The Kurds will never give us that; they want full control over everything." Sinjar's Yazidis are now caught between expansive Kurdish nationalism and the Dawah-dominated Baghdad government, as they clash over who should control Sinjar and other disputed territories. A partial blockade from Masoud Barzani's KDP has left Sinjar without any real recovery almost two years after its recapture from IS. Everyday life for Yazidis remains difficult, and much of Sinjar still lies in rubble. All the while, Yazidi disenfranchisement with both Baghdad and Erbil grows. But it is not only the KRG where Yazidi concerns are ignored. In May of this year a bill in the Baghdad parliament which would have allocated a quota of seats to the Yazidis was rejected, and the Baghdad judiciary continues to prohibit Yazidis from becoming judges. In August 2007, scores of the minority were wiped out in a suicide bombing in the village of Kahtaniya, and just last month two Yazidis selling alcohol were murdered in Baghdad. Minorities in Iraq have looked destined for annihilation in recent years, and for the Assyrians and the Yazidis there is no obvious option. Whether their futures lie in Iraq, or an independent Kurdistan, they may be forced to settle for the least bad option, or if Baghdad and Erbil to choose to flex their muscles, they may get no say in it at all. One thing is certain, for the KRG to assume their support for Kurdish independence, as they have done so far, is a far cry from the truth. Understanding The Assyrian Militias Of Iraq And Syria The threat of ISIS and current crises in the region led to the emergence of several Christian militia groups in Syria and Iraq, but what are these groups exactly? The plight of Christians in the Middle East has been one made up of ongoing violence, displacement, and devastation. Many in the Christian communities of Syria and Iraq have experienced first hand the brutal oppression of ISIS occupation, and many have tried to cope with living under a regime that promotes the destruction of their religion and inevitably their very being. One of these coping mechanisms have transcended what could be described as traditional Christian ethics and has translated into the establishment of several militia groups that allegedly represent the regions Christian communities. For the purpose of this article, three main militia groups will be examined in the context of their specific communities: the Syriac Military Council, the Nineveh Plains Protections Unit, and the Babylonian Brigade. Syriac Military Council The Syriac Military Council makes up the largest Christian militia group in Syria. It was first established in 2013 to fight against ISIS in the backdrop of the Syrian civil war and was intended to be an organization that protected the Syriac, Assyrian and Chaldean community (the three main Neo-Aramaic speaking Christian groups that have come to dominate Christian identity politics in the region) of Syria. Currently they boast around 250 fighters that operate in and around the crucial city of Raqqa, the dwindling twin capital of the IS caliphate. One interesting aspect of the militia group, as well as several other militia groups, is that foreign fighters are joining their ranks, many of them westerners with previous military experience. The group epitomizes many other militia organizations in the area that have taken the opportunity to fight in the civil war as a means to create awareness for their particular cause, highlight issues in their community and shine a spotlight on the many contributions they have made in the reclaiming of their country. Nineveh Plains Protection Unit The NPU was formed in 2014 by the Assyrian Democratic Movement also known as Zowaa. The ADM is a popular political party of the Assyrian (Chaldean/ Syriac) people of Iraq and has since its inception in 1979 been central to the concept of Assyrian nationalism and the advocacy of the Assyrian, Chaldean and Syriac people (albeit under the term "Assyrian" exclusively). The NPU has claimed that 500 fighters have been trained since the formation of the group, and as much as 5000 others have been registered. They have participated alongside the Kurdish Peshmerga forces in fighting in the Chaldean town of Tesqopa and are most active in their namesake of Nineveh where they hold considerable sway amongst the Christian community of the area. The Babylonian Brigade The Babylonian Brigade is the lesser known of these three militia groups. The brigade was formed in 2014 alongside other Shiite and Sunni militia groups that collectively have around 100,000 volunteers. The brigade itself may have around 1000 fighters, trained by the Popular Mobilization Forces that are made up of various Sunni and Shiite groups. The group's commander is Rayan al-Kildani, a somewhat contentious figure that has been accused of cashing in the government covered expenses of the militia group, notably by BBC's Owen Jones who brought up the point that "there are stories about people renting a house in Baghdad, gathering a few people together, announcing they have formed a militia and going to the government to apply for the funds". Nonetheless, Al-Kildani can be a rather unifying figure to many Iraqis, a leader who has established the first distinctly Christian brigade in the Shiite dominated Popular Mobilization Forces, and has been quoted as saying that "ISIS terrorists do not differentiate among Christians, Muslims, Sunnis and Shiites -- they kill everyone" and that "we have to help our Muslim brothers liberate Iraq". These three groups: the Syriac Military Council, the Nineveh Plains Protection Unit, and the Babylonian Brigade exemplify the concept of Christian militia groups in the region.These groups form from a perceived need to fight for Christians in the region, and alongside other militias try to reclaim their territory from the hands of an enemy that is recognized by all sides. In the case of the SMC, fighters work alongside western volunteers to reclaim Raqqa, in the NPU armed comrades fight hand in hand with the Peshmerga in Tesqopa, and in the Babylonian Brigade fighters strategize with Shiite and Sunni mobilization forces in an effort to combat ISIS. All three groups have their own controversies and are met with opposition from both in and outside their respective communities. But their very existence exemplifies the resolute and determined nature of a people who have become all but extinct in their native land. Perhaps these groups will succeed in their endeavours and in a post-ISIS Iraq and Syria and be met with success and legitimacy. Perhaps they will not. But all that matters for the time being is that they exist and are a significant part of today's efforts to reclaim the lands of Iraq and Syria. Perhaps these groups will succeed in their endeavors and in a post-ISIS Iraq and Syria and be met with success and legitimacy. Perhaps they will not. But all that matters, for the time being, is that they exist and are a significant part of today's efforts to reclaim the lands of Iraq and Syria. August 15, 2017 Canada is in the midst of a crucial review of its arms sales to Saudi Arabia after the press released a video of the Saudi Arabian National Guard using Canadian-built armored vehicles to suppress Shiite unrest in the kingdom. At stake is a $15 billion arms deal signed in 2014. How Canada responds could be a harbinger for the United States and the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia's key arms suppliers. Canada has long supplied infantry fighting vehicles for the Saudi Arabian National Guard, the elite Praetorian Guard that defends the royal family from its enemies. Canadian regulations on arms exports stipulate that weapons supplied by Canada to other countries cannot be used against the buyers' civilian populations. Ottawa signed the $15 billion deal, one of its largest, to deliver a new generation of infantry fighting vehicles for the National Guard with the explicit assurance to the Canadian parliament that the weapons would not be used against civilians. In 2011, King Abdullah had deployed the National Guard, equipped with an earlier generation of Canadian armor, to prop up the Khalifas, Bahrain's minority Sunni royal family, which faced a majority Shiite population demanding profound political changes that would have made the island kingdom the first democratic government in the Arabian Peninsula. The Saudi intervention was the first instance of an Arab Spring rebellion being stymied and underscored the Saudi royal family's determination to lead the counterrevolution against reform in the Arab world. Canada's conservative Canadian government at the time argued that the Saudi Arabian National Guard was not directly implicated in killing Bahraini civilians as the reform movement was crushed. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who took office in 2015, inherited the 2014 arms deal and the tensions over Saudi use of Canadian weapons. Trudeau's government has portrayed itself as more inclined to promote human rights than its predecessor. It also governs a Canadian public that, like those in most Western countries, is more skeptical about Saudi Arabia and is more inclined to question the wisdom of supporting an absolute monarchy that propagates Wahhabism, a uniquely intolerant brand of Sunni Islam. The war in Yemen only added to Canadian concerns about the wisdom of backing Saudi Arabia. After 2 years, the Saudi campaign is a quagmire and has had and continues to have horrendous consequences for the Yemeni people. Under King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, Saudi Arabia has become more sectarian than ever. Shiites in general and Iran in particular have been branded enemies of the state. A long-simmering conflict with the kingdom's minority Shiite community in the oil-rich Eastern Province has escalated under Salman. The epicenter of the conflict is the oasis of Qatif, especially Awamiya, an old city with a historic core from the Ottoman Empire that was built before the Saudis conquered it from the Turks early in the 20th century. It was the hometown of Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr, whom the government executed in January 2016 for allegedly supporting Iran and violence. His execution led to the rupturing of diplomatic ties between Riyadh and Tehran. The old city has since been all but destroyed after fierce clashes between the Saudi Arabian National Guard and Shiite activists this year. Video shows widespread damage and destruction. Riyadh does not dispute the intensity of the clashes. The Saudis have promised to rebuild the area with a modern urban environment. The Shiites are understandably skeptical. Successive Saudi kings have failed to improve life for the Shiite population. Riyadh argues that it is fighting Iranian-inspired terrorism, citing a long history of Iranian subversion in the Eastern Province, highlighted by the 1996 truck bombing of the US Khobar Towers barracks that killed 19 US Air Force personnel and wounded hundreds of Saudis. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Lebanese Hezbollah have been implicated in the attack for supporting Saudi Shiite militants trained in Iran and Lebanon. Saudi Shiites argue that the royal family exaggerates Iran's role and has never treated them as equals. The National Guard is responsible for order in the Eastern Province. It has been the sinecure of one branch of the House of Saud since the 1960s. Prince Mitab bin Abdullah was given command of the force in 2010 by his father, King Abdullah, and has remained in charge under Salman. He is one of the most powerful members of the family. His National Guard will not hesitate to use extreme force to crush unrest. The National Guard has always been regarded as more loyal to the monarchy than the regular military is. It recruits among the conservative tribes of the Nejd, the kingdom's Sunni heartland. Abdullah has carefully courted these tribes as a base. The National Guard also provides protection for the holy cities of Mecca and Medina and is the defender of the Wahhabi order. The Globe and Mail, a Canadian newspaper, obtained photographs of the Saudi Arabian National Guard using Canadian-sold vehicles in Qatif. Under pressure from the media and public, Trudeau said the government is investigating the situation. It is likely weighing the potential loss of some 3,000 jobs in Ontario against its human rights record. Thus, there is widespread suspicion the government will try to avoid a clear decision. A Trudeau decision to halt the sale to the Saudi Arabian National Guard would represent a major humiliation for the kingdom, especially for the National Guard. It would also energize the growing opposition to arms sales to Saudi Arabia in Washington and London. The Saudi-led war in Yemen has created a humanitarian catastrophe and has led to widespread opposition to all arms deals with the kingdom. The US Congress only narrowly approved an arms sale for the Royal Saudi Air Force in June. All eyes are now on Ottawa. August 15, 2017 BAGHDAD Iraqi Christians will have to unite under one banner and work past their various political affiliations and differing doctrines to heal the division that threatens the religion from within, the head of the Chaldean Catholic Church in Iraq said after two armed Christian factions clashed in the Ninevah Plains. Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako issued a statement Aug. 6 in which he said that Christian political parties and armed factions are responsible to a great extent for the suffering and disorder in which Christians live. He added, We believe that a huge part of this ordeal is caused by parties' divisions, their subordination [to Shiite and Kurdish groups] and their failure to unite efforts and ranks and make a unified decision. The clashes started last month when Ninevah Plain Protection Units seized allegedly smuggled artifacts from the Babylon Brigades and arrested six of their agents. The agents were handed over to the Hamdaniyah district police. According to Yonadam Kanna, the parliament member supervising the Ninevah Plain Protection Units, agents from the Babylon Brigades, with help from the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), then stormed Ninevah Plain Protection Units headquarters. The forces took over weapons and vehicles for the purpose of freeing the six arrested agents, Kanna told Al-Monitor. However, the Babylon Brigades the military wing of the Christian movement in Iraq, which is affiliated with the PMU denied the allegation. These clashes were followed by accusations from both the Babylon Brigades and the Ninevah Plain Protection Units, which is the military wing of the Assyrian Democratic Movement. The movement announced that the conflicts resulted in Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and the PMU's ordering the Babylon Brigades to leave the Hamdaniyah district. The Babylon Brigades denied that statement. Internal Christian divisions have long existed, but they deepened when a number of armed Christian factions formed after the Islamic State (IS) took over Christian territories in the Ninevah Plains. The federal government in Baghdad and the Iraqi Kurdistan government share the responsibility for controlling seven armed Christian factions in the plains. The fate of the Christian territories there is uncertain, complicated by the Kurdistan Regional Governments planned referendum on independence in September. In addition, IS still controls parts of Iraq, and Iraqi forces are currently battling for Tal Afar. Some of the armed factions are affiliated with Christian political parties and some were founded with the potential to transform into political organizations that might participate in the next parliamentary elections. In addition to the Babylon Brigades, the most prominent armed factions include guards affiliated with the Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council, the military wing of the Assyrian Democratic Movement, the Assyrian National Party Brigades, the Ninevah Plains Forces, the Lions of Babylon Brigades and the Katayeb Issa Ibn Maryam Brigades. Given that there are 14 Christian denominations, more than 12 Christian political parties and seven armed Christian factions, reaching an accord will be difficult, especially when it comes to issues such as the details of establishing a safe zone in the Ninevah Plains and unifying the ranks of armed Christian factions to defend the zone. The last attempt to reach a consensus concerning those two points was during a June meeting held in Brussels to discuss Christian conditions in the post-IS Ninevah Plains. The European Union-sponsored conference demonstrated how deep the internal Christian divisions are. The Democratic Syriac Union, al-Warka Democracy List and the Christian Independent Democratic Movement announced their complete support for the conference, even as three Christian parties boycotted the meeting. The three parties that did not attend were the Assyrian Democratic Movement, the Entity of Abnaa al-Nahrain and the Assyrian National Party. The Chaldean Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East also boycotted the conference. The Chaldean Catholic Church stated its belief that the problems in Iraq should be addressed in Iraq rather than in the West. It is our belief that the future of Christians is connected to the future of all Iraqis and their future must be looked into inside the Iraqi house, rather than outside it. During the conference, participants agreed to create a new province as a safe zone in the Ninevah Plains for Christians and to form a military council in coordination with unified Christian military units under supervision of the international coalition, along with the federal government and the government of Iraqi Kurdistan. Still, Christians have not decided yet how to implement these decisions, given the chronic Christian division. However, Christians intend to form a committee to negotiate with the federal government and Iraqi Kurdistan to reach a unified vision soon, Joseph Sylawa, the head of the Warka parliamentary bloc, told Al-Monitor. The Christian armed factions might represent the best chance to form security units for the proposed Ninevah Plains safe zone, especially because of the experience the factions gained fighting IS. To transform these factions into a local police force or security units, several conditions must be met: They must become unified, overcoming their differences; they must be integrated vertically into the state or hierarchically into the Iraqi army, provided that they are granted independence within boundaries of the safe zone; and, as much as possible, they must be depoliticized. Concerning aspects of the Christian division, Sako suggests that various groups adopt a unified label. Instead of using nationalist references such as Chaldean, Assyrian or Syriac, Sako suggests that they use the Christian component as a step toward healing internal division. August 14, 2017 CAIRO In a recently leaked audio recording that went viral on social media, Cairo University media professor Yaseen Lasheen allegedly is heard sexually harassing an anonymous student and trying to blackmail her. The case is not the first accusation against Lasheen, who was already under investigation by the university for other reasons, and it brings the subject of sexual harassment in Egypt's educational institutions to the public's attention once again. Lasheen has denied all allegations against him. The Aug. 4 leak prompted Hadia Abdul Fattah, a womens activist and founder of the Egyptian initiative We will not remain silent on sexual harassment," to call upon Egyptian women to share their stories through the hashtag I_was_harassed by_my_teacher on their Facebook pages. She launched the initiative in June 2016, calling for combating sexual harassment and encouraging girls to speak up through workshops and awareness campaigns. Abdul Fattah said she was first harassed when she was in fifth grade. She told Al-Monitor that she decided to launch the hashtag last year to expose harassing professors, who use their position to do whatever they want. She also blames parents partly for their daughters hardships. Parents do not let their daughters speak up about harassment for fear of scandal, teaching them since early childhood to keep these matters a secret and not to talk about them, she said. Abdul Fattah describes the Egyptian penal code as faulty because it fails to provide adequate protection against sexual harassment. She believes university policies to combat sexual harassment are ineffective, as victims are required to provide proof, such as text messages, Facebook chats or an eyewitness. Most of the time, girls cannot provide any proof or evidence and if they manage to make an audio recording, it is not admissible" in courts because it is illegal to record someone without a public prosecutor's permission, she said. Abdul Fattah called for a unified law to fight all forms of violence against women, encouraging all victims to report sexual harassment. Former Egyptian President Adly Mansour issued a law in 2014 amending the penal code to expand the definition of sexual harassment and increase the punishment for those found guilty. The law calls for at least six months in prison and/or a fine of 3,000-5,000 Egyptian pounds ($167-$279). Abdul Fattahs call has encouraged several young women to share their stories on Facebook, albeit reservedly. Some prefer to share their stories in private Facebook groups for women, while others prefer not to reveal their real names. In her story, Fatima, a pseudonym, said her university professor failed her because she rejected his sexual advances. In response to the leaked audio recording, Cairo University's media school issued a statement Aug. 9 stressing that it does not tolerate any behavior that might prejudice the legal framework or moral norms of the university. In an Aug. 6 television statement, Cairo University President Mohamed Othman al-Khesht said the case has been referred to the prosecutor's office and if Lasheen is found guilty, he will be sanctioned. This was also confirmed by Ghada Ali, the deputy director of the university's anti-harassment unit, who told Al-Monitor, Although the victim the owner of the leaked audio recording did not file an official complaint against the university professor, we referred the case to the public prosecutor along with previous accusations against him, as he allegedly accepted gifts and bribes from students [to pass his courses]. He was suspended from work in April and has been under investigation since then." Commenting on reports that any lawsuit to this effect will be dropped because the recording is not legal proof, Ali said, Audio recordings are no longer considered evidence, as per a decision by the public prosecution in 2012. But we cannot turn a deaf ear to such incidents occurring on campus. We need more evidence such as a text messages or eyewitnesses to support the statements of the victim. Ali noted that since the anti-harassment unit was launched three years ago, it has received at least 30 complaints. Many measures were taken in this regard. Accused members of the universitys administrative body were deprived of promotion. We are very careful in dealing with proven harassment cases as this could harm the reputation of the university, she said. Commenting on whether the number of complaints reflects the extent of sexual harassment against women, Ali said, Maybe it does not reflect the actual reality of harassment on the ground, but it is at least an indicator of awareness within the university, which was the first to establish a unit to combat sexual harassment. She added, We provide female students with psychological and legal support and guarantee complete confidentiality in the reported cases. Yet young women were raised in a society promoting the culture of shame and therefore they tend to be afraid of speaking up for fear of a scandal. We are working on changing this mindset by raising awareness through relevant publications, training courses and other events." The leaked audio recording is not the first of its kind in Egypts universities; dozens of decisions have been issued by the boards of various universities in recent years regarding cases of harassment. An education professor at Mansoura University was referred for investigation on charges that he harassed a female student in April. Another education faculty member, this one at Cairo University, was dismissed after it appeared he had sexually assaulted a female student in June 2015. A 2013 study conducted by the Institute of National Planning and financed by UN Women revealed that the rate of sexual harassment incidents in educational institutions in Egypt stood at 27.3% in 2013. The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics said in its 2015 report, titled "The Economic Cost of Gender-Based Violence Survey," that about 16,000 Egyptian women 18 years and older were reported to have suffered harassment on campuses of Egyptian educational institutions. Meanwhile, Entissar al-Saeed, the director of the Cairo Foundation for Development and Law, told Al-Monitor that professors who harass female students must be punished, and their punishment will help deter others so universities can remain a platform for science and culture. Saeed called on female students to report harassment incidents, asserting that all civil society organizations will support them. "When they keep silent, the harassed young women are silencing the voices of other women who might muster the courage to speak up in the future, she said. August 16, 2017 TEHRAN For the first time in two years, Tehran has sent Iranian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for the annual hajj pilgrimage. Although this can be considered a positive step toward reducing tension between the two sides, it is naive to think that developments such as this will solve the existing problems between Tehran and Riyadh. Irans decision to end its boycott of the hajj, which followed the 2015 stampede that left 465 of its citizens dead, comes at a time when tension with Saudi Arabia is at its peak. While Riyadh severed ties in early 2016 following the storming of its diplomatic facilities in Iran by protesters furious about Saudi Arabias execution of a dissident Shiite cleric, there has been further escalation in recent months. Saudi Arabia, alongside Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, severed ties with Qatar, ostensibly over Dohas continued relations with Tehran; in parallel, the Saudi foreign minister has referred to Iran as the greatest state sponsor of terrorism. Yet amid this tension, the foreign ministers of Iran and Saudi Arabia surprised political observers by shaking hands at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation meeting in Istanbul on Aug. 1. Although this encounter was standard diplomatic practice, it received great attention in Iranian media and increased hopes for an opening in bilateral relations particularly since the handshake coincided with Irans decision to resume hajj pilgrimages. The latter decision, however, has had its share of domestic critics. At a meeting with Iranian hajj officials July 30, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei referred to security issues related to the pilgrimage, saying, There were some concerns regarding this matter [of pilgrims being sent to Saudi Arabia]. However, officials from all branches of government in the Supreme National Security Council took every aspect [of the issue] into consideration and decided that it can go ahead. Meanwhile, Saudi authorities have this year reportedly been more respectful toward the 86,000 Iranians who managed to obtain visas to perform the hajj. The last time Iran sent pilgrims to holy sites in Saudi Arabia, in 2015, only 62,000 received visas meaning that there has been a nearly 40% increase in the number of Iranian hajj pilgrims. Moreover, Irans hajj affairs office in Saudi Arabia, which had been dormant and had its sign taken down after Riyadh severed ties, resumed operations in August. This is while political relations remain frozen and respective embassies continue to be closed. However, of note, based on the agreement on the hajj reached between Iran and Saudi Arabia, Tehran has sent 10 consular staff from its Foreign Ministry to provide assistance to Iranian pilgrims. As a result, there is hope albeit little that Saudi Arabia might want to change its approach toward Iran. Kamran Karami, a Tehran-based scholar who focuses on Saudi Arabia, told Al-Monitor, While Iranian pilgrims going to this years hajj is a positive development amid the heavy tension that exists between Riyadh and Tehran, we should not exaggerate its potential for solving the regional problems that exist between the two countries. Karami added, These two countries have always tried to separate hajj from politics and allow it to go forward peacefully and without any tension. For Saudi Arabia, economic advantages, as well as the advantages of hosting an international event free of any controversy, are the two main priorities. The presence of the Iranian pilgrims can be viewed in this regard. We should remember that the political and geopolitical disagreements between two regional powers in the Middle East must be separated from the issue of [the annual hajj] pilgrimage. In the meantime, there are indications that Saudi Arabia wishes to remove the tension with Iran and is looking for a mediator to do so. This has further renewed hopes for change in Tehran-Riyadh relations. On Aug. 13, Iraqi Interior Minister Qasim al-Araji said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had called on Iraqs Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to help ease tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia. The idea of a third party mediating between Iran and Saudi Arabia is not new. In April 2015, then-German Foreign Minister (and now President) Frank-Walter Steinmeier proposed the idea; in November 2015, Oman followed suit; in January 2016, it was Indonesias turn; and in the same month, Turkey also announced a willingness to act as a mediator to help solve the issues between Iran and Saudi Arabia. However, if the claims made by Araji are correct, it would be a new and important development because it would entail Prince Salman's being the one asking for assistance, indicating that Saudi Arabia is serious about solving its problems with Iran. Former Iranian Ambassador to Jordan Nosratollah Tajik told Al-Monitor, Considering all the developments that have taken place in the region such as the situation in Syria, Saudis reaching a dead end in Yemen, [Mohammed] bin Salmans rise to power and the need to have peaceful foreign relations in order to advance ones domestic agenda any attempt to reopen negotiations and avoid conflict is to Irans advantage and helps its foreign policy. However, we should be careful how we analyze Saudi Arabias signals. We have always welcomed the idea of reducing and eliminating tension with our neighbors and Saudi Arabia. Nonetheless, we should wait and see how serious Riyadh is regarding this issue. On the other hand, Saudi Arabias attempt at getting close to certain Iraqi Shiite movements that have close ties with Iran could end up increasing tension between Tehran and Riyadh. The latter is clearly mindful that the Saudi-Iranian tension has its roots in regional changes in favor of Iran following the overthrow of Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. As such, Riyadhs attempt at forging a connection with Iraqi Shiite figures (such as Muqtada al-Sadr) who have always had close relations with Tehran could be viewed as Saudi Arabia trying to change the power balance in Iraq to its own advantage and to the disadvantage of Iran. August 16, 2017 No one was surprised by the Aug. 15 arrest of Sheikh Raed Salah. Residents of the Israeli Arab town of Umm al-Fahm, where the head of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel lives, as well as his family, knew it was only a matter of time before police would come knocking on his door in the middle of the night. His wife, Camela Ahmed Mahajna, told Arabic-language Radio Ashams that in light of what she called the Israeli medias campaign of incitement against her husband, he had been certain the police were biding their time, waiting for a suitable moment to arrest him. He was right. Salahs name came up in relation to the crisis over the installation of metal detectors at the entrance to Jerusalems Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif compound in July, as someone inciting Muslims to violence to liberate Islams third holiest site. Salah was one of the founders of the Mourabitoun, a group of Muslims mobilized by the Islamic Movement to protect Al-Aqsa Mosque against Jewish visitors to the site. He was one of the first to issue a religious clarion call years ago, warning that Al-Aqsa was under threat and that the Jews were desecrating it by their very presence there. In November 2015, with the outbreak of the wave of attacks that some call the individual intifada, Israels Security Cabinet decided to outlaw the Northern Branch. Yoram Cohen, head of Shin Bet at the time, objected to the move, arguing that there was insufficient evidence linking the group to terror activity. At the Rishon LeZion Magistrates Court hearing on remanding Salah to custody on Aug. 15, however, Judge Eytan Mizrachi revealed that he had seen prima facie evidence pointing to a man who heard the speeches of the suspect that led him to [commit] a violent act, something that could attest to his [Salahs] posing a threat. The police presented the court with a series of allegedly seditious comments by Salah after the July 14 killing of two Israeli police officers near the Temple Mount by three residents of Salahs hometown of Umm al-Fahm. In particular, they pointed to a sermon Salah delivered at the funerals of the three men, in which he praised their actions, as evidence of his inciting war over Al-Aqsa. Why, then, was Salah only arrested three weeks after the funerals? Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said in an interview on Channel 20 television that concrete evidence is required for an arrest on charges of sedition, and she surmised that law enforcement authorities did not want to act rashly. She also referred to the 2015 argument in the Security Cabinet over whether to outlaw the Northern Branch, saying, Some said this would lead to unrest. In hindsight, we see it was the right decision. Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan also argued after Salahs arrest that the sheikh was a public threat, and expressed his hope that he would be brought to justice and put away for a long time. Al-Monitor has learned that during the Temple Mount crisis, the Security Cabinet asked Shin Bet whether placing Salah under administrative detention would result in calming the unrest or exacerbating it. The Cabinet debates and security briefings were conducted against the backdrop of violent protests in East Jerusalem, calls by Muslim authorities for the closure of the citys mosques, mass prayers held adjacent to the controversial metal detectors and an attempt by the Fatah movement to organize a day of rage against Israeli forces in the West Bank. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and security officials were mainly concerned with defusing tensions. The suggestion to detain Salah was rejected out of hand by Shin Bet chief Nadav Argaman and Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh. They both envisioned a scenario in which the clerics arrest would lead thousands of his followers around Israel to join in the Palestinian demonstrations in East Jerusalem, further raising the level of tensions and violence. The arrest was thus postponed. The police and Shin Bet, however, with the approval of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, cooperated in gathering publicly available and intelligence information for about a month. The decision to carry out the raid on Salahs home in Umm al-Fahm was made when sufficient evidence had been compiled and when concern about violence in the town or in Palestinian Authority-controlled areas had dissipated. We saw many police cars arriving in the neighborhood and cops with their weapons drawn running toward his house in the Mahajna neighborhood, as if a war had broken out, a local resident and relative of the clerics, N. Mahajna, told Al-Monitor. Since the banning of the Northern Branch, he added, the sheikh has become a persecuted figure, and support for him has only grown. He enjoys greater support not only by members of the movement and Umm al-Fahm residents, but also by Arab citizens who disagreed with his views in the past but identify with him now over what he is being put through, Mahajna said. The political leadership of Israels Arab community, including Knesset members who generally shun Salahs actions and sayings, has closed ranks over his arrest. Of particular note was the reaction by Israeli Arab Knesset member Issawi Frej, from the left-wing Zionist Meretz, who said to the press that the police were acting like political commissars in silencing freedom of expression. In December 2015, about a month after the Northern Branch was outlawed, Frej said in a speech at Bar-Ilan University, I am very far from Salahs views, but I dont think he is fanning the flames any more than Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, who told the Knesset that she would like to see the Israeli flag unfurled over the Temple Mount, over Al-Aqsa. Her comment is no less dangerous than those of Raed Salah, but she was given a reprimand, whereas his movement was outlawed. August 15, 2017 On Aug. 13, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) flew in Iraqs influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to meet with Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan at Al-Shati palace in the Emirati capital. The following day, the Sadr movements 43-year-old leader met with Sheikh Ahmed al-Kubaisi, a prominent Iraqi Sunni scholar who founded the Ulama Organization in Iraq and resides in the UAE from where he broadcasts weekly sermons to roughly 20 million listeners. The Shiite and Sunni clerics discussed Iraqs future and that of the Middle East in which both religious leaders stressed the need for unity among Arabs and Muslims across sectarian divisions. Sadrs UAE visit came after he called Saudi Arabia a regional father figure that promotes peace on the heels of his historic trip last month to the kingdom, where he and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met and discussed Baghdad-Riyadh relations among a host of other regional issues from Jerusalem to Yemen and Syria to Bahrain. During the clerics Saudi Arabia visit, Riyadh agreed to provide Iraq with $10 million in reconstruction aid and award figures within Sadrs office special visas for the upcoming hajj. Only last year Sadr responded to the execution of Saudi Shiite cleric Nimr al-Nimr by urging his followers to protest outside Riyadhs embassy in Baghdad. So his travel to Jeddah and Abu Dhabi was significant. Making Sadrs visit to Jeddah even more remarkable was its overlap with ongoing violence amid the Saudi security forces al-Awamiah campaign, as well as with 14 Saudis facing beheadings with the sign-off from King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud as punishment for stoking riots in the kingdom. By returning to Saudi Arabia for the first time in 11 years, Sadr has established himself as the Iraqi Shiite leader with whom officials in Riyadh and Abu Dhabi believe they can cultivate ties to counter Iranian influence in Iraq. Sadr represents a nationalist strain of working class urban Iraqi Arabs (not limited to Shiites) who have concerns about excessive Iranian leverage in their country and seek to capitalize on Iraqs Arab identity, improve ties with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members and counterbalance Tehrans clout. Sadr diverges from other Shiite leaders in Iraq by calling for a disbanding of the Iranian-backed Popular Mobilization Units and asserting Baghdads autonomy from the Islamic Republic more decisively. In April, the Iraqi Shiite cleric urged Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to relinquish power after the chemical attack in Idlib province. The Iraqi clerics meetings in Saudi Arabia and the UAE have fueled optimism in the region about the prospects for Iraq and GCC states achieving a positive breakthrough in relations, which could help lower the Middle Easts sectarian temperatures. According to an Aug. 13 Alghadeer article, Iranian officials reacted positively to Prince Salmans reported requests that Iraqs Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi lead efforts to heal Riyadh and Tehrans relationship, raising speculation that Sadrs visit to Jeddah was aimed at investing in Iraq as a diplomatic bridge between the two countries. Nonetheless, improving relations between Saudi Arabia and Iraqs Shiite communities at large will prove no easy task for Sadr. Many Iraqi Shiites attribute the Islamic State's ascendancy in their country to Saudi Arabia and Qatar, and there is a perception of the GCC states as never willing to tolerate a Shiite-led government in Iraq. Yet the GCC states have accepted that Shiites will retain a dominant role in Iraqs political future. To successfully reach out to elements of Iraqs Shiite communities that favor Baghdad realigning more closely with the GCC to limit Iranian influence in their country, the Saudi and Emirati leaderships must convince Iraqi Shiites that their good will is genuine. Ongoing sectarian crises in eastern Saudi Arabia and Bahrain will hinder Riyadh and Abu Dhabis means to overcome problems that have plagued relations between the Persian Gulfs Arab sheikdoms and large portions of Iraqs citizenry. Saudi Arabia and the UAEs interest in cultivating close relations with Sadr factors into their quest to demonstrate that Riyadh and Abu Dhabis foreign policies are against Irans interference in Arab states domestic affairs, not Shiite Muslims. Achieving this objective will be vital for the GCC states seeking to lure Iraq closer to their geopolitical orbit at Irans expense. With the Syrian regimes forces and its allies securing more gains on the ground as the anti-Assad rebellion faces a dilemma posed by its Arab Gulf patrons divisions amid the Qatar crisis and suffered from the Trump administrations phasing out of CIA support, the Saudis are shifting more focus toward countering Iran in Iraq than in Syria. Regardless of how the Saudis and Emiratis reach out to Sadr, the GCC states will not succeed in convincing Iraqi Shiites to fully cut ties with Tehran. What is more realistic is for Riyadh and Abu Dhabi to expect Iraq to balance Baghdads ties with Iran and Saudi Arabia more evenly. To capitalize meaningfully on the prominent Iraqi clerics visits to the GCC, the Saudi and Emirati leaders must approach Iraq patiently and cautiously. Making moves too quickly to cultivate a close relationship with Sadr risks creating further divisions among Iraqi Shiites given the extent to which there is opposition to Saudi influence in the country. To be sure, the thaw in Baghdad-Riyadh relations is occurring, underscored by the Aug. 15 meeting of Saudi and Iraqi officials in the Saudi Northern Borders province to prepare for the opening of the al-Jadidah Arar crossing 27 years after its closure. However, it would be naive for the Saudi/UAE-led bloc to hope for Iraq to drastically improve Baghdads ties with the kingdom after many years of tense relations following Saddam Husseins invasion and occupation of Kuwait and the ascendancy of pro-Iranian Shiite parties after 2003. Nonetheless, if Sadr can shrewdly navigate Iraqs domestic political landscape while serving as a bridge between the GCC and Baghdad and if the Arabian monarchies can carefully take decisive steps to build confidence between the GCCs Sunni monarchies and Iraqs Shiites, the clerics trips to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi can gradually pave the path for a new chapter in Iraq-GCC relations. August 15, 2017 Turkeys ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) marked its 16th anniversary this week, and its history has been an amazing story. A party that was crafted by the disheartened of banned political Islamist parties and who called themselves the movement of the virtuous spent 15 of those 16 years as the party in power the longest period for any party in recent Turkish history. Pompous celebrations and ceremonies were held to underscore the might of its leader, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Some 6,000 people were invited to the main ceremony. One of the expected guests was the co-leader of the movement of the virtuous, former President Abdullah Gul. Yet he did not attend. In fact, his absence is one indicator of how the birthday party turned out to be bland. Even before the soulless celebrations, there was talk in AKP quarters about the fatigue of the ruling party. Erdogans return to the chairmanship wasn't enough to rejuvenate the party. Erdogan himself admits the party apparatus has lost its vigor. Those who are tired should [give up] their positions to new ones, Erdogan said at an AKP meeting in July in Ankara. Some party members took his remarks as a signal of drastic change in the works, further increasing the unease within their ranks. As a result, Erdogan tried to soothe the atmosphere with one of his speeches on the eve of the anniversary. Upcoming changes in the party should not be considered a purge, but a renewal, Erdogan said at an Aug. 14 public rally in Ankara. Speaking at the anniversary ceremony, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said he hopes the metal fatigue being felt among the partys ranks is temporary. For some time now, the phrase has been used to define the AKP's performance. Paradoxically, Erdogans strong grip over the party could be sapping its energy. Neither he nor Yildirim rejects that idea. Gunter Seifert, an expert on Turkey for the German Institute for International and Security Affairs (SWP), attributes the weariness to the party's devolution into a cheerleading squad for the president. The AKP has "reduced itself to a propaganda machine and lost its power in shaping politics," he told Germany's Deutsche Welle media company. According to a relatively influential and sometimes mildly critical Islamist columnist, Ahmet Tasgetiren of the pro-government daily Star, the reason for the lethargy afflicting "the party of the virtuous" is its flagging virtue. A new movement of the virtuous is needed, Tasgetiren wrote in an Aug. 15 column. It's almost impossible to expect the AKP to make that kind of shift against Erdogan. The only person with an AKP background who could initiate such a change is Gul, but given his overcautious style and unwillingness to confront Erdogan directly and openly, it would be a far-fetched hope that he could revive the party. Those hopefuls who want to see Erdogan removed from power one day seem to be converging around Meral Aksener. More and more she is emerging as a wild card in Turkish politics. Aksener was interior minister briefly during the late 1990s and served a long stint as a deputy speaker of parliament during the AKP's reign. During the 1990s she was a parliament member representing a center-right party. More recently, she was a representative of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), an ultranationalist party also known as the Gray Wolves. However, she rejected the new line of MHP leader Devlet Bahceli, who has transformed the party into an Erdogan appendage. Among a group of party elders, she rose to prominence in 2016 as a Bahceli challenger, but the judicial system under Erdogan's control blocked her way. She then left the MHP actually, she was expelled from the party with a decision contested legally to launch a new party, attracting a considerable MHP constituency. Her efforts to initiate the new political party designed to attract all those despairing of Erdogan mainly on the right side of the political spectrum gained momentum rapidly. She is expected to officially introduce the party in October or possibly even next month. There are rumors that in addition to those who left the MHP, a number of AKP figures even parliament members might join Akseners party. Akseners team has been saying the public will be surprised. One potentially major obstacle, among many others on her way, is how Erdogan could react to her moves. Also, how will Aksener enlist Kurdish support given that her team includes nationalists and anti-Kurdish figures? If she can find the formula to gaining the Kurds' support, she could be the figure most likely to unseat Erdogan. There are many questions. Elections are scheduled for 2019, but what happens if Erdogan decides to hold early elections in 2018 before she can build a sufficient party structure? Those who want Erdogan's era to end could pin their hopes on Aksener's charm and stamina, aided by the AKPs metal fatigue, which seems to have no remedies and therefore may be fatal. August 16, 2017 Turkey turned up the volume of its opposition to a planned referendum on Kurdish independence in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq today, warning the move could lead to civil conflict. Comments from Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu were among the strongest admonishments from Turkey to date as the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) presses ahead with plans for the plebiscite, which is due to be held on Sept. 25. In that country, which has been through so many problems, a referendum on independence can make the situation even worse. God forbid, it could even bring civil war, Cavusoglu said. A presidential spokesman joined the chorus of objections, saying Turkey would not recognize an independent Kurdish state. Ibrahim Kalin told the private radio station Best FM, The fundamental reason that we are opposed to this referendum is Iraqs territorial and political integrity. Kalin assured listeners that there was no question of a negative approach to Iraqs Kurds or to Syrias Kurds or other Kurds in the region. Turkey wishes to maintain its friendly ties with the KRG. But when the Iraqi Kurds unilaterally declare 'we are independent,' who is going to recognize [them]? Kalin asked. Baghdad, Turkey, Iran, the neighboring countries none of these will. The statements came amid unconfirmed reports that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had invited Massoud Barzani, the president of Iraqi Kurdistan, to Turkey presumably to persuade him to postpone the referendum. Barzani has yet to respond to the invitation said to be extended last month. Turkish cooperation, however, is critical to the Iraqi Kurds for several reasons. Iraqi Kurdistan's frail economy depends on near exclusively on oil. Turkey is currently the sole outlet for Kurdish crude, which is exported via Ceyhan in southern Turkey. Several thousand Turkish troops deployed across Iraqi Kurdistan provide insurance against Iranian-backed Shiite militias. They also help contain the fighters of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Though the PKKs main targets are Turkish security forces, the group is also vying for influence in Iraqi Kurdistan and is harshly critical of Barzani and his conservative Kurdistan Democratic Party. But if the Turkish government were to turn hostile, its troops could pose a threat. This is why the Iraqi Kurds are desperate above all for US support. US endorsement, as Barzani sees things, would fend off potential aggression from Iran as well as Baghdad. Iraqi Kurdish leaders have told the United States they would welcome US military bases on their soil, and the KRG has mounted a vast lobbying effort in Washington to bring the Donald Trump administration on board. But the Americans want the Iraqi Kurds to put off the referendum at least until after Iraqs parliamentary elections that are scheduled to be held in April next year. The independence referendum, Washingtons argument goes, would weaken Iraqs moderate Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi before his pro-Iranian rivals. It would also disrupt the US-led campaign against the Islamic State. The Iraqi Kurds dismiss such concerns, saying the referendum will not lead to independence overnight. The Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga will continue to support the battle against IS. Besides, if Abadi is re-elected, the Americans will tell them to stay put on the grounds that they stand a better chance of fixing their long running disputes with Baghdad. Piling on the pressure, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called Barzani last week to ask him to postpone the referendum, but to no avail. The date is standing, Sept. 25, no change, said Hoshyar Zebari, a prominent member of Barzanis inner circle. An Iraqi Kurdish official told Al-Monitor this week that the referendum would go ahead as planned. Barzani apparently would only agree to a deferral if the United States were to formally commit to supporting the independence referendum at a future date. This much was clear in the statement by the KRG presidency following Tillersons call. On the issue of the postponement of the referendum, the president stated that the people of the Kurdistan Region would expect guarantees and alternatives for their future. Without such guarantees, Barzani cannot justify scotching the referendum. His political credibility would be shredded. But administration sources told Al-Monitor on condition they not be identified that Tillerson was against being drawn into making commitments that might be interpreted as US backing for an independent Kurdish state. Another worry is that the referendum might force Iran, which opposes it more fiercely than any, to react militarily against the Iraqi Kurds, if only to pre-empt subsequent moves toward independence. While the Trump administration continues to make bellicose noises about Iran, Washington does not want to be drawn into those kinds of fights, a source familiar with the administrations thinking told Al-Monitor. So will Barzani finally crack? As things currently stand, it seems unlikely. At most, he may defer the referendum in the so-called disputed territories, notably the oil-rich province of Kirkuk, which has significant Arab and Turkmen populations. Turkey has repeatedly warned against including Kirkuk in the referendum. Kalin emphasized that point in the Best FM interview, saying the KRG had no right to include the province. Kirkuk is attached to Baghdad. Kirkuk has a very special place in our history. Kirkuk is a Turkmen city. There are Kurds and Arabs there, too." Still, amid all the clamoring, Barzani remains confident that US military support for his peshmerga will not be disrupted. Many KRG officials insist Washington's reluctance has more to do with timing than a fundamental rejection of Iraqi Kurdish independence. They may well be right. And though Turkey is becoming more vocal about its opposition, it has not played the oil card; the pipeline carrying it has not been shut down due to "technical problems." Besides, as fellow columnist Semih Idiz outlined this week, Erdogan is relying on his alliance with Barzani to get votes from conservative anti-PKK Kurds in nationwide municipal and parliamentary elections that are due to be held in March and November 2019, respectively. Turkey may well choose to reserve its ammunition to fend off Kurdish independence at a more crucial point, rather than to expend it on a referendum. The big question remains: What will Iran do? August 16, 2017 Syrian Kurds are taking critical steps to deal with the threat of being caught in a vise between their worsening relations with the Damascus regime, and Turkey's possible cross-border operations. Syria's Kurds have just proposed a new governmental structure comprising three federal regions and six cantons in the Democratic Federal System of Northern Syria (previously known as Rojava). They have devised a three-phase election calendar to decide who will run these new areas. Kurds worry that the US alliance with the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) will be diluted once the Islamic State (IS) is forced out of Raqqa. They believe that Washington will then opt to improve its ties with Ankara. They are now moving quickly to consolidate their gains before the next Geneva conference on the Syrian civil war. How is this Kurdish democratic autonomy structure shaping up? The Constituent Assembly of the Democratic Federal System of Northern Syria convened at Rmelan from July 27-28 and adopted a series of critical decisions, with delegates participating from Jazeera, Kobani, Afrin, Manbij, Tell Abyad and Raqqa. According to a document Al-Monitor obtained, the July 27 decision revises the original cantonal system of Jazeera, Kobani and Afrin into three regions with six cantons attached to them: The Jazeera Federal Region includes Hasakah and Qamishli cantons. Hasakah canton comprises the towns of Hasakah, Darbasiya, Serekaniye (Ras al-Ain), Tel Tamir, Shadi, Arisha and Hula. Qamishli canton comprises the towns of Qamishli, Derik, Amude, Tirbesiye, Tel Hamis and Tel Barak. The Euphrates Federal Region includes Kobani canton and its towns (Kobani and Sirrin), and Tell Abyad canton and its towns (Ain Issa and Suluk). The Afrin Federal Region includes Afrin canton and its towns (Afrin, Jandairis and Raqqa), and Sheba canton and its towns (Tel Rifaat, Ehraz, Fafeyn and Kafr Naya). You may have heard of Sheba. It's a new name that Kurds are using for the area that covers Jarablus, Azaz, Manbij, Tel Aryan and Tel Hasil, all west of the Euphrates. Of these locations, Manbij is considered to be outside the Democratic Federal System of Northern Syria. Actually, apart from Tel Rifaat, all other locations are under the control of Operation Euphrates Shield forces (fighters from the Turkish army and the Free Syrian Army). Although Kurdish civilian administration bodies have been set up in these places, they, along with Raqqa, are not considered Kurdish-controlled. An official of the Kurdish nationalist Democratic Union Party (PYD) from Raqqa told Al-Monitor by phone: After they are liberated, the people of Raqqa will decide their status. We are simply helping them. I think Raqqa will be a Kurdish entity outside the federation, like Sheikh Maksoud in Aleppo. The Sheba Region Executive Assembly officially declared the formation of Sheba canton Aug. 6. The assembly was formed in February 2016, with the participation of 17 representatives from Azaz, 17 from al-Bab, six from Jarablus and six from Safira. Since Tel Rifaat delegates joined, the assembly now has 56 members. According to a decision made at the Rmelan meeting, there will be communal elections Sept. 22, followed by cantonal and municipal elections Nov. 3 and elections for the People's Assembly of the Federal Regions and the Democratic Federal System of Northern Syria People's Congress on Jan. 19. Amid myriad ambiguities, why did Rojava decide to speed up its work and devise an election calendar? Turkey says it will not allow an autonomous entity in the region while a "de-confliction zone" is being formed. Security and government officials and even many members of Turkeys opposition parties see that possibility as a threat to the state's integrity and existence. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made that clear Aug. 2 when he said, We are determined to expand the dagger we stabbed into their project of forming a terror entity in Syria. Very soon we will take new and important steps in this direction. Turkey considers the PYD a terrorist group. Some commentators think the United States will not need Turkey after the Raqqa operation is complete. Washington has persistently asked Turkey to refrain from any action that might affect the Raqqa mission because Kurds have warned they will withdraw their forces from Raqqa to defend their own northern areas if Turkey threatens action. Another important development is the Damascus regime's increasingly hardened position toward the Kurds. It infuriates the Damascus regime to see the Kurds cooperating with the United States and allowing US forces to set up military bases. Faisal Mikdad, Syrias deputy foreign minister, recently said the Kurdish elections "will be nothing but a joke." "Syria will never allow the division of its soil," he said. "We know there are Syrian citizens in the north who will not endanger this country. Those striving to divide the country know well the price they will be made to pay." This is the strongest language the Syrian regime has used in its relations with Syrian Kurds. Another factor to bear in mind is the new Geneva process. The United States, despite its partnership with the Kurds against IS, couldnt arrange for the PYD and its allies to participate in the Geneva talks because of a veto by Turkey and the objections of the Syrian opposition. Russia also couldnt arrange for the Kurds to join the talks in Geneva or Astana, Kazakhstan. But there are rumors that the Syrian opposition, which is about to select a new negotiation team at a Riyadh gathering, may come up with an opening for Kurds. According to the draft constitution leaked to Arab media outlets, Kurds would have a place in the new power-sharing proposal. The president would be Sunni, with one Christian and one Alawi deputy president. There would be a presidential council. The parliamentary speaker would be Druze and the chief of staff would be Kurdish, according to the draft. A Kurdish representative who was in the Rmelan meeting is dismissive of the Riyadh meeting, which he said will support the regime. Like the Syrian opposition," he said, "they invited independent Kurds to Riyadh instead of Rojava Kurdish actors. They will recruit a Kurd, but that wont be anyone representing us. The PYD official in Raqqa had this analysis for Al-Monitor: Whether we have US assurances or not, we are trying to thwart a Turkish occupation by relying on the coalition. There is no US guarantee for Afrin. We cannot yet say that the US will disappear after the Raqqa operation. Deir ez-Zor is next in line [in the battle against IS]. After Raqqa, the political process will gain prominence. The Syrian Democratic Forces [the US-supported alliance in which the Kurds play a significant role] will control all areas liberated, including Raqqa. If Damascus accepts the Democratic Federal System, the problem will be over. If not, the US will support the Syrian Democratic Forces until a solution is found. We dont know what they are discussing at Riyadh now, but I dont think the draft constitution will be approved because our [the PYD] model is totally different. "Moreover, it is not all that important to go Geneva anymore because Geneva came to us. Twenty days ago the Raqqa Civilian Assembly had a video conference with 73 countries that support the coalition. Commanders of US forces come [to us]. Soon, other delegations will also come. In other words, today we have the full backing of the coalition. I dont favor joining the new Syria delegation [that will be] decided at Riyadh because they will do everything to marginalize us. Turkey is now working on handing over Afrin to the Syrian regime, but we are in contact with the Russians about it. We are ready for every eventuality. This is how the Kurds are trying to transfer the situation from the battlefield to the table and raise the bar for negotiations. But do they have a unified, free hand? Can they afford to ignore the multitude of potential spoiler elements on the Kurdish side that have their own interests and aspirations? Fifty-nine companies throughout Alabama have been awarded a national honor after the release of Inc. Magazine's Annual Inc. 5000 ranking. To qualify for the list, each company must be privately owned and based in the United States. The list only considers companies that have begun earning revenue by March 31, 2013 and had revenues that year of at least $100,000. By 2016, revenues must have been at least $2 million, and that year's revenue must exceed 2013's. The businesses will be featured in Inc.'s September issue. The magazine will hold an Inc. 5000 conference and gala for all the honorees in Palm Springs, California from Oct. 10-12. Here is the Alabama version of the 2017 Inc. 5000 ranking, with city of origin, 2016 operating revenue and three-year percentage growth: Alabama has a new law that covers financial transactions in the online age. This month the Alabama Monetary Transmission Act became law. The Alabama Legislature passed it back in May. Replacing the 1961 "Sale of Checks Act," the new law covers everything from bitcoin to regulation of money transfers. It also gives law enforcement new tools to track international financial crimes. Alabama Securities Commission Director Joseph Borg called its passage important. "This significant legislation will help streamline our regulatory and enforcement activities to meet the challenges presented by modern technology," Borg said, "such as the use of cybercurrency, online money transmissions and further assists law enforcement in preventing money laundering and activities involving the illegal international transfer of funds." Officials said the old law did not have administrative and enforcement authority and predated the digital age. For example, the Alabama Monetary Transmission Act includes "virtual" currency such as bitcoin, and lays out a record-keeping process, allowing the Alabama Securities Commission to audit those records. It regulates money transmitters and covers non-banking entities that engage in checks and money transfers, as well as debt management services. However, it exempts several establishments, such as banks, bank holding companies, securities-clearing firms, payment and settlement processors, broker-dealers and government entities. The Alabama Attorney General's Office has filed a lawsuit against the city of Birmingham and Mayor William Bell for violating state law and covering a Confederate monument in Linn Park. "In accordance with the law, my office has determined that by affixing tarps and placing plywood around the Linn Park memorial such that it is hidden from view, the defendants have 'altered' or 'otherwise disturbed' the memorial in violation of the letter and spirit of the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act," Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a Wednesday afternoon statement. "The city of Birmingham does not have the right to violate the law and leaves my office with no choice but to file suit." The lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday afternoon in Jefferson County Circuit Court, asks a judge to declare that the city has violated state law and impose a $25,000 fine for each day the monument is covered. The case was assigned to Judge Michael Graffeo. Bell told reporters Wednesday afternoon that the city's legal department reviewed the law. He said the plywood barrier doesn't break the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act. Related: Stacy George files ethics complaint against Mayor Bell over monument "We have not altered the monument in any way," he said. "The structure that we put around it is a protective barrier as well as a structure that doesn't touch the monument in any way...." Following the violent incident involving white supremacists and counter protesters in Charlottesville, Va., Bell said the plywood barrier was installed to protect the monument from possible vandalism from either side. Bell said he looks forward to the court system clarifying the new law. "We look forward to having some clarification as to what the municipal authority is over parks of the city of Birmingham and what we can and cannot do with any item that might sit on the park," he said. The Alabama Memorial Preservation Act, passed by the Alabama Legislature and signed into law in 2017, prohibits the relocation, removal, alteration, renaming, or other disturbance of any architecturally significant building, memorial building, memorial street, or monument located on public property which has been in place for 40 or more years, the AG's office stated. The Confederate Soldiers & Sailors Monument in Linn Park, which was dedicated in 1905, is older than the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., Marshall said. When asked about the Birmingham controversy while visiting Huntsville on Wednesday morning, Gov. Kay Ivey said: "The attorney general will be involved in determining if that particular structure falls under the legislation that was passed about the monuments. And if it is, he will follow the law and apply the law." State Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Tuscaloosa, the sponsor of the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act, praised Marshall for "standing up for the rule of law. "It is unfortunate that Mayor William Bell has decided to elevate his own personal preferences above the law in covering the monument at Linn Park," he said in a Wednesday afternoon statement. "If Mayor Bell believes his city is best served by the monument's alteration or removal, he should follow the law and apply for a waiver as outlined in the Memorial Preservation Act. "Nationally, there has been much controversy recently around Civil War monuments," Allen continued. "Here in Alabama, I am optimistic we can continue to have a thoughtful dialogue over the appropriate place for monuments to the Alabamians who died during the Civil War. Mayor Bell's action violates the law, but it also harms efforts to responsibly consider how we should best remember the past." Bell ordered the covering of the Confederate monument on Tuesday afternoon. It was shrouded in plywood later that night. The mayor's move came hours after Birmingham City Council President Johnathan Austin publicly asked Bell to defy state law and remove the monument. Southern Poverty Law Center President Richard Cohen criticized the attorney general for suing Birmingham. "In the wake of deadly violence in Charlottesville, cities around the country are questioning why in a nation dedicated to equality for all, we continue to celebrate and memorialize the Confederacy. Some of these cities are even removing Confederate monuments from public spaces. But in Alabama, state officials are suing the city of Birmingham for trying to do what is right," he said in a Wednesday evening statement. "The Alabama Legislature should never have passed a law banning the removal of these symbols which represent the oppression of an entire race. Gov. Kay Ivey should never have signed it. If the leaders of Birmingham - a city forever linked to the civil rights movement - believe such monuments do not represent their city's values, they should have the ability to remove them. This law demonstrates that white supremacy and hate prevail in Alabama. It will continue to force people of color to live and work in communities where they remain in the shadow of the Confederacy." Earlier on Wednesday, Save Our South, non-profit that aims to "preserve Southern heritage and historical monuments across the United States," threatened to sue the city of Birmingham if it took steps to remove the monument. The group sued the city in 2015 to prevent the removal of the same monument. The suit was later dismissed. According to Judge Graffeo's 2015 order dismissing the case, he stated that he had been "advised all parties stipulate to dismissing this action, without prejudice" - meaning a suit could be brought again. Save Our South is threatening to file a lawsuit against the city of Birmingham for a second time in order to keep a Confederate monument in Linn Park. The non-profit, that aims to "preserve Southern heritage and historical monuments across the United States," said the city of Birmingham is violating the settlement of their 2015 lawsuit by taking steps to remove the Confederate Soldiers & Sailors monument. "If the city decides to move forward with removal of the monuments there will be another lawsuit, heavy fines, and it will now be a criminal action," Save Our South said in a press release. Late Tuesday afternoon, Birmingham Mayor William Bell ordered the monument at Linn Park's southern entrance covered. The monument was later shrouded in plywood at around 9 p.m. Bell's order came just hours after Birmingham City Council President Johnathan Austin publicly asked the mayor to remove the monument. Initially, Bell said he wouldn't violate state law and remove the monument. He said his office was researching ways to legally remove the monument. A new state law prohibits local governments from moving historical monuments on public property. Breaking that law could result in a $25,000 fine. When AL.com asked about the controversy in Birmingham, Gov. Kay Ivey issued this statement: "I am aware of the situation. It's unclear if the statute related to historical monuments applies in this situation, but if it does, it is the Alabama attorney general's job to enforce the law and I am confident that he will do so." Save Our South Attorney Melvin Hasting is now asking city leaders to remember the terms of the 2015 lawsuit and stop any possible plans to remove the monument. "I am going to write a letter on (Save Our South's) behalf to ask the city not to take this action, to review the law and remember what we agreed to that day in court," he said in a phone interview with AL.com. "Hopefully, not have to get this back in another legal wrangle about this stuff." Save Our South filed a lawsuit a month after the Birmingham Park and Recreation Board unanimously approved a resolution in July 2015 to remove the Confederate Soldiers & Sailors monument. Hasting said the Save Our South's lawsuit was dismissed in November 2015 when officials couldn't find the deed to Linn Park, and there were questions whether the city could legally remove it. "So everybody decided to let sleeping dogs lie," he said. "We dismissed this case without prejudice, don't make anything public out of it and let it go. That worked for two years until last night when they made a decision to alter it. I don't know if they are going to try to remove it." In an email to AL.com, Birmingham Assistant City Attorney Tracy Roberts said there wasn't a settlement in the 2015 lawsuit. "There was no settlement. The case was dismissed as moot because neither the city nor the park board had taken any action to justify the lawsuit," he said. According to Jefferson County Circuit Judge Michael Graffeo's order dismissing the case he stated that he had been "advised all parties stipulate to dismissing this action, without prejudice" - meaning a suit could be brought again. Authorities have recovered 11 guns from schools in the City of Birmingham in the past three years and speculate that many more make it through the front doors without ever being detected. City, police, and school officials on Tuesday announced a new initiative they hope will reduce those numbers. Birmingham Mayor William Bell, Police Chief A.C. Roper, Birmingham City Schools and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said reward money will now be available through Crime Stoppers for information that leads to the confiscation of a weapon that is brought to any Birmingham city school. "This whole effort is to create a safe learning environment for our schools,'' Bell said. "This is just one initiative we're taking to get guns off the streets of Birmingham." "Our first goal is to keep guns from coming into the schools,'' he said. "The second is that if a gun is brought to school, that we have some way of finding out about that so we have a way to remove it." Birmingham Police Chief A.C. Roper said authorities confiscate an average of four guns a year from the schools. "The issue here is not as much as other cities, but one gun in our schools is one gun too many,'' Roper said. "We're talking about 1 guns in our schools and every gun has the capability of taking someone's life so we want everyone to understand that one gun on school grounds is not only a serious offense, but the potential to wreck families and cause devastating harm to our communities and our schools is unspeakable." It is a federal offense for anyone other than a law enforcement officer to have a gun on school grounds. That goes for teachers and parents, as well as students, the mayor said. Bell said authorities will be distributing fliers that read, "In school, be cool...Don't Let Guns Rule." Students, or anyone, who see or hear of a gun on a school campus can call Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777. They can also submit tips by texting "7777" plus the information to CRIMES (274637). All tips are anonymous and a reward of up to $500 is offered for tips leading to a confiscation. "We also want our kids to understand they have a responsibility,'' Roper said. "If someone loses their life in that school, it's going to affect everyone who attends that school." "I think we all want the same thing. We want the kids to be safe,'' said David Hyche, assistant special agent in charge of ATF in Birmingham. "We need to keep guns out of the hands of kids, and we certainly need to keep guns out of our schools." Hyche said kids get access to guns in all sorts of different ways, and stolen guns often top that list. Those guns are stolen from vehicles, gun shops and homes. "Please secure your weapons,'' Hyche said. He said investigators also are actively pursuing individuals who provide guns to kids ages 18 and under. "That's a federal offense, and we're working with our partners to go after the sources of guns to kids." Hyche said it will take students, parents, and everyone in the community to help solve the problem. "If you're going to complain about crime, you're going to have to do something about it when you can,'' he said. "We can't do it alone." Dave Holloway, right, and private investigator T.J. Ward, left, announced on TODAY that an 18-month investigation has led them to discover human remains that are being DNA tested to confirm if they are Natalee Holloway, a Mountain Brook High School graduate who disappeared on a graduation trip to Aruba 12 years ago. Human remains found in Aruba are being tested to determine whether they are those of Natalee Holloway, her father said Wednesday on a national television talk show. Dave Holloway and private investigator T.J. Ward announced on TODAY that an 18-month investigation has led them to discover human remains that are being DNA tested to confirm if they are Natalee's. "When we determined these remains were human, I was shocked,'' Holloway told Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie. "I know there's a possibility this could be someone else, and I'm just trying to wait and see." Holloway and Ward on Saturday, Aug. 19, will launch a new series on the Oxygen network called, "The Disappearance of Natalee Holloway." According to Oxgyen Media, the new crime show "documents a father's journey for justice when Dave Holloway receives his most credible lead in over 12 years." May 30, 2017 marked the 12th anniversary of the disappearance of Mountain Brook's Natalee Holloway in Aruba while on a trip with 130-plus of her graduated classmates. For several days during that 2005 graduation trip, the teens - of legal drinking age in Aruba - sunned and snorkeled during the day, and at night donned their sundresses for dinner and partying at Carlos' N Charlie's, which at the time was located in downtown Oranjestad, a decent cab ride from the high-rise district. The group often ended up at Excelsior Casino, which was, and still is, connected to the Holiday Inn where the Mountain Brook group stayed. On their last night, Natalee and her friends met Joran van der Sloot, who lived with his family in the nearby Montana neighborhood and attended the Aruba International School. She was last seen about 1 a.m. getting into a gray Honda with van der Sloot and the Kalpoe brothers as they left Carlo 'N Charlie's. Natalee was scheduled to fly home on May 30 but failed to show up when the group met in the lobby to leave for their flight. Van der Sloot and Surinamese brothers Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, reportedly the last people to see Natalee alive, were arrested multiple times in her disappearance, but were always released without being charged. The Kalpoes continue to live and work in Aruba. Van der Sloot is serving a 28-year sentence in Stephanie Flores' death. He also faces charges in Alabama for extorting $25,000 from Holloway. Both of Natalee's parents have continued their hard-fought battle for justice in the disappearance of their daughter, who in 2011 was declared dead by a Jefferson County judge. Just three months ago, Beth Holloway, as well as television news personality Nancy Grace, appeared on ABC's Dr. Oz show where Holloway talked about "her personal health struggle and never-ending battle for justice." In 2015, Dave Holloway returned to Aruba yet another time, chasing a lead after a man named Jurrien De Jong told Holloway and Inside Edition that he saw Joran van der Sloot chase her into a small building under construction. De Jong said he never went to the police because he was involved in illegal activities at the time. He says he has come forward now because of a recent TV report where van der Sloot claims he was part of an undercover operation in which Holloway was buried at sea. Prosecutors in Aruba have dismissed De Jong's claims, saying his claims couldn't be true because the building to which he referred had not been built at that time. Even before his trek back to Aruba that time, along with private investigator TJ Ward and a cadaver dog, Holloway said he was reluctant to get up his hopes. "I don't know how many times I've buried Natalee,'' he told AL.com, "and I don't want to go through that again." He said then that in his heart, he thinks he knows what happened. He is certain van der Sloot paid a bartender in Aruba to drug Natalee with GHB. He is sure van der Sloot took her home, killed her and, with the help of his influential father, hired South American drug runners to remove Natalee's body from the island, because "they couldn't afford to find a body on the island." On the Today show Wednesday, Dave Holloway said an informant known as "Gabriel" put Ward and Holloway in contact with a man they claim had direct knowledge of Natalee's disappearance. "We have a person who states he was directly involved with Joran van der Sloot in disposing of Natalee's remains,'' Holloway said. "I thought, you know, there may be something to this." "We've chased a lot of leads and this one is by far the most credible lead I've seen in the last 12 years,'' Holloway said. When Kate McKenna heard a rally was being organized in response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, she didn't hesitate to help her children make signs for the event. She admits some people called her crazy for bringing her children to the rally at Birmingham's Linn Park on Tuesday night. Her oldest is 12 and her youngest is 3. But McKenna said her children were informed about the actions in Charlottesville, where alt-right activists held up torches during a march at the University of Virginia on Friday. A woman was killed and 19 people were injured when an Ohio man plowed his car through a crowd of people protesting neo-Nazis and white nationalists on Saturday. More than 100 people of different faiths and lifestyles gathered at the park. They were black, white, Hispanic, Muslim, Jewish, Christian and more. McKenna's children joined the chorus of voices as the crowd chanted, "This is what Bama looks like". They held up signs that said "We are equal. Down with racism." "It's so important for us to be loved and do love and show love," McKenna said. "I wanted them to see the community around them. I hope they want to be examples of peace. I want them to learn about social justice and why it matters." The rally was hosted by a coalition of advocacy groups and non-profit organizations. Multiple speakers called for a diverse and united front against those who support racism and white supremacy. Many of them prayed for peace and togetherness. Sarai Portillo, Alabama Coalition of Immigrant Justice executive director, illustrated the struggles immigrants face. As a Hispanic woman, Portillo said she faces discrimination daily because people assume she is a criminal. The threat of deportation makes her friends and colleagues afraid to go to work. But she said her community will keep fighting to live their lives in America along with others who also face discrimination, such as the black, Muslim and LGBTQ community. "We have become the targets of hate," she said. "But we are going to fight this hatred with love." Khaula Hadeed, executive director of the Alabama Council on American-Islamic Relations, said what happened in Charlottesville didn't show the America she knows. She called America a country full of love, acceptance and respect. "What we witnessed was a united, terrifying stance that was bold, brazen, armed and racist," Hadeed said. "It was a show of strength to induce fear, to intimidate and to drown out voices and whitewash experiences of all our people that belong right here - Every color, creed, ethnicity, sexual orientation that are a part of the mosaic we call America." Organizers and participants did a brief march around the park after the speeches. They sung in unison "This Land Is Your Land" and chanted "This is what democracy looks like...This is what America looks like..This is what Bama looks like...This is what the future looks like." We just finished marching around the park. pic.twitter.com/wf3aaHqXGH Jonece Starr Dunigan (@StarrDunigan) August 16, 2017 No counter-protest was present at the peaceful rally despite Mayor William Bell's decision to cover the Confederate monument at Linn Park just hours before the event started. Bell said the monument will remain covered as the City Council considers legal options for removal. Other major cities are considering the same actions. The idea of removing the 112-year-old monument generated mixed emotions for 37-year-old Rick Smith as he listened quietly to the different speakers during the rally. "It's a part of my history," Smith said about the monument. "I'm a white guy in the South. My ancestors fought in the war, but I can understand how it's offensive as well." Smith believes citizens and politicians should decide if they want to take down Confederate monuments or not. "If Birmingham and the city council wants to take it down, then they should take it down," Smith said. "We are recreating history here. We have to come together and love one another." McKenna, who is also white, doesn't consider the monument as a part of her history. "I think it honors racism and a really backwards mindset," McKenna said. "Monuments are for honoring something and that's not something that needs to be honored." Hadeed reminded the crowd during her speech that they have stood together against hate multiple times before. More so than they would like, she said. But she is happy that people still stand in solidarity. At least nine far-right rallies have been scheduled to take place this weekend across the nation, CNN reported Tuesday. They need to continue to unify to make a statement, Hadeed explained. "Hatred must stop. Bigotry must stop. Racism must stop," Hadeed said. "No matter what, we cannot allow the normalization of this kind of hatred and bigotry against people." U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, addressing supporters following a stinging defeat in the Republican Senate primary Tuesday, looked ahead to his next challenge. "I hereby announce that," Brooks said before the cheering crowd drowned out that he would be seeking a fifth term in 2018 in Congress. For Tuesday, though, Brooks' dream of winning election to the Senate collapsed as he finished a distant third to Roy Moore and Luther Strange - the top two finishers in the GOP primary who advanced to the Sept. 26 runoff. With 59 of 67 counties reporting, Brooks received 16 percent of the vote - far behind Strange with 32 percent and Moore with 44 percent. Brooks declined to endorse either candidate as he spoke to supporters about 9:20 p.m. Tuesday at what was billed a victory celebration with more than 200 supporters in attendance. In his comments, though, Brooks spoke more favorably of Moore and the race that he ran rather than Strange - who had the backing of the Washington establishment and President Trump. "I want to compliment Judge Roy Moore on the high quality race he ran," Brooks said. "He ran a very honest campaign. Perhaps most importantly, a very honorable campaign." Brooks also acknowledged Strange, who finished second to Moore. "Another candidate also made the runoff and I want to congratulate Luther Strange for having fought very, very, very hard," Brooks said. "Equally important, I want to congratulate the people who were behind him. (Senate Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell, the Washington establishment, the K street lobbyists. They put together some very tough ads knowing full well I was not in position to respond. Accolades must go to those who fight as hard as they fought." Brooks entered the Senate race exactly three months ago but his campaign struggled to find traction. In fact, his support dwindled particularly across north Alabama in his congressional district. In Lauderdale and Jackson counties - both part of his congressional district -- Brooks finished third and collected less than 25 percent of the vote. He also finished second to Moore in Morgan County. In Limestone County - which makes up part of the metro area of Brooks hometown of Huntsville - he garnered just 41 percent of the vote in winning the county. And in his home county of Madison, Brooks received 51 percent of the vote - numbers much lower than a possible path to victory required. Still, Brooks touted his success in north Alabama. Brooks said he carried his 5th Congressional District with 41 percent of the vote, followed by 29 percent for Moore and 28 percent for Strange. "I want everyone to know that although there were nine candidates who were competing for the top two slots, I very, very much appreciate the confidence you showed in me in the face of tough competition," Brooks said. "You ranked me No. 1 in your hearts and on your ballots." Brooks consistently ranked third in an array of polls in recent weeks, though his margin behind second-place Strange often was closer than the actual voting. But Strange and McConnell's Senate Leadership Fund flooded the state for weeks with attack ads against Brooks - suggesting that he was more closely aligned with top House Democrat Nancy Pelosi. "Nancy Pelosi and I are not best friends," Brooks said as the audience laughed. "If you don't take my word for it, ask Nancy Peolosi." Brooks also said that, contrary to another SLF ad, "I do not support the Islamic state." Of the attack ads, Brooks said, "I was a little surprised by the extremity they went to." For now, Brooks will step away from the campaign trail and spend more time with his eight grandchildren. Brooks' wife, Martha, fought back tears as she thanked the support of their family and said of their children, "They never doubted their dad." Updated today, Aug. 15, 2017, at 11:08 p.m. to remove reference to Colbert County, which is not in Brooks' congressional district, and updates with complete 5th Congressional District voting numbers. Coworkers are "devastated" about the slaying of a 61-year-old Georgia man who was killed during a Monday-night robbery while he worked at a construction site outside an Alabama Publix store. "Van Johnson was a very good man," said Benning Construction President Ryce Elliott. "We are devastated. He will be sorely missed." Johnson, a supervisor at the Atlanta-based construction company, was working at a renovation site outside the Publix store on County Line Road in Madison when he was robbed and killed around 11:30 p.m. Two teens, who ran away from nearby Three Springs juvenile facility, are charged with capital murder in Johnson's death. Arron Raynard Jones, a 17-year-old from Birmingham, and Jakobe Isaiah Carter, an 18-year-old from Phenix City, each are held without bail in the Limestone County Jail. Jones and Carter are accused of fatally hitting Johnson with a blunt object before taking off with his cellphone and cash, according to court documents. The documents do not identify what type of blunt object was used. Jones and Carter The teens also are charged with second-degree burglary for breaking into a Benning Construction building with the intent to commit theft, Madison police Investigator Adam Beasley wrote in an arrest affidavit. At the time of the crimes, Jones and Carter were on the run after leaving Three Springs early Monday morning. Madison police Chief Dave Jernigan has said Carter and Jones also are believed to have broken into homes and cars while they were on the run, though charges haven't been filed in connection with those allegations. Because they aren't originally from Madison, the teens likely would have been looking for cash and keys to get out of the area, the chief said. "We have never had this or anything even close happen in our company's 64-year history," Elliott told AL.com. "Van had a perpetual positive outlook and was a joy to be around." Elliott said he worked with Johnson for about seven years before the killing. A resident of Riverdale, Georgia, Johnson was working as a supervisor at the renovation project at Publix. He had been working at the site since July. Johnson was working alone on the night shift when he was killed, Jernigan said. Police believe Johnson was the victim of a "crime of opportunity." Three Springs runaways Carter and Jones were captured early Tuesday in a wooded area on nearby Browns Ferry Road. The two were identified as suspects after witnesses reported seeing people running from the scene, according to police. Surveillance footage from the store showed two young people who matched the description of Carter and Jones, who had been reported missing from Three Springs the morning before the killing. Community members have criticized the city, police force and Three Springs for failing to alert residents after the teens left the juvenile facility. In a press release late Tuesday, city leaders said they are addressing concerns about safety and security at Three Springs. Because Carter and Jones were considered "runaways" instead of "escapees," the police department's policy wouldn't require an alert to the public to be issued until 24 hours after the two went missing, the news release states. Carter and Jones were considered runaways because they were placed at Three Springs by the Alabama Department of Human Resources. DHR spokesman Barry Spear said the agency contracts with Three Springs to house 10 boys between the ages of 13-18. The boys have serious or chronic behavioral issues that prevent them from functioning in a typical home or school setting, Spear said. Reasons why DHR may send a boy to Three Springs include difficulty accepting authority, self-control issues, low self-esteem and chronic runaway reports. "Every case is handled on an individual basis," Spear said. Other teens housed at Three Springs are in the custody of the Alabama Department of Youth Services. Those residents, who have been adjudicated as juvenile delinquents through the court system, are kept in a medium-security portion of the facility. Already in 2017, four runaways and one escapee have been reported missing from Three Springs, which is at 1329 Browns Ferry Road. The facility is surrounded by residential areas. Prior to this week's killing, Jernigan already had scheduled a meeting with Sequel TSI, the company that owns and operates Three Springs. "The purpose of the meeting was to discuss concerns of the recent increase in reports from the facility," according to the city's news release. Officials on Tuesday spoke with Sequel leadership and agreed on extra safety measures to put in place until a permanent solution is established. Those measures included increasing staffing and prohibiting the residents of Three Springs from going outside, the city's news release states. Is Three Springs on the way out? In response to community concerns about removing Three Springs from the city, officials have said they are investigating legal options. On Tuesday, Mayor Paul Finley and Madison County District 2 Commissioner Steve Haraway met with State Sen. Bill Holtzclaw. "I've heard from the community and they'd prefer it move somewhere else," Holtzclaw told AL.com. "The proximity to elementary schools and neighborhoods is concerning to the community." Holtzclaw said he has asked agencies, including DHR and DYS, to provide him with information about the contracts between the state and the Three Springs ownership. "There are standards that have to be met (by Three Springs) and if they're not being met we have to identify them and allow time for the business to correct that," Holtzclaw said. The Republican state senator from Madison said he has requested a site visit this week. "I want to meet with management and get some answers up front about their procedures and the breakdowns that have happened," Holtzclaw said. "We have to (remember) this is a facility that treats troubled youth. We've got to balance that help for children around the safety of the community that has grown around it." Alabama Republicans will head back to the polls Sept. 26 to decide their party's nominee for the U.S. Senate, with GOP heavyweights Roy Moore and Luther Strange set to meet in a runoff. Moore received some 40 percent, or 149,882 votes, to Strange's 33 percent, or 125,893 votes during Tuesday's GOP primary. Rep. Mo Brooks finished third with 20 percent, or 77,338 votes. None of the remainder of the 10-candidate Republican field garnered more than 7 percent of the total votes. The race wasn't as close for Democrats, with Birmingham attorney Doug Jones sweeping the field. Jones received 65 percent of the vote to Robert Kennedy's 18 percent and Michael Hansen's 8 percent. Here's what we learned from Tuesday night's primary: Trump got trumped...sort of Alabama came out big for President Trump last November, giving the GOP nominee 62 percent of the vote. But Tuesday, despite a three-tweet shout out from the president, Strange came in second to former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, best known for his defense of the 10 Commandments. Moore was backed by a host of religious and conservative leaders ranging from James Dobson to Phil Robertson of "Duck Dynasty" fame. Nationally, the race was being closely watched to see if Trump had lost any of his allure in Alabama. The Democratic Party now has a face - and a recognizable name - in Alabama The Democratic Party had all but died in the state until Tuesday when it appeared to resurrect itself somewhat. Doug Jones, a former U.S. Attorney who prosecuted two Klansmen for their part in the deadly 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, walked away with the Democratic Senate nomination. Jones faces an uphill battle in solidly Red Alabama, but it was a strong showing for the once-dominant party. Alabamians appear to have a short memory when it comes to Moore Moore was first elected as the Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court in 2001, only to be suspended in 2003 after he refused a federal court order to remove a monument to the 10 Commandments he had installed at the state courthouse. He was reelected in 2012 but was suspended again in May 2016 over his defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court order involving same-sex marriage. Alabama voters don't seem to mind, making Moore the top vote-getter Tuesday, despite heavy GOP financial backing for Strange. While voters seem comfortable with sending Moore to Washington, they've twice rejected - first in 2006 and again in 2010 - his bids for the Governor's office. But seem slow to forgive Strange In February, former Alabama State Attorney General Luther Strange was named by then-Governor Robert Bentley to replace Sen. Jeff Sessions, after Sessions was tapped by President Trump to serve as U.S. Attorney General. The appointment came after Strange had asked a House committee looking into allegations against Gov. Bentley to delay its work as his office completed a "related investigation." Three months later, Bentley named Strange to replace Sessions, setting off a wave of criticism that the appointment was political payback. In April, Bentley resigned from office as part of a plea deal for ethics and campaign finance violations in connection to his relationship with a former adviser. Strange has had to field questions about the appointment since he was named to replace Sessions. Some incumbent concerns Strange isn't a typical incumbent, having never been elected to the Senate seat. However, a primary loss isn't a good sign. Some numbers from earlier Tuesday night: Strange down 9.7 pts, largest primary deficit an incumbent has overcome in runoff was 8.0 pts by Charles Culberson (D-TX) in 1922. #ALSen Geoffrey Skelley (@geoffreyvs) August 16, 2017 Strange down 9.7 pts, largest primary deficit an incumbent has overcome in runoff was 8.0 pts by Charles Culberson (D-TX) in 1922. #ALSen Geoffrey Skelley (@geoffreyvs) August 16, 2017 There were election-day issues It's not a good sign when a candidate goes to vote and finds himself on the inactive list. That's what happened to Brooks Tuesday, though the problem was rectified quickly once the Alabama Congressman updated his information. Rep. Patricia Todd, a Birmingham Democrat, had the same issue at her polling place. Secretary of State John Merrill said the U.S. Post Office failed to deliver update cards to either Brooks or Todd. And turnout was terrible Secretary of State John Merrill predicted a turnout of about 10-15 percent. Initial numbers show those estimates to be accurate. There's still a way to go for Republicans Looks like we have a little more than a month before we know the GOP nominee. The Republican runoff is set for Sept. 26. No Democrats who voted in their party's primary will be able to cast a ballot in the GOP runoff. This election marked the first time the no-cross-over voting rule is in place for the runoff. It could get ugly The primary season was marked with a series of negative ads, mostly backed by Senate Republicans and aimed at Moore. Look for plenty more. "In the coming weeks, Strange's campaign will display some of the most negative ads in the history of the state," Moore said Tuesday night. "Those in Washington are scared." Whoever wins for the GOP, here's when they will meet Jones Jones and the winner of the Moore/Strange runoff will meet in the general election Dec. 12. Wrapping up Tuesday night Roy Moore Judge Roy Moore: 'Silk stocking Washington elitists' lost Alabama Senate race Luther Strange Mo Brooks Mo Brooks declines to endorse Roy Moore or Luther Strange; vows 2018 run for Congress Doug Jones l Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, calling his campaign "the strongest I have ever run," rolled over a rival's endorsement by the president and into the Republican runoff in the special election for the U.S. Senate tonight. Moore led the nine-candidate field and carries momentum into the Sept. 26 runoff with Sen. Luther Strange, who ran second. The winner will face Democratic nominee Doug Jones in December. With 93 percent of precincts reporting, Moore led Strange 40 percent to 32 percent. "This has been a wonderful victory," Moore told supporters tonight. "The attempt by the silk-stocking Washington elitists to control the vote of the people of Alabama has failed," Moore said, a reference to Strange's support from a super PAC controlled by the Senate leadership that funded attack ads. In a race marked by a competition among some candidates to align with President Trump, Moore comfortably led despite Trump's endorsement of Strange, his closest rival. Moore praised his primary rivals, except for Strange, and complimented them on running "an honorable and ethical campaign." He encouraged them to "join with me to defeat the Washington crowd." Moore thanked those who helped in his campaign and thanked God. "We need to go back to the recognition that God's hand is still on this country," he said to applause. In a nod to Trump's mantra to "make America great again," Moore said, "We must be good again before we can be great. And we will never be good again without God." At Moore's election night watch party in Montgomery, supporters watched returns on a large projector screen and never had cause to worry. They saw their candidate lead from the outset. Moore had reassuring words for the faithful early in the evening event, telling them he did not expect a late night and said "the question is how much we'll win by." Moore thanks God. Quoting George Washington. Calls for recognition that "God's hand is still on the country." Applause. #alpolitics Mike Cason (@MikeCasonAL) August 16, 2017 Moore's supporters began the evening upbeat, even before the returns backed up their optimism. They saw Trump's endorsement of Strange as unfortunate but not decisive. "I'm a solid Trump supporter," Kevin McKinley, a lawyer from Atmore, said while waiting on results at Moore's reception. "But I disagree with him endorsing Strange. I think he was obviously misinformed about Moore's positions. But I think the people of Alabama are going to do the right thing." Moore supporter Peter Waldron from the Tampa Bay area, who said he came to Alabama to work as a volunteer in Moore's campaign, was also confident despite the Trump endorsement. "I think the president was under-informed and influenced by the establishment, not the least of which was Mitch McConnell, with whom he has to work in order to get his legislation through," Waldron said. "But I think if the president were given an opportunity to better understand who Judge Moore is and what he represents that he is 100 percent in Judge Moore's corner." Waldron said Moore's strongest asset is that he would bring a "firm moral compass" to the Senate. Moore has had a mixed record in statewide races. Alabama voters twice elected him chief justice, the last time in 2012. But he fell short in two runs for governor. In 2006, he lost to incumbent Bob Riley. And in 2010 he finished fourth in the Republican primary. The Alabama Court of the Judiciary removed Moore from office in 2003 because he would not follow a federal judge's order to remove a Ten Commandments monument that he had placed in the state judicial building. Last year, the Court of the Judiciary suspended Moore for the remainder of his term after he told probate judges they still had to enforce Alabama's ban on same-sex marriage despite the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage in all states. Moore resigned from the court and entered the Senate race after a special Alabama Supreme Court upheld that suspension. Moore had campaigned on his support for Trump's agenda, including a crackdown on illegal immigration and a repeal of the Affordable Care Act. He mentioned those issues during his remarks tonight. Moore called for tax reform, a "fair tax" on consumption and a constitutional amendment to "get rid of the IRS." "We need to return to prayer and the recognition of God in our public areas," Moore said. Moore had also touted his credentials as a Vietnam veteran during the campaign and denounced liberal federal judges who he said did not follow the Constitution, themes he also mentioned tonight. "We've got to stop allowing our country from being ruled by justices on the Supreme Court who put themselves above the law," Moore said. The former judge said he expected an onslaught of "the most negative campaign ads in the history of Alabama." He said he would be ready. "I've been a fighter all my life," Moore said. "I fought as a farm boy to come up to the United States Military Academy. I fought in Vietnam to defend my country. I fought with the Judicial Branch to stand up for traditional marriage. I fought to retain the acknowledgment of God with the display of the Ten Commandments in the judicial building. In this race, I'll fight to see that the people of Alabama will retain their voice in the United States Senate." Though the official way to calculate high school graduation rates has changed from years past, Alabama education officials provided graduation rates for the class of 2016 calculated in the same way as prior years, apples to apples, from 2015 to 2016. That comparison shows Alabama's statewide graduation rate fell only one-tenth of one percentage point, from 89.3 percent in 2015 to 89.2 percent in 2016. This is the first time state officials have calculated Alabama high school graduation rates using two separate sets of rules: one using rules from the U.S. Department of Education and the other using rules generated by state education officials. Rules made by the U.S. Department of Education on how to properly calculate the high school graduation rate resulted in a lower Alabama rate of 87.1 percent. The national high school graduation rate for 2015 was 83.2 percent. The national rate for 2016 is expected to be announced some time this fall. State department official Dr. Tony Thacker said while the federal calculation stands as the official version, there are ongoing discussions at the state department about whether federal and state graduation rates will be calculated in future years. For 2016, the rate was included in part, Thacker said, to allow the public to make comparisons between 2016 and previous years. Thacker is the Assistant State Superintendent who oversees the production of graduation rate data at the state department of education. He said the difference between the two rates is due to the rules about who counts as a high school graduate. Thacker said federal rules don't allow students who took "Essentials" courses as core coursework to count as graduates. Federal officials reasoned that Essentials courses are not fully aligned to Alabama's academic standards and therefore cannot be counted as coursework toward graduation. Instead, Thacker said, for federal purposes, those students are counted as completers. The federal graduation rate of 87.1 percent included 1,202 fewer students as graduates than Alabama did, counting them instead as completers. Thacker said the vast majority of those counted as federal completers were students who took Essentials courses as core courses. Comparing Alabama-specific rates Comparing Alabama-specific graduation rates from 2015 to 2016 for student subgroups broken down by race, ethnicity, ability level and poverty level, statewide all groups saw drops except for Asian and Black students, who saw increases of three percentage points and one percentage point, respectively. At the district level, three of Alabama's 137 school districts saw overall graduation rates drop by 10 percentage points or more, and 42 districts saw their rates drop by between one and 10 percentage points. Thirty-six districts' 2016 rates remained within one percentage point of their 2015 rate, and 52 districts improved by one to nine percentage points from one year to the next. There were wild swings at the subgroup level, with some districts seeing drops in graduation rates as much as 20 percentage points for students in poverty, 35 percentage points for students in special education, 15 percentage points for white students, 26 percentage points for Hispanic students, and 12 percentage points for black students. On the other end of the scale, districts saw increases in graduation rates as much as 14 percentage points for students in poverty, 37 percentage points for students in special education, 22 percentage points for Hispanic students, 48 percentage points for black students, and 11 percentage points for white students. Here's a look at district graduation rates for the classes of 2012 through 2016, using the Alabama-specific calculation which includes students taking Essentials courses as graduates. Choose a district to view the Here's a look at school-level Alabama-calculated graduation rates from 2012 through 2016. Differences in federal and Alabama rates Differences are also noticeable looking strictly at the differences between the federal and Alabama rates. Again, those differences are due to Alabama's inclusion of students taking Essentials courses as graduates. Until federal officials called them on it, Alabama education officials had always counted students taking Essentials courses as graduates for federal and state purposes. And, Thacker said, they all received an Alabama high school diploma. Essentials courses were designed for students with disabilities, but even students without disabilities were allowed to take the courses beginning in 2014. However, state education officials told superintendents in March that only students with disabilities who have an active Individualized Education Program, or IEP, can be enrolled in Essentials courses for the 2017-2018 school year. So what do those different calculations show? Of Alabama's 137 school districts, 108 have an overall Alabama graduation rate higher than their federal rate. This makes sense because the Alabama calculation includes more students as graduates than the federal rate does. The Alabama-specific overall graduation rate is more than five percentage points higher in six districts. The difference between the two rates becomes more obvious when looking at subgroups of students, broken down by race, ethnicity, ability and poverty level. The difference between the federal and state rate is stark for some subgroups. In three districts, the Alabama rate is more than eight percentage points higher than the federal rate for students in poverty. For students in special education, 25 districts show an Alabama graduation rate 20 or more percentage points higher than the federal rate. Here's a look at the differences between the two rates. Getting graduation rates right has been important to state officials this year, and when inaccurate graduation rates were posted online in April, they were quickly taken down. Those rates had not been vetted with local district officials and classified some students' coursework as Essentials courses improperly, removing them from the graduate count, resulting in lower graduation rates for those schools and districts. An internal investigation revealed state department officials failed to properly communicate with each other about the steps needed to calculate and vet the rates. As a result, a new policy governing the steps to be taken prior to public release of graduation rates was developed and implemented. In a June report outlining the findings of a 2016 audit of the state department's capacity to properly calculate graduation rates and oversee the awarding of credits for graduation, officials with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Inspector General said Alabama had misreported graduation rates for all years since 2011. Graduation rates for years prior to 2016 must have an indicator that the standards for reporting were not met, the report stated. Thacker said final state approval of the rates wrapped up last week, and local superintendents were notified last Friday the two sets of rates would be posted online Monday at 3 p.m. The class of 2017 high school graduation rates are expected to be released in December. Update Some smaller, locally owned stores are reporting they are receiving glasses this week. It's worth a shot to contact a local hardware or outdoor store. Prices online continue to go up. One pair claiming to be NASA-approved is listed for $129.99 on Ebay; a four pack is $91. There are still some available for delivery before Aug. 21 on Amazon, costing $39.95. Don't want to spend big bucks or risk not receiving your glasses in time? Here's how to make your own pinhole viewer. Earlier story It looks like solar eclipse glasses are the hot fashion trend this week. The Great American Eclipse on Aug. 21 has plenty of people scrambling to find eyewear that will enable them to safely watch the moon pass in front of the sun. To do that, you will need eclipse glasses, specially made protective eyewear that prevents the sun from damaging your vision. The problem is the glasses are in short supply in some places and the prices keep going up. The situation was exacerbated by an Amazon recall of glasses the online retailer said didn't meet NASA standards. Customers are receiving a refund but that doesn't mean they will have their glasses by Monday. Where to buy glasses online The American Astronomical Society has a list of online vendors here but some are sold out and the shipping deadline is nearing for others. Of those listed, these are the vendors who are still shipping glasses: Eclipseglasses.com has product available as of Tuesday night. Minimum order is 25 glasses at a cost of $4 each. Shipping can tack on as much as $35 more. Lunt Solar Systems has a five pack of eclipse glasses available for $39.95 via Amazon with Prime shipping. Earlier this month, the same pack of glasses cost less than $10. Check shipping, however; some delivery dates were after the eclipse. Amazon also has glasses available, though the price is rising. A pack of 10 Soluna Solar Eclipse glasses cost $139.95; a 20 pack from American Paper Optics will set up back $259.99. Ebay's prices are going even higher - one American Paper Optics ISO-certified glasses with guaranteed arrival date of Aug. 19 will cost you $36.95. According to AAS, here are some other places to try and find solar glasses. Your best bet is to visit the brick-and-mortar store as almost all online supplies are sold out. Retail Chains 7-Eleven Best Buy Bi-Mart Casey's General Store Circle K Hobby Town Kirklands Kroger London Drugs Lowe's Maverik Pilot/Flying J Toys "R" Us Walmart Other options to try: 123 Sales 2017Solar.com 3Dstereo.com Educational Innovations Electronic Analyst Firefly Buys (FFB) Fred Meyer Freedom Hill iCUBE Mega-Fun Toys Off the Wall Toys & Gifts Real Solar Eclipse Glasses Run to Shop Skyhawk Ventures Solar Eclipse Spectacles Soluna/GSM Sales Squirrellynuts ThinkGeek Your 5 Star General Store Wherever you find them, make sure to check here for NASA's safety recommendations. And if you can't find a pair of safety glasses, don't risk it. Make your own pinhole viewer. There are directions here. The University of Florida has denied a request to rent space on its campus for an event that was expected to bring white nationalist leader Richard Spencer to the public flagship school next month. UF announced its decision to deny the National Policy Institute's request in a message from university President W. Kent Fuchs, which was posted to Facebook on Wednesday. "Amid serious concerns for safety, we have decided to deny the National Policy Institute's request to rent event space at the University of Florida," Fuchs said in the statement. "This decision was made after assessing potential risks with campus, community, state and federal law enforcement officials following violent clashes in Charlottesville, Va., and continued calls online and in social media for similar violence in Gainesville such as those decreeing: 'The Next Battlefield is in Florida.'" The National Policy Institute had contacted the school to reserve space for a speaking event on Sept. 12. In a statement earlier this week, Fuchs explained that the proposed event would have featured Spencer. He said that "no student groups or other groups affiliated with the university" had sponsored the proposed speech. "I find the racist rhetoric of Richard Spencer and white nationalism repugnant and counter to everything the university and this nation stands for," Fuchs said in his statement Wednesday. "That said, the University of Florida remains unwaveringly dedicated to free speech and the spirit of public discourse. However, the First Amendment does not require a public institution to risk imminent violence to students and others. "The likelihood of violence and potential injury - not the words or ideas - has caused us to take this action." UF's decision comes after crowds of white nationalists and white supremacists clashed with counterprotesters last weekend in Charlottesville, home to the University of Virginia. One person was killed and 19 others wounded Saturday when a car plowed through a crowd of counterprotesters, and two state police officers died in a helicopter crash. On Monday, Texas A&M University announced that a "White Lives Matter" event scheduled to be held on its campus Sept. 11 had been canceled. Texas A&M also cited safety concerns when announcing its decision. Alabama Senator Luther Strange entered Tuesday's special Senate primary with millions of dollars of support from the Senate Leadership Fund and a coveted endorsement from President Donald Trump. And yet, the 64-year-old former state attorney general won only five of Alabama's 67 counties, falling about six percentage points behind former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, 70. Moore tallied 38.9 percent of the overall of the vote to Strange's 32.8 percent. As the political observers note, Strange has "got a big monkey on his back" against staunch conservative Moore, viewed as being the favorite as the two begin a six-week sprint toward a Sept. 26 GOP runoff. The winner will face Democrat Doug Jones, 63, in a Dec. 12 general election. Jones handily won the Democratic nominee, garnering over 65 percent of the vote during an election that registered only 17.6 percent voter turnout. "He had a campaign war chest that absolutely dwarfed the rest of the field and got roughly a third of the vote," said Jess Brown, a retired political science professor from Athens State University, referring to Strange. "For a sitting senator, that is not a sign of good political health." Said Jonathan Gray, a Mobile-based political strategist: "It's a hard job for Luther. This is not where you want to be." Campaign predicament Indeed, Strange has to be careful on how he positions his campaign strategy in the final weeks leading up to the runoff, political observers note. Strange spent a good part of the primary election going on the attack, specifically against U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks of Huntsville. Strange's campaign - buoyed by the financial support of a Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell-backed political action committee - painted Brooks as a "Never Trumper" utilizing past comments the congressman made critical of the president. A similar attack strategy against Moore could pose risks, observers note. If Strange-backed attack ads include ethical references to Moore's twice removal from the state bench, once for refusing to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the Supreme Court building, it could come back to haunt Strange, they claim. Strange's campaign has been hindered by questions about how he got the Senate appointment in the first place. Former Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley appointed Strange to the seat in February after it was vacated by Jeff Sessions after he was confirmed as U.S. Attorney General. At the time, Strange was the attorney general charged with investigating Bentley's relationship with his former campaign adviser, Rebekah Caldwell Mason. Strange has denied any wrongdoing or collusion with the former governor. But Bentley's conviction on two misdemeanor counts and subsequent resignation in April led to current Gov. Kay Ivey calling for the special election. "If I'm in the Strange campaign, how do I attack Roy Moore?" Brown said. "I don't think I can go after him on professional ethics. If I open the ethics door, Judge Moore will start talking about the appointment and the Bentley influence and the swamp in Montgomery. I think the Strange campaign has a difficult task, a far more difficult task in running effective attack ads and an attack strategy than it did with Brooks." At Moore's election night party in Montgomery, the former judge predicted an onslaught of the "most negative campaign ads in the history of Alabama." Steve Flowers, an author and political analyst whose weekly column about Alabama politics appears in more than 60 newspapers around the state, agreed. "Being within 10 points or less, (Strange's supporters) may pour another $3 million to $5 million into the runoff. There will be a negative onslaught on Roy Moore that he's never seen before." Complicating Strange's attack strategy, Gray said, is that Moore has strong positives among Alabama conservative voters. "People want someone in office that they can believe that they are going to do what they say they will do," he said. "(Roy Moore) has lost his job twice because he stood up for what he believed in. The man never sold out his principles. He is now running against a guy who is viewed as selling out his principles to get the job he wants to keep." Brooks factor One of the wild cards in the runoff contest is Brooks, who declined to endorse either candidate on Tuesday, though he said Moore ran an "honorable" campaign. Brooks, a hardline conservative and member of the House Freedom Caucus, finished with more than 82,000 votes, good enough for 19.7 percent of the overall total. He secured victories in Limestone and Madison counties. "It seems to me that a lot of Brooks' votes will go to Moore because they obviously want change," said William Stewart, professor emeritus of political sciences at the University of Alabama. Brown, of Athens State University, said there is a possibility that Brooks sits out the remainder of the race, and opts not to endorse while focusing on his re-election campaign to the House in 2018. In the meantime, Brown suspects Alabama's business community will come out more forceful in support of Strange ahead of the runoff. "I'm not merely talking about the Washington interest groups, but I think the mainstream Alabama business community is not going to want Judge Moore and they will get involved to try and get Luther Strange elected," he said. Trump's risk Another unknown factor, observers note, is Trump's role ahead of the runoff. The president, last week, surprised political pundits by formally endorsing Strange's candidacy despite an ongoing feud between the White House and McConnell. Trump doubled-down on this support of Strange in the final days leading up to the primary. Trump, himself, was overwhelmingly supported by Alabama voters in November, winning the state by the widest margin since Richard Nixon's election victory 1972. Brent Buchanan, a Republican political strategist based in Montgomery, said he believes Trump's support was influential in getting Strange into the runoff. "Trump is Teflon man amongst Alabama Republicans," he said. For Strange, the biggest impact Trump can deliver ahead of the runoff is for the president to physically come to Alabama and host a campaign-style rally in his support. Gray, the Mobile-based strategist, said Trump's future involvement in the campaign comes with risks. "You're asking him to come to one of the most conservative states and lay it all on the line and to go after what is probably one of the most conservative elected officials in the history of Alabama," Gray said. "He would essentially be going after his own people and question is, for what? What does the president gain? At the end of this election, there will be 52 Republicans in the Senate. You will have 52 people if it's Roy Moore or Luther Strange. I don't think the president will be in Alabama stumping (for Strange)." Democratic hope Alabama Democrats are hoping to pull a monumental upset. Alabama remains a deep-red state, among the most conservative in the country. It hasn't elected a Democrat to statewide office in over a decade, and no Democrat has won a Senate contest since 1992. But after Tuesday's showing by Doug Jones, some political observers believe an opportunity exists for a competitive campaign leading up to the general election. In fact, some are already comparing a potential Jones-Moore contest to the 2012 Alabama Supreme Court general election in which Moore squeaked by Democrat Robert Vance with 52 percent of the vote. Richard Fording, a political science professor at the University of Alabama, said a "perfect storm" could occur in December that includes a "a mix of low turnout, a very ramped-up Democratic and angry anti-Trump vote and a high African-American vote to support" Jones. At the same time, Fording said, GOP moderates or other Republicans "embarrassed" over Moore's past actions, may support Jones. "I think the Democrats prefer Roy Moore to go up against and I think that gives them the best chance to make it close," said Fording. "I can't say it's the best chance to win because it's so unrealistic in this state. But if the turnout is as low as it was (Tuesday), it doesn't take many votes to win." Gray disagrees. He said whoever wins the Sept. 28 runoff will receive strong backing from national Republicans. "They will spend $100 million" to protect the seat, he said. "I'm certain there are people who will entertain the concept of a competitive general election, but the history of Alabama over the past 40 years says it's not worth the oxygen to say it will happen," said Gray. Two Luthers In a parallel universe, Luther Strange made another choice, and it made a big difference, for himself and for Alabama. (file) Maybe you've heard of the multiverse, or maybe you never read comic books and think that's as weird as it sounds, but humor me for a moment, and imagine a parallel world where a guy turned left instead of turning right. Or rather, where he turned down what he never should have touched. In that alternative reality Luther Strange won tonight's GOP primary, easily whipping Gov. Bentley's appointee to the United States Senate in a race that most GOP candidates knew better than to join. In that world, Strange had made it clear he wasn't interested in an appointment from Bentley. Thanks but no thanks, Luv Guv. In that world, Strange's office made prosecuting Bentley its priority, taking the heavy lifting and the limelight away from the Alabama Legislature's impeachment committee. I've got this guys, but if you're looking for something to keep you busy ... In that world, Strange delivered a package of ethics law reforms drafted by his special prosecutions staff to the Legislature and dared the gutless of Goat Hill not to pass the bill. Put on a bib, y'all, because you have to eat this. In that world, Strange was as big of a public corruption crusader as he claimed to be in his commercials. He made ethics and honest public service the showpieces of this campaign. And Alabama voters never looked at the other candidates, much less voted for them. Big Luther wins big, the headlines said. He would easily have brushed the Democrat aside, and walked into office. "Strange won Alabama bigly," @realDonaldTrump tweeted. But this is not that world. This is the one that we're stuck in. Luther Strange could have been the public servant Alabama so badly needed, but instead he decided to serve himself. He decided to serve himself an appointment from a governor his office was investigating at the time -- without even recusing himself from that case. He chose to take credit in his ads for prosecuting former Alabama House Speaker Mike Hubbard, when he actually had recused himself from that case and had very little to do with it. He opted to run as a swamp-drainer when the only draining that he's done has been to sap the campaign accounts of super PACs and special interest groups. Because that's what his calculation was really about -- money and the power of the incumbency. But that power and money hasn't served him well. In fact, it's backfiring on him. Officially Alabama's motto is "We dare defend our rights," but perhaps it should be "We shall not be told." Our voters don't take kindly to being told by Washington elites who to vote for. He's run a highly negative campaign, blasting Mo Brooks for being some kind of coastal liberal and bullying Del Marsh, one of Alabama's most powerful politicians, out of the race before it began. Now, instead of being in a position to consolidate the support of his vanquished foes, Strange has alienated and aggravated nearly all of them, with the third place finisher, Mo Brooks, calling him dishonorable and deceptive. Brooks might not endorse Moore, but he certainly isn't going to help Strange. Already, Strange and his Washington super PAC supporters have spent more campaign dollars than the rest of the candidates combined and he still took a whipping. His only relief was that the abysmal turnout didn't hand Roy Moore an outright victory. Now those Washington allies must decide whether they're throwing good money after bad. Even @realDonaldTrump couldn't save him with an endorsement. He looks like a cheater. He smells like a crook. He sounds like a loser. It didn't have to be this way, but this was the world he chose to live in. It's almost comical. 8-16MooreStrange.jpg (JD Crowe/JDCrowe@al.com) Roy Moore rode into this special election on his horse, Sassy. He rode out on Luther Strange, whooping up on him almost every step of the way. Despite being outspent and out-politicized, Moore came within spittin' distance of winning the GOP primary election outright. "This is a great victory," Moore told attendees at his election night party. "The attempt by the silk stocking Washington elitists to control the vote of the people of Alabama has failed." Lots Moore Strange stuff to come in this U.S. Senate race. The run-off between Moore and Strange is in September. Congrats to Doug Jones, outright winner of the Democrat's race. Jones faces the winner of the Moore/Strange battle in the general election in December. Check out more JD Crowe cartoons It wasn't a runaway - at least on the Republican side. But it might as well have been. Because Roy Moore, a judge twice booted off the Alabama Supreme Court for thumbing his nose at the feds, embarrassed the Republican field almost as badly as Democrat Doug Jones shamed his own party's challengers. And Jones beat those guys like a set of rented bongos. Moore will face Sen. Luther Strange in a Sept. 26 runoff to see who will be the GOP nominee to permanently replace Jeff Sessions, and who will face Jones in December. Which surprises no one who really follows Alabama politics. But it was still a thumping. Alabama's Ten Commandments judge was out-funded and out-gunned. He was out-Trumped and out advertised and yet he still finished the primary ahead of all challengers. He took about 40 percent of the vote and finished the night ahead of a sitting U.S. senator, a U.S. congressman and six other candidates. He led the field in most Alabama counties, embarrassing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who tried to make Strange a thing but turned him into a swamp thing instead. He beat the Washington in-crowd that dumped at least $4 million into the Strange campaign. He beat all the ugly TV ads that money bought, and he even beat the endorsement of Donald Trump and the president's morning tweets. U.S. Senate candidate Judge Roy Moore at Republican Women of Huntsville luncheon Tuesday June 6, 2017. (Bob Gathany / gathany@iScout.us) Moore even beat ex-Gov. Robert Bentley, who handed Strange the job in the first place. And in a way many Alabamians found fitting, that connection to Bentley came back and helped beat Strange. The McConnell money was just more icing on the fetid cake. It was a big day for Moore, who trotted off to vote on his horse, a Tennessee Walker named Sassy. But the bigger day will come in September when he faces Strange alone. He will be seen as the outsider facing the insider, the wild card trying to insert himself into the stacked deck that is the Washington establishment. It is -- and this is the only sure thing -- a heckuva matchup. Moore is probably the candidate Democrats despise the most, thanks to his stand against same-sex marriage and for what he sees as "moral law." Yet he is also the candidate most likely to stand against the Washington elite, and against the moral failings of Trump himself. When he's not talking about God and the founding fathers, Moore is most likely to consider the needs of everyday Alabamians. He's a downright populist in those times. But if Moore beats Strange and becomes the Republican nominee, he also creates the greatest chance - probably the only chance - for Jones and the Democrats to actually find their way back to the Senate. Moore is a lightning rod, and the past seems to show he has a limited ceiling when it comes to voters. Jones is a centrist with a long and safe history, a former U.S. Attorney who prosecuted two of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombers. He gives the Democrats a puncher's chance - if Moore becomes the nominee. That's no guarantee, because Moore has as many haters as he does admirers, and Strange still has a boatload of money from Washington. But, if things shake out just right, there could be a two-party race for senate in Alabama for the first time in a long time. And that's something to behold. Women are feeling empowered to pursue careers in the Islamic justice system, from judges and lawyers to court mediators. Kuala Lumpur Sitting in a court library surrounded by Islamic law books, Nenney Shushaidah Binti Shamsuddin is polite and softly spoken as she describes the rigours of her job. When I'm on the bench, I'm not a woman, I'm not a man. I'm a judge. by Nenney Shushaidah Binti Shamsuddin, Syariah High Court judge One day she could be sentencing an offender to be caned for breaking Islamic law, the next could see her giving a man permission to take a second wife. Islamic law enforcers are not often credited with being feminist pioneers, but Judge Nenney fits both those descriptions. She made history in Malaysia last year when she was appointed one of the first two female Syariah High Court judges in this Muslim-majority nation. Syariah is the Malay spelling for the Arabic word sharia, meaning Islamic law. And the 42-year-old mother of three doesnt shy away from imposing the harshest punishments prescribed by Islamic law. When Im on the bench, Im not a woman, Im not a man. Im a judge, she says. I need to deal with the case fair and firm, to follow the law, no bias. In Malaysia, more women are pursuing careers in the Islamic justice system, from judges and lawyers to court mediators. Under Malaysias two-tier court system, Islamic law courts deal with family and morality cases involving Muslims, such as consuming alcohol, gambling and polygamy, while secular courts hear criminal and many civil cases. Malaysia appointed its first two female Syariah judges in 2010. Now, 27 of the countrys 160 Islamic court judges are women. Rising female judges Personally, I think its not a question of gender, says Mohd Naim Mokhtar, the former chief judge in the state of Selangor who oversaw the appointment of Judge Nenney and her colleague. We are looking for the best people to administer justice. We feel that it's extremely important for the courts to have a balance in terms of gender because a lot of the issues involve women. by Shareena Sheriff, Sisters in Islam group Other countries such as Indonesia, Pakistan and Sudan also have female Islamic law judges, however, some religious scholars argue that Islamic law does not allow women to hold the position. Malaysias national religious authorities issued a fatwa (religious edict) declaring that women could be Syariah judges in 2006. But the countrys top Islamic court judge and director-general of the national Syariah Judiciary Department, Ibrahim Lembut, said last year that some state religious councils continue to block their appointment. Shareena Sheriff, from Sisters in Islam, a Muslim womens advocacy group in Kuala Lumpur, says some states impose restrictions on the types of cases female judges can hear. I dont see why there should be a differentiation between the men and the women, she says. While she welcomed the rise in female Syariah judges, especially the two high court appointments, Shareena says it is too early to tell whether the courts treatment of women has changed. Even though the numbers have risen, the numbers relative to men are still very low, she says, pointing out that Malaysias secular court system also remains dominated by men. We feel that its extremely important for the courts to have a balance in terms of gender because a lot of the issues involve women. So we need some level of balance in the way in which they deliver justice and also gender sensitisation of the justice system. Women can put emotions aside There are no restrictions on the cases Judge Nenney hears in the state of Selangor. Her weekly caseload can range from child custody to prostitution and polygamy. Even to be a Syariah court officer was quite difficult for women because they preferred men ... I needed to study two years more. by Nenney Shushaidah Binti Shamsuddin, Syariah High Court judge In Malaysia, Muslim men are allowed to marry up to four wives, but they must first obtain permission from the Islamic law court. When hearing such a case, Judge Nenney says she verifies the husbands income to see if he can afford to take another wife and finds out whether the existing wife agrees. If the wife agrees and if the husband can afford it, I give permission, she tells Al Jazeera. Judge Nenney also hears khalwat cases, an Islamic offence where unmarried men and women are found together in close proximity. She says in the most serious cases, she sentences offenders to six strokes of the cane, a 5,000 ringgit fine ($1,166) and a one-month jail term. Some critics have suggested that female judges may favour women, but Judge Nenney denies being more sympathetic towards women. We can put our emotions aside, she says. I have my empathy to them, I can put myself in their shoes, but not sympathy. I need to play my role as a judge, then make a decision on how they present their case. Changing perceptions of gender roles Judge Nenney is hopeful that the rising number of female judges will help change the perception that Syariah courts do no treat women fairly. The public perception said male judges must be biased to women. I hope after this, to the women who come before me, they must know theres no difference between a male judge or a female judge. The judge just does their job. On the other side of the bench, more women are also working as Syariah lawyers. The number of women registered with the Syariah Lawyers Association, a voluntary membership group, has increased by more than 200 in the last five years, and they now make up more than 40 percent of the groups members. Saadiah Binti Din was working as a lawyer in the secular courts when she first volunteered to do Syariah legal aid work 18 years ago. She says she realised then that many Muslim women appearing in the Syariah courts were unrepresented, so she began taking on more divorce cases. That was my turning point, says Saadiah. Now, Im in the Syariah Court almost every day. She says her female clients often find it less difficult to appear before a female judge and court officials. I believe now they find it easier to talk to a woman, she says. At Malaysian universities, Islamic law courses are increasingly dominated by young women. Judge Mohd Naim, who now sits on the Syariah Court of Appeal, says women are the top performing students in the classes he teaches at local institutions. Nur Farhana, 22, was one of four students completing an internship at the Selangor Syariah Court in June. All but one were women. She is studying both Islamic and civil law at the International Islamic University of Malaysia, but has already decided to pursue a career in Islamic law because she says civil law is man-made law. Most of the (Islamic) laws have been said in our Quran and the Sunnah, so I prefer that, she says. Farhana may now have female role models, but when Judge Nenney graduated in 1998, the prospect of being a judge seemed far-fetched. Not only had no woman ever been appointed to the Syariah bench in Malaysia, but simply finding a job in the field was tough. Even to be a Syariah court officer was quite difficult for women because they preferred men, she says. I needed to study two years more. After returning to university to complete a Masters degree, she started working as a lawyer in a legal aid office before moving to the Attorney-Generals department. Now, she says, the Syariah justice system offers young women a good career path. To me, it was quite difficult to reach this position. I needed to compete with the male officers, she says. But its not about gender now, its about your qualification. At least 245 people are now known to have been killed in the flooding in South Asia. Over half of those who died were in Nepal, where the torrential rain also triggered a number of landslides. On Wednesday the government said that this was the worst such weather disaster to hit Nepal in nearly a decade. Security forces helped rescue people marooned on rooftops, while air force helicopters were dropping food and drinking water packets in the worst-hit southern districts. In Bangladesh, 39 people have been killed by the flooding. The majority of those who died either drowned or were electrocuted in the water. Officials in the South Asian country estimate that more than 2.6 million people have been affected by the flooding in Bangladesh alone. In India, 46 people were killed in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh on Sunday when two buses were buried by a landslide in the Himalayan foothills, while another 21 people have died in the remote northeastern state of Assam. Train services have been suspended between Dhaka and the five northern districts of Dinajpur, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Thakurgaon and Panchagarh after the railway tracks were submerged. Heavy downpours are common in the region at this time of year, and flooding is not unusual. However, this year the flooding has been far worse than usual. I have been a black student of black history for nearly 30 years. Yet, I find myself with a question that feels like a splinter lodged in my nail bed. For all the examples of African American success and American racism reduced, blacks are as far away from the Promised Land as their great-great-grandparents were 150 years ago. White supremacists have killed innocents and terrorised anti-racism protesters in Charlottesville, in Portland, and other places while chanting You will not replace us! They regularly hold their rallies undisturbed by the police. All this while police and white vigilantes constantly get away with murdering unarmed African Americans and act as stormtroopers when blacks protest such brutality with Black Lives Matter. The current black unemployment rate is almost double that among white people and African Americans are still less than six percent of the student bodies at elite universities, although they make up 13 percent of the population. OPINION: The cameras could not save Philando Castile And yet, whites continue to complain that blacks are to blame, that affirmative action has hurt their job and educational opportunities. This isnt just President Donald Trumps America and the rise of the alt-right. This is and has been America. Have I been doing a disservice to myself, my students, and my readers whenever Ive presented the history of black people in the United States as a positive one, a tale of success despite slavery, struggle amid Jim Crow, and incremental progress at every step? Have I been on a fools errand, assuming that one glorious day, America will embrace me and the millions of other African Americans as human equals? I and many others have done little to give readers a glimpse of the only possible future, one without the happy ending of social justice and racial equality achieved. by Because when I look at the US, I see a nation as unwilling to confront its history in 2017 as it was on that April Tuesday 49 years ago, when James Earl Ray murdered Martin Luther King, Jr. Like so many African American historians, I imbued hope in an America that never was, and will never be. For at least the past 80 years, scholars like Robin DG Kelley, Paula Giddings, and WEB Du Bois, have made the central story the work that black women and men did to resist slavery and Jim Crow and the latticework that systemic and individual racism is. They faced down racial and sexual oppression to build families, communities, schools, and universities, to mobilise for civil rights and migrate for better working and living conditions, despite and because of poverty and white violence. I have never doubted the strength, courage, and faith of blacks in surviving and succeeding, despite Americas virulent racial and sexual oppression. But as Washington, DC public historian Marya McQuirter told me, historians like me have been too deeply ensconced in the American Dream, and have cared too much about individual progress and not enough about white supremacy, capitalism, [and] patriarchy. And shes correct. I and many others have done little to give readers a glimpse of the only possible future, one without the happy ending of social justice and racial equality achieved. If one wants the racial divide to close along cultural, educational, and other lines, then one needs to acknowledge cultural differences based on the experiences of people of color, I wrote at the end of my first book, Fear of a Black America. What a pipe dream! White supremacists certainly acknowledge racial differences, and centuries ago decided blacks arent worth embracing, or even tolerating. I shouldve known better. Years of reading critical race theorists such as Kimberle Crenshaw, Patricia J Williams, and the late Derrick Bell had taught me about the intractability of American racism. Bell pulled no punches in Faces at the Bottom of the Well, in 1992, when he wrote, racism is an integral, permanent, and indestructible component of this society. Still, I tried to wish racism away with symbolic victories like the 1964 Civil Rights Act and President Barack Obamas election in 2008. For every civil rights gain, there have been decades of policies crafted to chip away at fair housing, hiring, and college admissions practices. For every Obama, Ava DuVernay, and Kendrick Lamar as black success stories, there have been so many like Michael Stewart, Eleanor Bumpurs, Amadou Diallo, James Byrd, Jr, Trayvon Martin, and Sandra Bland in my lifetime. Two recent books have confirmed that I and other black historians place far too much hope in a racism-less future. American University historian Ibram X Kendi is one of the few to at least acknowledge the limitations of black progress throughout American history. As Kendi eloquently wrote in his National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning (2016), the long history of racist ideas shows upwardly mobile Black folk have not persuaded away racist ideas or policies. Yet, even with his sobering conclusion drawn from 400 years of American history, Kendi still infused the future with hope beyond his evidence. No power lasts forever There will come a time when racist ideas will no longer obstruct when we will gain the courage to fight for an equitable society, Kendi ended. Maybe so, though Kendi presented nothing throughout his book to support this prayerful conclusion. For me, Kendi came so close, and yet backed away, from the ugly truth of American racisms permanence. Emory University historian Carol Anderson also committed herself to the same faith beyond the historical record in her 2016 bestseller White Rage. She explained that in the 150 years since Emancipation, the trigger for white rage, inevitably, is black advancement, leading to racist backlashes in both policy and in everyday dealings with white folk. The truth is, white rage has undermined democracy, warped the Constitution, and squandered billions on baseless incarceration, Anderson added. But despite everything, Anderson also found reason for hope. Full voting rights for American citizens quality schools, and policing and court systems in which racial bias is not sanctioned by law all these are well within our grasp, Anderson said. Based on who or what? Dylann Roof? Ferguson? Whether its job discrimination, voting rights, mass incarceration, or white resentment, all are working as the Founding Fathers those propertied, slave-owning elites and their political descendants intended. After all, the formula for ginning white rage has been racial oppression and economic insecurity at least since the US Civil War. Anderson is yet another historian who, like me, has ignored her own evidence, hoping for a sign, any sign of her within-our-grasp dream. Patricia Williams in her The Alchemy of Race and Rights showed a quarter-century ago what many black historians have failed to acknowledge. The story of blacks in the US has always been somewhere between a bittersweet symphony and a heroic tragedy. To say that blacks never fully believed in rights is true. Yet it is also true that blacks believed in them so much and so hard that we gave them life where there was none before; we held onto them, put the hope of them into our wombs, mothered them and not the notion of them An America without the material and psychological advantages that racism has provided whites, while also disadvantaging blacks, would cease to be. And if more African Americans become successful in the America that is, this nation with its history of racial, economic, and gender-based discrimination, would this really be the utopia black historians have hoped for? Or, would it merely mean that blacks of such prominence would be partakers in a system of American oppression, the beneficiaries of a timeless, formless futurism that would only reflect a toxically racist past, as Williams put it? Is this what black historians like me, Kendi, and Anderson have been asking African Americans to believe in and achieve? How wrong have I been? Black life is cheap, but in America black bodies are a natural resource of incomparable value, Atlantic correspondent and MacArthur genius Award-winner Ta-Nehisi Coates wrote in Between the World and Me. But the African American experience is more than just the physical and constant fear and apocalyptic despair, of whites exploiting, raping, maiming, and killing black bodies. It is an experience of the spirit and mind, a history of an inspirational, maybe even delusional faith in a mythical America. What can blacks do in a nation that will ultimately never change, in an America forever committed to a racial and gendered caste system? Maybe African Americans should emigrate. Maybe for some, a bloody revolution is a way out. Maybe incremental progress is the best blacks should ever hope for. Still, even with symbolic victories and the faith of blacks past and present, it would be easier to build a faster-than-light spacecraft than to expect a nation built on racial and sexual oppression to one day turn the corner. Donald Earl Collins is an associate professor of history at University of Maryland University College. He is also the author of Fear of a Black America: Multiculturalism and the African American Experience (2004). The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. Historically, immigrants helped to shape Brazilian society. But today they are being told to go home. On July 28, a Syrian refugee was assaulted in Rio de Janerios picturesque Copacabana neighbourhood as he was trying to make a living by selling sfihas an Arab snack popular in Brazil in the street According to the Brazilian media, 33-year-old Mohamed Ali Abdelmoatty Ilenavvy was attacked by the members of an alleged street vendor mafia for setting his stall in another vendors spot. This would have been a simple altercation between street-vendors if it were not for the language used by the aggressors. The yet-to-be-identified assailants told Mohamed Ali to get out of their country as they demanded he pay them about $3,000 to be allowed to set up a stall on the pavement. Local news outlets broadcast a video of the incident in which one of the attackers, armed with a piece of wood, shouted: Get out of my country! Im Brazilian and Im watching my country being invaded by these suicide bombers who killed children, teenagers. They are miserable people. Others threw Mohamed Alis belongings on the floor as they shouted: This land is ours. You will not take our place. Mohamed Ali, who is a lawyer by profession, moved to Brazil three years ago to escape the war in his home country. He is now married to a Brazilian woman and has a son. After the attack, he told local media outlets that he was surprised about what happened, as he had always felt welcomed and accepted in Brazil. I came to Brazil because they opened their doors to refugees, he said. All my [refugee] friends are working. We are working very hard. Im very sorry, because I never thought this could happen to me. As a hard-working refugee with strong links to the local community, Mohamed Ali is a classic example of integration within Brazilian society. Brazil is an immigrant country where foreigners are welcomed rather than treated as a burden. But things are starting to change. An immigrant nation In the late 19th and early 20th century, Brazil received a significant influx of immigrants from Lebanon and Syria. During this period, other groups of migrants, especially Italians and Japanese, also made their way to Brazil. Most of them were invited by successive Brazilian governments that were eager to increase the countrys population. Over the years, these immigrants helped to shape Brazilian society. Today, decendants of these immigrants are artists, politicians and businessmen making significant contributions to Brazilian society. The current Brazilian president, Michel Temer, is also of Lebanese decent. Brazil also opened its doors to immigrants in the 21st century. It has so far welcomed more than 3,000 Syrian refugees, making it the country hosting the highest number of Syrian refugees in Latin America. OPINION: How Brazils progressive migration bill was sabotaged However, the anti-immigration rhetoric and Islamophobia that swept over the world in the past two decades also took its toll on Brazil, and changed the countrys welcoming attitude towards immigrants and refugees. Migration, Islamophobia and the far-right The Muslim community in Brazil is relatively small but has been steadily growing, especially in the peripheral areas of Brazils biggest cities. In 2016, there were some 1.5 million Muslims in the country, making up 0.7 percent of the Brazilian population. As Islam became a more visible component of Brazilian society, the number of Islamophobic attacks in Brazil also increased, with Muslims receiving death threats and being physically assaulted in public places. The fear that Brazil is going to see many more xenophobic attacks such as the one Mohamed Ali faced is very real. But it is still not too late for Brazil to remember and embrace its immigrant roots. by Muslims are already among the main victims of religious intolerance in Brazil, and they are starting to feel more threatened and persecuted as fringe far-right groups become more and more vocal. For example, only a day after Mohamed Ali was attacked, members of a fringe evangelical denomination called Geracao Jesus Cristo (the Generation Jesus Christ), organised a protest against Islam in the same Rio neighbourhood of Copacabana. Some of the protesters were carrying banners with Islamophobic messages on them, including Islam: Legal Murderers in Brazil, Quran: Guide for rape and murder and Say no to paedophilia, say no to Islam. This was not a standalone incident, as anti-Islam and anti-immigration demonstrations by the Generation Jesus Christ and other far-right, fundamentalist groups have become more commonplace in Brazil in the past couple of years. In May 2017, members of a fascist group called Direita Sao Paulo (Right-wing Sao Paulo) organised a demonstration in the city of Sao Paulo against the recently approved Brazilian Migration Law. A group of left-wing and human rights activists staged a counter-demonstration and a Palestinian refugee was severely beaten by the fascists in the skirmish that ensued. Violence and solidarity In a population of more than 200 million, the number of migrants in Brazil is just below two million, constituting a mere 0.9 percent of the total population. The number of migrants from Muslim countries is even more minuscule, as most of the refugees and immigrants in Brazil are from Haiti and Bolivia. Brazil is a violent country. In 2015, with a murder every nine minutes, Brazil had more violent deaths (many linked to police action) than Syria, a country experiencing a brutal war. Cases of police violence against vulnerable populations, especially blacks, are numerous and the country has one of the highest rates of murders of LGBTQ people. Brazil also has a very high police mortality rate. Yet the number of violent crimes committed by refugees and immigrants let alone Muslims in the country is low enough to be statistically irrelevant. In turn, cases of xenophobia and violence against foreigners, notably against immigrants from Haiti, are quite common. OPINION: There is no justice for the poor in Brazil Worldwide propaganda against Muslims that portrays them as a threat against society has been successful in Brazil a country with seemingly no relevant cases of violence carried out by Muslims. But all is not lost yet. In response to the attack Mohamed Ali faced in Copacabana, local authorities in Rio de Janeiro are discussing opening a police station to tackle race crimes and crimes of intolerance. The station is expected to start operating this year, and provide protection and guidance for refugees and immigrants facing intolerance. Meanwhile, residents of Copacabana are embracing Mohamed Ali and apologising to him on behalf of all cariocas (the population of Rio de Janeiro). People even created a page for him on social media and asked everyone in Copacabana to go and grab a bite at his stall on Saturday, August 12 to show their support. Hundreds showed up. Many Brazilians are resisting the rise of xenophobia and Islamophobia in their country and refusing to allow anti-Muslim propaganda, fear and bigotry to take control of a country built by immigrants. The fear that Brazil is going to see many more xenophobic and Islamophobic attacks such as the one Mohamed Ali faced is very real. But it is still not too late for Brazil to remember and embrace its immigrant roots. Raphael Tsavkko Garcia is a journalist and a PhD candidate in human rights at the University of Deusto in Spain. The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy. As police kill 60 people in 2016 compared to 18 last year, group says country could be following Philippines footsteps. Amnesty International has condemned what it described as an alarming number of police killings of suspected drug dealers in Indonesia. The rights group said on Wednesday that police had killed at least 60 suspects this year, compared to 18 in all of 2016. The group warned that Indonesian authorities could be looking to emulate the war on drugs in the Philippines, in which thousands have been killed. This shocking escalation in unlawful killings by the police sounds serious alarms bells, said Usman Hamid, Amnestys Indonesia director. The group said it had collected data of the killings. Shooting people on sight is not only unlawful, said Hamid, it will also do nothing to address the root causes that lead to drug use in the first place. OPINION: Why Jokowis war on drugs is doing more harm than good Indonesias President Joko Widodo in July ordered police to shoot suspected drug dealers if they resisted arrest, saying there should be no mercy. His remarks drew comparison to those made by Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, whose controversial crackdown on drugs has left more than 3,000 dead over the course of a year. The killings in the Philippines may amount to extrajudicial executions, Amnesty International said. The rights group accused the police of resembling a criminal enterprise, killing mainly poor people suspected of being drug users or sellers, or paying others to kill them. Duterte should not under any circumstances be considered a role model for Indonesia, Usman said. Of those killed in Indonesia in 2017, at least eight were foreigners, including three Chinese men. Police said the suspects were shot because they resisted arrest, but no independent investigations were conducted, according to Amnesty International. Indonesia has tough laws against drugs. Since Widodo took office in 2014, Indonesia has executed 18 people for drug trafficking, defying international calls for mercy. Scientists say analysis of new satellite imagery offers clues on where missing Malaysian airliner may have crashed. Australias scientific agency says it believes with unprecedented precision and certainty that a missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft crashed into the sea northeast of an area scoured in a fruitless two-year search. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisations assertion on Wednesday is based on satellite pictures taken two weeks after Flight MH370 went missing on March 8, 2014. The Australian government, however, rejected CSIROs report saying it was not precise enough. The flight to Beijing from the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur was carrying 239 people on board when it disappeared in what has become one of the worlds greatest aviation mysteries. It is thought to have been diverted thousands of miles off course out over the southern Indian Ocean before crashing off the coast of western Australia. CSIROs David Griffin, speaking to Al Jazeera from Hobart, said the agency has potentially narrowed the search area to three specific locations in the southern Indian Ocean. We are talking about much smaller distances than weve ever talked before. The three locations that we nominated are of the highest priority. READ MORE: US company offers to fund renewed search for MH370 Australia, Malaysia and China called off a $160m search for the plane in January after finding nothing, despite the protests of families of those on board. The CSIRO has previously raised doubts about the main 120,000-sq-km underwater search zone, saying it believed the plane went down to the north of it. Man-made objects spotted The CSIRO pinpointed the likely locations by reviewing satellite images provided by the French military intelligence service and Frances national space agency, CNES, which showed 70 pieces of debris. A dozen of those were probably man-made, CSIRO said. We think it is possible to identify a most-likely location of the aircraft, with unprecedented precision and certainty, the CSIRO said. The agency used drift analysis to study where the objects may have been on the day the aircraft went missing and found their projected location to be consistent with the northern area identified in the earlier reports. The Australian government advised caution, with Transport Minister Darren Chester saying the new analysis does not provide new evidence leading to a specific location of MH370. Aziz Kaprawi, Malaysias deputy transport minister, said their civil aviation department would need to evaluate the data since it is based on satellite images from a few years ago. We will need to verify the data to see if its credible before we make any decision, Aziz told the Associated Press. Al Jazeeras Andrew Thomas, reporting from Sydney, said the proposed locations were no longer vague and puts pressure on the authorities, Malaysia in particular, to restart the search. Malaysia, China and Australia have decided that the search will remain suspended unless new evidence pinpoints the wreckages whereabouts. Ocean Infinity, a US seabed exploration firm, said in early August it could resume the hunt for free. The company said it would seek payment only if the aircraft were found. Relatives of passengers aboard the missing flight have called on Malaysia to accept the offer. Aziz said Malaysia has not given up on the search and has scheduled a meeting with Australian and Chinese authorities to discuss the offer from Ocean Infinity. Only three fragments of MH370 have been found on western Indian Ocean shores, including a two-metre wing part known as a flaperon. A test that scans blood for tumour-specific DNA identified early-stage cancer in more than half of 138 patients with the disease, US researchers reported on Wednesday, marking a new milestone in the rush for so-called liquid biopsies. Several companies already offer tests that can detect cancer DNA in the blood of patients with late-stage cancers. Such tests are used to help guide treatment or identify whether cancers have returned after surgery. Researchers behind the early-stage test hope it could be used to identify cancers at a stage when patients have a better chance at survival. To our knowledge, this is one of the first studies that has looked directly at early-stage cancers, said Dr Victor Velculescu, professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, whose study was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. READ MORE: Senegals cancer patients struggle for treatment In developing the test, the challenge was to identify rare DNA from real cancers while ignoring other types of genetic alterations that can occur as blood cells divide or genetic alterations that people are born with. For the study, the team screened blood samples from patients with breast, lung, ovarian and colorectal cancers, looking for 58 genes typically linked with these cancers. Overall, they were able to detect 86 out of 138 stage I and stage II cancers. They also sequenced mutations in tumours from 100 of the patients studied and found that in 82 patients, the same mutations found in the blood corresponded with those found in the tumour tissue. They also tried the test on 44 healthy patients and showed it did not detect any cancer-derived mutations. Velculescu said more studies would be needed in much larger populations to prove the test can safely and accurately identify early-stage cancers, a process that could take up to five years. The hope, he said, is that it would identify cancers at a stage when patients have a better chance at survival. First uses of the technology would be in patients at high risk for developing cancer, such as heavy smokers, he said. READ MORE: Gazas cancer patients We are dying slowly In addition to being a researcher at Johns Hopkins, Velculescu is a cofounder of Personal Genome Diagnostics, a private liquid biopsy company. The study was done by Johns Hopkins researchers, he said. In June, Grail, a spinoff from gene sequencer maker Illumina, presented a feasibility study for its liquid biopsy test at American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago. In that study, researchers analysed tissue and blood from patients with advanced cancers. Grail is also pursuing early-stage cancer detection. Antonio Guterres urges to dial up diplomacy to resolve the crisis, and said he was available to help broker talks. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said it was time to dial down rhetoric and dial up diplomacy on North Korea, offering to help broker talks with the parties involved in the dispute. My good offices are always available and I conveyed this message yesterday to the representatives of the six-party talks, Guterres told reporters on Wednesday amid growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula since Pyongyang conducted ballistic missiles test last month. The solution to this crisis must be political. The potential consequences of military action are too horrific to even contemplate. The UN chiefs comments come on the day China warned North Korea and the United States to hit the brakes on threats and actions, and work towards a peaceful resolution of their dispute. OPINION: Why a war with North Korea is unlikely Guterres said he also told representatives from the US, China, South Korea, Japan and Russia about the offer. In the wake of its recent ballistic tests, North Korea was slapped with UN sanctions a decision Pyongyang dubbed a violent violation of Norths sovereignty. North Koreas Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said in a statement on August 7 that Pyongyang was ready to give the US a severe lesson if Washington took military action. Meanwhile, Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday, said the two countries should work together and contain tensions. Russia and China should not permit any party to stir up an incident on their doorstep, he said. Earlier on Wednesday, President Donald Trump praised North Korean leader Kim Jong-uns apparent decision to back away from a conflict, after a recent escalation in the rhetoric and threats between the two sides. Kim had delayed a decision on whether to go ahead with an attack on the US territory of Guam in the Pacific, according to a statement on North Korean state media on Tuesday. Kim Jong-un of North Korea made a very wise and well reasoned decision. The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable! Trump tweeted. A war of words erupted between the US and North Korea last week after Trump threatened fire and fury against the reclusive regime. Pyongyang responded by saying it was considering an attack against Guam. The Tuesday report by North Koreas KCNA said that, while Kim was ready to fire missiles at Guam, he would wait to watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees. Also on Wednesday, South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak Yeon dismissed calls by opposition politicians for the country to deploy nuclear weapons. Such a move would lead to an arms race in Asia and weaken international efforts against North Koreas nuclear programme, Lee told broadcaster YTN News. It will result in undermining the justification for [North Koreas] denuclearisation and accelerate nuclear armament in the region, he said. China wants US to halt military exercises on the Korean Peninsula in exchange for North Korea suspending nuclear tests. China has warned the United States and North Korea to hit the brakes on threats and actions, and work towards a peaceful resolution of their dispute. Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Tuesday, said the two countries should work together and contain tensions. Russia and China should not permit any party to stir up an incident on their doorstep, he said. The warnings come after North Korea angered the international community by testing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in late July, a move which saw Pyongyang slapped with new UN sanctions. Meanwhile, China and Russia called for the US to suspend planned large-scale military exercises in exchange for North Korea suspending its missile and nuclear test as a first step towards direct talks. Lavrov said the August 21 exercises could stoke tensions, according to Chinas foreign ministry. He said a resolution of the dispute through military force was completely unacceptable. On Tuesday, North Korea said it had completed plans to test ballistic missiles near the US Pacific territory of Guam but would wait to see what the US did first. READ MORE: North Koreas Guam threats can lead to big trouble US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the Trump administration remains interested in a dialogue with North Korea but is waiting for some sign of interest from Pyongyang. We continue to be interested in trying to find a way to get to dialogue, but thats up to him, Tillerson told reporters at the Department of State. State department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said North Koreas decision to hold off was not enough and Pyongyang would have to show it was intent on denuclearising the Korean Peninsula. I think they would have to do quite a bit more, Nauert said. They know what they need to do to get us to come to the negotiating table. North Korea decried UN sanctions over its expanding nuclear weapons and missile programme and said annual military drills between the US and South Korea are rehearsals for an invasion. Guam residents unsettled The protracted diplomatic crisis has unsettled residents of Guam, a US Pacific territory. If anyone says theyre going to drop a bomb on you, naturally youre going to feel threatened, whoever is there to defend you, Hilaan San Nicolas, a jeweller, told Al Jazeera. Al Jazeeras Craig Leeson, reporting from Guam, said officials and residents were continuing to make preparations in the event of an attack. Residents have been advised to stock up on batteries, mobile phones, nonperishable foods and water, our correspondent said. The threat of attack has prompted calls for peace from Guams indigenous people, who are wary of yet another conflict. Ray Tonorio, Guams lieutenant-governor, said he was relieved as North Korea appeared to back away. There doesnt appear to be any indication, based on what were hearing, that there will be any missiles attacking in the near future or in the distant future, he said. There was no change in Guams threat assessment, he said, adding that the island is operating as usual. READ MORE: Three things to know about North Koreas missile tests South Korean President Moon Jae-in has urged the US not to launch an attack on the Korean Peninsula without its consent and said his government would prevent war by all means. Military action on the Korean Peninsula can only be decided by South Korea, and no one else can decide to take military action without the consent of South Korea, Moon said in a speech on Tuesday to commemorate the anniversary of the nations liberation from Japanese military rule in 1945. The government, putting everything on the line, will block war by all means, Moon said. Colombias President Juan Manuel Santos declared the countrys 50-year conflict with FARC guerrillas truly over on Tuesday, as the last truckloads of decommissioned weapons rolled away to be melted down. Santos himself shut a padlock on the last lot of decommissioned rifles before it was taken out of a remote demobilisation camp to formally seal the UN-supervised disarmament by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). With the laying down of arms the conflict is truly over and a new phase begins in the life of our nation, Santos said at a ceremony in Pondores, a remote area in the northern Guajira department. This is truly a historic moment for the country, he said. Colombias Marxist FARC rebel group handed in more than 8,000 weapons and nearly 1.3 million pieces of ammunition as it demobilised after a peace deal with the government, the United Nations said. Our mission has, up to today, gathered 8,112 arms in these containers and destroyed almost 1.3 million cartridges, UN mission chief for Colombia Jean Arnault said at an event to mark the shipment. That is more weapons than the 7,132 the UN had originally reported in June This puts the country on the path to a new future, said Arnault. OPINION: Colombias long road to peace The weapons will be used to make three monuments celebrating the peace accord, agreed last year between FARC and the government of President Juan Manuel Santos, winner of last years Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to win an end to hostilities. Roughly 7,000 FARC fighters have demobilised under the accord, which allows the group 10 unelected seats in Congress until the end of 2026 and grants amnesty to the majority of ex-fighters. Rebels convicted by special courts of human rights violations will avoid traditional prison sentences, instead performing reparations work, such as removing landmines. Al Jazeeras Alessandro Rampietti, reporting from Bogota, said another step for the FARC leadership will be to present a full list of their financial assets. This will be used to compensate the victims of the conflict. And it remains a contentious issue here since many Colombians fear they will not reveal all they have, he said. But leaders of the FARC insist that they will indeed completely fulfil all their obligations. FARCs new name The FARC was formed in the early 1960s by guerrillas affiliated with Colombias communist party intent on resolving longstanding issues such as land disputes and government neglect of rural areas, issues that still resonate in much of the nation today. Over the next five decades, the conflict between the rebels, government forces and right-wing paramilitaries claimed at least 250,000 lives and left another 60,000 people missing. Millions more were displaced from their homes fleeing the bloodshed. READ MORE: Inside an endangered peace community in Colombia The handing over of rebel arms is a fundamental component of the peace accord, which also aims to reduce Colombias booming coca production by encouraging farmers to grow food crops instead and expand the states presence in remote areas where basic utilities like running water and electricity can be scarce. The rebel leader known by the nom de guerre Ivan Marquez took advantage of the media attention on Tuesdays ceremony to preview what he said is likely to be the name of the former rebels new political movement: the Revolutionary Alternative Force of Colombia, preserving the Spanish acronym, FARC. We will be part of the system, but raise our voice clearly and sharply against the system, Marquez said. Philippine president showers praise on police, who killed 32 suspects in the bloodiest drug raids near capital Manila. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has showered praise on police officers, who carried out a series of raids that killed at least 32 suspected drug offenders the bloodiest night in the ongoing drug war calling it beautiful. Thats beautiful. If we can only kill 32 every day, then maybe we can reduce what ails this country, Duterte said in a mix of Filipino and English on Wednesday, during a gathering at the Malacanang presidential palace in the capital, Manila. According to senior police officer Romeo M Caramat Jr, during 67 operations in various parts of Bulacan province on Tuesday, police killed 32 suspects and arrested 109 others. READ MORE: Another city mayor killed in Philippine war on drugs Police also claimed to have seized more than 200 grams of methamphetamine, 786 grams of cannabis, assorted firearms, grenades and ammunition. Bulacan, a province of about 3.29 million people, has recorded numerous arrests and killings of drug suspects in recent months, police records showed. Duterte has vowed to protect police who kill drug suspects under suspicious circumstances. Drugs is eating our country. It really takes a toll in our country, whether you are the victim or the criminal. If you do not do anything drasticthats the problem, Duterte said on Wednesday. Government figures show that since Duterte took office last year up to July 26, an estimated 3,451 drug personalities have been killed in gun battles with police. Police collusion More than 2,000 others died in drug-related homicides, including attacks by motorcycle-riding masked gunmen and other assaults. Another 8,200 homicide cases were under investigation, police said. Despite warnings by human rights groups that Duterte may be overseeing a crime against humanity, the leader remains widely popular in the Philippines. He won a landslide victory in presidential elections last year after promising an unprecedented war on drugs. At the event in Manila on Wednesday, Duterte said that as soon as he became president in 2016, he found out that police generals and other officers were also involved in the drug smuggling operation. So, how can I finish iteven the United States cannot solve their own [drug] problem, Duterte said. But I will finish it. I will just kill all of them. Meanwhile, in neighbouring Indonesia, Amnesty International said on Wednesday police were taking a leaf out of Dutertes war on drugs and have killed 60 suspected drug dealers so far this year, compared to 18 in all of 2016. More than 300 killed and at least 600 people remain missing in the west African nation as calls for aid grow. Sierra Leone entered a week-long mourning period for the victims of the flooding that has killed more than 300 people, with fears that the death toll could rise as 600 remain missing. AFP news agency reported on Wednesday that among the dead were at least 105 children. Three days of torrential rain triggered mudslides on Monday in the Regent area of the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown. It also caused massive flooding elsewhere in the city, one of the worlds wettest urban areas in the world. The exact death toll was unclear. Rescue workers recovered almost 400 bodies, Reuters reported, citing Freetowns chief coroner. A Red Cross official told AFP that the death toll was around 300 people on Tuesday evening. READ MORE: Sierra Leone mudslide: What, where and when? In a statement on Wednesday, President Ernest Bai Koromas office asked relatives to come to the citys overwhelmed mortuary. All unidentified corpses will be given a dignified burial in the coming days, it said. Satellite images released on Wednesday showed the extensive damage caused by deadly mudslides and floods that have rendered about 3,000 people homeless. The United Nations said on Tuesday it was evaluating the humanitarian needs in the West African country of seven million people. Contingency plans are being put in place to mitigate any potential outbreak of waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid and diarrhoea, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. He said the UN has mobilised its staff and is helping rescue and evacuate residents, while providing medical and food assistance to the injured and registering survivors. Dujarric said the International Organization for Migration (IOM) released $150,000 in emergency funds immediately following the flooding. Radio journalist Gibril Sesay said he lost his entire family. I am yet to grasp that I survived, and my family is gone, he said through sobs, unable to continue. Ahmed Sesay, the caretaker of a two-story house near the Guma Valley Dam east of the capital, said he was sleeping around 6:00 GMT when he felt a vibration. It was like an earthquake. I ran out of my quarters to the gate of the compound, he said. The ground shook, and I had to stay outside the compound until daybreak, Sesay added. We have started burying Sulaiman Zaino Parker, an official with Freetowns city council, said 150 burials took place on Tuesday evening and that many would be laid to rest in graves alongside victims of the countrys last humanitarian disaster, the Ebola crisis, in nearby Waterloo. We have started burying some of the mutilated and decomposed bodies. All the corpses will be given a dignified burial with Muslim and Christian prayers, Parker said. The graves would be specially marked for future identification, he added. On Tuesday, President Koroma issued a desperate appeal for help, saying the damage was overwhelming us. The government of Sierra Leone, one of the poorest countries in the world, has promised relief to thousands of people left homeless, opening an emergency response centre in Regent and four registration centres. The Red Cross said it was struggling to excavate families buried deep in the mud that engulfed their homes. We are racing against time, more flooding and the risk of disease to help these affected communities survive and cope with their loss, said Abu Bakarr Tarawallie, a Red Cross official. Rights groups say the US Department of Justice could violate privacy rights of people who visit anti-Trump protest site. Activists and rights groups have criticised the US federal governments attempt to obtain information on the operators and visitors to a website that organised rallies against the inauguration of President Donald Trump earlier this year. The web hosting company DreamHost has announced that the US Department of Justice (DoJ) served it with a search warrant on July 17 for information about the operators of the website, www.disruptJ20.org, and an estimated 1.3 million visitors. Critics have dubbed the move an intimidation tactic to silence anti-fascist groups, with some calling it a disregard of the freedoms guaranteed under the First Amendment. A hearing is slated to take place in Washington, DCs Superior Court on August 18. READ MORE: Free speech group sues Trump for blocking Twitter users The warrant demands the IP addresses, dates and times of each visitor as well as the type of browser and operating system they used to access the website, drawing privacy concerns from activists. The website also documents information about the prosecution of nearly 200 defendants, who were arrested in Washington, DC, and slapped with a slew of felony charges for their alleged involvement in an anti-fascist march on January 20. Those charges, related to rioting and property damage, could land defendants in prison for upwards of 70 years. Arthur Spitzer, legal director at the American Civil Liberties Union DC, described the warrant as a worrisome fishing expedition. It might well have a chilling effect on some people, he told Al Jazeera. If you knew the government would find out what book you read or what movie you bought, even if it didnt run the risk of being charged with a crime, you might not do it. READ MORE: Anti-Trump protester Is this my last free birthday? Spitzer expressed concern that the warrant may indicate an attempt on the part of the government to obtain information about defendants that it should have had before issuing indictments against them. We hope that the Superior Court will not sustain this search warrant and will tell the government to find a less intrusive way to go about its investigation, he added. The City of Washington, DC, estimates that more than $100,000 in damage was caused by protesters who marched through the streets of the capital, smashed windows and clashed with police officers during Trumps inauguration. Police have been accused of unnecessary and unlawful force against the rally. Those arrested include more than 230 activists, journalists, medics, legal observers and bystanders who were kettled by police officers and whisked off. While some have reached plea agreements with the government, a handful had their charges dropped. Intimidation tactic Sam Menefee-Libey, an activist with DC Legal Posse, a group that supports the Inauguration Day defendants, said the warrant is the latest intimidation tactic as part of the governments ongoing campaign to dissuade anti-Trump activists. That campaign, he said, includes confiscating the defendants telephones and issuing subpoenas for access to their social media accounts. Its a fishing expedition, Menefee-Libey told Al Jazeera. Its clear that they dont currently have the evidence to back the outrageous charges against people. DreamHost announced that it was fighting the warrant in court in a blog post on Monday. The internet was founded and continues to survive, in the main on its democratising ability to facilitate a free exchange of ideas, the tech firm said on the blog. READ MORE: ACLU sues DC police over violence at anti-Trump rally Internet users have a reasonable expectation that they will not get swept up in criminal investigations simply by exercising their right to political speech against the government. The website-hosting company said it intends to take whatever steps are necessary to prevent visitors and users from being exposed to what it argues is an unfair and illegal attempt to obtain their private information. In a motion filed on July 28, US Attorney Channing Phillips said: That website was used in the development, planning, advertisement and organisation of a violent riot that occurred in Washington, DC on January 20, 2017. At the time of publication, the DoJ had not replied to Al Jazeeras request for a comment. Mark Rumold, a senior staff lawyer at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group that advocates online civil liberties, said he could not be sure if the warrant was politically motivated. But whats clear is an absolute disregard of the significant First Amendment interests to associate and advocate for political change without government interference by Department of Justice, which is what makes this warrant so troubling and unconstitutional, he told Al Jazeera. Double standard Pointing to a series of far-right rallies that turned violent across the country in recent months, DC Legal Posses Menefee-Libey argued that the warrant exposes the governments double standard in seeking out and surveilling anti-fascists rather than far-right activists. On Saturday, hundreds of white supremacists, neo-Nazis and otherwise far-right activists rallied in Charlottesville, Virginia, clashing with community members, anti-racist protesters and anti-fascists. James Alex Fields, a 20-year-old Ohio resident who marched during Charlottesvilles Unite the Right rally with a neo-Nazi group, is accused of ploughing his car into a crowd of anti-racist protesters and killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. READ MORE: Reporters face 70 years in prison over anti-Trump march In May, Jeremy Christian, who had been photographed performing Nazi salutes at a far-right demonstration, allegedly killed two men and injured another when he stabbed them as they attempted to prevent him from harassing a group of Muslim girls on a train in Portland, Oregon. Menefee-Libey argued that far-right violence has not attracted the same type of government crackdown that anti-fascists, including the Inauguration Day defendants, have endured. Weve seen both police and prosecutors go after anti-fascists in a way that they simply have not gone after fascists, he said. This is despite the fact that [far-rightists] incite violence and advocate a political practice of genocide and hate. Follow Patrick Strickland on Twitter: @P_Strickland_ Zimbabwes first lady Grace Mugabe is accused of assaulting a 20-year-old model in a hotel room in Johannesburg. South African officials are debating whether to grant diplomatic immunity to Zimbabwes first lady Grace Mugabe, who is accused of assaulting a 20-year-old model in Johannesburg this week. Mugabe, 52, remains in South Africa after a day of intense speculation over her whereabouts, South African police said in a Wednesday statement. The police said the Zimbabwean government asked for diplomatic immunity for a suspect involved in the alleged assault. The police have declined to name Mugabe, a possible successor to her husband President Robert Mugabe, in the case as she has not yet appeared in court. READ MORE: Under Trump, Zimbabwe might be off the radar Mugabes immunity request is currently under consideration, Clayson Monyela, a spokesman for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation told The Associated Press. Acting national police commissioner Lesetja Mothiba said earlier on Wednesday that police and national prosecutors wanted to charge Mugabe, according to the African News Agency. Our position was that she must go to court, he said. Gabriella Engels registered a case with police on Monday accusing Mugabe of attacking her with an extension cord in a luxury hotel in a Johannesburg suburb late on Sunday evening. Engels said she had been in a hotel room with mutual friends of Mugabes two sons, who live in Johannesburg, when the first lady burst into the room and allegedly assaulted her. Photos of Engels posted on social media show a bloody gash on her forehead that she claimed was a result of the encounter. Criminal lawyer Riaan Louw said diplomatic immunity would not apply if Mugabe had indeed entered on private business. If she wasnt here on official business, that rules out the possibility of diplomatic immunity, Louw told Reuters news agency. However, given the potential for diplomatic fallout, South African prosecutors could yet decide not to prosecute if they thought the injuries were not too severe, he added. Confusion over whereabouts Confusion over whether Mugabe was still in the country flared up on Tuesday after South Africas police minister said she was due to appear in a South African court and she did not show up, fuelling speculation she may have returned to Zimbabwe. Police clarified on Wednesday that while the suspect had failed to present herself to police to obtain a warning statement about the case, she remained in the country and had sent her lawyers and Zimbabwe government officials to tell police she intended to request diplomatic immunity. Discussions with the suspects lawyers and the Zimbabwean High Commission representatives are taking place to make sure that the suspect is processed through the legal system, the police statement said. Engels told the AP she would be willing to face Mugabe in court. I want to go to court because I really feel like she should go to jail for what she did to me, she said. I dont want her to get away with this. Because what happened to me was not OK. Mugabe has been accused of assaults during other overseas trips, including a 2009 visit to Hong Kong in which a photographer accused her of beating him up. Zimbabwes state broadcaster reported late on Wednesday that President Mugabe had left for South Africa to attend a regional summit. Possible successor to husband Grace Mugabe has been touted as a possible successor to her 93-year-old husband, who has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980. Grace Mugabe was in the news in late July when she challenged her husband to name his preferred successor. READ MORE: Zimbabwes season of rising discontent She has taken on a larger public role in recent years, speaking regularly at meetings to drum up support for her husband and heading the womens league of the ruling ZANU-PF party. In speeches this year the president has often slurred his words, mumbled and paused for lengthy periods. His reign has been marked by brutal repression of dissent, mass emigration, vote rigging and a sharp economic decline since land reforms in 2000. Israeli army destroys family home of Omar al-Abed, who is accused of stabbing three Israelis to death last month. Israeli soldiers have demolished the family house of a Palestinian man, who stabbed three Israelis to death last month over Israels crackdown on entry to the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem. The destruction of the home on Wednesday took place in the village of Kobar in the occupied West Bank. The move comes a day after Israels military prosecutor announced that the state would charge five family members of the 20-year-old alleged attacker, Omar al-Abed, who is currently in custody in Israel. Israeli soldiers have arrested Abeds father, mother and three brothers, according to villagers. READ MORE: Israel demolishes two houses in occupied East Jerusalem Israeli authorities arrested Abeds mother, Ibtisam al-Abed last month for allegedly praising the attack, which the forces called incitement to violence; she was then released. Residents said that army vehicles and bulldozers entered the area north of Ramallah at around 3am (00:00 GMT) and surrounded the two-storey house, one floor of which was still under construction. Al Jazeeras Hoda Abdel Hamid, reporting from Kobar, said many of the villagers tried to stop the soldiers from carrying out the demolition. The family knew that this is going to happen just a few days after the attack. They had received a demolition notice, so they had time to take out their belongings, our correspondent said. But now that it has been destroyed and confiscated, the family could no longer return to the property to rebuild their home, she said. The Israeli army said the attacker had spoken of al-Aqsa and of dying as a martyr in a Facebook post. He was shot while carrying out the attack and later arrested. Collective punishment Israel has been demolishing hundreds of Palestinian homes in the occupied territories since 1967 as a punitive measure. The latest Israeli move to demolish Palestinian houses is yet more proof that Israel is a rogue state and has no respect for international law, Muslim Imran, a Palestinian activist, told Al Jazeera. By demolishing houses they think the Palestinian resistance will end, but it makes no sense. Its our basic right to resist on our own soil by all legal means possible, he added. The policy of destroying family homes of alleged attackers is a violation of international humanitarian law prohibiting collective punishment, according to Human Rights Watch. READ MORE: West Bank villagers decry collective punishment Israeli officials justify demolitions by claiming the buildings are shelter for attackers. Medical sources in Ramallah said soldiers shot at Palestinians during the demolition, injuring at least 26, including journalist Mohammad Radi. Execute Omars family Despite denunciation of the attack by Abeds father, Israeli officials have called for harsher measures on families of suspects. In a Facebook video posted in July, Israeli parliamentarian Oren Hazan said he would have executed Abeds family. Hazan is a member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus Likud Party. While Abed was hospitalised, Hazan said: Let him [Abed] die, let him wallow in his own blood. They dont have a right to live, they dont have the right to even exist, and I hope that everyone will say that with me. On Monday Israeli forces demolished three Palestinian homes near Hebron. With additional reporting by Yigit Mahmut Parliament abolishes contentious 1940s law that allows rapists to marry their victims in order to avoid jail sentence. Lebanons parliament on Wednesday abolished a law that allowed rapists to avoid prison by marrying their victims. A proposal to repeal Article 522 of the penal code which deals with rape, assault, kidnapping and forced marriage was introduced last year and approved by a parliamentary committee in February. The repeal of the law, which had been in place since the 1940s, follows years of campaigning by womens rights advocates. Activists have campaigned against the countrys law for more than a year, posting billboards of women in bloodied and torn wedding gowns. READ MORE: Meet the woman who pushed to repeal Jordans rape law The caption reads: A white dress does not cover the rape. The Lebanese law states that rape is punishable by up to seven years in prison, or more if the victim is mentally or physically disabled. Article 522 added that if the rapist marries the victim, criminal prosecution is suspended. In a statement posted on its Facebook page, the official National News Agency and activist group ABAAD congratulated women in Lebanon. It is no longer possible to escape punishment for rape and sexual acts carried out by force and coercion, said the group, which has spearheaded the campaign to repeal the much-reviled article. Todays win is a victory for the dignity of women, the NGO said. There are no precise figures on how many rapists marry their victims to avoid punishment, but activists say the practice mainly took place in rural areas. READ MORE: Morocco repeals rape marriage law Human Rights Watch welcomed the move by Lebanons parliament but said more should be done to ensure womens rights. The repeal of article 522 is an important and overdue step to protect womens rights in Lebanon, said Bassam Khawaja, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch. Parliament should now follow this up by passing pending legislation to end child marriage and marital rape, both of which are still legal in Lebanon. Lebanons decision comes just over two weeks after Jordans parliament banned a similar article in its penal code. Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt have cancelled similar marry the rapist clauses over the years. The clause remains on the books in Algeria, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, the Palestinian territories and Syria, as well as several countries in Latin America and in the Philippines and Tajikistan, according to Human Rights Watch. Credit: Ruvan WijesooriyaLCD Soundsystem has shared another preview of their comeback album American Dream with a new song called "Tonite." The track is available for digital download, and you can watch its video now on YouTube. "Tonite" is the third track to be released from American Dream, following "Call the Police" and the title track. The album will arrive in full on September 1. American Dream is LCD Soundsystem's first album since the James Murphy-led outfit reunited in 2015. The band will hit the road on a North America in support of American Dream starting October 17 in Washington, D.C. The trek will conclude with a 10-show residency at the Brooklyn Steel venue in Brooklyn, New York, running December 11-23. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. People rush to bury their dead amid fears of disease outbreak after a flood disaster that has killed over 400 people. Facing the threat of disease, people in Sierra Leone began burying hundreds of victims of a mudslide that swept away homes on the edge of the capital, Freetown, in one of Africas worst flood disasters in living memory. More than 400 people have been confirmed dead at least a quarter of them children from the devastating mudslides that hit before dawn on Monday, triggered by days of heavy rain. Hundreds of Freetown residents queued on Wednesday to identify relatives crushed by mud on Monday in a valley on the outskirts of Freetown. Aid workers said there was a high risk of disease outbreaks such as cholera, as corpses are lying out in the open in the heat. The government summoned families to the morgue and said all unidentified corpses would be buried on Thursday and Friday. In a statement on Wednesday, President Ernest Bai Koromas office asked relatives to come to the citys overwhelmed mortuary. All unidentified corpses will be given a dignified burial in the coming days, it said. Authorities have requested airconditioning units to keep the bodies cool and are in need of more protective gear such as masks, aprons and glove disposal stations, said Idalia Amaya, an emergency relief coordinator for Catholic Relief Services (CRS). The morgues are just overflowing with corpses and it is becoming a public health emergency, Amaya said. They need to get the bodies out. Plea for international help Red Cross officials estimated some 600 people remained missing more than 48 hours after the storm hit while most of the victims slept. Thousands of people lost their homes. Sierra Leones government has pleaded for international assistance as it reels from yet another disaster just a couple of years after the Ebola outbreak that left thousands in the region dead. With rain forecast for at least the coming week, the threat of further mudslides around Freetown remained. READ MORE: Sierra Leone mudslide: What, where and why? Freetown chief coroner Seneh Dumbuya told Reuters that the burial of 297 of the bodies was under way. They were being transported to the Ebola cemetery at Waterloo, about 30km outside of Freetown, Dumbuya said. We cannot wait for tomorrow for the burial, as was suggested by government, because most of the bodies are decomposing, he said. The burial will continue up till night. Dumbuya anticipated that the death toll would rise as the search continued for more than 600 still missing. Rescue work under way Rescue teams have continued the work of extracting bodies from tonnes of debris, with volunteers digging with pickaxes and, at times, only their hands. Amaya from CRSs said: People are getting text messages from their loved ones saying theyre trapped inside buildings and for someone to come rescue them. Sobbing and covering their noses from the stench, relatives stepped around corpses lying on the ground outside the morgue, which was overwhelmed, as the sheets covering them were lifted. I came to identify my uncle in particular, but I couldnt find him, said 30-year-old Hawanatu Sesay, after her turn came to look through the morgue. Let his soul rest in peace, she said through tears. Strength and resilience Another man said he had identified his wifes body but had no news of his two young daughters. All had been buried when their house was engulfed in mud, he said. President Koroma visited Lumley in the capital Freetown, one of the worst affected areas. Satellite images released showed the extensive damage caused by deadly mudslides and floods. Musa Kallon, a trauma support expert working with the CRS, shared the stories of devastation with Al Jazeera after he visited Kamayama community on the outskirts of Freetown. Most of the people I spoke with today are the sole surviving members of their family, Kallon said. People are really traumatised. I spoke to one lady who lost almost her entire family during the ebola crisis. Her only surviving daughter passed away in these floods. Kallon and Amaya both stressed that despite the poverty and waves of trauma that have afflicted Sierra Leoneons, from the 1991-2001 civil war to the 2014 outbreak of ebola, and now to this flood disaster, the strength and resilience of the people has been a small light in this tragedy. Christians and Muslims regardless of what faith they are, they have come together to help dig out people from the mud, provide clothes and shelter to those who are most affected, particularly women and children, Amaya said. They are strong and banding together. The United States has designated Hizbul Mujahideen, the largest armed group in Indian-administered Kashmir, as a foreign terrorist organisation, imposing sanctions on it including the freezing of assets it may hold in the US. The US Department of State said in a statement on Wednesday that Washington is seeking to deny the group the resources it needs to carry out terrorist attacks. Terrorism designations expose and isolate organisations and individuals, and deny them access to the US financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of US agencies and other governments. OPINION: The communalisation of a political dispute in Kashmir Hizbul Mujahideen is the largest indigenous armed group fighting against Indian rule in the Himalayan territory since an armed rebellion broke out in 1989. In June, the US had also designated as terrorist the groups leader Syed Salahuddin, also known as Mohammad Yusuf Shah. In July 2016, the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen leader Burwan Wani sparked months of anti-India protests in which scores of people died. Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since the end of British rule in 1947. Both claim the disputed territory in its entirety. Several armed rebel groups are fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir, with tens of thousands of people, most of them civilians, killed in the nearly three decades-old conflict. Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Kashmirs predominantly Muslim population, and most people support the fighters cause against Indian rule. Nearly 70,000 people have been killed in the uprising and the ensuing Indian military crackdown. In recent years, Kashmiris, mainly young people, have displayed open solidarity with anti-Indian fighters and sought to protect them by engaging troops in street clashes during military operations. The anti-India protests and clashes have persisted despite the Indian army chief warning recently that tough action would be taken against stone throwers during counter attacks. India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the fighters, which Pakistan denies. Former leader files petition to challenge verdict that saw him disqualified from public office for undeclared assets. Islamabad, Pakistan Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has challenged his disqualification from office, requesting a review of the verdict which saw him dismissed for failing to declare his wealth on a parliamentary declaration. In three legal petitions submitted to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, Sharif termed the landmark verdict as suffer[ing] from errors floating on the surface of the record. A five-member bench of the Supreme Court disqualified Sharif on July 28, making him the latest prime minister in Pakistans 70-year history not to be allowed to complete his term in office. He has since led rallies across his political heartland of Punjab, criticising the verdict as politically motivated. Sharif was succeeded in office by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, a staunch party loyalist who was elected as prime minister without fuss on August 1, given Sharifs PML-N partys majority in parliament. The Supreme Court verdict was preceded by a months-long corruption investigation into assets held by Sharif and his children, prompted by revelations from the Panama Papers leak in 2016 that showed his children owned three undeclared offshore companies registered in the British Virgin Islands. The court also ordered corruption charges to be filed against Sharif, his children and several close aides, including Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, with the countrys anti-corruption watchdog directed to complete their trials within seven months. In the legal filing on Tuesday, Sharif also requested that the court halt any corruption proceedings until after the review petition is adjudicated upon. Disqualified Sharif was disqualified on the grounds that he did not declare a monthly salary worth 10,000 UAE dirhams (roughly $2,700) owed to him by UAE-based firm Capital FZE, which was owned by his son. Sharif contends that he never withdrew the salary, and so was not legally obliged to declare it, as per Pakistans income tax code. It is thus evident in this respect the judgment manifestly suffers from an error apparent on the face of the record, and merits review as such, read Sharifs petition. In a 40-page petition, Sharif challenged the courts verdict on 18 grounds, including allegations that a high-level Joint Investigation Team (JIT) formed to probe the corruption allegations was biased. READ MORE: Whats next for Nawaz Sharif? It will now be up to the court to decide on whether to admit Sharifs review petition. Historically, review petitions offer extremely narrow grounds upon which the judgments of Pakistans top court can be challenged. Sharif was disqualified by the court on the grounds that he was no longer honest and trustworthy, as per a controversial constitutional clause inserted by military ruler Zia-ul-Haq in 1985. Pakistan has been ruled by the military for roughly half of its 70-year history, and no civilian prime minister has ever completed a full term in office. Sharif himself has been dismissed twice before, during previous terms in office in the 1990s. In 1993, he resigned after a confrontation with the countrys president, and in 1999 he was deposed in a military coup. Other prime ministers have been removed through votes of no-confidence in the parliament, dismissals of the legislative assemblies or orders from the Supreme Court. Asad Hashim is Al Jazeeras Web Correspondent in Pakistan. He tweets @AsadHashim. Police slaughter dozens of suspected drug dealers and arrest more than 100 in raids near the capital, Manila. Police killed at least 32 suspected drug offenders in a series of raids near Manila, in the bloodiest night of Philippine President Rodrigo Dutertes war on drugs. Senior Superintendent Romeo M. Caramat Jr. said 67 operations in various parts of Bulacan province Tuesday saw police kill dozens, while 109 others were arrested. Police also claimed to have seized more than 200 grams of methamphetamine, 786 grams of cannabis, assorted firearms, grenades and ammunition. Bulacan, a province of about 3.29 million people, has recorded numerous arrests and killings of drug suspects in recent months, police records showed. Duterte has vowed to protect police who kill drug suspects under suspicious circumstances. READ MORE: Police kill Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog and wife in drug raid Government figures show that since Duterte took office last year up to July 26, more than 3,000 drug personalities have been killed in gun battles with police. More than 2,000 others died in drug-related homicides, including attacks by motorcycle-riding masked gunmen and other assaults. Human rights groups report a higher toll. Despite warnings by human rights groups that Duterte may be overseeing a crime against humanity, the leader remains widely popular in the Philippines. He won a landslide victory in presidential elections last year after promising an unprecedented war on drugs in which tens of thousands of people would be killed. Meanwhile in neighbouring Indonesia, Amnesty International said on Wednesday that police were taking a leaf out of Dutertes war on drugs and have killed 60 suspected drug dealers so far this year, compared to 18 in all of 2016. State secretary criticises countries including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, China and Sudan in annual report as it slams ISIL. US allies including Saudi Arabia and Bahrain did not uphold principles of religious freedom in 2016, while the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, known as ISIS) group has carried out genocide against religious minorities, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said. Tillerson made the comments on Tuesday at the Department of State while introducing the agencys annual report on religious freedom, required by a 1998 act of Congress. The report is the first to be released during the Trump administration and covers 2016. Saudi Arabia, Tillerson said, ought to embrace greater degrees of religious freedom for all of its citizens. He cited criminal penalties for apostasy, atheism, blasphemy, and insulting the Saudi states interpretation of Islam, as well as attacks and discrimination targeting Shia Muslims. The kingdom follows the Sunni Muslim Wahhabi school of Islam. The report said Saudi Arabia has used counterterrorism laws to target atheists and Shia Muslims. The United States and Saudi Arabia have long been close partners in fighting groups like al-Qaeda and ISIL. Riyadh was the first stop on President Donald Trumps maiden international visit earlier this year. READ MORE: Saudi Arabia executes Shia men for violent attacks Tillerson singled out another Gulf Arab country, Bahrain, saying it must stop discriminating against the Shia communities. In Turkey, a NATO ally, authorities continued to limit the human rights of members of some religious minority groups, Tillerson said. American pastor Andrew Brunson has been jailed in Turkey since October on charges of being part of a terrorist organisation, according to news reports. Tillerson said religious freedom is under attack in Pakistan, citing the marginalisation of Ahmadiyya Muslims, a minority sect which Pakistan considers non-Muslim. Tillerson said ISIL is clearly responsible for genocide against Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims in areas it controls or has controlled. Iran, China, Sudan named He also said Iran targeted religious minorities including Bahais and Christians, and in 2016 executed 20 people on charges including waging war against God. China and Sudan were also singled out in his remarks. The Chinese government tortures and imprisons thousands for practising their religious beliefs, Tillerson said, citing the targeting of Falun Gong members, Uighur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists. In Sudan, the government arrests and intimidates clergy and blocks the construction of churches while tearing down existing ones, he said. READ MORE: China Uighurs Ban on long beards, veils in Xinjiang Tillersons decision to introduce the report contrasted with how he handled the Department of States annual human rights report in March. He declined to unveil it in person, breaking with precedent and drew criticism he was not giving rights issues adequate attention. The report did not address Trumps attempt this year to temporarily suspend refugee admissions and his decision to impose a lower cap on the number of those admissions. The report states that resettlement is a vital tool for providing refugees protection. Many refugees admitted to the US in 2016 were fleeing religious intolerance and persecution, it said. Iraqi and coalition planes step up air raids in advance of a ground offensive to drive out ISIL from town west of Mosul. Thousands of Iraqis have fled an ISIL-held town west of Mosul as Iraqi and coalition warplanes step up attacks before a ground offensive to drive out the group. Iraqi warplanes carried out air attacks on Tuesday against Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) positions in Tal Afar in preparation for a ground assault to retake the town near the Syrian border, the military said. Plans to retake Tal Afar were announced on Monday by federal police chief Lieutenant General Raed Shakir Jawdat, who said armoured and elite units were headed for the town. OPINION: Post-ISIL Iraq Breaking the cycle of violence Tal Afar and the surrounding area is one of the last pockets territory held by ISIL in Iraq, after victory was declared against them in July in Mosul, the countrys second-largest city. The town of Tal Afar, about 150 kilometres east of the Syrian border, sits along a major road that was once a key ISIL supply route. On Monday, hundreds of exhausted civilians were brought by Iraqi army trucks from the front line to a humanitarian collection point just west of Mosul. Many described a harrowing journey of a day or more from Tal Afar, with no food or water. There was nothing Jassem Aziz Tabo, an elderly man who arrived with his 12-member family, told The Associated Press he had left Tal Afar months ago and gone to a village on the outskirts to escape hunger, air raids and violence from ISIL. Those who tried to escape were captured and shot in the head. They killed my son, he said. He tried to escape, he was caught and they killed him. He said severe shortages have caused the price of food to skyrocket in Tal Afar, which has been besieged by Iraqi forces for months, with a kilogramme of sugar selling for $50. There was nothing. We were eating pieces of bread with water, he said. Alia Imad, a mother of three whose family paid $300 to a smuggler to lead them to safety, said there is no drinking water left in the town. Most people drink water thats not clean. The majority are surviving on that and a bit of bread, she said. The group she was with had come under fire during their escape from ISIL, she said. A woman was killed, and they had to bury her by the road. Lise Grande, the UN humanitarian coordinator, told AP that the conditions in Tal Afar are very tough. Thousands of people are leaving, seeking safety and assistance. Families escaping northeast are trekking 10 and up to 20 hours to reach mustering points. They are exhausted and many are dehydrated when they finally arrive, she said. Shia groups to take part in battle Anwar Hama, of the Iraqi air force, told AP that air raids this week have targeted ISIL headquarters, tunnels and weapons stores. But Iraqi forces, closely backed by the US-led coalition, are not expected to push into the town for another few weeks, according to an Iraqi officer overseeing the operation. He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Iraqi army, federal police and special forces units are expected to participate in the operation, as well as state-sanctioned mostly Shia armed groups known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces. The Shia fighters largely stayed out of the operation to retake Mosul, a mostly Sunni city, but have vowed to play a bigger role in Tal Afar, which was mostly Shia before it fell to ISIL. Shia fighters captured Tal Afars airport, on the outskirts of the town, last year. READ MORE: How ISIL used government workers to control Mosul Their participation in the coming offensive could heighten sectarian and regional tensions. Tal Afar was once home to Shia and Sunni Arabs, as well as a sizable ethnic Turkmen community with close ties to neighbouring Turkey. Turkish officials have expressed concern that once territory is liberated from ISIL, Iraqi Kurdish or Shia forces may push out Sunni Arabs or ethnic Turkmen. On Monday, the Iraqi army began moving an armoured brigade to the front line south of Tal Afar, while an infantry division was deployed about 30km to the towns east. The United Nations says some 49,000 people have fled the Tal Afar district since April, compounding a humanitarian crisis that has lingered despite the cessation of major fighting inside Mosul. It says nearly a million people were displaced by the Mosul campaign. After clashes in Charlottesville, Trump appeared to again equate actions of white supremacists with counterprotesters. US President Donald Trump declared anew on Tuesday there is blame on both sides for the deadly violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, appearing to once again equate the actions of white supremacist groups and those protesting against them. The presidents comments effectively cancelled out the more conventional statement he delivered at the White House a day earlier when he branded members of the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists who take part in violence as criminals and thugs. Trumps advisers had hoped those remarks might quell a crush of criticism from both Republicans and Democrats. But the presidents retorts on Tuesday suggested he had been a reluctant participant in that cleanup effort. During an impromptu press conference in the lobby of his Manhattan skyscraper, he praised his original response to the Charlottesville clashes and angrily blamed liberal groups in addition to white supremacists for the violence. OPINION: Charlottesville is America everywhere Some of those protesting the rally to save a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee were also very violent, he said. There are two sides to a story, he said. He added that some facts about the violence still arent known. Al Jazeeras Heidi Zhou-Castro, reporting from Washington, DC, said it was a really a breathtaking reversal of the damage control that Trump had tried to accomplish with a second statement on Monday. Again youre seeing Donald Trump on the defensive when he is on defence he does not stay on script, you never know what hes going to say and today many were surprised to see him reverse and doubling down on saying blame for Charlottesville again falls on both sides, she said. What many have been concerned about [is that] Trumps words despite coming off the cuff do have meaning, they are coming out of the mouth of an American president, and they encourage and inflame depending on who the recipient is, said Zhou-Castro. And were seeing here one white supremacist leader who has already reacted positively to the presidents latest comments, she said. Trumps remarks were welcomed by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, who tweeted: Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth. New and troubling questions Trumps handling of the weekend violence has raised new and troubling questions, even among some supporters, about why he sometimes struggles to forcefully and unequivocally condemn white supremacist groups. Members of his own Republican Party have pressured him to be more vigorous in criticising bigoted groups, and four business leaders have resigned from a White House jobs panel in response to his comments. READ MORE: Trumps America Where activists face felony charges Democrats were aghast at Trumps comments on Tuesday. Virginia Senator Tim Kaine said on Twitter that the Charlottesville violence was fueled by one side: white supremacists spreading racism, intolerance & intimidation. Those are the facts. Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii said on Twitter that he no longer views Trump as his president. As a Jew, as an American, as a human, words cannot express my disgust and disappointment, Schatz said. This is not my president. Is it George Washington next week? Violence broke out Saturday in Charlottesville, a picturesque college town, after a loosely connected mix of white supremacists, neo-Nazis and other far-right figures assembled to protest the citys decision to remove a towering statue of Confederate general Robert E Lee. Heather Heyer, 32, was killed when a man ploughed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters. Trump appeared to defend both the far rights right to protest, noting they had a permit, and Confederate statues. So, this week its Robert E Lee, he said. I noticed that Stonewall Jacksons coming down. I wonder, is it George Washington next week and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You really do have to ask yourself where does it stop? As Trump talked, his aides on the sidelines of the lobby stood in silence. Chief of staff John Kelly crossed his arms and stared down at his shoes, barely glancing at the president. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders looked around the room trying to make eye contact with other senior aides. One young staffer stood with her mouth agape. Trump, who has quickly deemed other deadly incidents in the US and around the world acts of terrorism, equivocated when asked whether the car death was a terrorist attack. There is a question. Is it murder? Is it terrorism? Trump said. And then you get into legal semantics. The driver of the car is a murderer and what he did was a horrible, horrible, inexcusable thing. Trump said he had yet to call Heyers mother, said that he would soon reach out. He praised her for what he said was a nice statement about him on social media. As Trump finally walked away from his lectern, he stopped to answer one more shouted question: Would he visit Charlottesville? The presidents response was to note that he owned property there and to say it was one of the largest wineries in the United States. Neo-Nazis celebrate presidents statement blaming both sides of violence, even as White House faces harsh rebuke. White supremacists have welcomed US President Donald Trumps insistence on blaming both sides for the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia last weekend. The praise for the Republican leader, however, drew concern and condemnation from across the political spectrum, including from senior figures from within his party. On Wednesday, Trump was forced to disband two business advisory councils, after he was pressured by corporate leaders over his response to the weekend protests that killed at least one person. Trump made the decision after another executive, 3M Cos Inge Thulin, became the latest member to leave his American Manufacturing Council, and the Strategic and Policy Forum broke up of its own will. OPINION: Charlottesville is America everywhere Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both, Trump wrote on Twitter. Tensions are high after a white supremacist mowed down a crowd of anti-racists on August 12 in Charlottesville, killing anti-fascist protester, Heather Heyer, and injuring dozens some severely Trump initially blamed many sides for the violence and avoided calling out the far-right by name. After an outcry, he specifically condemned white supremacy two days later. But by Tuesday, Trump again criticised both sides including anti-fascist protesters, who he described as the alt-left, a term popularised by white supremacists groups. The US president referred to very fine people on both sides of the divide. Reacting to Trumps latest statement, Andrew Anglin, administrator of now defunct neo-Nazi blog the Daily Stormer, praised Trumps reaction with the anti-Semitic headline: Trump Finally Gives Half-Assed Charlottesville Statement to Whining Jew Media. I knew Trump was eventually going to be like meh, whatever, Anglin wrote. Trump only disavowed us at the point of a Jewish weapon. So Im not disavowing him. Others also read Trumps reaction as made out of political expedience rather than genuine ill-feeling. Neo-Nazis on Twitter and the 4Chan forum celebrated what they saw as a coded message of support from Trump. Right-wing leader Richard Spencer and former KKK leader David Duke also lavished praise on Trump. Duke wrote on the social media platform: Thank you President Trump for your honesty and courage to tell the truth about Charlottesville and condemn the leftist terrorists in BLM/Antifa. Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a US-based civil liberties organisation demanding equal rights for African Americans and an end to police brutality. READ MORE: Trumps America Where activists face felony charges Condemnation against Trump were also swift. Activist and writer Shaun King said Trumps speech on Tuesday was an an open embrace of white supremacy. As expected, white supremacists loved the off-script press conference Donald Trump just gave. Loved it. Senior Democrat and senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, said Trumps purported neutrality was indicative of his sympathies. By saying he is not taking sides, Donald Trump clearly is. When David Duke and white supremacists cheer, youre doing it very very wrong by Chuck Schumer, Democrat senator By saying he is not taking sides, Donald Trump clearly is. When David Duke and white supremacists cheer, youre doing it very very wrong, he tweeted. Al Franken, another Democratic senator, who is of Jewish faith, also posted on social media. When someone shows you who they are, you believe them. Trump is again letting white supremacists off the hook for #Charlottesville violence. U.S. Senator Al Franken (@SenFranken) August 15, 2017 Trumps presidential campaign last year enjoyed broad far-right backing, and the Trump administration includes several figures linked to far-right and neo-Nazi groups. During the campaign, the Trump team had targeted minority groups, including immigrants from Latin America, refugees, and Muslims The president, a former reality TV star, has described immigrants from Mexico as drug dealers, criminals, rapists and called for a complete shutdown of Muslims entering the US. A watered down version of his Muslim ban was later introduced, only to be rejected by courts. Hakainde Hichilema, accused of plotting to overthrow government, freed by judge after state prosecutor drops charges. A judge freed Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema on Wednesday after the state prosecutor dropped charges against him of plotting to overthrow the government. Hichilema and five others were arrested in April and charged with treason after his convoy failed to make way for President Edgar Lungus motorcade. His release could help defuse tensions in the southern African country, where Lungu imposed a state of emergency in July. The [Director of Public Prosecutions] has decided to terminate these proceedings by virtue of her constitutional powers. Therefore, youre hereby discharged, high court judge Charles Chanda said. Treason is an offence in Zambia that carries a minimum 15-year jail-term and, in theory, a maximum sentence of death. A person accused of treason is not allowed to post bail. READ MORE: Zambian opposition leader detained for treason Zambia has enjoyed relative stability since its first multi-party election in 1991. But last years election was marked by clashes between supporters of Lungus Patriotic Front (PF) party and Hichilemas United Party for National Development (UPND). Hichilema, 55, said the election was rigged and he refused to recognise Lungu as the president of Zambia. When he was arrested, Amnesty International said Hichilema and the five other accused were victims of longstanding persecution by authorities and faced charges designed to harass and intimidate. Lungu did not mince words during the election campaign, warning political rivals and activists that if they push me against the wall, I will sacrifice democracy for peace. In June, parliament suspended 48 UPND legislators for boycotting a Lungu address three months earlier. And last month, Lungu invoked a state of emergency, increasing police powers of arrest and detention after a series of arson attacks blamed on opposition parties. The government has also increased pressure on media outlets that support the opposition, eroding Zambias reputation as a stable democracy. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein on Tuesday commended the peaceful voting in the recent presidential election in Kenya but urged Kenyas political leaders to take the responsible path and exercise their leadership to avoid violence. The UN Human Rights Chief expressed concern about reports that Kenyan security forces used live []http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Appa-sourceTheAfric... The India-based has formed a special committee to explore the possibility of restructuring its shipping and dredging businesses into two separate entities, Mercator said in a statement Monday. India-based Mercator Ltd. confirms that its exploring the possibility of selling off its dredging unit. India-based conglomerate Mercator Ltd. is considering restructuring its shipping and dredging businesses into separate entities. The company, which owns subsidiaries in the oil and gas, dredging, coal and bulk commodity transport industries, is one of Indias largest dredging services suppliers. Mercator said in a statement Monday it has formed a special committee to explore the possibility. The news comes just days after the Economic Times reported that Mercator is looking to raise $300 million by divesting in some of its businesses. In addition to its dredging unit, the companys looking at selling coals assets in Indonesia and Mozambique, according to the report. Earlier this month, the Times of India reported that Mercator is preparing an offer for state-owned Dredging Corp. of India, which the publication said is expected to be put up for sale in the next few quarters. In early 2016, Mercator sold its money-losing dry bulk shipping business to three Singapore companies, Bellerophon Holdings, MIB Investments and Wroclaw Holdings, as part of a portfolio restructuring. In the midst of the maelstrom of breaking news of the past several days, the outlines of a big story affecting the future of the Fox News Channel are beginning to emerge. They involve a major makeover of Fox News's once-dominant prime-time schedule and a rising new star, Eboni K. Williams. After the dust settles, Williams, whose current show, The Fox News Specialists, looks as though it's headed for oblivion after the coming shake-up, may wind up on the fast track to cable news stardom. Drudge's May 14 tweet. On Monday, August 14, Matt Drudge let the cat out of the bag, as he occasionally does (remember the Lewinsky scandal?), with an enigmatic tweet that congratulated veteran radio and TV talk host Laura Ingraham on her move to FNC prime time this fall. This tantalizing tweet was followed in short order by reports in other media advancing long simmering speculation that the FNC prime-time schedule will soon be changed for the third time this year. Many of these reports are suggesting that the change will entail moving The Five from 9 P.M. E.T. back to 5 P.M., with Laura Ingraham moving into the 9 P.M. hour. Last month, two high-level sources informed me that major prime-time schedule changes at the news channel would indeed be in place by early fall. However, in an exclusive being reported here, on Tuesday, August 15, one of my reliable sources said with "1,000% certainty" that Fox News management wants Sean Hannity for the all-important 9 P.M. hour. "That's the most likely scenario" of the changes being discussed, the source added. While no contracts have been signed and no final decisions have been made, it appears as of this writing that the fall 2017 FNC prime-time schedule will most likely be Tucker Carlson Tonight at 8, Hannity at 9, and (possibly if not probably) a new program hosted by Laura Ingraham at 10. In any case, it looks as if The Five will be returning to its former 5 P.M. slot. If this information holds true, the lead story today is that Sean Hannity will soon be going head to head against MSNBC's Rachel Maddow in a battle of the cable TV news titans. Sean Hannity. Rachel Maddow. Even without inside sources and leaks, a dedicated viewer of Fox News who pays attention to TV ratings might have concluded that a major change is in the air. On April 19, Fox News's most popular host, Bill O'Reilly, was fired, and his 8 P.M. nightly program #1 in all of cable news for the previous fifteen years was given to Tucker Carlson. Hannity remained at 10 P.M., but, in a scheduling move that seemed questionable, the often boisterous and hard to take ensemble talk show The Five went from 5 P.M. to 9 P.M., previously the home of Tucker Carlson before he was moved to 8 P.M. Carlson moved into the 9 P.M. time slot last January when Megyn Kelly left FNC for NBC News. The ratings of the Fox News Channel have not been the same since the latest schedule change in May. Right out of the gate in prime time, The Five has under-performed at 9 P.M. That has allowed the cerebral and focused MSNBC host Rachel Maddow now in her ninth year at 9 P.M. to pull ahead of Fox News and CNN at that critical hour in both total viewers and the preferred demographic or demo (viewers 25-54 years of age). Maddow has benefited not only from Fox's weak programming at 9 P.M., but also from heightened interest in the consistent hard-left anti-Trump theme of her programs which is drawing from the large pool of Resist Trump viewers. On most nights now, Maddow has the #1 show on all of prime-time cable TV news. Despite the weak lead-in that The Five provides to the 10 P.M. hour, Hannity, who has been on Fox News in prime time since the day the network went live in 1996, has maintained his ratings dominance. More often than not, Hannity wins his time slot and has the #1 prime-time show on the Fox News Channel. Eboni K. Williams, Esq. Eboni K. Williams is a fairly recent hire at Fox News. After appearing as an on-air contributor and occasional co-host, she was named one of the three co-hosts of the new daily ensemble talk show The Fox News Specialists, which premiered on May 1 in the 5-o'clock hour vacated by The Five. Comedian Kat Timpf is one of Williams's co-hosts. The third co-host, Eric Bolling, was suspended by Fox News on August 5 after an article citing anonymous sources, but not including any evidence or quotes, was published by the Huffington Post. The article alleged that Bolling had texted lewd pictures to three of his female co-workers "several years ago." Bolling denies the charges and has filed a $50-million lawsuit against the article's author. Bolling's claims of innocence notwithstanding, within the current hyper-P.C. climate at 21st Century Fox, his future appears to be in serious doubt. Factors complicating the smooth running of Fox News include the ascent to power in recent months of FNC co-founder Rupert Murdoch's sons James and Lachlan, both of whom are widely reported to be more liberal than their father, a lifelong conservative who is close friends with President Trump. Since she first started appearing as a guest on Bill O'Reilly's show last year, Williams has cultivated an appealing on-air persona as a slightly left-of-center but ultimately a moderate, non-ideological, thoughtful, and open-minded analyst. This kind of middle-of-the-road political profile is fairly unique to Fox News hosts and contributors. Williams is also a very attractive, poised, and articulate young woman who clearly has the look and the smarts for cable news stardom. Williams, who is 33, is extremely active in all-important Facebook and Twitter social media. An oft-repeated part of her biography is that she was raised by a single mother a small business owner who, Eboni Williams has said, voted for Donald Trump for president. Williams received a B.A. in communications and African-American studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She followed that up with a law degree from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law. Williams worked both in private practice as a defense attorney and as a public defender. Transitioning from lawyering, she worked as a radio talk show host in Los Angeles and as a correspondent for CBS News and a contributor to HLN. According to an interview with Williams published last December, she was invited to appear as a guest on O'Reilly's Fox News show during the trial of George Zimmerman for the killing of Trayvon Martin. She then became a Fox News contributor and an occasional program host before getting her own show last May 1. Since early June, Williams has also been co-hosting a three-hour daily talk show on WABC AM 770 in New York City. With Bolling absent from The Specialists for the past seven episodes, Williams has assumed the most prominent role on the five-person show, which now has a rotating guest in place of suspended co-host Bolling. After the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday, August 13, Williams was quick to make her move to be noticed during the very next outing of The Specialists. Eboni Williams Steps Out as a Serious Trump Critic Eboni Williams, The Fox News Specialists, August 14, 2017. On Monday, August 14, Williams let President Trump have it: I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt. I can no longer do that, Mr. President. No more benefit all doubt. During her monologue, in a segment she calls "The Docket," Williams doubled down: President Trump, I do not know your heart, but what I do know for sure is that you've clearly done the math. You've decided that the portion of your base that is absolutely racist is so significant, so valuable that you hesitate even in the face of blatant, flagrant hatred to risk turning them off and thereby crippling your political stronghold[.] ... You remember when you said your base would stick with you even if you shot someone on Fifth Avenue? I think you are right. I think they will stick with you through anything[.] ... They will even stick with you while you calm their fears and deep-seated anger around their perceived depreciation of the intrinsic value of whiteness in this country. Let's be honest: That's what this is all really about. Befitting her new status as an up and coming prominent cable news celebrity, Williams's comments directed at Trump were the occasion for feature articles in both the MSM and independent media. Eboni Williams made her entrance into the Fox News universe during the last year of the original conservative regime of FNC, when it was under the day-to-day, hour-by-hour direction of co-founder and CEO Roger Ailes with the support of Rupert Murdoch. Ailes was ousted one year ago, and the political direction of Fox News since then has slowly tilted to the left, with a few notable exceptions including Hannity. As an attorney, Williams's moderate and professional demeanor was an ideal fit during her introduction to the Fox News audience. Nowadays, with new executives in charge, and under the eventual if not current editorial direction of Rupert Murdoch's liberal sons, Williams's more direct and out front criticisms and challenges directed at the Trump administration may be a better fit. Peter Barry Chowka is a veteran journalist who writes about national politics, media, popular culture, and health care. He is a frequent contributor to American Thinker. His latest website is AltMedNews.net. If there is anything positive about the crisis about North Korea, it is that we dont have a President Hillary Clinton dealing with it. The wannabe first female president, if you dont count Obama aide Valerie Jarrett, who orchestrated the disaster in the Middle East, would no doubt take the advice of William Jefferson Clinton, the commander-in-chief who is the godfather of North Koreas nuclear program and the winner of the Neville Chamberlain Lifetime Appeasement Award. Between the two of them, they have royally mucked up the word. Hillary was there when President Obama precipitously withdrew from Iraq, creating the vacuum that ISIS filled, and drew the red line in Syria with vanishing ink. She is the architect of the Libyan venture that turned Libya into a failed state and Benghazi a graveyard for four heroic Americans. As for her husband's role, Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter must be very proud. Their policy of appeasement of North Koreas brutal dictatorship has now borne rotten fruit with the little fat boy, Kim Jong Un, now able to threaten the world with horrors similar to those imposed on his own people. When Clinton first learned of the North Korean nuclear program in 1994, a surgical strike against its Yoingbyomg reactor might have sufficed to send Pyongyang a message that a nuclear North Korea was unacceptable. Instead, Clinton allowed Jimmy Carter to engage in some private foreign policy and jet off to the last Stalinist regime on earth to broker a deal whereby North Korea would promise to forego a nuclear weapons program in exchange for a basket of goodies that included oil, food, and amazingly, nuclear technology. Along the way, Carter praised North Koreas mass-murdering dictator as a vigorous and intelligent man. And of North Korea itself, Carter said of this habitat for inhumanity, I dont see they are an outlaw nation. Of course, the man who gave us the ayatollahs in Iran didnt. That wouldnt stop him from getting the Nobel Peace Prize. As Jonah Goldberg wrote in October, 2002: Let's start with the Nobel Peace Prize Committee. On Oct. 11, the Nobel committee announced it would award its Peace Prize to Jimmy Carter. It was really an un-Peace Prize for George W. Bush, whom the Nobel crowd believes is a foolish warmongering meanie. "In a situation currently marked by threats of the use of power," intoned the Nobel press release, "Carter has stood by the principles that conflicts must as far as possible be resolved through mediation and international cooperation based on international law, respect for human rights and economic development." Translation: Bush should be more like Carter it was brother Jimmy who had the bright idea of lavishing the North Koreans with aid in exchange for their "cross-our-hearts-and-hope-to-die" promise that they would stop pursuing nuclear weapons technology. Of course, many argue it was Carter's mollycoddling of the North Koreans during his presidency that encouraged them to start their nuclear program to begin with. But hey, that's heavy water under the bridge The final agreement, which Clinton dubbed "a very good deal indeed," called for the United States to provide the North Koreans with $4 billion worth of light-water reactors and $100 million in oil in exchange for a promise to be good and an assurance that inspectors would be allowed to poke around at some indeterminate point down the road. The rest, as they say, is history. Clinton, relieved perhaps that he would not have to use the military he once loathed, leapt on this deal as if it were a White House intern. In exchange for a promise to be good, Clinton accepted Carters deal and agreed to provide the nation that spends a quarter of its GNP on its military while its people starve in a gulag some $4 billion in economic assistance, including oil and light-water nuclear reactors. Upon completing what became known as the Agreed Framework in 1994, Clinton praised it the same way Chamberlain praised the Munich deal with Nazi Germany: At the time, Mr Clinton said: This US-North Korean agreement will help to achieve a long-standing and vital American objective: an end to the threat of nuclear proliferation on the Korean peninsula. This agreement is good for the United States, good for our allies, and good for the safety of the entire world. Its a crucial step toward drawing North Korea into the global community. Gee, where did we hear this before? Ah, yes, Neville Chamberlain, 1938, proclaiming peace in our time. In 1998, a week after Clintons military chief of staff assured Congress that North Korea had no active ballistic missile program, Pyongyang launched a Taepodong ICBM over the Japanese home islands. Instead of blasting the launch sites, within two months Clinton sent North Korea another multi-million-dollar aid package and reopened bilateral negotiations. Robert Kaufmann, professor of public policy at Pepperdine University, said of the agreement Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton engineered: "The North Korean deal of 1994 is the prototype for why open societies should not negotiate arms control agreements with rogue regimes. The North Koreans duped Jimmy Carter -- an emissary of Clinton -- and the Clinton administration to subsidize the North Korean nuclear program in exchange for the counterfeit promise that North Korea would limit itself to civilian nuclear power." President Obamas eight years of strategic patience sealed the deal. Unfortunately, his nuclear deal with Iran is the 1994 Framework deal with North Korea on steroids. Ironically, North Korea and Iran have worked hand-in-glove to develop the missile technology to deliver nukes. Now it has $150 billion and Obamas blessing to test the missiles to deliver the nukes we may only have delayed the development of. Once again, we have negotiated an arms agreement with a rogue regime. Whatever transpires with North Korea, Iran is coming up fast as a threat. And we all have Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton to thank for setting the precedent. 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. The Democratic Party has morphed over time from being a party that was pro-labor; anti-greed; and, via the New Deal, a supporter of demand-side Keynesian economics to being the party that is against "The System" and anti-capitalist. Instead of upholding national goals and national identity, it has taken the side of tribalism, where identity politics is the end-all and be-all. The epicenter of this shift from being progressive or liberal to being neo-Marxist, neo-fascist, and subversive of too many established social, political, and economic norms began in the 1960s. Conceptual and practical shifts, especially in the philosophy of education, merged with other developments both in the anti-Vietnam War movement and in the burgeoning drug culture. During the sixties, Jonathan Kozol came out with a book Death at An Early Age, about his experiences teaching for one year in the Boston public schools. His conclusion was that much more money had to be spent to uplift the schools. This philosophy if you can even call it a philosophy became his personal hobby horse for decades. And it still is a mantra among liberal circles, only now liberals have morphed into a radicalized leftist agenda that goes a lot farther than the liberals of that earlier period. Throwing excessive amounts of money at social and economic problems has become a norm and it has not worked. Kozol's call for reform became hooked into the human potential movement and built on the idea that a different attitude toward and relationship between the teacher and student could get results that "traditional education" could not attain. So these two streams throwing more money at the schools via per pupil expenditures and tinkering with traditional teaching modalities began to merge. Howard Gardner's "multiple intelligences" found traction despite the lack of studies supporting it, and the realistic understanding that some people were smarter than others was gradually diluted by the centrality of self-esteem and need for more "cooperative learning" (presumably opposed to traditional "competitive learning"). Fritz Perls was a leading spokesman for gestalt learning. Here, the idea was to get away from discrete facts, and to develop our capacity to see reality as a whole rather than in a factual and limited way. He succeeded marvelously. There are now millions of students in high schools and colleges who will tell you that whites, especially white males, are inherently racist. Ask them how they know this, and they will only be too happy to tell you: look how Columbus treated the Indians, and we had slavery for hundreds of years. That's gestalt! Then throw into the mix the anti-authority and anti-American pounding the left was giving the USA during the Vietnam War. This played on the fear of high school students in particular of being drafted into the army and being sent to risk their lives in the jungles of Vietnam. Their basic fear or shall we say unpatriotic cowardice? now became rationalized as a righteous antagonism against a wicked, self-serving government. The antiwar advocates portrayed the "hawks" of both parties as people whose irrational anti-communist agenda had caused them to lose perspective. SDS and other antiwar groups claimed that the power-trippers of both parties were so obsessed with their rigid and irrational anti-communism that they ignored the legitimate need of the Vietnam people for unity and for self-governance after years of colonial subservience to the French. For SDS and other activist groups, communism was not the threat our pro-war leaders proposed; instead, we had to recognize that Ho Chi Minh was a national hero of the Vietnamese people who had their best interest in mind. Communism is just another name for freedom in the Vietnamese context, and not the political bogeyman our warlords were trying to make it. From being the heroic saviors of Europe in WWII and of Korea in the early fifties, we found ourselves internally being portrayed by the antiwar militants as demonic exploiters of the Vietnamese people and a force for no good in Southeast Asia. Thus, as noted, liberal blame of our educational institutions for student failure to learn, and blame of society for its unwillingness to sufficiently support education, expanded to connect with the human potential movement. Then those two streams intersected with the intense anti-authority stream of the antiwar movement. These three streams in turn converged with a fourth that also began in the 1960s namely, the counter-culture embrace of the expanding drug culture. In that culture, not only was "weed" king, but a new hallucinogenic drug, LSD, was being used by increasing numbers of high school students, as well as college undergraduates and graduate students. Use of this drug was promoted by Richard Alpert and Timothy Leary. Both had begun their careers as Harvard professors who promoted the use of LSD on the Harvard campus, at which point they were fired. They were portrayed by their supporters as modern-day Socrateses like Socrates, persecuted for corrupting the youth while actually freeing the youth from the bondage of their own middle-class, commercially oriented mindsets. This writer was personally informed by a friend who had taken 75 "trips" on LSD that it freed one from his ego and fixed ideas of "reality" and opened the door to an alternate universe. After his 75 "trips," my friend had to be straitjacketed and forcibly removed from his apartment to be incarcerated for drug withdrawal and observation at Massachusetts General Hospital for 45 days. As these four streams of antisocial and anti-authority ideology converged, they became a raging river, lasting until our very day. That raging river is called "We Hate The System." What is "The System"? The system is the entire legal and economic structure that can be designated as capitalism combined with the legal and political structures of law roughly called "constitutionalism." Constitutionalism includes (1) federalism, which balances the respective authority of the states and the federal government; (2) checks and balances among the three branches of government legislative, executive, and judicial; and (3) the sociological unity founded on the more vaguely stated, yet nonetheless real, premises of one nation under God; protection of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; and the abiding presence of natural and inalienable rights. In this conceptual troika, personal liberty and responsibility are forever intertwined. Both the law and the individual receive total respect, and each complements the other. Thus, we can see over the 50 years, from the mid-sixties to the present, that we are facing an attack on our cultural, political, social, legal, and economic identity. The attack has been embraced not merely by demonstrators or by an immature counter-culture. Rather, it has been embraced substantially by one of our two political parties. Dark and difficult days lie ahead as we struggle to maintain the viability of the institutions we need and love. As North Korea continues to push the world closer to the nuclear abyss, U.S. secretary of defense James Mattis and U.S. secretary of state Rex Tillerson recently defined the United States policy toward Pyongyang as strategic accountability, in which Washington and its allies are standing fast against Kims provocations. While its unclear what this new doctrine will entail, wishy-washy diplomatic overtures are unlikely to convince Kim to relinquish his nuclear program. While Donald Trump successfully rallied China, Pyongyangs only ally, and Russia in passing the recent UN Security Councils (UNSC) decision to impose the strongest sanctions ever, diplomacy has clearly reached its end -- as U.S. ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said herself. Only a few days before, the Trump administration put its foot down and proclaimed that the time for talk was over, now that the ICBM test revealed that the North has the capacity to launch missiles to American cities as far as the Mississippi. In a direct and blatant challenge to Washington, North Koreas state media agency then said that the regime will soon send unexpected gift packages and called on the Trump administration to wave a white flag. The time to face the regime head-on is now. But what exactly could Trump do? Pyongyang breaching a new military threshold shows that diplomacy, posturing and the imposition of sanctions have had no significant impact on North Koreas ruling elite and have failed repeatedly to contain the threat Pyongyang poses to the world. After years of failed strategic patience under Barack Obama that have only helped to escalate the threat to Americas security to critical levels, Washington has no realistic diplomatic options to make North Korea surrender its nuclear program. The limits of diplomacy While Trumps dropping of announced steel tariffs may have had something to do with Chinas favorable UNSC vote, Beijing is anything but a reliable partner. The Middle Kingdom deeply mistrusts the U.S, and is generally too busy flexing its muscles at Washington instead of using its influence to force Pyongyang into submission. China has even sought to absolve itself of all responsibility on the North Korean issue by arguing that it is up to us alone to reduce tensions on the peninsula. Never mind the $2.2 billion in transactions that Beijing processed on Pyongyangs behalf or that the regimes ICBMs are paraded around on Chinese trucks. And Chinas enforcement of sanctions has thus far been woefully inadequate anyway. Unwilling to cut the umbilical, Beijing will not suddenly change its ways now. Even South Korea, the country facing by far the largest and most pressing threat from its neighbors tyrannical leadership, has gone missing in action in international efforts to pressure Pyongyang into stepping back from the precipice. Rather than addressing the escalating crisis over North Koreas increasingly aggressive and erratic behavior, South Korean President Moon Jae-in saw fit to postpone emergency discussions with President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in favor of continuing his vacation -- does this remind you of certain former American president? In another act of raging idiocy, Moon has decided to undermine the South Korea-Japan alliance by triggering a review of the irreversible 2015 Comfort Women Agreement struck between Seoul and Tokyo. The U.S.-brokered agreement was regarded as a major breakthrough in bilateral relations, and was connected to hopes that both countries would bury the hatchet: Japan issued an official apology and paid millions to victims and their families. But instead of making peace, the Moon regime and an NGO with shady North Korean ties that claims to speak on behalf of surviving comfort women, have decided to up the pressure on Tokyo by building provocative statues commemorating the victims: in front of Japans embassy in Seoul, in Atlanta, GE, or in Germany. But even with Seoul in thrall to nationalist sentiment, and China playing hot potato, Trump is not alone. The President and Japans Abe agreed to take further action against Pyongyang during a lengthy telephone conversation in July. Japanese officials said the two countries would take concrete steps to ensure the public is protected from the threat North Korea poses. Despite the tough talking, experts fear military action is not an option, on account of the fact that any retaliation from North Korea would pose an unacceptable level of risk to both Koreans and Americans. But it wouldnt be the first time that Trump would prove experts wrong. Since it is now clear that neither China nor South Korea can be counted on, the U.S. and Japan need to call the shots and raise the costs for Pyongyang. While showing strength via launching apparent tit-for-tat intercontinental ballistic missile tests and issuing sanction after sanction can only go so far, a coalition of the willing must now deploy resources and make it clear to Kim that his behavior will not be tolerated. Otherwise, more apathy will just embolden Pyongyang, which could very easily decide that it is worth launching a nuclear attack targeting the homeland. Which is why military strikes and covert operations, while not ideal, are better options at this point than doing nothing. And if we were to take Lindsey Grahams word for it, this is exactly what Trump is thinking: "If theres going to be a war to stop [Kim Jong Un], it will be over there. If thousands die, theyre going to die over there. Theyre not going to die here. And he has told me that to my face," claimed the failed presidential candidate on NBCs Today show. Trump was right to launch strikes when he learned the Syrian regime had used chemical weapons against its own people, and correctly called out Barack Obama for failing to tackle the threat posed by Islamists during his Presidency. For America and our allies, Trump should apply the same lessons to North Koreas crackpot rogue regime and prevent a psychopath from holding the world hostage to nuclear threat. California farmer John Duarte thought he was acting within the law when he plowed a field on his property in 2012. The government didn't see it that way. Because he plowed up some "vernal pools" of standing water that have been designated as off limits to farmers, he was fined $2.8 million and ordered to purchase tens of millions of dollars in "mitigation credits." Eventually, rather than face much larger fines and penalties, he agreed to settle the case for $1.1 million in fines and $770,000 in mitigation credits. Daily Caller: "This has been a difficult decision for me, my family, and the entire company, and we have come to it reluctantly," Duarte said in a statement. "But given the risks posed by further trial on the government's request for up to $45 million in penalties, and the catastrophic impact that any significant fraction of that would have on our business, our hundreds of employees, our customers and suppliers, and all the members of my family, this was the best action I could take to protect those for whom I am responsible." The vernal pools are seasonal puddles or shallow lakes that are protected as "Waters of the U.S." under the Clean Water Act. Some of the pools were located on property Duarte purchased in 2012. Duarte had a contractor plow the land to farm, and the contractor hit some of the vernal pools. The Army Core of Engineers fined Duarte $2.8 million and mandated he purchase tens of millions of dollars' worth of mitigation credits for polluting federally-protected waters. Since then, Duarte has refused to pay the fine, claiming his actions were exempted under the Clean Water Act as "normal farming practices." The Army Corps of Engineers, however, only recognized "ongoing" farming activity as a normal farming practice under the act. Because Duarte was plowing property for the first time, the federal government maintained he needed a permit for the first time he plowed. "John would have preferred to see this case through to trial and appealed the court's liability ruling, which holds that plowing a field requires federal permission despite the clear text of the Clean Water Act and regulations to the contrary," PLF attorney Tony Francois said in a statement. "John and his counsel remain concerned that legal liability for farming without federal permission undermines the clear protections that the Clean Water Act affords to farming and poses a significant ongoing threat to farmers across the nation." There was no allowance given for the farmer's intent to obey the law. Instead, the law and regulations were interpreted arbitrarily by the government, probably to make an example of Mr. Duarte. For those who dare defy the federal government, ruination awaits unless you are brought to heel. The clear erosion of personal property rights should also concern us. But that's why the "Waters of the USA" regulations were feared by farmers, businessmen, and property owners across the country. The EPA basically took control of not only the "Waters of the USA," but also the property upon which those waters flowed or, in the case of Mr. Duarte, stood. It was a power-grab unprecedented in American regulatory history. Thankfully, Trump has now rescinded the rule. One would think that given the fact that the U.S. underwrites the NATO Treaty, the U.S. could rely upon member-states of NATO to give unequivocal support to the president in this precarious moment. The E.U.'s dominant power, Germany, did not. Angela Merkel of Germany uttered not a word of support for the president of the United States and his position on the substantial threat from the despot of North Korea. But from obscurity came a voice from the antipodes, a Southern Pacific neighbor of Guam in the Western Pacific Ocean, supporting the president of the USA. Last Friday, at the height of the crisis, Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull declared: Be under no misapprehension in terms of defence we [Australia and US] are joined at the hip". "Let's be very clear ... If there is an attack on the United States by North Korea, then the ANZUS Treaty will be invoked and Australia will come to the aid of the United States, just as if there was an attack on Australia, the United States would come to our aid." We Aussies are obliged, and quite willing, to stand by our friend and ally, to confront, to engage, and to defend Western civilization against a barbarian who callously executes members of his own family. Australia was one of many nations that fought gallantly alongside the U.S. in the Korean War, often dubbed "the forgotten war." Australia also gallantly fought alongside U.S. troops in Vietnam, having command of Nui Dat in Phuoc Tuy Province. This coming Friday, 18 August, is the 51st anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan in Vietnam, in which a company of Australian Diggers (108) defeated a combined force of North Vietnamese and Viet Cong numbering some 2,500 and more in a rubber plantation, resulting in the deaths of 17 Australians, with the enemy losing at least 246 of their own. It was a practice of the enemy at the time to take the bodies of their dead with them so as to confuse the Allies (intelligence) as to the significance of an engagement. The birth of Australia came about directly from the American War of Independence (1775-1783) with English authorities having nowhere else to dump their convicts. So on 26 January 1788 Governor Phillip, Admiral Arthur Phillip, raised the Union Jack over Sydney Harbor. Since then Australia has stood shoulder to shoulder with the U.S. in the First World War (1914-1918); Second World War (1939-1945); and of course Korea, Viet Nam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and elsewhere. As George Orwell put it in 1984, "those who control the present control the past, and those who control the past control the future." And who controls the "present"? It is the media, and less apparent, those who control high school history books and university history departments. Thus, the past may be purposely contorted, especially the history of the United States of America. Editing via omission is the subliminal tack. Sadly, it doesn't take long to misinform an entire generation. But why would there be those who would delight in that venture, the venture of "controlling the past"? The Founding Fathers have been characterized as slaveholding racists rather than brilliant minds schooled in the world history of governments and the creators of the greatest experiment in self-governance the world has ever known. The War between the States was "only about slavery," we are told, despite many other complications, regional issues, constitutional considerations, and official resolutions by Congress to the contrary. The use of concocted historical misrepresentations to create the current frictions between those misinformed and the facts of history becomes inevitable. We are at that point. And what could be more inflammatory than past racial injustices? Witness the contrast and conflict between those who feel one way about history and those who harbor other proclivities of belief. Some defend what they perceive to be their heritage, and others object in tune with what they have been led to understand. Politics of the moment enter. But these politics involve nefarious disregard for the law in order to create environments and incidents detrimental to the current administration. It has become sport for Democrat-ruled urban areas to foment incidents by withdrawing legal protections for certain legal demonstrators and thus allow and promote situations that will later be used by biased media to attack a sitting president. Why are Democratic local authorities eager to withhold legal protections of property and free speech when it suits their purposes? I point to the Trump rally in Chicago and incidents in Berkeley, Charlottesville, and others. It is useful to their agendas of deposing Trump and cleansing history to their liking. Certainly, this author is not promoting racism on either side of the ledger. However, when groups appear from nowhere with weaponry to contest a legally sanctioned event, that party must be identified as a perpetrator. They have not been, to date. When legal permits are acquired for demonstration, there is a strong implication by the issuer of such permits that the rights of the legal demonstrators will be protected. They have not been protected. This is nothing more than selective enforcement of the law. Who has been charged with toppling the Confederate statue in North Carolina? Antifa and its clear mission to cause disruptions of legally protected events seem un-American at the very least and likely constitute anarchy. ZeroHedge runs an article about their organizational antics to disrupt legal activities. A brief clarification of history is warranted. It is curious that Virginia, a state that seceded and fought on constitutional grounds, is the epicenter of the slavery issue. Virginia did indeed have legal slavery, but Virginia did not immediately secede with the Deep South (S.C., Ga., Fla., La., Ala., Miss., and Texas), who clearly made their concerns over slavery the prime issue of secession. Six months passed from South Carolina's secession until the eventual secessions of N.C., Va., Ark., and Tenn. Why? Those states believed what Lincoln asserted: that he had no legal power to interfere with slavery where it already existed. In the late days of May 1861, Virginia's convention to consider secession was two to one against secession. It was not until Lincoln called for troops and a blockade of the Deep South that Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Tennessee voted, in democratic fashion and under representative government, to secede. They were motivated by what they deemed unconstitutional actions by the federal government. In the Upper South, slavery was already in decline, much as it had previously declined in the North. Free blacks in Petersburg, Virginia, for example, were nearly half the entire black population of that city (The Last Citadel. Petersburg, June 1864-April 1865, page 6). The "white supremacists" who cling to the Rebel battle flag do damage to history. Their racial views should be separate from any efforts to preserve statues and history. And the media should be asked why Antifa is not mentioned in their reports, why local authorities issue "stand down" orders to allow escalation and dodge protection obligations for those legally assembled. And the Department of Justice might be asked why crossing state lines to incite rioting is no longer militated against by the federal authorities. "It is unfair to judge a man's views on the issues of his day by the ideological fashions of another era." One must place oneself in the era and circumstances of that man represented by the statue in question. It is quite an academic task. We could use more of it. Additionally, the duty of the historian is "not to invent." Unfortunately, wisdom such as this has been cast aside, deliberately, and for political expedience. It damages our nation and "controls our past." Orwell's caution. Sadly, some are delighted. The violence in Charlottesville, and the tearing down of Robert E. Lee's statue there and in Durham, has made me angry and unhappy. I, like many Americans and Southerners of my generation, have seen the tremendous progress in racial harmony. I remember the bad old days and do not want to return there, but I also do not like attacks on my ancestors. Then I listened to President Trump's remarks yesterday from Trump Tower. Brilliant. Trump jumped to the chase. He gets the progressive mind. He asked, "Will you tear down George Washington's statue next? Do you like Jefferson? He was a slave owner. Will you tear down his statue, too? You are changing the history and changing the culture." Finally, we have a leader who fights back against the tyranny of the culture-changing socialists. Trump understands that these actions are warm-ups. The progressives are tearing down Confederate statues, and they are kicking and spitting on the memorials to the dead because they cannot yet kick and spit on President Trump and his voters. If they could imprison Trump and deport his voters, they would do that and not worry about statues. They are lashing out where they can. Progressives want a socialist society cleansed of traditional values. To get power, we, as a country, must reject our heritage of freedom and embrace Marxist values of state control. That is why they fight so hard to control the teaching of history and why they denigrate the ideals and values of the Founders and the pioneers. Trump sees this fight for what it is and says so clearly. Then he shows leadership in racial healing. The debate has raged ever since Emancipation: which comes first: economic opportunity or political equality? The civil rights leader Booker T. Washington spoke of the need to "cast down your buckets." He asked businesses to hire African-Americans rather than import immigrants. He argued that African-Americans would gain political power by gaining economic power. Washington's opponent, W.E.B. DuBois, argued instead that African-Americans were better served by fighting for their rights. Until the Civil Rights Era, Washington's approach predominated. After that, the DuBois path of fighting for political power was taken. Many years of struggle have gone by. African-Americans have served at all levels of political power but it doesn't feel like a victory because the economic victories have not come for many. The War on Poverty, started by Lyndon B. Johnson, resulted in victory over the African-American family as the link between work and survival was severed. Generations of families were formed without a father going to work every day. As the economy changed and manufacturers moved overseas, as jobs became harder to get, it became less and less common for men to work. Without a good job, marriage is a distant goal, and without marriage, young boys grow up angry that they do not know their fathers. What can the president do about this? How can he work to bring racial healing? As Trump said (in minute 23): "Jobs." It is not words that will change this country we've had years of beautiful words. It is deeds that will change this country. Economic freedom will bring jobs. Jobs can build character. Strong character builds the nation. Keep on leading, Trump. Whoops Apocalypse! Guam radio broadcasts nuclear missile warning in error North Korea has missiles trained on Guam, an American territory. Will mad Kim Jong-un shoot? KTWG and KSTO radio stations say he already has shot, broadcasting an emergency alert to listeners. But there was no incoming missile. It was an error. Whoops! Guam locals have been issued with leaflets telling them What to do in case of nuclear attack. One tip: Do not look at the flash or fireball It can blind you. Tip 2: Take cover behind anything that might offer protection. Adhere to tips one and two and then: When possible, take a shower with lots of soap and water to help remove radioactive contamination. After armageddon, good to know en-suite bathrooms survive. Oh, and best to take just one bottle into the show: Do not use conditioner in your hair because it will bind radioactive material to your hair. Should you have any left. Dont panic! Anorak Posted: 15th, August 2017 | In: News, Strange But True, TV & Radio Comment | TrackBack | Permalink Spanish NGO seized for 2 hours by Libyan coastguard Proactiva Open Arms forced under threat to enter Libyan waters (ANSAmed) - ROME, AUGUST 16 - The Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms announced Tuesday evening via social networks that its ship, Blue Gulf, had been seized for two hours by the Libya coastguard in international waters and forced to head to Libyan ones. ''Having been released, the Blue Gulf is sailing northwards,'' it wrote, after ''almost two hours of being seized under serious threats and orders from the Libyan coastguard.'' Proactiva, which is based in Barcelona, is one of the five NGOs that signed the Italian interior ministry's Code of Conduct. In the first message, which was posted around 7 PM, the organization wrote that the ''Blue Gulf has been seized in international waters by the Libyan coastguard'', noting that it had been ''forced to follow them into Libyan waters, threatening to shoot us if we did not follow the orders''. On its Twitter profile, Proactiva Open Arms reported other episodes of tension with the Libyan coastguard. In a video dated August 9, shots can be heard being fired into the air during a recording of a conversation between the coastguard and the Blue Gulf. The Proactiva ship has been conducting search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean since 2016 and has in that time rescued about 18,000 people. The SOS Mediterranee's ship, the Aquarius, is meanwhile heading towards the Italian port of Pozzallo, where it is expected to dock around 5 PM with 121 migrants onboard. MSF staff are onboard the ship.(ANSAmed). TUNIS - Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi's proposal for reform to enable gender equality in inheritance rights and the possibility of marriage between Tunisian women and non-Muslim men has sparked polemics. The office of the official mufti of Tunisia backed the president's proposal but criticism has been seen from other parts of the Muslim world. Criticizing inheritance laws is seen as taboo in many Muslim countries. Sharia law generally gives women half of what it gives men in inheritance, while making men financially responsible for women. However, the exact circumstances and the degree of kinship also play a role. The strongest criticism has been seen from the Egyptian religious authority Al-Azhar in Cairo, one of the highest religious authorities in Sunni Islam. Abbas Shuman, deputy of Grand Imam Ahmad Al-Tayyib, has said that ''these proposals are against divine law, Islamic precepts and the teachings of the Prophet''. ''What is happening in Tunisia at the moment is against Quranic texts, where the issue of inheritance is clear. Transgressing these texts is an offence to Islam and we will not accept this,'' he wrote in a statement. Tunisian commission working on inheritance law reform. The Tunisian Commission of Individual Freedoms and Gender Equality is working to draw up a detailed report and facilitate the application of reforms, including one concerning inheritance rights and the possibility for Tunisian women to marry non-Muslim foreigners. The reform was announced by President Beji Caid Essebsi as part of the recent national Women's Day. The commission is chaired by Bochra Belhaj Hmida. Essebsi said on August 13 that ''we will find a way to reconcile religion and constitutional principles. The inheritance is an issue for humans. God and His prophet left humans to manage these issues.'' His words immediately raised a great deal of criticism among the most intransigent followers of Islam and praise from the most progressive sections of the political world and civil society. Criticizing inheritance laws is seen as taboo in many Muslim countries. Sharia law generally gives women half of what it gives men in inheritance, while making men financially responsible for women. However, the exact circumstances and the degree of kinship also play a role. In 1974, the president at the time - Bourghiba - tried to bring in similar change through legislation supporting gender equality but was forced to give up after trying to introduce a mechanism within the budget law that would provide tax breaks to those who provided for equality in their wills between their sons and their daughters. His proposal raised such an outcry in parliament that he was forced to withdraw it. Women's rights associations continued to draw up studies and conduct research until the rejection last year in a parliamentary commission of a proposal for reform of inheritance law that would be more favorable to women. The reason for the rejection was its ''non-compliance with Islamic law''. Aware of the reach of his proposals - which include the abolition of a 1973 regulation that prohibits marriage between a Tunisian woman and a non-Muslim foreigner - and probable reactions to it, Essebsi said in his speech to the nation that he trusted in the intelligence of Tunisians. A few weeks ago Tunisia made a further step forward in legislation in favor of gender equality in the form of a law against violence against women that enables the rapist of an underage girl to avoid prison time by marrying the girl. - TEHRAN - Iran is working on an agreement to ensure security on its shared border with Turkey and strengthen the fight against terrorism, according to General Ramezan Sharif, head of public relations for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), also known as the Pasdaran. "In recent years terrorist groups have created instability along the borders between Iran and Turkey, above all in the western and northwestern areas," Sharif said. "Iranian armed forces and the IRGC are already ensuring security on the borders, but there is still always concern for terrorist actions," he said. Sharif's comments came following a visit to Turkey on Tuesday by the chairman of Iran's Armed Forces General Staff, General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri, who spoke with his Turkish counterpart, General Hulusi Akar, on topics linked to border security and the fight against terrorism. remaining of Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading. Speaking at Madrids Ritz Hotel on a now-distant November 7 2007 nearly a decade ago, then-president Jose Montilla warned about the disaffection with Spain and its institutions that was brewing among Catalan society. At the time Catalonia was experiencing a crisis brought about by the disruption of Barcelonas metropolitan railway service as a result of construction work for the Barcelona-Madrid fast train line, which caused the ground to collapse in several spots. Public outrage was voiced at a massive march in Barcelona city on December 1, 2007, under the slogan We have the right to decide on our infrastructure. Unfortunately, Montillas warning went totally unheeded in Madrid. They thought the Catalan president was exaggerating or, worse still, that it was a ploy to gain leverage in the negotiations to review the funding of the Catalan administration. In todays issue we compare our socio-economic reality with that of 2007. At the time we had not been hit by the recession yet and independence support was only beginning to grow. Society remained relatively confident about the future of our economy and pleased with the work of its institutions. But all that was about to change. The exhausting process followed by the new Catalan Statute and the Spanish PMs refusal to hand over the management of El Prat airport (the consequences of which can be felt today), against the wishes of Catalan society at large and social agents, was paving the way for a far-reaching social shift that would occur faster than anticipated. The publics initial reaction was negative (it became popular to refer to Catalans as shirty), but once the Constitutional Court handed down its ruling against the Statute, the disaffection that Montilla hard warned about was channelled into a positive project, one in support of Catalan independence. One could say, then, that in ten years Catalans went from feeling shirty to feeling activated. When examining Catalonias secession process, hindsights greatest value is that it allows us to understand how it arose from a number of specific circumstances and decisions (the PPs petition of signatures against the Statute, the PSOEs reluctance to improve Catalonias funding, etc), rather than being the spurious brainchild of the nations political elite. Whatever happens on October 1, Catalan society has changed greatly since 2007 and nothing will ever be the same. That is as true as the fact that it all began in 2007. BarcelonaDuring the second tripartite coalition government in Catalonia, ten years ago, nobody could have imagined that nowadays Catalonia would be about to hold a referendum on independence. In February 2007 a group of businessmen met at IESE, the Barcelona-based private business school, to demand that the citys airport be managed by the Catalan authorities (with Eulens strike in El Prat, we are currently experiencing the negative consequences of Spains centralised airport management system). In December that year, a march to demand "the right to decide over Catalan infrastructures became the second spark that, years later, ignited the full-on national debate. Lluis Corominas, the current leader of the Junts pel Si secessionist group in parliament, recalls that the discrimination by the Spanish government was already palpable at the time and Catalans used to express their grievances in specific instances. Ten years ago Corominas was a CiU MP in the Catalan parliament. Three years before the notorious ruling against the Catalan Statute by Spains Constitutional Court (2010), we saw the prelude of a triple crisis (national, political and economic) that hit Catalan society. The prospect of increasing Catalan self-rule by enacting the 2006 Statute that was approved in a referendum by the Catalan people (despite a number of significant changes made to the original text) was the common ground that brought together the PSC, ERC and ICV and the reason why the tripartite coalition was renewed, according to Laia Bonet, the former secretary of Montillas government (2007-10). Discreet meetings between ERC and CiU with a view to reaching an agreement were fruitless and, despite winning the elections, Artur Mas had no choice but to lead the opposition once again. The time was ripe to get down to work and build his so-called Casa Gran del Catalanisme (the political home of all Catalanists), a project that Mas had outlined in November 2007 at an event in Barcelonas Palau de Congressos with the right to decide as its main tenet. This change of course did not please Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida, the leader of the now defunct Unio Democratica party, who favoured a head-on clash with the tripartite coalition. Political scientist Joan Botella believes that CiUs crisis started right then and it came to a head with the break-up of the federation in 2015. What did the CEO say about Catalans? Ten years ago 60 per cent of respondents thought that Catalonias self-rule was insufficient, according to figures released by government pollster CEO in July 2007. Nevertheless, only 17 per cent favoured outright independence, while 34 per cent supported a federal model for Spain and 37 per cent felt that the system of autonomous regions was satisfactory. The national issue did not strain Catalonia until the Constitutional Courts ruling came in 2010, says Santi Rodriguez, who was a Partido Popular MP in the Catalan parliament back in 2007 and currently serves as his partys secretary general in Catalonia. Former Catalan vice president and ERC leader Josep Lluis Carod-Rovira claims that the constitutional pact was crushed when the Spanish Court struck down Catalonias Statute. This occurred six months before the elections when Artur Mas received an outright majority, with his party (Convergencia) rushing to denounce the failure of the so-called Dragon Khan government, according to former ICV leader Dolors Camats (1). Parallel to the emergence of the so-called right to decide in Catalonias social imaginary there was the notion of sustained progress and a cohesive society that offered opportunities to the young, notes sociologist Marta Subirats. A buoyant economy and optimism for a hopeful future began their decline in 2007. Spanish PM Zapatero denies there is a recession When the first signs of the recession were felt, there was the idea that we were well-off, Botella recounts. Evidence of that is the opinion held by Catalans about the economy: 54 per cent thought it was doing well, while only 29 per cent say so nowadays. Camats slams Spanish PM Zapatero for flagrantly denying that there was an economic downturn in progress. Part of the second tripartite governments social spending went to education, which saw 150,000 new migrant students join the Catalan school system. As reported by the CEO in 2007, the large wave of immigrants was one of the Catalan peoples main concerns and the second tripartite strove to absorb it. Fear of competition for jobs when unemployment was already high set off alarm bells over the rise of far-right party Plataforma per Catalunya, led by Josep Anglada, who nearly got a seat in parliament. Bonet celebrates that fact that the tables have turned and nowadays people want to welcome refugees. According to Dolors Camats, the political parties inability to alleviate the devastating effects of the recession, combined with the exposure of political corruption cases, have drawn a new picture: these years have taught us that the public must remain watchful, Bonet remarks. The seed that was sown in 2007 did not bear fruit until 2012, when CDC openly embraced independence and triggered the events that have brought Catalonia to the gates of a (definitive?) independence referendum slated for October 1. ______________ Translators note: (1) The two consecutive tripartite coalition governments in Catalonia were marred by internal feuding which was detrimental to the countrys political stability. Dragon Khan is a popular hair-raising ride in Catalonias Port Aventura theme park. Former Catalan minister Joan Carretero once compared the government he himself was a member of to the Dragon Khan. ADA launched the consultancy JV in 2015 as part of a diversification strategy. It retained a majority 51% ownership - choosing British consulting firm JCBA as its partner. The company provided consultancy services to Abu Dhabi Aviation, Etihad Airways, the Presidential Flight Abu Dhabi and Royal Jet and has been approved as an aviation consultant by Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC). ADA said whole ownership of ADA Millennium was completed in March this year to give the Group full management control of the company. The new wholly-owned consultancy is being chaired by Mohamed Ibrahim Al Mazrouei. Mohannad Yousef Abdelhadi is its Managing Director and a Board Member. Abdelhadi said the consultancy will now have a renewed focus on work in the Saudi Arabian marketplace and the Pakistan aviation industry. Currently we are working on the first helicopter Part 121 Special Unscheduled AOC in Saudi Arabia, he said. Serious discussions are also ongoing with one well known international firm to have a joint venture in aviation/airports security business and training. The new four-times weekly seasonal service will operate between Doha and Chiang Mai using a wide-body aircraft, from December 2017 until May 2018. Laid-back Chiang Mai offers a retreat from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok, and has been called the Rose of the North in recognition of its calm vibe and lush setting. Nestled amid surrounding rainforest, Chiang Mai offers visitors an amazing authentic Thai experience, with scores of stunning temples, fabulous restaurants and incredible natural scenery. Qatar Airways Group chief executive, Akbar Al Baker, said: Thailand continues to grow in popularity with holiday-makers and its not hard to see why. Our new flights to Chiang Mai mark our fourth route to this beautiful country, reflecting the demand from our customers for more high-quality leisure destinations. Our existing services to Phuket, Krabi and Bangkok are already incredibly popular, especially with customers from European countries such as the UK, France and Germany. Therefore, we are delighted to announce yet another destination, offering our renowned five-star service between Doha and Chiang Mai for leisure travellers. It also demonstrates our commitment to expand our reach with ambitious new routes around the world, taking our passengers to where they want to fly. Specifically, travellers can now codeshare on flights from Bahrain, via Athens, to and from the European cities of Brussels and Rome while travellers from Geneva, Milan and Vienna can now codeshare on flights, via Athens, to the Kingdom of Bahrain with Gulf Air. Ahmed Janahi, Gulf Air chief commercial officer, said: Our commitment to strengthening Gulf Airs network is reinforced with this codeshare agreement allowing us to connect our passengers to popular destinations across Europe that extend beyond our network, while giving passengers from more cities in Europe the distinctive opportunity to visit the Kingdom of Bahrain while experiencing our unique product and service offering. Tassos Raftopoulos, network planning and alliances director of Aegean Airlines said: We are welcoming this new codeshare with Gulf Air and we strongly believe that the combined networks of our two carriers will offer our guests new travel opportunities not only between Greece and Bahrain, but also beyond. The services which can be purchased through RJ website include Queen Alia International Airport crown lounge pass for economy class passengers Lounge pass, Crown class online bidding program Go Crown, onboard duty free service and online duty free purchases prior to the flight, through Royal Boutique. Royal Jordanian President/CEO Stefan Pichler said that these services are another milestone to enhance the travel experience of all guests by offering unbundled and flexible services. We at RJ will follow and listen to our guests and make our products available in a convenient way. Shopping RJ online saves time and effort. Our guests should be able to tailor their trip according to their needs. Go Crown is an online bidding program that allows passengers holding confirmed economy class tickets to place a bid to upgrade to crown class with low prices in simple steps from the comfort of their home. Economy class passengers can also electronically buy a voucher to access the Crown Lounge at Queen Alia International Airport for $39, accessing RJs website. The Lounge Pass enables its holders to enjoy the Crown Lounge services three hours before their departure. RJ also gives its arriving and departing guests the opportunity to electronically shop duty free branded products at Royal Boutique before their flights. Royal Jordanian started providing the duty free on board sale service last year on most of its long- and medium-haul flights by cooperating with the DFASS International Group. Warner Music NashvilleWith its lead single already in the top-20, Chris Janson is giving his fans a better picture of his sophomore album, Everybody. The Missouri native co-wrote all twelve songs on the project, which includes his hit Fix a Drink, as well as the other four songs from the EP with the same title. Chris says right down to the black-and-white picture on the cover, everything came together just like hed hoped. The cover shot caught me in a great moment, he says. I was literally laughing on the bus, talking and cracking jokes Shooting the photography for the album was the most relaxed Ive ever been [in front of] a camera. It turned out exactly how I envisioned it. Heres the full track listing for Everybody, which comes out September 22: Whos Your Farmer Everybody Name on It Eyes for Nobody Fix a Drink Out There Little Bit of Both Our World Bein a Dad When You Like Me Redneck Life Drunk Girl Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. Sebi had initiated investigation in 245 new cases during FY17, 84 per cent higher than FY16. According to information disclosed in its annual report, 76 per cent (185 out of 245) of the cases taken up for investigation in FY17 pertained to market manipulation and price rigging compared to 63 per cent in FY16. Mumbai: Stepping up its surveillance on suspected entities involved in the misuse of stock exchange platform for unlawful activities including tax evasion, money laundering and market manipulation, market regulator Sebi had initiated investigation in 245 new cases during FY17, 84 per cent higher than FY16. According to information disclosed in its annual report, 76 per cent (185 out of 245) of the cases taken up for investigation in FY17 pertained to market manipulation and price rigging compared to 63 per cent in FY16. While insider trading and takeover violation cases accounted for 14 per cent (34 cases) and 1 per cent (3 cases) respectively, issue related manipulation and violation of other securities law accounted for 3 per cent and 6 per cent. There was a comparative increase in the number of cases taken up during 2016-17 mainly due to the references received from the department of Income-Tax in the matter of long term capital gain or short term capital loss in various scrips, the watchdog said. In its inspection of depository participants like stock brokers and sub brokers, the regulator said discrepancy with regards to anti-money laundering (AML) regulations was observed against 529 entities. Sebi has already issued warning letters to 485 entities while it has imposed monetary penalty on 66 entities. During the period, there were also several instances pertaining to the misuse of the primary market platform. Without naming the company, the regulator pointed out to an instance where the issuer company in collusion with the merchant banker siphoned off the proceeds from the initial public offering. The issuer, contradicting its statement or disclosures in prospectus used the IPO proceeds to fund net buyers who supported the demand during the IPO subscription. In another case, the issuer company did not utilise a major part of the proceeds for the purpose of objects stated in the prospectus and diverted the proceeds to various entities through group companies and other entities. China warns of retaliation against punitive US actions. Washington: US President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered a probe into Chinas unfair trade practices and theft of American intellectual property, drawing a sharp reaction from Beijing which warned that it will not sit idle in the face of punitive US actions. Mr Trump signed a memorandum that directs US trade representative Robert Lighthizer to determine whether an investigation is needed into alleged unfair Chinese trade practices. Shortly after Mr Trump signed the directive, Mr Lighthizer said his office will launch a probe and, if needed, take action to preserve the future of US industry. Mr Trumps action comes amid rising tensions between the two nations over provocative missile tests and threats by Beijings ally North Korea. The theft of intellectual property by foreign countries costs our nation millions of jobs and billions and billions of dollars each and every year. For too long, this wealth has been drained from our country while Washington has done nothing, Mr Trump said. Today, Im directing the US trade representative to examine Chinas policies, practices, and actions with regard to the forced transfers of American technology and the theft of American intellectual property, Mr Trump said. As President of the United States, its my duty and responsibility to protect the American workers, technology, and industry from unfair and abusive actions, he said. Mr Trump said his administration will stand up to any country that unlawfully forces American companies to transfer their valuable technology as a condition of market access. Following Mr Trumps order and his remarks on crackdown on unfair trade practices, Chinas commerce ministry issued a stern statement voicing serious concern and warning that any punitive measures will harm bilateral trade relations. If the US side takes actions that impair the mutual trade relations, disregarding the facts and disrespecting multilateral trade rules, China will not sit idle, the statement said. China is definitely going to adopt all appropriate measures to vigorously defend its lawful rights and interest, it said. The country has always been paying high attention to intellectual property right protection, continuously perfecting the legislation, and that the progress it has made on that front is obvious to all, the commerce ministry said. Mr Trump said the US will combat the counterfeiting and piracy that destroys American jobs and enforce the rules of fair and reciprocal trade that form the foundation of responsible commerce. We will protect forgotten Americans who have been left behind by a global trade system that has failed to look and I mean look out for their interests. They have not been looking out at all, he said. Despite being a model and an actor, theres nothing Kriti enjoys more than letting her hair down. Kriti Sanon has had a hard struggle to get to the top at Bollywood. Having started out as a model, she made her way into films down south, acting opposite Mahesh Babu in the psychological thriller Nenokkadine. Her Bollywood debut with Heropanti was a rather quiet affair, since the film didnt really do well at the BO. However, she came into the spotlight with the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Dilwale. Now awaiting the release of her upcoming film Bareilly Ki Barfi, the actress chats about the ups and downs of Bollywood and how shes a simple girl under the polish. Why the title Bareilly Ki Barfi? My father has a sweet meat shop in the small town of Bareilly in the film, and the character that I play has quite a sweet tooth. Though the director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari got the idea for the film from the French book Ingredients of Love, the story is actually quite different from the original. Have you read the book yourself? Im not very fond of reading books, so no. I do love to watch films, and I think this will be a good one. People in Uttar Pradesh who hail from the small town of Bareilly have a particular dialect. Did you have to work on that for the film? Yes, I did have to work on my dialect and pronunciation a little, just to give the authentic flavour and feel of a girl belonging to UP. People close to you have often said that youre very down-to-earth for someone whos in the glam world. Would you agree? Yes. I think that I am very simple at heart. I come from a middle class family and I think that that makes me pretty grounded. It surprises a lot of people though. I remember the first time that I met Ashwiny. When she came out of her office to meet me, I was sitting on the ground reading the script with my hair up in a messy bun. She asked me, Are you always like this? Shed seen my modelling photos, so she thought Id be more of a fashionable sort. But I told her that Id just be exhausted if I had to dress up all the time (laughs). What was your parents reaction to your becoming a Bollywood actor? My mom still asks me, Tu actor kaise ban gayi? (How did you become an actor?). Theyre flummoxed since I dont like getting dressed up or wearing make-up like most other actresses do. My mother calls me jhalli. Do you think that the way the industry treats you changes with every hit and flop film? There is a positive attitude overall from your filmy peers whenever your film does well or an actor or actress proves her acumen in a film. But its exactly the opposite with flops. Instead of offering support, theres just a negative reaction from filmmakers. Directors need to judge an artiste by his or her talent and not the how their last film did. The attitude of youre only as good as your last film needs to change. Vidya was of the opinion that there was a lot of sexism in Bollywood and she wanted to do away with that. Earlier this week, Vidya Balan was in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh to help the children learn English as part of a brand activity. Vidya is here for vidya, she guffawed in her inimitable style. At this juncture, the actress chose to speak about sexism in Bollywood too. Vidya was of the opinion that there was a lot of sexism in Bollywood and she wanted to do away with that. I would want to see Bollywood independent of sexism, she opined. I am not saying that there is a lot of sexism in Bollywood. And it is not just there in Bollywood whatever is present in society, is present in Bollywood as well. It is important that we get rid of it. Having said that, Vidya is also of the opinion that she would not want to work with her husband Siddharth Roy Kapur, though they are in the same business. It is important to keep certain things away from each other, she says, honestly. Sanskriti Media Rahul made another mistake in his speech, when he said Karnataka govt will expand the programme to 'every single city in Bangalore'. Speaking at the event, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi again left everyone spellbound with his erroneous speech. (Photo: ANI/Twitter) Bengaluru: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday launched 'Indira Canteen' in Bengaluru with the vision of providing good quality of food to the poor at a cheap price. Speaking at the event, the party vice president again left everyone spellbound with his erroneous speech. Going with the flow Rahul Gandhi said, Every single poor person in the city in Bangalore will feel that in the state of Karnataka, under Siddaramaiah govt, I simply cannot go hungry. That is the vision of Amma..err..Indira canteen. Rahul, who was delivering the speech in English made another mistake which was unnoticed. Congress vice president was heard as saying the Karnataka Chief Minister will open up canteen on similar lines in every single city in Bangalore. Rahul said, Chief Minister has mentioned to me that Bangalore is just a beginning. He is going to expand this programme to other cities and soon over the next couple of months, every single city in Bangalore. Rahul said he was proud that it is the Congress government that conceptualised Indira canteen. The Congress vice president congratulated Karnataka Government and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for the initiative and said the Indira Canteen is another step towards the "Food for All" commitment of the Congress. "I would like to thank the chief minister and the Congress party who have conceptualised this programme that is designed to make sure that not a single person in Bengaluru goes hungry," he said. Highlighting the aim of the canteen, Rahul Gandhi said it will ensure that the poorest and the weakest should not remain hungry. Breakfast in the Indira canteen will be served at Rs 5 while one will just have to pay ten rupees for lunch and dinner. A hoarding carrying a picture of former prime minister Indira Gandhi and a young Rahul were also placed outside the canteen. A total of 101 Indira Canteens, one of Karnataka Government's most ambitious projects to serve affordable food, rolled out on Wednesday. Karnataka Chief Minister had announced this project when he presented the budget on March 15, this year. Seven militant outfits had given a boycott call. Guwahati: Braving the floods and defying the boycott call given by seven militant outfits, people came out in large numbers all over Assam on Tuesday to celebrate the countrys 71st Independence Day. Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal unfurled the national flag at the Veterinary College ground at Khanapara. Assam is presently reeling under the devastating floods, then worst in the last three decades. With the floods claiming 102 lives in flood-related incidents so far, more than 22 lakh people have been affected due to floods. Several youth took to streets riding cycles, motorcycles and waving the tricolour in Guwahati. Teachers and students in flood-hit South Kamrup district schools and Dhubri schools hoisted the tricolour and sang the national anthem. The photographs of I-Day celebrated against odds are going viral on social media. Earlier, the CM after unfurling the tricolour, reiterated his governments commitment to rid Assam of corruption. Referring to a survey report of Centre for Media Studies, he said, The percentage of corruption in the state was 34 per cent in 2005, which has declined to 18 per cent in 2017. Mr Sonowal said, After our government came to power, we adopted a policy of zero-tolerance towards corruption. An investigation was ordered against various corruption cases so that it may be rooted out from the government machinery in a bid to fulfill peoples hopes and aspirations. Muhammad Ayub Lone alias Ayub Lalhari was travelling in a Tavera car when the security forces intercepted it outside Banderpora village. Pulwama: Top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Ayub Lalhari was killed in gunbattle with security forces in Jammu and Kashmirs southern Pulwama district on Wednesday afternoon. Director General of Police, Shesh Paul Vaid confirmed it saying He was one of the most wanted terrorists. It's a great success for the forces. SSP Pulwama, Chowdhary Aslam, added that a policeman was injured in the clash. Muhammad Ayub Lone alias Ayub Lalhari was reportedly travelling in a Tavera car when the security forces intercepted it outside Banderpora village of Pulwamas Koil area, leading to a brief exchange of fire. Ayub Lalhari was the district commander of the LeT and one of the most wanted terrorists, said a defence spokesman in Pulwama. DGP tweeted Ayub Lalhari, district commander LeT, eliminated in #Pulwama. Excellent work boys! Lone was a resident of Lalhar, a village in Pulwama. His close associate and neighbour Arif Nabi Dar alias Rehan alias Arif Lalhari was killed along with the LeTs Abu Dujana in an encounter in a Pulwama village on August 1. Dujana, a Pakistani national, had figured at number one in the list of 12 most wanted terrorists released by the Army in June this year. Zakir Rashid Bhat alias Zakir Musa, the Kashmiri militant named as the head of al-Qaidas recently launched India cell Ansar Ghuzwat-Ul-Hind later owned Dujana as being its first martyr. In the making of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, they played a key role and became first martyrs of this jihad movement, Musa said in an audio message which went viral on social media platforms earlier this month. The police sources said that the fire fight in Pulwama village in which Ayub Lalhari was killed was very brief. After the vehicle he was travelling in was intercepted, Ayub Lalhari engaged the security forces in a gun fight and tried to escape through an apple orchard but he was quickly gunned down, the sources said. However, another report quoting the villagers said that he was killed inside the car and later the security forces took his corpse along. J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti hopes plea challenging Article 35A is dismissed. Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Tuesday said that she had full faith in the Supreme Court of India and hoped that it would dismiss the plea challenging Article 35A of the Constitution. Ive full confidence that our Supreme Court will again dismiss this plea challenging Article 35A of the Constitution in the same way as it has done in these 70 years, she said while speaking at the Independence Day ceremonial parade at Srinagars Bakshi Stadium. She said that she was quite confident that the countrys institutions would continue to deliver justice to the people of Jammu and Kashmir in the historic perspective of the state, as they have done in the past. She said that when the people of the state decided to accede to the country on the basis of shared ideals of democracy and tolerance, these were the institutions, like Parliament, which responded positively to this thinking and that Jammu and Kashmir was accorded a special status within the countrys constitutional structure. The judiciary, fully endorsing the spirit of this relation, put its foot down and upheld the special status when the matter of its scraping was brought before it, she said. I hope that in future also these institutions would uphold this relation of mutual respect, cooperation and trust between the people of the State and rest of the country, she added. The chief minister said the entire political class of Jammu and Kashmir is united in defending and preserving the special status of the state. She said that she recently met leaders of all political parties in this regard and she was happy to note that there was an overwhelming consensus on the issue among all of them. She once again pitched for dialogue and good India-Pakistan relations, saying dialogue was the only way ahead to sort out issues. If peaceful negotiations can resolve all other issues in the country why cant these help in redressing issues in Jammu & Kashmir? she asked. The Army has also issued a statement saying that India's 70th Independence Day on Tuesday was "well celebrated all across border areas." New Delhi: Sources in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Wednesday described as false information relating to a reported confrontation between Indian and Chinese troops in the north eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. "The MoD sources said, "Please refer to certain queries regarding confrontation with PLA (People's Liberation Army) troops in Arunachal Pradesh. It is clarified that the information is false. Meanwhile, the Army has also issued a statement saying that India's 70th Independence Day on Tuesday was "well celebrated all across border areas." It also confirmed that, "sweets were exchanged between the Indian Army and PLA troops in multiple border locations, including in the area of Doklam." The army was apparently countering reports of a fresh clash breaking out with Chinese troops in the Doklam Plateau, where a nearly two-month-long stand-off over a trilateral border terroritorial ownership is still on. The army also refuted reports appearing in some media that both sides had commenced "Flag Meetings" to resolve the issue in Doklam and Ladakh that has strained bilateral relations between the two nations. It said, " Report of flag meeting started is incorrect." These comments attributed to the Ministry of Defence and the Army came hours after Indian and Chinese soldiers were reportedly involved in an altercation in the Pangong Lake area, further raising tensions between the two countries. Sources said Indian Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel reportedly formed a human chain and foiled a bid by Chinese troops to enter Indian territory on foot in Ladakh, near the Pangong Lake. Chinese soldiers tried to enter Indian territory from Finger Four and Finger Five posts along the banks of Pangong Lake in Ladakh between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., but on both occasions, they were reportedly thwarted by alert Indian troops It was also reported that several Chinese soldiers carried iron rods and stones, and in the ensuing melee, there were minor injuries on both sides. China has also said that it was not aware of reports of PLA soldiers entering Indian territory along the banks of the Pangong Lake in Ladakh. Asked to comment on the incident,Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hu Chunying said, "I am not aware of the information. The Chinese side is committed to peace and tranquillity of the China-India border. We urge the Indian side abide by the LAC and relevant conventions between the two sides." The two sides have frequently accused each other of intrusions into each other's territories, but clashes are rare. The two armies are already engaged in a standoff in the Doklam Plateau further east, in another part of their 3,500-kilometer-long unmarked mountain border. China has repeatedly asked India to unilaterally withdraw from the Doklam area, or else face the prospect of a military-related escalation. The trouble started in June when India sent troops to stop China building a road in the Doklam area, which is remote, uninhabited territory claimed by both China and India's ally Bhutan. New Delhi said it sent its troops because Chinese military activity in Doklam, near the trijunction of the borders of India, China and Bhutan, was a threat to the security of its own northeast region, especially in Sikkim. But Beijing has said India had no role to play in the area and diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis have not made much headway. Further updates are awaited. Indian forces comprised men from both the Army and the ITBP, which is deployed on border guarding duties from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh. While a brigadier led the Indian Army delegation, a senior colonel led the Chinese side for the meeting that began at about 4 PM on Wednesday. New Delhi: In a swift response to defuse a dangerously escalating situation sparked off by troops fracas on Tuesday, a meeting was held on Wednesday between officials of the Indian and Chinese armies at Chushul in Ladakh. The meeting, besides discussing normal issues, also took up Tuesdays incident and agreed to strengthen the existing mechanism to maintain peace and tranquillity in the region and also to take steps so that incidents like Tuesdays do not get repeated, an official source said, while adding that the meeting was pre-scheduled. While a brigadier led the Indian Army delegation, a senior colonel led the Chinese side for the meeting that began at about 4 PM on Wednesday. The meeting took place a day after an incident of fisticuffs and stone pelting was reported between Indian and Chinese troops on the northern bank of Pangong Tsa lake, in which two soldiers each from both sides were injured. According to agencies, at about 9 AM on Tuesday, Chinese soldiers, who had entered Indian territory, were intercepted near Finger Four, a disputed area which both India and China claim to be a part of their respective territory. After Chinese troopers found their path blocked by ITBP personnel who had formed a human chain, they began hurling stones, prompting a swift retaliation by Indian border guards. The situation was brought under control after the customary banner drill in which both sides hold banners before stepping back to their respective positions. Asked about the incident, defence minister Arun Jaitley told reporters: This is not a subject on which the government makes a comment on. While sources remained tight-lipped about Tuesdays incident, there were unconfirmed reports of unprecedented mobilisation involving more than 50 trucks of both the Indian and Chinese soldiers near the two spots where clashes took place. Indian forces comprised men from both the Army and the ITBP, which is deployed on border guarding duties from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh. According to reports, about 1,000 soldiers each were mobilised near the two spots in Finger Four and Finger Five on the northern bank of the scenic freshwater lake. Tension between India and China has peaked amid a war of words over the more than two-month-long standoff between the Indian and Chinese armies at Doka La, near the trijunction that separates Indias Sikkim, China and Bhutan. Meanwhile, in Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said she was not aware of the meeting, but added, We urge the Indian side to abide by the Line of Actual Control agreed upon in 1959 as well as relevant regulations and conventions between the two sides, and to earnestly safeguard peace and stability in the border area. There are areas along the border where India and China have differing perceptions of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) due to which transgressions occur. To resolve such issues, there is a well-established mechanism of Border Personnel Meetings (BPMs), flag meetings, Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) and diplomatic channels wherein both sides are guided by provisions of various agreements between India and China. Since 2003, India and China have appointed special envoys to thrash out border issues. Till date, 19 rounds of talks have taken place. The meeting would also being viewed as the launchpad for a united Opposition against the BJP-led NDA. New Delhi: Rebel JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav is all set to flex his muscles by hosting an Opposition meet apparently to save the composite culture of the country. Leaders from Congress, Samajwadi party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Trinamul Congress and the Left parties are expected to attend Mr Yadavs Sanjha Virasat Bachao Sammelan (save composite culture programme) in the national capital on Thursday. All Opposition leaders will be attending, he said. Congress, former Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury are expected to attend the meet. RJD, TMC, SP, BSP are also likely to send their representatives. All eyes are on the meeting as it would finally decide the political line Mr Yadav will be taking. So far he has continued to be in JD(U), while 21 of his loyalists have been suspended by the JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar. If Mr Yadav launches an open attack on Mr Kumar, he too could be sacked by the party. For now, Mr Yadav has said that the Sanjha Virasat Bachao Sammelan was not against anybody but in the interest of the country. Mr Yadav is expected to raise the issues of suicide of Rohith Vemula and the disappearance of JNU student Najeeb Ahmed and the agrarian crisis. However, sources close to Mr Yadav indicated that he has decided to come out openly against Mr Kumar. The meeting would also being viewed as the launchpad for a united Opposition against the BJP-led NDA. Sources revealed after Mr Kumar crossed over to the NDA, Mr Yadav was now trying to emerge as the face of a united Opposition. Despite his first subtle attempt to lead the united Opposition against the BJP-led NDA in the 2019 general elections, the TMC chief Mamata Banerjee has already made the move. It is believed now that one of the top regional satraps could possibly be the face of a united Opposition as Congress scion Rahul Gandhis stocks have reached a nadir after the partys total rout in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Rahul Gandhi cannot be the face of a united Opposition against the BJP. He lacks credibility among the voters, a TMC leader said. Meanwhile, Mr Yadav, while praising Mr Modis comments on violence in the name of faith, claimed that the PMs partymen across the country were not adhering to it. The Parsi community shares how they bring in the New Year. Come Parsi New Year and one can picture families and friends gathered together, laughing and chatting around a huge spread of authentic Parsi delicacies the simplicity of the mori dal, the delicious patrani machchi, the evergreen dhansak, and Mumbais favourite Parsi dish, the akoori in tow. But theres much more to the simple New Year celebrations than just the delicious cuisine. A usual Parsi New Year celebration begins with a family visit to the Fire Temple. Technically, it is the first day of our new year. So, we like to begin the year with offering prayers and being one with the family, explains Parinaz Buhariwala, a media professional from the city. Following the morning meeting, families often host an elaborate afternoon lunch with several Parsi delicacies on the menu. Enlisting the items on the menu, Parinaz explains that her family opts for a conventional Parsi meal. We go for a traditional meal with the entire family every possible person in the family makes a visit. At home, for Navroze, we cook the patrani machi, salli chicken, and mutton salli boli. For desserts, we choose between a cake or lagan nu custard, or both! she says, adding that the yellow dal rice is another must-have dish, since it is considered auspicious. For lawyer Benaaz Pherozshaw, the celebratory routine is a little different. We begin with a visit to the Fire Temple. Then, we get home, order a proper Parsi lunch and in the evening, we go for a simple Parsi play, she says. The lawyer elaborates on why she prefers a simple meal called from outside, My grandparents used to cook their own meal back in the day, but now we tend to take it easy on that day take a day off from everything. We arent given any leaves for New Year considering how most organisations are working on the day. And so, we find this is the best way to relax. Clinical audiologist and food blogger, Zenia Irani, says that even she and her family prefer to take an off in the literal sense. Our families come home, we eat and share a laugh. Then go off for a play. Usually it is at the NCPA or Sophias Auditorium they are usually the ones playing a Parsi production, she says. Zenia Iranis spread from last year Paurush Irani, cabin crew for an airlines company, also makes it a point to visit his neighbours. After we are done with the Fire Temple visit and the morning prayers, we visit the neighbours house, share a drink or two, talk out loud and laugh. Later in the evening, I pick up my guitar and have a jam session with my family a simple intimate performance for just them, he says. Media professional Jenaifer Sethna says that theirs is not a conventional Parsi household, but even so, the family makes it a point to meet every year. My father is a Parsi, but my mother is a South Indian. And so, she cannot really participate in the rituals, she says, adding that that doesnt mean she cannot be a part of the celebrations. The entire family tries to work around this we meet, eat, talk, laugh classic Parsi specialities, she laughs. Jenaifer Sethna with her family Hufrish Mehernosh Bamji also tends to follow more or less the same routine, Parsis are known for merriment and we do exactly that all day. In fact, we even push the younger generation to tag along with the celebrations and spend more time with us, she smiles. The Delhi Police crime branch acted on a tip off and conducted a raid to apprehend the duo from the spot. During the proceedings, the accused had denied the allegations against them claiming they were falsely implicated by the police, which was rejected by the court. (Representational image) New Delhi: A Delhi court has sentenced two men to 10 years in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on them for possessing over two kilos of heroin. The court handed down the jail term to the men while holding them guilty of provisions under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act while noting that they were illegally carrying a commercial quantity of the banned drug. Special NDPS Judge Satinder Kumar Gautam said that while the possession of the drug has been proved, the circumstances also established that the accused had the knowledge of concealment of contraband substance in their bags. "The prosecution has proved its case against accused Mohd Shahid and Aamir Khan for commission of offence under the NDPS Act for possessing 'Heroin' in commercial quantity without any permission or licence and in contravention of Section 8(c) (prohibition of producing and using banned drugs except medical purpose) of the Act," the judge said. According to the prosecution, Mohd Shahid and Amir Khan, residents of Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh respectively, had come here to supply heroin on June 9, 2011, near Sarai Kale Khan in south-east Delhi. The Delhi Police crime branch acted on a tip off and conducted a raid to apprehend the duo from the spot, it said, after which they searched them and found polythene bags stuffed with 2.20 kilogrammes of heroin. During the proceedings, the accused had denied the allegations against them claiming they were falsely implicated by the police, which was rejected by the court. Advises political leaders to keep errant sons indoors Govt to say no to contractual system. New Delhi: Deploring the tendencies to shield sons of politicians involved in crimes against women, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday called for a swift and certain judicial apparatus to tackle such cases. Referring to the recent Chandigarh stalking case, Mr Kejriwal advised the political leaders to keep their errant sons indoors instead of imposing restrictions on women. During his 14-minute Independence Day address at the Chhatrasal Stadium, Mr Kejriwal said that the state governments should ensure freedom for women instead of imposing restrictions on them. A politicians son, guilty of such crimes, should be awarded double the punishment as stipulated in statute books, he said. Son of a very influential leader was recently caught for committing crime against women. Another leader commented that women should not enture out at night. I wish to slap that leader, Mr Kejriwal said, adding that such politicians should instead keep their sons indoors if they cant keep them under control. The most important thing in such cases is deterrence. There should be certainty and swiftness when it comes to punishment. Now when a politicians son commits any such crime, the entire system comes together to shield him, he said. The Delhi CM said many countries, which got Independence after India, have raced ahead in terms of development as they invested more in education. We have been in government for the last two years. I derive the greatest satisfaction from our work in the education sector. We are in a way bringing revolution in the education sector. Poverty can be eliminated if we sincerely educate a generation, he said. In the backdrop of nine deaths inside the citys sewers within a month, the CM vowed to abolish the contractual system in certain areas like sanitation. He requested the BJP and the Congress to desist from politicking over the issue. He also urged lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal not to create hurdles in abolishing the exploitative system. The CM warned contractors of action if they do not mend their ways. We will abolish contractual system in areas that require regular employment throughout the year. For example, sanitation workers are required to do their job through the year. We will abolish contractual system in regular jobs. However, we will not change this system in areas of temporary employment, Mr Kejriwal said. He also said that his government had recently increased minimum wages by up to 37 per cent, which is the highest in the country. Dominated by a sizeable presence of the North Indian community, the actual population of ward number five is pegged at 36,241. Mumbai: The political temperatures have started rising ahead of the upcoming Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) election on August 20. Tension prevailed in the Narmada Nagar area of Bhayandar (east) on Monday night over the allegations of distribution of cash by the BJP candidates from ward number five. After allegations surfaced that the BJP candidates Rakesh Shah, Vandana Patil and Sriprakash Singh (Munna) were distributing cash to the voters, a huge crowd of the rival camp gathered outside Vaishali building and started shouting anti-BJP slogans. Following this, the Navghar police immediately reached the spot and ensured a safe passage for the BJP candidates. We have noted the incident in the station diary. However further action, if needed will follow only after a detailed report is filed by the election officials. said a senior police inspector R.E. Bhalsingh. While nothing incriminating has been found yet, we will soon submit our report to the returning officer supported by the video footage recorded by our personnel, said an official from the Election Commissions flying squad. While local members of Shiv Sena have alleged that the authorities were trying to cover up the matter, the BJP candidates have claimed that they were unnecessarily dragged into the controversy by the members of the opposition camp. According to the ECs rules, if the inspection team has any suspicion or received any complaint that along with the campaign material, cash amount is to be distributed among the electorate the amount should be seized, and action should be taken against the person concerned, under the provisions of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Dominated by a sizeable presence of the North Indian community, the actual population of ward number five is pegged at 36,241. However, the electoral strength stands at 29,316 16,196 male and 13,120 female voters. While the MNS, Congress, BVA and NCP have also fielded their candidates from this ward, the BJP panel is entangled in a fierce battle with their Shiv Sena counterparts Rajshree Walunj, Kanchan Laad,Vishal Raghunath Patil and Rohit Patel. SEC on awareness drive In an attempt to help voters become familiar with the functioning of the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM), the state election commission (SEC) has embarked on an awareness drive in the city. Apart from uploading videos in this context on social media platforms, the SEC has adopted another unique initiative. Poll personnel armed with dummy EVMs have started stationing themselves at strategic locations in the twin-city, to educate, orient and inform the local electorate about the functioning, usage and advantages of the EVMs and solve related queries if the voters raise any. The campaign assumes significance as the city will participate in the four-panel voting system for the first time and every EVM related to the panel will be colour coded, said municipal commissioner Dr. Naresh Gite. From Aug. 10 no area retains silence zone status. Mumbai: The Maharashtra government on Wednesday filed an affidavit in the Bombay high court saying that from August 10, no area of the state will retain the status of being a silence zone till the state issues further notification specifying the silence zones. Therefore, hospitals, religious places, educational institutions and courts are not silence zones currently. According to the state, the Union government recently issued a gazette on the amended Noise Pollution Rules, which has given the state powers to decide silence zones in their territory and this gazette came into effect on August 10. However, the HC has specified that till the state government issues a further notification specifying silence zones, the courts earlier orders pertaining to noise-restriction around places like hospitals, religious places, educational institutions and courts, will remain in force. It has asked the state to file a compliance report on observance of its earlier orders related to noise restrictions during Tuesdays Dahi Handi celebrations as it was observed during this period when there were no specified silence zones, as per the government. A division bench of Justice Abhay Oka and Justice R.I. Chagala was hearing the compliance of its order, which were given by the court while hearing bunch of petitions filed against noise pollution in the state. Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni submitted affidavit of Archana Shirke, an under secretary of the state environment ministry before the court and also informed it about the centres official gazette. The affidavit stated, On August 10, the union ministry of environment, forest and climate change had issued an official gazette which stated that Noise Pollution Rule of 2000 has been substantially amended. If further stated, As per the amended rules, any area cannot be considered as a silence zone until and unless specific declaration to that effect is made or issued by the state government. After hearing this court specified that till the state government issues a notification in this regard, their earlier order of noise pollution will remain unaffected and asked the state to file compliance report of its order during the Dahi Handi festival. Meanwhile, Sumaira Abdul Ali of Ahwaz foundation informed the court that two violations occurred during Dahi Handi festival in Mumbai. The court asked petitioners to go through states affidavit and file a reply. It has kept the matter for further hearing on August 22. The government has to file its response within two weeks. Mumbai: The Bombay HC on Wednesday restrained the Maharashtra government from granting permission for bullock cart races until the government framed rules to ensure that no cruelty to animals was involved. A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice N.M. Jamdar said that as the government till date had not framed rules as envisaged in the amendment to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, it could not grant permission. The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Pune resident, Ajay Marathe, that brought to the courts notice a bullock cart race to be organised in his district on Thursday, and sought a stay on the same. Following in the footsteps of Tamil Nadu which enacted a law to regularise its rural sport, Jallikattu, the Maharashtra assembly in April this year passed legislation for resumption of bullock cart races across the state. The races had been banned since 2014 on grounds that they caused pain and suffering to bullocks. On Wednesday, Chief Justice Chellur said, Till rules are framed under the act, the state government cannot grant permission for bullock cart races. Even if and after rules are framed, we will first go through the same and only after our nod, the races will be permitted. The state is obligated to evolve a mechanism or procedure on how it proposes to ensure that no harm or suffering is caused to animals, she said. The court referred to the Supreme Court order saying, As per the apex court order, bulls cannot be viewed as performing animals because they are not fit for that purpose. They are not horses. The government has to file its response within two weeks. The petitioner on Wednesday informed the court that under the amended Act, anyone found harming animals would face a sentence of maximum three years or fine of Rs 5 lakh. Disobedience of an unjust law is fine, if followed by submission to its consequences, under the rule of law. So when does hubris the corrosive comfort of undiluted power overtake a government? Conventional wisdom points to three early red flags. First, when routine tasks are ignored for grand ambitions. Second, when party cadres act out of entitlement rather than commitment. Third, when rant replaces reason as public outreach. Has this already happened to the BJP government? First, consider the recurrent trail of routine lapses. Take the embarrassment in July of being unable to get the non-controversial bill to give constitutional status to the Other Backward Castes Commission passed in the Rajya Sabha because BJP MPs did not even bother to attend in sufficient numbers. There is no glory in floor management. Ergo, it gets overlooked. Next, consider the election of Ahmed Patel to the Rajya Sabha from Gujarat. The strategy to keep him out was brilliant. But shoddy execution, or worse, deliberate sabotage, let down the BJP. Finally, the mass death of children in a Gorakhpur hospital. The hallmark of the RSS has been effective management during emergencies and disasters. That oxygen cylinders couldnt be swiftly organised speaks volumes of how low the cadres have sunk. Second, consider contempt for the rule of law. Mohan Bhagwat, the RSS supremo, violated the law in Kerala by unfurling the national flag, on Independence Day, at a school in Palghat, contravening a restraining order by the district collector. The order was perverse, based on pique and politics rather than prudence. The manner of its service just prior to the occasion was hurried and amateurish. But it was a legal order and anyone violating it is liable to be arrested. Mohan Bhagwat got away. But the lesson he taught the schoolkids and party cadres was that no law is sacrosanct if you are powerful enough. Gandhiji would not have approved. Disobedience of an unjust law is fine, if followed by submission to its consequences, under the rule of law. This contempt for the law is visible in the cadre vigilantes protecting cows, supporting unruly, disruptive religious yatras and the demonisation of alternative voices. Add to that, the raging testosterones of a BJP princeling in Haryana and you have party cadres which align more with gaali (abuse) and goli (bullets) rather than the galle lagana (hug) that Prime Minister Modi has espoused as the leitmotif of New India. Third, let us consider why no one came away inspired from Red Fort this year. The Prime Ministers speech was a prime example of zombie behaviour, where the mind is elsewhere but the motions are acted out. The wide ramparts of Delhis historic Red Fort have set the stage for Prime Ministers to grandstand every year since 1947. Two (Lal Bahadur Shastri and Morarji Desai) barely had a chance to give a second speech before they were gone. Four others (Charan Singh, V.P. Singh, H.D. Dewe Gowda and Inder Gujral) were even more transient, managing not more than a single speech each from Red Fort. One Rajiv Gandhi, a young, stunning-looking charmer was suddenly elevated to the position but never quite unbuckled the pilots seat he used to occupy earlier. Manmohan Singh had a decade to hone up his act. But he knew that he was a mere seat-warmer for the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty having been taught his lesson earlier, when party workers sabotaged his election bid to the Lok Sabha. Then P. V. Narasimha Rao a friendless, private man was not given to making big public gestures from the Red Fort. His political games were deadly effective, but played entirely in privacy. Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Narendra Modi are the only three Prime Ministers who have had the mandate and the charisma to use the ramparts to strut their act. Mr Modi thrilled us in 2014 with his energy and his earthy enthusiasm at reaching out to people quite a change from the taciturn Manmohan Singh or the imperiously distant Sonia Gandhi. In 2015, he filled in the vacant spaces in his act with data, slogans and acronyms. We were impressed. In 2016, we were still agreeable to look kindly on him, given that the economy was racing along and government performance was projected as trending sharply upwards. By 2017, the act was flat as yesterdays soda. This is remarkable considering that Indian testosterones are racing at the government effectively holding off the Chinese muscle-flexing at Doklam and now in Ladakh; Pakistan is a mere vassal of the Dragon and economically hollowed out Western powers are fawning at our doors for Indian business. International acquiescence has bred much-needed confidence. But it is disquieting that in domestic policy it has led to complacence, drift and distance from the public. Mr Modis speech was rambling, glib, unnecessarily argumentative and just plan stale. The turban was way too shiny to be classy. The stance too casual to be purposive. The look too staged. Very confusing was the discrete use of the terms Bharat, India and Hindustan. Hindustan was used in the context of pledging support for the victims of the irresponsible Muslim practice of triple talaq. Bharat was referred to as the mata (mother). But it is New India that we seek to build. Meaning? Bharat, India or Hindustan, all three remember earlier episodes of hubris disconnects between reality and rhetoric which ended badly for us. In 1964, we discovered, India needed the world, not the other way around. In 1975, we realised Indira needed India, but we didnt need her. In 2017 (Delhi municipal and Uttar Pradesh elections), a shallow social revolution met its downfall. In 2004, we tired of using the stock market as a metric of progress. The metrics proposed for New India are similarly flawed. Corruption, poverty, filth, early death and unemployment are long-term outcomes, unachievable by 2022. Focus on the essentials, Mr Prime Minister: Ending poverty by providing jobs and social security; improve results in education and health; build infrastructure for the 21st century and professionalise your government. We supported you in 2014. We want to do so again in 2019. But is your party up to this task? India is the sixth largest economy in the world in terms of GDP, and the third largest by purchasing power parity. Seventy years ago, India made its tryst with destiny, but it came at the cost of the countrys Partition. Twenty-four years later, in 1971, the former East Pakistan broke away and formed the sovereign nation state of Bangladesh. The history of 70 years of the Indian subcontinent saw the birth of three nations. Though sharing a common history, common legacies and regional cultural identities, the three nations had different and distinctive narratives in politics, economic and socio-cultural developments in the post-colonial history of the subcontinent. In India, democracy has taken deep roots over the last 70 years. The establishment of democratic institutions like Parliament and the state legislatures, supremacy of the Constitution, an independent judiciary; and democratic processes like holding regular elections are taken for granted by generations born in post-Independent India. In Pakistan, overwhelmingly rich and powerful feudal landlords, often overlapping and having common interests with an equally powerful military, resulted in Army coups subverting the democratic processes. The periodic attempts to establish and return to the democratic political process have been rather shaky, with military establishments having an overpowering influence over successive civilian governments. Pakistan was created on religious grounds. But religion alone could not be a cementing factor to keep the two factions of West and East Pakistan together. The unfair distribution of power and resources between West and East Pakistan, the assertion of regional and linguistic identity of the people of East Pakistan and the atrocities meted out to East Pakistani citizens by the West Pakistan army further divided the subcontinent, resulting in the creation of Bangladesh. Bangladesh also has its history of bloody Army coups. The assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the driving force behind the Bangladesh independence movement and the first President of the country, by the Army would always remain a shame in the history of Bangladesh. Sheikh Mujibs death followed by a series of counter-coups and political assassinations plunged the country into decades of turmoil. From the 1990s onwards, the process of restoration of democracy started in Bangladesh. The current Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, faces the challenge of rapid radicalisation of certain sections of society. The past 70 years have witnessed four full-fledged wars in the subcontinent, three between India and Pakistan, the last one in 1971 being the Bangladesh war of independence, and one between India and China. There have been innumerable political assassinations, specially in Pakistan and Bangladesh. India lost Mahatma Gandhi to the forces of hate, and two Prime Ministers to the forces of terrorism. In Pakistan, hanging of democratically-elected Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto by President Zia-ul Haq spelt the death of democracy. Destiny did not spare Gen. Zia either. He died in a plane crash thats largely believed to be engineered. Bhuttos daughter, former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated by terrorists while on a campaign tour. Any assessment of Indias achievements in the past 70 years should be seen in the context of this bloody and turbulent history of the Indian subcontinent. The biggest achievement of India has definitely been the establishment of democracy. There have been 16 general elections and innumerable state and local body elections in India since Independence. Unlike our neighboring countries, the elections have generally been peaceful, and transition from one government to another, despite a change in the ruling party, has always been smooth. In the last Lok Sabha elections, 55.38 crore people voted, making it the largest election in the world in terms of participation of voters electing their representatives. India is the sixth largest economy in the world in terms of GDP, and the third largest by purchasing power parity. Its not a mean achievement given the fact that during colonial rule India suffered from a massive drainage of wealth. In 1947, 75 per cent of Indias population had been below the poverty line, coupled with a literacy rate of only 18 per cent. By 2012, the percentage of the population below the poverty line reduced to 22 per cent, and the literacy rate increased to 74 per cent according to the 2011 census. In 1947-48, the revenue receipts in the Central Budget was a mere Rs 171 crores. In 2017-18, it is estimated to be `15,15,771.08 crores. What is remarkable about Indias growth story is that most of it has been achieved through the generation of indigenous resources. Unlike many other developing countries that depend primarily on international funding and loans, Indias development model is focused on self-reliance. One of our biggest success stories has been to achieve self-sufficiency in food production to feed an expanding population, and thus ensuring food security. The task of feeding 1.25 billion people is daunting for any nation, and without ensuring food security of such a vast number of population, any nation could be held hostage to the mercy of others. One of the most notable measures in this direction was the Green Revolution, at the end of which India transformed from a food-importing to a food-exporting nation. A self-reliant economic growth model has helped India to maintain independence in its foreign policies. Whether spearheading the Nonaligned Movement during the Cold War, or the refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which India sees as unequal and unfair, India has always been able to withstand international pressures due to its resilient economy and the sound policies of its governments. On the flip side, we need to achieve far more in the social sectors, primarily in health and education. Though the percentage of the population below the poverty line has reduced drastically, in terms of sheer numbers its still huge. The glaring gender disparity and the unequal distribution of wealth remain major impediments towards creating an egalitarian society. The management of internal security and balancing conflicting interests arising out of the diversity of ethnic groups and communities will always remain a challenge for any government. Finally, any ideology that propagates divisive politics is like a time-bomb that could destroy the social fabric of India. While 70 years is a long time in human life, its not really much in the life of a nation. India has achieved a lot in the last 70 years, theres still a lot more left to be done. Nation-building is really an ongoing project, and India remains a work-in-progress. The writer is chief spokesperson, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee, and AICC national media panellist The four have been charged with criminal breach of trust and computer-related offences. The hack included the theft of proprietary information, such as programming. Indian police have arrested four people on suspicion of leaking an unaired episode of HBO's hit series "Game of Thrones", police in the city of Mumbai said. The wildly popular fantasy drama is already the most pirated show on television and has been bedevilled by repeated leaks of episodes before they air. According to police, three of the accused work for Prime Focus Technologies, a Mumbai-based company that processes the series for Indian streaming website Hotstar. The fourth is a former employee. The leaking of the episode on August 4, titled "The Spoils of War," was separate from a recent hack on HBO. That hack included the theft of proprietary information, such as programming. "We received a complaint from Prime Focus Technologies regarding the leaking of episode 4, series 7," Akbar Pathan, deputy commissioner of police in the Mumbai cyber crime unit, told Reuters. "In the investigation it was revealed that four persons were involved." The four have been charged with criminal breach of trust and computer-related offences. They appeared in court and were remanded until August 21. Emmy Award-winning Game of Thrones, which has a huge following in South Asia, is distributed in India by Star India, a subsidiary of Twenty-First Century Fox Inc. Keita is current chairman of the G5 Sahel group a coalition of five western-backed Saharan countries that have pledged to fight terror. The G5 Sahel is united in the face of terrorism said Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. (Photo: AFP) Ouagadougou: Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita made a trip to Burkina Faso on Tuesday after terror attacks on both countries, declaring the Sahel nations were united against jihadism. Keita is current chairman of the so-called G5 Sahel group a coalition of five western-backed Saharan countries that have pledged to fight terror. "The G5 Sahel is united in the face of terrorism," Keita said in a statement to the press at the presidential palace in the capital Ouagadougou, alongside Burkinabe President Roch Marc Christian Kabore. "We will not give up, they won't scare us," Keita said. "They will not succeed in making us cower in our homes." On Sunday, 18 people including at least eight foreigners were shot dead in a Turkish restaurant in Ouagadougou in the latest attack in West Africa to target a spot popular with expatriates. There has been no claim of responsibility for the assault. The restaurant is just 200 metres (yards) from a hotel and cafe targeted in an assault in January 2016 that left 30 people dead and 71 wounded, many of them foreigners. That attack was claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). On Monday, gunmen attacked two United Nations bases in Mali, killing a peacekeeper, a contractor and seven Malians. A gun attack in the early morning at a base in Douentza, in the central region of Mopti, was followed within hours by a gun-and-grenade assault a camp in Timbuktu in the northwest. The "G5 Sahel" coalition gathers Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger countries that have been badly hit by jihadist attacks but whose military resources are thin. France is pushing for the G5 to set up a joint force of 5,000 men, but the plan has met with worries over funding. An estimated 400 million euros ($471 million) is required to make it operational. Tillerson would not go into more detail as to how N Korea could demonstrate a commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. Washington: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday, after North Korea's Kim Jong-Un postponed a threat to fire missiles towards the US territory of Guam, that Washington remains ready for talks. But the top US diplomat said it would be up to Kim when such negotiations would begin, having previously insisted Pyongyang must demonstrate that it accepts it will have to give up its nuclear program. "I have no response to his decisions at all at this time," Tillerson said, when asked about Kim's decision to hold off. "We continue to be interested in finding ways to get to dialogue, but that's up to him." Speaking after the launch of a religious freedom report, Tillerson said he would not go into more detail as to how North Korea could demonstrate a commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. "North Korea would have to take some very serious steps and show us that they are serious about their interest and intent in denuclearizing the Korean peninsula," Tillerson's spokeswoman Heather Nauert said. "It would have to do a lot more. Secretary Tillerson has talked a lot about that. He's also said 'I'm not negotiating my way back to the negotiating table,' and North Korea knows exactly what it has to do." He has previously said Pyongyang must halt ballistic missile and nuclear tests for an unspecified amount of time before negotiations can begin on how to halt the stand-off and any threat of US military action. Earlier Tuesday, the unpredictable and isolated North Korean leader had been briefed by his missile forces on a "plan for an enveloping fire at Guam," according to the North's official KCNA news agency. But afterwards, according to KCNA, he decided to postpone the operation to "watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees" and not to go ahead unless the US commits more "reckless actions." Tillerson had said the Chinese government tortures and imprisons thousands for their religious beliefs. Washington: Religious freedom is under attack in Pakistan where minorities like Sikhs, Christians and Hindus remained concerned over governments inadequate action to address forced conversions to Islam. Members of religious minority communities said that there continued to be inconsistent application of laws safeguarding minority rights and enforcement of protections of religious minorities at both the federal and provincial levels by the federal ministry of law, justice, and human rights and its provincial counterparts, said the report released by secretary of state Rex Tillerson. Religious minorities said they remained concerned that government action to address coerced conversions of religious minorities to Islam was inadequate, the report, first under the Trump administration, said. Religious freedom is under attack in Pakistan, where more than two dozen are on death row or serving a life imprisonment for blasphemy, he said in his speech as he released the 2016 International Religious Freedom report. China hit back on Wednesday at criticism by Mr Tillerson of its record on religious freedom, saying the US was not perfect and should be looking after its own affairs rather than making baseless accusations. Mr Tillerson had said the Chinese government tortures and imprisons thousands for their religious beliefs, citing the targeting of Falun Gong members, Uighur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China fully respected and protected freedom of religion and belief. A Chinese state-run daily, Global Times said 'India has also interfered with the diplomacy of Nepal and other south Asian countries'. India and China have been locked in a prolonged standoff in the area in the Sikkim sector since June 16 (Photo: Representational/PTI) Beijing: As India celebrated its 71st Independence Day on Tuesday, Chinese media called India a typical example of regional hegemon, which controls the South Asian countries like Bhutan and Nepal amid military standoff at Sikkim. A Chinese state-run daily, Global Times, in an editorial said, India behaving like a bully, which has taken the sovereign state of Sikkim into its territory and with so-called protection of Bhutan, limiting its sovereignty. India and China are engaged in a standoff in Sikkim since June 16, when China attempted to construct a road at Doklam, a disputed tri-junction area between India-Bhutan-China, which originally belongs to Bhutan, but China claims it as its territory. Read: China capable of wiping out Indian troops: Chinese media on standoff The editorial also blamed India for not allowing Bhutan to establish diplomatic relations with five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, a relationship that no large country has with a small country till this day. Global Times, which is known for its strong criticism against India, mentioned, India has also interfered with the diplomacy of Nepal and other south Asian countries. It said that China is way more powerful than India, but still it doesnt project a sphere of influence. Beijing doesnt control any country like India controls Bhutan, it added. Read: Chinese media divided over outcome of Doval's visit amid Sikkim standoff On India's 71st anniversary of Independence, Global Times said, August 15 is not just a day for pride. However, Indians should also reflect on what they have done and feel shame for their actions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his address to nation from Red Fort on Independence Day, had said, India is capable of tackling any kind of security challenge, be it the sea or borders. Modi made this comment at the backdrop of ongoing military standoff with China at Sikkim. Meanwhile, Indian border guards on Tuesday foiled an attempt by Chinese soldiers to enter Indian territory, along the banks of famous Pangong lake in Ladakh resulting in stone pelting that caused minor injuries to people of both the sides. The NDA government has time and again said it wants to resolve the Doklam standoff through diplomatic channels. However, China has refused to hold talks unless India withdraws its troops from the Sikkim sector. Nepal is funding one of its 3 new rail lines, while the other 2 are receiving aid from India and China. Janakpur (Nepal): Three years after its last train hit the buffers, landlocked Nepal is building a new railway network to boost its ailing economy -- helped by the rivalry between powerful neighbours China and India. The railway to India was a lifeline for the small southern frontier town of Janakpur, used to import everything from sweets to clothes and cosmetics and fuelling a vibrant border economy. But it fell into disrepair after years of neglect and since 2014, the train has sat stationary, its rusting carcass now a playground for local children, while Janakpur's markets are empty. "When the train was running, we would have a lot of business. I was easily providing (for) my family," said Shyam Sah, whose small family-run cosmetics shop has suffered an 80 per cent drop in profits since the railway closed. Now it is being rebuilt with Indian backing, one of three new rail lines -- one funded by China in the north and a third by Nepal itself -- that the country hopes will help boost international trade. Read: First freight train linking UK to China covers 12,000km in 20 days Nepal remains largely isolated from the global economy, dependent on aid and remittances. Growth slowed dramatically after a 2015 earthquake but is expected to normalise at 5 per cent from 2018 -- one of the slowest rates in South Asia -- according to the World Bank. In recent years it has courted its two large neighbours for investment in an attempt to plug itself into a rail network that links the far eastern reaches of Asia with Europe. But geography is not on its side. The Himalayas form a natural border between Nepal and China, leaving it largely dependent on India -- with which it shares a 1,400 kilometre open border -- for the majority of its imports and exports. In recent years, Kathmandu has tilted towards Beijing as part of a nationalist drive to decrease the country's reliance on Delhi. China has responded, ramping up its diplomatic ties with Nepal -- mostly through large-scale infrastructure investments. In 2017, Beijing pledged USD 8.3 billion to build roads and hydropower plants in Nepal, dwarfing India's commitments of USD 317 million. Feasibility studies are also underway for a Beijing- backed railway connecting Kathmandu to Lhasa in Tibet, cutting straight through the Himalayas at an estimated cost of $8 billion. Ankit Panda, senior editor at The Diplomat magazine, said that could be a game-changer for the small country. "The rail line with China holds potential depending on the demand side of the equation, on how China allows Nepal to leverage that link for commercial growth opportunities," he said. But it has strained relations between India and China, who are currently locked in a tense standoff on the remote Himalayan plateau of Doklam in Bhutan sparked by a new road being built by China. "China knows that its chequebook diplomacy with the smaller Asian states is a sore point with India, which simply cannot afford to put up the kind of capital outlays that the Chinese promise," said Panda. The project is part of its "One Belt, One Road" initiative, a massive global infrastructure programme to connect Chinese companies to new markets around the world that critics see as a geopolitical powerplay. India has snubbed the plan and skipped a summit in Beijing in May. Read: History unearthed as London's mail rail line opens to public Delhi is funding the reconstruction of the Janakpur line, rebuilding the tracks to carry broad-gauge trains that will allow it to connect to the rest of the subcontinent's expansive rail network. Some experts warn that Nepal has become a de-facto battleground in a geopolitical struggle for regional supremacy between India and China -- a position that Kathmandu must navigate carefully. "None of them (smaller Asian nations) want to become a de facto satellite state," said Michael Auslin, Asia expert and fellow with the Hoover Institution. "But by having both India and China essentially compete over it, from one perspective it makes it a battleground, from another perspective it means that Nepal is playing the two off against each other," he added. Meanwhile, the people of Janakpur are eagerly awaiting the rail revival that will connect them to India once again. "When the train stopped, everything finished. Business has gone down for all of the city," said bookshop owner Rajendra Kusuwah. "After the new rail comes, it will open doors for development." Indaryas Ghulam died under mysterious circumstances in police custody. He had burns and cuts on his body. He was one the 42 people arrested for lynching two Muslims after the Youhanabad church attacks. The prisoner could have saved his life had he denied Christ. Lahore (AsiaNews) Pakistan's Christians have taken to streets to protest the death of Indaryas Ghulam, a 38-year-old Christian who died in mysterious circumstances whilst in police custody in Lahore Jail. The death occurred on Sunday, on the eve of the countrys 70th independence anniversary. Ghulam was one of 42 Christians arrested on charges of lynching two Muslims suspected of taking part in the Taliban attack against two churches in Youhanabad (Lahore district) on 15 March 2015 that left 19 people dead and more than 70 wounded. He was also one the prisoners whom Prosecutor Syed Anees Shah had tried to bribe, promising release in exchange of reneging Christ. He could have saved his life, but decided to bear witness to his faith onto death. Ghulam, who had been sentenced to death by hanging for his alleged involvement in the beating of the two Muslims, had always maintained his innocence. News about his death came from the British Pakistani Christian Association (BPCA). The prison administration attributed his death to poor health; he had tuberculosis. But his wife Shabana and daughter Shumir, who saw the body, said that he had burns and cuts everywhere, clear signs of torture and of the brutality to which he had been subjected. What is more, they add that although he was severely ill, he never received adequate medical care behind the bars. "Indaryas Ghulam is a Christian martyr, whose sacrifice must remind all of us of the need to strive for justice, said BPCA president Wilson Chowdhry. Although he was innocent and endured atrocious sufferings, he chose death in lieu of the freedom offered in exchange for conversion to Islam." "His brave example and that of so many other innocent push us to oppose the tyranny of Islamists in Pakistan and focus on how the [Christian] minority lives in the country." According to activists who took to the streets, "it is difficult to celebrate independence, since it has created a nation with double standards in politics, law and everyday life, a nation in which Christians are second class". They also complain that Ghulam is not the first Christian to die under torture in police custody. Four others died before him. The first was Robert Danish, killed in September 2009; followed by Qamar David, assassinated in March 2011; Zubair Rashid, in March 2015; and Liaquat Masih, who died in January 2016. For Irans official news agency, the visit is "unprecedented". Turkish media consider it a "milestone" in relations between Tehran and Ankara. Irans top Revolutionary Guards official will meet Turkeys president and defence minister. For analysts and experts, despite its defeats the Islamic state is still a threat to the future of Syria and Iraq. Ankara (AsiaNews) Iran's chief of staff arrived in Ankara Tuesday for "unprecedented" talks with Turkey's leadership reportedly aimed at narrowing differences on the Syria crisis and coordinating policy on Iraq. Both countries continue to suffer from the violence of the Islamic State (IS) group despite its defeats and territorial losses. Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps military commander General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri is due to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli, and his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar during his three-day visit. In Turkey, pro-government and state-run media gave wide coverage to the visit. The Turkish Daily Sabah, citing diplomatic sources in Ankara, described the meetings as a "milestone" in relations between Iran and Turkey, adding that this would not have been possible unless both sides were willing to make deals on both Syria and Iraq. For its part, Iran's official IRNA news agency described the visit as "unprecedented" in the history of bilateral relations. "This trip was necessary for better consultation and cooperation on various military and regional issues," Bagheri was quoted as saying before his departure. He cited border security and the fight against terror as the main issues. Yet relations between overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim Turkey, a secular state, and the mainly Shia Islamic Republic of Iran have on occasion been tense in the last years. Erdogan has sometimes lashed out at the rise of "Persian nationalism" in the region, especially in Iraq. Turkey and Iran lie on opposing sides of the Syrian conflict, with Ankara seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad, allegedly through support of jihadi groups, whilst Tehran is one of Assads key allies. Nevertheless, Turkey and Russia have been cooperating more Syria in recent months, ending the conflict in Aleppo and co-sponsoring peace talks to solve the crisis in Astana (Kazakhstan), which have taken place along with UN-sponsored talks in Geneva, Switzerland. With its anti-Assad rhetoric toned down, Ankara now appears especially concerned about the presence of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in the border area with Syria. Although an ally of the United States, the YPG is considered by Turkey as terror group and the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a deadly three-decade insurgency in the Turkish southeast. Both Turkey and Iran have substantial Kurdish minorities and they vehemently oppose a plan by Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region to organise a referendum on independence later this year. Meanwhile, analysts and experts note that, despite its military setbacks, the Islamic State group still represents a major threat to Syria and Iraq. The jihadist group "is the illustration violent, long and complex of the dystrophy that reigns in Iraq", said Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou, professor of international history at Geneva's Graduate Institute. What is more, divisions across political, religious and ethnic lines might give jihadis a boost, said Mathieu Guidere, an expert on jihadist organisations. In Syria, the picture is even more complicated and the fight goes far beyond the threat of the Islamic State. The challenge to rebuild and stabilise the Arab country will be even greater. For the Islamic State, "the key words now are reorganisation and redeployment", said Guidere. Officials inspected the camp and tried to interrogate the children. This is the first time an Orthodox clergyman I charged with breaking the Law on Religious Activities and Religious Associations. Astana (AsiaNews/Fergana) An orthodox priest has been accused of violating the Law on Religious Activities and Religious Associations" by holding religious meetings in unregistered places. Vladimir Vorontsov, rector of the parish of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God, went on trial in Merke, a town in Jambyl Region, southern Kazakhstan. An anonymous source had reported him to the police, saying that the clergyman with children and some parents was taking part in a Sunday school prayer at a camp in the mountains. On 2 August, officials from the local government, police and National Security Committee (NSC) travelled to the camp for an inspection. Initially, the authorities laid charges against Fr Vorontsov for extremism, illegal detention of minors, and smuggling religious literature. Officials tried to interrogate the children, and only a phone call from the deputy head of the regional administration convinced them to stop and leave, allowing camp participants to continue their vacation. However, two days later, Fr Vorontsov was notified that he was in breach of administrative rules and on 6 August he was summoned to appear before a court to respond to charges of holding religious meetings in inappropriate places. Under Kazakh law, religious functions must be held in a place of worship. For religious minorities (Protestants, Hare Krishna, certain Muslim groups), this means, for example, fines and administrative detention for praying in private dwellings. However, this is the first time that such a measure is applied to a representative of the Orthodox Church, the second largest religious denomination in Kazakhstan. The regional Religious Affairs administration summoned Orthodox clergy to appear before them on 10 August to discuss the case. "The conversation was tense," Vorontsov said. Department chief Omarov treated us as guilty subordinates. The Religious Affairs administration did nothing to resolve this situation, to reconcile." In an interview with Esquire.kz, Fr Vorontsov said that the authorities did not like the fact that he had set up a Sunday school and opposed the felling of some ancient trees. At the same timer, Vorontsov noted that the incident was not a case of "national and religious oppression", but a wrong interpretation of the law. "I still trust the laws of my country," the clergyman said. Orthodox Christians are the second largest religious community in the country after Muslims who follow the Hanafi school. The country has 3,464 places of worship: 2,550 are mosques, 294 Orthodox churches, and 198 Catholic churches. Recently, Kazakhstan has tightened controls on religions to counter the rise of radicalism. Kim Jong-un holds off on his threats against Guam. Tillerson says the US is open to talks with North Korea. South Korea, China and Russia continue to urge calm and demand no military action. Seoul (AsiaNews/Agencies) After a week of fiery tensions and threats of mutual destruction, Washington and Pyongyang have taken on a more conciliatory note. North Korean media have reported that the countrys military has presented leader Kim Jong-un with plans to launch missiles into waters near Guam. But the latter said that he would hold off for now, waiting to see what the crazy Americans plan to do. Almost as if reacting to this, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson yesterday said that the United States remains ready for talks with North Korea, but continues to demand that Pyongyang give up its nuclear programme. South Korean President Moon Jae-in has also waded into the controversy to reduce tensions between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un, two unpredictable leaders. The South Korean leader urged the US not to launch an attack on the Korean peninsula without its consent, saying "no-one may decide to take military action without the consent" of the South. Speaking about the crisis, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a phone conversation Tuesday with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov that the two countries should permit no one to stir up an incident on their doorstep. The ministry quoted Lavrov as saying tensions could rise again with the US and South Korea set to start large military exercises on 21 August. He said a resolution of the dispute through military force was completely unacceptable. Philippines Foreign Affairs spokesperson Robespierre Bolivar has announced that the Philippines has invited Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to attend the Association of the South East Asian Nations leaders summit in November. The Philippines also announced the invitation issued by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to attend the East Asia Summit in November as the guest of the chair, Bolivar said at a press briefing. The Philippines is chair of the ASEAN this year. Members of the 10-nation regional bloc take turns at chairmanship. Bolivar also said that the two countries were able to discuss the future direction of their partnership during the meeting. Last April, Ambassador Marciano Paynor, Malacanang protocols chief, said US President Donald Trump has also personally indicated over the phone that he is coming to the Philippines to attend the ASEAN summit in November. The main summit in November will be attended by other leaders from the fast-growing region. Paynor said member states as well as neighboring countries like South Korea and New Zealand are expected to attend the leaders summit. Trudeau last visited the country in November 2015 for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Leaders Meeting, hosted by Aquino administration. This was the first APEC summit he attended. Meanwhile, Canada has pledged to provide a USD10 million scholarship program for Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) students and professionals in the next five years. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland said this initiative aims to strengthen people to people ties between the country and ASEAN through educational exchanges. This program will be open to all ASEAN countries. It will equip students and mid-career professionals with a particular focus on women to provide them critical knowledge and skills to help them contribute in the fight against poverty, she said. Guest Commentary By Mayank Chhaya The problem with issuing a dire ultimatum as a first response to a traditionally bellicose regime is that the one issuing it is boxed in. That could well be the problem that President Donald Trump could likely face as he deals with North Koreas supreme leader Kim Jong-Uns increasingly aggressive moves threatening the United States. In a statement that is said to have taken the national security establishment by surprise, the US president said: North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. This came in the aftermath of unconfirmed reports that US intelligence had learned that Pyongyang has produced miniaturised nuclear warheads that can be mounted on a missile. Through the retaliatory threat of unleashing fire and fury like the world has never seen, Trumps statement may turn out to be one too soon. Rather than feeling chastised, North Korea seems to feel emboldened as its state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) issued several statements, including the one that said the government was carefully examining plans to launch missiles at the US-controlled island of Guam in the Pacific Ocean. The island is a greatly significant US strategic outpost in the Asia-Pacific region, 28 per cent of which is occupied by the military. There are currently 6,000 U.S. military personnel stationed there and there are plans to add another 5,000 marines by 2022. A day after the US presidents fire and fury threat, Pyongyang upped the ante, calling it a load of nonsense on August 9. It went a step further by issuing an even more specific threat to fire four missiles that it said would land within 40 kilometers of Guam as a sort of a shot across the bow. Guams 3,400-mile distance from Pyongyang is well within its strike capabilities and it is not altogether inconceivable that the mentally-besieged supreme leader might actually carry it out. If that happens, Trump can always retaliate well below his fire and fury like the world has never seen threat but that would expose his bluster to Kim, something America cannot afford. The 33-year-old Kim sees nuclear weapons as equalising him with the 71-year-old Trump despite such massive chasm between the two countries military and economic strengths. At a personal level, the idea that he is able to provoke a strong response from the US president senior to him by nearly four decades is bound to give Kim a considerable thrill. Traditionally, the North Korean leadership has thrived on such saber-rattling and now that the sabre has a nuclear edge, it is expected to make diplomatic intercourse with him that much harder. The US presidents statement is in direct conflict with his own Secretary of State Rex Tillerson just a few days ago. We do not seek a regime change, Tillerson said on August 1 before he set off on a visit to the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand. We do not seek the collapse of the regime, we do not seek an accelerated reunification of the peninsula, we do not seek an excuse to send our military north of the 38th parallel, he said. The fire and fury statement has startled many. Republican Senator John McCain (Arizona), not known to shy away from wars, said in a radio interview: I take exception to the presidents comments because youve got to be able to do what you say youre going to do. In other words, the old walk softly but carry a big stick, Teddy Roosevelts saying, which I think is something that shouldve applied because all its going to do is bring us closer to a serious confrontation. It is hard to make concession in the name of Trumps characteristic penchant for hyperbole and bluster because he is dealing with a leader who has lived outside international norms in the tradition of his father Kim Jong-Il and grandfather Kim Il-sung. Unless the US president thinks that he can conduct his countrys foreign policy with a measure of matching cavalier style, his threat might turn out to be a case of premature articulation. Mayank Chhaya is a Chicago-based journalist and commentator. Today, one out of five, or 20% of all Canadians are foreign-born, roughly equivalent to Quebecs population. If we add in second generations, the number becomes 40%. And each year this number grows larger. In 2016, 320,000 new immigrants came to the country, add to that another 300,000 foreign temporary workers, and another 350,000 international students. These international students often choose to settle in Canada, with currently more than 50% of them doing so. The government is contemplating legislations to make the process easier for them. Recent studies confirm Canadians are getting older. The number of Canadians over age 50 has now surpassed those aged 14 and under. With the rapid greying of the population and low birth rate, immigration has become the fuel for the economy. Immigrants send money overseas In todays global world and internet age, immigrants continue to have links to their families and friends back home, who they often send money back to. Canada happens to be one of the worlds top global remittance countries on a per capita basis. In 2015 alone, Canadians have sent approximately $24 billion abroad in 2015. A challenge immigrants face during such times is deciding which service provider to trust to send the funds. The associated costs fees, exchange rates, etc can vary by banks/financial institutions. How to choose a provider? 1. Is there a transfer fee? Certain companies charge separate transfer fees, which can make up a large percentage of the money you are sending, depending on the amount you are sending. 2. Whats the most convenient method of sending money home? Some companies make transferring money a challenging & unpleasant process. You may be required to be physically present, and also be asked to fill in plenty of paperwork every time you try to make a transaction. Then there are others that offer the convenience of making international transfers straight from your smartphones. 3. What is the foreign exchange rate being utilized? Watch out for the fine print. Is the exchange rate being calculated at the time when you are sending or when it arrives there? Sometimes a day or two can make a big difference. 4. How long will the transfer take? Much like a courier service, you can pay for next day or it can take a number of days. A premium should be attributed to companies that get your money within a day. 5. What are the limits on how much you can send? Sometimes the amount you need to get to your family can be larger than the supplier limit. 6. Can you trust the company? Check the financial viability of the transfer service provider is it a stable organization that you are relying on? CIBC Global Money Transfer Advantage These are the questions that CIBC hoped to address when it created the Global Money Transfer Program for their customers. With the changing face of Canada, the bank repeatedly kept getting requests from customers for an affordable and safe way to send money to their native countries. In response to the request and understanding the customer pain points, CIBC decided there would be zero transfer fee for CIBC customers, while offering competitive exchange rates. Between these two factors alone, customers are often saving a significant amount of money. In all cases, the foreign exchange rate is calculated at the time the money is sent. In most cases, money arrives within a day of transmission. No premium is charged for this quick service. Also in response to customer needs, CIBC has one of the highest daily transfer amounts available, eg. $9,999.99 to India and over other 40 countries ($6000 to China). CIBC takes pride in the convenience our customers enjoy when making a transfer. Whether it is through a branch, online or through your phone, sending money is intuitive & simple. As for trust, CIBC is one of Canadas top banks, providing you with the assurance of 150 years of banking expertise. For more information go to www.cibc.com/ways-to-bank/money-transfer By Parisa Mahboubi New Canadian Media Strong literacy skills improve new immigrants employability and earnings capacity. But immigrant literacy skills in Canada lag non-immigrants despite the large proportion of immigrants with university degrees, according the 2012 OECD Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). My latest research for the C.D. Howe Institute The Power of Words: Improving Immigrants Literacy Skills argues for policies to enhance immigrants literacy skills through improvements in Canadas immigration selection and settlement policies. The literacy skills gap between immigrants and non-immigrants is evident across all levels of education, including university-educated immigrants. It underscores why some immigrants struggle to successfully transfer their skills upon arrival. Among immigrants, however, those who obtained their highest educational attainment in Canada perform better than others perhaps due to having a better knowledge of language and receiving a high-quality education. My study shows that, indeed, language is a major factor in the skill gaps between immigrants and non-immigrants. Better language abilities in English or French result in higher literacy outcomes among immigrants, allowing them to do better in the labour market. Australia has a comparable immigration system, but its immigrants outperform Canadian immigrants in literacy scores. Why? Australias changes to language testing for prospective immigrants in 1999 is a major cause of improvements in the average performance of immigrants, particularly those with a mother tongue other than English. Although Canada announced similar policy reforms to its immigration system around 2010, its approach is more lenient than Australias. Canada assigns two-thirds of total possible language points to applicants under the Federal Skilled Worker program (FSW) who meet the minimum English Language Testing level while Australia provides no reward for candidates under its a skilled immigration program with the same level of language proficiency. In other words, applicants who demonstrate language skills that meet the most minimal thresholds have a much higher chance of being admitted for immigration in Canada relative to Australia. This implies that Australias system targets candidates with superior language skills, who are more easily able to integrate and access more opportunities for gainful employment, while Canada only screens out applicants with very limited language ability. The growing importance of immigration as a source of growth for Canadas labour force requires a more effective immigration points-based system that selects the best candidates, according to their ability to settle in Canada, either by giving more weight to language proficiency or by making language testing more rigorous, or a combination thereof. The government can also grant permanent residency to more former international students who obtained Canadian credentials. Further, immigrants not admitted through the points system those in family class and refugees tend to struggle the most with literacy, so federal and provincial governments need to make sure new better, more rigorous language training is available. Parisa Mahboubi is a Senior Policy Analyst at the C.D. Howe Institute. This piece was originally appeared in New Canadian Media. See http://www.newcanadianmedia.ca/component/k2/42045-parisa-mahboubi-let-s-toughen-literacy-standards-to-boost-immigrant-success At a glance According to the C.D. Howe Institutes report The Power of Words: Improving Immigrants Literacy Skills, author Parisa Mahboubi argues that in order to improve the literacy gap among immigrants entering the Canadian labour force, there has to be: I) Stricter language testing II) More rigorous language training for targeted immigrants III) Canada can also benefit from granting permanent residency to more former international students who studied in Canada As a final point, federal and provincial governments need to make sure new arrivals who have limited language proficiency especially those admitted under immigration programs other than the skilled-worker streams receive rigorous language training. Jennifer Morales, a migrant worker from the Philippines works abut 40 hours a week cleaning the floors and toilets at a Vancouver area medical facility. On her off days, she cleans houses. Most of the money I make, I send home for my kids college education, she says. Like her, the tens of thousands of Filipino migrant workers in Canada and around the world send home most of their earnings to create a better life for their children, hoping a college education will push them out of poverty. For them, the new law in their homeland that will provide free tuition for all students in state universities and colleges in the country is a game changer. It will definitely reduce my burden, said Morales, adding Maybe I can go home sooner Under the Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education act, which was signed by President Rodrigo Duterte last week, Filipino college students including those wishing to take up medicine could be provided free education in state colleges or universities. Quality education is difficult to come by in the Philippines for families who have little money to pay for their childrens education. While deserving students who could pass admission in state colleges and universities are provided with free tuition, they are required to maintain certain grades. To get free quality education, some apply for admission to the Philippine Military Academy, the Philippine National Police Academy or enter priesthood or apply for scholarship from big companies, which would likely provide them with work upon graduation, or secure really high grades that comes with scholastic honours. A college diploma is the most decisive tool a Filipino can carry in the struggle to give his or her family a better life, and President Duterte has just given every Filipino the means to have it, Senate President Aquilino Koko Pimentel said, adding that the free college education law gives more Filipino families better pathways out of poverty. I have always believed that education is the great equaliser. I am where I am today because of my education, said Pimentel, who graduated from the University of the Philippines College of Law in 1990, and topped the Bar exams the same year. The Senate chief says that the law is a boost for the country and not just for individuals. Pimentel said: With this law, our country will have a bigger pool of skilled professionals who are necessary for the development of a modern economy. Balanga Bishop Ruperto Santos, head of the Catholic Bishops migrants ministry, said the law granting universal access to college education is a blessing, especially to poor families and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). Many OFWs go abroad to support their childrens education and other needs of their families he added. He said Filipino workers abroad endure separation from their families, hardships, and unfair treatments just for the betterment of their loved ones. This free tertiary education to state colleges and universities is great help to our OFWs, said the prelate. We appreciate the kind gestures of our president, said Bishop Santos. He also lauded the President for increasing the validity of Philippine passports to 10 years. It is very helpful and useful for all, especially for our OFWs as they will save much time and money to renew their passports, he said. But while Dutertes move to sign the free college education law was widely welcomed, some Senators caution that funds should be ensured to make it feasible. Earlier, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno had said that such an undertaking may not be possible since it would provide a great drag on the countrys fiscal flow. We laud the Presidents decision to sign the law even when there was some hesitation from his economic managers. The challenge now, however, is to ensure that the new law will be effectively and completely implemented in 112 state colleges and universities nationwide, members of the Senate minority bloc said in a statement. The minority bloc is largely made up of members of the opposition Liberal Party. The new law will only become a reality if government allocates enough and accessible funding for SUCs nationwide. The executive branch and Congress must work closely to make tertiary education accessible to all through tuition subsidies and financial assistance, they stressed. Cadbury axes 50 Hobart jobs, invests $75 million into factory Mondelez International will cut 50 jobs from its Hobart Cadbury factory. At the same time the company has announced plans to invest $75 million into upgrading the site. Over the past five years, Mondelez, which is responsible for the Cadbury brand in Australia, has invested AUD $110 million into the Tasmanian factory. It has now committed another AUD $75 million to be spent over the next 18-months, but will axe 50 jobs as part of the new upgrade. Mondelez International Area Vice President, Amanda Banfield, explained the investment and job cuts are about competing with European and other factories that have lower costs. To remain competitive, we need to improve our conversion costs by 30 per cent, plus continue to raise the bar as competition increases further, Banfield said. It is expected the 50 employees will cease employment by the end of 2017. Mondelez said the majority of job losses should be voluntary redundancies. Manufacturing Director of Chocolate at Mondelez, Jason Bonisoli, said the changes were necessary to allow Cadbury manufacturing to remain in Tasmania. The changes will help sustain Cadburys position as market leader, innovating and making new products that meet consumers requirements, he said. In May 2017, Mondelez said it was considering closing New Zealands Dunedin Cadbury factory and moving its production to the Tasmanian factory. In May 2015, Mondelez axed 80 jobs from the Cadbury Hobart factory. Related articles Coles piloting low-sensory shopping for customers with autism Coles is testing low-sensory supermarket shopping for customers with autism. Working with Autism Spectrum Australia, two Victorian Coles stores will now introduce Quiet Hour every Tuesday morning. Quiet Hour will provide a low sensory experience by diming lighting by 50 per cent, turning down in-store music to its lowest volume, turning down register and scanner volumes to lowest levels, avoiding trolley collections and having trained team members ready to assist customers. PA announcements will not occur unless there is an emergency and all roll cages will be removed from the store. Coles Accessibility Sponsor, Peter Sheean, said Coles is always looking at ways it can meet the needs of its customers. Through Quiet Hour, we hope to make a difference to our customers who find it challenging to shop in a heightened sensory environment, Sheean said. Quite Hour is scheduled to occur between 10:30am 11:30am every Tuesday until the end of October 2017 at Coles Ringwood and Coles Balwyn East. The initiative is being tested after Autism Spectrum Australia conducted a study and found that bright supermarket lights were a common problem for those with autism. Music, register beeps and queuing were also listed as obstacles. Autism Spectrum Australia invested in training for Coles team members to increase their understanding of sensory overload. Although we have modified some of the physical and sensory stimulators in store, we also hope to achieve a no-judgement shopping space for people and families on the spectrum, where customers will feel comfortable and welcome, said Linzi Coyle, from Aspect. Quiet Hour is not limited to those with autism, so all other customers can still shop at the Coles stores during Quite Hour. Related articles Dominos shares drop after missed earning guidance reported for FY17 Dominos shares have taken a plunge after the pizza giant missed its earning guidance for its 2016-17 financial year. In announcing its profit results for the most recent financial year, Dominos reported a record net profit after tax of AUD $118.5 million, an increase of 28.8 per cent on its prior financial year results. Share prices however dropped with Dominos missing its earing guidance after running into difficulties with French operations. Dominos Chief Executive Officer and Manager Director, Don Meji, said while Dominos achieved records on multiple levels, he still recognises the business did not reach the targets outlined in its half yearly results. We significantly lifted sales, revenue, EBITDA and margins for the group, which demonstrates that we are leveraging our competitive advantages; our scale, digital platforms, and market-leading customer-focused improvements including Project 3/10, Meiji said. I acknowledge our results, while strong, did not reach guidance we set,. This was largely due to the delay in rectifying some issues with our online platform in France, and the initial response H2 to our value range offering in France, which did not meet our expectations both have now been addressed. Strong Australian store performance Australian and New Zealand stores performed strongly with Dominos reporting earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of AUD $115.4 million, an increase of 25.8 per cent on the prior financial year. Dominos said it will now be launching a new Australian and New Zealand Quality Fresh menu with 20 pizzas and sides, along with new premium ice cream offerings, expecting these products to help drive sales further. Despite difficulties in France, Dominos reported a EBITDA for Europe of $60 million, an 18.4 per cent increase on the prior financial year. Related articles Healthy vending machines to improve student eating habits A Vendy Healthy Vending Machine A number of healthy vending machines have been installed at Australias largest tertiary education providers, Monash University. The 55 machines, provided by Vendy Healthy Vending, aim to encourage healthy eating by providing convenient snacks such as protein bars, coconut water, nuts and edamame. Monash is the first university to implement the Victorian State Governments Healthy Choices Guideline through the new vending machines. The machines are based off a traffic light system where green is the healthiest choice, amber is a sometimes food and red is a food which should only be consumed as a treat. Making healthy eating convenient Nutrition Australias Program Manager for the Healthy Eating Service, Margaret Rozman, said vending machines are a convenient way to grab a drink and snack when needed. Its fantastic to see Monash University students now have access to healthier options that will give them the energy and alertness they need to fuel their studies, Rozman said. The initiative is part of Monashs goal to be an accredited Healthy Workplace under the Victorian Governments Healthy Workplace Achievement Program. First step in making sure healthy food is on the menu Monash Universitys Chief medical Officer, Dr Vicki Ashton, said the vending machines were the first step towards improving the availability of healthy food choices for staff and students. We are now looking at how we can work with our food retailers and caterers to ensure our people always have access to healthy food on campus, Dr Ashton said. About Vendy Healthy Vending Vendy Healthy Vending was established by two young Australian entrepreneurs, Simon Collins and Eamonn Hortle. Vendy provides both healthy vending machines and vending machines for gyms, a service which they say is already proving popular. We were curious whether a healthy offering would result in a downturn in sales, Vendy Director, Simon Collins said. However, the students have embraced the healthier offering, and some of our healthier selections have been best sellers, such as Cobs Natural Popcorn and Nutty Squirrel Dry Roasted Cashews. What we are seeing is consumer behaviour truly changing a recent study showed that 87 percent of vending consumers thought the current range of vending machine snacks are too unhealthy, with 80 percent willing to pay the same or even extra for healthier alternatives. This is the demand that we are trying to meet, and since launching our service at Monash University, sales show that the demand is there. Related articles New Chair for Australian Food and Grocery Council The Australian Food and Grocery Council has elected a new Chairman. Unilever Australia and New Zealand Chief Executive Officer, Clive Stiff, will take on the role, replacing a retiring Terry OBrien. OBrien has been in the Chairman role for the past five years and has served with AFGC for 17 years. Mr Stiff said although he is taking on the role when the industry is facing challenging times,, there is optimism for the future. There has never been a more important time for the food and grocery manufacturing sector to maintain a strong voice, Mr Stiff said. Industry priorities include contributing to the health and wellness of the community and environment; regulatory reform to reduce compliance costs; improving the competitiveness of Australian manufacturing;; and ensuring fair negotiations with retailers, he said. AFGC CEO, Tanya Barden, said Mr Stiff brings 30 years of industry experience to the role having worked for a broad range of companies in the fast moving consumer goods sector. Its great to have someone with so much industry knowledge and vitality who will help AFGC take up these important challenges and to work with government to strengthen the current operating environment, Ms Barden said. Mr Stiff joined Unilever in 2012 as CEO. He has previously worked for Goodman Fielder and Procter & Gamble in general management as well as in various commercial and marketing roles. I would also like to thank Terry OBrien for his impressive leadership of the AFGC Board. Mr OBrien has been a fantastic advocate for all facets of our industry, Ms Barden said. Under his direction, the AFGC has played a key role in the development of a range of proactive whole of industry initiatives and increased the diversity of the AFGC Board, including greater small business representation. Mr OBrien said it had been a privilege to lead the AFGC. Under his direction, the AFGC has played a key role in the development of a range of proactive whole of industry initiatives and increased the diversity of the AFGC Board, including greater small business representation, he said. Related articles By Zoe Doubleday, Research Fellow, University of Adelaide Choksawatdikorn/shutterstock As research scientists, we read a lot of scientific papers. But it may surprise you to learn that a lot of the time we yes, we scientists dont understand what were reading, or were too bored to remember what weve just read. Peer-reviewed papers are the currency of science. They are the basis upon which knowledge is recorded and traded. They are our stamps of approval and they keep us employed. In short, research papers are our bread and butter. But our buttered bread can be difficult to digest; typically, it is bloated, dense and so dry that no amount of chewing can make it tasty. So we decided to do something about it. We wrote a paper about writing papers, explaining why and how its important for scientists to change the way we write. Our paper is centred around one key character: Ingredient X. Read more: Mainstream is not a dirty word Ingredient X Ingredient X is that substance people rarely talk about or teach in science writing, or rarely come across. But when you do see it, complex concepts are readily absorbed, sentences skip along the page rather than plod, facts pique interest rather than disengage, and the scientific message is remembered rather than forgotten. Ingredient X is creativity and clarity, it is the use of narrative and tangible prose. It is the reader that is the priority of Ingredient X, not the writer. Heres what we as scientists can do to achieve Ingredient X: 1. Get our heads out of the sand Scientists are trained to be objective and focus on their field of research - they are not trained to think about the reader at the other end absorbing their information. Others have recognised this problem, and we need to address it. 2. Break the cycle Lets value writing more in science. Writing is not just a means to an end to describe the facts and figures, but an integral part of it. Writing should be a craft that we hone, rather than homogenise. We need to break the cycle of miscommunication that assumes everyone wants dry, stodgy bread: in reality, who likes that? 3. Reward good writing If we value good writing, we will then promote and reward good writing. This can be everyones job, from those at the coalface (e.g. supervisors, authors, reviewers and journal editors) to those a little further away (e.g. universities, government agencies and science societies). 4. Stop teaching the Official Style We write science in the Official Style (elegantly defined in Lanhams classic style manual) because it is entrenched in us from the ground up. Lets take a fresh look at how we teach science writing, with a focus on reader engagement and readability. 5. Read and write more Scientists should be encouraged to read and collect good writing and learn from it, to start working out what makes good writing good. And there are some good style manuals to guide us along the way (check out citations in this article as a start). Scientists do write a lot, but we do need to write differently more often, and with an open mind. Read more: Listen up: a plan to help scientists get their research heard by decision makers Be concise, original, inspiring But lets be clear. We are not advocating sensationalism. Scientists are wary of sensationalism and for good reason. Science is about facts and objectivity, not hyperbole to sell a story. However, we maintain that objectivity is not at odds with adding a creative element to our writing, or making it clearer, more accessible and interesting to read. Joseph Sohm/Shutterstock Inspired by Aesops The Tortoise and the Hare, consider the following hypothetical science article title: The different locomotory response of mammalian (Lepus) and reptilian (Testudo) taxa to interspecific competition This title meets the scientific criteria of being accurate and objective. But its also non-emotive, formal, impersonal and jargony. Does interspecific competition really pique your interest here? If the title is rewritten with a sensationalist angle, we might end up with: The new dinosaur age! Reptiles win the race While this is concise and entertaining, it is sensationalist, oversimplified and hyperbolic. Most scientists would find such a title professionally unsuitable. The happy medium is what we call the future culture, a title that is accurate, objective, concise and clear, but also inspiring, original and accessible: The locomotory edge: how a slow and steady gait benefits the most unlikely of species The traditions of science writing Traditional scientific writing is often boring and hard to read. Why? Actually, were not sure. Its just the way it is, it is the way it has always been, and it seems to be getting worse. Most people in science seem to think everyone else wants us to write in the way that we do. And if we try to write any other way, its our experience that this is typically stamped as inappropriate. But heres the real problem: if scientists find it hard to read papers, people from the non-research world who want to read about our science will find it even harder. Science communicators, journalists, entrepreneurs, policymakers and interested members of the general public are all motivated to follow the latest scientific research. And yet, strangely enough, science papers are a communication tool but they are not that effective at communication. We are in the Knowledge Age, where knowledge is more diverse and accessible than ever, but most of our knowledge remains cloistered. We work in a profession that champions change and re-evaluation, but scientific writing sits stagnant. So thats our story about writing, science, and why we should be taking Ingredient X in both hands and giving it a go. Were now back at our desks writing with renewed vigour: devouring what we can about writing, teaching Ingredient X to those that are keen, and actually enjoying what we write. Zoe Doubleday receives funding from The Australian Research Council. Sean Connell receives funding from The Australian Research Council, The Ian Potter Foundation and the Department of Water, Environment and Natural Resources. Originally published in The Conversation. By Craig Stevens, Associate Professor in Ocean Physics, University of Auckland Gabby O'Connor's Studio Antarctica/Johanna Mechem, CC BY-ND When artists and scientists get together, creative sparks can fly. Collaborative sci-art projects are increasingly popular and one obvious benefit is the greater visibility of the research through the artists work. Our project explored scientific and artistic aspects of Antarctic ice crystals. But whats in it for the scientists? It reinvigorates a curiosity about the system and brings an outsider perspective - but one that is expert in observing. Taking a different perspective We draw on a six-year collaboration to look at how science benefits from embracing a wider perspective on creativity. Our joint project started with an art-science speed-dating event, aimed at building collaborative teams. Our connection centres around an Antarctic research project investigating the formation of platelet ice, which plays an important role in the annual growth cycle of sea ice around the Antarctic continent. In particular, the science looks at how tiny ice crystals influence much larger climate processes. Brett Grant, CC BY-ND We were able to build on the intrinsic fascination people have with Antarctica and the interest in climate science. The scientists acted as a conduit of research to the artist. This added another layer of meaning to the artwork and an entry point to conversations around Antarctic ocean processes and climate change. This loop of enquiry seems to happen differently in art-science collaborations. Broadening creativity Our collaboration has evolved from arm-chair slide shows, through cross-disciplinary participation and Antarctic expeditions, to a final stage that includes a proliferation of ideas around art, education and science. The benefits to science can be difficult to articulate but chief among them is a reminder of the importance of open-ended exploration. Another is to be asked questions by someone who spent even more time simply looking at the object of scientific inquiry than the scientists themselves. The first phase of our project was to find a catalyst to connect enthusiastic creative people. A second phase followed with the science team taking basic components of an art work (a large paper sculpture) with them to Antarctica and assembling them as they saw fit, much like a piece of science equipment. This had impact, but was probably detrimental to the power balance in the collaboration because it left the scientists in control of both the art and the science. It turned out that the scientists didnt follow instructions, and instead responded to the constraints of the working environment - much like the art practice. Gabby O'Connor's Antarctica Studio/Craig Stevens, CC BY-ND The next step involved getting the artist to Antarctica, embedded with the science. This had to be navigated carefully to ensure that the art retained its own priority as well as collaborating with the science, rather than being simply co-located. A cornerstone to this was a request that the artist should make scientific measurements and, by doing so, added a whole new dimension where by there was an art perspective on the actual scientific process. History of sci-art collaboration In the past, artists were often involved in research purely to document the science. Captain James Cook took the painter William Hodges to polar extremes where he captured Antarctic seascapes. When the paintings were prepared for an exhibition in 2004, X-radiography revealed a different and unfinished view of icebergs in a rough sea. Edward Wilson, a doctor and artist, accompanied Robert Falcon Scott to the pole and beyond. In some ways, these people acted as impartial sounding boards for the explorers and scientists at the time. The ease with which photography is achieved today has reduced the need for this role, but has something been lost along the way? Much has been written about how facts alone do not convince people. A sideways approach that comes from an entirely different artistic perspective might therefore have a chance of penetrating established boundaries. The art of science communication Gabby O'Connor, CC BY-ND Where once science was its own domain, this is no longer the case. Implications of research findings need to connect with broader audiences. But how can you explain something you barely understand yourself to multiple publics? Analogues with popular culture can bridge this gap. With around 90% of New Zealanders and even more Australians engaging with art, it provides a useful conduit to science. Our collaboration was initially largely unfunded and viewed as an irrelevant curiosity. However, support built quickly, to the point that the project was used to open a recent national Antarctic Science Conference. Through all the phases of our work, we made connections with young people. We had sufficient support from teachers to develop workshops and extra-curricular activities for schools, and the climate topic made this part of our engagement more effective. Gabby O'Connor, CC BY-ND What is in it for science? Lots, it turns out. The scientist is reminded of the power of curiosity, something that can get lost in times of targeted research. The artist also asks questions based on hours and hours of observing the system at hand. Somewhat unexpectedly in our case, the artist became a documentor of the work in a way that we hadnt previously achieved. Added benefits are embedded with the next generation of scientists who will more readily span the divide, to the extent that they may not know a gap once existed. Also, part of the future science cohort may exist simply because of the inspiration found in art that connects with science. We are at a time where the entire collective knowledge of our species is available with a stab of a fingertip. It becomes possible, necessary even, to leap across disciplines to generate new ideas. Craig Stevens receives funding from the New Zealand Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment, Deep South National Science Challenge, the N.Z. Antarctic Research Institute and the Royal Society Te Aparangi Marsden Fund. He holds a joint position at the University of Auckland and the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) and is the current President of the New Zealand Association of Scientists. Gabby O'Connor currently receives funding from MBIE Sustainable Seas National Science Challenge for her PhD research at Auckland University and is being supported with a desk at NIWA. Originally published in The Conversation. (monkeybusinessimages/Bigstock.com) (monkeybusinessimages/Bigstock.com) Young people are playing an important and growing role in society in Australia with official figures suggesting they are willing to help others, particularly the disabled and elderly.Figures from the 2016 Census show there were 2,988,390 Australian residents aged 15 to 24, representing 12.8% of the population and they are more engaged than ever in helping their local community.Over half a million people aged 15 to 24 said they spent time doing volunteer work in the 12 months prior to the Census, a figure that has continued to grow over recent years from around 450,000 in 2011 and just under 395,000 in 2006.In addition, around 151,000 people aged 15 to 24 also said they provided unpaid assistance to a person with a disability in the two weeks prior to the Census, another figure that has steadily risen from around 136,000 in 2011 and just under 120,000 in 2006.The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) had the highest proportion of people aged 15 to 24 at 14.1%. Home to the Australian National University, the centrally located ACT suburb of Acton 75% of those aged between 15 and 24.Looking more closely at the ACT, almost two thirds or 65.3% of people aged 15 to 24 in the nation's capital are undertaking some form of study. More than a quarter of those, 28.1%, reported as being born overseas, showcasing the ACT attracts overseas students.Nationally, education remains an important aspect of life for youth in Australia, with the Census revealing 58% of young people between the ages of 15 and 24 were attending an educational institution.Census data also shows that the youth movement is well and truly alive in portions of the nation's overseas born populations. Almost half, 47% of Australian residents born in the West African country of Cote d'Ivoire were aged between 15 and 24, the highest proportion of any country of birth.This was closely followed by Australian residents born in the Middle Eastern nation of Oman at 45% and Guinea at 43%.Australia also has a growing percentage of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander youth. The 2016 Census reported 123,719 persons aged 15 to 24 who identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, an increase from 105,652 since the 2011 Census.Australia's Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander youth are also increasingly engaged in education with 41.7% of 15 to 24 year olds who identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander said they were attending an educational institution, an increase from 38.3% in 2011.The 2016 Census data released so far has provided a 'selfie' of young people in Australia, but this is just the beginning. Further 2016 Census data relating to education and employment will be released in October 2017, providing greater insight into Australia's young people as part of the single most accurate snapshot of Australia. Students from overseas who get a degree and stay in Australia as well as international graduates who move to the country to work are making a larger contribution than ever to the nation's workforce, new research shows.A new report from the Australian Council for Educational Research shows that in 2015 there were 4.5 million people in Australia with a bachelors degree or higher, of which 22% had been born and educated overseas and 21% had been born overseas but educated in Australia.The analysis by Julie McMillan, Daniel Edwards and David Phillips found skilled migration had contributed significantly to the availability of people with degrees in the workforce.But the report points out that while the current situation has helped to create a largely successful and diverse workforce during the past decade or so, planned changes to scale back temporary skilled migration and pathways to permanent residency may have an impact.'The point behind the report was to articulate more clearly the way in which the innovation economy requires a balance between the output of our universities and skilled migration. It is almost impossible to get the balance exactly right, but it has been working well over many years,' said Edwards.The research found that the Australian higher education system contributes significantly to Australia's degree qualified population and skilled migration is playing a strong role as more than one in five degree-qualified people in Australia are migrants.It also found that degree qualified migrants are arriving at a faster rate than growth in domestic university graduates, but graduates from the Australian higher education system continue to have better labour market outcomes than skilled migrants.Edwards explained that while the tightening of Australia's skilled labour market in recent years has negatively affected both skilled migrants and domestic graduates, skilled migrants experience poorer employment outcomes.Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveal that the labour force participation rates of skilled migrants at 80% is considerably lower than for people with an Australian degree at 90%.The proportion of the degree qualified workforce employed in full time professional occupations was higher for Australian born and educated people at 79% compared to 71% for people born overseas who completed their degree in Australia and 68% for skilled migrants.Edwards said locally produced graduates and those imported from overseas had contributed to a strong rise in the number of skilled people in the population in recent years and there has been major growth in skilled employment.However, the report says there is now evidence of a tightening in the skilled labour market for everyone. In 2014/2015, Australia experienced a net gain of 33,590 persons with permanent skill visas and 10,260 with 457 visas.Edwards said proposed changes to the visa system were intended to better target skill shortages, while addressing perceived threats to available jobs for locals, but it was important to understand the dynamics at play in the graduate labour market. He added that more research was needed to look at how all degree holders fared in particular industries and by fields of education. Photo of Torrance, Calif., hydrogen station by Thi Dao. The California Energy Commission has awarded $16 million to a Houston-based company to develop seven new hydrogen stations in the northern part of the state, according to a release. Three stations will be located in San Francisco, while two others will be in Sacramento. The other two will be in Walnut Creek and Berkeley. The commission awarded the grant to Equilon Enterprises LLC, which does business as Shell Oil Products US. So far, the commission has funded 60 stations statewide. Of those, 29 are now in operation. Photo of Intel's Advanced Vehicle Lab in Chandler, Ariz., by Tim Herman/Intel Corporation. Fiat Chrysler is speeding up its bid to develop autonomous driving technology, by signing on to a joint venture with the BMW Group, Intel Corp. and Mobileye that's expected to lead to a fully autonomous production vehicle by 2021. FCA has joined the others, who formed a joint venture in July of 2016 with the stated purpose of developing a highly semi-autonomous (Level 3) vehicle as well as a fully autonomous (Level 4/5) vehicle, FCA and Intel have announced. FCA has signed a memorandum of understanding for the agreement, which will include the co-location of engineers in Germany. The group plans to deploy 40 autonomous test vehicles on U.S. roads by the end of the year. The venture is expected to benefit from the fleet of 100 Level 4 vehicles that Intel and its recently acquired Mobileye will test in the U.S., Europe and Israel starting later this year. Since the forming of the venture, members have been designing and developing a scalable architecture that can be used by multiple automakers while allowing each to maintain its brand identity, according to FCA. IF YOU GO The Valley Fever Americas Foundation is hosting its annual Valley Fever Awareness Walk Saturday, including games, prizes, face painting and refreshments. When: Saturday, 7 a.m. gates open, 8 a.m. survivor lap and photo, 9 a.m. recognitions and prizes. Where: Kern Pioneer Village, 3801 Chester Ave. Cost: $20 per person, free for survivors and children younger than 12. National Park Service(WASHINGTON) -- The Lincoln Memorial was vandalized with bright-red graffiti early Tuesday morning at around 4.30 a.m. Officials with the National Park Service (NPS) said the red spray paint appears to state [expletive] law on one of the memorials columns overlooking the National Mall. Another instance in silver spray paint was also discovered on a Smithsonian wayfinding sign in the 1400 block of Constitution Avenue. Work to remove the graffiti is already underway using a mild, gel-type architectural paint stripper, according to the NPS. The gel wont affect the preservation of the memorials historic stone. Paper covers the spot where someone sprayed red paint on the Lincoln Memorial. The Park Service if trying to clean it pic.twitter.com/FLhHihOU8k Sam Ford (@ABC7Sam) August 15, 2017 The crew will apply the treatment and let it set on the stone for approximately an hour, then rinse it with clean, potable water, according to the NPS. The process is repeated until all evidence of the graffiti is gone. This isnt the first instance of vandalism on the Lincoln Memorial or other national monuments. In July 2013, the giant statue of the 16th president was splashed with green paint on the left pant leg. The Washington Post reported that this was the first incident of vandalism on the monument since its dedication in 1922. More recently, over the President's Day weekend in February 2017, the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument and World War II Memorial, three of D.C.s most popular monuments, were vandalized with marker pen. Local ABC affiliate WJLA-TV reported that the graffiti included small phrases that appeared to be conspiracy theories, such as "Jackie shot JFK," "blood test is a lie, leukemia, cancer HIV get 2nd opinion" and "9/11/01 Misty pilots fly planes into WTC 1, 2, P, F." The World War II Memorials North Dakota column was also defaced with spray paint in November 2016, in what was believed to be a sign of protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline, according to The Washington Post. The United States Park Police has asked anyone with information to contact the agency at 202-610-7515. Copyright 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved. A power boat operated by an experienced charter captain sunk on Sunday after hitting a submerged object off the southwest corner of Anclote Island. Incident occurred Aug. 13 Only minor injuries reported When youre in 12-feet of water in low tide and theres a structure out there it has to be flagged, said master captain David Singletary, 50. Because nobody is going to be looking for it. Singletary said he wants to warn other boaters about the water hazard and hopes the Coast Guard will remove it before someone gets seriously injured or killed. If a child was being pulled on a tube or hit it with a jet ski there could be a possible fatality, he said. Boat sank in less than three minutes Singletary said at about 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, he was taking his wife and some friends to Anclote Island when he struck the submerged object at about 30 mph. It punched a hole in the bottom of his 2014 Sunsation and the $300,000 boat sank in less than three minutes. Singletary managed to record a few seconds of video with his cell phone showing the boat taking on water from the Gulf of Mexico. We took on a lot of water quickly and I radioed the Coast Guard and got life jackets on my passengers, he said. Made a turn towards the Anclote and let the Coast Guard know we were going down to the bottom and I was going to try and make it as quick as I could to the shallowest water possible. The captain said luckily everyone was able to get off with only minor injuries but the boat is a total loss. One minor back injury, ankle injury, he said. It was a pretty good hit. No confirmation on nature of object Singletary said at first the Coast Guard thought he struck a sailboat that had sunk in the area. They thought that possibly I struck the mast of the sailboat that they had been looking for, he said. Thats what I was initially told before I actually learned of this marker. Nobodys really saying anything now that it was this marker. Singletary said he was told from other boaters that the damaged shoal marker is named 5-X and is a steel I-beam. Apparently, its an I-beam structure and its sitting inches below the surface, he said. My concern is just getting that I-beam out of the water. The Coast Guard said they can't confirm if the submerged object is a shoal marker. We didnt get a location of where this happened," said Lt. Cmdr. Micah Bonner. "So, from our standpoint were trying to investigate further." Concern for safety of other boaters Bonner said Singletarys boat sinking is the first report the Coast Guard has received about the submerged object. We will follow up to make sure that any hazard that is within the channel is removed, said Bonner. If its not inside the channel, we will look to identify that to make sure that we can make that area safe. Singletary said he has boat insurance and his main concern is for the safety of other boaters. Coast Guard says this is the first theyve heard of this pylon, which I dont know whether thats true or not, he said. But my concern now is theres so many boaters out there that if you werent even in a vessel the size of mine, you could really get hurt or possibly kill somebody. Singletary also wants to show his gratitude to everyone who came to the rescue. Definitely want to say thank you to everybody out there at Anclote Island that was there to help us, he said. Florida Sen. Jack Latvala is running for governor, having filed the paperwork Friday and making public announcements Tuesday. He spoke in Hialeah in Miami-Dade County on Tuesday and also had a stop planned in Clearwater. Latvala first elected to Senate in 1994 Refers to himself as 'old school Republican' Will speak in Clearwater this afternoon Reporter Trevor Pettiford has more during afternoon newscasts Latvala's political career spans 15 years, being first elected to the Senate in 1994 and returning to the Senate in 2010. The 65-year-old legislator spoke about last weekend's violence in Charlottesville, Va. "Very senseless violence cost us three lives up there this week, two first responders who were just trying to do their jobs," he said. "That's all they were trying to do like the first responders who are up here with us today." Latvala referred to himself as an "old school Republican." He was the first chairman of the Republican College Federation in Florida in the early 1970s. "I guess in that respect you can call me an old school Republican, but what that also means is I am a Republican who will never sell out to anyone." Latvala joins a crowded field of GOP candidates wanting to succeed Gov. Rick Scott, who cant run again because of term limits. Latvala is seen as the first potential challenger to current Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam, who is also running for governor. On the Democratic side, Rep. Gwen Graham and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum are the big names in the race. Patients have an important part to play in increasing hand-hygiene compliance rates among providers, as found in a study conducted by Morgantown-based West Virginia University School of Medicine, according to Science Daily. Researchers conducted a cross-sectional survey of parents of hospitalized children, adult patients and primary care physicians to asses their attitudes toward a patient empowerment tool geared toward improving hand-hygiene compliance. Researchers conducted the study at the WVU Medicine J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown. Here are four key findings: 1. Most parents and adult patients reported feeling comfortable using the empowerment tool to remind healthcare personnel to perform hand hygiene. 2. Parents were 20 percent more likely to speak up than adult patients if a physician failed to perform hand hygiene. 3. Ruby Memorial Hospital increased its hand hygiene compliance rates from 28 percent in 2015 to nearly 75 percent in 2016 due to the initiative. 4. Of physician and resident respondents, 54.9 percent said patients should remind their providers to perform hand hygiene. Downers Grove, Ill.-based DuPage Medical Group declared Wednesday a $1.45 billion investment from Ares Management Private Equity Group. The investment brings together DMG, one of the largest U.S. independent, multispecialty physician groups, and Ares Management, a global alternative asset management firm. DMG CEO Mike Kasper answered questions from Becker's Hospital Review about the strategic partnership and what it means for his organization. Note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity. Question: How did the partnership come about? Mike Kasper: We've been private equity backed since 2015 and the organization was performing better than anticipated. As we started to pivot our thinking toward a national strategy, we felt it was time to evaluate the market and see what potential new partners would look like and bring to the table. We were performing better than anticipated, which had us hit the market faster than anticipated, and we had a very favorable response from the market. So those two things in tandem really made us feel we could facilitate moving our strategy forward faster through the Ares partnership. Q: What are the terms of the transaction? MK: It's important to note DuPage Medical Group, the medical group itself, remains 100 percent independent and owned by physicians. I think that is critical. As it relates to our relationship on the practice management side, what was critical in the relationship and what we saw in Ares was a commitment to maintain a physician-driven culture. They really did understand how we had set up the company and the benefit it provides patients by having an integrated outpatient model led by physicians to the benefit of patients. They really did get that, and I think those were some of the principles that really drove the decision-making process to head in that direction. Q: What does the partnership mean for DMG? MK: We're going to be able to increase our speed to market in terms of our growth across the [Chicago] metropolitan area with physician growth, service line growth, things like immediate care centers, expanding our ambulatory surgery profile, being able to enhance our ability to treat more patients in our oncology program. Also, it will allow us to add infrastructure development around [DMG subsidiary] Boncura [Health Solutions] and improve the service levels and the analytical capabilities of our service organization. Q: What does the partnership mean for patients? MK: It's going to allow us to continue to grow and integrate the outpatient delivery system model faster. Because we operate under one tax ID and one medical record, it really allows for a very cohesive patient experience. And because the services we provide are outpatient in nature mainly, we're able to provide the safest, highest-quality care at a low cost relative to other models that are out there in the metropolitan Chicago area. And frankly we see that opportunity scaling on a national level. The need to bring high-quality, high-value care to communities is not unique to Chicago. We think there are opportunities to do it in other parts of the country. More articles on healthcare finance: Quorum Health sees net loss narrow to $30.6M, plans more hospital sales Chinese billionaire again ups stake in CHS this time for $71M Auditor: 15-bed Missouri hospital at heart of $90M billing fraud scheme Following Merck CEO Kevin Frazier's departure from the American Manufacturing Council, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich and Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank also left the council Monday, according to The New York Times. Mr. Frazier stepped down from President Donald Trump's council "as a matter of personal conscience" in the wake of a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va, after which Mr. Trump delivered a tepid response that blamed "many sides" for the day's violence. Executives who sit on any of the president's councils face a difficult decision when it comes to deciding whether or not their appointments on these councils act as tacit approval of presidential statements or policies. Some, like Mr. Frazier, have resigned in protest of Mr. Trump's actions. His departure did not go unnoticed, however. Within an hour after the Merck corporate Twitter account announced Mr. Frazier's resignation from the council, President Trump tweeted: "Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President's Manufacturing Council,he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES!" Mr. Trump tweeted again about Merck, this time focusing on its business practices: "@Merck Pharma is a leader in higher & higher drug prices while at the same time taking jobs out of the U.S. Bring jobs back & LOWER PRICES!" Finally, Mr. Trump tweeted, "For every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, I have many to take their place. Grandstanders should not have gone on. JOBS!" New York Times' Andrew Ross Sorkin spoke to various CEOs about their participation on White House councils and what they are considering when making a decision to remain or abandon their post. He notes that many chiefs are privately outraged, but too scared to say anything publicly that could position them or their business as targets to the president's ire. Another CEO says involvement on these councils should not hinge on the behavior of one person. Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Disney CEO Robert Iger both resigned from the president's business council following his exit from the Paris climate accords. However, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon believes that executives on these councils have a civic responsibility to the council's work that shouldn't be altered by presidential opinions. Mr. Dimon serves on the White House's Strategic and Policy Forum. "It is very hard if you say, I'm going to go off an advisory group or not do A-B-C, because you disagree on one issue," Mr. Dimon said. "Honestly, no one is going to agree with every president or prime minister on every issue, so I don't want to overreact to it." More Articles on Leadership: Week in review: 11 biggest healthcare stories this week The aftermath of the 'Google manifesto': 5 things to know Pinnacle Dermatology's new CEO brings experience as CIO, CFO and CSO to new role Sheldon Retchin, MD, resigned as CEO of Columbus, Ohio-based OSU Wexner Medical Center in May after public criticism from some of the hospital's top physicians, but he is still on the university's payroll as a senior adviser, according to the The Columbus Dispatch. Dr. Retchin is contracted as senior adviser to the president for health policy for the next two years, after which time he will become a tenured professor in the College of Medicine. He is slated to earn a base salary of $500,00 per year with $600,000 annual contribution to his retirement plan, along with a possible 35 percent performance bonus. As CEO of OSU Wexner, Dr. Retchin earned a $1.1 million base salary. "Sheldon Retchin is a nationally recognized leader in healthcare policy," said university spokesman Chris Davey. "During his two-year administrative appointment, he will advise the university concerning the critical issues of health-care reform, Medicaid policy and data-driven improvements to health outcomes." Dr. Retchin resigned in May after 25 physicians and professors from the OSU College of Medicine signed a letter of "no confidence" in Dr. Retchin and his executive team. Soon after, five senior members of the medical center's neurological institute wrote another letter voicing similar concerns. More Articles on Leadership: Week in review: 11 biggest healthcare stories this week The aftermath of the 'Google manifesto': 5 things to know Pinnacle Dermatology's new CEO brings experience as CIO, CFO and CSO to new role Proposed legislation in Massachusetts would increase workplace violence protections for healthcare employees, reports Sentinel & Enterprise. The legislation, Elise's Law, is named for emergency room nurse Elise Wilson, RN, an emergency room nurse who was stabbed more than 10 times last June by a patient at Southbridge, Mass.-based Harrington Hospital. Elise's Law includes a number of rules. First, it would require annual safety risk assessments by healthcare employers, reports Sentinel & Enterprise. The publication states it would also require healthcare employers "to ... develop and implement programs to minimize the danger of workplace violence to employees and patients," and "would also require time off for healthcare workers assaulted on the job to address legal issues and require semiannual reporting of assaults on healthcare employees." The proposed legislation follows a Massachusetts Nurses Association workplace violence/abuse survey conducted from November 2015 to January 2016 among more than 220 participants. Overall, the survey found 86 percent of nurses said they experienced some form of violence in the past two years. The Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security at the Massachusetts State House approved Elise's Law in July. It is still under consideration in the Massachusetts Legislature, according to the report. Three national and state hemophilia advocacy groups seek federal action against Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield for allegedly violating HIPAA and the ACA by revealing the condition of a member costing the plan $1 million a month and exiting Iowa's individual marketplace. The National Hemophilia Foundation, Hemophilia Federation of America and Hemophilia of Iowa filed the discrimination complaint Aug. 15 with HHS' Office for Civil Rights. The complaint claims Des Moines, Iowa-based Wellmark violated HIPAA when it publicly announced a patient with hemophilia a genetic disorder keeping blood from clotting receives $12 million worth of care annually. Wellmark said the cost contributed to premium hikes of between 38 percent and 43 percent for 2017. "The complaint charges that given the rare nature of hemophilia and the relatively low population of Iowa, this public disclosure, done without the patient's consent, was a clear violation of patient privacy protections in HIPPA," the organizations argue. In addition to violating HIPAA, the organizations argue Wellmark violated provisions of the ACA when it "effectively prevented hemophilia patients from accessing care when it carved certain counties in Iowa out of their ACA plans and then pulled out of the Iowa marketplace entirely." "Wellmark's wrongful disclosure of the patient's condition and costs, and its decision not to sell policies to individuals with hemophilia, has resulted in other insurers withdrawing from the Iowa marketplace," said Kimberly Haugstad, president and CEO of HFA. Minnetonka, Minn.-based Medica is the only payer offering ACA exchange plans statewide in Iowa for 2018 after Wellmark and Hartford, Conn.-based Aetna decided to exit Iowa's exchange in April. Medica requested an average 43.5 percent rate increase for individual plans next year. "This increase will make coverage financially prohibitive for many people, which is directly attributable to Wellmark's wrongful disclosure of patient information," the organizations allege. Wellmark did not immediately respond to Becker's Hospital Review's request for comment. This article will be updated if more information becomes available. Brad Wilson, president and CEO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, wrote in a Citizen-Times column Asheville, N.C.-based Mission Health System has "100 percent control over what happens next" in an ongoing reimbursement rate clash. Last month, Mission Health said it plans to depart BCBSNC's network by Oct. 5. In a July 24 op-ed, Mission Health board members wrote the system asked for a "modest, mid-single digit reimbursement increase," but BCBSNC denied the request, "forcing a 'forever zero' contract." In his Aug. 14 column, Mr. Wilson wrote, "Before Mission Health walked away, we offered a fair contract with increases tied to quality and patient outcomes. More than 40 other hospitals in the state have committed to holding the line on costs and agreed to similar terms. Mission Health stands alone as the only health system leaving our network." Mr. Wilson added BCBSNC provided Mission Health increased reimbursement rates during the past 10 years. He also pointed to the health system's own health plan, Healthy State, as reason "Mission Health, above all other hospitals, fully understands the need to combat healthcare costs for employers." Last week, Mission Health offered to continue in-network recognition of BCBSNC's ACA exchange policyholders; however, BCBSNC rejected the proposal. Leading experts in joint replacement came together at a SwiftPath RoundTable held in conjunction with Becker's ASC Conference last fall in Chicago. In this meeting, as in others that SwiftPath has held across the country, high-volume joint replacement experts gathered to discuss the critically important elements of outpatient joint replacement. Each topic is addressed using the Delphi method. The Delphi method is a structured format where joint replacement specialists gather with the goal of achieving consensus. These surgeons are asked specific questions and respond anonymously. Answers are collated and reviewed in the light of relevant literature and further discussion. Multiple rounds of questioning are done, and questions reformatted until consensus is achieved. This is a very effective way of developing clinical pathway guidelines, as has been shown by Bini and Mahajan a recent lead article in the Journal of Arthroplasty. It is a very inclusionary approach where the participants become invested in and committed to those clinical pathway guidelines. That is how you increase adoption rates, says Craig McAllister, MD, president and CMO of SwiftPath. SwiftPaths RoundTable meetings typically involve 12 to 16 high volume joint replacement surgeons each averaging over 250 joint replacements annually. This means that each meeting represents a collective volume of over 4,000 joint replacements per year. These meetings have addressed over 75 issues pertaining to outpatient joint replacement including modern pain management, surgical approaches, discharge criteria, home care monitoring and patient reported outcomes. All experts agree that patient selection issues are key to any approach to outpatient joint replacement, but most attempts to develop patient selection criteria are flawed because they look at failure modes rather than predictive analytics, Dr. McAllister says. Dr. McAllister goes on to point out that the traditional notions of patient selection focus on which patients should or should not have surgery and rely on data that is mined from large hospital databases. These studies juxtapose co-morbidities and other negative predictors against negative events such as complications, hospital acquired conditions and readmissions. Why would we use a list of negative factors and hospital related events to predict a positive outcome from outpatient joint replacement protocols? Seasoned joint replacement experts that have pioneered outpatient joint replacement have their own ways of deciding which patients are appropriate in their hands. While these pearls of wisdom are helpful, they don't really provide objective decision-making aids for other surgeons. The SwiftPath Pathway Selection App takes a completely different approach. We are not talking about a standard patient selection formula like most surgeons are used to, says Dr. McAllister. Results from the RoundTables were used to create a series of weighted questions and answers. Ira Kirschenbaum, MD, is the Chief Medical Information Officer of SwiftPath. He and the SwiftPath team of programmers used input from the RoundTables to write a program that derives a calculation based purely on patient input. The "Pathway Selection App" yields a score that is used by their surgeon to help decide which pathway inpatient or outpatient is most ideal for them. We have utilized this approach in well over 500 joint replacements. In a study presented at AAHKS in 2015 and at AAOS in 2016, the Pathway Selection App was over 99 percent accurate in predicting which patients can be successfully discharged on the day of their joint replacement, says Dr. McAllister. Thomas Meade, MD, is a fellowship trained knee replacement specialist working at Coordinated Healthcare in Pennsylvania. He is among the early adopters of the SwiftPath Program and one of the presenters in Chicago. He has personally performed over 220 successful outpatient total knees using the SwiftPath Program the most in Pennsylvania. I have to give the SwiftPath team credit. The Pathway selection tool includes a variety of relevant predictors. A score comes up, and this score is actually validated. The cool thing about this program is every patient gets on these protocols. Let's say you're a little older, and you have some medical co-morbidities. You've had heart bypass surgery, and you're on a blood thinner. Well, maybe you need to be in a hospital for a day or two; but you are on the same rapid recovery program and this tool is part of the patient engagement platform. I think that was one of the biggest benefits of me getting involved with the SwiftPath program," says Dr. Meade. Innovative technologies and techniques are continually erupting in the spine field, with surgeons now able to perform surgery less invasively. Improvements within the field allow surgeons to push the envelope, devising techniques and treatment plans to yield excellent patient outcomes. Serving as the co-director of Chicago-based Rush Spine Center, Harel Deutsch, MD, has seen how the field has evolved over the years. He refers to the days when he was in training as "the dark ages." "No one seemed to know when we should operate and when we should not," he says. "Outcomes for spine surgery were poor and many patients were labeled as having failed back syndrome. There were a lot of patients seeking answers for their problems." Dr. Deutsch wanted to answer these lingering questions, propelling him to specialize in failed previous spine surgery and failed back syndrome. Technology has changed the spine field, however, and has eliminated many of the uncertainties that led to the aforementioned poor outcomes. Dr. Deutsch says spine surgeons are increasingly using artificial lumbar discs and dynamic stabilization devices for patients that meet the criteria for the devices, thereby improving outcomes for this sector. Dr. Deutsch remarks, "Technology has steadily marched on in spine surgery. Most of the instrumentation we use now was only developed in the 1990s and 2000s. The current and future improvements we are seeing involve the use of computer software for image navigation, placement of screws and surgical planning." Changes taking hold in the spine field The healthcare field today has brought new partnerships into the mix and physicians across many specialties are forging new relationships. Rush University Medical Center is on the forefront on these partnerships, with Dr. Deutsch saying Rush's overall structure is unique in the Chicago area as the medical center "combines the strengths of an academic institution with the strengths of a private corporation singularly focused on healthcare." The fusion of these strengths allows Rush to focus on how the academic medical center can elevate spine care, which entails collaboration between providers. At Rush's pain center, patients with spine disorders have access to specialists who work in tandem on that patient's individualized treatment plan. An orthopedic surgeon will work with a pain management provider to see the best course of action for a patient, and whether that treatment plan entails an operative or non-operative treatment. The teamwork involved in this process has improved treatment for Rush's spine patients, according to Dr. Deutsch. Rush is also seeing the potential in surgery centers, as ASCs can perform higher acuity cases including spine surgery. "Surgicenters are obviously a focus of many hospital-physician partnerships in the spine field," Dr. Deutsch says. "I think success depends ultimately on all partners buying into the concept and alignment of interests of all parties." Dr. Harel Deutsch is among the key speakers for Becker's ASC 24th Annual Meeting: The Business and Operations of ASCs. Learn more about the event here! To continue following the latest news and information for Bedfordshire and surrounding areas, simply enter your full postcode below Sinn Fein's leader at Stormont Michelle O'Neill (centre) along with her party colleagues Alex Maskey (left) and Niall O Donnghaile (right) speak to the press in the Great Hall at Parliament Buildings. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com The DUP has welcomed the government's post-Brexit position paper outlining its Irish border plans as a "constructive step" - while Sinn Fein have said the pledges bring "no comfort". On Wednesday it was revealed that the Government will argue against any new technological or physical monitoring on the Irish border in Brexit talks over the future of its only land frontier with the EU. Confounding speculation that the UK would advocate CCTV cameras or number plate recognition systems as part of its vision for a frictionless border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, a new Whitehall position paper has effectively recommended no change to the current arrangements. Read More It has also proposed a future customs arrangement which would see 80% of businesses on the island entirely exempt from any new tariffs post-Brexit. The exemption would apply to small and medium-sized enterprises involved in localised cross-border trade. In respect of larger companies engaged in international trade, the Government paper proposes they could adhere to any new customs regime by completing retrospective declarations either online or at their premises. Responding DUP leader Arlene Foster said: "The 'Northern Ireland and Ireland' position paper is a constructive step by Her Majesty's Government. It is clear the Government has listened to voices in Belfast, Dublin, Brussels and London about how the United Kingdom's only EU land border could be managed after we Exit the EU. "The DUP will not be deflected by those who want to refight old battles. As set out in our 2017 Westminster Manifesto, we will focus on getting the best deal for Northern Ireland as we Exit the EU." I welcome the commitment to a seamless border and movement of goods between Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is also welcome news that the Government will not countenance any new border in the Irish Sea. Arlene Foster, DUP Meanwhile Sinn Fein's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill said the pledges bring "no comfort". Mrs O'Neill said: "I am not comforted, I don't believe the wider public out there will be comforted from what they read today because, whilst the British Government might say they don't want to see any kind of hard border or technology put in place, it will not be within their gift to deliver that; it will be the other European member states, who clearly think and believe we need to see customs controls," she said. Mrs O'Neill claimed the UK Government had only a "fleeting concern" on how Brexit could affect Northern Ireland and suggested it was using the region to gain leverage in the wider negotiations with Brussels. What the British Government are doing is treating us as collateral damage. Michelle O'Neill,SF She said: "They are very interested in the needs of the British people but not of the needs of the people here who voted to remain within the European Union. "I think we could be forgiven for thinking that the British Government in this latest document are using us and our unique circumstances here to try to put pressure on the European Union." Mrs O'Neill reiterated her demand for Northern Ireland to retain special designated EU status post-Brexit and called on the Irish Government to "defend the rights" of Remain voters north of the border. UUP MLA Steve Aiken welcomed the proposals within the paper. It is good to see the proposals around the Customs Partnership Agreement, the transit of goods across the UK, as part of a Common Transit Convention, the establishment of Authorised Economic Operators and achieving common veterinary standards across of these Islands. That should be warmly welcomed by the EU, the Republic of Ireland Government and by sensible commentators. It is also noteworthy that the issue of energy security is being clearly addressed for the first time. Indeed, the fact that 40% of the Republics gas comes from Great Britain, and the volume of Irish trade with the UK, shows clearly that the Irish government needs to make a strong case with the EU for its own need for special status. The calls from Irish Republic and nationalist politicians for Irish Unity as a response to Brexit are clearly totally unnecessary and provocative." All Northern Ireland politicians should be concentrating on getting the Assembly back up and running and getting a voice for Northern Ireland at the table Republic of Ireland politicians need to be concentrating on making sure that the EU makes the Brexit transition as smooth as possible. Steve Aiken, UUP SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood described the paper as "conflicting, chaotic and deficient". He said: "This paper is a long way away from meeting the needs of people on this island. Far from recognising the need for a special dispensation to protect people in Northern Ireland, the British Government seems to want the EU to bend over backwards to accommodate their ambitions but give very little in return. On practical matters, the British Government position is confused and conflicting. We know that the Irish Government, through the European Union, opposes a hard border, customs posts and CCTV monitoring. The British Government now claims to be opposed to such measures as well. How can that be reconciled with their plan to abandon the Customs Union? Even the British Governments starting point that the Good Friday Agreement is not predicated on the European Union is a fundamental misread of Irish nationalism. It fails to recognise that a primary selling point of the agreement for our community was greater cooperation and harmonisation across this island and that the people of the island could be united under the banner of our common European identity. There is an easier answer to the Irish border question the British Government could give up its hard Brexit position and negotiate to remain a member of the European customs union. Colum Eastwood, SDLP Alliance Party Deputy Leader and Brexit Spokesperson Stephen Farry said the Government is in denial on the Irish Border challenge. Everyone may wish to avoid a hard border, but any difference in the customs and tariff regimes between the UK and the European Union would require both a heavy administrative burden and some form of physical checks. Even light touch borders such as between Norway and Sweden have a physical frontier. "This has been the clear and consistent view of the European Union itself and many experts on customs policy. It is the UK that is opting to leave the EU and the Government is failing to grasp the reality that the EU would wish to preserve the integrity of their Customs Union and Common External Tariff as much as the UK will in due course wish to protect its own trading relationships with the rest of the world. Dismissing problems doesn't make them go away, nor does passing the buck to others. Stephen Farry, Alliance New bowel cancer treatment in Northern Ireland has been delayed due to no NI health minister A newly developed screening test for bowel cancer has been put on hold in Northern Ireland because there is no Stormont health minister. With over 1,000 people in Northern Ireland a year being diagnosed, bowel cancer comes second to lung cancer as the leading cause of death from the disease. Figures show up to 16,000 people in the UK die from cancer every year. The new bowel screening programme has already been introduced in England, Scotland and Wales, but screening in Northern Ireland has been delayed - as there is no health minister currently appointed. The Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) detects tiny amounts of blood in the stool just like the current screening test. Asha Kaur, policy and campaigns manager for Bowel Cancer UK, told the BBC that the new test is much more accurate and also easier to complete than the current screening test. "This means we could potentially save more lives from bowel cancer," she said. "Where the Faecal Immunochemical Test differs is in the way that it measures the level of blood whereas the current test indicates the presence of blood so FIT is far more accurate." "A key difference with FIT is that it requires only one sample rather than the three needed previously. "The pilot found that FIT picks up twice as many cancers and four times as many adenomas as the current screening test. "This is important because the more cancers we can pick up early, the more lives we can save. We know that cancers picked up through the screening are more likely to be early stage cancers. The earlier bowel cancer is detected, the easier it is to treat and the greater chance of survival." Ms Kaur added: "However, because Stormont is not currently running and ministerial approval is needed, I understand that is not forthcoming." A spokesperson for the Public Health Agency in Northern Ireland said: "Current bowel cancer screening is not a test for cancer but, rather looks for blood and, as cancers often bleed, this means further investigations are recommended." Current screening reduces mortality rates from bowel cancer by 15%, she said. "A combination of availing of the screening programme when invited and being alert to signs and symptoms of bowel cancer can help increase the chances of the illness being caught at an earlier stage," she said. North Belfast DUP MLA Paula Bradley said that the inability to introduce new bowel cancer screening tests is the latest example of how a refusal to establish the Executive is impacting upon the people of Northern Ireland. "The inability to introduce a new bowel cancer screening test because there is no Health Minister in place is the latest direct impact on people of Sinn Feins refusal to restore devolution. The development comes as waiting times for investigations, treatments and surgery continue to spiral further out of control," she said. "There was a great deal of coverage over the last few weeks that there is no Infrastructure Minister in place to introduce regulations that would allow e-bike users to use their bike on the roads. That is hugely frustrating for e-bike users, but this is truly an issue of life and death. "Sinn Fein must justify why a test to improve bowel cancer survival rates is less important to them than their narrow political agenda which is preventing the formation of an Executive. Republicans should finally face some belated questioning about the real impact of their politicking." SDLP Health Spokesperson, Mark H Durkan MLA branded the the delay for the new bowel cancer screening test a "disgrace", saying: "The collapse of the institutions has had a clear and negative impact on our health service. "At a time when we should be implementing a transformation plan, the service has been starved of strategic and political direction. Now some of our most vulnerable patients, those with suspected cancer, will have to wait for a new, more accurate, screening test." Durkan stressed: "Early diagnosis and treatment is critical to beating bowel cancer. Delaying the implementation of advanced screening techniques will lead to people dying earlier, there are no two ways about it. "It is a disgrace that the vacuum at Stormont, caused by a failure of politics, is putting lives at risk. People will not understand that. We should not stand for it. Action is urgently needed to restore power-sharing and support our health service." More and more young people say they are stressed over exams. File photo More and more young people say they are stressed over exams. The number of students receiving counselling from a charity for exams and grades-linked worries rose by 14% in the last year. The figures from Childline emerged ahead of tomorrow's AS and A-level results, and next week's GCSE results. They show that 125 counselling sessions took place with children in Northern Ireland in the 12 months to April, compared with 110 in the 2015-16 period. The NSPCC-run organisation revealed that across the UK there were more than 3,000 counselling sessions in the last 12 months aimed at tackling exam stress and another 1,000 which dealt with pressures over results. Almost 30% of all the counselling took place in August last year as the exam result release dates approached. Common fears among young people awaiting results included a sense of disappointment in themselves, that their results would not be good enough to get them into higher education and strong concerns over their parents' reactions to their results. Mairead Monds, Childline services manager for Northern Ireland, told the Belfast Telegraph: "Our impressions are that young people feel a lot of pressure to achieve a very high standard. "It's almost as if a 'B' grade is no longer acceptable. It's almost as if it has to be a string of 'A stars' or 'A's' and nothing else will do. "You have to be realistic. If you do not get nine 'A' grades it does not mean you are a failure. "There are plenty of options available to young people. There are careers officers and teachers that are willing to give advice. "Don't compare your results to someone else's. Talk to someone - call Childline. We will always listen to young people's concerns and help them work through it." The head of Northern Ireland's six further education colleges has also moved to reassure those who might not achieve the results they wanted this time that there are many options still available. Gerry Campbell, chief executive of Colleges Northern Ireland, which provides education to more than 90,000 learners, urged young people to seek plenty of advice in the days ahead. "It is important that students are aware of the different options available to them and make informed career choices," he said. "More and more students are making colleges their first choice when considering what to do next. "Northern Ireland desperately needs our young people to have the skills that will help Northern Ireland meet the economic challenges within the global market. "I would encourage all students to visit the website of their local college and consider attending the various open days and availing of all the advice available over the coming weeks." A man accused of causing the death of a teenager after a car struck her while she was out jogging "cannot be located", a court has been told. Lesley-Ann McCarragher (19) was killed in a hit-and-run incident on April 9, 2016, on the Monaghan Road, Armagh. Eighteen-year old Nathan Finn of Keady Road, Armagh, and 30-year-old Damien Paul McCann of Monaghan Road, Armagh, are alleged to have caused Lesley-Ann's death by dangerous driving, as well as causing death whilst uninsured drivers. McCann had been listed for appearance last month. However, he did not attend and the case was adjourned. Further efforts to have him appear in the meantime were fruitless. Finn, who is also accused of causing death whilst having no driving licence, was named for the first time last month having originally been charged with the offences as a youth. Since then, he has turned 18, and the law banning his identification no longer applies. However, Finn's defence solicitor made an application for anonymity, claiming he was subject to a death threat. This was not supported by police as would be required in such an application, which was subsequently rejected by the judge. On that date the case was re-listed for both men to appear for a committal hearing to transfer the case to Crown Court for trial. But when the case was called at Armagh Magistrate's Court, a prosecution lawyer said an issue had been brought to his attention by police who advised the co-accused "cannot be located", despite strenuous efforts. Legal discussions followed and after some time the prosecution requested a further adjournment. McCann's case may affect the timing of Finn's case, which is understood to be ready to move to Crown Court. As the pair are jointly accused there is a preference not to split the cases, although it can be done, but usually only after all other options have been exhausted. McCann is being prosecuted at the direction of the PPS, which usually means a summons is served on an individual advising them of charges and when to appear in court. However, if the individual cannot be found, the summons cannot be served. Unlike Finn, who was arrested, charged and appeared in court at the outset, the co-accused is not on bail. Ms McCarragher's parents and other family members were seated in the public gallery in preparation for the hearing, but left quietly after learning the co-accused cannot be found and the committal to trial could not proceed. by staff reporter A South African widow who has sold her house and business to find love in Lisdoonvarna is attracting unprecedented interest from would-be suitors ahead of the start of the world-famous matchmaking festival. Marleze Kruger hit the headlines in early June when she announced that she was selling up to fulfil her dream of finding a new partner at the Co Clare lovefest. And veteran matchmaker Willie Daly has revealed he's never experienced "as much interest in a woman" following a flood of calls from interested bachelors from across Ireland. The 75-year-old love doctor said: "Marleze has been in touch with me and I'm really looking forward to meeting her when she's over in a few weeks. "I can guarantee she's going to have her pick of the fellas here, because so many have been in touch, asking me if I can set them up on a date with her. "I would think between 50 to 60 admirers have expressed an interest in her at this stage. "They all seem to like her spirit of adventure and the fact that she is selling up to find romance in Ireland. "I've never come across that much interest in a woman in all my years as a matchmaker." Johannesburg-based Marleze saw her life turned upside-down in 2003 when her husband was murdered during a robbery. She said she was now fully committed to starting a new life in Ireland. The 46-year-old mother-of-one said: "At the moment I'm in the final stages of selling both my house and guesthouse and I'm planning to be over in Lisdoonvarna on September 7. "I'll be staying over in Ireland until mid-October and I really hope to have met someone by then. "If I don't meet anyone at the festival, I will still move over to Ireland, anyway, and I hope to do that by January of next year. "South Africa is a beautiful country and we have great weather and warm-hearted people. "But the country is not safe anymore. "You always need to be home before it gets dark, because it's too dangerous to be out. "So I'll be saying goodbye to everyone in South Africa in a few months and settling all my affairs and I'll be making a permanent move to either Galway or Clare, where I'll be hoping to start some kind of business." Marleze - who became enchanted with Ireland on two previous visits - said her 22-year-old son Kurgan-Ray would also be joining her in Lisdoonvarna for part of the festival. The Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival, one of Ireland's oldest traditional festivals takes place in the small spa town every September. The festival, now over 150 years old, attracts up to 60,000 people from all over the world. It runs from September 1 to October 8. Alliance leader Naomi Long is recovering at home after surgery for a long-term illness. Her husband Michael last night told the Belfast Telegraph that she was "doing very well" and praised staff at the Ulster Hospital who had looked after her. He also said that the couple were "deeply touched" by the number of people from across the political divide who had sent Mrs Long their warmest wishes for a speedy recovery. Last week, the Alliance leader revealed that she suffers from aggressive endometriosis which causes excruciating pelvic pain and heavy bleeding. She underwent surgery and returned home on Sunday after six days in the Ulster Hospital. Mr Long said that initially his wife had been in pain in the days following her operation but that was now under control with medication. He said: "I'm delighted the surgery went so well, without any complications, and Naomi is back home. "All the hospital staff were excellent. They couldn't have done more for us. Naomi and I would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to them. "Naomi was in a fair bit of pain for a short while but that has been brought under control with painkillers." Mr Long said that figures from all the local political parties had been in touch to wish his wife well. "The response from other politicians and from ordinary people right across the political spectrum has been overwhelming. We are deeply touched by the kindness that people have shown," he added. Mrs Long has been praised widely for breaking the taboo about endometriosis and speaking about the condition. It involves tissue which normally lines the womb growing outside it. Although rarely discussed publicly, the disease affects up to one in 10 women and can have a huge impact on quality of life. The Alliance leader twice cancelled surgery this year to fight the Assembly and then the Westminster election. Speaking before surgery, she said: "The chronic pain and other symptoms of the condition have become increasingly severe and hard to manage over the last few years, resulting in a couple of emergency admissions to hospital." Mrs Long expects to be off work for up to two months. Avoiding check points or any other physical infrastructure on the Irish border is a priority in post-Brexit arrangements, the Government position paper states The UK Government has set out its vision of a free-flowing and unmonitored Irish border post-Brexit, with the majority of local businesses avoiding customs tariffs. The proposals outlined in a Whitehall position paper add some detail to Prime Minister Theresa May's oft-repeated pledge to avoid a hardening of the border. While the return of Troubles-era check points along the UK's only land border with the EU has long been considered a non-runner by the Government, there was an expectation it would seek to use technology to monitor major crossings along the 300-mile frontier. But that was not the stance adopted in Wednesday's position paper. Confounding expectations, it instead stated a desire to avoid any physical infrastructure whatsoever, with officials confirming that meant no CCTV cameras or number plate recognition systems. Mrs May said: "As we look forward to Brexit, of course, we do want to ensure that we don't see a return to the borders of the past, we don't see a return to a hard border, and that we are able to ensure that the crucial flow of goods and people between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is able to continue in the future." The plan will only become reality if the UK can convince EU negotiators it is feasible and in the interests of the 27 remaining member states. Resolving the challenges around the Irish border is one of three main 'phase one' issues in the Brexit negotiations, along with citizens rights and the financial exit settlement. The EU 27 will decide in a crunch Brussels summit in October if sufficient progress has been made on all three to widen negotiations to issues such as future trading relations. In respect of those relations, the document proposes a customs arrangement that would see 80% of businesses on the island of Ireland entirely exempt from any new tariffs post-Brexit. The exemption would apply to small and medium-sized enterprises involved in localised cross-border trade. In respect of larger companies engaged in international trade, the Government suggests they could adhere to any new customs regime by completing retrospective declarations either online or at their premises. Officials concede that the proposals could be open to fraud - with Great Britain or continental European-based companies using Irish business counterparts to avoid tariffs - but they believe those risks can be managed effectively. The Government paper again dismissed any suggestion a customs border could be shifted to the Irish Sea, with checks and tariffs only in operation at entry and exit points between the island of Ireland and Great Britain. If the EU signed off the UK's ultimate customs objective - a partnership deal with the UK mirroring Europe's tariff system, as set out in a separate position paper on Tuesday - then no Irish companies would be subject to new checks as a consequence of Brexit. The paper also reaffirms the Government's stated commitment to maintain the almost century-old Common Travel Area (CTA), which allows UK and Irish citizens to travel, work, study, vote and claim benefits in both jurisdictions. In addition, it advocates the retention of rights enshrined under the 1998 Good Friday peace accord, such as the right of nationalists living in Northern Ireland to claim Irish, and consequently EU, citizenship. The Government has also committed to explore ways to maintain funding for peace-building initiatives in Northern Ireland that is currently provided by the EU - to the tune of two billion euro since 1995. Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said: "The paper provides flexible and imaginative ideas and demonstrates our desire to find a practical solution that recognises the unique economic, social and cultural context of the land border with Ireland, without creating any new obstacles to trade within the UK." There was a mixed reaction to the Government's proposals. Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said the paper was "timely and helpful". He welcomed elements of it but said "significant questions" still remain. Mr Coveney warned that delivering on the "aspirations" within the customs and border position papers would be difficult. "There are still significant questions in terms of how we are going to manage and remain as close as possible to the status quo on the island of Ireland in terms of the free movement of goods and services, and ensure we maintain an invisible border on the island of Ireland as you move north and south seamlessly as you do today - that is the manifestation and evidence of a successful peace process," he said. The senior Dublin government minister also made clear Ireland would be robustly pressing for an outcome that suited its citizens. "From that point of view we won't be picking fights for the sake of it but we will be firm and clear in terms of what we regard is important and essential for Ireland to be able to support a future deal," he added. Democratic Unionist leader and former Stormont first minister Arlene Foster described the paper as a "constructive step". "It is clear the Government has listened to voices in Belfast, Dublin, Brussels and London about how the United Kingdom's only EU land border could be managed after we exit the EU," she said. Sinn Fein's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill said the proposals were "big on aspiration but light on clarity". Mrs O'Neill claimed the UK Government had only a "fleeting concern" on how Brexit could affect Northern Ireland and suggested it was using the region to gain leverage in the wider negotiations with Brussels. "What the British Government are doing is treating us as collateral damage," she said. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called for further detail. "Obviously in leaving the European Union it's going to be a problem and no-one wants a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, we certainly don't and I hope there can now be negotiations to make sure there is a continuation of free movement between Northern Ireland and the Republic," he said. A Spanish woman who spent four years studying the Middle East's violent history has become the first person recruited by a Northern Ireland victims group to support Troubles survivors in Britain. Yasmin Wright from Andalucia is the fifth advocacy worker appointed by the South East Fermanagh Foundation (SEFF), which has secured more than 1 million over the next four years from the European Peace IV fund to support victims. Ms Wright is the first of the foundation's staff to be based in London and focused solely on supporting victims of terror attacks in Northern Ireland now living in Britain, or who were affected by Troubles outrages that happened there. It follows the appointment last month of Ann Travers to the foundation. Her sister Mary was murdered by the IRA in 1984 in a botched assassination attempt on their magistrate father. SEFF is also planning to launch an app dubbed The Killing Fields to pinpoint sites in Co Fermanagh where more than 100 Troubles-related terror incidents occurred. Ms Wright said: "I'm confident this opportunity at the SEFF will allow me to combine my experiences working alongside vulnerable people with my interest in learning about new political and historical landscapes. "I'm delighted to have been appointed to this advocacy role at SEFF as I'm committed to the establishment of a crucial London-based advocacy service for victims of the Troubles, in order to overcome the geographical barriers for victims based in Great Britain. "I also wish to raise awareness and empower victims of the Troubles to ensure that their rights are understood and upheld." Ms Wright added that learning English while growing up in Spain and living in a "multi-cultural community" had given her the motivation to "deepen my understanding of social issues and gaining different perspectives in the UK and abroad". Ms Wright completed a specialist four-year social science degree on the politics and history of the Middle East at the University of Leeds. She then travelled through South America, where she helped a local non-governmental organisation develop their educational and social programme for children involved in agricultural labour. Most recently she has been working for a homeless charity in London. Prosecutors in Northern Ireland are considering whether the three-year jail term given to a woman for killing a Co Antrim pensioner is unduly lenient. Eddie Girvan, a retired plumber, was 67 when he was discovered bound, gagged and stabbed in his Greenisland home in January last year. Margaret Henderson-McCarroll, a 31 year-old mother-of-two who had been living at a hostel in Verner Street, Belfast, admitted his manslaughter claiming diminished responsibility. On Monday she was given a six-year sentence for his manslaughter, with three to be served behind bars. She claimed to have been intoxicated at the time on a mixture of heroin and crystal meth, insisting she was acting in self-defence over an argument about money she alleged Mr Girvan owed her for sex. The sentence prompted outrage from a close friend of Mr Girvan as well as local politicians. Yesterday a spokesperson for the Public Prosecution Service said it is considering whether there is "a basis to refer the sentence handed down in this case to the Court of Appeal on the grounds that it may be unduly lenient". The prosecutors have a total of 28 days to refer the sentence to the Court of Appeal. Judges are bound by sentencing guidelines and must take into account mitigating circumstances such as early guilty pleas, co-operation with police and remorse, as well as aggravating factors such as intent and excessive violence. Three MLAs for East Antrim have hit out against the sentence. Ulster Unionist MLA Roy Beggs has written to the Director of Public Prosecutions about the matter. "The justice system has a duty to protect the public and punish criminals," he said. "The public want to see punishments that fit the crime. Sentences that are perceived as weak or inadequate can shake public confidence in the judicial process and that is very dangerous territory indeed. "I believe that this sentence, effectively three years for the death of a man at the hands of a person with over 100 previous convictions, is unduly lenient." "Sentencing reviews have been promised by the last two Justice Ministers. It is perfectly clear that what we need now is action not words." DUP MLA Gordon Lyons also urged the PPS to refer the sentence. "This was a brutal attack on Mr Girvan. The judge rightly called it horrific," he said. "People in Greenisland are shocked and outraged at the unduly lenient sentence that has been handed down. The justice system should be able to demonstrate that those who commit serious and dangerous crimes will face the full rigour of the law. "Sentences like this do not send a clear message to those who are criminals and who seek to destroy life and property. "The taking of a life should result in more than just three years in prison. "I would urge that the PPS refer this decision to the Court of Appeal so that an appropriate sentence can be imposed and that justice would be done." Alliance MLA Stewart Dickson, who knew Mr Girvan, said: "While obviously I am not privy to all the information the judge had in coming to this decision, from the outside looking in it does appear the sentence does not match the crime committed." He added: "The justice system not only has a duty to deliver justice for the victim and his family, but also to take steps to rehabilitate the offender, which also makes me question the breakdown of the sentence, especially with psychology and drug rehab services in prisons under strain." Passing sentence on Monday at Belfast Crown Court, Mr Justice Treacy agreed with two consultant forensic psychologists that Henderson-McCarroll did not meet the dangerous provisions and that she did not pose a "significant risk of serious harm to the public in the future''. Addressing the court he said: "This was an horrific crime and the deceased must have suffered terribly." During the trial, the prosecution had accepted a guilty plea of manslaughter from Henderson-McCarroll on the grounds of "diminished responsibility". In June at a defence and plea hearing, her life at the time of the killing was described by a defence QC as a "heroin hell", which had worsened after the death of her infant daughter. The court also heard how she had known Mr Girvan for years and she received money for sex with him. Following his death she had taken more heroin and after taking his car became involved in a road collision within hours. This prompted police to call to Mr Girvan's address, eventually breaking in when they became concerned for his safety. His body was discovered tied to a chair on the ground floor with two stab wounds to his chest. In addition, a large wad of kitchen roll was stuffed into his mouth and he was gagged with a tie. by allan preston Rescue dog Archie who will play Toto in the Wizard of Oz at the Theatre in the Mill Newtownabbey. Rescue dog Archie who will play Toto in the Wizard of Oz at the Theatre in the Mill Newtownabbey pictured with new owner Julie Morris . Canine stars have often stolen the limelight of many an actor. Now a little dog rescued from a motorway verge is set to join that illustrious list as he returns to centre stage in his second Belfast theatre production. Archie, a terrier cross-breed, was found wandering close to Dublin's M50 motorway - one of Ireland's busiest roads - last year. After being rescued and his whereabouts advertised, no one came forward to claim him. The person who found him contacted friend Julie Morris and since then Archie has been part of the family at their home in Bloomfield, east Belfast. And having made his debut in Fortwilliam Musical Society's production of The Wizard Of Oz last year as Dorothy's beloved Toto, Archie is again beguiling audiences at The Mac in a National Stage School production of Annie in which he plays the orphan's canine companion Sandy. Archie's story was highlighted in the Belfast Telegraph last year. Julie said: "The National Stage School saw him in the Telegraph when he played Toto and asked if they could see him to see if he was suitable to play Sandy in Annie. "I took him there and told them he was both child-proof and audience-proof, but I heard nothing from them until the show was nearly ready to begin. "And now he's been doing matinees and night performances and really loves it." Archie's ability to interact with both the actors on stage and the audience is all the more remarkable because he isn't trained. The role of Annie in this production is also played by four different girls because of the strains associated with over-performing. Not that it appears to matter to Archie, who is in the role at any given time. "He's supposed to run across the stage when the 'dog catcher' takes him, but if he doesn't feel like running they carry him," added Julie. "There are different people playing the roles each time but it doesn't bother him - he still acts the same. "Then at the interval he meets and greets all the kids in the theatre. "Stardom definitely isn't going to his head. It doesn't cause him any stress. As I am speaking to you now, he is crying to get out the door and get going." You can catch Archie at The Mac up until this Sunday. A police officer keeps an eye on proceedings during a security alert at Southway, Derry. Southway is an arterial route into the Creggan Estate in the city. The area was still sealed off at 4.30pm. A police photographer takes photographs of the suspect device during a security alert at Southway, Derry. Southway is an arterial route into the Creggan Estate in the city. The area was still sealed off at 4.30pm. The scene during a security alert at Southway, Derry. Southway is an arterial route into the Creggan Estate in the city. The area was still sealed off at 4.30pm. Police officers and members of the bomb squad pictured during a security alert at Southway, Derry. Southway is an arterial route into the Creggan Estate in the city. The area was still sealed off at 4.30pm. Police in Londonderry have turned up a suspected stash of weapons during an investigation into dissident republican activity. A hide containing a suspected hand gun, a quantity of ammunition and component parts was discovered in the Southway area of the city at around 10am this morning with anti-terrorism officers being called to the scene. The search resulted in the area being closed to traffic for a number of hours. The weaponry was removed for further investigation. Speaking about the find, Derry City and Strabane District Commander Superintendent Gordon McCalmont said: "Items such as these are lethal and were clearly going to be used to inflict serious harm and fear in this community. Whoever is responsible for burying these munitions does not care that these could have been discovered by a member of the public; nor do they care that these are intended to cause serious harm to a victim in the future a victim from our community who will be someones child, mother, father, sister, brother, granny or granddad. Police are continually working to disrupt the work of all paramilitaries and todays search clearly demonstrates our commitment. "We know that the overwhelming majority of people living in this community do not want terror and harm being inflicted on fellow citizens by a shameful minority. Those involved in hiding guns or weapons want to cause harm, they dont care who gets killed or injured. Their desire, to pursue violence and create more victims, has to be challenged." Superintendent McCalmont also appealed to anyone with any information about this hide, or any other type of paramilitary activity, to contact police on the non-emergency number 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. He also extended his thanks to local people for their patience while Southway was closed today. David Douglas stared at the child "intently" while touching his genital area after requesting a table near her, prosecutors said. A registered sex offender carried out an obscene act in front of a girl aged as young as seven at a Belfast restaurant, the High Court has heard. David Douglas stared at the child "intently" while touching his genital area after requesting a table near her, prosecutors said. Counsel for the 58-year-old defendant confirmed he has made admissions and feels shame at his behaviour in the Victoria Square complex. Douglas, of Park Drive in Bangor, Co Down, is charged with breaching a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO), committing an act outraging public decency, and engaging in sexual activity in the presence of a child. Refusing bail, a judge warned him that he faces probable imprisonment. Douglas is currently banned from loitering around any cafes, food outlets or shopping centres likely to be frequented by anyone under 16. But the court was told he went into Prezzo restaurant on March 2, claimed to be meeting friends and asked to be seated close to a family dining there. Crown layer Adrian Higgins said Douglas ordered a beer and sat with a clear view of the girl aged seven or eight. "The girl's grandmother said she observed him intently staring at her granddaughter while touching his genitals through his pockets," the barrister continued. After he paid his bill and left the restaurant manager was informed about his rude and inappropriate gestures. Police were contacted, identified him on Victoria Square CCTV footage and carried out an arrest at a later date. It was revealed that Douglas has 13 breaches of his SOPO since 2011. Other alleged incidents involved "interfering with himself" in the presence of children at restaurants in Belfast and Bangor. On one occasion he simulated a sex act with a bottle while staring at a child, the court heard. Defence barrister Luke Curran said Douglas made "full and frank admissions" to the latest charges during police interviews. "This defendant acknowledges he does have a problem, he described his actions as shameful," the lawyer added. "He says it's horrible, shows genuine remorse, feels terrible and is ashamed of himself." Mr Justice O'Hara was told Douglas is undergoing cognitive behavioural therapy, although progress was described as "slow". Denying bail at this stage, the judge said: "This must have been dreadful for the girl and her family to observe. "It seems to me that a custodial sentence for Mr Douglas is inevitable." Devoted mum: Aundrea with her boys Jack and James Aundrea Bannatyne, a mother of two from Dundonald, bravely battled pancreatic cancer A brave mother from Dundonald who fearlessly battled her cancer diagnosis has passed away, her family have announced. Aundrea Bannatyne (42), who worked as a travel agent for Thomas Cook, was told she had terminal pancreatic cancer in July last year. She vowed to fight on for her sons James (10) - who had survived a treatment for brain cancer himself, aged two - and Jack (14). With the backing of thousands of friends and fundraisers, dubbed Aundrea's army, she began searching for treatment outside Northern Ireland, finding hope with a 200,000 treatment in a German clinic. Despite her courageous fight, she received test results in April with the devastating news that her condition would not improve. On a post on her fundraising Facebook page her family said their "beautiful girl" had passed away. The heartbreaking message said: "It's with a heavy heart we tell you our beautiful girl Aundrea lost her battle in the last hour. She will be missed by everyone but especially Mum Lorraine, Dad Richard , Brother Aaron and beautiful sons Jack & James. "She fought with everything she had right until the end." A Lithuanian national who took his own life in Northern Ireland's top security prison had attempted to die by suicide a week previously - but staff were not told, a report has found. File photo A Lithuanian national who took his own life in Northern Ireland's top security prison had attempted to die by suicide a week previously - but staff were not told, a report has found. Laurynas Steponavicius (23) was found dead at Maghaberry in January 2016 - seven weeks after being remanded into custody. A report published today following an investigation by the Prisoner Ombudsman noted Mr Steponavicius had claimed he was contemplating suicide, and had attempted to take his life. But nobody passed the warnings on to prison officers or healthcare professionals because they did not believe he was serious. Today's report makes four recommendations, all of which have been accepted by the Northern Ireland Prison Service and South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust. Mr Steponavicius had been remanded to Maghaberry Prison on January 5 2016. He was found hanging on February 11 2016, and died 11 days later at an outside hospital. This was his first time in custody, and a clinical reviewer from the Prisoner Ombudsman's office was satisfied he did not exhibit any evidence of mental illness or excessive distress during his first few days in Maghaberry. Mr Steponavicius had asked to see police officers while in prison and they visited him on the day before he died. He told them that he felt safer in Maghaberry than in the community. Despite this assertion, he met with a senior prison officer and a nurse the next day and requested a transfer to another cell. He was anxious as he had disclosed his meeting with the police to his cellmate, who was also his co-defendant. The senior officer promptly initiated the request for a transfer, but it did not happen prior to his death, just two hours after they spoke with him. The senior prison officer and nurse provided differing accounts about whether Mr Steponavicius disclosed thoughts of suicide to them. After he died, it transpired that Mr Steponavicius had previously suggested to fellow Lithuanian prisoners and to his girlfriend that he was contemplating suicide; and that he had made an unsuccessful attempt about a week before he died. However, nobody passed this information on to prison officers or healthcare professionals because they did not believe he was serious. The report states that as a young man in a foreign prison, Mr Steponavicius was in a higher than average risk category. He also appeared to be stressed by the relationship with his girlfriend, and by his isolation as he did not have any visitors or contact with family during his time in Maghaberry. The Prisoner Ombudsman's clinical reviewer was satisfied that the resuscitation process was well-led and well-conducted by the Prison Service and South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust (SEHSCT) staff when Mr Steponavicius was found. This report makes four recommendations for improvement, all of which have been accepted. These include proposals to the Prison Service that foreign national prisoners should be allowed to make a free international call upon committal if their designated next of kin does not live locally. Among the recommendations for the SEHSCT was to ensure that staff have an awareness of factors which put prisoners at higher risk of self-harm or suicide, and ensure they look beyond prisoners' self-report. Prisoner Ombudsman Tom McGonigle said it was a tragic episode. "This is a sad case of a young man who ended up in prison in another country, far from his family," he said. "He had prospects for bail but several matters were stressing him, some of which were not known to the authorities until after he died, and he felt he had no-one to turn to for support. "I extend my sympathy to his next of kin for their untimely loss." Police and forensics at the scene of a punishment shooting in the Henry Place area of North Belfast on July 22nd 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Police and forensics at the scene of a punishment shooting in the Henry Place area of North Belfast on July 22nd 2017 (Photo by Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph) Three men have been arrested in north Belfast connected to two separate paramilitary-style shootings. Detectives from the Criminal Investigation Branch made the arrests after a search was carried out at properties in north and west Belfast on Wednesday. Detective Chief Inspector Gary Reid said: "Detectives from the Criminal Investigation Branch have arrested three men, aged 45, 46 and 54 years under the Terrorism Act, following searches of properties in north and west Belfast today in relation to two separate paramilitary-style shootings which occurred in the Jamaica Street area of north Belfast on the evening of Sunday June 25 and the Henry Place area of Belfast on Saturday, July 22. "The men have been taken to Musgrave Serious Crime Suite where they are currently helping police with their enquiries. During the searches detectives seized a large quantity of cash, mobile phones and other items. "Detectives are also searching a further property in north Belfast in connection with these investigations." People build a bonfire, in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire People hold flags to be burnt on a bonfire, in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire People build a bonfire in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire People build a bonfire in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire Poppy wreaths on a bonfire, in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire Flags to be burnt on top of a bonfire, in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire A world war I commemorative plaque on a bonfire, in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire Flags to be burnt on top of a bonfire, in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire A painting of police Landrover and a petrol bomb on a bonfire in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire People watch a bonfire in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire People watch a bonfire in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire People watch a bonfire, from the top of a cannon on Derry city walls in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire People watch a bonfire in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire A bonfire in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire A bonfire in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire A bonfire in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire A man sets fire to a bonfire in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire A bonfire in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire A bonfire in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire Flags on a bonfire, in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire Flags on a bonfire, in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire Flags on a bonfire, in the bogside area of Londonderry, which is traditionally torched on August 15 to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven, but in modern times the fire has become a source of contention and associated with anti-social behaviour. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday August 15, 2017. Disorder flared in Londonderry on Monday night as bonfire-builders attacked police and members of the public. Police said those gathered at the controversial fire site in Derry's Bogside threw rocks and stones at local people before targeting police with petrol bombs and other missiles. See PA story ULSTER Bonfire. Photo credit should read: Niall Carson/PA Wire People watch a bonfire, from the top of a cannon on Derry city walls in the bogside area of Derry. Niall Carson/PA Wire The two poppy wreaths pictured on the Bogside bonfire in Derry Three police officers were injured during disturbances in and around the controversial bonfire in Derry's Bogside on Tuesday night. Missiles where thrown between crowds that had gathered around the bonfire and those who came to view the fire from Derry's walls during minor disturbances shortly after the fire was lit at 11pm. There were reports that bottles had been thrown down into the bonfire crowd from the city's walls and dozens of bottles were thrown up onto the walls by those gathered at the bonfire. Two people were arrested. PSNI Superintendent Gordon McCalmont said that police dealt with minor disorder on the Walls last night during which bottles and other missiles were thrown however it was brought quickly under control and calm was restored. Three police officers sustained minor injuries, he said. Two people were arrested, one for public order related offences and the other for driving related offences. I would like to take this opportunity to thank local community representatives from all sides of our community for their cooperation and engagement over recent days. I believe that the disorder last night was kept to a minimum in large part because of the positive influence they have been able to bring to bear. Earlier in the evening there was outrage over the burning of two poppy wreaths which had been placed on the pyre. DUP Councillor Graham Warke called the placing of the wreaths, which had been stolen from the War Memorial in the city's Diamond and placed on the pyre alongside several flags including a Paratroop Regiment flag, several Union Jacks and a flag commemorating the Somme, a 'vile, disgusting act'. A few hundred yards away crowds enjoyed the final night of the Gasyard Feile 2017, where during the Return of The Phoenix: Festival of Fire, pyrotechnics kept the crowd entertained before a small, neat bonfire was set alight. Traditionally, a bonfire is torched on August 15 in Derry to mark a Catholic feast day celebrating the assumption of the Virgin Mary into heaven. More than 1,000 people gathered at the bonfire on the embankment overlooking the Bogside last night to watch the fire burn. Agreement had been reached just days before on the location of the bonfire after talks between young people and community activists. The bonfire had been constructed and lit in the middle of the Lecky Road last year after the bonfire builders had their material removed. A woman has been convicted of the sale and supply of illegal prescription medicines from her Eastern European convenience food store in Lisburn A woman has been convicted of the sale and supply of illegal prescription medicines from her Eastern European convenience food store in Lisburn. Eduarda Verygiene (43) received fines totalling 750 plus court costs at the city's Magistrates Court yesterday. She had pleaded guilty to three charges before the court in relation to the possession and sale of unauthorised, prescription-only and pharmacy medicines. The court heard that the Department of Health's Medicines Regulatory Group enforcement officers visited the Tonagh Drive shop in September 2016. They seized over 3,000 tablets among a range of illegal medicines found on open sale. The medicines seized were of Lithuanian and Russian origin and included those for the treatment of infection, digestive disorders and for pain relief. Peter Moore, senior medicines enforcement officer with the Department of Health, said buying medicine from unregulated stores carried serious risk. "Medicines are not everyday consumer goods, and appropriately, strict legal controls apply to their sale and supply. "If you buy a medicine from unregulated high street sources like this, you may well be exposing yourself to a product that is unlicensed, fake or could react adversely with any other medication you may take. People should only take prescription medicines after an appropriate consultation with their GP or other healthcare professional and source them from a registered pharmacy." Professor Mike Mawhinney, head of the Medicines Regulatory Group, said the Department of Health would continue to clamp down on the illicit sale of medical drugs. "This kind of illegal activity poses a significant risk to public health," he said. "The department will continue to be vigilant in the regulation of medicines and in maintaining public safety. "To this end we will continue to conduct further inspections across Northern Ireland and take action where necessary." Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney spoke to the media, at Iveagh House in Dublin, in response to the UK Government's Brexit proposals The Government has warned UK Prime Minister Theresa May it will stubbornly defend Ireland's interests in relation to Brexit negotiations. Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said the Government will "not be picking fights for the sake of it" but stressed it will be "clear and firm" on what is essential to ensure the best interests of Ireland. Responding to the UK government's Brexit position paper, Mr Coveney said while he welcomed the commitment to avoid any physical border he warned moving away from the status quo on the island of Ireland "will be difficult" and therefore "imaginative and flexible solutions will be required." He added that during Brexit negotiations the Government will be "realistic and fair, but also stubborn in relation to defending Irish interests". Mr Coveney said: "I think this is a good test of the European Union in terms of protecting the interests of small countries as well as big ones. "All of our interaction with the Barnier Task Force has reinforced the point that he (Michel Barnier) made when he said Ireland's interests is Europe's interests." He added: "What is happening here is not by Irish design. The British people have decided to leave the EU. "That has very significant consequences for us and it is my job to make sure I protect Irish interests in the context of negotiations to facilitate that exit. "From that point of view we won't be picking fights for the sake of it but we will be firm and clear in terms of what we regard is important and essential for Ireland to be able to support a future deal." Referring to the border issue, Mr Coveney said that, while the position paper is a step forward, "significant questions" still remain. He also warned that delivering on the "aspirations" within the customs and border position papers will be difficult. "What we don't have is the detail of how it is going to work and so we will be consulting in some detail with the Michel Barnier Taskforce in terms of how we approach the next round of negotiations on the 28," he said. "There are still significant questions in terms of how we are going to manage and remain as close as possible to the status quo on the island of Ireland in terms of the free movement of goods and services, and ensure we maintain an invisible border on the island of Ireland as you move north and south seamlessly as you do today - that is the manifestation and evidence of a successful peace process." He added: "There are issues still to be resolved but I think it is a step forward. Delivering the aspirations in these papers will be difficult. When there's a statement made by the British Government, the assumption by many is 'That's it then, that's what is going to be achieved'. "(But) it is a negotiating position that needs to be teased out and agreed." Bin collection will return to normal in Birmingham after progress was made in a long-running dispute involving refuse collection workers, conciliation service Acas said. The Unite union had warned that the dispute could last until Christmas, with workers campaigning against plans to cut more than 100 waste collection jobs. Acas said industrial action has been suspended, and that Unite and Birmingham City Council are pleased to be recommencing industrial relations and pleased that the bin collection can resume without disruption. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Acas said the parties had made sufficient progress in their talks for industrial action to be paused, with council cabinet members agreeing in principle that Grade 3 posts will be maintained, and consequently there are no redundancy steps in place. Unite has also agreed in principle to recommend to its members work pattern changes, including consideration of a five-day working week, Acas said, with both parties agreeing that the working week should be designed to maximise service delivery. Discussions are set to continue on how the service can be improved, with the intention of improving efficiencies in performance of the bin collection service generally, including what savings can be made. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference To assist in the resolution of outstanding issues both parties will go to Acas. Unite said the Grade 3 jobs are responsible for the safety at the rear of the refuse vehicles. The unions assistant general secretary, Howard Beckett, said: We are very pleased that we have reached the stage where we can suspend the industrial action while we hold further talks about the future of the refuse service. Expand Close (Aaron Chown/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (Aaron Chown/PA) I know this news will be greatly welcomed by the people of Birmingham as they look forward to their bins being collected again on a regular and seamless basis. I would like to thank them for their understanding over recent weeks. Unite will suspend the current round of industrial action that was due to run until 21 September to create a conducive climate for the talks to proceed smoothly. Our members will be working normally. I would like to pay tribute to the city council leader, Councillor John Clancy, who has worked very hard and travelled the extra mile to achieve this solution, despite the reservations of some top council officials. The council has addressed our members concerns, including the safeguarding of the Grade 3 post that is vital to the safety at the rear of the refuse vehicles. Unite also welcomes the fact that our suspended rep is now returning to work. Unite recognises and deplores that local government in England has suffered swingeing cuts to its funding since the Tories came to power in 2010. Finally, I would like to thank our members for the solidarity they have shown in defence of a decent and well-resourced refuse collection in Birmingham, and their stand against job cuts and massive cuts to their wages. We will be entering into these Acas talks in a constructive and positive fashion and recognise that there is still much hard work to be done. A Birmingham City Council spokeswoman said they still have accumulations of waste due to the strike, and are therefore still in a contingency phase, adding that the council will resume regular collections as soon as it is able to. In a statement, the council said: The Acas statement in connection with the Waste and Refuse dispute does not represent the councils position until these matters are considered at the councils Special Cabinet Meeting on August 24 2017. The decision on the waste reorganisation taken by Cabinet on June 27 is still the current position of the council. Gylfi Sigurdsson is on the verge of completing his highly anticipated move from Swansea to Everton. Toffees boss Ronald Koeman announced at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon that the 27-year-old Iceland international has passed his medical. I have seen the doctor and there is no problem, said Koeman. Still he needs to sign, but I saw him in the Blue! We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Sigurdssons proposed switch has dragged on for most of the summer, with Swansea initially valuing their star man at 50million. But Everton are finally set to secure their number one target to take their summer spending to over 140million. We worked a long time to get this deal in, he was one of the key players to bring in, added Koeman. We need players who will bring productivity to the team. We lost Romelu Lukaku and we lost 25 goals, we need more players than one to get that number of goals. He is that type of player with that productivity. He knows the Premier League, he had a good season at Swansea and in his position he is one of the best in the Premier League. Koeman has previously brought in Michael Keane, Davy Klaassen, Cuco Martina, Jordan Pickford, Sandro Ramirez and Wayne Rooney this summer as Everton look to improve on last seasons seventh-placed finish. Police investigating the alleged kidnapping of a British model in Italy have arrested the brother of the chief suspect in the West Midlands. Chloe Ayling is believed to have been snatched by a group calling itself Black Death after being lured to a fake modelling shoot in Milan last month. Chief suspect Lukasz Pawel Herba has said he did not knowingly take part in any crime, and on Wednesday the National Crime Agency (NCA) said it had arrested his brother, Michal Konrad Herba. Expand Close (PA graphic) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA graphic) The 36-year-old was detained at an address in the Tividale area of Sandwell, West Midlands, and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday. Michal Konrad Herba was apprehended on a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Italian authorities, the NCA said. Italian police have said Ms Ayling was drugged and transported in a bag to an isolated village near Turin, where she was held for six days as her captors tried to auction her online. The 20-year-old said she was injected with ketamine after being lured to a fake modelling shoot before being bundled into the boot of a car and told she was going to be sold as a sex slave. Expand Close Lukasz Pawel Herba (Polizia di Stato/PA) Press Association Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Lukasz Pawel Herba (Polizia di Stato/PA) Ms Ayling, from Coulsdon, south London, was eventually taken to the British Consulate in Milan after the horrific ordeal, but could not return home to London for almost three weeks. Lukasz Pawel Herba has said his involvement stems from wanting to raise money to treat his leukaemia and that he was hired by a group of Romanians to rent properties around Europe to store garments they were selling, according to reports. He is also said to have told investigators he posed as a photographer and met Ms Ayling. He said he was paid 500,000, found out the Romanians intended to kidnap her, and backed out of the plan. The NCA said in a statement: Officers from West Midlands Police and Emsou (East Midlands Special Operations Unit) this morning arrested the brother of Lukasz Pawel Herba in connection with the kidnapping of Chloe Ayling. Michal Konrad Herba, 36, was apprehended at an address in the Tividale area of Birmingham on a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Italian authorities. He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on 17 August. The National Crime Agency and Emsou are providing specialist support to the Italian Polizia di Stato as part of this ongoing investigation. The chimes of Big Ben are set to be silenced until 2021 during restoration work on the Elizabeth Tower and the Great Clock. The bell is still scheduled to sound for significant events like Remembrance Sunday and New Years Eve, but for anyone hoping to keep Big Bens E note ringing on a more regular basis, here are some alternatives. 1. Downloads the chimes as a ringtone. The Parliament website offers MP3 files of the chimes of Big Ben as well as the bell being struck as a ringtone. Head to the website here and follow the instructions to save the file to give every phone call gravitas. 2. Listen to poetry by Ian McMillan. Expand Close (Yui Mok/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (Yui Mok/PA) Barnsleys Ian McMillan was commissioned to write seven poems to celebrate the sounds of the bells in 2013. The works coincided with the 90th anniversary of Big Bens chimes heralding in the New Year and are available on BBC iPlayer. 3. Listen to Oranges and Lemons by Benjamin Till. Another case of Big Ben inspiring art work. Composer Benjamin Till created a piece for the 150th anniversary of Big Ben chiming for the first time which included all the churches and institutions from the longer version of playground favourite Oranges and Lemons. 4. Visit another bell. Expand Close (Steve Pond/PA) PA Archive/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (Steve Pond/PA) With Big Ben silenced and tours to the Elizabeth Tower suspended, visit the Olympic bell in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. While it too is silent it is considered too loud to strike as it would disturb neighbours it was commissioned from the Whitechapel Foundry which also made Big Ben. The bell took centre stage at London 2012 when it was struck by Team GB cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins during the opening ceremony. As a second alternative, theres Little Ben, at Victoria station which is an replica of the Elizabeth Tower, but no bell. 5. Listen to The Pin. Expand Close (PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp (PA) Comedy series The Pin with Ben Ashenden and Alex Owen returned to Radio 4 in July for Series Three. The first episode, on Education, starts with a sketch making the best use of the chimes of Big Ben Ive ever heard according to David Hepworth in the Guardian. US President Donald Trump was left red-faced on Tuesday after he re-tweeted a post which labelled him a fascist. The notoriously prolific tweeter shared a link to a Fox news story which read: FOX NEWS EXCLUSIVE: President Trump seriously considering a pardon for ex-Sheriff Joe Arpaio. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference The tweet went horribly wrong for the president after Twitter user Mike Holden left a reply under Trumps post which read: Hes a fascist, so not unusual. The post was re-tweeted by Trump and swiftly deleted moments later but it did not go unnoticed among some of his 36 million followers. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Holden has since changed his Twitter bio to reflect his new-found fame, and has made the tweet, which has gone viral with thousands of likes and re-tweets, his header photo. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference The 53-year-old IT worker from Manchester told the Washington Post that his notifications went completely bananas after he unassumingly posted the tweet. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference He added: [Fascist] is strong term to use, but I wouldnt apologise for it. Why he re-tweeted it is beyond me, but maybe he got a taste of his own medicine. Predictably, many were left baffled as to how such a blunder could occur in the first place. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference But others pointed out that the commander-in-chiefs mistake will live on forever in his presidential archives. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Trump also briefly re-ignited his hostile attack on CNN, by re-tweeting a photo-shopped image of the Trump train crashing into the news networks logo. The post was also deleted. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Trumps slip-up could add to the pressure he has been under following his clumsy response to the events in Charlottesville over the weekend, where a deadly white supremacist rally took place. Arpaio is a former Arizona sheriff who was convicted of criminal contempt last month, for wilfully continuing to detain people he suspected were undocumented immigrants, despite a judges ruling. He faces up to six months in jail but could be spared if Trump issues him a pardon. Expand Close Joe Arpaio and Donald Trump (Mary Altaffer/AP) AP/PA Images / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Joe Arpaio and Donald Trump (Mary Altaffer/AP) Arpaio has sparked controversy over his stringent views on illegal immigration and extreme tactics against criminals. He once forced inmates at Arizonas Tent City jail to wear pink underwear and endure temperatures higher than 100F (43C). Arpaio has also been heavily criticised for failing to investigate hundreds of sex crimes while in office. Donald Trump has lauded Arpaio as an outstanding sheriff and said he doesnt deserve to be treated this way. 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Martin Schulz, who is Chancellor Angela Merkel's main challenger in next month's election, said Germany has to "do everything to avoid things here going the way they are in America". Mr Schulz was asked in an interview with German media group RND about Donald Trump's comments that "there's blame on both sides" for the weekend violence in Charlottesville. In extracts of the interview published on Wednesday, Mr Schulz was quoted as saying that "the downplaying of Nazi violence in Trump's incoherent comments is highly dangerous". Mr Schulz, who leads Germany's centre-left Social Democratic Party, said it was important to "stand decisively against those who sow hatred. Always. And everywhere". Theresa May has criticised Donald Trump for not singling out white supremacists for criticism following deadly unrest in Virginia, insisting there is "no equivalence" between fascists and their opponents. The Prime Minister spoke out after the US President failed to condemn far-right demonstrators outright for violence in Charlottesville in which a woman was killed. Mr Trump claimed "there is blame on all sides", apparently equating the actions of far-right demonstrators with those protesting against them. But Mrs May said: "I see no equivalence between those who propound fascist views and those who oppose them. I think it is important for all those in positions of responsibility to condemn far-right views wherever we hear them." Asked about Mr Trump's comments in the wake of the violence, Mrs May told reporters in Portsmouth: "As I made clear at the weekend following the horrendous scenes that we saw in Charlottesville, I absolutely abhor the racism, the hatred and the violence that we have seen portrayed by these groups. "The United Kingdom has taken action to ban far-right groups here, we have proscribed certain far- right groups here in the United Kingdom. "And there is no equivalence." Mrs May spoke after senior Tories condemned Mr Trump, whose comments have also provoked criticism from both Republicans and Democrats in the US. Communities Secretary Sajid Javid tweeted: "Neo-Nazis: bad, Anti-Nazis: good, I learned that as a child. It was pretty obvious." Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson posted: "The President of the United States has just turned his face to the world to defend Nazis, fascists and racists. For shame." Prisons Minister Sam Gyimah tweeted: "The 'leader of the free world' loses moral authority when he cannot call fascism by its name." Violence erupted in Charlottesville on Saturday after a group of far-right extremists gathered to protest against a decision to remove a statue of a Confederate general. Heather Heyer, 32, later died when a car was driven into crowds as anti-fascist demonstrators clashed with the white supremacists. Mr Trump faced heavy criticism in the immediate wake of the unrest after he said there was blame on "many sides". He took two days to condemn the actions of the far-right groups in particular, eventually branding the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists "repugnant to everything that we hold dear as Americans", in a statement on Monday. However, during a turbulent press conference at his Manhattan residence on Tuesday, the president appeared to have reverted to his previous position. He acknowledged there were "some very bad people" among the statue protesters, but added: "You also had people that were very fine people, on both sides." In the hours after the comments the hashtag #ImpeachTrump trended worldwide on Twitter, while MPs from all sides criticised the president over his renewed stance. Meanwhile, several Labour MPs and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Vince Cable urged Mrs May to tear up her offer to Mr Trump of a state visit to Britain. Sir Vince said: "Donald Trump has shown he is unable to detach himself from the extreme-right and racial supremacists. "The fact he remains highly dependent on White House advisers from the extreme-right shows he is firmly anchored in this detestable world view. "It would be completely wrong to have this man visit the UK on a state visit." Shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith tweeted: "A state visit by #DonaldTrump would shame this country and betray all we stand for. Theresa May should revoke the invitation immediately." Mrs May has faced repeated criticism over her decision to offer a state visit to her US counterpart shortly after he took office. However the controversial occasion was reportedly put on hold after Mr Trump grew concerned that he would be greeted by protests on arrival. Number 10 sources said at the time that no date had been fixed, but officials were believed to be looking at 2018. There is little doubt that the new Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, is keen to make his mark in a very dramatic way. Even before his recent visit to Belfast, he bluntly declared that the Dublin government would not design a border for the Brexiteers and he quite sensibly has called for the UK to stay in the Customs Union and the Single Market. In his first official visit to Northern Ireland as Taoiseach, he went out of his way to address the hugely important issue of Brexit in his principal speech at Queen's University. He did not mince his words when he said that advocates of a "hard" Brexit have had 14 months to come up with their own proposals, but have failed to do so. By throwing down a challenge to hardline pro-Brexit elements in the British government over Europe, he was playing hardball. From now on, there would be no question of the Irish government being seen to pander to the British government. He has moved decisively from the softly, softly approach of former Taoiseach Enda Kenny to a robust line with a divided Tory government. Nor was Varadkar unduly concerned with the hostile political reaction of the DUP, who have toadied to the Conservative Party's Brexit position in an unthinking manner. This is contrary not just to the democratically expressed will of the majority of people here in the EU referendum, but also contrary to the objective economic interests of this region. It is incontestable to say that leaving the Single Market will damage our ability to trade freely, not just with the Republic, but also with the rest of Europe. There seems to be a gross failure on the part of the unionist leadership to appreciate just how detrimental leaving the Single Market will be for our economy - even in the medium term. What may be good for south-east England will definitely not be good for Northern Ireland. Failure by unionist politicians to understand this is baffling. To understand it, all they have to do is to conduct a frank dialogue with business leaders to get their fix on industry's well-founded worries about the future of business here. One can understand - though not agree with - unionist traditional opposition to the EU as a political supranational body, but it has had undeniable economic benefits for our businesses, industry and agriculture. Surely, unionists can devise a coherent political position that opposes political membership of Europe, while accepting continued membership of the Single Market and the Customs Union? The DUP's Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, in response to the Taoiseach, has criticised the Irish position as being intemperate, confused and incoherent. Far from being intemperate, confused, or incoherent, the Irish government under Leo Varadkar has shown a very strong and gutsy approach on Europe. This is the position of a confident, far-seeing Taoiseach, who is not just committed to the preservation of the European Union as a political project, but also in the development of ideas that can practically help to resolve the mess of Brexit, which now unnecessarily pollutes European politics. Remember: whenever Varadkar speaks, he is speaking not just as the head of the Irish government, but also as a lead player in Europe, helping to shape and form the thoughts of the powerful, like Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron. He has been given a major role by the EU in addressing and confronting the problems of Brexit. That is why his 'practical solutions' speech at Queen's was so important. In it, he urged that thought be given to a separate EU-UK customs union, to the UK joining the European Free Trade Association and a possible transition period while Brexit problems are worked out. If adopted, his ideas could be a game-changer for everybody. Already, we saw last weekend an acceptance by two leading, but rival, members of the Cabinet, Liam Fox and Philip Hammond, that a time-limited transition period will have to be agreed. Hitherto, both these men represented polar opposites on this issue. Now, some sort of coherence is emerging on this issue, but it is far from resolved, as there is no agreement on the length of time required. It is too early to assess how great a leader Leo Varadkar will be, given that he has just assumed office, but it is wrong to be dismissive of him, as he has shown by his leadership over Europe that he is no bit player, but a serious and ambitious politician who will take no prisoners and is determined to radically challenge the problems that Brexit has thrown up. Unionists would be well-advised to take him seriously and, for once, try to be imaginative, intelligent and conciliatory in dealing with Dublin. People in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir celebrate Pakistans Independence Day, Aug. 14, 2017. As millions of Indians unfurled the national tricolor on Tuesday to celebrate their countrys 70th Independence Day, Kashmir resident Mohammad Shafi Dar hoisted a black flag above his house. His was an act of defiance carried out in the memory of a son allegedly cut down by police fire on Sunday in the Himalayan regions militancy-ravaged Pulwama district. It is in protest, Dar, 55, said. His 22-year-old son, Owais Ahmad Dar, was hit by a stray bullet when security forces opened fire to disperse anti-India protesters who routinely pour out on the streets of Kashmir to vent anger over killings of suspected militants. Owais was not among the protesters. He had his whole life in front of him. But he is dead now only because he stepped out of the house at the wrong time. What independence are we talking about? Dar told BenarNews. Indian forces are on a killing spree in Kashmir and you expect Kashmiris to celebrate Indias Independence Day. I will celebrate the day Kashmir gets freedom from Indian rule, he said. Dar is just one of many residents of Muslim-majority Indian Kashmir who look at Indias Independence Day with contempt. It only means 70 years of forced occupation and autocratic rule, Nisar Ahmad, 24, a jobless graduate from Baramulla district, told BenarNews, while talking about Indias independence from British rule on Aug. 15, 1947. Kashmir, claimed in its entirety by India and Pakistan, has grappled with a separatist insurgency that has claimed more than 70,000 lives mostly civilians since the late 1980s. India and Pakistan have fought two full-blown wars over ownership of the region since the partitioning of the subcontinent that followed independence in August 1947. It is a shame on the Indian leadership that Kashmir has been turned into a military zone and innocent people are held hostage in their homes day in and day out, Ahmad said, adding that Kashmiris had marked Indias Independence Day as a black day for years. At least 22 civilians have been killed by police gunfire in Indian-administered Kashmir since February, according to government figures. Police are forced to take extreme measures when the situation goes out of control, S.P. Vaid, the chief of police in Indian Kashmir told BenarNews in late March, following violent street protests during which more than a dozen anti-India demonstrators and a security officer were injured. Calls for dialogue Security analysts called on the Indian government to initiate a dialogue with all stakeholders. The government should ignore separatists claiming to the real representatives of Kashmir and hold a dialogue with those who are elected representatives in order to find a solution to the Kashmir problem, Ajai Sahni of the New Delhi-based Institute of Conflict Management told BenarNews. Many Kashmiris want to celebrate Indias Independence Day but do not because of threats from militants in the region, Sahni said. Noor Baba, a Srinagar-based political analyst, agreed. New Delhi should not wait for the last militant to be killed before initiating a dialogue with genuine stakeholders, Baba told Benar. People wave the national flag as they celebrate India's 70th Independence Day in the capital New Delhi, Aug. 15, 2017. [Shashank Shekhar/Benar News] Although there is no question of going soft on militancy, the Kashmir issue can be resolved only by embracing Kashmiris, said Veena Sikri, former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh and Malaysia. You need to have a combination of political, military and economic thought processes to resolve the Kashmir issue, Sikri told BenarNews. Another analyst blamed Pakistan for instigating the Kashmiri youth against India. The security establishment of Pakistan views Kashmir as an issue that validated their very existence as a nation-state. Pakistan has used this calculation as a strategy, and quite successfully, foreign policy expert Vinay Kaura told BenarNews. India routinely accuses Pakistan of backing and funding separatism in Kashmir. Pakistan has repeatedly denied this charge, saying the decades-old violence in Kashmir is a result of Indias oppressive rule in the Muslim-majority region. India and Pakistan need to accept the ground reality and find a solution to convert the Line of Control the de facto border that divides Kashmir between the two sides into an international border, Kaura said. A real global policy on Kashmir has yet to be formulated. The violence must be controlled so discussions can be held. The road ahead lies in negotiations and discussions, he said. Akash Vashishtha and Rohit Wadhwaney in New Delhi contributed to this report. Kashmiri villagers in Rathsuna Tral, near Srinagar, watch the funeral procession of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Sabzar Ahmad Bhat who was killed in a gunfight with government forces, May 28, 2017. The United States on Wednesday added Hizbul Mujahideen (HM), the oldest and largest rebel group fighting against Indian rule in Kashmir, to its list of global terrorist organizations a move slammed by separatists in the disputed Himalayan region. The U.S. State Department issued a notice to the media in which it declared HM as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist outfit. These designations seek to deny HM the resources it needs to carry out terrorist attacks. Among other consequences, all of HMs property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group, the department said. Separatists operating in Kashmir, which is claimed in its entirety by India and Pakistan, denounced the move by the U.S, calling it an act to defame a just freedom movement only to appease India. The action is aimed at defaming the decades-old indigenous freedom movement aimed at liberating Kashmir from Indias oppressive rule, senior separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq told BenarNews. Calling Hizbul Mujahideen a terrorist organization is completely unjustified. America has done this to please India, Mohammad Yasin Malik, chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), told BenarNews. The international community is aware that thousands of people have sacrificed their lives for the freedom of Kashmir. The Kashmiris are committed to take this ongoing movement to its logical end. It does not matter how America and India project this struggle for freedom, Malik said. The move by the U.S. came nearly seven weeks after it named HMs Pakistan-based chief, Mohammad Yusuf Shah (alias Syed Salahuddin), a Specially Designated Global Terrorist, and hours before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with President Donald Trump at the White House on June 26. On July 27, global terrorist organization al-Qaeda announced that it was establishing a new wing in Indian-administered Kashmir, Ansar Ghazwat ul-Hind, which would be headed by a former HM leader, 24-year-old Zakir Rashid Bhat (also known as Zakir Musa). Founded in 1989, HM is one of the most active armed militant groups operating in Indian-administered Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region where an outbreak of separatist insurgency has killed more than 70,000 people since the late 1980s. The group has claimed responsibility for several attacks, including the April 2014 explosives attack in Kashmir that injured 17 people, the State Department said Wednesday. In India, officials said the listing of HM as a terrorist organization was a logical step after HMs chief was named a global terrorist. The move will validate cross-border terrorism as the reason behind the Kashmir issue, the Press Trust of India quoted unnamed government sources as saying. New Delhi had actively pursued the case of Hizbul Mujahideen with the U.S. authorities for some time, a source told PTI. The Home Ministry forwarded documents collected from security agencies and Kashmir police on the activities of Hizbul Mujahideen. These documents and proofs were used appropriately. [Indian] officials were also in touch with the U.S. authorities dealing with the matter, the source said. Indonesian police stand outside police headquarters in North Sumatras Medan city after two suspected militants stabbed a police officer to death, June 25, 2017. Indonesian police said Tuesday that they foiled an Islamic State-linked terror plot to attack the Presidential Palace with chemical bombs, by arresting five suspects and seizing explosives and bomb-making material in raids near the capital Jakarta. Investigators uncovered the plot while interrogating two of the suspects a husband and wife who revealed that they were planning to launch their attacks this month, possibly on Aug. 17 to coincide with the countrys Independence Day, Yusri Yunus, a spokesman for West Java provincial police, told BenarNews. Members of Densus 88, the polices counter-terrorist special forces squad, and officers with the provinces police force found the chemicals while raiding a house in Bandung, the capital of West Java located about 151 km (94 miles) from Jakarta. During the raid officers found a ready-to-detonate chemical bomb that was different from pressure-cooker bombs, which are often filled with buckshot pellets and nails, Yusri said. This bomb, upon explosion, can burn your skin and, if it is inhaled, can cause breathing problems and it can burn organs, Yusri said in a phone interview. They were planning to detonate a chemical bomb at the Mobile Brigade Command Headquarters in Depok, targeting police officers working in the field, [and] also in the State Palace, Yusri said. Depok is a densely-populated city on the southern border of Jakarta. Yusri said members of a police forensic laboratory team had to wear oxygen masks during the raid. The smell was quite strong, he said. The five suspects were believed to be affiliated with the Bandung chapter of the militant group Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD). In January, the U.S. State Department tagged JAD as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group, describing it as a terror group that was formed in 2015 and composed of almost two dozen Indonesian extremist groups that had pledged allegiance to Islamic State (IS) leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The designation prohibits U.S. citizens from engaging in transactions with JAD, and it freezes properties of people linked to the group. In January 2016, four people were killed and 25 wounded during an attack by a suicide bomber and gunmen in central Jakarta. The attack, claimed by Islamic State, was attributed to JAD militants who were financially supported by an Indonesian militant based in Syria, the state department said. The arrests of the five JAD suspects followed last weeks arrests by Indonesian authorities of four men who, police said, were suspected of helping people travel to join terrorist groups in Syria and the southern Philippines. Deported from Hong Kong Yusri told BenarNews that the married couple in custody learned how to make bombs from a blog written by Bahrun Naim, an Indonesian militant fighting alongside Islamic State forces in Syria, and by communicating with IS militants through the encrypted messaging service Telegram. The interrogation revealed that the husband and wife had been deported from Hong Kong for teaching radical ideology, Yusri said. The information so far says that they were planning to act this month. It could be on Aug. 17 or in late August, he said, referring to the foiled plot against the presidential palace in Jakarta. We will do a deeper investigation and look for those who are linked to this group. Especially those who are directly involved in this plan of action, he said. Among the five who were arrested were three men ranging in age from 20 to 30, he said. Police previously said they had obtained information through messages shared on social media that militants were planning to target officers who would be deployed during countrys Independence Day celebrations coming up on Thursday. It has appeared several times in social media that they will launch an attack using bombs or if they do not have a bomb, they will use weapons or they will crash into the police office, police spokesman Setyo Wasisto was quoted as saying in the news portal detik.com. Philippine lawmakers voted Wednesday to reject President Rodrigo Dutertes choice for social welfare secretary, marking the third time that the powerful congressional Commission on Appointments has removed a member of his year-old cabinet. Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the government was saddened by the rejection of Judy Taguiwalo, a member of the progressive left who was handpicked by Duterte to head the Department of Social Welfare and Development. She made an impact in the lives of many Filipinos, Abella said, adding that Taguiwalo served with passion, professionalism and integrity. The president is now looking and studying for a possible replacement, Abella said. It was unclear why the commission voted against confirming Taguiwalos appointment as secretary, but political observers said this could have been tied to her perceived links to communist rebels, even though she had officially denied such allegations. The commission comprises members of both houses of Congress. The body had earlier removed Dutertes crusading environment secretary, Gina Lopez, who bucked a powerful lobby by miners, who allegedly supported several of the commissions voting members. The commission had also removed Perfecto Yasay, Dutertes pick as secretary of foreign affairs, who was questioned for holding American citizenship in the past. Taguiwalos rejection came after a two-hour hearing to determine her fate. She was earlier bypassed twice, and the third decision was final. House of Representatives member Joel Almario, who read the decision, said it was no easy task to decide the fate of Taguiwalo, whose brief tenure as social welfare secretary was marked by a massive evacuation in the countrys south when Islamic State-linked militants took over the city of Marawi. I stand before this august chamber as your chairman on the committee on labor, employment, and social welfare, to move for the Commission on Appointments to reject the ad interim appointment of Judy Marigomen Taguiwalo as secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, he said. Sen. Bam Aquino, a member of the commission, said losing Taguiwalo was unfortunate and noted that the confirmation proceedings was a numbers game. He said colleagues had vouched for Taguiwalos integrity and work ethic. Duterte would have to find a replacement who exhibits a passion to address inequality in the Philippines to ensure the effectiveness of our poverty alleviation programs, Aquino said. Taguiwalo, a longtime activist and educator, was nominated to her post by the Communist Party of the Philippines, a rebel group that Duterte had tried to bring to the negotiating table in his first year in office. Talks, however, have been suspended after the president was angered by the groups continued attacks against government forces in the countryside. People take part in a funeral procession in the southern Philippine city of Ozamiz for Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog, who was among 15 people slain in a police anti-drug raid, Aug. 16, 2017. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday praised police for what officials said was the highest single-day death toll in his administrations internationally condemned war on drugs. Police initially reported 21 deaths in coordinated drug raids in the suburbs of Bulacan province, just outside of Manila, on Monday night. But 11 more deaths were reported hours later by police, making the total 32 fatalities the biggest so far since Duterte won election last year on a pledge to eradicate illegal drugs and turn Manila Bay into a dumping ground for dead pushers and addicts. In a rambling speech on Wednesday, Duterte told members of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), a victims support group, that his government was serious in its anti-crime drive, as he again blamed the proliferation of drugs for most of the countrys woes. He urged the 170,000-member police force to carry out similar anti-drug raids in the future. Those who died in Bulacan, 32, in a massive raid, thats good, Duterte said. If we can kill another 32 every day, then maybe we can reduce what ails this country. Police Superintendent Romeo Caramat told a news conference that those deaths occurred during shootouts in 67 police raids. We have conducted one-time, big-time operations in the past. So far, the number of casualties and deaths, this is the highest, Caramat said. There were no reported injuries on the police side, he said, adding that officers also arrested 100 suspects. Mondays violence came more than two weeks after police in the southern Philippine city of Ozamiz killed the local mayor and 14 others in an anti-drug raid. Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog was among Dutertes list of 150 judges, politicians, policemen and military personnel allegedly involved in drugs. The Parojinog family has denied allegations they were drug dealers and a witness who survived the incident said family members were executed because there was no fighting during the raid. Thousands killed All in all, more than 8,000 people have been killed in Dutertes drug war, including those slain by vigilantes. To put that into perspective, that figure is far greater than the estimated 3,200 activists who died during the 20-year authoritarian regime of Ferdinand Marcos, who was ousted by a popular uprising in 1986. Earlier, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said the police Internal Affairs Service would investigate the deaths in Bulacan to determine the validity of claims by raiding officers that they were met with armed resistance leading to the gun battles. Duterte said he expected that rights groups would call for an independent probe. But he insisted drug addicts and pushers who were out to kill cops do not observe justice. He emphasized the drug problem was already slowly turning the country into a narco-politics state, and if the government did not carry out drastic measures, the problem would persist. Duterte also acknowledged the problem was so huge that he had initially underestimated it. He had earlier vowed to stamp out the menace in three months, or he would resign. Its really a problem. It takes a toll on the lives of people, whether you are really the victim or the criminal, Duterte said. Supporters of the late Ozamiz Mayor Reynaldo Parojinog march in the rain during a funeral procession for him, his wife and two other people who were killed in an anti-drug operation, Aug. 16, 2017. [Mark Navales/BenarNews] A murder, clear as day In Ozamiz on Wednesday, about 3,000 people joined a funeral march for Parojinog, his wife and two others. They were buried after an extended wake of more than two weeks. Amid pouring rain, residents carried signs calling for justice, in a largely peaceful, but tense, gathering. Police, who were armed with rifles, dotted the street and closely watched the proceedings. Justice for all the victims, read one sign carried by one of Parojinogs supporters, who also denounced the heavy police presence in the area. We demand that the killers of the mayor be prosecuted. What happened was not a police raid that led to a shootout, said a supporter who declined to be named. It was murder, clear as day. Felipe Villamor contributed to this report from Manila. After an 18-year run in Goose Creek and unforeseen challenges presented by COVID-19, Dreamalot Books has gradually but decidedly gained a steady foothold in the Moncks Corner community as a welcoming haven of second-hand books for both area bibliophiles and those traveling in from Myrtle Read moreThe 'happy place' for used books: Dreamalot Books emerging as a go-to hot spot in Moncks Corner ein Google-Unternehmen Google-Dienste anzubieten und zu betreiben Ausfalle zu prufen und Manahmen gegen Spam, Betrug und Missbrauch zu ergreifen Daten zu Zielgruppeninteraktionen und Websitestatistiken zu erheben. Mit den gewonnenen Informationen mochten wir verstehen, wie unsere Dienste verwendet werden, und die Qualitat dieser Dienste verbessern. neue Dienste zu entwickeln und zu verbessern Werbung auszuliefern und ihre Wirkung zu messen personalisierte Inhalte anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen personalisierte Werbung anzuzeigen, abhangig von Ihren Einstellungen Wenn Sie Alle ablehnen auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies nicht fur diese zusatzlichen Zwecke. Nicht personalisierte Inhalte und Werbung werden u. a. von Inhalten, die Sie sich gerade ansehen, und Ihrem Standort beeinflusst (welche Werbung Sie sehen, basiert auf Ihrem ungefahren Standort). Personalisierte Inhalte und Werbung konnen auch Videoempfehlungen, eine individuelle YouTube-Startseite und individuelle Werbung enthalten, die auf fruheren Aktivitaten wie auf YouTube angesehenen Videos und Suchanfragen auf YouTube beruhen. Sofern relevant, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auerdem, um Inhalte und Werbung altersgerecht zu gestalten. Wir verwenden Cookies und Daten, umWenn Sie Alle akzeptieren auswahlen, verwenden wir Cookies und Daten auch, umWahlen Sie Weitere Optionen aus, um sich zusatzliche Informationen anzusehen, einschlielich Details zum Verwalten Ihrer Datenschutzeinstellungen. Sie konnen auch jederzeit g.co/privacytools besuchen. Quote: Mountain Mitch Originally Posted by That's almost 4 - 8 years spent in Cuba! You certainly have more experience of Cuba than I have (or ever hope to have). Been there twice with my wife. She got sick both times; me only once. So 75%. Not likely to go back. I'm guess just different experiences. I thought it was illegal for a tourist to use Cuban pesos. But maybe you're considered a citizen! i don't know where you went, but yes experiences are different . i have taken many(30-40) friends there as well, and everyone had a great time. we travel via casa particulars, and not cuban tourist hotels, actually i have never spent a night in a tourist hotel. havana is not on my list of goto places, but everywhere else is. we have shopped at local farmer markets everywhere with cuban pesos, never had an issue. the cuban national parks have locals, and hardly a tourist. they are unknown to the tour guides, but our favorite places to go. all of the trade is in cuban pesos. my guess is your sickness was from food preparation or handling. everything we eat, is alive free range minutes before its cooked, or fish caught fresh in salt water only. everything else is fresh fruits or veggies. we always buy bottled water. we do buy locally brewed beers that aren't sold in tourist stores(50 to 70 pesos) per case of 24. crystal or bucanero is brewed in cuba for tourist but cost $1 to $1.5 each in convertible pesos, vs .10 cents. we often stay in the eastern mountain region, maybe see 1 or 2 local cars in a day, quiet, clean air, star filled nights, mountain streams. we pick coffee beans, roast and grind them for wonderful coffee. a whole/live pig cost about 250 pesos to have a cuban pig roast. local rum is 2 or 3 pesos a liter. havana or varadero doesn't have this option. in case you can't tell, i enjoy everything about being there. experience "real" the local culture. playing dominos, helping people repair their modest houses, swimming in a cool mountain stream, enjoy the smells of tropical forrest. this is all not totally problem free; i was arrested for giving away bibles, again for giving away baseballs and bats. and fined for bringing medicines for the people, that aren't available to them. i have traveled to over 100 countries, and go back to cuba most often. For Immediate Release, August 16, 2017 Contact: Jeff Miller, (707) 604-7739, jmiller@biologicaldiversity.org California Endangered Species Protection Recommended for Cascades Frog SACRAMENTO, Calif. In response to a petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, the California Fish and Game Commission today received the state wildlife agency's recommendation that the declining Cascades frog be designated as a candidate for protection under the state's Endangered Species Act. Cascades frogs have been lost from most of the mountain lakes and streams of Northern California where they once lived, primarily due to disease and introduction of nonnative fish. "We can still save Cascades frogs, but they need the critical protections of the California Endangered Species Act," said Jeff Miller, conservation advocate with the Center. "State protections would spur habitat restoration measures, invasive species controls and reintroduction of frogs to their former habitats." The California Fish and Game Commission received the department's evaluation today and will vote on candidate status for the imperiled frog at its October meeting. A candidate species receives all the protections of a listed species for a year while the commission decides whether to provide permanent endangered species protections. Cascades frogs once inhabited numerous lakes, ponds, wetlands and streams in Northern California, from the Shasta-Trinity region to the Modoc Plateau and south through the Lassen National Forest to the upper Feather River. Remaining frog populations are in the Klamath-Trinity region, the southern Cascades near Mount Shasta and the Lassen area. The introduction of nonnative trout into formerly fishless lakes is a major threat to Cascades frogs since the fish prey upon and compete with the frogs. Cascades frogs are also susceptible to a particularly virulent fungal pathogen that causes the disease chytridiomycosis in amphibians. Other threats include pesticides, climate change, fire suppression, livestock grazing, and habitat loss from vegetation management and timber harvest. A recent study warned that amphibians are suffering an unprecedented extinction crisis, with 200 frog species around the world wiped out since the 1970s and hundreds more at risk. Four frog species in California are already federally listed as threatened or endangered, with two more frogs under consideration for federal protection. "Our world would be a much less interesting place without frogs," Miller said. "California should do everything it can to keep Cascades frogs around." Background Cascades frogs (Rana cascadae) are medium-sized frogs that inhabit lakes, ponds, wet meadows and streams at moderate to high elevations, between 750 and 8,200 feet, in Northern California's mountains. These hardy frogs hibernate during the winter in mud at the bottom of deep ponds and springs that do not freeze solid. They emerge to breed shortly after spring snowmelt in shallow, still-water habitats such as lake alcoves, ponds, potholes, flooded meadows and sometimes slow-moving streams. Cascades frog numbers and populations have been declining precipitously in California since about 1970. They have disappeared from more than 95 percent of their former localities in the Lassen area, where they remain in low numbers at only a dozen sites, with each of those populations slowly declining. The frogs appear to have completely disappeared from Lassen Volcanic National Park. Scientists predict some of the Lassen-area frog populations could be extirpated within 10 years without active management to improve their habitat. Although Cascades frogs are still widespread and relatively abundant in the Klamath Mountains, some frog populations have recently disappeared from this area and frog abundance at some previously robust Klamath populations has clearly declined. At most sites recently surveyed in the Klamath Mountains, Cascades frog populations are small. Cascades frog populations in the Castle Crags Wilderness and the Klamath National Forest are thought to be particularly at risk. The Center also petitioned in 2012 to protect the Cascades frog under the federal Endangered Species Act, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will not make a decision on whether the species warrants federal protection until 2022 at the earliest. Opinion | 04 November 2022 | Interviews India needs to connect OPD with the cashless insurance network to bring them into the digital economy After having raised $1.2 million from Entrepreneur First and GrowX Ventures in 2021, how do you see the perfor...Read more He was instrumental in developing, implementing and monitoring national-level strengthening of basic science research in Indian universities. S P Thyagarajan, a former Vice-Chancellor at the University of Madras and at present Professor of Eminence and Dean (research), Sri Ramachandra University, Porur, was honoured with the A P J Abdul Kalam award for the current year. He is an eminent scientist, educationist and internationally acclaimed researcher. He has to his credit 345 research publications, authored 20 books and has eight patents to his credit. Thyagarajan discovered a drug for treating chronic hepatitis B. Now patented and sold under the brand name ViroHep, it is manufactured using Keezhanelli (Phyllanthus amarus) herb, well known in Tamil Nadu. He has already been honoured with the Chevalier award of the Italian government. Thyagarajan played a pivotal role in developing policy documents and regulations of the UGC on various aspects of higher education quality promotion, including XIth and XIIth Five Year Plan policy documents on higher education. He was also instrumental in developing, implementing and monitoring national-level strengthening of basic science research in Indian universities besides several theme-based research programmes in medical sciences through UGC, ICMR, DST, DBT, MOEs and WHO - in his capacity as chairman/member of several national-level committees. His other unique scientific contributions include an internationally acceptable scientific design for drug development, validation and standardisation of natural products and traditional systems of medicine, molecular epidemiology and natural history of diseases like viral hepatitis B, C & E and HIV/AIDS, WHO Policy guidelines for blood-borne pathogen screening, diagnostic laboratory services and Hepatitis-B immunisation programme for India. Authorities in Puntland should unconditionally and immediately release journalist Omar Saeed Mohammed, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CJP) said this week. Stepan Popov via 123RF Police arrested Omar, who works for the news website Horseed Media and the privately owned Somali Cable TV channel, on August 6, 2017, in Garowe, the administrative capital of Puntland, a semi-autonomous region of Somalia, according to a witness, press freedom advocates, and media reports. Jama Deperani, a Somali Cable TV journalist who witnessed the arrest, told CPJ that police refused to provide any justification for the arrest, telling him and Omar only that they were acting on official government orders. They refused to say who had issued the orders, Jama said. "The notion that police could arrest a journalist at any time, without charge, on the apparent whim of officials, can only have a chilling effect on media freedom in Puntland," CPJ Africa Program Coordinator Angela Quintal said from New York. "Authorities should immediately release Omar Saeed Mohammed and stop detaining and harassing the media." Mowlid Abukar, the general director of Puntland's Ministry of Information, and Abdirizak Omar Ismail, the vice minister of information, yesterday told CPJ that they did not know why Omar was arrested. Mowlid said that the police would reveal the charges this morning. Mowlid and presidential spokesman Abdullahi Mohammed Jama did not respond to CPJ's phone calls and text messages requesting comment. Faisal Khalif Barre, chairman of the Media Association of Puntland, a press freedom organisation, told CPJ that Omar is detained at a southern checkpoint in Garowe, without charge. Faisal said that the association had also contacted officials in the Ministry of Information and the Ministry of Security, and that they all claimed not to know the reason for Omar's arrest. Jama and Mohamed Osman, the online editor at Horseed Media, speculated that the arrest might be linked to a Facebook post Omar wrote alleging the involvement of Puntland President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali in a counterfeit money-printing scam. Last month security forces in Garowe detained online journalist Ahmed Ali Kilwe for two weeks without charge after he criticised the president, CPJ reported at the time. Just this week Google made headlines when an internal memo distributed by one of its engineers went public. His opinion on gender equality included this landmine: Distribution of preferences and abilities of men and women differ in part due to biological causes and that these differences may explain why we don't see equal representation of women in tech and leadership. Thankfully, he was promptly dismissed for "perpetuating gender stereotypes, and violating Googles Code of Conduct, but the incident highlights a bigger gender discrimination problem. You cant spend five minutes online without coming across a piece about sexual harassment or gender discrimination in the digital marketing or technology landscape. Between Uber, Kevin Richards from Saatchi & Saatchi and even Elon Musks Tesla, the stories are real and they are alarming. The advertising landscape in South Africa has only just started to make headway on transformation, with some agencies leading the charge in making significant change to the industry and country. But, with our day-to-day focus on achieving genuine transformation, the industry - digital advertising in particular - must remind itself to keep an eye on gender disparity. Consider the following: This year only 23% of the Bookmark judges were women. There are an alarmingly small number of female managing directors, and even fewer executive creative directors or creative directors. Why, on LinkedIn, you will be lucky to find one woman listed on the first page when searching for digital creative directors. Now consider the repercussions of the digital industrys gender inequality on the relevance and effectiveness of the work it does for its clients. Women provide unique insights and valuable perspectives that are indispensable when it comes to creating truly inclusive work. Collaboration is nothing without diverse viewpoints, and collaboration is a key component in the rise of digital. But, if there are no women... Our industry has a problem and we all, men and women, need to embrace the ideals of feminism to change the status quo. Step one would be understanding that equality isnt just achieved by providing exactly the same to male and female staff, its about tailoring our working environments to be personalised to individual needs, providing the foundation for women to be successful. Its the opportunity to have a child without it affecting your career, the opportunity to be considered stoic instead of icy, the opportunity to be respected and heard at the boardroom table without being considered bossy. We need to strive to be more conscious, we need to use our position in the industry to make a difference, to empower our women and girls. We need to address how we can affect change from ground zero. How are we hiring, how are we training, how are we identifying bias, are we paying fairly, what are we doing to move away from the established stereotypes? And then, of course, the power we have working in advertising is to change perceptions with our work. As Marc Pritchard from P&G said about that brands #SeeHer campaign: With advertising, we can make gender equality normal. Its all about your cognitive processing. Were focused on a mission to make sure advertising accurately reflects women and girls. It was gratifying to see gender equality being put firmly centre stage at last years Loerie Awards. Incoming chairperson Suhana Gordhan (Creative Director, FCB Joburg) spoke about the huge challenges she had to overcome to succeed in her industry, as well as those she still faces daily. I am hopeful she can keep the conversation alive and position the Loerie Awards to be a positive change agent in our industry. And, I challenge you to consider what you are doing to make a change, at its simplest, to make this an industry you would want your daughters to work in. As inspiration, I leave you with two quotes. Prince Harry said: We know that when women are empowered, they immeasurably improve the lives of everyone around them their families, their communities and their country. Actress and activist, Emma Watson, said it differently: If you stand for equality, then youre a feminist. Sorry to tell you. LUANDA, Angola - A new Angolan beverage plant has been approved for development. Grupo Sun Ocean Lda is a project in Angola's beverage sector with capacity to produce, package and distribute juice, water and wine with significant capacity to contribute to positive economic and social impacts in Angola. (L-R) Joana Filipe Simplicio, legal consultant; Silvia Fernandes, head of department (Chefe de departamento in Portuguese), UTIP; Martin Bachmann, group head active management, Quantum Global Group. Grupo Sun Ocean Lda is a project in Angolas beverage sector with capacity to produce, package and distribute juice, water and wine with significant capacity to contribute to positive economic and social impacts in Angola. A company (Grupo Sun Ocean Lda) formed by Sun Ocean Holdings Ltd, a local partner with extensive experience in the Angolan market, Embasa (Equatorial Guinea) and QG African Infrastructure 1 LP, has received formal approval from UTIP (Technical Unit for Private Investment) in Angola. UTIP, whose function is to receive, analyse and manage private investment, took into consideration the socio-economic justification of the project within the Angolan context, in particular, for the beverage sector in the country. In addition, the approval provides a green light for the projects financial model and feasibility assessment. Martin Bachmann, group head active management, Quantum Global Group, commented: I am truly delighted about the creation of this project [Grupo Sun Ocean Lda] and to receive the approval of UTIP. Quantum Global is excited to be investing in a sector which will contribute greatly to Angolas drink and beverage sector as well as the diversification of the Angolan economy. Once fully operational, Grupo Sun Ocean Lda has a target output of over 80 million litres annually and will employ over 400 employees. The company will occupy a unique position in Angolas drinks and beverage market, in a country that has shown significant progress in increasing wealth, macroeconomic stability and economic diversification in recent years. Working to develop local juice, water and wine production and packaging capacity in Angola, initially serving the Luanda market and other nearby provinces in Angola, Grupo Sun Ocean Lda. is well positioned to contribute to the stability and ongoing development of the countrys drink and beverage sector as well as the significant creation of new jobs and comprehensive supply chains. Musical Distributors has been selected as the exclusive South African partners for award-winning audio brand DreamWave. Its range of portable Bluetooth audio products will be available in South Africa from August 2017 on Takealot and other leading retailers. The full range of DreamWave products are designed to weather the outdoors and have been created with the design-conscious in mind. The relationship both complements our portfolio offering and provides our customers with a solution to their lifestyle and outdoor needs. Key to the success of this quality brand in South Africa will be the luxury of choice that the price range brings, allowing the consumer to pick and choose the products best suited to their wants and needs in a number of occasions, whilst always delivering powerful sound and status, says Dominic Bothner, marketing director of Musical Distributors. Ken Siow, VP of global sales, DreamWave, comments: Bothner and I share the same vision, which is driven by a passion for music, style and adventure. Musical Distributors is professional in conducting business, detailing the marketing activities, survey and sharing what it takes to be successful in South Africa with us. Together, we will create a sustainable business model, making DreamWave an ideal choice for South Africans. Musical Distributors is also a South African distributor for brands such as Fender, Roland, Zildjian, Ernie Ball, RODE microphones, Cort Guitars and Mapex Drums. The phrase "gas shortage" is unlikely to be needed again after the opening of Africa's largest liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) import and storage terminal in Saldanha Bay. The facility, built by Sunrise Energy " a joint venture between Mining, Oil, and Gas Services (MOGS) and the Industrial Development Corporation " can store 200,000 tons of LPG, more than half South Africa's total annual demand of 350,000 tons. Western Cape economic opportunities MEC Alan Winde said he expected the terminal to put a permanent end to gas shortages throughout the country. "Since we started having electricity blackouts, a lot of people started to shift their energy mix [to gas]. What Sunrise is doing is hugely welcomed," he said. Winde said increased demand had put tremendous pressure on gas supplies. The R1.02bn terminal generated 470 jobs in its construction and has five giant underground tanks, called bullets. They weigh 1,100 tons each and were transported to Saldanha on massive trucks, Sunrise Energy commercial manager Arthur Martin said. There are also three gantry loading facilities for trucks to collect gas for nationwide distribution. Martin said only phase one, out of three approved by the National Energy Regulator, had been built so far. "As the market grows, we can go into phase two and three and improve the gantry loading facility," he said. The terminal only has 33 permanent staff, but Winde said the economic opportunities it created would be far-reaching. "Once you have an energy system like this it has knock-on effects to jobs through the system," he said. Energy minister Mmamaloko Kubayi is off the hook after the parliamentary portfolio committee oversight meeting to hold her accountable on events at PetroSA and the Central Energy Fund was postponed indefinitely. Picture: The SA Mag PetroSA has posted the worst single loss yet by a state-owned entity and the directors of the Central Energy Fund were recently suspended. Kubayi would also have had to answer several questions from DA MP Gordon Mackay on the recent suspension of her department's director-general for policy, planning and clean energy, Ompi Aphane. After being on the parliamentary programme for some time, the meeting was suddenly cancelled on Monday afternoon with no reasons given. Some MPs had already travelled from across the country to attend the meeting. Mackay said several of the oversight committee's meetings had been cancelled, to the extent that it had not met for almost three months. "[The] cancellation of a meeting " in which the minister was supposed to be held to account for the shambolic management of her department, the spree of suspensions and her political cover-up of the strategic fuel stock sale " is a clear indication that Minister Kubayi and the ANC are running scared," Mackay said. "The minister can run, but the DA will not let her hide." Do you wear runners, drink coffee or own a mobile phone? The chances are that these products cruised to you on a ship. In 2015, the global merchant fleet carried a record 10 billion tonnes of cargo , a 2.1% increase from the previous year. However, while its an essential part of international trade, shipping also poses serious risks to the environment. Apart from damage caused by dredging shipping channels and the spread of marine pests around the world, there is also growing concern about pollution. According to a report from the European Union, international shipping contributes 2.5% of global greenhouse gas emissions annually. This is predicted to rise by between 50% and 250% by 2050. As well as contributing to global warming, ship pollution includes toxic compounds and particles that cause a host of other health hazards. A 2016 Chinese-led study found the shipping boom in east Asia has caused tens of thousands of premature deaths a year, largely from heart and lung disease and cancer. Commercial ships are designed to be used for a long time. As a result, their engines are typically older and less efficient than those used in many other industries, and replacing them is prohibitively expensive. But there are some immediate solutions to this problem that use existing technology: increasing fuel quality, treating engine emissions, and adopting other energy-conservation measures so that ships burn less fuel. Improve fuel quality When diesel ship engines burn poor-quality fuel, their smoke stacks release oxides of nitrogen and sulphur as well as carbon. These pollutants, as well as contributing to greenhouse warming, are highly toxic. Sulphur dioxide readily dissolves in water, creating acid rain that causes harm to both people and the environment. Refinement of crude oil removes sulphur, which reduces the amount of sulphur dioxide produced when the fuel is burned. Higher-grade diesel also reduces the volume of heat-trapping nitrous oxide but is more expensive to produce because it requires more purification at the refinery. The International Maritime Organization, the UN body that regulates the safety and security of shipping, is planning to reduce the amount of sulphur allowed in fuel. However, it is currently considering whether the change will take place in 2020 or will be deferred to 2025. Install exhaust scrubbers Clean fuel is an important part of reducing emissions, but the higher cost of low-sulphur fuel will deter many companies. Another way for ships to meet clean-air requirements is by capturing engine exhaust and passing it through scrubbers. These scrubbers convert nitrous oxide gases into harmless nitrogen and water. This process requires retrofitting older ships and updating the design of new ship exhaust systems. One advantage of this approach is that it allows ships to meet the different pollution regulations around the world without having to swap fuels. Another way to reduce production of nitrous oxide is by reducing the temperature at which diesel fuel burns, but this leads to decreased fuel efficiency and increased fuel consumption. Scrubbers are potentially a cheaper and more accessible option. Reduce energy use overall Ships dont just burn diesel fuel to propel themselves through the water. Fuel also generates electricity so that people on board can do things like use computers and read at night. To increase fuel efficiency, other energy conservation measures can be adopted so that ships burn less fuel and decrease their emissions. The US Navys Green Fleet has, for example, replaced their old light fixtures with energy-saving LEDs. They have also undertaken a temperature control initiative, where thermostats have been checked to ensure they are in proper working order and faulty parts in their water cooling systems replaced. Some ships have gone further and installed stern flaps that modify the flow of water under the ships hull to reduce drag, thus increasing fuel efficiency. All of this means the shipping industry can lower its fuel bill through conserving energy, and at the same time reduce its negative impacts on the health of humans and the planet. With more than 20,000 ships in the global fleet, these immediate solutions to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and other types of pollution will make a real difference. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. It seems ironic, for a country with such a well-established code of good corporate governance as the King codes, how many companies - including an august institution such as audit firm, KPMG - are having their ethics and integrity questioned as the Gupta email saga unfolds. Mervyn King It undoubtedly raises the questions: How many corporates just use King to pretty up their annual reports, or pay lip service to JSE criteria if they are listed? And does King IV, released late last year, have more teeth than its predecessors? Law firm, Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr, hosted a seminar where the changes to the code were unpacked. JSE and the high court Although the King reports are not legally binding, entities with a primary listing on the JSE need to comply with some of the principles in accordance with the exchanges reporting criteria. However, the high court has considered King to be binding to state-owned enterprises (SABC vs Mpofu 2009), and where it relates to the fiduciary duties of directors (Minister of Water Affairs and Forestry v Stilfontein Gold Mining Company 2006). Shortly after the launch of King IV on 1 November 2016, the JSE published its proposed amendments to align with the new provisions. Structurally different From a structural and format perspective, King IV is significantly different to King III. Much has been made of the switch to apply and explain as opposed to apply or explain in King III. However, in the end, the same position is arrived at, given that King IV has reduced the 75 governance principles in King III to 17 principles (one of which only applies to institutional investors), The 17 principles are general and high level, with the idea being that they can be applied across a broad range of organisations, regardless of their nature or size. It is the granular practices which are implemented in applying the principles, which will naturally differ. In addition, there are sector-specific supplements related to state-owned entities, municipalities, retirement funds, non-profit organisations and small/medium enterprises, which lay out the nuances and modifications that need to be borne in mind when applying the principles to these kind of enterprises. ABUJA, Nigeria - Nigeria will be saving about N300bn it spends annually on importation of rice as local production of the commodity has now reached 15 million metric tonnes, the federal ministry of Agriculture disclosed yesterday. The director of Agriculture at the Kano office of the ministry, Muhammad Adamu, who gave the hint, while inaugurating the Rice Millers Association of Nigeria (RIMAN) in the state, said in Kano alone, 1.2 million metric tonnes of rice was produced in 2016. He noted that, with the significant increase in local production and the effort to make the local variety qualitative and more attractive to Nigerians, the country expects to begin exporting rice to West African countries between 2018 and 2019. Adamu said, presently, 34 states in Nigeria are producing rice, with most of them now producing three times in a year. He disclosed that investigations carried out by the federal government revealed that rice imported to Nigeria stay up to10-15 years and are preserved with chemicals that are capable of causing cancer. In his remarks, the chairman of the Board of Directors of Rice Miller's Association, Peter Dama, said the association was established to promote local milling of rice that is fresh, healthy and nutritious. Stemming rice smuggling According to him, the association is willing to collaborate with the Nigeria Customs Service to stem smuggling of expired rice into Nigeria. Dama added that the association intended to work closely with regulatory agencies and policymakers to ensure standards in local rice milling. On his part, the customs officer in charge of rice enforcement, Ado Hassan, warned that any customs officer caught conniving with rice smugglers will have themselves to blame. He said in less than one year, the zonal command of the agency confiscated 800,000 bags of rice in Kano and Jigawa States. Noting that about 9,000 bags of rice are still in stores of the agency, he stated that most of the bags were being given to internally displaced persons after being certified fit for consumption by the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC). Stopping fish trade to boost local production Meanwhile, the federal government has announced that it will stop issuing fish importation quota to importers, saying the venture was no longer sustainable. Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, said this during a meeting with the Ijebu Development Initiative on Poverty Reduction (IDIPR) in Abuja, yesterday. The minister pointed out that stopping the trade will help boost local production of fish and other aspects of agriculture in the country. Noting that the current deficit in fish in Nigeria is over two million tonnes, he urged citizens to invest to boost fish production and create jobs in the sector. Lokpobiri said: "We realised that fish import is no more sustainable and what we did was to encourage those that import it to think of the backward integration by reducing the quota year by year in agreement with the CBN. "Very soon, we are not going to give quota for fish importation. We want everybody to set up their fish farms, employ our people and create jobs for our people. "When we came last two years, Nigeria was producing about 700,000 tonnes of fish but this has increased to about 1.2 million tonnes which means that there has been an increment of 400 tonnes. This increase represents more than 50 percent of what we were producing". Lokpobiri who commended the IDIPR for contributing to fish production in the country advised other states to emulate the community's agricultural initiative. He said the federal government will soon complete and commission the fish feed mill located at Eriwe village farm in Ijebu community of Ogun State. The minister quoted the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) as saying that Ijebu community has the highest number of fish clusters in the world. Challenges hindering the agricultural initiative Earlier, the chairman, Board of Directors of the initiative, Prof. Olanipekun Alausa, listed some challenges hindering the agricultural initiative to include inadequate access to loans and lack of modern agricultural tools for mechanised farming. Alausa who said the initiative was currently supplying food items to nine local government areas in the state appealed for more support from the federal government to enhance the initiative's performance. He said the scheme, which was established in 1999 as a non-governmental organisation, was geared towards community development to reduce poverty and improve the livelihood of people, using agriculture and micro-credit among others. The chairman said the scheme was involved in poultry, piggery, bee-keeping and cocoa farming to ensure poverty reduction and contribute to agricultural development in the country. He said: "We want provision of access roads in the farm villages, access to direct credit and government's grants toward our poverty reduction programme. The change in the life of the poor is visible as the needs and well-being of women and other disadvantaged groups in our community are being met. "Hundreds of young graduates now see agriculture as a thriving business and cluster innovation farming platform has been proved beyond doubt that it is capable of making fortune". The state president's widely expected survival of yet another parliamentary vote of no confidence in him should have little or no material impact on South Africa's generally flat-lining residential property market. There is no question that a majority vote against President Zuma would have triggered a welcome uptick in sentiment, which is the markets key driver. And it would have added traction to a home buy/sell momentum that, until now, has been pretty languid in virtually all market spheres. This excludes, of course, the homeowner semigration to Cape Town phenomenon, which now appears to be losing steam. Encouraging resilience Until now, the sheer resilience that residential property has shown in the face of bland market conditions has been encouraging, to say the least. All the more so when taking into account the negative circumstances into which the South African economy, together with the nations consumers, have so far descended. The wide scale of the countrys social, political and economic regression is illustrated by the more than 120 Zuma-appointed cabinet ministers and deputy ministers that have come and gone along with reportedly over 100 directors general since the start of the current presidency in 2009. As a group, these top-end public servants have seemingly continued to be shuffled, re-shuffled, and recycled a process that suffocates personal ambition and progress. It also fosters inefficiency, and prevents government departments from building and sustaining momentum in the services they provide. State capture Superimposed on this strategy if, indeed, it is a strategy is the reportedly R100bn that has to date been siphoned out of the national economy by the so-called state capture process. As the revelations continue to roll out, the tentacles of the pervasive capture of state capital will inevitably be seen to have spread even wider. This reflects badly on the leadership of the country. A market turnaround That is why history is now repeating itself. Civil society is once again closing its ranks in much the same way as it did in the fight against Apartheid in order to combat the state capture plague. The point is that these negative circumstances are not causing the market to descend into a black hole. In fact, the opposite is emerging. The close call of the confidence vote shows a hardening, and a coming together, against the forces undermining South Africas progress. And there are even some signs of a market turnaround beginning to emerge. The fact is that the countrys residential property market always presses on regardless. In the process, it continues to reinforce the fact that property is a primary need; that a roof over your head is, and remains, a fundamental necessity. The market is, nevertheless, looking for signs to lift. A successful confidence vote would have hastened a turnaround. However, I do believe a coming together has started. It has not only stabilised the residential property market, but is also contributing to signs of an improvement. A team of Korean educators, who won a tender from Samsung for a study to forecast what education might look like in the year 2030, approached Curro, a South African educator group, to collaborate on a drone-building project. Aside from the science and technology focus, the research also looked at the challenges of cross-cultural and communication barriers in a teaching/learning environment. Nine learners from various Western Cape Curro schools and eight South Korean BanGok Elementary School learners were required to work together, via video streaming, to solve the problem presented to them. The Curro learners were tasked with physically building a 3D printer and a drone, while on the other end, the project entailed collaboration between learners from the respective countries. The project collaboration idea surfaced when Curro alumni, Richard Quantrill, who is currently working as an English second language educator in South Korea, approached the independent education provider with the opportunity. Quantrill, along with a team of other educators in Korea, had recently been awarded a tender for a study that Samsung was running. Samsung, already having a software education curriculum in Korea, wanted to expand it to forecast what education might look like in the year 2030. This meant that the team was tasked with investigating the idea of creating a future education curriculum using Design Thinking, Problem Based Learning (PBL) and a combination of industry experts and educators in the same class room. Aside from the science and technology focus, another goal of the research would also look at communication and cultural practices in a teaching/learning environment. A large selling point for Quantrills team during the tender process was that they were able to offer the opportunity to run a project with another school from outside Korea, which was made possible thanks to Quantrills South African roots. Language barriers overcome The challenge entailed a hypothetical mountain rescue. Learners had to envision and pretend-orchestrate rescuing a person who was trapped on a mountain while discussing how the rescue plan could be executed, as well as what obstacles they may face in the situation. Once both teams had brainstormed their options, they were then able to exchange ideas and critique them constructively. The collaboration between team Curro and team Korea took place during specific hours over 17-24 July 2017, in order to accommodate the seven-hour time difference. While observing the interactions between the two teams, Quantrill explained that the goal of this collaboration was to study how language creates difficulties in communication, while looking at how learners naturally try to solve this communication challenge. To assist with the language barrier, the children were all given icon t-shirts to wear which allowed them to point to certain pictures in order to communicate graphically when words failed. Building robots Once the collaboration session ended between team Curro and team Korea, the Curro learners began the second phase of the project, which involved robot building. Despite the project having been largely a pretend scenario, the equipment supplied was very real in terms of hardware. Using the equipment, team Curro were tasked with physically building a drone and a 3D printer that could ultimately facilitate a mountain rescue scenario. The purpose of the drone is an obvious one in a mountain rescue scene, as it can be used as a vehicle to carry supplies to the stranded. However, the function of the 3D printer was a behind-the-scenes accomplice, as it was the tool that 3D prints the required hook to be attached to the drone in order to carry the necessary rescue items. Throughout the building sessions, Quantrill played an active role in advising, guiding and educating the learners through the process via video stream. Curros subject manager for robotics, Dalene Gelderblom, says, Throughout their 6-day challenge, team Curro felt tried and tested but walked away with a valuable new skill set. They learned how to build a drone and a 3D printer from scratch; how to use SketchUp software a design programme; Arduino programming and they were further able to develop their 21st century skills that they gained in the classroom. The learners even learned how to write in Korean. It has been an incredible experience for the learners and they have certainly gained so much from it. How many other children get the chance to build a drone and 3D printer at school? According to an analysis conducted by ForwardKeys , Lagos has seen a substantial decline in both its domestic and international capacity. It's estimated that between August and December 2017, Lagos will have 16% fewer airline seats on domestic routes and 9% fewer on international routes, in part, as a result of Arik Air cutting 53% of its seats. Iurii Kovalenko via 123RF One of the major reasons for falling arrivals by air to Nigeria is the fact that many airlines could not repatriate funds after the currency crisis in 2016. As a result, Iberia and United Airlines have ceased operations to Nigeria, whilst Emirates and the other foreign carriers have scaled back services. The Nigerian airlines have suffered too and so this void has been filled by the ever-opportunistic Ethiopian Airlines, who began serving their fifth Nigerian destination, Kaduna on 1st August 2017 and are now the largest carrier in the Nigerian market, said Jon Howell, managing director of AviaDev, aviation and tourism development manager, Bench Events. Other airports in Africas top ten leading list are seeing a healthy growth in capacity, which is more international than domestic. However, the most notable exception to this trend is Nairobi, which has seen a 22% boost in domestic capacity. Scheduled capacity to Top 10 airports in Africa, August to December 2017. These findings are part of a wider report on travel to Africa, produced by ForwardKeys, which predicts future travel patterns by analysing 170 million booking transactions a day. It has shown double digit growth in flight arrivals for the first half of this year, with little indication that the pace of growth will slow down soon. The wider report makes for encouraging reading for airlines, governments and hoteliers planning to discuss possible new aviation routes at AviaDev in Kigali in October. The report reveals that in the first seven months of the year, 1 January to 31 July 2017, total international flight arrivals grew by 14.0% over the same period in 2016. Most significantly, growth was stronger for travel to and from the continent than within the continent. Arrivals from Europe, which make up 46% of the market, were up 13.2%. From the Americas, arrivals were up 17.6%; from the Middle East, they were up 14.0% and from Asia Pacific, they were up 18.4%. By comparison, intra-African air travel, which makes up 26% of the market, was up by 12.6%. International arrivals in Africa by origin regions, January to July 2017. Looking at Africas top ten destination countries, there have been standout performances from both Tunisia and Egypt, which are up by 33.5% and 24.8%. In addition, Morocco and Tunisia received a huge boost in arrivals from China, which were up by 450% and 250% respectively, after they relaxed visa restrictions. The one disappointment is Nigeria, which has seen a 0.8% drop, in the wake of the recession in 2016, caused by a collapse in the oil price to a 13-year low. International arrivals in Africa, Top 10 destination countries, January to July 2017. Looking forward to the end of the calendar year, bookings for flights to Africa are currently 16.8% ahead of where they were on 31 July 2016. Bookings from Europe are currently 17.5% a head, from the Americas 26.6% a head, from Asia Pacific 11.5% a head, from the Middle East 8.2% a head and bookings for intra-African air travel is 11.0% a head. International arrivals in Africa on the book by origin regions, August to December 2017 A specific look at East Africa shows very similar trends in the year to date performance and outlook to the end of the year. However, it has stronger forward bookings from Europe, 22.9% ahead and less strong forward bookings from elsewhere; the Americas are 15.5% ahead and intra-African air travel 7.6% ahead. However, bookings from the Middle East and Asia Pacific are 6.0% and 3.8% behind respectively. Scheduled capacity to EAC main airports, August to December 2017. On an individual airport level, the most significant capacity increase in East Africa is at Kigali, with new routes to Brussels, London and Mumbai. Other notable new capacity includes Kilimanjaro to Dubai and Nairobi to Muscat and to Yemen. International arrivals in EAC on the book by origin regions, August to December 2017. The growth in air travel to Africa is impressive. However, it is notable that consumer demand and airline investment is greater in travel to African countries from outside the continent than it is between African countries, Olivier Jager, CEO, ForwardKeys. As an international executive who has travelled around Africa for many years, I am longing for the day when it is easier to fly directly between African cities, as is possible on other continents. I am sure Im not alone in that desire and Im equally sure, it will happen eventually. Thats why Im determined that the discussions that will take place at AviaDev will help bring that vision closer, concluded Howell. FRANKFURT, Germany - Germany's Air Berlin announced on Tuesday that it had filed for insolvency after its main shareholder Etihad Airways said it would not plough any more cash into the troubled carrier. WikimediaImages via pixabay The German government said it was providing a bridging loan of 150 million euros ($175 million) to keep the airline flying at a time when many Germans are still on holiday. German rival Lufthansa said in a separate announcement it was in talks with Air Berlin to take over parts of the group. No further financial support from Etihad Air Berlin has long battled for survival, booking losses amounting to 1.2 billion euros over the past two years and relying on cash infusions from Etihad. In a surprise announcement, the airline said it had filed for insolvency with the court of Berlin-Charlottenburg after Etihad "notified Air Berlin PLC of the fact that it will not provide any further financial support to the Air Berlin group". Etihad, which holds a 29.2 percent stake in Air Berlin, said that the development was "extremely disappointing" but it could no longer justify further funding after providing an additional 250 million euros in April. "Air Berlin's business has continued to deteriorate at an unprecedented rate, preventing it from overcoming its significant challenges," the Abu Dhabi-based company said. Government helps keep flight operations going German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries told a hastily assembled press conference that the government was assisting Air Berlin with a loan to prevent passengers from being stranded during the busy holiday season. "To keep Air Berlin's flight operations going, the government has decided to grant a bridging loan for 150 million euros," she told reporters. The money should be enough to keep Germany's second-largest airline running "for three months", she said, adding that flights would go ahead as scheduled and that new tickets could still be booked. Restructing plan In a bid to turn the tide, the Berlin carrier embarked on an extensive restructuring plan last year that included leasing 38 aircraft with crew to Lufthansa and slashing 1,200 jobs - or one in seven of its workforce. Amid the restructuring, it was hit by a series of flight cancellations and severe delays, leading to a flood of complaints. Lufthansa said it was "already in negotiations with Air Berlin to take over parts of the Air Berlin Group and is exploring the possibility of hiring additional staff". Air Berlin said the talks with Lufthansa "and other partners" about acquiring its assets were already far advanced. The insolvency proceedings mark the latest setback for Etihad, which has been struggling for years to make inroads in the European market through its Air Berlin and Alitalia subsidiaries, both battling heavy competition from low-cost competitors. Alitalia, in which Etihad holds a 49 percent stake, went into administration in May after employees refused to accept job and salary cuts as part of a new rescue plan. Ryanair critical of government support Ryanair, meanwhile, was sharply critical of the government support for Air Berlin and said it had lodged complaints with Germany's competition authority and the European Commission. The Irish no-frills airline claimed there was an "obvious conspiracy" playing out between the German government, Lufthansa and Air Berlin, to carve up the latter's assets while excluding competitors. Travellers in Germany will suffer higher prices as a result of the "Lufthansa monopoly", Ryanair said in a statement. On Germany's DAX index of leading firms, Lufthansa soared to the top of the leaders board, rising 4.73 percent to 20.59 euros at the close. Shares in Air Berlin, not listed on the Dax, plunged more than 35 percent to 0.51 euros. A heavy blow for Air Berlin employees Germany's giant services-sector union Verdi responded with dismay to Air Berlin's decision to file for administration. "This is a heavy blow for Air Berlin employees," said Verdi board member Christine Behle. "Our priority now is to secure jobs. Air Berlin must proceed with the utmost transparency and provide all necessary information." The pilots' union Cockpit said the Air Berlin news came as "a shock". It welcomed the government's help in minimising the disruption over the coming months, but it accused Etihad of making the wrong strategic and management decisions and turning its back on Air Berlin workers. "Etihad is dropping Air Berlin like a hot potato," it said. Air Berlin said two members of its board of directors who had been nominated by Etihad had resigned. Source: AFP Nigerian artist, Peju Alatise, has been announced as the 2017 recipient of the highly coveted FNB Art Prize at the media launch of the 10th instalment of the FNB JoburgArtFair. Alatise joins the ranks of previous winners such as Nolan Oswald Dennis, Turiya Magadlela, Portia Zvavahera and Kudzanai Chiurai. She receives a cash prize as well as the opportunity to create a new project that will be showcased in a dedicated exhibition space at the FNB JoburgArtFair this September. Peju Alatise Alatise, who holds a degree in architecture, is a mixed-medium artist, poet and published writer whose interdisciplinary work has garnered attention on the global art stage. She was selected as the 2016 fellow at the Smithsonian Institute of African Art and exhibited at the Venice Biennales 57th edition. With several international solo exhibitions to her name, Alatises work can be found in private and institutional collections around the world. Shes passionate about addressing social, political and gender-related issues as her primary subject matter, through artistic work that also captures the joys and pain of womanhood in modern-life-African traditions. Mari Van Niekerk, Senior Communication and Sponsorship Manager at FNB says that the FNB Art Prize honours exceptional artistic talent and, at the same time, provides many local and international opportunities beyond the Fair, often resulting in a springboard that catapults the artists career to a higher level. Investing in the arts There is a great need to continue investing in artists that tell us more about ourselves, and art in this sense, is a commodity that isnt simply a good financial investment, but a social dialogue that enables us to reflect. Our decade of continued support of the FNB JoburgArtFair is recognition of the varied roles that art plays in our society, from being a form of expression which offers a much deeper and intrinsic look at the world around us, to an alternative investment option, says Van Niekerk. Our commitment to the FNB JoburgArtFair continues to ensure that in the years to come, we will continue to introduce African artists to an international audience, galleries, collectors, writers, thinkers and art lovers, she says. Peju Alatise - o is the new + (cross) All galleries participating in the FNB JoburgArtFair are given the opportunity to nominate one of their artists for consideration by the jury. This year, Red Door Gallery one of the leading galleries based in Lagos nominated Peju Alatise for the prize. Red Doors founder, Bola Asiru says, Pejus work is filled with strong societal narratives on the realities of life in Africa; her message has been heard in West Africa, at the Smithsonian in the United States and the Venice Biennale in Europe. We feel that its time for this message to be taken to the rest of Africa and there is no better platform for this than the FNB JoburgArtFair. The 2017 judging panel for the coveted FNB Art Prize consisted of Nicole Siegenthaler, Producer of FNB JoburgArtFair, Pulane Kingston, partner at Webber Wentzel Attorneys and active patron of the arts and RosaLee Goldberg, New York University professor and Founding Director of Performa, a non-profit arts organisation committed to the research, development and presentation of performance by visual artists from around the world. The quality of each of the shortlisted candidates' proposals this year was high, says Pulane Kingston, but we were ultimately unanimous in our decision around Alatise's proposal it stood out. The innovative, universal social relevance and poignancy in the themes underpinning her work were some of the deciding factors in tipping the scales in her favour. The overall body of her work over the years is varied and compositionally strong, palpably reflecting the intense vibrancy of the African continent. We have no doubt that the integrity of the overall body of her work will propel her career meaningfully. FNB JoburgArtFair The FNB JoburgArtFair takes place at the Sandton Convention Centre, Exhibition Hall 1, 161 Maude Street, Sandton, from the 8 to 10 September 2017. Tickets are R150 and can be purchased through tixsa.co.za. For more information, please visit: www.fnbjoburgartfair.co.za For more information on Peju Alatise, please visit: www.pejualatise.com Early last week, The Times sent auditing firm KPMG a list of questions around a tip-off we received on its handling of an internal review into the 2014 audit of Linkway Trading, the company allegedly involved in the Gupta wedding scandal. Photo: KPMG KPMG finally responded to our questions on Thursday evening, saying our information was incorrect, and declining to answer most of the questions. Then, voila, like magic, a statement to all media drops on Friday morning. KPMG International will now "independently lead all aspects of a comprehensive review". "All aspects of our Gupta Group is being robustly reviewed [sic]," KPMG beamed to the world. Its first official response to the report in July was decidedly more flippant, including its view on KPMG partners attending the Gupta wedding: "We are satisfied that our independence was not impaired at any stage," CEO Trevor Hoole said at the time. On Friday, KPMG was singing a brand new tune: "The South African firm accepts that the partners should not have attended this wedding." It suspended the lead audit engagement partner and relieved two other partners of their board and executive positions pending the outcome of the "comprehensive reviews". Can you hear the PR wheels turning? What will become of us if one of the biggest auditing firms in the world cannot be trusted to spot symptoms of state capture, or perhaps even worse, chooses to ignore the signs? JSElisted asset manager Sygnia has already fired KPMG. An auditing firm's job is to provide reasonable assurance that financial statements are free from material misstatements. KPMG's damage control exercise on Friday was too little, too late. The damage to itself - and the country - has already been done. Arthur Goldstuck of World Wide Worx and Oresti Patricios of Ornico invite SA's social media specialists to contribute to the understanding of their industry. As a social media specialist, content and community manager, you have your finger on the pulse of your brands presence in the social media space. Ornico and World Wide Worx invite you to share your knowledge, and gain valuable insights from other professionals in the industry. Goldstuck and Patricios are asking social media consultants, community managers, strategists, agencies or managers working in- house for about 5-10 minutes of their time to complete the 2018 Social Brand Survey. The research study investigates trends and insights about how brands use social platforms. The Social Brand Survey is an integral part of the SA Social Media Landscape 2018 that serves to deepen the understanding of social media use in SA. Every year, the report is used by agencies, brands, marketers and the media as the top reference for the countrys digital landscape. By participating in this survey social media managers will help to grow industry knowledge and best practice about brands and social media. As thanks for their contribution to the survey, brands will receive a free months subscription to the Ornico Social Media platform which offers real-time social media monitoring and customised insights across social demographics, content, influencers, the key drivers of social conversations and more. In addition, each respondent will: * Receive a free executive summary of the 2018 Social Media Landscape * Get R1000 off the purchase price of the complete 2018 Social Media Landscape * Receive R1000 off the annual Social Media Landscape Briefing: As an extension of the research, brands are invited to sign up for a free months subscription to Continuon's influencer analysis platform (valued at R19,900). Continuon helps brands identify the most influential people in social media communities, and to understand the quality of social media communities, based on influence. Brands who participate in this influencer survey will enable Continuon to create an aggregated picture of the South African influencer landscape (without divulging any brand-specific information) for the SA Social Media Landscape. Brands wanting to take up this offer are urged to email oc.nounitnoc@olleh or call +27 21 822 2244. BBC News is broadcasting a week of special programming on Africa's rising population and the continent's strategies to cope with the population explosion which will see the population of Africa double to two and a half billion in just 30 years. Ethiopia is betting on industrialisation to put millions of its people to work, here at the Pittards factory in Addis Ababa, workers make leather gloves for sale in America. Credit: BBC. On a continent where nearly two thirds of people are already under 25, this vast new baby boom has the potential to provide a huge pool of workers ready to transform African economies, or the potential to create an even greater migration problem. BBC Africa Correspondent, Alastair Leithead, has been investigating the potential of this demographic dividend in a series of special reports from across Africa. Children gathered in Niger. Credit: BBC. For a week, beginning Monday, 21 August, BBC World News and BBC World Service will broadcast daily features within Focus on Africa, looking at matters such as the rapid urbanisation in Nigeria; the industrial revolution in Ethiopia; contraception in Niger; and food sustainability in Kenya. From Monday, more information can also be found on bbc.com/africapopulation, including a written in-depth analysis, a series of short videos and additional features. A special documentary, Africas Population Explosion, will also broadcast on BBC World News (DStv 400) on Friday, 25 August and Saturday, 26 August. Members of the southern African hospitality industry are rapidly joining the green revolution and its not for show or Google ranking - there are savings to be had and natural vistas to preserve. In Namibias capital city of Windhoek, Arebbusch Travel Lodge already rises head and shoulders above its competitors in terms of setting - just because an accommodation establishment is city-based, doesnt mean it cant be surrounded by indigenous flora and abundant birdlife. Yet, the lodges most notable green feature these days, which is located between the acacia trees and camping facilities, is the new 204kWp solar-powered installation. Consisting of 640 photovoltaic panels, the installation has been mounted on a horizontal weighting system that continuously tracks the sun a first in Namibia. Arebbusch solar power. Image: Republikein To date, John Williams, manager of the lodge, is satisfied with this N$4,6m investment in the popular corporate and leisure resorts ability to generate its own power. During the day, the installation provides the laundry and restaurant with power. It provides 92% of our required daily power usage, and that is during the reduced sunlight of winter, enthuses Williams. According to Alensy Alternative Energy Systems operational manager, Jonathan Swart, Arebbusch is the first company in Windhoek to request a commercial system of this kind a huge milestone. Swart handed the project over to Williams in an official capacity on 12 July. He says the technology behind the system has been accepted in Namibia and that the panels are guaranteed for 25 years of use at a minimum of 80% capacity. The lodge can expect to recover the value of the installation through power savings within five years, enthuses Swart. A type of technology already available in southern Africa related to the installation is an app that allows Williams to stay abreast of power provision and use at Arebbusch. Apparently, the built-in recording system provides information from as far back as a year ago and, in this way, simplifies the comparison and monitoring of the system. Other notable solar powered hotels Other notable green hotels and accommodation establishments in southern Africa that have employed solar power, among others, include: The Vineyard Hotel in Newlands, Cape Town, which boasts a 60-panel installation of Solarus Sunpowers hybrid solar PowerCollectors. Their 90kWp hybrid photovoltaic-thermal system provides 75kW peak thermal and 15kW peak electric output to the hotel, in a system partly subsidised by the Dutch government. Wilderness Safaris, which will be converting an increasing number of its camps located in Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, Rwanda, the Seychelles, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe to 100 percent solar to help minimise any negative impacts the operations may have on the environment. Subscribe to daily business and company news across 19 industries SUBSCRIBE Dictator Museveni examines a phoney church baptism register and discovers he's 70, not 73, so he can run for president again in four years. Wonder how God will treat that priest. [Commentary] In Uganda, during his 31-years of military dictatorship Gen. Yoweri Museveni changed the constitution in 2005 to remove the two five years term-limit to allow him to rule till death. His acolytes are now testing the waters to see if the 75-year age limit can also be removed. The dictator treats the constitution like toilet paper. To guarantee "victory" he appoints all the members and staff of the Electoral Commission (EC) and controls its operations. When Ugandans demanded for the independence of the EC, he instead added the word "Independent" to read IEC. The dictator creates geographical electoral constituencies to suit his personal designs. He institutes measures that determine whom he is to compete with. He frames those that he doesn't approve of with concocted criminal charges as a way of either keeping them out of the race or bogging down their campaign efforts. He compels public servants to campaign for him or else lose their positions and livelihood. He blackmails voters by telling them how he as the controller of public resources and would not extend developmental programs through the representative of their choice in Parliament unless their choice is his. During election campaign periods, he creates a war-like situation so as to instill fear in the population. He then uses the security forces to torment with violence, curtail the freedom of movement, assembly and association of his opponents before, during and after the campaigns. State-inspired election violence leaves many with grievous bodily harm, injury, kidnap, detention or death. He brands the opposition as "enemy terrorists" bent on setting the country on fire. He uncontrollably uses public financial and material resources in furtherance of his election campaigns while at the same time suffocating the opposition's sources of finance and logistics. Gen. Museveni publicly threatens to "return to war" if the opposition is voted into power before declaring that he won't hand over power anyway if he loses the elections. Regime cadres and security officers prevail over the EC in the conduct of its operations. During the February 2016 elections, the EC Chairman Badru Kiggundu --a Museveni appendage-- even regretted having allowed opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye on the ballot paper. On Election Day, the army, police and other private militias are deployed on every inch of the country in order to instill fear in the population. Through the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), Gen. Museveni disables communication by blocking social media and even shutting down some radio stations. By the time the final results are announced his main contenders and some of their supporters are either in detention or on the run being hunted by the security machinery over fictional charges. Meanwhile, Kenya has maintained a two five years presidential term limit in its constitution, which is respected and not treated like toilet paper. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in Kenya is comprised of representatives from all stakeholders like the opposition political parties, civil society and religious institutions. No one is restricted from contesting for any elective office by virtue of his or her ethnic, political and social affiliation unlike in Gen. Museveni's Uganda. Mobility by opposition during campaigns is not restricted. Security forces are not used by the sitting government to harass and curtail the opposition during campaigns. Public servants are not involved in sabotaging and curtailing opposition campaign efforts. The opposition is treated with dignity as fellow Kenyans and not enemies. The campaign period ends without state orchestrated violence such as seen in Museveni's Uganda. Imagine the ruling party accepting to relocate its final rally to Nakuru because the Uhuru Park in the city of Nairobi was to be used by the opposition NASA for its final rally. Yes, the head of ICT at IEBC, Chris Msando's murder is an ugly stain. It must be solved and all skeletons exposed. In Kenya, still, campaigns ended without a single opposition contestant or supporter being held in detention unlike here. Both the ruling party and the opposition had no militias allied to their respective camps. On the Election Day, the population freely trotted to the polling stations without fear or restrictions. The opposition alleged that the IEBC computer system had been hacked into. The IEBC accepted to investigate by way of carrying out a manual audit of the results forms submitted from the constituencies which would not, and did not happen in Museveni's Uganda. In Kenya in 2015, the court granted the opposition request for the results at constituency level to be regarded as final and the IEBC complied with that ruling. The IEBC dismissed on spot two of its Election Officials who attempted to tamper with the exercise. Even when the opposition put its supporters on standby for mass action, the government did not detain the leaders on flimsy charges of terrorism. The government did not panic by shutting down social media so as to disable mobility. Local and international observers and media outlets were afforded unlimited access to the exercise and they overwhelmingly commended the electoral process as having been free, fair, transparent and credible. While Kenya has demonstrated that it has moved away from the effects of decades of former President Daniel Arap Moi's tyrannical rule, Gen. Museveni and Kagame are caught up in the struggle to prove that they are more skilled in savage rigging of elections than their predecessors. The Kenya election has also proven that without being dragged into partisan politics by the sitting government, the security forces can act professionally with impartiality. Moreover, by comparison, the Kenya police is a mentor to its Ugandan counterpart. If there was any rigging in Kenya, it was done in a "civilized" way and if evidence emerges they must be weighed and acted on. There is a possibility of a low intensity conflict creeping up in Kenya arising out of this election that may drag in some key regional players. Still, compared to Museveni's Uganda, Kenya's election shows the country is moving into the modern era. President Xi Jinping, who also is general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, inspects military units before the parade at the Zhurihe Training Base in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region on July, 29. [Photo/Xinhua] Just before the 90th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army, top leader Xi Jinping told the parading troops on July 30 at the military training base in Zhurihe in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region that the PLA had to build itself into a world-class elite force that can fight and win. The question is how can it accomplish that? Excellence of weaponry is no longer a big issue for the PLA. Thanks to decades of strenuous efforts and supported by the robust Chinese economy, the Chinese defense industry has broken the technological bottleneck and the arms embargo of the West to produce some of the most advanced weapons in the world. When a trio of Chinese destroyers passed through the Strait of Dover for a drill with the Russian Navy in July, one British netizen remarked how "Drake and Nelson must be turning in their graves" to see the Chinese destroyers looking so modern and effective, unlike "our tired old" HMS Richmond, the frigate that monitored the Chinese ships. However the PLA has not been war-tested in nearly four decades. Since 1979, China has focused on economic development, and it considers the first 20 years of the 21st century a "period of strategic opportunity" that should be maintained with minimal disturbance. China's patience, resilience and restraint over such incidents as the US bombing of the Chinese embassy in former Yugoslavia, which killed three Chinese, and the collision between a Chinese fighter jet and a US surveillance plane in which the Chinese pilot died, have paid off. Today, China wears many hats, such as being the largest trading nation, the biggest trading partner of over 120 countries and, above all, the second-largest economy in the world. No one can deny that China's rise has been peaceful. And China has reason to maintain and even extend the period of strategic opportunity well beyond 2020, as it aims to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese Nation by 2049 when People's Republic of China celebrates its centenary. If China can rise smoothly to the top of the world without firing a single bullet, it will certainly be able to claim the moral high ground. But such an achievement, however desirable, is far from certain. Today the leader of the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan is dodging "One China" consensus, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear weapons program has added uncertainty on China's periphery. At the same time, there have been quite a few incidents and close unplanned encounters at sea between Chinese and US naval vessels. And China's Belt and Road Initiative covers the "arc of instability" stretching from Sub-Saharan Africa into the Middle East, the Balkans, the Caucasus, and South and Central Asia, to Southeast Asia. All reasons why, as Xi said, we need to build a stronger PLA than ever before. The ongoing stand-off between Chinese and Indian troops in the Donglang area is a litmus test. India is at a moral disadvantage in that it admits this is not a territorial dispute between India and China and it has not been requested by Bhutan, at least overtly, to become involved in its territorial dispute with China. Sending its troops to trespass in Chinese territory is not justifiable on security grounds, either. No country can make use of its security concerns to challenge the sovereignty of another nation. So should China use force if India continues to refuse to withdraw its troops? If yes, on what scale? And what price is it prepared to pay? So far, China has chosen to conduct military operations that are humanitarian in nature under the United Nations umbrella, such as peacekeeping and counter-piracy missions requiring the minimal use of force. This is laudable, but is it sustainable? Unlike in the past, when use of force was only allowed in self-defense, quite a few UN resolutions have authorized peacekeepers to "take all necessary means" and even "use force" in protecting civilians. In the blockbuster Chinese movie, Wolf Warriors II, a Chinese destroyer launches three cruise missiles at rebels who have kidnapped Chinese and African workers. The stand-off in Donglang is a reminder of how crises and even wars can start in totally unexpected places and sooner than might be expected. China has reason to continue to exercise the utmost restraint as it wishes to extend its "period of strategic opportunity". However, it should also prepare for the worst-case scenario and be prepared to fight and win. This may sound harsh, but the truth is that peace is not a godsend. It often has to be earned, sometimes at the cost of war. Zhou Bo is an honorary fellow with Center of China-American Defense Relations at the PLA Academy of Military Science. A government delegation led by Union Minister of Border Affairs Lieutenant General Ye Aung toured Kaing Gyi Village, a small Buddhist hamlet in Maungdaw township, on August 14. Earlier in the month, six Mro villagers a small Buddhist ethnic minority were found dead with machete and gunshot wounds. Another two villagers are reportedly missing. The State Counsellors Office pinned the attacks on a terrorist group, seemingly a reference to the Muslim insurgent group operating in northern Rakhine. In addition to the attack on Buddhist villagers, dozens of Muslim village heads and government informants have also gone missing, some later found dead and beheaded. In response to appeals from the Rakhine nationalist party to enhance security in the region in the wake of the recent attacks, the Tatmadaw deployed 500 soldiers to northern Rakhine State around the Mayu Mountain Range last week. A curfew has also been imposed and people are not allowed to gather in groups of five or more. The government delegates presented the relatives of the deceased and missing Kaing Gyi villagers with K600,000 each. The Minister of Border Affairs Lt Gen Ye Aung said he will upgrade the temporary primary school to a [permanent] primary school and add a middle school level in our Kaing Gyi Village, which has 48 houses and 296 people, said U Sein Hla Maung. The minister has also promised to build low-cost homes with solar panels and more roads, he added. Rakhine State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu has instructed the village to provide food supplies to the families of the deceased Mro villagers for two months. Gen. Yawd Serk, the chairman of the RCSS/SSA, told Shan Herald that the arrested soldier will be handed over to the Burmese army. He said that his group had reported the case to Shan States Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC), which was formed to monitor both government forces and ethnic armed groups in accordance with the terms of the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) signed on October 15, 2015. This arrested soldier is from Bago Township, he said. We are in the process in transferring him back to the Tatmadaw [Burmese army]. Fighting between RCSS/SSA and Burmese army Infantry Battalion 577 broke out in Wan Mong village tract in Mong Kung Township on August 13. On October 5, 2016, Shan Herald reported that clashes between two groups broke out in Mong Kung Township, a RCSS/SSA stronghold, when a Burmese unit overran an RCSS/SSA rehabilitation center. The hostilities compelled more than 2,000 civilians to flee their homes. The RCSS/SSA is considered one of the strongest ethnic armed groups in Burma. Despite the ceasefire accord, it has clashed more than 20 times with Burmese government forces since the signing of the NCA with the then President Thein Sein administration. By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN) PR Newswire TORONTO, Aug. 16, 2017 This Notice may affect your rights. Please read it carefully. ATTENTION: All persons or entities who purchased investment units of Expedite 4, Inc. now known as Southern China Livestock Inc. TORONTO, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ - THE CLASS ACTION A class proceeding has been certified by the Court of Appeal for Ontario against the audit firm Schwartz Levitsky Feldman LLP on behalf of the Class of all persons or entities who purchased investment units ("Units") of Expedite 4, Inc. between March 29, 2010 and December 23, 2010, and who continued to hold any of the shares or warrants comprising the Units as of December 23, 2010, other than Excluded Parties where the Excluded Parties are: (i) Schwartz Levitsky Feldman LLP (the Defendant), including its partners, employees, successors and assigns; (ii) the officers, directors, employees, agents, legal representatives, subsidiaries, affiliates, predecessors, successors and assigns of Expedite 4, Inc., Southern China Livestock International Inc., or Southern China Livestock Inc., and any entity in which any of the foregoing have or had any legal or de facto controlling interest; and (iii) Rodman & Renshaw LLC and Newbridge Securities Corporation (together the "Placement Agents"), including their officers, directors, senior management employees, predecessors, successors and assigns. The lawsuit seeks, among other things, an order requiring the Defendant to pay to the Class Members as damages the total amount that each Class Member paid to acquire Units of Expedite 4, Inc. The Defendant denies the allegations made in the action. By certifying this action as a class proceeding, the Court has made no determination of the merits of the Plaintiff's claims or the Defendant's denials. The Plaintiff will be required to prove its allegations at a trial in order to obtain the relief that it seeks for the Class. THE CERTIFICATION ORDER The Court of Appeal for Ontario certified the action Excalibur Special Opportunities LP v. Schwartz Levitsky Feldman LLP, Court File No. CV-12-466694-00CP as a class proceeding (the "Class Action") on December 6, 2016, with leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada denied on June 8, 2017. Excalibur Special Opportunities LP is appointed as the representative plaintiff on behalf of the Class. If you are a member of the Class, your rights will be affected by this order. Each member of the Class will be bound by the terms of any judgment or settlement unless they exclude themselves from the Class by "opting out", as explained below. Each member of the Class may be entitled to share in the amount of any judgment awarded or settlement reached in the Class Action. LEGAL FEES AND DISBURSEMENTS Counsel for the Class ("Class counsel") have entered into a contingency fee agreement with the representative Plaintiff with respect to legal fees and disbursements. The agreement provides that Class counsel will not receive payment for their work unless the Class Action is successful at trial, a settlement is achieved, or costs are received from the Defendants. The agreement, which must be approved by the court to be effective, provides for Class Counsel to be paid a contingency fee based upon a percentage of the amount recovered in the Class Action. Class Members will not be required to pay legal fees to Class Counsel, except as a percentage of any amount recovered. Class Members will not be liable to pay any costs to the Defendant or its lawyers for the class action. CLASS MEMBERS MUST OPT OUT IF THEY DO NOT WISH TO PARTICIPATE IN THE CLASS ACTION Class members who wish to participate in the Class Action need not do anything at this time. They are automatically included in the Class Action. Class members who do not wish to participate in the Class Action must opt out. If you wish to opt out of the Class Action, you must say so in writing by delivering a letter or notice, including your full name and address on or before November 14, 2017 at 5:00 pm EST to Class Counsel at the following address: By prepaid mail or courier to: Southern China Livestock Class ActionPaliare Roland LLP155 Wellington Street West, 35th FloorToronto, ON M5V 3H1 Fax: 416-646-4301 No Class Member will be permitted to opt out after November 14, 2017. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Any questions about the matters in this notice should be addressed to Class Counsel. The certification order and other information regarding the Class Action is available on the website www.southernchinalivestockclassaction.com. or may be obtained by calling: 1-855-204-4946 Requests for information or questions for Class Counsel should be directed to: Southern China Livestock Class ActionPaliare Roland LLP155 Wellington Street West, 35th FloorToronto, ON M5V 3H1 Fax: 416-646-4301 e-mail: [email protected] INTERPRETATION This notice is a summary of the terms of the certification order. If there is a conflict between the provisions of this notice and the terms of the certification order, the certification order prevails. The certification order can be viewed at the web address referenced above. This notice was approved by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Doc 2237544 v1 SOURCE Paliare Roland Rosenberg Rothstein LLP German authorities have rejected a claim by budget airline Ryanair of a "conspiracy" behind efforts to keep bankrupt rival Air Berlin afloat until a new owner is found. The Irish airline lodged a complaint with European Union competition authorities after Air Berlin filed for bankruptcy protection and then received a 150m loan from the German government. Nokia has unveiled its first flagship Android smartphone - theNokia 8 - as the technology firm attempts to challenge the likes of Samsung and Apple for the first time. The new device, which the firm said will cost 599, comes with split screen camera feature called Dual Sight which combines a photo or video from the front and rear-facing cameras at the same time. The result is what Nokia is calling a "Bothie", which the company hopes will offer a new take on selfies. The Nokia brand is now under license to Finnish start-up HMD Global, which sparked the firm's revival earlier this year with the launch of three mid-range Android phones - theNokia 3,5 and 6, as well as a revamped version of the 17-year-old 3310. The flagship Nokia 8 features dual 13-megapixel rear cameras, as well as a 13-megapixel front-facing camera, while both the front and rear cameras feature optics technology from imaging giant Zeiss, who announced a new partnership with Nokia and HMD Global last month. Zeiss technology is also being used to help improve the quality of photos taken on the 8,Nokia said, with "image fusion algorithms" in place to combine images captured by the two rear lenses into single photos. The new phone also houses spatial audio technology previously only used in Nokia's high-end OZO 360 camera, which can play back sound in multiple directions, imitating how it was captured during recording. The phone's specifications place it as a rival to the likes of Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy S8 in the current smartphone market. HMD Global confirmed the phone will go on sale in "early September" and said the device was aimed at social media users and video creators. "We know that fans are creating and sharing live content more than ever before, with millions of photos and videos shared every minute on social media," HMD chief product officer Juho Sarvikas said. "People are inspired by the content they consume and are looking for new ways to create their own. "It's these people who have inspired us to craft a flagship smartphone which perfectly balances premium design, an outstanding experience and powerful performance." Live video captured using the 8's Dual Sight mode can be shared directly to Facebook or YouTube from within the phone's Camera app. Nokia and HMD Global's unveiling comes a week before Samsung is due to announce their next Note smartphone, the first since the Note 7 was discontinued last year over battery fires and safety fears. The next iPhone, marking 10 years since the device first launched, is also expected to be announced in September. Avoiding check points or any other physical infrastructure on the Irish border is the UK Government's number one priority when negotiating post-Brexit arrangements for its only land frontier with the EU, a Whitehall position paper will state. The document outlining the Department for Exiting the European Union's aims in talks with Brussels will also suggest there may be no customs implications at all on the Irish border if the UK and EU can strike an ambitious future partnership. The Government paper will again dismiss any suggestion a customs border could be shifted to the Irish Sea, with checks and tariffs only in operation at entry and exit points between the island of Ireland and Great Britain. Creating such a barrier between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK was "not constitutionally or economically viable", it will state. A Government source said: "Both sides needs to show flexibility and imagination when it comes to the border issue in Northern Ireland and that is exactly what our latest position paper will do. "As Michel Barnier (EU chief negotiator) himself has said, the solution cannot be based on a precedent so we're looking forward to seeing the EU's position paper on Ireland. "But it's right that as we shape the unprecedented model, we have some very clear principles. Top of our list is to agree upfront no physical border infrastructure - that would mean a return to the border posts of the past and is completely unacceptable to the UK." The document setting out the Government's negotiating principles for the border is being published 24 hours after the release of its position paper on the UK's long term customs arrangement with the 27 member bloc. The two issues are intrinsically linked, with the dynamic at the border dependent on the shape of future customs relations between the UK and EU. Tuesday's paper proposed a time limited-transition period of around two years. It then fleshed out two potential options for a long-term deal. The more ambitious one would see the UK aligning or mirroring its customs approach with the EU model. In that scenario, Wednesday's position paper on the Irish border will argue there would be no need for a customs border at all between the UK and Ireland. The second proposed customs model, dubbed the "highly streamlined" approach, would see the UK negotiate agreements with the EU to reduce trade barriers and harness technology to avoid long queues at ports. In the Irish context, the Government will say that arrangement could include: :: A continued waiver on submitting entry/exit declarations; :: Retaining membership of the Common Transit Convention to make it easier for Northern Ireland and Irish companies to transit goods; :: New "trusted trader arrangements" for larger traders; :: Cross-border trade exemptions that would mean no new customs processes at all for smaller traders. At the moment in excess of 80% of cross-border trade is done by small and medium sized enterprises. The paper will also reaffirm the UK government's stated commitment to maintain the almost century-old Common Travel Area (CTA), which allows for free movement of UK and Irish citizens around the island. It will also include a commitment to uphold the 1998 Good Friday Agreement in "all its parts" - sections of the historic peace accord are underpinned by EU human rights legislation. The Government source added: "Our paper sets out some creative options on customs and shows the priority we place on making progress on this. "Protecting trade is vital for the UK and Ireland - in 2015 Northern Ireland sold 10.7bn of goods to Great Britain and a further 2.7bn to Ireland, while last year Great Britain exported 13.6bn worth of goods to Ireland, and imported 9.1bn - so we're prioritising finding a solution that protects businesses' ability to access these important markets." AP The Government has refused to condemn Donald Trump after controversial comments he made to the media in the wake of the Charlottesville protests. The US President has come under criticism after claiming that some of those protesting against the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee, had been treated unfairly by the media. UPDATE 8pm: A mother-of-six and a man have been shot dead in a gangland style shooting in Ballymun. It is understood the target of the shooting escaped and that there was a child in the house when the gunmen struck. The child was slightly injured, while two others - a man and a woman - are being treated in hospital. Their injuries are not life-threatening. The killings are believed to be part of a long-running feud in the area, which has seen a number of shooting and assaults. It is understood the target of the latest attack is the brother of a man shot dead in Dublin in early 2014. Gardai are examining a firearm they recovered. They would not say how many gunmen they believe were involved. Meanwhile, a second car is being examined in relation to the attack - Golf GTI, registration 06 LH 3466. Politicians roundly condemned the incident. Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan said: "This outrageous attack is totally unacceptable...I utterly deplore this shooting which has tragically resulted in the loss of two lives as well as others injured. "This callous, cold-blooded violence has no place in our communities - the Government and Gardai stand with the people of Ballymun against such despicable acts and will continue to ensure there is high visibility policing to combat such attacks, including extensive armed checkpoints across the city, for as long as necessary." Roisin Shortall, local Social Democrat TD, said there had been recent tensions in the area and that the community feared an escalation of violence. "The horrific incident is a chilling reminder of the extent of gangland crime on Dublin's streets, much of it drug fuelled," she said. "The incident should act as a wake-up call to the Government that gangland crime in Dublin remains prevalent and wreaks havoc across the city and in many local communities. "It is crucial to invest in adequate policing and it is also crucial to invest in and to sustain investment in building safe and strong communities across the city." Dessie Ellis, Sinn Fein TD for Dublin North West, said: "We have to ask people to desist. "Nobody should be targeted, nobody should retaliate or get involved. "I'm asking people not to get involved or caught up in these personal disputes. No one losing their life is worth it." Mr Ellis also questioned the level of Garda resources in the area. EARLIER: Gardai said the victims, a woman in her 40s and a man in his 30s, were gunned down on a housing estate in the Ballymun area of north Dublin. The attack took place shortly after 4pm. Another man and woman were also injured in the incident. They rushed to the Mater Hospital where they were understood to have non life-threatening injuries. The shooting occurred on Balbutcher Drive in the Poppintree area. Gardai said a silver Opel Zafira with 08 LS registration plates was found partially burnt out a short distance from the scene of the shooting. The area was sealed off with Garda scenes of crime officers expected to carry out forensic examinations. Officers appealed for anyone who was in the Balbutcher Drive area this afternoon between 3pm and 4pm to contact gardai in Ballymun Station on 01 666 4400 The Government will argue against any new technological or physical monitoring on the Irish border in Brexit talks over the future of its only land frontier with the EU. Confounding speculation that the UK would advocate CCTV cameras or number plate recognition systems as part of its vision for a frictionless border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, a new Whitehall position paper has effectively recommended no change to the current arrangements. It has also proposed a future customs arrangement which would see 80% of businesses on the island entirely exempt from any new tariffs post-Brexit. The exemption would apply to small and medium-sized enterprises involved in localised cross-border trade. In respect of larger companies engaged in international trade, the Government paper proposes they could adhere to any new customs regime by completing retrospective declarations either online or at their premises. Officials concede that the proposals could be open to fraud - with Great Britain or continental European-based companies using Irish business counterparts to avoid tariffs - but they believe those risks can be managed effectively. The Government has also acknowledged that the EU will have to sign up to its vision of a post-Brexit border and there has already been scepticism in Brussels at the viability of London's wider post-Brexit customs proposals. Ahead of the publication of the document, Prime Minister Theresa May stated her commitment to a seamless Irish border. "There should be no physical border infrastructure of any kind on either side of the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland," she said. "I want people to be absolutely clear: the UK does not want to see border posts for any purpose." Mrs May also moved to reassure nationalists living in Northern Ireland that Brexit will not see the UK turn its back on its "unique and special relationship" with Ireland. She insisted rights enshrined under the Good Friday peace accord, such as the right to claim Irish citizenship, would be protected after the exit from the European Union. The paper reaffirms the Government's stated commitment to maintain the almost century-old Common Travel Area (CTA), which allows for free movement of UK and Irish citizens around the island. Secretary of State for Exiting the EU David Davis said: "The UK and Ireland have been clear all along that we need to prioritise protecting the Belfast Agreement in these negotiations, and ensure the land border is as seamless as possible for people and businesses. "The proposals we outline in this paper do exactly that, and we're looking forward to seeing the EU's position paper on the Northern Ireland border. "In committing to keep the Common Travel Area, which has existed for nearly a century, we're making sure UK and Irish citizens will continue to be able to travel, live, work and study across both countries." Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said: "The paper provides flexible and imaginative ideas and demonstrates our desire to find a practical solution that recognises the unique economic, social and cultural context of the land border with Ireland, without creating any new obstacles to trade within the UK. "I believe it is possible to find a solution that works for the UK, for Ireland and for the EU - and, specifically, for Northern Ireland - and am determined to work to achieve that. "It is clear that there are many areas where the UK, Ireland and the rest of the EU have shared objectives. We have a lot to build on but need to work together intensively over the coming months." Democratic Unionist leader and former Stormont first minister Arlene Foster described the paper as a "constructive step". "It is clear the Government has listened to voices in Belfast, Dublin, Brussels and London about how the United Kingdom's only EU land border could be managed after we exit the EU," she said. "I welcome the commitment to a seamless border and movement of goods between Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is also welcome news that the Government will not countenance any new border in the Irish Sea." Mrs May was later asked whether the Conservative Party's parliamentary deal with the pro-Brexit DUP would undermine her ability to work in the best interests of everyone in Northern Ireland - a region that voted 56% to Remain. "We will absolutely work for all sides in Northern Ireland, we are absolutely committed to the Belfast Agreement and to ensuring that the decisions we take are decisions for every community across Northern Ireland," she told reporters in Portsmouth. "As we look forward to Brexit, of course, we do want to ensure that we don't see a return to the borders of the past, we don't see a return to a hard border, and that we are able to ensure that the crucial flow of goods and people between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland is able to continue in the future." She added: "We don't want to see a border between parts of the United Kingdom, what we want to see is an arrangement in relation to customs and borders with the European Union that can enable us to see no return to the hard borders of the past in Northern Ireland, to enable that flow of goods and people between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. "That is not just in the interests of Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom, it is in the interests I think of the Republic of Ireland and the European Union too." AP Pat Hickey has declined an invitation to appear before the Oireachtas Committee on Sport tomorrow. The Former Olympic Council of Ireland boss had been invited to discuss the Moran report into ticketing at the Rio Games. UPDATE 5.30pm: The government has warned Ireland must be prepared for the worst case scenario when it comes to Brexit. Both the British and Irish governments want a free border between north and south. But key European figures have described that ambition as a fantasy. Minister Simon Coveney says they have to be prepared for every possibility. "We obviously have to prepare for the worst case scenario. "We can't allow a situation whereby there's a cliff edge here that we get pushed over, and we haven't thought about that and tried to prepare for it. "We don't want to be there and politics needs to find a way forward here, to ensure we protect what's important." EARLIER: The British Government wants to have a frictionless border in the North. A position paper on Brexit describes the future border between North and South as being seamless and free from customs checks. The Government is proposing to use technology to allow traffic to move freely North and South. The Foreign Affairs Minister has said he welcomes the partnership approach being put forward by the UK. However, Simon Coveney has said some of the proposals will not work. "There are all sorts of problems with that, I think we understand very well on the island of Ireland in the context of smuggling anf so on," he said. "And Certainly from an argi food point of view, how that could be possible I just don't see how ot could work. "If you look at the dairy industry, for example, milk powders, going to yoghurts, cheeses, butters, liquid milk and they end up across multiple markets." The Prime Minister has moved to reassure nationalists living in Northern Ireland that Brexit will not see the UK turn its back on its "unique and special relationship" with Ireland. Theresa May insisted rights enshrined under the Good Friday peace accord, such as the right to claim Irish citizenship, would be protected after the exit from the European Union. The direct message to the nationalist community, in the form of a platform piece in the Belfast-based Irish News, a daily paper aligned with mainstream nationalism, came as the Government prepared to publish a position paper on its approach to the thorny issue of the Irish border in negotiations with Brussels. Mrs May wrote: "No one voted to end the special ties between the UK and Ireland or to undermine the unique arrangements between Ireland and Northern Ireland which have underpinned the peace process and have been in place well before our membership of the EU." Ahead of the publication of the Whitehall document, the Irish Government said the peace process could not become a "bargaining chip" in Brexit talks. Wednesday's paper will state that the Government's top priority is the avoidance of checkpoints or any other physical infrastructure on the UK's only land frontier with the EU. "There should be no physical border infrastructure of any kind on either side of the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland," said Mrs May. "I want people to be absolutely clear: the UK does not want to see border posts for any purpose." The document outlining the Department for Exiting the European Union's aims in talks with EU chiefs will also suggest there may be no customs implications at all on the Irish border if the UK and EU can strike an ambitious future partnership. Mrs May said the Government would also explore ways to maintain funding for peace-building initiatives in Northern Ireland that is currently provided by the EU. "I hope people in Northern Ireland and Ireland will see the UK Government is determined to protect the unique arrangements between Northern Ireland and Ireland, and the wider relationship between the UK and Ireland. "Protecting your citizenship rights, and protecting the Belfast Agreement, are at the heart of our approach," she said. "On the citizenship rights guaranteed by the Belfast Agreement, our position is clear. "Northern Ireland remains an integral part of the United Kingdom, but it is also the permanent birthright of the people of Northern Ireland to hold both British and Irish citizenship. "This will remain the case, and people of Northern Ireland who are Irish citizens will remain EU citizens. "The UK wants this guarantee confirmed alongside the other aspects of the Belfast Agreement as part of our withdrawal agreement with the EU." The Government paper will again dismiss any suggestion a customs border could be shifted to the Irish Sea, with checks and tariffs only in operation at entry and exit points between the island of Ireland and Great Britain. The Prime Minister said: "That would be totally unacceptable to the UK Government." The document setting out the Government's negotiating principles for the border is being published 24 hours after the release of its position paper on the UK's long-term customs arrangement with the 27-member bloc. The two issues are intrinsically linked, with the dynamic at the border dependent on the shape of future customs relations between the UK and EU. Tuesday's paper proposed a time limited-transition period of around two years. It then fleshed out two potential options for a long-term deal. The more ambitious one would see the UK aligning or mirroring its customs approach with the EU model. In that scenario, Wednesday's position paper on the Irish border will argue there would be no need for a customs border at all between the UK and Ireland. The second proposed customs model, dubbed the "highly streamlined" approach, would see the UK negotiate agreements with the EU to reduce trade barriers and harness technology to avoid long queues at ports. In the Irish context, the Government will say that arrangement could include: :: A continued waiver on submitting entry/exit declarations; :: Retaining membership of the Common Transit Convention to make it easier for Northern Ireland and Irish companies to transit goods; :: New "trusted trader arrangements" for larger traders; :: Cross-border trade exemptions that would mean no new customs processes at all for smaller traders. At the moment in excess of 80% of cross-border trade is done by small and medium sized enterprises. The Government has acknowledged that the EU will have to sign up to its vision of a post-Brexit border and there has already been scepticism in Brussels at the viability of the Government's customs proposals. "Today I want to reassure everyone in Northern Ireland, that the UK leaving the EU will not jeopardise things you value profoundly," Mrs May said. "Your citizenship rights are permanent and inviolable; you will be able to work and live in Northern Ireland and Ireland exactly as now on a reciprocal basis; and we do not want any border posts between Ireland and the UK." She added: "I am determined to deliver a good Brexit deal for the whole UK, and my first priority is protecting the unique and special relationship between the UK and Ireland "No one would pretend our history has always been smooth, but as the UK begins a new chapter, it will not mean turning our back on the historic progress that has been made within Northern Ireland, and across these islands." AP The UK has strongly dismissed the the idea of a customs border in the Irish Sea, writes Elaine Loughlin and Daniel McConnell. It comes after both the Taoiseach and foreign affairs minister had floated the idea in the first place, leaving Irish hopes severely dashed. The UKs position paper due to be published today will state that a border in the Irish Sea is not constitutionally or economically viable. The paper also will claim that the UK Government will be pushing for a seamless and frictionless border and wants avoid any physical border posts and between Northern Ireland and Ireland following Brexit. However, they will argue for highly-streamlined customs arrangements which could include a waiver on submitting entry/exit declarations and continued membership of the Common Transit Convention to help Northern Ireland and Irish companies transit goods. While Leo Varadkar had softened his stance on creating a hard shell around the entire island, he has remained clear that the Irish Government is not going to design a border for the Brexiteers. The Government had been pushing for a border in the Irish Sea and not a soft border between north and south. This would see tougher checkpoints for sea and air crossings. Last night, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said the Government is adamant that the ability for goods, people and services to travel freely across the border between north and south here is a vital element of the Peace Process which must be protected. Mr Donohoe was speaking to the Irish Examiner after he held a 75 minute face to face meeting with his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schauble, where he reiterated Irish concerns about the potential of the return of a land border. He said: I spoke to him about the North and the peace process. I was in Antrim over the weekend and that ability to allow people, goods and services cross the border is an absolutely vital part of the peace process, and the Irish Government views the maintenance of that with the highest political importance. Mr Donohoe said that there is a high level of understanding within the German government on the Irish issue. He also highlighted the potential impact on Irelands agricultural sector of the UKs exit from the EU. We have a very large market beside us, with similar tastes, so while the entire EU economy is exposed, the Irish economy is particularly exposed because of Irish agriculture and the integration of supply chains into the UK, he said. A British government source said both sides will now need to show flexibility and imagination on the border issue. We have some very clear principles. Top of our list is to agree upfront no physical border infrastructure that would mean a return to the border posts of the past and is completely unacceptable to the UK. Among the other priorities listed in the paper will be the protection of the Common Travel Area and associated rights for UK and Irish citizens, as well as upholding the Belfast Agreement. This story first appeared in the Irish Examiner. The death of actor Michael Twomey has led to a host of tributes being made to the Cork star. Famed as one half of comedy duo Cha and Miah, with a career spanning six decades, Mr Twomey died in Cork today aged 83. Thousands of select historic art objects collected from indigenous cultures throughout North America. THE ONLY SHOW DEDICATED TO ANTIQUE AMERICAN INDIAN ART IN THE WORLD Objects of Arts Shows Presents The 4th Annual Antique American Indian Art Show Santa Fe Showcasing the Beauty and Artistry of Historic Indian Art August 1518, 2017 at El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe The Antique American Indian Art Show Santa Fe, the most anticipated show and sale of historic Indian art of the summer art season, returns August 1518, bringing together nearly 65 of the worlds most knowledgeable experts in American Indian art and thousands of select historic art objects from indigenous cultures throughout the United States and Canada. Now in its fourth year, it is the largest show of its kind in the world. The four-day event will take place Tuesday through Friday at El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe in the Santa Fe Railyard. The festivities kick off on Tuesday evening, August 15, with an opening gala from 6 to 9 p.m. to benefit New Mexico PBS. The show continues from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, August 1618. Admission includes a special viewing of Homage to the Square, a groundbreaking exhibit of twenty-five early Navajo rugs and blankets c.1870-1950, juxtaposed against a series of original modern artworks utilizing simple polygon design and complex color interaction. Visitors will encounter a broad range of premier works by master artisans in visually vibrant displays designed to draw the eye and mind. They will also interact with experts who are passionate about the original objects on display, eagerly sharing knowledge about everything from the aesthetic beauty and symbolism of historic artworks, to tribal techniques and materials, to the cultural and social values the works represent. A 12-month-old baby and two foreign women were among the 13 people killed when a huge oak tree crashed down on an outdoor religious festival in Portugal's Madeira Islands. Miguel Reis, a local health official, says the foreigners killed in Tuesday's accident were a 42-year-old French woman and a 31-year-old Hungarian woman. British Prime Minister Theresa May has criticised Donald Trump for not singling out white supremacists for criticism following deadly unrest in Virginia, insisting there is "no equivalence" between fascists and their opponents. Mrs May spoke out after the US President failed to condemn far-right demonstrators outright for violence in Charlottesville in which a woman was killed. Mr Trump claimed "there is blame on all sides", apparently equating the actions of far-right demonstrators with those protesting against them. But Mrs May said: "I see no equivalence between those who propound fascist views and those who oppose them. I think it is important for all those in positions of responsibility to condemn far-right views wherever we hear them." Asked about Mr Trump's comments in the wake of the violence, Mrs May told reporters: "As I made clear at the weekend following the horrendous scenes that we saw in Charlottesville, I absolutely abhor the racism, the hatred and the violence that we have seen portrayed by these groups. "The United Kingdom has taken action to ban far-right groups here, we have proscribed certain far- right groups here in the United Kingdom. "And there is no equivalence." Mrs May spoke after senior Tories condemned Mr Trump, whose comments have also provoked criticism from both Republicans and Democrats in the US. Violence erupted in Charlottesville on Saturday after a group of far-right extremists gathered to protest against a decision to remove a statue of Confederate general Robert E Lee. Heather Heyer, 32, later died when a car was driven into crowds as anti-fascist demonstrators clashed with the white supremacists. Mr Trump faced heavy criticism in the immediate wake of the unrest after he said there was blame on "many sides". He took two days to condemn the actions of the far-right groups in particular, eventually branding the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists "repugnant to everything that we hold dear as Americans", in a statement on Monday. However, during a turbulent press conference at his Manhattan residence on Tuesday, the president appeared to have reverted to his previous position. He acknowledged there were "some very bad people" among the statue protesters, but added: "You also had people that were very fine people, on both sides." In the hours after the comments the hashtag #ImpeachTrump trended worldwide on Twitter Firefighters are tackling an aircraft hangar blaze at Southend Airport. Six fire engines attended the fire on Wednesday morning. A spokesman for Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said the airport is running as usual. A statement said: "Firefighters are using a aerial ladder platform (ALP) to pour water on the large building from above. "The officer in charge at the incident reports crews are making good progress." Pictures shared on social media showed black smoke coming from the large building. A statement from the airport said: "Essex County Fire and Rescue Service is currently dealing with an incident at the Air Livery hanger on the north side of the airfield. "London Southend Airport is still open and operating as normal". Update 5.18pm: A man has confessed to killing his sister, whose hacked-off legs and other body parts were found in rubbish bins in Rome, Italian police said. Maurizio Diotallevi, 62, was questioned at police headquarters by an investigating magistrate over the death of his sister Nicoletta, police said. A spokesman added: "In front of the magistrate, Diotallevi admitted being the one who committed the murder and who attempted to hide the body." The victim was identified as Nicoletta Diotallevi, 59, who lived with her brother in an apartment in the Flaminio neighbourhood. Police later found her brother in the apartment. The body parts were discovered in the upmarket Parioli area of the Italian capital, about half a mile away. A young woman rummaging through a bin used by residents discovered two legs, wrapped together with package tape. The woman, who immediately alerted police, was reported to be in shock after the grisly find, Italian media said. Officers questioned the dead woman's brother after viewing images from a CCTV camera near the bin. In the video, a man was seen placing a heavy object into the bin, police said. The woman's head and other body parts were later found in a bin on another street. The suspect has been detained. A judge must rule in a few days whether to uphold the detention order. Exactly what triggered the slaying was not immediately known, but police said "the crime apparently happened for family reasons". AP Earlier: A murder probe has been launched after severed legs were found in a bin on an up-market street in Rome, while a head and torso were discovered in refuse elsewhere in the Italian capital. Officers are questioning the brother of the suspected victim after the discovery of a woman's remains. A woman alerted police on Tuesday evening after spotting the legs as she rummaged through the bin. She is reportedly in shock after the grisly discovery. Media reports said CCTV footage from a nearby shop on Monday night recorded a man throwing something into the rubbish bin where the legs were found. Officers held up a white sheet near one bin on Wednesday to block the view of onlookers. An American mission to Mars will focus on three key areas where alien life may once have thrived and gather samples to be returned to Earth, scientists have been told. The Mars 2020 mission will launch a rover to the Red Planet in three years time to look for chemical relics of Martian bugs. ExoMars Rover, a European mission also launching in 2020, will use similar techniques to search for life biosignatures. However the Nasa craft will also collect 30 to 40 rock samples and seal them in titanium tubes on the Martian surface for future retrieval. Deputy project scientist Dr Ken Williford was speaking at the Goldschmidt Conference geochemistry meeting in Paris, France. He said: "Mars 2020 represents a crucial first step towards a possible Mars sample return. "Our objective is to collect a diverse set of samples from our landing site with the best potential to preserve records of the evolution of Mars - including the presence of life if it was there. "We'll use our onboard instruments to provide the critical field context that future scientists would need to understand the measurements made back on Earth." Potential landing sites for Mars 2020 have been whittled down to three, said Dr Williford. One site at Columbia Hills in Gusev crater was previously visited by the Nasa Spirit rover and features silica deposits thought to be evidence of hydrothermal springs, which on Earth are havens for life. The two other sites are located close together on the edge of Isidis Planitia, one of the largest and oldest impact craters in the solar system. Northeast Syrtis contains ancient exposed Martian crust that bears signs of alteration in the presence of liquid water. Scientists believe the site could have hosted sub-surface life. The remaining site, Jezero crater, is thought to be the location of an ancient river delta and lake which could have been a prime spot for living organisms. Dr Williford added: "We've got some hard decisions in front of us. "Because of the possibility of sample return, the selected site could have an outsized impact on the future of Mars science compared to a typical mission. "We've been working hard to understand the scientific potential of the different sites and engaging the international scientific community for input on this consequential choice. "The team is extremely excited about the opportunity to bring a powerful new payload to the surface of Mars and produce some spectacular results wherever we end up." South African officials are debating whether to grant diplomatic immunity to Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe, who is accused of assaulting a 20-year-old model in Johannesburg this week. Mrs Mugabe remains in South Africa after a day of intense speculation over her whereabouts, South African police said. The police said the Zimbabwean government asked for diplomatic immunity for a suspect involved in the alleged assault. The police have declined to name Mrs Mugabe in the case as she has not yet appeared in court. Mrs Mugabe's immunity request is currently under consideration, Clayson Monyela, a spokesman for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation told The Associated Press. Acting national police commissioner Lesetja Mothiba said earlier on Wednesday that police and national prosecutors wanted to charge Mrs Mugabe, according to the African News Agency. "Our position was that she must go to court," he said. Gabriella Engels registered a case with police on Monday accusing Mrs Mugabe, 52, of attacking her with an extension cord in a luxury hotel in a Johannesburg suburb late on Sunday evening. Ms Engels said she had been in a hotel room with mutual friends of Mrs Mugabe's two sons, who live in Johannesburg, when the first lady burst into the room and allegedly assaulted her. Photos of Ms Engels posted on social media show a bloody gash to her forehead that she claimed was a result of the encounter. Confusion over whether Mrs Mugabe was still in the country flared up on Tuesday after South Africa's police minister said she was due to appear in a South African court and she did not show up, fuelling speculation she may have returned to Zimbabwe. Police clarified on Wednesday that while the suspect had failed to present herself to police to obtain a "warning statement" about the case, she remained in the country and had sent her lawyers and Zimbabwe government officials to tell police she intended to request diplomatic immunity. "Discussions with the suspect's lawyers and the Zimbabwean High Commission representatives are taking place to make sure that the suspect is processed through the legal system," the police statement said. Ms Engels told the AP she would be willing to face Mugabe in court. "I want to go to court because I really feel like she should go to jail for what she did to me," she said. "I don't want her to get away with this. Because what happened to me was not OK." Mrs Mugabe has been accused of assaults during other overseas trips, including a 2009 visit to Hong Kong in which a photographer accused her of beating him up. Zimbabwe's state broadcaster reported late on Wednesday that President Robert Mugabe had left for South Africa to attend a regional summit. AP Theresa May is facing renewed calls to cancel a state visit for Donald Trump over his response to deadly unrest in Virginia. MPs urged the PM to rescind her invitation after Mr Trump would not condemn white supremacist groups outright for violence that left a woman dead. During ill-tempered exchanges with reporters at Trump Tower on Tuesday the president said "there is blame on both sides". The comments appeared to equate the actions of the far-right demonstrators with those protesting against them, provoking criticism from both Republicans and Democrats. In the UK a number of Labour MPs called for Mrs May's offer of a visit with state honours for Mr Trump to be torn up. Shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith tweeted: "A state visit by #DonaldTrump would shame this country and betray all we stand for. Theresa May should revoke the invitation immediately." Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood said Mr Trump's comments were "sickening" and a "new low". "When will UK Govt admit he should never had been invited for a state visit?" she wrote on Twitter. Referring to a visa questionnaire given to tourists visiting America, MP for Rhondda Chris Bryant said: "May cd rescue smidgen of moral authority now by rescinding Trump invite. After all US immigration ask 'are u or have u ever been a Nazi?'" Violence erupted in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday after a group of far-right extremists gathered to protest a decision to remove a statue of a Confederate general. Heather Heyer, 32, later died when a car was driven into crowds as anti-fascist demonstrators clashed with the white supremacists. Mr Trump faced heavy criticism in the immediate wake of the unrest after he said there was blame on "many sides". He took two days to condemn the actions of the far-right groups in particular, eventually branding the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists as "repugnant to everything that we hold dear as Americans" in a statement on Monday. However, during a boisterous press conference at his Manhattan residence on Tuesday the president appeared to have reverted to his previous position. He acknowledged there were "some very bad people" among the statue protesters, but added: "You also had people that were very fine people, on both sides". In the hours after the comments the hashtag #ImpeachTrump trended worldwide on Twitter, while Labour MPs criticised the president over his renewed stance. Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner wrote: "Millions of Americans died fighting the Nazis in WW2, my husband's dad fought alongside them with so many others, POTUS has brought such shame." Birmingham Yardley MP Jess Phillips tweeted: "This should be the end, but it won't be, it will get worse, violence will ramp up, people will die and everyone else will be to blame #Trump" Mrs May has faced repeated criticism over her decision to offer a state visit to her US counterpart shortly after he took office. However the controversial occasion was reportedly put on hold after Mr Trump grew concerned that he would be greeted by protests on arrival. Number 10 sources said at the time that no date had been fixed, but officials were believed to be looking at 2018. AP Update 6.44pm: US President Donald Trump says he is ending a pair of White House advisory councils that were staffed by corporate chief executives. CEOs have been resigning since Saturday, when Mr Trump blamed both sides for the weekend violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, between white supremacists and counter-protesters. The resignations accelerated after Mr Trump again blamed "both sides" on Tuesday. Mr Trump said on Twitter: "Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!" Standing in the lobby of Trump Tower on Tuesday, Mr Trump acknowledged that there were "some very bad people" among those who gathered to protest on Saturday. But he added: "You also had people that were very fine people, on both sides." Trump's remarks were widely criticised in Washington and around the country. Earlier: The CEO of Campbell Soup is resigning from a White House jobs panel over comments about racism made by US President Donald Trump. Campbell CEO Denise Morrison said in a company release: "Racism and murder are unequivocally reprehensible and are not morally equivalent to anything else that happened in Charlottesville. I believe the President should have been - and still needs to be - unambiguous on that point." Mr Trump suggested in remarks on Tuesday that the white supremacists and counter-protesters were both blameworthy for violence that erupted this weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. Mrs Morrison said the president's comments triggered her resignation from the manufacturing jobs panel. Mrs Morrison is the seventh person to resign from two major advisory panels this week following Mr Trump's comments. Turkey has formally asked the German government to arrest and extradite a top suspect in last year's failed coup attempt following reports suggesting he has been spotted in Germany. Foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey has submitted a formal note demanding the extradition of fugitive Adil Oksuz. US vice president Mike Pence did not directly answer questions about Donald Trump's comments regarding the Charlottesville protesters, but said he stands with the president. Mr Pence would not say whether he agrees with Mr Trump that there were "fine people" among the white supremacists, KKK members and neo-Nazis who took to the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend. Mr Trump has said that "both sides" are to blame for the violence between white supremacists and counter-demonstrators in Charlottesville. One woman died when a car rammed into a crowd of people protesting the white nationalist rally. In a carefully-worded statement, Mr Pence called what happened in Charlottesville "a tragedy" and said, "the president has been clear on this tragedy and so have I". "I spoke at length about this heartbreaking situation on Sunday night in Colombia and I stand with the president and I stand by those words," he added. Mr Pence said on Sunday that "these dangerous fringe groups have no place in American public life and in the American debate, and we condemn them in the strongest possible terms." He said on Wednesday that even though he is in Chile, "our hearts are in Charlottesville" where a funeral for the young woman killed during the protest was being held. He said he has been praying for her. "The strength of the United States of America is always strongest as the president has said so eloquently when we are united around our shared values and so it will always be," Mr Pence said. The vice president is on a week-long trip to Latin America to build ties with the region and speak out against the growing crisis in Venezuela. After meeting with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, he said he will "return from this trip more encouraged than ever that not only will our commerce grow, strengthening jobs and opportunities in America, strengthening prosperity across Latin America". He also called on Chile to "break all diplomatic and commercial ties" to North Korea. He said he made the request to Ms Bachelet, and is making the same ask of Peru, Mexico and Brazil. North Korea has no diplomatic offices or banking institution in Chile, but the two countries do have a trade relationship. Mr Pence said "we are beginning to see progress" when it comes to North Korea, but says that "much more" must still be done. The Trump administration has been trying to pressure Pyongyang to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile programme. The White House announced that Mr Pence is cutting the trip slightly short so he can join the president for a meeting at Camp David to discuss South Asia strategy. Mr Pence had originally been scheduled to return home on Friday afternoon. Instead, he will be leaving late on Thursday. Mr Pence is still scheduled to travel to Panama, where he will meet with the country's president and tour the newly-enlarged Panama canal before returning to Washington. AP A Canberra man will face court on Wednesday morning after being nabbed for drink driving twice in one night. ACT Policing said they first stopped the man at 11.30pm on Tuesday, August 15 for a random roadside breath test, which returned a 0.125 reading. Police caught the same man twice in one night for drink driving. Credit:Rohan Thomson The man was already a disqualified driver, police said, and subject to a blood alcohol limit of zero. He was then charged with driving whilst disqualified, driving under the influence and was given a court date. His bail was on condition he did not drive a car. Greg Kelly was just 59 when he was diagnosed with dementia. Medical authorities tried to tell him it was depression. He knew otherwise. Gold Coast man Greg Kelly is riding a Harley-Davidson to raise funds and awareness for the 413,000 Australians living with dementia. Credit:WyndhamAP.com He'd worked for 42 years in the finance sector, the latter years as an executive, and he was worried. "I was struggling to organise my day, plan my day, struggling to do my work," he said. The ACT's three major parties have passed a bill that makes it a crime to share an intimate photo without consent. People who publish, or threaten to publish, "revenge porn" now face up to three years in jail or a $45,000 fine, after the ACT's parliament moved to bring the territory's laws up-to-date with technology. Voting yes: former ACT Liberals leader Jeremy Hanson. Credit:Rohan Thomson The penalties are bumped up to five years in jail or a fine of up to $75,000 if the victim is aged under 16. The laws would not capture teenagers consensually "sexting". Courts can now order people to take down or delete the intimate image. Those who fail to comply can face up to two years' jail or a $30,000 fine. With Facebook around, there is nowhere to hide. The Canberra Reptile Zoo has proven that by using the power of the online community to nab a thief who stole a $400 turtle tank - and tried to steal a baby turtle. Canberra Reptile Park owner Peter Child with the baby turtle which a Sydney man tried to steal by placing in his pocket. And the case was all wrapped up within hours, thanks to the Facebook army. The zoo's owner Peter Child said the thief, who was from Sydney, last Sunday, August 13, first prised open an enclosure and stole a baby turtle, putting it in his pocket. Mr Howard said the display was intended to remind visitors of the challenges and priorities of his government. The library will be split between Mr Howard and his government, featuring APEC costumes, gifts from world leaders and the former Liberal leader's desk - first used by Prime Minister SM Bruce in 1927. Personal papers, mementos and documents revealing the inner workings of the Howard government will be made public for the first time in a new library at Old Parliament House. "Public documents reveal the advice provided to the government, the basis upon which the cabinet made a particular decision, and why a certain course of action was pursued," he said. "I fully accept that Australians will have different opinions of my government's performance and of my leadership, but these views and assessments will be more compelling and persuasive when based on public records as well as media reporting and political commentary." Library director Tom Frame, biographer of Liberal Prime Minister Harold Holt, said the library would be a "treasure trove" for researchers, adding it would also feature the personal papers of Peter Reith and Philip Ruddock's library. "We're hoping eventually to have all the papers of the senior ministers of the Howard government so that researchers can come to one place and write about '96 to 2007 using all the material that we will have," he said. "[Mr Howard] made it plain to me that he does not want a shrine, but he does want people to consider the challenges and the questions his government faced because the best way to do that is to provide the raw material from which people can make their own judgements." Of the media stories published in response to The Economist's liveable cities index and there are surprisingly few stories written, despite what many who benefit from the marketing of Victoria would have you believe one from a couple of years ago, from a resident of Lagos, in Nigeria, is my favourite. There, a developer who had laid a road made of paving stones in front of existing houses simply removed them when a soon-to-be-signed property deal collapsed. "The private developer who had laid the stones months earlier," the story's author Tolu Ogunlesi wrote, "decided there was no point leaving his road for others to enjoy." Lagos had finished almost last in the 2015 rankings, and Ogunlesi marvelled that many who lived in Lagos wore "its many dysfunctions as a badge of honour, proudly swapping real-life stories that elsewhere in the world would belong in the realms of sci-fi or satire". First, absorb the fact that the President of the United States the successor to Roosevelt, Truman and Eisenhower is still defending himself for not specifically condemning Nazi and white supremacist groups following their weekend violence. Now ponder for a moment that America's greatest hour between the end of the Civil War and today was the 1945 US-led victory over Nazism in Europe. Absorb that, and then close-focus on the present: a demagogue occupying the Oval Office combatively resists criticising far-right groups, some of whom exalt the swastika. Something as dire as this did not occur because a wealthy vulgarian captured the White House on a fluke. NSW planning rules that require greenhouse gas emissions be taken into account when approving major projects will be tested in court in a challenge to a coal mine extension near Mudgee. In April, the Planning Assessment Commission approved a seven-year extension to the Wilpinjong mine. The nod for the mine, which had an annual coal output of 13 million tonnes, came just one week after the PAC had received 284 objections to the project. A farming property at the top of the Barigan Valley, near Bylong and Wollar. Most of the valley is owned by Peabody for its Wilpinjong mine. Credit:John Jakes Environmental Defender's Office NSW will challenge the PAC's decision on behalf of the Wollar Progress Association. It will argue in the Land and Environment Court that the commission failed to consider the project's carbon emissions as required by the mining State Environmental Planning Policy. Most of the output is earmarked for AGL's Liddell and Bayswater power stations in the Hunter Valley, and so most of the emissions from burning the coal will add to NSW's tally. Two new reports by authorities investigating the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have narrowed down to precise co-ordinates what could be the crash site of the missing plane. Despite investigators saying the data was "useful" and "worth pursuing", the Turnbull government batted away suggestions of reopening the abandoned search. The analysis, released by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau on Wednesday, looked at a number of objects seen floating in the Indian Ocean in the weeks following the plane's disappearance, and traced their likely origin. Geoscience Australia examined four satellite images, sourced from French authorities, containing 70 objects floating in the water on March 23, 2014 - two weeks after the aircraft vanished. It declared 12 of the objects to be "probably man-made", though could not determine if they were aircraft debris. Time for me to call it a day. What happened? the Turnbull government continued to attack the opposition over its role in uncovering Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce's dual citizenship ; continued to over its role in uncovering ; Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop wondered whether Opposition Leader Bill Shorten was colluding with any other parliaments around the world; wondered whether was colluding with any other parliaments around the world; the opposition mocked the government's attack in question time ; in ; Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull opened question time by attacking a local council ; opened by ; whether or not the government has a deal on media industry changes remains in doubt; and remains in doubt; and One Nation senator Peter Georgiou gave his first speech to the Senate. My thanks to Alex Ellinghausen and Andrew Meares for their brilliant work and to you for reading and commenting. You can follow me on Facebook. Andrew, Alex and I will be back in the morning. We hope to see you in the morning. Until then - go well. Treasurer Scott Morrison is encouraging older Australians to downsize and "free up homes for larger families" after a Fairfax Media analysis of census data found more than 2000 homes in Sydney and Melbourne with six or more bedrooms and only one person living in them. The Turnbull government has acknowledged a lack of supply in key areas is locking younger Australians out of the market, while the Greens and Labor have described Australia's housing system as "broken" with a "significant social problem". On Sunday, figures obtained for Fairfax Media by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed NSW and Victoria are sitting on a glut of 100,000 underused houses, while more than a third of residents in some areas of Sydney and Melbourne suffer from rental stress. Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson labelled the situation "mad". Pauline Hanson's bid to change the ABC charter and force the broadcaster to reveal the salaries of its top presenters appears doomed to fail despite the party striking a deal with the Turnbull government to support the deregulation of media ownership laws. The government still appears on track to win support from the Senate crossbench to pass its media deregulation changes, which could trigger a round of major media mergers. Key Senate crossbencher Nick Xenophon on Wednesday said he would not support legislation, to be introduced by the government as part of a deal with One Nation, to insert the words "fair and balanced" into the ABC charter or force the ABC to publish the salaries of all employees paid over $200,000 a year. Both changes require approval separate to the government's media ownership bill and would fail to pass if Labor, the Greens and the Nick Xenophon Team combine to vote them down in the Senate. Not since the Hungarians and Russians went at it in the water polo at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics has a sporting event been so anticipated. The Bledisloe Cup. On one side of the scrum, great toothless Kiwis, super-charged by their haka and adrenalised by the news that their nation is under attack. And on the other, great toothless Australians, required to defend the honour of their Foreign Minister and Secretary for War, Julie Bishop. David Jones has been blasted on social media for apologising to a user who posted a controversial comment on the department store's official Facebook page. A white woman from the Gold Coast complained about the casting of 17-year-old Adelaide model Adut Akech who fronts the retailer's latest beauty advertisement. Akech, who migrated to Australia from South Sudan when she was six years old, also appears in the department store's summer catalogue that was released last week. "Although I think your use of the beautiful black model is very attractive, I don't feel it represents the general population of Australia," Elizabeth Ballard wrote. If you're currently in need of a wardrobe revamp for the warmer weather ahead, look to local labels such as Alice McCall, Seafolly and Dion Lee who are all holding warehouse sales this week. Sales Guide Known for her eclectic designs, this week Alice McCall is holding a two-day archive sale; the perfect opportunity to pick up one of your favourite past designs. Reaching international cult status in recent years with their signature prints, the sale will feature the brand's dresses, tops, skirts and jumpsuits at up to 75 per cent off. Local brand Alice Mcall is offering up to 75 per cent off at their archive sale. 44 Foveaux Street, Surry Hills. Friday 18 9am-5pm, Saturday 19 9am-5pm. Prescribing medicine involves more than just writing a script, and junior doctors and medical practitioners in Australia lack confidence in doing so, research suggests. To help students gain the confidence required, researchers from four universities have developed a toolkit for universities to teach prescribing skills. Researchers from four universities have developed a toolkit to help teach medical practitioner students the skills they need to prescribe drugs. The project lead, pharmacist Lynda Cardiff of QUT's School of Clinical Sciences, said they found a "lack of confidence" across all 10 prescribing professions. "There's clear evidence our junior doctors feel a little bit frightened by the task of prescribing, and it was interesting that we were also able to observe that in professions other than medicine," she said. Notorious Islamic State terrorist Khaled Sharrouf and his two sons have been killed in Syria in an air strike, Australian authorities believe. Fairfax Media understands the federal government was briefed on Tuesday by intelligence agencies that there was a high level of confidence the jihadist and his sons, Abdullah and Zarqawi, were killed in an air strike in Syria. Khaled Sharrouf has reportedly been killed in an air strike while he was driving. It is understood the strike, either by a drone or a manned strike fighter, happened while Sharrouf was driving near the Islamic State defacto capital al-Raqqa on Friday, August 11. The ABC reported that photos of Sharrouf and his sons' bodies had been circulating among some extremists in Australia. The $16 billion privatisation of electricity company Ausgrid will be examined by the NSW Auditor-General amid questions about the "unsolicited proposals" process used by the successful bidder. Last October then Premier Mike Baird announced that Australian Super and IFM investors would pay $16.189 billion for 50.4 per cent of Ausgrid on a 99-year lease after an unsolicited proposal to the NSW government. The proposal was first revealed in late September, shortly after Chinese bids for the original tender were blocked on national security grounds by federal Treasurer Scott Morrison. The unsolicited proposal rules allow for a confidential approach to the NSW government with a unique proposition that, if accepted, does not need to go to tender. Renters would have unlimited, rent-controlled leases and be able to hang paintings, paint walls, keep pets and stay put even if the property was sold under a Queensland Greens policy. The Queensland Renters' Rights plan, due to be announced on Thursday, would mean renters would have access to unlimited leases which they could terminate with three months' notice without a reason. The Queensland Greens' renters' policy includes unlimited, rent-controlled leases and power to make minor changes without permission. Credit:Glenn Hunt Landlords would have to give 12 months' notice if they wanted to evict the renter and only on "reasonable grounds". These include if the landlord or their family member wanted to live in the property, or if the landlord wanted to make "appropriate commercial" use of the land. Sea squirts and a species of tree found in rainforests could boost the effectiveness of existing prostate cancer treatments, a Queensland University of Technology researcher says. Dr Jennifer Gunter and her team sifted through thousands of Queensland native compounds and found sea squirts, a marine invertebrate filter feeder commonly found in the Great Barrier Reef, and a rainforest tree found in tropical locations throughout the state shared a unique bond. Sea squirts can be found in the Great Barrier Reef. "They are not structurally similar to each other and we don't think they act on exactly the same molecule but they affect similar metabolic pathways and have the same effect on (prostate cancer) cells," she said. Dr Gunter said prostate cancer cells change their metabolism to maintain their rapid rate of growth and proliferation and thrive off testosterone produced in the body. A man has been charged with murder over the stabbing death of 16-year-old Ricky Balcombe in a Geelong shopping centre 22 years ago. The teenager was stabbed in the busy Market Square shopping centre, near schoolchildren and shoppers, on May 5, 1995. Karl Hague, 44, from the Geelong suburb of Bell Post Hill, appeared before Justice Lex Lasry in Melbourne's Supreme Court on Wednesday charged with murder. An arrest warrant had been issued on Tuesday. He was remanded in custody and will appear again on August 30 for a directions hearing. Melbourne Express: Thursday, August 17, 2017 Were sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. Were working to restore it. Please try again later. Dismiss WA's new Police Commissioner Chris Dawson has initiated a 'short sharp probing review' of what WA Police has been doing since he left the agency in 2014. Prevention, as well as enforcement and working 'hand in glove' with youth based organisations are among the new Commissioner's key priorities. Chris Dawson speaks on his first day in the job Credit:Phil Hickey Mr Dawson, a former WA Police deputy commissioner, was appointed to the role last month and officially started in the top job on Wednesday. At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon Mr Dawson said he had already initiated a review into what WA Police has been doing in the three-and-a-half years since he left the agency. Jakarta: Bali nine drug mule Renae Lawrence has had her jail sentence cut by six months which would see her complete her prison term by the middle of next year. However it is likely she will serve an additional six months behind bars rather than pay the one billion rupiah ($100,000) fine that accompanied her jail sentence. Renae Lawrence was sentenced to 20 years in prison in Bali for drug trafficking. Credit:Fairfax Media The prison governor of Bangli jail, Diding Alfian, told Fairfax Media that Lawrence had received a six-month remission as part of Indonesian Independence Day celebrations on August 17. Meanwhile Bali authorities said Australian fugitive Shaun Edward Davidson could have been a free man on Thursday if he had been granted a sentence remission. Los Angeles: A Los Angeles-based technology company is resisting a federal demand for more than 1.3 million IP addresses to identify visitors to a website set up to coordinate protests on Donald Trump's Inauguration Day - a request whose breadth the company says violates the US Constitution. "What we have is a sweeping request for every single file we have" in relation to DisruptJ20.org, said Chris Ghazarian, general counsel for DreamHost, which hosts the site. Protesters set a parked limousine on fire in downtown Washington on January 20, Inauguration Day. Scores were arrested for trashing property and attacking officers. Credit:AP "The search warrant is not only dealing with everything in relation to the website but also tons of data about people who visited it." The request also covers emails between the site's organisers and people interested in attending the protests, any deleted messages and files, as well as subscriber information - such as names and addresses - and unpublished photos and blog posts that are stored in the site's database, according to the warrant and Ghazarian. I don't know how many young women come to this blog or how many are parents of teenage or young adult women, but here are some safety tips from Kelsey's Army: T I P S 1. Trust your instincts - If something feels wrong then something probably is wrong.2. Know your surroundings - know who and what is around you.3. Always have a plan for where you would go and what you would do if a situation arises.4. Be willing to make a scene in order to be noticed.5. Let someone know where you are going and when you will be back.Remember the acronym TIPS:ake Chargenform others of your whereaboutsrepare for any situationurvival Mentality (role play situations so you will respond should they happen)For more information, go to Kelsey's Army Regional lender MyState Bank has rolled out a newly designed broker portal as part of its third party channel strategic investment program.The new website layout has been created through broker feedback to give it a more logical structure specifically designed for the industry. Resources such as online tools, forms and product information have been placed together on the one webpage. Additionally, access has now been sped up with brokers no longer needing to log into the portal.Other features include a visual arrangement of aggregators on the accreditation page to facilitate the accreditation process for brokers.The sites news page will also now highlight the most important news items while the portal itself provides easier access to contact details around lending support, broker administration, general enquiries, and construction loans.With its broker-led distribution strategy, MyState was always looking out for new ways to support the third party channel, group executive of broker distribution Huw Bough said.Anything we can do to further improve the experience of working with MyState is clearly a win for both parties. We are working on other significant market-leading enhancements which we look forward to releasing in the coming months.In the past 12 months, MyState has also revamped its back office processing systems to improve its mortgage application processing times. The lender has also brought in a new state-based approach for its lending support team to provide brokers with a consistent level of support on a daily basis.Finally, the bank has also introduced new technology including remote ID verification and a valuation hub. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams 84th Precinct Brooklyn HeightsDUMBOBoerum HillDowntown Slapped Police arrested a woman who allegedly slapped a lady in the face and tried to take her purse on Bond Street on Aug. 8. The victim was talking on her phone by State Street at 2:30 pm when the suspect began to scream and curse, then slapped her on the right side of the face from behind. She next walked in front of the lady and threatened to take her purse by pulling it away, although she was unsuccessful, according to a report. Teamwork Cops cuffed three people who they say attacked and robbed a woman in a subway station by Court Street on Aug. 8. The victim told police she was looking at the subway map inside the station near Joralemon Street at 11:25 pm when six teenagers, three male and three female, hit her in the back of the head and threw her down. The crew then punched and kicked her, while one of the suspects grabbed her purse and the rest of them ran to the Manhattan-bound 4 and 5 train platform. Police cuffed three of the suspects, according to a report. Revved up There were two motorcycle thefts in the 84th Precinct this week. Heres the rundown: First, a thief lifted a Honda while it was parked on Pacific Street between Aug. 6 and 8. The victim left his ride by Nevins Street at 7 pm on Aug. 6 and returned two days later to find that it had been taken, according to a report. Then, a filcher stole a Yamaha motorcycle while it was parked on Henry Street on Aug. 10. The owner had stored his ride between Joralemon and State streets at 5:45 am and returned at 6 pm to discover it had been lifted, authorities said. Lauren Gill Amidst the death and destruction of tribal warfare in the Mul District, Nick emerged into the world on 15 October 1981. Pastor Israel Laki learnt from prison, where he was facing charges related to tribal warfare, that he had a son called Nicholas who was born at Tinsley rural clinic in Baiyer. He balanced generosity with a strong work ethic. He was a man of ideas who turned words and dreams into reality. He was open-minded but also held strong Christian values and principles that defined boundaries. NICHOLAS Jew Laki (15 October 1981 5 August 2017) was a gentle man who could also be stern and commanding when need be. As a child growing up along the Baiyer River gorge near the foot of the Mt Hagen range, Nick was curious about his local environment. He wanted to know why the sun travelled across the sky and was amazed that the eyes could travel long distances compared to the hands and legs despite being small and stuck in the head. Like all rural Papua New Guinean children, Nick loved to eat rice, as it was a novelty food item. The story goes that he and his big sister Penu would argue over who should be eating rice in the rice pot. This was because whoever got to eat rice in the rice pot also got to scrape the bottom of the pot for the burnt portion. In the late 1980s and early 1990s Nick attended Michael Arch community school. One of the jokes that Nick and the senior boys in community school had was that theyd marry girls born in the early 1990s and not those who were the same age as them. Nick went on to Grade 7-10 at Kompolupa High School in the mid-1990s. He was dux of his graduating class and was selected to Mt Hagen Secondary School where he completed Grades 11 and 12. Nicks academic and leadership qualities were acknowledged by the schools administration with him being given special awards by the principal. Nick went on to study mechanical engineering at the University of Technology, graduating in 2002. In fact, he performed so well academically that he was picked up by Chevron-Oil Search well before he graduated. Despite academic success, Nick remained grounded in the realities of life in PNG. He once told me about how he had to sleep at the wharf in Lae just to ship bags of kaukau to Port Moresby for his mum Sarah to sell and pay school fees. Even his dad had to fork out a fortune to buy him a laptop and printer while he was at Unitech in Lae. Nick lived in a unique space where on one hand he was fully aware of hardships of Papua New Guineans whilst on the other hand as a graduate trainee at Kutubu he enjoyed the benefits of PNGs oil and gas industry. Nick would spend much of his time with Oil Search working in Queensland Australia and in Texas in the United States of America reading exploration data as part of his training. He then took a two year break from work before joining Exxon Mobil The rural boy from Ribika had crossed the treacherous Baiyer gorge and river and rubbed shoulders with the best in PNG and abroad. He had managed to do so not just from conventional education but also through his own ability to critically reflect on life. Nick met the love of his life, Jemaima Gabarura, in 2012. The Oro lass was based in Lae while Nick was in Port Moresby. Theirs wasnt just a physical attraction but a sacred meeting of souls they were soul mates. Nick flew to Lae in November 2012 to ask Jemaimas parents if he could marry her. Jemaimas mum wasnt keen but her dad was supportive. Following months of discussion, arrangements were finalisd for their wedding. Nick and Jemaima were married on 13 July 2013. The following year the happy couple had a son. Baby McPee was born on 11 April 2014. By then, Nick had become a strategic advisor to the then opposition Leader Belden Namah. His hire car business was doing well and he had recruited me to assist in improving the opposition communications strategy. With the change of opposition leadership towards the end of 2014, Nick saw an opportunity to exit to mainstream media. During his time as advisor to the opposition leader he saw the need for Papua New Guineans to be better informed about issues at the global, regional, national and local levels. Nick wanted Papua New Guineans to be able to see the connections between government policy decisions and events in peoples personal lives. He created Eagle Times to empower Papua New Guineans through quality information. Eagle Times was a legacy project; something he wanted people to remember him by. Its articles were of high standard, its graphic layout was done in Sydney and it was printed in China. Unfortunately after the first issue which featured prominent business leader the late Simon Korua, Nick fell ill in December 2014. In early 2015, major fundraising efforts from friends and kinsmen enabled him to seek treatment in Singapore where he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer with a poor prognosis. Doctors in Singapore gave him less than six months to live. Nick and the family moved back home to Ribika after surgery and chemotherapy in Singapore. Although still recovering from surgery, Nick was keen on producing Eagle Times. For a few months, I lived at Kagamuga airport with Nick and the family where the last issue of Eagle Times were produced. Nick survived an episode of tumour related illness in Mt Hagen and travelled to the Philippines for radiotherapy. On 15 December 2015, Nima was born, her name derived from Nick = Ni and Jemaima = Ma. Nima is also known as Kondkul meaning compassionate because God was compassionate in giving Nick another child after brain surgery. In 2016, Nick began rebuilding his life in the village. He built a road into the mountains and was cutting timber for his house in the forest. He seemed to have defied medical odds and life returned to some sense of normalcy. Earlier this year Nick and the family had to move back to Port Moresby for economic reasons. They were joined there on 23 May by baby Nick Rupenti Laki Jnr, in his fathers eyes a miracle child who was conceived despite doctors warnings that the chemo and radiotherapy would cause infertility. Nicks condition was relatively stable until 23 June when he fell ill and was admitted to Port Moresby General Hospital. He succumbed to his illness on 5 August. Even on his hospital bed with needles stuck in his veins and wires attached to his skin, Nick was a fighter. He came into the world at a time of war and survived the scourges of tropical illness. He defied all odds to become one of the most highly educated men from his tribe. He analysed information from the depths of the earths crust and rubbed shoulders with business and political high flyers. Yet despite his high achievements he remained grounded to the earth in solidarity with his fellow humans. His humility and faith in God earned him the admiration of many across the globe. His legacy lives on through his wife and children and the many lives he has touched and influenced. Nick left us a happy man not just in his earthly achievements but also in his heavenly reward. We find comfort in knowing that his saw heaven open to welcome him before he left us. I would like to encourage us therefore to celebrate his life as much as we mourn his loss. Live in eternal memory my bro. Lukim yu long sampela taim. If Gov. Andrew Cuomo gets his way, the names of two Confederate generals will be removed from streets on an Army base in New York City. Cuomo sent a letter to acting Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy urging him to rename streets honoring Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen. Stonewall Jackson. General Lee Avenue is a main thoroughfare stretching through the center of Fort Hamilton, an Army installation in Brooklyn. Stonewall Jackson Drive is located in the southwestern corner of the base. There was a recent attempt by local leaders to have the names removed from the Fort Hamilton streets, but the request was denied by the Army on Aug. 7. The Army said renaming the streets would be "controversial and divisive," according to Cuomo's office. But Cuomo believes the Army should rethink its decision in the aftermath of the violent attack in Charlottesville, Virginia, and the white supremacist rally that was held there over the weekend. One person died and 19 were injured when a member of a hate group drove his vehicle into a crowd protesting the white supremacists. The suspect has been charged with second-degree murder. Other injuries were reported in clashes between white supremacists and counter-protesters. "Given the events of this week, including the violence and terrorism perpetrated by white supremacists in Charlottesville and the resulting emboldening of the voices of Nazis and white supremacists, I now strongly urge the U.S. Army to reconsider its decision and I call on them to rename these streets," Cuomo said. Cuomo's request comes as other cities and states consider what should be done with monuments honoring Confederate generals and pro-slavery advocates. In Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan wants a statue of former Supreme Court Justice Roger Taney removed from the State House grounds. Taney wrote the decision in the Dred Scott case, which prevented black people from becoming U.S. citizens. The city of Baltimore removed four Confederate statues overnight Tuesday. On Wednesday, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. called for the removal of Jackson and Lee busts from the Hall of Fame for Great Americans, which is on the Bronx Community College campus. Cuomo has been outspoken about Charlottesville since the weekend. He launched a petition urging President Donald Trump to condemn white supremacists. He also proposed changes to the state's hate crimes law that would increase penalties for riots that target people based on race, gender, religion or other protected classes. "The events of Charlottesville and the tactics of white supremacists are a poison in our national discourage, and every effort must be made to combat them," Cuomo wrote in his letter to McCarthy. State Senator Steve Santarsiero (D-10) presented a check to Yardley Borough Police Chief Joseph Kelly for $68,600 for the purchase of a new police vehicle and motorcycle during a visit to the station. Our police put themselves on the line every day to keep our community safe, said Sen. Santarsiero. Dating back to when I was a Lower Makefield Township Supervisor more than... latest news October 31, 2022 Buddy TV In November, there are hundreds of new and returning TV showsit can be overwhelming to try and choose what to watch. That's why we've selected some of the best options... Democrats largely prevail in SJ, but reversals loom in two townships Democratic incumbents held on to many seats, but GOP challengers made inroads in two large townships LYONS Count U.S. Rep. John Katko among those who differ with President Donald Trump's assessment that "both sides" are to blame for violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. Following a public forum on agriculture in Lyons Tuesday, Katko reiterated his condemnation of white supremacy "or any sort of bigotry or racism" before addressing Trump's comments earlier in the day. At a press conference in New York City, Trump said he believed "there is blame on both sides" for the violence that occurred when white supremacists held a rally in Charlottesville Saturday to protest the city's plan to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. One person died and 19 were injured when a member of a hate group drove his car into a crowd of people protesting the rally. Fifteen other people were hurt in separate incidents throughout the day. On Saturday, Trump initially blamed "many sides" and didn't specifically condemn white supremacists. He delivered a new statement on Monday and denounced hate groups, including the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis. But he reverted to his previous language when he addressed the topic Tuesday. "I watched those very closely, much more closely than you people watched it," he said. "And you had, you had a group on one side that was bad. And you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. And nobody wants to say that, but I'll say it right now. You had a group you had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit, and they were very, very violent." Trump's latest remarks have drawn bipartisan criticism. Katko, R-Camillus, joined that chorus. "There may be some question that President Trump walked back some of his comments from the day before about this. I'm not walking back any of mine," Katko said. "I believe that any sort of racism or bigotry in this country is wrong and I believe that white supremacy is wrong because it goes against everything we believe in this country, as a country." When asked about Trump blaming "both sides" for the violence in Charlottesville, Katko responded, "You can never find a way to justify bigotry in this country. You just can't." Several of Katko's colleagues also spoke out against Trump's comments. House Speaker Paul Ryan tweeted, "We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity." U.S. Sen. John McCain also took to Twitter with his reaction. "There's no moral equivalency between racists & Americans standing up to defy hate & bigotry. The President of the United States should say." In his statement Sunday, Katko urged Americans to unite and reject bigotry. He repeated that call when he addressed reporters Tuesday. "I think the response to Charlottesville has been relatively unanimous from all my colleagues in the political arena on both sides of the aisle and we're going to continue to stay that and make it clear that it has no place in America. It just doesn't," he said. When it comes to fragrance Paris may be the heart but New York is the soul and Bee Shapiro, founder of New York fragrance brand Ellis Brooklyn nails Big Apple cool in a sweetly scented bottle For most beauty editors the world of fragrance can become a 'been there, seen it and smelt it all' Groundhog Day of same sameness, with nary a fresh take on perfume to be found. But, having all the fragrances (and beauty prods) cross your desk can also translate to opportunity. Opportunity to uncover that one gaping hole in the beauty market to create a game-changing new skincare, makeup or fragrance that we didn't even know we desperately needed. And according to the uber chic New York Times beauty editor and style columnist, Bee Shapiro, what we really want is a set of "...great, clean fragrances." Which she has very kindly created via her cult clean fragrance and scented home candle brand, Ellis Brooklyn launching on our shores in Mecca at the end of August. Meeting Shapiro is like reconnecting with a long lost friend - albeit a very cool, whip-smart, bubbly New York-based friend, who really knows her beauty stuff. And it makes complete sense this beauty editor-turned-entrepreneur would be the brains behind such a stellar new clean fragrance brand, "I thought there was amazing clean skincare, amazing clean makeup but for whatever reason I felt like fragrance was sort of that weird hole that was missing, so I thought okay, I love fragrances and... I want a clean fragrance that's just as good as all my other luxury fragrances that I have, but that doesn't have the yucky stuff it in." By 'yucky stuff' Shapiro means parabens and phthalates - two chemicals often found in fragrance and cosmetics which there is emerging evidence might mess with our hormones. Ellis Brooklyn (named for her first-born daughter and her local 'hood) fragrances are free of these chemicals, housed in environmentally-friendly lead-free glass bottles and are produced in small batches in New York. The brand launched into the US last year ago with six fragrances, accompanying body milks and a set of seriously deliciously scented home candles; the launch into Mecca marks Ellis Brooklyn's debut into an international market. Initially the Australian product line up will be a tightly edited version with just three of the fragrances (Myth, Rrose and Raven) plus their body milks and three home candles (Raven, Fable, Pseudonym). As for the scents, Shapiro worked with famed Byredo perfurmer, Jerome Epinette to create a clever line up of diverse scents to suit every taste. The three initially launching in Mecca are Myth, Rrose and Raven. Myth, Shapiro's "favourite" is a white musk with ambrette seeds, hint of cassis and "a touch of jasmine". Shapiro says, "I really wanted something very modern and it's the epitome of a New York scent, it's warm on the skin, but it's not like projecting all the way out there." Then there's Rrose, "a sparkling rose" which has Sicilian lemon in it keeping it from getting cloying. Raven, a "peony patchouli" or a "polished patchouli", is an evening scent Shapiro says was inspired, "by the literary raven character - the raven in Edgar Allen Poe, it's also in the native American lore... And it's the same mysterious character." Ellis Brooklyn will be available from August 29 at Mecca Cosmetica Trove stores and online from mecca.com.au Enterprise Ltd (AHEL), India's largest healthcare provider by market value, is considering the acquisition of small hospitals in northern and western parts of India. Last week, Triumph Motorcycles, UKs largest motorcycle manufacturer, cemented its relationship with India by entering into an alliance with Bajaj Auto. The two will develop and manufacture mid-capacity bikes for the domestic and global markets. At present, Triumph only sells high-end bikes in India and assembles them here. Nick Bloor, chief executive officer of and son of the founder of the legendary bike company, John Bloor, elaborates on the new alliance in an exclusive e-mail interview with Surajeet Das Gupta. Edited excerpts: Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is asking Trump administration officials to crack down on foreign imports hurting New York's aluminum and steel producers, including Nucor in Auburn. Schumer, D-N.Y., sent letters to Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer urging them to conclude investigations examining the impact of artificially priced imports from China and other countries on national security. The inquiries are referred to as Section 232 investigations. The name is based on the relevant section of the Trade Expansion Act that gives the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security authority to conduct investigations into the national security impact of imports. There have been reports that the federal government is close to finishing its Section 232 investigations. Schumer said this has led to an increase in cheap imports from other countries, including China. Schumer cited the American Iron and Steel Institute, which reported that steel imports by net weight have increased 25 percent compared to June 2016. One of the countries importing cheap aluminum and steel into the U.S. is China. The U.S. has cracked down on the practice in the past, but China has sought other avenues for getting its subsidized aluminum and steel into the U.S. market. One way, Schumer said, is to reroute the steel through other Asian countries, which then export the products to the U.S. By taking an indirect route, the aluminum and steel aren't subjected to duties. If the Section 232 investigations are complete, it could have benefits for several New York companies. Schumer specifically mentioned Alcoa, which has operations in Massena, and Nucor, which has locations in Auburn, Chemung County and the Albany area. Schumer called China's overproduction of aluminum and steel "a substantial threat to upstate New York's metal industry." "The aluminum and steel we use to build our planes, trains and bridges should be proudly stamped 'Made in America,' and more of it should come from companies in upstate New York," he said. "But in order for that to happen, we must stop heavily subsidized foreign companies, like those in China, from dumping these artificially cheap metals in our markets." Nucor supports Schumer's push for federal action. Drew Wilcox, vice president and general manager of Nucor Steel in Auburn, said the government must challenge unfair trade practices. "Action under Section 232 is urgently needed to restore healthy levels of capacity utilization and profitability to U.S. steelmakers," Wilcox said. "Our leaders must send a strong signal to foreign governments that unfair trade practices will not be tolerated." Schumer's letter was released one day after President Donald Trump directed Lighthizer to investigate whether China is engaged in unfair trade practices. The review will focus on the theft of intellectual property and technology from U.S. companies. Biocon, the biopharmaceutical major, has withdrawn its earlier applications to sell two anti-cancer drugs in Europe, as drug regulators have sought re-inspection of its manufacturing facilities. Operating margins of dairy remained under pressure in the June quarter due to an increase in milk procurement cost and reduced supply of raw material on farmers' week-long strike in May. In an environment where large corporations with no experience in building defence equipment such as the Adani and Anil Ambani Groups are hoping to be chosen by the defence ministry as strategic partners for defence manufacture, (DTL) is a rarity: A company that has incrementally developed the capability to design and manufacture military equipment; in pursuit of a clear aim to graduate into the manufacture of military aircraft. The government has asked 21 smartphone manufacturers the majority of them from China to share the security practices and architecture they follow while making devices, in a bid to strengthen and secure cyberspace and digital infrastructure in the country. Unlock 30+ premium stories daily hand-picked by our editors, across devices on browser and app. Full access to our intuitive epaper - clip, save, share articles from any device; newspaper archives from 2006. Curated newsletters on markets, personal finance, policy & politics, start-ups, technology, and more. Pick your 5 favourite companies, get a daily email with all news updates on them. 26 years of website archives. Engineering conglomerate Larsen & Toubro (L&T) on Wednesday plans to divest its entire stake in for Rs 174 crore. The sale is part of L&Ts larger strategy to focus on core business segments. Overruling objections from pilots, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation has increased the notice period of commanders to one year from six months earlier. Co-pilots will continue to serve six months notice period. The partition of the Indian subcontinent was catastrophic for the over 10m people caught up in the turmoil of new borders, displacement and the horrors that plagued those on their way to new homes. But there were a few silver linings. Army officers of India and China are holding a meeting on Wednesday in Chushul area of Leh, a day after Indian border guards foiled an attempt by Chinese soldiers to enter Indian territory along the banks of Pangong lake in Ladakh. Official sources said the meeting is expected to deliberate on maintaining peace and tranquillity along the Sino -India border in Ladakh. Soldiers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) tried to enter the Indian side in two areas-- Finger Four and Finger Five-- twice between 6 am and 9 am yesterday. But on both the occasions their attempts were thwarted by alert Indian troops. Chinese troops had managed to enter up to Finger Four area in the region from where they were sent back. This area has been a bone of contention between India and China as both claim it to be a part of their territory. There was stone pelting also that caused minor injuries to people on both sides. When asked about yesterday's incident in Ladakh, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters, "This is not a subject on which the government makes a comment on." Two-thirds of the Pangong Lake are controlled by China while one-third of it is controlled by India. The incidents in Ladakh took place amid a face off between Indian and Chinese armies in Dokalam in India-Bhutan- China tri-junction which has entered the third month. Official sources said notwithstanding the standoff, sweets were exchanged between the Indian Army and PLA troops in multiple border locations including in Dokalam. The United States has not seen a total solar eclipse sail from sea to shining sea in nearly a century. That means that next Monday, when the moon engulfs the sun in the sky, a new generation will experience a celestial extravaganza unlike anything else. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Staying in? We've got you covered Get the recommendations on what's streaming now, games you'll love, TV news and more with our weekly Home Entertainment newsletter! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy As the standoff in Doklam entered the third month, China on Wednesday renewed its call for India to withdraw troops from the area. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said the withdrawal of troops by India was a precondition for any dialogue between both sides. India is for simultaneous withdrawal of troops from Doklam in Sikkim sector which is at the tri-junction of India-China-Bhutan. The crisis began on June 16 when the Indian Army prevented Chinese troops from building a road in Doklam. India says the area belongs to close neighbour Bhutan, but Beijing says the area belongs to it and has asked India to stay out of its boundary dispute with Bhutan. has decided to accord priority to the armed forces personnel in boarding its flights across the carrier's network. The decision has been taken as a mark of honour and respect to these personnel, on the occasion of the country's 71st Independence Day. The boarding priority on Air India's aircraft for the serving armed forces personnel has commenced from today, a senior official of the airlines said. already provides concessionary and discounted air fares to the armed forces personnel on its domestic sectors. "The decision to accord priority in boarding to the personnel from the Army, Air Force and Navy has been taken as Air India, being the flag carrier, wants to recognise, respect and honour all of them," the official said. On the occasion of Independence Day, the Ministry of External Affairs announced that India will provide medical visas to all bona fide Pakistan patients. In a tweet on Tuesday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj said: " On the auspicious occasion of India's Independence day, we will grant medical visa in all bonafide cases pending with us." On the auspicious occasion of India's Independence day, we will grant medical visa in all bonafide cases pending with us. @IndiainPakistan Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) August 15, 2017 As ties between the two countries soured over various issues, the ministry had announced in May that only a letter of recommendation by Pakistan Foreign Affairs Advisor Sartaj Aziz will enable a Pakistani to get a medical visa for India. The action was termed "highly regrettable" by Islamabad, who said that asking for a letter from the Foreign Affairs Adviser was "against diplomatic norms" and that "such a requirement has not been prescribed for any other country". However, on July 18, a patient from Pakistan-administered Kashmir, seeking treatment in New Delhi for a liver tumour, was granted a visa. Swaraj said that he needed no recommendation from the Pakistan government for a medical visa because the territory is "an integral part of 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.) Indian and Chinese soldiers were involved in an altercation in the western Himalayas on Tuesday, Indian sources said, further raising tensions between the two countries which are already locked in a two-month standoff in another part of the disputed border. On this 70th anniversary of its independence from British rule, India is being subjected to the sort of assessment that all post-colonial nation-states are forced to undergo on such occasions. How far have they come since the end of what their European colonisers liked to view not as a lengthy period of forced occupation, exploitation and violence, but rather of tutelage in the values and virtues of European civilisation? Invariably, they are found wanting. The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the conversion and marriage of a Hindu girl in Kerala in 2016. Justice R V Ravindran, a retired judge of the apex court, will supervise the investigation. Ordering the probe, a bench of Chief Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar and Justice D Y Chandrachud said before taking a final call, the court "shall require the presence of the girl". The bench said it would decide the issue after getting inputs from all, including the NIA, Kerala government and others. The order came after Kapil Sibal, appearing for the petitioner, Shafeen Jahan, said the court should decide the issue after speaking to the girl. The marriage of the converted girl with Jahan was nullified by the Kerala High Court. Petitioner Jahan has moved the top court challenging the High Court's decision. The court order came as the bench was told that the NIA has in its preliminary probe found that there was a pattern as "entities" in two cases that have come to light were the same. Senior counsel Indira Jaising told the bench that it was an inter-religious matter and the court must be careful. After cracking its whip on suspected shell companies, the government has turned its focus on the growing number of Limited Liability Partnership (LLPs) firms. In such a partnership, partners cant be held liable for anothers misconduct or negligence. India and Dubai are likely to finalise an agreement to increase the seat entitlement by 6,000 seats a week. However, the outcome of the talks depends on Indian carriers agreeing to hold talks without any commitment of getting preferred slots at Dubai's main airport. The inter-ministerial group (IMG) constituted to suggest measures to ease the financial stress in the telecom sector is likely to meet on Friday, according to two officials. The officials familiar with the working of the group said while there is uniformity of views among members on some of the issues, one of the proposals that is still being debated is easing of spectrum cap within a particular band (currently pegged at 50 per cent) in case of mergers and acquisitions. "The question is that in case the spectrum cap within a band is relaxed, a company can have [an] unlimited holding in that band. So what happens to competition? No view has been taken on the issue yet," one of the officials said. Both the officials said the IMG is likely to meet on Friday to discuss multiple proposals. The group last met on August 11 and deliberated on various measures that can be taken to address the financial woes of the industry. The inter-ministerial panel is learnt to be favourably considering certain measures, including increasing period of deferred spectrum payment to 16 years, a proposal that would improve the cash flow of telecom companies. The final recommendations of the group will be placed before the Telecom Commission and ultimately before the Cabinet. At the last meeting, some members felt that large-scale policy intervention may not be required as green shoots have become visible in the sector during the first quarter. Currently, a portion of spectrum auction amount is taken as upfront payment by the Department of Telecom (DoT) and the balance after a two-year moratorium is paid out every year in 10 instalments. The telcos could be given 16 years instead of 10 years for such deferred spectrum payment, according to an official in the Telecom Department. The other proposals being discussed include convergence between the DoT and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines on the issue of allowing spectrum as collateral. The IMG is also considering a proposal to shift from prime lending rate (PLR) to marginal cost of funds based lending rate (MCLR) for interest and penalty payments, pertaining to licence fee and spectrum usage charges. The inter-ministerial group, in June, had held extensive discussions with all telecom players and large banks on the industry's financial difficulties. Established telecom operators have been flagging pressure on profitability and revenue, and have blamed competition intensified by the entry of Reliance Jio for their woes. The industry has a debt of over Rs 4.6 lakh crore and has been seeking sops to overcome the crisis. PLEASE NOTE! Due to the March 23, 2020 NM DOH Public Health Order, These Event Listings Are Not Accurate! All non-essential businesses are closed, public gatherings are prohibited! (One day some of these events will be rescheduled or will resume, but they are not happening now!) Former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and former U.S. Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush are among the small army of political power players teacher Doug Graney has seen in person in his lifetime. Graney recently published a memoir of his teaching career of over 30 years, which has included everything from a trip to the Oval Office to eating popcorn with one of his students and former U.S. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa. The bulk of his time as an educator stems from his time at Herndon High School in Herndon, Virginia. The book, "American Teacher," came out at the beginning of August. Graney was born in Rochester, graduated from Auburn High School and spent several years in Auburn. His teaching career, which began in 1985, includes stints with schools in Aurora, Syracuse and Connecticut. He has taught various subjects, including U.S. history, political science and current affairs. He said he wanted to write a book because he feels he has had experiences "that are not necessarily the norm." Graney's career includes accolades like the 2011 Dulles Area Chamber of Commerce Teacher of the Year and 2014 Virginia Veterans of Foreign Wars Teacher of the Year awards. He also created a program in which he helped several of his students gain internships with Capital Hill titans like former U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy. Graney said he didn't understand what it took to be successful until the mid-to-late 1990s. What was he doing in his career before that period, then? "Keeping my head above water, I hope," Graney said with a slight laugh. He had difficultly being prepared for every class in those early days, dealing with classes where no one was paying attention. He eventually learned, he said, that the key to success was truly loving what he was doing, a desire to share what he knew with his pupils and a goal of helping them be patriotic citizens. Graney views himself as an "ambassador for U.S. history: the bad, the good, the controversial, the inspiring" for students, as he said he tries to embody whatever subject he's teaching, in the hopes of getting pupils interested. Being an "ambassador" also means taking students to places and events of historical importance, like the inauguration of President Donald Trump, a reelection rally for Obama in 2012 and the Lincoln Memorial. Graney said that from 1994 to 2012, he ran an internship program where students worked with senators, congressmen and other figures from both sides of the political aisle. He said his former days as a telemarketer, where he had to cold call people, helped him set up those internships. Though the program still runs at the school, Graney stopped leading it due to all of the extra work it required. Dr. Joe Graney, Doug Graney's cousin who still lives and works in the Auburn area, said Doug was clearly a history buff even back when they were younger. Joe said they both keep up on modern politics, so the two talk almost daily about current happenings. Joe said when he goes to visit, Graney will take him to various spots in Washington or Virginia and unload information on that area. Sometimes during these trips, Doug will blindfold Joe and take him to an often "off-the-wall" location and will ask him about the historical importance of that location. Doug once whisked him off to the Washington Hilton hotel, where an assassination attempt on former President Ronald Reagan took place outside in 1981. Joe said Graney's passion for teaching is obvious, and that when a large event is going on in Washington, there is a good chance Graney and some of his students can be found there on a field trip. Terry Nguyen, a former student of Graney's who graduated from Herndon High School in 2006, said that even though she thought history was boring, Graney made it interesting. She said she was impressed by how invested he was in teaching students. Despite working in marketing now, she did pursue political science for a time, which she credited to Graney's influence. He helped her secure an internship with U.S. Rep. Ron Kind of Wisconsin, she said. She said Graney made it clear to his students before they went off on their internships that they were representing him and the school. Fairly early on into her internship, she bumped into Kind, who tasked the then-teenager with writing a speech for him and giving it to him in a couple days' time. Nguyen, nervous, emailed Graney, who assured the student that she would do fine and reminded her that she wanted the internship and that kind of thing came with it. The teacher proudly mentioned that Kyle O'Connor, former special assistant to the president and deputy director of speechwriting for Obama, is one of his former students. Graney's publisher, Mascot Books, has a quote from O'Connor on the "American Teacher" web page: "A great book by a truly remarkable teacher. Graney said he enjoys his profession immensely. "I wake up every morning looking forward to what I'm going to be doing," Graney said. Home buyers in the Jaypee Infratech projects can now breathe easy as they will get relief on a claim form. Confusion had arisen over forms because the law makes a distinction between financial creditors, which are banks and operational creditors when it comes to filing an insolvency petition. Now, Insolvency resolution professional (IRP) has decided to accept whichever form Jaypee home buyers' claims are filed in. US President Donald Trump spoke on the phone with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday and congratulated him on the occasion of Independence Day. In a statement, the White House said: "President Donald J. Trump spoke with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to congratulate the 1.2 billion citizens of India, who will celebrate 70 years of freedom and independence on August 15." "The leaders resolved to enhance peace and stability across the Indo-Pacific region by establishing a new 2-by-2 ministerial dialogue that will elevate their strategic consultations," the statement said. The two leaders look forward to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in India this November. Trump has asked Advisor to the President Ivanka Trump to lead the US summit delegation, the statement added. Trump further welcomed the first ever shipment of American crude oil to India, which will occur from Texas this month, pledging that the US would continue to be a reliable, long-term supplier of energy. Modi thanked President Trump for his strong leadership uniting the world against the North Korean menace, the White House statement said. Ruchir Sharma, chief global strategist with Morgan Stanley Investment Management, says the public sector's presence in India's economy is both overwhelming and a holding-back factor, citing the example of state-owned banks. Delivering a lecture on leadership, organised by business chamber Ficci to mark its 90th anniversary this year, Sharma said the public sector's share in banking was two-third, way above the average of one-third in emerging markets. He outlined 10 rules for assessment over five years to determine an economy's current and future outlook. These parameters are what he described as politics, role of the state, income inequalities, concentration of wealth from a geographical standpoint, investment, inflation, the exchange rate, debt, demographics, and the 'curse of the cover story'. In India, the state remains meddlesome, he said. Thus, India has a low rank of two to three on this, on a scale of one to 10. Sharma said a country's economic performance tends to deteriorate when those at the helm of politics hold on to power for too long. It has been noted that reforms tend to be taken up in the initial two to three years of a new government; the momentum then slows. On this count, India ranks six, he said. According to Sharma, India has fast gained ground as it has lots of 'good billionaires', who made their fortune by creating new businesses, as opposed to those who became 'bad billionaires' by multiplying their wealth with the help of government and political connections. Therefore, he rated India a seven in this arena. From a geographical standpoint, emergence of new cities and urbanisation are needed for distribution of wealth. However, in India for two to three decades, no new cities have come up and there is great disparity in the wealth of states. Hence, Sharma ranked India at three of four on this. He said manufacturing played a key role in the success of a country but a commodity-based economy would do well in only the short term. In this area, India's track record has been a mix, he said. High inflation is bad for any economy and India has greatly improved its ranking over the years. Under the second UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government (2009-14), the inflation rate was at an all-time high but that has moderated, he said. A currency that feels cheap and competitive is usually one that has been allowed to find its market value. So, a high exchange rate is not favourable for stable investment, he said. In India, 6,000 domestic millionaires left the country last year, as against 4,000 a year before. However, with foreign investments on a rise, India stands at a moderate standpoint. The growth of private debt is one indicator of development and India's debt levels are currently fine, which offers scope for growth. Sharma said a sharp increase in debt can be worrisome, as is in the case of China. India, he added, fares well in this regard. India has the demographic dividend with a young working population but this needs to be channelised effectively to make it work in our favour, he said. Any country that ends up on the cover of a leading magazine is likely to have peaked and was bound to have a bad time in the future. Sharma said this is so because a positive story makes the leaders complacent; trends do not last for long. On this parameter, India is somewhere in the middle rank, as it is neither gearing towards big-bang reforms nor doing poorly, he observed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi exhorted in his independence Day speech that his government was investigating bank deposits worth Rs 1.75 lakh crore post demonetisation. While deposits in Jan Dhan accounts are already under the scanner, Income Tax investigators are also training their guns on deposits made in dormant and inoperative bank accounts in the weeks following the note ban. Switzerlands right-wing and biggest political party has said that corrupt and authoritarian countries should not be given access to tax data, in a move that could threaten the countrys automatic information exchange (AIE) treaty with India and ten other nations. While the official target is to raise by 22 per cent in the next three years, to 270 million kg (mkg), producers and exporters face two major challenges. The government is considering enhancing the revenue base of state-owned oil companies' petrol pumps by allowing them to offer pharmaceuticals, groceries and other such products for sale. According to Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, pharmacies and Information Technology (IT) service centres could be set up at petrol pumps in the future. "Our three OMCs are expert in retail energy business... We are trying that pharmacy wing of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers and IT Ministry's common service centres should also be opened at our petrol pumps," Pradhan said at an event in New Delhi. "OMCs retail outlets should become convenience centres where daily essential products and services are made available to the public at large, so that non-fuel retail business could be grown." The minister disclosed that around 55,000 retail energy outlets of the OMCs attract around 3.5 crore footfalls per day. The minister was speaking at an MoU signing event held here between Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) and the three state-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) for distribution of "Ujala" energy efficient appliances through petrol pumps. Currently, the fuel outlets offer a bouquet of allied services like ATMs, service stations, convenience stores and PUC facilities to enhance value and convenience to customers across the urban, highway and rural markets. The three public sector oil marketing companies have a network of over 54,500 petroleum retail outlets in the country. The MoU agreement envisages the three OMCs -- Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) -- to take up distribution of "LED Bulbs", "LED Tubelights" and energy efficient fans. As per the roll-out plan, the distribution of energy efficient appliances will be conducted in a phased manner across select outlets. In the first phase, the distribution will commence from the states of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. However, soon after the scheme is launched more outlets will commence the distribution of energy efficient appliances, Minister of State with Independent Charge for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines Piyush Goyal said at the event. "The marketing network of the three oil marketing companies is unparalleled and this tie-up will only accelerate and scale up the distribution of energy efficient appliances across the length and breadth of the country," Goyal said. Till date, over 25.5 crore LED bulbs, over 30.6 lakh LED tubelights and around 11.5 lakh energy efficient fans have been distributed in the country under the "Ujala" scheme. As per the estimates from Ministry of Power the scheme has lead to an annual energy savings of over 3,340 crore kWh and cumulative cost reduction to consumers of over Rs 13,346 crore annually. Finally the mystery over Tamil Nadu seeking to get exemption from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) has come to an end as State Health Minister C Vijayabaskar voiced the States decision to pass an Ordinance that will exempt Tamil Nadu from the NEET for MBBS and BDS admissions to government medical colleges. Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said the Centre is set to cooperate with the State government for this one-time exemption. Cochin Shipyard completes a landmark IPO; Raises funds for its expansion projects Cochin Shipyard under the Ministry of Shipping was listed in Bombay Stock Exchange and National Stock Exchange on 11 August 2017. The company has raised Rs 1442crores from the IPO which has been a combination of fresh issue and offer for sale in the ratio of 2:1. The IPO was oversubscribed by over 75 times with more than Rs 1.11 lakh crore being raised against the offer of Rs 1442crores. The Issue also saw a strong interest from retail segment with over 20 lakh applications , the highest in the last decade. The QIB portion was over subscribed by over 63 times and the HNI portion was over subscribed by 287 times. After listing the shares in the exchange, they opened at 20% increase despits the markets being low. The company undertook very detailed roadshows in India, Far East, Europe and US. Overall there was very positive market sentiments, towards the IPO. The proceeds of the fresh issue part of the IPO, totaling approximately Rs 961crores will be used by CSL for part funding two expansion projects costing Rs 2800 crores. The projects are a dry dock at the Cochin Shipyard premises to accommodate bigger ships for building and repair and a ship repair facility in the adjacent Cochin Port Trust premises by setting up of a ship lift and transfer system. Cochin Shipyard was incorporated in the year 1972 as the first green field shipyard of India. As on date Cochin Shipyard Limited is the largest public sector shipyard in India in terms of dock capacity. CSL caters to clients engaged in the Defence sector in India and clients engaged in the commercial sector worldwide for Shipbuilding and Ship Repair. In addition to shipbuilding and ship repair, CSL also offers marine engineering training. The company has exported around 45 ships to overseas customers and has the pride of building the first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier for the Indian Navy. The companys diversified business profile and presence in multi maritime segments have resulted in strong financial fundamentals. The companys turnover for FY 2017 was Rs 2059 crores as against a turnover of Rs 1404 crores for the FY 2012. The Profit After Tax for the FY 2017 was Rs 322 crores as against a PAT of Rs 172 crores for FY 2012. The Networth of the company as on March 2017 was Rs 2031 crores as against Rs 1051 crores at end of FY 2012. A Grant Agreement from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) of the World Bank of USD 24.64 million for Ecosystem Service Improvement Project" was signed here today by Shri Sameer Kumar Khare, Joint Secretary (MI), Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Government of India and Mr. Hisham Abdo Kahin, Acting Country Director for India on behalf of the World Bank. The Project Agreements were signed by Dr Neelu Gera, DDG (Research) on behalf of the Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education (ICFRE), Shri Amitabh Agnihotri, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests on behalf of Madhya Pradesh Government and Shri R.B.P. Sinha, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests on behalf of Chhattisgarh Government with the Acting Country Director for India, World Bank.. . The size of Project is USD 24.64 million which entirely will be financed by the World Bank out of its GEF Trust Fund. The projects duration is 05 years.. . Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) will implement the Project in the States of Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh through Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education under the National Mission for Green India. The objective of the Project is to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Departments of Forestry and Community Organisations to enhance forest ecosystem services and improve the livelihoods of forest dependent communities in Central Indian Highlands.. . Civil War buffs, make room on your shelves for the best one-volume book on Gettysburg yet. Its Allen Guelzos "Gettysburg: the Last Invasion,"published by Knoph in 2014. We all know how the battle turned out. But where most writers focus on Pickets charge on day three, Guelzo addresses day two, when Longstreets attack on the Union left comes very close to rolling up Meades position on Cemetery Ridge. The main culprit, of course, was Dan Sickles, whose decision to move his division to higher ground opened up the Union left to flank attacks. Meade was also to blame, Guelzo suggests, by focusing on his right flank, where he thought the Confederate attack would come, and dismissing Sickles attempts to communicate with him. With darkness falling on July 2, the Union Army was on the ropes as much as it had ever been, according to the author. Twenty more minutes of daylight, and the war would have been over. The Confederates were not disheartened at not being able to finish the business on day two; they had not failed, they thought. Quite the contrary. Victory, they were sure, would come the following day. Meads ultimate victory was determined by a series of close calls, agonizingly near misses, by the Confederates, according to the author. It is not so much that Meade won, but that Lee lost. Readers will find much to discuss here, but Guelzo, who teaches history at Gettysburg College, supports his ideas with copious endnotes. Guelzo is the author of several books on the Civil War era. In 400 big pages, Guelzo fills in background neglected by other historians. We see the Confederates plunder the countryside and risk becoming a disorganized mob; we observe hundreds of stragglers from both armies falling out on the hot summer roads; we see Confederates rounding up hundreds of free northern blacks and returning them to slavery. Not to do so, of course, would have been contrary to their principles! We also see the Confederates arrive on the Susquehanna opposite Harrisburg, and their attempts to get across. Terror sweeps across northern cities like Philadelphia and Baltimore. Guelzo discusses Civil War firepower, and plays down the effect of rifled weapons; the high number of deaths is owing to the sheer number of projectiles fired, he claims. The Confederates, used to wide-open plantations, are perplexed by the numerous fenced-in Pennsylvania farms on the battlefield; fences play a crucial role on the Emmitsburg road on day three. The unfamiliar geography of Pennsylvania spooks the invading army. A Confederate scouting party, early the second day, scouts the Union left, and finds it empty. When Longstreets troops arrive on the spot, it is occupied. Where had the scouting party gone? No one knows. The Army of Northern Virginia is a bit off balance, and lacks good maps. Gettysburg, the author thinks, has more in common with the wars of Napoleon than with World War I. Fifty years later, though soldiers on both sides entrenched, the Union entrenchments around Richmond during the winter of 1964-65 stretched some 60 miles. Meade is further castigated for almost losing his nerve on the evening of July 2, and especially for not pursuing Lee after his defeat, but how could he with so many of his officers dead? Despite the catastrophe of Pickets charge, Lee is absolved, since frontal assaults had succeeded in European wars of the period. This one might have also, the author believes. However Lees attacks on day two went forward without sufficient coordination. The Union general Joshua Chamberlin, the hero of the Round Tops, is brought down off his pedestal. Yes, he helped save the position, but so did several others, who did not survive to tell their story. Chamberlin lived for another 50 years, his own publicist. After Gettysburg the war would go on for almost two years. But never again would Robert E. Lee conduct offensive operations. The Civil War, and in particular the battle of Gettysburg, continue to be our greatest national drama. Allen Guelzo does it full justice in this thought-provoking volume. PM meets crew of Navika Sagar Parikrama Six women officers of the Indian Navy, who are due to circumnavigate the globe on the sailing vessel, INSV Tarini, called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi today. This is the first-ever Indian circumnavigation of the globe by an all-women crew. They will begin their voyage later this month from Goa, and expect to return to Goa in March 2018, after completing the circumnavigation. The expedition has been titled Navika Sagar Parikrama. The Parikrama will be covered in five legs, with stop-overs at 4 ports: Fremantle (Australia), Lyttleton (New Zealand), Port Stanley (Falklands), and Cape Town (South Africa). INSV Tarini is a 55-foot sailing vessel, which has been built indigenously, and was inducted in the Indian Navy earlier this year. During the interaction, the crew explained details of their upcoming voyage to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister wished the women crew well, and said he would keep track of their progress around the world. He exhorted them to project Indias capabilities and strengths across the world. He also encouraged them to write and share their experiences, after the successful completion of the voyage. Charlottesville, Virginia is home to the University of Virginia, founded by Thomas Jefferson; he was a slave owner, but today stands as a symbol of the USs egalitarian ethos and political myth. But on August 12, some seven months into Donald Trumps presidency, Charlottesville saw a far uglier side of the US on display: a Unite the Right rally bringing together people and organisations who resented the proposed removal of a statue of Confederate Civil War general, Robert E Lee. An anti-racism tweet by former US President Barack Obama after the Charlottesville violence in which he quoted iconic South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela has become the most liked tweet ever, garnering more than 2.8 million likes. "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion," the tweet read. It was posted on Saturday along with a photo of 56-year- old Obama looking up to a window of children of different ethnicities and races. "This Tweet from @BarackObama just became the most Liked Tweet ever. It set the record at approximately 10:07 EST," a Silicon Valley-based social media company said in a statement. The tweet has been endorsed by more than 2.8 million social media users and has also been retweeted by over 1.2 million times. "It is also currently the 5th most Retweeted Tweet ever," the company statement said. The record of most retweeted tweet is by Carter Wilkerson who tweeted earlier this year, "Help me please, a man needs his nuggs". On Monday, Obama's tweet surpassed talk show host Ellen DeGeneres' 2014 Oscars selfie tweet, which stands at number 3 with 2.4 million likes. The Obama tweet became the most liked ever, taking the top spot from pop star Ariana Grande's tweet which has 2.7 million likes. Her heartfelt tweet had come in response to a terrorist bombing that killed 22 people after she performed a concert in Manchester, England, in May. "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..." pic.twitter.com/InZ58zkoAm Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017 "People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love..." Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017 "...For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite." - Nelson Mandela Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017 Obama's tweet, which quotes a line from Mandela's autobiography "Long Walk to Freedom" came after a 32-year-old woman was killed and 19 others were injured when a car rammed into a crowd of counter-protesters at a white supremacist rally Charlottesville. Two police officers also died on Saturday when their helicopter monitoring the rally crashed. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A day after the Indian police arrested four people on suspicion of leaking an unaired episode of HBO's hit series "Game of Thrones", there are reports that yet another episode may have been leaked online. Japan is likely to announce another comprehensive package for India's economic and social upliftment with the forthcoming visit of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in the next few weeks. Lebanon's parliament today scrapped a controversial law allowing rapists who marry their victims to go free, official media and activists said, after a high- profile campaign for its repeal. A proposal to repeal Article 522 of the penal code - which deals with rape, assault, kidnapping and forced marriage, was introduced last year and approved by a parliamentary committee in February. Today, it was ratified by the full parliament, the official National News Agency and activist group ABAAD said. "Congratulations to women in Lebanon," the NGO wrote in a statement on its Facebook page. "Today's win is a victory for the dignity of women," it added. "It is no longer possible to escape punishment for rape and sexual acts carried out by force and coercion," said the group, which has spearheaded the campaign to repeal the much- reviled article. The article, which also dealt with the rape of minors, allowed for the perpetrator of sexual assault to avoid prosecution by marrying their victim. There are no precise figures on how many rapists marry their victims to avoid punishment, but activists say the practice mainly took place in rural areas. Lebanon's decision comes just over two weeks after Jordan's parliament binned a similar article in its penal code. And in July, Tunisia passed legislation doing the same as part of a bill designed to "end all violence against women. Ryanair sees any plans by Lufthansa to take over parts of insolvent rival Air Berlin as a "conspiracy" to halt the Irish carrier's expansion, its chief executive told Reuters. Air Berlin on Tuesday filed for insolvency after shareholder Etihad said it would not provide more funding, turning to the German government for a 150 million euro ($176 million) loan to keep planes in the air while it negotiates a sale of parts of its business to Lufthansa and one other airline. Ryanair has already filed a complaint with German and European Union competition authorities over the insolvency process, which it describes as a "conspiracy" because it believes that Lufthansa will gain a bigger share of the German market. "All this is down to prevent Ryanair growing in Germany, but it won't stop us," Michael O'Leary told Reuters in a telephone interview on Wednesday. Germany has rejected Ryanair's claims. A German economy ministry spokeswoman said a bridging loan of 150 million euros ($175.5 million) the government had granted Air Berlin did not breach anti-trust rules. "I reject the accusation by Ryanair today that it was a staged insolvency application," the spokeswoman said. A spokesman for Lufthansa declined to comment on the Ryanair accusations. Germany faces allegations of maintaining a cosy relationship with its domestic industry and questions about whether authorities did enough to uncover an emissions scandal at carmaker Volkswagen, which is partially state-owned. Air Berlin said it had sounded out the German states of North-Rhine Westphalia and Berlin in June to see whether they would provide loan guarantees after Etihad signalled it was rethinking its strategy of holding minority investments in smaller carriers. The German economy ministry spokeswoman said that negotiations between Lufthansa and Air Berlin had been going on for "months" as executives sought a long-term solution for the airline. The German government said it expected no anti-trust issues because Air Berlin would be sold off in bits. But O'Leary is not convinced his airline is being given a fair chance. "A merger will take Lufthansa from 68 per cent to 95 per cent of the German domestic market and from 47 per cent to 60 per cent control of the total German market, which would be in breach of every known competition threshold rule and guideline in Germany and the EU," O'Leary said. He said Alitalia's insolvency was being done on a fairer basis, with rival airlines being invited to submit offers. "That's the process they should be going through with Air Berlin," he said. When asked if Ryanair could bid for Air Berlin assets, he said he expected a deal would go through too quickly to give Ryanair a chance to bid and that only unattractive airport slots would be offered up. "There's nothing to bid for, it's a ready-up," he said. "We will continue to grow, we're still buying more aircraft. But we will struggle to get slots, to base more aircraft in airports like Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich." O'Leary said he hoped the EU authorities would step in to force competition remedies, such as giving up airport slots to rivals. The EU Commission said it was in "constructive contact" with Germany. "We are confident that solutions can be found within the framework of EU law," a Commission spokesman said. Izzet Sinan, partner at law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius said it was no surprise that Ryanair had voiced its objections. "The question is what actions will follow the words," Sinan said. North Koreas nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles have been making headlines again. Theres also been serious controversy over how the United States and other countries should react to that threat. Pakistan's ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday filed three separate appeals in the Supreme Court to review its verdict in the Panama Papers case that resulted in his disqualification. A five-member Supreme Court bench last month disqualified Sharif for dishonesty and ruled that corruption cases be filed against him and his children over the Panama Papers scandal, forcing the prime minister to quit. Sharif's lawyer Khawaja Harris filed the three review appeals, in reply to the petitions filed by Imran Khan, Sheikh Rashid and Sirjul Haq, in the Lahore registry of the apex court. The decision to file the appeal against the verdict was taken before 67-year-old Sharif's road journey from Islamabad to Lahore but the legal team took time to prepare the case. Harris also submitted relevant documents concerning the iqama - a United Arab Emirates work visa - that led the judges to declare Sharif "unfit to hold office", Dawn reported. Sharif has argued that the July 28 decision should have been given by a three-member bench since Justice Asif Saeed Khosa and Justice Gulzar Ahmed's jurisdiction had expired after their dissenting judgement on April 20, the paper said. "By signing the the final order of the court" on July 28, Justice Ahmed and Justice Khosa "have actually passed two judgments in the same case, which is unprecedented in judicial history," reads the appeal petition, according to the paper. Sharif also chaired a meeting of party leaders at his Raiwind estate in Lahore to prepare a strategy for his campaign to contact the masses over his disqualification. The meeting was attended by Hamza Shahbaz, Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif, Railways Minister Saad Rafique, and Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, among others. National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq told the media after the meeting that he still considers "Sharif his prime minister." Sadiq said that Sharif will fight for his rights but he will not create any tension between the national institutions. Sharif's plan is to go to the public and garner support for his plan to bring changes in the country for "sanctity of the vote", the speaker added. The ousted prime minister has repeatedly said that he will strive hard to replace Pakistan's old and "flawed" system with a new law which will put an end to the unceremonious ouster of the prime ministers. He also seeks accountability from military dictators and judges who he said have been sending prime ministers packing home in the last 70 years. An Auburn man admitted Wednesday to stealing more than $83,000 in workers' compensation benefits and not providing employees at his logging company with workers' compensation insurance coverage. David Sigl, 54, pleaded guilty to three felony charges second-degree grand larceny, first-degree offering a false instrument for filing and second-degree insurance fraud. He also pleaded guilty to the workers' compensation crime of failure to secure compensation, a misdemeanor. The charges stem from an investigation conducted by state Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott and Cayuga County District Attorney Jon Budelmann. The inquiry found that Sigl collected workers' compensation benefits beginning in early 2013 after suffering an injury while working as a heavy equipment operator for a construction firm in Syracuse. Sigl filed documents to the state Workers' Compensation Board asserting he wasn't working while collecting the benefits, but investigators found he was operating Lake Country Logging, a small business with two employees. "This defendant claimed total disability but ultimately admitted to climbing in and out of a large, articulated log-skidder tractor, climbing up and down trees and wielding chainsaws," Budelmann said in a news release. Sigl, according to Budelmann, earned more than $150,000 from his ownership of Lake Country Logging. During that time, he collected more than $83,000 in workers' compensation benefits he was ineligible to receive. The investigation also revealed that Sigl didn't provide workers' compensation coverage for his employees at Lake Country Logging a violation of state law. "(Sigl) brazenly abused and stole from a system meant to protect honest, hardworking New York employees and employers," Scott said. Sigl entered his guilty plea in Cayuga County Court. He will be sentenced on Nov. 14. A new app called Sarahah (which is Arabic for honesty) launched its English-language version this summer, promising an anonymous way of offering supportive criticism for teams in the workplace. It has since attracted 300m users and reached the top of Apples App Store download charts in more than 30 countries, but already users say they are receiving harassing and obscene messages. United States President has hailed North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un's decision of scrapping his plan to attack Guam as a "very wise and well-reasoned decision". "Kim Jong Un of North Korea made a very wise and well-reasoned decision. The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!" Trump tweeted. Kim Jong Un of North Korea made a very wise and well reasoned decision. The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2017 Trumps' reaction came as North Korea earlier threatened to attack Guam and other US territories in the Pacific region, saying a strike plan was ready "to put into practice in a multi-current and consecutive way any moment" on Kim's instruction. However, Kim, later on, decided not to launch an attack but warned he could change his mind. Guam is home to a US military base that includes a submarine squadron, an air base and a coast guard group and is armed with the US Army's missile defence system known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, the same system recently installed in South Korea. Trump had earlier reiterated his bellicose rhetoric on North Korea and warned Kim Jong Un that if any of the US territories is attacked, he "will truly regret it." He also issued a warning to North Korea on Friday, saying that the US military is 'locked and loaded' to deal with any provocation from Pyongyang. "Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully, Kim Jong Un will find another path!" Trump tweeted. US Defense Secretary James Mattis had also warned North Korea to stop any action that would lead to the collapse of Kim Jong-un's regime. "The DPRK (North Korea) should cease any consideration of actions that would lead to the end of its regime and the destruction of its people," Mattis said in a statement. After issuing an ultimatum to North Korea for threatening the United States, President Donald Trump, earlier, in a series of tweets, said that the US nuclear arsenal is now "far stronger and more powerful than ever before." President Trump also touted the strength of the country's nuclear arsenal and expressed hope that the US would not have to use this "power," but remained confident in the strength of the country. Trump has also tried to leverage China, Pyongyang's only major ally, to get the country to change its behaviour. has dipped 8% to Rs 321 on BSE in intra-day trade on the back of heavy volumes on reports of withdrawal of Trastuzumab application. Indian posted their biggest daily gain in more than a month on Wednesday, as easing geopolitical tensions between the US and North Korea boosted investor sentiment. The rally was fuelled by value-buying from domestic investors, following a correction of nearly five per cent last week. have initiated audits of suspected shell firms. According to sources, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and the BSE will first audit 100 suspended companies of the 331 listed by the government. United States President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Wednesday to slam American electronic commerce company Amazon.com Inc. for "damaging "tax paying retailers." The president also noted that the entire U.S. is "being hurt" by the firm's operations. Trump tweeted: "Amazon is doing great damage to tax paying retailers. Towns, cities and states throughout the U.S. are being hurt - many jobs being lost!" Amazon has been a frequent target of the president's tweets in the past. "Is Fake News Washington Post being used as a lobbyist weapon against Congress to keep Politicians from looking into Amazon no-tax monopoly?," President Trump tweeted in July. In another tweet,Trump congratulated Roy Moore, a former state Supreme Court justice, and Senator Luther Strange, who was appointed earlier this year, advanced on Tuesday in the Republican primary for the Senate seat in Alabama vacated by Jeff Sessions. "Congratulation to Roy Moore and Luther Strange for being the final two and heading into a September runoff in Alabama. Exciting race!@ Trump tweeted They will face off for their party's nomination next month in a runoff election, a contest that will test President Trump's clout in a deeply conservative state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its approval for raising Extra Budgetary Resources (EBR) of up to Rs. 9020 crore as per the requirement during 2017-18 by NABARD through issuance of Bonds for ensuring lending rate of six percent per annum (pa) in respect of borrowings for implementation of Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) works of 99 ongoing prioritized irrigation projects along with their command area development (CAD) works under PMKSY. A large number of major and medium irrigation projects taken up under AIBP were languishing mainly due to inadequate provision of funds. During 2016-17, 99 ongoing projects under PMKSY- AIBP were identified for completion in phases by December-2019. To cater to the large fund requirement and ensure completion of these projects, the Union Finance Minister, during his Budget speech 2016-17, announced creation of dedicated Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF) in NABARD with an initial corpus of Rs. 20,000 crore for funding of Central and State share for the identified ongoing projects under PMKSY (AIBP and CAD). To make the loan from NABARD attractive for states, it was decided that the rate of interest may be kept around six percent by providing requisite cost free funds to NABARD every year during 2016-17 to 2019-20 on which interest cost would be borne by Govt. of India. During the year 2016-17, NABARD disbursed aggregate amount of Rs. 9086.02 crore under LTIF, out of which Rs. 2414.16 crore was released for Polavaram project (without EBR component) and balance Rs. 6671.86 crore was released to identified projects using EBR. Further, an amount of Rs. 924.9 crore was disbursed as Central Assistance (CA) through budgetary provision. During 2016-17, overall an amount of Rs 2187 crore was raised by NABARD in the form of Government of India fully serviced bond as EBR. During 2017-18, it is estimated that an amount of Rs 29,000 Crore may be required through LTIF, for which EBR of Rs 9020 cr would be required. As per the status reported by the states and Central Water Commission during various review meeting, 18 projects have been completed/almost completed. Irrigation potential utilization is expected to be more than 14 lakh hectares during 2016-17 from all the 99 projects. During 2017-18, 33 more projects are likely to be completed. The completion of the identified irrigation projects will generate immediate wage and other employment opportunities in good measure during the construction phase. More importantly, on completion of the projects, the utilization of irrigation potential of about 76 lakh hectares will transform the agriculture scenario of the region resulting in generation of substantially more employment opportunities through increase in cropping intensity, change in cropping pattern, agro processing and other ancillary activities. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United States President Donald Trump has said that both sides of the clashes contributed to the violence which happened in a white supremacists rally in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend. As per a Washington Post report, Trump said the events on Saturday were "horrible thing to watch," but he emphasised that both sides of the clashes contributed to the violence. Earlier, Trump had condemned the violence in Charlottesville saying that "the hatred and division in the America must stop as we are all Americans first." "We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides," he had said during a short statement, adding that he had been closely following terrible events unfolding in Virginia. Mentioning that the current unfolding of events in Virginia is not linked to his presidency, Trump said, "It has been going on for a long time in our country -- not Donald Trump, not Barack Obama. It has been going on for a long, long time. It has no place in America." "Hate and division in the country must stop. No matter our colour, creed, religion, our political party, we are all Americans first," he said, adding that he'd like for his administration to "study" why such violence is occurring. He didn't take questions from reporters. "What is vital now is a swift restoration of law and order and the protection of innocent," noted Trump. "There are so many great things happening in our country, so when I watch Charlottesville, to me it is very, very sad." Trump said that he spoke to Governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe and they agreed that the hate and the division in the America must stop and must stop right now. "We have to come together as Americans with love for our nation and true affection-- really, I say this so strongly, true affection for each other." He further said, "Our country is doing very well in so many ways. We have record -- just absolute record employment. We have unemployment the lowest it's been in almost 17 years. We have companies pouring into our country, Foxconn and car companies and so many others. They're coming back to our country. We're renegotiating trade deals to make them great for our country and great for the American worker." Demonstrators clashed on the streets of Charlottesville ahead of a white nationalist rally, with counter-protesters and right-wing nationalist groups converging on the college town in the latest chapter in the United States' debate over race and identity. The protests were initiated by the city's government decision of removing the confederate past, including a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress Party on Wednesday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's passionate statement that the Kashmir unrest can be solved with an 'embrace', saying that latter believes in such a policy then he should move towards attaining it. Speaking to ANI, Congress leader Meem Afzal hailed Prime Minister Modi's assertion that neither bullets nor brickbats will solve the Kashmir issue. "I believe that if PM Modi has realised that the policy that has been going to solve the Kashmir issue is not going to help anymore and therefore there has to be a shift in that policy. He is correct that there is no solution with "Goli and Gali" (bullets and brickbats). And I believe if his new policy is to 'embrace' then he should move towards that direction," he said. On the contrary, another party leader Tom Vadakkan said that the Prime Minister picks up rhyming words like "goli and gali" but practitioners of "Goli and Gali" have no place in India. "This is a non-violent country which avoids "goli and gali". It might rhyme but does not go into the hearts of the people. What you need to do is win the hearts of the people. And that's what is important. And if the PM makes an effort in Jammu and Kashmir towards that, I think we will achieve a lot," he added. Earlier on Tuesday, senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram reminded Prime Minister Modi that 'one cannot embrace with a gun in hand'. In a series of strongly worded tweets, the former union minister took on the Prime Minister over his Independence Day address. "PM said "will embrace Kashmir". Humbly submit one cannot embrace with a gun in hand. PM said "GST showed India's capability". It actually showed India's capacity to mess up implementation," he said. Addressing the nation on the occasion of the 71st Independence Day, Prime Minister Modi opined that the situation in the Valley cannot be solved by bullets or abuses, but by embracing Kashmiris. Strongly condemning the rise of terrorism, Prime Minister Modi assured that while security remains the top priority of the Centre, no leeway will be given to terrorists. "We are not alone in our fight against terrorism; many countries are actively supporting us. There will be no type of softness against terrorism," he said, adding, "We are committed to restoring Kashmir's status of heaven on earth. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) UNION SPRINGS A plant in Union Springs that manufactures high-end jewelry and home decor for the brand Jay Strongwater is scheduled to close at the end of the year after the company was sold, according to the New York State Department of Labor. The plant, located at 107 Salem St., Union Springs, is scheduled to close by Dec. 31 and all 29 of the plant's employees will be affected, the labor department reported in a notice posted at its Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification website. The New York City-based brand is moving all production to Rhode Island. According to a Jay Strongwater blog post, the metal for all of the company's products is poured in Rhode Island and the workers in the Union Springs studio put the finishing touches on the designs adding jewels, glitter and paint. Since 2011, Jay Strongwater has been owned by Aurora Brands, the same company that owns Aurora-based MacKenzie-Childs. The Union Springs plant also produces MacKenzie-Childs products; however, that part of the plant will not be affected. The affected Jay Strongwater workers are not represented by a union, according to the Department of Labor. Company representatives could not immediately be reached for comment. At least four people were arrested in four different cases by the Air Intelligence Unit (AIU) 'A' batch officials for allegedly trying to smuggle gold. As the passengers began to disembark from the aerobridge into the terminal building, the officials cordoned the area and commenced security checks. All four accused were arrested on the eve of Independence Day. A Kenyan lady passenger, Asha Abdi Ali Nur, was intercepted as soon as she arrived from Nairobi via Dubai by flight no. EK 508. On being searched, gold jewellery weighing 610 grams with market value Rs. 14,16,041 were concealed in her upper innerwear and check-in baggage. Another passenger, Vimal Rasik who had arrived from Dubai by Jet Airways Flight no. 9W 537 was arrested by officials. During the search, one crude gold chain and seven gold bracelets weighing 480 grams and with market value Rs. 12, 20,382, which were concealed by wearing it around his neck and the said bracelets was in his pockets. The third passenger, Nayeem Abdul Razzak who arrived from Dubai by Spice Jet flight no. SG-14 was also apprehended. During probe and search; the officials recovered two crude gold chains 233 grams each with market value Rs. 12, 36,300. They were concealed in the right front pocket worn by him. Finally the fourth passenger, Rafeek who was travelling from Jeddah by Jet Airways Flight no. 9W 0521 was also held by the officials. On being intercepted, the officials recovered gold wire which were coated with silver colour weighing 597 grams with value Rs. 15,83,844. Rafeek cleverly concealed them below the running steel strips which were fixed with rivets as well as adhesive inside the side walls of the bag. The gold was later seized and a case has been booked. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has said that Iran cannot be allowed to use the nuclear deal to hold the hostage. As per media reports, Hailey said Iran must be held responsible for "its missile launches, support for terrorism, disregard for human rights, and violations of U.N. Security Council resolutions." "Iran cannot be allowed to use the nuclear deal to hold the hostage ... The nuclear deal must not become 'too big to fail'," she added. Earlier, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had threatened that Tehran will abandon the 2015 nuclear deal with the P5+1 group and restart its nuclear program "within hours" if the United States continues to impose new sanctions on the country. Rouhani issued the warning in a televised speech to Iran's Parliament, kicking off a vote-of-confidence session for nominated ministers of his second-term cabinet. "Iran could quit the nuclear deal within hours if the US imposes more sanctions," Rouhani said. Iran's President claimed that his country is capable of restarting its nuclear program within hours and quickly bringing it to even more advanced levels than in 2015. "The new US administration officials should know that the failed experience of threats and sanctions forced their predecessors to come to the negotiating table. If they prefer to return to those times, Iran will definitely return to a situation much more advanced than the start of the nuclear negotiations, not within months and weeks, but in a matter of hours and days," Rouhani said in a televised speech at the parliament's open session on Saturday. Expressing Iran's readiness to 'hold talks on removal of all sanctions, 'Rouhani underlined Iran's commitment to the nuclear deal, which is known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), adding that Tehran will follow up and respond to any breach of the deal by other parties. Last month, the U.S. announced new sanctions against entities and individuals with ties to Iran, a day after certifying that the Iranian government was in compliance with the nuclear agreement. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (A Govt. of India Enterprise) under Ministry of Railways is one of the biggest e-commerce website across Asia. The company with its innovative offers under various arms including Catering, E-Ticketing is also offerings various International Tour Packages through its tourism arm. These packages are based on Leisure and Pilgrimage theme. Ramayana Yatra Sri Lanka: Buoyed by the steadily increasing popularity of these international offerings of IRCTC in the last financial year, a unique Ramayana themed tour having six fixed departure originating Delhi, IGI Airport has been introduced with 25 seats in each of the fixed departures covering significant destinations, including the Ashok Vatika, Sita Mata Temple, Bhakta Hanuman Temple, Anjaniar Temple, Vibhishana Temple, Munavari and Sri Munneswaram Devasthanam. This five night-six day tour package will be operated twice in the month of September on 7 and 20, once each in the month of October and on November 7 and 18 respectively. In addition two departures have specially been planned on December 2 and 16 to tap the potential tourist season. This tour shall also be covering other popular locations in Sri Lanka such as the Pennawalla Elephant Orphanage, Ramboda waterwall, Nuwara Eliya hill station, Gregory Lake, Kandy Tooth Temple and Colombo city tour. The per person price on double occupancy has been capped at Rs.50,500/- including flight tickets, meals, sightseeing, pick-up/drop, accommodation in three-star hotels, VISA, insurance and all government applicable taxes, IRCTC tour manager and tour guide. Charming Russia: The Miniratna Company will also be offering international tour to Russia covering St.Petersburg and Moscow for the duration of five nights and six days, having three nights stay at the Heritage City-St.Petersburg and the remaining two nights stay at the Capital city - Moscow departing ex-Delhi on September 13, 2017. The tour will be a good opportunity for the prospective tourists to enjoy Cruise ride on the Neva River, Sightseeing of Winter palace, Peter and Paul Fortress, Petroff Palace. To connect to Moscow after the sightseeing of Saint Petersburg, tourists will be offered an opportunity to travel on SAPSAN - Bullet Train. The world famous Moscow Circus, sightseeing of Lenin's Tomb, St. Basil's Cathedral will also be amongst the highlights of the said tour amounting to Rs.98450/- per person, which is said to be the cheapest in the market with the given inclusions. Along with the above international tour offerings one fixed departure of Thailand covering Bangkok, Phuket, Pattaya with stay of two nights at each destination. Tour of Dubai & Abudhabi for 4 nights have also been introduced Ex Delhi. For online bookings and details interested tourists can visit www.irctctourism.com or any of the IRCTC Offices across India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander Ayub Lelhari was killed in an encounter on Wednesday with security forces in Kakpora's Banderpora in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir. The firing is underway and the area has been cordoned off, as it is believed that around two to three terrorists have been trapped. The terrorists initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars in the region. Meanwhile, the Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively. Earlier on Aug 14, the security forces had arrested two terrorists of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen from Handwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. One of the three terrorists killed in Saturday's Shopian encounter was identified as Hizbul Mujahideen's operational commander - Yasin Yatoo. Hizbul Mujahideen's topmost commander in Kashmir, Mehmood Ghaznavi, was also killed in a gun fight that started on Saturday evening at Shopian. Last week a Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist was arrested from Soppore district of the state. Ishfaq Ahmad Kanna, a resident of Jamia-Qadeem in Sopore, was arrested after an operation was carried out by the Central Reserve Police Force ( CRPF) when it was conducting a security check on Seer Amargarh Road. During the security check, Ishfaq jumped over the 'naka' and fled to a nearby orchard. The suspected area was cordoned off immediately and he was caught and one pistol, one pistol Meg, five pistol rounds and two UBGL grenades were recovered from him. A case was registered against Ishfaq in the Tarzoo Police Station. After thorough investigation, it has been found out that the militant is a part of the Lashkar Module in North- Kashmir. He used to work as active recruiter before joining the LeT outfit. Earlier, on 5th of August, three militants of the Lashkar module were killed at the Jamia Mohalla Amargarh in Sopore. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Hollywood star Johnny Depp visited a children's hospital in Vancouver, Canada, dressed as his famous character from 'Pirates of the Caribbean'- Captain Jack Sparrow, reports Independent. The 54-year-old actor was shooting for his new comedy drama, 'Richard Says Goodbye', when he decided to pay a visit to BC Children's Hospital. The BC Children's Hospital foundation, in appreciation of Depp's gesture, posted photos of his visit on their Facebook page. The hospital wrote, "Patients at BC Children's Hospital were delighted by a visit today with one of the world's most famous pirates, Captain Jack Sparrow. Actor Johnny Depp showed he has a heart of gold by spending more than 5 hours meeting one-on-one with every patient, from newborns to teens." In his five hours at the hospital, Depp entertained the young patients and their families, posed for pictures, and had foam sword fights with some of the patients. In December 2016, the 'Murder on the Orient Express' star visited Great Ormond Street Hospital (London). His daughter had been previously admitted there, due to kidney failure in 2007. Depp had said then, that he revisited the hospital in character because it was a 'gift'. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar alleging that Doordarshan and the All India Radio refused to broadcast his Independence Day address, state Deputy Assembly Speaker Pabitra Kar questioned the federalism structure of the country. "If the chief minister says anything, it cannot be censored. It should be answerable to the Parliament and Assembly. We oppose it. If this kind of things can be done, then how India can be a federal state?" Kar told ANI. The Chief Minister on Tuesday alleged that Doordarshan and All India Radio refused to broadcast his customary Independence Day speech and asked him to rewrite and rerecord it. The public broadcasters did not air Sarkar's speech which was scheduled to be aired at 6.30 am on Tuesday. As per the media reports, the Chief Minister's Office was informed via a letter that his speech would not be broadcast unless he "reshaped it". The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) strongly condemned the move and also released an official statement. "This is a gross infringement on the right of a Chief Minister to address the people of his state on Independence Day. This act is a reminiscent of the Emergency days and goes beyond as it seeks to gag the elected Chief Minister of a state. The Central Government is trampling upon the autonomy of Doordarshan/AIR and Prasar Bharati by such acts of censorship," the statement read. The CPM also demanded an action against "those responsible for prohibiting the broadcast," adding, "the Modi Government should stop treating the Prasar Bharati as a department of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting." The party also tweeted the text of Manik Sarkar's Independence Day speech on their Twitter handle, adding, "Text of Tripura CM's Speech which AIR & DD had the audacity to censor. This is an insult 2 People of Tripura & Constitutional Rights of States. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was "two steps ahead" of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Amit Shah as he called the Gorakhpur BRD Medical College tragedy a "natural calamity". "BJP president Amit Shah in Bangalore had recently said that the Gorakhpur tragedy, where more than 90 children died, a common happening in India, but this wasn't it as Prime Minister Modi in his speech at the Red Fort yesterday, a natural calamity." She further said that this was a sad and shocking thing to say. "People of India should now realise that the thinking of BJP MLAs is so wrong and distorted," Mayawati said. Emphasising further on the incident, the BSP supremo said, "The Gorakhpur tragedy happened due to negligence and corruption, but the Prime Minister at the Red Fort, by calling it a natural calamity, has tried to save his party, and has done a big deed for nation." The BSP supremo said that both Narendra Modi and Amit Shah have, in their political "arrogance", behaved in an egoistic manner to which she said that "we condemn this kind of attitude, because it doesn't seem like the BJP is going to improve in its constituency and we need to make sure that this kind of carelessness doesn't happen again." Mayawati also said that Prime Minister Modi's facts are unique as they are far away from the reality. She also claimed that Prime Minister Modi's government has not done anything for the poor, the working class, the farmers, youth, unemployed and women. "But on the other hand this government has increased casteism, and due to their hidden agenda, narrow and communal policies have taken the nation in the wrong direction and the situation instead of improving is diminishing," Mayawati said. She further said that through Prime Minister Modi's government the fight against corruption has gone hollow which is "well known" by the people of India. Mayawati also said that she wants the Lok Sabha elections, which were to take place in 2019, to happen at the end of 2018. Earlier on Saturday, dubbing the Gorakhpur Hospital deaths as 'extremely painful', Mayawati on Saturday strongly condemned the BJP for the tragic deaths. Earlier in July Mayawati, whose term as the member of the Rajya Sabha was to end in April 2018, walked out of the Upper House of the Parliament alleging that the she was not allowed to speak on the atrocities against the Dalits in Uttar Pradesh. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Shahbaz Sharif will continue as Punjab Chief Minister as leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) are mulling over options, who would replace former prime minister Nawaz Sharif as the party chief, in regard to a notice from election commision, following Sharif's disqualification from office. "We did discuss all available options for a new party chief but could not arrive at a decision...we decided to hold huddles for a couple of more days keeping in view various legal and political sensitivities involved with the issue," the Dawn quoted Punjab Governor Rafiq Rajwana as saying. The leaders, at a consultative meeting chaired by Nawaz Sharif at his chaired by Mr Sharif at his Raiwind residence, however, decided to continue with the party's "mass-contact drive," in the wake of a "positive" response from supporters, along the former Prime Minister's rally on GT Road. The meeting was attended by National assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, Punjab Governor Rafiq Rajwana, Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, Foreign Minister Khwaja Muhammad Asif, Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Railways Minister Khwaja Saad Rafiq, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, MNA Hamza Shahbaz, Senator Pervaiz Rashid, Anushe Rehman, former law minister Zahid Hamid and ex-IG Rana Maqbool. The Election Commission asked the PML-N on Aug 7 to elect a new chief as election laws do not permit a person to serve as an office-bearer of a political entity, who have been disqualified from holding office. Earlier, party chairman Raja Zafarul Haq had said that Shahbaz Sharif had been finalised as the new PML-N president and a formal announcement to the effect would be made within two days. The former prime minister of Pakistan had earlier wished that his younger brother Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif should succeed him as prime minister (after contesting from NA-120 to become a National Assembly member). Former first lady Begum Kulsoom might be the next party president and that her nomination was pending clearance of her candidature for NA-120 by-polls with the Election Commission. She is to appear before the returning officer on Wednesday (today) as her rival candidates have raised objections to her nomination papers. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) on Tuesday filed separate letters of objection with the returning officer, challenging the nomination submitted by Kulsoom Nawaz, the wife of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, for National Assembly-120 seat. The objections were filed by Faisal Mir of the PPP and Advocate Ishtiaq Chaudhry of the PAT under Representation of Peoples Act 1976. They claimed that Kulsoom Nawaz had failed to disclose the agreement for a United Arab Emirates (UAE) Iqama (work permit) attached with her nomination papers.They said Nawaz submitted her work permit as deputy chairman of the FZE Company, but had failed to furnish the salary and employment agreement against which the permit was issued. They pleaded that after the Panama Papers verdict of the Supreme Court, it was necessary for Nawaz to disclose her salary as an asset. The opposition parties' candidates also pointed out discrepancies in 2015-16 statements of wealth tax submitted by Kulsoom Nawazand asked the Returning officer to reject the nomination papers of Nawaz for violating provisions of Representation of Peoples Act 1976. Meanwhile, the Returning Officer has written a letter to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) secretary for deployment of the army personnel on the polling day in NA-120. The high command of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Tuesday reviewed arrangements for the all-important by-poll to National Assembly constituency NA-120, Lahore-III. Chaired by Director-General (Admin & Monitoring) retired Brig Naeem Akbar Qazi, the gathering was told that 65 candidates had filed their papers for the electoral contest scheduled to be held on September 17. At least 220 polling stations and 568 polling booths will be established for 321,633 registered voters though final polling scheme will be issued 15 days before the polling day when law-enforcement agencies will be given the task to ensure security of the polling stations. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court has ordered that retired Apex Court judge Justice R.V. Raveendran will monitor the Kerala Love Jihad case matter, wherein the marriage of a Hindu woman to a Muslim man, after her conversion, was annulled by the Kerala High Court as it amounted to 'Love Jihad'. Earlier in April, the Hindu Yuva Vahini activists barged into a couple's house in Uttar Pradesh's Meerut city and allegedly dragged the duo to a nearby police station on suspicion of 'love jihad'. Love Jihad is an alleged activity under which young Muslim boys and men are said to reportedly target young girls belonging to non-Muslim communities for conversion to Islam by simulating love. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior leader Janata Dal (United) party (JD(U)) Sharad Yadav has announced that he would organise 'Sajha Virasat Bachao Sammelan' on Thursday aimed at saving "composite culture" here. Addressing a press conference, Yadav said that the gathering will be attended by the leaders of the Opposition parties, intellectuals, farmers, Dalits and tribals from across the country. "The leaders of Opposition parties have been discussing for the last three months to convene a conference as to how to save our composite culture," Sharad Yadav said. Sharad Yadav added that he hoped to hold such a conference in various cities with an aim that "all citizens irrespective of any region or religion should come together to save our Constitution and composite culture as enshrined in the Constitution of India." The JD(U) leader further said that on 17th August, hence, a 'Sajha Virasat Bachao Sammelan' will be coordinated by Sharad Yadav himself. Talking about the Constitution of India, Yadav said, "The Constitution of India is a holy book which was given to the nation by the members who framed it in such a manner that our people should live together without any difference or the basis of caste and creed." He further said that today the reverse is happening in our country, where the people of India are continuously living in "fear". "At present Dalits, Tribals, farmers and unemployed youth are not only suffering, but are also not seeing any light after the tunnel now," Sharad Yadav said. Yadav added that PM Modi, in his speech on Tuesday, spoke that no kind of violence should be encouraged in the name of blind faith. To this Sharad Yadav said, "I want Modiji to tell this to his own government and we would follow this as well." Speaking about the preamble Yadav said they would make sure that the preamble of the constitution reaches every person in the country. "I would appeal every citizen of this country to love all and be united for uplifting the cause of poor, backward, minority, and suppressed classes of society to make India more developed," he said. On being asked whether Chief Minister Nitish Kumar would come for the conference, he said that everybody is invited to join this conference. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) There were reports that former CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani made cuts in Sidharth Malhotra and Jacqueline Fernandez' upcoming movie 'A Gentleman'. The scene that was omitted from the movie was their kissing scene. But, Sidharth has quashed all the rumours regarding the cut and said that the kissing scene has not been cut. While present at the song launch, the 'Baar Baar Dekho' star said, "The kissing scene is there. It has not been cut." The movie is about Gaurav (Sidharth) who is on a mission to settle down. He is in the process of charming Kavya (Jacqueline) into marrying him; except that Kavya is dreading the thought that he is going to pop the question because she is in no hurry at all and wants more excitement in life. She so wishes that this sundar susheel gentleman gets a bit riskier. When an assignment takes Gaurav to Mumbai, shit hits the fan. A case of mistaken identity brings a bunch of dangerous operatives into his life. Soon, trouble follows him to Miami and literally threatens to blow up his dream life. This is the second time we will see Sidharth and Jacqueline after 'Brothers'. Helmed by Krishna D.K. and Raj Nidimoru, 'A Gentleman' is slated to release on August 25. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The wreath laying ceremony for Havildar Narendra Singh, 43, who lost his life in a terrorist attack on August 7 in Uri, was held with full honours here today. The mortal remains of the braveheart were airlifted to Srinagar earlier today to his hometown. Havildar Narendra Singh had received a critical head injury which led to his death. On August 7, there was a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Uri sector of Baramulla district. On August 6 too, the Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire by firing at Indian posts along the LoC in Baba Khori area of Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir. 2017 has seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations at the LoC by Pakistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The trouble does not seem to get over for the veteran Hollywood director Roman Polanski, as a third woman has come forward to accuse Oscar winning director of sexually assaulting her when she was a minor forty years ago in the 1970s. According to The Independent, the woman identified only as Robin, said in a news conference that she had been 'sexually victimized' by Polanski in 1973, when she was just 16. She is the third woman to accuse him of child abuse. Reading from a prepared statement, she said she had told a friend about the assault on the day after it happened. "The reason, with this exception, that I kept it to myself is that I didn't want my father to do something that might cause him to go to prison for the rest of his life," she added. She further noted that her decision to come forward after such a long years was because she was "infuriated" that a statutory rape case against Polanski was dropped after his victim asked a Los Angeles court to end it. In 1978, 'The Pianist' director fled to US after admitting statutory rape of Samantha Geimer who was 13 at that time. His victim, Samantha Geimer, asked a Los Angeles court in June to end the case against him. Geimer said she had forgiven the filmmaker for the assault and wanted closure for herself and her family. Robin, who appeared with her lawyer Gloria Allred in Los Angeles on Tuesday, cannot sue Polanski in a criminal court because the statute of limitation has passed. The Oscar-winning director, who is a citizen of Poland and of France, has been a fugitive since. In 2010, British actress Charlotte Lewis accused Polanski of sexually assaulting her in Paris in 1983, when she was 16 years old. The actress was also represented by lawyer Gloria Allred. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Congress party on Wednesday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government over the recent incidents including the row surrounding Tripura Chief Minister's speech and the Gorakhpur tragedy. Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar's Independence day address was not broadcasted on Doordarshan and All India Radio as his speech did not include the 'achievements' of Modi government. "The speech of Tripura Chief Minister was blacked out as he does not speak about the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its achievements. Undeclared emergency has been imposed on radio, television and newspapers," Azad said at press conference. In a veiled attack at BJP's alliance partner RSS, Azad said the Prime Minister, instead of appealing to the county for unanimity, should ask Sangh people to stop dividing the country. "Prime Minister always pitches for unity in the country. But India is already united. Prime Minister should ask Sangh people to not divide India," he added. Further cornering the Centre over the Gorakhpur tragedy where more than 70 children succumbed to encephalitis at Baba Raghav Das Medical College hospital, Azad said the Prime Minister dubbed the 'Gorakhpur incident a natural calamity but actually it was a man made calamity.' "The truth will never come out if probe will take place under Prime Minister Modi's supervision because he would not issue report against his Chief Minister. If truth is to be revealed then sitting judge of Supreme Court should take up the case for inquiry," he added. Earlier in the day, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi cornered Prime Minister Modi and the BJP over various issues including the recent Gorakhpur tragedy. Mentioning the recent Gorakhpur tragedy, Rahul said the incident highlights the poor healthcare policies of the Modi government. "Prime Minister Modi did not tell you that more than 90 babies died in Gorakhpur due to his healthcare policies. His Government has cut healthcare budget and the hospital could not buy oxygen cylinders for the babies," Rahul said in Bengaluru. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a special gesture on the occasion of India's 71st Independence Day, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday announced that the Ministry will grant medical visa in all bonafide cases pending with them. Swaraj took to Twitter and said, "On the auspicious occasion of India's Independence day, we will grant medical visa in all bonafide cases pending with us. @IndiainPakistan" Recently, Swaraj had assured of granting a visa to a Pakistani woman - who is suffering from cancer - for her treatment in India. A Pakistani woman named Faiza Tanveer had requested Swaraj to grant her a medical visa by saying that she should be given help as India is about to celebrate its 70th Independence Day. "Ma'am you are mother for me. Please grant me visa on the occasion of India's 70th Independence Day. Please help me thankyou," Faiza Tanveer said in a tweet. The External Affairs Minister conveyed the decision of granting the medical visa to her and tweeted, "Thanks for your greetings on India's Independence day. We are giving you the visa for your treatment in India." On June 13, a four-month-old infant, Rohaan, who was slated to come to India for medical treatment banking on the assurance by Swaraj, arrived in Noida and will undergo treatment at Jaypee Hospital in the capital. Rohaan, who has a hole in his heart, was referred to the multi-speciality hospital for treatment. However, in the backdrop of cross-border tension between India and Pakistan, his parents were unable to get medical visa for their child's treatment in India. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Aditya Birla Fashion And Retail has on 16 August 2017 entered into a Multi Store Retail & E-commerce License Agreement with American Eagle Outfitters, Inc., a leading global specialty retailer offering high-quality, on-trend clothing, accessories and personal care products at affordable prices. By virtue of the agreement the Company has acquired exclusive rights to use the American Eagle Outfitters & Aerie brands to operate stores & e-commerce site & to sell products of these brands in India. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval to the proposal to complete the balance works of the North Koel Reservoir Project in Jharkhand and Bihar at an estimated expenditure of Rs.1622.27 crore to be incurred during three financial years from the start of the project. The Cabinet also approved storage of water in dam restricted at lower level than envisaged earlier to reduce the submergence and to protect Betla National Park and Palamau Tiger Reserve. The project is situated on North Koel river which is a tributary of Sone river finally joining the river Ganga. The North Koel Reservoir is located in the most backward tribal areas in Palamau and Garhwa districts of Jharkhand State. The construction was originally started in the year 1972 and continued till 1993 when it was stopped by the Forest Department, Govt. of Bihar. Since then, the work on dam is at a standstill. The major components of project are: 67.86 m high and 343.33 m long concrete dam called Mandal dam originally intended to store 1160 million cubic metre (MCM) water; 819.6 m long barrage at Mohammadganj, 96 km downstream of the dam; and two canals originating from left and right banks of Mohammadganj Barrage with distributaries system for irrigation. With the new lowered elevation level (EL) of 341 metre, the Mandal dam will now have storage of 190 MCM. The project aims to provide irrigation to 111,521 hectares of land annually in the most backward and drought prone areas of Palamu & Garhwa districts in Jharkhand and Aurangabad & Gaya districts in Bihar. The unfinished project as on date is providing irrigation to 71,720 hectares and completion of this project will provide additional irrigation benefit to the extent of 39,801 hectares. The irrigation potential through this Project in the two States would be as follows: Total irrigation potential: 1,11, 521 hectares Irrigation potential in Bihar: 91,917 hectares Irrigation potential in Jharkhand: 19,604 hectares The total cost of the project as assessed on date is Rs 2391.36 crore. An expenditure amounting to Rs. 769.09 crore has been incurred on the project till date. The Union Cabinet has approved the proposal for completing the balance of the North-Koel reservoir project in Jharkhand & Bihar at an estimated cost of Rs 1622.27 crore during three financial years. The common components amounting to Rs.1013.11 crore of balance works would be funded by the Central Government as a grant from PMKSY Fund. This would include cost of Net Present Value (NPV) and Compensatory Afforestation (CA) which comes to Rs.607 crore and Rs.43 crore respectively. The Central Government will also fund 60% of the cost of balance works amounting to Rs.365.5 crore (Bihar Rs.318.64 crore and Jharkhand Rs.46.86 crore) from Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF) under PMKSY as grant from the States of Bihar and Jharkhand. The States of Bihar and Jharkhand will arrange 40% of remaining cost of balance works amounting to Rs.243.66 crore (Bihar 212.43 crore and Jharkhand 31.23 crore) as loan from LTIF through NABARD at the rate which is not subsidised and is related to market borrowing cost with no interest subvention. The Cabinet also approved execution of balance works of the project on turnkey basis by M/S WAPCOS Ltd., a CPSU under MoWR, RD & GR as Project Management Consultant (PMC). The execution of the project will be monitored by an Empowered Committee of Government of India headed by CEO NITI Aayog. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi today has given its approval to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Sweden on cooperation in the field of Intellectual Property (IPRs). The MoU establishes a wide ranging and flexible mechanism through which both countries can exchange best practices and work together on training programs and technical exchanges to raise awareness on IPRs and better protect intellectual property rights. Impact: The MoU will enable India to exchange experiences in the innovation and IP ecosystems that will substantially benefit entrepreneurs, investors and businesses on both sides. The exchange of best practices between the two countries will lead to improved protection and awareness about India's range of Intellectual creations which are as diverse as its-people. It will be a landmark step forward in India's journey towards becoming a major player in global Innovation and will further the objectives of National IPR Policy, 2016. Features: A Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) with members from both sides will be formed to decide cooperation activities to be taken under the MoU in following areas: a) Exchange of best practices, experiences and knowledge on IP awareness among the public, businesses and educational institutions of both countries; b) Collaboration in training programmes, exchange of experts, technical exchanges and outreach activities; c) Exchange and dissemination of best practices, experiences and knowledge on IP with the industry, universities, R & D organisations and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) through participation in programs and events in the matter, organized singly or jointly by the Parties; d) Exchange of information and best practices for disposal of applications for patents, trademarks, industrial designs, copyrights and Geographical Indications, as also the protection, enforcement and use of IP rights; e) Cooperation in the development of automation and implementation of modernization projects, new documentation and information systems in IP and procedures for management of IP; f) Cooperation to understand how Traditional Knowledge is protected; and the exchange of best practices, including traditional knowledge related databases and awareness raising of existing IP systems; g) Exchange of information and best practices regarding Intellectual Property law infringements in the digital environment, especially regarding Copyright issues; and h) Other cooperation activities as may he decided by the Parties with mutual understanding. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its approval for raising Extra Budgetary Resources (EBR) of upto Rs. 9020 crore as per the requirement during 2017-18 by NABARD through issuance of Bonds for ensuring lending rate of 6% per annum (pa) in respect of borrowings for implementation of Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) works of 99 ongoing prioritized irrigation projects along with their command area development (CAD) works under PMKSY. A large number of major and medium irrigation projects taken up under Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) were languishing mainly due to inadequate provision of funds. During 2016-17, 99 ongoing projects under PMKSY- AIBP were identified for completion in phases by December-2019. To cater to the large fund requirement and ensure completion of these projects, the Union Finance Minister, during his Budget speech 2016-17, announced creation of dedicated Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF) in NABARD with an initial corpus of Rs. 20,000 crore for funding of Central and State share for the identified ongoing projects under PMKSY (AIBP and CAD). To make the loan from NABARD attractive for states, it was decided that the rate of interest may be kept around 6% by providing requisite cost free funds to NABARD every year during 2016-17 to 2019-20 on which interest cost would be borne by Govt. of India. During the year 2016-17, NABARD disbursed aggregate amount of Rs. 9086.02 crore under LTIF, out of which Rs. 2414.16 crore was released for Polavaram project (without EBR component) and balance Rs. 6671.86 crore was released to identified projects using EBR. Further, an amount of Rs. 924.9 crore was disbursed as Central Assistance (CA) through budgetary provision. During 2016-17, overall an amount of Rs 2187 crore was raised by NABARD in the form of Government of India fully serviced bond as EBR. During 2017-18, it is estimated that an amount of Rs 29,000 Crore may be required through LTIF, for which EBR of Rs 9020 cr would be required. As per the status reported by the states and Central Water Commission during various review meeting, 18 projects have been completed/almost completed. Irrigation potential utilization is expected to be more than 14 lakh hectares during 2016-17 from all the 99 projects. During 2017-18, 33 more projects are likely to be completed. The completion of the identified irrigation projects will generate immediate wage and other employment opportunities in good measure during the construction phase. More importantly, on completion of the projects, the utilization of irrigation potential of about 76 lakh hectares will transform the agriculture scenario of the region resulting in generation of substantially more employment opportunities through increase in cropping intensity, change in cropping pattern, agro processing and other ancillary activities. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) It makes little difference whether they're categorized as neo-Confederates, neo-Nazis, white nationalists, white supremacists or Ku Klux Klan members, the bottom line is that there are pockets of people all across America with hate in their hearts. Hatred for blacks. And Hispanics. And Jews. And Muslims. And gays. And ... well, anyone who doesn't think and look like they do. They work hard to recruit and indoctrinate. They beat people up. They make bomb threats to community centers. They set fire to places of worship. They commit murder. America has been fighting this kind of hate for a long time, but with these groups presently gathering in greater numbers to spout their twisted ideologies, now is one of those times that more people need to actively stand up against them. A pro-white rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last week ended with a car being driven into a group of counter-protesters, killing a woman marching on the side of unity. But it would be a mistake to view that incident as a one-time tragedy, because leaders of the hate groups say that they're far from done. Many believe that these groups see an ally in a president whose campaign was born on the promise to build a wall to keep out Mexican "rapists" and who may have further emboldened them by initially declaring that "many sides" were to blame for the violence in Virginia. The National Socialist Movement said that Saturday's rally was a "really good" event, and a white nationalist leader vowed, "We're going to be more active than ever before." So what should peaceful people do in response? We were particularly proud to see what happened in Auburn Monday evening when about 100 gathered for a show of solidarity against those who seek to divide us. It wasn't surprising, because we've seen many times when people here work out problems and misunderstandings with constructive dialogue rather than name-calling. Maybe we're just lucky to live in a community that's a little more enlightened than some, having the ever-present examples in our midst of Harriet Tubman, William Seward and so many others who stood up for social justice and racial equality. We firmly believe that the vast majority of Americans, New Yorkers and Auburnians don't hate other people because of their race, religion, sexual preference or country of origin. But we can't let our guard down. We all have a part to play in continually speaking up against hateful words and actions. And we need to make sure that future generations understand and appreciate the words and deeds of our founding fathers and mothers those who fought and died in support of a country where people could live in peace, regardless of their differences. Coal India's consolidated net profit fell 23.3% to Rs 2351.13 crore on 3.6% rise in net sales to Rs 18404.32 crore in Q1 June 2017 over Q1 June 2016. The announcement was made after market hours on Monday, 14 August 2017. The market remained closed on 15 August 2017 due to Independence Day. Lupin said that the company and Natco announced the final ANDA approval of Lanthanum Carbonate Chewable Tablets 500 mg (base), 750 mg (base), and 1000 mg (base) from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The product, as the first generic, will be launched shortly. The announcement was made after market hours on Monday, 14 August 2017. Natco's Lanthanum Carbonate Chewable Tablets 500 mg (base), 750 mg (base), and 1000 mg (base) are generic equivalents of Shire Development LLC's Fosrenol Chewable Tablets 500 mg, 750 mg and 1000 mg. Lanthanum Carbonate Chewable Tablets 500 mg (base), 750 mg (base), and 1000 mg (base) are indicated to reduce serum phosphate in patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD). Fosrenol Chewable Tablets has US sales of $122.4 million (IMS MAT June 2017). Lupin and Natco had entered into an agreement on 1 September 2008 to jointly commercialize generic equivalents of Fosrenol Chewable Tablets. Commenting on the approval, Nilesh Gupta, Managing Director, Lupin said that the conpany's proven IP capabilities, marketing reach and expertise coupled with Natco's solid development and manufacturing abilities make a great combination. On a consolidated basis, JK Tyre & Industries reported net loss of Rs 117.21 crore in Q1 June 2017 as compared with net profit of Rs 100.47 crore in Q1 June 2016. Total income fell 14.9% to Rs 1942.86 crore in Q1 June 2017 over Q1 June 2016. The announcement was made after market hours on Monday, 14 August 2017. Kolte-Patil Developers announced that it has successfully completed a strategic divestment of its land parcel in Wakad, Pune for Rs 161 crore. The strategic sale has been undertaken after evaluating the overall feasibility and is in line with the company's strategy of maintaining a lean balance sheet. The company will continue to explore strategic partnerships under asset light models to enhance its overall portfolio and position the company for sustained growth. The announcement was made after market hours on Monday, 14 August 2017. Tata Global Beverages' (TGB) premium natural mineral water brand 'Himalayan', will now enter the USA market in a phased manner, through an agreement signed by its subsidiary with Talking Rain Beverage Company, the maker of Sparkling Ice flavored sparkling waters to distribute and market the brand. This makes Himalayan which is backed by the trust and credibility of the Tata brand, one of the first premium Indian FMCG brands to target the broader American audience. This agreement will give Himalayan the benefit of Talking Rain's extensive go to market and execution capabilities in the US, which synergize well with TGB's product expertise and marketing capability. The premium end of the water market in the country is growing rapidly and Himalayan is well positioned to leverage the growth in this segment. The announcement was made on Tuesday, 15 August 2017. Lycos Internet's consolidated net profit fell 4.32% to Rs 94.68 crore on 1.13% decrease in revenue to Rs 538.40 crore in Q1 June 2017 over Q4 March 2017. The announcement was made after market hours on Monday, 14 August 2017. Speciality Restaurants announced that the company has opened a new 'Sweet Bengal' confectionery located at Shop No. 3, Chapel Avenue Premises Co-op. Society Ltd., Plot No. 68, Chapel Road, Opp. Mount Carnel's Church, Bandra West, Mumbai with effect from 14 August 2017. The announcement was made after market hours on Monday, 14 August 2017. NBCC (India)'s consolidated net profit rose 25.7% to Rs 59.16 crore on 0.8% rise in net sales to Rs 1548.90 crore in Q1 June 2017 over Q1 June 2016. The announcement was made after market hours on Monday, 14 August 2017. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries said that it has received approval of Scheme of Arrangement among Sun Pharma Medisales Private Limited, Ranbaxy Drugs Limited, Gufic Pharma Limited, Vidyut Investments Limited and the company and their respective members and creditors from National Company Law Tribunal. The announcement was made after market hours on Monday, 14 August 2017. HDFC said that consequent to the approval of the National Company Law Tribunal, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India on 14 August 2017 has granted its final approval for the merger of HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company, a subsidiary of the company and L&T General Insurance Company. The announcement was made after market hours on Monday, 14 August 2017. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Granules India jumped 8.03% to Rs 125.80 at 14:10 IST on BSE after the company said that the US drug regulator has issued Establishment Inspection Report for the Gagillapur facility. The announcement was made during market hours today, 16 August 2017. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was up 236.86 points or 0.75% at 31,685.89. The S&P BSE Small-Cap index was up 165.71 points or 1.08% at 15,574.91. Huge volumes were witnessed on the counter. On the BSE, 5.16 lakh shares were traded on the counter so far as against the average daily volumes of 1.68 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock had hit a high of Rs 128.05 and a low of Rs 118.45 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 157 on 18 May 2017 and a 52-week low of Rs 91.45 on 9 November 2016. The stock has jumped 17.24% in three sessions to its ruling price from a close of Rs 107.30 on 10 August 2017. The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 14 August 2017, falling 17.06% compared with the Sensex's 1.79% decline. The stock had also underperformed the market over the past one quarter, declining 18.68% as against the Sensex's 4.18% rise. The scrip had also underperformed the market over the past one year, dropping 13.42% as against the Sensex's 11.71% rise. The small-cap company has equity capital of Rs 22.89 crore. Face value per share is Re 1. Granules India said that the US drug regulator has issued Establishment Inspection Report (IER) for the Gagillapur facility of the company located at Hyderabad, Telangana, India. The facility was inspected by United States Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) in October 2016 and there were no observations during the inspection. The facility manufactures finished dosages and pharmaceutical formulation intermediates. Granules India's consolidated net profit fell 5.5% to Rs 36.80 crore on 10.2% rise in net sales to Rs 378.73 crore in Q1 June 2017 over Q1 June 2016. The result was announced after market hours on Friday, 14 August 2017. Granules India said that the board of directors of the company declared first interim dividend of 25 paise per share for the year ending 31 March 2018 (FY 2018). Granules India is present across the entire pharmaceutical manufacturing value chain from active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) to pharmaceutical formulation intermediates (PFI) to finished dosages (FD) manufacturing. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) held on 16 August 2017 The Board of Healthfore Technologies at the meeting held on 16th August 2017, has approved the shifting the Registered Office of the Company to Prius Platinum, Ground Floor, D3, District Centre, Saket, New Delhi with effectv from 21 August 2017 and Conversion of existing debts by issuance of Redeemable Optionally Convertible Debentures to an extent of Rs.310 Crores on private placement basis, subject to the approval of the shareholders. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) From Delhi to Haryana Kohinoor Foods pursuant to the approval of the Registrar of Companies has shifted its registered Office address from Delhi to Haryana with effect from 16th August 2017. The new address of the Company is: Pinnacle Business Tower, 10th Floor, Surajkund, Shooting Range, Faridabad, Haryana - 121001, Telephone No.: +91-129-4242222, Fax No. : +91-129-4242233, Email: info@kohinoorfoods.in. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tata Global Beverage rose 4.67% to Rs 187.05 at 9:50 IST on BSE after the company said that the premium natural mineral water brand Himalayan will enter the USA market in a phased manner. The announcement was made on Tuesday, 15 August 2017, when market remained closed for holiday. Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 20.03 points or 0.06% at 31,429. More than usual volumes were traded on the counter. On the BSE, 5.4 lakh shares were traded on the counter so far as against the average daily volumes of 3.64 lakh shares in the past one quarter. The stock had hit a high of Rs 189.25 so far during the day, which is a record high. The stock had hit a low of Rs 182.05 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 114.50 on 15 November 2016. The stock has jumped 19.86% in three sessions, to its ruling price from a close of Rs 156.05 on 10 August 2017. The stock had outperformed the market over the past one month till 14 August 2017, rising 2.67% compared with the Sensex's 1.79% decline. The stock had also outperformed the market over the past one quarter, gaining 17.18% as against the Sensex's 4.18% rise. The scrip had also outperformed the market over the past one year, gaining 30.53% as against the Sensex's 11.71% rise. The large-cap company has equity capital of Rs 63.11 crore. Face value per share is Re 1. Tata Global Beverages' (TGB) premium natural mineral water brand 'Himalayan', will now enter the USA market in a phased manner, through an agreement signed by its subsidiary with Talking Rain Beverage Company, the maker of Sparkling Ice flavored sparkling waters to distribute and market the brand. This makes Himalayan which is backed by the trust and credibility of the Tata brand, one of the first premium Indian FMCG brands to target the broader American audience. This agreement will give Himalayan the benefit of Talking Rain's extensive go to market and execution capabilities in the US, which synergize well with TGB's product expertise and marketing capability. The premium end of the water market in the country is growing rapidly and Himalayan is well positioned to leverage the growth in this segment, company said. Himalayan water is a premium source water, from a pure and pristine underground moving stream aquifer, which is about 400 feet below the surface, in the foothills of the Himalayas. Every drop travels through layers of rock, sand and silt for over 20 years. These layers act as natural filters and during this journey, allow the water to pick up essential minerals from which it acquires its unique composition and taste. Himalayan is currently available in India and Singapore. The brand recently launched a Sparkling variant in select markets in India and is piloting its flavoured water 'Orchard Pure' in the Delhi/NCR region. An iconic brand in the Seattle-area for 30 years, Talking Rain is a Washington-based beverage company. The stock had jumped 5.06% to Rs 163.95 on 11 August 2017, after the company announced good Q1 results. Tata Global Beverages' consolidated net profit rose 18.6% to Rs 141.81 crore on 1.8% decline in net sales to Rs 1704.42 crore in Q1 June 2017 over Q1 June 2016. Tata Global Beverages is a global beverage business; its brands have presence in over 40 countries. The company has significant interests in tea, coffee and water and is the world's second largest tea company. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 10 security personnel were killed on Wednesday in three attacks by Islamic State (IS) militants on military bases in Iraq's Salahudin province, an official said. Six suicide bombers wearing explosive vests carried out a pre-dawn attack on military bases in Baiji town, about 200 km from here, leading to heavy clashes for several hours, Xinhua quoted the source as saying. The clashes resulted in the killing of nine policemen and four suicide bombers, the source said, adding the clashes continued till afternoon as the police were still fighting two suicide bombers in the town. The IS seized Baiji in June 2014, but the Iraqi security forces liberated the town in late 2015. The liberation of the town gave the Iraqi forces complete control of the highway stretching from Baghdad to Baiji, and allowed forces to use Baiji as a launching pad for a further advance toward the IS stronghold in Mosul. Baiji has been almost totally destroyed by previous battles despite more than a year-and-a-half of being freed from IS militants. Inhabitants cannot return to the devastated town as security forces, including the Hashd Shaabi units, are stationed in some bases in the town. IS militants attacked the posts of paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units in Zuwiyah area, about 30 km north of Baiji, but the forces fought back and prevented the group from taking the bases, the source said. Initial reports said at least one Hashd Shaabi member was killed and three wounded. The third attack occurred early in the morning on a Kurdish forces military base near Tuz-Khurmato town that left two Peshmerga fighters wounded and an IS militant dead and another wounded, the source said. In Salahudin province, the IS is still in control of Makhoul mountain range and the villages between the range and the Tigris River. The eastern bank of the Shirqat twon, about 280 km from here, and its surrounding villages and area that stretch to the IS-held town of Hawijah in the western part of the oil-rich Kirkuk province are under IS control. Iraqi security forces and allied paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units have freed the provincial capital Tikrit, about 170 km from here, and other key cities and towns in the predominately Sunni Arab province of Salahudin. --IANS py/sac (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court on Wednesday appointed a panel comprising two of its former judges to examine the justification for closing 241 anti-Sikh riot cases probed by the Special Investigation Team. A bench of Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Amitava Roy and Justice A.M. Khanwilkar gave three months time to the Supervisory Committee to examine the 1984 riot cases that were closed and submit its report. Court directed next hearing of the matter on November 28, 2017. The apex court order came after the Centre on Wednesday left it to the court to take a final call on the matter. The court was given the details of closure report in 199 cases in a sealed cover. The bench ordered that same be handed over to the supervisory committee. The centre would extend all the secretarial facilities to the supervisory committee, the bench ordered. The court was told that of the 250 cases that were investigated by the SIT, the closure report was filed in 241 cases. The court was informed that nine cases were pending with the SIT. Two cases are being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation. The court order on the appointment of supervisory committee comprising two former judges of the top court came on a 2016 petition by one S. Gurlad Singh Kahlon - a member of Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee. Kahlon had contended that SIT, set up in February 2015 to investigate the cases that were earlier closed for lack of sufficient evidence, had utterly failed in carrying out the probe. He had contended that the SIT was given six months time to complete its mandate, and on August 12, 2015, it was given an extension of one year. The top court had on January 16 this year sought a comprehensive status report on the probe into the 1984 anti-Sikh riot cases being investigated by the SIT. In another matter relating to investigations into the killings of Sikhs in Kanpur in 1984, the court issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government. This matter will come up for hearing on September 22, 2017. --IANS pk/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 24 kg of cannabis was seized by the Border Security Force (BSF) from a bamboo orchard in West Bengal's Nadia district, an official said on Wednesday. Acting on a tip off, the BSF troopers of Meghna outpost conducted a special search operation on Tuesday afternoon and recovered the cannabis near the International Border. "The BSF recovered 24 kg cannabis wrapped in six plastic packets in a gunny bag on Tuesday. The seized cannabis has been handed over to customs Jalangi," Deputy Inspector General of BSF's South Bengal frontier, R.P.S. Jaswal, said in a statement. The south Bengal frontier of BSF has seized a total of 489 kg cannabis and arrested three Indian and two Bangladeshi smugglers so far this year. --IANS mgr/py/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With the flood situation in Uttar Pradesh worsening, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday spoke to the top officials and sought the latest updates on the flood situation. The flood situation in many districts of western Uttar Pradesh is quite worse and has marooned thousands of people. Adityanath spoke to the District Magistrates of Maharajganj, Balrampur, Kushinagar, Gorakhpur and Siddharthanagar, on phone and took the latest updates on situation there. He also warned them of serious action on officials and employees who are lax in the flood relief duties, an official said. According to the official, the Chief Minister also directed the District Magistrates to personally assess the flood situation and expedite the relief and rescue operations. Adityanath also expects the officials to ensure that all necessary emergency arrangements have been made to prevent the loss of lives. Directing 24x7 presence of the staff at flood posts, the Chief Minister also called for availability of adequate relief material. He also called for necessary security arrangements at flood relief camps and flood-hit habitations. One unit of the provincial armed constabulary (PAC) is already deployed in rescue and relief operations in Siddharthanagar district. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team is present there as well. With this, for relief and rescue operations, 12 motor boats and 25 boats have also been deployed. Rescue and relief operations and being conducted and material distributed. Also, 36 posts have been established in Maharajganj district and the NDRF team is aiding the district administration in rescue and relief operations; 178 villages have been flooded due to heavy rains in the neighbouring Nepal. All embankments which were breached in Maharajganj district are being repaired expeditiously and two days ago, 39 people were rescued and air-lifted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) choppers to safer places. Despite the worst ever floods in Balrampur district, water has started receding and motor boats have been provided along with 32 flood posts. In Gorakhpur district, Rohini river is flowing three metres above the danger mark. Relief and rescue works are underway in the worst affected area of Makhana village. Eighty-six flood posts have been established in the district. Because of a breach in a regulator in Domaingarh tehsil in the city, water entered the locality. More than 8,000 families were affected because of this and they have now been shifted to safer places and efforts are underway to improve the regulator and to ease out the water logging. Vigil is also being maintained on the water level of the Rapti river in Gorakhpur. --IANS md/pgh/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a diplomatic victory for India, the US on Wednesday designated Pakistan-based militant outfit (HM) as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) organisation. In an order, the US State Department said the designation of the HM as a terror organisation would deny it the resources it needs to carry out terrorist attacks, its assets in the US would be frozen, and US citizens prohibited from engaging with the group. The US action comes a day after US President Donald Trump spoke on the phone with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and congratulated him on the occasion of Independence Day. During the talk, both sides also decided to set up a new 2-by-2 ministerial dialogue to elevate their strategic consultations. Trump and Modi also said they look forward to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in India this November, in which the US President's daughter Ivanka Trump is to lead the US delegation. The US State Department move also comes as the first ever shipment of American crude oil to India is taking place from Texas this month. Trump, during his talk, also pledged that the US would continue to be a reliable, long-term supplier of energy. The terror tag on the outfit would come as a blow to Pakistan, whose top leaders have openly described Hizbul commander Burhan Wani, who was killed in a gunfight last year, as a martyr. The US State Department statement said: "The Department of State has designated -- also known as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, also known as HM -- as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under section 1(b) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224. These designations seek to deny HM the resources it needs to carry out terrorist attacks. Among other consequences, all of HM's property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group. "Formed in 1989, HM is one of the largest and oldest militant groups operating in Kashmir. is led by Specially Designated Global Terrorist Mohammad Yusuf Shah, also known as Syed Salahuddin. Hizbul Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for several attacks, including the April 2014, explosives attack in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which injured 17 people. "Today's action notifies the US public and the international community that HM is a terrorist organisation. Terrorism designations expose and isolate organisations and individuals, and deny them access to the US financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of US agencies and other governments." (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.) Who is the real Donald Trump? I have read three biographies of President Trump and a lengthy article about the ghostwriter of Mr. Trump's book "The Art of the Deal." The writers are all distinguished and respected journalists who have spent a lot of time getting to know the real Donald Trump. They all draw the same picture of an extremely spoiled child who developed into an extremely self-centered, narcissistic adult. The second-grader who punched his teacher in the face. The 13-year-old who had to be sent to a spoiled rich kids military school because his parents couldn't control him. The adult businessman who either brought a legal action against someone or had a legal action brought against him 3,500 times. Yes, you read that right 3,500 times. The three biographies I mentioned previously are: "The Making of Donald Trump" by David Cay Johnston, "The Truth About Trump" by Michael D'Antonio and "Trump Revealed" by Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher. The article is "Donald Trump's Ghostwriter Tells All" by Jane Mayer in The New Yorker magazine of July 26, 2016. We the people must come together to reject extremists from the left and right. It is our time to step forward to embrace and defend the rights of all citizens that are guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States of America. History will judge us poorly if we do not. John "Jake" Herrling Auburn With a marine police guard, around 100 fishing vessels set out from south China's Hainan province on Wednesday, marking the end of fishing ban in the South China Sea this summer. The boats, departing from Yazhou Port in Sanya, will head to the waters of Beibu Gulf, Xisha and Nansha sea areas, the provincial Maritime and Fishery Department was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency. A total of 18,000 fishing boats returned to Chinese ports from May 1 when the ban started, a record high for the past 19 years since China first enacted the annual fishing ban. This year, the ban was extended to a total of three-and-half months. During this period, 92 cases of illegal fishing were reported, down by 30 per cent from last year, the Department said. --IANS soni/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Australia will join the annual US-South Korea military exercises next week following Pyongyang's decision to hold off its plan to attack Guam, Defence Minister Marise Payne said on Wednesday. Payne told the local ABC radio station that "Australia has played a small role itself since 2010 and I think we have just over two dozen ADF members participating on this occasion." "I think that given their regularity and given their history they should not be seen in any way as a provocative exercise," Payne added, referring to the rising tension on the Korean peninsula and the recent exchange of threats between Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump. The military drills are set to begin on August 21. North Korea said it would take this exercise into account when considering whether to resume its plans to attack Guam, the unincorporated territory of the US. Kim Jong-un, earlier this week, decided to put the missile attack plans on hold "in order to defuse the tensions" with the US, adding he wanted to watch how the US behaves a little more before launching the offensive. Payne also showed her support for Washington's new policy on North Korea, the Strategic Accountability -- a measure proposed by US State Secretary Rex Tillerson and Defence Secretary Jim Mattis seeking to pressure North Korea into the denuclearisation of the peninsula. "They have indicated that they will continue to maintain the pressure in relation to sanctions and other actions on North Korea in an endeavour to persuade them to cease their previously reckless behaviour," the Minister said in support of the need to avoid an armed conflict. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced earlier in August that his country will help defend the US in the event of a North Korean attack by invoking the ANZUS Security Treaty, co-signed by the government of New Zealand, which noted that any contribution to the support would depend on its own considerations. The military pact was last invoked by the Australian government following the 9/11 terror attacks by Al Qaeda in the US. --IANS soni/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A notorious automobile thief who had stolen vehicles, including a police vehicle fitted with flashlights, for outstation joyrides has been arrested, police said on Wednesday. Ajay, 32, had driven off with a Quick Reaction Team Gypsy from Kotla Mubarakpur area in south Delhi on August 6. He was arrested on Tuesday night from his house in Tughlaq Lane slums. "Ajay is a notorious auto thief involved in a theft case as well as one under the Arms Act. A Maruti Swift Dzire and Honda City stolen from areas falling under Defence Colony and Mandir Marg police stations were seized from him," Deputy Commissioner of Police Romil Baaniya said. Govindpuri police recovered the Gypsy from Tehkhand village during night patrol on Monday night. Police zeroed in on Ajay after scanning closed-circuit television footage from the village, where he had dumped the police vehicle, the DCP said. "He told police that he stole vehicles and modified them before going for outstation rides for fun," he added. The accused had been to Manali, Shimla, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and other tourist places in stolen vehicles after changing their appearance and registration numbers. He later dumped the vehicles at deserted places, the officer said. --IANS sp/tsb/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Bahraini government on Wednesday condemned a statement by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in which he accused the country of discriminating against the Shia community. Tillerson made the comment while releasing the International Religious Freedom Report for 2016 on Tuesday, Xinhua reported. "The comments by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson about Bahrain are inappropriate, disappointing and ill-informed, which reflect a deep misunderstanding of the facts on the ground," said Bahrain's Foreign Affairs Ministry. "All of our communities and denominations, including Shia community, have and will continue to serve as prosecutors and judges, journalists and academics, diplomats, military officers, policemen and women, members of the cabinet and parliament, and business persons and students, all of whom put the national interests above all else," the ministry said. Any detentions or arrests are undertaken based on reasonable suspicion of criminal activity according to the laws of the kingdom regardless of race, sect, ethnic origin or gender, it noted. "We urge the respected US Department of State to engage in direct consultations, more accurate and nuanced fact-finding, and sophisticated analysis, before commenting on our government and society," it said. Bahrain, a close US ally, is home to the Fifth Fleet of the latter's navy. --IANS py/sac (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Megastar Amitabh Bachchan will join hands with actor Chiranjeevi in his upcoming multi-lingual historic drama "Uyyalawada Narasimha Reddy", based on the life of a popular freedom fighter from Kurnool. "Amitji is officially on board. He plays a pivotal role but nothing more can be said about his character at this moment," a source from the film's unit told IANS. To be directed by Surender Reddy, the film will be bankrolled by Ram Charan. The project was officially launched here on Wednesday. The source confirmed that Nayanthara has been finalised as the leading lady. Talking about the rest of the cast, the source added: "Contrary to rumours, Tamil actor Vijay Sethupathi is not part of the project. He wasn't even approached in the first place. Kannada actor Sudeep is being considered but he is yet to officially sign on the dotted line." Asked if A.R Rahman has been roped in to compose the music, the source said: "He is yet to sign the project. We have a few more options and we are still figuring out things." The title logo and motion poster of the film will be released on August 22 on the occasion of Chiranjeevi's birthday. In the film, Chiranjeevi will be seen sporting twirled mustache to play his part. In June, Chiranjeevi's look for the film went viral when he attended a special memorial meet for late Telugu filmmaker Dasari Narayana Rao, who passed away earlier this year. Tipped to be made on a budget of over Rs. 150 crore, the film will be made in Telugu, Hindi and Kannada. --IANS hp/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China on Wednesday said it was not aware of a skirmish between its troops and Indian soldiers in Ladakh region and stated that its border troops always patrol on the Chinese side along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Beijing also asked New Delhi to abide by the (LAC), a day after troops of both sides reportedly pelted stones at each other following attempts by the Chinese side to cross into the Indian side of the boundary at Pangong Lake in Ladakh. "I am not aware of them. The Chinese border troops are always committed to maintaining peace and tranquility along the border," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a briefing. "We always patrol on the Chinese side along the Line of Actual Control. And we urge the India side to abide by the Line of Actual Control," she said. The incident in Ladakh region in the western sector of the India and China boundary comes as both sides are locked in a tense standoff in Doklam in the Sikkim section, which on Wednesday entered the third month. Chinese troops reportedly tried to cross into the India side in Pangong Lake, in areas known as Finger Four and Finger Five. Their attempts were foiled by Indian troops. After being stopped, the Chinese side began pelting stones, to which the Indian side responded in the same fashion. Personnel from both sides reportedly received minor injuries. --IANS gsh/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang on Wednesday called on China and Nepal to step up cooperation in research and application of traditional medicine. Wang made the remarks while touring a China-sponsored traditional Nepali medical research training centre here during his visit to the Himalayan nation. Traditional medicine in both China and Nepal enjoys a long history, Xinhua news agency quoted Wang as saying. China is ready to strengthen its support for Nepal's medical and health services so that Nepali people can benefit from the practical cooperation with China, he said. Wang on Tuesday met Nepali Deputy Prime Minister Bijay Kumar Gachhadar. The two agreed to make joint efforts to further advance pragmatic cooperation between the two countries. --IANS py/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Top Chinese and US military officials have agreed to boost military ties and exchanges amid growing tension between the two countries over North Korea. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Army Joseph Dunford met his Chinese counterpart Fang Fenghui on Tuesday and signed the framework for an agreement to build a new communication mechanism for their joint staff departments, the China Daily reported on Wednesday. Experts said the new mechanism would help strengthen effective communication, reduce miscalculations and improve risk management in Asia's increasingly complex geopolitical climate, according to the report. The officials also discussed China's maritime disputes in the South China Sea with neighbouring countries, including Taiwan, and growing tension on the Korean peninsula over North Korea's repeated nuclear and missile tests. During the meeting, Fang stressed cooperation was the right way forward for China and the US, who, he added, could be great military partners. The Chinese military is willing to work with its US counterpart to strengthen mutual understanding and trust, deepen cooperation and manage risks and differences in an appropriate and effective manner, Fang said. Dunford said the US military will continue to develop Sino-US military relations and added both sides should take every opportunity to deepen communication and tackle current issues in a constructive way. "Although we might not share the same perspective on many of the difficult issues," Dunford said, "we do share the same commitment to solve them." Dunford, who will also visit a Chinese military base and attend a military exercise of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) on Wednesday, is the highest-ranking military official to visit China since US President Donald Trump came to power, the newspaper said. The visit is a part of his Asia tour, which started earlier this week in South Korea and will conclude in Japan, and follows fears of a military conflict between North Korea and the US after a verbal spat between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un earlier in the week. It also comes ahead of joint military exercises by the US and South Korea next week, which is likely to further aggravate tensions on the Korean peninsula. Meanwhile, Beijing, a traditional ally of Pyongyang, had voted in favour of the latest round of US-led sanctions against North Korea in the UN Security Council and banned all imports from North Korea, starting Tuesday. --IANS soni/sac (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A day after Indian and Chinese troops clashed along the northern bank of Pangong Lake in Ladakh, a flag meeting was requested by the Chinese side, sources said on Wednesday. A scuffle took place on Tuesday when troops of China's PLA tried to cross the Line of Actual Control near Pangong Lake in Ladakh. The standoff continued for more than an hour, during which soldiers on both sides were involved in stone pelting, which led to injury to troops on both sides, sources said. This is a one of its kind incident where troops were involved in a skirmish, though no weapons were used. Later, a standard drill in which banners are shown asking the other side to go back to the agreed point - was held, and the Chinese troops retreated. Army officials in Delhi have refused to comment on the incident, but have not denied it either. The development in Ladakh comes as troops of both sides are locked in a tense standoff in Doklam, in Sikkim sector, that entered the third month on Wednesday. --IANS ao/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos oversaw the final withdrawal of weapons handed over by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) rebels, the media reported on Wednesday. At a ceremony in Fonseca, a town in the northern province of Guajira, Santos on Tuesday said the shipment marked "the last breath of the conflict" between the rebels and government forces, which lasted 53 years, Xinhua news agency reported. "With this disarmament (the withdrawal) of the last containers, the conflict truly ends and a new phase begins in the life of our nation," Santos said. The President was accompanied by the head of the UN mission in Colombia, Jean Arnault, as well as FARC representatives. "Eight months after signing an (peace) agreement, we are witnessing the conclusion of the disarmament," Santos said, adding the process was carried out in a "record time". Arnault said the FARC had been completely disarmed. The UN mission has withdrawn 8,112 pieces of weapons and nearly 1.3 million cartridges of ammunition from the rebels and then incinerated them. The operation also involved extracting thousands of other weapons and munitions from FARC camps and hideouts, including more than 22 tonnes of explosives, 1,846 anti-personnel mines and 3,957 hand grenades. Arnault echoed Santos' words, saying the "exhaustive process" of disarming the rebels marked a new era. "We are going to be able to develop zones that were never developed," Santos said, referring to former rebel-held territories. As part of the peace agreement signed by Santos and FARC leader Rodrigo Londono, known as Timochenko, in November 2016, the government has pledged to invest in the country's agricultural sector and carry out land reforms. The rebels vowed to renounce armed conflicts and pursue political change at polls. To allay the fears of Colombia's more conservative sections, who favoured continuing to fight the FARC militarily, Santos said: "The government is absolutely committed to spreading security to the (former rebel-held) zones." --IANS py/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For the next four and a half months, the sounds of feller bunchers, processors and lumber trucks will be a common one around the lower Dry Lake Hills and the base of Mount Elden. This week, loggers are getting into full swing on the thinning of 642 acres of forest north of Flagstaff as part of the Flagstaff Watershed Restoration Project, or FWPP. The deadline for those acres to be completed is the end of the year. The work is part of the first phase of the fuels reduction project, which uses hand and mechanical thinning as well as prescribed fire in the Rio de Flag and Lake Mary watersheds. The work aims to mitigate the risk of severe fires and destructive post-fire flooding around Flagstaffs key water sources. A $10 million bond to support the project was approved by the city's voters in 2012. Heres what you need to know about current work: Where the work is happening: For the next month or so, the logging contractor will be mechanically thinning in an area east of Elden Lookout Road and north of the Pipeline Trail, near the intersection of the Rocky Ridge Trail and the Lower Oldham Trail, said Sean Murphy, an environmental protection specialist on the Coconino National Forest. Trail closures: Trails that will be closed during this segment of work include the Lower Oldham and Rocky Ridge trails. The Arizona Trail will be re-routed through the city. Signs warning of area closures and the presence of logging activity are posted on trails and roads. The closures are enforced at all times not just when work is going on because the logging creates hazards in the forest that arent immediately cleaned up, said FWPP Coordinator Jessica Richardson. Trail closures will change as work progresses and that information will be updated on the FWPP and Coconino National Forest websites, Richardson said. In the first few days of thinning, dozens of people have been ignoring the Forest Service's closure signs, with some coming within 50 feet of operating logging equipment, which is a definite danger zone, said Ryan Harlow, the Forest Services timber sale administrator for this project. A high school cross country team even ran through the area on Monday, according to the logging contractor, Harlow said. Local bike shops say the trail closures havent been a problem when it comes to recommending places for people to ride around Flagstaff. There are plenty of trails in other places, said Anthony Quintile, general manager at Absolute Bikes. Most people understand that the FWPP fuels reduction will help save the trails in the long run, Quintile said. Trail and road impacts: The logging contractor is constructing temporary roads through the forest that will be used to haul logs out to main transport routes. Forest Service system trails that were converted to temporary logging roads or were otherwise impacted by logging activity will be rehabbed once work is finished, said Mike Elson, the Flagstaff District ranger. The same wont be done for non-system trails though, because the Forest Service doesnt have the responsibility to maintain them, Elson said. Whats happening with the trees: In the areas of ponderosa pine that are being thinned, tree densities will be reduced from an average of 314 trees per acre to 138 trees per acre, according to a silviculture analysis. The harvested logs will be going to a pallet mill in Phoenix and to the Lumberjack Mill in Heber operated by New Life Forest Products, formerly Good Earth Power AZ, which is the holder of the largest thinning contract on the 2.4 million-acre Four Forest Restoration Initiative. The forest slash will be piled to dry and then will be burned by Forest Service crews when weather conditions are appropriate. At the height of work, the contractor expects to haul eight to 10 loads of logs per day out of the forest, Harlow said. Trees to cut, trees to keep: In the current phase of the fuels reduction work, which mostly involves ponderosa pine forest outside of Mexican spotted owl habitat, there is no maximum diameter above which trees cannot be harvested. However, tree cutting prescriptions on the project generally require loggers to retain the oldest, largest trees, including the yellow pines, Elson said. Those trees may be cut, however, if they are diseased, are posing a hazard or need to be removed for the creation of a road or temporary landing to store cut trees, he said. There are many different colors of flagging tape tied to tree branches in the logging area, but Richardson said residents only need to pay attention to the colors painted on trees. Blue means trees to be cut and orange means trees to be left. The orange paint is supposed to fade in two to five years, Richardson and Elson said. The Congress on Wednesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for what it said was "equating Gorakhpur hospital deaths with natural calamity" and said he should instead have apologised to the countrymen. The Congress also demanded a probe supervised by a Supreme Court judge into the tragedy. "Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister (Yogi Adiyanath) has failed completely. But we expected the Prime Minister to apologise to the country on behalf of the state government for the Gorakhpur tragedy. But Modi made a passing reference and equated it with natural calamity," senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said. "This is not a natural calamity. This is a man-made calamity," he added. More than 60 children died due to alleged oxygen shortage at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital in Gorakhpur, a charge denied by the state authorities. Azad said: "The UP government is responsible for this calamity. This government has been unsuccessful in providing oxygen. "This government changed the Gorakhpur company that was supplying oxygen cylinders to the hospital. It was replcaed by an Alahabad company. They should reply to this charge. Which is this compnay? Who is reponsible and why did they do it? The UP governmemt owes an explanation to the nation," he added. Taking a potshot at Bharatiya Janata Party President Amit Shah's stand that the investigation was on under Modi's supervision, the Congress leader quipped: "If it is so, the truth will never come out." "The report will be hushed up. We had demanded an impartial probe. We want a probe under the supervision of a Supreme Court judge," he added. Hitting out at Yogi Adityanath, Azad said: "The Chief Minister, a four-time MP from Gorakhpur, didn't meet me even once in five years when I went there as Union Health Minister. We can make out from this fact as to how much concerned he is." --IANS sid/tsb/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Uttar Pradesh unit of the Congress on Wednesday held a protest here against the deaths of children at Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College in Gorakhpur. Led by Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Raj Babbar, the demonstration was held at the GPO park in the city. He was joined by senior leaders including Rajya Sabha member Pramod Tiwari. Babbar, while addressing the gathering said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government needed "buddhi shuddhi" as it had lost the plot and was not working in the interests of the people. He accused the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh of being responsible for the deaths of over 60 children at the BRD Medical college and said that the demonstration was being held to expose the lies being spread by the state government. The Congress on Tuesday described Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech as "most disappointing" and slammed him for being "insensitive" towards the Gorakhpur tragedy. In his first Independence Day speech on Tuesday after assuming office, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath sought to blame the deaths of over 60 children on encephalitis. In an obvious reference to the tragedy, widely blamed on lack of oxygen at the state-run hospital, Adityanath said that Uttar Pradesh was a big state and deaths were taking place due to diseases like encephalitis. Such vector-borne diseases, he said, could be tackled with the Swacch Bharat mission "in which every citizen should participate". --IANS md/pgh/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Jharkhand Congress on Wednesday urged Governor Draupadi Murmu not to give her consent to the Anti-Conversion Bill and the amendment to the Land Acquisition Act 2013. "A party delegation met the Governor and requested her not to given consent to the Religious Freedom Bill 2017 and amendment in the Land Acquisition Act 2017," Kishore Sahdeo, Jharkhand Congress General Secretary, told IANS. The Jharkhand Congress delegation was led by state party president Sukhdeo Bhagat and leader of the legislature wing of the Congress party Aalamgir Aalam. Both bills were passed by the Jharkhand Assembly during the Monsoon Session on August 12. The Congress has objected the state government move to exempt the social impact assessment for important social and economic projects, in the amendment to the Land Acquisition Act 2013. Such projects are identified as schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, panchayat buildings, anganwadi centres, waterways, electrification and irrigation projects and drinking water pipeline. "By exempting the social impact assessment, the state government is trying to take away the rights of the poor along with those who work on the land and those who are also dependant on its produce for their livelihood," the party said. The Congress memorandum to the Governor says the legislation on religious freedom is an attack on the fundamental rights provided to the people by the Constitution of India. In the bill, which forbids conversion through allurement or coercion, the Jharkhand government has made provision of imprisonment of three to four years and fine of Rs 50,000-Rs one lakh if a person is forced to convert to another religion. --IANS ns/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A court here on Wednesday issued production warrant against former media baron Indrani Mukerjea in a money laundering case allegedly involving Karti Chidambaram, son of former Union Minister P. Chidambaram. Special Judge Sunil Rana allowed the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) plea seeking production warrant against Indrani Mukerjea, who is jailed in Mumbai in connection with the murder of her daughter Sheena Bora. The court directed the concerned authorities to present Indrani before it on September 9. Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana told the court that the agency wants to quiz Indrani in the money laundering case. On May 19, the ED lodged a complaint against Karti alleging that he had received Rs 3.5 crore from INX Media, now 9X Media, for helping it in the clearance of a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) proposal when his father was the Union Finance Minister. The FIPB clearance was given to the Mumbai-based INX Media when it was run by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, both accused in the Sheena Bora murder case. The complaint had not mentioned the name of former minister Chidambaram, though it stated that he cleared the FIPB approval for Rs 4.62 crore Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the FIPB meeting on May 18, 2007, when he was holding the Finance portfolio in the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The accused have denied all the charges against them. --IANS akk/pgh/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With a CBI court likely to pronounce soon the verdict in a rape case against Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, police in Punjab and Haryana were on Wednesday put on alert as both states sought central paramilitary forces to maintain law and order. Top officials of Punjab and Haryana on Wednesday apprised the Home Ministry of the situation in the two states ahead of the impending verdict of a CBI Special court in Haryana's Panchkula city adjoining Chandigarh, which has been hearing the case since 2007. The Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police (DGPs) of Punjab and Haryana met Home Secretary-designate Rajiv Gauba in Delhi for over half an hour on the law and order measures put in place to handle any law and order situation, a Ministry official told IANS on the condition of anonymity. Ministry sources said the state officials sought central forces in case the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court's verdict went against the sect chief. The Panchkula court heard the case on Wednesday and, since the arguments could not be concluded, will hear it on Thursday as well. The sect chief, who has lakhs of followers in Punjab, Haryana, and other states, has been accused by a former female follower of raping her more than once inside the sprawling Dera campus on the outskirts of Sirsa town in Haryana, 260 km from Chandigarh. The sources said the Ministry did not call anybody for the meeting but it was Punjab which had requested for the same. After the meeting with Gauba, Haryana DGP B.S. Sandhu told the media that he along with other officials informed the Ministry about the current situation in their state. "We informed the Home Ministry that both the states are ready to handle any situation. Law and order is under control and we will not let anyone disrupt it. Police of both the states is ready," Sandhu said, adding the Home Ministry was also on the same page. Authorities in Punjab and Haryana on Wednesday asked police in both states to be on alert ahead of the verdict. Despite charges of murder, conspiracy, and rape against him, the Dera chief enjoys Z-category security provided by Haryana Police and moves around in a fleet of bulletproof luxury sport utility vehicles. --IANS js/tsb/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China on Wednesday again told India to pull back its troops from Doklam where the standoff between their armies entered the third month. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying reiterated Beijing's stance, asking India to withdraw troops from Doklam in the Sikkim sector. On June 16, the Indian Army stopped the Chinese PLA from building a road in Doklam, leading to the face-off. Doklam, in the tri-junction of India, China and Bhutan, is claimed by Beijing and Thimphu. "As for the trespass of Indian troops in Doklam area, China's position is firm and consistent - that is Indian border troops must be withdrawn unconditionally and this is a precondition for any meaningful talks between the two sides," Hua said. India has said it is ready to pull back troops if China does so too, an offer Beijing has outright rejected. This is the longest military standoff between India and China after 1987 when both sides faced-off in Somordong Chu valley in Arunachal Pradesh. The latest crisis has plunged ties between the two countries to a new low. With no sign of resolution, the dispute is likely to cloud the crucial BRICS summit meet in September, which could see Prime Minister Narendra Modi attending. "The standoff will unavoidably affect the BRICS summit to be held in Xiamen, Fujian Province, in September," said Liu Zhongyi, a senior fellow of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies. "If India feels humiliated in the standoff, it may undermine the outcomes of the Xiamen summit. There is a possibility that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi won't attend the summit and send lower-ranking officials instead," an expert wrote in the Global Times. However, another expert said BRICS will be the last opportunity for China and India to resolve the crisis. "The BRICS summit will provide a chance for both countries' leaders to talk, and it's very likely this will be the last opportunity for peace," said Chu Yin, who is an Associate Professor at the University of International Relations. As the Doklam crisis continues to simmer, troops of both sides entered into a skirmish in the Western sector in Ladakh in the Pangong Lake area. A Border Personnel Meeting was held on Wednesday to resolve the issue. --IANS gsh/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The flood situation in parts of northern West Bengal continued to be "alarming" despite a let up in the incessant rains as many rivers in the area were still flowing well above the danger level, the state government said here on Wednesday. Twelve deaths were reported till Tuesday in the region due to the floods. "The flood situation in South Dinajpur district is alarming. The water level in Atrayi river in the district is still on the rise. We are facing some issues in supplying relief materials as the road and rail connectivity are cut off since the last two-three days," state Irrigation Minister Rajib Banerjee said. Officials in the state Irrigation and Waterways Department said the situation has also worsened in parts of Malda and North Dinajpur districts. The Minister, who toured some of the affected areas of South Dinajpur duing the day, said efforts were on to send relief materials through waterways. "Relief boats with food and tarpaulin sheets have been deployed. We are expecting the relief to reach the flood affected areas within the next few hours," Banerjee said. The traffic was thrown out of gear in south Dinajpur district headquarters Balurghat as the streets went under knee-deep water since Tuesday night. Raiganj, a prominent city and municipality in North Dinajpur district, has been also inundated. Apart from Atrayi, river Punarbhaba was also in spate. "Punarbhaba in Gangarampur is flowing well above the extreme danger level. As a result the nearby localities and villages in the region have been inundated," an Irrigation and Waterways Department official told IANS over phone. In North Dinajpur district, vast areas including headquarters Raiganj were under knee-deep water with river Teests flowing above the extreme danger level. "Kaljani river in Alipurduar district and Kuhar river in Malda are flowing above the extreme danger level. But the water level is expected to go down in Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts as the rainfall in the region has stopped," he added. The railway service in north Bengal and northeast India remained suspended even on Wednesday as the flood waters were flowing over the railway tracks at several places. Several trains from Howrah, Sealdah and Kolkata railway stations to north Bengal including Uttarbanga Express, Kanchankanya Express, and trains to Assam's Dibrugah have been cancelled. --IANS mgr/ssp/him/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday laid the foundation stone of the Indo-UK Institute of Health (IUIH) Medicity here. The facility is being developed in association with King's College Hospital, London, with an investment outlay of Rs 1,600 crore. The IUIH programme was included as a commercial announcement in the Joint statement during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Britain in November 2015. The announcement included the proposal for 11 new Indo-UK Institutes for Health in India which, when fully implemented, would amount to investment in the region of Rs 17,600 crore into India's healthcare system, accompanied by strategic, clinical and training partnerships with Britain's finest NHS organisations, universities and private sector companies. IUIH programme, led by Dr. Ajay Rajan Gupta, Group MD and CEO, aims to deliver this vision by developing IUIH Medicities and IUIH Clinics across India. Each Medicity is planned to include a 1,000 bed hospital in close partnership with one of Britain's leading NHS hospitals. 'IUIH has a vision to provide integrated healthcare across India by apartnering with global leaders' in research, education, technology, manufacturing and healthcare delivery,' said Gupta. Healthcare UK and the Department for International Trade (DIT) India are supporting IUIH with its plans. 'This ambitious project will see NHS standards of care supporting the healthcare needs of the people of Andhra Pradesh. We hope that this collaboration will lead to closer working between our two countries in the healthcare sector,' said Jane Grady, Deputy Director, Trade, Economics and Prosperity, British High Commission, India. The project is supported by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Invest India, which is the national investment promotion and facilitation agency for India promoted by Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion, Ministry of Commerce and Industry. --IANS ms/pgh/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In the wake of the Gorakhpur hospital tragedy, the Delhi government has decided to pay medical suppliers within 45 days and also increase funds for hospitals to buy new equipment to Rs 1 crore, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Wednesday. Jain said the decisions were taken in a review meeting of Delhi government hospitals chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. He said the vendors, who supply commodities to hospitals, are currently paid within 30-60 days, adding it will be reduced to a maximum of 45 days. "Gorakhpur won't be repeated in Delhi. We have been conducting regular inspections," Jain said. He said the small hospitals can currently purchase equipment worth Rs 10 lakh while the big hospitals can purchase equipment worth Rs 50 lakh. The Health Minister added that the amount has been increased to Rs 1 crore for both categories. Jain also said that a helpline number would be soon started for any hospital-related complaints and added that the availability of medicines was 90-95 per cent. "The helpline number would be run through call centres and it would be monitored every day by the Chief Minister," he said. Jain said that things were under control and emergency wards of all hospitals were working fine. --IANS nkh/amit/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Constitution of the United States of America gives its citizens the right peaceably to assemble (First Amendment). In the past few years we have seen protests, marches, and demonstrations. Some have been peaceful and some have had violence. It seems the violence at assemblies has been increasing. One of the reasons is that some people bring weapons to these assemblies. At what point does a stick, club, chain, knife, gun, military weapons, or even torches and masks give anyone the feeling that this is a peaceful protest, march, or demonstration? The same goes for counter-protesters. If you bring a weapon to an assembly, then you are saying that you are willing to threaten, harm, or even kill people who disagree with your opinion. If you assemble without a weapon, then you are saying that your cause is so noble that you are willing to sacrifice your life for what you believe. When you speak courageously without a weapon, you are speaking with conviction. People will listen. When you speak with a weapon, you are speaking as a coward and your cause is not likely to be taken seriously. People just dont want to be around you. Go ahead and protest. Thats what makes our country great. However, do it courageously and be willing to die for your cause, but do not threaten, harm, or kill someone else for your cause. MICHAEL VOLLMER Flagstaff Accra, Aug 16 (IANS/MAP) Ghana's Minister for Employment and Labour Relations Ignatius Baffour Awuah has endorsed the "Punctuality Ghana" campaign with a call upon Ghanaians, both in the public and private sectors, to be time-conscious. Awuah, at a ceremony to endorse the campaign, said that one of the biggest problems facing Ghana was indiscipline which also manifested in a lack of respect for time, the media report said on Wednesday. "If we can be disciplined and time-conscious, Ghana will be far better than what it is now," he stated, and commended the organisers of the campaign for the effort. Awuah said he did not believe in the concept of Ghanaian time or African time, which allowed people to be late, saying "There is only one clock and it must be respected" and ensured that it was respected at the Ministry. He said the campaign was very relevant to the Ministry as it regulated the world of work, where productivity, including time-consciousness was a key issue. Awuah added that time-consciousness could also give private sector businesses an edge over their competitors. "Keeping to time is non-negotiable" he stated, adding "this is our opportunity. Let's change the world. Let's change Ghana for the better". He also bemoaned Ghanaians addiction to the social media and said it was affecting productivity as workers use social media during working hours and needed to be looked at. --IANS/MAP soni/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Social activist Nutan Thakur on Wednesday filed a PIL in the Allahabad High Court with regard to the death of over 60 children at a Gorakhpur hospital last week, seeking a judicial probe into the tragedy. As per the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in the HC's Lucknow bench, the Uttar Pradesh government and its agencies were trying to deny facts coming out in the media about the deaths occurring due to oxygen shortage at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital in Gorakhpur, which gives out the message that they were trying to hide facts and shield the guilty. Thakur said she had sought a judicial inquiry in the matter so that the facts emerge and the guilty do not go unpunished. She said she represents a "large cross-section of people who believe that the inquiry commission under the state Chief Secretary will only toe the official line taken so far". Her plea also sought strict implementation of an earlier High Court order on a complete ban on private practice by government doctors. --IANS md/tsb/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved raising Extra Budgetary Resources (EBR) by Rs 9,020 crore for Long Term Irrigation Fund (LTIF) for year 2018-19 through issuance of bonds by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD). As per a release, LTIF seeks to make loans from the NABARD attractive for states at the rate of 6 per cent per annum in order to complete 99 ongoing prioritised irrigation projects under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) which "were languishing mainly due to inadequate provision of funds". The LTIF was launched in 2016 to complete these projects along with their command area development (CAD). The CAD programme aims to narrow the gap between irrigation potential created and actual utilisation. "To make the loan from NABARD attractive for states, it was decided that the rate of interest may be kept around 6 per cent by providing requisite cost free funds to NABARD every year during 2016-17 to 2019-20 on which interest cost would be borne by the government," the release said. Notably, the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), launched by the Narendra Modi government, subsumes previous schemes such as the AIBP and several other projects launched to repair and restore water bodies. Initial corpus of about Rs 20,000 crore was announced in 2016-17 for the LTIF Budget to address the perennial irrigation water crisis affecting rural India. The cabinet decision to raise the EBR by Rs 9,020 has been taken "to fulfill the estimated requirement" of an amount of Rs 29,000 crore as LTIF. --IANS spk/pgh/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on Wednesday said it has asked 21 smartphone makers across the world -- of which majority are Chinese -- to share the security procedures and processes they have undertaken to ensure security of mobile phone devices. A senior official at the ministry said the government has taken this step to ensure that mobile phone users have assured data privacy in the wake of reports of data leakage and theft both domestically as well as abroad. The government has asked the companies to furnish the information by August 28 next. "There have been some reports that some mobile phones leak data. The government is taking all steps to see how that leakage of data can be prevented," the official said. "The first step in that direction is that we have asked the mobile companies to inform us what are the security procedures and processes that have been taken by them to ensure the security of the data of the users and their privacy... We want to make sure that any device that is sold in the country should be safe." The official mentioned that the scope of security measures verification will include the device, its operating system, the pre-loaded applications that it comes with, and also the browser of the device. The IT ministry said there will be unlimited compensation depending on the extent of damage caused. According to the IT Act, Section 43(A), a 'body corporate' is accountable to protect the privacy of data of the users and it is their responsibility to make sure that they take reasonable security measures and these provisions have to be complied with. The testing and verification of devices will be done in the country itself, the official said adding that the government is upgrading testing facilities in the existing labs and additional capabilities are being created for further testing. At present, there are around 20 crore units of mobile phones in circulation in the country. --IANS ppg/ag/dg (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.) Zone A team Gujarat Fortunegiants outclassed Telugu Titans 29-18 in a lopsided inter-zone Pro Kabaddi League (PKL) contest at Trasstadia Arena here on Wednesday to further strengthen their top spot in the group standings. For Gujarat, Sachin (10 points) continued his fine form from the previous matches along with defenders Fazel Atrachali (3 points) and Abozar Mighani (4 points) to help their side win by 11-point margin and register their fifth consecutive win on a trot in home leg. While Hyderabad displayed a failed all-round show, with substitute Vinoth Kumar (4 points) and defender Vishal Bharadwaj (2 points) being the key performers for their side. After initial empty raids from both the sides, Vikas broke the deadlock for Telugu Titans taking a two-point advantage off his successful tackle. But soon, the Hyderabad outfit looked to have lost momentum in the match which resulted in back-to-back empty raids and failed tackles. For Gujarat Fortunegiants skipper Sukesh Hedge and Sachin pulled one points a piece from their successful raids to bring back the home side on level terms and further give them a 5-3 advantage in the seventh minute of the match. Sachin maintained his speed, agility and movement to pull off a super raid to further strengthen the home side's position, taking a massive 14-3 lead with less than nine minutes to play in the first-half. The home side also looked strong on their defence disallowing the opposition to break free helping Gujarat take a massive 20-7 lead in the first-half. The second-half began with Hyderabad captain Rahul Chaudhari pulling out some successful raid points, along with defender Vishal Bharadwaj and Sombir combining well to narrow the points margin through their successful tackles but failed to take the lead. While for Gujarat, Sachin continued his fine form to complete a Super 10 from his successful raids. Defenders Abozar Mighani and Fazel Atrachali too kept on picking vital tackle points inside their half to keep the scoreboard ticking and maintain the lead for the home side. --IANS sam/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Chinese smartphone brand Huawei's Honor 8 Pro has been accorded with 'European Imaging and Sound Association (EISA) Consumer Smartphone 2017-2018' award, the company announced on Wednesday. EISA called the device as "a fitting tribute to the innovative engineering and great performance from Honor". "We are thrilled to receive the 'EISA Consumer Smartphone 2017 - 2018'. This prestigious accolade represents a solid recognition from the industry - not only for the Honor 8 Pro but also for the wider Honor brand," George Zhao, President of Honor, said in a statement. "Despite the competitive smartphone market space, the Honor 8 Pro stood out from the crowd and has been extremely well-received by millennials, which has reinforced our confidence to develop further trend-setting devices which excel in design and performance for millennials around the globe," Zhao added. Priced at Rs 29,999, the 6GB 'Honor 8 Pro' with fourth generation 12MP dual-lens camera system was launched last month in India. Honor 8 Pro has a 5.7-inch display, 128GB internal storage, which can be expanded up to 256GB, boasts a 2K quad HD display and houses 4,000mAh battery. The device runs on the latest premium flagship Kirin 960 processor and an all-new EMUI 5.1 software. The duel-SIM smartphone that runs Android 7.0 Nougat-based EMUI 5 comes with 8MP selfie camera. Globally, Huawei witnessed 35 per cent growth (YOY) in revenue in 2016, with 139 million smartphone shipments. In the first quarter of 2017, the company shipped 34.55 million units in 74 countries. --IANS sku/na/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Moscow hopes the US will refrain from unilateral steps leading to the collapse of the 2015 nuclear agreement with Iran, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. "I hope that the US will not violate the obligations it has assumed," Xinhua news agency quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Wednesday. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned Tuesday that Iran's nuclear program could be restarted within hours if the US administration imposes additional sanctions on Tehran. The US Congress earlier this month approved a series of new sanctions against Iran for its ballistic missile program and other activities in the region. Iran said these tests did not go against the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action it signed in July 2015 with the US, Russia, China, France, Britain, Germany and the European Union on stopping its nuclear program. Lavrov condemned the new US sanctions as illegitimate and capable of "undermining and destroying the carefully built balance" reached to curb Iran's nuclear program. He said Russia upholds the principle of abstaining from unilateral sanctions but honours the measures of influence agreed upon within the UN Security Council. "The Americans are categorically against the principle ... We will necessarily defend it (the principle) in all future discussions," Lavrov said. The Indian and Pakistani Army traded heavy fire on Wednesday on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district. Defence Ministry sources said the Pakistan Army resorted to unprovoked firing and shelling on the LoC using small arms, automatics and mortars to target Indian positions. The ceasefire violation started at 5.34 a.m., the sources said. "Indian positions are retaliating effectively. Firing exchanges were going on," the ministry sources added. --IANS sq/in (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior army officers of India and China held a meeting in eastern Ladakh on Wednesday to discuss peace, a day after their troops engaged in a scuffle when Chinese soldiers tried to enter the Indian side in Pangong Lake area, sources said. According to sources in the Army, a 'pre-scheduled' Border Personnel Meeting was held in Chusul, in eastern Ladakh, on Wednesday afternoon. In the meeting, a day after an unusual scuffle took place between Indian and Chinese troops which included stone pelting, the two sides discussed the incident and issues to ensure "strengthening of existing mechanisms for maintaining peace and tranquility", said the sources. Indian and Chinese troops got into a scuffle near the Pangong Lake in Ladakh after Chinese troops tried to cross the Line of Actual Control in the area. The standoff continued for more than an hour, during which soldiers on both sides were involved in stone pelting, which led to injury to troops, sources said. Later, a standard drill in which banners are shown asking the other side to go back to the agreed point - was held, and the Chinese troops retreated. This is a one of its kind incident where troops were involved in a skirmish, though no weapons were used. Another source said the incident has been taken "very seriously" by both sides. Army officials in Delhi have refused to comment on the incident, but have not denied it either. The development in Ladakh comes as troops of both sides are locked in a tense standoff in Doklam, in Sikkim sector, that entered the third month on Wednesday. On Tuesday, ceremonial BPMs held at different points of the boundary on Independence Day was not held. However, Army sources said on Wednesday that sweets were exchanged. --IANS ao/rn (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.) After witnessing slow growth in the first two quarters of this year, the Indian smartphone market is preparing for a bumper period owing to the upcoming festive season, a new report said on Wednesday. According to market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC), 28 million smartphones were shipped to India in Q2 (April-June) -- marking just 3.7 per cent Quarter-on-Quarter (QoQ) growth and a meagre 1.6 per cent Year-on-Year (YoY) growth. The research firm observes a January-December financial year. The impact of demonetisation late last year and implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) from July 1 caused weak sell-in shipments in the second quarter as the focus was on clearing the existing inventory. But as the festive season is approaching, offline channels have cleared old stocks, e-retailers are getting ready for mega online festivals and vendors are set to launch new models in the festive period. "The sentiment is indeed positive in the market. All the ambiguities have cleared now and vendors are gearing up for the upcoming festival season to recover from the slow start in the first half of this year," said Jaipal Singh, Senior Analyst, IDC India, in a statement. Indian vendors registered 18 per cent growth (QoQ) in Q2 after continuous decline in previous three quarters but share remains limited to 15 per cent of overall smartphone market. China-based vendors, which registered 9 per cent QoQ growth, continue to dominate with 54 per cent market share. "Indian vendors are putting all their efforts and second half of the year will be crucial. Either it will see a revival of Indian vendors or emergence of new dominance in the sub-$150 segment from China-based vendors," said Upasana Joshi, Senior Analyst, IDC India. Despite a decline of 4 per cent YoY, Samsung retained the top brand spot with 24 per cent market share. Xiaomi secured the second place with 17 per cent market share, a 25 per cent increase from previous quarter. Xiaomi is followed by Vivo (13 per cent), OPPO (8 per cent) and Lenovo with 7 per cent market share. "Reliance's 4G Jio Phone has created an excitement both in the channel and consumer front. This may stabilise the declining feature phone market in the short term and the year 2017 is expected to end with a similar volume as last year," noted Navkendar Singh, senior Research Manager, IDC India. --IANS sau/na/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi pledged to liberate "every inch" of Iraq's land from Islamic State (IS), confirming that Iraqi troops are preparing for a new offensive. "We will not leave a single inch of the land of Iraq in the hands of Daesh (IS) terrorists," Abadi said at a press conference on Tuesday. Abadi, who is also the Commander-In-Chief of Iraqi forces, attributed the delay of liberation operations to the preparation work by the security forces. Abadi's comments came as the Iraqi forces, including the predominantly Shiite Hashd Shaabi units and Sunni tribal fighters, are taking new positions west of Iraq's northern city of Mosul, preparing for battles to liberate the IS-held areas. The Iraqi forces still have to wage more offensives to drive out IS militants from their redoubts in Hawijah in southwestern Kirkuk, the adjacent sprawling rugged areas in eastern Salahudin province, in addition to the border towns with Syria in the western province of Anbar. Abadi also mentioned a meeting he held with a Kurdish delegation, during which they discussed the referendum of independence for the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan. "The dialogue with the Kurdish delegation was carried out in accordance with the interests of the country, and the atmosphere of respect and understanding has dominated the meeting," Abadi said, adding that the "redrawing of the border (inside Iraq) may lead to tragedies". Abadi officially declared Mosul's liberation from IS on July 10 after nearly nine months of fierce fighting. --IANS vgu/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Days after it formed government in Bihar with the BJP, the Janata Dal-United on Wednesday said it will join the NDA, and the party would pass a resolution to the effect on August 19. "During our party's executive meeting a resolution will be passed to join the NDA," party general secretary K.C. Tyagi told reporters here at a press conference. He said that during Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's recent visit to Delhi, BJP chief Amit Shah had extended an invitation to join the NDA. He said that during its August 19 meeting, to be held in Patna, the party would explain why it quit the Grand Alliance of RJD and Congress in Bihar to join the BJP. Nitish Kumar had on July 26 resigned as Chief Minister of Bihar, dumping the 20-month-old Grand Alliance and on July 27, he formed government with the support of BJP. Tyagi, who is also a Rajya Sabha member, said that Nitish Kumar had apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the state's aspiration for a special package. "During his meeting with Modiji on August 11, he apprised him about the demand of Rs 2.75 lakh crore for the state," he said. To discuss the package for Bihar, Nitish Kumar would come to Delhi between August 25-30 for two to three days, he said. Already several departments are forwarding their proposal for the state. He said that Nitish Kumar has demanded Rs 78,000 crore for roads and drains, Rs 55,600 crore for electricity, Rs 49,800 crore for youth empowerment, Rs 28,700 crore for toilets and Rs 10,300 crore for improving the higher education system in the state. Asked about former party president Sharad Yadav holding a Save Composite Culture gathering on August 17, he said, "We still want Sharadji to take part in the party's meeting in Patna on August 19." He also said that no resolution has been brought in the party to suspend Sharad Yadav. --IANS aks/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Afghan security forces have discovered around 40 bodies in a mass grave in the northern Sari Pul province during the government forces' cleanup operations in the troubled region. The bodies were recovered on Tuesday amid reports that militants loyal to the Islamic State (IS) group and Taliban outfit massacred more than 50 civilians after overrunning the strategically important Mirza Olang district two weeks ago, Xinhua news agency reported. The IS has claimed responsibility for the carnage and said in a statement that its fighters had killed 54 people in the troubled district. Although the Taliban rejected its involvement in the bloodshed, villagers said both the Taliban and IS insurgents jointly attacked Mirza Olang and committed the "crimes against humanity". Most of the victims had been shot dead and some beheaded. To clean up the area, the government forces launched a massive offensive over the weekend and recaptured the district on Tuesday. "The security forces succeeded in evicting the rebels from Mirza Olang and restoring government control there," army commander General Amanullah Mubin told the media. People in the country have described the killing of civilians in Mirza Olang as carnage and strongly condemned it. "Killing civilians including women and children is against the teaching of Islamic values and those behind the heinous crimes should be brought to justice," Kabul resident Mohammad Asghar told Xinhua. Sayed Musa, a resident of the district, expressed his hatred for the insurgents, saying the militants killed his son "mercilessly" although he had never taken up arms in his life. --IANS py/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Despite the recent farmer agitation in Madhya Pradesh, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-backed candidates managed to corner maximum 25 out of the 43 posts of president in the state local body elections. The results for the civic polls held on August 11 were announced by the state Election Commission on Wednesday evening. As per the final tally, the opposition Congress-backed candidates won at 15 places, while Independent candidates tasted victory at three places. The results were celebrated by the victorious candidates until late night. Madhya Pradesh BJP President Nandkumar Singh Chauhan and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said this victory was the result of the hard work put in by party workers. State Congress President Arun Yadav said his party had performed better this time but added that the results are not as per their expectation. He also accused the party in power of misusing the state machinery. Over eight lakh voters exercised their franchise in the polls. --IANS hindi-amit/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Wednesday discussed the option of sending Haj pilgrims from India through the sea route with Saudi Arabian Ambassador Mohammed Alsati, who called on him at his office. Naqvi said that various issues related to the ongoing Haj 2017 were discussed in an about 45-minute meeting. The issue of reviving the option of sending Haj pilgrims by the sea route was also discussed. Naqvi said talks on sending Haj pilgrims through the sea route are already on with the Saudi Arabian government and the response is very positive. He said that a meeting in this regard would be held between the Minority Affairs Ministry and the Union Shipping Ministry under the chairmanship of Union Minister Nitin Gadkari at New Delhi on August 28. The Minister said that the new Haj policy for 2018 would be unveiled this month with a focus on providing world class facilities to Haj pilgrims. The practice of ferrying Haj pilgrims between Mumbai and Jeddah by ship was discontinued in 1995. --IANS mak/pgh/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The overall flood situation in Bihar continued to be grim on Wednesday with major rivers in spate breaching banks, inundating new areas and displacing thousands of people, officials said. The worst affected areas were Kishanganj, Araria, Purnea and Katihar of Seemanchal region and Supaul, Madhepura and Saharsa of Koshi region. The flood situation has also worsened in East and West Champaran in the last 24 hours with the Gandak river breaching embankments in Bagaha, an official said. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar along with his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi took stock of the situation as they conducted aerial surveys on Wednesday in West Champaran district. This was the third consecutive day of the Chief Minister's aerial surveys of different flood-hit districts. He surveyed Kishanganj, Araria, Purnea and Katihar on Monday, followed by East Champaran, Sheohar, Darbhanga, Sitamarhi and Madhubani districts on Tuesday. The state's Disaster Management Department has confirmed the flood death toll has risen to 56. They fear it might increase. "It may rise further as information takes time to reach here," an official said. Unofficial reports put the death toll at over 60. People living in low lying areas have been advised to move to higher places as heavy rain continued. "The flood situation in Bihar will continue to be grim following rising water levels of rivers and incessant rain," Met department officials said. Major rivers including the Koshi, Mahananda, Gandak, Bagmati and Ganga are in spate and some rivers have breached their banks and embankments, officials said. "With heavy rainfall in Bihar as well as in the catchment areas in Nepal, the water level of these rivers has been rising," an official told IANS. The government has launched massive relief and rescue operations with help from the Army, Air Force as well as the National Disaster Response Force and Bihar State Disaster Response Force teams. "We have deployed four Army teams, 22 NDRF and 15 SDRF teams along with hundreds of our own officials in relief and rescue operations in flood-affected districts," state Disaster Management Department Principal Secretary Pratyaya Amrit said. An official said over 69.41 lakh people in 1,070 panchayats under 98 blocks in 133 districts have been affected by the floods in Bihar. Of them, more than 2.48 lakh have been evacuated to safer places by the rescue teams. The state government has set up 343 relief camps in which 93,149 people are living. Thousands of people have taken shelter either on high rise school buildings, panchayat buildings or other government buildings. Many continue to suffer along the national highways under the open sky. The state administration said at least five more districts including Samastipur and Khagaria face flood threats. "Flood waters have entered in some new areas and are likely to create panic among people," the officials said. The JD-U-BJP government has cancelled the leave of doctors and heath department officials in all flood-hit districts. Nitish Kumar has again spoken with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and requested assistance. Railway stations in Kishanganj, Katihar and Jogbani in Araria were flooded, leaving scores of passengers stranded. Eighteen trains have been cancelled since Sunday. According to officials, crops worth crores of rupees have been affected and road links to several places have been snapped. Reports reaching here said flood waters have submerged NH-104 in Sitamarhi, NH-31 in Kishanganj and NH-327 in Araria, an official added. --IANS ik/in/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Days after he was removed as the party's leader in the Rajya Sabha, former Janata Dal-United (JD-U) president Sharad Yadav on Wednesday said that people are "living in fear" and the Constitution of the country is being "tinkered with". Yadav also announced that the Opposition will hold 'Sajha Virasat Bachao' (Save Composite Culture) conferences across the country -- to be coordinated by him -- starting from Delhi on Thursday. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, CPI-M leader Sitaram Yechury, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee would be participating in the programme. Yadav said although the preamble of the Constitution speaks of securing justice, liberty, equality and fraternity for all citizens but "what is happening in the present India is totally reverse" and that people are "living in fear". Asked if he meant that after Narendra Modi came to power the Constitution was in danger, the Rajya Sabha member said, "I think the Constitution is being tinkered with from here and there." Elaborating on the Sajha Virasat Bachao' conference, he said "Apart from leaders of all Opposition parties, intellectuals, farmers, unemployed youth, Dalits and tribals from all parts of the country will be participating." He said that JD-U President and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has also been invited to participate. The Nitish faction sacked Sharad Yadav as its Rajya Sabha leader last week for opposing the party's alliance with the BJP. The Congress on Wednesday blamed the BJP government for destroying the "composite culture" of the country and said that the conference organised by Sharad Yadav would help in upholding it. "Our country is known for its composite culture, which is in danger. The BJP and its allies are working 24 hours to destroy the composite culture," senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said. --IANS aks-sid/rn (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.) At least 32 suspected drug dealers were killed in shootouts across one province in the Philippines in a bloody 24 hours for the country's war on drugs, the police said. Police officers arrested 107 people in a large scale operation carried out between Monday and Tuesday in Bulacan province, BBC reported on Wednesday. Police Senior Superintendent Romeo Caramat said police conducted 66 simultaneous raids in the province. He said the Bulacan operations had so far yielded the largest number of casualties. "We have conducted several one-time, big time operations in the past but so far this is the highest number of killed perhaps during our operations," he said. Caramat said during the operations, the police seized several kg of illicit drugs of methamphetamine and marijuana, and 34 firearms. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte lauded the police for killing 32 drug suspects "in a massive raid". "That's nice. If only we could kill 32 every day then maybe we can reduce the ... what ails this country," Duterte said in a speech at the Malacanang Presidential Palace, referring to the illicit drug menace facing the country. Thousands have been killed since Duterte launched his controversial war on drugs in 2016. Rights groups have accused Philippines police of planning extrajudicial killings and in some cases profiting from them. Police maintains that the suspects are killed when they offer armed resistance to police, a claim that has been highly disputed. Duterte suspended the campaign in January promising to "clean up" the police, and re-organise the anti-drug units. The campaign resumed in March. --IANS soni/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "dividing" the country by allowing the BJP cadres to "beat up Dalits and kill minorities". "PM Modi has been busy dividing the country. He allows his party people to beat up Dalits, kill minorities and does not condemn it," Gandhi said, addressing a gathering of party workers at a public meeting here. He attacked the Prime Minister for not mentioning the Gorakhpur deaths, rising unemployment and the Doklam standoff in his Independence Day speech at the Red Fort. "The Prime Minister did not tell you that the rate of unemployment is the highest in eight years. He had promised two crore jobs yearly. What is the Prime Minister doing about giving jobs to youngsters?" Gandhi questioned. "He did not tell you that many babies died in Gorakhpur due to his health policies," he said, adding that medical facilities aren't available for the poor in India. He accused the Modi government of "cutting" the health budget, which he said, was why the hospital could not buy oxygen cylinders. "Did anyone hear the Prime Minister say that the Chinese forces are sitting inside Bhutan?". On Jammu and Kashmir, Gandhi lamented that the Modi government had "destroyed in just one month" all the work done by the previous Congress-led government over 10 years to bring peace to the region. "We wanted to embrace Jammu and Kashmir and for them to embrace us. We wanted peace in the region, because with peace Pakistan cannot do anything to Jammu and Kashmir," Gandhi said. On foreign relations, he said the Modi government was responsible for "creating problems with friendly nations". "When we (Congress) were in power all neighbouring countries barring Pakistan and China were favourable to India, but the Prime Minister has alienated them one by one". "For the first time in history, Russia is selling arms to Pakistan. Over the last three years, the Modi government has created problems with friendly nations," Gandhi added. "It is time that the Prime Minister starts doing what he has been elected to do," he remarked. Earlier during the day, the Congress leader inaugurated the party-led state government's 'Indira Canteens' aimed at providing subsidised meals to the poor in the city. --IANS bha/rn (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) National Broadcaster Prasar Bharati on Wednesday refuted as "totally incorrect" the allegations that it censored the Independence Day speech of Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar. "The allegations that Doordarshan Kendra, Agartala blacked out the Chief Minister on Independence Day is totally incorrect and is vehemently refuted," U.K. Sahoo, Prasar Bharati's Head of Office, Doordarshan Kendra, Agartala, said in a statement. He said the News Unit of the local station of Doordarshan at Agartala gave wide coverage to the public address of the Chief Minister and the development activities of the state government. "On August 15, Doordarshan also gave wide coverage to the Chief Minister's Independence Day programme and telecast report running up to 29 minutes and 45 seconds, out of which the CM's speech coverage was for 12 minutes," he said. "Apart from this... the Independence Day programmes in various districts of Tripura were given wide publicity in the regional news bulletin," he added. Sahoo said that over the last 25 years, since its inception, the Doordarshan Kendra has always given wide publicity to the speeches of Chief Minister of Tripura and extensively covered his public programmes and official activities. "The Agartala Kendra has telecast the Chief Minister's message to the people of Tripura over these years," the statement said. Sarkar on Wednesday condemned the "censorship" of his Independence Day speech by Prasar Bharati and termed it an "undemocratic, autocratic and intolerant step". An official statement from the Chief Minister's Office said that All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan Kendra (DDK), Agartala, recorded Sarkar's speech on August 12 to broadcast and telecast, repectively, on August 15. "On August 14 evening, Assistant Director of Programmes (Policy) Sanjiv Dosajh of AIR, New Delhi, and Prasar Bharati's Head of Office (New Delhi) U.K. Sahoo in separate communications to the Chief Minister's Office said that with the existing contents, the speech could not be broadcast and telecast by AIR and DDK, Agartala," the statement said. "The AIR and Prasar Bharati officials had suggested reshaping the content of the Chief Minister's speech making it suitable to the solemnity of the occasion and sentiments of the people of India at large. The Chief Minister refused to make any change in his speech," the statement added. Sarkar, a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo member, who has been the Chief Minister of Tripura for 19 years, has in previous years delivered the Independence Day speeches through the AIR and DDK, Agartala. --IANS bns/nir/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dozens of Bernalillo County residents turned out en masse to the Aug. 8 Bernalillo County Commission meeting to support keeping BernCo immigrant friendly. The hot issues on the table were a resolution that would rescind the immigrant-friendly status of the county and the separate issue of adding dozens of Sherriffs deputies to the countys ranks. Get Up, Stand Up Republican mayoral candidate and County Commissioner Wayne Johnson introduced a measure to rescind a resolution passed in March by the Commission that declared the county to be immigrant-friendly. Johnsons plan to yank the resolution came after Albuquerque was called out as one the four cities US Attorney Jeff Sessions singled out in an official letter that warned the Feds would withhold law enforcement funding from cities who had openly declared their immigrant-friendly or sanctuary city status. This proposed legislation called for the county, which is the entity that operates the local detention center, to allow federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to have an office inside the jail where arrestees would be screened for immigration status before being allowed bond or release. On the Burque side, Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry responded to the Feds by saying that, in 2009, he gave ICE agents space in the city-operated Downtown Prisoner Transport Center to do their screenings prior to prisoner transport to the county-run West Side lock-up. But ICE agents have never really set up shop there and the space has been empty since 2014, as confirmed by Police Chief Gorden Eden at the Aug. 7 City Council meeting. Former City Councilor Rey Garduno addressed the Commission in both Spanish and English, strongly admonishing the body and saying Go ahead and lie about how you are going to protect the community. Shame on you for grabbing headlines to get elected. Shame on those who take refuge in scoundrels. Commissioner Johnson defended his resolution by saying it is being misunderstood and the resolution is not about being anti-immigrant but about following the federal law. Everything in this puts the burden on the department of Homeland Security and ICE, he said. This is about being pro-law. But Johnsons resolution didnt fly with the four other commissioners, and they easily sunk it into the trash basket with the help of Republican Commissioner Lonnie Talbert. Talbert applauded the civil discourse that took place. A lot of good comments were heard. I am going to continue to stand behind the current resolution, he said. Democrat commissioners also stood by their positions. Commissioner Debbie OMalley said the county has a lawful, immigrant-friendly policy in place. This is a community that embraces diversity and tolerance, she said. Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins summed things up when she said US Attorney General Jeff Sessions comments about withholding funding from the four targeted cities are offensive, very ignorant and just stupid. We live in this communitynone of want to protect the criminals. What we do want to do is respect the US Constitution, she said. Commissioner Steven Michael Quezada, who introduced the current policy back in March, said Bernalillo County is immigrant-friendly and will not use resources to help ICE agents round up immigrants. When you push people into darkness be prepared for what comes out of the darkness. I come from that neighborhood. We need our citizens to feel safe and welcome and reach out to our police officers, he said. Deputy Dollars Sheriff Manuel Gonzales asked commissioners to give his department about $9 million to hire 60 new sworn deputies and five civilians to better take on crime across the entire county/metro area. I think you are aware of the red flag issues going on in our community. My concern is obviously for citizens of Bernalillo county. He said calls for service spiked 73 percent over the last four years. During public comment, a couple of folks spoke in favor of the funding increase. We have a crime problem here, and we have to do something about it, one resident said. Another speaker said he supported the funding. He combined the two hot issues on the table. The Mexican cartel is here, they are coming with heroin and cocaine, this bilingual speaker said. They are not coming with love. There was no decision made, as this was merely a discussion item on the agenda. Commission and county staff reviews pointed out several problems with his request and suggested looking at various ways of phasing in the new deputies and addressing some of the crime needs in the city part of the county. Further discussion on the unresolved matter will be scheduled for upcoming commission meetings. Palabras Publicas Forty-one people signed up to speak their minds in a minute and a half with most of them getting unchallenged rounds of applause. The comments were passionate, civil and at times eloquent. Many of the 35 NM Dream Team members in attendance spoke out and identified themselves. I am undocumented, unashamed and unafraid. Albuquerque is my home and I dont want to live in fear of being deported. When our communities thriveAlbuquerque thrives. I dont deny Albuquerque has a crime problem, but this is the result of economic and health disparities in our community. We know how to live with diversity; that is one of our special strengths. A leader from the New Mexico Conference of Churches called out Johnson by name, reminding him that, It is our duty to protect the dignity of all persons. A member of the Islamic Society summed up much of the comments by saying, the people of the faith community want you to stand strong against this bullyingreject the resolution, commit to reinforcing current immigrant-friendly policyand take a clear, strong stand in the future. A local ACLU attorney reminded the Commission that their organization has the law on their side as regards the Constitution and its amendments, urging them to uphold justice and reject Johnsons attempt to satisfy Sessions. Scores of people were feared killed by suspected Boko Haram suicide bombers at a market in Nigeria's Borno State, media reports said. A security source who confirmed the attacks on Tuesday said that he was yet to get full details of the incident which occurred at about 35 km from the state capital Maiduguri, Xinhua news agency reported. An emergency source who spoke on condition of anonymity said that dozens of people were killed and others injured. Lagos-based Vanguard newspaper, quoting local sources, however reported that at least 27 persons were killed and while 83 were wounded in northeast Nigeria on Tuesday. According to the newspaper, a woman bomber blew herself up and killed 27 others at a market in the village of Konduga near Maiduguri. It quoted an emergency service official as saying that two other suicide bombers also blew themselves up at the gates to a nearby refugee camp, leaving many injured. Military authorities in Borno State have yet to confirm the attacks. Borno State, located in Nigeria's northeast region, is a flash-point of attacks perpetrated by Boko Haram since 2009, when the sect launched its insurgency targeting churches, security facilities, schools and villages. --IANS vgu/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) South Africa's Parliament refused to meet a delegation from the Israeli Knesset (parliament) in protest against Israel's settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories. This followed a decision of the ruling African National Congress (ANC) Parliamentary Caucus on Tuesday to reject a request from the Israeli Ambassador Arthur Lenk for the South African Parliament's Portfolio Committee on International Relations to meet a delegation from the Israeli Knesset on August 16-17, Xinhua news agency reported. "The disquiet of our Parliament arises from among other concerns the Israeli Knesset having passed legislation which retrospectively legalizes settlements into Palestinian territories, thus undermining the Two-State Solution the South African government supports," ANC parliamentary spokesperson Nonceba Mhlauli said. The UN Security Council has also bemoaned these actions through its Resolution (UNSCR) 2334 of December 2016, which states that Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem have "no legal validity and constitute a flagrant violation under International Law", Mhlauli said. The continuous killings of Palestinians by the Israeli security forces, administrative detentions, deportations and many other human rights violations also form part of the reasons why the ANC cannot allow itself to be co-opted into this charm offensive by Israel through this parliamentary visit, said Mhlauli. "We are unequivocal in our support of the Palestinian peoples' fight for self-determination, and maintain the view that they are victims of the ongoing conflict against Israel. The ANC continues to support and advocate for the peaceful co-existence of the two nations," he said. South Africa, a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause, has been critical of Israel for its policy towards the Palestinians. --IANS vgu/ (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least three labourers were killed and three injured on Tuesday when a heap of coal collapsed on them at Adani Group-managed Dhamra Port in Odisha's Bhadrak district. Following the deaths, irate people heckled Dhamra Port Chief Executive Officer Subrat Tripathy when he went to see the injured at the hospital located within the port premises. They also torched the main gate and ransacked the office. "An unfortunate incident occurred on Tuesday at the coal stacking yard in the Dharma Port claiming lives of three labourers and injuring three others. All of them were immediately taken to the nearby Bhadrak Hospital for treatment," said a statement from the Dhamra Port Company Ltd (DPCL). Three labourers were declared dead at the hospital while others were undergoing treatment there. The accident took place when the labourers were stacking coal in the yard, it added. "We at Adani would like to reiterate that we follow the highest and strictest standards of health and safety. The safety of our thousands of employees and contractual labourers is Adani's top-most priority and we have a well-planned safety training programme for our employees and those of contractors as well," said the statement. "We will investigate this matter fully and find out the exact reason of this unfortunate accident. We are fully cooperating with the authorities too," it added. --IANS cd/nir/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three thieves in their 20s have been arrested here and four country-made guns and three stolen motorcycles recovered from them, police said on Wednesday. Deputy Commissioner of Police M.N. Tiwari said the three were arrested in Sultanpuri area of outer Delhi during a routine vehicle checking, when they were riding a stolen Apache motorcycle, on Tuesday. They have been identified as Karan Parcha, 22, Amit, 22, and Bintu Partap Singh, 25 -- all residents of Delhi with previous criminal involvements. "The accused didn't stop their motorcycle when they were signalled to and were later overpowered," Tiwari said. Police said they have worked out six cases with the arrests. --IANS nkh/him/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump has again "blamed both sides" for the deadly violence at a white supremacist rally over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, that resulted in the death of a 32-year-old woman. In a show of defiance, Trump told reporters in Manhattan on Tuesday that there were "two sides to a story" just a day after he had belatedly condemned racist hate groups for the mayhem at the "Unite the Right" rally in Virginia, the Washington Post reported. "I think there is blame on both sides. You had a group on one side that was bad. You had a group on the other side that was also very violent. Nobody wants to say that. I'll say it right now." He equated the white supremacists on one side with the "alt-left" on the other side and said that "alt-left" groups were "very, very violent" when they sought to confront the white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups that had gathered in Charlottesville. Trump also defended his initial response that "many sides" were to blame for the violence at the rally, saying he needed to "know the facts" before calling out neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan. His initial response to the violence was quickly panned by Democrats and Republicans alike. He remained silent on Sunday. After mounting pressure, Trump spoke on Monday and condemned the white supremacists and neo-Nazis at the heart of the violence. On Tuesday, the President defended his 48-hour delay in denouncing white supremacists, arguing that he took his time because he didn't know the facts. "I wanted to make sure, unlike most politicians, that what I said was correct, not make a quick statement," Trump said, calling his initial comment a "fine statement". He added: "I don't want to go quickly and just make a statement for the sake of making a political statement." The President subsequently called the driver of the car that drove through a crowd, killing one woman, a "murderer". "The driver of the car is a murderer and what he did was a horrible, horrible, inexcusable thing." Trump also made it clear that he believes that many of the participants in the rally were taking part in a lawful demonstration against the Charlottesville city council's decision to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from a public square, the report said. "You had people in that group who were protesting the taking down of what to them is a very, very important statue," the President said, going on to suggest that if historical revisionism could delegitimise Lee's role and lead to the removal of his statue, then it could also be used to remove statues and monuments to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who were both slave owners. --IANS soni/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The UK government has said it does not want any border posts between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic in its new position paper on Brexit. In the latest of a series of papers covering different aspects of Britain's future relationship with the EU, Brexit Secretary David Davis' department will say that it hopes to agree upfront with the EU that there will be no need for "physical infrastructure" such as new border posts, the Guardian reported on Wednesday. The new position paper suggests a "new customs partnership" or a "highly streamlined customs arrangement". The future status of the land border between Northern Ireland, which will leave the EU along with the rest of the UK, and the Irish Republic, which will remain a member, is one of the knotty issues the European Commission has insisted must be resolved early in negotiations. A government source told the Guardian: "As Michel Barnier (the EU's chief Brexit negotiator) himself has said, the solution cannot be based on a precedent so we're looking forward to seeing the EU's position paper on Ireland." Whether it will be possible to prevent any border checks at all will depend on what new customs deal the UK manages to reach with the EU as the talks progress further, the report said. The Brexit Secretary wants a limited transition period to implement any new customs arrangements, including considerations relating to the "unique circumstances" of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The position paper sets out two "broad approaches" to future customs arrangements that Britain hopes will help to prevent physical customs posts along the Irish border, BBC reported. The suggestions are a "new customs partnership" or a "highly streamlined customs arrangement". The partnership model would "align" customs approaches between Britain and the EU, resulting in "no customs border at all between the UK and Ireland", the paper claims. Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said he did not accept that the EU would be unwilling to facilitate the government's proposals. An Irish government spokesperson welcomed the position paper as "timely and helpful" as it offers more clarity on the UK's strategy. --IANS soni/bg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Warning that military action to deal with North Korean nuclear and missile threats will be "too horrific to contemplate", UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called upon nations to "dial-down rhetoric and dial-up diplomacy". Speaking to reporters, he said that all countries should strictly enforce the recent Security Council resolution imposing a stringent embargo on North Korea, but simultaneously also work towards a "meaningful dialogue". His comments on dangers of military action appeared to be aimed at United States President Donald Trump who has warned Pyongyang of a rain of "fire and fury like the world has never seen before" if it continued with its threats to the US. North Korea's hereditary dictator Kim Jong-un, who oversaw the test of ballistic missiles that experts say could reach major US cities, had threatened to fire missiles near Guam, a US territory in the Pacific. However, in the face of Trump's stern warnings he has since backed off, saying he would wait to see the "foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees". Guterres also conceded the role of North Korea in precipitating the crisis, saying that it started with Pyongyang building up its nuclear and missile programmes. Even as the US and North Korea appear to have pulled back from the brink, Guterres recalled that more than 3 million people had died in the Korean conflict of the early 1950s and warned that the world needs to heed the lessons of history. He said the channels of communication between North Korea and the other parties should be opened, either bilaterally or through the resumption of the six-party talks of the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States. He also said that the two Koreas should hold a dialogue on de-nuclearising their peninsula. Answering a reporter's question, he said that Trump or anyone else was not going to force him not speak his mind. He said that his statements on Wednesday were proof that he would say "what needs to be said" whether they were not to the liking of Trump or any other leader. On another issue involving Trump, who has accused Venezuelan Nicolas Maduro of being a repressive dictator and threatened military intervention against him, Guterres said that Latin America had successfully gotten rid of both authoritarianism and foreign dictatorship and cold deal with situation. In Korea meanwhile, Trump's threats and brinkmanship appear to have paid off for the time being despite some international criticism and opposition by Democrats in the United States. Pyongyang's patron, Beijing, has begun enforcing more vigorously the latest round of Security Council sanctions and forced it to back down from its threats to hurl missiles near Guam. Trump's counter-threats could have endangered China's own economy and standing for now. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in) --IANS al/nir (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A US government report on religious freedom lists attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh, Pakistan and elsewhere as well as restrictions on Sikhs in France and Denmark. The State Department's International Religious Freedom Report for 2016 (IRFR) released on Tuesday in Washington by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that mentioned growing attacks on minorities in India, some ascribed to cow-protection activists, also chronicled attacks against Hindus in several countries. It said that in Bangladesh "there were a significant number of attacks against religious minorities, particularly Hindus" and attributed some of them to the Islamic State (IS) and the Al Qaeda. In October, hundreds of villagers in the eastern part of Bangladesh "vandalised more than 50 Hindu family homes and 15 Hindu temples, following a Facebook post believed by some to be offensive to Islam," according to the IRFR. At least 24 persons were killed in attacks by extremists organisations and they included Hindus, Christians, Buddhists and other minorities, the report said. In Pakistan, the IRFR attributed the attacks on Hindus to claims of blasphemy against Islam and said: "Members of religious minority communities stated the government was inconsistent in safeguarding minority rights, and official discrimination against Christians, Hindus, Sikhs and Ahmadis persisted." The report said according to Christian and Hindu organisations girls from those communities "were particularly vulnerable to forced conversions". The IRFR said the French government continued to ban Sikhs turbans in public spaces, schools and government offices; while Denmark prohibited judges from wearing turbans. These restrictions also affected other religions because the ban included "conspicuous" religious symbols. In Denmark the restrictions also included crucifixes. While there were 2,372 anti-Muslim crimes in England and Wales between April 2015 and March 2016; 1,055 crimes against Christians and other religious groups, including Hindus and Sikhs, were reported according to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), IRFR said. It did not provide a breakdown of crimes against Hindus and Sikhs. In Malaysia, IRFR said that at least eight Hindu temples around the country were reportedly vandalised from April to November 2016. One person who was accused of defiling a temple in Perak State was acquitted on grounds of insanity but prosecutors were appealing it, the report added. "Hindu leaders and NGOs said police ignored the potential religious or ethnic motivations for the crimes and called on authorities to increase protection for places of worship and to investigate the cases of vandalism for any elements of 'terrorism and extremism,'" the IRFR said. Controversial Indian Imam and televangelist Zakir Naik was welcomed by the Malaysian government although Hindus protested his speaking tour to the country because they said "his message insulted Hinduism and promoted extremism," it said. In contrast, the Bangladesh government banned Naik's Peace TV Bangla saying it "spread extremist ideologies" and closed "peace schools" affiliated with his teachings, according to IRFR. Three Hindu temples were broken into and desecrated in January, August, and September in 2016 in Fiji, according to the report. In Mauritius, the IRFR said: "Tensions between Hindus and Muslims continued; however, unlike in previous years, there were no reports of inter-religious violence." A Tamil temple was vandalised in Port Louis in December, according to the report. The report included a bizarre incident in which vandalism at two mosques and a Muslim cemetery were apparently linked to US President Donald Trump, Hindus and the Bollywood. In the Savanne District unidentified individuals wrote in Creole "Trump for them" and this had the implication that Trump supported Hindus and was against Muslims, the IRFR said. "Also written was 'Gabbar is BACK' a reference to a famous Bollywood antagonist famed for murdering his enemies," along with the letters HSS and a trident was also drawn, the report said. "According to speculation in the press, HSS was a reference to the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS)," IRFR said, adding that the HSS denied involvement. (Arul Louis can be reached at arul.l@ians.in) --IANS al/in/vm (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Purdue University in Indiana state of the US will train about 10,000 Americans whom Indian software major Infosys Ltd would hire over the next two years, said the university on Wednesday. "We are entering a five-year agreement with Infosys on Thursday to provide classes and train 10,000 American youth whom Infosys will hire," said Purdue in a statement from West Lafayette in the US. About 2,000 of the trained employees will be based in the Indiana state in Midwest. "Training will be aimed at new employees and conducted in our West Lafayette campus," noted the university. The partnership between the IT major and the public research university also envisages learning opportunities via online courses for the company's techies working in the US. "We will conduct joint research and develop course materials for Digital Agriculture, Cyber Security, Bio Pharma Analytics, Autonomous Vehicles, Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics," added the statement. --IANS fb/pgh/dg (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) It is quite disturbing to read that outstanding loans by wilful defaulters of public sector banks have gone up 20.4 per cent to Rs 92,376 crore at the end of the financial year 2016-17 compared with Rs 76,685 crore at the end of 2015-16. The number of wilful defaulters has also risen to 8,915 from 8,167. The Maharashtra Star Rating Programme is the first government-led initiative in India that makes data available from approximately 20,000 industrial stack samples over multiple years. Photo: Reuters Between 2005 and 2008 European utilities were determined to embark on a major coal-plant construction programme. They announced plans to build 49 GW of new coal-fired power capacity. To date, 77% of this new capacity has been cancelled, with more likely to be cancelled soon. 20GW has been cancelled in Germany alone. The economics of existing plants have deteriorated too. For example, in the UK coal use fell by over half in 2016 and the countrys power system now experiences coal-free days for the first time since the 1880s. New analysis from the University of Oxford Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment finds that unjustified optimism in the future of coal at a company-level combined with wishful thinking in sector-wide forecasting led to the proposed coal expansions that ultimately backfired. The scale and pace of the decline in coals economic attractiveness is significant and provides a cautionary tale for Asian utilities and their investors. European utilities completely misjudged the prospects for new coal-fired generation and have since paid a significant price for this mistake. The subsequent stranded assets, underperformance, and reductions to balance sheet capacity still weigh down the sector. Moreover, significant financial, human, and organisational capital was wasted taking forward so many coal projects through the development process. The proposed plants were also a major unwelcomed distraction for utilities just as the European power system entered an unprecedented period of technology, policy and market innovation. While Europe and Asia are at different stages of development, the European experience provides some instructive lessons. Company executives are too optimistic about a technology that they believe is safe or tried and tested. Coal is, in fact, perhaps the generation technology most vulnerable to low marginal cost renewables, commodity price volatility, concerns about air pollution, competition from gas, and of course, necessary action to tackle climate change. Some Asian economies already seem to understand this dynamic. South Koreas newly elected President Moon Jae-In's moves to phase out coal and shift into solar and wind will help avoid making the mistakes of European utilities. Taiwan is expanding its renewable energy plans whilst reducing its reliance on coal by a third, from 45% to 30% by 2025. Meanwhile, China continues to drive the long-term global coal decline. According to Wood MacKenzie, coal use in China has dropped by 40% in the last five years. India has joined China and other East Asian economies in hastening the demise of new coal growth: no new coal plants are set to be commissioned for the coming decade, according to the Central Electricity Authoritys draft plan. And 37GW of old coal could be shut down, while Coal India plans to close 37 mines that are no longer viable. Indian utilities could face the same financial problems as European ones if they do not reduce exposure to coal. In contrast, Japan and Indonesia's plans to build dozens of new coal plants will expose the countries to multi-billion dollar stranded assets risks.Plans in Japan to build 49 new coal-fired power plants and 28 gigawatts of additional capacity cannot be economically justified and would exceed the capacity required to replace the retiring fleet by 191 per cent. The resulting overcapacity, combined with stiffening competition from solar and other renewable sources, creates a risk that assets amounting to about 25 per cent of power companies market capitalisation could become stranded. The implications for Asian utilities and utility investors are crystal clear: bets on new coal dont pay off. The worryingly prevalent assumption that the power sector will remain static and safe for thermal coal assets runs counter to the evidence we see in Europe. Dr Ben Caldecott, Director of the Sustainable Finance Programme at the University of Oxford. Views are personal It seems the (JD-U) is at war with itself. The Nitish Kumar-led JD-U has its national executive meeting in Patna on August 19. The real JD-U that the rebels claim they lead is discussing a plan to organise a parallel national executive not far from where Kumar and his party will gather in Patna. There is also a war of words between the two groups, with leaders in the Kumar camp claiming that the rebels are being supported by the Lalu Prasad-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), and that the parallel national executive is likely to be attended by RJD workers, but without their party flag. However, neither the JD-U nor the RJD has an exhaustive list of party workers, and it is likely to be an uphill task if RJD workers populate the venue of the rebel meeting. Meanwhile, JD-U leader Sharad Yadav, who has disagreed with Kumar's decision to ally with the Bharatiya Janata Party, has dismissed speculation that he would join any political party. This has put the Kumar camp in a fix as it does not want to be seen as expelling the senior leader from the party. In a jibe directed towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi following his passionate statement saying the Kashmir unrest can be solved with an 'embrace', senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram on Tuesday reminded the former that 'one cannot embrace with a gun in hand'. In a series of strongly worded tweets, the former union minister took on the Prime Minister over his Independence Day address today. "PM said "will embrace Kashmir". Humbly submit one cannot embrace with a gun in hand. PM said "GST showed India's capability". It actually showed India's capacity to mess up implementation," he said. Training his guns on the Prime Minister's reference to the recent Gorakhpur tragedy where over 80 have died, Chidambaram asked the former if he will ask the concerned authorities to take accountability. Earlier on Tuesday, Conference (NC) leader Omar Abdullah said that although Prime Minister Modi's remark on 'embracing Kashmiris' was well received, everyone is getting 'weary of yet more talk and no concrete action' on the matter. Taking to twitter, Omar saying "PM Modi's words for Kashmir have been very well received by people here but everyone here is weary of yet more talk and no concrete action." Addressing the nation on the occasion of the 71st Independence Day today, Prime Minister Modi opined that the situation in the Valley cannot be solved by bullets or abuses, but by embracing Kashmiris. Strongly condemning the rise of terrorism, Prime Minister Modi assured that while security remains the top priority of the Centre, no leeway will be given to terrorists. "We are not alone in our fight against terrorism; many countries are actively supporting us. There will be no type of softness against terrorism," he said, adding, "We are committed to restoring Kashmir's status of heaven on earth. (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 an effort to consolidate his urban vote base, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday opened over 100 Indira canteens in Bengaluru, which would offer subsidised food for the urban poor. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Wednesday accused the Narendra Modi government at the Centre of imposing the worst kind of censorship. It said the Agartala centres of Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) blacked out Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar's Independence Day address to the people of the state. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday stressed the importance of the Swachch Bharat Mission in the eradication of diseases such as encephalitis, which claim the lives of hundreds of children every year. He regretted that children were dying even 70 years after India's Independence. "The cure of diseases such as encephalitis is hidden in the Swachch Bharat Mission. I been saying this repeatedly as I represent eastern UP," he said after unfurling the flag on the occasion of Independence Day. In the last three decades, Japanese Encephalitis and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome have claimed over 50,000 lives in eastern Uttar Pradesh, mostly in the Gorakhpur district. Adityanath said in his first Independence Day speech as the chief minister that a large numbers of people, including children, died of diseases such as encephalitis, chikanguniya, kala azar, swine flu and other vector borne diseases. Nearly 70 children have died at the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur since August 7. Many of the deaths were alleged to have been caused by shortage of oxygen, a claim dismissed by the state government. The CM said a resolve has been taken to celebrate I-Day as 'sankalp diwas' to establish India as a super power and free the country of terrorism, naxalism and anarchy. "We will have to take that resolve collectively in Uttar Pradesh also as the road to development of the country passes through the state," the chief minister said. Referring to the work undertaken by his government, he mentioned the new industrial policy to check migration and creation of job opportunities and loan waiver of farmers. "Safety is an important ingredient for development for which we have decided to provide the rule of law and security to all. The anarchy which had frightened the people and had hit the development ... We gave a new direction to policing...To deal sternly with eve teasers and those taking law in their hand," he said. He said, "We will honour those who are helping in improving the climate (law and order) and also give them out of turn promotions". Claiming that a change was visible in the past four months, he said it would be more effective in the future and UP would emerge as a prosperous state. The chief minister exhorted the people to live with the "spirit of liveliness" as life was not about frustration and hopelessness. At another function, Governor Ram Naik unfurled the flag and paid homage to freedom fighters. Independence Day functions were also held in party offices of the Samajwadi Party and Congress, among others. Addressing party workers after unfurling the tricolour, UPCC president Raj Babbar said "Congress is an ideology" which not only helped in attaining independence but also made the country strong and helped it develop. "Congress has always kept the pride and honour of the country above everything and today there is a need to follow the ideals of Gandhi and Nehru," he said. In his speech at the Samajwadi Party headquarters, Akhilesh Yadav said people of all religion and castes took part in the freedom struggle. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A new species of a 100-million- year-old damselfly discovered in Myanmar has been named in honour of famed British broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough, scientists said today. The species, belonging to a group more commonly known as shadowdamsels, has been named Mesosticta davidattenboroughi. Researchers decided to name the new species after David Attenborough because of his long-standing appreciation of dragonflies, and to celebrate his 90th birthday. Mesosticta davidattenboroughi joins a long list of animals which have been named after Sir David Attenborough, including a weevil and fossil species of a plesiosaur and a fish. The finding, described in the Journal of Systematic Palaeontology, was made in the Hukawng Valley of Kachin Province in Myanmar. The fossil was found in a piece of mid- Cretaceous Burmese amber. "Dragonflies in amber are extremely rare and the recent discoveries by my Chinese colleagues are a new window on the past. It is tradition in taxonomy (the naming of a new species) to contact the person concerned," said Edmund A Jarzembowski, professor at Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology in China. "Sir David was delighted because he is not only interested in the story of amber, but also a president of the British Dragonfly Society," he added. The fossil itself is extremely well preserved as it is encased in yellow transparent amber and includes a complete set of wings, researchers said. With the aid of photo technology, researchers were able to digitally enhance and build a clear three-dimensional picture of the new species, showing that it differed from previously described fossils, notably in the shorter wing length. "Mesosticta davidattenboroughi is quite unique because we have uncovered a new species and it confirms the previous attribution of Mesosticta to the Platystictidae," said Daran Zheng from Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology. "It is the first fossil group of modern platystictid damselflies and documents the appearance of Platystictidae as early as mid-Cretaceous," said Zheng. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Film buffs in Delhi will get an opportunity to watch several award-winning documentaries and features from the Northeast at a festival this week. "The Fresh Lens: New Cinematic Voices from Northeast India" is being organised by the India International Centre and the North East Media Forum from August 18-19. "This festival presents some significant voices among a new generation of filmmakers who, following in the footsteps of veterans like Aribam Syam Sharma, Jahnu Barua and the late Bhabendra Nath Saikia, have made a mark at the international and national level," says curator Utpal Borpujari. The films to be shown are "Aaba" (Grandfather; Arunachal Pradesh), "Loktak Lairembee" (Lady of the Lake; Manipur), "The Pangti Story" (Nagaland), "Alifa" (Assam), "Beautiful Lives" (Assam), "Sabin Alun" (The Broken Song; Assam), and "Antardrishti" (Man with the Binoculars; Assam). Amar Kaushik's "Aaba", is about a farmer who lives with his wife and granddaughter (Sunku) in Ziro, Arunachal Pradesh. He is diagnosed with lung cancer and has only a few days to live. He decides to dig his own grave, but an unexpected event pushes the story towards a startling climax. The film has won a Special Prize of Generation Kplus International Jury for Best Short Film at the 67th Berlin Film Festival and Best Short Fiction Film at the 64th National Film Awards 2016. Multiple award winning "Loktak Lairembee" by Haobam Paban Kumar is based on the lives of people living on floating huts in Manipur's Loktak lake. Under the guise of protecting the serenity of the lake's ecosystem, the authorities in 2011 had burnt the huts leaving thousands of fishermen homeless. The film is the story of one such fisherman, Tomba, who accidentally comes across a gun hidden in the biomass. Possessing a gun transforms Tomba. He becomes very assertive and begins to believe that it is the solution to all his problems. "Alifa" fetched Deep Choudhury the Golden Lotus Award for Best Debut Film of a Director at the 64th National Film Awards 2017. It is a saga of human-wildlife conflict competing with basic questions of love, hatred, dreams and desires as well as the frailties of human nature and wider social bonding. Sesino Yhoshu's "The Pangti Story" explores the transition of an entire village from one that slaughtered hundreds and thousands of Amur Falcons, the longest travelling raptors in the world. These falcons fly from Siberia every fall to roost in Pangti, a small village in Nagaland, their most fervent conservationists. "Beautiful Lives" by Kangkan Deka is based on the 2008 bombings in Guwahati and portrays the undying spirit of one of the victims and his day-to-day struggle to survive. "Sabin Alun" by Altaf Mazid examines the oral singing traditions of the Karbi tribe from Assam. "Antardrishti", a 100-minute film by Rima Das is about a retired geography teacher whose banal life turns upside down when his musician son gifts him a pair of binoculars. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Thirty-four farmers committed suicide in Marathwada region of Maharashtra in the last eight days, a government report said on Tuesday. The region has seen below-average rainfall this monsoon so far. Data compiled by the Aurangabad Divisional Commissioner showed that 34 farmers ended their lives in eight districts of Marathwada during last eight days, though the cause has not be ascertained in every case yet. As many as 580 have been reported in Marathwada till August 15 since January 1, Beed district topping the list at 107 suicides, the report said. It also mentioned that kharif crops in the region are in trouble because of lack of rains. Farmers in Marathwada are fearing crop losses due to a dry spell of the last fortnight. Met officials had predicted good showers after August 15, but the rainfall in the last two days is scattered, said Yogesh Pande, spokesperson of Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna, a farmer-centric political outfit. The state agriculture department has said that of the 355 tehsils in Maharashtra, 223 have not even received 75 per cent of average rainfall till August 15. Online lodging rental company Airbnb is predicting big business for Nebraska cities and towns in the path of Monday's total eclipse. The company said Tuesday that its data is showing more than 1,400 eclipse-related bookings in the state, which will be worth a combined $166,000 for the hosts. Lincoln has the most Airbnb bookings at 167, but it is followed closely by much-smaller cities Scottsbluff and Alliance, with 165 and 159 bookings. The tiny town of Tryon, which has 150 people, has the fourth-most Airbnb rentals, with 79. Beatrice had 42 listings on the site this week, ranging from camp sites and campers to single rooms, barns or even entire houses available for the eclipse weekend. Airbnb noted that many of the Nebraska towns located in the eclipse's path of totality have no hotels. The company said that 77 percent of those hosting via Airbnb during the eclipse in Nebraska towns on the path will be doing so for the first time. Six suspected RJD supporters were arrested in connection with the attack on Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi's carcade in Vaishali district last night. The six are among the nine accused named in the FIR registered in connection with the attack, Vaishali Superintendent of Police Rakesh Kumar told PTI. The FIR, also lodged against 100 unnamed persons, was based on the statement of a sub-inspector of Raja Pakar police station, the SP said. Search is on for the other accused. Modi's carcade was attacked near Kala Pahar village last night when he was going to attend the "shradh" ceremony of the mother of former BJP MLA Achutanand Singh. The incident occurred minutes after Leader of Opposition in the assembly and RJD chief Lalu Prasad's son Tejaswi Prasad Yadav's motorcade passed through the area, known to be an RJD stronghold. Narrating the incident, Modi today alleged that a large number of RJD supporters pelted stones on his carcade damaging windshields of three vehicles. Many of them shouted slogans against him, surrounded his 'rath' (vehicle) and tried to get inside, he alleged. "Had my security personnel not been there, a big mishap could have happened," the senior BJP leader said. Modi said he was attacked because RJD supporters were "disappointed after power had slipped from their hands". "I cannot be cowed down. I will come out with documents to reveal more cases of corruption against Lalu Prasad and his family soon," he added. After Lalu Prasad had last night dismissed any role of his partymen in the attack, Tejaswi Yadav too denied Modi's charge today. "Since I am going to Bhagalpur to expose a scam in which crores of government money have been swindled, the chief minister is trying to stop me from going there," Tejaswi Yadav alleged in a statement. The 'attack' was the result of a conspiracy, he said. "We are believers of Gandhiji. Violence is not our path," he said. JD(U) Bihar spokesman Neeraj Kumar criticised the RJD for indulging in violence "out of frustration" over loss of power. On Tejaswi's assertion that the government of the day was trying to stop him from reaching Bhagalpur to expose a scam, Neeraj Kumar said, "It does look nice for one who himself is embroiled in corruption." Congress state president Ashok Choudhary said the party condemns attack on politicians, "be it Rahul Gandhi or Sushil Kumar Modi". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Seven rebel JD-S MLAs who were suspended by the party are all set to join the Congress ahead of next year's Assembly elections in Karnataka. The 7 suspended legislators today met senior Congress leaders Ahmed Patel and chief minister Siddharamaiah here and would meet the party vice president Rahul Gandhi tomorrow. Zameer Ahmed Khan, who is leading the bunch, said he along with other MLAs have met the chief minister and senior Congress leaders Ahmed Patel and K Rehman Khan and would be meeting Gandhi tomorrow. "We will try and strengthen the Congress, as it is the only secular force that we look at. The JD-S has compromised on the secular credentials by siding with the BJP and the only option we have is the Congress, which we will strengthen. We will join the Congress sometime in December," Zameer Khand told PTI. He said they left the party only because JD-S compromised on the issue of secularism and corruption. Senior Congress leader Rehman Khan said the seven MLAs would help boost the Congress' prospects in Karnataka which goes to polls in 2018. "They have come out of JD-S because they support the secular policies of the Congress. They were opposed to internal policies of JD-S and because it compromised with the BJP," he said. Asked whether the Congress would ally with the JD-S ahead of the Assembly elections, Khan, the former deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha, said, "There is least possibility of a pre-poll alliance". Asked about the challenge that the Congress faces ahead of assembly polls, he said the problems of farmers, drought and water were some of the challenges that the state government needed to handle. "The Congress government under Siddharamaiah is trying to tackle the problems and address it by a loan waiver. "The central assistance on drought as expected has not come to Karnataka," he said, adding that the Siddharamaiahn government was acting as per the rulebook by fulfilling 150 of its 167 promises. The suspended JD-S legislators were Zameer Ahmed, N Cheluvaraswamy, H C Balakrishna, Akhanda Srinivasamurthy, Iqbal Ansari, Ramesh Bandisiddegowda and Bheema Naik. The rebel JD-S MLAs were suspended after they supported independent Rajya Sabha candidate K C Ramamurthy. Ramamurthy, who was supported by the Congress won the Rajya Sabha seat last year with support of these MLAs. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BJP chief Amit Shah will be on a three-day visit to Bhopal starting tomorrow, during which he is scheduled to hold meetings with party leaders and unveil a statue of Jan Sangh founder Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya here. Talking to reporters here today, Madhya Pradesh BJP president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan said Shah will arrive in Bhopal tomorrow evening. "The BJP national president will be on a three-day visit to the state capital. He will arrive here tomorrow evening. During the visit, he will unveil the statue of Deendayal Upadhyaya at Lalghati square on August 18," he said. According to Chauhan, Shah's visit is aimed at strengthening the party. "During his three-day visit, he will interact with the party's core group members, office-bearers, frontal organisation leaders, members of the state cabinet, MPs and MLAs, among others," he said. Elections to the Madhya Pradesh legislative assembly will be held in 2018. Shah is also scheduled to address a meeting of intellectuals and release a book penned by senior BJP leader Kailash Narayan Sarang. The BJP chief will address meritorious students and also hold a press meet during his visit, for which the party has made elaborate arrangements, Chauhan said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The APAI, an air passengers' body, today urged the government to challenge in the apex court the Delhi High Court's decision to set aside capping of fee for excess checked-in baggage on private airlines. The Air Passengers Association of India (APAI) also urged the civil aviation ministry to "immediately" call a meeting of all stakeholders on this issue and other related issues, including high ticket cancellation fee being charged by the carriers. Dealing a blow to the "passenger-centric" measure of the Civil Aviation Ministry, Justice Vibhu Bakhru set aside the DGCA's June 10, 2016, circular, which allowed private airlines to charge only Rs 100 per extra kg till 20 kg as against their earlier rates, ranging from Rs 220 to Rs 350. Currently, all domestic carriers allow free checked-in baggage up to 15 kg. Only Air India allows free baggage up to 23 kg. "This decision (to cap excess baggage charges) was taken by the civil aviation ministry in isolation. It did not consult all the stakeholders before giving a go ahead to the DGCA. The high court's decision should be challenged in the apex court," APAI president D Sudhakara Reddy told PTI from Chennai. The ministry should also look into the high cancellation fee being levied by airlines, Reddy said, adding "it should ensure that the cancellation charges should not go beyond the ticket prices." The spokesperson of the Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), which had challenged the DGCA circular in the Delhi High Court, was not available for comments. Director General of Civil Aviation B S Bhullar said he will react on the issue only after going through the court's order. "(Will comment) only after analysing the Honourable Court's order, " Bhullar told PTI. The circular had come into effect from July 1 last year as the court had not stayed it or deferred the date of implementation on the plea of the FIA. Four private airlines -- Jet Airways, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir -- are the members of the FIA. The court had said that the amounts charged by the airlines would be restored if the FIA succeeded in its plea challenging the circular. FIA, in its plea through advocate Gaurav Sarin, had said that the DGCA did not have the jurisdiction to fix tariff as this power laid with the airlines and the fares were determined by the market forces. It had said that the DGCA can interfere only when there are specific instances of discriminatory practices and such circulars cannot be issued in a general manner. The DGCA in its circular had said that the airlines would be free to charge any fee beyond 20 kgs of excess baggage. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Apollo Tyres is looking to nearly double sales volume of its two-wheeler tyres to around two lakh units a month this fiscal, according to company Chief Financial Officer Gaurav Kumar. The firm, which had forayed into two-wheeler tyres in March last year, will not attempt to gain with price under cutting and expects profitability of the segment to continue to "remain decent". "We ended last year at a level of close to one lakh tyres (two-wheeler) per month that is going up and we would attempt to nearly double it this year," Kumar told analysts. He was responding to a query on how Apollo Tyres was looking at its overall profitability when the share of two- wheeler tyres goes up in its overall product portfolio. "The profitability of two-wheelers (tyres) will continue to remain decent but will really be a point to comment on, once we reach a certain scale," Kumar said. He further said: "Our two-wheeler volumes are going up from previous year, so we continue to grow as per plan and we will continue to see those volumes growing. However, we will not play it on a pricing level to just gain volume". The two-wheeler tyre volumes still need "to become somewhat substantial before we start saying, what the profitability level is", he said. In terms of pricing and some of the other related cost associated with it, the two-wheeler tyres will still be a profitable segment, he added. "The only part which the current scale would not support is the brand building cost," Kumar said. The company sells its Apollo Acti series of tyres for motorcycles and scooters in the aftermarket. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US Vice President Mike Pence heard more complaints from Latin American allies about President Donald Trump's warning of a possible US military option to deal with the crisis in Venezuela. "The use of force is not the way," but rather political pressure, Argentine President Mauricio Macri said at a conference alongside Mike Pence yesterday, who is on a tour of Latin American countries. Trump warned on Friday that he was considering various options to resolve the Venezuela crisis, "including a possible military option if necessary." Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro responded by ordering his armed forces to carry out a national exercise next week. Pence moved to soften the impact of Trump's announcement, stressing that peaceful pressure is the priority. But he did not rule out Trump following through on his threat. "The United States has many options, and we reserve those options," Pence said. "But we truly believe that by increasing economic and diplomatic pressure on the Maduro regime -- not just across the Americas, but across the wider world -- that we can achieve a restoration of democracy in Venezuela by peaceable means." The United States along with Argentina and other regional allies have joined in international condemnation of Maduro. But the South American bloc Mercosur, of which is a member, over the weekend rejected any use of force to resolve the Venezuela crisis. Maduro has been tightening his grip on power in response to economic chaos and angry street protests by opponents demanding elections. Nearly 130 people have died in recent months of unrest. The US vice president was on the second stop in a tour of Latin America to rally the region over the Venezuela crisis. He earlier visited Colombia and was due to travel to Chile on Wednesday and later to Panama. Pence said a million Venezuelans had fled to Colombia and more than 60,000 to Argentina to escape the chaos in their country. Pence and Macri said they discussed increasing trade between their countries. Pence praised the economic reforms Macri has introduced since taking office in 2015. The conservative president has moved to open up Argentine trade and finance, though his critics say the measures have worsened hardship for the poor. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Senior CPI-M leader Brinda Karat has pitched for legal backing to menstrual leave for women employees, amid a debate on the issue. She said that an employer should be legally bound to give menstrual leave to women employees. "There should be a provision legally for menstrual leave and the (woman) employee can decide whether she wants to avail it or not," Karat told PTI over the phone. "Menstrual patterns differ, so it should be left to the employee," the party's politburo member said. "The employer should be legally bound to give menstrual leave over and above the leave rights of all employees," Karat said. The Kerala government last week said it would formulate a common stand on granting menstrual leave to its employees after considering various aspects of the issue. "Women are suffering from various physical difficulties during the time of menstruation. Now, debates on period leave are coming up. Serious debates should happen on the matter considering menstruation as a biological process," Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in the state Assembly. In a first in Kerala, a leading media group had introduced period leave for women employees in its TV channel. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) An accountant of state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) was today abducted at gun point by a group of miscreants near Ichapur locality in the district headquarters town here. The abductors brandishing arms and guns waylaid the BSNL executive Naresh Dandapata (42) and abducted him in a moving car, police said. The operation was carried out swiftly by the miscreants, the police said adding that the onlookers could get the whiff of the crime after the abducted man raised alarm inside the car. Police are clueless regarding the motive of the crime. A special squad has been constituted to nab the culprits, police said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Centre has allocated an additional 14,760 tonnes of rice for flood-affected districts of Bihar, Union Food Minister Ram Vilas Paswan said today. As many as 13 districts of Bihar are affected by flood. The minister said in a tweet that the food secretary of Bihar demanded allocation of an additional 14,760 tonnes of rice for flood-hit districts. "The central government immediately issued direction to release 14,760 tonnes (of rice) for people affected by flood in Bihar," Paswan tweeted. He further assured that the Centre will provide more food grains to the state if required. Paswan said that he held a discussion with Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding floods in Bihar. The prime minister said that the Centre is making all possible efforts to provide assistance for flood-affected Bihar, Paswan added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Colombia has announced plans to protect demobilised members of the FARC rebel force, whose leaders say some of their ex-fighters have been murdered. The 7,000 members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia have disarmed under a peace deal and are preparing to enter civilian and political life. Defence Minister Luis Carlos Villegas said yesterday tat the government would send thousands of troops to protect the 26 FARC demobilisation zones across the country. "The security of those who have demobilised is the public forces' priority," he told a conference. President Juan Manuel Santos declared Colombia's 50-year conflict with the FARC finally over on Tuesday, as the last truckloads of decommissioned weapons rolled away to be melted down. The leftist rebel force has said it will officially transform into a political party on September 1 under the peace deal signed last year. FARC leader Rodrigo Londono said on Twitter that 22 FARC members had been killed this year despite the peace deal. FARC leaders and officials allege ongoing violence by gangs formed from remnants of former right-wing paramilitary groups. Many Colombians said the peace deal was too lenient on the FARC, some of whose members will get amnesties for crimes committed in the conflict. Colombia's last active rebel group, the National Liberation Army, is in peace talks with the government. The FARC arose in May 1964 in a peasants' revolt demanding land reform. As well as a quarter of a million dead, about 60,000 Colombians remain unaccounted for and seven million have been displaced in the conflict. Government human rights official Paula Gaviria said overall 124 child soldiers had been discharged from by the FARC. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Tara Cady Niche Publications Senior Editor for Niche Publications of the Billings Gazette Follow Tara Cady Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today Ekphrasis. Greek for a verbal or written description of visual art. It's one of the many words creative writers learn through Billings Area Literary Arts. BALA has been providing a space for writers since November 2016 thanks to co-founders Anna Paige and Ashley Warren. When the two adjunct MSUB professors discovered Helena Area Literary Arts, they asked permission to adopt a similar model in Billings. Core group activities began as bi-monthly write-ins, opportunities for aspiring or current writers to put pen to paper, brainstorm, edit and share their work. Paige and Warren act as mentors and facilitators. There is no age or experience requirement. BALA was formed with the idea to provide a space to start sharing stories outside of the traditional scene that is competitive in nature, Paige said. Warren says BALA is for every kind of writer, even those who dont identify with the craft yet. We believe in the healing powers of writing, said Paige. Its not an exclusionary event. Write-ins are free, as are poetry open mic events. They are held at MoAV Coffee and This House of Books, respectively. THOB hosted poetry open mic Aug. 8, where 12 poets shared intimate writings of their own or from their favorite writer. One recited a poem about White Sulphur Springs. Another shared a nasty woman poem, playing on the current political climate. Billings poet David Omen attends both open mic events and write-ins. He says the opportunities BALA provides reminds him of the old Flatiron Gallery, which closed in 2008 after hosting readings and artwork. For Omen, writing poetry began at the same time he started sculpting. Warren encouraged him to write an ekphrastic poem about his art. He said that the process relates to the idea that a picture is worth 1,000 words. A Reading of Her Own is another BALA event. It features several female-identified writers that share nonfiction work for eight minutes each. The content doesnt have to be focused on gender. Warren says the event, hosted twice a year, is a wide demonstration of womens stories. You really get the full gamut, she said. Through these (events) we are able to find women with strong voices and demonstrate how many women writers there are in this town. Wyoming native Bailey Brown participated in the last womens reading event in June. Shes also participated in some open mics and attends the write-ins. I have terrible stage fright and Ashley just keeps forcing me to get over it, Brown said. Brown credits BALA for pushing her writing along. She says shes met many other writers and its easier for her to bounce ideas off of them. Its created a really good community, said Brown, who now lives in Billings. Monthly workshops expand on the write-ins. Attendees pay $45 to get one-on-one feedback from BALA facilitators. The next workshop is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 30, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Terakedis Fine Art. I dont ever want to put the same event on twice, Paige said, with Warren adding that its out of respect and homage to the Helena model. Flight of Writers is another adopted event that is slated to have a local spin. Not scheduled yet, Harper & Madison and Lilac are two venue options for a night of wining, dining and writing about it. We have such great food culture, said Paige. Our mission has always been to connect and collaborate. Connect and collaborate with local writers through BALAs Facebook, website billingsarealiteraryarts.wordpress.com and email at billingsliteraryarts@gmail.com. The BJP today attacked the Congress accusing it of playing politics over the death of several children in a state-run hospital in Gorakhpur. The Congress is trying to exploit children's death for politics, this is ridiculous and shameless, BJP spokesman Rakesh Tripathi told reporters here. "The Yogi Adityanath government is firmly determined to provide best healthcare facilities in the state. It is taking time due to a collapsed system but the government is working in the right direction," he claimed. Terming the agitation by UP Congress chief Raj Babbar as "drama", Tripathi said, he should have sung 'Ram Dhun' when his party president Sonia Gandhi was taking AIIMS to Raebareli and when there was loot of NRHM money in the state. Babbar should have protested when money was spent in 'Saifai Mahotsava' by the Akhilesh Yadav government, he said. Earlier, the Congress attacked the Adityanath government claiming it was accepting responsibility on the issue pertaining to the death of children in a Gorakhpur hospital. UP Congress chief Babbar said today that his party will fight till the victims get justice. Babbar was held today as he tried going towards the secretariat annexe here singing 'Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram' to commemorate the attack on Mahatma Gandhi on August 16, 1947. He and a number of other party leaders were later released. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Accusing the Yogi Adityanath government of not accepting responsibility on the issue pertaining to the death of children in a Gorakhpur hospital, UP Congress chief Raj Babbar said today that his party will fight till the victims get justice. The state Congress chief, who was addressing a press conference here, said his party was on the streets fighting, not for votes, but for the truth. Chief Minister Adityanath, he said, was not ready to accept that shortage of oxygen in the hospital had led to the deaths. Babbar also said that his party will take up constructive works to help people in the affected areas. It will donate ten ambulances to the BRD medical college hospital which will visit different areas for preventive programmes and also ferry patients, he said. Around 100 Sewa Dal workers, in coordination with district administration, will carry out a cleanliness drive and the medical cell of the party will set up a help-desk for the benefit of the people, Babbar said. On Chief Minister Adityanath regretting that lack of hygiene was a cause behind the spread of the disease, he said Gorakhpur could not be cleaned despite the fact that the Lok Sabha seat had been with Yogi and his guru since 1989. And that too after three years of the prime minister's 'Swachh Bharat Mission', he said. Responding to a question, Babbar said that no one in the government, whosoever might he be, had the right to "deprive mothers of their innocent children". Commenting on the the prime minister's address to the nation on Independence Day, he said it reflected "insensitivity" when he just touched the topic referring to it as a natural calamity. Congress leader Pramod Tewari, who was also present, targeted BJP president Amit Shah over his comments on the Gorakhpur tragedy. On Aug 14, in Bengaluru, BJP President Amit Shah had dismissed the Congress's demands for resignation of Adityanath over the death of several children in Gorakhpur, saying that such tragedies had happened during the opposition party's rule also. Earlier in the day, Babbar was held as he tried going towards the secretariat annexe here singing 'Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram' to commemorate the attack on Mahatma Gandhi on August 16, 1947. He and a number of other party leaders were later released. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A special court today sought the presence of jailed INX media director Indrani Mukerjea before it next month in a money laundering case against her and others including Karti Chidambaram, son of former minister P Chidambaram. Special judge Sunil Rana allowed the plea of Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking issuance of production warrant against her and directed her to be produced on September 9. Mukerjea is currently facing trial in Mumbai and is lodged in a jail there in connection with the murder of her daughter Sheena Bora. ED's advocate Nitesh Rana termed the case as "serious" and said that her custodial interrogation was required since the investigation was not moving forward. "The CBI has already issued lookout circular against another accused Karti Chidambaram in the case. Her custodial interrogation is required since she is not going to cooperate with us ... She is in judicial custody," he told the court. The ED has registered the case against Karti Chidambaram, INX media and its directors, Peter and Indrani, and others, after taking cognisance of a recent CBI FIR against them. The Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), ED's equivalent of a police FIR, was registered under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The accused have denied all the charges against them. The CBI had filed an FIR against Karti and the Mukerjeas on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, receiving illegal gratification, influencing public servants and criminal misconduct. It is alleged that Karti had received money from INX Media for using his influence to manipulate a tax probe against it in a case of violation of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) conditions to receive investment from Mauritius. The CBI had also recovered vouchers of Rs 10 lakh which were allegedly paid for the services. These vouchers were issued in favour of Advantage Strategic Consulting (P) Limited, a firm "indirectly" owned by Karti, the CBI had alleged. The senior Chidambaram, after the CBI searches on May 16, had issued a strong statement in response to the raids saying the government was using the CBI and other agencies to target his son. FIPB approval was granted in "hundreds of cases", the senior Congress leader and former Finance Minister had said. The CBI FIR was made out against Karti, his company Chess Management Services, the Mukerjeas (currently in jail on charges of murder their daughter Sheena Bora), INX Media, Advantage Strategic Consulting Services and its director Padma Vishwanathan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The CSIR and Johnson & Joshson today teamed up for conducting joint research on drug- resistant tuberculosis (TB). The Institute of Microbial Technology (TMTech), under the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research, today signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Johnson and Johnson for the purpose. Speaking on the occasion, Science and Technology Minister Harsh Vardhan said drug-resistant TB is a global threat and India has about one-fourth of the global burden. "A sustained effort is needed to tackle this problem," he said. While he was the health minister, Vardhan had launched TB-Mission, with an aim to eradicate the disease by 2020. Johnson and Johnson's chief scientific officer Paul Stoffels said, "While we have made great advances in recent years with approval of new TB medicines, much more needs to be done." Over 17 lakh TB patients were recorded last year in the Centre's TB control programme, the annual report on the disease released by the government. Released on March 24, 2017, the World TB Day, the report said that over 33,000 drug-resistant TB patients were also recorded in 2016. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Army officers of India and China met today in Leh's Chusul sector, a day after border guards foiled an attempt by Chinese soldiers to enter Indian territory along the banks of Pangong lake in Ladakh. Official sources said yesterday's incident at Pangong and ways to maintain peace and tranquility along the Sino-India border in Ladakh were discussed at length at the border personnel meeting (BPM). Soldiers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) tried to enter the Indian side in two areas-- Finger Four and Finger Five-- twice between 6 am and 9 am yesterday. But on both the occasions their attempts were thwarted by alert Indian troops. After Chinese troopers found their path blocked by ITBP personnel who formed a human chain, they began hurling stones, prompting a swift retaliation by Indian border guards. Personnel from both sides received minor injuries and the situation was brought under control after the customary banner drill under which both sides hold banners before stepping back to their respective positions. The Chinese troops had managed to enter up to Finger Four area in the region from where they were sent back. This area has been a bone of contention between India and China as both claim it to be a part of their territory. When asked about yesterday's incident in Ladakh, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters, "This is not a subject on which the government makes a comment on." The sources said today's BPM was pre-scheduled and the issues discussed included strengthening of existing mechanism for maintaining peace and tranquility along the border. Brigadier ranked officers of both sides attended the meeting. Two thirds of the Pangong Lake are controlled by China while one third of it is controlled by India. The incidents in Ladakh took place amid a face off between Indian and Chinese armies in Dokalam in India-Bhutan- China trijunction which has entered the third month. Official sources said notwithstanding the standoff, sweets were exchanged between the Indian Army and PLA troops in multiple border locations including in Dokalam. Exchange of sweets on Independence Day and Republic Day has been a tradition for last several years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Punjab and Haryana governments have sought central forces to deal with the situation if the verdict in a case against 'Dera Sacha Sauda' chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh goes against him, an official said. Meanwhile, a special CBI Court in Panchkula today heard the matter pertaining to the sexual exploitation case against the 'Dera Sacha Sauda' chief. "The arguments in the (sexual exploitation) case from both sides took place today in the court and they will continue tomorrow as well," said Ram Rahim Singh's counsel S K Garg Narwana here. He informed that the court has now posted the matter for August 17. A case was registered against Dera chief Singh in 2002 by the CBI on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court after anonymous letters were circulated about alleged sexual exploitation of female followers. A charge sheet in the case was filed by the CBI in 2007. The Dera chief has denied these charges. Meanwhile, the chief secretaries and police chiefs of Punjab and Haryana met Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi in Delhi today to discuss the security arrangements. Both states sought central forces to prevent any untoward incident in case the verdict goes against the Dera chief. "Chief secretaries and DGPs of Punjab and Haryana met the Union home secretary today at Delhi and discussed the matter pertaining to the ongoing Dera chief court case," Haryana DGP B S Sandhu said today. During the meeting, both Punjab and Haryana sought central forces from the Centre to deal with any kind of situation, the DGP said. Both the states have sought central forces to prevent any law and order situation which might arise in case of adverse verdict against the Dera chief, he said. Sandhu said that while Haryana sought a "sufficient" number of companies of central forces while Punjab sought 250 companies. "We are prepared to deal with any kind of situation and will not allow it to deteriorate," said the Haryana DGP. Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda has a large number of supporters in Punjab and Haryana. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court today voiced concern over undue delay in disposal of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) cases in the Delhi High Court and asked it to work out ways for their speedy disposal. A bench comprising Justices Ranjan Gogoi and Navin Sinha expressed dissatisfaction over the manner in which evidence was being recorded in these cases. "At the very outset, we make it clear that the present order should not be perceived to be any kind of interference in the administration of the Delhi HC, but has to be construed to be an effort on the part of judiciary as an institution to work out ways and means to dispose of long-pending contested civil suits throughout the country for which purpose the HC and, particularly, the IPR matters have been taken as the yardstick. "The Judges of the HC have to work out ways and means for effective disposal of the IPR matters before it so that a model for disposal of civil suits can be culled out from the ways and means adopted by the Delhi High Court which can form the basis of a uniform action plan for the rest of the country," the bench said. The top court also ordered registration of a suo motu writ petition titled as "ReCase Management of Original Suits." and directed the Registrar General of the HC to submit periodical reports of the work done in this regard. "The first of such report should be filed within 60 days from today. At a later stage of the present proceedings, this court may also take the assistance of other High Courts in the country to resolve the issue," the court said. The apex court was hearing an appeal filed by Aztech India and others against an interim order passed in a civil suit pending in the High Court. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a clear message to US President Donald Trump, British Prime Minister Theresa May said today that it was important for those in positions of responsibility to condemn far-right views and people who propound fascist views should not be equated with those who oppose them. The US President reverted yesterday to his initial position that both left and right-wing extremists turned violent during a weekend rally by white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trump has come under fire from both Republicans and Democrats for his muted response to the violence unleashed by white supremacists during the rally in which a woman was killed and 19 others were injured when a car ploughed into a crowd of counter-protesters. May, when asked about the Charlottesville violence while attending a ceremony in the coastal town of Portsmouth to mark the arrival of the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, said, "I see no equivalence between those who propound fascist views and those who oppose them." "I think it is important for all those in positions of responsibility to condemn far-right views wherever we hear them," the British premier said. Asked about Trump's response to the incidents, May said, "As I made clear at the weekend following the horrendous scenes that we saw in Charlottesville, I absolutely abhor the racism, the hatred and the violence that we have seen portrayed by these groups." "The United Kingdom has taken action to ban far-right groups here, we have proscribed certain far-right groups here in the United Kingdom. And there is no equivalence," she said. Other senior members of May's Cabinet and the Conservative party have also condemned Trump's reaction following the incident in Charlottesville. Sajid Javid, the UK's Communities Secretary, tweeted, "Neo-Nazis: bad. Anti-Nazis: good. I learned that as a child. It was pretty obvious." Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, also tweeted, "The President of the United States has just turned his face to the world to defend Nazis, fascists and racists. For shame." Meanwhile, Vince Cable, the new Liberal Democrat leader, renewed his call for the invitation of a state visit to be rescinded in the light of Trump's remarks. "Donald Trump has shown he is unable to detach himself from the extreme right and racial supremacists. The fact he remains highly dependent on White House advisers from the extreme right shows he is firmly anchored in this detestable worldview," Cable said. "It would be completely wrong to have this man visit the UK on a state visit," he said. Opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn has also called for the cancellation of Trump's state visit. Trump claimed what he called the "alt-left" was equally to blame for the violence and a day later, under pressure from advisers, he finally condemned the far-right for what happened. The march attracted far-right groups, some chanting white supremacist slogans, as they held a torchlight parade through Charlottesville. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Following are the top stories from Eastern Region at 1700 hours CAL1 BH-SUSHIL-ARREST Hajipur/Patna : Six suspected RJD supporters were arrested in connection with the attack on Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi's carcade in Vaishali district on Tuesday. CES1 MZ-ALLIANCE Aizawl : Three minor political parties of Mizoram have forged a pre-poll alliance for the state assembly elections, due next year. CES2 OD-IMD-THUNDERSTORM Bhubaneswar : The IMD today issued thunderstorm and lightning warning in 18 districts of Odisha. It also cautioned the people to take shelter in nearby buildings or other safe locations. CES3 AS-SONOWAL-MIZORAM Guwahati : Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today urged his Mizoram counterpart Lal Thanhawla to take measures to protect the businesses of traders from Assam from being allegedly vandalized in a Mizoram district. CES4 AS-SHOK DIVAS Guwahati : 'Shok Divas' was observed across Assam today to mourn the death of children and others in a bomb blast while attending Independence Day celebrations at Dhemaji in 2004. CCM1 BIZ-GST-LEASING Kolkata : The estimated Rs 5500 crore capital good leasing sector growing at 15-20 per cent may get tapered due to high GST along with few other issues. ERG4 OD-ELEPHANT Dhenkanal(Odisha) : A woman was trampled to death by a wild elephant at a village in Odisha's Dhenkanal district today. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Doordarshan today said it has given "wide coverage" to Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar's Independence day programme but was silent on his complaint that his recorded speech was blacked out by both Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR). "On August 15, 2017, Doordarshan gave wide coverage to the chief minister's Independence day programme and telecast report running to 29 minutes and 45 seconds. Out of which, the chief minister's speech coverage was for 12 minutes," U K Sahoo, head of Doordarshan Kendra, said in a letter to the media. "The allegation that Doordarshan Kendra, Agartala blacked out the Chief Minister on Independence day is totally incorrect and is vehemently refuted," Sahoo said. Apart from this, he said Sarkar's speech and the Independence day programme in various districts of Tripura were given wide publicity in the Regional Bulletin. However, the Doordarshan rebuttal did not specifically talk about Sarkar's complaint yesterday that the public broadcasters had refused to air his Independence Day address unless he "reshaped" it. Sarkar had also termed it as an "undemocratic, autocratic and intolerant step". A Tripura government press statement alleged that Doordarshan and AIR had recorded Sarkar's speech on August 12. However, the Chief Minister's office was informed through a letter that his speech would not be broadcast unless he "reshaped it", it added. The letter said, "The message of the Chief Minister was closely examined by competent authority. In view of the sanctity of the occasion, the broadcast code and responsibility of the public broadcaster it is not possible to telecast it in the present format." A senior official in the Agartala Doordarshan unit confirmed that the pre-recorded speech which was to be telecast on August 15 around 9am, after the Governor's address, was not aired. "Our directorate in New Delhi had conveyed to us that it can be telecast but the content has to be reshaped. We had, accordingly, approached the chief minister, but he wanted it to be telecast without any editing. We waited till 10 pm on August 14, but he maintained his stand that the speech has to be telecast as it is," he said. Sahoo also said over the past 25 years, since its inception, Tripura Doordarshan Kendra has always given wide publicity to the speeches of state chief ministers and extensively covered public programme and official activities. The Agartala Kendra has telecast the chief minister's message to the people of Tripura over these years, he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Talen Energy has put a $138 million price tag on capping Colstrip Power Plants toxic coal ash ponds. The co-owner and operator of the southeast Montana coal-fired power plant submitted the required estimates earlier this month to the states Department of Environmental Quality. Capping the ash ponds is only one portion of a three-stage cleanup plan, and likely the cheapest of the three. Its estimated that every year 200 million gallons of contaminated water seeps from the ash ponds into the groundwater, rendering the groundwater undrinkable for the Colstrip community of about 2,300. The contamination has been occurring for 30 years. The polluted ponds worst ingredient is bottom ash, a highly concentrated coal ash sludge that contains lead, arsenic, boron and other toxic chemicals that can cause liver, kidney, brain and testicle damage. The cost estimate filed at the beginning of August was a DEQ requirement of an administrative order of consent, or AOC, from August 2012. Talen had five years to submit a cost estimate for the closure phase of the cleanup. Estimates for the other two stages do not have hard deadlines and havent been submitted. In its role as operator of the Colstrip Station, we submitted the closure plan, on time and on behalf of the entire ownership group, on Aug. 1, 2017, Talen Spokesman Todd Martin said in an email. Talens co-owners are Washington state utilities Puget Sound Energy and Avista Corp.; Oregon utilities PacifiCorp and Portland General Electric; and NorthWestern Energy, which serves half of Montanas population. DEQ officials say they havent had time yet to review Talens report in detail. A 60-day public comment period on the report began Monday. DEQ made the three-part report available online late last week. One point of concern about Talens plan is that the contaminating coal ash will not be removed, said Jenny Harbine, attorney for EarthJustice. Rather, the ponds will be dewatered, then capped with a liner, clay and soil. So long as the ash remains, there will be a risk of continued contamination, Harbine said. The cap liner is supposed to stop future pollution by keeping water away from the ash, but Colstrip has a history with liners that eventually leak. The safety of their closure plan really hinges entirely on the integrity of these liners and caps and we simply dont have enough information to know if theyll work, Harbine said. In 2008, the power plant owners were sued by 57 Colstrip residents over the decades of groundwater contamination from the power plants numerous ash ponds, which cover roughly 800 acres. Because of the contamination, the Colstrip community gets its water from the Yellowstone River 30 miles away. The power plant draws the water to service its steam generators. The City of Colstrips water needs are met by the power plants water delivery. The Colstrip plaintiffs settled with the power plant owners, but the pollution persisted as the ash ponds continued to leak. In 2012, Harbine represented the Montana Environmental Information Center, The Sierra Club and the National Wildlife Federation in a lawsuit that accused DEQ and the power plants owners of doing little to stop the ash pond contamination. The 2012 lawsuit resulted in a 2016 settlement, in which the power plants owners agreed to stop pooling toxic coal ash and sludge beginning in 2019. The power plant owners must come up with a way to dry the bottom ash for storage by the end of 2018. The same method will be used by the middle of 2022 to treat sludge collected from the power plants air pollution scrubbers. Currently that ash and sludge are piped wet into pools. Turning off the tap to that process is key to dewatering the ash ponds for cleanup. Talen indicates the water from the ponds will be cleaned and used in the power plant. The Colstrip power plant is at a turning point, with the beginning of the ash pond cleanup and the closure of two of the power plants four units sometime in the next six years. Talen and Puget Sound Energy, which co-own Colstrip Units 1 and 2 agreed last year to shutter the units by 2022 in order to settle an air pollution lawsuit filed by the Sierra Club and MEIC. Colstrip Units 3 and 4 are not expected to shut down as ash pond cleanup begins. However those units, built in the 1980s, do face challenges. In public documents filed in Washington state, Puget Sound Energy experts estimate that Units 3 and 4 will shut down in 2035. Portland General Electric is obligated under Oregon law to cut coal power from its portfolio by 2035, as well. PacifiCorp is expected to stop supplying coal power to its Oregon customers by 2030, though PacifiCorp has customers in other states where governments arent shutting the regulatory door to coal power. In Oregon, concern about coal power plant carbon dioxide emissions, which contribute to climate change, has led to a coal-power ban. Avista Corp. told The Gazette last week that it expects to draw power from Colstrip Units 3 and 4 until 2037. DEQ is currently reviewing the Talen plants to remedy the ash pond contamination. The criteria for cleanup is also under review, and DEQ expects to finish the process by months end. However, Talen will respond to DEQs critique. The process will take months, if not longer, to complete. Work on the actual decommissioning of Colstrip Power Plant Units 1 and 2, hasnt started. Only the ash pond cleanup is being discussed. The Bombay High Court today restrained the Maharashtra government from granting permission for bullock cart races until the government frames rules to govern the same. A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice N M Jamdar said when the government has till date not framed rules, as envisaged in the amendment to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, it cannot grant permission. The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Pune resident Ajay Marathe, bringing to the court's notice a bullock cart race organised in his district tomorrow. The petition sought the court to stay the race. Government pleader Abhinandan Vagyani told the court today that the draft rules were ready and have been uploaded on the government's website for inviting suggestions and objections from persons concerned. The bench directed the government to file its affidavit within two weeks in response to the petition. The Maharashtra Assembly had in April this year passed a legislation for resumption of bullock cart races across the state, after Tamil Nadu enacted a law to regularise its rural sport Jallikattu. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Maharashtra Amendment) Bill would regularise the bullock race, a popular sport in rural Maharashtra which had been banned in 2014 on the ground that it caused pain and suffering to bullocks. State Animal Husbandry Minister Mahadev Jankar had then said the amendment was being made to the central act, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, in view of the vital role of the bullock cart race in preserving and promoting tradition and culture. After the Tamil Nadu government enacted the law to regulate Jallikattu (taming of the bull), there was a demand to revive bullock races in Maharashtra. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh today warned Congress leaders against "back- stabbing" in the state assembly polls and said that anti-party activities will not be tolerated. The chief minister was speaking at a meeting held under the chairmanship of Congress general secretary and former Union minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, who is also the state in- charge for party affairs. "I need not name such Congress men who are working as agents of the BJP and their identity is already known to the public," Singh said in Dharamshala. The chief minister said that he "loved" the people working for the Congress and in the interests of the state, and not those who harmed the interests of the party and exploited it for their petty selfish interests. Reiterating that the Congress would return to power in Himachal Pradesh with a thumping majority, Singh accused the BJP ofcreating divisions in the state on the basis of regionalism, communalism, caste and creed. The state has made rapid progress under various Congress governments and the state has emerged as a "education hub and the fruit bowl" of the country, he said. A large number of educational institutions had been opened, including 51 degree colleges, Singh said. The progress and development made in other sectors like health, transport, agriculture, industry, tourism, power sector, irrigation and public health is evident, the chief minister claimed. Shinde praised Singh and said that the state had made overall rapid and sustainable progress under his tenures. He said that the Congress would win with a thumping majority and the BJP would not be seen anywhere in the fray. State Congress chief Sukhvinder Sukhu said that history would be repeated as the Congress was again going to form government in the state. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Iran today rejected a US religious freedom report critical of Tehran as "hypocritical", coming from a countrwidespread. Washington released its annual religious freedom report on Tuesday, with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson criticising Bahrain, China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Turkey. Tillerson charged that Iran had used "vague apostasy laws" to execute 20 members of religious minorities over the past year. "Iran considers it an unrealistic, baseless, unfounded and biased report which has only been made with the intention of certain political gains," foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi hit back on the ministry's website. He said Washington should focus on improving its own record of discrimination, particularly regarding its Muslim population. "It is clear that religious and racial discrimination, Islamophobia, and xenophobia are a widespread and frequent phenomenon among American politicians," said Ghasemi. "Muslims in America face violent and discriminating actions on a daily basis by state bodies like the police and security forces." The US report said the Iranian government "continued to harass, interrogate and arrest Bahais, Christians, Sunni Muslims and other religious minorities and regulated Christian religious practices closely to enforce the prohibition on proselytising." The government in Tehran also used anti-Semitic language and promoted Holocaust denial, it charged. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A self-styled district commander of militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) was killed in a brief encounter with security forces in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, police said. The security forces had launched an anti-militancy operation in Kakapora area of Pulwama district following information about presence of militants there, they said. "Ayub Lelhari, district commander LeT, was killed in the encounter with security forces in Pulwama," a police spokesman said. "Lelhari's death is yet another success in the fight against militancy," 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.) AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday asked those championing women's rights in the triple talaq issue why they were not defending the same freedom of choice when a Hindu woman decided to marry a Muslim man. He was answering a reporter's question here on the NIA's statement in the Supreme Court today that a "pattern" was emerging in Kerala as part of the alleged 'love jihad' campaign. "In the triple talaq issue, everybody criticised that there is no independence to take decision for Muslim women. Now, a 24-year-old woman (in Kerala) takes a decision on her own (to marry a Muslim man), what happens to that independent decision? Why are those voices silent now?" he asked. The apex court today ordered the NIA to probe a case of marriage of a Hindu woman with a Muslim man and her conversion. The agency claimed it was not an isolated incident but part of a "pattern" emerging in Kerala. The Supreme Court today refused to transfer the trial in the Madan Tamang murder case of 2010 from Kolkata to Sikkim but ordered that the proceedings should be conducted through video conferencing from Darjeeling. A bench comprising Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao said that Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) general secretary Roshan Giri, who is an accused in the case and had moved the apex court seeking transfer of trial from Kolkata to Sikkim, does not represent all the persons facing trial in the matter. The police has claimed that Tamang, who was the All India Gorkha League (AIGL) president, was hacked to death in Darjeeling on May 21, 2010 in broad daylight when he was overseeing preparations for a public meeting. The apex court asked the lower court in Kolkata, where the case is pending, to hold the trial "mainly through video conferencing" for which the appropriate facility should be set up at Kolkata and Darjeeling respectively. It, however, clarified that if the trial court was of the opinion that physical presence of a particular accused and or a witness was necessary before the Kolkata court, the judge can pass specific order in this regard. "We are not inclined to direct that the case be transferred out of Kolkata at the instance of the petitioner (Giri) who do not represent all the accused in the trial," the apex court said. During the course of the hearing, Additional Solicitor General P S Narasimha, representing the CBI, and senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, appearing for West Bengal government, told the bench that trial through video conferencing was an "accpetable option" in this case. Giri's counsel did not object to the submissions, after which the bench said "we consider that these submissions are undoubtely reasonable and practial. We accordingly direct the trial court to hold the trial in the case mainly through video conferencing for which the facility be duly set up in Kolkata and Darjeeling". The bench further said "if the trial judge would be of the opinion that physical presence of a particular witness or accused is necessary in court before Kolkata, he shall pass such specific order giving sufficient time to that person to be present before the court". Giri had approached the apex court seeking transfer of trial in the case, claiming that if he was to appear in court at Kolkata to face the murder trial, then there would be a serious law and order situation in Kolkata which might pose a threat to his life. Giri has been charged with alleged "criminal conspiracy for murder", along with several other GJM leaders, in the murder case of Tamang. His counsel had earlier told the apex court that in view of the agitation in Darjeeling, it was very likely that a serious law and order situation would arise if he was made to go to Kolkata to face the trial. The state government's counsel had earlier argued that the court should seek a report from military intelligence on the stir which would make everything clear. The counsel had claimed that Giri wanted his trial to be shifted to Sikkim as its chief minister has extended support to the GJM's demand. CBI has indicted the entire top leadership of the GJM for the murder of the AIGL president. Besides Giri, GJM president Bimal Gurung is among the nine top leaders named in the charge sheet. Gurung, his wife Asha and several senior leaders of the hill outfit had surrendered before a trial court which granted them bail in the murder case. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Madras High Court today posted for order to August 23 a PIL seeking a direction to the Centre to complete the procedures for obtaining presidential assent to two bills adopted by the Tamil Nadu Assembly aimed at exempting the state from NEET. The First bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar posted the public interest litigation for order to August 23 after hearing arguments by counsel for the union government. The counsel said the petitioner should approach only the Supreme Court with regard to National Entrance Cum Eligibility Test (NEET). He further said a decision on the state government's request seeking exemption from NEET for this year was expected in a day or two and hence sought adjournment of the petition by one week. However, the bench posted it to August 23 for order. Petitioner P B Prince Ganedra Babu, General Secretary, State Platform for Common School System-Tamil Nadu, submitted the state government had been insisting on its complete autonomy in respect of admission to professional courses, including medical and had exercised its legislative authority to pass the bills. Though the bills, after the governor's assent, had been sent for presidential assent in February, these had not yet been placed before the President for his consideration, he claimed. The delay in granting the assent had caused a lot of confusion among students, he argued. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A man has been arrested for allegedly stabbing his brother to death in northwest Delhi's Jahangirpuri area, police said today. Kofi Ram (35) had come to meet his two brothers staying in the area from Nepal when he was killed by Hira Lal (40), the police said. On Monday, Ram, while drinking alcohol with his brothers -- Lal and Hemlal (43) -- asked Lal to give him money from his savings of Rs one lakh. The duo got into an argument and Ram threatened to break a beer bottle on Lal's head. Lal, in a fit of rage, picked up a knife and slashed Ram's neck and fled the spot. Hemlal alerted their landlord and police. During investigation, the police found that Lal was hiding at his brother-in-law's residence in Paharganj. A raid was conducted and he was arrested yesterday. He told police that he had plans to escape to Nepal. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three men have been arrested for allegedly stabbing to death one person and injuring his friend during robbery in outer Delhi's Sultanpuri area, police said today. Kanhaiya Lal (33) died while his friend Pankaj Jha (27) sustained injuries in the incident yesterday. Jha told the police that he was planning to board the Magadh Express to Bihar when he called up his friend Lal to meet him at Nangloi. When they were passing through Nangloi, three men attacked Jha with a knife and robbed him of Rs 2,500, and stabbed Lal and snatched his wallet, the police said. As Lal's wallet contained some important papers, he chased the accused. However, two men caught hold of him while the third one stabbed him multiple times, they said. Five teams were formed to identify the accused and Jha was taken to the spot where his friend was killed. Jha told the police that one of the accused, later identified as Mithu Lal (30), had several cut marks on his head and chest. He also told the police that he had a pipe used for puffing smack placed behind his ear. Based on these clues, the police rounded up 20 drug addicts from the area. Later, Lal was identified and two of his accomplices, Pawan (21) and Sumit (22) were also arrested, they added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A Natrona County man faces charges alleging he repeatedly raped a child, court documents show. Michael A. Griswold, 43, is also accused of attempting to molest a second child. Griswold has been charged with six counts of first-degree sexual assault of a minor, one count of third-degree sexual assault and a count of indecent liberties with a minor. Wearing an orange jumpsuit and shackles, Griswold appeared in court Tuesday to waive his right to a speedy preliminary hearing and request a bond reduction. The hearing is now set for next month. Ian Sandefer, who is representing Griswold, requested Tuesday that his client's bond be reduced from $500,000 to $25,000, saying his client was not a flight risk. Sandefer described the allegations against Griswold as "highly defensible." The request was denied. One of the alleged victims, now an adult, told a police investigator Griswold had raped her multiple times, including when she was 11 to 12 years old, according to court documents. The alleged victim told the investigator she came forward because she was concerned about a child Griswold spent time around. She said she did not want the child to suffer the same abuse she allegedly did, the documents said. Another woman interviewed by the investigator said Griswold had attempted to reach into her underwear when she was about 8, the court documents state. The two had been watching a Disney movie in his house, she said, when she alleged he attempted to assault her. She pinned his arm to stop him and then left his house, she said. A third woman told the investigator she had previously had a sexual relationship with Griswold and the allegations described "word for word" how he conducted himself. The six counts of first-degree sexual assault can each be penalized with up to 50 years in prison. Actor Manoj Bajpayee has appealed to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to send help to the flood- affected areas in the state. The actor, who was born in a village in the West Champaran district of the state, said the situation there is grim. "Devastating flood situation in west Champaran Bihar. Our village is badly affected. People are running short of daily supply of food," Bajpayee tweeted. "I appeal our CM @NitishKumar to look into this natural calamity and send help to affected areas. Hope and pray that help will reach soon," he posted. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) BSP president Mayawati today attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks on the death of children in Gorakhpur and asked people to understand the "distorted thinking" of BJP leaders. The BSP chief also termed as shocking BJP chief Amit Shah's statement at a press conference in Bengaluru that "this is not the first time such an incident has taken place in this large country of ours". "It is both surprising and sad that Prime Minister Modi went a step ahead of his party president Amit Shah and described the death of children in Gorakhpur, caused by criminal, official negligence, as a natural calamity...People of the county should now understand the distorted and wrong thinking of BJP leaders," Mayawati said in a statement here. In his Independence Day speech yesterday, Modi had said, "Sometimes, natural calamities become a very big challenge. Good rains contribute hugely to the prosperity of a nation. But due to climate change, sometimes, these natural calamities bring distress." "A few days back, in many parts of the country, natural disasters took place. A few days back, at a hospital, our innocent children died," Modi had said. Mayawati said everyone is aware that the tragedy is an outcome of rampant corruption at every level still the prime minister "has tried to save his party government by terming it as natural calamity when his own party MP and the RSS have condemned it". "Instead of taking action against their ministers and others, both Modi and Shah are showing ego and behaving in an authoritarian manner and BSP condemns it in the strongest words," she charged. Shah had recently rejected the demand for UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's ouster over the Gorakhpur tragedy, saying such incidents had also happened in states governed by the Congress. "It is natural for Congress to ask for Yogiji's resignation. This is not the first time such an incident has taken place in this large country of ours. Such incidents have taken place during Congress rule in many states," he had said. The BSP president claimed that the BJP wanted to hold Lok Sabha elections by the end of next year along with Assembly polls in some BJP-ruled Hindi-speaking states and asked the safforn party to at least now work honestly for the welfare of people. Terming the Modi government's claims of fighting official corruption as hollow, she said the Centre has not set up the Lokpal in the past over three years and its governments in the states are "desisting from acting against corrupt ministers and others". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today welcomed the extension in tax exemption announced by the Centre for industries in the state. The extension in tax exemption would go a long way in promoting industrial growth and economic development in J-K, she said. The chief minister thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley for having taken keen interest in ensuring continuation of the exemption to the industries in J-K for another 10 years. The exemption for industries in J-K and other hilly states till March 2027 was announced by the Jaitley today after the decision was approved by the Union Cabinet. State Finance minister Haseeb Drabu also welcomed the extension in tax exemption and he said it would be paid as a refund under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime. Drabu said that the state government would within the next fortnight work out the exact modalities and incentive structure that would benefit local industries, investors and consumers. "The new incentive structure will protect the local industry and benefit local customers," he said. The state government is committed to incentivise the industries, but the tax and fiscal incentives should be given in such a manner that it promotes greater employment and higher value addition, the state minister said. Jaitley has announced in New Delhi today that the industries in J-K, the north-eastern states and other Himalayan states will continue to get tax exemption till March 2027, albeit as refund, under the current Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime which was rolled out on July 1. "Within the framework of the GST Act each industry will be entitled to its own refund mechanism during this particular period (March 31, 2027)," the union minister has said. Industries in the Himalayan states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, and those in the north-east under the previous excise regime used to get a 10-year exemption, he said. Under the new GST regime, there is no provision for exemption but there is one section under the Act which permits refunds, Jaitley said. "Therefore, refund would be permitted through DBT. The sunset clause of these exemption has been extended to 2027. 4,284 industrial establishment will entitled to this benefit. Budgetary provision for this is Rs 27,413 crore," he said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Opposition leader Dhananjay Munde today accused the Maharashtra government of shirking its responsibility when farmers are committing suicide in Marathwada region that is staring at a "massive drought". The continuing dry spell in Marathwada, which had witnessed droughts during three consecutive years between 2012 to 2015, has become a cause of concern. "Farmers are staring at a massive drought this year as well, as Marathwada has not received even a drop of water in the last 48 days. The government is sleeping while farmers are committing suicide," the leader of opposition in Legislative Council said in a statement issued here. Munde said 34 farmers have committed suicide in Marathwada in the last eight days. "A total of 580 farmers have committed suicide during January 1 to August 13 this year," the NCP leader said, quoting the figures from the Aurangabad Divisional Commissioner's office. Accusing the BJP-led NDA government of doing a lip service to the cause of farmers, Munde said while the government was busy figuring out whom to provide benefits of the loan waiver, not a single rupee has been given to farmers since the loan waiver was announced. "The government has lost the trust of farmers," he claimed. Following strident protests by farmers in the state, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced the Rs 34,022 crore loan waiver in June. Munde blamed online mode of application for the difficulty the farmers is facing while enrolling themselves for the loan waiver. He demanded the government declare whole of Marathwada drought-hit and make the online application process simpler for farmers. Meanwhile, as per the data released by state Cooperation Minister Subhash Deshmukh, 1,11,000 farmers have applied for the loan waiver scheme online uptil now. "The online application process is on since July 24. Uptil August 16, 12,38,000 farmers have enrolled for the loan waiver scheme, while 1,11,000 have actually applied," the minister said in a statement. Deshmukh said the loan waiver applications are being filled at the total 26,000 centres across the state. "These centres will remain functional till all the farmers apply for the scheme. From the last one week, around 1 lakh to 1.25 lakh farmers have been filing their applications everyday," the minister stated. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A class IX boy student was found dead under mysterious circumstances in his native village in the district today with his father raising suspicion that he could have been murdered. 15-year old Anbarasan, son of a farm labourer of Santhapadugai village, was missing since last evening after he told his parents that he was going to a temple festival. The boy's body, with swelling in the throat area, was found near a transformer in the village this morning. Father of the boy Mariappan lodged a complaint with police raising suspicion that his son might have been killed. Police said investigations were on. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In remarks that are perceived as a swipe at Congress leader Narayan Rane amid reports that he may join the BJP, state Congress president Ashok Chavan today said some people can switch ideologies at the drop of a hat to stay in power. Rane, the former Shiv Sainik-turned-Congressman has been in sulk for long time. The speculation that he may embrace the BJP got a fresh boost after he reportedly met the BJP president Amit Shah in April this year. Rane had dismissed the reports. "Some people are opportunists. They cannot stay without power. Thus, if such people leave, new people will get a chance to grow and prove their mettle," Chavan said while responding to a query on the impact on the Congress if Rane takes the call to join the BJP. He dubbed the BJP the "biggest buying-selling corporation in the country". "They (the BJP leaders) are not bothered who will be useful for their party and who will not. Thus, the Congress will not be much affected. Many people come and go during election times," he said. Rane, who had served as the chief minister during the first tenure of the NDA government in Maharashtra, suffered electoral setback in his home turf of Sindhudurg district in the Assembly polls. Responding to a query, Chavan questioned the "credibility" of the Mumbai University Vice-Chancellor Sanjay Deshmukh, who is under flak over the long delay in announcing the results of various final year courses, to hold the post. "Deshmukh's association with the RSS-affiliated Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini was the only criteria to select him for the post. He has played with the future of students. Students who wanted to take admissions in foreign varsities have nowhere to go now because of the delay in results," he said. Demanding sacking of Deshmukh, the Congress leader said a "credible" person should be appointed in his place. Commenting on the Bombay High Court's decision today to restrain the state government from granting permission for bullock cart races, Chavan said the state failed to present its case properly. "Right from Maratha reservation to bullock cart races, the state government has failed to present its case properly before the court. If Tamil Nadu could receive permission to hold 'Jallikattu' events, why could we not receive permission for bullock cart races?" he questioned. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan's top anti-graft organisation has summoned ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his two sons in money laundering and corruption cases on Friday on the order of the Supreme Court. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has issued summons to Nawaz Sharif and his sons -- Hussain and Hasan -- to interrogate them in its Lahore office in connection with their offshore properties revealed by the Panama Papers case. On July 28, the five-member bench of the Supreme Court had disqualified Sharif for possessing a work permit in the firm of his son in the UAE. The apex court had also directed the NAB to investigate money laundering and other corruption charges against Sharif and his children, son-in-law Safdar and relative federal finance minister Ishaq Dar in light of the report of the Joint Investigation Team. The NAB confirmed that Sharif and his sons have been directed to appear before NAB's Lahore office on August 18. The NAB said that it will take up the reference against Ishaq Dar on August 23 and summons has been issued to him in its respect. Sharif, however, has not yet decided to appear before the NAB. "Nawaz Sharif is considering boycotting the NAB proceedings because he thinks it is very much likely that like the Panama Papers case he may not get justice in its case as well," a PML-N senior leader told PTI. He said Sharif has already expressed his concern over a Supreme Court judge who is supervising the NAB's investigation against him, fearing that he (judge) will ensure adverse verdict against him in the accountability court. "Sharif will discuss the NAB summons with his confidants on Thursday before making a final decision about his appearance in NAB," he added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua met Afghanistan's Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai in Kabul and discussed bilateral relations and overall geo-strategic situation in the region. "The two agreed that lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan was critical for regional stability," the Foreign Office said in a statement here today. During the meeting yesterday, Janjua emphasized that there was no military solution to the Afghan conflict and the focus should be on evolving a credible political settlement. The two sides agreed that terrorism was a common challenge and there was a need to strengthen bilateral institutional cooperation to effectively combat the menace. Janjua underlined the need for strengthening border management and early humane repatriation of Afghan refugees. Emphasizing the importance of regional connectivity, she reiterated Pakistan's desire to expedite transit facilitation and infrastructure connectivity projects between the two countries. During the visit, Janjua also called on Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, National Security Advisor Haneef Atmar, NDS Chief Masoom Stanikzai, former president Hamid Karzai and Hizb-e-Wahdat leader Ustaad Muhammad Mohaqiq. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Pakistan today violated the ceasefire by shelling forward posts and civilian areas along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, even as an Army jawan wounded in an earlier incident in Uri sector succumbed to injuries. This is the fifth consecutive day that Pakistani troops have violated the ceasefire along the LoC. "One Havaldar Narendra Singh, who was injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistani army on August 7, died today," an Army officer said. The 43-year-old jawan, who belongs to Haripur village of Uttarakhand, is survived by his wife Asha Devu and two daughters. There have been nine ceasefire violations in past five days starting from August 12 wherein two jawans and a woman were killed. Five persons, including four jawans, were injured in the attacks. "Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars from 0534 hours in Poonch sector along the Line of Control (LoC) today," a defence spokesman said. "Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively", he added. According to reports, firing and shelling were reported at six places in Mankote, Basuni, Mendhar, Malipur, Dharna, Patri of Poonch district. Pakistan violated the ceasefire four times on August 13 by firing and shelling in Krishnagati, Nowshera and Mankote, resulting in injuries to three jawans. On August 12, Pakistani troops heavily fired on forward posts and civilian areas in Krishnagati and Poonch sectors in which a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and a woman were killed. A Pakistani Army shell exploded near a house killing 40-year-old Raqia Bi of Gohlad Kalran on August 12. Naib Subedar Jagram Singh Tomar was also killed in Pakistani firing in Krishnagati sector. On August 8, Pakistani troops shelled Krishnagati sector of Poonch district, in which Sepoy Pawan Singh Sugra was grievously injured and later succumbed to injuries. On August 7, an Army jawan was injured in a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the LoC in Uri sector of Baramulla district. On August 6, Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire by firing at Indian posts along the LoC in Baba Khori area of Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir. 2017 has seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a unique initiative, the Indian mission here invited over 200 Palestinians with names that had an 'India connect' to mark the country's 71st Independence Day. Hind and Hanadi are popular names for girls in Palestine and other parts of the Arab world. Mohannad, referring to a sword made in India that was quite popular in the Arab world for centuries, a very popular boys name in this part of the world. Similarly, Al-Hindi and Al-Hindiyeh are quite well known family names that seems to indicate an India connect given that it is called Al-Hind in the Arab world. The Representative Office of India in Ramallah, paying tribute to the shared cultural heritage, invited Palestinians with these names as a special gesture to the event to celebrate India's 71st Independence Day, drawing unprecedented response. More than 200 people attended the ceremony to mark India's Independence Day. Palestine's Minister of Justice, Dr Ali Abu Diak, representing President Mahmoud Abbas was the Chief Guest for the event. India has enhanced its scope of the ongoing skill development assistance programme for Palestinians by enlarging the number of training slots for Palestinian nationals from 100 to 150. New Delhi has already executed several projects in Palestine, including opening of secondary school for girls in the West Bank, and has recently committed to establishing a Palestine-India Techno park during the last visit of Abbas to India in May, 2017. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A federal grand jury on Monday indicted a Casper couple on charges of bankruptcy fraud. The IRS alleged James Edward Knight II, 41, and Ashley Elizabeth Knight, 41, lied on an application for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in an attempt to avoid paying back taxes, at least some of which were related to the couple's failed business, Ikon Welding. The IRS said that although the two claimed in bankruptcy court in September 2015 that they owned no businesses and had no bank accounts, Ashley Knight had used a bank account for a company called Superior Fabrication in late 2014. James Knight claimed ownership of Superior Fabrication on a job application in March 2015, IRS investigators said. James Knight is also facing a charge of making a false statement under oath. If he were found guilty, each of the two charges could result in five years in prison and a fine up to $250,000. Knight's attorney declined comment Tuesday. Ashley Knight faces the same charges as well as 12 counts of laundering of monetary instruments. If convicted, she could face up to 20 years imprisonment on each count. Her attorney did not immediately respond to a message left seeking comment. Online court records indicated their jury trial will begin Oct. 10 in Casper. U.S. District Court Judge Scott W. Skavdahl was scheduled to preside. Police and paramilitary CRPF personnel are being trained in standard operating procedures (SOPs) to help them deal with stone throwing incidents in Kashmir, CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar said on Wednesday. The DG said strategy, training and new SOPs had been formulated. "Using non-lethal ammunition mostly, we along with JK police have devised a strategy to put to work during strikes and stone pelting and you will see its effect soon," he said. The DG was talking to reporters on the sidelines of a function held for widows of paramilitary personnel killed on duty. Among the personnel killed was Commandant Pramod Kumar, who died in a militant attack on August 15 last year. On counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir, Bhatnagar said security forces were meeting with success. "There is good coordination between the J&K police, Army and CRPF, who are all working as one unit, and the operations will continue in the future as well," he said. Referring to the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen operational commander Yasin Itoo last week, the DG CRPF said seven commanders had been killed this year and 132 terrorists "neutralised". "In the coming time, we will have more successes," he said. Bhatnagar refused to speak on the number of militants active in the Valley but maintained that "anti-militancy operations are ongoing and whoever treads this path, will face action". On NIA probes into separatist and terror funding, he said these would have an effect. "Illegal things, illicit funds are either for terror or law and order (disturbance) or stone pelting. The NIA raids will have an effect on them," he said, adding there was already a "positive effect". He said the situation in Kashmir was "definitely under control". After a gap of three years, flight services to Puducherry resumed today with low-cost carrier SpiceJet launching a service from Hyderabad under the Centre's regional air connectivity scheme. Chief Minister V Narayanasamy accorded a warm reception to the 78 passengers and handed over boarding passes to each of them for the newly introduced service to Hyderabad from Puducherry airport in neighbouring Lawspet. He had earlier inaugurated the daily flight service by lighting the traditional lamp. The airline is operating a 78-seater Bombardier Q400 on this route. Fifty per cent of the seats under the government scheme are offered at discounted rates. The subsidised fare for Hyderabad to Puducherry flight is at Rs 3,040 and for the return leg of the journey it is at Rs 2,800. "We have brought into effect flight services overcoming several hurdles," Narayanasamy said without elaborating. Expansion of the runway would be taken up as soon as land sought from neighbouring Tamil Nadu was available, he added. Further, the chief minister said that flight services from Puducherry to Bengaluru, Kochi, Tirupati and Coimbatore would be started soon. "We also have proposal to link Puducherry with New Delhi," he added. The Centre's regional connectivity scheme (RCS) also known as UDAN or Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik aims to connect tier-2 and tier-3 cities and make flying affordable for the masses with fares capped at Rs 2,500 per hour of flight. Under the first round of bidding for RCS earlier this year, 128 routes were awarded to five operators. Puducherry is one of the six proposals granted to SpiceJet. An airline receives government subsidy for keeping fares low on 50 per cent of its seats. The purpose for resumption of air service is to promote tourism and to attract businessmen and investors to Puducherry, the chief minister said. The previous AINRC regime had not initiated full-fledged steps to utilise the airport here, he alleged. "With this new flight, Puducherry will be connected with Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Tirupati, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chandigarh, Vijaywada and Varanasi with convenient onward connections on the SpiceJet network," SpiceJet said in a statement. "Similarly, the government's initiative to develop Puducherry port as a satellite port of Chennai Port Trust is also a centrally-sponsored project. Dredging of the estuary for navigation of vessels has been completed," Narayanasamy said. He said the port's development was intended to promote employment opportunities and for cargo transactions to enhance the state government's revenues. Narayanasamy was accompanied by his cabinet colleagues, Chief Secretary Manoj Parida, Deputy Speaker V P Sivakolundhu and legislators belonging to the ruling Congress and DMK and AIADMK Rajya Sabha MP N Gokulakrishnan. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Former Goa chief minister and veteran Congress leader Pratapsinh Rane today demanded life term for those found guilty of smuggling drugs in the state. Rane's statement came against the backdrop of a renewed debate on the illicit drug trade in the coastal state, triggered by the death of two persons due to suspected overdose of a contraband on Sunday. "The life sentence should be awarded to those who are found to be involved in smuggling of drugs in the state. The punishment for them should be stringent on par with countries like Singapore," Rane told reporters on the sidelines of an event. The Congress leader evaded the direct reply to a query on whether he would like to retire from active politics after representing Poriem constituency for the last 46 years. "Last time also I had decided that I will not contest the Assembly election. I wanted to take it easy," he said. Rane's son and state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane recently said his father would not contest polls in future. "I have done enough of social work during my long tenure. I will be completing 50 years of my public life by the time the current term of the Assembly ends," Rane said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Parts of Bengaluru, which witnessed heavy downpour over the past two days, are slowly limping back to normal with a let up in the rain in the evening on Wednesday. The downpour last evening added to the woes of the citizens, who were already reeling under torrential rain since Monday night that lasted till Tuesday morning. The rain flooded major roads that made drainage water enter the houses in low-lying areas and left cars parked in the basement submerged. Rescue boats were used in several affected residential localities to shift stranded residents, fire and rescue officials said. The city was battered by 12.8 cm rain in five hours between Monday night and Tuesday morning, which is the highest in a day in August since 1890. The worst-hit were south and eastern parts of Bengaluru Koramangala, HSR Layout, Ejipura, Jayanagar, JP Nagar, BTM Layout, Bannerghatta Road and pockets of Indiranagar where pre-dawn rain and winds snapped power lines, uprooted trees and inundated roads, submerging vehicles. According to officials of the city civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), clogged drains and unfinished work on storm water drains aggravated the situation, resulting in drainage water flooding residential areas. BBMP officials, who came under fire from residents for being ill prepared to deal with such emergencies during the monsoons, struggled to bring relief to the exasperated people in these areas, some of them upmarket neighbourhoods. 'Toxic foam', allegedly due to the discharge of sewage water, filled large parts of the polluted Bellandur Lake in the city. The Met department has forecast a generally cloudy sky and the likelihood of one or two more spells of rain or thundershowers for the city over the next two days. Following the incessant rain, an under construction five-storey building has tilted and a crack has developed in one of the load bearing pillars at Ejipura in Bengaluru, officials said. They said that norms have been flouted in the construction of the building which now needs to be demolished. Residents of the neighbouring houses have been evacuated as a precautionary measure, officials said. Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy, who visited the spot, also said the building needs to be demolished. Actor Mark Ruffalo held a candle light vigil at Trump Tower in the memory of Charlottesville victim, Heather Heyer, who was killed in a weekend rally in Virginia. The 49-year-old actor decided to protest following US President Donald Trump's response to the violence against the counterprotesters of a rally organised by white nationalists. Trump had said that "there is blame on both sides" for the demonstration that turned violent on August 12. Ruffalo posted a video on Instagram to inform his fans and followers about the protest. "We want him to hear us. We want him to know that an American killed on American soil by a Nazi is not acceptable. That there is no equivalence, there is no many sides. "There's two sides to this. People who fight Nazis and Nazis and that's it. We cannot allow Nazis to be a normal part of our society. We have to fight," he said in the video. "The Avengers" star was supported by filmmaker Micheal Moore, who interrupted his own Broadway show, 'The Terms of My Surrender' to sit beside Ruffalo on top of a double-decker bus he arranged for the public. The vigil was also joined by actor Olivia Wilde, who led chants of "Trump is not a legitimate president! Trump is not America! We love America!" outside the tower. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Supreme Court today ordered the NIA to probe a case of conversion and marriage of a Hindu woman to a Muslim man, as the agency claimed it was not an isolated incident but a "pattern" was emerging in Kerala. The apex court directed the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe the incident under the supervision of a retired apex court judge, Justice R V Raveendran. The top court observed that like in the 'Blue Whale' -- an internet game which allegedly give series of tasks to players with a final challenge requiring him or her to commit suicide, it was now easy to persuade someone to perform a particular task. "This will not be an Special Investigation Team (SIT). The NIA shall carry out the probe under the supervision of retired judge Justice R V Raveendaran," a bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and D Y Chandrachud said. The bench said it wanted the probe to be fair and the NIA, being an independent agency outside the state of Kerala, can conduct the probe in an impartial manner and have a different point of view. "Before forming any opinion or arriving at a conclusion, we would like to consider the NIA's probe report, inputs from the Kerala Police and talk to the woman," it said. The bench directed the NIA to submit its final investigation report in the court to enable it to arrive at any conclusion in the matter. Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh appearing for NIA said prima facie it appears that the woman's conversion to Islam and her subsequent marriage to a Muslim was not an isolated incident and other such instances have come to the agency's notice. He claimed that in the other incidents, some players were allegedly found involved in converting young Hindu girls who had some differences with their parents, to Islam. Singh said the agency has so far found that the same people were behind the religious conversion of the women and their subsequent marriage. "Role of one lady is under investigation. Prima facie it has been found that entities are common in these cases. This is the second case. There is a pattern. The girls first get converted and then they refuse to stay with their family members and subsequenctly their marriage is done. This matter requires further investigation and the agency will do as per court's order," Singh said. Senior advocate V Giri appearing for Kerala said he has no objection to NIA probe, if the apex court so desired. He said that a SIT has already been formed which has been looking into the incident but he has no objection if NIA takes over the probe and Kerala police would cooperate with the agency. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the husband Shafin Jahan who is the petitioner, said he can submit an affidavit to showcase U-turns made by NIA in several cases. "It will be appropriate if the court calls the woman and talk to her," he said while objecting to the NIA probe saying the crime branch was already investigating the case and it would be appropriate if it completed the investigation. To this, the bench said it would certainly like to talk to the woman but not at this stage and it would be appropriate to first go through the inputs from NIA, Kerala Police and other stakeholders. "If we speak to her at this stage and she says that she was forcibly converted and married off, the case will be over. It will be unfair to you. Therefore we would speak to her at the last stage before passing any orders," the bench said. The bench, initially, mooted the name of former Supreme Court judge Justice K S Radhakrishnan as the supervisor of the NIA probe. Senior advocate Indira Jaising and Sibal opposed the name and suggested that since it was a inter-faith controversy the apex court must be careful in choosing a retired judge who should be not be a resident of Kerala. The bench then suggested the name of Justice R V Raveendaran for supervision of probe, which was agreed upon by the parties concerned. The issue had reached the apex court as Shafin Jahan had challenged the annulment of his marriage by the High Court which ordered the state police to probe such cases. The top court had said it was entrusting the task to the NIA as a neutral agency to get a "whole picture" and ascertain whether the particular instance was limited to a "small pocket" or was there "something wider" to the issue. Jahan, who had married a Hindu woman in last December, had moved the apex court after the Kerala High Court annulled his marriage, saying that it was an insult to the independence of women in the country. The woman, a Hindu, had converted to Islam and later married Jahan. It was alleged that the woman was recruited by Islamic State's mission in Syria and Jahan was only a stooge. Ashokan K M, the father of the woman, had alleged that there was a "well-oiled systematic mechanism" for conversion and Islamic radicalisation. The high court, while declaring the marriage as "null and void", had described the case as an instance of 'love jihad' and ordered the state police to conduct probe into such cases. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Madras High Court today observed that freedom of religion is a fundamental right which cannot be interfered with but stressed that the Supreme Court guidelines on sound system used by mosques for giving prayer calls should be followed. The observations were made by the first bench comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar during the hearing of a PIL on the matter. The public interest litigation alleged rampant seizure of loudspeakers used for 'azaan' or the prayer call by mosques in Pollachi taluk in Coimbatore district by officials without verifying whether the sound levels were within the permissible limits or not. Petitioner Shaw Nawaz Khan, president of Pollachi "Aikkiya Jamath", sought to forbear the Coimbatore Rural Superintendent of Police and the Additional Superintendent of Police, Pollachi, from confiscating the loudspeakers in the mosques without examining the decibel levels. When the petition came up, the bench said offering prayers was the fundamental right and it cannot be interfered with. However, at the same time, it said, the petitioners had to follow the Supreme Court guidelines in operating the sound system. "There can be no doubt that freedom of religion is a fundamental right. The religious practice that do not contravene the law of the land ought not be interfered," it said. The bench then directed the petitioner to file an affidavit on seizure details of loudspeakers and posted the petition to September 4 for further hearing. According to the petitioner, the respondents had called a meeting in which all custodians of the mosques were instructed to give prayer call and use the sound under the prescribed limits as per Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules 2000. The petitioner submitted that the sound system was inspected by an expert sound engineer in all the mosques of the district and subsequently was adjusted to the permissible level through the sound control equipment. He contended that said the call for prayers was given from the highest pedestal of the mosques which was 15 metres from the ground level and hence would not violate any noise pollution control rules. This had been endorsed by the sound engineer. The petitioner further submitted that call for prayer (Azan) is mandatory practice of Muslims all over the world and this practice came into vogue from the day when Prophet Mohammed commanded his companion Hazrath Bilai to give prayer call from an elevated position. Noting that it was an essential religious practice, the petitioner said the right to freedom of religion and freedom to manage religious affairs is guaranteed under 25 and 26 of the Constitution. He claimed that senior police officials had raided the mosques in Pollachi taluk and seized the loudspeakers without any reason and without checking whether the emission of sound was beyond the permissible limits. The petitioner while referring to the Supreme Court guidelines in the matter said the sound system could be seized and confiscated only if they were found to be creating noise beyond the permissible limits. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The school run by the wife of Tamil superstar Rajinikanth was locked by the landlord of the building on charges that the rent agreed to was not being paid. The school authorities said they have decided to file a defamation case against the landlord for creating "immense agony to the school and issuing false statements to the media." About 400 children of the Ashram school run by Latha Rajinikanth have been subsequently shifted to another institution. Venkateshwaralu, the landlord of the school, claimed the management agreed to pay the rent as per a court directive till they vacate the premises by May 2018 which they had not adhered to fully. He said the school authorities did not pay the quantum of rent as agreed to. Later in a statement, the school management said it would file a defamation case against the landlord. Stating that the school has been operating in the existing premises for more than a decade, the management claimed it has faced a lot of harassment in the recent past due to the "family dispute" of the landlord. "It is not just about the rent but it is about their exploitation of the situation and it is about asking unfair, unreasonable and exorbitant increment in rentals which we have been negotiating and speaking with them (landlord)", the statement by the management said. Stating that the management decided to "vacate" the premises and negotiations were on to settle the matter, the statement alleged that the landlord "harassed them by using the media continuously" when a civil dispute was pending in the court. "Since the matter is sub-judice, we would like to record this statement. Taking the law into his hands and without any information, once again the landlord has created immense agony to the school, children, parents and to management today," it said. "We will be filing a defamation case against the landlord for making false statements to the press. Apart from that, we will wait for the law to take its own course," it said. "We request the media and the public to understand the truth," it added. Senior pilots will now have to serve a 12-month notice period before joining another airline, with aviation regulator DGCA today coming out with new rules notwithstanding opposition from the pilots' community. Currently, both senior and junior pilots are required to serve a six-month notice period. With the new rules coming into effect immediately, Jet Airways' pilots union has voiced strong opposition to the DGCA decision while there were no immediate comments from airlines. "It has been decided that pilots working in an air transport undertaking shall give a 'notice period' of at least one year in respect of commanders, and six months in respect of co-pilots to the employer indicating his intention to leave the job," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said. The notice period, however, may be reduced if the air transport undertaking provides a no-objection certificate to a pilot and accepts his resignation earlier than the period stipulated in the amended rules, as per the amended Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR). Provision of this CAR would be subject to the outcome of writ petition pending before the Delhi High Court, the regulator said. Sometime back, a petition was filed against the DGCA proposal to increase the notice period for pilots and it is pending before the court. "During the notice period, neither the pilot shall refuse to undertake the flight duties assigned to him nor shall the employer deprive the pilot of his legitimate rights and privileges with respect to the assignment of his duties," the watchdog said. Jet Airways pilots' union said it remains opposed to increasing the notice period. "We seriously object to this new rule. We were opposed to it and we remain opposed to it. We will strongly protest this move along with all pilots from all airlines," National Aviators Guild (NAG) President D Balaraman told PTI. NAG claims to have more than 1,000 Jet Airways pilots as its members. While alleging that the DGCA is favouring private airlines, Balaraman said pilots would go on a mass protest. Two pilots' unions at Air India -- ICPA and IPG -- did not offer any comment on the DGCA decision. ICPA (Indian Commercial Pilots Association), a recognised union, has around 600 members, while IPG (Indian Pilots Guild) -- which is derecognised -- has about 900 members. The DGCA had mooted the proposal in May after various domestic airlines, under the banner of Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), urged it to increase the notice period for pilots to one year arguing that they put in a lot of time and effort on training them. Various domestic pilots' bodies had, however, opposed the proposal on the ground that it is "exploitative" as longer notice period would mean airlines can be "vindictive" to those quitting. When the draft CAR was put up for stakeholder consultations, majority of the respondents had opposed the proposal. Out of the 281 comments on the draft CAR, as many as 278 were against the proposal, a senior government official had said last week. A pilot's body had also written to the DGCA on the matter asking it to shun its plan on the grounds that "a notice period is an administrative and HR function" and, therefore, it was a matter between a pilot and his or her airline. The Federation of Indian Pilots, which calls itself a body of like-minded pilots cutting across airlines, had said the existing notice period of six months was itself against international standards of three-month notice. A global pilots' grouping, the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations (IFALPA), too had written to the regulator saying the new rule could seriously impact aviation safety. The Canada-based body represents more than 1,00,000 pilots across the world, as per its website. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Claiming the support of AIADMK (Amma) rank and file, sidelined leader T T V Dhinakaran today said there was no link between the Palaniswami government and the party, and those working to "capture the party through the back door" should reform. Hitting back, the Palaniswami camp said he had no "locus standi" to issue such statements. In Cuddalore, Forest Minister Dindigul C Srinivasan countered Dhinakaran's claim that the party was behind him, saying the government had the backing of all 134 MLAs. He asserted that some legislators who had attended Dhinakaran's rally at Madurai on August 14 had now professed allegiance to Chief Minister Palaniswami. "It was proved yesterday ast Independence Day celebrations," Srinivasan said. His remarks come a day after his reported comments that the government was short of majority by two MLAs. Dhinakaran alleged that some ministers and office bearers were working to "capture the party through the back door" and asked them to reform themselves. He mocked at the Chief Minister's camp for trying to unite with the Panneerselvam faction "which was not very keen on it". Even if the two leaders merged their factions, the cadres were behind him and Sasikala, proof of which was the turnout at the Madurai rally, the AIADMK Deputy General Secretary climed. "The government will stay only if the party exists. So the party should be strengthened and government should be run properly. Being in power is like holding a glass vessel. If it shatters we are not responsible," Dhinakaran said. "It is true that the incumbent regime in Tamil Nadu was put in place by party general secretary V K Sasikala," he told reporters here to a question on allegations by actor Kamal Haasan against the government. In the same breath, he added, "However, there is no link between the party (AIADMK-Amma) and the government." By making this dramatic assertion, the beleaguered leader has tried to send a message that the party and cadres are behind him and that Palaniswami does not enjoy their support. Dhinakaran said that at a time when allegations were continuously being levelled against the government, those at the helm did not have the courage to face it. Yesterday Kamal Haasan had virtually called for Palaniswami's resignation over alleged corruption. Dhinakaran said only Palaniswami has to respond to charges against the government and alleged that efforts were being made to divert attention from the issue. "Hence some ministers and functionaries are working to divert attention. They are also trying to capture the party through the back door," he said and recalled his view that they should either give it up, or "they would be reformed". In its August 10 resolution, the Palaniswami camp had delegitimised Dhinakaran's appointment as AIADMK Deputy General Secretary, sending signals that the CM's camp would go in for a rapprochement with Panneerselvam faction. In a veiled threat to Palaniswami camp, Dhinakaran said "they should ponder about these allegations and take the right path, the path laid by Amma and if they do not do that they will for sure face danger (to the government)." Asked why the Chief Minister was now taking a stand against him, Dhinakaran shot back saying "you ask him". He also asked why the CM's camp had suddenly removed the banner of Chinnamma (as Sasikala is called by party workers) from the AIADMK office when he was away in Delhi during his incarceration in a Election Commission bribery case. Hitting out at Finance Minister D Jayakumar, Dhinakaran said that "if he stands in front of the mirror, he will know who is the traitor". Ridiculing Forest Minister Srinivasan, he said it was Sasikala who had given him the post of party treasurer and reminded him that he had prostrated before her when he got it. To this, Srinivasan said he had done so out of respect and gratitude when he had not even sought that post. "Similarly Dhinakaran took blessings from me and Sengottaiyan," he said. He said all the posts given by Sasikala would go "automatically if the EC decides against her appointment." On Dhinakaran's take that detractors should "reform," the Forest Minister said "he does not have any locus standi to say that... Only the late Amma had that authority to say that... what am I doing to get reformed (now)... (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The following are PTI top stories at 1700 hours: DEL20 JK-2NDLD CEASEFIRE Jammu: Pakistan violates the ceasefire by shelling forward posts and civilian areas along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, even as an Army jawan wounded in an earlier incident in Uri sector succumbs to injuries. DEL17 BIZ-CABINET-TAX New Delhi: Industries in the north eastern and Himalayan states will continue to get tax exemption till March 2027, albeit as refund, under the current GST regime which was rolled out on July 1, says Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. DEL15 DL-TV SHOW New Delhi: The Broadcasting Content Complaints Council directs Sony channel to shift the daily soap "Pehredaar Piya Ki" to the 10 pm slot and run it with a scroll saying it does not promote child marriage, says an official. DEL12 POL-SHARAD MEET New Delhi: Leaders from opposition parties, including the Congress and the Left, are expected to attend an event tomorrow, hosted by rebel JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, that seeks to save the "composite culture" of the country. DEL10 CABINET-METRO New Delhi: The government approves a new metro rail policy for expanding the metro network across various cities in the country, say officials. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The following are top stories of the northern region at 1720 hrs: DEL11 JK-CRPF-STONES Srinagar: Police and paramilitary CRPF personnel are being trained in standard operating procedures (SOPs) to help them deal with stone throwing incidents in Kashmir, says CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar. DEL5 NIA-J-K-RAIDS New Delhi/Srinagar: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducts searches at about a dozen locations in Jammu and Kashmir in connection with the terror funding case against separatists and others. DES16 UKD-CLOUDBURSTS-TOLL Dehradun: Two more bodies are recovered from Dharchula area of Pithoragarh district, taking the death toll in the recent cloudbursts there to eight while relief as rescue operations continue in search of the missing. DES2 JK-HIGHWAY Jammu: Traffic on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway resums after remaining suspended for nearly 12 hours due to blocking of the road by huge boulders near Banihal, say officials. DES5 JK-LD ACCIDENT Jammu: Three persons, including two students, are killed and 19 others injured as a passenger bus overturns in Samba district on the Jammu-Pathankot National Highway, say police. DES8 GORAKHPUR-HOSPITAL-PEEPAL Gorakhpur (UP): Some hospitals have formal temples, others small shrines tucked away in corners, but the focus of attention for families desperately seeking succour at the BRD Medical College here is a peepal tree that sprouted just a year ago. By Arunav Sinha DES14 UP-CHILDREN-MINISTER Lucknow: Amid allegations that shortage of oxygen cylinders at a Gorakhpur hospital led to the deaths of scores of children, Uttar Pradesh health minister Siddharth Nath Singh says that loss of life due to such a reason is nothing less than heinous crime. DES7 UP-COW-NSA Muzaffarnagar (UP): Three men arrested in June for allegedly slaughtering cows are booked under the National Security Act (NSA), says a senior district official. DES12 UP-ADITYANATH-FLOODS Lakhimpur Kheri (UP): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asks the Lakhimpur Kheri district authorities to ensure prompt and effective relief to people hit by floods here and says no laxity will be tolerated. DES13 UP-MAYAWATI Lucknow: BSP president Mayawati attacks Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks on the death of children in Gorakhpur and asks people to understand the "distorted thinking" of BJP leaders. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The following are top stories of the northern region at 1930 hrs: DEL11 JK-CRPF-STONES Srinagar: Police and paramilitary CRPF personnel are being trained in standard operating procedures (SOPs) to help them deal with stone throwing incidents in Kashmir, says CRPF Director General R R Bhatnagar. DEL5 NIA-J-K-RAIDS New Delhi/Srinagar: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducts searches at about a dozen locations in Jammu and Kashmir in connection with the terror funding case against separatists and others. DES16 UKD-CLOUDBURSTS-TOLL Dehradun: Two more bodies are recovered from Dharchula area of Pithoragarh district, taking the death toll in the recent cloudbursts there to eight while relief as rescue operations continue in search of the missing. DES20 JK-CRPF JAWAN DIES Srinagar: A CRPF jawan, who was injured in a grenade attack by militants in Budgam district of Jammu and Kashmir, succumbs to injuries, say officials. NRG9 RJ-STRIKE Jaipur: Government works are affected due to the ongoing strike by employees of Rajasthan State Ministerial Employees Union, which enters seventh day. NRG14 UP-CHILDREN SSB Gorakhpur (UP): A paramilitary team on a training programme in a government-run hospital where at least 60 children died last week is pressed into action when broke about the deaths, says an official. By Arunav Sinha DES26 JK-2NDLD ACCIDENT Jammu: Four persons, includingtwo students, are killed and 18 others injured as a passenger bus overturns on the Jammu-Pathankot national highway in Samba district here, say police. DES8 GORAKHPUR-HOSPITAL-PEEPAL Gorakhpur (UP): Some hospitals have formal temples, others small shrines tucked away in corners, but the focus of attention for families desperately seeking succour at the BRD Medical College here is a peepal tree that sprouted just a year ago. By Arunav Sinha DES14 UP-CHILDREN-MINISTER Lucknow: Amid allegations that shortage of oxygen cylinders at a Gorakhpur hospital led to the deaths of scores of children, Uttar Pradesh health minister Siddharth Nath Singh says that loss of life due to such a reason is nothing less than heinous crime. DES7 UP-COW-NSA Muzaffarnagar (UP): Three men arrested in June for allegedly slaughtering cows are booked under the National Security Act (NSA), says a senior district official. DES12 UP-ADITYANATH-FLOODS Lakhimpur Kheri (UP): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath asks the Lakhimpur Kheri district authorities to ensure prompt and effective relief to people hit by floods here and says no laxity will be tolerated. DES13 UP-MAYAWATI Lucknow: BSP president Mayawati attacks Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks on the death of children in Gorakhpur and asks people to understand the "distorted thinking" of BJP leaders. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The following are top stories of the northern region at 2200 hrs: DEL49 NIA-LD-JK RAIDS Srinagar The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducts searches at about a dozen locations in Jammu and Kashmir in connection with the terror funding case against separatists and others which included the residence of a relative of a ruling PDP MLC. DES49 HP-LANDSLIDE-OPS Shimla: Search operations continue on the fifth day after a massive landslide in Himachal Pradesh's Kotrupi in which two buses were swept away, killing 46 people. DES47 MHA-PB-HR-SECURITY New Delhi: The Punjab and Haryana governments apprise the Centre about the steps taken by them to maintain law and order ahead of a special court's verdict in a case of an alleged rape involving Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, says a Home Ministry official. DES42 DL-IMA-CHILDREN New Delhi: The Indian Medical Association (IMA) appoints a team of three members to inquire into the death of nearly 70 children at a hospital in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur city. DES39 JK-LOC-BUNKERS Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir government begins the construction of 100 bunkers in border villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri district where there have been repeated ceasefire violations by Pakistan forces. DES33 UKD-GARBAGE Uttarkashi: Taking one kilogram of waste to a garbage bin will now make residents eligible to win a mobile phone in this Uttarakhand district. NRG27 JK-MLA Jammu: A BJP MLA is injured as some angry persons pelt his cavalcade with stones in Jammu and Kashmir's Samba district where he went to take part in the cremation of two persons, who were among four who died in an accident. DEL5 NIA-J-K-RAIDS New Delhi/Srinagar: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) conducts searches at about a dozen locations in Jammu and Kashmir in connection with the terror funding case against separatists and others. DES16 UKD-CLOUDBURSTS-TOLL Dehradun: Two more bodies are recovered from Dharchula area of Pithoragarh district, taking the death toll in the recent cloudbursts there to eight while relief as rescue operations continue in search of the missing. DES14 UP-CHILDREN-MINISTER Lucknow: Amid allegations that shortage of oxygen cylinders at a Gorakhpur hospital led to the deaths of scores of children, Uttar Pradesh health minister Siddharth Nath Singh says that loss of life due to such a reason is nothing less than heinous crime. DES7 UP-COW-NSA Muzaffarnagar (UP): Three men arrested in June for allegedly slaughtering cows are booked under the National Security Act (NSA), says a senior district official. DES43 CABINET-NABARD-FUNDS New Delhi: The Centre gives its nod to the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) to raise extra budgetary resources (EBR), up to Rs 9,020 crore, through bonds during the current fiscal to fund 99 ongoing irrigation projects under the Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY). (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Actor Elisabeth Moss, who faced backlash for calling dystopian drama "The Handmaid's Tale" "not a feminist story", has clarified her stance. The 35-year-old actor said she regretted her choice of words about the show, which is based on Margaret Atwood's 1985 classic, reported The New York Times. "That was my mistake in the sense that I should have been much clearer. What I should have said is that it is not only a feminist story but it is also a human story. Obviously it is first and foremost a feminist story. "I play a woman (Offred) who has had her child and her family taken away from her, and all of her rights as a woman stripped and who is essentially a prisoner. But I was trying to say that it was also a human story in the sense that there are other groups - other races, colours and creeds - who are punished and maligned and are not given the right to be heard as well," Moss said. The actor had raked up a storm when she said she "never intended to play Offred as a feminist" at its Tribeca Film Festival premiere this year. Atwood defended Moss' comments, saying the actress was "Not wordfolk". (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Three minor political parties of Mizoram have forged a pre-poll alliance for the state Assembly elections, due next year. The parties are Zoram Nationalist Party (ZNP), Mizoram People's Conference (MPC) and the newly-formed Zoram Exodus Movement, ZEM convener K Sapdanga said today. He said, they were also holding talks with non-political associations, comprising people who were dissatified with the ruling Congress government and the former Mizo National Front (MNF) rule. "We have been holding talks with six groups and the final decision might be made by next week," he said. He said, they wanted to build a Third Front for forming a non-Congress and non-MNF government in Mizoram. Sapdanga told PTI that the three parties signed the agreement to form the alliance in Aizawl yesterday for election to the 40-member state Assembly, due in 2018. While Mizoram, which became a union territory in 1972 and a full-fledged state in 1987, had a Congress government for over 20 years, the MNF had ruled the state for over 10 years. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a departure from its proposal to set free all seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, the Tamil Nadu government has opposed the plea for premature release of B Robert Payas, a Sri Lankan national. The state government opposed Payas' release in a counter affidavit filed in the court last week. A copy of it was served to the petitioner's counsel today. The counter affidavit was in response to a petition by Payas and another convict in the case Jayakumar seeking their names to be included in the list of 180 prisoners proposed to be released prematurely in 2012 on Republic Day eve. At the last hearing of the petition by the convicts on August 9, Justices A Selvam and Pon Kalaiarasan had directed the state government to file its counter affidavit by today while noting the "long pendency of the matter". Accordingly, when the matter came up today, the counter affidavit by the Principal Home Secretary was handed over to the counsel for Payas. In its affidavit, the government submitted Payas, according to his own admission, was a Sri Lankan national and hence his claim that his incarceration was violative of the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution of India was incorrect. He was involved in the brutal assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the run up to the Lok Sabha elections in May 1991 which had many political ramifications. It was definitely an important incident in the Indian political scene resulting in the stalling of the democratic process for a few days, it said. An Advisory Board had in its September 18, 2009 report said the petitioner had rejected the petitioner's application for premature release. The Judges posted the matter for further hearing on August 18. The Centre's counter affidavit said Payas and Jayakumar were not entitled to premature release in view of the Supreme Court's ruling that life sentence meant imprisonment for the entire life of a person. It also referred to the Tamil Nadu government's proposal to remit the life sentences and release of seven convicts, including the two petitioners, and said the Union government had challenged the (state's) decision in the Supreme Court where the matter was pending. It said the apex court had on December 2, 2015 categorically held that in this matter the Union government was the appropriate authority to decide on remission of sentence as the case was investigated by the CBI, a central agency. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Top leaders from opposition parties, including Manmohan Singh, Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav and Sitaram Yechury, are likely to attend a meeting that seeks to save "composite culture", to be hosted by JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav tomorrow. Yadav said apart from the Congress, the Left and the SP, representatives of other opposition parties, including the TMC, BSP and NCP, will also attend the meeting, being widely seen as a show of strength against his party chief Nitish Kumar's decision to ally with the BJP. At a press conference here, Yadav did not take questions on his differences with Kumar and future political course. He claimed the event was not against anybody but in the interest of the country. Asserting that "composite culture" was the soul of the Constitution, which he alleged was being "tinkered with", Yadav said similar meetings would be held across the country. The former JD(U) chief said the decision to hold the event was taken weeks ago, when his party was still with the loose opposition group. "The 'sajha virasat bachao sammelan' (save composite culture programme) is not against anybody but in the interest of the country. This is in the interest of 125 crore people of the country," he said. He cited incidents such as the suicide of Rohith Vemula and the disappearance of JNU student Najeeb Ahmed, besides suicides of farmers across the country, to suggest that the situation was tough for underprivileged people. While supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's comments against violence in the name of faith, Yadav said it was not reflected on the ground and Modi needed to tell his party's governments to follow his dictum. The JD(U), which had removed him as its parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha, has asked him not to keep the company of "tainted leaders". Yadav was accompanied by Ali Anwar Ansari, a Rajya Sabha member suspended from the parliamentary party by the JD(U), and Arun Shrivastava, recently sacked from the post of general secretary. In a statement later, Yadav said Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ahmed Patel, besides former PM Singh and Gandhi from the Congress, Yechury of the CPI(M), Akhilesh Yadav, Ram Gopal Yadav and Naresh Aggarwal of the SP, Manoj Jha of the RJD, Farooq Abdullah of the National Congress and former Jharkhand chief minister Babu Lal Marandi had confirmed their participation. D Raja (CPI), Sukhendu S Roy (TMC), Ajit Singh (RLD), Tariq Anwar (NCP) and Veer Singh (BSP) will also attend the meeting, apart from representatives of farmers, dalits and other sections of society. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Car tyres that automatically repair after being punctured may soon become a reality, thanks to a tough, self-healing hybrid rubber developed by scientists. Researchers from the Harvard John A Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) in the US created self-healing hydrogels, which rely on water to incorporate reversible bonds that can promote healing. Engineering self-healing properties in dry materials - such as rubber - has proven more challenging because rubber is made of polymers often connected by permanent, covalent bonds, researchers said. While these bonds are incredibly strong, they will never reconnect once broken. In order to make a rubber self-healable, the team needed to make the bonds connecting the polymers reversible, so that the bonds could break and reform. "Previous research used reversible hydrogen bonds to connect polymers to form a rubber but reversible bonds are intrinsically weaker than covalent bonds," said Li-Heng Cai, a postdoctoral fellow at SEAS. "This raised the question, can we make something tough which can still self-heal?" said Cai. Cai, along with Jinrong Wu, a visiting professor from Sichuan University, China, and colleagues developed a hybrid rubber with both covalent and reversible bonds. "These two types of bonds are intrinsically immiscible, like oil and water," said Cai. The researchers developed a molecular rope to tie these two types of bonds together. This rope, called randomly branched polymers, allows two previously unmixable bonds to be mixed homogeneously on a molecular scale. In doing so, they were able to create a transparent, tough, self-healing rubber. Typical rubber tends to crack at certain stress point when force is applied. When stretched, hybrid rubber develops so-called crazes throughout the material, a feature similar to cracks but connected by fibrous strands. These crazes redistribute the stress, so there is no localised point of stress that can cause catastrophic failure. When the stress is released, the material snaps back to its original form and the crazes heal. The self-healing ability is appealing for a wide variety of rubber products, researchers said. "Imagine that we could use this material as one of the components to make a rubber tyre," said Wu. "If you have a cut through the tyre, this tire would not have to be replaced right away. Instead, it would self-heal while driving enough to give you leeway to avoid dramatic damage," Wu said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A paramilitary team on a training programme in a government-run hospital where at least 60 children died last week was pressed into action when broke about the deaths, an official said. Eleven members of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) were undergoing pharmacy training in the state-run Baba Raghav Das Medical College hospital here on August 11. As the SSB got to hear about the deaths, the troopers in the hospital were put on alert. "Immediately, instructions were issued to them to extend all possible help to the administration," a senior SSB official said. The troopers offered "emotional support" to the bereaved kin, he said. A truck was also rushed to the hospital from the SSB centre a few kilometres away when a doctor informed the force about the deaths and asked for a vehicle for emergency use. "We immediately provided the hospital with a truck," SSB deputy inspector general Ranjeet Singh told PTI today. State health minister Sidharth Nath Singh said 60 children had died of various diseases from August 7 to August 11 in the hospital. At least 30 children died in 48 hours till August 11, district magistrate Rajeev Rautela said, but gave no explanations for the large number of deaths. Initial reports said the deaths were caused by a shortage of oxygen supply, a claim rubbished by the state government. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) US President Donald Trump today praised North Korea's leader for backing off on plans to fire missiles toward the US Pacific territory of Guam. "Kim Jong-Un of North Korea made a very wise and well reasoned decision. The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!" Trump wrote on Twitter. Trump stunned the world last week by warning North Korea it faced "fire and fury" if it continued to threaten the US or its allies with its ballistic missile program. His impromptu comments while on vacation in New Jersey were interpreted as raising the prospect of a US nuclear attack against North Korea. The unpredictable and isolated North Korean leader on Tuesday had been briefed by his missile forces on a "plan for an enveloping fire at Guam," according to the North's official KCNA agency. But afterward, according to KCNA, he decided to postpone the operation to "watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees" and not to go ahead unless the US commits more "reckless actions." Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said after Kim postponed the threat that Washington remains ready for talks. But he added that would be up to Kim when such negotiations would begin. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The United Kingdom is working closely with India in tackling terrorism and extremism, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has said. "We are sharing information with India in tackling the scourge of terrorism and extremism," he said while speaking at a dinner hosted by the Indian Journalists' Association here last night to celebrate India's 71st Independence Day. Referring to the UK-India defence cooperation in producing the Hawk Jetliners in Bengaluru, he said, "We are working ever more closely with India than in the past." "Our relationship is much more than trade and export of whisky. Our relationship is about to ensure safety, security and freedom in the Asian region," he said. Johnson said that Jaguar produced by Tatas is a triumph of modern India. India's High Commissioner to the UK Y K Sinha suggested that there could still be greater cooperation "if you bring down the price of Hawk". With Britain (poised) to exit from the European Union "there is greater opportunity for trade with India and it will be a win-win situation for both countries," he said. He noted that the dialogue has already started and a lot of UK ministers have gone to India and quite a few Indian ministers are coming here. "There are differences on issues like Visas but they are surmountable," Sinha added. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The UN and the EU today signed an agreement with Nepal for an additional USD 1.87 million grant as part of electoral assistance to the Himalayan nation. The grant will be used to provide needful electoral aid to the Election Commission of Nepal (ECN) through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-managed Electoral Support Project (ESP), the European Union (EU) office here said. Rensje Teerink, EU Ambassador to Nepal and Renaud Meyer, the Country Director of UNDP in Nepal signed the agreement. "The European Union has already provided financial assistance of 8.4 million euro (USD 9.8 million) for this project in 2012," the EU office said in a statement. This new contribution is part of the basket fund of USD 27.8 million, created to support the Election Commission through ESP. Other development partners of the fund are Denmark, Norway, UK Aid and UNDP, it said. The ESP is dedicated to institutional strengthening and professional development of the Election Commission following the electoral cycle approach, which includes pre-, during- and post-election support. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China said today that it was not aware of the reports of PLA soldiers entering Indian territory along the banks of the Pangong lake in Ladakh and maintained that it was committed to peace and tranquillity along the border. Indian border guards yesterday foiled an attempt by Chinese soldiers to enter Indian territory in Ladakh, resulting in stone pelting that caused minor injuries to people on both sides. Asked to comment on the incident,Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hu Chunying said, "I am not aware of the information I can tell you that the Chinese border troops are always committed to maintain peace and tranquillity of the India-China border." "We always patrol in the Chinese side along the Line of Actual Control. We urge the Indian side to abide by the LAC (Line of Actual Control) and relevant conventions between the two sides," she said. In the past too, whenever such incursions have taken place, China has always maintained that its troops were patrolling the Chinese side of the border highlighting that border is yet to be delineated as the two countries were in the process of resolving the boundary dispute. Special Representatives of China and India have held 19 rounds of talks to resolve the boundary issue. Asked whether there is any progress to resolve the standoff at the Doklam area in the Sikkim section which has now entered the third month, Hua reiterated China's stand that Indian troops illegally trespassed into Chinese territory and they should unconditionally withdraw. "This is pre-condition for any meaningful talks between the two sides," she said. However, China has been acknowledging that the talks are on through the diplomatic channels to discuss the issue. 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.) Women will for the first time be allowed to serve as top officials at Israeli Jewish rabbinical courts, which have power over personal law issues such as marriage and divorce, supreme court judges ruled today. Only men have been allowed to hold the post of court administrator at rabbinical courts, a top managerial post. Women will however still not be allowed to become judges at such courts. Women serve as judges in Israel's other, non-religious courts. The current supreme court president, Miriam Naor, is a woman. "At a time when women exercise important functions in the public sector, we cannot accept that they would not be able to apply to become administrative directors at rabbinical courts," the supreme court ruled. In Israel, civil marriages do not exist. Rabbinical courts grant marriages or divorces for Jewish citizens. Husbands currently must grant permission for women to obtain divorces from the rabbinical courts, something which activists are also hoping to change. Activists welcomed the supreme court decision and said they hoped women would eventually be allowed to become judges at rabbinical courts. "This decision constitutes an important step in the battle against discrimination against women and men's monopoly over public functions," said Batia Kahana-Dror, secretary general of the Mavoi Satum (Dead End) women's rights group. In April, Israel appointed its first female judge in its Muslim sharia court system, a move hailed as historic. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The World Bank today agreed to provide USD 24.64 million for Ecosystems Service Improvement Project. A grant agreement from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) of the World Bank of USD 24.64 million for the project was signed here today, a Finance Ministry statement said. The duration of the project is five years, it said. The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) will implement the project in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh through Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education under the National Mission for Green India. The objective of the project is to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Departments of Forestry and Community Organisations to enhance forest ecosystem services and improve the livelihoods of forest dependent communities in central Indian highlands, it said. (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Insolvent Air Berlin's chief executive said a national disaster had been avoided thanks to a government loan that keeps its planes in the air, after earlier blaming long delays in the opening of a new Berlin airport for some of its problems. The comments came a day after Air Berlin, Germany's second-largest airline, filed for bankruptcy protection after key shareholder Etihad Airways withdrew funding following years of losses. The German government granted a bridging loan of 150 million euros ($176 million) to allow Air Berlin to keep its planes in the air for three months and secure the jobs of its 7,200 workers in Germany while negotiations continue. "The speed with which all parties in the government worked impressed me. We avoided a national disaster," German daily Bild quoted CEO Thomas Winkelmann as saying. Still, the Air Berlin brand is likely to disappear, he said, with the carrier's assets set to be divided up and sold to rivals. Winkelmann also said Air Berlin's woes were partly down to constant delays to the opening of the capital's new airport, which was meant to open in 2011, replacing Air Berlin's home airport Tegel and Schoenefeld. "We have Berlin in our name, are the prime carrier here and have designed our whole concept based on transfer traffic at this new airport. That is not possible at Tegel, my predecessors had that painful experience," he said in comments to weekly Die Zeit. Several opening dates for the planned new airport have been postponed as the project faced red tape and technical problems with smoke ventilation systems, cabling and doors. Winkelmann told Die Zeit that he believed he could save most of the Air Berlin jobs through a restructuring. By Ruma Paul DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh will slash the duty on rice imports to cool high local prices of the staple grain, the country's food minister said on Wednesday, the second cut in less than two months. The import duty on rice will be lowered to 2 percent from 10 percent, Food Minister Kamrul Islam told reporters, down from 28 percent in June. Bangladesh, the world's fourth-biggest rice producer, has emerged as a major importer of the grain this year due to depleted stocks and record high local prices following flash floods in April that cut around 1 million tonnes of rice production. "We have taken the decision anticipating major floods that could further cut rice production," Islam said, adding the circular outlining the cut would be issued in a day or two. Growing demand from Bangladesh could help stoke Asian rice prices that hit multi-year highs in June. The government is making a frantic effort to build buffer stocks as it aims to import as much as 1.5 million tonnes of rice in the year to June. Bangladesh has bought 250,000 tonnes of rice from Vietnam in a state-to-state deal and is issuing a series of tenders after its initial plans to import the grain from Thailand and India suffered a setback over high prices. The government is in talks with Cambodia and Myanmar to import rice while it is also engaged in a second round of discussions with Thailand and India. Rice is a staple food for Bangladesh's 160 million people and high prices pose a problem for the government which faces a national election next year. Bangladesh produces around 34 million tonnes of rice annually but uses almost all its production to feed its population. It often requires imports to cope with shortages caused by floods or droughts. Bangladesh also has a major wheat import need after floods damaged its crops but tough state purchasing conditions and slow ship unloading in ports mean trading houses are unwilling to sell grain to the Asian country. (Editing by Susan Thomas) (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Industries in the north eastern and Himalayan states will continue to get tax exemption till March 2027, albeit as refund, under the current GST regime which was rolled out on July 1, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today. "Within the framework of the GST Act each industry will be entitled to its own refund mechanism during this particular period (March 31, 2027)," he said. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given approval to the Scheme of providing budgetary support under the Goods and Service Tax (GST) regime for the eligible industrial units in Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and north eastern states including Sikkim, he said. The support shall be available for the residual period (ten years from the date of the commercial production) in the States of North Eastern region and Himalayan States, he said. DIPP will notify the scheme, including detailed operational guidelines for its implementation within 6 weeks, he added. Under the new GST regime, there is no provision for exemption but there is one section under the Act which permits refunds. "Therefore, refund would be permitted through DBT. The sunset clause of these exemption has been extended to 2027. 4,284 industrial establishment will entitled to this benefit," Jaitley said. Budgetary support of Rs 27,413 crore for the Scheme has been approved from July 1, 2017 till March 31, 2027 for such industrial units located in these states which availed the benefit of Central Excise exemption prior to coming into force of GST regime, he said. The Centre was implementing North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIPP), 2007 for north eastern states including Sikkim and Package for Special Category States for Jammu & Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to promote industrialisation. One of the benefits of the NEIIPP, 2007 and Package for Special Category States was excise duty exemption for first 10 years after commencement of commercial production. Upon repeal of the Central Excise duty laws, the government has decided to pay a budgetary support equal to the central share of the cash component of Central GST and Integrated GST paid by the affected eligible industrial units. In an annual report on the world's second largest economy, the International Monetary Fund found that China could meet its target of doubling 2010 real GDP by 2020 but it would come at the cost of higher debt. Earlier on August 15, the IMF released an annual report on China's economic developments and policies. China's growth slowed to 6.7 per cent in 2016 and is projected to remain robust at 6.7 percent this year owing to the momentum from last year's policy support, strengthening external demand, and progress in domestic reforms, the report observed. While the IMF was positive on China's short-term growth, it has raised concerns over the prospect of Beijing's medium-term growth. It said: "Total non-financial sector debt-which includes household, corporate and government debt-is expected to continue to rise strongly, reaching almost 300 percent of GDP by 2022, up from 242 percent in 2016. This raises concerns for a possible sharp decline in growth in the medium term." Boost Consumption The Fund explained the reasons behind rising debt. It said low consumption and high national savings translate into lower welfare for Chinese citizens and excessive investment and debt. Therefore, if China wants to grow strongly and sustainably, it has to boost its consumption. "At 46 percent of GDP, China's national savings are 26 percentage points higher than the global average, largely due to the household sector, with consumption correspondingly low. This reduces the current welfare of Chinese citizens, fosters high levels of investment which are unlikely to be absorbed efficiently, and, were investment to fall, would lead to even larger current account surpluses, worsening global imbalances," IMF said in its report. This isn't the first time when China has been warned for its rising debts. Noted economist Ruchir Sharma has also raised serious doubts over China's long term growth and rising debts. In an article in the New York Times last year on China's excessive debt, he said: "In an effort to exceed the (growth) target, Beijing is pumping debt into wasteful projects, and digging itself into a hole. The economy is now slowing and will decelerate further when the country is forced to reduce its debt burden, as inevitably it will be. The next step could be a deeper slowdown or even a financial crisis, which will have global repercussions because seven years of heavy stimulus have turned the world's second largest economy into a bloated giant." He termed China - The Land of Bubbles. Ruchir also explained as to why the country needs to careful about the rising debt. He said: "Before 2007, it took one dollar of debt (for China) to generate a dollar of GDP growth, now it takes more than USD 4 dollars of debt to produce the same result. The longer this trend grinds on, the more likely the debt driven machine is to stall." What is more worrying in all this that no one sees China's debt as a big global risk, Sharma said. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday criticized Amazon.com on Twitter over taxes and jobs and accused the global retailer, without offering evidence, of hurting U.S. localities and causing job losses. Shares of the company fell 0.3 percent to $980.00 in premarket trade after Trump's comments. Representatives for the company could not be immediately reached for comment "Amazon is doing great damage to tax paying retailers. Towns, cities and states throughout the U.S. are being hurt - many jobs being lost!" Trump wrote. Trump has repeatedly targeted Amazon.com, whose CEO Jeff Bezos ?owns the Washington Post, one of several major media outlets that have been swept up in the president's ongoing fight with the press. "The #AmazonWashingtonPost, sometimes referred to as the guardian of Amazon not paying internet taxes (which they should) is FAKE NEWS!" Trump wrote in a post on Twitter on June 28, one of several posts critical of Amazon since late 2015. His tweet on Wednesday came as a reporter for the Washington Post appeared on CNN's "New Day" program discussing criticism of Trump's comments in the wake of weekend violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. On Tuesday, Trump inflamed tensions over a deadly rally by white nationalists in the town by insisting that counter protesters were also to blame, drawing condemnation from some Republican leaders and praise from white supremacists. Amazon.com has said that it has more than 50,000 job openings across the United States to help fulfill customer orders and recently hosted multiple job fairs to fill them. The e-commerce company does collect state sales taxes in Washington, D.C., and 45 U.S. states that have such a levy, the company said on its website. Still, Amazon's growth has upended the U.S. retail market with its rapidly expanding reach. Its decision in June to buy premium grocer Whole Foods has signaled its move into other sectors and has also raised some questions about jobs. Melbourne is the most liveable city in the world, followed by Austrian capital, Vienna and Canada's Vancouver in the second and third place respectively, reveals a survey. According to the Global Liveability Report compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), no Indian city was ranked in the top ten or bottom ten in the most liveable city ranking. Others in the 10 most liveable cities in the world include Toronto at the fourth place, followed by Calgary (5th), Adelaide (6th), Perth (7th), Auckland (8th), Helsinki (9th) and Hamburg (10th). According to the survey that covered 140 cities globally, though the rankings of top five cities remain unchanged, the past few years have seen increasing instability across the world, causing volatility in the scores of many cities. "While not a new phenomenon, the frequency and spread of terrorism have increased noticeably and become even more prominent," the report said adding "repeated attacks in France and the UK have had a contagion effect, raising terror alerts and lowering stability scores in cities across the region". Besides, Iraq, Libya, Syria and Turkey remain the subject of high-profile civil unrest and armed conflicts, while a number of other countries, such as Nigeria, continue to battle insurgent groups. "Even a relatively stable country such as the US has seen mounting civil unrest linked to the Black Lives Matter movement and the policies proposed by President Donald Trump," it said. EIU noted that overall, the global average liveability score has fallen 0.8 per cent to 74.8 per cent over the past five years. As per the survey, the least liveable city was Damascus at 140th place, followed by Lagos (139), Tripoli (138), Dhaka (137), Port Moresby (136), Algiers (135), Karachi (134), Harare (133), Douala (132) and Kiev (131). The rating quantifies the challenges that might be presented to an individual's lifestyle in any given location, and allows for direct comparison between locations. Every city is assigned a rating of relative comfort for over 30 qualitative and quantitative factors across five broad categories - stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio may have caught the telecom market by surprise with its freebies and made telcos bleed in terms of their financials but it has barely been able to affect the stock price of market leader Bharti Airtel. The Sunil Bharti Mittal-owned firm, which is also the country's largest telco (in terms of subscribers) has gained 33.03 percent or 100 points on an year-to-date basis even as its reported a 74.89 percent fall in June quarter net profit to Rs 367 crore. The Sensex gained 19 percent on year-to-date basis. Also read: Jio effect: Airtel Q1 net profit tanks 75% to Rs 367 crore In Q1 of the current fiscal, the company appeared to have controlled the quarter-on- quarter slide it had been experiencing since the entry of Reliance Jio in September 2016. Its January to March quarter net profit came 72 percent lower at Rs 373.4 crore, hit by sustained predatory pricing by rival Jio. Even brokerages are upbeat on the prospects of the stock. Also read: After Reliance Jio, now Airtel to launch its own 4G VoLTE service by March 2018 Bank of America-Merrill Lynch (BofA-ML) has maintained a 'buy' rating on the stock with a target of Rs 426. "The risk-reward ratio is getting increasingly favourable and the company is well placed to emerge stronger in both voice and data markets. Going forward, there is limited room for disappointment from Bharti Airtel's Africa numbers," the brokerage said in a note to its clients. ICICI Securities in its report dated July 27, 2017 has given a price target of Rs 480 in 12 months with a Buy call. "While there remains a risk of churn based on Jio's 4G feature phone, we believe strong incumbent like Bharti would counter it by offering bundled plan with other 4G feature phone vendors, albeit without any subsidy, " said the brokerage in its report. Also read: Reliance Jio adds over 60 lakh customers, Bharti Airtel gets 20 lakh new users in June: TRAI Bharti Airtel's longstanding competitor Idea Cellular also gained 18 percent on an year-to-date basis. In March, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular cleared a $23 billion merger, excluding the former's stake in Indus Towers Ltd. The merger will create India's largest telecom firm with almost 400 million customers and 35 percent customer and 41 percent revenue market share. The merger which is expected to be completed by 2018 will help the two firms put up a stronger fight against Reliance Jio which earlier disrupted the market with its free voice calls and low data prices. US healthcare major Johnson & Johnson has joined hands with the Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Chandigarh to develop new drugs for tuberculosis (TB), a disease that kills thousands of people in India every year. The joint research programme will look at four potential new treatment options for TB. Under the Memorandum of Understanding, signed on 16 August, scientists from Johnson & Johnson's global public health team will work closely with scientists from IMTECH, a constituent institution of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) on a research and development program to explore potentially more effective, safer, all-oral treatment regimens to tackle multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB), as well as new molecular entities to treat all TB patients. "We are united with India in our determination to make TB history," said Paul Stoffels, M.D., Chief Scientific Officer, Johnson & Johnson, who joined Dr Harsh Vardhan, Minister for Science and Technology, at an event in New Delhi, to announce the Memorandum of Understanding. "While we have made great advances in recent years with the approval of new TB medicines much more needs to be done. By bringing together some of India's brightest minds with our scientists, we increase the potential to achieve major research breakthroughs that can lead to innovative new treatments for the millions of people in India and around the world who suffer from TB." The new research program will capitalize on CSIR-IMTECH's world-class expertise in microbial technology and research and the proven research and development capabilities of Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies to strengthen the collective potential of our research efforts. "TB remains a significant challenge in India, killing approximately half a million-people in 2015 alone," said Dr. Anil Koul, Director, CSIR-IMTECH. "The partnership we have announced today with Johnson & Johnson has the potential to accelerate our work in support of India's National Strategic Plan, our accelerated action plan to End TB by 2025, and most importantly save lives." Today's announcement builds on nearly 20 years of TB research and development by Johnson & Johnson, which led to the approval of bedaquiline, the first new TB medicine in nearly 50 years, and adds to existing partnerships at central and state levels in India to increase awareness, diagnosis and care, and broaden access to bedaquiline. In March 2016, Janssen India, a Johnson & Johnson group company, and the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (under the aegis of the Director General of Health Services) announced a Conditional Access Program (CAP) to provide bedaquiline free-of-charge for 600 patients across six sites in India. In April 2017, it was confirmed that the CAP would be expanded to additional TB patients across 156 sites. Janssen India has also partnered with authorities in Mumbai, Telangana, Patna and Nagpur to increase awareness of TB and improve access to diagnosis, treatment and care. "Johnson & Johnson companies have been serving the healthcare needs of India for seventy years now; and this partnership forms an important part of our commitment to the government's 'Make in India' program, supporting Indian drug development for a disease that affects more than 2.8 million people in our country," added Sanjiv Navangul, Managing Director, Janssen India. Government has asked 21 smartphone makers to share information about measures undertaken by them to ensure security and privacy of users' data. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology wrote to the smartphone companies after a high-level meeting chaired by IT MInister Ravi Shankar Prasad, said a Times of India report. The companies are required to submit their responses to by August 28. Devices and preloaded applications and software will be examined in the first phase, news agency PTI quoted a senior IT Ministry official. The move came over government concerns that users' personal data on their phones could be siphoned to third parties. Case of contacts and text messages being leaked from mobile phones have been reported in India and abroad. Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi was accused two years ago of sending data from its Indian users' phone to servers in China, following which Indian Air Force had cautioned its personnel against using devices made by the company. ALSO READ: Invalid PAN, Aadhaar cards: How to check if it's deactivated? How to reverify? Notably, most of the 21 smartphone companies pulled up by the Ministry are based in China. Government has written to Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo, Gionee and Lenovo. A sizable portion of Indian smartphone market share is held by Chinese handset manufacturers, who have their servers in China, posing a threat to data security of Indian users. Indian companies including Micromax, Lava, and Karbonn have also been pulled up, along with global players like Samsung and Apple. Verification and audit of devices will be initiated based on the responses received from the companies. Penalties will be awarded under Section 43(A) of IT Act in cases where stipulated processes are neglected. Government is also testing facilities in existing labs across India so that the testing and verification of smartphone security procedures can be conducted domestically. ALSO READ: Homebuyers in limbo after admission of claim by NCLT against Jaypee Infratech Chinese brands - including brands like Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, Lenovo, and Gionee - have captured more than 50 per cent of India's smartphone market share in the second quarter of 2017, as opposed to less than 15 per cent they jointly held last ago. Market share of domestic companies, like Micromax, Intex, Reliance LYF and Lava, has slipped to less 15 per cent in the same period, which previously stood at nearly 40 per cent of India's 109 million unit annual smartphone market. With tensions rising between India and China, the country is refraining from buying Chinese products in FMCG sector. On the other hand, Chinese smartphones are selling like hot cakes in Indian markets due to a host of reasons including weakened Indian manufacturers after demonetisation, vendors getting better returns from Chinese handset makers, among others. Also watch: Nokia launched three mid-segment Android smartphones and a revamped version of sturdy Nokia 3310 earlier this year. While, nostalgia remained a key factor in marketing these devices, they did not fare as well as expected in a fiercely competitive market. After much anticipation and numerous leaks, Nokia might finally turn things around with its first Android flagship - Nokia 8. HMD Global will unveil the much-awaited Nokia 8 at an event in London at 7:30 pm local time today (12:00 am IST). This will be the first flagship device in years to bear the Nokia brand, and the first since the Finnish startup acquired it from Microsoft. And it will be first flagship ever under the brand to run Android. Earlier rumours had suggested that it will be Nokia 9 which will be the first flagship by the company to run Android. And if the leaks are anything to go by, the Nokia 8 will be a smartphone worthy of the flagship tag. The images of Nokia 8 doing the rounds on the internet show design language akin to Lumia phones and a dual camera set-up with Carl Zeiss lens. Nokia phones have always been known for being sturdy devices, and the new flagship is expected to carry on this legacy too. Rumoured features and specifications First things first, the phone is likely to be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 SoC, which has been used in several flagships, some of which have already been launched and some are rumoured. This puts Nokia 8 in league with the likes of Moto Z2 Force, Samsung Galaxy, and OnePlus 5. An Adreno 540 GPU will be there for the graphics. This powerhouse of a mobile processor is likely to be coupled with either 4GB or 6GB of RAM and 64GB of internal memory which can be expanded with a microSD card. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 also comes with Quick Charge 4.0, as well as enhanced power efficiency owing to its 10nm architecture. Nokia 8 is believed to be powered by a 3000mAh battery unit. Nokia 8 will likely sport a 5.3-inch Quad HD display with a resolution of 2560x1440 pixels and will have Corning Gorilla Glass 5 protection. Nokia's trademark ClearBlack display technology, once seen on Lumia phones, might also be seen on Nokia 8. This will allow better sunlight legibility to the smartphone. Also, Nokia has opted out of the trend of making bezel-less smartphones with its new flagship. The Nokia 8 will also will herald the first dual camera set-up ever used in a device by the company. With HMD Global entering into an exclusive partnership with Carl Zeiss, the cameras on Nokia phones will once again feature the same lens which had once made them best in the segment. The dual camera set-up will consist of two 13-megapixel unist - one RGB and another monochrome - along with dual LED flash. The front snapper might be a 12-megapixel camera. There is no word on a selfie flash, though. The camera UI might not be all that was expected though. Leaks on Chinese search engine Baidu show that the Lumia Camera patent that HMD Global recently got from Microsoft is yet to be put into Nokia 8. Chances are, though, that it will be sent to devices as a software update later. For now, we can expect the Lumia Camera UI to be streamlined to work with Android. On software front, Nokia 8 will run Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box. It will be a stock version, just as it was seen on Nokia 3, 5, and 6. HMD Global had already cleared that monthly security updates and timely Android updates will be made available to the Nokia devices. Nokia 8 will also be one of the first devices to receive Android O when Google releases it. Design-wise, if reports by leakster Evan Blass are to be believed, the phone will be made entirely out of metal. A home button with fingerprint sensor embedded in it will be present below the screen, flanked by capacitive buttons for back and options on either side. What Nokia 8 might cost While Nokia is yet to declare an official price for its new flagship, rumours are that Nokia 8 might be priced at 589 euros, which amounts to around Rs 44,250. There have been reports, though, that Nokia 8 will come to Indian markets with a smaller price tag than that. This gives the smartphone competitive edge over other flagships it will be competing against for market share. How to see the launch event HMD Global will live-stream the launch even in London on its official Nokia website as well as the Nokia Mobile YouTube page. The Nokia Mobile twitter handle has also posted a tweet showing YouTubers Jonathan Morrison and MoreAliA who are expected to be present at the Nokia 8 unveiling. The launch event can also be caught at their YouTube pages. Other devices to show up too!? According to reports by Gizbot, HMD Global might launch Nokia 2 and a 3G variant of Nokia 3310 at the event too. ALSO READ: Reliance Jio effect fading? At least, the fizz in Bharti Airtel stock suggests so ALSO READ: Invalid PAN, Aadhaar cards: How to check if it's deactivated? How to reverify? ALSO READ: Homebuyers in limbo after admission of claim by NCLT against Jaypee Infratech Also watch: Governor Gary Herbert's education advisor, Tami Pyfer, visits with new teachers in the Logan City School District. Utah Governor Gary Herbert got emotional when he addressed a gymnasium full of new teachers for the Logan City School District on Tuesday. You are significant heroes, he exclaimed. We hear about super heroes and we see them in the movies all the time. Not all super heroes wear a cape. Then after a long pause which he used to collect himself, he continued. Some have a teaching certificate. Herbert thanked the teachers for their desire to enter a field that can often be thankless, rife with challenges, and yet incredibly influential. To have a successful education system the number one most important ingredient is good teachers. He told the newly-minted educators that he hopes those in elected office appreciate the role teachers play and do their best to help teachers magnify their roles as teachers. He also said he hopes legislators make sure to give teachers the best tools, which dont always include money. That could include praise, resources, an attitude of gratitude and working to recruit new teachers to prevent any teacher shortages. Weve set a goal of $1 billion of new money for public education over a four-year period of time. We are on track to beat that goal, Herbert exclaimed. I expect to meet and exceed that goal. We are working on tax reform issues to see if we can increase the revenue stream so you can have the necessary resources to be effective, to attract new people, retain the best and the brightest in the profession. Herbert did not come alone. He brought with him former Logan City Councilwoman Tami Pyfer who has been the governors education advisor for the last several years. He also brought with him state legislators, including State Senator Jerry Stevenson, R-District 21, State Representative Justin Fawson, R-District 7, and local State Representative Ed Redd, R-District 4. Each addressed the teachers to thank them for their service and offer words of advice. Rep. Redd, who is also a medical doctor, said 1 out of every 10 children have had four to five traumatic experiences before kindergarten. That usually causes them to have a difficult time managing their emotions. He asked the teachers to help children like that become resilient. The one thing that can help kids develop resilience is a stable, adult figure in their life, Redd instructed. Sometimes that may be a parent, maybe a grandparent. Oftentimes its a school teacher. If there is one thing you can do, instead of being frustrated with those kids that sometimes cause problems in your classroom, try to ask yourself how you can help this child develop resilience to the really bad things that have happened in his or her life. The governor provided an opportunity for the teachers to ask him questions, which included questions about potential cutbacks in the arts at middle schools, closing the achievement gap, and how to retain teachers and take advantage of their wealth of life experience. Pyfer helped clarify some misunderstandings and the governor shared the challenge he has set for public education in the state of Utah. He said the state is within striking distance of being in the top 10 nationally for its education system, and believes that with everyone working together it can be achieved. We are, in fact, on the trend to become the best. We have set a challenge for us, which you are a part, to be the best performing education system in America today based on student achievement, Herbert declared. And I believe we can do it. Just like weve become the most economically sound, diverse economy in America today, we can do the same thing with education. After visiting with the teachers at Bridger Elementary, the governor toured the major renovations that have taken place at Logan High School and how they have incorporated their alternative high school into the main schools campus. He also toured Bridgerland Technical Colleges robotics lab, which is a collaboration between Box Elder schools, BTC, Utah State University and three other school districts. Many New Mexico children have either just started their school year or are preparing to start soon. This month students will prepare for school, new books, new teachers and their respective dirty looks. The state Public Education Department (PED) rates schools with an A-F grading system to identify which ones need improvementand schools with persistently low grades could experience major overhauls. Thats causing alarm among some teachers, especially in rural communities. This week the US Education Department officially accepted New Mexicos education plan, which is required under a 2015 federal lawand includes provisions that could shut down or revamp schools in remote areas where schools are scarce to begin with. Public school advocates and teachers unions routinely criticized former Secretary of Education Hanna Skandera for her policies regarding teacher evaluations and school grading. Now, Skanderas replacement, acting Secretary Christopher Ruszkowski has his own plan to intervene with underperforming schools. Buried in the states education plan, which is tied to federal funding, are four possible outcomes for underperforming schools. These include adding more state charter schools, encouraging a voucher program or even shutting down public schools. The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), signed by former President Barack Obama in 2015, replaced the George W. Bush-backed No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001. Where NCLB set a national standard for dealing with underperforming schools, ESSA allows states to come up with their own corrective action plans. Betty Patterson, the president of the state chapter of the National Education Association (NEA), said the state PED wields too much control under the states ESSA plan. Patterson told NM Political Report the state agency should allow local school districts to make more decisions. Our PED feels like local control means the state, Patterson said. Many critics of the states proposal, including Patterson, point to a section that outlines how the state plans to deal with chronically underperforming schools. The plan offers four possible more rigorous interventions for schools in need of comprehensive support and improvement (CSI). After three consecutive years of underperformance, the state can close a school, restart it as a charter school or restaff the school with only teachers with high evaluation scores. Districts could also come up with an action plan that incorporates any of the first three options. The states new ESSA plan identifies CSI schools as those graded in the lowest 5 percent statewide, high schools with graduation rates lower than 67 percent and schools that were previously identified as needing intervention. The states ESSA proposal states that PED will require more rigorous interventions of schools that have not improved within three years. When asked for clarification, a PED spokeswoman said she would reach out to the right folks. Despite several follow-up emails and phone calls, PED did not clarify when CSI schools could see significant changes. The ESSA proposal does offer a timeline of implementation. According to the proposal, CSI schools will be identified after school grades are released this fall. Districts are expected to submit plans for their underperforming schools by April. By May or June 2018, the state could begin its intervention plans. The ESSA proposal does not explain how the transition from a public school to a charter school would occur, nor what students and teachers would do if a school closes. Yazmin Izquierdo, president of NEA-Lovington and a fifth-grade dual language teacher, said it would be too complicated to shut down schools in her district. Each elementary school in Lovington is devoted to just one or two grades. Izquierdo teaches at one of Lovingtons five elementary schools, Yarbro Elementary, which raised its grade from a D to an A between 2014 and 2016. Other Lovington schools include a sixth-grade academy seperate from the districts middle school and a freshman academy separate from its three high schools. Izquierdo said she expects PED to convert failing schools to charter schools in an attempt to privatize schools, something she and many other union members oppose. A child is not a material, Izquierdo said, and schools shouldnt be run as businesses. Neither Skandera nor Ruszkowski have said they intended to privatize the states school system. Other rural districts could face even more drastic changes if underperforming schools are shut down. The small town of Carrizozo for example, has only three schoolsan elementary, middle and high school. Its middle school has received two D grades and one F between 2014 and 2016. The closest district to Carrizozo is about 20 miles away in Capitan, where the middle school received a C, an F and a D for the past three years. Patterson said she thinks much of the ESSA plan is pie in the sky without sufficient funding. For example, Patterson said, there may not be enough money to pay for teacher development or the restructuring of schools. Patterson added that the states plan does not take into account the diverse small communities that cover much of New Mexico. Theres got to be other ideas, Patterson said. City College will start with nine students in its new pharmacy technician program this fall, a course developed in response to an upward industry trend. The program came to fruition partly because of state grants, and its coursework will be provided through a partnership with an existing program at Missoula College. It's also in response to a demand, according to City College Dean Clifford Coppersmith. "Our pharmacists in Billings are very excited," he said. In those ways, pharmacy tech represents the way two-year colleges operate today. The Missoula College collaboration is one way colleges are finding new ways to diversify their offerings. And adding a healthcare field of study is a response to a projected labor shortage for related sectors. Long viewed just as trade colleges, smaller institutions like City College are nimble enough to respond to regional business trends. Where some trades have been waning, others like welding are full and growing, Coppersmith said. And it's health care programs, rather than industrial trades, that are the fastest growing. "It is kind of weighted toward health care right now," he said. The college is also moving toward an ultrasound technician program within its 13-year-old radiation technology department. Like others at the college, local hospitals had a need for those professionals. The college answered to "offer things that the community needs that make sense," said Dr. Victor White, an instructor in the program. Hospitals also donated some of the most expensive equipment they use. There are applications in the more traditional trades as well, White said. Ultrasound equipment can be used to inspect welds and find structural problems in machinery. Industry needs them, White said. Welding is one of the most popular trade programs at City College, which was largely outfitted through RevUp funding. The federal-state program was set up to funnel grant money toward vocational training. Other technical trades are growing at the college as well. The Process Plant Technology program trains for jobs at refineries and power plants. Reflective of the refining and extraction industries that loom large in eastern Montana, the department is a boon for the school. "This is one of the areas we've been able to add a faculty line to keep up with enrollment," Coppersmith said. This is for a mid-sized two-year school in Montana that hasn't been immune from enrollment swings. Alongside the state's five largest two-year colleges, City College is down from the peak enrollment years around 2012. The college had 748 full-time equivalent students in the last year. Enrollment still hasn't dipped below recession-era levels like its Billings sister school, Montana State University Billings. Coppersmith said that they're able to stay relatively stable due to the response to industry, but also because they seek students who are ready to get into their fields. "One of the things that really generates student retention is hands-on work," he said. For the 99th year, thousands will gather this week in Crow Agency for the annual Crow Fair. Some, like Wendy Red Star of Portland, Oregon, will travel hundreds of miles to be with her family, to celebrate Crow culture. Red Star said its vital that her 10-year-old daughter, Beatrice, feels the security of being part of the Crow community. I started bringing Beatrice as soon as she could walk. Ive made her several elk tooth dresses, Wendy Red Star said. The Crow Nation has more than 12,000 enrolled members, many who will be part of what is known as the Tipi Capital of the World. Crow Fair attracts 50,000 people each year as one of the largest powwows in the country. It includes daily parades led by Crow military veterans starting Friday at 10 a.m., dancer grand entries daily at 1 p.m., and starting Friday, horse races and a rodeo. People come from all over the world to attend Crow Fair, which runs Thursday through Sunday. All are welcome. Tepees started going up earlier in the week in the Red Star camp, supervised by some of Red Stars uncles, including Aaron and Marlon. Her Aunt Walla Redstar Price will run the camp, getting the younger generations of Red Stars ready to parade. The Red Star family usually erects five tepees at Crow Fair. Wendys father Wallace Red Star Jr. will bring horses from their ranch near the Castle Rocks in the Pryor Mountains where Wendy grew up. Horses have been a huge part of my life and my dads. Thats an important thing to me, to help him parade his horses. The Crow Nations history with horses goes back to the 1700s when families began to acquire horses following the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 in New Mexico. Some families had 10,000 horses in their herd, Wendy said. One of the requirements to be a chief, you had to steal a horse from an enemy camp. The prized horses were always kept in the center of camp with a rope tied to them that ran under the tepee of its owner. There were often bells attached to the ropes. When you see the horses parading, you see the bell around their neck. That is the prized horse for that family, Wendy said. As a high school junior, Wendy won a national dressage competition on her mustang Cisco, who came from the mustang herd in the Pryor Mountains. Cisco is now 26, still living on the family ranch. Hes too old to ride in the parade at Crow Fair, but he's not too old to be the boss of other horses at the ranch. Wendy laughs at her teenage name for Cisco, taking it from Kevin Costner's horse in the film, "Dances with Wolves." Many of the Red Stars are artists and musicians. The most well-known is Kevin Red Star, whose work has been shown throughout the world. Wendys artwork was part of the 2015 exhibit, Plains Indians: Artists of Earth and Sky, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Wendy views the elk tooth dress as a work of art, and she often uses photographs of her daughter and herself in their dresses as part of her art. In Crow culture, the elk tooth dress represents hunting success of the men in the family. Because only two teeth are taken from an elk, one dress represents 150 or 200 elk. Most of the elk teeth that are now used in the dresses are synthetic, but typically a dress will have several actual elk teeth in the yoke where they can be noticed. Wendy said she looks for elk tooth dresses at pawn shops to retrieve real teeth from the dress. Even the synthetic teeth are expensive. The wool fabric the dresses are sewn from is also expensive, costing $35 to $85 per yard. "It's really a quest to find the best teeth. My grandmother was getting teeth from a retired dentist who was making them from dental molds and selling them." When a Crow woman married, it was the responsibility of her husband's family to dress the wife, Wendy said. A high-quality elk tooth dress can cost as much as $5,000 just for the materials, not counting the hours of work put into it. | BY Ricki Green | The magic of stories and the worlds they create is something children everywhere cherish, and starting this weekend, News Corp Australia is bringing Australias best childrens storybooks to life with The Great Australian Storybook Collection. News Corp Australia launched The Great Australian Storybook Collection campaign this week, aimed to assist childrens literacy, while bringing the beauty and magic of Australias best childrens storybooks to life, including Possum Magic by renowned childrens author Mem Fox, Waltzing Matilda by Banjo Patterson and Tales from the Gum Tree by May Gibbs. The 15 book collection launches on Saturday 22 July in Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and Northern Territory and on Sunday 23 July in New South Wales and Queensland. The first book, Possum Magic, is free with the purchase of a metro or regional newspaper along with a collector case. The remaining 14 books can be collected, with one available each day for $2.30 with a newspaper purchase. More than 4000 retail stores around the country will sell News Corp Australias Great Australian Storybook Collection. The campaign is running in The Daily Telegraph, The Courier-Mail, The Advertiser, Herald Sun and other regional papers such as The Mercury, The Herald and Weekly Times, Townsville Bulletin, The Northern Star, The Daily Mercury, Sunshine Coast Daily, The Queensland Times, The Chronicle, News Mail and The Morning Bulletin. There is also a national TVC, a creative PR and social media campaign and a childrens competition in The Sunday Herald Sun, The Sunday Telegraph and The Sunday Mail in Queensland and South Australia. Mem Fox, Australias best-loved childrens author, who has five books as part of the Great Australian Storybook Collection, is helping to promote the book collection as well as raise the importance of reading for young children. Says Fox: Its magical, what reading does for a childs imagination in terms of encouraging them to think about amazing characters and places. This collection is a lovely mix of beauty and history as well as a bit of silly and fun with titles every child and parent will enjoy. Fox has been a long-time advocate of parents reading aloud to children, something she has done since her first book, Possum Magic, was published 34 years ago. With its enchanting illustrations by Julie Vivas, the book has sold more than four million copies, is frequently voted Australias favourite childrens book and continues to enthral small children. News Corp Australia also recently ran the Great Australian Reading Survey across all mastheads, as part of the Raise a Reader campaign. The survey, which took the pulse of reading habits across the country, is part of News Corp Australias commitment to raising literacy standards across the nation. Says Campbell Reid, director of corporate affairs and editorial management, News Corp Australia: Literacy is crucial to a strong economy in Australia. Its vital that strong reading habits are formed in early years and nurtured throughout life. Ultimately we will turn up the heat on literacy standards nationally via this campaign. The Great Australian Story Book Collection includes: Possum Magic by Mem Fox The Wonky Donkey by Craig Smith Piranhas Dont Eat Bananas by Aaron Blabey Time for Bed by Mem Fox I Went Walking by Sue Machin and Julie Vivas Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox Pig the Pug by Aaron Blabey The Very Cranky Bear by Nick Bland There was an old lady who swallowed a mozzie by P.Crumble This & That by Mem Fox Tales from the Gum Tree by May Gibbs The Magic Hat by Mem Fox Pig the Fibber by Aaron Blabey Waltzing Matilda by Banjo Patterson Wombat Stew by Marcia Vaughan | BY Ricki Green | Georgie Charlish (left), has been promoted to the role of managing director, Australia and New Zealand, of the global advertising and marketing company, Adstream. Prior to joining Adstream, Charlish worked with Bauer Media and Pacific Magazines in advertising sales roles. She left Pacific Magazines as NSW sales director to join Adstream where she has spent the last ten years, most recently as commercial director, Australia and New Zealand. Says Geoff Hoffmann, CEO, Adstream North America: With Georgie being part of the Adstream family for close to ten years, there is not a more suited person than her to lead the business in ANZ. With her experience and laser focus on supporting our customer base, Georgie will be a welcomed lead for the Adstream business. Says Charlish on making the move to managing director: This is an exciting time for Adstream here in Australia and NZ, we have several new products specifically designed to help marketers and advertising agencies. And I am honoured the business has put trust in me to roll these important products out. One person was stabbed and another received a possible head injury during an altercation at the MontanaFair late Tuesday night, according to the Yellowstone County Sheriffs Office. Sheriff Mike Linder said Wednesday morning that the incident, which occurred at about 11:30 p.m., appeared to involve two groups of juveniles, but his office has not released the names or ages of any of those involved. Both of the injured were males, and were transported to an area hospital for treatment, Linder stated in a press release. Neither appeared to have life-threatening injuries, Undersheriff Kevin Evans told The Billings Gazette. The investigation at this point indicates that several young adults or teenagers confronted one another when one male was knocked to the ground, the release stated. Witnesses report that the man who had been assaulted produced a knife and at some point another male received a stab wound in the arm. Several people were on scene when deputies arrived but some of them ran away. After the incident, one male could be seen in handcuffs near the Yellowstone County Extension Service Demonstration Plots and behind the funhouse. One person was detained during the investigation, but was later released. No one had been charged as of Wednesday morning, according to Linder. | BY Ricki Green | We Are Social has appointed Tom Richards from its London office to the new position of head of client service in Sydney. Richards has been with We Are Social in the UK for three years as group account director, overseeing projects for numerous clients including Mastercard, PepsiCo, Diageo and HSBC Group at UK, regional and global levels. Says Suzie Shaw, managing director, We Are Social: Tom has established himself as one of our highest potential employees within the We Are Social global network, so were really pleased to have him joining the Sydney team. He brings with him a wealth of international experience that I know will be beneficial for all of our clients and our team. Prior to joining We Are Social, Richards worked in Australia for more than three years from 2011. | BY Lynchy | Dominic Ng has been appointed chief executive officer of Vizeum China. A media veteran with nearly 30 years of experience in the communications industry, Ngs scope of work spans across strategic planning, agency management, key account management as well as business development in leading agencies including GroupMs MediaCom and MEC. Prior to joining Vizeum, Ng (pictured left) was Managing Partner of MediaCom China, overseeing the agencys business development, marketing communications, and key accounts like Nikon, SAIC-SKODA, P&G and Shell. In his new role as CEO of Vizeum China, Ng will accelerate the agencys rapid growth and drive the continued development of services and capabilities for the disruptive environment. Based in Shanghai, he will report to Phil Teeman, Group Managing Director of Dentsu Aegis Network China. Teeman said, We look for innovative leaders who can deliver business growth in an increasingly complex and convergent environment. Dominics strategic understanding of the business and proven track record in managing high profile brands known for innovation make him the ideal person to take Vizeum forward. "In June Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull became the first sitting prime minister to host an iftar and stated 'the Australian Muslim community is valued and respected and it is not confined to a narrow security prism you are an integral part of an Australian family that rests on the essential foundation of mutual respect and understanding'." Montana has missed its chance to weigh in on a Washington utilitys early plans for shuttering half of the Colstrip Power Plant, say lawyers for regulators overseeing the matter. In Washington, where Puget Sound Energy is laying out its multi-year plan for future rates and the shutdown of Colstrip Units 1 and 2, legal staff for that state's utility commission are arguing that Montanas testimony, submitted Aug. 9 on behalf of Attorney General Tim Fox, was not only irrelevant, but also more than a month too late and should be thrown out. Staff for the Washington Utility and Transportation Commission made their arguments in documents filed Wednesday morning. Montana waived its right to present that testimony, staff said, calling Montanas filing a legal brief addressing a number of material issues while purporting to be testimony. Washington officials earlier told The Gazette the deadline for Montana to make recommendations about the environmental and economic impacts of closing Colstrips oldest units was June 30. That deadline passed without testimony filed by Montanas attorney general. An administrative judge will decide whether to throw out Montana's testimony. Speaking for Fox, Department of Justice communications director Eric Sell said in an email that there will be a response. The state of Montanas testimony is well within the parameters of this proceeding. Its becoming increasingly clear that the state of Washington has little interest in hearing out Montanas concerns regarding the closure of Colstrip, and the UTC staffs motion is yet another example of that," Sell said. "Fortunately, this rate case is not the final say on shutdown costs related to Colstrip Units 1 and 2, and the more consequential proceedings will take place in Montana, on our home turf, over the next several years. Fox, a Republican, has repeatedly said nothing was filed because he didnt want to reveal his legal strategy for future proceedings. However, neither the attorney general, nor his staff have said specifically what future proceedings are being referenced. Montana's Department of Environmental Quality will oversee the cleanup and remediation of power plants. It is currently working with Colstrip owners on cleanup plans for the coal ash ponds servicing the power plants. Those ponds of toxic coal ash and water have contaminated Colstrip groundwater over the last 30 years. Colstrip is one of the largest coal-fired power plants in the West. In 2015, it was the nation's 15th-largest producer of greenhouse gases, emitting 13.5 million metric tons annually, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Fox had earlier in the year asked Washington regulators to allow him to file testimony saying the state of Montana wants to make sure the company makes good on its legal obligations to Montanas communities, workers and environment affected by the operation and potential retirement of coal-fired generating units in our state. Puget has half ownership in the power plant units, which the utility and co-owner Talen Energy agreed to close within the next six years in order to settle a clean air lawsuit. Pugets general rate case, underway before the Washington Utility and Transportation Commission, will determine how much Puget should raise to pay for shutting down Colstrips two oldest units and cleaning them up. Montanas Legislature had set aside $80,000 and directed Fox to spend the money representing the states interests in the Washington rate case. The money has not been spent. Wednesdays arguments for throwing out Montanas case were brutal. Testimony in the rate case is supposed to come from expert witnesses, that is people with scientific, technical or other special knowledge useful in deciding the case. UTC staff argued that Montanas expert was anything but. Montanas expert was state attorney Patrick Riskin, who in the Aug. 9 filing listed no familiarity with utilities or Colstrip. Riskin can offer the Commission nothing in the way of specialized knowledge that will help the Commission decide whether Puget Sound Energy has proposed fair, just, reasonable, and sufficient rates. He can offer only legal opinion. His testimony is unhelpful and inadmissible. Because Montana didnt speak directly to Puget Sound Energys plans by the June 30 deadline, Washington regulators would only allow Montana to address the June 30 testimony of other third parties, who like Montana had been granted seats at the bargaining table earlier in the year. Montana had this month attempted to speak beyond testimony of other third parties rather than respond to, or cross-answer, the others claims. The state raised several points that UTC staff said were now out of bounds and should have been made by the June 30 deadline. Montana cannot wait until cross-answering testimony to set out its case concerning protecting the interests of its workers, communities, and tax base from the impacts of shutting down Colstrip Units 1 and 2, the UTC staff said. One third party to the rate case that did submit testimony was the Sierra Club, which late Wednesday also requested the attorney general's testimony be stricken. It was the Sierra Club, in partnership with the Montana Environmental Information Center, that brought against Puget and Talen the clean air lawsuit that ended in the companies agreeing to shutter Colstrip's two oldest units. Sierra Club attorney, Travis Ritchie, asserted that all of Montana's points filed in August could have been filed by June 30. Ritchie suggested Montana's August filing "can best be viewed as an attempt by the Montana attorney general to avoid further embarrassment for the perception of having failed to adequately represent the interests of Montana in this proceeding. "However, political embarrassment is not a valid excuse to allow late-filed testimony," Ritchie told the judge. Millennial Moms Review: 2022 Acura MDX is pretty close to the perfect family car I dont know if perfect is attainable, especially considering weve got the world of options when it comes to modern vehicles. Were spoiled and, as such, we have very specific needs and wants. Driving-wise, the 2022 Acura MDX is one of my favourite ... A Matter of Faith Lessons from the Heart Our society is filled with hundreds of oftentimes competing beliefs about life, culture, likes and dislikes, and faith, just to... We are not alone Lessons from the Heart When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What... LIBBY A northwestern Montana man has been convicted of deliberate homicide in the beating and strangling death of his estranged girlfriend in Libby. The Western News reports 42-year-old Trevor Mercier was convicted Aug. 10 in the death of 30-year-old Sheena Devine, whose young daughters found her dead on Oct. 6, 2016. Mercier's defense was that he had argued with Devine the night before and had put her in a "sleeper hold" that left her unconscious. He said he did not intend to kill her and that he should have been charged with negligent homicide. However, a coroner testified that it only takes 10 to 15 seconds for a "sleeper hold" to render someone unconscious compared to the three to five minutes it takes to kill someone. Mercier's sentencing is set for Oct. 10. Germany is the birthplace of the automobile but its not immune from the passage of time as Chancellor Angela Merkel has conceded the days of the internal combustion engine are coming to an end. In an interview with Super Illu, Merkel said the decision of fellow European countries to ban traditional gasoline and diesel vehicles is the right approach. She suggested Germany could eventually join countries such as Norway and the United Kingdom but stated I cant give you a precise year yet. Despite the hype over this statement, Merkel went on to say we need modern diesel engines which, at the same time, meet the nitrogen oxide standards. She added diesel engines continue to make sense as they have lower CO2 emissions than their gasoline counterparts. Some officials have proposed diesel bans but Merkel rejects this idea. She says the government must do everything to avoid driving bans, because we would punish people who have bought a car in good faith. Following the interview, German environmental group Deutsche Umwelthilfe declared current efforts to reduce diesel emissions ineffective. In a statement, the groups leader said Two weeks after the diesel summit, many diesel owners have realized that the placebo software updates will not prevent their vehicles from being affected by the coming bans. An accurate analysis shows that the software updates do not have a reduction of nitrogen oxide during the winter months and a maximum of two percent in the summer. Jurgen Resch went on to say incentives to get owners of older diesel vehicles to purchase something more eco-friendly models are nothing more than a plump sales promotion for dinosaurs of the car industry. Photo Gallery Photo: District of Summerland The property to go for auction is highlighted in black. A 1.3 acre property owned by the District of Summerland will be going up for auction, despite some councillors raising concerns about its proximity to trails. At a meeting Monday, council decided the property at 9220 Shale Ave. will be sold off after an appraisal is complete. A neighbouring business owner wants to buy the property to expand his company. "I think many people in this community have a vision of a trail system around Giants Head and there are public trails in there," Councillor Doug Holmes said. "We're doing a Trails Master Plan and as that vision is realizing we are going to need public access points to these trails and this could potentially be a public access point to the trail system at Giants Head." "I just don't see why we would want to short change ourselves." The District of Summerland is trying to promote more economic activity in industrial areas, according to Mayor Peter Waterman. "This is the expansion of a business," Waterman said. "He is seeing the need to his business activity to try and enlarge his business and this gives him that opportunity." Waterman insisted that as they develop their trails they will examine the future plans more closely. "We don't know who else might apply but he certainly wants to expand his operation," Waterman said. "What we are recommending is a public offer so that the neighbouring properties and perhaps even the third party can have an opportunity to bid on that property." Staff will now obtain a property appraisal before accepting bids from interested parties. Final acceptance of an offer will be made by council resolution. Photo: CTV The provincial NDP are giving minimum wage workers a pay hike as they inch toward an eventual $15 minimum wage. UPDATE: 8:50 p.m. The B.C. government says it's planning to increase the provincial minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2021. Labour Minister Harry Bains said Tuesday a fair wages commission will be established in the coming weeks to plan how to raise the rate without hurting businesses. "I think what we are doing is going with a responsible, fair approach so that the businesses know that it's predictable, it's incremental increases going forward so they can look at their structure, their costs ahead of time and knowing fully well what their costs will be," he said. A 50-cent increase announced by the previous Liberal government will go ahead as planned on Sept. 15, bringing the wage to $11.35 per hour, Bains said. ORIGINAL: 2:45 p.m. The lowest paid workers in the province are getting a raise. Only a few weeks after taking power, the provincial NDP are giving minimum wage workers a pay hike as they inch toward an eventual $15 minimum wage. Workers will be receiving a 50-cent increase in September.. Premier John Horgan said moving toward a $15 minimum wage is long overdue in making life more affordable for British Columbians. "British Columbia's lowest-paid workers need a raise," Horgan said. "The action we're taking will make life better for working parents, seniors, new Canadians, students and more - these are people struggling to get by." As of Sept. 15, the minimum wage will jump from $10.85 per hour to $11.35 per hour, giving B.C. the third-highest minimum wage in Canada - up from seventh. "Today's increase and our commitment to the $15 minimum wage will benefit almost 100,000 British Columbians who have been getting by on one of the lowest minimum wages in the country," said Horgan, adding that 62 per cent of minimum-wage earners are women. Labour Minister Harry Bains said details around a fair wages commission's composition and terms of reference will be announced in the coming weeks. The commission will submit its first report within 90 days of its first meeting. "We've listened to business owners, who have told us gradual, predictable increases are the way to go to minimize the impact on their businesses," Bains said. "And they recognize that the move to a $15 minimum wage is good for retention for their businesses, and good for the B.C. economy." Liquor servers' wages are also rising by 50 cents to $10.10 per hour. Other minimum-wage provisions in the employment standards regulation will receive increases in line with the general minimum-wage increase of 4.6 per cent, including the daily rate for live-in home support workers and live-in camp leaders, as well as the monthly rates for resident caretakers and the minimum farm worker piece rates for harvesters of certain fruits and vegetables. Photo: RCMP Police say a man has been arrested for allegedly trying to abduct two children in Prince George. RCMP Cpl. Craig Douglass says officers were called to a playground on Tuesday for a report of a disturbance and arrived to find a man and a woman fighting. Douglass says officers determined the man had been trying to abduct a child from the playground when the woman intervened, and the man was arrested after running from police. RCMP later received a report about another attempted abduction a few blocks away, where a man grabbed a young boy who was with his mother. Douglass says the woman managed to get her child back and fled to her home and that the man police had in custody fit the suspect's description. RCMP say a 35-year-old man from Fort St. James is being held in custody and is expected to be charged with several offences. Photo: Nicholas Johansen The defence in the Jonathan Bacon murder trial argued Tuesday the Crown has been moving slowly in disclosing evidence. After three weeks of break in the Jonathan Bacon murder trial, defence requested two more weeks of delay Tuesday, due to Crown's failure to provide their full evidence to defence. Michael Jones, Jason McBride and Jujhar Khun-Khun are accused of the first-degree murder of Bacon outside Kelowna's Delta Grand Hotel in August 2011. A second Crown witness protected under a publication ban took the stand Monday. Witness B, a former associate of the accused and now a co-operating Crown witness, testified Monday and Tuesday, but defence counsel for McBride, Alan Gold, argued that he had only received copies of notes this morning from meetings the witness had with police in July and August of 2017. I don't think your lordship has a real appreciation of the sorry state of the disclosure regarding this key witness, Gold told Justice Allan Betton. I'm not in a position ... to let the Crown get away with it. Gold requested a two-week adjournment to allow the Crown to fully complete disclosure, so he can properly prepare a cross-examination of the witness. I want to be sure ... we are not going to get anymore transcripts, we're not going to get anymore task reports, we're not going to get anymore notes involving this witness, so that I can prepare a cross based on all the available material, Gold said. The purpose of this exercise is not to get this trial done, it's to get a fair trial. Betton was not in favour of more delays. I'm apprehensive about now stopping everything after two days in after three weeks off to do, at least in part, things that I had expected to have been accomplished over that three weeks, the judge said. Crown counsel Dave Ruse said he would have any outstanding notes regarding Witness B to defence by the end of Tuesday, and that he would check if there are transcripts or recordings from the July or August meetings. Betton delayed further testimony from Witness B until Wednesday, to allow Crown to complete their disclosure. Justice moves slowly, muttered a man viewing the trial. Photo: RCMP A car flipped off Highway 1 and caught fire east of Revelstoke Tuesday. A car flipped and burst into flames on the Trans-Canada Highway east of Revelstoke Tuesday afternoon, but the two people inside made it out alive thanks to the help of two strangers. A Nissan Altima flipped into the westbound ditch and caught fire at about 12:30 p.m., 40 kilometres east of Revelstoke. A Revelstoke man named Steve and another person helped the two people from Nanaimo get out of the burning car. The two people inside were taken to Queen Victoria Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Steve and the unknown motorist are commended for their bravery, Cpl Thomas Blakney of the Revelstoke RCMP said in a statement. The volunteers with the Revelstoke Fire Department are also commended for their rapid and safe response to ensure the fire was put out and prevented a potential forest fire. The 29-year-old driver was given a ticket for driving without due care and attention. A tribal judge on the Crow Reservation has upheld the validity of the Crow Tribe's 2001 constitution, ruling against Tribal Chairman Alvin "A.J." Not Afraid's effort to hold a reservation-wide referendum on the governing document. The vote went ahead as planned Saturday, however. Not Afraids senior policy adviser, former chairman Cedrick Black Eagle, said Tuesday that executive branch officials had not been served with the judge's order prior to the vote, but are withholding the results until the rest of the case is resolved. In his order filed Aug. 10, Judge Thor Hoyte sided with the tribe's Legislative Branch, which had earlier filed an injunction objecting to what they said was an attempt to subvert the current constitution under the laws of the previous one, which had been in enacted in 1948. Referring to previous rulings in tribal and federal courts, Hoyte wrote that "... uncontroverted by the defendants is the fact the legal acceptance of the 2001 Crow Constitution has been litigated and found not lacking." The tribal court judge granted the Legislative Branch's request for a preliminary injunction against Not Afraid, prohibiting the chairman's administration from using tribal funds for a referendum under the laws of the 1948 Constitution. The chairman and others named as defendants in the complaint had opted not to testify during the Aug. 8 hearing on the complaint, Hoyte also noted. Black Eagle said the administration did so because it believed the court did not have the jurisdiction to rule on the case an argument that Hoyt also dismissed in his order. The ballots used for Saturday's vote asked tribal members whether they should hold a constitutional convention, and whether the tribe's general council should reopen negotiations over its tribal water rights compact. The compact was ratified by the tribal, state and federal governments more than five years ago, but Not Afraid has sought to revisit the negotiated settlement. Black Eagle characterized the dual efforts as driven by the will of the Crow General Council, which he said is made up of all the roughly 8,000 tribal members eligible to vote. The chairman isnt trying to create havoc or chaos. Its just that the concerns that he has are what he sees as the Crow Tribal General Council requesting certain things, Black Eagle said, adding that Not Afraid organized a pair of General Council meetings earlier this year to discuss the issue. While the tribes current constitution does not specify a process for a constitutional convention, it lays out an avenue for petitions and initiatives. Both types of reform efforts first require a petition signed by at least 25 percent of the General Council before a vote can be held. Noting that Not Afraids move to hold the vote was based on a petition signed by just 100 tribal members, Speaker of the House Eric Birdinground condemned the chairmans moves in an interview last week. He also urged Not Afraid to instead pursue the established process for amending the 2001 constitution, which Black Eagle also said the administration has not attempted. The vote last weekend was instead a product of the General Councils required biannual meetings, he said, arguing that the legislature is inaccurate in its claims that Not Afraid is seeking a return to the 1948 constitution. The effort to hold a constitutional convention may go forward regardless of the next hearing on the remainder of the legislatures complaint, which the parties are required to schedule for later this month. Asked whether the chairman would drop the effort if Hoyt ultimately rules against him, Black Eagle demurred. If the judge rules in favor of the Legislative Branch, thats fine, but I believe that the Executive Branch has the discretion to listen to the Crow Tribal General Council, he said. I dont think the judge can determine how the Crow Tribal General Council wants to initiate a constitutional convention. Photo: RCMP Hard drives and laptops with pictures of the Petersen family's late son were stolen in Vernon. A family is making a desperate plea for the return of their stolen hard drives and laptops that contained pictures of their son, who died from cancer two years ago. On Aug. 8, the Petersen's black GMC Sierra pickup truck with Alberta licence plates was broken into on the 3900 block of Vernon's 14th Street. A silver HP touchscreen laptop, a black Toshiba laptop and two external hard drives were stolen from inside the truck. Photos of the Petersen's late son, Patrick Petersen, were on the hard drives and computers. Patrick died from cancer on Aug. 29, 2015. Sadly the pictures of his last months, up to the last days of his life spent in the hospital undergoing chemotherapy, dialysis and surgeries, are on the stolen hard drives and laptops, said Patrick's father Dwayne. All this has opened up wounds that will never really heal and left us feeling the pain all over again. I am simply making a plea to all, to anyone who may know or hear anything or know about the computers and hard drives. "I beg that they please return what little a father has left other than a broken heart. Patrick made himself a bucket list following his diagnosis, which included marrying his girlfriend and travelling to see the Denver Broncos, his favourite team, with his father. This would be the last father-son trip the pair would make together before Patrick's death. It is one of those cases where the return of these items are all we hope to achieve with a no-questions-asked attitude, should someone want to come forward and return these items to police, said Cpl. Dan Moskaluk of the RCMP. Those wishing to return the stolen items, or those with any information on the whereabouts of the items, can call the Vernon RCMP at 250-545-7171, or anonymously via Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477. Photo: The Canadian Press With tires screeching and bodies flying, Marcus Martin shoved his fiancee out of the way of a car charging through a crowd of peaceful protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia. Marcus Martin was promptly hit and upended by the car as it plowed through the crowd. Flat on his back with a broken leg, he says he experienced several minutes of terror. "The only thing running through my mind was: please don't let her be dead," Martin, 26, told The Associated Press in an interview. "Please don't let her be dead." Marissa Blair was OK, and Martin's body was captured in a photograph as he tumbled over the crashing car that fatally hit Heather Heyer, a friend who had been marching with Blair and Martin. Nineteen others were injured. Martin's mother, Kimberly Martin, was terrified as she watched the scene replayed on television. "I'm thanking God, because after seeing that photo and then I'm seeing videos and I'm seeing my son behind this car and then when I see the car backing back up the street, it was nobody but God that got him out of the way, you know? And it was just a cruel, cruel, act because those peaceful people: it was like going to a battleground without any protection from anybody," she said. While her son survived, Kimberly Martin said she's pained by Heyer's death. "As a mother it hurts, you know, because I could have lost my child, but somebody else did and, like I said, it just hurts," she said. If you have just started your journey in an online casino or are looking for a new site to play,... LARAMIE, Wyo. A new committee has been established to advise University of Wyoming President Laurie Nichols on Native American affairs. Since taking over as president, Nichols has been working to improve the relationship between the state's only public, four-year university and Native Americans. Nichols tells the Laramie Boomerang that the Advisory Committee on Native American Affairs will help reach out to prospective students on the Wind River Indian Reservation. The seven-member committee includes people who are Native American or have connections to the state's Native American population. At one recent meeting, Nichols and the committee discussed how best to conduct the grand opening of the UW Native American Education, Research and Cultural Center. When the moon passes in front of the sun Monday, leaving Casper in shadow, many residents and most of the 35,000 people who are expected to visit the city will have their eyes locked on the sky, where a rare celestial event a total solar eclipse will be taking place. But Bryan Tobias hopes to be looking down. The University of Texas at San Antonio doctoral student wont be doing it with his own eyes. If all goes according to plan, hell be in a quiet spot on Casper Mountain, piloting a drone about 2,000 feet above his head, capturing footage of the darkened ground as the moons shadow races across Casper. Youll see millions of photos of the eclipse, all looking up, he said. So I have decided I want to be looking down. His drone will be recording video, but not of the eclipse itself. Tobias, one of several people who will be conducting research in Casper during the eclipse, is interested in the lunar umbra the shadow the moon will cast across the city and region in the moment that totality begins. That same day, a team at Casper College is planning to launch a weather balloon to livestream the eclipse, while another group of researchers will be studying the moons shadow compared to those of clouds and how that relates to weather. The eclipse offers a rare opportunity to witness a solar spectacle and do some science all at once. Tobias hopes to capture 15 to 20 minutes of the umbral shadow as it races across the Earth at about 2,200 mph. It will fall over Casper from the north-northwest just before totality when the moon moves into place to completely cover the sun. Tobias hopes to track it as it approaches and then pivot his drone so that it can capture footage of the shadow continuing its path away from Casper, toward Nebraska, then Missouri and ultimately South Carolina and the Atlantic Ocean. Its going to get dark as (the moon shadow) is coming across the terrain, he said. There will be a 30- to 40-mile swath of darkness. He notes that people in the 70-mile path of totality will be within sight of both other planets and daylight, though the skies above them will dim. Tobias is working on his Ph.D in astrophysics. He has researched this project since January, but he still has a few challenges to work through: His drone has a battery life of about 28 minutes, so he has to ration his time. It can fly to 1,700 feet above the launch site, so he wants to be as high up as he possibly can. And he has to think about how hell land it safely, so hes looking for a secluded area. Ultimately, the viewing perspective will be like on the Empire State Building, but in Casper, he said. Tobias plans to be on the mountain, though hes still looking for the perfect spot. He planned to scout locations while in town for AstroCon 2017, which is bringing hundreds of amateur astronomers to the Parkway Plaza and to Casper College for a national conference that will end Saturday, two days before the eclipse. The rare celestial event has energized attendance at the convention. Most years, Tobias said, numbers hover around 200. This year, at least 800 astronomers are expected to descend on Casper. In fact, organizers had to cap registration so the event wouldnt be overcrowded. Most of those stargazers, of course, plan to stick around for the eclipse. But theyll be busy in the days leading up to it, attending lectures and social events one evening meal for convention-goers is called the Star BQ and taking in Casper and Wyoming. But on the day of the eclipse, Tobias says, it wont matter exactly where they are. As long as skies are clear, you can be smack dab in the middle of downtown or anywhere else in the path of totality and have an unparalleled view of a rare event. Itll be quite the spectacle, he said. Clouds and the weather While Tobias is somewhere on Casper Mountain, scanning the ground for the moons approaching shadow, a group of researchers will be on the roof of the Gertrude Krampert Theatre on the Casper College campus. Jay Herman and his team, which includes two Casper College faculty members, wont actually need to be there. Their equipment two spectrometers and a radiometer set up on campus, plus a satellite orbiting a million miles from Earth will be set up to take all the measurements they need. But he and his companions wouldnt miss it. This eclipse is a chance for them to test the way theyve been calculating how the suns radiation is affected by clouds. Scientists study how clouds impact the amount of radiation that falls to Earth from the sun. Clouds create a shadow on Earth, just like the moon will do during this solar eclipse. They reflect light back to space and prevent light from reaching the surface of the planet and the lower atmosphere. In short, they modify the suns heating effects. The moon is a very controlled, well-known object as compared to clouds, so were going to use the moon to test the calculation method, and then it will be applied to clouds, said Herman, who works at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Before the eclipse, the two spectrometers will measure trace gases such as ozone and nitrogen dioxide. Once the eclipse starts, one will measure how the light decreases as the moon gradually blocks the sun. The other will measure scattered radiation from the sun. The radiometer, meanwhile, measures the light coming from all directions. And up in space, there is a remote participant. The DSCOVR EPIC is a satellite that has been collecting data since June 2015 and will be called into service. The acronyms stand for Deep Space Climate Observatory and Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera. Because of where its positioned, the satellite has an uninterrupted view of the illuminated side of our home planet and what happens when the moons shadow crosses it. It sees the whole sunlit disc of the Earth, Herman said. Herman also is looking forward to the spectacle itself. This wont be his first eclipse he saw one decades ago but hes eagerly anticipating the experience. Based on what I saw the first time, I sure want to see it again, he said. Balloon in the sky About an hour before totality maybe a little less Megan Graham and the members of the robotics club at Casper College will be watching the sky as their helium-filled weather balloon ascends into the darkening heavens. At that point, the gray blob will be about 8 feet in diameter and heading toward the stratosphere, which starts at about 60,000 feet above Earth. As it rises, Graham said, the air pressure will ease, and the balloon will expand until it reaches about 35 feet in diameter, hovering in the blackness of space. Within half an hour, it will have cleared the level of the sky that airplanes soar through. The robotics team hopes to send it 85,000 feet in the air at totality, but it may go as high as 100,000. By that time, it will be far out of sight and at the mercy of space weather. Were at the whim of the winds, said Graham, an electronics technology and robotics technology instructor at the college. If all goes well, the team on the ground will see a clear and unbroken video stream of the eclipse the first time such an attempt has been made. But they wont be the only ones. The livestream, which the Casper College team and dozens of others across the country will contribute to, will be available to anyone on Earth with the ability to navigate to eclipsestream.live. Even people who live thousands of miles from the path of totality will be able to marvel at the eclipse as if they were directly in the line that spans the continental United States from coast to coast. Many details of the launch have yet to be decided. The team will base its ground station which includes a satellite dish to track the balloon at Casper College. They might launch from there, too. But they might also have to start farther north. The exact launch site and time will be chosen closer to the day of the eclipse, based on the weather forecast. The balloon will be carrying a few payloads. One is a computer the size of a credit card, called a Raspberry Pi. It will control the video feed. The second payload contains three Raspberry Pis and three cameras that will capture still images of the eclipse. The third is a controller that will measure temperature, light, humidity and acceleration. The final one is strips of bacteria, which NASA is sending up to see how they react in the stratosphere. The strips might sound like stowaways, but its no free ride. The Casper College teams project, along with 43 others at schools, colleges and universities from Oregon to South Carolina, is funded by the NASA Space Grant Consortium. The other teams in Wyoming will be located in Riverton and near Glendo. The space agency is attempting the first livestream of an eclipse and has enlisted the students around the country to be part of the effort. The Casper College team is composed of eight students studying computer science, engineering, robotics and electronics. Theyre also being mentored by two doctoral students at the University of Wyoming. For this project, the group will be known as the WY Space Cowboys. The work hasnt come without hiccups. The team has had to retrieve its balloon from places as far as Midwest and Medicine Bow. Once, a parachute failed to fully deploy, and the balloon crashed into the ground from 100,000 feet. That was a hard landing, Graham acknowledged but she also noted that the team didnt lose much because the payload was packed very securely. Were all learning new tricks and new things, she said. Every time you launch, theres something different. Last week, the Montana Attorney Generals Office filed a legal argument with the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission after deciding not to provide any expert witness testimony earlier this summer. The assistant attorney general who wrote for that testimony doesnt have expertise in utility law. But according to Attorney General Tim Fox, his office is following a legal strategy that does not require utility expertise. The Gazette reported last month that state Republican lawmakers and several other interveners in the Puget Sound Electric rate case were shocked when Montana missed the deadline to file expert testimony despite an $80,000 appropriation for the attorney general to represent the state. The focus of the Montana filing last week was to ask the Washington regulatory commission to affirm that Montana will determine the remediation costs for Colstrip units 1 and 2, which are to be retired no later than 2022. Asked why he didnt file any witness testimony as the eight other interveners did Fox said he didnt want to play our cards early. Cost estimates for decommissioning and cleanup of Units 1 and 2 havent yet been calculated, Fox said last week in a phone interview with The Gazette. He said those estimates will be made in Montana according to state and federal law. Montana will not be bound by any numbers that UTC decides to set aside, Fox said. It may be that PSE must go back to the WUTC to get more money from ratepayers. We are not about to pigeon hole ourselves into a ceiling when we dont know the costs. It would have been strategically and technically a mistake to provide any expert testimony. Were not looking to get any money in this proceeding. Were just looking to see that UTC doesnt have wool pulled over its eyes. The use of production tax credits for decommissioning and remediation of 1 and 2 is the sole issue on that case. The case is not about 3 and 4, Fox said. That is a puzzling claim. The case involves the rates charged for power at all Colstrip units, and at other generation facilities that supply PSE customers. The WUTC sets rates to cover operating costs and to cover the future inevitable expenses of retiring generating facilities including the coal-fired plants at Colstrip. The case before the WUTC is a general rate case covering electric and natural gas rates for an area of more than 4 million people. Importantly, rates approved by the WUTC include funding plant depreciation. Units 3 and 4 are on a schedule to be fully depreciated in 2045. But states buying some of that power have decided they want all their power generation to have lower carbon emissions by 2035. Thus, the plant depreciation would need to be accelerated now so theres money to cover decommissioning and cleanup. While Montana has yet to estimate those costs, it is necessary to fund them. According to the Seattle Times, the WUTC staff recommends that the costs of shutting down Colstrip 1 and 2 should be recovered over a longer time than PSE proposed, and that a rate increase request should be rejected. Will there be enough money for that cleanup? Nobody knows, but its better to start with some than to have a larger shortfall that forces the Montana attorney general to fight for higher utility rates in other states a few years from now. On Aug. 29, the Washington commission is scheduled to hold hearings. Then Montanans will see how effectively Fox is representing our interests. This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact The Chanute Tribune office at 620-431-4100 if you have any questions Governor, the time is now to act! Montanans are strong, resilient and proud. But we recognize it is time to ask for help and we hope Governor Steve Bullock will join North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum in seeking a presidential disaster declaration due to the extreme drought we are facing. As the Great Falls Tribune reported just this week, over half of the state and a quarter million Montanans are currently impacted. I am a fourth-generation farmer and operate the family farm near Flaxville, which is located in the northeastern part of the state. Here conditions reached the exceptional classification level. Farmers and ranchers are facing a drought that is among the top five driest years in recorded history dating back to the 1890s! Explaining the severity and impact of the drought seems nearly impossible. Farmers have terminated tens of thousands of acres of crop without even harvesting it. Ranchers are scrambling to find hay and selling off cattle. Volunteer fire departments are getting called out multiple times each day for fires which dont make the news, but are still as devastating to those affected. And its not just farmers and ranchers, our Main Street businesses are also feeling the impact. Obviously the governor cant fix the weather. But he can and should advocate for a presidential disaster declaration. Its time for FEMA assistance. Its time for congressional action. Its time for Gov. Bullock to maximize federal assistance during this historic drought. Yes, Montanans are strong, resilient and proud, yet we also know to move forward immediate action by the federal government is necessary to save Montana agriculture. Paul Kanning Flaxville So-called conservative Montana House Speaker Austin Knudsen recently talked about making hard choices on what government should spend its money on in tough fiscal times. What's so hypocritical and humorous is that he conveniently leaves out the fact that his family agriculture operation receives over $40,000 a year in taxpayer-funded agricultural subsidies to keep his business afloat which is nearly the average annual salary for working Montanans. Knudsen goes on to blast Gov. Steve Bullock for creating an office of outdoor recreation to promote this sector of our economy. Again, Knudsen conveniently leaves out that outdoor recreation has surpassed agriculture as our state's biggest economic driver. That doesn't even take into account the fact that agriculture is heavily subsidized and always coming back wanting more and more handouts from the public. The American (Montana) taxpayers are the folks that pay entitlements for the agriculture folks like Knudsen. It's ironic listening to Republicans who call themselves conservative and blast big government programs that help people, including basic medical care for the working poor. They always seem to forget how much they belly up to the government trough. Seems the rules about self-sufficiency and conservative ideology don't apply to them. I guess entitlements that serve them are okay, but entitlements that serve others are bad and need to go away. Lets be completely real here and speak only truth, these so-called conservatives are anything but conservative; in reality they are nothing more than radical corporatists, like hogs at a feed trough. Sara Bruesch Billings The North Dakota Public Service Commission has set aside Oct. 3-4 for an investigative hearing on whether the developer of the Dakota Access Pipeline violated conditions of its state permit. The hearing, originally scheduled for Thursday, will focus on whether developer Energy Transfer Partners removed too many trees during construction of the pipeline in North Dakota. In addition, the commission is investigating whether the developer improperly handled soil during the project construction. Commissioners scheduled the new hearing date Wednesday after earlier in the week voting to postpone it at the request of Dakota Access. In the meantime, attorneys from Dakota Access and the Public Service Commission staff will continue to meet to attempt to resolve the issues. Commissioner Julie Fedorchak, who had opposed the delay, said it was important to reschedule the hearing and keep the investigation on track. Our goal here is to maintain the standards of the permit and the commitments that have been made to the public through it, Fedorchak said. The commission had not yet heard whether Dakota Access will accept a $15,000 settlement offer to resolve a dispute over whether the company broke state law when it failed to notify regulators about rerouting the pipeline to avoid cultural artifacts in Morton County. The company has until Aug. 24 to consider the offer. Home sharing platform Airbnb on Tuesday released new data and "issued a call to action to its host community to help Tennessee take full economic advantage of excitement for the upcoming solar eclipse." At this time, Airbnb projects that the Airbnb host community in Tennessee cities along the path of totality will earn a combined $2.6 million in supplemental income while welcoming over 13,200 guest arrivals during the eclipse. Officials said, "The data indicates a significant economic boon for Tennessee and its residents. The 13,200 guest arrivals in those towns represent a 216 percent spike compared to a week prior. "The data concludes that Tennessee is -- by a significant margin -- the most popular U.S. state among Airbnb eclipse-goers, both in terms of guest arrivals and overall host income. "Local media accounts have closely documented the lack of hotel availability as visitors flock to Tennessee. While the path of totality includes larger cities like Nashville and Knoxville, most of the Tennessee cities lack any hotels at all. The rise of home sharing has allowed Tennessee to expand lodging capacity and empowered more traditionally rural communities to benefit from the economic activity during this once in a generation event. "The expanded lodging capacity for Tennessee communities during the eclipse also offers significant economic value to local restaurants and shops. According to the U.S. Labor Departments annual Consumer Expenditure Survey, the average American tourist spends $106.50 a day while traveling (not including lodging). Multiplying that average by the number of Tennessee Airbnb guest arrivals, Airbnb hosts have the opportunity to direct a potential $1.41 million in guest spending towards the Tennessee merchant community on Aug. 20-21." Airbnb is issuing a call to action to its hosts to help guide eclipse guests to local shops, restaurants and other small businesses that do not typically benefit from traditional tourism revenue. This is particularly important, because 22% of those hosting via Airbnb during the eclipse in Tennessee towns on the path will be doing so for the first time. Gate City Bank donated a trailer to Great Plains Food Bank to help in its mission of delivering food to the roughly 94,000 North Dakotans in need each year. Over the next 12 months, it will supply food to low-income seniors, bring fresh produce to communities with limited access to this type of product, and deliver millions of pounds of food to our partner network of food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens operating statewide, Great Plains Food Bank Chief Development Officer Marcia Paulson said in a statement. The trailer features images of both entities working together inside the Great Plains Food Bank statewide distribution center. It has the capacity to hold 44,000 pounds of food, enough for 36,666 meals. SWANSEA, UNITED KINGDOM - MAY 21: Gylfi Sigurdsson of Swansea City(L) reacts at the final whistle during the Premier League match between Swansea City and West Bromwich Albion at the Liberty Stadium on May 21, 2017 in Swansea, Wales. (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images) (Harry Trump / Getty Images) LIVERPOOL Everton says it has signed Iceland midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson from Swansea for a club-record fee, further strengthening the team's attacking options to compensate for the departure of striker Romelu Lukaku. One of the Premier League's most drawn-out transfers this summer was completed on Wednesday, with the 27-year-old Sigurdsson signing a five-year deal for a transfer fee that British media reported to be 45 million pounds ($58 million). Advertisement Wayne Rooney, Sandro Ramirez and Davy Klaassen are other attacking players to have joined Everton since the end of last season, as part of an outlay of around 135 million pounds ($175 million) on new players. The club recouped 75 million pounds ($97 million) in selling Lukaku to Manchester United. President Trump hasn't shown himself to be a man accustomed to facing reality, but he finally did so Wednesday by disbanding his two leading councils of business CEOs and other leaders. The move had the air of the old exchange between boss and worker: Advertisement "You're fired!" "You can't fire me! I already quit!" Advertisement That's because Trump had become so toxic to the business community that eight members of his manufacturing jobs council had resigned as of midday Wednesday, and his 19-member strategic and planning council already had decided to disband itself. (The original membership of both panels can be found here, courtesy of Forbes.) It will be tempting to regard this moment as a turning point in the history of the Trump Administrationor rather, to regard Tuesday as that moment. That's when Trump held an impromptu press conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York and declared that anti-Nazi protesters were as culpable for the weekend's violence in Charlottesville, Va., as the Nazi and White Supremacist groups who marched, shouting racist and ant-Semitic slogans. Trump's failure to decry outspoken racism threatened to rub off on any CEO or business leader who remained associated with him. Merck & Co. CEO Ken Frazier began the exit from the jobs council Monday morning. By Wednesday it was on the verge of looking like a possible flood. By midday, 3M CEO Inge Thulin and Campbell's Soup CEO Denise Morrison had become the seventh and eighth members to quit the group this week, and the question implicitly being put to every one of the 16 CEOs remaining on board was: "Why are you still there?" CEOs might argue that while they loathe all that is wrong with the Trump administration, they can be more effective by remaining involved. Give me a break. Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers Trump said in his tweet announcing the end of both panels that he was doing so "rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople" who were members. But what percolated below the surface was the business community's recognition of the obvious: As we observed Tuesday, these panels were never more than Potemkin Villagesfake facades of public-private cooperation that never met and had no detectable influence on Trump or his economic policies. In normal times and with a normal President, such fakery might serve a purpose. With this administration, they served only to apply a veneer of responsible policy-making to a process of utter chaos. Plainly, the business leaders who have been lining up at the exits have calculated that the cost of affiliating with Trump now vastly outweighs the benefits. Economist Lawrence Summers, who served two Democratic Presidents, Clinton and Obama, as Treasury Secretary and chief economist, demolished the case for sticking with Trump concisely in a Financial Times column Tuesday. "CEOs might argue that while they also loathe all that is wrong with the Trump administration, they can be more effective by remaining involved," Summers wrote. "Give me a break. Anyone who thinks that by attending a meeting less than monthly with 30 people in a room they are moving the nation is engaged in egotistical self-delusion of a high order." From the other side of the political aisle, the Wall Street Journal editorial page implicitly accepted the CEO resignations as the inevitable harvest of Trump's behavior, casting them as a warning shot at a President who won't pay attention. The business community is, or ought to be, a natural part of a Republican President's governing coalition," the Journal observed. "Yet Mr. Trump has seemingly taken every opportunity to escalate feuds and attack even allies in Congress like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. As if to prove this point, Mr. Trump lashed out at Merck's Mr. Frazier on Twitter Monday with what amounted to a political threat.This display of pique does nothing but make others less likely to get anywhere close to Mr. Trump's orbit." Advertisement Plainly, many of these business leaders held on in the expectation that Trump would accomplish policy goals they shareless regulation, lower taxes. The tone of the Journal's editorial implies that may already be a forlorn hope. The CEOs who remained within "Mr. Trump's orbit" had nothing to gain any longer, and much to lose. Many were consumer product manufacturers vulnerable to customer boycotts--Dell computers, Whirlpool appliances, Johnson & Johnson, Campbell's soup. Newell Brands, whose CEO Michael Polk was on the jobs panel, owns the brands Sunbeam, Rubbermaid, Graco, Sharpie, and dozens of others; to stay on the panel amounted to leading with its chin. Two AFL-CIO officers, including President Richard Trumka, were on the jobs panel; unbelievably, it took the union until Tuesday to withdraw. Others faced more generalized threats to their reputation. The members of the "strategic and policy forum" included Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, Virginia Rometty of IBM, and Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon. McMillon tried to finesse the uproar over Trump's response to Charlottesville with a statement Monday lamenting that Trump "missed a critical opportunity to help bring our country together by unequivocally rejecting the appalling actions of white supremacists." But he said he would remain on the panel, especially after Trump issued a statement Monday denouncing white supremacists. But when Trump returned to the fray Tuesday effectively praising the white supremacist marchers, the heat on McMillon and his fellow business leaders was turned back up. The record of the Trump White House thus far offers no reason for confidence that Trump's increasing isolation will lead to a change of tone or policy. But the collapse of his support within the business community presages a further collapse, this time in the political community. Tuesday and Wednesday may indeed have marked a turning point. Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2017 Keep up to date with Michael Hiltzik. Follow @hiltzikm on Twitter, see his Facebook page, or email michael.hiltzik@latimes.com. Advertisement Return to Michael Hiltzik's blog. President Donald Trump and the CEOs of the country's largest companies, who enjoyed a brief and intense honeymoon earlier this year, are breaking up. You knew this day was coming. Advertisement It's always been an uneasy marriage of convenience despite assurances and outward appearances that ex-real estate mogul and entrepreneur Trump was simpatico with the nation's top business leaders. Now, their disenchantment with Trump is at a crescendo. High-profile corporate chiefs are justifiably turning their backs on the president for his halfhearted rebuke of white supremacists, neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan and other haters involved in the Charlottesville, Va., tragedy. Advertisement In reaction to several notable corporate CEO resignations, a defensive Trump on Wednesday disbanded a presidential manufacturing council and a strategic policy group that were chock-full of powerful CEOs from all walks of life. Despite this desperate move, Trump has put leaders of the nation's business community in a precarious position, one they cannot afford to forgive or forget. The reality is that CEOs can't risk being associated with the president and, by extension, those fiery comments he made this week that counterprotesters and hate groups were equally to blame for the Charlottesville bloodshed. It's essential to understand that the first wave of CEO exits from Trump's manufacturing panel were heads of companies with strong consumer product lines or connections: Merck, Under Armour and Intel. I'm sure these men were personally appalled by Trump's comments. But they also realized that sticking around casts an impression their corporate cultures are aligned with the president's beliefs and values. That's a toxic perception that could hurt any company's ability to compete for an increasingly diverse and international customer market. Indeed, as the controversy surrounding Trump's reactions mushroomed, there was growing talk of consumer boycotts and shareholder uprisings aimed at the CEOs who stayed on Trump's panels. Such a reaction was heading right toward local powerhouses Boeing and Caterpillar, whose executives did not resign from Trump's manufacturing advisory board. Advertisement Actually when Trump killed the presidential business panels, he did a favor for those top executives who didn't jump ship. The decision may take the stakeholder heat off of Boeing and Cat. But, maybe not. At some point, both global concerns will have to justify to a skeptical public why they didn't bolt the manufacturing panel. Their recent comments on the matter were perfunctory and weak. Did they truly believe it was better to stay and advise the president? Or maybe they were concerned about putting some government defense contracts, or other bits of business, in jeopardy. While immediate CEO reaction to Trump is unprecedented, corporate America was already cooling on this president prior to Charlottesville. Earlier this year, a group of the area's prominent former and current CEOs joined a coalition of business and nonprofit leaders to openly press Trump to soften his tough, anti-immigration policies, an advocacy that met with some success. Advertisement In June, CEOs of Tesla, Microsoft, Apple, Twitter, Walt Disney and other major corporations also criticized Trump for backing out of the Paris climate change accord, saying it was a serious misstep that would hurt the environment. In widening corporate circles, doubts bubbled up about Trump's ambitious pro-business agenda, especially his beloved deep corporate tax cuts. They openly wondered if it would get any traction in Congress. "Corporations are less confident today relative to the start of the year that the policies proposed by President Trump will be enacted in the near future," wrote John Butters, a senior earnings analyst for Connecticut-based FactSet, which tracks corporate earnings and comments. The disturbing events of the last few days show the nation's CEOs have more to worry about than getting a tax cut plan passed. Now, they must face the fact that their marriage to Donald Trump can't be saved and then decide what to do next. roreed@chicagotribune.com An Emirates Boeing passenger jet lies on the ground at Dubai International Airport after being gutted by a fire following a crash-landing Aug. 3, 2016. (EPA) More than a dozen passengers aboard an Emirates airline flight that crashed in August 2016 sued plane-maker Boeing on Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court, blaming an allegedly defective switch. The Boeing 777-300 flight was headed to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from India. Advertisement All 300 people aboard Emirates Flight EK 521 survived the crash-landing in Dubai, scrambling down emergency slides before flames consumed the plane, but one firefighter was killed battling the blaze. It was the worst crash in the airline's history. The lawsuit alleges, among other problems, that the aircraft's system prevented the operation of a switch at a critical moment and that the plane didn't provide any warning to the crew that the switch wasn't working. Advertisement The plaintiffs, who are residents of the United Kingdom, Switzerland, the UAE and Turkey, suffered serious physical and psychological injuries that will result in future medical bills and lost earnings, the lawsuit says. A Boeing spokesperson declined to comment, noting the litigation is pending. UAE investigators will look at the actions of the flight crew after no problems were found with the aircraft's systems or engines, according to an Aug. 6 interim report from the the UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority. A probe into the Aug. 3, 2016, crash showed no abnormalities in Boeing's 777-300's systems after testing by the manufacturer and downloaded data analysis, according to UAE aviation officials. "The investigation is working to determine and analyze the human performance factors that influenced flight crew actions during the landing," according to a report on the authority's website. byerak@chicagotribune.com Twitter @beckyyerak A Seattle man accused of bringing a woman to Bismarck to work as a prostitute and providing her heroin is now facing a federal charge. Harold Nunnelly, 43, is charged in U.S. District Court with enticing or persuading an individual to engage in prostitution. Nunnelly was originally charged in Burleigh County with sexual servitude and a drug charge and was scheduled for a jury trial this week. Burleigh County prosecutors made a motion to dismiss the case after the federal charge was filed. According to a police affidavit, Nunnelly allegedly convinced a 28-year-old woman to come with him to Bismarck and post sex ads on Backpage.com. The woman told police Nunnelly would take any money she earned and promised to supply her with heroin. Police encountered the woman while searching for a burglary suspect in the 500 block of Memorial Highway in Bismarck on May 10, the affidavit says. Nunnelly is being held in the Burleigh County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court on the federal charge on Wednesday in Bismarck. PrivateBank was bought by CIBC for about $5 billion, and will change its name to CIBC Bank USA. (Aaron Harris / CP) When "Hamilton" opened in Chicago in October, it made a home in the newly renamed PrivateBank Theatre, formerly known as Bank of America Theatre. It looks like the hit musical will outlast the theater name, with the marquee changing again to reflect the new owners of The PrivateBank: Canadian banking giant CIBC. Advertisement Chicago-based PrivateBancorp notified state regulators Friday that it intends to change its name to CIBC Bank USA. A PrivateBank spokeswoman declined to comment Wednesday, while a CIBC spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment. PrivateBank President and CEO Larry Richman told the Tribune in June the bank would rebrand its more than 20 Chicago branches in the fall, with the theater undergoing a name change as "time allows." Advertisement Toronto-based CIBC closed on its acquisition of PrivateBancorp in June in a cash and stock deal valued at $5 billion. Richman will lead CIBC's U.S. region. Founded in 1867, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce has 11 million personal banking and business clients and more than $500 billion in total assets. It is looking to expand its reach in North America through the PrivateBancorp acquisition. PrivateBancorp was founded in 1989 and opened its first office two years later in Chicago. The company went public in 1999. PrivateBancorp has 36 offices in 13 states and about $20 billion in assets. rchannick@chicagotribune.com Twitter @RobertChannick Washington President Trump's most useful ally in his push to restore the dominance of coal, oil and gas in America could ultimately turn out to be a pair of bankrupt solar firms seeking help from the federal government getting back on their feet. In an unorthodox trade case roiling the solar industry worldwide, the duo of distressed panel makers is aiming to empower Trump with the authority to slap punishing tariffs on foreign competitors mostly in China and other Asian countries whose cheap panels have fueled the massive growth in U.S. solar installations. Advertisement The fallout from the case that was heard Tuesday by the U.S. International Trade Commission threatens to destabilize the massive network of installers and other nonmanufacturing businesses that make up the bulk of the American solar industry. Nearly 90% of the panels it uses are produced abroad. Prices of panels would roughly double should the two U.S. manufacturers get the relief they are seeking, several independent analysts warn. Some 88,000 installation and other jobs in the U.S. solar electricity sector one in every three would vanish, according to the Solar Energy Industries Assn. California, with its robust solar industry, would lose the most by far. Advertisement The consequences for green power in the U.S. would be so serious that even conservative think tanks that have been tangling with the solar industry for years are speaking up on its behalf, warning Trump against imposing the sanctions. They are joined by big electricity companies that have had their own misgivings about the expansion of solar, as well as some of the nation's biggest retailers and dozens of members of Congress. But solar companies are bracing for the worst. Independent analysts tracking the industry are warning that Trump, who would be the ultimate decision maker on tariffs should the commission rule the bankrupt firms have been unfairly hurt, could easily pull the trigger on heavily taxing imported panels. It would be a rare opportunity for Trump to use his executive authority to punish the imports that a flagging segment of U.S. manufacturing blames for its troubles. The move would drive up the price of solar, enabling fossil fuel companies to recapture lost market share. At a Washington hearing room packed with solar activists Tuesday, officials from Georgia-based Suniva and Oregon-based SolarWorld, the two bankrupt solar firms seeking relief, riled many of those present by arguing the levies are essential to the survival of solar manufacturing in America. "The U.S. is literally strewn with the carcasses of shuttered solar manufacturing companies," said Suniva attorney Matthew McConkey. He said American companies that design and produce photovoltaic panels are "on the precipice of extinction" in the U.S. amid the crush of cheap imports flooding the market and need the administration to intervene. Prices of foreign solar panels have dropped to as low as 35 cents per watt recently. The complaint seeks to force them up to 78 cents to protect American manufacturers. Suniva filed its case under a rarely exercised provision of trade law called Section 201, which enables the president to broadly impose tariffs if the commission finds such a drastic move is needed to protect an American industry from a deluge of foreign imports. It hasn't been exercised since 2001, when George W. Bush invoked it in an effort to protect the U.S. steel industry from Mexican and Canadian imports. The move sparked retaliation, and the World Trade Organization ultimately voided the steel levies two years later. Advertisement Only a fraction of U.S. solar jobs are in companies like Suniva and SolarWorld. Most are in other sectors of the market that have embraced the plunging cost of imported panels. A spike in those prices threatens to slow growth dramatically. "It is hard to think of a free trade issue that is more fundamental or more clearly shows the benefits of free trade and the enormous cost to the economy and consumers of heavy tariffs," said Eli Lehrer, president of the R Street Institute, a free market think tank. His group has joined the conservative advocacy groups American Legislative Exchange Council and Heritage Foundation both longtime irritants of the solar industry in lobbying to protect it from the kind of levies threatened. The White House has so far stayed silent about the case as it winds its way through the commission, which will decide by late September whether action is warranted. But Trump has been expressing interest in exercising the power to impose protectionist levies using this obscure provision of trade law since before his election. A trade agenda the administration presented to Congress in March calls it a "vital tool." Trump has not often been swayed by the kind of bipartisan pressure he now faces to reject such tariffs. He did not heed a similar lobbying campaign to stay in the Paris agreement on global warming. Independent analysts at Bloomberg New Energy Finance and Clearview Energy Partners warned investors to be prepared for a costly unsettling of the solar supply chain. Goldman Sachs alerted investors that it expects "solar installations would fall precipitously in the U.S." if Trump imposes the tariffs Suniva and SolarWorld are demanding. Whether the tariffs would even help the firms seeking them is a matter of debate. Suniva cast doubt on how much faith the solar company has in the case to save its business when one of its biggest creditors offered to make the whole thing go away for some cash. That creditor, SQN Capital Management, wrote a Chinese solar trade group, offering to pull the plug on the case which SQN is bankrolling if the Chinese group would buy $55 million in Suniva equipment SQN got stuck with in the bankruptcy. Advertisement SQN is not the only Suniva affiliate to cast a shadow over the trade complaint. The firm that owns 64% of Suniva is actually located in China one of the main targets of the trade case. That firm, Shunfeng, has declared the case bad for the solar industry. Many solar executives back in California agree. "This would significantly shrink the size of the market and directly impact the number of people employed in our value chain," said Tom Werner, chief executive of the large solar firm SunPower. His California-based company employs 1,000 people directly and works with a dealer network that includes 12,000 solar installers. He is bracing for the market to drop by as much as 60% if the levies being sought are imposed. Werner said he would have to cut his costs proportionately. Also deeply anxious about the case is the Los Angeles chapter of the National Electrical Contracting Assn., which represents firms employing more than 1,000 solar installers in the region. "These are good middle class jobs," the association wrote in a letter opposing the levies. "This proposed tariff would make America the highest priced solar country and decimate the market." Yet other veterans of the California solar industry traveled to Washington Tuesday to warn trade commissioners that America is going to altogether cede the business of solar cell innovation to foreign competitors if the few homegrown companies left are not protected. Among them was Stephen Shea, who had been the vice president of a company called Beamreach Solar, which only recently had invested millions in a factory in Milpitas, Calif., to manufacture new generation solar cells. In January, Beamreach went bankrupt. It couldn't compete with cheap imports. Advertisement "I'm convinced that without relief, the few remaining U.S. producers will go the way of Beamreach," Shea said. evan.halper@latimes.com Follow me: @evanhalper Wells Fargo CEO Tim Sloan, left, and Chairman Stephen Sanger speak with reporters after the company's annual meeting in April. (Wells Fargo & Co.) Stephen Sanger, the chairman of Wells Fargo & Co., will step down from the board of the embattled bank effective Jan. 1 and will be replaced by former Federal Reserve official Elizabeth A. "Betsy" Duke, the bank announced Tuesday. Two other long-serving directors, Cynthia H. Milligan and Susan G. Swenson, also will retire at the end of this year. They're the latest casualties in the bank's long-running scandal over sham accounts, which has spurred a wide-ranging shake-up at the San Francisco financial giant. Advertisement All three are among the company's longest-tenured board members, with Milligan having served for a quarter of a century. The trio received only tepid support from shareholders at the company's annual meeting in April, a sign of investors' dissatisfaction with the board's oversight of the bank amid an ever-growing list of misdeeds. In a statement Tuesday, Sanger said Duke "was the unanimous choice to lead the board as it continues its focus on strengthening oversight and rebuilding the trust of shareholders, customers, and other stakeholders." Advertisement Nearly a year ago, the bank reached a $185-million settlement with regulators, admitting it created as many as 2.1 million checking, savings and credit card accounts without customers' knowledge. The bank's practice of opening unauthorized accounts was first exposed by a 2013 Los Angeles Times investigation. The settlement led to public outcry, a bevy of related investigations by federal and state agencies, two bruising Capitol Hill hearings and the resignation of Chief Executive and Chairman John Stumpf in October. He was replaced as CEO by longtime Wells Fargo executive Tim Sloan, who remains on the bank's board. Sanger, a longtime board member and former General Mills chief executive, was named chairman. Since that initial shake-up, though, the number of potential sham accounts has grown and the bank has acknowledged or been investigated for a wide array of other bad practices, including forcing unneeded auto insurance policies on auto loan customers and charging improper fees on mortgage borrowers for bank-caused delays. The board upheaval came as no surprise to analysts, who had expected such a move after April's annual meeting. A significant number of shareholders withheld support for most board members, with Sanger and six other directors receiving less than 70% of shareholders' votes despite running unopposed. Typically, corporate board members are elected with near-unanimous support. At the April 25 meeting, held at a Florida resort, Sanger called the vote tally "a clear message of dissatisfaction" from shareholders. At the time, analyst Scott Siefers at investment bank Sandler O'Neill said he expected the shareholder vote would lead to "accelerated turnover." Robert Hockett, a law professor at Cornell who specializes in financial and corporate governance matters, said recent revelations about more bad practices at the bank made a board shake-up even more of a foregone conclusion. Advertisement "It's like the grift that keeps on grifting just one scandal after another," Hockett said. "The board probably thought, 'We're going to have to do something dramatic.' " He also said that by elevating Duke, a former Fed official, to chairwoman, Wells Fargo may be trying to tell regulators and lawmakers that it is serious about its turnaround efforts. "She's someone who everyone takes seriously and who would take a compliance mission seriously as well," he said. Duke served as a member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System from 2008 to 2013. Previously, she was an executive at a handful of regional and community banks in the Southeast and a member of the board of the American Bankers Assn., a trade group. Brian Kleinhanzl, an analyst at investment bank Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, said in a note to investors Tuesday that it was inevitable Sanger would step down. He also said, though, that the board changes alone will not mollify investors, especially if more bad news about the bank continues to surface. "In the end, there still will be pressure to see greater management changes if more wrongdoing is found, since much of the wrongdoing was directly overseen by Wells' management," Kleinhanzl wrote. Advertisement Other changes announced Tuesday include the appointment of a new board member, Juan A. Pujadas, a retired principal at accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, and the rejiggering of several board committees. The bank said as many as three additional board members will be appointed before the company's 2018 shareholder meeting. In removing Sanger, Milligan and Swenson, the bank is parting ways with three of its longest-tenured board members, though not the directors who received the least support from shareholders. Enrique Hernandez Jr., who has been on the bank's board for 14 years and is chief executive of Pasadena firm Inter-Con Security Systems, garnered the least support, with votes from just 53% of shareholders. He will remain on the board but will be replaced by Karen B. Peetz, a former executive at the Bank of New York Mellon who joined Wells Fargo's board in February, as chair of the board's risk committee. Federico F. Pena, who served as secretary of education and secretary of energy during the Clinton administration, received votes from just 54% of shareholders. He will remain on the board and keep his position as chairman of the bank's corporate responsibility committee. The bank's board said in a statement that the latest board moves were prompted by a self-evaluation conducted with the help of Mary Jo White, the former chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. White returned to law firm Debevoise & Plimpton after resigning from the securities regulator. The board changes were announced after markets closed. In after-hours trading, shares of Wells Fargo were down 15 cents to $52.70. Advertisement james.koren@latimes.com Follow me: @jrkoren In this private, gated community, trees and foliage are your only neighbors for about an acre of each other. (John Shipka) Grand rooms. Privacy. Beach proximity. These sorts of perks delight homebuyers, and they can be found in a variety of locations and configurations. Consider these million-dollar options: A hidden, cabinlike home in Burr Ridge near the Des Plaines River or a Rogers Park American foursquare just over a block from Lake Michigan. Advertisement City or suburbs? You decide. City: 7450 N. Sheridan Road, $1,700,000 Advertisement Rogers Park is Chicago's northernmost neighborhood, known for its beach-lined waterfront and racial, economic and cultural diversity. The neighborhood is home to Loyola University and Devon Avenue, a South Asian cultural enclave hailed for its authentic Indian food. Pro: This seven-bedroom home underwent a total gut rehab and looks the part, from the roomy eat-in kitchen with coffered ceiling to the finished basement with wet bar. Con: Sheridan Road is a major thoroughfare and a bustling city road it's the entrance to Chicago's north boardwalk and the paved path into Evanston. Although the home is set back and fenced, a buyer looking to live on a quiet, tucked-away street might want to search elsewhere. From the agent: Listing agent Michael Thomas says the best part about this home is its marriage of modern and historic the renovated interior matched with the early 1900s exterior. Size: 6,600 square feet Beds, baths: 7, 6.5 Location: Rogers Park Advertisement Year built: Early 1900s Distance to downtown (City Hall): 12 miles Parking: Two-car detached garage and 10 additional exterior parking spots Coffee: Five-minute walk to Charmers Cafe, four-minute drive to Starbucks, four-minute drive to the Common Cup Grocery: Four-minute drive to Morse Fresh Market, five-minute drive to Jewel-Osco, six-minute drive to Trader Joe's Restaurants: 10-minute walk to Redz Belizean Restaurant; three-minute drive to Heartland Cafe, a vegetarian-friendly restaurant with a general store; three-minute drive to SP Kebab, a joint serving a variety of kebabs Advertisement Taxes: Information not available; property owned by church and therefore was tax-exempt. HOA fees: None Schools: Gale Community Academy, Jordan Elementary Community School, Sullivan High School; Chicago Public Schools A total gut rehab transformed this space from a traditional Chicago brick home into a modern, light-walled and stainless-steel appliance type of place. (VHT Studios*) Suburbs: 106 Oak Ridge Drive in Burr Ridge: $1,195,000 The village of Burr Ridge offers easy access to large pockets of nature. For instance, the 2,492-acre Waterfall Glen Forest Preserve is a short drive away from this home and offers biking, hiking and horseback riding trails as well as fishing and a field for flying model airplanes. Pro: Located in a gated community, this five-bedroom cedar ranch is situated on nearly an acre and surrounded by foliage. Advertisement The home has wooden ceilings with skylights and two stone fireplaces that contribute to the cabinlike feel. A number of outdoor spaces decks, patios allow for enjoyment of the outdoors. Con: The home's carpeted bedrooms and somewhat rustic aesthetic may not speak to buyers seeking a modern look. From the agent: Listing agent Joan McInerney points to this home's outdoorsy feel as part of its magic. "It's like being in the middle of Wisconsin," she says. "All around you all you see is the outdoors." Size: 8,292 square feet Beds, baths: 5, 3.5 Location: Burr Ridge Advertisement Year built: 1984 Distance to downtown (City Hall): 24 miles Parking: Three-car attached garage Coffee: Ten-minute drive to Starbucks, 10-minute drive to Dunkin' Donuts, 11-minute drive to Ashbary Coffee House Grocery: Nine-minute drive to Brookhaven Marketplace, 12-minute drive to Jewel-Osco, 12-minute drive to Whole Foods Market Restaurants: Five-minute drive to Matty's Restaurant & Pancake House; seven-minute drive to Dell Rhea's Chicken Basket; nine-minute drive to Dao Sushi, Thai and Hibachi Restaurant Advertisement Taxes: $21,112 in 2016 HOA fees: $340/month Schools: Anne M. Jeans Elementary School, Burr Ridge Middle School, part of Community Consolidated School District 180; Hinsdale South High School District 86 smoskop@chicagotribune.com Watch our latest Real Estate videos. Some of the most successful restaurant openings this year have been deeply personal concepts, borne of vision, not an investor's bottom line. "Personal," in this case, means food with insight, which speaks to memory, personality, culture and, ultimately, comfort and nourishment. These are restaurants that don't mold their food to fit trending Instagram hashtags. What's on the plate is more important than what's on the internet. Advertisement Places like David Park's Hanbun and Diana Davila's Mi Tocaya Antojeria dish out fare informed by their high-level training but also their cultural upbringing. There's Income Tax, which lovingly modernizes wine and food pairings for newbies and oenophiles alike. At Giant, chef Jason Vincent doesn't even pretend to have a "concept." The common thread at each of these places? "Come in, and let us take care of you." It may be a little early to call, but just-opened Heritage Restaurant and Caviar Bar looks as though it's going to slide right in with this esteemed company. Advertisement Helmed by executive chef/owner Guy W. Meikle (formerly of Nana) and general manager/beverage director Jan Henrichsen (formerly Found, Fat Rice, Pastoral), Heritage is "a love letter to Chicago," says Meikle, a born-and-raised South Sider. "We're a melding of everything this city stands for," he says. "Our focus is on all the immigrants who come to this city and make it what it is." Taking up a corner bordering Humboldt Park and Ukrainian Village, in the former Bar Marta space, Heritage is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The ground-level dining room is brightly lit, with a sidewalk patio. Downstairs is an intimate, 30-seat dining room and bar, with moody navy blue walls. Throughout, the restaurant is punctuated with black-and-white photos of Meikle's family. The kitchen is open to view. "There's no curtain hiding the magic," Henrichsen says. "There's no room for a curtain!" The centerpiece of the menu is its caviar section, but it's not all flights of fancy and inaccessible tins of fish eggs. Served in vintage vessels sourced by Henrichsen, the offerings range from sturgeon to wild paddle fish, hackleback and bowfin priced from $10 to $145. "Caviar is a common part of everyday life in parts of Eastern Europe it doesn't have to be thousands of dollars an ounce," Henrichsen says. Sustainability and proper sourcing are important to her, and that knowledge is passed on to guests. The caviar spread features thick slabs of house-made black bread, pickles, garnishes such as chives and capers, and butter. Henrichsen recommends making like a Russian and generously slathering butter on the bread, and topping it with caviar, pickle and the garnishes. "It's easy joy." Describing the menu, Meikle, who is of Czech and Irish descent, says it's "very Midwestern and Eastern European with a dash of Korean," pointing to the contributions of his kitchen staff, particularly Shane Zimmerman, director of research and development, who is the fermentation guru and toys with ingredients like sauerkraut, kimchi and pickles. "Our menu isn't tweezer food, and there aren't smooshes of sauce or foam," says Meikle. The trio of house pickles ($8) and piquant whitefish crudo ($14) are a light kickoff to more substantial fare. Move on to Russian pelmeni ($12), thick puck-shaped dumplings stuffed with duck and foie gras; or sweet corn and wood-grilled vegetable ramen ($12). Pan-fried lake perch ($24) is served with a ramekin of drawn butter for dipping, plus Minnesota wild rice and seasonal succotash. A hefty tomahawk-shaped bone-in pork chop ($30) arrives on a bed of creamy, velvet-textured rice grits, and is topped with a bright green oyster and avocado kimchi. "I like starting with bright, high-acid starters," says Meikle. "Then things get more soulful." Advertisement Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. > On the beverage side, Henrichsen has put together a smart wine list filled with values from classic regions like Germany, Italy and France, but far more interestingly, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia. "I'm not filling out categories, like 'French rose,'" she says. "I'll taste wines that have similar profiles, decide if I like the producer and what they have to say. Is it good? Then it doesn't have to be from France." Meinklang's biodynamic, Austrian white blend of gruner veltliner, welschriesling and muscat blanc ($11), and Stobi Winery's bottling of vranec, an indigenous Macedonian red grape ($14), are just some of the standouts. And if you just want your glass of chardonnay? "Not everyone wants to try some weirdo wine they've never heard of," says Henrichsen. "We always have something behind the bar to pour for people who don't want to ride on our boat." Meanwhile, the cocktail list is tight, with only seven options, and will feature a rotating selection of Henrichsen's infused vodkas and vermouths, which take advantage of seasonal ingredients. Dessert, like a dramatic baked Alaska ($12), rotating pies and ice cream, are the domain of pastry chef Alan Krueger, who also manages Heritage's bread program. If all of this sounds ambitious, that's because it is. But Meikle's and Henrichsen's experience come through in every level. "We're committed to standards," says Henrichsen," but we're not all that fancy. Our tastes don't stop any of us from loving a good Polish sausage and a great beer." Heritage Caviar Bar, 2700 W. Chicago Ave., 773-661-9577, www.heritage-chicago.com Advertisement jbhernandez@chicagotribune.com Twitter @joeybear85 An image from Chasing Eclipses, a current exhibit at the Adler Planetarium. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune) This story originally ran in the Tribune on May 11, 1994. We are reprinting it in hopes of giving readers a taste of what to expect on Monday, Aug. 21. Whatever you do, do not look directly at people who are looking at an eclipse. They are apt to be doing faintly embarrassing things, like peering into shoeboxes and giving voice to hippie-era exclamations of wonder. Advertisement There was awe to spare Tuesday when an astronomical coincidence-the moon passing almost directly between the sun and Chicago-brought people together in a reminder of their cosmic insignificance. Rather than humiliation, though, the near-total annular solar eclipse, a once in a lifetime event for most, produced a sort of general exhilaration, a street-festival feeling that apparently goes hand-in-hand with inarticulateness. Advertisement "Wow," said many. "Cool," offered others, especially members of the age group likely to watch too much "Beavis and Butt-head." "Awesome," said some. For 2 1/2 hours Tuesday, as a hole appeared in the fabric of the familiar, it was easy to understand why such events prompted the ancients to chant, beat drums and generally fear the world was coming to an end. During more recent eclipses, as a 1732 astronomy textbook put it: "the Mind of Man flies up, and penetrates into the celestial regions." The moon began to cross in front of the sun at 10:24 a.m. in Chicago. At 12:04 p.m., the peak here, Earth's satellite blocked about 94 percent of its star. Peered at through special eclipse-watching glasses, pinhole cameras, welder's helmets or sundry other devices people used-sometimes against ophthalmological advice-the result was a sun that appeared as a moonlike crescent with a dark round shadow in front. The lakefront temperature, at noon, had plunged 8 degrees in an hour, to 52 Fahrenheit. Animals were fooled into thinking it was night, and so were less canny creatures: On Upper Wacker Drive, streetlights equipped with light sensors began to glow. Advertisement It was not close to dark-even 6 percent of the sun gives off 1,000 times the light of a full moon, Adler Planetarium scientists said-but it was eerie. "The sunlight which drops on Earth?" said Chicago cabdriver Faiq Shahzad. "It was not like this. It was like a lighted place." Downstate, near Springfield for instance, the annular eclipse Tuesday was total, meaning the disc of the moon fit entirely inside the disc of the sun, leaving an apparent ring of light-or annulus-to the outside. In a total solar eclipse that is not annular, the moon is closer to Earth and therefore blocks all of the sun, producing an even more dramatic effect. At Wauconda's Lake County Museum, where a viewing was held, 5-year-old Tricia Matz cast the phenomenon in post-toddler terms: "It looks like Cookie Monster took a bite of the sun," she said. The atmosphere at Adler, the epicenter of local eclipse events, suggested an exceedingly focused science fair. Officials estimated more than 10,000 people visited the planetarium and a remote viewing area they had been set up in the north end of Grant Park. Circling the building was a ring of telescopes, many of them projecting the eclipse onto white surfaces. Advertisement Television monitors displayed live pictures from Chicago and other parts of the country as the eclipse swept northeastward at some 1,000 miles per hour, its image entering the United States at southern New Mexico and leaving it, 190 minutes later, at Maine's Atlantic coast. Not content with the tiny image cast by his pinhole projector, 9-year-old Sean Pikosz turned it into a 19-pinhole projector. "The more holes, the more eclipses," announced the South Holland boy, pointing to the set of images that suggested a constella- tion. Then he rolled down the hill surrounding the planetarium. A high proportion of the visitors were parents who had pulled their children from school for the day when they realized some schools were planning to ignore the teaching opportunity. Glenview mom Katie Spencer was one of them. "I asked my son's principal last night, I said, `What are you doing for the solar eclipse?' " said Spencer, a psychologist. "He said, `We're closing the blinds.' I said to myself, `They're not going to school tomorrow.' " Advertisement Many of the parents said school administrators were overly cautious about potential eye damage. Itasca Elementary District 10 officials, for instance, said they required students to remain inside during the eclipse because of that fear. Adler astronomer Larry Ciupik described this attitude as " `Duck and Cover' all over again." "Discouraging," he said. Other schools were more progressive. At High Point Elementary School in Orland Park the coming of the solar eclipse was promoted with fliers announcing "The Dark. Coming to a daytime sky near you." "It was a great thing for people to get out and be able to see it," said High Point science teacher Wes Eary, whose entire school of 2nd through 5th graders used cardboard, pegboard, index cards and three-ring notebook paper to sneak a peak of the moon-blocked sun. Advertisement Worldwide, up to three solar eclipses occur annually, but they are only visible in a 75- to 100-mile-wide path, meaning in any specific region they are an extreme rarity. The last solar eclipse so complete in Chicago was in 1806, said Ciupik. The next total solar eclipse will be in 2099, though a sizable partial solar eclipse will come in 2017, and a partial lunar eclipse occurs May 24. Besides acting as an apparent tonic to the general public, an eclipse is a boon to both scientists and their opposite. Eclipses afford science the valuable opportunity to look at the sun with much of its light filtered out. A confirmation of Einstein's theory of general relativity came during a 1919 eclipse, when measurements only possible under such conditions backed up what his theory predicted: "That the curvature of space near a massive object like the sun would bend light that passed close by," according to an article in the current Sky & Telescope magazine. People who subscribe to such philosophies as astrology and pagan worship also welcomed the eclipse. Advertisement Chicagoan Ed Hubbard, part of a pagan religious coven, was planning to head to Danville, to conduct a ceremony in the eclipse's totality with his peers. The ceremonial highlight: attempting to use the eclipsed sun and a magnifying glass to burn a list comprised of sect members' positive wishes. "When we put that smoke into the sky, it's our wishes made light," he said. The eclipse, he said, "represents for us that no matter how dark it gets, no matter how much you think you're going to lose your light, that it's only momentary. It too shall pass." Tribune reporters Janita Poe, Michael Martinez, Tom Pelton and Sonya C. Vann and free-lance writer Linda Mae Carlstone contributed to this article. [ RELATED: New Adler exhibit helps you get eclipse-ready ] [ Eclipse proximity prompts flurry of Chicago-area events ] [ Can't make it outside to watch solar eclipse? Try TV ] [ Eclipse viewing glasses becoming a scarce resource ] Watch the latest movie trailers. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox) A "diamond ring" shape is shown during the 2016 total solar eclipse in Indonesia. For the 2017 eclipse over the United States, the National Science Foundation-funded movie project nicknamed Citizen CATE will have more than 200 volunteers trained and given special small telescopes and tripods to observe the sun at 68 locations in the exact same way. (R. Baer, S. Kovac / AP) LOS ANGELES For the first time in 99 years, a total eclipse of the sun will span the entire United States crossing from the West Coast to the East Coast on Monday. The event will be turning day into night for just a little more than two minutes. The phenomenon is basically the moon's orbit taking it in front of the sun to create the blackout. It will be a fun experience for those who have taken the right precautions to view the event. But the scientific community is going crazy about what this means as far as research is concerned. Advertisement What the eclipse means in terms of research will be covered extensively by the Science Channel through their two days of coverage, "Great American Eclipse," starting on Sunday with a pre-eclipse special. On the day of darkness, the cable channel will broadcast live from Madras, Ore., the first place in the United States to see the eclipse featuring scientists from the Lowell Observatory. Coverage ends that night with a post-eclipse show hosted by Mike Massimino that will feature the most compelling science information and images from the ground and in the air. Massimino is a former NASA astronaut and a professor of engineering at Columbia University. The question is what can be so compelling about daytime darkness other than the oddity of it. Advertisement Watch live: Total solar eclipse Angela Des Jardins, director of the Montana Space Grant Consortium and leader of the Eclipse Ballooning Project, is leading a team that will launch 100 high altitude balloons from across the eclipse's path, sending live video images to NASA. She says there's a lot of interesting things scientists can observe and monitor only during a total eclipse. "The sun is just so bright that there are things we cannot see except for when the light is mostly blocked out for us," Des Jardins says. "There's really interesting atmospheric science that can happen. By actually using this crazy coincidence of this dark shadow coming across the Earth in the daytime, it sets up all kinds of temperature changes and gravity waves, and learning about that and studying it in detail can actually teach us about our atmosphere better in general." Amir Caspi, senior research scientist at the Southwest Research Institute and the principal investigator for the NASA WB 57 Eclipse Project that will be observing the eclipse from two high speed fighter jets, adds that when the solar disk is blocked out, you can actually see the solar corona. Scientists will be able to do more research into what makes the corona so hot. The corona is millions of degrees whereas the visible surface is typically a few thousand degrees. The second thing he and his team will be studying is why the corona is so well structured. "When you look at pictures of the corona from past eclipses or if you look at ultraviolet images that are taken from various satellites, you can see that there are these well-formed loops and arcades and fans," Caspi says. "Those things stay relatively stable, and they stay relatively smooth. They look like they were freshly combed and not snarled and matted. "So we are trying to figure out why that is because when people try to understand the physics of the magnetic structures in the corona, our current understanding of that modeling says that they should tangle up and become this matted mess, and that's not what happens. So the corona is constantly releasing little bits of twists and complexity, and we are trying to find out why." Observations will help scientists in their research in understanding galaxy formation and quantifying the number of black holes in our galaxy. Those who don't wear lab coats to make a living will just be able to view this rare event just for fun. Actually, the main reason this is a rare event is that it will be passing across the entire United States. (There is a total eclipse of the sun approximately every 18 months but the majority of those happen over water.) Advertisement Where you live will determine how much of an eclipse you will see. There's a path of totality about 70 miles wide that starts at the coast of Oregon and goes through the coast of South Carolina. The entire trek will take about 90 minutes. The more miles you live away from this path the less amount of eclipse that will be visible. In the Chicago area, about 80 to 90 percent of the sun will be covered by 1:19 p.m., with coverage starting just before noon. The Adler Planetarium and other locations around the city will be hosting viewing parties. Whether directly in the path or so far away that it only appears as a slight darkening, watching an eclipse isn't dangerous if the correct precautions are taken. Des Jardins says the danger is looking at the sun without proper protection. "When you do want to look at it, you have to have special protective solar glasses which are readily available or have some kind of method of projecting the eclipse on the ground, which you can do," Des Jardins says. "That being said, there is one caveat. During totality, so if you are in the path of totality and the moon is completely blocking the sun, that is when you want to look, take your glasses off and look and enjoy the spectacle." This is where your eyes still can be damaged despite the fact the sun is total eclipse. Scientists urge everyone to safely observe the event because such chances don't come along all the time. James Bullock, chair of the Physics and Astronomy Department at the University of California at Irvine, is excited a whole new generation of people especially young people are getting the opportunity to see a total eclipse. Advertisement "It's pretty awe-inspiring to stand in the shadow of the moon. It's spectacular. You can actually see the sun's corona with your eye. So we have the chance perhaps for a whole generation of kids to be inspired by this physical, astronomical event that is not necessarily happening in a video game, but that is happening in the real world around them," Bullock says. "And you viscerally experience the fact that the Earth is spinning at a thousand miles an hour, the moon is orbiting at a couple-thousand miles an hour around the Earth, the shadow is moving faster than a thousand miles an hour across the continent. "So just the sort of visceral reality of that event, you can imagine inspiring kids to go into the science fields or engineering just from experiencing it. It's happened in the past. We know that there are a lot of famous scientists and engineers and inventors that were inspired by experiencing events like this, and I think that's having a show like the one we are talking about now will reach even more kids, and it could be a really important event." One thing the scientist want to stress is that a total eclipse of the sun is a natural event that has been going on for millions of years. There are a lot of urban tales and myths connected to the event but the scientist stress an eclipse doesn't have any special meaning outside what scientific knowledge that can be obtained. In other words, they guarantee no apocalypse on Monday. "Great American Eclipse" on the Science Channel 8:01 p.m. Sunday Advertisement Live coverage, 11 a.m., 8:02 p.m. Monday, RELATED STORIES: Watch live: Total solar eclipse Proximity to total solar eclipse prompts flurry of events in Chicago area What happens if you try to watch the eclipse without special glasses? Nothing good. As interest in eclipse reaches frenzy, viewing glasses in short supply Advertisement What was it like the last time a solar eclipse hit Chicago? Streetlights turned on, and so did people's moods Monday's solar eclipse: What to know, where to go Watch the latest movie trailers. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox) The "Beyond Bollywood" exhibit originated at National Museum of National History in Washington and is at the Field Museum with some local touches added. (Field Museum) A new exhibit at the Field Museum looks further than the limited view provided by Bollywood films to explore the contributions Indian Americans have made in the U.S. at large and locally in Chicago. "Beyond Bollywood" is a traveling exhibition coming out of the Smithsonian's Asian Pacific American Center. The exhibit began at the National Museum of National History in Washington in 2014, and has traveled to New Jersey, California, Indiana, Minnesota, Texas, North and South Carolina, and now Illinois. Advertisement "Beyond Bollywood" at the Field Museum strives to tell the stories of Indian Americans in Chicago. It integrates elements from the original exhibit that tell the history of Indians in the U.S. while bringing in artifacts from local Indian Americans. "It's the first (exhibit) of its kind to really concentrate on Indo-Americans, as opposed to Indians in America, and really think about what has been the ways Indian Americans have contributed as an immigrant community to the life of the nation," said Alaka Wali, the Field Museum exhibit curator. Advertisement A protest against racism is featured in the "Beyond Bollywood" exhibit. (Field Museum) The Indo-American Heritage Museum serves as the local partner of the Field Museum in presenting this exhibition. The mission of IAHM, a volunteer organization founded in 2008, is to promote understanding of the heritage, culture and diversity of Indian Americans. "(IAHM) chose the objects you see here. They are specifically local and tell very personal stories as well as community stories about Indian Americans here in Chicago," said Wali. "They wanted to reflect the diversity of Indian people in Chicago." "In 2010 or 2011 when folks in Washington, D.C., decided it was time to have a national recognition of the Indian American experience, they were calling us to consider what we might suggest and looking to us for ideas and resources and guidance, so we feel like we had an in utero relationship with this exhibition," said Lakshmi Menon, an IAHM co-founder. "When it went traveling, it seemed natural that we would be the organization that would arrange for its Chicago stay, and we had a longstanding relationship with the Field." "This exhibit is really so rich," said IAHM board member Padma Rangaswamy. "The objects have been grouped and themed in a way that tries to bring the life of the community." She cited examples of exhibit themes, such as activism and contributions in the arts, performing arts, music, and economy. An Indian family in San Francisco, circa 1983. (Field Museum) The exhibit flows from explanations of the earliest Indian immigrants to arrive in the U.S. to contemporary, oral histories of Indian-Americans. Artifacts representing the contributions of Indian Americans in Chicago are also on display. One such artifact is the medal awarded astrophysicist Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar for the 1983 Nobel Prize in physics for his calculation of maximum mass possible for a dying star to exist as a white dwarf. Chandrasekhar taught at the University of Chicago for almost 60 years and lived in Hyde Park. Displayed with his medal are his correspondences, both handwritten and from a typewriter, with Stephen Hawking about the concept of singularity in astrophysics. Another item is the Bhagavad-Gita, a book of Hindu scripture. Raja Krishnamoorthi, a U.S. representative in Illinois' 8th Congressional District, used this volume earlier this year when he was sworn into office, instead of the customary bible. The combat boots and dog tag of Sgt. Uday Singh are also on display. Singh, 21, was killed when his platoon was ambushed during his second tour in Iraq in 2003. He was awarded the Purple Heart and was the first Sikh American to be interred at Arlington National Cemetery. Advertisement "Beyond Bollywood: Indian Americans Shape the Nation" runs through Jan. 7, at the Field Museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive. Editor's note: Lakshmi Menon's affiliation with IAHM was corrected on Aug. 17, 2017. raydin@tronc.com [ RELATED: Community service, outreach goals of Indian American Board in Aurora ] [ Thousands of treasures lie in wait at the Field Museum ] Watch the latest movie trailers. Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 122 Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, anger management student, in "Dark Phoenix." The film, the latest in the "X-Men" franchise, costars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jessica Chastain. Read the review. (Twentieth Century Fox) The head of the North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System is retiring after 28 years. NDPERS Executive Director Sparb Collins will leave his post Oct. 31, with COO Sharon Schiermeister acting as interim director. Since Collins started at NDPERS in 1989, the organization has greatly expanded both the number and type of political subdivisions it serves, as well as the scope of products it offers. There are 45,000 people enrolled in the organizations six different retirement plans and 68,000 covered in the group health insurance program. Before starting at NDPERS, the Mandan native and University of North Dakota graduate served as a fiscal analyst for the North Dakota Office of Management and Budget. Before that he worked at the state Health Department and a private consulting firm. Over the next few months, NDPERS board will conduct recruitment efforts. Gov. Doug Burgum today also appointed Mark Dosch of Bismarck to chair the NDPERS Board of Trustees, replacing outgoing chairman Jon Strinden. Dosch is the owner and president of Expressway Inn & Suites in Bismarck. He served in the North Dakota House of Representatives from 2001 to 2016. He has a bachelors degree in banking and finance from the University of North Dakota. He currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Grand Forks-based Edgewood Real Estate Investment Trust, which provides multi-family and senior housing across seven Midwest states. The Service Club of Chicago broke attendance and fundraising records at its annual Day on the Terrace fashion show and luncheon July 31 at The Peninsula Chicago. Themed "Rock the Runway," the event attracted over 350 stylish guests and raised more than $100,000 for its grant program that serves area nonprofits. Advertisement Event co-chairs Jean Antoniou, Yvette Cusack, Tracey DiBuono and Sharyl Mackey greeted guests during a reception before the First Look at Fall Fashion show, produced by Zzazz Productions, began in the grand ballroom. A unique silent auction, conceived by SC member and former President Myra Reilly, featured bottles of Veuve Clicquot Champagne smartly "dressed" by Chicago designers who included Maria Pinto, Peach Carr, Elda de la Rosa, Anna Loosli, Marc Sievers, Mira Couture (Mira Horoszowski), Al Menotti and Sylwia Wilczynska. Advertisement SC President Simona Garcia welcomed the crowd before media personalities, Service Club members and other notables strutted the runway, presenting fashions from local retailers. Segments included designs from alice + olivia, Anne Fontaine, Escada, CH Carolina Herrera, Eileen Fisher, L.K. Bennett, Tom James, Basler and Max Mara at Bloomingdale's. Former TV personality Robin Robinson received wild applause as she came down the runway flanked by two uniformed Chicago policemen and wearing a Maximilian Furs at Bloomingdale's coat. An elegant and patriotic finale showcased models wearing formal wear from Neiman Marcus Michigan Avenue, escorted by members of the United States Marine Corps in full dress blues. The audience responded with thunderous applause and a standing ovation. Day on the Terrace fashion show-fundraiser featuring Karen Millen segment announced (and produced) by ZZAZZ productions Tracey Tarantino. According to event co-founder Reilly, along with fellow member Hazel Barr, the fundraiser originated as Day in the Country in 1976. "Fashion shows were not part of the original incarnation, but they were introduced in 1979. So, this year is our 38th runway production," Reilly said. Since its founding in 1890, the Service Club of Chicago has raised over $40 million and distributed these funds to more than 1,600 nonprofits through its Philanthropic Grant Program. Grant recipients receive material items, not monetary awards, which allows them to expand in social service, cultural, educational and civic fields. This year, the SC reviewed grant applications from 60 agencies and will award over $300,000 to a variety of them. Freelance writer Candace Jordan is involved with many local organizations, including some whose events she covers. Advertisement More coverage: Find more photos and events at www.chicagotribune.com/candidcandace. Visit Candid Candace's website at www.candidcandace.com, or follow her on Twitter @CandidCandace. RELATED STORIES: Ravinia gala raises over $1 million for music education programs Summer Lovin' party funds cutting-edge medical research Israel Idonije's iF Charities event honors Sarah and Kerry Wood WINDHOEK, Namibia My first glimpse of Africa came from a nature program I watched as a child called "Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom." Seeing elephants and giraffes lumber across a dry African landscape even on TV was in stark contrast to my suburban wildlife encounters that entailed red robins and gray squirrels hopping across manicured green lawns. I longed to one day see Africa's wildlife up close and in person. That day finally came last winter on a trip in Namibia with African Profile Safaris, whose experienced guides provide driving and flying tours of this desert nation in the far southern tip of the continent. (Costs vary widely, depending on time of year, the level of luxury in lodges and other factors, but bank on spending at least $400 a person a day for a guided safari, including accommodations and food.) Advertisement My adventure started with a thrilling ride in a bush plane from the central capital city of Windhoek to the far northeastern panhandle of Namibia, the Caprivi Strip. The flight went briefly over Botswana and the vast Okavango Delta, where I had my very first sighting of wild elephants lounging below in one of the region's many watering holes. A general rule when searching for wildlife in Africa: Where there is water, there are animals. And the Caprivi Strip is that rare part of Namibia that has a perennial abundance of water. On my drive from the airstrip to Nambwa Tented Lodge, I saw two large herds of elephants an experience so well timed, it almost seemed staged. Advertisement The lodge looked lifted from the pages of a Hemingway novel. This modest collection of rustic-yet-luxurious safari tents is built on elevated wooden platforms near the floodplain of the Kwando River in Bwabwata National Park. During a boat trip on the river, I enjoyed a safari tradition a "sundowner" cocktail sipped during the fading light of day as we cruised past groups of half-submerged, grunting hippos. This "wet" region of Namibia is the only place in the country where hippo, Cape buffalo, red lechwe antelope and other animals that need abundant water can truly thrive. After the Caprivi, I had an unexpected treat in the form of a visit with the region's indigenous San people, aka Bushmen, at Fiume Bush Camp near Grootfontein. Cattle farming has more or less destroyed Bushmen culture and customs, trapping these nomadic people inside fences and other borders. Cattle farmer Jorn Gressmann grew up with Bushmen on his parents' farm and is trying to help the San make the difficult transition into the 21st century. Fluent in the Bushmen "click" language, Gressmann established Fiume Bush Camp and encouraged his San friends to create a living museum on his property. After introducing our small tour group, Gressmann excused himself and let the San teach us how they hunt and gather, build bows and traps, and find water in the harsh savanna climate. They also shared traditional songs and dances, including a fire dance given by a local medicine man. (Overnight rates at the camp are relatively low by safari standards at roughly $145 a person.) Not far from the camp is Etosha National Park, a world-renowned, protected wildlife area in north-central Namibia. Most of the government-owned lodges and campsites inside the park are a bit run down, so I chose to stay in Onguma Tree Top Camp, just outside the park's eastern gate. Onguma's guides treated me to numerous sightings of various antelope kudu, steenbok and oryx, to name a few and my favorite of them all: the tiny dik dik, standing little more than a foot high at the shoulder. I also saw warthogs, giraffes, zebras, wildebeests, elephants, cheetahs well, you get the idea. The sheer volume of animals one encounters in Namibia, both in numbers and species, is much of what makes safaris here so impressive and memorable, especially in the "dry" season from June to October, when wildlife tends to cluster around waterholes. We saw much more than just large mammals. We spotted birds like lilac-breasted rollers, pale chanting goshawks and northern black bustards, as well as leopard tortoises, bat-eared foxes the viewing possibilities are endless. Advertisement One of my most memorable sightings involved a solitary male lion that sauntered out of the vegetation and into a crowded watering hole full of gazelles. The slender antelopes froze in place and stared, and so did I. Surprisingly, the lion didn't seem to be hungry. It was as if he just wanted to peruse his realm and confirm that he was king of it all. After rubbing carelessly against a tree and thundering a couple of deep roars, he casually turned and left. My second lion sighting was a little more expansive. At Ongava Tented Camp, just south of Etosha, my guides showed me a pride of 12 lions: an adult male, three females and eight adorable cubs that behaved much like a litter of domestic kittens by climbing trees, mock fighting and playing. The adult male didn't seem to care much about our safari group, but every once in a while he'd stare at me with intense, golden eyes that made my spine tingle. Welcome to Africa, where one learns what it feels like to be food. Leaving Etosha, I drove the Toyota Hilux I'd rented from Safari Car Rental Namibia more than 150 miles west to the ruggedly scenic Damaraland region and Grootberg Lodge for an entirely different view of Namibia. Perched on the edge of an enormous canyon of blood-red basalt rock in the Khoadi-Hoas Conservancy, the lodge boasts breathtaking, expansive vistas. Grootberg also is one of the first community-owned lodges in Namibia, providing locals with a sustainable income from tourist dollars. While in Damaraland, I encountered endangered black rhinos, which seem to have found a safe haven here after being poached nearly to extinction. Wilderness Safaris Desert Rhino Camp works with a nonprofit to monitor and protect these prehistoric-looking beasts. The camp's guides took me out on a daylong search for these elusive desert dwellers, and it turned out to be one of the most memorable experiences of my trip. My last stop was Damaraland's Mowani Mountain Camp, designed to blend in with the area's trademark red sandstone boulders. My stay at Mowani was both beautiful and bittersweet, as it marked the end of my trip. I was left wondering how long it would be before I got to see Africa's wild animals in the wild again. Advertisement Eric Vohr is a freelance writer. [ Bargain-priced African adventure, family travel favorites and more ] [ African adventure, the best beaches and Ireland your way ] [ Plenty of legroom on Boeing's luxury jet tailored for the world's richest ] A story about Forefront CEO Eric Weinheimer on Page 3 of Sunday's Business section incorrectly described his response to a question of how Forefront gathers people around issues. Its first focus is on using its convening power to gather people around common interests and goals to help them work together. Facebook and social media are secondary ways. Also, the article included an incomplete quote by Weinheimer. The quote should have said, "I also think that Chicago is much more innovative in its philanthropy, and collaborative, than people realize." The Tribune regrets the errors. A fire caused an explosion early Tuesday at Hammond Marina, totaling two boats, according to a release from Indiana Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement. (Indiana DNR / Post-Tribune) A fire caused a boat to explode early Tuesday at Hammond Marina, according to a release from Indiana Department of Natural Resources Law Enforcement. Indiana conservation officers are investigating the fire that involved multiple boats, which began shortly before 4 a.m., according to Officer Terri Millefoglie. Advertisement No injuries have been reported, but "two boats were a total loss as a result of an explosion related to the fire," the release states. The Hammond Port Authority said Tuesday afternoon that the marina was open and people were able to launch. Advertisement Hammond police and fire, the U.S. Coast Guard, Hammond Port Authority, Hammond Marina and Tow Boat U.S. assisted at the scene, the release states. rejacobs@post-trib.com Twitter @ruthyjacobs A struggle broke out between anti-fascist protesters and police Aug. 15, 2017, near a Cook County courthouse, where Western, Belmont and Clybourn avenues intersect. (Tony Briscoe / Chicago Tribune) Three people were arrested during an anti-white supremacy protest Tuesday outside a North Side criminal court building, according to Chicago police. About two dozen protesters, many wearing bandanas or masks covering their faces, gathered near the doors of a Cook County courthouse at 2452 W. Belmont Ave., where they held banners condemning white supremacy and chanted "Neo-Nazis go away! Racist, sexist, anti-gay!" Advertisement Organizer Sam Zakon, 25, of Chicago, said the anti-facist groups had come to protest a criminal hearing for a man they said had ties to far-right, white supremacist organizations. The man's attorney said he knew of no such ties between his client and the groups. And authorities have not charged the man, who could not be reached, with any crimes tied to racism. Advertisement The man's court hearing was moved up and held before the protest. "It's shameful to base your identity on hatred," Zakon said at the rally. "We want to make sure these people know they are not wanted here in Chicago." After about 90 minutes, the protesters took to the streets, briefly blocking the intersection of Clybourn and Western avenues. Police ordered the activists to return to the sidewalk, when an altercation between an officer and a masked protester broke out. An attempt to arrest the man turned into a struggle between protesters, who hoped to free the man, and officers, who wrestled him away while shouting "Stop resisting!" An older man who was taken to the ground by officers during the tussle also was arrested. Tensions bubbled up again when a confrontation broke out in front of an apparent TV van, which led to a third man taken to the ground by police. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Police eventually cleared the small group of demonstrators off the courthouse property and maintained a perimeter along its Western Avenue entrance. Some protesters complained that police were unnecessarily aggressive toward them. As of Tuesday evening, police confirmed three protesters had been arrested and charges were pending. The protest follows the recent racial demonstrations and violence in Charlottesville, Va., where a counter-protester was killed. James Alex Fields Jr., 20, is charged with second-degree murder and other crimes after a car was driven into a crowd of people protesting white supremacy, killing one woman and injuring 19 others. Advertisement wlee@chicagotribune.com tbriscoe@chicagotribune.com Twitter @MidNoirCowboy Twitter @_tonybriscoe Springfield If the nation's president can be a beauty pageant owner, why can't our state's attorney general be a beauty queen? That's part of the pitch of Harvard Law School grad and lawyer Erika Harold, a former Miss America who told Chicago Inc. on Wednesday that she's found "a lot of parallels" between being a pageant contestant and running against Democratic Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. Advertisement "You are traveling throughout the state; you are going to a lot of events and introducing yourself, and finding a way to be an advocate for the interests that people care about," said the 37-year-old Harold, who won the Miss America title in 2003. But Harold whose speech to a rally of Republicans at the state fair Wednesday was well received was keen to clear up any confusion about the difference between the Miss America title she won and the Miss USA/Miss Universe prizes formerly controlled by President Donald Trump. Advertisement "People probably do not understand the finer points of pageantry," said Harold who added that she never crossed paths with Trump because, "they are two separate and distinct entities." Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Of the two, the Miss America title is the older, dating back to 1921 it comes with a scholarship and is generally considered the more prestigious title, though Harold was too polished to say so out loud. "I will just say I was Miss America 2003 and I'm very proud of it!" she said. She highlighted her work opposing bullying and youth violence, noting that the proliferation of social media over the last decade "has made the problem of bullying so much more pervasive and so much more difficult for young people to maneuver." "I think it's also important to work with young people to let them understand how to be responsible consumers and users of social media I talk to them about building a brand," she said. "Your social media communicates something about you to the world. What is that you want to communicate and does your social media reflect that?" Asked what she made of the president's Twitter presence, Harold added, "I think it would be best if he tweeted less, and leave it at that." kjanssen@chicagotribune.com Twitter @kimjnews The south suburban theater professor's instructions to an acting student were allegedly clear pretend to be a pimp trying to collect money from a sex worker. But the April improv exercise has resulted in a lawsuit after the student claimed he's no longer allowed to register for new classes because he used an "unacceptable word" while play-acting as a pimp, caused a "disruption" during a meeting with the college's staff and then refused to write an essay handed down as punishment. Advertisement Joshua Zale, who is thought to be in his 30s, sued Moraine Valley Community College in Cook County Circuit Court this week, alleging his free-speech rights have been violated. Zale, an Oak Lawn resident who is representing himself, is asking a judge to allow him to register for new classes and award him monetary damages. The lawsuit states that Zale "is being penalized by defendants for the statements he made during an acting exercise in a course ... and for his conduct in questioning the reasons for which he was being told his actions were inappropriate." Advertisement Court records don't mention the word Zale used during his class performance, but afterward his professor allegedly told him it was unacceptable. On April 20, Zale met with the instructor to find out why he had been chastised for using "a word which was precisely within the assignment he had been given," according to the lawsuit. Zale alleges that during the discussion, an assistant dean also accused him of "mistreating her as a woman" under Title IX, according to the lawsuit, which was filed Monday. Title IX is part of a 1972 law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs or activities receiving federal financial assistance. Six days later, he received an email from the dean of students alleging he had violated the student code of conduct during the April 20 meeting by causing a disruption and for "physical/verbal abuse or harassment," according to a copy of the email included in the lawsuit. A disciplinary hearing was set that Zale did not attend, according to the lawsuit, because he would not be able to confront his accusers. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > After Zale did not attend a disciplinary hearing, he received a warning for the violations and was ordered to write an essay in 12-point font about how the college's five core values "apply to your interactions with the staff members involved." Another email on May 19 from the dean warned him that a registration hold had been placed on Zale because he had failed to write the essay. Zale could be subject to further sanctions, the letter says, if he didn't complete the assignment. Zale refused to write the essay "because that sanction was imposed in violation of his right to procedural due process of law," his lawsuit says. Messages left for Zale were not returned. A college spokeswoman said the school does not comment on pending litigation. Advertisement Tribune news services contributed. sschmadeke@chicagotribune.com Twitter @SteveSchmadeke A former Northwestern University professor and a University of Oxford financial officer are expected to be returned to Chicago by early next week to face first-degree murder charges in a savage stabbing in a Near North Side high-rise apartment, Chicago police said Tuesday. The two ex-Northwestern microbiologist Wyndham Lathem and Andrew Warren waived extradition in court hearings in California last week after both surrendered to authorities after allegedly spending eight days on the run. Advertisement An "extradition team" that includes Chicago police detectives plans to travel to the San Francisco-Oakland area this week and bring the two back to Chicago by early next week, said police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi. Both are being held in custody without bond. The two are charged in the July 27 slaying of 26-year-old Trenton Cornel-Duranleau in Lathem's 10th-floor apartment in the 500 block of North State Street. He was found lying facedown on Lathem's bedroom floor, dead from stab wounds and slashes to the back. Advertisement Police believe the killing took place about 5 a.m., but authorities didn't learn of the stabbing until an anonymous caller reached the front desk of the apartment building around 8:30 p.m. and warned of a possible crime in Lathem's residence. The two suspects fled on a cross-country odyssey, according to authorities. On the same day of the killing, investigators believe one of the suspects made a $1,000 donation in Cornell-Duranleau's name at a library in Lake Geneva, Wis. Daywatch Weekdays Start each day with Chicago Tribune editors' top story picks, delivered to your inbox. > Lathem later sent a video message to family and friends apologizing for "his involvement" in the slaying, police have said. Both surrendered to authorities in California on Aug. 4 Lathem in Oakland and Warren in San Francisco. Authorities have not disclosed a possible motive for the killing. Northwestern fired Lathem, 42, an associate professor of microbiology, earlier this month, citing his fleeing from police after a warrant for his arrest had been issued. Warren, 56, had flown into Chicago on his first trip to the United States just three days before the killing. He has been suspended from his payroll job at Somerville College, part of the Oxford system. An attorney for Lathem has said his client would plead not guilty to the charges. Advertisement jgorner@chicagotribune.com Malcolm McGhee, 24, ordered held on $90,000 for leaving the scene of an accident that killed a 39-year-old womqn on the South Side. (Police photo) A man speeding through a South Side intersection struck a woman, then drove home and told his brother he thought he had just killed someone, prosecutors said Wednesday. The two walked back to the scene and saw Dominique Wilbourn, 39, lying dead in the street in the 8200 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue around 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 12, prosecutors said. Advertisement The driver, Malcolm McGhee, 24, was charged with leaving the scene involving death. Cook County Judge James Brown ordered him held on a $90,000 bond during a hearing Wednesday afternoon. McGhee was driving a white 2003 Cadillac CTS, traveling at a high rate of speed as he approached the intersection of 82nd Street and Cottage, prosecutors said. Advertisement He struck Wilbourn as she was crossing the intersection, which is not far from where she lived in the 8100 block of Drexel Avenue. McGhee drove over her as he fled, prosecutors said. A neighbor witnessed the accident, which also was captured on video, prosecutors said. When McGhee got home, his brother saw he was upset and heard him tell someone else that he did something bad. He began to cry and told his brother he hit someone with his car and thought she was dead. McGhee and his brother walked about four blocks to the scene, where a crowd had gathered, and saw the woman dead in the street. McGhee told his brother he knew the woman, prosecutors said. Two days later, officers saw the Cadillac with front-end damage and paint chipped off. The car matched the description of the hit and run vehicle, and McGhee was arrested when he walked up to the car, prosecutors said. Witnesses told police McGhee had left his apartment in the 900 block of 84th Street in a white Cadillac about 8 p.m. the day of the accident. Witnesses also identified him from video images and from gas station footage of his car less than three minutes before the accident, prosecutors said. At the hearing, an assistant public defender said McGhee has lived at his apartment on 84th Street since 2014. He has a fiancee, two children and has worked at Burger King for seven months. A suspect in the fatal shooting of a man in Schaumburg is being held by local police after he turned himself in Wednesday. Sgt. Christy Lindhurst of the Schaumburg Police Department said the suspect turned himself in, with a lawyer accompanying him to the police station, after authorities issued a murder warrant for his arrest. Advertisement The male suspect had not been formally charged as of Wednesday evening, and police declined to release his name. Lindhurst said formal charges could be lodged on Thursday. The suspect was being sought in connection with the death of Quentin D. Tillison, 37, who authorities said suffered a gunshot wound to his torso during an altercation in front of a Walgreens at Roselle and Wise roads in Schaumburg. The incident occurred shortly after 5 p.m. Monday, police said. Advertisement Tillison died at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge on Tuesday morning, officials said. The arrest came after Schaumburg police and members of the Major Case Assistance Team searched homes in Schaumburg and Glendale Heights, Lindhurst said. George Houde is a freelance reporter. Morton County has lifted its total burn ban. The county commission ended the total ban Wednesday that has restricted open burning and the use of fireworks in all unincorporated areas of Morton County regardless of fire danger since June 8. The county will now revert back to the Fire Emergency and Burn Ban declared on April 13. We are very thankful for the recent rain which has helped to alleviate some fire concerns within the county, Morton County Commission Chairman Cody Schulz said. However, we are still experiencing drought conditions and while the fire dangers are lowered, we ask everyone to remain cautious to avoid accidental ignitions. Due to the fire potential that still remains, no burning will be allowed when the North Dakota Rangeland Fire Danger Rating is in the High, Very High or Extreme category or when a Red Flag Warning has been issued. The ban does not include gas, charcoal or wood fired grills, screened patio fireplaces or chimineas, gas camp stoves and smokers within the City Limits of Almont, Flasher, Hebron, Mandan and New Salem. The fire rating and additional information can be found at https://www.nd.gov/des/planning/fire-danger-awareness/Default.asp. The penalty for violation of this burn ban is a class B misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of 30 days in jail and $1,500 fine. For more information, go online to https://www.nd.gov/des/uploads/resources/154/fire-danger-guide-web-pdf.pdf Gov. Bruce Rauner speaks at the Governor's Day rally on Aug. 16, 2017, at the Illinois State Fair in Springfield. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) SPRINGFIELD After steering clear of discussing President Donald Trump or even uttering his name for many months, Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner on Wednesday issued a harsh denunciation of the president's take on the deadly Virginia protest. "I vehemently disagree with the president's comments about the tragedy in Charlottesville," Rauner said. "We must stand together against hatred and racism and bigotry and violence and we must condemn those actions in Charlottesville in the strongest terms." Advertisement "What I care about, the comments damage America. We are all Americans. It doesn't matter what party, it doesn't matter who we vote for," Rauner told reporters after arriving for Governor's Day at the Illinois State Fair on a Harley-Davidson, his traditional method of entry. "What matters is that we stand for justice and fairness and equality. That's what America is about. And racism and bigotry and violence has no place in our society." Rauner's pushback to Trump contrasted with a morning breakfast and an afternoon Republican rally where the governor didn't mention the president's much-criticized Tuesday remarks in which he equated neo-Nazi and white supremacist protesters with counterprotesters. Advertisement The traditional Republican rally featured no Trump signs, though a vendor was selling red Trump-themed "Make America Great Again" hats. Still, the controversies swirling around the president hung over the festivities much like the rain clouds over the fairgrounds. Rauner's Trump comments came two days after he initially told reporters in Chicago that he could not say that the death of protester Heather Heyer, who was mourned at Wednesday services after being struck Saturday by a car driven by a white supremacist supporter, was an act of "domestic terrorism." Later, Rauner's office issued a statement saying the governor "absolutely" believed the death to be domestic terrorism. The governor's reticence in mentioning Trump or responding to his comments and programs dates back to at least March 2016, when Rauner said he would support the eventual Republican presidential nominee without ever saying Trump's name. Later that month, Rauner told north suburban school children he was "horrified" by the rhetoric of the GOP presidential campaign without naming Trump. In addition, the governor notably skipped last year's GOP national convention in Cleveland where Trump was nominated. Rauner's cautious Trump strategy didn't stop a federal super political action committee from airing ads last fall that aimed to connect Trump to the rest of Illinois Republicans. The unconventional president has presented a political conundrum for Rauner, the first-term GOP governor of a Democratic state who is seeking re-election next year. Rauner is actively seeking support from largely rural Downstate areas that backed Trump over Democrat Hillary Clinton last year. But Rauner also must find a way to restore a base in the suburban collar counties that are a key area of support for a Republican running statewide. Though the collars traditionally lean Republican, all but McHenry County went for Clinton last year. By deciding to aggressively criticize Trump, Rauner may be abandoning an effort to try to find a middle ground that simply sought to avoid any mention of the controversial president, realizing that while more Downstate counties have been turning Republican, the number of voters there is far fewer than in the more populated Chicago suburbs. Advertisement In addition, Rauner's move against Trump also may be aimed at trying to regain support among crucial moderate suburban women. The governor could face challenges winning over that voting bloc following the budget and school funding disputes as well as his vow to veto a measure he once supported in concept to expand the availability of abortions under Medicaid and state employee health insurance. Rauner might not have much room for error. In 2014, he barely defeated a lackluster Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn by 4 percentage points, or roughly 140,000 votes, despite capturing every one of Illinois' 102 counties save for heavily Democratic Cook County. On Wednesday, Rauner said the actions of neo-Nazis and white supremacists in Charlottesville were "frankly, disgusting, despicable." "White supremacists groups. We've got to call them that and we've got to condemn their actions," the governor said. Rauner's hand-picked state GOP chairman, Cook County Comissioner Tim Schneider, told reporters the weekend events in Virginia were "abhorrent." But Schneider refused to respond to the president's comments, at one point saying, "I'm not Donald Trump's campaign manager. I don't speak for the president of the United States." Asked if Trump could hurt GOP chances next year, Schneider said, "I'm not Carnac and I'm not going to predict what's going to happen in the future," referring to the late TV host Johnny Carson's character of a mystic soothsayer. Advertisement But U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis of Taylorville took on Trump's comments head on. Davis was on the Alexandria, Va., ballfield when a gunman wounded U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and two Capitol police during a June GOP practice for a charity softball game. "I hope the president clarifies his remarks once again, and I hope the president can be a voice of calm and a voice of reason at a time where we can come together and stop the hate and the vitriol that we see in the American political climate today," Davis said. "Frankly, anybody that wants to carry a Nazi flag on American soil is not good people and I disagree" with the president. Across town, the Illinois House approved a resolution 105-0 condemning the acts of violence in Charlottesville as domestic terrorism and repudiating white supremacists, neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, and any other group that espouses hate. To a breakfast audience of largely Downstate GOP county chairmen, Rauner assailed Chicago and its "political machine" and predicted Republican values would lead to the ouster of his chief political nemesis, Democrat Michael Madigan, as speaker of the House. "We stand for liberty, individual freedom. We stand for personal responsibility," Rauner said. "We stand for limited government that allows the individual to define himself or herself and thrive. We stand for low taxes." Those values, the governor contended, would result next year in a nine-seat pickup in the Illinois House, where Republicans currently hold 51 seats to 67 for the Madigan-led Democrats. Advertisement "The battle ahead of us is tough boy it's just tough," Rauner acknowledged, because "our system is so broken." "We're up against an incredibly powerful political machine in Chicago. They have dictated the terms in our state for decades and they haven't even run their machine really for the benefit for the people of Chicago. Just look at the unemployment. Look at the terrible schools. Look at the violence in Chicago. Look at the taxes going through the roof in Chicago," said the governor, once again using the politics of geography to attack the Democratic-dominated city. Democrats, Rauner continued, "don't run the government for the benefit of the people of central Illinois, southern Illinois or northwest Illinois or the suburbs of Chicago either. We have a broken political system run by a political machine in Chicago that's run for the benefit of politicians and their cronies," he said. While Rauner criticized the president's Virginia comments, it was Trump who helped the Illinois GOP score a net gain of four House seats last November. Republican candidates outpolled Democratic incumbents in Downstate counties where Trump was rolling up 50- and 60-percentage-point margins. rap30@aol.com Twitter @rap30 Illinois Speaker of the House Michael Madigan speaks at a news conference on the first day of a special session on education funding at the state Capitol on July 26, 2017, in Springfield, Ill. (Justin Fowler / AP) SPRINGFIELD Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan said Wednesday that he's "not walking away from" his party's bill to change the state's school funding system and planned votes next week to either override Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner's changes or eventually send him identical legislation again. Madigan's comments came after the state House overwhelmingly rejected a bill designed to reflect Rauner's amendatory veto of legislation to overhaul the way Illinois divvies up money for school districts. The test vote was orchestrated to try to embarrass the governor on what was supposed to be a celebratory day of rallies for the GOP at the Illinois State Fair. Advertisement Rauner's changes received no votes in support, after Republicans announced they would vote "present" or "no" in protest of what they called a sham roll call designed to cover a lack of support to override the governor's veto. Madigan said he presented a "counterproposal" to Republicans over the weekend, but he said the governor rejected the offer. A spokeswoman for Rauner called the idea of a counteroffer "absolutely false," and the speaker declined to provide details of his plan. Advertisement Still, Madigan said Rauner's refusal to negotiate and his decision to run television ads this week talking up his veto "brings me to question whether Gov. Rauner will ever come to an agreement on education reform." Democrat and Republican legislative leaders are scheduled to meet Friday in Chicago to try to again talk about striking a deal. Failing that, Madigan said the House would return next week to take up an override vote, saying he hoped that "reasonable Republicans" would split from Rauner as they did last month to put in place a budget and tax hike. The Senate voted to override Rauner on Sunday. Madigan warned that Democrats would not abandon the proposal should an override fail next week. He said Democrats are prepared to again send the governor legislation that mirrors the bill Rauner vetoed. "It's well thought out, it does the job, it's supported by every educational advocacy group in the state. It's fair all across the state, every district wins, no district loses," Madigan said. "We are not walking away from that bill." Because the state cannot cut checks until a new funding formula is in place, schools across the state may face more weeks or months of uncertainty. Schools already missed their first of two monthly state aid payments that are normally sent throughout the school year. Rauner contends that Madigan is creating uncertainty in an effort to persuade Republicans to support a bill the governor has labeled a "bailout" for troubled Chicago Public Schools. Onstage at the Republicans' day at the Illinois State Fair, Rauner defended his veto of the school funding bill. "Speaker Madigan and his cronies grabbed that bill and they stuffed in a massive bailout, massive special deal for the city of Chicago," he said, adding the original bill would "take money from the classrooms here and divert it to the financial disaster that's in the city of Chicago." "What my amendatory veto did was just take out the special deal for Chicago. That's all I did. Just take out the special deal for Chicago and that freed up hundreds of millions of dollars that were going to go into that broken financial structure and we're going to go all through the funding formula to all the schools around the state," Rauner said. Advertisement Rauner's veto would mean CPS gets $463 million less in state money this year compared with the Democrat-approved version, according to an analysis by the Illinois State Board of Education, but his changes go far beyond that issue alone. Earlier Wednesday, school superintendents from across the state gave testimony to House lawmakers in opposition of Rauner's changes. They argued Rauner's changes risk undermining other provisions that would bring greater equality to how funds are distributed and help ease local property tax burdens. While they acknowledged some of their schools would see an initial bump in funding under his plan, they said other changes in his veto mean districts that lose even a handful of students would be financially penalized in future years. They said some of his changes also seem to pit school districts against business development. Under both the Democratic-passed bill and the governor's version, the amount of state money schools receive would depend in part on the assessed value of property in the district. The less available property wealth in a district, the more state money it could receive. But unlike in the Democratic bill, Rauner's version would count the assessed property value that includes tax-increment financing districts and in areas that have mandated property-tax caps. School districts can't tax the growth of property value in those areas but still would receive less state money. "There's no reason why we should be putting districts against each other," said Rep. Will Davis, a Democrat from Homewood who sponsored the bill vetoed by Rauner. "Why are we unnecessarily taking dollars from one district just because the governor has a problem with that district?" Advertisement Meanwhile, teachers, parents and students are left in limbo. "Yesterday, I denied stamps for our kindergarten teachers to send welcome letters to parents," Sandoval School District 501 Superintendent Jennifer Garrison told the House hearing. "This is not on us, this is on the legislature to solve." Chicago Tribune's Rick Pearson contributed mcgarcia@chicagotribune.com Twitter @moniquegarcia The Chicago-based Illinois Policy Institute, which has counted Rauner among its donors, has been a key player in efforts to promote conservative ideology in Illinois. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune) SPRINGFIELD Illinois House lawmakers on Wednesday denounced a political cartoon from a conservative think tank with strong ties to Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, saying the drawing perpetuates racial stereotypes. The cartoon published by the Illinois Policy Institute shows an African-American child panhandling for money from a suit-wearing white man with a cigar. The child is wearing a Cubs hat and holding a sign reading "Need money 4 school." The man responds by showing one empty pocket, though the other pocket is stuffed with bills labeled "TIF $." Another version of the cartoon features the man saying, "Sorry kid, I'm broke." Advertisement It's a reference to the ongoing complex education funding fight at the Capitol. Rauner used his amendatory veto powers this month to rewrite legislation that determines how tax dollars are doled out to public schools. Under both the Democratic-passed bill and the governor's version, the amount of support a school district would get depends in part on the assessed value of property in the district. The less available property wealth in a district, the more state money it could receive. Advertisement But unlike in the Democratic bill, Rauner's version would count the assessed property value that includes tax-increment financing districts and in areas that have mandated property tax caps. School districts can't tax the growth of property value in those areas, but still would receive less state money. Democrats argue Rauner's changes would make Chicago Public Schools artificially appear closer to having adequate funding due to the large number of TIF districts in the city. But Rauner, and the policy institute contend that the city is using TIF districts to hide property tax dollars, therefore requiring more money from the state. Lawmakers said that despite the ideological differences, the cartoon was offensive and served to perpetuate racial hatred that was on display from white nationalists last weekend in Charlottesville, Va. Rep. Christian Mitchell, a Chicago Democrat, confronted the policy institute on Twitter, calling the drawing a "Sambo" cartoon. The group responded, asking "Are you saying that wealthy white businessmen are not using TIF to take money from black and brown kids?" Mitchell said the group could have used a building to signify CPS, or drawn a different child, or one without exaggerated features. "But you made a different choice, one that links to a dark and troubled history, and when confronted with it, decided to double down." Rep. Jaime Andrade, D-Chicago, raised the issue on the House floor Wednesday, asking his colleagues to stand in opposition, saying the representation in the cartoon was "unacceptable." "People forget that I am a minority, maybe because I move my hands and think I'm Italian, I don't know. But this... this is just unacceptable," Andrade said. "This unbelievable that we, today, in 2017, are still dealing with this s---.. Because that's what it is." Advertisement Democrat and Republican lawmakers alike rose in opposition to the cartoon, and they asked the policy institute to issue an apology and take down the image. Several hours after lawmakers raised concerns, Illinois Policy Institute CEO John Tillman announced the group had taken down the cartoon. Tillman said the group acknowledged the "critique" by lawmakers, but stood by the message behind the cartoon, saying "political leaders are using the false charge of racism in an attempt to smear policy opponents and distract the people of Illinois from politicians' failures." "We have taken down the cartoon, not because we think it is racist, but because it is a distraction from another truth the failure of political leaders to address the root cause of our struggling education system," Tillman said in a statement. The Chicago-based advocacy organization, which has counted Rauner among its donors, has been a key player in efforts to promote conservative ideology in Illinois. The group recently took on an even higher profile after Rauner replaced several of his top aides with policy institute staffers. Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan said he had not seen the cartoon, but noted Rauner's decision to formally bring the organization into his administration. Advertisement Mayor Rahm Emanuel and CPS officials issued a joint statement Wednesday calling the cartoon "unambiguously racist" and a "disgrace." mcgarcia@chicagotribune.com Twitter @moniquegarcia Durham County, North Carolina, officials said Tuesday they arrested a woman in connection with the vandalism and toppling of a Confederate statue in North Carolina. A 22-year-old woman was charged with participation in a riot with property damaging exceeding $1,500 and inciting others to riot, which are both felonies, Durham County Sheriff Mike Andrews said. She was also charged with two misdemeanors of damage to property and disorderly conduct by injury to a statue, CNN reported. Andrews also said his office expects to make at least one additional arrest and search warrants are ongoing, the report said. "I am not blind to the offensive conduct of some demonstrators nor will I ignore their criminal conduct," Andrews said in a written statement issued just after midnight Tuesday. "With the help of video captured at the scene, my investigators are working to identify those responsible for the removal and vandalism of the statue." Hours before, a crowd toppled a bronze Confederate soldier statue that stood in front of a county administrative building in downtown Durham as several dozen "anti-fascist" and community groups rallied. The groups gathered in Durham days after a Saturday rally in Charlottesville. At that gathering, James Alex Fields Jr., 20, allegedly drove a car into a crowd of protesters who had shown up to oppose a white supremacist gathering. Heather Heyer, 32, was killed and 19 others were injured. Fields has been charged with second-degree murder, hit and run, and three counts of malicious wounding. A former teacher described Fields as a Nazi sympathizer. Images from Durham Monday evening show that during what organizers there billed as an "emergency protest," or a response to events in Charlottesville, an individual climbed a silver ladder and affixed a yellow strap to the head and neck of a bronze Confederate soldier figure. The strap was then pulled, causing the statue to perform a somersault and hit the ground. A mangled bronze mass remained. People in the crowd cheered as some kicked the statue, spit on it and yelled various things. The statue, which depicted a uniformed and armed Confederate soldier, stood atop an engraved pedestal which read, "In memory of 'the boys who wore the gray.'" It was erected in 1924 and stood 15 feet tall, according to a memorial database. One side of the granite pedestal depicts a Confederate flag. At the time the statue was put in place, black residents could not vote nor safely express a public opinion about placing a Confederate memorial on public land, use the same public facilities as whites and Asian immigrants and could not legally become citizens of the United States. Today, Durham County is home to a population that is nearly 57 percent black, Latino and Asian. The city of Durham is more diverse than the county and its politics is generally left leaning. Most public offices are held by Democrats. Durham County Commissioners Chairwoman Wendy Jacobs told the News & Observer that she had already directed county staff to begin researching the statue, how it came to be placed on public property and state laws governing monuments before the Monday night incident. Calls and emails to the county's public information office were not returned Tuesday morning. In 2015, the North Carolina General Assembly barred local governments from removing any "object of remembrance" situated on public property. However, Monday night's events drew a measured response from the state's chief executive. "The racism and deadly violence in Charlottesville is unacceptable but there is a better way to remove these monuments," North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) said via Twitter on Monday evening. Groups at the rally where the statue was pulled down included members of the Triangle People's Assembly, Workers World Party, Industrial Workers of the World, Democratic Socialists of America and the anti-fascist movement, the Herald Sun reported. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Wednesday that the Charlottesville car attack could be prosecuted as a hate crime, saying that federal authorities "intensely" probing the case could ultimately decide to prosecute the driver in a number of different ways. Sesssions cautioned that no federal charges were imminent as officials are still conducting an ongoing investigation into the deadly attack that killed one woman Saturday and injured 19 others. "It doesn't have to be done immediately," he told NBC News in an interview. "We will be working with the state to see how they will proceed with their charges. We could bring charges whenever the investigation justifies them. But I don't think we should just feel like we've got to do it in a matter of hours or days." Local authorities have charged James Alex Fields Jr., 20, with second-degree murder, hit-and-run and three counts of malicious wounding. He is being held in a Charlottesville jail about two miles from the site where police say he crashed his car into a group protesting white supremacists and neo-Nazis who had gathered in Charlottesville. Sessions's comments characterizing the attack as a potential hate crime, during which he again stressed how seriously the Justice Department takes what happened, came as President Donald Trump has drawn intense criticism for his reaction to the Charlottesville violence. During a remarkable news conference Tuesday in New York, Trump who had at first declined to condemn hate groups by name, then did so after blowback - defiantly reiterated his belief that "both sides" were to blame for the bloodshed. He also defended some of the marchers who descended on Charlottesville. A day after Sessions said the Charlottesville car attack meets the federal definition of domestic terrorism, Trump on Tuesday pilloried the suspected driver but declined to call the attack terrorism when asked by a reporter. "I think the driver of the car is a disgrace to himself, his family and this country," Trump said. "You can call it terrorism. You can call it murder. You can call it whatever you want. I would just call it as the fastest one to come up with a good verdict. There is a question. Is it murder? Is it terrorism? Then you get into legal semantics. The driver of the car is a murderer. What he did was a horrible, horrible, inexcusable thing." Sessions's comments labeling the Charlottesville incident terrorism echoed the way a number of lawmakers and citizens have characterized the car attack, but they did not immediately suggest what kind of federal prosecution could follow. There is no specific federal criminal charge for domestic terrorism, so authorities seeking to prosecute Fields in federal court would need to charge him with another crime. Experts have said that the attack might straddle the line between terrorism and a hate crime and could ultimately be viewed as both. Former federal prosecutors said that a possible hate crime prosecution would depend on whether Fields was specifically targeting someone in a group covered by the hate-crime statute. "If you're a racist and you kill someone, that doesn't mean it's a hate crime," said Timothy J. Heaphy, a former U.S. attorney in the Western District of Virginia, which encompasses Charlottesville. "There has to be an explicit connection between the two for it to be a civil rights offense." Heaphy, who lives in Charlottesville, said that federal and local authorities will coordinate as they pore through Fields's history and social media accounts and speak with people that know him in an effort to uncover whether there was anything directly linking the car attack to a hateful ideology. "The question is, is there a connection between the odious views that this person evidently has and his action at that time?" Heaphy said. Federal officials, who launched a civil rights investigation Saturday, have approached the incident as both an act of terror and a civil rights case. The Justice Department said it dispatched FBI counterterrorism agents and counterterrorism prosecutors Saturday. Sessions also said Wednesday that federal authorities could ultimately opt to prosecute a civil rights violation, a hate crime or unspecified "other charges" in the case. "We are working it intensely on the assumption that we may well want to prosecute it under one of those theories or whatever theory that we would find," he told NBC. "We're also working with the state and local authorities who clearly have jurisdiction too, and often they're the ones that have the best charge." In some other cases, federal authorities followed local charges with their own. This happened in two high-profile situations in South Carolina recently. After the Charleston church massacre in 2015, local authorities charged the attacker, Dylann Roof, with murder. The Justice Department later indicted him on federal hate crime charges. Similarly, after Michael Slager - a former North Charleston police officer - was charged locally with murder for shooting a man fleeing a traffic stop, a federal civil rights charge was filed against him. In both cases, the federal charges proved key. Roof was found guilty in his federal trial and sentenced to death, so he pleaded guilty to the state charges to avoid a second death-penalty trial. A mistrial was declared in Slager's trial, and though local prosecutors pledged to try him again, the local and federal cases were both resolved in May when the former officer pleaded guilty to the federal civil rights charge. Sessions said that whatever authorities decide to do in Charlottesville, "you can be sure it'll be fully investigated and thoroughly prosecuted." U.S. Vice President Mike Pence takes part in a joint statement with the Chilean president at La Moneda government palace in Santiago, Chile, on Aug. 16, 2017. (Esteban Felix / AP) SANTIAGO, Chile Throughout his tour of Latin America, Vice President Mike Pence has cast himself to his hosts as a dutiful, even earnest messenger for President Donald Trump. But in visits this week to Colombia, Argentina and Chile, Pence has acted more like Trump's translator. Advertisement Again and again, the vice president's statements have sounded somewhat discordant from the ones his boss has been delivering back home in the United States. More than delivering Trump's messages, Pence is repackaging them with a decidedly sober and diplomatic spin. Peter Wehner, an adviser in President George W. Bush's White House, said Pence is traveling around the world like "the butler who cleans up the spilled milk and rug stains." Advertisement Keenly aware of how much Trump demands loyalty, Pence has been careful not to allow any substantive daylight between their positions, even though their rhetoric diverges. After Trump alarmed leaders across the hemisphere by threatening military action in Venezuela, whose authoritarian government has plunged the nation into political crisis and economic collapse, Pence labored to all but erase the specter of U.S. intervention. Although the president reserves "many options," Pence said, he of course wants to restore democracy in Venezuela through "a peaceable solution," such as diplomacy and targeted economic sanctions. "What the world heard last week in the voice of President Donald Trump was resolve and determination," he said. Trump has enforced strict migration policies, banning refugees from Syria and other majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States. Yet when Pence stopped by a church in Cartagena, Colombia, to meet with a few dozen people who had fled neighboring Venezuela, the vice president said that Trump "sent me here with a message of compassion." He pointed out the United States' "long and storied history of generosity with regard to refugee populations." Trump has framed his presidency around two words - "America first" - a slogan that has led U.S. allies to conclude that the United States was ceding its leadership position around the world. But Pence has sought to assure allies, as he put it in remarks Wednesday alongside Chile's president here in Santiago, that "America first does not mean America alone." And on trade, Trump routinely rails against agreements that he believes harm U.S. workers. "Bad deals," he thunders, or "stupid trade." But consider Pence's choice of words in a Tuesday speech to business and political elites in Buenos Aires: "As President Trump often says, every deal can be improved." Then there is the case of Charlottesville, Virginia. Pence opened his trip in Cartagena on Sunday, the day after a spate of violence in Virginia. At his joint news conference with Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, Pence was asked about the sharp criticism of Trump for not directly condemning white supremacists. Advertisement He defended Trump. "President Trump clearly and unambiguously condemned the bigotry, violence and hatred which took place on the streets of Charlottesville," Pence said. Then, using far tougher language than Trump had, Pence added: "We have no tolerance for hate and violence, from white supremacists, neo-Nazis or the KKK. These dangerous fringe groups have no place in American public life." On Wednesday, Pence aides said he was cutting short his Latin America trip by one day after a quick stop in Panama City and would return to Washington for a strategy meeting Friday at Camp David with Trump and the national security team. In the 14 months since Trump tapped him to be his running mate, Pence has regularly explained and excused Trump's comments and actions - to fellow Republican elected officials and to the national media, as well as to world leaders. "Vice President Pence's role has developed into him becoming the administration's top Trump translator - calmly communicating and reinforcing Trumpology to the GOP economic and social base, members of Congress and the business community," said Scott Reed, a fixture of the Republican establishment and the chief strategist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Wehner, now a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, said he could not think of an analogous time in American history when a vice president has so deliberately sought to explain the president around the world. Advertisement "The fact that he has to do so is a commentary on the sad state of affairs we're in," Wehner said. Arguing that the president has "a disordered mind," he added, "Trump will say what he wants, and any effort by Pence to interpret Trump's comments will come off as an exercise in futility. It will be like trying to piece together a shattered mirror." Some Republican strategists see clear benefits for the country in Pence's adopted role. "Credit goes to Trump for extending authority, autonomy and an all-inclusive portfolio to his vice president, and credit goes to the vice president for always, to quote Vice President Cheney, 'salute smartly,' " said Mary Matalin, a former adviser to Richard B. Cheney. GOP strategist Alex Conant, who advised the presidential campaign of Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said Pence is "an invaluable asset for President Trump." "While Trump is inconsistent and unfocused, Pence's presence is reassuring to allies on [Capitol] Hill and overseas," Conant said. "The more Trump listens to Pence, the better it will be for his presidency." During a visit Tuesday to Quinta de Olivos, the presidential compound outside of Buenos Aires, Pence was asked by a journalist whether each time Trump "steps on his own message," such as with his threat of military action in Venezuela, it results in the vice president having "work to do" overseas. For a moment, Pence appeared taken aback by the question. But after collecting his thoughts, the vice president answered by heaping praise on Trump, saying, "We have an American president who says what he means and means what he says." Advertisement "President Trump, in a very real sense, I believe, has brought the kind of broad-shouldered leadership to the world stage that has been lacking for too long, and the world welcomes it," Pence said. "And it's my great honor to be able to represent him around the world." "We'll see," Trump says when asked about his chief strategist, Steve Bannon. NEW YORK President Donald Trump won't say whether he plans to keep Steve Bannon, a top adviser and key campaign strategist, in the White House. "We'll see what happens with Mr. Bannon," Trump said at an impromptu Tuesday news conference where he fielded questions about his confidence in his adviser. Advertisement Bannon, the former leader of conservative Breitbart News website, has been a contentious figure in a divided White House for months and has been viewed as on the outs before. But in recent days, some of Trump's closest advisers have returned to pressing the president to fire Bannon. The anti-Bannon campaign comes as Trump is facing heated criticism for not immediately condemning by name white supremacists and other hate groups after deadly violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Va. Bannon once described Breitbart as "the platform for the alt-right." Advertisement Speaking to reporters in Trump Tower, the president said Bannon is a friend and "a good man; he is not a racist." Trump's less-than-enthusiastic defense called into question Bannon's own assessment of the situation: He had been telling people that he believed his job was safe, following a conversation in recent days with new chief of staff John Kelly, according to a White House official who demanded anonymity to discuss personnel matters. The decision whether to oust Bannon is more than just personnel matter. The media guru is viewed in some circles as Trump's connection to his base and the protector of Trump's disruptive, conservative agenda. A Tuesday headline on Breitbart equated his potential ouster to the president being urged to "Give Trump Voters Middle Finger." Ned Ryun, a conservative strategist who occasionally advises the White House, wrote on Twitter, "Cannot tell you how bad a signal it would be to @realdonaldtrump's base if Bannon is forced out." But Bannon's high profile and puppet-master image have at times irked a president who doesn't like to share the spotlight and bristles at the suggestion that he needs a liaison to his base. In April, Trump diminished Bannon's role to that of "a guy who works for me." The president doubled down on that dismissiveness at Tuesday's press conference, distancing Bannon from his unexpectedly successful presidential campaign. "I went through 17 senators, governors, and I won all the primaries. Mr. Bannon came on very much later than that," he said. Advertisement Bannon's supporters say Trump is being pressed by advisers such as chief economic adviser Gary Cohn and deputy national security adviser Dina Powell. Kelly has also expressed concerns to Trump about Bannon, and is said to be particularly angry with a flood of negative stories about national security adviser H.R. McMaster that some in the White House believe are being leaked by Bannon. That's according to two people briefed on the personnel discussions taking place in New Jersey and New York who are not authorized to speak publicly. Kelly has grown weary of the conservative attacks on McMaster and believes that even if Bannon is not personally responsible for them, he has not done enough to quell them. Bannon has denied being behind the anti-McMaster campaign. The public squabbling among White House advisers is precisely the sort of drama Kelly was brought in to stop. The chief of staff is embarking on a weeks-long personnel review of West Wing staff and has indicated to aides that significant changes could be coming, according to an official familiar with Kelly's plans but not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations. Although Bannon enjoys a vocal core of supporters outside the White House, most of Trump's most trusted advisers long ago soured on him. Among them are Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, family members and top White House employees. Their opposition to Bannon's West Wing role is well-known but they're staying out of personnel decisions about him, according to a White House official. Bannon's backers include Rep. Mark Meadows, the head of the House's Freedom Caucus, an array of Breitbart-like media and the Zionist Organization of America, which has spoken out in opposition to McMaster. Advertisement Bannon didn't respond to requests for comment. He has told associates that he has no plans to leave the White House and would only do so if Trump fires him. The conservative media provocateur has been trying to keep a low profile during Trump's vacation and ride out the storm the same strategy he employed during clashes earlier this year with Kushner. That approach is lifted from a playbook he's already had to use. At the start of the administration, Bannon was its driving force, a near-constant presence in the Oval Office leading the charge to roll back Obama-era regulations and push through the president's travel ban. The blowback to the botched introduction of the ban, which was rolled out quickly with little outside consultation, angered many in the administration, including Kelly, then head of Homeland Security. In the hours before Trump spoke to the press Tuesday, Kelly was spotted eating lunch at a nearby hotel with aides. Playing on the TV screen above him was a cable news program with its ticker displaying speculation about Bannon's future. Kelly did not look up. Any time you think Donald Trump cannot sink lower or further degrade the office he holds, he proves you wrong. His Tuesday press conference was the most historically ignorant, morally clueless and thoroughly malignant performance of any president in memory. He makes me long for the comparative nobility and wisdom of Richard Nixon. It's clear that neo-Nazi intimidation and violence don't really upset Trump. His criticism of the perpetrators is dutiful and tepid. What really angers Trump to his core is being challenged on anything and the weaker and less defensible his position, the more furiously he defends it. Advertisement It's almost beyond imagination that a president would insist on the good motives of "some very fine people" attending a white supremacist demonstration. It's almost beyond imagination that a president would equate demonstrators who deliberately set out to sow as much fear as possible carrying torches, brandishing military-style rifles, chanting anti-Semitic slogans with a much larger group of counter-protesters who came out to show they have no use for racism and hate. But Trump did those things. His understanding of the world is what you get when you make a habit of believing everything you see on Fox News and read on Breitbart. He has no grasp of what blacks, Jews, Hispanics, gays and other historically persecuted groups have suffered. He thinks the only discrimination that exists anymore is discrimination against white males. He thinks whites are justified in striking back. Advertisement Trump has no interest in trying to heal the wounds of Charlottesville because he is too preoccupied with avenging his own wounds. He expected applause for his grudging, equivocal statement Saturday and felt deeply mistreated when he didn't get it. So when he got the chance to vent his real feelings Tuesday, he couldn't restrain himself. It was enough to raise serious questions about his mental stability and cognitive health. But maybe it's just his character expressing itself with perfect precision. This is the most shameful day of his presidency. But probably not for long. Steve Chapman, a member of the Tribune Editorial Board, blogs at www.chicagotribune.com/chapman. schapman@chicagotribune.com Twitter: @SteveChapman13 What to read next: White nationalists already lost If you still support Donald Trump Advertisement No, in fact, removing the statue of Robert E. Lee doesn't put us on a slippery slope Does Trump know this isn't a TV show? Members of the KKK are escorted by police past a large group of protesters during a KKK rally in Charlottesville, Va., on July 8, 2017. (Steve Helber / AP) The violent white nationalist rally in Virginia has reawakened simmering fears of American fascism. But the roots of these feelings and the militant organizations that promoted them did not begin with the election of President Donald Trump. The last time fascism was brazenly embraced was in the 1930s. The lessons of that crucial decade bear increasing relevance for modern American life. The three big factors that drove the spread of American fascism at that time are still relevant for America today. Fascist ideas were quite popular in 1930s America Advertisement In the 1930s, fascist ideas were increasingly accepted. This was reflected in the energetic growth of Nazi organizations. Ku Klux Klan rallies were common and numerous; Trump's own father was reportedly arrested at one such rally. A 1941 book found that more than 100 such organizations had formed since 1933. The appeal of fascist ideas extended far beyond the fringe, reaching prominent citizens such as Henry Ford and Charles Lindbergh. Lindbergh went so far as to praise Adolf Hitler as "undoubtedly a great man." In 1940, Lindbergh's wife published a bestseller that called totalitarianism "The Wave of the Future" and an "ultimately good conception of humanity." Advertisement At the time, Jews served the same role for U.S. fascists that immigrants, Muslims and other minorities serve today: a vague but malicious threat they believed to be undermining America's greatness. Surveys of U.S. public opinion from the 1930s are a startling reminder of just how widespread these attitudes became. As late as July 1942, a Gallup poll showed that 1 in 6 Americans thought Hitler was "doing the right thing" to the Jews. A 1940 poll found that nearly a fifth of Americans saw Jews as a national "menace" more than any other group, including Germans. Almost a third anticipated "a widespread campaign against the Jews" a campaign that 12 percent of Americans were willing to support. The careers of anti-Semitic celebrities such as Catholic Rev. Charles Coughlin reflected the popular appeal of fascist ideas. Father Coughlin, as he was known, enjoyed the second-largest radio audience in the country (after President Franklin D. Roosevelt's fireside chats), frequently quoted Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels, and praised the Nazi quest for full employment and racial purity. He broke with Roosevelt in 1934, forming his own party, whose 1936 candidate received nearly 1 million votes. Coughlin was finally silenced by the Catholic Church in early 1942. These voices welcoming fascism were not marginal radicals but mainstream writers, presidents of major associations and editors of popular journals. In his 1934 presidential address, the president of the American Political Science Association the nation's oldest and largest organization of political scientists railed against "the dogma of universal suffrage" and argued for abolishing a democracy that allowed "the ignorant, the uninformed and the antisocial elements" to vote. If these reforms smacked of fascism, he concluded, then "we have already recognized that there is a large element of fascist doctrine and practice that we must appropriate." Three factors helped U.S. fascism spread So what does the history of American fascism tell us about its resurgence? The good news is that the three major factors that drove its expansion are absent today. The first was a major economic depression and social dislocation that undermined people's confidence in democracy and led them to look for alternatives. As a U.S. economist complained in 1933, "democracy is neither very expert nor very quick to action" and cannot resolve "group and class conflicts easily." The second factor was fear of communism, which led many leading intellectuals to embrace fascism as a bulwark against Bolshevism and as the lesser of two evils. As in Europe, worries about communism intensified fascism's appeal in the U.S. "I thank heaven for a man like Adolf Hitler," argued popular Christian activist Frank Buchman in 1936, "who built a front line of defense against the anti-Christ of communism." The third factor was the rise of Nazi Germany as an economic and military powerhouse. Hitler's ascent began a long period of German recovery, economic expansion and the swift end of unemployment in that country. By 1939, Germany had a labor shortage of 2 million people, while industrial production had more than doubled. Generations of historians have debated whether the recovery was real, but the widespread perception of German success attracted admirers regardless of its reality. Advertisement There could be a resurgence of fascism in the U.S. Even though these three factors no longer exist, similar problems lurk under the surface of modern political life, problems that could conceivably drive a resurgence of fascist movements. The overall U.S. economy has been performing well, but levels of inequality continue to rise. Wide areas of America are increasingly mired in permanent unemployment and a massive drug epidemic. These are the sorts of economic conditions that drove fascist support in the 1930s; another major crisis like the Great Recession is likely to bolster nationalist appeals even more. Few people worry about the communist threat today. Yet fear of communism has been replaced by fear of globalists and elite technocrats (still often tinged with anti-Semitism) who supposedly seek to undermine and control the lives of ordinary Americans. The recently uncovered National Security Council memo reflected these sentiments clearly, arguing that Trump's opposition is made up of a cabal of Islamists, cultural Marxists and global bankers. The extreme right-wing blogger Mike Cernovich, who has been praised by Donald Trump Jr., recently published a cartoon showing national security adviser H.R. McMaster as a puppet manipulated by George Soros, who in turn was being manipulated by a monstrous green hand labeled "Rothschilds," a historically wealthy Jewish family. The third factor the appearance of an ideological rival that seemed to outperform America's corrupt democracy is today reflected most clearly in fears over the rise of China. Over the past decade, numerous observers have argued that liberal democracy is being supplanted by the kind of state capitalism exemplified by China, in which a capitalist system of production is undergirded by state ownership and guidance, with little room for democracy. Americans cannot be complacent about democracy Over the 20th century, democracy spread from a few isolated outposts to most corners of the world. Today its superiority seems self-evident to people who have been steeped in its moral virtues and material successes. But over the past century, mere moral appeal has rarely been sufficient for its survival. It would be a convenient mistake to accept the victory of democracy as a historical morality play, the predestined triumph of good over evil. Advertisement For much of the 20th century, democracy's success depended on the existence of powerful countries such as the United States, examples to be imitated. More than any appeal to freedom, democracy spread because it promised economic prosperity and political stability. But when democracies failed to deliver, as during the Great Depression, the tide of popular and elite opinion shifted just as readily and just as quickly against democratic institutions. The key lesson of the 20th century is that democracy is more fragile than we might like. Washington Post Seva Gunitsky is an associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto. His book "Aftershocks" was recently published by Princeton University Press. What to read next: The most despicable day of Donald Trump's presidency Dear white people: We don't need a torch to be part of the problem Advertisement When white nationalists worship the president Charlottesville creates a fierce urgency to tear down Confederate icons Few details have been released in the head-on crash Tuesday morning that killed 19-year-old Bray Harrison, of Bismarck. According to the North Dakota Highway Patrol, Harrison was driving a 2007 Pontiac Grand Prix northbound on Highway 25, about 10 miles northwest of Mandan. Jesse Berger, 39, of Center, was traveling from the opposite direction on the two-lane road in a 2002 Dodge Ram pickup. Both vehicles collided near the center line at 6:14 a.m. Tuesday. "They crashed near the center (line); we're still trying to figure out how they got to that point," said Sgt. Ryan Duletski, of the Highway Patrol. Harrison was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash. Berger was transported to CHI St. Alexius Health in Bismarck to be treated for non life-threatening injuries. The crash remains under investigation by the Highway Patrol. Duletski said more information will be made public once details have been confirmed. The Navy's Blue Angels headline the 2017 Chicago Air and Water Show. The six-jet team has been performing since 1946. The Air and Water show is, quite literally, Chicago's can't-miss event of the summer. No matter where you are throughout the city, you can look toward the lake and probably catch a glimpse of the many stunting aircraftyou certainly won't be able to avoid hearing them soaring over parts of Chicago. The massive two-day aero-spectacle, now in its 59th year, is the largest free-admission event of this type in the entire country, according to the city's website. The show draws about two million people annually to the shores of Lake Michigan, where the crowds watch military and civilian teams of planes and parachuters perform fearless flying maneuvers and daring jumps. Advertisement This year's Air and Water Show runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and the main gathering area for the action is at North Avenue Beach, although you can see the performers anywhere along the lakefront from Fullerton Avenue to Oak Street, which makes grabbing a spot with a view a little easier. Still, the numbers don't lie; this show is usually a packed house. So what should you know before you go? Background The Air and Water show began in 1959 when a Chicago Park District Supervisor at Lakeshore Park used an $88 budget to put on a show for a "Family Day" celebration that was part of a children's summer camp at the park. Per the city's website, that original show featured "a Coast Guard Air Sea Rescue demonstration, water skiers, a water ballet, games and a diving competition." Advertisement The following year, U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds and Golden Knights Parachute Team joined the flying festivities, which drew a larger crowd and established the show as an annual summer tradition. The event has not been without issues, particularly in recent years. In 2015, Sgt. First Class Corey Hood died after he collided with another parachuter in midair, struck an apartment building and fell to the ground. It is the only recorded death at the Air and Water Show. In the last decade, both the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Reader have printed op-eds calling for the abolishment of the event, citing danger as the primary reason. What to watch The show has gone on, though, and military jump crews like the U.S. Army Parachute Team Golden Knights, of which Hood was a member, continue to headline the event, including this year's. The Golden Knights will be joined by both the US Navy's Blue Angels and parachute team, the Leap Frogs. Other highlights include a showcase of several big, loud military fighter aircraft, as well as U.S. Coast Guard's MH-65 Dolphin Helicopter, which will drop a rescue swimmer 30 feet down into the lake to perform a mock rescue mission. While civilian performers don't have the same firepower, they certainly maintain the spectacle, with world-renowned airshow entertainers like Sean D. Tucker and performances featuring vintage planes like the A-4 Skyhawk jet. Where to watch North Avenue Beach is the main spot, but, as mentioned, you'll have a view along the beach between Fullerton Avenue and Oak Street. If you want to avoid the beach, rooftop lounges offer a peek of the planes that's more on their level. The J. Parker in Lincoln Park and Streeterville Social, GreenRiver and Riva in Streeterville (among other area rooftopscheck your listings!) all feature striking skyline views, while the newly opened Shore Club at North Avenue Beach offers an up-close view with food. Space will be at a premium, however, so make sure to arrive early. Advertisement What to know Eat. Watch. Do. Weekly What to eat. What to watch. What you need to live your best life ... now. > If you are going to the beach, getting there can be trickier than usual. The city offers a $35 all-day parking package at Millennium Park garages that includes a shuttle ride to and from North Avenue Beach. For the car-averse, the CTA's North Avenue bus will continue to run, but will begin and end its routes at the terminal at North and Clark Streets instead of North Avenue Beach. Several other bus routes will experience minor re-routes during the weekend. For details on bus alerts, visit transitchicago.com, click on "Alerts," then "Upcoming Bus Alerts." Your best option might be to hop on a Divvy: whether you have a 24-hour pass or long-term membership, Divvy will have a bike valet service on site, which means someone will dock your bike for you in a guaranteed-available spaceno looking for a dock or place to lock. What to bring A blanket, chairs and coolers are OK; however, the list of what to leave at home is longer. Alcohol, grills, fireworks, weapons, tents or canopies, balloons, kites, poles and any non-service-animal pets are not allowed, per the city's website. Bring your earplugs or sound-blocking headphones (especially for the little ones), wear some sunscreen and don't forget snacks. And if you're on the other end, hoping to avoid the show, well, your best bet might be to get out of town. @lucheezy | adlukach@chicagotribune.com Advertisement [ More info on the Chicago Air and Water Show ] Click through photos from last year's Air and Water Show below. Officials with Township High School District 214 in Arlington Heights recently unveiled a $282.4 million budget for the 2017-18 school year. (Karen Ann Cullotta / Pioneer Press ) Officials with Township High School District 214 unveiled a $282.4 million budget for the 2017-18 school year, featuring a slight decrease from last year that reflects belt-tightening measures at the district. The proposed budget is down about one percent from the 2016-17 budget, which totaled $285.8 million, Cathy Johnson, associate superintendent for finance and operations at District 214, said at an Aug. 10 school board meeting. Residents in the Arlington Heights-based school district can weigh in on the proposed budget during a public hearing Sept. 14. Advertisement The budget decrease is attributed to lower construction costs and several cost containment initiatives, said District 214 spokeswoman Jennifer Delgado. Some of those measures include scaling back on printers and paper, resulting in a cost savings of about $200,000 a year. Other cost savings include a lighting project that reduces the amount of energy used, generating between $200,000 to $300,000 in savings a year, Delgado said. Advertisement A a reconfiguration of the district's servers should also save the district $100,000 annually, she said. Officials declined to comment on what the reduced budget means for local homeowners, as property tax reductions or increases are tied to the district's property tax levy, which will be discussed and voted on later this year, Delgado said. Local property taxes make up 92 percent of revenue in the district's budget. While general state aid represents only 2.6 percent of the revenue in the tentative 2017-18 budget, totaling about $6 million, District 214 officials expressed concerns about chronic delays in funding from Springfield an issue exacerbated by Gov. Bruce Rauner's recent veto of a state education funding bill. The Illinois Senate voted to override Rauner's veto on Aug. 13. The bill now heads to the House, where lawmakers have two weeks to try to override the governor. If they do nothing, or an override fails, the state will remain unable to cut checks for schools. "It is an interesting time when you have to pass a budget with no funding bill from the state," said District 214 Superintendent David Schuler. "There may be significant changes based on what happens, and we remain concerned about missing general state aid payments." The state currently owes the district $4.1 million, district officials said. Advertisement Despite the delays in state funding, District 214 has maintained a balanced operating budget "in the black" for more than 20 years, Johnson said. But given the instability of the state's budget for school funding, the district must remain cautious, officials warned. "We have to be prepared because that's what our community expects," Schuler said. kcullotta@tribpub.com Twitter @kcullotta Another attorney switch in the case of Haohua Yang, a Naperville doctor charged with sexually abusing more than a dozen former patients in Kendall County, has raised questions about how the case will proceed. Questions remain about which of the 16 remaining sets of charges the prosecutors will tackle next and when the doctor's next trial will start. Advertisement The case is next up in court Thursday and lawyers had been anticipating the next trial for the doctor to begin in September. In total, 28 counts have been filed against Yang for alleged offenses between May 4, 2012, and Dec. 16, 2014, according to court documents. In one of the defense's responses, his lawyers stated he was charged with committing acts of sexual abuse and assault against 17 individuals. Advertisement At the defendant's request, the state agreed to try each individual making allegations against Yang in separate proceedings. Yang was found not guilty in January on the first case tried, which involved allegations that allegedly occurred Oct. 17, 2012. The rest of the charges could result in as many as 16 additional trials. A special prosecutor from the Illinois State's Attorney's Appellate Prosecutor has been appointed to take them over since Nemura Pencyla, who'd been leading the prosecution, left his position as first assistant Kendall County State's Attorney for a private firm run by Terry Ekl, a senior partner in the firm that was representing Yang until Motta & Motta took over in February. A Kendall County judge requested the Office of the State's Attorney's Appelate Prosecutor to accept the appointment in an Aug. 2 order. Special Prosecutor Lorinda Lamken has since been assigned the case, according to the appellate prosecutor's office. Motta called the timing of Pencyla's departure "strange," considering the nature of Yang's case and the fact it was about a month away from the next trial. Now, Motta speculated, the trial may get delayed as the new prosecutors must review large amounts of material for all of the cases. If it's delayed, he thinks Yang should be allowed bond, he said. Yang, a Naperville resident, was charged in December 2014 with sexually assaulting and abusing three female patients between 2012 and 2014 during examinations at his practice in Yorkville. His medical license was suspended when the assault allegations became public. Since then, more alleged victims have come forward. In 2015, Yang was arrested at O'Hare International Airport after returning to the U.S. following an alleged attempt to enter China illegally. Advertisement In an opinion from Dr. John O. Palmer filed in court, the allegations against Yang seem to revolve around the manner in which he examined the women. Palmer concluded Yang had practiced outside accepted standards of care by inappropriately touching and probing the defendants "in a nonmedical and unacceptable way." But supporters of Yang, including former patients, have proclaimed him a good doctor who has served the community well for years. Kendall County Judge Timothy McCann announced his ruling acquitting Yang on the first set of charges in a courtroom packed with Yang 's supporters, saying he did "not believe that the evidence has established beyond a reasonable doubt" that Yang was guilty. hleone@tribpub.com Twitter @hannahmleone The Yorkville Library Board has hired a new library director. Trustees voted unanimously Monday night to approve the hiring of Elisa Topper, who was recently head librarian at the McCook Public Library. McCook is a Chicago suburb in Cook County. Advertisement "Elisa came across as someone who is committed to libraries and enjoys the work she does," Library Board President Russ Walter said. Topper, of Northbrook, has a master's degree in Library Science from Florida State University in Tallahassee. She had been employed at the McCook Public Library since 2014. Advertisement Yorkville Library Board trustees interviewed five candidates for the post. Walter said they were impressed with her qualifications and appreciation for small libraries as well as her ability to look for ways to expand the library's budgetary resources. "Elisa struck a chord with us that she would be a good fit for our library," Walter said. Walter said the McCook Public Library's budget is close to Yorkville's which, he said, is approximately $600,000. He said Topper's contract in McCook was not renewed due to "political" reasons. "They wanted to put someone in place with a business degree in charge of the library," Walter said. The library is a city facility that operates with its own tax levy and a nine-member board, whose members are appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the City Council. The previous library director, Michelle Pfister, retired after 21 years as director and 42 years with the library. The Library Board recently rejected the city's proposal to have the Yorkville Parks and Recreation director serve in the vacant position of library director as a money-saving move. The library is presently operating with an approximate $80,000 deficit, Walter said. Advertisement "With prudent budgeting we should be able to work through it," he said. Walter said the plan is to have Topper begin her duties Sept. 1. She will be paid an annual salary of $65,000, plus benefits. The former library director was earning just over $66,000 annually. Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News A resolution has not yet come in a long-running bankruptcy case involving an off-track horse race wagering company despite the state Legislature setting aside nearly $16 million to resolve the issue earlier this year. Susan Bala, sole shareholder of Racing Services Inc., objected to a settlement agreement reached with the state of North Dakota in May, calling it not fair and equitable because it results in a recovery which is lower than the amount that would likely be recovered if this matter were litigated. Kip Kaler, the bankruptcy trustee in the case, asked the court to approve an agreement that would require the state to pay $15,872,000, an amount lawmakers set aside in a budget bill that Gov. Doug Burgum signed in late April. We do think that the amount should be examined, Bala said in an interview this week. She said it would be enough to cover the principal but amounts to a deep discount on the interest. RSI was forced into receivership during an investigation of a criminal case accusing Bala and the company of illegal betting and fraud. She was convicted in 2005 and sentenced to two years and three months in prison. Her convictions were later overturned by an appeals court, and she was released in 2007 after serving about 17 months. RSI filed for bankruptcy in 2004, but a federal judge said in 2014 that the state wasnt authorized to collect taxes on account wagering during the time period in question, which was held up by an appeals court, according to a summary of the case included in the settlement agreement. The issue was sent back to bankruptcy court to determine how much the state had to pay to the trustee. I think that sometimes people mistake this as some kind of damages when its not, Bala said. Its just the state giving back what it improperly took. The bankruptcy court could award a judgment for anywhere between $5.2 million to in excess of $25 million, according to the settlement agreement, which warned of a substantial likelihood of further protracted and costly litigation. Attorneys for the PW Enterprises of Nevada, a major creditor acting on behalf of the RSI bankruptcy estate, argued against further delaying a resolution because the $15.9 million is now ready to be distributed to creditors. The parties would need to wait for the next North Dakota legislative session for another budget bill, they argued, meaning creditors and the estate would have to wait until at least 2019 for the money to be available. This delay in payment would be worth avoiding in any case, but certainly in a case pending since 2004, the attorneys wrote. A spokeswoman for the attorney generals office declined to comment. Bala said they were waiting for another hearing to be set. Next week's ballot offers some intrigue for North Dakotans from late congressional entries by independent candidates to term limits and marijuana legalization. Voters will decide whether to endorse changing the state constitution to limit the terms of the governor and state legislators. Another citizen-led initiative also will put the question of marijuana legalization before voters, who rejected the idea four years ago. Ninety-eight of the Legislatures 141 seats are on the ballot. All but one Democrat is up for reelection this year. Contests for secretary of state, attorney general and other state offices Also will appear on the ballot. Pueblo East, Pueblo West football teams knocked out of playoffs Both Pueblo West and Pueblo East high schools had their faced stiff competition Friday night on the road. North Dakotans like to put out the welcome mat when federal officials visit the state. They also like the opportunity to meet and talk with the visiting officials. Over the years the congressional delegation has taken pride in arranging visits by Cabinet members and other key members of government. So it was disappointing last week when Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt stopped in Fargo and Grand ForkAug. 9 visit for meetings on the energy and agriculture industries in invitation-only sessions that were closed to media and the public. There were brief opportunities after two of the meetings for the media to meet with Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and Gov. Doug Burgum. Hoeven wasnt happy with the closed meetings and said afterward he wished Pruitt had opened the meetings to the public. The senator noted there werent any revelations in the meetings and they covered ground that had been discussed before. Cramer said the much of the discussions probably wouldnt have interested the public. Cramer wasnt as bothered by the closed nature of the meetings, but said he would have liked to have seen more access for the media. The Tribune Editorial Board believes when federal officials visit there should be as much public access as possible. The people want to see decision-makers in action: how they react to questions and concerns and how they relate to the public. If they are coming for private sessions they could just as well stay home and invite participating groups to Washington, D.C. Yes, members of Congress have encountered some rowdy audiences during town halls and other sessions. However, these events are controllable. Theres a disturbing trend in the state and federal levels of moving away from openness in government. There have been too many closed or unannounced meetings. While no open meetings laws may have been broken, it goes against the publics desire for government transparency. Pruitt is on a national tour and apparently has conducted most of his meetings in private. For someone in such a high profile position at an agency that has been a lightning rod over the years, its sad to see business conducted in private. Theres a lot of interest in EPA policies and they have a direct impact on North Dakotans. Whats the problem with having an audience at these meetings? The closed meetings in North Dakota also had collateral impact. One closed meeting was held on the North Dakota State University campus and another at the Energy and Environmental Research facility, a University of North Dakota-owned building. Two Grand Forks Herald reporters were kicked out of the EERC building. Jack McDonald, an attorney who represents the North Dakota Newspaper Association, questioned using university buildings for private events and not allowing reporters to stand outside. UND police cited court rulings allowing institutions to limit public access to publicly-owned property. It seems that universities that teach freedom of speech and the exchange of ideas would favor open meetings. Its unfortunate that at a time when theres distrust in government on all sides that Pruitt would conduct a private tour. We need more openness in government and officials should go the extra mile to guarantee it. Hopefully the next federal official who visits will have time for the public. By Gidon Gautel Chinas new work permit system for foreigners was rolled out nationwide on April 1 this year. The new system has introduced a three-tier talent grading system for expatriates. Expats are placed in either Tier A, B, or C, depending on the number of points they earned under the point scoring system, or by fulfilling a condition that automatically places them in a given tier. Authorities have transparently shared information on the three-tier talent grading system with the public to help employers and expats understand eligibility and tier category requirements. Based on this official information, the International Payroll & Human Resources team at Dezan Shira & Associates has developed a simple calculator to help employers and expats research eligibility and tier category requirements before applying. While this calculator is based on publicly available information provided by the authorities, and was verified by China-based human resource (HR) professionals, we note this calculator should be used for research purposes only. The calculator does not guarantee that any individual is certain to fall into the tier it displays; employers and expats should contact an HR professional for further information regarding work visa or permit applications. The application experience One expat, who has received the new permit, as well as older versions, was able to comment on the application process. The manager, based in Shanghai, explained I did not go through the direct scoring system, but was assigned a tier, which is printed on the Worker Permit card (similar to the Chinese ID card) that I received. Commenting on how transparent the application process was, and whether it was clear why the tier rating was assigned, the expat said: While convoluted, the work permit application process was transparent. The rating system is based on a series of qualifications, such as knowledge of Mandarin, past work experience, the global ranking of your alma mater, patents filed under your name, and more. However, the expat also noted that, in some respects, the process of applying for, and receiving, a permit may have become more stringent and time consuming. The expat said, The process requires a notarization of your degree, as well as a notarization of the non-criminal record. For Americans applying from inside China, this may present a problem as I realized through my personal research that the US consulate in China does not issue notarizations of educational certificates. They must apply to the relevant offices in the US, or go through the Chinese Ministry of Education. This suggests that, as with several newly implemented reforms, applicants and their employers should allow additional time to prepare for new documentation requirements, and discuss application documentation and procedures with trusted HR advisors. Assessing the new system The new system is still in its early days. However, it is possible to draw some early conclusions based on its current trajectory. Thibaut Minot, Senior Associate for Business Advisory Services at Dezan Shira & Associates argues the new system is a welcome change for many work permit applicants simplicity: Historically, the Chinese work permit system has felt opaque and complex to navigate for many foreigners, with guidelines and application processing timelines often seen as unclear. The new work permit system, which strives to set in place a more systematic approach to reviewing applications, brings welcome clarity and should hopefully make it easier for applicants to understand the requirements, and supporting documentation to be provided, depending on ones profile. Minot also pointed out that some Tier A and B applicants may even enjoy some perks from the new system. Minot said, For the lucky Tier A status applicants, their unique skills and exposure to China will be rewarded with a streamlined application process, and potentially shortened processing times. For the larger group of Tier B status holders, fewer application documents required should also make the application procedures less cumbersome to complete for expats. In theory, the new application system could also carry some benefits for businesses that employ expats. Vivian Mao, Senior Manager for Business Advisory Services at Dezan Shira & Associates, states: The tier system does indeed help HR to build a clear picture on the classification of expatriates, and the corresponding requirements and procedure for work permit applications. She does, however, add a caveat: Since this policy and the online application system were newly launched nationwide very recently, in April this year, the online application system for companies is sometimes unstable. Additionally, some employment agencies have not reached out to provide unified rules to verify and approve work permit applications. Thus, in practice, we are facing a situation where the actual approval period is longer than the period stipulated. She, however, goes on to say that this is most definitely temporary: We believe that after a few more months, the online application system and relevant policies will function more smoothly and efficiently. Though some complications may exist for employees currently trying to obtain the new work permit, pro-talent labor entry reforms show the government is determined to attract foreign skilled labor. Within time, the new system will be implemented more assuredly. Sticking points and bottlenecks will be ironed out, and China will progress a step further towards attracting and easing passage for talented individuals to come and work in the Middle Kingdom. Discover International Payroll & HR Solutions for Asia About Us China Briefing is published by Asia Briefing, a subsidiary of Dezan Shira & Associates. We produce material for foreign investors throughout Asia, including ASEAN, India, Indonesia, Russia, the Silk Road, and Vietnam. For editorial matters please contact us here, and for a complimentary subscription to our products, please click here. Dezan Shira & Associates is a full service practice in China, providing business intelligence, due diligence, legal, tax, IT, HR, payroll, and advisory services throughout the China and Asian region. For assistance with China business issues or investments into China, please contact us at china@dezshira.com or visit us at www.dezshira.com Dezan Shira & Associates is a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm, providing legal, tax and operational advisory to international corporate investors. Operational throughout China, ASEAN and India, our mission is to guide foreign companies through Asias complex regulatory environment and assist them with all aspects of establishing, maintaining and growing their business operations in the region. This brochure provides an overview of the services and expertise Dezan Shira & Associates can provide. This Dezan Shira & Associates 2017 China guide provides a comprehensive background and details of all aspects of setting up and operating an American business in China, including due diligence and compliance issues, IP protection, corporate establishment options, calculating tax liabilities, as well as discussing on-going operational issues such as managing bookkeeping, accounts, banking, HR, Payroll, annual license renewals, audit, FCPA compliance and consolidation with US standards and Head Office reporting. Most of the lakes in the quake-hit Jiuzhaigou National Park remain undamaged, although it may take a long time for the UNESCO World Heritage site to recover from the earthquake, geologists said Tuesday. Wu Huahai, which is often called the "Five-Flower Lake", is a beautiful lake in Jiuzhaigou Valley in Sichuan Province. [Photo: Xinhua] The national park contains around 20 tourist sites, and is known for its spectacular waterfalls, lush forest, serene plateau lakes, and karst rock formations. A 7.0-magnitude quake rocked Jiuzhaigou County last Tuesday, and many feared the region's breathtaking scenery had been destroyed forever. Local government previously said that Nuorilang Waterfall, one of the park's most well-known sites, had collapsed and that water had drained from Sparkling Lake. However, recent aerial images taken by drones showed that most of the lakes in the park had suffered little damage. "Most of Jiuzhaigou's tourist sites have survived," said Li Zhiqiang, from the Institute of Geology, China Earthquake Administration. Li said that ongoing aftershocks and possible heavy rain in the coming days may cause further damage to the vulnerable scenic sites. The park's roads suffered significant damage from falling rocks and landslides, Li said. "Roads deep within the scenic area have been destroyed and many areas remained unreachable." However, geologists are optimistic about nature's ability to recover from disasters. "The lakes were originally formed by earthquakes. This quake may further alter the landforms within the region, but it can also be viewed as part of the rebuilding process," said Yin Yueping from the Ministry of Land and Resources. A group of geologists have been monitoring possible secondary disasters in the quake-hit region and an evaluation of the ecosystem and reconstruction of the scenic area will begin soon. "Though there is much work to be done, we are confident in nature's self-restoration capabilities. We will work with UNESCO experts to preserve our valuable heritage," said Liu Zuoming, Communist Party chief of the Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba. Tourism is Jiuzhaigou's primary industry. It received 7.2 million tourists, including 180,000 foreigners, in 2016, with a total tourism revenue of 9 billion yuan (1.35 billion U.S. dollars). The latest and fifteenth version of Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) was released by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy on Tuesday, according to media reports. According to the report, 45 universities on the Chinese mainland are among the top 500 universities in the world, while 12 universities in China's Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan are also on the list. That puts a total of 57 Chinese universities on the list, accounting for 11.4%. Meanwhile, Tsinghua University in Beijing, ranked 48th, has entered the top 50 for the first time and become the third top ranked Asian university. Peking University ranks 71st, followed by Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, University of Science and Technology of China, and Zhejiang University, which all rank between 101st and 150th. Four more top 500 universities on the Chinese mainland are on the ARWU list in 2017 than 2016, which is a demonstration of greater comprehensive strength and influence of Chinese universities in the world. Universities from English-speaking countries still dominate the list, with 19 of the top 20 universities located in the US and the UK. Harvard University remains number one in the world for the 15th consecutive year. Stanford University continues to be the second top university. The University of Cambridge overtakes MIT and Berkeley, rising to the third best university in the world. According to Shanghai Ranking's Academic Ranking of World Universities, the institutions ranked between 501st and 800th have been included on an ARWU World Top 500 Candidates list for the first time. They demonstrate their potential of breaking into the Top 500 list in the near future. The US and China are the two biggest hosts of Top 500 Candidates. Both of them have 55 institutions recognized as candidates. ARWU, also known as Shanghai Ranking, is an annual publication of university rankings by Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. ARWU has been presenting the world Top 500 universities annually based on a transparent methodology and third-party data since 2003. A coal mine head turned himself in to police early Tuesday after failing to report a landslide that left at least four people dead and another five missing on Friday, according to authorities in north China's Shanxi Province. Gao Yang, legal representative and general manager of Lyuxin coal mine, surrendered himself to police at 0:52 a.m. and confessed that 10 people had been buried in the accident, which occurred at around 3 p.m. on Aug. 11 at the open-pit coal mine in Heshun County, a spokesperson with the county government said. One person has been rescued and four bodies have been retrieved, according to Gao. A man who had been detained for "fabricating information online" about the accident was released Tuesday. The county government had visited the landslide site twice to investigate the online report, but the company had told them no one had been buried in the landslide. The county's coal administration head Zhang Ruiqing, who led the investigations, has been removed from his post. Rescue work and further investigation are under way. Lyuxin coal mine, under the Shanxi Coal Transportation and Sales Group Co., Ltd., has an annual coal capacity of 2 million tonnes. A participant holds a placard during a rally on the sidewalk in front of Japanese Consulate General in San Francisco, the United States, on August 14, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] Another "comfort woman" Huang Youliang who was raped, enslaved and tortured for four years by Japanese troops during World War II in a wartime brothel, the Liangqiao comfort station, passed away at the age of 90 at her home in the village of Yidui in China's southern island province of Hainan on August 12, 2017. She was caught by patrolling Japanese soldiers and raped at the age of 14 while she was working alone on a farm one day in November 1941. It's extremely painful to realize that she hasn't received any apology or compensation from the Japanese government before she died. The passing of Huang Youliang leaves now only 14 "comfort women," the term for those forced into sexual slavery during the war by Japanese soldiers, still surviving on the Chinese mainland. The heart-wrenching stories of Chinese comfort women like Wan Aihua, Lei Guiying , Wei Shaolan, Lin Ailan , Zhang Xiantu, Zhuo Tianmei, Hao Yuelian, Cao Heimao to name a few, are painful to read and reveal the darkest possible crimes on the spectrum of sexual violence which were carried out under the aegis of the "dehumanized" Japanese military men. As young girls then, they are old women now. They will die one day, but their tearful stories will continue for many generations to come. Only a handful are still alive and few have publicly talked about their gory experiences. The "uncomforting" stories of the comfort women will be heard. The inhumane acts of the Japanese soldiers require nothing short of an unconditional apology from the Japanese government to help the comfort women find peace in their final days. It is important to point out that the Japanese government has so far refused to acknowledge its legal responsibility for the "comfort women." It should be noted here that a total of 24 Chinese "comfort women" sued the Japanese government, demanding an apology for wartime rape and sexual enslavement, but on August 30, 2006 the Japanese court finally rejected their appeals saying that an individual Chinese person had no right to sue the Japanese state. They wrote to Japan's former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda, the former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and present Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hoping that the Japanese government would solve the issues, apologize and pay compensation to the "comfort women," but did not get a reply. As such, the gruesome events of barbarism must be unmasked to raise global awareness about the plight of Chinese comfort women and put pressure on Japan to come up with the necessary remedies for its enslavement of Chinese and other Asian women during World War II. The comfort women's tragic stories have become part of the emerging transnational memory of World War II. Undoubtedly, the use of comfort women was a terrible, egregious violation of human rights. It's extremely unfortunate that Japan's government has offered no apology or remorse to all of the women who underwent immeasurable and painful experiences and suffered incurable physical and psychological wounds at comfort stations established by the Japanese occupiers between 1937 and the Japanese defeat. Japan should give a full account of the sexual abuse of women by its military. It's an issue which has soured bilateral ties between China and Japan for years. Today's Japanese leaders must not evade the weight of the past. What Japan did to China in World War II was very dangerous and Japan should bear the consequences. The piercing pain experienced by the comfort women can no longer be hidden from history despite the Japanese government's denial. During China's epic V-Day parade On September 3, 2015, President Xi reiterated that the Chinese government will continue seeking justice for Chinese women forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese during World War II. Japan should face up to its history and deal with the issue in a responsible way. China should expose the atrocities of the Japanese imperial army, so former "comfort women" can live to see the offenders apologize. The common folks around the world must never forget the suffering and humiliation inflicted upon the comfort women during World War II. The whole world should give these women honor and respect. Let me conclude echoing the words of Lei Guiying, one of the "comfort women" who died in 2007: "May the tragedy not be repeated. May there be no more wars." Rabi Sankar Bosu, secretary of New Horizon Radio Listeners' Club, West Bengal, India Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn. Flash General Fang Fenghui, chief of the People's Liberation Army's Joint Staff Department, holds a welcoming ceremony for his US counterpart, Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, in Beijing on Tuesday. [Photo/China Daily] Top Chinese and U.S. military officials agreed to further develop military relations and exchanges amid growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The two militaries also signed the framework to build a new communication mechanism for their joint staff departments. Since the department plays a crucial role in actual combat operations, experts said the new mechanism would strengthen effective communication, reduce miscalculations and improve risk management in Asia's increasingly complex geopolitical climate. General Fang Fenghui, chief of the People's Liberation Army's Joint Staff Department, met his U.S. counterpart, Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, in Beijing on Tuesday. This is Dunford's first visit to China in his position and the highest-ranking military official to visit China since U.S. President Donald Trump took office. Dunford also will visit a military base in the PLA's Northern Theater Command on Wednesday to interact with Chinese soldiers and officers, as well as to observe a military exercise by the Chinese military. During the meeting, Fang said that President Xi Jinping and Trump valued the friendly development of the two militaries and developed the blueprint and direction for its development. He said cooperation is the only right option for China and the U.S., and the two sides could be great partners. The Chinese military is willing to work with its U.S. counterpart to strengthen mutual understanding and trust, deepen cooperation and manage risks and differences in an appropriate and effective manner, Fang said. Dunford said the U.S. military will continue to develop Sino-U.S. military relations and added both sides should take every opportunity to deepen communication and tackle current issues in a constructive way. "Although we might not share the same perspective on many of the difficult issues," he said, "we do share the same commitment to solve them." The two officials also exchanged opinions on Taiwan, the South China Sea and the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula and other issues of mutual concern. Dunford's visit to China is the second of three stops in his trip to Asia. He visited the Republic of Korea on Sunday and travels to Japan later this week. The two militaries already have dialogue mechanisms across many military ranks and services, including the Defense Policy Coordination Talks for senior military officials, and dialogue and cooperation mechanism for the armies and navies, said Senior Colonel Zhao Xiaozhuo, a researcher at the PLA Academy of Military Science. "But most of those mechanisms typically focus on policies, military building or exchanges on a specific issue or a branch of military," Zhao said. "It is very important for joint staff departments, which encompass all military branches and serve as one of the backbones of military operations, to have regular exchanges. This is a very positive step in building mutual trust and cooperation." Dunford's visit came on the heels of intense exchanges between President Trump and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. This month, China agreed to the toughest United Nations Security Council sanctions to date against the DPRK. China's Ministry of Commerce and customs administration enforced the sanction on Tuesday by fully banning imports of coal, iron, lead, ores, and seafood from the DPRK. On Monday, the U.S. staged joint military exercises with Japan and would also hold similar exercises with the Republic of Korea in the region next week, which may antagonize the DPRK and undermine regional peace. "China and the U.S. both have responsibility in maintaining regional peace in Asia," Senior Colonel Zhou Bo, a security expert, said. "The new mechanism will play a significant role in exchanging ideas for dealing with major military issues in the region, which in term will reduce the chance of miscalculation and improve risk management between the two militaries." This resource is no longer available This resource is no longer available. Return to previous page. Flash Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday called for a peaceful settlement to the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula in a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. Peacefully settling the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula is fully compatible with the common interests of all parties concerned, including China and Russia, Wang said, adding that both countries have maintained close coordination on the issue, a reflection of the high-level strategic collaboration between them Wang also said that under the current circumstances, China and Russia should further communicate to ensure the situation remains under control while sparing no effort in promoting negotiations. Wang added that no one should be permitted to stir up tensions on China and Russia's doorstep. It is urgent that the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) "put the brakes" on mutually irritating rhetoric and actions to cool tensions and head off a "August crisis," he stressed. For his part, Lavrov said the situation on the Korean Peninsula could be intensified again as the joint U.S.-South Korea military exercises draw near. Solving the DPRK nuclear issue through military means is absolutely unacceptable; instead it should be resolved peacefully through political and diplomatic means, the Russian foreign minister said. Russia is willing to continue to enhance communication and coordination with China in this regard, Lavrov added. Flash The nine-storey Basantapur Tower in Kathmandu of Nepal begins reconstruction with Chinese aid on August. 15, 2017. [Photo by Zhang Lulu/China.org.cn] The nine-story Basantapur Tower, part of the historical Kathmandu Durbar Square in Kathmandu of Nepal, has begun its reconstruction with Chinese aid Tuesday. The upper tiers of the landmark tower collapsed during an 8.1 magnitude earthquake that rattled Nepal in 2015. The tower, along with other structures on the Durbar Square, constitutes a UNESCO World Heritage Site. According to a restoration project plan currently displayed at the Durbar Square, the tower complex and its auxiliary buildings that need to be restored cover an area of 1,300 square meters with a building area of 5,600 square meters. The project will take 58 months to be completed. The restoration will be funded by China, according to Nepalese media reports. The restoration plan will follow the principle of minimum intervention, focusing on the reinforcement of the remaining structure and protecting the original components as much as possible. Also according to the plan, China will contribute in the restoration efforts with its extensive experience in restoring similar historical structures within and outside China, as well as various restoration projects in the wake of a major earthquake in Sichuan Province in 2008. A commencement ceremony of the restoration project was held on the Durbar Square on Monday, coinciding with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang's ongoing visit to Nepal. The agreement signed in Beijing on Tuesday to improve communication, relations and exchanges between the militaries of China and the United States is a significant effort to manage the differences between them and avoid miscalculations. Since Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, who signed the agreement with his Chinese counterpart Fang Fenghui, said that both militaries have many issues on which they dont necessarily share the same perspective, such an agreement is clearly necessary. While it is natural for China and the US to have differences in many areas, there is no reason their differences should stand in the way of efforts to develop better bilateral ties unless one side keeps pushing the envelope to find the others bottom line, and thus risk crossing it. Which is something the US military has been doing with its so-called freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea since former US president Barack Obama initiated his strategy of rebalancing to the Asia-Pacific. China does not hinder freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and it has no intention of doing so. Nor does it harbor the ambition to bully any country with its military might. Which explains why China seeks to resolve its territorial disputes in the South China Sea through direct negotiations with the countries concerned, and why time and again it has proposed shelving the disputes and jointly exploring and exploiting the resources in the South China Sea with its neighbors. But its peaceful intentions do not mean China will tolerate the intrusion of foreign warships into its waters in the name of freedom of navigation, something China regards as a lack of respect for its core interests. Which is why it is adopting countermeasures. It would be against its interests for China to accept such a military intrusion as normal or acquiesce to the deception that it is in defense of freedom of navigation. Given the fact that China-US relations are the most important bilateral relations in the world, whether both militaries can avoid misunderstandings is of utmost importance not just to themselves but also the world. That is why the agreement is to be welcomed as it may facilitate better communication and increase trust between the two militaries so they can avert a miscalculation. It is now imperative that both sides make efforts to build the planned communication mechanism for their joint staff departments on the basis of the agreement so they can better deliver on their shared commitment to reduce risks. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus will lead WHO's delegation to the "Belt and Road High Level Meeting for Health Cooperation: towards a Health Silk Road" to be held in Beijing, Aug 18-19, 2017, as part of his first official visit to China since taking office on July 1, 2017. Tedros' visit is to establish a new vision for WHO-China strategic partnership for the next 5-7 years. He will meet with high level leadership of the government of China in the State Council; National Health and Family Planning Commission; and ministries of Foreign Affairs and Commerce. Topics to be discussed during their meetings will include how best to utilize the Belt and Road Initiative to keep people safe and to advance universal health coverage in the countries included in the initiative, and to discuss more broadly the role of China in Global Health. Dr Tedros will be a keynote speaker in the opening of the "Belt and Road High Level Meeting for Health Cooperation" on Aug 18 and will address health leaders, faculty and students at Peking University on Aug 19 during a dialogue on South-to-South collaboration. He will also engage Chinese youth during "A Conversation with Dr Tedros: The next generation speaks" on Aug 17 about the power China's future leaders have to protect their own health and promote the wellbeing of others. Other members of the WHO delegation who will address the "Belt and Road High Level Meeting for Health Cooperation" include: Dr Francesco Branca, Director of Nutrition for Health and Development, WHO, to speak at the session on Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition on Aug 18; Dr Edward Kelley, Director of Service Delivery and Safety, WHO, to speak at the session on Hospital Cooperation on Aug 18; Dr Lance Rodewald, Team Lead Vaccines, WHO China Office, to speak at the Roundtable on Vaccines, on Aug 19; Dr Michael Ward, Coordinator of Regulatory Systems Strengthening, WHO, to speak at the Roundtable on Accreditation for Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticals, on Aug 19. A Bank of China Ltd branch at Wangfujing Street in Beijing. [Photo/China Daily] China's credit asset quality remains generally stable, with the nonperforming loan ratio of commercial banks unchanged, quarter-on-quarter, at 1.74 percent as of June 30, said the country's top banking regulator. During the same period, commercial banks in China posted a slight increase of 3.56 percent in the balance of nonperforming loans to 1.64 trillion yuan ($246 billion). The allowance for loan impairment losses grew by 2.65 percent to 2.9 trillion yuan, enhancing commercial banks' ability to fight potential risks, according to statistics released on Monday by the China Banking Regulatory Commission. The stabilization of growth in the NPL ratio was reflected in the interim report of some listed banks as they started to announce half-year financial results in August. Huaxia Bank Co Ltd, a Beijing-based national joint-stock commercial bank, recorded a 1 basis point decrease in its NPL ratio, quarter-on-quarter, to 1.68 percent as of June 30. The bank said in its 2017 interim report: "We took proactive measures to optimize the structure of our credit business and step up efforts to deal with problem loans, so that the overall risks associated with our assets are controllable." Ping An Bank Co Ltd said some of its clients, including private small and medium-sized enterprises and low-end manufacturers, suffered a profit slump and financing difficulties, which caused capital chain tension. But the Shenzhen-based commercial lender "took multiple measures to improve asset quality, such as strengthening risk monitoring and warning, defusing potential risks, and stepping up debt collection and bad loan clearing", according to its interim report. The bank kept its allowance for loan impairment losses to nonperforming loans at 161.32 percent, well above the regulatory requirement of 150 percent. Zhang Xingrong, head of banking research at Bank of China's Institute of International Finance, said: "China's economy grew 6.9 percent in the first and second quarters, faster than expected, laying the foundation for the stabilization of commercial banks' asset quality. "Besides, China continued to push ahead with supply-side structural reform. Commercial banks stepped up NPL disposal by taking part in debt-to-equity swaps and establishing distressed asset management companies. Regulators also tightened controls over credit risks. All these factors helped banks contain the rate of growth in bad loans." The balance of special mention loans, potentially weak loans or assets presenting an unwarranted credit risk, accounted for 3.64 percent of total loans as of June 30, falling from 3.77 percent as of March 31 and 3.87 percent as of Dec 31. "If special mention loans are well contained, we will continue to see a trend of nonperforming loan stabilization," Zhang said. A worker monitors container operation at Zhoushan port in Ningbo, Zhejiang province. [Photo/China Daily] WASHINGTON - China's strong economic growth so far this year has paved way for policymakers to accelerate needed reforms and focus more on quality growth, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday. "China continues to transition to a more sustainable growth path and reforms have advanced across a wide domain," the executive board of IMF said in a statement after concluding Article IV consultation with Chinese authorities on the Chinese economy. China's economy expanded 6.9 percent in the first half of the year, well above the government's yearly target of 6.5 percent, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. While its growth momentum will "likely decline over the course of the year", the IMF expected China's growth to "remain robust at 6.7 percent" this year, due to the momentum from last year's policy support, strengthening external demand, and progress on domestic reforms. The executive directors also agreed that China needs further improvements in its fiscal and monetary policy frameworks in order to maintain economic growth and stability in the medium term. "They supported improving the fiscal framework to increase local government autonomy, reduced the scope for off-budget spending, and centralized some expenditure responsibilities." the statement said. "They also called for completing the transition to a modern price-based monetary policy framework." In terms of the renminbi exchange rate, the executive directors stressed the importance of continued progress toward "greater exchange rate flexibility," and welcomed the country's commitment to deepen reforms and rely more on market forces to determine the exchange rate. The executive directors also commended China's increased focus on reducing financial stability risks, noting that "corporate debt is growing more slowly, reflecting restructuring initiatives and overcapacity reduction." They called for continued strengthening of regulatory and supervisory efforts. CAIRO - The Egyptian Ministry of Transport and a coalition of Chinese firms signed on Tuesday an agreement worth $1.24 billion to build a light rail transit in new districts around Cairo. The aspired light rail is a fast tram expected to cover a distance of 66 km with 11 stops, connecting the under-construction new administrative capital city with distant districts of Greater Cairo including Al-Salam City, Ramadan 10 City, Obour City, Badr City and Shorouk City. The signing ceremony between Egypt's National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) and the joint coalition of China's AVIC International and China Railway Group Limited was attended by Egyptian Prime Minister Sherif Ismail, Transport Minister Hesham Arafat and Chinese Ambassador to Cairo Song Aiguo. NAT chief Tarek Gamal El-Din said the project will start within two or three months, expecting it to accommodate 340,000 passengers daily, reduce traffic on the Cairo-Ismailia highway by about 30 percent and save Egypt some 2.3 billion Egyptian pounds ($129.5 million) annually. Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi met earlier in mid-July with the Chinese coalition for negotiations over the key project. The Chinese group said it would assign Egyptian contractors with some civil and railway construction works that will provide thousands of job opportunities in the country. Egypt and China enjoy strong bilateral relations that have been elevated to the level of comprehensive strategic partnership. The two countries marked in 2016 the 60th anniversary of the establishment of their diplomatic relations. The volume of trade between Egypt and China has mounted to $11.3 billion in 2016, ranking Egypt as the third African trade partner with China. Jay Thornhill (R) got a chance to ask questions at 2017 Global Netrepreneur Conference in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province, in July 2017. [Photo/VCG] Charlie Erickson, Jay Thornhill and Tyler McNew are three American entrepreneurs who have realized their Chinese dream by helping foreigners buy products from Taobao, China's largest e-commerce company. Erickson, who used to teach macro economics at Fudan High School, had to ask help from his students to buy things from Taobao. Then he thought why not start a website to help other foreigners like himself, so he invited Thornhill and McNew to establish Baopals, a website through which they translate foreign customers' address into Chinese and then use their Taobao account to buy things. Baopals, which was founded in July 2015, helps international customers buy about 600,000 Chinese products from Taobao every year. China is the leader in online shopping and products can be delivered in one day, which is unimaginable in the US. Even Amazon cannot do it so fast,Thornhill and Erickson said. Many American friends asked Erickson why he had stayed in China for five years. He said, "When you return to the west, you realize that opportunities are still in China". Smoke spews out from a tall chimney in Beijing, Dec 18, 2013. [Photo/VCG] China's National Development and Reform Commission plans to establish a national carbon-trading system and launch a carbon emissions market this November, according to a report by Scientific American. The NDRC said in its report a carbon emissions quota control system will be applied to manage the cap-and-trade program covering companies with an annual energy consumption of more than 10,000 tons of standard coal in the petrochemical, chemical, building materials, iron and steel, nonferrous metals, paper, electricity and aviation sectors. In addition, a state and local two-level management system for the emissions market will be set up, the report stated. "The carbon market will develop gradually as a continuously improving system," Jiang Zhaoli, deputy director of the Department of Climate Change, was quoted in media reports. "Judging from the estimating quota allocation of the eight sectors, the emissions are expected to reach 5 billion tons, half of the country's total emissions. It will make the market the biggest in the world." The Commission said a national carbon-trading market that will improve the system, activate trade and have strict regulation and transparency will be developed by 2020. Since June 2013, China has piloted carbon emissions trading in seven provinces and cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Hubei province and Guangdong province. "With more than 2,000 companies involved in the pilot carbon-trading system, the total trading volume reached 160 million tons and the trading value rose to 3.7 billion yuan ($553 million) as of this May. The performance rate of companies in the pilot areas was nearly 100 percent," Ma Aimin, deputy director of the National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation, was quoted by Jiemian.com. In 2009, China promised at the Copenhagen climate change conference to cut its carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 40-45 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels. In June 2015, it set a target of peaking its carbon emissions by 2030. "It is a common and urgent task for all countries to adopt strong and effective policies and actions for tackling climate change and speed up low-carbon transition," Xie Ji, an inspector at the Department of Climate Change said, Jiemian.com reported. Xie said that as a responsible developing country, China has actively participated in the global climate governance and promoted the establishment of a fair, cooperative and win-win global climate governance system. According to the China Carbon Market Research Report released by United Nations Development Program, if carbon trading tools are established, the scale of China's carbon transactions will reach at least 100 to 120 billion yuan after 2020. "Currently, the European Union has the world's biggest carbon-trading system, but China's emissions market being established is more than likely to replace the EU to become the world's biggest one," Vicky Pollard, environmental counselor in the EU delegation to China, told 21st Century Business Herald. Two Chinese winemakers were among the world's top 10 best-selling wine brands in 2016, according to recently published data, as Britain's two largest supermarket chains begin stocking Chinese wine. A list compiled by the United Kingdom trade publication The Drinks Business had China's Changyu as the fourth best-selling wine brand, by volume. It sold 15 million cases, which was the same volume as it sold in 2015. Beijing-based Great Wall was the 10th best-selling brand. It sold 7 million cases in 2016, down from 7.8 million in 2015. United States brand Barefoot was the best-selling product last year, selling 22.5 million cases. Chinese wine consumption rose by 7 percent last year, and The Drinks Business estimates that, by 2020, China will have surpassed the UK to become the second-most-valuable wine market, behind the US. Changyu and Great Wall dominate domestic consumption in China, and the companies are making inroads into the international market. Great Wall owns brands in Chile and France, while Changyu exports to several major European markets, including the UK. This year, the UK's two leading supermarket chains, Tesco and Sainsbury's, began selling mid-range Changyu wines, starting at 7 pounds ($9) a bottle. UK wine merchant Berry Bros & Rudd has had four Changyu wines, ranging from 19 to 65 pounds, in permanent stock since 2013. Chris Mercer, online editor for wine magazine Decanter, said the appearance of affordable Chinese wines in the UK comes as supermarkets look to import more wines from outside the eurozone. "You are seeing the exchange rate between sterling and the euro become really unfavorable," Mercer said. "Everyone has realized that China is producing a shedload of wine, and the general consensus is that the quality is getting better." In January, Sainsbury's began stocking Changyu Noble Dragon Red Cabernet Gernischt at an introductory price of 8 pounds a bottle. In April, Tesco started selling Chateau Changyu Moser XV Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 for 7 pounds a bottle. Tesco's master of wine, James Davis, said China will become a powerful player and has begun a major push into the UK market. Chris Mercer said:"It would be interesting to see if the supermarkets expand their rangesthat would suggest that there is some mileage in this." In 2012, Waitrose was the first British supermarket to import Chinese wine, stocking Changyu Cabernet Gernischt. Chinese company reaches new supply agreement with New Zealand milk processor Xinhua | Updated: 2017-08-16 21:23 WELLINGTON - Synlait Milk Limited, the New Zealand Exchange NZX-listed milk processor, announced on Wednesday a new supply agreement with China's New Hope Nutritionals for production of their infant formula brands. The agreement secures a threefold increase from current volumes over the five-year period, said a Synlait statement. The New Zealand milk processor took a 25-percent stake in New Hope Nutritionals, located in southwest China's Sichuan Province. The agreement will also underpin applications to register New Hope Nutritionals' Akara and e-Akara infant formula brands with the China Food and Drug Administration, it said. "The agreed infant formula volumes with New Hope Nutritionals and our other customers will be met by blending and canning capacity at our Dunsandel site and eventually our new Auckland site," said John Penno, Synlait's Managing Director and CEO. "This supply agreement has clarified our infant formula partnership with New Hope Nutritionals for the near future, allowing both of us to plan with confidence," Penno said. Technical workers assemble engines at a plant in Yiwu, Zhejiang province.[Photo provided for China Daily] The Chinese economy is expected to remain resilient in the second half, as continued efforts to promote economic transformation will support the economy as it bottoms out, experts said. China's economy steamed along in the second quarter with 6.9 percent GDP growth, beating market expectations and hovering well above previous institutional forecasts. "The resilience of the economy can be seen by the relatively high growth rate since the financial crisis back in 2008, but now there is much more to tell behind the headline growth number," said Hu Angang, director of Center for China Studies of Tsinghua University. "We have made continued progress moving away from the old manufacturing model to services-led model." The International Monetary Fund raised the forecast late on Tuesday for China's average annual growth for 2018-20 to 6.4 percent from 6.0 percent, predicting that China will see robust economic growth, paving the way for policymakers to accelerate needed reforms and focus more on quality growth. While acknowledging China's effort to deepen reforms and to avoid risks piling up, the IMF contended that China needs to boost consumption as the country's savings rate is twice the global average. Hu said the rebalancing process of the Chinese economy is expected to continue, with consumption supposed to take a greater share of economic growth in the coming years. The share of consumption contributing to GDP growth is expected to exceed 70 percent this year, Hu said. Consumption accounted for 63.4 percent of GDP growth in the first half of 2017, compared with 44.7 percent during the same period in 2010. He said China is not likely to slip back to the old debt-driven model. Rather, the country needs to press ahead with reforms, such as lowering leverage ratios and preventing financial risks. "In the coming months, solving problems such as piling up debt might be a more important task for China compared with hitting certain growth targets," he said. The Chinese economy is drawing support from strong sources of cyclical resilience in early 2017, Stephen Roach, a senior fellow at Yale University, wrote in July, citing the fast growth of exports. June's 11.3 percent year-on-year gain in exports stands in contrast with earlier years, which were adversely affected by a weaker global recovery, he noted. Aside from benefiting from global demand recovery, better-than-expected industrial profits will support continued and sustained growth, according to Ren Zeping, chief economist at Founder Securities. He said the economy is continuing to bottom out, thanks to the ongoing supply-side reform and the weak recovery on the demand side. According to San Francisco-based SpaceKnow Inc, which uses commercial satellite imagery to monitor over 6,000 industrial facilities across China to measure levels of manufacturing activity, manufacturing picked up in July, with the China Satellite Manufacturing Index up to 50.5 from 49.5 in June, which signals improved conditions. Meanwhile, activities of small and medium-sized enterprises in China rebounded in July after three straight months of moderation. A man checks share prices on his mobile phone while waiting for his coffee at a Starbucks branch in Beijing July 16, 2015.[Photo/Agencies] Report urges Chinese conglomerates to improve their capital allocation The performance of Chinese listed multi-business companies significantly outpaced their counterparts in developed countries in the past 10 years, at least when measured by returns in the stock market, according to a report by Boston Consulting Group on Tuesday. In order to sustain the positive trend, the report said domestic companies need to improve capital allocation and management of diversified businesses. Thanks to China's vertiginously high economic growth in the past decade, the value creation capabilities of Chinese conglomerates significantly outpaced their peers in other major stock markets, according to the report. Relative total shareholder returns of Chinese conglomerates attained more than 7 percent, which is higher than the 0.6 percent achieved in the United States and 3 percent in Britain. The indicator measures performance of companies' stocks and shares over time. Government-backed State-owned conglomerates witnessed higher returns compared to private ones, the report said. Such large scale Chinese conglomerates include China Mobile and China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation. Many State-owned multibusiness enterprises are also well known outside China for their overseas acquisitions and investment sprees in the past several years. Luo Ying, a partner at BCG, said accurate understanding of economic policies and strong strategic management capabilities helped state-owned ones sustain a market premium. With downward economic pressure, Chinese conglomerates might find it hard to continue securing such high global rankings, according to Victor Chen, principal at the BCG in China. He noted that the number of conglomerates that "destroy value" tends to increase, referring to those that achieved profit growth but witnessed negative total shareholder returns. Conglomerates also face challenges, such as varied business environments in foreign countries, according to Chen. He said companies should improve capital allocation and make long-term strategic plans to support multi-business development. "Decisionmakers of the companies ought to have clear minds about the markets they are in, and make timely adjustments if there exist any weak point in management structure," said Bai Ming, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation. Meanwhile, the companies should vigorously make innovations to enhance their competitiveness in the fierce international market, according to Bai. The government's recent moves to strengthen supervision over overseas investment turns out to be an appropriate time to make adjustments, he added. Zhuang Qiange contributed to the story. Two passengers on a train leaving Cairo, capital of Egypt. XINHUA A unit of China Railway Group Ltd said it will began preliminary work on a $1.24 billion-worth light rail project in Egypt within two to three months, marking China's debut rail project in the country. China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group Co Ltd, as the prime contractor, said on Wednesday: "Upon completion, it will have the capacity to accommodate 340,000 passengers daily, and reduce traffic time between Cairo and the under-construction new administrative capital, as well as the 10th of Ramadan City, by about 30 percent." The light rail system is expected to cover a distance of 66 km with 11 stops, connecting the capital Cairo with the under-construction new administrative capital, and distant districts of Greater Cairo including Al-Salam, 10th of Ramadan, Obour, Badr and Shorouk. It has a designed maximum speed of 120 kilometers per hour. That's according to an agreement recently signed between a consortium of Chinese firms and the Egyptian Ministry of Transport. Han Bing, minister counselor for economic affairs with the Chinese embassy in Egypt, said: "The planned rail project shows that Egypt acknowledges China's advanced technology in rail construction." Apart from easing the regional traffic situation, the light rail project will also create new jobs for Egypt and promote the local construction industry, Han was quoted as saying by China Radio International. "Chinese companies will offer technology and equipment, while local companies will be responsible for the construction." The Egyptian side attaches great importance to the project's construction and met with the Chinese consortium earlier to negotiate key issues in the contract, he added. The Egyptian government put forward a plan in 2015 to build a new administrative capital, east of Cairo, covering an area of 700 square kilometers to relieve the great housing and transportation pressure. Last year, bilateral trade in goods reached $11.3 billion, down 12 percent year-on-year, ranking Egypt as the third-biggest African trading partner with China, according to the General Administration of Customs. In the same period, China's exports to Egypt dropped 9.92 percent year-on-year and imports decreased by 39.8 percent. China mainly exports mechanical and electrical products, vehicles and accessories, and steel and steel products to Egypt, and imports crude oil, stone, lubricant, citrus and ore from the country. Related story: Egyptians need trains and training CAIROMohammed Shehata, head of the Egyptian Transport Association, said on Sunday that China can be a main player in developing Egypt's railway system. "China is a leading country in this field," Shehata said, adding that China is always ready to help friendly countries improve their infrastructure. The ETA is a leading Egyptian NGO that monitors and issues reports on the transportation systems in the North African country. The NGO chief said that China has been helping numerous countries, including many in Africa, to build new up-to-date railway systems, stressing that the country will not hesitate to provide Egypt with its expertise in the field of railways and transportation. On Friday, an Alexandria-bound train coming from Cairo crashed into the rear of another train on its way from the Mediterranean city of Port Said to Alexandria, leaving 49 people dead and more than 130 others injured. Following the accident, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi urged the government to hurry up with the development process of the country's railway network, thereby avoiding more such crashes. The president gave instructions to form technical committees charged with evaluating the maintenance processes and specifying the needed spare parts for the trains and railroad infrastructure. Shehata said China is preferred over European countries to develop Egypt's railroad infrastructure because China offers both expertise and finance for development projects and the costs are usually lower. "Unlike European countries, China does not decide the companies that will carry out the projects. It also provides finance through generous loans from Chinese banks," Shehata pointed out. He also said China's participation in rebuilding Egypt's railway infrastructure will help boost the Belt and Road Initiative to link Africa and Asia. "China is more a partner than an investor," he stressed. The Egyptian railway system, Shehata said, is badly in need of renewal, using the latest available technologies. He said Egypt has been using very old methods, railway infrastructure and trains. "The service that transports millions of Egyptians should be fully updated for the safety of passengers," Shehata insisted. The ETA chief also said development should also include training those who will be running any new system, and that diesel locomotives should be replaced with newer electric trains. Egypt has spent billions of US dollars to develop its railroad and train systems, but the development projects did not yield good results because "we did invest in an old infrastructure," Shehata pointed out. "It is not a good idea to update an already old train or network. The whole network and trains should be modernized and I believe that we need a pioneer partner like China to make a leap in our railway system," Shehata said. XINHUA After suffering a string of thefts at his organic farm, Melvin Burns is making an unorthodox offer. Hes responding to robbery with kindness, offering the offender a job if hell just return the tools he needs to take care of his animals. Burns says burglars are targeting properties near his Moo Nay Farms in Cooks Brook, Nova Scotia, which has been robbed twice in as many months. Most recently, they stole $1,000 worth of tools, but in June they took $5,000 worth of animals including six pigs and 40 chickens. He took to Facebook on August 2 to offer two rewards. If anyone comes to him with a tip that leads to the recovery of his tools, he will give that person five pounds of my best Berkshire bacon which, he has said, is one of the most beloved products from our farm. (Insert Jim Gaffigan joke here.) The tools, he said, are essential to his livestocks welfare. We work hard to keep our animals alive and safe, [and] these tools help us do that, he wrote. Please consider our animals. But the fact that the perpetrator took food led Burns to his second proposal: If the thief turns himself (or herself) in, Burns will give him a job on the farm and teach him agricultural skills. Burns personal training will make that person more employable and bring him respect, Burns wrote. Please, if you need money and are close to our farm, offer your labour, offer your time constructively. It can earn you money, respect and a future in the community as opposed to behind bars, Burns wrote. Then he appealed directly to a generation left adrift by low expectations, overzealous regulations, and labor policies that hit young people the hardest: Young people I know its tough out there, community has not prepared you to contribute effectively before the age you want to have stuff. In my day we had paper routes, mowed lawns, picked berries, stacked wood, helped neighbors and built skills. Please contact me if you need help. I will offer you much for free and better things to do with your time, and thats no bull. In his overly generous response, Burns demonstrates the deep-seated sense of solidarity that farmers and rural people have with others in their communities. They are happy to help those in need, especially if someone wants to better himself. But his benevolent, likely instinctual response reflects the best teachings of social science and spiritual wisdom. Burns is right that employment increases feelings of self-respect. Self-esteem and self-worth are closely aligned with working, psychotherapist Charles Allen told USA Today in 2013. The percentage of people, especially young men, in their prime working years who are neither working nor preparing for work is rising. Nicholas Eberstadt has described the plight of those seven million American men in his book Men Without Work. Those without work are more than three-times more likely to be depressed than those who are working, one study found. You feel it in the depths of your brain, Allen said. Burns was not merely charitable beyond description to offer his own resources to someone who had just victimized him. At least one study indicates that his charity is a model response when dealing with those who have recently committed a crime. Released convicts who are given employment immediately upon release were roughly one-tenth as likely to re-offend as the average ex-con, the study found. Statewide rates of recidivism range from about 31 to 70 percent, while the rates for those placed in jobs shortly after their release ranged from 3.3 to eight percent, wrote Peter Cove and Lee Bowes. But his most profound insight may be spiritual and anthropological. Man was created for work according to the most profound spiritual literature from Genesis 1, where God bid His creatures to labor in the midst of Paradise, to the Rule of St. Benedict, which calls on monks living the heavenly life to observe a schedule that could best be summarized as ora et labora (although, it must be noted, this phrase does not actually occur in the Regula.) This sacred cycle held work in such reverence that it helped monks preserve classical literature for posterity. Idleness is inimical to the soul, St. Benedict authentically wrote. Therefore, the brethren ought to be occupied, at fixed seasons, with manual work and again at fixed seasons with spiritual reading. (Someone once observed that the proper Benedictine formula would be ora, labora, et lectio.) He added, To weak and delicate brethren, let there be assigned such suitable occupation and duties that they be neither overcome of idleness nor so oppressed by exhaustion through work that they be driven to flight [from the monastery]. Although in a different context, Burns kindly offer could perpetuate this cycle. One driven to theft is in a delicate spiritual condition. Teaching skills, furnishing access to real capital, and restoring a sense of self-respect through earned reward is a form of restoration, a vocational rehabilitation that transforms the doer from a menace who loathes his own creation in imago Dei to a producer acquiring the tools to live out his peculiar and singular calling. And, he could get bacon. (Photo credit: Thad Zadjowicz. This photo has been cropped. CC BY 2.0.) A retail store owned by online drug-selling company Dingdang Medicine Express (Beijing) Technology Co Ltd. The company promises to deliver orders within 28 minutes. A JING / FOR CHINA DAILY Internet drug stores look set to expand as medical reforms open up $6.8b market There used to be a time when prescription drugs were only available in hospitals and healthcare centers in China. If you were ill, you had to physically see a doctor before you could pick up your tablets or medicine. But those days appear to be nearly over as medical reforms open up the market for online companies. "China's medical policies concerning online pharmaceutical stores are being relaxed step by step," said Fu Guang, president of Baheal Pharmaceutical Group, which focuses on healthcare investment. Statistics from the 2017 China Medical Market Development Blue Book showed the online drug selling market is expected to expand rapidly. By the end of this year, the business-to-consumer sector for China's pharmaceutical industry is predicted to reach 45.77 billion yuan ($6.83 billion), an increase of 70.9 percent compared with 2016, the book reported. "Indeed, this policy of opening up the market will be the main growth engine for the industry," Fu said. Medical reform has gathered pace in the past few years as the healthcare sector has evolved and become more sophisticated. China's aging population is expected to reach 250 million in 2017, while patients with chronic illnesses will also increase significantly. "This in turn will stimulate the development of the healthcare market, especially online drug stores," said Wang Licheng, the chief executive officer of Dingdang Medicine Express, a well known online-to-offline platform. He stressed that internet pharmacies had improved considerablely during the past few years, with new technology playing a key role in improving logistics and customer experience. But Wang felt that the online sector still needed to mature if it was to attract new customers and expand market share. "The simple business-to-consumer model of selling drugs on the internet cannot survive anymore," he said. "Online drug stores must combine with offline outlets because of the nature of the industry," Wang added. Part of the problem is delivery time. Long-distance transport chains are totally impractical as the majority of patients, or customers, usually need their prescriptions urgently. Data revealed there were 450,000 drug stores in China with a sales volume of 350 billion yuan last year. Online pharmacies accounted for just 3 percent or 4 percent of that sales volume, which is tiny. Still, the trend appears to be moving toward partnerships, and mergers and acquisitions, as many of the established bricks-and-mortar brands are losing money. Vipshop Holdings Ltd, the world's leading online discount retailer and a popular e-commerce site here, last month announced plans to buy drug store chain Guangzhou Haoxin Pharmaceutical Co Ltd. In the past few weeks, A.S. Watson Group, the largest health and beauty retailer in Asia and Europe, was reported to be poised to enter the online pharmaceutical business. The Hong Kong-based company is looking for new areas to expand its business after experiencing leadership changes and a decline in traditional sales. Investment is also pouring into the online healthcare sector after the government's policy reforms. Back in May, Guangdong Jianke Pharmaceutical Co Ltd received $50 million in funding after receiving $100 million from Crescent Point Group last year. "We will focus on the layout of internet medical systems and continue to explore smart health service after this round of financing," said Xie Fangmin, chief executive officer of Jianke. Staff deal with online medicine sales at a drug store in Changzhi, North China's Shanxi province. YAO LIN / FOR CHINA DAILY Medical companies will call for a "permit" system to be rolled out so internet pharmacies can expand prescription drug sales online. Healthcare reforms are opening up the market but more needs to be done, an industry insider has stressed. Many of the new policies should be included in the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20), so as to protect customers and further promote the development of the medical sector. One crucial move would be for the government to issue permits to online drug stores to cut through the existing red tape. Fu Gang, chairman of Baheal Pharmaceutical Group and vice-chairman of the China Pharmaceutical Enterprises Association. PROVIDED TO China Daily "A series of reforms in the medical sector, such as abolishing drug subsidy policies, and expanding the two-invoices system can help solve the difficulties and problems of seeing a doctor," said Fu Gang, chairman of Baheal Pharmaceutical Group. The "two-invoice" rule is complicated and involves one invoice from the pharmaceutical manufacturer to its distributor and another one is sent from the distributor to hospitals that ordered the drugs. This in turn will reduce prices by cutting through excessive regulations, which at one point involved up to eight invoices, depending on the prescribed medicine. This procedure is crucial in the fight to stop fake drugs circulating online and to maintain legal access for customers and patients. "Online drug stores and internet hospitals are part of healthcare industry reforms, and they must be supported by government policies," said Fu, who is also vice-chairman of the China Pharmaceutical Enterprises Association and executive director of China Medical Doctor Association. The pace of medical reform has increased in the past few years as the healthcare sector expands and modernizes. Back in May, public hospitals were told to stop the practice of subsidizing medical services with profits from drug sales before Sept 30 this year. During the past 63 years, this practice has helped pay for the running of public hospitals, but it has now become a drain on patients' pockets. "The e-commerce companies can shorten drug sale procedures, providing a direct platform for suppliers and buyers," Fu said. "Advanced technologies, such as big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence, will improve significantly the medical industry in an all around way," he added. The government has adopted a step-by-step approach to healthcare reform. Rolling back red tape and bringing in a streamlined regulatory model have become priorities. "Although policy changes are a bit slow compared with the fast speed of technology development, I believe they will catch up soon," Fu said. "In addition, as an aging society, China is in urgent need of a convenient and reliable healthcare service based on the development of intelligent technology." By the end of 2016, there were 260 million people aged 60 or above, which was 16.6 percent of the total population. It will be essential for this sector of society to have access to a "reliable" healthcare service. "Purchasing prescription drugs needs professional advice from doctors and is different from clothes or food," Fu said. "But the online shopping habit has already been formed in China. "Promoting the development of medical e-commerce has already started," he added. A report from Chinese Academy of Social Sciences showed that total online pharmaceutical sales exceeded more than 3 trillion yuan ($450 billion) from December 2016 to May in 2017. This surpassed the 2014 annual figure. By FAN FEIFEI in Beijing and CHERRY LIN in Hong Kong | China Daily | Updated: 2017-08-17 06:59 (From second left) Li Fushen, executive director & CFO of China Unicom (HK) Ltd, Wang Xiaochu, chairman & CEO of China Unicom (HK) Ltd, Lu Yimin, executive director& president of China Unicom (HK) Ltd, and Shao Guanglu, executive director & senior vice-president of China Unicom (HK) Ltd meet the media on Wednesday. ROY LIU / CHINA DAILY Private capital takes role in State giant as it embarks on mixed-ownership reform scheme China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd, the country's second-largest mobile carrier by subscribers, has agreed to raise a total of 78 billion yuan ($11.7 billion) from strategic investors, as part of the Chinese government's push to rejuvenate State-owned enterprises with private capital. The strategic investors include Chinese tech heavyweights Tencent Holdings, Baidu Inc, JD.com Inc, Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd, Didi Chuxing, Suning Commerce Group, as well as Chinese car rail manufacturer CRRC Corp and financial insurance enterprise China Life Insurance Co Ltd. Other tech companies such as Yongyou Software Co and Wangsu Science & Technology, and domestic industrial funds also participated in the investment. "We are the first SOE on the group level to undertake this mixed-ownership reform scheme. It's a historic opportunity for us to introduce well-established strategic investors to explore areas of cooperation with us, in a bid to improve our management structure with diversified shareholders," said Wang Xiaochu, CEO of China Unicom Hong Kong. Wang said China Unicom will cooperate with strategic investors in the areas they specialize in. "With the domestic IT giants, we will explore cooperative opportunities in retail systems, payment systems and cloud computing. With the industry funds, we will explore business opportunities with their numerous investor companies to create a win-win result." Tencent, which invested 11 billion yuan, accounted for 5.18 percent of equity interests in China Unicom's Shanghai-listed arm, Baidu poured in 7 billion yuan, accounting for 3.30 percent, while Alibaba and JD invested 4.3 billion yuan and 5 billion yuan, accounting for 2.04 percent and 2.36 percent, respectively, according to China Unicom. The company said the mixed-ownership reform proposal was approved by the country's top economic regulator, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the share issue proposal has been approved by the board of China Unicom's listed company. Furthermore, the Shanghai-listed arm will allot three board seats to private investors, and the mixed-ownership restructuring will be completed by the end of this year. The investment is part of the government's drive for State behemoths to be revitalized with private capital, with China Unicom among the first batch of State-owned enterprises to see mixed-ownership reform. "China Unicom is the biggest beneficiary of the mixed-ownership reform, as it could utilize cutting-edge technologies from internet giants, access more channels and potential customers, as well as enhance its telecom service quality through introducing new strategic investors," said Peter Liu, research director at consultancy Gartner Inc. Liu added the telecom carrier will make more efforts in 4G network construction, boosting its broadband penetration rate across the country. Xiang Ligang, chief executive of telecom industry website Cctime, said China Unicom will cooperate with newly introduced investors in the fields of big data, internet of things, artificial intelligence and cloud computing. "It is expected that the move will boost China Unicom's 4G user base and improve network infrastructure construction," he said. The telecom operator also said its first-half net profit rose 68.9 percent to 2.42 billion yuan from 1.43 billion yuan a year earlier, while its revenue fell slightly to 138.16 billion yuan from 140.26 billion yuan the previous year. In the first half of 2017, its 4G subscriber group witnessed a net increase of 34.26 million to a total of 138.81 million. The baby girl abandoned by her mother receives care at a hospital. Provided to China Daily The police in Yibin, Sichuan province, are investigating the case of a 12-year-old girl who gave birth to a baby girl, and are pledging to hold the father accountable. Police said that they are looking for the male but did not identify him. On Friday evening, police in the city's Nanxi district received a call about a newborn baby abandoned in the grass under an overpass. Police rushed to the scene, asking doctors from the district hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine for help. According to the publicity department of the district committee of the Communist Party of China, doctors found the baby was cold and did not cry. Doctors thoroughly examined the infant, including blood tests and a CT scan of her head, and did not find any serious problems. But as her condition was fragile, doctors placed her in an incubator and provided intravenous medicine. Police investigating the case found the mother, a 12-year-old, in Jiangnan town. Her parents, both migrant workers, had left her behind with her grandparents. But they took her 13-year-old brother with them. The town government has asked villagers not to gossip about the matter in order to protect the juvenile mother's privacy. The Nanxi bureau of civil affairs, the police and the hospital have agreed to send the girl to a welfare center for children in Yibin after she recovers from childbirth. Lecturer spent two decades shipping books over from US Students say goodbye to teacher Esther Snader at Anqing Normal University in Anhui province as she leaves to return to the United States. CHEN DONG/FOR CHINA DAILY Esther Snader, a retired foreign teacher, said it was hard to leave the Chinese university she had taught at for more than 19 years, but that leaving her more than 1,200 books to the students was an easy decision. Snader recently returned from Anqing Normal University in Anhui province to her hometown in the countryside of Pennsylvania, the United States. She couldn't help shedding a tear as she waved goodbye to the students, who had spent much of their time not only studying the courses she taught, but also in her living room reading. Snader arrived at the university in 1998 through the Mennonite Partners in China program, which builds partnerships between education institutions in China and North America. When she began working at the university, she mostly taught oral English, focusing on correct pronunciation and grammar, but she also taught US history and culture, writing, listening and speaking. However, she found the students didn't have many English books to read. "I had already taught for 25 years before coming to China and understood how students who read learn new vocabulary, grammar and sentence structure in addition to all the information in a book," Snader said. Wu Cuiping, who began a four-year course at the university's English department in 2010, said, "The number of English books in the university's library was limited and the content was not stimulating." Snader said she wanted her students to excel, so in 1999, she made her own books available to them every Wednesday afternoon in the living room of her apartment, which was provided by the university. A consensus reached by the teacher and the students was that they could only borrow a book once and they had to share their thoughts on each book they returned. Wu said her classmates liked reading Snader's books and they always enjoyed discussing the books with the teacher. "Each time I went back to the US in the summer, I would choose some more books I thought would be good for the students and shipped them to my Chinese address," Snader said. She bought most of the books, but sometimes her friends would also donate books they were done with, so her library grew year by year. Before Snader left, the library already had more than 1,200 English publications, including novels, biographies, poetry, and magazines. "Esther's Library" was in Snader's apartment until her last semester of teaching, when it was moved to the English department, with students volunteering to maintain it since then. Snader estimated that she taught more than 4,000 students at the university during her time there. "Many students have become very dear friends over the years. Some have returned to Anqing from various provinces to visit me years after graduation, while some have even visited me in the US," Snader said. Since returning to the US, Snader has been busy getting her apartment, which is about an hour's drive from Philadelphia, ready to live in. "I am now planning on finding a part-time job and also want to offer my services as a volunteer," she said. Members of an anti-war NGO based in Kobe, Japan attend a peace assembly at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu province, Aug 15, 2017. Representatives from countries such as China, Japan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Jordan attended the assembly to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of Japan's unconditional surrender in World War II.[Photo/Xinhua] Wu Fangzhou, a man of the post-1980 generation, trains a dog to swim in a 2,000 square meters pool he built exclusively for dogs, in Chengdu, Southwest Chinas Sichuan province, July 23, 2017. He built the pool to commemorate his beloved dog Qiuqiu, which died of heat stroke in the summer of 2015. During weekends, the swimming pool usually accommodates more than 20 dogs. [Photo/VCG] Trinley, a 62-year-old Tibetan farmer, talks about the pots for buttered teaa popular drink in Tibetthat were a gift from the regional government.[Photo by HUO YAN/CHINA DAILY] Ema township in the Tibet autonomous region used to be synonymous with barren, windy land on the north bank of the Yarlung Zangbo River. It is now an oasis, thanks to a forestation campaign launched by the government. "Even grass was rare back then, let alone trees," said Ding Kun, head of the Ema township government, speaking of the time before the projects. He clearly remembers the bleakness and desolation. Migmar, the 52-year-old village head of Liuguo, recalled the situation when he moved to a village in Ema in 2002. "The sand brought by a storm overnight could block the door by morning. One time in 2004 we got lost while rushing back to our tent from the wilderness when a strong sandstorm hit the region. It was impossible to tell what direction we were going," Migmar said. In 2013, the government of the Tibet autonomous region made the forestation project on the north bank of the Yarlung Zangbo River a regional ecological restoration strategy, following the central government's call to create an ecological civilization. With the support of the Tibet government, and the government of Weifang, Shandong province, which central authorities assigned to help, inhabitants of Ema and local civil servants started the project. The planned forest will cover 28,000 hectares and is expected to be finished in 17 years. An ecological demonstration area has been built with a combination of arbors, shrubs and grasses. Residents can also plant high-yield highland barley and organic potatoes. A different way Planting trees on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is different from planting them elsewhere. In late March, when many places enter a warm spring, the soil on the plateau remains partially frozen, and it's difficult even for heavy equipment to dig a hole. Despite this, none of the procedures for planting trees can be omitted, especially the application of fertilizer. To ensure the trees' survival under the harsh conditions, tree planters must transport fertile soil from the other places to fill in the hole, together with large amounts of sheep manure, cow dung and other organic fertilizers. Watering must be done in a timely manner. The most common plant in the Bazi ecological demonstration area is sea buckthorn. Like a banyan or aspen tree, many roots can sprout from a single sea buckthorn and gradually result in a small cluster of trees. The Bazi area covers more than 2,000 hectares and received a government investment of 150 million yuan ($22.3 million). There are also aspens, elms, willows and cathay poplars. According to Lhapa Chosang, deputy head of the Namling county forestry bureau, the survival rate of the trees is 95 percent, thanks to rangers' care. He said planting is only the first step; looking after the trees is much more important on the plateau because of the harsh environment. "Only when the trees survive will the people believe Namling can become an oasis," Chosang said. "Water is a key factor. We built the irrigation water conservancy works first, chose the right trees and standardized the potholing, planting, watering and earthing-up procedures to ensure the survival rate," he said. The Weifang city government invested 1.2 million yuan organizing a 30-person forest ranger team, most of whom are Tibetan shepherds. Under the direction of professional forestry technicians, they have become adept at irrigating, applying fertilizer, pruning, pest control, fence maintenance and fire prevention. China and Russia should not allow anyone to make trouble on their doorstep, meaning the current top priority is to "put the brakes" on the inflammatory words and actions exchanged between Pyongyang and Washington, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov. In their phone conversation on Tuesday night on the situation, Lavrov said it is entirely unacceptable to resolve the peninsula's nuclear issue through military means. Earlier on Tuesday, Beijing urged Washington to "translate into actions" its latest pledge of diplomatically resolving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue, and said it is hoped Pyongyang responds to the US vow. In a recent signed article in The Wall Street Journal, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and US Secretary of Defense John Mattis said "diplomacy is our preferred means" of changing Pyongyang's course of action. The objective of such a peaceful pressure campaign is the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and the United States does not seek an excuse to garrison its troops north of the Demilitarized Zone, the article says. China has taken notice of the "positive comments" in the signed article, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Tuesday. Security is what is at the core of the issue, and the key to resolving it lies in the hands of Pyongyang and Washington, Hua said. The parties concerned are expected to seriously consider China's proposals, consider each other's reasonable security concerns and seek a breakthrough for resolving the peninsula's nuclear issue through peaceful dialogue, she added. Shi Yuanhua, a professor of Korean Peninsula studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, called the nuclear issue "the most demanding security challenge now within the Asia-Pacific region". Pyongyang has stated the possibility of holding off on a planned missile strike near the US Pacific island of Guam, and some analysts said this opened a possible path to de-escalating a growing crisis, AFP reported on Tuesday. Hua, the spokeswoman, said it is hoped the words and actions by all the parties concerned will help "put out the fire" rather than "fuel the fire". Also on Tuesday, Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-in said no more war should break out on the peninsula, and no party can decide to take military action on the peninsula without the consent of the ROK. In a speech to celebrate the 72nd anniversary of the peninsula's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, Moon also urged Pyongyang to engage in dialogue, Xinhua reported. Nanjing railway police said on Tuesday that a girl photographed as she was being fondled by a man in a crowded railway station waiting room had been adopted by the man's parents. The 18-year-old man, surnamed Duan, is from Huaxian county, Henan province, and was detained after the pictures were released online, the police said. They are investigating whether the girl was properly adopted. Under China's Adoption Law, his parents may not be qualified, police said. The foster parents appeared to ignore their son's fondling of the girl, who is about 10 years old, at the crowded Nanjing South Railway Station for at least five minutes. They also told him to leave when they noticed people around were taking pictures, according to witnesses. Some pictures went viral on the internet after being uploaded by Chen Lan, a writer and NGO worker on Saturday. The pictures showed that the man put his hands inside the girl's dress and on her breast. The police have asked netizens not to spread details about family members or the case, in an effort to protect the girl's identity. "People may easily identify them if too many details are exposed," the police said. "To prevent the girl from being hurt again, don't spread details." The police are negotiating with the civil affairs department of Huaxian county to move the girl to a safe place. Lan Tianbin, a lawyer at the Dongheng Criminal Defense Center in Nanjing, said child molesters can be sentenced to up to five years in prison. "Under the Criminal Law, molesters committing the crime in public places can be sentenced more than five years," Lan said. Courts in China dealt with 10,782 cases of child sexual abuse from 2013 to 2016, according to the Supreme People's Court. The Girls Protection Special Fund of the China Foundation of Culture and Arts for Children, found in a survey that most child sexual abuse victims under 14 years old were abused by people close to them, such as a teacher, neighbor or relative. Sun Xuemei, who works for the fund, said the country must educate children about how to avoid sexual assault. "Sexual assault prevention is as important as fire prevention and traffic safety education. But it doesn't exist in most Chinese families and schools." Also, according to a survey by the fund in 2016, nearly 70 percent of Chinese families have never provided sexual assault prevention education to their children, and 90 percent of children never receive any such lessons in school. In todays global economy, it can be easy to feel like robotic worker bees or petty consumer fleas in a big, blurry economic order. The feeling is understandable. Value creation, even at its largest margins, is increasingly difficult to spot. Thats not necessarily a bad thing, of course. Size, scale, and efficiency all have significant perks. But while we should be wary of the modern to temptation to blindly castigate big business only because of its bigness, we should also be mindful that consolidation and centralization do, indeed, come with their own assortment of risks and blind spots. Which brings us to the more basic question: As our economy continues to grow in size and complexity and efficiency, what might we lose if were not paying attention? Ive outlined some of those risks as it relates to the effects of economic modernity on trade and consumerism, family and child-rearing, and physical labor, but the areas of impact are endless. In a new video from the Denver Institute for Faith and Work, we see how the same pitfalls and tendencies can occur when it comes to investment and ownership. And one of the ways we might respond: Mutual funds are one the most popular ways that people choose to invest, yet they offer little visibility into what, exactly, the funds are supporting. What do our investments actually purchase? What kind of ownership are buyers stepping into? For many, those questions warrant a shrug, at best. For Eventide, a Boston-based asset management firm, those are questions worth answering, requiring inputs and information that go well beyond balance sheets and surface-level measurements of financial health. As an investor in mutual funds, not only do you not have any idea how the companies you own are being operated, you dont even know what you own, says Eventides Jason Myhre. Investings original and most basic purpose is about supplying capital to create businesses. But today investing has really become divorced from that ownership idea, and people are really seeking to profit from the market itself as an abstract entity. This isnt to say that mutual funds are bad. They have a productive and fruitful place in financial stewardship. But again, in a world where this represents the status quo of everyday investment, what might we lose if were not attentive to the underlying distinctions? Eventide seeks to restore that care and concern among investors, offering an opportunity to regain an ownership mentality of investment and, more importantly, know what comes with it. The thesis is that investing is ownership, says Finny Kuruvilla, the companys CIO. Youre connected to these companies via your fund manager. So youll be a .001% owner of some company, and ownership should invite us to consider more carefully, Well, what are the things do we own? You then have some ethical degree of involvement with the activities of that company. To assess each company, Eventide uses what they call a Business 360 approach, grading how the business engages with a wide range of stakeholders, including customers, employees, supply chain participants, host communities, the overall environment, and broader society. Some might be tempted to call this a varied approach to social entrepreneurship, but for the folks at Eventide, theyd prefer that we avoid the common dichotomization between social good and profitability. When we talk about investing, in our minds, we tend to dichotomize whats smart and whats right, says Myhre. But for Biblical thinkersand I think the call of any believer today, is to not see those as separable concepts. So when we talk about investing and this idea of value creation, its not profit takes this path and then social good takes this other path and were trying to hold them together with some kind of a linkage or make some kind of a trade-off decision. We believe that what is right is also what is smart. In an economic order that is increasingly big and blurry and difficult to navigate, and amid a culture that prefers investment via routine deposits/withdrawals, Eventide reminds us that we can still prioritize intentional ownership in the information age, using human wisdom, human conscience, and spiritual discernment as stewards in service of the Supreme Investor. Conscience is there, write Gerard Berghoef and Lester DeKoster in their book, Faithful in All Gods House. We need not, and could not, create it. But how exciting a challenge to enlist its voice in our efforts to serve the Christ through obedience to the divine Law in the form of good stewardship. More Chinese mainland universities than ever before have been ranked among the world's top 500 universities in terms of research capabilities this year. The annual Academic Ranking of World Universities released on Tuesday includes 45 mainland universities, up from 18 in 2009, when not one made the top 200. Tsinghua University broke into the top 50 for the first time, ranking 48th, making it the third-highest-ranking Asian university, behind Tokyo and Kyoto universities. The Beijing institution was in the top 200 in 2010. Peking University came in 71st. Fudan University; Shanghai Jiao Tong University; the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, Anhui province; and Zhejiang University in Hangzhou all placed in the top 150. The rankings are published by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy, an independent organization dedicated to research on higher education and consultation. Universities from the United States continue to dominate the list, with 48 institutions in the top 100 and 135 in the top 500. Harvard University remains the world's No 1, a slot it has occupied since 2003, when the rankings were first released. Stanford continues to be second. This year the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom overtook the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of California, Berkeley to rise to third place in the rankings. For the first time, institutions ranked between 501 and 800 were published as top-500 "candidates", which was intended to shed light on the gap between Chinese universities and the most elite ones around the globe. The US and China are the two biggest sources of top-500 candidates, with 55 universities each. Italy and Japan followed with 21 and 19 respectively. Lao Kaisheng, a retired professor of education at Capital Normal University, said the enhanced comprehensive strength and international influence of a rising number of Chinese universities is largely due to increased support from the government. "Judging from my decades of experience working in universities, it has become much easier to apply for research funds, which in my belief has resulted in the development of a lot of research at institutions of higher education," Lao said. However, he said, the rankings may not be of much value for students in deciding which university to attend, because indicators such as peer assessment, the employment situation of graduates and employers' evaluations of graduates are not included. This week, as the world marks the 72nd anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, those who fought remember China's contribution to the victory. Zhai Xiang reports for Xinhua. On Aug 15, 1945, Dick Whitaker, a member of the Sixth Marine Division of the United States Marine Corps, was on the island of Guam when he heard of the Japanese surrender. The end of World War II also signaled the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45), fought exclusively on Chinese soil. "I was training for the invasion of Japan, scheduled for November 1945, in which I would very likely have been killed," Whitaker said. "The victory saved my life and properly avenged Pearl Harbor." On Dec 7, 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, a US naval base in Hawaii, killing thousands of military personnel and civilians. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt described it as "a date which will live in infamy", and the United States declared war on Japan the following day. Xinhua has interviewed US veterans and their families by phone or email to hear about their memories of the victory and their hopes for the future. A group of more than 40 leading experts on APEC issues from top Chinese and foreign think tanks gathered on August 14 and 15 in Sanya, a coastal city at the southern tip of tropical Hainan province, to discuss and search means to turn the APEC economic leaders' vision and initiative of building the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) into viable action plans. They also held extensive discussions on strengthening the momentum of Asia-Pacific economic integration, exploring new concept and new model that the Asia-Pacific can contribute to the global economic governance. Sponsored by China National Committee for Pacific Economic Cooperation, the APEC Study Center of Nankai University, Hainan CGE Peace Development Foundation and supported by the Center for China and Globalization, the symposium looked closely at the potential well-being that FTAAP can create for people in the Asia-Pacific and the challenges for its building and the trade-off of interests between various stakeholders inside each negotiating parties. "Based on the discussions, we are to find a balanced, inclusive and win-win method to meet the challenges and promote FTAAP in a steady way," said Tang Guoqiang, co-chair of the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council. The participants agreed that the Asia-Pacific is facing an increasingly complex economic situation, with the growth of the emerging economies slowing down and major developed economies fighting with structural problems internally. And thus the regional economic integration and cooperation is destined to be a long and zigzag process. The experts also agreed that realizing the Bogor Goals by 2020 --the full and complete trade and investment liberalization in Asia-Pacific --- remains the core task of APEC. As a milestone of the APEC history, the Bogor Goals, established in 1994 at an APEC summit in Bogor, Indonesia, have contributed to the sustainable development and equitable growth of the member economies. They said that the various efforts to promote the realization of FTAAP will serve as the core driving force of Asia-Pacific economic integration in the Post-2020 era. Besides accounting for more than 50 percent of global gross domestic product, the 21-member APEC also makes up nearly half of world trade and 40 percent of the global population. Smog-shrouded Hebei province's six major cities were among the top 10 cities with severe air pollution during the first seven months of 2017. But officials insisted on imposing tougher controls for the coming months to meet annual reduction targets. The latest data from the Ministry of Environmental Protection on Wednesday showed the top five cities with severe air pollution among the 74 major domestic cities were from Hebei province. Handan topped the list. Reaching beyond the province, the 13 major cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region experienced good air on only half (50.6 percent) the days during that period, a year-on-year decline of 6.8 percent. The PM2.5 average level increased by 11.3 percent year-on-year, the ministry said. Hebei has analyzed the sources of the declining air quality and has imposed strict and targeted controls to lower emissions, which appear to be working, the provincial environmental authority said on Wednesday. "In spite of the dramatic increase in January and February, we have managed to lower the pollution level from March to July by 7.1 percent year-on-year," Yin Guangping, deputy head of the Hebei Environmental Protection Bureau, said at a news conference in Shijiazhuang. In the first two months, the province saw the PM2.5 hazardous fine particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns increasing by 46.2 percent year-on-year, he added. Chai Fahe, with the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, said on Wednesday that the soaring PM2.5 levels observed in Hebei, as well as in Beijing and Tianjin, were mainly because of the frequent windless weather and more production activities that discharged additional pollutants. "The sharp increase did add the pressure to the three governments, especially for Hebei, to meet the reduction target set by the State Council," he said. The central government required the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area's governments to cut PM2.5 concentrations by 25 percent from 2013 levels by the end of 2017. "But all the three governments have taken comprehensive measures to control smog, and those have cut the levels dramatically compared with the level in 2013," Chai said. Yin from the Hebei provincial environmental bureau said the province, in which heavy industries like steel and iron are the pillar, has cut 12.26 million tons of iron production capacity, and 10.53 million tons of steel production capacity, which will be cut further by year's end. The province has shut down 94 percent of the known 69,601 companies that pollute severely in the first seven months. It has taken strict controls on coal consumption for heating and production, a major source for the autumn and winter smog in the northern region, the bureau said. "The controls on smog has been a priority for the governments in Hebei," Yin said, adding that over 3,600 officials were held accountable for poor performances in environmental protection in the first seven months. "We will do more to combat air pollution and take strict controls in autumn and winter," he said. To control the severe air pollution in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the ministry has launched a yearlong inspection of provincial level areas since April, revealing heavily polluting companies and encouraging the governments to resolve the pollution issues. "Considering the efforts of the three governments and the extra controls from the ministry and central government, the region will reach the difficult reduction target by the end of 2017," said Chai. Government will help foreign firms gain access to world's 2nd-largest economy China will further lower market access thresholds in areas like the banking and securities industry and expand the early negative list for management to attract more foreign investments, the State Council said on Wednesday. A notice on the issue was signed by Premier Li Keqiang and disclosed on Wednesday. It aims to promote steady growth of foreign investment in China's pursuit of having a more inviting business environment. The document, which follows up a State Council executive meeting about the issue on July 28, said that market access will be relaxed in areas like new energy vehicle manufacturing, ship design, aircraft maintenance, gas stations, artists booking agencies and insurance. The country will govern foreign investments with a pre-entry national treatment and a negative list management system, which has been used in 11 pilot free-trade zones. Negative lists for foreign investments will be promoted nationwide as soon as possible to enhance openness, transparency and norms of China's business environment. Negative lists refer to employing lists of only banned or restricted practices, simplifying procedures. The document encourages foreign investment in China, with a new focus on western and northeastern China and supporting key infrastructure projects. Multinational companies are encouraged to set up headquarters in China. Preferential tax policies will be carried out, including deferred taxes levied on eligible projects that are invested with profits obtained from foreign-invested companies. No withholding income tax will be levied for these projects. Deferred taxes can reduce tax burdens so companies can use the money elsewhere without interests payments. Foreign talent is another key focus. More visas will be issued this year to foreign talent and more multiple-entry visas that last five to 10 years will be issued to eligible foreigners. A standard work permit system will be introduced in 2018 to attract foreign professionals. Laws on foreign capital will be improved to guarantee free outflow of profits made by foreign-invested companies. These companies also are encouraged to participate in merger and reorganization of domestic companies. China is giving foreign investors more choices when they come to invest in the country, which has the strongest manufacturing sector as the world's second-largest economy, said Mei Xinyu, a researcher at the Ministry of Commerce's International Trade and Economic Cooperation Institute. Last year, foreign direct investment in China reached 813 billion yuan ($126 billion), an increase of only 4.1 percent, the Ministry of Commerce said. Youngsters in the southwestern province of Guizhou read books donated by volunteers. WANG JING/CHINA DAILY Since market reforms were initiated in 1978, China has moved from a centrally planned economy to one based on market forces. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics show that in the past 12 years GDP growth has averaged about 10 percent a year, and more than 800 million people have been lifted out of poverty. Despite those achievements, millions still live in poverty in the rural interior, where sturdy mules replace luxury cars and residents live in humble villages rather than tower blocks. About 60 percent of young people in China are growing up in impoverished rural areas, and recent research suggests that, compared with their urban counterparts, they are more likely to fall at the starting line when it comes to education and future opportunities. In June, a team from Stanford University's Rural Education Action Program published the results of a three-year research program that focused on the mental development of infants in rural areas. In 2013, the first year, the team tested nearly 2,000 children ages 12 months to 6 in 351 villages in Shaanxi province. They used the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, which measure mental and physical development and assist in the diagnosis and treatment of developmental delays or disabilities, including cognitive, motor and behavioral. Further surveys were conducted in the following two years. The results indicated that 41 percent of the children would experience delayed cognitive or motor development if they did not have effective interaction with caregivers when they were 18 to 24 months old. The figure rose to 53 percent for infants ages 24 to 30 months. In 2015, in association with the National Health and Family Planning Commission, the program launched the same surveys among children ages 6 to 18 months in rural areas of Hebei and Yunnan provinces. In Hebei, 43 percent of babies showed signs of significant delay in either cognitive or motor development, or both. The rate in Yunnan was higher, with 60 percent experiencing the same problems. When the surveys were conducted in urban areas the proportion was just 15 percent. "There are about 50 million infants in China, and most of them live in rural areas. The delay in cognitive development will weaken their competitiveness in the labor market in the future, which may influence the quality of the country's overall labor force," said Zhang Linxiu, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who led the study. According to Liu Wenli, a researcher with the School of Brain and Cognitive Science at Beijing Normal University, interventions for children often focus on health, nutrition and stimulation during the first 1,000 days of life, because these factors result in an improved environment for brain development. Optimal Intervention However, the window for optimal intervention is short, according to Liu. "The number of new synapses (the junctions of nerve cells that allow electrical impulses to pass between them) peaks by about age 6 before decreasing over the next 6 years. This makes a compelling case for equitable investment in the development of cognitive capital during the early years," she said. Scientific studies indicate that neuronal development is at its peak during the early years because 700 to 1,000 new neural connections are formed every second. The rate falls over time, and as much as 90 percent of a developing brain's final weight is established between ages 3 and 6. Former soldier hopes youth will learn truth about invasion TOKYO - A Japanese man who joined the Chinese Eighth Route Army during World War II has called for reflection on history ahead of the 72nd anniversary of Japan's unconditional surrender in the war. Mitsushige Maeda, who celebrated his 100th birthday last year, was taken captive by the Chinese Eighth Route Army in 1938, and during several months as a "prisoner of war", he gradually learned about the injustices of Japan's invasion of China and the truth about the conflict. Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 A student practices painting in an art class in Huanggu district in Shenyang, Liaoning province. [Photo by Wang Huan/provided to China Daily] Autumn is around the corner and students are gearing up to start university across the country, but many will be looking further afieldheading for the United States for fine arts courses that are becoming more competitive at home. A rising number of Chinese students are using the opportunity of studying overseas to major in various fine arts, ranging from film and dance to painting and design. It's a marked departure from the usual preference for the science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM. "We've historically seen that many Chinese students are very reputation and rankings focused when selecting where they want to study. And the US is home to more than one-third of the top 50 art and design schools in the world," says Jessica Brandt, director of resource management at educational trends-research company World Education Services. A 2016 study by the company found that the number of Chinese students enrolled in fine and applied arts programs in the US has more than tripledgrowing much faster compared to leading subjects, such as engineering, business and management, math and computer science. The intense competition for spots in leading art and design programs in China fuels the trend. The Beijing Film Academy, one of the country's top universities for fine arts, received nearly 25,000 applications in 2015. Of those, 498 were accepted. That's less than 2 percent. Acceptance rates at universities around the country are similarly low. Nearly 900,000 applicants taking the national college entrance exam for fine arts in China every year. This leaves a huge number of students unable to pursue their interests. That means many students, who want a top art educationeven if they do not get into China's elite universitieswill likely continue to consider leading universities in places like the US. That, coupled with a growing job market in China that is seeing more professional opportunities in the art sector, makes majoring in fine arts abroad a solid choice for many Chinese students. Chinese and international students at the Chelsea College of Arts participate in a group presentation and sharing of experimental installations in an interior spatial design course. [Photo provided to China Daily] Many Chinese art students abroad say the biggest challenge they encounter in their studies is the different approach to education. But that is also their biggest reward. "In China, basic techniques and skills are the priority. The standards of assessments are strict and rigid," says Wang Tian, a 31-year-old fashion designer in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province. "In Western countries, the ability to think independently holds more weight." Wang runs a design studio and tutors fashion design students in the international art program of the art school of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. She advises students on their portfolios, helps them with critical thinking habits and suggests improvements to their designs. Wang started to learn painting when she was 6 and took part in various Chinese art classes in the following decade. She was admitted to the London College of Fashion in 2006 at age 19. But her studies in London were not always smooth sailing, especially in the beginning. Her paintings, which perfectly recorded the shape, shadow and other details of their subjects, were "dim and without features", Wang says. Her classmates, on the other hand, displayed abstraction, expressed proportion or employed multimedia methods in their paintings. Some used sponges, cotton swabs or their fingers. But it was also the emphasis on critical thinking and constant questioning that helped make Wang more curious about the things around her and think creatively. Those proved some of the most enriching parts of her education abroad. Zhang Yan, a Guangzhou-based jewelry designer, is also aware of the differences in art education between China and the West. She earned her bachelor's degree in industrial design at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. She furthered her studies at the School of Jewellery of Birmingham City University in the United Kingdom and received her master's degree in jewelry, silver goods and related products. "Art education in China focuses on the consequence," says the 29-year-old from Hunan province. "Teachers, parents and even students pay more attention on the finished product, the final result." In Western classes, the process of research and production is much more valued than the result, she says. Students' opinions are respected rather than simply judged as good or bad. In 1887, Abraham Kuyper helped lead a secession from the mainline Reformed church in the Netherlands. A few months later at the Free University in Amsterdam, Kuyper delivered a speech entitled Twofold Fatherland, in which he describes the earthly and heavenly citizenship of Christians, and how these realities impact our understanding of our responsibility and identity in this world. Given the rise of various forms of nationalism, populism, and tyranny around the world today, I can think of no message of his that is more pertinent. One the one hand, Kuyper is a patriot and a proud Dutchman. As he opens the address, he affirms that no flower exudes a fragrance other than that of its own kind, whether it is a rose, a daisy, or a lily; and no precious stone sparkles except in accordance with the special name it bears, whether a diamond, a ruby, or a jasper. So also no human beings live under the sun without belonging to their own country and their own people, be it Russian, Spanish, Belgian, or whatever other nation you might name. It is no different with us. We too are not just human beings, but come from the province of Zeeland, Friesland, or North or South Holland. But together we are people of the Netherlands, and as such, we are proud of our country and thank our God that the love of our native soil dwells innately in our lives. We also love the House of Orange-Nassau, and we continue to grow in our national history. No blow would destroy our national conscience more than if our existence as a people were destroyed and the Netherlands were to disappear from the ensemble of free European states. The natural identities and relationships of family, kin, and nation are given to us by God and ought to be respected. But as we learn in Scripture, these relationships are relativized and revalued in light of another identity, another citizenship: Yes, to come to the root of the matter, here below we have an earthly father, given to us by God. From his blood ours sprang forthwhether we still rejoice in his presence or whether we have already carried him out to the place of rest for the dead. But above, we have our Father in heaven, who will remain our Father eternally. Here below, there is a place where our cradle once stood after our first birth; but also above there is the counsel of peace from which our second birth sprang. Here below there is an inheritance that, whether large or small, becomes ours when our father dies; but also above there is an eternal inheritance in heaven which that better Father is bringing to us. And, if you wish, here we have our own house in which we live together with our nearest and dearest; but also above, in the city that has foundations, we have the Fathers house with its many rooms, in which the Lord also prepares a place for us and in which the communion of saints thrives eternally. On offer today are visions that either absolutize natural relationships or tend to radically devalue them. Scripture places such identities as penultimate, which is not to say they are meaningless, and Kuypers exposition of this proper valuation of nature in light of saving grace has a great deal to teach us. This is a vision that can correct the errors of a state sovereignty that places priority on political or national identity, whether on the basis of a party ideology or an ethnic identity. So when someone like Pastor Wu Weiqing from Beijings Haidian Church in China says that We have to remember first of all we are a citizen of this country. And we are a citizen of the Kingdom of God. That comes second, we can remember with Kuyper that this may be true in temporal terms but it is precisely backward from a spiritual and eternal perspective. Or when someone avers that a godless fellow-countryman is nearer to us than one of another race, even if he sings the same hymn or prays the same prayer, we can remember with Franz Hildebrandt that the Scripture teaches us Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother. Kuypers full speech is included in the recent On the Church volume of the Abraham Kuyper Collected Works in Public Theology series. Visitors at a US exhibition booth at an international education expo in Beijing in March. [Photo by A Qing/provided to China Daily] The number of international students going to the United States for high school is leveling off after years of rapid growth, according to a new study. Researchers at the nonprofit Institute of International Education in Washington say growth is slowing as students have more education opportunities in their home countries and abroad. But the US remains a top study destination for international students, researchers say. "The numbers have been growing at slower rates each year, but there's still definitely interest and growth in international students coming to earn a high school diploma in the US," says Christine Farrugia, author of the new study. American high schools enrolled nearly 82,000 international students last year, the study found, more than triple the number from 2004. From 2012 to 2013 alone, the number increased 8 percent, but by last year, the annual growth rate had fallen to just 1 percent. Much of the shift has been driven by students from China, who accounted for 42 percent of all international students at US high schools last year. Although their numbers surged in 2013 and 2014, researchers found, the growth began to taper off in 2016. It reflects a similar slowdown of Chinese students going to US colleges and universities, which some experts blame on China's cooled economy and increasing competition from schools in Australia and other nations. High schools in the US are also drawing large numbers of students from South Korea, Germany, Vietnam, Spain and Mexico. Among students who go to the US for high school, more are staying to earn a diploma rather than for short-term exchange programs, the study found. Farrugia says the shift reflects a growing number of students seeking to gain an edge when applying to US colleges. "They're coming to get that experience, to get that admissions advantage," she says. California has been the top destination for international high school students, with 12,200 last year, followed by New York, Texas, Florida and Massachusetts. Foreign students make up only half a percent of the more than 15 million high school students in the US, and they are required to cover their own costs. The vast majority of them attend private schools, and more than half attend schools with a religious affiliation. While growth among international students has slowed, the number of schools hosting them has continued to surge. The study found that 2,800 high schools enrolled international students last year, an increase of 26 percent since 2013. At the same time, US colleges are increasingly building ties with those schools as part of their work to recruit international students to campus, says Rajika Bhandari, head of research at the Institute of International Education. "There's a realization that recruiting future international students to colleges and universities in the US is not just going to be about going overseas," Bhandari says. "A lot of them are actually right here in our backyard." ASSOCIATED PRESS We can say that the continuous deepening of Sino-African media cooperation has played an important role in promoting each side's understanding of the other and strengthening the traditional friendship between China and Africa. However, at the same time, we also should realize that, compared to the rapid development of China-Africa relations and the flourishing political and economic cooperation between them, their knowledge of one another is far from enough. There is thus great potential for cooperation between Chinese and African media. Therefore, I would like to give three suggestions for deepening Sino-African media exchanges and cooperation: First, we should get to know each other better so we can deepen mutual trust. China and Africa have always been a community with a shared future. The most important function of media exchanges is to build mutual trust, something that is widely recognized by the two sides. Chinese and African media should adhere to the principle of sincerity, mutual respect, equal treatment and seeking common ground while respecting differences. They should continue strengthening their dialogues and frank communication. They also need to constantly improve the level of media exchanges and cooperation. The media on both sides should focus on major themes such as the Belt and Road Initiative and the docking of major strategies for the development of Africa, actively report on issues, and contribute to the development of Sino-African cooperation. Second, we have to work together to strengthen exchanges and constantly expand the results of our pragmatic cooperation. Chinese and African media should not only expand their cooperation on news coverage, but also on professional training and the cultivation of personnel. We need to strengthen the exchange and training process and deepen cooperation. We also need to work on the development of multimedia and the use of social media in order to support cooperation on broadening the means of reporting, promoting technology upgrading. Third, we need to focus on the future to promote links, cooperate and speak out on major issues. China and Africa are the major emerging markets and developing countries and regions. They also face a similar international public opinion environment. The media should cooperate and speak out on major issues related to the developing countries being treated fairly and justly. They should cooperate with each other to set the agenda and amplify the voice of developing countries in upholding their rights. Together they can reinforce the soft power of China and Africa, and create a more objective, just, balanced and diverse international public opinion environment. Guo Weimin is vice-minister of the State Council Information Office We must never lose sight of our role as society's watchdogs. We must hold our communities, our nations, BRICS, to account. We tell the stories wanting them to succeed, it is only right that we be vigilant in exposing cases where these stories have not succeeded because of individual greed or the corruption of officials. We live in an era of information overload, an era where social media has liberated consumers to such an extent that it is ironically more difficult than ever to tell stories that matter instead of stories that titillate. The other downside of this information free-for-all is the advent of an environment where rumour and conjecture, prejudice and bias, can manifest themselves as news, or what we now term fake news. The role of the traditional media has never been more important than it is now, to do what it is supposed to do, to mediate the often-confusing world outside in a way that is objective, fair and impartial, allowing real news to triumph in a sea of which is not always so obviously fake. As media from China and South Africa, we can use this opportunity to forge bonds, to learn from one another, to discuss the shortcomings we might have and find solutions to problems that are actually common to both of us, reflecting the needs of our realities. Kevin Ritchie, regional executive editor of Independent Media * * * China-African media exchanges are still far from realizing the expectations. Media coverage of Africa by Chinese media and China by African media is limited. Although some leading Chinese media have established a presence in Africa, the coverage, the allocation of their offices and journalists and the extent of their localization are far from enough to satisfy the thirst for understanding Africa. And on the other side, there are few media from African countries in China. The coverage about China mainly relies on research and study exchange programs between Chinese and African media. This objective reality means most news coverage between China and Africa resorts to Western media coverage. Kang Bing, deputy editor-in-chief and vice-president of China Daily * * * In the Chinese media, Africa can be summarized with a number of key phases: unique natural landscape, great development potential and plagued by diseases and wars. African media coverage of China is mainly the economy, politics, sports, culture and its science and technology. Appraisals on China are mainly affirmation of China's economic development, science and technology; affirmation of China's contribution to Africa in investment, assistance and trade; and affirmation that compared with Western countries, China is a more equal partner. The negative reports about China are mainly grabbing resources and providing shoddy commodities, which are partially due to the distorted coverage by Western media. If you want to know the real situation of a place, you have to see it for yourself. Therefore, I sincerely hope the Chinese and African media can have more mutual visits to improve each country's understanding of the other. An Wei, deputy president of Beijing Daily Group * * * Chinese and African media should strengthen their cooperation to break the stubborn images portrayed by some Western media. We should contribute to the real, considerable and overall coverage of China and Africa. Efforts should be made to set up a cooperation mechanism to expand media exchanges to show developing Africa, emerging Africa and multifaceted Africa to China with objective reports; help African countries express their views and tell their own stories; and give more coverage to China-Africa cooperation. He Shan, chief editor of the English Department of the China Internet Information Center * * * In Sub-Saharan Africa, the lack of infrastructure or modern infrastructure has been the major obstacle for the development of the region. Most countries rely on infrastructure that was inherited from colonial times and which is now dilapidated because funds are too scarce to meet the maintenance needs. This predicament has negatively affected the investment climate and jeopardized both economic development and existing poverty reduction strategies. China is now playing a major role in developing major highways, railways, irrigation projects on the African continent. Whenever you have development projects on this scale, there will always be a downside but we must critically ask ourselves the question: Does Africa benefit from China? In my view, the answer is yes. Of course, China seeks resources and African countries seek funds to develop their infrastructure, and the devil will always be in the detail for critics opposed to this partnership. Chrispin Mbagna Inambao, chief editor of the New Era, Namibia * * * Media cooperation is an important bridge for China and Africa to enhance their mutual understanding and promote their friendship. At the same time, stories of Chinese enterprises in Africa will bring more Chinese investment to Africa, which will promote and strengthen the economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa. Benjamin Thomas Mgana, chief editor of the Guardian, Tanzania * * * I am aware that Chinese media are more interested in telling the African stories from the African perspective rather than the hand-me-down scripts of the Western media which see nothing good about the continent but only stories of wars, conflicts, diseases, drought, famine, and crime. Chinese media present hope and portray the potential, as well as possibility of the countries on the continent to attain greatness. Olanrewaju Timothy Kola, The Sun, Nigeria * * * We hold active approach in reporting Africa which is completely different from the Western media represented by the BBC and CNN. Africa has its positive side. Many African countries are undertaking reforms and the speed of economic development ranks among the top. We encourage African people to tell their own stories, 90 percent of the employees of our English language channel are Africans from Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria. We pay attention to fostering young African media workers by cooperating with local universities. Pang Xinhua, Acting Bureau Chief of CCTV Africa * * * The forum gives us an opportunity to collectively reflect on how the cooperation between Africa and China is portrayed since we offer a platform and act as moderators of varying opinions on this. As a journalist, I see that African countries cherish the collaboration with China on various fronts. Let me propose that the media in Africa and East Africa need, in particular, to portray the positive context of Africa-China cooperation as a way to avoid animosity and ensure accountability on both sides. James Tasamba, News Editor of the New Times, Rwanda * * * I visited Beijing in September 2002. My perception about China changed after my visit. Before my visit, I thought the Chinese resented visitors. However, I found the Chinese to be warm and friendly, and I was impressed by how the Chinese are able to make long-term development plans. To enhance cooperation between China-Africa media, I propose a closer interaction between the Chinese and Kenyan media. Exchange programs by journalists from both countries would help journalists to understand the media terrain in these regions. Andrew Kagwa Gathaara, chief editor of the Standard, Kenya * * * Today, the world is moving at a faster pace, with the media being at the centre of it. The media, being the fulcrum of communication, is an important means to foster relations between Africa and China. We all agree that the media, being what it is, is able to bring about a more positive perception and a better understanding of the Chinese people to the African people and vice-versa. Future cooperation between Chinese and African media still has a number of areas to focus on. Exchange programs should be encouraged, as an ongoing activity. There should also be a good number of Chinese people attached to the media in Africa. This will give them a better understanding of African media operations. Judith Liemisa Konayuma, editor of the Zambia Daily Mail * * * China has rapidly become an important player in the capacity building of media practitioners in Ghana, and Africa. China offers scholarships to journalists to study in China for their master's degrees in various communication-related courses such as Development Communication and International Communication. Beneficiaries have demonstrated improvement in their output on return from their studies. Elvis Darko, chief editor of the Finder, Ghana * * * The unfortunate thing is that the media in Africa still looks to the West, with the belief that they are the only ones with strategies that work. No African country is in a win-win situation with the West, but they are with China. China is now a global economic and political powerhouse that designed its own media model that can be replicated by African countries to achieve success and prosperity. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Tendai Hildagard Manzvanzvike, chief editor of the Herald, Zimbabwe Editor's note: The China-Africa Media Forum hosted by the Information Office of the State Council and co-organized by Xinhua News Agency and Independent Media Group of South Africa was held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Monday. Below are excerpts from the speeches of the participants. China has proposed new concepts for China-Africa cooperation. In March 2013, immediately after taking office, President Xi Jinping paid a visit to Africa. During the visit, he said China would adhere to the principles of sincerity, practical results, affinity and good faith, and uphold the values of friendship, justice and shared interests in its relations with Africa, pointing out the direction for the development of China-Africa relations. To realize this goal, both China and Africa have agreed to safely, orderly and effectively promote our friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation through the new concepts of common, intensive, green, secure and open development. During the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Johannesburg Summit in December 2015, President Xi announced that over the next three years, China and Africa would implement 10 cooperation plans to accelerate Africa's industrialization and agricultural modernization, with China providing $60 billion in funding. And during the summit, it was unanimously agreed to upgrade China-Africa relations to comprehensive strategic and cooperative partnership, ushering ties into a new era. New breakthroughs have been made in China-Africa friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation. China always keeps to its faith and remains committed to efficiency and practicality in its cooperation with Africa. Through the joint efforts of China and African countries, progress has been made in the implementation of outcomes of the FOCAC Johannesburg Summit. We have completed a number of signature projects including the Addis Ababa-Djibouti Railway, the Nairobi-Mombasa Railway in Kenya, and the Abuja-Kaduna Rail Line in Nigeria. Rapid progress has been made in production capacity cooperation in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and the Republic of Congo. The construction of special economic zones and industrial parks in Ethiopia, Zambia, Uganda, the Republic of Congo and Egypt has achieved encouraging results, attracting more and more Chinese investors and creating a large number of jobs for the local communities. Today, we are proud to say that China has become Africa's largest trading partner, main investor and engineering contractor. In the first half of 2017, despite the economic headwinds, the China-Africa trade volume soared to $85.3 billion with a growth rate of 19 percent. The Chinese non-financial direct investment in Africa grew by 22 percent to exceed $1.6 billion. China-Africa mutually beneficial cooperation has entered a new stage of transformation and upgrading, shifting from government-led assistance to market-driven trade and enterprise investment, from general merchandise trade to production capacity cooperation and processing trade, from project contracting to investment, construction and operation. And we are confident that, by implementing the China-Africa Ten Cooperation Plans and the African Union's Agenda 2063, as well as China's Belt and Road Initiative, we can deliver more tangible benefits to both of our peoples. As journalists from China and Africa, you have personally witnessed the development of China-Africa cooperation. Over the years, the stories you have told have played an irreplaceable role in the development of the friendship and cooperation between China and Africa, and these efforts will always be profoundly remembered. But our media need to do more to better serve China-Africa relations. This is a pressing task for all of us, and here I wish to make three proposals with regard to the roles that our media can play. First, the Chinese and African media should promote China-Africa friendship and uphold our common interests. Our media should fully leverage their strengths in telling the true stories of the friendship between China and Africa and their mutually beneficial cooperation and help build up positive energy for China-Africa ties. Efforts should be made to establish platforms for Chinese and African people to learn more about each other, and help them realize that both China and Africa face the same tasks of reform, development and improving people's livelihoods. Our media should also give due expression to the legitimate demands of the developing countries, and firmly defend our common interests. Second, our media should strengthen their voices. China and Africa should deepen their media exchanges, share the best practices, encourage mutual learning and increase the number of journalists we send to each other. Only by working together can we boost our collective voice, and the voice of the developing countries in the international community. In the face of the vicious attacks and smears by the Western media, our media should come up with detailed facts and figures to refute their false claims. I'm confident that through our joint efforts, we can foster a new environment and narrative for China-Africa friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation. Third, our media should communicate strongly to the public the great opportunities of China-Africa development cooperation. That includes full, fair and objective knowledge of our mutual development demands, our respective strengths, and the historic opportunities they harbor. Our media should engage actively to call for implementation of the outcomes of the FOCAC Johannesburg Summit, and synergize Africa's development with China's Belt and Road Initiative, so as to create a positive and favorable environment for deeper friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Africa. The fast development of China-Africa cooperation makes it imperative that our media plays a greater role. Let us work together with a strong sense of sincerity, unity, and motivation, to contribute further to the common development of China and Africa. Lin Songtian is Chinese ambassador to South Africa Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford and Chief of the General Staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Gen. Fang Fenghui shake hands after signing an agreement to strengthen communication between the two militaries amid tensions concerning DPRK at the Bayi Building in Beijing, August 15. [Photo/Agencies] One day before US President Donald Trump signed a presidential memorandum allowing the US Trade Representative to consider launching an investigation into "unfair Chinese trade practices", National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster said China's help was vital to resolving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue and the United States was not looking for a trade conflict. Refusing to link trade with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's nuclear program, McMaster said the operative word is not "punish" but "to compete effectively", "to demand fair and reciprocal trade and economic relationships with not just China but with all countries". The top US security advisor's remarks seem to be at odds with that of his president, who has time and again made that link. Briefing reporters last week, Trump spoke of losing "hundreds of billions of dollars" a year in trade with China, hinting that he would "feel a lot differently toward trade" if Beijing helped Washington counter Pyongyang. This is a poor yet unsurprising attempt to make China the scapegoat for the escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, not least because President Xi Jinping spoke with Trump over the phone on Saturday and reiterated China and the US share a common interest in achieving denuclearization. Perhaps Trump is using such ploys to distract public attention from the dramatic personnel changes in the top echelons of the US administration and the major policymaking setbacks he has suffered in fields as varied as healthcare and immigration. In the face of mounting questions over his capability to govern, Trump has ramped up his rhetoric, not just criticizing the latter's progress in miniaturizing nuclear warheads for missile delivery but also whining about Beijing's "indifference". Ironically, on the same day that Trump signed the memorandum allowing the US to use a statute that has rarely been used since the 1990s and could lead to punitive tariffs on Chinese imports, China's Ministry of Commerce announced that it was placing "a full ban" on imports of iron ore, coal and marine products from the DPRK that would come into effect on Tuesday. Trade policy formed the bulk of Trump's rhetoric on his campaign trail last year, particularly his China-bashing rhetoric. He refrained from putting economic pressure on China during his first six months in office. But interest groups, which benefited in the presidential election, now seem to be coercing him into fulfilling his campaign promises. The possible use of Section 301 of the US Trade Act of 1974 marks a fresh attempt to make the complex regional security issue China's exclusive problem. It also indicates the US "expected more" from the 100-Day Action Plan agreed at the Xi-Trump meeting at Mar-a-Lago, Florida, and the China-US Comprehensive Economic Dialogue in Washington last month. There is no reason for Beijing to let retaliation get the better of its judgment, although it needs to oppose Washington's protectionist moves such as the 232 investigations into imports of aluminum and steel, which mainly target Chinese products. Of course, Beijing should demand clarification from the Trump administration and make clear that any rash action by the US in the name of "standing up for American businesses and workers" is bound to backfire. Even if the Aug 14 initiative prompts an immediate probe into China's practices in the intellectual property sector, it is likely to take more than a year to complete and would include negotiations with Beijing. Besides, the results may not necessarily be against Beijing. While China needs to exercise patience, it should demand convincing promises that the Trump administration will not link bilateral trade with the DPRK nuclear issue in practice. Yu Xiang is the director of the department of American economic studies at the Institute of American Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations. The article is an excerpt from his interview with China Daily's Cui Shoufeng. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gestures during a press conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, November 21, 2016. [Agencies] Over the past five years, the world has waited and hoped for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to acknowledge the truth in his perception of history. However, he has constantly let the world down. He did so again on Tuesday, when, at a national memorial service to mark the 72nd anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II, he once again shied away from Japan's wartime atrocities and failed to mention that he had "reflected" on his country's past aggression that brought untold suffering to Asian countries such as China and the Republic of Korea. Neither did he pledge his country will not engage in war again. The atrocities committed by the Japanese during their occupation of Asian countries are irrefutable. Much as they would like to bury them, the historical truths are well evidenced and documented. Any attempt by Japanese leaders to whitewash or even deny that part of history is an open defiance to peace-loving people around the world. If Abe continues to pretend that Japan's past aggression never happened, he will only reinforce his image as a politician willing stoop to any level, no matter how low, to realize his ambitions for Japan to play a bigger role in regional and world affairs. The deceitful paramnesia displayed by Abe and like-minded Japanese makes a mockery of this aspiration, and it is simply helping to cultivate a national image that is at odds with their assertions that Japan is a peace-loving country. Abe and his right-wing followers in Japan know well their repeated denial of historical truths have reopened wounds that had begun to heal. Their unwillingness to face up to the truths of history has soured Japan's relations with China and the ROK, and is pulling Japan further apart from them. It is no exaggeration to say the past five years have been among the darkest days in Sino-Japanese ties since the two established formal diplomatic ties. And Abe is painting the picture even darker by stubbornly refusing to listen to reason and adamantly leading Japan in the wrong direction. Abe has nothing to lose by changing tack and helping Japan lay down the burden of history; indeed, his country has much to gain as he would create the opportunity to reset Sino-Japanese ties. The door for putting China-Japan relations back onto a normal track remains open, Japan has to reflect sincerely upon history and face up to its past. Genetically modified corn grains. [Photo/IC] China should promote market access to its self-developed genetically modified (GM) carp, said Zhu Zuoyan, a researcher and academician at the Institute of Hydrobiology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xinhua reported on Aug 14. The academician made the statement against the backdrop of U.S. regulators' decision to allow genetically modified salmon, making it the first GM animal destined for human consumption recently. Zhu noted that China's GM carp not only meet regulatory requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, World Health Organization, and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on GM animals, but have been comprehensively studied. Zhu said relevant departments need to make regulations on market access to China's genetically modified agricultural and animal products, and the government, research institutions, and the media should try to scientifically dispel public doubts about GM products. Zhu's team started researching GM carp in 1983 and published their achievement of successfully breeding the world's first GM fish in 1985, three years before their Western peers. As the transgenic salmon was injected with a gene from Chinook salmon, the carps bred by Chinese scientists were given a gene from grass carp to speed up growth. The growth hormone in grass carp is broken down into amino acids through cooking, thus causing no harm to human health. The safety of the GM carp for food in terms of nutrients, toxicology, and sensitization was also assessed by the School of Basic Medical Sciences at Wuhan University and the China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment. As for ecological concerns over the possible consequences of GM carp being introduced into wild, the team said that the carp are less likely to survive and will not dominate the population and influence the original ecosystem. A "comfort women" statue is seen on a bus in Seoul, South Korea, Aug 13, 2017. Five buses installed with "comfort women" statues will be put into operation from Aug 14 to Sept 30 to commemorate the ladies who were used as sexual slaves during the Second World War and remind people of that very history. [Photo/Xinhua] NAIROBI - The Kenyan government on Tuesday announced the deregistration of two human rights and governance lobby groups, citing their failure to adhere to domestic tax and employment regulations. Executive Director of NGO Coordination Board, Fazul Mahamed ordered the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and African Center for Open Governance (AFRICOG) to shut down over violation of tax and employment laws alongside operating without a license. A statement from Mahamed singled out KHRC for opening and operating four illegal bank accounts while failing to remit taxes amounting to $1 million. The statement added the human rights lobby has employed expatriates without valid work permits in contravention of domestic laws. "Kenya human rights commission financial statements do not give a true and fair view of their financial position as of October 2016," said Mahamed while ordering state agencies to freeze accounts operated by the rights lobby and deport foreigners working there without work permits The official accused AFRICOG of operating without a registration certificate and presenting contradictory statements on its key activities. "We have noted that AFRICOG is not registered under the NGOs Coordination Act 1990 as required by law. It continues to operate as a charitable organization in direct contravention of Section 22 (1) which according to the Act is an offense punishable by law," said Mahamed. He directed the Central Bank of Kenya to freeze all bank accounts belonging to the governance lobby and ordered its directors to shut down its offices until further notice. However, officials from the lobby groups have accused the State of violating laid down procedures while ordering their deregistration. KHRC Executive Director George Kegoro said his organization has always filed tax returns since it commenced operations and had not contracted the services of foreigners without work permit. "We have always maintained the highest level of professional integrity and have always complied with Kenya's tax and labor laws," Kegoro said, adding that deregistration of the two lobby groups was an affront on Kenya's expanding democratic space. "Deregistering us is another chapter in the attempt to harass KHRC. KHRC maintains a high level of financial integrity and we are up to date in our filings. This is an act of intimidation," he added. Kegoro said Mohamed enjoys political defence, which is why he has not been sacked despite evidence that he forged documents. By Pan Zhongming in Johannesburg and Liu Xuan in Beijin | China Daily | Updated: 2017-08-15 09:21 Press has crucial role in building friendship, vice-minister says Media from China and Africa should become recorders and disseminators of China-Africa friendship and the witnesses and promoters of Sino-African cooperation, Guo Weimin, vice-minister of the State Council Information Office, said during the China-Africa Media Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Monday. About 20 editors from Namibia, Tanzania, Ghana, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Kenya, Zimbabwe and China participated in the forum, which is hosted by the Information Office of State Council. It aims to boost exchanges between Chinese and African media and strengthen fair media coverage of both sides. "Chinese and African media should promote pragmatic cooperation," Guo said. "Mutual understanding and recognition between the Chinese and African media are far from enough, and there is a large amount of room and potential for cooperation between Chinese and African media." Lin Songtian, Chinese ambassador to South Africa, also encouraged the media to tell truthful stories of China-Africa cooperation, offer guidance to public opinion, identify opportunities and promote mutually beneficial cooperation. "Media cooperation is an important bridge for China and Africa to enhance mutual understanding and promote friendship," said Benjamin Thomas Mgana, chief editor of The Guardian newspaper in Tanzania. "Stories of Chinese enterprises in Africa will bring more Chinese investment to Africa, which will promote and strengthen economic and trade cooperation between China and Africa." Kevin Ritchie, regional executive editor of Independent Media Group, a South African company, said: "We must never lose sight of our role as society's watchdogs. We must hold our communities, our nations, BRICS, to account." Kang Bing, deputy editor-in-chief of China Daily, said that China-African media exchanges fall bellow expectations. "Media coverage of both Africa by Chinese media and China by African media is greatly limited. Although some Chinese leading media have set up establishments in Africa, the coverage does not satisfy the thirst for understanding Africa. "On the other hand, there are few African media in China. The situation has made most news coverage default to Western media," Kang said. The forum is co-organized by Xinhua News Agency and Independent Media Group of South Africa. Contact the writers at panzhongming@chinadaily.com.cn (China Daily 08/15/2017 page3) The screenshot of the removal of Confederate statues. [Video from Reuters] Aug 15 (Reuters) - Undeterred by violence over the planned removal of a Confederate statue in Charlottesville, Virginia, municipal leaders in cities across the United States said this week they would step up efforts to pull such monuments from public spaces. The mayors of Baltimore and Lexington, Kentucky, said on Monday they would push ahead with plans to remove statues as a national debate flared anew over whether monuments to the Confederacy are symbols of hate or heritage. A rally by white nationalists protesting plans to remove a statue of General Robert E. Lee, commander of the pro-slavery Confederate army in the U.S. Civil War, sparked clashes with anti-racism demonstrators on Saturday. A woman was killed and 19 people were injured when a car plowed into a crowd of counter-protesters. Officials in Memphis, Tennessee, and Jacksonville, Florida, announced new initiatives on Monday aimed at taking down Confederate monuments. And Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, a Republican, urged lawmakers to rid the state's Capitol of a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and early member of the Ku Klux Klan. "This is a time to stand up and speak out," Lexington Mayor Jim Gray said in an interview on Monday. He brought forward the announcement of his city's efforts after the Charlottesville violence. Saturday's clashes between white supremacists and counter protesters in Charlottesville, in which two police officers were also killed when their helicopter crashed, appeared to have accelerated the push to remove memorials, flags and other reminders of the Confederate cause. Some opponents took matters into their own hands. Demonstrators stormed the site of a Confederate monument outside a courthouse in Durham, North Carolina, on Monday and toppled the bronze statue from its base. Local television news footage showed protesters taking turns stomping and kicking the fallen statue as others cheered. Durham County Sheriff Mike Andrews said in a statement on Tuesday that his office would seek vandalism charges against those involved. The drive by civil rights groups and others to do away with Confederate monuments gained momentum after an avowed white supremacist murdered nine African-Americans at a Charleston, South Carolina, church in 2015. The shooting rampage ultimately led to the removal of a Confederate flag from the statehouse in Columbia. RALLYING POINTS In all, as of April, at least 60 symbols of the Confederacy had been removed or renamed across the United States since 2015, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups. But such efforts also have made Confederate flags and memorials a rallying point for white supremacists and other extreme right groups, according to Ryan Lenz, a spokesman for the center. Opponents of Confederate memorials view them as an affront to African-Americans and ideals of racial diversity and equality. Supporters argue they represent an important part of history, honoring those who fought and died for the rebellious Southern states in the Civil War. New Orleans' efforts to dismantle four Confederate statues sparked protests and litigation that became so contentious that crews waited until the middle of the night to remove a 14-foot-tall (4.2-meter-tall) bronze likeness of Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard on horseback in May. The violence in Charlottesville is unlikely to bolster the argument for maintaining the monuments as items of historical value, said Carl Jones, chief of heritage operations for the Sons of Confederate Veterans. But he said he would continue to make that case. "Where does it stop? The Egyptian pyramids were built by slaves. Do we tear those down?" Jones said in a telephone interview. Egyptian archaeologists, however, say tombs found near the Great Pyramids prove they were built by free workers, not slaves. Across the country, 718 Confederate monuments and statues remain, with nearly 300 of them in Georgia, Virginia or North Carolina, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. There are also 109 public schools named for Robert E. Lee, Confederate President Jefferson Davis or other leading figures of the Civil War-era South, the group said. Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh said on Monday she would move forward in removing several statutes, including those of Lee and Stonewall Jackson. She stopped short of endorsing calls by some city council members for the monuments to be destroyed. Memphis officials said the city would take legal action to get state approval to remove a Confederate statue there. The city council voted to remove it in 2015, but the effort was blocked by the state historical commission, local media said. In Kentucky, Gray said he had heard opposition to his plans but that he had also received offers to pay for the statutes to be relocated as early as this fall. "We expected criticism," he said. "It's a challenging and polarizing time - and issue." (Reporting by Chris Kenning; Additing reporting by Steve Gorman; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Richard Chang and Frances Kerry) A tourist walks past a papered-over column where a vandal scrawled obscene graffiti in spray paint on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, US August 15, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] WASHINGTON - The Lincoln Memorial in the US capital was spray painted with expletive graffiti that was discovered on Tuesday, days after violence broke out in Charlottesville, Virginia, over an American Civil War-era monument. The graffiti appeared to read "fuck law" spray painted in red on a column of the memorial to Abraham Lincoln, the American president who signed the Emancipation Proclamation freeing slaves in the United States. The National Park Service said in a statement that it was removing the graffiti from the monument and a Smithsonian Institution directional sign blocks away that was also vandalized with spray paint. The US Park Police said in the statement that they were investigating. The graffiti marks the second time this year that the Lincoln Memorial, one of Washington, DC's major tourist attractions, was defaced. In February, the monument to Lincoln, the Washington Monument and the World War II Memorial, were vandalized with a marker pen. The Park Service said that a monument preservation crew was removing the graffiti at the Lincoln Memorial on Tuesday using a mild paint stripper. A Park Service photo showed the graffiti on a column of the memorial, and Twitter erupted with opinions on whether it said "law" or "Islam." "Could the person who defaced the Lincoln Memorial please come back and write more clearly so we know who to be mad at," comedy writer Chase Mitchell wrote on Twitter. Lincoln was president during the 1861-65 Civil War, and the vandalism was found days after deadly weekend violence at a far-right rally at a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia. The unrest has intensified a national debate over whether monuments to the pro-slavery Confederacy are symbols of heritage or hate. REUTERS US President Donald Trump answers questions about his response to the violence, injuries and deaths at the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville as he talks to the media in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York, US, August 15, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that both the left and the right contributed to the violence in Charlottesville in Virginia state over the weekend. "I think there's blame on both sides. I have no doubt about it, and you don't have any doubt about it either," Trump said during a press conference in Trump Tower in New York city. "You had a group on one side that was bad, you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, but nobody wants to say that," Trump said. Trump said the alt-left group were also "charging at the alt-right with clubs." "Do they have any problems? I think they do," he said. Further questioning the leftist groups who rallied for taking down a statue of Confederate general Robert Lee in Charlottesville, Trump said the trend of abolishing memorials of figures associated with slavery was concerning. "So this week it's Robert E. Lee. I noticed that Stonewall Jackson's coming down. I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after?" he said, adding "where does it stop?" Trump also defended his initial response to the violence by saying that he was avoiding jumping to conclusion before gathering all the facts. Trump came under attacks Saturday after stating that "many sides" displayed violence in the town which claimed three lives. He clarified on Monday that white supremacists, neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan were among the groups that instigated the violence. Brexit Secretary David Davis leaves a television studio in central London, Britain August 15, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] LONDON - The British government on Tuesday unveiled a blueprint setting out Britain's future customs relationship with the European Union (EU), the first in a series of official document to outline the government's Brexit strategy. The paper puts forward a transitional customs arrangement between the United Kingdom (UK) and the EU, with customs requirements as frictionless as possible. Although the paper does not indicate how long an interim arrangement will last for, British Brexit secretary David Davis told media here Tuesday that it would continue for two-years or less. The proposal has to be agreed by the EU. The British Department for Exiting the EU (DExEU) said the aim of the proposal is to continue some of the existing arrangements Britain already has with the EU. It would, said DExEU, reduce or remove barriers to trade through new arrangements, and adopt technology-based solutions to make it easier for businesses to comply with customs procedures. Britain is scheduled to leave the EU in March 2019 when it will cease to be a member of the European Single Market and the European Customs Union which allows tariff-free flow of goods throughout the 500-million population trading bloc. Last year, British imports and exports from the EU totalled some 718 billion USdollars, said a government spokesman. DExEU said a new customs partnership with the EU, by aligning Britain's approach to the customs border, would remove the need for a UK-EU customs border. One potential approach, the official statement said, would involve Britain mirroring the EU's requirements for imports from the rest of the world where the final destination is the EU. The paper published by the government is the first major proposal by Britain on its future trading relationship with the EU. It is also the first of a series of papers on Britain's future partnership with the EU. The first paper also sets out new details on an interim period with the EU. The proposed model, which would mean close association with the EU customs union for a time-limited period, would ensure that UK businesses only have to adjust once to a new customs relationship. This would minimize disruption and offering business a smooth and orderly transition, said DExEU. Rescuers work at the site where a 200-year-old oak tree collapsed during a religious procession on the Portuguese island of Madeira, Portugal, on Aug 15, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua] LISBON - Thirteen people are now confirmed dead and 49 others injured after a large tree collapsed on the Portuguese island of Madeira around midday Tuesday, local media reported. The incident occurred in the Largo da Fonte square in the Monte neighborhood of Funchal, capital of the autonomous region of Madeira, as crowds assembled for the Our Lady of the Mount religious procession. Ten people were killed instantly and a further three died in hospital. One child is confirmed to be among the dead and six of the injured are said to be in a serious condition. Regional Secretary of Health, Pedro Ramos, has confirmed that five people of German, French, Dutch and Hungarian nationals are among those injured. It is not yet known why the tree fell. President of the Regional Government, Miguel Albuquerque, refused to be drawn on speculation that the tree was in a poor state of repair or whether another tree fell three months ago. He said that the priority for the moment was to support the injured and the families of the victims, and he declared three days of mourning throughout the region, starting on Wednesday. Locals told the Portuguese Lusa News Agency that the tree, a 200-year-old oak, had been tied back with metal wire for the past two years, but not tied to anything, and that the trunk was hollow. The Funchal Town Hall has confirmed that specialists will examine the scene of the tragedy Wednesday and seek to establish a cause, working in conjunction with the Institute of Agronomy. A source at the Atorney General's Office informed Lusa that the public prosecution service has setup an inquest. Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa expressed his condolences to the victims and President Marcelo Rebola de Sousa flew straight to the island. "What has happened has shocked me. I really felt it. There's a need to show support to the people of Madeira," he said. "At this moment, a moment of pain, what's important is to show solidarity, offer comfort and be with those who are suffering," he added. Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang (L) and Nepali Deputy Prime Minister Bijay Kumar Gachhadar hold a meeting in Kathmandu, Nepal, on Aug 15, 2017. [Photo/VCG] KATHMANDU - Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and Nepali Deputy Prime Minister Bijay Kumar Gachhadar agreed on Tuesday to make joint efforts to further advance pragmatic cooperation between the two countries. Calling China and Nepal trustworthy friends and partners for cooperation of mutual benefit, Wang said China is willing to join hands with Nepal to implement consensus reached between leaders of the two neighbors so as to promote their pragmatic cooperation under the framework of Belt and Road Initiative. The Chinese vice premier called on the two sides to expand bilateral trade and investment, increase connectivity including construction of railways, roads and ports, and enhance cooperation in oil and gas, electricity and clean energy. "China is ready to help Nepal increase its self-sufficiency of energy," Wang said. The Chinese vice premier also urged the two countries to deepen people-to-people exchanges, cooperation between local governments, and collaboration in promoting Nepal's tourism in China. Wang said China will increase cooperation in health care with Nepal and conduct joint research on improving quality of drinking water in Nepali cities. Expressing condolences and sympathies to victims of recent flood disasters in Nepal, Wang said China will continue to support Nepal in disaster prevention and reconstruction. For his part, Gachhadar, who is also the minister for federal affairs and local development, said Nepal and China share a long history of friendship and pragmatic cooperation between the two countries has made fruitful achievements. Gachhadar expressed gratitude for the assistance that the Chinese side had offered to Nepal's socio-economic development, especially assistance to the country's disaster relief and reconstruction efforts. He noted that Nepal looks forward to further expanding cooperation with China under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, enhancing bilateral trade and investment, strengthening interconnectivity, and pushing forward cooperation in such sectors as transportation infrastructure, energy, disaster prevention and relief. Gachhadar added that Nepal is willing to provide better investment environment for Chinese enterprises, and he expects more Chinese tourists to visit the Himalayan country. Also on Tuesday, Wang met respectively with chairman of Communist Party of Nepal (CPN Maoist Center) and former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, and CPN-UML (Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist and Leninist) chief and former prime minister Khadga Prasad Oli, on strengthening cooperation. Photo taken on Aug 15, 2017 shows the mudslide site in Freetown, Sierra Leone. [Photo/Xinhua] FREETOWN - Sierra Leone's President Ernest Bai Koroma has declared seven days of mourning across the country with immediate effect. The president made the announcement through national TV, the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Corporation on Tuesday after a devastating mudslide early Monday killed nearly 300 people on the outskirts of capital city Freetown. According to a statement from the Office of the President, the national mourning will start from Aug 16 to Aug 22, during which period all flags would be flown at half mast. The general public is also requested to observe a minute of silence at 12 midday on Wednesday, the statement said. "The President has further decided to invoke MAC-C (Military Aid to Civil Community) and to raise the national security threat level to level 3 in direct response to the unfolding emergency situation," the statement said. The government also requests bereaved families to continue to identify their fallen loved ones at the Connaught Hospital Mortuary between 9 am and 5 pm Wednesday at the mortuary where they will be advised on the burial procedure, according to the statement. It said that unidentified corpses will be given dignified burial at Waterloo between Aug 17 and Aug 18. It added that the government will continue to provide the public with regular updates on the situation. Deputy Minister of Information and Communication, Hon. Cornnelius Deveaux told journalists earlier Tuesday in an emergency press briefing that the total number of deaths reported at the Connaught Hospital is 297, including 109 children, 83 women and 105 men. He said the search to identify corpses and possible survivors is still in progress as hundreds more are feared to remain missing after the mudslide hit. London exhibition aims to promote and improve mutual understanding An exhibition of art from China showing at the Mall Galleries in London that focuses on world peace and development is open to the public until Friday. Art& PeaceAn Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Art, has not been seen before in the UK capital and is part of the China Artists Association's China Arts World Tour. A sculpture on display at the show. [China Daily] The 40 pieces on display are highlights from Beijing International Art Biennale exhibitions held between 2003 and 2015. The exhibition aims to promote and strengthen mutual understanding and exchanges between the China Artists Association and fine-art communities around the world. Works include ink paintings, oil paintings, wood block prints, sculptures, watercolor paintings and mixed media, all by renowned artists. At the show's unveiling, Liu Xiaoming, China's ambassador to the United Kingdom, described the contemporary art exhibition as representing the Chinese people's keen aspiration for peace. "These works showcase China's traditions and modernity and the harmonious co-existence between man and nature," he said. "They are meant to extol life and nature and to express the Chinese people's love and pursuit of peace." Liu noted that the exhibition is running at a time of rising uncertainties and instabilities around the world and said the event "reflects the common wish of humanity for lasting peace in the world". "Through a rich variety of artistic expressions, this exhibition emphasizes China's commitment to building a community of shared future for mankind," Liu said. "It conveys a profound reflection by Chinese artists, and their aspiration for world peace and development." He said he believes visitors will "gain a deeper understanding of the value of peace, about the healing power of art, and about the importance for humanity to pursue and uphold peace together". Also addressing visitors at the opening, Liu Dawei, chairman of the China Artists Association, stressed that communication and understanding is a core value for any bilateral relationship. "That is why it is so important for us to have cultural exchanges," he said. "The works of art from some of the artists reflect historical moments, daily lives, and natural scenery, and some also show social progress." Suzanna Mu, the event's organizer and managing director of Sino-European Arts, said she was delighted with the level of support for the exhibition, which she began putting together a year ago. JOHANNESBURG - The Chinese and African media houses on Monday agreed to deepen cooperation in information sharing, best practice and training to improve the dissemination of information about Sino-Africa relations. At the China-Africa Media Forum held Monday in Johannesburg, over 40 media delegates from China and 11 African countries gathered to explore new areas of cooperation. Guo Weimin, deputy director of the State Council Information Office of China, said the media should complement the political, economic and people friendships which are existing. Chinese and African media should counter the Western media which tend to portray the continent as that characterized by wars, diseases and poverty. "The Chinese and the African media should counter the Western media stereotype. You should report truthfully about the Sino-Africa relations. The Chinese and African media should walk hand in hand and strengthen reporting in international affairs and make our voices heard on issues of fairness and rationality," said Guo. Guo called on Chinese and African media to forge new structures on cooperation in the media and challenge the monopoly of the western media. Lin Songtian, Chinese Ambassador to South Africa, said the media should articulate success stories of both partners. He said China is in Africa for a win win situation to help build infrastructure, transfer skills and create jobs, and the media should work towards strengthening the Sino-Africa relations. "African and Chinese media should work towards common development. We have to build the positive image of our relations, share our common values, friendship and common interest. Both sides should stand up and loudly tell people of the world who their true and reliable friend is," said Lin. Lin challenged the Western media to visit the quality infrastructural projects in Kenya, Zambia, Ethiopia and other African countries so as to report factually. Tendai Manzvanzvike, Zimbabwe's Herald chief editor said Sino-Africa cooperation is required to break the Western media monopoly which is meant to suit a particular agenda. "No African country is in a win-win situation with the West, but they have with China. Opportunities abound for media cooperation, opportunities that can be vehicles for development and prosperity. One of the issues that the African media has to learn from its Chinese counterparts is reporting on developmental issues, reports that would enable development-oriented policy making by governments," she added. She hailed China for improving the information technology infrastructure thereby benefiting the African media. The Zimbabwean praised China for offering African media practitioners training and refresher courses. Manzvanzvike suggested that resources should be availed to enable more Chinese media practitioners reporting the African story from African media houses, and vice versa. "Instead of having a few media personnel trained in Mandarin, it should be a major requirement that schools that offer journalism and media studies include foreign languages, and one of the key languages should be Mandarin," she said. Kevin Ritchie, regional executive editor of Independent Media, said South Africa's BRICS membership has enabled the country an opportunity to harness with a different part of the world particularly nations with very similar backgrounds and challenges. "BRICS not only offers us a very real opportunity to mitigate these risks both economically and socially, but in particular by being able to provide and contribute to a different narrative, which is precisely where we come in as the media. There are many outside of the BRICS arc, particularly in the traditional poles of power, who have a vested interest in seeing BRICS fail or ignoring it altogether," he added. Ritchie said media organizations within BRICS are duty bound to place the bloc story on the agenda. They (BRICS media) have a duty to report about economic opportunities and other success stories. "As media from China and South Africa, we can use this opportunity to forge bonds, to learn from one another, to discuss the shortcomings we might have and find solutions to problems that are actually common to both of us, reflecting the needs of our realities," said Ritchie. Andrew Kagwa Gathaara, chief editor of Kenya's Standard said Chinese media practitioners are currently on attachment in African media houses, and they have employed Africans to tell their own story. The Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth, is towed by tugs as it arrives at Portsmouth Naval base, its new home port, in Portsmouth, Britain, August 16, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] Portsmouth - Britain's most advanced and biggest warship, the 65,000-tonne aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, berthed for the first time at its home port of Portsmouth on Tuesday. The 280-metre (920-foot) vessel entered the harbour on England's southern coast at 0610 GMT, greeted by thousands of spectators. HMS Queen Elizabeth is the largest warship ever built for the Royal Navy, according to the Ministry of Defence. "Today we welcome our mighty new warship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, to her home for the very first time," said Defence Secretary Michael Fallon. "She is Britain's statement to the world: a demonstration of British military power and our commitment to a bigger global role." The ship is currently undergoing sea trials. It cannot yet deploy planes, but flying trials from its deck are due to begin in 2018. It took eight years to build HMS Queen Elizabeth, with construction taking place in six cities and involving 10,000 people. Along with its sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, it is part of a defence programme worth 6 billion pounds ($7.65 billion). Commanding officer Captain Jerry Kyd told the BBC that the carrier "sends the right signals to our allies and indeed potentially to our enemies that we mean business." KABUL - The Afghan Interior Ministry has devised and implemented a new plan for Kabul to ensure security in the national capital and adjoining areas, the Government Media and Information Center (GMIC) said on Wednesday. Giving priorities to providing security to diplomatic enclaves, the GMIC said the security plan would cover Kabul and adjoining districts and provinces close to the capital city. "Up to 26 checkpoints have been placed around the capital's diplomatic areas on priority basis and 10 more mobile-checkpoints have been considered to patrol the roads and streets leading to the capital city," acting Kabul police chief Salim Ehsas said in a statement. The new security measures have been put in place after series of terrorist attacks in Kabul, including a deadly tanker bomb in diplomatic area on May 31 that killed more than 150 people and injured hundreds others besides destroying and damaging several houses at nearby including the German embassy. In addition to increasing security checkpoints and patrol teams, scanners have also been installed around the diplomatic areas and sensitive sites to monitor the situation around the clock, the statement said. The police official also noted that as part of the plan, four entrance gates to Kabul city have been equipped with scanning machines to screen the vehicles and it will be also extended to other areas of Kabul. United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, flanked by US Chief Negotiator John Melle and US General Counsel Stephen Vaughn, speaks at a news conference prior to the inaugural round of North American Free Trade Agreement renegotiations in Washington, US, August 16, 2017.[Photo/Agencies] The United States on Wednesday laid down a tough line for modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement, demanding major changes to the pact that would reduce US trade deficits with Mexico and Canada and increase US content for autos. Speaking at the start of the talks in Washington, US President Donald Trump's top trade adviser, Robert Lighthizer, said Trump was not interested in "a mere tweaking" of the 23-year-old pact, which he blames for hundreds of thousands of job losses to Mexico. "We feel that NAFTA has fundamentally failed many, many Americans and needs major improvement," Lighthizer, the US Trade Representative, said in an opening statement. Canadian and Mexican officials defended NAFTA and said its benefits and structure should be preserved while it is modernized. Lighthizer said he would demand increased regional and US content in autos produced in the region, the largest source of a $64-billion US goods trade deficit with Mexico last year. He also said the United States would insist on strong provisions governing labor and currency practices. "We need to ensure that the huge trade deficits do not continue and we have balance and reciprocity. This should be periodically reviewed," said Lighthizer. "The rules of origin, particularly on autos and auto parts, must require higher NAFTA content and substantial US content." The demand is at odds with auto producers and suppliers in the region, who are concerned that increasing local content requirements will raise their costs and make their factories less competitive with those in Asia and Europe. Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, who suggested this week her country could walk away if the US insisted on scrapping a NAFTA mechanism to resolve trade disputes, also took a swipe at the US fixation on cutting its trade deficits. REUTERS Senior diplomats have embarked on a new round of talks to tackle the simmering tensions on the Korean Peninsula, with frequent phone conversations taking place in the past 48 hours to exchange views among the major parties involved. Seouls Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday that Vice-Foreign Minister Lim Sung-nam spoke with his US counterpart, Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan, on Tuesday night for about 15 minutes. According to Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency, Sullivan emphasized that it is Washingtons stance to seek all diplomatic and economic measures to peacefully resolve the problem. In Beijing, Foreign Minister Wang Yi also had two phone calls on Tuesday with his counterparts from Russia and Germany. There have been easing signs in the tense situation, but the August crisis has not ended, and all parties should work together on that, Wang told Sigmar Gabriel, the German vice-chancellor and foreign minister. Gabriel said all parties should learn from Europes painful history to prevent the situation on the Korean Peninsula from spiraling out of control. In talks with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, Wang said China and Russia should join hands to control the situation. Lavrov said the upcoming US-Republic of Korea joint military exercise might again trigger a crisis. The phone calls came as tensions mounted amid a war of words between Washington and Pyongyang. Pyongyang earlier said it was considering firing missiles into the waters off the US territory of Guam. The US warned such an action would be met militarily. Shi Yongming, a researcher at the China Institute of International Relations, said the easing signs Wang mentioned refer to Washingtons open stance on talks with Pyongyang and Pyongyangs remarks of delaying its enveloping fire of missiles around Guam. Wangs calls with Russia and Germany show that China is making all-out efforts to ease tensions, and Beijing discussed the issue with Berlin because they had effective cooperation on the Iran nuclear issue, Shi said. Wang Junsheng, a researcher of Asia-Pacific studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the repeated occurrence of the August crisis on the Peninsula is closely related to the US-ROK joint exercise conducted every year. Zhang Yunbi and Zhou Jin contributed to the story. A state government in India has passed a contentious bill forbidding the coercion of conversion into another religion, which some say can be abused to harass religious minority groups. The bill, known as the Freedom of Religion Bill 2017, was passed by the Jharkhand Assembly on Saturday, and now will be sent for the governors approval. Section 3 of the bill forbids the attempt to convert anyone by use of force or by allurement or by any fraudulent means, those who violate the bill could be required to pay a fine of 50,000 Rupees, be imprisoned for three years, or both. Minors, women, or people from the Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe could be required to pay a fine of up to 10,000 Rupees, be imprisoned for four years, or both. Those who voluntarily wish to convert must first receive permission from the deputy commissioner, who would then investigate what the circumstances were surrounding the conversion, according to The Telegraph. Six other states in India have similar laws, according to the International Christian Concern (ICC), a human rights group focusing on religious persecution. However, a lack of clarity on the definition of certain terms in the laws, such as coercion or force has led radical Hindu groups to abuse the laws against non-Hindu groups including Christians, the ICC said. Often, these laws provide an easy excuse for radicals to attack Christian leaders with impunity, said William Stark, the regional manager for the ICC. One simply needs to claim the pastor was forcefully converting an individual following an assault. As a result, instead of the pastors assailants being arrested, its the assailed pastor who is arrested by police following an attack. With attacks on Christians skyrocketing, the adoption of a law that would only incite more violence seems to be another step away from India enforcing religious freedom for all, Stark added. Stephen Marandi, the senior MLA of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) party, described the bill as being fraught with problems, and argued that the constitution already protects religious freedom, and questioned whether the bill was necessary, the Indian Express reported. The bill can be misused to harass people, Marandi added. Meanwhile, those who support the bill argue that people in poverty have been forced to convert, and that the bill is a measure to prevent that from happening. We havent banned wishful religious conversions. It only aims to tighten the noose round the neck of individuals and organisations who are taking advantages of ignorance and poverty of poor people, mainly tribals and dalits living in remote areas, Raghubar Das, the chief minister, told The Telegraph. Opponents such as JMM Executive President Hemant Soren argued: The way the bill has been advertised is wrong. I have studied in a missionary-run school why did I not change my religion? Soren was quoted as saying by Gulf News. The US State Department kept its annual assessment of international religious freedom unusually short this year, reiterating the countrys commitment to the cause and calling out ISIS as perpetrators of genocide. Over the past five years, the executive summaries for the departments annual religious freedom report have averaged more than 5,000 words. They typically detail problems such as North Koreas religious prisoners, Boko Haram attacks in Nigeria, and the instability caused by Islamic extremism in the Middle East. This year, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson skipped the lengthy executive summary and laid out a preface of just 440 words, naming only a single concern in his written introduction: ISIS. ISIS has and continues to target members of multiple religions and ethnicities for rape, kidnapping, enslavement, and death, wrote the Trump administration appointee and former Exxon CEO. The protection of these groupsand others who are targets of violent extremismremains a human rights priority for the Trump administration. The report was also a few months later than normal, released on August 15 rather than by May 1. In his remarks, Tillerson repeated the genocide designation for ISIS and also referenced the nomination of Governor Sam Brownback as the departments ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom. The annual report reviews the state of religious freedom in 199 countries. CT has highlighted six places where Christians continue to face significant barriers to worshiping freely: Iraq, Indonesia, India, Russia, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia. Deadly Terror in Iraq ISIS was responsible for half of all verified casualties (5,403) in Iraq during the first half of 2016, as the group kidnapped, harassed, and killed those of non-Sunni Muslim faiths (or Sunnis who disagreed with their extreme interpretation), the report stated. Christian leaders count fewer than 250,000 Christians left in Iraq, down from at least 800,000 prior to 2002. Of those, only about 50 families are evangelical Christians, down from about 5,000 in 2013. Last year, Secretary of State John Kerry declared the situation a genocide. Earlier this year, Iraq made a deal with the US to accept deporteeswhich it hadnt done since 2010if the US would take it off the list of seven countries on Trumps travel ban. More than 1,400 Iraqis are on the deportation list, including more than 100 Christians rounded up near Detroit. (Their deportation has since been stayed until they can argue their casethat in Iraq they would face torture or deathin court.) Iraq is No. 7 on Open Doorss World Watch List of the hardest places to be a Christian, and on Tier 2 of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) latest rankings of Countries of Particular Concern. It was also one of the countries sending the most asylum seekers to Europe in 2015, according to the Pew Research Center. Its government restrictions jumped to Pews very high level in 2015; its social restrictions were already very high. Fears of Radicalization in Indonesia US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also picked up several Indonesian Christians this summer, despite telling them four years ago that they would not be deported back to the majority-Muslim archipelago. The same day they were arrested, the first Christian governor of Jakarta was jailed for blasphemy just weeks after losing a gubernatorial reelection bid. In April 2016, a 60-year-old Christian woman was caned for selling alcohol, and bureaucratic roadblocks were thrown up against multiple attempts to build Christian churches, the State Department reported. The demonstrations against the Christian governor, along with a January 2016 high-profile ISIS bombing in Jakarta, have led to fears that Indonesia is becoming more radicalized, even though the country remains home to one of the worlds largest, most peaceful Islamic organizations. President Joko Widodo has encouraged tolerance for Christians; while social hostility against Christians dropped a little from 2014 to 2015, Indonesia still made Pews list of top 5 countries with the highest government restrictions. It is also ranked No. 46 on the World Watch List, and in USCIRFs second tier of Countries of Particular Concern. Hindu Nationalism in India India is also in that second tier. Restrictions and abuse directed at Christians continues to rise following Prime Minister Narendra Modis 2014 election. Incidents of abuse against Christians went up to 177 in 2015, then rose to 300 in 2016, the Evangelical Fellowship of India reported. Over the past five years, India has risen from No. 31 to No. 15 on the World Watch List. Protestant Christian communities are the second main target [after Hindu converts to Christianity] because of their involvement in outreach activities and conversions, Open Doors stated. They face regular attacks by radical Hindus. The State Department detailed some of those attacks: A Christian prayer hall was burned down. A mob attacked a pastor and members of his congregationincluding a 4-year-old girlfor allegedly trying to convert Hindus. A group surrounded a Vacation Bible School program and shouted slurs at nearly 200 children. In fact, despite the undisguised Hindu nationalist bent of the government, Pew rates Indias social hostilities against religion as more intense than government restrictions. Both are high enough that their combined levels push India into Pews top 5 countries (among the worlds 25 most populous nations) for total government restrictions and social hostilities over religion. One example of government restrictions: This spring, Compassion International was finally forced out of Indiaafter months of attempted negotiationsthrough financial regulations meant to control NGOs that the government disagrees with philosophically. This summer, India elected another Hindu nationalist as president. Ram Nath Kovind previously said that Islam and Christianity are alien to India, undeserving of the benefits assured to others. However, today Modi said that India will not tolerate violence in the name of faith. Government Restrictions in Russia Russia has expanded restrictions on any faith outside of the Russian Orthodox Church, which makes up about 70 percent of the population and is closely affiliated with the government and traditional Russian identity. In 2012, Russia required foreign missionaries to file detailed reports and subject themselves to government raids and audits; since then, the NGO sector shrunk by a third. In 2016, the government restricted domestic evangelism as well, sliding laws against sharing faithin homes, online, or anywhere but recognized church buildingsinto an anti-terrorism bill. The State Department noted those prosecuted under the new lawincluding two Baptists, five Pentecostals, two Seventh-day Adventists, and five other Protestants. This year, Russias Supreme Court labeled Jehovahs Witnesses an extremist group and banned its 2,000 congregations, authorizing the government to seize all property. Russias continued use of its anti-extremism law as a tool to curtail religious freedoms is one of the reasons USCIRF has recommended for the first time that Russia be designated as a Country of Particular Concern, USCIRF noted in its report. Pew found that Russia and France were the only two European countries with more than 200 cases of government force against religious groups in both 2014 and 2015. Social hostilities rose from 2014 to 2015, when Russia appeared on both the very high categories for both government restrictions and social hostilities. However, Russia didnt make the World Watch List in 2017, though Open Doors noted in 2016 that it was on the cusp. Imprisoned Pastor in Turkey An attempted coup in Turkey last July sent the government into a state of emergency thats lasted more than a year. In the months immediately after, the government arrested more than 40,000 people, including one American missionary who had worked in the country more than 20 years. Pastor Andrew Brunsons timeline was laid out by the State Departmentarrested with his wife on October 7 for suspected ties to the rebellion, kept in prison when his wife was released on October 19, charged with being a terrorist on December 9. The United States continues to advocate for the release of Pastor Andrew Brunson, who has been wrongfully imprisoned in Turkey, Tillerson told reporters. Brunsons wife Norine has been asking for American intervention. The political changes, along with ethnic conflict and the presence of radical Islam, bumped Turkey from No. 45 to No. 37 on the World Watch List this year. It may be short-lived. In the year before the failed coup, Pew said that Turkeys government restrictions against religion had experienced a modest decrease. And after the initial rash of arrests, Turkey has taken some positive steps to improve religious freedom conditions, USCIRF said in April. Turkey has been a Tier 2 country of particular concern since 2012. Non-Muslim Penalties in Saudi Arabia Turkey and Saudi Arabia were two of just six countries Tillerson referenced in his speech to reporters. We remain concerned about the state of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia, he said. The government does not recognize the right of non-Muslims to practice their religion in public and applied criminal penaltiesincluding prison sentences, lashings, and finesfor apostasy, atheism, blasphemy, and insulting the states interpretation of Islam. In its report, the State Department referenced USCIRFs opinion of Saudi Arabia: Since 2004, Saudi Arabia has been designated as a Country of Particular Concern for having engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom. The country has had very high levels of [government] restrictions every year since 2007, the first year for which data are available, according to Pew. And Open Doors ranks Saudi Arabia at No. 14 on the World Watch List because of its strong official and unofficial pressure on everyone to be Muslim, calling it the only country in the world without any church buildings. When President Donald Trump spoke in Saudi Arabia in May, he brushed over the governments restrictions to focus on a partnership in the fight against terror, stating, We are not here to lecturewe are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be, or how to worship. Working with countries with questionable religious freedom records doesnt mean Americas values around freedom, human dignity, the way people are treated change, Tillerson told State Department employees earlier in May. In some circumstances, we should and do condition our policy engagements on people adopting certain actions as to how they treat people, he said. But I hear from government leaders all over the world: You just cant demand that of us, we cant move that quickly, we cant adapt that quickly, okay? So its how do we advance our national security and economic interests on this hand, our values are constant over here. While the State Department decried the worlds lack of religious freedom, the Trump administration doesnt think raising the number of religious refugees is the answer. Almost 80 percent of the global population live with restrictions on or hostilities to limit their freedom of religion, Tillerson told reporters when releasing the report. Where religious freedom is not protected, we know that instability, human rights abuses, and violent extremism have a greater opportunity to take root. We cannot ignore these conditions. But instead of taking the persecuted in as refugees, the Trump administration would prefer to stabilize their home countries, State Department senior advisor Michael Kozak told reporters in a conference call. Every year, unfortunately, there are way, way, way more refugees than any one country can possibly take in. Thomas Farr, president of the Religious Freedom Institute, praised the report. Tillerson correctly observed that growing religious persecution not only poses a grave moral problem, but also implicates the national security of the United States, he stated. Advancing religious freedom can enhance stability and undermine the violent religious extremism that threatens us all. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A lobbying group representing U.S. manufactures says the Department of Energy's continued approval of new LNG export terminals c0uld significantly deplete American natural gas supplies within a little more than three decades. In a letter to Energy Secretary Rick Perry Wednesday, the Industrial Energy Consumers of America asked he stop approving new LNG export terminals that will send American natural gas to countries without which the United States has a free trade agreement - as it does with Mexico and Canada. "It is time for the U.S. Department of Energy to put American residential and industrial consumers first by establishing a moratorium on further LNG export approvals to non-free trade agreement countries, and put consumer safeguards in place," ICEA President Paul N. Cicio said. The Trump administration has described the burgeoning U.S. LNG industry as critical to its plans to grow the domestic energy industry, building on initiaitives taken by former President Barack Obama. But as gas exports rise, many economists suspect that so too will domestic gas prices - raising energy costs for the nation's industrial and manufacturing industries. The ICEA is arguing the Obama administration failed to consider the "cumulative impact" of approving terminals to exports to both countries with and without free trade agreements with the United States. And using federal data, the ICEA claims that at current federal projections for gas exports, the United States will use almost 60 percent of its "technically recoverable" gas reserves by 2050 and likely even more if Trump approves more terminals. But estimates on domestic reserves are notoriously conservative, and executives in the natural gas industry believe that as they continue to hone hydraulic fracturing techniques and explore more shale deposits they will tap way more gas than the current federal estimate of 2,214 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves. "In fact, if the 1966 estimate of 600 Tcf had remained static, the U.S. would have run out of natural gas 10 years ago," reads a report on the topic by the Potential Gas Committee, a research group funded by the American Petroleum Institute and other oil and gas interests. The finest ensemble of the year has arrived. Stephen Adly Guirgis' "The Last Days of Judas Iscariot," at the Chelsea Market Theatre through Sept. 3, features a cast that's best described as the Avengers of Houston prestige theater, a superstar gathering that reminds us why some of the best actors and directors around choose to work in Houston - so they can be in productions like this. Call them the Magnificent Ten: Courtney Lomelo, Luis Galindo, Patricia Duran, Philip Hays, Roc Living, Candice D'Meza, Paul Menzel, Jeff Miller, Josh Morrison and Nick Farco. They're part of the inaugural show by the new actors' collective Gravity Players. We've seen a few of them together, gotten a taste of what chemical reactions take place when they're in the same room. Galindo, Lomelo and Duran played foul-mouthed addicts and lovers in Obsidian Theater's exceptional "The Mother ... With the Hat," also by Guirgis. Galindo and Lomelo returned to the stage in Catastrophic Theatre's "Snow White," which, like "Judas Iscariot," starred Miller as a scene-stealing villain. Last year, Miller directed Catastrophic Theatre's "Buried Child," a show in which D'Meza commanded the room, much like she did with Living when the two first explored religion in 14 Pews' "Dialogues on Grace." I haven't even mentioned James Belcher, the longtime Alley Theatre company member who directs this show like an alchemist spinning gold. More Information 'The Last Days of Judas Iscariot' by Gravity Players When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, through Sept. 3 Where: Chelsea Market Theatre, 4617 Montrose Tickets: $19-$27; 281-892-1323, spacecitytix.com/gravityplayers See More Collapse Throw all of the above together and the experiment begins - do Houston's acting heavy hitters subtract from each other's talent, or do they multiply them? After all, when these individuals are so used to commanding other shows, there's a high possibility of a protracted tug of war. Except "Judas Iscariot," which takes the form of a metaphysical trial of Jesus' infamous betrayer, lets its characters throw the spotlight around. The play's conceit, beyond being the type of philosophical experiment that emerges out of a smoke-filled dorm room, allows its actors to answer one big monologue with another. Every expression of one character's truth gets upended in cross-examination, every witness allowed a compelling retort to the strongest of accusations. Power hangs in delicate balance, even if there's nothing delicate about the way these characters talk. The play aims to question the Jesus Christ origin story, and thus to interrogate any black-and-white interpretation of the events that led to his crucifixion. It asks: Who does one blame for Jesus' death, the Romans, the Jews, Judas, God, or perhaps Christ himself? It puts historical authorities of the mind and spirit on trial. These include Mother Teresa, Sigmund Freud, Caiaphas the Elder, Pontius Pilate and even Satan, though none of these portrayals feel superficial. When Miller, as Satan, takes the stage as a bawdry, boozy bachelor of pleasure, he has none of the horns or tails of the devil. Instead, he recalls a familiar archetype of an abusive man whose words hurt, not because they're nasty but because they might be the truth. Duran, as Mother Teresa, is wise and unapologetic but also a stubborn anti-abortion conservative. Morrison's Freud makes a compelling and compassionate argument about Judas' hanging himself - that we cannot condemn the act because suicide, he claims, is never committed by one in a stable mental state. Choosing heaven or hell for a biblical figure is a high-minded concept for a play, but Guirgis' characters speak like real people. Their dialogue is filled with jealousy, pettiness, ego, profanity and ethnic specificity. Lomelo, as Judas' defense attorney Fabiana Aziza Cunningham, delivers fierce speeches, prodding at the easy mythologies of these historical figures. But watch how, in a terrific scene with Miller's Satan, Cunningham shows a bit too much emotion for what's appropriate for a legal counsel. Satan, sensing weakness in her anger, retorts. The two actors savor this moment. Miller rises from the stand, walks over to the panting Lomelo as if she were sheep, then whispers something terrible. Lomelo, whose character seemed unassailable until now, flails then gives in. Satan, wearing a sadistic grin, has sliced her open like a piece of fruit. He shows us that Cunningham cares about Judas not because defending him is the right thing to do, but because she sees, in his state of despair, a little bit of herself. What a fantastic moment of drama, one that reminds us that the best way to harness an ensemble is through solos and duets. Morrison, toward the end of the performance, shows up in a poignant scene as a regular Joe, who, like Judas, has betrayed a loved one and must also live with that guilt forever. Jesus tells us he's in everyone, but the play suggests that maybe Judas is too. He loved someone, made a mistake and paid dearly for it. The scene with Morrison takes its time. An even quieter moment follows it. Guirgis knows that the preceding hours of fiery confrontation demands a breather, and he gives us that serenity through a silent scene that nevertheless sings. The poetic rendering of biblical imagery reminded me of an old Chinese myth, in which the storm challenges the sun to see who can make a man take off his coat. The storm blows a harsh, rainy wind, only to make the man clutch even harder to his coat. The storm fails. The sun shines a ray of light, and the man, filled with warmth, voluntarily takes off his coat. The moral is that compassion persuades better than strength. The last moment of "Judas Iscariot" dares to question the Bible only because it admires its lessons. "Judas Iscariot," ultimately, is about forgiveness. The play, like the sun shining after a series of raging tempests, asks us to look into the eyes of a supposed adversary and open up our arms. The writing's persuasive enough. The actors drive the message home. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Burglars smashed into the West Oaks Mall twice in as many days this week. The most recent burglary was about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, said Lt. Larry Crowson with the Houston Police Department. Two people broke into the mall, at the intersection of Westheimer and State 6, in west Houston. A third waited in a getaway car outside, Crowson said. Once inside the mall, the duo broke into businesses selling cell phones, clothing and shoes. Police also found a cash register broken up in a kiosk in the mall. Police nabbed two of the burglars, with the help of a canine, Crowson said. The getaway driver escaped. The two burglars who were arrested were 21-year-old men, said HPD spokesman Victor Senties. On Tuesday, two alarms went off at the mall, at 4:20 and 4:30 a.m., Senties said. The calls originated from Dillard's. It was not immediately whether merchandise or cash was taken. This week's break-ins weren't the first time this summer the West Oaks Mall has wound up a crime scene. Police headed about 9 p.m. on Aug. 7 to the mall after a man was shot in the face. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Sugar Land Home and Garden Show Show More Show Less 3 of 3 A dozen showrooms and design studios were set to offer up great bargains this weekend at the Houston Design Center's annual Designer Sample Sale. Amid worries about Hurricane Harvey, Design Center officials have extended the sale through Sept. 2. While several shop owners opened their doors Aug. 25, others are playing it by ear for Saturday and Sunday, waiting to see what Hurricane Harvey really delivers. If you plan to head out over the weekend, call the showroom you plan to visit first. You can also call HDC offices at 713-864-2660. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Oren Soules would tackle anything. That's one of the things Richard "Dick" Coyle remembers most about the longtime insurance man who founded Soules Insurance. Soules launched his insurance business in 1947 in Conroe. He was also involved in the community in a number of ways from the Salvation Army, to Rotary, to cancer causes, to the First United Methodist Church, to being one of the founding directors of Allied Bank and more. And there beside him was his wife, Mary Dee, supporting him fully in everything he did. "He had a tremendous personality. He could sell anything," Coyle said. And where Oren was the outgoing one, Mary Dee was his ultimate support system. "There were times when he'd go out and sell something and then Mary Dee as the technician had to put it together," Coyle said. Today the couple leaves a lasting impression on Conroe as Soules Insurance is celebrating its 70th year of business in Conroe. Early life Oren Henry Soules was born on Feb. 12, 1919 in Star, Texas, a small community in Central Texas. His parents were Henry and Eliza M. Soules and he had three sisters. According to Coyle, Soules came to Conroe in the 1940s with Superior Oil Company. The couple had their first child, Davey, who died in infancy in 1944. Seven years later, their second child, Gary, was born with special needs. Later a daughter, Susan, joined the family and she was also born with special needs. Soules realized he couldn't keep up with Gary's medical bills and his care through his oil company job. Launching of the business Mary Dee worked for Dr. Wilkins and Wilkins suggested to Oren that he either go into the real estate or insurance business. He opted to go into the insurance business and launched Soules Insurance in 1947. His first office was in downtown Conroe on the second floor of the building that now houses Hillsons Design Services at Simonton and Main streets. When Coyle was in high school, Soules Insurance was on Conroe Drive. Then the business moved inside of Allied Bank or the old Conroe National Bank which was located on the site of what is now Walgreens in downtown Conroe. As there were already other established insurance agencies in Conroe in the 1940s, Soules relied on knowledge to further the business. "We didn't have the connections," Coyle said Soules told him. "We had to compete on knowledge and learning and stay after it." Coyle grew up in Magnolia and graduated from Conroe High and attended Texas A&M and the University of Houston before serving in the U.S. Army as a helicopter pilot and instructor in Vietnam. Following military service, Coyle went into the insurance business for Prudential. By the early 1970s, Soules had a few people working for him in the offices at Allied Bank, but they were limited by space at the bank. Soules was also seeking a hard worker. Charlie Word, who also had an office in Allied Bank, suggested Coyle. Still working for Prudential, Coyle began to office out of Soules Insurance. "Oren says, 'I want you to come over here, I've got an extra office,'" Coyle said. "At the time, I only did life and health, he said 'you give me the property and casualty business you come across.' That sounded like a good deal to me." Over the course of a few years, Coyle began to work full time for Soules, and Soules and Coyle bonded over their flight experience. "When Dick joined Soules, the agency already had established a reputation for being ready and available to assist our clients, even in the worst of circumstances including hurricanes and disasters such as fires or floods," according to a narrative of the company. "There was even a time when one of the customers purchased an ad in The Courier saying 'We would like to thank you and your staff for the excellent and timely service during the recent freeze damage to our home during the Christmas holidays. Only a local, concerned agent handling our claim promptly and professionally could have allowed us to complete our repairs almost immediately and start a new year on a positive note!" Coyle described Soules as a hard worker also. "He worked so hard, that's just the way he was," Coyle said. "And he thought everybody ought to want to have his job." Growth and expansion As the agency was hoping to take over more space in the bank, they learned that space was no longer available. Soules secured property owned by Thomas Earl Gentry at 701 N San Jacinto Street to build a two-story building. A home on the property was the original location of Lavoy Moore's plumbing supply company, another business that continues to flourish in Conroe today. Coyle said they worked with an architect who was a client to design the building. They took careful consideration to make sure the building would fit in with the residences in the area. The white brick was intended to match the color of the home originally built by Judge Williams in 1904 next door. The new Soules Insurance office opened in 1974. The move gave the company a presence in Conroe and allowed for expansion. "The staff grew quickly to include more agents and customer service representatives and also stayed on the cutting edge with developments in technology," according to the company's narrative. In 1976, Soules was one of the first agencies in the area to install an in-house computer system which helped to speed up processing of business and claims. New leadership Coyle purchased an interest in the company in 1972 and bought out the Soules in 1983. The Soules retired, but Coyle retained the name signifying that nothing would change in the way of service to the community. They came back and forth to Conroe for a while, but eventually retired to their property in Central Texas near Goldthwaite. Coyle said Soules was such a devoted Rotarian that when they moved to Goldthwaite he ended up joining the Lions Club because there wasn't a Rotary Club in Goldthwaite. Their son Gary passed away in 1977. Mary Dee passed away in Goldthwaite in March 2006 and Oren passed away a short time later in August 2006. Their daughter, Susan, continued to live in Goldthwaite and died in 2013. Continuing education and support to the community Continuing education has been integral to the company's success. "Even before it was required, we insisted that our agents and staff constantly update their knowledge in different aspects of the field," the narrative said. Coyle earned his Chartered Life Underwriter designation in 1975 and became an Accredited Advisor in Insurance in 1985. "Ours is a business that changes constantly, so it's important that we keep up, but what never changes is our emphasis on knowing our customers and also knowing the companies and coverages that suit the requirements of each home, family and business," according to the narrative. Today, one of the Soules customers includes four generations of the same family. In 1980, the agency expanded into The Woodlands and had a Panther Creek office headed by Linda Ricketts, who was well known for her literacy efforts and as a Rotarian. Kammie Enloe came to Soules in 1989 and now she's operations manager. John Husbands joined the sales staff in 1996 and has since become a partner in the agency. He specializes in business planning and estate planning as well as writing large commercial accounts. Warner Phelps is the Marketing Manager at Soules and has expertise with both insurance and technology. The newest leader is Stephen B. Smith, executive vice president at Soules. He has more than 30 years of experience in insurance agency management. And each one has been devoted to community service as well as the insurance profession. Husbands and Coyle have both been leaders in the Rotary Club of Conroe. Husbands also serves on the Conroe ISD school board. Phelps is an active participant of the Conroe Noon Lions Club and mentor to local students. R.A. "Dick" Giuffre, a member of the Conroe community for more than 40 years, serves as vice president. He's also a past president of the Conroe Noon Lions Club among many other community activities. Enloe is active in her church and committed to her daughter's band activities. Smith has also been a leader in Rotary clubs in San Antonio and Dallas and is currently a member of the Rotary Club of The Woodlands. Soules at present Soules is a part of Dean and Draper, Insurance, LP, one of the largest agencies in Texas. Through their resources, Soules can have greater global reach. Soules serves individuals and companies both large and small. Industries served include manufacturing, technology, real estate, food, agribusiness and political subdivisions. Soules Insurance is at 701 N. San Jacinto in Conroe. Call 936-756-0671 or visit soulesinsurance.com. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate (Bloomberg) -- Texas cant use its current voter maps in the upcoming congressional midterm elections after a panel of federal judges ruled districts approved by state Republican lawmakers illegally discriminate against Hispanic and black voters. The three-judge panel in San Antonio gave the state three days to say if and when the Texas Legislature will fix the congressional map, which the judges concluded still carried the discriminatory taint of districts lawmakers originally drew in 2011 with the intent to squelch rising Latino voting strength. If Texas doesnt intend to correct biased districts, the court will hold a hearing to solicit advice before redrawing the map on its own, the panel said Tuesday. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, expressed disappointment with the ruling, which he claimed didnt square with the courts approval of essentially the same district boundaries five years ago. Every voter map Texas has created since 1970 has been challenged in court by civil rights groups representing the minority citizens whove steadily eroded the states historic white majority. Now Playing: Arnold Schwarzenegger is used to battling things like android assassins in Terminator but he has now set his sights on terminating gerrymandering. Josh King has the story (@abridgetoland). Video: Brandpoint Four Seats Texas gained four new congressional seats after the 2010 U.S. Census counted 4.3 million new Texans, almost 90 percent of whom were Hispanic or black. Yet state lawmakers drew no new districts that favored minority voters, who tend to choose Democratic candidates. For six years, Texas defended the maps its Republican-controlled legislature originally created in 2011 as legally allowed political gerrymanders designed to handicap Democrats, not minorities. Challenges over the maps have bounced through multiple courts, including the U.S. Supreme Court, ever since. Texas said the maps currently in use, which the Legislature adopted in 2013, can automatically be presumed unbiased because they were drawn by the San Antonio judges as a quick fix for the 2012 elections, during an early stage of the six-year redistricting fight. Critics of Texass voter maps claimed state lawmakers took partisanship too far and intentionally diluted Hispanics rising political clout by stuffing them into overcrowded minority districts or splintering them into districts controlled by white voters. Interim Maps Those opponents repeatedly stressed that the San Antonio judges, in tweaking the interim maps to give Texas something to use in 2012, only had time to tweak the most egregiously biased boundaries the Legislature had created. This left substantial racial discrimination baked into the voting districts Texans have used in every election since, they said. During a six-day trial in early July, the San Antonio judges repeatedly stated that their interim maps were never intended to be permanent solutions. They pressed the states witnesses and lawyers to explain why lawmakers hadnt taken the opportunity to fix obvious problem spots before adopting the interim maps. Texas repeatedly refused to answer, claiming legislative privilege shielded lawmakers thoughts and mental impressions from questions. Specific portions of the 2011 plans that this court has found to be discriminatory or unconstitutional racial gerrymanders continue unchanged in the 2013 plans, their harmful effects continuing to this day, the judges wrote Tuesday in a 107-page decision. The fact that this court made changes to the statewide plans and the Legislature then adopted the courts plans does not change this fact. The judges called Texas lawmakers out for trying to game the system by adopting hastily tweaked interim maps the court never intended for use beyond the 2012 presidential election. The decision to adopt the interim plans was not a change of heart, the judges said. It was a litigation strategy designed to insulate the 2011 or 2013 plans from further challenge, regardless of their legal infirmities. Paxton said Tuesday the portion of the ruling that went against Texas is puzzling considering the Legislature adopted the congressional map the same court itself adopted in 2012, and the Obama-era Department of Justice did not bring any claims against the map. We look forward to asking the Supreme Court to decide whether Texas had discriminatory intent when relying on the district court, he said in an emailed statement. While the Obama administration strongly supported minority activists challenging Texass original maps, by the time the court challenge addressed the current version of the maps last month, the Justice Department -- under President Donald Trump -- was no longer participating in the fight. Tuesdays decision boosts the odds Texas may be forced back under federal supervision for any future changes state lawmakers make to election rules. As a repeat voting rights violator, Texas was under federal electoral oversight for more than three decades. That supervision ended in 2013, when the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act requirement that states and cities with histories of voter discrimination get prior federal approval, a process known as preclearance. The case is Perez v. Abbott, 5:11-cv-00360, U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas (San Antonio). (Updates with Texas attorney generals comment in fourth paragraph.) To contact the reporter on this story: Laurel Calkins in Houston at lcalkins@bloomberg.net. To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Wollman at ewollman@bloomberg.net, Peter Blumberg, David Glovin 2017 Bloomberg L.P. Only a handful of days remain until thousands of students in Harris County are back in school, attending one of the dozens of school districts. Despite following educational standards set in place by the state, not all of these school districts show the same level of success. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate There's nothing sweeter than back-to-school fashions on the runway. But when the models are some of MD Anderson Children's Cancer Hospital patients and their siblings, it makes for an empowering and beautiful display of courage and style. The Houston Galleria and MD Anderson Children's Cancer Hospital recently hosted its 6th Annual Back to School Fashion Show on the ice rink in front of a sell-out audience of more than 250. Young cancer patients and their siblings, MD Anderson teachers and Page Parkes models strutted the catwalk in the latest back to school fashions. KHOU anchor Mia Gradney serve as the host of the event, which featured guest speaker Dr. Michael Roth, an associate professor of Pediatrics and Leukemia subspecialist at MD Anderson Children's Cancer Hospital. He is also the new director of survivorship. MD Anderson leaders in attendance included Janet McCloskey, Krista Maria Fredrick, Katrina Burton, Lisa Hafemeister, Dr. Michael Roth and Brette Peyton. Looks from retailers included The Gap, Janie and Jack, Crazy 8, Francesca's, Topshop, Kid's Atelier, White House Black Market, Trina Turk, Robert Graham, Vera Bradley, Athleta and Macy's. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Peace has eluded retired Air Force Maj. Jeff Shelton for the better part of two decades. Every time he parachuted into enemy territory, every time he held a dying friend in the back of a helicopter, every time he watched a child collapse from grave injuries, peace for Shelton seemed to slip farther and farther away. He found his inner anguish only intensified when he retired from the military in December 2016 and finally had time to process all the wickedness he had seen in the world. It was almost too much for the 42-year-old to process, until he walked into his Junior ROTC classroom inside Lamar Consolidated High School later that month. "I didn't take the time to deal with my past. I had a lot of friends commit suicide or die - some of them died with me in the back of a helicopter. I just never dealt with it," Shelton said. "So here, I found a lot of peace in helping (the students) transition into adulthood." Shelton is among more than 3,000 veterans in Texas and more than 20,000 nationwide who traded bulletproof vests for textbooks to become teachers supported by the Troops to Teachers program. The U.S. Department of Defense program helps recent veterans navigate teacher certification processes, military benefits and the other logistical headaches of switching careers, said Christene Nemetsky, project coordinator with the state's Education Service Center Region 13. Nemetsky went through the program herself in the early 2000s before the Army major was recalled to active duty in 2004. She returned to serve as a school administrator in 2005. "They're not afraid of the hard work, they're not afraid of dealing with whatever the kids throw at them," Nemetsky said of veterans in classrooms. "As an administrator, I saw a lot of teachers leave after a year - it's hard work 187 days a year. But (veterans) will do what it takes to do to give that child what they need." Few teachers have military experiences matching Shelton's. He spent four years with the Marine Corps before attending the U.S. Air Force Pararescue Indoctrination course in 1999, among the military's most rigorous and elite training programs. Shelton was embedded with prestigious units such as Navy SEAL teams, meaning he saw a lot of combat. 55 combat missions He deployed with the first special operations forces sent to Afghanistan after Sept. 11, 2001, partnering with allied Afghani tribal leaders to fight the Taliban before becoming a combat rescue officer. He spent as many as 72 hours awake on some missions, jumping out of helicopters to save soldiers trapped in enemy territory, taking airfields and tracking the movements of enemy combatants. In 2008 alone, he flew more than 55 combat missions and saved the lives of more than 40 soldiers and Afghani citizens. But the lives Shelton remembers most are the ones he could not save. Jason Cunningham, a friend Shelton made during years of pararescue training, ran into a firefight and was shot in the stomach in 2002. Shelton said his fellow soldiers pleaded with superiors to let them fly to him, but commanding officers worried a rescue helicopter would be shot down. It took eight agonizing hours for Cunningham to die from blood loss, according to the Military Times. But Shelton's biggest battle came when he left the military in 2016. "I started realizing that (the military) was the world I lived in, but it wasn't the world for most people in our country," said Shelton, who on occasion rubbed his broad, heavily tattooed arms. "That was the hardest part to deal with - how do I come to terms with the fact I lived this other life and try to assimilate into this society where it seems like there's a lot of controversy and heartache over things that aren't important?" Eager to return Many of Shelton's JROTC students know little about the wars in which he fought or the events that precipitated them, including the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington. Though the lack of recent memory shocked him at first, Shelton said he enjoys telling his classes first-person accounts of history-deciding battles. Students can't get enough. On Thursday, three weeks before most Lamar CISD students return to class, his JROTC classroom was filled with smiling cadets organizing textbooks and cleaning shelves to prepare for the school year. Aadi Shukla, a rising junior who turns 16 this week, said he was eager to see Shelton again. "He might seem intimidating on the outside, but he's a nice guy for sure, really caring," Shukla said. "He's sort of like a father figure. One day there was some bad stuff going on at home, and he pulled me aside and asked what was wrong. He wouldn't let me leave until we talked about it." Envying innocence Forging such relationships is the main reason Shelton wanted to go into teaching, and he said he's excited to see familiar faces when school begins in a few weeks. That's a big change from last year, when he was still reeling from the transition to civilian life. Shelton said the past year has seen him get closer to finding inner peace, aided by weekly yoga practice and daily meditation. Still, he struggles to see the world from his students' perspectives. "The hard thing has been relating to innocence, because that's what it is to me," Shelton said. "It's nice to see because I think what happens to people, especially in my line of work, is you lose innocence quickly." Authorities are searching for a missing elderly man with dementia who was last seen on Sunday in north Houston, according to Texas Equu Search. Jim Gainous, 72, is victim of a dementia and also a Vietnam war veteran. Officials said Gainous is likely confused and thinking irrationally. A Houston mother of a newborn found covered in ants and abandoned on a Cypress Station sidewalk did not want to be a mother and did not want to see her child, prosecutors said in court Wednesday. Sidney Woytasczyk, who later told investigators she didn't know she was pregnant, was arrested Monday on a felony charge of child abandonment. A Dallas-area assistant principal has been reassigned after authoring a children's book featuring alt-right messaging and characters. Eric Hauser, an employee of Denton ISD, was removed from his position Monday after district officials learned of his book, "The Adventures of Pepe and Pede." The book features a cartoon frog named Pepe, virtually identical to the character featured in racist and anti-Semitic memes, and writing with white nationalist overtones, according to multiple media reports. In statements to The Dallas Morning News and Vice, Hauser has denied any connection between his book and racist messaging. "I'm using Pepe just as a lighthearted way of expressing maybe some conservative values," Hauser told the Dallas Morning News. "I would say to people, 'Please try to look at this from a positive standpoint,' because that's the standpoint that I've written it from. And then obviously know that I'm not part of the alt-right." EARLIER: Texas assistant principal writes 'Pepe the Frog' book As Vice noted, Hauser reached out to Milo Yiannopoulos, an alt-right provocateur, to promote his work. The book was also published by Post Hill Press, which has distributed far-right works in the past. In a statement announcing Hauser's reassignment, Denton ISD officials distanced themselves from Hauser personal work. "The book is the creative property of Mr. Hauser and is not tied with the district, its curriculum or instructional materials -- yet the attention it has brought him and the book's implied message has been a distraction to his colleagues across Denton ISD," the statement read. In the statement, Hauser said he "thinks it's best" that he not serve as an assistant principal. "The students, the community, and the teachers are too important to me to subject them to all the negativity and disapproval resulting from this book," his statement read. "To my colleagues, I offer my deepest apologies if this has affected them or their families in any negative way." District officials didn't say what role Hauser will take following his reassignment, but he will not serve as a campus administrator or educator. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate With "extremely dangerous heat" warnings coming almost daily, the Texas prison system has shipped more than 350 inmates from the Wallace Pack Unit under a federal court order that requires cooler quarters for vulnerable inmates during the hottest summer months. So far, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has relocated more than 800 other inmates in a week to make room for Pack inmates designated as "heat sensitive." But inmates' relatives say the state's remedy has created chaos without quelling their fears. "I'm more worried about him now," said Cynthia Evans whose husband went from living in a minimum-security dorm at the Pack Unit, northwest of Houston, to a solitary, maximum-security cell in Beaumont. MOONLIGHT RIDE: Transfers get underway Meanwhile, the wife of an inmate at Fabian Dale Dominguez State Jail in San Antonio likened the scene during visiting day last weekend to a "circus," with family members showing up to see relatives who hadn't had time to notify them they'd been moved to other facilities. The exodus of more than 1,000 Pack inmates and the transfer of hundreds of others to make room for them in other facilities stems from a temporary injunction by U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison who ruled in July that the indoor heat was "cruel and unusual" punishment. The judge did not order the geriatric facility to install air conditioning but to provide relief for inmates who are elderly, who have conditions such as asthma, hypertension or diabetes or who take medicine that makes them sensitive to heat. At least 23 inmates have died from heatstroke in Texas prisons since 1998. The transfers began a week ago on Aug. 9, the day after Ellison approved a complex plan by TDCJ to shuttle inmates among facilities. The entire operation, which must be completed within three weeks, is a temporary remedy pending trial on a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of a group of Pack Inmates. Lawyers for the inmates want a swifter response. "We're glad this is happening but we wish it were moving quicker," said Scott Medlock, an attorney for the six Pack inmates who sued the prison system. "We understand this is a complex endeavor but this is people's health and safety we're talking about. We're in the middle of the hottest part of the year when these people need this protection the most." JUDGE'S TIPS: Suggestions on how to fix overheated prisons Prison officials said it was happening as quickly and efficiently as feasible. "Staff is working diligently to ensure the safe transfer of offenders from the Pack Unit to other facilities," said Jason Clark, TDCJ spokesman. The prison has sent out air-conditioned busloads during the coolest times of day, moving 359 Pack inmates by the end of Tuesday to Travis State Jail in Austin, French Robertson Unit in Abilene, Hospital Galveston and the Mark W. Stiles and Richard P. LeBlanc units, both in Beaumont, officials said. To make room, inmates have been removed from Dominguez, Stiles, Travis, Robertson and Diboll Correctional Center near Lufkin and placed at more than a dozen other prison facilities. In the meantime, TDCJ is deploying the same methods it has used in the past to keep inmates cool during extreme heat, offering cold showers on demand, turning on fans, restricting outdoor activity, providing extra water and ice and allowing access to air-conditioned respite areas. The prison also trains guards and inmate to recognize the signs of heat exhaustion. Gaylyn Dutton, whose son Steven Parker expects to remain at the Pack unit, said inmates are uncertain about the moves. "Everyone is very apprehensive about what is going to happen to them," he told her Tuesday. Dutton thinks the prison's plan is ludicrous. "With the money they are spending on all the moves, the overtime, the gas, wear and tear on the buses, TDCJ could be using a big chunk of the money to at least make a dent in some type of ... cooling system," she said. James Evans, 49, of Conroe, was among the bus loads of men being ferried from Pack to other units. Evans, who has had seizures and has taken medication for hypertension in recent years, left Friday for the Mark W. Stiles unit in Beaumont, according to his wife, Cynthia. At the Pack Unit, James Evans was in a dormitory with about 50 men, she said. Now he's in a solitary cell without phone access, though he does have air conditioning. "It's a big change," she said. "Our oldest granddaughter told my husband that she was worried about him being there, and she's only 8-years-old." Cynthia Evans worries he's lonely and stressed by the heightened security, but now can't call her daily or offten twice a day -- to check in. "I'm usually strong but Sunday was a hard day for me," she said. "I broke down." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate America's only living father-son duo of former presidents issued a statement Wednesday condemning hatred and borrowing Thomas Jefferson's language from the Declaration of Independence to support equality. The statement from former presidents George W. Bush, 71, and George H.W. Bush, 93, was released by family spokesman Jim McGrath. FAR RIGHT RESPONDS: Richard Spencer claims First Amendment right was violated by Texas A&M It comes after current President Donald Trump faced criticism for taking two days to call out the KKK and neo-Nazis before once again on Tuesday blaming "both sides" for Saturday's violence in Charlottesville. Here is the Bushes' full statement, sent from the family's vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine: BACKLASH: Father of white-nationalist marcher: He "is not welcome at our family gatherings" "America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms. As we pray for Charlottesville, we are reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that city's most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence: We are all created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights. We know these truths to be everlasting because we have seen the decency and greatness of our country." The elder Bush has been hospitalized twice this year for pneumonia. He was most recently discharged in late April after a two-week hospital stay. COMIC RELIEF: Late-night hosts process Trump's wild news conference Former presidents generally remain quiet on issues that arise after their terms in office, deferring to their successors. As Politico observed in May, "Trump's predecessors are trying to both defend their legacies and respect the unwritten rule of not undermining the current commander in chief." However, there have been calls this week from Democrats and some Republicans for former presidents to speak out in more clear terms than Trump has used. The Atlantic noted that former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, both Democrats, quickly posted on Twitter about the violence. Note: This article was updated to reflect that the Bushes are the only living father-son duo of former presidents - but not the only such duo in history. John Adams and John Quincy Adams were the first. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate If it were not for abortion rights issues, Gov. Greg Abbott would be looking at a meager list of victories after the Texas Legislature abruptly ended its special session Tuesday night. Texas already has a reputation of being one of the most anti-abortion states in the nation, passing some of the harshest restrictions on abortions in the nation over the last 10 years -- including several more in the special session. It was Abbott's only area of unequivocal victory in the special session. Beyond that, the Republican governor who is up for reelection next year struck out on much of his agenda. Even so, the governor had no plans as of late Tuesday to call lawmakers back for another 30-day special session, as he had warned he might do. No bathroom bill. No property tax reform. And no teacher pay raises. "The House quit on the taxpayers of Texas," a dejected Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said after the session ended in a mess. After passing legislation to create a school finance task force to re-examine Texas' convoluted education funding system, the Texas House stunningly moved to end the session a day early Tuesday afternoon, leaving Abbott's 20-point agenda less than half-done. A few hours later, the Senate followed suit, formally closing the session and sending members home to answer to constituents in the 2018 elections. "Our office believes this special session has produced a far better Texas than before," said Abbott press secretary John Wittman. Abbott aides were reportedly surprised by the unexpected House vote to go home a day before the 30 days were up. Passage of abortion bills clearly was the high point for the Republican governor who loaded up his special session call with items celebrated by socially conservative groups like Texas Right to Life and Texas Values. He got almost everything he wanted on that front. On Tuesday morning, Abbott signed two abortion-related bills into law as the Senate sent him another that he is near certain to sign. Then for good measure, the Senate sent him a fourth bill that conservatives groups said was years in the making. "I am grateful to the Texas Legislature for getting this bill to my desk, and working to protect innocent life this special session," Abbott said on Tuesday after signing House Bill 214, a bill to block women from being able to buy health insurance in Texas that includes abortion coverage even in cases of rape and incest. "There's a lot of those here who question what else can we possibly do to become more Pro-Life," said Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, who passed the abortion insurance coverage law out of the Senate. "But there are a lot of details that we can do that ultimately have a big impact." It has abortion rights groups frustrated that they are on constant defense in the Legislature. "Unfortunately, some politicians remain single-mindedly fixated on pushing abortion out of reach in our state," said Heather Busby, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Texas. But Texas Right to Life is not necessarily doing a victory dance. The group has let their frustration known that they think the Republican-dominated Texas Legislature should be doing more and are frustrated that some of the measures that passed during the special session were bottled up during the regular session, particularly in the Texas House. One of the frustrations has been on the insurance bill. Twenty five other states in the nation - including Democratic leaning states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- have already banned health policies on exchanges through the Affordable Care Act from offering base insurance plans that include abortion. Texas had not taken such a step. Creighton said in a lot of ways its surprising Texas took so long to join those other states, but that he's proud of how far Texas pushed the issue. Instead of just banning abortion in insurance plans on the Obamacare exchanges, the bill Abbott signed bars all private insurance in Texas from putting abortion in base coverage, instead forcing women to buy supplemental plans to cover the cost of an abortion. It makes Texas just one of 8 states in the nation that have gone to such lengths without any exceptions for rape or incest. Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, said the state may have been slow in taking up ideas like that, but generally the state aims for pushing the limits and being a leader on abortion regulations. "Texas is a leader and we are always testing the boundaries," Perry said. Other bills Abbott has signed or is expected to sign from the special session include: - House Bill 13, which requires stricter reporting requirements for doctors when they have complications while performing abortions. Abbott signed that bill Tuesday morning. - House Bill 215, which requires abortion providers to submit more information to the state on minors who get an abortion and whether they has parental consent, approval from a guardian, or a court granted them allowance. Abbott could sign the bill as soon as Wednesday morning. -SB 11, which requires doctors and hospitals to notify patients if there is an order in their files instructing that no one attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation - or CPR - on a dying patient. A patient or the patient's power of attorney must know, an issue Texas Right to Life made one of their priorities. The bill passed the Senate Tuesday and heads to Abbott for his signature. State Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-League City, said one of the biggest reasons for the success was that varying opponents to abortion rights joined together in the special session. "It's a very Pro-life Legislature," Bonnen said. One of the other few bills to get done before the special session was a truncated version of a prized school funding bill. "I'm beyond frustrated," said Rep. Dan Huberty, a Republican from Humble who fought throughout the regular and special session to inject some $1.8 billion into public schools in light of a Texas Supreme Court ruling last summer that found the state's outdated funding formula constitutional but in need of repair after decades of band aid fixes. The bill had become a staple in the House, and a major issue for House Speaker Joe Straus who pressured the governor before the session to add school finance to his list of 20 issues he was calling members back to the Capitol City for. The governor eventually acquiesced, although the Senate preferred to avoid changing the state's school funding formula until a special committee could study the issue and propose ideas for the 2019 legislative session, calling the House's attempt this year amounted to pouring money into an old car that should be replaced. "There are no wins, in my opinion, in this bill. We're pitting children against children, school districts against school districts, teachers against children in this bill," said Rep. Senfronia Thompson, a Democrat from Houston who tried to convince the House demand the Senate keep negotiating. "I would tell the Senate, take back this crap and fix it, because that's what the people of this state sent us here to do." But House instead voted 94-46 for a version of the bill that would spend $564 million to lower health care payments for retired teachers, offer facilities funding for charter schools and some traditional schools, create a bridge program for rural school districts losing state aid and spent money on students with dyslexia and autism. The final bill abandoned about $1 billion the House wanted to increase the basic allotment, which would have funneled more money per student across public schools. The bill also rejected $100 million for teaching bilingual students, amid other changes. Huberty told reporters after the body adjourned that the Senate wasn't going to budge, just like it hadn't over the last seven months he had been pushing this or a similar bill in the regular session. While he said his Senate counterpart, Friendswood Republican Larry Taylor, met with him for three hours in the wee hours of the morning Tuesday, the Senate's members were unwilling to tap the state's savings account to fund public education. "We're going to continue to beat our heads against the wall and we passed many important things but there's nothing, nothing was more important than school finance reform this session and I feel like we failed the 5.3 million children in the state of Texas," Huberty told reporters. Taylor said assigning a commission to study school finance "is one of the most important things we can do right now." Straus, a San Antonio Republican, called the Senate's version of the school finance bill their "best option." "In its final form, this bill does not do nearly enough to help public education, but it does take some steps in the right direction. It will help retired teachers struggling with surging health insurance costs, provide needed resources for some school districts facings severe challenges, and help schools educate students with certain disabilities," he said, adding the House will again make school finance a priority in the next legislative session. DNA evidence linked to a 1998 sexual assault case has been found in a former employee's office at the Houston Forensic Science Center, instead of being frozen for future analysis or stored in the Houston Police Department's property room. Staff spotted June 30 the DNA evidence while filing paperwork in the former employee's office, according to a news release Wednesday from the Houston Forensic Science Center. They also found case files in the same office. "It is difficult to know why this evidence would have been left in an employee's office as this violates procedures," said Dr. Peter Stout, HFSC's CEO and president. "HFSC views this incident seriously, and has reviewed its processes and procedures to ensure something similar could not occur today." The former staff member had received the DNA evidence in April 2005 after it was analyzed by an external laboratory. The evidence included bloodstain cards, a slide with biological material and DNA extracts, according to the release. The extracts - a byproduct of the DNA analysis - should have been frozen in HPD's DNA laboratory, so it could be preserved for possible future analysis, said Ramit Plushnick-Masti, spokeswoman for the forensic science center. The other DNA evidence should have been stored in HPD's property room, Plushnick-Masti added. The staff position was eliminated on May 11, Plushnick-Masti said. The DNA evidence was taken during the sexual assault investigation of a nursing home resident. The perpetrator of the assault, Warren Brown, was an employee at the nursing home. He was sentenced to 17 years in prison after pleading guilty to the assault, according to the release. Brown is no longer incarcerated, according to the release. The forensic science center, which is housed in HPD headquarters and in another building on Fannin, has been providing forensic services for the City of Houston and other local agencies since 2014. That year, the forensic science center took over management of what had been HPD's crime lab, parts of its identification division and the crime scene unit, Plushnick-Masti said Prior to 2014, forensic services were being done by the HPD crime lab, Plushnick-Masti added. The evidence and files should have only been in possession of a staff member while the DNA analysis was being done, while the case was being reviewed or during preparations for trial, according to the release. The forensic science center told the Harris County District Attorney's Office and the Texas Forensic Science Commission of the misplaced DNA evidence. The district attorney's office notified Brown's attorney of the evidence. The forensic science center says it has made improvements in recent years that make it easier for staff to track evidence. In 2009, the crime laboratory's Laboratory Information Management System was put in place to make it easier for staff to spot if evidence was out of place, according to the release. "HFSC has significantly improved quality systems and tightened procedures since 2014 when it took over management of HPD's crime lab. We believe we now have the systems in place to prevent a similar occurrence," Dr. Stout said. "We continue to look for and implement new, proactive engineering controls to improve evidence and record handling, and will soon have tracking mechanism installed in some disciplines which further helps prevent the loss of evidence and documents," he added. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The online fundraiser for a Houston native injured in Saturday's vehicular attack in Charlottesville has surpassed its goal of $120,000 to cover hospital bills. Natalie Romero, a 20-year-old University of Virginia sophomore, suffered a fractured skull and gashed face when a driver plowed his car into a crowd of demonstrators opposing a "Unite the Right" gathering that included white supremacist and neo-Nazi groups. Romero left the hospital Monday but remains in Virginia, family representative Cesar Espinosa said Wednesday. Espinosa leads the immigrant activist group FIEL Houston. Romero's mother hopes her daughter can return to Houston for her recovery. "We need her here," the mother, Ericka Chaves, said at a news conference Monday. "And she needs her family." Chaves started the GoFundMe page to accept donations toward her daughter's expenses. The family is not yet sure whether Romero, who is on a full scholarship, has insurance through the university or not. 'MY HERO': Houston mother asks for help bringing Charlottesville victim home for recovery Houstonians and other people across the globe stepped up over the past few days to contribute to the 2016 Bellaire High School graduate's expenses. By noon Wednesday the fundraiser tallied more than $130,000 in donations ranging from $50 to $2,000. "Get better fast," one donor wrote. "And thanks for being there." "You're a hero. Heal well. There are millions behind you," another said. "Thank you for standing up against Nazis," wrote a third. SUSPECT'S HISTORY: Mom previously accused Charlottesville driver of beating her Vikki Katz gave $18 and wrote that "18 signifies life in Hebrew. Wishing you a speedy recovery and a happy, healthy life!" The highest contributor, who chose to stay anonymous, gave $2,000 on Monday. Two other donors listed on the page, Scott Montgomery and David Cross, each gave $1,000. Natalie Romero Santana donated $50 and wrote, "Seeing we share the same name, the same skin color and almost the same age is a reminder that we are all in this together. We must raise our voices and fight against this together." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz spoke on North Texas radio's "The Mark Davis Show" and gave his reaction to Charlottesville, Virginia, and the canceled White Lives Matter rally at Texas A&M. "I'm glad that Spencer and the white supremacists are not coming to A&M," Cruz said, referring to alt-right leader and white nationalist Richard Spencer. "I think Texas doesn't need to listen to their garbage." The Texas senator also criticized the white supremacist and neo-Nazis seen protesting in Charlottesville over the weekend. LOCAL POLITICS: Texas House denounces violence from white nationalists "We shouldn't be seeing this in America," said Cruz. "These guys are racist, bigoted thugs. They're idiots. What they're saying is wrong, they're lies." Despite the harsh words for both white nationalist rallies, Cruz was adamant throughout the short phone interview that the controversial protesters had a right to speak. "Even those profoundly wrong have a right to speak and express their views, but they have to express it peacefully," Cruz said. "They don't have a right to violence, they don't have a right to murder, they don't have a right to assault others." TEXANS: Nick Novak gets emotional about violence in old hometown of Charlottesville "When people do choose to use their free speech rights to advocate hatred and evil, the rest of us are obliged to counter it," Cruz added. "Now I don't think you counter it with censorship," he said. "I agree with John Stuart Mill, who talked about the marketplace of ideas, and the best cure for bad speech, for bad ideas, is more speech and better ideas." Click through to view a brief explainer on the alt-right, the white nationalist movement founded by Richard Spencer. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Huntington Ingalls Industries has agreed to pay $9.2 million to the federal government to settle charges the company violated the federal False Claims Act by overbilling the government for work at Ingalls Shipbuilidng in Pascagoula. The company was accused of overbilling labor charges for work on U.S. Navy and Coast Guard ships at Ingalls. The settlement calls for HII to pay $7.9 million to settle the case. Coupled with earlier payments made by the company, the total settlement is about $9.2 million. "Contractors that knowingly bill the government in violation of contract terms will face serious consequences," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Chad A. Readler in a release from the U.S. Department of Justice. "This settlement demonstrates, once again, that we will not tolerate defense contractors who falsely charge the armed forces or any agency of the United States." The overbilling dates back to 2003 and the allegations were first brought to light in a whistleblower lawsuit filed by former Ingalls employee Bryon Faulkner. Faulkner filed his suit under the provision of the False Claims Act which allows private individuals to sue on behalf of the U.S. government for false claims and to share in any recovery. The law also allows for the government to step in and take over legal action, which is did in the HII case. As a result of the settlement, Faulkner will receive nearly $1.6 million. Three other former Ingalls employees pleaded guilty to their roles in the overbilling scheme and were sentenced between 2015-2016. In all, 20 Ingalls employees were fired after the overbilling came to light. At the time, prosecutors said the government had lost as much as $11.3 million as a result of the scheme. "The company informed the government of alleged misconduct by certain employees and fully cooperated with the government in investigating and reaching a resolution of the matter," said Beci Benton, Ingalls' Corporate Director for Public Affairs, in a statement provided to The Mississippi Press. "The company has strengthened its compliance program to help ensure that no similar issues arise in the future." According to the USDOJ, Ingalls reportedly mischarged for labor costs on particular contracts to other contracts, although the costs were not actually incurred on those projects. Tuesday's announcement also settles claims disclosed by HII it had billed the Navy and Coast Guard for hull construction dive operations that never took place. "Our armed forces depend on defense contractors to follow the rules and this civil settlement, the second largest in the (Southern District of Mississippi) history, should remind all those who conduct business with the United States Government that they are expected to abide by the rules," said Acting U.S. Attorney Harold Brittain. "Contractors are expected to comply with their statutory obligations and act in good faith when dealing with the Department of Defense," said John F. Khin, Special Agent in Charge, Defense Criminal Investigative Service. "This settlement is the culmination of hard work by DCIS, our investigative partners, the Department of Justice, Civil Division, Commercial Litigation Branch, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Mississippi; and clearly demonstrates that combatting fraud, waste and abuse within DOD contracting remains a top priority." November's ballot will feature $495 million in public improvement bonds alongside $1 billion in pension obligation bonds, after City Council agreed Wednesday to send the package to Houston voters. The general bonds would fund improvements to libraries and parks, as well as items like new police and fire trucks. "Many of our police officers are driving in vehicles that are 10 to 11 years old, if not longer. Same thing for firefighters," Mayor Sylvester Turner said. "Solid waste driving in trucks that are stopping while they're out collecting trash. So the public safety issue is important." In all, the bond package before voters asks for authorization to issue $159 million in public safety bonds, $104 million for parks, $109 million for general government improvements and $123 million for libraries. Council members eventually agreed by a wide margin to send the bonds to voters with just Councilmen Greg Travis and Michael Kubosh voting no but not without some customary hemming and hawing. Councilman Mike Knox questioned why the city would request voter approval to issue nearly half a billion dollars in bonds when more than one-fifth of that authorization would be for projects that have yet to be determined $87 million for library facilities and $21 million for park improvements. "I just don't want the city to be in the position with all this extra money going, oh we've got all this extra money, let's think of something to do," Knox said. The mayor assured Knox that the city would, through its library master plan, settle on specific ways to use the $87 million set aside for library facilities. Councilman Dave Martin joked that he would volunteer to take any excess funds. "I'd be glad to take it," he said. "Stand down, I'm already in line," Councilwoman Brenda Stardig responded. Martin added: "Not to bring my personal life into it, but I live every day on to-be-determined. I live my life on things that I don't anticipate spending." Kubosh, meanwhile, worried about the city's ability to service its bond debt. "Even when we had our recent budget, you said there's no funding source for the district council service budget there's no money there for it so how are we going to have money for this?" The measure before voters simply would authorize Houston to issue additional bonds. It does not obligate the city to any further spending without City Council approval. Eric Gay/STF AUSTIN Gov. Greg Abbott blamed the Texas House for the failure of about half of his special session agenda Wednesday, namely his hopes for property tax reform, but cast doubt on speculation that he would call lawmakers back to a special session. The governor pointed to political differences between leaders in the Senate and the House for the stalemate on a key property tax proposal this year, saying in an interview with Chad Hasty on KFYO radio that "it would just be nothing more than a waste of millions of taxpayers dollars" to call lawmakers back to the capitol city until the two chambers resolve their differences. AUSTIN -- Democrats and their allies excoriated the Republican-led Texas Legislature's agenda on Wednesday, calling it a Trump-inspired priority list that furthers "white supremacist, racist" attitudes. The day after the Texas Legislature's session abruptly ended, the groups calling themselves One Texas Resistance, blasted the GOP-led legislature for pushing the so-called bathroom bill, passing more bills to make it harder for women to seek safe legal abortions and failing to do more to boost school funding. Gov. Greg Abbott and Republicans in the Legislature are pushing ideas that are out of line with regular Texas families, said Joaquin Castro, the San Antonio congressman considered a possible statewide candidate for office someday by his party. "This was a Trump-inspired legislative session and special session," Castro said. "This is a completely dysfunctional system that is not working on issues that matter to the people of Texas." While Castro at times sounded like a candidate itching to challenge Abbott in 2018 for re-election, he insisted that he is simply focused on his job in Congress. "Well I have a job right now and my plan is to run for re-election," Castro said. But Castro, like other speakers before him at the press conference, worked hard to tie Trump to Abbott and Republicans in the Texas Legislature in a gamble that Trump's popularity is in decline and will help Democrats win seats in Congress and the Texas Legislature in 2018. "All of this energy and all of this passion has to be channeled into one thing: winning elections in 2018 and we are determined to do that," Castro said. Castro said the Democratic base over the last seven months is very fired up and it has political legs to carry into 2018. "I think we are going to have historic turnout in 2018 for the midterm," Castro said. "I think you are going to see a dam break in Texas politics. I think we will be competitive in statewide races. I'm not saying we are going to win all of them, but I think we be competitive. I think we are going to win races in places we haven't won in a long time." Although the so-called bathroom bill never cleared the regular session or the special session, groups that fought the bill say they are frustrated with Abbott and Patrick for continuing to push the legislation on Texas. Patrick and Abbott have called the legislation a "privacy bill" aimed at barring sexual predators from pretending to be transgender to get into women's bathroom. The bill passed the Senate, but never clear the Texas House. Emmett Schelling of the Trans Education Network of Texas said the bill's demise was good news, but he knows more fights are coming. "We cannot allow right wing extremists to force their discriminatory agenda on our LGBTQ community," Schelling said. Groups that support abortion rights say they were under constant attack by the Legislature once again. "We are all outraged today by the attacks on reproductive rights that we have witnessed in the regular and special session this year," said Amanda Williams of the Lilith Fund. She said because those most affected by restrictions on abortion are traditionally low-income women of color, she sees the Legislature's agenda as a continuance of the "white supremacist racist agenda." She slammed the Legislature for being "Trump-aligned." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN -- Just after approving a compromise on school finance, the Texas House pulled a dramatic and early final curtain on the special session Tuesday, leaving a number of Gov. Greg Abbott's priority items unfinished and giving senators a take-it-or-leave it choice on a proposal to rein in property tax increases. The House's adjournment came one day ahead of Wednesday's deadline to end the special legislative session called by Gov. Greg Abbott to address a slew of issues. The session began July 18, and it could have lasted 30 days. Abbott, if he chooses, can call another special session. By adjourning, the House leaves it up to the Senate to either adopt their version of a property tax bill, which would trigger an automatic rollback if a municipality proposes increasing property taxes by more than 6 percent. The Senate had wanted to set that threshold at 4 percent, but with the House gone, the Senate will have to either take it or leave it. The announcement came just after a pivotal vote on financing public schools. With a somber tone, the Texas House agreed to give up its plan to pour $1.8 billion into public education and instead adopted the Senate's truncated plan to spend about a third of that to mop up a series of short-term education funding emergencies. The House voted 94-46 Tuesday for a bill that would spend $564 million to lower health care payments for retired teachers, offer facilities funding for charter schools and some traditional schools, create a bridge program for rural school districts losing state aid and spent money on students with dyslexia and autism. Members of the House Public Education Committee said they were disappointed in the Senate, which refused to spend more money and instead insisted that a commission study school finance ahead of the Legislature's 2019 session. The final bill abandoned about $1 billion to increase the basis allotment, which would have funneled more money per student across public schools. The bill also rejected $100 million for teaching bilingual students, amid other changes. Passed by both chambers, House Bill 21 next heads to the governor's office. He is expected to sign the bill. Andrea Zelinski covers politics and education for the Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook. Send her tips at andrea.zelinski@chron.com. The white nationalist riot in Charlottesville, a city that boasts "diversity makes us stronger," made a lot of things clear. One of them is that generic solutions to the racial problem - bland affirmations of inclusiveness, tolerance and "free speech" - will no longer work. Indeed, they have never worked, at least not on their own. The problem of discrimination and equality in America has been far more dynamic, operating like an oversized historical game of Paper-rock-scissors. And in such a game, throwing the same thing over and over again is never a good idea. For a long while, we've been throwing a lot of "paper." Liberalism - our paper - preserves our country's long commitment to contracts. Under liberalism, citizens stand in contract with their government. The government's job, in turn, has been to enforce contracts between individuals and groups. Truly, when people ask for rights, be they women's rights, gay and transgender rights, or rights as people of color, they are asking for contract rights. Capitalism, for better and often for worse, is that - baked in to our political system. Markets didn't give citizenship its only meaning, to be sure. But the meaning of citizenship in America has remained most real in the commercial possibilities and legal certainties offered by contract. Our "paper" citizenship, thus, inheres in things like the defensible access to employment, ownership and even, at times, the right to kill as a soldier, police officer or property owner. Liberalism's loftiest promise, in brief, has been the right to own and not be property. This weekend's white power march in Charlottesville, and the march's attendant terrorist attack, reminded the country of the persistence of white supremacy, our country's "scissors." Right at the country's founding, racists cut black and indigenous people out of liberalism's contract. Black bodies and Native American land did not deserve the protection of contract. They deserved bondage and expropriation. The 19th- and 20th-century world was ablur with the furious cutting of scissors. And those who sought to keep black or indigenous people from voting, owning, working or traveling were often the very same people doing the very same thing to white women or gay or transgender people or the disabled. Resistance, be it forceful or clandestine, threatened or explicit, stands as our "rock." Rocks can look like armed self-defense or nonviolent direct-action campaigns. They appear, too, as blunt, bald public speech about the hatred arrayed against the dispossessed. Our rock against racism has also included the sacrifice of people like Medgar Evers, a black World War II veteran and civil rights organizer, dying in Jackson, Miss., in 1963; or Viola Liuzzo, a white Northern Unitarian Universalist, dying for the same cause in Selma, Ala., two years later. It has certainly included the countless thousands who lost their lives speaking out and challenging white supremacy everywhere, people whose names we, as a country, will mostly never know. Add to their number Heather Heyer, the white woman killed in Saturday's attack in Virginia. No matter its form, rock breaks scissors. A half-century ago, nothing less than radical anti-racism could reduce white supremacy to an outlaw religion. Paper could not do that. The contract logic of liberalism, on its own, was not built for that. On matters of racism and discrimination, capitalism can never serve as the great social fix, because in many instances, the very sectors of the economy that have historically been the most profitable in American history - for instance, slavery, real estate - have also been the most discriminatory. Lynching remained a form of public recreation well into the boom years of the Roaring Twenties. Until the 1940s, most police departments in America's fastest-growing cities, even in the North, welcomed open members of the Ku Klux Klan. Through the economic miracle of America's post-World War II years, Congress remained dominated by Southern segregationists, with Jim Crow housing driving credit and consumer markets for the entire economy. Then, in April 1968, amid a flurry of other "rocks," riots shook American cities following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. It took that rolling unrest, not the promise of further economic growth, to spur President Lyndon Johnson and Congress to action. Within a week they had passed the Fair Housing Act. Over the last century, liberalism, vexed by an ever-sharp, ever-cutting white supremacy, has needed these rocks. We owe our country's very existence as an enduring political experiment to the work and sacrifice we now call the civil rights movement or the black freedom struggle, and not just for the freedom it secured for people of color. In considering the origins of movements for gay rights, women's rights or disabled rights movement, we must acknowledge that it was challenges against white supremacy that first shook the grip of those people holding fast to their scissors, that first chastened those insistent on shearing other people from their rights. Nearly a century of black protest, culminating in Reconstruction, gave us our first national definition of birthright citizenship. The Civil Rights Act of 1964, as the answer to Jim Crow, served as the bedrock of employment and public accommodation protections across America. Similarly, it was political blackness - blackness in public, and broad public affirmation of the value of black life - that, by the early 1970s, finally drove the Grand Dragons and segregationist politicians from their pedestals and high seats in temples of American institutional life. Some, like South Carolina Sen. Strom Thurmond or West Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd, had to shed their robes in order to keep their seats well into the 2000s. On the whole, America's corporations, universities, state legislatures, city halls and Congress were forced to rule overt racism - and with it, other forms of discrimination - out of bounds. Or at least they had to try. Yet despite the rights hard won by rock, we returned to paper. During the 1970s, we covered and concealed any historically specific grievance with a general promise of "equal opportunity," ownership, and with law and order. Under liberalism, property rights were still king. Outcry about ongoing exclusion in employment, education, and political and cultural representation were not met with redistributive programs but rather diffuse commitments to multiculturalism. We were not allowed mandatory fair employment law, but rather voluntary affirmative action. We were not allowed historically redressive policy - dare one say reparations? - but rather mere tolerance and the assertion that our greatest problem, after nearly a century of Jim Crow, was ensuring the protection of free speech, even for hate speech. Back in May and now again in mid-August, white supremacists in Charlottesville exhibited a taste for torches. The historical theater of such displays ought not be lost on us. Lynch mobs carried torches. But they also had to carry them, because dedicated people, forcefully defending black rights, drove hatemongers to conduct their murderous work under cover of darkness. Consider that the Klan and neo-Nazis are again out and about in daylight, wielding not so much torches as scissors. We can keep on throwing paper. Even after a couple centuries of trying, we can keep hoping a commitment to commerce can still be the great fix. We would do well, however, to wise up and start throwing rock - public denunciations of white supremacy, clear anti-racist institution building, and fighting for policies that undo the money made off racism, especially with an ancient hatred now standing unhooded. Segregationists have again assumed their pedestals in the Justice Department, the White House and many other American temples. Paper alone won't drive them out. Start throwing rocks. --- Connolly is Herbert Baxter Adams associate professor at the Johns Hopkins University and author of "A World More Concrete: Real Estate and the Remaking of Jim Crow South Florida." He also co-hosts a weekly podcast, BackStory, alongside Ed Ayers, Brian Balogh, and Joanne Freeman. GULFPORT, Miss. -- A Pascagoula seaman was indicted for violation of federal law that prohibits mariners from misusing merchant marine documents issued under the authority of the United States, Acting U.S. Attorney Harold Brittain and Special Agent in Charge Brian Jeanfreau of the United States Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) Gulf Region in New Orleans, Louisiana announced Tuesday. Luis Adrover Lagares has been charged with using and exhibiting a United States Coast Guard Merchant Marine Chief Engineer license that he was not entitled to possess in applying for employment as a Chief Engineer in Moss Point in violation of federal law. Lagares appeared for arraignment on Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge John C. Gargiulo in Gulfport. The case will head to trial in October before Chief U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola. If convicted, Lagares faces a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison, along with a $250,000 fine. According to Jeanfreau, mariners who do not follow the law will be prosecuted to the highest extent of the law. "The Coast Guard Investigative Service will vigorously investigate and seek prosecution of individuals suspected of misusing Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Credentials to help ensure the operation of vessels on our waters is conducted safely, and only by qualified seamen," he said. We attempted to send a notification to your email address but we were unable to verify that you provided a valid email address. Please click here to update your email address if you wish to receive notifications. Otherwise, you may click here to disable notifications and hide this message. What is ITIL? The IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) is an IT service management framework that outlines best practices for delivering IT services. ITILs systematic approach to IT service management (ITSM) can help businesses manage risk, strengthen customer relations, establish cost-effective practices, and build a stable IT environment that allows for growth, scale, and change. ITIL has gone through several revisions in its history and currently comprises five books, each covering various processes and stages of the IT service lifecycle. The books contain recommendations and a framework that can help organizations standardize their service management processes. ITIL promises to reduce IT operations cost, improve productivity and employee satisfaction, and manage risk, failure, and disruption throughout the organization. The goal of ITIL is for organizations to create predictable IT environments and to deliver the best customer service possible to customers and clients by streamlining processes and identifying opportunities to improve efficiency. ITIL has always focused on integrating IT into the business something that has become increasingly important as technology becomes a vital aspect of every business unit. ITIL 4, the latest iteration of the ITIL framework, maintains the original focus with a stronger emphasis on fostering an agile and flexible IT department. Whats in the ITIL? ITIL has gone through several revisions in its history. The original 30 books of the ITIL were first condensed in 2000 (when ITIL V2 was launched) to seven books, each wrapped around a facet of IT management. Later, the ITIL Refresh Project in 2007 consolidated the ITIL to five volumes consisting of 26 process and functions this is referred to as the ITIL 2007 edition. In 2011, another update dubbed ITIL 2011 was published under the Cabinet Office. The five volumes remained, and ITIL 2007 and ITIL 2011 remained similar. ITIL 4, which was released in 2019, maintains the same focus on automating processes, improving service management, and integrating the IT department into the business. But it also updates the framework to accommodate and answer to modern technology, tools, and software. Since ITILs last update, the IT department has grown to become integral to every business and the new framework accommodates this by being more agile, flexible, and collaborative. What are the ITIL 4 guiding principles? ITIL 4 contains seven guiding principles that were adopted from the most recent ITIL Practitioner Exam, which covers organizational change management, communication, and measurement and metrics. These principles include: Focus on value Start where you are Progress iteratively with feedback Collaborate and promote visibility Think and work holistically Keep it simple and practical Optimize and automate ITIL 4 focuses on company culture and integrating IT into the overall business structure. It encourages collaboration between IT and other departments, especially as other business units increasingly rely on technology to get work done. There is also a strong emphasis on customer feedback given that its easier than ever for businesses to understand their public perception, as well as customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction. For more information on the benefits of the latest version of ITIL, see ITIL 4: ITSM gets agile. How do I put ITIL into practice? ITIL is a collection of e-books, but merely going on a reading binge wont improve your IT operations. To effectively implement ITIL, you need to have everyone on board to adopt new procedures and best practices. Consider what type of consulting, training, and certifications you might want to take advantage of to prepare for the transition as well. From the early 1990s, certifications were administered by two independent bodies: EXIN and ISEB, depending on your location. The two bodies formed an alliance at the end of 2006 to further IT service management. Since 2014, Axelos is the owner of the ITIL personnel certification, and exams are administered by Accredited Training Organizations (ATOs). Accreditations are administered by Strategic Examination Institutes (EIs). EIs need to be accredited directly by Axelos to offer accreditation to ATOs. Before implementing ITIL at your organizations, there are several questions you should answer, such as what problems your organization is trying to solve and what is your route to continual service improvement. For a deeper look at putting ITIL into practice, see 7 questions to ask before implementing ITIL and How to get started with ITIL. What is ITIL certification and is it worth it? The ITIL 4 certification scheme includes the ITIL Foundation and the ITIL Master exams. After passing the ITIL Foundation exam, the certification scheme splits into two paths with the option of the ITIL Managing Professional (MP) or ITIL Strategic Leader (SL) certifications, which each have their own modules and exams. Those who complete both paths will qualify for the ITIL Master designation, which is the highest level of certification offered. The ITIL Managing Professional (MP) exam is designed for IT practitioners who are involved with technology and digital teams throughout the organization, not just in the IT department. This path will teach professionals everything they need to know about running successful IT projects, teams, and workflows. Modules include: ITIL Specialist Create, Deliver and Support ITIL Specialist Drive Stakeholder Value ITIL Specialist High Velocity IT ITIL Strategist Direct, Plan & Improve The ITIL Strategic Leader (SL) exam is designed for those who deal with all digitally enabled services, and not just those that fall under IT operations. This path focuses on how technology directs business strategy and how IT plays into that. Modules include: ITIL Strategist Direct, Plan & Improve ITIL Leader Digital & IT Strategy For an in-depth look at ITIL certification, see ITIL certification guide: Costs, requirements, levels, and paths. How does ITIL help business? A well-run IT organization that manages risk and keeps the infrastructure humming not only saves money but also enables everyone in the organization to do their jobs more effectively. For example, brokerage firm Pershing reduced its incident response time by 50% in the first year after restructuring its service desk according to ITIL guidelines, enabling users with problems to get back to work much more quickly. ITIL provides a systematic and professional approach to the management of IT service provision, and offers the following benefits: Reduced IT costs Improved IT services using proven best practices Improved customer satisfaction through a more professional approach to service delivery Standards and guidance Improved productivity Improved use of skills and experience Improved delivery of third-party services through the specification of ITIL or BS15000 as the standard for service delivery in services procurements According to Axelos, ITIL can also help businesses improve services by: Helping businesses manage risk, disruption, and failure Strengthening customer relations by delivering efficient services that meet their needs Establishing cost-effective practices Building a stable environment that still allows for growth, scale, and change For a deeper look at how to get the most from ITIL, see 6 tips for ITIL implementation success. What will ITIL cost? Getting started involves the purchase of the ITIL either as hardcopy, PDF, ePub, or through an online subscription directly from Axelos. Then theres the cost of training, which fluctuates each year. The course leading to the initial Foundation Certificate typically runs for two days, and courses leading to higher certifications can be a week or more. Add to that the inevitable cost of re-engineering some processes to comply with ITIL guidelines, and adjustment of help desk or other software to capture the information you need for tracking and generating metrics. How does ITIL reduce costs? Corporations and public sector organizations that have successfully implemented ITIL best practices report huge savings. For example, in its Benefits of ITIL paper, Pink Elephant reports that Procter and Gamble saved about $500 million over four years by reducing help desk calls and improving operating procedures. Nationwide Insurance achieved a 40% reduction in system outages and estimates a $4.3 million ROI over three years, and Capital One reduced its business critical incidents by 92% over two years. Without buy-in and cooperation from IT staff, however, any implementation is bound to fail. Bringing best practices into an organization is as much a PR job as it is a technical exercise. Other criticisms include the fact that its impossible to plan for every failure, event, or incident so its not an exact science. You wont know the exact ROI on ITIL until you implement it within your organization and use it effectively. Ultimately, since ITIL is a framework, it can only be as successful as corporate buy-in allows. Embracing certifications, training, and investing in the shift will help increase the chances of success and savings. History of ITIL Developed by the British governments Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA) during the 1980s, the ITIL first consisted of more than 30 books, developed, and released over time, that codified best practices in IT accumulated from many sources (including vendors best practices) around the world. In April 2001, CCTA, along with several other agencies, were rolled into the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), which is now known as the Cabinet Office. The OGC adopted the project as part of its mission to work with the UK public sector as a catalyst to achieve efficiency, value for money in commercial activities, and improved success in the delivery of programs and projects. The goal wasnt to create a proprietary product that could be commercialized; rather, it was to gather best practices that could assist with what the government recognized was an increasing dependence within the government on IT combined with a lack of standard procedures that were increasing costs and allowing errors to perpetuate. It quickly became apparent that distributing these best practices would profit both public- and private-sector organizations. Over the years, ITILs credibility and utility became recognized, and in 2005 its practices contributed to and aligned with the ISO/IEC 20000 Service Management standard, the first international standard for IT service management; it is based on British standard BS15000. Since 2013, ITIL has been owned by Axelos a joint venture between the Cabinet Office and Capita. Axelos gives businesses the license to use the ITIL framework, while managing updates and process changes. But to use ITIL internally, organizations do not need a license. ITIL v3 was released in 2011, under the Cabinet Office, bringing updates to the 2007 version published under OGC. In 2018, Axelos announced ITIL 4 a major overhaul to the entire framework and the biggest change since ITIL v3 was published in 2007. ITIL 4, which started rolling out in Q1 of 2019, offers a more agile, flexible, and customizable version of ITIL that is updated for modern businesses. The latest version encourages less siloes, more collaboration, communication across the entire business and integrating agile and DevOps into ITSM strategies. More on ITIL and ITSM: AIM Soldadura de Mexico Obtains Industria Limpia Certification Published: 16 August 2017 by Mike Buetow by Mike Buetow August 16th, 2017 Cranston, Rhode Island USA - AIM, a leading global manufacturer of solder assembly materials for the electronics industry, is pleased to announce that its Juarez, Mexico facility successfully completed the recertification process for the Industria Limpia certification, bestowed by the Procuraduria Federal de Proteccion al Ambiente (PROFEPA). This certification is valid for two years. The Industria Limpia certificate is bestowed by PROFEPA, federal agency responsible for the enforcement of environmental laws, upon companies that comply with Mexican environmental laws and regulations and successfully complete the audit on proper environmental procedures. AIM has been a proud recipient of this certificate since 2011. Its participation in the National Program of Environmental Audits is one initiative that supports AIMs ongoing efforts of social responsibility. With this certification, AIM reaffirms its commitment to the Mexican community by ensuring the well-being of local residents and contributing to initiatives that facilitate environmental protection and conservation. About PROFEPA The Procuraduria Federal de Proteccion al Ambiente (PROFEPA) is the organism in charge of preserving the environment and enforcing laws and regulations for environmental conservation. PROFEPA is a decentralized body of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT). Register now for PCB West the Silicon Valley's largest PCB industry trade show: pcbwest.com! Now with full-day electronics assembly tutorials! HEIDELBERG, STEINBERGER FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 2, 2017 STEINBERGER SPEAKS TO MISSISSIPPI MUNICIPAL ATTORNEYS Pascagoula attorney Karl Steinberger recently spoke to over 100 attorneys attending the Mississippi Municipal Attorneys Conference held in conjunction with the Mississippi Municipal Association Conference in Biloxi. Steinberger addressed various aspects of the Mississippi Unemployment Compensation Act including rates, options available to municipalities not available to the private sector, claims procedures and case law. Steinberger has practiced law in Pascagoula since 1976 and specializes in employment law and workers compensation. He received his bachelor's degree from Ole Miss in 1973 and his Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1976. Sentencing for 9 California Residents in $500,000 Auto Insurance Fraud Ring In one of the larger auto insurance fraud cases in the Sacramento region, Michael Charles Young, of Sacramento, the leader of a large auto insurance fraud ring was sentenced recently to more than 10 years in state prison for bilking insurance companies out of an estimated $500,000 by filing fraudulent insurance claims. Detectives are seeking three at-large suspects with outstanding warrants and asking for the publics help finding themJazlyn Ladana Burrell, of Vallejo; Lavina Louise Nunally, and Desiree Patricia Vasquez, both of Sacramento. An investigation by detectives with the California Department of Insurance and the California Highway Patrol (CHP) uncovered evidence Young and several co-conspirators filed multiple insurance claims totaling an estimated half a million dollars after crashing cars into each other or filing claims on vehicles with existing damageknown as paper collisions. The case is being prosecuted by the Sacramento County District Attorneys Office. According to detectives, Youngs ring operated in the Sacramento area between 2014 and early 2016 filing dozens of claims ranging between $5,000 and $40,000 with a number of insurance companies. In most cases, false identities were used to register and insure the vehicles used to file claims and accomplices were provided scripts to use when communicating with insurers. Some defendants allowed their identities to be used for compensation and then cashed checks issued in their names. The ring grew as friends and family members were recruited. Young was arrested in April 2016, and charged with numerous felonies, including insurance fraud, possession of stolen vehicles, identity theft, and possession of firearms by a convicted felon. Ohio Woman Commits Fraud Seeking Medical Benefits Through Workers Comp A Columbus, Ohio, woman pleaded guilty to workers compensation fraud recently after filing three false claims for medical benefits since 2012. Shardette Nyarko, 36, pleaded guilty to a first-degree misdemeanor charge of workers compensation fraud in the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas. A judge fined her $100, then suspended the fine. Investigators with the Ohio Bureau of Workers Compensation discovered Nyarkos false claims last year while conducting a routine review of disallowed injury claims. They found Nyarko filed a false claim in April 2016 and two in 2012. Nyarko stated in her claims that she was at work at the time of her injuries, but investigators determined she was not employed at the time she said she was injured. When questioned by investigators, Nyarko explained that she needed medical treatment she could not afford. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. AKRON, Ohio - Area officials want Akronites to weigh in on the proposed new Rubber City Heritage Trail at two community meetings. Partners in the project -- the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition, the city of Akron, Akron Metropolitan Area Transportation Study, the Knight Foundation, the Ohio and Erie Canalway and Summit Metro Parks - want community members to share their vision for the trail regarding artwork, lighting and safety, as well as general comments or concerns. The meetings will take place: Tuesday, Aug. 22 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Old Sanctuary, 647 East Market Street, Akron Wednesday, Aug. 23 from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Front Porch, 798 Grant Street, Akron The Rubber City Heritage Trail is a proposed 6-mile multi-use recreational trail linking several neighborhoods and Akron's historic tire and rubber companies. It will run between the city's east and south ends via an abandoned railway, mostly owned by the city. The trail will begin near the former Goodyear campus on Market Street in Middlebury, extend toward the University of Akron campus and move southeast to connect with the Towpath Trail in Kenmore along the Ohio & Erie Canal. It would also serve as one of several feeder trails for the Towpath Trail. "Think about all the energy and all the positive activity going on at the Firestone/Bridgestone campus and the positive energy going on with East End," said Akron Councilman Jeff Fusco, a proponent of the trail. "This will tie that in and the historic aspects of south and east Akron. It will be a positive for the community and will be a benefit for future generations to remember where we've been." No date has been set for trail construction to begin. The meetings are free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided. For more information, contact the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition at 330-374-5657. Want more Akron news? Sign up for cleveland.com's Rubber City Daily, an email newsletter delivered at 5:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Arlene Watson, who became director of institutional advancement at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland in January 2016, has just joined the 2018 FRONT International Cleveland Triennial for Contemporary Art as its director of public programs and engagement. Watson will organize a year's worth of programming leading up to an including FRONT, which will run from July 14 to September 30, 2018, a news release said. The inaugural edition of FRONT, entitled "An American City: Eleven Cultural Exercises," will feature more than 60 international, national and local artists in over 20 major exhibitions and installations across Northeast Ohio. Watson will coordinate with FRONT partners including MOCA Cleveland, the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College, the Akron Art Museum, the Cleveland Clinic and the Cleveland Institute of Art. Watson's duties begin with activities surrounding the FRONT Artist Residency beginning next month at the Glenville Arts Campus, including the renovated Madison Building and the adjacent former Winnie's Nursery. Last month, FRONT announced a roster of 57 of the artists selected to participate in the exhibition with installations, performances and freshly commissioned works. Bidwell, a collector, Cleveland Museum of Art trustee and co-founder of the Transformer Station in Ohio City, described FRONT as an ambitious cultural event that would enrich the city's image and draw as many as 300,000 viewers between July 14 and Sept. 30, 2018. Public programming is very much part of the package. "We are committed to developing an active schedule of activities that fosters multiple levels of engagement with the art and artists of FRONT across different audience types," Fred Bidwell, Executive Director of FRONT, said in a news release. "With programs running the gamut from educational and scholarly offerings to interactive demonstrations and artist talks, families, students, collectors, scholars and artists will have an extraordinary opportunity to participate in one of North America's most ambitious contemporary art events." Watson in the news release "I believe art is an essential connector of people and places. I am excited that I can use my passion for community engagement to help this transformational project bring so many audiences together through contemporary art." Before her stint at MOCA, Watson was a creative director at the Cleveland-based architecture and design firm of Vocon, and creative director at Mobius Grey LLC, Cleveland. INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- MacroPoint, a freight-tracking platform company based in Independence, has been acquired by Descartes Systems Group for $107 million, the company announced. Yesterday, the Canadian public company announced it had acquired MacroPoint and this morning MacroPoint made its debut on the Inc. 5000 list, ranking No. 567. It is the fourth highest ranked company in the Cleveland area and 14th in Ohio. With annual sales of about $12.5 million, MacroPoint has seen 793 percent sales growth. MacroPoint provides shippers, third-party logistics provides, carriers and brokers with real-time load status, and connects more than 8,000 transportation providers, brokers and shippers. The company uses data to help transportation brokers, logistics service providers and shippers track the locations of deliveries in trucks. MacroPoint can also use content to provide transportation brokers and shippers with predictive freight capacity to help identify early opportunities for additional freight moves. "Consumers expect to see the location and progress of shipments from the point of order to delivery," Ken Wood, EVP of product management at Descartes said in a statement. "With leading e-commerce retailers and other shippers demanding that their transportation providers provide real-time location-based information, the business-to-business market now has the same expectation of full visibility into transportation moves." "To meet this expectation, MacroPoint has established what we believe is the preeminent network of connected vehicles and location-based content in North America." Bennett Adelson, CEO of Independence-based MacroPoint, a company that created disruptive supply chain management technology. MacroPoint has been acquired this week for $107 million and named to the Inc. 5000 list Bennett Adelson, CEO of MacroPoint, said the company is the market leader for truckload shipment visibility. "We believe that the combination of Descartes' Global Logistics Network with our cloud-based, real-time load visibility platform creates a truly differentiated offering that helps customers research, plan, execute and monitor multi-modal shipments around the world," he said in a statement. Adelson, who launched his consulting firm more than 20 years ago, is also a tech entrepreneur. Several years-ago, while working on a vexing logistics problem for one of his clients, he realized the challenging nature of visibility into a company's moving supply chain. It took some time to fully solve the transportation and technology issues involved. But he noticed the software was beginning to get serious market traction. This week's acquisition and Inc. 5000 validates and honors the company's hard work. MacroPoint reported 35 employees in the Inc. 5000 rankings. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy's most dynamic segment-- its independent small and midsized businesses. Companies such as Microsoft, Dell, Domino's Pizza, Pandora, Timberland, LinkedIn, Yelp, Zillow, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees of the Inc. 5000. "It is a true honor to be recognized by Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the country and in the logistics and transportation industry," said Bennett Adelson, CEO of MacroPoint. "MacroPoint's success is due to the hard work of our talented employees, who strive daily to bring freight visibility to the global supply chain. Our patented freight tracking platform provides shippers, carriers and third-party logistics providers with real-time updates and predictive analytics on every load. We are committed to providing disruptive supply chain innovation to the world's leading transportation companies." MacroPoint automates the entire process by eliminating the need for drivers to check in with dispatchers, and for shippers and brokers to check in with carriers. Ohio has an estimated 7,092 middle market companies ($10 million-$1 billion in annual revenues), the fourth most of any state, which make 1.29 percent of all firms in the state, according to the latest Middle Market Power Index from American Express and Dun & Bradstreet. Ohio ranks No. 2 out of all 50 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands for growth in number of middle market firms from 2011-2016, according to a new report released yesterday. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Muslim-American comedian has sued the prominent neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer and its Ohio-based publisher over an article the website posted claiming the comedian confessed to being behind the May terrorist attack in Manchester, England. The website posted a June 1 article on its website that said Dean Obeidallah, who tours around the country and has a show on SiriusXM satellite radio, was the "mastermind" behind a bombing at an Ariana Grande concert overseas that left 23 people dead and 250 people injured. As evidence, the article's author and The Daily Stormer's publisher, Andrew Anglin of Worthington, posted a series of pictures of supposed tweets from Obeidallah. In reality, they were fabricated images, and Obeidlallah never tweeted anything of the sort, according to the lawsuit filed Wednesday in a federal court in Columbus. The fake article caused readers to take to The Daily Stormer's message board where Obeidallah's life was threatened. One commenter wrote that "look down this barrel and verify if my gun is clean like a good terrorist," the lawsuit says. Obeidallah, who lives in New York, is suing for libel, false light invasion of privacy, infliction of emotional distress and conspiracy. His suit argues that the article was posted so Obeidallah would be the target of violence and to injure his reputation. He is asking for an unnamed amount in damages and to have the article removed from The Daily Stormer. The suit says Obeidallah's legal team sent a letter to Anglin on June 15 to request the article's removal, but Anglin never responded. "Mr. Obeidallah is an ardent believer in and defender of the First Amendment," the lawsuit says. "He recognizes the importance of freedom of speech and political discourse, regardless of viewpoint. But the First Amendment does not license defamation." The timing of the lawsuit's filing is particular prescient, as the The Daily Stormers' viewpoints were front and center as a group of white supremacists, white nationalists and neo-Nazis helped cause violence in advance of a planned rally in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend. Many who sought to participate in the rally, which never took place, were met by counterprotesters. An Ohio man rammed his Dodge Challenger through a crowd, killing a 32-year-old woman and hurting more than a dozen others, police said. James Alex Field Jr. of Maumee, faces murder and other charge in Virginia and is now at the center of a civil rights investigation by the Justice Department. Following the violence in Charlottesville, and after The Daily Stormer posted an article mocking the woman killed in the attack, the website hosting company GoDaddy booted The Daily Stormer from its servers. Google picked up the website, but then followed suit and also removed it. Access to the neo-Nazi website has been spotty since. Anglin couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Obeidallah said on a conference call with reporters Wednesday that the goal of the lawsuit is to prevent more of his reputation by being harmed, as the article -- or at least parts of it -- is still online. Subodh Chandra, a Cleveland attorney who is part of a team representing Obeidallah, said while Obeidallah is seeking a money judgment and for the article to be removed, part of the discovery process for the lawsuit will likely involve information about The Daily Stormer's assets. "It's hard to imagine they haven't figured a way to monetize the defamatory approach they're taking," Chandra said. The Associated Press contributed to this story. CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Euclid police officer seen on video conducting an arrest that involved a violent struggle with a suspect was forced to resign from his previous job as a Mentor police officer for conducting a traffic stop with no probable cause, according to records released Tuesday. Michael Amiott, seen in videos posted on social media Saturday that have garnered millions of views and spurred protests, worked for Mentor police from July 2013 until April 2014. Documents in Amiott's personnel file, released by Mentor on Tuesday, show he left the Lake County city because he pulled over a driver on Feb. 22, 2014 and didn't have the legal justification to do so. Records show Amiott called a sergeant for a bond, and when the sergeant asked Amiott what the probable cause was to stop the driver, Amiott said it was because the driver didn't have a front license plate on his car. The sergeant told Amiott that the car, which had a dealer plate, did not require a front plate. Amiott called back and then said he stopped the driver because he was weaving. He also later said he recognized the driver from a few days prior as driving under suspension, the records show. Amiott later admitted he realized after talking to the sergeant that did not have probable cause to stop the driver because he learned the driver was not required to display a front plate. The officer maintained that the driver "made a slight weave, but admitted it was not a very good weave," according to a memo Mentor Sgt. Richard Slovenkay wrote to Chief Kevin Knight in March 2014. Slovenkay wrote that other sergeants involved did not fully believe Amiott's account, though he wrote that Amiott's actions "during and after the traffic stop were done due to lack of knowledge, rather than deceptive behavior." When Knight met with Amiott in April 2014 and explained that he would be fired, Amiott, without being prompted, asked if he could resign first, according to a memo from Knight included in the released documents. Knight gave Amiott a pre-typed resignation letter and Amiott, who was still a probationary employee, signed it. Amiott is at the center of a controversy by caused videos that circulated on social media showing the arrest of Richard Hubbard III of Cleveland. Hubbard, 25, was pulled over on East 228th Street before 10:30 a.m. Saturday, according to Euclid police. Officers ordered Hubbard out of the car, instructing him to face away from them, so they could arrest him, police said. Hubbard did not face away, and the struggle ensued, police said. An officer is seen in the videos repeatedly slamming Hubbard on the ground, grabbing his neck and punching Hubbard's head. Amiott was identified Tuesday evening by Euclid Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer-Gail as the officer involved in the incident. Police were able to handcuff Hubbard and take him to a patrol car. A woman who was a passenger in the vehicle is seen on video screaming during the struggle. She was also handcuffed and placed in a patrol car. Amiott is on paid administrative leave pending review of the incident. Prior to working in Mentor, Amiott worked as a carpenter, as well as a part-time patrolman for the police department in Grand River, a village in Lake County, according to records in his personnel file. Holzheimer-Gail did not immediately respond to a follow-up email inquiring whether Euclid knew about Amiott's reason for leaving Mentor police. She posted a statement on the city's website that says "the videos of the incident on Saturday morning raise some very serious concerns. "We have policies and procedures in place to ensure that all use of force by police are both lawful and justified," the statement continues. "I can assure you the incident will be reviewed thoroughly and appropriate action will be taken. We certainly do not want this incident to erase all of the good work that has happened and continues to happen every day in Euclid or to define who we are as a community." If you would like to comment on this story, please visit Tuesday's crime and courts comments section. CLEVELAND, Ohio - Residents will be able to apply for food assistance, cash assistance and Medicaid at any Cleveland and Cuyahoga County Public Library in a one-of-a-kind partnership with county government announced Tuesday. Literacy experts will also be on hand in every library to help people earn GEDs and gain jobs. The programs are the latest for the award-winning libraries, which have evolved from institutions that lend materials to nerve centers of communities, aiming to serve as convenient one-stop locations for families. "Libraries have transformed," Cuyahoga County Public Library Director Sari Feldman said. "Collections are important, but it is more about what we do for and with people in our community. If we do not recognize the role we play -- education, employment, entrepreneurship, empowerment and engagement -- we are destined to be like video stores and Radio Shack." The libraries all offer the ASPIRE literacy program and benefits sign-up. They serve free lunches and dinners from the Cleveland Food Bank and offer homework help for kids. They offer English language instruction and help with citizenship, computers. Some offer online training tools, innovation stations where entrepreneurs can use 3D printers. "We do not know of anyone that has this comprehensive approach in any other library system," Feldman said. "We bring access and take away barriers to service. We are the trusted friends in the neighborhood." She and Felton Thomas, executive director of the Cleveland Public Library, are working with Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish on the partnership, which Budish said enhances the county priorities of putting residents on a career path with a family-sustaining wage and making county services more easily available. "This new collaboration brings county services into neighborhoods where people live," he said. The library systems have or will provide three major services: Adult literacy, GED courses and skills to find jobs Aspire programs, formerly called ABLE, are offered through the Ohio Department of Higher Education and provide free education services in reading, math and tecnology -- all skills to be successful in post-secondary education and advanced employment. The goal is to "create a seamless continuum of adult basic literacy, high school equivalency, English as a second language and citizenship services," Feldman said. Cuyahoga County employees will refer people to the programs at the library, which will be led by trained staff, funded by the state. A 24-hour help line -- 1- 833-ASPIRE2 -- will connect people to their most convenient Aspire service, whether it's near their home or work. About 150,000 Cuyahoga County residents do not have a high school diploma, Feldman said. The Aspire programs currently serve about 2,500 people. "We hope to double that quickly," she said. Benefits assistance Many residents need medical, food or cash, but find it difficult to travel to county offices downtown or in a few neighborhood locations, Budish said. Librarians will help people fill out necessary paperwork and fax it to the county, where it's converted to an email and saves information in a database. County librarians have already been trained, and the training is in the works in Cleveland. County staff hopes to have services available at every library in the county, including independent libraries and the Heights system, next year. Providing a safe environment for families All city libraries and 11 county libraries provide brown bag lunches during the summer from the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. During the school year, dinner is offered at every city library and seven county libraries. "If you're a stressed out mother who is struggling to work a full job, keep their kids in school and keep their benefits you can come to the library near where you live and bring your kids," Feldman said. "You can work with a staff member who will help with you on the computer, your kids can be in an after-school homework center and get fed. We have really reduced a lot of stress. It makes a huge difference in accomplishing family goals." Last year 150,000 meals were served at the libraries through the food bank, Thomas said. Computer access is also important, since many residents don't have computers and internet at home. More than 30 percent of patron computer use is for job-related work, including filling out applications, he said. The libraries also offer free access to online educational services. "So often the libraries are overlooked," he said. "We are not where you come in get something and walk out. We are becoming a transformational force." How the digital evolution occurred Free public libraries were established in the 1800s to provide access to books, periodicals, newspapers and a quiet place to study and read. But in recent decades, as public funding decreased and technology exploded, the role of the library had to change. Public libraries had to reorient themselves around access to technology and services and reinvent their role in the community. Libraries in the 21st century are less about books (and magazines and DVDs) and more about the services librarians provide to their communities. In 2014 The American Library Association Center for the Future of Libraries was created to identify long term trends that may affect libraries and their future. It is highlighting trends relevant to libraries and librarianship and asking for input. The Cleveland and Cuyahoga County systems have taken a national lead in some of those trends, including offering programs in career and college readiness and coordinating programs with Cuyahoga County. "I have been been a librarian for 40 years and this is dream come true," said Feldman about the innovative partnerships with the county. "Having a county that recognizes the way they can work with libraries is a moment in time for me professionally that will make a huge difference." High school students with the biggest dropout risks graduate at significantly higher rates than their better-situated peers if they attendand completeprograms in a network of academy model schools. A study of schools in the NAFformerly known as the National Academy Foundationnetwork examined the trajectories of students who are likely to drop out or fail. It found that if students stick with a NAF program throughout high school, they graduate at a rate thats 10 percentage points higher than that of their peers at other schools: 72.7 percent, compared to 62.5 percent. The researchers categorized students as at-risk of dropping out if their attendance, credit-accumulation, and grades in English and math are poor. The NAF model blends an academic curriculum with career-themed instruction and work-based learning. Its 675 schools currently serve more than 96,000 students, primarily in high-minority, low-income neighborhoods. Researchers from ICF, a Virginia-based research group, studied more than 600,000 students in six states: NAF students, and demographically similar non-NAF students in those same districts, as they progressed from freshman year in 2011 through graduation in 2015. The effect was cut in half for at-risk students who attended a NAF school for only some of their high school years. Those students graduated at a rate that was 5 points higher than those of students at other schools. That dynamic held true for students who arent at high risk of dropping out, too. The graduation rate of students who attended NAF schools for at least some of their high school years was 3 percentage points higher than for students at other schools. It was 6 points higher if NAF students attended those programs for all four years of high school. Overall, these findings suggest that NAF academies in the 10 school districts in this study have been successful in improving the graduation rate of their students compared to their peers, the study concludes. In particular, NAF academies have been successful in targeting and supporting atrisk student populations and providing a pathway for students to be successful. The entire study is below. NAFs Cohort Graduation Rates From 2011 to 2015 by cgewertz on Scribd A proposed Texas bill that would have restricted restroom access for transgender people in many public buildings, including public schools, died Tuesday night after the states house failed to take action on the measure during a special session. The bill, previously approved by the senate and championed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, would have restricted access to restrooms and locker rooms in buildings operated by local governmentsincluding school districtsbased on the sex listed on a persons birth certificate or state-issued ID. It also included proposed restrictions for local anti-discrimination ordinances. Supporters of the measure said it was important to protect the privacy rights and safety of children and girls. Opponents, including large district superintendents, business, and tourism groups, said it would unfairly discriminate against transgender people and put them at risk for harm. Around the country, transgender students who want their schools to recognize their gender identities face a confusing legal landscape. Texas is one of a handful of states to have considered bills mandating restrictions on things like facilities access. Only one, North Carolina, has enacted such a law. On the other side of the issue, more than a dozen states have non-discrimination laws that set requirements for how schools should recognize gender identity. They include stipulations that schools acknowledge transgender students gender identity in issues such as access to facilities like restrooms and locker rooms. Things at the federal level are less clear. The Obama administration previously asserted that Title IX, the federal gender non-discrimination law, guarantees the rights of transgender students to access bathrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity, even if it differs from their sex at birth. But the administration of President Donald Trump lifted that guidance shortly after he took office, bringing an end to a multi-state lawsuit led by Texas that said the federal guidance threatened the privacy rights of students . That means schools that arent covered by state-level protections for transgender students are on their own in interpreting federal law. But advocates for transgender students insist that their rights are still covered by Title IX, and they have committed to advancing that argument in court. Abbott told Texas media he is considering calling another special session to ask the legislature to once again consider the bill and some of his other legislative priorities. Photo: Protesters gather on the steps of the Texas Capitol in Austin last week while State lawmakers began a special legislative session called by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. LGBT activists bitterly oppose bathroom bill proposals. --Eric Gay/AP Further reading about transgender students: Follow @evieblad on Twitter or subscribe to Rules for Engagement to get blog posts delivered directly to your inbox. CEOs on President Donald Trump's business advisory councils today jumped ship via hastily-issued statements condemning hatred and racism. A flood of resignations from Presidential advisory councils followed Trump's bizarrely candid support of the Nazis and white supremacists who marched with torches in Charlottesville this past weekend. As news of the CEO resignations spread, Trump tweeted that it was he who'd decided to disband, not the execs. Trump's response? You're not dumping me. I'm dumping you! Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2017 Anyway, these CEOs can't wash the Trump stank off fast enough. Quite a rebuke for the "billionaire" president who billed himself as a business genius and master dealmaker, isn't it? Actual business leaders shunning him, en masse. From CNBC just now: President Donald Trump's Strategic and Policy Forum has disbanded, a member told CNBC. The business advisory council made up of top business leaders is separate from Trump's manufacturing council, which several business leaders left this week. The business backlash to the president follows his tepid response to violence at a white nationalist rally over the weekend. More news floating around right now on this. With Campbell's Soup CEO quitting, here's an updated list of members of Trump's manufacturing council. pic.twitter.com/cWKMseFcNX Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) August 16, 2017 BREAKING: Campbell Soup CEO Denise Morrison quits Manufacturing Council: "Racism & murder are unequivocally reprehensible." Ali Velshi (@AliVelshi) August 16, 2017 Trump CEO Strategy Council Is Said to Be Disbanding After Exodus https://t.co/XqIU3uDw7j via @bpolitics Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) August 16, 2017 BREAKING: @CNBC confirms that @realDonaldTrump "Strategic and Policy Forum" (different from Manufacturing Council) has disbanded Ali Velshi (@AliVelshi) August 16, 2017 "rather than coming out and admitting that nazis are worse than not nazis, I'm going tell everyone to go fuck themselves" https://t.co/t9eiW5LTds Ashley Feinberg (@ashleyfeinberg) August 16, 2017 Why it stings Trump: Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum served as Trump's most visible connections to those with $$ he respects Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) August 16, 2017 When you're so awful even cronyists don't want to hang around to beg for money. Scott Shackford (@SShackford) August 16, 2017 They've got to be approaching a critical mass where the CEOs left on the council start realizing how bad it'd look to be the last one out. Julian Sanchez (@normative) August 16, 2017 now all the pressure falls on your infrastructure council, which has also had zero meetings and done zero things. https://t.co/QIU18Q49Yf Glenn Thrush (@GlennThrush) August 16, 2017 This is a lie. They all quit first. Heard that Jared just got the call before Trump tweeted. https://t.co/QomqfbDo0B Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) August 16, 2017 EVERYBODY YOU INVITED TO A PARTY: I won't be coming to your party YOU: I've decided to just cancel the party Mark Berman (@markberman) August 16, 2017 Not even 26 hours apart. pic.twitter.com/TBTxqJImtj Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) August 16, 2017 there's always an old tweet always https://t.co/VE7l9lFeXV Mark Berman (@markberman) August 16, 2017 26 hours between these pic.twitter.com/SFxVZvdQ96 Julie Bykowicz (@bykowicz) August 16, 2017 Rather than forcing my beautiful Canadian girlfriend to drive all the way down from Montreal, I will not be attending prom https://t.co/eraBMerjDu Jason O. Gilbert (@gilbertjasono) August 16, 2017 JUST IN: Statement from business leaders that were part of President Trump's strategy council, which has disbanded https://t.co/JOVqUwFe6Y pic.twitter.com/CT2a3XympM CNBC Now (@CNBCnow) August 16, 2017 For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Here are the instructions how to enable JavaScript in your web browser Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel are the two best-known spreadsheet applications available today. Both are polished and very useful so much so that its easy to cling to the application youre currently using without learning how the other has improved over the years. If you (or your business) chose one spreadsheet app and rejected the other years ago, there may be good reasons to reconsider. To find out where Sheets and Excel stand today, both individually and compared to each other, I tested them by trying out the most common tasks users perform, including starting a new spreadsheet, inputting data and formulas, formatting cells, creating charts, adding extras such as data from external sources, and collaborating with others. To test all that, I decided to create a typical spreadsheet that many business professionals might need to assemble: a budget tracker. I built one that tracked eight months of income and expenses for an imaginary company, including both results and projections. Before I forget there is one glaring difference between Sheets and Excel that should be mentioned: price. Although Google Sheets is part of Googles licensed G Suite package for businesses, it remains free for individual use. Excel is available as part of Microsoft Office, which has a variety of different iterations for personal or business use and is available as either an annual Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscription or as a one-time purchase (what Microsoft calls the perpetual version of Office). Individuals can use the online version of Excel for free, but its functionality isnt as robust as the desktop clients. This review focuses on the Excel desktop application for Windows in Microsoft 365/Office 365. Individuals and businesses who use the perpetual version of Excel may not have all the features covered here. Because its a multiplatform world, I also tested Excels macOS desktop client, its web version, and its Android and iOS mobile apps. Google Sheets is web-based, so I used it in my Edge and Chrome browsers; Google also offers Sheets apps for Android and iOS, so I tested those as well. The University of Denver's Barton Institute for Philanthropy and Social Enterprise will evaluate state programs to see what's working -- and what isn't. The partnership is modeled after a similar program in Rhode Island. State government must use its limited resources to provide a huge range of services to Colorado residents. A new partnership between the Governors Office and the University of Denver (DU) will study such expenditures, investigating how to make them as effective as possible.The Barton Institute for Philanthropy and Social Enterprise at DU is excited to announce the establishment of a new Colorado Evaluation and Action Lab. The Lab, funded by a generous grant from the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, will be a partnership between Colorado state government and the Colorado research community.Here's how it will work:Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper and Lieutenant Governor Donna Lynne will consult with the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of state government. They will identify a small number of state-funded programs and program areas that could benefit from evaluation.Next, the Lab will find the best possible evaluators in each field to analyze the effectiveness of the various state programs. These researchers could be working anywhere in Colorado and beyond.Once the evaluations are completed, they will be presented to state government with the intention that the findings will inform state policy. Over time, some programs could be improved, while in other cases state resources might be reallocated from programs that are less effective to programs that are more effective.The Colorado Lab is modeled after similar labs in other states. The oldest is the Rhode Island Innovative Policy Lab (RIIPL), a partnership between Brown University and the Governor of Rhode Island. RIIPL has already produced dozens of evaluation studies, many of which are leading to greater efficiencies in state government. Here are a few examples:RIIPL analyzed job-training programs in the Rhode Island prison system and identified those that are working better than others. Resources in state government are being reallocated accordingly.RIIPL did an analysis of food purchases with food stamps throughout Rhode Island. They found that most purchases are done during the first half of each month and that the amount of fresh produce purchased is far greater in the first half of each month compared to the second half of each month. RIIPL has recommended that the state of Rhode Island issue food stamps twice a month on the first and 15th rather than once a month. They are now studying whether this changes purchasing habits and encourages people to buy healthier food more evenly throughout the course of each month.The Barton Institute is run by Executive Director David Miller, former CEO of the Denver Foundation and former Executive Director of the Colorado Office and State Planning and Budgeting. Dr. Kristin Klopfenstein will be the director of the Lab beginning August 21.Rebecca Arno is Director of the Barton Institute for Philanthropy and Social Enterprise at the University of Denver. www.du.edu/bartoninstitute Cloud-based continuous monitoring solution Yokogawa Electric Corporation has developed a hot spring monitoring system solution based on its Industrial IoT (IIoT) architecture and which works on Microsoft's Azure IoT Suite. Japan holds the world's third largest geothermal energy reserves, estimated at 23 gigawatts. However, making use of this natural resource requires great care so as not to have an adverse impact on hot springs, whose use has a history going back more than 1,000 years. Accordingly, it is mandatory in Japan that consensus with the local community is reached before undertaking any geothermal development project. The collection and scientific analysis of data can help to clarify the impact that any geothermal development will have on a hot spring and this is considered to be one of the tools suitable for helping to reach consensus. Although this scientific approach is useful, conventional monitoring systems pose challenges for developers. The bulkiness of the equipment, for example, along with other factors that make them difficult to install, and the need to cover their operating costs. An integrated monitoring solution To obtain the data and conduct the scientific analysis needed to reach a consensus with local communities, Yokogawa has developed an integrated monitoring system that is just one-tenth the weight of a conventional combined system consisting of individual flowmeter, thermometer, and conductivity meter components. It requires less wiring, is easier to install, and automatically connects with the cloud. Using a cloud-based IIoT architecture that Yokogawa continues to refine, this system will be able to visualise sensor data on the flow rate, temperature, and conductivity of the water discharged from a hot spring. Users will have anytime/anywhere access to the measurement data using a PC or tablet. In addition, the system will be able to store data collected over periods of ten years or more, which is expected to be a valuable asset in geothermal development. Many countries continue to develop their geothermal energy resources, and the steam and hot water from these sources is being used for power generation and heating, for example. Yokogawa's system can also be used in such applications. It will be able to monitor the steam wells used to produce geothermal energy, and will also be suitable for small-scale measurement applications such as floor heating and greenhouses. Using Yokogawas IIoT architecture based on Microsoft's Azure IoT Suite, it expects to be able to offer end-to-end solutions, from the automatic registration of devices with a low power wide area network (LPWAN) such as LoRaWAN a wireless communications standard proposed by the LoRa Alliance for the use of mobile phones for data transfer, remote control, and alarm notification. Based on the companys architecture, this hot spring monitoring system will make it easier for geothermal developers and hot spring owners to exploit new hot spring sources, and will greatly reduce the amount of work required for device procurement, installation, and maintenance. This monitoring system development project was commissioned by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), with the aim of developing a simple remote monitoring solution to assess whether geothermal power development projects are compatible with the need to protect hot spring sources. The goal of the project was to develop an inexpensive measuring instrument that can continuously and remotely monitor items such as the hot groundwater discharge rate. The development of this monitoring solution was a collaborative effort of Yokogawa Electric Corporation, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), and JMC Geothermal Engineering Co., Ltd. (Geo-E). With the aim of quickly developing commercial applications for its IIoT architecture and products such as this hot spring monitoring system, Yokogawa will accelerate the development of related products and businesses. Contact Details and Archive... We have more newsletters Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Our weekend morning emails feature the very best news and exclusive content from our team of reporters A "serious incident" off the Cornish coast has left three people in hospital last night. A group of five people were caught in a rip tide at Crantock beach, near Newquay , just before 7.30pm. As local surfers rushed to help, the emergency services were called by an onlooker. Two lifeboats, the local Coastguard rescue team and a helicopter were called into action, along with police and paramedics. Two of the group managed to get themselves to safety while the others were airlifted to the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro. Commenting on the local Coastguard Facebook page, a user called Leigh wrote: "Hope the guys are OK - it was me that raised the 999 call". A spokesperson from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency said: "The UK Coastguard has been coordinating a rescue after five people were caught in a rip tide near Newquay. "A call was received by the Coastguard Operations Centre in Falmouth just before 7.30pm, reporting the five were in difficulties at Crantock Beach. The Maritime & Coastguard Agency has shared this footage of a rescue on Sunday: "The HM Coastguard Search and Rescue helicopter along with two RNLI Lifeboats and the Coastguard Rescue Team from Newquay were sent to the incident. "Devon and Cornwall Police and the South West Ambulance service were also on scene. "Two of the group in difficulties, self-recovered to the beach. Local surfers assisted the three other people. "All three have now been taken to Treliske hospital by the Coastguard helicopter". To set the scene of the "stormy day", this picture was shared on Twitter yesterday by user Mike Cooper: Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Our weekend morning emails feature the very best news and exclusive content from our team of reporters The police and coastguard crews were requested at Bude in the early hours after reports of a missing woman in the area. Bude Lifeboat and Hartland Coastguard Search and Rescue Team were called at around 2am to assist the police in an incident. The coastguard helicopter was also called to help with the search. Despite the early hour, 14 members of Bude Lifeboat crew responded and the station was used as a control point by the coastguard and police. At 6.25am the search and rescue team was stood down, however, at that point the woman had not yet been lcoated. A spokesman for Hartland Coastguard Search and Rescue Team said: "Team called out at 02.04am this morning to assist the police on a search for a missing person in Bude. "After an extensive search by us, the Bude team, the Bude Lifeboat and the coastguard helicopter, we were stood down at 6.25am to return to station. "Unfortunately the missing person has not been located at this point." A spokesman for Devon and Cornwall Police has since confirmed that the missing woman has been located in Barnstaple. Community: A feeling of fellowship with others, as a result of sharing common attitudes, interests and goals United Way Centraide SD&G hosted a Summer Patio Party on Tuesday, August 15th and made a special announcement regarding the organizations signature Wine & Gourmet Tastings Event. The organizing committee is thrilled to announce the Karen and Ray Brunet, local business owners raising their young family in our community have agreed to Co-Chair the 5th Annual United Way Wine & Gourmet Tastings event to be held on Saturday, November 25th, 2017 at NAV Centre, stated Angie Baker, United Way Board Member and Chair of the event organizing committee for the past 4 years. We are grateful that Karen & Ray have agreed to step into this role for the next 3 years. We are honoured to support United Way and the impact this organization has in our local community, said Brunet. We live, work and raise our family here so its important to us to work with an organization that is helping people right here in a community we are proud to call home. The theme of this years event is True North Strong and Free in acknowledgement of Canadas 150th celebrations. As in previous years, the event will boast delicious wines, gourmet food, silent & live auction, a chance to win diamond prize, jazz music, d.j. & dancing, magic and more. Early Bird tickets will be on sale from September 15th to October 8th with special pricing and a chance to win. For more information visit unitedwaysdg.com. A tremendous group of volunteers for the committee that leads the work and planning for the Wine & Gourmet Tastings Event to each and every one of those heroes, we say THANK YOU! We are thrilled to have Karen and Ray on board to chair this most important fundraising event for United Way/Centraide SD&G, said Lori Greer, Executive Director. And we want to express a special thank you to Angie Baker for the incredible amount of work she has put into this event each year were extremely grateful and fortunate to benefit from Angies commitment, enthusiasm and amazing efforts. She truly is a United Way HERO! Cornwall, ON A 24-year-old Cornwall woman was arrested on Aug. 15, 2017 and charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm and fail to remain at the scene of an accident. It is alleged on August 15th, 2017 the woman drove a motor vehicle in a dangerous manner in the area of Sydney Street and Ninth Street while her ex-boyfriend was hanging on to the vehicle. The ex-boyfriend fell from the vehicle causing him to seek medical attention for his injuries. The woman then fled the scene prior to police arrival. She was later taken into custody, charged accordingly and released to appear in court on September 28th, 2017. Her name was not released as it would identify the victim in the matter. BREACH Cornwall, ON A 41-year-old Cornwall woman was arrested on August 15th, 2017 and charged with breach of recognizance for communicating with a certain person, being within 100meters of where that person might be, attending his residence and being outside her residence after having consumed alcohol. It is alleged on August 15th, 2017 police found the intoxicated woman at the address she was not to attend. She was taken into custody, charged accordingly and held for a bail hearing. Her name was not released as the conditions stem from a domestic incident and would identify the victim in the matter. Applications & OS News How Solution Providers Can Transform Their Customers' Businesses With AI Gina Narcisi Share this Solution providers that are willing to inject artificial intelligence technologies into their customer's business processes could benefit from gaining more information, garnering better business outcomes. Digital Nebula, a solution provider that specializes in AI and data management, is doing just that, according to channel veteran John Shaw, CEO of the Austin, Texas-based company. Shaw outlined real-world AI use cases to demonstrate its benefits to a room full of solution providers at The Channel Companys XChange 2017 conference in Orlando, Fla. on Tuesday. Companies will spend about $2.5 billion worldwide on AI this year, Shaw said. About 15 percent of enterprises are proactively working with service providers on AI solutions, but the vast majority of companies don't know where to start with AI, and that signals an opportunity for partners, said Shaw (pictured). [Related: Talari President: SD-WAN Should Be A 'Small Part' Of Overall Solution Provider Offering] AI is made up of three main elements: Natural language processing, machine learning, and image recognition. Partners who can harness these technologies, capture data, and port it to an existing system that their customer is already using will win in AI, Shaw said. "You definitely will have to break down real-life examples for clients because it's hard to conceptualize AI," said John Hampton, manager of cloud services for Datotel, a St. Louis-based MSP, who was in attendance for Shaw's presentation. "Otherwise it just becomes Big Brother, and [customers] don't want that." Remote monitoring and customer service applications are two areas where AI would bolster these offerings, Shaw told solution providers. For example, remote monitoring tools injected with AI could pinpoint and notify users of any anomalies, such as intruders or system failures. Datotel owns its own data centers, and even sees a fit for AI within its own business. "We obviously track things like cooling information with our own data centers, so I wonder what more something like AI could tell us and predict for us so we could be more proactive," Hampton said. Partners can offer their e-commerce clients "bot" technology for their websites, allowing users to ask questions in a chat box, Shaw explained. Machine learning technology could eventually pick up on keywords and provide the user with answers to questions, without help from a customer service rep. While AI is still in its early days for most business customers and channel partners, Shaw believes that AI will follow a similar adoption curve as cloud computing. "I think that in seven years [solution providers] will be at conferences, talking about how their AI solutions have transformed businesses," he said. Channel programs News IT Outsourcing Giant Telus International Buys 2,700-Person Customer Experience Powerhouse Michael Novinson Share this IT outsourcing behemoth Telus International purchased an Ireland-based professional services firm that has bolstered the customer support capabilities of companies including Google Cloud and Airbnb. Vancouver, Canada-based Telus International, No. 29 on the 2017 CRN Solution Provider 500, said its acquisition of a majority stake in Cork, Ireland-based Voxpro will enable it to provide more technical support and sales operations solutions to customers in the U.S. and throughout the globe. Together, we [will] provide a truly differentiated offering in the marketplace designed to meet our fast-growing partner demands for more locations, flexible and agile support structures, and highly engaged multilingual team members committed to customer service excellence, Jeffrey Puritt, Telus International president and CEO, said in a statement. [RELATED: 2017 Solution Provider 500 Details] The addition of 2,700 Voxpro employees and managers will bringing Telus International's employee base to almost 28,000 people across the globe serving customers in more than 35 languages. Terms of the deal, which was announced Wednesday, were not disclosed. Voxpro's centers of excellence in Folsom, Calif., and Athens, Ga., will expand Telus International's U.S. footprint, enabling the company to provide a more comprehensive onshore offering to existing and prospective customers. And Voxpro's dedicated, shared or co-located customer support capabilities should provide Telus International with more diversity and flexibility in addressing customer needs. Business services designed and delivered by Voxpro include multilingual customer experience and technical support, trust and safety, risk and fraud activity, social media management, sales and analytics, and harnessing product insight, the company said. "We couldn't be more proud to find a fabulous partner like Telus International a company that shares our entrepreneurial spirit and relentless drive to redefine and disrupt the outsourcing industry when it comes to serving the customer experience needs of such important brands," Dan Kiely, Voxpro co-founder and CEO, said in a statement. Voxpro's existing customers, meanwhile, will benefit from Telus International's robust global infrastructure, track record of customer experience innovation, and excellence in omnichannel support, cloud contact center and analytics, according to the statement. The company will now operate as "Voxpro powered by Telus International," and has a physical presence in Ireland, the U.S., Romania and the Philippines. From an outsourcing perspective, Voxpro said it works with U.S. companies that wish to scale their operations in Europe. The company provides support in 15 languages, delivered by native speakers of languages such as English, German, Russian, French, Spanish, Dutch, Italian and Portuguese. The company prides itself on white-glove customer support services, which includes product component, billing and administrative troubleshooting as well as support for the developer community. And from a security standpoint, Voxpro said it provides fraud analysis, vetting, verification and risk mitigation. Voxpro assigns customer specialists and conducts systematic workflow reflection to help facilitate the sharing of insight, intelligence and optimization initiatives. The company said its supply chain engagement approach incorporates the fulfillment of orders, supplier partner collaboration, product installation and troubleshooting support. Voxpro has received numerous industry accolades, including being named one of Ireland's best managed companies by Deloitte for the fifth consecutive year. Telus International, meanwhile, was recognized as the Outsourcing Provider of the Year at the 2017 Call Center Week Excellence Awards. Telus International currently supports more than 200 million customer interactions each year across the technology, financial services, gaming, travel and hospitality, and health-care verticals, the company said. Those interactions take place across voice, email, chat and social media. Channel programs News Channel Legend Vitagliano Thanks Mentors, Family In Heartfelt IT Hall Of Fame Induction Speech Alec Shirkey Share this Frank Vitagliano, a beloved channel stalwart whose honesty, reliability and relationship-building skills fueled more than four decades of tremendous IT sales achievement, acknowledged his IT Hall of Fame induction with gratitude and humility during an acceptance speech given late Tuesday night. With throngs of channel titans in attendance for the ceremony, which took at place at The Channel Company's XChange 2017 conference in Orlando, Fla., Vitagliano thanked his wife, his daughter and a handful of industry mentors whom he felt were instrumental to his long and successful career. "If I tried to pick one word [to describe my feelings], it wouldn't be proud, although I'm certainly that. It wouldn't be satisfied, because I honestly believe you can never be satisfied. There's always more you can do," Vitagliano said. "It would be thankful. I have a lot to be thankful for." [Related: Vitagliano's Success Is A Testament To Lessons Learned From His Parents] A 33-year veteran of IBM who went on to hold leadership roles with Juniper, Dell and most recently Computex Technology Solutions, where he is president and CEO, Vitagliano peppered his speech with jokes many of them self-deprecating and reminisced. Vitagliano's voice wavered when remembering his late father, also named Frank, a lifelong truck driver who in 1972 helped his son land a job working in the IBM mail room. "He wanted me to do well, whatever profession I chose, I'm pretty sure he didn't think there'd ever be a chance that his son would get into the IT Hall of Fame," he said. Vitagliano recounted how his father would help him make his tie every day before work. A few years later, he recalled the elder Frank preventing him from leaving IBM to run his uncle's tuxedo rental shop. "He made it clear in no uncertain terms that it wasn't going to happen," Vitagliano said. "For some strange reason, I listened to him. He was right. That was my second break." Vitagliano acknowledged Jane Vitagliano, his wife of 40 years, for her unwavering support throughout his IT career. "Whatever success I've had, she's been right there along with me and was a major part of it," he said. "I could not have done it without her." Vitagliano also made it a point to express how proud he was of his daughter, Jillian, a third-grade school teacher in Atlanta. He said XChange 2017 was the first IT industry event she had ever attended. "Those of us that work in this industry get caught up in what we do every day," he said. "She does something that really matters and will have an enormous impact on the lives of hundreds upon thousands of young children." Two of Vitagliano's early mentors at IBM also earned praise: former general manager of distribution channels marketing Dave Boucher, a fellow IT Hall of Fame inductee, and former supplies business manager Ross Venuti. Venuti gave Vitagliano his first sales job, which had him selling typewriter ribbons and type balls. Venuti was an unfailing source of advice and guidance throughout his career, Vitagliano said, as well as a role model who helped shape him into the tremendous channel chief he became. "One of the nicest human beings you'll ever meet," he said of Venuti. "He's calm, genuine, the nicest person there is. For years, about the worst I could get from him was, 'good grief.' Who says good grief?" Boucher didn't boast the same friendly demeanor as Venuti, Vitagliano joked. But the former IBM channel chief was the finest salesperson in the business Vitagliano can ever remember meeting, and he learned a vital lesson from Boucher early in his career. While working in Atlanta, a then-homesick Vitagliano remembered wanting to transfer to a position in his hometown of Boston. Boucher told Vitagliano he could take the job if he wanted, but really pressed him to think about whether that was the best move for his career. If Vitagliano stayed in Atlanta, Boucher said he would accelerate his career trajectory. Ultimately, Vitagliano did stay, and Boucher followed through on his promise. "I learned you have to be honest with people, give them your word, you then do what you say you're going to do and it'll work out," Vitagliano said. In addition, Vitagliano credited colleagues Steve Pataky and Donna Grothjan for significantly influencing the success he enjoyed as SVP of global channels at Juniper. Without them, he said, those achievements would not have been possible. As he enters the IT Hall of Fame, Vitagliano will be enshrined alongside the likes of Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and other titans of the industry. Bob Faletra, CEO of The Channel Company, noted that while Vitagliano may not have the same heights of fame and fortune of those giants, Vitagliano taught him and countless others in the channel about values that truly matter honesty, integrity, loyalty, hard work and listening to everyone. "I am more honored to give out this award tonight than [with] any of them," Faletra said. Vitagliano, a native of East Cambridge, Mass. and an avowed Boston Red Sox fan, closed his induction speech with a quote credited to retired New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter: "Time flies, memories fade, but friends and relationships last forever." "I believe in that, and I could not have said it better," he said. As the ceremony ended, the entire room rose to its feet, applauding the man many of them affectionately know as "Frankie V." Security News Arctic Wolf Networks Launches MSP Program For SOC-as-a-Service Offering Sarah Kuranda Share this Security startup Arctic Wolf Networks said it is looking to help partners capture the skyrocketing opportunity around managed security services with the Wednesday launch of a new MSP program. Founded by former Blue Coat Systems CEO Brian NeSmith, Arctic Wolf sells a Security Operations Center-as-a-Service offering that brings together human intelligence and technology, with SIEM technology and a team of security experts dedicated to each customer to analyze logs and flag problems. The company launched from stealth last year. The new MSP program provides a way to offer SOC-as-a-Service on a monthly billing cycle based on the number of users, servers, and sensors deployed. In an interview with CRN, NeSmith said the new program "fills a gap" in the marketplace around this type of offering for managed service providers, who he said want to provide advanced, high-margin security services, but struggle with the cost of building their own. [Related: Security Platform Provider Verodin Brings In Former Symantec Exec As New Chief Revenue Officer] "We realized that we could offer up and enhance the security services program that MSPs offer and with this SOC capability," NeSmith said. "[This creates a] SOC-as-a-Service offer that allows a managed service provider to round out their security portfolio." The SOC-as-a-Service offering includes capabilities for managed detection and response, SIEM, regulatory compliance, behavioral analytics, real-time monitoring, unlimited log analysis, and vulnerability scans for a fixed monthly price. The new MSP program is part of Arctic Wolf's broader partner program, which the company launched a year ago. NeSmith said the company already has a few partners signed up and plans to recruit many more. He said the new service appeals to MSPs looking for their first entry point into the security space, as well as those looking to offload some security capabilities to focus on higher-end security services. The new program also includes tools for partners to deliver the Arctic Wolf solution to market, including engineering support, a fixed monthly pricing model, training, enablement, and co-marketing. Chris Pace, CEO of Houston, Tex.-based Centre Technologies, said the new program allows his business to offer more services to its customers. He said it is important that Arctic Wolf is aligning with the channel in this area. He said the new program has already allowed him to land new business around security services. "Although the ceiling of the impact has yet to be defined, we have already captured new recurring business that was once unachievable by our business," Pace said. He said he'd like to see Arctic Wolf continue to invest around the channel, especially around educational services. Pace said Centre's clients have been "loud and clear" about their need for SIEM and SOC services. Arctic Wolf fills that gap in Centre's portfolio, he said, and the solution provider is delivering the service through its project services, hosted services, and Centre Assist business lines. NeSmith said he doesn't see the opportunity for partners around managed security services going away any time soon. Driving that trend is a skyrocketing need for security solutions and services by customers, and a shortage of security talent to deliver them. That creates a long tailwind of opportunity for partners who can help customers address those challenges with managed security services, he said. "I think its the way of the world. I dont think this is a passing trend," NeSmith said. "We're definitely seeing a lot of the growth in the area. It's just impractical otherwise There's a huge opportunity for MSPs to offer that and improve the security for any size business." In a new report, Incapsula warns about a new type of ferocious DDoS attack that uses pulse waves to hit multiple targets. Pulse wave DDoS is a new attack tactic designed by skilled bad actors to double the botnets output and exploit soft spots in appliance first cloud second hybrid mitigation solutions. Comprised of a series of short-lived bursts occurring in clockwork-like succession, pulse wave assaults accounted for some of the most ferocious DDoS attacks we mitigated in the second quarter of 2017. In the most extreme cases, they lasted for days at a time and scaled as high as 350 gigabits per second (Gbps). The lack of a gradual ramp-up to peak traffic first caught Incapsulas attention, as it took only a few seconds to peak. The pattern of the attack is highly repetitive and consists of one or more pulses every 10 minutes. The attacks are persistent, lasting at least an hour, but usually for several hours or even days at a time. The firm had never before seen attacks of this magnitude peak with such immediacy, then be repeated with such precision. The attackers were able to mobilize a 300Gbps botnet within a matter of seconds. This, coupled with the accurate persistence in which the pulses reoccurred, painted a picture of very skilled bad actors exhibiting a high measure of control over their attack resources. How pulse wave DDoS attacks work and who's vulnerable Incapusla says pulse wave DDoS events most likely result from skilled bad actors portioning their attack resources to launch multiple assaults at the same time. The time between each pulse is likely being used to mount a secondary assault on a different target. With effective DDoSing its likely even more simultaneous attacks can be launchedfurther boosting resource utilization and the offenders bottom line. Appliance-first hybrid mitigation solutions are vulnerable to pulse wave attacks. In fact, Incapsula said the attacks are a worst case scenario for networks defended by hybrid solutions. Most DDoS attacks ramp up slowly, giving appliance first hybrid mitigation solutions the required several minutes to complete the cloud activation and the traffic failover. However, the first burst from a pulse wave DDoS attack immediately cuts off all syncing and congests the network pipe. After traffic spikes, the appliance and cloud cannot communicate; the appliance cannot signal the cloud to start diverting traffic. For the pulse duration, the entire network shuts down completely. By the time it recovers, another pulse shuts it down again, ad nauseam. The lack of communication also means the appliance cannot provide the information needed to create an attack signature. Skilled attackers behind pulse wave DDoS Incapsula believes sophisticated bad actors are behind the pulse wave attacks for a number of reasons. They are technologically savvy enough to understand mitigation solutions and come up with specially crafted attacks to exploit appliance weaknesses. Their firepower is telling, too; a non-amplified, multi-100 Gbps attack requires a well-developed and power botnet. Lastly, the clockwork-like repetitiveness of pulse wave attacksand their ability to reach peak traffic within secondshighlights the level of control offenders have over their assault resources. Over the last several months, Incapsula saw pulse wave DDoS attacks used against high-value targets such as gaming and fintech companies. Unfortunately, other bad actors will grasp the benefit of splitting up attack traffic and pinning down multiple targets and then be inspired to imitate the attack; expect the range of targets to expand. It is worth noting that Incapsula, which sells a cloud-based application delivery service and DDoS protection, advises moving away from the appliance-first mitigation solutions. You can get a more in-depth look at pulse wave attacks in Incapsulas white paper. More on DDoS attacks: DERBY Griffin Hospital will offer a free Advance Care Planning Facilitators program this September. The program will train individuals to help guide others in developing a plan for healthcare decisions. Advance Care Planning is a process of understanding, reflecting on, and discussing individual goals, beliefs and values in order to determine ones healthcare wishes. This vital process assures individuals that their healthcare choices will be honored in the event they are unable to speak for themselves. The program includes an online learning component and a class from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sept. 8 at the hospital, 130 Division St., Derby. Registration for the program closes on Aug. 28. For more information or to register, call Lynn Aiksnoras at 203-732-1255 or email at laiksnoras@griffinhealth.org. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate WASHINGTON - It's a slightly-comical transportation system in the bowels of the U.S. Capitol that few Americans know exist: the Senate subway system. Not subway like Metro - but two sets of tracks that carry underground trams ferrying lawmakers from Senate chambers to their office buildings, less than a third of a mile away. And it's the unlikely backdrop to the tumultuous Capitol Hill legislative goings-on of the past seven months. The subway and its adjoining no-frills, fluorescent-lit station platform have long been a gathering place for the swarm of Capitol Hill journalists, aides and lobbyists who aim to pounce on senators as they disembark from trams or hitch a ride in the same car as a fellow lawmaker, hoping to bend an ear for the 90-second ride from one station to another. But at a time when Congress has all but abandoned regular order - with legislation crafted in secret, public hearings placed on the back burner, and pivotal actions determined by razor-thin vote margins - the transit station jockeying has taken on new levels of intensity and importance. Stand at the bank of trains for long enough and you'll get a momentary reading on the state of American politics: There's former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, setting off a flurry of speculative tweets when he's spotted disembarking from a train to the Capitol. There's Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., jumping over the live tracks to ditch a gaggle of reporters seeking details on the Obamacare repeal vote. There are warnings from the Senate Media Gallery that the subway platforms are too crowded with the hoards of journalists seeking reactions to President Trump's tweet-of-the-day. A lobbyist, waiting for one of the trains, turns to a slightly bewildered-looking police officer. "Is it me," she says, "or are things really crazy here today?" And there, in the middle of the night, minutes before a climactic vote to potentially repeal Obamacare, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., has a heart-to-heart with Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., about his upcoming vote while they make their way from the Russell office building to Senate chambers, a conversation so meaningful that Murphy later said he plans to share it with his grandchildren. The subway tunnels snaking underneath the Capitol have always been busy, said Donald A. Ritchie, historian emeritus of the U.S. Senate. But of late, the system has reached new levels of stardom. "It's a little like Times Square down there now," Ritchie said. The feverish atmosphere may be new, but the underlying infrastructure is not. The need to build an underground Capitol transportation network came more than 100 years ago, when new office buildings were being built beside the Capitol to meet the demands of lawmakers seeing their own office space. To win over the senators miffed at the prospect of exile in an adjacent building, architects came up with a compromise: The government would build a transportation system to ferry lawmakers back and forth to the Senate for casting a votes, a chore that sometimes takes place several times per day. The tunnel to the offices first featured electric Studebaker automobiles; later, officials switched to trains on tracks out of concern that a lawmaker would one day get mowed over by a careening car. After multiple rounds of expansions and upgrades, there are now two types of trains on the Senate side: an open-air tram to the Russell office building driven by operators who ping-pong back-and-forth all day and a Disneyland-style driverless monorail that runs from the Capitol to the Dirksen and Hart office buildings. Back when the tunnels were first built, such an investment in infrastructure for a rarefied few seemed excessive. And now, to many, it still seems like an excessive expense. But Ritchie defended the system. "If the Capitol had been designed as a 60-story building, you'd have a bank of elevators and you wouldn't be surprised," Ritchie said. Many of the design changes over the years have reflected shifts in Congress' cultural sensibilities. Plexiglass shields were installed on the open-air trains to block the wind after Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, R-Maine, joined the Senate in 1949. (Gusts from the 15-mile-per-hour train rides mussed her hair to the point that she sat with her head ducked low in the cab.) And the newer set of cars were designed to be handicap-accessible, which helped accommodate lawmakers like Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga., a Vietnam War veteran who had lost both legs and his right forearm, and used a wheelchair during his time in the Senate. Some politicians' refusal to use the subway served as a political message. Former senator Mike DeWine R-Ohio, refused to take the train in a protest against government waste and forbid his staff from riding too. Hard-charging former Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-NY, and Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., were both known for skipping the trains to power-walk through the adjacent tunnel walkways. And occasionally, the Senate subway as been a place of confrontation. In 1950, as Sen. Smith prepared to give a historic speech on the growing risks that McCarthyism posed to freedom of speech, she was approached by none other than Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R-Wis., himself as she boarded the train to the Capitol. "Margaret, you look very serious," Smith later recalled McCarthy saying. "Are you going to make a speech?" "Yes," she responded, "and you will not like it." According to Smith, McCarthy used the rest of the subway ride to make threatening remarks in an (ultimately unsuccessful) attempt to intimidate her out of making the speech. But for the most part, the subway is a place of bipartisan goodwill. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., recalled that his first meeting with Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, took place on a train. In his memoir, Franken called the transit run-in "a real meet-cute" - Grassley's opening line: "You look just like you look on TV!" - and the subway train bonding session laid the groundwork for extensive legislative cosponsorship. Rushing out of the Capitol and back to his office last month, Sen. Benjamin Cardin, D-Md., said that he'd occasionally time his subway ride strategically to catch a colleague and talk policy. Once, he said, he used the 90 seconds on the subway to persuade the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee to move a federal judge. "We've gotten some deals done on the train," Cardin said. "I mean, you're looking for somebody, and you know you have a captured audience for about a minute. For the Senate, that's a long time." And Ritchie, the historian, has caught more than one heartwarming senatorial moment inside a packed Capitol Hill train. One time, he said, he stepped into a subway car and encountered a group of senators on their way to vote on a bill - doomed to fail - that would have ceded the District of Columbia to Maryland. One lawmaker turned to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and quipped: "Bernie, why doesn't Vermont take the District?" "Oh no, we're planning to annex Quebec," Sanders shot back, according to Ritchie. The banter proceeded between the senators, with more-and-more preposterous proposals, until Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., piped up. "Whatever you do," Cochran said, chuckling, "don't secede. We tried it, and it doesn't work." That type of idle joking and banter, Ritchie said, is an important part of fostering civility across the political aisle. "The real problem is that there's so little social time between them, outside of the legislative process," Ritchie said. "Those few 90 seconds on the trains may be one of the very few off-camera moments they have when they can actually joke with each other. You have to make the most of that time." Those interactions might be growing increasingly rare, however. Bipartisanship in Congress is arguably at an all-time low. The senatorial gentility of yore has, at times, given way to the rancor and harsh words of the Twitter age. And then, there's the most troublesome shift of all: the advent of the FitBit. As Cardin power-walked down the walkway next to the Dirksen-Hart subway line, he admitted that he hardly ever rides the train anymore. The senator lifted his hand and pointed to the slim black band on his wrist. "I gotta get my steps in," Cardin said, as another train zoomed by. - - - Video: The Capitol Hill subway was built to quickly take lawmakers from their offices to the Capitol, but it's become a hub of political drama, especially in recent months. (Claritza Jimenez/The Washington Post) URL: http://wapo.st/2fJ3ZCG Embed code: When the Connecticut House reconvenes next week, there are rumblings of proposed sales tax increases on business services. This is in addition to taxes added several years ago to contractor and technology services and include accounting and other sectors. Are additional taxes on business the best solution for dealing with Connecticuts financial challenges? What message does this send to businesses thinking of leaving or moving to our state? How is such an action justified with all of the other state mandates and regulations on business? Our state leaders are making a concerted effort to increase manufacturing and providing resources for manufacturing career development. The more money taken away from businesses, including those in manufacturing, the less money available for job creation and business development. All interested parties, please contact your representatives and tell them your legislator not to add these taxes, nor increase the ($565) CPA license fee, which is the highest in the nation and almost 6.5 times the national average. Beverlee Dacey Easton News / Africa by Stephen Jakes The Zimbabwe Community SA has rapped first lady Grace Mugabe over assaulted she allegedly committed on a South African girl she found with his sons in that country.Ina statement the community said it would like to corroborate and extend on the Zimbabwe Communist Party condemnation of the alleged attack of a South African citizen purportedly by the First Lady of Zimbabwe, Grace Mugabe."That a whole first "lady" of a country that exports so much immigrants who are sometimes falsely purged and/or accused of committing crimes exudes such lawlessness in a foreign nation smacks of a hypocrisy and ill-concern for the image of Zimbabweans and their safety and welfare, and is thus condemned as such by the Zimbabwe Community South Africa. Grace Mugabe's conduct is even worse an affront to the plight of women in general who bear the brunt of abuse and responsibility for actions even where the male participant escapes and in this case literally," reads the statement in part."The attack is even more inopportune coming after a huge furore after the arrest of a cabinet member of the South African government accused of attacking a woman - even so, at a time when the nation is celebrating women's month. If these allegations by the lady who was attacked hold sway, we expect the South African International desk to protest this matter profusely despite any diplomatic immunity codicil that prevails in instances involving members of a diplomatically involved party."The community said while they are not naive to such diplomatic protections, they would like to see the first lady take clear responsibility of this matter and as Zimbabwean workers disassociate ourselves with such callous behavior whatever the provocation or cause led to these alleged attacks."The Zimbabwe Community South Africa will always condemn any acts of crime and promotes the rule of law and the protection thereof to its members and members of the communities Zimbabweans find themselves under," reads the statement. News / Africa by Stephen Jakes Zimbabwe Community has applauded South African cabinet for approving the renewal of the Special Dispensation permits for Zimbabweans in that country."As we announced previously, the cabinet approved the renewal of the Special dispensation for Zimbabweans. We have welcomed this news and would like to urgue all Zimbabweans to make use of the opportunity. We however must warn that as per minister Dlodlo's cabinet announcement, the minister of home affairs is yet to pronounce on the conditions these permits will be renewed under," reads the statement."The Zimbabwe Community South Africa and it's chairman Ngqabutho Nicholas Mabhena would like to distance and warn Zimbabweans of any frivolous and psuedo announcement of conditions by any party except the Honorable Minister, Professor Mkhize. The DHA is known to pronounce all official statements via it's website or through a media briefing. The Zimbabwe Community South Africa is your trusted source of information which does not seek to loot but to protect you and the Zimbabwe worker interest. We always make effort to verify with department officials on whatever statement is issued and are thus always your most accurate source of verification besides the DHA itself.""Please refrain from forwarding fake or unscrupulous information meant to loot our people. Please exercise patience and rest assured your documents have government approval for renewal. Please note that we have had engagements with the Zimbabwe Home Affairs minister, Honorable Chombo to brief him and solicit his engagement for favorable conditions when he meets his South African counterpart this week - one among, being the ability to renew from within South Africa."The community urged members to continue to be shining examples of migrants - avoid crime, report crime and disavow crime. Great Allegheny Passage improvements coming The bids were opened Nov. 1 and Adam Eidemiller's was the lower of two bids received. The project will take two weeks starting within the next week. News / Africa by Staff reporter Zimbabwe has requested diplomatic immunity for the first lady, Grace Mugabe, after she was accused of assaulting a model at a hotel in Johannesburg, according to a statement from South Africa's police ministry."The suspect['s] lawyers and her government representatives made verbal representations ... that the suspect wished to invoke diplomatic immunity cover," it said.The statement also confirmed that Grace Mugabe - wife of the 93-year-old Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe - remains in South Africa, despite reports that she had returned home after failing to turn herself in to face charges of assault.The first lady is accused of attacking 20-year-old Gabriella Engels with an electrical extension cord after the model went to see the Mugabes' sons Robert and Chatunga at the Capital 20 West Hotel in Johannesburg's upmarket Sandton district on Sunday.Police said a 20-year-old woman had filed "a case of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm".It was not immediately clear whether Grace Mugabe, 52, was travelling on a diplomatic passport or would qualify for diplomatic immunity if police do bring charges against her.Hinting at a potentially serious diplomatic rift between the neighbouring nations, the South African police statement said Harare had asked that Mugabe be granted diplomatic immunity. But it made clear she would be "processed through the legal system". WARNING Do you have friends and Family in South Africa?Please warn them not to move alone over the next few days and not to speak in Shona Publicly. They is a real Chance that Some overzealous South Africans might decide to attack ordinary Zimbabweans because of the Dr Grace Mugabe incident.Please Please just advise them to be vigilant over the next few days observing how the case is moving.Ndatenda Jess Phillips (pictured), the MP for Birmingham Yardley, said Left-wing men 'don't think of [women] in the same way' Three cheers for Jess Phillips, one Labour MP who tells it like it is even if it involves exposing the sanctimonious self-righteous posturing of the trendy Left in British politics. Her acid observation reported in the Mail yesterday that Left-wing men are 'the worst, the actual worst' when it comes to sexism is difficult to refute if you've witnessed as I have, male comrades locking horns over some ideological minutiae, while the 'sisters' take the minutes and make the tea. Speaking at the Edinburgh International Book Festival, the MP for Birmingham Yardley said while Left-wing men say they want equality 'they don't think of [women] on the same level', adding that the 'Left-leaning' were worse than those described as 'out-and-out sexists of the Right'. In another withering put- down she said 'men who want to own your equality and the things you fought for are absolutely fine if they want you to own it as well, but when they want it to puff out their own chests, that is really, really, really annoying'. Honesty For the record, we're not related. I've met her once. But DNA aside, I can only describe her as my No 1 soul sister. Her honesty is breathtaking. She told Jeremy Corbyn she would knife him 'in the front, not the back' if he damaged Labour's electoral appeal. And almost uniquely in modern politics she's not afraid to admit it when she gets something wrong, apologising to him publicly after what, by the pathetic standards of today's Labour Party, seemed a miraculous act of survival following the General Election. It was Phillips, too, who prompted widespread hilarity quickly stifled by the Party's grim-faced Gauleiters when, after a heated exchange about the lack of women in top jobs in the Shadow Cabinet, she told the Corbynista MP Diane Abbott to 'f*** off'. 'People said to me they had always wanted to say that to her, and I don't know why they don't as the opportunity presents itself every other minute,' she said later. Nor has she held back in her criticism of Corbyn's Labour for its 'low-level misogyny'. Phillips's habit of puncturing some of the little hypocrisies with which many of us on the Left constantly reassure ourselves that we permanently occupy the moral high-ground on racism, sexism, anti-Semitism and diversity is an immensely valuable one. For the truth is that our smug pomposity doesn't always bear scrutiny and it is steadily alienating our natural supporters. The Left could do with more plain speakers like Jess. And we could definitely start calling out our own two-facedness in all manner of areas where we parade our moral credentials. Take racism. In one of her wiser pronouncements, Diane Abbott pointed out the British Left semi-worships Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama, but feels less comfortable with black folks in its own leadership. The further away black men are, the more they are loved by the Left. And they tend to achieve truly heroic status only after the ultimate act of distance death. In the Seventies, I became president of the National Union of Students. Our great cause was anti-racism. Yet after I stepped down in 1980, it was to be another 37 years before that invariably Left-leaning union could bring itself to elect another black president. Perhaps the students were following the lead of their elders in the Trades Unions; they haven't managed to put a non-white person at the head of any of Britain's major unions since Bill Morris retired from the Transport and General Workers' Union in 2003. Incidentally, the unions didn't escape Ms Phillips's ire this week either, as she attacked their antediluvian attitudes. Women are entirely missing from Labour's industrial strategy, she said, because it was all about 'men with shovels'. Ms Phillips told Jeremy Corbyn (pictured) she would knife him 'in the front, not the back' if he damaged Labour's electoral appeal Some hypocrisies are amusing, others simply illuminating. But increasingly these double standards are taking a potentially more dangerous turn. I have written in these pages before about the scores of young girls betrayed by Labour councillors who turned a blind eye to the grooming scandals in Rochdale, Rotherham and now Newcastle, so as not to offend their Muslim block vote. Now we see another equally disturbing trend. There is little doubt the Far Left is bent on turning Labour into a comfortable home for anti-Semites. The pretext is support for Palestinians. But all too many mask their real feelings towards Jews by spouting high-minded twaddle about condemning all violence in the Middle East while making it clear that 'evil Zionists' are to blame. They ignore the Jihadi death cults who've murdered tens of thousands of their fellow Muslims. And they mutter darkly about the Jewish State's American sponsors and Jewish influence in the White House. Two Jewish friends recently told me an acquaintance apologised for not inviting them to a party for fear of offending a well-known Left-winger who was 'uncomfortable' around Jews. Contradictions A rabid anti-capitalist, like many on the Left, this man regards Jewish success in business as deeply suspect and sees Israel as a front for U.S. multinationals' desire to control Middle Eastern oilfields. The attachment of most British Jews to Israel's existence puts the whole community in the enemy camp as far as many of the Left are concerned. But it is, I think, the treatment of women that most exposes what we on the Left would call our 'contradictions'. Let me remind readers of the Assange affair. In recent years, the liberal glitterati flocked to the banner of the Wikileaks eminence grise, Julian Assange, now entering his sixth year barricaded inside the Embassy of Ecuador in London. Assange sought asylum there to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faced accusations of sexual assault and rape (which he denied and the investigation was dropped in May) and from there, he feared, onward extradition to America over the online publication of top-secret documents. The fact that everyone on the Left holds up Sweden as a model nation more liberal, more equal and more just than anywhere else in the world was conveniently dismissed. According to Assange's supporters, it couldn't be trusted to treat him fairly. As for any concerns for the women who made the allegations, well they were seemingly over-ridden by the Left's reflex anti-Americanism. It took far too long for his blinkered supporters to drop him. Diane Abbott (pictured) pointed out the British Left semi-worships Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Barack Obama, but feels less comfortable with black folks in its own leadership Allegation There is more: the Socialist Workers Party the most influential surviving Trotskyite group remains close to the hard Left activists who so influence Labour today. Yet the SWP barely survived the departure of hundreds of members after its Central Committee refused in 2010 to refer an allegation of rape against a leading member, 'Comrade Delta', to the police. Instead, the 17-year-old complainant was compelled to appear before a secret party hearing; she left the room in tears, saying they had questioned her about her drinking habits and thought she was 'a slut who asked for it'. 'Comrade Delta', naturally, was cleared of any wrongdoing by the kangaroo court. Let's not forget that Labour has never had a female leader, except as a stand-in. (At Edinburgh, Phillips told how a leading Left-wing journalist from The Guardian lectured her that Harriet Harman, the former Labour deputy leader, 'was not that great for women' and Corbyn was better!) So thank heavens for Jess Phillips and the handful of politicians like her. They occasionally shock us or make us smile with their blunt speech; but increasingly they are the last bulwark against the creeping double-think that betrays the Left's fundamental values. The voters aren't stupid; they see us for what we have become, and the longer we tolerate the hypocrisies that mar our movement, the bleaker its future. Advertisement In a week's time, some of Australia's newest and most impressive bars and restaurants will go head to head at the inaugural Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards. And now, ahead of the awards, the top three finalists have been announced across the seven hotly contested categories. Here, we look at some of the finalists and what it is about them that has captured the attention of foodies around the country. In a week's time, some of Australia's newest and most impressive bars and restaurants will go head to head at the inaugural Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Awards, here we look at some of the finalists (pictured is Cirrus Dining) NEW RESTAURANT OF THE YEAR The three restaurants chosen for this highly competitive category are all from Sydney and include Cirrus Dining, Fred's and Saint Peter. CIRRUS DINING This new hot spot was founded by award-winning restauranteurs Chef Brent Savage and Sommelier Nick Hildebrandt. The chic, oceanic themed restaurant is located in Barangaroo and was named Cirrus to 'complement the cloud-like apartment block that sits above it and the beautiful big-sky vista you can view from the dining room'. Cirrus is all about the seaside location and the menu includes the finest seasonal produce from local growers - all of it sustainably-caught and ranging from $220 caviar to eye-popping seafood platters. There are also more than 500 wines from around the world to choose from. This new hot spot was founded by award-winning restauranteurs Chef Brent Savage and Sommelier Nick Hildebrandt The chic, oceanic themed restaurant is located in Barangaroo (pictured left is the steamed mulloway with pumpkin, olive and cavolo nero and right is the grilled cuttlefish with black sesame and carrot) FRED'S This Paddington restaurant claims to 'honour and elevate' seasonal produce by 'using both old-world and innovative techniques'. The 60-seater eatery is all about ethically produced and seasonal menus and the kitchen is run by Head Chef Danielle Alvarez. The menu changes daily and includes options like snapper carpaccio with orange, ginger, yuzukosho, herbs and king brown mushroom, lentils, pencil leek and truffle butter. Recently they have also offered a $135 600 gram Robbins Island steak and mouthwatering desserts including chocolate mousse cake with espresso ice cream and cheeses. They love cooking over fire and the venue itself features a fireplace, an open kitchen and a ledge of freshly baked pastries. This Paddington restaurant claims to 'honour and elevate' seasonal produce by 'using both old-world and innovative techniques' SAINT PETER Another fish eatery and also located in Paddington, Saint Peter describes it's mission as showcasing 'Australian sustainably sourced seafood,' and preparing it 'expertly and serving it simply'. The menu changes daily depending on the best quality fish available each morning and the restaurant has a custom designed cool room that allows them to offer fish that has been dry aged. In addition to an extensive wine list, menu items include things like oysters and sea urchin, hand filleted Yamba sardines and $52 Port Lincoln King George Whiting. For those with a sweet tooth, desserts include a chocolate and artichoke caramel slice and a lemon and passionfruit tart. Another fish eatery and also located in Paddington, Saint Peter describes it's mission as showcasing 'Australian sustainably sourced seafood,' and preparing it 'expertly and serving it simply' Pictured is their smoked ocean trout rillettes with roast almond, tarragon, witlof and radish Pictured left is their batter fried Bermagui pink ling, chips and condiments and right is their sweet and sour Nelson Bay blue mackerel on toast Pictured is their hand picked Ballina spanner crab meat and coral sauce BAR OF THE YEAR The three bars battling it out for this hotly contested category are Sydney's Big Poppa's, Canberra's Bar Rochford and Brisbane's Seymour's Cocktails & Oysters. BIG POPPA'S For those who live in Sydney, Big Poppa's is a hit with both regular diners and the late night bar/dining scene. The bar was founded by friends Lewis Jaffrey and Jared Merlino who blended their love of cheese with their passion for hip hop music to create the eatery, which is open daily from 5pm to 3am. The mostly Italian focused restaurant upstairs serves an array of cheesy treats and pastas and downstairs, guests can enjoy a selection of creative cocktails, delicious snacks and great music. In addition to the mouthwatering cheese selection, menu items include cured meats, scallops, gnocchi and Italian sausage. Some of the notable cocktails include the Party Purnell made with mandarin cognac, kaffir leaf and cranberry reduction and the Bad Beats Evil which is made with scotch, vermouth, cherry liqueur and rhubarb. For those who live in Sydney, Big Poppa's is a hit with both regular diners and the late night bar/dining scene The bar was founded by friends Lewis Jaffrey and Jared Merlino who blended their love of cheese with their passion for hip hop music to create the eatery, which is open daily from 5pm to 3am Some of the notable cocktails include the Party Purnell made with mandarin cognac, kaffir leaf and cranberry reduction and the Bad Beats Evil which is made with scotch, vermouth, cherry liqueur and rhubarb BAR ROCHFORD Hidden away in the iconic Melbourne Building in Canberra, this charming wine and cocktail bar describes itself as being 'all about fine food, exciting wine producers and good jams'. Bar share plates range from delicious house pickles and red snapper to mouthwatering cheeses, spatchcock and sourdough ice cream. Cocktails include the London Calling made with London Dry Gin, Manzanilla, lemon and orange bitters and the Wolfdaddy made with Bacardi 8, pastis, green chartreuse, demerara and bitters. Hidden away in the iconic Melbourne Building in Canberra, this charming wine and cocktail bar describes itself as being 'all about fine food, exciting wine producers and good jams' Bar share plates range from delicious house pickles and red snapper to mouthwatering cheeses, spatchcock and sourdough ice cream SEYMOUR'S COCKTAILS AND OYSTERS This jazzy little spot is a New Orleans style cocktail and oyster bar known for their playful music, quirky interiors, oysters and creative drinks offering. Food includes meatball sliders, spanner crab 'cigars' and delicious truffle potato bombas. The intimate spot is described as 'Brisbane's most atmospheric bar' and the interiors include dark wooden booths, chandeliers, brick walls and pianos. The signature cocktail is a delicious version of Irish Coffee and the Caribbean Room' with lashings of rum, pineapple, coconut and banana. This jazzy little spot is a New Orleans style cocktail and oyster bar known for their playful music, quirky interiors, oysters and creative drinks offering Pictured is their kilpatrick oysters, slow cooked lamb and beetroot scamorza Advertisement When Diana Princess of Wales morphed into a power-suited working woman, it was probably the most significant transformation of her life. And yet its symbolism, and the practical effect on her wardrobe, are under-estimated. She had gone from playing a part, to finding a role, says Jasper Conran, who made clothes for Diana from the beginning. She turned into a woman who was quite assured in her work. Eleri Lynn, the curator of the exhibition of Dianas clothes at Kensington Palace earlier this year, puts it succinctly: After her separation from the Prince of Wales, she wanted to be known as a workhorse rather than a clothes horse. Regal in blue: Diana in a Catherine Walker suit and Philip Somerville hat during a 1995 visit to the Light Dragoon Guards in Germany The gradual revolution in her day wardrobe can be dated back to 1992, the year Prime Minister John Major announced her separation from Prince Charles; the year of Andrew Mortons explosive book Diana; the Queens Annus Horribilis. All the designers who worked with her understood that the transition from dressing to be looked at to dressing to be heard conveyed a desire to reshape her image that went beyond fashion. Yet at the time the meaning of Dianas acquisition of the suited uniform of a late-Nineties executive was never dissected; in part because of the complexities and mixed messages that were the story of her life. Her parade of ever-shortening shift dresses, plunging necklines and sinuous, backless columns were simultaneously distracting attention, occupying fashion opinion columns and causing speculation into the state of her love-life. But the nuanced change in her tailoring was just as telling: she no longer wanted decorative dinner suits or Eighties-style ladies-who-lunch outfits for idle trophy wives. Her hats disappeared. She sought out two new female designers, Ronit Zilkha and Amanda Wakeley, who encapsulated efficient, businesslike practicality in a single hit of colour. Fussy, mumsy blouses were replaced by plain silk T-shirts. Stellar: Diana is seen during 1993 in an Amanda Wakeley outfit, left while she went for nude hues in Catherine Walker pleats in 1995 Power dressing: At Guys Hospital in 1987, left, while she opted for a sharp grey Dior trouser suit for a lunch in Mayfair She even wore pinstripe, donning a fitted navy pinstripe dress and coat to a Centrepoint charity reception, for example. It was a mark of Dianas new maturity that she managed to wear it without seeming to wear a costume or to be playing at business. This wasnt dressing for show or for fun, but to engage with serious subjects in a serious way. There was a point in her life when she was changing. Id started in 1990, in Brook Street, and it was just a matter of her walking in, Ronit Zilkha recalls. She had such a perfect figure and was so fit, you never needed to change anything. Zilkhas signatures were contrasting velvet collars, pocket-flaps and piping; but nothing elaborate. Diana bought an orange one with a velvet collar she styled in different ways. There were no assistants; no special requests. The turning point came in April 1993, when Diana wore a Tomasz Starzewski pink long-line suit to make a compelling and personally informed speech to a conference on eating disorders. Then came the bombshell December 3, 1993 she walked into a Grosvenor House charity lunch wearing a bottle-green Amanda Wakeley business suit to make an unexpected announcement: she would be resigning her links with all but a few of the more than 100 charities she had hitherto supported. In fact, she was soon back, but now working with a whittled-down list of seven charities she could be personally involved with. Earning her stripes: Businesslike in Catherine Walker at Centrepoint and dazzling in red and black at the English National Ballet School Between 1992 and 1997, her working wardrobe both encapsulated and masked her lifelong struggle to be considered an intelligent, worthwhile woman. I was portrayed in the media, if I remember rightly, as someone, because I hadnt passed any O-levels and hadnt taken any A-levels, that I was stupid, she told Martin Bashir in the infamous Panorama interview of 1995. Her mute duty was defined for her, she told him. My husband did the speeches. I did the hand-shaking. Diana spent her later years reinventing herself, and its easy to forget how highly she was regarded on the international stage. Abroad, she was a selfless, hard-working woman whose work personally and independently effected change in the world. At a glittering ceremony in New York in 1996, she received the International Humanitarian of the Year Award; and in the last year of her life, again in New York, she was famously pictured with Mother Teresa, at the Sisters of Mercy church in the Bronx, wearing a pure white suit of inescapable symbolism two missionaries together, following the same calling to global humanitarianism. Pastel perfection: The business suits Diana pioneered in the Nineties have become a standard uniform for high-profile career women At home, she was judged by harsher standards. As the fashion journalist Georgina Howell observed: By then, had she been an ordinary woman, with an ordinary career, her years of exceptional work would have qualified her for promotion. Yet still, critics castigated for her trivial and self-indulgent private life. In the end, the businesslike wardrobe Diana amassed was her go-to-work armour; the style which was emerging to empower a Nineties generation of women who wanted to deflect attention from how they looked onto what they said and did. More than 20 years later, its now part of the accepted uniform of politics, right and left, from Theresa May to Nicola Sturgeon, worn by women at the top of the City, by headmistresses and girls going to their first job interviews. Diana helped it along. In 1995, Gianni Versace designed his Conservative Chic collection, which made a 180-degree turn from sexy shapes to provide the neat pastel-shaded dress-and-jacket suits she bought in multiples. She had a Chanel mint suit in the same shape. Finally, fashion had come to her, not the other way round. Humanitarian: Diana wore a simple white suit for her 1997 meeting with Mother Teresa, also in pure white, at New Yorks Sisters of Mercy church She branched into a Dior trousersuit with frilled edges, too, and occasionally wore her long-line jackets over leggings a classic of todays celebrity airport style. It was the phase in her life that would culminate in the massively significant clear-out of the clothes she wore as the Princess of Wales a wardrobe revamp that symbolised nothing less than a wholescale change of identity. An auction of 80 of the formal evening gowns she wore while still a member of the Royal Family was scheduled for June 1997, at Christies in New York, and as if to underline the point, she flew out from London looking smart and relaxed in a caramel summer-weight trouser suit by Ronit Zilkha, with a laptop under one arm and a tote bag full of paperwork in the other hand. No longer the clothes horse, but the workhorse. You felt like this was the beginning of a new Diana, confirms Zilkha. Tragically, it wasnt. Yet that sale, too, spoke to Dianas stunning effectiveness in her work. It raised $3.25 million for cancer and Aids charities. As the last hammer came down, she had become one of the greatest philanthropists in the world. Tribute to Jackie O Diana let slip her love of Jackie Kennedy a fellow style icon of the 20th century during a fitting for this Philip Somerville hat. I wonder if in the years to come people will think of me as the Jackie Kennedy of the period, she allegedly told him. The hat was made to match her double-breasted Versace suit worn for a trip to Argentina in 1995 a look which consciously echoed Jackies own signature style Why Kate turned to Diana's most trusted designer Of all Dianas designers, it was the sensitive and super-loyal Catherine Walker who was the closest. Walker testified to the psychological change she saw in Diana as she embarked upon this new, post-marriage phase of life, complete with its dozens of near-identical power suits. By developing her international status as a charity worker and a beautiful woman, she was regaining her self-esteem, mending her heart, Walker wrote in her autobiography, a year after Dianas death and 12 years before her own. Sombre, serious and striking: From left, Diana is pictured leaving a memorial service, at the Red Cross in Geneva and in a red Catherine Walker suit with Lady Dior handbag at an Aids charity meeting The fashion world takes itself so seriously, but I saw Diana as above all that. My designs had to work for her job, which was not always glamorous . . . she would be meeting officials as well as lepers or Aids patients, and the right designs were part of the nitty-gritty of the job. By the mid-Nineties, Diana was ordering multiple versions of Walkers mid-thigh-length jackets and pencil skirts, worn with sheer or matt black tights and plain court shoes. The Walker atelier still produces tailored suits, now under the management of Catherines husband. Indeed, the Duchess of Cambridge has picked up where Diana left off, and often buys from the Walker studio, as does her mother Carole. Fashion followers: Kate and her mother Carole in Catherine Walker A week before her death, Diana came to see Walker. She ordered a long knee-length jacket in dark navy with a royal blue pinstripe and a red cocktail dress with a cowl neck. Later, speaking on the phone, Diana thanked Walker for the total care she gave her. Five days later, Walker woke to the news that her best client and friend the most famous woman in the world was dead. Walker would write in her autobiography: She had the guts to remain true to herself she walked tall with spirit and style. News / Africa by Stephen Jakes The SAPS is in possession of a signed document by Zimbabwe's First lady Mrs Grace Mugabe in which the well known abuser accused a South African-Greek young lady of supplying high end drugs to her sons.She swore an affidavit in front of a police commissioner that her sons have got state protection and hence it is not easy for them to go and get drugs by themselves hence the use of the girl as a decoy.It is rumoured that the girl in question - whose name is being withheld - pointed out after being beaten by Grace that she was just a runner for a Mr DuPlesis. hence the First lady surrendered herself to the police so that this high clientele dealer could be arrested.It is no secret that the Mugabe boys are persona non grata in Dubai because they were caught in possession of coccaine. Mugabe had to bribe the whole hotel so that they would not be executed.A similar situation occurred in Italy and France and the first lady also became violent.Zimbabwean state controlled media the Herald reported that the First Lady assaulted a foreign agent ( Greek Intelligence) who was leading the boys to mischief.Mr Mbalula could not be contacted for a response as the issue now concerns Ministry of Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs due to the diplomatic issues involved as well as the real possibility that South Africa is a haven for European intelligence organizations.Our investigations continued to the airport where Mugabe was cleared to take off by National Aviation Authorities knowing full well that she had a pending case.As of now, the Mugabe boys have jettisoned to the USA at the expense of a cash starved nation.It is also beleived that despite their obvious wealth,the Mugabe boys are not liked by people in Zimbabwe because of their dictator father, hence they feel safe in a foreign land.We still await the development of the $700 000 lawsuit posted. A response from the Zimbabwean consulate in Johannesburg was not forthcoming as they are gagged. Remember that girl at school who was super-clever but always moaning shed done really badly in her exams? Or the friend whos a perfect size 8 yet claims she hates her figure? Exactly: irritating as hell. Thats Helen Mirren in her latest magazine interview. Dame Helen, she of the iconic red-bikini-at-60 shot, is featured on the cover of next months Allure, tattooed hunk draped around her neck and looking, quite frankly, as fabulous as is humanly possible. Swan neck, knowing smile, her snowy white hair short and chic, a twinkle in her eye: she is the very essence of modern glamour. All the more so since, at 72, she completely redefines what it means to be an older woman. Swan neck, knowing smile, her snowy white hair short and chic, a twinkle in her eye: she is the very essence of modern glamour Dame Helen is featured on the cover of next months Allure, tattooed hunk draped around her neck and looking, quite frankly, as fabulous as is humanly possible She looks better than most women half her age testimony to both her lifestyle and her good genetic fortune. If ever anyone had a reason to be pretty damn pleased with themselves, its her. And yet, oh no! There has to be a self-indulgent and to my ears utterly tokenistic display of self-doubt. Looking back on her youth, she laments her appearance: My cheeks were too fat, legs were too short, breasts too big. It was the time of Twiggy, and I did not look like a twig, she says, adding somewhat disingenuously I fell into the cliche of sexiness: blonde hair, t**s, waist. A proud feminist nowadays, she wasnt so keen on that sort of thing back in the day. I liked wearing make-up and high heels, she says, even if it did make her the target of unwanted male attention and, as Michael Parkinson once famously pointed out to her, detracted from her desire to be taken seriously as an actress. That 1975 interview Mirren in full dolly bird mode, flirting and waving a feather around coquettishly, poor Parky struggling to maintain his composure is a classic of its kind, a vintage example of the hypocrisy that seems to afflict so many celebrity women. Women whose exceptional beauty opens up all sorts of opportunities but who flatly refuse not only to acknowledge the arsenal of weapons at their disposal but also their willingness to deploy them. Who, instead of just admitting that the world is a sucker for a sexy body and a pretty face, and that they just got very lucky, persist in trying to persuade the rest of us that it means nothing to them. Looking back on her youth, she laments her appearance: My cheeks were too fat, legs were too short, breasts too big Why do they do this? If its to make themselves relate to other women, ordinary women, then theyre wasting their time. Because it just gets on our nerves. Its patronising, implausible, insulting. I mean, honestly: what do you mean you were too sexy in your youth? Thats like being too rich or too thin. Its not possible. Dame Helen, youre a knockout, an icon, an inspiration. So enough of the false modesty. Own it. Enjoy it Helen Mirren is not the only one, either. Cara Delevingne, Keira Knightley, Jennifer Lawrence, Beyonce, Anne Hathaway, Angelina Jolie . . . the list is endless. Moaning about the unwanted attention, picking holes in their appearance. (Lawrence apparently doesnt like her armpits; Beyonce her ears.) Being pretty is a double-edged sword, says Keira. Maybe. Still, no Plain Jane ever landed a lucrative Chanel contract, did they? What they want us to believe is that their looks mean nothing to them. That they are just an afterthought when in fact they are the key to everything. And even more so in todays hyper visual world of Instagram and Snapchat. They know this, we know this, the magazines and photographers and film-makers know this. But for some reason we all have to pretend otherwise, be complicit in their hypocrisy. Dame Helen, youre a knockout, an icon, an inspiration. So enough of the false modesty. Own it. Enjoy it. And, above all, be grateful for your great good fortune. 27,000 reasons to leave the EU You have to hand it to the Remoaners: they are nothing if not tenacious. As well as threatening to start their own party (the Democrats a somewhat ironic title given their desire to overturn a democratic vote), their latest wheeze is moaning from their sun loungers about how everyone in Europe (aka their barman) thinks Britain is mad for wanting to leave the EU. And whose Bacchanalian chief, Jean-Claude Juncker, has just blown 27,000 on a two-day jolly to Rome by private plane Perhaps we are. Although arguably not as mad as wanting to remain part of an unelected super-quango whose officials, it recently transpired, pay as little as 12 per cent tax. And whose Bacchanalian chief, Jean-Claude Juncker, has just blown 27,000 on a two-day jolly to Rome by private plane. Fair enough, jet fuel is expensive; but someone should tell him youre not actually supposed to drink the stuff. Why I can't accept Caster's a woman None of these characteristics prevent her from being an athlete, of course; but Im afraid they do prevent her from being a woman Watching the South African runner Caster Semenya take gold in the womens 800 metres at London 2017, one thing is clear: she is in a league of her own. Her natural testosterone levels which are three times that of an average woman give her an almost unbeatable advantage over other competitors in her category. Despite being outwardly female, Semenya has no uterus or ovaries. She also has internal testes. None of these characteristics prevent her from being an athlete, of course; but Im afraid they do prevent her from being a woman. However painful or politically incorrect that may be, its the truth. And for the sake of all athletes, it must be acknowledged. Advertisement Prince Charless problem is not that he is not fit to be King. Its that he is too much of a gentleman to tell the world how bonkers Diana really was. Cats, an apology Dogs are loyal and always pleased to see you. Cats are sly, devious, unloving Until recently, if you had asked me whether I was a dog person or a cat person, I would have replied dog, of course. Dogs are loyal and always pleased to see you. Cats are sly, devious, unloving. That was before I grumpily gave in to my daughters pleading and got one. We found her in our local rescue centre: a tiny, calico kitten, one of a litter of three. The animals had been living in such bad conditions that at first we werent allowed to adopt her outright. Instead, we had to foster her as evidence while the local authority prosecuted her owner. Yet still she surprised me with her willingness to be cuddled and purring whenever I walk into the room. Her final adoption papers came through yesterday morning. We still havent decided on a name, but it doesnt really matter. Shes already part of the family, and I cant imagine what I ever did without her. Im very glad the Royal College of Midwives has decided to end its medieval obsession with natural childbirth. In years to come, the idea that women in the 21st century were cajoled and shamed into giving birth in the same dangerous and agonising way their ancestors did will seem as ludicrous as suggesting that doctors amputate a limb without anaesthetic. An adorable curly-haired kitten has taken the internet by storm thanks to its unusual locks and the cat's fluffy fur apparently runs in the family. The orange kitten captured the hearts of thousands after the Twitter account Mean Plastic shared posted photos of the pet, tweeting: 'I've never seen a cat with curls until now.' The kitten is believed to be a Selkirk Rex, a breed of curly-haired cats that descended from one feline rescue, and people couldn't resist gushing about the pet's incredible locks or it's unique origins. Too cute: An orange curly-haired kitten has captured the hearts of thousands online Family history: The kitten is believed to be a Selkirk Rex, a breed of curly-haired cats that descended from one feline rescue First time for everything: Twitter account 'Mean Plastic' shared posted photos of the pet, tweeting: 'I've never seen a cat with curls until now.' Perfect pun: Instagram user 'iizcat' shared the photos of the orange tabby and joked: 'When you got that natural purrm' Cool curls: The photo of the fluffy cat inspired fans to find out more about the special breed The Selkirk Rex breed originated in Montana in 1987 after a rescue cat delivered a litter that included four kittens with straight hair and another with unusually curly-hair. The special kitten caught the eye of breeder Jeri Newman who adopted the cat and named her Miss DePesto after the curly-haired character in the 1980s TV series 'Moonlighting'. Newman bred the cat with a black Persian male, and Miss DePesto's litter of six kittens featured three with straight hair and three with curly, which led the breeder to believe the cat's curls were a dominant genetic trait. She named the new breed after her stepfather Selkirk, making it the only cat breed to be named after a person. In 2012 25 years after Miss DePesto was born researchers at the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna confirmed that the felines are a genetically distinct breed, making it the fourth type of curly-haired cat. However, unlike the Cornish and Devon Rex breeds with curly-coat mutations, the Mother Nature Network explains that the Selkirk Rex's 'hair is of normal length and isn't prone to balding, adding that it 'differs from the LaPerm breed because its coat is thicker'. Origins: The Selkirk Rex breed originated in Montana in 1987 after a rescue cat delivered a litter that included one cat with unusually curly hair Start of it all: The original curly-haired kitten was given to breeder Jeri Newman who named her Miss DePesto after a character with curly hair in the TV series 'Moonlighting' Growing the family: Newman bred the cat with a black Persian male, and Miss DePesto's litter of six kittens three with curly hair It's official: In 2012, the Selkirk Rex was confirmed to be a genetically distinct breed, making it the fourth type of curly-haired cat That's a unique look! The kittens take on an entirely different appearance when they're wet Adorable: Instagram users around the world are obsessed with the breed's unique fur Cuddle up: Many people believe that the cats' curly fur makes them look like a teddy bear Because of their unique coats, the breed is sometimes is sometimes called a 'poodle cat' or a 'cat in sheeps clothing.' Photos of orange kitten and its curls have gone viral, creating a whole new appreciation for the breed. A Twitter user known as JC Reilly was one of the many people who deduced that the orange tabby was 'probably a Selkirk Rex or one of the other Rexes'. 'They're all curly and adorable,' he added. One Instagram user know as 'iizcat' shared the images of the orange kitten, writing: 'When you got that natural purrm.' 'I just found out about Selkirk Rex cats. This changed my whole life, Alex Beltran tweeted, and a Twitter user named Lexie just wrote: 'I want one.' And while plenty of people fell in love with the cat at first sight, others were upset about the breeding of the first Selkirk Rex. 'Can't condone breeding, sorry!' Sheebani Sethi wrote on Facebook. 'Especially not with so many stray and shelter cats out there who need loving home or are euthanized.' Renee Liss agreed, writing: 'So ... adopt a rescue and then breed and sell its kittens? Yeah, no. Not how that's supposed to work.' TWITTER GOES GAGA FOR BREED OF CURLY-HAIRED CATS Advertisement Stars arrived for the 2017 Prix De Marie Claire Awards on Tuesday evening decked out in an array of eye-popping, striking and stunning looks. But while some turned heads thanks to their glamorous and sophisticated gowns, others opted for a more risque, daring or flamboyant aesthetic. Australian model, Tegan Martin, opted for one such unusual look. Stars arrived for the 2017 Prix De Marie Claire Awards on Tuesday evening decked out in an array of eye-popping, striking and stunning looks (pictured: Tegan Martin) But while some turned heads thanks to their glamorous and sophisticated gowns, others opted for a more risque, daring or flamboyant aesthetic (pictured: Gary Bigeni) Romance Was Born designers, Luke Sales and Anna Plunkett (pictured), have always turned heads with their looks - this time they opted for sequins, ruffles and ribbons Clad in a Carla Zampatti sweeping one-shouldered gown - The Ella Expose Gown, which retails for AUD $1,199 - the 24-year-old model pulled away the revealing dress to expose a slim-fit pair of black trousers by the same brand. The black pants retail for AUD $459. Tegan is not the only one to have worn the Ella Expose Gown to an awards night. Terry Biviano also opted for the outfit in recent months, pairing it with a chic up-do and co-ordinating shoes and clutch. Clad in a Carla Zampatti sweeping one-shouldered gown - The Ella Expose Gown, which retails for AUD $1,199, model, Tegan Martin, showcased a daring cutaway look (pictured) Lianna Perdis and her father, the make up expert, Napoleon Perdis, rocked daring outfits (both pictured) Elsewhere on the Prix De Marie Claire red carpet, designer, Gary Bigeni, took a risk in clashing colours and textures. The Sydney-based designer looked every inch the flamboyant creative, when he paired a green polka-dot jacket with a rainbow-print top and orange trousers. He finished the look off with blue brogues and bright pink laces. Romance Was Born designers, Luke Sales and Anna Plunkett, also paid tribute to their signature design aesthetic. While Luke Sales opted for a pajamas-inspired two-piece outfit and giant ribbon around his neck, Anna Plunkett rocked a purple patterned dress complete with ruffles, tulle and a ribbon in her hair. Actress, Asher Keddie, plumped for a daring kaleidoscopic gown by Romance Was Born (left) - meanwhile, Tash Sefton's outfit divided critics (right) Pictured left: Lianna Perdis - pictured right: Brooke Testoni Fashion blogger, Tash Sefton's, outfit also divided the fashion critics. Pairing a white, sweeping mini dress with a belted waist and thigh-high leather boots, the overall look was less red carpet and more relaxed. Actress, Asher Keddie, also plumped for a daring kaleidoscopic gown by Romance Was Born. 'I saw this dress and thought, "oh my gosh, why wouldn't you wear that?",' she told Marie Claire. 'I have wanted to wear Romance Was Born for so long, and tonight felt like the perfect moment.' There were plenty of fashion wins on the red carpet as well, from the likes of Home & Away actress, Pia Miller, Anna Heinrich and Jesinta Campbell. The star-studded event took place at Stage 7 at Sydney's Fox Studio. There, long tables were adorned with lavish table settings and rows of flowers, while overhead hung stunning crystal chandeliers. Advertisement The moment Princess Mary comforted her young son on the first day of school has been captured in a series of touching photographs. The Australian-born princess, and her husband Prince Frederik, accompanied their six-year-old twins, Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine to Tranegard School in Hellerup, Denmark, to begin Grade 0. But the occasion appeared a little overwhelming for the young prince, whose eyes filled with tears at one point - leading his attentive mother to place her hand lovingly on his head. Scroll down for video The touching moment Princess Mary comforted her young son on the first day of school has been captured on camera The occasion appeared a little overwhelming for the young prince, whose eyes filled with tears at one point The young prince's face appeared a little flushed as the princess bent down to check on him Prince Vincent appeared to show a hint of nervousness ahead of his first day as his mother comforted him on Tuesday The young prince's face appeared a little flushed as the princess bent down to check on him. Meanwhile, his sister appeared to be brimming with confidence - smiling warmly for the cameras as she posed for the waiting media. While he appeared initially emotional, eventually Prince Vincent broke out into a smile as posed in his school uniform, alongside his family. Smile! Princess Mary and Prince Frederik's twins Prince Vincent and Princess Josephine pose in uniform as they start their first day at school Wearing a long-sleeve light blue shirt with a white collar and a pair of grey-coloured shorts, the youngster stepped out with a large blue backpack and sneakers. His twin had a red flower in her hair as she donned a light blue dress, featuring a Peter Pan collar, buttons, a bow around her waist and a navy strip around the hems of the skirt. The twins now join their older siblings Prince Christian and Princess Isabella at the school. Princess Josephine had a red flower in her hair as she donned a light blue dress as Prince Vincent wore a long-sleeve shirt Princess Josephine smiling on her first day of school as her twin brother Prince Vincent seemed nervous ahead of class Princess Josephine was brimming with confidence as she followed behind her father, alongside her mother and twin brother Dressed for the momentous occasion, Princess Mary, who was born in Hobart, was glowing as she stepped out in a sophisticated dress. She sported a pair of brown heels that perfectly matched her belt around the waist - and finishing off her look with gold earrings and bangles around her wrist. Prince Frederik opted for a smart look, wearing a brown blazer over his collared shirt and dark blue trousers. Off to class! The six-year-old twins now join their older siblings Prince Christian and Princess Isabella at the school Unlike her brother, lively Princess Josephine seemed thrilled about starting big school and couldn't wipe the smile from her face Prince Vincent was seen clinging to his mother as the group posed and waved to media The first day of school comes just days after FEMAIL took a nostalgic look back at the twins' life in pictures, from family photo shoots to birthdays and trips to the snow The first day of school comes just days after FEMAIL took a nostalgic look back at the twins' life in pictures, from family photo shoots to birthdays and trips to the snow. Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander and Josephine Sophia Ivalo Mathilda were born on January 8, 2011 to Crown Princess Mary and her husband, Prince Frederik. As the youngest members of the Danish Royal family, with two older siblings in Prince Christian and Princess Isabella, they've always been playful. Princess Josephine has especially captured the eyes and hearts of the public, thanks to her ability to pull funny faces whenever there's a camera around. Prince Vincent, on the other hand, appears to be slightly more reserved. Princess Josephine and Prince Vincent are pictured at Prince Henrik's 80th birthday celebrations In honour of the momentous occasion for the Danish Royal family (pictured left), FEMAIL took a look back at some of the twins' scene-stealing moments (pictured right) The family have enjoyed skiing holidays in Verbier since the twins' arrival (pictured) Princess Josephine has made a name for herself for stealing the scene at various Royal photo calls, including the Hubertus Hunting Event in 2015 (pictured) Vincent Frederik Minik Alexander and Josephine Sophia Ivalo Mathilda were born on January 8, 2011 to Crown Princess Mary and her husband, Prince Frederik (pictured) As the youngest members of the Danish Royal family, with two older siblings in Prince Christian and Princess Isabella, they've always been playful (pictured with their parents at a photo call) The family have enjoyed a four-day summer tour of Northern Denmark (pictured) When the twins were born in 2011, a 21-gun salute was fired from the Naval Base in Copenhagen When it comes to their life story, the young Royals have shared much of it together. When they were born in 2011, a 21-gun salute was fired from the Naval Base in Copenhagen. They were later christened on April 14 of the same year, at the Church of Holmen in Copenhagen. Since then, the twins have enjoyed countless experiences children their age could only dream of. At seven months old, they were taken aboard the Royal yacht. Just two months later they travelled to Australia, and were photographed at Admiralty House in Sydney. The twins have, on occasions, been pictured out riding on the front of Princess Mary's bicycle The twins are the youngest members of the Danish Royal family They have enjoyed countless experiences children their age can only dream of (pictured in Verbier) Josephine always manages to capture the limelight, thanks to her games and funny facial expressions (pictured) Princess Mary is captured on her bike at the Palace in Copenhagen over the winter in 2016 The duo have also been on a ski holiday to Switzerland at age four, where photos showed them enjoying the snow and riding toboggans down the slopes with their parents. During the Hubertus Hunting Event in 2015, Josephine was photographed pulling a series of hilarious facial expressions, playing with her Minion toy, and generally acting up. She has since become known to steal the show at the family's annual photo calls, waving her hands in the air and grinning as the plays in front of the camera. The Danish Royal family, pictured attending the Hubertus Hunting Event in Copenhagen More recently, the twins helped to ring in Queen Margrethe's 77th birthday and Easter Sunday in April this year More recently, the twins helped to ring in Queen Margrethe's 77th birthday and Easter Sunday in April this year. The Royal family took to the balcony at Marselisborg Palace in Aarhus to wave to the crowds on the religious day in Denmark. Again, it was Princess Josephine who stole the show, with Princess Josephine and Princess Athena reportedly impressing the crowds with a dance performance to the live music. They have since enjoyed a summer holiday travelling around the Greek islands on a luxury yacht. An Australian mother has opened up about the moment she discovered she was pregnant - just six weeks after giving birth to her first daughter. Eliza Curby, 27, from Sydney's northern beaches, went from being a mum of none to a mother of three - Charlie, Jack and Wolfe - in 12 'very short' months. 'For several weeks I had felt seriously seriously exhausted, which I put down to sleep deprivation,' Eliza told Daily Mail Australia. Eliza Curby, 27, from Sydney's northern beaches (pictured) went from being a mum of none to a mother of three - Charlie, Jack and Wolfe - in 12 'very short' months 'However when it continued I noticed that it was coupled with a familiar feeling a very familiar feeling. It was the feeling a had had when I was pregnant with Charlie.' Eliza and her partner, Ben, welcomed their daughter 18 months ago, and the new mum said the weeks following her birth were a 'whirlwind'. 'Motherhood was what I had expected. Growing up with a midwife mum may have prepared me somewhat,' Eliza told Daily Mail Australia. 'My life was purely made up of feed, burp, sleep repeat. It really took six weeks to come up for air and get my head around my new role! Eliza initially thought her tiredness was down to sleep deprivation, but later discovered she was expecting twins 'I laughed with Ben about the prospect that perhaps I was pregnant again - and that what it remained for some time - a big joke,' Eliza said (pictured are the twins) 'And just as this happened I of course fell pregnant again.' Eliza said she was breastfeeding at the time and having discovered that hormone-altering forms of contraception didn't suit her had decided to 'work around the old wives' tale that breastfeeding acted as a natural contraceptive'. 'However, I'll admit - again with Mum being a midwife - I was aware that nothing is foolproof.' And on this occasion it wasn't. After suffering from a dull headache every morning and a general 'lack of bounce', Eliza started to wonder if she might be pregnant. Having discovered that hormone-altering forms of contraception didn't suit her, Eliza decided to 'work around the old wive's tale that breastfeeding acted as a natural contraceptive' 'I laughed with Ben about the prospect that perhaps I was pregnant again - and that what it remained for some time - a big joke,' Eliza said. 'So I took a pregnancy test just to be sure - and it came back negative.' She took another test a week later and the result came back the same - negative. 'And so over the course of about four weeks I continued to take them - I was unconvinced - and then boom 'positive',' Eliza said. 'I was shocked but at the same time kind of excited to say to Ben 'I was right!'' The new mother said the news also made her apprehensive about how things would work out logistically but she was happy because she had always wanted 'lots of kids'. 'I was shocked but at the same time kind of excited to say to Ben 'I was right!'' Eliza said of her discovery that she was pregnant Soon after, Eliza went to the doctor to confirm the pregnancy and was sent for an ultrasound, where there was another surprise to come. 'He turned to us and said "Look it's too early to say but I think it's twins". I was shocked. I couldn't help but start laughing. That nervous 'what happens now' kind of awkward laugh. I really did think it was hilarious.' Eliza added that a psychic friend of her had told her three years earlier that she would have three children in 'quick succession'. After it was confirmed she was expecting twins, Eliza said she went into full on 'prep mode' - immersing herself in the online world of mummy blogs and taking tips from the Australian Multiple Birth Association. Eliza said that a psychic friend of her had told her three years earlier that she would have three children in 'quick succession' A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A MUM WITH THREE KIDS UNDER TWO 'Our days start about 6.30am - which I think is quite reasonable,' Eliza said, adding they also end around 6.30pm. 'All the stuff in-between involves three-hourly feeding - whether it's Charlie and or the boys who are not onto solids' She added that this results in 'a lot of mess' and she makes one trip out of the house if she feels able. 'There are also a lot of nappies, a lot of clothes changes and a lot of love between my three babies,' she said. Advertisement 'First thing we needed to organise was a new car,' Eliza said. 'We couldn't fit everyone. So we got ourselves the amazing VW Multilane which is the best move we ever made.' Her twins, Jack and Wolfe, now seven months, were born on Christmas Eve 2016 via emergency caesarean. 'Life with three little ones is busy,' Eliza admitted. 'There's no other way to put it. Busy busy busy.' While Charlie is at an age where she is on the move, her mother described the first six months as 'full on'. 'Youre so deep in babies it's hard to feel like youll ever be out of the baby vortex ever again,' she said. 'Sleep deprivation is the killer. And anyone with twins - even those whose twins sleep - know this. 'I wrote my first blog entry about it when I found myself one day in the shower with my underwear on. Who gets in the shower clothed?' The mother described the first six months as 'full on'. 'Youre so deep in babies it's hard to feel like youll ever be out of the baby vortex ever again,' she said 'Every day struggles now are leaving the house with all three on my own. I do it, but some days you just feel like it's just not worth it,' she said 'But I have found that being on the other side of the first six-month blur, it does get easier. You get better at it, and the babies get more fun,' she said. 'Every day struggles now are leaving the house with all three on my own. I do it, but some days you just feel like it's just not worth it. 'It's so hard to find time to spend with friends, who you need to keep you sane, when youre constantly over-calculating your days based on three separate children's sleep times and trying to explain this to friends without kids just makes you sound boring.' Eliza admitted that the first six months after the twins were born were so difficult she wouldn't have recommended it to other women, however now she feels differently. 'I don't have to do pregnancy again if I don't want to. My work here is done, and now I have my body back - which trust me, after a twin pregnancy is the best feeling ever,' Eliza said 'The pros are watching the three interact and learn from each other and also the realisation that 'I'm done',' she said. 'Rather than staggering several pregnancies over many years, having your body yo-yo in and out, I got it done. 'I don't have to do pregnancy again if I don't want to. My work here is done, and now I have my body back - which trust me, after a twin pregnancy is the best feeling ever.' Eliza blogs at Twingenuity - which she calls a 'place for mums to come for information, a laugh and support'. You can subscribe to it here. They are the two best friends who are proving that beauty comes in all sizes. Australian plus size model Kate Wasley and her slim friend Georgia Gibbs are not ones to shy away from the cameras. But earlier this year, the pair were taunted with cruel remarks about their contrasting sizes after sharing an Instagram image of themselves laughing side-by-side. Appearing on the Today show, Kate, a size 16, opened up about the backlash after she was body-shamed for standing next to her size 6 friend in the picture. Scroll down for video Australian plus size model Kate Wasley and her slim friend Georgia Gibbs are not ones to shy away from the cameras The two best friends are now on a mission to promote positive body image on their Instagram 'People just got up in arms that I was comfortable standing next to someone a lot smaller than me,' Kate said. 'I think because people on social media are so obsessed with looking their best.' In March, the Perth friends attracted criticism, with some accusing Georgia of deliberately Photoshopping her friend to make herself look thinner. 'They were trolling me because I have the body shape that I do,' she said. 'They were kind of saying: "she's so tiny, she's so curvy, how is that real life? They're best friends?" or "she's using her size 16 friend to look thinner". 'It was bizarre.' The image the started it all: This was the picture that sparked outrage, with Georgia (right) being accused of Photoshopping her friend to make herself look thinner The two best friends are now on a mission to promote positive body image on their Instagram The best friends have turned the backlash into a positive campaign to promote body image Despite the outrage, the friends have since turned the negative comments into a positive campaign to promote body image. 'Social media is such a high-pressured environment for so many girls. It has changed the way we view ourselves and how we view everyone else,' Georgia said. 'Our aim goal is to continue empowering women around the world, we definitely want to take that into schools and education as well. 'That real inspiration - not just academia, something really inspiring for young women and just keep showing the world our friendship.' And so the two friends launched their own Instagram page called Any Body Co, which has since attracted nearly 200,000 followers. 'Any Body is all about empowering women, I know for myself and Kate as well. It's really about diversity, it's beauty with no boundaries,' Georgia said. They launched their campaign called Any Body Co which has attracted nearly 200k followers Speaking about the authenticity behind their photographs, Kate said they don't use Photoshop to retouch their images for social media 'It's not about size anymore. It's size, shape, background... We just want all women to be showcased in the most beautiful way that they can and show a diverse range of women.' Speaking about the authenticity behind their photographs, Kate said they don't use Photoshop to retouch their images for social media. 'We are all about a good filter, just because it makes Instagram flow and appealing,' she admitted. '[But] Photoshopping and retouching... I guess to us, there's no point having a size 6 and size 16 and then being absolutely flawless. Georgia added: 'Unless it's a professional image, which is out of our control because it's what the client does with it. 'But we do try and encourage - keep it real, keep it healthy, keep it natural - and that's kind of our message.' Losing can sometimes be a bitter pill to swallow... as 12-year-old brain box Rahul, a contestant on Child Genius, showed last night. Viewers tuning into the latest installment of the Channel 4 quiz show - which pits the country's finest young minds against each other - were subjected to an almighty strop by young Rahul. The schoolboy, from Barnet, couldn't contain his red-hot frustration after losing to rival Joshua and a post-challenge interview quickly descended into a full-blown strop. Scroll down for video Clearly disappointed with his performance in the maths challenge on last night's episode, Rahul initially tried to be magnanimous in defeat after losing out to rival Joshua One question too far: Rahul decides he's 'too busy' for the post-defeat analysis and wrestles away from his father, who tries to placate him He's off! While his sister looks on, Rahul makes for the door and walks off set Narrowly missing out on the top spot in the maths round, he still has immunity from elimination. Despite his impressive performance, the youngster couldn't hide his disappointment at not getting the best score...and viewers watching at home were quick to brand him a 'diva'. @trousseaudiary wrote: 'Oooh diva strop, Rahul tut tut #ChildGenius' @cheesecakebase added: 'Oh my gosh, Rahul is already a diva. Yikes.' So, how exactly did the drama unfold? Clearly wanting to be anywhere else but on screen, Rahul started the analysis of his performance with the camera crew reasonably well - appearing to accept, albeit with gritted teeth, Joshua's superiority in the challenge. One of the most impressive students to appear in the latest series of the competition, Rahul, who remains a candidate in spite of his defeat, clearly has sky-high high expectations Eventually his mother coaxes him back onto set but the car-crash interview is simply hurtling towards round two, as the boy struggles to compose himself Losing hurts: Rahul remonstrates with his mother about why he should come back and finish the interview. He momentarily arrives back on screen but is still visibly agitated 'Just give them two minutes', implores his mother and Rahul and the boy tells the crew: 'I don't want to comment on my defeat, do you mind if I just leave?' It all went downhill shortly after, however, as Rahul, who has been one of the most impressive contestants so far, was clearly agitated at being questioned more about the defeat. Increasingly tetchy, he told the cameras: 'Good, yeah, I accept that Joshua's won,' before wrestling himself away from his parents' grip and walking off. His mother tried her best to pull him back, begging him: 'You have to accept this, and just give them two minutes.' Rahul was having none of it, saying: 'I don't want to comment on my defeat so do you mind if I just leave please.' The boy's father, IT manager Menish, has already compared his son's intellect to 'Albert Einstein or Stephen Hawking.' And Rahul himself is confident in his IQ; he says: 'I think I'm a genius. I'm good at mental maths, general knowledge and I find it quite easy to memorise stuff.' It's already been a controversial start to the latest series. The show ground to a dramatic halt amid accusations of cheating from the mother of one of the contestants. At the end of last night's episode, Susan from North London is seen complaining to adjudicator Olivia van der Werff that she's spotted family members 'mouthing the answers' to the children. 'If there's any truth on it there will be serious repercussions,' said Olivia van der Werff, who is seen reviewing footage of the proceedings. But in a further twist, Susan herself was accused of cheating when eagle-eyed viewers noticed her seemingly give her daughter Olivia a hint with a hand gesture from the audience. Retail giant David Jones has come under fire after issuing a bizarre apology to a customer who complained about the use of a 'black model' in its beauty catalogue. The woman took to Facebook to slam the department company for featuring the model who she felt didn't 'represent the general population of Australia'. The advertisement shows the model sporting a flawless look with high-end makeup on her face. Retail giant David Jones has come under fire after issuing a bizarre apology to a customer who complained about the use of a 'black model' in its beauty catalogue The woman took to Facebook to slam the company for featuring the model who she felt didn't 'represent the general population of Australia', during which David Jones apologised 'Although I think your use of the beautiful black model is very attractive, I don't feel it represents the general population of Australia,' the complainant wrote. 'How on earth am I expected to relate to this cover? I can't wear ANY of her makeup, I don't know ANYONE who looks like her. 'She could have been used on the back page... btw [sic] did you even notice the irony? On the opening page you have a whole section on fake tans!!! 'You people have really missed the mark here, and I'm p***ed off and sick of big company's going for the minority feel good. 'Please think about your shoppers next time.' Despite her controversial views, the criticism was met with an apologetic response by David Jones. 'We are sorry you feel this way,' the response said. 'We have passed your feedback on to our Marketing Department for their information and consideration.' Despite her criticism, the woman's post was met with an apology by David Jones (stock image) However, some people were far from impressed with how the situation was handled by the company. 'In response to the complaint you received regarding a model who happens to have black skin... I would like to ask you not to submit an apology to the complainant, as you have done nothing wrong,' one person said. Another wrote: 'Your whimpering reply was disgraceful.' And another posted: 'It is totally unacceptable to apologise.' Some people were far from impressed with how the situation was handled by the retailer (stock image) In a statement to Daily Mail Australia, a David Jones spokesperson said the company has 'acknowledged the initial response was not appropriate'. 'We will never apologise for representing the diverse make up of the Australian community in our marketing materials,' the spokesperson said. 'We are proud of the cover and talent used for our SS17 beauty catalogue and will continue to proudly celebrate diversity. 'Our initial response to this Facebook post was a standard customer response without thought as to how it would be interpreted. 'We acknowledge this response was not appropriate or reflective of our values which promote diversity and inclusion in our business and the community.' A Hindu and a Jewish woman have made history by tying the knot in what is believed to be Britain's first interfaith lesbian wedding. Kalavati Mistry, of Leicester, and Miriam Jefferson, Texas, married on Saturday, 20 years after falling for each other on a training course. During the emotional Hindu ceremony, the brides both wore traditional red and white bridal colours, fresh garlands, and 'mangala sutra' necklaces. Scroll down for video Kalavati Mistry (left) and Miriam Jefferson (right) made history on Saturday by becoming the first interfaith lesbian couple to marry in the UK Kalavati, 48, had kept her sexuality secret most of her life and only came out to her strictly religious parents a few years ago. And after getting her family's blessing the couple then struggled to find a Hindu priest to conduct the ceremony. The pair were finally able to tie the knot at the Chutney Ivy restaurant in Leicester city centre at the weekend in front of proud friends and family. The newly-weds, who both work for an interfaith organisation, have now flown off to Miriam's hometown of Texas to spend the rest of their lives together. Kalavati said: 'I met Miriam when I was approximately 26 years old. The couple, who met 20 years ago, had a traditional Hindu ceremony, wearing red and white bridal colours, fresh garlands, and 'mangala sutra' necklaces 'I went to America on a training course and we were doing diversity work and training and that's where I met Miriam Jefferson. 'Marriage is very important to me. I grew up in a very traditional household, and really value the traditions and the culture. 'To me, I wanted to spend my life with someone, in a union. Some of the rituals that you do in a wedding are very important. I wanted me and Miriam to join in that union.' The lifelong Hindu also told of the nerves she felt before revealing to her family that she was in a relationship with another woman. Speaking after their wedding Kalavati says she was looking forward to embracing Mirriam's Jewish faith in married life. Pictured: The couple's reception The couple are now flying to Texas, Mirriam's native country, where they will spend their lives together She added: 'My family have embraced Miriam very well. 'It was initially very difficult for me as an Asian gay woman. I knew from a very young age that I was gay. 'I knew during my teenage years that I was and it was very difficult, trying to tell your friends and family and honour the traditions. So it's very difficult. 'Once I told my friends and family a few years ago, they were very warm, welcoming and embracing to Miriam, which is very important. 'Although attitudes are changing at the moment, it was very difficult to find a priest. 'Many priests were warm and welcoming and said they'd like to the wedding, but they said that their federation wouldn't allow it. 'I'm very grateful that we've been able to do this. I will follow the Hindu faith and follow some of the Jewish traditions. 'I'd like to see our lives bond together - our traditions and our cultures. We get to embrace both, Hinduism as well as Judaism. That's how I see it. I hope this brings people together. 'I hope many many gay people - no matter what religion or culture they're in - are in loving relationships. 'I do hope they take the plunge in getting married. It really is something that's truly wonderful. I'd like to see our lives bond together - our traditions and our cultures. We get to embrace both, Hinduism as well as Judaism 'We did have a Jewish wedding earlier in San Antonio in Texas, which was in February. 'It's really nice to now have a Hindu wedding here, because it brings both of us together and completes both of us in my eyes.' Speaking about the first time they met, Miriam added: 'You're working very hard on these courses and going to meetings, leading groups and making plans.. 'I was glad to meet her but my focus was on doing the work. It was always very important to Kalavati to get married. 'Because her traditions and her culture are so important to her, it was important to me. My traditions are also very important to me. 'I was probably less invested in the institution of marriage, but I did want to have a life with Kalavati and that was one of the ways that I could do it. 'I feel like times are changing for the better. Some people have beliefs or fears that make it hard to embrace gay marriage. I feel like that's going to change. 'As people get more comfortable, as people find out that people they already know and love are gay, they want what's best for them. 'Mostly, I think we're going in the right direction. It's hard to be against love. The wedding was wonderful. 'I got to spend the whole day with someone that I adore and love and want to spend my entire life with. 'I was surrounded by people I've known my entire life, and people who have recently embraced me as their own. It's a pretty wonderful thing to celebrate.' Advertisement Everyone thinks they had it bad at school but spare a thought for the children of the early 1900s who were forced to endure lessons outside in the harshest depths of winter. These are the fascinating images of the open air schools of the early twentieth century - where children braved freezing temperatures in an attempt to combat the widespread rise of tuberculosis. In the years leading up to the Second World War, thousands of sickly children were sent to open air schools, which were set up across Britain, Europe and America. The movement was built on the concept that fresh air, good ventilation and exposure to the outside could prevent the spread of tuberculosis and improve the health of 'sickly' children across the world. The movement started in Germany with the creation of 'Forest school for sickly children' in Berlin in 1904 - which was designed to tackle tuberculosis. Other cities adopted them soon after - the first open air school in England was built in Bostall Wood, London in 1907 and New York's first outdoor school launched in 1908 on an abandoned ferry. However after the Second World War, opinions towards open-air schools changed dramatically. Standards of living improved and new treatments, including antibiotics had been introduced, leading to a decline in tuberculosis. These black and white images show the open air schools of the early twentieth century - where children braved freezing temperatures in an attempt to combat the widespread rise of tuberculosis. Children are pictured with sleds outside of their open-air school in Rochester, New York, circa 1910s In the years leading up to the Second World War, thousands of sickly children were sent to open air schools. Pictured is a rest period at the Elizabeth McCormick Open Air School in Chicago, circa 1910 Children who all appear to have ailments are snapped playing in Hodge Open Air School, Cleveland, Ohio, circa 1910 in this black and white shot Children waiting in line for food at an open air school in Manhattan, New York City, circa 1900 The movement was built on the concept that fresh air, good ventilation and exposure to the outside could prevent the spread of tuberculosis (pictured: an open air school in France) There was no heating and kids were forced to sleep outside. Youngsters are pictured at an open-air school in San Jose, California following the 1906 Earthquake School boys are captured studying carpentry at Riverdale Country School in New York City with the windows wide open, circa 1910s A class having their afternoon rest in deck chairs at the London Open-air School, circa 1907 In a bid to stamp out the disease, children were taught outdoors all day every day and lessons were never abandoned no matter how cold it got. School children are pictured seated at two tables outdoors in an open air school in Cincinnati, Ohio, circa 1912 Children handled the bracing weather by wrapping themselves in coats, blankets and 'sitting out bags' as pictured. A school-boy wearing a coat with an attached bag covering his feet at an open air school in New York City, circa 1910s A study group at the Charlton Park Open Air School in Charlton Park, London, circa 1910, where they were forced to sit outside to combat tuberculosis The movement started in Germany with the creation of 'Forest school for sickly children' in Berlin in 1904 - which was designed to tackle tuberculosis. Pictured is the site of the first year round open air school in Chicago, Illinois, circa 1910 Other cities adopted them soon after - the first open air school in England was built in Bostall Wood, London in 1907 and New York's first outdoor school launched in 1908 on an abandoned ferry (pictured: A class being taught at the Charlton Park Open Air School in Charlton Park, London, circa 1910) Italy, Sweden, France, Switzerland and Hungary also opened schools. This snap shows a Physical Education class being taught at the Charlton Park Open Air School in Charlton Park, London, circa 1910. In the 1912 guide 'The Open-Air School', Hugh Broughton declared that 'Children who live in the open become acclimatized to cold and so should not be fussed over.' Pictured: Children take afternoon rest outside at the Charlton Park Open Air School in Charlton Park, London, circa 1910 By 1937 there were 96 open air day schools in operation throughout Britain, and 53 that were also residential - and many of the attending children would have been simply described as 'delicate' or 'sickly' (pictured: A class being taught on a lawn with children sat in deck chairs at the London Open-air School, circa 1907) Children were also forced to eat their meals out in the cold. Pictured: A class having their dinner at the London Open-air School, circa 1907 A class are captured being taught at the Charlton Park Open Air School in Charlton Park, London, circa 1910 An Open-air Tuberculosis ward in Leasowe, the Wirral, UK, is captured in panoramic view circa 1900s Children had to wrap up warm in gloves, scarves and wool hats at an open air school in the Netherlands, 1918 An Open Air Class on Day Camp Rutherford with the Manhattan skyline in the background, New York, 1911 Children wrapped up warm in huge coats with hoods as they snuggled under blankets at Orde Street Open Air School in Toronto, 1919 Children attempted to take a nap in the freezing conditions at a fresh air class in Manhattan, New York, 1911 Children go about their daily school activities on the balcony at an open air class at Bellevue Hospital, New York City, circa 1900s Children are pictured eating at their desks whilst dressed in winter clothing at an Open-air School in South Boston, circa 1910 Children read textbooks in an open air school for cripples in the US circa 1900s Children shiver as they sit at desks, wearing hooded coats in an open-air school in Chicago, Illinois, circa 1900s Children lying on cots during a rest period at an open air school in Rochester, New York, 1912 Grace Mugabe latest - LIVE Updates by Staff reporter A court appearance for Zimbabwe First Lady Grace Mugabe, relating to an alleged bloody attack against a model, is not yet on the table, said police spokesperson Vishnu Naidoo. "As long as we don't have a suspect in custody, we cannot say when they will appear in court." Police Minister Fikile Mbalula had earlier said that Mugabe had turned herself in to officers. "The minister learned later that it just didn't materialise as it was supposed to," Naidoo said. Grace Mugabe, 52, is under investigation after she allegedly used an extension cord to assault 20-year-old Gabriella Engels who was visiting Mugabe's two sons in a Johannesburg hotel on Sunday evening. Six months ago, Ivanka Trump's fashion brand was reporting record sales, but it appears as though many people have been purging their closets and tossing pieces from her eponymous line into the donation bin. Less than a week after it was revealed that the First Daughter's first free-standing brick-and-mortar store will open inside of Trump Tower this fall, Fortune reports that some resale websites and Goodwill locations are seeing a surge of Ivanka Trump clothing and accessories following the election. Although Goodwill doesn't track the influx of specific brands, a Goodwill employee in San Francisco told the outlet that he has seen consumers bringing in more Ivanka Trump items including many pieces that still had sales tags attached. Turning against her: There is reportedly a surge of people donating and reselling Ivanka Trump-branded items. The First Daughter is pictured wearing head-to-toe Ivanka Trump in May Look like new: People have teen taking to Twitter in recent months to share photos of Ivanka Trump pieces they have found at Goodwill Hitting back: A woman named Jill responded to President Trump's tweet calling July 17 'Made in America Day', writing: 'I gave a pair of Ivanka shoes to Goodwill November 9th.' Going, going, gone: One man showed a photo of his sister selling her Ivanka Trump pumps for 10 cents, while someone noted that she found sunglasses from the brand at Goodwill In recent months, people have been taking to Twitter to reveal they have seen Ivanka Trump-branded items at Goodwill or to say they are in the process of donating them. 'I gave my Ivanka clothes to Goodwill + won't but [sic] anything of hers anymore due to her support of her father,' Rachel Franco tweeted in July. A few days later, a woman named Jill responded to President Trump's tweet calling July 17 'Made in America Day', writing: 'I gave a pair of Ivanka shoes to Goodwill November 9th.' Others have shared photos of items that were being resold, with one person sharing a photo of Ivanka Trump pumps that his sister was selling at a garage sale for 10 cents. Making a point: A woman named Sandra shared a photo of an Ivanka Trump handbag at Goodwill to show that it was made in China Getting creative: One Twitter user revealed a neighbor purchased three Ivanka Trump dresses from Goodwill that still had the tags on them and cut them into quilting squares See ya: Rachel Franco said she gave all of her Ivanka Trump-branded clothing to Goodwill Donating the donations: One Twitter user claims a friend's local Goodwill donated all of its Ivanka Trump clothes and shoes to a women's shelter 'I bought a pair of sunglasses from Goodwill last year & they were so cute & my favorite until I realized they said Ivanka Trump on the side,' someone responded. And a woman named Sandra tagged Ivanka when she tweeted a photo of a pair of Ivanka Trump sued pumps she saw at Goodwill that day. However, a spokesperson at Goodwill's headquarters told Fortune that there isn't any clear indication that this is a nationwide trend. Fortune also reports that the fashion resale site Thredup found that its users listed 223 per cent more items from the Ivanka Trump brand in 2016 compared to the same period the year before. Walking advertisement: Ivanka donned a wrap dress from her eponymous line when she headed off to a weekend getaway in late June Coincidence? Although plenty of people are claiming to be donating their Ivanka Trump pieces, a spokesperson for Goodwill said it is not clear that this is a nation wide trend Giving up: Tess Bradley said she tried selling her Ivanka Trump signature scarf at a consignment shop, but she eventually had to donate it to Goodwill because no one would buy it Thanks, but no thanks: Plenty of people appear to be getting rid of Ivanka Trump items that were given to them as gifts Not a fan: One woman named Chelsea admitted that the Ivanka Trump flats she bought at Goodwill were 'destroying' her heels The trend is also continuing, with users listing 111 per cent more Ivanka Trump-branded pieces in the first five months of 2017. Thredup currently has 70 Ivanka Trump-branded items listed, including shoes, tops, jackets, and handbags, for less than half the original retail cost, which is comparable to the resale prices of similar labels featured on the site. However, five of the items were listed as 'new with tags'. Last October, women started turning on Ivanka ahead of the election as she continued to support her father despite allegations of sexual harassment against him and a 2005 Access Hollywood audio tape capturing him bragging in lewd terms that he can do whatever he wants to women. Since then, a growing group of women have been boycotting her eponymous line of clothing, jewelry, perfume, and accessories sold as part of the Ivanka Trump Collection. Crunching the numbers: The fashion resale site Thredup found that its users listed 223% more items from the Ivanka Trump brand in 2016 compared to the same period the year before Going for more than half off: Thredup currently has 70 Ivanka Trump-branded items listed, with five pieces being labeled as 'new with tags' They also urged stores that carried the brand, including Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, and Macy's, to stop selling it, with Shannon Coulter leading the charge. Using the hashtag #GrabYourWallet, Coulter vowed to never shop at a store that profits off of any Trump products, including Ivanka's. Maddie Redder, a 67-year-old Florida resident and former fan of the brand, told Fortune that she donated $500-worth of Ivanka Trump clothing, shoes, and handbags to Goodwill after the Access Hollywood tape was leaked. Nordstrom dropped the line in February, citing 'poor sales' with other retailers doing the same. However, the company reported record sales a month later despite the boycott. Spreading the word: Women started boycotting the Ivanka Trump brand last October because of her continued support of her father using the hashtag #GrabYourWallet Power of the people? Women urged companies to boycott the brand as well, and four months later Nordstrom dropped the label citing 'poor sales' Still associated: Ivanka resigned from her role at her fashion label in January as she prepared to move to Washington, D.C,, but she has been unable to distance herself from the brand Loving her line: Ivanka wore head-to-to Ivanka Trump in March (left), while she donned a handbag and shoes from her eponymous collection in late July (right) In January, ahead of her father's inauguration and her move to Washington, D.C., Ivanka stepped down from her role as Executive Vice President of Development and Acquisitions at the Trump Organization, while selling off all her common stock and resigning from her director position at her fashion line. However, despite her distancing herself from the brand, Ivanka is frequently a walking advertisement for the collection. She is often seen leaving her home in pieces from her line, and even when she is wearing designer clothing, Ivanka tends to pair her high-end ensembles with her label's shoes and handbags. In March, Ivanka's company was sued for exploding her position at the White House, with San Francisco-based fashion retailer Modern Appealing Clothing filing a class action lawsuit on behalf of all womens clothing brands in California. The company claimed Ivanka guilty of 'exploiting the power and prestige of the White House for personal gain, including, but not limited to, piggy-backing promotion of defendant Ivanka Trump products on appearances at executive branch and other governmental events.' A very lucky kitten was rescued from beneath an active train track in New York by a subway employee after causing the power to be shut down and delays during rush hour. Nail-biting footage shows the terrified kitten cowering below the metal rails, which are charged with 625 volts, making the kitten's survival remarkable. New Yorker Pierre Gervois, 48, captured the moment the MTA worker nudged the cat and gently pulled it free, to cheers and applause from commuters at the Rockaway Avenue station in Brownsville, Brooklyn. A brown ball of fur: Pierre Gervois, 48, who took the video of the incredible moment said he thought the kitten was a rat at first Come here kitty! Morning commuters at the Rockaway Avenue station in Brownsville, Brooklyn, alerted MTA employees when they the furry thing on the tracks was a cat Passengers on their morning commute on Monday alerted staff after spotting the lost animal wandering along the tracks. Dad-of-two Pierre said that at first he thought the 'brown ball of fur beneath the tracks' was a rat. When the crowd realized the furry ball was actually a very frightened cat, commuters on the platform told a nearby employee to just grab it. Nuh-uh! Passengers on the platform asked the subway worker to just grab the cat, but the metal rails are charged with 625 volts Do it for the kitty! Subway employees shut down electricity to make the metal rails safe to touch and be able to rescue the lucky cat How many lives does it have left? The kitten was visibly frightened, forcing the subway worker to pet it to calm it down Interesting morning commute: New Yorker Pierre Gervois, 48, filmed the kitten's rescue and described the scene as 'really nice moment' 'He said, "Uh uh, Im not going to do that." 'It was hidden just below an electric track with 600 volts and he didnt want to put his hands close to it,' said Pierre, who was at the station with his nine-year-old son Stanislas. The unidentified subway worker then asked his colleagues to shut off all electricity to make the tracks safe to touch. When he received confirmation that the power had been shut down 15 minutes later, he went down to the tracks to grab the kitty. After petting the kitten to calm it down, the rescuer then passed it to a bystander so he could climb back onto the platform, which was packed with dozens of waiting passengers. The delays were worth it: Although morning commuters experienced delays thanks to the adventurous kitten, passengers clapped and cheered after the animal was rescued A happy ending: The end of the incredible video shows the hero subway worker carrying the kitten up the steps to safety The video later shows him carrying the brown and white kitty up the station stairs to safety. The rescue, which took about 45 minutes, caused delays during the morning rush hour, but commuters didn't seem to mind being late for the sake of the lucky kitten. Pierre, a self-described cat lover said: 'Everybody cheered and applauded. It was a really nice moment'. Its not known whether the animal was a pet or a stray, but it is believed to be in good health. Theres a story Id like to tell you, but whenever I try, I stumble, unable to explain exactly how it happened. One thing I can pin my finger firmly on is the day I finally realised that I was ill. A few months after the birth of my daughter, Beatrix, when I was 31, I clearly heard a childs voice behind me, counting, One, two, three . . . one, two, three . . . in a Glaswegian accent. I looked around for its owner, but I was alone. Later that evening, I watched a psychedelic display of lions and roaring tigers cavort on the bare blue wall opposite me. I wondered how this could be happening, and suddenly knew that something was very wrong. Given that all of this was happening in my room on a psychiatric ward, my realisation had come rather late. Catherine Carver (pictured with daughter Beatrix) was diagnosed with post-partum psychosis after giving birth to her daughter There had been other not-so-subtle hints in the weeks before I got there: my belief that my baby had been swapped at birth, for instance, and that road signs were specially tailored messages just for me. I never considered these truths to be odd, let alone symptoms of an illness. Yet thats precisely what they were evidence of a struggling brain, one that kept coughing up delusions. I was diagnosed with postpartum psychosis, a severe mental illness affecting about one or two in every 1,000 women soon after having a baby. It can cause a litany of symptoms, from anxiety and profound sadness to chattiness, hyperactivity and euphoria. Women with postpartum psychosis can rapidly cycle between moods and may experience hallucinations and delusions. While its more common in women who have bipolar disorder (affecting 25 per cent of those with the condition, compared with 0.1 per cent of the general public), it can affect women who have never had mental health issues before. A psychiatric emergency, it requires urgent treatment as symptoms can start suddenly and quickly worsen. At its most severe it poses a risk of suicide. It can even lead to accidental harm to the baby or infanticide, though this is very rare. Women who suffer postpartum psychosis often worry about the stigma of revealing theyve had the disease, and many dont seek help. One study found that of women who had symptoms of postpartum depression, 41 per cent had not sought help nine months after the birth. Many said they believed their symptoms were normal and would go away on their own. I can identify with those women. I feel the fear of stigma keenly as I write this, afraid of how Ill be judged. She says she realised she was ill after hearing a childs voice behind her, before seeing a psychedelic display of lions and roaring tigers on the bare blue wall opposite her For months, I thought my symptoms were a normal part of motherhood. The symptoms of postpartum psychosis can wax and wane, so sometimes I didnt feel so bad. Yet at the peak of my disease a nurse told me I was one of the sickest women shed ever seen enter the ward. This shocked me. I was a bit anxious, a bit bothered, but surely not seriously ill? I had made every excuse for what was happening to me: sleep deprivation, the shock of becoming a new mother, the stress of losing blood and developing an infection after my Caesarean section. I lacked any awareness of how bad I truly was. One in five mothers suffers from depression, anxiety or psychosis during pregnancy or the first year after giving birth, according to a 2016 report by the Independent Mental Health Taskforce for NHS England. Yet in England, fewer than 15 per cent of local clinical commissioning groups provide effective peri-natal services for women with severe or complex conditions. Over 40 per cent provide no service at all. All this despite the fact that, in the UK, suicide is the leading cause of maternal deaths in the year after giving birth. Beatrix was my first child. After discovering she was breech, a plan was made for me to have an elective Caesarean section. As it happened, I went into labour in January last year, before the scheduled procedure date, meaning I needed an emergency Caesarean before my 8lb 7oz of pink, screamy gorgeousness was born. Reflecting on my expectations of bringing her into the world versus the reality, I see a dark, vast cavern. I expected to be the first one to hold her, imagining a celebratory moment as Beatrix, my husband and I were together as a family for the first time. Catherine explains how she felt increasingly anxious after returning home from hospital with Beatrix for the first time. Her husband told her to see a GP six weeks after she gave birth Instead, thanks to the cocktail of drugs I had been given, I spent most of my C-section trying to throw up. I lost a third of my blood volume so, when it was over, I began to shake violently and was unable to hold my little girl. A nurse later tried to help me breastfeed Beatrix, but I was still shaking too much. In those first few days, the daggers of disease began to stab my mind. I thought all the nurses were talking about me, and had an ever-growing suspicion that my baby had been swapped. Back home with Beatrix, I felt increasingly anxious. I thought social workers were spying, plotting to take my baby. I felt I had to prove to the world I was a model mum, so they wouldnt see any signs of weakness. I hid my thoughts and fears from everyone, even my husband my best friend and confidant for more than 13 years. But he knew from my behaviour something was wrong. At his behest, six weeks after the birth, I went to see a GP. She said it was a red flag against my care for Beatrix that I had said I didnt want a particular health visitor, who had been dismissive of the pain I suffered following my C-section. The phrase set me off and I exited sharply, convinced she was part of the baby-thieving conspiracy. Without the help I needed, I became manic. Five months after Beatrix was born, things had reached the point where Catherine was terrified of leaving the house. She was later admitted voluntarily to a mother and baby psychiatric unit Five months after Beatrix was born, things had reached the point where I was terrified of leaving the house. I had a new health visitor, who saw something was amiss and began visiting every two weeks. When one day she found me speaking rapidly and unable to stop pacing, she put the wheels in motion to get me help, urgently. So, on an otherwise ordinary Sunday afternoon last June, I was admitted voluntarily to the mother and baby psychiatric unit (MBU) at St Johns Hospital, Livingston. Unlike general psychiatric wards, at MBUs babies accompany their mothers on the ward. My mum and husband persuaded me it was a good idea, but it didnt seem like one when I arrived. As we approached the MBU, I heard a baby scream and I instantly ran down the bare brick-walled corridor in the opposite direction, convinced the unit existed to collect up bad mothers and swap their babies for robots. It was a week before I could leave my hospital room. As time passed, the antipsychotic medication helped heal my beleaguered brain. Over the six weeks of my admission I came to see the MBU as a place of safety. My husband came every day from 10am to 10pm, while Beatrix was there the entire time, either sleeping in my room or the nursery, so I could get on top of my sleep deprivation. The ward offered baby massage sessions, weaning classes and play activities, enabling me to be the mother I wanted to be. I met other women going through the same thing. My confidence, so decimated by the disease, began to return. Other women, too, say spending time with their newborns was crucial to recovery. Hannah Bissett, 38, who works for her local council, gave birth to her first baby in September 2009 by emergency C-section. Two weeks later, she was admitted to an adult psychiatric ward where she was separated from her child with postpartum psychosis. I watched a psychedelic display of lions and roaring tigers cavort on the bare blue wall opposite me. I wondered how this could be happening, and suddenly knew that something was very wrong I could barely put sentences together, she recalls. I couldnt remember how to dress myself. Hannah was sectioned and spent three-and-a-half months in hospitals in the North of England, on two general adult psychiatric wards, then in a small MBU. Her memories of the early weeks are hazy. She acknowledges the wards kept her safe. But the separation from her baby was awful, she tells me. I had this one photo on the wall by my bed and it was really well thumbed. In contrast, she speaks of the MBU with a smile: It was my little haven to be with my baby and for my husband to come in and spend family time together. This family time cant be underestimated. Sally Wilson, 36, gave birth to her first baby, Ella, also by emergency C-section in March 2015 (studies have not definitively shown if a C-section affects a likelihood of developing psychosis). I couldnt understand that Id had a baby, she says. Doctors initially looked for a physical cause for her illness, conducting a CT head scan and blood tests. They found nothing, and Sallys condition progressively got worse. Things escalated until Sally, a university lecturer, collapsed: I had what Id describe as an out-of-body experience that Id killed Ella and I was dead myself and living in an afterlife. Sally spent a week in a general adult psychiatric ward until she lied about how ill she was in order to be discharged. A home treatment team visited her house every day for a month, then weekly, then monthly until a year after Ella was born. She says it took her two years to fully come to terms with what happened and to bond with her baby. Like most women with post- partum psychosis, I was offered medication. An antipsychotic called olanzapine was key to my recovery, and luckily was the first I tried. But there are many different pills available, and not everyone finds a drug that is effective for them the first time. Sally went through six and found none that really tackled her disease, leaving her still suffering psychotic symptoms eight months after Ellas birth. Eventually, her husband found a game-changer: electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), which involves passing an electric current through the brain to induce a seizure. When he told her of ECT, Sally was surprised because she didnt think it still existed. But after enlisting the help of a specialist perinatal psychiatrist, she found it to be a success. It is not a nice thing to have to go through, but it basically saved my life, she says. Hannah also had ECT, and was similarly sceptical. To Joe Public, its barbaric, she says. If youd asked me about it ten years ago, Id have thought of One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest. These days, ECT is a quick, clinical procedure that can provide rapid relief from life-threatening symptoms. Doctors, however, still dont know precisely how it works its believed the induced seizure, rather than the administered electricity, is therapeutic. Whatever medication women take, the recovery process can leave them with deep, troubling doubts about their health. As I got well, my fearful thoughts were replaced with questions, such as: what had happened to my brain? I had never suffered from mental illness before and was used to trusting my mind implicitly. It had earned me a double first at Cambridge, a medical degree and a Masters from Harvard. What had happened to make it betray me at what was supposed to be a beautiful time in my life? I turned to Jessica Heron, a senior research fellow in perinatal psychiatry at the University of Birmingham and director of Action on Postpartum Psychosis (APP), a charity providing support and information for those affected. She said: The best guess at the moment is biological and hormonal factors are involved. We do know it runs in families. Unfortunately, the road to recovery from postpartum psychosis is often beset with challenges. Three months after being first discharged, I developed postpartum depression, an experience Heron tells me is more common than not after postpartum psychosis, and I was hospitalised in the MBU for a further three months. The second time I came home, it was only to be admitted to hospital for a third time, though for just a few days. Each time I left hospital, however, I assumed I would now be normal me. But this was far from the case. Hannah, too, believes real recovery began only after she walked out of the hospital doors. I describe it as being shattered into a million pieces then rebuilding it all gradually, she says. I dont know if my husband and I will have another child, but as I continue to put myself back together, I am hopeful my family will be stronger than ever as a result. A mother-of-three has revealed she was on the brink of suicide after suffering agonising pain from a vaginal mesh implant she had fitted. Janette Nelson, 43, from Newtownards, Northern Ireland, said the only think that kept her going was her children, but she still battles guilt every day as she depends on them to help her wash, dress and even catheterise after the procedure left her unable to control her bladder. It is a 'humiliating' experience for Ms Nelson. The former hairdresser also blames her implant for the breakdown of her relationship as her boyfriend left her when the pain was too severe for her to have sex. Unable to work, her career has also been destroyed. Vaginal mesh implants are offered to women suffering from stress urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse, yet more than 800 are suing the NHS and the implants' manufacturers after suffering crippling pain. The NHS has even been accused of sweeping such complications under the carpet in an effort to dodge media attention. Here MailOnline reveals the story of Ms Nelson as we back calls for a suspension to the controversial procedure. Janette Nelson, 43, pictured with her daughters Bryanne (bottom), 17, and Zofie, 12 Ms Nelson says the implant left her on the brink of suicide due to the agonising pain WHAT ARE VAGINAL MESH IMPLANTS? Vaginal mesh implants are devices used by surgeons to treat pelvic organ prolapse and urinary incontinence in women. Usually made from synthetic polypropylene, a type of plastic, the implants are intended to repair damaged or weakened tissue in the vagina wall. Other fabrics include polyester, human tissue and absorbable synthetic materials. Some women report severe and constant abdominal and vaginal pain after the surgery. In some, the pain is so severe they are unable to have sex. Infections, bleeding and even organ erosion has also been reported. Advertisement 'I woke up in excruciating pain, its indescribable' Ms Nelson had the most common type of mesh, known as TVT, fitted in March 2012 in an attempt to cure her urinary stress incontinence. She said:Immediately once my tape was fitted I woke up with excruciating pain in my groin; its indescribable. Ms Nelson was unable to pass urine after the procedure, however, doctors simply fitted her with a catheter and assured her the problem would pass within the next few days. Yet, her bladder control only got worse, resulting in Ms Nelson wetting herself while out shopping with her children around a week later. Five years on, her urine control is no better and Ms Nelson relies on her 17-year-old daughter to help her fit her catheter every day. She said: 'My eldest helps me catheterise, which is so humiliating for me. 'My children help me get dressed, get into the bath, do chores around the house.' Ms Nelson had the implant partially removed in the summer of 2012, however, the mesh had already eroded into her vagina and organs, meaning surgeons were unable to remove it in its entirety. A second removal attempt in March 2013 was so invasive that Ms Nelson has been left with severe nerve damage in her groin and legs. Fragments of the implant still remain in her body. There are no surgeons capable of carrying out total removal procedures in Northern Ireland, which forces women to pay to travel to England and have private consultations. Vaginal mesh implants (pictured) have left women wheelchair bound and unable to have sex 'I've been on the brink of suicide' ONE IN 15 WOMEN WITH VAGINAL MESH IMPLANTS NEED THEM TO BE REMOVED DUE TO COMPLICATIONS Around one in 15 women fitted with the most common type of mesh require removal due to complication, according to figures obtained by the Guardian. NHS Digital records reveal that between 2006 and 2016 more than 75,000 trans-vaginal tape (TVT) implants were fitted. During this time, more than 4,900 procedures were carried out to remove TVT implants, which makes up around 6.5 per cent of the number of operations. More than 1,000 removals were also carried out for transobturator tape (TVT-O), which 44,000 women had fitted in 10 years. These figures suggest much higher complication rates than those usually reported in trials assessing vaginal mesh, which estimate the removal rate for TVT at 0.9 per cent and the complication rate, for side effects such as pain, at less than 1.5 per cent. Advertisement Due to the excruciating pain of the mesh, Ms Nelson has been forced to rely on her mother and sister to help her raise her children. She said: My children lost their mummy. Ive been on the brink of suicide. 'My kids say why are you no fun anymore? They cant see a broken bone or cast so they dont know its sore. My kids kept me going. I was useless as a mum but Im still their mum. Its all been about me for the past few years. As well as affecting her as a parent, Ms Nelson also blames the implant for the loss of her love life and career. She said: I had a boyfriend when this started but the sex was excruciating, neither of us could cope with it. My boyfriend left me because of it. I used to work as a hairdresser; always on my feet, always very confident, but now I can hardly walk and I cant control my bladder so I can't work. Its really knocked my confidence.' Ms Nelson, who relies on a wheelchair when travelling long distances, receives government financial support and disability living allowance payments, but still struggles to make ends meet as a single mother. She blames the mesh for her boyfriend leaving (pictured before, with her son Eli, now 7) NHS DODGING MEDIA ATTENTION The NHS tried to dodge media attention over the vaginal mesh implants that left hundreds of women in agony, it was revealed back in April. The procedure cut into their vaginas and left many in discomfort so severe they have been left unable to work, walk or have sex. It emerged the NHS actively sought to avoid courting headlines over the matter after minutes from an NHS meeting in October were leaked. The minutes showed an agreement to 'take the press element out of' a campaign for women experiencing complications from the devices. Seen by the Press Association, the minutes outlined the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency's (MHRA) yellow card campaign, which targets under-reporting of mesh complications. Officials said they should 'look into taking the press element out of the mesh yellow card campaign' and 'investigate whether there can be a general yellow card campaign, of which mesh is one element, to avoid media attention on mesh'. Advertisement 'I want a glimmer that it might get better' After having the implant fitted, Ms Nelson felt her complications were swept under the carpet, with doctors dismissing them as just 'unfortunate'. She said: Surgeons just said it hadnt take to my body and was unfortunate but it happens sometimes. No one would tell me what went wrong, they spoke to me like I was stupid. 'Women doctors are treating women like dirt, weve been pushed to the side and they hope we dont complain. Ms Nelson is applying to have her case reviewed by an NHS board, who will decide whether she is eligible for a mesh removal operation in London. As of last week, the Department of Health agreed to send one patient to England to meet with a surgeon, however, it is unclear if more women will be deemed eligible. Ms Nelson said: I just want to be fixed a little so I can go back to work. 'My future is not good and I dont expect it to be, but I want a glimmer that it might get better. Women of color have higher levels of beauty-product-related chemicals in their bodies compared to white women, a new study reveals. Researchers at George Washington University set out to investigate cosmetic toxins as studies show chemical exposure is make more and more women infertile. The team analyzed years of studies on cosmetics - from toxicology reports to market analyses on how much make-up women use. They found cosmetics marketed directly to ethnic minorities - such as skin lighteners, hair straighteners, and odor masking products - contain far higher levels than products marketed to white women. These toxins include formaldehyde, phthalates, parabens, lead, mercury, triclosan, and benzophenone - which have all been linked to hormone-disruption, cancer, and reproductive harm. Their report also concluded that black, Latina and Asian women in America use far more beauty products than Caucasians, which they claim shows a pressure to meet Western beauty standards. Experts claim the lengthy report, published as a commentary, is the first to comprehensively highlight major gaps in our understanding of the risks make-up chemicals pose to different races. Researchers at George Washington University have compiled the most comprehensive report to date about how cosmetics marketed to ethnic minorities - such as skin lighteners and straighteners - contain more toxins than products marketed to white women (file image) 'The cosmetics industry is largely self-regulated so most of the information that's being provided about ingredients is voluntary,' lead author Dr Ami Zota, a professor in environmental and occupational health, told Daily Mail Online. 'Beauty product use is a critical but underappreciated source of reproductive harm and environmental injustice. 'Pressure to meet Western standards of beauty means Black, Latina and Asian American women are using more beauty products and thus are exposed to higher levels of chemicals known to be harmful to health.' Dr Zota has spent more than a decade investigating chemicals in consumer products. But in the last few years, her work has increasingly highlighted the racial disparities of this chemical exposure. To further investigate, she collaborated with Bhavna Shamasunder, a social scientist at the Occidental College in Los Angeles. And while both are experts in the field, it took around two years to pull together all the information to show how that the issue extends beyond the widely-discussed issues of toxins in skin lighteners and hair relaxers. Finally published, the far-reaching paper comes on the heels of a rallying call from the American Congress of Obstetrics and Gynecology, urging medical professionals to invest resources in exposing how women are subjected to chemicals, and it is increasing the rate of fertility problems. Explained: How beauty products for women of color are particularly dangerous The report breaks down cosmetic dangers into product sections. SKIN LIGHTENING CREAMS Typically, these products contain mercury, which can damage the kidneys and nervous system. While the FDA has put a limit on mercury levels in skin products, these products are still found in stores across the US in Mexican and Dominican communities. Indeed, the report cites a study in New York City which found Dominican women aged between 18 and 34 had higher levels of mercury in their urine than others. Skin-lightening creams were identified as a key source of exposure. And case studies have revealed the devastating consequences of such exposure. For example, they cite a recent CDC case study about a pregnant Mexican American woman had elevated blood mercury level of 15 g/L. That is nearly 3 times the CDC early reporting threshold. Doctors found it was linked to face creams that contained over 20,000 ppm of mercury. ODOR DISCRIMINATION Speaking to Daily Mail Online, Dr Zota said: 'One area our study highlighted more than others was that of feminine care and hygiene products.' How can women of color reduce their exposure to toxins from cosmetics? Dr Zota recommends women use the following resources to educate themselves about their exposure to chemicals in make-up: Campaign for Safe Cosmetics: An educational website about chemicals of concern in beauty products and actions that individuals can take Environmental Working Group Skin Deep Database: A compilation of cosmetic ingredients, where consumers can list unreported toxins Silent Spring Institute Detox Me app: A free smartphone app with research-based tips on how to reduce your exposure to potentially harmful chemicals where you live and work and keeps track of your progress Advertisement Their study cites years of historical and scientific reports showing that 'imagined odor of African American women was historically used as a basis for moral judgement and an attempt to control sexual behavior'. They found that to be a driving factor behind the high rates of deodorizing, douching, use of talc powder on the genitals, and vaginal wipes among African American women today. A study done by Zota and colleagues in 2016 found that in a national sample of reproductive age women, those who reported douching frequently, had 150 percent higher exposures to a harmful chemical known as DEP. This chemical, often found in fragranced beauty products, may cause birth defects in babies and has also been linked to health problems in women, Zota says. And they cite studies outlining how that prejudice has lingered years on. 'Advertisers employed targeted marketing towards Black women with messages that encouraged self-consciousness of potential vaginal odors,' Drs Zota and Shamasunder write. 'These habits became embedded as a cultural norm, and now persist outside of marketing efforts.' HAIR RELAXERS AND STRAIGHTENERS Black women are known to suffer more anxiety about having 'bad hair' and are twice as likely to experience social pressure to straighten their hair. Hair products like straighteners or relaxers are likely to contain estrogen and can trigger premature reproductive development in young girls and possibly uterine tumors, the commentary says. Other studies show that beauty and personal care products contain multiple, hidden chemicals that are linked to endocrine, reproductive or development toxicity. Adding to existing exposure Research shows that low-income women of color are more likely to live in an environment with high levels of pollutants contaminating the air, soil and water. Thus, Drs Zota and Shamasunder say, women of color are not only heavy users of beauty products but may also be exposed to toxic chemicals simply by living in a more polluted home or neighborhood. 'For women who live in already polluted neighborhoods, beauty product chemicals may add to their overall burden of exposures to toxic chemicals,' Dr Shamasunder warns. 'Certain racial/ethnic groups may be systematically and disproportionately exposed to chemicals in beauty products since factors such as institutionalized racism can influence product use.' In the commentary, the co-authors warn that multiple exposures to chemicals in beauty products and in the environment add up and can interfere with healthy reproduction and development. American offices are grueling, stressful and surprisingly hostile - and they could be driving more people to seek mental health treatment, a new study found. Nearly one in five workers say they face a hostile or threatening environment at work, an in-depth study of 3,066 US workers by the Rand Corporation, the Harvard Medical School and the University of California, Los Angeles. Authors of the study said they were shocked by the outcome and found the statistic to be 'disturbingly high.' But speaking to Daily Mail Online, New York City psychiatrist Dr Alan Manevitz, who works as a consultant to a number of large corporations, said the data was no surprise as he sees it every day in his practice. 'I have patients who sleep with their phone and feel an increased pressure to stay in contact outside of business hours and even on vacation by constantly checking their emails,' he explained. 'The toll on the public health is high, and people who already are prone to things like anxiety and depression are impacted even more severely.' Nearly one in five workers say they face a hostile or threatening environment at work, an in-depth study of 3,066 US workers (stock image) A hostile or threatening environment at work can consist of sexual harassment or bullying. Workers who have to face customers endure a disproportionate share of abuse. And of the individuals who responded to the survey, 55 percent said they face 'unpleasant and potentially hazardous' conditions at their place of work. That data, according to Dr Manevitz, is concerning but not surprising, as the American workplace has been headed in that direction for many years. 'In the last decade we've seen economic issues and technological advances that are contributing to a more stressful workplace,' Dr Manevitz told Daily Mail Online. 'Until the mid 80's when the US hit an economic slump and started to see major cutbacks, someone would be hired by a corporation and stay there until retirement. 'So there were clear paths for things like salary negotiations or promotions and people really felt a sense of loyalty to their work. But after the 80's and 90's you don't see that as much anymore and it is causing more uneasiness on both sides.' But the study's lead author Dr Nicole Maestras, a Harvard Medical School economist, expressed shock at the outcome. 'I was surprised at how physically demanding jobs were,' Dr Maestas. Nearly three quarters said they spent at least one fourth of their job doing 'intense or repetitive physical labor.' The study also placed an emphasis on the inflexibility of jobs, the lack of opportunity for advancement, and the disparity of poor treatment in the workplace. Specifically, researchers noted that people are rarely allowed to work form home, and very few jobs offer opportunity for advancement. RATES OF ANTIDEPRESSANT USE IN THE UNITED STATES ARE SOARING New data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show a significant increase in both genders taking the drugs over a 15-year span. But while the percentage increase over time was similar among men and women, double the rate of females reported taking the medication at any time. Antidepressants are one of the three most commonly used therapeutic drugs in the US, and while most are taken to treat depression it can also treat other conditions, such as anxiety. Experts say that while depression rates may have risen, the data also suggest doctors have likely become better at recognizing and treating depression and anxiety disorders with medicine. As for the gender gap, there is no clear reason that explains it, but many medical professionals warn there appears to be more of a stigma attached to men seeking mental health treatment than women. Advertisement 78 percent say they are required to be in their workplace during work hours. Only 38 percent say their jobs offer good prospects for advancement The older workers get, the less optimistic they become About half say they work on their own time to meet the demands of their job In many cases, less-educated workers endure tougher working conditions. For example, fewer than half of men without college degrees can take a break whenever they want to, compared to more than 76 percent of men with college degrees. Likewise, nearly 68 percent of men without degrees spend at least a fourth of their time moving heavy loads. Dr Maestas wonders whether toxic working conditions are keeping Americans out of the labor force. The percentage of Americans who are working or looking for work - 62.9 percent in July - has not returned to pre-recession levels and is well below its 2000 peak of 67.3 percent. The unemployment rate is at a 16-year low, and many employers complain they can't fill jobs. 'There's a message for employers here,' Dr Maestas says. 'Working conditions really do matter.' And Dr Manevitz agreed, saying that the desire for workplace satisfaction and pressure caused by it is causing a vicious cycle. 'At the end of the day people give a lot of thought to their quality of life, but they do still need a job,' he explained. 'It becomes a cycle of pressure, lack of sleep, lack of relaxation, and can cause people to slip into dark holes little by little without even recognizing it in themselves.' That cycle, he said, can cause people to burn out mentally and physically. 'What we end up with is demoralized workers who are usually very productive. Then they see themselves starting to slip become frustrating, so it triggers that cycle,' Dr Manevitz explained. But not everything about American workplaces is grim. Workers enjoy considerable autonomy: more than 80 percent say they get to solve problems and try out their own ideas. Moreover, 58 percent say their bosses are supportive, and 56 percent say they have good friends at work. The first-time survey of Americans between the ages of 25 and 71 was carried out in 2015. It is similar to a long-running European survey, and researchers plan to conduct another survey next year and eventually to draw comparisons between US and European working conditions. Nursing shortages have been blamed for the spread of a dangerous Japanese fungus through hospital wards. More than 200 hospital patients have contracted the drug-resistant Candida auris fungus since it arrived in the UK four years ago. A total of 20 NHS and private hospitals have reported cases of the potentially deadly fungus, including three large outbreaks, officials state. King's College Hospital in South London was responsible for 31 of such cases during a year-long outbreak, figures show. More than 200 hospital patients have contracted the drug-resistant Candida auris fungus since it arrived in the UK four years ago In documents obtained by The Times, the trust responsible for running the hospital noted the dangers of a growing nursing shortage. The papers read: 'It was noted that the spread of the pathogen is affected by low nursing levels.' The Royal Brompton and Harefield in West London was the worst affected, as the infections forced it to close its intensive care unit for a fortnight last year. How dangerous is the fungus? Most patients have no symptoms and won't know they are carrying the fungus. But it can cause serious bloodstream and wound infections. If a person is healthy they are unlikely to be affected by the fungus, but if a patient has a damaged immune system, it can prove fatal and cause major disabilities. Public Health England (PHE) is urging hospitals to improve their hygiene measures to prevent it spreading further. NURSING SHORTAGES LAID BARE Nurses and midwives are leaving the profession in their droves amid rising workloads and low pay, figures in July revealed. The number quitting before they reach retirement age has increased by more than half in just four years, according to the Nursing and Midwifery Council. For the first time in recent history, more midwives and nurses are leaving the register than are joining, with homegrown UK nurses leaving in the largest numbers. Between 2016 and 2017, a fifth more people left the register than joined it, and among those first registered in the UK, the figure was 45 per cent. The Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Midwives called on the Government to scrap the pay cap as a matter of urgency. Advertisement These three outbreaks are now over and despite the recent increase in infections, PHE says it is still rare. Detected by routine screening Dr Colin Brown, from PHE's national infection service, said most of the UK cases had been detected by routine screening. Most patients didn't report having any symptoms and weren't even aware they had the fungus, he added. He said: 'Our enhanced surveillance shows a low risk to patients in healthcare settings. 'Most cases detected have not shown symptoms or developed an infection as a result of the fungus. 'NHS hospitals that have experienced outbreaks of Candida auris have not found it to be the cause of death in any patients.' What is the fungus? The Candida auris fungus has been resistant to all three main classes of anti-fungal drug treatment. It belongs to a family of fungi which live on skin and inside the body and is related to the yeast infection thrush. It was first identified in the ear canal of a 70-year-old woman in Japan and has been likened to a 'superbug'. No patients have died as a result fungus in the UK, but worldwide studies showed 60 per cent of those infected with the fungus die. Officials have previously warned of a state of crisis in the nursing workforce, with more than 40,000 vacancies in England alone. A teenager is suffering from a mysterious condition that has caused his hand to grow to 11lbs (5kg) and his fingers into 'claws'. Rajib Gain, 19, from Sathkira, Bangladesh, developed a tumour in his hand at just three months old. Without an early diagnosis, the tumour grew and spread to his back and leg, meaning the the frail 130lb (59kg) boy cannot walk, sleep or change his clothes on his own. He also has to sometimes keep his hand over his head to balance while standing. Yet, after his uncle posted his picture on social media, Bangladesh's health department promised to help Mr Gain access treatment. He said: 'If I get treated, I can lead a normal life, find a job and support my father in running the family.' A teenager has a condition that caused his hand to grow to 11lbs and his fingers into 'claws' He developed a tumour at three months old, which expanded to his back and leg WHAT IS A TUMOUR? Tumours can be benign or cancerous. Unlike cancerous tumours, benign ones usually grow slowly and do not spread. These only become a problem if they grow to be very large, press on organs, release hormones, or are uncomfortable or unsightly. Cancerous tumours get bigger as their cells continue to grow and divide. Source; Cancer Research UK Advertisement 'I want to lead a normal life like other boys in my school' Mr Gain wishes to continue his studies, but as his hand worsens and his movement becomes more restricted, his future is fairly unclear. Yet, his uncle Raj Sarkar posted pictures of Mr Gain on social media last week. The images were noticed by Bangladesh's health department after the famous activist Mamun Biswas shared them on his timeline. Mr Biswas said: 'The pictures were seen by DG Abul Kalam of the health department. He has promised help to the boy and has asked the department to take all necessary measures for his treatment.' Mr Gain has been asked to visit doctors at Dhaka Medical College, where doctors will start treatment. He said: 'I am thrilled to be meeting these doctors. I am hopeful that they can finally end my ordeal. 'I want to lead a normal life like other boys in my school. I want to study further and work but no one gives me work because either they think I am inefficient because of my hand or they ask for money. 'But if I get treated, I can lead a normal life, find a job and support my father in running the family.' The otherwise frail boy is unable to walk, sleep or change his clothes without help Despite travelling to India for treatment, Mr Gain's family could not afford therapy 'Children mocked me for a long time' Mr Gain said: 'My hand is so heavy that to maintain the balance while walking or standing I have to keep it over my head otherwise I fall. My body cannot take its weight. 'I cannot sleep peacefully. I have never slept peacefully in my life. I cannot change sides and have to lie down in [the] same position [the] whole night. It hurts my back. 'There is always a weird sensation, kind of tingling as if someone is pricking me with thousands of needles.' Yet, the disease did not deter Mr Gain from studying and making friends. He said: 'Initially, I would feel inferior and think about why God made me like this. 'But soon I gathered enough confidence to go to school. My father enrolled me into a government-run school in the village. 'It was certainly not easy. Children mocked me for a long time but there were others who sympathised with me and supported me. 'They helped me when I needed. Eventually with their help I build the confidence back and could focus on studies'. His uncle posted a picture on social media, which was noticed by the health department Mr Gain hopes treatment will help him live a normal life (pictured with his mother Mamta Rani) 'Treatment was costly and beyond their capacity' The fourth child of Kartik Gain, a carpet maker, and Mamata Rani, Rajib was born healthy. Yet, just three months later, his mother noticed a pea-like lump in his hand. His parents took him to several hospitals, however, their shortage of money forced them to bring him home. Rajib's uncle said: 'He was about three months old when his mother realised there was a big lump in his hand. It was hard and moving. At first she thought it was not something to worry about but gradually Rajib's hand started swelling. 'My brother and his wife consulted several doctors in Bangladesh, [they] even took him to expensive clinics but no doctor could diagnose the condition. 'They borrowed money from relatives and friends, and took Rajib to Kolkata in India where doctors told them Rajib has a tumour. But the treatment was costly and beyond their capacity so they brought him back.' As Rajib grew older, the tumour engulfed his hand and swelled down to his spine and leg. A-three-year-old boy is recovering after being infected with a flesh-eating bacteria after a day out swimming in a lake with his family. Following the trip, Layne Custer started complaining before he went to bed about several bumps that were developing on his back. By the next morning, his mother Amber rushed him to hospital after an alarming painful rash had spread and he had developed a fever. Doctors first diagnosed him a viral infection and then with rosea - a relatively common skin condition that causes a temporary rash - and sent him home. But then lesions appeared on his legs and stomach which began bleeding and 'turning black'. Three-year-old Layne Custer developed a painful rash that quickly spread across his body His mother, from Lufkin, Texas, took him back to hospital when she was then told he had a potentially deadly staphylococcal infection. It can spread round the body fast and lead to pneumonia, sepsis - an infection of the blood, toxic shock syndrome and endocarditis an inflammation of the lining of the heart. As well as a painful rash, symptoms can include fever and loss of tissue. His worried mother took him to hospital after he developed a fever after the swim His family have posted pictures on social media of Layne's painful lesions Layne's mother Amber was clearly shocked by her son's symptoms 'He kept complaining that his back was hurting. By the next morning he was in a lot of pain,' his aunt Samantha George told 12News. 'They looked like open sores, like it was actually eating his skin.' Layne contracted the bacteria after swimming in Lake Sam Rayburn near Lukfin last month on July 25. Amber posted on Facebook that Layne developed 'a small red dot' on his lower back after swimming and then woke up with 'most of his back covered'. She wrote: 'The second day we got up it reached his arm his tummy and legs ... Next day it's even worse started bleeding turning black still spreading.' Amber was frustrated when doctors initially did not know what was wrong with her son Layne's aunt Samantha says her nephew was in a lot of pain His mother said she demanded medics carry out blood tests on her son. The family had gone to 'several doctors' before he was diagnosed correctly at the Clear Lake Regional Medical Center near Houston. The boy is currently taking antibiotics but is still experiencing pain Similar recent cases There has been a spate of people falling ill after swimming in open water. A teenager was hospitalized after sea lice left him with blood pouring from his legs when he took a dip at Dendy Street Beach in Melbourne last week. The week before, a mother was left fighting for her life after developing a rare infection from a life-threatening flesh-eating bug while dipping her legs in the ocean at at Myrtle Beach on South Carolina's Atlantic coast. Bonita Fetterman was airlifted to hospital and was left needing surgery to cut away the diseased flesh to stop it spreading. It is possible going from similar stories that she had necrotising fasciitis, a serious bacterial infection that ravages tissue. An Indian defence official has said that Chinese troops threw stones at Indian soldiers near Pangong Lake on Tuesday as tensions between the two neighbours continue to simmer. Chinese soldiers are also accused trying to enter the Indian territory but were pushed back. The incident occurred as the nations are locked in a tense standoff in the Doklam area. 'There was a minor incident. There was some stone pelting from the Chinese side but the situation was quickly brought under control,' he told AFP on condition of anonymity. The latest incident comes amid an ongoing dispute between the two sides over a strategic Himalayan plateau thousands of kilometres away where hundreds of Indian and Chinese soldiers have been facing off against each other for more than two months The brief confrontation was resolved after Indian and Chinese sides retreated to their respective positions, he added. Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said she was not aware of the latest reports, but she added that 'Chinese border troops are always committed to maintaining peace on the India-China border'. It has been decades since China last fought a war and the country insists it has no hostile intent, and simply needs to defend itself. However it's increasingly assertive stance in the South China Sea has rattled its neighbours 'We always patrol along the Chinese line of control. And we urge the Indian side to abide by the line of control and relevant conventions between the two sides,' Hua said. Police in the north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, where Ladakh is located, said clashes were relatively common along the de facto border known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC). 'These things happen every summer but this one was slightly prolonged and more serious but no weapons were used,' a police source in Srinagar told AFP. The Pangong lake area lies over 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) high on the Tibetan plateau. The latest incident comes amid an ongoing dispute between the two sides over a strategic Himalayan plateau thousands of kilometres away where hundreds of Indian and Chinese soldiers have been facing off against each other for more than two months. The border trouble began in June when Chinese soldiers started to extend a road through the Doklam territory- known as 'Donglang' in Chinese. The area is disputed between China and Bhutan. Unlike previous parades seen in Beijing, the troops in Inner Mongolia were clad in full combat gear, to further emphasis their readiness. It was also the first time that President Xi had reviewed troops in such a way India, a close ally of Bhutan, then deployed troops to stop the construction project, prompting Beijing to accuse India of trespassing on Chinese soil. China has said India must withdraw its troops before any proper negotiation takes place. India said both sides should withdraw their forces together. The plateau is strategically significant as it gives China access to the so-called 'chicken's neck' - a thin strip of land connecting India's northeastern states with the rest of the country. Indian media said the Chinese army had this year declined to participate in ceremonial meetings usually held to mark Independence Day on Tuesday. It was the first time since 2005 that the meetings were not held. The two nuclear-armed neighbours fought a brief war in 1962 in India's border state of Arunachal Pradesh. Tensions along the LAC rose in 2014 when Chinese soldiers moved into territory claimed by India, sparking a two-week military stand-off that overshadowed a visit by China's President Xi Jinping. News / Local by Stephen Jakes Mthwakazi Republic Party spokesperson Mbonisi Gumbo has warned politicians from different political parties who are based in Matabeleland to stop their mentality that Harea is supreme to the local people's interests and report to localizing the leadership so as for their people to benefit.Gumbo made the remarks during Zipra heroes celebrations organised by Ibhetshu LikaZulu at Stanely Hall on Monday."MRP in solidarity with ibhetshu lika Zulu and Zipra veterans trust. On 14 August 2017 MRP participated in the heroes commemoration of our people. The proceedings started with a march from Lady Stanley to Stanley hall where solidarity massages and different speeches were made," he said.Gumbo who represented his party since most of the MRP party's leadership are in Matabeleland South particularly Plumtree where they accompanied the President on a two day campaign there said the politicians in the region have let down their own people by having inferiority complex such that they think they can not do anything without Harare.He said now is the time for Mthwakazi's self-determination."We no longer need Harare parties anymore, we don't need to be helped in anyway by Harare. All in Mthwakazi resources belongs to us, only us can take care of ourselves.," he said.The other parties represented here are Ansa, MDC, MDC-T, ZAPU, and PDP. Chief Khayisa also in attendance.MRP insisted that as Matabeleland people we don't need Harare parties we only need ourselves.Chief Khayisa Ndiweni asked the political parties present to wait for him. Him and others will in the next few days announce a very important message."Umbiko uyeza masinya nje okwethu akube yikuyamkela indlela ekhona kodwa idinga isibindi," said Chief Khayisa. Inside the poorly maintained children's ward at an Indian hospital where 85 infants died last week, Ram Prasad continues to pray that his two-year-old daughter will survive as he scans the crowds for a doctor. Ram's plight in 'ward 100', where the death of so many children has sparked outrage, is an example of India's healthcare crisis where doctors are stretched and hospitals run out of oxygen due to unpaid bills. Authorities have launched an inquiry into the causes of the oxygen disruption at the now-notorious Baba Raghav Das Medical College in Gorakhpur, which Indian media has linked to the deaths of (at least) 30 infants on Thursday and Friday last week. Relatives mourning the death of a child at the Baba Raghav Das Hospital in Gorakhpur, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh Local officials have blamed an outbreak of encephalitis for the deaths and denied a lack of oxygen was responsible. But doctors and medical experts point to woeful underfunding in public health in eastern Uttar Pradesh, one of India's poorest regions, where just a handful of specialists are available to treat millions. 'This (deaths) won't change soon, as it isn't a simple oxygen issue. The rot is deep and the system needs to be overhauled,' a senior hospital official told AFP in Gorakhpur, speaking on condition of anonymity. India was spending just 1.4 percent of its GDP on public health in 2014 - far below the global average of six percent. In Gorakhpur, there are just 529 primary health care clinics - less than half the number needed to cater for nearly 4.5 million people living in the district, July data from Brookings India shows. There are just five paediatricians and 22 encephalitis treatment centres, despite the mosquito-borne illness wreaking havoc in low-lying areas of the state every year during the monsoon. Activists hold placards as they shout slogans during a protest rally outside the Uttar Pradesh state house against the recent deaths of 85 children at a government hospital in northern India that suffered oxygen shortages A child admitted to the encephalitis ward at BRD medical centre, Gorakhpur India's most populous states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are ravaged by encephalitis every year. The disease, which affects mainly malnourished children, causes brain inflammation and can result in headaches, seizures, fever and even brain damage. Professor K.P Kushwaha, who headed Baba Raghav Das Medical College until mid-2015, said the hospital could not cope with the volume of patients. 'The government now needs to make at least five such hospitals across the region to tackle this load and get better results,' he told AFP. Life and death Prasad, a poor farmer from Uttar Pradesh, travelled roughly 65 kilometres (40 miles) with his wife and two-year-old daughter after the infant suddenly ran a high fever. He arrived at Baba Raghav Das Medical College just hours after hospital authorities declared that another 25 infants had died over the weekend. Prasad's daughter was found a bed in the overcrowded ward, where many parents were forced to squat on the floor in nearby corridors. It was worse in the neo-natal unit, where three to four infants crowded a single bed. Six more children have died from encephalitis since the weekend An Indian woman holding her child's hand at the encephalitis ward of the Baba Raghav Das Hospital in Gorakhpur, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh 'We take turns to go out in the corridor and hall to rest, while the other one stands here,' Prasad told AFP, gesturing to his wife and ill daughter. 'She probably has pneumonia, I don't know, the doctors haven't told me anything.' Just days earlier, panicked parents used manual pumps to help their stricken children as the supply of oxygen fizzled out. Professor K.P Kushwaha's successor was stood down over the oxygen debacle, which allegedly stemmed from nearly $100,000 in overdue bills, some dating back to November. His replacement, P.K Singh, promised conditions at the hospital would improve 'whatever the shortcomings'. 'I understand that the hygiene situation here is very bad and there is a risk of infection,' Singh told AFP. But the district's chief medical officer Ravindra Kumar told AFP nothing could change as long as encephalitis plagued the poor eastern region. A man mourns the death of a child at BRD medical centre, Gorakhpur Indian relatives of patients waiting outside the encephalitis ward at the Baba Raghav Das Hospital in Gorakhpur in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh 'So far we have only been shooting in the dark without much idea about its causes, prevention or the cure,' he told AFP. A lack of primary health centres meant illnesses were not detected early and by the time patients arrived at hospitals it was too late, said a local government official, gesturing to beds full of sickly children. 'If people like them get the right advice and prompt referral, it can make the difference between life and death,' he told AFP on condition of anonymity. India to ensure that no repeat of Gorakhpur tragedy happens in the Capital Mail Today Bureau In the wake of Gorakhpur tragedy, which claimed the life of over 60 children in the city's Baba Raghav Das Medical College last week, the union health ministry and Delhi government have advised all their respective hospitals in the national Capital to make sure things are in order. The union health ministry has written to Safdarjung Hospital, Lady Hardinge Medical College and Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital to maintain a sufficient supply of oxygen and ensure availability of essential life-saving equipment and medicines. On Wednesday, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and health minister Satyendra Jain held a high-level meeting with all the medical superintendents of Delhi government hospitals. Children are suffering and questions are being raised over the quality of healthcare in India The total death toll has now risen to 85 at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College In order to avoid any kind of mishap, Kejriwal has directed the hospital officials to remove all hurdles and make sure that all nonfunctional machines become fully functional. Dr AK Rai, director, Safdarjung Hospital, told Mail Today, 'We have been asked by the union government to maintain a robust supply of oxygen and important medical equipment. 'There is no reason to worry as we have a good healthcare facilities.' The Delhi health minister said special powers will be given to medical superintendents to deal with the purchase of medicines, in case tenders fail due to a lack of bidders. Dr AK Rai, director, Safdarjung Hospital, told Mail Today, 'We have been asked by the union government to maintain a robust supply of oxygen and important medical equipment 'We are empowering all medical superintendents of Delhi government hospitals to make emergency purchases up to Rs 1 crore. Earlier, medical superintendents were allowed to make purchases up to Rs 50 crore,' said Jain. The Delhi government also announced the launch a helpline number for the of patients in state government-run hospitals. 'Patients/attendants can complain about the non-availability of medicines by calling on this helpline,' informed Jain, adding that the number will be directly monitored by Kejriwal regularly. Jain said the current availability of medicines in Delhi government hospitals stands at 90 percent and it is being closed watched by the chief minister for further improvement. As the Doklam standoff drags on, China continues its sabre rattling against India. It has threatened to teach a bigger lesson to India than it did in 1962 when it carried out a surprise trans-Himalayan invasion just when the world faced the spectre of a nuclear Armageddon during the Cuban missile crisis between the United States and the erstwhile Soviet Union. Today, China's warmongering against India is occurring at a time when another missile crisis is haunting international security - North Korea's threat to target America's Gaum island territory with ballistic missiles. Chinese President Xi Jinping has been unusually tough on India over Bhutan China's warmongering against India is occurring at a time when another missile crisis is haunting international security - North Korea's threat to target America's Gaum island territory Crisis But while China was not involved in the Cuban missile crisis, it is central today to the US strategy against North Korea. A US-North Korea military conflict could easily draw in China, which has vowed to support the hermit kingdom in the event of an American preemptive strike. Consequently, Beijing confronts the possibility of war on two separate fronts - the Korean Peninsula and the Himalayas. This could be one reason why China thus far has not acted on its unremitting threats since June 26 to teach India a lesson. India, however, cannot afford to be complacent. Just because Chinese President Xi Jinping's regime has not attacked India thus far does not mean that it won't act even if it finds circumstances propitious for action. New Delhi cannot overlook the fact that China has been systematically mobilising domestic and international support for a possible war with India, which it has painted as the aggressor while claiming to be the aggrieved party. India has turned down China's demand that the Indian Army should immediately withdraw soldiers from Doklam near the Sikkim-China-Bhutan trijunction For example, after weeks of shrill war rhetoric, China released a 15-page position paper on August 2 that accused India of 'invading Chinese terby ritory'. It came a day after President Xi, in a speech marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the People's Liberation Army, vowed not to permit the loss of 'any piece' of Chinese land 'at any time or in any form'. The position paper released by the external affairs ministry obfuscated key facts, including China's attempt to alter the status quo by intruding into disputed territory, as it has successfully done in the South China Sea without incurring any costs. The paper essentially was a compilation of what China had previously released through a series of official statements since the standoff began. The only new elements were two claims - that India had pulled out most troops from Doklam (an assertion that proved to be false), and that it had notified India in advance of its road-building plan. But if India is an outside party with no role in Doklam, as the paper claimed, why was it pre-notified? Accords Tellingly, China has remained silent on its violation of bilateral accords cited by Bhutan (1988, 1998) and India (2012). It, however, has repeatedly but selectively cited an 1890 colonial-era agreement of dubious relevance to the Doklam dispute. Bhutan was not a party to the 1890 accord, which, in any case, identifies the watershed principle for defining the boundary. The highest ridge line separating river flows runs through Batang-la, not Mount Gipmochi, making Doklam part of Bhutan. The standoff has highlighted China's three-warfare doctrine - waging media, legal and psychological warfares to 'win without fighting', in Sun Tzu style, and, in case it failed, to prepare the ground for military operations. A formation soldiers from the PLA's Rocket Force, which controls the nation's arsenal of nuclear and conventional ballistic missiles, shout pledges of loyalty during the parade, which are part of the celebrations of the 90th anniversary of the People's Liberation Army A fusillade of fresh warnings to India to back down or face dire consequences has been delivered just this month by the Chinese defence and foreign ministries, the People's Daily, the People's Liberation Army Daily, the Xinhua news agency, and other state mouthpieces. Actually, China's unceasing war rhetoric against India has paralleled US President Donald Trump's apocalyptic threats against North Korea. But even as China's harsh words and warmongering against India persist, Xi, paradoxically, has sought to present himself as the voice of reason by calling for US restraint on North Korea. The American press has published Xi's call for dialogue and negotiations to find a diplomatic solution to the North Korea issue without citing his opposition to similarly settle the Doklam issue with India. Even as Xi urged the US to stop hurling threats at North Korea, Beijing has been busy hurling almost daily threats at India. An Indian soldier (L) and his Chinese counterpart stand still before a ceremony marking the re-opening of the China-India border at the 15,000-feet (4,545-metre) Nathu La Pass Strategy The Doklam crisis shows India has yet to develop a countervailing strategy to China's three-warfare doctrine, aimed at achieving goals through non-kinetic weaponry. China's bullet-less 'three warfares' against India since June 26 mock Prime Minister Narendra Modi's assertion at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia in early June that - despite the boundary dispute - 'not a single bullet has been fired.' In fact, China, without firing a shot, has been chipping away at Indian and Bhutanese lands for years. India must be vigilant that China's bullet-less aggression can rapidly turn into a full-fledged, 1962-style invasion. Deception, tactical surprise, shrewd timing and blitzkrieg (lightning war) have been common elements in China's use of military force since 1950 in order to stun the enemy and achieve quick results. India must be ever ready to battle the enemy with its full strength, ingenuity and ability, and inflict serious reverses on the invading forces. Advertisement A number of religious scholars in India are asking to be paid for a one-night stand with divorced Muslim women who are using Islamic law to save their marriages, an India Today investigation has found. The women are charged anywhere between Rs 20,000 (240) and Rs 1.5 lakh (1800) to participate in nikah halala, a controversial practice that requires a woman to marry someone else, sleep with him and get a divorce again in order to remarry her first husband under personal laws, the probe discovered. The findings have blown the lid off the taboo tradition that has remained largely unnoticed amid intense debates over triple talaq in the media and the country's top court. According to the Indian All India Muslim Personal Law Board, a man cannot remarry a woman after triple talaq (file pic) We have the men. It will be done through them. If you don't trust them, I am always available... Mohammed Zahid, madrasa owner Rising above their political differences, Hindu and Muslim leaders called nikah halala a criminal act after an India Today investigation revealed the findings of its investigation. They demanded the perpetrators shown in the network's special report be prosecuted for rape. The investigation found many Islamic scholars putting themselves up for sale to women desperate to restore their broken marriages. At a restaurant in Ghaziabad, the undercover team first met Mohammed Nadeem, an imam at Madina Masjid in Moradabad's Lal Bagh neighbourhood. A video grab of Mohammed Zahid who offered professional services for nikah halala Foul play Nikah Halala in India Halala is an Islamic marriage practiced primarily by certain sects of Sunni Muslims. It involves a female divorcee marrying someone else, consummating the marriage and then getting a divorce in order to make it allowable to remarry her previous husband. According to the Indian All India Muslim Personal Law Board, a man cannot remarry a woman after triple talaq unless she has already consummated her marriage with another man and then that new husband dies or divorces her. In this case the marriage (Nikah) of the woman with her new husband is called Nikah halala. Per a new set of code of conduct issued regarding divorce by the organisation in April 2017, a man can rejoin with his wife in three months after single talaq and can remarry after three months without the woman having to go through nikah halala. Advertisement The cleric was already married. But he was negotiating his role play as a husband for a night with the reporters posing as relatives of a fictitious divorced Muslim woman. 'Will your wife object to it?' asked a reporter. 'No, no. She won't have any objection,' imam Nadeem replied. 'Have you spoken with her?' the reporter prodded. 'No, I haven't spoken with her. I haven't told her. What's the need to tell her?' Nadeem asked. The Moradabad imam admitted he had officiated several nikah halala marriages. This time, he proposed a package deal for the entire service, including sex. 'It's Rs 1 lakh,' he said. Imam Nadeem guaranteed issuing divorce after spending a night with the bride for her to become eligible to go back to her first husband in accordance with the personal law. The business of one-night grooms is widespread, the India Today investigation observed. At Delhi's Jamia Nagar, the team met Zubair Qasmi, a qualified maulana married with two wives. He nominated himself for a nikah halala in exchange for money. 'I spend many nights out. It's much easier to manage this with two (wives). 'One would think I am with the second. And the second would think I am with the other. It's not at all difficult with two (wives),' he bragged. Zubair Qasmi based his fee on mehr, money or a gift a Muslim groom pledges to his bride during Islamic marriages. 'Don't worry about anything. I'll make every arrangement. If Rs 30,000 is set as mehr, it will be either Rs 40,000 or Rs 50,000 (in return for participation in nikah halala). No problem in it,' Qasmi said. The rot runs deep. Next, India Today's investigative journalists visited Mohammad Mustaquim of Delhi's Darul Uloom Mahmoodia Madrasa. Educated in Islamic studies, he was keen to do what he had done several times before - sleeping with divorced women to consummate nikah halala. Maulana Zubair Qasmi (left) Mohammad Mustaquim and Mohammad Nadeem (right) were more than willing to marry women for a hefty price under nikah halala, a disputable Islamic practice 'There was a woman in the room. I went there and had sex. Before leaving at 2-3 am, I divorced her,' he confessed. Mohammad Mustaquim performed nikah halala even without formal marriage. Nikah Halala in the UK A BBC report in April 2017 found that Halala is common in certain south-Asian Muslim communities in the UK. The report revealed how a number of online services are charging 'divorced' Muslim women thousands of pounds to take part in 'halala' Islamic marriages. The BBC report found how in some cases, women who seek halala services are at risk of being financially exploited, blackmailed and even sexually abused. The Islamic Sharia Council in East London, which regularly advises women on issues around divorce, strongly condemns halala marriages. Advertisement 'So you have taken part in three nikah halala. You actually married on one occasion, right? The other two nikha halala were without marriage,' the reporter asked. 'Without marriage,' he admitted. 'After sleeping with her, I left at 1 am.' Mustaquim's fee for this service included donation for his madrasa. 'You'll have to pay Rs 20,000 for the madrasa. I am ready to do it for whatever amount. I have done it several times before,' he said. In some cases, potential deals were found to be brokered by clerics themselves. At Bulandshahr's Til Gaon, imam Zahir-ul-lah of Mewatian Masjid introduced India Today's undercover reporters with a prospective groom for nikah halala. Arif, the groom-to-be, was quick to boast about his masculinity despite his old age. 'My programme is all set, today, tomorrow or the day after. I am always fit 24x7, mashallah!' he said. The price: Rs 25,000 for a night. In western UP's Hapur district, the team next met Mohammed Zahid, who runs a madrasa at Sikheda village. He marketed his services for nikah halala as a professional. 'We have the men. It will be done through them. If you don't trust them, I am always available for it,' he said. 'How much money in total would you like us to organise for you?' asked the reporter. 'Between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 1.5 lakh,' he answered. 'Not above Rs 1.5 lakh and not less than Rs 1 lakh.' Criminal offence As India awaits the Supreme Court's judgement over triple talaq, the dangerous trapdoor of nikah halala remains wide open for divorced Muslim women, the probe noted. Students from Anjuman Islam College take a selfie on Independence Day, in Mumbai (picture for representation only) 'This is lust. It's not permissible in Islam. This is a criminal offence committed in the name of religion,' said Maulana Maqsood-ul-Hasan Qasmi, the head of the Imam Council of India. 'These people should be thrown out of the mosques. They should be booked.' Zafar Sareshwala, chancellor of the Maulana Azad National Urdu University, blamed personal laws for regressive practices in Islam. 'These people should be put in jail and charged with rape,' he said. 'I think the genesis of the problem lies in the Shariat Act of 1937.' Authors of the personal laws, he added, had been 'millions of miles away' from the teachings of Islam. Maulana Ansar Raza of the Gharib Nawaz Foundation called for immediate ex-communication of men offering themselves for nikah halala. 'They should be beaten with the shoes and thrown out of the mosques. They should be charged with rape. Nikah halala is a regressive un-Islamic practice,' he said. 'I salute India Today TV for this story.' BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia, himself a lawyer, underscored the need for abolishing nikah halala like 'sati' in Hinduism. 'Nikah halala and polygamy, as triple talaq, are regressive. Sati is abolished. So should be these practices,' he said. I changed 37,500 Nectar points into Sainsburys vouchers worth 187.50 just before Christmas last year. The Post Office special delivery envelope shows Sainsburys tried to deliver them on Christmas Eve to my office address, which was shut. I eventually received them on January 6. I put them away to spend later as I dont have a Sainsburys nearby and forgot all about them until June 20. I spotted the use by date was June 14 so contacted Nectar, which said I could not have the credit back but that I should contact Sainsburys, which would help me use to the vouchers. I did this but was told it could not help. Nectar says I am not entitled to a refund, but I do not want this, I just want some replacement vouchers, R.W., Norwich. Bad points: One Nectar collector was given little help after his Sainsbury's vouchers expired Im sure some people will be reading your letter and saying that, as the date was clearly shown, its really your own fault for putting them into a drawer and forgetting them. But others, including me, will have some sympathy for you. I have failed to notice the date on gift cards myself. In my case this resulted in some frantic spending on clothes I didnt really want. I took them back the next day and got a new gift card with a new expiry date. The good news is that when I made contact with Nectar, the company immediately said it would reimburse your 37,500 points as a goodwill gesture. Can I suggest that if you dont have a convenient Sainsburys nearby then you spend them on something else. Nectar points can be exchanged for vouchers at plenty of other retailers. It has been estimated that close to 6 billion on loyalty points are sitting on schemes such as Nectar, Boots, Tesco and various flying clubs. So I suggest you, and others, get out there and spend them. YOU HAVE YOUR SAY Every week, Money Mail receives hundreds of your letters and emails about our stories. Here are some from our report on Gideon Roseman, a barrister who turned the tables on fraudsters by tracking down the 20,400 he lost in a banking scam Banks should be held responsible under law in bank transfer cases unless they can prove the customer has been negligent. They are giving bank accounts to the criminals in the first place. Automatically blaming the customer is another example of the cavalier attitude of our banks. A.C., London The crooks messed with the wrong man. Good for him. In my experience with builders, though, never pay a builder up front; pay in stages as the work is completed. H.N., Shropshire I have never understood how the banks cant spot when fraudsters try to open accounts. All of them say they spend millions on combatting fraud but then you hear about cases like this. They should at least check to see if someone is a con-artist. O.G., Derby Great story Money Mail. I would personally find having to deal with the courts and finding evidence a nightmare. If I were Gideon I would dedicate my whole time to helping normal people get their money back. Someone needs to. N.C., Milton Keynes While this man has clearly done astonishingly well, I cannot agree with people who say the banks are purely to blame. Many people have trouble accepting responsibility for their own actions. D.S., London This is why I prefer to pay in cash, face-to-face. More people are being scammed now because too many are stuck behind a keyboard. M.K., Newbury, Berkshire If it takes three to five days for a cheque to clear, why cant banks apply the same principle to bank transfers? If banks agreed not to transfer the money until 48 hours after it was authorised, a lot of frauds would never happen. P.C., London Good on Gideon and even better for informing the public as to how he did this. Something needs to be done to stop these swines. M.N., Bristol I had a kitchen installed by B&Q in 2015. It was covered by a five-year guarantee. In June, I was standing at the sink and noticed that water was dripping onto the floor. The cupboard underneath was flooded. I called a plumber who explained that the sealant around the sink and worktop was not watertight and water had been seeping into the cupboard beneath for some time. The waste pipe had been fitted in an uphill position. The plumber charged me 30 for his time, advice and temporary sealing of the sink. I tried to contact B&Q on the local number, but no one answers. I called another number and was promised a call back which never occurred. So I wrote to head office on July 12, but have heard nothing. I paid 7,905 for this kitchen, but the guarantee seems to be absolutely worthless, B.G., Cornwall. What is it with companies that fail to return phone calls from customers or dont even answer the phone. Surely basic training for all staff should include making note of calls from customers and ensuring they are returned? The good news is that B&Q has now returned to your home and your sink has been refitted properly. It has also paid the cost of your emergency plumber. Incidentally, do you happen to have his number? Im sure readers all over the country will be gasping at the fact that you were able to call out a plumber who did a temporary fix of a problem and gave advice for just 30! Where I live, Id expect to endure much sucking through the teeth, shaking of the head and then have to cough up two or three times what you paid. Id put his number in your phone book in case you need him again. STRAIGHT TO THE POINT I called Virgin Media to discuss a TV and internet package and asked for an engineer to talk me through what the installation would involve, for which I paid 25. In the end, I decided not to leave BT, but I keep getting phone calls and emails from Virgin asking me to set up my online account and pick an installation date. Can you get the firm off my back? B.N., Cambridgeshire. Virgin has apologised and refunded you the 25 you paid for the engineers visit. *** Can we give 500 each per month to our daughter and two grandchildren from our surplus income from pensions and interest after living expenses are paid, without worrying about inheritance tax? J.C., Ayrshire Yes, HMRC rules state you can give normal gifts out of your income without it being considered part of your estate if you then die, as long as you can maintain your standard of living after making the gift. This would include smallbroadband regular payments or birthday gifts, for example. Crucially, it must be surplus income which you do not need for everyday bills. Unlike larger gifts, you do not need to have given it away at least seven years before your death. It is also separate to the rule which allows you to make gifts of 3,000 a year to family and friends without attracting inheritance tax. *** I was promised 360 by Thomson after a delayed flight on September 7 last year. But after a continuous back and forth, Ive received nothing. P.W., by email *** Thomson says there was confusion over your address although you say you havent moved house. Thomson apologies and a cheque for 360 should now be in the post. *** I applied to Scottish Power for a discount under the Governments Warm Home Discount worth 140. It asked for proof of income, but my pension provider, Aviva, didnt send me the right forms and now Ive missed the deadline for 2016/17. I am 80 years old and have health problems, so I need to keep the heating on a lot. G. M., Worcester Scottish Power has given you a goodwill payment of 50 and will help you apply for the discount for 2017/18. Aviva apologises and sends you a goodwill payment of 150. I wanted a no-frills insurance policy to cover my funeral plus a small legacy for my children. I didnt need any extras such as mortgage or cash payments. I took a policy with Friends Life, but now find this only lasts for 15 years. I felt this had not been clearly explained. I am only 65, but have cancer and no insurance company will touch me. My policy expires in November, but Friends Life says Id have to take out a new life insurance policy and I wouldnt necessarily be accepted, V.H., Blackpool. When I read your letter I suspected you may have misunderstood the policy you had been sold and there was a possibility of mis-selling. That possibility still exists, but you are barking up the wrong tree. I spoke to Aviva, which owns Friends Life. A spokesman confirmed that the policy was sold to you by an independent financial adviser (IFA). It was they who gave you the advice, and, if you feel it was not clear it is to them you must complain. Your insurance is simple term life assurance which lasts for a fixed number of years, in your case 15. It would pay out 50,000 if you were to die within the term, but once that term expires, it is valueless. You have made a mis-selling complaint to Aviva and it has forwarded a copy to the IFA to investigate. There is a very important principle in UK financial services. This is that the person or company which provides the advice and instigates the sale is responsible in the case of any mis-selling not the company which provides the product. If the IFA does not respond to the complaint then you should contact the Financial Ombudsman Service on 0300 1239 123 or 0800 0234 567. I have an Isa in an online investment account with Interactive Investor. How safe are my investments? Though unlikely, could my money be used to pay off creditors if the company went out of business? M.D., Poole, Dorset Lock and key: But what if the worst happens to a company that is holding your cash? Money Mail replies: Youve asked an entirely hypothetical question. Theres no suggestion that Interactive Investor is in trouble. The Interactive Investor group is one of Britains biggest stock brokers and assured me it has no debts and its finances are sound. It looks after 21 billion of cash and investments for more than 300,000 savers and has more than 100 million of assets itself. Nonetheless, you do ask a reasonable question: what if the worst should happen? The companys two brands TD Direct Investing and Interactive Investor are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. That means they are subject to strict rules about how they hold your money. Your investments are held in a nominee account. Investments held in these accounts are given trust status, which means other creditors will not be able to get their hands on your cash if the firm goes out of business. How to pick the best DIY investing platform Successful investing is not just about picking the right funds, shares or ETFs, you also need to consider how you invest in them. DIY investing platforms allow you to easily manage investments, buy and sell at a low cost and use tax-friendly wrappers, such as an Isa or Sipp. Different platforms are better for different investors though - some for share dealing, others for funds, and others for help picking investments. Read our guide to help you pick the right one: > How to find the best (and cheapest) DIY investing platform Some customers hold cash with the firm, meaning their money isnt invested in funds or shares. This money is also held in a special account separate from the companys own cash the firm cannot mix your money with its own. Again, this cash is protected from creditors if TD or Interactive Investor went out of business. To give even greater protection to cash savers, Interactive Investor spreads client money among a number of different banks to avoid it all disappearing if one of them went out of business. These benefits are restricted to banks covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Under the schemes terms, the first 85,000 is protected in the event one of the banks went under. TD and Interactive Investor are covered by the same scheme. And if all the money you hold in shares and funds somehow disappeared such as in a major fraud you would still have up to 50,000 protected under the FSCS. If you want more detail on the way both firms treat and hold your money, click here. A UK private equity firm is helping the skyline of New York rival that of London, ploughing funds into building an observation wheel similar to the London Eye. The 458million New York Wheel will sit on the shoreline of Staten Island, with views of the skyline of Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge. Shares in AIM-listed Challenger Acquisitions yo-yoed in recent days amid news that the troubled project might finally be going ahead. Artist's impression: The 458million New York Wheel will sit on the shoreline of Staten Island, with views of the skyline of Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn Bridge It has a 2.3million equity stake in the enterprise. The 630-ft structure was thrown into doubt at the start of the year amid an acrimonious split between the design team and the developers. But over the weekend, the New York Wheel consortium confirmed it was in advanced negotiations with a new firm, American Bridge Company behind the Las Vegas High Roller Observation Wheel and the new Tappan Zee Bridge also in New York to finish the project. Challenger boss Mark Gustafson said: 'Challenger looks forward to updating the market when a new contractor is appointed and a date is set for the completion of the New York Wheel.' Cuts: Unite claim RBS is aiming to sack 650 permanent employees and 230 contractors Bosses at Royal Bank of Scotland have been accused of plotting to slash nearly 900 jobs in their IT department. Trade union Unite said the taxpayer-backed NatWest owner was aiming to sack 650 permanent employees and 230 contractors as part of a drive to save cash. This would reduce the size of the team by around 40 per cent, it said, further hitting morale at a time when it was already close to rock bottom. There were 2,200 IT staff at RBS last year but Unite said that by 2020, only 950 permanent roles will be left. National officer Rob MacGregor said: 'Royal Bank of Scotland is continuing with its savage job-culling programme. 'This British-taxpayer-funded bank should be concentrating on investing in jobs here in the UK, rather than wholesale cuts.' Bank insiders say it has not settled on the final number of staff who could be culled, and any cuts remain years away as an official consultation has not yet started. A spokesman said: 'Our plans are designed to reduce the number of contractors we employ and strengthen our permanent workforce and while we are downsizing in London we are reinvesting in other UK hubs.' Ibrahim Hussein was watching TV in his flat in Southport one evening last May when an unexpected visitor knocked on his door. He opened it to a man who asked him to confirm his name before thrusting a letter into his hand. As the man walked away, he wrote down the licence plate number of Ibrahim's car and stopped to chat briefly to his neighbours. Wrong man: An incorrect demand for an 18,327 debt shocked Ibrahim Hussein Ibrahim, 62, opened the letter from a London law firm called Mishcon de Reya which wanted him to pay a debt of 18,327 to a large commercial property firm called Daejan Properties. The letter claimed Ibrahim had fallen behind on the 4,125 monthly rent on a shop in Harlesden, north London, over the past five years. But he had never rented the place. He had once owned a convenience store seven minutes' walk away from the property in question but sold his shop, at 90 St Johns Avenue, more than ten years ago when he retired and moved to Merseyside. This letter was demanding money for a shop at 47/53 Craven Park Road. Ibrahim had never even visited the shop, nor heard of the firms demanding the money but the letter threatened him with court action and bankruptcy if he didn't pay up within 21 days. Every week we receive letters from homeowners like Ibrahim who have received demands for debts they do not owe. Often, a previous occupier has failed to pay an energy bill or the letter has been addressed incorrectly. Usually it's enough to tell the firm or debt collector it has made a mistake but when Ibrahim called Mishcon de Reya the following day, the firm was adamant it had got the right person. Not knowing where to turn, Ibrahim went to Citizens Advice which advised him to go to Liverpool County Court to get the demand 'set aside' cancelled. It said that these types of statutory demand are sometimes issued by firms to scare people into settling long-standing debts. You can get a statutory demand cancelled as long as you apply to the county court no later than 18 days after you received it, but you can do this only if you have a good reason for example the firm has mixed you up with someone else, there is a dispute over how much you owe or your debt is less than 5,000. You may also contest the demand if the firm chasing you for cash also owes you money. Ibrahim applied for the demand to be set aside on May 24, six days after he received it, and contacted us for help the very same day. As a pensioner with little legal knowledge he was up against the might of Mishcon de Reya, a law firm with about 400 lawyers. He knew the debt was not his, but what if the judge didn't find in his favour? Act fast: Experts say if you get a letter demanding a debt that isn't yours, the last thing you should do is ignore it On June 16, four days before the court hearing, he received a letter from Mishcon de Reya saying it was dropping the case. The firm asked Ibrahim for his permission to cancel the court hearing but his lawyer advised him to attend, given the short notice of Mishcon de Reya's request. After hearing the evidence, the judge ruled that the demand be set aside and also ordered Daejan Properties to pay Ibrahim 55.40 for his expenses. 'The whole thing gave me headaches and I couldn't sleep,' he says. 'I can't understand how this can happen; I don't owe any money to anyone and I was given no chance to refute the debt. 'It felt like David versus Goliath where I was left alone to take on a huge property firm and expensive, gung ho London solicitors. I even had to drag an apology out of them.' Daejan Properties says it uses 'enquiry agents' to track down someone who refuses to pay the lease on one of the 20,000 properties it owns. However, company secretary Mark Jenner told Money Mail that in this case the agents could not be sure they had the right person. 'There was nothing malicious about it from our point of view,' says Mr Jenner, 'we were merely trying to recover money from a tenant. On the balance of things given to me, there wasn't enough evidence to pursue [the case] so I said to withdraw it.' New rules designed to stop firms issuing people with spurious debt claims will be introduced by the government on October 1. From then, firms will have to set out full details of the credit agreement, details of interest and charges and how much debt is being chased. Firms must also include a tick-box form which the debtor can use to reply to the claim, as well as a statement where they can set out their income and expenditure. The debtor will also have 30 days to respond to the claim before the case goes to court. Craig Underwood, of law firm Optima Legal, says: 'If you get a letter demanding a debt that isn't yours, the last thing you should do is ignore it. 'Call the company and explain why you think it has the wrong person. If this doesn't work, your next step will depend on the precise details of your situation, so seek advice from the Money Advice Service, Citizens Advice or a solicitor.' p.thomas@dailymail.co.uk A woman who claims she took part in the toppling of the Confederate statue with a group of protesters in North Carolina has been arrested and is facing several charges. It comes as the state's Democrat governor Roy Cooper said on Tuesday that he wants to bring down Confederate monuments around the state, thrusting himself into a debate stoked by violence in Virginia. Cooper said: 'We cannot continue to glorify a war against the United States of America fought in the defense of slavery,' Cooper said in a statement. 'These monuments should come down.' Takiyah Thompson, 22, was taken into custody on Tuesday by Durham County sheriff's deputies shortly after protesters held a news conference at North Carolina Central University where she identified herself as the person who climbed a ladder to the top to tie a rope around the monument before the crowd tore it down on Monday. She can be seen in video showing the moments before the Confederate statue was toppled. During the press conference, Thompson said that her actions were justified because Confederate statues represent white supremacy. Scroll down for video Takiyah Thompson (above), a woman who claims she took part in the toppling of the Confederate statue with a group of protesters in North Carolina, has been arrested and is facing several charges Thompson was arrested Tuesday by Durham County sheriff's deputies shortly after protesters held a news conference where she identified herself as the person who climbed a ladder (above) to tie a rope around the monument before the crowd tore it down on Monday She can be seen in video showing the moments before the Confederate statue was toppled at the top of the monument (above). During the press conference, Thompson said that her actions were justified because Confederate statues represent white supremacy Authorities charged Thompson with disorderly conduct by injury to a statue, damage to real property, participation in a riot with property damage in excess of $1,500 and inciting others to riot where there is property damage in excess of $1,500. During the press conference and prior to Thompson's arrest, protesters called for authorities to drop any charges related to the incident. 'The people decided to take matters into our own hands and remove the statue,' Thompson, a member of the far-left Workers World Party and a student at N.C. Central University, said before being arrested. 'We are tired of waiting on politicians who could have voted to remove the white supremacist statues years ago, but they failed to act. So we acted.' But Sheriff Mike Andrews said protesters who toppled the nearly century-old Confederate statue in front of a North Carolina government building would face felony charges. 'No one is getting away with this,' Andrews said. 'We can all agree yesterday went too far.' The Confederate Soldiers Monument, dedicated in 1924, stood in front of an old courthouse that how houses local government offices. The crumpled and dented bronze figure has been taken to a warehouse for storage. Sheriff Mike Andrews said protesters who toppled the nearly century-old Confederate statue (above) in front of a North Carolina government building would face felony charges The incident in Durham on Monday comes in response to the violent clashes that erupted at a rally by white nationalists who were protesting the pending removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday. Cooper says Confederate monuments 'should come down' and wants the legislature to repeal a law preventing state and local governments from removing them permanently and limiting their relocation. The Democratic governor says Civil War history doesn't belong in 'a place of allegiance on our Capitol grounds.' North Carolina is one of only three states - along with Virginia and Georgia - that have 90 or more Confederate monuments, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. A state tally shows at least 120 Civil War monuments around North Carolina, with the vast majority dedicated to the Confederacy. Around 50 are located at contemporary or historic courthouses. The Republican-controlled legislature would have to repeal the 2015 law restricting the removal of monuments. Cooper says he's also asked state officials to determine costs and logistics for removing Confederate monuments from state property. On Sunday, a statue commemorating John B. Castleman, who served on the Confederate side of the Civil War, was discovered splattered with orange paint in Louisville, Kentucky. Above municipal workers attempt to remove the paint on Monday Workers began removing a Confederate statue in Gainesville, Florida on Monday. The statue is being returned to the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which erected the bronze statue in 1904 Cities and states accelerated their plans to remove Confederate monuments from public property Tuesday as the violence over a Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, Virginia, moved leaders across the country to plan to wipe away much of the remaining Old South imagery. Only two statues were taken down immediately, in Gainesville, Florida, where the Daughters of the Confederacy removed a statue of a Confederate soldier known as 'Ole Joe,' and in Durham, North Carolina, where protesters used a rope to pull down that Confederate monument. But the anti-Confederate momentum seemed to ensure that other memorials would come down soon. Many local and state governments announced that they would remove statues and other imagery from public land, or consider doing so, in the aftermath of Saturday's white nationalist rally that killed one person and injured dozens more. The changes were publicized as President Donald Trump defended Confederate statues in wide-ranging remarks. 'This week it's Robert E. Lee. I notice that Stonewall Jackson's coming down,' Trump said during a visit to Trump Tower in New York. 'I wonder, is it George Washington next week, and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop?' Asked specifically whether Charlottesville's Lee statue should come down, he said: 'I would say that's up to a local town, community or the federal government, depending on where it is located.' All around the country, Republican and Democratic officials at the state and local levels moved swiftly to begin a process to remove the statues. To cross a glass-bottomed bridge hundreds of feet above the ground could be a frightening experience - more so if it sways. A man who was trying to make his way through one such footbridge in China got so scared he had to be helped by his girlfriend. The woman held her boyfriend's hand and comforted him as they stood on the walkway packed with tourists 110 metres (360 feet) above the ground. A man was so scared of crossing a see-through walkway he had to be helped by his girlfriend. The glass-bottomed bridge, in China, is situated 110 metres (360 feet) above the ground Opened to the public in June, the transparent footpath cost 5.8 million to build The couple were visiting the newly opened glass-bottomed bridge in eastern China's Shandong Province. Footage shared by China's social media platform Pear Video shows the man's struggle on the swaying structure as he saw the nerve-wrecking drop right beneath his feet. The brave woman told her petrified boyfriend: 'Let's go. It'll be fine. Let's just try to walk and see.' However, the man appeared reluctant as he held firmly onto the handrail. Passersby laughed at the man as they walked past them, but one onlooker encouraged the man: 'It's going to be okay. Don't despair. Just keep walking.' Situated on the Tan Xi Mountain near the city of Zibo, the walkway could sway from side to side slightly when there are many visitors on it or when there is wind blowing, according to the management company of Tan Xi Mountain. A spokesperson said the bridge could sway from side to side due to its unique design It's claimed that the bridge wobbles when there are many people on it or when there is wind The bridge's glass floor panels and movement have not deterred Chinese tourists as adults and children are seen enjoying themselves and jumping on the terrifying structure A spokesperson of the company, Mr Chen, explained to MailOnline: 'This is due to the bridge's unique design. Our designers were inspired by the famous Millennium Bridge in London.' Millennium Bridge, a 18.2 million structure situated on the Thames in the British capital, wobbled under the weight of thousands of pedestrians when it first opened in June 2000. A 5 million repair programme had to be carried out in May 2001 to reduce the bridge's movement to acceptable levels. Tourists take a glass lift to the top of the cliff before stepping onto the popular bridge. The transparent footpath, which cost 5.8 million to build, connects two sides of the cliff face Designers of the glass-bottomed bridge in Shandong, China, were said to be inspired by the Millennium Bridge on the Thames in London, which also sways from side to side The management company claimed that their 'wobbly' glass-bottomed bridge was 'perfectly safe to use'. The bridge is said to be able to carry up to 500 people at the same time and a high-tech alarm system would send out an alert if it detects potential danger. 'In theory, our bridge could bear a maximum weight of 900 tonnes,' said Mr Chen, the spokesperson. Opened to the public in June, the transparent footpath cost 50 million yuan (5.8 million) to build. The structure measures 117 metres (383 feet) long and 2.45 metres (eight feet) wide, and is connected to the ground via two observation lifts. News / National by Staff reporter AS Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa battles for his life in a private South African hospital, one of his fiercest allies, Masvingo Provincial Affairs minister Shuvai Ben Mahofa, died early yesterday two years after she reportedly consumed an unknown poison at a Zanu-PF conference in Victoria Falls.Mahofa (75), a strong ally of the embattled Mnangagwa, was pronounced dead on arrival at Mukurira Hospital, with Zanu-PF chief whip, Lovemore Matuke, claiming that she had succumbed to the 2015 food poisoning incident."Since 2015, when she left the Victoria Falls conference because of ill-health due to reported poisoning, she had been battling with a lot of ailments," Matuke said."She had never been well. We cannot rule out the fact that this (poisoning) could have killed her. She did not hide it. She always indicated that was the source of her health problems. As a province, it is a huge loss, she was a unifying force, a mobiliser and pillar of strength."Zanu-PF Masvingo politburo member, Josaya Hungwe, who stood in for Mahofa at the provincial Heroes Day commemorations yesterday, described her death as a huge loss to the ruling party and province."It is true that minister Mahofa has passed on. I was informed early this morning. I am currently making arrangements to go and officiate at the (local) Heroes Day commemorations, where she was supposed to lead the proceedings. It is indeed a huge loss to the province and the nation at large," he said.President Robert Mugabe, in his main address at the National Heroes Acre confirmed both Mahofa's death and Mnangagwa's hospitalisation."The news is as astonishing as it is depressing. Let us see our doctors as often as possible. Let us get checked as often as possible and ensure that at least from the reports from the doctors we are in good health," Mugabe said.Health minister David Parirenyatwa said Mnangagwa was battling dehydration, vomiting and diarrhoea."He (Mnangagwa) is much better, he is well, much better and jovial. He had severe gastroenteritis, vomiting and diarrhoea and became dehydrated. We took him to various hospitals and did normal routine tests to ascertain what happened, that's the situation we have now."Mahofa's death came two weeks after First Lady Grace Mugabe publicly criticised her "for deliberately" failing to recognise her at a Zanu-PF women's league meeting.Mahofa, who was considered as one of Mnangagwas's key campaign leaders in the VP's bid to succeed Mugabe, appeared to have angered the First Lady after she chanted a slogan that was seen as different from others. A domestic violence victim has said she 'almost hopes' her abusive ex-partner murders her to force authorities to take a tougher stance on offenders. Michelle Beattie made the shocking comment on Monday when her former partner was released from prison on parole after serving seven months for domestic violence offences. She said she feared for her life because he did not have to wear a tracking device as part of his release conditions. Scroll down for video Michelle Beattie (pictured) made the shocking comment on Monday, when her former partner was released from prison on parole after serving seven months for domestic violence offences Ms Beattie (blue) said she feared for her life because he did not have to wear a tracking device as part of his release conditions Two weeks ago Ms Beattie pleaded with the government to put a tracking device on her ex-partner when he was released 'In a way I hope he does kill me, because it might finally make them take notice,' she told The Courier Mail. 'If that happened, then at least they would have to say, 'well there's another one dead, we better do something about it'.' Two weeks ago Ms Beattie pleaded with the government to put a tracking device on her ex-partner when he was released. 'I'm asking the Labor Party to step up, put a device on him otherwise you're going to have another dead woman on your hands,' she said. But Ms Beattie's former partner was not subject to a court order requiring him to wear a tracking device. A spokeswoman for Queensland Corrective Services said the State Government was doing everything it could to stop domestic violence 'The Palaszczuk Government is committed to tackling domestic and family violence, and that is why we have invested more than $200 million in services, including high-risk teams, integrated responses, offender change and education programs, crisis shelters and additional victim support,' the spokeswoman said. Two former Florida prison guards who were members of the Ku Klux Klan have been convicted of plotting to kill a black inmate after his release. A Columbia County, Florida jury found ex-prison guards David Elliot Moran, 49, and Charles Thomas Newcomb, 45, guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder, Attorney General Pam Bondi's office said Tuesday. No date has been set for sentencing. The murder plot started after a third guard and Klan member, Thomas Jordan Driver, 27, was bitten during a fight with the inmate, who they believed was infected with HIV and hepatitis. Ex-prison guards and KKK members David Elliot Moran, 49 (left), and Charles Thomas Newcomb, 45, were found guilty of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder after plotting to kill a black inmate Driver pleaded guilty to the same charge in March and was sentenced to four years in prison. 'These Klansmen plotted to murder a black inmate after he was released from prison, but swift action and clever investigative tactics on behalf of investigators foiled their plot and may have saved a life,' Bondi said in a news release. 'We will continue to work daily to ensure the KKK or any other hate-filled organization is unable to inflict violence on the citizens of our great state.' At the time of the murder conspiracy, Driver and Moran were guards at the Department of Corrections Reception and Medical Center in rural north Florida. Newcomb was a former correctional officer who had been fired in 2013 for failing to meet training requirements, according to department records. Thomas Jordan Driver, 27, pleaded guilty in March for his involvement in the conspiracy. He was sentenced to four years in prison The three men were all members of the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Driver, Moran and Newcomb were arrested in 2015 after an investigation by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. The joint investigation revealed that the men enlisted an FBI informant to kill the former inmate in 2014. At the time, the informant had infiltrated the Traditionalist American Knights. Recorded conversations between the three former guards and the FBI informant revealed the murder plot. Authorities said that Driver gave a picture of the black inmate to the FBI informant and indicated that he had been in a fight with the inmate, who he believed had transmittable diseases and had purposely bitten him during the fight, according to the Miami Herald's 2015 report. Driver and Moran than said they wanted the informant to kill the inmate, who was out of prison on supervised release at the time. Over the course of several months, the informant met with Driver, Moran and Newcomb as they concocted various plans for ways to kill the man. Fatally shooting him and using insulin injections to fake a natural death while fishing were among options discussed, reports News 4 Jax. At the time of the murder conspiracy, Driver and Moran were guards at the Department of Corrections Reception and Medical Center in rural north Florida Part of the investigation entailed taking the black inmate into custody and staging his death, so that the informant could show Driver, Moran and Newcomb pictures of his 'murder.' In doing so, authorities were able to gauge the reactions of the three men and use it as proof that they genuinely wanted to kill the man. Prosecutor Nick Cox told the Miami Herald that, 'We wanted to see their reaction because, a lot of times in these cases, the defendants will claim they werent serious.' Driver and Moran now face up to 30 years in prison. The Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan made headlines recently when the racist group's leader, Frank Ancona, was found dead of fatal gunshot wounds in Missouri in February. His wife and stepson were charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, tampering with physical evidence and abandonment of a corpse. In 2014, the Traditionalist Knights distributed leaflets threatening 'lethal force' against protesters reacting to a grand duty declining to indict a white police officer in the fatal shooting an unarmed black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri. In the leaflets, the racist group likened protesters to 'terrorists.' The police searching John Ibrahim's Dover Height's mansion were looking for cash or anything linking him to organised crime but what they found was a cupboard full of sex toys. Last week's raid on the Ibrahim home in Sydney's eastern suburbs is not the first time investigators have gone through the place searching for incriminating evidence. But rather than finding anything linking the nightclub king to criminality what police located on an earlier occasion was a penis pump and a 'fun cupboard' packed with dildos. John Ibrahim pictured buying a coffee in Bayswater Road, Kings Cross on Wednesday John Ibrahim was spotted for the first time since his Dover Heights home was raided last week Former nightclub king John Ibrahim kept a cupboard full of sex toys in his Dover Heights home Australian Federal Police search an Audi parked at John Ibrahim's mansion early last week Ibrahim had been charged with perverting the course of justice in late 2004 - the case was later dismissed - and officers from the New South Wales Crime Commission executed a search warrant on his home. The 46-year-old wrote in his recently published memoir Last King of the Cross that Crime Commission investigators could not have expected what they actually found. 'First it's the dildos, then the ticklers, and next a packet of nipple clamps,' he wrote. 'The cops are getting more curious by the second as they clear out my fun cupboard, looking for the lost city of hidden cash.' Ibrahim said the Crime Commission, which has powers to compel the targets of its inquiries to answer questions, spent three weeks going through his offices and home. 'Despite these scary invasive powers, the investigation is not without humour,' he wrote. Former nightclub boss makes a phone call while stepping out to buy a coffee on Wednesday The onetime 'King of the Cross' John Ibrahim headed to Bayswater Road on Wednesday Officers who search John Ibrahim's home (pictured) in 2004 found a 'fun cupboard' of sex toys Australian Federal Police officers raid John Ibrahim's Dover Heights home early last week A policeman jumps a fence during a search of John Ibrahim's Dover Heights home last week John Ibrahim with girlfriend Sarah Budge who was allegedly caught with a pistol in her home 'Over the years I've taken more and more weirdo stuff from the Porky's sex shop, and pretty soon I have so much in a cupboard at home that I could open my own shop. 'When the Crime Commission raids my home, it's the first raid in the fifteen years I've been living there. So the place isn't exactly arranged for the cops to start snooping. 'While a policeman and the supervising female sergeant (who's videotaping the raid) go through my fun cupboard, I suggest, "You might want to put some gloves on." 'The dude jokingly says, "Are you kidding? I'm putting two on," as he removes one embarrassing thing after another, after another, after another It seems to be never-ending. 'With some of the things, neither I nor the police can work out what they are meant for, even though most of them are still in their packaging. All I can do is cringe. John Ibrahim pictured back in his old neighbourhood, Bayswater Road, Kings Cross John Ibrahim, pictured on Wednesday, was not charged after last weeks raid on his home John Ibrahim steps out to buy a coffee a week after Australian Federal Police raided his home Australian Federal Police search the Dover Heights home of John Ibrahim on August 8 'Then he removes and holds up a c*** pump, obviously used. The female looks at me and all I can say is, "I have NEVER seen that thing before in my life."' A penis pump is a device used to attain and maintain an erection. It comprises a plastic tube that fits over the penis, a manual or battery-powered pump used to create a partial vacuum and a band that fits around the base of the penis once erect. 'This triggers an avalanche of laughter, so much so that the cops have to pause the recording of the search,' Ibrahim wrote of the pump's discovery. 'It's so ridiculous that I'm laughing too. When she can finally talk straight, the sergeant says, '"John, of all the things we've pulled out of the bloody cupboard, this is the one thing you're not claiming, you w***er? Not the sex swing, not the fifty other things I can't even name or bring myself to look at, but this is where you draw the line?"' Former nightclub baron and memoir writer John Ibrahim back in Kings Cross on Wednesday Former nightclub baron John Ibrahim recently wrote a memoir called Las King of the Cross Australian Federal Police search scrub beside John Ibrahim's home in exclusive Dover Heights Former nightclub king John Ibrahim was not charged with any offence after last week's raids Later in the book Ibrahim wrote of a time in 2009 when he was single, having left a long-term relationship, shortly before the release of the Underbelly television series glamourised his life. During this period he was taking Viagra, the erectile dysfunction drug manufactured by Pfizer which is also sometimes taken recreationally. Ibrahim mentions Viagra several times in the book. 'It's a bad mix, but f*** is it fun,' he wrote. 'I should have been sponsored by Pfizer. 'I'm taking Viagra like they're Tic Tacs and living like a rock star, but without any of the talent. Former 'King of the Cross' John Ibrahim was dressed casually as he got a coffee on Wednesday Author and nightclub identity John Ibrahim was seen back in Kings Cross on Wednesday Australian Federal Police search John Ibrahim's property at Dover Heights early last week Police who raided John Ibrahim's home early last week even searched the building's gutters John Ibrahim has written about eating Viagra 'like Tic Tacs' when he was a single man in 2009 'A story is later published about me with the headline "Sydney's own Lothario" a word I had to look up!' Ibrahim also writes of using a double-ended dildo in 1994 to accidentally knock out a threatening customer at Porky's, a strip joint with an attached sex shop at inner-city Kings Cross. Using the massive sex toy like a pair of nunchucks, Ibrahim struck a 'big business-looking dude' in the face after he had upset a prostitute then threatened him. 'The dildo is harder than I think, or its flexibility gives it an extra bit of spring, or I just happen to hit that sweet spot on the jaw, because suddenly he has jelly legs and he's out cold,' Ibrahim wrote. 'I'm so impressed at how effective the double-ender is that I keep it in my car. 'It's also perfect because when the police pull me over they never want to touch it. I usually keep a straight face and ask them not to "judge me on my lifestyle choices, thank you".' Last King of the Cross, by John Ibrahim, published by Macmillan Australia, $34.99. Senior judge Denzil Lush has suggested that 300,000 elderly or seriously ill individuals may have lost money, property and even their lives because of misuse of powers of attorney One in eight pensioners who put their money in the hands of a trusted relative or friend become victims of fraud, a top judge says. Senior judge Denzil Lush has suggested that 300,000 elderly or seriously ill individuals may have lost money, property and even their lives because of misuse of powers of attorney. The legal device is a cheap and simple method by which individuals can appoint another adult to look after their affairs in the event that they lose the ability to make decisions for themselves. They can be written and put into operation for less than 250. But senior judge Lush, who retired last year as chief of the Court of Protection, said he would never take one out for himself. There tends to be a lack of transparency and accountability in attorneyship which can have a devastating effect on family relationships, particularly on siblings and other family members, he said. In nine out of ten cases of fraud the perpetrators are family members, and in more than two thirds the guilty parties are sons or daughters of the person who took out the power of attorney, the judge added. In an interview for BBC Radio Fours Today Programme he said the majority of powers of attorney work satisfactorily. But he warned: I suppose the issue is what level is acceptable. We have no real research as to the extent to which abuse is going on. I nailed my colours to the mast in 1998 when I suggested probably in one in eight cases there is abuse. I dont think anything over the last 20 years has made me change my opinion on that. The legal device is a cheap and simple method by which individuals can appoint another adult to look after their affairs in the event that they lose the ability to make decisions for themselves The judge confirmed this means one in eight of nearly 2.5million powers of attorney that have been issued, or about 300,000 cases, result in abuse. He does not believe there has been a cover-up of the scale of abuse but the judge has set out his misgivings in a new foreword to a legal textbook on their use to be published shortly. His intervention is the latest blow to Labours controversial Mental Capacity Act, the 2005 legislation that was meant to reform and simplify the law governing the lives of those too ill to make decisions. The scale of abuse is almost always hidden from the public because cases that come to light are routinely dealt with not in the criminal courts but in the Court of Protection. The court is the branch of the High Court dealing with disputes over vulnerable and frail people and its business is almost always conducted in secret. The Ministry of Justice said that in the last three months 1,260 concerns were raised about power of attorney cases which includes both lasting and enduring types of the legal device and assessed by the safeguarding team. Of these, 389 were referred to investigations after assessment, and 110 were sent for a court application to be made. A spokesman said: These figures in no way correspond to Mr Lushs estimates. The Houston woman whose newborn baby was found covered in ants in a flowerbed told cops she panicked after giving birth because she didn't know she was pregnant, a court heard. Sidney Woytasczyk, 21, appeared in a Harris County court on Monday night for a bail hearing, during which prosecutors said they didn't believe her claim. Instead, they said, she gave birth to the child in her kitchen, cut the cord and left it exposed to the elements in a flowerbed to stop her oblivious boyfriend from being scared away, according to ABC 13. Scroll down for video Sidney Woytasczyk (left, and right with her attorney in court on Monday night) is accused of abandoning her baby after giving birth on Wednesday. She could face up to 20 years in jail Video (pictured) shows the child being found at 5am Thursday. Prosecutors say she claims not to have known she was pregnant until she gave birth, then panicked and ditched the child Prosecutors claimed that Woytasczyk felt the baby girl turn in her womb before it dropped out onto the kitchen floor. They said she admitted to cutting the child's umbilical cord, then abandoning it naked to the elements. But prosecutors say they think she knew and wanted to hide it to avoid scaring boyfriend Deandre Skillern (pictured with her) 'She described the delivery,' the prosecutor told the judge, according to Click2Houston. 'The officer asked if she had a boy or a girl and she stated, "A girl." 'The defendant stated she went outside without wrapping it. She did cut the cord.' But the cord was not clamped and tied, putting the child at risk of bleeding to death and leading to her developing a bacterial infection, authorities allege. The baby was also suffering a rapid heart rate, and is now said to be in good condition at the neonatal ICU at Texas Children's Hospital. They said Woytasczyk then went home, cleaned up and went to sleep. She has now been charged with a felony charge of abandoning a child and causing serious bodily injury and, if found guilty, could receive up to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors also said she had expressed concerns about how having a child might affect her relationship with boyfriend Deandre Skillern. Skillern, who told a court last week that he didn't know Woytasczyk was pregnant, has not been charged in connection with the case. He has now taken a DNA test to prove he is the father, and is contesting Woytasczyki's mother for custody of the child. Custody will be decided by a judge; in the meantime, the infant is with Child Protection Services. Skillen says he is the father and wants custody. But Woytasczyki's mom, Tina (right) also wants the child, which is recovering from a bacterial infection Prosecutors asked for bail to be set at $40,000; Woytasczyki's lawyer asked for it to be considerably lower, saying that she is a student who works retail and lives with her mom. Bail was finally set at $20,000, with the judge citing concern over Woytasczyki's mental health as a factor. 'There are some pretty serious allegations contained within that warrant,' she added. dumped her newborn outside an apartment complex in Houston, Texas, according to police investigators. The infant was discovered in the bushes outside an apartment building on Thursday morning by a resident who heard her crying as he walked by. Woytasczyk is seen here on June 24, thought to be at least seven months pregnant. Her bail was set at $20,000 on Monday night after a judge questioned her mental health The couple, who have been together for at least a year, said they didn't realize Woytasczyk was pregnant (they are pictured together here in 2016) In a press conference, Assistant Chief Armando Tello of Harris County Sheriff's Office said: 'This is a case that has really touched the hearts of everyone here at the Sheriff's Office.' Lead Investigator Kimberly Thomas said: '[Sidney Woytasczyk] was scared and she did not know she was pregnant. The father has not been charged and we do not expect more charges. 'It's more than likely the baby would have died if no-one had found her in time.' Meanwhile, Sargent Matt Ferguson pleaded with mothers to be aware of the Baby Moses Law. Woytasczyk is alleged to have torn off the umbilical cord, rather than cut it, and not clamped it - which could have led to the baby bleeding to death after she left her He said: 'If you have a child or are an expectant mother and your child is 60 days old or younger you have the opportunity to take that child to a fire station, a hospital or an emergency facility.' However, it is unlikely that Woytasczyk would be protected by this law since her baby was abandoned in a bush and left to the elements. According to police, the mother dumped the baby around 11.30pm on Wednesday night, nearly six hours before the child was discovered, reported Click2Houston. Albert Peterson found the baby crying at around 5am the next day. She was lying in the soil of a flower bed, covered in ants and other debris. Her umbilical cord was still attached. Peterson lifted the baby off the ground, cleaned and swaddled her and called police. Cops then followed a trail of blood to the Cypress Creek Apartments home shared by Skillern and Woytasczyk. Skillern spoke in court on Friday and said he had no ide that his daughter was pregnant. Woytasczyk's mom Tina, said the same. Graphic evidence was also presented to the court that day that showed that the umbilical cord was ripped, not cut out, which likely caused the baby girl's bacterial infection. This is the heart-stopping moment a woman dashes across a wobbly bridge just moments before it collapses into a river. The woman rushes across the makeshift bridge as it slowly begins to collapse in dramatic scenes, filmed in Wenqiao, China. In footage taken by local residents, numerous villagers have been evacuated to the other side of the raging river, with the woman the only person still running across the bridge. Rescue workers and other villagers call out to her and urge her to run faster as they notice the shabby bridge slowly being torn from its foundation. The sides of the bridge are already moving when the woman reaches safety, as the structure crumbles into the water immediately afterwards. The woman rushes across the makeshift bridge as it slowly begins to collapse in dramatic scenes, filmed in Wenqiao, China The lucky villager escapes unharmed and is said to have been the last person to cross the makeshift bridge, according to reports . An local official commented on the incident saying: 'Flooding in July tore down one of the reinforced concrete bridges in the township, so the local government erected the makeshift bridge for local villagers. 'But during flooding this week, rising water levels tore down the temporary bridge too,' he added. 'No one was injured,' the spokesman said. The lucky villager escapes unharmed and is said to have been the last person to cross the makeshift bridge Theresa May has ruled out checks on people or goods crossing the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic after Brexit. A government 'position paper' rejects the idea of CCTV cameras or number plate recognition systems - instead saying that the current 'frictionless' arrangements should effectively stay in place. Despite concerns over a potential immigration loophole, the plan would see the UK rely on controlling access to the jobs market and welfare to enforce immigration rules. Some 80 per cent of businesses on the island would also be entirely exempt from any new tariffs post-Brexit, in an effort to solve issues about customs arrangements post-Brexit. Britain says there should be no check points on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic after Brexit Theresa May, pictured on a visit to the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier today, has vowed there will be no return to a 'hard border' with the Republic of Ireland The exemption would apply to small and medium-sized enterprises involved in localised cross-border trade. The Government says larger firms could adhere to any new customs regime by completing retrospective declarations either online or at their premises. Officials concede that the proposals could be open to fraud - with Great Britain or continental European-based companies using Irish business counterparts to avoid tariffs - but they believe those risks can be managed effectively. The Government has also acknowledged that the EU will have to sign up to its vision of a post-Brexit border and there has already been scepticism in Brussels at the viability of London's wider post-Brexit customs proposals. Mrs May said: 'There should be no physical border infrastructure of any kind on either side of the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. 'I want people to be absolutely clear: the UK does not want to see border posts for any purpose.' Mrs May also moved to reassure nationalists living in Northern Ireland that Brexit will not see the UK turn its back on its 'unique and special relationship' with Ireland. KEY POINTS FROM THE POSITION PAPER No checks on goods or people crossing the border, no CCTV or hi-tech monitoring Keeping the Common Transit Convention so Northern Ireland and Irish companies can move goods freely A 'cross-border trade exemption' to avoid new customs processes at all for smaller traders A 'trusted trader' arrangement for larger businesses Advertisement She insisted rights enshrined under the Good Friday peace accord, such as the right to claim Irish citizenship, would be protected after the exit from the European Union. The paper reaffirms the Government's commitment to maintain the century-old Common Travel Area (CTA), which allows for free movement of UK and Irish citizens around the island. There have been concerns that this means EU nationals will be able to come to Ireland, and then enter the UK through the 'back door' unchallenged. But the document says ministers are 'confident' they can enforce a new immigration system without a hard border. Controlling access to things such as the labour market and welfare systems form an integral part of the UK's immigration system. The document says: 'Along with many other member states, controlling access to the labour market and social security have long formed an integral part of the UK's immigration system. 'The nature of this range of control mechanisms means that the UK is confident that it will be able to: maintain existing movement to the UK from within the CTA without requiring border controls, as now; respect Ireland's ongoing EU free movement obligations; and put in place a new UK immigration system and controls for EEA (European Economic Area) citizens.' The Government says that Brussels could agree to there being no checks on goods crossing the border (pictured, David Davis, left, and Michel Barnier, right) Avoiding check points or any other physical infrastructure on the Irish border is the UK Government's number one priority when negotiating post-Brexit arrangements for its only land frontier with the EU. Officials say the UK has an ongoing programme of security cooperation with the Irish government, while Ireland is not a member of the Schengen free movement area, meaning passports of EU citizens are checked as they enter the country. There are already different visa requirements between the UK and Ireland in some cases for people from outside the EEA. Secretary of State for Exiting the EU David Davis said: 'The UK and Ireland have been clear all along that we need to prioritise protecting the Belfast Agreement in these negotiations, and ensure the land border is as seamless as possible for people and businesses. 'The proposals we outline in this paper do exactly that, and we're looking forward to seeing the EU's position paper on the Northern Ireland border. 'In committing to keep the Common Travel Area, which has existed for nearly a century, we're making sure UK and Irish citizens will continue to be able to travel, live, work and study across both countries.' Sinn Fein's Stormont leader, Michelle O'Neill (pictured today), said the proposals were "big on aspiration but light on clarity" Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire said: 'The paper provides flexible and imaginative ideas and demonstrates our desire to find a practical solution that recognises the unique economic, social and cultural context of the land border with Ireland, without creating any new obstacles to trade within the UK. 'I believe it is possible to find a solution that works for the UK, for Ireland and for the EU - and, specifically, for Northern Ireland - and am determined to work to achieve that. 'It is clear that there are many areas where the UK, Ireland and the rest of the EU have shared objectives. We have a lot to build on but need to work together intensively over the coming months.' Sinn Fein's Stormont leader, Michelle O'Neill, said the proposals were 'big on aspiration but light on clarity'. 'I am not comforted, I don't believe the wider public out there will be comforted from what they read today because, whilst the British Government might say they don't want to see any kind of hard border or technology put in place, it will not be within their gift to deliver that; it will be the other European member states, who clearly think and believe we need to see customs controls,' she said. Mrs O'Neill claimed the UK Government had only a 'fleeting concern' on how Brexit could affect Northern Ireland and suggested it was using the region to gain leverage in the wider negotiations with Brussels. Democratic Unionist leader and former Stormont first minister Arlene Foster described the paper as a 'constructive step'. 'It is clear the Government has listened to voices in Belfast, Dublin, Brussels and London about how the United Kingdom's only EU land border could be managed after we exit the EU,' she said. 'I welcome the commitment to a seamless border and movement of goods between Ireland and Northern Ireland. It is also welcome news that the Government will not countenance any new border in the Irish Sea.' Middle Eastern crime gangs are staging luxury car crashes to rake in more than $1 million in fraudulent insurance claims. Maseratis, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Audis and Mercedes were claimed up to six times each in the complex scam uncovered by police in northern Melbourne. Anti-gang detectives investigated one group allegedly responsible for more than 20 crashes for months, confiscating 18 cars and checking more than 500. Middle Eastern crime gangs are staging luxury car crashes to rake in more than $1 million in fraudulent insurance claims (stock image) Maseratis, Lamborghinis (stock pictured), Ferraris, Audis and Mercedes were claimed up to six times each in the complex scam uncovered by police in northern Melbourne 'We are building a very strong case against them. We are also working with insurers to limit opportunities for this to occur in the future,' Detective Sergeant Belinda Jones told the Herald Sun. Middle Eastern organised crime figures bought cheap written-off cars at auction identical to the ones they planned to claim against. Then third parties either paid off or intimidated into the rort would pose as the driver of another vehicle that would be blamed for the accident. Accidents were staged in quiet industrial areas with no witnesses or CCTV with photos of the aftermath taken by those involved. Organised crime figures bought cheap written-off cars at auction identical to the ones they planned to claim against The auction cars were then taken away to repair shops connected to the crime syndicate and sometimes even damaged there before the accidents. Scammers the claim against the third party's insurance - in some cases a hire car company using a car rented specifically for the 'crash'. One Mercedes worth more than $80,000 was allegedly claimed against six times using different auction doubles. Insurers routinely flag names they suspect to be involved in 'claim farming', but often pay out suspect claims because of the expense of going to court. Advertisement The commander of the Royal Navy's 3billion new flagship has revealed he 'didn't shut his eyes' as he squeezed the HMS Queen Elizabeth into port with just 65ft to spare either side. With crowds lining the shoreside around Portsmouth to welcome the 230 feet wide and 920 feet long aircraft carrier into her Naval Base home, Captain Jerry Kyd said berthing the ship was a 'historic' moment. Quizzed about getting the ship into the harbour and then the base, where at its narrowest there is less than 65 feet of clearance on each side, Captain Kyd said: 'I didn't shut my eyes.' With Portsmouth harbour built more than 600 years ago and for much smaller ships, he said it was 'quite tight coming through the gap', but said they had practised for it. The 3billion HMS Queen Elizabeth - dwarfing its accompanying flotilla - sailed into the harbour, after setting off from Fife for sea trials two months ago. Family members of those on board, who haven't seen their loved ones for more than seven weeks, were delighted to welcome them back this morning. Members of the 700-strong crew, plus 200 contractors, mustered on the deck of the 184 feet ship to wave to their friends and family as the aircraft carrier arrived shortly after 7.30am. Scroll down for videos HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK's newest aircraft carrier, has arrived in Portsmouth, as thousands of people line the seafront People cheered, took photos and waved Union flags as the 3billion ship, which dwarfed its surroundings, docked around 7.30am The largest warship ever built by Britain, HMS Queen Elizabeth, has today made its first entry into Portsmouth Harbour Commodore Jerry Kyd listens as Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May stands of the flight deck and speaks to crew members of the Queen Elizabeth HMS Queen Elizabeth was seen sailing into her home port of Portsmouth Harbour for the first time this morning Members of the public, with a Union Flag, gathered to witness the arrival of the HMS Queen Elizabeth supercarrier as it headed into port Crowds gathered to greet the crew members of the HMS Queen Elizabeth as it arrived at Portsmouth Harbour today The HMS Queen Elizabeth, which arrived in Portsmouth today, is the lead ship in the new Queen Elizabeth class of supercarriers. Weighing in at 65,000 tons she is the largest war ship deployed by the British Royal Navy. She is planned to be in service by 2020 Britain's future flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth sailed into her home port of Portsmouth, with a police escort, for the first time today HMS Queen Elizabeth sails into her new home at Portsmouth Harbour after leaving Fife seven weeks ago for sea trials Homecoming: The power and might of HMS Queen Elizabeth was revealed today as it arrived in Portsmouth - greeted by thousands of people on the seafront Members of the crew mustered on the deck to wave to their loved ones as the aircraft carrier arrived Pressed on whether the homecoming of the 3 billion behemoth was an emotional moment for him and the 700-strong ship's company, Captain Kyd said it very much was. 'It was emotional because for me as an aircraft carrier captain, I brought HMS Ark Royal in here for her last arrival some seven years ago,' he said. 'So for me, it is full circle in a way - bringing the new generation of the next aircraft carrier into service for me is something very special professionally, and also personally. 'I think it is what the country needs, I think it is what the Armed Forces needs to give a balanced power projection capability. 'There were no tears in my eyes, but there was a feeling of intense pride and satisfaction. And I was just so pleased for my ship's company who have done so well and so much work over the last few years. For them it was a great day.' Captain Kyd said the whole feeling around the ship is one of 'excitement and also one of very intense pride of what has been achieved'. He added that sense of achievement is felt 'not just across the Royal Navy, but also our industrial partners on board to get this ship out from the builders yard seven weeks ago'. Captain Kyd also revealed that he is very much looking forward to enjoying a gin and tonic once he gets home. As the crowds welcomed her in, Commander Darren Houston could be heard saying over the tannoy to those on the shore: 'Good morning, Portsmouth'. Louise Bond, 30, from Fareham, Hampshire, whose husband, Petty Officer Greg Bond, 33, is serving on board, said: 'It's my first homecoming. It's brilliant. I was up at 2.30am, first in line. It's amazing, I wouldn't miss it for the world. It's a historic moment, once-in-a-lifetime to see.' Tanya Baker, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, had taken two-year-old daughter Eloise to meet her partner, Petty Officer Craig May. She said: 'We are really proud that my partner is coming in on the Queen Elizabeth. It's been a long time since I've seen him and we are both proud to be part of the aircraft carrier.' The 65,000-tons carrier, the largest warship ever to be built in Britain, is expected to be the Navy's flagship for at least 50 years Greeted by thousands of people lining the Portsmouth seafront, the 65,000-ton carrier was met with the warmest of welcomes as she arrived in her home port just after 7am The HMS Queen Elizabeth is escorted into Portsmouth Harbour, with the crew members standing on the deck Thousands of people, including family members of those on board, lined the seafront to welcome her home People cheered, took photos and waved Union flags as the ship docked at Portsmouth Harbour around 7.30am Crowds, with Union flags, watch on from Gosport as HMS Queen Elizabeth sails into Portsmouth Docks for the first time Britain's largest ever warship the HMS Queen Elizabeth has arrived at her home port for the first time Theresa May (pictured with captain Jerry Kyd) meets crew on board HMS Queen Elizabeth after the ship sails to it's home at Portsmouth Naval Base Prime Minister Theresa May returned to duty and was seen meeting Admiral Sir Philip Andrew Jones (front left) and captain Jerry Kyd (far right), when the ship docked HMS Queen Elizabeth will send a message to the UK's allies and enemies that the country means business, according to her captain. The behemoth is set to be the nation's future flagship for the next 50 years. Prime Minister Theresa May returned to duty and was seen meeting members of the crew, when the ship docked. Mrs May hailed the ship as a symbol of the UK as a 'great global maritime nation'. Speaking on board, she said: 'Britain can be proud of this ship and what it represents. 'It sends a clear signal that as Britain forges a new, positive, confident role on the world stage in the years ahead we are determined to remain a fully engaged global power, working closely with our friends and allies around the world.' The waterfront on both sides of the harbour was packed with people, waving flags and banners, keen to grab a view of the historic moment. Lieutenant Commander Neil Twigg, a fast jet pilot responsible for integrating the F35 fighter jet into the carrier group, said: 'We are very ready. There is still a lot more work to be done - the aircraft is still going through its testing programme in America and the ship has still some more sea trials - but we are on the right track. 'The sheer size ... this is the 65,000-ton aircraft carrier, the largest the Royal Navy has ever had, she is specifically built for the F35, the only aircraft carrier in the world designed for that air system, so a pretty unique capability the UK now has.' Anthea Edwards, 51, and her husband Rodney, 67, had flown 11 hours and almost 6,000 miles from Durban, South Africa to see their 21-year-old son's ship arrive. Anthea Edwards (centre), 51, and her husband Rodney (right), 67, had flown 11 hours and almost 6,000 miles from Durban, South Africa to see their 21-year-old son's ship arrive The waterfront on both sides of the harbour was packed with people, waving flags and banners, keen to grab a view of the historic moment Thousands of people watch on the seafront as the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier arrives in Portsmouth Armed police chat on the seafront as HMS Queen Elizabeth sailed into her home port of Portsmouth Naval Base Mrs Edwards said: 'It's such a momentous occasion for it to come in. To see him come home is amazing. It's very exciting.' Mr Edwards said he was 'proud' to see his son, an engineer, follow in his footsteps, after he spent time serving in the merchant navy. He added: 'The lad is taking his leave, so we can spend some time with him. It is absolutely worth the distance to see him and the ship.' Christine Feltham, 59, had come from Southampton, Hants, to watch her 26-year-old son - a weapons engineer - arrive. She said: 'The ship was even bigger than I expected. It's great to know he was part of it on its maiden voyage. I am very proud of him.' Kirsty Masterson, 46, and her daughter Jessica, 46, had come from Eastbourne, East Sussex, to see her eldest daughter, who was aboard the ship. She said: 'It's emotional and exciting to be here. It is the flagship of the navy. I am extremely proud that a member of my family is serving on this ship.' Mrs May hailed the ship as a symbol of the UK as a 'great global maritime nation'. Speaking on board, she said: 'Britain can be proud of this ship and what it represents Prime Minister Theresa May returned to duty and was seen meeting members of the crew, over a cup of tea, when the ship docked Members of the public gather to witness the arrival of the HMS Queen Elizabeth in Portsmouth today A Merlin helicopter takes off from the flight deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth after she arrived in Portsmouth this morning Spectators hold up their cameras as the Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth arrives in Portsmouth Members of the media and armed forces look on as HMS Queen Elizabeth sails into her home port at Portsmouth Naval Base Merlin helicopters on the flight deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK's newest aircraft carrier, after she arrived in Portsmouth John Mander, 77, from Bude, Cornwall said he was 'very proud indeed' of his son, who is one of the BAE Systems workers on board the ship. Sarah Smith had travelled from Hull, East Yorks, to see her 20-year-old daughter - a sea spec - and the flagship. She said: 'It's very exciting. I am very proud of her. The weather is very good - it's warm. I saw the ship when it left Rosyth. 'I am very excited to see it finally come home. It's a good moment and I would not miss it for the world.' Mary Hudson, from Havant, Hants, was there with her husband John and son Luke. She said: 'Although I had seen online how big it was, it was a lot bigger than I expected. 'It really wowed me. It was so impressive. It is great to be a part of this day and to see her coming into Portsmouth for the first time. It's a moment that I'll remember for ever.' 200 years of Royal Navy history in one image: HMS Victory (left) is the Royal Navy's most famous warship - best known for her role in the Battle of Trafalgar. In the distance, HMS Queen Elizabeth can be seen entering Portsmouth Harbour First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones speaks after the arrival of the Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth in Portsmouth A member of the crew of HMS Queen Elizabeth man a weapon as the UK's newest aircraft carrier arrives in Portsmouth for the first time Navy officers and family members lined the jetty in the Navy base to welcome the ship, while the band of the Royal Marines played to entertain the crowds A member of the crew dons his 'HMS Queen Elizabeth' hat as the aircraft carrier arrives at Portsmouth Harbour today Luke, aged 11, said: 'It is awesome. The ship was really big and seeing the helicopters too was cool.' Couple Lucy and Jamie Richards, from Cosham, Hants, said it was worth getting up early for. Jamie, whose father was in the Royal Navy, said: 'It was a bit emotional watching it come in. There's just something incredible about seeing her in the Solent. 'It was great seeing the crowds to welcome her. Even though I had to get up at 5am, I wouldn't have missed this. It's been fantastic.' Suzanne Welch and Terry Card, from Portsmouth, said the ship gave them great pride. Suzanne, 55, said: 'This is something that won't happen again so it's exciting to be a part of it. 'We love the city and it's amazing to welcome HMS Queen Elizabeth.' HMS Queen Elizabeth Weight: 65,000 tons Length: 920 feet Top speed: Upwards of 25 knots Flight deck size: 230ft by 920ft - the equivalent of three football pitches Keeps 45 days worth of food onboard Is made up of 17 million parts 28 million hours have been spent designing and building the carrier More than a million feet of pipes inside the ship Advertisement Another onlooker, Sarah Tremlett, said: 'it was utterly amazing to see her up so close. 'It makes me so proud as a Pompey girl. You just really had to be there to see that stunning sight right next to the shore.' Mrs Tremlett, who grew up in Cowplain, Hants, but now lives in Nottingham, said: 'This is what this city is all about, coming out to support our navy on days like this. It makes the 5am start worth it.' Admiral Sir Philip Jones, the First Sea Lord, spoke at the dockside and described the vessel's arrival as the culmination of an 'extraordinary journey' for the ship and the Navy. He said: 'Today, we are gathered to see a seminal moment in the history of the Navy. It is part of an unfolding renaissance in our maritime industries. 'Within both the Royal Navy and British industry, a generation have put their best years into making this a reality. Today is the culmination of the achievement of that programme. 'It is going to take time and patience to introduce this into service. I would like to acknowledge the fabulous support of the US and French navies, who we have worked with and continue to do so. 'As we prepare to leave the European Union, this will take our message of partnership and prosperity to the rest of the world. 'HMS Queen Elizabeth embodies the nation's future ambition, She will be the embodiment of Britain in steel and in spirit. 'She will demonstrate the kind of nation we are - not a diminished nation withdrawing from the world, but an outward-looking and ambitious nation with a Royal Navy to match.' Members of the crew of HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK's newest aircraft carrier, muster on the deck as the ship arrives in Portsmouth HMS Queen Elizabeth was given a police escort by river boats as it arrived into Portsmouth Harbour this morning Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said: 'Today we welcome our mighty new warship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, to her home for the very first time. 'She is Britain's statement to the world: a demonstration of British military power and our commitment to a bigger global role. 'The thousands of people across the UK who have played a part in building her and her sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, should be immensely proud as our future flagship enters Portsmouth. 'She has made good progress in sea trials and will now embark on the next phase of preparations that will see the return of Britain's carrier strike ability. 'When she enters service she will help keep Britain safe at a time of increased threats, able to fill multiple roles from providing air power anywhere at any time to fight future campaigns, supporting allies or delivering humanitarian aid.' A flotilla of craft followed the behemoth aircraft carrier as she sailed into the Solent before heading into Portsmouth, where, at its narrowest point, there was less than 66ft (20m) clearance on each side. With boots polished and caps perfectly placed, all the ship's available company stood at the edge of the vessel as she arrived in the harbour and naval base. Those on board and watching from the shore were also treated to two separate flypasts of Royal Navy helicopters - the first featuring a Sea King, two MK2 Merlins and two MK3 Merlins - which were then joined by two Hawk jets for the second. The ship's captain Jerry Kyd looks out onto Portsmouth Harbour (left) while other crew members lined the deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth (right) Fireworks were let off as the giant carrier arrived, dwarfing the historic buildings at the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour. An 820ft (250m) exclusion zone, enforced by armed police in small boats, meant the port was effectively closed to the small flotilla of boats which had turned out to greet the Queen Elizabeth. Navy officers and family members lined the jetty in the Navy base to welcome the ship, while the band of the Royal Marines played to entertain the crowds. Lieutenant Commander Ian Pratt, who took a moment to take a photograph of the carrier as it sailed past, said: 'Absolutely fantastic. What a wonderful day for the Royal Navy, for Portsmouth and the whole of the country, the flagship of our nation is home. Fantastic.' Crew members of HMS Queen Elizabeth line the deck of the huge ship as she makes her first entry into Portsmouth today The ship will berth at the newly-opened Princess Royal Jetty at Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth, which will be home to both of the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers. Pictured are members of the crew standing on the deck at the ship arrives in Portsmouth Britain's future flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth sailing into her home port of Portsmouth for the first time today A helicopter was seen circling the HMS Queen Elizabeth as it arrived in Portsmouth, greeted by thousands of people Crew members march in line on the deck. The aircraft carrier has been on contractor sea trials since first sailing from Rosyth just over seven weeks ago. After a brief period of maintenance alongside, the ship will head back out to sea for further trials As the huge ship sailed into Portsmouth Harbour, the HMS Queen Elizabeth crew lined the deck to be welcomed home Inside Big Lizzie revealed: Life above and below HMS Queen Elizabeth's four-acre deck for the 700 crew By Joseph Curtis for MailOnline Weighing 65,000-tons, HMS Queen Elizabeth is expected to be the flagship craft for at least 50 years - and is Britain's largest ever warship. She arrived in her home dock today after completing the latest round of sea trials - a day earlier than previously expected, after weather conditions had formerly prevented the exact date from being set. Pictures inside the ship give an insight into life on board, with the crew members working on their computers, sweating it out in the gym and the chefs cooking their meals. Speaking on board as the vessel sailed in the English Channel yesterday, Captain Jerry Kyd said he is feeling a 'huge amount of pride' ahead of the vessel berthing in her home port. Quizzed on whether he thinks aircraft carriers such as HMS Queen Elizabeth put the UK in the Naval premier league, he said: 'It sends the right signals to our allies and indeed potentially to our enemies that we mean business. 'The armed forces are fundamentally an insurance policy for the country and you can't just, at the flick of a switch, decide that you need these capabilities. 'You have to buy them, work them up, train them, integrate them with the rest of defence so they're ready to be called upon when required. You can't just buy it off the shelf. HMS Queen Elizabeth - the biggest and most powerful warship ever built by Britain - will enter her home port of Portsmouth for the first time at around 7am this morning after completing sea trials The 3billion behemoth is set to be the Royal Navy's future flagship once it becomes operational in 2020. Pictured is a Merlin helicopter on board next to the 'ski jump' launching runway on the flight deck A crew member on HMS Queen Elizabeth, affectionately nicknamed 'Big Lizzie', looks through binoculars at the open waters as the ship made its way back to the UK There are around 700 members of the crew on board the ship, including the staff of the operations room, pictured, who are responsible for weapons systems and air traffic control The ship looks impressive from all angles, as these airmen found out as they saw the carrier from their approaching Merlin helicopter Captain Jerry Kyd said he is feeling a 'huge amount of pride' ahead of the vessel berthing in her home port and added the ship would send a message to the world that Britain 'means business'. Pictured are crew in the operations room Captain Kyd addd the investment in Big Lizzie proved 'it is all about having the right investment and having the right equipment for the thousands of people who go to war on behalf of the nation'. Pictured are airmen boarding a Merlin helicopter HMS Queen Elizabeth, pictured, weighs 65,000 tons, is 920ft long and can reach a top speed of up to 25 knots (28mph) Around 45 days worth of food is kept on board the HMS Queen Elizabeth, with this cook pictured preparing potatoes for dinner in one of the galleys The vessel can be pressed into action for various work such as high intensity war fighting or providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief Mark Deller, Commander Air on HMS Queen Elizabeth, said the four-acre flight deck, poictured, is a capability the Navy has not had before 'Yes, it costs money, but it is all about having the right investment and having the right equipment for the hundreds, if not thousands of young men and women that go to war on behalf of the nation. 'It is absolutely an obligation of the taxpayer to ensure we have the right equipment.' During her estimated half a century working life, the 920ft vessel can be pressed into action for various work such as high intensity war fighting or providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief. 'We have never had a ship of 65,000-tons before in the Royal Navy so we have had to put in a bit of investment,' said Capt Kyd, who has served in the Navy for 32 years, and has been captain of HMS Illustrious and HMS Ark Royal. 'Of course when Henry VIII built Portsmouth, it was designed for ships the size of Mary Rose so we have had to make a few little changes to make sure we can fit in and be supported there.' Preparations for the ship's arrival saw more than 704 million gallons of sediment removed from the harbour to ensure the entrance is deep enough to allow the giant ship to access the Hampshire base. During the dredging, more than 20,000 items were removed from the sea bed including eight cannons, an aircraft engine, 36 anchors, a British torpedo, a German sea mine, five large bombs and a human skull - which was passed to local police. The operation to prepare the harbour and base has cost 100 million and has included new jetties and a new power plant to meet the electricity needs of the ship which is set to be joined by its sister vessel the HMS Prince of Wales which is currently being built. Mark Deller, Commander Air on HMS Queen Elizabeth, said the four-acre flight deck is a capability the Navy has not had before. But those in charge of the ship say she is 'not finished' and there is 'still work to do' before she can lead the Royal Navy More than 60 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines took part in a training exercise aboard the American USS George HW Bush earlier this month, in preparation for the ship's entry into service Huge containers of salt and sauces have been brought on board as chefs have to provide dinner for hundreds of people The operation to prepare Portsmouth Harbour for the arrival of the ship has itself cost 100million and has included new jetties and a new power plant to meet the electricity needs of the ship The carrier will remain without jets until flying trials are conducted in the United States next year, with 10 F-35 Lightning II jets and 120 aircrew expected to take part State of the art gyms, pictured, are also dotted throughout the ship to make sure the crew keep themselves in top shape while on assignments Quizzed on the ship heading into Portsmouth, he said it will be a proud moment. 'It is going to be a good day, we are bringing our ship in. HMS Queen Elizabeth: Where has she been? The ship set sail from the Rosyth dockyard in Fife this summer. She passed under the iconic Forth Road Bridge before heading to the south of England and docking at Southampton. She has just spent six weeks in the North Sea for sea trials. The boat will soon head to America's east coast for flight trials which will begin in October 2018. Queen Elizabeth is expected to be operational by 2020. Advertisement 'But what I wouldn't want to do is to sell the story that this is it, the bees knees and we are bringing our new Ferrari out of the garage. 'It is not Ferrari yet we have still got some work to do. She's not finished.' The warship has been undergoing training and tests at sea after setting out from Scotland's Rosyth dockyard in June, with more to take place over the coming months. HMS Queen Elizabeth will remain without aircraft until flying trials are conducted in the United States next year, with 10 F-35 Lightning II jets and 120 aircrew expected to take part. The warship is expected to arrive in Portsmouth shortly after 7am. The 919ft vessel was previously forecast to reach its base in the Hampshire port town between August 17 and 22, after setting out from Scotland's Rosyth dockyard in June. More than 60 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines took part in a training exercise aboard the American USS George HW Bush earlier this month, in preparation for the ship's entry into service. The carrier will remain without aircraft until flying trials are conducted in the United States next year, with 10 F-35 Lightning II jets and 120 aircrew expected to take part. Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has heralded the HMS Queen Elizabeth's impending arrival, and declared last week that she would be deployed 'across the seven seas, using her strike power to deter our enemies' The HMS Queen Elizabeth, pictured, will later be joined at Portsmouth by its sister ship the HMS Prince of Wales once the latter is completed The vessel was previously forecast to reach its base in the Hampshire port town between August 17 and 22, after setting out from Scotland's Rosyth dockyard in June HMS Queen Elizabeth is made up of 17 million parts and 28 million hours have been spent designing and building the carrier, pictured Last week it was revealed a drone pilot had landed his unmanned aircraft on the HMS Queen Elizabeth, pictured, in high winds The ship, pictured, will soon head to America's east coast for flight trials which will begin in October 2018 Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has heralded the HMS Queen Elizabeth's impending arrival, and declared last week that she would be deployed 'across the seven seas, using her strike power to deter our enemies'. Sir Michael visited the craft for the first time last month, when he hailed the return of 'big decks and fast jets', and described the large-scale engineering project as 'great for British industry'. The warship will become the latest in a long line of prestigious ships to be docked in the historic Portsmouth port. Last week it was revealed a drone pilot had landed his unmanned aircraft on the HMS Queen Elizabeth in high winds, after zooming it past armed police patrol boats and dropped it unchallenged onto the four-acre deck. Concerned about the flight on to HMS Queen Elizabeth, the drone's pilot later approached security personnel - but said no-one was concerned that he had touched down on the recently launched ship. As HMS Queen Elizabeth is currently on sea trials it is not yet under Royal Navy control. A spokesman for BAE and the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, the consortium that built the ship, said they would investigate the drone flyer's claims. This detailed graphic shows many of the different features of the HMS Queen Elizabeth and where they are The huge shape of the HMS Queen Elizabeth passes Dorset's Jurassic Coast en route to her new home at Portsmouth The 3billion flagship aircraft carrier has recently completed a series of sea trials and returns to the UK a day earlier than previously expected The aircraft carrier, pictured off Dorset yesterday, will become the latest in a long line of prestigious ships to be docked in the port The 65,000-ton carrier, set to arrive in Portsmouth, is expected to be the Navy's flagship craft for at least 50 years HMS Queen Elizabeth makes its way into the port of Invergordon while taking part in sea trials off the Scottish Coast on July 8 The 3billion aircraft carrier will remain without aircraft until flying trials are conducted in the United States next year David Davis has been accused of working a three day week and being a 'bully' who needs aides to make his lunch and work his phone in an extraordinary Twitter rant by his former chief of staff. The Brexit Secretary, 68, has been besieged by James Chapman in a series of incendiary tweets which began in the early hours of yesterday and are continuing today. Mr Chapman, 40, who quit during the last election, claims Mr Davis needs an 'unfortunate woman' to make his ham sandwiches, asked another worker put Nigel Farage on 'speed dial' and can't be 'bothered' to read the contents of his ministerial box. He also claimed his former boss displayed 'drunk, bullying and inappropriate' behaviour while 'leering' at shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, and has upset foreign leaders during Brexit negotiations. Mr Davis has refused to respond to his sensational claims - or criticise his former chief of staff - saying he did a 'great job' even though he 'was a Remainer'. But Mr Chapman only responded with yet another stinging rebuke and said: 'Wish I could say the same for DD [David Davis]. He's been working 3 day week since day one'. Brexit Secretary David Davis has faced an onslaught of tweets from his former chief of staff James Chapman (pictured together) who accused him of being workshy and a 'bully' Mr Chapman tweeted, liked or retweeted more than 250 messages in 12 hours with many aimed at his former boss James Chapman's Twitter rant at David Davis and his colleagues 'I was with DD when he leered over @hackneyabbott. He was drunk, bullying and inappropriate' 'Someone should ask DD about time he told horrified Slovakian PM "if you think we are going to pay so you can sell us your cars, forget it". 'DD would know if he ever bothered to read his box' 'Brexiteers asking if I have "gone mad". Well, I am incandescent at what theyve done to my childrens country' 'I say to my former colleagues @dexeugov [The Department for Exiting the European Union] enough is enough. Youre being asked to facilitate misconduct in public office. Please resign 'Any #conkip MP who continues to sit with lying enemies of the state @borisjohnson IDS and Mogg deserves whats coming #thedemocrats' 'He [DD] cant even make plain ham sandwiches (no butter) an unfortunate woman in his private office has to bring one to him every day 'Wish I could say the same for DD. Hes been working 3 day week since day one #byebyeconkip #thedemocrats 'I sat in meetings with EU ministers politely appalled by buffoon @BorisJohnsons insistence UK would have cake and eat it #byebyeboris 'Hey @LiamFox is it true @number10gov locked you in toilet on trip with @theresa_may as you were being typically embarrassing?' 'Let's make @theresa_may the last ever @conservatives PM - she's already the worst #thedemocrats #wemarch' Advertisement His extraordinary claims were in an onslaught of 250 tweets sent, liked or re-tweeted in just 12 hours yesterday, where he also called on Theresa May to resign and claimed BBC presenters including John Humphrys and Andrew Neil were too close to the Tories. In one of several messages aimed at the Prime Minister he said: 'Let's make @theresa_may the last ever @conservatives PM - she's already the worst'. They tirade continued today where he claimed Liam Fox, Secretary of State for International Trade, was locked in the toilet by Theresa May's aides because he was being 'typically embarrassing' on a foreign trip. Mr Chapman, who is trying to set up a new pro-EU party called The Democrats after leaving the Brexit department, claimed Mr Davis displayed 'drunk, bullying and inappropriate' behaviour towards shadow home secretary Diane Abbott. He was referring to when Mr Davis had to apologise for implying Ms Abbott was not attractive enough to kiss in private text messages after the vote to trigger Article 50. Mr Chapman also alleged Mr Davis had Nigel Farage on speed-dial and tried to get civil servants to store the former Ukip leader's number in his work landline but they refused. He then claimed that it was 'totally inappropriate' for today presenter John Humphrys to conduct interviews about Brexit because 'he holidays with DD [David Davis]'. But the show's editor Sarah Sands replied saying this was not true. It is understood Mr Davis also rejects most of Mr Chapman's claims. Mr Chapman also claimed Mr Davis takes six sugars in his tea and gets someone to stir it for him, that he never reads his the contents of his ministerial red box and that he once insulted the Slovakian Prime Minister by telling him: 'If you think we are going to pay so you can sell us your cars, forget it.' The former aide then said Mr David 'drinks (lots) together with' the BBC's Andrew Neil, who replied saying: 'Simply untrue. Have dined with DD once in 10 years (you were there), lunched once in 10 years. NEVER had drinks with him in 20 years or more'. David Davis (right) was accused of being workshy and a bully in an extraordinary Twitter rant by his former Chief of Staff James Chapman (left) Mr Chapman's incendiary claims about the Tories came as he announced his intention to lead the new party, the Democrats, during the People's March for Europe Mr Chapman's accusations were among 250 tweets he wrote or retweeted in his tirade yesterday. Asked what he made of Mr Chapman's recent suggestion that the Brexit department is 'in chaos', Mr Davis told LBC radio: 'James when he came to me was, I mean he was a Remainer, we knew that. 'But he did a good job, he was a good chief of staff. I'm not going to criticise him, I just don't do that, I'm afraid.' The rant came as Mr Chapman, the former Political Editor of the Daily Mail, announced announced his intention to lead the new party, the Democrats, during the People's March for Europe, which will take place on September 9 in London. After floating the possibility of a new centrist group earlier this month, Mr Chapman said two Cabinet ministers contacted him expressing sympathy for the call. He said: 'I did my best to make Brexit work for a year - and it won't. There is no upside and it is clear that every sector of our economy will suffer for decades to come. Project Fear is Project Fact. 'The first duty of our politicians is to stand up for the interests of their constituents - and that means sound money and job opportunities for all. 'The MPs that have left Britain careering towards a cliff worse than Black Wednesday have failed in that duty and are guilty of misconduct in public office. 'The march on Parliament will be for members of all parties and none - but I will be announcing my intention to lead a new party, the Democrats, which will reverse Brexit with no second referendum. 'It's time for all of those with consciences to put nation before country and make sure we are Great Britain once again - not the Little Britain of Nigel Farage and Vladimir Putin's wet dreams.' 'Not true': Some of Mr Chapman's Tweets produced denials from people mentioned in them News / National by BBC Zimbabwean First Lady Grace Mugabe has returned home from South Africa after failing to turn herself in to police in Johannesburg to face accusations of assault, officials say.It was not immediately clear why Mrs Mugabe did not report to police after saying she would do.A 20-year-old South African woman has accused Mrs Mugabe of hitting her over the head with an extension cord during a row at a hotel on Sunday evening.Mrs Mugabe has so far not commented.Zimbabwean government sources confirmed that Mrs Mugabe, wife of President Robert Mugabe, had returned home."Yes, she is back in the country. We don't know where this issue of assault charges is coming from," said one senior official quoted by Reuters.Earlier, South African police said they had been negotiating with Mrs Mugabe's lawyers to get her to hand herself in.Confusion surrounded the case with officials saying at one point that Mrs Mugabe had handed herself over to police and would appear in court. She did not appear and police sources later said she had agreed to turn herself in but failed to do so.Gabriella Engels, a model, accused Mrs Mugabe, 52, of hitting her after finding her with her two sons in a hotel room in Sandton, a wealthy suburb north of Johannesburg.Ms Engels released an image of a head injury online."When Grace entered I had no idea who she was," she told South African broadcaster News24."She walked in with an extension cord and just started beating me with it. She flipped and just kept beating me with the plug. Over and over. I had no idea what was going on. I was surprised. I needed to crawl out of the room before I could run away."There was blood everywhere," she added. "Over my arms, in my hair, everywhere."She registered a "case of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm", police said. The mystery of how a woman's dead body vanished from a morgue in Texas over two years ago, may be a step closer to being solved. Julie Mott passed away on August 8, 2015 from cystic fibrosis but the 25-year-old's body mysteriously vanished after the funeral service at the Mission Park North Funeral Chapel in San Antonio. Mott's family sued the funeral home in January of 2016, and now new documents have come to light that show a third party mortuary service, Beyer & Beitel and their employees had 'unfettered' access to the morgue - and could be to blame for the missing remains. Beyer & Beitel was sued for mixing up two bodies months before Mott's disappearance and settled the case. The new documents, revealed by the San Antonio Express, allege a relationship between Mission Park Funeral Chapel & Cemeteries and Beyer & Beitel was previously undisclosed. Julie Mott was 25-years-old when she died of cystic fibrosis. Mott's family signed on to have her service at Mission Park North Funeral Chapel in 2015, but after the services her body mysteriously vanished Police say Mott's body went missing in the span of three hours between the end of the services in 2015 and when her body was being picked up for cremation The new filing says that the owners of the funeral home and Mission Park parent company MPII Inc owners Robert 'Dick' Tips, and his wife Kristin Tips either didn't know about the relationship with Beyer & Beitel or 'sought to conceal' the fact that they subcontracted services to them for years. According to the filing revealed in the Express, Beyer & Beitel employees had access to the funeral home after-hours. They had keys to exterior doors and knew alarm codes to get in the facility. The court filing says that the 'vast majority, if not all, of the transportation and embalming' of bodies entrusted to Mission Park' was conducted by the subcontractors. 'After initially denying the use of subcontractors to transport and embalm deceased loved ones, Mission Park now admits that they have used the subcontractor for many years, without any supervision to speak of, by Mission Park,' according to the documents revealed by the Express filed on behalf of the Mott family. All parties involved in the case are under a gag order by the judge, which makes these documents the most revealing look yet into the developments of what happened to Julie Mott's remains. Left and right: parents Tim and Charlotte Mott held a press conference in 2015 begging for their daughter's body to be returned 'After the memorial service, but before the body was transferred to the crematorium, Mission lost possession of Julie Mott's body, and to this day has been unable to explain how they lost the body,' the lawsuit filed in January of 2016 states. They are seeking nearly $1million in damages from Mission Park Funeral Chapel for 'gross negligence,' KYTX reported. Mission Park officials and volunteers searched parks and wooded areas for clues in an attempt to find her body, but were unsuccessful. In October, 2015, Julie's parents Charlotte and Tim Mott held a press conference begging for their daughter's body to be returned. 'We ask that you please, please return our Julie to us,' Charlotte Mott said tearfully at the time. 'I was her caregiver, the one who drove her to her doctor's visits, stayed with her throughout her many hospital stays and, in her later years, her best friend. 'Without a doubt, she loved me as much as I loved her,' her mother added. 'This selfish person who took her could not have loved her any more than I do.' Family members and authorities said they had an idea of who stole her body, but no arrests have ever been made. There were reports that the last person seen leaving the funeral home was a man who was obsessed with the young woman. Julie Mott pictured with a friend (left) and on a horse. There were suggestions a man who was 'obsessed' with the youngster was to blame for the missing body Police had identified a person of interest at the time, who was reportedly obsessively texting and calling her before her death. Mott's body was delivered to Mission Park North on August 15, the day she would have turned 26. After everyone had left the chapel at around 1:30pm, Bill Wilburn, who family described as Mott's 'obsessed' ex-boyfriend had remained inside. According to documents seen by the Express, Wilburn remained an extra 10 to 15 minutes until he was then seen out by a Mission Park employee, who locked the door behind him. Her mother directly addressed the person who stole her beloved daughter's body, begging for them to come forward. Tim Mott said that he's angry and that the individual who stole her body has a sick mind. 'What else could it be,' Tim Mott said during the October press conference. 'The person's got to be sick.' Charlotte Mott added that she can't fulfill her daughter's final wishes of being cremated. 'I did everything in my power to fulfill her wishes,' the heartbroken mother said. 'The fact that I cannot fulfill her final wishes is unbearable. It is breaking my heart each and every day.' Staff members at the funeral home discovered that her body was missing the day after the service as they prepared to transfer it to the crematorium. Police believe that it was taken within a three-hour window between the conclusion of the service and the end of the business day at the establishment, the New York Daily News reported at the time. There were no signs of forced entry and no alarms were set off at the funeral home. Anyone with information is asked to call 210-225-8477. Jillian Michaels has revealed more details about the fight that broke out between her and the crew of a luxury yacht during a $60,000 vacation on the Amalfi Coast. The celebrity trainer claims the boat company held her and five friends 'hostage' as they demanded more money, claiming the 'mafia in Capri' had depleted their funds. Last week the celebrity trainer gave DailyMail.com exclusive footage that showed her arguing with a crew member on the luxury yacht, called 'The Never One'. And now Michaels is revealing how 12 scheduled days in paradise quickly turned into a 'very scary situation' in less than a week. Jillian Michaels has revealed more details about the fight that broke out between her and the crew of a luxury yacht during a $60,000 vacation on the Amalfi Coast Michaels was filmed holding her ground with a yacht crew who demanded more money, despite already paying them $60,000 to sail the Amalfi Coast The former Biggest Loser star said the boat looks 'amazing' when she first saw pictures of The Never One and booked the trip online. But Michaels, 43, said they were horrified to find that the boat was in 'total disarray' when they arrived for their vacation. 'It's filthy, dirty, things are broken, the air doesn't work, there's no hot water, there's no electricity,' she told Inside Edition. Michaels and her friends were outraged, but the crew promised to fix everything. 'They said, "We'll take care of everything and we'll give you some money back. And you have nowhere to go,'" she recalled. 'So we said, "All right, fair enough"'. But by the fourth day, nothing had been fixed and the crew was claiming it was Michaels and her friends who owed them money. Suddenly they were being billed for docking fees, fuel, and drink, allegedly claiming that the gas money had been drained by mobsters in Capri. Michaels alleged that the crew then threatened to end the holiday if she did not pay them 6,000 euros. The wellness expert said she booked the Never One yacht (pictured) through a company called CharterWorld LLP online, but later came to learn that the boat was filthy, had no hot water or wi-fi and had electrical problems Michaels said the yacht broker said in an email (pictured) that 'Capri is like mafia in particular', adding a winking face Michaels posted photos of what she claims to be of the disgusting boat online (pictured). She said she paid $60k for the yacht for 12 days Pictured: Holes in wooded surfaces said to be on the yacht that Michaels rented She said the crew told her they had burned through more than half of the fuel by the third day of the 12-day trip, traveling no more than 70 nautical miles and docking for four nights. By the fifth day, Michaels and her group were told the whole tank was empty. 'That's when I took out my phone and started recording everything,' she said. 'They started freaking out and trying to shut off the camera.' In the footage Michaels can be heard arguing with a crew member as she insists for the interaction to be filmed and claims she is being scammed and held hostage. 'You are essentially holding us hostage on the boat. You won't let us down, you won't let us go to dinner,' she tells them in the clip. 'I'm asking you for the 50th time, what do you need the money for?' Michaels and her group, which included friends, family members, and her daughter, decided to leave the boat and checked into a hotel that night, saying she 'feared for our safety'. Michaels was on holiday with her daughter, family members and friends last week Michaels' friends and family left on the dock after the harrowing incident. The trainer said they booked a hotel on the fifth night of what was supposed to be a 12-day boat trip Pictured are what appears to be dirtied panels of the said yacht The Biggest Loser star said the craft had no hot water or wi-fi and had electrical problems. Pictured: What appears to be an exposed electrical outlet Photos appear to show rusted walls, blackened substances at the bottom of a fridge, loose electrical wires and holes in wood surfaces Michaels shared the photos to warn her followers about online scams and shared tips on what they could do to protect themselves from being victims of such circumstances Speaking to the DailyMail.com last week, Michaels said in an email: 'We are doing ok. Feeling really grateful to have our loved ones and health. 'I havent left the country yet and I am truly unclear of how far these individuals will go as I was physically intimidated and threatened in emails.' Michaels said she booked the Never One yacht through a company called CharterWorld LLP and was aided by a broker named Amanda Brilliante. Brilliante, the yacht broker, said in an email that 'Capri is like mafia in particular', adding a winking face. Michaels said she has since reported the company to the FBI and the US State Department. The fitness guru said she hopes that by speaking out, she can help others avoid a similar situation. 'These scams are becoming extremely prevalent and theyre scary, particularly when youre with your family in another country, so be especially careful when you are dealing with rentals of any kind,' she wrote on her Facebook last week. Michaels advised her followers to demand a FaceTime interview before a trip so they can see the place in real time Michaels contacted the US Embassy American Citizen Services after the showdown Michaels advised her followers to demand a FaceTime interview before a trip so they can see the place in real time. She also recommends investigating 'as much as possible beforehand' and contacting your embassy if things do go awry. Michaels said she contacted the US Embassy American Citizen Services after the showdown. 'They have been enormously helpful in protecting my family and helping us with this whole ordeal,' she said. CharterWorld said in a statement that they 'strongly disagree with Ms Michaels' version of events'. 'Ms Michaels has embarked on a media campaign through a series of public posts listing unfounded allegations designed to smear the excellent reputation of CharterWorld,' it read. 'CharterWorld emphatically denies these allegations. Our broker, despite difficult circumstances, did everything reasonably within her power to try to resolve the issues on board during the charter, including securing a partial refund.' 'Ms. Michaels elected to commence the charter after personal inspection of the yacht and continued with the charter until it was terminated early by the Captain/Owner days later due to Ms. Michaels breaches of the terms of the contract.' A man found guilty of murdering his wife has been escorted from court after interrupting his son's emotional victim impact statement with cries of his innocence. Murderer Fernando Paulino, 56, claimed on Wednesday he didn't kill ex-wife Teresa Mancuso, 49, who was found stabbed 16 times in her stomach, chest and back. The flight attendant's bloodied body was found inside her elderly parents' home in Reservoir, Melbourne, in 2013. 'It's tragic and horrific what happened to mum but I didn't do it,' Paulino said to his son before being removed from the Supreme Court of Victoria on Wednesday. 'You know I didn't do it': Fernando Paulino was dragged from court after interrupting his son's emotional victim impact statement with cries of his innocence The 56-year-old was found guilty of murdering his ex-wife, flight attendant Teresa Mancuso Luke Paulino was trying to read a statement about his mother's death when his father yelled out during a pre-sentence hearing. 'You know I didn't do it Luke,' Paulino said. 'One day they will find out the truth.' Supporters of Ms Mancuso erupted in cheers as a guilty verdict was delivered to the Supreme Court in Melbourne on June 15. During the month-long trial, witnesses including the couple's two sons told the court Paulino repeatedly threatened Ms Mancuso's life. The prosecution alleged Paulino was driven by hatred of his ex-wife and was enraged over family court proceedings to split their assets. They alleged he feared losing the family home and two factories. He also allegedly told one of his sons: 'She'll die before I give her anything'. During the month-long trial, witnesses including the couple's two sons told the court Paulino repeatedly threatened Ms Mancuso's life Witnesses, including both sons, told the jury Paulino repeatedly stalked Ms Mancuso, insulted her and made nuisance phone calls in the lead-up to her death. Paulino tried to blacken her name, inviting his sons to watch a pornographic video on his phone, claiming it was their mother performing oral sex on a man. The jury heard Paulino also asked his two sons to take a DNA test because he didn't trust his ex-wife. Daniel Paulino told the jury his dad had threatened to kill his mum, or himself, at least five to 10 times. Luke Paulino said he would call her 'slut' and 'bitch' interchangeably. 'He'd say, 'Your mum's done this to us, she's destroyed this family, I'm going to kill her',' Daniel told the court. They claimed he stalked her, insulted her and made nuisance phone calls in the lead-up to her death. The defence maintained while Paulino acted poorly after the split, he was not a murderer and there was no forensic evidence linking him to the crime. A new study on a 400-million-year-old fish fossil has found a jaw structure that is part of the evolutionary lineage linked to humans. The research by the Australian National University, which is published in Scientific Reports, is based on CT scans of the fossil, which came from ancient limestones around Lake Burrinkuck, around 50km northwest of Canberra. Researchers used the scans to analyse the skull's internal structure and 3D printing technology to recreate the fish's jaw structure, revealing an upper jaw bone that is similar to one found in humans. ANU PhD scholar Yuzhi Hu with a 3D print of the 400 million year old fish fossil that is six times the size of the specimen ANU PhD scholar Yuzhi Hu said the joint from the ancient fish is present in human skulls today but is part of the ear. She added the fossil was the best preserved skull and braincase of a placoderm ever found. 'The fossil reveals, in intricate detail, the jaw structure of this ancient fish, which is part of the evolutionary lineage that ultimately led to humans,' Ms Hu said. 'The jaw joint in this ancient fish is still in the human skull, but is now part of the middle ear.' She added: 'The amazing preservation of the fossil allows us to trace the grooves carrying the blood supply to the jaws and brain.' An enlarged 3D print of the jaw from the ancient fish fossil, which came from ancient limestones around Lake Burrinkuck, around 50km northwest of Canberra A 3D print of the skull from the ancient fish fossil, the best preserved skull and braincase of a placoderm ever found The extinct placoderms had traditionally been considered an evolutionary side branch until the recent discovery of Chinese maxillate placoderms. The study's co-author Jing Lu was part of the team in Beijing that made the discovery before she came to ANU. Dr Lu said: 'The maxilla is the bone forming the upper jaw in humans. 'The Chinese fish fossils have this bone, demonstrating a much closer relationship to human ancestry than previously thought. 3D printout of the specimen in ventral view showing the jaws reassembled in position against the braincase A visualisation of the whole specimen in frontal view towards the right eye capsule 'But other internal structures were apparently made of cartilage, and are not clearly preserved, unlike the Burrinjuck skull.' Dr Lu added that very few fossils preserved such intricate details to allow the reconstruction of extinct animals. 'The Australian fossil helps us to interpret these aspects in the Chinese maxillate placoderms,' she said. 'Thanks to the international collaboration, we are making great progress to work out the sequence of key evolutionary innovations at the origin of the jawed vertebrates.' The Lincoln Memorial in DC has been defaced after a week of statues being vandalized around the US. The National Park Service says they discovered one of the pillars on the Lincoln Memorial with 'F**k law' spray painted in red at around 4.30am on Tuesday. It wasn't the only vandal attack on the National Mall Tuesday. The NPS also found undecipherable silver graffiti on a map of the Smithsonian Museum. The defacing of the Lincoln Memorial is just the latest attack on monuments in the wake of the violence in Charlottesville over the weekend. The Lincoln Memorial was defaced with the words 'F**k law' early Tuesday morning Defacing the Lincoln Memorial is a federal offense. Tourists are seen in front of the monument in a stock picture This past weekend, a group of white nationalist protesters showed up in Charlottesville, Virginia, to fight the city's planned removal of a monument in honor of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The demonstrations and chaos that ensued resulted in three dead. Protesters in Durham, North Carolina would not wait for any plan to be implemented for the possible removal of a statue of a confederate solider. Activists there ripped it down themselves. The Lincoln Memorial and the Smithsonian sites are being cleaned up. But the damage to the Lincoln Memorial is a bit trickier to remove, according to reports. NBC Washington says the Memorial's graffiti removal is being done by a preservation crew. The crew will use a 'mild, gel-type architectural paint stripper' so as not to damage the stone. The process will be repeated until its off, and it could take as long as a week. For the time being, the offensive missive will be covered over by paper as crews scrub away at the destruction. Another portion of the column where the red spray paint was found had this engraving on it, though it appears to be older Removal of the graffiti began by preservation crews soon after the offensive missive was discovered 'It's frustrating, not only for the Park Service but certainly for the visitors that come here, that anyone would vandalize any of our iconic memorials. Especially the Lincoln Memorial. Especially with everything that's going on now -- the calls for unity and people to come together,' NPS spokesman Mike Litterst said to NBC. 'To go to the site of the memorial to Abraham Lincoln and do that, that's disappointing,' he said. A child visiting the memorial said to NBC, 'They vandalized the Lincoln Memorial, this beautiful masterpiece.' The NPS said defacing the Lincoln Memorial is a federal offense. It's unclear if the vandals were caught on surveillance cameras. There was another portion of damage found on the same pillar at the Memorial. Someone carved out M+E but it appears the carving had been there for awhile. Advertisement Michigan has temporarily halted efforts by property owners to remove sand from an 80ft-tall dune that threatens to swallow up a home on the shores of Lake Michigan. The Department of Environmental Quality has ordered the Dressler family to stop the use of trucks to move sand away from the dune as it creeps closer to their cottage in Silver Lake, according to the Detroit Free Press. The state says that the sand in question is designated as a critical dune, thus requiring special permits to remove. 'They're killing us,' said David Dressler, 58, the property owner who has been denied permission to remove the sand. 'I'm so pissed off right now, I'm beyond words.' Dressler and his wife, Sue, own one of 11 homes along Lake Michigan that are being threatened by the dunes. Too late: One of the homes in the 1900 block of Shore Drive in Michigan has already been swallowed by Silver Lake State Park sand dunes The same sand dunes that make the Silver Lake area along Lake Michigan a popular tourist destination are threatening to devour another cottage The state of Michigan has temporarily put a halt to efforts by property owners to remove sand because they are designated as part of a critical sand dune Another one of their homes was swallowed up by the encroaching dune earlier this year. The towering, 80-foot tall sand dunes that are threatening to swallow up homes in the popular tourist hot spot near Lake Michigan are part of nearly 2,000 acres of dunes in the area. The dunes have already destroyed two homes in the Silver Lake area and still contain some of the wreckage from the property. Sue Dressler told MLive.com that the state of Michigan is encroaching on her property rights by not allowing her to protect her home. Cottage owners, Sue Dressler of Chicago and Dan Behm of Grand Rapids pose for a portrait near the approximately 80-foot tall dunes that swallowed one of Dressler's cottages in April 'They're killing us,' said David Dressler, 58, the property owner who has been denied permission to remove the sand because it is protected as part of a 'critical dune area.' A tractor is seen above removing some of the sand last month In Michigan, there are about 74,000 acres of sand dunes that have been designated as critical - this out of a total of 225,000 acres. 'It's absolutely pathetic that they can take my rights away from me,' Sue Dressler said. 'That has got to be against the law.' Dressler told MLive.com that the state of Michigan is encroaching on her property rights by not allowing her to protect her home 'It's absolutely pathetic that they can take my rights away from me,' Dressler said. 'That has got to be against the law.' Dressler and her husband said they were able to push back smaller and less active sand dunes near their cottages for about 20 years. But the last two years have been different. Experts believe that the prevailing wind direction has changed in the past two years, driving the sand dunes towards the direction of the homes. Wind direction, the amount of sand available and the absence of vegetation all contribute to the movement of the sand dunes, said Alan Arbogast, a professor and chairman of Michigan State University's Geography Department. 'It's easy to understand the uneasiness they feel about it,' Arbogast said of the owners whose homes are in the sand dune's path. Dressler is leading a group effort to stop the dunes before they swallow up any more cottages along Lake Michigan. Based on the direction the dunes are moving, 11 cottages are in the direct path of it (pictured are the homes under threat near Lake Michigan Before the state government intervened, financial and service-based resources were being pooled to remove dump-truck loads of sand away from the homes - at a cost of about $1,600 a day. 'I just feel so blessed,' Dressler said of the camaraderie of the neighbors coming together and the assistance from the community. But the state says that the Dresslers need to obtain a special permit for the removal of the sand. A state government spokesperson said that the agencies are working with the Dresslers to obtain the permit. The state will likely require that much of the sand will have to remain in place as they are protected given their critical status. In Michigan, there are about 74,000 acres of sand dunes that have been designated as critical - this out of a total of 225,000 acres. Officials with the Department of Natural Resources are willing to learn more about any proposal the cottage owners may have to slow the dune's movement, said Tim Schreiner, supervisor of the park division's Cadillac District that includes Silver Lake State Park. Notorious Australian terrorist Khaled Sharrouf was killed in an airstrike last week, along with two of his young sons, intelligence suggests. The 36-year-old's car was hit bit a coalition missile last Friday near Raqqa in Syria, according to 'credible information' received by the Federal Government. His sons Abdullah, 12 and Zarqawi, 11, were also believed to have been killed in the blast near the ISIS' 'capital', government officials told the ABC. Scroll down for video Australian terrorist Khaled Sharrouf was killed in an airstrike last week, along with his young sons Abdullah, 12, and Zarqawi, 11, (pictured left with brother Humzeh) intelligence suggests Photos of their bodies were also seen by a tight circle of Australian extremists, according to Australian law enforcement sources. One of Sharrouf's brothers also sent a message to Islamic radicals in Australian confirming their deaths were killed by coalition forces. Abdullah and Zarqawi were the first Australian children to be killed by a Western airstrike in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. His surviving children are daughter Zaynab, 15, who now has her own baby daughter, and her siblings Hoda, 14, and Humzeh, six. They are all believed to be trapped in Raqqa, surrounded by coalition forces gearing up for a bloody siege of the city that will leave no jihadists alive. The 36-year-old's car was hit bit a coalition missile last Friday near Raqqa in Syria, according to 'credible information' received by the Federal Government Photos of their bodies were also seen by a tight circle of Australian extremists, according to Australian law enforcement sources It was the third time in two years Sharrouf has been reported dead but later showed signs of being alive, but the first report to include deaths of his children. Sharrouf was first believed dead in June 2015 in a drone strike on a convoy in Syria, along with his friend Mohamad Elomar whom he fled Sydney with in 2013 to join ISIS. Whether he was actually dead was long debated, with claims his car was borrowed by a doctor and his family when it was destroyed. The jihadist then supposedly died in January alongside three other Australian militants in the under-siege stronghold of Mosul. Local news reports claimed Iraqi Air Force bombers leveled a compound after a tip from the country's intelligence services. Unlike the latest report, Foreign Affairs and Attorney-Generals Departments both said they could not confirm the accuracy of the January claims. Sharrouf appeared to be still alive when his six-year-old son Humzeh appeared posing with a sign attached to the body of a man strung up on a cross with cable ties It surfaced just days after a propaganda video using the boy circulated online showing him making threats to kill Australians while holding a knife His surviving children are daughter Zaynab, 15, who now has her own baby daughter, and her sister Hoda, 14 (top), and Humzeh, six (centre between Abdullah and Zarqawi) But the same day he was supposedly killed in Mosul, the U.S. Government all but officially confirmed it believed he was alive. The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control announced financial sanctions against him and Australian ISIS recruiter Neil Prakash, who was captured in Turkey in November. But Sharrouf appeared to be still alive when his six-year-old son Humzeh appeared in a series of vile ISIS propaganda in May. The child was photographed posing with a sign attached to the body of a man strung up on a cross with cable ties. The sign, which the boy is pointing to, reads: 'The Crime: Collaborating with Christians. The Punishment: Execution.' It surfaced just days after a propaganda video using the boy circulated online showing him making threats to kill Australians while holding a knife. Propaganda featuring his sons first propelled Sharrouf into the spotlight when in 2014 his son Zarqawi, then aged seven, was pictured holding up a severed head. One of Sharrouf's brothers also sent a message to Islamic radicals in Australian confirming their deaths were killed by coalition forces Humzeh, six, was captured on camera wearing a suicide vest and at times with a Glock pistol, automatic machine gun and knife in hand in the terrifying video. The boy was asked by his off-camera father 'How do you kill a non-Muslim?' and 'How do you kill an Australian?' Humzeh responds by showing his father how he would kill a person and can also be heard heaping praise on Islamic State. Propaganda featuring his sons first propelled Sharrouf into the spotlight when in 2014 his son Zarqawi, then aged seven, was pictured holding up a severed head. Before joining ISIS, Sharrouf served almost four years jail for his role in the 2005 Pendennis terror conspiracy to attack in Sydney and Melbourne. He was stripped of his Australian citizenship earlier this year. Police have found a hand gun, 'hundreds of rounds of ammunition' and a Nomads bikie gang jacket at the lavish Sydney home of John Ibrahim's mother following last week's arrest of her two other sons, Fadi and Michael. Federal officers allegedly seized a semi-automatic firearm from the property during raids last week, as part of investigations into an alleged international drug syndicate. The State Crime Command's firearm squad swooped on the home on Wednesday. 'They (the firearm squad) have found a gun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition of various calibres,' a police source told the Daily Telegraph. A paper evidence bag carried out of the two-storey property in the city's west had a written description that said: '1 x Nomads Parramatta MC Colours'. Scroll down for video Police have reportedly found a gun and 'hundreds of rounds of ammunition' at the lavish western Sydney home of John Ibrahim's mother (pictured) Federal officers allegedly seized a semi-automatic firearm from the same property during raids last week. John Ibrahim, who has not faced any charges, was spotted getting a coffee in Kings Cross earlier in the day A police officer carries a handful of paper evidence bags out of the Western Sydney home This silver loaded semi-automatic handgun was seized by police during the raid A police spokeswoman said the search warrant related to 'ongoing investigations by the state crime command's firearm squad' and no further information was available. In a statement released after Wednesday's search, police said they are investigating the 'illegal supply of firearms throughout Sydney' following last week's raids. 'Strike Force Kelmscott was established by detectives... as an ongoing investigation into the illegal supply and possession of firearms throughout Sydney,' the statement read. 'During the search, police located a loaded 9mm semi-automatic Beretta handgun, loaded magazines, and various calibres of ammunition. 'A 69-year-old woman was spoken to at the home with the assistance of an interpreter, but no arrests have been made.' John's brothers Fadi and Michael Ibrahim were arrested last week in Dubai for their alleged roles in the drug syndicate. They will be extradited to Australia and remain in custody overseas. John Ibrahim has not been charged and there is no suggestion he has any connection to the alleged drug syndicate. Both Michael and Fadi, who were arrested after stepping off a luxury yacht in Dubai on Monday, are reportedly set to return to Australia as soon as next Monday. The two brothers are expected to be joined by Mustapha Dib, Stephen Elmir and Commanchero bikie Hakan Arif, who were all arrested alongside them. A paper evidence bag carried out of the two-storey property had a description that said: '1 x Nomads Parramatta MC Colours' (pictured) Police scour through the hedges at the front of the property on Wednesday searching for more evidence The raids come as both Fadi and Michael Ibrahim remain locked up in a Dubai prison after last week's alleged bust of the $810 million drug ring Heavily armed officers guarded the front of the home as detectives gathered evidence inside The handgun and other evidence collected inside Mrs Ibrahim's home is displayed by police 'The Attorney General's office is keen to push through the paper work and get the Australians extradited out of Dubai,' a prosecution official said. 'It's up to the Australian authorities to deal with them, their (alleged) crimes were not committed in the UAE so these men are nothing to do with us.' Officials from the Australian embassy in Abu Dhabi reportedly flew to meet with the men in Dubai on Friday night. The five men are split between three Dubai prisons. Authorities say they prevented two tonnes of illicit drugs, including 1.8 tonnes worth of MDMA, from coming in to Australia from the Netherlands as part of the operation. The estimated street value was up to $810 million, AFP Assistant Commissioner Neil Gaughan said this week, but authorities managed to pounce on the haul in time. John's brothers Fadi (pictured with wife) and Michael Ibrahim were arrested last week in Dubai for their alleged roles in the drug syndicate Michael (right, pictured with John) and Fadi, who were arrested after stepping off a luxury yacht in Dubai on Monday, will be extradited back to Australia New analysis of satellite images taken in the weeks after MH370 vanished could provide a vital clue in locating the airliner and its passengers. Researchers at Geoscience Australia have finished examining images of 'possible man-made objects' floating in the ocean that were taken by the French Air Force two weeks after the Malaysia Airlines plane went missing in 2014. Analysts confirmed that at least a dozen of the objects are man-made, before using drift patterns to pinpoint three possible points of origin in the ocean far off the coast of south west Australia. The images, which were taken just outside the original search zone, were initially discarded based on data available at the time about the plane's flight path. However, they were passed to Geoscience Australia for analysis as part of a 'systematic process of review' after initial searches failed to find the jet. New analysis of satellite images taken two weeks after MH370 disappeared has identified three new locations where the wreckage of the jet could be located The images were initially discounted as outside the plane's likely path over the Indian Ocean, but brought back into the frame after a review of data The new search area adjoins one of the previous stretches of water that was searched for the wreckage of the plane Pictured is an overview map of where the four images were taken, just outside of the initial search areas, which are shown shaded in It is hoped the data will provide a crucial starting point for a sweep of a 9,700 mile stretch of water identified last November as the likely resting place of MH370 and the 239 passengers and crew. Malaysia, China and Australia agreed to suspend the deep-sea sonar search in January after 46,000 square miles (120,000 sq km) of seabed were combed without finding any trace of the doomed flight. Oceanographer David Griffin said that while the new analysis is helpful, it is far from definitive proof of where the jet might be. He said: '[The data] is a way of potentially narrowing down the search area with the very important caveat that, of course, we can't be totally sure that those objects seen in the images are actual pieces of plane. 'This might be a really good clue. It might be a red herring. But if you are going to search, then you'd be silly to ignore this potential clue.' The new analysis is based on French military satellite images gathered on March 23 2014 - two weeks after Flight 370 mysteriously veered far off course during a flight by Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau took over the search for Flight 370 from Malaysia a week later. Satellite experts at Geoscience Australia were not asked to analyse the images until March this year. Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 vanished in 2014 along with all 239 passengers and crew. It is thought the pilots deliberately steered it out over the Indian Ocean before it plunged into the water after running out of fuel Debris from the jet has washed up on remote islands close to Africa, allowing scientists to track their likely drift path and identify new potential search areas After confirming some of the objects were man-made, the CSIRO then investigated where the objects might have originated before drifting for two weeks. It identified three potential crash sites - 35.6 degrees S, 92.8 degrees E; 34.7 degrees S, 92.6 degrees E; and 35.3 degrees S, 91.8 degrees E. The Australian bureau's chief commissioner, Greg Hood, said in a statement: 'Clearly we must be cautious' of the lack a definite link to Flight 370. Malaysia, China and Australia have decided that the search will remain suspended unless new evidence pinpoints the wreckage's whereabouts. But seabed exploration company Ocean Infinity, based in Houston, Texas, said last week that it has offered to launch a private search for the Malaysian-registered airliner. Voice370, a support group for victim's families, said under the terms of the offer made to Malaysia in April, Ocean Infinity 'would like to be paid a reward if and only if it finds the main debris field'. They urge Malaysia to accept the offer. Bassam Hamzy is suing jail authorities claiming abuse of power and discrimination The jailed founder of the Brothers 4 Life gang has claimed prison officers are interfering with his legal proceedings by seizing material he needs to access, a Sydney court has heard. Bassam Hamzy, who is serving a murder sentence at Goulburn SuperMax, is suing jail authorities claiming abuse of power and discrimination. He appeared via audio-visual link at the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney on Wednesday complaining prison officers had confiscated a USB stick containing legal material from a solicitor, removed one of two tubs of legal documents from his cell and put restrictions on other documents he needed to prepare for his court hearing. The court heard the USB contained two 'prohibited goods' - photographs of other inmates, which Hamzy clarified was actually a newspaper article, and a PDF of the Koran. The mobile phone belonging to notorious NSW inmate and Brothers 4 Life boss Bassam Hamzy was found in the spine of a thriller novel in the library of Goulburn SuperMax prison last year 'These games that are being played are making a mockery of the administration of justice,' said Hamzy, who represented himself. 'Nothing in that USB contains prohibited goods. 'There are inmates... who have been charged with certain offences where their court material contains beheadings, executions, far more sinister material than an electronic copy of the Koran and one newspaper article.' Hamzy is serving a murder sentence at Goulburn SuperMax prison (above, file photo) Justice Geoffrey Bellew dismissed the extreme high-risk inmate's application to have the USB and other legal material returned, saying regulations hadn't been breached by the Commissioner or any of his officers. He also said Hamzy could make an application to prison officers to swap legal material held in his cell for other documents currently held in storage. Hamzy is due to return to court on November 20. News / National by Staff Reporter The South African model allegedly beaten up by First Lady Grace Mugabe has spoken about the attack.Gabriella Engels told MailOnline that she was 'furious' at the thought that The Zimbabwean president's wife might never face justice after she is reported to have left South Africa after she had been due to surrender to police.'I am scared she will never be held to account for what she did to me,' Gabriella told the publication from the home she shares with her mother, Debbie.'She beat me so badly, with all her power and might, I honestly thought it was the end of me.'Her security guards and bodyguards just stood and watched that happen, I was pleading with her for mercy, I was crying out for help at the top of my voice,' she revealed.Gabriella explained how she had been briefly introduced to one of the first lady's playboy sons by a mutual friend at the weekend, without knowing who he was.She said: 'I had been introduced to Chatunga Mugabe, but I wasn't told his last name so had no idea who he was and barely spoke to the guy.'On Sunday night, me and two other friends were with this mutual friend, who is also from Zimbabwe, and had not even seen the Mugabe brothers that evening, let alone been in the same room as them when this woman came in and just started attacking us.'I had no idea who she was. She was shouting at us to tell her where her sons were, we just kept repeating that we didn't know them, that we hadn't seen them.'But she did not listen to that and picked up an electrical cable and just started hitting us with it, including with the plug.'One of my friends managed to run away, but me and my other friend were just pinned up against the side of the room, I was on my knees and she beat me until blood was running down my face, I could taste it.'I thought I would fall unconscious. The power of the first blow to my head was just brutal. I thought she was never going to stop, she just kept going and going.'The room was full of security guys, including her bodyguards. They just stood there, in silence, watching it all happen. Eventually, I managed to get out of the room and run for help.'It was only later that Gabriella apparently learned the true identity of her attacker. Following the alleged attack, Miss Engels tweeted a picture of a wound on her head.She wrote on Twitter: 'What is a girl compared to a women beating you and 10+ body guards standing back leaving her to do this s***.'She split my head open in 3 places with an extension cord and used the plug to hit me.'Gabriella's mother, Debbie, told MailOnline: 'I am so proud of her for standing up for herself against such a powerful person.'I am going to feel very let down if it turns out that Grace Mugabe does not face justice over what she did. When I first saw my girl covered in blood after that beating, I almost collapsed.'Vish Naidoo, spokesman for the South African Police Service, confirmed to MailOnline that 'a female suspect' in the case made by Gabriella had been due to present herself to police for questioning at 10am this morning, after her lawyer contacted the authorities to make arrangements.Tonight 52 year-old Mrs Mugabe's whereabouts remain unknown, although her lawyer has reportedly told police that she had not left South Africa.'An investigation into the case will continue,' Mr Naidoo said, 'and the findings will be presented to the Senior Public Prosecutor in due course. A young mother-of-two is feared murdered after she vanished a week ago from a small South Australian town. Tanja Ebert was last seen about 8:30pm on August 8 near the farming village of Roseworthy, about 50km north of Adelaide. Police said the 23-year-old was believed to have got out of her family car and walked off, leaving behind her husband and two sons aged one and three. Police fear mother-of-two Tanja Ebert, 23, was murdered after she vanished from the small South Australian town of Roseworthy a week ago She also abandoned all her possessions including her passport, purse and phone but was carrying a 'large amount' of money. 'We have grave fears that she has been murdered, although were holding out some slim hope that were wrong,' Detective Superintendent Des Bray said. He said her husband, who she met soon after arriving in Australian in 2012, was unhappy with married life and told him during the car trip she didn't want to return to their farm. 'We are aware there had been some issues in the marriage, however at this time we are keeping an open mind with regard to suspects,' Superintendent Bray said. Police said the 23-year-old was believed to have got out of her family car and walked off, leaving behind her husband and two sons aged one and three 'As with matters of this type, we are making inquiries to rule out the involvement of those who saw her last. Unfortunately there have been no signs that she is alive, and we fear she has been murdered.' Police said she made no contact with her friends or any posts on social media that would indicate she was still alive. Two ambulances were dispatched to Ms Ebert's family home on Wednesday, which was searched and her husband Michael interviewed. It was not clear why. Police held grave fears for her welfare and mounted officers on Wednesday joined the State Emergency Service in scouring the area. Land near grain silos off Main North Road were part of the search grid. Ms Ebert is white with a German accent with blue eyes and blonde hair, and about 165 to 170 centimetres tall with a slim build 'We have searched this area near the wheat stacks about 1.5km north of Roseworthy - today, and have found no trace of this young woman,' Superintendent Bray said. Ms Ebert was seen days before her disappearance walking in a shopping centre with her family, walking near to her husband who pushed her children in a pram. Ms Ebert is white with a German accent with blue eyes and blonde hair, and about 165 to 170 centimetres tall with a slim build. She was wearing purple jeans and a blue cardigan on the night she disappeared. A Manhattan mother has been hailed a hero after she broke her neck while shielding her three children from a falling tree in Central Park. Anne Monoky Goldman, 39, bravely threw herself over her baby and two toddler boys when the giant elm toppled on top of them at around 10am on Tuesday. Goldman, an editor for fashion brand Tory Burch, was strolling through the park on an otherwise balmy morning in New York, with her one-year-old, James, strapped to her chest, while her two-year-old Grant and his four-year-old brother, Will, were in a double stroller. From left to right: Anne Monoky Goldman, holding son James, one, Grant, two, being held by husband Curt Goldman, and four-year-old son Will. The mother has been hailed a hero after saving her children from a falling tree in Central Park Good Samaritans rushed to the scene to help pull the mother and her three children out from under the branches The massive elm came toppling down on the family at around 10am Tuesday. Emergency services surround the fallen tree The family was walking along West Drive near West 62nd St when witnesses say they heard the terrifying noise of the tree fall. Jamie Brown, 42, of Virginia told the New York Post: 'You heard the tree fall... then you hear a baby scream.' 'They could have all been killed,' a witness said of Goldman's motherly instincts to shield her children from the enormous elm. Antonio Russo of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, told the New York Times, he was riding his bicycle when he saw the tree begin to fall. When the frightened mother came to, she started screaming. Anne Monoky Goldman (center) at the Jewelry Information Center's Gem Awards, at Cipriani 42nd Street in 2009 Crews clear the fallen tree Tuesday afternoon in New York's Central Park A wood chipper was on scene Tuesday removing the massive elm that fell across the road in Central Park The enormous trunk of the tree, ripped from the roots when it crashed down Tuesday morning 'She came to, and started crying and going crazy, and was yelling for the baby' said Russo. Within mere moments good Samaritans rushed to help Goldman and her children. Russo added to the Times: 'They were breaking the tree limbs off her,' he said. 'New Yorkers are great, man.' A spokesman for the FDNY said the mother hit her head trying to protect her children from the falling branches. She was taken to New York-Presbyterian with a fractured neck. Her brother in-law Ryan Goldman speaking to the Post: 'She's still going through a lot of treatment, she's getting a CAT scan and MRIs.' Left: Anne Monoky, along with Mellisa Feldman attending Elle Decor Party in 2008 Right to left: Anne Monoky, Sam Broekema and Kate Davidson Hudson attend a luncheon hosted by Chopard in 2012 Her son Grant cracked his skull, but his two brothers were released from the hospital by Tuesday afternoon. 'Nothing is more important to her than her kids. No question that when her sons recover from this, she, too, will get better. But for the moment, she is struggling,' her brother in-law added to the Post. Anne and husband Curt Goldman married in 2013, and have the three boys together. While Anne is a fashion editor, Curt, along with his brothers Ryan, and Scott Goldman, run a French spirits company, Cadir Noir Imports. Winds were mild on Tuesday morning, according to the National Weather Services, blowing a mere 0 to 3mph when the tree toppled. A spokesman for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation said they are investigating why the tree crashed down. Advertisement Elvis Presley's ex-wife and their daughter joined thousands of his fans at his old Graceland ranch on Tuesday night as they gathered to mark the 40th anniversary of his death with a candlelight vigil. Priscilla Presley, 72, was seen greeting fans before the event on Tuesday, as they arrived at the 13.8-acre Memphis, Tennessee estate for the gathering. And Lisa Marie Presley, 49, lit candles for mourners as they gathered to remember the King of Rock 'n' Roll, holding their lights aloft throughout the vigil, which continued on into Wednesday. Scroll down for video Greeting: Priscilla Presley is seen left on Tuesday afternoon greeting visitors to an overnight vigil in memory of her ex-husband, Elvis. They pair are also seen right around 1970 with their daughter Lisa Marie Presence: Lisa Marie was also present at the event, lighting the candles of some of the thousands of visitors that had gathered to remember her father and his impact on modern American culture Vigil: The visitors were asked to hold their candles aloft as they remembered Elvis at his former home of Graceland, the 13.8-acre property that includes his old mansion Priscilla Presley, center, former wife of Elvis Presley, is escorted by security after greeting fans at Elvis Presley's Memphis home Love: Fans had traveled from all across America - and the rest of the world - to pay respect to the memory of the departed King of Rock and Roll Memorial: Visitors are seen here taking part in the vigil outside the Graceland mansion, where Elvis died of a heart attack some 40 years ago Procession: Once they had their candles, the visitors began a procession around the grounds, through the graves that are there: those of Elvis, his parents and his grandmother Colorful: Many fans set up their own memorial sites at the festival, such as this colorful display Organizers had planned for as many as 50,000 people at the event, which runs every year on the anniversary of his death. But this year's caused some consternation as visitors were charged $28.75 to attend - a first, at an event that is usually free of charge. 'In order to keep everyone safe and ensure an enjoyable and meaningful event for all, we have worked closely with local, state and federal security authorities to establish new procedures that have been widely used across the U.S.,' Graceland's statement said. Some fans objected to the decision to charge an entry fee. Longtime fan Fred Schwarz of Springfield, Illinois, said Tuesday that he and his wife have been to several vigils and have enjoyed them. But not this year. He says fans should be insulted at the new charge. 'I looked forward to going down there this year, and they come up with all this,' he said. 'I don't want to even go to Memphis anymore. The people running that are not Elvis fans. They are in business. Corporations, they want the bottom line.' Mourners stroll past the grave of Elvis Presley as they gathered to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the death of the singer This group of music lovers wore red t-shirts emblazoned with the words 'Elvis Week 2017' Cheryl Penny assists Ann Lawlor (left), who traveled from England to participate in the candle light vigil where mourners gathered to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the death of singer Elvis Presley The pair sported their best Elvis Presley merchandise as they waited in line outside Graceland before the vigil A woman participates in a candlelight vigil for Elvis Presley at Graceland in Tennessee Singalong: Jerry Engelby sings along with a recorded performance of Elvis Presley performing 'America the Beautiful' during the candlelight vigil Tribute: Cassandra Fisher traveled all the way from Manchester, England, to pay tribute to Elvis - and dressed as a young Priscilla, complete with beehive hairdo - to do so Walking: The fans walked slowly and solemnly through the grounds as they remembered Elvis - though a few took some cheeky pictures while they were there Celebration: Visitors hold aloft their candles in celebration as they watch themselves being projected onto a screen behind a stage at the Graceland vigil Lighting the way: Although Lisa Marie was on hand to help out some visitors, others had to light each-others' candles so they could join in the event Others didn't mind the charge. Joe Makowski, who saw Presley more than 80 times in concert and came to Graceland after Presley died in 1977, said the cost of security justified a charge, and added that similar charges are seen at other tourist attractions. 'It goes along with the territory of the popularity of Elvis,' said Makowski, of St. Petersburg, Florida. 'There's a price for that as well, to accommodate all the people.' Priscilla and Lisa Marie thanked the crowd for their love and dedication before the amassed Elvis fanatics began a slow procession through Graceland. Thousands of mourning fans holding white candles then made a slow, silent walk through the graves on the property on Tuesday night. Priscilla was married to Elvis from 1967 until their divorce in 1973. Lisa Marie, their daughter, was born in 1968. Elvis Presley died of a heart attack on August 16, 1977, in Graceland, at the age of 42. Got it pictured: Photos, posters and statues of Elvis - as well as some wreaths (pictured far right, rear of picture) were on display throughout Graceland as people gathered to remember the singer Gathering: Fans gather before the vigil begins on Tuesday. It then continued throughout the night, ending on Wednesday Bust: This likeness of Elvis was also on display at the event For the seventh year in a row, Melbourne has been named the world's most liveable city as Sydney slips out of the top ten over 'fears of a terror attack'. The Victorian capital got the gong on Wednesday, notching perfect scores for healthcare, education and infrastructure. The top-10 cities remain unchanged from 2016 with Vienna and Vancouver rounding out the top three and Adelaide and Perth placing fifth and seventh respectively. For the seventh year in a row, Melbourne has been named the world's most liveable city as Sydney slips out of the top ten over 'fears of a terror attack' 'This is a win for all Victorians, who contribute so much to making Melbourne the best place to live in the world,' said Premier Daniel Andrews. The report linked Sydney's dropping popularity to rising fears about terrorism. 'Sydney in Australia is another city that has seen a decline in its ranking, reflecting growing concerns over possible terror attacks in the past three years,' it stated. 'Sydney now ranks outside the top 10 most liveable cities, at number 11, down from seventh place just over a year ago.' The rankings are calculated by assessing 140 cities and giving them a score out of 100 based on stability, healthcare, education, infrastructure and culture. 'This is a win for all Victorians, who contribute so much to making Melbourne the best place to live in the world,' said Premier Daniel Andrews elbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said there would 'always be naysayers and whingers' who would dispute the city's number one ranking Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said there would 'always be naysayers and whingers' who would dispute the city's number one ranking. 'But we should be very proud of the work we all do together to make Melbourne the best city in the world,' he said. 'Seven years at the top of the ranking is something many Melburnians will no doubt take pride in but it is worth noting how tight things are at the top of the ranking,' said Survey Editor Jon Copestake. Damascus, the capital of war-torn Syria, was named the world's least liveable city, followed by Lagos in Nigeria and Tripoli in Libya. Sydney drops in the ranks over terrorism fears - Martin Place in Sydney city pictured Vienna (pictured) and Vancouver rounded out top three, while Adelaide was ranked fifth Vienna and Vancouver (pictured) rounded out top three, while Adelaide was ranked fifth Toronto (pictured) rounds out the top four most liveable cities for 2017 Israel has begun construction of a 40-mile underground wall along the entire border with the Gaza strip to prevent terrorists from launching tunnel attacks. Cranes and work crews are digging holes and installing sensors and other equipment for a structure that is expected to stretch along the entire 40-mile border when it is complete. Gadi Yarkoni, head of the local Eshkol regional council, said young families were moving into the area because of the promised extra security offered by the barrier. Scroll down for video Israel has begun building an underground wall along the entire length of the border with the Gaza strip to prevent Hamas terrorists from using tunnels to nearby settlements Israel claims Hamas has built secret tunnels such as this one in border areas. Hamas uses the tunnels to train its fighters away from Israeli surveillance drones and satellites He said: 'I believe building the barrier is the right thing to do, to build in order to stop and to give an answer to the issue of the tunnels, and to the issue of the communities in the area. The surge in development in this area is unbelievable.' During the 2014 war, Hamas terrorists on several occasions made their way into Israel through a tunnel network that caught Israel off guard. Although they did not manage to reach civilian areas, the threat posed by the tunnels terrified the local population. Israel destroyed 32 tunnels during that conflict, and since then has made neutralizing the tunnel threat a top priority. Israeli defense officials have said little about the new barrier project or how much has been completed. At one construction zone, a sign said 'military zone - no passage,' and Associated Press reporters could not approach as cranes and bulldozers were at work. Israel and Hamas have been involved in ongoing clashes along the border with the Gaza Strop. Israel has been destroying houses in airstrikes in Gaza if they are deemed to threaten security Last week, Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir, head of Israel's Southern Command, which is responsible for Gaza, told reporters the project would take about two years to complete. He said the barrier would stretch several meters above and below ground and be equipped with sophisticated sensors. It's being built entirely on the Israeli side of the border. Atai Shelach, a retired colonel and former commander of the Israeli military's 'Yahalom' unit in charge of dismantling the militants' tunnels, said the new barrier would be a game-changer, but would not solve the problem on its own. 'It is part of a cocktail, or a combination of many other solutions,' he said. Neutralizing the tunnel threat will also require good intelligence and operational decisions by the army, he said. Otherwise, militants will eventually figure out how to get through. 'That barrier can prevent war,' he said, because it will be harder for Hamas and other militant groups to 'create surprises' that frighten Israeli residents. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since the Islamic militant group seized control of Gaza from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. Abdullah Sharrouf, then aged 9, is pictured here holding a decapitated head It was the photograph that brought home the terror of the Islamic State jihadist group to Australians. There he was, a little Caucasian boy in a blue T-shirt and checkered shirts, standing on the pavement. But instead of playing with a fidget spinner or Pokemon cards, Abdullah Sharrouf, then aged nine, was mucking around with a grown man's severed head. On Wednesday, reports claimed the boy, now 12, his brother Zarqawi, 11, and father, the notorious Australian terrorist Khaled Sharrouf, were killed by a US airstrike. In 2014, Sharrouf infamously posted the picture of his son wielding a decapitated head with the morbid caption: 'That's my boy'. And now Abdullah's woefully troubled life has been cut short, yet another victim of his jihadist father - if he wasn't already. Khaled has been declared dead previously, in June 2015, but Federal government officials today told the ABC the latest report was based upon 'credible information'. Scroll down for video Australian terrorist Khaled Sharrouf has been killed in an airstrike, along with his young sons Abdullah, 12, and Zarqawi, 11, reports claimed (pictured with brother Humzeh) Relatives had last year cast doubt on claims of his death. 'He's not dead,' a Sharrouf family cousin told the Daily Mail then. 'No way.' The ABC report said photographs of the clan's bodies were seen by a circle of Australian extremists. One of Sharrouf's brothers also reportedly sent a message to Islamic radicals in Australia confirming their deaths were killed by coalition forces. The reports came four days after the US military announced 26 strikes on ISIS tactical units, vehicles, and bases near the city of Raqqa. If they are indeed dead, Abdullah and Zarqawi would be the first Australian children to be killed by a Western airstrike in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. The 36-year-old's car was hit bit a coalition missile last Friday near Raqqa in Syria, according to 'credible information' received by the Federal Government Photos of their bodies were also seen by a tight circle of Australian extremists, according to Australian law enforcement sources His wife, Tara Nettleton, died in February 2016 from complications associated with appendicitis. In February, Sharrouf became the first Australian to be stripped of citizenship under new anti-terrorism laws. He flew to Syria on his brother's passport just a year after completing a four-year jail term for plotting a high-level terrorist attack in Australia. Khaled's surviving children are believed to be daughter Zaynab, 15, who now has her own baby daughter, and her siblings Hoda, 14, and Humzeh, six. They are all believed to be trapped in Raqqa, surrounded by coalition forces gearing up for a bloody siege of the city that will leave no jihadists alive. His surviving children are beleived to be daughter Zaynab, 15, who now has her own baby daughter, and her sister Hoda, 14 (top), and Humzeh, six (centre between Abdullah and Zarqawi) The wingtip of a Delta Air Lines plane clipped the tail section of an American Airlines aircraft on Tuesday at the John F Kennedy International Airport in New York. Officials from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey told the DailyMail.com that the wingtip of the Delta Air Lines Boeing 737, which was bound for Seattle, made contact with the American Airlines plane waiting for departure clearance. The American plane's 'stabilizer' was clipped and the Delta aircraft 'sustained damage to the left winglet' following the incident that took place shortly after 7pm Tuesday evening. The wingtip of a Delta Air Lines plane clipped an American Airlines aircraft on Tuesday in New York. Officials said the incident happened at the John F Kennedy International Airport shortly after 7pm. Damage to the American plane's right tail is seen above As the Delta plane maneuvered behind the American plane, the upturned edge of its left wing appeared to have hit the horizontal stabilizer on the right side of the tail of the American airliner, the pilot told air traffic control (ATC). The damaged right tail of the American plane Officials said the American Airlines Boeing 757 was waiting for clearance to depart for Dublin, Ireland. As the Delta plane maneuvered behind the stationary plane, the upturned edge of its left wing hit the horizontal stabilizer on the right side of the American airliner's tail, the pilot told air traffic control (ATC). 'The Delta at our three oclock we are pretty sure his winglet, ran into us as he passed behind us. 'We had a big jolt, and he has a big scrape on his left wing,' the pilot is heard telling ATC. Photos taken after the incident showed a large chunk of the American plane missing from the tail's movable surface. A Delta spokesperson told the DailyMail.com that the Delta plane was taxiing when 'the wing of flight 2503 came in contact with the tail of another aircraft'. 'The flight returned to the gate and passengers deplaned normally. Were sorry for the inconvenience to customers,' the spokesperson said. Delta Air Lines didn't comment on the estimated cost of damage to the plane. A spokesperson for American Airlines told the DailyMail.com that their 'maintenance team is evaluating the damage to the Boeing 757', but were unable to give an estimated cost of repairs at the time. Delta Air Lines didn't comment on the estimated cost of damage to the plane. Officials said both planes were put out of service. Damage (pictured) to the winglet of Delta's 737 appears less severe than that on the American plane Both planes were ordered to taxi back to their gates so passengers could board new aircrafts. There were 121 passengers on the American flight and nine crew members. The Delta plane carried 160 passengers and seven crew. No passengers or crew members were injured and both flights were delayed for six hours. The airlines couldn't provide any more information citing the likelihood of a federal safety investigation. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey confirmed that there were 'no fuel spills' reported. Officials said both planes were put out of service. A Manhattan businessman's wife and brother-in-law have been charged with his murder more than 20 years after his 'shocking' death. Howard Pilmar was 40 when he was stabbed 25 times in the neck, chest and back outside his East 33rd Street office in 1996 - and now his wife Roslyn, 60, and her 43-year-old brother Evan Wald have been indicted for his murder. Police thought at the time that his body had been knifed even after he had died - and noted that his wallet was not stolen after his killing. Prosecutors have alleged that Pilmar stood to gain a lot by her husband's death. Roslyn and Wald were formally charged at Manhattan Supreme Court (pictured) with second-degree murder yesterday She was given close to $1.5 million in a life insurance payout and came into her late husband's businesses and two homes, according to CNN. Howard - whose office was just by the Empire State Building - was the owner of the multi-million dollar King Group, including King Office Supply and Philip's Coffee Bar. Roslyn and Wald were formally charged at Manhattan Supreme Court with second-degree murder yesterday. In a statement, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr said that at the time the murder 'shocked New Yorkers' and 'mystified law enforcement' while the killers 'eluded justice'. He added: 'But, in the more than two decades that have passed since Howard Pilmar was brutally stabbed to death, prosecutors in my office's Cold Case Unit and NYPD detectives never forgot this shocking crime. Howard Pilmar was 40 when he was stabbed 25 times outside his office in Manhattan, which was just by the Empire State Building (pictured) 'I thank them for their dedication, and hope that this prosecution will bring closure to Mr Pilmar's loved ones.' It is alleged that dental hygienist Roslyn was in financial dire straits in March 1996 after embezzling $200,000 from her dentist employer. According to Vance Jr, she pleaded guilty to the theft in 1999. Roslyn's lawyer, however, said her client's money concerns were not evidence of a murder. Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Lederer, meanwhile, said the case is 'one of the most compelling' she has ever seen. According to the New York Daily News, she said: 'His throat was slashed. He was stabbed 25 times, some of the injuries were post-mortem. It was clearly a crime of rage. There was nothing taken from him.' She added: 'The mere fact that she was in the office that night was startling to everybody who knew her and worked there.' This is the moment a computer science student cried and prayed for mercy after being snared by a paedophile hunting group. Saiel Bashar, 23, travelled more than 100 miles from London to Birmingham believing he was going to meet a 13-year-old girl and sexually abuse her 'in her mother's bed' while she was at work. But instead, the university student was confronted by members of the vigilante group 'Paedo Hunters Not Glory Hunters' outside Sutton Coldfield railway station. Saiel Bashar, 23, travelled more than 100 miles from London to Birmingham believing he was going to meet a 13-year-old girl Footage shows the members revealing to him that they were exchanging messages with him through a decoy account, rather than him speaking to a teenager. They accused Bashar of bombarding the fictional teen with explicit messages and pornography for over a week before arranging to go to her house and 'take her virginity'. When challenged he prayed for forgiveness and wept hysterically as vigilantes read passages from '300 pages' of sickening chat logs, while police made their way to the scene. He allegedly offered to buy his would-be victim a mobile phone and give her lifts from school in return for sexual favours. After meeting up it was said his plan was to buy condoms and baby wipes then take the girl home and molest her while her 'mother' was working a night shift. Bashar - who claimed to be an international student from Afghanistan - said he had made a 'mistake' and denied having any sexual interest in children. But after his arrest he pleaded guilty to attempting to meet an underage girl for sex following online grooming. Footage of the confrontation was streamed live to Facebook on Friday, August 11 night and has been viewed more than 440,000 times. But instead he was confronted by vigilante group Paedo Hunters Not Glory Hunters in Sutton Coldfield It shows the bearded suspect pressing his palms together in prayer, begging the vigilantes: 'Don't call the police.' He bows and scrapes to one of the men, who says: 'Don't pray to me.' Bashar insists he is not a child molester and says: 'Sir, please. In my entire life, I would never do that kind of thing.' But one of the men replies: 'You're here now. It's against the law, mate. It's called child grooming.' The desperate pervert covers his face with his leather jacket and hangs his head in his hands. A vigilantes says: 'Only one place you're going and that's HMP, courtesy of our Queen and our country and our laws. And in our country we do not stand for what you are doing.' Footages shows him insisting he is not a child molester and saying: 'Sir, please. In my entire life, I would never do that kind of thing' Bashar begs them to stop filming and pleads: 'I did a mistake. I wouldn't do it. Show some mercy, please.' They reply: 'No mercy.' He says: 'Sir, I'm studying computer science, please.' One of the hunters laughs and says: 'Computer science? Well trust me, mate, you'll not be allowed on no internet. You'll be banned from it. Simple, done, finito.' The pitiful suspect bursts into tears and promises on his 'mother's life' that if they let him go he will not do it again. But they tell him: 'Don't work like that mate.' The group later called the police, and he is seen being led away and put into the back of a car He bashes his head against a billboard then turns his back to the camera, sobbing quietly to himself until officers arrive and make the arrest. A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police confirmed Bashar is being held on remand awaiting sentence next month. She said: 'Saiel Bashar, 23, from Stanmore, London, was arrested on August 11 in Sutton Coldfield. 'He was charged with arranging to meet with a child under 16 with the intent of sexually abusing the child. 'Bashar pleaded guilty at Birmingham Crown Court on Monday and was remanded in custody. He is due to be sentenced on September 11.' Porn stars who filmed themselves having sex in a confessional box have been cleared of wrongdoing in Holland - because there are no blasphemy laws. The grainy film was shot inside St Joseph Church and other areas of the Southern Dutch city of Tilburg earlier this year. It was later published on an x-rated website owned by Dutch porn star Kim Holland sparking a complaint by the church board. But to their dismay, the public prosecutor in the nearby city of Breda has now decided that the criminal complaint will be dismissed after ruling there had been 'no punishable offence'. Porn stars who filmed themselves having sex in a confessional box have been cleared of wrongdoing in Holland - because there are no blasphemy laws The grainy film was shot inside St Joseph Church and other areas of the Southern Dutch city of Tilburg earlier this year Kim Holland later took the clip offline and apologised to the church. In the porn film, the church and the confession chair were used to secretly shoot scenes. The couple were also filmed at other locations in the city, including a shopping centre elevator and a parking garage. According to local media, chief public prosecutor Charles van der Voort explained to pastor Jan van Noorwegen and vice chairman Harrie de Swart of the church board in a personal talk last month that it was impossible to prosecute anyone in the case. A spokeswoman from the public prosecutor's office said: 'While the recording is very offensive and shows little respect, there is no punishable offence.' The spokeswoman noted that the prosecutors looked for jurisprudence of similar legal cases but could not find anything. The film was later published on an x-rated website sparking a complaint by the church board In the porn film, the church (pictured) and the confession chair were used to secretly shoot scenes Blasphemy is no longer an offence and there was no question of unlawful entry into the church, the spokesman said, adding that no charge could be found to prosecute the makers and actors of the film. Van Noorwegen said he was disappointed about the decision. The pastor said: 'Of course I am not happy with this. Do we agree that the craziest things can happen in public buildings? Imagine. Be it inside a church, in the city hall or in a restaurant, apparently all is allowed.' The St Joseph church was spiritually cleansed in a special church service after the sex incident as the pastor asked God for forgiveness for the desecration of the premises. Local media reported that many parishioners as well as the diocese are still outraged. News / National by Staff reporter First Lady Grace Mugabe yesterday escaped arrest in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she was slapped with charges for severely assaulting a 20-year-old woman she had found with her sons at an upmarket hotel in Sandton, on Sunday.On a dramatic day, South Africa's Police minister Fikile Mbalula said Grace had handed over herself to the police after Gabriella Engels filed criminal charges against her at Sandton police on Monday."The law is about ensuring that everybody is protected and in terms of foreign citizens, they must understand their responsibility especially those who hold a diplomatic passport, but I cannot just go to Zimbabwe and beat up people there and then the matter will disappear"But from police side, we have had to act in the interest of the victims who have opened a case and we have responded," Mbalula said.There was confusion when the police corrected Mbalula that Grace and her lawyers were still negotiating with police before the First Lady would hand over herself.As a result, journalists camped at two different locations as police did not say which court Grace was going to appear.According to the South African media, police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo and police ministry spokesperson Vuyo Mhaga said grace had niot handed herself over by close of business fuelling talk that she could have been allowed to leave South Africa in the same manner that Sudanese president Al-Bashir did when he entered South Africa a few years ago when an international arrest warrant had been issued for his capture for crimes against humanity.Reports said Grace had boarded a private jet at Swakompund Airport to avoid drawing attention and arrived in Harare via Charles Prince Airport, near Mount Hampden.Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba was not reachable for comment while South African police insisted that she was still in South Africa.By the end of day Grace had not appeared in court while the South African National Prosecuting Authority said it had not received her docket, to further fuel confusion.Earlier in the day the ruling African National Congress (ANC) had applauded the police for taking action against Grace."We welcome the fact that the first lady, Zimbabwe (Grace Mugabe) is appearing in court for doing what shouldn't be done," ANC secretary general, Gwede Mantashe wrote on micro blogging site Twitter.South African Police Services (SAPS) had earlier in a statement, without naming Grace, it had opened a case against "a prominent" woman and it had to do with intent to do grievous bodily harm (GBH)."The investigation into this case has already reached an advanced stage. The suspect in this matter cannot be named because she has not as yet appeared in court."We request that the SAPS be allowed to conduct a thorough investigation and to follow due process," Naidoo had said earlier said, in a statement.The First Family's sons, Robert Junior and Chatunga Bellarmine, are resident in Johannesburg where they are studying following the decision to relocate Junior, who had been based in the United Arab Emirates.In June Grace was forced to make an emergency trip to Johannesburg to sort new accommodation for Junior and Chatunga after they were told to leave their plush residence following an orgy of violence which left one of their bodyguards injured.On Sunday Grace was accused by Engels who alleged that she was assaulted by Mugabe's wife in an upmarket Sandton hotel around 9pm after she went to visit her two sons with her friends she claimed were close to the First Family's boys.She said when she arrived at the hotel, one of Grace's bodyguards asked her and a friend to wait in a separate room before the First Lady allegedly started beating her."When Grace entered I had no idea who she was. She walked in with an extension cord and just started beating me with it," Engels said on Monday as she filed an assault charge against Grace.Engels said Grace accused her of living with her sons."She flipped and just kept beating me with the plug. Over and over. I had no idea what was going on. I was surprised I needed to crawl out of the room before I could run away."Her ten bodyguards just stood there watching, no one did anything, no one tried to help me."I am a model, with this scar over my face my whole career is ruined."I don't know how to deal with this, but I am trying hard. I am trying so hard to be strong," said Engels.Engels later posted several pictures of her injuries which she said were caused by an extension cable allegedly used by Grace during the assault.The pictures sent social media into meltdown as the world was abuzz with Grace's alleged assault of the model.Grace has in the past been caught in incidents of violence.In 2009 Grace was investigated by Hong Kong police for an alleged assault on a British photographer during a shopping trip to the city.She was accused of repeatedly punching Richard Jones - chief photographer of the Hong Kong photo agency Sinopix - who was on an assignment for the British Sunday Times.In 2014, Grace confronted journalists at a Singaporean hospital as she bid to block them from photographing Mugabe as he entered Gleneagles facility for his medical check-up.According to Mugabe, Grace missed last week's youth interface rally in Gwanda as she had travelled to South Africa for treatment on her injured ankle.Of late both Mugabe and Grace have been showing signs of exasperation with their sons with the Zanu-PF leader publicly warning Chatunga to lay off fun and concentrate on his studies.Grace, just like her husband, last month shared her agony with relatives over the continuing wayward behaviour of sons.The errant and fun-loving Mugabe's sons, despite their status in society, have found it difficult to lead restricted lifestyles and have often been pictured mingling with ordinary Zimbabweans at football matches and upmarket entertainment venues.Speaking at Grace's lavish 50th birthday celebrations that took place on Chatunga's then 18th birthday, in 2015 Mugabe said he feared that his son could be headed for disaster if he did not improve on his discipline.It was also revealed at those celebrations that Mugabe left it to his wife to discipline the children."I say congratulations to Bellarmine, Bellarmine Bellarmine, and I want to say in this environment perhaps it will give him more encouragement and greater sense of seriousness, that you are now a grown person, mature."Not yet eligible to marry, but to certainly devote to your studies with greater seriousness, we want you to go through. You're "A"Level, let us not see you fail."The constant retreats to restaurants, refusing to eat at home should stop now," Mugabe said then.As if to confirm his father's fears, Chatunga gave the gathered guests at the bash a glimpse of his lack of maturity - while giving a speech at the party.Rather thoughtlessly, the then 18-year-old directed people to give him applause because he was "handsome".Chatunga was expelled from a top Harare private school, St Georges College, in 2013 - over gross-indiscipline, prompting his parents to resort to home schooling.During an interview that the First Family had with South African journalist Dali Tambo a few years ago, Grace also revealed that her son preferred spending time playing video games rather than studying.In 2009, Chatunga reportedly flunked his Grade 7 examinations, managing to score 14 points in the exams at the prestigious Hartmann House - and ranking among the very few students who failed in his class.While Mugabe was a high flier at school, earning several academic achievements in the process, only his daughter Bona appears to have taken after him.She is a holder of an Accountancy degree and made her family proud when she wed pilot Simba Chikore in 2015. - A Perth man has been found guilty of murdering his on-and-off partner of 10 years after they argued about the quality of the methamphetamine they had taken. Damien Couzens went on trial in the Supreme Court of Western Australia, charged with murdering 42-year-old Jody Websdale, who was found with ligature marks around her neck in the courtyard of her Midland unit in March last year. The court heard the pair had both taken meth, she had also taken other drugs including cannabis and benzodiazepenes, while he had also drunk alcohol. Jody Websdale (left), pictured with her son Kirk Ugle before her death in March last year 'I don't know what I'm capable of doing when I'm under the influence of drugs,' Couzens said A visitor who heard them shouting about the quality of the meth later looked outside to the courtyard to check on them and saw Couzens standing over Ms Websdale holding a broom or a pole as she lay face down, saying 'get up' and trying to wake her by nudging her with his foot. The visitor described Couzens as seeming 'really aggro' as he went back inside to make some food, closing the curtains behind him and turning up music. The visitor briefly left the unit and when he returned, Couzens looked 'really scared' and said: 'Help me try and wake her up.' Damien Couzens has been found guilty of the murder of Ms Jody Websdale in Midland last year Jody Websdale's four adult children Kirk, Sky, Courtney and Maddy Ugle attended the trial The court heard Couzens was aggressive towards paramedics and when police arrived, he told them Ms Websdale had hanged herself. He said in a police interview: 'I don't know what I'm capable of doing when I'm under the influence of drugs and alcohol.' Couzens will be sentenced on September 27. A gun-wielding man attempted to carjack a couple in their own driveway but the husband's quick thinking saved the day as this video proves. The CCTV footage shows the moment the woman, named as Anelle Hills from Midrand in Johannesburg, Gauteng Province, north-eastern South Africa, steps out of the car with her dog at her side. She had just returned home with her husband Roger in their white Range Rover. But a gold C-Class Mercedes Benz drives up behind them and pulls up parallel to them. A gun-toting man jumps out and runs towards them and Mrs Hills quickly jumps back into the car and her husband quickly reverses back down the drive, almost hitting the carjacker. Mr Hills continues to reverse at speed down the road, saving them both from the would-be carjackers. The carjackers drive after the Range Rover and the clip, taken from the couple's security camera, finishes. Their little dog was left standing forlornly in the drive wondering why they left in such haste. A gun-wielding man attempted to carjack a couple in their own driveway, this picture shows Anelle Hills get out of her car, her small dog at her heels The hijackers pulled up in a car behind and a gun-wielding man ran towards them but Anelle quickly jumped back into her car and her husband Roger quickly reversed to escape Roger reversed down the road at speed to escape the attackers and the carjackers followed Mrs Hills posted the video on her social media page and thanked her husband for keeping them safe. She wrote: 'Roger's quick thinking got us away quickly and safely!' Mrs Hills added: 'God's Protection is amazing.' The social media post has had more than 5,000 shares since it was posted online. It is unclear if police are investigating. Theresa May swiped at Donald Trump today over his response to bloodshed at a neo-Nazi rally - as she faced renewed demands to cancel his state visit invite. The Prime Minister said leaders had a 'responsibility' to condemn the Far Right after he reignited a furious row over his attitude towards white supremacists. Following days of pressure, including from senior Republicans, Mr Trump finally issued a statement singling out far-right demonstrators for violence in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday, that left a woman dead. But he appeared to revert to his original stance again last night by insisting there was 'blame on both sides' and the protesters included some 'fine people'. Theresa May, pictured on the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier in Portsmouth today, is facing renewed demands to cancel a state visit for Donald Trump 'There's blame on both sides,' President Trump said last night of a deadly Nazi rally in Virginia bringing stern rebukes from fellow Republicans Mrs May said this morning: 'I see no equivalence between those who propound fascist views and those who oppose them. 'I think it is important for all those in positions of responsibility to condemn far right views wherever we hear them.' The PM spoke out after a series of ministers and MPs broke cover to criticise the US commander-in-chief. Posting on Twitter this morning, Communities Secretary Sajid Javid pointedly said he 'learned as a child' that Neo-Nazis were 'bad'. 'Neo-Nazis: bad Anti-Nazis: good I learned that as a child. It was pretty obvious,' he wrote. Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson did not seek to veil her disdain. 'The President of the United States has just turned his face to the world to defend Nazis, fascists and racists. For shame,' she said. Prisons minister Sam Gyimah posted: 'Words matter. Silence matters. We must call out hate - unambiguously - to preserve the free & tolerant society many have fought & die for. 'The 'leader of the free world' loses moral authority when he cannot call fascism by its name.' Speaking on a visit to Cumbria, Jeremy Corbyn said: 'What happened was a group of the far-right turned up in Charlottesville - KKK supporters, Nazis, white supremacists - in order to cause trouble. 'A group of people objected to their presence and there is no equivalence between both sides.' He went on: 'I hope president Trump will recognise he is the president of the United States. And that includes all of the people of the United States.' Violence erupted on Saturday after a group of far-right extremists marched against a decision to remove a statue of a Confederate general. There were brutal clashes with anti-Nazi protesters, with police deploying tear gas in a bid to clear the streets. But a silver car was then driven through a group of fleeing anti-fascists. Video showed the vehicle ramming into the crowd at high speed and victims crying out in pain as they desperately sought medical help. Heather Heyer, 32, later died when a car was driven into a crowd of anti-fascist demonstrators. James Alex Fields, 20, has been charged with second degree murder. Downing Street made clear earlier this week that the Prime Minister 'condemned the Far Right' over the incident. But she is facing calls to go further by cancelling the invitation for the President to make a state visit to the UK. Shadow defence secretary Nia Griffith tweeted: 'A state visit by DonaldTrump would shame this country and betray all we stand for. Theresa May should revoke the invitation immediately.' Nottingham South MP Lilian Greenwood said Mr Trump's comments were 'sickening' and a 'new low'. 'When will UK Govt admit he should never had been invited for a state visit?' she wrote on Twitter. Communities Secretary Sajid Javid jibed at Mr Trump after he reignited a furious row over his initial failure specifically to condemn white supremacists Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson did not seek to hide her disdain for Mr Trump Mr Javid and Ms Davidson hit out at Mr Trump over his refusal to single out the white supremacists for blame The vehicle was driven into a crowd of pedestrians at the Charlottesville protest The car then reversed at high speeds, and witnesses say it ran back over pedestrians Referring to a visa questionnaire given to tourists visiting America, MP for Rhondda Chris Bryant said: 'May cd rescue smidgen of moral authority now by rescinding Trump invite. After all US immigration ask 'are u or have u ever been a Nazi?'' No10 insisted nothing had changed and the invitation to Mr Trump had been issued. Mr Trump faced heavy criticism in the immediate wake of the unrest after he said there was blame on 'many sides'. He took two days to condemn the actions of the far-right groups in particular, eventually branding the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists as 'repugnant to everything that we hold dear as Americans' in a statement on Monday. However, during a boisterous press conference at his Manhattan residence on Tuesday the president appeared to have reverted to his previous position. He acknowledged there were 'some very bad people' among the statue protesters, but added: 'You also had people that were very fine people, on both sides'. The decision to offer a state visit to her US counterpart shortly after he took office has already been controversial. The visit had been expected to take place in the spring, but has now seemingly been put on hold. Senior government sources have indicated there is no prospect of it happening until next year, with claims that Mr Trump is unwilling to face protests. Michael Burdon, 41, has fatally shot himself at a property police were searching, shortly after police held a media conference into the disappearance of Tanja Ebert (pictured) A 41-year-old man has been found dead just days after a young mother-of-two went missing, sparking a police murder investigation. Police have linked the death of Michael Burdon in Mannahill, almost 360km north-east of Adelaide, to the disappearance of Tanja Ebert. Mr Burdon, who is believed to be Ms Ebert's husband, suffered a single gunshot wound, hours after police gave a press conference announcing a murder investigation into the woman's disappearance. Police were on the property at the time to search for evidence and interview Mr Burdon. As a result, the man's suicide has been labelled a death in custody. The couple's two young children were also at the property when Mr Burdon died, but were not harmed and have been taken to stay with family. Scroll down for video Michael Burdon (right) is believed to have been the husband of Ms Ebert (left), who vanished eight days ago Two ambulances were dispatched to the home after the shot was fired, but South Australia Ambulance refused to comment on the circumstances that led to the ambulances being called to the property. Ms Ebert was last seen about 8.30pm on August 8 near the farming village of Roseworthy, about 50km north of Adelaide. It has been revealed that it was her family in Germany and not her husband who initially contacted police after they were unable to reach her. Police said the 23-year-old is believed to have got out of her family car on August 8 and walked off, leaving behind her husband and two sons aged one and three. She also abandoned all her possessions including her passport, purse and phone but was carrying a 'large amount' of money. Police searched Ms Ebert's family home and interviewed Michael Burdon (pictured), who is believed to be her husband, on Wednesday afternoon 'We have grave fears that she has been murdered, although we're holding out some slim hope that were wrong,' Detective Superintendent Des Bray said. Police were told Ms Ebert was unhappy about her life with Mr Burdon, who she met soon after arriving in Australia in 2012, and told him during the car trip she did not want to return to their farm. 'We are aware there had been some issues in the marriage, however at this time we are keeping an open mind with regard to suspects,' Superintendent Bray said. Police said the 23-year-old was believed to have got out of her family car and walked off on August 8, leaving behind Mr Burdon and their two sons aged one and three 'As with matters of this type, we are making inquiries to rule out the involvement of those who saw her last. Unfortunately there have been no signs that she is alive, and we fear she has been murdered.' Police said she made no contact with her friends or left any posts on social media that would indicate she was still alive. Two ambulances were dispatched to Ms Ebert's family home on Wednesday, which was searched, and her Mr Burdon was interviewed. It was not clear why at the time. Police held grave fears for her welfare and mounted officers on Wednesday joined the State Emergency Service in scouring the area. Land near grain silos off Main North Road were part of the search grid. Mr Burdon told police Ms Ebert was unhappy about her life with him when she left the car on August 8 'We have searched this area near the wheat stacks about 1.5km north of Roseworthy - today, and have found no trace of this young woman,' Superintendent Bray said. Ms Ebert was seen days before her disappearance walking in a shopping centre with her family, walking near to her husband who pushed their children in a pram. Ms Ebert is white with a German accent with blue eyes and blonde hair, and about 165 to 170 centimetres tall with a slim build. She was wearing purple jeans and a blue cardigan on the night she disappeared. Advertisement With tears and tributes, hundreds of purple-clad residents packed an historic Charlottesville theater to remember the 32-year-old woman killed when a suspected white nationalist crashed his car into anti-racist demonstrators. Heather Heyer, a paralegal whom colleagues said was dedicated to social justice, was killed after clashes on Saturday between white nationalists attending a 'Unite the Right' gathering and counter-protesters. James Fields, a 20-year-old Ohio man, has been charged with her murder. About 1,000 people turned out for her funeral on Wednesday, during which her family and friends paid tribute in a series of eulogies. Perhaps the most moving speech of all came from her mother, Susan Bro, who promised to continue fighting hate in her daughter's memory. 'They tried to kill my child to shut her up. Well, guess what? You just magnified her,' Bro said, causing the audience to break out in a standing ovation. Neo-Nazis had threatened to attend the service, but made no such showing when the time came. Susan Bro, the mother of Charlottesville victim Heather Heyer, speaks at her memorial on Wednesday The memorial for Heyer was held at a theater in downtown Charlottesville, near where the 32-year-old paralegal was mowed down by a car driven by a white supremacist Attendees to the event wore purple in memory of Heyer. Above, mourners observe a moment of silence for Heyer outside the theater on Wednesday Heyer (pictured) was a Charlottesville resident and legal assistant whose mother described her daughter as a courageous, principled woman and firm believer in justice and equality Heyer's grandfather said his granddaughter always wanted fairness, even from a young age. Elwood Shrader said at a memorial service for Heather Heyer that she showed her passion for equality at an early age and swiftly called out something that wasn't right. He told about 1,000 mourners gathered inside a theater in Charlottesville that she wanted respect for everyone and believed all lives matter. Mark Heyer, her father, began speaking to the audience by saying no father should have to bury his child. He said his daughter wanted to 'put down hate.' The service for Heyer was held at the theater in downtown Charlottesville, the sight of the deadly rally on Saturday. Attendees wore purple, Heyer's favorite color, in her memory. Mark Heyer said, 'Heather's passion extended to her ideas and her thoughts. She could tell if someone wasn't being straight with her and she'd call them on it.' President Donald Trump tweeted for the first time about Heyer, calling her 'beautiful and incredible' and a 'truly special young woman.' He said 'she will be long remembered by all!' Trump told reporters Tuesday that he planned to reach out to Heyer's family. The White House did not respond to questions Wednesday about whether Trump has contacted Heyer's family. Mark Heyer (pictured), her father, told the audience that no father should have to bury his child. He said his daughter wanted to 'put down hate.' Above, a look at the program for Heyer's memorial on Wednesday. Among the speakers were her grandfather, father, two cousins, a friend, a co-worker and her mother People walk past a picture of Heather Heyer as they arrive for her memorial service on Wednesday A member of the clergy holds a picture of Heather Heyer as they stand outside of her memorial service on Wednesday People line up to attend the memorial service for Heather Heyer on Wednesday Anna Quillon hands out purple pieces of purple cloth outside the memorial service for Heather Heyer, on Wednesday Heyer was a Charlottesville resident and legal assistant whose mother described her daughter as a courageous, principled woman and firm believer in justice and equality. Heyer was among the hundreds of protesters who had gathered Saturday in Charlottesville to decry what was believed to be the largest gathering of white supremacists in a decade - including neo-Nazis, skinheads and Ku Klux Klan members. They descended on the city for a rally prompted by the city's decision to remove a Confederate monument. Chaos and violence erupted before the event even began, with counter-demonstrators and rally-goers clashing in the streets. Authorities forced the crowd to disperse, and groups then began roaming through town. Counter-protesters had converged for a march along a downtown street when suddenly a Dodge Challenger barreled into them, hurling people into the air. Video shows the car reversing and hitting more people. President Donald Trump tweeted for the first time about Heyer, calling her 'beautiful and incredible' and a 'truly special young woman.' He said 'she will be long remembered by all!' The Ohio man who police say was driving, 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr., was described by a former high school teacher as an admirer of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. He was quickly taken into custody and has been charged with second-degree murder and other counts. Heyer grew up in nearby Greene County and worked as a legal assistant at a law firm. Her boss, Larry Miller, said the young woman was active in the firm's bankruptcy practice and was like a family member to him. 'She's very compassionate, she's very precise, got a big heart, she wants to make sure that things are right. She cares about the people that we take care of. She's just a great person,' Miller said. People in an over flow area watch the memorial service for Heather Heyer on Wednesday Police keep watch inside the Paramount Theater during a memorial service for car attack victim Heather Heyer on Wednesday A woman passes out 'Heather' stickers near the site of a memorial service for Heather Heyer on Wednesday Her mother, Susan Bro, said she would prefer to grieve in private but felt compelled to try to follow her daughter's example. 'I miss her so, so much, but I'm going to make her death worth something,' Susan Bro told The Associated Press. Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas said this week that his department is working with Heyer's family to ensure the safety of those at vigils and other memorials. Also killed Saturday were two Virginia State Police troopers who were aboard a helicopter that was providing video of the event before it broke off to lend support to a motorcade for Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. The helicopter crashed outside of Charlottesville. An investigation into the crash is ongoing. A funeral for Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates has been set for Friday and a funeral for Lt. H. Jay Cullen, the helicopter's pilot, is scheduled for Saturday. Flowers are pictured on the street where Heather Heyer was killed on Saturday Heyer was among a large group protesting a white supremacy rally on Saturday when she was killed. The white supremacists were marching against the planned removal of this Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville Car attack victim Heather Heyer's father Mark Heyer arrives for her memorial service inside the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville on Wednesday Bradley Underwood had bought the one litre bottle from the airport in Spain for his son - but while on the short flight to Manchester he drank half of it and was unable to walk off the plane when it landed A holidaymaker who necked half a bottle of vodka on board a flight from Malaga was so drunk police had to remove him from the plane because he couldn't walk, a court heard. Bradley Underwood had bought the one litre bottle from the airport in Spain for his son - but while on the short flight to Manchester he drank half of it. The 58-year-old labourer remained in his own seat on the Jet2.com aircraft on July 28 but crew said he was 'shouting' - although he was not aggressive or abusive. When passengers were leaving the aircraft once it had landed, Underwood was not responding to flight attendants so police had to take him away. Prosecuting at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, Kate Gaskell said: 'The defendant was sat in his own allocated seat but was not responding to requests from crew members.' Police were called on board and stated Underwood was slumped in his seat and his speech was 'slurred'. They said he was so intoxicated he was 'struggling to walk'. He was then arrested. Underwood, of Audenshaw, pleaded guilty to being drunk on a flight. Mitigating, Daniel David said: 'There was very little disturbance caused by this incident and there was no violence and he has shown full remorse for his actions and has co-operated fully with the police.' The 58-year-old labourer remained in his own seat on the Jet2.com aircraft on July 28 but crew said he was 'shouting' and later could not be roused in his seat He added he had bought the vodka for his son but decided to have a drink. Mr David added: 'He got on the plane and had a drink himself and then he found he had drunk more than expected.' Underwood then fell asleep. He said he was extremely embarrassed. District Judge Mark Hadfield said: 'I accept that when passengers boarded the plane you caused no difficulties for them. 'But something had happened on the plane because the crew had asked for assistance from the police.' Underwood was fined 200 and ordered to pay costs of 85 and a victim surcharge of 30. Judge Hadfield added that passengers 'partaking in using their own alcohol on board' is currently in the public eye. Underwood was fined 200 and ordered to pay costs of 85 and a victim surcharge of 30 for the drunken incident on the Jet2 flight to Manchester (file picture) Arrests for drink related offences at airports and on flights have risen dramatically. A total of 387 people suspected of being under the influence were arrested airside between February 2016 and February 2017 - up from 255 the previous year. Ryanair are now calling for a ban on the amount of alcohol passengers can consume before flights to prevent so much chaos in the air. It also wants to end the sale of alcohol before 10am which would spell the death of the early morning pre-flight pints but potentially lose airport businesses a substantial amount of money. Ryanair says the Civil Aviation Authority reported a 600 per cent increase in disruptive passenger incidents in the UK between 2012 and 2016, with most incidents ' involving alcohol'. ISIS fanatics have made a British female doctor the chief of a regional health department in Iraq, it has been claimed. The unnamed medic, of Sudanese origin, was promoted to the new position southwest of the Iraqi city of Kirkuk, making her the first woman to hold such a role within the terrorists' so-called caliphate. She was installed as the new medical boss after her predecessor was killed in an airstrike in nearby Hawija, a security source said. ISIS fanatics have made a British female doctor their chief of a regional health department in Iraq, it has been reported (file picture) The unnamed medic, of Sudanese origin, was promoted to the new position southwest of the Iraqi city of Kirkuk (file picture), making her the first woman to hold such a role within the terrorists' so-called caliphate She is said to have been one of a number of doctors who fled Britain to join ISIS, according to Iraqi News. In 2015, it was reported that a group of nine British medical students of Sudanese origin, including at least three women, had left to join the terror group. The women were named as Rowan Kamal Zine El Abidine, Nada Sami Kader and Tasneem Suleyman. The group, in their late teens and early 20s, were all Britons of Sudanese descent studying at the University of Medical Sciences and Technology in Khartoum, where it is feared they were radicalised. Flying from Khartoum to Istanbul, the group boarded a bus to the Syrian-Turkish border before crossing into the war-torn country. All nine of the students were born and raised in the UK and had been sent by their families to study medicine in Sudan. Some of the other students who have fled to join ISIS from a medical school in Sudan. Left to right: Rowan Kamal Zine El Abidine, Ahmed Ebu Sebah and Ismail Hamadoun From left to right: Nada Sami Kader, Mohamed Osama Badri Mohammed and Tasneem Suleyman They were said to have been joined by two other medics from the United States and Canada, also of Sudanese origin. Turkish politician Mehmet Al Ediboglu told The Observer at the time: 'We all assume they are in Tel Abyad now, which is under ISIS control. The conflict out there is fierce, so medical help must be needed.' He added: 'Let's not forget about the fact that they are doctors; they went there to help, not to fight. So this case is a little bit different.' Mr Ediboglu, who has met the students' families, said they felt the young Britons had been 'cheated [and] brainwashed'. Earlier this year it emerged that s many as 22 British students from the same university in Sudan had fled to Syria to join ISIS. The University of Medical Sciences and Technology (pictured) in Khartoum has been exposed as a hotbed of extremism for British medics studying abroad The University of Medical Sciences and Technology in Khartoum was exposed as a hotbed of extremism for British medics studying abroad. Its dean admitted that 27 of its students and graduates have tried to join ISIS and 22 of these are British citizens or residents with family in the UK. However, the university head subsequently claimed that the group's recruitment machine had been eradicated from the campus and reported that they had 'closed down the operation'. The medics crossed into Syria from Turkey in several waves starting in March 2015, reports the Sunday Times. Dean Dr Ahmed Babiker Mohamed Zein said said six medics, including up to 'four or five' with British links, had since been killed in Syria or Iraq. The UMST is an attractive option for British-Sudanese students because it charges around 1,500 per year for tuition - much less than the 9,000 UK fees - and its qualifications are recognised by UK medical authorities. A video showing a Saudi jet firing a missile at a Qatari passenger airliner has sparked outrage. The animated footage is being used by the Gulf country's state-owned broadcaster to explain to viewers what can legally be done if a Qatari passenger plane strays over its border. One option, which it claims is permitted under international law, would be to shoot the airliner down. Saudi Arabia has threatened to shoot down Qatar-owned passenger jets which fly over its territory according to a report carried on the Kingdom's State TV channel The animation shows a Saudi jet intercepting the Qatar Airways passenger aircraft The warning will increase the workload of Air Traffic controllers in Qatar to prevent their aircraft from straying over the border into Saudi Arabia and possible danger Four countries in the Gulf region Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the UAE closed their airspace to the tiny Gulf state at the beginning of June as part of a diplomatic and transport blockade. The alliance accuses Qatar of supporting Arab extremism and cosying up to Iran, which it denies. In the Al-Arabiya video, called 'Understanding the Qatar Airways ban', the voiceover commentary says the blockading countries have a choice about to do if their airspace is breached. They can either dispatch a fighter plane to force the plane to land. 'After which, its members may be prosecuted for several crimes, such as breaching national security and exposing civilians to danger,' the video says, depicting a plane with the Qatar Airways logo. The message carried on Al Arabiya has been widely condemned internationally The other option, it went on, was to 'bring down any plane entering its atmosphere which is identified as an enemy target, especially in military bases, where Air Defense is unrestrained'. A voiceover says that 'according to international law, a state that bans flights from entering its airspace has the right to deal with the violating plane in any way it wishes'. In this piece of footage, a missile is shown being fired towards a passenger plane, streaking over the top of it. The last passenger plane to be shot down was Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 which hit by a surface to air missile fired by Russian-backed rebels over Ukraine in 2014, killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board. Now on Twitter the Al Arabiya video is being widely condemned for suggesting violence against civilian passengers. Air analyst Alex Macheras said: 'It's shocking that a news channel would think it's acceptable to create and illustrate a passenger airline aircraft being blown out of the sky'. Another tweet said: 'Spreading terror into civilians is the goal which is the pure definition of terrorism.' Ibtesam Al Emadi said: 'Bombing a civilian plane!!! What is this called? Spreading terrorist thinking or not???' 'Disgusting! How low they have fallen., said another. Central to the Saudi-led blockade is the claim that the Qatar government is finding and supporting extremism. But as one commenter on Twitter, called NOUF, pointed out: 'After broadcasting the video and threatening to use violence, now who r the terrorists?' The embargo has forced Qatar Airways to cancel 50 flights a day and import food from Iran and Turkey Philippine police have killed 32 people in one day during 'shock and awe' raids - the highest daily death toll yet during the Philippine leader's brutal war on drugs. President Rodrigo Duterte has waged a bloody crackdown on drugs during his 14 months in power that has seen police and suspected vigilantes kill thousands of people. In one of the deadliest operations of the war, police reported killing 32 people in a series of raids on suspected drug traffickers across Bulacan province, which neighbours the capital of Manila. Duterte has since urged his officers to kill dozens of drug suspects every day. Scroll down for video Philippine police have killed 32 people in one day during 'shock and awe' raids - the highest death toll yet during the Philippine leader's brutal war on drugs. Pictured: Police round up suspects in October President Rodrigo Duterte (pictured) has waged a bloody crackdown on drugs during his 14 months in power that has seen police and suspected vigilantes kill thousands of people 'The ones who died recently in Bulacan, 32, in a massive raid, that was good,' Duterte said in a speech to an anti-crime organisation that has backed the drug war. 'If we could kill another 32 everyday, then maybe we can reduce what ails this country.' Earlier in the day Bulacan police chief Romeo Caramat held a press conference in Manila to publicise the raids, in which 109 suspects were also arrested. 'We wanted to shock and awe these drug personalities,' Caramat said. 'Other drug personalities will think twice before continuing with their drug trade.' Caramat insisted the police had killed the suspects in self defence, adding that pistols and grenades had been seized in the raids. 'We know we have done nothing wrong,' Caramat said. When asked how it was possible there had been no police wounded if the raiding officers had been acting in self defence, Caramat said: 'Don't ask me to explain'. 'We wanted to shock and awe these drug personalities,' Romeo Caramat, the Bulacan police chief, told reporters in Manila on Wednesday, adding 109 suspects had also been arrested. 'Other drug personalities will think twice before continuing with their drug trade.' Caramat insisted the police had only killed the suspects in self defence, and highlighted in the press conference that pistols and grenades had been seized in the raids. Duterte easily won last year's presidential election largely on a vow to kill tens of thousands of drug traffickers and addicts, which he said was necessary to stop the country's slide to narco-state status. Suspects are pictured in a cramped jail cell in April 'We know we have done nothing wrong,' Caramat said. He later told AFP that no police had been killed or wounded. When asked how it was possible there had been no police wounded if the raiding officers had been acting in self defence when killing 32 people, Caramat said: 'Don't ask me to explain'. Duterte easily won last year's presidential election largely on a vow to kill tens of thousands of drug traffickers and addicts, which he said was necessary to stop the country's slide to narco-state status. Duterte promised during the campaign he would win his drug war in three to six months, a vow that resonated with voters fed up with high crime rates and corrupt politicians. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has waged an unprecedented crackdown on drugs during his 14 months in power, including Monday's 'shock and awe' raids that killed 32 people Duterte then as president railed against critics who said it was impossible to quickly end the drugs problem by killing traffickers and addicts. But Duterte, who is limited by the constitution to serving a single term of six years, conceded last week that he may be unable to deliver on his campaign pledge. 'Look, these shabu (meth) and drugs, et cetera, cannot be solved by one man, for a president for one term. It has bogged nations (down),' he said in his southern home city of Davao on Friday. But in another speech last week, at national police headquarters, Duterte also signalled there would be no change in tactics. He again vowed to pardon police if they were found guilty of murder for killing while fighting his drug war. A wedding planner at a fairy tale Scottish castle scammed 130,000 from dozens of engaged couples in a sickening con to feed his gambling habit. Craig Williamson, 42, double and triple booked the 15th century venue before vanishing to Ibiza with the cash. For nearly two years he defrauded a string of couples, some of whom gave him 19,000 towards their big days at Guthrie Castle, Angus, a court heard. Craig Williamson, 42, is seen arriving at Forfar Sheriff Court after handing himself in to Dundee police on May 8 (left). Megan McNamee and Brian Juckiewicz (right) had to cancel their wedding after Williamson made off with 6,000 of their wedding fund He used the money to flee Britain but also gambled away thousands including blowing 5,000 in just one 24-hour spree. Williamson admitted the crimes yesterday at Dundee Sheriff Court. Victim Brian Juckiewicz, 27, had been due to marry Megan McNamee, 26, at the castle in July but their wedding was cancelled when Williamson vanished with 6,000 of their wedding fund after triple-booking the venue. The couple have rearranged for September after the cost of their nuptials was met by the castles American owner, philanthropist Dan Pena, 72. Mr Juckiewicz, from Dundee, said: The whole thing has been so stressful for us. I hope he gets what he deserves. Megan and I can now put this behind us. Williamson was employed as Castle and Estate Manager in November 2014 and was in charge of all events. In April he told colleagues he was going to visit his ill father in Glasgow, but they became concerned when he failed to answer his phone. Senior staff accessed his emails and found messages from Alice Cannon, who had given Williamson 19,000 for her wedding a week later. Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson told the court: This alarmed them... [they] had no knowledge of any such wedding booking. A missing persons inquiry was launched. Williamson had withdrawn 6,000 on April 4 and boarded a Eurostar to Paris before heading to Ibiza on April 25. He had been giving out his own bank details and had cheques made out to him. Miss Robertson said: In total 39 bridal parties paid a total of around 130,000. Williamson was employed as Castle and Estate Manager in November 2014 and was in charge of all events at the 'fairytale' castle (above) Kayleigh Ferguson, 32, from Ellon, Aberdeenshire, handed over nearly 19,000 for her wedding to Justin Foster in June. Staff found no record of the booking. Mr Pena paid for the big day. He has cancelled bookings for next year, and told police the company may go bankrupt. He has issued refunds and paid for weddings. Mr Pena said he was horrified when told what had happened, adding: Its very sad when you put your trust in people and they let you down. I felt sorry for everybody involved so when I had the opportunity to make right, I did. I will never understand how this kind of thing happens and why it happens. Not all the victims had been identified yet due to the lack of paperwork. Williamson handed himself in to Dundee police on May 8. He pleaded guilty to fraud. Billy Rennie, defending, said: He has made efforts to resolve this case from an early stage. Sentence was deferred until next month and Williamson was remanded into custody. News / National by Staff reporter Zimbabwe's main opposition, the Movement for Democratic Change party and pro-democracy groups have slammed First Lady Grace Mugabe over her alleged bashing of a model that she reportedly saw in the company of one of her two sons in South Africa.Grace, who reportedly sneaked back into Zimbabwe on Tuesday at a time when she was expected to face justice in South Africa, allegedly assaulted a 20 year-old South African girl, Gabriella Engels over the weekend using an extension cord while her bodyguards looked on. Engels then made a report to the police.Although presidential spokesperson George Charamba did not answer his mobile phone, some prominent activists of President Robert Mugabe's ruling Zanu-PF party like Stanley Kasukuwere posted on social media that the First Lady was now in Zimbabwe. It was not clear which airline the First Lady used although some aviation sources claimed that she landed at Charles Prince Airport from the Swartkop Air Force Base in South Africa.The First Lady's sons, Robert Jnr and Bellarmine Chatunga, who are learning in South Africa, were known for notoriety and lavish lifestyles. The duo was recently kicked out of the apartment block in in the leafy Sandton suburb of Johannesburg after they reportedly engaged in "unacceptable behaviour" that left a security officer at the block with a broken leg and arm, prompting Grace to fly to South Africa to organise alternative accommodation for them.'Explosive and discourteous temperament'In the latest case, Grace allegedly used her medical trip to South Africa to also see her children at the Capitol 20 West hotel in Sandton when this incident happened. Her husband told a rally in Gwanda, about 500km south-west of the capital Harare, that she had gone to South Africa for a doctor's review after her leg was injured in a freak accident at the Harare International Airport.Reports indicated that management at the hotel where Mugabe's sons were staying immediately forced Grace and her children out of the hotel following the incident.Meanwhile, the MDC led by former prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai criticised Grace saying that her behaviour was not expected of a person of her status."Grace Mugabe is notorious for her explosive and discourteous temperament, particularly when she is dealing with people who she perceives to be powerless and under her authority. She has got a penchant for abrasive and thuggish behaviour that is completely inconsistent with the decorum and decency expected of a First Lady," said MDC spokesperson Obert Gutu.Zimbabwe's image"On more occasions than one (sic), Grace Mugabe has conducted herself like a bull in a China shop. She has to be brought to order and indeed, she has to appreciate that she is not a law unto herself," added Gutu.A local pressure group, Tajamuka, said it was riled by the First Lady's action and was now calling for her immediate arrest wherever she would be seen."Grace Mugabe is now officially a criminal fugitive from justice. We call upon anyone who may know of her whereabouts to inform the nearest possible police station. In the same vein, we call upon every law loving citizen to do everything they can to help the Interpol to locate Grace Mugabe so that she may answer to charges of serious travesty of justice," said Tajamuka in a statement.The pressure group added that it had activated its structures worldwide "to be on the high alert and ready to assist to bring Grace Mugabe to justice".The MDC official added that Grace had further tarnished Zimbabwe's image.'I am not a hooker'"Zimbabwe's international standing has been severely dented by Grace Mugabe's criminal conduct in South Africa. Her act of violence is indeed, a gross and unmitigated diplomatic scandal. Grace Mugabe is a complete disgrace," said Gutu.An aspiring legislator based in the country's second largest city of Bulawayo, Vimbaishe Musvaburi, said violence does not pay."This whole situation is going to affect many people in both South Africa and Zimbabwe. Whatever form of violence should not be condoned, no one has a right to beat someone," said Musvaburi."Noone has a right to discipline another person's child in the absence of his or her parents and most of the Zimbabweans were embarrassed by Grace's assault of Engels."Engels told 702 FM Live that she was not in love with any of Mugabe's children, arguing that she was introduced to Bellarmine Chatunga by a mutual friend a day before she was assaulted."There is a rumour going round saying I am dating one of the Mugabe brothers I am not. Another thing I am not a hooker," said Engels. Yarra City Council Mayor Amanda Stone (pictured) said the unanimous decision to cease calling January 26 Australia Day was about being 'culturally sensitive'. In response, the Government has cut their ability to hold any type of citizenship ceremony The Government has banned a Melbourne City Council from hosting any citizenship ceremonies after they decided to stop celebrating Australia Day on January 26. The Yarra City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday night to no longer refer to the day as Australia Day in order to reduce 'distress' it caused to Aboriginal people. They also agreed to move their citizenship and award ceremonies to another date. An angry Government has since stripped the council of its ability to hold citizenship ceremonies at any time of the year in retaliation. Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Alex Hawke said the council should not politicise Australia Day. 'We are committed to ensuring that citizenship is treated in the 'non-commercial, apolitical, bipartisan and secular manner' which the Code mandates,' the Minister said in a statement. Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Alex Hawke said the council should not politicise Australia Day Yarra Council has been stripped of its powers to hold citizenship ceremonies at any time of the year (stock image) 'The instrument I have signed today means there will be no more citizenship ceremonies conducted by the City of Yarra on behalf of the government.' Those who would have had their citizenship awarded within the City of Yarra will now have to attend ceremonies in nearby councils. The Department of Border and Immigration will also hold ceremonies in the area as demand requires, and intends to do so on Australia Day 2018. Mr Turnbull earlier said he was 'deeply disappointed' by the Yarra City Council's actions. 'On Australia Day we celebrate what's great about our wonderful nation. An attack on Australia Day is a repudiation of the values the day celebrates: freedom, a fair go, mateship and diversity,' he told the Herald Sun. 'Yarra council is using a day that should unite Australians to divide Australians. 'I recognise Australia Day and it's history, is complex for many indigenous Australians but the overwhelming majority of Australians believe the 26th of January is the day and should remain our national day.' Anyone who would previously have become a citizen in the Council area will need to travel to other neighbourhoods 'Yarra council is using a day that should unite Australians to divide Australians,' Mr Turnbull said on Wednesday Yarra City Council, a municipality of around 80,000 people in central Melbourne, has voted to stop referring to January 26 as 'Australia Day' (Stock image) Yarra City Council, a Melbourne municipality of about 80,000 people, voted to implement a number of changes on Tuesday. Under the motions unanimously approved by the council, citizenship ceremonies or Australia Day celebrations will no longer be held on January 26 - a day referred to as 'Invasion Day' by many Aboriginal people. In its place Yarra City's nine councillors - of which four are Greens members - instead chose to hold a number of Aboriginal-themed events, with the decision made in the wake of a recent survey of just 300 people which 'showed strong support' locally. Mischa Coleman, a Greens member of the council, tweeted that Yarra City had taken the 'first step for big change' Mr Turnbull's outrage was shared by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews who called the council's decision 'unnecessary'. 'You can celebrate what modern Australia is and citizenship ceremonies are a big part of that - it's truly a magical thing,' he told the ABC. 'I don't think anybody should be trying to diminish that. 'I think we get the balance right (on Australia Day). We respect the traditional owners of our land, but we then get on in a really unified way.' Radio personality Alan Jones also blasted the council on Wednesday. 'They have no entitlement to determine when the national day is. They're irrelevant. It's a bit of a joke if it weren't so serious,' Mr Jones said 'This mob are rat bags. I mean there's four greens, two labors and a commie [sic],' he told 7 News. 'They have no entitlement to determine when the national day is. They're irrelevant. It's a bit of a joke if it weren't so serious.' Mr Jones said the survey, which reflected the views of 300 people out of the electorate's 80,000 residents, did not accurately represent the region. 'My maths are not flash but I would've thought that's about a 0.3 of a percent,' he said. The decision was made after a recent survey of just 300 locals 'showed strong support' for the change. During a dramatic meeting on Tuesday the council voted to implement a number of changes to the national day In a statement released onto the council website moments after the vote on Tuesday, Yarra City mayor Amanda Stone said the decision was about being 'culturally sensitive'. 'The overwhelming sentiment from our Aboriginal community is that January 26 is a date of sadness, trauma and distress,' Cr Stone said. 'They have told us that this is not a day of celebration, but a day of mourning.' The date when the First Fleet arrived to colonise Australia in 1788, January 26 has in recent years caused widespread controversy amid calls to 'change the date'. Protesters hit the streets on Australia Day last year to call on the government to 'change the date'. January 26, the day when the First Fleet landed in Australia in 1788, has been labelled 'Invasion Day' While the council refuses to call it 'Australia Day', they are yet to pick another name for the celebrations that meets their criteria nationally. Until then Yarra City Council has pledged to lobby the Federal Government to mirror its decision and move Australia Day from January 26 nationally. 'People can still have their barbecues and parties on the January 26 public holiday,' Cr Stone said. 'But I hope our stance encourages people to stop and think about what this date really means in the history of our nation.' Yarra City Council mayor Amanda Stone said the decision was about being 'culturally sensitive' The move by Yarra City Council follows an equally controversial one by the City of Fremantle in 2016, which moved the date of Australia Day to January 28. Like the Melbourne municipality, the council cited cultural sensitivities and calls from local Aboriginal elders that it was not a day for celebration. In June, a meeting of the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) voted 64-62 to lobby the government for a date change because January 26 is 'racist'. Ian Reynolds has been jailed for four years after admitting fraud A married conman who claimed to be an SAS hero to scam 30,000 out of two women he met on a dating website has been jailed for four years. Ian Reynolds, 42, spun a web of lies to lure trusting victims on Match.com into handing over cash which he blew on his gambling addiction. He told victims he had been in the Army for 22 years and was injured in Afghanistan by an exploding landmine - in truth he'd suffered a facial injury in a drunken motorbike crash. Reynolds led his double life for two years excusing long absences by claiming he was away on active service when he was actually at home 80 miles away with his wife and children. He was only caught when one of his victims found a photo of him with his family on Facebook, and the other woman rumbled him when he appeared on a website hunting false war heroes. Now has been locked up for four years and six months after admitting two offences of fraud against the women. Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard Reynolds was in a relationship with the two women from 2014 to 2016. He claimed to be a member of the Army's Special Forces and told them stories of his bravery in action. Reynolds of Blackpool, Lancs, told one of his victims, who was single mum, he was stationed in Germany and was soon to be deployed into Iraq on covert missions. He also made up sob stories about comrades who had died in conflict and said he picked up a facial injury after stepping on a landmine in Afghanistan. Reynolds even convinced one of the women he was an ex-Paratrooper and had a dog called Max he use to parachute with. He even had pictures to back up his stories. He was caught out after one of the women he was seeing spotted his name on a Facebook page exposing con servicemen Reynolds scammed more than 30,000 out of the two victims, who believed he was an SAS hero Once he had won the women's confidence and met their families, Reynolds started asking them for money. He told his victims, who both came from the Stoke-on-Trent area, he desperately needed cash for military kit he 'needed to survive' The conman also claimed he needed money to pay for his father's 'cancer treatment' and for travel expenses to attend a funeral of a non-existent colleague. In reality Reynolds was gambling the cash away. Prosecutor Caroline Harris said: 'The defendant took a total of 31,825 from these two women. 'He represented as being in the SAS. He used this and other lies to get them to pay him sums of money. One of the images the conman sent to the women he was scamming to convince them he was on active tour in Afghanistan and Iraq 'The defendant met the first victim on dating website Match.com. They exchanged messages and that evening spoke on the phone for four hours. He made references to the Army, but not in great detail. 'They met face-to-face at her home address a few days later and the relationship began. 'He told her that he was in the SAS and that he wanted her to know so that the relationship could work. In total he took 27,897 off the woman. 'The defendant met the other woman through Match.com in March of 2014 and conned 3,928. Ian Reynolds sent pictures appearing to be on service to his 'girlfriends' 'In March 2016 she saw him on Facebook in a relationship with a woman with children in Blackpool. He said that she had blown his cover. The defendant was then arrested.' The court heard while in a relationship with the victims, his wife had given birth to a child. Both victims read personal statements out in court about the devastating impact Reynolds' crimes had on them. One said Reynolds had become a father figure to her children and that he had even brought his own children and mother to meet her on a number of occasions. The statement added: 'I feel ashamed and guilty that I allowed this to happen to my family. 'My dad was over the moon that I had Ian to look after me, now he worries more than ever. 'I thought 'what is money?' when his life was on the line. 'For him to involve his children is abhorrent and for his mother to be involved is twisted.' Reynold's other victim, who lost nearly 4,000, told the court: 'Hate is a strong word, but I hate Ian for what he did to me and my family.' A Match spokesman said: 'We welcome the conviction of Ian Reynolds and extend our deepest sympathies to his victims. 'At Match, safety is our highest priority and we encourage members to keep conversations on the site, messaging service or app, so that there is a record of communications and any concerns can be quickly reported and investigated. 'Requests for money or financial assistance are never acceptable. You should never send money to anyone you meet online; just as you would never give money to someone you recently met in a pub or cafe. 'We continually review our policies, provide safe dating advice to members and work with the wider industry to define standards and share information.' An NHS worker is being investigated by police and social services over allegedly feeding her two toddlers turpentine to cure 'parasites' that she believes are infecting their bodies. The mother, who is not being named for legal reasons, is believed to work in healthcare and was formerly an employee of Hull Royal Infirmary. She was reported to police after posting in a private Facebook group appearing to confess to giving her two children aged under five the dangerous substance by 'tricking' them and disguising it in juice. An NHS worker is being investigated by police and social services over allegedly feeding her two toddlers turpentine to cure 'parasites' The mother, who is not being named for legal reasons, is believed to work in healthcare and was formerly an employee of Hull Royal Infirmary Turpentine is usually used as an industrial solvent or cleaning product, with side effects from ingestion including lung damage, renal failure, nerve damage, vomiting or even death. The mother, who is from the Hull area, even appeared to write on social media that when she noticed changes in her toddlers' faeces after giving them the turpentine, she believed they were 'egg sacks' rather than just signs of a poorly tummy. Campaigner for children's rights Emma Dalmayne claims that the use of turpentine administered to children for medicinal purposes is 'abuse and should be treated as nothing less than criminal'. Humberside Police confirmed they had launched an inquiry into the 'concern for the safety of two children reportedly being given turpentine' - the investigation is ongoing but there are 'no immediate concerns' for their safety. The unnamed mother wrote: 'Hi just want to share my success story. My family have battled parrisites[sic] and bacteria overgrowth for a long time although I hadn't realised what the problem was until recently [*]. 'However after extensive research on this I discovered that you can give children turpentine but it is measured by drops against their weight. Campaigner for children's rights Emma Dalmayne (pictured) claims that the use of turpentine administered to children for medicinal purposes is 'abuse and should be treated as nothing less than criminal' 'I tried it with 2 drops mixed with sugar and honey with a tiny bit of water to make a thick solution. 'Then I used the pipette that comes with children's medicine and gave them the solution. They looked at me like I had tricked them but they were fine. 'I gave them strong juice to wash it down then only half an hour later they had poo with lots of what looked like bb gun pellets! That's apparently egg sacks!' After being visited by police, the mum returned to Facebook and appeared to defend her actions. She wrote: 'Well I've just had a visit from the police about me giving turpentine to my kids as someone on here had reported me! Really can't believe it tbh! 'My kids are perfectly fine and I would never do anything that could potentially harm them. I spent a long time researching this before I even thought about giving it to them. 'I am extremely disappointed that someone felt they needed to get the police involved. I don't know how they can sleep at night!' The admin of the secretive Facebook group where the mother's alleged posts appeared pinned a disclaimer to the top of the page to warn anyone using turpentine of the dangers - and even claimed one member had been taking to hospital. The disclaimer reads: 'The goal of this group is to share our experiences with each other. 1. The safety of Turpentine is not up for debate unless you personally experienced negative side effects. 2. There are no doctors in the group. Info shared is anecdotal and the responsibility for your medical choices is yours alone.' Children's welfare campaigner, Emma Dalmayne, 42, with her daughter Skylar, four Below this, there is an add-on note from March 27, which states: 'Based on some negative experiences posted within, it's advised that you start slow and work up to one teaspoon. One member went to the ER by starting at the full dose.' Other members of the group, which has 550 members, claim to have used turpentine as compresses for eye irritation, while another shows bowel lining in a flask as a result of an enema with the chemical. Ms Dalmayne gained entry to the group by pretending to be hoping to administer turpentine to her own children. She even claims he was given medical advice by the unnamed mother after getting in touch with her. The 42-year-old said: 'The important thing to remember in this case is that the child has no additional needs. 'The parent was claiming to work for Hull Royal Infirmary and giving advice to other parents [through Facebook]. 'The mother in this case was using turpentine on two very young children. She believes they have parasites but instead of seeking qualified medical advice from a doctor or paediatrician, she instead went on Facebook. 'It should be noted that turpentine ingestion is extremely dangerous. I do not advocate the use of anything that is not scientifically proven. If it's not regulated I don't approve of it. 'It's extremely easy to get advice on alternative treatments that are not proven [as medically safe]. Campaigner for children's rights Emma Dalmayne has spoken out against the use of turpentine 'Charlatans pray on vulnerable people. Parents and carers believe them. 'They can seem credible and say that have qualifications - they put up websites that look genuine and trustworthy. 'I was given advice on the use of turpentine by this woman myself.' Emma, from London, has campaigned for autism rights for more than four years and has previously spoken out on the use of bleach enemas on autistic children by their parents. Two weeks ago, social services were forced to take safeguarding measures against one mother who had allegedly used bleach as a 'cure' for her son's severe autism. As a result of her campaigning, Emma has faced a backlash from the followers of these groups and has even been threatened with violence. Emma said: 'This morning I was told I'm crazy and should be in jail. I have been given rape threats and told I am refusing to heal my children [who both have autism]. 'They have told me that I injured my children by vaccinating them. 'I campaign strongly against these snake oil salesman as I believe children, whether they are autistic or not, have a right to live without abuse. They have a right not to be experimented on. 'The government is at fault here. They bounce the responsibilities back and forth between MHRA and FSA.' A spokesperson for the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) said: 'We would not consider turpentine to be a medicine. 'Turpentine has no proven, or conceivable, health benefit. We would advise people not to buy or use turpentine for the treatment of medical conditions..' A spokesperson for the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said: 'In no form, either as essential oil or white spirit, should turpentine ever be administered to children of any age, orally or otherwise. If a child has ingested turpentine, medical advice should be sought immediately.' A spokesperson from Hull Royal Infirmary confirmed the mother was a former employee but is no longer an employee of the trust. DI Rich Osgerby of Humberside Police, the investigation force in this case, said: 'We opened an inquiry into the concern for the safety of two children reportedly being given turpentine. 'The case is still subject to an ongoing police and social services investigation, however, we are satisfied that there are no immediate concerns for the safety of the children, who are safe and well.' A seven-year-old girl was left with horrifying chemical burns and scars after getting a black henna tattoo on a holiday in Egypt. Madison Gulliver was on holiday when her father Martin allowed her to get the temporary tattoo on her arm at a four-star hotel. However she soon complained of it being itchy and it then erupted in painful blisters. The primary school pupil had to have the blisters cut away in a specialist burns unit, which left her with scars up her arm. Madison Gulliver, seven, was left in agony after her henna tattoo she had on holiday blistered The primary school pupil's tattoo erupted in painful blisters and she had to go to a specialist burns unit to have them cut away The seven-year-old was on holiday with her family in Egypt when she got the black henna tattoo The NHS warns these 'black henna' tattoos can contain high levels of toxic chemical dye, which is normally illegal to use on the skin. The paste contains an ingredient called paraphenylenediamine (PPD). Mr Gulliver, 50, a Royal Mail manager from the Isle of Wight, said: 'She is potentially scarred for life after getting a black henna tattoo. 'The tattoo was done in the hotel's salon and they claim it's not the henna and that it's my daughters skin. 'She has blisters from her finger to her elbow and is in so much pain. 'We were entirely unaware of the dangers and I think they should warn of this in the brochures. 'I think it's partly my fault because I didn't know about it, but also the fault of the salon because they are using dangerous chemicals on children. 'We would have thought that the travel agents would have had concerns about this. 'We want to get the message out to other people.' Mr Gulliver said the family had been having a great holiday until the beginning of the second week when his wife Sylvia, 43, had to be rushed to hospital with a gall bladder infection. She recovered but the family spent two days with her in hospital. As a treat to their two children for being so well behaved, Mr Gulliver decided to pay for both of them to get a black henna tattoo. Their son Sebastian, nine, instantly complained of itching so the pattern was quickly scrubbed from his arm. Madison, from the the Isle of Wight, was left in agony after having the henna tattoo on her arm However shortly after returning home on July 25 the skin under Madison's tattoo started to bubble. 'We noticed there was a small patch on the top of the tattoo that was raised but we couldn't see any redness,' he said. 'The next morning the whole tattoo was starting to get itchy, so we washed it off which revealed a rash in the outline of the tattoo. 'It started to blister so we started looking on the internet about black henna tattoos and that's when we realised all the worrying things.' Doctors gave the family steroid cream to treat the area but when blisters started to form on Madison's fingers, the young girl was quickly rushed to A&E. The NHS warns 'black henna' tattoos can contain high levels of toxic chemical dye, which is normally illegal to use on the skin After five visits to St Mary's Hospital where they were given different creams and ointments, she was finally referred to burns' specialists Salisbury District Hospital. He said: 'We started to panic. They had never seen it before, and each time we went in they were trying different things but it was getting worse and worse.' Doctors carried out a test on the liquid seeping from the blisters on Madison's arms and were shocked to discover a high PH level, indicating a chemical burn. 'They decided to treat the skin by removing the blisters, so they could access the burned skin underneath,' Martin continued. 'They thought they would be able to soak the blisters and rub them off, but that wasn't possible as they were so thick, so they had to cut them off.' Madison has now been referred to a scar management unit and has to wear a pressure bandage for at least six months to minimise the scars covering her arm. She was left with horrific chemical burns and permanent scars covering her entire arm The hotel in Hurghada apologised and said it no longer offered the tattoos. In an email to the family, Heike Moursy, guest relation manager of Fort Arabesque Resort, Spa & Villas, said: 'On behalf of the owner from the Beauty Center we apologize again what is happened with your daughter. 'We don't want to have such horrible reactions to anybody in the future again. 'Therefore our General Manager Mr. Max Shoukry have spoken with the owner of the beauty center to stop the offer of any henna tattoo. 'We know, this does not help your daughter but we wish her to get well soon.' Shortly after arriving back in the UK Madison complained that the pattern, which stretched from her right elbow to her fingers, was itchy Dr Chris Flower, director general of the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Perfumery Association, said everyone should be suspicious of black 'tattoos'. He said: 'PPD is safely and legally used in permanent hair dyes where clear instructions are given, and where the maximum level is controlled by law. But black henna often contains PPD at high levels, to give a dark colour quickly. 'When applied to the skin in the form of a black henna temporary tattoo, PPD can cause chemical burns and lead to allergic reactions.' He added: 'Real henna is never black, but is orange-brown. Any very dark temporary tattoo should be treated with caution.' Lisa Bickerstaffe, at the British Skin Foundation, said: 'Check the colour if a product is described as 'henna'. 'Henna is an orange-red colour, so if you are offered a temporary tattoo with 'black henna', it isn't actually true henna. If in doubt, stay away.' Earlier this week seven-year-old Theo Luckett suffered a potentially fatal allergic reaction to a henna tattoo he got from a market stall while on holiday in Bulgaria. Madison was on a family break with her family when she got the black henna tattoo Apart from the pain and possible scarring in reaction to a black henna tattoo, there is a real risk of becoming sensitised to PPD. This means that if you come into contact with PPD again in the future, even years later, you can have a very serious allergic reaction. This happened to British woman Julie McCabe, who died in 2012 after suffering a bad allergic reaction to a hair dye that she had used before. The inquest into her death heard that five years earlier she had had a black henna tattoo abroad. Since then, she had used her regular hair dye several times and experienced some reactions, such as itching and rashes. Tragically, the last time she used the hair dye, she had a very serious anaphylactic reaction and died. A North Korean defector has revealed how fewer citizens now see Kim Jong-un as a God with more people turning to Christianity. Anyone caught practising religion of any form in the hermit state can face jail, torture or even execution, according to a US State Department report on global religious freedoms. But despite this, many are abandoning the notion that their supreme leader is a deity, according to an unnamed defector. A North Korean defector has revealed how fewer citizens now see Kim Jong-un (pictured) as a God with more people turning to Christianity The defector, part of a group called the Worldwide Coalition to Stop Genocide in North Korea, told the Daily Telegraph: 'In the past, the people were told to worship the Kim family as their god, but many North Koreans no longer respect Kim Jong-un. That means they are looking for something else to sustain their faith. 'In some places, that has led to the emergence of shamens, but the Christian church is also growing and deepening its roots there. 'Even though people know they could be sent to prison - or worse - they are still choosing to worship, and that means that more cracks are appearing in the regime and the system,' said the defector, who is said to be active in backing 'underground churches' operating in the secretive nation. It comes after the US released a damning report into global religious freedoms, slamming allies and foes alike for their shortcomings at a time when its own record has come under fire. Many are abandoning the notion that their supreme leader is a deity, according to an unnamed defector Launching the first report since President Donald Trump took office, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson took swipes at Bahrain, China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Turkey. But the report also took aim at North Korea for denying people the 'right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion'. The report says: 'The government continued to deal harshly with those who engaged in almost any religious practices through executions, torture, beatings and arrests', the report states. 'An estimated 80,000 to 120,000 political prisoners, some imprisoned for religious reasons, were believed to be held in the political prison camp system in remote areas under horrific conditions.' The State Department's annual report on religious freedom, released by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, deals with around 200 foreign jurisdictions - but not the US homeland The report does not look into policy in the United States, where Trump won office on a pledge to ban all Muslim immigration and is now battling US courts for the right to ban arrivals from eight mainly-Muslim states. But Tillerson - who gave a brief address to launch the report - insisted the administration will continue to promote religious freedom around the world as a 'moral imperative' and a universal human right. 'Religious persecution and intolerance remains far too prevalent,' he said. 'Almost 80 percent of the global population live with restrictions on or hostilities to limit their freedom of religion. 'Where religious freedom is not protected, we know that instability, human rights abuses, and violent extremism have a greater opportunity to take root,' he warned, in a brief speech at the State Department. Chris Parker was hailed as a hero in the wake of the Manchester terror attack in May The homeless man hailed as a hero after the Manchester terror attack pleaded not guilty today to stealing a survivor's bank card and a phone from a 14-year-old girl on the night of the atrocity. More than 50,000 was raised to help Chris Parker turn his life around after he was seen helping the injured after the bombing at an Ariana Grande concert. The 33-year-old is said to have cradled a dying woman on the night of the attack at Manchester Arena on May 22. But today at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court he entered not guilty pleas to two charges of theft. Parker was remanded in custody ahead of a hearing at Manchester Crown Court on September 13. As the defendant was led from the dock after the short hearing, he said: 'I have done nothing. Absolutely nothing.' More than 50,000 was raised to help homeless Chris Parker turn his life around after he was seen helping the injured after the bombing at an Ariana Grande concert on May 22 Parker allegedly stole the card from Pauline Healey as she lay injured following the blast. Mrs Healey was left in a coma for several days. Mrs Healey later underwent 15 hours of surgery to remove shrapnel from her body and also suffered multiple compound fractures to her arms and legs. Her 14-year-old granddaughter Sorrell Leczkowski was killed in the bombing, and her daughter Samantha was also seriously injured. Sorrell, who was a pupil at Allerton High School in Leeds, was hoping to be an architect and wanted to study at Columbia University in New York. Parker allegedly stole the card from Pauline Healey (left) as she lay injured following the blast. She survived but her granddaughter Sorrell Leczkowski (right), 14, was killed in the bombing Parker, who gave his address as Crumpsall, Manchester, allegedly took a purse, containing bank cards, from Mrs Healey's handbag as she lay stricken on the ground. Ben Southam, prosecuting, said it was clear that the defendant provided 'some limited assistance' to people injured at the entrance to the venue's foyer. However, he added that it was the Crown's case that he 'equally' took the opportunity to commit the thefts. District Judge John Temperley said the case was too serious to be dealt with within his jurisdiction and must be heard in a Crown Court. Parker had been in the foyer of the arena, where he was said to regularly go to beg after concerts, when Salman Abedi blew himself up, killing 22 people. Speaking a fortnight after the attack, Parker said: 'I'm supposed to be a hero but I'm not a hero, just a normal guy, a normal regular guy.' Referring to the moment he helped a victim, he said: 'She was in her 60s and said she had been with her family. I haven't stopped crying. The most shocking part of it is that it was a kids' concert.' He added at the time: 'It knocked me to the floor and then I got up and instead of running away, my gut instinct was to run back and try and help. There was people lying on the floor everywhere.' It came as families of the victims were last night told they would receive 250,000 from public donations for each life lost in the atrocity. Parker had been in the foyer of the arena when Salman Abedi blew himself up, killing 22 people Those bereaved have already been able to claim 70,000 from the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund. The charity's trustees have now announced victims' families will be eligible for a further 180,000. The latest round of payments will mean more than half of the 18million raised will have been distributed, including 3.5million to those who were injured. Another rough sleeper, Stephen Jones, revealed how he pulled nails out of a little girl's face after the bomb went off at the end of the Ariana Grande concert. The usually bustling St Ann's Square in Manchester became a sombre focal point for grief Casualties were stretchered out of the concert after the terror attack at Manchester Arena Mr Jones recalled watching in horror as children covered in blood began pouring out of the arena, leaving behind 'lifeless' bodies surrounded by 'hysterical' mothers. He said: 'I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I'd just walked away. Just because I'm homeless, it doesn't mean I haven't got a heart.' West Ham's owner David Sullivan and his son vowed to pay for Mr Jones's rent for six months to thank him for helping the victims of the Manchester suicide bombing. Just a few hours later and with the help of social media and Manchester's Booth Centre for the homeless, the pair managed to successfully track Mr Jones down. A preacher who converted to Islam has suggested Muslims smell better than non-believers. Sunni sheikh Isa Graham used the analogy of a man accidentally walking into a hotel conference room to describe the superior cleanliness of Muslims. 'When he walks into our area, he should know there must be Muslims here,' he said, gesturing with his right hand covering his nose. Scroll down for video Sheikh Isa Graham put his fingers to his nose to articulate how Muslims smell better 'Because the bathroom's the cleanest, the way that people are speaking to me is the most polite. And the smell is the best.' However, the preacher with the hardline Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah Association also criticised moderate Muslims for failing to properly embrace Sharia law, an Islamic legal system which imposes punishment for adultery, among other things. 'Instead of being proud of the Sharia, we start to become defensive and we do not look at the Sharia in its correct light,' he said. The Sunni sheikh said Muslims had a duty to spread their religion to everyone. 'First in the way we present ourselves and we behave as Muslims, then we start to articulate it to the people,' he said. The Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah Association preacher said Muslims had cleaner bathrooms His sermon was delivered at the ASWJ's annual conference at the Hume Islamic Youth Centre in Melbourne. His bathroom analogy to describe the cleanliness of Muslims was spoken three months after fellow ASWJ preacher Abdulghani Albaf raged against men who used public urinals. 'Every public, every male public toilet now has urinals where they just stand up like animals and urinate in front of one another,' he thundered. 'What's worse is we even have Muslims using these urinals.' Pictured: Mary Zolkowski, 21, who has appeared in court on one count of falsely reporting a felony - and could be punished with four years in jail and a fine of $2,000 A woman has been charged after falsely claiming that she was raped on a college campus. Mary Zolkowski, 21, claimed that she was attacked and raped on February 22 while walking to her car outside Delta College in Bay City, Michigan. She then spoke with police but told them she saw only her attacker's hands and had 'kind of blacked out' during the incident. When police began to look into her claim, she said she wanted no part of the investigation and refused a physical examination, according to court documents seen by Michigan Live. She reportedly went to campus the following day to tell college staff she had dropped her studies because of the rape, but it was later found she had in fact dropped the courses before reporting the rape. Nearly a month later - after police had found no evidence suggesting there had been a rape in the campus parking lot - Zolkowski told university staff she had actually been raped by a friend in an apartment elsewhere while drunk and unable to consent before driving to the college. Court documents show she apologized and stressed that she did not want the man to be charged. But when the man was interviewed by police, records show he said Zolkowski had previously told him she was trying to get her fees refunded by Delta. He also showed them text messages from Zolkowski in which she claimed she had been raped outside a Walmart store on February 22, the same night she claimed she was raped in Delta parking lot. Pictured: One of the buildings at Delta College in Bay City, Michigan In May, it emerged the woman had spoken to Saginaw Township Police Department to claim the man she previously said she had sex with while intoxicated had in fact thrown her to the floor and raped her. But she again modified her claim, according to records, to state that she had consented to sex but had intended to tell the man to stop. She added, however, that the sex was over before she had the opportunity to do so. She has now been charged with one count of falsely reporting a felony and could be punished with four years in jail and a fine of $2,000 after appearing at Bay County District Court. Zolkowski will next appear in court on August 29. A concerned grandmother has warned parents and guardians about the dangers of a popular messaging application - claiming a paedophile used it to groom her teenage granddaughter. Dubbo grandmother Deb Aitken has made the claims in an online petition that calls on the government to ban apps that allow perverts to prey on underage girls. Ms Aitken wrote on the petition a paedophile used the app, Kik, to 'groom' her 13-year-old granddaughter for four weeks. Messaging application Kik allows people to send texts that are then deleted without a trace Ms Aitken wants to spread the word among parents and schools, and call on the government to ban messaging apps enabling criminals to secretly target underage girls. 'Help shut down an app that enables paedophiles to groom our children and leave no evidence,' Ms Aitken wrote on a petition that is circulating online. She further alleges police would not pursue the perpetrator because the app deleted all of the messages. 'Police even tried to blame her for willingly entering conversations with these men. It is disgusting,' Ms Aitken said. The petition, which currently has 2,775 supporters, has been signed by parents with similar concerns. 'An app that allows the "incognito facility" that protects the identity of the perverts in this world is a crime,' one New Zealand parent wrote. A concerned father agreed it was incumbent upon the government to bring in legislation to protect children. 'These vile predators must not be [allowed] to escape their gaol terms by any means,' he wrote. A Dubbo woman has started a petition to ban messaging applications that erase evidence 'Our adults of tomorrow must be protected...so that they are able to live out their own lives the way they want to not tainted by their experiences whilst growing up. 'Again, the victim is blamed instead of the perpetrator. What are we and especially parliamentarians doing in allowing this to happen?' The petition will be delivered to Kik Interactive once it has reached 5,000 signatures, according to the change.org page. Kik's safety pages recommends that parents and guardians 'make permission for your teen to use Kik conditional on your teen giving you access to their account'. 'This will give you the ability to manage the messages your teen sees,' the website said. Kik is apparently able to store messages if necessary to 'report matters to law enforcement' It is Kik's policy to delete the accounts of under-18s who do not have their parents' permission to be using the app. If a teen has received unwanted messages from a user, parents have the option to 'report' the user sending the inappropriate messages. Reporting does not allow parents to see their child's messaging history, but 'a teens reported chat history is stored only for [Kik] to investigate the report and take action we believe is appropriate (in some cases, this may include reporting matters to law enforcement agencies)'. A representative from Kik Interactive told The Daily Mail that 'actions are taken against users found to have violated Kiks Community Standards and TOS, including removal from the Kik platform where circumstances warrant'. The spokesperson emphasised that the company want all Kik users to be safe, and that they have a team which 'help[s] adults and teens understand the challenges of todays online landscape and how to avoid bad situations'. Murray Defoe, 28, pictured with his girlfriend Clare Glynn, 23, was shocked to find his car was flooded at a Stansted Airport car park A railway signalman was left furious after his car worth 4,400 was written off it was badly flooded in the long stay car park it was kept in for a week. Murray Defoe, 28, was returning to London Stansted Airport from a holiday in Spain to find the footwells on the back seats of his black Ford Focus Sport were under three inches of water. The shocked Network Rail worker from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, then contacted his insurers who wrote off the car because the damage was so bad. He claimed the flooding must have been due to poor drainage on a field near the airport because there was no flooding in that area in the week in question. Mr Defoe said he contacted Stansted three weeks ago by phone, via an online feedback form and on social media, but had still not yet heard anything back as of this morning. He had been on a week-long holiday in the Costa Maresme resort of Pineda de Mar in Spain, and returned to Stansted on a Jet2 flight from Girona on July 24. Mr Defoe said his 23-year-old girlfriend Clare Glynn had initially taken photographs of the car in a huge puddle because she thought it looked funny not knowing that it had actually flooded. Murray Defoe, 28, was returning to London Stansted Airport from a holiday last month to find the footwells on the back seats of his black Ford Focus Sport were in 3in of water Mr Defoe told MailOnline that he helped another driver get his car started with jump leads, but then realised something was wrong when he tested his brakes. He said: 'The water from the back footwell went into the back two seats and soaked both of our feet and her bag. 'There's no one to talk to, so I drove out of the automatic gate, went round the roundabout and felt the weight of the water and thought I'm not happy to drive this. 'We rang my girlfriend's dad who's a mechanic who said it should be alright to drive. I got on the motorway and went on the slow lane, then the engine oil light came on.' He then called the RAC who said the car had suffered severe flooding and he was given the all-clear to drive home, but contacted his insurers who wrote it off. Mr Defoe added: 'I've been training for a new job - I had to be in at work at 7am the next day. It's not what you want at the best of times, but especially after a holiday.' Mr Defoe's 2011 diesel Ford Focus Sport was valued at about 4,400 and had an estimated mileage of 67,000. Stansted tweeted Mr Defoe on August 1 after he complained, saying: 'Your case has been allocated to our car parking team, who are currently investigating. The shocked Network Rail worker from Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, contacted his insurers who wrote off the car because the damage was so bad 'As previously advised, they will contact you or your girlfriend directly as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.' After he chased the airport, it tweeted on August 10: 'Apologies for the delay, Murray. Our teams are doing a full investigation and will reply to you directly by email.' He had not heard anything until shortly after MailOnline's story went live today, as Stansted emailed Miss Glynn to offer a refund for the parking and ask for his contact details. An airport spokesman said: 'We are in contact with Mr Defoe and are investigating how the hard standing area of the car park become flooded there may have been a block in the drainage system in this area - and what damage was caused to the vehicle as a result. Mr Defoe claimed the flooding must have been down to inadequate drainage on the field near the airport because there was no flooding in that area in the week in question 'We will however take responsibility for the damage and compensation the owner for losses and inconvenience.' Responding to suggestions that a window could have been left open, he added: 'There is nothing to suggest a window was left open but we cannot definitively confirm this as the car was parked by the owner, not airport staff.' The spokesman said that the car park is accredited by Park Mark and is 'completely constructed of hard standing Tarmac', adding: 'This particular area of the car park is bordered by a wooded area and the passenger picks the space to park their car.' MailOnline reported yesterday on two separate incidents where holidaymakers had problems with parking at Stansted and Heathrow airports. Mr Defoe contacted Stansted (file picture) by phone, via a feedback form on their website and on social media, but only heard back from them after MailOnline's story was set live Stephanie Bland drove her Mini to the official Stansted parking and left it with attendants while she and her boyfriend Rich Robinson headed off for to Portugal. But the teacher was horrified to return and find the vehicle sitting on the back of an AA recovery truck with a suspected seized engine leaving it as a write-off. She believes this was caused by irresponsible driving, but airport bosses insisted the car was old and any damage was caused by general 'wear and tear'. Also yesterday, shocking pictures revealed the unguarded country track where the cars of holidaymakers were left by a Heathrow Airport meet and greet service. Yesterday, MailOnline told how a holidaymaker was left furious when she returned to the Stansted 'meet and greet' parking to find her car was a 'write off' - and had to be towed away Air passengers who use Emirates Parking are told their vehicles will be kept in a 'fully secured, flood-lit premises' attended by a member of staff '24 hours a day'. But pictures taken yesterday showed the cars are actually dumped in the corner of a Berkshire field, open to the public with broken fences on three sides. At least three cars at the site had their windows left open, while an open gate led onto a nearby road. Emirates Parking has not yet commented. The company - unconnected to the airline of the same name and independent from Heathrow - charges around 54 a week for people to leave their car with it. News / National by Staff reporter A COMMUTER omnibus driver was fined US$680 and barred from driving all vehicles for two years for driving towards on-coming traffic lane and causing an accident.Tendai Mubare, 28, was convicted on his own plea when he appeared before Harare magistrate Ruramai Chitumbura charged with negligent driving, driving with no defensive, no medical certificate and no retest.On the negligent driving charge, he was fined US$400 or risks spending four months in jail.On driving with no retest and defence certificate, he was fined US$100 each while on driving with no medical certificate he was fine US$80.Prosecutor Usheunesu Mhiti asked the court to pass a deterrent sentence saying the issue with these errant drivers was on the rise.He said it is common nowadays to see these kombi drivers driving towards on-coming traffic while posing danger to passengers and other drivers.He further argued that it is the duty of the courts to send a clear message to these errant drivers that the arm of the law is upon them.Circumstances leading to the conviction are that on July 15 this year Mubare was driving his Toyata Hiace along Seke Road.It is said Mubare encroached into the on-coming traffic lane and proceeded.The State managed to prove that while on the on-coming lane he collided head-on with another car, which was coming from the opposite direction.The scene was attended by the police who later discovered that Mubare was driving without the required requirements.Those who were injured in the accident were taken to hospital for treatment. Distraught co-workers have told of their desperate attempts to save the father-of-four killed when strong winds caused a brick wall to collapse on top of him. Thong Tran's wife and father hugged one another and wept at the rubble-strewn site in Carlingford, in Sydney's north-west. 'We called out his name but no-one answered,' said a colleague, breaking down as he spoke of trying to dig Mr Tran out of the pile of bricks. The 30-year-old carpenter's father Victor Tran said his family came to Australia by boat in search of a better life when his son was only two years old. Scroll down for video Thong Tran's family members (pictured) hugged and cried at the scene of his death in Carlingford A co-worker (pictured) told of the moment he tried to save Mr Tran from under fallen bricks Thong Tran, a 30-year-old father-of-four died when a wall was knocked over by heavy winds at a building site (pictured) Winds with speeds of 80km per hour knocked over a wall at a building site (pictured) in Carlingford, killing carpenter Thong Tran 'Because in my country we had trouble over there,' he told The Daily Telegraph. 'Over there no freedom, we came here by boat.' Mr Tran, survived by his wife and four children, was pulled from underneath the debris by desperate workmates who dug him out by hand. Paramedics performed CPR on him about 10am on Wednesday while they waited for a rescue helicopter, but he did not survive. Workers from a nearby site (pictured) reacted to the death of 30-year-old Thong Tran, killed when a wall collapsed on top of him A 19-year-old tradesman was critically injured when a brick wall (pictured) collapsed in Kellyville Workmates desperately dug with their hands to free a tradesman buried under rubble (pictured) at a site in Carlingford, in Sydney's northwest The rubble left over by the brick wall's collapse at the Carlingford site (pictured) when the 30-year-old died The other man was understood not to be seriously injured by the accident at the site where a duplex home was being built. Witnesses said they heard a loud bang or thud that 'sounded like an explosion', and that there were far fewer workers at the site than usual. Another tradie, aged 19, was rushed to Westmead Hospital fighting for his life from a site in Kellyville, 20km away, with critical head injuries. He was also buried under rubble and had to be dug out by his workmates after frantically crying for help. Paramedics had to perform CPR on the 30-year-old about 10am on Wednesday while they waited for the helicopter to arrive at the site (pictured), but he did not survive Another man who was buried was understood to not be seriously injured by the accident at the site (pictured) where a duplex home was being built Witnesses said they heard a loud bang or thud, and that there were far fewer workers at the site (pictured) than usual The teenager was unconscious by the time he was freed and was placed in an induced coma at the scene. He was still under going surgery. Workers say they'd just finished building the wall and thought it was too high, according to 7 News. SafeWork NSW will investigate both accidents and police will prepare a report for the coroner on the Carlingford death. Another tradie, aged 19, was rushed to Westmead Hospital by paramedics (pictured) and is fighting for his life He was undergoing surgery in Westmead Hospital after being transported there by ambulance (pictured) Wild winds played havoc across the city with 70km/h measured at Sydney Airport and 80km/h in the outskirts. More than 1,500 homes and businesses around Hornsby were without power and trains cancelled near Carlingford after power lines fell. The weather bureau issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds just after 10.30am, for Illawarra, parts of the South Coast, Central Tablelands, Southern Tablelands and Snowy Mountains. President Donald Trump on Wednesday praised North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for a 'wise' decision not to fire missiles towards the U.S. territory of Guam, which has eased escalating tension between the two countries. Reclusive North Korea has made no secret of its plan to develop a missile capable of firing a nuclear warhead at the United States to counter what it perceives as constant U.S. threats of invasion. Trump warned North Korea last week it would face 'fire and fury' if it threatened the United States, prompting North Korea to say it was considering plans to fire missiles towards the Pacific island of Guam. But North Korean media reported on Tuesday Kim had delayed the decision while he awaited to see what the United States did next. 'Kim Jong Un of North Korea made a very wise and well reasoned decision,' Trump wrote on Twitter. 'The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!' President Donald Trump praised North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un for backing off a planned missile launch in the direction of Guam Trump had threatened 'fire and fury' if North Korea had test-launched missiles toward the U.S. territory in the south Pacific North Korea's threat to fire towards Guam had prompted Trump to say earlier that the U.S. military was 'locked and loaded' if North Korea acted unwisely. North Korea has long ignored warnings from the West and from its lone major ally, China, to halt its nuclear and missile tests which it conducts in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions. The United States has been hoping China can press the North to rein in its weapons programmes. The top U.S. general reiterated that in talks in Beijing this week. Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford told Fang Fenghui, chief of the Joint Staff Department of the People's Liberation Army, in Beijing that North Korea's weapons programmes threatened the entire international community, including China. 'He emphasised that the U.S. and China have the same goal - a denuclearised Korean peninsula achieved through peaceful means ... North Korean actions threaten the economic and military security of China,' a U.S. military spokesman said in a statement. 'In the interest of regional stability, he said the U.S. views with growing urgency the need for China to increase pressure on the North Korean regime,' the spokesman said. Kim Jong-Un has been saber-rattling with threats aimed at the U.S. 'Should preferred diplomatic and economic peaceful options fail, General Dunford reiterated America's resolve to use the full range of military capabilities to defend our allies in the Republic of Korea and Japan, as well as the U.S. homeland.' China has repeatedly called for all sides to exercise restraint and remain calm, and while it has signed up for tough U.N. sanctions on North Korea, it says the key to a resolution lies in Washington and Pyongyang talking to each other, rather than expecting China to do all the work. German Chancellor Angela Merkel echoed that viewpoint on Wednesday. 'I am totally against the rhetorical armament that is being used by all sides ... There is no military solution for this conflict, it must be worked out via negotiations,' Merkel said in response to a question on North Korea in a YouTube interview. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said while everyone was concerned about the situation, Chinese pressure on North Korea had made him more upbeat. 'Since yesterday we are a bit more optimistic; I think that above all Chinese pressure contributed to the statements from North Korea about definitely putting aside these ideas of firing a missile,' Gabriel said. Japan conducted air manoeuvres with U.S. bombers southwest of the Korean peninsula on Wednesday involving two U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flying from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam and two Japanese F-15 jet fighters, Japan's Air Self Defence Force said in a news release. 'These training flights with Japan demonstrate the solidarity and resolve we share with our allies to preserve peace and security in the Indo-Asia-Pacific,' the U.S. Air Force said. The U.S. aircraft have flown several sorties in East Asia over recent weeks. In addition to air drills with Japanese fighters, the bombers have also exercised with South Korean aircraft. North Korea regards the U.S. exercises with South Korea and Japan as preparations for invasion. The exercises also upset China, which says they do nothing to ease tension. Lucy Dickinson was in Zambia working with Monze District Land Alliance A charity founder has been killed in Zambia, when the car she was being driven in crashed after the tyres suddenly burst. Lucy Dickenson, 32, died while on a trip to educate women about their rights, as part of her charity which tackled poverty. She was thrown from a Toyota car when the tyres suddenly burst during a journey to Lake Karimba, the world's largest man-made lake and reservoir, an inquest heard. She suffered multiple injuries and later died at the Mtendere Mission Hospital in the city of Chirundu. The charity worker, from Barry, South Wales, had been in south-central Africa for two months to work with Monze District Land Alliance. She previously set up charitable projects in Cambodia, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Ghana, India, and Nepal, as well as back home in the UK. Miss Dickenson and her twin sister Hannah Fitt set up the SAFE Foundation in 2006 to fight poverty in developing countries, and raised money for projects across the world. The organisation, based in Cardiff, also sent volunteers from the UK to lead educational workshops in Africa and Asia. Miss Dickenson has been over in south-central Africa for two months, and was on a trip to Lake Karimba The charity she and twin sister Hannah Fitt set up is still going strong, working in Cardiff and sending volunteers around the world Miss Dickenson died on August 20, 2012, but the conclusion to her inquest was adjourned until now while the Foreign Office struggled to gain more information from Zambian authorities. The car's driver was initially arrested on suspicion of causing Miss Dickenson's death, but an investigation into him was stopped by her family's own request. Her body was repatriated to Wales after her death, and a post mortem said she died from multiple injuries. Coroner Philip Spinney apologised to her family for the delay in concluding the inquest, saying: 'To lose a family member like this must be difficult. To wait so long must be very difficult.' He recorded a conclusion of death from multiple injuries. In a tribute to the founder on the SAFE website, her sister and now director Mrs Fitt, said: 'Lucy was passionate about grass roots development and determined to ensure that assistance and aid is directed towards specific groups who are living on the fringes of their society. Miss Dickenson set up the charity after seeing much of the money sent in aid doesn't filter down to communities who need it 'This determination was forged, not just from an altruistic and giving nature, but also from direct experience. After a gap year trip to Uganda when she was 18, Lucy saw first hand how some overseas aid does not always filter down to people who are stigmatised or disengaged from civil society. 'Not content to sit back and accept this, Lucy motivated herself to challenge the system and took the next few years to study her craft, hone her skills and make a real difference to people that need it the most. 'Not only was she an amazing colleague, volunteer, humanitarian and friend, she was also my identical twin and best friend. 'Losing Lucy has been a devastating blow to my family and to our SAFE family, but we are all absolutely committed to the future of The SAFE Foundation, not for us, or even for Lucy, but for the people that Lucy cared so much about and was so intent on helping.' A loyal dog has kept vigil at his dead owner's graveside for more than 10 years after the man passed away in Argentina. Capitan the German shepherd has spent virtually every day sitting beside the grave of his late master Miguel Guzman since he died in 2006. And it seems the 15-year-old dog intends to remain faithful to his last, as he continues his ritual despite being almost totally blind and barely able to walk. Capitan the German shepherd has been standing vigil at owner Miguel Guzman's grave side in Argentina ever since he passed away in 2006 Graveyard workers, who now care for 15-year-old Capitan, say he is 'waiting until he can be reunited' with his owner Cemetery workers, who feed and care for Capitan, told Oddity Central that it seems 'as if he is waiting for the day when they will finally be reunited.' Mr Guzman bought the dog as a pet for son Damian, then 13 years old, back in 2015 before dying suddenly the following year. The dog's vigil began the day after Mr Guzman's funeral, when he went missing from the family home in Cordoba. Mr Guzman's wife and son launched a search for the dog, eventually locating him a 45 minute drive away in the village where his owner had been taken to be buried. They say it is a mystery how Capitan found the grave, claiming he had not been taken there before. Capitan continues his ritual to this day, despite being almost totally blind and struggling to walk, cemetery workers say Mr Guzman's wife and son Damian have tried bringing the faithful animal home, but say he always escapes and returns to the cemetery Damian tried several times to bring the animal home, but he always escaped and returned to the grave side, and they decided to leave him there. The cemetery's director Hector Baccega remembers the day he first saw the dog. He said: 'He turned up here one day, all on his own, and started wandering all around the cemetery until he eventually found the tomb of his master. 'During the day he sometimes has a walk around the cemetery, but always rushes back to the grave. And every day, at six o'clock sharp, he lies down on top of the grave stays there all night.' A mother was electrocuted by her child's dirty nappy after it hit a power cable while she was throwing it out of a house in India, it has emerged. The 24-year-old, named as Annu, suffered a fatal electric shock on the terrace of her relative's home in southwest Delhi's Bindapur. The diaper is said to have struck an overhead power cable as she launched it towards a patch of open land, with the force of the shock causing the victim's clothes to catch fire. A mother was electrocuted by her child's dirty nappy after it hit a power cable while she was throwing it out of a house in Delhi (file picture), it has emerged She was taken to hospital, but was later pronounced dead, according to the Times of India. A police official is quoted as saying: 'The victim had come to her uncle's house from Himachal Pradesh along with her son on Sunday for the holidays. 'She got a strong electric jolt from the wire and was thrown back on the roof. 'The intensity of the shock was so strong that her clothes caught fire, resulting in burn injuries.' Investigations are underway to determine how and why the accident, on Tuesday night, happened. Her body is due to be handed over to her family after an autopsy today. A mysterious eight-legged 'metal starfish' found in the sea off a Rhode Island beach has confounded residents - and some even think the object could be alien equipment. The heavy stainless steel object, capped with concrete, washed up near East Beach in the town of Westerly. The circular object located about 10 feet (3 meters) off shore at low tide has puzzled beach-goers. A mysterious eight-legged 'metal starfish' found in the sea off a Rhode Island beach has confounded residents - and some even think the object could be alien equipment 'It looks like a metal starfish because it has these eight legs that go down from the center,' said Peter Brockmann, president of the East Beach Association, according to WPRI. Some have suggested it be could alien equipment but the best tip Mr Brockmann has received came from University of Rhode Island oceanographers who say it could be part of a device used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to monitor currents and sediment flow. Brockmann says residents and officials couldn't remember seeing the object before last summer. A Tuesday evening extrication by a local tree service was canceled due to deteriorating conditions on the beach. There's no word yet on when the removal will be rescheduled. The circular object located about 10 feet (3 meters) off shore at low tide has puzzled beach-goers Advertisement These dramatic pictures show the brutal moment a lioness launched a savage attack on a baby giraffe. The lioness can be seen stalking the oblivious herd of giraffes before pouncing on the youngster and spending 20 minutes suffocating the baby. The savage moment was caught on camera in perfect clarity by photographer Anja Kruger. This is the moment an unsuspecting juvenile giraffe approached a low bush where a lioness was hiding Unsurprisingly the giraffes attempted to escape the moment the lioness pounced, targeting the nearest victim The lioness quickly wrapped her powerful front paws around the giraffe's long neck and sunk her teeth into an artery The 32-year-old photographer from South Africa was on a trip to Kruger National Park when he witnessed the epic battle. He said: 'At first we did not know that there was a predator around since all the animals were calm and unruffled. 'There was a herd of about ten giraffes including three calves. We noticed the lioness who was blending perfectly with the dry grass and who was now a jump away from two of the giraffe calves and a cow. 'I assume that the lioness was laying in the shade under the bush and that the giraffes curiously came closer since they might have sensed that there was something but could not see her. 'Seconds after we noticed her, she jumped on one of the giraffe calves' necks and brought it down easily. 'She then held it down for about 20 minutes, suffocating the animal who was kicking helplessly every now and then. Within seconds the juvenile giraffe was on the floor, doomed to be eaten by the hungry lioness It took about 20 minutes for the giraffe to stop twitching by which time the predator was feasting on its corpse The remaining giraffes stopped around 50 metres away and never attempted to rescue the fallen juvenile before it died 'The other giraffes stood by watching about 50 meters away. They did not attempt to chase the lioness off. 'Everything happened so fast. I have been visiting the park for more than 25 years at least four times a year and have never witnessed even a whole pride of lions bringing down a giraffe. 'We have witnessed many attempts of lion hunts where we would sit ready with cameras and video cameras for hours and in the end it would be unsuccessful. 'This time we were actually not prepared for what was about to happen. Although it was an exciting, once in a lifetime sighting it was also hard and sad to watch.' A man has claimed police failed to come to the aid of a protester when he was beaten by white supremacists during violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. Photos and video of the beating inflicted upon 21-year-old DeAndre Harris have gone viral. Zach Roberts, a documentary photographer, said he told police officers immediately after the beating what occurred and that he had photos of the attack, but they were not interested at the time. Police said yesterday they are investigating the incident, portions of which were captured on video. One person of interest has been identified, but no arrests have been made, city spokeswoman Miriam Dickler said. DeAndre Harris (pictured center) was severely beaten during the protests Pictured: A man is shown gripping the stick in his hand as DeAndre Harris is hunched on the ground Harris said 'everyone was exchanging words with the group, but the KKK and white supremacists rushed' up to them Harris had eight stitches in his head, a broken wrist and a chipped tooth, as well as other lacerations Harris said and his friends did not initiate any form of physical violence Harris was beaten in a parking garage right next to the city police station. In an interview, Roberts said Harris and his friends were yelling back and forth at each other as the white supremacists tossed racial epithets and Harris told the protesters to 'go home.' The white supremacists chased Harris, who ran and crashed into a wooden parking gate barrier, Roberts said. He did not see if any specific event precipitated the escalation from a verbal confrontation to a physical one. Harris, in a subsequent video interview with Roberts, said he would fade in and out of consciousness as he was struck with poles and the broken wooden gate. Protesters and counter-protesters alike were injured at the rally Photos taken by Roberts show Harris on the ground being beaten by men armed with poles and sticks. 'I keep hearing all this chaos around me,' Harris said. 'I feel myself getting hit. ... Every time I get up, I lose consciousness.' He suffered a broken wrist and a chipped tooth, and had eight staples in his scalp to close a head wound. Hundreds of white nationalists, white supremacists, neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members and others converged on Charlottesville on Saturday. The riot took place right outside the Charlottesville Police Department Their presence was ostensibly an effort to unite right-wing factions in a city that became a flashpoint due to a prolonged debate about what to do with a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee. Rally participants clashed frequently with counter-protesters. One man linked to white nationalist groups, 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr. of Ohio, has been charged with murder and other counts after a fatal hit-and-run crash that killed a woman and injured 19 other people. Harris, an instructional assistant at Charlottesville City Schools, did not respond to messages seeking comment. A GoFundMe page set up to help him with his medical bills quickly raised more than $137,000. Police have set up a hotline for people to report crimes that occurred over the weekend. At a press conference on Monday, Charlottesville Police Chief Al Thomas said police received 250 calls for service on Saturday. He said that in many cases, perpetrators of assaults would 'strike and then disappear into the crowd.' But the video and photos captured by Roberts depict a different scenario. A man who said he's with the League of the South, which identifies itself as a Southern Nationalist group, said yesterday that Harris and his friends started the incident by attacking one of his friends. 'You have the fake news saying this guy (Harris) is an innocent victim, and my friend had to get hospitalized,' said Brad Griffin of Eufaula, Alabama. He cited video of a white man getting bandaged for a head wound, as well as a video that does not clearly establish who may have struck first. Dozens were injured in skirmishes and many others after a white nationalist plowed his sports car into a throng of protesters Roberts, who was filming in connection with a documentary investigating voter suppression in Virginia, said the attack occurred in the hour or so preceding the fatal automobile attack that killed 32-year-old counter-protester Heather Heyer. Roberts estimated that the attack lasted about 30 seconds before Harris' friends came to his aid, and most of the white supremacists scattered. But Roberts took photos of one man who drew his handgun and aimed it at Harris' friends. The man put his gun away and withdrew when he saw he was being photographed, Roberts said. Greg Palast, director of the documentary for which Roberts was filming, said he's willing to share any video and photos with police if they want them, but no one has contacted him. To Roberts, the video of the attack on Harris is proof that violence by white supremacists ranged far beyond the single car attack that killed Heyer. 'It stops in its track the argument that the violence was an isolated incident,' Roberts said. Firefighters today battled a huge blaze after an explosion near London Southend Airport as 'paint or thinner' caught fire during 'routine maintenance'. Thick black smoke could be seen billowing from an aircraft hangar at the airport in the Essex seaside town, with six fire engines called out at about 10.40am. The smoke emerged from an Air Livery hangar on the north side of the site, although the airport was still running a normal service today. Thick black smoke could be seen billowing from an aircraft hangar at London Southend Airport Firefighters called out to the airport in the Essex seaside town at about 10.40am this morning Smoke is seen coming from the building at Southend Airport in Essex this morning Firefighters walk towards the smoking building at Southend Airport as they respond today Physiotherapist Peter Gettings, 38, was waiting to board a flight in the terminal to Malaga when he saw the flames this morning. He told Essex Live: 'I spoke to airport staff and they said it was a fire at one of the hangars on the perimeter of the airport. 'I could see the flames from the terminal - they were not particularly high but it was really thick black smoke.' Witness Pat Lancaster told BBC Essex: 'There was thick black smoke, but I didn't hear any explosion. As of now, the sky seems to have cleared a bit. Firefighters battle a huge blaze after an apparent explosion near London Southend Airport Thick black smoke could be seen billowing from an aircraft hangar at the airport in Essex There were no aircraft within the hangar but it's not yet know known what caused the blast The fire was put out after around an hour and caused no disruption at the airport in Essex Emergency services at the scene of fire at the Air Livery hangar at Southend Airport in Essex And Jade Hodges added: 'I can see it from my parents' house. I can see loads of fire engines and smoke coming up.' This afternoon the scorched hangar was still smouldering on the outskirts of the airport, with white smoke seen coming from the corrugated steel structure. The firm describes itself as having 'many years of experience in the aircraft refinishing market', with its Essex facility able to cope with giant Boeing 737's. Speaking to MailOnline, the airport's chief operating officer Paul Woods said: 'There was a fine in our facility that Essex Fire Brigade have dealt with and they are completing their task. 'As for the cause and how it started I'm not in a position to comment at this point. Everyone is out safely and we are supporting Essex Fire Brigade with their investigation.' This afternoon the scorched hangar was still smouldering on the outskirts of the airport Firefighters battle a huge blaze after an apparent explosion near London Southend Airport Workers from nearby units on the site said they heard explosions as the blaze took hold A spokesman for the site said: 'London Southend Airport is still open and operating as normal' Six fire crews from stations across Essex were sent to the airport to battle the blaze today He added: 'They were just doing routine maintenance in the factory there was no aircraft in there, no assets of any nature, staff were just doing a clean-up. 'Usually there are 20 staff inside, but today only five were on site and no one was injured.' Workers from nearby units on the industrial site said they heard explosions as the blaze took hold. Mechanic Nigel Tuckett, 56, said: 'There was a smell coming up and it was like welding, then a couple of minutes later a bloke came out and said there was a fire. 'There were a few bangs and pops and then there was a big bang. I think it was paint or thinner going up.' Essex firefighters deal with the blaze at the Air Livery hangar at Southend Airport in Essex A firefighter rushes towards the building at the airport as crews battle a huge blaze Firefighters survey the scene at London Southend Airport today after the blaze was put out Emergency services at the scene of fire at the Air Livery hanger at Southend Airport in Essex 'I don't know what it is like on the inside, but there is no back wall on it. He added: 'Luckily it didn't spread next door as that is a packaging company and the warehouse is full of cardboard.' Aaron Chesham, who witnessed the fire, said: 'I would like to say well done to the airport fire service and Essex fire service for attending so quickly.' A Southend Airport spokesman said: 'Essex Fire and Rescue is currently dealing with an incident at the Air Livery hangar on the north side of the airfield. 'London Southend Airport is still open and operating as normal.' An Essex Fire and Rescue spokesman said: 'Firefighters have been called to an incident this morning involving an aircraft hangar in Southend Airport. Firefighters were today battling the huge blaze after an apparent explosion near the airport The smoke was said to be emerging from an Air Livery hangar on the north side of the site Thick black smoke could be seen billowing from an area near London Southend Airport today 'When firefighters arrived at the scene they reported the large hangar, which is used to livery aeroplanes, was on fire. Six fire engines were requested to help tackle the fire. 'Firefighters are using a aerial ladder platform to pour water on the large building from above. The officer in charge at the incident reports crews are making good progress.' The fire service sent a total of seven crews to the scene from Southend, Rayleigh, Rochford, Shoeburyness, Hawkwell and Chelmsford. Southend Airport, which is located 40 miles east of London, operates flights to and from the likes of Spain, Holland, Germany, Portugal, Switzerland, Malta and France. Wurundjeri woman Annette Xiberras (pictured)has likened Australia Day for Indigenous people to the Holocaust for Jewish people An Indigenous elder from Yarra City Council has said celebrating Australia Day for her is the same as asking Jewish people to celebrate the Holocaust. Wurundjeri woman Annette Xiberras told ABC Radio Melbourne Australia Day is 'equivalent' to the genocide that killed six million European Jews. 'Would you ask the Jewish people to celebrate Hitler's birthday?' she said. 'What happened to my people is equivalent. We had women raped, children sold into slavery and the Wurundjeri people got down to two people.' The woman, who works on the council's Aboriginal advisory group, said the date of Australia Day should change, but if it didn't, it should become a day of mourning, not celebration. Ms Xiberras says if the date does not change, it should become a day of mourning akin to ANZAC Day (stock image) 'Terrible atrocities happened to our people, so if we're going to have it on that day let's have it like an Anzac Day, let us not forget my people who fell before me.' Assistant Immigration Minister Alex Hawke took a dim view on the idea while speaking to Andrew Bolt on Wednesday night. Mr Hawke said the council had never previously suggested the date was a problem, and said their 'real agenda' was to create outrage. 'The outrage industry has just discovered this problem this year,' he said on the Bolt Report. After Yarra City Council unanimously voted not to acknowledge Australia Day on January 26, the Federal Government stripped the Council of its rights to hold citizenship ceremonies (stock image) The date of Australia Day has been a point of contention for the last few years, with protesters recently lining the streets demanding the date be changed 'We've looked back in the records - as far back as we can see in Yarra Council there has been a citizenship ceremony on Australia day - we don't know when there hasn't been one. 'It further exposes the real agenda here, that they're just trying to create an outrage about this issue. 'We're not going to allow it from the Federal Government's perspective. It's our responsibility, citizenship.' He further confirmed that though Yarra City Council had been stripped of their ability to hold a citizenship ceremony at any time of the year, the Government would be holding one in the Council area on January 26, 2018. The argument between Government and Council began on Tuesday night when the Yarra City Council voted unanimously to stop celebrating Australia Day on January 26, and to acknowledge the 'pain and suffering' of Indigenous people during the citizenship ceremony held on the day. News / National by Staff reporter A BUS conductor, who plies his trade at Charge Office rank, was slapped with 210 hours of unpaid work for assaulting a police officer who had arrested him.Clayton Manyora, 23, was convicted after a full trial when he appeared before Harare magistrate Rumbidzai Dzumbira charged with touting and assaulting or resisting a peace officer.He assaulted Constable Innocent Mudambo, accusing him of refusing to issue a ticket after paying the money for a traffic offence.Manyora was initially sentenced to six months in prison of which three were set aside for five years on condition he does not commit a similar offence.The remaining three months were suspended on condition he performs 210 hours of community service at St Mary's Police Station.In his defence, Manyora told the court that the problem was failure by the police officer to issue a ticket after he gave him US$15."The complainant and his colleagues came where I was loading my car and told my driver that he was under arrest."They asked for money and were told that I was the one with it, so I went with them."When I gave them the money I demanded a ticket but he refused to give me."The following day he came with another police officer and told me I was being arrested for touting and assaulting a police officer," he said. Shocking footage has emerged of the moment armed thugs on mopeds robbed a jewellery store in central London today. A video filmed on a mobile phone shows the gang swarming around the Boodles jewellery boutique in Knightsbridge this morning. The raiders smashed their way into counter displays and grabbed jewellery before jumping back on their bikes and disappearing. This is the moment smoke rose from a Knightsbridge jewellers during the latest raid by London's moped robbery gangs The long-handled hammers used by the gang were visible as they drove off along Sloane Street Alex Cretnu, a security guard at a nearby shop. said: 'I saw three bikes turn up and there were six of them I think. 'There were two guys standing outside holding metal or wooden sticks standing guard of the bikes. 'They were threatening people and basically saying if you get in our way you'll get hit. 'The others were inside for just over a minute and then they came out, and one was holding a sledge hammer in his hand. 'They got on the scooters and they were gone, and one was holding the hammer above is head waving it. They seemed pretty happy with themselves. Smoke appears to rise from the building in the video, suggesting the gang may have used a smoke bomb during the robbery. Two riders stayed on two of the bikes used, while fellow gang members jumped off the back to run into the store. Another moped was parked across the front of the store while both its driver and passenger ran in. Scotland Yard sent forensics experts to the scene this afternoon as they investigation begins Police were seen examining another moped, which may have been used by the gang Displays at the store at empty today the gang struck shortly after half past 10 this morning The raid happened at the back entrance of this diamond specialist in Sloane Street The four-man raiding group then reemerged from the boutique, where the getaway riders patrolled, and all six rode off at speed. One eyewitness who works in a nearby shop but wished not to be named, said: "They were in an out within one minute 40 seconds I think. It was very quick. "No one was hurt inside and I think everyone managed to get out of the way. Everyone is really shaken up because it was so scary for them.' It is understood no staff at the store, which specialises in diamonds, were injured during the raid. No one has been arrested, although police are investigating. A Scotland Yard spokesman said: 'Police are investigating after the robbery of a jewellers in Chelsea. 'Police were called at 10:37hrs on Wednesday, 16 August to reports of a robbery at a jewellers in Basil Street at junction with Sloane Street, SW1.' The rider of one bike waited outside and another circled while the four carried out the raid Two of the moped riders patrolled outside while the raid took place. The four inside then emerged and the six-man gang made off After the four men emerged from the jewellers, the gang then sped off on their bikes The raid is just the latest carried out by moped gangs, who use their vehicles speed and agility to get away quickly through London's busy streets The spokesman added: 'A number of suspects had arrived on motorscooters, entered the store and then used hammers to smash their way through counter displays. 'The robbers removed property from the displays and then made off on the bikes. No one was reported injured. No arrests at this time. Enquiries continue.' The value of the jewellery stolen is not yet known, although some pieces on sale at the store go for around 14,000. A spokeswoman for Boodles said: 'I can confirm that there was unfortunately a robbery at Boodles Knightsbridge showroom this morning. 'I can also confirm that nobody has been hurt. The police are handling the situation and Boodles is unable to comment any further.' MPs are set to review plans to silence Big Ben in a refurbishment of the Elizabeth Tower at Parliament, pictured, after a public outcry Theresa May waded into the Big Ben row today saying it 'cannot be right' for the famous bongs to fall silent for four years. The Prime Minister urged an 'urgent' review of the plans for renovating the Elizabeth Tower amid mounting anger. But Jeremy Corbyn insisted he was relaxed about the chimes stopping until 2021 - and said health and safety concerns were justified. The comments came as the Commons authorities admitted the project could slip even further than the slated 2021 completion date. A spokeswoman warned that the works - which were originally only envisaged as lasting 26 months - could be 'subject to delay due to factors beyond our control'. Speaking on a visit to the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier in Portsmouth after returning from holiday, Mrs May said: 'Of course we want to ensure people's safety at work but it can't be right for Big Ben to be silent for four years. 'And I hope that the Speaker, as the chairman of the House of Commons commission, will look into this urgently so that we can ensure that we can continue to hear Big Ben through those four years.' The Commons unveiled details of the renovation project on Monday, saying that health and safety concerns meant the bongs would not sound regularly again until 2021. Previously the period of silence had only been expected to last a few months. Contract documents from June last year, unearthed by MailOnline, say that the duration of the project was then anticipated to be just 26 months rather than four years. The cost was also estimated at 15million - rather than the 29million figure mooted more recently. There has been speculation that figure could also rise significantly. Asked about the different, a House of Commons spokeswoman suggested the timings of the project could even slip beyond 2021. 'The programme of works is expected to complete by 2021. We have built contingencies into the process, but it is possible that this complex programme of conservation works may be subject to delay due to factors beyond our control,' the spokeswoman said. 'As we are currently in a procurement process, we are unable to comment on this or projected budget estimates - at this stage. We expect to make an announcement regarding this contract in the autumn.' Mr Corbyn said health and safety issues for the workers had to come first and stopping Big Ben for four years was 'not a national disaster'. He suggested playing the sound of the bongs through speakers, or sounding bells from all over the country. 'I hope Big Ben comes back but obviously, people working right alongside that wonderful massive bell need to be protected as well and so their safety, their working conditions and their health must come first,' he told LBC radio. 'So if we have to miss Big Ben in reality for a while so that work can be done, well, thats something we have to go through. Its not a national disaster or catastrophe.' Three Parliamentary committees are said to have agreed on the work before it was given final approval by the House of Commons Commission, chaired by Speaker John Bercow. But MPs have insisted they had no idea they were signing off on a plan that would silence the Great Bell's bongs for four years because of health and safety concerns. They expressed anger at the length of time allocated to refurbish the Elizabeth Tower, which will silence the bells to protect workers from hearing damage, with Tory MP Nicholas Soames saying: 'Tell those poor little darlings to put headphones on.' Brexit Secretary David Davis also intervened in the row yesterday, saying that stopping the chimes was 'mad' and urging the Parliamentary estate's authorities to 'just get on with it'. In the face of the growing revolt, Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake, the spokesman for the Commons Commission, said he would ask for the plans to be reviewed. The Prime Minister, pictured on the Queen Elizabeth carrier today, urged the Commons authorities to carry out an 'urgent' review of the plans for renovating the Elizabeth Tower amid mounting anger Politicians on the committee that signed off on the plan said they 'did not realise' the bell would be silenced for four years The initial plan would have seen Big Ben muted from next Monday but was described as 'bonkers' inside Parliament 'Following representations that have been made, I will ask the commission whether it will look again at whether more extended bell-ringing is an option that is both mechanically and financially viable. 'Clearly there is a means of doing it (having the bells ring more often) because there is a commitment to ensuring the bells ring on New Year's Eve.' Mr Brake insisted that while the refurbishment plans had been brought before the commission, the specifics such as Big Ben being silenced for four years had not been discussed or signed off. The plans to silence Big Ben, which has rung out reassuringly for more than 150 years, even during times of war, sparked an outcry when they were revealed on Monday. The facelift will repair cracked masonry in the Elizabeth Tower that houses Big Ben, while the clock mechanism will also be serviced. The bells will sound only on occasions such as New Year's Eve and Remembrance Day. The Parliamentary authorities said it would be 'unacceptable' to expose workers on scaffolding surrounding the tower to the noise of the chimes and also 'unacceptable' for them to wear ear defenders. EU health and safety rules dictate that ear defenders can be used only as a last resort in the workplace. But Mr Davis dismissed the health and safety concerns, telling LBC Radio: 'I think it's mad. 'There's a sort of rude phrase which I will shorten to 'just get on with it'. When I was in business, it was my standard line 'just get on, just do it, don't faff'.' Mr Soames, the grandson of war-time prime minister Winston Churchill, added: 'It is a tremendously defeatist decision in an age where the technology exists to recreate the sound of Big Ben completely authentically and on time.' Following the public outcry yesterday, the authorities issued another defence, saying workers' hearing would be put at 'serious risk'. They said workers could be 'startled by the sudden loud noise, with consequences for their own safety and those of other people in and around the tower', adding: 'The only way to ensure people's safety is to temporarily stop the bell.' MPs last night suggested solutions to allow both the bells to chime and the workers to be safe. One option would be supplying workers with specialist ear defenders which would block out the 118-decibel sound, and enable them to communicate with colleagues at the same time. On Monday the Parliamentary authorities claimed the project was agreed on by three committees. It said the Commons administration committee agreed to it in October 2015, the administration and works committee in November 2015 and the finance committee during two meetings in October and November 2015. 500 EAR DEFENDERS TO STOP FOUR-YEAR SILENCE Officials have claimed Big Ben's chimes must be stopped to protect workers' hearing, but here are some solutions that would allow the bells to chime while keeping them safe: 1. The builders could be issued with 500 3M Peltor LiteCom ear defenders, pictured, which manufacturers say 'defend your ear from the high-pitched sound but you can actually hear someone who is next to you speaking'. 2. Record Big Ben's chimes and play them via loudspeakers in Parliament Square. The concentrated noise level would be lower but the sound of the bells would continue. 3. Make the bells chime at an interval other than every 15 minutes, reducing the builders' exposure to the sound. One of the alternative suggestions to silencing Big Ben is to give workers 500 3M Peltor LiteCom ear defenders, pictured 4. The bells could ring when the builders are not on site, allowing the public to hear the bells between 5pm and 9am. 5. Similar to workers who carry out road maintenance and upgrades to the Tube, builders could work at night to ensure minimal disruption to the bell-ringing. 6. The builders could work day and night, in shifts, to get the work finished in a shorter time period. This would mean the bells would be silent for only two years, instead of four. Advertisement But Tory MP James Gray, who sat on the administration committee, said he was not aware of the details and called for a re-examination of the plans. He said: 'I do not remember any mention of the bells being silent for four years, nor any health and safety reasons arising. 'I don't believe it was really discussed properly had it been so I think most MPs would think it seemed ridiculous and excessive. I think it should be re-examined.' He added: 'I sympathise with the workers but why can't they wear ear protectors? Or why can't it be turned on at certain times? 'We've got to protect the workers but to stop it for four years is an over-reaction, it's bonkers.' Despite Mr Brake confirming the project had been brought before the Commons Commission, a spokesman for Mr Bercow's office denied reports it had signed off the project. The TUC union supported the decision to silence Big Ben. Its health and safety expert Hugh Robertson said: 'Protecting workers' hearing is far from 'health and safety gone mad'. It's just plain common sense.' Labour MP Chris Bryant added: 'I would not want to put people at risk just because people are sounding off about it.' Leaders of a New York Episcopal diocese have taken down two plaques honoring Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a church property in Brooklyn. Bishop Lawrence Provenzano, leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island was present as the two plaques outside St. John's Episcopal Church were being removed Wednesday. The United Daughters of the Confederacy markers commemorated the spot where Lee was said to have planted a tree while serving in the U.S. Army at Fort Hamilton in New York in the 1840s. A second plaque made note of that. Workers used power tools to remove them. A plaque marked a maple tree planted by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee on the grounds of St. John's Episcopal Church in the Brooklyn borough of New York. The plaque has been removed A plaque, one of two honoring Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, lies on the ground after workers removed it from the property of St. John's Episcopal Church, Wednesday The removal comes in the wake of last weekend's deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where white supremacists protested plans to remove a Lee statue A plaque honoring Gen. Robert E. Lee has been affixed to a maple tree outside a church for more than 100 years Robert E. Lee was an American general known for commanding the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War from 1862 until his surrender in 1865 Two decades later, he became commander of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. The removal comes in the wake of last weekend's deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where white supremacists protested plans to remove a Lee statue from a public park. 'We have a lot of people of color serving in this base, seeing these names where they are deploying them to defend our liberty and our freedom overseas,' said Rev. Khader El-Yateem, a candidate for City Council to NY1. 'Robert E Lee and Stonewall Jackson committed treason in defense of slavery,' said another activist. 'That is their legacy as individuals and that is why we should rename these streets.' 'I think it is the responsible thing for us to do,' Bishop Lawrence Provenzano, of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, told Newsday. Leaders of a New York Episcopal diocese removed two plaques honoring Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a church property in Brooklyn on Wednesday The plaques were removed by the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, which owns the property Diocese officials announced that they would be removing the plaque following the events in Charlottesville last weekend and renewed concerns over Confederate symbols and statues 'People for whom the Civil War is such a critical moment and particularly the descendants of former slaves shouldn't walk past what they believe is a church building and see a monument to a Confederate general,' he said. The tree that the plaque is fixed to sits on the very same spot where Lee planted a maple tree during his time as a military engineer at the US Army base at Fort Hamilton in the 1840s. The general was one of several military men who reportedly worshipped at St. John's, gathering in a nearby structure that predated the current building. The locked gate at St. John's Episcopal Church near the U.S. army base at Fort Hamilton, in Brooklyn. General Robert E. Lee who was stationed at the military base from 1842-1847 'This Tree Was Planted By General Robert Edward Lee While Stationed At Fort Hamilton from 1842 to 1847,' the plaque reads. 'The Tree Has Been Restored And This Tablet Placed Upon It By the New York Chapter United Daughters of The Confederacy. April 1912.' Activists are still hoping to change the names of two streets inside Fort Hamilton named for Lee and Stonewall Jackson. In June, Brooklyn Congresswoman Yvette Clarke and three of her colleagues also demanded a name change. The Army responded that any change would be controversial and divisive, and that the streets were originally named in a spirit of reconciliation. Episcopal Bishop Lawrence Provenzano, left, and Rev. Kahder El-Yaatem, center, held a press conference before workers remove one of two plaques A British businessman has been threatened with a 540,000 fine after being accused of shining laser pens at planes landing at Malaga Airport. Edward Napp, 46, and his eldest son, 15, were questioned by Spanish police after an off-duty officer spotted them shining beams from their balcony during their holiday at the Sol Don Pablo Hotel in Torremolinos. Three pilots complained they were disturbed by green lasers as they landed at Malaga Airport, but the father-of-two insists they were shining them at the floor. Edward Napp (above), 46, and his eldest son, 15, were questioned by Spanish police after they were spotted shining green laser beams from their hotel balcony Mr Napp, a surfacing contractor, said he bought the laser pointers from the hotel shop before trying them out from the balcony, but denied doing anything dangerous Mr Napp and his family have since returned home to Chelmsford, Essex, having been released without arrest or charge. The businessman, who has an airfield at his farm, said: 'It just seems like it's been blown out of all proportion. 'I do appreciate if there's a pilot trying to land his plane and there's a laser pen, it's going to cause problems, it's obvious. 'We were about five miles away from the airport. The only planes we could ever see from the hotel were taking off, or the ones flying at 30,000 feet going somewhere else.' Mr Napp, a surfacing contractor, said he bought the laser pointers from the hotel shop before trying them out from the balcony, but denied doing anything dangerous. The father-of-two insists they were shining them at the floor despite three pilots complaining they were disturbed by green lasers during landing at Malaga Airport 'We weren't pointing them at planes, we were just messing about pointing them down at the floor,' he said. 'They were shone into the air just to see how far they got when we initially got them. The kids were just playing with them.' Mr Napp said police took him to the station with his two sons after an off-duty officer took photographs of them. He added: 'We just sat in there for half an hour, they came in and said, 'you'll be fined'. 'Half an hour later, he came out again, gave us our passports and said, 'right, you go now'. 'I would like to make it clear we are not on bail, we were not arrested. We had the laser pens confiscated.' But Mr Napp said the incident had 'put a bit of a dampener' on the holiday, adding: 'Although I was only in there for an hour, sitting there in a foreign country, we didn't know what we were doing there.' A spokesman for Spanish National Police, who wrongly identified the adult man blamed for the laser attacks as being 41, previously said in a statement: 'National Police have identified two people staying at a hotel in Torremolinos as the alleged authors of laser attacks suffered by pilots who were landing at Malaga airport. 'They are both British, a man aged 41 and his son aged 15. 'They have been told they may be fined between 30,000 (27,000) and 600,000 (540,000) for a very serious breach of Spain's Citizen Security Law.' 'An off-duty officer raised the alarm. He was staying at the same hotel as the British nationals and saw two men shining lasers from a room terrace about 11pm on Tuesday August 8 at planes preparing to land at Malaga airport. Three planes allegedly targeted by the holidaymakers were all normal commercial flights and carrying tourists to the popular holiday destination. Pictured: Malaga Airport 'Several pilots complained to the control tower about having lasers shone at them at the same time, saying they had been blinded with a green laser light from the Bajondillo area of Torremolinos. 'The off-duty officer dialled 999 and alerted the emergency services. 'Inquiries led to the British father and his under-age son. 'Two green laser pointers found on them were confiscated and the fine proposal passed onto the relevant authorities after a police interview.' Another spokesman confirmed no arrests were made. The three planes allegedly targeted by the British pair were all normal commercial flights and carrying tourists to the Costa del Sol. It is not known if any were coming from the UK or Ireland. One was arriving from Oslo in Norway. Police said they tracked down the Britons, who had been staying in a hotel in Bajondillo (pictured), and confiscated two green laser pointers A spokesman for the Spanish government's sub-delegation in Malaga, the authority which must now determine the size of the fine, was unable to say when the decision would be made. Their resolution can be appealed. Last year 1,258 laser attacks were reported on aircraft in the UK according to the Civil Aviation Authority. In November 2015 a BA pilot suffered a burned retina after a 'military-strength' laser was shone into the cockpit of his plane landing at Heathrow. It is already an offence to endanger aircraft by shining lasers at pilots, but police in the UK have to prove a person endangered the aircraft when shining the laser. James Beattie MBE was given a conditional discharge after his references convinced the judge he was a man of impeccable character A decorated soldier who tried to stop his brother and nephew fighting at a social club has been spared punishment after a judge said he had the best references he had ever seen in his career. Former Guardsman James Beattie MBE came to court with references from high-ranking officers from his 33-year military career. They resulted in Judge Sean Morris telling Teeside Crown Court: 'I'd go so far as to say I've never seen in my legal career references of this quality. 'You are not just a man of hitherto good character. You are a man of impeccable character hitherto. 'Never have I seen in court a man who has served his country like this.' The 53-year-old ex-soldier ended up in the dock after trouble erupted at the Elm Tree Social Club in Stockton on October 29 last year. He initially tried to stop a fracas which involved his brother Ronnie and nephew Jack, the court heard. He got involved at the end of the incident and punched another man who went to the floor and was hit in the face, said prosecutor Rachel Masters. Beattie, of Stockton, admitted affray - using or threatening unlawful violence. His barrister Mark Styles said Beattie was punched hard to the head and lost control. He said: 'He's certainly not the one who starts it. He gets drawn into this mayhem. 'He hasn't spoken to his brother since, or his nephew. That's the sort of impact it's had on the family. 'He's served just about everywhere where there's trouble around the world.' 'He has work to do in Africa.' He told how Beattie joined the Army at 17 and worked his way through the ranks to Regimental Sergeant Major at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. He said Beattie left the Guards after 33 years' service and retired at 49 at the rank of Major. Judge Morris referred to Beattie's career as a Guardsman, his Queen's Volunteer Medal, his MBE, a letter from Buckingham Palace and references from officers at the ranks of Brigadier and Lieutenant Colonel. Sentencing, he said Beattie had a 'momentary lack of control'. He told Beattie: 'I'm quite satisfied that you were not the initiator of this. Others in your family started trouble. You initially went to stop it, but in the heat of the moment you went over the top.' Elm Tree Social Club, where James Beattie tried to break up a fight between his brother and nephew and got carried away Beattie's brother Ronnie, 56, and his nephew Jack, 26, both also from Stockton, also admitted affray and were sentenced at an earlier hearing. They were each given an eight-month jail term suspended for 18 months with six-month tagged curfews and 300 hours' unpaid work. They were each ordered to pay 500 compensation to two complainants, a total of 2,000, along with 670 costs. James Beattie could not come to court on that occasion because he was clearing mines in Africa. Now, said Mr Styles: 'He has work to do back in Africa.' Judge Morris agreed: 'He is needed. He needs to get back to the important work he's doing.' He gave Beattie a one-year conditional discharge, adding: 'That is not a criminal conviction.' Under the law, a conditional discharge does not constitute a conviction unless it is breached. A mother has been charged by police after shocking video of her giving her teenage son a marijuana 'bong' was shared to social media. The horrifying footage posted to Facebook shows the boy smoking as his mother sits proudly opposite, laughing and encouraging him to: 'Go for it son'. But less than 24 hours after the video was posted to social media, police charged the 29-year-old woman from Whyalla, in South Australia, with supplying drugs to a child - a crime that potentially carries a lengthy jail term. A 29-year-old mother from South Australia has been charged by police after a shocking video of her giving her son a marijuana 'bong' was shared to social media Handing her son the bong as he sits on the ground, the woman then pulls out her phone and begins to film. 'Alright, here we are recording ***** having his very first bong - go for it son,' the woman says. 'You have to put your finger on the hole, you have to put your finger on the back,' she instructs him as he lights the pipe. But after a few seconds the boy pulls away coughing and spluttering, as his mother and others in the room encourage him to continue. 'Nah smoke it all, you wanted a cone you have to smoke the whole lot!' she yells. Despite being charged with two counts of supplying controlled drugs to a child, the woman was granted bail on Wednesday afternoon. Despite the shocking nature of the video, the opinion of users on Facebook was varied with some saying 'it's her kid' and other labeling her actions 'child abuse' (pictured) Local police superintendent Andrew Thiele called the mum's actions 'unacceptable'. But despite the shocking nature of the video, the opinion of users on Facebook was varied - with some saying 'it's her kid' and others labeling her actions 'child abuse'. The woman will appear in the Whyalla Magistrates Court on 16 October. A man got an unpleasant shock when a burglar tried to invade his home by climbing in through the roof. Shiva Mahadevaiah, from Cranbourne in Melbourne's south-east, woke up in the early hours of Wednesday morning to sounds of something moving around above his head. 'At first I thought it was a possum or a cat or something that was making the noise,' he told 9NEWS. Scroll down for video Shiva Mahadevaiah woke up in the early hours of Wednesday morning to sounds on the rooof 'The noise was getting louder and I realised that someone really was walking on the roof.' The burglar, who had crawled into the ceiling after breaking tiles off the roof, broke in while Mr Mahadevaiah, his friend and his three-year-old child slept inside. But all three of them fled outside and called the police when the attacker started smashing holes in the ceiling plaster. 'He started banging the roof, I saw a hole appear and we all just rushed [out],' Mr Mahadevaiah said. Fortunately, a police patrol car was parked outside the residence, and officers rushed into the house. The man tried unsuccessfully to escape through the hole in the roof, and then dashed out the back door A burglar tried to break into a Cranbourne residence by kicking holes in the ceiling plaster The would-be burglar started smashing holes in the ceiling plaster in Mr Mahadevaiah's house After a short pursuit, police caught up with the man, but a shaken Mr Mahadevaiah is now reconsidering his decision to buy a house in the Casey City area. Cranbourne, Devon meadows and Skye are currently hot spots for crime, with break-ins doubling since 2013. Casey City councillor Amanda Stapledon said it's an 'extreme concern' for the area, and has called for more police in the area. Media commentator Mark Latham predicts Sharia law will be introduced in Australia so Muslims and other non-white minorities are spared from being offended. The former Labor leader said the political left's pandering to groups 'supposedly repressed by white male privilege' was dangerous. 'So if gays want gay marriage, tick that off. If Islam wants certain conditions and Sharia law in Australia, well tick that off,' he told his Mark Latham's Outsiders program. Scroll down for video Former Labor leader Mark Latham says Sharia law could be introduced to appease Muslims 'That's worth supporting. Every single, non-white male group gets what it wants under the rubic of left-wing identity politics.' Former deputy prime minister John Anderson said Australia's emphasis on diversity was divisive. 'It's really all about trying to highlight our differences,' he said. 'If you want to know what's wrong with Australia, the first thing is we're not unified anymore on the core things we ought to be.' Former deputy prime minister John Anderson said emphasis on diversity is dividing society The former Nationals leader, who was Mr Latham's political enemy in parliament, said Australia was losing a sense of shared values as politics remained gridlocked. 'We've got to fix this farce or we'll lose an awful lot of freedoms: economic, social and even strategic for our kids and our grandkids,' he said. Mr Anderson, a committed Christian, is also campaigning on behalf of the 'no' case for the gay marriage postal vote, along with former Liberal prime minister John Howard. Mark Latham is worried Sharia law could be introduced so Muslims aren't offended by whites John Anderson says gay marriage is a big shift in the idea of matrimony being about children He described the idea of redefining marriage as a 'massive shift' from being about children and society to being about love. 'This one really concerns me. The biggest bit of sophistry that's going around at the moment is that this change is minor and will only affect a few people who will have access to marriage,' Mr Anderson said. 'To pretend that that shift will not bring, over time, very real changes is to firstly deny reality. Secondly, it's to deny what's happening internationally: we're on a slow burn. 'You can see all sorts of freedoms now under attack.' Ballots are being sent out to Australian households from September 12 with voters given until November 7 to return them. New versions of the much-loved Walnut Whip are not going to be topped with a nut and will merely be called a 'Whip' - causing a social media meltdown. Nestle claims the vanilla, caramel and mint varieties will offer consumers more choice - but many are upset it has tinkered with one of its oldest and most popular chocolates. The traditional Walnut Whip, launched in 1910, is comprised of a whirl-shaped chocolate cone, filled with fondant and one is eaten every two seconds in the UK. But crucially it is always topped with a walnut set into the chocolate and choosing to discard it on new varieties has caused crisis and consternation among fans. Twitter user Debora Robertson said: 'They've taken the walnut off the top of the walnut whip so now it's just a whip and I don't know who we are any more'. Scroll down for video Spot the difference: New versions of the classic Walnut Whip (left) will no longer have a walnut on top (right) Nestle claims the vanilla, caramel and mint varieties (pictured) will offer consumers more choice - but many are upset it has tinkered with a much-loved formula A campaign to save the walnut has been launched - others say they should now only be called 'Whips' Consumer journalist Harry Wallop tweeted: 'It's worse than Trump. Even if you don't like walnuts, a walnut whip clearly has to have a walnut. Or otherwise we all might as well give up.' Hannah Muirhead agreed, writing: 'Never really been a walnut girl but I feel removing them from the walnut whip truly is the beginning of the end for society as we know it.' Nestle were quick to reassure fans the Walnut Whip is not being removed from sale. A spokesman said: 'Walnut Whip remains on sale alongside our new vanilla, caramel and mint versions that represent an expansion of the range. 'This means there is something for consumers wanting to try something new as well as for long standing fans of our century-old walnut product.' People are upset and angry that the 'Whip' will be without its walnut and want it reinstated Some sweet-toothed Twitter users welcomed the move. One, using the handle Big Steve, wrote: 'For 40 years I've picked off the walnut & Thrown it away! At long last a decent choice made.' Walnut Whip was launched in 1910 by Duncan's of Edinburgh and is one of Nestle's oldest brands. Alison Clinton, a brand manager at Nestle, said: 'We are very excited to bring these new additions to Walnut Whip. These new products will offer consumers more choice enabling them to share their favourite products with their family and friends.' In November 2016, chocolate lovers erupted into social media fury after manufacturer Mondelez reduced the weight of a version of Toblerone bars to 150 grams from 170 grams by spacing out its triangular chocolate peaks more widely. Other examples of so-called shrinkflation affecting the confectionary industry include Mars reducing the sizes of Maltesers and Minstrels packets by up to 15 per cent. The falling value of the pound and a poor crop last year in Chile, one of the worlds major producers, pushed up UK walnut prices by around 20 per cent this year. Advertisement Confederate monuments were torn down in Baltimore overnight just days after white nationalists led a deadly protest over the planned removal of a statue in Virginia. Work crews used heavy machinery to haul the divisive monuments away on flatbed trucks in the early hours of Wednesday morning. The monument to Robert E. Lee, commander of the pro-slavery Confederate army in the American Civil War, and Confederate general Stonewall Jackson was dismantled from the city's Wyman Park Dell, while a statue dedicated to the Confederate Women of Maryland was removed around 3am from Bishop Square Park. The monument in Mount Vernon honoring Roger Taney, who wrote the 1857 Dred Scott decision that upheld slavery, was also removed. Another statue for Confederate soldiers and sailors, which was vandalized with red paint at the weekend, was also gone by Wednesday morning. Scroll down for video A monument dedicated to the Confederate Women of Maryland lies on a flatbed trailer early Wednesday morning after it was taken down in Baltimore A monument to Robert E. Lee, commander of the pro-slavery Confederate army in the American Civil War, and Stonewall Jackson, a Confederate general, was dismantled from the city's Wyman Park Dell Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh said crews began removing the city's Confederate monuments late Tuesday and finished around 5.30am on Wednesday. 'It's done,' Pugh told the Baltimore Sun. 'They needed to come down. My concern is for the safety and security of our people. We moved as quickly as we could.' The mayor personally watched as workers removed the statues in the dark. The city council approved the removal of four statues on Monday after a year of indecision about what to do with the monuments. 'Following the acts of domestic terrorism carried out by white supremacist terrorist groups in Charlottesville, Virginia, this past weekend, cities must act decisively and immediately by removing these monuments,' Baltimore city councilman Brandon Scott wrote in a resolution calling for the removal of the statues. We should not have these anywhere for public display. These monuments are being used as beacons of lightning for vile racism Baltimore councilman Brandon Scott 'The folks that are displayed in these monuments were traitors to the United States of America, and we should not honor traitors with monuments. 'We should not have these anywhere for public display. These monuments are being used as beacons of lightning for vile racism.' Pugh initially declined on Monday to say when they would come down, saying only that she had contacted two contractors about removing the monuments. She said on Wednesday that the quick overnight action was designed to avoid the violent conflict seen in Charlottesville. 'I did not want to endanger people in my own city,' the mayor said. 'I had begun discussions with contractors and so forth about how long it would take to remove them. I am a responsible person, so we moved as quickly as we could.' The city is still deciding on what to do with the monuments. Pugh wants the statues to be placed in Confederate cemeteries elsewhere in Maryland, while other council members have suggested melting them down to 'honor true Baltimore Heroes'. Workers were spotted removing a monument dedicated to the Confederate Women of Maryland in Baltimore on Wednesday morning - just days after white nationalists led a deadly protest in Virginia The monument was put on a flatbed truck and strapped down shortly after it was removed The monument dedicated to the Confederate Women of Maryland was spotted being placed onto a flatbed truck at about 3am on Wednesday Baltimore residents gathered to watch the monuments being torn down. The Confederate Women of Maryland monument, which features a dying solider being cared for by his mother, is pictured being towed away A number of residents gathered to watch the monuments being torn down overnight. Some reportedly cheered when the statues were taken away. 'I'm impressed that it happened so quickly,' Baltimore resident Bonnie Crawford told WTOP. 'These monuments tend to glorify people who fought for ideals that actually compromised the lives of citizens in this country.' The dismantling of the monuments comes after a rally by white nationalists protesting against plans to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee sparked clashes with anti-racism demonstrators in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday. The rally turned deadly when a car rammed into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing a 32-year-old woman and injuring 19 other people. Saturday's violence appears to have accelerated the drive to remove memorials, flags and other reminders of the Confederate cause across the United States. A 22-year-old woman was arrested on Tuesday for taking matters into her own hands after allegedly toppling the Confederate statue in North Carolina with a group of protesters. Meanwhile a Confederate monument in Birmingham, Alabama was covered up on Tuesday afternoon as authorities considered legal options for it to be removed. The monument at Linn Park was covered in plywood following orders from Birmingham Mayor William Bell. Despite the increase in Confederate monument removals, there are more than 700 still standing in the US. President Donald Trump caused outrage on Tuesday when he said that neo-Nazis and 'alt-left' liberal extremists shared responsibility for the violence. 'You see them come with the black outfits and with the helmets and the baseball bats,' Trump said in New York, describing hooded counter-protesters who came to Charlottesville to disrupt a white nationalist march. 'What about the alt-left that came charging at the, as you say, the alt-right?' he challenged reporters on Tuesday. 'Do they have any semblance of guilt?' Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh said crews began removing the city's Confederate monuments late Tuesday and finished around 5.30am on Wednesday. She personally watched as workers removed the statues in the dark Only the base of the Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson remained on Wednesday morning. It had been vandalized prior to it being removed The Roger Taney statue in Mount Vernon (left) and the Confederate Women of Maryland monument (right) were gone when residents woke on Wednesday A monument for soldiers and sailors on Mount Royal Avenue had been vandalized with red paint before it was removed THE CONFEDERATE MEN TORN DOWN IN BALTIMORE: Robert E. Lee was a commander of the pro-slavery Confederate army in the American Civil War. He was vilified during the Civil War only to become a heroic symbol of the South's 'Lost Cause' - and eventually a racist icon. He was famously defeated at Gettysburg by Union Maj. Gen. George Meade. Historians say Lee's massed infantry assault across a wide plain was a gross miscalculation in the era of artillery and rifle fire. A career army officer, Lee didn't have much wealth, but he inherited a few slaves from his mother. Lee married into one of the wealthiest slave-holding families in Virginia. After the Civil War, Lee resisted efforts to build Confederate monuments in his honor. After his death, Southerners adopted 'The Lost Cause' revisionist narrative about the Civil War and placed Lee as its central figure. The Last Cause argued the South knew it was fighting a losing war and decided to fight it anyway on principle. It also tried to argue that the war was not about slavery but high constitutional ideals. Stonewall Jackson was a Confederate general during the Civil War. Shot three times while returning from scouting enemy lines in the Virginia wilderness, Jackson was left badly wounded in the left arm by one of the large bullets the night of May 2, 1863. It took at least two hours to get him to a field hospital as blood gushed from a severed artery and Jackson was dropped twice in a stretcher before his arm was amputated. He died days later, aged just 39. Scholars have long questioned whether it was an infection or pneumonia that killed Jackson. Jackson gained the nickname 'Stonewall' early in the war and went on to be lionized in the South and feared in the North because of his military exploits. Roger Taney was a chief justice of the Supreme Court from 1836 until his death in 1864. He was a Maryland native who wrote the 1857 Dred Scott decision affirming slavery. On March 6, 1857, the Supreme Court ruled that Scott was not entitled to freedom - despite living in the free-state of Missouri, which prohibited slavery. Taney wrote that African-Americans could not have rights of their own and were inferior to white people. It also rendered the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional. It has since been widely known as the worst US Supreme Court ruling in history and referred to as the court's largest 'self-inflicted wound'. On the 160-year anniversary of the decision in March, Taney's relatives met with the the family of Dred Scott to formally apologize for the ruling. Advertisement The president also said 'I do think there's blame on both sides' and that there were 'very fine people' in the white nationalist crowd who had 'a permit' to protest against the removal of a statue of Robert E Lee. Trump's words were quickly denounced by members of his own party as a clumsy attempt to draw moral equivalence between Nazis and liberal activists. The President insisted Tuesday that many on the political right who gathered in Charlottesville were peaceful protesters themselves who aimed to save the Lee statue from the scrap heap. 'Not all of those people were white supremacists by any stretch. Those people were also there because they wanted to protest the taking down of a statue,' he said. 'You also had people that were very fine people, on both sides.' Asked specifically if he thought Charlottesville's Robert E. Lee should be torn down, he said: 'I would say that's up to a local town, community or the federal government, depending on where it is located.' 'This week it's Robert E. Lee. I notice that Stonewall Jackson's coming down. 'I wonder, is it George Washington next week, and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop?' President Donald Trump caused outrage on Tuesday when he said that neo-Nazis and 'alt-left' liberal extremists shared responsibility for the violence A Confederate monument in Birmingham, Alabama was covered up with plywood on Tuesday afternoon as authorities considered legal options for it to be removed A 22-year-old woman was arrested on Tuesday for taking matters into her own hands after allegedly toppling the Confederate statue in North Carolina with a group of protesters Despite the increase in Confederate monument removals, there are more than 700 still standing in the US News / National by Staff reporter The woman who opened an assault case against Grace Mugabe says she wants justice not only for her but for others who also claim to have been victims of the Zimbabwean first lady in the past.Gabriella Engels says that no level of intimidation will make her drop the assault case against Mugabe.Engels and two other friends were allegedly assaulted at a Sandton hotel on Sunday.The 20-year-old Engels says she's aware of Grace Mugabe's history of alleged abuse and wants her to face a court of law.In 2009, a photographer claimed he was punched repeatedly by Mugabe in Hong Kong.Engels says this can't be allowed."I just hope that the fact that I'm being strong enough to speak against her and that means I can be the voice for other people who she assaulted."Engels says although she has not received any calls personally intimidating her to drop the charges, she fears leaving her house. This is the squalid secret 'bunker' where a federal prosecutors say a far-right extremist plotted a repeat of Timothy McVeigh's Oklahoma City bombing. Jerry Drake Varnell, 23, packed what he thought was a ready to use ammonium nitrate fertilizer bomb inside a van and allegedly tried to detonate it Saturday morning outside a BancFirst building in the center of the city. Federal authorities say the explosives failed because the device was a dummy he built with the help of an undercover FBI agent posing as his accomplice. Varnell faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of trying to trigger the same sort of bomb which McVeigh used to slaughter 168 people outside the city's Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in 1995. Court documents say the alleged anti-government radical told agents he was prepping for the collapse of the US by recruiting a militia and stashing food and supplies in an underground bunker. Inside: This what a federal indictment says Jerry Drake Varnell called his 'bunker' where he was preparing for the collapse of the federal government and where he plotted a bomb attack Squalid: Jerry Drake Varnell's mother Melonie Varnell provided the photographs of the shipping container because she says it shows that her son is a paranoid schizophrenic and not a bomb plotter Accused: Federal prosecutors say that Varnell plotted the bomb attack from the 'bunker' he said he had on his parents' property in Sayre, OK, telling the accomplice he did not know was an FBI informer: 'I think I'm going to go with what the okc bomber used.' Innocent: Melonie Varnell tells DailyMail.com that the 'bunker' is simply a storage container protected against storms. Facing jail: If found guilty Jerry Drake Varnell faces up to 20 years in prison. His messages to his accomplice allegedly show that he said he would use the same type of bomb as Timothy McVeigh Mental health struggle: Melonie Varnell said her 'sweet-hearted' son had suffered 'countless' full-blown schizophrenic delusional episodes and had been in and out of mental health hospitals since he was 16 - and was not a bomber DailyMail.com has obtained the first images of the alleged secret lair which is hidden inside a rusting shipping container behind his family's ranch in Sayre, Oklahoma. The 20ft steel compartment is buried by mounds of earth on three sides and camouflaged by overgrown weeds and flowers. However the suspect's mother, Melonie Varnell, 45, insists her son is a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic and that his 'bunker' is just an innocuous family storm shelter. She supplied a series of images to demonstrate that it was filled only with an assortment of junk including engine parts, old furniture, fishing rods, a stove pipe and an old children's car seat. DailyMail.com was not permitted to inspect the structure in person, however. Buckets and chemical sprays can be seen in the photos but nothing that looks as if it could be used to mix the ingredients of a large bomb. 'We do not have an underground bunker,' Mrs Varnell and her husband Clifford, 42, said via email. 'We built our home a few years ago and bought a storage container, as we use it for a storm shelter. 'We only recently pushed dirt up around it to make it safe. The building is used for storage and is not a bunker full of food and supplies, in fact the doors close from the outside. 'It has neither electricity nor anything that would make it habitable.' Varnell appeared in federal court Monday afternoon on a charge of attempting to use explosives to destroy a building in interstate commerce. Court documents reveal that an informant came forward in April to warn the FBI that Varnell was 'upset' with the government and wanted to blow up a building. He was an apparent sympathizer of the '3 percenter' militia movement that advocates armed resistance against Federal efforts to restrict gun ownership. 'I think I'm going to go with what the okc bomber used,' Varnell allegedly told the source in an encrypted text message. Inside the 'bunker': Melonie Varnell says that the storage container buried in earth is simply used as a normal part of the family property. Feds say it was part of her son's plot to become a second Timothy McVeigh Buried: The Varnells surrounded the storage container with earth on three sides, which they say was a precaution against storms. The area is regularly in the path of tornadoes 'What happened in Oklahoma City was not an attack on America, it was retaliation,' he later said. 'The time for revolution is now.' Varnell initially said he wanted to blow up the Federal Reserve Building in Washington, D.C. - eight blocks from the White House. He also considered attacking data centers of Facebook and the Internal Revenue Service before settling on the bank in Oklahoma City, it is alleged. In a series of text messages with the informant, Varnell 'claimed to have a bunker for when the world (or United States) collapsed', according to the complaint. 'I'm out for blood,' he alleged texted. 'When militias start getting formed I'm going after government officials when I have a team.' Varnell was introduced to an undercover FBI agent referred to as the 'Professor' who pretended to help him plan an attack to 'cripple the government'. Varnell said he wanted to detonate the blast after hours to avoid the sort of mass casualties inflicted by McVeigh, who was executed by lethal injection in June 2011. But when told there would inevitably be some people inside, Varnell allegedly replied: 'You got to break a couple of eggs to make an omelet.' According to the complaint, Varnell and the FBI agent assembled the device from inert materials including blasting caps and dynamite and loaded it into a van. Varnell then allegedly drove the vehicle to Oklahoma City in the early hours of Saturday and tried to detonate it three times with a cell phone. He was arrested immediately when it failed to explode. An unpublished Facebook post Varnell had supposedly prepared in advance said the attack was 'retaliation against the freedoms that have been taken away from the American people'. Family: Melonie Varnell (third from right) says Jerry Drake Varnell (second right) is a schizophrenic who with the help of his family had lived a normal life despite delusional episodes. She says the FBI gave him a 'bomb' and that the informant led him on Small town: The Varnells live in Sayre, population 4,603, on one of the town's many relatively isolated properties Devastation: This was the carnage Timothy McVeigh brought to Oklahoma City. Feds say that Jerry Drake Varnell had similar plans 'I'm out for blood': Part of the federal indictment against Varnell. He faces up to 20 years in prison if found guilty However his family accuse the FBI of entrapping him and say he is particularly vulnerable to persuasion and extreme ideology because of his schizophrenia. 'What the public should be looking at is the fact that the FBI gave our son the means to make this happen,' his mother's email to DailyMail.com said. 'He has no job, no money, no vehicle, and no driver's license, due to the fact that he is schizophrenic and we, his parents, do everything we can possible to keep him safe and functional.' Mrs Varnell said her 'sweet-hearted' son had suffered 'countless' full-blown schizophrenic delusional episodes and had been in and out of mental health hospitals since he was 16. She said that with the help of medication, however, he was able to lead the semblance of a normal life, attending college and recently enrolling in welding school. Mrs Varnell provided DailyMail.com with court documents that show she and her husband Clifford were appointed legal guardians of their son in 2013 because he was 'determined to be incompetent to manage his affairs and property'. The papers said Jerry Drake Varnell was not legally capable of 'caring for himself' and that his parents had submitted a plan for his care and treatment. His family point out that the FBI would have had full access to the court's decision but pressed ahead with their elaborate sting operation regardless. Mrs Varnell blamed the FBI informant for putting ideas into her impressionable son's head. 'Schizophrenics always have conspiracy theories and feel everyone is out to get them,' she said. 'They trust no one and there is no doubt in my mind that this informant began this hate against the government and my son followed along because others easily influence him.' She added: 'The FBI came and picked him up from our home, they gave him a vehicle, gave him a fake bomb, and every means to make this happen none of which he had access to on his own.' Bali Nine member Renae Lawrence has been recommended to have her jail time cut by six months as part of Indonesia's annual Independence Day sentence remissions, paving the way for her to be released next year. Lawrence, who is currently being held at Bangli Prison on the island's north, is among 24 foreigners in Bali's prison system who have been recommended for sentence cuts, the head of Bali's Legal and Human Rights Office Maryoto Sumadi said on Wednesday. 'She was proposed to receive a six months remission,' he stated. Bali Nine member Renae Lawrence has been recommended for a sentence cut Lawrence, who is currently being held at Bangli Prison in the north of Bali, is among 24 foreigners in the island's jail system who have been recommended for sentence cuts Lawrence was sentenced to 20 years in jail for her part in the 2004 Bali Nine heroin smuggling plot, and is the only remaining member of the group eligible to receive time off her sentence. She has already shaved off more than five years for good behaviour since her imprisonment. With the sentence reductions, it is understood she could be released as early as next year. Sentence reductions routinely occur in Indonesia on Independence Day and also on religious holidays, including Christmas and Idul Fitri. Other Australians who are also eligible to have their sentences cut are drug smuggler Edward Norman Myatt, pedophile Robert Ellis and former Perth developer Eric Bevan Gillet, jailed over the fraudulent sale of luxury villas. It is not known yet whether Australian woman Sara Connor, who earlier this year was sentenced over the fatal group assault of a Bali police officer, has been recommended for a reduction in her sentence. Lawrence was sentenced to 20 years in jail for her part in the 2004 Bali Nine heroin smuggling plot However, her British boyfriend David Taylor has not been put forward for a reduction in his term. Head of Kerobokan Prison Tony Nainggolan said the cut was not proposed for Taylor as the prison had yet to receive a copy of his sentence from the court. The pair are serving five and six-year terms respectively over the death of Wayan Sudarsa, whose bloody body was discovered on Kuta Beach in the early hours of August 17 last year. It is not known yet whether Australian woman Sara Connor (left) has been recommended for a cut in her sentence. Her British boyfriend David Taylor (pictured) has not been put forward for a reduction in his term Judge must decide if new charges should lengthen his prison sentence further He has been in jail since 1994, serving an effective total sentence of 28 years The true number of his victims is reportedly believed to be in the hundreds The former priest admitted to sexually abusing 65 victims abused over 27 years Australia's worst paedophile priest Gerald Francis Ridsdale spent three decades sexually abusing vulnerable children in unprecedented offending which 'demands an unprecedented sentence', a prosecutor argues. A judge who agrees Ridsdale's case is the worst example of such offending ever dealt with in Victoria must now decide whether the 83-year-old spends even longer in jail for the historical crimes. Ridsdale's offending took place over such a long period of time, involved so many people and destroyed so many lives that the interests of justice demand a sentence that could properly be called unprecedented, crown prosecutor Jeremy McWilliams said. 'It is hard to imagine a man who has had a more devastating effect on those who have had the misfortune of coming into contact with him,' Mr McWilliams told the Victorian County Court on Wednesday. 'He has preyed upon the most vulnerable of the vulnerable, seeking out victims for whom their families are already in trauma and tragedy, and using that trauma and tragedy to advance his own criminal pursuits of gratification among children. 'It must be among the worst offending these courts have had the misfortune to deal with. 'Unprecedented offending demands an unprecedented sentence.' Ridsdale's latest guilty plea for sex crimes against another 12 children brings his official tally to 65 victims abused over 27 years, although the true number is believed to be in the hundreds. Ridsdale used his position as a parish priest to befriend the children and their devout Catholic families in parishes in western Victoria, telling some of his victims 'it's our little secret' and one that 'it's part of God's work'. The former Catholic priest has been in jail since 1994, serving an effective total sentence of 28 years with a 25-year non-parole period for similar offences. Prolific paedophile priest Gerald Ridsdale, 83, has pleaded guilty to 12 more charges of abuse Ridsdale was jailed on paedophile charges in 1994 for molesting children between 1967 - 1987 Defence counsel Tim Marsh agreed the offending was unprecedented but asked Judge Irene Lawson not to add to Ridsdale's current sentence or earliest possible parole date of April 2019. That would mean the jail terms Ridsdale receives, after pleading guilty to 23 charges of abusing 11 boys and one girl between 1962 and 1988, would be served concurrently with the sentence he is already serving. Mr Marsh said Ridsdale was now an old man and as the sentencing purpose of protecting the community has been achieved, the judge could and should go no further. 'At some point the court will need to say this man has served enough time in prison,' he said. This shocking photograph shows Gerard Ridsdale (right) with his 14-year-old victim Paul Levey 'In my submission, that time is now.' Mr Marsh said Ridsdale was already subject to a crushing sentence, although Judge Lawson questioned why the fresh charges did not also justify such a sentence. 'We are dealing with the worst possible scenario of this sort of offending over decades,' Judge Lawson said. The court heard there is no comparable case and Ridsdale has effectively become his own sentencing tariff, through his previous three County Court sentences. 'His own history informs the sentencing process,' Mr Marsh said. Ridsdale will be sentenced on August 31. This adorable baby caracal tried its best to roar and sound like the terrifying wild animal it thinks it is but its bizarre cries sounded more like a skipping CD. Despite its best attempts at being ferocious, the little cats howls sound baffling and amusing rather than intimidating. The baby caracal was born in a cattery called WildCatcom in Almaty, Kazakhstan on January 5 this year. According to sources there, the little cat was hungry and was loudly demanding food. With its huge blue eyes, pointed ears and baby fur coat it is far too cute to be terrifying. The caracal is a medium-sized wild cat native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and India. The caracal is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted ears and long canine teeth. It is typically nocturna, highly secretive and difficult to observe. It is territorial, lives mainly alone or in pairs and preys upon small mammals, birds and rodents. It can leap higher than 3 m (9.8 ft) and catch birds in mid-air. With its huge blue eyes, pointed ears and baby fur coat it is far too cute to be terrifying Hear me roar! The little cat was born on January 5 this year in Almaty, Kazakhstan Embattled President Trump is returning to the campaign trail next week, holding a Tuesday night rally in Phoenix, Arizona, where he'll likely endorse a primary challenger to go up against one of his chief critics, Republican Sen. Jeff Flake. The Washington Times reported Wednesday, just hours after the rally was announced, that Trump is mulling supporting Arizona Treasurer Jeff DeWit, who chaired the president's 2016 campaign in the state. The move comes as many members of the Republican party have condemned statements the president made yesterday, as Trump placed blame on both the white supremacists gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia for the weekend's violence leaving three dead and the 'alt-left' protesters marching against the hate groups. Chief among those critics were both of the Grand Canyon State's senators, Flake and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. 'We can't accept excuses for white supremacy & acts of domestic terrorism,' the Flake tweeted. 'We must condemn. Period.' Scroll down for video President Trump's campaign announced he would be hitting the campaign trail again next week, with the Washington Times reporting that he'll likely announce that he's backing a primary challenger to one of his most strident Capitol Hill critics Instead of backing incumbent Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. (left), the president is likely to endorse challenger Jeff DeWit (right), the state's treasurer who chaired Trump's campaign in the state Sen. Jeff Flake was among the Republicans who took to Twitter to criticize President Trump's remarks made Tuesday during a Trump Tower press conference President Trump's presidential campaign announced the event Wednesday morning, as the president was taking heat from his own party for remarks he made yesterday about the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia Arizona is the home of another top Trump critic, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who Trump mocked yesterday during his Trump Tower press conference At an impromptu Trump Tower press conference Tuesday, President Trump assigned some blame for the violence in Charlottesville to the 'alt-left' protesters who showed up to resist hate groups consisting of neo-Nazis, KKK members and white supremacists In July, Flake penned a strongly-worded editorial for Politico Magazine headlined 'My Party is in Denial about Donald Trump.' 'To carry on in the spring of 2017 as if what was happening was anything approaching normalcy required a determined suspension of critical faculties,' Flake argued. 'And tremendous powers of denial.' Flake called on the Republicans in the executive branch to do something about Trump including to speak out when the president 'plays the base,' to think long term about some of the policy prescriptions Trump has in mind, like being averse to free trade, and to defend institutions, such as the legislative filibuster, which Trump has tried to get the Senate to kill so he can more easily get his agenda through. Also last month, CNN reported that Trump's White House was trying to recruit primary challengers to take out Flake, who is up for re-election next year. Rebuking McCain may also be drawing Trump to Arizona, a red state he only won by 3.5 points. On Tuesday night, McCain tweeted, 'There's no moral equivalency between racists & Americans standing up to defy hate& bigotry.' 'The President of the United States should say so,' McCain instructed. Trump's dislike for the longtime Arizona senator, who was diagnosed with brain cancer in July, was palatable during yesterday's Trump Tower press conference. A reporter brought up a statement made by McCain, who wanted Trump to defend his own National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster against attacks from the 'alt-right.' Right wing groups tried to dig up dirt on McMaster after he dismissed several ideologically-aligned individuals from the National Security Council, according to CBS News. McMaster also took heat from the far right when he refused to say if he could work alongside Trump's Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, known for his nationalist ideology. 'Since this fringe movement cannot attract the support of decent Americans, it resorts to impugning the character of a good man and outstanding soldier who has served honorably in uniform and sacrificed more for our country than any of his detractors ever have,' McCain said in a statement earlier this week. Sen. John McCain had called on President Trump earlier this week to defend his own National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster from right wing attacks Sen. John McCain also criticized President Trump's performance at the press conference saying he should have condemned the hate groups more harshly, instead of assigning blame to the counter-protesters At the presser the reporter pointed out, 'Senator McCain has called on you to defend your National Security Advisor, H.R. McMaster, against these attacks.' 'Senator McCain?' Trump said. 'You mean the one who voted against Obamacare? You mean Senator McCain who voted against us getting good health care?' the president mused. McCain became the critical third no vote in the Senate last month during the Republicans' last ditch effort to get a 'skinny' Obamacare repeal bill through the upper chamber. He had returned to Washington from Arizona, where he was receiving cancer treatment, and received a heroes welcome, voting to start debate on health care reform, only to torpedo Trump's plans. When the reporter noted that McCain had linked McMaster's critics to the 'alt-right' groups who perpetuated violence in Charlottesville, Trump gave a sarcastic answer. 'Well, I don't know, I can't tell you,' Trump first said of the connection. 'I'm sure Senator McCain must know what he's talking about,' the president added, sarcastically. As for Trump's popularity in the Grand Canyon state, Gallup reported last month that it stands at 43 percent, which is somewhere in the middle when all 50 states are ranked. Trump performs the worst in Vermont, home of last year's most progressive presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, receiving 26 percent support, while he does best in West Virginia, with an approval rating of 60 percent. Even if Trump's approval rate takes a dip after his most recent bout of controversial comments, a Monmouth University poll found that he'll likely retain the support of about one in four Americans. Respondents were asked if they could 'think of anything Trump could do, or fail to do, in his term as president that would make you disapprove of the job he is doing.' About 60 percent Trump's supporters said no. That's equal to about 25 percent of the population overall. Advertisement A collection of rare silver and gold artefacts worth millions of pounds which have spent decades in the vault at Blenheim Palace are going on public display for the first time. The objects, which include ornate table settings, candelabras, goblets, trays and trophies, have been kept inside a strongroom in a private wing of Sir Winston Churchill's birthplace, behind a 12-inch thick metal security door in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. One of the rarest items which has until now been kept under wraps at the 18th century palace is a solid silver gilt writing desk set which once belonged to American heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt. A collection of rare silver and gold artefacts worth millions of pounds which have spent decades in the vault at Blenheim Palace are going on public display for the first time One of the rarest items which has until now been kept under wraps at the 18th century palace in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, is a solid silver gilt writing desk set which once belonged to American heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt The countess was known as one of the 'Dollar Princesses' and married the ninth Duke of Marlborough in 1895 when she was 18. She is pictured right with the Duke and their children In total there are about 50 items on display in the vault, with another approximately 50 laid out in a specially-made display cabinet, at Blenheim Palace She was known as one of the 'Dollar Princesses' and married the ninth Duke of Marlborough in 1895 when she was 18. At the time of the wedding her famous family were considered one of the richest in America, with an estimated wealth worth $4 billion in today's money. The desk set, which features writhing sea serpents, shells and marine plants, was crafted by Frenchman Paul de Lamerie who was considered the greatest silversmith in England in the 18th century and is believed to be worth over 500,000. Among the objects on display for the first time are a George II silver coffee pot, a 19th century silver gilt cup given as a christening present by the Prince of Wales and a set of 13 dinner plates made by the renowned female silversmith Magdalen Feline in the mid-18th century. Among the objects on display for the first time are a George II silver coffee pot, a 19th century silver gilt cup given as a christening present by the Prince of Wales and a set of 13 dinner plates made by the renowned female silversmith Magdalen Feline in the mid-18th century Kate Ballenger, Blenheim Palace's curator, is pictured holding a solid silver fruit bowl outside the vault. It is one of the many silver items that will be on display In addition, there is a set of George III silver candlesticks, six George III silver salt cellars, a pair of George III silver meat dishes and a German silver ecuelle (two handed soup bowl) and cover dating from 1770. In total, there are about 50 items on display in the vault, with another approximately 50 laid out in a specially-made display cabinet. The public display will run until the end of next month. Kate Ballenger, Blenheim Palace's curator, said: 'When I first went into the vault it was an extraordinary experience as you are literally surrounded with these stunning silver and silver gilt objects on all sides. 'Consuelo's writing set is a particularly beautiful object which is incredibly evocative of a fascinating period in Blenheim Palace's history. 'Due to its great value it will be kept within the vault but will be on view to visitors.' She said: said: 'When I first went into the vault it was an extraordinary experience as you are literally surrounded with these stunning silver and silver gilt objects on all sides' She added: 'Consuelo's writing set is a particularly beautiful object which is incredibly evocative of a fascinating period in Blenheim Palace's history' Blenheim Palace was built in the early 18th century for the Duke of Marlborough who orchestrated victory at the Battle of Blenheim. Pictured are the items inside the vault At the time of Consuelo's marriage to the ninth Duke the 'celebrity' wedding attracted huge interest across the world. Consuelo was considered a great beauty. Peter Pan author J. M. Barrie wrote of her: 'I would stand all day in the street to see Consuelo Marlborough get into her carriage.' By marrying the Duke, she became cousin to Sir Winston Churchill and the pair remained close friends throughout her life. Blenheim Palace was built in the early 18th century for the Duke of Marlborough who orchestrated victory at the Battle of Blenheim (1704), paving the way for Britain's triumph over the French in the War of the Spanish Succession. A pair of twin sisters have been reunited after 13 years of being apart - with one revealing she feared her sibling was dead. Tanya Lampard, who lives in Adelaide's northern suburbs, sent a letter to her long-lost twin Sandra Traeger via the Salvation Army's Family Tracing service. The Salvos were able to locate Sandra - who disappeared while battling a drug addiction - and bring the pair together again at last. Tanya and Sandra (pictured) have been reunited after 13 years apart thanks to the Salvation Army's Family Tracing Service The twins (pictured) were inseparable as children but after Sandra had problems with a drug addiction they spent 13 years apart 'Because I knew the lifestyle she was living, I thought that she was buried in someone's backyard,' an emotional Tanya said. Despite fearing the worst, she decided to pen a letter to her missing twin. 'Part of me is missing, I love and miss you so much, please call me,' she wrote. When Sandra read her sister's words she knew she had to make contact with her estranged family. Tanya (pictured, right) feared that Sandra (pictured, left) was 'buried in someone's backyard' 'I had to come back because they needed me more than ever,' she said, choking back tears. The sisters are now making up for lost time, and have 13 years worth of stories to catch up on. The Salvation Army's Family Tracing service helps reunite families with missing relatives and has a success rate of around 70 per cent. They also help with the reestablishment of communication and provide support during the reconciliation process in cases where relationship problems exist. ISIS fanatics have chopped down a tree fearing it was being worshipped as a god. Pictures show jihadists from the group's affiliated Khalid bin Walid Army taking a chainsaw to the branches of a tree in Syria after deeming it to be 'polytheistic'. It is the latest example of the terror group's bid to purge society of anything that fails to conform to their violent interpretation of Islam. ISIS fanatics in Syria have chopped down a tree (pictured) fearing it was being worshipped as a god Pictures show jihadists from the group's affiliated Khalid bin Walid Army taking a chainsaw to the branches of a tree in Syria after deeming it to be 'polytheistic' Worshipping anyone other than Allah is punishable by death under ISIS's brutal version of Sharia law. Extremists have already destroyed many archaeological relics, deeming them pagan, and even Islamic sites considered idolatrous. In the latest images, shared on jihadist social media channels yesterday, two men climb to the top of a tree and start hacking at branches with a chainsaw. In the latest images, shared on jihadist social media channels yesterday, two men climb to the top of a tree and start hacking at branches with a chainsaw It is the latest example of the terror group's bid to purge society of anything that fails to conform to their violent interpretation of Islam Worshipping anyone other than Allah is punishable by death under ISIS's brutal version of Sharia law The ISIS affiliate, which has up to 1,500 members, was formed in 2016 and controls an area near Syrian-controlled part of Golan Heights. It is not the first time ISIS has targeted trees for religious reasons. According to the Independent, fanatics chopped down a 150-year-old oak tree in Atma, near Syria's border with Turkey, after accusing locals of worshipping it. Donald Trump's Administration has described One Nation leader Pauline Hanson as a threat to religious freedom. Like the U.S. President, Senator Hanson campaigned in 2016 on a platform of banning Muslim immigration. However, the American Department of State still has an issue with her One Nation party's position on Islam. The U.S. Department of State has highlighted Pauline Hanson's stance against Muslims U.S. President Donald Trump also campaigned to ban Muslim immigration in 2016 Its International Religious Freedom Report for 2016 highlighted Senator Hanson's maiden speech to the Senate last year which said Australia 'was in danger of being swamped by Muslims'. The report, released on Tuesday by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, highlighted how One Nation had campaigned to curb the religious freedoms of Muslims. 'Four senators from the One Nation Party were elected during the July federal elections on a platform which included ceasing Muslim immigration, holding a royal commission on Islam, halting construction of mosques, installing surveillance cameras in mosques, banning wearing of the burqa and niqab in public places, and prohibiting members of parliament from being sworn in under the Koran,' the report said. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, however, was praised for being in favour of an 'inclusive multicultural society which is based on mutual respect'. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson released the International Religious Freedom Report The report also mentioned anti-Muslim sentiment in Victoria, including an August rally in Melbourne which attracted 150 nationalist protesters, and a High Court challenge to a Bendigo mosque development. It noted too how 10 youths in March last year assaulted three Muslim schoolgirls at a local city park in Geelong. 'The attack included both verbal and physical abuse and forcibly pulling off the hijabs of two of the schoolgirls. By the end of the year, no arrests were made,' the report said. Iran is helping to build a missile factory inside Syria that could be used to fire Scud rockets at Israel, it has been claimed. Satellite images show a building site to the east of Baniyas, on Syria's Mediterranean coast, which matches similar sites inside Iran, experts told Israel's Channel 2. Once completed the facility will likely be used to manufacture and store missiles which could range Israel, analysts added. Scroll down for video Iran is constructing a missile factory near the city of Baniyas, Syria (pictured), which would be used to make and store Scud rockets which would be capable of striking Israel Analysts compared the construction to sites already in existence in Iran, and found similarities which suggest the country is likely behind the project Building work began last year, the experts said, and is likely to finish some time before the end of this year. Once completed, the site would be used to make and store weapons Construction on the site, which is openly displayed on Google Maps, probably began last year and will be completed by the end of 2017, the Times of Israel said, citing Channel 2. The project, if legitimate, would mark a new level of cooperation between Syria's President Bashar al-Assad and Iran, who are already staunch allies. The area where the construction is taking place is located is deep inside territory controlled by the Assad regime. Iran has helped to construct weapon factories in Syria in the past, including once facility located close to Aleppo which dates back to the Nineties, according to NTI. The Shia Muslim state was also found to be constructing weapons factories for Hezbollah in Lebanon earlier this year, Haaretz reports. It comes a week after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran is building up forces inside Syria as ISIS loses territory. 'Our policy is clear: We vehemently oppose the military buildup by Iran and its proxies, primarily Hezbollah, in Syria and we will do whatever it takes to protect Israel's security,' he said, according to Haaretz. The construction was exposed just days after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran is building up forces inside Syria as ISIS retreats Iran is one of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's closest allies. The missile site is located deep within his regime's territory. Pictured is the similarities between the Syrian site, left, and facilities in Iran, right Iran is one of Bashar al-Assad's closest allies and the new missile site is located deep within territory controlled by his regime (pictured, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani) Netanyahu has been harshly critical of a 2015 deal that six world powers including the United States under then-president Barack Obama struck with Iran to curb its nuclear programme in return for an end to multilateral sanctions. Iran is Israel's avowed enemy, and Israel argues that the agreement fails to prevent Iranian weapons posing a threat to its very existence. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. The United States last month slapped new economic sanctions on Iran over its ballistic missile program and said Tehran's 'malign activities' in the Middle East had undercut any 'positive contributions' from the 2015 accord curbing its nuclear program. U.S. President Donald Trump has frequently criticised the agreement as being too soft on Tehran, which remains subject to a U.N. arms embargo and other restrictions. U.S. news reports have said that Israeli intelligence officials will discuss the situation in Syria and Lebanon with U.S. counterparts in Washington this week. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/wires/reuters/article-4793722/Iran-building-long-range-rocket-factory-Syria--Israeli-TV.html#ixzz4pvOnTTqd Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook News / Press Release by PDP On Monday the 14th of August 2017 President Tendai Biti led a party delegation which attended the trial of United Party for National Development (UPND) President Hakainde Hichilema.Addressing the press in Lusaka, President Biti bemoaned the regression happening in the development of democracy in Zambia."We find recent events in Zambia very retrogressive and a reversal of the progressive gains that Zambia has made over the years. We now find it regrettable that Zambia is now known for the wrong reasons, the banning of political newspapers, the incarceration of opposition political leaders, the imposition of a threatened state of emergency, the ejection of African leaders and visitors in your country."From the early 90s Zambia has been holding credible elections changing Presidents 5 times.In less than three decades Zambians have been under the rule of President Kenneth Kaunda, Frederick Chiluba, Levy Mwanawasa, Michael Sata and now Edgar Lungu who took over after an interim stint by President Guy Scott.President Lungu's tenure has been dominated by controversy including a highly contested Presidential Election Outcome in 2016.The Electoral petition filed in the Constitutional Court of Zambia was marred by confusion, at the end it was not heard.The opposition cited political interference with the Judiciary something very common in Zimbabwe.President Biti urged Lungu to shun the ways of dictatorship displayed by Mugabe back at home."President Lungu can do better than admiring President Mugabe. He should stay away from Mugabe and build a strong democratic state not to copy all the bad things from these little people like Robert Mugabe."Hichilema is being charged with Treason a charge which has also been pressed against many politicians who dissent against President Mugabe including Ndabaningi Sithole ,Dumiso Dabengwa, Welshman Ncube, Lookout Masuku, Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti among others.President Biti also addressed supporters of Hichilema and UPND who gathered at the party offices in Lusaka. President Biti was flanked by Hichilema's deputy Geoffrey Mwamba as well as the party Secretary General Stephen Katuka .The President said the incarceration of Hakainde Hichilema and suspension of his members of parliament must provoke every democrat.President Biti also took time to meet and extend his moral support to Mutinta Hichilema wife to UPND President.President Biti was accompanied by International Relations Secretary Willias Madzimure and National Organising Secretary Moses Manyengavana.Together Another Zimbabwe is Possible He was not supposed to be back until Thursday, but President Trumps Tuesday afternoon may have been too much for Joe Scarborough as he returned to air a day early. The Morning Joe host beamed in to co-anchor his namesake show from what appeared to be a living room in Maine to denounce the Commander-in-Chief after the comments he made during his Trump Tower press conference on Tuesday. 'He has now officially become the president of the white nationalist movement,' said Scarborough. 'The president has chosen sides, and it is very clear. Not only morally, but also politically.' Scarborough then added: 'He has chosen the wrong side. It is now up to the rest of the us to figure out why he did that exactly. Is he just a bigot or racist? And what we're going to do about it.' Scroll down for video He's back: Joe Scarborough appeared on his namesake MSNBC morning show on Wednesday via satellite while on vacation in Maine with Mika Brzezinski (Scarborough above appearing from the living room of Mika's family home in Maine) Not holding back: The 'Morning Joe' host called President Trump 'despicable' in the wake of his comments during his press conference on Tuesday at Trump Tower in NYC (President Trump on Tuesday above) Scarborough began by echoing a comment made by earlier in the program by Nicolle Wallace, the former White House Communications Director for George W. Bush. Wallace called for members of the administration to make a bold move in the wake of Presidet Trump's comments on Tuesday, saying: 'If they dont resign en masse this morning, theyre forever tainted with the stench of what he did yesterday. She then went on to say: 'The ship has long sailed where any one of them can justify to outside audiences that they stay because the threats to our nation are so grave.' Wallace said that with his words and actions, President Trump has 'given safe harbor to Nazis, to white supremacists,' adding that he had 'disgraced' his party and his country. 'There are not two sides in this,' said Wallace. 'There are hideous, hateful enemies of America, enemies of freedom and there were people exercising their free speech, but hes a disgrace.' 'It's really important for people to understand that are just waking up this morning that may not have seen everything that happened. His own staff members were lied to yesterday as they went down there,' said Scarborough to Willie Geist at the start of his impassioned critique of President Trump. 'They thought they were going to be talking about infrastructure.' The conversation quickly shifted focus to the events occurring in Charlottesville, Virginia and President Trump's response to the rhetoric and actions of the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who have come from across the country to assemble near the University of Virginia campus. 'I'm sure you can look at the pictures of the Chief-of-Staff [John Kelly] seeming to be in mourning thinking that he'd been lied to. [Secretary of Transportation] Elaine Chao had been lied to, everybody,' said Scarborough. 'And he just went on this wild tirade, and there you have a picture of the Chief-of-Staff who is doing everything he can to try to bring order to a white house and to a President who refuses to take that order.' Scarborough added: 'And it really is despicable, and I think the most telling thing is the reaction. The reaction has been harsh from across America but from across the world.' Bold move: Nicolle Wallace (above), former Communications Director for President George W Bush, said that the administration should 'resign en masse' after Trump's comments Big Willie style: Geist also spoke with a sense of astonishment and disgust about the events occurring in Virginia and the behavior of President Trump on Tuesday Scarborough then pointed out that President Trump was being called out for his comments by members of both parties including Republican senators Marco Rubio, Cory Gardner and Ben Sasse. He then made note of those celebrating the comments made by President Trump. 'Of course, not so strange is the fact that [former Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan] David Duke and other white nationalists are praising the president of the United States yesterday for his words, and why not? David Duke saying thank you Mr. President for your courage to tell the truth about Charlottesville,' said Scarborough. 'David Duke, Nazis, white supremacists, Klan members, they stand on one side, and apparently the rest of America and the world stands on the other. Scarborough then said that at this point 'indifference is no longer an options for GOP legislators, GOP donors and conservative editorial writers.' Geist then weighed in as well, speaking with a mix of astonishment and disgust about a statement Duke made over the weekend. 'There was an extraordinary moment Saturday in Charlottesville when David Duke was being interviewed. He turned to the camera and said to the leader of the free world: "Look in the mirror Mr. President, and remember who put you in office,"' said Geist. 'That was David Duke, the former grand wizard of the Klu Klux Klan reminding the President and pressuring the President.' Geist then stated: 'I have to say, it looked yesterday like the President complied with that. Like he remembered who put him in office and checked himself out giving full condemnation to the KKK of all groups.' Fan club: A resident of the Maine town where Scarborough and Brzezinski are vacationing posted a snap with the two this week, speaking about how much he enjoyed meeting the pair (above) Summer days: Scarborough has been absent from the show since last week, and has been vacationing with his fiancee and co-host Brzezinki (above on Tuesday) in Northeast Harbor, Maine Scarbrough jumped back in to note the disgust he is seeing from many who at one point supported President Trump. 'A lot of people voted for him that aren't Nazis or white nationalists. There are a lot of people across the country that are asking what the hell did I vote for? "This is not what I voted for. I didn't want a [Hillary] Clinton or a [Jeb] Bush in the White House, but I sure as hell didn't want a Duke in the White House,"' said Scarborough. 'And that's what they've got.' On Tuesday Geist had said Joe would return to air Thursday. Scarborough has been absent from the show since last week, and has been vacationing with his fiancee and co-host Mika Brzezinki in Northeast Harbor, Maine. Her family has a home there. Dr. Michael Plevyak, 49, was hit and killed by a bus while on vacation with his family in Vancouver, Canada A Massachusetts doctor was hit and killed by a charter bus full of tourists while on vacation with his family in Vancouver, Canada. Michael Plevyak, 49, was walking through a tourist area Sunday morning with his family, including his wife, Dr. Sudeep Aulakh, and his two children. A bus pulling away from the curb hit the family. Plevyak's 15-year-old daughter and an elderly man believed to be Aulakh's father were also hit by the bus and taken to the hospital. His daughter had minor injuries and the older man remains in the hospital in serious condition. A witness said the bus had pulled away from the curb at low speed when the family was suddenly on the street next to a parked SUV. Bystanders rushed to help the family after the crash. 'When I heard the crash, I went in to see,' Mushfiqur Rahman, a witness, told the Vancouver Sun. At least two people were pinned under the bus; one was unconscious, the other was groaning. 'I saw the face of the (bus) driver, he was in pain,' he said. 'Emotional pain.' Scroll down for video The charter bus was full of tourists and hit three people on the street. One person died and the other is in serious condition A witness said the bus driver appeared to be in emotional pain after the accident The family was standing near a parked silver SUV. The bus hit the SUV which shattered its windshield The bus hit the parked SUV which had its trunk open. About a dozen people were taken off the bus after the accident, CKNW reported. Plevyak worked at the University of Massachusetts Medical School-Baystate and specialized in maternal fetal medicine. He was one of four maternal fetal medicine doctors for all of western Massachusetts, meaning patients traveled hundreds of miles to see him. Bystanders rushed to aid the people hit by the bus. A witness said at least two people were pinned under the bus Emergency responders work to free the people trapped underneath the bus The bus had pulled away from the curb at low speed when the family was hit on the street Chief physician executive Dr. Andrew Artenstein says Plevyak 'leaves a legacy here as a beloved physician and educator.' More than 100 of Plevyak's colleagues gathered at the hospital this morning in memorial. The Vancouver Trolley Company operated the bus and has made a statement on Facebook. The general manager Stuart Coventry said: 'It's with deep regret we confirm that one of our tourist buses was involved in a tragic accident in Vancouver this morning. We are shocked and saddened and our focus right now is on the people who were injured and the families of those injured and deceased.' The crash remains under investigation. A police officer taunted by a motorbike-riding thug is being investigated by his own force because he showed him the middle finger. The West Midlands officer was caught on camera making the obscene gesture and the footage was uploaded to the internet - prompting an investigation by his force for unacceptable behaviour. But news of the investigation sparked anger among some, who insisted he should not be disciplined for being rude to a criminal. And he found some sympathy from his own chief constable, who stepped in to defend the officer. Replying to a post on Twitter, West Midlands Chief Constable Dave Thompson said: I feel the objective should be to find the thug on the bike not the officer. Leave it with me. This police officer is being investigated by his own force after being taunted by a motorbike-riding thug and showing him the middle finger In footage uploaded online the bike wheelies past the riot van and waves at the officers inside The biker revs his engines and races off down the road - but the officer that swore at him is in the firing line In the video, filmed in Birmingham, the rider - on an illegal off-road bike - waves sarcastically, before revving his engine and pulling a wheelie as he flies past a police van. West Midlands Chief Constable Dave Thompson has said: I feel the objective should be to find the thug' The officer at the wheel of the van can be seen showing the middle finger. The footage was uploaded by a group called Bikelife Birmingham, which posts videos of stunts online. In a statement, the force said: This behaviour is unacceptable and falls below the high professional standards we expects from all police officers and staff. We will always thoroughly investigate when we receive information about those that fall below those professional standards, to ensure the public can continue to have the utmost confidence in the force. On Twitter, one user, Peter Kirkman wrote: So not only do the bosses prevent cops dealing with law-breaking scum, they launch a major investigation into cops being rude to them. Mr Thompson replied: I have just seen the article I have some sympathy with your observation. You can leave this with me. The West Midlands officer was caught on camera making the obscene gesture and the footage was uploaded to the internet - prompting an investigation by his force for unacceptable behaviour The force says it regularly receives complaints about anti-social and dangerous use of off road motorbikes and quad bikes. Just last month, footage emerged of illegal quad bikers rampaging through the streets of Birmingham city centre. The masked quad bikers and motorcyclists could be seen performing wheelies and stunts on the busy A38 Great Charles Street tunnel heading towards the South of the city. A Georgia boy who had his ears mauled by two pit bulls eight months ago has now lost his mother after she was struck down by a brain aneurysm and a stroke while taking him to a doctor's appointment. The tragic story of seven-year-old Ethan Fain made headlines last December when he was attacked by a neighbors dogs that jumped over the fence while he was playing in his grandmother's backyard in Gwinnett County. In the aftermath of the vicious mauling, the boy required 300 stitches all over his body, ended up losing his right ear and had to have his partially ripped left ear sewn back on. Second tragedy: Tracy Dowdy Fain, pictured left with son Ethan, was struck down by a fatal brain aneurysm on August 7 while taking him to a doctor's appointment. The 7-year-old lost his right ear in a dog mauling last Christmas Dowdy Fain's daughter Jessica (far right) says her mother was declared brain dead on Tuesday Last Monday, Ethan's mother, Tracy Dowdy Fain was taking him to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston to get some of the stitches out ahead of his first reconstructive surgery when she complained about a headache, as Atlanta Journal Constitution first reported. As the mother and son were standing in the lobby of the hospital, Dowdy Fain suddenly lost consciousness and collapsed motionless to the floor. Her grown daughter Jessica, who was not at the doctors appointment but learned the details from her stepfather and her sister, said that had the episode occurred anywhere else, her mother would have died on the spot. Dowdy Fain was transferred by ambulance to Emory Hospital, where she underwent emergency brain surgery, which revealed a large aneurysm. Doctors also discovered that the woman had suffered a stroke. Dowdy Fain, seen above with Ethan before the mauling, had spent a week in a medically induced coma, but she could not be saved Still in the dark: Ethan, pictured in the hospital after the dog attack, left, has not been told that Tracy has died. The seven-year-old thinks his mom is just sick Dowdy Fain was put into a medically induced coma to give her body time to heal, but the swelling in her brain increased. On Tuesday, a week after her initial hospitalization, Dowdy Fain was declared brain dead. Jessica Dowdy, 24, says her baby brother, who has been receiving counselling since the dog attack, still does not know their mother has died. All he knows is mommy is sick and the doctors are trying to make her better like they made him better, Jessica said. The daughter has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help the family with her mother's medical, and now funeral, expenses. As of Wednesday morning, just under $700 has been raised. On Christmas Eve last year, Ethan was playing outside in his grandmother's yard in Gwinnett County when his mother heard a blood-curdling scream. She ran outside to find that her neighbor's two dogs had grabbed the boy and dragged him over a fence that separated the two yards. Tracy's grown daughter Jessica (left), said had the stroke occurred anywhere else, her mother would have died on the spot Ethan has been in therapy since the December mauling; h ill have to undergo reconstructive surgery Dowdy jumped over the fence and was able to get her child, but not before the dogs had torn into him so severely that both of his ears were torn off, according to Fox 5. He was rushed to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston where he needed 300 stitches on his face, his chest, his back, his arms, neck, and legs. His one dangling ear was able to be sewn back on, but the other was missing and the boy's father, Allen Fain set about looking for it in the yard. A group of drunken masked men have been videoed assaulting a teenage boy and girl during a vicious attack while catching the train to a darts event. Dressed up as 'Mr Four Square', the mascot of a New Zealand supermarket company, the group of five can be seen laughing and singing as they sit together on the train. But just moments later the group - one of whom is carrying a beer bottle - stand and begin attacking the two 15-year-old's, choking the boy so severely he was left unable to breathe. Scroll down for video A group of drunken masked men have been videoed assaulting a teenage boy and girl during a vicious attack while catching the train (pictured) to a darts event in New Zealand Renowned for being a boozy event, it seemed the men had enjoyed a number of drinks prior to and on the train. Video of the brawl shows the teenage boy being held down by a masked man before the older reveller shapes up to throw a punch. The man was then tackled by a friend looking to de-escalate the situation, but not before he reportedly head-butted and choked the boy. Jenny De Montalk whose daughter was one of the teenagers attacked, took to social media to call for help in identifying the masked men. In her lengthy Facebook post she claimed the attack was 'fueled by homophobia and alcohol', and that both the children had been injured in the incident. 'One of them exposed himself and one of them choked the boy after calling him a faggot,' Ms De Montalk wrote. 'My daughter got clipped by a stray punch and the strangler also head butted the boy. They also stole the boy's phone but the kids got it back.' The shocking incident, which occurred at 5.30pm on Saturday, unfolded in front of a number of horrified passengers. The group of five were laughing and singing together on the train just moments before the vicious attack All five men were dressed up as 'Mr Four Square', the mascot of a New Zealand supermarket company, police are now investigating the incident But despite the attack occurring just metres from train staff, Ms De Montalk claims it wasn't until her daughter asked them to kick the men off that they took any action. 'No one helped the kids fight them off, including two train staff who were there, but people were filming it. 'This was a serious assault on a pair of 15-year-olds... shame on Auckland Transport and shame on those who sat by and did nothing.' New Zealand police are now investigating the incident. This is the dramatic moment police arrest a suspect after Silent Witness star Liz Carr was attacked in the head with scissors. The footage shows officers grapple the attacker and handcuff him, while a pair of black scissors can be seen on the ground. In the video three policemen are seen restraining the man against a railing as they try to detain him. Ms Carr's mother described the terrifying moment a thug stabbed at her daughter's head as her hero carer tried to fight him off and said Liz is now using her 'humour to help her get through' the trauma. Patricia Carr described how the 45-year-old star, who uses a wheelchair, was forced to flee as her personal assistant shouted 'go go go' and grappled with the attacker. Dramatic video footage emerged of the moment police swooped on the suspect. A pair of scissors can be seen on the ground (ringed in right image) Pictured is a policeman approaching two men before they detain a suspect after Liz Carr was attacked Bravery: Liz Carr's life was saved by her hero carer who fought off the attacker after shouting a warning to the Silent Witness star. Pictured: Liz Carr with wife Jo Church, far left, and her mother Patricia Humour: The actress, who plays Clarissa Mullery in the BBC crime drama series Silent Witness, was traumatised but is coping with her typical good humour, her mother revealed Mrs Carr told MailOnline: 'She felt like she'd been hit on the head with a hammer. 'The PA tried to force him off, she shouted to Liz "just go, go,go,go" and Liz was shouting to people for help.' Silent Witness actress Liz Carr (pictured) was stabbed in the head by a man wielding scissors Liz, who is recovering at home with her wife, said today that the experience was 'very frightening' but she was 'relatively unscathed'. 'Her carer and PA', she said, 'saved her life because she fought him off'. 'She warned Liz that there was somebody and said "Liz, you need to go across the road". 'Liz could tell by the tone of her voice it was something serious.' A brave member of the public followed the attacker who was then arrested by the police, Mrs Carr revealed. 'The witness said 'he's on his way to the station' and when he got there the police and transport police arrested him.' Mrs Carr, from the Wirral, added: 'She was very traumatised [but] she uses her humour to help her get through. Paying tribute to her daughter's bravery, she added: [Liz's] fine, she's okay, but she's very shocked. 'She's coping very well and the wound wasn't as bad as she thought considering the amount of blood. 'AT LEAST VIOLENCE ON SILENT WITNESS IS FAKE!': ACTRESS LIZ'S STATEMENT THANKING FANS FOR SUPPORT Liz Carr issued a statement today thanking fans for their support - and saying she can't wait to get back to the 'fake violence' on Silent Witness. Thanks to everyone who has sent their love and good wishes following last weeks stabbing. 'Just to reassure you that whilst it was very frightening at the time, I came out of it relatively unscathed and was even back home later that night. 'Looking forward to returning to filming on Silent Witness next week where thankfully all the violence is fake! Advertisement 'I was on the phone to her this morning and she was quite bright and cheerful. 'She's got a head injury, like a graze, but with the amount of blood, it's amazing it's just a graze. 'There was blood on her wheelchair, her rucksack, all over the floor from her wounds, but it wasn't too deep thankfully.' The star said in a statement today: Thanks to everyone who has sent their love and good wishes following last weeks stabbing. 'Just to reassure you that whilst it was very frightening at the time, I came out of it relatively unscathed and was even back home later that night. 'Looking forward to returning to filming on Silent Witness next week where thankfully all the violence is fake! The man, who is in his 20s, attacked the comedian and actress while she was with her carer near London's Euston station on Thursday. Recovery: Liz Carr, pictured above with her wife Jo Church, right, and parents, managed to escape after her quick thinking carer shouted a warning and fended off the attacker. The star is now recovering at home Co-star Emilia Fox posted this message online two days after the attack, calling Ms Carr one of the most phenomenal women alive 'thank goodness' Tweeting two days after the attack. Ms Carr responded saying thanks to Ms Fox and her fans Earlier this week, Ms Carr also thanked comedian Suzy Bennett for her words of support Ms Carr, who plays scientist Clarissa Mullery in the BBC crime drama series, was rushed to hospital and is recovering from a slash wound. A man was arrested at the scene on suspicion of GBH and was later detained under the Mental Health Act. Co-star Emilia Fox sent Ms Carr a message of support two days after the attack. In response to a fan posting a photo of the pair, Ms Fox tweeted: 'Big love to @thelizcarr, one of the most phenomenal women alive, thank goodness!xx' Ms Carr replied: 'Thank you for all the love today and always xxx' A friend of Ms Carr said that the actress joked about the attack, saying that it was like 'being attacked by Edward Scissorhands'. A friend told The Sun: 'It was a terrifying experience for Liz. She was being pushed in her wheelchair when this young man armed with two pairs of scissors suddenly headed towards her. 'There was blood everywhere but she was very lucky that the wound grazed her head and she was not more seriously injured. 'Typically, Liz is putting a brave face on it - joking that it was like being attacked by Edward Scissorhands.' Her carer suffered a broken finger and minor cuts was also taken to hospital after the attack. Ms Carr had never seen the man before and has no idea who he was. Ms Carr, who is also a stand-up comedian, has been in a wheelchair since she was seven after she was diagnosed with the rare condition, arthrogryposis multiplex congenita. In 2010, she entered into a civil partnership with her partner Jo, who is looking after her while she recovers. The attack happened near Euston Station last Thursday evening. A man has been arrested A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'Police were called at 8.21pm on Thursday, August 10, to Euston Road, near to Euston station, to a reports of man attacking two women with scissors. 'One of the victims was in a wheelchair. She was with her carer who was the second victim. 'Officers and the London Ambulance Service attended the location. The two women were taken to hospital suffering minor cuts and subsequently discharged. 'A man - aged in his 20s - was arrested at the scene on suspicion of GBH. 'He was taken into custody at a north London police station. He was subsequently detained under the Mental Health Act. Enquiries continue.' Police are not currently treating this as a hate crime, but will continue to speak to the victims. A man was seen lying down in the back of a pick up van as it travelled on one of Britain's busiest motorways. The shocking clip shows a worker lying down on his back in the bed of the van as it travels along the 70mph road. Filmed on the M62 in West Yorkshire, the dash cam clip shows the man as he lies down and covers himself with a high-visibility jacket. The clip was filmed on Monday afternoon near the Huddersfield junction as the pick up van travelled along the inside lane of the M62. The clip starts as the van comes nearer into shot and machinery can be seen in the bed of the pick up van. As the van is passed by the vehicle recording the footage, a man can be seen lying down in the bed with the high-visibility jacket over him and his boots sticking out from the bottom. As the driver realises what he's just seen, he says: 'There's a f****** lad here lying down in the back of a Transit van.' He continues: 'Honestly, f****** lying down and we're on the M62, f****** bet he won't come near me now. 'He's lying in the back of the Transit van. He's lying on the flat bed. F****** hell.' Another voice can be heard saying: 'That's f****** wrong.' West Yorkshire police today said they had not been able to find any record of the incident based on the information provided and the incident may not have been reported. Sleeping on the job! A worker was seen lying on his back in a van on the 70mph road Highly visible: The man covers himself with a high-vis jacket as he lay in the truck on the M62 Facebook users were shocked by the incident. One wrote: 'These events always seem funny to some people. They are funny until you're giving evidence in the Coroner's Court.' Another commented: 'Brakes hard because of anything and that whacker plate or compressor near his feet would possibly crush him.' Whilst another added: 'Dangerous and mad.' The law states that you must wear a seat belt if there is one fitted on the seat you are using and only one person can use a seat belt. Travelling unsecured in the back of the pick up van is even more dangerous considering the high speed of traffic on the M62. Last month, a stretch of the road was closed in both directions after 13 cars were involved in a crash. A woman from one of the cars suffered a leg injury and a motorcycle rider suffered an injury to his body during the incident. Both were taken to hospital. A Swedish man was outraged after transport officials blocked his dream private number plate ruling A55ORGY was too rude. The man attempted to convince the number plate had an innocent meaning, but officials determined many people could be offended. The man, from Sodertalje, south of Stockholm made his application to the Swedish Transport Agency who vetoed the plan. The unidentified motorist wanted to fit this number plate to his vehicle, composite photo The man, who is from Sodertalje, pictured, said he will design a new, more clever number plate According to The Local.se, the man told the Swedish National Broadcaster SVT: 'My cousin in the USA has a similar one. Its a shame I got a no, but I'll come up with something even smarter.' As well as offensive messages, number plates which refer to religion, sex, drugs, alcohol or criminality are also banned. A 10,000 reward is being offered for information in relation to the killing of a man who was shot and stabbed to death for his Rolex watch. Police are hunting the thieves who rode up to Danny Pearce, 31, on a moped in Greenwich, south east London and launched a horrendous attack when he refused to hand over his watch. Two suspects are still at large after the attack on July 15, and Crimestoppers is offering a reward of 10,000 for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of those who murdered Mr Pearce. Danny Pearce was stabbed after he refused to hand two moped thieves his Rolex watch Police have released an image of the Rolex watch which was taken and CCTV of two suspects He had been on a night out with his girlfriend and was walking home from Oliver's Jazz Club when he was confronted by the two men on King William Walk at 12.15am. The men demanded Mr Pearce hand over his Silver Rolex Datejust 2 2017 Rolex watch, worth thousands of pounds. When he refused to give in to their demands, one of the men chased and stabbed him with a large knife, while the second suspect started shooting at him with a handgun as he ran for his life. The men only ceased their assault when Mr Pearce's girlfriend shouted to tell them she would give them the watch if they stopped. Detectives investigating released this CCTV image of two suspects on a moped at a petrol station in Deptford, not far from where the murder took place CCTV footage taken moments before the murder shows the men - both dressed in dark clothing and wearing helmets - at a Texaco petrol station in Creek Road. Metropolitan Police Detective Inspector Jo Sidaway said: 'I hope this reward will encourage anyone with information that could help us catch those responsible for this horrific attack to come forward. 'Danny sought help at a nearby address but was fatally attacked by the suspects who showed no mercy and only stopped their attack when the victim's girlfriend shouted out to them that she would give them the watch if they ceased their attack. 'Without a hint of remorse they then took the watch and fled the scene in the direction of Nevada Street, SE10.' This heart-breaking picture has since been left at the scene by Mr Pearce's daughter The incident happened in King William Walk, near Greenwich Park on July 15 Mr Pearce, of Bromley, was pronounced dead at the scene. A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as multiple stab wounds. Ms Sidaway said investigations had led police to believe the suspects are also connected to two other robberies, one in Greenwich on July 11, and another in Southwark on July 13. On both of those occasions individuals were targeted for their watches and threatened with weapons which were not used. Police are searching for a 15-year-old teenage girl who has gone missing in regional Victoria. Breanna Bourke was last seen on Monday, August 14 about 9.30pm at an address in Boolarra. The teenager is described as Caucasian and about 152cm tall with a thin build, dyed long dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Missing girl Breanna Bourke may be in the Gippsland area and is known to frequent Warragul Police hold concerns for her welfare due to her age. She may be in the Gippsland area and is particularly known to frequent Warragul and Moe. Anyone who sees Breanna is urged to contact Morwell Police Station on (03) 5131 5000. News / Religion by Staff Reporter Zi "All prayerful and peace loving Zimbabweans" have been invited to attend a prayer meeting for Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa who is hospitalised in South Africa.This prayer meeting will be held in Harare tomorrow.Apparently Mnangagwa was admitted to hospital after eating ice cream during president Mugabe's Youth Interface rally held in Gwanda last weekend.Below is a banner that is circulating on social media inviting "peace loving Zimbabweans" to attend the event. An ABC presenter has created an awkward television moment by telling a senator of Greek heritage he had a 'foreign name'. Lateline host Emma Alberici was winding up a 10-minute interview when she deadpanned with an observation about Nick Xenophon. 'Xenophon sounds like a foreign name,' she said. Scroll down for video Lateline host Emma Alberici told Senator Nick Xenophon he had a foreign-sounding name The South Australian senator smiled awkwardly before answering the journalist with an Italian surname. 'That's right. I was going to say "please explain" to you,' Senator Xenophon said. 'Yes, it is. So what? I don't understand your point. You're sounding a bit xenophobic there.' The senator referenced One Nation leader Pauline Hanson's famous 1996 response to a 60 Minutes question when she was asked if she was xenophobic or afraid of foreign things. Ms Alberici briefly apologised before asking if he was a dual citizen. Adelaide-born senator Nick Xenophon told Emma Alberici she was sounding 'a bit xenophobic' 'I'm sorry. Are you sure you're on solid ground in the parliament that you don't have any secret citizenship lurching in your past?,' she asked. The lawmaker, who was born in Adelaide to Cyriot and Greek parents, explained how he had sought assurances in writing from the Greek Embassy and the Cyriot High Commission in Australia that he was never a citizen of those Mediterranean nations. 'I never want it and if there's any possibility I could have it, don't give it to me,' Senator Xenophon said. 'I'm already in trouble in the Greek and Cypriot communities for stating publicly in the ethnic media that I never want to be a Greek or Cypriot citizen so give me a break.' Scott Ludlam quit as a Greens senator in July after learning he was a dual New Zealand citizen Larissa Waters quit as a Greens senator after learning she was still a dual Canadian citizen Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce is facing calls to resign for being a dual New Zealander Federal politicians, who were either born overseas or have a foreign-born parent, have faced more scrutiny since July after Scott Ludlam and Larissa Waters quit as Greens senators after learning they were dual citizens of New Zealand and Canada respectively. Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has this week faced calls for his resignation from parliament after learning he was a dual New Zealand citizen by having a Kiwi father. Ms Alberici's interview technique caused controversy last week when she told Belgian-born cabinet minister Mathias Cormann a 15-year-old friend of her daughter's was kicked out of home after coming out as gay. 'Now whilst you and your colleagues are bickering in your party room, aren't you concerned about the message you send to young, vulnerable gay and lesbian Australians that they don't deserve the same treatment as other Australians?',' she asked. Three days after that interview, the ABC's director of editorial policy Mark Maley sent an email to staff telling them to avoid taking sides on same-sex marriage ahead of the postal vote on the issue. Zimbabwe's First Lady Grace Mugabe is seeking diplomatic immunity over allegations she severely beat a South African model with an electrical plug. Mrs Mugabe's lawyers have applied for the privilege after she was accused of attacking 20-year-old model Gabriella Engels in an upmarket Johannesburg hotel room on Sunday night, police say. Officers also confirmed that Mrs Mugabe remains in South Africa following reports that she had fled back to her home country after failing to show for a court appearance on Tuesday. South African authorities on Wednesday repeated their calls for her to come to court and explain herself. Grace Mugabe (left), Zimbabwe's First Lady and second wife of dictator Robert, is requesting diplomatic immunity over claims she severely beat model Gabriella Engels, 20 (right) Miss Engels said she was in a hotel room on Sunday night in Johannesburg when Mrs Mugabe came in looking for her playboy sons, then attacked her when she was unable to find them The beating was so severe that Miss Engles said she feared it was 'the end of me'. She needed 14 stitched to her head and scalp afterwards Mugabe, a potential successor to her 93-year-old husband, was in South Africa to receive treatment to an injured foot. A Zimbabwean intelligence source told Reuters the she was not travelling on a diplomatic passport. The news comes after Miss Engels told Mail Online that the beating she received was so severe that she thought 'it was the end of me'. Miss Engels claims she cowered on her knees, blood streaming down her face, as Mugabe's second wife viciously struck her with a weighty electrical plug and chord 'with such force and energy that I never thought she was going to stop'. The cover girl needed 14 stitches for gashes to her face and many more to her scalp after Mrs Mugabe's 'vicious unprovoked attack' as she hunted for her playboy sons. Devastated Gabriella, from Johannesburg, told MailOnline she was 'furious' at the thought that her attacker might never be held to account. Eyewitnesses in the Zimbabwe capital reported seeing Mrs Mugabe's motorcade speeding from the airport a few hours after she had been due to surrender to police. 'I am scared she will never be held to account for what she did to me,' Gabriella told MailOnline from the home she shares with her mother, Debbie. 'She beat me so badly, with all her power and might, I honestly thought it was the end of me. 'Her security guards and bodyguards just stood and watched that happen, I was pleading with her for mercy, I was crying out for help at the top of my voice,' she revealed. Gabriella explained how she had been briefly introduced to one of the first lady's playboy sons by a mutual friend at the weekend, without knowing who he was. She said: 'I had been introduced to Chatunga Mugabe, but I wasn't told his last name so had no idea who he was and barely spoke to the guy. 'On Sunday night, me and two other friends were with this mutual friend, who is also from Zimbabwe, and had not even seen the Mugabe brothers that evening, let alone been in the same room as them when this woman came in and just started attacking us. 'I had no idea who she was. She was shouting at us to tell her where her sons were, we just kept repeating that we didn't know them, that we hadn't seen them. 'But she did not listen to that and picked up an electrical cable and just started hitting us with it, including with the plug. 'One of my friends managed to run away, but me and my other friend were just pinned up against the side of the room, I was on my knees and she beat me until blood was running down my face, I could taste it. Mrs Mugabe (pictured) 52, who is First Lady of Zimbabwe, allegedly attacked the model at a South African hotel Injured: The model uploaded an image of her injuries to her social media accounts Accusations: The model accuses Mrs Mugabe of beating her with an extension cord and leaving her with a head wound Claims: The hotel confirmed guests had been asked to leave but would not confirm whether they were Mrs Mugabe, pictured with husband Robert, and her sons 'I thought I would fall unconscious. The power of the first blow to my head was just brutal. I thought she was never going to stop, she just kept going and going. 'The room was full of security guys, including her bodyguards. They just stood there, in silence, watching it all happen. Eventually, I managed to get out of the room and run for help.' It was only later that Gabriella learned the true identity of her notorious attacker, whose reputation for ruthless political ambition, violent outbursts and lavish spending habits as earned her the nicknames 'DisGrace' and 'the First Shopper' of Zimbabwe. Following the alleged attack, Miss Engels tweeted a picture of a wound on her head. She wrote on Twitter: 'What is a girl compared to a women beating you and 10+ body guards standing back leaving her to do this s***. 'She split my head open in 3 places with an extension cord and used the plug to hit me.' Gabriella's mother, Debbie, told MailOnline: 'I am so proud of her for standing up for herself against such a powerful person. 'I am going to feel very let down if it turns out that Grace Mugabe does not face justice over what she did. When I first saw my girl covered in blood after that beating, I almost collapsed.' Vish Naidoo, spokesman for the South African Police Service, confirmed to MailOnline that 'a female suspect' in the case made by Gabriella had been due to present herself to police for questioning at 10am this morning, after her lawyer contacted the authorities to make arrangements. The Johannesburg-born model (pictured) is now taking legal action against Grace Mugabe Ms Engels (pictured) claim Mrs Mugabe beat her in front of more than ten bodyguards Tonight 52 year-old Mrs Mugabe's whereabouts remain unknown, although her lawyer has reportedly told police that she had not left South Africa. 'An investigation into the case will continue,' Mr Naidoo said, 'and the findings will be presented to the Senior Public Prosecutor in due course. The assault on the young model is he latest in a string of violence incidents linked to Mrs Mugabe's conduct at home and abroad. Earlier this month, she was reportedly held briefly in Singapore after attempting to destroy camera equipment belonging to two journalists. In 2009 she was accused by British photographer Richard Jones of punching him in the face repeatedly while her bodyguards pinned him to the ground, outside a hotel in Hong Kong. On both occasions, her diplomatic immunity protected her from further investigation or criminal charges. In Zimbabwe, which descended into political chaos under the rule of her 93 year old husband, she was accused by Human Rights Watch in May this year of ordering the harassment, assault and violent eviction of 200 families. She is a leading candidate to succeed her ageing husband as both leader of the ruling party and head of state in Zimbabwe. Far right and out: College freshman Nicholas Fuentes, 18, has withdrawn from Boston University after getting bombarded with death threats over his participation in the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia An 18-year-old student who participated in the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend says he has withdrawn from Boston University after getting bombarded with death threats. Nicholas Fuentes says he has received 15 menacing messages via email and social media since Saturday's violent events. Fuentes, a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump and online TV host for Right Side Broadcasting Network, said he considered leaving Boston University in January after protests in the city that followed the inauguration. The BU freshman, who last year made headlines by proclaiming that 'multiculturalism is cancer,' gave it more serious consideration in recent weeks and on Tuesday had an exit interview with the school. The university confirmed Fuentes is no longer enrolled as a student. 'Its becoming very dangerous,' Fuentes told The Boston Globe in a phone interview Tuesday, adding that he no longer felt safe in the overwhelmingly left-leaning Massachusetts. Die-hard fan: Fuentes is a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump and online TV host for Right Side Broadcasting Network Fuentes considered leaving Boston University in January after anti-Trump protests Fuentes flew from Chicago to attend the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville on Saturday, which drew throngs of neo-Nazis, white nationalists and members of the KKK, among them former Imperial Wizard David Duke. Heather Heyer, 32, was killed there when a car driven by a suspected white supremacist plowed into a crowd of counter-protesters, injuring 19 others. Fuentes called the deadly incident a 'tragedy' but pointed a finger of blame at the violent 'alt-left'- a term infamously used by President Trump during a press conference Tuesday that drew widespread condemnation from politicians on sides of the aisle. During Saturdays march, Fuentes took the time to go on Facebook and share his thoughts about the events of the day, writing: The rootless transnational elite knows that a tidal wave of white identity is coming. And they know that once the word gets out, they will not be able to stop us. The fire rises! Later speaking to the site Mediaite, Fuentes praised Trumps original statement addressing the deadly incident in Virginia, in which he blamed many sides for the violence. The college student said Trump's comments were perfectly aligned with the alt-right because they were intentionally ambiguous to go along with Washingtons speech codes, yet still managed to condemn the violent left. Fuentes is pictured in a MAGA hat, taking part in a debate at Boston University in November 2016 In his phone interview with the Globe, the now-former BU freshman insisted he never advocated violence and is not a racist, and said he traveled to Charlottesville to protest against 'immigration, multiculturalism, and post-modernism.' 'The rally was about not replacing white people,' he added. Fuentes took to Facebook on Wednesday, a day after his withdrawal from BU, to further air his views on the subject, striking an angry and defensive tone in his online musings. 'We can talk about black pride, Latino pride, and gay pride all day long but talk about white pride, or pride in European heritage, and you're suddenly an apologist for Adolf Hitler and the Ku Klux Klan,' he wrote. 'Enough is enough! I'm sick of being asked to condemn or apologize for racism every 15 minutes for being born white.' Lebanon's parliament repealed a controversial rape law which allowed offenders walk free if they agreed to marry their victims. A major campaign was launched after Article 552 of the penal code, which deals with rape, assault, kidnapping and forced marriage, was introduced last year. A parliamentary committee approved the legislation in February, but politicians under domestic and international pressure reversed their decision. Activists successfully campaigned for the repeal of the controversial Lebanese law allowing rapists who marry their victims to go free Lebanon's official news agency reported the decision to repeal the law. Activist group ABAAD said: 'Congratulations to women in Lebanon. Today's win is a victory for the dignity of women,' it added. 'It is no longer possible to escape punishment for rape and sexual acts carried out by force and coercion.' The article, which also dealt with the rape of minors, allowed for the perpetrator of sexual assault to avoid prosecution by marrying their victim. There are no precise figures on how many rapists marry their victims to avoid punishment, but activists say the practice mainly took place in rural areas. Lebanon's decision comes just over two weeks after Jordan's parliament binned a similar article in its penal code. And in July, Tunisia passed legislation doing the same as part of a bill designed to 'end all violence against women'. Tanja Ebert (pictured) moved to Australia at 19 on a gap year, and stayed after falling in love with farmer Michael Burdon. In the last eight days, Ms Ebert has gone missing and is believed to have been murdered, and Mr Burdon has committed suicide A 23-year-old German mother-of-two who went missing eight days ago and is believed to have been murdered was hiding a secret unhappiness, police say. As a teenager, Tanja Ebert came to Australia on a gap year, where she met and fell in love with farmer Michael Burdon, 18 years her senior, in Mannahill, almost 360km north-east of Adelaide. Friends told the Adelaide Advertiser the pair were a 'match made in heaven', and that Mr Burdon loved her. 'She was the loveliest person you will ever meet and he was a great bloke it really was a match made in heaven,' a friend told the newspaper, adding: 'Mike was smitten from the start. He loved her.' The pair were married only six months ago, but cracks began to show. On August 8, while Ms Ebert and Mr Burdon were returning to Oulnina Park Station from Adelaide with their two children aged one and three, they began to fight. Ms Ebert at first adored living on the Burdon family's remote property (pictured) but it is believed she was planning to move to NSW before her disappearance Mr Burdon killed himself on Wednesday afternoon after extensive questioning by police. They were still on the property when he died, as were the couple's two young children Ms Ebert was last seen alive on August 8 in Adelaide enjoying a family outing with her husband and two young children (pictured) Mr Burdon, now 41, had told police his wife had expressed a reluctance to return to the farm, and they had fought near grain silos in Roseworthy. Detective Superintendent Des Bray told the Advertiser Ms Ebert had become 'agitated in the car and expressed to [Mr Burdon] that she didnt want to go back to Mannahill, and he stopped the car'. In a media conference, Det Supt Bray said the 23-year-old 'expressed unhappiness in her married life', and had previously spoken about leaving the farm and moving to NSW. Mr Burdon told police he never saw his wife again. He did not report Ms Ebert as missing to police from that point until Thursday morning. By this time, a German relative of Ms Ebert's had filed a report with officers, sparking a missing persons investigation which quickly turned into a murder investigation. On Wednesday, police arrived at the family property, where a search began and Mr Burdon was extensively questioned. Though Ms Ebert disappeared on Tuesday night, by Thursday morning Mr Burdon had still not called police Mr Burdon's suicide has been labelled a death in custody and a separate inquiry has been launched in relation to his death At about 2.40pm, South Australia Police announced a murder investigation was underway in relation to Ms Ebert's disappearance. Just after 3pm, with investigators still in the house, Mr Burdon killed himself. His suicide has been labelled a death in custody as police were present and he was being interviewed, and a separate inquiry has been launched into the incident. The couple's two young children were also at the property when Mr Burdon died, but were not harmed and have been taken to stay with family. Two ambulances were dispatched to the home, but South Australia Ambulance refused to comment on the circumstances that led to the ambulances being called to the property. Ms Ebert was last seen on the evening of August 8 near the farming village of Roseworthy, about 50km north of Adelaide. Police said the 23-year-old is believed to have got out of her family car on August 8 and walked off, leaving behind her husband and two sons aged one and three. She also abandoned all her possessions including her passport, purse and phone but was carrying a 'large amount' of money. 'We have grave fears that she has been murdered, although we're holding out some slim hope that we're wrong,' Detective Superintendent Des Bray said. 'We are aware there had been some issues in the marriage, however at this time we are keeping an open mind with regard to suspects. Police said the 23-year-old was believed to have got out of her family car and walked off on August 8, leaving behind Mr Burdon and their two sons aged one and three 'As with matters of this type, we are making inquiries to rule out the involvement of those who saw her last. Unfortunately there have been no signs that she is alive, and we fear she has been murdered.' Police said she made no contact with her friends or left any posts on social media that would indicate she was still alive. Two ambulances were dispatched to Ms Ebert's family home on Wednesday, whewre a search had commenced that morning and Mr Burdon had been interviewed. Police held grave fears for her welfare and mounted officers on Wednesday joined the State Emergency Service in scouring the area. Land near grain silos off Main North Road, where it is believed the couple had their final argument, were part of the search grid. Mr Burdon told police Ms Ebert was unhappy about her life with him when she left the car on August 8 'We have searched this area near the wheat stacks about 1.5km north of Roseworthy - today, and have found no trace of this young woman,' Superintendent Bray said. Ms Ebert was seen days before her disappearance walking in a shopping centre with her family, walking near to her husband who pushed their children in a pram. Ms Ebert is white with a German accent with blue eyes and blonde hair, and about 165 to 170 centimetres tall with a slim build. She was wearing purple jeans and a blue cardigan on the night she disappeared. For confidential support call the Lifeline 24-hour crisis support on 13 11 14. For further support contact Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 and MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78. Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei joined the international criticism of race-related violence in the United States on Wednesday with a mocking tweet. 'If US has any power, they better manage their country, tackle #WhiteSupremacy rather than meddle in nations' affairs. #Charlottesville,' Khamenei's official Twitter feed posted. The Twitter post also included a black-and-white photograph showing a younger Khamenei holding a black child in his arms. Khamenei's office was responding to the furor in the US over an attack in Charlottesville by a suspected Nazi sympathizer, who plowed his car into anti-racism protesters, leaving one dead and 19 injured. A handout picture from February 7, 2017 shows Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on stage during a meeting with air force commanders The Twitter post also included a black-and-white photograph showing a younger Khamenei holding a black child in his arms President Donald Trump has raised another huge controversy by saying there was 'blame on both sides'. The deepening divisions in US society have provided ample fodder for the Islamic republic to deflect allegations of human rights abuses in its own country, and turn the criticism back on its traditional enemy. Earlier, the foreign ministry accused Washington of hypocrisy for its annual report on religious freedom, which was published on Tuesday and sharply criticized Iran. 'It is clear that religious and racial discrimination, Islamophobia, and xenophobia are a widespread and frequent phenomenon among American politicians,' spokesman Bahram Ghasemi hit back on the ministry's website. Melbourne, Vienna and Vancouver have been named the world's most liveable cities in a top-ten list that does not include anywhere in Britain or America. Damascus, the capital of war-torn Syria, was named the least liveable city, below both Lagos in Nigeria and Tripoli in Libya. Major global hubs, including New York, London, Paris and Tokyo were all outside the top ten because of 'high crime, congestion and public transport problems'. For the seventh year in a row, Melbourne (pictured) has been named the world's most liveable city Vienna in Austria was named runner-up in a top-ten list that does not include anywhere in Britain or America And 'several' US cities have registered declines in their scores which, the report says, 'stems in part from unrest related to a number of deaths of black people at the hands of police officers'. Another factor was 'protests held in response to President Trumps policies and executive orders', according to the report, produced by The Economist Intelligence Unit. Meanwhile, Sydney in Australia dropped to 11th 'reflecting growing concerns over possible terror attacks' while Manchester in the UK and Stockholm in Sweden, have both seen their scores decline as a result of recent, high-profile jihadist atrocities. The 2017 ranking was calculated by assessing 140 cities and giving them a score out of 100 based on stability, healthcare, education, infrastructure and culture. There was no change from 2016's top-five with Melbourne taking top-spot for the seventh year running followed by Vienna in Austria and Vancouver in Canada. MOST LIVEABLE CITIES 1. Melbourne - 97.5 out of 100 2. Vienna - 97.4 3. Vancouver - 97.3 4. Toronto - 97.2 5. Adelaide/ Calgary - 96.6 7. Perth - 95.9 8. Auckland - 95.7 9. Helsinki - 95.6 10. Hamburg - 95.0 Advertisement LEAST LIVEABLE CITIES 1. Damascus, Syria - 30.2 2. Lagos, Nigeria - 46.4 3. Tripoli, Libya - 36.6 4. Dhaka, Bangladesh - 38.7 5. Port Moresby, PNG - 39.6 6. Algiers / Karachi - 40.9 8. Harare, Zimbabwe - 42.6 9. Douala, Cameroon - 44 10. Kiev, Ukraine - 47.8 Advertisement Damascus, the capital of war-torn Syria, was named the least liveable city, below both Lagos in Nigeria and Tripoli in Libya Lagos in Nigeria, Tripoli in Libya, Dhaka in Bangladesh and Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea made up the rest of the bottom five They were followed by Canadian cities, Toronto and Calgary, Australian cities Adelaide and Perth and Auckland in New Zealand. Helsinki in Finland and Hamburg in Germany made up the top ten. Melbourne received perfect scores for healthcare, education and infrastructure and was given an overall rating of 97.5 with the top mark of 100 seen as 'ideal'. At the bottom end of the scale, Damascus received a rating of just 30.2. Lagos in Nigeria, Tripoli in Libya, Dhaka in Bangladesh and Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea made up the rest of the bottom five. They were below, Algiers in Algeria, Karachi in Pakistan, Harare in Zimbabwe, Douala, in Cameroon and Kiev in Ukraine. London, along with 'global business centres' New York, Tokyo and Paris, were major absentees from the top ten and described as being 'victims of their own success'. Stockholm in Sweden, have both seen their scores decline as a result of a recent, high-profile jihadist attack in which a truck was driven into crowds killing five Auckland (pictured) in New Zealand was named eighth most liveable city in the 2017 rankings Vancouver was named third on the list and was one of three Canadian cities to make the top ten The report states: 'The "big city buzz" that they enjoy can overstretch infrastructure and cause higher crime rates. New York, London, Paris and Tokyo are all prestigious hubs with a wealth of recreational activities, but all suffer from higher levels of crime, congestion and public transport problems than are deemed comfortable.' Global stability scores across the board have been weakened amid a 'number of high-profile incidents that have shown no signs of slowing', the report says. 'Violent acts of terrorism have been reported in many countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, France, Pakistan, Sweden, Turkey, the UK and the US. 'While not a new phenomenon, the frequency and spread of terrorism have increased noticeably and become even more prominent. 'Western Europe has become a focal point for mounting concerns, and repeated attacks in France and UK have had a contagion effect, raising terror alerts and lowering stability scores in cities across the region.' The 2017 ranking was calculated by assessing 140 cities and giving them a score out of 100 based on stability, healthcare, education, infrastructure and culture In the US - described as a 'relatively stable country' - there has been 'mounting civil unrest linked to the Black Lives Matter movement and the policies proposed by the 45th US president, Donald Trump'. But the report points to other destabilising factors, including unrest in certain countries 'particularly over the migration crisis'. It added that the 'British vote to leave the EU could pave the way for further uncertainty and political conflict'. At the bottom end of the spectrum, there has been civil unrest and armed conflict in Iraq, Libya and Syria, while a number of other countries, including Nigeria, continue to battle insurgent groups. Harare (pictured) in Zimbabwe was named among the least liveable cities. Police are pictured during riots in the city in July Joyce Wood (pictured), 72, suffered from coronary artery disease and died of shock during the incident that took place in April A 72-year-old woman died from a heart attack after a naked trespasser jumped into bed with her during a home invasion. Joyce Wood suffered from coronary artery disease and died of shock during the incident that took place in April, according to the Maine medical examiner's office. Police arrested Tara Shibles, 37, who was indicted in May on manslaugter, aggravated criminal trespassing and assault charges. Wood called 911 between 3am and 4am on April 2 after Shibles climbed into bed with her and refused to let her turn on the light, according to the Morning Sentinel. The woman's family members arrived before police and placed her in a car, where she died. Police called the case and circumstances 'bizarre' as they investigated what happened that night. Authorities said they found 'a naked woman hiding in the home' and shoes down the road that 'probably belonged to the naked woman'. Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland told the Sentinel that Shibles was questioned for hours, but was initially released without charges. She was later arrested at her home. Police arrested Tara Shibles (pictured), 37, who was indicted in May on manslaugter, aggravated criminal trespassing and assault charges Police found Shibles inside Wood's home (pictured) at the time, but she was initially released. She was arrested a month later McCausland said Monday he didn't have any more information on the case, and that any new information would come out in court. Neighbors remembered Wood as an 'outspoken and blunt' woman. Ernie Glabau, who lived nearby said Wood was 'one of the best neighbors Ive ever had'. 'You always knew where her feet were and where she stood and what she had to say,' he told the Sentinel. Shibles' trial is tentatively set for December. A popular Minneapolis diner has fired two employees after a photo surfaced on social media showing them wearing what looked like Nazi uniforms. The image at the center of the controversy showed five people posing in front of a mirror, four of them decked out in World War II-era German army fatigues. A Facebook whistleblower who alerted the diner to the workers' suspected white nationalist affiliation also included a screen grab from a now-defunct Facebook page, in which the user identified himself as a 'crusading SS man.' Blast from the past: Two of the people seen in this selfie posing in Nazi uniform have been identified as Minneapolis diner staffers and were fired on Tuesday Taking a stand: The general manager of Uptown Diner said in a statement the business 'unequivocally repudiates the beliefs and ideals of neo-Nazis and white supremacy' Another photo showed the same man flying a 'Don't Tread On Me' flag - a Revolutionary War-era symbol known as the Gadsden flag, which in recent years has taken on racist connotations, as Minneapolis Star Tribune first reported. A third image showed a young woman holding a live snake in her hands and posing in front of the Gadsden flag. The same woman was also featured in the mirror selfie and another photo that showed her sporting what appears to be a Nazi-inspired outfit. After the Facebook user from Minneapolis shared the incendiary images online and brought it to the attention of the Uptown Diner, where two of the people depicted the Nazi selfie were said to have been employed, the general manager of the eatery responded on Tuesday afternoon by saying that the incident was under review. 'It has recently come to our attention that two employees have posed for pictures in Nazi garb,' read the initial statement put out by the diner's management on its official Facebook page. Another photo showed one of the axed workers flying a 'Don't Tread On Me' flag (left). On his now-defunct Facebook page, he identified himself as a 'crusading SS man' 'This is severely troubling, especially in the light of tragic events in Charlottesville over the weekend. The Uptown Diner unequivocally repudiates the beliefs and ideals of neo-Nazis and white supremacy.' About four hours later, the manager of Uptown Diner offered an update, revealing that the two workers were 'no longer employed at the Uptown Diner.' The post went on to say that the restaurant, which has operated on Hennepin Avenue South in Minneapolis for 27 years, 'unequivocally denounces the beliefs and ideals of neo-Nazis and white supremacy. 'Hate and bigotry have no place in society. We are committed to fostering an inclusive, welcoming environment at our restaurant and in our community.' DailyMail.com on Wednesday reached out to the management of the diner who declined to comment further on this matter A Queensland police officer has garnered a legion of fans and become a viral sensation because of his good looks. Mason 'Hot Cop' Jago stopped to take a quick selfie on a lost phone before returning it to its grateful owner - who happened to be an ABC journalist with a long contact list. She forwarded the rogue selfie to her colleagues, who quickly uploaded it to Facebook where it scored more than 15,000 likes after reaching 370,000 people. Constable Jago stopped to take a quick selfie on a lost phone, before returning it to its owner The slightly bemused-looking constable told The Project's Carrie Bickmore he was pretty surprised by all the attention but he's just 'rolling with it'. He then proceeds to break hearts all over the nation by telling people that he's happily in a relationship. Peter Helliar cannot seem to stop himself from flirting with the 'hot cop', calling him 'pretty sexy' and telling him that he had a 'lovely smile' He also mentioned he cannot wait for Mason to star in his own calendar, while fanning himself. When asked if he had read any of the comments that had been posted about him online, Mason admitted that he had. Stand-out comments include: 'I've done something bad, please send constable Mason to arrest me ASAP' and 'Get on the handcuffs, I've been a very bad girl.' The owner forwarded the rogue selfie to her colleagues, who quickly uploaded it to Facebook Mason's selfie has scored more than 15,000 likes after reaching 370,000 people on Facebook Numerous women have written to him that they wouldn't be too upset if they'd found his selfie on their phone. Mason's girlfriend, however, may be less than keen on the idea that women are considering becoming criminals just for some face time with him. 'She's not letting me leave the house anymore,' Mason joked, adding that thanks to his viral fame, she is getting quite a bit of attention herself. 'She's not letting me leave the house anymore': Mason's girlfriend might not love the attention 'She has taken my access away from phone and internet. A total ban.' Waleed Aly praises the 'ridiculously good-looking constable' and wonders aloud if the crime rate will skyrocket now that he's internet-famous. 'Might have to build a few more prisons and everything,' Mason said. His fellow Gatton officers also seemed to have joined in on the joke, and told The Project that all of MAson's shirts are now 'extra, extra, extra small. For that nice tight fit.' Peter Helliar is waiting with bated breath for officer Mason 'Hot Cop' Jago to release a calendar However, he admitted to ABC that if he'd known it was a journalist's phone, he probably wouldn't have taken the selfie. 'I was really quite embarrassed,' he said. 'It was good however to allow the public to see a lighter side of police officers.' Opinion / Columnist A figtree in ancient times long back, it was prioritised in Judea, Jerusalem, Samaria, Israel and other places. It was treated with with great care because it provided sweet and delicious fruits and everyone who devoured it during that time could feel better.A fruitless figtree exploits the resources, it only acquires nutrients and fails to photosynthesise, other figtrees can try to photosynthesise but produce rotten fruits which only fell down and those fruits are decomposed by fungi and eaten by ants." Meaning that the root causer who led to that incident by acting wild "Robert Junior" is also compared to a rotten fruit produced by a fruitless figtree.Fig tree also provided good shade and shelter to other wildlife creatures.Literally a simile "Grace Mugabe is a fruitless figtree " briefly explains Grace's personality traits, how she socialize and interact with the community either regional or international.The first lady's behaviour is not good at all, she is not tolerant, she is violent, hazardous to the society because she is always involved in fights, quarrels wherever she goes, and we wonder what fruits are being produced by a person who has ambition to be a vice President.People measure a person through his/her interaction with the society. A good leader is the one who is humble, tolerant, disciplined, able to handle and solve matters in a professional way without violence.The recent incident whereby Grace Mugabe fought a South African lady with an electrical appliance causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) clearly indicates that the first lady has got no fruits at all to deliver and disqualifies her to occupy a highest post even the women's league which she leads, it must question this matter and SADC as a regional bloc needs to charge her as a person who violated human rights, diplomatic law and immigration law.SADC needs to review this and a suitable charge to be given to the first lady without fear or favour. This is an embarrassment to all Zimbabweans and it brings the name "Zimbabwe" into desrepute" A woman has banned her children from using the internet after she discovered that her eight-year-old daughters' bedroom was being livestreamed to the world. The mother - from Houston, Texas - said she feels like she's 'failed' to protect her children after realizing that people were watching them 'in their home, dressing, sleeping, playing'. Her children had been playing a game and, when they were prompted to connect to a server so they could play with friends, accidentally connected to an unprotected one. The woman - who gave her name only as Jennifer when speaking to ABC News - was told by security experts that hackers probably got the family's internet address from one of her daughter's iPads and then gained access to their house webcam system. Scroll down for video The stream of Jennifer's children had been live since July 27 and been seen by hundreds of people at least. Pictured: A stock image of a webcam She only found out about the intrusion when another mother - 2,000 miles away in Oregon - inadvertently stumbled upon a livestream of Jennifer's daughter after downloading a free app. That woman - Shelby Ivie - then made a public Facebook post to try and find out who the little girl was as a way of warning her parents. She said: 'I was in tears, thinking of the violation [Jennifer] must feel'. The stream had been live since July 27 and been seen by hundreds of people at least. Jennifer said she feels like she's 'failed' to protect her children after realizing that people were watching them 'in their home, dressing, sleeping, playing'. Pictured: A stock image showing a young girl at a computer Jennifer was horrified when she learned of the numbers, explaining: 'They had [571] likes - so I know for a fact 571 people have been staring at my kids, probably more.' Now her children are forbidden from going online because Jennifer is unwilling to 'chance it again'. She warns parents to keep an eye on their children's online activities. A refugee on Manus Island who often speaks of the horrors of detention has been pictured enjoying a tropical holiday with other detainees. Pictures posted to Facebook in May show Walid Zazai and his friends sipping from coconuts, wrestling on the beach and relaxing on a picturesque island, The Courier Mail reported. One of these friends was 'Ben', who also appeared in a GetUp! video last month, asking for an 'SOS' and to be evacuated from Manus Island. Refugees from Manus Island are seen wearing Apple earphones and beaming as they soaked up the sun on the tropical island. Pictured is a photo that appeared on Mr Zazai's Facebook As the gates to the detention centre were opened in May last year, the detainees are free to come and go from the complex at will. In this case, Mr Zazai told Facebook friends he had used his freedom for a 'lovely two days holidays with my lovely, cute, beautiful and best ever friends'. In the now deleted pictures, the group are seen looking well groomed, with what appear to be iPhone branded earphones, and accessorising with necklaces and rings. One photo shows the men laughing after burying their friend in the sand and posing around him. Accompanying the album of photos, which was seen by Daily Mail Australia, was a caption reading: 'I had a lovely 2 days holidays with my lovely cute beautiful and best ever friends.' Walid Zazai shared the pictures on his Facebook in May and told followers he had gone on a 'lovely two days holidays with my lovely, cute, beautiful and best ever friends' The men, though seemingly enjoying themselves on holiday, are very vocal about the terrors of Manus Island and wider Papua New Guinea It is in stark contrast to other messages posted to Mr Zazai's Facebook, which speak of the dangers of both the detention centre and the rest of Papua New Guinea. 'Most of us would prefer to hang instead of going to settle in the Papua New Guinea community,' he wrote in one post. In another, he said of the detention centre: 'The food is terrible, the hygiene poor, there are putrid smells, sticky and oppressive heat, the rooms are tiny for many men, there is a lack of privacy, and daily we are treated like criminals.' Mr Zazai's friend 'Ben', who is seen with Apple headphones pointing towards his friend on the group holiday also appeared in a GetUp! advertisement, speaking of the horrors of PNG. The 25-year-old Iranian was filmed begging Australians to put pressure on the Government to free the men still left on the island. 'I'm asking for an SOS,' he says to the camera. Jeremy Corbyn today denied there was a 'particular problem' with Pakistani men grooming white girls as he faced a backlash for sacking a Labour frontbencher who highlighted the issue. The Labour leader was accused of ignoring reality and blocking 'open, honest debate' as he insisted 'much crime is committed by white people'. The row escalated after Sarah Champion was forced to resign as shadow women and equalities secretary for writing an article stating: 'Britain has a problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls.' The piece followed the conviction of 18 members of a grooming ring in Newcastle. The Rotherham MP - who has long campaigned for more awareness of racist grooming gangs including in her own constituency - apologised for her 'poor choice of words' as she announced her departure last night. But asked in a broadcast interview today if Rotherham, Rochdale, Newcastle and elsewhere showed there was a 'particular problem' with Pakistani men, Mr Corbyn replied: 'The problem is the crime that is committed against women from any community. 'Much crime is committed by white people, crime is committed by people of other communities as well. I think it is wrong to designate an entire community as the problem. Jeremy Corbyn today denied there was a 'particular problem' with Pakistani men grooming white girls as he faced a backlash for sacking a Labour frontbencher who highlighted the issue The Labour leader was accused of ignoring reality and blocking 'open, honest debate' as he insisted 'much crime is committed by white people' Mr Corbyn, pictured at a food bank in Bolton today, said Ms Champion had been 'right' to quit and communities should not be 'demonised' Sarah Champion apologised for her 'extremely poor choice of words' as she announced her departure last night Communities Secretary Sajid Javid today hit out at the way Sarah Champion had been forced to resign as shadow women and equalities secretary 'What I think is right is to deal with the problem of the safety and security and vulnerability of often young women, who can be groomed by all kinds of people into some awful and dangerous situations.' However, the Equality and Human Rights Commission said it was a 'real shame' that Ms Champion had been ousted due to 'over-sensitivity about language'. Tory former children's minister Tim Loughton said: 'Those of us with experience in this area know Sarah Champion is highly respected for exposing child sexual abuse and should be listened to.' He told Sky News Mr Corbyn was 'deaf to a problem that is happening in our country'. Communities Secretary Sajid Javid, whose family background is Pakistani, posted on Twitter today: 'Corbyn wrong to sack Sarah Champion. We need an honest open debate on child sexual exploitation, including racial motivation.' In the article for The Sun last week, Ms Champion sparked a backlash from Labour activists by writing: 'Britain has a problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls. 'There. I said it. Does that make me a racist? Or am I just prepared to call out this horrifying problem for what it is? CORBYN'S INTERVIEW EXCHANGE IN FULL Jeremy Corbyn: 'I don't think you can label a whole community. 'I think what you have to do is label those that perpetrate disgusting and disgraceful crimes against people, and they can be from any community, they can be white, they can be black, they can be any community, but they have to be dealt with as the crime of what it is.' Interviewer: Do you not think there's a particular problem with Pakistani men? Because we've seen in Rochdale, we've seen in Rotherham, in Newcastle and Oxford, that's been the problem.' Corbyn: 'The problem is the crime that is committed against women from any community. 'Much crime is committed by white people, crime is committed by people of other communities as well. I think it is wrong to designate an entire community as the problem. 'What I think is right is to deal with the problem of the safety and security and vulnerability of often young women, who can be groomed by all kinds of people into some awful and dangerous situations.' Advertisement 'For too long we have ignored the race of these abusers and, worse, tried to cover it up. 'No more. These people are predators and the common denominator is their ethnic heritage.' Labour MP Barry Sheerman wrote: 'I don't understand the forced resignation of Sarah Champion and nor will my constituents.' Shadow justice minister Yasmin Qureshi repeatedly refused to be drawn on whether it was right that Ms Champion stepped down. 'I think you need to ask Sarah that question,' she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. 'Of course we should deal with abuse wherever it occurs and we should ask ourselves as to what we can do to ensure these things don't happen.' The MP had claimed her article was altered and should 'not have gone out in my name'. But the newspaper produced emails indicating that she had been supplied with and approved proofs of the page. Ms Champion said last night: 'I apologise for the offence caused by the extremely poor choice of words in The Sun article on Friday. 'I am concerned that my continued position in the shadow cabinet would distract from the crucial issues around child protection which I have campaigned on my entire political career. 'It is therefore with regret that I tender my resignation as shadow secretary of state for women and equalities.' Mr Javid, pictured in Downing Street earlier this summer, accused Jeremy Corbyn of blocking 'open, honest debate' by sacking Ms Champion Fellow Labour MP Kate Hoey said the resignation of Ms Champion was 'very sad' Fellow Labour MP Kate Hoey said: 'This is very sad. @SarahChampionMP is an independent minded and impressive MP who is needed in Shadow Caninet.' Ms Champion's column in The Sun followed an interview for the BBC last Thursday in which she warned people are not raising potential cases of child abuse as they fear being labelled racist. The Labour MP also told the BBC there was a need to acknowledge the 'majority of perpetrators have been British-Pakistani' in the English towns and cities where grooming gangs have targeted girls. A spokeswoman for The Sun said: 'Sarah Champion's column, as it appeared on Friday, was approved by her team and her adviser twice contacted us thereafter to say she was 'thrilled' with the piece and it 'looked great'. 'Indeed, her only objection after the article appeared was her belief that her picture byline looked unflattering. Her office submitted five new pictures for further use.' An Ohio teenager is a person of interest in the violent beating of a black man after photos of the attack during Charlottesville's deadly white supremacist rally went viral. Police are looking to speak to 19-year-old Daniel Borden after social media activists claimed he was one of the men shown violently attacking DeAndre Harris in a parking garage on Saturday. No arrests have been made but police have agreed that one of the men in the photos appears to be Borden. Daniel Borden (left in Charlottesville on Saturday and right in a school photo) is a person of interest in the violent beating of a black man during the white supremacist rally on Saturday It is not clear where Borden lives or his current whereabouts. Most recently, Borden was living in Mason, Ohio where he attended Mason High School for his junior year. A classmate from Mason Middle School told police in 2012 that Borden had pulled a knife on him and called him 'Jew boy' because of his big nose, WCPO reports. Borden, who was 13 at the time, also allegedly drew swastikas and claimed to belong the Brothers of Confederacy gang. Another classmate told police Borden had once threatened to kill him. He was charged with possessing a deadly weapon in a school safety zone and aggravated menacing. Mason police said all up they had seven contacts with Borden when he was living in the area. He was named a person of interest after social media activists claimed he was one of the men (above) shown violently attacking DeAndre Harris in a parking garage on Saturday Harris was violently beaten in a parking garage on Saturday in Charlottesville Borden was connected to the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville at the weekend when social media activists tried to 'name and shame' those involved. DeAndre Harris, 21, had to have eight staples in his head and also suffered a broken wrist when he was beaten. A documentary photographer, Zach Roberts, has since claimed that police failed to come to Harris' aid when he was being attacked. Roberts said he told police immediately after the beating what occurred and that he had photos of the attack, but they were not interested at the time. Police said they are investigating the incident. DeAndre Harris, 21, was violently beaten by a group of white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday Harris was left with eight stitches in his head, a broken wrist and a chipped tooth from the attack Harris had to have eight staples in his head and also suffered a broken wrist when he was beaten in the parking garage by white nationalists In an interview, Roberts said Harris and his friends were yelling back and forth at each other as the white supremacists tossed racial epithets and Harris told the protesters to 'go home.' The white supremacists chased Harris, who ran and crashed into a wooden parking gate barrier, Roberts said. He did not see if any specific event precipitated the escalation from a verbal confrontation to a physical one. Harris, in a subsequent video interview with Roberts, said he would fade in and out of consciousness as he was struck with poles and the broken wooden gate. Photos taken by Roberts show Harris on the ground being beaten by men armed with poles and sticks. 'I keep hearing all this chaos around me,' Harris said. 'I feel myself getting hit. ... Every time I get up, I lose consciousness.' Sarah Palin has slammed Iceland for its abortion policy after it was revealed the Nordic country terminates more than 99 per cent of babies with Down's syndrome. The former Alaska governor, whose son Trig was born with the condition in 2008, compared the policy to those used in Hitler's Germany and his racist quest to build the perfect Aryan race. 'To try to snuff out a life, in the name of building a perfect race... hearkens back to Nazi Germany,' she told Fox News. But Helga Sol Olafsdottir of Landspitali University Hospital in Reykjavik, argues most people see the terminations as a way of avoiding suffering for both child and family. Sarah Palin, pictured with her Down's syndrome son Trig, has slammed Iceland for its abortion policy after it was revealed the Nordic country terminates more than 99 per cent of babies with the condition Iceland, a mostly secular country, 'doesn't see abortion as a murder', Olafsdottir said in a recent CBS report. 'We see it as a thing we ended [to] prevent suffering. We ended a possible life that may have had a huge complication... preventing suffering for the child and for the family. 'And I think that is more right than seeing it as a murder - that's so black and white. Life isn't black and white. Life is grey.' Palin has long been an outspoken opponent of abortion - even in the cases of rape and incest. Her view on abortion of fetuses with Down's syndrome became specially strong after she gave birth to her son Trig, now 9, who was diagnosed with the condition in utero. The former Alaska governor compared the policy to those used in Hitler's Germany and his racist quest to build the perfect Aryan race on Wednesday The 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, has pushed for a bill to ban abortion in cases where the fetus is diagnosed with Down syndrome. She told CNN's Jake Tapper previously: 'I don't think because the child has one extra chromosome they should be able to snuff that life out.' Pre-natal tests have been around since the early 2000s to screen for genetic abnormalities and conditions such as Down's syndrome. In Iceland, almost all couples who received a positive test for a fetus with the condition have terminated their pregnancies. Of course, Iceland is not alone in this. The Unites States has an estimated termination rate for Down syndrome of 67 percent, based on figures between 1995-2011, while across northern Europe termination rates are generally high. In 2015, France had a 77 percent rate, the UK has 90 per cent and in Denmark it was 98 percent. But Iceland is undeniably the leader in termination rates for Down's syndrome. Her view on abortion of fetuses with Down's Syndrome became specially strong after she gave birth to her son Trig, now 9, who was diagnosed with the condition in utero At more than 99 per cent, it has almost eradicated births of children with the genetic disorder, which occurs when a person has a full or partial extra copy of chromosome 21, and causes mental disability and characteristic facial features. Sufferers die on average 20 years earlier than non-sufferers. Icelandic law even permits abortion after 16 weeks if the fetus has a deformity - which Down's syndrome falls under. In fact, the country had just one or two babies born with the condition every year - often the result of an inaccurate test. In the US, an estimated 6,000 Down's syndrome babies are born annually. The law in Iceland states that every pregnant woman must be informed about the screening tests which are around 85 per cent accurate. Some expecting mothers in Iceland say they felt a little social pressure to take the test although not everyone does, with between 15 and 20 per cent declining any prenatal screening. Olafsdottir, who counsels women making the decision whether or not to terminate after learning their baby will be born with Down's syndrome says she often tells them: 'This is your life you have the right to choose how your life will look like.' Helga Sol Olafsdottir (pictured) of Landspitali University Hospital in Reykjavik, argues most people see the terminations as a way of avoiding suffering for both child and family Thordis Ingadottir took the test when she was pregnant with her third child aged 40. Results showed that it was very unlikely her child would have the condition, but after she gave birth her daughter Agusta,(pictured) now 7, was diagnosed Thordis Ingadottir took the test when she was pregnant with her third child aged 40. Results showed that it was very unlikely her child would have the condition, but after she gave birth her daughter Agusta, now 7, was diagnosed. Since then, Ingadottir has become an activist for Down's syndrome in Iceland and wants society to welcome and integrate her daughter, and others like her. 'What kind of society do you want to live in?' she asked. Icelandic geneticist Kari Stefansson admits the almost 100 percent termination rate reflected 'relatively heavy-handed genetic counseling.' 'My understanding is that we have basically eradicated, almost, Down syndrome from our society. 'I don't think there's anything wrong with aspiring to have healthy children, but how far we should go in seeking those goals is a fairly complicated decision,' added Stefansson, founder of deCODE Genetics. The widower of one of three women who died in a triple family suicide has met the doctor who gave his wife advice on how to take her own life. Heather Cummins, 54, her mother Margaret, 78, and younger sister Wynette, 53, died by suicide in June. The family were in contact with euthanasia group Exit International and had obtained deadly nitrogen gas from Dr Philip Nitschke's brewing company. The late Heather Cummins (left), is pictured with her husband, Michael The family were in contact with Dr Philip Nitschke's (pictured) euthanasia organisation 'He explained who he was and I just thought "Oh, hell",' Dr Nitschke told the Gold Coast Bulletin. 'He said he wanted to thank me and that touches me a lot when things have gone well - and this [case] seems to have gone very well - people are often relieved to know the person they cared about has had the peaceful ending they wanted.' Dr Nitschke's spoke to the media at the Robina Community Centre where he was hosting a workshop for his end-of-life advocacy organisation Exit International. It is understood the three - each had reportedly been sick - were found by Ms Cummins' husband, Michael. Heather and her partner advertised their apartment at the exclusive Ephraim Island, in Paradise Point, on a house swap website. They were seeking travel experiences overseas, describing themselves as retirees who holidayed without their two adult children. Exclusive address: The Gold Coast's Ephraim Island (pictured) is where Margaret Cummins, 78, and her daughters Heather and Wynette, aged 54 and 53 - died The bodies of 78-year-old Margaret Cummins and her daughters Heather and Wynette, in their 50s, were discovered just after 3pm on Tuesday 'We've lived and travelled overseas many, many times (44 countries so far) and love to settle into life and explore the people and places we go to,' they wrote. 'We will treat your home with utmost care and respect, and we expect the same in return. 'We like to think of ourselves as 'domestic gods'... when you arrive at our home you'll see why.' Police ruled the three deaths not suspicious shortly after the bodies were discovered. The next day, Dr Nitschke revealed to Daily Mail Australia the family had obtained deadly gasses from his brewing company. 'Dr Death': The three Gold Coast women at the centre of a tragic suicide pact were followers of a prominent euthanasia group run by Philip Nitschke (pictured) Dr Nitschke (pictured here) with some of his equipment The gases are often used in beer production but Dr Nitschke advocates they can be used to end lives. Heather's younger sister, Wynette, was disabled. She suffered brain cancer in the 1980s. The Nine Network reported Margaret, a bridge player, had dementia. Each of the women were reported to have left suicide notes. For confidential support call the Lifeline 24-hour crisis support on 13 11 14, or the Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467. An ex-IT worker, who killed his niece by stabbing her more than 40 times and then threw her body into a blowhole, had also filmed himself sneaking into his stepdaughter's room and masturbating as she slept. Derek Barrett pleaded guilty on Wednesday to brutally murdering his niece, Michelle 'Mengmei' Leng, who he killed in April 2016 before storing her body inside his home. An autopsy showed that in Ms Leng's last moments she tried to fight off Barrett, who was married to her aunt and who she had been living with after moving from China. And now after the 28-year-old's guilty plea, it has been revealed Ms Leng's bloodied body sat inside his Sydney home for up to two days after her death. Court documents have also showed that during those two days Barrett was visited by his stepdaughter - who was unaware he also had a sexual fascination with her, The Daily Telegraph reported. Scroll down for video Derek Barrett (left) has pleaded guilty to murdering his niece Michelle Leng (right) who he stabbed more than 40 times before dumping her body in a blowhole in northern NSW in 2016 Now it has been revealed Barrett kept Ms Leng's body inside his house for two days after her death, during which time he was visited by his stepdaughter - who he also fantasized over Unbeknownst to her, Barrett had filmed his 20-something stepdaughter while she showered naked in his unit. He had also taken video showing him sneaking into her bedroom and masturbating as she slept. Shocking details in court documents also revealed just how lucky the girl was to not meeting the same grisly fate as Ms Leng. On Thursday, April 21, the last day she was seen or heard from, it is believed Ms Leng paid a visit to the Sydney Fish Markets at inner-city Darlinghurst before catching a train home. CCTV footage released last year by police shows her boarding a train from St James Station which took her to Campsie, where she lived with Barrett and her aunt. At some stage the next morning Barrett is believed to have attacked Ms Leng in her bedroom before gagging her and tying her up. On Thursday, April 21, the last day she was seen or heard from, it is believed Ms Leng paid a visit to the Sydney Fish Markets at inner-city Darlinghurst after earlier shopping in the CBD CCTV footage released last year by police shows her boarding a train from St James Station (pictured) which took her to Campsie, where she lived with Barrett and her aunt It's unclear exactly when Barrett attacked his niece but two days later on April 24, he wrapped her body in a sheet and threw it down a blowhole at Lake Munmorah (pictured) After this he proceeded to reportedly strip her naked and lay her on a bed. He then took photos of Ms Leng's naked body, capturing more than a dozen. It's unclear exactly when Barrett attacked his niece but two days later on April 24, he wrapped her body in a sheet and threw it down a blowhole at Lake Munmorah. Ms Leng appears to have visited that site in the past, posting a photo to Instagram of the exact same blowhole in 2013 - almost three years before her death. At the time of the discovery of her body Ms Leng's death made headlines and rocked NSW. The Chinese-born economics and business management graduate was allowed to move to Australia by her mother, who thought she would be safe living with family. The Chinese-born economics and business management graduate (pictured) was allowed to move to Australia by her mother, who thought she would be safe living with family Before he was attacked by Barrett, Ms Leng was bound, gagged, tied and stripped naked on her bed. Her uncle then took more than a dozen photos of her Last May, the 25-year-old's mother, Mei Zhang, said she was unable to comprehend her daughter's death (pictured) Last May, the 25-year-old's mother, Mei Zhang, said she was unable to comprehend her daughter's death. 'The time will never turn back to when Mengmei and I were living happily with each other,' she said through a translator in Sydney. 'You can never imagine how painful it is to me. The saddest thing in life is losing someone you deeply love.' Mrs Zhang's husband died in 2008, leaving just she and her daughter to depend on each other. A Republican Party chairman in New Mexico has resigned after making comments on social media that referenced 'violent, leftist protesters' following Saturday's deadly protests in Charlottesville, Virginia. Roman Jimenez of Dona Ana County wrote in the since-deleted Facebook post on the party's page Sunday that the protesters were responsible for creating a divide between races and genders and were 'getting exactly what they asked for' a segregated society of groups. 'The white ones have been taught to hate their color, the women are taught to hate men, black and minorities want to kill whites and police,' Jimenez wrote in the Facebook post. Roman Jimenez, chairman of the Dona Ana Republican Party, resigned from his position following outrage over a Facebook post he wrote referencing 'violent, leftist protesters' Jimenez' Facebook post went live on Sunday, the day after the deadly Charlottesville protests He claimed the post was taken out of context and he was unaware of the violence in Charlottesville. The post has since been deleted 'They then have the audacity to call conservatives racist. Their own racism, hate and violence has created the divide amongst those that refuse to be bullied on anymore. They're getting exactly what they asked for. A segregated society of groups that they've created and even labeled themselves.' Jimenez later told Albuquerque TV station KOB4 that the post was taken out of context and he regretted it was misconstrued. In the interview, he said the Facebook post referenced other protests and violence that he'd heard of and claimed that he 'had not been aware of the Charlottesville violence until after posts started coming in in response to what I put.' Despite Jimenez's claims, his Facebook post, coming so soon after the death of Heather Heyer a Charlottesville protester who was purposely run over by a car-driving white supremacist attracted national attention and condemnation by both the New Mexico Republican Party and other GOP officials. On Monday, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported that the state's Republican Governor Susana Martinez said she was 'very disappointed in these comments and strongly condemn them.' She also said, 'Now is a time for us to come together in continuing to condemn and reject the white supremacists responsible for this weekends cowardly attack.' The Facebook remarks that Jimenez (pictured in June) made were condemned by New Mexico GOP members, including the state's governor, and drew national attention Meanwhile, Rep. Steve Pearce, who is the only Republican member of New Mexico's congressional delegation and is seeking his party's nomination for governor, told the Albuquerque Journal on Tuesday that Jimenez was 'right' to step down. He added that 'Romans post was unacceptable' and noted that 'His actions could not go unaddressed.' The county's GOP Party said in a statement Tuesday that it had accepted Jimenez's resignation. In a Facebook post on the Republican Party of Dona Ana County's newly appointed interim chairman Victor Contreras wrote that the party takes 'a bold stance against all the extreme acts of violence, racism and hate that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia. We believe there is no room for bigotry, racism or hate in our country.' In a statement, obtained by the Albuquerque Journal, the Democratic Party of New Mexico praised Jimenez's resignation as 'good news,' but said that his stepping down 'by no means changes the fact that hate and racism exists in the Republican Party.' Jimenez's Sunday Facebook post appears to have had an impact beyond his political affiliations, too. Progressnow NM reported Monday that the retired state police captain and one-time head of Gov. Martinez's security detail was employed at the private security firm International Protective Service, Inc. However, his presence appears to have been scrubbed from the company's site and his personal LinkedIn page has been deleted. A caged brown bear has bitten off the arm of a 'drunk' man who tried to feed the animal at a Russian roadside cafe. Andrey Sakharovsky, 42, was rushed to hospital after the terrifying incident, which occurred in Siberia's Irkutsk region. Staff had sold Mr Sakharovsky cans of condensed milk in order to feed the three brown bears kept by the cafe to attract customers. CCTV footage shows Mr Sakharovsky clambering over a fence to reach the cage followed by screams of terror - he was passing the cans through the bars when one of the bears grabbed his arm. Mr Sakharovsky was instantly heard by cafe staff who ran to his aid. The cafe's chef, Gabil Guseinov, used a shovel to push the bear away and get it to let go of Mr Sakharovsky's arm. Mr Sakharovsky was eventually able to break free - but without his arm. Footage shows paramedics rushing Mr Sakharovsky to the hospital on a stretcher. CCTV footage shows Mr Sakharovsky, pictured top left, clambering over a fence to reach the cage followed by screams of terror - he was passing the cans through the bars when one of the bears grabbed his arm CCTV footage shows Mr Sakharovsky, pictured top left, clambering over a fence to reach the cage followed by screams of terror - he was passing the cans through the bars when one of the bears grabbed his arm Medics have admitted that they cannot reattach his arm due to the scale of the damage from the mauling. Mr Guseinov said: 'It was very, very scary, I would not wish it on anyone.' The man's brother Evgeny said: 'Of course, it is his fault. 'He jumped over [the fence] and went to feed them. 'The fence needs to be higher for drunk Russian men.' Mr Sakharovsky was eventually able to break free - but without his arm. Pictured footage shows paramedics rushing Mr Sakharovsky to the hospital on a stretcher Mr Sakharovsky was eventually able to break free - but without his arm. Pictured footage shows paramedics rushing Mr Sakharovsky to the hospital on a stretcher Mr Sakharovsky was eventually able to break free - but without his arm. Pictured footage shows paramedics rushing Mr Sakharovsky to the hospital on a stretcher But Mr Sakharovsky's brother is still demanding compensation because the cafe had sold him the condensed milk knowing he had the intention to feed the bears. His family fear he cannot work again. Evgeny added: 'He is disabled now.' Police spokesman German Struglin told The Siberian Times that the bears should be put down due to the attack He said the cafe owner should take this decision because they had now 'tasted human blood.' Nearly six years after being released from an Italian prison for a crime she didn't commit, Amanda Knox finds the romance language triggering. In a recent interview with People, the 30-year-old said just the sound of a group of Italian tourists chatting on a recent trip to Germany with her boyfriend was enough to send her back to the nightmare four years she spent in a Perugia prison. 'I associate that language with pain [now], and I don't like that,' Knox said. While she's still working through the pain she suffered for being falsely convicted of her roommate's murder, Knox says she has 'plenty to smile about' these days. Amanda Knox says that on a recent trip to Germany, hearing a group of Italian tourists speak was enough to give her flashbacks to the four years she spent in an Italian prison. The 30-year-old is pictured with her boyfriend Christopher Robinson, 35, on that trip in May Last year, she moved into a 900-square-foot bungalow in Seattle, Washington with her boyfriend of two years, 35-year-old Christopher Robinson. It was with Robinson that she took that trip to Europe, and the two are planning more than just vacations together - they're looking to settle down as well. 'Chris would be a wonderful dad, and we talk about it all the time,' Knox said. Knox (left, in 2010) was 20 years old in 2007 when she was accused in the murder of her British roommate Meredith Kercher (right). She was found guilty two years later, but was acquitted and allowed to return to the U.S. in 2011 'It's our dream to buy a house and have a baby,' Robinson added. However, Robinson said that both of those goals 'seem pretty impossible right now' due to their financial situation. Robinson says that 'people assume Amanda must be wealthy,' but in fact, most of the $3.8million she made from her memoir is pledged elsewhere. Knox has used her newfound fortune to repay the mortgages her parents took out to finance her legal defense, ongoing legal bills and her 28-year-old sister Deanna's college tuition. Deanna pulled out of school and moved to Italy during her sister's legal battle. Knox met her current boyfriend two years ago at a book party. they moved in together last year Robinson says he and Knox have been thinking about buying a house and having kids The couple are planning a trip to Italy next year, so Knox can face her fear of returning to Perugia Knox met Robinson at a book party in 2015, after she reviewed a book that he co-authored. Writing is something the two share. After she was acquitted and allowed to return to the U.S. in 2011, Knox finished college and then started working for Seattle's West Side Herald. She's currently working on a book about women and criminal justice system. As part of that book, she's decided to return to Perugia next year with Robinson and her family, and confront the one place that scares her the most - the prison where she was held. 'Perugia is probably the least welcome place for me in the entire world. And that's scary,' she said. 'But it means a lot to me to not be afraid of a place. The only way that I'm going to come full circle is by physically, literally, coming full circle,' she added. Opinion / Columnist Iphithule kaMaphosa is ZAPU National Spokesperson. In her own words, Zimbabwean First Lady Grace Mugabe disapproves violence on women and I will quote her verbatim, "as head of ZANU PF Women's league, my number one goal is to endeavor that no woman ever suffers from assault or violence of any kind and those who use violence against women shall face the full power of the law"Before the ink dries on this speech by Grace Mugabe, we learn with shock and disbelief the embarrassing news that the wife to Dictator Mugabe violently assaulted Gabriella Engels, a young woman from South Africa. As if that was not enough, Grace Mugabe goes on to play fugitive with the South African law as she reportedly dodged arrest with her whereabouts unknown to the authorities.The uncouth and barbaric manner in which Grace behaves comes right in the middle of August, the month women are celebrated and their rights promoted. It is the greatest humiliation and embarrassment to the Zimbabwean community that Grace, instead of observing the rights of fellow women she is at the forefront impeding on them.As ZAPU we then wonder what Grace Mugabe understands about violence on women, that is if she at all understands it. Her behavior is synonymous with one who wrongly understands violence on women as coming from the male specie alone. Grace strikes us as one who does not think her actions in South Africa translates to violence on women. One wonders whether this woman, who has been burdened by leading women in her fractious party, really knows what she is doing.Her shenanigans of evading justice is only testimony of the life she leads in Zimbabwe, that of lawlessness and thuggery. Here is a woman who feels she is entitled to all the vices of dictatorship and stupidity that comes with it, including disregard of foreign laws.It is not the first time Grace has displayed her drunkard and violent nature as she has attacked members of the press a number of times in the Eastern countries. On one of the mad occasions, she even destroyed a journalist's equipment. In all the incidences, justice was not served, but as ZAPU, we reiterate Dr Martin Luther King's assertion that, "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere".ZAPU calls on Grace Mugabe to allow justice take its course in this and other matters involving her untamed violence on defenseless ordinary citizens of the world. She is a criminal who should face the law and allow the young woman recourse for being victimized by those who perceive themselves mighty and untouchable.South African authorities must act to make sure Gabriella Engels gets full justice, in our collective quest to promote the protection of our women and girl children. We call on the African continent and indeed the world to roundly condemn this violence as perpetrated by Zimbabwe's first lady. We also call on the world t join ZAPU in demanding full justice in this and previous cases.We take this opportunity to raise alarm to the world so that the true nature of the dictatorship in Zimbabwe can be unmasked. The same way Grace behaved and treated the weak and ordinary in South Africa is the same way her husband Robert has behaved over poor Zimbabweans since 1980. The same way their children vandalized vehicles of the ordinary South Africans at a car park recently is the same way our property rights have been trampled on by the dictatorship under Robert Mugabe. It is the symbolism of the life they lead in Zimbabwe, that of disrespect of its people and their rights.They have responded to dissent with perpetual violence, with Gukurahundi topping the list of serious episodes of the never ending barbarism.ZAPU calls on the word to join Zimbabweans in their cry for justice, peace and protection from the dictatorship of Grace and Robert Mugabe that is cannibal in nature.Our women and children are not safe under a first lady who is so poor in respect and self control, a woman who hides her satanic heart behind temper that is uncontrolled, a woman who fails to control two sons yet constitutionally expected of mothering over 15 million, let alone her out of this world dream of becoming president of Zimbabwe one day.Our lives as Zimbabweans are not safe under Robert Mugabe, who fails to control one wayward wife, a father who has dismally failed to control two unruly sons, a man who hides his failure behind violence, a man who finds no fault in his wife attacking a helpless child and evades justice.Today Mugabe has lost his voice which he used to insult the Ndebele people at every opportunity for seeking work in South Africa now that all his sons are residing in the same country and leading lavish lifestyles despite them not working at all in that country. We hear not of his sarcastic remarks of amaKalanga committing petty crimes in South Africa now that his disgraceful wife has committed the silliest of crimes and is a fugitive of law in the same country. May the president of Zimbabwe find his voice once again? ZAPU is all ears. Pictured: Ryan Roy, 28, of Burlington, Vt., was fired from his job as a pizza cook on Tuesday A man who was fired from his job after being filmed at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia earlier this week says he has no regrets about attending the demonstration. Ryan Roy, 28, was filmed by Vice News on Saturday participating in a demonstration that was organized to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The documentary shows Roy holding a torch and chanting the white supremacist mantra: 'Whose streets? Our streets.' After Vice published its report, social media users swiftly identified the 28-year-old as a participant in the march. Social media users swiftly identified Roy as participating in the rally, leading his employer to terminate him from his position Neo Nazis, Alt-Right, and White Supremacists take part a the night before the 'Unite the Right' rally in Charlottesville, VA Uno Pizzeria and Grill in South Burlington, Vermont took action on Tuesday and sacked Roy from his position as a cook following an investigation. Skip Weldon, chief marketing officer for Boston-based Uno Pizzeria and Grill, confirmed to the Burlington Free Press that 'Roy has been terminated' as an employee of the restaurant. Weldon added in an emailed statement: "We are committed to the fair treatment of all people and the safety of our guests and employees at our restaurants." In an interview with the Free Press published Tuesday, Roy was still unapologetic about his views despite the dismissal, saying that 'There's nothing wrong with white people standing up for their own interest and identity,' Roy says he wasn't surprised about being outed on social media, adding the reaction was typical of the 'liberal left' that looks to destroy people who don't agree with their 'politically correct' views. Uno Pizzeria and Grill fired Roy as a cook after social media users identified him as being a participant in the white nationalist rally that took place in Virginia over the weekend People fly into the air as a vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville 'I think it kind of just proves my point, proves a lot of what I think, not that I needed further proof,' Roy said. 'I think its group think.' In high school, Roy had self-identified as liberal, but took a dramatic turn into white supremacist ideology following graduation. Sam Wormer of Essex Junction said he became friends with Roy during high school, but had lost touch with him two years ago. Wormer described being shocked to see Roy at the recent Charlottesville rally. 'He would attend anti-war rallies. He was very left like anti-Republican, very progressive, very liberal, very anti-Christian,' Wormer recalled. Following the aftermath of the deadly protest in Virginia that saw 32-year-old Heather Heyer killed after being struck by a vehicle in an alleged car-ramming attack, Roy blamed the violence on counter-protesters who he says instigated the aggression. 'The left in this country is trying to destroy white culture and white heritage and American heritage, because history doesnt fit their politically correct scenario,' he said. Authorities arrested James Alex Fields Jr, 20, following the incident, accusing him of driving his Dodge Challenger into a crowd of peaceful counter-protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday afternoon. A former pageant queen is facing five years behind bars after she was convicted of felony theft for switching price tags on clothes she bought and returned at a Minnesota Macy's. The Hannepin County District Attorney's office announced Tuesday that Jennifer Kline, of Wayzata, Minnesota, was convicted of one felony theft by swindle charge following a week-long trial relating to incidents that occurred in November 2015. The 1989 Mrs. America Pageant-winner, 51, was found guilty of stealing more than $5,500 worth of merchandise from the department store chain. She is scheduled to be sentenced on October 18. Jennifer Kline, 51, was convicted of theft by swindle after she bought new clothes from Macy's, attached their price tags to worn clothes and then returned the old items for a full refund According to authorities, Kline's theft 'scheme' involved her buying expensive clothes from the Southdale Macy's. Once at home, the ShopNBC/Evine host took the price tags off the new clothes and attached them to old clothing that she already owned. She then took the old clothes and returned them to the Macy's in the Mall of America, seeking a full refund for the items, using the receipts for the originally purchased clothes. Court documents revealed that an asset protection detective, contracted by Macy's, alerted police that Kline had made several fraudulent returns between November 5 to November 30, 2015. On November 5 and November 6, Kline made two purchases of designer clothing on her credit card, totaling $5790.98 at the Southdale Macy's. Between November 11 and November 30, she returned what she claimed to be the same items at the Mall of America Macy's, adding up to $5,501.36. Kline was crowned Mrs. Minnesota in 1989. She was also a host for ShopNBC/Evine Kline's lawyer claimed that she engaged in the felony theft because of Macy's lax return policy Store employees notified the asset protection detective about Kline's returned items, some of which appeared to have been dirty and worn. Upon examination, it was discovered that she had removed both the clothing labels and price tags from the originally purchased clothes and attached them to the old clothes that she returned. When police executed a search warrant on her home, they found about 24 of the brand name clothing items that she bought and pretended to return. Because the labels from the old clothes were removed, the court documents noted that Macy's was unable to figure out what brand the returned items were and whether they had been originally purchased at a Macy's. Overall, Macy's reported a total loss on the items Kline returned. The Star Tribune said that during the trial, Kline admitted to owning a supply of plastic tags and other equipment, which she would use while swapping the price tags. Kline's lawyer appeared to lay the blame for Kline's actions at Macy's door, arguing that she did what she did because Macy's has a lax return policy. In 2016, Macy's changed their long-held, customer-friendly return policy from open-ended to a strict one-year window, Consumer World reported. Hennepin county Attorney Mike Freeman said in a statement that Kline's actions were 'clearly driven by greed. The jurors were not fooled by attempts to blame Macys and their liberal return policy for her criminal conduct.' Donald Trump said he had closed all his business advisory groups Wednesday as CEOs and bankers ran for the exits and criticized his response to Charlottesville. Trump was forced into the move as word leaked that the head of one of the groups - strategy and policy forum leader Stephen Schwarzman - was about to end its existence after crisis talks with business leaders. Moments before the tweet, two more CEOs - the leaders of 3M and Campbell's Soup - resigned from Trump's manufacturing board, which had been rocked by a series of resignations. Trump tweeted early Wednesday afternoon: 'Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!' At the same time Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JP Morgan Chase, the country's largest bank, launched his own direct attack on Trump in a note to employees, saying 'I strongly disagree' with his response to Charlottesville. And Trump, who headed back to his Bedminster estate in the afternoon, was also assailed in a joint statement by the two living Republican presidents, George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, who called on all Americans to repudiate extremism, while Republican leaders including Mitch McConnell issued a series of statements, with Ohio governor John Kasich calling the president 'pathetic'. Scroll down for video President Trump announced that he was pulling the plug from his two business councils, as two more CEOs ditched the manufacturing council and business leaders involved in the Strategic and Policy Forum had already decided to drop Trump President Trump - who quit Trump Tower for Bedminster on Marine One on Wednesday afternoon - pulled the plug on his business councils as their members rushed for the exit. His decision appeared to be precipitated by one group agreeing to quit en masse Rebuke: Former U.S. presidents George H.W. Bush (left) and George W. Bush (right) broke their silence Wednesday in a veiled jab at Donald Trump The Chairman and CEO of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Jamie Dimon released a separate statement condemning President Trump, as the president closed down his business advisory councils Jamie Dimon, the CEO and Chairman of J.P. Morgan, said Wednesday, 'It is a leaders role, in business or government, to bring people together, not tear them apart,' remarking on President Trump's response to the violence in Charlottesville The crisis unfolded at noon on Wednesday as business leaders belonging to the Strategic and Policy Forum, which had been led by Blackstone Group's Stephen Schwarzman,decided to pull the plug. WHAT THE CEOs SAID AS THEY ABANDONED SHIP 'Racism and murder are unequivocally reprehensible and are not morally equivalent to anything else that happened in Charlottesville.' Denise Morrison, Campbell Soup Co '...after the last few days, I concluded that I could no longer in good conscience participate in the forum.' Laurence Fink, BlackRock 'GM is about unity and inclusion and so am I. We must reinforce tolerance and diversity.' Mary Barra, GM 'The Presidents statements yesterday were deeply troubling. There would be no GE without people of all races, religions, genders, and sexual orientations.' Jeff Immelt, GE 'The Presidents most recent statements equating those who are motivated by race-based hate with those who stand up against hatred is unacceptable and has changed our decision to participate in the White House Manufacturing Advisory Council.' Alex Gorsky, Johnson & Johnson 'We have always believed that dialogue is critical to progress; that is why I joined the President's Forum earlier this year. But this group can no longer serve the purpose for which it was formed.' Ginni Rommety, IBM 'Sustainability, diversity and inclusion are my personal values and also fundamental to the 3M Vision. After careful consideration, I believe the initiative is no longer an effective vehicle for 3M to advance these goals.' Inge Thulin, 3M Advertisement They were going to inform the White House Wednesday of their decision,Bloomberg News reported, but when it leaked Trump closed all the groups. They ended up releasing a statement saying 'the president and we are disbanding the forum,' citing that participation in the group has become a 'distraction from our well-intentioned and sincere desire to aid vital policy discussions on how to improve the lives of everyday Americans.' One of the members, J.P. Morgan's CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon, put out his own statement explaining why he backed this decision and explaining 'how strongly I feel about these issues.' 'It is a leaders role, in business or government, to bring people together, not tear them apart,' he said in a tweeted statement. And later one of the forum's members, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, made clear that its members had disbanded before Trump's announcement. She wrote to employees saying: 'By now, you've seen the news that we have disbanded the President's Strategy and Policy Forum.' The president's announcement also came on the heels of two more departures from the Manufacturing Council, courtesy of 3M CEO Inge Thulin and Campbell Soup CEO Denise Morrison. Thulin said that the group was no longer suited to help him accomplish the goal of making the country 'stronger, healthier and more prosperous for all people' 'Following yesterday's remarks from the president, I cannot remain on the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative,' Campbell Soup's Morrison said in a statement Wednesday. 'I will continue to support all efforts to spur economic growth and advocate for the values that have always made America great.' Trump's announcement was a complete reversal from the boast he made Tuesday suggesting that all the CEOs who left were replaceable. 'For every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, I have many to take their place. Grandstanders should not have gone on. JOBS!' Trump wrote. But that was before the extraordinary press conference held in the lobby of Trump Tower on Tuesday afternoon, which prompted big business to start dumping Trump. The White House's nationalist wing, which had been fist-pumping after the press conference and telling DailyMail.com 'that's our president' was silent as the CEOs he had embraced ended their association with Trump. Notably, the White House appeared to be unable to find anyone to go on news channels to defend the president. On Fox News, Shephard Smith said: 'We couldn't get anyone to come and defend him here because we thought, in balance, someone should do that. 'We worked very hard at it throughout the day, and we were unsuccessful.' Trump did find a businessman who supported him Wednesday, retweeting the 19-year-old 'Wohl of Wall Street,' Jacob Wohl. 'President Trump alone has succeeded in bringing the Stock Market, Small Business Index and Consumer Comfort to ALL TIME HIGHS! #MAGA,' Wohl wrote. GEORGE H.W. BUSH AND GEORGE W. BUSH BREAK SILENCE ON TRUMP PRESIDENCY 'America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms. 'As we pray for Charlottesville, we are reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that city's most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence: we are all created equal and endowed by out Creator with unalienable rights. We know these truths to be everlasting because we have seen the decency and greatness of our country.' Advertisement It is unclear if the president was aware that Wohl has been accused by the Arizona Securities Commission of breaking the state's securities laws and banned for life from having dealings with members of the self-regulatory National Futures Association. On Tuesday at his controversial press conference that drove more CEOs away, Trump had tried another strategy to contain the Charlottesville fallout. He said those ditching the manufacturing council were doing so because they were embarrassed their products weren't made in the USA, trying to distance their departures from the Charlottesville mess. 'Because they are not taking their job seriously as it pertains to this country,' Trump blasted when asked by a reporter why four CEOs had dropped out since Monday morning, starting with the only African-American member of the group, Kenneth Frazier of Merck. Shortly after Trump's messy Trump Tower press conference, the AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka resigned 'effective immediately,' he tweeted. 'I have to tell you that some of the people who will leave, they're leaving out of embarrassment because they make their products outside and I've been lecturing them,' Trump said of the fleeing CEOs during the press conference. He also criticized Walmart's Doug McMillon for a statement the retailer's head put that said, 'We too felt that he missed a critical opportunity to help bring our country together by unequivocally rejecting the appalling actions of white supremacists.' The president of the AFL-CIO Richard Trumka became the fifth member of Trump's manufacturing council to resign after hearing Trump's comments at a press conference Tuesday at Trump Tower The AFl-CIO's Richard Trumka also resigned from President Trump's manufacturing council on the heels of the president's free-wheeling press conference where he assigned some blame for the violence in Charlottesville to those protesting the hate groups During President Trump's wild press conference Tuesday, the president slammed Walmart CEO Doug McMillon (pictured) for speaking out against him Noting that he knew him and he was a 'very nice guy,' Trump charged McMillon with making a 'political statement.' When Trump was asked if he did miss an opportunity to bring the country together, the president's answer was 'not at all.' That appeared to precipitate the CEO exodus overnight, with Schwarzman leading the charge. In the wake of the decision to close the business advisory groups, more CEOs who had been members came forward to pour scorn on the president. BlackRock CEO Laurence Fink said: 'Unfortunately, after the last few days, I concluded that I could no longer in good conscience participate in the Forum,' Bloomberg reported. Earlier on Tuesday, Trump had chided the three CEOs who abandoned him on Twitter, saying they could easily be replaced and calling them 'grandstanders.' With that, a fourth CEO dropped out. 'I'm resigning from the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative because it's the right thing for me to do,' Scott Paul, the president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, tweeted Tuesday. Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank revealed on Monday afternoon that he was stepping down from the council to 'focus on inspiring and uniting through power of sport.' A few hours later, he was joined by Intel CEO Brian Krzanich. Their resignations came less than a day after Merck's head Frazier announced he was leaving the group. Trump tweeted on Tuesday that he would easily replace CEOs who quit on him JAMIE DIMON'S LENGTHY ATTACK ON THE PRESIDENT OVER CHARLOTTESVILLE RESPONSE I strongly disagree with President Trumps reaction to the events that took place in Charlottesville over the past several days. Racism, intolerance and violence are always wrong. The equal treatment of all people is one of our nations bedrock principles. There is no room for equivocation here: the evil on display by these perpetrators of hate should be condemned and has no place in a country that draws strength from our diversity and humanity. As a company and for all business in general, it is critical that we help develop rational, intelligent policies to help expand opportunities for all of our citizens. I know that times are tough for many. The lack of economic growth and opportunity has led to deep and understandable frustration among so many Americans. But fanning divisiveness is not the answer. Constructive economic and regulatory policies are not enough and will not matter if we do not address the divisions in our country. It is a leaders role, in business or government, to bring people together, not tear them apart. Today, the members of the Presidents Strategic and Policy Forum agree to disband. The group put out its own statement. But I also want you to understand why I personally supported this decision and how strongly I feel about these issues. Im very proud of the 250,000 people working here at JPMorgan Chase. I see your values every day - in how you treat your clients, your communities and each other. I am proud to see so many of you leading by example and not losing sight of the core principles which made our country great. I stand with you. Advertisement Plank said in his statement that he joined the council because he wanted Under Armour to have an 'active seat at the table and represent our industry'. 'We remain resolute in our potential and ability to improve American manufacturing. However, Under Armour engages in innovation and sport, not politics,' he wrote. 'I love our country and our company and will continue to focus my efforts on inspiring every person that they can do anything through the power of sport which promotes unity, diversity and inclusion.' The president has been feeling an intense backlash following the weekend's white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, since he was slow to condemn the responsible groups by name Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank also revealed on Monday afternoon that he was stepping down from the council Krzanich said he resigned to because he wanted to 'make progress', and found the government's leaders to be more focused on scoring political points. 'Politics and political agendas have sidelined the importance of rebuilding America's manufacturing based,' he wrote in a lengthy statement. 'I resigned to call attention to the serious harm our divided political climate is causing to critical issues, including the serious need to address the decline of American manufacturing.' Plank said that he was resigning to 'focus on inspiring and uniting through power of sport' Intel CEO Brian Krzanich was one of three business leaders to resign from Trump's American Manufacturing Council in reaction to his Charlottesville response on Monday Plank (pictured) said in his statement that he initially joined the council because he wanted Under Armour to have an 'active seat at the table and represent our industry' Krzanich likewise mentioned the violence that broke out in Charlottesville on Saturday after white supremacists stormed the University of Virginia campus. 'I have already made clear my abhorrence at the recent hate-spawned violence in Charlottesville, and earlier today I called on leaders to condemn the white supremacists and their ilk who marched and committed violence,' he wrote. 'I resigned because I want to make progress, while many in Washington seem more concerned with attacking anyone who disagrees with them.' Krzanich added that he hoped the country would once again honor those who 'stood up for equality and other cherished American values'. 'My requestmy pleato everyone involved in our political system is this: set scoring political points aside and focus on what is best for the nation as a whole.' 'The current environment must change, or else our nation will become a shadow of what it once was and what it still can and should be.' Krzanich said he resigned to because he wanted to 'make progress', and found the government's leaders to be more focused on scoring political points Frazier, the council's only black member, was the first to resign on Monday. He called on American leaders to clearly reject 'expressions of hatred, bigotry, and group supremacy'. 'As CEO of Merck and as a matter of personal conscience, I feel a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism,' he wrote. Trump was quick to attack Frazier following his resignation, tweeting that Frazier would now have 'more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES'. '@Merck Pharma is a leader in higher & higher drug prices while at the same time taking jobs out of the U.S. Bring jobs back & LOWER PRICES!' Trump tweeted again as he left Washington for New York. Trump has so far remained quiet on Plank and Krzanich's resignations, instead tweeting that it felt 'good to be home' in New York after seven months. 'But the White House is very special, there is no place like it...and the US is really my home!' he added. Of the 21 members who remain on Trump's council, only one has said outwardly said they are reassessing their position. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, one of the top labor leaders in the country, called on Trump to 'unequivocally denounce the actions of bigoted domestic terrorists in Charlottesville'. 'We are aware of the decisions by other members of the President's Manufacturing Counil, which has yet to hold any real meeting, and are assessing our role,' he said in a widely-released statement. 'While the AFL-CIO will remain a powerful voice for the freedoms of working people, there are real questions into the effectiveness of this council to deliver real policy that lifts working families.' Trumka resigned Tuesday evening, after Trump's presser. Leaders for Campbell Soup, Dell, Dow Chemical, International Paper, Nucor, and Whirlpool all confirmed with Fortune that they will be staying on the council. Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier was quit Trump's American Manufacturing Council over the president's lackluster response to the violence caused by white supremacist groups Trump lashed out at Merck on Monday afternoon, calling it a price-hiking exporter or jobs The president had already bashed Frazier by name on Monday morning after news broke that the only black member of his manufacturing council had quit President Trump (left) is photographed with Kenneth Frazier (right) in July On Monday morning, the official Merck Twitter account sent out CEO Kenneth Frazier's statement on why he decided to quit President Trump's American Manufacturing Council Of that group, Campbell, Dow, International Paper, and Nucor explicitly condemned the violence in Charlottesville. Leaders for Harris Corp, Alliance for American Manufacturing, and Lockheed Martin - the remaining companies on the council - either could not be reached or would not provide a comment. Trump has been facing major backlash over his much-panned response to Charlottesville, in which one counter-protester was killed. Nazi sympathizer James Fields, a 20-year-old from Ohio, used his Dodge Charger to run over counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring 19 more. He's been charged with second degree murder. On Saturday, Trump made a statement from his Bedminster resort in New Jersey saying, 'We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides.' Critics, including a handful of Congressional Republicans, suggested that Trump was falsely equating the neo-Nazis, KKK members and white supremacists protesting the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee with those marching against the hate groups. It would be two days before Trump finally condemned the hate groups by name. 'Racism is evil. And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans,' he said at the White House. Kenneth Frazier (left), the CEO of Merck, was the only black member of President Trump's American Manufacturing Council Members of white supremacist groups are photographed gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia, Friday night Members of hate groups including the KKK are escorted by police past a group of protesters Counter-protesters and members of hate groups clash in Charlottesville. One counter-protester was killed, along with two police officers in a helicopter crash 'We are a nation founded on the truth that all of us are created equal. We are equal in the eyes of our creator. We are equal under the law. And we are equal under our Constitution. Those who spread violence in the name of bigotry strike at the very core of America.' It took Trump under an hour to respond to Frazier's decision to quit the manufacturing board. And it took Trump a little more than 24 hours to stick his foot in his mouth again on matters of race, suggesting at Trump Tower that the 'alt-left' the name he labeled protesters in Charlottesville on hand to condemn white supremacy were partially at fault for the violence too. 'What about the alt-left that came charging at the, as you say, the alt-right? Do they have any semblance of guilt?' Trump asked reporters who were peppering him with questions about the weekend's events. 'Let me ask you this, what about the fact that they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs, do they have any problem? I think they do.' In the lobby of Trump Tower, the president said he was watching the events more closely than the media. 'And you had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent,' Trump said. 'And nobody wants to say that.' 'But I'll say it right now,' the president added. Six prominent CEOs have since walked away from one of Trump's White House boards. On the heels of Trump exiting the Paris climate accord, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, also part of the American Manufacturing Council, threw in the towel. Disney CEO Bob Iger, who served on the president's Strategic and Policy Forum exited over Paris too. Now former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick left Trump's boards in February over the administration's travel ban, which targeted Muslim-majority countries. Marcus Hutchins arrives today at the US federal courthouse in Milwaukee, Wisconsin The parents of the British cyber security expert credited with stopping the ransomware attack on the NHS have spoken of their faith in the US judiciary as he fights FBI hacking charges. In their first joint statement since Marcus Hutchins, 23, was arrested two weeks ago, Des and Janet Hutchins insisted their son would be found innocent of all charges. They said evidence would show allegations of computer fraud, and the creation of malicious software to steal banking details, would prove unfounded. They also thanked friends and supporters for their belief in his values. Des Hutchins said: Janet and I have full confidence in the United States judicial system. Once all the evidence is available we have no doubt that Marcus will be seen as an innocent party. Our family is grateful for everyones messages of support, and their belief in his values, as he tries to clear his name. He added: We hope people will understand that we can make no further comment at this time. Marcuss case is in the hands of his lawyers. The Hutchins, from Ilfracombe, North Devon, made their comments amid criticism that the indictment filed by US prosecutors in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is vague. Five charges relate to computer fraud, attempting to intercept electronic communications and attempting to access a computer without authorisation. Court documents offer few details about alleged victims and a co-defendants name has been redacted. Hutchins (right), 23, and a co-defendant face charges of conspiring to commit computer fraud Some cyber-security experts have warned that Hutchins prosecution will deter them from helping governments tackle malicious software threats. However the UKs National Cyber Security Centre said it had seen no reduction in alerts posted on its CiSP (Cyber Security Information Sharing Partnership) website. It is alleged Hutchins illegal activity occurred between July 2014 and July 2015 - well before he was hailed a national hero for saving NHS computers from the WannaCry ransomware virus. He was arrested at Las Vegas airport by the FBI on August 2 as he tried to fly home from a cyber-security convention. Hutchins has pleaded not guilty to all charges and has been freed on $30,000 bail on condition that he does not leave the US. The court has permitted him access to computers for work purposes and he is expected to live in Los Angeles, where his employers Kryptos Logic are based, until a pre-trial hearing set for October 17th. His lawyer Marcia Hofmann said he would vigorously defend himself against the charges. She added: When the evidence comes to light, we are confident that he will be fully vindicated. In his first public comments since his arrest, Hutchins revealed that he will be able to go online once more and that he plans to write a blog as a result of relaxed bail conditions. On his Twitter account he wrote: 'There's a lot of people I'd like to thank for amazing support over the past 11 days, which I will do when I get a chance to publish my blog. Hutchins found a 'kill switch' that slowed the outbreak of WannaCry virus four months ago 'I'm still on trial, still not allowed to go home, still on house arrest; but now I am allowed online. Will get my computers back soon.' He also cracked a joke in his Tweets on Monday with a list of things to do during the Def Con convention he was attending before his arrest. The list included partying, renting supercars, visiting Red Rock Canyon - and being 'indicted by the FBI'. Prosecutors allege that before Hutchins won acclaim he created and distributed a malicious software called Kronos to steal banking passwords from unsuspecting computer users. Hutchins is free on $30,000 (23,000) bail, but with strict conditions. His bond has been modified so that he can stay in Los Angeles near his attorney and travel anywhere in the US, but Hutchins is not allowed to leave the country. Its alleged Hutchins illegal activity occurred between July 2014 and July 2015 - well before the 23-year-old was hailed a hero for saving the NHS from the WannaCry ransomware virus He is currently staying at a hotel in Milwaukee. A pre-trial hearing has been set for October 17. Hutchins faces decades in prison if convicted on all the charges. After the hearing, defence lawyer Marcia Hofmann said she is confident he will be found not guilty at a trial. She said: 'Marcus Hutchins is a brilliant young man and a hero. 'He is going to vigorously defend himself against these charges and when the evidence comes to light, we are confident that he will be fully vindicated.' Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday in Chile that he is cutting his Latin American trip short, returning to the U.S. tomorrow instead of Friday after a brief stop in Panama. The move comes as President Trump is embroiled in the aftermath of his comments about the weekend's deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. 'We plan to end our trip a little bit early,' Pence said during a joint press conference with Chilean president Michelle Bachelet. 'I will return home tomorrow,' he added. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday in Chile that he stands with President Trump's assertion that 'both sides' of the weekend's deadly clash in Charlottesville share in the blame Pence said during a joint press conference with Chile's President Michelle Bachelet that he would come home a day early from his diplomacy tour of Latin America Trump's claim Tuesday that 'both sides' of a clash between neo-Nazis and leftist counter-protesters bear responsibility for the resulting violence has put him on his back foot. But Pence left no daylight between himself and his boss, saying: 'I stand with the president.' He was specifically asked if he agreed with Trump 'that there were good people among the white supremacist protesters and that there was blame to be had on both sides.' Republicans including both former Bush presidents and the leaders of both chambers of Congress have distanced themselves from Trump, and the president disbanded both of his business advisory councils as CEOs fled under pressure. Pence said he is praying for friends and family of Heather Heyer, whom a white supremacist mowed down with his car on Saturday in Virginia The White House said Friday morning, two hours before Pence's press conference, that he and Trump would spend Friday at Camp David reviewing the government's 'South Asia strategy' with the president's national security team. Pence said Wednesday that 'what happened in Charlottesville was a tragedy. And the president has been clear on this tragedy and so have I.' 'I spoke at length about this heartbreaking situation on Sunday night in Colombia. And I stand with the president, and I stend by those words.' He added that he had been 'praying that in America, that we will not allow the few to divide the many.' Pence's trip had already taken him to Colombia, Argentina and Chile. Former Fox News founder Roger Ailes was conscious and talking to relatives three days after he fell and hit his head on his limestone floor, DailyMail.com can reveal. The late television executive died on May 18, three days after his 77th birthday. His cause of death was said to be from complications due to blunt trauma. But Ailes's autopsy report, obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com, reveals the former cable news chairman was fully conscious after he fell in his Palm Beach mansion on May 10 and remained awake and responsive for three days while in the hospital. According to handwritten notes found in the file, Ailes's head hit the floor with such violence that both wife Elizabeth, 55, and a housekeeper, heard 'a loud noise.' Roger Ailes's autopsy revealed the former Fox News exec died on May 18 from 'complications of subdural hematoma due to blunt trauma due to fall' Ailes died five days after losing consciousness with his wife Elizabeth and their 16-year-old son Zach by his side. He was 77 years old (The Ailes family pictured in 2012) When his wife and his housekeeper rushed to the bathroom, Ailes was 'on the floor in a supine position,' according to the paperwork. He was conscious and simply told them he fell. But because he suffered a laceration to the back of the head and was bleeding, Elizabeth called 911 and her husband was taken to the nearby St. Mary's Medical Center. While under observation at the hospital, Ailes suffered a brain hemorrhage on May 13 and lost consciousness. Despite an emergency surgery to drain a pocket of blood on his brain, he died five days later with his wife and their 16-year-old son Zach by his side, the report by the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner states. The controversial figure, who was fired by the conservative TV network in 2015 after multiple employees claimed he sexually harassed them, was described by his priest at his funeral on May 20, as deeply affected by his firing from Fox. However, the report states Ailes was not suicidal and not known to have attempted to take his own life in the past. Ailes was taken to the hospital after he fell and hit his head in his $37million Palm Beach mansion on May 10. His wife Elizabeth and housekeeper said they had heard 'a loud noise' Elizabeth Ailes called 911 after her husband began bleeding from the back of his head. He was taken to St Mary's Medical Center in Palm Beach (pictured) He had no history of drug and alcohol abuse, however, he suffered from hemophilia -a blood disorder - as well as diabetes and hypertension. Ailes was administered a CT scan at his arrival to the hospital, but the results didn't show any lasting injuries. At the time, Ailes told doctors he didn't remember falling. A note saying 'syncope?' in Ailes's case indicates the medical examiner wondered if Ailes had fainted in his bathroom before falling. In the end, the medical examiner officially listed the cause of death as 'complications of subdural hematoma due to blunt trauma due to fall,' with hemophilia as contributing factor, and 'accident' as the manner. According to medical websites 'subdural hematoma' is a collection of blood between the covering of the brain and the direct surface of the brain, and it's often the result of a severe head injury and life-threatening. Elizabeth Ailes and son Zack were seen leaving the 77-year-old's funeral at St. Edward Roman Catholic Church in Palm Beach, Florida on May 20 Fellow Fox News employee Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh (right) attended Ailes's funeral Doctors performed a craniotomy, a common surgery opening into the skull to relieve the pressure of the blood on the brain on May 13. The autopsy notes in the report show doctors also inserted a pressure monitor into Ailes's head. Ailes passed away without regaining consciousness. Over the years, Ailes had undergone multiple surgeries to replace his joints. Yet, since he moved to Palm Beach in September 2016, he was having trouble walking and rarely left his house. When he did, to go to the tiny town's Catholic church for example, he appeared in a wheelchair. In the 2013 biography Roger Ailes Off Camera, Ailes said he knew he didn't have long left to live. 'My doctor told me that I'm old, fat, and ugly, but none of those things is going to kill me immediately,' he told author Zev Chafets shortly before his 72nd birthday. 'The actuaries say I have six to eight years. The best tables give me 10. Three thousand days, more or less.' Advertisement An intriguing series of colour photographs documents what life was life in Mexico in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The set of images were predominantly taken between 1884 and 1900, most of it during the presidency of Porfirio Diaz, by renowned photographer William Henry Jackson. They give a fascinating insight into life before the Mexican Revolution, which began as a middle class protest against Diaz's leadership. The pictures bring to life the calming waters of Canal de la Viga, City of Mexico, the Mexican carreta in Chihuahua and the utopian scene of the Juanacatlan Falls. Other pictures include the majestic view of the cathedral in Mexico City, a view from the bridge in Orizaba and the Chapultepec Castle between 1884 and 1940. Slide me The distinctive Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven in Mexico City, which was built in sections between 1573 and 1813. It is the largest cathedral in the Americas and contains 16 chapels, 14 of which are currently open to the public Slide me The second highest peak in Mexico, Popocatepetl was photographed by American photographer William Henry Jackson in the latter nineteenth century. As these images show, urbanisation in the 20th and 21st century means the scene has changed a lot since then One of the most recognisable sights in Mexico City, the Chapultepec Castle presently serves as the National Museum of History, but is the only castle ever to have been used as a royal residence in North America. In the period it was photographed by Jackson it may have been in use as an astronomical, meteorological and magnetic observatory on the site, before it became the residence of the Archbishop in Tacubaya As it is now: The Chapulterpec Castle is currently the country's National Museum of History. The huge structure was used as a location for the 1996 film Romeo & Juliet, starring Leonardo Di Caprio The distinctive cathedral is pictured between 1884 and 1900. It was the site of a church following the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, and in 1544 came the order to build a new and more ornate cathedral. The cost was shared between the Spanish royal family, encomenderos and native unhabitants under the direct authority of the archbishop of New Spain A sign of times gone by: The world-famous Juanacatlan Falls as they appeared at the tail end of the nineteenth century. The waterfall, which on the Santiago River in the Mexican state of Jalisco, was once known as the Niagara of Mexico. Now, however, it is a far different sight, as decreased flow on the river means the stunning waterfall has virtually dried up A distant view of the Basilica of San Juan de los Lagos taken by the American photographer in the late nineteenth century. The Roman Catholic place of worship is a popular attraction for pilgrims. Legend dating back to 1543 tells that a statue bought to the village by Spanish priest Father Miguel de Bologna helped bring a dead young girl back to life, and numerous other miracles have been attributed to it A small boat sales along the Canal de la Viga in the City of Mexico, where the calming waters were popular with those who enjoyed life on the water. The image was taken by photographer William Henry Jackson The stunning volcano Iztaccihuatl is shown in this nineteenth century photo by William Henry Jackson. The name Iztaccihuatl means 'white woman' and reflects the four snow-capped peaks said to depict the head, chest, knees and feet of a sleeping female when seen from east or west As it is now: Tourists and visitors flock to enjoy the sight of the volcano in the 21st century. The four-capped peak remains a huge draw for people from across the world The American photographer captured an image of the tree of Noche Triste, which translates as the tree of the sad night. The sad night refers to a battle in 1520 in which Hernan Cortes and his invading Spanish army were driven out of capital Tenochtitlan A sign of times gone by: Oxen pictured with a cart in the northwestern Mexican state of Chihuahua in the fascinating series of images taken in nineteenth century Mexico A marketplace in the central Mexican state of Aguascalientes, where vendors are seen with stalls full of hats in the period between 1884 and 1900 taken by American photographer William Henry Jackson A view from a bridge in the Mexican city of Orizaba taken by New York-born photographer William Henry Jackson on his travels around the central American country and documenting what he saw The active volcano Popocatapetl is shown from a plaza in a relaxing scene taken by the US-born photographer, which has been colourised to bring the scene to life Hailed as Nazi-fighting heroes by some, or violent hooligans no better than the supremacists they oppose by others, whatever you think of antifa, the movement is rapidly on the rise. Antifa, short for anti-fascist or Anti Fascist Action, has been around since the 1920s where it emerged as a response to the growing Nazism spreading across Europe. Since then, they have existed mainly on the fringes, but have gathered in force over the years to oppose racist, violent fascist groups, from clashes with Nazis on the streets of Germany, Italy, and Spain in the 1930s, to taking on the skinheads of the 1980s. Now as America's extremist right wing groups become emboldened and more vocal under President Trump, the anti-fascist movement have had a huge boost in popularity as people join the ranks of the left wing group to oppose the alt-right. Some have accused antifa of being as violent as the alt-right hooligans they oppose. Pictured; a member of antifa kicks a white nationalist in the face during clashes in Charlottesville Members of Antifa cheer as white activists are evicted from Emancipation Park during the Unite the Right Rally in Charlottesville, August 12 A white supremacist and member of antifa struggle over a white nationalist flag during clashes at Emancipation Park White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' clash with antifa (right) on Saturday White nationalist demonstrators class with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville The result is clashes on America's streets, the likes of which have not been seen since the civil rights marches of the 1960s. Once seen as rather extreme left wing faction, the antifa are generally anarchists who believe the best way to take on the alt-right is through direct action. 'We are... in the fightin' Nazis business,' said Antifa member and The Nation journalist Natasha Lennard, in a piece titled 'It's time to make Nazis afraid again. 'Antifa is a promise to neo-Nazis and their bedfellows that we will confront them in the streets; we will expose them online and inform their place of employ. We are not venues to deny space to far right events; we are vowing that all far-right events will be bombarded and besieged.' Hailed as Nazi-fighting heroes by some, or violent hooligans no better than the supremacists they oppose by others, whatever you think of antifa, the movement is rapidly on the rise Antifa have had several clashes with the alt-right since Trump took office, including this face off on April 15 during a pro-Trump rally in Berkeley Trump supporters (L) clash with antifa during a pro-Trump rally in Berkeley, USA on April 15, when a large number of fights broke out Antifa-aligned journal It's Going Down warns that members 'have to organize to defend ourselves' against the alt-right. 'If we allow the alt-right and neo-Nazis to organize in our communities, the consequences will be fatal,' they wrote. 'Charlottesville is just the beginning.' 'We have to stand up to white supremacists, we have to shut down and chase out these bigots every time they try to organize, or else they will kill more people. The police will not protect us.' They even have an article, titled 'So you want to join the resistance?' with tips on becoming an antifa member and anarchist, such as the advice to 'support all resistance against the state.' Neo-Nazis and left wing activists have been fighting on the fringes of society for years. But as white supremacist groups becomes emboldened under a president, who not only has support from the alt-right, but refused to condemn the Unite the Right protesters at Saturday's deadly Charlottesville rally, where a white nationalist plowed into a crowd of counter protesters, antifa has also found itself growing in popularity. Some of their recent actions have become internet legend, such as the moment on Inauguration Day, a masked activist punched the white-supremacist leader Richard Spencer, and have found mass support in the mainstream left. After the punch an instant meme, Twitter was flooded with viral versions of the video clip set to music, prompting Barack Obama speech writer Jon Favreau to tweet: 'I don't care how many different songs you set Richard Spencer being punched to, I'll laugh at every one.' Portland, Oregon, has seen some of the worst clashes as the city, a mainstay of liberal, antifa activists, went up against neo-Nazis in a state which once had the highest Ku Klux Klan membership rate in America. Following Trump's surprise election, masked protesters held demonstrations which saw store windows smashed and vandalism across the city. Violence erupted at a Rally for Trump and Freedom in the suburb of Vancouver after activists threw smoke bombs. They have clashed again and again since then, including at a June rally, which featured alt-right's Kyle Chapman, who shot to internet fame for attacking an antifa activist with a wooden post. Antifa responded by throwing bricks until the police dispersed them. As the alt-right continues to flourish under Trump and his allegedly racist rhetoric, these clashes are only going to get bigger and bloodier, as antifa rises to meet the growing threat (pictured, antifa and the alt-right clash) The antifa protesters held a counter demonstration against the Unite the Right rally Counter demonstrators holding a banner decrying white supremacist's at the entrance to Emancipation Park in Charlottesville Members of Antifa cheer as white activists are evicted from Emancipation Park during the Unite the Right Rally White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, on Saturday Yet, while many of the alt-right have become YouTube stars or infamous in their own right, members of antifa generally prefer to keep out the limelight, wearing helmets, face masks and body armor at demonstrations which not only keep their identities anonymous, but presents an intimidating front for their enemy. Other headline grabbing confrontations include when protesters shoved controversial conservative political scientist Charles Murray when he spoke at Middlebury College, in Vermont, in March, and the huge, and violent clash between antifa and the alt-right after they prevented former Breitbart.com editor Milo Yiannopoulos from speaking at UC Berkeley. Their main criticism of antifa, aside from the violence, is that by forcing venues to cancel right-wing speakers, and nationalist demonstrations, they are denying First Amendment rights and acting like the very authoritarian dictators they stand against. Trump supporter Joey Gibson, who organized the rally in Portland in June, told The Atlantic his 'biggest pet peeve is when mayors have police stand down. (Antifa) don't want conservatives to be coming together and speaking.' But the stakes only appear to be escalating, as Gibson - as well as other conservative groups in Portland - announced they were bringing in far-right militia to deal with protesters. And as the alt-right continues to flourish under Trump and his allegedly racist rhetoric, these clashes are only going to get bigger and bloodier, as antifa rises to meet the growing threat. Jane White Cunningham died from eating contaminated oysters in Mississippi A woman from southeast Texas died on August 10th after eating contaminated oysters in Mississippi. Jane White Cunningham was on vacation celebrating her 56th birthday with her husband David when she ate the bad shellfish. The oysters were contaminated with a bacteria called vibrio which gave Jane a severe infection. Both her legs and one of her arms were amputated to try and stop the infection but it wasn't enough. Jane had been battling leukemia for the past year. She is not eligible for life insurance due to circumstances surrounding her cancer, a family friend posted on Facebook. The family is asking for help with burial and medical expenses in lieu of flowers. She and her husband David are from Buna, Texas, and both attended Buna High School. Jane (center) had been battling leukemia for the past year. Because of circumstances surrounding her cancer, she is not eligible for life insurance Jane and her husband David Cunningham were on vacation in Mississippi celebrating Jane's 56th birthday when she ate the bad oysters 'Jane was a sweet beautiful person inside and out' said friend Janet Bertram Hallmark. 'She was a strong Christian lady that loved the Lord.' Vibrio is found in coastal waters where oysters live. Most vibrio infections only cause diarrhea and vomiting, but severe infections can leads to amputations or death. People with weak immune systems are especially vulnerable to the bacteria. Since Jane had leukemia, she was susceptible. 'If you get typical food poisoning with vomiting, nausea, diarrhea, and you've had raw oysters, you ought to consider this infection,' Dr. David Winter with Baylor Hospital in Dallas told CBS DFW. 'If you've got those symptoms, you need to get to the emergency room right away and get treated.' Both of Jane's legs and one of her arms were amputated in an attempt to stop the infection The only way to kill harmful bacteria in oysters is to cook them properly. Eating raw oysters and other under-cooked seafood risks infection. The bacteria fueled by warmer temperatures are also reflection of the impact that climate change is having on the world's oceans, An August 2016 report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that warming waters were linked to waterborne food poisoning, especially from eating raw oysters. Oysters can contain the harmful bacteria vibrio which causes infections similar to food poisoning. In rare cases it can be fatal (stock image) A heart-shaped gold brooch which was given to the wife of King Edward IV's close friend is set to fetch 10,000 at auction. The jewel, which is more than 500 years old, was found by a metal detectorist next to the grounds of a ruined castle which was home to Lord Chamberlain William Hastings and his wife Katherine Neville. The charm is inlaid with white enamel and engraved with the words 'honour and joy' in French and would have been an expensive item at the time. It is thought to date back to about 1480 when Baron Hastings, a close friend of King Edward IV in the 15th century, was in the process building the castle until he was executed for treason in 1483. The brooch (pictured) is more than 500 years old and was recently discovered by a metal detectorist The unnamed treasure hunter stumbled upon her buried gem next to the moat of Kirby Muxloe Castle in Leicestershire (pictured) Baron Hastings was detained on trumped-up charges of treason by Edward IV's brother, Richard III (left), and was executed at the Tower of London (right) After his death his widow briefly carried on with the building project but the castle was never completed and it remained a ruin. The unnamed treasure hunter stumbled upon her buried gem close to the moat of Kirby Muxloe Castle in Leicestershire last year. He assumed it was a modern jewel because of its pristine condition and it has since been authenticated by the Portable Antiquities Scheme and the British Museum. It is now expected to sell for 10,000 when it goes under the hammer next week. The finder will share the proceeds of the sale with the owner of the farmland which is next to the castle. Auctioneers say they have had a lot of interest from American collectors who are fascinated by British Royal history. Charles Hanson, of Hansons Auctioneers of Etwall, Derbyshire, said: 'It's quite astonishing to have unearthed a jewel of such incredible significance that was lost over 500 years ago. 'It would have only been worn by the most powerful women of the time and certainly fitting for a lady of Baroness Hastings' standing. 'This is a truly unique offering and it's garnering worldwide interest. 'We have had huge interest from prospective buyers in America since the news of the find first came to light, thanks to its romance and place in British history. 'I truly hope a museum buys it or a private collector falls in love with it..' Baron Hastings fought alongside King Edward IV at the Battle of Towton during the bloody War of the Roses in 1461. Kirby Muxloe Castle in Leicestershire (pictured) was already a romantic ruin in 1826 The charm is inlaid with white enamel and engraved with the words 'honour and joy' in French and would have been worn round the neck He was knighted on the battlefield after Edward displaced Henry VI as monarch. After Edward IV's death in 1483 Baron Hastings gave his support to his 12-year-old son and successor, Edward V. But Baron Hastings was detained on trumped-up charges of treason by Edward IV's brother, Richard III, and was executed at the Tower of London. Edward V's reign only lasted 86 days before he vanished into a dungeon in the Tower of London. It has always been widely believed he was murdered on the orders of his uncle, who then succeeded him as King. The episode was hugely controversial and William Shakespeare spoke out against it. The metal detectorist, who is aged in his 30s and is from Leicestershire, said: 'When I got the signal it didn't sound like anything good, it was quite scratchy. 'Even when I saw it, I wasn't sure what it was. Because it was in such fantastic condition I assumed it must have been Victorian. 'Then when I found it was medieval I started shaking. I couldn't sleep at all that night.' Mr Hanson said: 'This discovery has enabled us to reconnect with history and retell a genuinely fascinating story. 'There's no doubt the backstory adds value to the piece. It's not just come out of the ground of some random field.' The brooch will be sold on August 23. United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. UNITED STATES of America, v. Richard MARTIN, Appellant No. 16-4289 Decided: August 15, 2017 Before: HARDIMAN, ROTH, and FISHER, Circuit Judges. Soo C. Song, Jane M. Dattilo, Rebecca R. Haywood, Michael L. Ivory, Office of the United States Attorney, 700 Grant Street, Suite 4000, Pittsburgh, PA 15219, Counsel for Plaintiff-Appellee Lisa B. Freeland, Samantha L. Stern, Office of the Federal Public Defender, 1001 Liberty Avenue, Suite 1500, Pittsburgh, PA 15222, Counsel for Defendant-Appellant OPINION OF THE COURT Richard Martin appeals an order of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania that denied his motion for a sentence reduction under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2). Martin claimed he was entitled to a lesser sentence because of Amendment 782 to the United States Sentencing Guidelines (Guidelines or USSG), but the District Court disagreed because Martin was a career offender. We agree with the District Court that Martin's status as a career offender meant that he was not eligible for a reduced sentence. I A Martin pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute more than 50 grams of crack cocaine in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1) and (b)(1)(B)(iii). He and the United States entered into a written plea agreement pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(c)(1)(C), colloquially known as a (C) plea, in which they agreed that Martin's advisory range under the Guidelines was 70 to 87 months' imprisonment and that a sentence of 87 months was appropriate. Prior to Martin's sentencing, the United States Probation Office prepared a Presentence Investigation Report (PSR) that differed from the Guidelines calculation agreed upon by the parties. According to the Probation Office, Martin's true advisory Guidelines range was 188 to 235 months' imprisonment because Martin was a career offender. The Government did not object to the PSR, but Martin disagreed that he was a career offender and reserved the right to object to that finding at a later date. As Martin's counsel explained at the sentencing hearing: I want to make the record clear. I didn't file objections. What I filed was an 11(c)(1)(C) with eighty-seven months. If the Court were not to accept it, I have a number of objections. App. 2728. At sentencing, the District Court noted several times that Martin was a career offender. The Court explained: In this case, the defendant's criminal history includes separate convictions in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County for crimes of aggravated assault, resisting arrest, and fleeing and alluding [sic] a police officer. These convictions, when coupled with his current drug offense, define him as a career offender. App. 2324. Accordingly, the District Court agreed with the PSR, finding that Martin's total offense level was 31 and his criminal history category was VI, resulting in an advisory Guidelines range of 188 to 235 months. Nevertheless, after considering the sentencing factors enumerated in 18 U.S.C. 3553, the Court sentenced Martin to 87 months' imprisonment in accordance with Martin's (C) plea. In its Statement of Reasons, the District Court noted that it had adopted the PSR without change and again identified Martin's sentencing range as 188 to 235 months (the career offender range). After noting that it had imposed a below-Guidelines sentence, the Court explained that it had imposed the sentence agreed upon by the parties. Martin did not appeal his sentence. B In 2014, the United States Sentencing Commission promulgated Amendment 782 to the Guidelines, which retroactively reduced by two levels the base offense for many drug quantities, including the drug quantity associated with Martin's offense. See USSG app. C., amend. 782 (effective Nov. 1, 2014). In September 2015, Martin filed a motion for reduction of sentence under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2), citing Amendment 782. Martin also moved to vacate his sentence under 28 U.S.C. 2255. He argued that he was no longer a career offender because all three of his predicate offenses qualified as crimes of violence only under the residual clause of USSG 4B1.2, and the Supreme Court had invalidated the same residual clause in 18 U.S.C. 924(e) (the Armed Career Criminal Act) in Johnson v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 2551 (2015). Martin asked the District Court to defer ruling on his 2255 motion until after it had decided whether to reduce his sentence. The District Court denied Martin's motion, holding that he was ineligible for relief because his Guidelines range was based on his status as a career offender rather than the drug quantity. Martin appealed this order, but asked to stay the briefing schedule pending the District Court's ruling on his 2255 motion. Martin later withdrew his 2255 motion after the Supreme Court declined to extend Johnson to the Guidelines in Beckles v. United States, 137 S. Ct. 886, 890 (2017) (holding that the Guidelines, including the residual clause of 4B1.2, are not subject to a vagueness challenge under the Due Process Clause). This Court then granted Martin's motion to expedite his appeal. II The District Court had jurisdiction under 18 U.S.C. 3231. We have appellate jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1291. United States v. Rodriguez, 855 F.3d 526, 52931 (3d Cir. 2017). Because we are presented with legal questions concerning the proper interpretation of the Sentencing Guidelines, our review is plenary. United States v. Thompson, 825 F.3d 198, 203 (3d Cir. 2016) (citation omitted). III Under 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2), a district court may reduce a term of imprisonment only if two requirements are met. Thompson, 825 F.3d at 203. First, the sentence must have been based on a sentencing range that has subsequently been lowered by the Sentencing Commission. 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2). Second, a reduction in sentence must be consistent with applicable policy statements issued by the Sentencing Commission. Id. Under the governing policy statement, defendants qualify for 3582(c)(2) relief only if an amendment has the effect of lowering the defendant's applicable guideline range. USSG 1B1.10(a)(2)(B). In 2011, the Sentencing Commission issued Amendment 759, which amended 1B1.10 to clarify that a defendant's applicable guideline range is the guideline range that corresponds to the offense level and criminal history category determined pursuant to 1B1.1(a), which is determined before consideration of any departure provision in the Guidelines Manual or any variance. Id. 1B1.10 cmt. n.1(A). The Government has conceded that Martin meets the first requirement for a sentence reductionhis sentence was based on a Guidelines range that was later reduced. As for the second requirement, however, the Government insists that a reduction in Martin's sentence would be inconsistent with applicable policy statements because Martin was a career offender subject to a Guidelines range of 188235 months' imprisonment. Since that range was not lowered by Amendment 782, Martin is not entitled to a reduction. For his part, Martin claims his applicable range was the one specified in his (C) plea (7087 months). And because Amendment 782 lowered that range to 57 to 71 months, it follows that Martin is eligible for a sentence reduction. As we shall explain, Martin's applicable Guidelines range was the career offender range. Accordingly, the District Court was correct to find him ineligible for a sentence reduction. A Relying principally on the Supreme Court's decision in Freeman v. United States, 564 U.S. 522 (2011), Martin argues that the sentencing range set forth in the parties' plea agreement is the sole focus of the 3582(c)(2) eligibility inquiry. In Freeman, the Supreme Court addressed whether a defendant sentenced pursuant to a (C) plea was eligible for a sentence reduction under 3582(c)(2). Id. at 525 (plurality opinion). The specific question was whether such a sentence was based on the Sentencing Guidelines for purposes of 3582(c)(2). Id. The Supreme Court held that a sentence imposed following a (C) plea is based on the Guidelines if the agreement expressly uses a Guidelines sentencing range applicable to the charged offense to establish the term of imprisonment, and that sentencing range was subsequently lowered. Id. at 534 (Sotomayor, J., concurring in the judgment). We have held that Justice Sotomayor's concurrence expresses the holding of the Court because its holding is narrower than the plurality's. United States v. Thompson, 682 F.3d 285, 290 (3d Cir. 2012). Martin's case differs from Freeman in two important respects. For starters, the Government has conceded that Martin's sentence was based on the subsequently-lowered drug Guidelines, which was the central issue in Freeman. Second, Martin qualified as a career offender under the Guidelines, whereas Freeman did not address the career offender issue at all. The question here is whether the parties' agreement that Martin's sentence should be based on the drug Guidelines and the District Court's acceptance of that agreement changed Martin's applicable guideline range from the career offender range to the drug offense range. Although this Court has not yet addressed the question presented, two of our sister courts have done so persuasively. In United States v. Leonard, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit considered the Guidelines range applicable to a defendant who pleaded guilty pursuant to a (C) plea, for purposes of determining 3582(c)(2) eligibility. 844 F.3d 102, 104 (2d Cir. 2016). The defendant claimed his applicable range was that specified in his plea agreement. Id. at 112. The government argued that the applicable range was the one initially calculated by the district court before it accepted the (C) plea. Id. The Second Circuit agreed with the government, holding that the applicable range was that determined by the court as set forth in the Guidelines, without regard to the parties' agreement to a different calculation, and before the exercise of any departure or variance discretion. Id. at 113. After reviewing the definition of applicable guideline range in 1B1.10, the court explained: [W]hen a district court accepts an 11(c)(1)(C) sentence or sentencing range that is lower than its calculated Guidelines range, what the court effectively does is grant a departure or variance. Id. Thus, it concluded that the applicable Guideline range is the one determined by the sentencing court rather than the parties' agreement. Id. at 117. In United States v. Pleasant, the Ninth Circuit considered a situation even more similar to Martin's case. 704 F.3d 808 (9th Cir. 2013), overruled on other grounds by United States v. Davis, 825 F.3d 1014 (9th Cir. 2016) (en banc). There the defendant pleaded guilty to drug possession after reaching an agreement with the government under Rule 11(c)(1)(C). That agreement recognized that the defendant was a career offender, but provided instead that his sentence should be at the low end of the guidelines applicable to crack-cocaine offenses. Id. at 809. The district court accepted the (C) plea and sentenced the defendant accordingly at the low end of the Guidelines. In light of subsequent amendments to the Guidelines, the defendant moved to reduce his sentence, and the district court granted the motion, relying on Freeman. See id. at 810. The Ninth Circuit reversed, holding that the defendant's applicable Guidelines range was that of career offenders. Id. at 81314. It explained that the defendant was only able to avoid the Career Offender guidelines because the district court granted a downward variance by accepting the plea agreement. Id. at 812. These decisions comport with our precedent considering the interplay between the career offender Guidelines and subsequently-lowered drug Guidelines. In United States v. Flemming, 723 F.3d 407 (3d Cir. 2013), for example, the defendant was subject to the career offender designation, but received a downward departure under 4A1.3. In that case, we held that the applicable guideline range for defendants designated as career offenders is the range calculated pursuant to the career offender designation of 4B1.1, and not the range calculated after applying any departure or variance. Id. at 412; see also Thompson, 825 F.3d at 204 (Appellants acknowledge that, after Amendment 759, their applicable guideline ranges' under the Sentencing Commission's policy statement in 1B1.10 are their Career Offender Guidelines ranges.); United States v. Ware, 694 F.3d 527, 53132 (3d Cir. 2012) (All parties to these appeals agree that the applicable guideline range for [defendants] would be the guideline range reflecting their career offender designations, which were not affected by Amendment 750.); United States v. Barney, 672 F.3d 228, 23132 (3d Cir. 2012) (affirming district court's conclusion that applicable guideline range was career offender range and not post-departure drug range). B Like the defendants in Leonard and Pleasant, Martin argues that Freeman demands a different conclusion. In Freeman, Justice Sotomayor's concurrence stated: Because it is the parties' agreement that controls in the (C) agreement context, even if the District Court had calculated the range differently than the parties, [the defendant] would still be eligible for resentencing, as long as the parties' chosen range was one that was subsequently lowered by the Sentencing Commission. 564 U.S. at 542 n.8 (fourth alteration in original) (quoting 18 U.S.C. 3582(c)(2)); see also United States v. Smith, 658 F.3d 608, 613 (6th Cir. 2011) (Justice Sotomayor's opinion in Freeman makes it clear that where the parties have entered into a Rule 11(c)(1)(C) plea agreement that is based on the Sentencing Guidelines, the applicable Guidelines range for purposes of 3582(c) is the one provided in the plea agreement.). Based on this language in Freeman, Martin contends that the terms of his (C) plea alone should govern the 3582(c)(2) eligibility analysis. We do not agree that Freeman compels such a result. As discussed, Freeman established that a defendant's sentence is based on the Guidelines agreed to in the parties' (C) plea. 564 U.S. at 53839 (Sotomayor, J., concurring in the judgment). Freeman did not, however, decide what constitutes the applicable guideline range for purposes of a 3582(c)(2) reduction. The stipulated sentence in the parties' agreement was within the Guidelines range calculated by the district court, and that range had been lowered by retroactive amendment. Id. at 52728 (plurality opinion). For that reason, Freeman sheds no light on how to identify the applicable guideline range when the district court calculates that range differently from the parties in their (C) plea, and the controlling concurrence's footnote considering such a circumstance is at best dictum. Leonard, 844 F.3d at 114. Moreover, after Freeman was decided, the Sentencing Commission issued Amendment 759, which defined applicable guideline range as the range calculated before any departure or variance. See USSG 1B1.10 cmt. n.1(A). As the Second Circuit explained, this amendment provided for the court to calculate the applicable range according to the Guidelines Manual and does not contemplate that the parties will themselves identify the applicable Guidelines range, much less that they will do so differently than the district court. Leonard, 844 F.3d at 115; see also Pleasant, 704 F.3d at 813 (Freeman did not hold that a defendant's agreed sentencing range is necessarily the same as his applicable sentencing range and, even if it did, Freeman would have been abrogated by Amendment 759's clarification of the definition of applicable guidelines. ); Ware, 694 F.3d at 534 n.4 (Freeman was decided prior to the amendment of the Guidelines commentary that added the language at issue in these appeals.). As determined by the District Court, Martin's applicable Guidelines range was the career offender range of 188 to 235 months. And because that range has not been lowered by any amendment to the Guidelines, Martin was not eligible for a sentence reduction pursuant to 3582(c)(2). * * * For the reasons stated, we will affirm the judgment of the District Court. FOOTNOTES . The Ninth Circuit found further support in USSG 6B1.2 (Standards for Acceptance of Plea Agreements), which allows a court to accept (C) plea if the agreed sentence is outside the applicable guideline range for justifiable reasons. Pleasant, 704 F.3d at 812. Because this provision clearly distinguishes between the applicable guideline range and the agreed sentence, it confirms that a defendant's applicable range is distinct from the range agreed to in a plea agreement. Id. HARDIMAN, Circuit Judge. A baby boy in Japan can't hold back his tears when his dog companion stops at nothing to steal his rice cracker snack. Adorable video taken two summers ago shows baby Kanato Mori, one-year-old at the time, having his rice cracker snatched by family pooch Baloo. The dog takes one bite of the cracker, leaving young Kanato in shock, looking down at the crumbs that have appeared on the living room table in front of him. Kanato then regards his half missing cracker for a second - long enough for Baloo to strike, eating up the rest of goody in two bites. The young boy immediately bursts into tears. Baloo, unfazed, continues licking up the crumbs, making sure he's got them all. Baby Kanato pictured with his best friend, family pooch Baloo, who stops at nothing to get at a rice cracker snack meant for the baby boy. It takes a second for Kanato to realise what's going on Baloo manages to take a first bite out of Kanato's rice cracker, pictured, and looks for the possibility to get the rest while the baby regards the situation and crumbs on the table Baloo gets the rest of the cracker, snatching it out of baby Kanato's hand, pictured. According to Kanato's parents, the two friends are normally inseparable but when food's involved it's a different story He then joins Kanato's crying by whimpering. This seems to ease the child. The video was taken in Miyagi, north Tokyo, Japan by Kanato's parents. Kanato bursts into tears when he realises his rice cracker snack is gone, pictured. Baloo is seen continuing to lick up all the leftovers from the table Baloo joins Kanato's crying and whimpers alongside his friend, pictured. Baloo gets the rest of the cracker, snatching it out of baby Kanato's hand, pictured. According to Kanato's parents, the two friends are normally inseparable but when food's involved it's a different story They said: 'They're usually inseparable but when my son has food, my dog loses his mind a little and nothing else but the food matters. This kind of thing happens often.' There are likely many more snacks to be shared in these two friends' future. Authorities in South Carolina have rescued a baby who was found inside a parked car which also contained a murdered woman. Horry County Deputy Coroner Tony Henrick says 31-year-old Latosha Lewis, of Tabor City, North Carolina, was pronounced dead early Tuesday near an intersection in Green Sea, a community near the state's border with North Carolina. Police say Lewis had been shot. Latosha Lewis, 31, was found fatally shot in a parked car near the border between North and South Carolinas early Tuesday morning. Authorities found a crying baby in the car with her The baby, who is in social service's custody, is said to be Lewis' six-month-old child According to a police report, the infant was taken to a hospital. The baby has since been taking into custody by the Department of Social Services. Lorea Arthur, a friend of the victim, told WMBF-TV that the baby is the dead woman's child and is six months old. 'What kind of man or woman would do that? With a child in the car. That's the worst thing you could ever do to somebody,' Arthur said, of the fact that Lewis had been shot while the baby was in the car with her. WMBF reported a neighbor called 911 after hearing the baby's cries. Residents within the vicinity of the intersection (shown) where the parked car was found alerted authorities after hearing the baby's cries. Lewis' death is being treated as a homicide Lewis' cousin, Akeem Jenrette, told The State that the baby was one of Lewis' six children. Jenrette said that Lewis' 'kids were her everything, her world. Anyone that knows her could tell you when it came to her children there wasnt a thing that could stop her from providing for them.' Authorities said that a homicide investigation is ongoing and that bloodhounds were being used to search for evidence. There are no current suspects in Lewis' death. The national debate about the fate of statues honoring Confederate politicians and military officers has reached a new level, with a black lawmakers' group saying such memorials should be banned from the U.S. Capitol. It turns out there are plenty of them. 'We will never solve America's race problem if we continue to honor traitors who fought against the United States in order to keep African-Americans in chains,' Congressional Black Caucus Chairman Cedric Richmond, a Louisiana Democrat, told ABC News. 'By the way, thank God, they lost,' he said. Congressmen Cedric Richmond of Louisiana (left) and Bennie Thompson of Mississippi (right), both Democrats, oppose the display of statues in the U.S. Capitol that honor Confederate Civil War heroes and politicians This statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee is one of two that represent the Commonwealth of Virginia in the Capitol's Statuary Hall the other is a statue of George Washington US Navy Lt. William Edmund Newsome looks at a bronze statue of Confederate president Jefferson Davis (2nd left) in Statuary Hall in this 2015 file photo A march in Charlottesville, Virginia attended mostly by neo-Nazis and other white supremacists that turned violent last weekend was originally organized to protest the planned removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee from a public park. Lee was a Confederate army general and a superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy. A similar statue of the Virginian has stood in the Capitol since 1909, depicting him in his Confederate uniform. It's one of two statues the other one bears George Washington's likeness contributed to the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall by the Commonwealth of Virginia. Every U.S. state has two statues, and an 1864 law allows for their replacement every 10 years but only if the state's legislature and governor request it. Both of Mississippi's are Confederacy tributes, featuring former Confederate president Jefferson Davis and army colonel James George. Rep. Thompson, Mississippi's lone black congressman, also wants his state's flag removed from display in the U.S. Capitol (shown) because it incorporates the Confederate battle flag Georgia sent Congress a statue of Confederate vice president Alexander Stephens, who served in the House of Representatives after the Civil War. Former North Carolina governor Zebulon Vance, who was a Confederate military officer, represents his state along with post-reconstruction governor Charles Brantley Aycock. One of Florida's statues is of Edmund Kirby Smith, the last Confederate general to surrender to the Union army. Alabama's representative alongside Helen Keller is Joseph Wheeler, a famed Confederate cavalry general whose checkered history includes the 1864 drowning of hundreds of freed slaves when he ordered the withdrawal of a pontoon bridge spanning an overflowing creek. The Keller statue arrived in 2009, replacing Confederate army officer Jabez Curry. South Carolina sent statues of Wade Hampton, a Confederate general who fought at Gettysburg, and former U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun who was a powerful pro-slavery advocate before the Civil War. A plan to tear down this statue of Robert E. Lee in a Charlottesville, Virginia park sparked last weekend's neo-Nazi violence that led to the death of a 32-year-old woman Georgia's statues in the Capitol include one of Confederate vice president Alexander Stephens (left), who served in the House of Representatives after the Civil War These statues in the Capitol depict Confederate general Joseph Wheeler from Alabama (left) and former U.S. vice president John C. Calhoun (right), a South Carolinian who was a pro-slavery southern advocate during the Civil War Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat who is Mississippi's only black congressman, has demanded that all the Confederate statues should go along with his own state's flag, which includes the Confederate 'stars and bars' in its design. 'Confederate memorabilia have no place in this country and especially not in the United States Capitol,' Thompson told The Hill. 'These images symbolize a time of racial discrimination and segregation that continues to haunt this country and many African-Americans who still to this day face racism and bigotry.' 'It is past time for action to remove all Confederate symbols in the U.S. Capitol and on the Mississippi state flag,' he said. President Donald Trump predicted Tuesday that a rush to remove Confederate statues from public view could ultimately result in demands for similar treatement for American founding fathers who owned slaves in the 18th Century. 'This week it's Robert E. Lee. I noticed that Stonewall Jackson is coming down. I wonder is it George Washington next week and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know, you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop?' Trump said. ISIS and climate change are seen as the biggest threats to global peace, a new study has found - with cyber attacks also featuring heavily among the things people worry about. The jihadist terror group has been named as the top threat by citizens in 18 countries, including the UK, France, Germany, the United States and countries in the Middle East. A survey by the Pew Research Centre found people living in 13 countries, largely concentrated in Latin America and Africa, felt climate change was the biggest threat they faced. A survey by the Pew Research Centre found people living in 13 countries, largely concentrated in Latin America and Africa, felt climate change was the biggest threat they faced ISIS has been named as the top threat by citizens in 18 countries, including the UK, France, Germany, the United States Cyberattacks by foreign powers also weigh heavily on people's minds, with 51 per cent of people across 38 countries polled saying this was a cause for concern. Japanese respondents said cyber attacks were the biggest threat they faced, while in Greece and Venezuela the condition of the global economy was cited as the main cause for concern. Just one country, Hungary, names the influx of refugees as the main thing threat they should be worried about. Across Europe, 74 per cent said they view ISIS as a major threat to their nation. Researchers found a huge divide in attitudes towards Russian power and influence, with people living in Poland particularly concerned. In the US, there was a partisan divide when it came to the threat the Putin regime posed, the survey found They also found that in the US, there was a partisan divide when it came to the threat the Putin regime posed. Their report stated: 'While Russias power and influence are not named as the greatest threat in any of the countries polled in Europe or North America, there is particular concern in Poland (65 per cent). 'And 47% in the US see Russia as a major threat, but there is a partisan divide: 61 per cent of Democrats say Russias power and influence is a major threat, compared with only 36 per cent of Republicans. Across all of Europe, a median of 41% perceive Russia as a major threat.' Researchers also found that concern about US influence has risen since Donald Trump became President Researchers also found that concern about US influence has risen since Donald Trump became President. The report said: 'US power and influence is seen as a major threat by a median of 31 per cent across Europe. 'Spain, however, is an outlier, with 59 per cent worried about the U.S. In six European countries surveyed and Canada, worries about American power and influence are up since 2016.' The report also ruled, unsurprisingly, that people with right-wing views were more likely to see ISIS as a threat. It said: 'In Canada, 59 per cent on the right say that ISIS is a major threat, compared with only 33 per cent of those on the left. 'Significant political divides on the ISIS threat also exist in the US (a 22-percentage-point difference) and seven other EU countries.' Missing: Mark Schlegel, a Manhattan talent agent and married dad, went missing in Oradell, New Jersey, on Sunday Police in New Jersey are searching for a 57-year-old Manhattan talent agent who went missing on Sunday after walking out of his home carrying a gift bag and never returned. Mark Schlegel, a married father of two grown children, was last seen at around 3.30pm walking away from his house on Lenox Avenue in Oradell, New Jersey, and heading towards Soldier Hill Road, located just three blocks away. According to police, Schlegel took off without his keys, phone or wallet. Oradell Police Lt Victor Egg characterized the facts of this missing person case as 'very strange' and 'odd,' reported NJ.com. Schlegel, who for years has worked at the Manhattan-based Cornerstone Agency, has no history of physical or mental health problems. Police say he was last seen walking from his house on Lenox Avenue in the direction of Soldier Hill Road (pictured) Globetrotters: Mark and his wife, Chris, had just returned from a trip to Scotland last week. This photo shows the pair at Queen's View Parents: Mark and wife Chris have a grown daughter (center) and a son Mark and his wife, Chris, had just returned from a trip to Scotland last week. Photos shared on his Facebook page show the couple happily posing at the picturesque Queens View overlooking Loch Tummel. Schlegel is described as a white male standing at 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighing 165lbs, with blue eyes and gray hair. He was last seen wearing a white collared shirt, light-colored shorts and boat shoes. CBS New York reported he was carrying a small gift bag, according to police. Schlegel, a graduate of DePauw University with a degree in communications, has worked at Cornerstone Agency since 2002. He and wife Chris have a son and daughter. Schlegel has worked at Cornerstone Agency in Manhattan since 2002. He has no history of physical or mental health problems On Tuesday, police and fire units scoured wooded areas, yards and sheds in Oradell in search of Schlegel. Anyone with information on his whereabouts is being asked to call the Oradell Police Department at 201-261-0200. Couple's wedding DJ took off with between $600 and $3500 from a card box last month. Ashley Karasek, 28, had her dream wedding to husband Jeremy, 34, on July 29. The couple had been engaged for five years. The venue was decorated with navy blue, coral and cold. The wedding party took fun photos on a bridge. The reception was held at Yukon Slovenian Hall in South Huntingdon, Pennsylvania about a mile outside of Pittsburgh. The morning after the wedding, the couple realized that most of their wedding cards were missing. Only 12 were left in the box from the night before. Ashley and Jeremy Karasek got married in South Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, on July 29. The next morning they realized that most of their wedding cards were missing The couple used a DJ their friends had used the month before. Edward McCarty admitted to stealing $600-worth of cards at the reception, but the bride estimates he took more 'I didn't for a second think it was any of our guests,' Karasek told Daily Mail in an exclusive interview. For most of the evening the DJ Edward Kendrick McCarty was in possession of a box where guests dropped cards for the couple. Karasek said she saw guests handing McCarty cards throughout the night but didn't think anything of it. As soon as the cards went missing, she guessed it was McCarty. 'He was acting a little weird at the end [of the reception]. I was just assuming he was tired,' she said. 'He was a fun DJ because our best friends had used him the month prior to our wedding. Their father had the box with him though,' she said. Police arrested the 38-year-old disc jockey on theft and related charges in connection with the missing cash. McCarty confessed to stealing the cards 'because of financial struggles,' police said in an affidavit. He told investigators he netted $600. 'It makes me so mad that he's a liar and a thief,' Karasek said. She doesn't buy his claim about financial struggles: 'He was at the beach for 2 weeks before our wedding and went to amusement park the day after our wedding.' Karasek called many 120 guests that attended to ask how much they gifted the couple. Other guests came forward 'to make it a little less uncomfortable'. She estimates that McCarty took at least $3500. 'He claims he took $600 but that's impossible,' she said. The couple got engaged in 2012. They have one seven-year-old girl and a one-year-old boy When asked if she thinks she'll get the money back, McCarty said: 'I'm not sure. I'll have to see what the judge says.' McCarty is scheduled for a preliminary hearing September 20. Karasek is a stay at home mother to a seven-year-old girl and one-year-old boy. Her advice to future brides: get a locked box for cards. A man has been shot dead after a newly rented house in Melbourne's southeast was sprayed with bullets during a drive-by shooting. Emergency services found the man when they arrived in response to reports of gunfire at a property in Narre Warren at about 7.40pm on Wednesday. Paramedics worked on the man, who has not yet been formally identified, but he died at the scene. Police are now hunting for a gunman, according to the Herald Sun, as homicide detectives begin investigating the suspected murder. There are believed to be up to 12 bullets still stuck in the front wall of the home. A man has been killed in a drive-by shooting in Melbourne's southeast on Wednesday night. Forensic investigators are pictured at the Narre Warren address on Thursday morning Police are now hunting for a gunman, according to the Herald Sun, as homicide detectives begin investigating the suspected murder There are up to 12 bullets still stuck in the front wall of the home (pictured, pillar out front) Neighbours claimed the home had been up for lease for 'ages' and only recently rented out. 'The property where it happened has been up for lease for ages and only just been rented,' one woman told the Herald Sun. 'Whoever was living there was new to the area. 'There haven't been any issues with the house because there hasn't been anyone living there up until a month or so ago.' Emergency services found the man when they arrived in response to reports of gunfire at a property. Paramedics worked on the man but he died at the scene Neighbours claimed the home had been up for lease for 'ages' and only recently rented out Others reported hearing sounds like 'fireworks' on Wednesday night. 'We were just inside and we heard loud bangs, and we thought it might have been fireworks, so we went outside,' neighbour Tamara Sykes told 9 News. 'We drove down the street, and there were cops everywhere and the road was blocked off.' Police remained at the scene overnight, as forensic officers continue to work into Thursday morning. Detectives are urging any witnesses to come forward. The number of reported assaults in care homes has more than doubled in three years, shocking figures reveal today. Police forces from across England and Wales received almost 2,500 reports of assaults in care homes in the 12 months to April up from the 1,100 reported three years previously. In total, officers recorded a staggering 5,400 reports of crimes in care homes last year including reports of neglect, ill-treatment, blackmail and even a case of 'administered poison'. Worryingly, the true toll of crime is likely to be even higher as less than half of police forces responded to the Freedom of Information request. The figures are the latest to illustrate the scale of the crisis in the social care sector, which has been beset by funding problems, care home closures, staff shortages and allegations of ill-treatment. Only last week, the Daily Mail's Investigations Unit revealed how the crisis has become so severe, four in ten homes are failing inspections. An audit revealed that 38 per cent of more than 5,000 homes reported on this year have been declared inadequate or in need of improvement, with some elderly residents left for up to nine hours without food. Last night, campaigners described the latest police figures as 'horrifying'. Liberal Democrat MP Stephen Lloyd said: 'Elderly people deserve to look forward to retirement without worrying about becoming victims of crime. 'Instead, hundreds of vulnerable older people are being assaulted or stolen from in the very places they are meant to be cared for, while too often the cowardly criminals that prey on them are being let off the hook. 'This situation is completely unacceptable. We need to invest more in the police and in our care homes to prevent older people becoming sitting ducks for criminals.' Humiliation of bishop stricken by dementia A former bishop was 'humiliated' in his final weeks by a carer who forced him to have cold showers and slapped his bottom. The Rt Rev John Satterthwaite, pictured, was 88 and suffering from dementia when Kate Rogowski subjected him to 'unnecessary degradation' at The Lodge nursing home at the Buckshaw Retirement Village in Chorley, Lancashire. Mr Satterthwaite, the former bishop of Gibraltar, was said to be respected around the globe for his significant roles within the Anglican Church. It is understood a concerned member of staff raised the alarm when they saw Rogowski, 25, taking advantage of the bishop's vulnerability. In February 2015, Rogowski was found guilty of assault after a trial and jailed for eight weeks. But the clergyman did not live to see justice done as he died in May 2014 a month after the incident came to light. The Lodge is currently failing, according to the CQC's most recent report. At the time of Rogowski's sentence, the Diocese of Carlisle and the Diocese of Blackburn issued a joint statement which said: 'We are really shocked to discover this sad end to the very distinguished life of Bishop John. 'He was a tremendous character with a huge fund of interesting stories about his time as Bishop of Europe.' Hica Group, which manages The Lodge, said: 'This was an unacceptable and distressing incident that occurred more than three years ago. At Hica, we operate a zero-tolerance approach to any forms of abuse or poor care and when this incident arose we took prompt and immediate action. Nothing similar has ever been reported at The Lodge.' Advertisement Today's figures reveal that the number of alleged crimes in care homes soared from 3,460 in 2014/15 to 4,677 in 2015/16 and to 5,398 in 2016/17. Within that total, 2,483 assaults were reported to police in 2016/17 up from 1,163 in 2014/15. A total of 756 cases were 'assault with injury'. Allegations of theft increased from 964 to 1079 over the period, and cases of burglary jumped from 281 in 2014/15 to 356 in 2016/17. The actual figures are likely to be much higher as they account for only 16 police forces who responded to the FoI request from the Lib Dems, out of a total of 43 forces. Caroline Abrahams, charity director at Age UK, said: 'These figures are deeply distressing and show that too many older people living in care homes are not being adequately protected from abuse and neglect. 'Any abuse of older people is completely unacceptable, and we need a zero tolerance approach, whether the abuse is physical or mental cruelty, financial manipulation, theft or neglect.' She said care homes had a 'moral and professional duty of care' and 'pressures on our social care system can never be a legitimate excuse for them failing' in that duty. Neglect of Parkinson's sufferer caught by son When Clive Morris became worried his frail, Parkinson's-stricken mother was being neglected, he installed a spy camera in her room. He had previously raised concerns that former dental nurse Sheila Morris, 84, was not being given enough to drink at the 5,000-a-month Priory Court Care Home in Epsom, Surrey. But he instead filmed harrowing footage which he claims shows Mrs Morris being violently sick throughout the night without carers making any checks. Her bedroom door was closed at 11.30pm on May 4 last year, and carers did not re-enter the room until 6.30am. This was despite her illness requiring a minimum of three checks each night. When they returned, the footage showed that Mrs Morris was coughing and in distress with vomit around her mouth and on her sheets. Mr Morris, 47, was so concerned his mother could have drowned in her own vomit, he made a complaint of neglect to Surrey Police. The matter was referred to the Care Quality Commission, which Mr Morris accused of turning a blind eye. They never spoke to us or even asked to see the footage, he told the Mail. That, to me, demonstrates utter contempt. Priory Court said: Priory Court is committed to providing high quality care and service to its residents, their relatives and staff. Mrs Morris became a resident in March 2015 and left in July 2016. Issues raised by her relatives, about her care, were thoroughly investigated by social services and the CQC which rates the home as good. The CQC closed the investigation in March 2017. Advertisement Rob Burley, director of policy at the Alzheimer's Society, said: 'Care homes must be an environment where residents feel safe and supported, not one that puts them at risk of exploitation. 'It's horrifying that people in care homes are falling victim to crime, but worse still that this appears to be on the rise. Almost three-quarters of care home residents have dementia, which means they are especially vulnerable.' The figures cover all types of reported assaults in care homes, including those on residents by staff, incidents between residents, and attacks on care workers themselves, as well as assaults on the mentally ill and some children. However, it is feared that attacks by staff on residents are by far the most common. A Local Government Association spokesman said: 'When there are cases of assault reported, these should be investigated and action taken where necessary. Any instance where safety is compromised is unacceptable and councils, providers, health and the Care Quality Commission must redouble our collective efforts to ensure people's safety.' Debbie Ivanova, the CQC's deputy chief inspector of adult social care for the South region, said: 'I expect that local police forces will have taken appropriate action in any instance when a crime has been committed in a care home, so that those responsible are held to account and people living there feel safe. Beaten with a stick by a fellow resident Frail Hazel Sanders, 92, was left battered and bruised when a fellow care home resident assaulted her with his walking stick. Harrowing photographs show bruises to her neck and hands after she was attacked by a man in his 80s at Karam Court Care Home in Smethwick, West Midlands. The swelling to her fingers was so severe her wedding ring had to be cut off. Police investigated and Mrs Sanders was removed from the home by her daughter Mary, 73, who raised concerns that a resident with known mental health issues was able to attack her mother. Assault: A young Hazel, left, and the neck injury she suffered, right She is now calling on all care homes to be fitted with more cameras to put relatives at ease. Karam Court cares for those with dementia and mental illnesses. Mrs Sanders did not have a degenerative memory condition but had been admitted with depression. Describing the incident, her daughter said: He approached my mother as she was walking to her bedroom. As he hit her bang, bang, bang she was pleading, if you want money, just take it. There was no one around. He couldve killed her. Staff pulled the attacker away when they came across the assault in October 2014. Mrs Sanders died in October last year aged 94 in an incident-free nursing home, having suffered from colon cancer. Speaking last night, her daughter said: The police said they couldnt do anything. It was all handled very badly. I didnt even receive a written apology. I cant even tell you what I think about the care home, she was treated appallingly. A spokesman for Karam Court said: The incident happened in a corridor and staff were aware of it within seconds, coming to Mrs Sanderss aid and restraining the other resident. An ambulance was called immediately and, in line with our procedures, the police, Care Quality Commission, council safeguarding and both families were contacted. Advertisement 'As the regulator, it is our job to assess the overall quality of care services in England. While the vast majority of care homes in the country have been rated as 'good', we do not hesitate to take action when we find this is not the case.' A Department of Health spokesman said: 'Abuse of any kind is completely unacceptable. Our changes to the law mean the Care Quality Commission can take more direct action against care providers whose services put people at risk, or fall below the high standards of care we expect.' Today's figures add to the evidence of a deepening crisis in the nation's care homes. Many homes are facing a recruitment crisis, with some so short-staffed that residents have resorted to caring for each other. Meanwhile, a study this week said an extra 71,000 care places for the over-65s will be needed in England alone by 2025 as the population ages. By 2035, a total of 189,000 extra places will be required. Care home operators say they are under pressure because local authorities have cut their contributions for residents, while costs particularly staff overheads have risen. Advertisement She is the 3billion behemoth charged with leading the Royal Navy into the future - and she dwarfs all those who have done the job before her. Much is expected of the 65,000 tonne, 920ft-long HMS Queen Elizabeth when she eventually enters service as Britain's flagship aircraft carrier in 2020. And she arrived at her new home of Portsmouth today to much fanfare as thousands came out to give her a proper British welcome. Known as 'Big Lizzie', she is the biggest and most powerful ship ever built by Britain and is far superior to previous leading naval vessels. The HMS Queen Elizabeth is the biggest and most powerful ship in the history of the Royal Navy and dwarfs some of the UK's most famous ships to come before her including the HMS Invincible, the HMS Victory and the Mary Rose HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK's newest aircraft carrier, has arrived in Portsmouth, as thousands of people line the seafront People cheered, took photos and waved Union flags as the 3billion ship, which dwarfed its surroundings, docked around 7.30am The largest warship ever built by Britain, HMS Queen Elizabeth, has today made its first entry into Portsmouth Harbour Commodore Jerry Kyd listens as Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May stands of the flight deck and speaks to crew members of the Queen Elizabeth HMS Queen Elizabeth was seen sailing into her home port of Portsmouth Harbour for the first time this morning Members of the public, with a Union Flag, gathered to witness the arrival of the HMS Queen Elizabeth supercarrier as it headed into port For example, she is 300ft longer and 48,000 tonnes heavier than the HMS Invincible, the Navy's former leading aircraft carrier which served in the Falklands War and the Iraq War before she was decommissioned in 2005 and eventually sold for scrap. The Navy will also hope the HMS Queen Elizabeth lives up to the reputation of her battleship predecessor named after the Queen's grandfather, HMS King George V, which weighed 42,000 tonnes and was 745ft long and helped defeat and sink the German battleship Bismarck during the Second World War. Going back even further, she weighs almost twice as much as her First World War namesake HMS Queen Elizabeth, which joined the fleet in 1915 to help the Gallipoli campaign and also went on to serve in the Second World War. HMS Queen Elizabeth's home port is also shared by a very historic flagship - the HMS Victory - which now serves as a tourist attraction. But those who served on the Victory during the Battle of Trafalgar would be stunned at the sight of the new aircraft carrier, which weighs 18 times as much as the 200-year-old ship and is almost five times as long. Also sharing a home in Portsmouth is another historic warship, the Mary Rose, which famously sank in the Solent in 1545 battling the French because she was too heavy at 700 tonnes and became caught in a gust of wind that caused it to turn over. She was raised from the waters in 1982 and has also become a tourist attraction. Meanwhile the commander of the Royal Navy's 3billion new flagship has revealed he 'didn't shut his eyes' as he squeezed the HMS Queen Elizabeth into port with just 65ft to spare either side. With crowds lining the shoreside around Portsmouth to welcome the 230 feet wide and 920 feet long aircraft carrier into her Naval Base home, Captain Jerry Kyd said berthing the ship was a 'historic' moment. Quizzed about getting the ship into the harbour and then the base, where at its narrowest there is less than 65 feet of clearance on each side, Captain Kyd said: 'I didn't shut my eyes.' With Portsmouth harbour built more than 600 years ago and for much smaller ships, he said it was 'quite tight coming through the gap', but said they had practised for it. The 3billion HMS Queen Elizabeth - dwarfing its accompanying flotilla - sailed into the harbour, after setting off from Fife for sea trials two months ago. Family members of those on board, who haven't seen their loved ones for more than seven weeks, were delighted to welcome them back this morning. Members of the 700-strong crew, plus 200 contractors, mustered on the deck of the 184 feet ship to wave to their friends and family as the aircraft carrier arrived shortly after 7.30am. Crowds gathered to greet the crew members of the HMS Queen Elizabeth as it arrived at Portsmouth Harbour today The HMS Queen Elizabeth, which arrived in Portsmouth today, is the lead ship in the new Queen Elizabeth class of supercarriers. Weighing in at 65,000 tons she is the largest war ship deployed by the British Royal Navy. She is planned to be in service by 2020 Britain's future flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth sailed into her home port of Portsmouth, with a police escort, for the first time today HMS Queen Elizabeth sails into her new home at Portsmouth Harbour after leaving Fife seven weeks ago for sea trials Homecoming: The power and might of HMS Queen Elizabeth was revealed today as it arrived in Portsmouth - greeted by thousands of people on the seafront Members of the crew mustered on the deck to wave to their loved ones as the aircraft carrier arrived Pressed on whether the homecoming of the ship was an emotional moment for him and the 700-strong ship's company, Captain Kyd said it very much was. 'It was emotional because for me as an aircraft carrier captain, I brought HMS Ark Royal in here for her last arrival some seven years ago,' he said. 'So for me, it is full circle in a way - bringing the new generation of the next aircraft carrier into service for me is something very special professionally, and also personally. 'I think it is what the country needs, I think it is what the Armed Forces needs to give a balanced power projection capability. 'There were no tears in my eyes, but there was a feeling of intense pride and satisfaction. And I was just so pleased for my ship's company who have done so well and so much work over the last few years. For them it was a great day.' Captain Kyd said the whole feeling around the ship is one of 'excitement and also one of very intense pride of what has been achieved'. He added that sense of achievement is felt 'not just across the Royal Navy, but also our industrial partners on board to get this ship out from the builders yard seven weeks ago'. Captain Kyd also revealed that he is very much looking forward to enjoying a gin and tonic once he gets home. As the crowds welcomed her in, Commander Darren Houston could be heard saying over the tannoy to those on the shore: 'Good morning, Portsmouth'. Louise Bond, 30, from Fareham, Hampshire, whose husband, Petty Officer Greg Bond, 33, is serving on board, said: 'It's my first homecoming. It's brilliant. I was up at 2.30am, first in line. It's amazing, I wouldn't miss it for the world. It's a historic moment, once-in-a-lifetime to see.' Tanya Baker, from Grantham, Lincolnshire, had taken two-year-old daughter Eloise to meet her partner, Petty Officer Craig May. She said: 'We are really proud that my partner is coming in on the Queen Elizabeth. It's been a long time since I've seen him and we are both proud to be part of the aircraft carrier.' The 65,000-tons carrier, the largest warship ever to be built in Britain, is expected to be the Navy's flagship for at least 50 years Greeted by thousands of people lining the Portsmouth seafront, the 65,000-ton carrier was met with the warmest of welcomes as she arrived in her home port just after 7am The HMS Queen Elizabeth is escorted into Portsmouth Harbour, with the crew members standing on the deck Thousands of people, including family members of those on board, lined the seafront to welcome her home People cheered, took photos and waved Union flags as the ship docked at Portsmouth Harbour around 7.30am Crowds, with Union flags, watch on from Gosport as HMS Queen Elizabeth sails into Portsmouth Docks for the first time Britain's largest ever warship the HMS Queen Elizabeth has arrived at her home port for the first time Theresa May (pictured with captain Jerry Kyd) meets crew on board HMS Queen Elizabeth after the ship sails to it's home at Portsmouth Naval Base Prime Minister Theresa May returned to duty and was seen meeting Admiral Sir Philip Andrew Jones (front left) and captain Jerry Kyd (far right), when the ship docked HMS Queen Elizabeth will send a message to the UK's allies and enemies that the country means business, according to her captain. The behemoth is set to be the nation's future flagship for the next 50 years. Prime Minister Theresa May returned to duty and was seen meeting members of the crew, when the ship docked. Mrs May hailed the ship as a symbol of the UK as a 'great global maritime nation'. Speaking on board, she said: 'Britain can be proud of this ship and what it represents. 'It sends a clear signal that as Britain forges a new, positive, confident role on the world stage in the years ahead we are determined to remain a fully engaged global power, working closely with our friends and allies around the world.' The waterfront on both sides of the harbour was packed with people, waving flags and banners, keen to grab a view of the historic moment. Lieutenant Commander Neil Twigg, a fast jet pilot responsible for integrating the F35 fighter jet into the carrier group, said: 'We are very ready. There is still a lot more work to be done - the aircraft is still going through its testing programme in America and the ship has still some more sea trials - but we are on the right track. 'The sheer size ... this is the 65,000-ton aircraft carrier, the largest the Royal Navy has ever had, she is specifically built for the F35, the only aircraft carrier in the world designed for that air system, so a pretty unique capability the UK now has.' Anthea Edwards, 51, and her husband Rodney, 67, had flown 11 hours and almost 6,000 miles from Durban, South Africa to see their 21-year-old son's ship arrive. Anthea Edwards (centre), 51, and her husband Rodney (right), 67, had flown 11 hours and almost 6,000 miles from Durban, South Africa to see their 21-year-old son's ship arrive The waterfront on both sides of the harbour was packed with people, waving flags and banners, keen to grab a view of the historic moment Thousands of people watch on the seafront as the Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier arrives in Portsmouth Armed police chat on the seafront as HMS Queen Elizabeth sailed into her home port of Portsmouth Naval Base Mrs Edwards said: 'It's such a momentous occasion for it to come in. To see him come home is amazing. It's very exciting.' Mr Edwards said he was 'proud' to see his son, an engineer, follow in his footsteps, after he spent time serving in the merchant navy. He added: 'The lad is taking his leave, so we can spend some time with him. It is absolutely worth the distance to see him and the ship.' Christine Feltham, 59, had come from Southampton, Hants, to watch her 26-year-old son - a weapons engineer - arrive. She said: 'The ship was even bigger than I expected. It's great to know he was part of it on its maiden voyage. I am very proud of him.' Kirsty Masterson, 46, and her daughter Jessica, 46, had come from Eastbourne, East Sussex, to see her eldest daughter, who was aboard the ship. She said: 'It's emotional and exciting to be here. It is the flagship of the navy. I am extremely proud that a member of my family is serving on this ship.' Mrs May hailed the ship as a symbol of the UK as a 'great global maritime nation'. Speaking on board, she said: 'Britain can be proud of this ship and what it represents Prime Minister Theresa May returned to duty and was seen meeting members of the crew, over a cup of tea, when the ship docked Members of the public gather to witness the arrival of the HMS Queen Elizabeth in Portsmouth today A Merlin helicopter takes off from the flight deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth after she arrived in Portsmouth this morning Spectators hold up their cameras as the Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth arrives in Portsmouth Members of the media and armed forces look on as HMS Queen Elizabeth sails into her home port at Portsmouth Naval Base Merlin helicopters on the flight deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK's newest aircraft carrier, after she arrived in Portsmouth John Mander, 77, from Bude, Cornwall said he was 'very proud indeed' of his son, who is one of the BAE Systems workers on board the ship. Sarah Smith had travelled from Hull, East Yorks, to see her 20-year-old daughter - a sea spec - and the flagship. She said: 'It's very exciting. I am very proud of her. The weather is very good - it's warm. I saw the ship when it left Rosyth. 'I am very excited to see it finally come home. It's a good moment and I would not miss it for the world.' Mary Hudson, from Havant, Hants, was there with her husband John and son Luke. She said: 'Although I had seen online how big it was, it was a lot bigger than I expected. 'It really wowed me. It was so impressive. It is great to be a part of this day and to see her coming into Portsmouth for the first time. It's a moment that I'll remember for ever.' 200 years of Royal Navy history in one image: HMS Victory (left) is the Royal Navy's most famous warship - best known for her role in the Battle of Trafalgar. In the distance, HMS Queen Elizabeth can be seen entering Portsmouth Harbour First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones speaks after the arrival of the Royal Navy's new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth in Portsmouth A member of the crew of HMS Queen Elizabeth man a weapon as the UK's newest aircraft carrier arrives in Portsmouth for the first time Navy officers and family members lined the jetty in the Navy base to welcome the ship, while the band of the Royal Marines played to entertain the crowds A member of the crew dons his 'HMS Queen Elizabeth' hat as the aircraft carrier arrives at Portsmouth Harbour today Luke, aged 11, said: 'It is awesome. The ship was really big and seeing the helicopters too was cool.' Couple Lucy and Jamie Richards, from Cosham, Hants, said it was worth getting up early for. Jamie, whose father was in the Royal Navy, said: 'It was a bit emotional watching it come in. There's just something incredible about seeing her in the Solent. 'It was great seeing the crowds to welcome her. Even though I had to get up at 5am, I wouldn't have missed this. It's been fantastic.' Suzanne Welch and Terry Card, from Portsmouth, said the ship gave them great pride. Suzanne, 55, said: 'This is something that won't happen again so it's exciting to be a part of it. 'We love the city and it's amazing to welcome HMS Queen Elizabeth.' HMS Queen Elizabeth Weight: 65,000 tons Length: 920 feet Top speed: Upwards of 25 knots Flight deck size: 230ft by 920ft - the equivalent of three football pitches Keeps 45 days worth of food onboard Is made up of 17 million parts 28 million hours have been spent designing and building the carrier More than a million feet of pipes inside the ship Advertisement Another onlooker, Sarah Tremlett, said: 'it was utterly amazing to see her up so close. 'It makes me so proud as a Pompey girl. You just really had to be there to see that stunning sight right next to the shore.' Mrs Tremlett, who grew up in Cowplain, Hants, but now lives in Nottingham, said: 'This is what this city is all about, coming out to support our navy on days like this. It makes the 5am start worth it.' Admiral Sir Philip Jones, the First Sea Lord, spoke at the dockside and described the vessel's arrival as the culmination of an 'extraordinary journey' for the ship and the Navy. He said: 'Today, we are gathered to see a seminal moment in the history of the Navy. It is part of an unfolding renaissance in our maritime industries. 'Within both the Royal Navy and British industry, a generation have put their best years into making this a reality. Today is the culmination of the achievement of that programme. 'It is going to take time and patience to introduce this into service. I would like to acknowledge the fabulous support of the US and French navies, who we have worked with and continue to do so. 'As we prepare to leave the European Union, this will take our message of partnership and prosperity to the rest of the world. 'HMS Queen Elizabeth embodies the nation's future ambition, She will be the embodiment of Britain in steel and in spirit. 'She will demonstrate the kind of nation we are - not a diminished nation withdrawing from the world, but an outward-looking and ambitious nation with a Royal Navy to match.' Members of the crew of HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK's newest aircraft carrier, muster on the deck as the ship arrives in Portsmouth HMS Queen Elizabeth was given a police escort by river boats as it arrived into Portsmouth Harbour this morning Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said: 'Today we welcome our mighty new warship, HMS Queen Elizabeth, to her home for the very first time. 'She is Britain's statement to the world: a demonstration of British military power and our commitment to a bigger global role. 'The thousands of people across the UK who have played a part in building her and her sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, should be immensely proud as our future flagship enters Portsmouth. 'She has made good progress in sea trials and will now embark on the next phase of preparations that will see the return of Britain's carrier strike ability. 'When she enters service she will help keep Britain safe at a time of increased threats, able to fill multiple roles from providing air power anywhere at any time to fight future campaigns, supporting allies or delivering humanitarian aid.' A flotilla of craft followed the behemoth aircraft carrier as she sailed into the Solent before heading into Portsmouth, where, at its narrowest point, there was less than 66ft (20m) clearance on each side. With boots polished and caps perfectly placed, all the ship's available company stood at the edge of the vessel as she arrived in the harbour and naval base. Those on board and watching from the shore were also treated to two separate flypasts of Royal Navy helicopters - the first featuring a Sea King, two MK2 Merlins and two MK3 Merlins - which were then joined by two Hawk jets for the second. The ship's captain Jerry Kyd looks out onto Portsmouth Harbour (left) while other crew members lined the deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth (right) Fireworks were let off as the giant carrier arrived, dwarfing the historic buildings at the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour. An 820ft (250m) exclusion zone, enforced by armed police in small boats, meant the port was effectively closed to the small flotilla of boats which had turned out to greet the Queen Elizabeth. Navy officers and family members lined the jetty in the Navy base to welcome the ship, while the band of the Royal Marines played to entertain the crowds. Lieutenant Commander Ian Pratt, who took a moment to take a photograph of the carrier as it sailed past, said: 'Absolutely fantastic. What a wonderful day for the Royal Navy, for Portsmouth and the whole of the country, the flagship of our nation is home. Fantastic.' Crew members of HMS Queen Elizabeth line the deck of the huge ship as she makes her first entry into Portsmouth today The ship will berth at the newly-opened Princess Royal Jetty at Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth, which will be home to both of the Royal Navy's new aircraft carriers. Pictured are members of the crew standing on the deck at the ship arrives in Portsmouth Britain's future flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth sailing into her home port of Portsmouth for the first time today A helicopter was seen circling the HMS Queen Elizabeth as it arrived in Portsmouth, greeted by thousands of people Crew members march in line on the deck. The aircraft carrier has been on contractor sea trials since first sailing from Rosyth just over seven weeks ago. After a brief period of maintenance alongside, the ship will head back out to sea for further trials As the huge ship sailed into Portsmouth Harbour, the HMS Queen Elizabeth crew lined the deck to be welcomed home Inside Big Lizzie revealed: Life above and below HMS Queen Elizabeth's four-acre deck for the 700 crew By Joseph Curtis for MailOnline Weighing 65,000-tons, HMS Queen Elizabeth is expected to be the flagship craft for at least 50 years - and is Britain's largest ever warship. She arrived in her home dock today after completing the latest round of sea trials - a day earlier than previously expected, after weather conditions had formerly prevented the exact date from being set. Pictures inside the ship give an insight into life on board, with the crew members working on their computers, sweating it out in the gym and the chefs cooking their meals. Speaking on board as the vessel sailed in the English Channel yesterday, Captain Jerry Kyd said he is feeling a 'huge amount of pride' ahead of the vessel berthing in her home port. Quizzed on whether he thinks aircraft carriers such as HMS Queen Elizabeth put the UK in the Naval premier league, he said: 'It sends the right signals to our allies and indeed potentially to our enemies that we mean business. 'The armed forces are fundamentally an insurance policy for the country and you can't just, at the flick of a switch, decide that you need these capabilities. 'You have to buy them, work them up, train them, integrate them with the rest of defence so they're ready to be called upon when required. You can't just buy it off the shelf. HMS Queen Elizabeth - the biggest and most powerful warship ever built by Britain - will enter her home port of Portsmouth for the first time at around 7am this morning after completing sea trials The 3billion behemoth is set to be the Royal Navy's future flagship once it becomes operational in 2020. Pictured is a Merlin helicopter on board next to the 'ski jump' launching runway on the flight deck A crew member on HMS Queen Elizabeth, affectionately nicknamed 'Big Lizzie', looks through binoculars at the open waters as the ship made its way back to the UK There are around 700 members of the crew on board the ship, including the staff of the operations room, pictured, who are responsible for weapons systems and air traffic control The ship looks impressive from all angles, as these airmen found out as they saw the carrier from their approaching Merlin helicopter Captain Jerry Kyd said he is feeling a 'huge amount of pride' ahead of the vessel berthing in her home port and added the ship would send a message to the world that Britain 'means business'. Pictured are crew in the operations room Captain Kyd addd the investment in Big Lizzie proved 'it is all about having the right investment and having the right equipment for the thousands of people who go to war on behalf of the nation'. Pictured are airmen boarding a Merlin helicopter HMS Queen Elizabeth, pictured, weighs 65,000 tons, is 920ft long and can reach a top speed of up to 25 knots (28mph) Around 45 days worth of food is kept on board the HMS Queen Elizabeth, with this cook pictured preparing potatoes for dinner in one of the galleys The vessel can be pressed into action for various work such as high intensity war fighting or providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief Mark Deller, Commander Air on HMS Queen Elizabeth, said the four-acre flight deck, poictured, is a capability the Navy has not had before 'Yes, it costs money, but it is all about having the right investment and having the right equipment for the hundreds, if not thousands of young men and women that go to war on behalf of the nation. 'It is absolutely an obligation of the taxpayer to ensure we have the right equipment.' During her estimated half a century working life, the 920ft vessel can be pressed into action for various work such as high intensity war fighting or providing humanitarian aid and disaster relief. 'We have never had a ship of 65,000-tons before in the Royal Navy so we have had to put in a bit of investment,' said Capt Kyd, who has served in the Navy for 32 years, and has been captain of HMS Illustrious and HMS Ark Royal. 'Of course when Henry VIII built Portsmouth, it was designed for ships the size of Mary Rose so we have had to make a few little changes to make sure we can fit in and be supported there.' Preparations for the ship's arrival saw more than 704 million gallons of sediment removed from the harbour to ensure the entrance is deep enough to allow the giant ship to access the Hampshire base. During the dredging, more than 20,000 items were removed from the sea bed including eight cannons, an aircraft engine, 36 anchors, a British torpedo, a German sea mine, five large bombs and a human skull - which was passed to local police. The operation to prepare the harbour and base has cost 100 million and has included new jetties and a new power plant to meet the electricity needs of the ship which is set to be joined by its sister vessel the HMS Prince of Wales which is currently being built. Mark Deller, Commander Air on HMS Queen Elizabeth, said the four-acre flight deck is a capability the Navy has not had before. But those in charge of the ship say she is 'not finished' and there is 'still work to do' before she can lead the Royal Navy More than 60 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines took part in a training exercise aboard the American USS George HW Bush earlier this month, in preparation for the ship's entry into service Huge containers of salt and sauces have been brought on board as chefs have to provide dinner for hundreds of people The operation to prepare Portsmouth Harbour for the arrival of the ship has itself cost 100million and has included new jetties and a new power plant to meet the electricity needs of the ship The carrier will remain without jets until flying trials are conducted in the United States next year, with 10 F-35 Lightning II jets and 120 aircrew expected to take part State of the art gyms, pictured, are also dotted throughout the ship to make sure the crew keep themselves in top shape while on assignments Quizzed on the ship heading into Portsmouth, he said it will be a proud moment. 'It is going to be a good day, we are bringing our ship in. HMS Queen Elizabeth: Where has she been? The ship set sail from the Rosyth dockyard in Fife this summer. She passed under the iconic Forth Road Bridge before heading to the south of England and docking at Southampton. She has just spent six weeks in the North Sea for sea trials. The boat will soon head to America's east coast for flight trials which will begin in October 2018. Queen Elizabeth is expected to be operational by 2020. Advertisement 'But what I wouldn't want to do is to sell the story that this is it, the bees knees and we are bringing our new Ferrari out of the garage. 'It is not Ferrari yet we have still got some work to do. She's not finished.' The warship has been undergoing training and tests at sea after setting out from Scotland's Rosyth dockyard in June, with more to take place over the coming months. HMS Queen Elizabeth will remain without aircraft until flying trials are conducted in the United States next year, with 10 F-35 Lightning II jets and 120 aircrew expected to take part. The warship is expected to arrive in Portsmouth shortly after 7am. The 919ft vessel was previously forecast to reach its base in the Hampshire port town between August 17 and 22, after setting out from Scotland's Rosyth dockyard in June. More than 60 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines took part in a training exercise aboard the American USS George HW Bush earlier this month, in preparation for the ship's entry into service. The carrier will remain without aircraft until flying trials are conducted in the United States next year, with 10 F-35 Lightning II jets and 120 aircrew expected to take part. Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has heralded the HMS Queen Elizabeth's impending arrival, and declared last week that she would be deployed 'across the seven seas, using her strike power to deter our enemies' The HMS Queen Elizabeth, pictured, will later be joined at Portsmouth by its sister ship the HMS Prince of Wales once the latter is completed The vessel was previously forecast to reach its base in the Hampshire port town between August 17 and 22, after setting out from Scotland's Rosyth dockyard in June HMS Queen Elizabeth is made up of 17 million parts and 28 million hours have been spent designing and building the carrier, pictured Last week it was revealed a drone pilot had landed his unmanned aircraft on the HMS Queen Elizabeth, pictured, in high winds The ship, pictured, will soon head to America's east coast for flight trials which will begin in October 2018 Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon has heralded the HMS Queen Elizabeth's impending arrival, and declared last week that she would be deployed 'across the seven seas, using her strike power to deter our enemies'. Sir Michael visited the craft for the first time last month, when he hailed the return of 'big decks and fast jets', and described the large-scale engineering project as 'great for British industry'. The warship will become the latest in a long line of prestigious ships to be docked in the historic Portsmouth port. Last week it was revealed a drone pilot had landed his unmanned aircraft on the HMS Queen Elizabeth in high winds, after zooming it past armed police patrol boats and dropped it unchallenged onto the four-acre deck. Concerned about the flight on to HMS Queen Elizabeth, the drone's pilot later approached security personnel - but said no-one was concerned that he had touched down on the recently launched ship. As HMS Queen Elizabeth is currently on sea trials it is not yet under Royal Navy control. A spokesman for BAE and the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, the consortium that built the ship, said they would investigate the drone flyer's claims. This detailed graphic shows many of the different features of the HMS Queen Elizabeth and where they are The huge shape of the HMS Queen Elizabeth passes Dorset's Jurassic Coast en route to her new home at Portsmouth The 3billion flagship aircraft carrier has recently completed a series of sea trials and returns to the UK a day earlier than previously expected The aircraft carrier, pictured off Dorset yesterday, will become the latest in a long line of prestigious ships to be docked in the port The 65,000-ton carrier, set to arrive in Portsmouth, is expected to be the Navy's flagship craft for at least 50 years HMS Queen Elizabeth makes its way into the port of Invergordon while taking part in sea trials off the Scottish Coast on July 8 The 3billion aircraft carrier will remain without aircraft until flying trials are conducted in the United States next year A woman in her 20s is fighting for her life at a Sydney hospital after she was allegedly beaten in the head with a brick. The woman was discovered with serious head and neck injuries just after 10pm on Wednesday in Telopea, in the city's north-west, police said. When paramedics arrived they found the woman unconscious on a foot path outside of an apartment complex, according to 9News. A woman in her 20s is fighting for her life at Westmead Hospital in Sydney after she was allegedly beaten in the head with a brick She was rushed to Westmead Hospital, where she remains in serious condition. Police officers and forensic officers were seen at the scene overnight and towed a car from the area. It is unknown if the woman knew her attacker or if it was a random incident. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers. United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. Daryle Raymond MCNELIS, Appellant v. PENNSYLVANIA POWER & LIGHT COMPANY No. 16-3883 Decided: August 15, 2017 Before: HARDIMAN, ROTH, and FISHER, Circuit Judges. Ralph E. Lamar, IV, 8515 Braun Loop, Arvada, CO 80005, Marc E. Weinstein, 500 Office Center Drive, Suite 400, Fort Washington, PA 19034, Counsel for Appellant Darren M. Creasy, A. James Johnston, Post & Schell, 1600 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Four Penn Center, 13th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19103, Counsel for Defendant-Appellee OPINION OF THE COURT Daryle McNelis appeals the District Court's summary judgment in favor of his former employer, PPL Susquehanna, LLC. McNelis worked at PPL's nuclear power plant as an armed security officer from 2009 until he was fired in 2012 after failing a fitness for duty examination. McNelis sued, claiming his termination violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. The District Court disagreed, holding that McNelis was fired because he lacked a legally mandated job requirement, namely, the unrestricted security access authorization that the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires of all armed security guards. For the reasons that follow, we will affirm the judgment of the District Court. I This appeal requires us to analyze the relationship between the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the regulations promulgated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). We begin with the governing regulations and then turn to the facts of the case. A As the operator of a nuclear power reactor, PPL was required to comply with regulations issued by the NRC, two of which are seminal to this appeal. First, PPL was required to implement a fitness for duty program to ensure that individuals are not under the influence of any substance, legal or illegal, or mentally or physically impaired from any cause, which in any way adversely affects their ability to safely and competently perform their duties. 10 C.F.R. 26.23(b). If an employee's fitness is questionable, the employer shall take immediate action to prevent the individual from continuing to perform his duties. 10 C.F.R. 26.77(b). PPL also was required to maintain an access authorization program to monitor employees who had access to sensitive areas of the plant. 10 C.F.R. 73.56(a)(b). Under this program, nuclear power plants must provide high assurance that employees are trustworthy and reliable, such that they do not constitute an unreasonable risk to public health and safety or the common defense and security. 10 C.F.R. 73.56(c). Before an employee is granted unrestricted access, he must undergo a psychological assessment that evaluates the possible adverse impact of any noted psychological characteristics on the individual's trustworthiness and reliability. 10 C.F.R. 73.56(e). Once granted, unrestricted access is subject to constant monitoring. Nuclear power plants must institute a behavioral observation program to identify aberrant behaviors. 10 C.F.R. 73.56(f). All employees are required to report suspicious behaviors, and any report triggers a reassessment of that employee's access. 10 C.F.R. 73.56(f)(3). If during the reassessment an official believes the employee's trustworthiness or reliability is questionable, the official must terminate the employee's unrestricted access during the review period. Id. B PPL hired Daryle McNelis as a Nuclear Security Officer in 2009. In that role, McNelis had unrestricted access to PPL's plant and was responsible for, among other things, protecting its vital areas and preventing radiological sabotage. McNelis carried a firearm (often an AR-15) and was authorized to use deadly force. In April 2012, McNelis experienced personal and mental health problems. McNelis was paranoid about surveillance. He believed that various items in his home (such as his children's toy cars) were covert listening devices and he told his wife he would kill whoever was following him. McNelis also had problems with alcohol and his use of alcohol [was] an issue of contention with his wife. App. 32. Finally, a close friend and co-worker of McNelis named Kris Keefer believed McNelis had become obsessed with bath saltsa synthetic drug that affects the central nervous system. McNelis had admitted to using bath salts in the past and co-workers suspected he was doing so again. In the midst of these troubles, McNelis's wife moved herself and the children out of the family home. That same day, local police received an anonymous 911 call warning that McNelis may come to the schools to get his children and may be under the influence and possibly armed. App. 19. The school district was locked down for two hoursbut the police eventually determined that McNelis never intended to go to the schools. Two days later, McNelis agreed to meet his wife at a psychiatric facility for treatment. The treating physician's initial evaluation noted that McNelis suffered from paranoid thoughts, sleeplessness, [and] questionable auditory hallucinations. App. 2627. After a three day stay in the inpatient unit, McNelis was discharged with instructions to [d]iscontinue or reduce the use of alcohol. App. 28. During the events of April 2012, McNelis's friend and co-worker Keefer became concerned by McNelis's behavior. As required by NRC regulations and PPL policy, Keefer reported his concerns to a supervisor, explaining that McNelis was emotionally erratic[,] not sleeping well and having illusions about surveillance. App. 20. Keefer also opined that McNelis's behavior warranted immediate attention. Id. Pursuant to NRC regulations, McNelis's unrestricted access was placed on hold pending medical clearance. App. 29. McNelis then met with Dr. David Thompsona third-party psychologist who performs fitness for duty examinations at approximately 20 nuclear facilities nationwide, including PPL's plant. Dr. Thompson interviewed McNelis and performed testing required by PPL policy and NRC regulations. See 10 C.F.R. 26.187, 73.56(e)(6). He then issued two reports, the second of whicha Substance Abuse Expert Determination of Fitness reportstated that McNelis is considered not fit for duty pending receipt and review of a report from the facility where he receives an alcohol assessment and possibly treatment. App. 35. Upon learning that McNelis had been deemed not fit for duty by Dr. Thompson, PPL revoked McNelis's unescorted access authorization and terminated his employment. After his internal appeal was denied, McNelis filed this suit. The District Court granted PPL summary judgment and McNelis timely appealed. II The District Court had jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1331 and 1367. We have jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. 1291. We exercise plenary review over McNelis's challenge to the District Court's summary judgment. Blunt v. Lower Merion Sch. Dist., 767 F.3d 247, 265 (3d Cir. 2014). McNelis sued under the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, all of which are interpreted consistently and share the same standard for determination of liability. Macfarlan v. Ivy Hill SNF, LLC, 675 F.3d 266, 274 (3d Cir. 2012). For the sake of brevity, we will analyze the statutes together and reference only the ADA. III McNelis claims his termination violated the ADA because he was erroneously regarded as having a disability in the form of alcoholism, mental illness and/or illegal drug use, and that this misperception was a motivating factor in his firing. McNelis Br. 26. To establish a prima facie case under the ADA, McNelis had to establish that he (1) has a disability, (2) is a qualified individual, and (3) has suffered an adverse employment action because of that disability. Turner v. Hershey Chocolate USA, 440 F.3d 604, 611 (3d Cir. 2006). The parties contend, and we agree, that this case turns on the second prong: whether McNelis is a qualified individual. A two-part test is used to determine whether someone is a qualified individual with a disability. Gaul v. Lucent Techs., Inc., 134 F.3d 576, 580 (3d Cir. 1998) (citation omitted). First, the individual must satisfy the prerequisites for the position, such as possessing the appropriate educational background, employment experience, skills, licenses, etc. 29 C.F.R. Pt. 1630 (Appendix). Second, the individual must be able to perform the essential functions of the position held or desired, with or without reasonable accommodation. Id. Whether or not McNelis could satisfy the first part of the analysis, we agree with PPL that McNelis could not perform the essential functions of his job. NRC regulations require Nuclear Security Officers to be fit for duty, 10 C.F.R. 26.4(a), and to maintain unescorted security clearance, 10 C.F.R. 73.56(b)(1). Because McNelis did not satisfy either legally mandated requirement at the time he was fired, his claim failed as a matter of law. Although we are the first court of appeals to address the interplay between the ADA and these NRC regulations, our opinion is supported by a broad consensus among district courts that nuclear power plant employees who have lost security clearance or have been deemed not fit for duty are not qualified employees under the ADA. See Stevens v. S. Nuclear Operating Co., 2016 WL 4535662, at *5 (S.D. Ga. Aug. 30, 2016) ([B]ecause Plaintiff was determined not fit to return to work during the relevant time periods, she could not perform the essential functions of the job.); Lute v. Dominion Nuclear Conn., Inc., 2015 WL 1456769, at *8 (D. Conn. Mar. 30, 2015) (The Court finds that having [unrestricted access authorization] was essential to [the plaintiff's] job as a Plant Equipment Operator in a nuclear power facility, and without it, he was not otherwise qualified to perform the essential functions of his job ); Wetherbee v. S. Nuclear Operating Co., 2010 WL 11428172, at *7 (N.D. Ga. Mar. 17, 2010) ([A]n essential job function of the [plaintiff's position at the NRC-regulated plant] is that the employee filling that position be determined to be fit for duty as required by the NRC); Sysko v. PPL Corp., 2009 WL 4725240, at *8 (M.D. Pa. Dec. 2, 2009) ([A]n employee who is unable to maintain unescorted access status is not qualified to perform the essential functions of a position within the [NRC-regulated] nuclear facility.); Mathieson v. Am. Elec. Power, 2002 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 6560, at *10 (W.D. Mich. Jan. 14, 2002) (An employee's inability to satisfy [the NRC's] legally dictated fitness-for-duty program is by its very nature an essential function. (citation omitted)); McCoy v. Pa. Power and Light Co., 933 F. Supp. 438, 444 (M.D. Pa. 1996) ([I]t is apparent as a matter of law that plaintiff is not a qualified individual with a disability within the meaning of the ADA, since his disability precludes him from retaining the security clearance necessary to perform his former job.). These decisions are based on the well-settled proposition that a legally-defined job qualification is by its very nature an essential function under [the ADA]. Brickers v. Cleveland Bd. of Educ., 145 F.3d 846, 850 (6th Cir. 1998). We also find support in the opinions of our sister courts of appeals that have applied the same rationale in cases raising analogous ADA claims that implicate Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations. For example, in Hawkins v. Schwan's Home Service, Inc., the Tenth Circuit rejected an ADA claim brought by an employee who was fired for failing a DOT-mandated medical examination. 778 F.3d 877, 895 (10th Cir. 2015). The court reasoned that the employer's insistence on DOT certification stems directly from the federal motor-safety regulations, which preclude a person from driving a commercial motor vehicle unless he/she is medically certified as physically qualified to do so. Id. (alterations and citations omitted). The court held that being DOT-certified is an automatic, binding, and utterly unavoidable requirementand was thus an essential function of the employee's job. Id.; see also Williams v. J.B. Hunt Transp., Inc., 826 F.3d 806, 812 (5th Cir. 2016) (holding that the plaintiff failed to establish that he was qualified for the job in question [b]ecause he lacked the DOT certification required by federal law); Harris v. P.A.M. Transp., Inc., 339 F.3d 635, 639 (8th Cir. 2003) (affirming dismissal of an ADA claim where the employer was applying the [DOT regulations] to which it was bound); Bay v. Cassens Transp. Co., 212 F.3d 969, 974 (7th Cir. 2000) (Under applicable DOT regulations, [the employer] was not allowed to permit [the plaintiff] to resume driving until he produced a copy of a doctor's certificate indicating he was physically qualified to drive, and nothing in the ADA purports to change that obligation. (citations omitted)). Finally, our holding is in accord with the Supreme Court's decision in Albertson's, Inc. v. Kirkingburg, 527 U.S. 555 (1999). In that case, the plaintiff was fired from his job as a truck driver after his incurable eye disorder prevented him from meeting DOT vision standards. Id. at 559. In ruling on the plaintiff's ADA claim, the Court explained that the employer has an unconditional obligation to follow the [DOT] regulations and [a] consequent right to do so, and therefore could fire the plaintiff due to his vision issues. Id. at 570. The Court found crucial to its holding the fact that Albertson's was not insisting upon a job qualification merely of its own devising, but was complying with a regulation that was concededly valid and ha[d] the force of law. Id. It deemed its holding consistent with the structure of the ADA because, [w]hen Congress enacted the ADA, it recognized that federal safety rules would limit application of the ADA as a matter of law. Id. at 573. McNelis makes several counterarguments, none of which we find persuasive. First, he notes that a judgment in favor of PPL would diminish the protections of the ADA for workers in sensitive positions within the nuclear industry. McNelis Br. 29. Contrary to McNelis's characterization, this is a featurenot a bugof the nuclear regulatory scheme. Presumably because of the sensitive nature of the work, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission made a policy judgment that for a limited number of jobs, nuclear power plants must screen employees for certain traits and behaviors that may endanger the public. See 10 C.F.R. 26.23; 10 C.F.R. 73.56(c); see generally Rushton v. Neb. Pub. Power Dist., 844 F.2d 562, 565 n.5 (8th Cir. 1988) (noting that nuclear power plant employees have diminished workplace rights because the danger of catastrophic loss of health and life is so great). The NRC regulations do not exempt individuals with disabilities, and indeed, it would be strangely ineffective for them to do so; the fact that a certain trait or behavior coincides with a recognized disability does not make it any less dangerous to the public. To the contrary, NRC regulations explicitly require nuclear power plants to screen for traits and behaviors in a manner that in other contexts may violate the ADA. And the premise that the ADA applies differently to professions that implicate the public welfare is as essential as it is unremarkable. See, e.g., Watson v. City of Miami Beach, 177 F.3d 932, 935 (11th Cir. 1999) (Police departments place armed officers in positions where they can do tremendous harm if they act irrationally. Contrary to [the plaintiff's] contention, the ADA does not, indeed cannot, require a police department to forgo a fitness for duty examination). Next, McNelis claims he should have been afforded an opportunity to address the erroneous perception of Dr. Thompson and PPL. Reply Br. 14. In fact, McNelis was given that chance through the review procedures outlined in the NRC regulations. See 10 C.F.R. 73.56(l); 10 C.F.R. 26.39. McNelis received through the administrative process an impartial and independent internal management review and was given an opportunity to provide additional relevant information and an opportunity for an objective review of the information upon which the [decision] was based. 10 C.F.R. 73.56(l). Thus, McNelis's claim that he had no way to legally challenge [PPL's] erroneous perception, McNelis Br. at 33, is incorrect. To the extent McNelis argues he was entitled to more process than that delineated by the NRC regulations, he is again mistaken. While PPL had an unconditional obligation to follow the regulations, it also had a consequent right to do so. Albertson's, 527 U.S. at 570 (emphasis added). Although McNelis contends that PPL acted too precipitously in revoking his access authorization or should have provided him an opportunity to more fully engage in the review process, Reply Br. at 13, PPL was permitted to follow the NRC regulations that provided otherwise. McNelis does not seriously dispute that PPL followed the procedures outlined in the NRC regulations, but argues that his termination was discriminatory because PPL typically does not fire employees before giving them a chance to regain access. But the fact that certain accommodations may have been offered to some employees as a matter of good faith does not mean that they must be extended to [each employee] as a matter of law. Myers v. Hose, 50 F.3d 278, 284 (4th Cir. 1995). This is true even though PPL policy generally allows individuals to comply with treatment recommendations before termination. See Smith v. Midland Brake, Inc., 138 F.3d 1304, 1310 (10th Cir. 1998) (Absent proof of discrimination as defined by the ADA, an employer's failure to follow its own internal policies does not in itself constitute a violation of the ADA.), rev'd on other grounds, 180 F.3d 1154 (10th Cir. 1999) (en banc). Finally, McNelis asserts that a jury could have deemed Dr. Thompson's fitness determination erroneous. In essence, McNelis claims PPL was not entitled to rely on Dr. Thompson's determination that he was not fit for duty in light of other evidence he submitted from his personal doctors. We disagree. The Supreme Court has indicated that in the ADA context, a court should not second-guess a physician's determination that an employee failed to meet the regulatory requirements of his job. Murphy v. United Parcel Serv., Inc., 527 U.S. 516, 522 (1999). This is doubly true in the circumstances of this case, because NRC regulations prohibited PPL from questioning the determination of fitness after it was made by Dr. Thompson. 10 C.F.R. 26.189(d) (Neither the individual nor licensees may seek a second determination of fitness if a determination of fitness has already been performed by a qualified professional). * * * For the reasons stated, we will affirm the judgment of the District Court. FOOTNOTES . After this case was filed, McNelis's former employer, misidentified in the caption as Pennsylvania Power & Light Company, was renamed Susquehanna Nuclear, LLC. . Albertson's reveals another fatal flaw in McNelis's cause of action. Even assuming for the sake of argument that McNelis could demonstrate a prima facie case, compliance with federal law provides PPL with a defense to McNelis's suit. As the Supreme Court recognized, an employer has a right to insist on compliance with legally mandated job requirements. Albertson's, 527 U.S. at 571. And the implementing regulations of the ADA provide that it is a defense to a claim of discrimination that a challenged action is required or necessitated by another Federal law or regulation, or that another Federal law or regulation prohibits an action that would otherwise be required. 29 C.F.R. 1630.15(e); see also Bay, 212 F.3d at 975 ([The employer] may assert [the employee's] lack of [DOT] certification as a valid defense to [his] ADA claim.). To rule otherwise would force a Hobson's choice on PPL, leaving it to pick between ADA liability on the one hand and administrative penalties on the other. Brickers, 145 F.3d at 850. . Compare 10 C.F.R. 73.56(e) (requiring nuclear employees to pass a psychological assessment that screens for any noted psychological characteristics on the individual's trustworthiness and reliability), with Olson v. Gen. Elec. Astrospace, 101 F.3d 947, 953 n.5 (3d Cir. 1996) (noting that the ADA generally prohibits discrimination based on [a]ny mental or psychological disorder, such as emotional or mental illness). . In his reply brief, McNelis argues in passing that PPL did not inform him of the reason he lost unrestricted access, as required by 10 C.F.R. 73.56(l) ([T]he individual [must be] informed of the grounds for the denial or unfavorable termination of access authorization.). As support for this argument, McNelis notes that his employment termination letter told [him] absolutely nothing with regard to the reason PPL fired him. Reply Br. at 9 (emphasis omitted). McNelis confuses termination of employment with termination of access. Here, the regulations require the employee to have the access termination explained, which PPL did as part of McNelis's review request. See App. 559 (Reason for Denial/Revocation of Unescorted Access Authorization: SAE Evaluation, Basis for Decision: Not Fit for Duty Requires an Alcohol Assessment and Treatment Certification). . Because the District Court did not err when it held that McNelis did not meet his burden of establishing a prima facie case of discrimination, we need not consider the various issues related to whether his firing was pretextual. See Williams v. Phila. Hous. Auth. Police Dep't, 380 F.3d 751, 760 (3d Cir. 2004). However, we note the incoherence of McNelis's theory that PPL used McNelis's fitness for duty concerns to mask that it was firing him because it thought he used bath salts and had psychological issues. Either of these allegedly forbidden reasons for his termination would have been additional valid reasons for PPL to have revoked McNelis's plant access. See 10 C.F.R. 26.23(b) (requiring PPL to ensure that McNelis was not mentally or physically impaired from any cause, which in any way adversely affects [his] ability to safely and competently perform [his] duties). Thus, while McNelis may point to disparate treatment on account of his perceived disability, he cannot show that the disparate treatment amounted to discrimination. See Doe v. Cty. of Centre, PA, 242 F.3d 437, 447 (3d Cir. 2001) ([T]he ADA allows disparate treatment in certain cases [and] recognizes that the goal of ending disability discrimination must be balanced against the health and safety risks that disabilities sometimes pose to others.). HARDIMAN, Circuit Judge. A third Australian Government minister may be a dual citizen, days after Barnaby Joyce was unmasked as a Kiwi. Legal experts warned Justice Minister Michael Keenan would be a British citizen by descent from his father, who immigrated to Australia more than 40 years ago. The MP for Stirling in WA confirmed the citizenship was inherited but insisted he renounced it three years before he was elected to parliament at the 2007 election. Justice Minister Michael Keenan automatically inherited British citizenship from his immigrant father 'I renounced my citizenship in 2004 before entering Parliament,' he wrote on Twitter on Thursday in response to reports. Before his early-morning statement, the 45-year-old's office would only say he was an 'Australian citizen and does not hold citizenship of any other country'. His father Peter was born in Durham, England, in 1943 and married an Australian woman before Mr Keenan was born in 1972. UK immigration experts Sable International told the Sydney Morning Herald that under British law Mr Keenan would have automatically received dual citizenship. The MP for Stirling in WA confirmed the citizenship was inherited but insisted he renounced it three years before he was elected to parliament at the 2007 election 'I renounced my citizenship in 2004 before entering Parliament,' he wrote on Twitter on Thursday in response to reports No action on Mr Keenan or his father's part was needed to activate it and he would have needed to formally renounce it, as he now claims he did. The is no word on whether the minister will refer himself to the High Court to officially clear him of any breach of section 44 of the constitution. Mr Keenan's citizenship status came into question only days after Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce was confirmed to be a New Zealand citizen. Mr Keenan's citizenship status came into question only days after Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce was confirmed to be a New Zealand citizen If forced to resign, Mr Joyce would be the third Member of Parliament ousted over dual citizenship issues, after Greens senators Larissa Waters (L) and Scott Ludlum (R) If he, or Mr Keenan, is found to be ineligible, the Turnbull Government - which holds a one-seat majority in the lower house - would be forced into a by-election. NZ Prime Minister Bill English confirmed Mr Joyce was automatically given citizenship via his father under a more than 50-year-old law. PARLIAMENT'S DUAL CITIZENSHIP FIASCO July 14: Greens senator Scott Ludlum resigns after discovering he is a New Zealand dual citizen July 17: Greens senator Larissa Waters quits as she was still a Canadian citizen July 25: Resources minister Matt Canavan steps down from cabinet as he may have dual Italian citizenship August 10: One Nation refers its own Senator Malcolm Roberts to High Court over possible UK dual citizenship August 14: Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce asks High Court to investigate if he has NZ citizenship Advertisement The Deputy Prime Minister told the House of Representatives the New Zealand High Commission contacted him last Thursday to advise he may be a Kiwi citizen. The 50-year-old said he was 'shocked' to receive the call but would stay in his position while the matter was referred to the High Court. Mr Joyce would be the third Member of Parliament ousted over dual citizenship issues, after Greens senators Larissa Waters and Scott Ludlum. Resources Minister Matt Canavan resigned, but stayed in parliament, while the High Court rules on his eligibility after his mother applied for him to have Italian citizenship. One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts also faces the High Court over whether he was still a British citizen when he was elected last year, after party leader Pauline Hanson referred him herself. The cost of reserving plane seats can end up being more than the flights themselves, research suggests. It means passengers could end up paying twice as much on their journey simply to choose where they sit, according to a study. Several airlines including Ryanair and British Airways have already come under fire for their 'random' allocation policy. Families say the system forces them to pay extra to guarantee sitting together. Now, travel comparison website Kayak has published data suggesting these passengers have a right to be outraged. Several airlines - including Ryanair and British Airways - have already come under fire for their 'random' allocation policy The study found that while Ryanair flights can be purchased for as little as 7.49 one way, choosing where you sit can cost up to 11. The 11 figure is the price of a priority seat with additional legroom. Standard seat selection on the airline costs from 2. Earlier this year passengers on British Airways flights complained they were being split up from loved ones. BA admitted its computer system randomly allocates seats for those who do not pay extra up to 20 for long haul flights and 7 on short hauls. Scores of Ryanair users have also complained that the algorithm left them sitting apart from friends and family members. One hen party told how they were appointed 15 middle seats spread through the length of the plane. A subsequent BBC Watchdog investigation tested how random the airline's seating algorithm was, with help from Oxford University researchers. As part of these tests, groups of four people were sent on four separate Ryanair flights. In each instance every single person was allocated a middle seat. Meanwhile airline Jet2 offers one-way flights priced at 24, but reservation fees can be as high as 18.50 almost as much as the ticket. Thomas Cook charged up to 13 reservation fees on one-way flights, with easyJet's highest fee coming in at 16.99 and Virgin Atlantic at 30. John-Lee Saez, from Kayak, said: 'The research shows some airlines are considerably tougher on the wallet if you wish to reserve a seat.' Mr Saez told The Daily Telegraph: 'In many cases, if you are checking in automatically, or with an airline where the format is 'first come, first served' when you get on board, the only way to guarantee is to pay. The new study has means passengers could end up paying twice as much on their journey simply to choose where they sit on a plane 'Our advice is to do your research up front. Some airlines charge as little as nothing whilst others can cost as much as 70 extra for priority seating. 'Sometimes the comfort is worth the cash, but don't get caught up with unnecessary charges if you're happy to sit next to whoever on the flight.' James Daley, of consumer website Fairer Finance, added: 'There is nothing wrong with budget airlines charging people for a premium service. But they should not try to rig the system so honest customers have no choice but to pay extra.' Last month it also emerged that some airlines have started charging passengers to ensure they can keep hand luggage with them in the cabin. Jet2 has brought in a fee to 'guarantee' cabin baggage does not get put in the hold. Prices start at 2.59 per person per bag each way, meaning a couple going away for the weekend would add more than 10 to their fare. A Ryanair spokesman said: 'Ryanair customers enjoy the lowest air fares in Europe, cheaper than other airlines' seat reservation fees. All our customers can choose to take a free randomly allocated seat, or choose reserved seats, which start from just 2. 'Our policy requires families (with kids under 12) to sit together, with one adult taking a reserved seat for just 4, and we give children free of charge reserved seats to ensure that families are not and cannot be separated. This is entirely a matter of customer choice. 'We are not trying to force people to pay for reserved seats and we are very happy to facilitate any customer who wants a free of charge random seat, but we are also going to do our best to facilitate customers who are willing to pay for a reserved seat (usually window or aisle) which start from 2.' A 12-year-old girl was found brutally murdered in her mobile home after sending a text to her mother that someone was knocking on the door, police say. Yhoana Arteaga was last seen alive at 12.30pm on Thursday when she had lunch with her mother in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, WKRN reported. The child's mother said that her daughter sent her a text around 5.30pm saying that someone was knocking on the door of the trailer. She was found dead after her mother returned home from work with two of her siblings around 6:45pm. Scroll down for video Tragic: Yhoana Arteaga, 12, was found brutally murdered in her mobile home after sending a text to her mother that someone was knocking on the door, police say The little girl was last seen alive at 12.30pm on Thursday when she had lunch with her mother. She told police her daughter sent her a text around 5.30pm saying that someone was knocking on the door of the trailer (above) She was found dead after her mother returned home from work with two of her siblings around 6:45pm. Nashville Metro police spokesman Don Aaron (above) said the 12-year-old girl was 'brutally murdered' but not reveal how she was killed Police say blunt force trauma played a factor in her death and that her clothes were in disarray. 'She was brutally murdered, and if anyone has any information whatsoever that could help in this investigation, please contact us,' Nashville Metro police spokesman Don Aaron said during a press conference on Tuesday. Sgt. David Kautzman told WKRN: 'I've never seen anything this brutal in my entire career. 'The police department is coming together like no case I've ever seen in my career.' Police said that the girl was not stabbed or shot, nor were there any obvious signs that someone had forced entry into the trailer. Authorities believe that there is a strong possibility that the seventh grader knew her killer. Police say blunt force trauma played a factor in her death and that her clothes were in disarray. Pictured above is the crime scene Authorities believe that there is a strong possibility that the seventh grader knew her killer. Her family has created a GoFundMe page to raise money towards her funeral expenses. According to the Tennessean, at the time of her tragic death, she stayed home due to being on crutches after suffering an injury while skating. She was a 7th-grade student at Liberty Collegiate Academy, a middle school in Nashville. Her family has created a GoFundMe page to raise money towards her funeral expenses. As of Wednesday afternoon, more than $9,300 has been donated towards their $10,000 goal. The 12-year-old girl was described 'kind, polite, caring, fun, intelligent and beautiful' on the GoFundMe page. 'She will be remembered as a wonderful daughter and great friend to all who knew her.' Authorities are asking anyone with her information to please contact Crime Stoppers at 615-74-CRIME. Spanish speaking operators are also available and callers can remain anonymous. An Illinois student who was barred from his college after he allegedly used 'an unacceptable word' while acting out an improv skit in class during which he portrayed a pimp is suing the institution, it was reported on Wednesday. The student, Joshua Zale, filed suit against Moraine Valley Community College this week, accusing it of violating his freedom of speech rights, according to the Chicago Tribune. In April, Zale was told to act out a pimp trying to collect money from a sex worker during an improvisational exercise in his theatre class. After the class ended, Zale was confronted by his professor, Craig Rosen. According to the lawsuit, Rosen told Zale that he had used a word during his performance that was unacceptable. In a subsequent meeting, Zale asked Rosen why he was being censured for using a word that was 'precisely within the assignment he had been given.' Joshua Zale filed suit against Moraine Valley Community College (above) this week, accusing it of violating his freedom of speech rights At the same meeting, another official with the college, Lisa Kelsay, accused Zale of 'mistreating her as a woman, in violation of Title IX of the United States Code.' Title IX is a federal law enacted in 1972 which barred any educational institution receiving federal funds from discriminating on the basis of gender. Zale received an email from the dean of students, who alleged that he violated the student code of conduct during his meeting with Kelsay by causing a disruption and engaging in 'physical/verbal abuse or harassment.' Zale, who is believed to be in his 30s, claims he was then required to write an essay in 12-point font about the college's five core values and how they 'apply to your interactions with the staff members involved.' When he refused to write the essay, he was punished by the college, which denied him the right to register for new classes. Zale claims in his lawsuit that he refused to write the essay 'because that sanction was imposed in violation of his right to procedural due process of law.' He is seeking unspecified sums in damages from the school. Zale also wants the school to reinstate his eligibility for classes. Zale 'is being penalized by defendants for the statements he made during an acting exercise in a course ... and for his conduct in questioning the reasons for which he was being told his actions were inappropriate,' the lawsuit states. DailyMail.com has reached out to Moraine Valley Community College for comment. Messages left for Craig Rosen were not returned. Migrants from the EU will be free to enter and live in post-Brexit Britain without visas, it has emerged. The proposal was revealed as Theresa May's Government published a 28-page paper on its approach to Northern Ireland in Brexit negotiations. The plans state that EU nationals will be free to enter via the Irish border without extra checks - but the blueprint also implies that visas will not be required at other ports. Brexit supporters are confident the plans would not pose problems because EU nationals will be caught out by the UK employment system and would need a permit to be able to work here. Prime Minister Theresa May, pictured on a visit to an outdoor education centre in Wales today, said she did not want a 'return to a hard border with Ireland' The 'Northern Ireland and Ireland' position paper makes clear that ministers want to preserve the Common Travel Area, which has allowed free movement of UK nationals to the Republic and back again for almost a century. They also want to keep the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic free of checkpoints so trade and movement can be 'frictionless and seamless'. But that will mean EU nationals who fly to Dublin could then cross into Northern Ireland and then to Britain without going through UK passport checks. The Government's document acknowledged that restrictions on EU nationals would only start to bite if they tried to work or claim benefits here. It also suggested that EU nationals would not need a visa to come to the UK as a tourist. The paper stated: 'It is important to note that immigration controls are not, and never have been, solely about the ability to prevent and control entry at the UK's physical border. 'Along with other member states, controlling access to the labour market and social security have long formed an integral part of the UK's immigration system.' Lord Green, chairman of the Migration Watch UK think-tank, welcomed the paper. He said: 'It has to be right to give priority to the Common Travel Area as we can be confident that the Irish authorities will be fully conscious of the security needs of the UK in policing their own border.' Pro-Brexit Tory MPs also welcomed the proposals. Andrew Bridgen, MP for North West Leicestershire, said there had been a free travel arrangement between the UK and Ireland since 1922 and he was perfectly happy for people from the EU to keep coming to Britain. He added: 'What they won't be able to do is work or claim benefits.' Irish politicians warned that an open border for goods would be a 'smugglers' charter'. Senator Mark Daly, deputy leader of the opposition Fianna Fail party, told Radio 4's Today programme: 'The reports of the proposal about this 'frictionless and seamless' border appears more like fiction and clueless. EU nationals would be able to come into the UK without visas, under government plans - but they will need permission to work and claim benefits 'There are over 300 miles of border between the north and the south of Ireland and there are more border crossings on this island than there are between the European Union and all the countries to the east of it.' Currently about 30,000 cross the border every day, many commuting to work. There are also huge transfers of agricultural produce, including 10,000 pigs. During the Troubles, border posts became a target for Republican terrorist groups and the Government has made clear its determination to avoid 'hard borders'. Prime Minister Theresa May said: 'We do want to ensure that we don't see a return to the borders of the past, we don't see a return to a hard border.' The Whitehall blueprint also makes clear the Good Friday peace agreement will be 'at the heart of negotiations'. Instead of physical border checks, ministers suggest that up to 80 per cent of small businesses could be exempt from customs rules. Larger businesses would be trusted to declare what goods they are carrying between the two countries, with spot checks taking place away from the border. A second option would see the Government work with Brussels on a customs agreement that would eliminate checks on goods moving between any EU country and the UK. The government proposals will feed into the negotiations being led by Brexit Secretary David Davis (left in Brussels last month) and the EU's Michel Barnier Irish Foreign minister Simon Coveney said the paper was 'timely and helpful'. He welcomed elements of it - in regard to the Common Travel Area; the Good Friday Agreement; peace process funding; and north south co-operation - but he stressed work was needed to agree an 'imaginative and flexible solution' in respect of the border. Mr Coveney also made clear Ireland would be robustly pressing for an outcome that suited its citizens. 'What is happening here is not by Irish design,' he said. 'The British people have decided to leave the EU. That has very significant consequences for us and it is my job to make sure I protect Irish interests in the context of negotiations to facilitate that exit. 'From that point of view we won't be picking fights for the sake of it but we will be firm and clear in terms of what we regard is important and essential for Ireland to be able to support a future deal.' However, former Ukip leader Nigel Farage last night expressed concern about the plan, saying: 'Once again the UK Government is bowing to EU demands. 'The operation of the land border between the north and south should be none of their business.' The global push among carmakers to make ever lighter vehicles is leading some auto suppliers in Japan to turn to what seems like an unlikely substitute for steel - wood. Researchers and auto component makers say a material made from wood pulp weighs just one fifth of steel and is up to five times stronger. The material, cellulose nanofibres, could become a viable alternative to steel in the decades ahead and could also be used in aviation, they say. Experts are currently developing a prototype car using cellulose nanofibre-based parts to be completed in 2020. Scroll down for video Researchers say a material made from wood pulp (pictured) weighs just one fifth of steel and can be five times stronger. The material, cellulose nanofibres, could become a viable alternative to steel in the decades ahead and could also be used in aviation, they say VEHICLE WEIGHT Reducing the weight of a vehicle will be critical as manufacturers move to bring electric cars into the mainstream. Batteries are an expensive but vital component, so a reduction in car weight will mean fewer batteries will be needed to power the vehicle, saving on costs. But cellulose nanofibres will face competition from carbon-based materials and remains a long way from being commercially viable. The cost of mass producing a kilo (2.2 lbs) of cellulose nanofibre is currently around 1,000 yen ($9 / 7). Researchers at Kyoto University aim to halve that cost by 2030, to make it an economically viable product. It would be combined with plastic and so competitive against high tensile steel and aluminium alloys, which currently cost around 1.50 ($2) per kg. Industry experts anticipate that carbon fibre prices will fall to around 7.75 ($10) per kg by 2025. Advertisement Researchers at Kyoto University and major parts suppliers such as Denso Corp, Toyota's biggest supplier, and DaikyoNishikawa Corp, are working with plastics incorporated with the nanofibres. They are made by breaking down wood pulp fibres into several hundredths of a micron (one thousandth of a millimetre). Cellulose nanofibres have been used in a variety of products ranging from ink to transparent displays. But their potential use in cars has been enabled by the 'Kyoto Process', under which chemically treated wood fibres are kneaded into plastics while simultaneously being broken down into nanofibres. This slashes the cost of production to roughly one-fifth that of other processes. Speaking to Reuters Kyoto University professor Hiroaki Yano, who is leading the research, said: 'This is the lowest-cost, highest-performance application for cellulose nanofibres, and that's why we're focusing on its use in auto and aircraft parts. Dr Yano said he was inspired in his research by a photo of the Spruce Goose, a cargo plane made almost entirely of wood in 1947 by US billionaire entrepreneur Howard Hughes. At the time, it was the world's largest aircraft. 'I thought that if Howard Hughes could find a way to use wood to build a massive plane, why not use wood to make a material that was as strong as steel,' he added. The cost of mass producing a kilo (2.2 lbs) of cellulose nanofibre is currently around 1,000 yen ($9/7). Dr Yano aims to halve that cost by 2030, which he says will make it an economically viable product. Cellulose nanofibres are made by breaking down wood pulp fibres into several hundredths of a micron (one thousandth of a millimetre). Kyoto University professor Hiroaki Yano (pictured) is leading the research It would be combined with plastic and so competitive against high tensile steel and aluminium alloys, which currently cost around 1.50 ($2) per kg. Industry experts anticipate that carbon fibre prices will fall to around 7.75 ($10) per kg by 2025. Reducing the weight of a vehicle will be critical as manufacturers move to bring electric cars into the mainstream. Batteries are an expensive but vital component, so a reduction in car weight will mean fewer batteries will be needed to power the vehicle, saving on costs. But cellulose nanofibres will face competition from carbon-based materials and remains a long way from being commercially viable. Masanori Matsushiro, a project manager overseeing body design at Toyota Motor Corp, said: 'Lightweighting is a constant issue for us. Dr Yano said he was inspired in his research by a photo of the 'Spruce Goose' (pictured), a cargo plane made almost entirely of wood in 1947 by US billionaire entrepreneur Howard Hughes 'But we also have to resolve the issue of high manufacturing costs before we see an increased use of new, lighter-weight materials in mass-volume cars.' Automakers are already using other lightweight substitutes. BMW uses carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRPs) for its i3 compact electric car as well as for its 7 series. High-tensile steel and aluminium alloys are currently the most widely used lightweight options because they are cheaper and recyclable. Analysts say high-tensile steel and aluminium will be the more popular alternative for many years to come. This is because parts makers would need to overhaul production lines and figure out ways to fasten new materials like cellulose nanofibre onto other car parts. But Cellulose nanofibres could one become an industry standard. Yukihiko Ishino, a spokesman at DaikyoNishikawa, which counts Toyota Motor Corp and Mazda Motor Corp among its customers, said: 'We've been using plastics as a replacement for steel, and we're hoping that cellulose nanofibres will widen the possibilities toward that goal.' Many people will be familiar with the uneasy feeling of being without a mobile phone for just a short period of time, and scientists now believe they understand why this happens. 'Smartphone separation anxiety' it is not about being unable to make calls but rooted in the fact smartphones are where we store digital memories, a new study has found. For many people posting on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter is part of how they experience life with their phones acting extensions of their being - which is why being without them can feel like losing a limb. Scroll down for video For many people posting on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter is part of how they experience life with their phones acting extensions of their being (stock image) NOMOPHOBIA Symptoms of nomophobia include being unable to turn off your phone, obsessively checking your phone, constantly topping up the battery and taking your phone to the bathroom. The problem is not about being unable to make calls but rooted in the fact smartphones are now where we store digital memories, a new study has found. Scientists found those with high nomophobia were more likely to suffer wrist and neck pain. They were also more likely to get distracted from their studies and work - showing that not only does problematic use of smartphones induce negative effects on users' physical conditions but also on the overall quality of their everyday life. Researchers warned that this trend is likely to continue as phones become increasingly personalised and carry out more and more functions. Advertisement A study by Sungkyunkwan University and City University of Hong Kong found this condition - known as nomophobia - is only getting worse as our digital assistants being increasingly personalised. Symptoms include being unable to turn off your phone, obsessively checking your phone, constantly topping up the battery and taking your phone to the bathroom. 'As smartphones evoke more personal memories, users extend more of their identity onto their smartphones,' researchers, led by Dr Kim Ki Joon, wrote in the paper, published in Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking. 'When users perceive smartphones as their extended selves, they are more likely to get attached to the devices, which, in turn, leads to nomophobia by heightening the phone proximity-seeking tendency', they said. Researchers warned that this trend is likely to continue as phones carry out more and more functions. Scientists surveyed 300 students in South Korea and analysed their use of language. They found students who had high levels of nomophobia were more likely to use words related to self and memory - such as 'memory', 'I' and 'me'. 'Dependency on smartphones is likely to continue to increase, as the advancement of technology continues to make smartphones increasingly appealing and indispensable by adding various convenient and powerful features that facilitate ubiquitous communication', researchers wrote. 'Nomophobia, therefore, is also likely to become more rampant, synchronously with the increase in time spent using smartphones.' Scientists also found those with high nomophobia were more likely to suffer wrist and neck pain. Symptoms include being unable to turn off your phone, obsessively checking your phone, constantly topping up the battery and taking your phone to the bathroom (stock image) They were also more likely to get distracted from their studies and work - showing that not only does problematic use of smartphones induce negative effects on users' physical conditions but also on the overall quality of their everyday life. 'Nomophobia, fear of missing out (FoMo), and fear of being offline (FoBo) all anxieties born of our new high-tech lifestyles may be treated similarly to other more traditional phobias,' said Dr Brenda Wiederhold from Interactive Media Institute in San Diego, who was not invovled in research. 'Exposure therapy, in this case turning off technology periodically, can teach individuals to reduce anxiety and become comfortable with periods of disconnectedness.' A study from February of this year found youngsters are becoming so devoted to their devices that they are exhibiting the type of attachment behaviours usually reserved for a child's interactions with their parents. HOW BAD IS YOUR NOMOPHOBIA? TAKE THE TEST Write the numbers 1-20 down the side of a sheet of paper. Answer each of the questions using a scale of one to seven (where one is strongly disagree and seven is strongly agree) and add up your score at the end. The higher the number, the more severe your nomophobia is. As benchmark, if you score... 20-60: You have mild nomophobia 60-100: You have moderate nomophobia 100+: You have severe nomphobia THE QUESTIONS: 1. I would feel uncomfortable without constant access to information through my smartphone. 2. I would be annoyed if I could not look information up on my smartphone when I wanted to do so. 3. Being unable to get the news (e.g., happenings, weather, etc.) on my smartphone would make me nervous. 4. I would be annoyed if I could not use my smartphone and/or its capabilities when I wanted to do so. 5. Running out of battery in my smartphone would scare me. 6. If I were to run out of credits or hit my monthly data limit, I would panic. 7. If I did not have a data signal or could not connect to Wi-Fi, then I would constantly check to see if I had a signal or could find a Wi-Fi network. 8. If I could not use my smartphone, I would be afraid of getting stranded somewhere. 9. If I could not check my smartphone for a while, I would feel a desire to check it. If I did not have my smartphone with me... 10. I would feel anxious because I could not instantly communicate with my family and/or friends. 11. I would be worried because my family and/or friends could not reach me. 12. I would feel nervous because I would not be able to receive text messages and calls. 13. I would be anxious because I could not keep in touch with my family and/or friends. 14. I would be nervous because I could not know if someone had tried to get a hold of me. 15. I would feel anxious because my constant connection to my family and friends would be broken. 16. I would be nervous because I would be disconnected from my online identity. 17. I would be uncomfortable because I could not stay up-to-date with social media and online networks. 18. I would feel awkward because I could not check my notifications for updates from my connections and online networks. 19. I would feel anxious because I could not check my email messages. 20. I would feel weird because I would not know what to do. Advertisement Researchers from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Eotvos Lorand University in Budapest conducted experiments on 87 smartphone owners aged between 18 and 26. These youngsters were more likely to display heartbeat patterns often associated with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder when separated from their phones. Three quarters of those left without a mobile exhibited displacement behaviour, such as fidgeting and scratching, which are telltale signs of stress. Another recent survey found that 79 per cent of smartphone owners have theirs at hand for all but two of their waking hours. Other research has found that US young adults spend an average of 5.2 hours on them daily while one in eight UK users is showing signs of addiction. Four beautiful whale sharks were dramatically released by gallant divers after getting tangled in fishing nets. With great precision, the brave divers worked their way around the massive net, slowly loosening the whale sharks free. The first two whale sharks left the net without much trouble but the other two creatures, which were more tangled, needed a little extra help from the surrounding divers. And it appears the beautiful creatures were so grateful they even stuck around for a swim afterwards. WHALE SHARKS The enormous animals are considered the world's biggest fish and can grow to be 45ft (14 metres) long, or about the length of a double decker bus in the UK, and can weigh as much as 20 tonnes (20,000kg). But as filter-feeders, they don't bite and are generally safe to swim next to. Whale sharks tend to swim with their mouths open close to the water's surface, collecting plankton and fish. Whale sharks sometimes look to enter the fishing nets in order to eat the much smaller fish inside. Advertisement Together, the group of divers pulled the net down, while others gave the whale sharks a push to help them on their way. Since whale sharks are filter feeders, the huge creature would likely not have lasted long trapped in a fishing net. Whale sharks tend to swim with their mouths open close to the water's surface, collecting plankton and fish. The footage was captured in Cenderawasih Bay, West Papau, Indonesia, by a scuba diving organizer who goes by Tuxus. Such occurrences occasionally happen, as whale sharks look to enter the fishing nets in order to eat the much smaller fish inside. With great precision, the brave divers worked their way around the massive net, slowly loosening the four beautiful whale sharks free Whale sharks sometimes look to enter the fishing nets in order to eat the much smaller fish inside 'If the fishermen release the nets for the sharks to leave, they will lose the catch of a whole night', said Tuxus. 'If they don't, the whale sharks will eat all the small fish and eventually tear apart the nets to get out', he said. 'This situation may create a conflict where the sharks will always lose.' The first two whale sharks left the net without much trouble but the other two creatures, which were more tangled, needed a little extra help from the surrounding divers Such occurrences occasionally happen, as whale sharks look to enter the fishing nets in order to eat the much smaller fish inside The enormous animals are considered the world's biggest fish and can grow to be 45ft (14 metres) long, or about the length of a double decker bus in the UK, and can weigh as much as 20 tonnes (20,000kg). But as filter-feeders, they don't bite and are generally safe to swim next to. 'On that particular day, we were close to the fishing boat and offered our help to release the sharks wit out losing the whole night's catch, our divers pulling down the nets a little and pushing up the sharks.' Despite being filmed three years ago, the amazing footage that Tuxus, 59, was able to capture has only recently come to light, as it was not passed on to the divers he followed until recently, he said. It appears they were so grateful they even stuck around for a swim afterwards. As filter-feeders, they don't bite and are generally safe to swim next to A mosaic workshop uncovered in the 'Pompeii of the East' has revealed a snapshot of life in the ancient city before it was demolished by an earthquake 1,200 years ago. A devastating quake struck the city of Jerash in what is now Jordan in the year 749 AD, after which the surviving inhabitants never returned. Now a building where mosaics were made has been uncovered in Jerash, giving archaeologists new insights into life as an eighth-century artisan in the Levant. Scroll down for video A mosaic workshop (birds-eye view composite pictured) uncovered in the 'Pompeii of the East' has revealed a snapshot of life in eighth-century Jordan. The building was centred around a rectangular room with an arch that opened into a courtyard MOSAICISTS IN THE LEVANT There has been much debate over how Levant mosaicists of this period worked. Until now there had been little evidence as to whether they worked from permanent bases or were more mobile. The discovery of the 'House of the Tesserae' suggests these ancient artisans most likely worked from mosaic 'studios'. 'The trough in the house at Jerash clearly suggests a kind of storage intended for more than just short-term construction,' the authors wrote in their paper. 'It could be claimed, therefore, that we do indeed have a studio of a workshop with a tesserae storage facility in the room where craftsmen worked.' Advertisement Jerash has been excavated and studied for much of the past century, but archaeologists still regularly uncover preserved parts of the ancient city. 'This area, covering approximately 3,000 square metres [32,000 square feet], might almost be termed the "Pompeii of the East", displaying frozen moments in time,' the researchers, led by Professor Achim Lichtenberger from the University of Munster, Germany, and Aarhus University, Denmark, wrote in their paper. The newly found building was centred around a rectangular room with an arch that opened into a courtyard. It was so well-preserved that layers of plaster can still be seen on the walls, suggesting the site was under renovation at the time of the earthquake. The building was more likely a workshop than a house, the researchers said, as a small trough of perfect tesserae - small cubes of stone used to make mosaics - was found at the site. 'The trough served for the storage of tesserae; it was completely filled with thousands of pristine unused white tesserae,' the study authors wrote. 'No similar installation for tesserae storage had ever been found before. 'In this case it is clear that the tesserae were unused and therefore part of the preparation for mosaic production.' The building was more likely a workshop than a house, experts said, as a small trough (pictured) of perfect tesserae - small cubes of stone used to make mosaics - was found at the site Unfortunately, none of the mosaics survived the earthquake, but the finding sheds new light on the little-known organisation of of Roman, Byzantine and Early Islamic-era mosaic workshops. There has been much debate over how mosaicists of this period worked. Until now, there had been little evidence as to whether they worked from permanent bases or operated as mobile travellers. The discovery of the 'House of the Tesserae' suggests these ancient artisans most likely used mosaic 'studios'. The trough was filled with thousands of pristine, unused white tesserae (pictured), which were used in the preparation of mosaic production Unfortunately, none of the mosaics survived the earthquake, but the finding sheds new light on the little-known organisation of of Roman, Byzantine and Early Islamic-era mosaic workshops. Pictured is a collapsed mosaic found inside the House of Tesserae 'The trough in the house at Jerash clearly suggests a kind of storage intended for more than just short-term construction,' the authors wrote. 'It could be claimed, therefore, that we do indeed have a studio of a workshop with a tesserae storage facility in the room where craftsmen worked.' But the authors add that there is still much to learn about life as an 8th century artisan in Jaresh. Until now, there had been little evidence as to whether they worked from permanent bases or operated as mobile travellers. The discovery of the 'House of the Tesserae' (pictured) suggests these ancient artisans most likely worked from mosaic 'studios' 'Although many puzzling questions remain concerning the tesserae trough, it constitutes important evidence for the organisation of mosaic production in Early Islamic Jerash and throughout the ancient world in general,' they wrote. 'It offers a unique glimpse into the moment in time immediately before the earthquake struck. 'It is hoped that similar structures will be discovered in order to give a better understanding of the practical organisation of Late Antique mosaic workshops in the Levant.' If you're trying to curb your spending, it may be a good idea to put your smartphone away. A new study has found that people are more likely to indulge in guilty pleasures when shopping online with a touchscreen than a desktop computer. The findings could be a game-changer for the retail sector, according to the researchers. Scroll down for video If you're trying to curb your spending, it may be a good idea to put your smartphone away. A new study has found that people are more likely to indulge in guilty pleasures when shopping online with a touchscreen than a desktop computer (stock image) ONLINE SHOPPING HABITS The researchers conducted a series of experiments to measure thinking styles and purchase intentions using a range of devices. The study aimed to investigate whether online purchase intentions change when it comes to two different types of products. Firstly hedonic products - those that give the consumer pleasure like chocolate or massages, and secondly utilitarian products practical items like bread or printers. The playful and fun nature of the touchscreen was found to enhance consumers' favour of hedonic products. But the logical and functional nature of a desktop endorsed the consumers' preference for utilitarian products. Advertisement Researchers from the University of British Columbia looked at consumer behaviour when it comes to touchscreen technology - a rapidly increasing sales technology. Dr Ying Zhu, who led the study, said: 'Touchscreen technology has rapidly penetrated the consumer market and embedded itself into our daily lives. 'Given its fast growth and popularity, we know surprisingly little about its effect on consumers. 'With more than two billion smartphone users, the use of tactile technologies for online shopping alone is set to represent nearly half of all e-commerce by next year.' The researchers conducted a series of experiments with university students to measure thinking styles and purchase intentions using a range of devices. The study aimed to investigate whether online purchase intentions change when it comes to two different types of products. Firstly hedonic products - those that give the consumer pleasure like chocolate or massages, and secondly utilitarian products practical items like bread or printers. Dr Zhu said: 'The playful and fun nature of the touchscreen enhances consumers' favour of hedonic products; while the logical and functional nature of a desktop endorses the consumers' preference for utilitarian products.' The study also found that participants using touchscreen technology scored significantly higher on experiential thinking than those using desktop computers. The playful and fun nature of the touchscreen was found to enhance consumers' favour of hedonic products. But the logical and functional nature of a desktop endorsed the consumers' preference for utilitarian products (stock image) But those on desktops scored significantly higher on rational thinking. Dr Zhu added: 'Overall, what we learned is that using a touchscreen evokes consumers' experiential thinking, which resonates with the playful nature of hedonic products. These results may well be a game-changer for sectors like the retail industry. 'But my advice for consumers who want to save a bit of money is to put away the smartphone when you have urge to spend on a guilty pleasure.' Proactively From the Sea; an agent of change leveraging the littoral best practices for a paradigm breaking six-sigma best business case to synergize a consistent design in the global commons, rightsizing the core values supporting our mission statement via the 5-vector model through cultural diversity. NASA researchers have found that July 2017 is statistically tied with July 2016 as the warmest July in 137 years of modern record-keeping. The monthly analysis of global temperatures found that last month was about 0.83 degrees Celsius warmer than the mean July temperature of the 1951-1980 period. Only July 2016 showed a similarly high temperature (0.82 C), while all the previous months of July were more than a tenth of a degree cooler. Scroll down for video A global map of the June 2017 LOTI (land-ocean temperature index) anomaly, relative to the 1951-1980 June average. Darker red areas were hotter than the average The global analysis, conducted by scientists at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS), found temperatures were higher than average in regions in the Middle East, northwestern North America, areas of China and northern Australia, while some areas such as Siberia experienced cooler than average temperatures. July is usually the warmest month of the year globally because the Northern Hemisphere has more land mass than the Southern Hemisphere, according to Weather.com. A separate analysis, however, by the Japanese Meteorological Agency found that July 2016 was still warmer than July 2017, by 0.02C. Meanwhile, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will release its findings on July's global temperatures on Thursday, July 17. Last year, the NOAA found that July 2016 was the hottest month on record ever for the globe, so if this year's average temperature for July do indeed match last year's, then July 2017 can also be labelled the hottest month on record ever. Over the last few decades, global temperatures have steadily risen, bringing with them more sweltering summers and an increased risk of deadly heatwaves. The Goddard Institute for Space Studies Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP) temperature anomalies superimposed on a 1980-2015 mean seasonal cycle RISING GLOBAL TEMPERATURES Year Temperature increase (C relative to average temperature 1961-1990) 2016 0.77 2015 0.76 2014 0.58 2013 0.51 2012 0.47 2011 0.42 2010 0.56 2009 0.51 2008 0.39 2007 0.49 2006 0.51 2005 0.54 2004 0.45 2003 0.51 2002 0.5 2001 0.44 2000 0.29 A recent study analyzing several decades of summer temperatures found that two-thirds of the values recorded in the Northern Hemisphere between 2005 and 2015 were categorized as hot, up from just one-third from the 1951-1980 base period. And, roughly 15 percent were so hot they fell within a new category, extremely hot. The study, led by a retired NASA climate scientist and a Columbia University professor, reveals just how extreme summer heat has become in recent years, NY Times reports. The team analyzed summer temperatures dating back to 1951, allowing them to create a 1951-1980 base period, and then compared each decade since. The researchers found the temperatures in North America fell somewhat evenly across three categories during the base period: a third were near average, a third were cold, and a third were hot. In recent years, however, temperatures have taken a turn for the extreme. From 2005-2015, two-thirds were found to be hot, and 15 percent could be considered extremely hot. Though things have cooled down to some degree this year, 2017 is still, so far, hotter than the summers of the past. Over the last few decades, global temperatures have steadily risen, bringing with them more sweltering summers and an increased risk of deadly heatwaves. The June-August temperature anomalies dating back to 1880 can be seen above Last month was the third-warmest June in 137 years of record keeping, coming in only behind 2015 and 2016. The temperature anomalies are plotted on the map above Last month was the third-warmest June in 137 years of record keeping, coming in only behind 2015 and 2016. June 2017 was characterized by warmer to much-warmer-than-average conditions across much of the world's land and ocean surface, according to the NOAA Global Climate Report. The most notable warm temperature departure from average were present across much of central Asia, western and central Europe, and the southwestern contiguous U.S. where temperature departures from average were 2.0C (3.6F) or greater. Record warmth was observed across parts of the northern and southern Atlantic Ocean, specifically near the U.S. eastern coast, the African west coast and the southern South America east coast, central Asia and scattered across parts of Africa, western Europe, the Middle East, Brazil, and western Indian Ocean. While there may be some variations across the years, the experts warn the overall trend isnt expected to change anytime soon. Global mean temperatures are shown above RISK OF DEADLY HEATWAVES Scientists at the University of Hawaii at Manoa studied over 1,900 locations worldwide where high temperatures have killed people since 1980. By analysing the climatic conditions which caused 783 deaths, the team identified a threshold beyond which heat and humidity become deadly. Currently, about 30 per cent of the world's human population is exposed to these potentially lethal conditions each year. Scientists used data on deaths caused by heatwaves and predictions based on carbon dioxide emissions at current rates to model the future risks posed by lethal heatwaves (pictured), which could affect 74 per cent of the world's population by 2100 By 2100, this will rise to least 48 per cent even if greenhouse gases are aggressively reduced. At current rates, this will rise to 74 per cent and the figures could be even higher if emissions rise, which is likely with the development of economies around the world. Dr Camilo Mora, associate professor of geography at the university and lead author of the study, said: 'Our attitude towards the environment has been so reckless that we are running out of good choices for the future Over the last few decades, global temperatures have steadily risen, bringing with them more sweltering summers and an increased risk of deadly heatwaves 'We are running out of choices for the future. For heatwaves, our options are now between bad or terrible. 'Many people around the world are already paying the ultimate price of heatwaves, and while models suggest that this is likely to continue to be bad, it could be much worse if emissions are not considerably reduced.' Advertisement While there may be some variations across the years, the experts warn the overall trend isnt expected to change anytime soon. We can also say with confidence, because of Earths energy imbalance (energy absorbed from sunlight exceeding heat radiated to space), the present decade will be warmer than last decade, the authors wrote in the study. Already the first half of the present decade is almost 0.1C warmer than last decade. Strong La Ninas commonly follow strong El Ninos, is likely that 2017 and perhaps 2018 will be quite cool relative to 2015-2016, but the decade as a whole should be considerably warmer than the prior decade. There's an intimate hotel - and then there's a hotel with only one room. Welcome to the world's least roomiest lodgings, where guests have a choice of a handful of rooms, or just one. From a hotel in Germany built in a very narrow alleyway to little lodgings on a rocky outcrop in the Canary Islands, these are the hotels where size is a definite consideration. Hotel Central and Cafe in Copenhagen, Denmark Hotel Central & Cafe in Copenhagen, Denmark, has just one room with a double bed in it The cafe below the hotel serves coffee, sandwiches and other treats to customers Cosy comes as standard in Hotel Central, with the double bed almost filling the entire room Besides the bed, there is also a TV and mini bar in the room, as well as a stereo Hotel Central in Copenhagen features a small bedroom and bathroom placed directly above a cafe. The hotel is only big enough for a party of two as the room has just one double bed, plus a small bathroom that has a shower. Since it is a small space, the hotel says that families should not rent it out because there is not enough floor room for other beds. Visitors get access to a stocked mini fridge in the room, TV, Wi-Fi and two bicycles to use around the city. The Central Hotel and Cafe is located in the Vesterbro neighborhood of Denmark, which has recently transformed into a hip area with new bars and restaurants. The entire building is one of the smallest in the city and the hotel costs 350 ($330/280 euros) per night. Eh' Hausl Hotel in Amberg, Germany The building was created in 1728 in an alleyway. It was converted into a Eh' Hausl Hotel in 2008 The small hotel is only 173 square feet but has multiple levels What the hotel lacks in size, it makes up for in style. This image reveals the slightly regal sitting room Eh' Hausl Hotel in Amberg, Germany, is the definition of quaint - it measures just 173 square feet, enough room for two guests. The name means 'marriage house', a term that dates back to the 17th century and the clever circumnavigation of local bylaws. The town had a law that men could only marry if they owned land, so a businessman bought the alley between two buildings in 1728 and converted it into a house. Men would buy this house briefly to get married and then sell it off to the next bachelor so they too could marry their bride. Eh' Hausl House is now the smallest hotel in the world, according to Guinness World Records. Visitors enjoy access to a dining area, seating area, bedroom and bathroom. The price to stay in this tiny getaway is about 220 ($282/240 euros) per night. Grand Hotel De Kromme Raake in Eenrum, The Netherlands Grand Hotel De Kromme Raake was once a grocery store before the owners converted it into a small hotel back in 1989 The owners hired two artists to help give the hotel an art-deco theme The bedroom can be easily tucked away during the day The hotel also features a small bathroom with a bathtub and double sink The Grand Hotel De Kromme Raake in Eernum, The Netherlands, was converted from a grocery store into a hotel back in 1989. At the time the hotel won two Guinness World Records. The first record it won was the smallest hotel in the world, which it has since lost. Another world record it won right at the opening was for wine being poured from the biggest bottle of Beaujolais. This small abode holds a king-sized bed, bathroom and a small sitting area. Owners hired two artists to help them decorate the hotel in an art-deco theme. Rates for a night at the hotel start at 65 ($85/72 euros). Hotel Punta Grande in El Hierro, Spain Hotel Punta Grande has been built on solidified volcanic rock El Hierro is one island in the Canary Islands of Spain. This hotel used to be a customs office before it was refurbished into lodgings A lot of the decorations and woodwork in the hotel come from nearby shipwrecks The hotel has four bedrooms, with one featuring a balcony that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean Hotel Punta Grande in El Hierro, Spain, sits on a rocky outcrop created from volcanic eruptions in the Canary Islands. It used to be a customs office, now it's one of the world's most novel places to stay. The inside of the hotel is decorated with wood and materials from shipwrecks, which is environmentally friendly, but perhaps a tad creepy. The four-bedroom hotel is 600 square feet with a dining room and sitting area for guests. One room even has a balcony that overlooks the Atlantic Ocean. Though the hotel lacks cable TV and is far away from the only town on the island, the location is great for people that are looking to get away - and fish. Prices start at 70 ($90/75 euros) per night. Victoria's Secret model Lais Ribeiro put on a very cheeky display during their latest campaign in Aspen. As the Angels were spotted shooting a Western-themed pictorial on Monday, one production worker on the set got dealt the task of applying lotion to the brunette beauty's pert derriere. Lais, 27, pulled up her skimpy lingerie bottoms as the production assistant carefully dispensed the moisturizer evenly on her behind. Scroll down for video Best job ever: A production staffer applied lotion to Lais Ribeiro's backside as she shot a Victoria's Secret ad campaign with Stella Maxwell and Lily Aldridge in Aspen, Colorado The stunning model wore a tiny white bikini top and a matching cowboy hat as she got to work on set. Unfazed by the rubdown going on nearby, fellow model Stella Maxwell chatted with another staffer whilst Lily Aldridge got her make-up done. The shoot has taken place over multiple days in Aspen with Michael Bay capturing the action as director. Thorough: The production assistant carefully dispensed the moisturizer evenly on Lais' behind as Maxwell looked unfazed by her surroundings Hey, cowgirl: The stunning model wore a tiny white bikini top and a matching cowboy hat as she got to work on set Edward Razek, senior creative at Victoria's Secret, described the shoot in a picture he posted saying: '13 Angels, 2 photographers, a crew of 100+, one big time director, and an $80 million ranch - no one does Holiday like Victoria's Secret does Holiday!' The brand is clearly not afraid of spoilers, as all of its stars have been snap-happy, posting shots to Instagram well before the final product even wrapped for the day. In addition to Maxwell, Aldridge and Ribeiro, Candice Swanepoel, Taylor Hill, Elsa Hosk, Jasmine Tookes and Sara Sampaio have also been posting pics in the wild, wild west. Yee-haw! The ladies of Victoria's Secret are often photographed on the beach in Florida, but this month the beauties went Western Many of the women are longtime VS vets who have also walked in the runway shows. All involved took incredible selfies and portraits that looked perfect for the annual VS lingerie catalog. Hill looked stunning in her ripped jeans paired with a silk bra and a cowboy hat with a bolero necktie for jewelry. Girls will be girls: Stella Maxwell put her legs around Elsa Hosk as they posed on a wall Watch out for splinters! The 28-year-old Swedish delight writhed around on the floor and posed with her legs out The 21-year-old Illinois native also posed with Strijd, a 22-year-old looker from the Netherlands. Stridj wore a pair of lace chaps and a very small pair of undies in her images shared to Instagram. Hosk put on a sensational display in a white leather jacket, white boots and a matching white cowboy hat. Bare butt rider: Candice Swanepoel showed off her beautiful booty in cowboy chaps and skimpy undies Easy on the eyes: Swanepoel stood against a log cabin as she tried on this outfit Round her up! Jasmine Tookes stood out in a black outfit that consisted of a bra and skirt with boots and hat to match The 28-year-old Swedish delight writhed around on the floor and posed with her legs out. Tookes stood out in a black outfit that consisted of a bra and skirt with boots and hat to match. Ribeiro was more adventurous with leather chaps and worn-in cowboy boots as she helped sell a satin mauve bra. On the range: Taylor Hill struck a pose in the middle of a grassy field, covered by a blanket Swanepoel showed off her virtually bare behind in fringed leather chaps. The mother-of-one also had on skimpy panties and a bra as she channeled her inner cowgirl. The beautiful 28-year-old blonde completed her look with boots, of course, and a cream cowboy hat. Ride it: The Angel straddled a horse in her skivvies, covered by another brown blanket Rightly proud of her toned behind she posted an Instagram clip of herself jiggling her cheeks that she captioned, '#giddyup, #bumbumtamtam' with three horse emojis. In a second video clip, she posed from left to right, looking over her shoulder. Candice captioned it: 'Wild Wild West out here.' Paris Hilton has revealed she is ready to start a family with her boyfriend Chris Zylka. The socialite, 36, went public with her romance with the actor, 32, in February and is now ready to take their relationship to the next level by trying for a child together. Speaking exclusively to DailyMail.com, the hotel heiress said she is keen to catch up with her younger sister Nicky Hilton Rothschild, 33, who has daughter Lily Grace, 13 months, and another on the way. The next step: Paris Hilton, 36, has revealed she is ready to start a family with her boyfriend Chris Zylka, 32, after going public with their romance in February (pictured in May) Paris admitted that DJing at a huge children's charity gig in Ibiza over the weekend in front of thousands of kids got her feeling broody. She told DailyMail.com: 'I had such a wonderful time with all the children at my Foam and Diamonds for Kids party last weekend. 'It's such an an amazing feeling to see all of their smiling faces. It made me so happy to have Chris by my side. 'He loves kids just like I do, so it was really fun to get to experience that together. Also, it made me think about how I can't wait to have my own child one day and how special that feeling would be.' Broody: The socialite admitted she is now ready to take their relationship to the next level by trying for a child together (pictured in Marbella, Spain, on Saturday) I want one! Paris admitted that DJing at a huge children's charity gig in Ibiza over the weekend in front of thousands of kids got her feeling broody Fun: 'I had such a wonderful time with all the children at my Foam and Diamonds for Kids party last weekend,' she revealed In love: 'It's such an an amazing feeling to see all of their smiling faces. It made me so happy to have Chris by my side' As exclusively revealed by DailyMail.com in July, Nicky and her husband James Rothschild are expecting a little sibling for their daughter. 'I would love for Lily Grace to have a cousin soon,' Paris added. Over the weekend, Paris hosted a special kids version of her famous Foam & Diamonds party at the legendary Amnesia nightclub in Ibiza. Around 8,000 children, ranging in age from six months to 18 years - as well as their parents - came to see her DJ. The look of love: Chris proudly beamed at his girlfriend as she spun the decks Kids version: Over the weekend, the former reality star hosted a special kids version of her famous Foam & Diamonds party at Amnesia in Ibiza Good cause: The party has raised more than $100,000 for APNEEF, a charity for children with special needs In common: '[Chris] loves kids just like I do, so it was really fun to get to experience that together,' Paris revealed Coming soon: 'Also, it made me think about how I can't wait to have my own child one day and how special that feeling would be.' 'They had to open both the main room and the terrace room to accommodate everybody,' a source said. 'Paris had made it into an amusement park with games and rides.... she does it every year.' The party has raised more than $100,000 for APNEEF, a charity for children with special needs. 'Paris donates a lot of her time during the summer spending time with the children from the charity,' the source added. Popular: Around 8,000 children, ranging in age from six months to 18 years - as well as their parents - came to see Paris in action as a DJ Packed: 'They had to open both the main room and the terrace room to accommodate everybody,' a source said Good deed: 'Paris donates a lot of her time during the summer spending time with the children from the charity,' the source added Floating on air: Paris and Chris have been virtually inseparable since striking up their whirlwind romance around Valentine's weekend this year Paris and Chris have been virtually inseparable since striking up their whirlwind romance around Valentine's weekend this year. He spent this summer living with her in Ibiza where she is resident DJ at Amnesia, her fifth year there. Paris previously said of her boyfriend in a gushing Instagram post: 'He has the most adorable eyes you could ever fall for & the cutest smile that takes your breath away. 'He has the ability to make you smile every time he speaks & whenever you look into his eyes its so hard to turn away. 'So lucky to be in love with my best friend & always have the most incredible time wherever we go!' She's been spending quality time with husband Channing Tatum and four-year-old daughter Everly as of late. But Jenna Dewan, 36, opted to go solo for her outing as she met a friend for breakfast in Los Angeles. The World of Dance host looked pensive in a taupe jacket and stylish hat that she paired with ripped high rise jeans. Mommy time: Jenna Dewan, 36, opted to go solo for her outing as she met a friend for breakfast in Los Angeles after spending a few days with husband Channing Tatum and their daughter, Everly Jenna wore a simple white T-shirt to complete the casual outfit. She wore her brunette locks in loose waves around her shoulders, but covered most of it with a stylish army green hat. She carried a large taupe purse with her for all of her belongings and had a valet ticket in her hand. Keeping with her casual theme, the actress finished off the entire look with beige flat sandals Something on her mind? The World of Dance host looked pensive in a taupe jacket and stylish hat that she paired with ripped high rise jeans She brightened up when she saw her friend, smiling warmly to greet her and holding her arms out for an embrace The mom-of-one was happy to see her friend who opted for a purple floral frock on the cloudy Los Angeles day. They embraced upon meeting, smiling widely as they greeted each other, before entering the restaurant. Jenna was solo for the outing, leaving her precious family at home after spending a few days with them. Old buddies: The mom-of-one was happy to see her friend who opted for a purple floral frock on the cloudy Los Angeles day Having a laugh: They embraced upon meeting, smiling widely as they greeted each other, before entering the restaurant Jenna has been spending quite a bit of time with her husband Channing and daughter. The dancing duo - who met on the 2005 set of Step Up - impressively celebrated their eighth wedding anniversary on July 11. The actor recently concluded a four-day road trip through Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee to promote his next film Logan Lucky. Channing produced and played divorced father Jimmy Logan in the NASCAR heist comedy, which hits US theaters August 18 and UK theaters August 25. Jenna's husband Channing recently concluded a four-day road trip through Kentucky, North Carolina, and Tennessee to promote his next film Logan Lucky Coming soon! Channing produced and played divorced father Jimmy Logan in the NASCAR heist comedy, which hits US theaters August 18 and UK theaters August 25 Logan Lucky marks Channing's fourth collaboration with once-retired director Steven Soderbergh after Haywire (2011), Magic Mike (2012), and Side Effects (2013). Meanwhile, following the finale Tuesday on World of Dance - Dewan, Jennifer Lopez, Ne-Yo, and Derek Hough have confirmed they'll be back for a second season of the NBC competition. The former back-up dancer will also likely reprise her recurring role as Army Major Lucy Lane in the third season of Supergirl, which premieres October 9 on The CW. Ryan Phillippe advocated for a frank discussion about depression in a new magazine interview. The 42-year-old actor talked about his experience with depression in an article published Tuesday in the Naked Issue of Women's Health magazine. 'I also have issues with patience and depression, and I'm thinking about how to focus and steady myself and be kinder and better. Meditation and exercise work for me,' said Ryan. Depression discussion: Ryan Phillippe, shown last month in New York City, urged a frank discussion about depression in the latest Naked Issue of Women's Health magazine The actor said he also recently returned from Thailand and called it an 'amazing experience'. 'Since then I've been reading a ton of Eastern philosophy about giving up some of the superficial things we're attached to, which I'm trying to do,' he said. Ryan also shared his thoughts on the nature of depression. 'I believe that depression and mood disorders are on a spectrum akin to the way autism is, where it's an individual experience. I think people fear being stigmatized or treated in a blanket fashion, which is sometimes the response to someone who says, "I struggle with depression'',' he said. Individual experience: The 42-year-old actor is an 'individual experience' 'But really, depression could manifest in a thousand different ways depending on who it is. I don't think there's any reason not to talk about it. We can help each other cope and give tools that we learn along the way,' Ryan added. The actor as part of the magazine's 'Naked Issue' also reveled that he sleeps in the nude. Ryan was promoting his new horror film Wish Upon and was asked what frightens him. Horror movie: Ryan is shown with Joey King and Sherilyn Fenn in a still from the new horror movie Wish Upon 'Very little. I try to scare myself. I've been on locations where people are like, "Don't go on the fifth floor! It's haunted." I'll be the first one to go to the fifth floor,' he revealed. 'But the world is chaotic and unpredictable, and there's so much random violence out there. And when you have [teenage kids], there are things you worry about when they're going out. Those would be my fears,' Ryan added. The Cruel Intentions star has 17-year-old daughter Ava and 13-year-old son Deacon with ex-wife Reese Witherspoon, 41. Ryan also has a six-year-old daughter Kai Knapp from his former relationship with actress Alexis Knapp. She's a presenter on Channel Nine's The Footy Show and is known for her glamourous appearance and figure-hugging frock. But throwback photos taken during her time at WIN News back in 2010, prove Erin Molan has often experimented with fashion. Pictures emerged online of the 34-year-old appearing fresh-faced, opting for a more relaxed style of dressing in button-up shirts and blazers. What a difference a few years makes! Erin Molan's look has changed as throwback photos from her time at WIN News emerge Photos taken early on in Erin's career as a WIN News presenter in 2010, saw the personality dressing in a more corporate style. The journalist appeared to be in favour of modest white button-up shirts, pencil skirts, blazers and patterned blouses. Erin also pared down her beauty look, drawing attention to a minimal makeup palette and wearing her blonde locks in a straightened style. Different look: Photos taken early on in Erin's career as a WIN News presenter in 2010, saw the personality dressing in a more corporate style Corporate style: The journalist appeared to be in favour of modest white button-up shirts, pencil skirts, blazers and patterned blouses Fast-forward a few years and Erin has transformed her look. As both a Footy Show presenter and reader for Nine News, the Sydney-based star is now in favour of body-hugging frocks and sky-high heels. With access to an around the clock glam squad, her beauty look consists of bold brows, kohl-rimmed eyes, lashings of mascara and a coating of gloss over her pout. Body-hugging frocks: As both a Footy Show presenter and reader for Nine News, the Sydney-based star is now in favour of body-hugging frocks and sky-high heels Glam: With access to an around the clock glam squad, Erin's beauty look consists of bold brows, kohl-rimmed eyes, lashings of mascara and a coating of gloss over her pout Tressed to perfection: She also appears to switch up her hairstyle, going between sleek and straight to a more volumised do She also often switches up her hairstyle, going between sleek and straight to a more volumised do. Erin is now not only a household name, she is also a sought-after ambassador for a number of lifestyle brands. And her personal life looks to be going just as swimmingly, having announced her engagement to Sean Ogilvy in April this year. The police officer presented Erin with a House of K'dor sparkler. Wedding bells: The Channel Nine star's personal life is going swimmingly, having announced her engagement to Sean Ogilvy in April this year Abby Lee Miller has been replaced. On Tuesday's episode of Dance Moms, a new choreographer is selected as the TV diva serves out a year-long prison sentence in California, and the students are thrilled. The new instructor is choreographer-to-the-stars Laurieann Gibson, who has trained Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj and even Michael Jackson. 'I feel like Abby Lee makes robots. I make stars,' she tells her class. New boos: On Tuesday's episode of Dance Moms, a new choreographer is chosen - Laurieann Gibson Behind bars: Abby Lee Miller is serving out a year-long prison sentence in California Turns out Gibson was selected even before Miller checked into prison. 'She decided to go to Europe before her sentencing so I don't feel bad bringing Laurieann in to take her place,' mom Ashlee Terry Allen said. 'Her resume is so huge Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Michael Jackson,' she gushed. Laurieann came in saying she was a 'choreographer, creative director, world changer, dream fighter, and creative visionary to today's hottest stars.' Bey liked her! Laurieann came in saying she was a 'choreographer, creative director, world changer, dream fighter, and creative visionary to today's hottest stars' Asked about everyone she has worked with, she said: 'Google me.' She said she was 'tickled' by the idea of 'owning my own studio and transform all of this knowledge to young, talented women is definitely a dream of mine.' She added: 'I just didn't expect to do it now. The class: Gibson then asked the class: 'Who really thinks that Abby Lee has held you back?' All the girls hold up their hands The victims? The dancers are pushed hard as the instructor and moms bark orders Gibson also said she had worked with Puff Daddy. 'For one week let me see what this is like,' she added. When the episode was filmed, Abby's sentencing was coming up, but then it was delayed. 'Abby's sentencing has been hanging over our heads like a dark cloud for a long time. It's going to be really nice to know if she's going to jail or if she's going to be around,' she said. Tough cookie: Gibson also said she had worked with Puff Daddy. 'For one week let me see what this is like,' she added Gibson then asked the class: 'Who really thinks that Abby Lee has held you back?' All the girls hold up their hands. 'It's really amazing to have Miss Gibson here this week,' Nia Frazier said. 'This powerful black woman who's done amazing things. So I'm just really excited to work with her.' Her main effort in rehearsals seemed to be making them forget Abby. She told Nia: 'She doesn't matter!' 'I have to let all of that go I have to not worry about Abby, push her off my shoulders because that's not helping me,' Nia admitted. New lady: She arrived in a yellow jacket and a scarf around her head Laurieann then insisted: 'I'm not afraid of Abby Lee she should be afraid of me.' Watching her take charge, one mom said she seemed 'like an army of one' and another chuckled: 'I'm exhausted just listening to her!' 'She would hate her because she's done everything that Abby aspires and wants to do, but she actually does it,' Nia's mother Holly Hatcher-Frazier added. Laurieann also seemed happy with her decision to come to the school, saying after getting the girls to rehearse for her: 'There's so much talent in here, I just can't.' Here to stay? Her main effort in rehearsals seemed to be making them forget Abby. She told Nia: 'She doesn't matter!' But at one point in rehearsals she teased the moms for being 'so loud,' joking: 'Starting to feel a little compassion with Miss Abby.' As for Abby, she said: 'My take on Abby Lee is she's a shrewd businesswoman out for herself, and I'm not mad at that. And she's done a great thing because she's provided a school and a great platform. 'But I don't get that her main focus is these beautiful, brilliant minds I don't get that she's very nurturing. 'I feel like the river's run dry,' she said, judging by the responses from 'the mothers and the girls.' Straight talk: As for Abby, she said: 'My take on Abby Lee is she's a shrewd businesswoman out for herself, and I'm not mad at that. And she's done a great thing because she's provided a school and a great platform' The moms' decision was further cemented with news that not only was Abby missing their upcoming competition but was traveling to Cancun, Mexico, after leaving London, England. 'From London to Mexico she does not care about us,' Camille complained, with Holly adding: 'She wasn't planning on coming back here anyway.' As they prepared for an upcoming competition, they also got the shock news that Chloe Lukasiak was coming back to competition after a two year break but with the school that is their biggest rivals. New: Also seen on the episode is Chloe's mom who says her daughter is dancing again Flare ups: Chloe is seen on the far left; her mom argues with some of the older mothers She was shown struggling in rehearsals, with mom Christi admitting: 'I knew Chloe was going to be rusty, but I didn't expect her to fall out of her very first turn attempt. I'm a little terrified I'm pretty sure had heart palpitations.' Chloe initially seemed thrilled at her decision to switch, saying: 'It's really nice to have a teacher that believes in me.' She told the camera later: 'This is really a fresh start for me. I don't really know what the future holds for me in terms of dance but I'm excited to be back and I'm ready to go.' However, she soon felt the pressure, with her mother admitting: 'She's coming back with a team that's used to winning. If Chloe loses with this team, who do you think they're gonna blame?' Forgotten? Turns out Gibson was selected even before Miller checked into prison. 'She decided to go to Europe before her sentencing so I don't feel bad bringing Laurieann in to take her place,' mom Ashlee Terry Allen said Chloe then had tears after one rehearsal, telling her mother: 'I just want to dance with my family.' She soon had more tears before the competition as her mother clashed with the other mothers, with a confused Laurieann trying to keep them apart. As the fight ended, Chloe burst into tears as Jaime shouted at Christi: 'The trash took itself out, stay there.' 'This is something that's been festering for years,' Ashlee admitted to camera later. 'But Laurieann Gibson is someone who can further the girls in their careers, so we really need to focus on dance and pray there's no more drama.' Dance Moms airs Tuesdays 9/8c on Lifetime. Carly Waddell and Evan Bass were married during Tuesday's episode of Bachelor In Paradise. They got engaged last season on the show when Evan asked her: 'Will you freakin' marry me?' Show host Chris Harrison revealed the wedding took place during a break in production following the scandal involving DeMario Jackson and Corinne Olympios. Scroll down for video Reality wedding: Evan Bass cried tears of joy while marrying Carly Waddell during Tuesday's episode of Bachelor In Paradise 'Even though our production was technically shut-down, we didn't want anyone to miss this joyous occasion,' Chris said, calling it 'the most Paradise-y wedding ever.' The intimate beach wedding included their family and friends, including some who Chris called 'Bachelor royalty returning for the event of a lifetime.' One of Carly's bridesmaids was Jade Roper, who caressed her heavily-pregnant belly and said proudly: 'This is the baby that Paradise made.' Her husband Tanner Tolbert then joked: 'There's something about goofy guys marrying way better chicks in Paradise I'm glad to pass the torch to Evan.' Beautiful bride: Carly was proposed to by Evan during season three of Bachelor In Paradise Tender moment: Evan wrapped his arms around his bride after exchanging vows Newly married: The couple kissed after getting hitched Wedding ceremony: Chris Harrison officiated the wedding between Carly and Evan Erectile dysfunction specialist Evan, in a gray suit and white shirt, was shown tearing up as soon as he saw his bride. She wore a lace dress by Israeli designer Idan Cohen and carried a huge bouquet of flowers as she walked down the aisle holding her father's arm. 'Are you kidding me?' Evan laughed, seemingly genuinely overwhelmed at the sight of his bride. Paradise stars: The wedding featured guests from Bachelor In Paradise Cute couple: Carly and Evan were married in Mexico during a break in filming 'I think Evan watching Carly walking down the aisle was probably the happiest moment of his life, and you could see that in his face,' season two star Jared Haibon gushed. Sarah Herron commented: 'Carly is a knockout bride she just raised the bar.' Chris, in blue suit, officiated the nuptials and cracked the couple up by announcing: 'The wedding of Evan and Carly truly a sentence I never thought I would ever say.' Outdoor wedding: The wedding took place outdoors in Mexico But he then turned to them and said warmly: 'Honestly I couldn't be happier for the two of you.' They each got to read out special dedications during the ceremony, with Evan calling Carly 'the most beautiful person I've ever laid my eyes upon. 'Your beauty reminds me of a sunrise, your heart and soul have resurrected my heart in places I thought were dead forever.' High praise: Evan told his bride that she was 'the most beautiful person' he'd ever seen He added: 'The way you accept all of me, all of my weird, all of my broken places, without blinking, is the most incredible feeling I've ever felt.' Evan then inadvertently cracked everyone up, however, when he said he sees their 'love like this ocean so deep, so wild, untamed, and so much to explore' and told her: 'I promise to never stop exploring you.' Carly looked shocked at the potential raunchy undertones, joking: 'My dad's right there!' Exchanging vows: Carly beamed as Evan gushed about her love for him She then cracked up her groom, too, telling him: 'I promise to accept you for all that you are which is a lot, but it's also wonderful.' 'I promise to always remind you that the world is full of beauty and wonder when you choose to look up from your bubble-popping phone games,' she added to more laughter. 'I promise to learn CPR so if you ever fake your own death again I can resuscitate you, which I think you should do when we're in a fight because that would be a really fun way to make up. Tears flowing: Ashley Iaconetti wiped away tears during the wedding 'I promise to be a sword when you need help in battle and a shield when you need protection. 'And I can't wait until the day that we're old and sitting in our front porch making fun of how fast the kids drive and how terrible the music is these days.' She then looked him deep in the eyes as she declared: 'Evan, I love you and I choose you. You're my best friend, you're my weirdo, you're my lobster, you are my everything and I love you.' Bridal party: Carly was flanked by her bridesmaids before the ceremony They then had a traditional Mexican ceremony with a shaman and his wife tying feathers, putting flowers around both their necks to unite them, and blowing a horn. 'I honestly have no idea what the shaman did, but I thought it was awesome,' Juelia Kinney admitted, They finally swapped rings, with each saying as they did so: 'With this ring I give you my heart. From this day forward you shall not walk alone. May my heart be your shelter, may my arms be your home.' It's official: The ceremony included Mexican traditions including the blowing of a horn After tender kisses after being named man and wife, Evan later insisted: 'It was perfect, absolutely perfect.' 'Evan didn't cry once,' Carly said, adding after a pause: 'He cried 30 times.' Emily Ferguson, meanwhile, joked: 'Today Carly got her happy Evan after.' Love story: The episode featured a look back at Evan and Carly's journey Earlier the show had recapped the pair's love stories on the shows, including when they first kissed, with Carly admitting it was merely out of curiosity for her. 'That kiss was so terrible,' she insisted, while he maintained: 'I thought that first kiss was incredible and still maintain it was the best kiss of my life. It was amazing and beautiful in every way.' They were shown throughout their time on the beach set together, including the moment she tried to let him down gently by telling him: 'I want to be your friend I'm not interested in romantically dating you.' Long odds: Carly and Evan got together as a couple after she initially rejected him He then laughed that the rejection led him to dramatic tactics laughing as he recalled faking his own death and getting rushed to hospital to get her attention. 'Evan faking his death was like the most ridiculous thing,' Carly recalled, before admitting with a smile: 'But what's so weird about it is it actually kind of worked.' The were shown preparing for the big day, with Carly looking at Jade and saying: 'I really do have a fifth bridesmaid which is the little girl in Jade's belly.' Bent knee: Evan proposed to Carly at the end of season three of Bachelor In Paradise Her mother Maryann Waddell then got tearful as she told her daughter: 'This is the day we both dreamed of our whole lives. You know how much I love you and I couldn't love Evan more. I've prayed about you finding the most wonderful partner and Evan's the answer. God's answered our prayers I love Evan.' Wells Adams pecked Evan on cheek and later called him 'one of my closest, dearest friends' adding: 'He just exudes so much love and positivity. This has been one of the biggest honors of my life to be included in this beautiful ceremony.' 'Carly and Evan are completely a testament to what Paradise can do,' Sara Herron said. 'It can't get more real than this.' His claims that his return as James Bond was 'up in the air' left fans shaken and stirred. But Daniel Craig performed a dramatic twist by confirming he would reprise his role as 007 - following reports that he was offered $135million (100million) to return. It was a very rapid U-turn on the part of the 49-year-old, whose most recent appearance as the British spy was in 2015's Spectre. Scroll down for video I spy: Daniel Craig confirmed he will return as James Bond during an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday Craig, who is the second longest serving Bond after Roger Moore, previously suggested he was done with the franchise after his fourth appearance as the iconic spy in Spectre. During an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Tuesday, he was asked if he would be playing the iconic role for a fifth time. He replied: 'Yes. I couldn't be happier. I've been quite cagey about it. 'I've been doing interviews about it all day and people have been asking me and I've been kind of coy but I kind of felt like, if I was going to speak the truth, I should speak the truth to you.' The star admitted he 'always wanted to return' to the role, but confirmed the next Bond movie will be his last. He added: 'I think this is it. This is it. I just want to go out on a high note, and I can't wait.' It will mean Craig will have played Bond five times, although he is still behind Sir Sean Connery's six appearances and Sir Roger Moore's seven films. But Craig is the highest paid Bond of all time, raking in an estimated $50million (39million) for Spectre alone, which is more than the any of the other actor's earnings for their respective films combined. Next in line is Pierce Brosnan, who is understood to have netted around $36million (28million) for his four Bond pictures between 1995 and 2002. Craig's 2019 film will also mean he is the second oldest Bond actor at 51, again after Sir Roger who appeared in A View To A Kill in 1985 aged 57. Never say never again (please): It had already been reported he was poised to make his fifth appearance as Bond following talks with franchise producer Barbara Broccoli The 49-year-old actor, who is the seventh Bond and has starred in four movies, insisted the hold-ups were nothing to do with pay as he admitted, undoubtedly to fan's delight, that he would 'love to do it'. This comes amid reports that he was reportedly offered $150 million (113million) by executives. 'The studio is desperate to secure the actor's services while they phase in a younger long-term successor,' a source told Radar Online. Earlier that day, Daniel told US radio show Morning Magic 106.7 that nothing had been confirmed about his future with the franchise, as it was all up to 'personal decisions'. On his way: Daniel was seen heading into The Late Show on Tuesday as he looked like Bond himself in a slick leather jacket A fond farewell! The happy star was headed out after his appearance on the show Daniel previously hit the headlines for saying he would only do another Bond film 'for the money', and would rather 'slash [his] wrists'than star in one again. But the actor - who played 007 in Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre - has admitted that comment was 'really stupid'. He added: 'Look, there's no point in making excuses about it, but it was two days after I'd finished shooting the last movie, I went straight to an interview, and someone said, 'Would you do another one?' Instead of saying something with style and grace, I gave a really stupid answer.' Earlier in the day he had studiously given nothing away away as he appeared on US radio show Morning Magic 106.7, where he said nothing had been confirmed as it was all up to 'personal decisions'. The actor, who is the seventh Bond, insisted the hold-ups were nothing to do with pay as he admitted, undoubtedly to fan's delight, that he would 'love to do it'. Driving them to drink: Fans were shaken when he earlier said nothing had been confirmed as it was all up to 'personal decisions' Role of a lifetime: The British actor pictured in the 2012 film Skyfall However he will surely be raking in more than ever before to play the iconic Ian Fleming character in what could be his final appearance. Earlier this year, it was reported he was poised to make his fifth appearance as Bond following talks with franchise producer Barbara Broccoli. He prompted speculation over the identity of his successor by insisting he would prefer to 'slash his own wrists' rather than reprise the role after completing work on his last appearance as the secret agent in 2015 blockbuster Spectre. But Page Six reported his potential replacement Tom Hiddleston, once a front runner for the coveted role, has effectively been ruled out by Broccoli following a series of encouraging talks with Daniel. Things seemed set to remain as up in the air as ever, as he revealed on Tuesday: 'I'd hate to burst the bubble, but no decision has been made at the moment. Stellar cast: He starred alongside Russian model turned actress Olga Kurylenko in the 2008 film Quantum Of Solace Popular: Craig enjoyed enormous success in the years following his first appearance as Bond in 2005 hit Casino Royale Star of the show: 'It's just all very personal decisions to be made at the moment. I know they're desperate to get going and I would in theory love to do it, but there is no decision just yet' 'There's a lot of noise out there and nothing official has been confirmed and I'm not, like, holding out for more money or doing anything like that. 'It's just all very personal decisions to be made at the moment. I know they're desperate to get going and I would in theory love to do it, but there is no decision just yet.' Sources claim Hiddleston's high profile romance with American pop star Taylor Swift, coupled with a bizarre acceptance speech at the 74th annual Golden Globes, during which he relayed an awkwardly expressed anecdote about aid workers in impoverished south Sudan warmly greeting him after watching his TV drama The Night Manager, also failed to impress Broccoli. Craig enjoyed enormous success in the years following his first appearance as Bond in 2005 hit Casino Royale. Headed back: Daniel Craig fans will no doubt be ecstatic that he is reprising the iconic role Comeback? 'It's just all very personal decisions to be made at the moment. I know they're desperate to get going and I would in theory love to do it, but there is no decision just yet' The actor has played 007 on three further occasions, but he appeared adamant that the Sam Mendes directed Spectre, in which all four of Craig's Bond film's are neatly tied together, would be his last during an interview with Time Out. 'I'd rather break this glass and slash my wrists,' he told the magazine in 2015. 'We're done. All I want to do is move on,' He added that if he did another movie, 'it would only be for the money.' Craig was paid $17million (13million) for 2012 smash Skyfall, making him the highest-paid Bond actor ever, while the film was the first Bond movie to break the one billion dollar mark. Its enormous success led to Craig reportedly brokering a deal to be paid $39million (31 million) for his next two 007 films, including Spectre, the 24th film in the franchise, although that figure rose to around $59million (39million) due to endorsements and profit share bonuses. 'I'm contracted for one more but I'm not going to make predictions,' he told Event in September 2014. Off we go: Craig was paid $10.7 million for 2012 smash Skyfall, making him the highest-paid Bond actor ever; the film was the first Bond movie to break the one billion dollar mark Banking Bond: How Daniel Craig's massive new deal compares to what previous stars were paid Sir Sean Connery Although actors fees have risen astronomically since Sir Sean Connery donned his stylish suit for the first James Bond film Dr No in 1962, his $17,000 (13,000) still seems fairly paltry for the time. Sir Sean, often described as the definitive Bond by fans, went on to bank a lot more over his six films as the success of the franchise soared. Sir Sean Connery, pictured fighting Oddjob in Goldfinger, was the first man to play James Bond but was paid just $17,000 for Dr No He was paid $250,000 (200,000) for From Russia With Love and then $500,000 (390,000) for Goldfinger. His earnings rose to $750,000 (580,000) for Thunderball before hitting $1million (780,000), in 1967 for You Only Live Twice. A fall out with producer Albert Broccoli saw Sir Sean resign the role ahead of On Her Majesty's Secret Service, but he was tempted back for a huge pay day of $6.7millon (5.2million) for his final film Diamonds Are Forever in 1971. George Lazenby Often known as the odd Bond out, having appeared in just the one film, Australian model and actor George Lazenby was paid around $80,000 (60,000) for 1969's On Her Majesty's Secret Service. He got the role aged 29, making him the youngest actor to portray the character, but was a controversial choice due to his lack of experience. Australian model George Lazenby was a surprise choice for On Her Majesty's Secret Service, where he is pictured alongside Telly Savalas as villain Blofeld, and was paid only $80,000 Other actors including Desmond Llewelyn, who played Q, and Diana Rigg who played Bond's wife Tracey in the film, both criticised the decision to use Lazenby. The Australian announced he would be leaving the role shortly before the film's release, claiming the producers 'disregarded all his suggestions because he had not been in the film business before'. Sir Roger Moore The Bond producers had their eye on Sir Roger Moore to take over the role when Connery first quit, only to be curtailed due to his commitments to TV show The Saint. Sir Roger finally got the role in 1973's Live and Let Die and went on to become the longest serving Bond at 5,118 days in the role, around 800 more than second-placed Daniel Craig. He has also appeared in the most Bond films with seven, making the role his own until 1985's A View To A Kill. Sir Roger Moore, pictured as Bond in Octopussy, raked in around $24million for his seven Bond films between 1973 and 1985 Sir Roger was paid $1million (780,000) each for his first three films - Live and Let Die, The Man With The Golden Gun and The Spy Who Loved Me - before his pay packet rose to $4million (3.1million) for Moonraker. He earned $4.6million (3.5million) for For Your Eyes Only and $5.2million (4million) for Octopussy before ending his run with $7.5million (5.8million) for A View To A Kill. But his combined earnings, around $24million (19million), were well short of what Craig earned for Spectre alone. Timothy Dalton As Bond moved into the late 1980s, a more serious actor was chosen to portray him in a shift away from the camp era of Sir Roger Moore. Timothy Dalton was picked to bring more steel and sensibility to the secret agent for The Living Daylights in 1987, earning $3million (2.3million). Timothy Dalton, centre pictured in Licence to Kill, only played Bond twice and earned around $8million for both films combined He would only reprise the role once more in Licence to Kill in 1989, earning $5million (3.8million), despite having a three-film contract. But the series then entered developmental hell in the early 1990s as disputes between MGM studios and Bond producer Albert Broccoli's firm Danjaq over the rights to the character caused major delays, leading to Dalton departing the role. Pierce Brosnan In a similar vein to Sir Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan was eyed up for the Bond role before Dalton was cast, only for television commitments to get in the way. But after legal issues around the rights were resolved in the early 1990s, Brosnan was picked to revive the series for 1995's GoldenEye. The suave Brosnan is credited with bringing Bond into modern times, although he earned much less than his predecessor after being paid just 1.2million (930,000). Pierce Brosnan, pictured right as Bond in Tomorrow Never Dies alongside Desmond Llewelyn as Q, was the previous highest earning Bond with $36million His salary then skyrocketed for 1997's Tomorrow Never Dies, for which he was paid $8.2million (6.3million), and then jumped to $12.4million (9.6million) for The World Is Not Enough in 1999. Brosnan's last performance as Bond came in 2002 for Die Another Day, for which he took home $16.5million (12.8million), a then record fee for a Bond actor. It also meant he left the role as the highest earner across the board, even though he only appeared in four films. Daniel Craig After Brosnan announced he was quitting the role in 2004, Daniel Craig was picked to replace him and drew a lot of press attention as the first 'Blond Bond'. Much like previous actors to take over the role, he earned much less than his predecessor for his first film after he was paid $3.2million (2.5million) for Casino Royale in 2006. But in a reflection of the explosion of money made in the film industry in the past decade, his salary more than doubled to $7.2million (5.6million) for Quantum of Solace in 2008, and then again to a basic package of $17million (13million) for Skyfall in 2012, plus considerable bonuses. His total pay packet for Spectre in 2015 is thought to have hit $50million (39million) thanks to endorsements and bonuses, including a basic salary of $24million (18.5million), making him comfortably the highest paid Bond. And with another $135million (100million) reportedly coming his way for his fifth Bond film in 2019, it is no surprise he is willing to reprise his role. She's this year's new Bachelorette. And on Wednesday, Sophie Monk stunned in the latest trailer shared to the official Bachelorette Instagram page. The 37-year old is seen wearing a strapless red dress walking down the street and is followed by a hoard of men carrying love heart balloons. Scroll down for video Red hot! On Wednesday, Sophie Monk stunned in the latest trailer for The Bachelorette, shared to the official Bachelorette Instagram page She's all heart! The 37-year old is seen wearing a strapless red dress walking down the street and is followed by a hoard of men carrying love heart balloons The words 'Sophie is looking for somebody to love' appear on the screen as the former radio host saunters along the road and looks behind her to grab a handful of balloons. Earlier in the week, Sophie revealed why she's been so unlucky in love in the past. 'Living in LA for 10 years, I've dated high-profile people like actors and rock stars, but that's not at all what I've been looking for,' she told Confidential. Looking for the one: Bachelorette Sophie revealed why she's been so unlucky in love 'I'm so lucky to do what I do...but the one thing you do sacrifice is a really healthy, good relationship.' According to the publication, the next promo will see Sophie walking down a path while passing a couple kissing and another getting engaged. Unlucky in love: 'Living in LA for 10 years, I've dated high-profile people like actors and rock stars, but that's not at all what I've been looking for' Previously, fans were delighted by an 11-second sneak peak of what's to come in this year's Bachelorette. Looking glamorous in a Marilyn Monroe-inspired pearl toned gown, the former Bardot member showcased her incredible figure. Anticipatingly waiting to meet her first suitor, Sophie nervously clasped both her hands together. It's happening! Previously, fans were delighted by an 11-second sneak peak of what's to come in this year's Bachelorette With filming about to wrap up, insiders have revealed she's found love. '[It's going] really well. She is in love,' revealed a source to The Courier-Mail. The Bachelorette will air on Network Ten after Matty J's season of The Bachelor concludes. They're the genetically-blessed pair who are currently competing on Channel Nine's reality series The Block. And swimsuit model Elyse Knowles, 24, hinted good-looking offspring may be on the way for her and carpenter beau Josh Barker, 28, in the near future. The couple, who have been together for four years, opened up about having kids of their own during Wednesday night's episode. Something to tell us? Swimsuit model Elyse Knowles discusses raising kids with boyfriend Josh Barker on the set of The Block on Wednesday The loved-up duo were describing the concept for week three's children's room challenge on set, when Elyse casually slipped 'our kids' into the conversation. As the only team without children on The Block, Elyse and Josh appeared to have no problems visualising a room perfect for a youngster. 'We don't want our kids to be stuck on technology the whole time, so we're not putting in all these gadgets. We want to have them with a pen and paper. No TV,' they said. 'Our kids'?: The loved-up duo were describing the concept for week three's children's room on set, when Elyse casually slipped in 'our kids' to the conversation Parenting style? They revealed their children's room would not have 'gadgets' or a TV and instead would keep it 'rustic' with a 'surfy vibe' Telling hosts Shelly Craft and Scotty Cam of their plan to design the room with a 'surfy vibe,' they added that they're aiming to keep it 'rustic.' 'We wanted to create a room that was technology free... I think kids need to learn how to write and pick up a pen again,' Elyse said. In the previous night's episode, the former Miss Universe Australia and her budding builder partner failed at a geography challenge. 'Kids need to learn how to pick up a pen again': Elyse and Josh defended their decision to have a technology-free children's room, because they believe kids need less screen time When the couple had to match the names of capital cities to the country they are located in, Elyse thought 'schnitzel' was the capital of Austria. 'Holy geez ... I honestly have got not one idea about any of them,' Josh confessed, scratching his head in bewilderment as he surveyed the cities. Elyse was no better informed, also adding: 'Babe I don't know.' Despite the tight competition Elyse and Josh were doing so badly that former flight attendant Hannah took pity on the pair and helped them with a few matches. 'I honestly have got not one idea about any of them': In the previous night's episode, the model and her budding builder partner failed at a geography challenge In the end, the couple had to rely on Scotty Cam's heavy-handed hints to figure out what was the capital of Austria. 'I love my Vienna schnitzel,' Scotty remarked. Misconstruing his hint, Elyse looked around frantically, asking: 'Where is schnitzel? I can't find it.' 'No Vienna schnitzel,' he corrected, then Elyse understood Scotty Cam's hint and was able to move on to the final stage of the challenge. He's the former Bachelor star that's gone on to forge a successful career in the fitness industry. So it came as no surprise to see Sam Wood reveal his bulging biceps and washboard abs in a Baywatch-themed photo shoot on Wednesday. The 37-year-old took Tegan Martin through a beachside workout in Sydney, which was so tough it caused the blonde to raise a hand to her forehead at one point. Hasselhoff 2.0? Former Bachelor star Sam Wood, 37, revealed his muscular upper frame in a Baywatch-themed attire, for a photo shoot at Sydney's Tamarama Beach on Wednesday Sam drew the eye to his muscular frame in a pair of red board shorts, slung low on his hips. Sporting a red bomber jacket, left undone, the fitness entrepreneur revealed his defined chest and washboard abs. Accessorising with a pair of stylish sunglasses, Sam carried a safety raft as he made his way down a series of steps. Attire: Sam paired red board shorts with a bomber-style jacket and stylish sunglasses In top form: The ex reality star showed off his muscular upper frame, with his bulging biceps on full display Covering the assets: Sam was seen stretching a slim-fitting shirt over his buff upper frame After reaching the shore, the muscular hunk took former Miss Universe Australia Tegan Martin through a workout. The 24-year-old revealed her lithe arms and taut torso in a red crop top, which was teamed with coordinating full length leggings that clung to her trim pins. Looking every inch the beach babe, the blonde beauty left her long locks loose and styled in effortless waves. Putting in the hard yards: The muscular hunk took Tegan Martin through a beachside workout in Sydney, which was so tough it caused the blonde to raise a hand to her forehead at one point Beach beauty: Tegan revealed her lithe arms and taut torso in a red crop top, teamed with coordinating full length leggings that clung to her trim pins Showing her the ropes: Focusing on core and lower body strength, Sam led Tegan through a workout sequence Tegan pared down her makeup, opting for a flawless complexion, defined brows and a matte nude lip. Working on core and lower body strength, Sam led Tegan through a sequence consisting of side planks and jump squats. In what appeared to be a promotional photo shoot, the household names were then seen strolling across the sand with both Sam and Tegan holding onto red safety rafts. They looked relaxed and at ease, often engaging in friendly conversation. Putting in their all: The pair were seen performing a series of jump squats Baywatch babes: In what appeared to be a promotional photo shoot, the household names were then seen strolling across the sand, with both Sam and Tegan holding onto safety rafts Content: They looked relaxed and at ease, often engaging in friendly conversation. The photo shoot comes at a busy time for Sam, who is eagerly awaiting the birth of his first child with fiancee Snezana Markoski, 37. Snezana, at 29 weeks pregnant, is already mother to 12-year-old daughter Eve (from a previous relationship). Celebrating their 'babymoon', Sam and Snezana recently travelled to Maui, Hawaii, and posted a series of loved-up pictures of the trip to Instagram. Headlines: The photo shoot comes at a busy time for Sam, who is eagerly awaiting the birth of his first child with fiancee Snezana Markoski Not long to go: Celebrating their 'babymoon', Sam and Snezana recently travelled to Maui, Hawaii, and posted a series of loved-up pictures to Instagram In May this year, the couple announced they were expecting the first-ever Bachelor baby. 'We're so excited to be able to let the world know that our little family of 3 is soon to become 4 @samjameswood you are going to make an incredible father,' Snezana wrote on Instagram. Sam said in an earlier interview with NW magazine that the pair hoped to have at least one more child after this pregnancy, but admitted they'd struggled with choosing baby names. 'We don't see eye-to-eye yet on the name thing - do we sweetie?...I think we're both traditional - we don't want anything wacky,' he told the publication. The couple fell in love on season three of The Bachelor Australia, in 2015. Dolly Parton put on her best pink velvet outfit and read to children on Tuesday in Nashville, Tennessee. The country icon, 71, announced the release of her first-ever children's album in her 50-year career. The collection of songs is titled I Believe In You and will release on September 29. Icon: Dolly Parton looked as iconic as ever while announcing her new children's album in Nashville on Tuesday The album's release falls on the same day that Parton's Goddaughter Miley Cyrus will release her long-awaited album Younger Now. A bit of friendly competition surely won't come between the duo, who have often sang each other's praises. Miley, 24, often covers her godmother's signature song Jolene live in concert, as she did for a string of radio station shows in the past few months. Inspirational: The collection of songs will hit digital platforms on September 29 and stores worldwide on October 13 Animated: Proceeds from the album will go to Dolly's Imagination Library, the literacy program she founded Release date: Parton's album will become available the same day as her Goddaughter Miley Cyrus' long-awaited album Younger Now, September 29 Dolly co-starred on Miley's hit Disney program Hannah Montana in 2008. In 2016, they collaborated on a live episode of The Voice, which Miley was a judge on at the time. Miley will return to The Voice's 13th season this month with her father Billy Ray Cyrus as her team mentor. Twinning: Miley dressed up as her godmother for a 2008 episode of Hannah Montana Touching: Her charity is a tribute to her father Robert Lee, who was not able to read or write Legend: Parton has enjoyed a 50-year career including music, movies and even her own theme park Proceeds from Dolly's album will benefit the Imagination Library, which is the literacy charity she founded in 1995. Dolly started the program in honor of her father, who could not read or write. 'We've given out 40 million books since we started,' Parton told ABC News in 2012, with the amount of books surely increasing in the millions since then. They were spotted looking very cosy together at the David Jones fashion show in Sydney last week, sparking rumours they were an item. And on Wednesday, Montana Cox once again slammed reports that she is dating Jordan Barrett. The 23-year-old Australia's Next Top Model winner told The Daily Telegraph: 'We are just friends.' Scroll down for video 'We are just friends!' Montana Cox forced to deny rumours she's dating fellow Australian model Jordan Barrett AGAIN... after the pair were spotted looking cosy at the David Jones show 'I can categorically say I am not dating Jordan, we are just friends,' Montana told the publication. 'It is so funny you can have a photo standing next to somebody and they say you're dating.' As the publication reports, Montana is still dating Australian businessman Jamie Valmorbida, 32. No love! Montana and Jordan were spotted looking very cosy together at the David Jones fashion show in Sydney last week (pictured), sparking rumours they were an item Happy: Montana is still dating Australian businessman Jamie Valmorbida, 32 (pictured) On record: Last week after the fashion show, she told The Daily Telegraph she and Jordan weren't dating Jamie's family own Lavazza coffee, reportedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Last week after the fashion show, she told The Daily Telegraph she and Jordan weren't dating, and said she and Jamie have been dating for three years. Last week after the David Jones event, Today co-host Lisa Wilkinson mistakenly referred to Montana and Jordan as a couple live on air. 'He was there with his lovely girlfriend Montana Cox,' the journalist told co-host Karl Stefanovic as they discussed Jordan and the night. Oops! Last week after the David Jones event, Today co-host Lisa Wilkinson (R) mistakenly referred to Montona and Jordan as a couple live on air Montana first confirmed her romance with Jamie Valmorbida to Daily Mail Australia, in January 2015. The pair met in the Lavazza tent during the Melbourne Spring Racing Carnival in the November before. Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia she said: 'I have been single for a long time so this is quite a big deal for me. Jamie and I met in Lavazza and we have been seeing each other since then. I'm really enjoying life right now.' Jamie described Montana as 'great' and said she was a 'gorgeous girl.' She's famous for her model good looks and androgynous image. So it comes as no surprise that Ruby Rose spends a lot of cash to keep herself looking picture perfect. Speaking to Grazia Magazine UK, the 31-year-old revealed that she just bought one hundred SK-II face masks - which retail for $138 EACH. 'I bought 100 of these SK-II Facial Treatment Masks, in Korea': Ruby Rose said, as she opened up about her latest skincare obsession This means that Ruby's total beauty bill would've come to an eye-watering $13,800. 'I bought 100 of these SK-II Facial Treatment Masks in Korea,' she told the magazine. 'There are so many different variations - collagen, brightening, anti-ageing, even spiritual ones.' She finished: 'I'm obsessed with them.' 'There are so many different variations - collagen, brightening, anti-ageing, even spiritual ones,' she gushed Ruby is no stranger to beauty products as she currently serves as the face of American makeup brand Urban Decay. The Australian stunner's career has been going from strength to strength since her breakout role on Orange is the New Black two years ago. This year, she starred in the action blockbusters xXx: Return of Xander Cage and John Wick: Chapter 2. Model: Ruby is no stranger to beauty products as she currently serves as the face of American makeup brand Urban Decay In December, she'll be seen in the musical comedy Pitch Perfect 3. And next year, Ruby will be back on the big screen yet again alongside Jason Statham in the killer shark flick Meg. There are also rumours that she'll return to Orange is the New Black sometime in the near future. They're both British models at the beginning of their career. And Lottie Moss, 19, looked in good spirits as she joined Ella Ross, 21, at Mahiki club in Mayfair on Tuesday. The younger sister of supermodel Kate Moss, and the former flame of American reality star Scott Disick, put on a chic display as they headed out for a night on the town. Scroll down for video Moss and Ross! Lottie Moss, 19, looked in good spirits as she joined Ella Ross, 21, at Mahiki club in Mayfair on Tuesday Petite Lottie showed off her shapely legs in a racy leather mini skirt and patent ankle boots, adding a casual touch with a bell-sleeved white blouse. Leaving her blonde locks in loose waves, she opted for minimal make-up, making the most of her enviable bone structure. She was joined by Ella, who worked understated chic in a sleeveless poloneck and jeans, wearing her hair in loose ombre tresses. The duo were later spotted joining an array of reality stars at Usain Bolt's party at DSKRKT. Model behaviour: The younger sister of supermodel Kate Moss, and the former flame of American reality star Scott Disick, put on a chic display as they headed out for a night out British model Ella dated sex-addict Scott Disick in May and enjoyed a string of dates in upmarket bars and restaurants. However their romance came to an abrupt end when he was spotted with Bella Thorne and an array of other girls at least 10 years his junior. The TV star - who has children Mason, seven, Penelope, four, and Reign, two, with ex-girlfriend Kourtney, later announced on Keeping Up with the Kardashians: 'I'm a sex addict. I'm a f***ed up, horrible sex addict.' Meanwhile Lottie was scouted at older sister Kate's wedding six years ago aged 13. The now catwalk queen bagged a test shoot with Storm Management, the agency who kick started Kate's career. She told The Telegraph: 'I never really wanted to be a model when I was younger. Leggy: Petite Lottie showed off her shapely legs in a racy leather mini skirt and patent ankle boots, adding a casual touch with a bell-sleeved white blouse Natural: Leaving her blonde locks in loose waves, she opted for minimal make-up, making the most of her enviable bone structure 'It was something I didn't think I could do until I was scouted at my sister's wedding. I remember thinking, Yeah, that actually sounds fun.' The model confirmed her split with Alex in mid-July, sharing a light-hearted post of the duo with the caption 'Psycho ex girlfriend'. But the former couple have still been spending much time partying together of late, after she was became part of the Made In Chelsea crew. Effortless: She was joined by Ella, who worked understated chic in a sleeveless poloneck and jeans, wearing her hair in loose ombre tresses Active night out: They were later spotted joining an array of reality stars at Usain Bolt's party at DSKRKT Lottie spent much of the summer with Alex while he was filming new episodes of Made In Chelsea Ibiza, before reports of their split surfaced. 'Happy birthday to my other half, hasn't been a great start to it but I assure you it will be made up to you greatly!' she wrote at the time 'I can't wait to spend many more birthdays with you and spoil you as you deserve, I love you baba.' Lottie and Alex's relationship was first rocked by claims of a break-up earlier in the year when a video surfaced of them having a spat during a night out, culminating in Lottie screaming 'It's done'. She sent fans into a spiral after announcing her second engagement to husband Oliver Curtis in July. But Roxy Jacenko, 37, has dampened rumours that she is planning another wedding. 'There's no wedding right now, just one killer rock!' she told Yahoo Be this week, referring to her giant diamond engagement ring. 'There's no wedding right now, just one killer rock!' Roxy Jacenko, 37, has dampened rumours that she is planning another wedding Despite this, Roxy did reveal that Pixie, 6, and Hunter, 3, would participate in the ceremony if she were to begin planning a wedding. 'Pixie was at our wedding back in 2011, so if there is a wedding, most certainly they are our best friends and we make sure they are a part of everything,' she said. Roxy has previously refused to comment on whether she is set to tie the knot again. 'Marry me again?' Roxy announced her second engagement to husband Oliver Curtis earlier this month Serious bling: The Nicholas Haywood ring Roxy is believed to be valued at up to $450,000 Oliver's second proposal came weeks after he was released from Cooma Correctional Centre in June, after serving a year behind bars for insider trading. The convicted criminal presented Roxy with a six-carat diamond ring, which he designed himself in a matter of weeks. The Nicholas Haywood ring is believed to be valued at up to $450,000 by a respected member of the National Council of Jewellery Valuers, which is more than double the $200,000 jewel she received when Oliver first proposed in 2010. Family first! Roxy revealed that Pixie, 6, and Hunter, 3, would participate in the ceremony if she were to begin planning a wedding Sweet: Roxy also claimed Oliver had designed her diamond ring in just a few weeks, with the help of celebrity jeweller Nicholas Haywood Family: The pair share two children together, Hunter, two, and Pixie, five 'Wow, lucky Roxy!' gemologist Karen Lindley of Diamonds by Design told Daily Mail Australia on Sunday, suggesting a likely value of 'between $400,000 and $450,000.' Back in 2012, Roxy and Oliver, 31, tied the knot during an expensive fairy tale wedding at Sydney's swanky Quay Restaurant. The blushing bride wore a strapless Vera Wang gown that was rumoured to have been flown first-class direct from Los Angeles. He is counting down the days until he welcomes his first child with fiancee Snezana Markoski. But former Bachelor star Sam Wood, 36, sported anything but a 'dad bod' as he stripped off for a steamy photo shoot in Sydney this week. Clad in Baywatch-inspired attire, the shirtless fitness enthusiast was spotted standing in the sun as a lucky makeup artist rubbed oil into his rippling six pack. It's Baewatch! Bachelor star Sam Wood, 36, sported anything but a 'dad bod' as he stripped off for a steamy photo shoot in Sydney this week Sam kept his cool throughout the decidedly awkward encounter, staring off into the distance with a pensive expression. The expectant father was dressed in classic Baywatch attire for the sunny outing, sporting a pair of red shorts, a matching satin jacket and a bold wrist watch. His dark mane jutted dramatically in the air thanks to the help of liberally-applied gel. ABSolutely amazing! Clad in Baywatch-inspired attire, the shirtless fitness enthusiast was spotted standing in the sun as a lucky makeup artist rubbed oil into his rippling six pack Joining Sam on set was pageant queen Tegan Martin, who also donned a fire engine- red look inspired by the likes of Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson. Clad in a bikini top and matching leggings, the slender blonde was seen pulling various yoga poses on the sand as Sam looked on. The pair took part in the shoot to promote the DVD release of the new Baywatch film. The 'Hoff would be proud! The expectant father was dressed in classic Baywatch attire for the sunny outing, sporting a pair of red shorts, a matching satin jacket and a bold wrist watch Hair-raising: His dark mane jutted in the air thanks to the help of liberally-applied gel Sporty: Joining Sam on set was pageant queen Tegan Martin, who also donned a fire engine- red look inspired by the likes of Baywatch babe Pamela Anderson The photo shoot comes at a busy time for Sam, who is eagerly awaiting the birth of his first child with fiancee Snezana. Snezana, at 29 weeks pregnant, is already mother to 12-year-old daughter Eve (from a previous relationship). Celebrating their 'babymoon', Sam and Snezana recently travelled to Maui, Hawaii, and posted a series of loved-up pictures of the trip to Instagram. Busy: The photo shoot comes at a busy time for Sam, who is eagerly awaiting the birth of his first child with fiancee Snezana He's been struggling to find 'the one' on the latest season of The Bachelor. So on Wednesday, Matty 'J' Johnson brought his big sister Kate into the mansion to grill the remaining contestants. Kate came in ready to cause drama, saying right off the bat: 'I want to try and catch these girls out.' Sister act! Matty 'J' Johnson brought his big sister Kate into the mansion to grill the remaining contestants on Wednesday's The Bachelor 'When Kate arrived and we realised she was actually hanging around for the day, I was going into analytical mode,' said a worried Jen Hawke. 'What is going on? What is the point of this? Is she here for her own peace of mind or is she here to do some sussing out for Matty?' She finished: 'Sisters do have a good read on people and she might see a side to somebody that Matty hasn't seen yet.' Kate came in ready to cause drama, saying right off the bat: 'I want to try and catch these girls out' 'When Kate arrived and we realised she was actually hanging around for the day, I was going into analytical mode,' said a worried Jen Hawke Leah then chimed in: 'Kate was quite scary with Georgia Love on The Bachelorette, so I'm very intimidated and not quite sure how this is gonna go down.' The other ladies speculated that Leah's secrets would be exposed by Kate. 'Leah does seem really stressed out that Kate's here and I think Leah might have something she's hiding,' said Elora. 'I wouldn't my brother to be with her,' said Florence. 'Kate was quite scary with Georgia Love on The Bachelorette, so I'm very intimidated and not quite sure how this is gonna go down,' said Leah 'Leah does seem really stressed out that Kate's here and I think Leah might have something she's hiding,' said Elora Kate then took Leah aside for some one-on-one time - and a grilling. 'So are you just a full-time student at the moment?' asked Kate. Leah, who has been exposed off-camera as a topless entertainer, responded: 'So full-time student and then I run my own business as well, so doing parties, events.' Leah later added: 'I think a lot of the girls, you know, do want their 10 seconds of fame and to be a little bit known and... You know, it's fame, and if you fall in love, it's a cherry on top.' She's no stranger to daring displays on Instagram. And Emily Ratajkowski didn't disappoint as she stepped out in an edgy ensemble in LA on Tuesday. And the model turned actress, 26, turned up the heat later in the day, taking to Instagram in a skimpy bikini. Scroll down for video Turning head! Emily Ratajkowski didn't disappoint as she stepped out in an edgy ensemble in LA on Tuesday Dressed in a low-hanging striped bardot blouse, Emily put on a nautical display, teaming the effortless look with a pair of jeans and quirky sunglasses. Coordinating her accessories, she matched a pair of sand-coloured wedges with a pretty straw clutch bag as she stopped at a gas station. Later in the day she posted a racy good night video clad in a high cut bikini. The brunette beauty showed off her famous abs in the crop top ensemble, making the most of the flattering evening lighting. Sizzling! The model turned actress, 26, turned up the heat later in the day, taking to Instagram in a skimpy bikini Hot stuff! The brunette beauty showed off her famous abs in the crop top ensemble, making the most of the flattering evening lighting On Monday Emily took to Instagram for another mini photo shoot. The model posed in a bikini for the popular social network platform. In the snap, the UK native turned her head to one side as if to run her fingers through her hair. 'Magic hour,' read Emily's caption. Dressed in a low-hanging striped bardot blouse, Emily put on a nautical display, teaming the effortless look with a pair of jeans and quirky sunglasses Posing: On Monday, Emily Ratajkowski, 26, took to Instagram for a mini photo shoot Social media fan: She adores sharing pictures of herself in hopes to advance her brand With her many shoots and work as a model, she does her best to remain slim. During an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Emily admitted that she actually 'eats a lot.' 'I'm not someone who cooks. I'm someone who eats...alot,' she began. 'You should see my refrigerator. It's pretty insane. I have a relationship with Postmates. It's basically Indian food, Thai food, and preferably when I'm horizontal in bed.' I've had people come over and watch me eat and then say, like, "I've lost all respect for you."' 'I have a relationship with Postmates': With her many shoots and work as a model, she does her best to remain slim. During an interview with Jimmy Kimmel , Emily admitted that she actually 'eats a lot' Up until next year, Emily will star in four films. She'll join Natalie Dormer in the thriller In Darkness, and take the lead in the romance flick, Cruise. In 2018, she, along with Amy Schumer and Michelle Williams, will join forces for the comedy, I Feel Pretty. Additionally, Emily will join Aaron Paul for the drama, Welcome Home, about a couple who's getaway trip turns into a nightmare. They are two of the longest-standing models for the brand, having both held their 'Angel' titles for over a decade. So it is no wonder Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio took centre stage as they embarked on a raunchy Victoria's Secret photo shoot on Tuesday. Slipping into daring leather chaps, 36-year-old Adriana gave a flash of her famously peachy derriere as she posed seductively with her model pal on a ranch in Colorado, for the cowboy-themed shoot. Scroll down for video Yee-ha! Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio took centre stage as they embarked on a raunchy cowboy-themed Victoria's Secret shoot on Tuesday Cheeky: Slipping into daring leather chaps, 36-year-old Adriana gave a flash of her famously peachy derriere as she posed seductively with her model pal on a ranch in Colorado Adriana certainly set pulses racing during the shoot, as she posed in a risque pair of cut-out trousers - similar to that of Christina Aguilera in her Dirrty days. The chaps clung to her enviably slender legs with their leather material at the front, before falling completely open at the back to display her pert posterior, clad in a barely-there thong, to all. Also splitting into a cut-out at the front, the trousers revealed the lingerie's metallic print, before securing at her waist with a classic Western studded belt. Going hell for leather: Adriana certainly set pulses racing during the shoot, as she posed in a risque pair of cut-out trousers Oh (cow)boy! Clinging to her slender legs at the front, the trousers then fell completely open at the back to display her pert posterior, clad in a barely-there thong, to all Cut-out for the catwalk: Also splitting into a cut-out at the front, the trousers revealed the lingerie's metallic print Rear she is! The risque trousers left almost nothing to the imagination as she crouched down for photos, revealing her posterior to all Skimpy: Only upping the sex appeal further, Adriana teamed the risque bottoms with a matching push-up bra, layered beneath a tight leather lace-up bralet Throwback: The trousers were reminiscent of the famous pairs worn by Christina Agilera (right) during her promotion for her Dirrty album Only upping the sex appeal further, Adriana teamed the risque bottoms with a matching push-up bra, layered beneath a tight leather lace-up bralet. Keeping attention on her striking look, the Brazilian-born stunner kept her make-up natural and left her hair in loose waves - proving her natural beauty as she posed. She tied her ensemble together with a jet black cowboy hat, in keeping with the shoot's theme, as she worked the camera fiercely and effortlessly beside Alessandra. Effortless: Keeping attention on her striking look, the Brazilian-born stunner kept her make-up natural and left her hair in loose waves Awkward: However Adriana appeared to struggle with her barely-there look at one point, as she chatted to photographers Hats off to her: She tied her ensemble together with a jet black cowboy hat, in keeping with the shoot's theme, as she worked the camera fiercely and effortlessly beside Alessandra (left) Sherrif-ic! Meanwhile her fellow model, also 36, posed in nothing but a black lingerie set during the shoot, layered beneath a sheriff's cape Svelte: The plain bra plunged at her chest to showcase her eye-popping cleavage, and was paired with nothing but lace briefs to leave her rock hard abs on show Dramatic: Alessandra kept the look demure with a billowing black cape, and added a belt complete with a keyring and gun holster, to embody her Sheriff character Meanwhile her fellow model, also 36, posed in nothing but a black lingerie set during the shoot, layered beneath a sheriff's cape. The plain bra plunged at her chest to showcase her eye-popping cleavage, and was paired with nothing but lace briefs to leave her rock hard abs and tiny waist on show. Following the campaign's theme however, Alessandra kept the look demure with a billowing black cape, and added a belt complete with a keyring and gun holster, to embody her Sheriff character. Nothing to see here! Later taking a break, Josephine Skriver (above) then took centre stage as she embarked on her very racy part of the shoot with a horse Flashy lady: The Danish model, 24, sported the same raunchy pair of chaps as Adriana - but rid herself of a top altogether, concealing her modesty with nothing but her hands In the nude: Pressing against her chest to accentuate her cleavage, the blonde's enviably toned stomach and abs then stole the show as she left her upper body completely bare Strike a pose: She first posed beside the steed, with plenty of her smooth skin on show Remaining sexy from head to toe however, she elongated her already statuesque frame with knee-high heeled boots, and styled her hair into big, tousled waves as she smouldered for the cameras. The girls were seen strutting through the grass for a number of powerful shots, before Adriana was later seen draping herself sultrily across a bench in her traditional get-up. Later taking a break, Josephine Skriver then took centre stage as she embarked on her very racy part of the shoot with a horse. The Danish model, 24, sported the same raunchy pair of chaps as Adriana - but rid herself of a top altogether, concealing her modesty with nothing but her hands. Giddy up girl: She left her hair in loose, natural waves and added a matching black cowboy hat to that of her co-stars Let's do this: Josephine happily worked with and controlled the horse as they posed for a number of photos Abs-olutely fabulous: Her impossibly slender frame and defined abs were clear to see as she worked the camera Life's peachy! The model displayed her enviably peachy derriere in the trousers, and flashed her delicate and lace briefs underneath New girl in town: Josephine has walked in the annual Victoria's Secret fashion show consecutively since 2013, but was only named an Angel last year, as one of their younger stars Pressing against her chest to accentuate her cleavage, the blonde's enviably toned stomach and abs then stole the show as she left her upper body completely bare. First posing beside the steed, with plenty of her smooth skin on show, the beauty then pressed her frame against the outside of the ranch cabin, in further sultry images for the campaign. Josephine has walked in the annual Victoria's Secret fashion show consecutively since 2013, but was only named an Angel last year, as one of their younger stars. However, it is no Adriana and Alessandra were chosen to star in the shoot, as they are two of the brand's most famous faces. Dynamic duo: However, it is no Adriana and Alessandra were chosen to star in the shoot, as they are two of the brand's most famous faces Leading lady: Adriana was enlisted by the brand back in 1999, making the brunette their longest-running model No rest: Proving her reputation as an in demand model, Alessandra was seen in New York only a day after the shoot Chic: The star flaunted her slender frame in thigh-skimming denim shorts and a casual white tank Grunge girl: She teamed the look with chunky black boots, but carried a sleek Louis Vuitton handbag on her arm in a glamorous finishing touch Shady lady: She tied her look together with trendy rounded sunglasses as she strutted her stuff in the Big Apple Adriana was enlisted by the brand back in 1999, making the brunette their longest-running model, and bagging her the title of 'the most valuable Victoria's Secret Angel' in 2017. Meanwhile Alessandra was selected as the first spokesmodel for the brand's PINK line back in 2006, and went on to wear the brand's heaviest wings ever at their annual fashion show in 2011. The photo shoot was conducted by photographer Jerome Duran and director Michael Bay. Edward Razek, senior creative at Victoria's Secret, took to his social media to reveal the extravagance of the shoot to fans, and thank the models for their efforts. Posting an image of himself beside a number of the iconic beauties, he wrote: '13 Angels, 2 photographers, a crew of 100+, one big time director, and an $80 million ranch - no one does Holiday like Victoria's Secret does Holiday!' She recently admitted she was left with horrific side effects after undergoing a botched nose job. And Chloe Khan boldly shared a post-surgery snap that demonstrated the extent of her injuries on her Instagram story on Tuesday. The image depicts the Celebrity Big Brother star with a bloody, taped-up nose and swollen, dark eyes that look difficult to even open. Scroll down for video Candid: Chloe Khan boldly shared a post-surgery snap that demonstrated the extent of her injuries following her recent nose job on her Instagram story on Tuesday The tape, coupled with an array of pads covering her septum and upper lip area, leave the 26-year-old difficult to recognise. The post comes after the glamour model revealed the devastating side effects of her recent nose job on This Morning. Detailing the problems sustained by the operation, Chloe emotionally divulged: 'I can't breathe or smell through my nose anymore'. Explaining that she's spent an incredible 100k on overall surgery, Chloe admitted she thought she had done thorough research before committing to a new surgeon for her additional nose job - after she was unhappy with the results of her first one. Honest: The post comes after the glamour model revealed the devastating side effects of her nose job on This Morning 'My first nose surgery was on Harley Street, a British surgeon, conservative and minimal. He didn't want it to look freakish but I wanted it to be small. They wouldnt do what I wanted,' she said, her reason for deciding against returning to them. 'I stalked this surgeon for two years on Instagram', she said, explaining her journey to finding her new doctor. 'He looked amazing. I looked at lots of different options, but it looked as though he was the best in the world, and he was in the Ukraine so I went there. 'I felt this guy in Ukraine would do exactly what I wanted'. Peachy! Chloe recently revealed the results of a recent Brazilian Butt Lift as she took to the waves on a jet ski Much-needed break: The CBB star is currently enjoying some summer sun in the balmy climes of Barcelona But she was left more than disappointed with the results, slamming the surgeon. 'I woke up during surgery,' she described, horrifically. 'It was a disaster from the get go'. 'I have to tape it 20 hours a day with a roll of medical tape,' she revealed angrily. 'I looks okay because it's the morning right now, but in three hours it will look worse'. Horrific: Chloe has been left unable to breathe or smell through her nose 'I feel embarrassed to talk about it, and it's stupid, I wake up with nose bleeds, I can't smell perfume.. but it's a vanity thing', she admitted. Meanwhile, Chloe - who is enjoying a holiday in Barcelona - recently revealed the results of a recent Brazilian Butt Lift as she took to the waves on a jet ski. Flaunting the impressive results of her operation, the Playboy model showcased her surgically-enhanced rear in a tiny white bikini. She captioned the snap: 'leave your attitude at the front door or leave "..... me:.........'. She sent shock waves across the globe after announcing that her seemingly picture-perfect to Chris Pratt was over. And Anna Faris has offered further insight into the breakdown of her union, as she took to the podcast My Favourite Murder on Tuesday. The 40-year-old American actress was dishing out relationship advice to a caller when she revealed: 'Life is too short to be in relationships where you feel this isn't fully right or somebody doesn't have your back, or somebody doesn't fully value you.' Scroll down for video 'Know your worth': Anna Faris, 40, has offered further insight into the breakdown of her marriage to Chris Pratt, as she took to the podcast My Favourite Murder on Tuesday Anna continued her heartfelt message: 'Don't be afraid to feel your independence if things aren't right.' She drew on her own failed romance with Chris, as she reflected: 'I made that mistake, I think, a little bit, like "I'm checking my relationship off the list" and if that would be the final piece of advice I could give you, that would be know your worth, know your independence.' 'There are so many people out there, there's so much life experience, I hope you get to live it all and experience a whole lot of people,' she concluded. Her words come after she thanked her fans for their support amid her split from husband Chris. The actress was dishing out relationship advice to a caller when she revealed: 'Life is too short to be in relationships where you feel this isn't fully right or somebody doesn't have your back, or somebody doesn't fully value you' Anna continued her heartfelt message: 'Don't be afraid to feel your independence if things aren't right' 'Know your worth, know your independence': The beauty drew on her own failed romance with Chris as she gave the caller some relationship advice The star was speaking on her Unqualified podcast on Tuesday and gave a short statement at the start. 'Hey, dear listeners!' she said. 'I just want to thank you all so much for all the love I've been receiving, and I truly love you.' It's the first comments the Mom star has made following the bombshell news that she has separated from her husband of eight years. On August 6 the actors released a joint statement on social media which read: 'We are sad to announce we are legally separating, 'I truly love you': Her words come after she thanked her fans for their support in her podcast on Tuesday following her split from Chris Thanking her fans for the support: The American beauty was speaking on her Unqualified podcast and gave a short statement at the start 'We tried hard for a long time, and were really disappointed. Our son has two parents who love him very much and for his sake we went to keep this situation as private as possible moving forward. We still love each other and will always cherish our time together.' Meanwhile, Chris, 38, was spotted leaving LA on a private jet with an unidentified blonde female companion on Monday. It's not known where Chris was going or if the mystery blonde was an assistant or production coordinator, but she boarded the plane with the star. Chris made his first high-profile appearance at the Teen Choice Awards on Sunday to accept his award for Choice Sci-Fi Movie Actor. Chris made his first high-profile appearance at the Teen Choice Awards on Sunday to accept his award for Choice Sci-Fi Movie Actor The Parks and Recreation star didn't touch on the split at all, but did joke about his rise in Hollywood, something many sources say lead to his split with Anna The Parks and Recreation star didn't touch on the split at all, but did joke about his rise in Hollywood, something many sources say lead to his split with Anna. The speech, which was an attempt at self-deprecation, saw Chris detail how his career in the industry began. 'When I came to Los Angeles,' Pratt said, 'I came from Hawaii and I had all of this blond hair and I was tan and I met an agent because I really wanted to be an actor and get an agent.' He then said that the agent asked, '"Wow. Bro you must surf?" And I said "Yeah" and that was the first of many lies I told to get where I am today. Thank you.' While he did not thank his soon to be ex wife, he did leave on a religious note: 'I would not be here with the ease and grace I have in my heart without my lord and savior, Jesus Christ.' Anna and Chris, who married in 2009 after meeting on the set of Take Me Home Tonight, have a son, four-year-old Jack, together. The Kardashians have always been open with their lives on their hit reality TV series Keeping Up With The Kardashians, which has been on the air for 10 years. But in the new issue of The Hollywood Reporter, they opened up more than ever, sharing some new details from their past that are shocking. Kim Kardashian, 36, admitted that she almost didn't marry Kris Humphries while Khloe Kardashian, 32, claimed it was Lamar Odom's idea to do a reality TV spinoff and not hers in the bombshell interview that also includes juicy admissions from Kris, 62, Kourtney, 38, Kendall, 21, and Kylie, 19. Rob Kardashian, 30, was not a part of the interview. Not a happy day: Kim Kardashian has told the new issue of The Hollywood Reporter that she had anxiety before marrying Kris Humphries in 2011 Sensational: Kim looked stunning in her photo shoot for the weekly magazine Kim wed basketball star Humphries in August 2011. The $6m wedding was filmed by E! for a KUWTK special, bringing in $10 million in ad revenue, according to the site. It was a success financially but not in real life. And Kim says she knew it was not going to work before she even said 'I do.' The KKW Beauty mogul told the site: 'There was all this attention on the wedding, and I thought maybe it was just the pressure of the show giving me this anxiety. 'My friends told me I just had cold feet, but even the producers said, "You don't seem happy. You don't have to go through with this."' She spills: The 36-year-old said: My friends told me I just had cold feet, but even the producers said, "You don't seem happy. You don't have to go through with this."' The entire family appeared on the cover of HR They won't stop: The family talked about their show being 10-years old Kim added: 'The night before, my mom pulled me aside, off camera, and was like, "This isn't it for you. Why don't you go away and I'll handle it?" 'I felt like, if I pulled out now, everyone's going to think I just did it for the show. Then afterwards, people were saying, "You have to stay married for a year," but I physically couldn't do it. 'When I made the decision [to divorce], everyone said it was made up for the show. Everyone really wanted to take me down.' Her family: The Vogue cover star also talked about current husband Kanye West's reluctance to be on KUWTK; here they are seen in April with kids North and Saint Ryan Seacrest, a producer and co-creator on the show, said: 'I remember when Kim called me after the wedding. It was just a few days after, and she just didn't feel like it was right. She was very candid and open. Kim interjected: 'Think about this realistically: If it was for the show don't you think we would have found someone that signed off? 'Someone OK with getting married and getting divorced two months later? If it's for a show don't you think you'd want as little legal trouble as possible? 'This was real emotions, real feelings. People f*** up.' Painful: The Selfish author also said she didn't like filming when pregnant. 'I looked like such a cow and I can't stand to see those episodes. I would say, "Try to film me more from chest up, so it looks better," but I look like a blob.' Seen in 2013 The Vogue cover girl then talked about her current husband Kanye West, with whom she has two children Saint and North. The rapper, 40, has never agreed to star on the show, but he is seen now and then. She said: 'Kanye was like, "I'm not a part of the show. That's not what I do. I have my own career and life." 'He'll really surprise you though. He'll be like, "I'm not filming" and then randomly show up. But I will get [the footage] and show him. 'He knew I would love to have my engagement on camera so he filmed it and he said, "The look might be a little different because I need these type of cameras," and got music clearance. Not HER idea: Another revelation in the interview was how Khloe was not the one to push for a spinoff with Lamar Odom, who she divorced in 2016 Shocker: 'I never wanted to do Khloe & Lamar,' she said. The show ran for two seasons in 2011 and 2012. 'My ex-husband did. He sold it to E!, and I let it happen because I wanted him to be happy. I was the one who canceled it. It was way too much' Moved on: Here Khloe is seen in LA on Monday. She now dates Tristan Thompson 'But I won't really ever talk about something that's going on with Kanye. I'll talk about how I feel. He knows that I'm really protective of him.' And his need for privacy prevented her from having their Italian nuptials filmed. Ryan said: 'We had no intention of showing our wedding on the show. It was shot with only iPhones and my assistant on a handycam. 'She was literally standing on top of a castle and freezing, because we knew we wanted to capture this gorgeous walk from up above. 'People were yelling at her like, "You can't film up there!" But then we loved the footage so much, [we used some of it on the show].' Kim also said the hardest thing to film was 'probably Caitlyn's transition and just seeing my mom and Khloe having such a hard time.' Hard to deal with: It was also revealed the family had a hard time filming episodes that had to do with Caitlyn's transition; seen in 2016 She added: 'We never really edited content before, but we did edit a bit of Khloe's reaction just because she was so upset.' The Selfish author also said she didn't like filming when pregnant. 'I looked like such a cow and I can't stand to see those episodes. I would say, "Try to film me more from chest up, so it looks better," but I look like a blob.' Another revelation in the interview was how Khloe was not the one to push for a spinoff with Lamar Odom, who she divorced in 2016 after he almost died from an overdose while visiting prostitutes in a brothel in Nevada in 2015.. United: Kendall and Kylie, seen here with Kim and Khloe, also talked 'I never wanted to do Khloe & Lamar,' she said. The show ran for two seasons in 2011 and 2012. 'My ex-husband did. He sold it to E!, and I let it happen because I wanted him to be happy. I was the one who canceled it. It was way too much.' Kourtney also weighed in. She said the hardest episode to film was her break-up with Scott Disick. 'I had a lot of anxiety about it, and finally said let's just get this over with. I sat down and started crying. You go through something, and then you move past it. 'Then you do your interview, and get all riled up again. And then you see the episode, and start seeing all these comments [on social media].' Kourt's pain: Kourtney also weighed in. She said the hardest episode to film was her break-up with Scott Disick. 'I had a lot of anxiety about it, and finally said let's just get this over with.' Seen in 2015 The way they were: Here Scott and Kourtney are seen in April 2015, just before their split; they have three children together The family also went into why the show is so popular and which shows no signs of slowing: On September 24, a 90-minute special will celebrate the series' 10th anniversary. E! agreed to a reported $80 million deal to keep the family through season 14. Ryan said: 'I remember Kris saying, "In order for this to work, yes, there's a glitz and glamour, but there's got to be honesty and vulnerability. We need to make a pact that the show won't just be pretty pictures. 'As time goes by, you see some of the most vulnerable moments. There was a deliberate intent to be vulnerable and capture that from the beginning.' 'I sat everyone down and said, "If we're going to do this, we have to be all in. We have to really be who we are," Kris said. The early years: The family also went into why the show is so popular and which shows no signs of slowing: On September 24, a 90-minute special will celebrate the series' 10th anniversary. Here Kourtney, Khloe and Kim are seen in 2011 Kendall added: 'I was like, "Whatever. What am I having for lunch tomorrow?" She didn't make it seem like it was going to last this long.' And Kim said. 'I don't think any of us thought it would.' Kris added that she got 'resistance' from Kourtney. 'She was sort of skeptical,' said the momager. Kourtney: 'I remember in season one being like, "I have to go the bathroom," and I'd cry in there as quietly as I could because I was still mic'd. I never want to cry in front of cameras.' Khloe added: 'I don't think we knew what we were even saying yes to. Everything was just super-fast. Kim and my mom were steering the ship. We were just like, "Tell us where to be and we'll be there."' 'When we would travel, I remember people calling mine, Kourtney, and Khloe's names and we thought they knew us from high school or something. We just didn't get it. 'Then they started chasing us down at the airport. That was the first time that we were like, "Oh my God,"' said Kim. Mogul: Kim has been plugging her new KKW Beauty product which comes out this month Kendall then added: 'Kylie and I did a magazine signing for Seventeen, and it was at some store at The Grove and we had a crazy line around the corner. 'The store owner came up to us and said, "Justin Bieber was here a week ago and didn't get this response."' The Fendi model then said: 'The beauty of having older sisters is you learn so many lessons from them. 'I've seen how their relationships have played out on TV so I learned that lesson. I I feel like it's just better to keep it more private.' In October 2016, Kim was robbed at gunpoint in Paris. The new billionaire: Kylie Jenner, 19, has made a fortune off her makeup line that includes the popular Lip Kits Kris touched on that, saying: 'Every time I tried to watch the episode when Kim shares her experience getting robbed in Paris, I couldn't even get through it to give my notes. 'I was crying so hard. I would watch it and then cry, cry, cry and then start over. It was very difficult for me to watch my daughter in that kind of pain.' Kim added: 'I was OK to show my struggles, because there was no way that I was going to allow it to damage me and make me a different person for my kids. I wasn't going to allow it to debilitate me from being be the mom that I need to be. Jenner also addressed the haters that have tried to tear the family down. She said: 'People write and say the nastiest things and they've never met you. They have miserable lives, they have no direction, and probably no job. I mean for anybody to sit and be on the internet all day long. 'It always shocks me when I see such stupidity and really toxic energy,' said the star who dates Corey Gamble. The latest issue of The Hollywood Reporter is on sale on newsstands now. The hugely popular dancing competition will waltz back onto our screens for a 15th season this autumn. And the upcoming series has attracted a host of new professionals, like Ukrainian Playboy model Nadiya Bychkova, who was spotted leaving rehearsals in London. The 28-year-old showcased her slim physique in a simple pair of jeans as she joined ecstatic newlyweds Aljaz Skorjanec and Janette Manrara on Wednesday. Scroll down for video Looking good: Ukrainian former Playboy model and Strictly newcomer Nadiya Bychkova (left) was spotted leaving rehearsals in London on Wednesday Nadiya, who appeared on the front cover of Slovenia's Playboy in 2015 and FHM in 2012, kept her look understated in a graphic-print T-shirt and trainers. The blonde bombshell was joined by fellow professional Luba Mushtuk, who looked chic in a monochrome outfit. Nadiya is joined by fellow newbies Dianne Buswell, 28, from Australia and Amy Dowden, 26, from Wales. The trio replace a series of leaving professionals like Joanne Clifton - who quit the show after winning the last series with Ore Oduba. Nadiya will fill the shoes of Kristina Rihanoff, 39, known for her fiery and sultry personality Happy couple: Hot on her heels were Aljaz and Janette - who got married in July - and looked the picture of newlywed bliss as they flashed wide grins at the camera Quite the line-up: Neil Jones, Otlile Mabuse, Nadiya Bychkova and Luba Mushtuk looked chic as they left rehearsals Nadiya - who is a two-time World Champion and European Champion in Ballroom and Latin '10' Dance - previously competed on the Bosnian version of 'Strictly' and she is looking forward to impressing the UK fans. She said: 'I'm extremely happy to be joining the 'Strictly Come Dancing' family this year. One of my biggest dreams is to be part of this great show and I can't wait to get started.' Explaining that her time in front of the camera only helps her dancing abilities, she explained to The Sun: 'Modelling is very closely connected with dance. 'Both require the art of performance and a suitable appearance.' Clearly relishing being a part of the Strictly cast, Nadiya shared an Instagram snap of the group during rehearsals, writing: 'So happy to be part of this amazing family!' Hot on her heels were Aljaz and Janette - who got married in July - and looked the picture of newlywed bliss as they flashed wide grins at the camera. Stealig the limelight: Nadiya, 28, appeared on the front cover of Slovenia's Playboy and FHM in 2015 Stunning: She was 'handpicked' for her 'outstanding credentails', The Sun claimed 'Part of an amazing family': Clearly relishing being a part of the Strictly cast, Nadiya shared an Instagram snap of the group during rehearsals Aljaz and Janette's London celebration was spread across three different locations a legal ceremony at Chelsea Old Town Hall, the wedding breakfast at Heron Towers Duck and Waffle before the party at Victorian Bath House in Bishopsgate. There was certainly no shortage of celebrity guests waiting to take a spin on the gold-mirrored dancefloor. Among those were Zoe Ball, Frankie and Wayne Bridge, Ore Oduba and wife Portia. Talking about seeing his bride for the first time in her Julien Macdonald creation, Aljaz told OK! magazine: 'Janette looked so beautiful. She looked just like a Disney princess' I love everything about Janette. We do everything together and I love it all. I think we are like one person. Janette added: 'Meeting and marrying Aljaz is a dream come true. He is my Prince Charming. Im going to start crying again! Peace out: Karen Clifton showcased her toned dancer's physique in a yellow vest and skintight leggings Turning heads: Fellow professional Luba Mushtuk looked chic in a monochrome outfit Guests were wowed by the speeches, in which Aljaz told Janette: 'Six years ago you stole my heart and it will always be yours. Meanwhile, as Strictly fever starts to sweep the nation, the ninth celebrity contestant set to feature on the show has been revealed. Scottish comedian and actress Susan Calman, 45, was announced for the line-up on Tuesday, but the latest addition divided fans of the BBC show. She joins former JLS star Aston Merrygold, 29, Sunday Brunch star Simon Rimmer, Holby City actor Joe McFadden, Reverend Richard Coles, Gemma Atkinson, Ruth Langsford, Davood Ghadami and Mollie King. Come here you! Anton Du Beke wrapped a laughing Janette in a massive hug Looking good! Anton cut a dapper figure in a cream knit and navy shorts The official start date for the upcoming series has not been released - but each series starts at the end of September and continues on until the final just before Christmas. This year, the judging panel has been shaken after head judge Len Goodman retired. He will be replaced by Shirley Ballas who joins existing judges Bruno Tonioli, Darcey Bussell and Craig Revel-Horwood. Hunk: Series heartthrob Gorka Marquez kept things casual in grey joggers and trainers Bella Thorne forgot her double-stick tape on Tuesday night while arriving to a Los Angeles afterparty and subsequently suffered an epic nip slip due to the wardrobe malfunction. The 19-year-old bisexual wildchild exposed her perky surgically-enhanced assets while clad in a Beach Riot 'Eclipse' one-piece under an ultra-sheer maxi skirt. The You Get Me actress kept her head down and was joined by two male friends. Scroll down for video Oops! Bella Thorne forgot her double-stick tape on Tuesday night while arriving to a Los Angeles afterparty and subsequently suffered an epic nip slip due to the wardrobe malfunction Bella had spent the evening clubbing with Keeping Up with the Kardashians bad-boy Scott Disick (not pictured) at 21+ Hollywood hotspot Avenue The underage selfie enthusiast shared several Snapchats of her night out with her captive, combined 32.4M followers. It's a shame the Just Call songstress can't use her social media influening powers on more than vainglorious pictures of herself. Embarrassing: The 19-year-old bisexual wildchild exposed her perky surgically-enhanced assets while clad in a Beach Riot 'Eclipse' one-piece under an ultra-sheer maxi skirt Teenager: The You Get Me actress kept her head down and was joined by two male friends How did she get in? Bella had spent the evening clubbing with Keeping Up with the Kardashians bad-boy Scott Disick (not pictured) at 21+ Hollywood hotspot Avenue Tongue out: The underage selfie enthusiast shared several Snapchats of her night out with her captive, combined 32.4M followers Razor blade necklace: It's a shame the Just Call songstress can't use her social media influencing powers on more than vainglorious pictures of herself Thorne's sighting with the 34-year-old father-of-three came after parading her latest flavor of the month, heavily-tattooed hip-hop star Blackbear, at the Teen Choice Awards on Sunday. The 26-year-old Do Re Me rapper (born Matthew Musto) will next headline the Billboard Hot 100 Music Festival in New York on August 19. Bella has been previously romantically linked to Chandler Parsons, Charlie Puth, Tyler Posey, and his White Frog co-star Gregg Sulkin all in the last year. Twinning: Thorne's sighting with the 34-year-old father-of-three came after parading her latest flavor of the month, heavily-tattooed hip-hop star Blackbear, at Sunday's Teen Choice Awards Busy: Bella has been previously romantically linked to Chandler Parsons, Charlie Puth, Tyler Posey (L), and his White Frog co-star Gregg Sulkin (M) all in the last year On Saturday, the half-Cuban beauty told Minneapolis alternative artist Call Me Karizma (born Morgan Parriott) she'd text him about recording a new song. And on August 9, the magenta-haired millennial and her Famous in Love castmates announced on Facebook that Freeform renewed their series for a second season. In it, Bella plays college student-turned-movie star Paige Townsen. 'Lemme text you!' On Saturday, the half-Cuban beauty told Minneapolis alternative artist Call Me Karizma (born Morgan Parriott) she'd text him about recording a new song He's enjoyed a stellar Hollywood career with more than 50 years in the industry under his belt. And Clint Eastwood, 87, looked passionate about his latest project as he arrived on the set of his forthcoming movie, The 15:17 To Paris, in Venice, Italy, on Wednesday. The widely-publicized film tells the real-life tale of three American heroes who thwarted a terrorist attack on a train in Paris, France, in August 2015 by bravely tackling an AK-wielding gunman. Scroll down for video Ready for action: Clint Eastwood, 87, looked passionate about his latest project as he arrived on the set of his forthcoming movie, The 15:17 To Paris, in Venice, Italy, on Wednesday The movie is based on book of the same title by Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos and Spencer Stone, who together subdued a terrorist who opened fire inside a train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris carrying more than 500 passengers. In an unusual move for the film industry, all three heroes are playing themselves. Child actors will play the trio in flashback scenes as the movie sets out to explore who the men are and what drove them to react they way they did on that fateful day. Eastwood looked relaxed as he brought the crew to the canal-bound Italian city on Wednesday, wearing light grey slacks and a dark grey polo, with a straw fedora to keep the summer sun off his face. True story: The widely-publicized film tells the real-life tale of three American heroes who thwarted a terrorist attack on a train in Paris, France, in August 2015 by tackling a gunman Wat-er way to travel: The movie legend arrived in style, chartering an iconic water taxi to navigate the submerged streets Dramatic: The movie is based on book of the same title by Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos and Spencer Stone, who together subdued a terrorist who opened fire inside a train The octogenarian arrived in style, chartering an iconic water taxi to navigate the submerged streets. Eastwood seemed happy and relaxed as he chatted to his crew on set as they prepared for another busy day of filming. The Thalys train was en route from Amsterdam to Paris, via Brussels; it is unknown what part of the story Eastwood was filming in Venice. The film also stars The Office's Jenna Fischer in an as-yet-unspecified role, and Judy Greer, who according to Deadline will play 'an independent and fiercely religious single mother who always has a glass half full type of mindset'. Laid back: Eastwood looked relaxed as he brought the crew to the canal-bound Italian city on Wednesday, wearing light grey slacks and a dark grey polo, with a straw fedora Plenty to smile about: Eastwood seemed happy and relaxed as he chatted to his crew on set as they prepared for another busy day of filming Mystery: The Thalys train was en route from Amsterdam to Paris, via Brussels; it is unknown what part of the story Eastwood was filming in Venice Sadler, a civilian, Skarlatos, an Oregon National Guardsman, and Stone, an Airman, grew up together in the Sacramento-area of California. They were vacationing in Europe when they tackled Ayoub El-Khazzani, a man who authorities said had ties to radical Islam. El-Khazzani had boarded the Paris-bound train with a Kalashnikov rifle, pistol and box cutter. Speaking shortly after the attack, Sadler said: 'We heard a gunshot, and we heard glass breaking behind us, and saw a train employee sprint past us down the aisle.' 'As he was cocking it to shoot it, Alek just yells, "Spencer, go!" And Spencer runs down the aisle. Diversion: The Thalys train was en route from Amsterdam to Paris, via Brussels; it is unknown what part of the story Eastwood was filming in Venice Breaking boundaries: In an unusual move for the film industry, all three heroes are playing themselves, which Eastwood has been widely praised for Real life American heroes: President Barack Obama awarded the men a series of medals in a special event at the Pentagon in recognition of their bravery in September 2015 What is The 15:17 To Paris about? The widely-publicized film tells the real-life tale of three American heroes who thwarted a terrorist attack on a train in Paris, France, in August 2015 by bravely tackling an AK-wielding gunman. The movie is based on book of the same title by Anthony Sadler, Alek Skarlatos and Spencer Stone, who together subdued a terrorist who opened fire inside a train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris carrying more than 500 passengers. In an unusual move for the film industry, all three heroes are playing themselves. Child actors will play the trio in flashback scenes as the movie sets out to explore who the men are and what drove them to react they way they did on that fateful day. Sadler, a civilian, Skarlatos, an Oregon National Guardsman, and Stone, an Airman, grew up together in the Sacramento-area of California. They were vacationing in Europe when they tackled Ayoub El-Khazzani, a man who authorities said had ties to radical Islam. El-Khazzani had boarded the Paris-bound train with a Kalashnikov rifle, pistol and box cutter. Advertisement 'Spencer makes first contact, he tackles the guy, Alek wrestles gun away from him, and the gunman pulls out a box cutter and slices Spencer a few times. And the three of us beat him until he was unconscious.' Also involved in the incident were British businessman Chris Norman, 62, French-American Mark Mooligan, 51, an off-duty train driver who did not wish to be identified and a 28-year-old French banker identified only as 'Damien A.' The trio were honored for their heroic acts with Stone receiving the Airman's Medal and Purple Heart; Skarlatos receiving the Soldier's Medal, and Sadler receiving the Secretary of Defense Medal for Valor. They were inducted as knights in the French Legion of Honor, and upon returning to America they were declared 'Sacramento Hometown Heroes' in a parade held for them. President Barack Obama also awarded the men a series of medals in a special event at the Pentagon. Eastwood himself met all three men at Spike TV's Guy's Choice awards in June last year, where he presented them with the Heroes Award. Eastwood was widely praised for his decision to cast the trio in the movie. Variety reported at the time of casting: 'Eastwood began a wide-ranging search for the actors who would portray the three Americans. 'The studio and Eastwood made their choices but at the 11th hour decided to have Sadler, Skarlatos and Stone portray themselves.' Eastwood's last two films, Sully and American Sniper, were also about real-life heroics, but this is the first time he has used real life people to play their characters. Groundbreaking: Eastwood's last two films, Sully and American Sniper, were also about real-life heroics, but this is the first time he has used real life people to play their characters The movie legend is also co-producing the film. Scott Disick called himself a 'sex addict' on Keeping Up With The Kardashians. And the 34-year-old reality TV star continued to prove that is true as she was seen with a new blonde beauty when leaving a nightclub in Hollywood on Tuesday night. The young lady seemed to have a bit of a wardrobe malfunction, however. When exiting the venue she nearly spilled out of her black lace bra. Another pretty lady on his arm: Scott Disick left a Hollywood nightclub with a pretty blonde on Tuesday evening Oops: The young lady seemed to have a bit of a wardrobe malfunction, however. When exiting the venue she nearly spilled out of her black lace bra Flashing it: The outfit looked like it was missing a top as her chest was exposed The girl showed off her chest in a black outfit with spaghetti straps and a very wide open neckline that went to her stomach. The number exposed her skimpy lace bra that could barely contain her assets. The blonde wore her hair up and had Jennifer Lopez-style gold hoop earrings and carried a black-and-white purse. Black boots looked comfortable. Le look: The blonde wore her hair up and had Jennifer Lopez-style gold hoop earrings and carried a black-and-white purse. Black boots looked comfortable Fresh: Disick looked ready to board Tommy Hilfiger's yacht with his blue-and-white striped T-shirt, blue sweats with a red stripe down the side and fresh-out-of-the-box white sneakers Here Kourtney and Scott are seen in April 2015 just before their split Disick looked ready to board Tommy Hilfiger's yacht. He had on a blue-and-white striped T-shirt, blue sweats with a red stripe down the side and fresh-out-of-the-box white sneakers. The star carried a cell phone and held onto a lit cigarette. He appeared to be a bit sleepy. The model and the bad boy of reality TV seemed to be leaving together with no friends in tow. Not present was his ex Kourtney Kardashian, 38, with whom he has three children: Mason, seven, Penelope, five, and Reign, two. But Scott and Kourtney have been seen together recently for the sake of their kids. His past: Disick has also been linked this year to actress Bella Thorne, who he posed with at the Teen Choice Awards last week. Also present was the beauty's new beau, rapper Blackbear The breakdown of Scott and Kourtney's relationship came after he was pictured getting close to stylist Chloe Bartoli in Monaco in the summer of 2015. Kourtney has moved on with Justin Bieber, and more recently, model Younnes. On Wednesday she talked to The Hollywood Reporter about her most difficult episode of KUWTK. The looker said it was when she had to talk about her split from Disick. 'I had a lot of anxiety about it, and finally said let's just get this over with. I sat down and started crying. You go through something, and then you move past it. 'Then you do your interview, and get all riled up again. And then you see the episode, and start seeing all these comments [on social media].' Disick has also been linked this year to actress Bella Thorne, who he posed with at the Teen Choice Awards last week. Also present was the beauty's new beau, rapper Blackbear. She traveled to Armenia with her family two years ago to learn more about her heritage. And Khloe Kardashian received a very meaningful gift from her boyfriend Tristan Thompson on Tuesday. The 33-year-old reality star proudly showed off the ornate gold and silver Armenian crest necklace, which she said her 'baby' made for her. Scroll down for video... Meaningful: Khloe Kardashian showed off the beautiful Armenian crest necklace her boyfriend made for her Don't sweat it! Khloe also shared a sexy promotional clip of herself rocking her Good American sweat pants on Wednesday 'Look at my Armenian crest that my baby made for me,' Khloe said in the video. 'I love it. Let's go, Armenia.' The reality star was clearly transfixed by the beautiful and significant new piece of jewelry, modeled after the Coat Of Arms, as she flashed it for her followers. A friend admired the super glamorous necklace in the background of another video. 'Look at how dope this is,' said the reality star's friend. 'Khloe is so Armenian.' Proud: The reality star was clearly transfixed by the beautiful ornament, modeled after the Coat Of Arms, as she flashed it for her followers White hot: The star toyed around with her sweatpants All about it: Khloe has been working hard on behalf of her clothing line Good American Khloe is half Armenian on the side of her late father, Robert Kardashian. In 2015, Khloe, her sister Kim, and their cousins journeyed to Armenia to learn more about their roots, and even met with the country's Prime Minister. The family paid their respects at the eternal flame of the Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex. Good Squad member: The video also featured Justin Bieber's ex Chantel Jeffries Aww: Tristan Thompson made an appearance on his girlfriend's Snapchat account Meanwhile, Khloe has been working hard on behalf of her clothing line Good American. The reality star released a new promotional video on Wednesday, as she continued to introduce her new line of Good American sweatpants. The video featured Justin Bieber's ex Chantel Jeffries. In the clip, Khloe seductively tugged at her white sweatpants to show off her plunging black bodysuit. 'How sick does my #GOODSQUAD look in their brand new @goodamerican GOOD SWEATS!? So many bada** beauties in my squad!!' she captioned the video. With the growing success of industry in Hamilton County, workforce challenges continue to arise as new companies move into our area and others look to replace retiring employees. The demands of these jobs often require highly-skilled and certified workers, which explains the increased focus on certification and job training in our community through Chattanooga 2.0 and programs like the Chattanooga Manufacturing Excellence Program. In correlation with the increased demand in our automotive and manufacturing industries and overall economic growth in and around Chattanooga, there has been a rapid rise in demand for skilled electricians. In October of 2016, the Watts Bar Unit 2 nuclear reactor was brought online for commercial operation. The $4.7 billion capital construction project was completed over a 5-year span and employed thousands of electrical workers, many of whom had to be brought in from other regions without enough workers locally to meet the demand. Now with the recent purchase of the stagnant Bellefonte Nuclear Station in Hollywood, AL by Nuclear Development, LLC., there will be even more demand for highly skilled electrical workers in our region. Nuclear Development plans to invest up to $13 billion to finish Bellefonte and hire 2,000 permanent, high-paying jobs along with up to 4,000 temporary construction jobs. Many of these 6,000 jobs will be in the electrical field. Work on Bellefonte is scheduled to begin in 2018. More demand for skilled electricians is coming to Chattanooga as companies continue to look to our area for growth. Googles $600 million data center is coming to Jackson County, TN. Wacker recently announced that work has begun on the $150 million plant expansion in Bradley County. The Erlanger Childrens Hospital recently broke ground on a new $40 million, three-story building scheduled to open in late 2018. These are only a few of the demands being placed on the electrical workers in our area. The amount of work coming to Chattanooga and within a 50-mile radius continues to grow rapidly. Jobs are here. Employers need manpower with the skills and certifications to fill these labor needs in Hamilton County and surrounding areas. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) are working hand-in-hand to meet this need, training residents and providing certifications through the Joint Apprenticeship Training Center (JATC), a training pipeline to prepare the next generation of skilled electrical technicians. Through training and apprenticeships, JATC enables students to become a journeyman level electrician, competent to professionally and safely work in our community. Upon graduation, IBEW and NECA work to place each student from the center into careers. Caleb Long, assistant business manager for IBEW Local 175, is a graduate of the JATC program and has built a successful career from the knowledge, experience, and opportunities provided by IBEW, NECA, and the JATC. Mr. Long now supports these job training efforts through his work with IBEW. He said, Our local IBEW is intensely focused on training and preparing local residents for high-demand career opportunities in our community, enabling contractor partners to be very profitable while offering our residents living wages and full benefits for their families. The JATC is a free five-year program in which students can work full-time throughout and graduate with zero college debt. Students generally attend classes from 6:00-8:45pm two days a week, enabling them to maintain jobs working 8-10 hour per day. Upon completion, students will have had 1,000 hours of classroom training and 9,000 hours of on the job training. Graduates average around $30/hour with pension retirement plans and full family medical coverage. The training and job placement efforts of the local IBEW 175 work to not only fulfill the industry demand in our community but often to bring opportunity and economic stability to families, ending the cycle of poverty and raising our entire community along the way. Chattanooga Councilwoman Demetrus Coonrod believes this program is a career pipeline for residents. The JATC has stepped up and continues to offer fully funded training for our community members that lead to lifelong careers and financial security for families. We are grateful for the work IBEW continues to do here in Chattanooga, Ms. Coonrod said. These efforts embody the mission of the Chattanooga 2.0 movement that is working to connect residents with the education and jobs they need to succeed. To continue our economic growth and attract more high-wage jobs, we must be able to meet the workforce demands, said Jared Bigham, executive director for Chattanooga 2.0. Our ability to connect students and residents with resources, like the certifications and job opportunities available through the electrical JATC, enables all residents to enjoy even greater economic success and opportunity. For residents who are interested in applying for for this free training and job placement program, visit www.chattanoogaelectricaljatc.com for more information. Thanks to a blunder in Spain, many people know what is going to happen in this weekend's episode of Game Of Thrones. But one fan has claimed the plot was telegraphed all the way back in 2012. A Reddit user named Sephelutis pointed to the final episode of season two, in which Daenerys has vivid visions of the future in the House of the Undying. Scroll down for video Called it: A Game Of Thrones fan theory has claimed the plot for the upcoming episode was telegraphed all the way back in 2012 In the episode, Dany's three infant dragons are stolen by a warlock named Pyat Pree, who wishes to imprison all four because it makes his magic stronger. This is the episode where she first realizes her babies can breathe fire, and Pree becomes their first ever victim. But it is the visions she has while searching the tower beforehand that have long been discussed by fans - and one believes he has figured it out. 'Next week, Dany will fulfill last bit of her vision in the house of undying,' he titled his post. In the vision, Daenerys stands in the decimated Red Keep, with snow falling through the roof. Prediction: A Reddit user named Sephelutis pointed to the final episode of season two, in which Daenerys has vivid visions of the future in the House of the Undying, after her dragons are stolen by the warlock Pyat Pree Wintrer came: In the vision, Daenerys stands in the decimated Red Keep, with snow falling through the roof. She is about to touch the Iron Throne but is pulled away by the cry of a young dragon Moon of my life: Not even the sight of he late husband Drogo and their unborn son Rhaego can keep her from answering the cry She is about to touch the Iron Throne but is pulled away by the cry of a young dragon. Not even the sight of he late husband Drogo and their unborn son Rhaego can keep her from answering the cry. 'She wanted to stay with Drogo and her unborn son, but a young dragon's cry pulled her away, when she leave the tent she suddenly end up at the wall,' he wrote. 'Conquest was never her purpose, there is a Young dragon out there in grave danger, he must live, and only she can save him, her true purpose has been this all along.' Theory: 'She wanted to stay with Drogo and her unborn son, but a young dragon's cry pulled her away, when she leave the tent she suddenly end up at the wall,' he wrote Family: He deduces that the 'young dragon is Jon Snow', whom she does not realize is her Targaryen-blooded nephew He deduces that the 'young dragon is Jon Snow', whom she does not realize is her Targaryen-blooded nephew. The teaser for season seven's penultimate episode shows Jon and his newly banded 'suicide squad' heading past The Wall on a harebrained scheme to catch a wight to bring back as proof of the Night King's army. The clip shows him being overwhelmed and pursued through the snow by the army of the undead, with little hope for survival - barring perhaps some fire-breathing air support. HBO Spain suffered an uncharacteristic gaffe this week after inadvertently broadcasting the forthcoming sixth episode from the current series of Game of Thrones, four days before its official screening date. Dracarys: This is the episode where she first realizes her babies can breathe fire, and Pree becomes their first ever victim Bail! The teaser for season seven's penultimate episode shows Jon and his newly banded 'suicide squad' heading past The Wall on a harebrained scheme to catch a wight to bring back as proof of the Night King's army On-demand subscribers to the pay-per-view channel had access to the latest instalment, titled Death Is The Enemy, for a full hour before the blunder was addressed and the episode removed - but not before it was ripped and shared online. The episode has since been uploaded to torrent sharing sites under the file name Game_of_Thrones_-_S07E06.flv, while various spoiler-laden scenes are available to watch on social media platforms Reddit, YouTube and Instagram. Referencing the incident, a spokesperson told MailOnline the error - which affected HBO in Spain and Nordic territories - was caused by 'a third party vendor.' Surrounded: The clip shows him being overwhelmed and pursued through the snow by the army of the undead Kim Kardashian and her husband Kanye West are trying for a third baby. The 36-year-old beauty confirmed they are actively adding to their family - they already have daughter North, aged four, and son Saint, 20 months - during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that came out on Wednesday. 'I hope so,' she said when asked about a third child. 'There have been a lot of things said and Kanye and I have not confirmed anything. We're definitely trying. We are hoping so.' More: Kim Kardashian and her husband Kanye West are trying for a third baby. The 36-year-old beauty confirmed they are actively adding to their family during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter All of them: The entire family graced the cover of the Hollywood weekly It's been a krazy decade: The family talked about how their show has been on the air for 10 years The pinup did not discuss whether they are working with a surrogate or not. In July a source told UsWeekly that Kim's surrogate is three months pregnant. And in June a source told People magazine that the couple were working with a surrogate. Kim has talked about using a surrogate on her series Keeping Up With The Kardashians after doctors told her it was not safe to get pregnant again because she suffered from placenta accreta with her previous pregnancy. 'I've come to the conclusion in my mind that I can't carry another one. So now I want to explore surrogacy,' Kim told her mother Kris Jenner on the show. Her family: They already have daughter North, aged four, and son Saint, 20 months; seen in April in LA Duo: The star couple have been married for three years; seen in 2016 She also said: 'I'd just love nothing more than to expand my family and just know that I have this world at home thats safe. And if for some reason I left this earth sooner than I really wanted to, then my kids would have a support system at home so that I know that they would be okay if I wasnt here.' Placenta accreta is when placenta grows into the wall of the womb and prevents it from easily detaching at the time of birth. 'My doctor had to stick his entire arm in me and detach the placenta with his hand, scraping it away from my uterus with his fingernails. How disgusting and painful!!!' she revealed about welcoming North. 'My mom was crying; she had never seen anything like this before. My delivery was fairly easy, but then going through thatit was the most painful experience of my life! They gave me a second epidural but we were racing against time, so I just had to deal.' Also in the Hollywood Reporter interview Kim admitted that she almost didn't marry Kris Humphries. Sitting pretty: Kylie Jenner looked cool in a suit as she talked early fame She made the issue too: Kendall looked moody in her close up shot Gams to be proud of: The Vogue model showed off her perfect figure in this skimpy outfit Kim wed basketball star Humphries in August 2011. The $6m wedding was filmed by E! for a KUWTK special, bringing in $10 million in ad revenue, according to the site. It was a success financially but not in real life. And Kim says she knew it was not going to work before she even said 'I do.' The KKW Beauty mogul told the site: 'There was all this attention on the wedding, and I thought maybe it was just the pressure of the show giving me this anxiety. On a table: Kourtney showed off her bra as she talked tough split from Scott Disick 'My friends told me I just had cold feet, but even the producers said, "You don't seem happy. You don't have to go through with this."' Kim added: 'The night before, my mom pulled me aside, off camera, and was like, "This isn't it for you. Why don't you go away and I'll handle it?" 'I felt like, if I pulled out now, everyone's going to think I just did it for the show. Then afterwards, people were saying, "You have to stay married for a year," but I physically couldn't do it. She was in satin: Khloe looked stunning in this long coat The lady behind all the fame: Kris Jenner looked youthful in a white sweater 'When I made the decision [to divorce], everyone said it was made up for the show. Everyone really wanted to take me down.' Ryan Seacrest, a producer and co-creator on the show, said: 'I remember when Kim called me after the wedding. It was just a few days after, and she just didn't feel like it was right. She was very candid and open. Kim interjected: 'Think about this realistically: If it was for the show don't you think we would have found someone that signed off? 'Someone OK with getting married and getting divorced two months later? If it's for a show don't you think you'd want as little legal trouble as possible? 'This was real emotions, real feelings. People f*** up.' Not a happy day: Kardashian has told the new issue of The Hollywood Reporter that she had anxiety before marrying Kris Humphries in 2011 Painful: The Selfish author also said she didn't like filming when pregnant. 'I looked like such a cow and I can't stand to see those episodes. I would say, "Try to film me more from chest up, so it looks better," but I look like a blob.' Seen in 2013 The Vogue cover girl then talked about her current husband Kanye West, with whom she has two children Saint and North. The rapper, 40, has never agreed to star on the show, but he is seen now and then. She said: 'Kanye was like, "I'm not a part of the show. That's not what I do. I have my own career and life." 'He'll really surprise you though. He'll be like, "I'm not filming" and then randomly show up. But I will get [the footage] and show him. 'He knew I would love to have my engagement on camera so he filmed it and he said, "The look might be a little different because I need these type of cameras," and got music clearance. Not HER idea: Another revelation in the interview was how Khloe was not the one to push for a spinoff with Lamar Odom, who she divorced in 2016 Shocker: 'I never wanted to do Khloe & Lamar,' she said. The show ran for two seasons in 2011 and 2012. 'My ex-husband did. He sold it to E!, and I let it happen because I wanted him to be happy. I was the one who canceled it. It was way too much' 'But I won't really ever talk about something that's going on with Kanye. I'll talk about how I feel. He knows that I'm really protective of him.' And his need for privacy prevented her from having their Italian nuptials filmed. Ryan said: 'We had no intention of showing our wedding on the show. It was shot with only iPhones and my assistant on a handycam. 'She was literally standing on top of a castle and freezing, because we knew we wanted to capture this gorgeous walk from up above. 'People were yelling at her like, "You can't film up there!" But then we loved the footage so much, [we used some of it on the show].' Kim also said the hardest thing to film was 'probably Caitlyn's transition and just seeing my mom and Khloe having such a hard time.' Hard to deal with: It was also revealed the family had a hard time filming episodes that had to do with Caitlyn's transition; seen in 2016 She added: 'We never really edited content before, but we did edit a bit of Khloe's reaction just because she was so upset.' The Selfish author also said she didn't like filming when pregnant. 'I looked like such a cow and I can't stand to see those episodes. I would say, "Try to film me more from chest up, so it looks better," but I look like a blob.' Another revelation in the interview was how Khloe was not the one to push for a spinoff with Lamar Odom, who she divorced in 2016 after he almost died from an overdose while visiting prostitutes in a brothel in Nevada in 2015.. 'I never wanted to do Khloe & Lamar,' she said. The show ran for two seasons in 2011 and 2012. 'My ex-husband did. He sold it to E!, and I let it happen because I wanted him to be happy. I was the one who canceled it. It was way too much.' Kourt's pain: Kourtney also weighed in. She said the hardest episode to film was her break-up with Scott Disick. 'I had a lot of anxiety about it, and finally said let's just get this over with.' Seen in 2015 Kourtney also weighed in. She said the hardest episode to film was her break-up with Scott Disick. 'I had a lot of anxiety about it, and finally said let's just get this over with. I sat down and started crying. You go through something, and then you move past it. 'Then you do your interview, and get all riled up again. And then you see the episode, and start seeing all these comments [on social media].' The way they were: Here Scott and Kourtney are seen in April 2015, just before their split; they have three children together The family also went into why the show is so popular and which shows no signs of slowing: On September 24, a 90-minute special will celebrate the series' 10th anniversary. E! agreed to a reported $80 million deal to keep the family through season 14. Ryan said: 'I remember Kris saying, "In order for this to work, yes, there's a glitz and glamour, but there's got to be honesty and vulnerability. We need to make a pact that the show won't just be pretty pictures. 'As time goes by, you see some of the most vulnerable moments. There was a deliberate intent to be vulnerable and capture that from the beginning.' 'I sat everyone down and said, "If we're going to do this, we have to be all in. We have to really be who we are," Kris said. The early years: The family also went into why the show is so popular and which shows no signs of slowing: On September 24, a 90-minute special will celebrate the series' 10th anniversary. Here Kourtney, Khloe and Kim are seen in 2011 Kendall added: 'I was like, "Whatever. What am I having for lunch tomorrow?" She didn't make it seem like it was going to last this long.' And Kim said. 'I don't think any of us thought it would.' Kris added that she got 'resistance' from Kourtney. 'She was sort of skeptical,' said the momager. Kourtney: 'I remember in season one being like, "I have to go the bathroom," and I'd cry in there as quietly as I could because I was still mic'd. I never want to cry in front of cameras.' Khloe added: 'I don't think we knew what we were even saying yes to. Everything was just super-fast. Kim and my mom were steering the ship. We were just like, "Tell us where to be and we'll be there."' 'When we would travel, I remember people calling mine, Kourtney, and Khloe's names and we thought they knew us from high school or something. We just didn't get it. 'Then they started chasing us down at the airport. That was the first time that we were like, "Oh my God,"' said Kim. Mogul: Kim has been plugging her new KKW Beauty product which comes out this month Kendall then added: 'Kylie and I did a magazine signing for Seventeen, and it was at some store at The Grove and we had a crazy line around the corner. 'The store owner came up to us and said, "Justin Bieber was here a week ago and didn't get this response."' The Fendi model then said: 'The beauty of having older sisters is you learn so many lessons from them. 'I've seen how their relationships have played out on TV so I learned that lesson. I I feel like it's just better to keep it more private.' Fans known her best as wildling Gilly in Game of Thrones. But branching away from the hit HBO series, Hannah Murray looked worlds away from her onscreen character at the premiere of her new movie Detroit in London on Wednesday night, where she came close to suffering an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction. The actress, 28, stunned in a plunging floral two-piece that left her bare decolletage firmly on display, yet nearly bared too much as the low-cut blazer slipped to one side. Scroll down for video Careful! Stunning: Hannah Murray came dangerously close to revealing too much as she stepped out on the red carpet at the premiere of new movie Detroit in London on Wednesday Yet undeterred by the wardrobe malfunction, the blonde beauty proved her sartorial excellence as she headed out in the capital, turning heads in her revealing monochrome attire. It paired together a pretty and perilously low-cut blouse, that teased a look at her assets and included pretty tie-up detailing underneath the bust, with matching flared trousers. Despite adding some height to her ensemble with a pair of patent court heels, Hannah's tailored trousers hid her fancy footwear. Careful! The actress, 28, stunned in a plunging floral two-piece that left her bare decolletage firmly on display, yet nearly bared too much as the low-cut blazer slipped to one side Kept in: Luckily the star's fashion tape ensured she wouldn't reveal too much Stunning: Hannah turned heads with her glamorous ensemble She chose to let her matching getup make a statement and forewent adding accessories to her outfit - instead teaming her look with glamorous make-up that came complete with a nude lipstick across her lips. Hannah wore her ombre tresses in soft curls that were swept over to one side and grazed her shoulders. Her stunning appearance was a far cry from her usual look on Game of Thrones in character as Gilly. The wildling mother is usually seen sporting a slightly unkempt figure with matted long locks and dirtied robes that hide her frame. Gorgeous: The blonde beauty stunned in a stylish monochrome ensemble that boasted a pretty floral pattern Risque: The top half of her two-piece made for a revealing display thanks to its perilously low-cut neckline that stole a look at her bare decolletage Show-stopped: She looked worlds away from her onscreen character Gilly in hit HBO series Game of Thrones Far cry! The wildling mother is usually seen sporting a slightly unkempt figure with matted long locks and dirtied robes that hide her frame Beauty: Hannah completed her red carpet look with glamorous make-up and her blonde tresses in soft curls Branching out: Hannah stars as Julie Ann in new movie Detroit - directed by Kathryn Bigelow As well as appearing in the much-loved series, Hannah stars in new movie Detroit - directed by Kathryn Bigelow - as Julie Ann, who finds herself caught up in a murder that takes place at a motel she and a friend are staying in. Detroit is based on the Algiers Motel incident that occurred in Detroit in 1967 during the racially charged 12th Street Riot - the film's release marks the 50th anniversary of the event. Among the rioting and civil unrest, three black teenagers were killed at the motel, after a National Guardsman reported hearing shots in the area. The young men had been unarmed and were questioned and brutalized by white police officers. A further nine were badly injured. Close by, security guard Melvin Dismukes, who is played by John Boyega in the film, overheard the same gunshot sound and headed to the motel. Caught up in the incident, he was the first to be charged in the trial that followed, but was later found not guilty. Shocked: Speaking about her new role in the period crime drama, Hannah admitted she was left stunned by the movie's heavy storyline and felt 'physically sick' after reading the script Speaking about her new role in the period crime drama, Hannah admitted she was left stunned by the movie's heavy storyline. She told BANG! Showbiz at the premiere: 'I felt physically sick reading the script and afterwards as well. It was harrowing that these people went through what they did. 'It's really shocking. That's one of the reasons why Kathryn [the movie's director] wanted to do it.' Hannah hopes the feature has the impact it deserves, as she believes it will open up discussions into the horrific historic events. Hard-hitting: It recalls the riots that took place in Detroit in the late 1960s and John Boyega stars as the movie's lead Lead: Boyega plays the role of security guard Melvin Dismukes who finds himself charged with murder after getting caught up in the events that took place during the Algiers Motel incident Tragic: Among the rioting and civil unrest, Detriot the movie recalls how three unarmed black teenagers were killed at the motel after being brutalised by police Fan favourite: Boyega was seen stopping for the huge crowds that had gathered to mark the release of the movie She added: 'I hope the film has the impact that it deserves. Its a really difficult question on how do you change peoples minds but hopefully this film will have some impact on it. Speaking about his involvement in Detroit, meanwhile, Boyega insisted he had taken the role as he had wanted to 'challenge' himself. 'We're dealing with systematic racism. We're dealing with social unrest. We're dealing with an uprising. And these are stories that reflect until today especially police brutality," he told The Associated Press. Dapper: Boyega was clad in a stylish burgundy suit that he paired with a white shirt and tie underneath High spirits: Boyega was in great spirits as he walked the red carpet Suave: His co-star Will Poulter - who previously appeared in The Revenant - opted for a smart black suit 'I was at a point where I had done a few projects, and I wanted to challenge myself. 'When Detroit came on my radar, it felt like a godsend to obviously have this kind of project, this kind of script.' He and Murray star in the movie alongside a star-studded cast, including Will Poulter, Algee Smith, Anthony Mackie and John Krasinski. Powerful pair: Will was seen rubbing shoulders with Detroit's director who cut a chic figure in a white tailored suit Suited and booted: Jack Reynor sported a charcoal grey two-piece suit, while actor Jason Maza opted for a more casual ensemble teaming together white jeans and a navy polo top Star-studded: Detroit also features the likes of Algee Smith, Anthony Mackie and John Krasinski Poignant role: Speaking about his involvement in Detroit, Boyega insisted he took the role as he had wanted to 'challenge' himself He said: 'I was at a point where I had done a few projects, and I wanted to challenge myself. When Detroit came on my radar, it felt like a godsend to obviously have this kind of project, this kind of script' He recently returned from a family vacation to Cabo San Lucas in Mexico with girlfriend Lauren Silverman and their son Eric. And Simon Cowell was back at work as a judge on America's Got Talent on Tuesday. After the live show the 57-year-old talked about his three-year-old, saying travelling with the tot was 'easy.' Scroll down for video 'He's fun to be around': Simon Cowell gushed about his three-year-old son Eric in an interview after Tuesday's edition of America's Got Talent 'Eric's old enough now to be my buddy,' the celebrity told Extras Renee Bargh. 'We talk to each other all the time. We're friends and hes fun to be around.' The TV judge and host shares Eric with girlfriend Lauren Silverman, 40, who he began dating in July 2013. As is usual for the celebrity, Simon's ex-flame Terri Seymour joined the family for the summer vacation. Bonding with his boy: 'We talk to each other all the time. We're friends,' the 57-year-old said, here seen with his lad at an X Factor taping in London last month The 43-year-old Extra TV reporter shares 17-month-old daughter Coco with boyfriend Clark Mallon. Simon and Terris kids Eric and Coco looked like they had a blast together in pictures on social media. 'Mexico was amazing,' Simon shared. 'Coco's great. The two of them together - they are hilarious.' 'What a great pic': Simon, girlfriend Lauren Silverman and Eric were joined on their break by his ex-flame Terri Seymour and her 17-month-old daughter Coco, seen in this Instagram snap So sweet: Terri also shared this snap of Eric and Coco posing in front of a goddess and copying her yoga position And he reposted Terri's Instagram snap of herself and Lauren snuggled up with their children on the beach with palm trees and mountains in the distance. He captioned it: 'What a great pic! #Repost @officialterriseymour #Summertime with Coco, Lauren and Eric.' Simon also confirmed he recently gave One Directions Louis Tomlinson some tough love after the 25-year-old got drunk before a concert. Relaxing vacation: Simon, Eric and Lauren held on to the edge of their swimming pool as they basked in the sunshine 'I don't know remember what was said but look, Louis' naughty, but he's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet,' he said He also dished on his pick of the night for AGT, raving about 12-year-old ventriloquist Darci Lynne. 'This is what we hope with the live shows - people step up their game,' he said. 'She is no question the one to beat.' Seven months after skin cancer treatment, the Real Housewives of Orange County's Tamra Judge ominously revealed Tuesday that she must return to California Coastal Dermatology in Mission Viejo. 'I have two new spots [I'm] getting checked on Wednesday,' the 49-year-old reality star - who boasts 2.9M social media followers - tweeted. 'Ugh that scar on my arm doesn't look pretty. Skin cancer [surgery]. Reminder to get your skin checked. I go back Wednesday for check up.' Scroll down for video 'Reminder to get your skin checked!' Seven months after skin cancer treatment, the Real Housewives of Orange County's Tamra Judge ominously revealed Tuesday that she must return to California Coastal Dermatology The 49-year-old reality star - who boasts 2.9M social media followers - tweeted: 'I have two new spots [I'm] getting checked on Wednesday' '#skincancerbegone': The CUT Fitness owner's 'margins came back clear' two weeks after the January 3 procedure by Dr. Amy Litchfield to remove a squamous cell on her arm and a moderately atypical mole on her leg The CUT Fitness owner's 'margins came back clear' two weeks after the January 3 procedure by Dr. Amy Litchfield to remove a squamous cell on her arm and a moderately atypical mole on her leg. 'I've had so many basil cell spots removed,' Tamra tweeted. 'Was expecting that was the case last time but it wasn't.' The health update came shortly after Judge (born Waddle) soaked up the sunshine during a lavish family vacation with third husband Eddie Judge on the Caribbean isle, Aruba. Tamra tweeted: 'I've had so many basil cell spots removed. Was expecting that was the case last time but it wasn't' Bikini on the beach: The health update came shortly after Judge (born Waddle) soaked up the sunshine during a lavish family vacation on the Caribbean isle, Aruba Real or faux? Last October, the Glendale-born socialite bronzed her 5ft3in muscular figure from head-to-toe for a bodybuilding competition (where tanning beds are nearly mandatory) Last October, the Glendale-born socialite bronzed her 5ft3in muscular figure from head-to-toe for a bodybuilding competition (where tanning beds are nearly mandatory). And two months ago, the Botox-loving blonde underwent a lower face lift and eye tuck with cosmetic plastic surgeon Dr. Milind K. Ambe in Newport Beach. Tamra has three children - Sophia, 12; Spencer, 16; and Sidney, 18 - with ex-husband #2 Simon Barney, as well as a 31-year-old son Ryan with ex-husband #1 Darren Vieth. Catch more of the mother-of-four on the 12th season of The Real Housewives of Orange County, which airs Mondays on Bravo. Under the knife: And two months ago, the Botox-loving blonde underwent a lower face lift and eye tuck with cosmetic plastic surgeon Dr. Milind K. Ambe in Newport Beach Blended brood: Tamra has three children - Sophia, 12; Spencer, 16; and Sidney, 18 - with ex-husband #2 Simon Barney, as well as a 31-year-old son Ryan with ex-husband #1 Darren Vieth She's been busy with big family events taking place over the last few days. But Jennifer Garner took some time to focus on her youngest child as she enjoyed an outing in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles on Wednesday. The actress, 45, enjoyed a quiet afternoon stroll through town with sweet son Samuel, five. Working mom: Jennifer Garner took some time to focus on her youngest child as she enjoyed an outing in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles on Wednesday Dressed in a casual long-sleeved buttoned down blue and white striped shirt, the Daredevil star walked closely beside her son. Jennifer wore a pair of dark blue baggy denim jeans and white sneakers for the mid-afternoon excursion. The Alias star slung a large navy tote bag over her shoulder, which carried a bottle of water for the duo. Cutie: The actress, 45, enjoyed a quiet afternoon stroll through town with son Samuel, five Mommy and me: Dressed in a casual long-sleeved buttoned down blue and white striped shirt, the Daredevil star walked closely beside her son The make-up free mother of three sported a silver necklace and a silver watch with her afternoon outfit. Jennifer tied her long brown hair into a loose top knot and wore a pair of dark sunglasses. Little Samuel looked carefree in a white T-shirt, which featured a beach scene, and grey shorts as he held on to his mother's hand. Jennifer celebrated her estranged husband Ben Affleck's 45th birthday on Tuesday with their children at Barton G. The Restaurant in Los Angeles. Hands up! The Alias star slung a large navy tote bag over her shoulder, which carried a bottle of water for the duo Reading break: The makeup-free mother of three sported a silver necklace and a silver watch with her afternoon outfit Birthday boy Ben was spotted heading to breakfast at The Tavern in Brentwood on Wednesday morning. The Armageddon actor sported a scruffy grey beard, jeans and go-to bomber jacket for his walk through the neighborhood. Two days before, the family of five enjoyed a night of pizza and frozen yogurt at Pizzana in Brentwood. Jennifer and Ben are also parents to daughters Violet and Seraphina Jennifer filed for divorce from Ben in April this year, following their split in 2015 after almost 10 years of marriage. Ben has been making headlines lately as he's struck up a romantic relationship with Saturday Night Live producer Lindsay Shookus. She recently revealed that she has been struck down with a horrific mystery illness that has left her vomiting 'uncontrollably' for four weeks. But appearing to be on the mend, Amber Dowding seemed as if she is now starting to feel better, as she stepped out smiling on Wednesday night to attend a fashion launch in London. Cutting a glamorous figure for the lotd.com bash, the reality star, 24, sported a teasing ensemble that saw her pair ripped jeans with a loose white shirt that hung off one shoulder in a sultry manner. Scroll down for video Feeling better? Amber Dowding, 24, appeared in good spirits as she headed out in London on Wednesday night after candidly revealing her mystery heath battle of late that has left her vomiting for four weeks Amber's flirty getup saw her shrug her blouse off one arm, tying it up in a knot around her waist to hint at her lithe frame. She paired it with form-fitting ripped jeans that hugged her slender pins and had the phrase 'I love you' penned across it in a number of different languages. Brightening up her ensemble, the blonde bombshell added a pair of barely-there coral red heels to her feet and toted her essentials in a complementing handbag she clutched onto in one hand. Sporting a flawless make-up look, Amber wore her long blonde locks in large curls that fell past her shoulders. Stunning: She cut a glamorous figure for fashion brand lotd.com launch and sported a teasing ensemble that saw her shrug a white shirt off of one shoulder in a flirty display Stylish: Tying it up in a knot around her waist to hint at her lithe frame, the TOWIE star paired it with funky form-fitting ripped jeans that hugged her slender pins Despite her health fears of late, Amber appeared to take her mind off of her troubles for the evening and appeared in good spirits as she smiled broadly while arriving at the style event. Her appearance comes after she candidly revealed she has been in and out of hospital for a month, after falling ill while holidaying in Bali. Amber, who has been suffering from waves of nausea, claimed that doctors are unable to work out what is wrong with her - expressing her fears that the illness could be Irritable Bowel Syndrome and that she may need to get a colostomy bag fitted like her father. Beauty: Sporting a flawless make-up look, Amber wore her long blonde locks in large curls that fell past her shoulders Recovering: Amber has been vomiting 'uncontrollably' for the past four weeks after being struck with a horrific mystery illness 'I don't feel sick all the time, it comes on in waves. I start gagging and heaving and then I'm sick,' she told The Sun. Amber left boyfriend Chris Clark concerned after she was struck ill in Marbella, while filming new scenes for the reality show. 'When I flew out to Marbella for 'TOWIE' I got sick again which was horrible. I didn't eat much and I didn't drink any alcohol because it would make me vomit.' She revealed that she has had tests done at the hospital and given blood and urine samples which didn't signify that anything was wrong. Dramatic: The 24-year-old reality star reportedly left boyfriend Chris Clark concerned after she was struck ill in Marbella, while filming new scenes for the reality show - during which she admitted alcohol was making her vomit Concerned: Amber's illness was first reported when the cast touched down in the Costa Del Sol for filming, with fans initially believing she had picked up a bug during her romantic trip to Antigua with her adoring beau Amber admitted that she isolated herself from the rest of her co-stars and crew as she felt so 'horrible'. 'I felt anxious because being away from home when you're ill is horrible. I stayed in the hotel a lot but it wasn't my own home,' she said. Amber first fell unwell in Bali and when she touched back down in the UK, she went straight to the hospital in the hope of bagging some answers from the doctors. But after the tests came back negative, Amber agreed to fly out to Marbella with the 'TOWIE' cast and her boyfriend Chris Clark to shoot the summer special. Amber is now waiting to see a specialist as there's history of IBS in her family and her father - who had a perforated bowel - had a colostomy bag fitted. 'Production rushed her to hospital after seeing the state she was in during filming in Marbella and she was hospitalised for a few days, which was really worrying for Chris.' 'Thankfully she's on the mend now but is having to take tablets everyday to keep the sickness at bay.' Amber and Chris have faced their fair share of strife - having split and reunited in the space of a year with many dramatic twists and turns. Long-term couple Amber and Chris took a break for six months, during which time he hooked up briefly with Little Mix star Jesy Nelson, before they suffered an acrimonious break-up - leading to Chris and Amber's reunion. As the last season of TOWIE came to a close, the couple were seen to start flirting again but they are now ready to return as a fully fledged couple - a point they were keen to display while filming for the show recently. Back on: Amber and Chris have faced their fair share of strife - having split and reunited in the space of a year with many dramatic twists and turns Going strong: Long-term couple Amber and Chris took a break for six months before reuniting Cosy couple: Amber cosied up to her beau as they enjoyed a mini photoashoot in the sun Bikini babe: The blonde bombshell showed off her sensational figure in a floral bikini Life's a peach! Amber showed off her pert derriere in a pair of scanty tie side briefs Pucker up: The duo shared a kiss as they cuddled up together in the Spanish sunshine All over each other: The duo shared a cuddle as they packed on the PDA outside their hotel Chris was also in the market for showing off his tan, so opted for a white T-shirt with a logo emblazoned across the front paired with charcoal-coloured shorts. In June, Amber insisted she wasn't fussed when he moved on so quickly during their time apart. Speaking to New! Magazine, she said: 'Seeing an ex with someone new is always hard. 'You think to yourself 'Oh God, they've moved on!' It was all over social media too. But I just didn't look at it. It wasn't something I lost sleep over.' Blonde bombshell: Amber was a vision of beauty as she flicked her hair over one shoulder and posed up a storm for the cameras Pucker up: Chris wrapped Amber under her arm as they shared a smooch in the sunshine Two of a kind: The duo looked in good spirits as they cosied up to one another in Marbella Snap happy: Chris pulled out a camera as he snapped his own pictures from the sunny break She went on to say that, because of her and Jesy's differences, she finds it pointless to compare them. 'We are completely different! Our styles and our looks are so different. How can you compare?' she said. Amber retains that the split did her and Chris some good. 'We've been with other people and we've grown up a bit. I think our break was the best thing that ever happened. It's done us wonders and we're happier than ever.' Amber also admitted that she and Chris have already talked about marriage and children and, when asked what she'd like to say to Jesy if she could, shied away the question. Happy days: Amber and Chris have faced their fair share of strife - having split and reunited in the space of a year with many dramatic twists and turns- but looked stronger than ever as they partied in Marbella for new TOWIE scenes this week Way back when: Long-term couple Amber and Chris took a break for six months, during which time he hooked up briefly with Little Mix star Jesy Nelson, before they suffered an acrimonious break-up - leading to Chris and Amber's reunion It helped... Amber retains that the split did her and Chris some good After admitting to OK! magazine that he 'always felt second best' to his former flame, Little Mix pop-star Jessy, Chris has been putting on a happily coupled up display with Amber since. It's thought that he has spent considerable time with each other's families since their reconciliation, too. Chris and Jesy first confirmed their romance with a loved-up snap at the BRIT Awards in February, but had broken up by April - with Chris reportedly initiating the split over the phone. Kiss, kiss: She went on to say that, because of her and Jesy's differences, she finds it pointless to compare them. 'We are completely different! Our styles and our looks are so different. How can you compare?' she said They had locked horns last series over his fiery relationship with Megan McKenna. And Chloe Sims has confessed that her feud with former BFF Pete Wicks has led to the end of their friendship, as she admits she is doubtful the duo can repair the damage their fall out has caused. Speaking in an interview with The Sun, the TOWIE star claimed: 'I feel like some friends come in your life for a little while and then go... maybe that is what Pete is.' Scroll down for video All over: Chloe Sims has confessed that her feud with former BFF Pete Wicks has led to the end of their friendship, while hitting out at the Essex hunk and Megan McKenna's reunion Chloe and Pete had clashed following his explosive split with Megan at the beginning of the year and it seems things have failed to smooth over between the pair. Appearing to hit out at the Essex hunk and girlfriend Megan, Chloe added: 'No one really cares about them getting back together, they need to try and keep it a little more to themselves this time. 'I hope this time round their relationship isn't as toxic.' Feud: Chloe and Pete had clashed following his explosive split with Megan (who he is now dating again) at the beginning of the year and it seems things have failed to smooth over Suggesting that their feud is far from coming to a close, Pete and Megan told the paper that they wouldn't be 'forcing' a friendship with Chloe, as they insisted their rekindled romance has benefited from their break. Chloe has been embroiled in a feud with Megan ever since Megan accused the former of getting close to her ex beau following their split. She had referred to photographs snapped of the pair on a night out that appeared to portray the pair intimately - a claim that Chloe vehemently denied. While she and Pete insisted there was nothing romantic going on between them and their friendship is strictly platonic, Megan had questioned why Chloe hadn't called her to give her a 'heads up' about the photos. Awkward: Chloe has been embroiled in a feud with Megan ever since Megan accused the former of getting close to her ex beau following their split - a claim Chloe vehemently denied Drama: Tension grew between the girls, prompting both of them to speak about each other behind one another's back, with Chloe branding Megan an attention-seeker Tension grew between the girls, prompting both of them to speak about each other behind one another's back, with Chloe branding Megan an attention-seeker. Strain was then put on her relationship with Pete when he had urged her to apologise to Megan, but Chloe accused him of disregarding her feelings. She was forced to deal with a barrage of negative comments on Twitter because of her spat with Megan and Pete and as a result, Chloe has been avoiding the former flames to protect herself and her daughter Madison from the backlash she has received. Their fallout had dominated TOWIE's storyline last series and concluded with Chloe insisting she wouldn't be entertaining a friendship with Megan, but reached out to Pete and said she would be there for him, if he needed. Tense: Strain was then put on her relationship with Pete when he had urged her to apologise to Megan, but she insisted she wouldn't be entertaining a friendship with the EOTB star Distant: She was forced to deal with a barrage of negative comments on Twitter because of her spat with Megan and Pete and as a result, Chloe has been avoiding the former flames As the series wrapped, things seemed to worsen between the trio, as Chloe accused Megan of seeking 'air-time' when it came to her spectacular rows with Pete onscreen. She vented: 'Some people are really hungry and just want the airtime!' Having seen the scathing remarks made by her former friend, Megan took to social media at the time to express her anger at the situation. Ouch: As the series wrapped, things seemed to worsen between the trio, as Chloe accused Megan of seeking 'air-time' when it came to her spectacular rows with Pete onscreen She wrote on the popular microblogging site Twitter: 'Yawnnnnnn to certain people on the show talking about me to press ONCE AGAIN. #Boreoff (sic)' Clearly rattled by the drama, the beauty ranted: 'I actually have a life unlike some people on the show still talking about me and my relationship dramas... (sic)' Pete broke his usual silence on the situation by posting a picture of a profound message to his Twitter page with the fist emoji: 'Just because I don't react doesn't mean I didn't notice (sic)'. Staying put: Despite reports claiming Pete had been thinking about leaving The Only Way Is Essex following his drama with Megan and Chloe, the tattooed reality star was spotted filming out in Marbella with his co-star girlfriend Despite reports claiming Pete had been thinking about leaving The Only Way Is Essex following his drama with Megan and Chloe, the tattooed reality star was spotted filming out in Marbella for the ITVBe show's 21st series in recent week. He had been joined by Megan overseas and Chloe was also pictured filming new scenes for the series in the Spanish party resort. TOWIE is set to return in September and will welcome the addition of two female newcomers, Georgia Kousoulou's best pals Ruby Lacey and Maddie Hooper. Viewers will also see the return of former castmembers Lauren Pope and Mario Falcone. The State Department's annual report on religious freedom, released by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, deals with around 200 foreign jurisdictions -- but not the US homeland The United States on Tuesday issued its first report on world religious freedom since President Donald Trump took office, and again targeted the Islamic State group's campaign of "genocide." Trump ran for the White House on a pledge to halt all Muslim immigration to the United States, and he and his supporters have themselves been accused of fostering a climate of intolerance against certain communities. But the State Department's annual report, released by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, deals with freedom of religion in around 200 foreign jurisdictions -- not the US homeland. The 2016 report itself, which US diplomats have been mandated by Congress to prepare, is not much changed from that of the year before -- a dry but detailed breakdown of the state of play across the world. Tillerson has warned that under Trump, US foreign policy will refocus on the security and prosperity of the American people, with less of an emphasis in promoting democratic values for their own sake. But in his preface to the "International Religious Freedom Report for 2016," the former oil executive insists: "Religious freedom is a cherished American value and a universal human right. "The United States promotes religious freedom as a moral imperative," he wrote. "As importantly, we promote religious freedom because countries that effectively safeguard this human right are more stable, economically vibrant, and peaceful," he argued. "The failure of governments to protect this right breeds instability, terrorism, and violence." The Islamic State, a jihadist force that declared a so-called "caliphate" in a now-shrinking pocket of territory in northern Iraq and eastern Syria, is the only group singled out in the preface. As in the 2015 report, it is accused of "genocide against Yazidis, Christians and Shia Muslims in areas it controlled." The individual country reports go into more detail on the policies and practices of various states around the world, including the 10 listed by the US administration as "countries of particular concern," including Saudi Arabia and China. Syria's government recaptured all of Aleppo in December, after a ferocious month-long offensive that ended with the evacuation of thousands of rebels and civilians from the city's opposition-held east Rebel rocket fire killed five civilians in Syria's Aleppo on Tuesday, a monitor said, in the deadliest bombardment on the northern city in months. The rockets rained down on several districts in Syria's second city on Tuesday afternoon, according to Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. "Five civilians were killed and at least 10 others were wounded," Abdel Rahman told AFP. "It's the highest toll we have documented in several months," he said. The Britain-based Observatory said the rockets came from the western outskirts of Aleppo, where rebel groups are still entrenched. Syria's government recaptured all of Aleppo in December, after a ferocious month-long offensive that ended with the evacuation of thousands of rebels and civilians from the city's opposition-held east. That withdrawal was the biggest blow yet to Syria's rebels, who had overrun half the city in mid-2012. Since announcing victory in Aleppo, Syria's armed forces have gone on to score advances in the wider province, as well as near Damascus and in desert areas in the country's centre and east. The conflict first erupted in March 2011 with protests against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad, but it has since evolved into a complex war drawing in international powers. More than 330,000 people have been killed and millions more displaced. Attorney Martin L. Pierce, a certified estate planning specialist in Chattanooga, has been selected for inclusion in the 2018 edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Trusts and Estates. "The Best Lawyers in America is the oldest peer-review publication in the legal profession, and inclusion in the listing signals not only legal expertise, but also ethics and professionalism of the highest caliber. Since it was first published, Best Lawyers has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers lists are compiled based on an exhaustive peer review evaluation. Lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers 'the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice'", officials said. A member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and a certified estate planning specialist, Mr. Pierce practices elder law, wills, special needs trusts, guardianship, and business law (among others) in Tennessee and Georgia. He was previously included in the 2017 and prior listings of Mid-South Super Lawyers for Estate Planning and Probate. Miners dancing at commemorations for the fourth anniversary of the Marikana massacre in 2016 South Africa on Wednesday marks five years since the Marikana massacre when police shot dead 34 striking mineworkers, with commemorations focused on the lack of prosecutions over the killings. The 34 miners were gunned down after police were deployed to break up a wildcat strike that had turned violent at the Lonmin-owned Marikana platinum mine, northwest of Johannesburg, in August 2012. It was the worst police violence in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994. On Wednesday, family members, miners, trade unionists, activists and politicians will gather at the site of the massacre to honour the dead and call for criminal prosecutions and improved compensation. An official inquiry established by President Jacob Zuma put much of the blame for the deaths on police tactics used to disperse the 3,000 strikers, but no prosecutions have been brought. "The tragedy of the Marikana killings is compounded by the shocking fact that no one responsible for the bloodshed has yet been held accountable," said Shenilla Mohamed, director of Amnesty International South Africa. She added that the government "needs to ensure that the wheels of justice start turning far faster than they have done over the past five years." The Pretoria-based Institute of Security Studies (ISS) think-tank issued a new report into accountability for the massacre, in which 70 others were injured alongside the 34 dead. The only person to be penalised over the deaths has been the then national police commissioner Riah Phiyega, who was suspended on full pay in 2015. The ISS called for fair compensation for those affected, prosecution of police officers who acted unlawfully, and reforms to police recruitment and training. "Government must demonstrate to South Africans and the world that the senseless loss of life at Marikana has resulted in lessons learned and will never occur again," said ISS justice specialist Gareth Newham. Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga called on his supporters to protest peacefully Kenya's embattled opposition leader Raila Odinga vowed Wednesday to take his election rigging claims to court, while urging his supporters to protest peacefully against the "death of democracy". Appearing tense and drawn, the 72-year-old Odinga ended days of suspense over his plans to contest last week's presidential poll which he claims was hacked and rigged in favour of President Uhuru Kenyatta. The veteran opposition leader and his National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition had previously said court was not an option, raising the spectre of further violent protests after 17 people were killed and scores injured over the weekend. "We have now decided to move to the Supreme Court and lay before the world the making of a computer-generated leadership," he told journalists. He said the u-turn was driven by government attempts this week to shut down two leading rights organisations that had been contemplating taking the disputed election to court. He also called for peaceful forms of protest, recalling that rights to demonstrate, strike and carry out acts of civil disobedience were enshrined in the constitution. "We will preach peace... we will uphold our rights to assemble and protest. We shall hold vigils, moments of silence, beat drums and do everything else to peacefully draw attention to the gross electoral injustices ... " he said. After a peaceful day of voting last Tuesday, Odinga and NASA cried foul shortly after ballot counting began, with a series of complaints about the electronic tallying system. - 'Democracy's slaughter' - Odinga, after initially resisting calls to test his claims that the election was rigged in the courts, announced on Wednesday that his coalition would be taking its case to the Supreme Court They claimed the system had been hacked, and an algorithm installed to ensure that as results streamed in, Kenyatta maintained an unwavering lead over Odinga of about 11 percent. NASA has also complained that the electoral commission (IEBC) has still not provided thousands of scanned forms from polling stations meant to back up the electronic results. The European Union observer mission on Wednesday called on the IEBC to "publish all results forms online promptly." The election was Odinga's fourth and probably final shot at the presidency -- and the third time he believes it was stolen from him. "For the third straight election in a row, the voice of the people has been stilled, and for the third time in a decade, the candidate who lost the election has been declared president," he said. Kenyan election results "No one should believe, and especially not those behind this election fraud theft, that Kenyans are sheep who will willingly go along with democracy's slaughter." After the 2007 vote, Odinga's supporters took to the streets, and a resulting crackdown coupled with politically motivated tribal violence left over 1,100 dead. In 2013 he challenged the presidential results in court and lost. "Accepting such a crime for the third election in a row would irredeemably entrench the triumph of anti-democratic impunity and the permanent death of democracy," said Odinga. - Civil society attacks - Any legal challenge must be lodged by Friday and the Supreme Court will have two weeks to hear the petition and make its decision. A legal petition can also be filed by members of civil society. Two of Kenya's leading rights organisations suggested this might be behind efforts this week to shut them down -- citing tax and registration issues -- but on Wednesday, the government appeared to back-pedal on the matter. If Kenya's election dispute is not resolved peacefully, there are widespread fears it could lead to further violence and economic disruption Interior Minister Fred Matiangi suspended action against the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and the Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG) for 90 days pending an exhaustive review of their status. Odinga said NASA was taking its appeal to the courts despite consistent rulings in the government's favour during a series of pre-election petitions. "The court can use this chance to redeem itself or, like in 2013, it can compound the problems we face as a nation," he said. The dispute has plunged Kenya into its worst political crisis since the 2007 post-election violence that laid bare decades-old political and ethnic grievances over access to power and land. Three of Kenya's four presidents -- including Kenyatta and his father -- have come from the Kikuyu ethnic group. The other was Kalenjin. That has left the Luos -- Odinga prominent among them -- and other major ethnic groups feeling excluded from power and marginalised for over half a century. Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema has been in custody since April over an incident where he allegedly failed to give way to President Edgar Lungu's motorcade Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema is set to stand trial for treason on Wednesday in a case that threatens to rock a country known for its relative stability. Hichilema, leader of the United Party for National Development (UPND), has been in custody since April over an incident where he allegedly failed to give way to President Edgar Lungu's motorcade. Lungu, who narrowly beat Hichilema in last year's presidential election, has dismissed allegations of growing authoritarianism and has accused his rivals of trying to overturn the election result. Hichilema and five aides denied the treason charges at a plea hearing on Monday where police officers in riot gear had sealed off the court precinct as scores of UPND supporters waited outside. Foreign journalists were barred from proceedings. Zambia has enjoyed relative stability since its first multi-party election in 1991. But last year's election was marked by clashes between supporters of Lungu's Patriotic Front (PF) party and the UPND. Hichilema, 55, says the vote was rigged and has refused to recognise Lungu as the president of Zambia. Parliament suspended 48 UPND lawmakers after they boycotted a Lungu address in March. Lungu also invoked emergency powers in July, increasing police powers of arrest and detention after he blamed opposition parties for a string of arson attacks. The government has increased pressure on media outlets that support the opposition, eroding Zambia's reputation as a stable democracy. Hichilema was arrested after he allegedly put Lungu's life in danger when his convoy failed to make way for the presidential motorcade in a high-speed road drama caught on video camera. The two men were both travelling to Western province for a traditional ceremony. Days later, more than 100 armed police surrounded Hichilema's house outside Lusaka, firing tear gas before detaining him and his aides. A businessman turned politician, Hichilema has claimed he was assaulted by police during his arrest and suffered mistreatment in detention. Treason is an offence in Zambia that carries a minimum 15-year jail-term and, in theory, a maximum sentence of death. A person accused of treason is not allowed to post bail. When he was arrested, Amnesty International said Hichilema and the five other accused were "victims of longstanding persecution" by authorities and faced charges designed to "harass and intimidate". Lungu did not mince words during the election campaign, warning political rivals and activists that "if they push me against the wall, I will sacrifice democracy for peace". The incident marked the second time the Lincoln Memorial was defaced this year Vandals have defaced the Lincoln Memorial in Washington with an obscene message scrawled in red spray paint, the National Park Service said Tuesday. The writing on one of the huge columns at the monument dedicated to slain president Abraham Lincoln, who presided over the abolition of slavery in America, was detected in the early hours of Tuesday. The message was difficult to decipher from the photo made available by the park service, but the government agency said it "appears to state '[expletive] law.'" More indecipherable writing in silver spray paint was discovered on a Smithsonian museum map on Constitution Avenue, which runs along the Mall. Crews are using a special, mild gel-type paint stripper to clean up the monument to the 16th US president, which towers over one end of the US capital's National Mall, the service said. Several treatments will be needed to remove all of the graffiti. The US Park Police is investigating the incident, which was not the first of its kind this year at Washington's many monuments. In February, the Lincoln and World War II memorials, as well as the towering Washington Monument, were vandalized with odd messages that included the phrase "Jackie shot JFK," local media reported. Nopadol Choihirun is one of Bangkok's last remaining postmen to deliver mail by boat to waterfront homes in low-lying parts of the capital Revving up his engine as the monsoon clouds begin to open, Nopadol Choihirun steers his weathered boat under a two-lane bridge to keep his pile of envelopes and parcels dry. Dodging the downpour is a regular challenge for the 55-year-old, one of Bangkok's last remaining postmen to deliver mail by boat to waterfront homes in low-lying parts of the capital. "I have to be really careful to watch the clouds," he said from beneath the shelter of the bridge, munching on a banana as the droplets began to fall. Nopadol Choihirun delivers parcels to a resident in the Bang Khun Thian district on the outskirts of Bangkok The genial postman criss-crosses the swampy canal in Bang Khun Thian district twice a week. Residents know their mail has arrived by the sound of his rusty engine -- and the barking it provokes from the suburb's dogs. Drift wood and trash that often get stuck in the boat propeller make the job a daily adventure. But Nopadal says the work is about more than just handing out goods. "This is better than sitting at the office or riding the bikes. I meet with the people and interact with them more," he told AFP as he called out to waterfront residents while steering his boat. With an extensive network of moats and man-made canals, Bangkok is often dubbed the "Venice of the East" A veteran mailman who switched to the boat service five years ago, Nopadol is taken with the languorous charm of Thailand's canal life. "Some villagers invite me in for lunch or try to offer me a glass or a bottle of water. This is the charm of my job and it makes me happy," he said. Yet the profession is increasingly threatened by booming development in Bangkok's sprawling metropolis, with canals paved over and waterfront homes torn down. - Venice of the East - The need for floating postmen has steadily diminished, with only seven post offices in Bangkok still carrying the service today With an extensive network of moats and man-made canals, Bangkok is often dubbed the "Venice of the East". The riverine landscape that snakes through the city and connects to the mighty Chaophraya River was once home to thriving communities and trade hubs, where boats played a vital role for transport and commuting. But rapid urbanisation has seen the capital's population explode and move into ever-higher skyscrapers and condos. "Former residents in Bang Khun Tian have either moved out of the canal side or left the elders at home" said Kijja Phaukmoungsri, assistant director of the local post office that runs the service. The need for floating postmen has steadily diminished, with only seven post offices in Bangkok still carrying the service today. Costly fuel is another downside of boat deliveries, which are 10 times more expensive than distributing mail by road. But for those still living along the canals, the service is indispensable, even if most of the snail mail consists of little more than water and electricity bills. "We live along the canal and there's no road access. For sure, a mail service like this one is much needed," said Pacharee Kladpipoon, a waterfront villager. Japan's Fisheries Agency will use an underwater camera to check the condition of coral off the southern island of Kyushu, including searching for traces of fishing nets possibly used for poaching Japan on Wednesday launched a study into whether precious coral was being illegally poached by Chinese fishermen off its shores to be sold for use in jewellery. The Fisheries Agency investigation will use an underwater camera to check the condition of the coral off the southern island of Kyushu. It also aims to find evidence such as traces of fishing nets possibly used for poaching precious coral, an official said. Precious coral, a species of coral which is usually red, pink or white in colour, and takes years to grow, is popular in parts of Asia for use in ornaments and for jewellery. In 2014, the Japan Coast Guard reported a surge in the number of Chinese boats fishing for coral in Japanese territorial waters, prompting a similar study the following year near the southern Ogasawara islands and Okinawa. Authorities now fear the alleged poachers may have shifted to the Kyushu coast. "We no longer see many Chinese poachers like we used to near the Ogasawara islands, but we're carrying out the study as we have still spotted some ships" near Kyushu, the official told AFP. The study will take place off the western coast of the southern island of Kyushu until September 4. To counter coral poaching, the government in 2014 revised laws on illegal fishing in the country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and tripled the maximum fines to 30 million yen ($270,000). Last month, Japan arrested a Chinese skipper off Nagasaki prefecture for allegedly violating the fisheries law after precious coral was found his ship, according to the agency. Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema leaving prison after treason charges against him were dropped Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema walked free from prison Wednesday after treason charges against him were dropped, averting a trial that threatened turmoil in the southern African nation. Hichilema, whose trial was due to begin in the morning, had been in custody since April over allegedly failing to give way to President Edgar Lungu's motorcade. After his release, he described his detention as "brutal" and vowed to use his imprisonment to bolster the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) that he leads. "This is where we commence our walk to true freedom," he told cheering supporters. "I want to assure you that we are stronger now than before. We are 10 times stronger now than before." Lillian Kayuni, director of public prosecution, earlier told the court in Lusaka that she would be "entering a nolle prosequi", or formal notice of abandonment. Hichilema was driven away from jail, standing up in the sun roof of his vehicle and waving to waiting crowds. He spoke later at the UPND headquarters, flanked by his wife Mutinta and the five aides who were arrested with him. All six denied the treason charges at a plea hearing on Monday, and police officers had again sealed off the court precinct for the start of the scheduled trial on Wednesday. Zambia has enjoyed relative stability since its first multi-party election in 1991. But last year's election was marked by clashes between supporters of Lungu's Patriotic Front (PF) and the UPND. Lungu, who narrowly beat Hichilema in the election, has dismissed allegations of growing authoritarianism and has accused his rival of trying to overturn the election result. Hichilema, 55, claims the election was rigged and has refused to recognise Lungu as the country's president. - High-speed road drama - In June, parliament suspended 48 UPND lawmakers for boycotting an address by Lungu three months earlier. And last month, the president invoked a state of emergency, increasing police powers of arrest and detention after a series of arson attacks blamed on opposition parties. The government has also increased pressure on media outlets that support the opposition, eroding Zambia's reputation as a stable democracy. "We respect the decision," government spokeswoman Kampamba Mulenga told reporters after the charges were dropped Wednesday. "This shows that the government does not interfere with the judicial system." Hichilema was arrested after he allegedly put Lungu's life in danger when his convoy failed to make way for the presidential motorcade in a high-speed road drama caught on video camera. The two men were both travelling to Western Province for a traditional ceremony. Days later, more than 100 armed police surrounded Hichilema's house outside Lusaka, firing tear gas before detaining him and his aides. The charges were dropped after Commonwealth secretary-general Patricia Scotland held talks with Lungu and Hichilema last week. On Wednesday she welcomed the decision and called for Zambian leaders to show that the country "remains a symbol of peace and a beacon of stability, unity and political tolerance". - Harassment and intimidation - A businessman turned politician, Hichilema has claimed he was assaulted by police during his arrest and suffered mistreatment in detention. Treason is an offence in Zambia that carries a minimum 15-year jail term and, in theory, a maximum sentence of death. A person accused of treason is not allowed to post bail. Amnesty International said that when he was arrested, Hichilema and the five other accused were "victims of longstanding persecution" by authorities and faced charges designed to "harass and intimidate". Lungu did not mince words during the election campaign, warning political rivals and activists that "if they push me against the wall, I will sacrifice democracy for peace". Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe, seen here with her husband, is accused of assaulting a model at a Johannesburg hotel South African police Wednesday said they knew the whereabouts of Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe, who faces accusations of assault, but declined to say if she had fled the country. The 52-year-old wife of President Robert Mugabe is accused of attacking model Gabriella Engels, 20, on Sunday evening at a Johannesburg hotel where her two sons were staying. Engels has registered a case with the police alleging assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, saying she suffered deep cuts to her forehead and the back of her head. "We know where the suspect is," South Africa's police spokesman Vishnu Naidoo told AFP. "We are still continuing with the investigations. No warrant of arrest has been issued," he added after some reports suggested Grace Mugabe had hurriedly returned to Harare late Tuesday. The alleged attack threatened to spark a diplomatic tiff between the two neighbouring countries, which have strong political and economic ties. Zimbabwean government officials have made no comment on the case. Grace Mugabe allegedly arrived at the Capital 20 West Hotel with bodyguards and accused Engels of partying with her sons Robert and Chatunga, who are both in their 20s and live in Johannesburg. - 'Kept beating me' - Pictures on social media appeared to show Engels bleeding from her head after the alleged assault at the hotel in the upmarket business district of Sandton. Engels said she had been attacked with an electrical extension cord. "She flipped and just kept beating me with the plug. Over and over. I had no idea what was going on. I was surprised... I needed to crawl out of the room before I could run away," she told the News 24 website. Zimbabwe's president is expected to fly to South Africa later this week for a regional SADC summit which opens in Pretoria on Saturday. Grace Mugabe is 41 years younger than her 93-year-old husband and the couple has two sons and a daughter. She regularly speaks at rallies and is seen as one possible contender to take over from her increasingly frail husband, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from British colonial rule in 1980. Last month she urged him to name his chosen successor, reviving speculation about the race to take over from the world's oldest national leader. The succession battle is expected to pit Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa against a group called "Generation 40" or "G40" because its members are generally younger, and which reportedly has Grace's backing. While Grace Mugabe has in the past denied harbouring ambitions to take over from her husband, at other times she has said she would be prepared to serve in any political position. She has taken on a larger public role in recent years, drumming up support for her husband and heading the women's league of the ruling ZANU-PF party. In speeches this year the president has often slurred his words, mumbled and paused for lengthy periods. His reign has been marked by brutal repression of dissent, mass emigration, vote-rigging and a sharp economic decline since land reforms in 2000. Grace Mugabe appears to not have diplomatic immunity status as she was not in South Africa on official business. South African Police Minister Fikile Mbalula told reporters on Tuesday that "in terms of foreign citizens, they must understand they have responsibilities, especially those who hold diplomatic passports." "We have had to act in the interests of the victim," he said. Joshua Wong and other pro-democracy supporters say the case is more proof that Beijing is tightening its grip on semi-autonomous Hong Kong, which enjoys much greater freedoms than on the mainland A defiant Joshua Wong, who became the face of Hong Kong's huge Umbrella Movement, said Wednesday he had no regrets as he prepared for a possible prison sentence for his leading role in the mass pro-democracy protests. But the student activist said he felt "guilty and sorry" for what he described as the burden he had put upon his family, a day ahead of a court ruling that could see him and two other prominent young activists jailed. Wong and other pro-democracy supporters say the case is more proof that Beijing is tightening its grip on semi-autonomous Hong Kong, which enjoys much greater freedoms than on the mainland. Those rights are guaranteed in the agreement made when Britain handed Hong Kong back to China in 1997, but there are growing concerns Beijing is trampling the deal. "I expect to pay the price, to be sent to prison," university student Wong, 20, told AFP. "However, I have no regret at all. What we have done already proves that Hong Kong people will continue to show determination in the frontline against authoritarian rule." Umbrella Movement leaders Wong, Nathan Law and Alex Chow were found guilty last year on unlawful assembly charges for storming a government forecourt as part of an anti-Beijing protest in 2014. That protest sparked the months-long rallies which brought parts of Hong Kong to a standstill calling for fully free leadership elections, an unprecedented rebuke to Beijing. Wong and Law received community sentences and Chow a three-week suspended sentence at magistrates' court last August. But Hong Kong's justice department is seeking to overturn those terms, with prosecutors arguing they should receive harsher punishment. - 'Fighting for justice' - Inciting or taking part in unlawful assembly carries a maximum sentence of five years. Pro-democracy rallies which brought parts of Hong Kong to a standstill calling for fully free leadership elections in 2014, an unprecedented rebuke to Beijing Chow, 26, said he was not scared. "When we are willing to sacrifice what we have, there is nothing to fear," he told AFP. While Wong also says he is mentally prepared, he worries about what he has put his loved ones through. "I feel guilty and sorry towards my family," he told AFP. "They have brought me up and spent a lot of money, letting me take part in social movements but only to be sent to prison in the end. I said I would keep up my studies in prison," he said. There have been a raft of cases brought against participants in the largely peaceful Umbrella Movement, but only one prominent activist has ever been jailed. The High Court judge at Thursday's sentencing review hearing can deliver an immediately effective prison term. The defendants say they are pessimistic after 13 environmental activists saw their community service sentences over demonstrations outside parliament upped to jail terms earlier this week following a request from the department of justice. Hundreds -- including Wong and Law -- gathered outside the government headquarters on Wednesday night, shouting "shame on Carrie Lam", the city's leader, to condemn the heavier sentences and called for a stop to "political persecution". "I hope that when we are out in 2018, we will see a Hong Kong with hope," Wong, who was close to tears, said on stage at the night protest. "I hope that nobody gives up hope on HK, we can still win," he said. Earlier, Wong told AFP if the judge in his case hands down a harsher penalty Thursday, it would make it harder for young activists to enter politics. He will turn 21 in October and has said publicly he intends to run for parliament. However, if he is jailed for more than three months Thursday he will be barred from elections for the next five years. Wong said the department of justice had "overlooked" the fact that Umbrella Movement protest leaders had insisted on the principle of non-violence. "We are fighting for justice, not for personal interests," he added. "I will continue with the spirit of the Umbrella Movement to fight for democracy, even if tomorrow I am in jail." Unemployed former fisherman Chamseddine Marzouz digs a grave at a makeshift cemetery for migrants on July 12, 2017 in the Tunisian town of Zarzis Armed with just a spade, Chamseddine Marzoug is determined to give a dignified burial to migrants who drowned in waters off his Tunisian hometown trying to reach Europe. On a patch of sandy wasteland outside the southern port town of Zarzis, the 52-year-old takes a rest from digging two graves under the scorching sun. In recent years, neighbouring Libya has become a key departure point for tens of thousands of migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to what they hope will be a better life in Europe. Thousands have drowned during the dangerous journey after paying human traffickers to board often overcrowded and unseaworthy boats. "Just because they took part in an illegal crossing -- driven to it by misery and injustice -- doesn't mean that they don't deserve to be buried with respect and dignity," says Marzoug. Libya has become a key departure point for tens of thousands of migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe The unemployed former fisherman, who also previously worked as a driver for the Red Crescent, says he has buried hundreds of dead migrants in the past 12 years. Off Zarzis, Tunisian fishermen have found themselves on the frontlines of a human tragedy in waters on a route from Libya to Italy. The fishermen are usually the ones to call the authorities after spotting boatloads of migrants in trouble, and often also help to rescue them. "You go out to earn a living, but then come back with migrants instead of fish," says Chamseddine Bourassine, the head of the local fishermen's association. - Makeshift cemetery - "You can't stand by and watch people die without doing something", he says. Since the start of this year, 126 people of different nationalities have been rescued in the waters off Zarzis, according to official figures. Tunisia's coastguard often rescues migrants from sinking vessels and even pulls the drowned from the sea, but says burying the dead is beyond its duties But the bodies of 44 migrants have also been retrieved. Tunisia's coastguard often rescues migrants from sinking vessels and even pulls the drowned from the sea, but says burying the dead is beyond the call of duty. "The coastguard units are in charge of ensuring security in this area bordering Libya," says Sami Saleh, head of maritime operations in Zarzis. "They're not rescue units and aren't equipped to retrieve dead bodies. With our limited means, our officers do the best they can, but burying the dead is not part of our duties." In waters bordering chaos-ridden Libya, Saleh says the coastguard has more important concerns. "We need to check if there are any suspicious individuals, weapons or explosives," he says. The lack of a specifically tasked authority is just one of the obstacles to giving the migrants a dignified burial. Mongi Slim, head of the local branch of the Red Crescent, says there is also a "cemetery problem". People "don't accept to bury strangers in their family plots" in cemeteries that are already overflowing, he says. Instead, Marzoug has obtained official permission to bury the migrants in a makeshift burial ground far from the town's homes and next to a garbage dump. - 'Seared into my brain' - Near an open grave, a black body bag lies on the sand beyond empty bottles and other trash. Mounds of sand are the only indication of the people laid to rest in the stony terrain. The graves are simple and unmarked, but their self-appointed digger -- whose own son has made the sea crossing to Europe -- remembers each and every one of their occupants. In one grave lie two children, aged around four and five when they died. In another rests a woman pulled from the sea, her head missing. In yet another is a man found with an arm missing. Unemployed former fisherman Chamseddine Marzouz digs a grave at a makeshift cemetary for migrants on July 12, 2017 in the Tunisian twon of Zarzis "The images of the bodies, especially those that were decomposing, are seared into my brain. It's not easy," Marzoug says. But "we need to consider them as our children, our brothers and sisters", he says. Marzoug has called on the authorities to set up what he calls a "real" cemetery for the migrants who died at sea. "This isn't just a Tunisian issue. It concerns all of humanity," he says. "I ask the whole world for a decent cemetery where we can bury the migrants properly, with a room for washing their bodies and the means to transport them," he says. The Red Crescent is "looking for a plot of land to buy" for this, Slim says, and plans to appeal for donations in Tunisia and abroad. "We will give them a dignified burial." Carvana, an eCommerce auto retailer, expanded its presence in Tennessee with market launches in Chattanooga and Knoxville on Wednesday. This marks the companys second and third markets in the state. Carvanas expansion into Chattanooga means that customers within the metro area can buy a car completely online and then get free delivery of that car as soon as the next day. The company was listed as one of the "Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America" by Entrepreneur magazine's Entrepreneur 360 List in 2016. A Cathay Pacific passenger plane makes its descent before landing at Hong Kong's international airport on August 16, 2017 Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific on Wednesday reported a massive net loss of HK$2.05 billion ($262.07 million) for the first half of the year as the airline struggled with intense competition from rivals. The results, which were worse than analysts predicted, came after Cathay saw its first annual loss in eight years in 2016, as lower cost Chinese carriers eat into its market share. Wednesday's results pave the way for the first ever back-to-back annual losses in the company's 70-year history. Bloomberg analysts had forecast a year-on-year loss of HK$1.2 billion ($153 million) for the first half of 2017. Chairman John Slosar described the results as "disappointing" to reporters and said competition was the most significant factor. Companies like China Eastern and China Southern Airlines are offering direct services to Europe and the United States from the mainland, while budget carriers like Spring Airlines have targeted regional travellers, undermining Cathay's position. The airline is also losing premium travellers as it comes under pressure from Middle East rivals which are expanding into Asia and offering more luxury touches. That has led to promotional prices for Cathay's top tickets as they are sold to leisure travellers. The airline said passenger revenue decreased by almost four percent, with passenger yield -- the average amount paid per passenger per mile -- dropping 5.2 percent. "Demand for air travel continues to grow, which is good, but capacity growth has outstripped demand growth in many of the key markets that we serve," Slosar told reporters. Higher fuel prices, including the cost of hedging, a strong Hong Kong dollar and rising aircraft maintenance costs also weighed on Cathay, Slosar said, as did fines from the European Commission over the airline's cargo surcharges. Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific on Wednesday reported a massive net loss of HK$2.05 billion ($262.07 million) for the first half of the year as the airline struggled with intense competition from rivals Fuel was the biggest cost, up 12.7 percent year on year from HK$13.26 billion to HK$14.94 billion, Cathay said in a statement to the Hong Kong exchange. That reflected a rise in fuel costs and consumption, even though hedging losses had been reduced, it said. Oil hedging is when an airline locks in prices of fuel at a pre-determined level for a certain amount of time. - Turbulent forecast - Founded in 1946, Cathay has only reported annual losses three times, including in 2016, according to Bloomberg. Last year's annual loss prompted a management shake-up and promises to slash staff costs by 30 percent. Current CEO Rupert Hogg took over in May, replacing Ivan Chu, who had been in the job for three years. Cathay said in May it would cut 600 staff including a quarter of its management, as part of its biggest shakeup in two decades to repair its bottom line. Slosar said Wednesday there were no further announcements on job losses. Analysts said they expected no quick turnaround for the airline. Cost cutting would be key, said analyst Jackson Wong of Huarong International Securities, who also said Cathay should abandon its hedging policy. But Dickie Wong of Kingston Securities said the airline would also have to reinvent itself and provide a better quality experience to customers. "If we talk about the service and the food quality of the economy class, it's just like a budget airline," Wong, a long-time Cathay flier, said. He forecast challenges would continue, although he predicted the effects of the firm's cost cutting could pick up in the second half of 2017 and 2018. "We do not expect the operating environment in the second half of 2017 to improve materially," Slosar said. Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region will hold a historic referendum on statehood in September Turkey warned Wednesday that plans by the leadership in Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region to hold a referendum on independence could lead to civil war, in Ankara's strongest warning yet against next month's poll. "In that country (Iraq), which has been through so many problems, a referendum on independence can make the situation even worse," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the state TRT Haber broadcaster. "God forbid, it could even bring it to civil war," he added. Turkey has a substantial Kurdish minority which is sometimes estimated as making up around a quarter of its total population of just under 80 million. - 'Error and a threat' - Ankara has in recent years forged strong ties with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq but is extremely wary of any move towards independence by the region. Turkish security forces in the southeast of the country are still fighting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has waged a deadly three-decade insurgency. The PKK initially aimed to carve out an independent Kurdish state in the southeast although its declared ambitions are now more focused on autonomy and rights. Ankara is also concerned about the presence of the Syrian Kurdish militia People's Protection Units (YPG) in the border area, fearing an autonomous Kurdish region could also emerge in northern Syria. Iraq's Kurdish leader Massud Barzani approved the upcoming independence referendum Analysts have little doubt that the September 25 referendum would result in a 'Yes' for an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq. But the result would be non binding and leave the approximately five million Kurds of northern Iraq some way away from actual independence. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in June strongly criticised the referendum plan, calling it "an error" and "a threat" to Iraq's territorial integrity. "The fundamental reason for our opposition to this referendum is the importance of preserving Iraq's territorial and political integrity," Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in a radio interview Wednesday, denying any ill will towards the Kurds. Widely seen as the world's largest stateless people, most Kurds are spread between Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey. But it is only in Iraq where they have achieved a recognised autonomy. Turkey has been battling the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) for more than three decades Iraqi Kurdish oil is exported through Turkey, a key economic lifeline for the region. Iran has also opposed the referendum plan, which is expected to be discussed this week in talks in Ankara between the Turkish leadership and Iran's chief of staff General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has waged an unprecedented crackdown on drugs during his 14 months in power, including Monday's "shock and awe" raids that killed 32 people Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday urged police to kill dozens of drug suspects every day, as he praised officers who shot dead 32 people this week in "shock and awe" raids. Duterte's incendiary comments came as he acknowledged major problems in his drug war, which has claimed thousands of lives, admitting he could not win it as quickly as promised and lamenting a corrupt police force. In one of the deadliest operations of the war, police reported killing 32 people in raids on Monday on suspected drug traffickers in Bulacan province, which neighbours the capital of Manila. "The ones who died recently in Bulacan, 32, in a massive raid, that was good," Duterte said in a speech to an anti-crime organisation that has backed the drug war. "If we could kill another 32 everyday, then maybe we can reduce what ails this country." Earlier in the day Bulacan police chief Romeo Caramat held a press conference in Manila to publicise the raids, in which 109 suspects were also arrested. "We wanted to shock and awe these drug personalities," Caramat said. "Other drug personalities will think twice before continuing with their drug trade." Caramat insisted the police had killed the suspects in self defence, adding that pistols and grenades had been seized in the raids. "We know we have done nothing wrong," Caramat said. He later told AFP that no police had been killed or wounded. When asked how it was possible there had been no police wounded if the raiding officers had been acting in self defence, Caramat said: "Don't ask me to explain". Police have killed 3,450 people in similar drug raids since Duterte came to office in the middle of last year, according to government data. More than 2,000 other people have been killed in drug-related crimes and thousands more murdered in unexplained circumstances, according to police data. - 'Happy to slaughter' - Rights groups accuse police and state-sanctioned vigilantes of carrying out mass murder as they follow Duterte's orders to eradicate drug traffickers and addicts. Duterte said last year he would be "happy to slaughter" three million addicts. Rights groups say such statements are incitements to kill, and Duterte may be orchestrating a crime against humanity. Duterte easily won last year's presidential election largely on a vow to kill tens of thousands of drug traffickers and addicts, which he said was necessary to stop the country's slide to narco-state status. He also promised during the campaign he would win his drug war in three to six months, a vow that resonated with voters fed up with high crime rates and corrupt politicians. However Duterte, who is limited by the constitution to serving a single term of six years, has conceded in a series of speeches over the past week that he will not be able to eradicate the drug trade quickly as promised. "These shabu (methamphetamine) and drugs, etcetera, cannot be solved by one man, for a president, for one term," he said in his southern home city of Davao on Friday. On Wednesday Duterte repeated that there were no quick solutions to the drug war, as he claimed not to have known before becoming president the extent of corruption in institutions such as the police force and customs. "Little did I know that the police who are suppose to be on my side, they were on the other side," Duterte said. "And little did I realise that the very agency that I was relying on to protect us from the smuggling of drugs from abroad, was the one importing the drugs." Duterte, 72, is a career politician who served in the national congress and spent more than two decades as mayor of Davao fashioning himself as a ruthless anti-drug crusader. Last year Duterte also admitted the police force was "corrupt to the core" but continued to give it a leading role in the drug war. He has also repeatedly promised to pardon officers if they are found guilty of murder. Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema describes himself as a "Christian and a philanthropist" who funds clinics, schools, boreholes and dam building Hakainde Hichilema, who was released from custody after treason charges against him were dropped, is a self-made entrepreneur who has made five unsuccessful attempts to become the Zambian president. He alleges that the 2016 election was rigged and, as leader of the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND), he has refused to recognise President Edgar Lungu. Hichilema, 55, accused the authorities of election fraud, and of undermining his campaign by banning rallies and allowing violent attacks on his activists. An articulate speaker, he drew large crowds to his rallies, ran a slick social media campaign and worked hard to shed his image as an elitist lacking the common touch. But he again failed to win office by a slim margin. He spent the last four months in custody after a bizarre incident in which he allegedly put Lungu's life in danger when his convoy failed to make way for the presidential motorcade. The high-speed road drama was caught on video camera, and Hichilema was charged with treason. The charges were finally dropped on Wednesday -- the day his trial was due to begin. - Business success - Hichilema was born to a poor family in the southern district of Monze, and says his "grit and determination" at school won him a priceless scholarship to the University of Zambia where he graduated in 1986 in economics and business administration. He then took an MBA degree at the University of Birmingham in Britain. He started off small, buying and selling houses, eventually becoming one of the country's richest businessmen with major interests in finance, ranching, property, healthcare and tourism. At the age of 32, he was Zambia CEO of Coopers and Lybrand consultancy accountants, and he has sat on the boards of several large Zambian corporations. Despite his series of election defeats, Hichilema still hopes to win power. He has promised to build a business-friendly Zambia and attract investment, while at the same time pledging to alleviate hardship among the country's millions of poor. On his website he describes himself as a "Christian and a philanthropist" who funds clinics, schools, boreholes and dam building. Before his release, he marked his 100th day in jail saying in a statement "we habour no hate for anyone as we believe that everything that happens in life is for a purpose". He described the conditions inside prison as "atrocious" and "inhuman". Hichilema is married and has a daughter and two sons. When he was arrested, Amnesty International said Hichilema and the five other accused were "victims of longstanding persecution." A demonstrator holds a sign in front of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 13, 2017 during a vigil following violence in Charlottesville that left one woman dead and 19 people injured Far-right views should always be condemned and there could be no equivalence with opponents of fascism, British Prime Minister Theresa May said Wednesday in comments that implicitly criticised US President Donald Trump. In the Virginia college town of Charlottesville on Saturday, a rally by neo-Nazis and white supremacists over the removal of a Confederate statue erupted in clashes with counter-demonstrators. Trump has sparked a political firestorm by reiterating his views Tuesday that there was "blame on both sides" for Saturday's violence. The melee ended in bloodshed when a 20-year-old suspected Nazi sympathiser ploughed his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters, leaving one woman dead and 19 people injured. Asked about Trump's comments in the wake of the Charlottesville violence, May said: "I see no equivalence between those who propound fascist views and those who oppose them. I think it is important for all those in positions of responsibility to condemn far-right views wherever we hear them." "I absolutely abhor the racism, the hatred and the violence that we have seen portrayed by these groups," she told reporters in Portsmouth on the southern English coast. "The United Kingdom has taken action to ban far-right groups here, we have proscribed certain far-right groups," she added. Trump, who has denounced racism and singled out the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis as "criminals and thugs", has also hit out at what he called the "alt-left" over the weekend violence. He has faced days of criticism from across the political spectrum over his reaction to the unrest. A man at a railway station in Seoul watches a television report of a North Korean missile test The head of the US military said during a visit to Beijing that it was increasingly urgent for China to step up pressure on North Korea, according to a Pentagon spokesman on Wednesday. General Joe Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told General Fang Fenghui during a meeting on Tuesday that the United States was ready to use military options if diplomacy fails, Captain Darryn James said in a statement. During their talks, Dunford and Fang, who is chief of the Joint Staff Department, signed an agreement to improve communication between the offices of top military officials. But Dunford "stressed that it will only be useful if it results in reducing the risk of miscalculation," James said. This "not only has long-term benefits to manage bilateral differences, but is especially critical now due to growing North Korean provocations". The US general had "delivered a clear message that North Korean ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs threaten the entire global community, including China, Russia, the US and our allies," James said. "In the interest of regional stability, he said the US views with growing urgency the need for China to increase pressure on the North Korean regime." The administration of US President Donald Trump has exhorted China to strongarm its diplomatic ally into dropping its rogue weapons programmes. The Chinese Ministry of Defense said in a statement Wednesday that China and the US have maintained close communication on major international and regional issues. The statement said that during a meeting between Dunford and Song Puxuan, commander of the northern theatre of the People's Liberation Army, Song stressed that efforts to resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean peninsula "should adhere to dialogue and political settlement". China -- which is Pyongyang's main economic partner -- had announced this week that it was banning imports of iron, iron ore, lead and seafood from North Korea in accordance with new United Nations sanctions. "Should preferred diplomatic and economic peaceful options fail, Gen. Dunford reiterated America's resolve to use the full range of military capabilities to defend our allies in the Republic of (South) Korea and Japan, as well as the US homeland," James said. Dunford is visiting China this week after holding meetings with military officials in South Korea, where he reiterated Washington's readiness to use military means to defend its allies. The US general continues his China trip on Thursday before heading to Japan. China has denied violations of religious freedom after the United States accused Beijing of persecuting various groups in an annual report China on Wednesday denied violations of religious freedom after the United States accused Beijing of persecuting Christians, Muslims, Falun Gong members and Tibetan Buddhists in an annual report. "All Chinese people of all ethnic groups and all regions are fully entitled to religious belief. The so-called report ignores facts," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular press briefing. "We see that the United States is not a perfect country either. We urge the US to... manage its own affairs," Hua added. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pointed to China along with Bahrain, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Turkey as he presented the State Department's annual report on Tuesday. The report said that in 2016, China "physically abused, detained, arrested, tortured, sentenced to prison, or harassed adherents of both registered and unregistered religious groups." It cited a national security law that explicitly bans "cult organizations," which includes the Falun Gong, Buddhist-inspired groups and several Christian groups. A new government regulation in the northwestern Xinjiang region bans religious activity in schools and stipulates that parents or guardians who "organize, lure, or force minors into religious activities" may be reported to the police, the report said. It also noted arrests and harassment of church leaders in eastern Zhejiang province, who have opposed a government campaign to remove crosses from churches. In response, Hua said Washington should "stop the wrongdoing of using religion to interfere in other country's affairs". China's officially atheist Communist authorities are wary of any organised movements outside their control, including religious ones, and analysts say controls over such groups have tightened under President Xi Jinping. Chinese authorities had outlawed Falun Gong in July 1999, branding it an "evil cult". Members claim that hundreds of followers have since been beaten and killed in labour camps, a charge the Chinese government denies. Beijing says it "peacefully liberated" Tibet in 1951 and insists it has brought development to a previously backward region. But many Tibetans accuse the Chinese government of exploiting natural resources, as well as promoting activities and business of China's majority Han ethnic group at the expense of locals and the environment. Several Tibetan monks have died in self-immolation protests in recent months, according to rights groups. Activists successfully campaigned for the repeal of the controversial Lebanese law allowing rapists who marry their victims to go free Lebanon's parliament on Wednesday scrapped a controversial law allowing rapists who marry their victims to go free, official media and activists said, after a high-profile campaign for its repeal. A proposal to repeal Article 522 of the penal code -- which deals with rape, assault, kidnapping and forced marriage -- was introduced last year and approved by a parliamentary committee in February. On Wednesday, it was ratified by the full parliament, the official National News Agency and activist group ABAAD said. "Congratulations to women in Lebanon," the NGO wrote in a statement on its Facebook page. "Today's win is a victory for the dignity of women," it added. "It is no longer possible to escape punishment for rape and sexual acts carried out by force and coercion," said the group, which has spearheaded the campaign to repeal the much-reviled article. The article, which also dealt with the rape of minors, allowed for the perpetrator of sexual assault to avoid prosecution by marrying their victim. There are no precise figures on how many rapists marry their victims to avoid punishment, but activists say the practice mainly took place in rural areas. Danielle al-Hweik, a lawyer with ABAAD, hailed the ruling as the result of pressure from activists, but said there would be new battles ahead. "There are many other issues that we're working on," she told AFP. "We remain concerned by other articles." Among the legal provisions rights groups want repealed are articles that allow a person accused of "consensual" sexual relations with a minor under 15 to avoid sanction by marrying the minor. Lebanon's decision comes just over two weeks after Jordan's parliament binned a similar article in its penal code. And in July, Tunisia passed legislation doing the same as part of a bill designed to "end all violence against women". The gunmen who opened fire on the Ouagadougou restaurant Sunday probably came from over the border in Mali, said a security source Militants who shot and killed 18 people at a restaurant in Burkina Faso's capital most likely came from Mali, a security source in Ouagadougou told AFP on Wednesday. "Looking at the tactics of the assailants, their physical traits, they probably came from northern Mali or closer to the border" with Burkina Faso, an army officer said on condition of anonymity. Gunmen killed nine locals and nine foreigners as they dined on the terrace of a Turkish restaurant in Ouagadougou late Sunday. The Burkinabe victims comprised seven men and two women: the foreigners were two Kuwaiti men, a Canadian woman, another Canadian woman with dual Algerian nationality, and one man each from France, Senegal, Nigeria, Turkey and Lebanon. Another 22 people were injured in the attack. No group has claimed responsibility but Burkina Faso has witnessed a string of such attacks blamed on Islamist extremists. "The fact that the attack hasn't been claimed just suggests that it's an isolated act that could be linked to Ansarul Islam or AQIM," the officer said. Ouagadougou prosecutor Faso Maiza Sereme has described the attackers as very young and made it clear that they went there ready to die. Landlocked Burkina Faso shares a largely lawless border region with Mali, where jihadist fighters frequently ambush security forces. The prosecutor Maiza Sereme has said Sunday's attack bore similarities to last year's assault on a hotel and cafe in the capital that killed 30 people and wounded more than 70. That attack was claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Ansarul Islam is active in northern Burkina Faso and has claimed responsibility for several recent attacks, including one that killed 12 soldiers in December. Security Minister Simon Compaore said all possibilities were being investigated. "The inquiry could take a long time and we need to work with other countries," he said. Even on Wednesday, the stores along the capital's main street, Kwame N'Krumah Avenue, have been slow to open. "We were all afraid so we did not open on Monday," furniture store manager Rodrigue Kabore told AFP. "After what happened, the mood has been broken. "We opened because we have to open, but we are still afraid," the 24-year-old said. A tweet by former president Barack Obama on violence at a a far-right rally in Virginia has become the most "liked" one ever on Twitter A tweet by former president Barack Obama about the violence in Charlottesville has become the most liked message in the history of Twitter, the company said Wednesday. The tweet by the country's first black president quoted Nelson Mandela. "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion," Obama tweeted on Sunday, following deadly clashes in the Virginia city between neo-Nazi sympathizers and counterprotesters. As of 1300 GMT Wednesday, Obama's message had been "liked" 3.2 million times, and re-tweeted 1.3 million times. The 44th US president has not spoken out on the violence except via quotes from Mandela, the South African anti-apartheid icon who died in 2013. A picture accompanying the tweet shows four babies -- including a black baby girl and a blonde baby boy -- in an open window as the ex-US president looks in. Two other Obama tweets without pictures had more than one million likes. "People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love... For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. - Nelson Mandela," Obama wrote in two tweets, also on Sunday. A rally Saturday by neo-Nazis and white supremacists over the removal of a Confederate statue in Charlottesville erupted in clashes with counter-demonstrators. The fracas ended in bloodshed when a 20-year-old suspected Nazi sympathizer plowed his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters, leaving one woman dead and 19 others injured. On Tuesday President Donald Trump doubled down on his initial response to the white supremacist rally, saying there was "blame on both sides." The Republican president -- who one day earlier denounced racism and singled out the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis as "criminals and thugs" -- also hit out at what he called the "alt-left" over the weekend melee. Trump has faced days of criticism from across the political spectrum over his reaction to Saturday's unrest in the Virginia college town. A favorite Sunday School song goes: Zacchaeus was a wee little man, a wee little man was he. He climbed up in a sycamore tree, for the Lord he wanted to see. And as the Savior passed his way, he looked up in the tree. He said Zacchaeus, you come down for Im going to your house today! I find the Bible story behind this little jingle very inspiring because it shows the possibility of God providing the remedy for human challenges, with the end result being healing. You see, Zacchaeus was a chief tax collector who had become wealthy by cheating the people of Jericho. When Zacchaeus heard that Jesus was coming into Jericho, he ran outside because he had a real desire to see Jesus. Unable to see him because of the crowd (he was a very short man), he noticed the sycamore tree and climbed it to get a better view. That action would forever change him and the way he viewed himself! You might be asking why I am so inspired by this story and how this story relates to modern-day life. Well, for starters, sycamore trees live for up to 600 years. So, long before Zacchaeus needed that tree, it was planted. Secondly, what was it that impelled a grown man in the midst of a huge crowd to climb that tree? Did he have an intuition that God was providing an opportunity for him to move up higher? Despite Zacchaeus dishonesty, Jesus honored him by going to his house and showing him Gods love and compassion. As a result, Zacchaeus had a change of heart and was healed, no longer bound to the label of dishonest tax collector. He must have glimpsed his spiritual purity in Gods eyes, and in gratitude he gave half of his wealth to the poor and restored what he had stolen from others. Nineteen hundred years later, Mary Baker Eddy rose above what appeared to be insurmountable issues. She faced chronic sickness, poverty, an unfaithful husband, and the death of several close loved ones. Yet, through deep study of the Bible and persistent prayer, she discovered the divine laws behind Jesus healing works. She authored Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures and founded a worldwide religion, Christian Science, which affirms that healing through Gods all-powerful laws is possible now and for all time. Some people have said that spirituality and religion are not relevant in todays world. And that could be true for religion that is merely blind faith in a man-like God. But, when I was faced recently with a dishonest situation with a dear friend, I found something much more real and reliable to help me. I had a choice: end a friendship of many years or forgive a great financial favor I had done years ago when this friend had been in dire straits. I had agreed to bail him out, expecting eventual repayment. When he started distancing himself from me, apparently to avoid repayment, I felt betrayed and hurt. Turning to God for direction, it became clear to me that I had to see this friend as Jesus had seen Zacchaeus. Jesus saw the perfect man, wrote Mary Baker Eddy, who appeared to him where sinning mortal man appears to mortals. It was clear to me that I had to see my friend, under Gods laws, as perfect, trustworthy and incapable of being a dishonest sinning mortal man. Before long, the situation was resolved to the satisfaction of both of us. Do you feel small in this world so crowded by challenges that you cant see how God can help you? As the sycamore tree created a clear line of vision for Zacchaeus, your sycamore tree can be prayer to understand God better and see yourself more spiritually. Then dont be surprised if you find your needs met. "The prayer that reforms the sinner and heals the sick," wrote Mary Baker Eddy, "is an absolute faith that all things are possible to God,a spiritual understanding of Him, an unselfed love." We might be thinking that we are always trying to get someplace where we can see God. But the truth is that God, as infinite Spirit or divine Principle, is always present. -- and anything is possible. His laws are always available to be learned and relied upon. Whatever your need is, when you pray with a hungering heart -- whether for a glimpse of your own innate purity or to know God in a way youve never known him before -- you open yourself up to receive all that He has for your life. * * * Debra writes about the connection between thought, spirituality and wellness from a Christian Science perspective. She has been published in USA Today, the UK, Knoxville News Sentinel, chattanoogan.com, UK Health Triangle Magazine, Jackson Sun Health Magazine, and in the Memphis Commercial Appeal. She is the media and legislative liaison for Christian Science in TN. Despite losing Mosul, the capital of its self-declared caliphate, in July, the IS group has continued to launch attacks in areas retaken by Iraqi forces Islamic State group suicide bombers killed seven members of Iraq's security forces in an attack on an Iraqi police and army base Wednesday in Baiji, north of Baghdad, the interior ministry and a local official said. "Five Daesh suicide bombers... wearing explosive belts attacked a police and army base at dawn in the Al-Masafi district," the town's mayor Mohammad Mahmoud told AFP, using an Arabic acronym for the group. "Seven members of the security forces were killed and six wounded" in the ensuing firefight, he said. Interior ministry spokesman Brigadier General Saad Maan confirmed the toll and said the "five suicide terrorists" were also killed. IS captured Baiji, a Sunni Arab town around 200 kilometres (120 miles) from the capital, in June 2014 during a lightning offensive that saw the jihadist group rout security forces and grab swathes of Syria and northern Iraq. Baiji was the scene of some of the longest-running battles between IS and Iraqi forces. The town lies at a major crossroads and its recapture by Iraqi security forces was seen as key to preparing the ground for offensives in Anbar province and later Mosul. The town and its nearby oil refinery, Iraq's largest, were recaptured in late 2015 with air support from a US-led coalition and a host of tribal groups and militias. But despite losing Mosul, the capital of its self-declared caliphate, in July, the extremist group has continued to launch attacks in areas retaken by Iraqi forces. The latest attack comes as Iraqi warplanes pound IS positions in preparation for a ground assault on the town of Tal Afar, west of Mosul. The United States added the Kashmiri separatist group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen to its blacklist of terrorist organizations on Wednesday, amid renewed protests against Indian rule in the region. US authorities had already designated the group's leader, Syed Salahuddin, a 'global terrorist', but he is still able to operate in Pakistani Kashmir, where his group has strong support. The State Department designation bans US citizens and residents from dealing with the group and any assets found to belong to the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen in areas under US jurisdiction will be frozen. Senior leader of Kashmiri militant group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen Syed Salahuddin gestures as he arrives for a press briefing in Muzaffarabad The US designation comes on the week that both India and Pakistan mark 70 years of independence from the British Empire -- and the start of a bitter rivalry and decades of conflict over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir 'Today's action notifies the US public and the international community that HM is a terrorist organization,' the department said. 'Terrorism designations expose and isolate organizations and individuals, and deny them access to the US financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of US agencies and other governments.' The US designation comes on the week that both India and Pakistan mark 70 years of independence from the British Empire - and the start of a bitter rivalry and decades of conflict over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. Since 1989, rebel groups have fought in Indian Kashmir, demanding independence or a merger of the territory with Pakistan, and tens of thousands - mostly civilians - have been killed. On Sunday, two Indian soldiers and three rebels were killed in a gun battle after counter-insurgency forces surrounded separatists in a village just south of the city of Srinagar. President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz moved to abolish Mauritania's senate despite fierce criticism from a boycott movement Mauritania's President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz has approved a newly drafted law abolishing the senate, the most controversial measure in a package of reforms passed by referendum this month. Government spokesman Mohamed Lemine Ould Cheikh confirmed that the president had given final approval to the law, in comments to reporters on Tuesday evening. The law was passed the same day the constitutional council cleared the results of the August 5 referendum in which 85 percent of those who voted approved the measure. But the official turnout figure for the vote was 53.73 percent, as senators and opposition politicians who campaigned against the changes had called for a boycott of the vote. The law meant that all the powers previously held by the senate passed to the national assembly, Ould Cheikh told reporters. President Aziz came to power in a coup in 2008, before being elected in 2009 and again for a second five-year term in 2014. Opposition groups who opposed the abolition of the senate say Aziz is laying the groundwork for a third term in power, despite his claims to the contrary. Senators rejected the abolition of their own chamber in March, even though most of them hail from the ruling party. Aziz called the referendum shortly afterwards. British actor Daniel Craig, shown here in Mexico City in 2015 at a release event for his last James Bond movie 'Spectre,' has confirmed he will play the super spy a fifth and final time Daniel Craig, the British actor who famously complained he'd rather slash his wrists than play James Bond a fifth time, has finally confirmed he's returning as 007 after all... one last time. The New York Times first reported last month that the 49-year-old's return to the big screen in 2019 was a "done deal" for the 25th movie in a franchise that has thrilled generations of cinemagoers. But the actor had previously stopped short of confirming the reports. "I've been quite cagey about it," he admitted Tuesday to US television host Stephen Colbert on CBS's "The Late Show." "I've been doing interviews all day and people have been asking me and think I've been rather coy, but I kind of felt like if I was going to speak the truth, I should speak the truth to you," he said. Asked if he was returning as Bond, Craig replied: "Yes" before standing up and shaking Colbert's hand with a grin. "I couldn't be happier," he added. But the star said it would be his last outing as the fictional British secret agent: "I think this is it. This is it. I just want to go out on a high note." Craig's return had been subject to furious speculation for years. In 2015, he told Time Out magazine: "I'd rather break this glass and slash my wrists... We're done. All I want to do is move on." He has since distanced himself from those remarks, attributing them to being tired straight after a grueling shoot for the 2015 Bond movie "Spectre." "Instead of saying something with style and grace, I gave a really stupid answer," he told Colbert. Asked how long he had known he would be back for a fifth Bond, Craig said it had "been a couple of months." "I always wanted to, I needed a break." Bond is set return to US cinemas on November 8, 2019 with an earlier release in Britain and worldwide, says Eon Productions, which oversees everything Bond, and Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, which holds rights to the franchise. Craig is the seventh actor to play Bond, following Sean Connery, Roger Moore, David Niven, George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan. South African Paralympian Oscar Pistorius is serving a six-year jail term for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in his Pretoria home in 2013 Jailed South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius briefly left his Pretoria prison on Wednesday to attend his grandmother's funeral. "He left in the morning under supervision of our officials and by 20-minutes-past-one he was back at the facility," Correctional Services spokesman Singabakho Nxumalo told AFP. He was driven from Atteridgeville prison in Pretoria after he had been granted permission to bury his maternal grandmother` Joyce Bekker, who according to local media, died last week aged 93. The funeral took place in Johannesburg's northern Bryanston's suburb. Nxumalo said there was nothing special about Pistorius being let out because regulations permit low-risk prisoners compassionate leave to attend the funerals of, or visit critically ill direct family members. Earlier this month Pistorius was removed from prison and kept in a hospital overnight after he had reportedly complained of chest pains. Pistorius, 30, is serving a six-year jail term for murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, a model and law graduate, in his Pretoria home in 2013. The "Blade Runner", as the double amputee sprinter was known, has always maintained that he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder when he fired four high-calibre bullets through a locked toilet cubicle. Grace Mugabe is often accused of extravagant spending on luxury clothes and international travel Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's wife was once dismissed as a lightweight shopping addict with no political interests, but Grace Mugabe has recently emerged as a potential challenger for power. Aged 52, the first lady is increasingly active in public life and in 2014 became the head the ZANU-PF party's women's wing. Court politics are complex in Zimbabwe, but she is thought to be backed by the "G-40", a group of young activists of the under-40 generation that has earned a reputation for aggression. She regularly attends rallies across the country, railing against anyone alleged to be disloyal to the president, and handing out clothes and domestic goods. She told crowds in 2015 that she would put her husband in a wheelchair if necessary so he could run for re-election. Grace was one of Mugabe's secretaries when their affair began in 1987, and they had two children in secret before the president's wife died in 1992. The couple then married at a lavish ceremony in 1996 attended by Nelson Mandela. She has often been accused of extravagant spending on luxury clothes and international travel, and of involvement in corrupt land deals. Dubbed "Gucci Grace", "The First Shopper" or even "DisGrace", she showed her political mettle in 2014 with her ruthless campaign against then Vice President Joice Mujuru, who was then a contender to succeed her husband. She launched sustained verbal attacks against Mujuru, accusing her of corruption and plotting to topple the president. Soon afterwards, Mujuru, a former guerrilla fighter who had held cabinet posts in every Mugabe government since independence in 1980, was ousted from the party leadership and later from ZANU-PF. - 'I don't even care' - Grace Mugabe regularly attends political rallies in Zimbabwe but remains a divisive figure within the ruling ZANU-PF party Born on July 23, 1965, in South Africa, Grace Marufu has three children with Mugabe, 41 years her senior, as well as a son from her first marriage. She has a short temper -- perhaps in evidence last weekend when she allegedly assaulted a model who was at a Johannesburg hotel with the first lady's two sons. On Wednesday she claimed diplomatic immunity, though the case may still cause much legal trouble. She was granted diplomatic immunity in Hong Kong in 2009 after she repeatedly punched a British photographer for taking pictures of her at a luxury hotel. But she told a South African Broadcasting Corporation programme that she is no longer concerned about what people think of her. "I have developed a thick skin, I don't even care," she said. "My husband says ignorance is bliss." Nonetheless there have been efforts to change pubic perceptions, with her supporters showering her with new nicknames -- such as "Dr Amai (Doctor Mother)", "unifier" and "queen of queens". Grace was also awarded a doctorate by the University of Zimbabwe, where her husband is chancellor, reportedly just three months after enrolling. But political analyst Earnest Mudzengi said Grace Mugabe lacks popular appeal and has stirred disharmony in ZANU-PF. "She was literally hand-picked. She has created enemies and enemies are being created as we speak, just look at the purges in ZANU-PF," Mudzengi said. "She does not have popular support and does not fit in the framework of how ZANU-PF leaders are chosen. Normally they would require that someone must have liberation war credentials or that they must have worked tirelessly for the party." Analysts suggest she may not want the top job herself but is positioning her family to try to ensure protection and support in what could be dangerous years after the president dies. j-rm-bgs/js Palestinian journalists protest in Gaza City on August 8, 2017 against Israel's plans to close the Al-Jazeera news network Israeli authorities said Wednesday they were moving to revoke the press credentials of a journalist for Al-Jazeera, after having announced plans to close the news network's offices in the country. The government press office distributed video of an interview last year in which the journalist, Elias Karram, called his work an "integral part" of Palestinian resistance to Israel's occupation. A hearing would be held in which Karram would be asked to explain his comments, the press office said, adding it had "decided to revoke" his credentials pending the hearing. "These remarks call into question the ability of Karram, the representative of a foreign network, to cover -- as a professional journalist -- the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in which, according to his own words, he is taking an active part," it said in a statement. Al-Jazeera declined to immediately comment on the move. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month that he wants to expel the Qatari broadcaster from the country, accusing it of inciting violence. Netanyahu made the comments as tensions soared over Jerusalem's Haram al-Sharif mosque compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount. At the time, Al-Jazeera condemned what it called "arbitrary accusations and hostile statements". It added the network would "take all necessary legal measures in case they act on their threat," saying its coverage was professional and objective. On August 6, Communications Minister Ayoob Kara followed up on Netanyahu's comments by saying he would take steps to close Al-Jazeera's offices in Israel. He accused the broadcaster of "inciting violence which has provoked losses among the best of our sons". Kara was referring to two policemen who were killed in a July 14 attack near the Haram al-Sharif compound in east Jerusalem. The press office's move to revoke the press card for Karram, a 40-year-old Arab Israeli, marks the first concrete actions against the broadcaster since Netanyahu's remarks. The press office statement on Wednesday said Kara recently requested that "the press cards of Al-Jazeera personnel in Israel be revoked on the grounds that the network was inciting and agitating to violence in a way that harmed the security of the state." Amnesty International has said Israel's move against the broadcaster is a "brazen attack on media freedom". Former US Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush -- shown here in 2013 -- urged Americans to reject bigotry, as the furor over Donald Trump's comments on the unrest in Charlottesville rages on Former US leaders George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush on Wednesday issued a tough joint statement condemning racial bigotry and anti-Semitism, in a veiled rebuke of President Donald Trump. Trump sparked a political firestorm on Tuesday when he said counter-protesters appeared to be equally to blame for violence over the weekend at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. In a statement issued from Kennebunkport, Maine, where they have a family home, the father-son former presidents said "America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms." They made reference to Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence whose main home, Monticello, is in Charlottesville. "As we pray for Charlottesville, we are reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that city's most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence: we are all created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights," they said. "We know these truths to be everlasting because we have seen the decency and greatness of our country." The joint statement did not mention Trump by name. A woman was killed and 19 other people injured in Charlottesville on Saturday when a suspected white supremacist drove his car into a group of counter-protesters. Trump, in his remarks on Tuesday, appeared to put the white nationalists and counter-demonstrators on equal moral ground. "I think there is blame on both sides," Trump said. "You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent." His remarks have drawn widespread criticism including from members of his Republican Party. A destroyed hospital room in the rebel-held Syrian town of Khan Sheikhun is seen after the suspected April 2017 toxic gas attack, which prompted an international investigation in which says Syria it will cooperate to prove it was not involved Syria will cooperate with visiting members of an international panel investigating a deadly April chemical weapons attack to prove it was not involved, the country's deputy foreign minister said Wednesday. "In the coming few days we will receive a delegation from the... Joint Investigative Mechanism," which is investigating the sarin gas attack in a rebel-held northwestern town, Faisal al-Moqdad told reporters in Damascus. "We will give them everything they want, to prove that Syria was not behind this terrible attack, which at the end of the day killed Syrians," he said. "This comes within the framework of our firm and absolute conviction that Syria has not and will not use chemical weapons and the terrorists are the ones who use these weapons." At least 87 people including over 30 children died in the April 4 attack on Khan Sheikhun, a town in the opposition-held province of Idlib. Syria's government has denied involvement and claims it no longer possesses chemical weapons after a 2013 agreement under which it pledged to surrender its chemical arsenal. The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons earlier this year presented a report confirming sarin gas was used in the attack, but did not assign blame. The JIM, a joint OPCW-United Nations panel, is now investigating the question of responsibility. It says it has come under intense pressure in the process. The head of the investigation complained in July of a "highly-politicised environment" and attempts to influence the probe. Government ally Damascus has already cast doubt on the OPCW's conclusion that sarin gas was used in the attack, saying it was "based on rather questionable data". Moqdad suggested Damascus would only accept results that absolved it of responsibility for the attack. "If this investigation is built on well-known rules and foundations, it will prove once again that Syria has not and will not use chemical weapons," he said. La Paz Chattanooga helped recruit and train over 75 bilingual volunteers to work with 14 Hamilton County public schools during the county-wide school registration day. Volunteers requested time off from their employers to help Chattanooga's Latino and Hispanic students enroll in school for the upcoming academic year. According to the latest reporting, there were over 5,200 Hispanic and Latino students in Hamilton County public schools at the end of the 2016-2017 school year. The parents of many of these students do not speak sufficient English in order to properly complete the paperwork needed for school. La Paz volunteers assisted them by helping them prepare their documents and interpret for school officials. "It's committed community partners like La Paz that go above and beyond to support our students and their families that will improve access and outcomes across Hamilton County," said Jared Bigham, executive director of Chattanooga 2.0. Bilingual services are key in helping educators and students succeed, said officials. A recent survey conducted by La Paz found that educators and students in Hamilton County need greater access to culturally relevant services such as bilingual translation and interpretation services. Interpreters are needed at conferences, during school registration days and in general communications to families. These services allow parents to become active participants in their childs education by helping them understand their child's academic needs. Additionally, with additional training and support, teachers would be able to provide information on student academic progress and performance. "The local Latino community is constantly seeking opportunities to learn English, but for many local Latino residents, their English proficiency is not yet good enough for them to fill out the paperwork on their own," explains Patrick Miles, La Paz Chattanooga's director of Community Engagement. "The process of filling out the mountain of papers required at school registration can be challenging for a native English speaker. So, for our Spanish speaking families, this process can be daunting. Just a little bit of assistance from caring community members goes a long way to show our city's collective efforts to help students in our area develop." Clifton Hills Elementary teacher, Jacob Vrieswyk, said, The support that La Paz gives our school has been a lifeline for us at Clifton Hills Elementary. Without their partnership, we would not be able to adequately serve our community. From helping out with school registrations, interpreting during parent-teacher conferences, and collaborating with us as we seek new ways to serve our families, La Paz is always there for us. As the leading Hispanic/Latino organization in the area, La Paz aims to continue serving as a community liaison by helping families receive the support they need to thrive in Chattanooga. This includes helping parents learn the ins and outs of the school system so that their children have a greater propensity to succeed in the classroom, said officials. Since opening its doors in 2004, La Paz has served over 30,000 people in our region through direct services, in depth case-management, and education and outreach programming. For more information regarding La Paz's community outreach efforts , please contact Patrick Miles, La Paz's director of Community Engagement and Administration, at pm@lapazchattanooga.org or call the La Paz office at 624-8414. This file picture from July 28, 2017 shows smoke billowing over Raqa, the Islamic State group's onetime stronghold in Syria, following a coalition air strike US-led coalition air strikes on the Islamic State group's remaining territory in Syria's Raqa city killed 17 civilians on Wednesday, including children, a monitor said. The coalition is providing air support in the form of heavy air strikes for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia as it battles to oust IS from its onetime stronghold. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the deaths on Wednesday followed two days of deadly strikes. Since Monday, the monitor said, 38 civilians have been killed in US-led air strikes on the city. Wednesday's deaths included five children, according to the monitor, which relies on a network of sources on the ground. The coalition says it takes measures to avoid civilian casualties and investigates credible allegations of civilian deaths. The United States has admitted that coalition strikes have killed 624 civilians in Syria and Iraq since 2014. But rights groups and monitors say the figure is exponentially higher than that. The SDF launched an operation to capture Raqa province from IS last year, and in June the militia broke into Raqa city for the first time. It now holds more than half of the city, but the fighting has proved fierce and civilians have been killed both in the crossfire and while trying to flee. Tens of thousands of people have fled Raqa, but the UN estimates between 10,000 and 25,000 civilians may still be trapped inside. Members of the Association of Mineworkers and the Marikana community mark the fifth anniversary of the Marikana massacre on August 16, 2017 At the site of the 2012 Marikana massacre where police shot dead 34 strikers, thousands of South African miners sang remembrance songs Wednesday as campaigners demanded prosecutions and compensation. The 34 miners were gunned down after police were deployed to break up a wildcat strike that had turned violent at the Lonmin-owned Marikana platinum mine, northwest of Johannesburg. It was the worst police violence in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994. "It is a disgrace. Not a single cent has been paid to our people five years later," Dali Mpofu, lawyer for some of the victims' families, said, dismissing government claims that 1.17 billion rand ($88 million) had been offered in compensation. "Our government is continuing to torture our people. The truth is still to come. The truth will come out," he added. The rocky hill where the shooting took place has become a monument to those who died in the massacre, which was captured on camera and beamed across the world in scenes reminiscent of apartheid-era police killings. The rocky hill where South African police shot dead 34 striking miners in Marikana in 2012 has become a monument to those who died An official inquiry established by President Jacob Zuma put much of the blame for the deaths on police tactics used to disperse the 3,000 strikers, but no prosecutions have been brought. In the days leading up to the attack, 10 others had been killed in violence related to the strike -- including non-striking miners, security guards and two police officers who were hacked to death. But the commission found a police operation to forcefully remove the miners, a few of whom were armed, should not have been carried out. - 'No justice' - "These guys died like flies," said Morris Siyimba, a miner sitting on the hill during the commemoration events on Wednesday. Relatives of the miners who were killed in the Marikana massacre have long demanded that senior police officers are held accountable "That day I was lucky not to be shot. It is too painful (to recall)," he said. "The government has not done anything. There has not been any justice." The families of the victims have accused the police of acting to avenge the two officers killed during the strike and have long demanded that senior police officials must be held accountable. "The tragedy of the Marikana killings is compounded by the shocking fact that no one responsible for the bloodshed has yet been held accountable," said Shenilla Mohamed, director of Amnesty International South Africa. She added that the government "needs to ensure that the wheels of justice start turning far faster than they have done over the past five years". The Pretoria-based Institute of Security Studies (ISS) think-tank issued a new report into accountability for the massacre, in which 70 others were injured alongside the 34 dead. Map of South Africa locating the 2012 Marikana mine massacre that left 34 people dead The only person to be penalised over the deaths has been the then national police commissioner Riah Phiyega, who was suspended on full pay in 2015. The ISS called for fair compensation for those affected, prosecution of police officers who acted unlawfully and reforms to police recruitment and training. "Government must demonstrate to South Africans and the world that the senseless loss of life at Marikana has resulted in lessons learned and will never occur again," said ISS justice specialist Gareth Newham. Politicians from opposition parties spoke at the event, calling for action on prosecutions and compensation, as well as better housing and pay. The ceremony ended with the long list of victims being read out and candles lit to their memory as mourning families walked to the site of their loved ones' deaths. Leader of Ata-Meken party Omurbek Tekebayev speaks during his news conference in Bishkek, on October 10, 2010 A court in ex-Soviet Kyrgyzstan on Wednesday sentenced opposition leader Omurbek Tekebayev to an eight-year prison sentence on corruption charges his party insists were fabricated ahead of an October presidential vote. Tekebayev, who heads the nominally socialist Ata-Meken party in parliament had submitted documents to compete in the October 15 presidential election, but a criminal conviction rules him out of the race. Tekebayev is an arch-rival of outgoing President Almazbek Atambayev, who cannot stand for re-election according the Central Asian nation's constitution. Tekebayev's Ata-Meken party dismissed the criminal case against him as "fabricated". The case was based on an accusation by Russian businessman Leonid Mayevsky that he paid Tekebayev a $1 million bribe in 2010 when Tekebayev was deputy head of the transitional government. An alleged accomplice of Tekebayev, Duishenkul Chotonov, was also handed an eight-year term. While Kyrgyzstan is seen as the most democratic state in a region dominated by long-ruling autocrats, it has also been the most politically volatile in recent times. The Muslim-majority country experienced two revolutions that unseated presidents in 2005 and 2010 followed by ethnic violence that left over 400 people dead. Both Tekebayev and Atambayev were members of the interim government that came to power after the second revolution in 2010. But Ata-Meken strongly opposed a referendum on constitutional changes that passed in December with a strong push from Atambayev's office, while Tekebayev also called for the president to be impeached last year. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, pictured in July 2017, says he will personally help find a diplomatic solution in the nuclear standoff with North Korea, stating that the "solution to this crisis must be political," not military UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday offered his personal help to help reach a diplomatic solution to the North Korean nuclear stand-off, saying it was time to "dial down rhetoric and dial up diplomacy." "As tensions rise, so does the risk of misunderstanding, miscalculation or escalation and it is why it is so important to dial down rhetoric and to dial up diplomacy," Guterres told reporters at UN headquarters in New York. "My good offices are always available and I conveyed this message yesterday to the representatives of the six-party talks." The UN chief said he "will remain in close contact with all concerned parties and stand ready to assist in any way." Through the 2000s, the six-party talks bringing together North and South Korea, China, Russia, Japan and the United States appeared to draw Pyongyang toward some level of outside nuclear monitoring and a possible slowdown in their program. But the process collapsed in 2009. Tensions were "at levels not seen in decades," said the UN chief, referencing the "enormous suffering" of the 1950-53 Korean War, which he said killed more than three million and had a civilian death rate higher than during World War II. "We need to heed the lessons of history, not to repeat the mistakes," Guterres said. On August 5 the UN Security Council unanimously backed a US-drafted resolution that significantly strengthened sanctions on North Korea, imposing a ban on exports aimed at depriving Pyongyang of $1 billion in annual revenue. The resolution was "an opportunity for a diplomatic engagement and renewed dialogue to solve this crisis" with "many possible avenues for this dialogue" from bilateral to the six-party talks, Guterres said. "The international community must send a clear, coherent message to the leadership of DPRK: fully comply with international obligations and work towards reopening communication channels and support efforts to deescalate the situation," he said. "The solution to this crisis must be political. The potential consequences of military action are too horrific to even contemplate." igrants watch sunrise on the deck of the Aquarius rescue ship run by NGO SOS Mediterranee and Medecins Sans Frontieres after their transfer from the NGO Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS), in the Mediterranean Sea on August 16, 2017 Libya is not "preventing" NGOs from carrying out migrant rescue operations off its coast, but has set up a coastal search and rescue zone to "organise" their work, its navy said Wednesday. The navy last week ordered unauthorised foreign vessels to stay out of Libya's coastal zone, a measure it said targeted NGOs carrying out search and rescue missions for migrants headed towards Europe. Several NGOs including Doctors without Borders (MSF), Germany's Sea-Eye and Britain's Save the Children have since suspended their operations. Tripoli has long accused the NGOs of collaboration with people traffickers. "We did not announce any prohibited zone, nor did we prevent any party or organisation from carrying out clear, transparent rescue operations," the navy said in a statement. "What we announced was aimed at organising the work, which has become chaotic and arbitrary." Six years since a revolution that toppled longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, Libya has become a departure point for masses of migrants risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean to Europe, mostly heading for Italy. The Libyan navy called the situation "chaotic, especially close to Libyan waters". It said the NGOs' decision to suspend operations was "regretable" but denied it was responsible, blasting the NGOs' "aggressive discourse" that was "smearing" Libya. It added that its move to create a coastal search and rescue zone was "a legitimate right of the Libyan state, guaranteed by international laws". It called for "coordination with the Libyan authorities" to help save lives "without infringing on Libyan sovereignty". Italian Interior Minister Marco Minniti said this week that the zone would likely be authorised by the International Maritime Organization. But he added that the coastguard of chaos-torn Libya does not have the resources to patrol such an area. The Libyan authorities have requested aid from Italy to help secure its maritime borders. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) has held extremely rare talks with Iran's Armed Forces Chief, General Mohammad Bagheri in Ankara Iran's Armed Forces chief of staff said Wednesday after talks with Turkey's president that a referendum on independence in Iraq's Kurdish region would trigger conflict and negative consequences for the entire region. General Mohammad Hossein Bagheri's remarks, carried by Iran's official IRNA news agency, underlined the firm opposition shared in Tehran and Ankara to the poll next month. "Both sides stressed that if the referendum would be held, it will be the basis for the start of a series of tensions and conflicts inside Iraq, the consequences of which will affect neighbouring countries," Bagheri was quoted as saying. "Holding the referendum will get Iraq, but also Iran and Turkey involved and that's why the authorities of the two countries emphasise that it is not possible and should not be done." President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hosted Bagheri at his presidential palace in Ankara with Turkey's top general Hulusi Akar also in attendance, the presidency said. Turkey and Iran have substantial Kurdish minorities and they vehemently oppose the plan by Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region to organise a vote on independence on September 25. Analysts have little doubt that the referendum would result in a 'Yes' for an independent Kurdish state in northern Iraq. But the result would be non binding and leave the approximately five million Kurds of northern Iraq some way away from actual independence. Turkey's state-run Anadolu news agency said the talks lasted 50 minutes. "Coordination for creating peace and security in Syria," was also discussed, the IRNA report quoted Bagheri as saying. Turkey and Iran lie on opposing sides of the Syrian conflict, with Erdogan seeking the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad to end the war. Tehran, along with Moscow, remain the Syrian leader's key allies and backers. But Turkey and Russia have been cooperating more over Syria in recent months, helping to extract civilians from Aleppo and then co-sponsoring peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana. Relations between overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim Turkey, a secular state, and the mainly Shiite Islamic Republic of Iran have on occasion been tense in recent years. Erdogan has sometimes lashed out at the rise of "Persian nationalism" in the region, especially concerning the power of Shiite militias in Iraq. The rise of jihadists in the province of Idlib, neighbouring Turkey, has alarmed Ankara, Moscow and Tehran. A senior official from Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards earlier said Bagheri's trip was prompted by the presence of "terrorist groups" in the border area, without saying which ones. "We are seeking a good agreement with Turkey to provide better security for Iranian and Turkish borders especially in the west and northwest," said Guards spokesman General Ramezan Sharif, quoted by IRNA. US soldiers keep watch near the wreckage of their vehicle at the site of a Taliban suicide attack earlier this month in Kandahar, Afghanistan US President Donald Trump will meet Friday with his national security team at Camp David, as he mulls whether or not to send more American troops to war-ravaged Afghanistan. The administration is split over what stance to adopt on the longest-running war in US history. Possible plans include sending thousands more troops into the nearly 16-year conflict, or taking the opposite tack and pulling out, leaving private military contractors to help the Afghans oversee the fragile security situation. "The president along with the vice president will meet with the national security team on Friday at Camp David to discuss the South Asia strategy," the White House said. Trump's generals have called the Afghan conflict a "stalemate" and even after years of intensive help from the US and other NATO nations, Afghanistan's security forces are still struggling to hold back an emboldened Taliban. In an early move to address the situation, Trump gave his Pentagon chief, former general Jim Mattis, broad powers to set troop numbers. But several months later, the level remains stuck at about 8,400 US and about 5,000 NATO troops, mainly serving in a training and advisory capacity. Mattis wants to wait until the White House has come up with a coherent strategy for not just Afghanistan but the broader region, notably Pakistan and how it deals with terror groups, before he commits to adjustments. But reports have suggested that other Trump advisers, including his influential strategy chief Steve Bannon, favor cutting American losses by pulling out or sending private military contractors to replace troops. Although never charged, Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi was placed under house arrest in 2011 for his role in mass protests over the 2009 presidential election Iranian opposition leader Mehdi Karroubi, under house arrest for the past six years, was hospitalised Thursday after going on hunger strike a day earlier to demand a trial date, his family told local media. "His health condition deteriorated after the hunger strike and he is now hospitalised," said Sahamnews website, which is affiliated to Karroubi's family. He was admitted to Shahid Rajaei hospital due to high blood pressure, less than 24 hours after beginning a hunger strike Wednesday morning, it said, adding that he was still refusing to eat. His son Mohammad also confirmed the news on Twitter. "At 1:00 AM, Thursday father was sent to hospital due to the hunger strike. Pray a lot," he said. Karroubi's wife Fatemeh Karroubi told Sahamnews that his first demand was the removal of intelligence ministry agents inside their home as well as recently-installed security cameras, which she said "has no precedent before or after the (1979 Islamic) revolution in any house arrest". "Second... in case of continuation of the house arrest, they should arrange a public trial," she said. Karroubi "does not expect a fair trial" but wants it to be public and would respect the verdict, she added. He and fellow reformist leader Mir Hossein Mousavi were candidates in Iran's disputed 2009 presidential election which sparked months of mass protests over claims they were rigged in favour of hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Both men were placed under house arrest in 2011 for their role in the protests -- which were brutally suppressed by the regime -- but have never been charged. In March, Iran sentenced Karroubi's eldest son, Hossein Karroubi, to six months in prison for "propaganda against the regime" after he published a letter that his father had written to Iran's current president, Hassan Rouhani, a reputed moderate, calling for a trial. The 79-year-old Karroubi was hospitalised earlier this month and underwent a heart operation, Sahamnews reported. A reformist MP, Mostafa Kavakebian, raised Karroubi's hunger strike in parliament on Wednesday, calling for action from the health and intelligence ministries. Us Vice President Mike Pence, on a visit to Chile, is urging Latin American countries to cut ties with North Korea US Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday called on Brazil, Mexico and other Latin American powers to break off economic and diplomatic ties with North Korea over Pyongyang's missile threats. "We strongly urge Chile today and we urge Brazil and Mexico and Peru to break all diplomatic and commercial ties to North Korea," Pence told a press conference alongside Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. "We would especially welcome Chile reclassifying exports of Chilean wine... as a luxury good under current US sanctions to prevent North Korean from obtaining these commodities and converting them into hard currency that support the regime." Chile's Foreign Minister Heraldo Munoz later responded: "We respect the United States' request, but Chile will maintain its relations. They are distant relations because we have strictly applied all the sanctions decreed by the (UN) Security Council" against North Korea. In 2015 North Korea imported $65,000 worth of Chilean wine, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity, a US-based trade monitor. Mexico sold it $45 million of oil and Peru exported $22 million of copper to North Korea that year, the observatory says. Bachelet called on parties "to renew all the diplomatic efforts and conversations... to the North, South Korea, China, the Russian Federation -- in order to have a Korean peninsula without nuclear weapons." North Korea's leader Kim Jong-Un on Tuesday backed off from a threat to fire missiles towards the US territory of Guam. Pence was visiting Chile on the third stop of a tour of Latin American countries to boost trade ties and rally them over the crisis in Venezuela. He said he had decided "to end our trip a little bit early tomorrow after we stop in Panama" on the last leg of the trip. Pence may be needed back home. In Washington, US President Donald Trump was in the eye of a political storm Wednesday after his remarks on unrest at rallies by white supremacists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville. The White House said Trump and Pence will meet Friday with his national security team at Camp David, as he mulls whether or not to send more American troops to war-ravaged Afghanistan. White nationalist and neo-nazi groups who joined "Unite the Right" protests in Charlottesville on August 12 cheered President Donald Trump for blaming the left for violence that erupted at the rally. White supremacists and neo-Nazi groups enthusiastically embraced President Donald Trump Wednesday, seeing an endorsement of their cause in his insistence that left-wing groups were also to blame for the deadly violence at a "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. "This man is doing absolutely everything in his power to back us up and we need to have his back," Andrew Anglin wrote on the DailyStormer, a neo-Nazi, anti-Semitic website that acts as a hub of the extreme right. "It's going to be really, really hard to have any bad feelings towards Trump for a long, long time after this," he said. Richard Spencer, the white nationalist organizer of the "Unite the Right" rally, hailed Trump's statement as "fair and down to earth." "Trump cares about the truth," said Spencer, who added he was "proud of" the president. Trump stunned many Americans Tuesday after he strongly condemned leftist agitators as equally responsible for the deadly violence at Saturday's rally in Charlottesville. Hundreds of so-called alt-right activists descended on the city armed with clubs and bats and brandishing Nazi flags and symbols, to protest plans to take down a statue of Confederate general Robert E Lee. Violent clashes erupted between white supremacists and anti-racism counter-protesters, and a young woman was killed when a suspected Nazi sympathizer rammed his car into a crowd of demonstrators. Trump has come under fire from other political leaders, including several former presidents, for arguing that there was "blame on both sides" at the rally organized by white supremacists. While Trump added general condemnations of Nazis and racists, groups aligned with the alt-right movement applauded his willingness to tag the left with blame. White nationalist and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke took to Twitter to express his appreciation. "Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists," he wrote. Jack Posobiec, an alt-right figure whose comments Trump has retweeted, wrote "We [are] primetime now" and "Goodnight, Alt Left" as the president spoke to reporters from the Trump Tower in New York. Many alt-right groups who took part in the rally have since been kicked off social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, and had their webpages shut down by hosts enforcing policies against hate speech and threats. But some still managed to communicate. - Trump 'used our talking points' - After being blocked by two mainstream hosting services, DailyStormer resurfaced temporarily Wednesday on a site using a ".ru" domain indicating a possible Russian host, before being shut down again. Anglin applauded Trump's apparent sympathy for opponents of the removal of Lee's statue from a Charlottesville park. Trump "uses our talking points -- that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson are next after the Confederate monuments and that they're trying to destroy our history." James Kirkpatrick, the head of VDARE, an organization that seeks to restrict immigration to white Europeans, cheered Trump for focusing the blame for violence on the leftist "antifa" -- short for anti-fascist -- movement. "President Donald Trump finally did what no-one in the Conservative Establishment would: calling out the Antifa (the "Alt-Left" in his words) for sparking violence at the legally-sanctioned demonstration in Charlottesville." The Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor, has awarded a $1,080,000 contract to Chattanooga State Community College to provide personnel to oversee and deliver career services to youth, adults, and dislocated workers in Hamilton and four surrounding counties. Funded by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, the contract will be managed by the Colleges Division of Economic and Community Development. Currently, staffing will cover American Job Center locations in Eastgate Town Center, Kimball, and Dayton, Tn., as well as outreach in Bledsoe and Sequatchie counties for fiscal year 2017-2018. Chattanooga States Executive Director of Economic and Workforce Development Lulu Copeland said, From the mid-1990s, Chattanooga State has served as the largest, most comprehensive training provider in the Tennessee Valley, serving more than 300 companies in the past three years alone. As a result, were well positioned to provide career services to American Job Center clients. In 2012, the U.S. Department of Labor provided a grant to establish an Institute for Materials Joining and Testing at Chattanooga State in response to the advanced manufacturing and power producing industries needs for more highly skilled welding engineering technicians and materials testing professionals. Serving a six-county area of southeast Tennessee and bordering counties in north Georgia and Alabama, Chattanooga State has 634 teaching staff providing instruction across seven divisions of study. For more than fifty years, Chattanooga State has provided high-quality education and workforce training in our community, with a 96 percent job placement rate for its graduates. The College has a long history of and extensive experience in working with area employers, the Workforce Investment Act, WIOA and its workforce programs, as well as experience in project management of similar programs in the region. By continuing to build on its experience with area employers, the AJC contract will enable Chattanooga State to further promote existing corporate relationships. It will help to provide on-the-job training programs and other opportunities for job seekers, while developing and cultivating new business contacts. Continuance, continuity, and further building of a successful jobs conduit is needed for effective placement of AJCs clients. Ms. Copeland said, Were honored to help provide for the areas workforce needs through this new role with the American Job Centers. We want to assist individuals in finding meaningful positions and aid area employers with their training and workforce needs. The Qatari side of the Abu Samrah border crossing with Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia's King Salman has ordered the reopening of the border with Qatar to hajj pilgrims, state media said Thursday, despite a major diplomatic crisis roiling the region. The Salwa border crossing has been closed since June 5 when Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates severed diplomatic and trade ties with Qatar over accusations the emirate fostered Islamist extremists. Qatar has denied the allegation. The announcement to reopen the frontier for Qatari pilgrims came after powerful Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received an envoy from Doha, the official Saudi Press Agency said, in the first public high-level encounter between the nations since the crisis erupted. King Salman has allowed "the entry of Qatari pilgrims to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia through Salwa border crossing to perform hajj, and to allow all Qatari nationals who wish to enter for hajj without electronic permits", a statement on SPA said. He also ordered that private jets belonging to Saudi airlines be sent to Doha airport "to bring all Qatari pilgrims at his expense". The decision also came after Prince Mohammed received a phone call from US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who has sought repeatedly to defuse the regional crisis, SPA reported, without revealing the details of the conversation. Saudi Arabia last month said Qatari pilgrims would be allowed to enter the kingdom for hajj this year but imposed clear restrictions, including flying via airlines approved by Riyadh. Doha has accused Riyadh of politicising the hajj and jeopardising the pilgrimage to Mecca by refusing to guarantee the safety of Qatari citizens. The hajj, a pillar of Islam that capable Muslims must perform at least once, is to take place at the beginning of September. The pilgrimage is expected to draw around two million people this year. - 'Goodwill gesture' - Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz chairs a cabinet meeting at Al-Safa palace in the holy Muslim city of Mecca in western Saudi Arabia Prince Mohammed emphasised the "historical relations between Saudi and Qatari people" after his meeting with the Qatari envoy, Sheikh Abdullah bin Ali bin Abdullah bin Jassim al-Thani, SPA said. But some observers cautioned that the diplomatic crisis was far from over, despite the apparent bonhomie. "This is a goodwill gesture towards the Qatari people and not a breakthrough with the Qatari" government, Ali Shihabi of the Washington-based think tank Arabia Foundation said on Twitter, referring to the reopening of the border. There was no immediate official reaction from Doha, but Qatar's National Human Rights Commission welcomed the decision, while adding that "the issue of hajj cannot be subject to any political or personal calculations". The decision drew strong opinions on social media, with Qataris appearing to respond largely critically. "We do not need the (Saudi) king's charity. The Qatari right to pilgrimage is not given as charity from the king," one Qatari wrote on Twitter. "He (King Salman) didn't invite them to his own house. And every Muslim has the right to go to hajj," wrote another Twitter user. Saudi Arabia and its Arab allies have shut down air, maritime and land links with Qatar, and imposed economic sanctions, accusing Doha of supporting "terrorists" and of being too close to their regional rival Iran. Qatar has denied the allegations and denounced what it called a "blockade" aimed at bringing the wealthy Gulf state to its knees. The tiny emirate with a population of 2.6 million, 80 percent of them foreigners, ranks as the world's richest country on a per capita basis, according to the International Monetary Fund. It holds a staggering $330 billion in a sovereign wealth fund, with assets heavily invested abroad. The US, Canada and Mexico first sealed the NAFTA deal in 1994 -- now they are looking to revamp it Negotiators from Canada, Mexico and the United States opened the first round of talks Wednesday to revamp the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, as the US doubled down on demands the deal be revised to address trade deficits and protect American jobs. But Washington's negotiating partners made clear they view the free trade deal as a success and only want to see it modernized and improved, not weighed down with unreasonable goals. Anyone who thought Washington would put aside the tough anti-NAFTA rhetoric of President Donald Trump and get down to the serious, nuanced business of trade diplomacy were disappointed. Instead, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer insisted that NAFTA must undergo wholesale revision. "The views of the president about NAFTA -- which I completely share -- are well known. I want to be clear that he is not interested in a mere tweaking of a few provisions, and a couple of updated chapters," Lighthizer said at the opening ceremony. "We feel that NAFTA has fundamentally failed many, many Americans and needs major improvement." Those comments were in stark contrast to those by Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland and Mexican Economy Secretary Ildefonso Guajardo Villarreal, who stressed the pact brought benefits for all three economies. Freeland said trade is not "a zero-sum game," and deficits are not the way to gauge success of any free trade deal. Canada's goal is "bolstering what works, improving what can be made better" in the accord, which encompasses a quarter of the world's economy and seven percent of the world's population, she said. Guajardo said "NAFTA has been a strong success for all parties" and cannot be improved by "tearing apart what has worked." - Deficits and job losses - Lighthizer said revamping NAFTA would fulfill Trump's repeated campaign promises to help US workers. Trump famously denounced NAFTA as "the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere," and threatened to pull out of the agreement he said has destroyed US jobs. But he eventually succumbed to pressure to renegotiate instead. US Trade Representative Robert E. Lighthizer (L) delivers remarks at the start of Wednesday's talks in Washington Given recent criticism over his handling of North Korea, Venezuela and the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, Trump is entering the talks in need of something he can call a victory. However, he recently warned again that he will "terminate NAFTA" if "we don't get the deal we want." Lighthizer did not repeat the threats to pull out of NAFTA. But he said Washington cannot ignore the lost manufacturing jobs that resulted from "incentives, intended or not, in this agreement." US negotiators will insist on measures to ensure "the huge trade deficits do not continue," he said. Although US trade with Mexico shifted from a $1.7 billion surplus in 1993 to a $55.6 billion deficit in 2016, total trade with Canada and Mexico more than tripled during that period, reaching $1.2 trillion by last year, with millions of US jobs depending on export industries. And Guajardo said the regional supply chains established under NAFTA helped all three countries better withstand growing competition from Asia. Mexico is "part of the solution, we are not part of the problem," he told reporters following the first day of talks. The job losses the US laments would have been even "more radical and disastrous" without the trade integration, he said. - Accelerated schedule - Lighthizer also called for increased NAFTA content requirement for goods, especially autos, and an increased share of US-manufactured content. Freeland told reporters Canada does not support specific national content requirements, but is open-minded about looking at the NAFTA content rules. However, she warned that negotiators must "take very great care in any changes that are made that they don't disrupt supply chains." Guajardo said "rigidities" like national content are not helpful to trade. Despite the aggressive US stance, negotiators from all three countries agree on the need to update the pact, which was signed before the internet was a force, including by adding a chapter on e-commerce and addressing the growing role of trade in services. Freight trucks, as seen from a helicopter, pass through Mexican Customs before entering the United States, at the Otay Mesa port of entry near San Diego, California The timeline for the talks is expected to be accelerated, given elections in Mexico in July 2018, as well as the US legislative calendar, with seven to nine rounds expected to finish the revisions by the end of the year. Large negotiating teams from Canada, Mexico and the United States will meet through Sunday to develop the new text of the pact. They are due to reconvene September 5 in Mexico City, with a third round expected in Canada thereafter. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - Police in Florida fatally shot a man who they say carjacked a teenager as she sat in her mother's car listening to music. Jacksonville Sheriff's officials said during a news conference Monday night that the man approached the car, holding a gun and demanding money. When the 14-year-old girl said she didn't have money, he pushed her into the passenger seat and drove away. He pushed her from the car about a mile (2 kilometers) down the road. Police tracked the car and two officers blocked it. The man got out with the handgun and didn't comply with orders to drop it. Police say he turned toward officers and they fired. He was taken to a hospital, where he later died. Neither the girl nor officers were hurt. The officers are on administrative leave, pending an investigation. ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) - A former Massachusetts police officer who faces a federal child pornography charge is expected to plead guilty in court this week. The Sun Chronicle of Attleboro reports (http://bit.ly/2fGoi3w ) that a hearing has been scheduled for Friday in U.S. District Court in Providence, Rhode Island. Former Attleboro police Sgt. Richard Woodhead pleaded not guilty last week, but he had already agreed to enter a guilty plea at a later date. The 54-year-old is accused of trying to obtain child porn. His lawyer has called explicit telephone conversations Woodhead had with an undercover agent "obscene sexual fantasies." Woodhead was arrested by federal authorities at his home April 6. He was placed on administrative leave from the police force. He has since retired. ___ Information from: The (Attleboro, Mass.) Sun Chronicle, http://www.thesunchronicle.com NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - The Latest on the reactions to Kenya's elections (all times local): 2:25 p.m. The United Nations human rights chief says he is concerned about reports that Kenyan security forces used live ammunition against protesters opposing results of the country's presidential election. Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein said Tuesday that the government has the responsibility to ensure that security forces exercise restraint. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights says at least 24 people have been shot dead by police since the Aug. 8 vote. Zeid is also expressing concern that Kenya's oversight body for non-governmental organizations has called for the African Centre for Open Governance to be shut down and its directors arrested. The NGO Coordination Board on Monday claimed it had de-registered the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights. ___ 1:10 p.m. United States President Donald Trump has congratulated Kenya's president on his re-election and the country for conducting "a peaceful, fair, and transparent contest." Trump praised Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on his win to a second term, despite opposition leader Raila Odinga's allegation that the results were fraudulent. A statement from the office of the White House press secretary said Tuesday the U.S. government is troubled by reports that demonstrations opposing Kenyatta's win have turned violent and urged Kenyans to resolve disputes lawfully. The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said at least 24 people have been shot dead by police in protests rejecting the result of the presidential elections since the Aug. 8 vote. Kenya police claim that 10 people have been killed and said nearly all were committing crimes. ___ Associated Press writer Tom Odula in Nairobi, Kenya contributed. CANTONSVILLE, Md. (AP) - Prosecutors say an off-duty Maryland officer was justified in shooting a 35-year-old man who dragged the officer with his car. News media outlets report Baltimore County prosecutors released their assessment Monday of the Aug. 1 shooting of Christopher Clapp. Authorities say the off-duty officer was working security at a Catonsville grocery store when he was alerted to a reported shoplifting. Police say the officer confronted Clapp in the parking lot and Clapp began to drive away, dragging the officer. Deputy State's Attorney Robin Coffin says the officer was "reasonably in fear" that he would continue to be dragged or get run over by the car. Coffin says the officer "was justified in shooting Mr. Clapp to save his own life." The officer wasn't injured. The department doesn't release races of officers or people shot COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - An Ohio appeals court has concluded that a juror's snoozing during testimony in a murder trial isn't enough to overturn the defendant's conviction. An attorney for 28-year-old Desjuan Hayes argued that he didn't get a fair trial last year because a judge failed to remove the juror or question her about repeatedly falling asleep. The Columbus Dispatch reports Tuesday that a three-judge panel from the appeals court ruled last week that the juror's napping was unacceptable but didn't appear to affect the trial's outcome. Attorneys in the case discussed possibly replacing the snoozing juror with an alternate during trial, but neither side requested that move when the judge offered it. Hayes was sentenced to life in prison with possible parole after 21 years. ___ Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) - The head of the Georgia-based company that makes Tiki torches says he was offended by images of white supremacists marching through Charlottesville, Virginia, using his company's products. W.C. Bradley Co. President and CEO Marc Olivie told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer on Monday that the Columbus-based company's staff was "appalled and saddened" that the torches were "used by people who promote bigotry and hatred." Many of the protesters who marched Friday carried Tiki torches. The Tiki brand is a product of Lamplight, a Wisconsin company that is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Bradley company. Lamplight made a Facebook post Saturday saying, in part, "TIKI Brand is not associated in any way with the events that took place in Charlottesville and are deeply saddened and disappointed." In this Friday, Aug. 11, 2017 photo, multiple white nationalist groups march with torches through the UVA campus in Charlottesville, Va. W.C. Bradley Co. President and CEO Marc Olivie told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer on Monday, Aug. 14 that the Columbus-based company's staff was "appalled and saddened" that its Tiki brand torches were "used by people who promote bigotry and hatred." (Mykal McEldowney/The Indianapolis Star via AP) ___ Information from: Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, http://ledger-enquirer.com PITTSBURGH (AP) - A lawmaker accused of using his political influence to benefit an illegal gambling ring pleaded guilty Tuesday to two misdemeanor charges. Democratic state Rep. Marc Gergely entered pleas in Pittsburgh to counts of conspiracy and accepting an illegal campaign contribution. Felony counts were withdrawn. The seven-term lawmaker, who remains in office, is scheduled for sentencing Nov. 6. Attorney Louis Caputo also pleaded guilty Tuesday to a criminal solicitation charge in the same case and was sentenced to five years' probation. Allegheny Common Pleas Judge Edward Borkowski said the sentence reflected the nature of the offense and the defendant's cooperation. The two were accused of aiding Ronald "Porky" Melocchi in an illegal video gambling operation that had some 335 machines at 70 restaurants, bars, bowling alleys and other locations. Melocchi, whose McKeesport operation was raided in 2013, pleaded guilty and was sentenced last year to 10 years' probation. The 2016 grand jury indictment alleged that Gergely used his position to assuage the fears of business owners who were leery of putting gambling machines in their establishments. Mark Serge, a prosecutor from the state attorney general's office, said in court Tuesday that the lawmaker and prominent liquor license attorney gave the appearance of Melocchi having "friends in high places." After the charges were filed, Gergely stepped down from his position as the ranking Democrat on the House Labor and Industry Committee. He was re-elected to the House seat in November. SAN DIEGO (AP) - A U.S. Navy commander has pleaded guilty to conspiracy for his role in a fraud and bribery scheme that cost the government about $35 million. Cmdr. Bobby Pitts of Virginia entered the plea Tuesday in San Diego. He's the 18th person to plead guilty in connection with a decade-long scam linked to a Singapore defense contractor known as "Fat Leonard" Francis. Authorities say Francis bribed scores of Navy officials to help him overbill the Navy for fuel, food and other services his company provided to ships docked in Asian ports. The bribes allegedly ranged from cash and prostitutes to Cuban cigars and Spanish suckling pigs. Authorities say Pitts tried to obstruct a federal investigation while in charge of the Navy's Fleet Industrial Supply Command in Singapore. Following months of speculation and extreme interest radiating within the amusement industry and from coaster enthusiasts around the globe, Silver Dollar City announces the Worlds Fastest, Steepest and Tallest Complete-Circuit Spinning Roller Coaster with the spring 2018 debut of Time Traveler. The Branson, Missouri internationally-awarded 1880s-style theme park makes history again with this custom-designed, custom-engineered attraction that introduces a new generation of thrill coasters for families. Time Traveler will be world record-breaking: Fastest Top speed of 50.3 miles per hour Steepest - A 10-story, 90-degree vertical dropstraight down. Custom-engineered to have an immediate out-of-the-station, gravity-driven drop down an Ozarks mountainside Tallest - Custom-designed for mountainous terrain with its tallest point at 100 feet First & Only with Three Inversions - a Dive Loop, a Vertical Loop and a Zero-G Roll First & Only with a Vertical Loop - A 95-foot tall loop First and Only Double Launch 0 to 47 mph in 3 seconds; 30 to 45 mph in 3.5 seconds At an investment of $26 million, this is Silver Dollar Citys biggest attraction. For concept, design and development, Silver Dollar City is working with renowned coaster manufacturer MACK RIDES of Waldkirch, Germany. MACK RIDES, founded in 1780 and family-owned for eight generations, shared Silver Dollar Citys dream to create Time Traveler as a one-of-a-kind ride that combines a variety of coaster elements with mountainous terrain. The track crosses over itself 14 times in total. This coasters state-of-the-art controlled spin feature provides riders a unique thrill experience while still appealing to families, said Brad Thomas, president of Silver Dollar City Attractions. Since Silver Dollar Citys opening day in 1960, guests have taken a journey back in time with unique and world-class experiences. We strive daily to continue that tradition through our rides, our festivals, our crafts and our food. That pursuit continues in 2018 with Time Traveler - a Revolutionary Coaster Ahead of Our Time. Many coaster enthusiasts have pointed out the paradox of an 1880s-inspired theme park developing a track record for revolutionizing roller coasters: Time Traveler follows the daring wood coaster Outlaw Run, which after its debut in 2013, made it into the Guinness Book of World Records and earned the coveted title of the industrys Best New Ride that year. Today, several years later, Outlaw Run still carries high prestige globally, and now Time Traveler will build upon that record-breaking tradition, said Thomas. Time Traveler opens in Spring 2018. Silver Dollar City is open mid-March through December. Other Silver Dollar City Branson attractions include White Water and Showboat Branson Belle. More information is at 800-831-4FUN(386) and www.silverdollarcity.com. BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) - Northern California authorities are bracing for politically charged protests in the coming weeks amid growing concerns of violence after the recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia. The University of California, Berkeley's new chancellor said Tuesday that campus authorities were determined to protect free speech and public safety during a rally near campus scheduled at the end of the month and a proposed event next month. In San Francisco, Mayor Ed Lee on Tuesday took a tougher stance, calling for the cancellation of an Aug. 26 rally organized by a group called Patriot Prayer, which supports President Donald Trump. The National Park Service gave the organization permission last week to hold a three-hour rally in a federal park along the bay within San Francisco. Students walk on the UC Berkeley campus Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, in Berkeley, Calif. UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ says the university is committed to protecting free speech, and is allowing former Breibart editor Ben Shapiro to visit and speak on campus, despite concerns about violent protests. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) San Francisco's mayor said he is concerned the rally will attract hate speech and potential violence. "We are not welcoming this group into San Francisco to promote hate," Lee said. Lee asked that a number of unspecified conditions be placed on Patriot Prayer if the federal agency doesn't revoke its permit. One of the featured speakers at Patriot Prayer's San Francisco rally is Kyle Chapman, who was arrested after a video camera allegedly captured him hitting an anti-fascist over the head with a billy club during a chaotic March 4 demonstration in Berkeley. Chapman describes himself in social media as a "proud American nationalist" and "ardent Trump supporter." National Park Service spokeswoman Sonja Hanson didn't return inquiries Tuesday. On Monday, she the agency was required to give Patriot Prayer a "1st Amendment" permit and to deny it permission would violate its free speech rights. The Southern Poverty Law Center said the Portland, Oregon-based group aims to provoke left-wing organizations into vociferous - and even violent - reaction to its rallies. A Patriot Prayer rally in Seattle in Sunday attracted a counter protest but no violence. Violence has occurred, however, at previous Patriot Prayer rallies. In Berkeley, violent protests and clashes between pro-Trump and anti-Trump groups have erupted in city streets near the campus, most recently in April when a bloody brawl broke out in downtown Berkeley. Newly appointed university chancellor Carol Christ's first news conference was dominated by security questions. "We have not only an obligation to protect free speech but an obligation to keep our community safe," Christ said. "I've been working extensively with the police to plan for any disruptions that might occur." Christ said the university is preparing for a rally scheduled for Aug. 27 near campus and a still-to-be confirmed speaking event by former Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro, who was invited by the university's College Republicans to speak Sept. 14,. Christ declined to discuss security details, but she said she is "''putting an enormous emphasis on security and safety" and working closely with campus police, the city and mayor of Berkeley. An event featuring Milo Yiannopoulos at Berkeley, also planned by the campus Republicans, was called off after protests over his views on race and transgender people turned violent. Christ said that Shapiro would be allowed to speak at Zellerbach Auditorium. The venue seats about 2,000 people, but officials said the audience size for the event has not yet been determined. Christ said the university is determined for the event to happen, despite concerns about violent protests. Ahead of the possible speaking event, she said the university is planning a variety of events focusing on free speech in hopes of getting the opposing political sides to speak constructively rather than violently protest. It remained unclear if the event would go ahead. Berkeley College Republicans Vice President Naweed Tahmas said the group could not afford the university's proposed security costs for the venue. ___ Elias reported from San Francisco. Signs are posted on a bulletin board on the UC Berkeley campus Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, in Berkeley, Calif. UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ says the university is committed to protecting free speech, and is allowing former Breibart editor Ben Shapiro to visit and speak on campus, despite concerns about violent protests. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) Students walk on the UC Berkeley campus Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, in Berkeley, Calif. UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ says the university is committed to protecting free speech, and is allowing former Breibart editor Ben Shapiro to visit and speak on campus, despite concerns about violent protests. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ smiles during a press conference on the university's campus Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, in Berkeley, Calif. Christ says the university is committed to protecting free speech, and is allowing former Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro to visit and speak on campus, despite concerns about violent protests. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) UC Berkeley Chancellor Carol Christ smiles during a press conference on the university's campus Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, in Berkeley, Calif. Christ says the university is committed to protecting free speech, and is allowing former Breitbart editor Ben Shapiro to visit and speak on campus, despite concerns about violent protests. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee listens to questions during a news conference at City Hall Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, in San Francisco. San Francisco's mayor is calling on federal officials to reject or significantly modify permission for a right-wing political organization called Patriot Prayer to hold a rally in the city on Aug. 26. The National Park Service told the organization its permit to hold a three-hour rally on San Francisco's Crissy Field was approved last week, before the violent encounters in Virginia last weekend. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) San Francisco police chief William Scott, left, gestures during a news conference as Mayor Ed Lee, right, listens at City Hall Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, in San Francisco. San Francisco's mayor is calling on federal officials to reject or significantly modify permission for a right-wing political organization called Patriot Prayer to hold a rally in the city on Aug. 26. The National Park Service told the organization its permit to hold a three-hour rally on San Francisco's Crissy Field was approved last week, before the violent encounters in Virginia last weekend. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) Board of Supervisors President London Breed, gestures during a news conference as Mayor Ed Lee, left, and police chief William Scott, right, listen at City Hall Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, in San Francisco. San Francisco's mayor is calling on federal officials to reject or significantly modify permission for a right-wing political organization called Patriot Prayer to hold a rally in the city on Aug. 26. The National Park Service told the organization its permit to hold a three-hour rally on San Francisco's Crissy Field was approved last week, before the violent encounters in Virginia last weekend. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg) WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican and Democratic lawmakers are reacting to President Donald Trump's latest comments on the violence over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. The president said he believes "there's blame on both sides" for what transpired. - Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan: "We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity." - Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona: "There's no moral equivalency between racists & Americans standing up to defy hate & bigotry. The President of the United States should say so." - Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida: "Blaming 'both sides' for #Charlottesville?! No. Back to relativism when dealing with KKK, Nazi sympathizers, white supremacists? Just no." - Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio: "We must speak out clearly against the hatred, racism and white supremacists who descended upon #Charlottesville." - Republican Sen. Jerry Moran of Kansas: "White supremacy, bigotry & racism have absolutely no place in our society & no one - especially POTUS - should ever tolerate it." - Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii: "As a Jew, as an American, as a human, words cannot express my disgust and disappointment. "This is not my President." - Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts: "The President of the United States just defended neo-Nazis and blamed those who condemn their racism and hate. This is sick." - House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California: "There is only one side to be on when a white supremacist mob brutalizes and murders in America. The American people deserve a president who understands that." - Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York: "By saying he is not taking sides, Donald Trump clearly is. When David Duke and white supremacists cheer your remarks, you're doing it very very wrong." - Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia: "Charlottesville violence was fueled by one side: white supremacists spreading racism, intolerance & intimidation. Those are the facts." - Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe of Virginia: "Neo-Nazis, Klansmen and white supremacists came to Charlottesville heavily armed, spewing hatred and looking for a fight. One of them murdered a young woman in an act of domestic terrorism, and two of our finest officers were killed in a tragic accident while serving to protect this community. This was not 'both sides.'" SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Officials say actor John Heard, whose body was found last month in a Northern California hotel, died of cardiac arrest. The Santa Clara County Coroner's Office said Tuesday an autopsy revealed the 71-year-old actor died "a sudden cardiac death due to atherosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease." Heard was found dead July 21 in a hotel in Palo Alto, California. He was recovering from back surgery at Stanford University Medical Center. The coroner's office says his back surgery did not play a role in his death. Heard's many roles included the father in the "Home Alone" and "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York" movies and a corrupt detective in the television series "The Sopranos." Heard was married and divorced three times, including briefly to actress Margot Kidder. He had three children. NEW YORK (AP) - Michael Moore has led the audience of his Broadway play to Trump Tower to protest President Donald Trump's comments about the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. On Facebook, Moore urged people to join him at Trump Tower after Tuesday night's performance of his one-man show "The Terms of My Surrender" to "nonviolently express our rage." After the play, Moore is seen on a Facebook Live video leading a group of people on buses to the tower, where the president is currently staying for the first time since his inauguration. Moore was joined by actor Mark Ruffalo. They led the group in chants including "hey, hey, ho, ho, Donald Trump has got to go." FILE - In this May 17, 2017 file photo, filmmaker Michael Moore attends the Turner Network 2017 Upfront presentation at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York. Moore led the audience of his Broadway play to Trump Tower to protest President Donald Trump's comments about the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Va, on Tuesday, Aug. 15. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File) Earlier Tuesday, Trump again said both sides were to blame for last weekend's deadly violence in Virginia. ___ This story has been corrected to show that Trump made the comments earlier Tuesday, not Monday. Activists supporting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and other immigration issues gather near Trump Tower in New York Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, as they protest President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) Supporters of President Donald Trump, center and right, interact with activists attending a rally supporting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and other immigration rights issues as they gather near Trump Tower in New York, Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) Supporters of President Donald Trump, background left, intermingle with others protesting the President near Trump Tower, Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, in New York. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) An activist supporting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and other immigration issues cheers at a gathering near Trump Tower in New York Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, as they protest President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) Activists supporting Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and other immigration issues stand for a moment of silence near Trump Tower in New York, Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, as they protest against President Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle) CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - A Venezuelan violinist who is a well-known face of protests against his country's socialist government has been freed after more than two weeks in prison. The office of Venezuela's chief prosecutor said Tuesday night that a court granted its request for Wuilly Arteaga to be let out on parole. He was detained last month during a protest and his lawyers have said he was beaten with his violin while during custody. The 23-year-old musician skyrocketed to fame after he and his violin were dragged to the ground by national guardsmen during a confrontation with protesters. FILE - In this July 26, 2017 file photo, Wuilly Arteaga, whose face shows signs of injury, plays his violin during clashes with Venezuelan Bolivarian National Guards on the first day of a 48-hour general strike in protest of government plans to rewrite the constitution, in the Bello Campo neighborhood of Caracas, Venezuela. The violinist who has become a well-known face of anti-government protests was freed after more than two weeks in prison, according to the nation's chief prosecutor on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File) Arteaga was often seen playing somber renditions of Venezuela's national anthem while standing amid clouds of tear gas. He even was invited to Washington to perform for members of Congress. JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesia's president on Wednesday vowed a fairer distribution of the nation's wealth and a renewed commitment to protecting diversity after volatile months in which the country's reputation for tolerance was undermined by religious tensions and attacks on minorities. Joko "Jokowi" Widodo repeated familiar themes in his annual address to parliament that comes a day before celebrations of the 72nd anniversary of Indonesia's independence from Dutch colonial rule. Jokowi, the first Indonesian president from outside the ranks of the elite or military, said economic development must be spread to all corners of the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, center, delivers his State of The Nation address ahead of the country's Independence Day at the parliament building in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Indonesia president has vowed a fairer distribution of the nation's wealth and a renewed commitment to protecting diversity after tense months in which the country's reputation for tolerance was undermined by religious tensions and attacks on minorities. (AP Photo/Tatan Syuflana) "Equitable development will unite Indonesia. Fair development will make us stronger in facing global competition," he said. Indonesia is the third largest democracy after India and the U.S. and as a member of the Group of 20 major industrialized and developing nations, its economy is among the biggest in the world. But it has dramatic extremes of wealth and poverty, grappling with both childhood stunting from malnutrition and a mounting health care burden from obesity-related diseases among the wealthier. About 11 percent of the country of more than 250 million people lives in extreme poverty and large numbers are just above that poverty line. People in far-flung areas of the archipelago such as the westernmost province of Aceh, a region granted substantial autonomy under a peace deal in 2004 with separatists, should be able to get the same standard of education, health care and other services as their "brothers" around the country, Jokowi said. He also singled out the easternmost Papua region, one of the country's poorest areas where Indonesian rule is deeply resented by indigenous Papuans, saying he wants Papuans to feel the same nationalistic pride as other ethnic groups that make up Indonesia. He said the government will strengthen its commitment to protecting the idea of "unity in diversity" and "Pancasila," the official state ideology that promotes principles such as social justice, democracy and belief in one God. It has been seen as under increasing threat from an upsurge in religious conservatism that led to the imprisonment earlier this year of the then-governor of Jakarta, a minority Christian and ethnic Chinese, on charges of blasphemy. Persecution of LGBT people has surged in the past two years and religious minorities have faced an increase in violations of religious freedom and acts of intolerance including the eviction of more than 7,000 members of the Gafatar religious community in Kalimantan in early 2016. CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - Scientists have potentially narrowed the search area for the missing Malaysian airliner to three specific locations in the southern Indian Ocean, through new satellite and drift analysis of the 2014 crash released Wednesday. But the Australian Transport Safety Bureau cautioned that the drift analysis by Australian science agency CSIRO is based on French satellite images of "probably man-made" floating objects without evidence that they were from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. But the locations could provide potential starting points to search within a 25,000-square-kilometer (9,700-square-mile) expanse identified by a panel of experts in November as the most likely resting place of the Boeing 777 and the 239 passengers and crew on board. FILE - In this March 31, 2014 file photo, HMAS Success scans the southern Indian Ocean, near the coast of Western Australia, as a Royal New Zealand Air Force P3 Orion flies over, while searching for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370. Scientists have potentially narrowed the search area for the missing Malaysian airliner to three specific locations in the southern Indian Ocean, through new satellite and drift analysis of the 2014 crash released Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith, File) That expanse adjoins the original search zone far southwest of Australia that was identified through satellite analysis of the final hours of the flight that apparently ended when the plane ran out of fuel. Malaysia, China and Australia agreed to suspend the deep-sea sonar search in January after 120,000 square kilometers (46,000 square miles) of seabed were combed without finding any trace of Flight 370. The new analysis is based on French military satellite images gathered on March 23, 2014 - two weeks after Flight 370 mysteriously veered far off course during a flight by Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Beijing and were taken near the original underwater search zone. The Australian bureau took over the search for Flight 370 from Malaysia a week later. Satellite experts at Geoscience Australia were not asked to analyze the images until March this year. The experts concluded that a dozen objects appeared to be man-made. The CSIRO then investigated where the objects might have originated before drifting for two weeks. The CSIRO identified three potential crash sites - 35.6 degrees S, 92.8 degrees E; 34.7 degrees S, 92.6 degrees E and 35.3 degrees S, 91.8 degrees E. "So that is a way of potentially narrowing down the search area with the very important caveat that, of course, we can't be totally sure that those objects seen in the images are actual pieces of plane," CSIRO oceanographer David Griffin said. "This might be a really good clue. It might be a red herring. But if you are going to search, then you'd be silly to ignore this potential clue," he added. The Australian bureau's Chief Commissioner Greg Hood said in a statement: "Clearly we must be cautious" of the lack a definite link to Flight 370. Malaysia, China and Australia have decided that the search will remain suspended unless new evidence pinpoints the wreckage's whereabouts. But seabed exploration company Ocean Infinity, based in Houston, Texas, said last week it has offered to launch a private search for the Malaysian-registered airliner. Voice370, a support group for victim's families, said under the terms of the offer made to Malaysia in April, Ocean Infinity "would like to be paid a reward if and only if it finds the main debris field." They urge Malaysia to accept the offer. KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Sultan Hossaini sent three of his children from their rural home to the capital, Kabul, hoping they would gain degrees and employment in the new Afghanistan that was promised after the overthrow of the Taliban. But one was killed by a suicide bomber, and the other two face dwindling opportunities and mounting fears as the country slides into chaos. Despite 16 years of war and billions of dollars in international aid, security is worsening and jobs have grown scarce. More than 2.5 million Afghans have fled - the second largest refugee population after Syria's. In this Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017 photo, Maryam Hossaini, left, whose sister Najiba was killed in a suicide attack last month, looks at a poster showing her sister during an interview with The Associated Press, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Najiba and Maryam, were part of the first generation of Afghan women to attend school after the fall of the Taliban, who had outlawed women's education. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) Hossaini's oldest son, Khadim, was 10 years old when the U.S.-led invasion toppled the Taliban after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States. He went on to study computer science and earn a degree, but these days he is searching for work. Khadim's younger sisters, Najiba and Maryam, were part of the first generation of Afghan women to attend school after the fall of the Taliban, who had outlawed women's education. Najiba studied information technology and was eventually hired by the Petroleum Ministry, which sent her to Japan to earn a master's degree. But as the Hossainis pursued their dreams, Afghanistan remained mired in conflict. The Taliban have expanded their reach across much of the country, where they compete with increasingly powerful warlords. Corruption is rife, and the economy is in ruins. Maryam, who is studying computer science in Kabul, said her sister had considered staying in Japan, fearful of the growing unrest. But Najiba eventually returned, only to have her improbable journey ended by a suicide bomber, who rammed his car into a bus full of Petroleum Ministry employees on July 31. "All my dreams for my country, for my children, died with Najiba," said Hossaini. Maryam recalls racing from hospital to hospital until finally she found what remained of her sister - a hand and a leg. She recognized her sister's engagement ring, which Najiba's fiance had given her after making two trips to their rural home in the Daikhundi province to convince her parents he was good enough to marry their accomplished daughter. "Every day someone is dying. Who can live in Afghanistan without wondering if they will be the next to be killed?" Maryam said. "We have only one hope now in Afghanistan, and that hope is just to survive." Andrew Wilder, vice president of the United States Institute for Peace's Asia program, said Afghanistan's young were the greatest benefactor of a post-Taliban "bubble economy" generated by international aid as well as opium trafficking. "High-paying jobs were relatively plentiful for bright young Afghans with English language and computer skills," he said. Those opportunities dwindled as the security situation worsened, and the bubble finally burst after 2014, when the U.S. and NATO formally concluded their combat mission. Aid organizations also scaled back efforts in response to the growing chaos and the need to address other global crises, including in Syria and Iraq. The deterioration has fueled a "growing sense of hopelessness and despair" that has led many Afghans to flee, Wilder said. Afghanistan's deputy minister of youth affairs, Kamal Sadat, sees a missed opportunity. "We had a golden chance to change things with all the money which came in," he said. "We didn't use those opportunities the way we should have." He said more attention was paid to building schools and universities than to staffing them with quality teachers. Nowadays many Afghans have turned to private institutions instead. Many young people say they know of someone who has left and that they would do the same if they had the means. Shaban Hamraz works in a local grocery store, but the 19-year-old says he hopes to leave Kabul for Iran or Turkey. Three friends recently headed to neighboring Iran, and Hamraz has heard that some smugglers charge as little as $1,400 for the crossing. Of those who remain, many refuse to attend school or pursue other opportunities because of the violence. "In just one month, three attacks in Afghanistan killed almost 100 people," said Ahmad Riaz, an 18-year-old high school graduate. "I have no heart to go out of the house." An Afghan man, who asked not to be named because he works for a foreign organization and fears Taliban retribution, said he sent his entire family to live in Turkey last year after a Taliban assault on the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, where his son was a student. He recalls watching the bodies being carried away from the campus as he fearfully awaited word on his son. He finally emerged unharmed at 4 a.m. He says he kept his family in Afghanistan through decades of war and instability, but now he believes it's too dangerous for them. Despite the challenges, there are still pockets of hope. Mahal Wak was in the vicinity of the blast that killed Najiba, and recalls the screaming, the shrapnel and the bodies. "I was in a bad condition," the 17-year-old said. "But all I could think of at the time was to help the wounded, the children." She's determined to remain in the country, and to continue working as a model for traditional embroidered Afghan clothing. "If (the Taliban) think this is wrong that is their mistake. We are sharing our culture," she said. Her employer, Ajmal Haqiqi, who hails from the restive Ghazni province, said he exhibits and markets the traditional clothing in hopes of preserving Afghanistan's 5,000-year-old culture. "I think if I die here or somewhere else, does it matter?" he said. "I love my country." ____ Associated Press writer Amir Shah in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report. In this Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017 photo, Maryam Hossaini, left, whose sister, Najiba, was killed in a suicide attack last month, wipes a tear during an interview with The Associated Press, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Najiba and Maryam, were part of the first generation of Afghan women to attend school after the fall of the Taliban, who had outlawed women's education. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) In this Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017 photo, Mahal Wak, center, a model for traditional embroidered Afghan clothing, practices modeling, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Her employer, Ajmal Haqiqi, who hails from the restive Ghazni province, said he exhibits and markets the traditional clothing in hopes of preserving Afghanistan's 5,000-year-old culture. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) In this Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2017 photo, Mohammad Reza Rafat, 18, who received the highest score among thousands of students in this year's university entrance exam, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Kabul, Afghanistan. Despite 16 years of war and billions of dollars in international aid, security is worsening, jobs have grown scarce and especially young Afghans see opportunities dwindle. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) In this Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2017 photo, Mohammad Reza Rafat, center, who received the highest score among thousands of students in this year's university entrance exam, has a photo taken with relatives, following an interview with The Associated Press, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Despite 16 years of war and billions of dollars in international aid, security is worsening, jobs have grown scarce and especially young Afghans see opportunities dwindling. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) In this Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017 photo, Mahal Wak, 17, a model for traditional embroidered Afghan clothing, gives an interview to The Associated Press, in Kabul, Afghanistan. Her employer, Ajmal Haqiqi, who hails from the restive Ghazni province, said he exhibits and markets the traditional clothing in hopes of preserving Afghanistan's 5,000-year-old culture. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) In this Thursday, Aug. 3, 2017 photo, Khadim Hossaini, whose sister, Najiba, was killed in a suicide attack last month, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Kabul, Afghanistan. Despite 16 years of war and billions of dollars in international aid, security is worsening and jobs have grown scarce. Khadim studied computer science and earned a degree, but these days Hossaini is searching for work. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul) LONDON (AP) - The HMS Queen Elizabeth, the biggest ship ever built for the British navy, sailed into its homeport for the first time Wednesday as tens of thousands jammed the harbor to welcome it. The 3 billion-pound ($3.9 billion) ship arrived at Portsmouth Naval Base in southern England with sailors lining the flight deck and Royal Navy helicopters soaring above. A band of Royal Marines added to the pageantry as the families of service members lined the jetty to cheer the 919-foot (280-meter) vessel, which has been conducting sea trials since setting out from Rosyth dockyard in Scotland on June 27. "She is Britain's statement to the world: a demonstration of British military power and our commitment to a bigger global role," Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said. "The thousands of people across the U.K. who have played a part in building her and her sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, should be immensely proud as our future flagship enters Portsmouth." Britain's new flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth arrives in Portsmouth, Britain, Wednesday Aug. 16, 2017. HMS Queen Elizabeth has arrived at its home port in southern England to great fanfare. Crowds lined the harbor on Wednesday to welcome the ship to Portsmouth Naval Base, where the 919-foot (280-meter) vessel will be based for its estimated 50-year lifespan.(Gareth Fuller/PA via AP) The carrier was built specifically as a platform for the next generation of fighter jets and is expected to have two dozen F-35B aircraft on board by 2023. The Queen Elizabeth and the Prince of Wales will replace three smaller carriers that were retired over the past decade. Fallon said in June that Russia would look at the new carrier with envy, comparing it to the "dilapidated" Admiral Kuznetsov, which was launched in 1985. Russia's defense ministry fired back, with a spokesman dismissing the Queen Elizabeth as just a "conveniently large sea target" that should stay close to U.S. protection assets. Whatever its capabilities, the Queen Elizabeth is immense. Its flight deck is almost 13,000 square meters (139,930 square feet), big enough to accommodate 470 of London's famous double-decker buses. Its anchors alone are 3.1 meters (over 10 feet) tall and weigh almost as much as one of those buses. Britain's new flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth arrives in Portsmouth, Britain, Wednesday Aug. 16, 2017. HMS Queen Elizabeth has arrived at its home port in southern England to great fanfare. Crowds lined the harbor on Wednesday to welcome the ship to Portsmouth Naval Base, where the 919-foot (280-meter) vessel will be based for its estimated 50-year lifespan.(Gareth Fuller/PA via AP) Britain's new flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth arrives in Portsmouth, Britain, Wednesday Aug. 16, 2017. HMS Queen Elizabeth has arrived at its home port in southern England to great fanfare. Crowds lined the harbor on Wednesday to welcome the ship to Portsmouth Naval Base, where the 919-foot (280-meter) vessel will be based for its estimated 50-year lifespan.(Gareth Fuller/PA via AP) BEIJING (AP) - In a ritual of summer, China's leaders have been holding an unofficial retreat at a beach resort ahead of a key fall Communist Party congress at which President Xi Jinping will launch his second five-year term as party chief and move to cement his status as China's most powerful leader in decades. The absence of top leaders from state media reports is a general indication that the secretive Beidaihe retreat is underway. In a hint that leaders have gathered at the resort's quiet beaches and closely guarded guest houses, the official Xinhua News Agency last week carried an account of a meeting at the resort between party propaganda boss Liu Yunshan and a group of vacationing technical experts. The strength of Xi's position likely means the goings-on this year on the coast east of Beijing will be even tamer than usual, analysts say. In this file photo taken Sunday, July 30, 2017, and released by Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Xi Jinping stands on a military jeep as he inspects troops of the People's Liberation Army during a military parade to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the founding of the PLA at Zhurihe training base in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. As they do each summer, China's leaders have headed to the beach for bit of relaxation and informal meetings on matters both trivial and weighty. This year's retreat will likely be a final breather ahead of a key party Communist Party congress expected in the fall at which President Xi Jinping will launch his second five-year term as party chief and cement his status as China's most powerful leader in decades. (Li Gang/Xinhua via AP) Xi, 64, has been shoring up his authority and sidelining rivals, leaving him primed to install allies in top positions and press his agenda of tightened state control and muscular diplomacy. That appears to include a push to insert his thoughts on theoretical matters into the party constitution and further cultivate a burgeoning cult of personality that could allow him to hold on to power beyond his second term. "The nuance this time is that there is much less 'trading' among various factions and more obsequious affirmation of the supreme leader's supremacy," said Miles Yu Maochun, an expert on Chinese politics at the U.S. Naval Academy. At the fall party congress, Xi is expected to deliver a keynote address as a prelude to having his take on theory written into the party constitution during the event, analysts believe. If indeed the case, the move's significance would be that predecessor Hu Jintao was able to insert his theory only upon leaving office. A government spokesman, State Council Information Office Director Jiang Jianguo, seemed to talk up that likelihood with fulsome praise for Xi's theories in recent comments to reporters. "It is a narrative that has been mastered by the overwhelming majority of the Chinese people and become familiar to every ordinary Chinese. It has also become a force that can change the world," Jiang said. "It is only natural for us to summarize this system of thought in a more accurate and scientific way." Jiang also sought to quash talk of a cult of personality around Xi, calling him a "modest and prudent man." "In the face of issues, he'd like to be the student first and learn from the people," Jiang said. The son of a famed communist elder, Xi rose through the ranks to the position of Shanghai's party leader before being promoted to the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee in 2007. When Xi did assume the top spot in 2012, it was as head of a reduced seven-member committee on which he had only one reliable ally, veteran Wang Qishan. He put Wang in charge of a sweeping anti-corruption crackdown that helped Xi eliminate challengers, both serving and retired, and cow potential opponents. Xi, whose titles include head of the armed forces, has lavished attention on the military with parades and defense budget increases. But he's also led a crackdown on abuses and a push to cut 300,000 personnel from the 2.3 million-member People's Liberation Army, underscoring his ability to prevail against entrenched interests. At the same time, Xi has added to his resume additional titles as leader of more than a half dozen special commissions overseeing areas from national security to foreign policy. In a move carrying enormous symbolic weight, Xi last year took on the mantle of "core" of the party leadership, elevating him above his peers in a manner redolent of communist China's founder, Mao Zedong. Whether deliberate or not, moves by Xi seem designed to minimalize predecessor Hu's place in history. Xi has already presided over three major military parades, as opposed to Hu's one over his entire tenure as president. Even the newest generation of China's high-speed rail trains are now called "rejuvenation" - a term that features prominently in Xi's calls to realize the "Chinese Dream" of prosperity and strength. Older trains were named "harmonious" - a key Hu byword. Xi has also succeeded in constricting Premier Li Keqiang's traditional role of overseeing the economy through the appointment of his own advisers, while gutting the power of the China Youth League faction to which both Li and Hu belong. Such moves are "a sign that no one in the party can challenge Xi's authority," said Chen Daoyin, a political scientist at Shanghai University of Political Science and Law. Those who fail to pledge themselves to Xi's leadership do so at their peril, Chen said. That ensures Xi a free hand in making new appointments to the Politburo Standing Committee. Chief among his allies are Chen Min'er, who last month was appointed to run the mega-city of Chongqing after predecessor Sun Zhengcai - previously seen as a top leader in waiting - was placed under investigation for corruption. Chen could be joined on the standing committee by Beijing party chief Cai Qi, who has also enjoyed rapid promotion under Xi. Key aides within the party, most notably chief of staff Li Zhanshu, are also tipped for higher office, while there is speculation that Wang, the corruption-buster, will be retained. In several cases, those moves would defy loosely defined party norms regarding necessary work experience. Retaining Wang, who is due for retirement under existing precedents, would also be a break from tradition. That has fueled speculation that Xi may be eyeing a third term as party chief, breaking with the two-term limit roughly established by Hu and his predecessor, Jiang Zemin. Those moves have cast Xi as a disruptor, not afraid to disregard precedent and do things his own way, while keeping rivals off balance with a lack of clarity about promotions and processes. That's likely to disappoint those hoping for a stronger, rules-based system and greater transparency. "The message to be delivered at Beidaihe regarding personnel arrangements is just a notice to tell everyone what Xi has decided, regardless of whether you're in agreement or not," Chen said. ___ Associated Press writer Gillian Wong and researcher Fu Ting contributed to this report. Some Chicagoans Are Pushing For Removal Of Balbo Monument, Gifted To City By Fascist Dictator By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 15, 2017 8:50PM Balbo Monument / Flickr / Photo: rchdj10 Cities such as Baltimore and Lexington, Kentucky are going forward with plans to take down Confederate statues, as the debate over whether or not to remove such monuments ramps up in the wake of the events in Charlottesville. But the question extends beyond just the Confederacy and into monuments of and from other repressive governmentsa fact to which Chicagoans are once again trying to come to terms, specifically the case of the Balbo Monument, which was gifted to Chicago by fascist dictator Benito Mussolini in 1933. The monumentwhich features a 2,000-year-old Roman pillar placed atop a stone basewas given to Chicago to be displayed at the Italian Pavilion at the Century of Progress World's Fair, and it still stands today in Grant Park. The gift from Mussolini was built as a tribute to the first transatlantic crossing made by Italo Balbo, an Italian Air Force Marshal who helped usher Mussolini and other fascists to power in 1922. Chicago has long struggled with the Balbo dilemma, and some have taken less oppositional views. (The city of course has Balbo Drive, too.) In a commentary roundup of "potentially offensive monuments" found in Chicago, Mark Jacob noted in the Tribune earlier this year: "Some say Chicago's continued recognition of Balbo is an embarrassing endorsement of fascism. Others say Balbo wasn't nearly as bad as Mussolini and cite the fact that Balbo opposed anti-Jewish laws and Italy's alliance with Hitler's Germany." One supporter of a recent restoration effort said the statue was a celebration of Italian culture and Balbo's flight was the "proudest moment for Italians in America," according to the Chicago Parks Foundation. But the fascist ties are enough for some Chicagoans to call for a change. As Curbed noted, transportation site Streetsblog tweeted on Tuesday morning that the monument should be replaced. Let's replace Chicago's Balbo/Mussolini monument to Fascism with a tribute to St. Frances Cabrini or Enrico Fermi. https://t.co/oXxfVdFLyB pic.twitter.com/LjNOpbWqz0 Streetsblog Chicago (@streetsblogchi) August 15, 2017 A prominent Chicago activist also reiterated the call: .@ChicagosMayor, it's time to remove the Balbo monument in Burnham Park. It's a disgrace that Chicago has a monument in honor of a fascist. agitator in chief (@soit_goes) August 15, 2017 The Balbo monument in Burnham Park has this inscription. It's disgraceful that it's still standing in one of Chicago's public parks. pic.twitter.com/OXJ2yCV40k agitator in chief (@soit_goes) August 15, 2017 This isn't the first time we've seen pushback against Chicago's relationship with Balbo. As Curbed highlighted, Chicago magazine in 2008 dove into the 1946 effort to rid the city of the Balbo legacy. Whatever comes of the most recent push, there's no doubt the question of whether to store away or recontextualize is again on minds. [H/T Curbed Chicago] NEW YORK (AP) - Daniel Craig's 007-era will die another day. After months of gossip and denials, Craig on Tuesday night confirmed to Stephen Colbert on the "Late Show" that he will indeed return for another James Bond movie. The yet-titled film is due out November 2019. "We've just been trying to figure things out," Craig told Colbert. "I always wanted to. I needed a break." FILE - This is a Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015 file photo of actor Daniel Craig poses for the media as he arrives for the German premiere of the James Bond movie 'Spectre' in Berlin, Germany. British actor Daniel Craig announced he returning to cars, cocktails and camera pens to play James Bond in the franchise's next film, due out in 2019. The 49-year old actor told Stephen Colbert on Tuesday night's "Late Show" that it will likely be his last time playing 007, and that he hopes to "go out on a high note." (AP Photo/Michael Sohn/File) The 49-year-old actor's stewardship of James Bond has spanned four films - and now will go for a fifth - but it has generated enough rumors to power the kind of doomsday device Bond is usually trying to stop. Craig's time as Bond has been distinguished. His "Skyfall" remains a high-point in both dollars and quality for the 55-year-olf franchise. His last one, 2015's "Spectre," grossed $880 million worldwide. Most consider him a terrific Bond who has raised the bar for the franchise, and his official return was greeted warmly on Wednesday. But the Craig-era, far more than its predecessors, has been characterized by a steady supply of Bond drama. Rumors and debates over who should be the next 007 have been nonstop for years, as has Craig's frequent hints about calling it quits. In 2015, he famously said he'd rather "slash my wrists" than make another Bond movie, a comment he later explained as a kind of joke from the fatigue of just completing one. Yet even while Craig keeps donning the tux, the next-Bond handicapping has been a year-round business. Tom Hardy, Tom Hiddleston, Jack Huston and Riz Ahmed are just some of the actors who have been linked to the role - some of them for the better part of the decade. Others have lobbied for a female 007, like Charlize Theron . Idris Elba has been a favorite for at least two years, going to back to when Bond author Anthony Horowitz suggested he was "too street" for the part. The meetings of producer Barbara Broccoli are spied on as if they concern national security. In a way, they do. Bond is a nation-state of its own, with more than $7 billion in box-office revenues alone. And that's a heavy burden for any actor to bear. Craig's constant dance with Bond has very possibly been a smart strategy to deflect some of that pressure. He has, perhaps more than anyone since Sean Connery, eluded being completely defined by 007. Last year he did "Othello" off-Broadway with David Oyelowo. He gives a comic turn in Steven Soderbergh's "Logan Lucky," out Friday. It's as though Craig has always wanted his future with James Bond a little up in the air - shaken, if you like - so as to avoid the stasis that could set in for a decades-old franchise now preparing its 25th films. Craig acknowledged on Colbert that his return had been settled months ago, meaning he was evading questions about Bond as recently as that morning when he told a Boston radio station that "no decision has been made." And even as he confirmed he was returning, Craig suggested it will be his last one. "I think this is it," he said. "I just want to go out on a high note." Though many surely will, don't bet on it. Or to put it another way: Never say never again. ___ Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) - A Massachusetts city has overwhelmingly passed a resolution directing the city manager to try and bring the Pawtucket Red Sox from Rhode Island. The Worcester (WUS'-tur) City Council approved the resolution Tuesday night that directed the city manager to "do all that is reasonably in his power" to facilitate the move. Mayor Joseph Petty proposed the resolution. The Boston Red Sox Triple-A affiliate says it needs a new home to replace aging McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket. Efforts for $23 million in state money to help build a new stadium in Pawtucket have so far failed. There is no stadium financing plan in place in Worcester. Corporate chiefs flee Trump; he disbands WH advisory panels NEW YORK (AP) - With corporate chieftains fleeing, President Donald Trump abruptly abolished two of his White House business councils Wednesday - the latest fallout from his combative comments on racially charged violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trump announced the action via tweet, although only after one of the panels had already agreed to disband earlier in the day. A growing number of business leaders on the councils had openly criticized his remarks laying blame for the violence at a white supremacists rally on "both sides." "Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!" Trump tweeted from New York. The embarrassing decision came as the White House tried to manage the repercussions from Trump's defiant remarks a day earlier. Presidential advisers hunkered down, offering no public defense while privately expressing frustration with his comments. Some Republicans and scores of Democrats denounced Trump's statements as putting white supremacists on equal moral footing with counter-protesters in Charlottesville and called for an apology. Most of those Republicans, including congressional leaders, did not specifically criticize the president. ___ Charlottesville victim's mother urges 'righteous action' CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - The mother of the young woman mowed down while protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville urged mourners at a memorial service Wednesday to "make my daughter's death worthwhile" by confronting injustice the way she did. "They tried to kill my child to shut her up. Well, guess what? You just magnified her," said Susan Bro, receiving a standing ovation from the hundreds who packed a downtown theater to remember 32-year-old Heather Heyer. Heyer's death Saturday - and President Donald Trump's insistence that "both sides" bear responsibility for the violence - continued to reverberate across the country, triggering fury among many Americans and soul-searching about the state of race relations in the U.S. The uproar has accelerated efforts in many cities to remove symbols of the Confederacy. Heyer was eulogized as a woman with a powerful sense of fairness. The mourners, many of them wearing purple, her favorite color, applauded as her mother urged them to channel their anger not into violence but into "righteous action." State troopers were stationed on the surrounding streets, but the white nationalists who had vowed to show up were nowhere to be seen among the residents, clergy and tourists outside the Paramount Theater, just blocks from where Heyer died. ___ Charlottesville violence revives painful past for minorities Bernard Lafayette fought to end segregation during the civil rights movement. But after watching events in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend and hearing President Donald Trump blame both sides for the deadly violence, he realized that changing laws did not change enough hearts and minds. "It was below the surface," said Lafayette, the 77-year-old chairman of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. "It was always there. It never left. People are coming out again and expressing their racist feelings." Minorities who came to the United States in search of a better life or who fought for equality were dispirited to see their fellow citizens fighting to preserve the legacy of the Confederacy and displaying Nazi symbols. And they said Trump's response to the deadly violence only fanned racial flames. Trump's initial statements on Saturday blamed violence on "many sides." Two days later, he condemned white supremacists. On Tuesday, he lashed out at the counter-protesters who had been in Charlottesville. He also questioned whether removing public tributes to Confederate figures would result in similar treatment for statues of George Washington or Thomas Jefferson - both slave owners. On the day of the Virginia rally, Lafayette was in Lowndes County, Alabama, marking the anniversary of the death of Jonathan Daniels, a white civil rights volunteer who gave his life to save 17-year-old black girl Ruby Sales. Lafayette, who worked alongside the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., was stunned to see young whites marching with torches and swastikas in 2017. ___ Republican leaders dance around Trump remarks NEW YORK (AP) - One after another, the nation's most powerful Republicans responded to President Donald Trump's extraordinary remarks about white supremacists. Yet few mentioned the president. The Senate's top Republican, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, condemned "hate and bigotry." House Speaker Paul Ryan charged that, "White supremacy is repulsive." Neither criticized the president's insistence that there were "very fine people on both sides" of a violent weekend clash between white supremacists and counterdemonstrators. The nuanced statements reflect the party establishment's delicate dance. Few top Republican officeholders defended the president in the midst of an escalating political crisis. Yet they are unwilling to declare all-out war against Trump and risk alienating his loyalists. And as the 2018 elections begin to take shape, the debate over Trump's words appears to be taking hold in GOP primaries. Trump's overall approval rating may be dismal, but a small group of die-hard supporters is expected to play an outsized role in next year's midterm elections when the Republican control of Congress is at stake. Those supporters are praising the president's response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, which left one dead and many more wounded. "You got racism in both factions, on both sides," former New Hampshire GOP chair Jack Kimball said. "Trump has zero fault here. None." ___ Federal court: Arkansas can block Planned Parenthood money LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - A federal appeals court panel ruled Wednesday that Arkansas can block Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, two years after the state ended its contract with the group over videos secretly recorded by an anti-abortion group. In a 2-1 ruling, an 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel vacated preliminary injunctions a federal judge issued preventing the state from suspending any Medicaid payments for services rendered to patients from Planned Parenthood. Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson ended the state's Medicaid contract with the organization in 2015. The court ruled the unnamed patients suing the state did not have the right to challenge the defunding decision. The panel did not directly address Arkansas' reason for terminating the contract. The decision could potentially lead to a showdown before the U.S. Supreme Court over efforts by Arkansas and several other states to defund Planned Parenthood that have been blocked by other courts. In a dissenting opinion to Wednesday's ruling, Judge Michael Melloy noted that several other federal courts have ruled the opposite way on defunding and said the patients have a right to challenge the end of Planned Parenthood's contract. U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker initially ordered the state to continue the payments to three patients who had sued over the move and later expanded that order to anyone who seeks or wants to obtain services from the organization's health centers in Arkansas. ___ AP FACT CHECK: Viral photo doesn't show 'antifa' beating cop A widely spread photo that appears to show an anti-fascist activist beating a police officer is a doctored image. The image showing a man wielding a club and wearing an "antifa" jacket while standing over a downed officer was widely shared after the deadly violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The image has been circulating for several months among those opposed to the antifa movement, which is comprised of far-left-leaning militant groups that resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists. The image is actually a Getty Images photo taken during a 2009 protest of police in Athens, Greece. An antifa logo was apparently digitally added to the demonstrator's jacket. Anti-fascists were among hundreds of demonstrators who descended on Charlottesville to oppose the rally. A demonstrator was killed when a driver intentionally drove into a crowd. ___ Virginia clashes bring attention to anti-fascist movement SEATTLE (AP) - The deadly white nationalist demonstration in Virginia has brought new attention to an anti-fascist movement whose black-clad, bandanna-wearing members have been a regular presence at protests around the country in the last year. Members of the "antifa" movement were among those protesting the Charlottesville rally last weekend. During a combative news conference Tuesday, President Donald Trump did not mention antifa by name but said there was blame "on both sides" for the violence. He said the counter-demonstrators charged at white nationalists with clubs and suggested they also had a hand in escalating the violence. "You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, and nobody wants to say that, but I'll say it right now," Trump said. Here are some facts about the antifa movement and those who protested the rally: ___ ___ Donald Trump's die-hard supporters show no signs of straying NEW YORK (AP) - They wash their hands of neo-Nazis and wag their fingers at leftists. They denounce a press corps they see as biased and controversies they view as manufactured. But in the frenzied blame game over the deadly violence at a rally of white supremacists, Donald Trump's loyal base is happy to absolve the president himself. Even as Trump's zig-zag response to the weekend bloodshed in Charlottesville, Virginia, has brought criticism from some Republican lawmakers, many men and women who helped put him in office remain unmoved by the latest uproar. "He has done nothing to turn me away from him," said Patricia Aleeyah Robinson, of Toledo, Ohio. Robinson is black and her support of Trump has put her at odds with many in her life, costing her friendships and straining family relationships. But the 63-year-old retired truck driver sees the controversy over Trump's response to Charlottesville as being driven by those seeking to disrupt his agenda and push backers like her away. She said she knows he pays no deference to racists and feels he is the only president who has ever spoken directly to blacks. She admires his refusal to sugarcoat his beliefs. ___ Back to bomb shelters? North Korea threats revive nuke fears LOS ANGELES (AP) - After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the era of nuclear nightmares - of the atomic arms race, of backyard bomb shelters, of schoolchildren diving under desks to practice their survival skills in the event of an attack - seemed to finally, thankfully, fade into history. Until now. For some baby boomers, North Korea's nuclear advances and President Donald Trump's bellicose response have prompted flashbacks to a time when they were young, and when they prayed each night that they might awaken the next morning. For their children, the North Korean crisis was a taste of what the Cold War was like. "I'm not concerned to where I can't sleep at night. But it certainly raises alarms for Guam or even Hawaii, where it might be a real threat," said 24-year-old banker Christian Zwicky of San Bernardino, California. People of his parents' generation were taught to duck and cover when the bombs came. ___ Is it really Lyme? Researchers developing a new test to tell WASHINGTON (AP) - Diagnosing if a tick bite caused Lyme or another disease can be difficult but scientists are developing a new way to do it early - using a "signature" of molecules in patients' blood. It's still highly experimental, but initial studies suggest the novel tool just might uncover early-stage Lyme disease more accurately than today's standard test, researchers reported Wednesday. And it could tell the difference between two tick-borne diseases with nearly identical early symptoms. "Think about it as looking at a fingerprint," said microbiology professor John Belisle of Colorado State University, who helped lead the research. Lyme disease is estimated to infect 300,000 people in the U.S. every year. Lyme-causing bacteria are spread by blacklegged ticks - also called deer ticks - primarily in the Northeast and Midwest, although their range is spreading. Lyme typically starts as a fever, fatigue and flu-like symptoms - often but not always with a hallmark bulls-eye rash - and people usually recover quickly with prompt antibiotics. But untreated, Lyme causes more serious complications, including swollen joints and arthritis, memory and concentration problems, even irregular heartbeat. Yet today's best available test often misses early Lyme. It's considered no more than 40 percent accurate in the first few weeks of infection. It measures infection-fighting antibodies the immune system produces. Those take a while to form, making the test more useful a month or more after infection sets in than when people first start feeling ill. JOHANNESBURG (AP) - Five years after South African police shot dead 34 striking mine workers, recalling police brutality under apartheid, rights groups say no one has been prosecuted and miners' living conditions are as "squalid" as ever. On Aug. 16, 2012, police opened fire on workers demanding wage increases and better living conditions at a platinum mine operated by Lonmin Plc in Marikana. At least 70 were injured. The shootings shocked South Africa, where mining is a major pillar of the economy. FILE - In this Aug. 16, 2012 file photo police surround the bodies of striking miners after opening fire on a crowd at the Lonmin Platinum Mine in Marikana, near Rustenburg, South Africa killing 34. Five years after the event rights groups say no one has been prosecuted and miners' living conditions are as "squalid" as ever. (AP Photo/File) Despite the outrage, no prosecutions have been made in connection with the killings, Amnesty International said in a report released this week to mark the anniversary. That's despite President Jacob Zuma's pledge last year that criminal charges would be brought against several senior police officers. "The tragedy of the Marikana killings is compounded by the shocking fact that no one responsible for the bloodshed has yet been held accountable," Shehnilla Mohamed, executive director of Amnesty International South Africa, said in a statement. On Wednesday, rights groups plan to picket outside Lonmin's headquarters and the South African High Commission, both in London, to commemorate the five-year anniversary. While more than 70 police officers were identified by the government's police watchdog for possible prosecution by the National Prosecuting Authority in May, no action has been taken, Amnesty said. The prosecuting authority is still evaluating the evidence, the body's spokesman, Luvuyo Mfaku, told The Associated Press. "Once the process is finalized a decision whether or not to prosecute any person(s) in respect of the matter will be made." The police watchdog did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Some Marikana mineworkers and their family members say the wider community's living conditions have not sufficiently improved since 2012, a prevalent problem in many South African mining towns. "After five years, there is nothing happening in Marikana," said Thumeka Magwangqana, a founder of the Sikhala Sonke Women's Organization, an activist group. Magwangqana lives in an informal settlement near the mine with her daughter, a former Lomnin worker, and is featured in the 2017 documentary "Strike A Rock" about the group. "We are fighting for good living conditions," Magwangqana said. "There are no roads, there is no running water. But 200 meters away from our homes, Lonmin has electricity, water, and tar roads." Lonmin says it has built more than 7,600 houses for its employees at the Marikana mine, but acknowledges about 11,500 employees may still require housing. It attributes the slow progress to "economic conditions and the subsequent collapse of platinum prices," which the company says have dropped by 50 percent in the last two years. In the aftermath of the shooting, Lonmin also offered jobs to family members of each mineworker who was killed, and established a trust to help deceased employees and contractors' children with their education. "We have accomplished a great deal in a difficult environment and are committed to finishing the job as soon as possible," the company said in a statement. "Our employees' safety and welfare are our first priority." SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The Latest on the North Korea crisis (all times local): Noon Students in Guam are returning to school after summer break in spite of the recent North Korean missile threats. Students arrive at John F. Kennedy High School in Tamuning, Guam, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. Public schools in Guam opened Thursday, a sign of normalcy returned to the Pacific island after a week of living under threat of missile attack by North Korea. (AP Photo/Tassanee Vejpongsa) All 41 public schools opened Thursday at the start of a new school year for 30,000 students. Guam Education Superintendent Jon Fernandez says the main concern has been helping parents and teachers have conversations with students to ease possible anxiety. He said: "We are prepared for many situations." North Korea this week has detailed its plan to test-launch ballistic missiles into waters near the U.S. Pacific territory. State media reported that leader Kim Jong Un was watching U.S. moves before deciding to order the test. ___ 1150 a.m. South Korean President Moon Jae-in declared there would be no second war on the Korean Peninsula amid fears that heightened animosity could lead to real fighting. Moon also said he would consider sending an envoy to North Korea in comments Thursday that appeared to be another effort to jumpstart a diplomatic solution to the crisis. Moon said people worked hard to rebuild South Korea and could not lose everything again because of war. He said: "I can confidently say there will not be a war again on the Korean Peninsula." __ 11:30 a.m. South Korean President Moon Jae-in says he'll consider sending a special envoy to North Korea for talks if North stops provocations. His comments Thursday at a nationally televised news conference appeared to be another effort to jumpstart a diplomatic solution to a confrontation sparked North Korea's warning that it might send missiles into waters near the U.S. territory of Guam, and President Donald Trump's belligerent Twitter threats to unleash "fire and fury" on the North. Moon says he believes dialogue with North Korea can happen when North Korea stops missile and nuclear tests. Moon was elected in May. He's a liberal who wants to engage the North. But his efforts have been met with a string of threats and missile tests as the North works to build nuclear-armed missiles that can reach the U.S. mainland. 11:45 p.m. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says tensions on the Korean peninsula are at their highest level in decades and it's important "to dial down the rhetoric and to dial up diplomacy." The U.N. chief told reporters Wednesday that the world needs to heed the lessons of history and not repeat the mistakes that led to the Korean War, which started 67 years ago and killed more than 3 million people. Guterres said that on Tuesday he told representatives of the countries in the stalled six-party talks - North Korea, South Korea, the U.S., Russia, China and Japan - that his "good offices are always available." He said the international community must send a clear message to North Korea's leadership to comply with its international obligations, reopen communications and deescalate the situation, 8:10 p.m. Russia says it's against further tightening sanctions on North Korea, warning that economic pressure on Pyongyang has reached its limit. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned Wednesday "we can't support ideas by some of our partners to suffocate North Korea economically with all the negative and tragic humanitarian consequences for its citizens." Lavrov, speaking at a news conference in Moscow, added that the "potential for economic pressure has been practically exhausted" and emphasized the need to encourage political settlement. He reaffirmed a call by China and Russia for the U.S. to suspend annual military exercises with South Korea in exchange for Pyongyang halting its missile and nuclear tests as a first step toward direct talks. ___ 8 p.m. President Donald Trump says in a tweet that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un "made a very wise and reasonable decision" amid indications his country has decided not to proceed with its multiple missile launch toward Guam. Trump says: "The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!" During an inspection of the North Korean army's Strategic Forces, which handles the missile program, Kim praised the military for drawing up a "close and careful plan" and said Tuesday he would watch the "foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees" a little more before deciding whether to order the missile test, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency. A school bus stops at the John F. Kennedy High School in Tamuning, Guam, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. Public schools in Guam opened Thursday, a sign of normalcy returned to the Pacific island after a week of living under threat of missile attack by North Korea. (AP Photo/Tassanee Vejpongsa) A visitor walks by the wire fence decorated with ribbons carrying messages to wish for the reunification of the two Koreas at the Imjingak Pavilion in Paju, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. China has urged the United States and North Korea to "hit the brakes" on threatening words and work toward a peaceful resolution of their tense standoff created by Pyongyang's recent missile tests and threats to fire them toward Guam. The dispute has also raised fears in South Korea, where a conservative political party on Wednesday called for the United States to bring back tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) Students are welcomed back to the John F. Kennedy High School in Tamuning, Guam, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. Public schools in Guam opened Thursday, a sign of normalcy returned to the Pacific island after a week of living under threat of missile attack by North Korea. (AP Photo/Tassanee Vejpongsa) Students arrive at the John F. Kennedy High School in Tamuning, Guam, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2017. Public schools in Guam opened Thursday, a sign of normalcy returned to the Pacific island after a week of living under threat of missile attack by North Korea. (AP Photo/Tassanee Vejpongsa) South Korean national flags and ribbons carrying messages to wish for the reunification of the two Koreas, flutter at the Imjingak Pavilion in Paju, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. China has urged the United States and North Korea to "hit the brakes" on threatening words and work toward a peaceful resolution of their tense standoff created by Pyongyang's recent missile tests and threats to fire them toward Guam. The dispute has also raised fears in South Korea, where a conservative political party on Wednesday called for the United States to bring back tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man) BERLIN (AP) - Authorities in Germany have formally indicted a Swiss citizen on suspicion of espionage for spying on German tax investigators. Federal prosecutors say the 54-year-old man, identified only as Daniel M. due to German privacy rules, acted as an agent for Switzerland's intelligence service. Prosecutors said in a statement Wednesday that M. was paid to obtain information on tax officials in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia between July 2011 and February 2015. The state had purchased a stolen data CD containing details on German clients of Swiss banks, leading to numerous tax evasion cases. Switzerland expressed outrage at the move by its northern neighbor, which followed leaks of similar data to American and French authorities. M. was arrested in the German financial center of Frankfurt in April. NEW YORK (AP) - Queen Latifah will be honored at Diddy's fourth annual REVOLT music conference in October, where performers will include Lauryn Hill and 2 Chainz. REVOLT announced Wednesday that the conference will take place Oct. 12-15 in Miami. Latifah will receive the Icon Award for her accomplishments in music, film and TV. She has won an Emmy, Golden Globe and Grammy Award. Hill, SZA and Daniel Caesar will perform at the Oct. 14 gala honoring Latifah. 2 Chainz will perform with special guests on Oct. 13, while French Montana and King Combs, Diddy's son, will kick off the conference with performances on Oct. 12. FILE - In this Thursday, July 13, 2017, file photo, Queen Latifah arrives at the World Premiere of "Girls Trip" at the Regal L.A. Live in Los Angeles. Queen Latifah will be honored at Diddy's fourth annual REVOLT music conference in October 2017, where performers include Lauryn Hill and 2 Chainz. Latifah will receive the Icon Award for her accomplishments in music, film, TV and more. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File) The four-day event will also feature panels and guest speakers. It will be held at the Eden Roc Miami Beach Resort. Diddy launched his REVOLT channel in 2013. WASHINGTON (AP) - Homebuilders pulled back sharply on construction of apartment complexes in July, causing housing starts to tumble to a three-month low. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that housing starts fell 4.8 percent in July to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.16 million. Groundbreakings for multi-family buildings such as apartments slumped 17.1 percent, while single-family house construction slipped 0.5 percent. Home construction has increased 2.4 percent year-to-date, but the gains have done little to offset the dwindling number of homes listed for sale. The shortage of properties for sale has pushed prices up at a faster pace than income growth, making home ownership less affordable for many would-be buyers. In this Wednesday, March 1, 2017, photo, a forklift is parked in front of one of the houses under construction in a housing plan in Zelienople, Pa. On Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, the Commerce Department reports on U.S. home construction in July. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic) Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont Securities, said that because of the lack of homes on the market "builders are attempting to meet that need but are hamstrung to a degree by shortages of skilled workers" and land restrictions. Housing starts dropped in the Northeast, Midwest and West but rose modestly in the South. Building permits, an indicator of future construction, decreased 4.1 percent to 1.22 million. While home construction has increased, it's done little to ease the pressure from a decline in listings for existing homes - a much larger segment of the housing market. The number of sales listings has been falling on an annual basis for the past 25 months. There were 1.96 million homes for sale in June, a 7.1 decline from a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors. More importantly, home construction is concentrated in certain markets, according to a new analysis by the real estate firm Trulia. Dallas, Houston and Austin in Texas are on pace to build a combined 130,000 new homes this year. That total would be more than 10 percent of all U.S. permits and account for nearly as much as construction in the 50 other large metro areas combined. The lack of properties on the market has helped to bolster confidence among homebuilders who see healthy demand for the homes that are available. The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo builder sentiment index released Tuesday rose to 68 in August, a four-point gain from July. Any reading above 50 signals expansion. GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) - The University of Florida on Wednesday denied a request by a group headed by white nationalist Richard Spencer to rent space on the campus for a September event and his supporters vowed to file a court challenge. UF President W. Kent Fuchs said in a statement that the decision was made after assessing risks to the campus, community and law enforcement following last weekend's deadly violence during a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Members of the National Policy Institute, which Spencer heads, had contacted the university about renting space on the campus in Gainesville on Sept. 12. "I find the racist rhetoric of Richard Spencer and white nationalism repugnant and counter to everything the university and this nation stands for," Fuchs' statement said. Fuchs said UF is dedicated to free speech and public discourse, but the First Amendment does not require risk of imminent violence to students. Spencer said he was angry with the university's decision, and his supporters planned to file a legal challenge. "Such a brazen attack on free speech from a public university is infuriating," Spencer said in a text message. Cameron Padgett, a Georgia resident affiliated with Spencer's group who was coordinating the campus event in Gainesville, told The Associated Press he would file the legal challenge after conferring with lawyers. "I signed an agreement and sent it in to the event coordinator," Padgett said. "I don't know who's advising them on why they think they can do this." Padgett filed a challenge after Auburn University tried to ban Spencer's appearance there in April. A federal judge ruled against Auburn, and the talk was held as planned. The university was also ordered to pay nearly $30,000 in legal fees. Several hundred people attended the event and three people were arrested outside the building during clashes between Spencer's supporters and his opponents. Janine Sikes, a UF spokeswoman, said this is the first time that officials can recall the university denying such a request due to fears of violence or hate speech. "I can't say for the last 100 years, but we're not aware of ever doing this in recent history." The move comes after Texas A&M University canceled a planned September white nationalist protest on its campus featuring Spencer, due to security concerns. Spencer, a leading figure in the white nationalist movement, has popularized the term "alt-right" to describe a fringe movement that is a mix of white nationalist, white supremacist, anti-Semitic and anti-immigration beliefs. Spencer has advocated for an "ethno-state" that would be a "safe space" for white people. After Donald Trump was elected president, Spencer hosted a conference in Washington that ended with audience members mimicking Nazi salutes after Spencer shouted, "Hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory!" Jesse Choper, a University of California, Berkeley constitutional law professor, says even the ugliest of free speech is protected by the First Amendment. However, UF has a good argument in any court challenge for denying the group's event given the recent violence in Virginia, he said. "It's a good reason," Choper said. "You've got to have a real fear, and a good reason to believe that something's going to happen and it would be difficult to prevent it or regulate it." Attorney General Pam Bondi, who got her undergraduate degree from the University of Florida, praised the decision of her alma mater to block Spencer. ___ Associated Press writer Gary Fineout in Tallahassee, Florida, contributed to this story. ___ Follow Jason Dearen on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/JHDearen Illinois Lawmakers Blast Trump's 'Racist, Rambling' Double Down On 'Both Sides' Defense By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 15, 2017 11:20PM Getty Images / Photo: Pool Updated 6:25 p.m.: Mayor Rahm Emanuel has also released a statement condemning Trump's Tuesday afternoon comments, suggesting his statements put him on the wrong side of history: For the second time in three days, this president equated neo-Nazis, white supremacists and bigots with those who courageously stood up to confront their hate and give voice to our shared values. I cant help but take this personally, and not just because Ive had the privilege of serving two presidents and am a believer in the power and awesome responsibility of the office. I found my political awakening in 1978, protesting neo-Nazis who assembled in Marquette Park after their first attempt to intimidate the Jewish community in Skokie was rebuffed. We were outnumbered and didnt have a permit that day, either, but at least we knew we were on the right side of justice - and history. Nor were we concerned that in the aftermath, political leaders might equate our stance against hate with those who peddled it. Simply put, todays performance was unworthy of the office and its moral authority. As Maya Angelou cautioned: when someone shows you who they are, believe them. President Donald Trump's statements on Tuesday about the tragedy in Charlottesville prompted a renewed wave of outrage as he reverted again to blaming "both sides" and suggested counter-demonstrators deserved blame for the weekend's violence along with white supremacists. Plenty of the condemnation again came from Democratic lawmakers and politicians from Illinois. Rep. Jan Schakowsky was full-throated in her denunciation of Trump's press conference, which she blasted as "racist" and "rambling." Sen. Dick Durbin shared on Twitter an ABC News clip in which Trump said, "There's blame on both sides...you also had people that were very fine people on both sides." The senator countered: "There is only one side that brought brutality, nazi flags, and swastikas to Charlottesville." There is only one side that brought brutality, nazi flags, and swastikas to Charlottesville. https://t.co/Zh2M0uKt29 Senator Dick Durbin (@SenatorDurbin) August 15, 2017 Rep. Cheri Bustos said Trump's comments on Tuesday were "deeply offensive." His remarks "legitimize the violence, bigotry and terror" of the Charlottesville attack, she said. .@POTUS comments today are deeply offensive and they legitimize the violence, bigotry & terror we saw this past weekend in #Charlottesville. Rep. Cheri Bustos (@RepCheri) August 15, 2017 The neo-Nazis, white supremacists and the KKK in #Charlottesville do NOT represent who we are as Americans. We cannot enable that violence. Rep. Cheri Bustos (@RepCheri) August 15, 2017 All of us have an obligation to unequivocally denounce this kind of hatred, especially @realDonaldTrump. #Charlottesville. Rep. Cheri Bustos (@RepCheri) August 15, 2017 Rep Raja Krishnamoorthi sent out on Twitter a series of images, including one of a marching Dr. Martin Luther King and Allied soldiers storming the beaches in World War II, with the hashtag #VeryFinePeople, in defiant reference to Trump's equivocating quote. And Democratic gubernatorial hopeful JB Pritzker called Trump an "unhinged disgrace to the presidency" who "openly sympathized with Nazis on national television." His full statement is below: If Illinois is any indication, Trump's comments won't be getting let off the hook by the opposition any time soon. MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - The Latest on Alabama Senate primary (all times local): 8 a.m. President Donald Trump has congratulated both Alabama Sen. Luther Strange and former state Chief Justice Roy Moore for making it to the Republican runoff in the U.S. Senate race. Former Alabama Chief Justice and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore speaks to supporters, Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, in Montgomery, Ala. Moore, who took losing stands for the public display of the Ten Commandments and against gay marriage, forced a Senate primary runoff with Sen. Luther Strange, an appointed incumbent backed by both President Donald Trump and heavy investment from establishment Republican forces. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) Trump on Wednesday morning used his Twitter account to send congratulations to both men "for being the final two" in the GOP primary for the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. "Exciting race!" Trump wrote. Trump had previously endorsed Strange in the primary and recorded a telephone message sent to voters on Strange's behalf. However, Trump but did not single Strange out in the Wednesday tweet. Strange had emphasized Trump's backing in the closing days of the campaign. Strange and Moore will meet in a Sept. 26 Republican runoff. The runoff winner will face Democratic nominee Doug Jones in a December election. __ 4:19 a.m. Alabama Sen. Luther Strange will face off with Ten Commandments judge Roy Moore in a Republican runoff for the Senate seat that previously belonged to Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Moore on Tuesday forced Strange into a Republican runoff even though Strange was backed by an endorsement from President Donald Trump and millions of dollars from establishment GOP forces. Moore has a heavy following among the state's evangelical voters after stands for the Ten Commandments and against gay marriage. Moore told supporters they had sent a message to Washington "elitists" that they could not control the race. Strange, who was appointed to the seat in February, emphasized his endorsement from Trump in a state where Trump remains deeply popular among GOP voters. The runoff winner will face Democratic nominee Doug Jones in a December election. Former Alabama Chief Justice and U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore speaks to supporters Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, in Montgomery, Ala., after he forced a Senate primary runoff with Sen. Luther Strange to fill the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson Sen. Luther Strange speaks to supporters after forcing a runoff against former Chief Justice Roy Moore, Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, in Homewood, Ala. (AP Photo/Butch Dill) A supporter waits for the announcement of former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore, Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, in Montgomery, Ala., after he forced a Senate primary runoff with Sen. Luther Strange to fill the U.S. Senate seat previously held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson) GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) - The Latest on the University of Florida denying a request by white nationalist Richard Spencer's group to have an event there (all times local): 5:15 p.m. Michigan State University says it hasn't decided whether to rent space to a group headed by white nationalist Richard Spencer. The university says it's reviewing a request by the National Policy Institute closely "in light of the deplorable violence" in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend. But the school also says it doesn't make decisions on access to public space based on what someone thinks or says. In a statement Wednesday, Michigan State says granting access doesn't mean it endorses the "messages that might be delivered there." The university says diversity is a source of strength at the East Lansing, Michigan, campus. Meanwhile, the University of Florida is denying a request by the group to rent space on campus for a September event. ___ 9:45 a.m. A supporter of a group headed by white nationalist Richard Spencer vowed to file a lawsuit against the University of Florida after the school denied a request to rent space on the campus for an event next month. Cameron Padgett, a Spencer supporter who was organizing the campus event in Gainesville, was told of the university's decision by an Associated Press reporter on Wednesday. Padgett said he was going to call his lawyer immediately and start the process of filing a court challenge. Padgett is being paid nearly $30,000 from Auburn University after he successfully challenged that school's attempts to block the group from speaking there. He says they'd signed an agreement with Florida and believes the group will prevail just as they did with the Auburn challenge in April. A judge allowed the Spencer event at Auburn to proceed. Several hundred people attended the event and three people were arrested outside the building during clashes between Spencer's supporters and his opponents. ___ 9 a.m. The University of Florida is denying a request by a group headed by white nationalist Richard Spencer to rent space on the campus for a September event. UF President W. Kent Fuchs said in a statement Wednesday that the decision was made after assessing risks to the campus, community and law enforcement following last weekend's violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. Spencer, the head of the National Policy Institute, had contacted the university for plans to rent space on the campus in Gainesville, Florida next month. In denying the request, Fuchs said he finds Spencer's racist rhetoric "repugnant and counter to everything the university and this nation stands for." Fuchs said UF is dedicated to free speech and public discourse, but the First Amendment doesn't require risk of imminent violence to students. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) - An Iranian opposition leader who has been under house arrest since 2011 has begun a hunger strike over his detention. A website associated with Mahdi Karroubi announced Wednesday that the 79-year-old cleric has stopped eating and is only taking heart medication. The website quoted his wife, Fatemah Karroubi, as saying he wants a public trial and for security forces to vacate his home. Karroubi suffers from heart disease and has been hospitalized previously while detained. Karroubi is a reformist. He and Mir Hossein Mousavi, another opposition leader, were put under house arrest in 2011 as Arab Spring protests swept the Middle East. Both stood as presidential candidates in the 2009 disputed re-election of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Both alleged widespread fraud in the vote. RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - More protesters were arrested Wednesday for participating in a demonstration that toppled a Confederate statue in North Carolina, and more monuments were vandalized as well. The statue in Durham came down Monday night when a protester climbed a ladder to attach a rope and others on the ground pulled the bronze soldier from its pedestal. On Wednesday morning, Dante Strobino and Ngoc Loan Tran were led away in handcuffs when they came to a court hearing for Takiyah Thompson, the woman who climbed the ladder. Another demonstrator, Peter Gull Gilbert, was arrested later. A damaged nearly century-old Confederate statue lies on a pallet in a warehouse in Durham, N.C. on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017. Investigators are working to identify and charge protesters who toppled the Confederate statue in front of a North Carolina government building, the sheriff said Tuesday. The Confederate Soldiers Monument, dedicated in 1924, stood in front of an old courthouse building that serves as local government offices. (AP Photo/Allen Breed) The Durham County Sheriff's office said all four arrested so far were charged with two felonies related to inciting and participating in a riot that damaged property, along with two misdemeanors. Many of the protesters were affiliated with the Workers World Party, which helped organize the demonstration in response to deadly violence over the weekend during a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Thompson said toppling the statue was justified. "We know that the only thing that's going to take down these Confederate monuments, as we saw in Durham last night, is organized people's power," Tran said Tuesday at a news conference by the group. "We have to build a fighting movement against white supremacy." Messages weren't immediately returned by the group Wednesday. Durham's Confederate Soldiers Monument, depicting a uniformed rebel soldier leaning against his rifle, had stood since 1924 in front of a courthouse building that now serves as local government offices. The sheriff's office said Wednesday that it plans more arrests. Deputies took video during the protest but declined to intervene because the sheriff said he wanted to avoid a hostile confrontation and injuries. To the east in Wilmington, two Confederate statues were vandalized with spray paint. Someone also tied a rope around one of the statues early Wednesday in what may have been an attempt to topple it, said Wilmington police spokeswoman Linda Rawley Thompson. No arrests have been made. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called on Tuesday for the removal of Confederate monuments on public property around the state. "We cannot continue to glorify a war against the United States of America fought in the defense of slavery," Cooper said in a statement. "These monuments should come down." Cooper directed state officials to study the cost and logistics of moving monuments from state property to historical sites or museums. Many others are on property owned by local governments, and none of the monuments can be removed without legislative approval, under a law the Republican-controlled General Assembly passed in 2015. Cooper, a Democrat, called for its repeal, but is likely to face an uphill battle, given the GOP's veto-proof majorities. North Carolina is one of only three states - along with Virginia and Georgia - with 90 or more Confederate monuments, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. A state tally shows at least 120 Civil War monuments around North Carolina, the vast majority dedicated to the Confederacy. Around 50 of them are at contemporary or historic courthouses. ___ Follow Drew at www.twitter.com/jonldrew BERLIN (AP) - A leading German politician has branded U.S. President Donald Trump's comments on the events surrounding a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia as "highly dangerous." Martin Schulz, who is Chancellor Angela Merkel's main challenger in next month's election, said Germany has to "do everything to avoid things here going the way they are in America." Schulz was asked in an interview with German media group RND about Trump's comments that "there's blame on both sides" for the weekend violence in Charlottesville. The Social Democratic Party of Germany, SPD, candidate for Chancellor, Martin Schulz, arrives for a meeting of board members in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Aug. 14, 2017. (Michael Kappeler/dpa via AP) In extracts of the interview published Wednesday, Schulz was quoted as saying that "the downplaying of Nazi violence in Trump's incoherent comments is highly dangerous." Schulz, who leads Germany's center-left Social Democratic Party, said it was important to "stand decisively against those who sow hatred. Always. And everywhere." NEW YORK (AP) - One after another, the nation's most powerful Republicans responded to President Donald Trump's extraordinary remarks about white supremacists. Yet few mentioned the president. The Senate's top Republican, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, condemned "hate and bigotry." House Speaker Paul Ryan charged that, "White supremacy is repulsive." Neither criticized the president's insistence that there were "very fine people on both sides" of a violent weekend clash between white supremacists and counterdemonstrators. The nuanced statements reflect the party establishment's delicate dance. Few top Republican officeholders defended the president in the midst of an escalating political crisis. Yet they are unwilling to declare all-out war against Trump and risk alienating his loyalists. And as the 2018 elections begin to take shape, the debate over Trump's words appears to be taking hold in GOP primaries. FILE - In this May 4, 2017, file photo, President Donald Trump talks with House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis. in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington. Republican leaders on Wednesday, Aug. 16, tiptoed around Trump's extraordinary comments on white supremacists. Ryan said on Aug. 15 "white supremacy is repulsive,' but ignored the presidents comments. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) Trump's overall approval rating may be dismal, but a small group of die-hard supporters is expected to play an outsized role in next year's midterm elections when the Republican control of Congress is at stake. Those supporters are praising the president's response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, which left one dead and many more wounded. "You got racism in both factions, on both sides," former New Hampshire GOP chair Jack Kimball said. "Trump has zero fault here. None." Republican leaders also need the president: They hope to work with him to enact meaningful legislation on infrastructure, taxes and health care to prove to voters their party can govern. The delicate relationship helps explain Wednesday's cautious comments from powerful Republicans like McConnell. "We all have a responsibility to stand against hate and violence, wherever it raises its evil head," McConnell said in a statement, noting that white supremacists are planning a rally in his home state of Kentucky. "Their messages of hate and bigotry are not welcome in Kentucky and should not be welcome anywhere in America," he said. Former Republican Presidents George H.W. and George W. Bush, usually silent on current political developments, released a joint statement that stopped short of criticizing Trump as well. "America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism and hatred in all forms," the Bushes said. The political tap dance frustrated as least one member of Trump's diversity council, CEO of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Javier Palomarez, who called Trump's response "a monumental failure in leadership." He challenged those who denounced racism in general terms without calling out the president by name. "That's a sign of weakness, and I don't think the American people and the Republican Party is going to forget," said Palomarez, who noted he would remain on Trump's diversity council "for now." But Trump loyalists on the ground in key states are ready to fight for their leader. And there were signs that the divide between the loyalists and establishment Republicans is already shaping the mid-term political landscape. "We've always had these weak skittish so-called Republicans in the D.C. crowd. They're always peeing their pants," said Corey Stewart, a former Trump aide who has already launched a 2018 Senate bid in Virginia. Many were quick to blame the media for Trump's struggles. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the liberal media is not a fan of President Trump," said Trump's Alabama campaign chairman, Perry Hooper, arguing the Russia investigation is driven by media obsession. He added, "Now they're trying to make him some kind of racist. It's ridiculous. He doesn't have a racist bone in his body." Nevada Republican Danny Tarkanian, who is challenging Republican Sen. Dean Heller, said those criticizing Trump's response to the white supremacist rally were "splitting hairs." "It was clear the media went out of their way to find fault with his statement," Tarkanian said. Heller, who is considered one of the most endangered Republicans in the nation heading into the 2018 election, posted a simple statement on Twitter late Tuesday that stopped short of criticizing the president: "There is no defense or justification for evil in the form of white supremacists and Nazis. None," he wrote. The Republicans who lashed out at Trump most aggressively were, in many cases, those with the least to lose politically. South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who doesn't face re-election until 2020, said the president "took a step backward by again suggesting there is moral equivalency between the white supremacist neo-Nazis and KKK members who attended the Charlottesville rally" and the people demonstrating against them. "Many Republicans do not agree with and will fight back against the idea that the party of Lincoln has a welcome mat out for the David Dukes of the world," Graham added, referring to the former Ku Klux Klan leader. ___ AP writer Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report. In this Aug. 15, 2017, photo, President Donald Trump points to members of the media as he answers questions in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York. Republican leaders on Wednesday tiptoed around Trump's extraordinary comments on white supremacists. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) BRUSSELS (AP) - Belgium's Agriculture Minister Denis Ducarme says the government will join in legal action against those responsible for the egg contamination scandal, which has hit at least 17 countries. Ducarme told The Associated Press Wednesday that "the Belgian government wants to take part in civil proceedings." He said the move is "not merely symbolic," and that any money won would be used to help support the agriculture sector. He said "the cheats will have to pay." Millions of eggs have been destroyed or pulled from supermarket shelves since July 20. The pesticide Fipronil was found to have been illegally mixed in an insect spray for chickens. But Ducarme said contamination levels were low and that almost one month on "we can really say that we are coming out of this crisis." BALTIMORE (AP) - The Latest on the removal of Confederate monuments in Baltimore (all times local): 11:40 a.m. The mayor of Baltimore says it was important for the city to move quickly and quietly to remove its Confederate monuments. A bystander takes a picture of the monument dedicated to the Confederate Women of Maryland after it was taken down early Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, in Baltimore. Local news outlets reported that workers hauled several monuments away, days after a white nationalist rally in Virginia turned deadly. (Jerry Jackson/The Baltimore Sun via AP) Mayor Catherine Pugh spoke to reporters Wednesday, hours after workers toiled throughout the night to bring the statues down and haul them away on trucks. The mayor said she's been working on removing the statues for months. A spokesman says Pugh decided Tuesday that the city would remove the statues overnight. Pugh said she believed "enough speeches had been made" and she wanted to get the monuments out of the city. The city's decision to remove the monuments came days after a violent white nationalist rally in Virginia that was sparked by plans to remove a similar statue there. ___ 7 a.m. Confederate monuments have been removed overnight in Baltimore. Local news outlets report that workers began hauling monuments away early Wednesday, days after a white nationalist rally in Virginia turned deadly. WBAL-TV reports that a crane removed a monument to Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson" from its pedestal around 3 a.m. The TV station says the statue was placed on a flatbed truck 45 minutes later. Photos posted on social media show people standing on top of the base where the Lee and Jackson monument used to stand. Photos taken by The Baltimore Sun shows workers taking away a monument dedicated to the Confederate Women of Maryland. Workers remove the Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson monument in Wyman Park early Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, in Baltimore. Local news outlets reported that workers hauled several monuments away, days after a white nationalist rally in Virginia turned deadly. (Denise Sanders/The Baltimore Sun via AP) LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (AP) - A Georgia judge has been suspended for making online comments that called critics of Confederate monuments in the South "snowflakes" and "nut cases." Judge Jim Hinkle was suspended Tuesday from his post as a Gwinnett County Magistrate Court. Judge Kristina Hammer Blum, the metro-Atlanta court's chief judge, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Hinkle would remain off the bench "while I consider the appropriate final action." Violence last weekend during a Virginia rally by white supremacists opposing the removal of statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee last weekend has stoked calls to topple Confederate statues and monuments in other parts of the South. A Marine Corps veteran and former mayor of the city of Grayson, Hinkle wrote about the controversy on his Facebook page Saturday. "It looks like all of the snowflakes have no concept of history," Hinkle wrote. "It is what it is. Get over it and move on." The judge followed up with a post Tuesday that criticized "the nut cases tearing down monuments." Hinkle told the newspaper he didn't "see anything controversial" about his posts. "But you know, with the way things are going in the world today, I guess everything's controversial," Hinkle said. Hinkle's Facebook page was no longer publicly accessible late Tuesday morning, the newspaper reported. In her email confirming Hinkle's suspension, Blum said it's her job to ensure magistrate judges in the county "conduct themselves in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity, impartiality, and fairness of the judiciary." Gabe Okoye, the chairman of Gwinnett County's Democratic Party, said Hinkle should "apologize and resign" because of his comments. OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - The family of a man accused of attempting to detonate what he believed was an explosives-laden van outside an Oklahoma bank says he is a paranoid schizophrenic and that the FBI knew it. Clifford and Melonie Varnell, of Sayre, Oklahoma, issued a statement late Tuesday that questions the tactics undercover FBI agents used to arrest 23-year-old Jerry Drake Varnell. He was taken into custody early Saturday for the alleged plot to detonate a vehicle bomb in an alley adjacent to BancFirst in downtown Oklahoma City. Varnell, who lives with his mother and stepfather in Sayre, about 130 miles (209 kilometers) west of Oklahoma City, is jobless due to his schizophrenia and does not have the resources to carry out such an act alone, according to the family's statement. This photo provided by the Oklahoma Department of Corrections shows Jerry Drake Varnell, of Sayre, Okla., who was arrested Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017, in connection with a plot to detonate a vehicle bomb in an alley adjacent to BancFirst in downtown Oklahoma City. Authorities said Varnell is expected to be formally charged Monday, Aug, 14. (Oklahoma Department of Corrections via AP) "The FBI came and picked him up from our home, they gave him a vehicle, gave him a fake bomb, and every means to make this happen," the statement said, adding that authorities "should not have aided and abetted a paranoid schizophrenic to commit this act." FBI spokeswoman Jessica Rice in Oklahoma City and Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Williams declined comment Wednesday. A federal detention hearing for Varnell is scheduled on Aug. 22. If convicted of attempting to use explosives to destroy a building in interstate commerce, Varnell could receive five to 20 years in prison. His court-appointed defense attorney, Terri Coulter of Oklahoma City, declined comment. Varnell "has suffered through countless serious full-blown schizophrenic delusional episodes and he has been put in numerous mental hospitals since he was 16 years old," the family's statement said. It added that his parents are his legal guardians and do all they can "to keep him safe and functional." "The mental health system has consistently failed us due to the lack of establishments and health care coverage for a person like him," the statement said. Varnell takes medication "but he will never be completely functional in life," it said. The Varnells say their son is easily influenced and they believe a confidential informant who tipped FBI agents off to the alleged plot may have helped inspire it. Gov. Rauner's Abrupt Staff Shake Up Is Still Haunting Him By aaroncynic in News on Aug 15, 2017 8:30PM AP Photo/Seth Perlman File Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner is taking criticism for floundering during an exchange with a reporter over a recent staff shakeup, which has caused several headaches for the administration. In a recent television interview, WTTWs Amanda Vinicky questioned Rauner on how his recent staff shakeups led to a huge chunk of new hires coming from the conservative Illinois Policy Institute. A smiling Rauner replied that most of his aides didnt come from the organization. Now thats not true, Rauner said. Most of my aides do not come from there. No. How many leaders do I have, Rauner continued. Ive got dozens. My chief operating officer comes from Georgia. My head legal counselIndiana. Head of Corrections, from Iowa. Weve got people from all over the nation that are the best at running state government. In fact, seven of Rauners top aides, including his Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, have had direct ties with the Institute. And at least four othersincluding his short lived body man who was fired for homophobic tweetshave ties to other right-wing think tanks. The JB Pritzker campaign, who posted video of the exchange on Youtube, said either Bruce Rauner expects us to believe that his senior advisors are not really advising him, or that Rauner was actually just this radical to begin with. Considering Bruce Rauner cleaned house to retool his messaging, you would think he might be able to get some better answers, Pritzker's spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh said in a statement emailed to Chicagoist. Then again, even the best team in America cant spin their way out of this mess. Bruce Rauner is a failed leader of historic proportions, desperately lurching to the right as Illinois families pay the price. The Democratic Governors Association also seized the opportunity to go after the governor. At the end of a terrible month, Bruce Rauner seems suddenly shy about the fact he turned over the governors office to a bunch of right-wing ideologues, said its Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. After lawmakers from both parties overrode his budget veto, Rauner could have turned to focus on helping Illinois families. Instead, he doubled-down on the same failed politics that lead the state to a two-year budget impasse, and now threaten schools ability to stay open. JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel's press office said Wednesday it is revoking the credentials of a prominent Al-Jazeera reporter pending a hearing after he told another TV station that the work of Palestinian journalists is part of the "resistance." The Government Press Office said the remarks made by Elias Karram raise concerns about his ability to objectively cover the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Karram is an Arab citizen of Israel from Nazareth who has been reporting on Israel for Al-Jazeera for many years. Nitzan Chen, the head of the press office, said the press card is revoked pending a hearing to clarify "whether or not he is part of the Palestinian people's resistance to the 'Zionist occupation', as he stated in the interview, and if so, how this affects his work as a journalist according to universal ethics." Israel's communications minister said earlier this month he plans to revoke the press credentials of all Al-Jazeera journalists, effectively preventing them from working in Israel, and is seeking legislation to ban them altogether. He said the network incites violence, and pointed to recent efforts by several Arab states to ban the channel as part of their dispute with Qatar, the wealthy Gulf country that hosts and funds the pan-Arab satellite network. The press office statement referred to a 2016 interview Karram gave to a Dar al-Iman, a channel operated by the pan-Arab Muslim Brotherhood. "The work of a Palestinian journalist in occupied territories, in territories of conflict, is inseparable from the work of the resistance, the work of the politician, the work of the scholar," Karram said. "The journalist fulfils his role in the resistance with a pen or a microphone or a camera. You are part of the people and you resist in your own way," he said. Palestinians use the word "resistance" to refer to both violence against Israelis and non-violent opposition to Israeli policies. Al-Jazeera had no immediate comment on the matter. Karram could not immediately be reached for comment. Israeli officials have long accused Al-Jazeera of bias against the Jewish state. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman has likened its coverage to "Nazi Germany-style" propaganda. Chen said credentialed journalists are expected to follow "rules of ethics and universal fairness regarding news reporting." "Whoever takes an active part in a political struggle should do so in the framework of the law, but without press credentials from the state of Israel," he said. The Foreign Press Association, which represents journalists covering Israel and the Palestinian territories for international news organizations, said it is studying the decision and had no immediate comment. Saudi Arabia and its allies have moved to shut down Al-Jazeera as part of their dispute with Qatar, which they accuse of supporting extremist groups. Qatar denies the allegations, and has refused Arab demands that it shut the channel down. Jordan and Saudi Arabia have recently closed Al-Jazeera's local offices, while the channel and its affiliate sites have been blocked in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrain. American viewers became familiar with Al-Jazeera after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, when its golden-hued Arabic logo became synonymous with video messages by al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. That sparked frequent complaints by then-President George W. Bush's administration. The station defended its policy, saying the messages were newsworthy. Al-Jazeera was the first Arab satellite news channel to offer a range of views outside of the heavily censored state media in Arab and countries, and extensively covered the 2011 Arab Spring. It also was the first Arab-owned news outlet to host Israeli officials and commentators. ___ This story has been corrected to show that the journalist's last name is Karram, not Karra. MITCHELL, S.D. (AP) - A corn-themed tourist destination in southeast South Dakota will have enough corn to decorate murals despite a dry summer. Scott Schmidt is the director of the Corn Palace in Mitchell. He tells the Daily Republic that the city has enough corn to create the nine corn murals surrounding the facility thanks to recent rain. About 275,000 ears of corn are needed for the building, which is currently adorned with 2-year-old dilapidated murals. The city voluntarily skipped revamping the murals last year as part of a cost-cutting directive. It hasn't been affected by a drought scare since 2012. FILE - This Sept. 1, 2015, file photo shows the Corn Palace in Mitchell, S.D. The corn-themed tourist destination will have enough corn to decorate murals despite a dry summer. The director of the Corn Palace said that the city has enough corn to create the nine corn murals surrounding the facility thanks to recent rain. About 275,000 ears of corn are needed for the building, which is currently adorned with 2-year-old dilapidated murals. One city councilwoman says the building is a "community icon." (AP Photo/Dirk Lammers, File) City Councilwoman Susan Tjarks says Mitchell will replace the music-themed murals with weather-themed murals. Schmidt says the estimated cost of redecorating is just over $115,000. Tjarks says the building is a "community icon." ___ Information from: The Daily Republic, http://www.mitchellrepublic.com WASHINGTON (AP) - Despite White House claims to the contrary, fired FBI Director James Comey was highly respected and trusted within the bureau during his nearly four-year tenure, according to internal survey results released Wednesday. The data detailing bureau attitudes about its leader contradict White House assertions that Comey, fired by President Donald Trump in May, had lost the confidence of the bureau's rank and file. When asked specifically if Comey had "a positive impact on my morale," a majority of survey respondents gave the director high marks in 2015, 2016 and 2017, the results show. Other, broader employee surveys dating to the start of Comey's tenure in 2013 show consistently high levels of respect for senior FBI leadership - including the director - and high levels of pride that people had in working for the FBI over that time. FILE - In this June 8, 2017 file photo, former FBI director James Comey speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Internal employee surveys show that fired Comey was highly respected and trusted within the bureau during his nearly four-year tenure. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) Using a 1-to-5 scale, where scores between 3.81 and 5 are considered a "success in those areas," Comey received average scores of 4.67, 4.39 and 4.38, respectively, on the morale question. Those results were tallied from 36 respondents in 2015, from 47 in 2016 and from 48 in 2017. Respondents' "trust and confidence" in Comey as a leader did drop slightly between 2015 and 2017 - from an average score of 4.78 to 4.46 - though it still fell within the higher end of the top benchmark for the surveys. Trump initially cited Comey's handling of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's personal email server as justification for firing him. The deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, wrote a three-page memo criticizing those decisions, saying that as a result the FBI was "unlikely to regain public and congressional trust until it has a director who understands the gravity of the mistakes." But Trump later said he had intended to fire Comey all along, dubbing him a "showboat." A White House spokeswoman said then she had personally heard from "countless" agents who had complained about Comey's leadership. At the time of his firing, Comey was overseeing the FBI's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and any potential ties between Russia and the Trump campaign. At a congressional hearing shortly after Comey's dismissal, the then-acting FBI director, Andrew McCabe, testified that Comey "enjoyed broad support within the FBI and still does to this day." The survey results, which were gleaned from anonymous responses, support that assertion. In the broader surveys in 2013 and 2014, field office employees asked whether they had "a high level of respect" for senior leadership, including the director, gave an average score of 4.01 and 3.88, respectively. In 2015, 2016 and 2017, respondents asked whether they were proud to work for the FBI overwhelming said they were, tallying average scores of 4.61, 4.66 and 4.59 for those years, the results show. In 2015, average scores were tallied based on responses of 82 percent of FBI employees; in 2016 from 75 percent of employees and in 2017 from 72 percent of employees, according to an FBI spokeswoman. The annual surveys measuring bureau employees' attitudes about their workplace conditions and their attitudes about senior leadership, including the director, were released after The Associated Press and other news outlets requested them under the Freedom of Information Act. The White House didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the survey results and its previous characterizations of Comey's leadership at the FBI. GUATEMALA CITY (AP) - Attackers stormed one of Guatemala's largest hospitals with guns blazing Wednesday to free an imprisoned gang member, officials said. At least seven people were killed and five were arrested. Carlos Soto, director of Roosevelt Hospital in the capital, said an unknown number of gunmen entered the facility in the morning and began shooting. The jailed suspect, who had been taken to the hospital for lab tests, disappeared during the chaos. Deputy hospital director Marco Antonio Barrientos told reporters that 12 people were wounded, including a child who underwent surgery and was in critical condition. Police stand guard outside the Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Gunmen stormed the Roosevelt, one of Guatemala's largest hospitals, and opened fire early Wednesday in an attempt to free an imprisoned gang member, officials said. At least seven people were killed and five were arrested. (AP Photo/Luis Soto) "The law doesn't consider it, but they are acts of terrorism," President Jimmy Morales said at a news conference. He said he would send police and soldiers to bolster security at hospitals. National Civil Police said the five men in custody were members of the Mara Salvatrucha gang. Via Twitter, the agency showed photographs of assault rifles seized from the attackers. Astrid Villatoro was at the hospital waiting for her son to get an X-ray when the gunfire broke out. "You heard a lot of shots," Villatoro said. "I was in the emergency room when I felt a stray bullet hit my foot. I saw a man hit in the face by another bullet. It was terrible. Everyone ran for cover." A body lay in the parking lot outside afterward covered with a plastic sheet, next to an assault rifle and blood drying on the pavement. Police spokesman Jorge Aguilar said there were at least six deaths and five arrests. The hospital later raised the death toll to seven. Officers searched the hospital room by room. The Interior Ministry said in a statement that the attack was staged to free a gang member identified as Anderson Daniel Cabrera Cifuentes. "We believe he is the leader of a gang cell," Aguilar said. Cabrera, 29, who was not listed among the people in custody, had been brought to the hospital by three guards from prison on a judge's order. Two of his guards were killed and one was wounded, according to a statement from the prison system. Without sharing details, Barrientos said it was not the first time there was such an incident at the hospital, though none had been so deadly. The hospital had asked the government for additional security, Barrientos said. A nurse attends to Argelia Mansio who was injured by a stray bullet during an assault staged by unknown attackers at the Roosevelt Hospital, in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Gunmen stormed the Roosevelt, one of Guatemala's largest hospitals, and opened fire early Wednesday in an assault staged to free an imprisoned gang member, officials said. At least seven people were killed and five were arrested. (AP Photo/Luis Soto) National Civil Police officer Walter Valdez is comforted by his colleagues after learning that his brother was of the two prison guards killed in an attack at the Roosevelt Hospital, in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Gunmen stormed the Roosevelt, one of Guatemala's largest hospitals, and opened fire early Wednesday in an attempt to free an imprisoned gang member, officials said. At least seven people were killed and five were arrested. (AP Photo/Luis Soto) Two bodies, one identified as prison guard Juan Sical Toj, lie covered outside the Roosevelt Hospital after an assault staged by unknown attackers, in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Gunmen stormed the Roosevelt, one of Guatemala's largest hospitals, and opened fire early Wednesday in an assault staged to free an imprisoned gang member, officials said. At least seven people were killed and five were arrested. (AP Photo/Luis Soto) Police search for attackers at the Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Gunmen stormed one of Guatemala's largest hospitals and opened fire early Wednesday in an attempt to free an imprisoned gang member, officials said. At least six people were killed and five were arrested. (AP Photo/Luis Soto) Blood stains a passageway at the Roosevelt Hospital, in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Gunmen stormed the Roosevelt, one of Guatemala's largest hospitals, and opened fire early Wednesday in an attempt to free an imprisoned gang member, officials said. At least six people were killed and five were arrested. (AP Photo/Luis Soto) Aida Hernandez, who was injured by a stray bullet during an assault staged by unknown attackers, lies on a gurney in the emergency room, her face stained with blood, at the Hospital Roosevelt, in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Gunmen stormed the Roosevelt, one of Guatemala's largest hospitals, and opened fire early Wednesday in an assault staged to free an imprisoned gang member, officials said. At least seven people were killed and five were arrested. (AP Photo/Luis Soto) Patients are evacuated by paramedics from the Roosevelt Hospital maternity ward after a shooting, in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Gunmen stormed one of Guatemala's largest hospitals and opened fire early Wednesday in an attempt to free an imprisoned gang member, officials said. At least six people were killed and five were arrested. (AP Photo/Luis Soto) Doctors examine a bullet wound on the ankle of Astrid Villatoro at the Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Gunmen stormed the Roosevelt, one of Guatemala's largest hospitals, and opened fire early Wednesday in an attempt to free an imprisoned gang member, officials said. Villatoro was at the hospital waiting for her son to get an X-ray when the gunfire broke out and was hit by a stray bullet. At least six people were killed and five were arrested. (AP Photo/Luis Soto) Doctors examine X-rays showing the damage to Astrid Villatoro's ankle, caused by a stray bullet during a shootout at the Roosevelt Hospital in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Gunmen stormed the Roosevelt, one of Guatemala's largest hospitals, and opened fire early Wednesday in an attempt to free an imprisoned gang member, officials said. Villatoro was at the hospital waiting for her son to get an X-ray when the gunfire broke out. At least six people were killed and five were arrested. (AP Photo/Luis Soto) A worker cleans the bloodstained floors in the emergency area of the Roosevelt Hospital, in Guatemala City, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Gunmen stormed the Roosevelt, one of Guatemala's largest hospitals, and opened fire early Wednesday in an attempt to free an imprisoned gang member, officials said. At least seven people were killed and five were arrested. (AP Photo/Luis Soto) SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - The Latest on Vice President Mike Pence's trip to Latin America (all times local): 7:40 p.m. Vice President Mike Pence is finishing up a visit to Chile by trying to assure business leaders that the U.S. wants to continue to trade with and invest in the region. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence speaks to members of the Chilean-American Chamber of Commerce, AmCham, in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Pence is on an official visit to Chile until Thursday, when he will head to Panama, during his week-long visit to Latin America. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix) Pence tells leaders at a dinner that "under President Trump, the United States of America wants to trade even more with Latin America." He's also hailing the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement signed in 2003 as a "model deal" that's benefited both countries. Wednesday's dinner honors the Association of American Chambers of Commerce in Latin America and the 100th anniversary of the Chilean-American Chamber of Commerce. Pence has spent much of his weeklong trip to Latin America repeating the message that President Donald Trump's tough protectionist rhetoric and "America first" philosophy don't mean an end to U.S.-regional relations. ___ 2:35 p.m. Vice President Mile Pence is cutting short his trip to Latin America so he can join the president at a meeting on South Asia strategy. The White House announced Wednesday that Pence would be traveling to Camp David with the president on Friday to meet with the White House national security team. Pence had originally been scheduled to return home Friday afternoon. Instead, he'll be leaving late Thursday. Pence is still scheduled to travel to Panama, where he will meet with the country's president and tour the newly enlarged Panama canal before returning to Washington. ___ 2:35 p.m. Vice President Mike Pence is skirting questions about President Donald Trump's Tuesday press conference. But he says he stands with the president. Pence was asked during a trip to Chile whether he agrees with Trump that there were good people among the white supremacists who protested in Charlottesville over the weekend and whether, as the president said, there was blame on both sides. Pence did not answer the questions, but, said "What happened in Charlottesville was a tragedy." He pointed to comments he'd made Sunday night, saying: "I stand with the president, and I stand by those words." Pence also said that, while he's in Chile, "Our hearts are in Charlottesville" where a funeral for the woman killed during the protest is being held. ___ 2:10 p.m. Vice President Mike Pence is calling on Chile to "break all diplomatic and commercial ties" to North Korea. Pence says he made the request during a meeting with Chilean president Michelle Bachelet (bah-cheh-LET') Wednesday. He's making the same ask of Peru, Mexico and Brazil. North Korea has no diplomatic offices or banking institution in Chile, but the two countries do have a trade relationship. Pence says, "We are beginning to see progress" when it comes to North Korea, but says that "much more" must still be done. The Trump administration has been trying to pressure Pyongyang to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile program. ___ 12:35 p.m. Vice President Mike Pence is meeting with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet after arriving in the country. Pence headed from the airport to La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago, where the two exchanged greetings before private meetings. They'll also be delivering a joint statement and having lunch together. Pence is scheduled to meet with U.S. embassy staff and their families before delivering remarks at a dinner on advancing prosperity and economic growth in the hemisphere. Pence is on a weeklong trip to Latin America that has included stops in Colombia and Argentina. He'll head to Panama on Thursday. ___ 12:15 p.m. Vice President Mike Pence's isn't expected to take questions from reporters after meeting with Chile's president - even though Pence's public schedule had listed a "joint press conference" with Michelle Bachelet (bah-cheh-LET'). Pence spokesman Jarrod Agen tells reporters traveling with Pence that the leaders had never intended to take questions, at the Chileans' request. That means Pence won't face more questions about President Donald Trump's response to violence between white supremacists and counter-demonstrators last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. On Tuesday, Trump blamed "both sides" for the violence. Pence is on a weeklong trip to Latin America to build ties with the region and speak out against the growing crisis in Venezuela. ___ This story deletes reference to North Korea in 2:35 p.m. item to correct focus of meeting to South Asia. Demonstrators shout against the visit of U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Pence is on a official visit to Chile until Thursday, when he will be heading to Panama on a week-long visit to Latin America. (AP Photo/Luis Hidalgo) MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The FBI is offering a $30,000 reward for information in the bombing of a Minnesota mosque earlier this month. The FBI's Minneapolis Division announced the reward in a tweet Wednesday. The FBI says finding whoever was responsible for the Aug. 5 explosion at the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center in Bloomington remains its "top priority." The explosion happened early on a Saturday just before morning prayers and caused extensive damage to the imam's office. No one was injured. Muslim advocacy groups and Twin Cities' mosques are separately offering a combined $24,000 reward. The Dar Al-Farooq mosque primarily serves Somalis in the Minneapolis area. Minnesota is home to the largest Somali community outside of east Africa, with an estimated 57,000 people, according to the most recent census estimates. WASHINGTON (AP) - Vladimir Putin is more trusted than Donald Trump to do the right thing for the world among citizens of numerous U.S. allies, including Japan, South Korea and seven European NATO members, according to a survey released Wednesday. Both leaders scored poorly overall in the poll by the respected Pew Research Center. But Trump's scores in particular point to a stunningly high level of international public distrust in the American president, a position colloquially described as "leader of the free world" as many smaller countries rely on the United States for support and defense. The United States is obligated to defend all NATO countries under the alliance's treaty, which was initially aimed at the Soviet Union. The U.S. is also obliged to defend Japan and South Korea, which are threatened by North Korea, under separate defense treaties. FILE - In this July 7, 2017 file photo, President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 Summit in Hamburg. Putin is more trusted than Trump to do the right thing for the world among citizens of numerous U.S. allies, including Japan, South Korea and seven European NATO members, according to new survey released Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) In Greece, Germany, Turkey, Hungary, France, Italy and Spain, more people had confidence in the Russian president than in his U.S. counterpart "to do the right thing regarding world affairs," according to the poll. That Trump is so distrusted by the populations of countries historically reliant on the United States for their defense points to the strains with U.S. allies caused by his often erratic international pronouncements. These have included questioning the validity and effectiveness of NATO, delaying affirmation of the alliance's mutual defense pact, musing about more countries having nuclear weapons and, most recently, threatening "fire and fury" against North Korea if it persists in threatening the United States. Not all NATO members' citizens favored Putin. Trump scored higher than Putin in Britain, Canada, the Netherlands and Poland, according to the survey, which Pew said was conducted in 37 countries earlier this year. Trump also led among non-NATO U.S. allies Australia and the Philippines, as well as in Israel, where he was far more trusted than Putin. "Although confidence in Putin's handling of foreign affairs is generally low, in many countries he is more trusted than American President Donald Trump," the survey found. Globally, 60 percent of respondents said they lack confidence in Putin, with European nations most skeptical. Pew released some of its figures for Trump in June. It found only 22 percent of interviewees had confidence in Trump to do the right thing in world affairs. Almost three in four had little or no confidence in him. Trump trailed former President Barack Obama's tenure-ending confidence levels in all but two countries surveyed: Israel and Russia. The disparity in favor of Putin over Trump was most dramatic in Greece and Germany - where he outscored the U.S. president by 31 and 14 points, respectively. Half of Greeks surveyed said they had confidence in Putin, while only 19 percent said the same of Trump. Putin had the confidence of a quarter of Germany, and Trump only 11 percent. In South Korea, Putin's margin was 10 points. He got 27 percent to Trump's 17 percent. Elsewhere, confidence in Putin outpaced that of Trump by 31 points in Lebanon, 21 points in Vietnam and 14 points in Mexico. Trump only barely came out ahead of Putin in Australia, Canada and Britain. His biggest leads were in in Israel, where he outscored Putin by 29 points, Nigeria and Poland The results come from Pew's Spring 2017 Global Attitudes Survey, which interviewed randomly selected adults in countries around the world between February and April. Depending on the country, interviews were conducted by telephone or face-to-face. The surveys included 852 to 2,464 interviews in each country. Margins of sampling error range from plus or minus 3 percentage points to plus or minus 5.7 percentage points. Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: ___ Aug. 15 The Seattle Times on anti-hate protests : The shocking white nationalism on display last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, is a relapse of an old cancer in America. We've seen the swastikas and "Sieg Heil" salutes before, but rarely on such a scale, and rarely ending in such a horrifying act of domestic terrorism, which left one woman dead and 19 others injured. It is especially disturbing that the fascist fringe is utterly emboldened, planting seeds online with disaffected youth that will grow for a generation. President Donald Trump plays an outsized role in the surge. His campaign and election was seen by the racist fringe as a trumpet blast, and his halfhearted rebukes have fueled, rather than doused, the flames again and again. The Southern Poverty Law Center tracked a dramatic rise in hate groups, operating on and offline, from 2015 to 2016, as they coalesced around Trump like no other presidential candidate in decades. The president's weak condemnation on Saturday, blaming "many sides" for the rioting, was a dog whistle for the fascists who were emboldened by the lack of criticism from the White House. Belatedly, after bipartisan outrage and suspicion in some quarters about Trump's sympathies, the president clarified his position Monday, saying that "racism is evil" and condemning hate groups. But he was at it again on Tuesday, doubling down on his "many sides" obfuscation. The counter-protests in Charlottesville, and in Seattle on Sunday, succeed when they overwhelm and mock the hateful and brittle ideology of white nationalism. They fail when they lapse into violence. In physical conflict between fascists and anti-hate protesters, the goons in the Hitler haircuts win. Peace protesters throwing punches is easy fodder for the far right looking for hypocrisy on the left. And the racist fringe feeds off martyrdom. Just Google Robert Jay Mathews. The bankrobbing racist from Eastern Washington is lionized online for his fatal standoff with federal agents on Whidbey Island in the 1980s. Or Timothy McVeigh, or Dylann Roof. As unsettling as the images of 21st-century Nazis are, Seattle and other cities must accommodate protests and parades across the political spectrum, because the First Amendment is the bedrock of our democracy. Law enforcement everywhere should learn from the protest-management techniques of Seattle police, which were honed after the World Trade Organization debacle. Seattle police showed their skill by avoiding a brawl at Sunday's Westlake Park demonstrations, while Charlottesville police failed to do so. Law-enforcement agencies will probably get another chance, either in Seattle or elsewhere. The fringe right is still pumped up from Charlottesville. They pledge to show up again in their white polo shirts. When the anti-hate majority of America responds, don't give the fascists what they want. Protest hate with peace Online: http://www.seattletimes.com/ ___ Aug. 14 The Los Angeles Times on net neutrality regulations: Pushed by its new Republican chairman, Ajit Pai, who seems to have never met a regulation he didn't want to kill, the Federal Communications Commission has proposed repealing the tough net neutrality rules his predecessor, Democrat Tom Wheeler, adopted in 2015 and replacing them with . well, that part's not clear. One possibility Pai floated is to have the FCC punt oversight of broadband providers such as Comcast and AT&T to the Federal Trade Commission, which can do little more to first-time offenders than tell them they'll be punished if they transgress again. Pai's retreat would be the fifth pivot by the commission since phone and cable TV companies introduced always-on, high-speed Internet connections in the late 1990s. The regulatory gyrations haven't damaged the open, innovative nature of the Internet, at least not yet. But the uncertainty isn't helpful, and it isn't likely to end if Pai gets his way. The next time a Democrat takes the White House, a new FCC chairman will almost certainly push more vigorous efforts to prevent Comcast, AT&T and company from putting their thumbs on the Internet scales. The obvious answer - and it has been obvious for years - is for Congress to prohibit broadband providers from picking winners and losers online by monkeying with the data on their networks, and to give the commission clear authority to enforce that prohibition. But lawmakers have been unwilling to arbitrate the dispute between broadband providers, which have toyed with the idea of extracting tolls from websites and services to support new business models, and Internet-based companies, which don't want to face any new barriers to competing online. The heat generated by Pai's proposal - the commission has received 20 million public comments thus far, albeit many of them form letters generated by advocacy groups - and by congressional Republicans' controversial move to repeal the FCC's broadband privacy rules in March, might finally get Congress moving. Leaders of the House Energy and Commerce Committee announced last month that they would hold a hearing in September on "ground rules for the Internet." "With almost everyone in agreement about fundamental principles to prevent anti-competitive behavior such as throttling and blocking, I think we are closer than ever to achieving a lasting resolution," Chairman Greg Walden (R-Ore.) said in a statement. As encouraging as that may sound, the initial witness list for the hearing betrays a dismaying ignorance about why net neutrality is an issue. The committee set the hearing up as something of a clash of titans, inviting the chief executives of the largest broadband providers and the biggest Internet companies, such as Google, Facebook and Netflix. The only thing missing was a steel cage. The point of having net neutrality rules isn't to protect multibillion-dollar Internet companies. It's to give other companies a chance to join or topple them. The rapid pace of technological change makes even companies with enormous economies of scale vulnerable to disruption, especially when consumers can easily switch from one shiny online object to the next. No question, Facebook and its ilk would prefer not to have to pay Comcast or Verizon for priority access to its customers if broadband providers were allowed to impose such fees. But if push came to shove, those are the companies that could and would pay. The start-up trying to be the next Facebook could not. Curiously, Pai and other Republicans have voiced less concern about the prospects of these smaller online businesses - the ones likely to inject a crucial dose of innovation into the 21st century economy - than the ability of giant, consolidating broadband providers to invest in faster, more widely available services. Better broadband connections in rural America, poverty-stricken inner cities and other underserved areas is a most worthy goal. But those connections shouldn't come at the cost of net neutrality. Leading broadband providers insist that they support an open, neutral Internet. The problem, they say, is the utility-style regulations the Wheeler-led FCC imposed to achieve that end. The Democrats on the commission voted to do so, however, because a federal appeals court said it was the only route to enforceable rules that would prohibit broadband providers from blocking or slowing connections to lawful sites and services, or to prioritize connections for a fee. Pai's hands-off approach is the wrong answer. If Republican lawmakers don't like applying decades-old utility-style regulation to broadband providers, they need to work with Democrats to give the commission explicit new authority to protect the open Internet from interference. Otherwise, the fight over how to do that will be always-on too. Online: http://www.latimes.com/ ___ Aug. 15 The Washington Post on President Trump's recent remarks on Charlottesville: Tuesday was a great day for David Duke and racists everywhere. The president of the United States all but declared that he has their backs. When a white supremacist stands accused of running his car into a crowd of protesters, killing one and injuring 19, Americans of goodwill mourn and demand justice. When this is done in the context of a rally where swastikas are borne and racist and anti-Semitic epithets hurled, the only morally justifiable reaction is disgust. When the nation's leader does not understand this, the nation can only weep. On Saturday, after the murder of an innocent protester in Charlottesville followed marches that included armed men and Nazi salutes, President Trump's instinct was to blame both sides. Widespread criticism followed, including the resignations of business leaders from a White House advisory council and condemnation from political leaders of both parties. On Monday, Mr. Trump read a prepared statement condemning white supremacists and racism, delivering it in a manner suggesting he neither wrote nor endorsed the words. On Tuesday, he removed any doubt: His initial reaction, putting Nazis and those protesting them on equal moral footing, is how he really feels. "I think there's blame on both sides. You look at - you look at both sides," Mr. Trump said to reporters in Trump Tower, adding that there were "very fine people, on both sides." We've all seen the videotape: One side was composed of Nazis, Klansmen and other avowed racists chanting "Jews will not replace us." The other side was objecting to their racism. Yes, there are good and moral Americans who oppose the removal of statues of Confederate generals. Yes, there are reasonable Americans who fear that slaveholding Founding Fathers will be the next target. Notwithstanding Mr. Trump's comments Tuesday, we don't find it difficult to distinguish between a monument to George Washington, say, and statues to Confederate generals that were erected in the 20th century with the goal of maintaining white supremacy. There may be a time to debate such questions - but not, as any national leader with a sense of decency would understand, now. Not in a time of mourning, with the wounds so fresh. Not when Mr. Trump has not even bothered to call the family of Heather Heyer, the young woman mowed down on Saturday. Not when Americans are looking for a clear and unequivocal condemnation of the hatred that brought those 700 marchers to Charlottesville. That car in Charlottesville did not kill or wound just the 20 bodies it struck. It damaged the nation. Mr. Trump not only failed to help the country heal; he made the wound wider and deeper. Online: https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ___ Aug. 15 The Virginian-Pilot on the actions needed after the violent weekend in Charlottesville: Tempting though it may be, do not look away from the awful tragedy that unfolded in Charlottesville over the weekend. Do not dismiss it or attempt to minimize its importance. Stare directly into that hateful abyss. Confront it and see it for what it was. That is our charge today, as Americans and as Virginians. A congregation of the so-called "alt-right" - an amalgamation of the hateful dregs of society - came to that community ostensibly to protest the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue, which the City Council voted in February to sell. However, their true goal was confrontation. Groups like this seek conflict and the attention it receives. It helps spread their racist rhetoric and drives membership. For that reason, University of Virginia President Teresa Sullivan tried to direct people away from the rally, urging members of the community to "not gratify their desire" for a spectacle. It was a noble message, though one that simply could not be heeded. Not after Friday, when the white supremacists marched across the U.Va. campus with lighted torches, chanting Nazi slogans and goading bystanders. The scenes that evening - which were similar to a rally held by these same miscreants in May - evoked the Nuremberg rally depicted in Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of the Will." But the scuffles that evening were merely a prelude to the horror that unfolded across Charlottesville on Saturday. Rally organizers had refused to honor requests by city and police officials that the event be moved to another park, one that could accommodate the crowds and make it easier to keep everyone separated. As the various groups participating in the "Unite the Right" rally poured into Emancipation (formerly Lee) Park, they were met by scores of members of law enforcement and faith groups who wanted to keep things peaceful and a number of anti-fascist counter-protesters eager to deliver a more physical message. A state of emergency declaration issued by Gov. Terry McAuliffe could not keep simmering tensions from reaching a full boil. Violence ensued. Weapons were used and chemical irritants were deployed. The fights were wide ranging and brutal. Downtown Charlottesville - truly one of the commonwealth's gems - devolved into a war zone. But that wasn't the worst of it. After the rally had dispersed and many of the white supremacists had departed, counter-protesters gathered in celebration on Fourth Street. A Dodge Challenger, which police say was driven by 20-year-old James A. Fields Jr., plowed into the crowd, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring 20 others before speeding off. Footage of the carnage is nauseating, the mindset of the driver impossible to fathom. Later that day, a Virginia State Police helicopter dispatched to monitor the events in Charlottesville crashed in Albemarle County, killing Lt. H. Jay Cullen, 48, and Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates, who would have turned 41 on Sunday. Condemnation was swift and harsh from across the political spectrum, in contrast with President Donald Trump's tepid tweets and statement. He followed on Monday with more pointed criticism of the "KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups," but it, too, was less than what citizens needed from their president. The nation - and especially this president - cannot be weak when the forces of hatred attempt to flex their muscle. The white supremacist movement is resurgent precisely because too many refused to condemn their actions for far too long. That includes Trump, who was more than willing to play along for political gain. One need only look to the White House, where Steve Bannon works, to know that Trump continues these cynical and dangerous calculations. Worth noting is that Bannon is a native of Norfolk and a graduate of Virginia Tech. Richard Spencer, a leader of the alt-right movement, graduated from the University of Virginia and makes his home in Arlington. So as much as this is a national problem, it is also an issue that Virginia must confront internally. "We are stronger than you," Gov. McAuliffe said Saturday evening. "You have made our commonwealth stronger. You will not succeed. There is no place for you here. There is no place for you in America." Now we must show that strength. We must show resolve. We must look directly at what transpired in Charlottesville and confront the racism that lives in our communities, our commonwealth and our nation. This is our charge today and in the days ahead. Online: https://pilotonline.com/ ___ Aug. 13 The Orange County Register on a U.S. Senate immigration proposal: The nation's legal immigration system is in dire need of reform, but a new bill will only make us poorer and less free. Republican Sens. Tom Cotton of Alabama and David Perdue of Georgia recently introduced the Reforming American Immigration for a Strong Economy, or RAISE, Act. The legislation, which has the endorsement of the Trump administration, would reduce legal immigration by half over 10 years and implement a new merit-based points system for determining immigration eligibility. Preferences would be given to those who are younger, have advanced degrees (especially in science and engineering fields), have a job offer with a high salary, score well on English-language assessment exams, or invest at least $1.35 million in the country. The bill would also cap the number of refugees offered permanent residency to 50,000 per year. The merit-based system is intended to be modeled after immigration systems in Canada and Australia, though critics point out that the United States permits fewer immigrants per capita than either of those nations - and this rate would only deteriorate further under the RAISE Act. In a USA Today column, Cotton and Perdue claimed that their alterations to the immigration system would "give working-class families the raise they deserve." This is based on the argument that immigrants flood the country with cheap labor, lowering wages for native-born workers. The problem is, economic research does not bear out this widespread wage drop, except perhaps for the small percentage of high school dropouts. Last year, for example, a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine study reviewed economic literature on immigration and concluded: "When measured over a period of 10 years or more, the impact of immigration on the wages of native-born workers overall is very small. To the extent that negative impacts occur, they are most likely to be found for prior immigrants or native-born workers who have not completed high school - who are often the closest substitutes for immigrant workers with low skills." As Cato Institute immigration policy analyst Alex Nowrasteh noted in a recent blog post, "Congress restricted immigration to raise American wages at least three times in American history - 1882, 1924 and 1964. It failed each time." Immigration does not affect overall wages much because new immigrants primarily compete with previous immigrants, not native-born workers. The jobs they take tend to be complements of, not substitutes for, natives' jobs. Moreover, immigrants are also additional consumers, which creates greater demand for goods and services - and thus more jobs. In these ways, immigration allows for greater specialization and economic growth. It is curious that most of those who oppose additional immigration - whether "illegal" or "legal" - tend to be conservative. These same critics tend to advocate (rightly) for free-markets generally, yet they abandon these principles when thinking about the market for labor. Too many conservatives who despise the central planning of an almighty government to dictate which goods and services should be offered, or provide favorable treatment to some, embrace the same government controls over who gets to live and work here. Other immigration fears center on offering additional taxpayer-funded welfare benefits. This is a legitimate concern, though it is much more of an indictment of the expansive welfare state, not just the most recent crop of people to take advantage of it who qualify under existing rules. Economic arguments aside, the proposed criteria for admission would only enhance the state's power to judge who deserves to be considered an American, which itself feels un-American. The RAISE Act promises prosperity, but fails to deliver, both in terms of economics and the individual liberty that has allowed our nation to flourish. Online: http://www.ocregister.com/ ___ Aug. 14 China Daily on Trump, trade and the transactional approach to foreign affairs in light of the conflict with North Korea: U.S. President Donald Trump will reportedly sign an executive memorandum on Monday authorizing the U.S. trade representative to determine whether to investigate the allegedly "unfair" Chinese trade practices, which could pave the way for punitive tariffs on Chinese exports. But it is of critical strategic significance that his administration demonstrates reason and avoids making a rash decision it will soon regret. Given Trump's transactional approach to foreign affairs, it is impossible to look at the matter without taking into account his increasing disappointment at what he deems as China's failure to bring into line the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. His idea of exploiting trade as a bargaining chip in dealings with China dates back to the campaign trail. But instead of advancing the United States' interests, politicizing trade will only acerbate the country's economic woes, and poison the overall China-U.S. relationship. Blaming China for "unfair" trade is unfair in the first place. The trade imbalance, regular fodder for China-bashing on Capitol Hill, is, to a great extent, self-inflicted, an outcome of the U.S.' political restrictions on exports to China. Yet this essential aspect is conspicuoU.S.ly absent in the U.S.' narrative. The list of U.S. gains in trade with China can grow or shrink, depending on how trade issues are handled. While Trump's prior identity as a businessman may explain his transactional propensity, the deal he seeks demands the impossible of Beijing. It is unfair for him to consign the burden of dissuading Pyongyang on Beijing; likewise to accuse Beijing of doing "little" or "nothing". East Asia expert and former U.S. ambassador to the Republic of Korea Christopher Hill was correct in observing Trump should not "outsource" the U.S.' own troubles to China. As Chinese President Xi Jinping again told Trump on Saturday, Beijing also seeks denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. It would not have voted in favor of the latest United Nations resolution against Pyongyang's missile/nuclear adventures if this was not the case. The only difference is, Beijing wants to break the circle of escalation. By trying to incriminate Beijing as an accomplice in the DPRK's nuclear adventure and blame it for a failure that is essentially a failure of all stakeholders, Trump risks making the serious mistake of splitting up the international coalition that is the means to resolve the issue peacefully. Hopefully Trump will find another path. Things will become even more difficult if Beijing and Washington are pitted against each other. Online: http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/ Kacy & Clayton, "The Siren's Song" (New West) From the opening bars of "The Siren's Song," the combination of a stark soprano and twangy guitar suggests country music. But what country? Second cousins Kacy Anderson and Clayton Linthicum hail from rural Saskatchewan and recorded their new album with producer Jeff Tweedy at Wilco's studio in Chicago. And their songs seem older than sheet music, with roots in British folk. Almost all the material is actually co-written by the young duo, and it's terrific. Anderson sings of heartbreak, cheating, suicide and the wrath of God, and the prairie chanteuse finds beauty amid sadness. Linthicum has a distinctive style on both the electric and acoustic guitar, bending low strings as a contrast to his cousin's steely high end. Tweedy's touch is evident in arrangements that include bass, drums and plenty of space. There's room for humor, too, as on the opening verse of "A Lifeboat": "If envy was tequila, and jealousy strong beer, we could throw a party that would last throughout the year." Other highlights include "Cannery Yard," which benefits from Anderson's fiddle, and the title cut, where her sturdy delivery makes her a convincing sailor. Those tunes help "The Siren's Song" become the front-runner as the year's best album in the Canadian-British-Americana country-folk category. Rep. Luis Gutierrez Arrested At The White House Tuesday During Pro-Immigration Protest [Updated] By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 15, 2017 9:20PM Getty Images / Photo: John Moore Update, 5 p.m.: Gutierrez and the other protesters were processed and released after about two hours in custody and given $50 fines, according to the representative's office. Upon his release, Gutierrez blasted President Donald Trump, referencing the president's much-derided Charlottesville comments and urging DACA protection: "While the President is coddling racist white supremacists because he is afraid to lose their votes, we took a stand today for justice. There is no doubt the American people stand with the young people who face deportation if Republicans kill DACA or fail to defend it in court. The people with DACA are 800,000 young men and women who are now doctors and lawyers and raising their own families. They are not criminals, they are assets to the United States and should not be driven out or driven underground. Another 300,000 or so people have been living and working here legally with TPS for decades and it now appears the President is actually contemplating making over 1 million documented immigrants into undocumented immigrants." Original: Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) was arrested along with more than two dozen demonstrators as the group rallied on the White House sidewalk to urge for the protection of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA). DACA celebrated its fifth anniversary today even as it faces a likely existential legal challenge. Protesters rallied outside the White House on Tuesday afternoon, chanting "Si Se Puede!," after gathering in Lafayette Park, in Washington D.C. Gutierrez staged the protest in partnership with United We Dream and Casa of Maryland. Gutierrez was arrested with about 30 other demonstrators, according to The Hill. He was reportedly taken into custody by U.S. Park Police. The representative was still in custody as of early afternoon, according to a tweet sent from his account at around 3 p.m. Cong Luis V. Gutierrez is still in US Park Police custody after being arrested at #DefendDACA & TPS rally outside White House. Luis V. Gutierrez (@RepGutierrez) August 15, 2017 Gutierrez is one of the leading pro-immigration voices in the legislature and vehement critic of Trump's immigration policies and rhetoric. He was handcuffed by police in March in Chicago after he and other activists refused to leave the Chicago headquarters of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after they were unhappy with a meeting held with a top regional official of the department. Other #DefendDACA protests and press conferences took place in cities around the country, including one in Chicago, outside the local ICE field office. A group of officials led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has threatened a legal challenge to DACA if the administration doesn't end the program by September 5. It's not clear if the Trump administration would defend it, though Attorney General Jeff Sessions has been critical of the policy in the past. In a video released ahead of Tuesday's protest, Gutierrez said the immigrant community is "under attack." "This administration wants to hurt our immigrant community. They want to eliminate DACA, 800,000 young people strong," he said. "They want to eliminate temporary protective status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants from all over the world... We can stay home or we can rise up." CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - The mother of the young woman mowed down while protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville urged mourners at a memorial service Wednesday to "make my child's death worthwhile" by confronting injustice the way she did. "They tried to kill my child to shut her up. Well, guess what? You just magnified her," said Susan Bro, receiving a standing ovation from the hundreds who packed a downtown theater to remember 32-year-old Heather Heyer. Heyer's death Saturday - and President Donald Trump's insistence that "both sides" bear responsibility for the violence - continued to reverberate across the country, triggering fury among many Americans and soul-searching about the state of race relations in the U.S. The uproar has accelerated efforts in many cities to remove symbols of the Confederacy. Susan Bro, mother to Heather Heyer, becomes emotional during a memorial for her daughter, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, at the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, Va. Heyer was killed Saturday, when a car rammed into a crowd of people protesting a white nationalist rally. (Andrew Shurtleff/The Daily Progress via AP, Pool) Heyer was eulogized as a woman with a powerful sense of fairness. The mourners, many of them wearing purple, her favorite color, applauded as her mother urged them to channel their anger not into violence but into "righteous action." State troopers were stationed on the surrounding streets, but the white nationalists who had vowed to show up were nowhere to be seen among the residents, clergy and tourists outside the Paramount Theater, just blocks from where Heyer died. Heyer, a white legal assistant from Charlottesville, was killed and 19 others were injured Saturday when a car plowed into counterprotesters who had taken to the streets to decry what was believed to be the country's biggest gathering of white nationalists in at least a decade. The hundreds of white nationalists - including neo-Nazis, skinheads and Ku Klux Klan members - had descended on Charlottesville after the city decided to remove a monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The driver of the car, James Alex Fields Jr., a 20-year-old Ohio man described as an admirer of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, was arrested and charged with murder and other offenses. On Wednesday night, hundreds of people gathered on the University of Virginia campus for a candlelight vigil against hate and violence. They sang several spirituals and observed a moment of silence for the three lives lost during Saturday's violence. In other developments: - Trump tweeted for the first time about Heyer, calling her "beautiful and incredible" and a "truly special young woman." The White House did not respond to questions about whether the president had contacted Heyer's family. - Baltimore dismantled four Confederacy-related monuments under cover of darkness, including statues of Lee and Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, while the mayor of Birmingham, Alabama, had the city's 52-foot (15-meter) Confederate memorial obelisk covered over with wooden panels. -The number of protesters arrested in connection with the toppling of a Confederate statue Monday night in Durham, North Carolina, climbed to four. -Citing security concerns, the University of Florida denied a request by a group headed by white nationalist Richard Spencer to rent space on campus for a September event. Jody and Brent Dahlseng, of Rockford, Illinois, said they were traveling to Virginia Beach for vacation and made a special stop. They stood outside the theater with purple ties around their shoulders. "This country can do better than this," Brent Dahlseng said. Charlottesville resident Danielle Notari, who was also outside the theater, spoke through tears. "We wanted to come say goodbye and pay our respects," she said, her arms wrapped around her young daughter. Heyer's family members and friends said her death would only inspire them to fight harder for justice. "This is not the end of Heather's legacy," Bro said. Speaking firmly, Bro urged those who wanted to honor her daughter to "find in your heart that small spark of accountability." "You poke that finger at yourself like Heather would have done, and you make it happen," she said. "You take that extra step and you find a way to make a difference in the world!" Heyer's grandfather, Elwood Shrader, said she always wanted fairness, even from a young age, and was quick to call out something that wasn't right. He said she wanted respect for everyone and believed "all lives matter." Mark Heyer, her father, said his daughter wanted to "put down hate." "She's very compassionate, she's very precise, got a big heart," said Larry Miller, her boss at the law firm where she worked. "She wants to make sure that things are right. She cares about the people that we take care of." Two Virginia state troopers also died Saturday in the crash of their helicopter, which was used to provide video of the rally before it was diverted to lend support for the governor's motorcade. The funerals for Berke M.M. Bates and H. Jay Cullen are set for Friday and Saturday. ___ This story has corrected the wording of the quote in lead to "child's death," instead of "daughter's death." Susan Bro, mother to Heather Heyer, speaks during a memorial for her daughter, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, at the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, Va. Heyer was killed Saturday, when a car rammed into a crowd of people protesting a white nationalist rally. (Andrew Shurtleff/The Daily Progress via AP, Pool) Marcus Martin leaves a memorial service for Heather Heyer, who was killed during a white nationalist rally, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, in Charlottesville, Va. Martin was injured in the same attack when a man plowed into a group of protesters against the white nationalist rally. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Marcus Martin, right, hugs his fiance Marissa Blair, left, during a memorial for Heather Heyer Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, at the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, Va. Martin pushed his fiance out of the way of the vehicle that killed Heyer last Saturday. (Andrew Shurtleff/The Daily Progress via AP, Pool) A group of people who chose not to be identified, stand with shields and bats near the site of a memorial service for Heather Heyer, who was killed during a white nationalist rally, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, in Charlottesville, Va. The group is near the Paramount Theater in case white nationalist show up to protest the service. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Jason Charter, left, of Washington, stands at a memorial, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, in Charlottesville, Va., at the site where Heather Heyer was killed during a white nationalist rally. Charter was at the scene when a car rammed into a crowd of people protesting the rally. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Parents of Heather Heyer, from left, Susan Bro and Mark Heyer, right, embrace during a memorial for their daughter, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, at the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, Va. Heyer was killed Saturday, when a car rammed into a crowd of people protesting a white nationalist rally. (Andrew Shurtleff/The Daily Progress via AP, Pool) STONE MOUNTAIN, Ga. (AP) - A Ku Klux Klan group's request to burn a cross atop Stone Mountain in Georgia has been denied. The Stone Mountain Memorial Association on Monday rejected the application from the Sacred Knights of the Ku Klux Klan to hold an Oct. 21 "lighting" ceremony. The application was submitted May 26. The ceremony was proposed to commemorate a November 1915 cross burning on top of Stone Mountain that marked the KKK's revival. Crosses were burned there annually, decades ago. A Stone Mountain Memorial Association statement says it condemns the beliefs and actions of the KKK and that its rules allow for the denial of a permit for an event that would disrupt park activities or "appears to represent a clear and present danger to public health or safety." PARIS (AP) - France's first lady says President Emmanuel Macron's only fault is "being younger than me," addressing their atypical love story in a rare interview. Brigitte Macron told France's Elle magazine that if she hadn't pursued their romance, "I would have let my life pass me by." Excerpts of the interview were released Wednesday. The couple of about 20 years met when he was a student at the high school where she taught. Brigitte Macron now is 64, her husband 39 - an age difference about the same as Donald and Melania Trump's. FILE- In this Thursday, July 6, 2017 file photo, France's President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte, walk toward the Elysee Palace courtyard, to welcome autistic people, prior to the launching of a program to enhance the diagnosis and treatment of autism, in Paris. The French president's wife says Emmanuel Macron's only fault is "being younger than me," addressing their unusual love story in a rare interview released Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, Pool, File) Macron is facing resistance to the president's push to formalize the first lady's role. She insisted she would not take a salary and promised her official activities would be posted online "so that the French know exactly what I'm doing." International arrivals to the U.S. increased 2 percent in January 2017 compared with January 2016, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced Wednesday. The 5.6 million international visitors who arrived this past January represented the first monthly increase in inbound international visits to the U.S. since June 2016, the agency said in a release in Washington D.C. The statistics could definitively show an important reversal of the downward trend observed in late 2016. The top five inbound markets for January 2017 were Mexico, Canada, China, Japan and the United Kingdom, though visits from Japan and the U.K. were down compared to January 2016. Visitors from China showed the biggest jump, a 17 percent increase, and visitors from South Korea, the sixth largest inbound market, were up 12 percent compared to January 2016. Miami, Los Angeles and New York's John F. Kennedy Airport accounted for nearly 40 percent of all overseas arrivals. Just over 16 percent of overseas travelers to the U.S. came here on business as opposed to leisure trips. The Department of Commerce also issued its final report on the 2016 calendar year last week, counting a total of 75.6 million international visitors to the U.S. last year. That 2016 figure represented a decrease of 2 percent compared to the 77.5 million non-resident international travelers who arrived in 2015. Those visitors collectively spent $244.7 billion here in 2016, a 1 percent decrease in spending over 2015. That drop last year in international tourism has mostly been blamed on the strong U.S. dollar, which makes it more expensive for foreigners to vacation here. Despite the decreases in 2016, travel and tourism was the largest services export for the United States last year, comprising 33 percent of services exports and 11 percent of exports overall. The lower 2016 numbers represented the first decline in inbound visitors to the U.S. since 2009, but the January 2017 data released Wednesday suggest that the trend may be reversing. Some in the travel industry worried earlier this year that tourism might decline in response to Trump administration policies and anti-foreigner sentiment. But preliminary indicators so far this year suggest that inbound travel has been relatively robust BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) - Alabama's attorney general sued the city of Birmingham and its mayor Wednesday for obscuring a Confederate monument in a downtown park, citing a new state law that protects such markers. "The city of Birmingham does not have the right to violate the law and leaves my office with no choice but to file suit," Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement. Legislators passed a law earlier this year prohibiting the removal of historical structures including rebel memorials. So Birmingham Mayor William Bell ordered the city's 52-foot-tall Confederate obelisk in Linn Park Memorial covered with wooden panels. Birmingham city workers use plywood panels to cover the Confederate Monument in Linn Park, in Birmingham, Ala., Tuesday night, Aug. 15, 2017, on orders from Mayor William Bell. (Joe Songer /AL.com via AP) The box-like structure covers a panel that says the memorial to Confederate soldiers and sailors was dedicated in 1905 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. City workers began installing the structure Tuesday, just days after deadly violence over a Confederate monument in Charlottesville, Virginia. Marshall said his office determined that city had "altered" or "otherwise disturbed' the memorial in violation of the letter and spirit of the Alabama Memorial Preservation Act. "We look forward to the court system clarifying the rights and power of a municipality to control its parks absent state intervention," Bell said in an emailed response to the lawsuit. Bell's office says it's also considering ways to challenge the law restricting the city's authority to remove the memorial. The mayor told local media the barrier was erected to protect it from vandalism. The new Alabama law prohibits the removal and alteration of monuments more than 40 years old. It also prohibits renaming schools that have carried a person's name for more than 40 years. A new commission would have to approve changes to those between 20 and 40 years old. The law does not specify Confederate monuments, but came in the wake of cities beginning to take down the markers paying homage to the Confederacy. African-American lawmakers opposed the bill at every step of the legislative process. They argued that the monuments pay tribute to the shameful legacy of slavery. "The Alabama Legislature should never have passed a law banning the removal of these symbols which represent the oppression of an entire race," Richard Cohen, president of the Southern Poverty Law Center said in a statement Wednesday. Ben Carson has revealed his house was recently vandalized with anti-Trump rhetoric while condemning urging Americans to take the 'high road' against bigotry after violence in Charlottesville. The Housing Secretary wrote on Facebook that his home in Virginia was covered in messages criticizing the president while he was out of town - but his embarassed neighbors cleaned it up before he returned. He started the post explaining how one person put a Confederate flag up when he moved into a rural Maryland neighborhood. Other neighbors, Carson says, quickly put up Star-Spangled Banners in response - shaming the neighbor into removing his flag. The only black member of President Donald Trump's Cabinet - Ben Carson - is urging Americans to take the 'high road' to fight bigotry following the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia He says, 'less than kind behavior was met by people taking the high road.' The former presidential candidate then goes on to say how his former home was attacked. Carson continued: 'More recently our home in Virginia along with that of a neighbor was vandalized by people who also wrote hateful rhetoric about President Trump. 'We were out of town, but other kind, embarrassed neighbors cleaned up most of the mess before we returned. 'In both instances, less than kind behavior was met by people taking the high road. 'We could all learn from these examples. Hatred and bigotry unfortunately still exists in our country and we must all continue to fight it, but let's use the right tools. 'By the way, that neighbor who put up the Confederate flag subsequently became friendly. 'That is the likely outcome if we just learn to be neighborly and to get to know each other.' Carson did not mention Trump's comments Tuesday, in which the president blamed 'both sides' for the deadly racial violence on Saturday. In a post Sunday, Carson said it was 'sad watching the political pundits arguing about whether President Trump went far enough in condemning the instigators of the violence in Charlottesville.' When the tensions were boiling over in Virginia, Carson posted: 'Let us pray for those killed and injured during the unrest in Charlottesville today, but also for our nation as it is being severely threatened by hatred and bigotry on all sides. 'I am pleased that the President overtly disavowed any relationship with white supremacists,' Carson wrote. 'We should all reject the forces of division on all sides of the political spectrum. 'There are radical terrorists in the world who want to destroy us and are coming dangerously close to acquiring the means to accomplish their goals. 'We must present a strong and united front in the future. If America is going to survive, we must not yield to the forces of evil. Remember what our money says: "In God We Trust." Let's act accordingly.' DETROIT (AP) - A man wrongly convicted of rape was awarded $1.7 million on Wednesday under a new Michigan law that allowed him to seek state compensation for the 35 years he spent in prison. Edward Carter sat in the back of a Detroit courtroom as he and another man became the first to be awarded money under a law that took effect in March. Carter was released from prison in 2010, after fingerprints still on file from the 1974 sexual assault at Wayne State University pointed to another suspect. "He chooses to live life without bitterness," Carter's attorney, Sima Patel, told the judge. Carter declined comment after the decision was announced. It was the first time a Michigan Court of Claims judge awarded money under the new law, which grants $50,000 for every year that a wrongfully convicted person spends in prison. The law states that someone must have a conviction overturned based on new evidence, among other requirements. Another man, Marwin McHenry, was awarded $175,000. Convicted of attempted murder in 2013, McHenry's conviction was scratched just a few months ago based on new statements from witnesses. Court of Claims Judge Michael Talbot dismissed two other cases because new evidence wasn't cited in releasing the men from prison. The judge noted that the law "will not and does not apply to all whose convictions have been overturned." One of the cases involved James Shepherd, who was convicted of first-degree murder in Wayne County in 2012. The state appeals court threw out the conviction, citing a lack of sufficient evidence. The attorney general's office objected to Shepherd receiving any money, noting that new evidence didn't play a role in his release from prison. Shepherd's attorney, Wolfgang Mueller, pledged to appeal. "The case was so bad, it never should have been brought in the first place," Mueller said. "James Shepherd should not be left out in the cold." ___ Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwhiteap BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Two military aircraft will help detect and map wildfires in the U.S. West. The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, on Wednesday says the Air National Guard aircraft will be based in eastern Washington state and western Oregon. Officials say the twin-engine, propeller-driven aircraft are equipped with infrared sensors that can map wildfires and give fire managers information that can help with strategy. Federal officials last week raised the National Fire Preparedness Level to its highest point, opening the way for assistance from the military. Officials say that about 50 large wildfires are burning in eight western states on about 430 square miles. Dan Buckley of the National Multi-Agency Coordinating Group that deploys the nation's wildland firefighting resources says the aircraft will help managers decide where to send firefighters. MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (AP) - Uruguay's government is asking political and religious leaders what it should do with a Nazi bronze eagle recovered off its coast in 2006, the defense minister said Wednesday. The eagle was part of the stern of the German battleship Admiral Graf Spee, which sank off Uruguay at the outset of World War II. Defense Minister Jorge Menendez said he would talk with members of the country's four political parties Wednesday about dealing with the bronze eagle with a swastika under its claws. He met with members of Uruguay's Jewish Central Committee on Tuesday. FILE- In this Feb. 10, 2006 file photo, an Uruguayan worker directs the salvage the eagle of World War II German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee, in Montevideo, Uruguay. A symbol of German naval might in early World War II, was sunk in Dec. 1939. The Uruguayan government has called on all political parties on Wednesday, August 16 2107, to decide what to do with the eagle. (AP Photo/Marcelo Hernandez, File) "Our concern is that the eagle doesn't generate a Nazi sanctuary in Uruguay that will draw Nazis from all over the region," said Israel Buszkaniec, the committee's president. "We'd have no problem if it's sold and leaves the country." The Graf Spee was considered one of the most sophisticated battleships of its time. It prowled the South Atlantic and sank several Allied merchant ships before warships from Britain and New Zealand tracked it down and damaged it during the "Battle of the River Plate" that began Dec. 13, 1939. The damaged Graf Spee limped into Montevideo harbor where injured and dead sailors were taken ashore. Its captain ordered the ship scuttled, sinking it a few miles from Montevideo to prevent it from falling into enemy hands. In February 2006, a recovery team removed the eagle, weighing more than 800 pounds, from the ship's stern. It has been kept since then in a navy warehouse. The salvage team initially sued to demand the right to sell the piece. But Uruguay's Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that the eagle belongs to the Uruguayan state. The ruling said, however, that if the piece is sold, the salvage group would have the right to 50 percent of the proceeds. Opposition lawmaker Jorge Gandini has proposed exhibiting or selling the eagle to raise funds for the Uruguayan military. Former President Julio Maria Sanguinetti suggested in a recent newspaper article that the eagle go on display in Uruguay because of its historical importance. "To imagine that, as some say, it could lead to a certain Nazi cult, is really absurd because it is actually the contrary: It's a monument to their defeat," he wrote. FILE- In this Feb. 10, 2006 file photo, Uruguayan workers salvage the eagle of World War II German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee, in Montevideo,Uruguay. A symbol of German naval might in early World War II, was sunk in Dec. 1939. The Uruguayan government has called on all political parties on Wednesday, August 16 2107, to decide what to do with the eagle. (AP Photo/Marcelo Hernandez, File) NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - A family has settled a lawsuit against the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for taking a girl's unattended dog and euthanizing it, ending an attempt to effectively put PETA on trial for euthanizing hundreds of animals each year. The agreement was confirmed Wednesday by PETA and the family's attorney. The settlement dims what could have been a very public spotlight on the international animal rights organization and its controversial animal shelter in Virginia. Wilber Zarate had sued PETA for taking his daughter's Chihuahua from a mobile home park on the state's Eastern Shore and putting it down before the end of a required five-day grace period. Zarate had alleged that PETA operates under a broad policy of euthanizing animals, including healthy ones, because it "considers pet ownership to be a form of involuntary bondage." PETA denied the allegations and maintains the 2014 incident was a "terrible mistake." Two women affiliated with PETA, Victoria Carey and Jennifer Wood, traveled to Accomack, Virginia, because they said a mobile home park owner asked for help capturing wild dogs and feral cats. The women removed an unattended and unleashed Chihuahua named Maya, which was a Christmas president to 9-year-old Cynthia Zarate. Maya was put down later that day, a violation of a state law that requires a five-day grace period. PETA was fined $500 for the violation. "The Zarate's felt that the settlement reflects the grievous loss of their beloved Maya," said the family's attorney, William H. Shewmake. "And it allows the Zarates to bring some closure to a very painful chapter of their lives. They're glad the case has been settled." A trial was scheduled for September, during which Zarate's attorneys had planned to question current and former PETA employees about its euthanasia policy. PETA said it will pay the family $49,000 and donate $2,000 to a local SPCA to honor Maya. The family had sought up to $7 million. "PETA again apologizes and expresses its regrets to the Zarate family for the loss of their dog Maya," both parties said in a joint statement. "Mr. Zarate acknowledges that this was an unfortunate mistake by PETA and the individuals involved, with no ill-will toward the Zarate family." PETA is mostly known for campaigns against factory farming and animal testing, often exposing unsavory practices through undercover operations. But it also runs a shelter at its headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia. The shelter routinely dispatches veterinarians to care for local animals - but is also euthanizes ones that PETA deems too sick, aggressive or feral for adoption. PETA has said the animals it puts down are often turned away by other shelters. And it said many pets are brought in by low-income owners who can't afford to care for their elderly or sick animals. The organization said it helps as many as 25,000 animals a year, spaying and neutering many for free. But the shelter's euthanasia rate- it put down more than 1,400 of about 2,000 animals in 2016 - has drawn criticism from some in the so-called "no kill" shelter movement. The rate fueled the family's lawsuit, which PETA claimed was driven by "no kill" activists. Shelters that call themselves "no kill" typically will only put down animals with incurable health problems or behaviors that pose a serious safety risk. But in some cases, they'll place animals on waiting lists if they lack space or refer animals to other shelters. PETA says its euthanasia rate is partly the result of accepting animals that other shelters decline. "We're never going to be the folks who turn animals away," Daphna Nachminovitch, PETA's senior vice president for cruelty investigations said. "If you saw those animals, there would be nothing controversial about it." Another TOD Could Pop Up Near The CTA Blue Line's Western Stop By Stephen Gossett in News on Aug 16, 2017 7:50PM MCZ Development You never have to wait long for news of another transit-oriented development (TOD) to land in Chicago, especially near the bustling Northwest stretch of the Blue Line. Less than two weeks after we caught wind that a parcel near the California Blue Line stop was being marketed for TOD development (right across from an existing TOD), now comes word of a developer's plan to transform a property at 1741 N. Western Ave.a little more than a block south of the Blue Line Western stationinto a five-story, 37-unit TOD. The plan would see the existing brick building at the site demolished and replaced by a new combination of studios and one- and two-bedroom units. (The rendering above shows the proposed TOD; the image below is the existing structure.) DNA Info reports that a zoning-change request that was put forth in July is still in committee in the City Council. The office of Ald. Scott Waguespack (Ward 32) told DNA that the request is still being considered. Density advocates often favor TODs for adding housing stock near CTA stations for non-motorists. (The development would include 30 spaces for bike parking compared to just seven for cars.) But TODs, especially between Wicker Park and Logan Square, have also been known to stir fears of gentrification among community organizations. Still, given the property's immediate proximity to The 606, and the dramatic surge in housing prices along the rail-to-trail conversion, that might be a matter of putting the horse back in the stable. (Though efforts to counteract that trend have been put forth.) It should be noted however that the developer has indicated that the TOD would include the mandated number of affordable housing units as related to the overall unit ratio (four, in this case), rather than skip the units and pay into the Affordable Housing Opportunity Fund, as allowed under the city's ordinance. LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Vern Ehlers, a research physicist and moderate Republican who represented a western Michigan congressional district for 17 years and advocated for Great Lakes cleanup funding, has died. He was 83. Ehlers died late Tuesday at a Grand Rapids nursing facility, Melissa Morrison, funeral director at Zaagman Memorial Chapel, said Wednesday. Ehlers decided in 2010 against seeking re-election to the 3rd District, which currently includes much of the Grand Rapids region and stretches beyond Battle Creek. He won the seat in a 1993 special election after serving 11 years in the Legislature and eight years on the Kent County Board of Commissioners. FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2010 file photo, Michigan Gov.-elect Rick Snyder, right, meets with members of the Michigan Congressional delegation, including Rep. Vern Ehlers, R-Mich., left, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Ehlers, a research physicist who served 17 years representing a western Michigan congressional district, has died. at 83. Melissa Morrison, funeral director at Zaagman Memorial Chapel, said Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017, that Ehlers died late Tuesday at a Grand Rapids nursing facility. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta File) In Congress, he successfully advocated for a law that authorized spending $270 million over five years to clean up sediments in the Great Lakes and oversaw the United States' first major statement on science policy in more than 50 years. He also was involved in improving math and science education and creating the congressional website. He valued nonpartisan action and his personal mantra, according to his obituary, was "leave it better than you found it." Gov. Rick Snyder said in a statement that "Ehlers represented the best Michigan had to offer and will truly be missed." Longtime Republican U.S. Rep. Fred Upton of St. Joseph said Ehlers was "so well-respected on both sides of the aisle, hard-working and always a teacher at heart. ... He was a family man and a Christian who made his community and country a better place for all. We will certainly miss his common-sense voice, the likes of which is all too rare in today's political climate." Michigan Republican Party Chairman Ron Weiser called Ehlers an "outstanding statesman" and an "incredible man who served our state with distinction." Ehlers held a doctorate in physics from the University of California, Berkeley, where he also earned a bachelor's degree in physics. He later taught physics at Calvin College in Grand Rapids for 16 years. Ehlers is survived by his wife of 59 years, Johanna Meulink; four children; five grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. ___ Follow David Eggert on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DavidEggert00 . His work can be found at https://apnews.com/search/David%20Eggert CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - At least 37 people were killed during clashes between armed inmates and security forces at a small prison in southern Venezuela, the state's governor said Wednesday. Gov. Liborio Guarulla said the bloodshed came after fighting erupted between inmates and their jailers Tuesday night in the prison in Puerto Ayacucho, capital of sparsely populated Amazonas state. He said security forces entered the grounds seeking to restore order in the prison, where the inmates had seized control several weeks ago. "At midnight special forces showed up and through the night we heard gunfire and explosions," Guarulla told The Associated Press. The office of Venezuela's chief prosecutor said on social media that it was investigating the incident. It said 14 prison guards were also injured. Venezuela has around 30 prisons, many of which suffer from overcrowding and are dominated by criminal gangs that traffic in weapons and narcotics. The prison system, built to hold about 16,000 inmates, is currently estimated to house some 50,000 prisoners, according to the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory, which monitors prison conditions. But Guarulla said the facility in Puerto Ayacucho housed only about 110 inmates, all of them awaiting trial, and unlikely suffered from the same volatile conditions seen elsewhere in the country's prisons. The bloodshed was the worst in Venezuela since a prison riot in 2013 that left 61 people dead. Stoke have announced the signing of Spanish forward Jese Rodriguez on a season-long loan from Paris St Germain. The 24-year-old former Real Madrid player, who cost PSG almost 22million last summer, has made just one Ligue 1 start for the French side to date. Jese arrives at the Bet365 Stadium having spent the second half of last term back in his homeland on loan with Las Palmas. Jese Rodriguez Jese made more of an impact at Las Palmas, scoring three times in 16 appearances, and Stoke chief executive Tony Scholes said the club had fought off competition to land their man. Jese was a man in demand when PSG made it clear they would allow him to leave on loan and were delighted he has chosen to join us, said Scholes on www.stokecityfc.com: He hasnt had the happiest of periods in his career in Paris but hes still only a young man and is hungry to make a big impression in the Premier League. Jese spent nine seasons with Real Madrid, scoring 12 goals in 62 league appearances, most of them as substitute, and was part of the Champions League-winning squads in 2014 and 2016. Jese, who was also prolific for Real Madrid B, is Stokes sixth summer signing, joining Darren Fletcher, Kurt Zouma, Maxim Choupa-Moting, Bruno Martins Indi and Josh Tymon. News of Jeses arrival was announced moments after the departure of another Spanish forward, Joselu, to Newcastle was confirmed. Gylfi Sigurdsson is on the verge of completing his highly anticipated move from Swansea to Everton. Toffees boss Ronald Koeman announced at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon that the 27-year-old Iceland international has passed his medical. I have seen the doctor and there is no problem, said Koeman. Still he needs to sign, but I saw him in the Blue! 8 - Gylfi Sigurdsson assisted a league-high eight goals direct from dead ball scenarios last season in the @premierleague. Specialist. pic.twitter.com/Q9A7XkZet3 OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) August 16, 2017 Sigurdssons proposed switch has dragged on for most of the summer, with Swansea initially valuing their star man at 50million. But Everton are finally set to secure their number one target to take their summer spending to over 140million. We worked a long time to get this deal in, he was one of the key players to bring in, added Koeman. Iceland's Gylfi Sigurdsson We need players who will bring productivity to the team. We lost Romelu Lukaku and we lost 25 goals, we need more players than one to get that number of goals. He is that type of player with that productivity. He knows the Premier League, he had a good season at Swansea and in his position he is one of the best in the Premier League. Koeman has previously brought in Michael Keane, Davy Klaassen, Cuco Martina, Jordan Pickford, Sandro Ramirez and Wayne Rooney this summer as Everton look to improve on last seasons seventh-placed finish. Zimbabwes first lady Grace Mugabe has requested diplomatic immunity over an allegation that she assaulted a young model in Johannesburg earlier this week, South African police said. Officers said Mrs Mugabe is still in South Africa, following a day of intense speculation over her whereabouts after a 20-year-old woman accused the wife of Zimbabwes president Robert Mugabe of assault. A police statement said the Zimbabwean government has asked for diplomatic immunity for a suspect involved in the assault. (Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/AP) The police have declined to name Mrs Mugabe in the case as she has not yet appeared in court. A spokesman for South Africas Department of International Relations and Cooperation told The Associated Press that the immunity request is under consideration. Gabriella Engels, a 20-year-old model, registered a case with police on Monday accusing Mrs Mugabe, 52, of attacking her with an extension cord in a luxury hotel in a Johannesburg suburb late Sunday evening. Ms Engels claimed she was in a hotel room with mutual friends of the Mugabes two sons, who live in Johannesburg, when the first lady burst into the room and assaulted her. Photos of Ms Engels posted on social media show a bloody gash to her forehead that she claimed was a result of the encounter. The Liberal Democrats have dismissed claims Sir Vince Cable is supporting the creation of a new political party by an ex-aide to David Davis. James Chapman, former chief of staff at the Brexit department, said the leader would join him in Parliament Square to launch the Democrats and insisted the pair really will take back control. But the Lib Dems said there was no question whatsoever of Sir Vince backing the move and dismissed the new party as completely unnecessary. James Chapman, former chief of staff to Brexit Secretary David The leader is considering attending the Peoples March for Europe on September 9 in London where Mr Chapman will formally launch his political group, they said. A former Daily Mail political editor who also worked for George Osborne when he was chancellor, Mr Chapman has become a ferocious critic of Brexit and made outspoken attacks on some of his former colleagues, including Mr Davis. He tweeted: BREAKING @vincecable will join me in Parliament Square on 9.9.17 to launch #thedemocrats #nazisout #wemarchon. On 9.9.17 @vincecable and I really will take back control #TheDemocrats #WeMarchOn. A Lib Dem spokesman said: There is no question whatsoever of Vince Cable supporting the launch of a new party, as James Chapman is suggesting. A new party is completely unnecessary as the Liberal Democrats already represent an anti-Brexit alternative in the centre ground of British politics. The Liberal Democrats will work with others to oppose an extreme Brexit, and Vince Cable will consider appearing at pro-European rallies and events alongside figures from other parties. MEXICO CITY, Aug 15 (Reuters) - Two people were killed in an explosion at a large fireworks factory on the outskirts of Mexico City on Tuesday evening, officials said. The explosion took place in Tultepec, located about 20 miles (30 km) north of the capital. No additional injuries have been confirmed thus far, the state commission for public safety said. The production of fireworks is a key economic driver in Tultepec, but the industry has frequently proved deadly. More than three dozen people were killed in December after chain explosions at a popular fireworks market in the area. (Reporting by Julia Love; Editing by Sandra Maler) Following are news stories, press reports and events to watch that may affect Poland's financial markets on Wednesday. ALL TIMES GMT (Poland: GMT + 2 hours): Q2 GDP DATA Poland's statistics office is due to release its first estimate of the second-quarter gross domestic product at 0800 GMT. RENEWABLE ENERGY Polish President Andrzej Duda has signed into law a bill that will curb subsidies for producers of renewable energy and allow state-run energy firms to terminate long-term deals with producers of green energy, Gazeta Wyborcza daily reported. KGHM KGHM'S Chilean Sierra Gorda mine will be able to process 130,000 tonnes of copper ore per day from the current 100,000 tonnes and the project will hopefully become profitable over the next 3 to 4 years, Chief Executive Radoslaw Domagalski-Labedzki told Dziennik Gazeta Prawna daily. He also said that the company's future is centred around Poland's Lower Silesia region where KGHM plans to invest about 10 billion zlotys ($2.74 billion) over the next 4 years. FX SPREADS Polish President Andrzej Duda is not withdrawing from a bill that would return some of excessively high foreign currency conversion spreads to foreign currency borrowers at the expense of banks, Dziennik Gazeta Prawna cited the president's chancellery as saying. ****Reuters has not verified stories reported by Polish media and does not vouch for their accuracy.**** For other related news, double click on: Polish equities E.Europe equities Polish money Polish debt Eastern Europe All emerging markets Hot stocks Stock markets Market debt news Forex news For real-time index quotes, double click on: Warsaw WIG20 Budapest BUX Prague PX ($1 = 3.6529 zlotys) (Reporting by Warsaw Bureau) JOHANNESBURG, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Political tensions in the ruling African National Congress will weigh on South Africa's growth, ratings agency Moody's said on Wednesday. President Jacob Zuma survived a no-confidence vote in parliament last week but a few dozen lawmakers from his own party supported the motion that would have had him removed after eight years in office. "Key constraints to growth are domestic, including political tensions and policy uncertainty," the ratings agency said in its credit opinion statement on South Africa. (Reporting by TJ Strydom; Editing by Angus MacSwan) ANKARA, Aug 16 (Reuters) - A planned independence referendum in Kurdish northern Iraq could make the situation in the region worse and even lead to a civil war, Turkey's foreign minister warned on Wednesday. Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region has said it would hold a referendum on independence on Sept. 25, brushing aside international warnings, including from Turkey, that it could trigger conflict with Baghdad. Mevlut Cavusoglu made the comments during an interview with broadcaster TRT Haber. (Reporting by Ece Toksabay and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by David Dolan) 3 Arrested At Courthouse Protest Against White Supremacy Tuesday By aaroncynic in News on Aug 16, 2017 4:29PM Photo via Facebook A few dozen demonstrators had gathered outside the courthouse to protest at a hearing scheduled in the afternoon for a 34-year-old Humboldt Park man who is accused of stabbing two people at a Dropkick Murphys show at Northerly Island last week. Organizers of the demonstration allege that the man is a white supremacist, affiliated with the neo-nazi group Volksfront International, and a regular poster on the Stormfront website. They also say he attacked a person of color in Wicker Park in July who was wearing a leftist T-shirt. Chicago stands against fascism and white supremacy, the Black Rose - Rosa Negra collective in a statement emailed to Chicagoist. We know [the stabbing] attacks are not exceptional; they are part of a long history of white supremacist violence that takes many systemic formsfrom our racist police forces and criminal justice system, to gentrification and lethal environmental racism, a representative from the Haymaker Collective told Chicagoist. We cannot expect this court, or any capitalist institution, to stop fascismwe must come together to do that ourselves. The man's attorney told the Chicago Tribune he was unaware of any ties his client had to white supremacist groups, and he has not been charged with any type of hate crimes. Several scuffles broke out between demonstrators and police after the group attempted to march in the streets and blocked a nearby intersection. Participants say they were dispersing when police made some of the arrests. Local anti fascists gathered in response to our local Nazi and Charlottesville, shut down the intersection, and were dispersing off the street when police grabbed a protester at random and arrested them, a member of the Black Rose - Rosa Negra collective told Chicagoist. A press release from the group alleges that officers taunted and laughed at demonstrators. A bond hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Wednesday for one of the individuals arrested. By Ahmed Rasheed and Sylvia Westall BAGHDAD/DUBAI, Aug 16 (Reuters) - It was an unusual meeting: an Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim cleric openly hostile to the United States sat in a palace sipping juice at the invitation of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, the Sunni kingdom that is Washington's main ally in the Middle East. For all the implausibility, the motivations for the July 30 gathering in Jeddah between Moqtada al-Sadr and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman run deep, and centre on a shared interest in countering Iranian influence in Iraq. For Sadr, who has a large following among the poor in Baghdad and southern Iraqi cities, it was part of efforts to bolster his Arab and nationalist image ahead of elections where he faces Shi'ite rivals close to Iran. For the newly elevated heir to the throne of conservative Saudi Arabia, the meeting, and talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi in June, are an attempt to build alliances with Iraqi Shi'ite leaders in order to roll back Iranian influence. "Sadr's visit to Saudi Arabia is a bold shift of his policy to deliver a message to regional, influential Sunni states that not all Shi'ite groups carry the label 'Made in Iran'," said Baghdad-based analyst Ahmed Younis. This policy has assumed greater prominence now that Islamic State has been driven back in northern Iraq, giving politicians time to focus on domestic issues ahead of provincial council elections in September and a parliamentary vote next year. "This is both a tactical and strategic move by Sadr. He wants to play the Saudis off against the Iranians, shake down both sides for money and diplomatic cover," said Ali Khedery, who was a special assistant to five U.S. ambassadors in Iraq. "NECESSARY EVIL" Ultimately, Sadr seeks a leadership role in Iraq that would allow him to shape events without becoming embroiled in daily administration, which could erode his popularity, diplomats and analysts say. Such a role - religious guide and political kingmaker - would fit with the patriarchal status the Sadr religious dynasty has for many Shi'ite Arabs in Iraq, Lebanon, Kuwait and Bahrain. Days after the Jeddah meeting, Sadr met Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahayan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, who has also taken an assertive line against Tehran, the dominant foreign power in Iraq since the 2003 U.S. invasion ended Sunni minority rule. Iran has since increased its regional influence, with its forces and allied militias spearheading the fight against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and holding sway in Baghdad. For Saudi Arabia, which sees itself as the bastion of Sunni Islam, less Iranian influence in Iraq would be a big win in a rivalry that underpins conflict across the Middle East. "There are plans to secure peace and reject sectarianism in the region," Sadr told the Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat newspaper last week, and it was "necessary to bring Iraq back into the Arab fold". Washington supports the Saudi-Iraq rapprochement, but the embracing of Sadr raises questions about whether it sees a man known for his anti-Americanism as a reliable figure. "It is perhaps close to a necessary evil," a U.S. official said of the visit, although it was a "very uncomfortable position for us to be in" due to the Sadr's anti-Americanism, which had led to the deaths of U.S. citizens. "His visits to the region, and broadly the high profile visits by Iraq, those things broadly are good, in that they get Iraq facing the Gulf nations and they help to turn their attention away from Iran," the official said. LIMITED INFLUENCE A politician close to Sadr said the Jeddah meeting was aimed at building confidence and toning down sectarian rhetoric between the two countries. The rapprochement is "a careful testing of the waters with the Abadi government and some of the Shia centres of influence like Sadr and, the interior minister," said Ali Shihabi, Executive Director of the Washington-based Arabia Foundation. How far detente can go is unclear: Iran has huge political, military and economic influence in Iraq. Saudi Arabia is playing catch-up, having reopened an embassy in Baghdad only in 2015 after a 25-year break caused by the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Whatever the Saudis and Gulf states do, "Iran will stay the key player in Iraq for at least the next 10 years," said Wathiq al-Hashimi, chairman of the Iraqi Group for Strategic Studies think-tank. Khedery said Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states were not skilled at exerting external influence. "They usually just throw money at issues and the beneficiaries of that largesse become very, very wealthy and that's it," he said. The Iranians in Iraq offered intelligence, diplomatic support and cash and wielded "big sticks" against anyone stepping out of line, he said. Still, the Jeddah meeting has produced practical results. Sadr's office said there was an agreement to study investment in Shi'ite regions of southern Iraq. Riyadh will also consider opening a consulate in Iraq's holy Shi'ite city of Najaf, Sadr's base. Saudi Arabia would donate $10 million to help Iraqis displaced by the war on Islamic State in Iraq, Sadr said, while Iraq's oil minister said Riyadh had discussed building hospitals in Basra and Baghdad. After the Saudi trip, Sadr again urged the Iraqi government to dismantle the Tehran-backed Shi'ite paramilitary groups involved in the fight against Islamic State - a theme that is expected to become a top election issue. A source from Sadr's armed group told Reuters that after the visit orders were issued to remove anti-Saudi banners from its headquarters, vehicles and streets. Sadr had called on the Saudis to "stop hostile speeches by fanatical hardline clerics who describe Shi'ites as infidels," and Crown Prince Mohammed had promised efforts towards this, the politician close to Sadr said. It remains to be seen how far Saudi Arabia can prevent anti-Shi'ite outbursts by its media or on social media, since Wahhabism, the kingdom's official ultra-conservative Sunni Muslim school, regards Shi'ism as heretical. But Saudi minister of state for Gulf affairs Thamer al-Subhan called for tolerance after greeting Sadr, using Twitter to decry "Sunni extremism and Shi'ite extremism". Saudi Arabia this week cracked down on Twitter users including a radical Sunni cleric who had published insulting comments about Shi'ites. WIDER RAPPROCHEMENT As part of the wider detente, Iraq and Saudi Arabia announced last month they are setting up a council to upgrade strategic relations. The Saudi cabinet has approved a joint trade commission to look at investment while a Saudi daily reported the countries planned to reopen a border crossing shut for more than 25 years - a point raised by Sadr on his visit. Another sign of rapprochement is an agreement to increase direct flights to a daily basis. Iraqi Airways hopes to reopen offices in Saudi airports to help Iraqis travel to the kingdom, especially for pilgrimages, Iraq's transport ministry said. Then there is coordination on energy policy. As OPEC producers, the two cooperated in November to support oil prices. Their energy ministers discussed bilateral cooperation and investment last week. Iranian reaction to the meetings has been minimal. "Iraqi personalities and officials do not need our permission to travel outside of Iraq or to report to us," foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said last week, according to the semi-official Fars news agency. (Additional reporting by Maher Chmaytelli in Erbil, William Maclean and Rania El Gamal in Dubai and Yara Bayoumy in Washington; editing by Giles Elgood) By Parisa Hafezi and Tuvan Gumrukcu ANKARA, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Turkish and Iranian military leaders held talks on Wednesday over cooperation in the Syrian conflict and counter-terrorism, officials said, during a rare visit to NATO-member Turkey by the Islamic Republic's military chief of staff. Turkey's ties with Washington have been strained by U.S. support for Kurdish fighters in Syria, and the visit by Iranian General Mohammad Baqeri is the latest sign that Ankara is increasing cooperation with other powers such as Iran and Russia. Baqeri met his Turkish counterpart on Tuesday and Turkey's Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli on Wednesday in what Turkish media said was the first visit by an Iranian chief of staff since Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution. He was due to meet President Tayyip Erdogan later on Wednesday. Turkey and Iran have supported rival sides in Syria's six-year-old conflict, with Iran-backed fighters helping President Bashar al-Assad to drive back rebels battling to overthrow him, including some supported by Ankara. Turkey is concerned that the Syrian chaos has empowered Kurdish forces who it says are closely tied to the long-running insurgency in its southeastern regions, as well as Islamic State fighters who have waged attacks inside Turkey, and is working with Iran and Russia to reduce the fighting in some areas. An Iranian source said Baqeri was accompanied by the head of the ground forces of the Revolutionary Guards Corps, Iran's most powerful security entity. "There have been no such visits between the two countries for a long time, but considering regional developments and security issues - border security and the fight against terrorism - there was a need for such a visit," Baqeri told Iranian state television on arrival on Tuesday. The Iranian source said that, in addition to the war in Syria, the two sides would discuss the conflict in Iraq as well as dealing with Kurdish militants in the Turkish-Iranian border region, where Turkish media say Turkey has started building a frontier wall. RUSSIAN MILITARY CHIEF Turkey, Iran and Russia agreed in May to set up "de-escalation zones" in Syria to try to stem the fighting in some parts of the country, including the northern province of Idlib, which borders Turkey and has since been overrun by jihadists linked to a former al Qaeda affiliate. That has thrown into question any suggestion that the three countries could deploy a force to police the Idlib region. "The negotiations regarding the Idlib issue are still ongoing," Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told Turkish broadcaster TRT Haber on Wednesday. "After the Iranian chief of staff, the Russian chief of staff will also come to Turkey," he added. Turkey has said for months that it is close to buying an S-400 missile defence system from Russia, and Erdogan said in July that the deal had already been signed. Cavusoglu said Russia understood Turkey's sensitivities about arming Kurdish fighters better than the United States, although he said U.S. officials had informed Turkey that the most recent shipments to the YPG did not include guns. "The United States gives us reports about how many weapons they have given to the YPG every month," he said. The latest "said they gave armoured vehicles and a bulldozer, but no guns." Turkey's stepped-up military talks with Iran and Russia coincide with a major oil and gas deal involving firms from the three countries. The Turkish firm Unit International said this week it has signed a $7 billion agreement with Russia's state-owned Zarubezhneft and Iran's Ghadir Investment Holding to drill for oil and natural gas in Iran. Turkey is also discussing transporting more goods through Iran to the Gulf state of Qatar, which is locked in a dispute with its neighbours Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. (Additional reporting by Tulay Karadeniz and Ece Toksabay in Ankara; Editing by Dominic Evans and Alister Doyle) JERUSALEM, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Israel's largest defence contractor, Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI), nominated Harel Locker as its new chairman on Wednesday, a position the government wants filled before it moves ahead with IPO plans. Harel, a former head of the Israeli prime minister's office, will succeed Rafi Maor who stepped down last September, leaving state-run IAI without a chairman for nearly a year. Company officials said earlier this year that IAI urgently needed a public share offering so that it can make acquisitions abroad to enable it to compete in foreign markets. But a senior government source said at the time that an IPO, to sell a 20 percent stake in IAI, could not take place until a new chairman is appointed. The board's decision to appoint Locker as chairman still needs to be approved by a government appointments' committee and Israel's defence and finance ministers. Locker was director general of the Israeli Prime Minister's Office from 2011 until 2015 and has spent the last two years in investment banking and in business and legal consulting. (Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by Susan Fenton) By Michael Nienaber and Andrea Shalal BERLIN, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Senior German politicians on Wednesday accused U.S. President Donald Trump of trivializing violence by white supremacists in Virginia and called for a clear rejection of their ideology. Governments could only win the fight against hatred, racism and anti-Semitism by rejecting such ideology and the willingness to use violence, said Martin Schulz, the centre-left candidate for chancellor, adding that this applies to Germany and the United States. "The trivialization of Nazi violence by the confused utterances of Donald Trump is highly dangerous," said Schulz, leader of the Social Democrats (SPD). "We should not tolerate the monstrosities coming out of the president's mouth," he told the RND newspaper group in an interview. Republican leaders criticised Trump for saying leftist counter-protesters were also to blame for violence last Saturday in Charlottesville that left one person dead and several injured. His comments won praise from white far-right groups. Schulz is the main challenger to Chancellor Angela Merkel at a Sept. 24 election. The SPD, junior partner in Merkel's grand coalition, trails Merkel's conservatives in polls. Schulz's comments were echoed by Justice Minister Heiko Maas, another senior member of the SPD. "It is unbearable how Trump is now glossing over the violence of the right-wing hordes from Charlottesville," Maas said in a statement, reflecting concern across the German political spectrum about the Trump presidency. "No one should trivialise anti-Semitism and racism by neo-Nazis," said Maas, senior member of the co-governing SPD. Schulz and Maas are the highest-ranking German politicians to criticise Trump's rhetoric about the violence. The country has tough laws against hate speech and any symbols linked to Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, who ruled from 1933 until their defeat in 1945. Merkel told broadcaster Phoenix on Monday that clear and forceful action was required to combat right-wing extremism, noting that Germans had also seen a rise in anti-Semitism and had "quite a lot to do at home ourselves". Trump has come under increasing pressure over his stance on the violence, with many members of his own Republican party and U.S. business executives distancing themselves from him. Trump on Tuesday said his original reaction was based on facts he had at the time and said both sides were to blame. The violence erupted during a protest by white nationalists against plans to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee, commander of the pro-slavery Confederate army during the American Civil War. Protesters and counter-protesters clashed in scattered street brawls before a car ploughed into the rally's opponents, killing one woman and injuring 19 other people. (Reporting by Michael Nienaber and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Andrew Bolton and Matthew Mpoke Bigg) By Ed Cropley JOHANNESBURG, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe has sought diplomatic immunity in South Africa, where she is under investigation over the assault of a 20-year-old model in an upmarket hotel, South African police said on Wednesday. Police also confirmed that Mugabe, the 52-year-old wife of Zimbabwe's leader Robert, had failed to appear at a court hearing on Tuesday relating to allegations she attacked Gabriella Engels with an electric extension chord. Engels' mother Debbie told Reuters her daughter had received 14 stitches on her head from Sunday's assault - which the mother did not witness - and demanded Mugabe face justice. She also showed Reuters photographs taken in the hours after the incident showing gashes on Gabriella's forehead and back of the head. Another picture, taken on Wednesday, showed a large, livid bruise on her right thigh. "I just want justice for my daughter. It's not about money. It's about justice. She attacked my child for no reason," she said. The police statement said Harare had sought diplomatic immunity for Mugabe - which if granted would exempt her from prosecution - but said she would be "processed through the legal system". Reuters has not been able to verify key aspects of the assault allegations independently, and multiple requests for comment from Mugabe's spokesman in Harare and from Information Minister Chris Mushowe went unanswered. Mugabe, a potential successor to her 93-year-old husband, was in South Africa to receive treatment to an injured foot, according to local media reports. A Zimbabwean intelligence source told Reuters she was not travelling on a diplomatic passport. Criminal attorney Riaan Louw said diplomatic immunity would not apply if Mugabe had indeed entered on private business. "If she wasn't here on official business, that rules out the possibility of diplomatic immunity," Louw said. DIPLOMATIC FALLOUT? However, given the potential for diplomatic fallout, South African prosecutors could yet decide not to prosecute if they thought the injuries were not too severe, he added. "They can fail to prosecute her," he said. "They've got the powers to decide that it's not in the interests of the community or it might create animosity between us and Zimbabwe." Police said Tuesday's abortive court hearing was designed to obtain a statement from Mugabe, along with her version of the events, but that she failed to appear as arranged. Police spokesman Vish Naidoo did not comment on the specifics of the case, other than to say it related to assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Reuters has been unable to identify Mugabe's lawyers in Johannesburg. Isaac Moyo, Zimbabwe's Ambassador to Pretoria, said he "knew nothing". "I have to go to my office to get briefed," he said. Gabriella Engels said she was attacked while waiting to meet up with Chatunga, one of Mugabe's two adult sons, in the hotel in Johannesburg. The News24 website quoted Engels' version of events in the hotel room. "When Grace entered, I had no idea who she was. She walked in with an extension cord and just started beating me with it," the model said. The incident is not the first time Mugabe has been accused of assault. In 2009, a newspaper photographer in Hong Kong said she and her bodyguard had assaulted him. Police there said the incident was reported but that no charges were brought. (Writing by Ed Cropley; Editing by James Macharia and Janet Lawrence) By Mark Weinraub CHICAGO, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures sank to contract lows on Wednesday as ample global supplies provided overseas buyers with cheaper alternatives to U.S. offerings in export deals, traders said. Corn and soybean futures also were lower, pressured by good weather for crop development across the U.S. Midwest. Both corn and soybeans hit their lowest levels since late June. "Rains moving across the western Corn Belt this morning should bring heavy rains west of the Mississippi, with the eastern Midwest also picking up a half inch to an inch according to maps for the next week," Farm Futures analyst Bryce Knorr said in a note to clients. At 10:03 a.m. CDT (1500 GMT), CBOT December corn futures were down 3 cents at $3.65-1/2 a bushel. CBOT November soybeans were 1 cent lower at $9.23-1/4 a bushel. CBOT September soft red winter wheat was 8 cents lower at $4.21-1/2 a bushel. Egypt, the world's top buyer of wheat, said on Wednesday that Russian suppliers made the lowest offer in its latest tender for the grain. There was no U.S. wheat offered in the tender. "Wheat prices in Chicago slumped from the start of the week due to the rise of supplies in the world, mainly caused by bumper harvests in the Black Sea (region)," consultancy Agritel said in a note. While large volumes purchased in the tenders could be supportive for prices, a wide gap between Black Sea origins such as Russian wheat and U.S. and west European origins may maintain price pressure. But strong export demand was limiting the declines in soybeans. A delegation of importers from China signed agreements to buy 3.8 million tonnes of U.S. soybeans valued at about $1.56 billion at a ceremony in Omaha, Nebraska, on Tuesday, the U.S. Soybean Export Council said on Wednesday. (Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral in Singapore and Gus Trompiz in Paris; Editing by David Evans and Tom Brown) By Terje Solsvik OSLO, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Sharing a border of 1,600 km (1,000 miles), with close to 80 crossings, Norway and Sweden face some of the challenges that Ireland and Northern Ireland may experience when the United Kingdom leaves the European Union. On Wednesday Britain published a paper arguing there should be no border posts or immigration checks between Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland after Brexit. It is also keen to keep disruption to trade to a bare minimum. This are familiar issues for EU member Sweden and non-EU Norway. Norwegians and Swedes have enjoyed open-border travel since before the EU came into existence - as have the British and Irish, who hope to maintain that uninterrupted free movement of people after Brexit too. Thousands of Swedes and Norwegians cross their shared border every day to work, to shop or for leisure. The Nordic neighbours tightened travel document checks after a large inflow of migrants into Europe in 2015 - but the number of arrivals subsided, and now passport checks are again rare. But Norway has remained outside the EU's customs union - and British Prime Minister Theresa May's government has indicated it also wants to leave the customs union after Brexit. To keep up the flow of goods and enjoy the benefits of low or zero tariffs when companies trade, Norway has committed to harmonise its commercial rules with those of the EU. However, individuals entering Norway face strict limits on what they can bring in. Tariffs apply for a wide range of items, including alcohol, tobacco, meat and other goods, with only small quotas being exempt from payments. CHECKING NUMBER PLATES Another challenge is that, while one major Swedish-Norwegian crossing is staffed with police and customs officials, the vast majority of roads between the countries have no permanent presence of either. To prevent smuggling, Norway in 2011 began testing cameras with automatic number plate recognition (ANPR), allowing mobile customs units to trace potential offenders at unmanned crossings. In one key test area, cameras were involved in the more than half the cases where violators were caught, the Norwegian customs authority said in late 2016, and the government has decided that all crossings will now get cameras by 2019. In Norway, those who break the rules face stiff penalties even for small transgressions. For example, if you smuggle more than 10 litres of wine, on top of your allowed quota of six bottles, you get fined 3,400 Norwegian crowns ($440) and the alcohol gets confiscated. Those smuggling larger quantities face a term in prison. In its latest paper, Britain has said it does not favour electronic surveillance on its border with Ireland, though it has not ruled out some technology-based solutions post-Brexit. Ireland, which is keen to avoid any hard border with Northern Ireland, welcomed the British paper. Last week Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar called for the EU and Britain to find "unique solutions" to their Brexit logjam, including a bespoke customs union to govern trade between his country and the United Kingdom. (Editing by Gareth Jones) BEIRUT, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Lebanese and Syrian ministers pledged to boost economic ties on Wednesday, part of a visit that has challenged the Lebanese state's policy of neutrality towards Syria's war. Government ministers from Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Shi'ite Amal party arrived in Syria for a trade fair, a trip that has ignited a political row in Lebanon. The Lebanese government has refused to sanction the visit as official business, but Industry Minister Hussein Hajj Hassan has insisted they will be there as government representatives. Calls to normalise relations with Damascus are testing Lebanon's official policy of "dissociation", agreed in 2012. The policy has aimed to keep the deeply divided state out of regional conflicts such as Syria, even as Iran-backed Hezbollah got heavily involved there. The Damascus International Fair is to open this week for the first time since the Syrian conflict began six years ago. In a village at the Lebanese-Syrian border, Hajj Hassan, a Hezbollah member, said the Lebanese ministers would meet with Syrian officials. "The historic Syrian-Lebanese ties ... will continue and we as Lebanese have every interest in them continuing," he said. "We are reactivating the trade and economic ties between the two countries," he later told Reuters. Hezbollah has sent thousands of its fighters to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government in the battle against Syrian rebel groups and militants. Syria's economy minister said the visit marked "a chance for joint action, for reinforcing cooperation, whether it's in terms of investment or of trade." In a speech on Sunday, Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah pressed the Lebanese state to strengthen relations with Assad's government. Nasrallah said Lebanon needed its larger neighbour for its security interests, as well as agricultural, gas and oil exports. Lebanon's Saudi-allied Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri has said any minister who goes to Syria does so in a personal capacity. Samir Geagea, a leading Lebanese Christian politician and longstanding opponent of Hezbollah and Syrian influence in Lebanon, said the visit to Syria would "shake Lebanon's political stability and put Lebanon in the Iranian camp". (Reporting by Sarah Dadouch and Ellen Francis in Beirut, Kinda Makieh in Damascus) By Mark Weinraub CHICAGO, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures sank to contract lows on Wednesday as ample global supplies provided overseas buyers with cheaper alternatives to U.S. offerings in export deals, traders said. Corn futures also were lower, pressured by the drop in wheat as well as good weather for crop development across the U.S. Midwest. Soybeans closed firm, with signs of good export demand keying a turnaround after prices dipped into negative territory. Both corn and soybeans hit their lowest levels since late June during the session. "Rains moving across the western Corn Belt this morning should bring heavy rains west of the Mississippi, with the eastern Midwest also picking up a half inch to an inch according to maps for the next week," Farm Futures analyst Bryce Knorr said in a note to clients. CBOT December corn futures ended down 2 cents at $3.66-1/2 a bushel. CBOT November soybeans were 1 cent higher at $9.25-1/4 a bushel. CBOT September soft red winter wheat settled 10-1/4 cents lower at $4.19-1/4 a bushel. Egypt, the world's largest wheat buyer, on Wednesday said it signed deals to buy 295,000 tonnes of Russian wheat and 60,000 tonnes of Ukraine wheat. No U.S. wheat was offered in the tender. "Wheat prices in Chicago slumped from the start of the week due to the rise of supplies in the world, mainly caused by bumper harvests in the Black Sea (region)," consultancy Agritel said in a note. While large volumes purchased in the tenders could be supportive of prices, a wide gap between Black Sea origins such as Russian wheat and U.S. and West European origins may maintain price pressure. But strong export demand was limiting the declines in soybeans. A delegation of importers from China signed agreements to buy 3.8 million tonnes of U.S. soybeans valued at about $1.56 billion at a ceremony in Omaha, Nebraska, on Tuesday, the U.S. Soybean Export Council said on Wednesday. (Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral in Singapore and Gus Trompiz in Paris; Editing by Tom Brown and Sanda Maler) Beyond the Water Margin\- A group water colour exhibition The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place, from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spiders web were the words of Pablo Picasso, one of the greatest painters to have ever lived. An artists creation holds the mystic power in adding colour to life and getting rid of the bland black and white that makes an individuals life monotonous. Beyond the Water Margin is ready to accomplish just that by painting colour into the soul and make life bubble to the surface through an expressive and unique collection of artistic creations. Beyond the Water Margin, a group water colour exhibition, will be inaugurated on August 18 at the Lionel Wendt Art Centre as the clock strikes 6 in the evening. The exhibition will be open to art lovers among the general public from August 19 to 21 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. The exhibition stands as the fruit borne to the tree of creative endeavour of four professional artists, representing four different eras in Sri Lankan water colour art. The skilled pairs of hands behind the masterpieces that will be on display at the exhibition belong to artists Gunasiri Kolambage, Basil Cooray, Sanjeewee Senevirathna and Nilusha Weerakkody. Beyond the Water Margin, a group water colour exhibition, will be inaugurated on August 18 at the Lionel Wendt Art Centre as the clock strikes 6 in the evening. The exhibition will be open to art lovers among the general public from August 19 to 21 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. A Character Portfolio Gunasiri Kolambage is deemed as one of the few artists who belongs to the era when the Sri Lankan water colour trend first sprouted into existence. His painting styles unfold a fusion of European and Indian traditions. He is recognized as the pioneer in Sri Lankan abstract water colour art, with his most matured work being influenced by artists such as Stanley Abeysinghe, H.B. Perera, G.S Fernando and Susil Premaratna. His source of inspiration has been the simple lifestyle, recommended through Buddhist teachings, he leads. Basil Cooray, a descendant of the second era of the water colour trend, follows his own independent and unique style. Scenes of humanity, folk lifestyle and rural life are brought to life on white space envisioned through his artistic eye. Basils art gives priority to sentimentalism over symbolism. Sanjeewee Senevirathna belongs to the era where two Sri Lankan water colour trends existed. His earlier work took on a blend of second and fourth water colour eras which later developed under the influence of modern trends from the European and Asian regions, bee-lining towards artistic maturity and a unique identity. Modern Sri Lankan water colour trends mingled into existence with Sanjeewees work in 2010. Sanjeewee has explicated a Sri Lankan identity internationally, having emerged victorious in numerous water colour contests, both contemporary and international. The local identity or cultural adherence never stood in the way of Nilusha Weerakkody in finding the subject in art. The artist is focused on expressing his creativity. His work connected to environmental, material and humane activities, fantasizes about worldly pleasures, sensuous and warm colour schemes, which is free to be grasped with an open mind. Artistic perspective The event organizer for Beyond the Water Margin, artist Sanjeewee Senevirathna, aired his views regarding the trends in water colour painting. According to Sanjeewee Senevirathna, water colour paintings are done using various styles. Water colour painting came into existence in the 18th century. From the start it had its own culture building up and it expanded worldwide. Water colour painting has spread in to different paths which include materials and equipment, exhibitions and contents, demonstrations, printed and e-publications, watercolour societies, current conversations, workshops, water colour academies and water colour museums etc,he said. Senevirathna compared the spread of water colour art in Asia in comparison to Europe. He stated that though its generally considered that water colour art originated in Europe, the basic foundation to this art sprouted from the great Asian art culture, mainly from china and Japan. While China discovered paper, the use of water soluble ink to draw on paper originated from both these countries. For the purpose of drawing, they created their own calligraphy brushes using soft hairs of animals. In Europe the only difference made was the modification of these techniques. So Asian and European artwork expressed differences in their own unique ways. The styles of water colour artwork coming from European, Latin American and Australian continents fall under the category of European artwork while the styles followed by Asian artwork come from countries like China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Taiwan and Malaysia, he explained. By comparing the art work of artists from Europe such as Joseph Zbukvic, Alvaro Castagnet, Mary Whyte and Asian artists such as Guan Weixing, Liu Yi and DirekKingnok, the uniqueness of these styles surfaces clearly. Many consider the water colour medium to be difficult. But Senevirathna accentuated that something being hard or easy depends on the persons interest for that particular subject. I never felt that water colour art was hard. But unlike other art media, like oil painting and acrylics- where the drawings can be altered even after the final result- the final drawing cant be altered in the water colours medium, he added. Senevirathna supported his point by quoting an Indian water colour artist who once said: Painting with water colours is like shooting an arrow. Once shot, it cant be brought back. Senevirathna expressed his thoughts on the identity and uniqueness of the modern Sri Lankan artist. The decision we have taken as artists to remain in the water colour field, selling our artwork in the art market, fulfilling the requirements of museum owners, using rare and easily available raw materials in creating artwork- all the while attempting to minimize expenses -involves risk. But we still work for what we feel has to be done within the frameworks of our identity,he explained. No matter how much water colour art has expanded worldwide, modern Sri Lankan artists dont show partiality towards water colours. Senevirathna envisions it as a question of ones identity, expression and interest. The opportunities for new artists to analyze the water colour medium is very low in the country. Its important to analyze how the medium is used internationally. Art creations at international level explicit professionalism through which the mediums uniqueness has been preserved, Senevirathna added. He further stressed that Sri Lankan artists require an intellectual stubbornness to reach that level of competency. Through Beyond the water margin, admirers of artwork will be able to observe a collection of different and unique artwork by four Sri Lankan artists representing four different eras of water colour art. Senevirathna stated that this will be the first time that the attendees will be able to witness a variety of different and unique paintings under different concepts and themes inside one gallery. The public has an open opportunity to observe and appreciate various ideas and concepts through art creations under one roof,he stressed. In water colour paintings,it is said that a message hidden beneath the exterior beauty is conveyed. Senevirathna pointed out that any artist despite the difference in medium, works with concepts unique to them. If an artist works out of this context, then the creation will only be materialistic. It will be a lifeless creation without a soul. Artists differ by individualistic concepts and themes, brought to life on the canvas. Surpassing the exterior splendour of the artwork, there should be a hidden message for the observer to perceive, he said. Senevirathna also said that an observer initially gets drawn to a painting for its external beauty. But then they are prompted to move towards the meaning hidden behind the art. This he stated is something special about water colour artwork. The decision we have taken as artists to remain in the water colour field, selling our artwork in the art market, fulfilling the requirements of museum owners, using rare and easily available raw materials in creating artwork- all the while attempting to minimize expenses -involves risk The four talented artists maintain connections through the exhibitions held by International Water colour Society (IWS), which is sure to make its impacts on Sri Lankan water colour art. Senevirathna addressed its influences. IWS is the largest water colour society with branches in 85 countries. The main person-in-charge of each branch is referred to as the country head. As the Country Head of the IWS branch in our country, its my responsibility to create interest in water colour paintings at a national level. I also have to engage Sri Lankan artists in international IWS activities. IWS provides a great foundation for local artists and creates an opening for them to enter the global world of art. My fellow artists and I participate in international exhibitions and contests held by IWS, he said. Senevirathna invites all amateur and professional artists to make links with IWS Sri Lanka through the official facebook page. I am happy to note that among the limited number of local artists who use the medium of water colours, the majority of them have joined hands with us,he concluded. Autumn is around the corner and students are gearing up to start university across the country, but many will be looking further afieldheading for the United States for fine arts courses that are becoming more competitive at home. A student practices painting in an art class in Huanggu district in Shenyang, Liaoning province. [Photo by Wang Huan/provided to China Daily] A rising number of Chinese students are using the opportunity of studying overseas to major in various fine arts, ranging from film and dance to painting and design. It's a marked departure from the usual preference for the science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM. "We've historically seen that many Chinese students are very reputation and rankings focused when selecting where they want to study. And the US is home to more than one-third of the top 50 art and design schools in the world," says Jessica Brandt, director of resource management at educational trends-research company World Education Services. A 2016 study by the company found that the number of Chinese students enrolled in fine and applied arts programs in the US has more than tripledgrowing much faster compared to leading subjects, such as engineering, business and management, math and computer science. The intense competition for spots in leading art and design programs in China fuels the trend. The Beijing Film Academy, one of the country's top universities for fine arts, received nearly 25,000 applications in 2015. Of those, 498 were accepted. That's less than 2 percent. Acceptance rates at universities around the country are similarly low. Nearly 900,000 applicants taking the national college entrance exam for fine arts in China every year. This leaves a huge number of students unable to pursue their interests. That means many students, who want a top art educationeven if they do not get into China's elite universitieswill likely continue to consider leading universities in places like the US. That, coupled with a growing job market in China that is seeing more professional opportunities in the art sector, makes majoring in fine arts abroad a solid choice for many Chinese students. From left: Nilusha Ranasinghe - Head of ACCA Sri Lanka, H.M. Hennayake Bandara - Vice President CMA,. Brian McEnery - Global President ACCA, Professor Lakshman R. Watawala - President CMA, Ruchira Perera - Council Member CMA Global President of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) Brian McEnery paid a courtesy call to the Institute of Certified Management Accountants (CMA) office in Sri Lanka recently. He was welcomed by the President of CMA Prof. Lakshman R. Watawala and the management team of CMA Sri Lanka. McEnery, was accompanied by Nilusha Ranasinghe, Head of ACCA Sri Lanka, and several other officials from ACCA. The discussions had between the two parties centered around matters relating to the development of the accounting profession in the country and in working closely towards its further enhancement and development. CMA Sri Lanka has worked closely with ACCA over a number of years. This meeting was a result of further strengthening the alliance between the two bodies to bring together their resources to enable both organizations to strengthen their reach, relevance and resources for their members and drive value for the profession. Promoting a strong proposition for accounting professionals globally, ACCA as the largest global professional accountancy body represents the interests of members from around the world and how they can deliver value to the profession. A significant part of this is looking to the future as to how they need to adapt to not only keep pace and remain relevant, but highlight its pivotal role in business success in the fast-moving global economy. ACCA believes thatalliances such as those with CMA will offer a broader access of their qualification to future students and members, ensuring they are truly future proofed and ready to face the challenges of the profession. Last year, India in an effort to combat corruption, tax evasion and counterfeiting, all 500 and 1,000 rupee bank notes were withdrawn from circulation. Many international bankers argue with me that India failed miserably in their demonetization effort. The Modi governments publicly declared demonetization objectives publicly was that the government wanted to transform the economy into a digital economy. We know we cant completely transform an economy to a digital economy over night, there are various social classes, example a waiter or steward receive tips, a household worker gets some extra money for a job well-done, parliamentarians get political funds, even some professionals have foundations to earn their donations and sales from books, parliamentarians or politicians have their own Foundations established to get donations and then politicians partly use those money to uplift certain communities, even clergy use money they receive to uplift social standards of communities and to look in to welfare of them, if you take even the establishments such as Roman Catholic Church it has over US $ 60 billion real estate assets around the globe in the name of church lands, missionary schools etc that was purchased from the money that they got from Devotees which went to clergy and The Vatican. Just imagine what happens if citizen Fernando has to donate money by a mobile app that sometimes is not even properly working to transfer money to a temple, kovil, or church, or even a mosque, ...etc. There will be hell to pay all round. Black money In the Indian demonetization effort, if the real objective was to attack the black money, stored by the political, temples and business elite it has failed. Around ninety percent of the demonetized notes were returned to the banks, far more than the government expected. This means, as the British Guardian explained that either the Indians concealed less wealth from taxation than was thought, or that money has been preserved in the form of goods or gold rather than cash. In fact, according to economists, very probably less than three percent of black money is held in currency. In an Indian context it is still big money. Almost all of it is either converted into gold (it is said India has by far the largest private gold reserves in the world), or put into purchases of jewelry, real estate, or land, when it isnt put into financial investments. And then when all that money goes in to their bank accounts or other establishments that money too comes to the so called White system, this shift overwhelmingly helps the GDP to look good. Gambling (casinos) is said to be one of the worlds biggest industries that create wealth among various social classes, and there gambling moguls around the world who own banks, finance companies, real estate, even in USA there are poker players who become rich overnight and then their wealth transfer into various other establishments when they start using that money, one such example is a spa owner their extra earnings transform to various other business establishments when they purchase goods and services. Drive away A full digital economy will drive away lots of people and perhaps increase the poverty if digital transformation is done by creating limitations and wealth limits, although India implemented practices of demonetization if you watched NDTV and other TV News in the last few months you will clearly understand that certain new gray economical activities started as a result of the moves, there were Indian banker families or officials, new brokers who started taking thousands of Indian rupees worth kick-backs from common people to deposit the money under various other names and newly created accounts in India as there were new taxes for deposit limits. Many people faced identity theft as a result too, India being the worlds largest democracy has the most business savvy politicians, but even they are people who transform wealth to various other religious and social establishments. Impacted poor people Several top economists have said globally that what India did was a failure, and it only hugely troubled poor families and specially older peoples savings. India is the largest gold consumer and Indias activity in impacting global gold prices took a different turn because of demonetization, it enabled the digital currencies such as Bitcoin to overtake the gold price in international markets in the last three months and even if you take bitcoin, people trade in those digital currencies and their capital gains are transformed to other asset classes in the real world finally resulting in the real economy losing. Ive previously written about the possible ramifications of the war on cash which is now strengthening all over the globe, even in the U.S. Many policymakers, including former Treasury Secretary and President Emeritus, Harvard University Larry Summers with whom I have discussed this subject, are in favor of axing the US$100 bill. In May, the European Central Bank (ECB) said it would stop printing the 500 euro note, though it will still be recognized as legal currency. The decision to scrap a banknote, is now largely hinged on its association with money laundering and terror financing than with economic reform. (The writer is a thought leader) While lauding the government for the steps taken to develop the Hambantota port as a public private partnership (PPP), Ceylon Chamber of Commerce (CCC) yesterday in a statement urged the government to ensure that the principle of collective responsibility is respected to inspire confidence in its decision making process. The CCC statement made clear references to a recent statement by the Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshealthough it was not specifically mentionedwho said the leasing of Hambantota port to the Chinese was wrong and he would work towards regaining the ownership of the port on behalf of the people. While recognizing the circumstances in which this PPP deal was required to be finalized, the chamber urges the government to ensure that the principle of collective responsibility is respected, so as to inspire confidence in the final decision taken. Sri Lanka needs to enhance its reputation as a business destination that has a credible and predictable investment regime. This imperative is challenged when seemingly conflicting sentiments are expressed by responsible government sources, CCC statement said. Meanwhile, CCC said the Hambantota port PPP is an important step towards the goal of position Sri Lanka as a fully service maritime hub nation. In addition to the much-needed boost to the countrys foreign reserves, the reported scale and size of the investment is expected to generate meaningful FDI in port-related activities, as well as businesses around the port. CCC expects the implementation of the port agreement to be effected in a manner that would serve the best interests of our country. Later this month, the CCC said it is convening a seminar for its members on the subject of the Hambantota Port development, with key officials. The seminar will provide an opportunity to hear more details and seek clarifications on the obligations assumed under the agreement and the plans for implementation. Since last year, CCC has been continuously lobbying to fast-track the development of the East Container Terminal (ECT) and the development of an e-Hub for trade facilitation. Port and logistics fraternity joins bandwagon Ceylon Association of Shipping Agents (CASA), Sri Lanka Logistics & Freight Forwarders Association (SLLFFA) and Sri Lanka Association of Vessel Operators (SLAVO) have commended the Public Private Partnership agreement between the Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA) and China Merchants Ports International Ltd., to operate the Port of Hambantota. A meeting was held recently at the Ports and Shipping Ministry to brief the shipping and logistics fraternity on the successful execution of the agreement to develop the Port of Hambantota. This historic agreement will create many opportunities, besides shipping and logistics, in developing the Southern Province, creating employment opportunities for the people of Sri Lanka amongst many other benefits to the economy, a communique by CASA said. SLLFFA also commended the successful execution of the agreement, to develop the Hambantota Port. We are delighted to note the proceeds of the FDI received will relieve the huge debt burden on the Port of Colombo. The government and the public at large and will be put to good use to develop the Port of Colombo and other Ports of the country. We also wish to applaud the initiatives taken to commence development of the East Container Terminal, SLLFFA stated. Meanwhile, SLVO said it was encouraging to see positive steps taken in the right direction, to lease out the Hambantota port to China Merchants Group, for a greater benefit to Sri Lanka as a whole. The governments decision to enter into a billion dollar partnership with a state owned listed Chinese company to revive the loss making Hambantota Port is appreciated, SLAVO said. I.L.R. Lafir and Thasmiya were proud parents of two children. The eldest was a 11-year-old daughter and a son who was 5 years old. They were residents of Oluwil, Akkaraipattu in the Ampara District. It was on August 7 Monday (Poya Day) that the son had left home at about 1.30 pm saying that he was going to a nearby boutique. As there was an undue delay in his coming home, the parents went in search of the child. Even after a couple of hours they were unable to find any clues about his whereabouts. The parents with the help of the neighbours searched for their son but were unsuccessful. The parents were shocked as to what had happened to the child. This loss of the child spread all over the village in Oluwil and no information was found about him for many hours despite telephone calls given to all in the neighbourhood and to their kith and kin. People in the village came to various conclusions: He may have been kidnapped by somebody or he may have gone for a walk with an outsider. In spite of the fact that various views were expressed by the people in the area, the whole village was shocked as he was not found by their parents. By 5.30 pm the news spread all over the village that the concerned child was found inside a motor vehicle near their house. The child was found dead inside the vehicle. The people began to express various views in this regard. The news spread all over the village that the concerned child was found inside a motor vehicle near their house A person called Buhari who is employed in the Eastern University as a person in-charge of discipline had his house situated in close proximity to the house of the parents of the child. He was engaged in domestic activities while his car had been parked opposite his house. When he opened the front door of his car at about 5.30 pm on this fateful day, he was shocked at the sight of a small child lying below the front seat. As he had already got the information about the missing child, he made arrangements to admit the child to the Akkaraipattu hospital with the assistance of the neighbours. By that time, everything had happened. The child who had been inside the vehicle for more than five hours had breathed his last. Later, the Akkaraipattu hospital had informed the Akkaraipattu Police about this incident and the Police OIC Chief Inspector, Saman Kumara had informed the incident to DIG Nuwan Wedasinghe and subsequently to SP and OIC of Ampara Division Samantha Wijesekera. With the directions of the above officers, investigations had been launched into this incident by the Chief Inspector Saman Kumara. Later, the crime investigations officers of the Ampara Police had commenced investigations. When these officers had checked the vehicle, they had found some accessories in front of the vehicle missing. The air freshener used for the vehicle had been detached and the Police found it difficult to find out the reason for this death. This type of tragedy could happen when children are left behind to while away time on their own The Akkaraipattu Acting Magistrate who came to the spot ordered the Police to hold the post mortem examination. As the Judicial Medical Officer of Akkaraipattu general hospital was on leave, the Police Officers intervened and made arrangements to bring the Judicial Medical Officer A. Ilangowan from Colombo to hold the post mortem examination. He had returned a verdict of a death caused due to choking. Some body parts of this child had been sent to the Government Analyst for further investigations. Accordingly, it is expected that the real cause of his death will be revealed in due course. This type of tragedy could happen when children are left behind to while away time on their own. This tragedy had taken place when the child had been sent to a boutique alone. It has been revealed at the Police investigations that this child had a great liking to vehicles. According to a witness, the child was unable to come out of the vehicle when he entered it because the door of the vehicle had become automatically locked. However, sending children alone for various purposes generally ended up in a tragedy. Further investigations were being carried out by a team of Police officers including the officers of the Crime Investigations Division with the instructions of the DIG Nuwan Wedasinghe on the directions of Ampara Division OIC SP Samantha Wijesekera. In a society created on the influence of science and technology, man-made tragedies seem to be worse than natural disasters. The main reason is the carelessness and the negligence of man. These tragedies can be averted by man himself. May wiser counsel prevail. Courtesy: Sunday Lankadeepa Days after former Foreign Affairs Minister Ravi Karunanayakes resignation, the United National Party (UNP), which he represents, is at pain to control the damage to its credibility. It comes out with the argument that even a Minister is now prevailed upon to relinquish office in case corruption charges are framed against him, due to the principles of good governance cherished by it. UNP newcomers, backbenchers campaign for cases against former regime higher-ups Rajitha, SF want corruption cases of former rule expedited Constitution does not allow special courts to probe corruption cases - Wijedasa Present govt may have to pay for dragging cases at next polls - Patali PC, LG polls on same day? JO senses UK MPs brief reconciliation ministry based on N. Ireland experience In parallel to this argument, the UNP MPs, mostly newcomers or backbenchers, mounted yet another campaign to push for dispensing with cases against higher-ups of the former rule. There were public utterances to that effect by some of them. Against the backdrop, it turned out to be a hot topic at the Cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning. Ministers Dr. Rajitha Senaratne and Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka were more assertive than others in asking for expediting legal action in the instances where investigations have been completed. On one aspect, there was, again, the idea for a separate court to hear and dispense with cases involving the members of the MR regime. Also, there were views expressed at the meeting that an already available court should be designated for the purpose rather than forming a new one. However, Justice Minister Wijeyadasa Rajapakshe ruled out the possibility to establish a new court as it would require a Constitutional Amendment. He opined that the hearing of some cases could be prioritized, subject to the consent of the Chief Justice and the Attorney General by setting up a trial at bar. The similar process was adopted to hear the case regarding the murder of schoolgirl Vidya after rape in Jaffna. It was cited as an example in this instance. The govt is in a grave credibility crisis over the Central Bank bond scam leading to the resignation of a minister has entailed serious issues related to sincerity of the govt that was elected purely on a platform for eradicating corruption. With its anti-corruption ideology shattered, the govt is expediting various means to fill the credibility gap. Petroleum and Petroleum Gas Minister Arjuna Ranatunga, was opposed to the Hambantota Port deal, when he was the subject minister. It was signed after he was posted to the current post at the latest Cabinet reshuffle It made a barrage of allegations against the previous government. Yet, the government has not been able to institute legal action leading to conviction in any of the cases so far. As such, the veracity of allegations is questioned by people. In an effort to counteract the situation and give legitimacy to what they said, the government is pushing for legal action. In the process, Minister Rajapakshe is taken to task. He draws flak from his colleagues constantly, who accuse him of delaying cases deliberately for political ends. Not that alone, some members have proposed to bring a no confidence motion against him. These UNP backbenchers called on the Prime Minister to discuss it. However, it is learnt that the PM had asked them to engage President Sirisena as the authority appointing ministers rather than proceeding with no confidence motion. At Tuesdays Cabinet meeting, Megapolis and Western Development Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka, however, said it was too late for the govt to deal with this matter. He charged that the cases were delayed purely due to politically-driven reasons. He said the govt could have acted on corruption issues and dispensed with them within the shortest possible time after its formation in 2015. He viewed that the move to speed up investigation after the lapse of two years would make a mockery of the govt in the public eye. Before that, at a press conference he said the govt had a moral ground after the resignation of Ravi Karunanayake to act against the wrongdoings of the Rajapaksas as well. He seems to be having a tiff with the govt for what he termed the protracted delay in hearing cases against the Rajapaksas. In fact, he said the current govt would have to pay for it at the next election. Parliamentarian Sarath Fonseka who served a jail term during the term of the last govt said the former administration cared about nothing in the case of his incarceration. In this manner, he asked why the incumbent govt was citing the flimsiest of excuses in dealing with corruption and frauds. Arjuna still batting for Hambantota Port Petroleum and Petroleum Gas Minister Arjuna Ranatunga, was opposed to the Hambantota Port deal, when he was the subject minister. It was signed after he was posted to the current post at the latest Cabinet reshuffle. However, he seems to be fighting for his stand still. He made observations about the port deal at Tuesdays cabinet meeting. Port and Shipping Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe said he would reply next time. After Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), at its Central Committee meeting decided to oppose the 20th Amendment to the Constitution, it has become, more or less, certain that the govt will be compelled to conduct the elections to three Provincial Councils (PC) due this year. The Joint Opposition leaders met with former President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Tuesday evening to discuss modalities for the election if declared. The JO has sensed that the govt is planning to conduct both the PCs and local authorities elections on the same day and the date would be chosen this year. If only the PC elections are conducted, it would be confined to three provinces this time. Then, the JO can exert its entire resource base to this limited number of electioneering areas. However, it believes that the govt is trying to scatter its resources all over the country for electioneering by calling for the local authorities election also on the same date. The govt believes that it could weaken the position of the JO in this manner. The govt thinks we could be weakened in this manner. So, we are getting ready for that eventuality, a source from the JO said. UK MPs brief reconciliation ministry on Nothern Ireland experience A four-member delegation of UK Parliamentarians visited Sri Lanka and shared their experiences on reconciliation strategies and mechanisms with special focus on Northern Ireland at a programme organized by the Ministry of National Integration and Reconciliation. This programme was initiated and supported by the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and the Parliamentary Sectoral Oversight Committee on Reconciliation chaired by TNA parliamentarian Mavai Senathirajah. The UK Parliamentarians represented a cross party delegation representing Conservative Party , Labour Party, Scottish National Party and other minor parties including Belfast City Councillor, in Northern Ireland. The UK Parliamentarians shared experiences of their country in the reconciliation process, peace building and related reforms. They also had lengthy discussions on reconciliation strategies with their local counterparts, provincial councillors, senior govt officials and development partners. The Parliamentarians discussed on constitutional reforms, devolution, land issues and compensation, missing persons issues, resettlement programme, community police and remodelling the justice framework and accountability, economic reforms, skills and education, memorialization, truth-seeking and many other aspects. The delegation provided briefing on the Northern Ireland reconciliation strategies. The Sri Lankan reconciliation strategy was presented by V.Sivagnanasothy, Secretary, Ministry of National Integration and Reconciliation. The Sri Lankan initiative included the National Reconciliation Policy and the Policy on Durable solutions for displaced; integration friendly school programme for unity and reconciliation; Sunday school programme to educate reconciliation and peace building; integration of friendly media and peace journalism; district reconciliation committees to address ethnic and religious tensions; healing programmes; economic empowerment programmes for IDPs, refugee-returnees, women-headed families, ex-combatants and the disabled. The Sri Lankan reconciliation intervention included healing and reparation programmes covering housing programmes, water supply and sanitation; schools and health investment programmes, other economic infrastructure interventions such as roads, bridges, ferry services, jetties and other transport infrastructure. The programme was attended by the visiting UK Parliamentarians, V.Sivagnanasothy - Secretary, Ministry of National Integration and Reconciliation, Priyanka Hettiarachchi - Country Representative for Westminster Foundation, Paul Green - First Secretary, British High Commission in Sri Lanka, UN Resident Coordinator Una Mc Cauley, Riyanawathi - representative, UNHCR, Senior govt officials, civil societies and donors. The landing of the Emirates A380 aircraft at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) proves that the newly resurfaced runway is suitable for the landing of any aircraft, Civil Aviation Minister Nimal Siripala de Silva said yesterday. He said several media reports and some politicians had claimed that the runway, resurfaced after 30 years at a cost of Rs.7.2 billion, was not up to international standards and was unsuitable for large aircraft such as an A380 to land on. The Aviation Ministry said the 3,350-metre-long and 75-metre-wide runway, which was opened for operations in April after a three-month long period of renovation could accommodate an Airbus A380. I am happy that all misconceptions will be cleared after the landing of the Emirates A380 aircraft on Monday, helping Sri Lanka and the airport to achieve an aviation milestone. It proves that Sri Lanka now has a runway which could handle any aircraft in the world, the minister said. The special one-off Emirates A380 flight EK654 from Dubai had 524 passengers on board. The minister said Emirates officials had agreed to operate an A380 flight monthly initially from Dubai to Colombo . It will bring more tourists to the country and help develop the tourism industry as well, the minister said and added that several development projects had been launched at the BIA under the second phase. He said the Mattala Airport would be developed to function as a popular airpovrt in the country with a project initiated with the Indian investors to bring aircraft to the MRIA.(Darshana Sanjeewa) At least 175 people have died and thousands have fled their homes as monsoon floods swept across Nepal, India and Bangladesh, officials said Monday, warning the toll could rise as the extent of the damage becomes clear. Three days of relentless downpours sparked flash floods and landslides that have killed at least 80 people in Nepal, 73 across northern and eastern India and 22 in Bangladesh. Around 200,000 people are living in emergency camps in Assam in northeast India, which suffers frequent flooding during the annual monsoon rains. Another 15,000 have had to leave their homes in the eastern state of Bihar, which borders Nepal and where one official said seven rivers were at danger levels. All trains to the northeast have been suspended until Wednesday, with sections of the track completely submerged in water, Indian railway spokesman Anil Saxena told AFP. In Nepal, ariel photos taken by an AFP photographer showed huge swathes of land in the southeast still underwater Monday afternoon. Police said over 48,000 homes have been totally submerged by the floods across Nepals southern plains. As emergency workers struggled to reach far-flung areas, the countrys home ministry said another 36 people were missing, presumed dead, revising down an earlier count after more bodies were found. The Nepal Red Cross warned that shortages of safe drinking water and food could create a humanitarian crisis in the impoverished Himalayan country. -AFP Police spokesman Ruwan Gunasekara said Police Chief Pujith Jayasundare was mulling legal action against a website that published defamatory remarks about him and a video clip depicting him threatening a minor employee of the Police department. The video clip that went viral on social media websites took centre stage at the weekly Cabinet news briefing today. The police spokesman tried his best to defend the Police Chief answering a barrage of questions from journalists. He also said the IGP would be taking legal action against the website for distorting and publishing the visuals in a defamatory and malicious manner. Journalist: Why did the IGP attack a lift operators without any provocation? SP: No, no, he never attacked him, only questioned him. J: The video shows the IGP holding the employee by his collar and nearly hitting him. What prompted the IGP to do that? SP: The Police Headquarters has allocated a few minutes for meditation after the national anthem is sung and before starting our duties. This man has not done that. J: For what purpose is meditation? SP: For mental tranquility and discipline J: Does it apply to all those at the Police HQ? SP: Yes J: In that case, is this the IGP maintains his mental tranquility and discipline? There is laughter at this response. J: What is this story involving an incidence of sexual harassment of a receptionist? SP: I dont know really. Social media websites act in a malicious manner with vengeance. We are going to take legal action against this institution for defamation. There are 17 lawyers among police officers and they are reviewing this ugly episode and will take appropriate legal action. J: A recent UN report has said police torture is widely prevalent in Sri Lankan police stations. This incident will reflect badly on Sri Lanka and vindicates what the UN report says. SP: When the IGP was on his morning inspection round this employee was not there. J: This minor employee has complained about other incidents of harassment against him also. SP: I am not aware. There have been no complaints in this regard though he says so. (Sandun A Jayasekera) Video by RM The biggest and most powerful warship ever built by Britain arrives at her home port today for the first time with photographs revealing what life will be like on and below her four-acre decks. HMS Queen Elizabeth will send a message to the UK's allies and enemies that the country means business, according to her captain. The 3billion behemoth is set to be the nation's future flagship, and her 700-strong company plus 200 contractors are poised to enter Portsmouth Naval Base at around 7am this morning. (Daily Mail) Lakshman Silva CEO, DFCC Bank PLC DFCC Bank PLC announced the appointment of Lakshman Silva as the Banks new CEO, with effect from 16th August 2017. With his extensive background and expertise in the financial services and banking industry, Lakshman Silva will help to steer DFCC Bank to become one of the foremost and respected commercial banks in the country, embracing a new era of innovation, digitalization and growth. Silva has over 30 years of experience in the financial sector and holds an MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of Management of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura. He also received his B Com (Sp.) from the University of Kelaniya. Commencing his professional career at the Department of Inland Revenue of Sri Lanka, he moved to the financial services industry and joined the DFCC Group in 1987. He was instrumental in promoting and strengthening the diverse range of products and services DFCC bank offers its customers. He previously served as DFCC Vardhana Banks Chief Operating Officer and was thereafter appointed as Chief Executive Officer in 2010. He served in this capacity and took on the position of Executive Director of DFCC Vardhana Bank until September 2015. Following the amalgamation of DFCC Bank and DFCC Vardhana Bank, Lakshman Silva was appointed as the Deputy Chief Executive of the amalgamated DFCC Bank PLC. Following his appointment as CEO, he will now take over the strategic management and leadership of DFCC Bank driving the commercial banking business while continuing to promote and encourage project financing services with the expertise that DFCC has honed over six decades as one of the premier development banks in Asia. Commenting on his new role as CEO of DFCC Bank PLC, Lakshman Silva said, I am honoured to continue my journey with DFCC Bank, in the capacity of CEO. DFCC Bank is now a fully-fledged dynamic, commercial bank that has successfully evolved to meet the changing needs of consumers and businesses. The Bank is focused on offering the best in customer service and providing tailor made financial solutions for Sri Lankans from all walks of life. I look forward to the opportunity to build upon the current financial growth that the bank has displayed in recent years, whilst leading and executing the banks long-term strategy in a way that adds value to our customers and shareholders. DFCC Bank is well poised to make a quantum leap in our business operations, both local and international, and I am excited to serve at the Banks helm during this momentous time. Lakshman Silva has also served as a Past President of the Association of Professional Bankers of Sri Lanka. He is also a Director of Synapsys Limited, Acuity Securities Limited, Acuity Partners (Pvt) Limited, DFCC Consulting (Pvt) Limited, Lanka Ventures PLC, LVL Energy Fund Limited, Lanka Financial Services Bureau Limited, Lanka Industrial Estates Limited and Sri Lanka Banks Association (Guarantee) Limited. A peace assembly was held Tuesday in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, to commemorate the 72nd anniversary of Japan's unconditional surrender in World War II. Members of an anti-war NGO based in Kobe, Japan attend a peace assembly at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, Aug. 15, 2017. [Photo: Xinhua/Ji Chunpeng] Representatives from countries such as China, Japan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Jordan attended the assembly in the Nanjing Massacre Victim's Memorial Hall, mourning the 300,000 people who died in the massacre in the name of world peace. On Dec. 13, 1937, Japanese troops began six weeks of destruction, pillage, rape and slaughter in Nanjing. More than 300,000 Chinese, including unarmed soldiers and innocent civilians, were murdered. Hida Yuichi with Japan-based Kobe Student Youth Center laid a wreath and stood for several minutes in silence. It was the 21st time he had attended the peace assembly in Nanjing. He said he had watched a documentary about Unit 731 by Japan's public broadcaster NHK before he visited China and was "shocked" by what he saw. The documentary strengthened his belief in the truth. Regrettably, he said, many people in Japan still denied their war crimes including the Nanjing massacre and Unit 731, a germ warfare unit in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Raqibul Hassan, an overseas student from Bangladesh, held a piece of paper reading "please say sorry." He said the WWII ended 72 years ago. Germany has apologized for its war crimes, but Japan had not. He hoped more Japanese would say sorry to Chinese people. Miyauchi Yoko, head of an anti-war NGO based in Kobe, Japan, said young Japanese still think that they were the victims because of the U.S. use of the atom bomb on two Japanese cities, and do not recognize Japan as the villain of the piece. "Don't take peace for granted. It should be pursued and maintained," said Ali Qadir, a Pakistani student. "Everyone should learn a painful lesson from war." This year is the 72nd anniversary of the end of the war. Every year around Aug. 15, peace-loving NGOs across the world gather in the Nanjing to remember the victims. The Exhibition Hall of Crime Evidences in northeast China's Harbin, built upon the ruins of Unit 731, has received over 1.9 million visitors since it opened two years ago on Aug. 15. According to Jin Chengmin, the curator, foreign visitors account for about 10 percent. Most come from the Republic of Korea, Japan, Russia, Europe and America. The largest tour group to visit came from Japan with over 270 members. In late 1990s, Jin discovered a transfer file which documented people sent to Unit 731 for human experimentation without court trials. So far experts have identified 1,549 victims from the file. In the exhibition hall, a complete evidence chain including the ruins, documents and testimonies, retells Japan's crimes against humanity, Jin said. "However, the Japanese government has remained silent all these years. The NHK documentary sent a message that a large number of Japanese wish to know the truth," he said. Unit 731 was a top-secret biological and chemical warfare research base established in Harbin in 1935 as the nerve center of Japanese biological warfare in China and Southeast Asia during WWII. Civilians and prisoners of war from China, the Soviet Union, the Korean Peninsula and Mongolia all perished at the hands of Japanese scientists. The retreating Japanese invaders blew up the base when the Soviet Union army took Harbin in 1945. In north China's Shanxi Province, the memorial hall of Michael Lindsay and Li Hsiao opened to the public for free on Tuesday. Lindsay arrived in China at the invitation of John Leighton Stuart, headmaster of Yenching University (later Peking University), to teach economics in December 1937. He married Li Hsiao, a Chinese graduate, while transporting supplies to the Communists. Lindsay also built hundreds of radio stations for Communist guerrillas in north China and broadcast news about Chinese attacks behind enemy lines in English to the rest of the world. The couple continued to promote the friendship between China and Britain after the WWII victory. "The spirit of the Lindsays is worth remembering, and the memorial hall aims to record the couple's heroic deeds," said Chang Shuming, a local Party chief. During the past few years, in most cities and suburbs, unprecedented traffic congestion has driven Sri Lanka into a multitude of crises. Of these the worst is air pollution. Most people are inhaling instead of exhaling carbon dioxide. That is perhaps one of the major reasons why more people are falling sick more often and private hospitals have become big business ventures while public hospitals are crowded like market places. Another factor is the waste of hundreds of millions of dollars for the import of fuel. When the new Government took office in January 2015, one of its first measures was to slash the prices of diesel, petrol and kerosene. But the people-friendly and practical step saw Sri Lanka eventually racing to a huge negative impact or dead end. More than 700,000 vehicles were imported that year and the fuel price slash benefits crashed in traffic jams. Another crisis is the loss of precious time for millions of people who are forced to go through stress and strain in the massive traffic congestion especially at peak times from about 6.00 a.m. to 9.00 a.m. and from 5.00 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. From Tuesday, the Megapolis and Western Development Ministry began implementing a comprehensive plan to ease traffic congestion. During the next few weeks in certain areas of the Colombo city and suburbs there will be a special lane for buses and school vans, initially from 6.00 a.m. to 9.00 a.m. Minister Patali Champika Ranawaka, admired as one of the best and most hardworking ministers, has appealed to motorists and the people to give their full cooperation to ease traffic congestion because it will give enormous benefits to all people and to the country. He has also appealed to the free media to help find a solution instead of finding fault. This comes amid claims by some government leaders that some media groups are excessively critical, highlighting the negatives instead of the positives. We also hope that all political parties, civic action groups, religious institutions and others will encourage the people to successfully work out this plan. There are also many other ways in which eco-friendly and responsible citizens could cooperate in reducing traffic congestion which is part of the worldwide battle against climate change or global warming. For instance, more people could use public transport instead of private transport. It may be the more difficult way, but certainly it is the better way for the common good of all and to reduce our carbon footprints. The Government on its part needs to give priority to the improvement and modernization of the State transport system while also taking steps to prevent or curb sexual harassment of girls and women in buses. Strictly enforced regulations are also required to bring about better standards and discipline in private buses. Dangerous speeding is one of their main offences, and we hope that the new regulations against traffic offences will help curb this. Another area is the transport of schoolchildren. Most of them have no option but to use school vans, and thousands of vans come to the cities and suburbs on school days. This is known to be one of the main causes of traffic congestion. Most developed countries including Japan have an efficient and streamlined school bus service, monitored by the school authorities and State transport services. One big school bus, comfortable and with modern facilities, could transport as many children who travel in four school vans. That means instead of 400 school vans there would only be 10 school buses. The saving would be enormous in terms of costs while air pollution and traffic congestion could also be significantly reduced. Here again school authorities and parents need to get together and work this out while the Government gives encouragement and incentives. Until the 1980s, most children travelled in school buses while elder children even used public transport. If some enterprising school authorities could set the example by starting an efficient school bus service, then others would follow. All our religions teach us that we need to be liberated from self-centredness and gradually become other-centred. Thereby we need to work for the common good by becoming eco-friendly and responsible citizens, proactively cooperating in the do or die battle against global warming. Minister of Social Empowerment S.B. Dissanayake, in an interview with the Daily Mirror, spoke about the political situation in the country following the resignation of MP Ravi Karunanayake from his post as Foreign Affairs Minister. Excerpts of the interview: Im not ready to express my personal opinion We have to be thankful that Ravi K resigned Hambantota Port deal highly favourable to Sri Lanka SLFP should decide whether to leave Govt or not Only racists and religious fanatics are against it There are policy contrasts between UNP and SLFP Enforced Disappearance Bill a democratic piece of legislation Q In the context of MP Ravi Karunanayake relinquishing his office as the Foreign Affairs Minister, how do you look at the current political situation? We have to be thankful to him for resigning from his office without compromising the credibility of the Government. I am thankful to him. Q The bond commission was appointed by the Government. Its believed that this has aroused antagonism between the United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) . How true is it? I dont say that there is resentment between the UNP and the SLFP. Yet, there are contrasts in policies between the two. Reconciling them is impossible. It shouldnt be interpreted as ill-feeling towards each other. When a Government is formed by the two sides- regardless of such differences- it creates a whole lot of problems. That is viewed by some as resentment. Its natural. We should be thankful to the President and the Prime Minister for forging ahead with the Government despite these differences and problems. We have achieved a lot for the country as a result of such efforts. Q What are the gains you see? We were able to avert a resolution being mooted against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). This would have had disastrous consequences on the country. If a resolution of that nature was adopted, we would have been labelled as perpetrators of war crimes, who even bombed schools and hospitals. Then, we would have faced economic sanctions from Europe at least. Then, it would have caused a huge problem to our apparel, rubber, pepper and cinnamon markets. Secondly, the Government was able to enact the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. The Presidential powers were pruned and vested with the Independent Commissions. These are gains for the country. Q The 19th Amendment has been in operation for two years. The credibility of the Constitutional Council is disputed as its represented by those directly and indirectly connected with the Government. So, the Governments opinion prevails in the appointment of members to the Independent Commissions. What is your response? The Independent Commissions arent supposed to be anti-establishment. Thats why its chaired by The Speaker. It consists of the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader along with their nominees. It has the Presidents nominee. The Government doesnt have a free hand in its affairs at all. The Prime Minister also cant act on his own. The Constitutional Council does what is more appropriate for the country in the end. Q The Presidents power to dissolve Parliament has been taken away for four and half years by the 19th Amendment. When the country is experiencing a politically chaotic situation, the ultimate choice is a general election. Thats impossible now. What is your view? Parliament can be dissolved with a two-thirds approval in Parliament even now. Q Yet, its highly unlikely to muster the support of a two third in any Parliament for such a purpose. The argument is that there should have been a provision to dissolve the House with the support of a simple majority rather than a special majority. Whats your stand? Its a debatable point. However, the country should avoid a system that provides for constant elections. Its always better for a Government, elected with a public mandate, to function at least for four and half years without any hassle. In the past, the President could dissolve Parliament after one year. It amounted to the callous disregard of public opinion. Now, its a different situation. Elected representatives can govern for four and half years at least. It is a gain in terms of democracy. One shouldnt misjudge it. We asked for the nomination of his brother Chamal-who hasnt any allegations against him- for the post of Prime Minister. However, Mahinda Rajapaksa didnt agree. He came forward as the candidate Q In the implementation of the UNHRC resolution, the Government has been subjected to severe public criticism. Then, how do you view the UNHRC process as a gain for the Government? That is actually due to political slogans. The bill on Enforced Disappearances is such a democratic piece of legislation. That is to criminalize disappearances of persons in Sri Lanka. There is opposition to this bill. Are they supporting the disappearances of people? These are features of an advanced democracy. Those who are against it incite racism and religious fanaticism. Q Upon the completion of two years by the Unity Government, a faction of the SLFP is threatening to quit the Government. As a senior SLFP Minister, do you also believe in it? That is a matter for the party as a whole to decide. The party will decide on it. Its natural that problems crop up when running a Government. Yet, the party should decide. Q What is your personal opinion? I dont like to express my personal opinion in this regard. I am the Treasurer of the party. Also, I am a Cabinet Minister. So, I should refrain from making any comment. Q How do you see the future of the SLFP? At the last elections, the SLFP stood by Mahinda Rajapaksa. At the Presidential elections, we lost even the meager support we commanded from the Muslim, Tamil and Catholic communities. Young voters didnt cast their ballots for our candidate. Our partys General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena defected from us and contested the elections. He won. We asked Rajapaksa to stay away after that. We asked for the nomination of his brother Chamal-who hasnt any allegations against him- for the post of Prime Minister. However, Mahinda Rajapaksa didnt agree. He came forward as the candidate. As a result, his vote base dwindled from 5.8 million to 4.7 million at the Parliamentary Elections. However, the SLFPers stood by Rajapaksa. In fact, we were voted out by our people though we asked him to stay away. Today, the situation is different. At present the party is divided down the middle. Party men are rejecting the Rajapaksa group. The SLFP, as a party, is growing. The Rajapaksa group is getting diluted. It happened in the past. When Maithripala Senanayake, along with Anura Bandaranaike, defected from the party, he had the majority. Finally, he became a nonentity. The same happened when Chandrika Kumaratunga defected along with Vijaya Kumaratunga. Mahinda Rajapaksa is facing a worse predicament compared to others. He decided to conduct the Presidential Elections two years ahead of schedule. He, without consulting anyone, handed over the party to President Sirisena. He should be held responsible for weakening the party. Q But, there is an allegation that the Government harbours fears of conducting elections. In fact, the opposition is challenging the Government to conduct elections if possible? They do so with the motive of obtaining political favours. They play tricks by creating a momentum so that they can keep their supporters together. That is why they talk about toppling the Government in a matter of two Vesak Poyas. But, I dont think that SLFPers will support a new party formed under the Flower Bud symbol. Today, SLFP MPs with the Joint Opposition keep contact with the President. Q Practically, do you believe its possible to mend the differences between Mahinda Rajapaksa and the President? If the former President takes a step back, there will be enough opportunities for it. Q In your view, what is the major policy difference between the UNP and the SLFP? In running the economy, the UNP believes in the private sector playing a pivotal role in production, distribution and services sectors. The SLFP is for strengthening both the state and private sectors. This is the main contrast where policy is concerned. Q Then, how far does the leasing out of the Hambantota Port to a Chinese company conform to SLFPs policy line? It hasnt been given to a Chinese company Q The Chinese company holds majority shares. Isnt it? Investors arent foolhardy to come to Sri Lanka without seeking majority shares in such investments. If they do so, they are foolish. We arent in a position to turn around the Hambantota Port and bring it to a profit making level. We cant recover the losses incurred by the Mattala Airport. We cant even run the cultural theatre profitably. So, we need a robust investor to run all these. We have worked out a deal which is much more in our favour. This agreement is advantageous to us. It will enable us to develop Hambantota as a production exchange hub in Asia. We cant recover the losses incurred by the Mattala Airport. We cant even run the cultural theatre profitably. So, we need a robust investor to run all these. We have worked out a deal which is much more in our favour. This agreement is advantageous to us Q How do you respond to geopolitical connotations that entail this project? We are inviting China to develop the port in Hambantota. At the same time, the Mattala Airport is to be given to India. In Vietnam, the United States is the biggest investor. The United States engaged in a war against Vietnam. The United States withdraw finally in the face of an onslaught by Vietnam soldiers. All the world powers started investing there. Its the same with South Korea. There, they went in for lease agreements running for 400-500 years. Its better for us to attract world powers to invest in Sri Lanka. Its a wise decision to balance out India and China. Q What is your view on the move to postpone the Provincial Council Elections? I dont think the Government wants to postpone the elections. It isnt appropriate to conduct staggered elections throughout the year. Its a good move to conduct the elections on the same date. Q You had issues with former President Chandrika Kumaratunga. She wields a lot of power within the SLFP now. How do you feel when you work together? I dont face any issue as such. I clashed with her over policy matters. We didnt go to President Sirisena. In fact, our party was entrusted in his (Sirisena) hands. After I made a comeback to the SLFP from the UNP, I was determined not to quit the party again. I was invited to join those acting outside the party today. I always told them that I would never leave the party. However, I was projected as someone who would be leaving one day. It was done by the Rajapaksa group. People, in fact, believed in it. The Chief Executive Officer of Oman Air, the national carrier of the Sultanate of Oman, has undertaken a series of high profile visits to Delhi, Zurich and Kuala Lumpur. CEO Paul Gregorowitsch makes regular visits to key locations to meet with the airlines key stakeholders from trade, media and government partners as well as Oman Air personnel, highlighting the importance of these regions to the airline and recognising their contribution to the growing success of the airline. During his time in each region, Gregorowitsch used the opportunity to meet with journalists from the respective countries and respond directly to press enquiries as well as being able to thank the media for their ongoing support first hand. Gregorowitsch said: I have wholeheartedly enjoyed visiting Delhi, Zurich and Kuala Lumpur which comes as part of my annual routine. These routes are of special significance to Oman Air and continue to prove extremely popular with our guests both in Oman and further afield. In a bid to reiterate Oman Airs commitment towards its guests, Oman Air has added more offerings to its range. Notable among those is the increase of flights to Kuala Lumpur and the increased frequencies to certain key Indian destinations. Oman Air launched its first international service in India to Trivandrum in November 1993 and has since launched routes to 10 more destinations across India. Five of these routes are now served by double daily services. Within the last year, the Sultanate of Oman and the Republic of India have agreed to increase the number of flights between the two countries through an open sky air service agreement. This resulted in Oman Air increasing its frequencies on a number of routes, with 21 weekly flights to Delhi, Calicut and Hyderabad and 14 weekly flights to Lucknow. Most recently, the airline introduced a third daily flight from Mumbai to Muscat which increases the overall weekly frequency of flights to India from 154 to 161. Since Oman Air launched its direct flight from Muscat to Kuala Lumpur, demand has grown among guests resulting in an increase in flight frequency and passenger numbers. The airline now operates 14 weekly flights an increase from seven weekly flights on this time last year to the Malaysian capital. Passenger numbers have also grown dramatically from almost 90,000 in 2015 to over 132,000 in 2016. Additionally, Oman Air entered a code-share partnership with Malaysia Airlines earlier this month, connecting their guests to an even wider range of destinations across Malaysia, China and Australia. Oman Airs daily service from Muscat to Switzerlands capital Zurich has also seen an increase in flight frequency due to demand, particularly from business class passengers. Following a codeshare agreement with German airline Lufthansa earlier this year, guests can now enjoy daily flights from Muscat to Geneva via Frankfurt - morning departure with Lufthansa from Geneva to Frankfurt connects to the daily Oman Air Dreamliner service to Muscat and an early morning departure from Muscat allows for a morning arrival in Geneva. Paul Gregorowitsch thanked the trade partners as well as the media in these markets: I would like to thank our trade partners, travel agencies and sales agents who have all been incredibly supportive and contributed to the growing demand on these routes. We look forward to building on our strong relationship with these nations for many more years to come and to boosting the economic and tourism prospects between our countries. Sri Lankan Presidents statement that no party or group can form a Government without his blessings, even if it is shown that the opposition has 113 members - which is an uphill task - may lead to a constitutional crisis and confrontation in the current political turmoil. Nothing could be ruled out based on the current uncertain trends when bribery, corruption, inefficiency in small and large scales , growing as breath for the disappointed of the citizen living with expectations for a Change and Good Governance. Former regime conducted 29 polls at the maturity of the life of PCs and LG bodies Failure to conduct periodic polls in 1982 led to JVP uprising in 80s, and LTTE terrorism that ruined SL for 30 years Ravi Ks resignation a stage to protect real culprits and a fraction of massive corruptions Presidents statement was prompted by number of statements by the opposition claiming change of the government by changing heads as under Article 33(1) of the Constitution (amended by the 19th Amendment) that the Parliament cannot be dissolved for a period of four and half years akin to the infamous referendum of 1983 extending the parliament for a further period of 6 years without a general election which paved the groundwork for the uprising that lasted over thirty years. Referendum was made a part of the Supreme Law by the 4th Amendment to the Constitution by article 2(e) which states unless sooner dissolved the first Parliament shall continue until August 4, 1989.. Similarly under Article 4 of the 19th Amendment, the life of the Parliament is extended by four and half years where the President can hold on to power without dissolving the parliament whatever the circumstances amounting to reintroduction of a similar referendum from the back door, is as undemocratic as the referendum by JR Jayewardene. Ironically it is the present Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe who played a major role in the referendum in 1983, won under controversial circumstances which is still in the public domain. Extension of the life of an elected Parliament at the end of the period is the most undemocratic act by a group of Honourable Trustees of the people appointed to govern the country as trustees for a limited period which today amounts to Executive and Parliamentary dictatorship. Presidents blessings in the present context is a controversial statement when he is answerable to the Parliament as an impartial umpire in the head of the State claiming to be impartial and democratic claiming to be ruled under good governance. In addition to the legal basis of the mood and the expectations and agitations of the citizen in general are considered to be seriously based on the future ground situation and circumstances. Sadly the govt is finding ways and means to postpone/avoid elections on local and provincial elections due soon in the guise of a 20th Amendment to the Constitution. Presidents blessings in the present context is a controversial statement when he is answerable to the Parliament as an impartial umpire in the head of the State claiming to be impartial and democratic claiming to be ruled under good governance. Legal basis and morality Above analysis is the legal basis of the issues with are brewing vigorously in the absence of periodic elections the electorate is early awaiting for. Despite series of serious accusations the previous regime conducted 29 elections at the maturity of the life of provincial and local bodies. It is unfortunate the rulers have not learnt bitter lessons and dangerous consequences of not holding periodic elections in/during 1982 that led to the JVP uprising in 80s and LTTE terrorism that ruined the nation over three decades. Electorate should not feel that they are denied of the basic democratic rights of franchise used and enjoyed successfully since independence in an exemplary way for decades/generations. If the electorate is claiming/demanding a change forcible suppression in any way will lead to anarchy and loss of confidence. It will be an enormous task for the opposition to mobilise 113 Members of Parliament for a Change considering the privileges and perks enjoyed by the legislature they embrace with great care irrespective of party politics or any other differences. Everybody enjoys glory of power and the unlimited financial benefits protecting the mafia at any cost until the last moment to earn for generations before being forced out. There is a move for approval of 715 million for the travel expenses of the members of parliament for the month of June is a fraction of the massive burden of the citizen. Former Foreign Minister Ravi Karunanayakas resignation is a stage managed act to protect the real culprits and a fraction of massive corruptions. Suppression of the will/wish of the citizen on technicalities or Presidential powers would not be a wise step as it may explode in an unexpected magnitude, which could only be avoided by holding periodic and impartial elections by the Executive President who is still enormously powerful. Executive dictatorship and /or parliament dictatorship (known as the Parliament Mafia) Dictatorship is a form of govt, in which, a country is ruled by one person or by polity and power is exercised through various mechanisms in order to ensure the countries power remains strong. Power of the President is well centralized despite the hastily and haphazardly approved 19th Amendment tailor made for the President and Prime Minister by Article 17(1) and Article 51 introducing restrictions on the most popular opponents akin to the removal of civic rights of Sirimavo Bandaranaike after the 1977 victory. She was the most powerful and winning contender over JR whose rights were suppressed for the latters victory. Taking Defence, Mahaweli and Environment under President under the 19th Amendment is a tailor made change to the Constitution to benefit President Sirisena and PM Wickremesinghe, who was unsuccessful in 29 elections, compelled to dissolve the parliament prematurely on a technicality during then President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. Sri Lankan Parliament consists of 225 members enjoying privileges, and perks unparalleled to any other parliamentarians anywhere in the world. They are paid high salaries, salaries for staff, housing, insurance, food at extremely cheap rates and transport in addition to the vehicle permits they sell illegally with enormous profits. The privileges and perks accruing are unlimited and all the members are united in enhancing perks and privileges though they fight tooth and nail on all other matters. Every member has a craze for expensive vehicles and the public action case instituted by an activist lawyer Naganande Kodiththuwakku, that 100 Parliamentarians have sold their car permits illegally at a loss of 3.1 billion to the citizen. Sri Lankan Parliament consists of 225 members enjoying privileges, and perks unparalleled to any other parliamentarians anywhere in the world. They are paid high salaries, salaries for staff, housing, insurance, food at extremely cheap rates and transport in addition to the vehicle permits they sell illegally with enormous profits At the courts, the Attorney General has undertaken to initiate legal proceedings, no steps have been taken so far. These hundred are those who are exposed when all, or most others, including the party leaders and those holding high positions have enjoyed the benefits. Others are no angels with skeletons on their cupboards. There is a weak opposition of 16 MPs whose mandate is to look after the North and East voting with the govt in the Parliament and supporting them at every turn. Now that all political parties have joined together to enviously safeguard and protect their benefits at any cost, it is hard for a split group to mobilize 113 members for a change unless there is a strong swing compelling opponents to unite. Constitutional crisis in the making Major Constitutional changes are due with the appointment of a Public Representation Committee for a new constitution and Committees in the Parliament despite a number of other schools of thoughts that the Constitution should be amended without going for a new Constitution due to most controversial issues on Religion, Devaluation, Unitary nature of the State and provisions on Reconciliation, when the citizen is more interested on water and electricity cuts, drought, after effects of the floods, blast at the SL Armys arms storage depot, Uma Oya, cost of living and Hambantota agreement with a private Chinese Company and plans of sale allegations of sell off of family silver. The Proposed 20th Amendment to hold the provincial elections on the same day and not holding elections of the provincial and local councils as scheduled is a dangerous move with ulterior motives to postpone elections they are scared to face. It appears that the govt intends postponement of elections due to unpopularity and other scandals that have made issues complicated. Would these unwise steps ease the tension or explode is a matter left to the citizen and the political activists. We wish and pray the Trustees of the Nation be wise rulers. A protest march was carried out by a group of former employees of the Textile Department from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce towards the Prime Ministers Office today against the alleged attempts to privatize institutions under the Department. Pics by Nisal Baduge Daring to reach greater heights, for IronOne Technologies Co-Founder and CEO Lakmini Wijesundera, the sky is the limit for success. In a nutshell, her mantra for triumph is high risk, high return. Wijesundera played a key role in highlighting the local IT sector on the global stage this year by being part of the Entrepreneurial Winning Women (EWW) Asia-Pacific programme 2017, by Ernst &Young (EY), as a top women entrepreneur in the region. With this prestigious inclusion, she became the first Sri Lankan to achieve this great feat and stood among fifteen leading businesswomen named to 2017 EY Asia-Pacific programme. Wijesundera, who is driven by change and challenge, recently sat down with Mirror Business to share her experience of the once in a lifetime opportunity that transformed her approach towards growth and taking a local entity to the global platform. Following are the excerpts from the interview: You were included in the EYs Entrepreneurial Winning Women programme this year. What were your immediate thoughts on that? Before I joined the programme I had little awareness of it. I only later learned that I was the first Sri Lanka to be a part of it, probably why I didnt know much about it. When I walked into the programme the first that struck me was that EY is a great brand and I wanted to be a part of it. I wanted to be global, I had aspirations in being in the global top 100, and I knew this would be a platform that would get me there. I must add that being in the top 100, it was what I wanted, but the EY programme changed me completely. The Mumbai visit where we had one week with all the other participants along with the alumni, the energy and the confidence was phenomenal. That exposure and experience was probably the best I received in my entire career. I am contented that I was a part of this programme. It is an ideal platform for a company that has come to some point and feels it is ready to go further. I highly recommend that since help will come from any direction for such entities. Give us a snapshot of the programme. Essentially it is about scaling. They select companies that have the potential of scaling, the aspiration for it. It is not really for a startup. So I am glad that EY as a global group has already accepted that I am in the level to scale up. They are really talking about companies that are can scale up tremendously. What I realized is that scaling is very much about deciding to scale. Anyway we work hard, so whether you want to do a midscale expansion or a massive expansion, its just that the actions are different. When you have a goal you work towards it. For a smaller goal the actions towards it is quite different to what would be employed for a larger goal, but still working hard nonetheless. So we have envisioned where we want to be and we are working towards it. We have kick started and we have picked up our pace. The programme also offered business matchmaking where we were able to meet top companies such as TATA, Mahindra and so on. It worked me since they were the type of clients I wanted and when we pitched, they wanted us. I took so long to go to India since I was told they would copy our products, tough to sell and so on. The fact is that they are massive, other than that they are like just any other. This is a Sri Lanka first, so what significance does this bring to the country? My company IronOne was recognized as being compliant to being a part of that programme that saw top entities from more developed countries participate. So we are competing against such caliber. Being in that forum gave us a lot of opportunity to learn and exchange technological know-how. A big plus was that we were able to showcase the technologies available in our country and our capabilities, which is not so well known around the world despite many achievements in the IT industry. It is really good to be in these forums since it helps us widen our confidence level and aspirations. By not interacting as much, we tend to feel we are not good enough while the reality is that we are on par or even above some of highly recognized entities. We are certainly not far behind. We have the same set of challenges, just a geographical difference. How do you plan on capitalizing on this initiative; on two fronts, for (1) your business (2) the local IT landscape? From our companys perspective we are already capitalizing the exposure by having more intense training and mindset change. Somehow, this was very intense, it just shook me. For my company and the products developed, scaling became a very high priority. It was something that was in the horizon but now we are speeding up. We realized there is no horizon coming and we need to act now, else we will always be talking about a goal. We have a long way to go, but we have started. As for the IT landscape, my view is that I am just one owner in that arena. From the lot, 80 percent to 90 percent are IT services companies, which is fine and what we were also. We now want to be an IT product company. In India the reason they are not competing with me is because they are greatly towards IT services. I personally believe that if we are competing with countries such as India that has more people, we definitely have the talent, so we need to capitalize at that. I feel we are good at product building, but my take is that not much emphasis is given on product selling. That is where I succeeded. IronOne Technologies went out there with confidence. You have to sell, it must be pushed out. That selling I feel the industry lacks. I feel that if I have to do something for the IT industry I have to struggle and do something first. Tell us about your products? We have three key products. The first is BoardPAC. It is a product that allows board directors to access board and committee papers and supplementary information directly to their iPad device. The solution enables efficient secure access to company board papers. The platform has the collaboration enabled for quick decision making. ATRAD, is a stock brokering solution. It is Sri Lankas only Sun Microsystems certified real time, online stock trading system. It enables clients to place orders remotely, view their portfolios and perform transactions with the highest reliability and quality standards. ATRADs ability to provide real-time trade information makes it a powerful tool. It is simple to use and is an ideal solution for online trading and broker back-office operations. Then there is InfoSense. It is a platform offering simplicity to the corporate world. Through its easy to use templates a company can be up and running within a week with their corporate KPI monitoring dashboards and key services. In the local context, what are the pluses and minuses of the industry? A big plus is the access to high quality engineers. I started in this field since Sri Lanka is not a country where it is difficult to get IT staff. We have good developers. The disadvantage I see is that our market is small. There are many vendors competing for the same set. Its not big enough to recover your investment. But it helped to bring the money in initially. Also we lack sales persons for technology based product. As an entrepreneur, what drives you? To a great extent, it is change and challenge. I keep breaking things that get stabilized. I like to be in control. I just try things. I am hugely high risk and ambitious. That has worked well, being bold. Can you pinpoint three areas that are essential for entrepreneur success? Start knowing it is extremely difficult. You have to be ready to risk failure. It is a long journey and not a quick win. Have a big dream, as big as you like it to be. Do not be afraid to think big. And stick long enough, it will come right. Finally I must point out that you need a good support system, which is to have your family on board. Thimal Perera - Deputy CEO, DFCC Bank PLC DFCC Bank PLC announced the appointment of Thimal Perera as the Banks new Deputy CEO, with effect from 16 August 2017. Thimal Perera has more than two decades of experience in the financial services and banking sector, both locally and internationally. In his new role at DFCC Bank, Perera will support the Banks stratagem of innovation, digitalization and growth. Perera was most recently the Deputy General Manager of Hatton National Bank where he guided the retail and SME banking sector. He has also worked previously with HSBC both locally and internationally, the Commercial Bank of Qatar and Barclays Bank PLC in the United Arab Emirates. During his tenure at HSBC, he was the Regional Head of Cards and Digital Channels overlooking the Middle East and North Africa Region and was the Director of Retail Products and Business Banking for Barclays Bank Plc in the UAE. While at HNB he also served as a board member of HNB Assurance PLC and HNB General Insurance Ltd, having functioned as a member of the Board Strategy Committee, Board Audit Committee and Board Related Party Committee of these companies. He was also a Board Member of HNB Grameen Ltd and was the Chairman of the Board Audit Committee and a member of the Board Strategy Committee, Board Credit Committee and Board Related Party Committee of HNB Grameen. I am honoured to be appointed to this new role of Deputy Chief Executive, stated Thimal Perera. I am joining the leadership of DFCC Bank at an exciting time in its growth, when innovative strategies in retail banking are being introduced. Pereras experience in the global banking and financial services sector will serve him well as DFCC Bank becomes a key financial player in the globalized financial services sector. This is a time when Sri Lankas economy is becoming closely connected with the global financial sector, and that will bring more opportunities and potential for growth in the banking sector in the country, Perera states. Thimal Perera is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka and a finalist of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants UK. Vijaya Nandasiri was greater than his successors in Sinhala comedy the same way that Joe Abeywickrema was greater than his predecessors. The latter was the apotheosis of Eddie Jayamanne. He was of course greater than Eddie could be, since Eddies roots were in the theatre, never really on film. Vijaya, on the other hand, was the grand culmination of everything that Joe stood for, with the caveat that the one was manifestly different to the other. He is the last comic we can claim as of today, since everyone else, as I pointed out in my last article, was and are at best mimetic. Despite their differences, both began their careers as comic foils, whose function in the movies they were in was to console the protagonists. In the sixties Joe was almost always this foil, with Getawarayo (opposite Gamini Fonseka) and Dahasak Sithuvili (opposite Henry Jayasena). The seventies saw him emerge as his own player, good and redeemable except when he was the antihero or villain, in which case he was either doomed to suffer and die (Welikathara and Bambaru Avith) or to disappear from the story altogether (Suddilage Kathawa and Adara Hasuna). The only difference between them was this: while Joe belied a serious facade even in the most absurd dilemmas, Vijaya could at most only pretend to such a facade. Vijayas inability to hide the absurdity of whatever situation he was in proved to be his strength just as his ability to so do proved to be Joes. Even in Kolamba Sanniya, the most enduring tribute to Sinhala comedy ever conceived on film (lavishly produced, it was a lavish hit at the box-office), you never distrust his ability to walk on a tightrope. As funny or inescapable some of the dilemmas hes in are, he escapes them, trumping his own familys expectations of him by contesting as a politician in his area. Hes a man of order, of method, even though he deceives us into thinking that hes not. Yuri Gagarin, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy; they are all my cousins! he pompously remarks in Kolam Karayo. We disbelieve him, obviously, but not the sincerity and conviction with which he utters it. The opposite was true for Vijaya Nandasiris characters. Im an honest man! he parrots out as Rajamanthri. We believe neither the remark nor the confidence and conviction. Because both the man and his ideals are never what they seem, he was almost always a trickster, a conman, a deceiver no matter how good his intentions were. His characters were all vain, conceited, and self-centred, interested in what was out there only as long as it served him. He was that kind of figure in Nonawarune Mahathwarune and Yes Boss. Loud but never too loud, brash but never too brash, his characters were almost always cowards when it came to grappling with reality. He revelled in having no self-respect even when we ascribed to him some sense of honour and dignity. In Nonawarune Mahathwarune Premachandra flirts with the woman next door (Sanoja Bibile) though we never get why the latter returns his affections (is she tired of her husband, or is she truly infatuated with her idiotic neighbour?). As Senarath Dunusinghe in Yes Boss, the situation is reversed; he has to suffer another man playing around with his wife, the problem being that the man happens to be his employer who doesnt know that they are married (because couples cant work at the same office). You wonder why he doesnt resign to seek shelter in another agency, but then there wouldnt be a story in the first place, would there? He revelled in having no self-respect even when we ascribed to him some sense of honour and dignity. In Nonawarune Mahathwarune Premachandra flirts with the woman next door (Sanoja Bibile) though we never get why the latter returns his affections (is she tired of her husband, or is she truly infatuated with her idiotic neighbour?) Vijaya represented our contempt for womanisers, cuckolds, and politicians by turning them into stereotypes to be laughed at. In Nonawarune Mahathwarune he was the womaniser, in Yes Boss he was the cuckold (though his wife only pretends to give in to their bosss advances), and as Rajamanthri, easily the most recognisable comic figure in our cinema from the past 20 or so years, he was the politician. It was as Rajamanthri that he prospered, even in those movies where he wasnt him (as with Sikuru Hathe, King Hunther, and Magodi Godayi). Joe could never quite transform our contempt for his characters because they werent contemptible in the first place; they were either lovable or hateful. His calm exterior never betrayed itself, as I pointed out before, whereas for Vijaya it always would. Some years ago I watched a miniseries on Rupavahini about a politician and his driver. Vijaya Nandasiri was the politician, Vasantha Kumarasiri the driver. And yet I sensed something odd about them. Their voices were different. The dubbing team had synced one actors with the other, a feat that survived the first 10 or 15 minutes of the first episode, after which these two meet a horrible accident which (inexplicably) leaves both onlookers and relatives confused as to which body is whose. Because both are so near dying, a quick surgery is followed by a quick plastic surgery, in which the wrong face is placed on the wrong body. The voices are back to the correct actor. In hindsight this was an unnecessary gimmick, but it was also a welcome gimmick, since for the rest of the story the driver becomes the conservative believer in authority and the politician the radical believer in Marx. Crude, and rather one-dimensional, but fun. And it wasnt just a change of voice: it was also a change of spirit, of two contradictory personalities transplanted to each other. That was Vijayas charm. You could never anticipate anyone other than him, when he was there. If Joe was redeemable because he was at the receiving end of some confusing dilemma (like the baby he has raised in Punchi Baba, or the lifestyle of Colombo he has to get used to in Kolamba Sanniya), Vijaya was unredeemable because he was at the other end, always provoking if not unleashing some havoc. Its probably not a coincidence that in this respect, his characters were always middle class, consumerist, often in professions that called for security, stability, sometimes status: as a Junior Visualiser in an advertising agency in Yes Boss, the chief in a security firm in Sir Last Chance, and a sergeant in Magodi Godayi. Where he was his own man the magul kapuwa in Sikuru Hathe or the bumptious Rajamanthri in so many movies and TV series he wasnt a provocateur, but a lovable antihero. And like all antiheroes, he conceals goodness because he himself despises it, like in Sikuru Hathe, where all those deceptions he commits were for his family, especially his daughter. Where he was paired with another actor, he failed. He was his man, so when in Methuma he and Sriyantha Mendis are caught as two lunatics by a veda mahaththaya in some village, he didnt really shine the way he had in Ethuma. Even in Magodi Godayi, opposite Gamini Susiriwardana, he was less than he usually was. Yes Boss and Nonawarune Mahathwarune had him among a plethora of other actors, to be sure, but then he was on his own there. He could have been in his own world. So once he was cast with another actor, he couldnt give his best. He could give his best only if his co-star was alert and alive to his range, or if his character was of a lesser breed than that co-star. That is what transpired in King Hunther, where he could be himself opposite Mahendra Perera for two reasons; because Mahendra was a versatile comic actor himself, and because Hunther was from a different time, so different and long ago that this present world (in which Mahendra is an escaped convict) is outlandish, overwhelming. It needed time to get used to, and that meant getting used to the first two people he befriends: Mahendra and Anarkali Akarsha. Vijaya Nandasiris triumph then was his gift at getting us to feel for unfeeling antiheroes. Sometimes he could trump us, as Joe often did, like in King Hunther, when he hears that the politician who befriends him to further his own interests has decided to kill him off, and surreptitiously escapes. You never thought he was capable of such a feat, but thats how the movie ends. In vindicating his faith in us, he was getting us to vindicate our faith in him, no matter how idiotic he was. He couldnt be like that as Rajamanthri because he was not reflecting our contempt for figures of authority, but downright embodying it. When, towards the end of Suhada Koka, he is killed off by an assassin acting on the orders of the second-in-command to the Prime Minister (W. Jayasiri), theres a homily on the corrupting influence of power thats supposed to represent every politicians ultimate fate. And then, just as you come to terms with this end, he wakes up (because it was a nightmare). Youd think hed learn from his fears, but he doesnt. Even after that harrowing fantasy, hes back to being the pompous figure he always was and will be. But in that short sequence he told us everything that needed to be told about the way in which the corrupt could be taught the errors of their ways. Was it a cruel coincidence that the only time Rajamanthri was killed off like that marked the last time Vijaya played Rajamanthri? We dont really know, but perhaps it was more than a coincidence. Perhaps it was the only fitting end to such a career that could be filmed. As the Doklam standoff drags on, China continues its sabre rattling against India. It has threatened to teach a bigger lesson to India than it did in 1962 when it carried out a surprise trans-Himalayan invasion just when the world faced the spectre of a nuclear Armageddon during the Cuban missile crisis between the United States and the erstwhile Soviet Union. Today, Chinas warmongering against India is occurring at a time when another missile crisis is haunting international security North Koreas threat to target Americas Gaum island territory with ballistic missiles Crisis But while China was not involved in the Cuban missile crisis, it is central today to the US strategy against North Korea. A US-North Korea military conflict could easily draw in China, which has vowed to support the hermit kingdom in the event of an American preemptive strike. Consequently, Beijing confronts the possibility of war on two separate fronts the Korean Peninsula and the Himalayas. This could be one reason why China thus far has not acted on its unremitting threats since June 26 to teach India a lesson. India, however, cannot afford to be complacent. Just because Chinese President Xi Jinpings regime has not attacked India thus far does not mean that it wont act even if it finds circumstances propitious for action. New Delhi cannot overlook the fact that China has been systematically mobilising domestic and international support for a possible war with India, which it has painted as the aggressor while claiming to be the aggrieved party. For example, after weeks of shrill war rhetoric, China released a 15-page position paper on August 2 that accused India of invading Chinese territory. It came a day after President Xi, in a speech marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Peoples Liberation Army, vowed not to permit the loss of any piece of Chinese land at any time or in any form. The position paper released by the external affairs ministry obfuscated key facts, including Chinas attempt to alter the status quo by intruding into disputed territory, as it has successfully done in the South China Sea without incurring any costs. The paper essentially was a compilation of what China had previously released through a series of official statements since the standoff began. The only new elements were two claims that India had pulled out most troops from Doklam (an assertion that proved to be false), and that it had notified India in advance of its road-building plan. But if India is an outside party with no role in Doklam, as the paper claimed, why was it pre-notified? Accords Tellingly, China has remained mum on its violation of bilateral accords cited by Bhutan (1988, 1998) and India (2012). It, however, has repeatedly but selectively cited an 1890 colonial-era agreement of dubious relevance to the Doklam dispute. Bhutan was not a party to the 1890 accord, which, in any case, identifies the watershed principle for defining the boundary. The highest ridge line separating river flows runs through Batang-la, not Mount Gipmochi, making Doklam part of Bhutan. The standoff has highlighted Chinas three-warfare doctrine waging media, legal and psychological warfares to win without fighting, in Sun Tzu style, and, in case it failed, to prepare the ground for military operations. A fusillade of fresh warnings to India to back down or face dire consequences has been delivered just this month by the Chinese defence and foreign ministries, the Peoples Daily, the Peoples Liberation Army Daily, the Xinhua news agency, and other state mouthpieces. Actually, Chinas unceasing war rhetoric against India has paralleled US President Donald Trumps apocalyptic threats against North Korea. But even as Chinas harsh words and warmongering against India persist, Xi, paradoxically, has sought to present himself as the voice of reason by calling for US restraint on North Korea. The American press has published Xis call for dialogue and negotiations to find a diplomatic solution to the North Korea issue without citing his opposition to similarly settle the Doklam issue with India. Even as Xi urged the US to stop hurling threats at North Korea, Beijing has been busy hurling almost daily threats at India. Strategy The Doklam crisis shows India has yet to develop a countervailing strategy to Chinas three-warfare doctrine, aimed at achieving goals through non-kinetic weaponry. Chinas bullet-less three warfares against India since June 26 mock Prime Minister Narendra Modis assertion at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum in Russia in early June that despite the boundary dispute not a single bullet has been fired. In fact, China, without firing a shot, has been chipping away at Indian and Bhutanese lands for years. India must be vigilant that Chinas bullet-less aggression can rapidly turn into a full-fledged, 1962-style invasion. Deception, tactical surprise, shrewd timing and blitzkrieg (lightning war) have been common elements in Chinas use of military force since 1950 in order to stun the enemy and achieve quick results. India must be ever ready to battle the enemy with its full strength, ingenuity and ability, and inflict serious reverses on the invading forces. Over the past two months, there has been much debate over India's reaction to Chinese road construction in Doka La (Doklam) plateau, a narrow strip of land that sits in between China, Bhutan and India. Historically, this is an area of dispute between Bhutan and China. For India, Doklam is Bhutanese territory claimed by China. So, in this great regional war and continuing cartographic aggression by China, what were the options in front of Bhutan and for India. I met the Bhutanese delegation in Kathmandu on the sidelines of BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) ministerial meet. They refused to speak on the current crisis completely, but emphasised that the matter be resolved "peacefully" and "amicably". The fact that the aggrieved nation does not wish to comment on this issue at all goes to show the vulnerability of Bhutan. More so, how dependent Bhutan is on India to keep its sovereignty intact. Despite the ramifications of taking on China, India was undeterred in honouring the bilateral understanding between Bhutan and India to protect each other's national interests. Is India prepared? So, India went to the rescue of Bhutan even though the latest report of the comptroller and auditor general suggests that with only 20 per cent of its critical ammunition available, there is not much that the military has to fight with. China might have miscalculated India's response. Despite the fact that according to the same report the current defence budget has been reduced by 0.9 per cent to 1.56 per cent of the GDP, the lowest since prior to the 1962 conflict. Why then did India move in? A crisis with many layers but just one option. China's cartographic and maritime aggression is not unknown to the world. Changing narratives to suit the change in status quo is also not new but what is new is India's response. That there was a realisation in the Indian security establishment that any kind of allowance in an area that could compromise the security of both Bhutan and India was out of question. Would diplomatic engagement by India have helped matters? Not really. The dip in India-China relations because of India's growing engagement with US and Japan is one of the major reasons why an absolutely riled China was provoking India. But China might have miscalculated India's response. India entering Chinese territory and risking ties with the latter surely has come as a shock. But for India, there wasn't a choice to make - it was either India losing control of her Northeast, and Bhutan her sovereignty or standing up to the might of a powerful giant that is not so invulnerable after all. A battle for hegemony It is a battle for hegemony in the region where China bullies other nations with its military and economic might. While the military supremacy is undoubted, it is the economic supremacy where China needs Indian markets as much as India needs the Chinese imports. Flash China on Tuesday called on the United States to back up Monday's statement by senior U.S. officials that the United States wished to resolve Korean Peninsula issue via diplomatic means. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying made the remarks in response to an opinion piece by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis stressing the importance of a diplomatic solution to the crisis. Tillerson and Mattis wrote in the Monday edition of The Wall Street Journal that Washington has "no interest" in regime change in Pyongyang nor in accelerated reunification of the Korean Peninsula, and that "diplomacy is our preferred means" of changing the DPRK's course of action. Speaking at a daily press briefing, Hua said that China hopes to see concrete policies by the U.S. side towards the DPRK that reflect the views of the two senior officials. "We also call on the DPRK to respond to these remarks," she said. Tensions escalated on the peninsula after the DPRK twice test-fired what it called an intercontinental ballistic missile last month. U.S. President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang that if it continued to threaten the United States, it would be met with "fire and fury." In response, the DPRK warned of the launch of intermediate-range ballistic missiles targeting the waters off the U.S. island of Guam in the Pacific. Hua said China has always believed that the security issue is the crux of Korean Peninsula denuclearization, and that "the key is in the hands of the United States and the DPRK." She said China hopes that all parties concerned will accept China's "suspension for suspension" proposal which requires the DPRK to suspend its missile and nuclear activities in exchange for the suspension of large-scale military drills between the United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK). China will continue to implement UN Security Council resolutions and play an active role in the peaceful resolution of the Korean Peninsula issue, she said. ROK President Moon Jae-in said in a televised speech Tuesday that U.S. military action on the Korean Peninsula may not be taken without Seoul's consent, and the crisis should "absolutely" be solved peacefully. Hua said it is in all parties' interests to solve the issue in a peaceful way. She urged all concerned to show restraint and make a responsible choice to ease the tensions in a highly sensitive and complex situation. The spokesperson also said that it is in line with the fundamental interests of both the DPRK and the ROK to improve bilateral ties via dialogue and promote reconciliation. "We hope the two sides can work together and create conditions to restart dialogue," she said. The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has issued its latest sanctions against North Korea. It has compelled the nation to cut down its exports to $2 billion a year from the current $3 billion. These have impacted export of coal, iron and iron ore, as also restricted the number of workers it can send abroad to work each year, which provide it with desperate foreign exchange. China, the only nation which still backs the country, has supported the sanctions and even agreed to implement it. US President Donald Trump in a tweet thanked Russia and China, which could have utilised their veto, but refrained from doing so. The message goes out clear, North Korea developing nuclear weapons is unacceptable to the world. Even China, for once is frustrated with the regime on its behaviour. China has always feared an influx of refugees, if the situation in North Korea gets critical or war breaks out, hence supports the regime. North Korea obtained its nuclear technology from Pakistan and China. Further, the Chinese support enabled it to develop its nuclear weapons and delivery means, unmindful of international criticism. China has recently been attempting to get North Korea to curtail its nuclear testing, but to no avail. Its ambassador kept requesting for a meeting with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean supreme leader, but was snubbed, forcing China to change its stance. North Korea obtained its nuclear technology from Pakistan and China. (Credit: Reuters photo) The UNSC is determined that this time they would strictly enforce sanctions and even monitor Chinese implementation of the same. Simultaneously, China is worried that if the North Korean regime is replaced, then a unified Korea, allied to the US would be a thorn on its borders. However, a debate still rages if whether sanctions would ultimately restrict the North Koreans. The North Korean regime is paranoid about its security and survivability. It has no concern for its people, who continue to starve, while its leaders live a lavish life. Military parades on special occasions are great shows of pomp, power and splendour, while the population lacks even basic food and medical care. The brainwashing of its population ensures there is almost none who would oppose the regime. With regular purges of those who matter in the country, there is perpetual fear even amongst the top hierarchy. It has the requisite technology for nuclear weapons, as it has regularly displayed in its tests, doubts remain on its ability to mount warheads on its missiles and the accuracy of its delivery means. The fact that an impoverished state is spending most of its GDP on nuclear and ballistic technology, in other words, ensuring its security, without a care for its people, is a sign of paranoia. Hence, since sanctions largely affect the populace, it alone possibly may not be the answer. The impression which North Korea has garnered from other nuclear states such as Pakistan is that possession of nuclear weapons and the technology to deliver it would ensure that no world power would ever attempt to topple the regime, irrespective of how brutal it remains or even if it is recognised as a state sponsoring terror. It has also learnt from the Gulf that being a dictator is not enough, if you do not possess nuclear power. Both Saddam Hussein and Muammar Gaddafi were toppled, despite being powerful figures, for not possessing weapons strong enough to deter the West. Hence, Kim Jong-un would never be willing to place his own regime at risk, irrespective of the cost. For the US, South Korea and Japan, the threat emanates from the unpredictability of Kim Jong-un. He had anyone showing even the slightest disrespect, killed by brutal means, irrespective of his appointment, only to send a message to the rest. North Korea has threatened no other nation, but these three. It has refused numerous overtures for talks, including curtailing of military exercises between the US and South Korea. With a nuclear arsenal in hand, other military options appear to be ruled out. The US has repeatedly resorted to show of force, but the same has been taken as a bluff. Its bombers conducting flying missions, ships in the vicinity, nothing appears to have worked or even impacted North Korea. The deployment of THAAD anti-missile system, has been objected to by China, but North Korea has shown no fear. Even threats by Trump appear to be hitting a wall. The belief that its nuclear weapons would deter any adversary has given Kim Jong-un a feeling of invincibility. His strong control over the masses ensures that they would never rise in revolt, thus he is internally secure. His zero concern of the well-being of the masses, makes sanctions meaningless. Hence sanctions clearly will not be the answer. A close study of the regime would indicate a one-man decision-making nation, with others solely to applaud when asked to. His ability to be ruthless was evident when he used his team to assassinate his own half-brother as far down as Malaysia, irrespective of international norms or when he murdered his uncle, who was his mentor, by tying him to the barrel of a gun. Thus, only by removing the leader would there ever be a possibility of peace. A conventional military operation is not feasible, as a nuclear threat would remain. It thus would need to be a missile strike with accuracy and correctly timed, striking the leader directly. Delaying such a decision may allow this rogue state to develop nuclear and missile technology enabling enmeshing the two to ensure a formidable nuclear deterrent. It is known that the leader is always present on ceremonial events. Hence, accepting collateral damage, a strike should be executed. In case successful, there will not be any retaliatory response as others would prefer seeking peace overtures rather than risking survivability of the state. I read yesterday that female motorcycle enthusiasts refused to be clubbed as "female bikers", the argument being that they were just bike crazy and gender didnt come into play at all, revving up their acceleration into a select club who love their powerful machines. Now, I have ridden pillion on the Bullet all the way yonder in the Himalayas feeling the power of the motor beneath my lovely posterior and I agree with the women - how does gender define the sheer pleasure of taking a turn at 40 degrees at 80 miles an hour, the wind blowing your hair and despite the goggles, letting your eyes water? This can make us ponder. Have we taken political correctness to such extremes that it is easier to use the correct language as evidence of propriety without actually implementing it? It started with us females of course, the movement for equality, of opportunity, payment, rights and anything we chose to do. Israel regularly sends women into its armed forces, the Sabras remained as deadly as ever and we dont think of them as male or female. India is taking baby steps as we worry about "combat conditions". Any company which advertises a job vacancy and then posts at the bottom in an eight-point font that they are equal opportunity employers, dusts its hand off its responsibility, though there is global news that corporate management teams hardly have any women at the top. Image: PC Watch Blog Next thing I am sure is that they will connect it to PMS or something that women become moody at critical junctures of decision-making. Okay, that was meant as a joke. Still why did we insist on an actress being called an actor? Or a chairwoman/chairperson? So, if I was a rich mans mistress would I still be mister? Men really have a neutral prefix. The Mr could be single, married, divorced or just nothing. He will give nothing away about himself with this word. And that is the first rule of gender neutral naming. When we go from Miss/Mrs/Ms, we have already categorised ourselves. Why couldnt we just let it be at Ms? Female. Full stop. Why is sexual orientation at all important? If I ticked heterosexual, would it clarify better who I am especially because "not-getting-any-action", doesnt seem to be an option, despite being the actual truth and a better insight into the state of my mind? And married-but-bored but could do with a distraction be off the books of course? So ticking female, heterosexual is just that: a categorisation which adds or subtracts nothing from a persona. Then why bother? That brings us to that big debate which crops us on and off in bloody battles: Race and colour. Once upon a time when our Father of the Nation was thrown out of a South African first-class compartment, we were all "coloured". But so were the whites white being a colour, duh? The rest were black, brown, yellow or red the only colour the Western world united to fight against. Red was worse than the rest of us, enough to get thrown into a prison for life. However, getting back to the main subject of colour, the brilliant idea to use ethnicity was supposed to make us more comfortable with nomenclature. So blacks became African-Americans, and this assuming that all of Africa is black. Notwithstanding the white Zimbabweans (previously Rhodesians) or Afrikaans who have called Africa their home for centuries, transplanted or not. Would Ethiopian Africans be called black? Which brings it to further segmentation: African-Australian, African-French-American and my favourite: African-Portuguese-Brazilian. And calling a wax procedure, a Brazilian is not being a racist? Maybe it should be a fascist term since it comes to, what should actually be described as, a close shave? What is the politically correct term for being white? Caucasian? Would all of Europe and America be content with that? From Kiev and Moscow to Marseille and Glasgow? And the Turks. I dont even know the answer to that one. The fact that they have been kept out of the EU should give us a clue. The Greeks are there but just about. And Brexit has already proved that there is no United Europe. Neither can all of the West Asia be called Arab. Given the kind merger-marriages happening these days, who remains what in ethnic terms is completely up to the person. You could be a Navajo-Canadian-Chinese-American hanging out with a Shakira-like Lebanese-South-American-LA bombshell and would need to give that person an entire page to fit in the antecedents. I mean there may be some merit in clubbing people on the basis of colour just to ease out the confusion. We Indians do it all the time, especially when it comes to our girls: Fair to wheatish, light brown to dark. Religion is even tougher. You could run a Google search and I got 1.2 million hits in less than a second when I tried "Christian denominations". Try designing a passport application drop down around that one? Okay, we are officially getting ahead of ourselves. And the Hindus, who are new to this supremacy game have no clue themselves and would need to debate hotly what constitutes the true Hindu, but I believe hoisting the national flag in barefeet qualifies you as one. Why not do it while standing up to your ankles in cow dung? It could purify the Hindu further. Arent we getting too caught up in saying the right terminology instead of doing the right thing? Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy Funeral for Heyer to be at Paramount Theater Wednesday Heather Heyer, the woman killed by a car driven into a crowd near Charlottesvilles Downtown Mall on Saturday, will be remembered at a service at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Paramount Theater. Heyer, 32, was among a mass of counter-protesters gathered at Fourth and Water streets after the white nationalist Unite the Right rally at nearby Emancipation Park was broken up by authorities. Doors for the memorial service will open at 10 a.m. and seating will be first-come, first-served. Guests will be welcomed into The Paramounts auditorium. Accommodations have been made for overflow attendees to watch the service via live-stream. U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., and Gov. Terry McAuliffe have both announced they will attend the service. Attendees are asked to wear something purple, Heyers favorite color. Posters or signs and food and drink will not be permitted. Backpacks will be subject to search. No firearms will be allowed into the building. Attendees are asked not to hold seats or places in line for others out of courtesy for fellow attendees of the service. For more information, visit theparamount.net. Services for troopers killed in helicopter crash set Funeral arrangements have been announced for the two Virginia State Police helicopter pilots who died when their aircraft crashed in Albemarle County on Aug. 12. Visitation for Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates will be held at the Nelson Funeral Home, 4650 S. Labrnum Avenue, in Richmond on Aug. 17 from 1 - 3 p.m. and again from 5 - 7 p.m. Funeral services will be Aug. 18 at 11 a.m. at St. Pauls Baptist Church, 4247 Creighton Road, in Richmond. Visitation for Lt. H. Jay Cullen will be Aug. 18 from 5 - 8 p.m. at Bennett Funeral Home, 14301 Ashbrook Parkway, in Chesterfield County. A funeral service will be held at 10 a.m. Aug.19 at Southside Church of the Nazarene, 6851 Courthouse Road, in Chesterfield. Those wishing to support the Cullen and Bates families may contribute financially through the Virginia State Police Association Emergency Relief Fund. Monetary donations can be made by check payable to VSPA-ERF with Jay Cullen and/or Berke Bates noted in the memo. Donations may also be made through PayPal at vspa.org/initiatives/emergency-relief-fund. When donating through PayPal, please be sure to note the donation is for Lt. Cullen and/or Tpr. Bates in the comment section. Checks can be mailed to the VSPA ERF, 6944 Forest Hill Avenue, Richmond, VA 23225. All donations to the VSPA-ERF are tax deductible, and 100% of the donation goes to the families. For more information, contact the association at (804) 320-6272. UVa foundation raising money for injured The University of Virginia Health Foundation has created a fundraising page to assist those injured during the rally and counter-protests. Contributions made to the fund will support medical expenses for patients at UVa Medical Center and Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital who were injured and impacted. Donations can be made at: http://get-involved.uvahealth.com/goto/CvillePatientSupport. Thank you for joining our efforts to promote tolerance, respect, and healing in Charlottesville and to care for those in need, the page reads. Gifts may also be made via check, payable to UVa Health Foundation and mailed to: UVa Health Foundation, ATTN: Charlottesville Patient Support Fund, P.O. Box 400331, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4331 For more information contact Maggie Patton at MAP5D@hscmail.mcc.virginia.edu or (434) 924-8800. Ace closes after confrontation with men who gave Nazi salute On Sunday, a small group of people went to Ace Biscuit & Barbecue for lunch, but were asked to leave after one of the men threw a Nazi salute, according to business owner Brian Ashworth. Ashworth said he was angry to see the men enter his restaurant wearing Make America Great Again shirts and a Nazi heavy metal band shirt but decided to serve them because there were no other customers in the dining room. After getting into a verbal altercation with Ashworth, the group left, but Ashworth decided to close the restaurant for the rest of the day to keep his staff and customers safe, he said. Ashworth voiced his displeasure at the groups of white supremacists who converged on Charlottesville Saturday, but said the community will heal. Well bounce back and be stronger than ever, Ashworth said. Charlottesville monument protest energized supremacists BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) Emboldened and proclaiming victory after a bloody weekend in Virginia, white nationalists are planning more demonstrations to promote their agenda after the violence that left a woman dead and dozens injured. The University of Florida said white provocateur Richard Spencer, whose appearances sometimes stoke unrest, is seeking permission to speak there next month. White nationalist Preston Wiginton had said he was planning a White Lives Matter rally at Texas A&M University in September, but the university later said it has been canceled. Also, a neo-Confederate group had asked the state of Virginia for permission to rally at a monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond on Sept. 16, but later canceled its plans. Organizer Bragdon Bowling told media outlets Tuesday that Americans for Richmond Monument Preservation is pulling its permit request for the Sept. 16 rally in light of the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. Bowling filed the permit request weeks before the Charlottesville rally. Late-night comedians took serious tone in monologues Monday NEW YORK (AP) The weekends violence in Charlottesville prompted late night comics to strike a serious tone at the top of their shows Monday night. Instead of a traditional joke-filled monologue, Jimmy Fallon opened his show with an emotional condemnation of the attack that left a woman dead and President Donald Trumps failure to immediately denounce the white supremacist groups that organized the rally. Fallon says his Tonight Show isnt political, but its his responsibility to stand up against intolerance and extremism as a human being. Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel also took aim at Trumps delayed condemnation, noting his eagerness to publicly criticize less important issues. Seth Meyers spoke directly to the president with his opening comment, saying, You can stand for a nation or you can stand for a hateful movement. You cant do both. N.C. Gov calls for removal of Confederate statues DURHAM, N.C. (AP) North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper says Confederate monuments should come down and wants the legislature to repeal a law preventing state and local governments from removing them permanently and limiting their relocation. In a message posted Tuesday on the website Medium, Cooper said North Carolina cannot continue to glorify a war against the United States of America fought in the defense of slavery. The Democratic governor says Civil War history doesnt belong in a place of allegiance on our Capitol grounds. There are three such monuments around the old Capitol in Raleigh, along with dozens across the state at county courthouses. Tiki torch company president appalled at products role in protest COLUMBUS, Ga. (AP) The head of the Georgia-based company that makes Tiki torches says he was offended by images of white supremacists marching through Charlottesville, Virginia, using his companys products. W.C. Bradley Co. President and CEO Marc Olivie told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer on Monday that the Columbus-based companys staff was appalled and saddened that the torches were used by people who promote bigotry and hatred. CEOs abandon Trump jobs council amid protest remarks WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump is losing a fifth member of his manufacturing jobs council: AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka. The union leader says: We cannot sit on a council for a president who tolerates bigotry and domestic terrorism. President Trumps remarks today repudiate his forced remarks yesterday about the KKK and neo-Nazis. In remarks Tuesday in New York City, Trump seemed to defend some people marching with white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia. The protest Saturday over the removal of a Confederate statute led to violence and the death of one counter-protester. Among those whove left the panel are the chief executives for Merck, Under Armour and Intel and the president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing. Trump says the departures were due to some of those companies making products overseas. Wilco, other musicians to raise money for Charlottesville Wilco, Wolf Eyes and an indie imprint based in Philadelphia aim at raising funds for nonprofits, legal and medical bills following the events that occurred in Charlottesville on Friday and Saturday. Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy, who wrote on Bandcamp that his father was named after a Confederate general, posted All Lives, You Say? Proceeds from the $1 download are to benefit the Southern Poverty Law Center. In Philadelphia, Get Better Records Alex Licktenhour is working to put together a compilation to help offset medical costs individuals might have incurred following last weekends violence. This is a direct target on fascism and racism, Licktenhour, who started the label in 2010, said. Its important to fight back against any sort of oppression. In the past, he said, the label has contributed funds to local organizations raised at festivals and through other digital compilations. The compilation to benefit Charlottesville is still in the works, and those interested in contributing music can contact Licktenhour at getbetterrecords@gmail.com. Michigans Wolf Eyes posted the six-track No Hate to Bandcamp. Its free to download and currently links to the completed Our Sisters Keeper #HeatherHeyer Go Fund Me campaign. Locally based efforts to raise funds are in the works, according to a handful of arts and music organizations, but nothing yet has been solidified. The idea of relocating the Charlottesville Albemarle Technical Education Center to the main campus of Piedmont Virginia Community College has been discussed on and off for the past few years. The CATEC Board decided Tuesday to initiate further, more in-depth conversations to determine once and for all whether the relocation should and could be carried out. The conversation of co-locating CATEC at PVCC has been going on for a number of years now, and it makes a lot of sense on a lot of levels, but theres some pretty big hurdles, David Oberg, CATEC board chairman and an Albemarle County School Board member, said after the meeting. There comes a point where we have to either move forward, or not. A planned news conference by Jason Kessler, organizer of the white nationalist Unite the Right rally, dissolved into chaos as an angry mob chased him from in front of City Hall on the Downtown Mall. After attempting to make remarks that were drowned out by a chanting crowd, Kessler was whisked away by authorities into the Charlottesville Police Department building. Virginia State Police charged Robert K. Litzenberger, 47, of Charlottesville, with misdemeanor assault and battery after a trooper saw him spit on Kessler, according to a city spokeswoman. Kessler was walking away from his news conference at the time of the incident, police said. Because the charge is a misdemeanor, the spokewoman said, Litzenberger was released on an unsecured bond, and no mugshot was taken. Several in the crowd approached Kessler as he was speaking and shoved him before he was punched. He then fled on foot, led by Charlottesville police. The University of Virginia Medical Center said Sunday that 10 people injured at the rally on Saturday were in good condition and nine have been discharged. The hospital's statement said it had treated additional patients related to Saturdays events, but it did not have an exact number of patients. Virginia State Police arrested three people Saturday related to the planned Unite the Right rally in Emancipation Park and the ensuing disorder. Troy L. Dunigan, 21, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct; Jacob L. Smith, of Louisa, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault and battery; and James M. O'Brien, 44, of Gainesville, Florida, was arrested and charged with carrying a concealed handgun, according to police. Police did not provide further details on the three arrests. Patient update Five of the nine remaining patients at the University of Virginia Medical Center, admitted after Saturdays fatal car incident on the Downtown Mall, have been discharged, and four are in good condition, according to a spokesman. Information on patients treated at Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital could not be obtained Wednesday. FBI sets up tip line The FBI has established a tip line and website for those who wish to submit photos, video or other information about the violence in Charlottesville. After dialing (800) 225-5324, callers should select the option for Recent Events in Charlottesville, Virginia. Tips can submitted at fbi.gov/charlottesville. Charlottesville police also have set up a tip line. Email cvillerally@charlottesville.org or call (434) 970-3280 and include contact information. UVa employee suffers stroke Tyler Magill, a University of Virginia library employee, suffered a stroke Tuesday that is thought to have been caused by clashes with white supremacists at the university on Friday, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported. Magill was admitted to the UVa Medical Center, where doctors found his carotid artery was partially dissected, which caused a clot that resulted in a stroke. It is believed the stroke is the result of blunt force trauma to the neck. A spokesman with the hospital would only confirm that Magill was in fair condition. Magill also was seen Sunday afternoon on the Downtown Mall, chasing after Unite the Right organizer Jason Kessler after his news conference dissolved into chaos. A GoFundMe, gofundme.com/tylers-stroke-of-genius, has been set up to help pay for expenses associated with Magills recovery. Education fund for troopers sons An education fund has been set up for the family of Jay Cullen, one of the Virginia State Police troopers who died in a helicopter crash Saturday. The GoFundMe, gofundme.com/cullenfamilyeducationfund, was established to help pay for his sons future college expenses. Petition: Close off Fourth Street A Change.org petition wants Charlottesville to bar the Fourth Street crossover to traffic. The petition, at change.org/p/charlottesville-city-council-close-the-road-turn-it-into-heather-s-park, is directed to Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer. It would be devastating to see cars driving normally at the location where a beautiful soul lost her life, fighting for modern civil rights, the petition reads. The memorial can become a place of mourning and thought for current and future residents and/or visitors of Charlottesville for the lost lives, as well as those injured and affected by the attack. Similar petitions have been started suggesting myriad uses for the street, such as a park honoring Heyer and the two state police officers who died in a helicopter crash later the same day. Discussion on Thursday Clear Eyes and Full Hearts: Debriefing and Moving Forward after the Events of 8.12.17 will be held at Studio IX at noon Thursday. The discussion will be moderated by Jennifer Phillips, a strategist, writer and speaker. More information is available at facebook.com/events/125407791420343. Studio IX is located at 969 Second St. SE. WTJU to air show for collective healing WTJU 91.1 FM will air Gather Round Cville" from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday, focusing on community healing, understanding and next steps for the community. Listeners can call (434) 218-3329 with their experiences, stories or other thoughts. WTJU particularly wants stories from people with a first-hand connection to events over the weekend, a connection to post-trauma healing and/or connection to thoughtful ways of helping us understand. Recorded stories will air multiple times per hour throughout WTJUs regular music programming, noon to 8 p.m., followed by an on-air roundtable discussion from 8 to 9 p.m. For more information, visit wtju.net. Peace Rally planned A Peace Rally is scheduled for noon to midnight Saturday on the Downtown Mall in response to the violent attacks last weekend. The Facebook page for the event, facebook.com/events/328140600979404, describes the Charlottesville Peace Rally as a nonpolitical event that is not a protest. Organizers said they would prefer that there be no protest signs referring to various hate groups, or the president, according to the event description. Benefit concert on Sunday Come Together Charlottesville, a concert to benefit the Charlottesville Area Community Foundations Care for Victims Fund, will begin at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Jefferson Theater. Doors will open at 6 p.m. Scheduled to perform are Jamal Millner, Allen Saunders, Ivan Orr, Vic Brown, Jay Pun, Mike Taylor, Richelle Claiborne, Matt Horn, Atreyu Jackson, Erin Lunsford, Adar, Joe Lawlor, Tucker Rogers, Kristen Bowden and others. Tickets are $10, and the show is open to all ages. Backpacks are prohibited. Learn more at jeffersontheater.com. Benefit show on Aug. 25 Blue Ridge Irish Music School will present Slanu Charlottesville, a benefit concert for victims and families, from 7 to 9 p.m. Aug. 25 at Cville Coffee. All donations received at the event will go directly to the victims and their families for medical bills and related expenses. For information, visit BRIMStunes.org or call (610) 984-5348. Staunton breadmaker boycotted After a Facebook post about Heather Heyer was made by John Sheffer, of Staunton, who makes Merrywhite Bread, stores have pulled his product from shelves. Sheffer posted about Heyer's death, saying "big f------ deal, I don't have a s--- to give." A longer post refers to liberals and makes a pointed reference to Heyer being in traffic. He also called her stupid. Calls poured in to Stanley Meat Market on Monday, demanding that the owner stop selling the bread, and he obliged. Another Staunton convenience store said Sheffer had come to their business and removed the bread himself. Sheffer told a News Virginian reporter that he had no comment and then asked him to leave the property. Under pressure, Trump disbands councils With corporate chieftains fleeing, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he is ending a pair of advisory business councils in the latest fallout over his remarks about the Charlottesville protests. Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all! Trump tweeted from his home at Trump Tower. CEOs began announcing their resignations after Trump's first comments. The resignations accelerated after he re-emphasized his earlier remarks and on Tuesday blamed both sides. Baltimore removes monuments Four Confederate monuments in Baltimore were quietly removed and hauled away on trucks in darkness early Wednesday. Mayor Catherine Pugh said the removal was done overnight deliberately, in order to avoid attention, The Associated Press reported. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, a stone monument at Hollywood Forever Cemetery commemorating Confederate veterans was taken down Wednesday after hundreds of people demanded its removal. In Tampa, Florida, the Hillsborough County Commission decided that if enough private money isn't raised to move a Confederate monument to a private cemetery it will remain on public property. U.N. experts: Charlottesville exemplifies rising racism Three United Nations human rights experts decried rising racism and xenophobia in the United States, citing the white nationalist demonstrations in Charlottesville as the latest example and urging U.S. authorities Tuesday to punish perpetrators of hate crimes, The Associated Press reported. The call by the experts in a sharply worded statement along with comments by politicians in Germany and Britain demonstrated that the Charlottesville violence has the international community paying attention to the racial climate in the United States regarded by many as a standard-bearer on human rights principles. University denies Spencer event The University of Florida on Wednesday denied a request by a group headed by white nationalist Richard Spencer to rent space on the campus for a September event, and his supporters vowed to file a court challenge. UF President W. Kent Fuchs said in a statement that the decision was made after assessing risks to the campus, community and law enforcement following last weekend's deadly violence. Such a brazen attack on free speech from a public university is infuriating, Spencer said in a text message. Meanwhile, Michigan State University said it hasnt decided whether to rent space to Spencers National Policy Institute. Its closely reviewing the request in light of the deplorable violence in Charlottesville. Daily Stormer offline again A neo-Nazi websites publisher says he hes effectively been completely banned from the internet after mocking Heather Heyer and lauding her alleged killer as a player. Andrew Anglin told The Associated Press in an email Wednesday that he is figuring out the next step after four domain registrars refused to service his site, The Daily Stormer, which is named after a Nazi propagandist newspaper. After briefly reappearing under a Russian domain name, the site was again offline Wednesday afternoon. Anglin also said by email that San Francisco-based Cloudflare Inc., a company that protects websites from denial of service attacks, had dropped him as a customer. Former presidents Bush issue statement Former presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush issued a joint statement Wednesday, denouncing bigotry and hatred: America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism and hatred in all forms. As we pray for Charlottesville, we are reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that city's most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence: We are all created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights. We know these truths to be everlasting because we have seen the decency and greatness of our country. Tension in Charlottesville continued Tuesday morning as a North Carolina man carrying a Confederate flag and with a semi-automatic rifle slung over his shoulder stood vigil at the foot of the Robert E. Lee statue at Emancipation Park, drawing an angry crowd. The statue and the effort to remove it has been the focal point of increasing unrest that came to a head Saturday when a car crashed into a crowd and killed a woman following clashes between white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups and protesters. Allen Armentrout said he came to Charlottesville to honor and defend the Confederate general, but said he completely disagrees with the views expressed at the weekends Unite the Right rally and condemned the events that resulted in the death of 32-year-old Charlottesville resident Heather Heyer. Once word got out that Armentrout was standing in Emancipation Park with a Confederate flag and a gun just two days after Heyers death, several people rushed to confront him. As the crowd grew, so did the anger and frustration. Signs with Heyers name rested at the foot of the statue as residents shouted at Armentrout, standing just feet away. I couldnt believe he was here, said Kate Fraliegh, a city resident who showed up at the park on Tuesday. After all thats gone on in the city, how insulting, how rude, how dangerous, how incompetent, how foolish for him to come here and show a flag that was treasonous in its time supporting slavery. People in those days may have thought it was patriotic, but it certainly isnt patriotic anymore. Several people stood in front of Armentrout chanting Racist go home, terrorist go home, and tear it down in reference to the statue. Charlottesville City Council approved removing the statue from Emancipation Park, then known as Lee Park, with a 3-2 vote in April. A lawsuit was filed the next month to prevent the removal of the Lee statue. Some confronted Armentrout directly, giving him the finger as he occasionally saluted the statue and looked straight ahead. Some told him Heyers blood is on his hands for supporting the Confederate symbols, and that his presence was unwanted as they tried to mourn her loss. A few Charlottesville police officers responded as the crowd continued to grow, monitoring the situation until they asked Armentrout if he would like leave. He agreed and was escorted back to his vehicle, Lt. Steve Upman said in an email. Before the crowd arrived, Armentrout said he came to Charlottesville to let people know there are people who are not white supremacists who support the Confederacy and Lee. Many Confederate flags were visible Saturday in Emancipation Park before an unlawful assembly was declared, as well as during the July 8 Ku Klux Klan rally. It hurts my heart that people come out here and misappropriate Robert E. Lee and the Confederate flag for their personal agendas, he said. Im out here to honor my ancestors and honor the men who died under the command of Robert E. Lee, and I think me being out here shows that I hope to accomplish the fact that the world can see that theres non-racist pro-Confederate people out there that love freedom and independence. Armentrout said he was ashamed of what he saw unfold in Charlottesville on Saturday, and hopes James Alex Fields Jr., the man charged with ramming his car into a crowd of people that killed Heyer and injured 19 others, serves time. One of the very first people to directly confront Armentrout was city resident Peter Norton, who for several minutes talked with him. I dont like people walking around in parks in my town with automatic weapons, he said. Im also, though, a person who doesnt think we solve problems with angry attacks, so I thought Id begin by listening at least. After the two finished talking and Norton walked away, he said he believes its worth talking to those with whom you disagree in order to understand them. [Martin Luther] King [Jr.] demonstrated the power of nonviolence, the possibility of reconciliation, the possibility of redemption, and I think deep underneath the warped, mentally afflicted perverted views that weve seen expressed here this weekend, somewhere under that mud theres a decent human being, and I dont think well reach them unless we try listening, he said. Now, to be fair, if this had been one of those more outrageously Nazi, hate Jews type thing, I wouldnt have bothered because I know you cant reach such a person. But this guy seemed like he was willing to listen and be listened to. No one was arrested or detained. RICHMOND Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam, the Democratic nominee for governor, said in a statement on Wednesday that Confederate statues should be taken down and moved into museums. Republican nominee Ed Gillespie said in response that he agrees that decisions about Confederate monuments should be made at the local level, but that the monuments should remain and be placed in historical context. Gillespie credited the balance that Richmond was taking in what until later Wednesday was its approach. On Wednesday afternoon, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said his commission will now consider removal or relocation of some or all of the Confederate statues. Gov. Terry McAuliffe then changed his position on letting the monuments stand and fell in line with Northam, urging localities to take down these monuments and relocate them to museums or more appropriate settings. A day of twists and turns by local and state politicians underscored how Saturdays white nationalist rally in Charlottesville that turned deadly is rapidly resetting the politics of what to do with Confederate memorials. Northam said in his statement: I support city of Charlottesvilles decision to remove the Robert E. Lee statue. I believe these statues should be taken down and moved into museums. As governor, I am going to be a vocal advocate for that approach and work with localities on this issue. We should also do more to elevate the parts of our history that have all too often been underrepresented. That means memorializing civil rights advocates like Barbara Johns and Oliver Hill, who helped move our commonwealth closer towards equality. Northam released his statement after a memorial service in Charlottesville for Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old woman struck and killed Saturday by a car that plowed into counterprotesters at the white nationalist rally. Northam campaign spokesman David Turner said the statement on Wednesday breaks new ground on the issue for the Democratic candidate, but he said it is consistent with past statements made by the lieutenant governor, including as recently as Monday, that he believes the statues belong in museums but defers to local authority. Does this go a little bit further? Yes, but he doesnt want to suggest that the governor has the authority to take down statues under local control, Turner said. Northam personally favors removing Confederate statues in Richmond, but again would defer to the city on the best approach to the monuments, his spokesman said. He would work with Richmond on this issue to resolve it, Turner said. He would be a vocal advocate for taking them down. Northams statement which went beyond the previous positions of McAuliffe and Stoney comes less than 100 days before Virginias election for governor. Gillespie, the Republican nominee for governor, nearly lost the June primary to Corey Stewart, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors chairman who made protection of Confederate monuments a centerpiece of his campaign. The day before the June 13 primary, Gillespies campaign reiterated in a headline on its website: No, Ed Gillespie Doesnt Support Removing Confederate Monuments. The Gillespie campaign said at the time that in an act of desperation, Stewart was promoting his false claim that Ed is OK with taking down Robert E. Lee. Gillespies camp clarified on his website: This is 100 percent false, untrue and totally made up. Ed Gillespie has consistently opposed efforts to take down historical statues, including Civil War monuments. Gillespie said in his statement on Wednesday that he and Northam have legitimate differences on the issue and that I know Virginians are engaging in an ongoing, thoughtful conversation on these issues, one marked by respect and understanding. There is a balance that can be struck here, one that recognizes the outsized role Virginia has played in our history, while acknowledging that we have not always been on its right side, Gillespie said. Rather than glorifying their objects, the statues should be instructional. While ensuring that Confederate statues are not exalting them but educating about them, we should do more to elevate Virginias history in expanding freedom and equality by extolling the many Virginians who played critical roles in this regard. Stewart now plans to seek the Republican nomination to run for the seat of U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., in 2018. Stewart said in a Facebook post on Wednesday afternoon: The left never lets a good tragedy go to waste. We must not give them an inch. He added: Right after November, Monument Avenue will be coming down. Republicans need to speak before its gone. In 2015 McAuliffe took steps to ban Confederate flags on Virginias license plates, but said he did not back the removal of Confederate statues. I mean, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, these are all parts of our heritage, McAuliffe said in a June 2015 appearance on MSNBC. And the people that were in that battle, the Civil War, many of them were in it obviously for their own reasons that they had for that. But leave the statues and those things alone. McAuliffe in 2016 vetoed legislation that would prevent Virginia localities from taking down monuments to the Confederacy and other war-related memorials, saying it would prohibit communities from making their own decisions about controversial symbols. In announcing the veto in March 2016, McAuliffe said he supports historic preservation, but called the legislation a sweeping override of local authority that has ramifications for interpretive signage to tell the story of some of our darkest moments during the Civil War. There is a legitimate discussion going on in localities across the commonwealth regarding whether to retain, remove, or alter certain symbols of the Confederacy, McAuliffe said in his veto message. These discussions are often difficult and complicated. They are unique to each communitys specific history and the specific monument or memorial being discussed. This bill effectively ends these important conversations. A Confederate heritage advocate who sought a permit to hold a rally on Sept. 16 at the Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue this week withdrew his request for a permit, saying he did not want to see a repeat of Saturdays violence in Charlottesville. Northam also has previously said that the Confederate flag belongs in museums and has spoken about the idea of a commission to examine racial issues following earlier protests over the proposed removal of the Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville. As for the civil rights figures Northam cited on Wednesday, Oliver W. Hill was a famed attorney from Richmond whose advocacy helped win decisions on issues such as teacher pay for African-American teachers and voting rights. He is perhaps best known for taking up the case of black students at segregated R.R. Moton High School in Farmville, who walked out of the school in 1951 to protest substandard facilities that were separate, but not equal. It was one of five cases rolled into Brown vs. Board of Education, which prompted the U.S. Supreme Courts landmark school desegregation decision in 1954. Barbara Johns was the 16-year-old student who led the walkout at Moton High. Charlottesville has become a symbolic place and a milestone in the nations struggle to deal with racism. All of the ugliness, bigotry and violence that swept into town Aug. 11 and Aug. 12 has redefined what people think of the name of the city and the University of Virginia. A young woman was killed, and dozens of people were injured by the Nazi, Ku Klux Klan and white nationalist outsiders who came to UVa and Charlottesville to chant anti-Jewish and Nazi slogans and to provoke violence. The people of Charlottesville abhor that violence and the invasion of our peaceful town by white nationalists. Armed for violence instead of free speech, the group was using the Robert E. Lee statue as their Trojan horse to gain entry to a downtown city park under the guise of protecting white culture, and were posing as innocent victims of reverse racial discrimination. Charlottesville recoiled in horror at the racist-chanting march of some 300 Nazi and alt-right folks mimicking a 1930s Nazi German torch-rally intimidation of Jews. Chants of blood and soil, a Nazi favorite, and You will not replace us, Jews will not replace us filled the air around the Rotunda at UVa in a choreographed Nazi and Klan torch march. Six hundred of us in St. Pauls Memorial Church across the street were told that night it was too dangerous to leave the church while the torch parade was provoking fear and violence. The marchers white nationalist fervor boiled over into violence that night, as they were met by several dozen students chanting Racists go home, and attacked the students with lighted tiki torches, fists and sticks. UVa President Teresa Sullivan said the dean of students was one of those struck by a torch that was hurled like a spear. On the following day, the marchers were joined in downtown Charlottesville by hundreds more white supremacist and Nazi folks from across the country, many carrying guns, sticks, shields and flags. Charlottesville became a battleground as people stood up to reject bigotry and hate. Yes, there was violence on both sides, but the white nationalists who planned and conducted the rally were clearly there to provoke and stoke it, using it to grow their visibility. Police blamed the white supremacists for the violence. Racial progress is a messy thing that requires standing up to racism. Our city does not tolerate these groups' hideous Nazi assault on Jews. The vast majority of the counter-protesters stood up peacefully to reject white nationalism. The danger is growing across the country from the Nazi-Klan torch marchers who promise more and larger demonstrations to which they come heavily armed and ready to fight. These groups have big plans to create chaos, garner big headlines by using and provoking violence to ensure a white-majority, European-American cultural nation. They continue to publicly sell the poisonous fiction that white male privilege is an eroded and disappearing part of the great American story, threatened by government intervention for women and minorities, while peddling talk of impending race war, all to whip up racial animus. In fact, they came heavily armed for violence and glorified in their violence. They could be heard celebrating that their cause captured news around the world and greatly magnified the size of their numbers, rolling their wave toward larger and larger confrontations. One group of alt-right fighters was overhead on West Main Street bragging of successes after their protest, discussing how successful the demonstrations had been, and one of them said, "Yeah, this was holocaust, a total success! Others joked about punching women counter-protesters in the face. Alt-right leaders blamed police for the violence, saying the law enforcement officers should have stepped in between their group and counter protesters, even though they had arrived downtown hours before their free-speech permit took effect. Police and UVa officials said the Nazi and alt-right group had agreed to take certain routes Friday night and Saturday and then had taken other, unforeseen routes and had shown up hours early and heavily armed. We may be a bit country here in Charlottesville, but the town wasnt born yesterday. The white nationalists say they are protecting the Lee statue, but bringing armed militias from Michigan and New Jersey to a free speech rally for Lee doesnt ring true. Lee is an unfortunate pawn in their game. The Nazi crowd may say they are protecting European American heritage, but Richard Spencer led a group of marchers before a May 13 rally around the Lee statue with remarks about a race war. Spencer gained raucous applause from his marchers before his first torch march at the Lee statue when he said, "I was born too late for the Crusades. I was born too early for the conquest of Mars, but I was born at the right time for the race war. Spencer and his white supremacists promise more confrontations in more cities. They will come heavily armed. Charlottesville stood up to Spencer and people died as a result. Heather Heyer and 19 other counter-protesters were mowed down, and she was killed, in a vehicular homicide sparked by hate. They were marching peacefully when a car accelerated and slammed into the crowd. Police have charged a neo-Nazi from Ohio with murder. Two state troopers also died later that afternoon in the crash of their helicopter, which had been monitoring the white supremacist demonstration. Charlottesville mourns the loss of three lives whose deaths never should have happened. Strong collective prayer and action is Charlottesvilles response to hatred and violence. The city didnt provide the hatred, and the vast majority of the violence came from out of state. The white supremacists are spoiling for a race war. That should send a shudder through all of us of throughout the nation as they come armed and try to whip up a civil war. A black man was heavily beaten by white supremacist thugs. Charlottesville is bravely rejecting a return to white supremacy. Other cities will stand up as well. Our America has no place for Klan hatred, Nazi bigotry and white supremacist violence and provocation. Bob Gibson is communications director and senior researcher at the University of Virginias Cooper Center for Public Service. The opinions expressed here are his own and not necessarily those of the academy. You watch chanting Nazis march through your neighborhood, see them stand off against flag-waving counter-demonstrators, hear the taunts fly. Somebody throws a rock, a brawl breaks out, police waver, theres a second attack, then a third, and the Nazis finally retreat, leaving a trail of broken bodies behind. What happens next? My father, Werner Sensbach, found out. He was 7 years old in the spring of 1931 when Sieg-Heiling brownshirts roared down his street in Mannheim, Germany, looking for a fight with the communists whose red banners hung from many homes in the working-class neighborhood. Hoping to destabilize the weakened Weimar government, Nazis provoked pitched battles all over the country, and it wasnt long before the outcome of the struggle became clear. He was 9 when Hitler came to power, and the National Socialist revolution soon overtook his world. An architect and director of campus planning at the University of Virginia from 1965 to 1990, my father died in 2015, and its just as well he didnt live to see the white supremacist invasion of Charlottesville. Whereas most Americans might connect the sight with infamous images of Klan rallies, he would have instantly remembered the original Nazis. For him, the Lawn was sacred ground every brick, every column, every serpentine curve was scripture, and he knew them all by heart. He would have been flabbergasted and nauseated by the Nurnberg-style torchlight desecration just outside his former window in the Rotunda, by swastikas, enraged shouts of blood and soil, the seething confrontation around the Jefferson statue, and the fatal assault downtown, as though the past 86 years had cycled back again. He would have been reminded of the peril to fragile democracies from hate-fueled radicals burrowing within. Born in 1923, just a month before Hitlers failed beer hall putsch in Munich, Sensbach grew up in the shadow of the Great War. His father was a Social Democrat, but his extended family was large enough to have some Nazis, too. The consequences of Hitlers takeover in 1933 were immediate and local. By April, soon after the Nazi-declared state of emergency, the Gestapo ran a dragnet through my fathers neighborhood, scooping up dozens of communists, including parents of friends and classmates, and sending them off to Dachau. The Nazis soon infiltrated every phase of daily life. My father had to join the Jungvolk, the Hitler Youths junior division, wear its double-lightning bolt insignia and give the Hitler salute. His father was a clerk for a coal shipping company, and his grandfather operated a small neighborhood iron foundry. Since coal and iron were the two most important commodities for German rearmament, the family was inexorably drawn into the National Socialist economy. My fathers school notebooks from 1933-34 are like a childs diary of a revolution. He was forced to write Heil Hitler after essays, scrawl swastikas beside Nazi slogans, and learn the virtue of self-sacrifice for the nation. The teacher dictated songs glorifying the brownshirts, which students wrote down verbatim (We march for Hitler through night and through need, with the flag of youth for freedom and bread). Geography lessons emphasized the territorial injustices Germany had endured and the distribution of Jews throughout Europe. These abstract lessons came vividly to life when, in 1935, he and his classmates looked out their school window near the Rhine to see German troops marching west across a bridge to remilitarize the Rhineland. It was impossible not to know about the persecution of Jewish Mannheimers. Reminders were everywhere. A classmate left my fathers school, a family fled his neighborhood. He saw signs boycotting Jewish businesses, the Juden raus posters around town, the vandalized synagogues after Kristallnacht in 1938. In 1940, the train station just a block from his house became the assembly point for hundreds of Jews being deported to a concentration camp in France, from where many were later taken to Auschwitz. Mannheim, with your beauty and charm, your history and culture, how you made me hate all that I once loved, a man named Robert Kahn asked years later, in a published book of recollections by survivors. Was it possible to be engulfed by Nazi persuasion and not absorb its poisons? Perhaps. Sensbach credited his father, Gustav, with teaching him to see through and decode the cult of Hitler. A morose, humorless man whod been wounded in World War I, he hated Nazis, militarism and German nationalism, and was sometimes impolitic about dissenting in public. The Gestapo took him into custody for a night and he kept quiet afterward. Drafted after high school in 1942, Sensbach served in the Luftwaffe before being sent to the killing fields of the eastern front in late 1943. Decimated after its defeat at Stalingrad, the German army was in retreat before the Soviet onslaught, losing thousands of soldiers every day. He was wounded in southern Ukraine and barely survived. Captured by Czech partisans in 1945, he was saved by a last-minute stay of execution, escaped from an American camp, and made it home to a bombed-out city in a destroyed country. After the war, he met and married my American-born mother, Gladys, whose father served in the occupation force in Germany. They moved to the U.S. in 1954 and later settled in Charlottesville, where I grew up. Years later, in retirement, he became an artist and painted a cycle of canvases about his wartime experiences. Called the Memory Paintings, they dredged up cathartic and terrifying images hed carried in his mind for half a century: refugees fleeing, villages on fire, devastation and fear in the Ukrainian countryside. One showed his own city, Mannheim, exploding with fire and shell. In another, a wounded German soldier beckons to his comrades to evacuate him before the Russians get there his own knife edge between life and death. By now the photos are embedded in our minds of Klansmen, Nazis, neo-Confederates, whoever they are, in Charlottesville, waving their swastikas, torchlit faces stupefied with rage, shouting about Aryan supremacy. Many seem to be prosperous young men, boys, really too young to know any history, too young to be so angry. Theyre about the same age as my father when he was sent to die for Hitler, the psychopath said to be deeply admired by the accused killer of Heather Heyer. I think my father would tell them: Save yourselves before its too late. Jon Sensbach is a University of Virginia graduate (1980) and professor of history at the University of Florida. Charlottesville right now is the epicenter of the struggle for the soul and values of our nation. Those of us who have watched from afar the weekend's events on the University of Virginia campus and in the streets of Charlottesville have been appalled at the ugly face of racism and white supremacy on full display. The Unite the Right march had all the trappings of a 1930s Nazi rally or a Reconstruction-era Ku Klux Klan lynching mob, complete with blazing torches and disgusting racist slogans. But those of us who have watched from afar have also been inspired by the broad-based local opposition to these ruffians and to the attitudes they proclaimed attitudes that should have long ago been relegated to the trash bin of history. We've been inspired by the beleaguered counter-protesting students of the university, by the stories of Charlottesville citizens taking part in peaceful counter-rallies and vigils, and by Gov. Terry McAuliffe's eloquent speech rejecting bigotry at the Mount Zion First African Baptist Church. Charlottesville's agony is our national agony, and the national unfinished business, whatever region we live in, to come to terms with our "original sin" of slavery, the as-yet-unreconciled trauma of our Civil War, and the many other dimensions of race hatred and white supremacy that have long been part of our national history. Charlottesville's hopes for working through and overcoming this legacy are our national hope. The hundreds of support vigils across the country and the floods of commentary and debate your ordeal has unleashed testify to the fact we are all in this together. You are not alone. Well-meaning, forward-looking and unity-embracing people of goodwill outnumber the backward-looking race haters by far, and are on your side. You shall overcome. Karine Schomer, El Cerrito, California Confederate heritage advocate Bragdon Bowling is withdrawing his request to the state to hold a Sept. 16 rally at the Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue after white supremacists caused violence in Charlottesville over the weekend. Bowling said by email Tuesday morning that "due to the potential for violence after Charlottesville, the rally on Sept 16 will not be held." "I do not want to be part of an event where people are hurt or killed," Bowling said. "Our purpose is to save monuments, not be engaged in social and racial issues." Bowling made a request several weeks ago to the state Department of General Services to hold the rally. The state had not yet made a decision on it. Bowling, of Richmond, said Monday that he would consider withdrawing the request if police couldn't ensure the rally would be safe and opposite sides would be separated. He said his goal was a rally about monument preservation and he didn't want the KKK's David Duke or extreme groups attending. In an interview Tuesday, he referenced the death of Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old woman who was killed Saturday in Charlottesville when James Fields, 20, of Ohio, who had attended the Unite the Right rally, allegedly plowed his car into a group of anti-racist protesters. "I thought that was awful and I dont want anything like that at our rally because that's not what were all about it," Bowling said. He also realized that anyone planning to attend his rally and cause trouble had several weeks to plan. Bowling's application said Corey Stewart, who nearly won the GOP nomination for governor this year, had been invited to attend. Bowling said he remains concerned that Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney wants to add context to the city's Confederate monuments. "I still think that theres plenty of criticism to be levied against that commission that the mayor put together," Bowling said. Stoney had said the city would be prepared for a rally, and said Monday the events in Charlottesville didn't change his position that Richmond's Confederate monuments should remain where they are. But the news that Bowling had withdrawn the request was no doubt a relief. "The mayor believes Mr. Bowling made a sensible decision," Stoney spokesman Jim Nolan said in a statement. So did Phil Wilayto of the Defenders for Freedom, Justice and Equality, a Richmond civil rights group, who said revulsion over Confederate statutes has exploded since the events in Charlottesville. "This is an historic moment for Mayor Stoney. Is he going to follow the lead of other mayors across the country or is he going to continue to say these should stay right where they are with a few signs around them?" Wilayto said. "One way or the other theyre going to come down. The only question is, is the city going to show moral leadership on this issue?" Jennifer Crossland of Richmond, who grew up in Charlottesville, was among those who attended a vigil in Richmond on Sunday evening following the violence. She said she believes white supremacists are using the Confederate monuments to recruit more members. "They decided to, I think, create a race riot over monuments," she said. "But I don't think it's about the monuments. ... It's about exposure. To find a way to use the monuments as exposure." Twelve symposiums on church senior care services were held by the CCC & TSPM in Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia in Northern China, from August 7 to 11, 2017. Sixty-nine workers attended the event. In the opening ceremony, Rev. Kan Baoping, vice-president and general secretary of the CCC&TSPM, said that the courses covering theory and practice were held in the symposiums to promote high-quality service and management in church homes for the elderly. The workers from Christian nursing homes in Inner Mongolia shared the examples of home-based care and care for disabled elderly, calling on joint efforts to build a system framework for elderly care, including the evaluation of disability levels, care service and health management. Dr. Li Xiuxia, director of the service department of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council, was invited to give courses. She introduced some advanced service concepts in Hong Kong, saying that a distinctive feature of Christian nursing homes is to serve with love. -Translated by Karen Luo Chippewa Falls City Council voted Tuesday to give a Class B liquor license to Sakura WI Inc. after a recommendation earlier on Tuesday from the Committee of the Whole. Sakura is a Japanese sushi restaurant in Chippewa Falls. The license became available after a Chippewa Falls restaurant, The Lodge, closed earlier in 2017. A Class B liquor license allows a business to sell liquor, including wine, for consumption on the premises. Wisconsin Class B liquor licenses are traditionally given based on population numbers. The city of Chippewa Falls is 89 people away from reaching the threshold for another Class B liquor license, city clerk Bridget Givens said. An official population estimate will be released in January 2018. Three Chippewa Falls businesses were vying for the available license: Sakura, three-week-old artisan pizza joint Blue Marble Pub and Micon Cinemas. In its application for the license, Micon stated that alcohol would only be sold in the theaters VIP lounge. Representatives of all three businesses presented their case to the Committee of the Whole on Tuesday. Sakuras representative said the liquor license would increase business and attract more tourists to the city; Heather Marble of the Blue Marble Pub promised to serve products from only local distilleries. A Micon spokesperson said the theater is aiming for consistency with its Eau Claire facility, which serves liquor and wine as well as beer. The council ultimately awarded the license to Sakura, which had applied for the license first. Blue Marble Pub and Micon will be able to apply for a Class B license in January, if population numbers rise enough for the city to create a new license. Sakura is located at 360 Chippewa Mall Drive. K-9 officer may join Chippewa Falls PD Earlier on Tuesday evening, Committees #1 and #3 discussed the potential addition of a K-9 officer to the Chippewa Falls Police Department, and the city agreed to contribute $10,000 needed for operational costs. Chippewa Falls Police Chief Matthew Kelm requested that the city contribute operational costs of about $10,000 for a K-9 officer before the police department raises funds for the K9 officer project. Kelm said the community would be hesitant to donate to a cause if they werent sure it eventually would produce results. In order for donors to invest money into (this) startup program, they need to know operational costs will be covered, Kelm said. In addition to operational costs, K-9 officer startup costs are approximately $92,000, which the Chippewa Falls Police Department hopes to begin raising within a week or two. Now that weve gotten approval for operational funding, were going to be reaching out to groups in the community by the end of the month, Kelm said after the council meeting. Bloomer and Stanley police departments have recently begun fundraising for K-9 officers of their own. A K9 officer would be the Chippewa Falls Police Departments first; Lake Hallie is currently the only Chippewa County police department with a K-9 officer. Mumbai: Paytm Mall, owned by Paytm Ecommerce, on Wednesday said it will support its shopkeepers to take on online retailers and will invest up to USD 5 million to address the needs of its partner retailers. "We will continue engaging with our partnered retailers to build our inclusion programme and enhance their businesses. This will create new jobs and further support our nation," chief operating officer of Paytm Mall Amit Sinha said in a statement. Paytm Mall has also introduced a retailer inclusion programme, under which the company will invest USD 5 million and has set up a dedicated team of 500 personnel to address the unique needs of these retailers, he said. This team acts as a direct link between the company and its partner retailers, who meet them on a regular basis to receive their feedback, understand their challenges and offer necessary support for their growth. Paytm Mall aims to become the technology partner of retailers and brands, enabling them to set up stores online. It expects that through technology, shopkeepers can leverage the power of mobile and generate additional sales through the Paytm Mall platform to increase their business. The company would also facilitate access to working capital loans, a major pain-point for every small retailer and play a critical role in their growth plans, it said. New Delhi: The Cabinet on Wednesday decided to set up a high-powered committee of Union ministers, including Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, to expedite strategic disinvestment of state-owned companies. The Cabinet gave its nod for setting up an Alternative Mechanism (AM) consisting of Finance Minister, Road Transport and Highways Minister, and Minister of Administrative Department, to decide on the matters relating to strategic disinvestment, an official statement said after the Cabinet meet which was chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The panel will decide on matters relating to terms and conditions of the sale from the stage of inviting of expressions of interest (Eols) till inviting of financial bid, the statement said. Further, the Core Group of Secretaries will be empowered to take policy decisions with regard to procedural issues and to consider deviations as necessary from time to time for effective implementation of decisions of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). The revision in procedure and mechanism for strategic sale of PSUs, the release said, "will help in speedy completion of strategic disinvestment transactions". The government has budgeted to raise Rs 72,500 crore through stake sale in PSUs. This includes Rs 46,500 crore from minority stake sale, Rs 15,000 crore from strategic disinvestment and Rs 11,000 crore from listing of PSU insurance companies. The government is likely to continue support to state banks so that they do not miss coupon payments on AT1 bonds. Mumbai: The government's capital infusion into IDBI Bank indicates it will not allow state-run banks to default on coupon payments on additional tier 1 (AT1) instruments, according to a Fitch Ratings report. It said the government is likely to continue support to state banks so that they do not miss coupon payments on AT1 bonds. Earlier this week, the government injected Rs 1,861 crore into IDBI Bank. "IDBI Bank may have been at risk of skipping a coupon payment without the fresh capital, which might have disrupted the domestic AT1 market and made it more difficult for banks to raise the capital needed to meet basel III minimum requirements," the global rating agency said in a report on Wednesday. If access to the AT1 market weakens, it could escalate the costs of recapitalisation of state-run banks for the government, the report said. Other state banks have previously received capital injections from the government to stave-off skipped coupon payments after coming close to breaching minimum capital adequacy requirements. There have also been several regulatory adjustments in the previous few years that appear to have been timed to avoid potential damage to sentiment in the AT1 market, it said. "Most recently, the Reserve Bank decided earlier this year to allow banks to use their statutory reserves to pay coupons on AT1 instruments after losses left some banks lacking distributable reserves," the report added. The rating agency said market pricing appears to assume that the government is likely to continue to ensure state banks do not miss coupon payments. "There is some pricing distinction between the larger and smaller state banks, but the small premiums on their AT1 instruments suggest pricing is now largely based on assumptions of state support being provided ahead of banks triggering non-performance clauses," the report said. It believes that private banks will be allowed to skip coupon payments, but most are in relatively healthy positions. Between April and August this year, around Rs 18,300 crore worth of AT1 instruments have been issued by eight banks as against Rs 4,800 crore by four banks in the same period last year. The report said banks are likely to need substantially more than that by financial year 2018-19 to meet rising basel III minimum capital requirements and the government is likely to end up providing much more than the USD 10.4 billion already earmarked. Dileep was arrested in connection with the kidnapping, molestation and conspiracy of a popular Malayalam actress on February 17. Mumbai: Malayalam actor Dileep, who is currently in Aluva sub-jail in connection with the kidnapping and molestation of a renowned Malayalam actress, finds some support and solace in his mother Sarojam Pillai. Pillai has written a letter to Kerela Chief Minister Pinayari Vijayan describing her son as an innocent man and someone who is not capable of committing such a crime. She has also urged the government to intervene and take the matter in their hands. The CMs office has also confirmed receiving a letter from the actors mother and, as per media reports, forwarded it to the Chief of Kerela police, Loknath Behera. Interestingly, news of Pillais letter to the CM comes just a day after the victim had written a letter to him complaining against his Cabinet Minister PC George. The aforementioned minister has allegedly raised questions pertaining to the credibility of the attack and has also claimed that Dileep is innocent and has been wrongly accused in this highly publicised case that has made its way to national news and garnered extensive coverage. On July 10, Kerela police arrested actor Dileep after finding ample evidence against him and booked under nine sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC), ranging from criminal conspiracy to gang rape. Dileeps custody was also extended by two weeks, following which he moved the Kerela High Court requesting bail that he was denied. He has filed bail petition for a second time. In the latest bail application, Dileep has claimed that he had no relation whatsoever with the prime accused and all of it is a large-scale conspiracy by the influential people of film industry, including his former wife and actress Manju Warrier. Although the police has apparently gathered substantial amount of evidence, Dileep maintains his innocence even to this day. On August 18, the Kerela High Court will be giving its decision on his new bail application. Mumbai: The trouble does not seem to get over for the veteran Hollywood director Roman Polanski, as a third woman has come forward to accuse Oscar-winning director of sexually assaulting her when she was a minor forty years ago in the 1970s. According to The Independent, the woman identified only as Robin, said in a news conference that she had been 'sexually victimized' by Polanski in 1973, when she was just 16. She is the third woman to accuse him of child abuse. Reading from a prepared statement, she said she had told a friend about the assault on the day after it happened. "The reason, with this exception, that I kept it to myself is that I didn't want my father to do something that might cause him to go to prison for the rest of his life," she added. She further noted that her decision to come forward after such a long years was because she was 'infuriated' that a statutory rape case against Polanski was dropped after his victim asked a Los Angeles court to end it. In 1978, 'The Pianist' director fled to US after admitting statutory rape of Samantha Geimer who was 13 at that time. His victim, Samantha Geimer, asked a Los Angeles court in June to end the case against him. Geimer said she had forgiven the filmmaker for the assault and wanted closure for herself and her family. Robin, who appeared with her lawyer Gloria Allred in Los Angeles on Tuesday, cannot sue Polanski in a criminal court because the statute of limitation has passed. The Oscar-winning director, who is a citizen of Poland and of France, has been a fugitive since. In 2010, British actress Charlotte Lewis accused Polanski of sexually assaulting her in Paris in 1983, when she was 16 years old. The actress was also represented by lawyer Gloria Allred. Cast: Shivarajkumar, Vijay Raghavendra, Gururaj, Yogesh, Pranitha Subash, Prakash Belawadi, Sharmiela Mandre, Baby Parinitha, Girija Lokesh Director: Narasimha Rating: 1.5 stars This film comes packed with predictable masala corrupt politics, cross border infiltration, terrorism in the valley, armed forces, investigative journalism, court martials, family sentiments, etc. Incidentally, this list goes on, while a mass leader fights till the very end. While the audience fights the will to leave! There is a veritable battery of actors lined up to play various supporting roles in this Shivarajkumar starrer where he essays the role of Shivaraj, who leads them all as a mass leader. He is an undercover operative, which is revealed only in the end! The rest of the actors are support cast with unconditional loyalty towards him. Loaded with all the commercial elements from an introductory fight scene, cinematic songs, killing baddies in style and challenging opponents with khadak dialogues, unfortunately the commercial spree is over the top in a film where nothing stands out. With the mass leader in prime focus, director Narasimha attempts for a smash hit but with so many issues crumbling and going head to head, the deviation, extreme and needlessly complex plots keep the audience disconnected. Further, its senseless loud background music doesnt help either. In the first few scenes, Shivaraj is up against corrupt politicians with an agenda of cleaning up election malpractices. He later scares off illegal Bangladeshi residents who are being misused by local politicians for their vote bank. Soon, the focus shifts to terrorists, a sequence in a foreign location to track down a kingpin of child trafficking ensues. Then comes a belly dance performed by the beautiful Sharmiela Mandre, who plays an investigative journalist. Vijay Raghavendra and Giriraj are Shivaraj loyalists and Yogesh, a local don, assigned to kill Shivaraj, also turns loyalist! Pranitha is limited to a couple of scenes and a song. Right from the beginning, the makers logo, a copy of Warner Bros, this copy paste routine lacks essence. For instance, the popular slow motion fight sequence from the 2009 English movie Sherlock Holmes is copied, but here the outcome is laughable. Also, there are numerous instances which only get worse as the plot thickens. Apart from a couple of sensible patriotic scenes, and Shivarajkumar at his usual best, this Mass Leader is certainly not worth watching unless Hat-Trick Hero fans want to see their star in several shades, including an Army man. Those who identify as a binge-watcher reporty more fatigue, more symptoms of insomnia, poorer sleep quality and greater alertness prior to going to sleep. (Photo: Pixabay) London: Binge-watching television can cause poorer sleep quality, more fatigue, and increased insomnia in young adults, a study has found. The findings suggest that the mechanism explaining this relationship is increased cognitive alertness resulting from binge-watching. Researchers found that more than 80 per cent of young adults identified themselves as a binge-watcher, with 20.2 per cent of them binge-watching at least a few times a week in the previous month. Those who identified as a binge-watcher reported more fatigue, more symptoms of insomnia, poorer sleep quality and greater alertness prior to going to sleep. Further analysis found that binge-watchers had a 98 per cent higher likelihood of having poor sleep quality compared with those who did not consider themselves to be a binge- watcher. "We found that the more often young people binge-watch, the higher their cognitive pre-sleep arousal," said Liese Exelmans, doctoral candidate at the University of Leuven in Belgium. "That in turn negatively affected sleep quality, fatigue and insomnia," said Exelmans, lead author of the study published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine. The study involved 423 young adults who were 18 to 25 years old, with an average age of 22 years. Sixty-two per cent of participants were women, and 74 per cent were students. They completed an online survey assessing regular television viewing, binge-watching, sleep quality, fatigue, insomnia, and pre-sleep alertness. Binge-watching was defined as "watching multiple consecutive episodes of the same television show in one sitting on a screen, be it a television, laptop, computer or tablet." An average binge-watching session lasted 3 hours and 8 minutes, with 52 per cent of binge-watchers viewing three to four episodes in one sitting. "Bingeable shows often have a complex narrative structure that makes viewers become completely immersed into the story," said Jan Van den Bulck, professor at the University of Michigan. "This intense engagement with television content could require a longer period to 'cool down' before going to sleep, thus affecting sleep overall," said Van den Bulck. According to researchers, interventions and treatments to reduce alertness before sleep, such as relaxation techniques and mindfulness, could be valuable approaches to target sleep problems associated with binge-watching. Study is based on the hypothesis that jogging stimulates the brain and preserves memories (Photo: Pixabay) A new study reveals that people who take up running during their teenage years are less likely to develop dementia later in life. The study is based on the hypothesis that jogging stimulates the brain and preserves memories. The research conducted by the University of Toronto has shown that the effects of jogging are strikingly more powerful if people take up the habit during their formative years. The team, which conducted the experiments on rats, found a long-term improvement in learning and memory in those that were given access to a running wheel from birth. Experts say the study's results should be a red flag to all of us that our habits in our teens and 20s could impact our brain health later on. Lead author of the study Martin Wojtowicz says that running is known to enhance cognitive function in animals and humans. The findings are consistent with the idea of cognitive reserve, whereby the brain draws on enriching experiences from youth to compensate for functional declines as a result of age or disease. While, it may not be a new idea with the University of Arizona showing last year that an early-morning jog can rejuvenate neurons in the brain, the study is the first of its kind to outline a clear timeline of runnings impact over the years, showing that early-life running is beneficial. The fifteen teenagers from rural Morocco had to be treated for rabies after reportedly gang raping an infected local donkey (Photo: Pixabay) Fifteen youngsters developed an admiration for a donkey spent a week in a Moroccan hospital after catching a highly-contagious disease from the beast. The fifteen teenagers from rural Morocco had to be treated for rabies after reportedly gang raping an infected local donkey. According to the Moroccan daily Al Akhbar newspaper, the youngsters, from Sidi Al Kamel spent a week in hospital being treated after the animal transmitted the disease to them. According to the newspaper, the shocking incident left the families of the youngsters in distress and horror. Authorities also claimed that the actual number of infected people could be a lot higher as many families took their sons for treatment outside the immediate area to avoid shame. Local authorities are now trying to find out who else had approached the donkey to admire it to limit further possibility of the disease spreading. The occurrence not only became the subject of mockery and ridicule among the population of the small town, but also one of fear and shame for families who had their children vaccinated in case they had been close to the animal. Local authorities ordered the owner of the animal to slaughter it to avoid further risk of spreading disease. Restaurant gives women discount based on their bra size. (Photo: Pixabay) A Chinese restaurant has been criticized for an unusual offer to its female patrons. Located in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, Trendy Shrimp was offering discounts based on their bra sizes, Qianjiang Evening Post reported. According to Fox News, A cup bra would get a 5% discount, B cup 15% and C cup was entitled to 25%. They even promoted the offer with a poster of cartoon women. The caption BBC reported reads: "The whole city is looking for BREASTS." One Hangzhou resident told the Evening Post the advertisement is "vulgar" and is "discriminatory against women. Many others in the area who also found it revolting and distasteful called the mayors office to complain and have the advertisement removed. The restaurants general manager Lan Shenggang reportedly revealed the posters were removed and the promotion was discontinued. Despite the backlash, Shenggang told the Post that the promotion was working well and their customer numbers increased by 20%. The NIA on Tuesday questioned the sons of pro-Pakistan separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani in connection with a terror funding probe allegedly involving Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed. (Photo: File | PTI) New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday questioned the sons of pro-Pakistan separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani in connection with a terror funding probe allegedly involving Jamaat-ud-Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed, official sources said. While Geelani's elder son Nayeem is a surgeon by profession, the younger one, Naseem, is an employee of the Jammu and Kashmir government. Nayeem is being tipped as the natural successor to lead the Tehrek-e-Hurriyat, a separatist conglomerate comprising pro-Pakistan hardline groups, after his father. The brothers are being questioned in New Delhi in connection with a terror funding case which has named Saeed, leader of the Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawa and banned terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, as an accused, sources said. NIA registered the case on May 30, accusing separatist and secessionist leaders of being in cahoots with terrorist groups. The case was registered over raising, receiving and collecting funds through various illegal means, including through hawala channels, for funding separatist and terrorist activities in the state. The case also included causing disruption in the Valley by pelting security forces with stones, burning schools, damaging public property and waging war against India. The probe agency had conducted searches in several places in the state besides Haryana and the national capital. Electronic devices and valuables worth crores of rupees were impounded. It was the first time since the rise of militancy in the early 1990s that a central probe agency conducted raids in connection with the funding of terrorist and separatist groups. Bengaluru: Though the BBMP had initially set an ambitious target of setting up an Indira Canteen in all the 198 wards in the city by Independence Day, it could get only 101 ready, due to constraints in finding a favourable location. The remaining 97 canteens will be opened on Gandhi Jayanthi, said G. Padmavathi, Mayor. The 101 canteens will be inaugurated by Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday. The Mayor has been accusing the opposition party corporators for lack of support. However, she is confident that by all the canteens will be ready by Gandhi Jayanti, as she felt the people will start questioning their corporators, if a canteen is not opened in their vicinity. Addressing media persons, Padmavathi said, "Come Wednesday, 101 Indira Canteens will be inaugurated. Even though the figure is less than our initial promise of opening 125 canteens for Independence day, this is a great achievement in a short span of time." Indira canteens will serve breakfast for as low as Rs 5 and lunch and dinner at prices will cost Rs 10, Padmavathi said and added that the state government will provide a subsidy of Rs 32 for breakfast, lunch and dinner all put together. BBMP Commissioner N. Manjunath Prasad said there will no compromise on the quality of food served and a BBMP app will help people find the nearest canteen based on their location, apart from providing information on the dishes being served for the day. He further added that feedback will be received via the app and explained that this will help them place future orders for food. Only 500 plates to be served BBMP, which had initially said that the canteens will serve 750 plates - breakfast (250 plates), lunch (250) and dinner (250), said on Saturday that it will serve only 500 plates per day. For the convenience of the customers, BBMP will be putting up a display board on the number of plates served and the remaining. The customers can decide whether or not to stand in queues if the food is about to get over. The Mayor said the number of plates may be increased in the future. A child is shifted to another ward at Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital in Gorakhpur district on Sunday. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to take suo motu cognisance of deaths of children at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital in Gorakhpur where 72 children lost their lives due to disruption in the supply of oxygen. The bench comprising Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud asked the lawyer, who mentioned the issue before it, to approach the Allahabad High Court with his grievances. The lawyer has also sought an SIT probe into the deaths of children at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College (BRD) hospital in Gorakhpur. The court observed that the authorities were handling the situation and the grievances, if any, have to be raised before the high court concerned. Over 60 children have reportedly died at BRD Medical College Hospital since August 7, many for want of oxygen whose supply was disrupted after bills were not paid to the vendor. At least 30 children were reported dead in the last two days alone. Many of the victims were infants who perished in the neo-natal intensive care unit. Police had said no case has been registered so far in the absence of a formal complaint. The state government had on August 12 ordered an official inquiry by the chief secretary and suspended the principal of the Medical College Hospital Rajiv Mishra. Ballari: If jail walls could speak, they would have many a tale to tell. Who would have ever known that the crown prince of Turkey was an inmate at the Alipore jail in Ballari, now more famous for its innumerable mines and the no less number of mining scams? Or that his body was buried at Ballaris Turkish martyrs cemetery after he died here? Not that the jail was reserved for only eminent foreign prisoners. National leaders who participated in the freedom struggle, including Rajaji, Kamaraj Nadar, Potti Sri Ramulu, Sanjiva Reddy, Bezwada Gopal Reddy, E.V. Ramaswamy Naicker (the founder of the Dravidian Movement), O.V. Alagesan, Tekur Subramanyam of Bellary, Bulusu Samba Murthy, Gantasala Venkateshwara Rao, Bhagat Singh's followers, Mahaveer Singh, Gaya Prasad and Bhatukeshwara Dutta,were were imprisoned at the historic Alipore jail. Swatantra Samara Soudha in Ballari Ballari was a prominent town during British rule, especially after it was merged with the then Madras Presidency in 1800. So it was quite natural for Sir Thomas Munroe, the first District Collector, to recommend the establishment of a jail here for lodging political prisoners. With the freedom movement across the country gathering steam, the British wanted to set up three jails, the first was established in 1872 after the First War of Independence and came to be known as the Central Jail. Later, Allipur open-air jail was set up to lodge political prisoners and had the facility of solitary confinement too. The third was the TB Sanatorium, meant for ailing prisoners. Adjacent to the high security Allipur jail, which had a electrified fence, was the army cantonment, next in size only to the one in Madras. The Duke of Wellington and Edward Williams (who later became chief of the British army) served as officers in this cantonment which was set up on the advice of Sir Thomas Munroe. A part of the cantonments infantry barracks was converted into a military jail, called the Alipore jail, where prisoners of war from France, Denmark and Turkey were imprisoned. Many a stalwart of the freedom struggle was jailed here during the Quit India Movement. In 1920, for the first time, over 2,000 maplahs from Travancore state were brought to the jail as civilian prisoners. The military jail had now become a new civilian prison in addition to the Central Jail in Ballari. After Independence, the jail was closed In fact, Alipore jail is the only jail in the sub-continent that was closed by the authorities apart from the cellular jail at Port Blair, which has now become the National Heritage Museum that continues to attract tourists from all over the world. Alipore jail with over 14 jail blocks was not considered for a similar status of National Heritage Museum. The records pertaining to this historic jail in Madras Presidency were sent to the National Archives in Chennai. The jail blocks were assigned to the Government Medical College. All the blocks except one were converted into laboratories and hostels. The lone jail barrack still standing amidst the newly constructed Medical College, was about to be demolished recently, but considering the sentiments of people like Tekur Ramnath (son of freedom fighter Tekur Subramanyam) and Bahadur Seshagiri Rao, national award winning teacher, it was saved and named Swatantra Samara Soudha. The Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi approved a new metro rail policy for expanding the metro network across various cities in the country. (Representational Image) New Delhi: The government on Wednesday approved a new metro rail policy for expanding the metro network across various cities in the country, officials said. The new policy was approved by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The metro policy will talk about standardising norms and developing a procurement mechanism for implementation of the projects. It will also talk about funding and financing, officials said. At present, metro projects with a total length of more than 350 km are operational in eight cities - Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Kochi, Mumbai, Jaipur and Gurugram. Metro projects are also under way in Hyderabad, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Pune and Lucknow. DMK chief M Karunanidhi has been admitted to hospital after uneasiness in breathing. (Photo: File) Chennai: DMK president M Karunanidhi was admitted to a hospital on Wednesday to undergo a minor procedure, an official said. The nonagenarian leader "has been admitted for a minor procedure - change of (Percutaneous endoscopic gastronomy) PEG tube. He will be discharged from the hospital later today," Kauvery Hospital Executive Director S Aravindan said in a statement. According to reports, the DMK supremo was admitted to the hospital after he complained of uneasiness in breathing. The veteran leader has been ill since 2016 and has been getting treatment at his Gopalapuram residence in Chennai. DMK president M Karunanidhi was discharged after the completion of the procedure which took about 40 minutes. (Photo: File) Chennai: DMK president M Karunanidhi underwent a minor procedure at a hospital in Chennai on Wednesday and was discharged soon after. The 93-year-old leader was also examined by doctors to evaluate his other health parameters. The former chief minister was admitted for a "minor procedure - change of (Percutaneous endoscopic gastronomy) PEG tube," Kauvery Hospital Executive Director S Aravindan said in a statement. After the completion of the procedure which took about 40 minutes, Karunanidhi was discharged, hospital sources said. Karunanidhi's family members were present at the hospital during his brief hospitalisation. His daughter Kanimozhi later told reporters that the tube has to be replaced once every six months and that he was fine. In October 2016, Karunanidhi had taken ill due to a drug induced allergy and was advised to take rest by doctors. He was later twice admitted to Kauvery hospital in December 2016. Once he was treated for nutrition and hydration support and the second time, he underwent tracheostomy to optimise his breathing. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, former Union Minister P Chidambaram, AIADMK leaders M Thambidurai and D Jayakumar were among several leaders who had visited him during his hospitalisation. The top DMK leader has been out of action ever since he took ill in 2016. Party affairs are being taken care by his son, DMK Working President M K Stalin. Rahul said he was proud that it is the Congress government that conceptualised Indira canteen. (Photo: ANI/Twitter) Bengaluru: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday launched 'Indira Canteen' in Bengaluru with the vision of providing good quality of food to the poor at a cheap price. Speaking at the event, the party vice president again left everyone spellbound with his erroneous speech. Going with the flow Rahul Gandhi said, Every single poor person in the city in Bangalore will feel that in the state of Karnataka, under Siddaramaiah govt, I simply cannot go hungry. That is the vision of Amma...err...Indira canteen. Rahul, who was delivering the speech in English made another mistake which was unnoticed. Congress vice president was heard as saying the Karnataka Chief Minister will open up canteen on similar lines in every single city in Bangalore. Rahul said, Chief Minister has mentioned to me that Bangalore is just a beginning. He is going to expand this programme to other cities and soon over the next couple of months, every single city in Bangalore. Rahul said he was proud that it is the Congress government that conceptualised Indira canteen. The Congress vice president congratulated Karnataka Government and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah for the initiative and said the Indira Canteen is another step towards the "Food for All" commitment of the Congress. "I would like to thank the chief minister and the Congress party who have conceptualised this programme that is designed to make sure that not a single person in Bengaluru goes hungry," he said. Highlighting the aim of the canteen, Rahul Gandhi said it will ensure that the poorest and the weakest should not remain hungry. Breakfast in the Indira canteen will be served at Rs 5 while one will just have to pay ten rupees for lunch and dinner. A hoarding carrying a picture of former prime minister Indira Gandhi and a young Rahul were also placed outside the canteen. A total of 101 Indira Canteens, one of Karnataka Government's most ambitious projects to serve affordable food, rolled out on Wednesday. Karnataka Chief Minister had announced this project when he presented the budget on March 15, this year. Sources said Indian Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel reportedly formed a human chain and foiled a bid by Chinese troops to enter Indian territory on foot in Ladakh, near the Pangong Lake. (Photo: File/Representational) Chushul (Jammu and Kashmir): A prescheduled Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) is in progress since afternoon between India and China in Jammu and Kashmir's Chushul area in Leh district. As per sources, incidents, issues to ensure strengthening of existing mechanism for maintaining peace and tranquility were discussed in this meeting. Earlier in the day, sources reported confrontation between Indian and Chinese troops in the north eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh as false information. "Please refer to certain queries regarding confrontation with PLA (People's Liberation Army) troops in Arunachal Pradesh. It is clarified that the information is false," sources stated. Meanwhile, the Indian Army has also issued a statement saying that India's 70th Independence Day on Tuesday was "well celebrated all across border areas." It also confirmed that, "sweets were exchanged between the Indian Army and PLA troops in multiple border locations, including in the area of Doklam." The army was apparently countering reports of a fresh clash breaking out with Chinese troops in the Doklam Plateau, where a nearly two-month-long stand-off over a trilateral border territorial ownership is still on. The army also refuted reports appearing in some media that both sides had commenced "Flag Meetings" to resolve the issue in Doklam and Ladakh that has strained bilateral relations between the two nations. It said, "Report of flag meeting started is incorrect." These comments attributed to the Ministry of Defence and the Army came hours after Indian and Chinese soldiers were reportedly involved in an altercation in the Pangong Lake area, further raising tensions between the two countries. Sources said Indian Army and Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel reportedly formed a human chain and foiled a bid by Chinese troops to enter Indian territory on foot in Ladakh, near the Pangong Lake. Chinese soldiers tried to enter Indian territory from Finger Four and Finger Five posts along the banks of Pangong Lake in Ladakh between 6 am and 9 am, but on both occasions, they were reportedly thwarted by alert Indian troops It was also reported that several Chinese soldiers carried iron rods and stones, and in the ensuing melee, there were minor injuries on both sides. China has also said that it was not aware of reports of PLA soldiers entering Indian territory along the banks of the Pangong Lake in Ladakh. Asked to comment on the incident, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hu Chunying said, "I am not aware of the information. The Chinese side is committed to peace and tranquillity of the China-India border. We urge the Indian side abide by the LAC and relevant conventions between the two sides." The two sides have frequently accused each other of intrusions into each other's territories, but clashes are rare. The two armies are already engaged in a standoff in the Doklam Plateau further east, in another part of their 3,500-kilometer-long unmarked mountain border. China has repeatedly asked India to unilaterally withdraw from the Doklam area, or else face the prospect of a military-related escalation. The trouble started in June when India sent troops to stop China building a road in the Doklam area, which is remote, uninhabited territory claimed by both China and India's ally Bhutan. New Delhi said it sent its troops because Chinese military activity in Doklam, near the tri-junction of the borders of India, China and Bhutan, was a threat to the security of its own northeast region, especially in Sikkim. But Beijing has said India had no role to play in the area and diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis have not made much headway. Indrani, accused in her daughter Sheena Bora's murder case, is currently lodged in the Byculla prison. (Photo: PTI) New Delhi: A special court on Wednesday permitted the Enforcement Directorate for custodial interrogation of Indrani Mukerjea in connection with the INX media case. The Delhi Court issued production warrant against Indrani seeking her presence before the court on September 9th. Earlier in May, an FIR was lodged against former Union minister P hidambaram's son Karti, Indrani Mukerjea, unknown officers of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) Unit of Ministry of Finance and others over alleged financial misappropriation over Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance to Peter Mukerjea and Indrani's media company INX Media in 2008. INX Media operated channels like NewsX, 9X and 9X Music. The charges include criminal conspiracy, cheating, taking gratification in order by corrupt or illegal means to influence public servant and criminal misconduct. The case was registered under section 120-B r/w, section 420, section 8 and section 13(2) r/w and 13 (1) (d) of Indian Penal Code (IPC). It is alleged that while the clearance was only for Rs. 4 crore, the actual foreign investment was much higher, and this was allowed because Karti allegedly facilitated the deal. The CBI is also investigating a money trail and the bribe allegedly given to Karti. According to reports, in 2008, Karti's Advantage Strategic Consulting Private Limited (ASCPL) allegedly received Rs 35 lakhs from INX Media, on the same day another Rs 60 lakh was allegedly paid from INX Media to Northstar Software Solutions Pvt Ltd. On September 24, 2008, another tranche of 20,000 Dollars were allegedly paid to ASCPL's Singapore subsidiary by INX Media. The involvement of P Chidambaram is also being investigated since he was a Union Minister then. Indrani, accused in her daughter Sheena Bora's murder case, is currently lodged in the Byculla prison. Top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Ayub Lalhari was one of the most wanted terrorists. (Photo: DC) Pulwama: Top Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Ayub Lalhari was killed in gunbattle with security forces in Jammu and Kashmirs southern Pulwama district on Wednesday afternoon. Director General of Police, Shesh Paul Vaid confirmed it saying He was one of the most wanted terrorists. It's a great success for the forces. SSP Pulwama, Chowdhary Aslam, added that a policeman was injured in the clash. Muhammad Ayub Lone alias Ayub Lalhari was reportedly travelling in a Tavera car when the security forces intercepted it outside Banderpora village of Pulwamas Koil area, leading to a brief exchange of fire. Ayub Lalhari was the district commander of the LeT and one of the most wanted terrorists, said a defence spokesman in Pulwama. DGP tweeted Ayub Lalhari, district commander LeT, eliminated in #Pulwama. Excellent work boys! Lone was a resident of Lalhar, a village in Pulwama. His close associate and neighbour Arif Nabi Dar alias Rehan alias Arif Lalhari was killed along with the LeTs Abu Dujana in an encounter in a Pulwama village on August 1. Dujana, a Pakistani national, had figured at number one in the list of 12 most wanted terrorists released by the Army in June this year. Zakir Rashid Bhat alias Zakir Musa, the Kashmiri militant named as the head of al-Qaidas recently launched India cell Ansar Ghuzwat-Ul-Hind later owned Dujana as being its first martyr. In the making of Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, they played a key role and became first martyrs of this jihad movement, Musa said in an audio message which went viral on social media platforms earlier this month. The police sources said that the fire fight in Pulwama village in which Ayub Lalhari was killed was very brief. After the vehicle he was travelling in was intercepted, Ayub Lalhari engaged the security forces in a gun fight and tried to escape through an apple orchard but he was quickly gunned down, the sources said. However, another report quoting the villagers said that he was killed inside the car and later the security forces took his corpse along. The Supreme Court directed NIA to furnish the report to it after completing the investigation. (Photo: File) New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed an National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe under the supervision of a retired Supreme Court judge into issues raised by a Muslim man whose marriage was annulled by the Kerala High Court that described the case as an instance of 'love jihad'. A bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said the investigation into the matter will be supervised by the retired apex court judge R V Raveendran. It directed the probe agency to furnish the report to it after completing the investigation. The apex court bench, also comprising Justice D Y Chandrachud, said it will take a view after considering the NIA's probe report, inputs from the Kerala Police and after talking to the woman. On August 10, the apex court had asked the Kerala Police to share the probe details of the case with the NIA. The issue reached the apex court as Kerala-native Shafin Jahan challenged the annulment of his marriage by the Kerala High Court which ordered the state police to probe such cases. The top court had said it was entrusting the task to the NIA as a neutral agency to get a "whole picture" and ascertain whether the particular instance was limited to a "small pocket" or was there "something wider" to the issue. Jahan, who had married a Hindu woman in December 2016, had moved the apex court after the Kerala High Court annulled his marriage, saying that it was an insult to the independence of women in the country. The woman, a Hindu, had converted to Islam and later married Jahan. It was alleged that the woman was recruited by Islamic State's mission in Syria and Jahan was only a stooge. Earlier, the apex court had sought a response of the NIA and the Kerala government on the plea of Jahan. Ashokan K M, the father of the woman, had alleged that there was a "well-oiled systematic mechanism" for conversion and Islamic radicalisation. The NIA has recently conducted probe into some cases of 'love jihad' in which women were allegedly being sent to Syria to join the ISIS. The high court, while declaring the marriage as 'null and void', had described the case as an instance of 'love jihad' and ordered the state police to conduct probe into such cases. Renovation of the 16th Century Macca Masjid is not likely to begin any time soon. Hyderabad: Renovation of the 16th Century Macca Masjid is not likely to begin any time soon, with the Department of Archaeology and Monuments (DAM) unable to get good contractors to do the work. DAM had called for tenders twice but failed to get a response from well-qualified firms. Now for the third time we are going to invite tenders and hope to finalise it soon, said DAM deputy director, B. Narayana. The project cost is pegged at Rs 8.48 crore, but the Minorities Welfare Department has released only Rs 1 crore in May to the DAM. We have asked for another Rs 2 crore as the sum is inadequate to start the work. The Minorities Welfare Department has asked the TS Wakf Board to release the funds, he said. Renovation and repair of the main structure is the priority. The roof is leaking and we have to dig it up and refill with correct composition of material used during its construction four centuries ago, Mr Narayana said. Logistics and scale of the renovation project are daunting. Heavy cranes will have to be used to instal lifts and trolleys to transport material to the terrace of the mosque. The height of the mosque is about 75 feet. Material will have to be brought constantly for the work, which will take at least two years to complete. DAM officials are planning to open a temporary gate on the Panch Mohalla side to bring materials and equipment. But there are chances of protest from the trader community, said superintendent of Macca Masjid, Mohammed Abdul Qadeer Siddiqui. There are also apprehensions that the flow of funds will not be maintained. If the funds are stopped midway, it would mean escalation of the costs, said another official. NRIs willing to fund for repairs Muslim leaders are attributing the delay in the restoration of Macca Masjid to disinterest on the part of the officials of the Department of Archaeology and Monuments. Osman Bin Mohammed Al-Hajri, president of the Deccan Wakf Protection Society, said that the authorities have been promising to take up the work for the past three years. If the government is not interested in starting the work, then the community is willing to take up the work. Let the Minorities Welfare Department can open a bank account and we will donate money for the repairs. International firms with expertise in the conservation of heritage structures can be roped in if the state departments are unable to do so, he said. Mr Al-Hajri said that scores of affluent persons from the community, as well as NRIs, are willing to donate money for the restoration of the mosque. A stitch in time saves nine, he adds. The Millat Front, a city-based organisation, shares the same opinion. The mosque belongs to Allah. It doesnt matter who arranges funds for its maintenance and upkeep. It is a place of prayer and a 400-year-old historical landmark, said S.M. Abdul Khadeer, president of the organisation. He said that the condition of the mosque is worsening with every rainy season. Now water is seeping through walls too. A few days ago, the plaster from the ceiling of the mausoleum in the courtyard started falling off due to the rains. Mr Abdul Khadeer said that Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had promised to have the historic mosque restored at the earliest. Except for paperwork and official visits, nothing has happened so far, he said. Several heritage lovers and activists believe that it is time for the government to take some action. Four electrical substations are being established in Nellore city, Kavali and Gudur towns at an estimated cost of Rs 11 crore to put an end to power shutdowns in these urban areas under Integrated Power Development Scheme. Nellore: Four electrical substations are being established in Nellore city, Kavali and Gudur towns at an estimated cost of Rs 11 crore to put an end to power shutdowns in these urban areas under Integrated Power Development Scheme. Similarly 7,168 transformers of 25KV and 16KV are being replaced to deal with the low voltage issues in agriculture sector in SPSR Nellore district. District in-charge minister N. Amarnath Reddy has disclosed this while delivering customary speech after hoisting the National Flag during a colourful function to celebrate Independence Day at the Police Parade Grounds here on Tuesday. According to the minister, 484 solar pump sets have been distributed with a subsidy of around `13 crore last year and 129 solar pumps with a subsidy of Rs 3.50 crore have been given to the farmers so far this year. He said the government of India gave clearance Mishra Dhatu Nigam Limited (Midhani) to set up an aluminum alloy plant at Bodduvaripalem in Kodavalur mandal of SPSR Nellore district. Land acquisition has been completed to establish various projects including National National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) at Venkatachalam, Passport Seva Kendra in Nellore, FM Radio Station at Kottur, Airport near Dagadarthi and fishing harbour at Juvvaladinne. Nellore rural legislator Kotamreddy Sridhar Reddy, MLC Beeda Ravichandra, NUDA chairman Kotamreddy Srinivasulu Reddy, TD leader Bezawada Obul Reddy, former legislator M. Sreedhar Krishna Reddy and Kilari Venkateswari Naidu, collector R. Muthyala Raju, Joint Collector-2 Venkata Subba Reddy and SP P.H.D. Ramakrishna were present in the function among others. AIADMK (Amma) deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran confirmed the news of removal of editor of AIADMK newspaper Namadhu MGR, Marudhu Alaguraj. (Photo: File) Chennai: The editor of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) newspaper Namadhu MGR, Marudhu Alaguraj, has been removed as he acted against the policies of the institution. The news is confirmed by AIADMK (Amma) deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran. The decision came after Alaguraj, in its mouthpiece Namadhu MGR, accused the Centre of breaking the party into three factions and getting the party's two-leaves symbol frozen. 'Kaavi Adi, Kazhagathai Azhi' (Paint saffron, destroy AIADMK), a poem published in the party mouthpiece, had attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for its alleged failure on various issues. Alaguraj said, "I have been dismissed for my last article on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu-led-EPS Government." Stating that Prime Minister Modi has "snatched his pen," he asserted that "no dictatorship can stop him." Hyderabad: Commenting on the Rohingya refugee issue in Hyderabad, UN refugee agency UNHCR has asked the government to make long term visas and refugee cards valid for accessing public services, bank accounts and employment in the private sector. The UNHCR in a written reply to this correspondent over the recent statement of the Centre trying to deport Rohingya Muslims who migrated from Myanmar said there are around 16,500 Rohingyas from Myanmar who are registered with UNHCR in India. The UNHCR issues ID cards to refugees and documents to asylum seekers which help prevent harassment, arbitrary arrests and deportation. Most Rohingya refugees live across India. In principle, all refugees in India have access to government health and education services but sometimes they have difficulties in accessing them. UNHCR supports them through governmental, NGOs and other partners. It works closely with the government to ensure that refugees are able to live with dignity, said the agency. The UNHCR also stressed that most Rohingyas in India are unskilled and are only able to find jobs in the informal sector and face exploitation. They live in slums with limited access to water, toilets and electricity. The authorities issue Long Term Visas to refugees which eases their access to public services, bank accounts and employment in the private sector. Due to some changes in the documentation process some refugees have been facing challenges in accessing public services. It is very important for refugees to have access to employment. UNHCR believes that refugees are victims of violence. Protecting refugees is compatible with national security. In fact, registration helps governments of host countries to know who is on their territory and who needs protection. Viewing all refugees as threats may put at risk children and women. There are no official camps for Rohingyas in Hyderabad, said the agency. A Rohingya settlement at Balapur near Chandrayangutta. Several persecuted families who escaped from Myanmar are living here for the past few years. (Photo: DC) Hyderabad: Police says the security concerns expressed by the Centre with to Myanmar refugees staying in the country cannot be brushed aside. Police points out that Myanmar nationals were involved in two cases, both of them linked to terror. In November 2014, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested a Myanmar national, Mohammed Khalid alias Khaleed, from the Balapur settlement in the city for his alleged connection to the Bardhaman, West Bengal, blast case. Khaleed had been trained at a terror camp organised by Tehreek-e-Azadi Arakan, the NIA had claimed. The NIA had alleged that Khalid was part of a Rohingya solidarity organisation and had links with Bangla-desh-based terror groups. In another case in 2015, nine persons including two policemen were arrested for allegedly arranging Indian passports for Myanmar nationals. The two policemen included Ahmed, a constable, and S.K. Saleem, a home guard, both working with the Special Branch here. The prime accused, th-ough, was one Mohammed Nasir, a Pakistani national having links to terror outfits. Three of Nasirs associates were arrested. Myanmar national Zia Ur Rahman along with Faizal Mohamoud and Zianul Abedin, both Ban-gladesh nationals, and three local agents Ansari, Mohammed Masood Ali Khan and Sohail Parvez Khanwere also arrested. Mohammed Nasir had reportedly managed to get fake Indian passports for many Myanmar nationals through his contacts in the Special Branch and sent them to Saudi Arabia on visit visas. The police are still clueless as to why the Myanmar nationals had gone to Saudi Arabia with the help of those who had terror links. Police said Nasir and Zia-ur-Rahman had helped Pakistani national Waqas (who was recently awarded death sentence in Dilsukhnagar twin blast case) cross over into Bangladesh in 2014. Following the two terror related cases, we are regularly keeping a watch on Rohingya settlements. They are staying at Asadbabanagar and Hafeezbabanagar. The In-telligence Bureau periodically issues us advisories and we follow them diligently, DCP (South) V. Satyanarayana said. The Rachakonda police monitors their activities. We monitor their activities and do not interfere with the day to day affairs of the Rohingyas unless we sense something suspicious. We have a record of all those who are staying in the settlements, said a police official. Rohingyas in Balapaur battle surviving in ghettos A stream of drain water flows through the kacha road leading to the Rohingya settlements in the Royal Colony at Balapur. Since five years the colony is known among locals for its Burmawaleh logah (Myanmar nationals) who crossed two borders and found their way to the city. We came five years ago and are happy that we can stay here without fear. Though our earnings are meagre we manage with it, says Noorul Ahmed, who lives along with his wife and four children. His children study at a local madrasa which imparts free education to refugees. The settlement has several camps with 20 to 25 dwellings each and has come up on open plots owned by affluent people who have constructed small 10x10-foot-sized rooms and rented it out. Of the seven camps here a few have asbestos rooms while at some other camps the refugees themselves have put up huts. The families pay rents between `900 and `1,200 a month. Before the trouble in Myanmar our situation was comparatively better. Somehow we crossed over into India and are staying here, says a woman who picked up the local language. The Balapur and adjoining Hafeezbabanagar localities were the first destination for the refugees in Hyderabad. Later on they moved to Kishanbagh and MM Pahadi. In Kishanbagh, they are staying in small one roomed houses on the banks of the Musi and earn their livelihood by doing menial jobs, says Mazher Hussain, executive director of COVA. Prasahanthi Bathina, a project coordinator from Save the Children, the NGO working in the Rohingya settlement, says that the number of children here are high. We run a preschool for children below six years. The elder children are admitted in a private school. The children are malnourished. So we organise check-ups and conduct immunization camps, she explained. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, KPCC president Dr G. Parameshwar and AICC general secretary incharge of Karnataka K.C. Venugopal at the inauguration of Indira Canteen in Bengaluru on Wednesday. (Photo: Shashidhar B.) Bengaluru: Launching a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modis foreign policy, AICC vice-president, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday charged that the prime minister had made too many enemies in the neighbourhood while on the domestic front, hes busy dividing his countrymen. Mr Gandhi who was in the city for the launch of the eponymous Indira Canteens which provide subsidised food, questioned angrily what the PM had been doing in the three years since he assumed power? He allows his partymen to beat up Dalits, kill minorities and he doesnt say a word. He has created space in Jammu and Kashmir for Pakistan to misbehave, the Congress leader remarked. His tirade comes a day after PM Modi, in his Independence Day address, reached out to Kashmiris, saying abuses and bullets would not resolve their problems but embracing them would. He (Modi) has created an environment in Jammu and Kashmir of hatred and anger, and the only people who benefit from violence and hatred are the Pakistanis, Mr Gandhi said. Everybody knows that Bhutan is a very good friend of India, said the Congress vice-president, adding, They have stood by India since we got independence. India has a treaty with Bhutan, we have promised that we will protect them. In June, Chinese forces entered Bhutan, why are they still there? he asked. Pointing out that Russia was now selling weapons to Pakistan, Mr Gandhi asserted that all neighbouring countries except Pakistan and China were India's allies once, but this has changed with Mr Modi in power. The CAG has said that our defence forces don't have adequate ammunition. It's time the PM started doing what he's elected to do. It's time he answered questions that people are asking. We want to know what the PM is doing about giving jobs to youth, we want to know what he's doing about children who died in Gorakhpur and the millions of children dying elsewhere. We want to hear what the PM is planning to do about Chinese forces sitting in Bhutan. Its not enough to make empty speeches. Its about time the PM starts acting like one, he said. A Rohingya settlement at Balapur near Chandrayangutta. Several persecuted families who escaped from Myanmar are living here for the past few years. (Photo: DC) Hyderabad: The hardships of Rohingyas refuse to come to an end. After escaping their persecutors in Myanmar and travelling to the Jammu and Kashmir, the Rohingya population is again in search of shelter. A few hundred Rohingyas have escaped the volatile situation in Jammu and are taking shelter in the city, along with other refugees. They are said to be holding refugee cards. DCP, South, V. Satyanarayana said whoever does not have an UNHCR card will be deported irrespective from where he has come to the city. A special drive will be conducted in coordination with the neighbouring commissionerates of Rachakonda and Cyberabad, he said. Mr Inayat-ur-Rahman, a Myanmar national who is staying at one of the seven camps in Balapur, said security agencies are forcing Rohingyas to leave Jammu. I stayed there for three years. But three months ago we had to literally escape following trouble. We are unwelcome there and are being used as a political tool, said Mr. Rahman, who lives along with his wife and a year-old son in the camp. Over 3,800 Rohingyas staying in city Mr Mazher Hussain, executive director, COVA (Confederation of Voluntary Associations), said, There was some unrest in Kashmir and so they came here in search of better livelihood opportunities. The organisation is partnering with the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHCR) and helping Rohingyas get refugee cards. Mr Rahman is happy to be in the city; the 21-year-old works at a hotel and earns Rs 200 a day. It is enough for me to feed my family. In Jammu, we had to struggle to get work as there are a lot of security- related issues and nobody can easily get work there, he said. A man in the camp, who identified himself as Abdul, said that they had crossed over the border to India and had gone to Haryana and later to Jammu in 2013. We are looked upon suspiciously. With frequent checks by the police there, we moved away. A few hundred families who remain there will also move out, he said. The first batch of Rohingyas crossed over into India in 2012 following unrest in the Arakan and Rakhine region in Myanmar. There are close to 3,800 Rohingya refugees staying in Kishanbagh, Balapur, Mir Momin Pahadi and Shaheennagar in the southern side of the city. Srinagar: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday arrested seven second-rung Kashmiri separatist leaders and activists on charges of terror funding. Those who were arrested include Altaf Ahmed Shah alias Fantosh, a son-in-law of separatist patriarch Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Mr Shah, perceived as an influential force in Mr Geelanis Tehrik-e-Hurriyat, was in the custody of Jammu and Kashmir police after he was taken into detention in the last week of June following a request from the NIA. Separatists reject NIA's charge The NIA has been probing alleged funding of terror and subversive activities in the Kashmir valley after a national TV channel in a sting operation, showed three separatist leaders admitting on camera that they had received funding from Pakistan and Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, a co-founder of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and the chief (amir) of Jamaat-ud-Dawah, which has had sanctions placed against it as a terrorist organisation by the United Nations. Those who were arrested include Altaf Ahmed Shah alias Fantosh, a son-in-law of separatist patriarch Syed Ali Shah Geelani. Shah, perceived as an influential force in Geelanis Tehrik-e-Hurriyat party, was in the custody of Jammu and Kashmir police after he was taken into prevention detention in the last week of June following a request from the NIA. The others arrested on Monday are Ayaz Akbar, Raja Merajuddin Kalwal and Peer Saifullah all close aides of the separatist leader, Farooq Ahmed Dar alias Bita Karate, a leader of a faction of JKLF and Naeem Ahmed Khan, the leader of National Front. An alliance of key separatist leaders has called for a shutdown in Kashmir on Tuesday against revengeful, arbitrary and illegal arrests. The alliance which calls itself Joint Resistance Leadership and has Geelani, the Mirwaiz Muhammad Yasin Malik on it said in a statement here, They have been arrested by the NIA on fabricated charges. In the last year, police in the state has booked more than 6,300 cases against husbands and relatives. Hyderabad: The most common reason that men cite in divorce petitions, especially when faced with a dowry case, is mental illness of their wives. This is the easiest way to get custody of the children and to keep the family jewellery and property. According to prominent lawyers, women petitioners in several dowry harassment cases have been accused of having mental illnesses like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. They are painted as being unable to either take care of the children or manage property. The defence lawyers use that claim as the basis on which their client wins the case, said prominent human rights lawyer Gulam Rabbani. In the last year, police in the state has booked more than 6,300 cases against husbands and relatives. While mens rights activists have always maintained that Section 498A (dowry harassment and domestic violence) has been increasingly exploited to extort men, defence lawyers in such cases often accuse women petitioners of being mentally ill. If convicted, the punishment for dowry harassment is three years in jail and a fine. In my experience, when an accused in a domestic violence case meets his lawyer, the first conversation he is likely to have is how to portray the complainant as a mentally ill person in court, said another lawyer from the city. There is so much pressure put on the complainant with allegations of mental illness that so metimes the victim agrees to settle the matter for minimum compensation. The humiliation the victim faces due to such allegations can be very harmful. It gives men an upper hand in the whole process, said Mr Rabbani. Northeast Nigeria is a hotbed of activity by the Boko Haram jihadist group, involving shootings, bombings and kidnappings. (Photo: AP) Kano (Nigeria): Three women suicide bombers blew themselves up at the entrance to a camp for displaced people in northeast Nigeria on Tuesday, killing 28 people and wounding 82, local sources said. The attack -- the latest in a string of assaults in the troubled region -- took place in the town of Mandarari, 25 kilometres (15 miles) from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, said Baba Kura, a member of a vigilante force set up to fight jihadists. "Three female bombers triggered their explosive outside of the IDP (internally displaced persons) camp... killing 28 people and wounding 82 others," Kura said. The first assailant blew herself up, triggering panic, Kura said. "People were trying to close their shops when two other female bombers triggered their explosives, causing most of the casualties," he said. Ibrahim Liman, the head of a local anti-jihadist militia force, confirmed the details of the attack, and said that more than 80 injured had been taken to Maiduguri hospital. A source at the hospital said a "huge number" of patients had arrived. Northeast Nigeria is a hotbed of activity by the Boko Haram jihadist group, involving shootings, bombings and kidnappings. It launched an insurgency in 2009 that has killed about 20,000 people and displaced around 2.6 million others, creating one of the world's biggest humanitarian crises. Nearly two million are suffering from acute malnutrition, according to UN figures. After being elected to power in 2015, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari made tackling the insurgency a priority, winning back swathes of territory and declaring that Boko Haram is "technically defeated". But this year has seen a surge in attacks, including an audacious assault on an oil exploration team that killed 69 people in Borno in July, raising fears that Boko Haram is regaining strength. That attack prompted Vice President Yemi Osinbajo -- standing in for President Muhammadu Buhari who is on indefinite sick leave -- to tell the millitary to step up its response. Osinbajo issued "fresh directives... to immediately scale-up their efforts and activities in Borno state... to maintain a strong, effective control of the situation", his spokesman Laolu Akandehe said. In August, however, 72 people have been killed in northeastern Nigeria, including 31 fishermen on islands in Lake Chad, according to an unofficial toll compiled from news reports. New York: Combative and insistent, President Donald Trump declared anew Tuesday "there is blame on both sides" for the deadly violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, appearing to once again equate the actions of white supremacist groups and those protesting them. He showed sympathy for the fringe groups' efforts to preserve Confederate monuments. The president's comments effectively wiped away the more conventional statement he delivered at the White House a day earlier when he branded members of the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists who take part in violence as "criminals and thugs." Trump's advisers had hoped those remarks might quell a crush of criticism from Republicans, Democrats and business leaders. But the president's retorts Tuesday suggested he had been a reluctant participant in that cleanup effort and renewed questions about why he seems to struggle to unequivocally condemn white nationalists. The blowback was swift, including from fellow Republicans. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said Trump should not allow white supremacists "to share only part of the blame." House Speaker Paul Ryan declared in a tweet that "white supremacy is repulsive" and there should be "no moral ambiguity," though he did not specifically address the president. Trump's remarks were welcomed by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, who tweeted: "Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth." Violence broke out Saturday in Charlottesville, a picturesque college town, after a loosely connected mix of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and other far-right extremists assembled to protest the city's decision to remove a towering statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Heather Heyer, 32, was killed when a man plowed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters. In the immediate aftermath, Trump placed the blame on "many sides." On Monday, at the urging of his aides, he delivered a more direct condemnation of white supremacists. But he returned to his original arguments Tuesday during an impromptu press conference in the lobby of his Manhattan skyscraper, declaring "there are two sides to a story." He acknowledged there were "some very bad people" looking for trouble in the group protesting plans to remove the statue. "But you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides," he said. Trump sided with those seeking to maintain the monument to Lee, equating him with some of the nation's founders who also owned slaves. Confederate monuments have become rallying points for supporters of both preserving and toppling them. "So, this week it's Robert E. Lee," he said. "I noticed that Stonewall Jackson's coming down." I wonder, is it George Washington next week and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You really do have to ask yourself where does it stop?" He continued: "You're changing history. You're changing culture." The president's comments mirrored rhetoric from the far-right fringe. A post Monday by the publisher of The Daily Stormer, a notorious neo-Nazi website, predicted that protesters are going to demand that the Washington Monument be torn down. Trump's handling of the weekend violence has raised new and troubling questions, even among some supporters. Members of his own Republican Party have pressured him to be more vigorous in criticizing bigoted groups, and business leaders have begun abandoning a White House jobs panel in response to his comments. White House officials were caught off guard by his remarks Tuesday. He had signed off on a plan to not answer questions from journalists during an event touting infrastructure policies, according to a White House official not authorized to speak publicly about a private discussion. Once behind the lectern and facing the cameras, he overruled the decision. As Trump talked, his aides on the sidelines in the lobby stood in silence. Chief of staff John Kelly crossed his arms and stared down at his shoes, barely glancing at the president. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders looked around the room trying to make eye contact with other senior aides. One young staffer stood with her mouth agape. Kelly was brought into the White House less than a month ago to try to bring order and stability to a chaotic West Wing. Some Trump allies hoped the retired Marine general might be able to succeed where others have failed: controlling some of Trump's impulses. But the president's improvisations on Tuesday once against underscored that he cannot be controlled by his advisers. Democrats were aghast at Trump's comments. Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine said on Twitter that the Charlottesville violence "was fueled by one side: white supremacists spreading racism, intolerance & intimidation. Those are the facts." Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii said on Twitter that he no longer views Trump as his president. "As a Jew, as an American, as a human, words cannot express my disgust and disappointment," Schatz said. "This is not my president." When asked to explain his Saturday comments about Charlottesville, Trump looked down at his notes and again read a section of his initial statement that denounced bigotry but did not single out white supremacists. He then tucked the paper back into his jacket pocket. Trump, who has quickly deemed other deadly incidents in the U.S. and around the world acts of terrorism, waffled when asked whether the car death was a terrorist attack. "There is a question. Is it murder? Is it terrorism?" Trump said. "And then you get into legal semantics. The driver of the car is a murderer and what he did was a horrible, horrible, inexcusable thing." Trump said he had yet to call Heyer's mother but would soon "reach out." He praised her for what he said was a nice statement about him on social media. As he finally walked away from his lectern, he stopped to answer one more shouted question: Would he visit Charlottesville? The president's response was to note that he owned property there and to say - inaccurately - that it was one of the largest wineries in the United States. Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas expressed his thanks for North Korea's firm solidarity in support of the rights of our people and the just struggle to end the (Israeli) occupation. (Photo: File) Jerusalem: Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas congratulated North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un Tuesday on the anniversary of independence from Japan's 1910-45 occupation, amid a US standoff with the rogue state. "The Korean people offered the most precious sacrifices for their freedom and dignity," Abbas said in a message to Kim that was also published by the Palestinian state news agency Wafa. Abbas expressed his thanks for North Korea's "firm solidarity in support of the rights of our people and the just struggle to end the (Israeli) occupation," it added. In a separate message also carried by Wafa, Abbas congratulated South Korean President Moon Jae-In on the anniversary. After a week of soaring tensions between the United States and North Korea, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday Washington was ready for talks with Kim. Earlier this week Kim postponed a threat to fire missiles towards the US territory of Guam, after US President Donald Trump said a military option against North Korea was "locked and loaded". Beijing: Notwithstanding the Doklam standoff, Chinese military analysts say that India and China should sign a new boundary convention in the Sikkim sector to replace the 1890 Great Britain-China agreement and make it more contemporary. "For China early harvest means, we want to have a new agreement with India, because the 1890 convention was signed between Great Britain and China," Senior Colonel Zhao Xiaozhou, Director at the Centre on China-America Defence Relations of the Academy of Military Science, told an Indian media delegation here yesterday. "At that time, it was not the People's Republic of China, (PRC). India became independent in 1947. It is better we change the signatures of the convention, that is what I mean early harvest," he said. "It is very essential because there are territorial disputes in the eastern, central and western sectors of the India-China border. Only in the Sikkim section we have the fixed border. So, we want to start from the easiest, that is what we call early harvest," he added. The Chinese Foreign Ministry too in its August 2 fact- sheet on Doklam standoff referred to Beijing's expectations of an "early harvest" in the Sikkim sector. "The Chinese and Indian sides have been in discussion on making the boundary in the Sikkim Sector an 'early harvest' in the settlement of the entire boundary question during the meetings between the Special Representatives on the China- India Boundary Question," it had said, referring to the 1890 convention. "The boundary in the Sikkim sector has long been delimited by the 1890 Convention, which was signed between then China and Great Britain. China and India ought to sign a new boundary convention in their own names to replace the 1890 Convention. This, however, in no way alters the nature of the boundary in the Sikkim sector as having already been delimited," it had said. On the Sikkim part of the boundary, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) in its June 30 statement on the Doklam standoff had said, "Where the boundary in the Sikkim sector is concerned, India and China had reached an understanding also in 2012 reconfirming their mutual agreement on the 'basis of the alignment'. Further discussions regarding finalisation of the boundary have been taking place under the Special Representatives framework." Therefore "it is essential that all parties concerned display utmost restraint and abide by their respective bilateral understandings not to change the status quo unilaterally. It is also important that the consensus reached between India and China through the Special Representatives process is scrupulously respected by both sides," the MEA had said. Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim. India and China have been locked in a face-off in the Doklam area of the Sikkim sector for the last 50 days after Indian troops stopped the Chinese People's Liberation Army from building a road in the area. China claimed that it was constructing the road within its territory and has been demanding immediate pull-out of the Indian troops from Doklam. Bhutan says Doklam belongs to it but China claims sovereignty over the area. China also claims that Thimphu has no dispute with Beijing over Doklam. Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, that the two countries should work together to contain tensions (Photo: AP) Beijing: China is telling the US and North Korea to "hit the brakes" on threatening words and actions and work toward a peaceful resolution of their dispute, in a sign of growing concern over the standoff on the part of Pyongyang's only major ally. Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, that the two countries should work together to contain tensions and permit no one to "stir up an incident on their doorstep," according to a statement posted on the Chinese foreign ministry's website. "The most important task at hand is for the US and North Korea to 'hit the brakes' on their mutual needling of each other with words and actions, to lower the temperature of the tense situation and prevent the emergence of an 'August crisis,'" Wang was quoted as saying in the Tuesday conversation. The ministry quoted Lavrov as saying tensions could rise again with the US and South Korea set to launch large-scale military exercises on August 21. "A resolution of the North Korea nuclear issue by military force is completely unacceptable and the peninsula's nuclear issue must be peacefully resolved by political and diplomatic methods," Lavrov was quoted as saying. China is North Korea's main economic partner and political backer, although relations between Beijing and Pyongyang have deteriorated amid the North's continuing defiance of China's calls for restraint. In recent months, China has joined with Russia in calling for the US to suspend annual military exercises with South Korea in exchange for Pyongyang halting its missile and nuclear tests as a first step toward direct talks. On Wednesday, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, continued a visit to China following talks the day before with his Chinese counterpart that touched on North Korea. No details of the talks have been released. Dunford on Tuesday told Fang Fenghui, chief of the People's Liberation Army's joint staff department, that the sides had "many difficult issues" between them but were willing to deal with them through dialogue. On Monday, Dunford was in Seoul to meet with senior South Korean military and political officials and the local media, seeking to ease anxiety while showing his willingness to back President Donald Trump's warnings if need be. The US wants to peacefully resolve tensions with North Korea, but Washington is also ready to use the "full range" of its military capabilities, Dunford said. His visit to Asia, which also will include a stop in Japan, comes after Trump last week declared the U.S. military "locked and loaded" and said he was ready to unleash "fire and fury" if North Korea continued to threaten the United States. North Korea's military on Tuesday presented leader Kim Jong Un with plans to launch missiles into waters near the US territory of Guam and "wring the windpipes of the Yankees," even as both Koreas and the United States signaled their willingness to avert a deepening crisis, with each suggesting a path toward negotiations. The tentative interest in diplomacy follows unusually combative threats between Trump and North Korea amid worries Pyongyang is nearing its long-sought goal of being able to send a nuclear missile to the U.S. mainland. Next week's start of US-South Korean military exercises that enrage the North each year could make diplomacy even more difficult. During an inspection of the North Korean army's Strategic Forces, which handles the missile program, Kim praised the military for drawing up a "close and careful plan" and said he would watch the "foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees" a little more before deciding whether to order the missile test, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said. Kim appeared in photos sitting at a table with a large map marked by a straight line between what appeared to be northeastern North Korea and Guam, and passing over Japan - apparently showing the missiles' flight route. The missile plans were previously announced. Kim said North Korea would conduct the launches if the "Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity," warning the United States to "think reasonably and judge properly" to avoid shaming itself, the news agency said. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters in Washington on Tuesday, "We continue to be interested in trying to find a way to get to dialogue, but that's up to (Kim)." Lobbing missiles toward Guam, a major US military hub in the Pacific, would be deeply provocative from the US perspective. A miscalculation on either side could lead to military confrontation. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, meanwhile, a liberal who favors diplomacy, urged North Korea to stop provocations and to commit to talks over its nuclear weapons program. Moon, in a televised speech Tuesday on the anniversary of World War II's end and the Korean Peninsula's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, said Seoul and Washington agree that the nuclear standoff should "absolutely be solved peacefully." He said no US military action on the Korean Peninsula could be taken without Seoul's consent. North Korea's military said last week that it would finalize the plan to fire four ballistic missiles near Guam, which is about 3,200 kilometers (2,000 miles) from Pyongyang. It would be a test of the Hwasong-12, a new missile the country flight-tested for the first time in May. The liquid-fuel missile is designed to be fired from road mobile launchers and has been described by North Korea as built for attacking Alaska and Hawaii. The ongoing Doklam standoff between India and China has to be seen in the larger context. Beijing: As India celebrated its 71st Independence Day on Tuesday, Chinese media called India a typical example of regional hegemon, which controls the South Asian countries like Bhutan and Nepal amid military standoff at Sikkim. A Chinese state-run daily, Global Times, in an editorial said, India behaving like a bully, which has taken the sovereign state of Sikkim into its territory and with so-called protection of Bhutan, limiting its sovereignty. India and China are engaged in a standoff in Sikkim since June 16, when China attempted to construct a road at Doklam, a disputed tri-junction area between India-Bhutan-China, which originally belongs to Bhutan, but China claims it as its territory. The editorial also blamed India for not allowing Bhutan to establish diplomatic relations with five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, a relationship that no large country has with a small country till this day. Global Times, which is known for its strong criticism against India, mentioned, India has also interfered with the diplomacy of Nepal and other south Asian countries. It said that China is way more powerful than India, but still it doesnt project a sphere of influence. Beijing doesnt control any country like India controls Bhutan, it added. On India's 71st anniversary of Independence, Global Times said, August 15 is not just a day for pride. However, Indians should also reflect on what they have done and feel shame for their actions. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his address to nation from Red Fort on Independence Day, had said, India is capable of tackling any kind of security challenge, be it the sea or borders. Modi made this comment at the backdrop of ongoing military standoff with China at Sikkim. Meanwhile, Indian border guards on Tuesday foiled an attempt by Chinese soldiers to enter Indian territory, along the banks of famous Pangong lake in Ladakh resulting in stone pelting that caused minor injuries to people of both the sides. The NDA government has time and again said it wants to resolve the Doklam standoff through diplomatic channels. However, China has refused to hold talks unless India withdraws its troops from the Sikkim sector. Janakpur (Nepal): Three years after its last train hit the buffers, landlocked Nepal is building a new railway network to boost its ailing economy -- helped by the rivalry between powerful neighbours China and India. The railway to India was a lifeline for the small southern frontier town of Janakpur, used to import everything from sweets to clothes and cosmetics and fuelling a vibrant border economy. But it fell into disrepair after years of neglect and since 2014, the train has sat stationary, its rusting carcass now a playground for local children, while Janakpur's markets are empty. "When the train was running, we would have a lot of business. I was easily providing (for) my family," said Shyam Sah, whose small family-run cosmetics shop has suffered an 80 per cent drop in profits since the railway closed. Now it is being rebuilt with Indian backing, one of three new rail lines -- one funded by China in the north and a third by Nepal itself -- that the country hopes will help boost international trade. Nepal remains largely isolated from the global economy, dependent on aid and remittances. Growth slowed dramatically after a 2015 earthquake but is expected to normalise at 5 per cent from 2018 -- one of the slowest rates in South Asia -- according to the World Bank. In recent years it has courted its two large neighbours for investment in an attempt to plug itself into a rail network that links the far eastern reaches of Asia with Europe. But geography is not on its side. The Himalayas form a natural border between Nepal and China, leaving it largely dependent on India -- with which it shares a 1,400 kilometre open border -- for the majority of its imports and exports. In recent years, Kathmandu has tilted towards Beijing as part of a nationalist drive to decrease the country's reliance on Delhi. China has responded, ramping up its diplomatic ties with Nepal -- mostly through large-scale infrastructure investments. In 2017, Beijing pledged USD 8.3 billion to build roads and hydropower plants in Nepal, dwarfing India's commitments of USD 317 million. Feasibility studies are also underway for a Beijing- backed railway connecting Kathmandu to Lhasa in Tibet, cutting straight through the Himalayas at an estimated cost of $8 billion. Ankit Panda, senior editor at The Diplomat magazine, said that could be a game-changer for the small country. "The rail line with China holds potential depending on the demand side of the equation, on how China allows Nepal to leverage that link for commercial growth opportunities," he said. But it has strained relations between India and China, who are currently locked in a tense standoff on the remote Himalayan plateau of Doklam in Bhutan sparked by a new road being built by China. "China knows that its chequebook diplomacy with the smaller Asian states is a sore point with India, which simply cannot afford to put up the kind of capital outlays that the Chinese promise," said Panda. The project is part of its "One Belt, One Road" initiative, a massive global infrastructure programme to connect Chinese companies to new markets around the world that critics see as a geopolitical powerplay. India has snubbed the plan and skipped a summit in Beijing in May. Delhi is funding the reconstruction of the Janakpur line, rebuilding the tracks to carry broad-gauge trains that will allow it to connect to the rest of the subcontinent's expansive rail network. Some experts warn that Nepal has become a de-facto battleground in a geopolitical struggle for regional supremacy between India and China -- a position that Kathmandu must navigate carefully. "None of them (smaller Asian nations) want to become a de facto satellite state," said Michael Auslin, Asia expert and fellow with the Hoover Institution. "But by having both India and China essentially compete over it, from one perspective it makes it a battleground, from another perspective it means that Nepal is playing the two off against each other," he added. Meanwhile, the people of Janakpur are eagerly awaiting the rail revival that will connect them to India once again. "When the train stopped, everything finished. Business has gone down for all of the city," said bookshop owner Rajendra Kusuwah. "After the new rail comes, it will open doors for development." The National Investigation Agency (NIA), probing terror funding to separatists and militants, on Wednesday conducted fresh raids at about a dozen locations in Jammu and Kashmir. Sources said the sleuths of the premier probe agency raided at least a dozen locations in Srinagar, and north Kashmir's Baramulla and Handwara areas. "The houses of two officials of the state government, who are related to a high profile businessman, were also searched by the NIA in Tangmarg area of Baramulla district. In Handwara, the house of a student pursuing his medical course (MBBS) in Pakistan, was also searched," they said and added house of Advocate Shafi Reshi, uncle of ruling PDP, MLC Yasir Reshi was also raided. Sources revealed the businessman, whose relatives houses were raided, has financial activities spread between Kashmir, Delhi, Dubai and London and has been questioned by the NIA sleuths, several times in the past two months. "However, he hasn't been formally arrested yet. The businessman could be arrested if charges of murky financial deals against him, including his acquisition of properties at several places allegedly in partnership with a former IPS officer, proved to be correct," they said. On July 24, the NIA arrested seven separatist leaders including Altaf Shah alias Fantoosh, the son-in-law of hardline separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani, in connection with its probe into the funding of terror and subversive activities in the Valley. "The fresh raids were conducted after disclosures made by the separatists in NIA custody. In the coming days, the NIA is expected to conduct more raids based on the inputs from the arrested separatists," sources said. Earlier, on June 3-4, the premier probe agency raided residences of financiers, hawala operators and office bearers of separatist groups at nearly 30 locations, during which it seized cash, gold jewellery/coins, property related documents, letterheads of Lashkar-e-Toiba and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, pen-drives, laptops, mobile phones and other incriminating documents. The NIA has also questioned octogenarian Geelani's sons, Dr Nayeem and Naseem, though both have been let off after several rounds of interrogation in New Delhi. The NIA is investigating if funds from Pakistan were used to fuel last year's unrest in Kashmir that left more than 90 people dead. China said today that it was not aware of the reports of PLA soldiers entering Indian territory along the banks of the Pangong lake in Ladakh and maintained that it was committed to peace and tranquillity along the border. Indian border guards yesterday foiled an attempt by Chinese soldiers to enter Indian territory in Ladakh, resulting in stone pelting that caused minor injuries to people on both sides. Asked to comment on the incident,Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hu Chunying said, "I am not aware of the information I can tell you that the Chinese border troops are always committed to maintain peace and tranquillity of the India-China border." "We always patrol in the Chinese side along the Line of Actual Control. We urge the Indian side to abide by the LAC (Line of Actual Control) and relevant conventions between the two sides," she said. In the past too, whenever such incursions have taken place, China has always maintained that its troops were patrolling the Chinese side of the border highlighting that border is yet to be delineated as the two countries were in the process of resolving the boundary dispute. Special Representatives of China and India have held 19 rounds of talks to resolve the boundary issue. Asked whether there is any progress to resolve the standoff at the Doklam area in the Sikkim section which has now entered the third month, Hua reiterated China's stand that Indian troops illegally trespassed into Chinese territory and they should unconditionally withdraw. "This is pre-condition for any meaningful talks between the two sides," she said. However, China has been acknowledging that the talks are on through the diplomatic channels to discuss the issue. Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim. Three men arrested in June for allegedly slaughtering cows have been booked under the National Security Act (NSA), a senior district official said today. According to District Magistrate G S Priyadarshi, Khalil, Bhura and Inam Qureshi were booked under NSA on the recommendation of the local police last evening. They were arrested on June 24 for allegedly slaughtering cows in Katka village under Jansath police station in the district and one quintal of beef was seized from their possession, he said. The accused have been in jail since then, added Circle Officer S K S Pratap. State Director General of Police (DGP) Sulkhan Singh had issued a directive in June to all district police chiefs to book those involved in cow slaughter and illegal transport of milch animals for slaughter under the stringent NSA and Gangsters Act in Uttar Pradesh. "NSA and Gangsters Act is to be invoked against those involved in cow slaughter and trafficking of milch animals for slaughter," the DGP's order said. The government has banned exports of gold jewellery, medallions and other articles above 22- carat purity in a bid to check round tripping of the precious metal. In a notification, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said certain provisions of the foreign trade policy (2015-20) are "amended to allow export of gold jewellery (plain or studded) and articles containing gold of 8 carats and above up to a maximum limit of 22 carats only from domestic tariff area and export-oriented units, electronics hardware technology parks, software technology parks and bio technology parks". This means that export of gold jewellery, medallions and other articles of the precious metal above 22 carat purity is not permitted by any exporter, including from these parks, which are meant for sector-specific shipments. The DGFT also stated that only those exporters can avail of incentives who are shipping gold jewellery and other articles containing gold of 8 carats and up to a maximum limit of 22 carats and not beyond. According to an official of the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), some exporters were availing of export incentives by claiming export of gold items of above 22 carat purity with some value addition. "This is not possible as India is a net importer of gold and no trader would import above 22 carats gold and export it as it is without value addition. This is not a financially viable business," the GJEPC official, who did not wish to be named, said. Sharing similar views, an official of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said that through this notification, the government has banned export of the jewellery above 22 carats and this decision will not impact shipment of gold jewellery as there is significantly less demand for these items in the international market. The decision came at a time when Indian gold jewellery traders have raised concerns over a surge in gold imports from South Korea. Gold import from South Korea jumped to USD 338.6 million during July 1 and August 3 this year. The import in 2016-17 stood at 470.46 million. Under the free trade pact between India and South Korea, basic Customs duty on gold was eliminated.m Further, the 12.5 per cent countervailing duty on gold imports has been subsumed in the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Accordingly, imports now attract only 3 per cent integrated GST. Countries impose this duty to discourage import of a product. India is the world's second-biggest gold consumer after China. The imports mainly take care of demand by the jewellery industry. Jailed V K Sasikala's nephew and "ousted" AIADMK leader TTV Dhinakaran on Wednesday said that he will not be responsible if ruling government led by chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami collapses. Dhinakaran's statement came against the backdrop of Palaniswami's remarks that he was ready to prove his majority at anytime. "At present, the government is like a glass bowl and I am not responsible if they break it", Dhinakaran said. The sidlined AIADMK leader, who launched a state-wide tour to show his strength in the party, alleged that few ministers and office-bearers were trying to take over the party through the back doors. "Party is more important for me than the government", Dhinakaran added. Stating that if the Palaniswami's government does not function in the path laid by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa then it will surely lead to its downfall, Dhinkaran said. Dhinkaran also said that he would take action against the certain ministers, who continuously issuing statement against him. "They are talking against ne to satisfy someone. They will face action, if they continue to do so", he said. Dhinkaran, who has the support of about 30 MLAs, desperate to prove his strength since the merger between two AIADMK warring factions, one led by Palaniswami and another led by rebel leader O Panneerselvam which is on the cards. The Supreme Court today refused to transfer the trial in the Madan Tamang murder case of 2010 from Kolkata to Sikkim but ordered that the proceedings should be conducted through video conferencing from Darjeeling. A bench comprising Justices S A Bobde and L Nageswara Rao said that Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) general secretary Roshan Giri, who is an accused in the case and had moved the apex court seeking transfer of trial from Kolkata to Sikkim, does not represent all the persons facing trial in the matter. The police has claimed that Tamang, who was the All India Gorkha League (AIGL) president, was hacked to death in Darjeeling on May 21, 2010 in broad daylight when he was overseeing preparations for a public meeting. The apex court asked the lower court in Kolkata, where the case is pending, to hold the trial "mainly through video conferencing" for which the appropriate facility should be set up at Kolkata and Darjeeling respectively. It, however, clarified that if the trial court was of the opinion that physical presence of a particular accused and or a witness was necessary before the Kolkata court, the judge can pass specific order in this regard. "We are not inclined to direct that the case be transferred out of Kolkata at the instance of the petitioner (Giri) who do not represent all the accused in the trial," the apex court said. During the course of the hearing, Additional Solicitor General P S Narasimha, representing the CBI, and senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, appearing for West Bengal government, told the bench that trial through video conferencing was an "accpetable option" in this case. Giri's counsel did not object to the submissions, after which the bench said "we consider that these submissions are undoubtely reasonable and practial. We accordingly direct the trial court to hold the trial in the case mainly through video conferencing for which the facility be duly set up in Kolkata and Darjeeling". The bench further said "if the trial judge would be of the opinion that physical presence of a particular witness or accused is necessary in court before Kolkata, he shall pass such specific order giving sufficient time to that person to be present before the court". Giri had approached the apex court seeking transfer of trial in the case, claiming that if he was to appear in court at Kolkata to face the murder trial, then there would be a serious law and order situation in Kolkata which might pose a threat to his life. Giri has been charged with alleged "criminal conspiracy for murder", along with several other GJM leaders, in the murder case of Tamang. His counsel had earlier told the apex court that in view of the agitation in Darjeeling, it was very likely that a serious law and order situation would arise if he was made to go to Kolkata to face the trial. The state government's counsel had earlier argued that the court should seek a report from military intelligence on the stir which would make everything clear. The counsel had claimed that Giri wanted his trial to be shifted to Sikkim as its chief minister has extended support to the GJM's demand. CBI has indicted the entire top leadership of the GJM for the murder of the AIGL president. Besides Giri, GJM president Bimal Gurung is among the nine top leaders named in the charge sheet. Gurung, his wife Asha and several senior leaders of the hill outfit had surrendered before a trial court which granted them bail in the murder case. Rebel Congress leader and former chief minister of the state Shankarsinh Vaghela on Wednesday put in his papers as legislator of Kapadvanj constituency in Gujarat Assembly. Vaghela submitted his resignation to the Speaker of the Assembly, Ramanlal Vora in Gandhinagar in the presence of chief minister Vijay Rupani, his deputy Nitin Patel and senior ministers Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and Pradeepsinh Jadeja. Vaghelas resignation comes after seven legislators loyal to him had put in their papers earlier this month after Rajya Sabha polls, following six other Congress legislators who had quit the party late last month before Rajya Sabha polls in the state. In all 14 of the 57, Congress legislators in Gujarat Assembly have now put in their papers. Congress on its part had expelled these 14 from the party for six years. Vaghela had failed to stop Congress candidate Ahmed Patel from reaching the Upper House of Parliament, despite him breaking away from the party, thus bringing down the effective strength of Congress in the Gujarat Assembly from 57 to 43. Ahmed Patel made it to Rajya Sabha along with BJP national president Amit Shah and Union minister Smriti Irani. Vaghela, who was Leader of Opposition in Gujarat Assembly before he quit the Congress on July 21, had first openly spoken against Congress and its national leadership when he had held a meet with 1500 of his supporters in Gandhinagar. Vaghela has been claiming that Congress high-command has not been heeding to his request to prepare for a fight in the forthcoming Assembly polls to be held by the end of this year. Vaghela has on July 21 said that while he was quitting Congress, he would quit as legislator post-Rajya Sabha polls and August 15. When such a senior leader is resigning, it is natural that we remain present with him on such a day, Vijay Rupani said. Vaghela was seen relaxed and all smiles whilst submitting his resignation to Vora. He was seen chatting with the chief minister and his deputy in the chamber of Vora. The presence of the chief minister and senior ministers with Vaghela gave rise to speculation that he could make a comeback to his mother party Bharatiya Janata Party which he had quit in the mid-1990s after having split it then. Though Vaghela has been claiming that he would not be joining any political party after having quit Congress. I have made my stand clear. Neither am I joining any existing political party or any new party. I am definitely in politics but shall not be joining any political party, Vaghela told reporters after submitting his resignation. I dont need anyones blessings other than that of people. Indian and Chinese Army officials on Wednesday held a border personnel meeting in Chusul in eastern Ladakh, a day after border guards of the two nations had a confrontation near the Pangong Tso lake in Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir. The meeting was held to defuse tension that cropped up a day before when troops from both sides reportedly threw stones at each other following an altercation. This resulted in injuries to soldiers from both sides. A day later, Indian and People's Liberation Army officials, sources said, were discussing ways to ensure the strengthening of the existing mechanism to maintain peace and tranquillity at the border. This is for the first time in many years that troops were injured in a confrontation while guarding the 3,488 km Line of Actual control between China and India. The 135 km-long glacial-melt lake, straddles both countries. Two-thirds of the lake is in Chinese control while the rest is with India. Both nations routinely patrol its respective territories. The adjoining areas on the banks are guarded by the land patrols. On the northern bank of the lake, there are spurs of the mountain that are military termed as fingers. On a west-to-east axis, India claims territory till Finger 8 but is in physical control till Finger 4. The aerial distance between the two Fingers is about 15 km. The land north of these mountains is disputed. Sources said the stone-throwing incident occurred when land-based patrols of both sides came face to face north of the picturesque lake in Ladakh. It is an area claimed by both countries and is one of the spots where the two countries fought pitched battles during the 1962 war. The stand-off on the Independence Day lasted for two hours in which no arms were used. The situation was brought under control after a standard drill that sees both sides holding up banners claiming their rights over the disputed area before stepping back to their respective positions. Troops from Indian Army and Indo Tibetan Border Police patrol the lake and the adjoining areas. The fresh confrontation in the Western Himalayas comes at a time when Indian and Chinese soldiers are locked in a face-off in the Doklam area in Sikkim sector, near the China-India-Bhutan trijunction. The Doklam stand-off has entered into the eighth week with is no visible sign of the crisis getting resolved, though diplomats from both sides are at work. Indian Army officials also mentioned that sweets were exchanged between Indian and PLA troops in Doklam and other areas on the Independence Day, but there was no ceremonial border personnel meeting. The officials said sweets were exchanged in multiple border locations including in the area of Dokalam. However, other spots where sweets were exchanged have not been disclosed by the Army. One of the aggrieved parents of the children, who had died owing to alleged shortage of oxygen at the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur last week, has accused two UP ministers and a senior bureaucrat of being ''negligent'' and sought registration of a criminal case against them. The central team, which had visited the BRD medical college to probe the matter, has rejected the assertion that shortage of oxygen was behind the deaths of children. Manager Rajbhar, whose child was admitted to the Encephalitis ward at the medical college hospital, had died on August 11 along with many other children allegedly for want of oxygen. Rajbhar, a resident of Motipur village in Motihari district of Bihar, lodged a complaint with Gulrahiya police station in Gorakhpur district alleging that his child had died owing to shortage of oxygen. ''My child died owing to lack of oxygen....no autopsy was conducted,'' Rajbhar said in his complaint. The aggrieved father also said that oxygen supply to the hospital was affected owing to failure on the part of the UP health minister and the minister for medical education and principal secretary, health, to clear the dues of the gas supplying company on time. Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh and medical education minister Ashutosh Tandon had denied that shortage of oxygen supply had caused the death of the children. A PIL was also filed on Wednesday in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court seeking a judicial probe into the tragedy. The PIL filed by social activist Nutan Thakur alleged that the probe by the chief secretary could try to shield the real culprits. 30 children, mostly new born, had died allegedly owing to shortage of oxygen at the hospital for a period of 36-hours between Thursday and Friday. UP government suspended principal of the medical college Dr R.K.Mishra and shunted out the in-charge of the Encephalitis ward Dr Kafeel Khan on charges of laxity. A high-level probe was also ordered into the tragedy. The Uttar Pradesh government is contemplating stern action against 'madrasas' (Islamic Seminaries), where the national anthem was not sung during the Independence Day celebrations on Tuesday in defiance of its directives. According to the sources here on Tuesday, the government has taken a strong view of the reports that national anthem had not been sung at many 'madrasas', especially those owing allegiance to the Barelvi school of Islamic thought. ''We have received complaints from various quarters that national anthem was not sung at several madrasas,'' said a senior official of the education department here. The education department would also conduct a probe into the complaints, he said. ''We have asked the complainants to furnish proof in support of their allegation,'' the official said adding that stern action would be taken against the erring madrasas. Sources said that Tricolour was unfurled at the madrasas but the students did not sing the national anthem despite being made mandatory by the Yogi Adityanath government. Reports said that instead of the national anthem, the students of the 'madrasas' sang 'sare Jahan se Achha Hindostan Hamara', penned by the famous Urdu poet Mohammed Iqbal. The managers of these madrasas also did not conduct video recording of the I-Day celebrations, which had also been made mandatory by the state government. The managers defended their decision not to sing national anthem saying that some of the lines in it were not in accordance with the tenets of Islam. The clerics owing allegiance to the Barelvi sect had earlier made it clear that neither National Anthem nor Vande Mataram would be sung in the Madarsas affiliated with them. The state government had, in a circular issued to all the 'madrasas', directed them to unfurl the Tricolour followed by the recital of the national anthem and national song. The government also directed the madarsas to conduct videography of the entire program and submit the video and pictures to the concerned government official. The school run by the wife of Tamil superstar Rajinikanth was locked by the landlord of the building on charges that the rent agreed to was not being paid. The school authorities said they have decided to file a defamation case against the landlord for creating "immense agony to the school and issuing false statements to the media." About 400 children of the Ashram school run by Latha Rajinikanth have been subsequently shifted to another institution. Venkateshwaralu, the landlord of the school, claimed the management agreed to pay the rent as per a court directive till they vacate the premises by May 2018 which they had not adhered to fully. He said the school authorities did not pay the quantum of rent as agreed to. Later in a statement, the school management said it would file a defamation case against the landlord. Stating that the school has been operating in the existing premises for more than a decade, the management claimed it has faced lot of harassment in the recent past due to the "family dispute" of the landlord. "It is not just about the rent but it is about their exploitation of the situation and it is about asking unfair, unreasonable and exorbitant increment in rentals which we have been negotiating and speaking with them (landlord)", the statement by the management said. Stating that the management decided to "vacate" the premises and negotiations were on to settle the matter, the statement alleged that the landlord "harassed them by using the media continuously" when a civil dispute was pending in the court. "Since the matter is sub-judice, we would like to record this statement. Taking law into his hands and without any information, once again the landlord has created immense agony to the school, children, parents and to management today," it said. "We will be filing a defamation case against the landlord for making false statements to the press. Apart from that, we will wait for the law to take its own course," it said. "We request the media and the public to understand the truth," it added. In a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day address, the Shiv Sena today dared the Centre to abolish the Article 370 of the Constitution so that people from across the nation can "visit Kashmir and embrace its people." Modi, in his Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red fort yesterday, said, "Na gaali se samasya sulajhne wali hai, na goli se, samasya suljhegi har Kashmiri ko gale lagane se (Kashmir problem cannot be resolved by either bullets or by abuses. It can be resolved by embracing Kashmiris)." Reacting to it in a sarcastic rpt sarcastic tone, an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' today said, "Why nobody got this great thought before is very surprising." "Now to put this thought into practice, abolish Article 370 of the Constitution so that hordes rpt hordes of people from across the country can go there (Kashmir) and embrace its people," the editorial said. The Sena also said that violence in "the name of faith is prevalent in the country", which frightens not only Muslims but the Hindus as well. "Some segments of the Hindu community have become violent and extremists in the name of cow protection. Merely warning them will not be enough," said the party, which is part of the BJP-led alliance governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra. The Sena further questioned why the government was not as strict against those who refuse to sing 'Vande Mataram' as the way it implemented demonetisation and GST. The prime minister had promised to bring back black money from foreign banks and deposit Rs 15 lakh in each person's account, it said, adding, "We believe this will be done in the next two years." Ayub Lelhari, a self styled commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT), was killed on Wednesday in an encounter with security forces in South Kashmir's Pulwama district. "Ayub Lelhari District Commander LeT was killed in a brief encounter with security forces at Banderpora area of Koil in Pulwama. He (Ayub) was one of the most wanted terrorists and his killing is a great success for the forces," Superintdent Police (SP) Pulwama, Aslam Chowdhary told DH. Lelhari had joined the militancy in 2014. Earlier, this month Lelhari had escaped from an encounter site in Sambooar area of Pulwama. In that encounter, one militant of the Abu Ismail group, was killed. According to police Abu Ismail is the mastermind of July 10 terror attack on a bus carrying Amarnath pilgrims in Anantnag. Eight pilgrims were killed while 20 others were injured in the attack. Ayub Lelhari is the third top militant commander killed in Kashmir this month. On August 13, Hizb-ul-Mujahideen self-styled operational Chief Yasin Yatoo alias Mehmood Ghaznavi was killed along with his two associates in Shopian district of South Kashmir. Ghaznavi, 41, was one of the longest surviving militants in the Valley and had successfully mobilized the Hizbul cadres after the killing of Burhan Wani in July last year. On August 1, Abu Dujana, the most-wanted LeT commander, who was wanted in dozens of terror attacks, was killed in an encounter with security forces along with his associate in Pulwama. 136 militants, including top commanders like Ghaznavi, Dujana, Sabzar Bhat, Bashir Lashkari and Junaid Mattoo, have been killed so far this year in the Valley, which is highest in the last eight years. The security forces are going after militants as part of operation "hunt down" and on the basis of a hit list of militants. In the first 16-days of this month, 31 people, including 21 militants, five civilians and five security personnel have been killed in militancy related incidents. Meanwhile, a CRPF trooper, who was injured in a grenade attack by militants in central Kashmir's Budgam district on August 14, succumbed to injuries on Wednesday at SKIMS hospital in Srinagar. Senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav will hold a conference on saving country's "composite culture" on Thursday in which top Opposition leaders are expected to participate. The conference comes against the backdrop of his opposition to JD(U) chief and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's decision to snap ties with Grand Alliance and join hands with the BJP. While Yadav refused to speak on any issue other than the conference, sources said he would talk about his future plans soon, as the official faction in the party has taken disciplinary actions against those siding with him. The party has also removed him from the post of Parliamentary Party leader. His supporters are also planning a parallel meet of JD(U) leaders aligned with Yadav in Patna. Sources said they would announce some plans on Friday, a day ahead of the party's National Council meeting in Patna. At a press conference, Yadav said he would say whether he would attend the National Council meeting later. To a question on who all would attend the meeting, he said there would be hardly anybody from the opposition who will not attend. He said similar meetings would be held in other cities like Indore, Patna and Nagpur. Referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modis comments against violence in the name of faith, Yadav said it was not reflected on the ground and Modi needed to tell his party's governments to follow his dictum. A day ahead of BJP president Amit Shah's three-day tour of Madhya Pradesh which begins from Thursday, the party won 26 civic bodies while Congress bagged 14. But, the BJP lost three Councillor seats in by-polls held in two Nagar panchayats in Mandsaur which had witnessed massive farmers protests more than two months ago. The Congress improved its tally from last elections which was largely owing to its better performance in Mandsaur. In the 2013 election, Congress had merely got nine seats. Shah will leave for Bhopal on Thursday evening and start his series of interactions with party's state core group, local office bearers, MPs, MLAs and Councillors in his attempt to take a feedback on the government performance and other political issues as the state assembly polls will be held late next year. Out of the 43 seats that went to polls on August 11, independents also bagged three. The BJP's performance brought some relief to Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan who had come under intense attack over the death of six agitating farmers in police firing in June. Chouhan attributed the win to its hard-working party workers and said that the mandate was a nod for the development of the state. The state BJP, however, tweeted to say the party has won the municipal polls convincingly which showed that "people have entrusted faith in the leadership of CM". The party also claimed that it has been able to make inroads into Congress strongholds represented by its leaders Jyotiraditya Scindia and Kantilal Bhuria. END On Wednesday, when a rain-battered city desperately needed the government's help, top ministers and officials were busy with the launch of the Indira Canteen chain. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi was in town for the inauguration and a subsequent rally, giving officials more reason to stay away from inundated areas. With no work afoot to tackle the flooding, citizens were furious. The city received record rainfall in the early hours of Tuesday, leaving several homes and neighbourhoods waterlogged. On plane to Delhi On Wednesday evening, chief minister Siddaramaiah, Bengaluru development minister K J George, KPCC president G Parameshwara and a battery of top Congress leaders left for Delhi with Rahul Gandhi to discuss the expansion of the state Cabinet. Mayor G Padmavathi, preoccupied through the day with the launch of the canteen chain, did not visit any inundated areas either. When DH contacted officials of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the urban development department, they said they had other pressing matters to attend to. People's efforts Citizens in many places took up cleaning. We are struggling to pump out water from our homes and our streets. But no official has turned up, said Subramanyam R, a resident of Manjunatha Nagar. He had taken leave from work and joined several others to tidy up the area. Sumanth M from C V Raman Nagar said repeated calls to BBMP officials had fallen on deaf ears. In heart of city It was not just in the outlying areas that citizens faced problems. People living near UB City, a short walk from the Vidhana Soundha, had similar complaints. When we call up officials, their assistants or drivers tell us they are busy with Rahul Gandhi and the canteen launch. They don't tell us whom to contact to clear the filth, said Seema M, who lives on Vittal Mallya Road. Foam nightmare Madiwala, Koramangala and Ejipura were overwhelmed by stench, while toxic froth rose again at Bellandur lake, thanks to Tuesday's downpour. A lot of garbage came flowing into our basement car park. It was difficult to clean it, said Kavitha, who lives in Madiwala. Areas near the BMTC bus depot in Koramangala saw heavy waterlogging. Bus drivers said they had tried to pump out the stagnant water. "It was about 10 ft deep. We were able to pump out just half of it after much effort," a driver said. The depot continued to stink a full day after the downpour, he said. Gayathri, who lives in Koramangala 4th Block, said fellow-citizens had to be called to clear clogged drains. Plastic and food came floating down the drains, but we managed to clean them, she said. People in Madiwala and Koramangala said drains brimming with garbage overflowed into their homes. Manipal University Philatelic and Numismatics Club, in association with Dakshina Kannada Philatelic and Numismatic Association, will organise Tulunadpex-2017, a regional-level philatelic and numismatic exhibition and competition at Dr TMA Pai Hall here on August 19 and 20. Dr Suma Nair, president of Philatelic and Numismatics Club, Manipal University, said, The aim of the exhibition is to promote philately and numismatics and create awareness about educational and cultural values of stamps and coins among public, especially the youth and the school children, she said. The club was started on December 6, 2015, with the idea of promoting the hobby in the region. Last year was the first exhibition and it was very successful. This year there are far more entries, she added. Vishwesh K, organising secretary, said, Six special covers and a permanent pictorial cancellation will be released on the occasion. Also, on August 20, a drawing completionDesign your stamp for school and PU college students is organised. The themes for the drawing competition will be as follows: Classes 1- 4: My favourite animal/bird; Classes 5-7: Swachh Bharat; Classes 8-12: India of my dreams. The coins on display also are of the rare kind: Indian princely states, Indian pre and post-Independence and foreign coins. There will be 219 frames of stamps and 60 tables of coins collections on display, making it a colourful exhibition and is a biggest ever conducted in this region, Vishwesh said. In this exhibition, there will be a display of stamps and coins collection by senior philatelist and numismatist Daniel Monteiro, M K Krishnayya, Vittal Das Shanbaugh, Dr Vinod H Bhat, M R Pavanje, Sridhar, Prabhakar Kamath and Jayaprakash Rao and others who have won awards in state, national and international levels on various topics like light house, postal stationery, perfins, letters, India pre and post-Independence stamps, Indian princely states, Portuguese and French India stamps, Falkland Island, Kuwait, mammals, birds, global warming. There will be 219 frames of stamps and 60 tables of coins on display, he added. He said the coastal part of Karnataka has contributed to the hobbies of philately and numismatics. The philately showed its presence in 1975 with the formation of Mangalore Philatelic Club, now known as Dakshina Kannada Philatelic and Numismatic Association. This association used to conduct philatelic exhibition every two years and used to promote philately in the region. The last exhibition was conducted in 2006 in Udupi by this association and 2009 by the Postal department, Mangalore division, after which there has been a decline in this hobby among the younger generation of this region, he said. All India Congress Committee vice president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday launched state governments flagship programme Indira Canteen, subsidised food outlets that provides breakfast at Rs 5 and lunch and dinner at Rs 10, at Kanakanapalya in Chickpet Assembly constituency. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced to open 198 canteens in all wards of the city. However, only 101 canteens started functioning on Wednesday as the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) faced hurdles at several wards after the residents and citizens groups raised objections for opening canteens at civic amenity sites. Lauding the state governments programme, AICC vice president said that Indira Canteen is designed to make sure not a single person goes hungry in the city. He added that the facility is another step towards food for all commitment of Congress. Indira Canteen is targeted at the poor and daily wagers who cannot afford two meals a day, he said and asked the state government and the BBMP to maintain cleanliness and hygiene and not to compromise on taste and quality of food. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, It (Indira Canteen) is a continuation of state governments programme of making Karnataka a hunger-free state. We have been distributing rice at subsidised rates to the poor and about 1.08 crore people have been benefitted by this under Annabagya scheme. Taking a dig at the citizens forums for opposing setting up of Indira Canteen, Siddaramaiah said, We have not built any canteens on notified parks or playgrounds. Those who oppose this move do not understand the hunger pangs of the poor, and does not understand the value of the food. The chief minister said that the remaining 97 canteens will be inaugurated on October 2, to commemorate the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The canteens are expected to serve 500 plates of meal in each session. Once, all 198 canteens start functioning, about 3 lakh people will be have subsidised food daily. To reduce the crowd at canteens, a ticker board will be displayed at the entrance of each canteen to indicate the number of people it can serve. Depending on the number, the people will be let in, said BS Prahallad, chief engineer, BBMP. During the normal days, 7 workers will be deployed in each canteen, and it will be increased depending upon the rush, added Prahallad. Talking about the subsidised food, Prahallad said, The actual cost is Rs 11 for breakfast. While the beneficiary will pay Rs 5, the remaining Rs 6 is borne by the government. Mayor G Padmavathi said, While Indira Gandhi coined Garibi Hatao slogan and implemented slew of schemes to eradicate poverty, our chief minister is working on Hasivu Hatao campaign to make Karnataka a hunger-free state. A man set his teacher-wife on fire in front of her students in a classroom in government primary school of Bennappanapalya village, Magadi taluk, about 45 kilometer from Bengaluru. K G Sunanda (50), who sustained 20% burns was shifted to Victoria Hospital. Her condition is stated to be critical. Financial dispute between Sunanda and her husband Renukaprasad is said to the cause for the attack. The police have launched a manhunt to trace Renukaprasad. Renukaprasad is Sunandas second husband. She married him three months ago. Her first husband died five years after the marriage. Sunanda has a son from her first husband. Renukaprasad hails from Tumakuru and runs a dhaba at Kyathsandra. The couple reside in Tavarkere. Sunanda told the police that her husband robbed her of jewellery worth Rs five lakh. He had withdrawn Rs 80,000 using her ATM cards on Tuesday. He demanded more money, but she refused to pay him as she needed money for her sons engineering education. The couple had fought over the issue. Renukaprasad reached the school in his car around noon. He was carrying a plastic bottle containing kerosene. He barged into the classroom and sent students out. He picked a fight with Sunanda, poured kerosene on her and set her ablaze. He later drove of in his car, said the police. The school headmaster rushed into the classroom as Sunanda raised an alarm. He shifted her to Magadi government hospital. She was later shifted to the Victoria Hospital . Traffic was paralysed in most parts of Bengaluru south on Wednesday owing to Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's two public functions. A large number of party workers and people headed to Bengaluru south for the launch of Indira Canteen and Congress public rally at Kanakanapalya and National College grounds. Traffic slowed down around 9 am and the situation went out of control by 10 am. The police had made massive security arrangements for Rahul Gandhi along his route. Buses and private vehicles were parked on both sides of roads contributing to the congestion. According to the police, most roads and areas in Bengaluru south witnessed congestion till 2 pm. The worst hit areas and roads were South End Circle, Basavanagudi, Chamarajpet, Town Hall, K R Circle, Hudson Circle, Kanakanapalya, Nrupatunga Road, R V Road, R V Teachers' College, Lal Bagh Road, J C Road, Gandhi Bazaar, Madhavan Park, T Mariyappa Road, Siddapura, Patalamma Gudi Road, Sajjan Rao Circle, Basappa Circle, Armugam Circle, Shankarpuram, Bull Temple Road and Vani Vilas Road. The police had deployed additional force and manually controlled the traffic. A cooperative society manager was found dead mysteriously in his car on Wednesday. The deceased Muniyappa (55) was a resident of R T Nagar and used to work as manger at Sudha Cooperative Society, Amruthalli branch. He was missing since Monday afternoon (August 14). Members of his family had lodged a missing complaint with the R T Nagar on Tuesday. It is not known whether Muniyappa committed suicide or was murdered. Members of his family, however, claimed that Muniyappa was killed over financial issues. Muniyappa's wife Mamatha in the complaint suspected involvement of Tilak and his associates in her husband's murder. Based on the complaint, the police booked Tilak and his associates for the murder and detained them for interrogation. It is, however, not clear what was the dispute between the Muniyappa and Tilak. Muniyappa had worked as the manager of the Society's Kengeri branch for five years. He was transferred to Amruthalli branch about four months ago. "He went out of his house on Monday afternoon to Kengeri branch. He met his colleagues there and went away, " said the police inspector. It was not known where he headed from Kengeri, added the inspector. He did not return home till late night. Moreover, is mobile phone was off. Smelling fore play in the incident, Muniyappa's family members lodged a missing complaint with the R T Nagar police. A few local residents noticed a body lying in rear seat of a car parked close to bridge, Shivanalli, near Kanteerava studio, Ring Road around 11.30 am. They called up the police control room and informed. The body was shifted to a hospital for post mortem. Odiyan Cast Mohanlal To Relax In Bhutan Before Starting Odiyan Ezequiel Pereira, a high school student in Uruguay, said that Google has paid him $10,000 as part of its bug bounty program. Pereira went looking for vulnerabilities in Google App Engine because he was bored. Eventually, he found a way to access the servers for the cloud development service without being authenticated. The teenager reported the issue to Google and submitted proof-of-concept evidence. Several weeks later he was surprised to receive an email from the company that informed him of the large payout. Google pays up to $30,000 for remote code execution bugs. View article Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Get the pick of the week's best stories and fascinating features direct to your inbox every Saturday and Sunday morning in our exclusive Weekender newsletter Oh dear. German tourists don't know the difference between Devon and Cornwall. Even worse, many think Devon is in Cornwall. This shock news was reported in The Telegraph to explain why Cornwall is one of Germanys most popular holiday hot spots. While Devon isnt. Holger Lenz, the head of VisitBritain in Berlin said that the confusion is good for Cornwall but "not so good for Devon". Youre telling us. According to Mr Lenz: "Germany represents the biggest international market for Cornwall. However, Devon is totally unknown in Germany. "In fact, some Germans think the whole of South West England is called Cornwall because it's such a well-known region there." Add in Poldark and Doc Martin and its no wonder Cornwall gets all the rich overseas visitors. What can the Devon tourist industry do to make amends? Well, were starting a campaign. Lets tell travellers that, for whatever loveliness they can find in Cornwall, there is an equivalent (or possibly superior) attraction to the east of the Tamar. First up, beaches. For surf, forget Fistral Saunton Sands is bigger and the waves at Bantham are great, too. Charming pubs? Yep, The Pandora Inn is delightful on the river near Falmouth but how about the Swan Inn at Noss Mayo also best approached by boat. Sea views? Yes well grant you Mounts Bay is breathtaking. But how about the view to Burgh Island? Pretty gorgeous, AND it has Hercule Poirot connections. Bodmin Moor? Why bother when you could explore the bigger and far more impressive Dartmoor? And then, Devons got another moor up its sleeve even more moor, if you like. We defy anyone to walk along the River Barle to Tarr steps on Exmoor and not be completely entranced. Idyllic fishing villages? Beer, take a bow just as charming as Doc Martins Port Isaac and you wont be tripping over Martin Clunes and his film crew all summer long. Handsome men? Well Aidan Turner is actually Irish, lives in London and reportedly told gawping fans to get knotted when they approached him in Cornwall while filming Poldark. May I humbly suggest German visitors check out instead the chiselled cheekbones of the violinist Seth Lakeman, who is genuinely from Devon, too. Pasties? Well they were a) apparently invented in Devon anyway and b) Chunks Pies (of Ottery St Mary) make ones that are just as good as anything weve eaten in Cornwall. Doom Bar? We give you Otter Ale, made with the clear waters of the River Otter in the village of Luppitt. Falmouths quirky shops? Hello, Totnes. Posh people in sparkly wellies? Stuff Padstow, check out Salcombe - you might even bump into Mary Berry there. She has a weekend home there for 30 years, and if it's good enough for Mary, who are we to argue? And as for cream teas, we have them in Devon too, you know. And its totally up to you whether you put the jam or the cream on first, of course. Though folk in Devon would gently suggest that their way (jam on top) is ever so slightly better... We have more newsletters Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Get the pick of the week's best stories and fascinating features direct to your inbox every Saturday and Sunday morning in our exclusive Weekender newsletter Devon's search and rescue helicopter service has become the busiest in Britain - rescuing 66 people in just three months. The Newquay civilian search and rescue helicopter base, which only opened a year and a half ago, has been sent on 91 operations between April and June this year - just over a task a day. This is a total of 457 operations since the station opened in January 2016 to June 2017. Between April in June, across Britains 11 civilian search and rescue helicopter bases, there were 652 operations. One in seven of these operations were undertaken by the Newquay base. The base normally responds to operations in the Devon and Cornwall area, while also performing operations off the coast. The base rescued 66 people over the three months and assisted another seven people. A rescue operation is where the helicopter team transports a person to a place of safety. Assisting counts operations where the helicopter base helped a rescue operation take place by aiding another service - such as helping search for a missing person from the air. Over the three months, the service was called out on 49 rescue and recovery operations, accounting for 58 per cent of all operations. We have more newsletters Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Get the pick of the week's best stories and fascinating features direct to your inbox every Saturday and Sunday morning in our exclusive Weekender newsletter A neighbour dispute in Exmouth exploded when a furious mum-of-eight grabbed a steak knife and slashed the tyres on seven cars. Bethany Dance, 37, claimed she had never been made to feel welcome by her bullying neighbours in Thomas Close. She was a coiled spring who snapped due to the ongoing dispute with residents, magistrates in Exeter were told. Car owners heard a hissing sound coming from the street in the early hours of the morning and saw Dance in the darkness walking among their vehicles. After damaging the cars she went back to bed. She later told police Ive had enough, they are bullies. The defendant was given a community order after admitting seven counts of criminal damage on her neighbours Vauxhall Zafira, Mercedes Citan, Peugeot 806, Renault Clio, Rover 25, and Nissan Quasqui. Police were called to Thomas Close in Brixington in the early hours of July 26 after neighbours reported the damage. Dance admitted what she had done. I just slashed the tyres with a knife, she told them. She said she knew who the vehicles belonged to and they had made her life hell. I only wanted to wind them up and piss them off, she said. Robert Jacobs, mitigating, said problems had started between Dance and neighbours soon after she moved into the close three years ago. She felt she was unwelcome, he said. The day before it happened neighbours had been talking about her family problems on Facebook and saying some very unpleasant things. She would say she had been somewhat bullied, he added. There has been a bit of a campaign against her. He said bin bags had been piled up against her front door and she had felt barricaded in. Some sort of chemical has been thrown over the back gate, he added. He said there was no evidence who had done it but police had been told. She was like a coiled spring and she just exploded, said Mr Jacobs. She went out at night, not really in control of her actions, thinking Ive had enough. Shes slashed the tyres on seven vehicles. He said six of the vehicles were owned by people she had problems with. Dance, who suffers from depression and anxiety, has lost her job as a result of the incident but was deeply sorry for what she had done, the court was told. She said she wanted to pay compensation for the damage. Dance was of previous good character. She is very embarrassed and ashamed, said Mr Jacobs. Dance was given a 12-month community order, told to do 100 hours of unpaid work, and pay compensation of 350. A ram sale with a difference took place near Tiverton last week, with buyers being able to see what they were purchasing with confidence with performance potential on display. The Annual Exlana Ram sale held at the Ayshford Sheep Barn near Sampford Peverell, on August 9 with each of the 54 rams offered having a reserve price, ranging from 500 to 750. The price was shown in the catalogue along with relevant information about its breeding capabilities; from prolificacy, through growth performance, to worm resistance. All this gave the customers, who had travelled from as far as Essex, Pembroke, Grantham, Lincolnshire and County Durham confidence to select the ram best suited to their needs. Buyers had the option to buy at the reserve price or, if more than one buyer was interested, to either put their names in a hat, with the purchasers number drawn out, or bid, as in a conventional auction. Approximately a quarter went to auction with prices rising to 940 and 1,000. The average for the day was 695. David Disney, Chairman of Sheep Improved Genetics Ltd (SIG), the breeders of the Exlana, said: Having an 80 per cent clearance of the 54 rams presented was a remarkable achievement for the third annual sale. To have phone bids from as far as Ruthin, North Wales, Northumberland proved the potential. We even had a phone customer from Okehampton, whos experience with the Exlana gave him the confidence to buy using the performance data only, preferring not to make the journey to the sale. It was noticeable that the rams not sold were in the lower performance groups, again proving that the SIG customer is moving up a gear in choosing the better performance rams that will generate more profit for them. Its like a dream coming true. The dream started in 2005 when a small group of commercial sheep farmers decided an improved breeding ewe was needed. The following year, after a brainstorming meeting of a wider group of sheep farmers the parameters, were set down and a small group formed to start the process. In 2008 the SIG company was formed. The intense breeding selection has rewarded the group when customers make comments such as I have bought Exlana rams with good worm resistance (FEC) figures for the last few years, and it is making a noticeable difference to our performance and it's often said that there's a place for a "terminal type" wool shedding sheep. Well, despite the Exlana being a maternal line, there were rams at the sale that I'd be very happy to use for that job. Before the sale started, Tim White and Peter Baber of SIG made presentations of the most recent work which Exlana breeders are engaged with, particularly the research into worm resistance selection and the relevance of the FEC (Faecal Egg Count) index in the individual rams information. Feed conversion efficiency is also on-going work for the group. Steven Feehan, Head of UK procurement at ABP Food Group, was on hand to inform the audience that SIG had been selected as suppliers of Alpha rams. This will allow the owners of Exlana rams to receive 15p/kg deadweight bonus for lambs sired by these Alpha Rams. He was pleased to be able to announce that Exlanas are produced to protocols designed to improve lamb quality stating that "Alpha Producer Group members will receive bonuses on their Alpha Ram sired lambs and be given access to group meetings and consultancy advice which will concentrate on developing low-cost production systems through improved grazing management, sheep genetics and animal health." Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Get our ultimate guide to things to do with DevonLive's FREE What's On newsletter The largest water ride of its kind in Europe has opened at a Westcountry attraction as part of a major revamp - including two huge new water slides. Five-time Paralympic swimming champion, Ellie Simmonds, today unveiled the newest addition to Center Parcs Longleat Forest - the largest AV-enabled family raft ride in Europe. Ellie and a group of excited children from a local swimming club were the first to experience the new ride which provides riders with a zero-gravity experience within the 15-metre-high cyclone before it officially opened to guests at 10am today. Tropical Cyclone is one of two new innovative rides coming to Center Parcs Longleat Forest as part of the revamped Subtropical Swimming Paradise. The area opens following the successful launch of Tropical Cyclone and other water play areas at Elveden Forest which Ellie also opened back in 2012, returning to the pool where she first learnt to swim and ignited the passion that would later make her a Paralympic champion. Ellie was invited back to help Center Parcs unveil the new water rides Tropical Cyclone and Typhoon at Longleat Forest, both with innovative lighting effects offering each set of riders a bespoke experience. Ellie Simmonds said: "I am so pleased to be back at Center Parcs, but this time at Longleat Forest with their local swimming club, to try out these new rides opening today. "I learnt to swim at Center Parcs when I was little and it's great to see that the experiences here just keep getting better and better. "It's all about family at Center Parcs and I have no doubt all those families coming to Longleat Forest will have a great time on the new rides and in the water play areas." Colin Whaley, Marketing Director at Center Parcs, said: "We are always looking at ways to keep building on the great family experience we offer families and are very proud of the new features that have now opened at Longleat Forest's Subtropical Swimming Paradise. "We believe we have the best water experiences in the UK, across all of our five villages and we know, from what guests tell us, that what we have is special. We hope that these additions will thrill families and play a big part in their adventures whilst on a short break at Center Parcs." The adrenaline-fuelled waterslide additions are part of the revamped Subtropical Swimming Paradise at Longleat Forest which also includes a new family water play area and a toddler water play area. Tropical Cyclone The colossal Tropical Cyclone is the largest interactive family raft ride in Europe. The unique ride features a cyclone with a spectacular diameter of 15 metres, which is the perfect canvas for the projections, lights and sounds displayed from the AV technology. Riders will be given the chance to choose from themes such as thunder, underwater, coral reef and waterfalls before heading into the ride. Lasting 45 seconds and boasting a top speed of 45km/h, the ride offers 142 metres of twists, turns and sways with the giant cone drop tipping riders at an angle that gives riders a zero-gravity experience for a second before propelling them down the tube to a splash pool. Typhoon Thrills don't stop at the Tropical Cyclone, the new Typhoon also offers an exciting light experience, with riders able to choose from one of eight light experiences including treetops, seasons, Atlantis, rainbow and Aurora Borealis. A single or two-person ride, Typhoon whips riders through tubes and cones for up to a minute of drops and swings, reaching a top speed of 45km/h along its 140-metre length. Venture Bay and Venture Harbour There are also two new areas included in the Subtropical Swimming Paradise revamp a family water play area and a toddler play area and pool. These new areas will see families whizzing down brightly lit tubes, spraying each other with spouts and having fun in the water together. The Subtropical Swimming Paradise is the most popular place at all Center Parcs villages for families to spend a day of their break, with more than 90% of guests visiting the water wonderland to enjoy slides, a wave pool, Wild Water Rapids and toddler water play areas. The project is just one of many this year with record levels of investment totalling 80m across the business in the last financial year across leisure, retail, food and beverage and accommodation. Longleat Forest is one of five Center Parcs villages in the UK welcoming more than 400,000 guests each year. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Sign up for our Torbay newsletter and you'll never miss a big story again London commuters are being tempted to the seaside with new posters by Devon artist Becky Bettesworth. The Torquay artist has created a Visit Devon poster showcasing the sunny beach at Exmouth for display at Great Western Railway stations including London Paddington and Bristol Temple Meads. A modern take on the historic railway posters of the past, the poster shows a beach scene with someone flying a kite over an expanse of golden sands. East Devon District Councils Tourism Lead, Cllr Jenny Brown came up with the idea and put the wheels in motion. Cllr Brown said: "Admittedly, I am just a tiny bit biased, but in my opinion these iconic posters are a wonderful advertisement for East Devon. They capture perfectly the beauty and charm of our idyllic countryside and its many attractions, and I hope they will encourage many more people to come and visit this beautiful county. It has been an exceptionally rewarding project working in collaboration with GWR who are committed to raising awareness of the benefits of rail travel and tourism on the economy and the environment. Richard Burningham, Manager of the Devon & Cornwall Rail Partnership, said: The posters are lovely and very eye-catching. Were very pleased to have helped get them up at stations, promoting travel to Devon and Exmouth. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Get our ultimate guide to things to do with DevonLive's FREE What's On newsletter Nestles new line of Walnut Whips will be walnut-free after a surge in the price of nuts. The company claims that the change is because the new chocolates will cater to people who do not enjoy nuts - but some people think the change is a result of 'shrinkflation'; where chocolates become smaller due to ingredient price increases. The prices of walnuts in the UK rose 20per cent earlier this year - and the company has now decided to remove nuts from its new chocolates. The new chocolate is being referred to as a Walnot Whip. The vanilla and caramel versions of the Walnut Whip are on sale now, and a mint version is expected to go on sale next month. Despite claiming the change is because Brits are adverse to eating walnuts, Nestle claims one Walnut Whip is eaten every two seconds in the UK. There has never been a Walnut Whip without the nut before, despite there being other flavour variants. First produced by Duncans of Edinburgh in 1910, the treat has always been topped with half a walnut. Alison Clinton, brand manager of chocolate classics at Nestle UK and Ireland, told The Guardian : These new products will offer consumers more choice, enabling them to share their favourite products with their family and friends. The company said consumers will still be able to buy single Walnut Whips all year and six packs at Christmas. However, prices of walnuts have risen sharply this year, because of the falling value of the pound, strong global demand, and a poor crop last year in Chile. We have more newsletters Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Never miss a big story in North Devon again with our daily email A Devon food bank has put out an urgent request for donations after experiencing high demand during the school holidays. Northern Devon Foodbank has run out of certain foods and is asking locals to help by making donations. The charity has centres in Barnstaple, Bideford, Ilfracombe and South Molton and gives food to those in need who have special vouchers. Volunteers believe families may find the holidays particularly difficult as often children receive a free meal at school. Currently the team is short of: Tinned Soup Long life Juice Long Life Milk Pasta Sauce Tinned Tomatoes Tinned Fruit Dried Milk Biscuits If you would like to donate any items, you can drop food off at Private Collection Points in Tesco Rose Lane, Asda in Barnstaple, Tesco at Seven Brethren, and Barclays Bank. You can also take them directly to the North Devon food banks. For more information, visit the charitys website. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Never miss a big story in North Devon again with our daily email Police are appealing for anyone with information about the theft of 88 bales of hay from a farm in Barnstaple. It is believed that the theft took place somewhere between 5pm on August 13 and 8am on August 14 from a field in the area of Lime Kiln Lane. A police spokesman said: We ask for anyone with information or CCTV in the area to please contact police via 101@dc.police.uk or by calling 101 quoting crime CR/068982/17. For the latest news and breaking news visit DevonLive.com/news. Get all the headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you. Have you got anything to add? Get in contact with us on social media or email echonews@expressandecho.co.uk . Follow us on Twitter @DevonLiveNews - we're also on Facebook/devonlivenews. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Want all the latest Devon crime news direct to your inbox? Sign up for our new email updates on Crime & Punishment The case of a petty thief accused of stealing goods worth less than 200 had been transferred to a magistrates court after being listed wrongly before a Crown Court judge. Bradley Swan's case was moved to Exeter Crown Court because it was thought he was in breach of a suspended sentence but in reality this was not the case. Swan, aged 40, of Factory Row, Torquay, admitted theft at an earlier hearing. (Image: YakobchukOlena) Judge Erik Salomonsen remitted the case back to South Devon magistrates after hearing there had been a mix up over Swan's previous convictions. Mr Barry White, defending, said they suggested he was in breach of a suspended sentence when this was not the case. This was because the sentence had already been activated and served when he was convicted earlier this year of an assault. This means that the current case, in which he was accused of theft of less than 200, should be dealt with by the lower court rather than by a Crown Court. Miss Felicity Payne, prosecuting, said Swan's antecedent history and record of previous convictions will be corrected to show that he has served the suspended sentence. The amount is reportedly three times higher than what Google paid Apple in 2014 for the same privilege It looks like Google is about to pay Apple $3 billion to remain as the default search engine on iOS. According to a report by CNBC, American brokerage and research firm, Bernstein notes the this amount is three times higher than the amount Google paid the Cupertino-based company in 2014 for the same. Bernstein also adds in its investor notes that Googles licensing fees makes up a large portion of Apples services business. Court documents indicate that Google paid Apple $1B in 2014, and we estimate that total Google payments to Apple in FY 17 may approach $3B, Bernstein analyst A.M Sacconaghi Jr. was quoted as saying. Given that Google payments are nearly all profit for Apple, Google alone may account for five per cent of Apple's total operating profits this year, and may account for 25 per cent of total company OP growth over the last two years, he added. Sacconaghi says that Google might choose not to pay Apple any licensing fee if it feels confident enough in the popularity of its search engine. That would mean that Apple would have no other choice but to include it as the default search engine option anyway. He also notes that iOS devices contribute nearly 50 percent of Googles mobile search revenues. Its possible that it might be too risky for Google to walk away from such a deal. Apple is preparing to launch its 2017 line up of iPhones in the coming months and reports suggest that the company may launch as many as three this year. Thess include the iPhone 7s, iPhone 7s Plus, and a tenth anniversary edition of the device tipped to be the iPhone 8. The special edition of the phone is tipped to come with an OLED display that covers the entire front of the phone. However, reports suggest that Apple may be facing supply issues with the new phone, and the iPhone 8 numbers could fall short of demand. Asus Vivobook with intel Evo processor Get the ASUS Vivobook S15 with the new Intel Evo i5 processor with 16GB RAM & 512 GB SSD on amazon. Click here to know more Advertisements My colleague Sameer Mitha and I have a big problem on our hands. We have watched, used and tested so many of the high-end TVs in the market, that others just do not make the cut anymore. Mitha has been planning to buy a TV for long now, but cant settle on one, because what weve seen can simply not be unseen. The fact is, we wanted to buy these TVs the first time we laid eyes on them. Alas! We couldnt afford them. Were willing to bet youd want to buy these two. The five TVs that follow represent the best in the market today, and they all cost a few lakhs at least. They are at the cutting edge of television technology, with HDR, Dolby Vision and everything else one might ask. What are they? Find out below. Sony A1 OLED TV Sonys brand new OLED television just came into the Digit Test Labs and its positively awesome. But, our initial impressions are enough to confirm that this will be amongst the best televisions to buy this year. Its Sonys first tryst with OLED display panels on its televisions, but it sure looks great. The A1 supports HDR playback and Sony has made some enhancements to the audio as well. If you can afford this price range, the Sony OLED A1 is certainly worth considering. Price: starts at Rs. 3,64,900 LG OLED 65E7T LG was the first to bring OLED panels to India, and even though Sony brings tough competition now, these OLED televisions are worth considering too. The 65-inch OLED E7T brings extremely high contrast ratios, along with a nearly wafer thin design. We tested the OLED E6 earlier this year and it blew us away. That television currently stands as our top TV to buy, when moneys no problem. The OLED E7 should match it at the very least, if not surpass it altogether. Price: starts at Rs. 5,84,990 Samsung QLED Q8C The Samsung QLED Q8C (in top image) was reviewed just a few days ago, and its arguably the best television Samsung has ever made. Its stylish, produces amazing picture quality and has reasonable audio quality as well. The QLED Q8C is also the first television to get the 100% of DCI-P3 certification, meaning it can represent that entire colour space. DCI-P3 is the color space used to shoot movies etc. Its a great television to buy, for those who can afford it. Price: Rs. 4,49,000 Sony Bravia Z9D Sonys focused lightbeam technology produces over 500 dimmable zones on this television. The Z9D won the Digit Zero1 awards last year, and for good reason. It was a challenge to OLED panels, producing extremely high contrast ratios of over 1000:1. We found it inferior to the LG OLED E6, in terms of picture quality, but a great TV to purchase nevertheless. Price: starts at Rs. 5,04,900 Sony X9350D This television is certainly not in the same league as the four others, but its not very far either. The chief reason to purchase the Sony X9350D is because it presents a television plus audio solution all in one price, something none of the televisions mentioned above can produce. The X9350D comes with integrated speakers, and is the best television for those who do not want to purchase separate audio systems. Price: starts at Rs. 2,14,900 Save my User ID and Password Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site. Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site. COLUMBUS Columbus Police are flipping the switch on a new digital radio system in a matter of weeks a change that will allow them to encrypt dispatches and restrict public access to the communications. Encryption was a feature (of the new system) we requested, said Capt. Todd Thalken, adding that the feature can easily be turned on or off. The police captain said for now he assumes the system would be operated to encrypt dispatches, keeping them off public scanners. Currently, police dispatchers pass on information to officers in the field for everything from fender-bender accidents and underage drinking parties to high-speed chases and drug busts that can be heard on the police channels. Everything we do is broadcast over the scanner, Thalken said. How the encryption capability with the new radio system is utilized will be a policy decision for the incoming police administration, Thalken said. Weve been straightforward (with other city officials and the public) that this was an encrypted radio system, he said. The new system's handheld radios, car radios and repeater system should be operating in four to six weeks, according to Thalken. The radio consoles dispatchers operate at the police station will be ready by the end of the year or in early 2018. The confidentiality of information relayed in dispatches, safety of officers responding to calls and catching criminals are among the issues the department looks at when balancing encryption versus transparency of operations. Privacy issues surface when such things as a persons confidential medical or juvenile information is relayed on the radio, Thalken said. The Telegram monitors police channels broadcast over the scanner to respond to breaking news such as serious accidents, fires, crimes and severe weather. A decision on whether media outlets will be allowed to access the encrypted dispatch information also must be made by the next police chief, Thalken said. Many local residents have grown accustomed to listening to dispatches on scanners or broadcast online as a way of keeping up with whats happening in town. Thalken said criminals are also aware of the radio dispatches. The police captain said a couple of burglary rings that operated in town over the last decade took along scanners to monitor police activity while they were out committing crimes. It can be a safety issue for members of the public who want to see what is going on and officers responding to radio dispatches, Thalken said. A serial rapist who roamed the community in the early 1990s used a scanner and earpiece to listen to police radio transmissions and elude arrest, Thalken said. The former Columbus man was caught and sentenced to prison in 1992. He remains in custody today. Subscriber content preview BELLEVUE Four low-rise retail parcels at 201-221 106th Ave. N.E. in Bellevue have sold for $13.79 million, according to King County records. The seller was 12 Bellevue International Investment LLC, which acquired the parcels for $15.5 million in three transactions between 2011 and 2012. The LLC is associated with Yogo Group, a Chinese investment fund. . . . Coal mine expansion is blocked BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) A federal judge has blocked a proposed 176-million ton expansion of a central Montana coal mine in a ruling that criticized U.S. officials for downplaying the climate change impacts of the project and inflating its economic benefits. U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy issued an order Monday barring Signal Peak Energy from mining in the 11-square mile expansion area at the Bull Mountain coal mine pending a new round of environmental studies. Molloy says the Interior Department's Office of Surface Mining must consider the environmental effects of shipping the fuel to customers in Asia and from the greenhouse gases and other pollutants emitted when the fuel is burned to generate electricity. Courts in Colorado and Montana previously have issued similar rulings about greenhouse gas emissions from mine expansions. In those cases, the expansions ultimately were allowed to proceed following further environmental revieMoves to national green + business wires. s. Molloy's ruling stems from a 2015 lawsuit filed by the Montana Environmental Information Center, Sierra Club and Montana Elders for a Livable Tomorrow. The groups argued that the government did not look closely enough at the effects of the expansion on waterways, air pollution and the health of people who live along the coal's shipping routes. A Signal Peak spokesman said Tuesday that the company was reviewing the ruling, which was not expected to immediately affect operations. Federal mining officials said the proposed expansion would contribute almost $24 million annually in tax revenues. They also said there would be no additional environmental impacts from burning more coal from Bull Mountain because its customers would simply go somewhere else if the expansion were not approved. But Molloy rejected the claim. This conclusion is illogical, and places the (Interior Department's) thumb on the scale by inflating the benefits of the action while minimizing its impacts, the judge wrote. A representative of one of the plaintiffs in the case, the Montana Environmental Information Center, said Molloy's ruling underscores the need to address the real costs that are hidden in the fossil fuel world. It doesn't help (mine) workers to ignore the inevitable that coal is on a downward slide whether it's in this country or overseas, said the group's deputy director, Anne Hedges. Bull Mountain, located near Roundup, is a major employer in central Montana with more than 250 workers at the underground mine and a coal preparation plant on the site. As much as 95 percent of its coal has been exported in past years, to South Korea, Japan and the Netherlands, according to court volumes. The mine's production volumes dropped sharply in recent years as overseas coal markets have been in decline. Signal Peak extracted 5.6 million tons of coal last year, down by 35 percent since peaking at 8.7 million tons in 2013, according to company filings with the U.S. Mine Health and Safety Administration. Under the proposed expansion, the company anticipated mining up to 12 million tons annually. Office of Surface Mining spokesman Chris Holmes referred questions on the ruling to the Department of Justice, where a spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. COLUMBUS Property owners in the Lakeview Community Schools District have a chance to get a look at the district's proposed 2017-18 budget and tax levy at a meeting next month. Superintendent Aaron Plas is hosting a breakfast and budgets event Sept. 5 to discuss school funding, property taxes and the future of the district. It will be the second such meeting held with the public since Plas took over as superintendent last school year. It gives us an opportunity to talk to patrons about demographics, history, the upcoming budget and various other topics in the district, Plas said. The first breakfast meeting held last year outlined a 7-cent increase in the districts property tax levy for 2016-17. That bumped the property tax rate to 60 cents for every $100 in valuation. The increase came after several years of lowering the tax levy, from 90.4 cents per $100 in valuation in 2010-11 to 53.2 cents in 2015-16, in an effort to offset rising agricultural land values. The district was operating at a deficit of $2.5 million from 2012-13 to 2015-16. The deficit decreased to $1.1 million last year, Plas said. Now, it is anticipated that the districts expenditures and revenues will be nearly even, with spending at about $10.36 million and revenue at $10.5 million. We are in really good shape, Plas said. A brief rundown of the 2016-17 finances was presented to the school board during Monday night's meeting. The budget for this school year has yet to go before the board. A preview will be presented during the breakfast meeting scheduled for 8 a.m. Sept. 5 in the media center at Lakeview Junior/Senior High School. Enrollment was discussed during Monday's meeting. There are 877 students enrolled in the district this year, down 23 from last school year. Plas anticipates that number to change with students coming into the district as the year progresses. Orientation for the first day of school in the district is Wednesday. The board also voted to continue the district's partnership with the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce's Drive for Five Initiative. The workforce initiative focuses on recruiting and retaining employees for local employers. The school-business partnership provides specific programs directed at students to teach them about furthering their education, employment opportunities and financial responsibility. Australian green groups up in arms as Adani faces Indian probe The Australian government should immediately suspend any consideration of a federal loan to the Adani Group or any associated entity, environmental groups have said in reaction to a report about fraud allegations faced by Adani in India. The Indian customs intelligence has accused the Adani Group of embezzling around Rs1,500 crore to offshore accounts by submitting inflated bills related to an electricity project, British newspaper The Guardian reported on Tuesday. The group allegedly fraudulently siphoned the money into tax havens a practice enabled by Indian government tax breaks. Details of the allegations and documents from India's Directorate of Revenue Intelligence were published by The Guardian. The DRI has alleged that the conglomerate had ordered equipment worth several hundred millions for an electricity project in Maharashtra using a shell company in Dubai, and that the company had sold the same equipment back to the Adani Group at highly inflated prices. Details of the 97-page document, obtained by the publication, reveal a money trail from India to Dubai through South Korea and finally to an offshore company in Mauritius, which is allegedly controlled by Adani Group chief executive officer Gautam Adani's elder brother Vinod Adani. Vinod Adani is the director of four companies that have proposed to construct a railway line and expand a coal port in connection with the Adani Group's Carmichael mine project in Queensland, Australia. The Adani Group is currently in the process of trying to gather public funds to develop the mine, which has faced legal obstacles and intense opposition from environmental activists. The DRI has alleged that a major portion of the money the Adani Group siphoned off to offshore accounts included loans from the State Bank of India and ICICI Bank. But the agency did not accuse either lender of any illegal activity. The Adani Group has ''strongly denied the allegations of overvaluation''. ''All our transactions are always conducted within the framework of extant regulatory guidelines and provisions,'' it said in a statement to The Guardian. ''The Adani Group is aware of the investigations being conducted by the DRI and has fully cooperated, and shall continue to cooperate, with the investigating agencies.'' Green groups protest The mining giant is seeking a loan of up to $900 million from the Australian government through the Northern Australian Infrastructure Facility (Naif) for a rail line between its proposed Carmichael coalmine and the Abbot Point coal terminal near the Great Barrier Reef. Naif has said the request for the loan has been progressed all the way through to the ''due diligence'' stage. The company has also received a tax break from the Queensland government on potential royalties due from the mining activity, the details of which the government has kept secret, despite saying the deal is ''open and transparent''. ''The revelations make it untenable for the Naif to now risk almost a $1 billion of taxpayers' money on infrastructure associated with this company,'' the executive director of the Australia Institute, Ben Oquist, said. ''Today's revelations mean the Naif should immediately suspend all consideration of Adani's railway infrastructure project.'' The loan would require the approval of the minister for northern Australia, a portfolio now held by Barnaby Joyce, whose eligibility to hold his seat in parliament has been questioned. ''It would be unsound for him to approve this project when there is so much uncertainty surrounding the project as well as his position in the parliament,'' Oquist said. The leader of the Australian Greens, Richard Di Natale, said, ''Even beyond the obvious environmental catastrophe that would be unleashed by the Adani mine, these allegations should make the Liberals immediately rule out handing over $1 billion of public money to a multinational corporation with such serious questions to answer.'' The director of campaigns at the Australian Conservation Foundation, Dr Paul Sinclair, said, ''These allegations raise serious questions for the Naif and the Turnbull government to answer. Acting northern Australian minister Barnaby Joyce and Naif management must explain whether the corporate history and appalling environmental record of Adani is being properly scrutinised before any public money is tipped into its dirty new coal project.'' GetUp described the revelations as ''stunning'' and said they demonstrated the enormous risk to Australian public money from any Naif funding. ''PM Turnbull and Queensland premier Palaszczuk must immediately rule out public money being given to this disgraced company for its dangerous coal project,'' GetUp's environment campaign director, Sam Regester, said. ''Naif is an infamously opaque body but even its mandate makes it abundantly clear it could never fund a company facing allegations like these.'' Environmental Justice Australia's chief executive, Brendan Sydes, said, ''This information should put the brakes on the proposal that the Australian public should finance Adani's coal railway through the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility. ''Our research into the Adani Group's legal compliance history and environmental record identified a number of serious issues that should be of concern to potential financiers.'' A spokeswoman for Naif said it did not comment on specific proposals in Naif's pipeline.The Adani Group said it ''strongly denies the allegations of overvaluation''. ''It is a standard procedure for the group to follow international competitive bidding route for major capital expenditures to ensure transparency and competitiveness in the process,'' it said. ''All our transactions are always conducted within the framework of extant regulatory guidelines and provisions. ''The fact that our projects have incurred the lowest cost across central, state and private utility players has gone to establish the robustness of the processes followed by our group.'' It said it ''has fully cooperated and shall continue to cooperate with the investigating agencies''. The Donegal Democrat has been informed of the following deaths: - Daniel McNulty, Mullindrait, Stranorlar - Bridget Ross Redcastle, Donegal - Margaret (Maggie) Deane, Ardnagasson, Donegal Town Daniel (Danny) McNulty, Mullindrait, Stranorlar The death has taken place of Danny Mc Nulty in his 92nd year. Much loved brother of Agnes and the late Johnny, Paddy, Seamus, Noel and Katie. Deeply regretted and sadly missed by his sister, sister-in-law Eileen, nephews, nieces, extended family, neighbours and friends. His remains will repose at his home from 6pm on Tuesday, August 15th, until rosary at 10pm . Funeral leaving his home on Thursday, August 17th, at 10.30am for Requiem Mass in the Church of Mary Immaculate, Stranorlar at 11am with interment afterwards in Stranorlar Cemetery. Family time from 11pmto 10am and on the morning of the funeral. Bridget Ross, Redcastle The death has taken place of Bridget Ross, Redcastle Remains reposing at her late residence. Removal on Thursday, 17th August, at 10.30am to St. Columbas Church, Drung, Quigleys Point, for Requiem Mass at 11am with burial afterwardsin Carndonagh Cemetery. Family time from 10pm to 11am . Margaret (Maggie) Deane, Ardnagasson, Donegal Town The death has occurred of Margaret (Maggie) Deane, late of Ardnagasson, Donegal Town. Reposing at the family home, Ardnagasson from 11am until 10pm. Removal Thursday, at 1.30pm to Laghey Parish Church of Ireland for 2pm Funeral Service followed by burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Family flowers only please. Donations in lieu, if so desired, to Laghey Parish Church. A one-way system will operate from Cully Crossroads to the Leghowney Road at Copany. If you wish to have a death notice included here, email us at editorial@donegaldemocrat.com. Please include a telephone number for verification. A new exhibition on Donegals oyster industry has been opened at the Doagh Famine Museum. The exhibition, which celebrates Donegals oyster-producing heritage, is one of a number of new visitor attractions announced as part of the Taste the Atlantic - a Seafood Journey trail developed by Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM) in partnership with Failte Ireland. The seafood trail runs along the Wild Atlantic Way route from Inishowen to Oysterhaven Bay in Cork and offers visitors an immersive experience that aims to develop an appreciation of how seafood is caught and farmed. The Donegal oyster industry, now valued at 11 million, dates back to the 1800s and today employs 317 people and produces 2,475 tonnes of Irish rock and native oysters each year. The Crockanagee Oyster farm, which can be viewed from the Doagh Famine Museum, is a second-generation family business run by husband and wife Derek and Sharon Diver from Clonmany. Now a successful oyster business, the Divers employ 20 people who work with the tides to cultivate more than 200 tonnes of oysters for the export market each year. Pat Doherty from the Doagh Famine Museum said, The Doagh Famine Museum tells the story of how local people adapted and survived as the environment around the local area changed over the years, and oysters are a key part of this narrative. He said the exhibition shows how oysters were widely available on the shores in Famine times but locals could not avail of this food source because control of the fisheries was usually enforced by the local landlord. These oysters were then exported to markets in England, and overfishing in the 1800s resulted in their becoming a little-known luxury, Mr. Doherty said. Richard Donnelly, aquaculture business planning manager with BIM, said, Through hard work and determination over the last 30 years, producers in Donegal have successfully begun cultivating oysters again. The Doagh Famine Museum overlooking the Crocknagee Oyster farm, which harvests top quality oysters for export all over the world, offers the perfect location to tell the story of an industry which has come full circle. Donegal oysters are now sought after and considered a premium product on lucrative markets, including Hong Kong, he said. Producers from Donegal among the 22 seafood producers featured on the Taste the Atlantic - a Seafood Journey trail include Crocknagee Oysters, Clonmany; Mulroy Bay Mussels; Mulroy Bay; The Haven Smokehouse, Carrigart; Irish Premium Oysters, Lettermacaward; and Bluestack Seafood, Donegal. More than 2,280 Donegal students received their Leaving Certificate results today at secondary schools and education centres across the county . The 2,285 Donegal students who received their results today are among 58,500 students nationally who sat Leaving Certificate exams this year. The new grading and CAO points system introduced this year saw an increase nationally in higher level papers in almost all subjects. This year, for the first time, points were available for a grade between 30 and 49. The new system also replaced As and Bs with eight grades at higher and ordinary level. Donegal principals the Democrat contacted yesterday were very pleased with the results at their schools. There were lots of smiling faces around here today, Chris Darby, principal of St. Eunans College in Letterkenny, said. Overall we would have thought the results were very good. St. Eunans saw 149 students sit Leaving Certificate examinations this year. Mr. Darby said the school had been encouraging students to take honours math and there was a big increase in the numbers this year. It paid off for them, Mr. Darby said, saying many St. Eunans students earned bonus points in honours maths. Were very happy with the results there, he said. Seamus O Briain, principal of Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair, said, We were absolutely delighted with the results here today. The students were delighted, and their parents as well, with the grades they received. Mr O Briain said the Irish results were outstanding at the school, with more than 60 per cent of students achieving higher level H1 or H1 grades. Sixty-five students at the pobalscoil sat the Leaving Certificate at the pobalscoil and one student sat the Leaving Certificate applied, earning a distinction in that examination. They were very, very good results overall, Mr. O Briain said. John Gorman, principal of Rosses Community School in Dungloe, said they were very pleased with the results. The results are very strong again this year, he said. There were 87 Rosses Community School students sitting this years Leaving Certificate examination and at least 75 per cent saw results over 300. We have a lovely cohort of students, Mr. Gorman said. Academically theyre strong, but theyre strong as people and theyre leaving as happy people. Its a success that isnt quite measured, but its hugely important, he said. Principal of Maghe Ene College in Bundoran, Pat Tighe, said the school was delighted with the results. A number of students had surpassed 500 points out of the 59 that sat the exams and there were several H1 grades (90 to 100 per cent) in different subjects. We have had several breaking 500 points, so that is good, Mr Tighe said. Maths and science were particularly very, very good. Now people are wondering that because of the new points system will they get the offers they want. Now we are just looking forward to Monday to see how that will transfer into course offers. Monday is actually a bigger day, but based on last year the vast majority will get their first choice. Alan Thompson, principal at Finn Valley College in Stranorlar, said all students reported they were happy with what they had achieved. On behalf of the school I want to congratulate them and wish them well. We feel the students got what they deserved. At the Abbey Vocational School in Donegal town, where 120 students sat the exams, Geraldine Diver, principal, said the school was delighted with the results and the students were very happy. The new points system does not seem to have presented any upsets at any level. In general students parents and staff are delighted at their results, she said. They were excellent results and we are very happy. There does not seem to be any issue around any particular subject area this year. Though results were available yesterday afternoon online, principals said the vast majority of students still come to the school to receive their results. Ninety per cent of them still come in, and theyre here on the doorstep at 9 oclock, Mr. Gorman at Rosses Community School said. The Donegal Democrat has been informed of the following deaths: - Dympna Fox, Fanad, Meath and Drumcondra - Eamon Doherty, Erne Dale Heights, Ballyshannon - Daniel McNulty, Mullindrait, Stranorlar - Bridget Ross Redcastle, Donegal - Margaret (Maggie) Deane, Ardnagasson, Donegal Town Dympna Fox, Fanad, Meath and Drumcondra The death has taken of Dympna Fox, Fanad; Athboy, Meath and Drumcondra, Dublin; remains reposing at Aras Ui Dhonaill Nursing Home, Milford, on Thursday, from 6pm to 7pm . Funeral Mass on Friday in St. James' Church, Athboy at 12 noon with burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Eamon Doherty, Erne Dale Heights, Ballyshannon The death has occurred of Eamon Doherty, Erne Dale Heights, Ballyshannon. Retired staff member of McCafferty's Quarry, Ballyshannon. Reposing at his late residence on Thursday from 11 o'clock to 9 o'clock. Mass of the Resurrection in St. Patrick's Church, Ballyshannon on Friday at 12 noon with interment in St. Joseph's Church, The Rock, Ballyshannon. Family flowers only. Donations in lieu, if so desired, to the NorthWest Hospice, The Mall, Sligo c/o Patrick McKenna Funeral Directors, Ballyshannon or any family member. House private to family on the morning of the funeral please. Daniel (Danny) McNulty, Mullindrait, Stranorlar The death has taken place of Danny Mc Nulty in his 92nd year. Much loved brother of Agnes and the late Johnny, Paddy, Seamus, Noel and Katie. Deeply regretted and sadly missed by his sister, sister-in-law Eileen, nephews, nieces, extended family, neighbours and friends. His remains will repose at his home from 6pm on Tuesday, August 15th, until rosary at 10pm . Funeral leaving his home on Thursday, August 17th, at 10.30am for Requiem Mass in the Church of Mary Immaculate, Stranorlar at 11am with interment afterwards in Stranorlar Cemetery. Family time from 11pmto 10am and on the morning of the funeral. Bridget Ross, Redcastle The death has taken place of Bridget Ross, Redcastle Remains reposing at her late residence. Removal on Thursday, 17th August, at 10.30am to St. Columbas Church, Drung, Quigleys Point, for Requiem Mass at 11am with burial afterwards in Carndonagh Cemetery. Family time from 10pm to 11am . Margaret (Maggie) Deane, Ardnagasson, Donegal Town The death has occurred of Margaret (Maggie) Deane, late of Ardnagasson, Donegal Town. Reposing at the family home, Ardnagasson from 11am until 10pm . Removal Thursday, at 1.30pm to Laghey Parish Church of Ireland for 2pm Funeral Service followed by burial afterwards in the adjoining cemetery. Family flowers only please. Donations in lieu, if so desired, to Laghey Parish Church. A one-way system will operate from Cully Crossroads to the Leghowney Road at Copany . If you wish to have a death notice included here, email us at editorial@donegaldemocrat.com. Please include a telephone number for verification. A recent review of an embattled federal research facility in south-central Nebraska has prompted renewed criticism from animal rights activists. During a July visit to the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center in Clay County, a team of inspectors from the U.S. Department of Agriculture noted four issues that required "immediate attention," according to their Aug. 4 inspection report. The findings included: A lamb, two bovines and "numerous" swine with untreated injuries that caused them to be lame. Lack of clear documentation showing animals were checked every day, and health issues that were noted but not conveyed to the center's attending veterinarian. Animals in the center's feedlot showing signs of heat stress. Temperatures in the area reached 100 degrees the day of the inspection, July 11. Several fights between pigs in a shared enclosure, and swine with scratches, scrapes and wounds. The USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service noted in its report that the issues were addressed immediately by staff on site, and it complimented administrators on their efforts to improve communication, training and facilities. Still, the Washington, D.C.-based Animal Welfare Institute described the findings as "appalling" and called on Congress to permanently revoke the center's funding. The center came under fire in 2015, after a New York Times article described suffering, neglect and unnecessary animal deaths there as part of experiments seeking to increase meat industry profits. Then-U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack ordered a temporary halt to new research projects at the facility that March, and while a December 2016 audit report by the USDA's Office of Inspector General found no evidence of systemic animal abuse, it criticized the center for failing to prioritize animal welfare policies. While a recent quality of life survey revealed many people enjoy living in Dothan, residents had three main complaints -- rundown buildings, lack of job opportunities, and traffic. Of the 930 survey respondents, 57.4 percent believe Dothan has too many dilapidated buildings. Todd McDonald, the citys director of planning and development, said rectifying the issue has several complications and is time-consuming. The main question is Do they fit code? he said. The code is very specific -- as long as they are secure and dont cause a public safety hazard, thats still someones asset. Thats the test, not whether it looks good. McDonald said residents are encouraged to report buildings and houses they believe are problems. From there his office will evaluate whether the structures are in violation of any building codes and work with property owners to rectify the issues. Some owners remain obstinate in addressing the issues, however, causing the city to pursue other actions. McDonald said the Dothan City Commission has the final authority to determine whether a property should be demolished once code violations have been identified, and some cases do end in court. Otherwise properties that are safe may stay unused for years until they do become a public safety hazard, McDonald said. In the realm of job opportunities, nearly the same amount of residents believed the city offers plenty of options (35.8 percent) as did not (33 percent). More than 31 percent neither agreed nor disagreed. Matt Parker, Dothan Area Chamber of Commerce president, told the Dothan City Commission Tuesday that the Dothan area remains very blessed in terms of job opportunities despite recent announcements that the Nypro plant will close and the TreeHouse packaging operation will shed 135 jobs. Parker noted some job sites listed more than 1,000 opportunities in the area. He added Next Level Apparels expansion, Twitchells search for key professionals, and Commercial Jets continued hunt for more employees serve as indicators that the area has employment opportunities. Parker noted he and other workforce development professionals are aiming to better inform area residents of open jobs. Locals also found issues with traffic, as 55.3 percent either strongly agreed or agreed that there is too much traffic in the circle city. In recent years, the Alabama Department of Transportation has widened Montgomery Highway north of Ross Clark Circle to six lanes and is in the midst of another project to widen sections of Ross Clark Circle to six lanes as well. Positives for the City of Dothan include housing costs, healthcare options, safety, community pride, and family environment. About 66 percent of respondents believe housing is affordable, 71.5 percent are satisfied with healthcare options, about 90 percent feel safe in their homes and about town, 75.1 percent express pride in living in the city, and 78.6 percent think the town is a great place to raise children. Please DOUX follow us Doux Reviews has been on the web since 2004 and features thousands of episode reviews of the best classic and current television shows as well as many book and movie reviews "It would also have been necessary to ensure that subsequent purchasers of a vehicle, which had been personally imported into Australia as a new vehicle, were aware of this fact - and the consequences of this, such as the manufacturer's warranty not applying." Here's what you need to know about President Donald Trump's wild news conference Tuesday: It drew the immediate praise of David Duke. The President's abrupt and belligerent about-face Tuesday, in which he lashed out at the media for mischaracterizing white supremacist protesters in Charlottesville, drew the swift condemnation of a number of lawmakers, including Republicans, and shocked the people who witnessed them. But one person who was very happy with the words of the US President was the former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke, who just as quickly reacted on Twitter, thanking the President "for your honesty and courage." "Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists in BLM/Antifa," was the full tweet from an account that is not verified by Twitter but appears to represent Duke and features videos apparently posted by and of him. Trump used language familiar to the "alt-right" and white supremacists when he bemoaned "changing culture" that would results from the tearing down of statues honoring confederate generals like Robert E. Lee, who Trump equated with founding fathers like George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, who were slave owners. Trump condemned the white supremacists and neo-Nazis, but he defended as "good people" some of the marchers who marched alongside them. Trump was also asked Tuesday specifically about Duke, who took part in the Charlottesville march. "I didn't know David Duke was there," Trump said, before arguing he was slow to react to the racists at the march because he wanted to get all the facts. Trump drew criticism for refusing to condemn Duke during a contentious interview with CNN's Jake Tapper in February 2016. He later argued a faulty earpiece had made him not understand the question. Watch that exchange here: On Friday 25 August 2017 at 7:30pm, Sahaja Yoga Ireland will host a vibrant session of music and meditation in An Tain Arts Centre, Crowe Street, Dundalk. The music and meditation programme on the night, which is free to join, aims to help attendees learn how to meditate at home and relieve the stress of modern day life Sahaja Yoga is practised in over 130 countries around the world and is based on the authentic and almost forgotten teachings of ancient Eastern seers, with the emphasis on encouraging the mind to move into a state of peaceful mental silence. According to Sahaja Yoga Ireland, practitioners from all walks of life continually report improvements to their health, vitality and human relationships, often within a matter of weeks from starting to meditate. The introductory program will introduce concepts relating to the subtle practice of real yoga meditation, following which there will be a peaceful guided meditation leading to Self-Realisation. Music and light refreshments will bring the evening to a close. Sahaja Yoga Ireland stress that in direct contrast to the commercialisation of most modern spiritual teaching, no money is ever accepted for Sahaja Yoga courses. Courses and meetings are supervised by unpaid volunteers, and all costs for things like room and hall hire are met through the voluntary contributions of these practitioners. For more information, go to www.freemeditation.ie The Sydney School of Entrepreneurship (SSE), which opened its doors today, is a partnership between all 11 NSW universities and TAFE NSW, with aim being to develop the next generation of entrepreneurs and build out the local startup ecosystem. Founded with a $25 million cornerstone investment by the NSW Government, the SSE campus is located in Ultimo in a building which originally served as a shoe factory and then a school of fashion and footwear. Deputy Premier John Barilaro, who formally opened SSE, expects at least 1,000 student entrepreneurs will participate in SSE courses and activities during their degree or TAFE program, each year, once the school is fully operational. The SSE will be run by Australian Nick Kaye, who has spent ten years as the head of the Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship. Kaye, the schools founding CEO, said it has launched its first pilot course for student entrepreneurs called The Navigator with the first of two three-day intensives complemented by online study. The Navigator is bringing together students from all 12 SSE members to embed them in our entrepreneurial ecosystem and connect them with their peers, industry experts, policy makers, entrepreneurs and mentors, he explained. It is being led by the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) with support from Macquarie University and Charles Sturt University. But this is just the very start for SSE, which will bring together high-performing students from a range of backgrounds, disciplines, demographics and locations from across NSW. We are creating a larger common stage for students, members and partners to collaborate and innovate helping drive our economy. Australias continued economic relationship with China is showing little sign of slowing down[1], with the country our biggest trading partner investing in Australia at a level not seen since before the global financial crisis. There are, undoubtedly, valuable export opportunities for Australias small business sector not only in China but also in the United Kingdom, the United States and Malaysia (to name a few overseas partners). However, for some small businesses, the perception can be that the export market is difficult to access and full of obstacles. So, how can your business benefit from export opportunities? Do your homework As part of your export strategy, you must, as a first step, conduct significant research into the country you want to establish export opportunities within. There are numerous established business networks within Australia that can be utilised to help you to decipher whether in fact exporting into a selected country makes good business sense. Austrades TradeStart has been established to support small businesses by providing local assistance and access to its own extended network resources. Additionally, a field visit to establish personal relations with potential export partners is essential as part of your research, partially negating the risk factors that must be identified before proceeding with your plan. Create a tangible marketing plan After completing your homework, you may be ready to create a marketing plan. It is imperative that you assess the cultural differences of the country you are planning to do business in. A sound export strategy will help you in dealing with new customers, financial advisers and government agencies. It will ensure you grow within your capability and not stretch resources. Set identifiable and quantifiable goals that you would like to achieve. Makingthe decision to export is a large one for any small business. Whilst working with customers overseas could give a huge opportunity for growth, you should identify the costs you will incur, such as cross-border delivery and overseas bureaucratic measures such as fees and taxes. Seek financial support Beyond the aforementioned business networks, there is invaluable support available from the government. Export Market Development Grants will help small businesses get their products exported internationally quicker. The grants assist businesses seeking export markets for their goods, services, intellectual property and know-how by reimbursing a portion of their eligible export promotion expenditure. Additionally, a small business loan may help a business look beyond Australian shores. EficDirect is an online portal which allows businesses with an annual turnover of up to $10 million to apply for small working capital loans to fund their exports. If successful, funds are available in as few as nine business days. The maximum loan size is $350,000 and tangible assets (such as property) are not required for security. The debrief Making the decision to export as a small business can be a daunting one, but there is considerable help available to help you realise your goal. Further information about the measures that may be available for your business can be found here https://www.business.gov.au/smallbusiness. About the author Kate Carnell is the inaugural Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman (ASBFEO) [1] http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-01/chinese-investment-in-australia-at-highest-point-since-gfc/8485828 You might sometimes feel like youre living in a science fiction movie. And with headlines declaring advances in deep learning AI, space tourism and even artificial wombs, its easy to see why. The convergence of new technologies is having a multiplicative effect and no industry is immune. After more than five decades, Moores Law the idea that the number of transistors per square inch would double approximately every two years still holds true today. But still, the speed of innovation catches most of us by surprise; it is actually evolving at a pace that for us, as humans, makes it increasingly challenging to keep up. The accelerating convergence of sensors, converters and networks is enabling new entrants to disrupt business as usual. This year, Tesla surpassed GM, Ford and BMW to become the fourth most valuable car company in the world. Thats a 14-year-old company outsmarting 100+ year old brands, and theres much more to come. So how can businesses keep pace? Its true that you cannot outrun these trends and staying where you are means falling behind. Thats why it is critical for business innovators to be aware of the latest technology and how it can help you grow and invent the future. Here are the top three fascinating tech developments we expect to impact businesses of all sizes in the years to come. 1. The race to 5G 5G will be one the of biggest enablers for applications and technology for the next decade. Thats because todays 4G/LTE wireless networks simply cannot handle the data demands of a connected future. Were running out of bandwidth and thats driving the race to 5G. We dont have it all figured out just yet but we know that 5G could be up to 100x faster than 4G. Its not solely about speed, however. The technology will also allow us to handle more traffic and more devices reliably critical for the continued development of things like the Internet of Things (IoT), self-driving cars and drone technology, and improved mobile experiences. How would your business change if you could connect with more customers more deeply and seamlessly than ever before? 2. The emergence of robotics and self-driving vehicles Just a few years ago, most car manufacturers believed self-driving vehicles were still a thing of the future. Now, the pace of innovation has ramped up and every major car company is racing to bring it to market today. Over time, this technology will have massive implications for everything from the ways businesses transport goods and services to who they hire, as well as public transportation and infrastructure. Society will also ultimately benefit from safer roads, whether traveling in a car or walking down the street as a pedestrian; and from more connected and therefore, more efficient infrastructure through V2X technologies every car, every person will essentially be a known node on the network. Engineering developments are making it easier than ever to program complex robots to communicate with sensors, steer and avoid obstacles. In fact, were even seeing local university students design and test these robotic vehicles as part of the annual Autonomous Robotics Competition. But robots dont necessarily have to go anywhere smart machines can also fast-track productivity and help businesses stay ahead of the competition. Robotics will play an important role in keeping Australian competitive in the future from smart agriculture, remote and aged care, to advanced manufacturing and smart cities. 3. The rise of augmented reality (AR) Were just starting to see AR technology go mainstream, most recently through popular games like Pokemon Go and funny filters in your Facebook and Snapchat apps. But aside from the numerous product, marketing and content opportunities created by AR, there are also some serious business benefits. Imagine being able to avoid costly downtime or failures, particularly within your most expensive industrial-grade equipment. AR is helping revolutionise preventative maintenance, using sensor technology that allow machines to tell you whats wrong and then providing a visual representation of potential failures before they happen. It will make maintenance faster, safer and more effective. Disruption always seems weird until it becomes obvious that it is the better way of doing things. Exponential acceleration is the key to disruption. If we can harness power of the acceleration, we can be the disruptor. So how will you use these technologies to take your business to the next level? About the author Matej Krajnc is Managing Director, ASEAN/ANZ at National Instruments, which equips engineers and scientists with systems that accelerate productivity, innovation, and discovery. The raging political argument over President Donald Trump's response to the violence that erupted at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, began Wednesday to seep into Nebraska's upcoming 2018 congressional races. While Rep. Jeff Fortenberry condemned in particular "the vile, racist protests and murder perpetrated by the despicable KKK, Nazis and other white nationalist groups," Democratic challenger Dennis Crawford criticized the Lincoln congressman on Facebook for his late response. Although Rep. Don Bacon said he "hate(s) all racism and find(s) Nazis, white nationalists and all bigots repugnant," former Democratic Rep. Brad Ashford of Omaha said the congressman failed to "tell the president that you are wrong" in suggesting a moral equivalency between the demonstrators and protesters on opposite sides of the Charlottesville event. "There are specific times when one must make a stand and tell the president that you are wrong," Ashford said. Crawford had leveled his criticism at Fortenberry before the congressman responded to the event, suggesting that "Mr. Fortenberry is a moral coward." "As your representative in Congress, I can guarantee you that I would stand up to and speak out against racism, anti-Semitism, white nationalism and hate," Crawford said. After directing his criticism specifically at the Ku Klux Klan, Nazis and white nationalists, Fortenberry added: "While the most heinous forms of speech and assembly are protected by the First Amendment, these rights must always be balanced with obligations. "Violence is never acceptable," the congressman said. Bacon said he "despise(s) the violence that is so rampant in our society," not only the racist violence that killed Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, but also the political violence that resulted in the shooting of Republican Rep. Steve Scalise in suburban Washington. "Eradicating racism and bigotry shouldn't be a divisive political issue, but one we all should get behind and support," Bacon said. As the Trump administration prepares to open negotiations to "modernize" the North American Free Trade Agreement, Gov. Pete Ricketts on Tuesday urged U.S. negotiators to prioritize growth in market access for U.S. agricultural and manufacturing goods. "It is crucial that these discussions at a minimum maintain the provisions that have helped make Canada and Mexico Nebraska's top trading partners," the governor said. "Both of these markets are vital to growing Nebraska," Ricketts said. "The president has delivered before, and I'm confident he and his team can deliver during the upcoming negotiations." President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw the United States from NAFTA during his presidential campaign, then called for renegotiation of the treaty before settling on language that focused on "modernizing" the trade agreement. Negotiations to consider changes in the 1993 trade pact with Canada and Mexico are scheduled to begin Wednesday. Ricketts recently returned from a trade mission to Canada that was designed in part to dramatize the importance of NAFTA to Nebraska. "There are still opportunities to reduce or eliminate tariffs on dairy, poultry, eggs and wine as well as other non-tariff barriers on products such as ethanol," the governor said. "Nebraska's economic growth is largely dependent on free and fair trade with foreign nations," Barry Kennedy, president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said in an accompanying statement. In 2015, Nebraska exported $8 billion of goods, he said, and more than $6 billion represented manufacturing products. "From an agricultural perspective, it is imperative that NAFTA negotiations stand firm on the principle of maintaining and even expanding the market access our agricultural products have with both Canada and Mexico," Nebraska Farm Bureau President Steve Nelson said. 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Earlier this year, Microsoft blocked a class of low-end personal computers - those equipped with Intel's Atom system-on-a-chip (SoC) processors, dubbed "Clover Trail," part of the "Cloverview" architecture - from receiving the Windows 10 Creators Update. Also known as 1703 in Microsoft's year/month parlance, Creators was the first feature upgrade of the year, and the third since the operating system's launch. Those Clover Trail-powered devices were made and sold between 2012 and 2015 - the latter the same year Windows 10 debuted - and many if not most were eligible for the free upgrade to 10 that Microsoft offered. But the company balked at serving those machines 1703, telling users in April that because Intel dropped support for four models of the Clover Trail SoC, the PCs "may be incapable of moving to the Windows 10 Creators Update without a potential performance impact." (Intel calls this state, "End of interactive support (EOIS), which means it no longer offers phone-, chat- or email-based support. Microsoft cited a lack of "necessary drive support" on Intel's part as well, hinting that the issue was largely due to the SoCs' integrated graphics.) "They're still vague about the constraints to Windows 10 support," said Stephen Kleynhans, an analyst with Gartner. "They're still trying to figure out [support] themselves." [ To comment on this story, visit Computerworld's Facebook page. ] The background: A built-in support contradiction Some background is required to put Microsoft's decision, or indecision, into context. Windows 10 suffers from a support contradiction. On the one hand, Microsoft has said that the OS will be the last version of Windows, ever, implying that it will be updated and maintained - "serviced" in the company's vernacular - for all time. Yet Microsoft has also set the usual 10-year limit on Windows 10 support, setting the end of its "product lifecycle" as Oct. 14, 2025, for almost all versions of the operating system. (The exception: Windows 10 LTSB, for "Long-term Servicing Branch," a change-free SKU available only to enterprise customers, which currently has an end-of-support date of Oct. 13, 2026, or 10 years after the appearance of the last approved LTSB build, mid-2016's Anniversary Update.) But Microsoft has stuck a different kind of monkey wrench into the works, one that raised questions when it was announced two years ago and was the cause of the recent consternation over Clover Trail. According to company statements of the past, Windows 10 was to be "supported for the life of the device," a timespan it never defined. In its own documentation, Microsoft gets more specific: "A device may not be able to receive updates if the device hardware is incompatible, lacking current drivers, or otherwise outside of the Original Equipment Manufacturer's ('OEM') support period," that documentation reads. This was the out Microsoft gave itself when it explained why it denied the Clover Trail SoC-powered machines the right to upgrade to Creators Update, aka 1703. "They require additional hardware support to provide the best possible experience when updating to the latest Windows 10 feature update, the Windows 10 Creators Update," Microsoft said. "However, these systems are no longer supported by Intel, and without the necessary driver support, they may be incapable of moving to the Windows 10 Creators Update without a potential performance impact." Later, Microsoft threw more fuel on the fire when it nailed down the support timetable for each feature upgrade. Its original plan - 12 months of support - was clearly too short, relying on a three-times-a-year release cadence. So, Microsoft extended the support lifespan to 18 months, that period defined by a twice-a-year release tempo. According to Microsoft, once the 18 months was up, a Windows 10 device would no longer receive security updates and other bug fixes. The only way to continue receiving those updates and fixes was to upgrade to a new feature upgrade. And that was a problem for Clover Trail. The systems would be stuck on the Anniversary Update, or 1607, which by Microsoft's schedule, would drop off support in March 2018. Microsoft capitulates Last month, after the Clover Trail Catch-22 again cropped up -- ZDNet's Ed Bott led the way on July 17 - Microsoft gave in. While the company kept the door to upgrades beyond 1607 closed, it reprieved the devices from the execution of its usual no-security-updates order. "To keep our customers secure, we will provide security updates to these specific devices running the Windows 10 Anniversary Update until January of 2023, which aligns with the original Windows 8.1 extended support period," Microsoft said in an addendum to the April support document. That solution was easy for Microsoft to implement, as it was already committed to coming up with vulnerability patches for 1607 because that feature upgrade was designated a "Long-term servicing branch" (LTSB) edition, the no-change version aimed at enterprises. Windows 10 1607 LTSB is to receive security fixes until Oct. 13, 2026, so Microsoft was going to quash bugs in any case. Does Microsoft know what it's doing? Microsoft has struggled to clarify Windows 10 support since before the Redmond, Wash. giant got it out the door, taking months, for example, to confirm that it would maintain the OS for the usual 10 years. And it's still grappling with defining policy, argued Gartner's Kleynhans. "They're being hit by the unexpected implications of things they hadn't considered," Kleynhans said when asked about the turn-about on Clover Trail. Under that explanation, Microsoft hewed to its promise to push hardware off the Windows 10 train when it decided that hardware was too old to run the OS. But it did not anticipate the blow-back, whether from users of the Clover Trail devices or the media, when people realized it meant an end to security updates, and thus a forced obsolescence of systems purchased as few as three years earlier. But Kleynhans contends that the Clover Trail snafu is a blessing in disguise. "This was a good wake-up call. It could be something bigger that runs into the same problem [in the future], Skylake or Haswell," he said, referring to Intel processor architectures that populate many times the devices of Clover Trail. Better to have an issue that affected millions of systems rather than hundreds of millions, Kleynhans said. Where Microsoft has stumbled has been in communicating how Windows 10 support works, why and how it's been changed when events superseded stated policy, and what new rules have been put into place. "Microsoft will come up with an answer in cases like this, but it must be communicated," Kleynhans said, implying that the firm has been less than stellar on the latter. "That's going to be the challenge for them." Although Kleynhans envisions Microsoft taking each instance of inadequate support as it comes along, "The goal would be to formalize that," he said. In cases like Clover Trail, however, Microsoft may not be able to set policies alone. "I imagine there will need to be coordination with Microsoft's partners," said Kleynhans, talking about chip makers such as Intel and AMD, as well as major OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) like Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Lenovo and others. It remains unclear how Microsoft will handle similar situations in the future if they arise. The company may not be able to rely on Windows 10 LTSB to provide the security updates that would cover systems Microsoft decides can't upgrade, as it did the Clover Trail devices; the next LTSB won't appear until 2019, Microsoft has said. (Windows 10 1607 remains the current LTSB version.) "This is definitely an area that [Microsoft] has to clean up," Kleynhans said of Windows 10's support policies. "It's still fuzzy." Viking Volunteer Corps Opportunity for Community Engagement Being a Viking is more than going to class, its also about getting involved in the community, both on campus and off campus. Thats why last year Elizabeth City State University created the Viking Volunteer Corps, and this year while staff and faculty are increasingly involved, more and more students will have the opportunity to also make a difference. The Viking Volunteer Corps was created in response to a desire to have Vikings become more visible in the surrounding community, and also participate in activities on campus. Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to sign up for any number of volunteer activities, and share the Viking Spirit not only with fellow Vikings, but also with the greater Elizabeth City community. Russ Haddad, special assistant to the Chancellor, says last year students, staff, and faculty participated in numerous events, as well as assisting a variety of non-profit organizations. Haddad is the Viking Volunteer Corps coordinator, and he says this year a new addition to campus community engagement will be freshman learning firsthand about how they can get involved in community projects, and receive course credit. There is a service-learning component unit in the freshman seminar, said Haddad. They will be required to do 12 hours of community service during their first two semesters. In addition, Haddad says the ECSU Honors Program will also be requiring its student-members to participate in 12 hours of community service during each semester. Haddad says to make community engagement easier, he has been working with university IT staff to launch software that will enable Vikings to sign up for volunteer opportunities. He says the site http://VolunteerNow.com/ecsu will be ready for use any day. Students and employees may click on it and view volunteer opportunities, said Haddad. From there, they can create an account that will track and log their hours from which we can pull reports. When they create an account, they can clock that they want to participate in the RewardVolunteer program, which provides rewards (to those) meeting certain goals. Last year more than 100 students, faculty, and staff donned the white Viking Volunteer Corps polo shirts and gave their support to events such as the Chancellors Color Run, the Boys and Girls Club, area public schools, the Elizabeth City Area Chamber of Commerce, and the North Carolina Potato Festival, to name a few. For more information, and to become a Viking Volunteer, email Russ Haddad at rghaddad@ecsu.edu. 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The Department of Health and Social Care is currently holding a public consultation on plans to increase charges for prescription drugs and increase the number of people who have to pay for items from the pharmacy. The charity has described the plans as a tax of the sick which affects the most vulnerable in society. The Group believes the changes could result in some diabetics on the Island having to start skipping their medication, resulting in a bigger burden on health services. The DHSC has said the increased charges per item are still low compared to those in England, but the MDG says those with chronic conditions still get free prescriptions there. The Group is appealing to Health Minister Kate Beecroft to reconsider the proposals. Government preparing Passenger Travel Information Scheme Policy and Reform Minister Chris Thomas will make a statement in October's sitting of Tynwald The Policy and Reform Minister insists the Island is committed to ensuring Manx residents can travel freely within the British Isles. The Government is working on a Passenger Travel Information Scheme, with Chris Thomas due to make a statement in October's sitting of Tynwald. Mr Thomas insists the Council of Ministers wants to protect the freedom of movement of Manx residents between the Island and the UK. The scheme, which would initially be brought in on a short-term trial, would still let passengers move freely, while giving the Isle of Man Constabulary an enhanced ability to protect the Island. The Minister confirmed full details of the plan will be released ahead of the next Tynwald sitting. Even as the 10-year old pregnant girl whose case has been widely reported in the media awaits delivery in a hospital in Chandigarh, a 12-year old girl in Mumbai has been found to be 27 weeks pregnant. Both are victims of rape by men known to their families. The first was assaulted over seven months by her uncle while in the latters case it was a man who worked with her father and rented a room from the family. Incidentally, the child has had surgery performed three years ago at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), in Chandigarh for a hole in the heart. According to the media, the doctors that the family of the first child consulted, had expressed concern over her health given the history of cardiac surgery and also said that the pregnancy would have to be terminated prematurely at 32 weeks since it posed a grave risk to the girls physical health if it was allowed to continue beyond that. The family approached first the Chandigarh High Court to grant her permission to abort and on being denied approached the Supreme Court. The apex Court asked the medical experts at the Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh to review the case and give their opinion. Clinical Issues According to the Indian Academy of Paediatrics chart,1 at the age of 10, an average Indian female child will weigh 30 kg and be 140 cms tall at the 50th percentile. Given that maternal height of less than 145 cm is a predictor for obstructed labour and increases the risk of a bladder wall fistula during vaginal delivery it is not likely that this child can have a vaginal delivery without causing serious trauma to the perineum and pelvic floor muscles. Of course the foetus may also be growth retarded and of a low birth weight but it seems that the delivery will have to be surgical via a caesarean section. This is a major surgery requiring anaesthesia. According to media reports, on 16 July when the family first approached the high court she was 26 weeks pregnant. At that stage the foetus would have weighed around 760 gm and the termination could have taken place vaginally, using medical abortion pills as per the regimen recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO 2012) and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG 2011) and as analysed in the Cochrane Database (2011). In itself the abortion would have posed much less risk to the girl than a delivery by surgical intervention in terms of anaesthesia, major abdominal surgery, complications, blood loss and wound healing. What also needs to be taken into account is the childs history of cardiac surgery which would increase her risk. One of the recommendations was that she should be delivered prematurely at 32 weeks since her body would not be able to sustain a full term pregnancy. Logically, the further one goes in the gestation, the greater the potential for physical risk. The foetus at 32 weeks will weigh on average 1.6 kg and at 38 weeks will be close to three kg. So the recommendation to wait until 32 weeks seems to have been made from the perspective of the foetus being born after viability rather than the risk to the life of the pregnant girl. After a late term delivery she will also need lactation suppression to stop the breast milk production. Legal Issues The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act was passed in 1971 based on the recommendations of the Shantilal Shah Committee which was set up to review the high number of maternal deaths due to septic abortion. The MTP Act has set a gestation age limit of 20 weeks. However, it does allow the termination of a pregnancy at any time if the opinion is formed, in good faith that this is necessary to save the life of the pregnant woman. Even the clause allowing termination on grounds of grave injury to the pregnant womans mental or physical health states that account may be taken of the pregnant womans actual or reasonable foreseeable environment. The clause on terminating a pregnancy caused by rape gives an explanation which states: Where any, pregnancy is alleged by the pregnant woman to have been caused by rape, the anguish caused by such pregnancy shall be presumed to constitute a grave injury to the mental health of the pregnant woman. All these clauses would be applicable in the case of this child. We need to also remember that the MTP law is needed only because the Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 312316 exist and Section 312 states: Whoever voluntarily causes a woman with child to miscarry, shall, if such miscarriage be not caused in good faith for the purpose of saving the life of the woman, be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to three years, or with fine, or with both, and, if the woman be quick with child, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine. Explanation: A woman who causes herself to miscarry, is within the meaning of this section. [By this explanation, every woman who self- medicates using medical abortion pills (even if very safely) is liable for prosecution under the IPC.] If Sections 312 to 316 were to be removed from the IPC then all abortion procedures would be under the purview of medical guidelines similar to the way in which other surgical and medical procedures are. India does not have a separate law for open heart surgery or bariatric surgery or endoscopy. These are left to the domains of those who have specialised clinical training. There is no doubt that this brings in issues of selfregulation and accountability by medical professionals but those are in dire need of being addressed beyond the ambit of the abortion service provision alone. Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act The Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO) 2012 requires that anyone who is aware of a sexual act involving a child less of than 18 years of age must report it to the special juvenile police unit or the local police, failing which they could be imprisoned. My personal communication with many gynaecologists across Maharashtra during meetings led to some issues being raised about the girls who seek consultation for abortion or delivery and are under the age of 18. These are: the difficulty in persuading the family of the underage girl to report to the police, the problems faced by married girls (below 18) and who come in for delivery at full term, those who have had consensual sex and cases wherein the police have blackmailed the family using information in the complaints that are filed. These are concerns that need to be addressed and perhaps some protocols are needed which would help the healthcare providers to help these girls. Recent Judgements In April 2016, the Supreme Court allowed a 14-year-old rape survivor to abort her 24-week foetus. Allowing her to undergo abortion, the Court observed that the girl would have to live the rest of her life suffering the social stigma associated with the child. Once again in July last year the Supreme Court allowed an abortion at 24 weeks for a pregnancy caused by rape (Ms X v Union of India 2016). Reportedly, fears of fetal abnormality as well as the potential danger to the womans life were the reasons cited. On 19 September 2016 the division bench of the Bombay High Court passed a landmark judgment recognising the absolute right of women to abortion (High Court on its own Motion v State of Maharashtra 2016). The MTP Act has always been critiqued for giving all the decision making powers to the doctor and lacking a rights based approach towards women. This judgment makes it apparent that it can be interpreted to mean that women have the right to an abortion and the doctors obligation is mainly to ensure that the procedure is followed within the conditions laid down. The judgment states: [The] MTP Act bestows a very precious right to a pregnant woman to say no to motherhood. It is the right of a woman to be a mother, so also it is the right of a woman not to be a mother and her wish has to be respected. This right emerges from her human right to live with dignity as a human being in the society and is protected as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution of India with reasonable restrictions as contemplated under the Act. Woman owns her body and has a right over it. Abortion is always a difficult and careful decision and woman alone should be the choice-maker. unborn foetus cannot be put on a higher pedestal than the right of a living woman. (authors emphasis ) Indian journal of Medical Ethics 2017 Healthcare Providers Recent years have witnessed advocacy efforts to extend the gestational limit for pregnancies with foetal abnormalities but there has not been much discussion on finding a solution for unwanted pregnancies which present after 20 weeks. In countries where abortions are allowed beyond 21 weeks, the the process ensures that a live foetus is not born. In India, the training does not currently include either this or a surgical procedure known as dilatation and evacuation (D&E) which is also used for later gestation terminations. The RCOG guidelines (2011) state that in cases where the fetal abnormality is not lethal or the abortion is not for fetal abnormality and is being undertaken after 21 weeks and 6 days of gestation, failure to perform feticide could result in a live birth and survival, which contradicts the intention of the abortion. Some doctors quoted by the media on the case of the 10 year old girl said that since the pregnancy had progressed beyond 20 weeks they needed to consider the rights of the unborn child. Medical education in India is based on a biomedical curative model that does not include sensitisation or orientation on issues and rights based on gender. A cross sectional survey conducted among medical students in Maharashtra showed that almost a quarter of the respondents considered abortion to be morally wrong, one fifth did not find abortions for unmarried women acceptable and one quarter (incorrectly) believed that a woman needs her partner or spouses approval to have an abortion. ( Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. 2014) The need of the hour is to have a forum or at least discussions among stakeholders around the issues of viability versus choice in order to move the gestational limits in the law. The question that needs to be answered is: At what point does the womans right to her own body start to show a declining graph as the foetal viability goes up? While we have not had any formal conscientious objection concerns in India thus far, we need to anticipate the need to put in place guidelines and protocols to guard womens right to safe abortion. Public and Private Health Systems All government facilities have been deemed as recognised by the MTP Act for provision of abortion services. However, such services continue to be sought mostly in the private sector due to the lack of trained providers and functional equipment in the public sector as well as the much valued confidentiality and non- coercion for contraception in the private sector. (Stillman M et al 2014) A government circular sent out in 2011 to all states asks that medical items and services related to medical abortion should be included in the purchase budget by all public sector hospitals. However, many such hospitals in most states do not have medical abortion pills available on their drug schedule (Stillman M et al 2014). In 2012, in a highly publicised crackdown, the Maharashtra State Food and Drugs Administration took action against the spurious and illegal sales of medical abortion pills. However, this led to the procedure itself getting a negative image. (Times of India 2013) Again, a seven-member investigating committee headed by the dean of the Government Medical College in Sangli claimed that abortion pills are poison and a weapon before suggesting that they should be removed from Schedule H (prescription drugs) and placed in Schedule X (poisons). The campaigns against sex determination have often engendered anti-abortion imagery with the result that there is a widely held belief that abortion itself is illegal in India. This has created the space for an undercurrent of anti-abortion sentiment. (Economic Times 2014) Conclusions Advocacy efforts may be too late for the 10 year old child but all key stakeholders need to take up this case study to come together and discuss the critical domains of future decision making. In India, even now between 9% and 20% of maternal deaths are on account of unsafe abortions. Safe abortion is not only about terminating an unwanted pregnancy but is also one of the critical life- saving/ life changing episodes in the life cycle of a woman, and part of the continuum of her sexual and reproductive health and rights. We need to work together with those in allied fields of work to prevent child marriages, prevention of dowry, recognising marital rape, improving the status of the girl child, and all other facets of womens empowerment. We need to place the conversation around abortion rights within the context of womens sexuality, patriarchy and gender equality. We need to do better at making the public sector more accountable for providing abortion services and pushing for the private sector to be better regulated. We need to invest in training of health care providers, in the pre-service years and beyond, to ensure gender and rights sensitisation. We need to create a future where it is unacceptable for a girl or a woman to suffer grievous physical or mental harm because she was unable to access a timely, sensitive and safe abortion service. Note 1 For more information see Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. . References Cochrane Database Systematic Review (2011): Medical Methods for Mid-trimester Termination of Pregnancy, Wildschut H et al, 19 January;(1):CD005216. Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. Medical Students Attitudes and Perceptions On Abortion: A Cross-sectional Survey Among Medical Interns in Maharashtra, India, Sjogstrom S et al, Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. , July, pp 4246. Economic Times (2014): Crackdown On Female Foeticide in Maharashtra Creates Shortage of Abortion Pills, 7 September, Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. . High Court on Its Own Motion v The State of Maharashtra, Suo Motu Public Interest Litigation (2016): No 1 of 2016, Judgment dated 20.9.2016. Indian Journal of Medical Ethics (2017): Abortion Rights Judgment: A Ray of Hope! Johari V, Jadhav U, 28 February 2017, Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. . Ms X v Union of India, In the Supreme Court of India, Writ Petition (C)No 593 of 2016, vide order dated 25.7.2016. Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (2011): The Care of Women Requesting Induced Abortion, Evidence Based Clinical Guideline No 7, Error! Hyperlink reference not valid., pp 6875. Stillman M et al (2014): Abortion in India: A Literature Review, December Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. . Times of India (2013): State Driving Abortion Pills Out of Market by Iyer M, 25 April 2013 Error! Hyperlink reference not valid. . London said earlier this week that the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland should stay open after Brexit without physical border infrastructure and border posts. About 30,000 people cross the 500-km border every day and solving the future of post-Brexit border crossing is one of the most challenging aspects of the divorce negotiations. Crossing the border is currently possible without checks or customs and negotiators fear that tightening controls could trigger regional tensions. The issue of how Northern Ireland and the Republic of Northern Ireland will be divided is particularly sensitive given the historic context of violence. Prior to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, about 3,600 people had died during so-called The Troubles an ethno-nationalist conflict over the constitutional status of Northern Ireland whether it should be part of Britain or Ireland. Both sides need to show flexibility and imagination when it comes to the border issue in Northern Ireland, a British government source said. London put forward two options for future customs arrangements with Brussels the first one would involve no customs border at all and the second one counts with highly-streamlined customs checks. The EU leaders have not really welcomed the idea with one official describing it as fantasy. To that end, a British source stressed that we have some very clear principles. Top of our list is to agree upfront no physical border infrastructure that would mean a return to the border posts of the past and is completely unacceptable to the UK. The EU has repeatedly said that the UK cannot expect to keep the benefits of the blocs single market after Brexit. According to Michel Barnier, European Chief Negotiator for Brexit, frictionless trade with the EU was not possible. Serbian foreign minister Ivica Dacic has proposed to end a conflict over Kosovo, a partially recognized state and a disputed territory in southeastern Europe that declared independence from Serbia in 2008 as the Republic of Kosovo. Currently, Kosovo has diplomatic recognition by 111 UN member states but Serbia refuses to recognize its independence as it regards it as the cradle of the Serbian nation and Orthodox Christian faith. However, Belgrade accepted legitimacy of Kosovos institutions with the 2013 Brussels Agreement since a normalization of relations with Pristina is a prerequisite for the country to proceed with the EU membership talks. Mr. Dacic said that a solution to, what he called, Serbias centennial problem, would be a delimitation between Serbs and Albanians, the largest ethnic group in Kosovo. Everyone needs a lasting solution of the Serbian-Albanian conflict, which can be reached only through an agreement where everyone will win something and lose something, he wrote. According to Mr. Dacic, Belgrade should seek autonomy for Serb enclaves in Kosovo, protection for Orthodox monasteries and financial compensation for what Serbia says is its property including industrial and energy facilities. Kosovo Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj, however, said that one needs to be cautious and not interpret the Serbian move as willingness to seek a compromise. To Serbian FM Dacic: if internal dialogue isnt about recognizing Kosovos independent statehood, it would be tantamount to failure. If Serbia continuously campaigns against Kosovos membership of international organizations, for what normalization are we talking about, Mr. Hoxhaj tweeted. DAN Indonesia's Chairman, Harris Thajeb, has steered the company to become one of Indonesia's leading advertising agencies. With the acquisition of home-grown independent ad media group Dwi Sapta, DAN Indonesia initiated what is considered to be one of the biggest mergers in the history of the countrys advertising industry. While Thajeb was in Mumbai as part of the AdAsia Bali delegation, he spoke to exchange4media exclusively about DAN Indonesia's future plans and Indonesia's advertising industry. Please give us an overview of Indonesias advertising industry. Indonesias advertising spend in 2016 was around $15 billion. Of that, a good 67% went to TV. The sectors that are witnessing a decline are print and radio. Digital advertising is on a growth curve but the ad spend on digital is limited to 10%. That said, digital is witnessing a year on year incremental growth of 5060%. Fifty-six per cent of our population is in the millennial generation, and this audience is digitally savvy, therefore advertisers are actively investing larger budgets on digital advertising. The e-commerce sector has become the most dominant advertiser in the country. Their spends on advertising are also very significant. E-commerce platforms not only use digital media for their advertising but also conventional media like print and TV. What is the growth strategy of Dentsu Aegis Network Indonesia? Please share your thoughts on the acquisition of Dwi Sapta. DANs growth strategy worldwide and regionally is heavily skewed towards acquisitions. The acquisition of Dwi Sapta has made us the number two agency in Indonesia. Our worldwide aim for 2020 is to have 50% of our revenue to come from digital marketing. So, our next acquisition will be in the digital space because currently our digital portfolio needs more digital agencies. Our focus will therefore be on increasing our revenue from digital. Currently, about 2025% of our entire portfolio is focused on digital advertising. Dwi Sapta is still more of a conventional agency and not digital, so we need to bring up their digital portfolio as well. We are in talks with some digital agencies for acquisitions. What was your goal for DAN Indonesia at the beginning of 2017 and how far have you come? We started out with the aim to become a strong number two in the Indonesian advertising market. The acquisition of Dwi Sapta has helped us get there already. Now we have a very homogeneous market share. Dentsu brings in Japanese businesses, state agencies and local agencies. With Dwi Sapta, we have the conglomerates of Indonesia. Finally, with Aegis we have the global conglomerates. India has seen its share of disruptors that have helped the country achieve digital milestones in a very short span of time. Does Indonesia have a disruptor that has changed the way the country now functions? Indeed, this is the era of disruptors and we have seen our fair share of disruptors. Someone in Indonesia thought of creating an app to order our ubiquitous motorcycles to come pick us up and ferry us around the city. Now this service has gone beyond the ferry service to enter food delivery. The delivery I am talking of is not from restaurants but street food from roadside stalls. The service has also expanded to logistics like moving and packing. The GoCar services have been very well monetized. Read more news about (marketing news, latest marketing news,internet marketing, marketing India, digital marketing India, media marketing India, advertising news) Hi all, I am seeking your help on the best course of action for my subclass 189 application. I am living and working in Sydney on a 457 visa (Management Accountant) for the past 2 years. Originally, I am from India. I have a B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering from IIT Kanpur and PGDM from IIM Bangalore. Post IIM Bangalore, I worked with a FMCG firm as a Finance Analyst in India for 3.5 years, and then moved to Australia for the same firm. I appeared for IELTS and got the required score to obtain 10 points. My question is as follows: Should I apply as a Chemical Engineer? - Bachelor Degree but no work experience or Should I apply as a Management Accountant? - Work experience but missing 1 competency (Business Law) in my PGDM, as required by CPA. Also, I have read that the cutoff is generally very high for this stream. Thanks in advance for your help. I was led to believe this could be a protracted, overly-bureaucratic process. I was warned the prefecture would want to see lots of documents ... i.e. proof of when I got my driver's licence (44 years ago) and where I was living (south-east Queensland) at that time. I was told I would also need an attestation from my home state of South Australia from the Motor Registry Office documenting how long I'd had an SA licence, my driving history there and some kind of proof that I was living in South Australia at that time. I would need lots of photocopies. I was also told I'd need court-certified translations of my licence history and the various "proof" documents. When I went to the sous-prefecture at Marmande, armed with a manilla-folder of documents, the woman behind the counter asked me to hand over ... 1. my SA driver's licence 2. Two "Demand De Permis De Conduire" forms, filled out, signed and a passport photo attached. 3. EDF bill (proof of residency). 4. Photocopy of my Titre de Sejours (proof of identity). That was it! She didn't want to see anything else! She gave me a photocopy of my "Demand De Permis De Conduire" to show a gendarme if ever I were stopped. She told me my application would be processed in due course. I resigned myself to a long wait. I needn't have bothered. Today, just over three weeks later, my French driver's licence arrived by registered mail. No charge. France is full of surprises. I'm not so sure. Of course France is not going to ban tourists because like all the other countries mentioned in the article the economy of France is dependent on it. Tourism is the biggest employer in Ile de France for example.But if you think that 15-20 years ago going to the Eiffel Tower for example was quite 'chic', today, it has to be the worse place to go to in France. It is not very nice to be fair because tourists and their behaviour has changed. Also it attracts migrants who are selling cr&p' at every corner. I mean it is terrible. You can't walk from Trocadero to the tower without being hassled. It is quite offensive. Then you have those selling 'tap' water in plastic bottles thrusting them in your face. If you managed to get to the tower without getting fleeced, tripping over Chinese tourists having their wedding photos taken or being blinded by someone with a selfie stick then you are doing well. But of course, under the tower is blocked off because of terrorism.If you lived in one of those nice expensive flats around the tower I bet you are doing your head in. It is not a very pleasant place to be. Something needs to change I guess to get its 'chicness' back..Then you have ski resorts and the drunken loutish behaviour at night. Sooner or later they will have to curb that as it puts off families going to these resorts because they can't sleep. A family of four spends more money on ski passes, ski hire, eating out etc than those drunken idiots that just spend all their money on alcohol in a bar.As you will discover soon, living in Lyon in the tourist season is a nightmare because of all the traffic. It will drive you mad.So there is a fine balance. Tourists and tourism is changing and places need to adapt otherwise these loverly places will be destroyed.So I can understand why there is a backlash against tourism in Europe. Bexar Countys 16 traditional public school districts all received passing grades in state accountability ratings released Tuesday. For the second year in a row, though, the San Antonio Independent School District failed in overall performance, one of four categories that determine the rating. Out of 93 SAISD schools, the state gave failing grades to 19. The same number failed last year once the district successfully appealed one schools rating. Superintendent Pedro Martinez said the new ratings raised five of last years failing schools to passing status, but some other struggling schools fell short as state standards grew more rigorous. Districts next year will be rated using A-F grades, which will take effect in 2019 at the campus level, according to a state law that the Legislature tweaked last spring. Martinez said he expects SAISD results to improve by next year but if they dont, it will earn an F, he said. The district plans to appeal the ratings given to a couple of schools, district spokeswoman Leslie Price said. Southside ISD, which last year also failed the overall performance category and had two schools fail to meet state standards, this year passed all four categories as a district and had no failing schools. We made academic growth and we are very pleased with that, said Mark Eads, who in 2016 became Southsides sixth superintendent or interim superintendent in three years. The state dissolved Southsides board, replacing it with appointed managers, but Eads remained in charge. He said there now are teams at every campus who are committed to staying, and administrators last year made a point of increasing visibility and dropping in more frequently on classrooms. We needed consistency in leadership. I think were going to see that now, Eads said, adding, When you know youre being watched, you do a little better. Carpe Diem, a West Side charter school, failed to meet state standards for the second year in a row. Its superintendent, Rick Ogston, who arrived at the school last summer, called the ratings completely unacceptable. He developed the schools learning model, which emphasizes personalized learning. It was improperly implemented and the school is in the midst of an overhaul, hiring new teachers and administrators and developing remediation plans, Ogston said. Carpe Diem was among a group of high-performing out-of-town charter operators recruited by a nonprofit group to open or expand schools here. Im here to make sure that it does turn around and become successful, Ogston said. The state calculates ratings for districts and individual schools from how well they do in four categories: overall student performance; year-to-year student progress; the achievement of economically disadvantaged students and among the lowest-performing racial or ethnic groups; and postsecondary readiness. For the third year in a row, schools and districts could earn passing grades even if they failed in either the first or second category, loosely labeled proficiency and growth. Thats partly because measuring growth is harder at the high school level, when students have to pass five exams before graduation, mostly in different subjects, said Lauren Callahan, spokeswoman for the Texas Education Agency. The first three categories are determined by results on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or STAAR tests. The fourth, the postsecondary readiness index, also includes graduation rates, students diploma plans, scores on other standardized tests, passing rates on advanced and dual-credit courses and enrollment in career or technical education sequences. Four of East Central ISD's 12 campuses received failing grades from the state, after two of its schools failed in 2016. Ashley Chohlis, a district spokeswoman, said it will use data and work with the TEA to make improvements. She declined to comment on the upcoming implementation of A-F grading for schools. Our teachers and our students and our community are up for the challenge, she said. This year, SAISD implemented a master teachers program to pair struggling students with the most experienced and successful teachers, Martinez said. He believes the district will earn a D+ or a C next year, and his goal is to have 70 percent of the districts schools earn A or B ratings by 2020. The district is in the second year of a five-year turnaround plan, which board president Patti Radle compared to renovating a living room, saying it gets discouraging as pieces are moved around and new problems are discovered. I think theres really a momentum of feeling that this years going to show some broader impact, Radle said. We would have loved to see a more impactful change (in the state ratings) this year, but I think we understand it. SAISD has improved four-year graduation rates, and 82 percent of eligible students took the SAT this year, up from 34 percent two years ago, according to district figures. More graduates are attending college, and more of them are in four-year and Tier One universities, according to the district. Though the San Antonio School for Inquiry and Creativity met alternative state academic requirements, the TEA has shut down the charter district after finding it had been operating three of its four schools at unapproved sites and had failed to properly perform background checks on school staff. Two of KIPP San Antonios schools failed to meet standards in 2016, but all five of the charter districts campuses passed this year. Mark Larson, its CEO, called last years struggles an anomaly that was quickly addressed, with teachers and heads of schools provided with more data to track academic progress and help struggling students. We continue to learn, Larson said. We will make mistakes here and there, but were a learning organization and we keep getting better. Northside ISD and North East ISD, Bexar Countys two largest school districts, both saw all their campuses pass this year. Janis Jordan, deputy superintendent for curriculum and instruction at Northside, said the district has made strides in special education and postsecondary readiness. She credits well-trained principals and high-quality teachers for its upward trend in test scores, along with regular analysis of student data. Several weeks ago, teachers and staff gathered for a data day, to examine student performance and brainstorm improvement plans, Jordan said. We dont wait till the STAAR scores come out and say, Oh goodness, we better make a change, she said. This year, versions of the STAAR were eliminated for English-language learners and some special-needs students, who instead took the regular exams online with accommodations. The change led results for some English-language learners to be included in the third and fourth categories, although they had not been included last year. Results from STAAR Alternate 2, given to the most cognitively disabled students, were also included in the postsecondary readiness category, unlike last year. The proportion of correct answers required to pass the STAAR tests also increased slightly from last year. amalik@express-news.net A new wall is planned for South Texas, but it's not on the U.S.-Mexico border. This one divides San Antonio from the Hill Country. Just call it the Boerne wall. For two decades, the small city of Boerne has been asking property owners adjacent to the town if they want to become part of its extraterritorial jurisdiction, or ETJ. ETJ is unincorporated land adjacent to a city, where cities can extend certain regulations. Cities also can only annex land in their ETJs. By becoming part of Boerne's ETJ, Boerne can eventually annex those areas - and San Antonio can't. "From our standpoint, that does create a wall, which gives us some area for future growth, which we would not be able to go into if that was part of San Antonio's ETJ," said Deputy Boerne City Manager Jeff Thompson. Boerne started this latest round of additions after San Antonio officials escalated their annexation plans two years ago. That included a proposal to annex an area along Interstate 10 West, near Boerne. In response, Boerne officials sent letters to 53 property owners between Boerne and San Antonio, asking them if they voluntarily wanted to become part of Boerne's ETJ. About 45 property owners agreed - enough "to effectively provide a buffer to San Antonio annexation to the West," according to a July 11 Boerne City Council agenda. The idea is that many of these residents identify more with Boerne than San Antonio, Thompson said. Boerne, in fast-growing Kendall County, is just shy of 15,000 people but its population has tripled in the last 30 years. This isn't the first time Boerne has taken this kind of action. Twenty years ago, Boerne extended its ETJ near Fair Oaks Ranch, on the eastern side of the city. This latest round of additions is now extending "the western version of the wall," Thompson said. But, he admits, San Antonio will only get bigger and will eventually grow around Boerne. "I guess you could call it a temporary shield more than a wall," Thompson said. vdavila@express-news.net @viannadavila This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN Nine-year-old Aidan Mehta stretches his arm into the air, raising it above the back of his medical stroller, to capture his moms attention. Can we get out of here? asks Aidan, who has disabilities that affect his immune and cardiac system, energy levels and ability to get around. Its just the start, Im afraid, Hannah Mehta responds, running her hand through Aidans thick, black hair. The pair from Flower Mound have spent countless days during the special session in the basement of the Texas Capitol complex, lobbying lawmakers to restore deep cuts to a Medicaid therapy program that assists about 6,000 medically fragile children, like Aiden, who gets help learning to chew and swallow his food. But with the abrupt end of the special session Tuesday night, the prospect of relief is off for now. While the House agreed unanimously to restore funding to the Medicaid therapy program, House Bill 25 made no progress in the Senate, and Gov. Greg Abbott never added the issue to the ambitious, 20-item call he laid out at the start of the special session. Abbotts office did not return a request for comment, but previously had said the governor wouldnt add to the agenda until all his items were approved. Several of those, including the so-called bathroom bill, died as the special session came to an unexpected close one day early. Affected families and some lawmakers were concerned that if the money wasnt restored now, they would have to wait until the next Legislative session in 2019 to try again, when they warn that far more children with disabilities may have lost critical therapies. Some of these kids cant wait the 16 months for relief, said Rep. Matt Krause, a Republican from Fort Worth and a member of the tea-party-aligned Texas Freedom Caucus. If the governor does call us back for (another) special session, I am hoping with the momentum we have built up, it might lead to him putting it on the call. It remains to be seen whether Abbott decides to call another special session. Republicans in control of the Senate, however, seem unwilling to revive the issue at this time. It was a point of contention during the regular session, too, when the Senate agreed to reinstate just 25 percent of the cuts made to the therapy program, which is supported by both state and federal dollars. We looked at that during the session and we restored a portion of it. And we need to see how that does, as far as affecting access, said Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services. The Senate had been far more reluctant than the House to address anything that wasnt on Abbotts 20-point agenda. Therapy providers say theyve yet to see any benefit from the partial restoration of funds, and some dont expect to at all. Because the Health and Human Services Commission is reworking the way home health agencies are paid, therapy providers say they are bracing for more losses this fall. Were not feeling the restoration taking effect. Were feeling major, major cuts, said TJ Caplinger, CEO at Child's Play Therapeutic Homecare based in San Antonio. I will be discharging kids come September because I wont have the staff. Lawmakers ordered reductions to the Medicaid program in 2015, after a state report showed reimbursement rates for pediatric acute therapy services were higher than in other states. Some House members now contend that report was flawed. Since the reductions took effect last year, home health agencies say they have had to cut therapist pay and shrink the number of clients they see. As a result, families report they have lost therapy that helps them care for their children in their own homes. Aidan, who used to see a feeding therapist three times a week to learn how to chew and swallow his food, now gets the assistance just once a week. Hannah Mehta says several factors are to blame, including the program cuts and the recent transition of her sons health care to a managed care model. That switch has made it harder for families to get approval for life-sustaining medications and supplies, she said. The industry as a whole has taken a hit, Hannah Mehta said. We have other families who have lost everything, all of their therapies have been denied. The legislated cuts reduced Medicaid reimbursement rates for speech, occupational and physical therapists who help children with severe disabilities. At least three therapy providers in the state have shut down due to the cuts, leaving their 60 child clients in need of new care, according to data from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission. We have seen providers closing, providers are contracting their service areas, providers are letting therapists go, said Rachel Hammon, executive director of Texas Association for Home Care and Hospice. This has had quite a snowball effect. San Antonio Sen. Carlos Uresti said Texas has more than enough money in its $10 billion rainy day fund to cover the $70 million in state costs laid out in HB 25. Our No. 1 goal up here shouldnt be these other issues, it should be be about taking care of children, said Uresti, a Democrat and vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services. We have got to quit hiding behind the fact that there may have been a few providers who were overcharging. Mehta said there is no Plan B. We will continue to advocate and fight for our families and for our children who can't fight for themselves, she said. That's our only option. amorris@express-news.net SANTIAGO, Chile Vice President Mike Pence says he is standing by President Donald Trump in the aftermath of deadly violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, but he declined Wednesday to defend the presidents statement from the day before that both sides were to blame. Asked at a news conference whether he agreed with Trump that there were good people among the white supremacist demonstrators, and that there was blame to be had on both sides, Pence largely sidestepped the question. What happened in Charlottesville was a tragedy, and the president has been clear on this tragedy and so have I, Pence said. I spoke at length about this heartbreaking situation on Sunday night in Colombia, and I stand with the president, and I stand by those words. Pence also was asked and would not comment about Trumps off-the-cuff comparison of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson with Founding Fathers George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, the first and third U.S. presidents. On Sunday night in Cartagena, the Colombian port city where he opened his week-long trip to Latin America, Pence was asked about Trumps initial response to the Charlottesville violence. The vice president was far more forceful in his denunciation that evening than was his boss on Saturday. With Trump drawing intense criticism for failing to single out white supremacists following Saturdays events, Pence told reporters in Cartagena: We have no tolerance for hate and violence, from white supremacists, neo Nazis or the KKK. These dangerous fringe groups have no place in American public life. Pence made his Wednesday comments in Santiago following a bilateral meeting at the presidential palace with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. The two leaders delivered prepared remarks at a news event, and then Bachelet left the room without taking any questions from journalists. Pence remained at his lectern and answered questions from two U.S. journalists traveling with him, one about North Korea and one about Charlottesville. While I am here in Chile, Pence said, our hearts are in Charlottesville, because just a few short hours ago, family and friends gathered to say farewell to a remarkable young woman, Heather Heyer. And weve been praying. Weve been praying for Gods peace and comfort for her family and her friends and her loved ones. And were also praying that in America that we will not allow the few to divide the many. City Council members dove headlong Tuesday into San Antonios budget for infrastructure projects and found they werent all in agreement on how tax dollars should be divvied up. The majority of the council supported the spending plan that calls for new dollars to be spent in five council districts that have, on average, the worst roads in the city. But not all council members backed the approach. Councilman Greg Brockhouse hammered on the idea of an equity lens, as he promised he would when it was discussed last week. The $2.7 billion fiscal year 2018 budget, which goes into effect Oct. 1, increases spending on street maintenance to $99 million. But its approach to spending those new dollars deviates from prior years spending plans. Typically, city officials have used rough proportionality to build local budgets. The idea is that each of the 10 council districts get roughly the same amount of funding. But that hasnt worked well for historically ignored areas. This year, the council is moving away from budgeting in that style and is now applying equity to its spending plan. Brockhouse chided the concept, asking if the city is trying to fix streets or to cure social justice issues. I cant tell where we draw the line, he quipped. Are we attempting to re-engineer the community? City Manager Sheryl Sculley reminded told the council that no district is getting less money in the next fiscal year than was budgeted for this year. The base amount, $64 million, would again be distributed under the rough proportionality concept. But the additional $35 million allocation in new spending would go to council districts 1, 2, 3, 5 and 10, where between 31 and 44 percent of the streets received grades of D or F. Councilwoman Ana Sandoval noted that theres a significant disparity between Districts 1, 2 and 3 where 39, 44 and 38 percent of the roads, respectively, get failing grades and Districts 9, 6 and 8, which have only 11, 16 and 18 percent, respectively, getting a D or F. Brockhouse told his colleagues that he may be waging a losing battle, but that he would fight to secure more funding for his constituents in District 6. City staffers and council colleagues noted that council members have the authority to redirect street maintenance funds in their districts, so he could address the 3 percent of failing streets if he chooses. About 3 percent of the roads in his district received a score of F. Councilman Rey Saldana said he attempted to poke holes in the plan so his District 4 could get more of the $35 million in new spending. But he also said that objectively speaking, theres not a better plan to address the problems of inquality that San Antonio faces. Councilman John Courage also applauded the plan. His District 9 is slated to receive less funding, along with Brockhouses District 6, than any other district in the city. His take on governance is that all San Antonio residents, regardless of where in the city they live, are all constituents of every council member. We are not elected to simply represent our own district. When were elected, were elected to represent the entire city, he said. The budget, so far, seems to be for the entire city. JBaugh@express-news.net Twitter: @jbaugh On the afternoon of Friday, April 28, San Antonio police officers responded to a complaint at South Park Mall. A black Poodle puppy had been left in a hot vehicle and was panting in distress. After tracking down the dogs owner, police officers handcuffed her and booked her for animal cruelty. The dog was placed in the custody of Animal Care Services and found to be in good health. The case is relevant because of the contrast between how it was handled and how ACS responded to two 2016 cases in which neglectful animal care officers caused the deaths of dogs they were transporting. In both cases, ACS gave the officers brief suspensions, allowed them to return to work and did not pursue criminal penalties. The first incident, which occurred on June 22, 2016, involved Michael Soliz, an animal-care officer who found a dead, caged dog in his work vehicle that morning. The dog had been left in Solizs vehicle overnight without water, because he had failed to follow ACS procedure, which called for him to inspect his vehicle before and after going out in the field and to wash the vehicles cages after returning from the field. A City of San Antonio Human Resources Department suspension report for Soliz stated, Your negligence is unacceptable and had a direct negative impact on the health and safety of the animals you are required to protect. Soliz received a five-day suspension. On October 18, 2016, another animal-care officer, Ramon Barrera, went out to check on several bite reports. His first stop involved a Husky that had bitten a local resident. Barrera impounded the dog at 1:16 p.m. and didnt check on the Husky until after completing his fourth stop of the afternoon, at 3:45 p.m. At that point, Barrera found the Husky unresponsive. The dog died from respiratory distress associated with heat exhaustion, according to an ACS internal investigation. The investigation found that the air conditioning was not properly functioning in the vehicle while Barrera transported the Husky and that the temperature in the back of the vehicle had been 112 degrees. The Human Resources report concluded that Barrera failed to turn on the vehicles monitoring system, which would have made him aware of the high temperatures in the dog kennels. Despite your knowledge of departmental policy/procedures, you were negligent in checking on the animal, the Human Resources report stated. When you checked on the animal, it was approximately three-and-a-half hours after impound. Barrera was issued a Notice of Proposed Termination by Human Resources on November 16 of last year. He appealed the decision, however, and Heber Lefgren, the director of ACS, reduced his punishment to a 10-day suspension. Lefgren cited Barreras willingness to accept blame for the dogs death, and his status as one of the citys top performing Animal Care Officers. The disparity between the treatment faced by the dog owner at South Park Mall and the two animal-care officers caught the attention of local animal advocates John Bachman and Kelly Reid Walls, both of whom contacted Lefgren with their concerns. In an August 9, 2017 email to Lefgren, Walls asked, Why was she arrested but your officers were not? The dog owner at South Park Mall was booked for Cruelty to Non-livestock Animals, a category which covers, among other things, anyone who intentionally or recklessly fails to provide necessary food, water, care, or shelter for an animal in the persons custody or transports or confines an animal in a cruel manner. Lefgren said ACS holds its officers to the same standard as we hold the citizens, if not a higher standard. He said the cases involving the animal-care officers differed from the South Park Mall incident because the officers did not purposely or knowingly put the dogs in a harmful situation. The ACS director said Barrera did not realize that the air-conditioning system was not properly functioning while he transported the dog who died from heat exhaustion. With regard to Soliz, Lefgren said the dog had been placed in the vehicle the night before, without Solizs knowledge, and while Soliz failed to follow protocol that would have made him aware of the dogs presence, his actions did not constitute cruelty. Lefgren said ACS discussed both cases with the city prosecuting attorneys office and there was general agreement that the cases did not meet the definition of animal cruelty. ggarcia@express-news.net Twitter: @gilgamesh470 Before the Alamo siege and 1835-1836 revolution secured independence from Mexico, a short-lived republic broke away from Spain in 1813, but was crushed in the deadliest battle ever fought on Texas soil, somewhere south of San Antonio. The Battle of Medina of Aug. 18, 1813, is becoming more widely known for its impact on Texas and a young officer in the Spanish Royal Army, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who would later rise to fame as the president of Mexico and military leader whose take-no-prisoners approach at the Alamo and Goliad would stir American support for Texas independence. Chaos reigned in Europe and the New World as Jose Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara and Augustus William Magee led an expedition into Texas with U.S. backing in 1812, creating a rebel force, the Republican Army of the North, that carried an emerald green banner. On March 29, 1813, rebels defeated Spanish royalists in the Battle of Rosillo, on what today is San Antonios Southeast Side, then brutally executed the governor and 13 other prisoners a few days later. In his 1986 book, Los Mestenos: Spanish Ranching in Texas, 1721-1821, author Jack Jackson described the nonplussed reaction in Bejar when rebels returned to the village carrying the heads of Spanish royalists as battle trophies. A declaration of independence was adopted on April 6, 1813. Although the murder shocked some of Gutierrezs American allies, it did not seem to perturb overmuch the native Texans who had cast their fates on the side of indepence, Jackson wrote, contrasting local reaction to that of the Spanish government. This butchery did, however, cause crown officials to take the situation in Bejar very seriously. They dispatched an army under Joaquin de Arredondo, newly appointed commandant general of the Eastern Interior Provinces, to crush the rebellion and restore the province to Spanish rule. In early August, rebel spies spotted Arredondos army crossing the Frio River about 50 miles south of San Antonio. According to historian Robert H. Thonhoff, American volunteers preferred waiting, but agreed to a plan favored by Tejanos to meet the Spanish army outside of town, to spare their homes and families from the ravages of battle. The rebel force of about 1,400 also included prisoners and deserters of the Spanish army, mounted Tejano civilians and Native American allies. On Aug. 15, 1813, the Republican Army departed from Bejar, cheered with the sound of martial music and the salutations of the ladies, Thonhoff wrote in a 2013 booklet, "Battle of Medina 1813," published by the History Shop in coordination with the Bexar County Spanish Archives for the battles bicentennial. On the morning of the 18th, rebels spoiled plans for an ambush by firing on a Spanish reconnaissance group. As the day grew hotter, the rebels trudged across deep, sandy soil in dense woods toward Arrendondos 1,830-man force, which had set up breastworks on high ground. The Republicans were literally within eyeball-to-eyeball range of the Royalists when Arredondo gave orders to fire, at which time all hell broke loose, Thonhoff wrote. The battle ran from about noon to 4 p.m., with royalists rallying after a lull in the fighting, prompting the rebels to flee. Arredondo ordered his men to take no prisoners. In contrast to the 55 Spanish royalists counted among the dead, at least 800 in the Republican Army were killed. Their bodies were left to decompose until their bones would be buried nine years later under Mexican rule. Texas, which earlier had a population of 3,122 in 1809, lost about half of its adult male population in the battle and its aftermath, including executions that followed in Bejar. In that aftermath, wives and female relatives of rebels were forced to make tortillas for Arredondos army in La Quinta, a large house across todays Dwyer Avenue from the Bexar County Courthouse. Their children were turned loose on the streets to beg for food. The violence and destruction tapered off after a month. But many people fled to Louisiana, some to return to Texas later under Mexican rule and participate in the 1835-1836 revolution. At least nine possible sites of the battles main engagement have been identified, with three denoted with state or private markers in southern Bexar or northern Atasocsa counties. None has been archaeologically proven. In his official report, Arredondo cited "Don Antonio Santa Anna" as one of three men who "conducted themselves with great bravery" in the battle. That young lieutenant, 19, would later serve as the Mexican president and generalissimo famous for ordering a predawn assault on the Alamo on March 6, 1836. Santa Anna, who declared himself the Napoleon of the West, is believed to have learned his style of Napoleonic warfare, including heavy use of cannons and the element of surprise, from Arredondo. Today, the battle is commemorated with a ceremony and symposium. A ceremony with a color guard and wreath-laying at a possible battle site, at Old Applewhite and Bruce roads, a few miles northwest of Leming, is set for 10 a.m. Aug. 19. A symposium is set for 1 p.m. at the Atascosa County Leming Annex, the old Leming School, 25 East 5th St. in Leming. Dan Arellano, president of the Battle of Medina Society and a member of the Tricentennial Commission, recently appointed by Bexar County Commissioner Paul Elizondo, said some members of the Second Flying Company of Alamo de Parras the cavalry unit for which the Alamo, a former mission, was renamed were at the Battle of Medina. Some of its former members had shifted to the rebel side. Arredondo kept the company at the rear of his formations because he didnt trust them, Arellano said. Arellano, one of 10 scholars and experts set to speak at the symposium, said he discovered on a trip last year to Mexico that the death of Spanish Col. Ignacio Elizondo, long said to have been killed by an officer who had gone insane, was assassinated. Elizondo, whose team captured 71 rebels fleeing east and took about 100 prisoners after the battle, was said to have been mortally wounded by the officer on Sept. 12, 1813, while resting near the Brazos River, returning to Bejar. Arellano said he will talk at the symposium about evidence that the traditional story of Elizondos death is untrue. That was the myth that was created by Arredondo to cover up the assassination of one of his officers, he said. shuddleston@express-news.net Twitter: @shuddlestonSA COMING THURSDAY: Astronaut Edward Whites walk in space. (Scroll down for photo gallery) MARION, Ohio With farmers feeling the pinch of low commodity prices, the expansion of a biorefinery in Marion, Ohio, could bring a little extra premium to area corn growers. POET Biorefining-Marion broke ground Aug. 15 to expand its production capacity from 70 million gallons of ethanol per year to 150 million gallons. The expansion will also increase the production of dried distillers grain from 178,000 tons annually to 360,000 tons. This is a big deal, said Dave Shindollar, a farmer from Allen County and member of Ohio Farmers Union. With crop prices being the way they are, Shindollar said the biorefinery could help farmers secure a little extra premium for their crop. I think its a big deal to try and be self-sufficient, he said. Good for agriculture Ohio Agriculture Director David Daniels participated in the groundbreaking ceremony and commented on the importance of biofuels to the agriculture economy. We are so happy that POET has made this investment (in Ohio), he said. In Ohio, we can produce enough corn for our biofuel needs and feed our livestock, said Daniels. He added the expansion would create even more market opportunities for Ohio producers and help the states number one industry food and agriculture continue to grow. Today we can say we are firmly rooted in energy, said Daniels. Ag potential The expansion will add 26 million bushels of new corn demand annually for the local area explained POET CEO Jeff Broin. This will expand their current consumption of Ohio corn from 24 million bushels to 50 million bushels a year. The ag potential of the world is virtually untapped, said Broin, noting the record high production of corn in the past year and the lower demand for corn in food products. Biorefining is the future, he said, adding the starches and cellulose in that extra corn are valuable for biofuels like the ethanol produced at the Marion facility. The expansion project is slated for completion in the third quarter of 2018. POET employees POET Biorefining-Marion employees pose with POET CEO Jeff Broin. < > < > 1 View POET employees POET Biorefining-Marion employees pose with POET CEO Jeff Broin. 2 View POET groundbreaking site Used as a symbolic site for the groundbreaking of the POET-Marion expansion, the actually site was closed to visitors do to safety concerns. 3 View POET groundbreaking 4 View POET Biorefining-Marion POET Biorefining-Marion held a groundbreaking ceremony Aug. 15, to unveil its expansion project set for completion in 2018. (Catie Noyes photos) 5 View POET groundbreaking Ohio leaders gathered to participate in the symbolic groundbreaking for the expansion of POET Biorefining in Marion. 6 View Ohio Agriculture Director Daniels Ohio Agriculture Director David Daniels said Ohio's agriculture industry can benefit from the expansion of Poet Biorefining in Marion. 7 View POET groundbreaking Ohio Agriculture Director David Daniels was among the group of Ohio leaders participating in the POET Biorefining-Marion groundbreaking ceremony Aug. 15, to expand current facilities. 8 View POET CEO Jeff Broin POET CEO Jeff Broin told guest to the Poet Biorefining-Marion groundbreaking Aug. 15, that the new facility would expand production capacity from 70 million gallons per year to 150 million gallons. POET background Broin started producing biofuels with his family in Minnesota. He said, growing up on the family farm in the 80s, he saw how low commodity prices hurt a lot of the farms in his community and saw neighbors forced to give up their family farms. At 22, Broin and his family purchased a bankrupt ethanol plant in South Dakota in 1987. Today, there are 27 POET Biorefining production facilities in seven states Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and South Dakota. POET came to Marion in 2008. POET also has refinery locations in Fostoria and Leipsic. Other remarks Also in attendance for the groundbreaking was U.S. Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio; representatives for U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown D-Ohio; U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio; and U.S. Rep. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio. Each congratulated POET on the expansion and thanked Broin for choosing Ohio as the location for the biorefinery. POET also provided postcards for biofuel supporters to fill out addressing the recent EPA proposal that would lower the overall biofuel volumes blended into the U.S. fuel supply. Comments could be left for the EPA outlining their personal experiences with biofuel production. Now retired, the 81-year-old has a small 50 hectare farm in Dardanup and he is looking forward to the milestone reunion which is held every five years. The future of Fauquier Times now depends on community support. Your donation will help us continue to improve our journalism through in-depth local news coverage and expanded reader engagement. Support The Mount Holly Springs Borough Council may consider a proposed ordinance that would establish a rental property inspection program. Council has scheduled a public presentation on the proposal for 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 24, in the lower-level banquet room of the Holly Inn, 31 S. Baltimore Ave. The presentation will include a PowerPoint overview of the measure and the work done so far by councils Health, Safety and Welfare Committee and downtown manager Rebecca Yearick. The ordinance would set up a program where all 628 rental units within the borough would be inspected over a three-year cycle, committee chairwoman Deborah Halpin-Brophy said. The borough has been divided into three sections, one for each year in the cycle. The first inspections could occur in January and would involve the borough bringing in a third-party contractor to check one-third of the rental units for such safety features as working smoke detectors and fire extinguishers, Halpin-Brophy said. She said landlords with properties that fail inspection would have 30 days to correct deficiencies or face a possible enforcement action and penalties. The proposal includes regulations for the issuance and renewal of an occupancy license, which the landlord needs to rent out a unit. Mount Holly based its draft ordinance on model ordinances that have passed muster in other Pennsylvania municipalities such as Hazleton, Halpin-Brophy said. They have been through the court systems. The Mount Holly ordinance would include the establishment of a three-member panel to hear appeals from landlords, she said. We have to determine who will make up the panel. Borough solicitor Mark Allshouse is reviewing the language. Councilwoman Pam Still said the number of rental units within Mount Holly may exceed the 628 already on the borough registry. There is going to be more going forward, said Still, adding the inspection cycle may uncover units that have fallen through the cracks. The ordinance would give the borough the legal backing it needs to go after landlords who rent unsafe properties. Work on the rental inspection program ordinance began after council received complaints from tenants about unsafe living conditions. We had a tenant fall through a deck, Still said. We didnt have any teeth to deal with those concerns. The ordinance would require all landlords to either live within a 30-mile radius of the borough or to have a property manager or agent live within a 30-mile radius. If there is an issue with a property, the borough wants to be able to get hold of the landlord, Still said. Almost two thirds of British people don't want Prince Charles to become king, according to a new poll. Prince Charles An ICM Unlimited vote for general interest publication Prospect magazine found 62 per cent would prefer either Prince William or neither of the royal pair to take over the throne when Queen Elizabeth, 91, hangs up her crown. Only 38 per cent of those polled voted for Charles, 68, taking on the role of king should his mother abdicate or pass away. But William, 35, attracted 46 per cent of the vote, and there was a minority 16 per cent who didn't back the father or son duo at all. What's more, over a fifth (21 per cent) admitted they would think about the monarchy more negatively if Charles was announced as king, in contrast to seven per cent who would be pleased with the news. But 69 per cent admitted Charles being king wouldn't change their immediate opinions about the monarchy. Martin Boon, director at ICM Unlimited, said: "Obviously nobody can really know how Charles will actually perform as king just yet. "What these figures indicate, however, is that the country may not be in a forgiving mood if there were to be any serious slips - he starts without the huge legacy of goodwill that his mother has built up over the decades." But it was recently said Charles is not "longing" to be king. A source said: "The Prince of Wales does not sit there every day looking longingly at Buckingham Palace, wanting to be king. "He's demonstrably made a role for himself as heir to the throne and is acutely aware that this role is coming but he's not willing it forward because to do so would involve the demise of his own mother. "It's certainly not a case of: The only way I can do good work is when I'm king because he's been doing good work for years." Duchess Catherine and her fellow royals are banned from signing autographs. Duchess Catherine The Duchess of Cambridge is not allowed to put her signature down on paper for any fans for fear of them being copied or forged, and it would be a breach of royal protocol. According to the Daily Express newspaper, Catherine's likely response to any requests for autographs would be: "I am Sorry, they don't allow me to do that." Nowadays, a royal signature could fetch thousands on online auction sites. But Prince Charles did break with royal protocol back in 2010 when he met Tony and Meg Hendy, victims of the devastating floods in Cornwall, south west England. The Prince of Wales asked if there was anything he could do to help them and Meg replied: "Can I be really cheeky please sir and can I have your autograph for my young son Tom? I'm not sure if you do autographs but it would make his day?" Charles then attained a piece of paper from one of his security and wrote "CHARLES 2010" on the note. He also said sorry for his "shaky writing", and blamed it on the fact he "never writes standing up". 'Silent Witness' actress Liz Carr has been stabbed in the head on the streets of London. Liz Carr The 45-year-old star - who plays scientist Clarissa Mullery on the programme - is currently recovering from a slash wound after a man in his 20s attacked Liz with a pair of scissors. A friend of the wheelchair-bound actress said: "It was a terrifying experience for Liz. "She was being pushed in her wheelchair when this young man armed with two pairs of scissors suddenly headed towards her. "He followed them and began lashing out and stabbed Liz in the head." Liz - who has used a wheelchair since she was seven due to a rare joint condition - received some protection from her carer, who did her best to keep the attacker at bay. The friend told The Sun newspaper: "There was blood everywhere but she was very lucky that the wound grazed her head and she was not more seriously injured. "Typically, Liz is putting a brave face on it - joking that it was like being attacked by Edward Scissorhands. "She has no idea who he was and has never seen him before." Liz and her carer - who suffered a broken finger and minor cuts in the incident - were both subsequently taken to hospital for treatment. The actress is now being comforted at home by her female partner Jo. Meanwhile, her attacker was arrested on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm, but has since been sectioned under the Mental Health Act after a police doctor concluded he was unfit to be interviewed. Several area school districts are making adjustments or special announcements with regards to Mondays solar eclipse. Shippensburg Area School District has announced it is closing on Monday, Aug. 21, due to the solar eclipse. A post on the district website said the district will be closed out of concern for the safety of its students after consulting various professionals and reading news accounts of potential damage to the eyes that can result from looking at the eclipse. The districts elementary and middle schools return to classes Thursday. The high schools opening day had already been delayed until Aug. 23 due to a lightning strike that hit the building. Information on a makeup day will be announced later. The partial eclipse on Aug. 21 will be viewable in central Pennsylvania between approximately 1 and 4 p.m. Carlisle, Carlisle Christian, Cumberland Valley, East Pennsboro and Mechanicsburg are also scheduled to begin classes Monday. After consulting with district physician, Carlisle Area School District said Wednesday that it would keep children indoors for physical education classes and afternoon recess. Cumberland Valley School District had previously announced that children would not be permitted outside for recess due to the eclipse. In an email to parents, Carlisles acting superintendent Christina Spielbauer said principals in each building will advise students of safety precautions during the solar eclipse, and students will be reminded of those precautions as they change classes at the high school and prior to dismissal when students board buses or walk home. Outdoor science lessons in Carlisle schools that are related to the eclipse will be supervised by a certified teacher, and all district students will be instructed on safety protocols and monitored by faculty and staff. In an email to parents, Mechanicsburg superintendent Mark Leidy said the district will keep students indoors from 1 p.m. through dismissal. It also will educate students on proper safety protocols for their walk or ride home from school, Leidy said. NASA says the only safe way to look directly at the partially eclipsed sun is through special-purpose solar filters, such as eclipse glasses or hand-held solar viewers. Homemade filters or ordinary sunglasses, even very dark ones, are not safe. After the reinstatement of Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) rights to Myanmar, orders from European Union have been increasing, and it has now become the top market for Myanmars cut-make-pack (CMP) garment sector. This has reduced Myanmars heavy dependence on Japan for its CMP exports, according to Myanmar Garment Entrepreneurs Association. In the past the sector had to rely heavily on the Japanese market. Now it receives more orders from the EU market, association chairman Myint Soe said, Myanmarese media reported. The Myanmar Investment Commission had approved numerous applications this year for setting up of new CMP units in the country, according to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration. In the past, these investments were mainly from South Korean and Japanese companies, but now there is inflow of investment from China as well, Soe said. After the reinstatement of Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) rights to Myanmar, orders from European Union have been increasing, and it has now become the top market for Myanmar's cut-make-pack (CMP) garment sector. This has reduced Myanmar's heavy dependence on Japan for its CMP exports, according to Myanmar Garment Entrepreneurs' Association.# There are more than 400 companies in Myanmars garment sector which together employ over 400,000 people. These companies together fetched export earnings of $2.2 billion last year, beating estimates of $2 billion. In the first four months of the ongoing fiscal year, CMP export earnings have reached nearly $700 million, and they are expected to touch $3 billion this fiscal, according to the commerce ministry. Currently, garment exports account for around 16 per cent of total export earnings by Myanmar. (RKS) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India The US International Trade Commission (USITC) has determined that there is a reasonable indication that a US industry is materially injured by imports of low melt polyester staple fibre (PSF) from Korea and Taiwan that are allegedly sold in the US at less than fair value. The department of commerce will continue to conduct antidumping duty investigations. The preliminary antidumping duty determinations of the department of commerce are due on or about December 4, 2017. The probe was conducted as a result of the allegations made by Nan Ya Plastics Corp, America, a subsidiary of Taiwans Nan Ya Plastics Corp, back in June. The probe is not likely to affect the parent company, however, it will have adverse effects on other Taiwanese firms, if they are found guilty, said Taiwanese media reports. The US International Trade Commission (USITC) has determined that there is a reasonable indication that a US industry is materially injured by imports of low melt polyester staple fibre (PSF) from Korea and Taiwan that are allegedly sold in the US at less than fair value. The department of commerce will continue to conduct antidumping duty investigations.# The final rulings on the dumping allegations are likely to be issued by the department of commerce in February and April, next year. Fine denier PSF, the product covered by the petition is a synthetic staple fibre of polyesters measuring less than 3.3 decitex (3 denier) in diameter. It is generally cut in lengths of less than five inches (127 mm) and is similar in appearance to cotton or wool. It is typically converted either to yarn for weaving or knitting into fabric or to a non-woven textile prior to the end-use application. Woven applications include the production of textiles such as clothing and bedding linens. Non-woven applications include the production of household and hygiene products such as cleaning wipes, baby wipes and diapers. (KD) Fibre2Fashion News Desk India HON PM BAINIMARAMA AT THE NATIONAL DAY CELEBRATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF FIJI EXPO 2017 ASTANA We have worked hard on the Fijian side to ensure that we bring as much of our Bula spirit of friendship and happiness to Astana as possible. Bula is not only the everyday Fijian greeting that everyone uses in our country but also means life in the iTaukei language of our indigenous people. And we certainly intend to bring Fiji to life here at EXPO 2017 with our music, dancing and other cultural displays. A big slice of our Pacific way of life transposed to this vibrant setting in central Asia. I urge you all to get into the Bula spirit yourselves and especially on this very special day for us, as we showcase Fiji to the representatives of 115 nations taking part in EXPO and, of course, the people of Kazakhstan. We have already done a great deal to bring us closer together. A week ago, the first Fijian ambassador to Kazakhstan, His Excellency Iona Naivalurua, presented his credentials to your President, His Excellency Nursultan Nazarbayev. So we have begun to explore ways in which we can grow our relationship and part of that is raising the profile of Fiji in Kazakhstan and through this Expo, to the rest of the world as well. The Honourable Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan,The Honourable Fijian Minister for Industry Trade, Tourism, Lands and Mineral Resources,Your Excellency, the Fijian Ambassador to Kazakhstan,Distinguished Guests,Ladies and Gentlemen.Bula Vinaka and a very good morning to you all.12,700 kilometres from our island home, we gather today to celebrate Fijis national day at EXPO 2017 in the spectacular city of Astana - the capital of Kazakhstan. Im both delighted and proud that the vast distance between us has been bridged. And that I can be with you to showcase Fiji to the world and celebrate our strengthening ties with the government and people of Kazakhstan.Id been told that Astana is an impressive place but nothing really prepares you for the spectacle of this ultra-modern city. So I begin by extending my thanks to the Kazhak government - and especially HE Mr. Kairat Abdrakhmanov - for your hospitality and convey the warmest greetings of the Fijian people to you all.Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, the theme of the Astana Expo - focusing on the promotion of green and clean energy - is one that is very close to my own heart. Not only because it is vital to us in Fiji but also because I am the incoming President of COP23 the ongoing UN negotiations on climate change. But before I address the issue of climate change and renewable energy in detail, I want to say a few words about Fijis attractiveness as a tourist destination and a place to invest. In many ways for us, the two go hand in hand. Because the future of our nation and its economic prosperity very much depends on the world taking decisive action on climate change.We place a great deal of importance on our National Green Growth Framework because the preservation of our natural environment is our number one priority. The pristine beauty of our islands draws almost a million visitors a year to Fiji. And we have made it clear to the world that no development in Fiji will get the go-ahead unless we are satisfied that it is environmentally sustainable.We are especially keen to attract investment in renewable energy because we know this is critical to the future of Fiji and the whole world. At present, we spending about a billion dollars a year on imported fossil fuel. And we know that we must turn increasingly to hydro, wind, solar and biofuels if we are to meet our own commitment to the global community through the Paris Agreement to reduce our own carbon emissions by 30 per cent by 2030.There are many benefits of investing in Fiji, such as our position as Hub of the Pacific; our rapidly improving infrastructure better roads, better airports, more efficient ports; our general connectivity and world class telecommunications; our educated, committed English- speaking workforce; our investment incentives, including duty concessions, investment allowances, some of the lowest corporate and personal taxes in the region; and we have had eight successive years of solid economic growth, which means that investor confidence in Fiji has never been higher.I keep saying at every opportunity: Fiji is open for business. We are also taking the Fijian Made brand of quality goods and services to the four corners of the earth and have become one of the worlds most desirable holiday destinations And at every opportunity, including this one, I invite the world to come to Fiji to experience our unique brand of hospitality and friendship. In the words of our tourism slogan, Fiji is the place where happiness finds you. I always say you can find a nice beach and cool drink in many places. But only in Fiji will you find the friendliest people on earth. So wherever you live in the world and however far it might be from our Pacific home, try to make the effort to visit Fiji because I can assure you that an unforgettable experience awaits you.Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, the preservation of our way of life and all that we hold dear in Fiji and the other Pacific island nations hinges on a decisive global response to climate change. Which is why I have embraced the opportunity to lead the ongoing UN negotiations as incoming President of COP23.I have also decided because of the urgency of the task ahead of us that it is also a time for plain speaking. For me to be Frank by name and frank by nature. To abandon some of the usual language of diplomacy and start telling it like it is.When the nations of the world gather in Bonn, Germany, for COP23 in November, it will be against the backdrop of a serious challenge by the United States Government to the multilateral consensus for decisive action contained in the Paris Agreement of 2015. I say again to President Trump that the door is still open for you to join the rest of us as we confront the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced. Fortunately, many American states and cities and many US citizens remain committed to decisive action. But irrespective of the official American position, the rest of the world has embarked on a course of action that is irreversible and cannot be delayed.The paramount objective, of course, is to keep global warming to well below 2 degrees above that of the pre-industrial age and to pursue efforts to limit warming to 1.5 degrees. But let me make this perfectly clear. Encouraging and enabling an effort by the global community to stay within 1.5 degrees must be our mission, however difficult that appears to be.Last month, other Pacific leaders joined me in Fiji to commit ourselves to the 1.5 degree goal. It is of the utmost importance to our people, our economies and our environment. Because the extreme weather events, rising seas and changes to agriculture associated with climate change pose the gravest threat to our way of life in the entire span of human history. And the same applies to many other vulnerable nations, indeed the entire world.So that is what I am determined to go for in Bonn more decisive and more ambitious climate action. And no more prevarication or postponement. The Paris Agreement thankfully is now in force, more rapidly than people expected, but many of its provisions are not due to be implemented until after 2020. In my view, this simply not good enough. We want more action all over the world and at all levels of government now. And that is why I am building a Grand Coalition of governments at all levels, civil society, the private sector and ordinary citizens to keep up the pressure. Because national governments alone will not fix this. And I appeal to the Government of Kazakhstan and all 115 nations represented at this EXPO to join me in this quest.Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, if we are to achieve any of these objectives, there is no alternative but to embrace an alternative energy future. And that is what Fiji is doing. Our own theme for EXPO 2017 is quote ensuring access to affordable, reliable and sustainable and modern energy for all. And I encourage you all as you visit our pavilion - to examine the progress that Fiji has made in developing hydro, solar, biomass and other viable energy sources. And the efforts we are making through various incentives to attract investors into the renewable energy sector. Among other things, the Fijian Government has partnered with the International Finance Corporation and our Central Bank to issue $100-million in green bonds to raise capital to fund projects that have environmental benefits.I want to take this opportunity to warmly thank the Government of Kazakhstan for the financial support that you are providing to Fiji to undertake research on our future energy needs. The resulting report is displayed inside our pavilion, where youll find maps showing where we are already utilising wind and solar energy and where there is potential to do more. Its a valuable contribution by Kazakhstan to our national development and a wonderful example of how a comparatively small outlay can make a great deal of difference. Vinaka vakalevu, thank you.So Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, I close by urging you all to inspect the Fijian pavilion and the entire Pacific islands Plaza. Here we showcase the richness of our natural and cultural diversity; highlight our dependence on the ocean and seas around us; demonstrate the effect of climate change on Pacific Island countries, promote a sustainable energy future for the Pacific; encourage tourism and trade; display our growing collection of Fijian Made quality products and services. And showcase the investment opportunities in Fiji that await anyone with imagination and enterprise looking for new horizons.My thanks goes to all of you who have worked so hard to make our presence in Astana a success, including the teams from Fiji and Kazakhstan. It has been well worth the long journey for me to be with you today. And I now have great pleasure to officially launch the celebration of the National Day for the Republic of Fiji at the Astana EXPO 2017.Vinaka vakalevu. Thank you. Pyrolyx AG: Pyrolyx USA Anlagenbau im Zeitplan DGAP-News: Pyrolyx AG / Schlagwort(e): Expansion Pyrolyx AG: Pyrolyx USA Anlagenbau im Zeitplan 06.02.2018 / 15:20 Fur den Inhalt der Mitteilung ist der Emittent verantwortlich. Pyrolyx USA Anlagenbau im Zeitplan Die Pyrolyx AG, weltweit einer der groten Hersteller von regeneriertem Carbon Black aus Altreifen, konnte in nur 5 Monaten den Bau des gesamten Hauptgebaudes fur die neue Produktionsanlage, trotz winterlicher Witterungsumstande in den USA, abschlieen. Pyrolyx und seine Konstruktionspartner arbeiten in den nachsten Monaten an dem Innenausbau und dem Aufbau der technischen Produktionseinrichtungen im Werk. Die Inbetriebnahme der Anlage, die dann ca. 13.000 Tonnen Pyrolyx rCB (recovered Carbon Black) erzeugen wird, ist fur Anfang 2019 geplant. Pyrolyx kann dann ca. 4 Millionen Altreifen pro Jahr, dies entspricht ca. 1 % des jahrlichen Altreifenaufkommens in den USA, umweltfreundlich verwerten. Mit dem rCB konnen in den USA neue Reifen, technische Kunststoffe und Industriekautschukprodukte produziert werden. Das Unternehmen betreibt bereits seit 2012 ein modernes Werk in Deutschland. Weitere Informationen und den Baufortschritt kann man auf www.pyrolyx.com finden. Uber die Pyrolyx AG Die Pyrolyx Unternehmensgruppe ist weltweiter Marktfuhrer bei der Ruckgewinnung von recovered Carbon Black (rCB) aus Altreifen. Aufbereitetes rCB wird fur die Herstellung neuer Reifen und in der Masterbatch- sowie technischen Kautschukindustrie eingesetzt. Das Unternehmen betreibt in Stegelitz, Deutschland ein modernes rCB-Werk und baut eine neue Produktionsstatte in den USA. Die Aktien des Unternehmens (WKN A2E4L4) sind an der Dusseldorfer und Frankfurter Borse, sowie im Xetra Handel, im m:access und an der australischen ASX Wertpapierborse (ASX:PLX) notiert. Fur weitere Informationen besuchen Sie bitte: www.pyrolyx.com / www.carbon-clean-tech.com Kontakt: Rolf-Hendrik Arens VP Comm. & IR 06.02.2018 Veroffentlichung einer Corporate News/Finanznachricht, ubermittelt durch DGAP - ein Service der EQS Group AG. Fur den Inhalt der Mitteilung ist der Emittent / Herausgeber verantwortlich. Die DGAP Distributionsservices umfassen gesetzliche Meldepflichten, Corporate News/Finanznachrichten und Pressemitteilungen. Medienarchiv unter http://www.dgap.de Sprache: Deutsch Unternehmen: Pyrolyx AG Nymphenburger Str. 70 80335 Munchen Deutschland Telefon: +49 (0)89 856 335 50 Fax: +49 (0)89 856 335 55 E-Mail: info@pyrolyx.de Internet: www.pyrolyx.com ISIN: DE000A2E4L42 WKN: A2E4L4 Borsen: Freiverkehr in Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Munchen, Stuttgart Ende der Mitteilung DGAP News-Service 651721 06.02.2018 ISIN DE000A2E4L42 AXC0209 2018-02-06/15:20 HONG KONG, CHINA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/16/17 -- The global law firm Jones Day has announced that Charles Chau has joined the Firm's Hong Kong Office as a partner in its M&A Practice. An advisor for nearly 20 years to clients in Hong Kong, mainland China, and the Asia-Pacific region, Mr. Chau has extensive experience in public and private company acquisitions, joint ventures, financings, and pre-IPO investment transactions. His experience encompasses a wide range of industry sectors, including banking and financial services, health care, biotech, retail, real estate, and manufacturing. "Charles brings tremendous experience to our transaction capabilities in the region," said Joelle Lau, Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day's Hong Kong Office. "Given the frequency and complexity of cross-border M&A transactions, Charles' experience across many industries and geographies will be a significant asset to our clients in Greater China and beyond. I am excited to have Charles join us here in Hong Kong and look forward to working with him." Mr. Chau has represented a number of Chinese companies on their M&A transactions. His representative transactions include acting for China CNR Corporation Limited in its US$26 billion merger with CSR Corporation Limited, the first merger of two companies listed in both Hong Kong and Shanghai. In capital markets matters, Mr. Chau has worked on numerous high-profile IPOs and securities offering transactions. Representative matters include the IPOs of Sinopharm Group, China CNR Corporation, China CITIC Bank, Guodian Technology and Environment Group Corporation Limited, share placements of Evergrande Real Estate Group and Sino-Ocean Land Holdings Limited, as well as the A+H rights issue of China CITIC Bank. "We are very pleased to have Charles join us in Hong Kong," said Bob Profusek, global chair of Jones Day's M&A Practice. "His deep knowledge and his proven experience in complex transactions, particularly those that involved acquisitions for China-based companies, brings another dimension to what is already a very strong Jones Day presence in the region." Added Lyle Ganske, Jones Day's M&A Practice Leader, "Charles is an outstanding addition to what is already a great transaction team in Hong Kong and the entire Asia-Pacific region. He comes to Jones Day with a strong record of structuring high-profile, complex transactions and his experience will be of great benefit to our clients. I look forward to his contributions." Mr. Chau has been named as a leading practitioner for M&A and Equity Capital Markets by IFLR 1000 2017, a recommended practitioner for Corporate (including M&A) and Equity Capital Markets in Hong Kong by Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2017, as well as a leading individual for Equity Capital Markets in China by Chambers Asia Pacific 2016 and 2017. He is fluent in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin. Jones Day is a global law firm with more than 2,500 lawyers in 43 offices across five continents. The Firm is distinguished by: a singular tradition of client service; the mutual commitment to, and the seamless collaboration of, a true partnership; formidable legal talent across multiple disciplines and jurisdictions; and shared professional values that focus on client needs. Image Available: http://www2.marketwire.com/mw/frame_mw?attachid=3163090 Contact Victoria Ho Ogilvy Public Relations Tel: +852 2884 8445 or Email Contact Wendy Lee Ogilvy Public Relations Tel: +852 2884 8657 or Email Contact RAMALLAH, Palestine, August 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Tarek Aggad, Chairman and CEO of Arab Palestinian Investment Company (APIC) announced that the group achieved net profits after tax of USD 7.9 million in the first half of 2017, a growth of 25.4% year on year, while net profits attributed to APIC shareholders amounted to USD 5.24 million in the first half of 2017, a growth of 20.6% year on year. Revenues grew by 13.3% compared to the same period in 2016, and amounted to USD 324 million in the first half of 2017. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160519/370006LOGO ) Increasing APIC's paid-up capital to reach USD 70 million Aggad added that APIC's paid-up capital was increased to reach USD 70 million by distributing 4 million in bonus shares to its shareholders, 6.06% at par. APIC also distributed USD 3,960,000 million as cash dividends, 6% at par. Accordingly, total dividend payout amounted to USD 7,960,000 million, 12.06% at par. APIC's share closed at USD 1.90 by the end of the August 14th, 2017 trading session, while its market capitalization amounted to USD 133 million, representing 3.5% of the Palestine Exchange's total market capitalization to date. Siniora received a highly-ranked international food safety certificate Aggad highlighted some of the group's notable achievements, despite the surrounding challenges in Palestine and abroad. Siniora factories in Jordan and Palestine received a highly-ranked international food safety certificate, the FSSC: Food Safety System Certificate22000(ISO/TS22002-1), which represents the adoption of the highest food security standards worldwide and is recognized by key international organizations including the European Food and Beverage Association,the American Manufacturing Association and the Global Food Safety Initiative. Siniora subsidiary Diamond Meat Processing Company (Al-Masa), which is based in Dubai, UAE, has been accredited by the Saudi Food and Drug Authority to export its meat products to Saudi Arabia. Siniora also purchased a 3,500-square-meter warehousing facility in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at a total cost of USD 2 million, a move that is in line with Siniora's future expansion strategy in the region, with a focus on Gulf markets. PAC launched the new Hyundai headquarters in Palestine and the first mainstream new IONIQ Hybrid vehicle APIC subsidiary Palestine Automobile Company (PAC) officially inaugurated its new Hyundai headquarters in Ramallah, Palestine, completed at a cost of USD 4 million. The sizeable investment includes a state-of-the-art service center, a large spare parts division and a new body/paint workshop. The center will be the base for the future growth of Hyundai in Palestine, and offers customers the ideal conditions to service their vehicles, including those that run on hybrid and electric technologies. PAC also launched the first mainstream hybrid vehicle in the Palestinian market, the IONIQ Hybrid. This beautifully-designed and high-performance vehicle combines fuel-saving technologies with eco-friendly safety systems, a modern design and integrated supplies. PAC has also refurbished its Hyundai showrooms in Ramallah, Nablus and Hebron, bringing them up to the global standard set by Hyundai Motor Company. NAPCO received distribution rights for integrated engineering software Orgadata Logikal As part of its commitment to continuously provide high-tech services that are on par with international practices, and as part of its strategy to provide engineering and software solutions for the construction sector at large and the aluminum sector in specific, APIC subsidiary National Aluminum and Profiles Company (NAPCO) received distribution rights for the integrated engineering software Orgadata Logikal in Palestine - NAPCO Pro. Orgadata is a German company that develops software specifically for the commercial aluminum business which calculates quantities and provides power analysis for infrastructure projects and facade constructions. A continuous commitment to its social responsibility in supporting institutions in Jerusalem Aggad confirmed APIC's commitment to the communities within which it operates, with strategic support allocated towards pioneering institutions in Jerusalem including Dar Al-Tifel Al-Arabi, the Industrial High School/The Arab Orphans Committee and Yabous Cultural Center. These investments will assist the institutions in strengthening their steadfastness and fulfilling their educational, national, humanitarian and cultural missions in line with APIC's corporate social responsibility strategy, which aims to invest in core sectors including education, healthcare, youth, culture, entrepreneurship as well as providing support to social and philanthropic institutions. APIC is a foreign public shareholding investment company listed on the Palestine Exchange (PEX: APIC). Its investments are diverse across the manufacturing, trade, distribution and service sectors in Palestine, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates through a group of nine subsidiaries: Siniora Food Industries; Unipal General Trading Company; Palestine Automobile Company; Medical Supplies and Services Company; National Aluminum and Profiles Company (NAPCO); Sky Advertising and Public Relations Company; Arab Palestinian Shopping Centers (BRAVO); Arab Leasing Company and the Arab Palestinian Storage and Cooling Company. APIC is also one of founding shareholders of the Palestine Electricity Holding Company, the Palestine Power Generating Company and has a stake in the Bank of Palestine. For more information: http://www.apic.ps CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The Australian dollar strengthened against most major currencies in the Asian session on Friday. The Australian dollar rose to a 2-day high of 86.70 against the yen, from yesterday's closing value of 86.52. Against the euro and the U.S. dollar, the aussie advanced to 1.4926 and 0.7903 from early lows of 1.4953 and 0.7885, respectively. If the aussie extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 88.00 against the yen, 1.43 against the euro and 0.80 against the greenback. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - The New Zealand dollar weakened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Wednesday, after dairy product prices fell in the Global Dairy Trade auction held overnight. The GDT price index fell 0.4 percent overnight from the previous auction two weeks ago to US$3,339. This was the fourth decline in five auctions. Whole milk powder slid 0.6 percent to US$3,143 a tonne. Tuesday, the NZ dollar showed mixed trading against its major rivals. While the NZ dollar fell against the U.S. dollar and the euro, it rose against the yen and the Australian dollar. In the Asian trading, the NZ dollar fell to a 14-month low of 1.6246 against the euro, a 5-week low of 0.7223 against the U.S. dollar and a 6-day low of 1.0839 against the Australian dollar, from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.6219, 0.7235 and 1.0806, respectively. If the kiwi extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 1.65 against the euro, 0.71 against the greenback, and 1.09 against the aussie. Against the yen, the kiwi dropped to 79.94 from yesterday's closing value of 80.05. The kiwi may test support near the 78.00 region. Looking ahead, U.K. unemployment data for June and Eurozone flash GDP data for the second quarter are due to be released later in the day. In the New York session, U.S. housing starts and building permits, both for July, and U.S. crude oil inventories data are slated for release. At 2:00 pm ET, U.S. Federal Reserve is scheduled to publish minutes of its most recent monetary policy meeting. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de HONG KONG, December 14, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Support grows for Monaco's vision of Cryptocurrency in Every WalletTM Monaco, the pioneering payments and cryptocurrency platform, today announces that its MCO token will be listed on three additional cryptocurrency exchanges: Coinnest, Coinrail, and QRYPTOS (the international arm of Quoine) on Friday, December 15, 2017. The listing on these exchanges increases the liquidity and access of the MCO token, a significant step towards fulfilling Monaco's vision of putting cryptocurrency in every wallet. (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/569858/Monaco_Logo.jpg ) Kris Marszalek, Co-Founder and CEO of Monaco said, "South Korea and Japan are leading cryptocurrency markets in terms of trading volume. We're excited to be working with our partners to make the MCO token broadly available. Watch this space in the next few weeks, as Monaco continues to extend its reach." Regarding the listing, Eik-hwan Kim, CEO of Coinnest said, "We are excited to provide another trading option to our users. Our teams have been focused on bringing online new tokens and futures, and it's great to see our efforts pay off. We welcome Monaco and their community as we continue on our quest to best serve our users." Kyungsic Nam, CEO of Coinrail added, "We are excited to bring the MCO token to Coinrail. We are committed to the global proliferation and development of digital assets, it is in our interest to work with partners such as Monaco towards our mutual mission of putting cryptocurrency in every wallet." Mike Kayamori, Co-Founder and CEO of QUOINE said, "Adding the MCO token to QRYPTOS is a tremendous value add to our customers. With our focus on security and innovative rewards, we are keen to support Monaco's efforts of making cryptocurrency available to the masses." Currently, the MCO token is also listed on BigONE, Bittrex, Binance, EtherDelta, Exchange X, Huobi.pro, Liqui, Livecoin, OKEx, and YoBit. Deposits and withdrawals of the MCO token on each exchange will be enabled on Thursday, December 14, 2017. Trading begins on Friday, December 15, 2017. AboutMonaco Monaco Technology GmbH has a mission of putting cryptocurrency in Every WalletTMas the pioneering payments and cryptocurrency platform. Through the Monaco Visa card and mobile app, users are able to buy, exchange, and spend fiat and cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and ethereum, at perfect interbank exchange rates. Founded inJune 2016,Monaco raisedUS$26.7 millionthrough one of the most successful Token Sale events to date. The company is headquartered inSwitzerlandwith offices inHong KongandSingapore. For more information on Monaco, please visithttp://www.mona.co. Monaco Visa cards can be reserved with the Monaco app available for download for iOS and Android users. About Coinnest Coinnest is a cryptocurrency exchange that introduces promising cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology into Korea and aims to provide a stable cryptographic trading environment. In July of 2017, we acquired more than 70,000 members within three months after its first launch and the transaction volume is growing at a rapid rate of nearly four times. We are linked with the world's leading exchanges, BTC Trade, Jubi.com, BTC-Box, etc., as family groups and ranked 4th in Korea and 14th in the world in Coinhills ranking. With the investment from Bitmain and the Qtum Foundation, the enterprise value was estimated to be over KRW 100 billion. Qtum (QTUM), Neo (NEO), Kyber (KNC), and Energo (TSL), which are expected to be technologically stable and marketable, were listed on the Korea Exchange for the first time and Qtum's major net swap was successful in Korea. We announced the technical support to the second bitcoin hard fork as the first Korean exchange. In addition, we also donated QTUM worth KRW 10 million, to the National Disaster Relief Association to recover from the earthquake in Pohang. About Coinrail Coinrail is a cryptocurrency exchange that has the largest variety of coins in South Korea. With numerous events and as a commission-free exchange, it has enormous growth potential. It is the most noteworthy exchange in South Korea with its user-friendly User Interface and features. About QRYPTOS (QUOINE) QUOINE is a leading global fintech company that provides trading, exchange, and next-generation financial services powered by blockchain technology. With offices inJapan,SingaporeandVietnam, QUOINE combines a strong network of local partners with extensive team experience in banking and financial products to deliver best-in-class financial services for its customers. More information can be found athttp://www.quoinex.com In June 2017, QUOINE launched a fully digital cryptocurrency exchange and trading platform calledQRYPTOS (http://www.qryptos.com). Developed to meet the trading needs of a growing professional and retail market, QRYPTOS was designed to make cryptocurrency trading convenient and efficient for everyone from the novice investor to corporate clients. For press enquiries, please contact: The Hoffman Agency MonacoPR@hoffman.com FELTON, California, August 29, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The global water desalination market is set to reach USD 26.81 billion by 2025, primarily driven by rapid industrialization, increasing population, and depleting freshwater bodies. Moreover, increasing public awareness regarding water conservation and strict government laws on treatment is expected to fuel growth. Recycled wastewater is widely used in landscaping and irrigation. The Middle East & Africa was the largest market accounting for 53% of the revenue share in 2016 and is expected to maintain its dominance over the forecast period on account of the high supply-demand gap of potable water. Global warming has resulted in accelerating the evaporation of water bodies which eventually has led to droughts in numerous parts of the world. For instance, the U.S and Middle East & Africa have been affected adversely by severe multi-year and multi-state droughts over the past few years. Countries such as U.S. and Saudi Arabia are focusing on the existing projects, instead of commencing new projects. The North America desalination market is expected to grow at an 8.6% CAGR over the next few years on account of rising number of natural calamities which are resulting in depriving its population & industries of water. Traditionally, thermal desalination has been one of the most reliable techniques for water purification. Multi-stage flash distillation can produce purer water to which minerals are added to enhance the taste of water. The market for multi-stage filtration is expected to grow at an 8.4% CAGR during the forecast period owing to its high purity yield compared to reverse osmosis. Browse full research report with TOC on "Water Desalination Market Size and Forecast, By Technology (Reverse Osmosis, Multi-Stage Filtration, Multi-Effect Distillation), By Source (Seawater, Brackish Water, Wastewater), And Trend Analysis, 2014 - 2025" at: https://www.hexaresearch.com/research-report/water-desalination-market Reverse osmosis is expected to witness the fastest growth on account of its lower energy consumption rates. Rising need for pure water in chemical and food industries is projected to boost the market for reverse osmosis over the forecast period and is estimated to be worth USD 15.43 billion by 2025. Seawater contributed to 58.2% of the revenue share in 2016, making it the largest and the trend is expected to continue over the projected period. Rapid industrialization and substantial investments regarding desalination in the Middle East is anticipated to drive the global market over the next few years. Companies are investing extensively in R&D to enhance technology. For instance, in April 2014, GE Corporation launched an open technology challenge to accelerate the development of technology to improve the efficiency of seawater desalination. In addition to this, the companies are concentrating on new projects. For instance, in November 2014, Suez announced construction, design and operation of a desalination plant at new Mirfa Independent Water and Power Project in Abu Dhabi. Furthermore, Veolia has developed itself in both Multiple Effect Distillation and Reverse Osmosis to offer energy-efficient hybrid desalination technology to mark its presence in global market. Browse reports of similar category by Hexa Research: Water & Wastewater Treatment Market - Global water and wastewater treatment market size was valued at USD 478.15 billion in 2016. The industry is anticipated to register robust growth over the next few years. - Global water and wastewater treatment market size was valued at in 2016. The industry is anticipated to register robust growth over the next few years. Liquid Filtration Market Size - Global liquid filtration market is expected to reach USD 31.74 billion over the forecast period. The market is expected to witness a substantial growth. Hexa Research has segmented the global water desalination market based on technology, source and region: Segmentation by technology, 2014 - 2025 (USD Billion) Reverse Osmosis (RO) Multi-Stage Filtration (MSF) Multi-Effect Distillation (MED) Segmentation by Source 2014 - 2025 (USD Billion) Seawater Brackish Water Wastewater Segmentation by region, 2014 - 2025 (USD Billion) North America - U.S. - U.S. Europe Asia Pacific - China - India - - Central & South America Middle East & Africa - Saudi Arabia - UAE - Egypt About Hexa Research Hexa Research is a market research and consulting organization, offering industry reports, custom research and consulting services to a host of key industries across the globe. We offer comprehensive business intelligence in the form of industry reports which help our clients obtain clarity about their business environment and enable them to undertake strategic growth initiatives. Contact: Michelle T. Corporate Sales Specialist Hexa Research Phone: +1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: +1-800-489-3075 Email: sales@hexaresearch.com Web: https://www.hexaresearch.com/ SANYA, China, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- China has been attracting tourists from around the world as the country has become one of the world's most popular tourism destinations. Located at the southernmost point of Hainan province, Sanya is the country's sole international seaside vacation destination. Unlike many other tropical coastal destinations around the world, Sanya faces the sea yet is surrounded by mountains on three sides as well as having a river passing through it. The city features classic seaside vistas, a beautiful natural landscape which is a blend of mountains, the sea and rivers in addition to a long and rich history, and is populated by many of China's ethnic minorities, all of which have come together to create a unique travel destination laden with charm. Sanya has been named one of 52 Places to Go in 2017 by The New York Times. It is the onlyChinese city has been included on the list this year. With statistics from the Sanya Tourism Development Commission showing the steady growth of international tourists in recent years, Sanya attracted 73.31 percent more inbound tourists during the first half of the year, and, as China's renowned tropical coastal city, is emerging as an international vacation destination. A city that blends diverse cultures Sanya's unique location at the southern end of Hainan Island, the second largest island in China, created the right environment for the development of the city's distinctive culture. Sanya is where the Li, Miao, Hui and Han nationalities live together. In particular, the Li Nationality is unique to Hainan. More than 3000 years ago, the ancestors of the nationality sailed across the Qiongzhou Strait and settled on the island, where they continued to develop what became their unique and distinct culture. Tourists who visit Sanya have an opportunity to appreciate the customs of the city's different nationalities. Several Chinese historical figureschoseSanya as the place to promote a certain aspect of Chinese culture, and each left a footprint of their efforts. The most famous among them is Tang Dynasty monk Jian Zhen who failed five times in his attempts to reach Japan in sailing vessels and promote Buddhism there. On his fifth try, the sailing ship drifted ashore at Nanshan, in Sanya, where he decided to stay. He subsequently built temples and Buddha statues there. Sanya's cuisine also embodies diversity. Hainan province is known for the wide variety of local delicacies,and not just the many delicious seafood dishes. One iconic dish isHainanese Chicken Rice. Sanya brings together the specialties of the entire province, offering a feast for the taste buds of food lovers everywhere. Visitors can spend their time in a variety of ways, including experiencing the Li and Miao cultures at Binglanggu, relaxing at the Nantian Hotspring Resort or exploring the tropical rainforests at Yanoda, in addition to enjoying the waves along the beaches. International services bring convenience to tourists Benefiting from Hainan province's visa-free policy, tour groups from 26 countries can travel to Sanya without needing to undergo the hassle of a visa application process, while tourists from outside of China can take advantage of a full tax refund on all purchases completed on the island. Tourists can not only take in unique experiences at the wide variety of sea-, land- and air-based recreational facilities in Sanya, but also arrive in and depart from the city by sea, land or air. If you travel by train between Sanya and any destination in mainland China, the train will be transported by ship across the Qiongzhou Strait that separates the two. This is an unprecedented experience for many travelers. Sanya has already become an international tourism, wedding, honeymoon and MICE destination as well as a locale where visitors can experience Oriental culture in a tropical setting. The distinctive tropical seaside vacation destination welcomes tourists from around the world to come and discover it. Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/540427/San_Ya_Nanshan_Statue.jpg ISSAQUAH (dpa-AFX) - Membership warehouse operator Costco must pay $19.35 million for selling 'Tiffany' engagement rings that weren't made by jewelry company Tiffany & Co., according to a federal judge ruling. In a response statement, Costco said it intends to appeal the ruling. U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain ruled on Monday that Costco should pay $11.1 million, which is three times Tiffany's lost profit from Costco's actions, plus interest. This is in addition to $8.25 million in punitive damages. Swain wrote in her opinion that Costco's management 'displayed at best a cavalier attitude toward Costco's use of the Tiffany name in conjunction with ring sales and marketing.' It was in 2013 that Tiffany sued Costco for allegedly infringing its trademark by selling 'Tiffany' engagement rings. Costco was accused of selling about 2,500 diamond rings falsely identified on store signs as 'Tiffany' rings. In a statement, Tiffany said the decision validates the strength of the Tiffany trademark and the value of its brand, and most importantly, sends a clear and powerful message to Costco and others who infringe the Tiffany mark. Swain's decision followed a 2015 jury verdict, which found that Costco had received a profit of $3.7 million from falsely using the Tiffany brand. The court rejected Costco's argument that the word 'Tiffany,' with reference to a ring's setting, had become a generic term, like Popsicle or dumpster. Costco is also barred from using the stand-alone word 'Tiffany' to describe any products that aren't connected to the jewelry brand. In its response, Costco said, 'This was not a case about counterfeiting in the common understanding of that word -- Costco was not selling imitation Tiffany & Co. rings.' The company said the ruling is a product of multiple errors in pretrial, trial, and post-trial rulings. Costco said, 'The rings in question were not stamped or otherwise marked with the Tiffany & Co. name (but rather were stamped with the name of the company that manufactured them)..... they were accompanied by appraisal documents that did not mention Tiffany & Co., and with sales receipts that did not say Tiffany or Tiffany & Co.' Costco added, 'Tiffany & Co. did not claim in the lawsuit that it lost a single sale to Costco as a result of any sign. From a purchaser list of approximately 2,500, Tiffany identified fewer than 10 who said they had misunderstood Costco's signage.' Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - At 5.00 am ET Wednesday, Eurostat is slated to release euro area GDP data. The sequential growth is seen at 0.6 percent in the second quarter, the same as estimated initially. Ahead of the data, the euro traded mixed against its major rivals. While the euro dropped against the pound and the greenback, it recovered from early lows against the franc and the yen. The euro was worth 1.1732 against the greenback, 130.12 against the yen, 1.1434 against the franc and 0.9099 against the pound as of 4:55 am ET. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. The current patent joins 3 previously approved patents of the company NESS ZIONA, ISRAEL / ACCESSWIRE / November 15, 2017 / Nano Dimension Ltd., a leader in the field of 3D printed electronics (NASDAQ, TASE: NNDM), announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Nano Dimension Technologies Ltd., has received patent approval from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the company's innovative system for print-head maintenance. The patent protects the unique print-head cleaning system used during the air suction process, which involves no direct contact on the print head. The patented technology prevents erosion of the print nozzles and enables longer lifespan of the print head. "We're very serious about protecting our groundbreaking intellectual property," said Nano Dimension CEO and Co-Founder Amit Dror. "Receiving our fourth patent for Nano Dimension's innovative technologies for 3D printed electronics and electrified additive manufacturing goes a long way to reinforcing that goal." About Nano Dimension Ltd. Nano Dimension (TASE: NNDM, NASDAQ: NNDM) is a leading additive manufacturing technology company. Nano Dimension is disrupting, reshaping and defining the future of how electronics are made. With its unique 3D printing technologies, Nano Dimension is targeting the growing demand for electronic devices that require increasingly sophisticated features and rely on printed circuit boards (PCBs). Demand for circuitry, including PCBs - which are the heart of every electronic device - covers a diverse range of industries, including consumer electronics, medical devices, defense, aerospace, automotive, IoT and telecom. These sectors can all benefit greatly from Nano Dimension's 3D printed electronics solutions for rapid prototyping and short-run manufacturing. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other Federal securities laws. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates" and similar expressions or variations of such words are intended to identify forward-looking statements. For example, Nano Dimension is using forward-looking statements in this press release when it discusses protecting its intellectual property. Because such statements deal with future events and are based on Nano Dimension's current expectations, they are subject to various risks and uncertainties. Actual results, performance or achievements of Nano Dimension could differ materially from those described in or implied by the statements in this press release. The forward-looking statements contained or implied in this press release are subject to other risks and uncertainties, including those discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in Nano Dimension's annual report on Form 20-F filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") on March 7, 2017, and in any subsequent filings with the SEC. Except as otherwise required by law, Nano Dimension undertakes no obligation to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. NANO DIMENSION INVESTOR RELATIONS Miri Segal-Scharia, CEO, MS-IR LLC | 917-607-8654 | msegal@ms-ir.com NANO DIMENSION PR CONTACT Galit Beck, Public Relations Manager | 972-542539495 | galit@nano-di.com SOURCE: Nano Dimension Ltd. China's Ensemble makes debut at Luzerne Festival SHANGHAI, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Shanghai Symphony Orchestra will set out on a tour to Europe on August 17, under the baton of its music director Long Yu. They will perform at Luzerne Festival on August 20 and become the first orchestra from China to play at the prestigious music festival. Then the orchestra will continue to perform at Tirol Festival and Grafenegg Festival in Austria. They will wrap up the tour at Elbphiharmonie Hamber, the new concert hall in Germany. This tour is supported by China National Arts Fund. China's classical music circle considers it the highest-level tour by China's orchestra. Shanghai Symphony Orchestra has started to go abroad since the 1970s, when very few Chinese ensembles were able to tour abroad. They toured Australia and New Zealand in 1975. Ever since Long Yu was appointed music director in 2009, the orchestra has been touring the US and Europe and the concerts were included in some theatre seasons. During the 2010 Shanghai Expo, the orchestra's concerts were aired at New York's Central Park. In 2015,Shanghai Symphony Orchestra played at the United Nation's General Assembly Hall to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Shanghai Symphony Orchestra has created many "firsts" among China's orchestras. Amongseveral tour invitations, they finally chose the four venues this summer because no orchestras from China have been to all these four. It is the first time that Luzerne Festival invited a China's orchestra in its 80 years. This year, they will perform at the same stage of KKL concert Hall with Riccardo Chailly conducting Lucerne Festival Orchestra, Bernard Haitink conducting Chamber Orchestra of Europe and Daniel Barenboim conducting West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. The tour results from the collaboration between Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the world top orchestras and artists in the past years. In 2015, Gustav Kuhn's 24-hour "Ring Cycle" hit Shanghai and it is the production by Tirol Festival. In the same year, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra signed a 5-year collaboration with Elbphiharmonie Hamber. In March, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra invited Grafenegg Festival's founder and music pianist Rudolf Buchbinder gave a performance of all Beethoven sonatas in a week. Yu will plan an interesting program for the tour. They will play a Chinese work in each stop, including A Avshalomov's "Symphonic Poem Hutongs of Beijing" and "Violin Concerto Butterfly Lovers" by Chen Gang and He Zhanhao, which is probably the most well-known Chinese work in the Western world. Violinist Maxim Vengerov will play the "Butterfly Lovers" concerto in Hamburg while Stefan Tarara will play it in Tirol. Tarara is one of the winners of the 2016 Shanghai Isaac Stern Violin Competition. Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/545687/Shanghai_Symphony_Orchestra.jpg FRANKFURT, Germany, August 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- IBS Software, leading IT solutions provider to the global aviation industry, has set up a Test Factory for Lufthansa Cargo to ensure that all its application software are fit for purpose and meet the highest quality standards that Lufthansa Cargo sets for itself. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/545717/IBS_Lufthansa_Signing_Ceremony.jpg ) (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20170620/525512LOGO ) Lufthansa Cargo, a world leader in the air cargo industry, is known for its highly efficient processes, reliability and service excellence. With this Test Factory, Lufthansa Cargo will derive benefits from IBS' air cargo domain knowledge and vast experience of building, testing and implementing mission critical systems for a large number of airlines and travel companies around the world. IBS is a strategic IT partner for Lufthansa Cargo. Under this engagement, IBS is responsible for managing end-to-end testing of all applications under the core IT platform, enabling a smooth roll out of product upgrades, new services and innovations. The Test Factory also uses IBS' enabling assets of testing frameworks, proven processes and effective tools to provide cost and quality advantage to Lufthansa Cargo. It also ensures that the testing services are delivered in a scalable, flexible and cost effective manner. Dr. Jochen Gottelmann, Chief Information Officer Lufthansa Cargo AG said, "With the IBS Test Factory, we have enhanced our strategic partnership with IBS on a next level. Bundling product development, project implementation and the important quality assurance for our core IT platform, we have succeeded to reduce the IT complexity and to streamline our provider relationships. With IBS as a trusted partner, we get these business critical services now out of one hand only, ensuring smooth transition of projects into operations." "Our Independent Verification and Validation team has played a key role in the IT program of Lufthansa Cargo and we take pride in the fact that we have been able to meet the expectations and needs of a leading cargo airline who is known for its highest quality standards in the industry. Our success has been made possible by the extraordinary collaboration, professionalism and commitment demonstrated by both Lufthansa Cargo and IBS teams throughout this engagement. We are pleased that we have taken the relationship to the next levels by setting up this Test Factory, which will contribute to the successful implementation of Lufthansa Cargo's IT strategy. We look forward to being a part of a continued Lufthansa Cargo success story in which technology will play an increasingly important role in coming years," said Akshay Shrivastava, Senior V.P. & Global Head of IBS' Services Business. More information on IBS is available at http://www.ibsplc.com For media enquiries Bratati Ghosh Chief Marketing Officer bratati.ghosh@ibsplc.com Nepal, China sign three pacts to boost energy, economic ties Published: August 16, 2017 China and Nepal have signed three pacts to further boost their ties in power, energy and economic sectors. The agreements signed cover oil and gas resources exploration, economic and technological cooperation and promotion of investment. These agreements were signed after visiting Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Yang held discussions with Nepals Deputy Prime Ministers Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar and Krishna Bahadur Mahara. Key Facts The agreements cover three different domains viz. (i) economic and technological cooperation, (ii) framework agreement on promotion of investment and economic cooperation and (iii) China-aid oil and gas resources survey project. These pacts also include a feasibility study for excavating natural gas and petroleum in mountain areas and plains of Terai region of the Himalayan country. They will help to make significant contributions in Nepals socio- economic transformation. Both countries also agreed to establish hydropower projects and transmission lines and take steps for technological development in Nepal, which suffers from acute shortage of electricity. China also agreed to upgrade 114-kilometre Araniko highway- an old route connecting two countries, which was damaged and subsequently closed after the massive 2015 Nepal earthquake. Month: Current Affairs - August, 2017 Topics: Araniko Highway Economy Energy International Nepal-China Latest E-Books ALMATY, Kazakhstan, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- XCMG, the world's leading global construction machinery manufacturer, has launched XCMGXuGongKazakhstan (the "Company"), a "one-stop-shop" that aims to provide help to the growing number of construction projects, this July in Almaty Kazakhstan. The new company will sell XCMG's highly acclaimed products, offer prompt service and work with local dealers to improve customer experience. The largest economy in Central Asia, Kazakhstan's rapid development gives it a high profile in regional politics and economics. It's also a crucial link within the Belt and Road Initiative (B&R), China's effort to redevelop ancient Silk Road trade routes and drive economic development throughout the region. Wang Min, chairman and president of XCMG, remarked that Kazakhstan is a bridge in Eurasia and one of the company's most crucial global markets. "XCMG will seize the opportunities presented by the B&R and focus on strategic investment in the Kazakh market, providing local, customized products and solution plans while facilitating infrastructure construction and XCMG's sustainable development in Kazakhstan." XCMG has actively participated in local infrastructure projects such as road, railway and airport construction since entering the market 16 years ago. The company's equipment was also used in the construction works for Expo 2017 Astana. More than 20,000 pieces of XCMG equipment are in operation in Kazakhstan. The No.1 brand in the country, the company now holds an over 80 percent market share with loaders, cranes, road construction and pile work machines ranking the highest among all brands. Miao Hongbo, Consul-general of the Chinese Consulate-General in Almaty, noted that the Company is also a new platform for Sino-Kazakhstan cooperation that can provide all-around support for future Kazakh infrastructure projects. The Company will also create a solid foundation for XCMG's operations to radiate throughout Central Asia, marking a new milestone after the establishment of a joint venture company in Urgench, Uzbekistan with state-owned national rail carrier Uzbekistan Railways in 2014. About XCMG XCMG is a multinational heavy machinery manufacturing company with a 74-year history. It currently ranks ninth in the world's construction machinery industry. The company exports to more than 177 countries and regions around the world. For more information, please visit:www.xcmg.com, or XCMG pages on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and Instagram. PHOENIX, AZ -- (Marketwired) -- 08/16/17 -- Corix Bioscience Inc. (OTCQB: CXBS), a next generation tissue cell culture to pharmaceutical grade cannabinoid oil (CBD) manufacturer, announced today that it has signed an agreement with Positively Green Organics LLC. for the resale of up to 22,000 pounds of industrial hemp per month. Positively Green Organics LLC. (PGO) grows industrial hemp on a 160-acre plot of land just south of Carson City, Nevada for the production of CBD oil, the main medicinal cannabinoid found in industrial hemp. Of their 160 acres, Corix plans to sell up to 22,000 pounds of hemp from 150 acres of PGO's harvest monthly. Under the agreement, PGO will deliver their industrial hemp flower or "bud," to one of Corix's facilities, where Corix will package it for storage and then sell the product on the open pharmaceutical market where it can bring approximately $575 per pound. The sales of the hemp will yield Corix 34% of the gross proceeds. Jason Taylor, President of PGO, states, "We expect to harvest well over 100,000 dry pounds of industrial hemp this season and recognize that Corix has one of the best names and reach in the CBD industry, so it made perfect sense to enter into this agreement with them to sell our product." Michael Ogburn, CEO of Corix Bioscience, Inc., stated, "We are very excited about this agreement and expect to generate over $50 million in revenue over the next 12 months as we are currently fielding several calls per day from purchasers of hemp, CBD oil, and raw flower." Ogburn continued, "In addition, we are also going to be processing the hemp to produce CBD oil for PGO in our new state of the art extraction laboratory, while our sales team continues to work with many other farms to obtain additional sale agreements similar this one." Corix, in conjunction with PGO, has already begun harvesting and will be bringing its first loads to Corix this week. About Corix Bioscience, Inc. Corix Bioscience, Inc. ("Corix") is a fully reporting SEC Wyoming corporation listed as OTCQB: CXBS. Corix is the developer of proprietary cannabis and industrial hemp strains using tissue cell cultures to propagate living plants, with plans to patent the strains to be used in the pharmaceutical medical industries. Our methods allow us to create and breed new and existing plant strains from tissue cells free of any pathogens or disease. We grow these plants to maturity and extract the oils which are the "medicine" part of the plant. Our sales are focused towards the medical industry and we are developing brand named products to be released in early 2018. Company headquarters are in Phoenix, AZ and with our laboratory and processing facility in Carson City, NV and fields for growing the plants in Genoa, NV. We are currently looking at expanding our footprint into Washington, Oregon, California and Arizona. The Company's mission is to create clean and consistent products in medical grade facilities. Consistency being the key which will ultima yield a safer and superior product, better for people and the environment. For more information, please visit Corix's website at www.corixbioscience.com Forward Looking Statement This press release, and those statements regarding Corix Bioscience and the Company, contain forward-looking statements that relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, future plans and strategies, anticipated events and similar expressions. Forward-looking statements may be identified by use of words such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "intends," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," or "potential" or similar words or phrases which are predictions of or indicate future events or trends. Statements such as those concerning potential acquisition activity, investment objectives, strategies, opportunities, other plans and objectives for future operations or economic performance are based on the Company's current expectations, plans, estimates, assumptions and beliefs that involve numerous risks and uncertainties. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements and the Company disclaims any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement to reflect changes in underlying assumptions or factors, new information, future events or other changes. Please refer to Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for further information. http://www.corixbioscience.com Michael Ogburn 623-551-5808 CFroese@CorixBioscience.com COPENHAGEN (dpa-AFX) - Shares of A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S (AMKAF.PK, AMKBF.PK) were gaining around 4 percent in the morning trading in Denmark after the shipping and oil company maintained its forecast for higher profit in fiscal 2017, despite the expected negative impact from the June cyber-attack of up to $300 million. In its second quarter, the company slipped to a loss, compared to profit last year, despite higher revenues. For the second quarter, loss was $264 million or $13 per share, compared to profit of $118 million or $5 per share last year. The latest-quarter result was negatively impacted by post-tax impairments of $732 million primarily relating to lower asset valuations in Maersk Tankers and a few commercially challenged terminals in APM Terminals, while last year's impairments were $123 million. Underlying profit was $389 million, compared to $134 million last year, benefited by higher results in Transport & Logistics, partly offset by a decline in Energy. Revenue increased to $9.60 billion from $8.86 billion last year. The results reflected a 21% increase in Maersk Line revenues and higher results in Maersk Oil, partly offset by a decrease in Maersk Drilling and APM Terminals. In the quarter, Transport & Logistics reported a consolidated revenue of $7.7 billion, an increase of 15% compared to same quarter last year. The increased underlying profit was largely driven by improving container freight rates. Operating expenses increased mainly reflecting 61% higher bunker price and 1.7% increase in volumes. On June 27, A.P. Moller - Maersk was one of many global companies to be hit by a malware later known as NotPetya. The attack was contained on June 28 and the company began implementing the technical recovery plan with key IT partners and global cyber security agencies. On June 29, Maersk Line was able to accept bookings from customers with existing accounts. Looking ahead, the company said its 2017 expectation of an underlying profit above 2016's $711 million is unchanged despite expected negative impact from the June cyber-attack. The guidance excludes the acquisition of Hamburg Sud. Transport & Logistics reiterated the expectation of an underlying profit above $1 billion, despite expected negative result impact from the June cyber-attack estimated at a level of $200 million to $300 million, of which the majority relates to lost revenue in July. The vast majority of the impact of the cyber-attack was in Maersk Line. Further, gross capital expenditure for 2017 is still expected to be $5.5 billion to $6.5 billion, higher than last year's $5.0 billion. In Denmark, the shares were trading at 13,600 Danish kroner, up 3.98 percent. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Kostenloser Wertpapierhandel auf Smartbroker.de SAN FRANCISCO, August 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The global automotive adhesives & sealants marketis expected to reach USD 3.89 billion by 2021, according to a new report by Grand View Research, Inc. Growing concerns regarding fuel consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are expected to boost the demand in commercial as well as passenger vehicles. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160524/371361LOGO ) A 10% reduction in the weight of an automobile results in approximately 5% to 7% fuel saving. In addition, the reduced weight also aids in controlling the emission of CO2 throughout the life cycle of the vehicle. Auto manufacturers are focusing mainly on auto components that are manufactured from various types of thermoplastic elastomers in order to enhance the performance of automobiles and follow the trend of lightweight vehicles. Manufacturers are facing problems in sourcing petroleum-based tackifiers due to the advent of shale gas, which has resulted in supply uncertainty of raw materials across the globe owing to a shift in feedstock from naphtha to natural gas. Stringent government regulations for the usage of bio-based adhesives are further expected to positively influence the industry growth. Silicone sealants occupied the largest share with over 32% of the volume in 2016. Silicone-based materials also withstand structural movement, offer protective qualities and may be utilized in extreme temperatures & weather conditions. These factors, along with the introduction of new modified silicones and novel applications being developed for automobiles, are expected to drive growth in this segment over the forecast period. Browse full research report with TOC on "Automotive Adhesives And Sealants Market Analysis By Product (Acrylic, PVA, Silicones, Polyurethanes), By Application (Exterior, Interior, Electronics), By Function (Bonding, NVH, Sealing), By Technology, By Vehicle Type, And Segment Forecasts, 2011 - 2021" at: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/automotive-adhesives-sealants-market Further key findings from the report suggest: Acrylics are expected to emerge as the fastest growing adhesives, with over 4% CAGR owing to its excellent bonding strength along with humid and impact resistance. The segment is expected to witness growth owing to increasing passenger cars sales in emerging economies. Body-in-white is expected to witness high growth rate over the forecast period owing to the increasing popularity of high performance adhesion solutions in vehicles, which helps in reducing overall weight, thereby saving the fuel consumption. As per OICA statistics, passenger car sales grew by about 4.5% from 2015 to 2016; this rise may be attributed to rising disposable income in emerging economies, renewed production levels in recovering developed markets and technological advancements at the OEM level. Passenger car segment is thus likely to remain dominant for both. Greater China is expected to remain the industry's high growth region from 2017 to 2021, owing to a spurt in automobile production levels and encouraging conditions such as low labor costs, high population and geographical proximity to emerging markets. is expected to remain the industry's high growth region from 2017 to 2021, owing to a spurt in automobile production levels and encouraging conditions such as low labor costs, high population and geographical proximity to emerging markets. The industry is fragmented with few major players catering to the global market. Key participants include Bostik, BASF, Evonik Industries, AkzoNobel, Henkel, 3M Inc., Avery Dennison, DSM , Franklin Adhesives & Sealants, H.B. Fuller Co. and others. Browse related reports by Grand View Research: 2-Ethylhexanol (2-EH) Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/2-ethylhexanol-2-eh-market Rosin Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/rosin-market Specialty Polymers Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/specialty-polymers-market Polypropylene Market - http://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/polypropylene-market Grand View Research has segmented the global automotive adhesives & sealants market on the basis of technology, product, application, function, vehicle type and region: Adhesives Technology Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2011 - 2021) Water-based Solvent-based Hot melt Reactive & others Adhesives Function Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2011 - 2021) Bonding Noise, Vibration & Harshness (NVH) Sealing/Protection Adhesives Product Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2011 - 2021) Acrylic PVA Polyurethane Styrenic Block Epoxy EVA Others Adhesives Application Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2011 - 2021) Exterior Interior Electronics Powertrain Body-in-white Others Adhesives Vehicle Type Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2011 - 2021) Passenger Cars Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV) Heavy & Medium Duty Commercial Vehicles (H/MCV) Sealants Function Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2011 - 2021) Bonding Noise, Vibration & Harshness (NVH) Sealing/Protection Sealants Product Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2011 - 2021) Silicones PVA Polyurethane Acrylic Others Sealants Application Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2011 - 2021) Exterior Interior Electronics Powertrains Others Sealants Vehicle Type Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2011 - 2021) Passenger Cars Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV) Heavy & Medium Duty Commercial Vehicles (H/MCV) Adhesives & Sealants Regional Outlook (Volume, Kilo Tons; Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025) North America Europe Greater China Japan & South Korea Rest of the World (RoW) Read Our Blog By Grand View Research: http://www.grandviewresearch.com/blogs/bulk-chemicals About Grand View Research Grand View Research, Inc. is a U.S. based market research and consulting company, registered in the State of California and headquartered in San Francisco. Thecompany provides syndicated research reports, customized research reports, and consulting services. To help clients make informed business decisions, we offer market intelligence studies ensuring relevant and fact-based research across a range of industries, from technology to chemicals, materials and healthcare. Contact: Sherry James Corporate Sales Specialist, USA Grand View Research, Inc Phone: +1-415-349-0058 Toll Free: 1-888-202-9519 Email: sales@grandviewresearch.com Web: www.grandviewresearch.com NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / February 26, 2018 / Dean Foods Company (NYSE: DF) will be discussing their earnings results in their Q4 Earnings Call to be held on February 26, 2018, at 9:00 AM Eastern Time. To listen to the event live or access a replay of the call - visit https://www.investornetwork.com/company/3216. To receive updates for this company you can register by emailing info@investornetwork.com or by clicking get investment info from the company's profile. About Investor Network Investor Network (IN) is a financial content community, serving millions of unique investors market information, earnings, commentary and news on the what's trending. Dedicated to both the professional and the average traders, IN offers timely, trusted and relevant financial information for virtually every investor. IN is an Issuer Direct brand, to learn more or for the latest financial news and market information, visit www.investornetwork.com. Follow us on Twitter @investornetwork. SOURCE: Investor Network FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany, October 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- - With Photo Pentahotels, the neighbourhood lifestyle hotel group, has announced the appointment of Eugene Staal as President effective November 2017. Based in Frankfurt am Main in Germany, Mr. Staal will be overseeing the global operations and developments of the brand. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/583328/Pentahotels_Eugene_Staal.jpg ) Prior to joining pentahotels, Staal founded YawnWorld, a stylish and innovative apartment rental concept representing the lifestyle and demands of today's global citizens. He also founded MisterSteel, a consultancy delivering trendsetting and commercially successful concepts, as well as strategic technical services and branding support to hospitality clients. Staal brings with him over 25 years of experiences in corporate hospitality roles - from a corporate trainee at Grand Hyatt New York to senior management positions around the world, to eventually set up Hyatt's EAME office in Lausanne. In 2006, Staal joined the executive team of Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group in Brussels where he led the group through significant growth as Senior Vice President, Technical Services. He improved its leased hotel portfolio of the multi-branded group from an asset management perspective, helped grow the Radisson Blu and Park Inn brands in Europe, Africa and Middle East. Sonia Cheng, Chief Executive Officer of Rosewood Hotel Group, pentahotels' parent company, said: "Throughout his career, Eugene has demonstrated a talent for entrepreneurial leadership, strong belief in a company's culture as a brand, and active pioneer in having associates acting as entrepreneurs to represent of the brand ethos. This vision perfectly aligns with pentahotels' culture, as we look to propel the brand and its new message 'We don't do normal' around the globe." Staal joins the pentahotels brand as it prepares itself for substantial growth and expansion over the next few years. Pentahotels' second property in Hong Kong - pentahotel Hong Kong, Tuen Mun - recently opened its doors on 26 July 2017. The group has also finalised definitive agreements with Capital Group, one of Russia's most respected property developers, to open pentahotels' first Russia hotel in Moscow - pentahotel Moscow, Arbat - in time for the 2018 FIFA World Cup to be hosted in the city. It has also announced a property in the centre of Bangkok, and has many other developments in the pipeline. About pentahotels Pentahotels represents a new generation of hotelsoffering modern-minded individual and business travellers comfort and style in a relaxed atmosphere. Known for its unique interior design and unique business attitude, the lifestyle brand stands for true innovation in the industry's four-star segment. With 28 hotels across seven countries over two continents,thehallmark of the hotel chain is the pentalounge - a combination of lounge, bar, cafe and reception - that stands out with its "living room" look and feel. For further information and bookings, please visithttp://www.pentahotels.com. Follow us on facebook.com/pentahotels for our latest news. Note to Editors: A picture accompanying this release is available through the PA Photowire. It can be downloaded from http://www.pa-mediapoint.press.net or viewed at http://www.mediapoint.press.net or http://www.prnewswire.co.uk . Media Contacts: media consulta International Holding AG On behalf of pentahotels' Susanne Borensen' Phone: +49(0)30-65-000-385 E-mail: press.pentahotels@mcgroup.com Global Marketing & Communications Department Pentahotels - Frankfurt am Main, Germany Phone: +49(0)69-256699-750 E-Mail: communications@pentahotels.com MANAMA, Bahrain and BEIRUT, September 26, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In partnership with Bahrain EDB & Investcorp Forum to feature an international lineup of experts in disruptive technologies Global experts, entrepreneurs, and academics will convene at the Four Seasons Hotel in Bahrain on the 27th and 28th of September for the Innovation Forum, an event that will highlight the latest trends in state of the art and disruptive technologies, such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, financial technology, autonomous driving, and cloud computing. (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/561902/Innovation_Forum.jpg ) The event, which is organized by the MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab, in partnership with Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) and Investcorp , a leading provider and manager of alternative investment products, will bring together over 500 entrepreneurs, investors, and researchers, along with CEOs, CTOs and CIOs from the world's leading tech companies as well as policy makers and the media. Keynote talks on artificial intelligence by Denis Batalov, Senior Solutions Architect at Amazon Web Services, and Wendell Wallach, consultant, ethicist, and scholar at Yale University, will demonstrate the latest advances in the field and shed light on the challenges that this new technology poses respectively. Cybersecurity experts Ghareeb Saad, Kaspersky, and Najwa Aaraj, DarkMatter, will expose the latest online threats and counter measures, while panels on autonomous cars and fintech will explore the future of transportation and the future evolution of asset management respectively. Other notable speakers include John Defterios, CNN's Emerging Markets Editor, Amira Rashad, Co-Founder & CEO at BulkWhiz, and Paul Papadimitriou, CEO and Founder at Intelligencr. Hala Fadel, Chairperson of the MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab highlighted the vision of this forum, which is to shed light on technologies that carry the biggest potential for disruption, saying, "The forum will focus on state of the art technologies and will bring together global experts as well as stakeholders from local startup communities. We want to foster the exchange of knowledge and expertise to help propel the regional entrepreneurs to a new level of innovation and creativity and maximizing their impact." Also, commenting on this partnership and the Innovation Forum, H.E. Khalid Al Rumaihi, Chief Executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) said, "Innovation is a special tool that has the ability to empower people. In Bahrain, both the government and private sector have worked hard to create an ecosystem that will allow innovation to thrive. With its open and forward-thinking approach, the Kingdom has proven to be an ideal testing ground for the introduction of new technologies to the region." "We are pleased to be part of the Innovation Forum, as it's an ideal platform to exchange ideas, share expertise and attract entrepreneurs looking to expand in the region to consider Bahrain as their perfect operation base." Investcorp's Co-CEO Mohammed Al-Shroogi said: "Investcorp holds a strong belief in the power of innovation and creativity in driving economic and social development. Our partnership with the MIT Enterprise Forum Pan Arab and Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) is just another testament to our ongoing commitment to fostering a culture of innovative collaboration in Bahrain and the wider Arab region. We are pleased to sit alongside some of the world's innovation and entrepreneurship leaders to discuss the latest on disruptive technology, and understand the impact of emerging trends like FinTech and cyber security on the regional business landscape." To register for the Innovation Forum, taking place in Bahrain, potential participants must register online on the following link . About MITEF Pan Arab: Founded in 2005, the MIT Enterprise Forum of the Pan Arab Region (http://www.mitefarab.org) is one of the28 worldwidechapters of the MIT Enterprise Forum Global, an avid promoter of entrepreneurship and innovation worldwide. The MIT Enterprise Forum- Pan Arab has a proven record in promoting MIT-style entrepreneurship by organizing each year the MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Startup Competition targeting 21 countries of the Arab region and attracting over12,000entrepreneurs a year. About the Bahrain Economic Development Board The Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) is an investment promotion agency with overall responsibility for attracting investment into the Kingdom and supporting initiatives that enhance the investment climate. The EDB works with the government and both current and prospective investors, in order to ensure that Bahrain's investment climate is attractive, to communicate the key strengths, and to identify where opportunities exist for further economic growth through investment. The EDB focuses on several economic sectors that capitalise on Bahrain's competitive advantages and provide significant investment opportunities. These sectors include financial services, manufacturing, ICT, tourism, logistics and transport. The financial services sector is particularly strong in Bahrain and the EDB works to support the continued growth of the banking industry and key sub-sectors, including Islamic finance. For more information on the Bahrain EDB visit http://www.bahrainedb.com; for information about Bahrain visit www.bahrain.com . About Investcorp: A leading provider and manager of alternative investment products and is publicly traded on the Bahrain Bourse (INVCORP). Investcorp focuses on generating investor and shareholder value through a disciplined investment approach in four lines of business: corporate investment, real estate, alternative investment solutions (formerly known as hedge funds), together with the recently added credit management business. Investcorp employs approximately 390n people across its offices in New York, London, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Singapore. Contact details: Maggie El Eid 01-973030 ext.3124 AMSTERDAM (dpa-AFX) - The Dutch factory activity grew at the fastest pace in six-and-a-half-years in August, survey data from IHS Markit showed Friday. The manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index climbed to 59.7 in August from 58.9 in July. This was the highest score since February 2011. The sector extended the current sequence of growth to 50 months. Manufacturers reported a sharp increase in output in August and new orders received by Dutch manufacturers grew at the fastest pace since December 2013. Data indicated that the level of employment in the Dutch manufacturing sector continued to rise in August. On the price front, survey showed that input price inflation ticked up for the first time in six months. Conversely, output charge inflation eased during August. 'The manufacturing sector appears to be on track to contribute towards an upswing in GDP growth in 2017,' IHS Markit economist Sam Teague, said. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 11/30/17 -- Maricann Group Inc. (CSE: MARI)(CSE: MARI.CN)(CNSX: MARI)(OTCQB: MRRCF)(FRANKFURT: 75M) ("Maricann" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent ("LOI") with the Alliance of Beverage Licensees ("ABLE BC"), the advocacy organization representing British Columbia's private liquor industry which outlines a proposed relationship between ABLE BC and Maricann for, among other things, the supply of Maricann product to ABLE BC members. "We are pleased to partner with Maricann as a supplier of adult-use recreational cannabis for our retail members," said Jeff Guignard, Executive Director of ABLE BC. "We believe British Columbians will be extremely discerning cannabis consumers, so we are excited to work with a producer who has the capacity and commitment to deliver a consistent supply of high quality cannabis products." Under the terms of the LOI ABLE BC will agree to provide Maricann with distribution channels for its recreational stable of products, including JuJu Royal's curated quality strains. This will ensure ABLE's more than 1,000 members consisting of private liquor stores, neighborhood pubs, bars/nightclubs and hotel liquor licensees have access to Maricann's stable of established premium cannabis products. Ben Ward, Maricann's CEO commented: "We're thrilled to work with ABLE and its approximately 1,000 members to ensure a reliable consistent supply of Maricann's quality differentiated products to their customers, ensuring a wide range of choice, with customers selecting the products they prefer." The parties will now work towards the negotiation and execution of the definitive agreements to document the relationship proposed in the LOI. The LOI does not set forth any specific amounts to be supplied or purchased. Furthermore the timeline for the development of the formal agreement referred to below will depend, in part, on the timing of the implementation of regulations relating to the sale of recreational marijuana. About Maricann: Maricann, which has federal licenses in Canada to cultivate, extract, formulate and distribute cannabis, is rapidly expanding its Canadian production, based in Norfolk County, Ontario, adding 22,245 kg of annual production of dry flower to come online in Q2 2018, with additional production planned. Maricann is focused on expanding capacity in a truly differentiated product offering, in support of its previously announced joint pharmacy initiative and future global export opportunities. For more information about Maricann, please visit our website at www.maricann.com. NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR OTC MARKETS GROUP INC., NOR THEIR REGULATIONS SERVICES PROVIDERS HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE. Forward Looking Information Certain statements in this document contain forward-looking statements which can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes", "expects", "may", "desires", "will", "should", "projects", "estimates", "contemplates", "anticipates", "intends", or any negative such as "does not believe" or other variations thereof or comparable terminology. No assurance can be given that potential future results or circumstances described in the forward-looking statements will be achieved or will occur. By their nature, these forward-looking statements, necessarily involve risks and uncertainties, including those discussed herein, that could cause actual results to significantly differ from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the view of the Company with respect to future events, and are based on information currently available to the Company and on assumptions, which it considers reasonable. The forward looking statements in this release include statements regarding the proposed relationship with ABLE BC and the planned increase in annual production. Management cautions readers that the assumptions relative to the future events, several of which are beyond Management's control, could prove to be incorrect, given that they are subject to certain risk and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected. Factors which could cause results or events to differ from current expectations include, among other things: the inability to negotiate and execute a definitive agreement with ABLE BC, fluctuations in operating results; the impact of general economic, industry and market conditions; the ability to recruit and retain qualified employees; fluctuations in cash flow; failure to obtain required financing; increased levels of outstanding debt and obligations under a capital lease; expectations regarding market demand for particular products and the dependence on new product development; the impact of market change; and the impact of price and product competition. Management disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Contacts: Maricann Group Inc. Benjamin Ward CEO 289-288-6284 ir@maricann.ca Corporate Headquarters (Canada) Maricann Group Inc. 845 Harrington Court, Unit 3 Burlington, Ontario L7N 3P3 Canada 289-288-6274 Nemaura Medical Inc. ("Nemaura") (OTCQB: NMRD), a medical technology company developing the wireless sugarBEAT disposable adhesive skin-patch as a non-invasive, affordable and flexible glucose monitoring system for adjunctive use by persons with diabetes, today announced the completion of its sugarBEAT European clinical trial programme and positive interim accuracy data. The European clinical trial programme consisted of a total of 525 patient days, comprising 75 patients continuously wearing sugarBEAT for up to 14 hours per day over 7 consecutive days in a combination of home and clinic settings. Interim results based on all 525 patient days have detected no instances of skin irritation or major adverse events resulting from the device. Interim accuracy results, taken from a cohort of 175 patient days, have indicated MARD as low as 10% over a large dynamic range, with average MARD comparable to accuracy previously achieved by the wired wrist-worn predecessor SugarBEAT device, which received a CE mark in 2016. A summary of the full clinical report is due to be published next month alongside CE submission. SugarBEAT consists of a disposable skin-patch connected to a rechargeable transmitter, with a mobile app displaying glucose readings at regular five minute intervals. Further clinical studies are planned including those for FDA approval in the US, and to investigate the use of sugarBEAT in critical care settings. About Nemaura Medical, Inc. Nemaura Medical is a medical technology company developing sugarBEAT as a non-invasive, affordable and flexible glucose monitoring system for adjunctive use by persons with diabetes. SugarBEAT consists of a disposable skin-patch connected to a rechargeable transmitter, with a mobile app displaying glucose readings at regular five minute intervals. For more information, please visit www.nemauramedical.com and www.sugarbeat.com. Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements The statements in this press release that are not historical facts, and may constitute forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual future results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. Those risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks related to regulatory approvals and the success of Nemaura Medical's ongoing studies, including the safety and efficacy of Nemaura Medical's sugarBEAT product, the failure of future development and preliminary marketing efforts, Nemaura Medical's ability to secure additional commercial partnering arrangements, risks and uncertainties relating to Nemaura Medical and its partners' ability to develop, market and sell sugarBEAT, the availability of substantial additional equity or debt capital to support its research, development and product commercialization activities, and the success of its research, development, regulatory approval, marketing and distribution plans and strategies, including those plans and strategies related to sugarBEAT. These and other risks and uncertainties are identified and described in more detail in Nemaura Medical's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, without limitation, its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the current year, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, and its Current Reports on Form 8-K. Nemaura Medical undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171221005533/en/ Contacts: Nemaura Medical Bashir Timol Director of Strategy Corporate Development bashir.timol@nemauramedical.com The Desloge Board of Aldermen tackled a lengthy agenda that included a presentation on animal control protocol when it met in regular session at city hall. Desloge resident Martha Peacock, a junior pre-veterinarian and agriculture student at Truman State University, told board members she became interested in the subject of animal control protocol serving as a "vet tech" in the city of Kirksville. "I noticed that in Kirksville whenever we vaccinate an animal in our clinic, they have to take that rabies tag and certificate to the city and get the animal registered," she said. "I knew that we do not do that and that's how I started looking at what we have and what we don't have." Peacock explained that Kirksville residents are required to license all pets 4 months of age or older with the city. She added that while the licensing is free, owners must present proof of inoculation for their animal. A metal tag is then issued to the owner and must be worn on the animal's collar at all times. She also noted that Cape Girardeau also has a licensing program, but it is not free. "It's $15, but if the animal is spade or neutered, it's $3 so there's a discount there, and seniors over 65 also get a discount," she said. "Likewise, you have to present a certificate of inoculation against rabies and then the proof of the animal being spayed or neutered to get that discount. The applicant then receives a metal tag and the tag must be worn on the collar. All animals without the tag are considered strays in that city. "Farmington also had a variance on this. It stated that 'any new resident must register his or her animal and procure a license tag within 30 days of occupancy.' It did not say anything about residents that are already in the city or maybe if they were grandfathered in, or anything like that, so I'm not sure about the full entail of that, but that's what it stated in Farmington. In Farmington [the animal] also has to wear [its] rabies tag." According to Peacock, several pros for a licensing program would be to encourage a greater number of animals to be vaccinated against rabies and could also aid in owners becoming reunited with impounded animals because their contact information would be in the city's system. "We wouldn't need to waste time and resources on that animal and they would be able to get back to their home faster," she said. "If we were to require our animals to wear the rabies tag, this would also aid in locating their owners if they were impounded. It wouldn't be as easy as a licensing program would be because we wouldn't have their information directly in a system like that, but the animal control officer could call veterinarians and read that number off and they could try to find them that way." Peacock pointed out that Desloge's ordinance states that "no dog or cat over four months of age shall remain in the city unless it is vaccinated at least once per year with the anti-rabies vaccine." "So, there is no real way we can enforce this without a licensing program or requiring animals to wear their rabies tag," she said. "Under this code, it is enforcing this with animals that are impounded because animals that are impounded must show proof of inoculation at the time of redemption. So this wouldn't include somebody walking their dog in the park or down the street or if somebody brings a new animal into the city." According to Peacock, the city also has no official quarantine program in cases where its unknown if an animal who has bitten a person has received the rabies vaccine. She noted, however, that after speaking with Police Chief James Bullock, he had told her there was an unofficial quarantine protocol taken in such cases. Peacock said she didn't understand why Desloge doesn't have a written quarantine policy and noted that the cities of Potosi, Park Hills, Farmington, Cape Girardeau, Kirksville and Jefferson City already have a written policy in place. City Administrator Dan Bryan informed the board that in talking with Peacock about the animal licensing protocol he had asked her what had drawn her interest to the subject. "That's when she shared with me that this is what she's studying, so it made sense," he said. "I went ahead and did a little research on my own. I took three samples of cities. I used Farmington, Cape Girardeau and Jefferson City and each do have a method of both registration and/or rabies. "For registration, some cities give 60 days when a new resident comes in, but for this to work everybody would have to register their animal and you're right for accountability it would be easier to located the owners of these animals." Alderman Chris Gremminger said, "I think we had an ordinance similar to this years ago on the books and I think Harry Tiefenauer was the only guy in town who actually registered his pets. I mean, it's almost impossible to enforce. You'd have to almost go door-to-door to every household. 'Do you have a pet? Do you have a registration?' It would be an enforcement nightmare. It would almost have to be voluntary." Alderman Alvin Sutton replied, "You'd have to willing to stick a penalty on the backside of it." Gremminger responded, "Otherwise it means nothing. I personally agree with you that we do need to at least have the quarantine part of it in our ordinance and requiring the rabies vaccination and the tags be worn. If nothing else, we definitely need those two things." Mayor David Kater thanked Peacock for coming to the board meeting and making such a well-prepared and researched presentation. Later in the meeting, the board relunctantly accepted the resignation of long-time Ward I Alderman Mara Westbrooks effective Aug. 31 due to her husband accepting a new job in Illinois. Westbrooks also resigned from the city's library board. In other action, the board approved an ordinance accepting and approving the split of Lots 3 and 4 Block C in the town of Leadville to the city of Desloge, with Gremminger voting against; approved an ordinance establishing a procedure to disclose potential conflicts of interest and substantial interests for certain municipal officials; approved a payment of $25,976.22 to Jokerst for pay estimate 6 of the Trailwoods and Chestnut Stormwater Improvements Project; approved a time extension for Jokerst on the same project, with Alderman Jim Jones voting against; approved an additional cost request from Jokerst for $6,226 for box culverts on Kirby Street; approved a bid on road salt and approved street overlays and paving improvements. Board members also discussed the Walnut Road railroad crossing, the Desloge Drive Project, a TIF request made by Parkland Health Mart Pharmacy and the placement of additional security cameras in Desloge Park. OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 02/26/18 -- Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc. ("Tetra" or the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE: TBP)(OTCQB: TBPMF), announced changes to its Board of Directors (the "Board") today, including the appointment of Aphria Inc.'s Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Mr. Carl Merton, as Chair of Tetra's Audit Committee. In addition to his extensive financial background, Mr. Merton is a Chartered Accountant and has served as a past Chair of both the CICBV and the International Association of Professional Business Valuators. Mr. Merton is currently a member of the Board of Directors and Chair of the Audit Committee of Motor City Community Credit Union. Mr. Merton has served on the Tetra Board since 2016 and brings over 20 years of financial and business experience to the Audit Committee. He replaces Mr. Robert Brouillette, whose resignation was accepted immediately upon the Board becoming aware that a decision had been rendered by a professional regulatory organization against Mr. Brouillette in relation to professional activities unrelated to his responsibilities as a director of Tetra. Mr. Andre Rancourt, Tetra's Chair, was also named to the Audit Committee. Mr. Rancourt also acts as a consultant on several commercial strategy committees including FIA and IRZC. He has significant practical experience that provided him with expertise in many fields, including human and animal natural health products. Over the last ten years, he worked as a consultant to re-organize the operations of companies on behalf of several venture capital investment funds. "These appointments further strengthen our corporate governance practices," said Tetra CEO Bernard Fortier. "Both Mr. Merton and Mr. Rancourt have stellar reputations in the capital market and will continue to provide our management team and our entire Board with support and guidance as we embark on the next stage of our growth." About Tetra Bio-Pharma: Tetra Bio-Pharma (TSX VENTURE: TBP)(OTCQB: TBPMF) is a biopharmaceutical leader in cannabinoid-based drug discovery and clinical development. Tetra is focusing on three core business pillars: clinical research, pharmaceutical promotion and retail commercialization of cannabinoid-based products. More information at: www.tetrabiopharma.com Source: Tetra Bio-Pharma Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Forward-looking statements Some statements in this release may contain forward-looking information. All statements, other than of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Corporation believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding potential acquisitions and financings) are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words "may", "will", "should", "continue", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "intend", "plan" or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Corporation's ability to control or predict, that may cause the actual results of the Corporation to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, without limitation, failure to obtain sufficient financing to execute the Corporation's business plan; competition; regulation and anticipated and unanticipated costs and delays, the success of the Corporation's research strategies, the applicability of the discoveries made therein, the successful and timely completion and uncertainties related to the regulatory process, the timing of clinical trials, the timing and outcomes of regulatory or intellectual property decisions and other risks disclosed in the Corporation's public disclosure record on file with the relevant securities regulatory authorities. Although the Corporation has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results or events not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. While no definitive documentation has yet been signed by the parties and there is no certainty that such documentation will be signed The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Corporation does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities legislation. Contacts: Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc. Andre Rancourt Executive Chairman andre.r@tetrabiopharma.com (438) 899-7575 VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / August 25, 2017 / Canadian Zeolite Corp. (the "Company") (TSX.V: CNZ) (OTCQB: CNZCF) (FSE: ZEON) an international marketer and distributor of zeolite and zeolite products is pleased to announce it has signed a supplier agreement with KMI Zeolite ('KMI') based in Nevada. This agreement enables the Company to purchase and market sized zeolite and zeolite products for its growing US customer base in agriculture, animal feed and various other industries which cannot be serviced logistically from its Bromley Creek deposit in British Columbia, Canada. KMI Zeolite Inc. is privately owned and has been mining, milling and distributing zeolite in the US and into international markets for several decades. The KMI deposit is one of the largest and highest grade Clinoptilolite deposits in the US. KMI has an extensive product portfolio and continues to innovate and develop new products. Mr. Ray Paquette, CEO of Canadian Zeolite says, "there are some great synergies between Canadian Zeolite and KMI. Both Companies are focused on product development and offering green-tech solutions for their clients. Logistics plays a significant role in providing zeolite to clients and the agreement with KMI will allow us to expand our reach into the Southern US and beyond. Our collaboration with KMI will help to reduce costs and position Canadian Zeolite for new markets unreachable from our Bromley Creek deposit." Mr. Conrad Wagenaar, CEO and President at KMI Zeolite Inc. stated, "KMI Zeolite is looking forward to working in cooperation with Canadian Zeolite to supply their growing US customer base. We are excited to work together with their dynamic team to further develop and commercialize the potential of this incredibly unique mineral. Year over year we have increased our production and we look forward to building a long term relationship with Canadian Zeolite." The company will provide additional operational updates in the coming weeks. On behalf of the Board of Directors "Ray Paquette" President & CEO 604.684.3301 www.canadianzeolite.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Some statements in this news release contain forward-looking information. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to future expenditures. These statements address future events and conditions and, as such, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the statements. Such factors include, among others, the ability to complete contemplated work programs and the timing and amount of expenditures. Canadian Zeolite does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement. SOURCE: Canadian Zeolite Corp. TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 08/16/17 -- Ventripoint Diagnostics Ltd. ("Ventripoint" or the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE: VPT) announces that at its Annual General Meeting on August 14, 2017 the shareholders re-elected Dr. George Adams, Mr. Danny Dalla-Longa, Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, Dr. Don Segal and Mr. David Willis as Directors of the Corporation. They further approved the Incentive Stock Option plan and an increase in the maximum aggregate number of shares that may be reserved for issuance pursuant to the Corporation's DSU Plan to 600,000 common shares. BDO was appointed as auditors of the Corporation for the next year. The Board of Directors has granted a total of 1,250,000 common share stock options to five officers of the Corporation, of which 200,000 options were in replacement of options which were cancelled on July 1, 2017. All options are exercisable at $0.32 per share until the fifth anniversary date of the grant. The Corporation also announces that it has granted a total of 300,000 Deferred Share Units (DSUs) to four independent Directors of Ventripoint, Mr. Danny Dalla-Longa, Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, Dr. Don Segal and Mr. Dave Willis, in recognition of their past and future services to the Corporation. Under the terms of the Corporation's Deferred Share Unit Plan, holders of DSUs may redeem each DSU for one share of common stock upon the termination of their services to the Corporation at no cost to the holder. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: The statements made in this press release that are not historical facts contain forward-looking information that involves risk and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, which address Ventripoint's expectations, should be considered forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on management's exercise of business judgment as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to management. When used in this document, the words "may", "will", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intend" and words of similar import, are intended to identify any forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These statements reflect a current view of future events and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties as contained in the Corporation's filings with Canadian securities regulatory authorities. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. The Corporation undertakes no obligation, and does not intend, to update, revise or otherwise publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, or to reflect the occurrence of any unanticipated events. Although management believes that expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, no assurance can be given that these expectations will materialize. Contacts: Dr. George Adams, President & CEO (519) 803-6937 gadams@ventripoint.ca WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Government statistics released on Wednesday showed that housing starts unexpectedly fell in July from the previous month's levels. Building permits were also below expectations. A report issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce said housing starts fell 4.8 percent from the previous month, dropping to an annual rate of 1.155 million units in July. This was down from the revised June estimate of 1.213 million units. July's housing starts figure was 5.6 percent lower than in the same period last year. Economists had expected housing starts to edge up to a rate of 1.225 million from the 1.215 million originally reported for the previous month. The Commerce Department said building permits also fell during the month. The figure dropped by 4.1 percent compared to the previous month, slipping to a rate of 1.223 million units in July. June's figure was revised to a pace of 1.275 million units. Building permits, an indicator of future housing demand, had been expected to come in at a pace of about 1.25 million units. Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. NEW YORK, NY -- (Marketwired) -- 08/16/17 -- Senior executives from major listed shipping companies involved with the dry bulk sector of maritime transportation will participate on a sector panel discussion at Capital Link's 10th Annual Shipping, Marine Services & Offshore Forum which will take place on Tuesday, September 12, 2017 at One Moorgate Place in London. It is organized in partnership with Fearnley Securities and in cooperation with the London Stock Exchange. The forum is also held in conjunction with the London International Shipping Week. The event is known for its large attendance by investors, owners and capital providers. The Forum will also feature panel discussions on other shipping sectors, such as containers, LNG, LPG, crude oil tankers and product tankers as well as on other topics of critical significance for the industry, such as bank finance, capital markets, restructuring, insurance and private equity. The Forum features government and business leaders and senior executives from the transportation, energy, logistics and maritime related sectors. Capital Link's investment conferences are organized in London, New York, Shanghai, Limassol and Athens. They are known for combining rich informational content with unique marketing and networking opportunities. REGISTRATION To register please go to the link below: http://forums.capitallink.com/shipping/2017london/signup.html DRY BULK PANEL The panel will discuss the trends and developments in the dry bulk shipping markets, such as demand and supply fundamentals, freight rates and asset values, trading routes, access to capital and sector outlook. Moderator: Mr. Herman Hildan, Managing Director - Clarksons Platou Securities AS Panelists: Mr. Gary Vogel, CEO - Eagle Bulk Shipping (NASDAQ: EGLE) Ms. Birgitte Vartdal, CEO - Golden Ocean (NASDAQ: GOGL) Mr. Loukas Barmparis, President - Safe Bulkers (NYSE: SB) Mr. Herman Bilung, CEO - Songa Bulk (SBULKME: NO) Mr. Christos Begleris, Co-CFO - Star Bulk Carriers (NASDAQ: SBLK) Mr. Jens Ismar, CEO - Western Bulk AS TARGET AUDIENCE Commercial and Investment Bankers -- Charterers -- Classification Societies -- Commodity and Energy Traders -- Finance Providers -- Financial Advisors -- Financial and Trade Media -- Hedge Fund Managers -- Institutional Investors -- P&I Executives -- Lawyers and Insurers -- Market Analysts and Consultants -- Private Equity Firms -- Risk Advisors -- Ship Managers -- Ship Operators -- Shipowners -- Shipbrokers -- Sovereign Wealth Funds -- Venture Capital Firms SPONSORS In Partnership With: Fearnley Securities In Cooperation With: London Stock Exchange Global Lead Sponsor: Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd Global Gold Sponsors: Clay Maitland -- Columbia Shipmanagement -- DNV-GL -- DVB -- Tototheo Group Global Sponsors: Bermuda Shipping and Maritime Authority -- Citi -- Clarksons Platou Securities -- Clyde & Co LLP -- Deutsche Bank -- Jefferies -- MSI -- Reed Smith -- Tufton Oceanic Ltd -- Watson Farley & Williams LLP Sponsors: ABN AMRO -- AMA Capital Partners -- BAHR -- Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP -- NAVES Corporate Finance Supporting Sponsors: Flott & Co. PC -- Niki Shipping Cocktail Sponsor: NYMAR Media Partners: Allaboutshipping.co.uk -- Economic -- Elnavi -- Lloyd's List -- The Maritime Executive -- Ship2shore -- TradeWinds -- World Oils Supporting Organizations: Global Maritime Hub -- Hellenic Bankers Association -- Maritime Business Forum -- Maritime London -- SPNL -- Wista UK FOR MORE INFORMATION Please visit: http://forums.capitallink.com/shipping/2017london/ NEW YORK - Ms. Olga Bornozi / Ms. Eleni Bej Tel. +1 212 661 7566 - Email: forum@capitallink.com ATHENS - Ms. Maira Kitova Tel: +30 210 610 9800 - Email: ContactGR@capitallink.com For more details and extensive information, please visit: The CAPITAL LINK website: www.capitallink.com The CAPITAL LINK FORUM website: www.capitallinkforum.com ORGANIZER - CAPITAL LINK, INC. Founded in 1995, Capital Link is a New York based investor relations, financial communication and advisory form with strategic focus on the maritime, commodities and energy sectors, MLPs, as well as Closed-End Funds and ETFs. In addition, Capital Link organizes ten investment conferences a year in the United States, Europe and China all of which are known for combining rich educational and informational content with unique marketing and networking opportunities. Capital Link is a member of the Baltic Exchange. Based in New York City, Capital Link has presence in London, Athens & Oslo. Capital Link Tel. (212) 661-7566 Email: forum@CapitalLink.com DENVER, CO -- (Marketwired) -- 08/16/17 -- The Pulse Beverage Corporation ("Pulse") (OTCQB: PLSB) announced today that it is shipping Natural Cabana Lemonades, Limeades and Coconut Waters to J. Kings Food Service Professionals, Inc. ("J. Kings") for distribution to Long Island, New York based grocers, convenience stores and food service operations. Robert Yates, CEO of Pulse, commented, "We are very pleased to have J. Kings as our newest distribution partner who will provide coverage for the New York territories of Nassau and Suffolk counties in Long Island. With a population base of close to 3 million in this territory, J. Kings fits into our distribution strategy because they have a large business servicing food service operators. Wherever you find corporate cafeterias, local delicatessens or quick service restaurants ("QSR") in these counties, you will likely find J King's as a crucial vendor to those operations." Robert Yates also commented, "Food service is an important distribution channel for us because, customers usually purchase a cold beverage with their meal. We want to be one of the offerings that they see when doing so. By appearing in food service operations, we build our brand for those same customers who once having tasted the spectacular flavors of our Natural Cabana Lemonades, Limeades and Coconut Waters will look for these same products in the grocery stores and convenience stores that they also frequent. Pulse is very successful in other areas of the country and a national QSR brand whom we will be able to discuss in the near future is one of our largest customers today." About Pulse Beverage Corporation Pulse Beverage Corporation ("Pulse") is an emerging beverage company that offers Natural Cabana Lemonade/Limeade in 7 great tasting, low-calorie flavors and Natural Cabana Coconut Water in pineapple and natural flavors. With Pulse's revamped business model, utilizing warehouse direct and key accounts, Pulse directly teams up with major retailers like Walmart, Albertsons/Safeway, Kroger, Stater Bros, Food Max, Houchens, Kmart, 7-Eleven, United C-stores, Weis Markets, King Kullen, Hy-Vee Supermarket, WinCo Foods, Price Less Markets, Gristede's Foods, Toot n Totem and Travel America. Consumers easily find Pulse's prominently displayed products thereby increasing revenue and earnings for shareholders of Pulse. For more information, please visit: www.pulsebeverage.com or email info@pulsebeverage.com. Follow Pulse Beverage on Twitter at https://twitter.com/drinkpulsebev. Become a Pulse Beverage Facebook Fan at https://www.facebook.com/PulseBeverageCorporation. ABOUT J. Kings Foodservice Professionals, Inc. Fresh Ideas. Delivered Daily. At J. Kings, we deliver more than just high quality food and outstanding customer service. We deliver fresh ideas -- proven to help our customers experience growth and success. Since 1974, J. Kings has been steadily expanding to meet the needs of our customers -- listening to their needs and coming up with unique solutions to help build their businesses. In fact, it's our business-building capabilities that separate us from our competitors. Anyone can deliver food. But not everyone can deliver the ideas that help your business grow beyond your wildest dreams. Our Vision ... To continually enhance our customers' profits by being the distributor that provides innovative, value-added solutions in response to our customers' ever changing needs. To achieve this vision, we treat our staff, customers and suppliers as partners, with integrity and respect, and recognize that our success and profitability depend on the success of our partners. Forward-Looking Statements This news release contains "forward-looking statements" as that term is defined in Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Statements in this press release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements and include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, regulatory incentives, the development of new business opportunities, and projected costs, revenue, profits and results operations. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with new projects and development stage companies. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-K for the most recent fiscal year, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Contact: Tom Nelson Tenassociates33@gmail.com 1-480-326-8577 MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- (Marketwired) -- 08/16/17 -- Calabrio, a leading provider of customer engagement and analytics software, announced today that it will host its seventh annual Calabrio Customer Connect (C3) global user conference at the Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa in Las Vegas, Nevada, October 1-4, 2017. At the event, Calabrio customers, partners and employees will share knowledge and best practices centered on driving higher employee engagement, greater customer loyalty and better multichannel customer experiences. We are pleased to announce that human behavior expert, Colette Carlson, will keynote this year's show. Collette has worked with companies such as Microsoft, Cisco and Pepsi, and will share how to create authentic and effective connections with both customers and contact center agents for greater impact to the business. Industry analysts, Ian Jacobs of Forrester Research and Paul Stockford of Saddletree Research, will also present sessions with an outlook on key market trends. "Each year, C3 grows to be more impactful and inspiring than the last," said Tom Goodmanson, president and CEO of Calabrio. "This conference brings our customer community together to network and learn how to motivate employees, and get the most out of their existing Calabrio solutions to exceed customer expectations. At Calabrio, we are building customer engagement platforms that turn customer and employee data into valuable insights, and C3 is the ideal environment for customers to learn from product experts and industry professionals how to put it all together and drive value." Calabrio has raised its own bar with more than 60 unique, high-value breakout sessions. According to Calabrio's post-conference survey, 96 percent of Calabrio customers who attended C3 in 2016 are planning to attend C3 2017. Bryan Nixon, network VoIP administrator at Landry's commented, "This conference truly surpassed my expectations. The organization of the many training and breakout sessions was phenomenal." Calabrio experts and more than 20 customers, including Consumer Cellular, Erie Insurance and Houston Methodist Hospital, will educate attendees on multiple customer and employee engagement topics, including best practices for extracting customer interaction insights to drive improvements inside and outside the contact center. Sessions include: Success in the Customer Experience Era: Connect Your Customer to Your C-Suite Stepping Up to the Secure Cloud: Benefits and Myths Tips and Tricks for Agent Engagement Through Onboarding and Beyond Tapping into Big Data: Integrating Systems for Enterprise Reporting New this year are the ONE Awards, which recognize organizations for achievements gained through leveraging the Calabrio platform. With seven categories, including the best global contact center deployment and best contact center analytics project, the ONE Awards celebrate innovation leveraging the Calabrio ONE suite. Nominations are currently open and can be submitted here. Also new is the Innovation Center Experience, which gives hands-on access to the latest Workforce Management (WFM) and Analytics technologies through real-life simulations. Returning to C3 this year by popular demand are 'Ask the Experts' sessions which allow attendees to book one-on-one meetings with Calabrio engineers. During this time, customers can ask questions and receive customer-tailored advice specific to their Calabrio environment. Post conference, C3 attendees can hone their skills with an optional four-hour advanced training course that focuses on tenant configuration, user administration, storage management and more. Want to learn how to rock your customer and employee experience? Click here for more information and to register for this year's event. About Calabrio Customer Connect Calabrio's annual user conference, Calabrio Customer Connect, is two and a half days of in-depth learning and networking. Through dozens of breakout sessions and roundtable discussions, attendees will learn from experts spanning industries. Share best practices and lessons learned with your peers. Speak with Calabrio executives and technical experts to get more value from your investment in Calabrio solutions and to provide feedback for future products. Visit www.calabriocustomerconnect.com. About Calabrio Calabrio is a customer engagement software company that provides analytic insights to catalyze growth through customer service contact centers. The Calabrio ONE software suite empowers everyone in an organization, from contact center agents to the CEO, with easy-to-use tools that provide a better understanding of the customer. Every customer interaction yields insights that expand customer-consciousness, which is how leading companies now drive growth and long-term corporate prosperity. Find more at http://calabrio.com/ and follow @Calabrio on Twitter. Calabrio, Calabrio ONE and the Calabrio logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Calabrio Inc. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. Media Contact: Kelsey Quickstad 415-820-4494 Email Contact BELLINGHAM, WA--(Marketwired - August 16, 2017) - eXp World Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: EXPI), the holding company for eXp Realty, LLC, The Agent-Owned Cloud Brokerage, announced today that industry veteran Mary Frances Coleman has joined eXp Realty as general counsel. Previously, Coleman was CEO and president at Realty Executives, LLC and vice president of operations at HomeSmart International, both leading international brokerages. Coleman also is a national speaker on real estate and legal issues. Her experience will help eXp Realty manage its rapid growth while continuing to deliver the best agent-owner experience in the industry. Coleman will report to Founder, Chairman and CEO Glenn Sanford. She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Cincinnati and a juris doctor degree from The John Marshall Law School. Coleman also is a licensed real estate broker in Arizona. "We sought a general counsel with broad operational skills to help us continue to build and grow a world-class company. Mary Frances' experience, where she ran entire businesses while providing legal counsel to the real estate industry, is a perfect fit for eXp," said Sanford. "We welcome her to our team and look forward to leveraging her deep expertise as we continue growing our agent-centric, cloud-based real estate brokerage." "eXp's vision and mission to put agents first, while utilizing technology to make operational and economic improvements to the traditional real estate brokerage model was very attractive to me," said Coleman. "I'm looking forward to joining this talented and passionate team on a mission to change the way that agents, brokers and consumers work together." About eXp World Holdings, Inc. eXp World Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: EXPI) is the holding company for eXp Realty, LLC, the Agent-Owned Cloud Brokerage. eXp Realty (exprealty.com) is changing the way that agents, brokers and consumers work together in an adaptive, sustainable environment. It is an agent-designed and agent-owned company. As the leading, national, cloud-based real estate brokerage, eXp Realty provides 24/7 access to collaborative tools, training and socialization for real estate brokers and agents through its 3-D, fully-immersive, cloud office environment. It is one of the fastest growing real estate brokerage firms in North America with more than 4,000 agents in 43 U.S. states, the District of Columbia and the provinces of Alberta and Ontario, Canada. As a publicly-traded company, eXp World Holdings, Inc. uniquely offers real estate professionals within its ranks opportunities to earn company stock for production and contributions to overall company growth. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.eXpRealty.com. Connect with eXp Realty and eXp World Holdings: Facebook - Canada, United States, investor relations Twitter - Canada, United States, investor relations LinkedIn - Canada and United States Safe Harbor Statement The statements contained herein may include statements of future expectations and other forward-looking statements that are based on management's current views and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof, and the company undertakes no obligation to revise or update them. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements about the company's expansion, revenue growth, operating results, financial performance and net income changes. Such statements are not guarantees of future performance. Important factors that may cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in forward-looking statements include changes in business or other market conditions; the difficulty of keeping expense growth at modest levels while increasing revenues; and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including but not limited to the most recently filed Annual Report on Form 10-K. Media Relations Contact: Cynthia Nowak Director of marketing and communications eXp Realty 206-390-2302 Email contact Investor Relations Contact: Greg Falesnik Managing director MZ Group - MZ North America 949-385-6449 Email contact VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - August 16, 2017) - Sarama Resources Ltd. ("Sarama" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: SWA) announces that gold mineralisation at the MC Deposit has been extended at depth and along strike in a deep diamond drilling program at the South Hounde Project (the "Project") in south-western Burkina Faso. The results are final for a H1 2017 program that was designed to test depth and strike extensions to high-grade shoots within the mineral resource and form part of an ongoing, multi-faceted exploration program aimed at increasing the Project's 2.1Moz gold 1 inferred mineral resource to support open pit mine development and investigate the potential for underground mining. Highlights Numerous mineralised lodes intersected in deep drilling at the MC Deposit and when combined with previously reported results from this program, support the extension of drill defined mineralisation by approximately 200m along strike and 400m down-dip. Deep drilling targeted several discrete and high-grade shoots within the mineral resource to test for strike and depth extensions with a view to examining underground mining potential. Results continue to demonstrate the significant scale of the mineralised system at the South Hounde Project, with drill-defined mineralisation extending continuously from surface to a vertical depth of approximately 500m and 550m at the MC and MM Deposits respectively. Results are reported for 6 holes totalling 900m of reverse-circulation ("RC") and 2,000m of diamond drilling ("DDH"), with highlighted downhole intersections including (see Appendices A & B for full details): -- 2.2m @ 4.74g/t Au from 324.7m in FRC1082RE1 (DDH intersection); -- 10.4m @ 3.96g/t Au from 414.8m in FRC1082RE1 (DDH intersection); -- 3.5m @ 3.79g/t Au from 406.5m in FRC1083ARE1 (DDH intersection); and -- 4.1m @ 3.89g/t Au from 429.9m in FRC1083ARE1 (DDH intersection). Modest aircore ("AC") drill program of 35 holes totalling 2,200m tested for near surface mineralisation at an oblique orientation to the main mineralised trends. Results confirm known mineralisation and intersected anomalous mineralisation outside the mineral resource with highlighted oxide intersections of: -- 8m @ 2.46g/t Au from 54m in AC2704; -- 8m @ 1.55g/t Au from 28m in AC2707; -- 8m @ 0.97g/t Au from 28m in AC2692; -- 6m @ 0.90g/t Au from 52m in AC2706; and -- 10m @ 0.41g/t Au from 24m in AC2693. Minimum USD$3.5M (CAD$4.5M) exploration program, funded by Acacia Mining plc is anticipated for 2017, with works including geochemical and geophysical surveys and drill programs. MC and MM Deposit Deep Diamond Drilling The reported results are final for a deep drilling program conducted in H1 2017 that targeted depth and strike extensions of discrete, high-grade shoots within the known mineral resources of the MC and MM Deposits and which was commissioned to examine the potential for underground mining at the South Hounde Project (refer Figures 1, 2 & 3). Full results are contained in Appendix A. Six combination RC/diamond drill holes were recently drilled for a total 2,900m (900m RC and 2,000m diamond), continuing the previously reported program of 11 holes for 5,800m (refer news release June 19, 2017). The two holes drilled at depth of the MC Deposit were designed to test the continuation of the package of parallel mineralised lodes to a vertical depth of approximately 500m. The holes intersected numerous narrow mineralised zones within felsic intrusive and sediment host units and encountered grades of varying tenor. This is consistent with previous drilling in the local area and it is anticipated that the new drilling, when combined with previously reported results of the program, will support extensions to selected lodes within the lode package of approximately 200m along strike and 400m down-dip from the mineral resource. Highlighted intersections include: 2.2m @ 4.74g/t Au from 324.7m in FRC1082RE1 (DDH intersection); 10.4m @ 3.96g/t Au from 414.8m in FRC1082RE1 (DDH intersection). 3.5m @ 3.79g/t Au from 406.5m in FRC1083ARE1 (DDH intersection); and 4.1m @ 3.89g/t Au from 429.9m in FRC1083ARE1 (DDH intersection). The drilling in the southern area of the MM Deposit, consisting of two holes 550-580m in length, attempted to extend the strike length of higher-grade mineralisation at a vertical depth of approximately 450m and also aggressively targeted a 300m dip extension locally to known mineralisation. While the drilling successfully intersected the targeted lens, demonstrating lithological continuity, the tenor of mineralisation encountered by the two recent holes is not considered significant at these depths. The shoot still has good potential to support open pit mining in the area covered by current drilling and the shoot remains an exploration target for underground mining. Further geological work will be undertaken to better understand the controls mineralisation to improve drill targeting. In the central area of the MM Deposit, a single drillhole, 440m in length, served as a close-out hole on the northern boundary of the high-grade shoot that was the focus of previously reported program (refer news release June 19, 2017) and which resulted in the extension of mineralisation by a distance down-dip of approximately 200m. The recently-returned hole demonstrated lithological continuity and the discrete nature of the grade shoots and will assist in fine-tuning the geological interpretation and grade domaining. MC and MM Deposit Oxide Aircore Drilling A modest, 35-hole aircore drill program totalling 2,200m was undertaken at the MC and MM Deposits to test for near-surface mineralisation linking two areas of the north-north-east trending MC and MM Deposits (refer Figures 1 and 2). In general, the drilling confirmed the position of known mineralisation and intersected anomalous mineralisation outside the mineral resource with highlighted oxide intersections of: 8m @ 2.46g/t Au from 54m in AC2704; 8m @ 1.55g/t Au from 28m in AC2707; 8m @ 0.97g/t Au from 28m in AC2692; 6m @ 0.90g/t Au from 52m in AC2706; and 10m @ 0.41g/t Au from 24m in AC2693. Full results are listed in Appendix B. It is anticipated that further AC drilling will be conducted to investigate anomalous intersections located between the known mineralised zones with a view to delineating additions to the mineral resource. Sarama's President and CEO, Andrew Dinning, commented: "The completion of the deep diamond drilling at the MC and MM Deposits conducted over the course of H1 2017 has provided a look into the depth potential of the mineralised system and it is pleasing to see that it has been intersected to a vertical depth of 500-550m in several areas, highlighting the scale of the system. These drill results continue to reinforce our belief that the South Hounde Project has the potential to be an open pit and underground mining complex, particularly when Sarama's highly accretive Bondi Deposit 4 and recently acquired Botoro Property are included in the equation. Sarama remains positioned to play a key role in the development of the southern part of the Hounde Belt." ABOUT SARAMA RESOURCES LTD Sarama Resources Ltd (TSX VENTURE: SWA) is a West African focused gold explorer with substantial landholdings in Burkina Faso. Sarama is focused on consolidating under-explored landholdings in Burkina Faso and other established mining jurisdictions. Sarama's flagship properties are situated within the Company's South Hounde Project area in south-west Burkina Faso. Located within the prolific Hounde Greenstone Belt, Sarama's exploration programs have built on significant early success to deliver an inferred mineral resource estimate of 2.1 Moz gold 1 . Acacia Mining plc is earning up to a 70% interest in the South Hounde Project by satisfying certain conditions, including funding earn-in expenditures of up to US$14 million, over a 4-year earn-in period and may acquire an additional 5% interest, for an aggregate 75% interest in the Project, upon declaration of a minimum mineral reserve of 1.6 million ounces of gold. Acacia has satisfied certain milestones and currently holds a 50% interest in the South Hounde Project and is continuing to sole fund exploration activities. Sarama holds a 31% participating interest in the Karankasso Project Joint Venture ("JV") which is situated adjacent to the Company's South Hounde Project in Burkina Faso and is a JV between Sarama and Savary Gold Corp. ("Savary"). Savary is the operator of the JV and in October 2015, declared a maiden inferred mineral resource estimate of 671,000 ounces of contained gold 2 at the Karankasso Project JV. Sarama has also agreed to acquire 4 a 100% interest in the Bondi Deposit from Orezone Gold Corporation (refer news release May 24, 2016). Bondi has a historical estimate of mineral resources of 0.3Moz Au (measured and indicated) and 0.1Moz Au (inferred) 3 . Together, the South Hounde Project, Bondi Deposit and the Karankasso Project form a cluster of advanced gold deposits, within trucking distance of one another, which potentially offers a development option for a multi-source fed central processing facility in the southern Hounde Belt region of Burkina Faso. Incorporated in 2010, the Company's Board and management team have a proven track record in Africa and a strong history in the discovery and development of large-scale gold deposits. Sarama is well positioned to build on its current success with a sound exploration strategy across its property portfolio. FOOTNOTES 1. South Hounde Project - 43.0 Mt @ 1.5 g/t Au (reported above cut-off grades ranging 0.3-2.2 g/t Au, reflecting the mining methods and processing flowsheets assumed to assess the likelihood of the inferred mineral resources having reasonable prospects for eventual economic extraction). The effective date of the Company's inferred mineral resource estimate is February 4, 2016. For further information regarding the mineral resource estimate please refer to the technical report titled "NI 43-101 Independent Technical Report South Hounde Project Update, Bougouriba and Ioba Provinces, Burkina Faso", dated March 31, 2016. The technical report is available under Sarama Resources Ltd.'s profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. 2. Karankasso Project - 9.2 Mt @ 2.3 g/t Au (at a 0.5 g/t Au cut-off). The effective date of the Karankasso Project JV mineral resource estimate is October 7, 2015. For further information regarding the mineral resource estimate please refer to the technical report titled "Technical Report and Resource Estimate on the Karankasso Project, Burkina Faso", dated October 7, 2015. The technical report is available under Savary Gold Corp's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Sarama has not independently verified Savary's mineral resource estimate and takes no responsibility for its accuracy. Savary is the operator of the Karankasso Project JV and Sarama is relying on their Qualified Persons' assurance of the validity of the mineral resource estimate. 3. Bondi Deposit - 4.1Mt @ 2.1g/t Au for 282,000 oz Au (measured and indicated) and 2.5Mt @ 1.8g/t Au for 149,700 oz Au (inferred), reported at a 0.5 g/t Au cut-off. I. The historical estimate of the Bondi Deposit reflects a mineral resource estimate compiled by Orezone Gold Corporation ("Orezone") which has an effective date of February 20, 2009. The historical estimate is contained in a technical report titled "Technical Report on the Mineral Resource of the Bondigui Gold Project", dated date of February 20, 2009 (the "Bondi Technical Report") and is available under the profile of Orezone on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. II. Sarama believes that the historical estimate is relevant to investors' understanding of the property, as it reflects the most recent technical work undertaken in respect of the Bondi Deposit. III. The historical estimate was informed by 886 drillholes, assayed for gold by cyanidation methods, were used to interpret mineralised envelopes and geological zones over the area of the historical estimate. Gold grade interpolation was undertaken using ID methodology based on input parameters derived from geostatistical and geological analyses assessments. Field measurements and geological logging of drillholes were used to determine weathering boundaries and bulk densities for modelled blocks. IV. The historical estimate uses the mineral resource reporting categories required under National Instrument 43-101. V. No more recent estimates of the mineral resource or other data are available. VI. Sarama is currently undertaking the necessary verification work in the field and on the desktop that may support the future reclassification of the historical estimate to a mineral resource. VII. A qualified person engaged by Sarama has not undertaken sufficient work to verify the historical estimate as a current mineral resource and Sarama is therefore not treating the historical estimate as a current mineral resource. 4. Upon closing of the purchase agreement for the Bondi Deposit, Sarama will have 100% interest in Djarkadougou Property which hosts the Bondi Deposit CAUTION REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS Information in this news release that is not a statement of historical fact constitutes forward-looking information. Such forward-looking information includes statements regarding the Company's plans for drilling and geochemical and geophysical surveys at the South Hounde Project, the Earn-In Agreement with Acacia, including the amounts that may be spent on exploration and interests in the South Hounde Project that may be earned by Acacia upon making certain expenditures and estimating a minimum reserve, the potential to expand the present oxide component of the Company's existing estimated mineral resources, the potential for open pit and underground mine development, and future exploration plans. Actual results, performance or achievements of the Company may vary from the results suggested by such forward-looking statements due to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Such factors include, among others, that the business of exploration for gold and other precious minerals involves a high degree of risk and is highly speculative in nature; Mineral Resources are not Mineral Reserves, they do not have demonstrated economic viability, and there is no certainty that they can be upgraded to Mineral Reserves through continued exploration; few properties that are explored are ultimately developed into producing mines; geological factors; the actual results of current and future exploration; changes in project parameters as plans continue to be evaluated, as well as those factors disclosed in the Company's publicly filed documents. There can be no assurance that any mineralisation that is discovered will be proven to be economic, or that future required regulatory licensing or approvals will be obtained. However, the Company believes that the assumptions and expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable. Assumptions have been made regarding, among other things, Acacia's continued funding of exploration activities, the Company's ability to carry on its exploration activities, the sufficiency of funding, the timely receipt of required approvals, the price of gold and other precious metals, that the Company will not be affected by adverse political events, the ability of the Company to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner and the ability of the Company to obtain further financing as and when required and on reasonable terms. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Sarama does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except as required by applicable laws. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. NOTES--DRILLING Drilling results are quoted as downhole intersections. True widths of mineralisation intersected by RC and DDH drilling are estimated to be approximately 70% to 80% of reported downhole intersection lengths, except as otherwise noted. The orientation of some of the mineralised units by AC drilling is not yet well understood. The reported composites for the drilling were determined using a cut-off grade of 0.30g/t Au to select significant and anomalous intersections, with a maximum of 2m internal dilution being incorporated into the composite where appropriate. No top-cuts were applied to assay grades. Isolated mineralised intersections less than 2m in length have not been reported. Gold assays for the drilling were undertaken by the Bigs Global laboratories in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Assays are determined by fire assay methods using a 50 gram charge, lead collection and an AAS finish with lower detection limits of 0.005g/t Au (Bigs Global). The drilling was generally designed using a range of azimuths, according to program aims and mineralization orientation, dipping at approximately -55-60 and were of variable length. Holes were spaced at various intervals according to targeting intent. RC holes where sampled, were sampled at regular 1m downhole intervals. All diamond holes were sampled according to geological intervals but were generally <1m. All AC holes were sampled at regular 2m downhole intervals. Intersection oxidation state classification is based on visual logging of the drillholes. Sarama undertakes geological sampling and assays in accordance with its quality assurance/quality control program which includes the use of certified reference materials for AC, RC and diamond drilling as well as field duplicates in the case of AC and RC drilling. For further information regarding the Company's QAQC protocols please refer to the technical report titled "NI 43-101 Independent Technical Report, South Hounde Project Update, Bougouriba and Ioba Provinces, Burkina Faso", dated March 31, 2016. The technical report is available under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/8/16/11G144244/Images/170816_Figure_1_-_Drill_plan_location_of_new_drill-ac5c236309268ac387101e630dc845c6.jpg Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/8/16/11G144244/Images/170816_Figure_2_-_Detail_Plan_Recent_Drilling_MM_M-a453a5ab0d128541844f1f2386572dee.jpg Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/8/16/11G144244/Images/170816_Figure_3_-_MC_Deposit_Oblique_View-32ad4030b18e85498bacdac7b49b573a.jpg Attachment Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/8/16/11G144244/170816_-_Appendix_A_-_MC_MM_Deposit_Deep_Drilling-f0bd0773cebf8c55a1ecf7566ad57e2b.pdf Attachment Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/8/16/11G144244/170816_-_Appendix_B_-_MC_MM_Deposit_Aircore_Drilli-9e1a9bdd53a99740bbc6221e8396d8bb.pdf For further information on the Company's activities, please contact: Andrew Dinning or Paul Schmiede e: info@saramaresources.com t: +61 (0) 8 9363 7600 SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - August 16, 2017) - Former journalist James Kwantes, editor of Resource Opportunities, provides a tour of promising junior mining opportunities, from the extremes of northern Canada to the tropics of French Guiana. Company included in article: Pretium Resources Inc. (TSX: PVG) (NYSE: PVG), Columbus Gold Corp. (TSX: CGT) (OTCQX: CBGDF), NexGen Energy Ltd. (TSX: NXE) (NYSE MKT: NXE) (NYSE American: NXE) James Kwantes: If we're talking high-grade gold, we can't leave out Pretium Resources Inc. (PVG: TSX; PVG: NYSE) and its Brucejack project up in the Golden Triangle in British Columbia. There have been gold mines in the Golden Triangle, which used to be quite an active mining area, with higher grades, but none of them was nearly as large as Brucejack. JK: Columbus Gold Corp. (TSX: CGT) (OTCQX: CBGDF) is an interesting story. It has some recent news, too. Columbus owns a 45% stake in the Montagne d'Or project in French Guiana. Nordgold SE, a big Russia-based gold mining company, funded a feasibility study at Montagne d'Or, so it now owns 55%. Columbus will probably either sell its 45% stake to Nordgold, or it'll sell it to another gold mining company. JK: NexGen Energy Ltd. (TSX: NXE) (NYSE MKT: NXE) (NYSE American: NXE) has a spectacular-I'll call it a discovery-but it's actually a very large, growing high-grade deposit in the Athabasca Basin in northwestern Saskatchewan. In 2014, Resource Opportunities picked up coverage on NexGen Energy during that terrible bear market. It was a little junior with a land position in the Athabasca Basin, and the stock was at $0.30. For a long time nobody else covered it. But it started... Continue reading this article: 11 Opportunities in Gold, Uranium and Diamonds About Streetwise Reports/The Gold Report Investors rely on The Gold Report to share investment ideas for the precious, base and critical metals sector. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. DISCLOSURE: The following companies mentioned in this article are sponsors of Streetwise Reports: Pretium Resources Inc., Columbus Gold Corp. and NexGen Energy Ltd. Reports does not accept stock in exchange for its services. The full disclosure is provided at the end of the published article: 11 Opportunities in Gold, Uranium and Diamonds For more information, please contact Melissa Farley Associate Publisher Email contact Country Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso 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Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe BURLINGTON, Massachusetts, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Decision Resources Group (DRG), the life sciences industry's most trusted provider of market intelligence and global data products and services, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Context Matters, the innovative data technology start-up that developed a first-of-its-kind global market access integrated data platform. Previously the lead investor in a Series B funding round for the startup last fall, DRG's full acquisition and planned integration of Context Matters cements its position as the partner of choice for global market access data products, analytics, and strategic guidance. The acquisition of Context Matters reinforces DRG's commitment to providing a deep understanding of global market access landscapes which life sciences organizations can leverage to drive profitable asset management from development through commercialization. It will fortify DRG's global market access portfolio by combining the novel Context Matters data model, which links global regulatory and health technology assessment data to detailed clinical trial data, with DRG's existing suite of products and services. The addition of Context Matters will result in a full service global market access and drug value navigation partner to the life sciences industry, with the flexibility to deliver solutions scaled to client needs and timing-from tactical target points to end-to-end enterprise strategy. "There is an ever-rising demand to optimize global access to treatments for patients in therapy areas that continue to have unmet need. In our increasingly complex and cost-benefit driven markets, it is imperative for healthcare companies to build robust, evidence-based approaches to plan and prepare their assets for successful global market access," says Peter Hempshall, Senior Vice President of DRG. "With the acquisition of Context Matters, DRG is pleased to welcome an experienced team of pioneering global market access experts. They have been at the forefront of compiling and connecting disparate forms of data to provide life sciences companies with the depth of data and direction needed to plan and implement successful access, reimbursement and asset valuation strategies for varied global markets." "Context Matters was created from the idea that data from market access and reimbursement can be used to inform clinical trial design," explained Yin Ho, M.D., M.B.A., the Founder and CEO of Context Matters. "It has been extremely gratifying to watch Context Matters become a force to change the thinking of the pharmaceutical industry around how to use data to position and honestly evaluate the value of customers' assets in a global marketplace," said Dr. Ho. "We have been leaders in the industry and our vision will continue to live on in our products, services, and customers as we move forward with DRG." About Context Matters, Inc. Context Matters modernizes and improves the process of valuing drug therapies, empowering life sciences organizations to achieve optimal reimbursement for their innovation. The Context Matters Market Access Platform (MAP) defines a new product category for global drug valuation-a configurable technology platform linking drug development and market data through a sophisticated model making comparative analysis and contextual views possible to establish reimbursement and market access. The MAP is a disruptive innovation that provides pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies direct access to the insights they need to inform key product development decisions and gain optimal reimbursement value. Visit ContextMatters.com for more information. About Decision Resources Group Decision Resources Group, a subsidiary of Piramal Enterprises Ltd., is the premier source for global healthcare data and market intelligence. A trusted partner for over 20 years, DRG helps companies competing in the global healthcare industry make informed business decisions. Organizations committed to the development and delivery of life-changing therapies rely on DRG's in-house team of expert healthcare analysts, data scientists, and consultants for critical guidance. DRG products and services, built on extensive data assets and delivered by experts, empower organizations to succeed in complex healthcare markets. Please visit decisionresourcesgroup.comfor more information. For press inquiries, please contact Tori Gillern at tgillern@teamdrg.com. Logo -https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/75057/decision_resources_group_logo.jpg BLACKROCK LATIN AMERICAN INVESTMENT TRUST PLC (LEI: UK9OG5Q0CYUDFGRX4151) All information is at 31 July 2017 and unaudited. Performance at month end with net income reinvested One month % Three months % One year % Three years % Five years % ^^Since 31.03.06 % Sterling: Net asset value^ 7.5 4.6 18.2 11.0 8.9 88.2 Share price 8.9 5.8 20.0 7.2 4.3 75.4 MSCI EM Latin America 6.7 4.5 19.3 12.8 6.4 105.4 US Dollars: Net asset value^ 9.1 6.6 17.3 -13.3 -8.2 43.2 Share price 10.5 7.8 19.1 -16.3 -12.2 33.4 MSCI EM Latin America 8.3 6.5 18.4 -11.9 -10.5 56.1 ^cum income ^^Date which BlackRock took over the investment management of the Company. Sources: BlackRock, Standard & Poor's Micropal At month end Net asset value - capital only: 505.78p Net asset value - cum income: 511.21p Share price: 444.00p Total Assets#: 211.2m Discount (share price to cum income NAV): 13.1% Average discount* over the month - cum income: 14.2% Net gearing at month end**: 5.9% Gearing range (as a % of net assets): 0-25% Net yield##: 2.7% Ordinary shares in issue***: 39,369,620 Ongoing charges****: 1.2% Total assets include current year revenue. ## calculated using total dividends declared in the last 12 months as at the date of this announcement as a percentage of month end share price. *The discount is calculated using the cum income NAV (expressed in sterling terms). **Net cash/net gearing is calculated using debt at par, less cash and cash equivalents and fixed interest investments as a percentage of net assets. ***Excluding 2,071,662 shares held in treasury. **** Calculated as a percentage of average net assets and using expenses, excluding performance fees and interest costs for the year ended 31 December 2016. Geographic Exposure % of Total Assets % of Equity Portfolio * MSCI EM Latin American Index Brazil 63.9 63.3 55.2 Mexico 27.8 27.5 28.9 Argentina 3.6 3.6 0.0 Peru 3.2 3.2 2.9 Chile 1.5 1.5 9.5 Panama 0.5 0.5 0.0 Colombia 0.4 0.4 3.5 Net current liabilities (inc. fixed interest) -0.9 0.0 0.0 ----- ----- ----- Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 ----- ----- ----- Sector % of Equity Portfolio * % of Benchmark Financials 31.5 29.9 Consumer Staples 20.0 17.0 Materials 14.4 15.3 Energy 9.5 7.7 Consumer Discretionary 8.4 6.3 Industrials 6.2 6.5 Telecommunication Services 5.4 6.6 Real Estate 1.6 1.7 Utilities 1.3 6.3 Information Technology 1.0 1.6 Health Care 0.7 1.1 ----- ----- Total 100.0 100.0 ----- ----- * excluding net current liabilities & fixed interest Ten Largest Equity Investments (in percentage order) Company Country of Risk % of Equity Portfolio % of Benchmark Itau Unibanco Brazil 7.3 6.2 Petrobras Brazil 7.0 4.8 Banco Bradesco Brazil 6.8 6.2 Vale Brazil 5.8 5.0 Ambev Brazil 4.9 4.6 Femsa Mexico 4.1 3.2 BM&F Bovespa Brazil 3.5 2.2 America Movil Mexico 3.5 4.7 Grupo Financiero Banorte Mexico 3.4 2.7 Groupo Mexico Mexico 2.8 2.0 Commenting on the markets, Will Landers, representing the Investment Manager noted; For the month of July 2017, the Company's NAV rose by 7.5% and the share price rose by 8.9%. The Company's benchmark, the MSCI EM Latin America Index, rose by 6.7% (all performance figures are in sterling terms with income reinvested and are net of ongoing charges). Our higher than index weighting and stock selection in Brazil were the top contributors in July, as the Brazilian Real (BRL) gained almost 6% against the US Dollar (USD), while higher commodity prices and the central bank's willingness to continue cutting rates at an accelerated pace supported the market. Petrobras and Bradespar, a holding company for Vale, were among the month's top performers as both oil and iron ore made strong gains in July, the latter of which was driven by strong manufacturing and economic data from China. Rail operator, Rumo, was the largest individual contributor in July, gaining on news surrounding positive negotiations towards the extension of their rail concessions, as well the government announcing the public hearing and auction dates for the North-South railway. Lower than index weightings in Colombia and Mexico also benefitted the portfolio, as both markets underperformed the broader region. On the other hand, our off-benchmark allocation to Argentina weighed on performance, with utility Pampa Energia among the largest detractors. Mexican consumer staple, Arca Continental, was July's worst performing stock, which missed on net income partially due to foreign exchange (FX) charges related to their US acquisition. During the month broad positioning remained relatively unchanged, though we did shift our Brazilian financials positioning, reducing exposure to Itau and BM&F Bovespa, redeploying those funds to Bradesco on better upside expectations. On the other hand, we sold down our position in Mexican airline, Volaris, as pricing pressure in Mexico City intensifies as the Aeromexico/Delta JV has been seen to be ramping up capacity more than expected. We also took profits in Raia Drogasil after strong performance and participated in the IPO of Brazilian insurance firm, IRB. The Company ended the month with an above index weighting in Brazil and Peru while having a below index weighting in Chile, Colombia, and Mexico. We also maintain an off-benchmark allocation to Argentina. At the sector level, we are overweight energy and select consumer staples, while being underweight utilities and telecom. As we enter the third quarter, our positioning and outlook remain relatively unchanged. Concerns regarding another potential overhang in Brazil's presidency have abated with the recent 263-227 vote in which the lower house rejected the corruption charges brought against President Temer, allowing the administration to pivot back towards their economic agenda. With increased stability from the political front, the primary drivers for Brazilian equities should remain the same: a) the continued easing cycle by the Central Bank which should help to bring forward the needed economic recovery; and b) progress on the reform agenda, especially pension reform, which should help to bring stability to government accounts in the medium term. Once the latter passes, we believe this will open the door for the Central Bank to bring the easing cycle further forward, and potentially bring rates lower than market expectations. Meanwhile, despite a more conciliatory tone from the US government on the trade front, we maintain our cautious view on Mexican growth, and therefore our underweight (despite a PRI (Institutional Revolutionary Party) win in the gubernatorial election (Mexico's national governor elections) in the state of Mexico in early June, results were not conclusive as to the likelihood of a MORENA (National Regeneration Movement) victory in next year's presidential elections). We continue to hold a below index weighting in Chile due to rich valuations and lack of free-float liquidity, and despite slower than expected progress on the infrastructure front. We continue to favour Peru among its Andean neighbours. Argentina remains another top region for the strategy as fundamentals persist, with the recent correction providing a positive entry point for longer-term investments. 16 August 2017 ENDS Latest information is available by typing www.blackrock.co.uk/brla on the internet, "BLRKINDEX" on Reuters, "BLRK" on Bloomberg or "8800" on Topic 3 (ICV terminal). Neither the contents of the Manager's website nor the contents of any website accessible from hyperlinks on the Manager's website (or any other website) is incorporated into, or forms part of, this announcement. Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS), the leading data research platform and business intelligence tool for corporate, academic and government institutions worldwide, is pleased to announce the University of Gothenburg as the winner of the WRDS-SSRN Innovation Award for the EMEA region. The award, created througha unique collaboration with SSRN, the world's leading research paper repository, and its parent company Elsevier, a global information analytics company specializing in science and health, honors emerging business school that produce exceptional research. A part of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, WRDS provides global corporations, universities and regulatory agencies the thought leadership, data access and analytics needed to enable impactful research. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171022005043/en/ Mireia Gine (Wharton Research Data Services) and Patrik Strom (University of Gothenburg) (Photo: Business Wire) Dr. Mireia Gine, Director of International Initiatives for WRDS presented the award to Helena Sjoholm and Patrik Strom from the University of Gothenburg during the AACSB EMEA Conference in Malta. The WRDS-SSRN Innovation Award is an important element of the collaboration. Three winning institutions will be selected annually from across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific regions based on their ability to demonstrate innovation and research excellence. Winners will receive a monetary prize and promotion. To learn more, go to http://www.whartonwrds.com/about/our-impact "I am delighted to present the WRDS-SSRN Innovation Award to the University of Gothenburg," said Mireia Gine, Director of International Initiatives for WRDS. "It is exciting to recognize the excellent research taking place at the University of Gothenburg, and the school's commitment to advancing its business program." "We are honored to receive the WRDS-SSRN Innovation Award. As one of the first Schools in Sweden to use WRDS we see how it strengthens our research. It is also very helpful in meeting the data requirements of students. We are convinced that WRDS will continue to be a useful resource as we improve the research capabilities of the School," said Associate Professor Jan Marton, Vice Dean, the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg. Gregg Gordon, Managing Director of SSRN, added: "On behalf of everyone at SSRN, I am pleased to congratulate the University of Gothenburg on winning this WRDS-SSRN Innovation Award. The award and the WRDS Research Paper Series, a new, searchable platform on SSRN that showcases research conducted by WRDS, offer business programs and researchers greater visibility and opportunities to share their important work." ABOUT SSRN SSRN is a worldwide collaborative of over 330,600 authors and more than 2.2 million users that is devoted to the rapid worldwide dissemination of research. Founded in 1994, it is now composed of a number of specialized research networks. Each of SSRN's networks encourages the early distribution of research results by reviewing and distributing submitted abstracts and full text papers from scholars around the world. SSRN encourages readers to communicate directly with other subscribers and authors concerning their own and other's research. Through email abstract eJournals SSRN currently reaches over 400,000 people in approximately 140 different countries. ABOUT ELSEVIER Elsevier is a global information analytics company that helps institutions and professionals progress science, advance healthcare and improve performance for the benefit of humanity. Elsevier provides digital solutions and tools in the areas of strategic research management, R&D performance, clinical decision support, and professional education; including ScienceDirect, Scopus, ClinicalKey and Sherpath. Elsevier publishes over 2,500 digitized journals, including The Lancet and Cell, more than 35,000 e-book titles and many iconic reference works, including Gray's Anatomy. Elsevier is part of RELX Group, a world-leading provider of information and analytics to professionals and business customers, in a wide range of industries. www.elsevier.com ABOUT WRDS Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS) is the leading business intelligence, data analytics, and financial research platform for global institutions - enabling comprehensive thought leadership, historical analysis, and insight into the latest innovations in academic research. WRDS provides researchers with one location to access over 250 terabytes of data across multiple disciplines including Accounting, Banking, Economics, ESG, Finance, Healthcare, Insurance, Marketing, and Statistics. Flexible data delivery options include a powerful web query method that reduces research time, the WRDS Cloud for executing research and strategy development, and the WRDS client server using PCSAS, Matlab, and R. Our Analytics team, doctoral-level support and rigorous data review and validation give clients the confidence to tailor research within complex databases and create a wide range of reliable data models. An award-winning data research platform for over 50,000 commercial, academic, and government users in 30+ countries, WRDS is the global gold standard in data management and research all backed by the credibility and leadership of the Wharton School. ABOUT THE WHARTON SCHOOL Founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. With a broad global community and one of the most published business school faculties, Wharton creates economic and social value around the world. The Wharton School has 5,000 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; more than 9,000 participants in executive education programs annually and a powerful alumni network of 96,000 graduates. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20171022005043/en/ Contacts: Wharton Research Data Services Robin Nussbaum Gold wrds@wharton.upenn.edu Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. SAN JOSE, CA and NORCROSS, GA -- (Marketwired) -- 10/10/17 -- CloudGenix, a leader in Software-Defined Wide Area Networks (SD-WAN) and Creative Technology Partners, a leading Managed Service and Solution Provider announced they have joined forces to deliver highly available wide-area networks backed by around the clock management and an industry leading Zero Downtime Guarantee. SimplicIT(SM) fuses CloudGenix Application-Defined SD-WAN with CTP Network Solutions and End-to-End Management to deliver highly resilient wide area networks that eliminate branch office network outages and the associated critical business downtime. SimplicIT(SM) frees IT staffs from day to day triage and troubleshooting and enables them to focus on executing strategic business initiatives. CloudGenix AppFabric continually monitors granular transactional performance for each application and WAN link, and enforces policies for those applications based on user-defined requirements for performance, security, and compliance, in addition to WAN conditions. These same metrics are also surfaced to provide actionable insights into performance and health for both WAN links and applications. CloudGenix CEO Kumar Ramachandran said, of partnering with CTP, "Partnering with a trusted network solutions and managed services leader in CTP allows us to help businesses maintain the highest levels of business availability and performance and future-proof their SD-WAN architecture using AppFabric." Of the partnership with CloudGenix, CTP President RJ Chapple said, "CTP is well known for managed service excellence and multi-carrier private and Internet transport solutions. We are excited to leverage the CloudGenix AppFabric to improve our customers' experience while eliminating the revenue and productivity loss and customer dissatisfaction caused by poor performing applications and networks." About CloudGenix CloudGenix (www.cloudgenix.com) is the software-defined wide-area network (SD-WAN) leader, revolutionizing networking by transforming legacy WANs into a radically simplified, secure, application-defined fabric and virtualizing heterogeneous underlying transports into a unified hybrid WAN. Enabling application-specific, service-level agreements (SLAs), CloudGenix controls network application performance based upon application-performance SLAs and business priority. CloudGenix ION (Instant-On Network) radically simplifies how WANs are designed and managed -- enabling customers to build "networks without networking." It also achieves more than twice the performance at less than half the cost -- leading to a much faster time-to-value once deployed -- and extending data center-class security to the network edge. Founded in 2013, by a team that has previously delivered industry-leading products in networking, SDN, cloud, security, and web-scale applications, CloudGenix serves world-class financial services, legal, retail and technology organizations. The company is backed by Bain Capital Ventures, Charles River Ventures and the Mayfield Fund and has headquarters in San Jose, California. About Creative Technology Partners Creative Technology Partners (www.ctp.network), a division of Atlanta Datacom, Inc. has designed, implemented and managed complex IT environments for some of the nation's largest enterprises since 1985. Backed by a team of seasoned professionals and an unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction, Creative Technology Partners delivers cost-effective and high-performance network solutions and managed services designed to deliver maximum value while aligning with your business objectives. Creative Technology Partners launched SimplicIT(SM) in 2017 -- an industry leading networking solution providing Uptime SLAs and transport Bill Guarantees. Creative Technology Partners is headquartered in Norcross, Georgia. Contact CloudGenix pr@cloudgenix.com Creative Technology Partners pr@ctp.network Mainz (ots) -- Querverweis: Bildmaterial ist abrufbar unter http://www.presseportal.de/bilder -Terroranschlage erschuttern die Welt, in London sollen die Doppel-Null-Agenten abgeschafft werden, und Geheimagent James Bond sieht sich mit einem Feind aus seiner Vergangenheit konfrontiert. Zum Abschluss seiner "James Bond 007"-Reihe prasentiert das ZDF am Mittwoch, 17. Januar 2018, 20.15 Uhr, die Free-TV-Premiere von "Spectre". Regie beim vierten "Bond" mit Daniel Craig in der Hauptrolle fuhrte Sam Mendes nach einem Drehbuch von John Logan und Jez Butterworth. Bonds Widersacher wird von Christoph Waltz verkorpert. In weiteren Rollen sind Lea Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Monica Bellucci, Ben Wishaw, Naomie Harris, Jesper Christensen und Andrew Scott zu sehen.Max Denbigh (Andrew Scott), der neue Leiter des "Centre for National Security", zweifelt an der Relevanz des MI6 - und an der des besten Agenten der Behorde: James Bond (Daniel Craig). Zur gleichen Zeit kann Bond in Mexiko City in letzter Minute einen Anschlag auf ein Stadion verhindern, indem er den Drahtzieher des Anschlags, Marco Sciarra (Alessandro Cremona), aus einem Hubschrauber wirft. Kurz darauf trifft 007 in Rom Sciarras schone Witwe Lucia (Monica Bellucci), mit deren Hilfe er der Geheimorganisation "Spectre" auf die Spur kommen will. Bond infiltriert ein geheimes Treffen von "Spectre".Die Spur fuhrt ins osterreichische Altaussee, wo Bond einem alten Bekannten wiederbegegnet: Mr. White (Jesper Christensen). Er hat sich von "Spectre" abgewendet, ist bereits schwer radioaktiv vergiftet und begeht Suizid. Kurz zuvor legt er das Leben seiner Tochter Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux) in Bonds Hande. Bond kann Madeleine vor dem Zugriff "Spectres" retten. Gemeinsam reisen die beiden nach Tanger und von dort in die Wuste Marokkos, wo "Spectre"-Chef Franz Oberhauser (Christoph Waltz) residiert. Dieser gibt sich als Ernst Stavro Blofeld zu erkennen, ein Abkommling des alten Blofeld. Er strebt wie sein Namensvetter nach der Weltherrschaft - mit modernsten Mitteln, digitaler Uberwachung und Datensammlung.https://presseportal.zdf.de/pm/james-bond-007-schwerpunkt-im-zdf/http://twitter.com/ZDFpressehttp://twitter.com/ZDFhttp://facebook.com/ZDFAnsprechpartnerin: Cordelia Gramm, Telefon: 06131 - 70-12145; Presse-Desk, Telefon: 06131 - 70-12108, pressedesk@zdf.deFotos sind erhaltlich uber ZDF Presse und Information, Telefon: 06131 - 70-16100, und uber https://presseportal.zdf.de/presse/jamesbondOTS: ZDF newsroom: http://www.presseportal.de/nr/7840 newsroom via RSS: http://www.presseportal.de/rss/pm_7840.rss2Pressekontakt: ZDF Presse und Information Telefon: +49-6131-70-12121 IRVINE, CA--(Marketwired - November 01, 2017) - With collaboration, connection and community in mind, EMMES Realty Services of California LLC has begun a multi-million dollar renovation on a pair of office buildings in Irvine. Inspired by the architectural Art Deco movement, Centerview -- purchased by EMMES in April 2017 -- will welcome visitors and tenants with a design that is an artful mix of classic and contemporary. Embracing the original architecture's stone and brass accents, the lobby and common area renovations thoughtfully bridge classic and modern with creative lighting, textures, and a neutral palette, keeping the focus on the simplicity and sophistication of the design. Updated materials include white marble with accents of deep bronze and wood all working in harmony to create a relaxed, inviting aesthetic that is both fresh and timeless. Centerview is located in the Irvine Concourse, one of the most prestigious business complexes in the heart of Orange County's leading Airport Area submarket. The Class A office campus includes two buildings in the Irvine Concourse, plus an El Torito Grill and a McCormick & Schmick's restaurant, totaling approximately 625,000 square feet. Centerview also has a dedicated 1,934-stall parking facility. While the original architecture of the Irvine Concourse embraced a formal planning approach around large central water features and created a separation between the building work spaces, the new Centerview design creates an environment to encourage people to come out of their offices and connect with one another at common interior and outdoor areas. New site furnishings, lighting, art and landscape elements will bring connection to this office community for both professional and recreational use. "Our goal is to enhance the whole life-work experience," said Ashley Proctor, Vice President, Operations, EMMES Realty Services of California LLC. "The new amenities will engage both tenants and visitors alike." Improvements to the property include modernizing building systems such as elevators and HVAC, renovating common areas and adding additional on-site amenities to re-establish Centerview as a premier office location in Orange County. "The workplace is no longer a place meant only for work. It can be a thriving, vibrant community that supports its many occupants and their varying workstyles: social and reflective, focused and universal, and intentional and organic," said Lisa Kelly, managing principal, IA Interior Architects. About EMMES EMMES Realty Services of California LLC is a member of The EMMES Group of Companies. Founded in 1992, with offices in New York and California, The EMMES Group of Companies and its affiliates are engaged in principal real estate investments, funds management and real estate services. For more information, visit www.emmesco.com. Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/10/31/11G147213/Images/View_2_-_Atrium_V_07_high-57a73a2c8c109b7fa206b6e4715c995a.jpg Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/10/31/11G147213/Images/View_3_-_2nd_Floor_Lobby_V_07_high-8d0d55c7cff3be08944e6c83ce07ae41.jpg Media Contact: Neal Leavitt Leavitt Communications (760) 639-2900 Neal@leavcom.com NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / August 16, 2017 / The renowned owner and CEO of iPark, Bill Lerner, built a career by growing his company into what is now the largest family-owned parking garage firm in New York. What began as a single 25-car lot in 1960 has now grown to nearly 150 facilities, with future properties in the works as parking needs continue to increase. While iPark's achievements can certainly be attributed to sound decision-making and management, Lerner's openness to new ideas and philosophies in terms of business operations has been the driving force behind the company's consistent expansion. The American entrepreneur discusses his role as an innovator, and how these decisions have driven sustained success. It's easy to think of innovation within a business as profound, game-changing revelations that completely alter an industry's way of thinking, but that is not always the case. "Evolutionary changes (slight shifts in business strategy or thinking) can often be every bit as powerful as revolutionary advancements," writes Parade contributor Scott Steinberg. "We often forget that all it frequently takes to get ahead is just a minor shift in tactics or perspective." For Lerner, this has often meant accommodating various trends and shifts that reflect on consumer's everyday lifestyles. "It's become essential to be technologically capable," he noted in an interview with Park Exec. "Our customer base has become primarily a tech community." One particular example of Lerner's approach is the implementation of a user-friendly, streamlined online booking framework that became a major factor in the company's growth, especially in the New York City area. "The amenities our clientele enjoy in other markets have to be available within ours in order to retain their business," he pointed out. More recently, the rise in use of electric vehicles prompted Lerner to initiate a partnership with Tesla Motors, Inc. and CarCharging, resulting in the installation of charging stations at a number of iPark garages, with plans to eventually offer them at every facility. "I feel that 10 years out, more new cars will be electric than gasoline-based," he told CNBC. "There's going to come a day when you can't find a place to gas up in Manhattan." Regardless of what the future holds, Bill Lerner will continue to utilize his innovative business approach in the way his company operates, furthering its success in an ever-changing industry that relies on anticipating consumer's preferences on all levels. Bill Lerner is the President and CEO of iPark, New York's largest family-owned parking garage entity. Upon graduating from the University of Colorado with a degree in Business, Billy officially joined his father's company, then known as Imperial Parking Systems, where he began to strategically redevelop its operational functions, eventually rebranding the business as iPark. Today, he personally oversees all technological transitions, placing the company at the forefront of the parking industry's ongoing evolution. A husband and father of three, Billy devotes his spare time to a number of charitable and philanthropic causes, most notably Billy4Kids; a nonprofit organization he founded that works to provide shoes for underprivileged children in communities throughout the world. Bill Lerner - President and CEO of iPark: http://billlernernews.com Billy Lerner (@billy_lerner) - Twitter: https://twitter.com/billy_lerner Billy Lerner - Home - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/billylernerofficial/ Contact Information: BillLernerNews.com http://billlernernews.com contact@billlernernews.com SOURCE: Bill Lerner ALISO VIEJO, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/16/17 -- Cytellix -- the cybersecurity division of Information Management Resources, Inc. (IMRI), an industry standards-based, managed cybersecurity service provider -- is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with California Manufacturing Technology Consulting (CMTC) to deliver Cytellix's services to California manufacturers. A turnkey solution, Cytellix's managed cybersecurity services bring complete cyber assessment, vulnerability scanning, continuous network behavioral analytics, remediation best practices and a plan of action as an annual subscription. Through the new partnership with CMTC, these services will be offered directly to California's small and medium-size manufacturers, enabling customers to be compliant with DoD cybersecurity regulations. "We are proud to be teaming up with CMTC for this partnership. The collaboration is a win for everyone involved," said Cytellix executive vice president of commercial cybersecurity, Brian Berger. "In addition to cost savings, customers will receive premier cybersecurity services from Cytellix and CMTC. Our combined expertise will ensure California manufacturers are NIST-compliant, cyber-ready and prepared for new contract opportunities." A non-profit consulting firm and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) designated Manufacturing Extension Partnership Center (MEP) in California, CMTC aims to identify and transfer technologies that improve competitiveness, innovation and value specifically for small and medium-size manufacturers. With NIST SP 800-171 compliance required by December 31, 2017, the federal supply chain customer base must be able to complete assessments, documentation, remediation and real-time awareness of any cyber vulnerabilities within 30 days of any contract award. "Since failure to comply with DoD Cybersecurity regulations will reduce or even eliminate an organization's chances to qualify for defense contracts, implementing these new cybersecurity controls is critical," said Jim Watson, CMTC's president and CEO. "We are very pleased to be partnering with Cytellix. Not only are they cybersecurity experts, but their approach makes security and compliance easier for small and medium-size manufacturers." For more information, stop by the CMTC Booth #503 and Cytellix Booth #222 at the upcoming Department of the Navy Gold Coast on August 22-23 in San Diego, Calif. ABOUT CMTC: A private, nonprofit corporation established in 1992, CMTC is the California designated NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) Center. CMTC is part of the MEP National Network with Centers in all 50 states plus Puerto Rico. CMTC provides services to small and medium sized-manufacturers designed to drive profitable growth and global competitiveness. For more information, visit http://www.cmtc.com or follow CMTC on LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter. Subscribe to CMTC'S manufacturing network blog at http://www.cmtc.com/blog. ABOUT CYTELLIX: Cytellix, the cybersecurity division of Information Management Resources, Inc. (IMRI), is an industry-standards-based, managed cybersecurity service provider, specializing in proactive behavioral analytics and situational awareness of an organization's cyber posture. Cytellix has created an affordable outsourced solution for small- and mid-size businesses (SMBs) -- which have become one of the largest targets of cyberattacks in recent years -- and its solutions have monitored over 7 million devices thus far. Its best-in-class, turnkey service was designed to help SMBs in government, manufacturing, finance, banking, law, healthcare and higher education sectors take a proactive, low-friction approach to securing their environment. The managed service includes assessments, gap analysis, continuous monitoring, practical plans of action, and customized best practices for remediation and implementation. Cytellix has not only successfully secured the network perimeters for the U.S. Army, Missile Defense Agency and municipal organizations such as the City of Irvine, but its proactive solution has also been deployed at leading corporations, including: PricewaterhouseCoopers, Kaiser Permanente and the Walt Disney Company. The Company has been recognized with numerous honors such as the 2017 American Business Award, the 2016 Small Business Administration Person of the Year award, the 2015 Patriot Award and the 2014 White House Champion of Change Honor; and its experts are frequently tapped for media interviews and keynote addresses by publications such as CNET and The Huffington Post. For more information, please visit www.cytellix.com. Media Contact: Leslie Licano leslie@beyondfifteen.com (949) 733-8679 ext. 101 LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / August 26, 2017 / Lundin Law PC, a shareholder rights firm, announces a class action lawsuit against MAXIMUS, Inc. ("MAXIMUS" or the "Company") (NYSE: MMS) concerning possible violations of federal securities laws between October 30, 2014 and February 3, 2016, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Investors, who purchased or otherwise acquired shares during the Class Period, should contact the firm prior to the October 6, 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 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, MAXIMUS made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: in obtaining the Health Assessment Advisory Service ("HAAS") contract, the Company set an unattainable target number of healthcare professionals to recruit and an unattainable target number of assessments; that throughout the HAAS contract, MAXIMUS was struggling to recruit, train and ramp-up new health care staff to perform the assessments; that the inability to meet its target number of healthcare recruits and target number of assessments, meant MAXIMUS would not earn the performance-based incentive fees from the HAAS contract; and that, as a result, the Company's statements about its financial condition, and the outlook for its business, including statements about the HAAS contract and the amount of revenue MAXIMUS expected the contract to contribute, lacked a reasonable basis when made. When this news reached the public, shares of MAXIMUS fell in value materially, which caused investors harm according to the Complaint. Lundin Law PC was founded by Brian Lundin, Esq., a securities litigator based in Los Angeles dedicated to upholding shareholders' rights. This press release may be considered Attorney Advertising in some 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 Washington D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - August 16, 2017) - The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced insider trading charges against seven individuals who generated millions in profits by trading on confidential information about dozens of impending mergers and acquisitions. Data analysis allowed the SEC's enforcement staff to uncover the illicit trading despite the traders' alleged use of shell companies, code words, and an encrypted, self-destructing messaging application to evade detection. In a parallel action, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York today unsealed criminal charges against the same seven individuals. According to the SEC's complaint, Daniel Rivas, a former IT employee of a large bank, was at the center of the alleged scheme, misusing his access to a bank computer system to tip four individuals who traded on the information. He allegedly tipped others who also traded and passed along the tips. According to the complaint, the traders profited on market-moving news related to 30 impending corporate deals from October 2014 to April 2017. The SEC's complaint alleges that Rivas frequently tipped his girlfriend's father, James Moodhe, who traded on the information and used coded conversations and in-person meetings to relay the tips to his friend, Michael Siva, a financial advisor at a brokerage firm. Siva allegedly used the confidential information to make profitable trades for his brokerage firm clients, earning commissions for himself in the process, and he passed numerous tips along to a client who traded on them. The complaint alleges that Siva also traded on behalf of himself and his wife based on two of the tips he got from Moodhe, a former financial services company treasurer. A separate trading ring allegedly involved two of Rivas's friends in Florida, Roberto Rodriguez and Rodolfo Sablon, who discussed tips on an encrypted, self-destructing smartphone messaging application and used shell companies to carry out their insider trading. Although Rodriguez and Sablon were inexperienced traders, in just over a year they turned less than $100,000 into more than $2 million in profits by making aggressive options trades based on the confidential information. Rodriguez also is alleged to have passed several tips to one of his friends who also traded. According to the SEC's complaint, a third trading ring involved Jhonatan Zoquier, another inexperienced trader who profited by trading on inside information communicated through the encrypted messaging application. The complaint further alleges that New Jersey-based Zoquier repeatedly passed the confidential information along to Jeffrey Rogiers of Oakland, California, who placed several illegal trades for himself and tipped others to trade. The case stems from the SEC Market Abuse Unit's Analysis and Detection Center, which uses data analysis tools to detect suspicious patterns such as improbably successful trading across different securities over time. Enhanced detection capabilities enabled SEC enforcement staff to spot the unusual trading activities. "The tippers and traders in this case are alleged to have used various methods to try to cover their tracks, but their efforts failed," said Steven Peikin, Co-Director of the SEC Enforcement Division. "These charges reflect our continued use of sophisticated tools to detect and root out secretive and wide-reaching insider trading schemes." "We allege that this case involves repeated insider trading based on tips about dozens of confidential mergers and acquisitions stolen by an IT employee at a bank," said Jina L. Choi, Director of the SEC's San Francisco Regional Office. "IT employees are often entrusted with broad access to incredibly valuable, nonpublic information and have a duty to safeguard that information." The SEC's complaint, which was filed in the Southern District of New York, charges Rivas, Moodhe, Rodriguez, Sablon, Zoquier, Siva, and Rogiers with fraud and seeks permanent injunctions along with the return of allegedly ill-gotten gains plus interest and penalties. The SEC's investigation, which is continuing, has been conducted by Walker Newell and David Makol with assistance from John Rymas. The case has been supervised by Joseph G. Sansone, Erin E. Schneider, Steven Buchholz, and Jennifer J. Lee. The SEC's litigation will be led by Susan F. LaMarca and Mr. Newell. The investigation has been conducted jointly by the San Francisco office and the Market Abuse Unit. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and the Options Regulatory Surveillance Authority. Weekly net asset value ("NAV") is calculated as of the close of business on each Tuesday and posted on the following business day. In the event that Tuesday is not a business day, the Company will calculate the close-of-business NAV as of the business day immediately preceding that Tuesday. The end-of-month NAV is calculated as of the close of business on the last day of the month and posted on the following business day. For weeks that include a month-end NAV report, PSH will provide only the month-end NAV and not report the Tuesday NAV. Monthly NAVs are published in accordance with the Decree on Conduct of Business Supervision of Financial Undertakings under the Wft (Besluit Gedragstoezicht financiele ondernemingen Wft). Werbehinweise: Die Billigung des Basisprospekts durch die BaFin ist nicht als ihre Befurwortung der angebotenen Wertpapiere zu verstehen. Wir empfehlen Interessenten und potenziellen Anlegern den Basisprospekt und die Endgultigen Bedingungen zu lesen, bevor sie eine Anlageentscheidung treffen, um sich moglichst umfassend zu informieren, insbesondere uber die potenziellen Risiken und Chancen des Wertpapiers. Sie sind im Begriff, ein Produkt zu erwerben, das nicht einfach ist und schwer zu verstehen sein kann. Technavio's latest report on the pharmaceutical logistics market in APACprovides an analysis of the most important trends expected to impact the market outlook from 2017-2021. Technavio defines an emerging trend as a factor that has the potential to significantly impact the market and contribute to its growth or decline. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170816005468/en/ Technavio has published a new report on the pharmaceutical logistics market in APAC from 2017-2021. (Graphic: Business Wire) The pharmaceutical logistics market in APAC is driven by the increasing demand for medicines from the aging population and scientific and technological advances, coupled with the economic growth of emerging countries, such as India and China, and the trade liberalization. Also, the patent rights for several leading drugs, such as Azilect, Tamiflu, Cancidas, and Invanz, are set to expire in 2017. This indicates that a large portion of drug sales will shift from the original brand manufacturer to generic drug manufacturers. The pharmaceutical market in APAC is becoming increasingly attractive to various pharmaceutical companies, due to the growing population in APAC countries. This report is available at a USD 1,000 discount for a limited time only: View market snapshot before purchasing Buy 1 Technavio report and get the second for 50% off. Buy 2 Technavio reports and get the third for free The top three emerging trends driving the pharmaceutical logistics market in APAC according to Technavio transportation and logistics research analysts are: Innovation in pharmaceutical packaging and technology in cold chain logistics Huge scope in emerging countries and shift toward biological drugs Adoption of automated storage and retrieval systems Looking for more information on this market? Request a free sample report Technavio's sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report including the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more. Innovation in pharmaceutical packaging and technology in cold chain logistics "Reusable containers are being increasingly used in pharmaceutical logistics to reduce waste. Moreover, some companies are encouraging the use of green packaging materials. For instance, World Courier launched a new packaging solution for pallet-sized shipments known as Cocoon in 2016. This packaging will reduce the transportation costs and maintain a temperature to increase the shelf life of drugs and medicines by 40%, as compared with other products," says Shakti Jhakar, a lead analyst at Technavio for research on logistics. Cold chain carriers have invested in onboard equipment, built into refrigeration units to track temperature and location. This also makes data available to 3PLs and shippers in real time, offering increased visibility and the opportunity to mitigate or prevent loss. Some shippers use removable sensors, which independently track the temperature levels of their cold cargo, generally used for high-value goods and international shipments. Huge scope in emerging countries and shift toward biological drugs "The cold storage market in emerging economies, such as India and China, is still in its developing phase. However, certain challenges faced by the cold chain vendors in the emerging economies, such as the lack of proper infrastructure, presence of minimal logistic support, lack of proper warehousing facilities, lack of skilled workers, and limited presence of service providers, have led to a substantial wastage of pharmaceutical products in these countries," adds Shakti. Proper cold storage facilities and cold chain logistics can reduce the pharmaceutical drug wastage and health-related issues in these emerging economies. There has also been a continual growth in the organized retail sector in these regions, which has increased the demand for cold chain logistics facilities. The market is witnessing dynamic growth in developing nations, especially in China, India, and Singapore. Adoption of automated storage and retrieval systems The adoption and use of automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS) is one of the major trends in the pharmaceutical logistics companies in APAC, such as Daifuku and Dematic. AS/RS are inventory management systems that are widely used in manufacturing and distribution centers. AS/RS are specially required by temperature controlled warehouses, where temperatures decrease up to -0.5F. AS/RS also helps in the effective utilization of space and reduces energy consumption and labor costs by more than 50%. AS/RS has an integrated structure of racks and cranes that enables the vertical and horizontal storage of items and optimum use of space (up to the ceiling), creating greater storage density for pharmaceutical products. Browse Related Reports: Oil and Gas Logistics Market in EMEA 2017-2021 Global E-commerce Logistics Market 2017-2021 Global Logistics Insurance Market 2017-2021 About Technavio Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focuses on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 10,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170816005468/en/ Contacts: Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media Marketing Executive US: +1 630 333 9501 UK: +44 208 123 1770 www.technavio.com TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 08/16/17 -- Blue Chip Leasing Corporation ("Blue Chip"), a division of Chesswood Group Limited (CHW: TSX) ("Chesswood"), is pleased to announce the appointment of Marcelle Newstadt as sole President. Marcelle started with Blue Chip in 2002 and has been directly responsible for the operations of the business over the last fifteen years. "We're very excited for Marcelle who now takes over sole responsibility for Blue Chip's continuing growth, after partnering with Ramon Chait, as Co-Presidents," said Barry Shafran, Chesswood's President and CEO. "Marcelle is well known within the Canadian leasing industry and is a highly capable and respected leader," Shafran added. In September 2017, Ramon Chait will be joining Equilease Corp. ("Equilease") to help support the business's continuing expansion efforts. Equilease is one of Canada's largest equipment finance brokers and a valued and long-time customer of Blue Chip. "Ramon has made a large contribution to Blue Chip's success and we thank him for those efforts," said Marcelle. "I'm committed to driving the continued growth of Blue Chip, along with our excellent team," added Ms. Newstadt. Blue Chip's mission is to build mutually beneficial partnerships with its equipment finance brokers through competitive products and superior service. Blue Chip, led by President Marcelle Newstadt, will continue to provide leading edge service and an expanding product appetite as its growth as one of Canada's largest independent equipment finance lenders continues. About Chesswood Through two wholly-owned subsidiaries in the U.S. and Canada, Chesswood Group Limited is North America's only publicly-traded commercial equipment finance company focused on small and medium-sized businesses. Our Colorado-based Pawnee Leasing Corporation, founded in 1982, finances a highly diversified portfolio of commercial equipment leases and loans through established relationships with over 600 independent brokers in 48 U.S. states. In Canada, Blue Chip Leasing Corporation has been originating and servicing commercial equipment leases and loans since 1996, and today operates through a nationwide network of more than 50 independent brokers. Based in Toronto, Canada, Chesswood's shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol CHW (convertible debentures: CHW.DB). Based in Toronto, Canada, Chesswood's shares trade on the TSX under the symbol CHW (convertible debentures: CHW.DB). To learn more about Chesswood Group Limited, visit www.ChesswoodGroup.com. The separate websites of Chesswood Group Limited's operating businesses are at www.PawneeLeasing.com and www.BlueChipLeasing.com. This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. Many factors could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. By its nature, this information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. Additional information about the risks and uncertainties of the Company's businesses and material factors or assumptions on which information contained in forward-looking statements is based is provided in its publicly filed documents, including the Company's annual information form and management's discussion and analysis of the financial condition and performance, which are available electronically through the System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval at www.sedar.com. NO STOCK EXCHANGE, SECURITIES COMMISSION OR OTHER REGULATORY AUTHORITY HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN. Contacts: Barry Shafran Chesswood Group Limited 416-386-3099 bshafran@chesswoodgroup.com CALGARY, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/16/17 -- Veresen Inc. ("Veresen") (TSX: VSN) announces that its Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend for August 2017 of $0.0833 per common share. The dividend will be paid on September 22, 2017 to shareholders of record at the close of business on August 25, 2017. This dividend is designated an "eligible dividend" for Canadian income tax purposes. Preferred Shares Series A, Series C and Series E Veresen's Board of Directors also declared the regular quarterly cash dividend of $0.275 per share, $0.3125 per share and $0.3125 per share for the period ended September 30, 2017 on its Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares Series A, Series C and Series E, respectively. These dividends will be paid on September 29, 2017 to shareholders of record at the close of business on September 15, 2017. These dividends are designated an "eligible dividend" for Canadian income tax purposes. About Veresen Inc. Veresen is a publicly-traded dividend paying corporation based in Calgary, Alberta that owns and operates energy infrastructure assets across North America. Veresen is engaged in three principal businesses: a pipeline transportation business comprised of interests in the Alliance Pipeline, the Ruby Pipeline and the Alberta Ethane Gathering System; a midstream business which includes a partnership interest in Veresen Midstream Limited Partnership which owns assets in western Canada, and an ownership interest in Aux Sable which owns a world-class natural gas liquids (NGL) extraction facility near Chicago and other natural gas and NGL processing infrastructure; and a power business comprised of a portfolio of assets in Canada. Veresen is also working to advance Jordan Cove LNG, a 7.8 million tonne per annum natural gas liquefaction facility proposed to be constructed in Coos Bay, Oregon, and the associated Pacific Connector Gas Pipeline. In the normal course of business, Veresen regularly evaluates and pursues acquisition and development opportunities. Veresen's Common Shares, Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares, Series A, Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares, Series C, and Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Shares, Series E trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols "VSN", "VSN.PR.A", "VSN.PR.C" and "VSN.PR.E", respectively. For further information, please visit www.vereseninc.com. Contacts: Mark Chyc-Cies Vice President, Corporate Planning & Investor Relations (403) 213-3633 investor-relations@vereseninc.com EDMONTON, ALBERTA -- (Marketwired) -- 08/16/17 -- The Alberta Government's Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) review is a welcome and long-awaited announcement. Decades of PC governments have produced an Albertan OHS framework that's fundamentally out of step with other Canadian provinces, putting economic growth ahead of workers and their safety. "Right now, we have an OHS Act that doesn't respect the fundamentals of worker safety in Alberta," said Gil McGowan, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour. "The act is full of token language that sounds good on the surface but doesn't amount to any meaningful, enforceable protections for workers, especially compared to other provinces." At its basic conception, Alberta's OHS Act leaves Alberta workers more vulnerable than workers in other provinces, with elementary safety provisions framed as suggestions rather than enforceable rules. In addition to these more basic problems, there are also a number of brass-tacks updates necessary to reflect emerging workplace challenges. In a modern workforce where workplace technology continues to advance and scientific knowledge about hazards is expanded, there is no mechanism for updating legislation to reflect these changes. "As our understanding of technology and hazards changes, we need a fast, effective way to change our laws," said Gil McGowan, President of the Alberta Federation of Labour. "Workers deserve the benefit of the latest research to protect their health and safety, particularly in dangerous fields. No worker should have to work in unsafe, unprotected conditions for decades simply because we lack legal mechanisms to address a known problem." Further, working alone has always posed unique challenges for certain sectors, highlighted with violent gas-and-dash incidents in recent years. A move toward a BC pay-at-the-pump model could protect gas station attendants who often work alone, and a thorough review of working-alone legislation could identify and make provisions for other dangerous sectors. Perhaps most critically, employers who put workers in harm's way need to be held accountable. "Calgary Police Service is doing excellent work to make it easier to press criminal charges for employer negligence with the Kresk Protocol," said McGowan. "We need the government to continue working with police across the province to make sure they have the tools to investigate and place charges in workplace incidents. Employers need to be held accountable for cutting corners when it comes to OHS." Contacts: Janelle Morin Director of Communications 780-278-3640 jmorin@afl.org Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - August 16, 2017) - Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. (TSX: AVL) (OTCQX: AVLNF) ("Avalon" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed a non-brokered private placement today consisting of 3,100,000 flow-through shares at a price of $0.145 per share for gross proceeds of $449,500. In conjunction with this private placement, Avalon paid finder's fees of $26,970 and issued 186,000 non-transferrable finder's warrants, with each finder's warrant being exercisable to acquire one common share of the Company at a price of $0.145 for a period of 24 months from today. Pursuant to Canadian securities laws, the securities issuable under this private placement are subject to a hold period which expires on December 17, 2017. The proceeds from this offering will be used primarily to continue to advance the Company's Separation Rapids Lithium Project including the summer field work programs currently in progress and additional metallurgical testwork. The work program is being supervised by Bill Mercer, P. Geo. (ON) and Vice President, Exploration of Avalon who is a qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101. This press release is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the US Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "US Securities Act"), and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to US persons (as defined in Regulation S under the US Securities Act) absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration. All currency reported in this release is in Canadian dollars. About Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. Avalon Advanced Materials Inc. is a Canadian mineral development company specializing in niche market metals and minerals with growing demand in new technology. The Company has three advanced stage projects, all 100%-owned, providing investors with exposure to lithium, tin and indium, as well as rare earth elements, tantalum, niobium, and zirconium. Avalon is currently focusing on its Separation Rapids Lithium Project, Kenora, ON and its East Kemptville Tin-Indium Project, Yarmouth, NS. Social responsibility and environmental stewardship are corporate cornerstones. For questions and feedback, please e-mail the Company at ir@AvalonAM.com, or phone Don Bubar, President & CEO at 416-364-4938. This news release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to how the Company plans to use the net proceeds from the Private Placement and that proceeds from this offering will be used primarily to continue to advance the Company's Separation Rapids Lithium Project. Generally and these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "potential", "scheduled", "anticipates", "continues", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "scheduled", "targeted", "planned", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be" or "will not be" taken, reached or result, "will occur" or "be achieved". Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Avalon to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable at the time such statements are made. Although Avalon has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from expected results described in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to market conditions, and the possibility of cost overruns or unanticipated costs and expenses as well as those risk factors set out in the Company's current Annual Information Form, Management's Discussion and Analysis and other disclosure documents available under the Company's profile at www.SEDAR.com. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Such forward-looking statements have been provided for the purpose of assisting investors in understanding the Company's plans and objectives and may not be appropriate for other purposes. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Avalon does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are contained herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. DENVER, CO -- (Marketwired) -- 08/16/17 -- Apto, the leading web-based software for commercial real estate brokers, has been ranked #401 by Inc. magazine on its list of the fastest-growing privately held companies in the United States. In the 36th annual Inc. 500 list released this week, Apto also ranked as the 7th fastest-growing company in Denver and the 30th fastest-growing software company in the United States. "We're excited and honored to be named to the Inc. 500 list for the second year in a row. It's a testament to the value of our product and our continued emphasis on innovation in commercial real estate technology," said CEO Tanner McGraw. Apto has experienced phenomenal growth in both revenue and employee headcount over the last 12 months. It was recognized this summer as one of Colorado's Top 50 Companies to Watch and placed second in its category on the Denver Business Journal's Fastest Growing Private Companies rankings. It also significantly enhanced its product offerings in recent months with the release of Apto Prospect & Nurture, Apto Commissions and Apto Mobile. Complete results of the Inc. 500|5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000. "The Inc. 5000 is the most persuasive evidence I know that the American Dream is still alive," says Inc. President and Editor-In-Chief Eric Schurenberg. "The founders and CEOs of the Inc. 5000 tell us they think determination, risk taking, and vision were the keys to their success, and I believe them." About Apto: Created by and for commercial real estate brokers, Apto is the leading web-based software for managing customer relationships, properties, listings, deals and commissions. Apto serves thousands of commercial brokers and is the CRM of choice for 6 of the top 8 CRE brands. Apto's world-class software is optimized to meet the needs of CRE brokers, and can be further customized to brokerage workflows and business requirements. Apto is the only platform that allows brokers to manage the full lifecycle of a deal anywhere, from any device. Interested in Apto, our customer success stories or working for us? Visit www.apto.com, call 888-633-6424 or email info@apto.com. SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwired - August 16, 2017) - Anderson Plumbing Heating and Air is proud to sponsor NBC 7 and Telemundo 20's popular pet adoption campaign, Clear the Shelters. The annual campaign will include the participation of more than a dozen local animal shelters across San Diego County. On August 19 th , adoption fees will be waived in this market to help families adopt a new pet. "Our office mascot is Otis -- a shelter dog who has been named our CMO -- Chief Motivation Officer! He brings such joy to the team on his 'work days' and many of our employees are devoted pet owners. We jumped at the chance to be part of the NBC 7 and Telemundo 20's Clear the Shelters Campaign," said Mary Jean Anderson, president of Anderson Plumbing, Heating & Air. Anderson Plumbing, Heating and Air will be offering $50 gift cards for Anderson services to new pet parents that adopt a pet from any participating shelter locations on August 19 th (while supplies last). Successful pet adopters will receive the $50 gift card in the adoption packet that is handed out by the shelters the day of the event. In addition, Anderson Plumbing will have team members on-site at the San Diego Humane Society on Gaines Street during the event. "We're proud to partner with Anderson Plumbing for Clear the Shelters Day. Support from Anderson Plumbing, Heating & Air, as well as our other sponsors, will help maximize the positive impact on our community," said Richard Kelley, General Manager, NBC 7 San Diego and Telemundo 20. "Last year's event was a resounding success, and we look forward to rallying together as a community to encourage even more families to welcome a homeless animal to their home and make a positive impact in our local area once again." Clear the Shelters is an initiative spearheaded by NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations, a division of NBCUniversal. The pet adoption campaign is sponsored nationally by Petco and VIP Petcare. Since 2015, the NBC and Telemundo stations' Clear the Shelters efforts has resulted in more than 70,000 pet adoptions nationwide. For more information about the pet adoption campaign, visit ClearTheShelters.com. You can also follow the effort on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram by using the hashtags ClearTheShelters and LoveMyPet. To access information in Spanish, please visit DesocuparLosAlbergues.com and follow DesocuparLosAlbergues and AmoAMiMascota. Image Available: http://www.marketwire.com/library/MwGo/2017/8/16/11G144285/Images/otis-21a2e54c144e9f39b96c7a535ee14f2a.jpg ANDERSON PLUMBING, HEATING & AIR CONTACT Mary Jean Anderson 619-873-1460 mj@andersonpha.com NBC 7/TELEMUNDO 20 CONTACT Charisma Deberry 619-200-7568 Charisma.deberry@nbcuni.com GeoTix, a Traverse City, MI-based provider of SaaS solutions that generate new, non-advertising revenue streams for media companies, received $1m in financing. Backers included Boomerang-Catapult and strategic investor Casey Cowell, co-founder of U.S. Robotics. The company will use the funds to drive marketing and sales efforts. Founded in 2015 and led by Deb Fellows, CEO, GeoTix is a provider of software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions that generate new, non-advertising revenue streams for media companies through local event discovery to ticket purchase. It enables media companies to connect with their audience, reflect their commitment to community, and leverage existing content to create new revenue streams. In return, they gain increased income, brand building, web site traffic, and foster community relationships. GeoTixs ticketing platform is specifically designed for local and regional media companies who are looking for an innovative way to grow both their digital portfolio and non-advertising revenue. Customers include media companies in Cleveland, Detroit, Jacksonville, Louisville, Minneapolis, Omaha, New York, etc. FinSMEs 16/08/2017 Round13 Capital, a Toronto, Canada-based tech focused venture capital firm, closed a $95m fund. The majority of the fund was raised from high-net-worth investors and family offices, as well as pension fund LiUNA and National Bank. Led by Bruce Croxon, John Eckert, Scott Pelton and Craig Strong, Round13 Capital invests in growth stage Canadian companies needing up to $5m in capital to drive sales and marketing and offers strategy, operations, and marketing support. Since the close, the fund has already made three investments in early-stage B2B software companies Statflo, Hubdoc, and TouchBistro. Beyond the team, the firm also has a Founders Board, which is a team of 20 seasoned entrepreneurs who have started, grown, and exited world-class companies in Canada. Each member of the Founders Board has invested and committed to serve as advisors to the portfolio companies. The board includes Axonify founder Carol Leaman, Shopify co-founder Scott Lake, and Clearnet Communications founder Bob Simmonds. FinSMEs 16/08/2017 New Delhi: Public sector banks have reported 20 percent jump in the outstanding loans by nearly 9,000 wilful defaulters who collectively owed to lenders more than Rs 92,000 crore at the end of March this year. The outstanding loans by wilful defaulters rose to Rs 92,376 crore at the end of financial year 2016-17, as against Rs 76,685 crore at the end of March 2016, registering a jump of 20.4 percent. At the same time, there has been close to 10 percent increase in number of wilful defaulters on annual basis. The number of wilful defaulters increased to 8,915 at the end of March as against 8,167 in the previous fiscal, according to data collated by the Finance Ministry. Out of 8,915 cases of wilful defaults, banks have filed FIR (First Information Report) in 1,914 cases with outstanding loans of Rs 32,484 crore. During 2016-17, 27 public sector banks, including State Bank of India (SBI) and its five associates have written off Rs 81,683 crore, the highest in the last five fiscals. The amount was 41 percent higher than that in the previous fiscal. SBI and its erstwhile associates alone have written off Rs 27,574 crore non-performing assets (NPAs) in 2016-17, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data on "write offs" done by public sector banks. SBI merged its five associate banks with itself from 1 April, 2017. Gross non-performing assets (NPAs) of the public sector banks rose to Rs 6.41 lakh crore at the end of March 2017 as against Rs 5.02 lakh crore a year ago. In order to check incidences of wilful default, RBI has tightened the norms and made it clear that promoter of the defaulting company cannot escape from his responsibility even if he is not a whole time director. As per earlier guidelines, a bank couldn't label a non-whole-time director of a company as a wilful defaulter unless there was conclusive evidence that the individual was aware of the wilful default by the company and had not objected to it. A wilful default occurs when a defaulting borrower doesn't honour an obligation, despite having the capacity to pay, or siphoning off funds and disposing of assets without the knowledge of the bank, according to RBI. The RBI also allowed banks to name and shame wilful defaulters by publish their photographs. New Delhi: The government has banned exports of gold jewellery, medallions and other articles above 22-carat purity in a bid to check round tripping of the precious metal. In a notification, the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) has said certain provisions of the foreign trade policy (2015-20) are "amended to allow export of gold jewellery (plain or studded) and articles containing gold of 8 carats and above up to a maximum limit of 22 carats only from domestic tariff area and export-oriented units, electronics hardware technology parks, software technology parks and bio technology parks". This means that export of gold jewellery, medallions and other articles of the precious metal above 22 carat purity is not permitted by any exporter, including from these parks, which are meant for sector-specific shipments. The DGFT also stated that only those exporters can avail of incentives who are shipping gold jewellery and other articles containing gold of 8 carats and up to a maximum limit of 22 carats and not beyond. According to an official of the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC), some exporters were availing of export incentives by claiming export of gold items of above 22 carat purity with some value addition. "This is not possible as India is a net importer of gold and no trader would import above 22 carats gold and export it as it is without value addition. This is not a financially viable business," the GJEPC official, who did not wish to be named, said. Sharing similar views, an official of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) said that through this notification, the government has banned export of the jewellery above 22 carats and this decision will not impact shipment of gold jewellery as there is significantly less demand for these items in the international market. The decision came at a time when Indian gold jewellery traders have raised concerns over a surge in gold imports from South Korea. Gold import from South Korea jumped to $338.6 million during 1 July and 3 August this year. The import in 2016-17 stood at 470.46 million. Under the free trade pact between India and South Korea, basic Customs duty on gold was eliminated. Further, the 12.5 percent countervailing duty on gold imports has been subsumed in the Goods and Services Tax (GST). Accordingly, imports now attract only 3 percent integrated GST. Countries impose this duty to discourage import of a product. India is the world's second-biggest gold consumer after China. The imports mainly take care of demand by the jewellery industry. New Delhi: The government has extended by five years the anti-dumping duty imposed on import of chemical compound PTFE, used as a non-stick coating for pans and other cookware, to safeguard the domestic industry. The revenue department has issued a notification imposing $2,637 per tonne as anti-dumping duty on imports of polytetraflouroethylene (PTFE) from China. The duty was first imposed for five years in August 2011 and extended by one year last August. A review of the anti-dumping duty has concluded that "there is continued dumping of the product concerned from China, both in absolute terms and in relation to production and consumption in India causing injury to the domestic industry", the department said. It found the imports "significantly undercutting" the prices of the domestic industry. Further, the imports are found to be suppressing and depressing the domestic prices. The notification said the review found that the performance of the domestic industry has deteriorated in terms of profits and return on investments and the dumped imports from China continue to cause injury to the domestic industry despite imposition of the anti-dumping duty. Chinese producers have "significant capacity which establishes that in the event of cessation of duties, exports to India will intensify", it said while adding that the dumping of the product under consideration from China is likely to continue and intensify should the anti-dumping duty be revoked. "The anti-dumping duty imposed shall be effective for a period of five years (unless revoked, superseded or amended earlier)," the notification added. India imposes anti-dumping duty to ring-fence the domestic industry from an increase in cheap price import. Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last week told the Rajya Sabha that "anti-dumping duty is in force on 93 products concerning imports from China. "These products belong to a broad group of chemicals and petrochemicals, products of steel and other metals, fibres and yarn, machinery items, rubber or plastic products, electric and electronic items and consumer goods, among others. India's imports from China dipped to $61.28 billion in 2016-17 as against $61.7 billion in the previous year. New Delhi: Indian exports rose for the 11th consecutive month in July 2017, official data showed on Monday. Exports in July at $22.5 billion recorded a growth of over 3.9 percent on the back of a healthy rise in shipments of engineering goods, petroleum products and chemicals, according to data released by the Commerce Ministry. The country's exports during the corresponding month of last year stood at $21.69 billion. "In continuation with the positive growth exhibited by exports for the last eleven months, exports during July 2017 have shown growth of 3.94 percent in dollar terms valued at $22,543.80 million as compared to $21,689.57 million during July,2016.," the ministry statement said. "During July 2017, major commodity groups of export showing positive growth over the corresponding month of last year are engineering goods (15.16 percent), petroleum products (20.27), organic and inorganic chemicals (20.67), cotton yarn/fabrics/made-ups, handloom products etc.(5.39) and marine products(30.53)," it said. However, the country's imports during the month under review also increased by 15.42 percent to $33.99 billion from $29.45 billion. "Major commodity group of imports showing high growth in July 2017 over the corresponding month of last year are petroleum, crude and products (15.02 percent), electronic goods (22.5), machinery, electrical and non-electrical (7.34), pearls, precious and semi-precious stones (6.86) and gold (95.05)," the statement said. Besides, the data showed that India's oil imports during July increased by 15.02 per cent to $7.84 billion, from $6.82 billion in the same month last year. "The prices ($/barrel) have increased by 8.03 percent in July 2017 vis-a-vis July 2016 as per World Bank commodity price data," the statement said. Non-oil imports were up by 15.55 percent to $26.14 billion, from $22.63 billion in the corresponding month of last year. Consequently, the trade deficit during the month under review rose higher to $11.45 billion from $7.76 billion reported for July 2016. Further, the ministry disclosed that the services exports data provided by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) for June 2017 was estimated at $13.39 billion, and the trade deficit at $5.9 billion "Taking merchandise and services together, overall trade deficit for April-July 2017-18 is estimated at $34.07 billion, as compared to $10.80 billion during April-July 2016-17," the statement added. New Delhi: The government on Wednesday capped prices of knee implants at a significantly lower rate than current market rates, a move that could result in savings of Rs 1,500 crore annually to patients requiring surgery. The decision comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced from the ramparts of Red Fort in his Independence-Day speech that prices of knee surgery would be brought down. As part of the initiative, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has capped the price of widely used Cromium Cobalt knee implants at Rs 54,720. It used to cost between Rs 1.58 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh earlier. "After cardiac stents, we have now decided to bring knee implants under price control," Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar told reporters here. The move will result in savings of around Rs 1,500 crore annually for an estimated 1.5 lakh patients requiring knee replacement surgery every year, he added. Justifying the move, Kumar said, "The government will not be a mute spectator to illegal and unethical profiteering." He further said the government will take stringent action against hospitals, importers, retailers if they charge in excess of the MRP. Banking and finance as we know it, has relied on one important factor; trust. A trust model requires a bank or a financial institution to act as a third party between a merchant of sale and a purchaser. In a trust-based model, it is not possible to have non-reversible transactions, as financial institutions are eager to avoid dispute. This increases transaction costs and makes small-scale transactions unfeasible. This is where digital currency promises a breath of fresh air. Two willing parties can transact directly through a peer to peer version of electronic cash, minus the hassle of a financial counterparty, currency exchange and transactional cost. Transactions in digital currencies are facilitated by Blockchain, the underlying technology empowering this seamless exchange. Blockchain is a distributed ledger which details the payment history of digital currencies and replaces a trusted third party. Blockchain enables parties to securely send, receive, and record value or information through a peer-to-peer network of computers, and only records a transaction after confirming its validity. Bankers have not been too happy to accept the revolution triggered by digital currencies. They struggle to appropriately define digital currencies. The European Central Bank defines a virtual currency as a type of unregulated, digital money, issued and controlled by its developers, and used and accepted among the members of a specific virtual community. The distributed ledger also poses hassles for the financial markets. Since there are no intermediaries, there is no way a digital currency transaction can be reversed and law enforcement is an issue when it comes to the degree of anonymity that digital currencies offer in addition to seamless, borderless transactions. However, countries have expressed mixed reactions toward digital currencies. China treats Bitcoins as a special virtual commodity, not a currency, prohibiting banks from dealing in them. United Kingdom treats Bitcoin payments like ordinary payments for tax purposes. France and Germany have declared Bitcoin not a currency but an alternative means of payment. Russians denounced Bitcoins exchange as a dubious activity associated with money laundering and terrorism financing. Kenyan Central Bank declared virtual currencies as unregulated and warned the public against using them. Nevertheless, usage of virtual currencies has continued to boom with more people warming up to the concept and in the process, revolutionising international payments. So popular has been the Bitcoins for instance, that there were fears the system would be unable to sustain transactions due to their rapid increase. Bitcoin has become like the official currency in the dark web. Regulators, financial institutions and businesses need to understand potential impact of virtual currencies. Instead of fighting and curtailing them, reform in the financial markets framework to have laws keeping up with the digital evolution and technological wizardry is the way forward. The era of digital currencies is upon us now, and stopping it is well-nigh impossible. (The writer is Co-founder & CEO, SearchTrade.com) New Delhi: Markets regulator Sebi has notified relaxed norms for stake purchase in distressed listed companies by lenders, exempting them from making open offers for shareholders. The relaxation will be subject to certain conditions, including shareholders' approval of the stake acquisition by way of special resolution. The Sebi decision comes against the backdrop of the government and the Reserve Bank of India stepping up efforts to tackle the menace of bad loans, amounting to over Rs 8 lakh crore. The regulator has eased the norms for restructuring in stressed companies that are listed on exchanges as well as resolution plans approved under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, Sebi said in a notification dated 14 August. The move is aimed at facilitating turnaround of listed companies in distress which will benefit their shareholders and lenders. Currently, relaxations from preferential issue requirements and open offer obligations are available for lenders undertaking restructuring of distressed listed companies under the Strategic Debt Restructuring (SDR) scheme. There have been representations made to Sebi that lenders that have acquired shares and propose to divest them to new investors faced difficulties as the latter have to make an open offer. Such offers further reduce the funds available for investment in the company concerned. In view of the concerns raised, Sebi has extended the relaxations to new investors acquiring shares in distressed companies pursuant to such restructuring schemes. Such relaxations will be subject to certain conditions like approval by shareholders of the companies by special resolution and lock-in of their shareholding for a minimum three years. "The lock-in of equity shares acquired pursuant to conversion of convertible securities purchased from the lenders shall be reduced to the extent the convertible securities have already been locked-in," the regulator noted. The special resolution requires approval of at least 75 percent of a company's shareholders. Further, the relaxations will be applicable to the lenders under other restructuring schemes undertaken in accordance with the RBI guidelines. Besides, the issuer will have to make certain disclosure about the proposed acquirer in the explanatory statement to the notice for the general meeting proposed for passing the special resolution. These disclosures are about the ultimate beneficial owners of the shares proposed to be purchased, its business model, a statement on growth of business over a period of time, summary of financials of the previous three financial years, trackrecord in turning around companies, and the proposed road map for effecting turnaround of the issuer. It also notified rules to provide exemption from open offer obligations for acquisitions pursuant to resolution plans approved by the NCLT under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. Under the Code, lenders or the companies seeking insolvency proceedings have to first approach the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). The board of Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) had approved a proposal in this regard in June. In June, the RBI had identified 12 stressed accounts for resolution under the Code. These include listed companies. Chennai: India's largest lender, State Bank of India (SBI), has rationalised 716 offices (594 branches and 122 administrative offices) and several thousands of employees have been transferred beginning this fiscal, but, strangely, there have been no major protests, top officials said. Several hundreds of offices would be closed and thousands of staff would be moved in the coming months, officials added. Strangely one does not hear any major complaints of vindictiveness or arbitrariness from the normally vociferous banking sector employees. This, at a time when leading software companies are arbitrarily firing people at day's notice. Even the unions that strongly opposed the merger of six banks with SBI and were apprehensive about treatment of incoming staff by the SBI management agree that there is not much of vindictive or arbitrary movement of people till now, making one wonder as to how and why this happened. Around 70,000 employees (around 40,000 Cass III and IV and around 30,000 officers) were added to SBI's rolls following the merger of SBBJ (State Bank of Bikaner and Jaipur), SBM (State Bank of Mysore), SBT (State Bank of Travancore), SBP (State Bank of Patiala) and SBH (State Bank of Hyderabad) and Bharatiya Mahila Bank. "By and large, the staff redeployment in SBI has been smooth. However, there seems to be complaints of vindictive transfers in Kerala which the management must address satisfactorily," C.H. Venkatachalam, General Secretary, All India Bank Employees' Association (AIBEA), told IANS. But how is it that SBI is managing the show without the flag of protest being raised by the usually vociferous unions? "The management did not deviate from the transfer policies that were signed between the management and the unions," Sanjeev Kumar Bandlish, General Secretary, All India State Bank of India Staff Federation (AISBISF), told IANS. "There are set transfer policies for officers and the award staff. We have told the management not to transfer employees on a large scale," D. Thomas Franco Rajendra Dev, President, All India State Bank Officers Federation (AIBOF), told IANS. Union leaders said the employees were consulted and posting preferences were sought prior to their transfer. "The employees were moved to other branches located in the close vicinity of their earlier offices. This reduced tension in the minds of incoming employees to a large extent," Neeraj Vyas, Deputy Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer, told IANS. He said those who opted to take higher responsibility under the Career Progression Plan (CPP) were transferred to another location as per the existing policy. "The reservation about the merger was only in the incoming employees' minds. Once the merger happened and the employees saw the systematic way the policies were followed, the mental block against the merger has melted," Vyas said. "When the merger was proposed, integrating the officers of associate banks was not considered to be a problem. However, in the case of clerical cadres there was a crucial difference between SBI and the associate banks," Vyas added. Vyas said that under the SBI's CPP for clerical staff, those who accept higher responsibility are given additional powers and allowances. "But such schemes were not there in the associate banks and the major union there -- the AIBEA -- had opposed the scheme," Vyas said. He said many employees of the erstwhile associate banks have now opted for the CPP. According to Vyas, there were no mass scale transfers in the associate banks prior to the introduction of Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) before the merger. A total of 3,569 employees opted for VRS. "The VRS numbers were as per our initial expectations," Vyas said. In the case of officers, they will be transferred on promotion or after completing three years at a location. On the staff redeployment process, Vyas said the bank planned a mix of employees -- those who are originally from SBI and from associate banks -- so that they get culturally integrated with SBI. According to SBI, the projected number of staff to be redeployed due to rationalisation of administrative offices and branches is around 10,616. The bank has said that nearly 30 percent of the 8,616 staff to be redeployed due to branch rationalisation will be posted in sales functions. Questioned about the complaints on transfer in Kerala, Vyas replied: "Only 25 employees of erstwhile State Bank of Travancore (SBT) have complained out of 4,300 employees to whom the Career Progression Plan was offered." He said the unions in SBT had vociferously opposed the career progression scheme prior to the merger. According to Vyas, the acceptance of the career progression scheme amongst the erstwhile associate bank employees is around 80 percent now, the same as in SBI. Queried about the criteria for closure of banks, Vyas said it is based on factors like profitability, viability, period of lease, footfalls and others. "We are not closing the branches of erstwhile associate banks. Even SBI branches will be closed if they do not fulfill the criteria. We move from rental premises to owned premises wherever possible," Vyas added. According to Vyas, the total number of branches that would be rationalised will be around 1,400, of which 594 have been completed. "The remaining will happen over a period of time. Further we will open new branches wherever needed," he added. The news of the sacking of Pahlaj Nihalani, the former chairman of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), and the subsequent appointment of Prasoon Joshi was celebrated by many in the film industry and on social media. Nihalani was a controversial chief who was frequently lambasted for his absurd decisions regarding the certification of films and the cuts ordered for them. Prasoon Joshi's arrival was highly anticipated, but it appears that he was not able to visit the CBFC's office on Monday, which was his first day. DNA reports that the lyricist-adman was feeling under the weather, and his absence caused disorder at the board. "On Friday, before Pahlaj Nihalani left his office he had certified many films including Ashwiny Iyer Tiwaris Bareilly Ki Barfi and the Sidharth Malhotra-Jacqueline Fernandez thriller, A Gentleman, scheduled to be released on the two Fridays to come one after the other." "These producers were to collect their censor certificates on Monday as per the rules. When Prasoon didnt turn up at the CBFC office on Monday, all hell broke loose since there was no chairperson to organise the smooth delivery of the certificates (sic)," said an unverified source speaking to DNA. It is also being reported that Nihalani had to step in, considering this situation, to ensure that Bareilly Ki Barfi, which stars Rajkumar Rao, Ayushmann Khurrana and Kriti Sanon and releases on 18 August, could obtain a certificate. The producers of the film reportedly contacted him. Prasoon Joshi is now expected to assume office on Friday, 18 August. Nearly 2,50,000 cine employees and workers have gone on an indefinite strike from 15 August, demanding that their various issues pending with the producers be addressed at the earliest. The spotboys, junior artistes and all the workers on film sets and in the television industry are taking part in the strike under the aegis of the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE). "We are going on a strike with our long-pending demands. The workers are being made to work for over eight hours a day. There is a major issue of their safety. No provision has been made for the security of the workers," FWICE president Birendra Nath Tiwari told PTI. He said the workers had raised a similar demand in 2015 and were then assured by the producers that their increments would be raised by 13 per cent in the first year, "which never happened". "They (producers) said they were facing losses due to GST, demonetisation etc. And had settled for a 7.5-per cent hike for the workers of the elite unions. But, those on a monthly basis are suffering. They are being treated as slaves," he added. According to Tiwari, the grievance of the workers was largely against the television producers and not the film producers. "The workers do not get payments even after 90 days. By then, the producer says let's settle the matter because he is facing losses. We have always been supportive, but things are just not working now," he said. The projects likely to be affected due to the strike include Shah Rukh Khan's next film, which is being directed by Aanand L Rai, Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati and Amitabh Bachchan's Kaun Banega Crorepati Season 9. Game of Thrones season 7 episode 5 Eastwatch had an important place in the show, narrative-wise. Between the fiery battle that ended episode 4 (the loot train attack) and the big action scenes that will mark episode 6 (Jon et al taking on some White Walkers), Eastwatch did some much needed place-setting, and acts as a palate cleanser between two dramatically different fight sequences. There were of course, the near-reveals that pepper each episode of Game of Thrones as it approaches story's end: Gilly reading out to Sam of an annulment granted to a Prince 'Ragger' (who we know is Rhaegar) so he could wed another woman in Dorne; Jon petting Drogon yet another arrow in the quiver that's meant to prove his Targaryen parentage. Read on Firstpost Game of Thrones season 7 episode 5 review: The good, bad and so-so from 'Eastwatch' There was some reckoning of who stands where in the battle to control the Iron Throne: Dany may have shown off what she is capable of achieving if she brings her dragons into the mix, but battle of Tumbleton was not a terribly crucial victory for her. At this point, her losses in war still surpass Cersei's all Dany destroyed with the loot train attack was the Reach's grain (which will be needed by everyone, no matter which side they're on, once winter reaches the South) and the Tarlys, who weren't terribly important to the scheme of things. What the skirmish has achieved, is get Cersei to agree (on the surface of it) to an armistice while Dany engages with the pressing matter of the white walkers. What else in Eastwatch was important? For that, we need to look at how it concluded. At the very end of the episode, we see seven brave men set out beyond the Wall to capture a white walker. The end game is to bring it to King's Landing to convince Cersei (and everyone else who needs convincing like those querulous old maesters at the Citadel) that the threat of the Long Night is real, and that it requires their immediate attention. The seven include Jon Snow, Ser Jorah Mormont, Gendry (who've travelled up from Dragonstone), Tormund (who had taken charge of Eastwatch) and the Hound, Ser Beric Dondarrion and Thoros the Priest (who've been travelling in the northerly direction to serve the Lord of Light at least the latter two and were held at Eastwatch by Tormund when they attempted to cross the Wall). There's been quite some response to this motley crew setting out beyond the Wall, including: Why aren't they wearing hats in sub-zero conditions? How do they honestly hope to capture a white walker from the entire army that's marching along with the Night King (and which they very well know of, thanks to Bran's vision?). Funnier reactions have included comparing the group to the crew from The Magnificent Seven. 'Seven', incidentally, is a number that crops up time and again in GoTverse, fiction and real life. There are the seven deadly sins, the seven days of the week, seven continents. Mathematically, seven is the smallest 'happy number', while the number of random/disparate objects a human brain can recognise instantly, is seven. The Magnificent Seven, who Jon and company are being compared to, were inspired by Kurosawa's Seven Samurai. In GoTverse, one of the major religions is called the Faith of the Seven. Westeros itself comprises seven kingdoms, and A Song of Ice and Fire will be complete in seven volumes (or at least such is the hope). So the number of Jon's company feels significant. It also feels significant for subscribing to a fantasy fiction trope that of the small group of the righteous embarking on a quest to bring down a larger evil. As one of the best known (and certainly most successful) writers of the fantasy genre of this generation, George RR Martin has offered a study in contrasts to the great who came before him JRR Tolkien. Superficially, the writers share much in common all those 'Rs' in their names (Raymond Richard for Martin, Ronald Reuel for Tolkien), the genre (high fantasy) they're giants of, their strong anti-war sentiments, their painstaking attention to world-building, and if we really want to stretch the point, the casting of Sean Bean in the screen adaptations of both their classics, as well as the presence of faithful sidekicks named Sam! Both their best known works are also considered to be inspired by real life historical events: Tolkien served in the British Army during World War I and while Lord of the Rings being an allegory for either of the World Wars has been debunked, his experiences in the Battle of Somme certainly influenced his writing of it. With GRRM, there are more direct allusions drawn. Westeros may be a fantasy continent, but it does seem modelled on medieval England notably the War of the Roses part of its history. As a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, GRRM never glorifies the war sequences in ASOIAF, humanising (where possible) the ordinary foot-soldier. One could also draw parallels between the Targaryens' dragons and the role of aerial warfare during World War I. In this light, Maester Qyburn's ballista/crossbow (or 'scorpion', as it's referred to) is nothing more than an anti-aircraft gun. (And the scene of Bronn shooting at Drogon from it, during the battle of Tumbleton as depicted in Game of Thrones season 7 episode 4, certainly lends credence to that imagery.) And then there are the references to climate change GRRM's woven into the story. Despite their similarities, however, the greatest works of Tolkien and GRRM are also very different. Some of these have been pointed out by GRRM himself for instance, he's far more interested in the nitty-gritty of day-to-day life than Tolkien's sweeping epic was. So where Tolkien might write of Aragorn ruling wisely and well for 500 years, GRRM would get into what are the kinds of things such a rule might involve: Dany, for all intents and purposes, is a 'good' queen (when contrasted with Cersei, certainly), but she barely manages to hold on to power in Mereen. The entire section of the books and the TV series that sees her traverse from Qarth to Mereen is all about her confronting the reality of what it means to rule. Similarly, Jon is chosen to be King in the North but the same people who chose him constantly question his decisions. The crux of the difference between Lord of the Rings and ASOIAF (or Game of Thrones) is in how they view good and evil. In LOTR, the forces of evil emanate from one source: Sauron; his minions are recognisably dreadful the Orcs; corruption shows itself quickly: Saruman, Smeagol/Gollum, and to a certain extent, Denethor II. Even Boromir's transgression to the dark side is quickly rectified with a heroic sacrifice. With GRRM, the distinction between good and bad isn't as clear: Take the case of Jaime Lannister, for instance, who (as we've mentioned in a previous column) has undergone quite the redemptive journey. Or Theon Greyjoy, who can be courageous, and cowardly. Or Dany, who is positioned as a heroine, but feels no compunction in sentencing dissenters to become dragon toast. Ramsay and Joffrey are perhaps the only two dyed-in-the-wool sadists the series has presented, most other characters fall along the spectrum of grey. The greater battle too between the Forces of Light versus the Forces of Darkness has a morally ambiguous tone: Wasn't Shireen burnt at a stake to appease the Lord of Light? If Tolkien's LOTR was aspirational in a sense (of what mankind could be), then GRRM's ASOIAF is more about what mankind is (mostly rubbish, but sometimes, surprisingly brilliant). Tolkien changed high fantasy fiction in a way he couldn't have foreseen. Pretty much every writer who has come after him, has been consciously or otherwise influenced by him, even in aspects like setting up tales as trilogies. GRRM has gone a different way from Tolkien for the most part which is why Jon and his gang of underdogs setting off beyond the Wall to battle an evil force infinitely stronger than themselves (as envisaged by GoT's showrunners DB Weiss and David Benioff) seems like such a 'Fellowship of the Rings' moment. [Of course, Tolkien's Fellowship had more than seven members (nine in all, including Gandalf, Aragorn, Boromir, Legolas, Gimli, Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry), but we're guessing they'd find a lot to bond over with Jon and company in their seemingly impossible endeavour.] Game of Thrones has rarely set up this motley-band-of-misfits-heading-off-an-adventure trope before people usually journey/fulfill missions in pairs (think Brienne/Pod, Brienne/Jaime, Bronn/Jaime, Bronn/Tyrion, Tyrion/Jorah, Arya/The Hound, Jorah/Daario, Sansa/Theon, Yara/Theon). Even when there is a large group travelling it is only a couple of characters, at best three, who usually take centrestage. Apart from doffing its hat to a Tolkien-ian trope, that final scene also had a crucial bit of dialogue from Jon. As Eastwatch's visitors and inmates begin to squabble (Gendry with Thoros and Beric Dondarrion for selling him to Melisandre; Tormund with Jorah Mormont for being the son of the former Lord Commander of the Night's Watch) and the prospect of them unifying to fight against the white walkers seems dim, Jon reminds them that there's something powerful that binds them: the fact that they're breathing. That one observation holds out the possibility of many more (difficult-seeming) alliances being struck up on Game of Thrones' upcoming episodes. And while this may most certainly not come to pass oh, what we'd give to see Cersei face down the Night King. The Malayalam actress who was abducted and assaulted on 17 February in a moving car in Kochi recently sent a letter to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, calling his attention to remarks made against her by MLA PC George from Poonjar. In this letter, she mentions that the MLA has been making several comments, including questioning how she could go to work the next day after the assault, reports The News Minute. The actress clarified that she did not go for the shoot that was scheduled the next day, and elaborated on the mental trauma she suffered. "Should I have committed suicide? Or should I have been dumped in a mental asylum? Or should I hide myself somewhere by not appearing in public? Can someone tell me what I did wrong?" reads the letter, which has been posted on the official Facebook page of the Women in Cinema Collective. She also stated that the MLA's comments are likely to influence public opinion and the court. PC George responded to this letter by saying, "Why should she write to the chief minister otherwise?" reports Manorama. Not only did he stand by his remarks about the actress, but he also added that he was not wary of her letter, which in his opinion proves Dileep's innocence. Actor Dileep has been accused of conspiracy in this case; the other main accused is the driver of the car, Pulsar Suni. PC George also alleged that Pulsar Suni, who named Dileep in this case, is lying. In the past, PC George has called Dileep innocent, as well as accused the police of framing the actor and the media of reporting the incident in a biased manner. There was also an intervention by the Women's Commission following his previous derogatory remarks. What's more fun than passing off stalking celebrities on social media as work? Very little, right? And so, we scanned the Instagram and Twitter accounts of celebs from India and abroad, to bring to you weekly updates from the interwebz. Who tweeted to whom? Who re-posted last night's party pics? Who went on a rant about what. Whatever it is, don't worry, we've got you covered. We stalk, you read. Deal? Gigi Hadid shows the world Zayn Malik's horse-petting skills: heaven is a place on earth !! A post shared by Gigi Hadid (@gigihadid) on Aug 15, 2017 at 10:19am PDT Supermodel Gigi Hadid posted a picture of her boyfriend Zayn Malik feeding a beautiful white horse which is shown peeking out of a stable. She captioned the picture saying, "Heaven is a place on earth !!" A report by TeenVogue says that the model's love for horses is not new; some of her previous Instagram pictures have also been around horse-riding during her childhood. In fact, horses are one of her most favourite animals. Jab Devdas Jr met Devdas Sr: Message from Saira Banu: Sahab's mooh-bola beta-"son" @iamsrk visited Sahab today. Sharing some photos of the evening. pic.twitter.com/UHV8gzOB8v Dilip Kumar (@TheDilipKumar) August 15, 2017 Shah Rukh Khan paid a visit to Dilip Kumar on the eve of Independence Day. Kumar was recently discharged from hospital after spending a week undergoing treatment. After he showed signs of improvement, Kumar was sent back home. Shah Rukh and Kumar share a very close bond. Saira Banu had also said in a tweet: "Sahab's mooh-bola beta-'son' @iamsrk visited Sahab today." Soha Ali Khan sports trendy Greek maternity wear: Dressed to the nines! Who says you can't be comfortable and stylish?! @nine_maternitywear #greekfashion A post shared by Soha (@sakpataudi) on Aug 15, 2017 at 10:00pm PDT Soha Ali Khan and Kunal Kemmu are all set to welcome their first-born this year. Soha has been making media appearances lately flaunting her baby bump, much like her sister-in-law Kareena Kapoor did before Taimur's birth. Recently Soha posted a picture of her donning a Greek look with a turquoise gown and a floral hair-band that accentuated her look even more. The Rang De Basanti actor looked every bit of a diva that she is. Neil Nitin Mukesh does his I-Day bike parade: Happy independence day to all. Jai Hind A post shared by Neil Nitin Mukesh (@neilnitinmukesh) on Aug 14, 2017 at 9:09pm PDT Actor Neil Nitin Mukesh posted a picture of him parading on a bike carrying the Tricolour. Mukesh was last seen in Madhur Bhandarkar's Indu Sarkar reportedly playing a role which had a stark resemblance to Sanjay Gandhi, Indira Gandhi's younger son. He is also set to be seen opposite Prabhas in the upcoming Saaho, where he dons the role of antagonist and would reportedly be seen doing a lot of hand-to-hand combat with the Baahubali superstar. Saif Ali Khan celebrates his 47th birthday with family: Happy birthday saifu ! #birthdayboy #happybirthday#familytime#familyfirst aboutlastnight A post shared by KK (@therealkarismakapoor) on Aug 15, 2017 at 10:15pm PDT Nawab of Pataudi turns 47 today on 16 August and he celebrated the night with his family. His wife Kareena Kapoor, sister-in-law Karisma Kapoor, sister Soha Ali Khan, children Sara Ali Khan and Ibrahim Ali Khan were all present in the merrymaking. Karisma shared pictures from the celebration night on her Instagram feed. Khan will be seen in a lot of films this year. The trailer of his upcoming Kaalakaandi is already creating a lot of buzz because of the actor's quirky and eccentric get-ups in the film. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has strongly condemned the CPM-led LDF government in Kerala for ordering that Mohan Bhagwat be stopped from hoisting the National Flag at a school in Palakkad on Independence Day. Slamming the Pinarayi Vijayan government as repressive and anti-democratic, the RSS termed the order as an attempt to poison the state with divisive politics. We condemn such brazen attempts by the CPM-led government to deny citizens their right to celebrate Independence Day, RSS Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh, Manmohan Vaidya said. It is astounding that even after 70 years of Independence, the politics over hoisting the flag continues. Whats the controversy? The school is run by the Sangh-affiliated Kannakiamann Educational Society: A trust where the members are swayamsevaks of one of Keralas oldest RSS Shakhas. According to Kannakiamann Educational Society, the Independence Day programme was planned almost two years ago. The RSS Sarsanghchalak Bhagwat was to preside over the Independence Day celebration of the school and hoist the National Flag. However, according to school sources, the district collector of Palakkad issued an order stating that Bhagawat wouldnt be allowed to hoist flag in the school. Ignoring the district administrations prohibition order, Bhagwat hoisted the Tricolour. After hoisting of flag by Mohan Bhagwat ji, we have come to know that the administration has asked education department to take appropriate action against the manager of the trust (president), and the police department to take necessary action against our school principal respectively for allegedly violating the instruction, B Gangadharan, president, Kannakiamann Educational Society tells Firstpost. We informed the district administration, senior officials in the government about our minute-to-minute programme much before Independence Day. No objection was raised then. However, the collector issued a notice at 11 pm on 14 August. We have no clue why this was done as we followed the rules. Let the government tell us whether we have violated any rule or law, he says. Kerala:RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat restrained by district collector from hoisting national flag in Palakkad school, BJP challenged his direction ANI (@ANI) August 15, 2017 District Collector says inappropriate for a political leader to hoist national flag in school, a teacher or elected representative can do so ANI (@ANI) August 15, 2017 CPM versus RSS The tension is palpable. Though the CPM has termed Bhagwats visit an attempt by the RSS to fish in troubled waters, a letter accessed by the Firstpost shows that the flag hoisting event was planned by the trust in 2015. Meanwhile, Palakkad Lok Sabha member and CPM leader MB Rajesh accused the RSS of trying to foment trouble. This is a brazen violation of the law of the land. This school is funded and supported by the Kerala government. Rules and regulations have to be followed, Rajesh said after Bhagwat hoisted the flag. The state BJP has challenged the Palakkad collector's decision, stating that there was nothing wrong in Bhagwat hoisting the Tricolour. We're not here to play politics. In 2015, during our schools golden jubilee celebration, we decided to get Bhagwat ji as our guest in the next Independence Day function. . Were fortunate that he attended, adds Gangadharan. Mohan Bhagwat was invited by the management of Karnakayamman Higher Secondary school, Palakkad, to participate in the golden jubilee celebrations of the school and Independence Day celebrations... The school received a notice from district collector on the night of 14 August. However, no other school had been issued a similar notice. After due consultation, school authorities decided that Sarsanghchalakji must exercise his constitutional rights, He hoisted the flag along with other institutional heads of the school, Vaidya said in a statement issued by the RSS. What administration says The administration says it is inappropriate for a political leader to hoist the National Flag in an aided school and only a teacher or an elected representative of the people is allowed to do so. However, the Directorate of Public Instruction does not specifically state that only an elected representative of the people or a headmaster is allowed to hoist the flag on school property. RSS not the only exception Bhagwat was not the only a non-academic to hoist the Tricolour in a school on Tuesday. At a school in Thiruvananthapuram, former president of Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee VM Sudheeran reportedly hoisted the National Flag in a school. When Sudheeran hoisted the flag there was no objection from the government. No case has been registered, no notice has yet been served against the school management, a source from Thiruvananthapuram tells Firstpost. New Delhi: In the wake of cloudburst incidents in Uttarakhand, the External Affairs Ministry on Tuesday said that all Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims are safe and secure and Uttarakhand government is in constant touch with them. MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said Uttarakhand government and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) are taking steps to ensure a safe journey to Kailash Mansarovar by pilgrims. "Incident of cloud burst in #Uttarakhand. All yatris safe and secure. Constant watch & contact with Uttarakhand Govt and @ITBP_official." "Yatris given option to continue yatra keeping weather in mind. Uttarakhand Govt and @ITBP_official ensuring safe & smooth conduct of yatra," he said in a series of tweets. Kumar said in another tweet, "Batch 16 moved back from Sirkha to Dharchula due to weather conditions while batch 12 return to Delhi tonight." "Batch 13 arrived in Gunji. Will take helicopter to Dharchula tomorrow on their return journey while Batch 14 completing Kailash parikrama," he said. "Batch 15 in Taklakot, Tibet after completing Kailash parikrama. Will cross into India tomorrow," he added. Two cloudbursts hit Uttarakhand's Pithoragarh district on Monday. The first cloudburst had occurred near Tawaghat, sending a rivulet, the Mangti Nullah, into a spate and its swirling waters swept away a few shops and three Army tents. The second cloudburst also occurred at around the same time at Malpa and swept away six persons. Rescue teams recovered four bodies from the area while two were still missing. Does the Constitution of India perpetuate gender discrimination? Does it do so despite containing a provision on the promise of equality and equal protection under law for all citizens? The answer might be yes, but we are waiting on a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court to demystify the interpretation of Article 35A of the Constitution of India that allegedly denies Kashmiri women and their descendants their property rights and bars them from applying for local jobs if they marry outside the state of Jammu and Kashmir. A Kashmiri woman, Charu Wali Khanna, has challenged the constitutional validity of Article 35A, stating that it violated her right to equality under Article 14 enshrined in the Constitution. Khanna stated: Article 14 of Constitution gives a fundamental right to equality before law. But 35A is heavily loaded in favour of males because even after marriage to women from outside (Kashmir) they will not lose the right of being permanent residents. A woman from outside the state shall became a permanent resident on marrying a male permanent resident of the state but a daughter who is born (to a) state subject will loss the right on marrying an outsider. Because Khanna married out of her caste and settled outside of Jammu and Kashmir, she has been deemed a non-resident citizen and because of such unreasonable classification between males and females is why she decided to invoke the Supreme Court. The notorious Article 35A permits the legislature of Jammu and Kashmir to define a list of permanent residents of the state, who are eligible to vote, work for the state government, own land and property within the state as well as secure public employments and college admissions. All non-permanent residents are not permitted to do these since by law, they dont have such right. The provision was added to the Constitution by a Presidential Order in 1954, and was in fact an extension of Article 370 a temporary, transitional and special provision that grants special autonomous status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. However, it should be noted that such provision was not ratified by the Parliament. There was an option with the Centre to ratify the provision by sending it to Parliament. But the question here is less about the special status of Kashmir and more about an inherent gender inequality within the state that is brought about by this provision. A similar matter has been dealt with by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in 2002. The case, State of Jammu and Kashmir versus Dr. Sushila Sawhney and Ors (2002) stated that the daughter of a permanent resident marrying a person outside the state would not lose the status of permanent resident of Jammu and Kashmir. However, after the Sushila Sawhney case, neither did the Parliament make an effort to explicitly change the language of the provision, nor did any organ of the government issue a clarification on the same. Moreover, the Sushila Sawhney judgment talks about womens permanent status in the state but leaves out the fate of her children, and the present case seeks to do just that. A Bench of Justices Dipak Misra and AM Khanwilkar tagged Khannas petition with a pending petition from 2014 where a Delhi-based NGO named We are Citizens had brought up a similar concern. The questions in these petitions shall be dealt by a constitutional bench of five judges. In the present matter, the gender question is all-encompassing Article 35A is interpreted differently for men and women, and that is where the issues begins. For instance, allied legal provisions such as Section 6 of the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution dissuades women from marrying a man of their choice by restricting the basic right of a woman and her children to hold property rights if she marries a man not holding the Permanent Resident Certificate. Section 6, however, does not apply to men who marry non-resident citizens. The tacit interpretation of such a provision would simply be that women are considered chattel and property of the men who own them, and hence, if their geographical location changes, the status of their rights would too. Secondly, Valley-based politics have now taken over the issue, and there is a possibility that it becomes a territorial-political issue in the near future, and the gender aspect of it might completely be stripped off. For example, former Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah stated that BJP is using Article 35A to rile up passions in Jammu and Kashmir again and for its own benefit - The BJP is trying to engineer a regional divide in Jammu and Kashmir over Article 35A of the Constitution, Deccan Chronicles reported. Meanwhile, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has touted Omar Abdullah as anti-women, anti-Dalit, anti-Hindu and progressing to become anti-national, according to Mail Today. It is true that in the election manifesto of the BJP, it promised to at least dilute the special status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 35A, and believes that this would undo all political conflicts in the area. In the Valley, however, the potential threat to the special status by Article 35A has led to a convergence between all major political parties including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the National Conference and the Hurriyat. Mehbooba Mufti, the present chief minister of the state, has also spoken up against the proposed abrogation of the constitutional provision. However, like every war-torn, transitional area, womens issues may well be put in the backburner as political parties continue to vie for power and stronghold in the Valley. According to the International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) that works in post-conflict scenarios and believes that womens rights are central to peacebuilding - Transitional justice responses to gender-based violations during conflict and authoritarian rule are essential for ensuring justice for victims, combating womens marginalization, and preventing future violations against women and other communities targeted for their gender. Of equal importance is ensuring that transitional justice measures meaningfully address the causes and consequences of all abuses against women even those that are not inherently gender-based. There is every possibility that Charu Wali Khannas petition for equality under the law becomes a war-cry for the abrogation of Article 35A, and the two issues, though intertwined, are separate problems to be dealt with through different mechanisms. As of now, it is imperative to ensure that Khannas petition remain about the element of gender inequality in property laws as state subjects in Kashmir, and does not become about the political fate of the Valley. Guwahati: The flood situation in Assam deteriorated on Tuesday as the second wave of deluge affected 25 of its 32 districts claiming 10 more lives, besides displacing 33 lakh people. The army was assisting the civil administration in rescue and relief operations as the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries were flowing above their danger levels snapping surface communications in many parts of the state. Three persons died in Morigaon district, one each in Dhemaji, Darrang, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Goalpara, Nagaon and Dibrugarh districts taking the toll to 28. According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) here, the toll in flood-related incidents this year now stands at 112. Thirty-three lakh people were affected in 25 districts, including Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Darrang, Baksa, Nalbari, Barpeta and Bongaigaon. Dhemaji district in upper Assam is the worst-hit where nearly one lakh people were affected. Flood water is flowing over the roofs of houses in many areas, the ASDMA said. As flood waters were flowing over National Highway 37, communication between upper and lower Assam have snapped. Vehicles were stranded on the highway and being diverted via Nagaland, official sources said. According to a defence spokesperson, troops of Gajraj Corps were involved in relief and rescue operations in Nagaon and other districts of lower Assam. The army's flood relief columns are involved in relief and rescue operations in Purabheti and Jaklabandha. They have established liaison with the state administration and are coordinating relief operations with them, he said. Army vehicles are assisting the civil administration in ferrying rations and other provisions to the relief camps, the spokesperson said, adding the commanders of the relief force are interacting regularly with the deputy commissioners of the affected districts. District administration sources said the army was assisting them in air dropping food packets and other relief items in the flood-hit areas. Around 1.83 lakh hectares of standing crops has been inundated with Morigaon being the worst-affected, followed by Kokrajhar, the ASDMA report said, adding the deluge has affected at least 1.8 lakh domestic animals. The district administrations have set up 315 relief camps where 1.68 lakh people are taking shelter. The SDRF and NDRF have deployed 232 boats so far and rescued more than 14,000 people, the ASDMA said. Waters of the Brahmaputra river were flowing above the danger mark at Guwahati, Nimatighat in Jorhat, Tezpur in Sonitpur, Goalpara and Dhubri towns. The Burhidehing river is flowing above the danger mark at Khowang in Dibrugarh district, the Dhansiri river at Numaligarh in Golaghat, the Jia Bharali river at NT Road Crossing in Sonitpur, and the Puthimari river at NH Road Crossing in Kamrup. The overflowing waters of the rivers have damaged embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructures in a number of districts including, Dhemaji, Sonitpur, Darrang, Nalbari, Barpeta, Bongaigaon, Morigaon, Nagaon, Golaghat, Biswanath and Chirang districts. The district administrations have set up 315 relief camps where 1.68 lakh people are taking shelter. The SDRF and NDRF have deployed 232 boats so far and rescued more than 14,000 people, the ASDMA said. With a majority areas under Kaziranga National Park, Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and Lawkhua Wildlife Sanctuary inundated, a large number of animals, including rhinos, were taking shelter in the highlands or have moved to safer areas across the hills, the forest department said. Guwahati: Following the third spell of devastating flood hitting the state, Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday rushed to the national capital to discuss the problem with the prime minister. "Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, who jetted off to New Delhi on Wednesday, would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and apprise him of preliminary damage of the third wave of flood that lashed the state affecting 24 districts," an official statement said. Besides drawing the attention of the prime minister on the destruction caused by the flood affecting nearly 34 lakh people, Sonowal would also discuss the probable modus operandi for thrashing out a permanent solution to flood and erosion. The third wave of devastating flood has so far claimed the lives of 39 people across the state, taking the total number of persons losing their lives in this year's flood related incidents in Assam to 123. While paying a day-long visit to Guwahati, Modi had announced a total package of Rs 2,350 crore for the North East. "Chief Minister Sonowal would also request Narendra Modi to constitute an inter-ministerial team headed by a Cabinet Minister to visit the flood ravaged Assam and assess the post flood impact and loss in terms of lives and properties," the statement said. Sonowal would also request Modi to involve neighbouring states and Bhutan for hammering out a permanent solution to flood in Assam. Earlier, Modi called Sonowal twice in as many days and expressed his concern over the recurrence of floods and the widespread destruction it caused. Sonowal is likely to hold a discussion with the line departments in New Delhi regarding studying the course of the Brahmaputra and carrying out dredging throughout the entire course of the river from Sadiya to Dhubri, it added. Privacy Overview This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Hajipur/Patna: Six suspected RJD supporters were arrested in connection with the attack on Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi's car in Vaishali district on Tuesday night. The six are among the nine accused named in the FIR registered in connection with the attack, Vaishali Superintendent of Police Rakesh Kumar told PTI. The FIR, also lodged against 100 unnamed persons, was based on the statement of a sub-inspector of Raja Pakar police station, the SP said. Search is on for the other accused. Modi's car was attacked near Kala Pahar village on Tuesday night when he was going to attend the shradh ceremony of the mother of former BJP MLA Achutanand Singh. The incident occurred minutes after Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and RJD chief Lalu Prasad's son Tejashwi Prasad Yadav's motorcade passed through the area, known to be an RJD stronghold. Narrating the incident, Modi on Wednesday alleged that a large number of RJD supporters pelted stones on his carcade damaging windshields of three vehicles. Many of them shouted slogans against him, surrounded his rath (vehicle) and tried to get inside, he alleged. "Had my security personnel not been there, a big mishap could have happened," the senior BJP leader said. Modi said he was attacked because RJD supporters were "disappointed after power had slipped from their hands". "I cannot be cowed down. I will come out with documents to reveal more cases of corruption against Lalu Prasad and his family soon," he added. After Lalu Prasad had on Tuesday dismissed any role of his party men in the attack, Tejashwi Yadav too denied Modi's charge on Wednesday. "Since I am going to Bhagalpur to expose a scam in which crores of government money have been swindled, the chief minister is trying to stop me from going there," Tejashwi Yadav alleged in a statement. The 'attack' was the result of a conspiracy, he said. "We are believers of Gandhiji. Violence is not our path," he said. JD(U) Bihar spokesman Neeraj Kumar criticised the RJD for indulging in violence "out of frustration" over the loss of power. On Tejashwi's assertion that the government of the day was trying to stop him from reaching Bhagalpur to expose a scam, Neeraj Kumar said, "It does look nice for one who himself is embroiled in corruption." Congress state president Ashok Choudhary said the party condemns the attack on politicians, "be it Rahul Gandhi or Sushil Kumar Modi". Bengaluru: Bengaluru witnessed a record 180mm rainfall in barely three hours early on Tuesday, the heaviest downpour in August since 1890, an official said. The heavy rain wreaked havoc across the city, crippling normal life, flooding roads and houses in many localities and dampened the 71st Independence Day celebrations in the state capital. "The downpour in just three hours (3 am to 6 am) was so heavy that storm-water drains could not take the load, resulting in water overflowing on to several roads and inundating low-lying areas," Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palika (BBMP) Commissioner Manjunatha Prasad told reporters in Bengaluru. City Mayor G Padmavathi said, "BBMP officials have been ordered to clean the drains and respond to public issues immediately." Along with Deputy Mayor M Anand, Padmavathi visited affected areas during the day. The torrential rain uprooted trees, twisted electric poles and snapped cable lines in upscale residential areas, disrupting power supply. Civic officials used makeshift boats to rescue the stranded residents in some areas while power outages led to blackouts for hours since early morning in many areas. "We received distress calls and complaints from hundreds of affected regarding overflowing of drains, and rainwater entering basements, and ground floor houses and apartments," an official at the BBMP control room told IANS. The Bellandur Lake, the largest of the 262 lakes and tanks in the city, was seen covered in toxic foam after the downpour. Police faced a tough time as several arterial roads, subways, and underbridges were waterlogged, slowing vehicular movement and causing traffic snarls. The flights at the Kempegowda International Airport, however, remained unaffected. According to the Meteorological Department, the city had not witnessed such heavy rainfall in August since 1890, when 166 mm rain was recorded on a single day. Scientist CN Prabhu of the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre said the weather monitoring system could not predict the heaviest rainfall in the city in 127 years. "We had forecast a moderate rainfall but it developed into much heavier than we could predict. It is certainly 3-4 times heavier than the prediction," Prabhu told IANS. "There was a thick patch of clouds over the city that caused the downpour. Being the monsoon season, heavy rains are not unusual," Prabhu added. According to the Met Department, a few spells of rain are likely to continue over the next few days in the city. Patna: The death toll due to floods in Bihar on Wednesday mounted to 72, as 73.44 lakh people across 14 districts have been hit by inundation which was triggered by incessant rains in Nepal and northern part of the state. The death toll on Tuesday stood at 56. Araria accounted for 20 flood deaths, followed by Sitamarhi (11), West Champaran (9), Kisanganj (8), Madhubani and Purnea (5 each), Madhepura and Darbhanga (4 each), East Champaran (3), Sheohar (2) and Supual (1), said Anirudh Kumar, special secretary in the state disaster management department. He said 73.44 lakh people are in the grip of flood which has engulfed 110 blocks and 1,151 panchayats spanning 14 districts, with Gopalganj also getting submerged on Wednesday. The special secretary said 2.74 lakh people have been evacuated and taken to safer places. Out of them, 1.16 lakh have been put up in 504 relief camps in different places. Community kitchens have been started for victims in marooned areas and available line hotels, aganwadi kendras and railway stations in Katihar district are being used for running community kitchen, the principal secretary to the disaster management department, Pratyay Amrit said. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was scheduled to conduct an aerial survey of Bettiah, Valmikinagar areas with Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi during the day could not do so due to bad weather. He, however, monitored the flood situation from Patna through interactions with senior officials. Pratyay Amrit held a meeting through video conferencing this evening with districts officials and gave them directions on helping the flood victims. Train services continued to be affected due to the calamity and rail movement is completely disrupted in many sections, a statement from East Central Railways chief public relations officer Rajesh Kumar said. These included the Motihari-Valmikinagar Road section of Samastipur division as water is flowing over the rail tracks in Narkatiaganj yard, besides Chamua-Narkatiaganj, Narkatiaganj-Sathi sections and Semra yard. Rail service was hit in Sitamarhi-Raxaul section of Samastipur Division due to flooding of tracks between Chaura Dano-Adapur stations and Kundwa Chainpur-Bairagnia stations. The Sugauli-Raxaul section of the saw flood waters submerging Sugauli and Raxaul yards and inundate area between Raxaul-Ramgarhwa stations. In Darbhanga-Sitamarhi section of Samastipur division the flood water is flowing over rail tracks between Janakpur Road-Bajpatti stations and Kamtaul-Jogiara stations. As a result several trains passing through these sections have been cancelled, diverted, short terminated and short originated, he said. The trains cancelled today include Indore-Guwahati Express commencing tomorrow, Sealdah-Saharsa Hatey Bazare Express today and the corresponding Saharsa-Sealdah Hatey Bazare Express commencing on 17 August. The Rajendra Nagar(Patna)-New Jalpaiguri Express will short terminate at Katihar till further advice starting from Wednesday, the CPRO said. Bihar BJP President Nityanand Rai contributed Rs 11 lakh on behalf of the party to the chief minister's relief fund. New Delhi: The CBI on Wednesday told the Delhi High Court that it has registered a case in the alleged leak of question paper for the AIIMS MBBS entrance examination this year, from an institute in Ghaziabad. The submission was made before a before a bench of acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar, which was hearing a PIL seeking a court-monitored probe into the alleged illegalities and irregularities during the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) MBBS entrance exam held on 28 May this year. The agency, in its reply, said that "specific questions in the leaked screenshots were used in SET-3 of shift-2 at exam centre - HR Institute of Technology, Morta, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh". "It has also been found that the specific combination and sequence of the questions was randomly and uniquely allocated to a particular candidate," the affidavit, filed through CBI special public prosecutor Rajdipa Behura, said. It also said that searches were conducted at the house of a student, the exam centre and its officials. During the course of the investigation, documents and digital evidence were seized, it added. "A regular case was registered on 13 June," the agency said, adding that the "investigation of the case is at an initial stage, five witnesses have been examined and eight documents have been seized so far". The court listed the matter for further hearing on 13 September by when the Centre and AIIMS have to file their replies. The CBI was responding to the plea of doctor Anand Rai, who claims to be a whistleblower in the Vyapam scam case, seeking directions to AIIMS to quash the result declared on 15 June for the MBBS exam held on 28 May. Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for the petitioner, has submitted that the results be only quashed if the probe "reveals that the entrance examination has been entirely and irreversibly vitiated." The petition sought direction to AIIMS to produce before the court the finding of the institute's committee which was constituted for conducting an inquiry into the complaints regarding the conduct of the examination. Rai had on 31 May alleged that the question papers of this year's entrance exam for MBBS course of the AIIMS were leaked. He had, in a series of tweets, posted images of question papers of the entrance examination which was held across the country on 28 May and said he had received the snapshots from a source who claimed these were leaked from a college in Lucknow when the online test was going on. Rai had also alleged that AIIMS MBBS seats were being "sold". Beijing: China on Wednesday said it was not aware of a skirmish between its troops and Indian soldiers in Ladakh region and stated that its border troops always patrol on the Chinese side along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Beijing also asked New Delhi to abide by the (LAC), a day after troops of both sides reportedly pelted stones at each other following attempts by the Chinese side to cross into the Indian side of the boundary at Pangong Lake in Ladakh. "I am not aware of them. The Chinese border troops are always committed to maintaining peace and tranquility along the border," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a briefing. "We always patrol on the Chinese side along the Line of Actual Control. And we urge the India side to abide by the Line of Actual Control," she said. The incident in Ladakh region in the western sector of the India and China boundary comes as both sides are locked in a tense standoff in Doklam in the Sikkim section, which on Wednesday entered the third month. Chinese troops reportedly tried to cross into the India side in Pangong Lake, in areas known as Finger Four and Finger Five. Their attempts were foiled by Indian troops. After being stopped, the Chinese side began pelting stones, to which the Indian side responded in the same fashion. Personnel from both sides reportedly received minor injuries. Beijing: China said on Wednesday it hopes that India and the US can develop ties which are "conducive" to regional peace and development after the two countries agreed to enhance peace and stability in the India-Pacific region by establishing a new two-by-two ministerial dialogue. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to enhance peace and stability in the India-Pacific region by establishing a new two-by-two ministerial dialogue, which would elevate their strategic consultations, according to the White House. Trump spoke with Modi on Monday to greet him on the eve of India's Independence Day. Asked about the decision by the US and India to establish two-by-two ministerial dialogue, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, "We noticed relevant report. We hope India and US can develop relations which are conducive to regional peace and development." The decision to set up the new two-by-two ministerial dialogue comes amid China's growing assertiveness in the Asia Pacific region. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson also telephoned External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and greeted her and people of India on the occasion of Independence Day on Tuesday. Tillerson and Swaraj "had good conversation", Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. They "discussed the newly established" two-plus-two mechanism to harness synergy in foreign and defence engagements, the spokesperson said. Beijing: China on Wednesday said that it was not aware of the reports of PLA soldiers entering Indian territory along the banks of the Pangong lake in Ladakh and said it is committed to peace and tranquillity along the border. Indian border guards on Tuesday foiled an attempt by Chinese soldiers to enter Indian territory in Ladakh, resulting in stone pelting that caused minor injuries to people on both sides. Asked to comment on the incident, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hu Chunying said, "I am not aware of the information." She said the People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops always patrol along the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). "The Chinese side is committed to peace and tranquillity of the China-India border," she said. "We urge the Indian side to abide by the LAC and relevant conventions between the two sides," she said. The skirmish in Ladakh comes at a time when India and China are locked in a face-off in the Doka La area of the Sikkim sector. The standoff has been ongoing for more than 50 days, after Indian troops stopped the Chinese Army from constructing a road in the area. India has protested the construction of a road by the Chinese military in the area claimed by its ally Bhutan, fearing it would allow Beijing to cut off India's access to its North Eastern states. Coimbatore: The commission of inquiry probing the violence during the jallikattu (taming of the bull) protests in Tamil Nadu, on Wednesday said it will submit its report in another six to seven months. The commission, headed by retired Madras High Court judge, S Rajasekaran, was in Coimbatore on Wednesday to inquire about the protest in January in the city. Rajasekaran told reporters that the report will be submitted in another six to seven months, even as the term was ending by 31 October. A total of 51 persons, including students had filed their affidavits before the commission, who were called for deposing before it, he said. If necessary, they will be cross-examined during the three-day sitting, Rajasekaran said. Police have already submitted the photographs and videos as evidence of the protest and violence in VOC Park Grounds, the venue of the jallikkattu protest. Thiruvananthapuram: The CPM on Wednesday asked the Kerala government to register a case against RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat who hoisted the national flag at a government aided school in Palakkad in alleged violation of an official order. In a statement, CPM Palakkad district secretary CK Rajendran wanted the Left-led state government to take action against Bhagwat and the school management. He said unfurling the tricolour at a government aided school was against the district administration order. As per the order, only elected representatives, school authorities or government officials could unfurl the tricolour at government-aided institutions, Rajendran said. Palakkad District Collector P Marykutty had issued an order on 14 August stating that since the Karnagi Amman School was government-aided, only elected representatives or school authorities could hoist the flag. Though the school at Muthanthara is run by a private trust, it is funded by the state government, Rajendran said. CPM district committee also wanted the Pinarayi Vijayan government to take strict action against the school management for inviting the RSS chief. Rajendran alleged that it was a "deliberate attempt" of the RSS-BJP to create tension in the state with the help of the Centre. "It is a violation of law as the school concerned is funded by the government," he added. Bhagwat was in the southern state to take part in a two-day meeting of the Sangh which began on 14 August. Meanwhile, RSS leader P Gopalankutty Master ridiculed the CPM's demand. "Is it a crime to hoist national flag on Independence day," he posed. Another RSS leader Sadananatan said former KPCC president VM Sudheeran had hoisted the national flag in a government aided school at Chirayinkeeyil district and a local Lions's club president hoisted it at a state-aided school at Nadakavu in Kozhikode. The CPM attacked the NDA government on Tuesday, alleging that Doordarshan refused to broadcast Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar's Independence Day speech. Text of Tripura CM's Speech which AIR & DD had the audacity to censor.This is an insult 2 People of Tripura &Constitutional Rights of States pic.twitter.com/bdYDd7JS99 CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) August 15, 2017 The party also shared an email from Prasar Bharati, which runs Doordarshan and All India Radio, informing the CPM that a "collective decision" was taken to not broadcast the speech with the content that was provided. CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury immediately took to Twitter to state that "Doordarshan is not the private property" of the BJP or the RSS. He also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "instructing his cronies to black out voices" of the Opposition, including that of an elected chief minister. Prasar Bharati has not issued a public statement. Here is the full text of Sarkar's speech: Dear People of Tripura On the occasion of Independence Day, I convey my greetings and best wishes to you all. I pay my homage to the great memory of the martyrs of India's freedom struggle. I would also like to offer my profound regards to those freedom fighters who are amongst us today. Celebration of Independence Day is not just a ceremonial occasion. Keeping in view the historical significance and tremendous emotional attachment to this day for Indians, it has to be treated as an important ceremonial occasion for national introspection. Before us on this year's Independence Day are quite a few relevant. important and contemporary issues. Unity in diversity is India's traditional heritage. Great values of secularism base helped in keeping Indians together as a nation. But today, this spirit of secularism is under attack. Conspiracies and attempts are underway to create an undesirable complexity and divisions in our society; to invade our national consciousness in the name of religion, caste and community, by inciting passions to convert India into a particular religious country and in the name of protecting the cow Because of all these people of Minority and Dalit communities arc under severe attack. Their sense of security is being shattered. Their life is under peril. These unholy tendencies cannot be harboured or tolerated. These disruptive attempts are contrary to the goals, dreams and ideals of our freedom struggle. The followers of those who were not associated with the Independence movement, rather sabotaged the freedom movement, were servile to the atrocious. plunderer and merciless British, aligned with the anti-national forces having decorated themselves today in different names and colours are striking at the root of unity and integrity of India. Every loyal and patriotic Indian must take the pledge today to remain committed to the ideal of a united India and to counter the attempts towards such destructive conspiracies and attacks. We must all work and collectively strive to ensure security of the Minorities. (Dalits and preserve the unity and integrity of our country. Today, the gulf between the have and have nots is speedily widening. Nation's vast resources and wealth arc being concentrated in the hands of a very few. A large majority of our people are suffering from poverty. These people are the victims of inhuman exploitation. They are being deprived of food, shelter. clothing, education, health care and security of job for assured income. This is contrary to the aims and objectives of our Independence struggle. Our current national policies are squarely responsible for this state of affairs. Such anti-people policies shall have to be reversed. But words alone will not achieve this. For this, we need the deprived and the suffering Indians to arise, become vocal and to protest fearlessly, collectively in a ceaseless manner. We definitely need an alternative policy that serves the interests of the vast majority of Indians. To bring this alternative policy into reality, the deprived and suffering Indians need to take a pledge on this Independence Day to launch an economic, political and social movement unitedly in a broadway. The mounting problem of unemployment has created a sense of despondency and gloom in our national psyche. On one hand. lakhs of employed are loosing their jobs. On the other hand, crores of unemployed youth are waiting for jobs, which is nothing but like a mirage to them. It is not possible to solve this gigantic national problem without reversing the national economic policies which work to strengthen the very small group of profiteering corporates, and without increasing the purchasing power of the common people of India. Hence, the students, youth and working classes will have to take a pledge on this Independence Day to launch a collective and continuous movement to reverse these destructive policies. In contrast to the anti-people policies of the Government at the Centre, the State Government of Tripura despite its limitations has been pursuing policies for the welfare of people in all walks of life with a special focus on the downtrodden and to advance forward with their cooperation. This is a totally different and an alternative path. This path has been able to not only attract the people of Tripura but also elicit a positive response of the downtrodden people of our country. This is not being tolerated by the reactionary forces here in Tripura. Hence, conspiracies are being hatched up one after another by the enemies of the people to disturb peace, fraternity and integrity of the State. And at the same time attempts are on to disrupt the realm of developmental works. We need to counter all these unholy designs and isolate the reactionary forces. In this background, on this Independence Day, all the right thinking, peace loving and development seeking people of Tripura need to take a determined pledge to come forward and to work unitedly against such disruptive forces. The entire speech has been reproduced from the official CPM Twitter account and has not been edited by Firstpost. New Delhi: The CPM on Tuesday alleged that Doordarshan refused to broadcast Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar's speech and said it would fight this "undeclared Emergency". CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury said Doordarshan was "not the private property" of the BJP-RSS and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "instructing his cronies to black out voices" of the Opposition, including that of an elected chief minister. There were no immediate reaction from the Prasar Bharati, which runs Doordarshan and All India Radio. "Doordarshan refuses to broadcast Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar's Speech. Is this the cooperative federalism that prime minister Modi talks about? Shame!" the CPM's official Twitter handle said, without mentioning the speech of the prime minister but believed to be his Independence Day address. Official Letter Censoring Speech of Tripura CM. Who is this Delhi Collective which dares to censor a CMs Speech? pic.twitter.com/LxNNeK6IRw CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) August 15, 2017 Tagging the tweet, Yechury hit out at the central government saying the channel's alleged refusal to air Sarkar's speech was "illegal". "PM can pay homilies to cooperative federalism while instructing his cronies to black out voices of the Opposition, including an elected CM(sic)," Yechury said in the tweet. "If this isn't authoritarianism & undeclared Emergency, what is? This will be fought back by the CPM, people of Tripura and all our citizens," the Marxist leader tweeted. New Delhi: A Delhi court on Wednesday issued production warrant against former media baron Indrani Mukerjea in a money laundering case allegedly involving Karti Chidambaram, son of former Union Minister P Chidambaram. Special Judge Sunil Rana allowed the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) plea seeking production warrant against Indrani, who is jailed in Mumbai in connection with the murder of her daughter Sheena Bora. The court directed the concerned authorities to present Indrani before it on 9 September. Public Prosecutor Nitesh Rana told the court that the agency wants to quiz Indrani in the money laundering case. On 19 May, the ED lodged a complaint against Karti alleging that he had received Rs 3.5 crore from INX Media, now 9X Media, for helping it in the clearance of a Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) proposal when his father was the Union finance minister. The FIPB clearance was given to the Mumbai-based INX Media when it was run by Peter and Indrani Mukerjea, both accused in the Sheena Bora murder case. The complaint had not mentioned the name of former finance minister Chidambaram, though it stated that he cleared the FIPB approval for Rs 4.62 crore Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the FIPB meeting on 18 May, 2007, when he was holding the finance portfolio in the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. The accused have denied all the charges against them. Hajipur/Patna: Unidentified persons on Tuesday attacked Bihar deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi's car near Kala Pahar village in Vaishali district, but the BJP leader escaped unhurt. Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad dismissed speculations that any of his partymen was behind the incident, which took place in an area known to be an RJD stronghold. It also occurred minutes after Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and Lalu's son Tejaswi Prasad Yadav's motorcade had passed through the area. According to Ritesh Mandal, the officer in-charge of the Bidupur police station, unidentified persons hurled stones at Modi's car when he was on his way to the village this evening. Preliminary information suggests that the car received some damage but there was no injury to the deputy chief minister, who proceeded to attend the funeral ceremony of ex-BJP MLA Achutanand Singh's mother. His escort party informed the police about the incident, Mandal said. Vaishali superintendent of police Rakesh Kumar said Modi was being escorted back to Patna under heavy police protection. He added that the police would lodge an FIR on the basis of a complaint from either the deputy chief minister himself or from someone from his escort party or anyone else. The incident took place a few minutes after Tejaswi's motorcade passed through the area. The RJD leader was on his way to Samastipur to launch the second stage of his programme against the "disintegration" of the erstwhile Grand Alliance government in the state from Wednesday. The area where Modi's car was attacked is known to be a stronghold of the RJD, the workers and supporters of which are particularly angry with the BJP leader for levelling a series of corruption allegations against Lalu and his family. Lalu, however, denied an "RJD hand" in the incident and alleged that it was Modi who "orchestrated" it. "RJD workers do not believe in violence...it (the attack) must have been orchestrated by Sushil Modi with the help of his supporters for political gains," he said. The RJD chief alleged that the BJP leader was known for his "habit of enacting such dramas". "Once he had alleged an attack on him by the RJD and put a bandage. When we insisted that he showed the injury by removing the bandage, he did not do as he would get exposed," he said. Lalu also blamed the district administration for the incident. "Why did they take Modi through the same place which was just crossed by Tejaswi Yadav? They could have taken him through an alternate route," he said. The RJD supremo alleged that the BJP leader might have orchestrated the event to divert the attention of the people from his name cropping up in a scam related to swindling of government money by an NGO in Bhagalpur. Washington: President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have agreed to enhance peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region by establishing a new two-by-two ministerial dialogue, which would elevate their strategic consultations, the White House said on Tuesday. Trump spoke with Modi on Monday night to greet him on the eve of India's Independence Day. In a rare gesture, Trump himself picked up the phone to call Modi to congratulate the 1.2 billion citizens of India. During the phone call, Trump welcomed the first-ever shipment of American crude oil to India, which will begin in August from Texas. He pledged that the US would continue to be a reliable and long-term supplier of energy to India, the White House said in a readout of the phone call between the two leaders. "The leaders resolved to enhance peace and stability across the Indo-Pacific region by establishing a new two-by-two ministerial dialogue that will elevate their strategic consultations," the White House said, without giving details of the mechanism. As the leaders of two of the world's largest and fastest-growing major economies, Trump and Modi looked forward to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in India in November 2017, the White House said, adding that Trump has asked his daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump to lead the US summit delegation. "Prime Minister Modi thanked President Trump for his strong leadership uniting the world against the North Korean menace," it added. Trump had recently warned North Korea that it would face "fire and fury" if it attacked the United States, while the North threatened to test-fire its missiles over Japan and towards the US Pacific island of Guam. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson telephoned External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and greeted her and people of India on the occasion of Independence Day. He extended his best wishes to the people of India on the country's Independence Day. "The US is proud to stand with the people of India, the world's largest democracy, in the cause for freedom and prosperity around the globe," he said. "Prime Minister Modi's ambitious vision for the US-India relationship holds great promise for advancing our shared interests in the 21st century, and we look forward to the many years of friendship before us," Tillerson added. Tillerson and Swaraj "had good conversation", Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. They "discussed newly established" two-plus-two mechanism to harness synergy in foreign and defence engagements, the spokesperson said. State-run broadcaster Doordarshan on Wednesday rejected the allegations that Prasar Bharati blocked the coverage of Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar's Independence Day programme. In a release addressed to the editors of all national level dailies, UK Sahoo, head of office, Doordarshan Kendra, Agartala claimed that "the News Unit of the local station of Doordarshan at Agartala has given wide coverage to the public address of the Hon'ble Chief Minister of Tripura and the development activities of the State Government." Contrary to what media reports, Doordarshan said that there was no attempt to black out the chief minister's speech. "On August 15, 2017, Doordarshan also gave wide coverage to the Chief Minister's Independence Day programme and telecast report running to 29 minutes and 45 seconds. Out of which, the Hon'ble Chief Minister's speech coverage was for 12 minutes. This was telecast at 1900 hrs," Sahoo said. Doordarshan also said that the programme was also slotted for a repeat telecast at 4.45 pm on Thursday. However, the chief minister is certainly not on the same page with the state broadcaster. An official statement from the chief minister's office said that All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan Kendra (DDK), Agartala, recorded Sarkar's speech on 12 August to broadcast and telecast it on 15 August. "On 14 August evening Assistant Director of Programmes (Policy) Sanjiv Dosajh of AIR, New Delhi, and Prasar Bharati's head of office (New Delhi) UK Sahoo in separate communications to the chief minister's office said that with the existing contents the speech could not be telecast and broadcast by AIR and DDK, Agartala," the statement said. "The AIR and Prasar Bharati officials had suggested reshaping the content of the chief minister's speech making it suitable to the solemnity of the occasion and sentiments of the people of India at large. The chief minister refused to make any change in his speech," the statement added. With inputs from IANS Over 90 people have died in India as floods have wreaked havoc in parts of several states in the country. Bihar One of the worst-affected states seems to be Bihar, as the death toll in the state has now climbed to 56, PTI reported. It was also reported that 69.81 lakh people were hit by inundation in 13 districts of the state. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar made his second aerial survey of flood-hit areas on Tuesday. He was accompanied by Chief Secretary Anjani Kumar Singh. Special secretary in Bihar disaster management department, Anirudh Kumar said Araria area in the state accounted for 20 flood-related deaths, West Champaran - 9, Kisanganj - 8, Sitamarhi - 5, Madhepura - 4, East Champaran, Darbhanga and Madhubani - 3 each and Sheohar - 1. He said 69.81 lakh people are in the grip of floods which has engulfed 98 blocks and 1,070 panchayats in the eastern state. Kumar added 1.61 lakh people have been taken to safer places. Out of them, 85,949 have been put up in 343 relief camps in different places. Addressing the Independence Day programme in state capital Patna, Nitish expressed concern over the "grim flood situation" and said the flood was caused by incessant rains in Nepal. He added that the situation is grim in north Bihar, where rivers are flowing above the danger level and have caused immense loss and damage. Assam The flood situation in Assam has worsened as the second wave of deluge affected 25 of its 32 districts, claiming 10 more lives. The death toll in the state is now at 28. The Indian Army was assisting the civil administration in rescue and relief operations as the Brahmaputra river and its tributaries were flowing above their danger levels snapping surface communications in many parts of the state. Three persons died in Morigaon district, one each in Dhemaji, Darrang, Kokrajhar, Dhubri, Goalpara, Nagaon and Dibrugarh districts. According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) in Guwahati, the toll in flood-related incidents this year now stands at 112. Thirty-three lakh people were affected in 25 districts, including Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Darrang, Baksa, Nalbari, Barpeta and Bongaigaon. Dhemaji district in upper Assam is the worst-hit where nearly one lakh people were affected. Flood water is flowing over the roofs of houses in many areas, the ASDMA said. As flood waters were flowing over National Highway 37, communication between upper and lower Assam have snapped. Vehicles were stranded on the highway and being diverted via Nagaland, official sources said. According to a defence spokesperson, troops of Gajraj Corps were involved in relief and rescue operations in Nagaon and other districts of lower Assam. Around 1.83 lakh hectares of standing crops has been inundated with Morigaon being the worst-affected, followed by Kokrajhar, the ASDMA report said, adding the deluge has affected at least 1.8 lakh domestic animals. The district administrations have set up 315 relief camps where 1.68 lakh people are taking shelter. The SDRF and NDRF have deployed 232 boats so far and rescued more than 14,000 people, the ASDMA said. Waters of the Brahmaputra river were flowing above the danger mark at Guwahati, Nimatighat in Jorhat, Tezpur in Sonitpur, Goalpara and Dhubri towns. West Bengal In north West Bengal, where five districts have been affected by the deluge, the toll is seven. About a lakh people have been affected, 60,000 alone in worst-hit Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts. Apart from the worst-hit Alipurduar and Jalpaiguri districts, North Dinajpur, Cooch Behar and Malda districts were also affected in the flood, sources in the district administrations said. Many of the flood affected have taken shelter in relief camps, they said. In the absence of major rains during the day, water levels of all major rivers in north Bengal which were flowing above the danger marks, have now come down to some extent. The state administration is monitoring the relief and rescue operations round-the-clock as per the instructions by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Water discharge from Gajoldoba barrage on the Teesta river has flooded new areas of Mal block and worsened the situation in areas like Milanpalli, Basusuba and Champadanga, officials said. Villages in Dhupguri and Moynaguri blocks of Jalpaiguri have been inundated and a large number of people have taken shelter in government relief camps, they said. However, the overall situation in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts was improving. If there was no rainfall in the next couple of days, water levels in all major rivers in north Bengal would recede and be below danger mark, the authorities said. Eastern Railway chief Public Relations Officer R Mahapatra told PTI that a number of trains were cancelled as flood water was flowing above rail tracks in areas under North East Frontier Railway (NFR) jurisdiction. With railway tracks flooded at many places in Katihar and Alipurduar divisions of Northeast Frontier Railways, a number of long distance trains have either been cancelled, diverted and short terminated, an NFR release said in Guwahati. The cancelled trains include the DEMU between Silghat Town to Guwahati, the Dibrigarh-Lalgarh Express, Kanchanjungha Express, Padatik Express and Teesta Torsa Express, NFR chief Public Relations Officer Pranav Jyoti Sharma said. The trains put under short termination and short origination are Seemanchal Exp at Arariya, Kolkata-Jogbani Express at Simraha, Kolkata-Balurghat Express at Malda Town and Howrah-Balurghat Express at Buniyadpur. With track fit certificate with speed restrictions in Alipurduar-New Coochbehar section received, the trains which will resume are the Alipurduar Junction-Bamanhat-Alipurduar Junction passenger, Siliguri Junction-Bamanhat-Siliguri Junction passenger and Alipurduar Junction-Kamakhya-Alipurduar Junction Intercity Express, Sharma added. Uttar Pradesh As far as other states are concerned, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanth, who on Friday undertook an aerial survey of various flood affected districts in the state, suspended three officials and transferred the chief medical officer of Gonda over alleged laxity in flood relief works. He also warned that stern action would be taken against all those who were lax in flood relief works. The government will not pardon laxity at any level or by anyone in flood relief works and all those found responsible for this negligence will face stern punishment, Adityanth said while addressing flood-affected people at Aeriya village in Bahraich district. According to an official release, the chief minister has suspended in-charge district supply officer Puran Singh, animal husbandry officer K P Dwivedi and doctor of Karnailganj primary health centre Dr Ajit Pratap, besides transferring the CMO of Gonda Dr Abha Ashutosh with immediate effect. Arunachal Pradesh The Indian Express also reported that the situation was also grim in Arunachal Pradesh as recurring landslides due to heavy rain disrupted traffic in the state. Parts of Anjaw, East Siang, Namsai, Papum Pare, East Kameng and West Siang districts were affected. Communication lines were snapped at some places and road communications were also affected in some regions. On the other hand, the NDRF said it was facing trouble with rescue efforts as people refused to leave their homes in flood-hit areas, a problem which some officials said was "the most challenging to solve", according to Hindustan Times. While some people are afraid of losing valuables, others are afraid of the possibility of their cattle drowning. People are also reluctant because flood forecasts have been proven wrong in the past. With inputs from PTI Gorakhpur: In the eye of the storm over the death of more than 70 children in less than a week, the administration of Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College in Uttar Pradesh is demonstrating much hustle. Pintu Mahadev, 30, whose daughter was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday noon, told Firstpost that earlier, doctors were only prescribing the medicines and the parents had to procure it themselves, but now, the hospital was providing them with everything. The inflow of patients has increased in the last three days and more than 30 children in serious condition have been admitted in the last one week. Some of them have been sent to the emergency ward. The new nodal officer of the paediatrics department, Dr Bhupendra Sharma, told Firstpost about 80 doctors, most of them residents from the Medical College, who were pressed into service and were working round the clock with the support of the nurses and the non-medical staff. Dr Sharma could hardly be found on his chair, busy as he was visiting the wards regularly. Although he wasn't making time to speak with the press, Firstpost caught up with him during one of his rounds. My team is working day and night. For us, every life is precious and we cannot afford any negligence," he said, adding that the hospital had everything it needed, including oxygen, in surplus to treat the patients. Dr Sharma has replaced Dr Kafeel Khan as the nodal officer after the latter was removed from the position, while no reason has been cited by the government for his ouster. However, it is alleged that Sharma has been running a private clinic, flouting the regulation. Enough oxygen Accompanying Dr Sharma for the rounds were the head of paediatrics department, Dr Mahima Mittal, and the new principal of the medical college, Dr PK Singh. Dr Mittal was overheard telling the new principal they had 3,927 litres of oxygen and there was no reason to panic. Since the word spread on 10 August about the death of 30 children owing to a lack of oxygen, kin of the in-patients were struck by panic and vying to get their child discharged. (The patients were not discharged as the doctors did not deem it safe to do so.) Dr Singh said the paediatrics department has 100 beds and is equipped with the best facilities to treat the children. He said the doctors have been working with dedication. Requesting anonymity, a junior resident doctor told Firstpost they have been asked to put in extra hours until normalcy returns. The doctor said they barely get to sleep for six hours in the hospital's rest room and get back to work right after they get up. Fortifying team The doctor also informed Firstpost that 30 resident doctors from the diploma of child health courses have been roped in from other hospitals so that every child admitted at BRD Medical College is attended to. Lakshman (name changed), a sweeper at BRD Medical College, said sweepers have been asked to stay at the hospital until normalcy returns. Saheb ne kaha hai ki jab tak sab sahi nahi ho jata, tab tak ghar nahi jaana hai. Ham yahin kaam karte hain aur jaha jagah milti hai waha par so jaate hai (Sir has instructed us not to go home until everything gets alright. We work here and lie down to sleep wherever we find space), he said, adding that senior doctors were arranging food for them from a nearby canteen. Until Friday, kin of the patients were staying put at the ICU corridor but now, they have been moved to the waiting area. Here, two junior doctors apprise them about the dos and don'ts of entering the ICU. Rumour has it A parent whose child is admitted at the medical college said the two junior doctors had been giving a nose mask, a disposable head cover, and shoe cover to everybody entering the ICU until hours before Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's visit. The parent said the doctors ran out of the protective gear in due course and were asking patients' kin to buy these from a chemist nearby if they wanted to go inside the ICU. This correspondent gathered from the hospital staff, though it could not be confirmed, that the employees working at the Encephalitis ward have not been paid for months. A media report says that the staff have not been paid for four months. Gorakhpur: Five more encephalitis-related child deaths were reported from the Baba Raghav Das Medical College hospital since Tuesday, taking to 71, the number of persons who have died of the disease since 7 August, officials said on Wednesday. "As many as 14 fresh cases of encephalitis were admitted on 15-16 August. At present, there are 64 patients undergoing treatment in the hospital," the office of the additional director health said giving details. With the five deaths reported since Tuesday, the toll since 7 August in the state-run hospital has risen to 71, according to officials. Overall, since 1 January, as many as 144 encephalitis-related deaths have taken place in the hospital, they said. In Lucknow, amid allegations that shortage of oxygen cylinders at the hospital had led to the deaths, UP health minister Siddharth Nath Singh said that loss of life due to such a reason was nothing less than a "heinous crime". He, however, added that all aspects related to the deaths at the state-run BRD medical college hospital were being probed by a panel led by the UP chief secretary. Those found guilty would be punished, Singh promised. "Any death due to oxygen shortage is a heinous crime...Any laxity on this front is also a crime," the UP health minister told reporters. Singh said that "on the basis of a primary inquiry", the action was taken against the principal of the college. The deaths also led to a war of words between BJP and the Congress. The Congress accused the Yogi Adityanath government of not accepting its responsibility on the issue. UP Congress chief Raj Babbar said that his party will fight till the victims get justice. The BJP hit back accusing the Congress of playing politics over deaths. "The Congress is trying to exploit children's death for politics. This is ridiculous and shameless," BJP spokesman Rakesh Tripathi told reporters. BSP chief Mayawati also targeted the government over the incident. Meanwhile, UP health minister Singh said that a report had been sought from all the medical colleges and hospitals on the availability of oxygen or payment issues and added that everything had been found in order. The minister said that hospitals and community health centers in the area were being provided all necessary facilities so that they are well equipped and patients do not have to run to the BRD medical college. The Indian Medical Associatio (IMA) also appointed a team of three members to inquire int the death of nearly 70 children at a hospital in Utta Pradesh's Gorakhpur city. The team has been directed to submit their report withi 48 hours, a statement by the IMA said. The committee comprises KP Kushwaha and BB Gupta fro IMA, Gorakhpur, and Ashok Aggarwal NVP IMA, Allahabad. It will look into various aspects like whether the incident was due to failure of oxygen system, why an alert wa not sounded in adavnce, why was the oxygen supply allowed to cease and what were the engineers doing during the period, the statement said. The panel of doctors will ascertain if there was an medical negligence and if the deaths were avoidable, it added. Nearly 70 children, including infants, have died at th state-run Baba Raghav Das Medical College since 7 August due to various causes including encephalitis. Many of the deaths were alleged to have been caused because of shortage of oxygen, a claim dismissed by the Uttar Pradesh government. Lucknow: Social activist Nutan Thakur on Wednesday filed a PIL in the Allahabad High Court with regard to the death of over 60 children at a Gorakhpur hospital last week, seeking a judicial probe into the tragedy. As per the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in the HC's Lucknow bench, the Uttar Pradesh government and its agencies were trying to deny facts coming out in the media about the deaths occurring due to oxygen shortage at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital in Gorakhpur, which gives out the message that they were trying to hide facts and shield the guilty. Thakur said she had sought a judicial inquiry into the matter so that the facts emerge and the guilty do not go unpunished. She said she represents a "large cross-section of people who believe that the inquiry commission under the state chief secretary will only toe the official line taken so far". Her plea also sought strict implementation of an earlier high court order on a complete ban on private practice by government doctors. The family of the one of the victims at the Baba Raghav Das Hospital in Gorakhpur protested on Wednesday outside the hospital after the police did not register an FIR against two of the ministers in the Uttar Pradesh government, ANI has reported. #Gorakhpur victim's family protested outside BRD Hospital after Police didn't register FIR against UP Health Min&Medical Edu Min (14.8.17) pic.twitter.com/U1lrGtVv3B ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) August 16, 2017 The complaint was lodged by Manager Rajbhar, whose five-year-old son was admitted to the hospital on 10 August. His complaint said that the administration and the medical staff had knowingly stopped the oxygen supply which resulted in his son's death. The complaint holds the state Health Secretary, the Minister for Medical Health and the Minister for Medical Education as being responsible for the delay in payments for oxygen cylinders, which he claims eventually resulted in the death of the child. The controversy in the aftermath of the tragedy has shown no signs of letting up as developments are coming in every day on the issue. The actual cause of the tragedy is yet to be established as reasons from lack of oxygen to encephalitis have been given as the reason behind the deaths. The first allegation of the lack of oxygen cylinders causing the deaths was ruled out by the state government. State health minister Siddharth Nath Singh had said, "After the first level of investigation, we can claim that the deaths did not take place due to disruption of gas supply." The oxygen vendor too has said that it never stopped the supply despite outstanding dues of Rs 69 lakh, althogh it threatened to do so through various letters addressed to the hospital administration, urging it to clear outstanding payments. The company, Pushpa Sales Pvt Ltd, said that the college was defaulting on the payment for liquid oxygen supply which was a violation of the contract but despite that, the company never interrupted the supply. While the government believes that encephalitis was the reason for the mounting death toll, Livemint has reported that the hospital's records show that most of the deaths in the last five days are not due to encephalitis. The data shows that of the first 30 deaths which occurred on 10 and 11 August, only five were due to acute encephalitis syndrome and one was due to hepatic encephalopathy, which is related to AES. The other deaths were of terminally ill newborns. Most of these newborns suffered from various diseases like pneumonia, sepsis and swine flu. Out of the 13 children who died on 12 August, only one had AES. The report also cited Dinesh Kapil, a senior doctor, as saying, "Newborn babies dont suffer from AES. The list of deceased clearly shows that only five children died of AES and one due to hepatic encephalopathy. As per the list, all other babies were newborns who were apparently in need of expert emergency care services. Such cases are very critical and need continuous supply of ventilation." Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has blamed lack of hygiene for the deaths. The solution to diseases like encephalitis is hidden in the Swacch Bharat Mission. It is not just Swachh but also Swasth [health] Bharat Mission, he had said in his first Independence Day speech as Chief Minister. An examination of the hospital's budget throws up a pitiful scenario as it has a mere Rs 5.32 crore for medicines, reports Hindustan Times. Factoring in the four lakh patients visiting every year and the 955 beds in the hospital, the budget per bed works out to just Rs 152.62 per bed per year. The report also quoted Dr Harsh Vardhan of the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences as saying, "There is little wonder that patients have to bring many medicines and surgical items from outside as hospitals dont have the budget for them." The report said that the situation at some of the other state-run medical colleges is similar. The tragedy has however pushed the hospital to demonstrate much hustle as it tries to restrict the death toll. While the patients still had to procure the medicines, the hospital was providing them with everything else. The new nodal officer of the paediatrics department, Dr Bhupendra Sharma, told Firstpost that about 80 doctors, most of them residents of the Medical College, were pressed into service and were working round the clock with the support of the nurses and the non-medical staff. Another fact reported on Wednesday was that the number of children who died at the Hospital in Gorakhpur, was lesser in 2017 than it was in 2016. A panel of doctors from Delhi said in its interim report that 200 deaths were reported at the state-run hospital in July 2017 as compared to 292 deaths during the same period in 2016. The Supreme Court on Monday had refused to take suo motu cognisance of the matter. The bench comprising Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud asked the lawyer, who mentioned the issue before it, to approach the Allahabad High Court with his grievances. The court observed that the authorities were handling the situation and the grievances, if any, have to be raised before the high court concerned. Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh unit of the Congress on Wednesday held a protest against the deaths of children at Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College in Gorakhpur. Led by Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Raj Babbar, the demonstration was held at the GPO park in the city. He was joined by senior leaders including Rajya Sabha member Pramod Tiwari. Babbar, while addressing the gathering said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government needed "buddhi shuddhi" as it had lost the plot and was not working in the interests of the people. He accused the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh of being responsible for the deaths of over 60 children at the BRD Medical college and said that the demonstration was being held to expose the lies being spread by the state government. The Congress on Tuesday described Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech as "most disappointing" and slammed him for being "insensitive" towards the Gorakhpur tragedy. In his first Independence Day speech on Tuesday after assuming office, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath sought to blame the deaths of over 60 children on encephalitis. In an obvious reference to the tragedy, widely blamed on lack of oxygen at the state-run hospital, Adityanath said that Uttar Pradesh was a big state and deaths were taking place due to diseases like encephalitis. Such vector-borne diseases, he said, could be tackled with the Swacch Bharat mission "in which every citizen should participate". Lucknow: Accusing the Yogi Adityanath government of not accepting responsibility on the issue pertaining to the death of children in a Gorakhpur hospital, Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar said on Wednesday that his party will fight till the victims get justice. The state Congress chief, who was addressing a press conference, said his party was on the streets fighting, not for votes, but for the truth. Chief Minister Adityanath, he said, was not ready to accept that shortage of oxygen in the hospital had led to the deaths. Babbar also said that his party will take up constructive works to help people in the affected areas. It will donate ten ambulances to the BRD medical college hospital which will visit different areas for preventive programmes and also ferry patients, he said. Around 100 Sewa Dal workers, in coordination with district administration, will carry out a cleanliness drive and the medical cell of the party will set up a help-desk for the benefit of the people, Babbar said. On Chief Minister Adityanath regretting that lack of hygiene was a cause behind the spread of the disease, he said Gorakhpur could not be cleaned despite the fact that the Lok Sabha seat had been with Yogi and his guru since 1989. And that too after three years of the prime minister's 'Swachh Bharat Mission', he said. Responding to a question, Babbar said that no one in the government, whosoever he might be, had the right to "deprive mothers of their innocent children". Commenting on the the prime minister's address to the nation on Independence Day, he said it reflected "insensitivity" when he just touched the topic referring to it as a natural calamity. Congress leader Pramod Tewari, who was also present, targeted BJP president Amit Shah over his comments on the Gorakhpur tragedy. On 14 August, in Bengaluru, BJP President Amit Shah had dismissed the Congress' demands for resignation of Adityanath over the death of several children in Gorakhpur, saying that such tragedies had happened during the Opposition party's rule also. Earlier in the day, Babbar was held as he tried to go towards the secretariat annexe singing Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram to commemorate the attack on Mahatma Gandhi on 16 August, 1947. He and a number of other party leaders were later released. Lucknow: Amid allegations that shortage of oxygen cylinders at a Gorakhpur hospital led to the deaths of scores of children, Uttar Pradesh health minister Siddharth Nath Singh said on Wednesday that loss of life due to such a reason was nothing less than a heinous crime. He said that all aspects related to the deaths at the state-run BRD medical college hospital were being probed by a panel led by UP chief secretary and promised that those found guilty would be punished. "Any death due to oxygen shortage is a henious rime... any laxity on this front is also a crime," the Uttar Pradesh health minister told reporters. He said the team led by the state's chief secretary was probing the deaths in the Gorakhpur hospital. "All issues that are coming up about the exchange of money, demand of commission for not clearing the payment (to supplier) are also being probed... besides a team of three specialist doctors from Delhi is also looking into the matter and if it is found that anything was wrong in oxygen supply, all those found guilty will be punished," Singh said. He said that "on the basis of the primary inquiry," action was taken against the principal of the college. To another question, he said that a report had been sought from all medical colleges and hospitals on the availability of oxygen or payment issues and everything has been found in order. The minister said that hospitals and community health centres in the area are being provided all necessary facilities so that they are well equipped and patients do not have to run to BRD medical college. As many as 93 lakh children have been immunised in the districts affected by Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanese Encephalitis (JE) virus, he added. Wary of terror threats from neighbouring countries, the central government has approved Rs 31,748 crore to draw up a "definitive five-year action programme" for the upgradation of the Coast Guard, a report on The Economic Times said. The decision to bolster the Coast Guard, it is believed, will help avert future attacks from the sea, like the 26 November 2008 attacks on Mumbai. The Coast Guard works in combating piracy, smuggling, oil-spills, and also works in controlling coastal and marine pollution. The programme plans to improve the Coast Guard's fleet with 175 ships (including patrol vessels and boats) and 110 aircraft by 2022 to bridge critical operational gaps, according to Zee News. The plan aims to make the Coast Guard a 175-ship and 110-aircraft strong force by 2022. This also involves the acquisition of 30 helicopters, which itself will cost over Rs 5,000 crore, said The Economic Times. The defence ministry has also ordered the procurement of 16 indigenous Dhruv choppers and 14 twin-engine EC-725 tactical choppers. This apart, there are also five more air stations/enclaves in the works. There has been considerable focus on expanding the Coast Guard's fleet in the nine years since the 2008 attacks. "Post 26/11, the Indian Coast Guard has witnessed rapid expansion and the induction and recruitment of manpower. The recruitment process has been fast-tracked and approximately 130 officers and 720 EPs (enrolled personnel) are being recruited every year," the Ministry of Defence told the Lok Sabha in a written response in December 2016. "The Coast Guard envisages surface platforms to grow from the present strength of 125 to 150 by 2018. Similarly, aircraft strength is expected to grow from 62 to 100 by 2020," a Hindustan Times report quoted Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre's response to the Lok Sabha. The Coast Guard is also set to get five more air stations. "The existing 42 stations (20 were sanctioned after 26/11), under the five regional headquarters at Gandhinagar, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Port Blair, will also be fully-developed and made 'smart' with better infrastructure," sources told Zee News. The 2008 attacks at the heart of India's commercial capital exposed a severe lack of coordination between intelligence agencies, naval forces, army and Coast Guard. The government has since shifted considerable focus on improving operations of the fleet and expanding the Coast Guard's strength. Chandigarh: The authorities in Punjab and Haryana on Wednesday asked the police in both states to be on alert ahead of a special CBI court's verdict in an alleged rape of a 'sadhvi' by Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. Sources in both states said that the police have been asked to prepare for the situation if the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court gives an adverse verdict against the sect chief. The directors general of police of both states were likely to meet home ministry officials on Wednesday in New Delhi to discuss the matter and seek central forces if the verdict goes against Singh. The court in Panchkula (in Haryana), adjoining Chandigarh, has been hearing the case against Singh for the last few years. The sect chief has been accused by a former female follower of raping her more than once inside the sprawling Dera campus on the outskirts of Sirsa town in Haryana, 260 km from Chandigarh. The CBI investigated the matter against the godman. The sect management has been refuting all charges against Singh. Despite murder, conspiracy and rape charges against him, Singh enjoys Z-category security from the Haryana Police and moves around in a fleet of bullet-proof luxury SUVs. He has millions of followers in Haryana, Punjab and various other places. Reeling under the severe crackdown by Indian Army on its top commanders, Hizbul Mujahideen has named previously unknown militant Mohammad Bin Qasim as its new Kashmir commander. The announcement comes a day after the killing of top Hizbul commander Yasin Yatoo, who held the distinction of being the longest serving militant in Valley. Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin in a statement named Qasim as the new operational commander of the largest militant group active in the state. The Hizbul chief said, With the support of pro-freedom people and Mujahideen, the struggle in Kashmir will continue with full vigour." He also warned that traitors who are playing a big role in killing of militants of a bitter end, Greater Kashmir reported. However, police sources said they had not heard of anyone in Hizbul by that name. "As per intelligence records, there is no active Hizbul militant in Kashmir with that code name," a PTI report quotes sources as saying. Aliases: An old strategy Running terror operations under aliases has been a time-tested strategy adopted by militant groups in the Valley. With an operational area stretching well within 10 districts and a population of little over four million Kashmiris, hiding under the civilian garb has become increasingly difficult in heavily militarised Valley despite limited local support. In such a scenario, pseudonyms have succeeded in keeping the real identity of militants discharging key organisational responsibilities hidden, including maintaining a steady stream of recruitment. Yatoo, too was operating under the nom de guerre Mehmood Ghaznavi, when he was neutralised. Media reports suggest that police suspect Qasim could well be an alias for Riyaz Naikoo or Altaf Kachroo, the last well-known faces in the terror organisation. "Both are category A ++ militants and figure in the list of top 12 militants released by the Indian Army after Bhats killing," Hindustan Times reported. However, Firstpost learnt from sources that security forces are more inclined to think Naikoo is taking up the charge in the guise of Qasim. Interestingly, both aliases picked by the militant group, Mehmood Ghaznavi and Mohammad Bin Qasim bear an eerie resemblance to names of West Asian conquerers who successfully invaded the Indian subcontinent and whose conquests facilitated subsequent Muslim invasions. Riyaz Naikoo, a liberal amid extremists? Naikoo, 29, is a resident of Awantipora town in Pulwama district, who has been active as Hizbul's divisional commander in south Kashmir. He joined militancy in 2012 and has since been involved in a number of attacks and militancy related activities in south Kashmir, according to police. And security forces have enough reasons to suspect that he could have been chosen to lead the terror organisation. Yatoo's loss has dealt a big blow to the Hizbul Mujahideen at a time when its former leader Zakir Musa has announced a breakaway group, Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, an Al-Qaeda affiliate in Kashmir. At such a time, Naikoo, one of the last surviving popular faces in Hizbul, can lend fresh vigour to the terror group reeling under the loss of its prominent leaders. Naikoo has been operating under the alias, Zubair and he is also more literate than Kachroo, a school drop-out. Besides, Naikoo is a tech-savvy modern face in the ranks of Hizbul and may help attract "impressionable minds towards terrorism through social network," The Times of India reported. Naikoo has also been close to the top leadership and talks of him taking over as the new chief have been around for a long time. Earlier too, when the army neutralised Sabzar Ahmed Bhat, speculation was rife that Naikoo could be the new operational commander. Besides, Naikoo has worked tremendously on increasing the visibility and popularity of the banned terror organisation. A popular face on social media, Naikoo has been using platforms like Whatsapp and Facebook to galvanise support for the new age militancy in the Valley. He is also the one who revived the early tradition of militants paying tributes to their fallen comrades. "In January last year, Naikoo appeared at the funeral of Shariq Ahmad Bhat a Lashkar-e-Taiba militant who was killed in an encounter with two of his associates and fired several shots in the air. The video of the gun salute went viral on social networking sites and has almost become a routine now," as reported in this Firstpost article. He is also said to be an expert on devising ways to give armed forces the slip. He has reportedly escaped from several traps laid for him by security forces in the past three years. Most importantly, Naikoo is gauged as a more "moderate" voice among his peers, according to intelligence sources. Musa, with his pan-Islamist assertions has been taking the centre stage of militancy in the Valley and even threatened to kill those who refer to the Kashmir separatist campaign as a nationalistic movement. But Naikoo, unlike Musa, prefers secular society to the Islamic caliphate and imposition of Shariat. He has been asserting in his social media messages that the separatist campaign in Kashmir is political in nature and has nothing to do with the global Islamist movement. Besides, Hizbul's Pakistan-based leadership has been under a lot of pressure from Pakistani intelligence agency ISI, after Musa's rants about establishing a caliphate in Kashmir. A more moderate and literate voice like Naikoo's could lend much needed credibility to the terror group in the eyes of disillusioned but educated Kashmiri youth. Naikoo had, like former Hizb-Ul-Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, invited Kashmiri Pandits to return to the Valley in his first video message after Wani was killed by the Indian security forces. "We will welcome them (Kashmiri Pandits) warmly and there is always a place for them in our hearts. They are part of our nation. We are their protectors and not their enemies," he said in the video. As India steps into its 71st year as a sovereign republic, it remains an enigma to the world. How do you define a nation that sends a mission to Mars and yet has a child mortality rate next only to Afghanistan and Pakistan? How do you assess whether the 70-year-old India project unique in its complexity and diversity in integrating several ethno-linguistic multitudes into a continent-sized nation has been a success or a failure? There are simply no reference points. India stands up to Chinese bullying and stares down the new superpower in an eyeball-to-eyeball dare; conducts complex naval exercises with the US; joins hands with Japan to float an alternative 'Silk Road' to counter China's vaunted OBOR and yet reports 1,00,000 under-five deaths due to diarrhea in 2015 alone in statistics that are comparable to sub-Saharan Africa. India engages with other nations as a leading economic power in its own right. It has pulled millions out of poverty since Independence and has become world's fastest growing large economy, third-largest in the world after the US and China. From representing 15 percent of the US economy in 1947 as noted by London-based Financial Times India is now half its size. It has more than doubled life expectancy during this period, significantly improved literacy rates, reduced gender gap and is poised to cross 1 billion mobile phone users by 2020. Concurrently, it shapes global opinion through its culture, soft power and an influential diaspora; is beginning to exert geopolitical and economic influence over its sphere of influence in the Indian Ocean Region and fancies itself as the security guarantor of Indo-Pacific. It aspires a seat in UN Security Council, boasts of nuclear weapons and is keen on joining the rarefied Nuclear Suppliers' Group. Yet it is unable to provide the most public services, falters at carrying out its responsibilities to the poor and appears a failure in mitigating social divisions. Unlike the West which crawled towards universal adult suffrage through decades of bitter struggle and bloodshed, India has been a democracy since its inception as a republic with its billion-strong population enjoying equal voting rights. Yet the state is a miserable failure in many parameters of human development index. It ranks 131st among 188 countries in latest rankings. In crucial areas of living standards, education, sanitation, nutrition, electricity and healthcare, the Indian state has started to act only now after decades of criminal neglect and it still falls short of minimum requirements. Livemint points out that there is a shortage of 500,000 doctors in India while public spending in healthcare has improved only marginally in the last two decades from 1.1 percent of GDP in 1995 to 1.4 percent in 2014. For being a democratic, secular, republic India straddles a higher moral orbit compared to most of its south Asian peers but the aura is dimmed by the fact that it has not been able to make these advantages work for greater, common good. Politicians have been busy exploiting the religious and social fault lines for short-term, electoral gains. As a result, India has fallen behind in crucial HDI parameters compared to its Asian peers despite being on an even keel around six or seven decades ago. It could be put down solely to lost opportunity and myopia of our political-bureaucratic class but the truth could be a little more complex. In their article for Indian Express, Swati Ramanathan and Ramesh Ramanathan point out that instant adult suffrage might be a major reason behind India's dismal HDI performance because the country did not get enough time in building its public institutions. "A regime of incremental suffrage extension would likely have empowered local institutions and built their capacities. A heavily upper- and middle-class electorate would have focused on the local provision of public goods such as healthcare, education, civic facilities, and the like. Empowered, educated, and tax-paying elite and middle-class voters would have demanded routine and systematic accountability as well, as they did in incremental suffrage regimes," they write. Failure to provide public service led to the middle classes moving away and choosing private services instead, and consequently, the poor who have little political agency except during elections had to bear the brunt of shoddy service. And the lack of accountability meant an easy ride for politicians. Disillusioned with the sarkar, voters quickly elected strongmen and criminals to positions of power because they were in a better position to deliver what netas could not. This eventually led to criminalisation of Indian politics, as Washington-based Carnegie Endowment senior fellow Milan Vaishnav points out in his book When Crime Pays. There has been a renewed focus on infrastructure spending, building up the sanitary framework and raising awareness. But political activism is not enough unless these initiatives are institutionalised, reforms are done in crucial areas to increase labour and agricultural productivity. The economy, after its recent trysts with demonetisation and GST, remains shaky and growth stays essentially jobless. Amid these dichotomies, however, the India story remains fundamentally positive. A new government at Centre has shown more energy in renewing regional ties and bolstering India's partnership with world powers, especially the US. India and the US have grown closer if only to balance the unsettling rise of China and have just announced a new dialogue mechanism to ensure "peace and stability" in Indo-Pacific region. The significance of the move when India is locked with China in a tense standoff at Doka La tri-junction area hasn't been lost on anyone. Air corridor has come up with Afghanistan, negotiations with Iran on Chabahar port development, after some hiccups, are picking up. Yet older problems remain. The Ministry of Defence retains its Cold War-era mindset and cannot bring itself up to make quick decisions, hampering India's military operability despite the severe need for upgradation. Defence spending remains low. A recent CAG report has pointed out that India's ammunition stock is critically low. The India story, however, is plodding on despite these apparent contradictions. Indian and Chinese troops clashed briefly on a disputed area of land in the Himalayas, officials said on Wednesday, exacerbating tensions during a months-long stand-off between the two armies. Chinese troops threw stones at Indian soldiers near Pangong Lake, a major tourist attraction in the picturesque mountain region of Ladakh on Tuesday, an Indian defence official said. He said Chinese soldiers had twice tried to enter the Indian territory but had been pushed back. "There was a minor incident. There was some stone pelting from the Chinese side but the situation was quickly brought under control," he told AFP on condition of anonymity. The brief confrontation was resolved after Indian and Chinese sides retreated to their respective positions, he added. Personnel from both sides received minor injuries and the situation was brought under control after the customary banner drill under which both sides hold banners before stepping back to their respective positions, PTI reported. An army spokesman in New Delhi declined to comment on the incident which came amid continued stand-off between the armies of the two countries at Doka La in Sikkim. Chinese troops had managed to enter up to Finger Four area in the region from where they were sent back. The Pangong lake area lies over 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) high on the Tibetan plateau. This area has been a bone of contention between India and China as both claim it to be a part of their territory. When the Indian side staked claim to the area during negotiations in late 1990s, the Chinese army constructed a metal-top road and insisted it was part of Aksai Chin, which is under the latter's control, officials said. China had constructed a road up to Finger Four which falls under Siri Jap area, and is five km deep into the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Earlier, the Chinese patrols used to come frequently from the northern and southern banks of this lake, whose 45-kilometre stretch is on the Indian side while 90 kilometres is on the Chinese side. Police in Jammu and Kashmir said clashes were relatively common along the de facto border known as the LAC. "These things happen every summer but this one was slightly prolonged and more serious but no weapons were used," a police source in Srinagar told AFP. The latest incident comes amid an ongoing dispute between the two sides over a strategic Himalayan plateau thousands of kilometres away where hundreds of Indian and Chinese soldiers have been facing off against each other for more than two months. The border trouble began in June when Chinese soldiers started to extend a road through the Doka La territory known as "Donglang" in Chinese. The area is disputed between China and Bhutan. India, a close ally of Bhutan, then deployed troops to stop the construction project, prompting Beijing to accuse India of trespassing on Chinese soil. China has said India must withdraw its troops before any proper negotiation takes place. India said both sides should withdraw their forces together. The plateau is strategically significant as it gives China access to the so-called "chicken's neck" a thin strip of land connecting India's northeastern states with the rest of the country. A ceremonial Border Personnel Meeting on the Indian Independence Day was also not held this time as the Chinese side did not respond to a communication from the Indian side, according to IANS. It was the first time since 2005 that the meetings were not held. However, there were reports of troops from both sides exchanging sweets on the occasion on Tuesday. A trade war also seems to be looming between India and China after New Delhi imposed anti-dumping duties on 93 Chinese products amidst a military standoff in Doklam area, two Chinese state media reports said on Monday. An article in The Global Times, part of the ruling Communist Party's publication group, urged Chinese firms to "reconsider the risks" of investing in India and warned New Delhi to be "prepared for the possible consequences for its ill-considered action." Tensions along the LAC rose in 2014 when Chinese soldiers moved into territory claimed by India, sparking a two-week military stand-off that overshadowed a visit by China's president Xi Jinping. With inputs from agencies New Delhi: Senior army officers of India and China held a meeting in eastern Ladakh on Wednesday to discuss peace, a day after their troops engaged in a scuffle when Chinese soldiers tried to enter the Indian side in Pangong Lake area, sources said. According to sources in the army, a 'pre-scheduled' Border Personnel Meeting was held in Chusul, in eastern Ladakh, on Wednesday afternoon. In the meeting, a day after an unusual scuffle took place between Indian and Chinese troops which included stone pelting, the two sides discussed the incident and issues to ensure "strengthening of existing mechanisms for maintaining peace and tranquility", said the sources. Indian and Chinese troops got into a scuffle near the Pangong Lake in Ladakh after Chinese troops tried to cross the Line of Actual Control in the area. The standoff continued for more than an hour, during which soldiers on both sides were involved in stone pelting, which led to injury to troops, sources said. Later, a standard drill in which banners are shown asking the other side to go back to the agreed point was held, and the Chinese troops retreated. This is a one of its kind incident where troops were involved in a skirmish, though no weapons were used. Another source said the incident has been taken "very seriously" by both sides. Army officials in Delhi have refused to comment on the incident, but have not denied it either. The development in Ladakh comes as troops of both sides are locked in a tense standoff in Doka La, in Sikkim sector, that entered the third month on Wednesday. On Tuesday, ceremonial BPMs held at different points of the boundary on Independence Day was not held. However, army sources said on Wednesday that sweets were exchanged. Leh/New Delhi: Indian border guards on Tuesday frustrated an attempt by Chinese soldiers to enter Indian territory along the banks of famous Pangong lake in Ladakh resulting in stone pelting that caused minor injuries to people on both sides, officials said. Soldiers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) tried to enter the Indian side in two areas Finger Four and Finger Five twice between 6 am and 9 am. But on both the occasions their attempts were thwarted by alert Indian troops, they said. After Chinese troopers found their path blocked by Indian soldiers who formed a human chain, they began hurling stones, prompting a swift retaliation by Indian border guards. Personnel from both sides received minor injuries and the situation was brought under control after the customary banner drill under which both sides hold banners before stepping back to their respective positions. An army spokesman in New Delhi declined to comment on the incident which came amid continued stand-off between the armies of the two countries at Doka La in Sikkim. Chinese troops had managed to enter up to Finger Four area in the region from where they were sent back. This area has been a bone of contention between India and China as both claim it to be a part of their territory. When the Indian side staked claim to the area during negotiations in late 1990s, the Chinese army constructed a metal-top road and insisted it was part of Aksai Chin, which is under the latter's control, officials said. China had constructed a road up to Finger Four which falls under Siri Jap area and is five km deep into the LAC. Earlier, the Chinese patrols used to come frequently from the northern and southern banks of this lake, whose 45-kilometre stretch is on the Indian side while 90 kilometres is on the Chinese side. Indian forces are now armed with high-speed interceptor boats, bought from the US, which can accommodate nearly 15 soldiers and are equipped with radars, infra-red and GPS systems. These boats are said to be as good as Chinese vessels and are used to conduct reconnaissance and area domination patrols. The situation along the banks of the lake has always remained volatile with Chinese troops being intercepted by Indian Army patrol several times after the three-week long stand-off in the Depsang plains of Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) in May 2013. Kibbutz Nirim (Israel): Israel is pressing ahead with construction of an underground barrier along the border with the Gaza Strip in an ambitious project meant to halt the threat of attack tunnels built by the Hamas militant group. Cranes and work crews are digging holes and installing sensors and other equipment for a structure that is to stretch along the entire 60-kilometer border when it is complete. Gadi Yarkoni, head of a local council, says the project is a key reason the area has enjoyed a surge in growth and attracted young families since a devastating war with Hamas three years ago. In the 2014 war, Hamas militants several times made their way into Israel through a tunnel network, terrifying locals. Yarkoni says "building the barrier is the right thing to do." Shobhana still cannot get over the shock of losing her brother, Divakaran. "I am clueless as to why he would commit suicide. He deserted his two children, aged 13 and six. I can't see any reason why he would take such a drastic step," she said. Even more worrying is the fact that Divakaran's suicide is no isolated case. He was only the latest of several youngsters, all members of Scheduled Tribe communities, who have killed themselves in and around Padole, a small hamlet on the foothills of Kerala's Western Ghats. Divakaran, who was also an elected member of the local government body since the last 10 years, was found hanging in his house in Pangode, a tribal settlement located 60 kms from Kerala's capital city of Thiruvananthapuram. According to the state government, 45 tribals have committed suicide in Palode and nearby areas since 2012. Of them, 43 were found hanging. All the deceased were aged between 15 and 50. It was actually an alleged suicide by a college student that led to an inquiry that uncovered several other, possibly related cases. On 31 July, a studious, college-going girl had killed herself over trivial reasons at her father's house. Before this, it turned out, 47-year-old Sreekumar was found hanging at his house in Njaraneeli, leaving behind his wife, two young children, and an aged father. "Everything was fine. He was a loving person, who always spoke of togetherness. In the mornings, when I went to the goat shed, I found him dead," said his widowed wife, Ambily Sreekumar, her voice breaking and tears streaming down her cheeks. "Just the night before, he was talking of doing the paperwork regarding our daughter's marriage. But the very next morning, I found him dead." Sreekumar was the sole breadwinner for the household. Since his demise, his 12-year-old son has also become extremely moodi, Ambily cried. "The future looks so bleak for us," she said. Social activists, who have worked with the locals in these tribal settlements, are afraid of a "copycat suicide epidemic" doing the rounds. "The numbers are increasing. And when we go into the details, we will realise that there are no valid reasons behind any of these suicides," said Mini Mohan, a social activist in Thiruvananthapuram. Vikraman Kani, a neighbourhood resident, said that social exclusion, unemployment, alcoholism and an increasingly bleak future were leading to so many people committing suicide. "When people like us are harassed by the upper castes, we go to the police. But we aren't treated fairly. We don't get justice. We are pushed away," said Kani, who himself belongs to a Scheduled Tribe. Kani, who works at the state transport corporation, alleged that his colleagues often look down upon him on the basis of his caste. Dhanya Raman, a social activist who focuses on issues faced by Dalit communities, said that a detailed study has to be initiated to find the real reason behind these suicides. "I have visited 38 houses in the Njaraneeli area. Not everybody who committed suicide was alcoholic. There are even some cases of young girls who killed themselves. We clearly need to have a detailed probe into these cases to find a solution," Raman said. Citing a recent case of sexual abuse that was uncovered in Njaraneeli, Raman said timely intervention was the only thing that might have avoided yet another suicide. "A tribal girl was molested by an auto driver. Fortunately, she managed to free herself and run away. We supported her through counselling and support, or she too could have committed suicide," she said. Raman added that on one fateful day in 2011, they registered 57 rape cases, which indicates the spread of the problem. Meanwhile, Mohan Roy, a professor of Psychiatry at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, said that most people who take such a drastic step have an emotional or mental disorder. "In areas where suicides are occurring frequently, a probe has to be initiated. We should identify the issues and address them. We also need a long-term, holistic support system in place," Mohan added. Meanwhile, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission (KSHRC) has sought a deeper probe into the series of deaths. P Mohandas, acting chairperson of the commision, directed the district police chief to ensure an inquiry into the incident is carried out by a police official not less than the rank of deputy superintendent of police, and a report is submitted within one month. The commission also sought the chief secretary of the social justice department to open an inquiry into the reasons behind the incident and to submit a report within one month. The Supreme Court has ordered the NIA to probe the issue raised by a Muslim man whose marriage was annulled by the Kerala High Court that described it as a case of "love jihad", reports CNN-News18. The court has also appointed retired Supreme Court judge RV Raveendran to monitor the probe. #NewsAlert -- Kerala love Jihad case: SC orders NIA probe to be supervised by ex-SC judge pic.twitter.com/eQXL7dJ7Xa News18 (@CNNnews18) August 16, 2017 The direction came after the NIA told the court that love jihad is for real. There is a pattern to convert Hindu girls and get them married to Muslim men, it said. The court had earlier directed the Kerala Police to render "all assistance" to the NIA in the matter. A bench comprising Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud had taken serious note of the objection raised by the counsel for Shafin Jahan (from Kerala) that he was opposing the NIA's plea to peruse the investigation record of the case. The bench had said that it gathered the impression that "the petitioner (Jahan) does not desire the correct and independent view of the controversy" be brought before the court. Jahan, who had married a Hindu woman in December 2016, had moved the apex court after the Kerala High Court annulled his marriage saying that it was an insult to independence of women in the country. The woman, a Hindu, had converted to Islam and later married Jahan. It was alleged that the woman was recruited by Islamic State's mission in Syria and Jahan was only a stooge. The high court, while declaring the marriage as "null and void", had described the case as an instance of 'love jihad' and ordered the state police to conduct probe into such cases. With inputs from PTI Srinagar: Notching another major success, security forces killed top LeT commander Ayub Lelhari on Wednesday in a gunfight in Pulwama district, days after Hizbul Mujahideen's top commander Yasin Itoo was killed in a gunfight in Shopian. "Ayub Lelhari District Commander LeT killed in Pulwama. Yet another success in the fight against militancy," the state police said on its Twitter handle. Giving details of the gunfight, police said a 'naka' (check post) was set up in Banderpora (Koil) village jointly by Rashtriya Rifles, state police, and CRPF after receiving information about the movement of the LeT district commander in the area. "When the vehicle in which Ayub Lelhari was traveling, was signaled to stop, it tried to jump the check post, after which the LeT commander started firing at the security forces," the police said. "Two policemen were injured in the initial firing after which an encounter started in which Lelhari was killed," police said. The driver of the vehicle has been arrested. Lelhari had been active in south Kashmir areas and had recently been designated as district commander by the LeT outfit. Police said the gunfight has ended. On Sunday, top Hizbul Mujahideen commander Yasin Itoo was killed along with two other local militants in a 24 hour-long gunfight in Shopian district. Yasin Itoo, alias Mehmood Ghaznavi, was the operational commander of the Hizbul. He was one of the senior-most Hizbul militants active in Kashmir and was designated divisional commander after Burhan Wani was killed in 2016. On 1 July, the security forces killed LeT Commander Bashir Lashkari in a gunfight in Anantnag district, along with another militant. Forty-three wards of Madhya Pradesh witnessed local body elections this week, and the results have sounded warning bells for the BJP government of Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Madhya Pradesh will have Assembly elections in 2018, and Chouhan will be seeking a fourth straight term as chief minister. The farmers' agitation that rocked the state in June this year clearly seems to have had an impact, as Mandsaur, the epicentre of the protests, saw Congress wresting back a few seats from the BJP. Though BJP still continued to easily outshine Congress, its tally has dropped by three seats. The saffron party had won 28 seats last time and this has come down to 25 now. Congress has improved its tally by six seats; winning 15 seats as against nine earlier. Three Independent candidates also clinched victories. The violence in Mandsaur made it to national headlines in June, when the police fired on protesting farmers, killing six. The protests started in this one district of western Madhya Pradesh, but soon spread to adjoining towns as well. The mob violence resulted in a huge loss of public and private properties, and life came to a standstill for almost three weeks in several towns. It was only after a personal assurance from Chouhan, who also went on a fast, that the protesters called off their stir. Setback for Congress, Chouhan Results of the municipal elections show the Congress has reasons to cheer. However, there was also a setback for the party at Dabra. Dabra in Gwalior, a Congress bastion due to the strong influence of the Scindia family, went to BJP for the first time. A Congress candidate backed by the Scindia royal family lost for the first time to a BJP candidate in 70 years. In senior Congress leader Kamal Nath's pocket borough of Chhindwara, however, the Congress swept all five municipal wards, while BJP managed to retain two wards. The results suggest that Congress is staging a slow turnaround under Kamal Nath, who represents Chhindwara. There had been widespread rumours that Kamal Nath would be made the party's in-charge of Madhya Pradesh before the 2018 Assembly election, but state Congress leaders denied this. Congress also managed to win Nasrullaganj panchayat seat in Sehore district, known as Chouhan's pocket borough, and also Shamshabad seat in Vidisha a traditional BJP stronghold where the chief minister exercises a considerable influence. Mandsaur factor Congress and non-BJP parties, including Independent candidates, identified the Mandsaur farmers' issue as something that could provide political dividends. Ahead of the polls, Congress raised the farmers' distress during campaigning and it clearly bore fruits for them in Mandsaur and Ratlam the districts that witnessed widespread violence. Though Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi was prevented by the state government from entering Mandsaur when it was burning, his stormy visit did help the state Congress catapult itself ahead of the civic body polls. The party had been successful in fuelling the farmers' anger and convert it into votes in its favour. "Farmers' distress was a burning issue in Mandsaur and adjoining districts. Ahead of the polls on 11 August, the Congress, during its campaign, highlighted various problems the farmers in Madhya Pradesh have been facing. Here in Mandsaur, they had been at the receiving end and there's much anger among them. This has helped Congress win three Nagar Palika seats," said Rameshwar Patidar, a farmer from Garoth in Mandsaur. Garoth is one of three wards in Mandsaur where Congress emerged victorious. Though it is too early to jump to definite conclusions regarding any possible shift in the political wind in Madhya Pradesh, the fact remains that with just months left for the Assembly elections, the numbers do not augur well for the saffron party. It seems to have failed to quell the anger of the farming community, which had given vent to their farm problems through violent protests. However, Chouhan did manage to sail through with infrastructure development across the state and some of his welfare schemes. His communication skills also keep him connected with the grassroot voters. The Assembly election in 2018 will certainly be a contest to watch out for. Agartala: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar on Wednesday condemned the censorship of his Independence Day speech by national broadcaster Prasar Bharati and termed it an "undemocratic, autocratic and intolerant step". The Opposition Congress has also slammed the move to censor the chief minister's speech, while the BJP, which is eyeing to grab power in Tripura in the next assembly elections, has supported Prasar Bharati's move. An official statement from the chief minister's office said that All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan Kendra (DDK), Agartala, recorded Sarkar's speech on 12 August to broadcast and telecast it on 15 August. "On 14 August evening Assistant Director of Programmes (Policy) Sanjiv Dosajh of AIR, New Delhi, and Prasar Bharati's head of office (New Delhi) UK Sahoo in separate communications to the chief minister's office said that with the existing contents the speech could not be telecast and broadcast by AIR and DDK, Agartala," the statement said. "The AIR and Prasar Bharati officials had suggested reshaping the content of the chief minister's speech making it suitable to the solemnity of the occasion and sentiments of the people of India at large. The chief minister refused to make any change in his speech," the statement added. Sarkar, a Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) politburo member who has been the chief minister of Tripura for 19 years, has in previous years delivered the Independence Day speeches through the AIR and DDK, Agartala. "The Left Front leaders today(Wednesday) held a meeting and vehemently criticised the decision of the Prasar Bharati," CPM state secretary Bijan Dhar told the media. He said the step is a blatant proof of how the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh)-run BJP government at the Centre is controlling all the apex constitutional bodies of the country. "This step has insulted the people of Tripura," said Dhar, a CPM central committee member. The Left Front has urged the people to organise protest rallies against Prasar Bharati's "most undemocratic and authoritarian decision". Tripura Congress Vice President Tapas Dey said: "Those who opposed the Emergency in 1975 are trying to reimpose it now". "This is a sign of intolerance and dictatorial. When Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat he had criticised the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government like anything, now his government at the Centre is curbing the voice of an elected chief minister of another state," Dey told reporters. BJP Tripura unit spokesman Mrinal Kanti Deb said the chief minister has "no sense" of what should be spoken when and where. "On a national day like Independence Day, chief minister's speech should be concentrated on national integration, national security, peace and development of the country. In the national day speech he should not criticise the central government," Deb said. CPM politburo in New Delhi on Tuesday in a statement had termed the step of Prasar Bharati as a gross infringement on the right of a chief minister to address the people of his state on Independence Day. It said: "This act is reminiscent of the Emergency days and goes beyond as it seeks to gag the elected chief minister of a state. The central government is trampling upon the autonomy of Doordarshan, AIR and Prasar Bharati by such acts of censorship." The CPM demanded action against those responsible for prohibiting the broadcast. It asked the Narendra Modi government to stop treating the Prasar Bharati "as a department of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting". Lucknow: BSP president Mayawati on Wednesday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks on the death of children in Gorakhpur and asked people to understand the "distorted thinking" of BJP leaders. The BSP chief also termed as shocking BJP chief Amit Shah's statement at a press conference in Bengaluru that "this is not the first time such an incident has taken place in this large country of ours". "It is both surprising and sad that Prime Minister Modi went a step ahead of his party president Amit Shah and described the death of children in Gorakhpur, caused by criminal, official negligence, as a natural calamity... people of the county should now understand the distorted and wrong thinking of BJP leaders," Mayawati said in a statement. In his Independence Day speech on Tuesday, Modi had said, "Sometimes, natural calamities become a very big challenge. Good rains contribute hugely to the prosperity of a nation. But due to climate change, sometimes, these natural calamities bring distress." "A few days back, in many parts of the country, natural disasters took place. A few days back, at a hospital, our innocent children died," Modi had said. Mayawati said everyone is aware that the tragedy is an outcome of rampant corruption at every level but still the prime minister "has tried to save his party government by terming it as natural calamity when his own party MP and the RSS have condemned it." "Instead of taking action against their ministers and others, both Modi and Shah are showing ego and behaving in an authoritarian manner and BSP condemns it in the strongest words," she charged. Shah had recently rejected the demand for Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath's ouster over the Gorakhpur tragedy, saying such incidents had also happened in states governed by the Congress. "It is natural for Congress to ask for Yogiji's resignation. This is not the first time such an incident has taken place in this large country of ours. Such incidents have taken place during Congress rule in many states," he had said. The BSP president claimed that the BJP wanted to hold Lok Sabha elections by the end of next year along with Assembly polls in some BJP-ruled Hindi-speaking states and asked the saffron party to at least now work honestly for the welfare of people. Terming the Modi government's claims of fighting official corruption as hollow, she said the Centre has not set up the Lokpal in the past over three years and its governments in the states are "desisting from acting against corrupt ministers and others". Mumbai: Thane Police will soon have former senior inspector Pradeep Sharma in their ranks as the famed encounter specialist of the Mumbai Police comes out of suspension. Sharma on Wednesday reported to Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP) Satish Mathur in uniform indicating that his reinstatement, said a senior IPS official on condition of anonymity. Sharma, who will return as an Assistant Commissioner of Police, requested for a position in Thane. He retires in 2018. Sources said that Sharma joined as a part of the DG Control Room before he shifts to the anti-extortion cell of the Thane Police. Sharma had joined Mumbai Police in 1983 and his last posting was at Dharavi police station in 2008. Sharma was dismissed in 2008 for alleged links with Dawood Ibrahim gang and for his alleged role in the Lakhan Bhaiya fake encounter case. Former gangster Ram Narayan Gupta alias Lakhan Bhaiyya was a suspected aide of gangster Chhota Rajan. Sharma was arrested in the Lakhan Bhaiyya case in 2010 along with 21 other police officials. While 13 cops were convicted in the case in July 2013, Sharma was however acquitted by the court. Sharmas re-entry was blocked by DGP Mathur, on the grounds that the state governments appeal in the high court against his reinstatement was still pending. However, with the nod from the home department, Sharma is likely to join the Thane Police within a week. Sharma, who has 113 encounter killings to his name including three Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists. Bollywood movie Ab Tak Chhappan is based on him. Another encounter specialist sub-inspector Daya Nayak was also reinstated in 2016. Nayak has 83 encounters to his name. Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence day speech had all the regular ingredients of a corporate presentation by a smart, ambitious CEO listing out achievements made so far some indirect blame-game on the previous regime and how he has done better, the future milestones and, lastly, why his company should continue ruling in coming years. Modi made a convincing case for his re-election in 2019 by reiterating his dream for the 'New India by 2022'. The pitch was good enough to connect with both urban dwellers and rural population of Asia's third largest economy. The prime minister also added a suspense factor his speech regarding 2018. "The upcoming 1 January on 2018 will not be standard. The people who were born in the 21st century will find that this date will decide a lot in their lives." In a speech that lasted less than an hour, Modi listed out almost every activities the NDA-government did in the past three years, and the issues it grappled with, found the mention efforts to give a leg up to rural India, the big economic moves (GST, demonetisation), corruption, efforts to retrieve black money, border security challenges, government's preparedness and its governance (Gorakhpur tragedy and border security issues). Clearly, Modi's three years at Centre have been quite eventful. The former Gujarat chief minister hit the ground running with a plan. The perils of the UPA regime back-to-back corruption cases and scams, prolonged policy-paralysis and a lack of vision and political will to keep pace with an advancing world became a thing of the past. There have been no major allegations against Modi or his ministers on corruption. The bureaucratic machinery was set in motion and the air of lethargy has almost been removed from government offices. As slew of big-ticket reforms like GST, bankruptcy law and massive push to Aadhaar-linkage programmes to rationalise subsidy programme and widen the tax base was initiated. Emphasis was on improving rural infrastructure. Bank loan defaulters and those operating in parallel economy were given a reminder on the surveillance mechanisms that are now in place. Undoubtedly, the government deserves credit for these achievements. These are all much needed moves. However, along with listing out achievements, self-introspection, and course-corrections wherever needed, becomes equally important. This wasn't seen in Modi's speech, who was silent on certain critical issues: Jobs Despite its promises, the Modi government has failed to generate large number of jobs in the economy in the three years of its rule. Millions are entering the workforce every year. This is a major question the government will have to answer going ahead as well. In his speech, Modi mentioned schemes his government has launched to generate employment, such as offering collateral-free loans to small entrepreneurs. But real numbers tell us that in the three years of Modi rule, unemployment has actually gone up in 2015-16 to 5 percent up from 4.9 percent in 2013-14, the year before the BJP assumed power. There is also concern on the shift in pattern of the employment to more temporary in nature and declining wages. This is something the Economic Survey 2016-17 too has pointed out. "Employment in India poses a great challenge in terms of its structure which is dominated by informal, unorganized and seasonal workers, and is characterized by high levels of under employment, skill shortages, with the labour markets impacted by rigid labour laws, and the emergence of contract labour." Generating jobs will be even a bigger challenge for Modi when he walks into the final years of his term as more and more youngsters march into the job market. What it could do so far through schemes like Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAYNULM) and Mudra loans, is too little compared to the job demand. Secondly, the NDA government failed to wake up in time for the NPA problem and the government-dominated banking industry is in a critical state now. Even now, it hasn't acted on long-term solutions to save public sector banks (PSBs) from inefficiency and capital shocks. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) embarked on a bad loan cleanup process in 2015, which was later supported by the Modi-government that brought in bankruptcy code. But, all this was done too late. Even now, banking sector will take a long time to resolve the bad loan problem, particularly from wilful defaulters or promoters, who have the ability to pay back but not the willingness. As this PTI report points out, PSBs reported 20 percent jump in the outstanding loans by nearly 9,000 wilful defaulters who collectively owed to lenders more than Rs 92,000 crore at the end of March this year. Clearly, the Modi-government did not act quickly enough to acknowledge the problem and taking steps to find a way to re-capitalise these banks to the desired extent. It is yet to take any solid steps to push privatisation in the banking sector. Right now, the NPA problem is acting as a major drag on the Indian economy as the ability of banks to lend big to productive sectors is limited. Banks are unwilling to take further exposure to companies except the ones with top rating. The health of an economy is inevitably linked to its banking sector. The evidence of this is visible in a series of recent macro-economic numbers. Modi was largely silent on this issue. Thirdly, Modi offered figures in the speech to say that the government has confiscated black money worth Rs 1.25 lakh crores in three years. Modi also said that Rs 3 lakh crore that had never come into the banking system before, has been brought into the system after government's demonetisation drive. These figures need clarity. The government should make public the fact that how much of these seizures are on account of the demonetisation-linked searches. If this whole chunk turns out to be black money and taxmen get their share out of it, it is good news. The demonetisation exercise has certainly helped to widen the tax base and inundate bank counters with fresh deposits. But how much of this exercise has helped the state exchequer, is doubtful. In fact, the demonetisation exercise has been a major reason why the RBI transferred only less than half of last year's dividend to the government this year. How much demonetised currency has come back to the banking system after note ban still remains a mystery even after eight months of the announcement. To summarise, it was a typical speech by the prime minister on Independene Day things he listed as government's achievements gave us a glimpse into the government's functioning over the past three years and was encouraging. However, certain things he chose not to speak on might return as bigger troubles for his government. Main among those will be lack of ability to generate new jobs and an economy that is still struggling to find desired growth momentum. New Delhi: The law ministry on Wednesday cleared an ordinance of the Tamil Nadu government which seeks to exempt medical students from appearing in the common entrance test NEET, a senior official said on Wednesday. Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad cleared the draft ordinance in consultation with Attorney General KK Venugopal. The official, who requested anonymity, said the ordinance will be applicable only to government colleges, and not private ones. Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswamy, state ministers and Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker M Thambidurai had multiple meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other central ministers over NEET. The NEET is an entrance examination for students who wish to study MBBS and BDS courses in government or private medical colleges. It is conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). The NEET replaced the All India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT) and all individual MBBS exams conducted by states or colleges. However, many colleges and institutes had taken a stay order and conducted private examinations for admission to their MBBS and BDS courses. Tamil Nadu, which had initially sought permanent exemption from NEET by passing two bills in the Assembly, later made efforts to be out of its ambit for at least a year or two. Nineteen months after he committed suicide, a judicial commission has reported that "no one killed Rohith Vemula". He killed himself, unable to come to terms with frustrations in his personal life, it has ruled, and nobody neither any Union minister nor officials at the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) played any role in pushing the young research scholar to take the extreme step. What's more, Vemula has been officially stripped of his 'Dalit' identity as well. The Justice Roopanwal report devotes four pages to demolish the claim that he was a Dalit, by going into great detail about how Radhika Vemula, Rohith's mother, who is a Backward Class by birth and by marriage, acquired a Dalit caste certificate. This punctures the rhetoric of the opposition parties, which had gone to town branding BJP as an anti-Dalit party which pushed a young Dalit research scholar to death. The report is, of course, great news for the Right-wing ABVP, whose skirmish with the Ambedkar Students' Association in August 2015 over a prayer meeting for Yakub Memon, everybody presumed, set off a chain of events that culminated in Vemula's suicide. But now, it transpires, none of what happened at HCU, including his expulsion from the hostel, had any role in Vemula's death. If one is to go by the Roopanwal report, it was loneliness and frustration led Vemula to kill himself. However, I wish Justice Roopanwal had spoken to psychologists and psychiatrists to ascertain whether a major upheaval in the last few months played a part in pushing a weak mind towards suicide. The commission jumps to the conclusion that the punishment meted out by the university was pending in court, so it could not be the reason for Vemula's suicide. Instead, for reasons best known to Justice Roopanwal, he concludes that Vemula was "an unappreciated man" since childhood, and points out that he did not blame anyone for his decision in his suicide note. It is surprising how the judge brushes aside the rather stinging note written by Vemula to the vice-chancellor on 18 December, 2016, in which he suggested that a nice rope be supplied to the rooms of all Dalit students. In a letter dripping with anguish and sarcasm, he also asked for 10 mg of sodium azide to be served to all Dalit students at the time of admission. He asked "your highness" (referring to the VC) to make preparations for euthanasia for students like him. "And I wish you and the campus rest in peace forever," he wrote in a letter that carried the subject line 'Solution for Dalit Problem'. If this is not the cry of a man thinking only of death, not once, not twice but three times, what else is it? Justice Roopanwal also argues Vemula committed suicide one month after writing this note, and therefore it does not count. Since when did killing oneself become as robotic as pushing an elevator button. Letter written, press zero, and down you go. The second thing apparent is that irrespective of the reality of his caste, Rohith was brought up by his single mother as a Dalit and that shaped his outlook. It must however be pointed out that he got admission on merit, not on SC quota, to HCU. Vemula to my mind was a victim of the system, of the circumstances that pushed him to his death. In search of an identity for himself, he had become part of the Ambedkar Students Association, that pursued an aggressive posture against the powers-that-be at the University. "It is a Brahminical agraharam," an ASA member had said to me during the agitation last year, the contempt for the upper castes, apparent. It is this poison that was being injected into a young mind which is why after his death, the entire non-Dalit teaching faculty at HCU was tarred as 'Killers of Rohith'. Not that there isn't any merit in the allegation. The Vinod Pavarala committee report that investigated the circumstances that led to the suicide by Senthil Kumar, a Dalit PhD scholar in 2008, pointed out that there were instances of teachers shifting goalposts to trouble the Dalit students. For instance, the pass mark would be changed at the last minute to ensure Dalit students fail. It has been a huge challenge for Dalit research scholars to find guides. What is needed is for the system to rectify these anomalies, and also the casteist divide that exists between students and the ghettoisation it leads to. Giving everyone a clean chit would serve the immediate purpose of ending the debate over Vemula's death but how many suicides would be blamed on the frustrations of childhood? One would assume that student bodies in universities play a proactive role in moulding young minds, to formulate their ideas about the politics of the country, and use healthy debates as a tool to resolve disputes. But what bodies like ASA and ABVP did was to make hate the dominant emotion and sucked the likes of Rohith Vemula into their clashes. He was trapped, like an Abhimanyu, knowing no escape route. He wanted to write like Carl Sagan, all he did was to pour his emotions into a suicide note. For example, if ABVP backed the decision to stop consumption of beef at the annual university festival 'Sukoon', the Dalit students hit back by saying, "We do not want to do research on your Ram, Sita and Ganesh." If the university decided to observe 'Vivekananda Jayanti', students including Rohith Vemula objected to it, calling Vivekananda an "apologist of the caste system, a misogynist, a fake intellectual and an overrated, half-witted person who has no scientific references to his rants". Rohith Vemula was without doubt a bright student. Unfortunately, he surrounded himself with people who encouraged him to see the world as dark, the glass as empty, and wearing victimhood as a badge of honour. I see his decision to use the ASA banner as a noose as a telling point. The platform he thought would elevate him in life, finally became the vehicle to his death. The Pakistani troops on Wednesday violated ceasefire by shelling and firing in forward areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, prompting the Indian Army to give a befitting response, media reports said. "Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars from 0534 hours today (Wednesday) in Poonch sector along the Line of Control (LoC)," a defence spokesman said. He added that the Indian Army retaliated "strongly and effectively". There had been reports of firing and shelling in Mankote sub-sector of Poonch too. The Pakistani forces had also resorted to unprovoked firing on Independence Day at two places along the LoC in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir. A woman was hit in one leg and an arm by the bullets fired from across the LoC. Tuesday was for the third consecutive day that Pakistani troops had violated ceasefire along the LoC in north Kashmir. It may be recalled that Pakistan violated ceasefire four times on 13 August by resorting to firing and shelling in Krishnagati, Nowshera, Mankote and north Kashmir, resulting in injuries to three Jawans. #FLASH J&K: Ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Poonch sector along LoC. Indian army retaliating. ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2017 On 12 August, the neighbouring country's troops had heavily fired on forward posts and civilian areas in Krishnagati and Poonch sectors in which a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and a woman were killed. Pakistan Army's shells exploded near a house killing 40-year-old Raqia Bi of Gohlad Kalran on 12 August. Naib Subedar Jagram Singh Tomar was also killed in Pakistani firing in Krishnagati sector on 12 August. On 8 August, Pakistan troops resorted to firing and shelling in Krishnagati sector of Poonch district, in which Sepoy Pawan Singh Sugra was grievously injured and later succumbed to his injuries. On 7 August, an army jawan was injured in a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Uri sector of Baramulla district. On 6 August, the Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire by firing at Indian posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Baba Khori area of Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir. Prior to that, on 30 July, Pakistani forces had resorted to firing from light weapons and medium machine guns in the Baba Khori belt of Naushera sector. 2017 has seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations at the LoC by Pakistan. Till 1 August, there had been 285 such violations by the Pakistan Army while in 2016, the number was significantly less at 228 for the entire year. In 2016, eight Army personnel were killed in the ceasefire violations. However this year, 11 people including nine soldiers were killed and 18 injured in ceasefire violations by Pakistan army in the month of July alone. There were 83 ceasefire violations, one BAT attack and two infiltration bids from the Pakistani side in June in which four people, including three jawans, were killed and 12 injured. In May, there were 79 ceasefire violations, according to officials. With inputs from PTI Skalzang, now a wizened man of 85, used to gather salt from the salt lakes of Ladakh region as a young boy; the salt and other goods were bartered in Tibet. His family and many others lost their sole means of livelihood when new borders carved in 1947 restricted their movement. For the first time in generations, thousands like Skalzang had to learn new words like naukri (job) and tankhwa (salary). But it was not merely a termination of their traditional means of livelihood; the emergence of new borders created new questions of identity, loyalty and belonging among Ladakhis, pushing them into a psychological exile. Given Ladakh's remote geographical location and its demographic irrelevance, that a complete silence prevails over their suffering due to the Partition of India is not surprising. Theirs was a case of collateral damage; their fate tied to Jammu and Kashmir. A brief history Ladakhis suffered due to the attempts of ambitious extensions of the kingdoms by Gulab Singh, a vassal of the Sikh ruler Maharaja Ranjit Singh and later by Dogra commander Zorawar Singh, who had annexed Ladakh and Baltistan in 1842. They had maintained strong economic and cultural ties with Tibet all this while, being followers of Buddhism. After India attained Independence, Jammu and Kashmir initially remained an independent state. On 22 October, 1947, when tribal militias attacked, backed by Pakistan, and moved to take up Srinagar, Raja Hari Singh, the then King of Jammu and Kashmir, sought assistance from India and signed the Instrument of Accession, that would make Jammu and Kashmir a part of the Indian Federation. People of Gilgit, however, did not favour the state's accession to India. Sensing their discontent, Major William Brown, the Maharaja's commander of the Gilgit Scouts, mutinied on 1 November, 1947. The bloodless coup also included support from a rebellious section of the Jammu and Kashmir 6th Infantry. Brown ensured that the treasury was secured and the minorities (Muslims) protected. After the conquest, Pakistani political agent, Khan Mohammad Alam Khan arrived on 16 November and took over the administration of Gilgit. Gilgit Scouts moved towards Baltistan and Ladakh and captured Skardu. They also captured Dras and Kargil, cutting off Indian communications to Leh in Ladakh. In the autumn of 1948, the Indian forces recaptured all of Kargil district but Gilgit-Baltistan, an area of over 72,971 square kilometres, remained under the control of Pakistan. This division left its mark it divided the people of Ladakh, who had shared similar culture and traditions for centuries, into two communities that now belonged to 'enemy' countries. The new political equations promised dividends based on religion-based demographics. This was happening for the first time in Ladakh. Composite culture Till 1947, the caretaker of the largest Buddhist monastery in Ladakh, Hemis, was a Muslim. The legacy dates back to the time of Mir Syed Ali Hamadani, who was honoured by the first Stagsang Raspa of the Hemis monastery, around 1666. The annual tribute (lo phyag), paid by the Ladakhi Buddhists to the Dalai Lama, was carried to Lhasa, by the Muslim family of Khwajas, till 1942. Buddhist kings married Muslim women, who were free to follow their religion; Muslim queens built mosques and Imambaras in Ladakh. In several areas of Ladakh, both Buddhists and Muslims lived together under a single roof. Kukshow, a village in the Kargil district, observed this mixed race tradition. There were around forty-five households in the village; seven families out of these were Buddhists, one was Muslim and the remaining thirty-seven families had combined Buddhist and Muslim names, such as Rahim Tsering, Tashi Ali, or Namgyal Mussa. The eldest male member of the family received a Muslim name, but almost all the women had Buddhist names. The discord Not only was the historical, cultural and economic connectedness of this region fragmented post-1947, successive governments shortchanged Ladakhi interest to appease the Muslim community, says a senior Lama of the Gelugpa sect. He gives a detailed reasoning to his argument. In 1979, Ladakh was further divided into Leh and Kargil district, based on the religion-based demographics Leh being Buddhist dominated and Kargil predominantly Muslim. Even though LAHDC (Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council) has representatives from all sections of society, fissures are visible. A loss of tradition and livelihood, lack of formal education and trading skills resulted in the economic backwardness of the Buddhists. Their seething frustration resulted in the boycott of the Muslims for over two years in the 1990s. Muslims, on their part, claim that their minority status and detest be equated with the majority community of the Valley. But stories about Kargil Muslims not letting the Buddhists have a crematorium or build a sarai for the tired men and women crossing Zanskar Valley are abound. Unlike Punjab and Bengal, Ladakhis do not have gory tales of violence to narrate. The unnatural borders fragmented their society ethnically, linguistically, culturally and economically, forcing them to live with a strong sense of alienation. Like millions of nameless victims of the Partition of India, their stories remain undocumented. New York: Pro-Khalistan groups have held a demonstration outside the UN headquarters in New York calling on the world body to support a referendum for self-determination. A delegation of Sikh activists also submitted to UN officials a report 'A Case For Punjab Referendum 2020 Sikhs Right to Self-Determination Why and How?'. The report by advocacy group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), addressed to Secretary General Antonio Guterres, urged the UN to support the demand of Sikhs for holding a referendum in Punjab for "realisation of their right to self-determination". Members of Sikh rights groups and North American Gurudwara committees urged the United Nations to support the "Punjab Independence Referendum" for a separate Sikh homeland of Khalistan. Bengaluru: Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday flayed the Jammu and Kashmir policy of the Narendra Modi government, alleging that it has created a space in the troubled state for Pakistan to "misbehave". His attack on the government at a Congress rally comes a day after Modi, in his Independence Day address, reached out Kashmiris, saying abuses and bullets would not resolve their problems but embracing them would. "He (Modi) has created an environment in Jammu and Kashmir of hatred and anger, and the only people who benefit from violence and hatred are the Pakistanis," he said. Claiming that he worked on the J&K issue with Manmohan Singh, who was the prime minister, and leaders like P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh silently without any "drama or tamasha", he said their effort of 10 years was "destroyed by Modi in one month". Gandhi said that the Congress-led coalition in 2004 inherited a government from Atal Bihari Vajpayee under which Kashmir was "burning", and one of the biggest successes of the Manmohan Singh government was creating an environment of peace in J&K. "We worked for 10 years to bring peace in Kashmir. We did panchayat elections, we did work on employment, we connected thousands of women there to banks. The reason was we wanted peace and harmony in Kashmir," he said. "We wanted to embrace the people of Jammu and Kashmir and we wanted them to embrace us. We wanted peace there, also because when there is peace, Pakistan can do nothing in Jammu and Kashmir... The space for Pakistan to do mischief there closes," he said. Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge, state Congress in-charge KC Venugopal and PCC president G Parameshwara, among others, were present at the event. Stressing that a peaceful Jammu and Kashmir was a "worst thing" for Pakistan, Gandhi said what the UPA government did for ten years was "destroyed in one month by Modi". "I'm telling you this because Mr Narendra Modi's policy has created a space in Jammu and Kashmir for Pakistanis to misbehave," he added. Hitting out at the Modi government's foreign policy, Gandhi accused the prime minister of alienating India's neighbours and also Russia. "Narendra Modi has not stopped there. When we were in the government, all neighbouring countries, other than Pakistan and China, were favourable to us... One by one Narendra Modi has alienated them," he alleged. "For the first time in our history, Russia is selling weapons to Pakistan," he said. An inquiry commission formed to probe the Rohith Vemula suicide case has said that the University of Hyderabad student committed suicide of his own volition and absolved the college authorities of any blame for his decision to end his life, The Times of India reported. The report came from the one-man judicial commission, set up by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) in February, consisting of former Allahabad high court judge Justice Ashok Kumar Roopanwal. The commission was asked to submit its report within three months of its formation. The report said that Vemula's suicide note indicated that he was a troubled individual and was unhappy "with worldly affairs". It also did not find then HRD minister Smriti Irani and BJP leader Bandaru Dattareya linked to the events which led to the suicide. The report also stated that Vemula was not a Dalit by caste. The report was earlier leaked in the media in October 2016, after its submission in August. In January 2017, the HRD ministry had rejected an RTI to share the report, stating that it was under submission. However, it made the report public on Tuesday. Vemula, a PhD student, committed suicide by hanging himself in a hostel room on the campus in January 2016. His death came after the university had expelled him and four of his friends from the hostel following a clash with an ABVP leader. The research scholar's caste identity became the centre of the controversy that stirred up after his suicide. Protestors, mainly left groups have alleged that Vemula was a victim of oppression unleashed by the university and BJP leaders. This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed. Mumbai: In a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day address, the Shiv Sena on Wednesday dared the Centre to abolish the Article 370 of the Constitution so that people from across the nation can "visit Kashmir and embrace its people." Modi, in his Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red fort on Tuesday, said, "Na gaali se samasya sulajhne wali hai, na goli se, samasya suljhegi har Kashmiri ko gale lagane se (Kashmir problem cannot be resolved by either bullets or by abuses, it can be resolved by embracing Kashmiris)." Reacting to it in a sarcastic tone, an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece Saamana on Wednesday said, "Why nobody got this great thought before is very surprising." "Now to bring this thought into practice, abolish Article 370 of the Constitution so that hoards of people from across the country can go there (Kashmir) and embrace its people," the editorial said. The Sena also said that violence in "the name of faith is prevalent in the country," which frightens not only Muslims but the Hindus as well. "Some segments of the Hindu community have become violent and extremists in the name of cow protection. Merely warning them will not be enough," said the party, which is part of the BJP-led alliance governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra. The Sena further questioned why the government was not as strict against those who refuse to sing Vande Mataram as the way it implemented demonetisation and GST. The prime minister had promised to bring back black money from foreign banks and deposit Rs 15 lakh in each person's account, it said, adding, "We believe this will be done in the next two years." New Delhi: Personal liberty cannot be compromised at the altar of what the state may perceive as justice, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said while granting bail to former Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) chairman Rakesh Kumar Paul in a case of alleged corruption. A three-judge bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur, in a majority ruling of 2:1, said that Paul was entitled to 'default bail' and the trial judge should release him on such terms and conditions as may be reasonable. In the majority verdict, concurred by Justice Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta, the apex court said that "in matters of personal liberty, we cannot and should not be too technical and must lean in favour of personal liberty". "The truth is that personal liberty cannot be compromised at the altar of what the State might perceive as justice, justice for one might be perceived as an injustice for another. "We are therefore unable to agree with counsel for the state that the petitioner is not entitled to his liberty through what is commonly referred to as default bail or that the justice of the case should persuade us to decide otherwise," Justice Lokur said in his verdict. The apex court was hearing the plea filed by the former Assam PSC chairman after his bail pleas were rejected by the Gauhati High Court twice. Paul was arrested on 5 November last year after an FIR was lodged against him under various provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act and a charge sheet was filed on 24 January this year. The apex court dealt with the issue of whether an accused could be kept in custody for a maximum period of 60 days or for 90 days without a chargesheet being filed. In his dissenting verdict, Justice PC Pant held that the allegations did not disclose merely an economic offence but it showed a transgression of the constitutional rights of the victims of the crime. "The chairman of the APSC has the responsibility on behalf of the state for enforcement of the fundamental rights of equality in matters of public employment enshrined under Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution of India. "If the allegations are found to be true, then the offence cannot merely be considered as an economic offence, but a fraud on the Constitution itself by the persons appointed to enforce it," Justice Pant said while refusing to grant bail, even on merit. While concurring with the verdict of Justice Lokur, Justice Gupta added that the probe agencies must investigate all the cases efficiently using latest scientific technology. "If the investigation is done scientifically and efficiently by the police officials, who are earmarked and trained to do investigation work, then I see no reason why investigation cannot normally be completed even within a period of 15 days, as envisaged in the year 1898," Justice Gupta said. He said, "The Code (CrPC) was initially enacted in the year 1898. We are now in the year 2017. 119 years have elapsed. There have been huge technological advancements. We have moved from horse-carts to the space age. From telegraph, we have moved to the fast changing vistas in the field of telecommunications including the internet, wifi etc. Scientific investigation is the need of the hour." The state had told the high court that assuming the petitioner could be detained only for a maximum period of 60 days during investigation, he had not applied for 'default bail', that is bail in default of the prosecution filing a charge sheet against him soon after that 60 day period of detention, but had only applied for 'regular bail'. The state had contended that the petitioner was not entitled to his liberty through 'default bail'. Editor's note: This is the third of a four-part deep dive into the murky world of land legislation in Tamil Nadu, unauthorised constructions and rampant corruption with no government wanting to curb it. Will the courts do the needful? In 2011, late chief minister J Jayalalithaa swept back to power after five years of the DMK (Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) government. Her fierce comeback was highlighted by an innocuous government order. This order authorised the setting up of 36 Anti Land Grabbing Special Cells in Tamil Nadu with one cell each at the state police headquarters, seven Commissionerates and 28 districts except Karur, Tiruvannamalai and Nagapattinam districts for a period of one year on a temporary basis. Jayalalithaa, whose election promise it was to curb land grabbing, allegedly by DMK strongmen in the state, had said this special cell was one of her tools to accomplish her promise. While the claims of widespread land grabbing by the DMK during their regime from 2006-11 are not without basis, Jayalalithaa used these claims also to settle political scores. Vendetta aside, punishing land grabbers is, in any case, much needed. The way the regime chose to carry out these punishments came under severe scrutiny by the Madras High Court in a judgment delivered in 2015. In the judgment, the first bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice M Sathyanarayanan quashed the formation of the land grabbing special cells and deemed their existence void. The bench primarily noted the lack of existence of a clear law on the lines of the Andhra Pradesh Land Grabbing Prohibition Act. But the promise to enact such a law was made by Jayalalithaa. The then chief minister while replying to the debate on the motion of thanks to the governor's address at the Legislative Assembly in 2011, had indicated that land grabbing and extortion were common problems during the previous regime and many were wrongfully dispossessed of their immovable properties through force and intimidation and the government have decided to take appropriate action and restore such properties to their rightful 55 owners by enacting a new law soon. In spite of the indication, an Act along the lines of the Andhra Pradesh Land Grabbing (Prohibition) Act, 1982 has not been passed and instead a (governor order) GO No 423 dated 28 July 2011 came into being forming 36 Anti Land Grabbing Special Cells in Tamil Nadu to deal with land grabbing cases along with GO No 451, Home (Court-II) Department dated 11 August 2011 that constituted special courts to deal with such cases. The composition of these cells was completely reliant on the government order instead of an Act, which drastically reduced the legitimacy of the order. The bench also noted the possible misuse of the power of these cells, which could easily pick and choose which cases had the opposition involved in them and proceed without a preliminary enquiry. D Nagajothi, superintendent of the land grabbing cell in Chennai said this was impossible. "We always conduct preliminary enquiries irrespective of the accuseds political leanings," she says. P Wilson, the lawyer who had challenged the special cells in 2014, pointed out the absence of the definition of the word "land grabbing". "By making it a criminal offence, the government has actually used it to their benefit. In a civil offence, the land is given back to those dispossessed of it. But by making it a criminal offence, the government can seize the land," he says. According to the police standing order 566, the investigation should be impartial. No doubt, police standing orders (PSO) have no statutory force. However, an obligation is cast upon the police personnel to register and investigate the cases in a fair and proper manner and in the event of their failure to adhere to PSO, it is always open to the concerned authority to initiate disciplinary action in accordance with law. "The impugned Government Order gives unbridled power to Investigating Officers to treat/deem an act as land grabbing and initiate action on that basis and in the absence of any guideline whatsoever provided in the impugned Government Order and therefore, it is to be held as arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India," the judgment said. Wilson says complete discretion is vested with the police personnel attached to the Anti Land Grabbing Cell to pick and choose against whom they want to register First Information Reports and proceed with the investigation and on account of the same, the possibility of abuse and misuse of power cannot be ruled out. Such misuse is evident in the case of Janaki, whose land in Madhavaram Milk Colony was collateral for an education loan for her son. After seven years, she managed to register the four acres of patta in her name. But in 2013, a few men claimed they had bought it in the 1990s and reclaimed the land. Slowly, more and more people claimed their ownership over the land and despite many complaints to the councillor, the son of an AIADMK minister, no action was taken. When Janaki went to the police, they had pushed her to file the case in court and informed her that the police could do nothing about it. This took another two years, by which time she had received an expatriate order. "The day of the final hearing, our lawyer refused to show up. So the case is still in court," she says. "The cells were constituted to make life easier for us, so we thought. It meant immediate relief and action against land grabbers. But what instead ended up happening were years of court cases," says Janaki. "Special cells are set up primarily for speedy justice, to handle cases that would normally overload other investigating agencies stuck in long-drawn, far more serious cases," says Wilson. "But clearly, these cells have rarely registered FIRs." As per the counter affidavit filed by the AIADMK government, approximately 96,000 complaints were received as on 2016 and after scrutinising the documents and careful enquiry only approximately 5,980 cases were registered and 17,870 complaints have been closed citing various reasons. Right after the formation of the special cells in 2011, one of the first and most highly publicised arrests was carried out, allegedly without a preliminary enquiry, because it involved Chepauk DMK MLA and Chennai strongman J Anbazhagan. "I was arrested on grounds of being a mediator in a case of land grabbing in Tirupur. When we filed a case with the Supreme Court, the court directed the cell to file a FIR and conduct a preliminary enquiry first," says Anbazhagan. Anbazhagan quotes the case of Kamarajan, an AIADMK (ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam) functionary who encroached on a DMK functionarys land and refused to clear the place. "We lodged a case and were told to go to court. We were also told that we have no chance of getting any relief whatsoever," he says. In 2015, former AIADMK MLA of Thiruvottiyur K Kuppan had allegedly grabbed 30 acres of land allotted to 1,228 members of the fishing community in Madhavaram Taluk in Thiruvallur district. The land allotted during the 1995 AIADMK regime and the allegation was that Kuppan had grabbed the land during the DMK regime and got away with it as he was from the ruling party post-2011 when the cell was constituted. A case was lodged in the high court by six residents in the area. "This is a huge misunderstanding and a false case to defame me. The land was allotted by Amma in 1995 to rehabilitate those in villages affected by sea erosion and a government order was issued. The DMK had encroached on them during the 2006-11 regime and blamed it on the AIADMK for not having furnished proper documents," says Kuppan. But what is the land being used for currently? "Well, many of them had left the area during the DMK regime so some 300 people are left. The rest of the area party functionaries have occupied," he says. This occupation is a clear violation of the AIADMK government order itself. "If it is unused, we have to use the land," he says. When asked if AIADMK functionaries were particularly overlooked while lodging land grabbing cases, Kuppan says, "Amma doesnt let loyalty come in the way. She will scold her children if they do something wrong. But if DMK has scorned her, you cant expect her not to scold them." Watch this space on Thursday for the fourth and final part where we will see how illegal constructions are destroying Tamil Nadu's water sources. Srinagar: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is probing allegations that separatist leaders were receiving funds from Pakistan and were using the money to fuel unrest in the Valley. In a fresh crackdown, the Agency on Wednesday conducted raids in Srinagar and north Kashmir. The probe revealed that separatist leaders were funding the Valley youths' professional training, including engineering and MBBS courses, in Pakistan. This revelation comes after Hurriyat leaders admitted that many Valley youth, including relatives of some employees working with local newspapers, got recommendations from separatist leaders to get admissions in Pakistani medical colleges. According to top government sources, the NIA carried out the raids at 12 locations, including the residence of one of the drivers of businessman and hawala dealer, Zahoor Ahmad Wattali, in Handwara, whose son is pursuing MBBS in Pakistan since 2014. Many of the separatist leaders, including Hurriyat (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umer Farooq, have recommended hundreds of youth for training in Pakistani educational institutions. However, some of the separatist leaders have also disclosed that they issued recommendation letters in favour of relatives of some employees of local newspapers. Sources revealed that the niece of a general manager of a Srinagar based English daily as well as that of an employee of a local Urdu newspaper were sent to Pakistan with the funding. Inspector general of NIA, Alok Mittal, said that the investigating agency carried out raids at multiple locations in Kashmir as part of its investigations "to probe the role in funding terrorism in Kashmir". "The raids were carried out at business and residential premises of the relatives and employees working with Wattali," he said. According to sources, the raids continued till late on Wednesday evening at the residence of a project manager of industries and commerce department, Ghulam Nabi Peer, in Tangmar and one Ghulam Mohammad Bhat, who was working in a plywood factory owned by Wattali. Raids were also carried out at the residence of Ghulam Ahmad Rather of Handwara, whose son Firdous Ahmad Rather has also been pursuing MBBS in Pakistan since 2014. Sources also said that raids were carried out at the residence of Abdul Aziz Mir of Handwara, who worked as a machine man on Wattali's saw mill. Peer works as a project manager in the District Industries Centre (DIC) Baramulla, and sources said that the NIA is ascertaining business links between him and Wattali. "We are investigating the trail of transactions that took place between the separatist leaders and the people who are under scanner," said sources. The NIA has also accessed the recommendation letters which were issued by the separatist leaders to the youths, which they produced before the Pakistani High Commission. Sources added that the investigating agency has arrested seven separatist leaders, including the Hurriyat (M) media advisor, Shahid-ul-Islam, who also enjoyed police security cover at his Srinagar residence. The investigating agency has asked the functionaries of Jamia Masjid Srinagar to furnish details of its audited accounts as it is investigating if the "money raised through public donations" could have been used to fan the unrest in Kashmir. They have also sought property details of the separatist leaders as well as their relatives and the educational institutes which are being run by them. Meanwhile, separatist leaders including Mirwaiz have described the raids as "means of harassment" and have urged that the Government of India should start a dialogue with Pakistan and the Kashmiri separatists. While admitting that Mirwaiz had recommended many a youth for training in Pakistani colleges, the secretary of Awami Action Committee (AAC) Syed Rehman Shams said that they have been studying in the Pakistani institutions as part of the neighbouring country's policy to offer educational opportunities to Kashmiri youth. "Yes, Mirwaiz Saheb has been recommending youth, but there is no harm if people go to seek education in Pakistan. The Government of India is only trying to suppress and harass us," he said. In a fresh crackdown against separatist leaders in Jammu and Kashmir, the National Investigation Agency is conducting searches at 12 locations in Srinagar and north Kashmir in connection with terror funding. Officials in the central probe agency said the searches are being carried out at 12 locations in Srinagar, Baramulla and Handwara districts. They said those being raided Wednesday have alleged links to persons being investigated in this case. According to India Today TV, the locations being raided include properties of relatives of Zahoor Watali, a prominent businessman in the Valley and a known Hurriyat supporter. The NIA is also raiding the houses and office of Shafi Rishi, a prominent lawyer in Kashmir and Peerzada Nabi, a prominent businessman. Official sources said that evidences have been found against Watali, Rishi and Nabi about their involvement in the terror funding. The current crackdown is a part of NIA investigation against allegations that separatists leaders were receiving funds from Pakistan and were using the money to fuel unrest in the Valley. Watali's residence in Gurugram, Delhi and Srinagar were raided on 4 June as part of the ongoing investigation. The NIA had also questioned the sons of pro-Pakistan separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on 8 August over his alleged links with Hafiz Saeed. Saeed, leader of the Pakistan-based Jamaat-ud-Dawa and the banned terrorist outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, is reportedly said to be a prominent source of funding for the pro-Pakistan separatist factions in the Valley and the money is subsequently being channeled to fund protesters and militants in the Valley, sources told PTI. The NIA had also questioned Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) Faheem Ali, who handles separatist leader Mirwaiz Umer Farooq's security, in connection with the case. Ali was the first police officer from the state to be interrogated by the NIA. The NIA had arrested seven persons Altaf Ahmed Shah, Nayeem Khan, Peer Saifullah, Raja Mehrajuddin Kalwal, Aftab Hilali Shah alias Shahid-ul-Islam and Ayaz Akbar Khandey and Farooq Ahmad Dar alias Bitta Karate on 24 July. They were arrested on the charges of criminal conspiracy and waging war against India. Altaf Ahmad Shah is the son-in-law of Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, who advocates Jammu and Kashmir's merger with Pakistan. Islam is a close aide of Hurriyat leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. Ayaz Akbar is the spokesperson for the Geelani-led Hurriyat. A case was registered on 30 May, accusing separatist and secessionist leaders of working in collusion with terrorist groups. It also included charges of causing disruption in the Valley by pelting security forces with stones, burning schools, damaging public property and "waging war" against India. The probe agency had conducted searches in several places in the state besides Haryana and the national capital. Electronic devices and valuables worth crores of rupees were impounded. It was the first time since the rise of militancy in the early 1990s that a central probe agency conducted raids in connection with the funding of terrorist and separatist groups. With inputs from agencies New Delhi: Doordarshan on Wednesday said it has given "wide coverage" to Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar's Independence day programme but was silent on his complaint that his recorded speech was blacked out by both Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR). "On 15 August 2017, Doordarshan gave wide coverage to the chief minister's Independence day programme and telecast report running to 29 minutes and 45 seconds. Out of which, the chief minister's speech coverage was for 12 minutes," UK Sahoo, head of Doordarshan Kendra, said in a letter to the media. "The allegation that Doordarshan Kendra, Agartala blacked out the chief minister on Independence day is totally incorrect and is vehemently refuted," Sahoo said. Apart from this, he said Sarkar's speech and the Independence day programme in various districts of Tripura were given wide publicity in the Regional News Bulletin. However, the Doordarshan rebuttal did not specifically talk about Sarkar's complaint on Wednesday that the public broadcasters had refused to air his Independence Day address unless he "reshaped" it. Sarkar had also termed it as an "undemocratic, autocratic and intolerant step". A Tripura government press statement alleged that Doordarshan and AIR had recorded Sarkar's speech on 12 August. However, the chief minister's office was informed through a letter that his speech would not be broadcast unless he "reshaped it", it added. The letter said, "The message of the chief minister was closely examined by competent authority. In view of the sanctity of the occasion, the broadcast code and responsibility of the public broadcaster it is not possible to telecast it in the present format." A senior official in the Agartala Doordarshan unit confirmed that the pre-recorded speech which was to be telecast on 15 August around 9 am, after the Governor's address, was not aired. "Our directorate in New Delhi had conveyed to us that it can be telecast but the content has to be reshaped. We had, accordingly, approached the chief minister, but he wanted it to be telecast without any editing. We waited till 10 pm on 14 August, but he maintained his stand that the speech has to be telecast as it is," he said. Sahoo also said over the past 25 years, since its inception, Tripura Doordarshan Kendra has always given wide publicity to the speeches of state chief ministers and extensively covered public programme and official activities. The Agartala Kendra has telecast the chief minister's message to the people of Tripura over these years, he said. New Delhi: Urdu is not only the language of Muslims but of the entire country, former vice-president Hamid Ansari said on Tuesday while asserting that now it was being spoken across the world. He expressed disappointment that Urdu had become a politicised issue and said, "...an opinion was formed that Urdu belongs to Muslims." He was speaking at the launch of the Urdu version of online news portal The Wire. The former Rajya Sabha chairman further said one can easily find Urdu speaking people in South India, in West Bengal and in other parts of the country. "It is the language of the entire country," he said, adding that nowadays there were Urdu speaking people in Canada, the US, Australia and other parts of the world. When asked if Urdu could also be a means of livelihood, he said no but that did not mean one should not learn it. He said it was the biggest shortcoming of Urdu but what one can say and describe in the language cannot be done in any other language. Lucknow: With the flood situation in Uttar Pradesh worsening, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday spoke to the top officials and sought the latest updates on the flood situation. The flood situation in many districts of western Uttar Pradesh is quite worse and has marooned thousands of people. Adityanath spoke to the District Magistrates of Maharajganj, Balrampur, Kushinagar, Gorakhpur, and Siddharthanagar, on phone and took the latest updates on the situation. He also warned them of serious action on officials and employees who are lax in the flood relief duties, an official said. According to the official, the chief minister also directed the district magistrates to personally assess the flood situation and expedite the relief and rescue operations. Adityanath also expects the officials to ensure that all necessary emergency arrangements have been made to prevent the loss of lives. Directing 24x7 presence of the staff at flood posts, the chief minister also called for the availability of adequate relief material. He also called for necessary security arrangements at flood relief camps and flood-hit habitations. One unit of the provincial armed constabulary (PAC) is already deployed in rescue and relief operations in Siddharthanagar district. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team is present there as well. With this, for relief and rescue operations, 12 motor boats and 25 boats have also been deployed. Rescue and relief operations and being conducted and material distributed. Also, 36 posts have been established in Maharajganj district and the NDRF team is aiding the district administration in rescue and relief operations; 178 villages have been flooded due to heavy rains in the neighbouring Nepal. All embankments which were breached in Maharajganj district are being repaired expeditiously and two days ago, 39 people were rescued and air-lifted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) choppers to safer places. Despite the worst ever floods in Balrampur district, water has started receding and motor boats have been provided along with 32 flood posts. In Gorakhpur district, Rohini river is flowing three meters above the danger mark. Relief and rescue works are underway in the worst affected area of Makhana village. Eighty-six flood posts have been established in the district. Because of a breach in a regulator in Domaingarh tehsil in the city, water entered the locality. More than 8,000 families were affected because of this and they have now been shifted to safer places and efforts are underway to improve the regulator and to ease out the water logging. A vigil is also being maintained on the water level of the Rapti river in Gorakhpur. Lakhimpur Kheri: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday asked the Lakhimpur Kheri district authorities to ensure prompt and effective relief to people hit by floods and said no laxity will be tolerated. Assuring that there will not be any shortage of funds to deal with natural calamities such as floods, the chief minister asked District Magistrate Akash Deep not to hesitate in utilising funds whenever required. "Any laxity in this regard would be taken seriously," Adityanath said. The chief minister was on a visit to flood-hit Dhaurahra tehsil in the district to review the situation and distribute relief materials among the people affected by the deluge. While addressing a brief gathering, he assured the people that his government is sensitive towards the problems faced by people in flooded areas and instructions had been issued for rehabilitation and relief operations. "The Uttar Pradesh government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi are looking at ways to find out a permanent solution to Kheri floods which were mostly caused by rivers flowing from Nepal," Adityanath said. "Negotiations with the Nepal government were on to speed up the Pancheshwar dam project in the country, which could regulate the flow of water in the rivers," he said. Muzaffarnagar: Three men arrested in June for allegedly slaughtering cows have been booked under the National Security Act (NSA), a senior district official said on Wednesday. According to District Magistrate GS Priyadarshi, Khalil, Bhura and Inam Qureshi were booked under NSA on the recommendation of the local police on Tuesday evening. They were arrested on 24 June for allegedly slaughtering cows in Katka village under Jansath police station in the district and one quintal of beef was seized from their possession, he said. The accused have been in jail since then, added Circle Officer SKS Pratap. State Director General of Police (DGP) Sulkhan Singh had issued a directive in June to all district police chiefs to book those involved in cow slaughter and illegal transport of milch animals for slaughter under the stringent NSA and Gangsters Act in Uttar Pradesh. "NSA and Gangsters Act is to be invoked against those involved in cow slaughter and trafficking of milch animals for slaughter," the DGP's order said. Recently, thousands of people gathered from 25 cities across India for marches in defence of science. Participants in these marches, comprising distinguished scientists, educationists and people from other professions, were seeking better funding for research infrastructure. While these marches look to bolster the importance of science, there have also been counter-arguments questioning its value neutrality, its bias and the very premise of science to be a distinguished knowledge system of humans that requires a special treatment. This all comes in the background of a new-found clamour to glorify our past beyond what would be termed as reasonable extrapolation. Those opposed to these trends have, implicitly and explicitly, been called anti-national and tools of western thinkers hell-bent on belittling India's past achievements and its golden period. Against this backdrop, it is worth looking at the beast called science, its demand for special protection against the nationalist agenda and additional resources. As far as the human quest to understand the working of nature and our ability to manipulate it for our comfort the technological offshoot science remains far superior to other knowledge systems that claim to understand and interpret the working of nature. Other systems prevalent in all parts of the world freely mix observations with myths and beliefs. Unlike science, they have little to show in terms of new technology or new ideas about the working of nature. Science, with its unwillingness to accept authority, validation through experimentation and falsifiability remains the most powerful window to our understanding of nature. This fact alone is enough to ensure that the importance of conventional falsifiable should be emphasised. It is true that all cultures have contributed to this growth even though, for the past four centuries, the West has dominated. Even so, the contributions of earlier cultures on which the Western science was built had its intrinsic limits derived from the cultures from which they arose. In trying to underline the glory of India's past, the very nature of sciences and their logical simplicity are being undermined and destroyed by those who wish to claim that ancient Indians knew of a lot of modern science, even though they had no culture of experiments or the capabilities of performing such experiments in their time. The most extreme examples of such claims include claims that two Indian kings fought their wars on Mars. This for a culture with no capability of building rockets nor an idea about the Earth-Mars distance and the heliocentric solar system makes no sense at all. While one would treat such statements in the same way as one treats the claims of the 'flat-Earth society', they have a dangerous consequence when the educational system is contaminated. It is important and essential that the coming generation must understand and appreciate the power of this knowledge system and its ability to create new technologies. To muddy these waters, claiming that all the modern science could have been anticipated by ancient seers by meditation is just not viable. People who advocate such ideas and encourage teachers to highlight this in the classroom without a shred of evidence are driving younger generation to a state of confusion and irrationality. If this perspective is allowed to prevail, we will end up with a generation completely confused about science as a knowledge system, its technological potential. Such a generation would begin to believe, to take a random example, that you do not need lead-lined, heavily shielded nuclear bunkers as a pile of cow dung could serve the same purpose. If a student was to ask even the most basic questions about the nuclear bomb and its power and compare it with the properties of cow dung, he or she can easily see the absurdity of this. But if such statements were made by teachers and others in authority, a student can only lose his or her confidence in understanding science. Under such conditions, technologies will appear irrational and magical. Once such a perspective enters a young mind, one can assume that his or her contribution to building a rational society and taking the nation to future glories will be one of drag and not enhancement. That is reason enough to not get young minds muddled between science and non-science. While a strong case can be made to expose young minds to other great human creations like literature, art, music as well as deeply religious and spiritual experiences, each discipline must stand alone to make better citizenry and none of these disciplines need to seek justification in another. Then there is a case for funding raised by scientists. Whatever opinion one may have about the governance of post-Independence India, there is no denying that affordable education has been a major leveller of playing field and has pulled countless millions out of poverty through innovation and better job opportunity. Over the past few years, governments at the state and national level have been reducing their contribution and inviting private, profit driven organisations to take their place. This can only accentuate the difference between the haves and the have nots people who can afford private education and those who cannot. Even many of those who can afford it will need to significantly cut back on life's necessities to be able to send their children to institutions of learning. Such a severe reversal of education can only devastate the middle class and significantly increase the conflict situations with disastrous consequences. Similarly, India has been losing some of the best scientific minds due to a dearth of good research opportunities in India. If India is to truly benefit from all the scientifically excellent man power it is generating to create new technologies, we need to provide them with opportunities in India itself. The saying, 'stone age did not come to an end because we ran out of tools but that better technologies took its place', makes the point that we need to continuously update our ability to create and absorb new ideas and technologies. A failure to do so will forever bind us to importing technologies from other nations and for ever make us dependant on them. This issue goes to the core of what is independence. Pure science, with its apparently abstract approach to nature and technology, gives us the power to manipulate nature and one cannot thrive without the other. There is no applied science way to go from stones to bow and arrows. It requires a change in perspective and experimentation on elasticity and string strength to master the new technology. The country and the government, therefore, needs to ponder on the issues raised by scientists. The author is a faculty member in the Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai. After being critical of the Centre last week, the editor of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) newspaper Namadhu MGR, Marudhu Alaguraj, has been removed from his position, DNA reported on Wednesday. The report said that he was found to be acting against the policies of the party. However, an article in The Times of India said that he was not given any reason and that the party paper was given to VK Sasikala's nephew Vivek for management. Vivek is said to have noticed the 'black sheep' that brought the party a bad name. Alaguraj told ANI that he had been dismissed for his article on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Tamil Nadu-led-EPS government.After the incident, he blamed the prime minister for "snatching his pen" and said that "no dictatorship can stop him." According to reports, a poem was published under the pen name of Chitraguptan in Saturday's edition which accused the Centre of breaking the party into three factions and getting the party's two-leaves symbol frozen. In the poem 'Kavi Adi, Kazhagathi Azhi', (paint saffron, destroy AIADMK), there is criticism about BJP's leadership style. It also accuses the central government of using governors as political agents and law enforcement agencies as weapons. The Times of India report also said that the direction was issued by Jayalalithaa's erstwhile manager Poongundran. AIADMK-Amma deputy general secretary TTV Dhinakaran told reporters in Madurai that people who were against the policy of the paper were warned and reprimanded. Chennai: Intensifying his fight against the Chief Minister K Palaniswamy led camp, beleaguered AIADMK (Amma) deputy chief TTV Dinakaran on Wednesday claimed there was no link between the state government and the party. He alleged that some ministers and office-bearers were working to "capture the party through the back door" and asked them to reform themselves. It is true that the incumbent (led by Palaniswamy) regime in Tamil Nadu was put in place by party general secretary VK Sasikala, he told reporters here to a question on allegations by actor Kamal Haasan against the government. In the same breath, he added: "However, there is no link between the party (AIADMK-Amma) and the government." By making this dramatic assertion, the beleaguered leader has taken his fight against the chief minister's camp several notches up, reinforcing his stand that the party and cadres are behind him and that Palaniswamy does not enjoy the support of the party rank. At a time when there are expectations that Palaniswamy camp would soon join hands with former chief minister and rebel leader Panneerselvam's group, Dinakaran said only Palaniswamy has to respond to charges against the government. Earlier, Kamal Haasan had virtually called for Palaniswamy's resignation over alleged corruption. Dinakaran said that at a time when allegations were continuously being levelled against the government, those at the helm did not have the courage to face it. "Hence some ministers and functionaries are working to divert attention. They are also trying to capture the party through the back door," he said and recalled his view that they should either give it up, or they would be reformed. Recalling a recent resolution against him, Dinakaran said the Palaniswamy camp has claimed it to be true and valid. In its 10 August resolution, the Palaniswamy camp had delegitimised Dinakaran's appointment as AIADMK Deputy General Secretary, sending signals that the chief minister's camp would go in for a rapprochement with the Panneerselvam faction. Giving a veiled threat to nudge the Palaniswamy camp to join hands with him, Dinakaran said, "They should ponder about these allegations and take the right path, the path laid by Amma and if they do not do that they will for sure face danger (to the government)." The controversy over refusal by State-run broadcasters Doordarshan and All India Radio to air the Independence Day speech of Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar on Tuesday has now turned into a full-blown political war. "The Left Front has condemned this incident and called upon the people to rise and protest. Where does Prasar Bharati get the right to ignore the speech of an elected chief minister? By doing that, they have undermined the people of the state. We will launch a 15-day campaign against the Centre protesting the treatment meted out to the Tripura chief minister," CPM state secretary Bijan Dhar told Firstpost from Agartala. The CPM state secretary denied that the speech of the chief minister was a tirade against the Centre. "There was no mention of any government or any party. The chief minister has every right to air his views as he felt. This is what he felt was happening in the country and so he gave his views accordingly. Prasar Bharati has no authority to reject a speech made by a chief minister. This is a democratic country and people have the right to give their views," Dhar said. Despite the claims made by the CPM state secretary, however, it was quite obvious for the politically-inclined that the speech did target the BJP and Right-wing fringe elements. "Conspiracies and attempts are underway to create an undesirable complexity and divisions in our society; to invade our national consciousness in the name of religion, caste and community, by inciting passions to convert India into a particular religious country and in the name of protecting cow," Sarkar had apparently said in his Independence Day speech which was shared by CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Twitter. "In contrast to the anti-people policies of the government at the Centre, the state government of Tripura, despite its limitations, has been pursuing policies for the welfare of the people in all walks of life with a special focus on the downtrodden, and to advance their cooperation forward," the Tripura chief minister said. The text of the Independence Day speech by Tripura CM, Manik Sarkar: blacked out by DD & AIR after orders from Delhi. #UndeclaredEmergency pic.twitter.com/90ECzoqLMQ Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) August 16, 2017 Annoyed by the accusations against the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, the BJP reacted sharply to the Tripura chief minister. "Whatever he said it is highly objectionable. The speech during the flag hoisting has to be non-political. The chief minister must talk about achievements and challenges. What he did was criticise the Centre in extremely bad words. The Tripura chief minister was mannerless in his conduct. However, we have not decided on our next course of action," said BJP central observer for Tripura, Sunil Deodhar. This has since snowballed into a huge controversy, particularly since the state will hold Assembly elections early next year. Stakes are already high, with the BJP making deep inroads into the Left bastion, hitherto well protected by Sarkar, the man who is in his 19th consecutive year as chief minister. BJP has made its intentions quite clear, as six MLAs of the Trinamool Congress and one from Congress broke ranks to join the saffron party recently. "CPM cadres are joining our party on a daily basis. Some of the CPM MLAs are also in touch with us quietly but they cannot say so in public because of the code of conduct," Deodhar said. In the 60-member Tripura Assembly, CPM has 49 MLAs while the BJP has six legislators after they quit the Trinamool Congress en masse to join the BJP. The party did not win a single seat in the 2013 Assembly election. Bhopal: The Congress on Wednesday alleged the BJP central leadership is protecting the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh under which the state witnessed a string of "scams". The Opposition party said it will pose a series of questions on "corruption and deteriorating law and order situation" in the state to BJP chief Amit Shah, who is arriving on Thursday on a three-day visit to the state. "There is a long list of scams that have taken place under the BJP government. I want to know from the BJP chief why his party is patronising the Chouhan government despite the prime minister's commitment to not allow corruption," MP Congress chief Arun Yadav told a press conference. Quoting Narendra Modi's slogan of na khaunga, na khane dunga (neither will I indulge in corruption, nor allow others to indulge in corruption)', he questioned the "silence" of the prime minister and Shah on graft in Madhya Pradesh. Yadav claimed the state Lokayukta had filed FIRs against 18 ministers in different graft cases but they were given clean chit under "political pressure" despite evidence. The Congress leader alleged a Rs 1,500 crore scam in construction of toilets in the state under the Rashtriya Swachhta Mission. Yadav questioned the veracity of the BJP government's claim that six crore saplings were planted along the banks of Narmada river during a 12-hour drive last month. The state Congress chief said he has checked the figures and found that a "huge plantation scam" has taken place. "The chief minister spent several crore of rupees for his own branding during the Narmada Sewa Yatra. This money was spent despite the fact that the state government is reeling under a debt of over Rs 1.70 lakh crore," he added. Yadav claimed a large number of children had died due to malnutrition in the state during the past 12 years. The Congress leader also alleged a Rs 750 crore scam in onion purchase, saying 17,840 quintal of the commodity had "vanished" from government godowns. "I am going to write a letter to the BJP chief mentioning all these scams. Besides corruption, the law and order situation in state is deteriorating. Shah should clarify as to why he and the prime minister are silent on these issues," he added. Even though the BJP managed to get an edge over the Congress in Madhya Pradesh civic polls, the results of which were announced on Wednesday, the grand old party of India won three seats in the bypolls of Mandsaur district, the seat of farmers' agitation. Over eight lakh voters exercised their franchise for the polls in 43 local bodies on 11 August. The counting of votes polled in 43 local bodies was held in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday amid tight security. The people of Madhya Pradesh have spoken. Congress wins 3 seats in Mandsaur. pic.twitter.com/oWwNPdG5s9 Congress (@INCIndia) August 16, 2017 According to News 18, on 11 August, three wards of Mandsaur two wards of Shamgar Nagar Panchayat and one ward of Garoth panchayat had gone to the polls. Gopal Patel and Neelesh Sanghvi of Congress party won the respective seats on Tuesday. Of the 43 seats (or civic bodies) 26 went to the BJP, 14 to the Congress and three to independents. Congress' win in Mandsaur is being connected to the farmers' protest and the disillusionment with the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in the state. The results were satisfactory and at places, the party got unprecedented support. Take, for example, Mandsaur where all three Congress candidates won, state Congress president Arun Yadav told News18. BJP spokesman Rajneesh Agarwal, however, told CNN-News 18 that small elections should not be connected to the farmers' movement. State Election Commissioner R Parshuram said the counting was done at the headquarters of all urban bodies. On the election day, a farmers' conglomeration had said it will launch another round of protests for over two months from 31 August to voice its demands for a loan waiver and remunerative price for agricultural produce, IANS reported. The objective of the protest marches which would go on until 10 November was to unite farmers across the country before their main protest was organised in Delhi during the Winter Session of Parliament, leaders of the All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC), which held farmers' protest march from Mandsaur to Delhi in July. "After we held a yatra (march) in the wake of killing of six farmers in Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh, the government took notice of the farmers' problems. However, the farmers still are awaiting the fulfilment of their demands," said Lok Sabha member and farmer leader Raju Shetty. With inputs from IANS Lucknow: The BJP on Wednesday attacked the Congress, accusing it of playing politics over the death of several children in a state-run hospital in Gorakhpur. The Congress is trying to exploit children's death for politics, this is ridiculous and shameless, BJP spokesman Rakesh Tripathi told reporters. "The Yogi Adityanath government is firmly determined to provide best healthcare facilities in the state. It is taking time due to a collapsed system but the government is working in the right direction," he claimed. Terming the agitation by Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Raj Babbar as "drama", Tripathi said, he should have sung Ram Dhun when his party president Sonia Gandhi was taking AIIMS to Raebareli and when NRHM money was looted in the state. Babbar should have protested when money was spent in Saifai Mahotsava by the Akhilesh Yadav government, he said. Earlier, the Congress attacked the Adityanath government, claiming it was accepting responsibility on the issue pertaining to the death of children in a Gorakhpur hospital. Babbar said on Wednesday that his party will fight till the victims get justice. Babbar was held on Wednesday as he tried to go towards the secretariat annexe singing Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram to commemorate the attack on Mahatma Gandhi on 16 August, 1947. He and a number of other party leaders were later released. Kasaragod : At least 19 people were injured in a clash between Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and BJP-RSS activists, which broke out after a DYFI rally this evening at a village here, the police said. The incident occurred at Mavvungal village around 4 pm after stones were pelted by a group of people, allegedly comprising BJP-RSS workers, when volunteers of the DYFI, youth wing of the CPM, were returning after a rally at Kottapara, which was taken out as part of Independence Day celebrations, they said. Cases under various IPC sections, including 147 (punishment for rioting) have been registered, the police said, adding that no one has been arrested yet and the matter is being investigated. CPM district secretary Satheesh Chandran claimed that eight DYFI activists were injured in the clash. Two of them, who were seriously injured, were taken to the Pariyaram Medical College in Kannur while the others were admitted to the Neeleswaram Co-operative Hospital, he claimed. BJP district president Sreekanth claimed that 11 workers of his party were injured in the "attack by DYFI activists" and they have been admitted to the Neeleswaram Hospital. Recently, there has been a spike in clashes between cadres of the RSS and the CPM, with each accusing the other of murdering their respective workers. On 29 July, a RSS worker Rajesh was hacked to death in Thiruvanathapuram. Union minister Arun Jaitley had visited the state and had accused the CPM of using its cadres to "eliminate" its political opponents and creating an environment of violence. New Delhi: Union minister Chaudhary Birender Singh on Tuesday claimed that the people of Delhi were "disappointed" with the AAP government for its "misconduct". He said this while campaigning for BJP candidate Ved Prakash in the 23 August bypoll in the Bawana Assembly constituency in north Delhi. "The (Arvind) Kejriwal government has not only shamed the people of Delhi with its misconduct, but people across the country are disappointed with it, as was evident from his party losing the polls in Goa, Delhi and Punjab," Singh said. He claimed that the scheduled caste communities were "disenchanted" with the Delhi government for "not doing anything" for them and "misusing" the SC funds. "The SC communities are disenchanted. The Jats and other agricultural communities are tired of the corruption in releasing payments from the crop damage relief fund for 2015 and 2016 and also for being denied of good health and education facilities," said the Union Minister of Steel. The bypoll in Bawana was necessitated after Prakash, then with the Aam Aadmi Party, quit as the local MLA and subsequently, from the party to join the BJP. Singh said, "The long delay in approving the much-needed Land Pooling Policy, misuse of the SC funds, corruption in payment of crop damage compensation and absence of development are going to cost the Kejriwal government and his party heavily in the Bawana by-poll." Accompanied by Prakash, the Union minister took part in a door-to-door campaigning, followed by a workers meeting at Manjra village. Taking an idli and vada out of neighbour Amma's plate, the Congress is looking to patent it in the Grandma's name. 101 Indira canteens were unveiled in Bengaluru on Wednesday by Rahul Gandhi while another 97 will flash their menu cards on Gandhi Jayanti. That will make it one canteen each in every one of the city's 198 municipal wards. Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah is quite clear the route to a vote is through the voter's stomach. And Bengaluru, he knows, is where he will fight his toughest battle. In the last four years of his rule, his administration has come out smelling of stinking lake froth in Bengaluru. The Karnataka chief minister knows that the controversies like the aborted steel flyover, problems like water scarcity and foaming lakes and concerns over women safety could set the party back in India's Silicon Valley, especially among the middle class and upper middle class electorate. The Indira Canteens are a way to woo the lower middle class, especially the huge urban migrant population from other drought-hit districts of Karnataka and engaged to a large extent in the construction sector. Of course, no one is mentioning elections which are less than a year away. The Congress is adding the tadka of demonetisation to the decision to open these canteens, claiming the urban poor in Bengaluru post November have less cash in their pocket. So, breakfast for Rs 5 and lunch and dinner for Rs 10 is what the Congress is hoping will ensure a second consecutive innings at Vidhana Soudha. One idli, one vote, the calculation is, would see the Congress home in Bengaluru. Or one plate of bisi bele bath, if you please. If the success story of AIADMK in Tamil Nadu (if the 2014 and 2016 elections is anything to go by), the Indira canteens are a terrific idea. By naming them after Indira Gandhi and constructing them at high visibility points across the city, the Congress is trying to connect the concept with her slogan of garibi hatao, positioning the party as a party for the poor. Though at a practical level, these are mere palliatives being dished out, trying to indulge in "retail politics" as brand consultant and Bengalurean Harish Bijoor puts it. In fact, since Wednesday morning, the government of Karnataka has been tweeting the menu card for the entire week at these canteens, with the hashtag #hungerfreeBengaluru. Bengaluru is just the beginning. Soon everyone in Karnataka will feel- In this state, I cannot go hungry#IndiraCanteen pic.twitter.com/Hs1emBH30k Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) August 16, 2017 Indira Canteen is another step towards the "Food for All" commitment of the Congress. I congratulate the Karnataka Govt. for this initiative pic.twitter.com/SlYoJwbeAH Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) August 16, 2017 That should be good reason to cheer Rahul Gandhi except that the timing has gone awry. Heavy rains in the last 48 hours have meant a significant part of the city is under water, converting Bengaluru into a civic mess. Areas like Koramangala, Jayanagar, BTM Layout, Shantinagar, Bannerghetta Road have been badly affected. Incidentally, it is the Indira canteen at Jayanagar that was inaugurated by Rahul today. The Congress, which is in power both in the state and the city, has come under flak for its inability to prevent Bengaluru from getting flooded every time it rains. Last year, after the rains, demolitions were carried out to clear out the rajakaluve (storm water drains) over which constructions had taken place in violation of municipal laws. But this week's downpour has shown the concrete jungle that Bengaluru has become over the years, is unable to cope with nature's bounty. What's worse is that some of the Indira canteens have come up on lake beds or on playgrounds, cutting trees, proving that the government's concern for the city's environment is mere lip service. The city of lakes that has killed most of its water bodies, by encroachment or pollution, gets converted into a swollen water body every time the heavens open up. Most of the low-lying areas in Bengaluru, especially in south and south west Bengaluru are in a mess at this point in time. It was the government's luck that Monday and Tuesday were holidays on account of Janmashtami and Independence Day, ensuring the city was not stuck on the water-logged roads. To defend itself, the government will take another leaf out of Amma's book. That just like Chennai in December 2015, the rainfall on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday 128.7 mm was the highest rainfall in a day in Bengaluru since 1890, according to the Met department. Though boats were pressed into action in waterlogged areas, the fact that the political leadership is seen as being more busy preparing to welcome Rahul Gandhi, is seen as poor messaging, more so in an election year. The flippant nature is underlined when the municipal body organises a competition, 'Selfie with Indira Canteen', offering a first prize of Rs one lakh for the best selfie and a catchy tagline. That itself gives an opening to the opposition BJP, which taunts the Congress asking if the fare on offer will be named Rajiv idli and Indira sambar. Ahmedabad: Flanked by Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani and other BJP leaders, Shankersinh Vaghela, who revolted against the Congress leadership last month, on Wednesday submitted his resignation as member of the Gujarat legislative Assembly. While Vaghela had ruled out going back to the BJP when he quit the Congress, the presence of Rupani, deputy chief minister Nitin Patel and senior BJP ministers Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and Pradeepsinh Jadeja when he submitted his resignation to Assembly Speaker Ramanlal Voray has triggered a new bout of speculation. "I was contemplating to resign as MLA for some time. I had a meeting with people in my constituency, Kapadvanj, and after informing them, I have resigned as MLA," he said. On 21 July, on his 77th birthday, Vaghela had announced his plan to break ranks with the Congress, which he had joined two decades back after leaving the BJP. Vaghela's revolt triggered a political storm in poll-bound Gujarat, including the resignation of six of his supporters as members of the state Assembly. The resignation of the Congress MLAs came ahead of the keenly-fought Rajya Sabha polls on 8 August, in which party leader Ahmed Patel scraped through, securing just sufficient number of votes to retain his seat in the upper house of parliament. Sharad Yadav has announced that he will convene a 'Sajha Virasat Bachao Sammelan' on Thursday based on saving "composite culture", ANI reported. Addressing a press conference, Yadav said that the gathering will be attended by leaders of the Opposition parties, intellectuals, farmers, Dalits and tribals from across the country, according to ANI. With Yadav set to chair Thursday's convention, all eyes are on him as the JD(U) leader is expected to form a party of his own. After weeks of facing the heat from JD(U) and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar for disapproving the decision to form alliance with BJP in Bihar that Yadav has made the announcement. While JD(U) has denied reports of differences, it claimed on Monday that Yadav voluntarily left the party. There have been speculations about Yadav forming another party with some JD(U) lawmakers on his side. Yadav is reportedly set to present his faction as the "real" party, claiming that many of its state units are with him while the support for party president Nitish Kumar is confined to Bihar. The Yadav-led faction includes two Rajya Sabha MPs Ali Anwar Ansari and Veerendra Kumar, and some national office-bearers, and has armed itself with support from 14 state unit presidents, Yadav's close aide Arun Shrivastava said on Sunday. Yadav was on Saturday removed by JD(U) as the leader of its parliamentary party in the Rajya Sabha. Kumar had previously asserted that the JD(U) was recognised only in Bihar. Reacting to it, Shrivastava had claimed the party always had a national footprint. "We will not leave the party. Nitish Kumar himself says that the party does not exist outside Bihar. Then he should form a new party for Bihar. He should not try to capture the JD(U) which always had a national presence," he had told PTI. Yadav enjoys little support from the party MLAs who are overwhelmingly from Bihar, but believes that he can make a fight of his claim over the party and cause a split. During his visit to New Delhi last week, Kumar had virtually ruled out any reconciliation with Yadav. "As far as the party is concerned, it has already taken its decision. The decision was not mine alone and it was taken with the consent of the party. If he keeps a different opinion, then he is free to do so," Nitish had told reporters. In a step against Sharad Yadav loyalists, the Bihar unit of JD(U) on Monday sacked 21 party leaders for anti-party activities. Refuting Yadav's claim of enjoying support of 14 state units, JD(U) spokesperson KC Tyagi had claimed "98 percent of office bearers, 100 percent of MLAs and 75 percent of state committees" are with Kumar, who is also the party president. JD(U) MLAs will meet in Patna later this week to formally take the party back into the NDA's folds after a gap of more than four years. Nitish Kumar will formally join NDA on 19 August, with a likelihood of JD(U) getting two ministerial positions at the Centre. JD(U) has said that the step is only a formality after Nitish parted ways with the Mahagathbandhan and formed a new government in Bihar with the help of BJP. With inputs from PTI Lucknow: A week after posters of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi 'missing' surfaced in Amethi, it was the turn of his mother and party chief Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday to go 'missing' in Rae Bareli. Dozens of posters, describing their Lok Sabha MP as "missing" along with "a reward for anyone who can locate her", surfaced overnight at Gora Bazaar, Mahanandpur and the Government Colony in Rae Bareli. It was written in the poster that "it was released by the people of Rae Bareli" who were feeling cheated by the absence of their parliamentary representative. The posters were, however, promptly removed by Congressmen. Sonia Gandhi has not visited her parliamentary constituency in 2016 and Rahul has not visited his parliamentary constituency Amethi since February, when he came to canvass support for Congress candidates during the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. The Congress President had given the campaign a miss due to ill health. Local Congress leaders said "this was a campaign by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)". Yogendra Mishra, the district president of the Congress in Amethi, alleged that the "saffron camp was behind such baseless posters". About 100 people took a stand against hate and the violence that erupted in Charlottesville, Virginia, during a candlelight vigil outside the Linn County Courthouse on Tuesday night. And then 30 of those attendees walked over to City Hall, hoping for the city of Albany to adopt language that would confirm Hub City as a welcoming place for all. The Albany City Council and the citys Human Relations Commission held a joint meeting and came to a compromise on a proposed change to the commissions purpose. The new language would make the purpose of the group to strengthen connections within Albanys diverse community by being committed to the philosophy of inclusion, equal opportunity, fair treatment for all residents of Albany, and promoting harmonious relationships among the citizens of Albany." An additional joint meeting will be held in the future to discuss other changes to the ordinance regarding the group, including its expectations of communicating with the City Council. Any changes must be approved by the council itself. This summer, the City Council previously voted twice against adding the words diversity, equity and inclusion to the ordinance about the commission and meetings became heated over the matter. Councilor Rich Kellum, in particular, bristled against the changes, calling them buzzwords used by groups like Black Lives Matter. The road to consensus on Tuesday night wasnt always smooth. Peter Troedsson, Albany city manager, pointed out that diversity already was mentioned prominently in the citys strategic plan. We didnt see this as controversial. We saw this as aligning with what youre already doing as a city, said Graham Kislingbury, commission vice-chairman. (Kislingbury is a former Democrat-Herald editor.) Commission members said changes were suggested because the word harmonious was too vague, and added that those changes were vetted by the assistant city manager. Tina Dodge Vera, commission member, said she was shocked by the councils response to the proposal. Councilor Bessie Johnson said, regarding equity, that she was paid less as a woman early in her career, but she worked hard to earn promotions. People have to work for what they get, she added. Kellum said among other statements, that equity meant making allowances for peoples disabilities, and would result in the Portland Trail Blazers, if they were in Albany, being told to get rid of some of their players so they could have more of a spectrum of races on the team. Thats a silly thing to say, quite frankly, responded commission member Alice Brockgreitens, moments later. Johnson also wondered whether the commissions work was benefiting minorities in the community. Because then youre not being inclusive, she added. Commission members said that they try to make Albany a welcoming place for everyone, but they are purposely reaching out to marginalized populations to connect them to City Hall and other resources. Johnson and Kellum also worried that the commission was acting independently and not informing the council of its actions. But Javier Cervantes, commission chairman, said that the council received meeting minutes from the group. We did exactly what was asked of us, and you do have the information, he added. The candlelight vigil began with We Shall Overcome playing on a stereo. I think its important that we stand in solidarity with the people who were injured and lost their lives in Charlottesville, said Jerred Taylor of Albany, who used chalk to draw slogans such as Celebrate Diversity and Hate Will Not Win Here on the sidewalk leading up to the courthouse steps. Rene Miller of Albany drew No Room 4 Hate in chalk. I feel really strongly about the way our country is moving and how all of the closet racists have come out of the closet, she said. This is 2017. Its not the 1940s. We fought all this before. My grandparents fought this. Now its my turn, Miller added. The vigil was organized by Albany Region Indivisible, which is part of a national movement geared toward resisting the agenda of President Donald Trump through becoming involved, said Bernadette Niederer, a member of the group. tech2 News Staff As a delight for gaming enthusiasts, Asus today announced the launch of its Zephyrus gaming laptop in India at a price of Rs 2,99,999. The laptop which falls under the notebook category is the first to come with Nvidia's Max-Q design architecture. Asus Republic of Gamers (ROG) claims that the Zephyrus is the world's slimmest gaming laptop to feature an Intel Core i7 7th Generation Kaby Lake processor along with Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card. While the price tag may not be a consumer friendly, the Zephyrus packs the latest and greatest when it comes to internal specifications despite its slim profile. The 15.6-inch 120Hz G-Sync panel boasts 100 percent sRGB colour gamut coverage making it a perfect fit on-paper, both for gamers as well as content creators. Other highlights of the Asus ROG Zephyrus include a full RGB keyboard along with separate highlighting options for WASD and QWER key groups making it easier for gamers to use the key combinations along with an exclusive cooling system. Asus has named this cooling system as 'Active Aerodynamic System' (AAS). This drastically increases the speed and efficiency of airflow through the laptop. The ROG Zephyrus also comes with Microsoft's Windows 10 Creators Update, which enables better gaming performance through Windows Game Mode while also making it easier to stream games using Microsoft Beam. However, the main highlight of Zephyrus is that it is the first laptop with Max-Q design. The design standard introduced by Nvidia back in May at Computex 2017 has finally made it to India with the Zephyrus. For the uninitiated, Max-Q is a combination of design, thermals and power consumption solutions to achieve a balanced power to performance ratio. It is baffling how Max-Q can achieve this balance keeping the laptop chassis as slim as 18mm. However, Max-Q is limited to Nvidia's top end GPU's including the GTX 1060, 1070 and 1080 and it does not support mid-level or entry-level graphic cards. The Zephyrus also features Nvidia's WhisperMode technology, which makes the notebook run quieter while gaming. WhisperMode intelligently paces frame rates while gaming, simultaneously configuring the graphics settings for optimal power efficiency. tech2 News Staff Google Allo, the messaging app that was announced at Google I/O 2016 along side the video calling app called Duo, now has a web client as well. Although it has come late to the market, and seemed like the most obvious thing, Google has finally given the go ahead for the web client. But the catch is that it will only work if you have an Android phone, for now. Just like the WhatsApp web client, the Allo web client has to pair with the Allo app on your Android phone for it to work. This can be done by scanning a QR code, which is similar to what you do with WhatsApp web client as well. The instructions are simple. You need to open the Allo app on your Android phone, go to menu and select 'Allo for Web' followed by scanning the QR code on your desktop with your phone. Allo for web is here! Try it on Chrome today. Get the latest Allo build on Android before giving it a spin https://t.co/OPn6Q5hdkg pic.twitter.com/awxr9wFvoD Amit Fulay (@amitfulay) August 15, 2017 Another condition is that Allo for web only works with the Chrome browser. Also if your phone is out of battery, Allo for web will also stop working. "The QR code is unique to your computer and pairs the mobile app to the computer. Allo for web shows what's on the mobile app. So if your phone runs out of battery or you quit the mobile app, Allo for web won't work," says the support page. Allo is similar to Google Hangouts in a way that it lets you chat with your family and friends. But Allo comes with a whole list of stickers, smart replies as well as Google Assistant integration which differentiates it from Hangouts. According to TechCrunch, India accounts for around 38 percent of the 21 million Allo downloads followed by the US which has 17 percent of the share. Reuters Ireland's finance minister said the European Commission's demand that Dublin collect up to 13 billion euros ($13.8 bln) in back taxes from Apple was unjustified, in an interview with Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine (FAZ) newspaper. The European Commission ordered Apple to repay taxes to Ireland after ruling last year that the U.S. technology company paid so little tax on its Ireland-based operations that it amounted to state aid. In the interview, extracts from which the FAZ published on Wednesday, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said the tax rules from which Apple benefited had been available to all and were not tailored for the U.S. technology giant. They did not violate European or Irish law, he added. The Irish government has said it will collect the money pending an appeal of the ruling by Apple, but Donohoe said it was not Dublin's job and the request was not justified. "We are not the global tax collector for everybody else," FAZ quoted him as saying. The money is currently being deposited in escrow. Donohoe also distanced himself from French and German proposals that the EU do more to prevent Chinese investors from buying strategically important European companies, saying this would endanger Europe's reputation for openness. "We must be very careful not to endanger our reputation as advocates for free trade," he said. He also appeared lukewarm on proposals by French President Emmanuel Macron for a euro zone budget and finance minister, saying the bloc's focus for the next two years should be further developing its banking union. tech2 News Staff According to a News 18 report, the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) has asked Apple to adopt a more user-friendly font for the Kannada language used on it iPhones and iPads. The government agency called the current font "cumbersome" asking the tech giant to shift to a keyboard layout that has been standardised by the local government. The report points out, that the same was made as a request to the Cupertino Giant, one that has chosen the state of Karnataka as the base for its assembly operations in the country. The KDA that has already issued circulars to banks, the local Metro and government bodies stressing on the emphasis on Kannada language; now it seems to be after Apple. The same request was sent across by a letter issued by the KDA addressed to CEO Tim Cook. However, the letter has been sent to the Chief Operating Officer of Apple India who sits in the company's office located in the Karnataka. In the letter, the KDA stressed on how the new font is "cumbersome" and that Apple should shift to a font and keyboard layout that has been standardised by the government. The report states, that the KDA have received many concerns by the Kannada computing community regarding the use of the language (or font) in the Apple devices. Reuters Online fund-raising sites are turning their backs on activists looking to offer financial support for James Fields, the man accused of driving his car into counter-protesters at a white-nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday. GoFundMe, Kickstarter and other mainstream crowdfunding firms have policies that prohibit hate speech or abuse, the latest example of technology firms making it harder for far-right groups to organise online. Fields is accused of killing one woman and injuring 19 others on Saturday after the rally in Charlottesville turned violent. Supporters of Fields, who was denied bail at a court hearing in Virginia on Monday, have turned to the internet to raise money for his legal defense. GoFundMe, one of the two leading crowdfunding firms, said on Monday it has removed multiple fundraising campaigns for Fields, because the company prohibits the promotion of hate speech and violence. "Those campaigns did not raise any money and they were immediately removed," said Bobby Whithorne, director of strategic communications at GoFundMe, adding that fewer than 10 campaigns have so far been posted. GoFundMe will continue to delete similar campaigns if more are created, he said. Most mainstream crowdfunding sites, which let people fund projects or ventures by raising money online, have policies that prohibit campaigns that promote hate speech or violence. Kickstarter, which vies with GoFundMe as the largest crowdfunding platform, said it also has a policy prohibiting hate speech or encouraging violence. It said its service focuses on creative projects and has not seen any campaigns related to Fields or the Charlottesville protest. Indiegogo, a smaller rival, said it has a similar policy prohibiting campaigns that promote threatening or abusive behavior. It said it is monitoring campaigns but has yet to see any funds supporting Fields. The block on mainstream crowdfunding is just the latest blow to far-right activists operating online. In the last 24 hours, neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer had its domain registration revoked twice, by GoDaddy Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google, for violating terms of service. FORCED OUT OF MAINSTREAM The rejection by mainstream crowdfunding sites means white nationalists have been forced to use other platforms that champion freedom of speech. Jason Kessler, who organised the far-right rally in Charlottesville, has raised $2,659 as of Monday afternoon on RootBocks, a crowdfunding site that is "free from political or social censorship," according to its website. He started a campaign called the "Unite the Right Legal Defence Fund" on Sunday night and aims to raise $50,000 to sue the city of Charlottesville for failing to protect the speakers and protesters at the rally. Another campaign on RootBocks opened on Saturday has raised more than $8,000 of its $50,000 goal to support a lawsuit against Charlottesville by Nathan Damigo, founder of white-nationalist group Identity Evropa. On Saturday, Damigo said on Twitter he was wrongly arrested at the protest, in violation of his civil rights. CrowdJustice, a site that focuses on raising money for legal cases, has not seen any funds connected to Fields or others who were in Charlottesville, said Chief Executive Julia Salasky. The firm verifies that defendants or plaintiffs have an attorney or nonprofit who is taking their case before they can start a fund on the website, Salasky said. "That filters out people who are promoting hatred and without a legal basis," she said. PTI Chipmaker Qualcomm Inc on 14 August disclosed further details about the impact of an ongoing dispute with Apple Inc, responding to questions from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Qualcomm, the largest maker of chips used in smartphones, said revenue in its CDMA technology business from modem sales for iPhones may continue to decline, in part depending on the extent of Apple 's utilization of rivals' modems and the mix of the various versions that are sold. Apple's dual sourcing does not impact the licensing revenue since licensing revenue from Apple products are not dependent upon whether such products include Qualcomm's chipsets, the company said in a regulatory filing. Qualcomm said it would give further details on the impact of Apple's dual-sourcing model on product revenue, licensing revenue and profitability in its upcoming quarterly filing. Apple, which is using Intel Corp's broadband modem chips in the iPhone 7, and Qualcomm are locked in a sprawling legal battle, with the iPad maker objecting to Qualcomm's business model of requiring customers to sign patent license agreements before buying chips. Apple and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd together accounted for 40% of Qualcomm's revenue in fiscal 2016. The U.S. International Trade Commission agreed in August to look into a patent infringement complaint filed against Apple by Qualcomm in July, where it sought a bar on Apple selling some iPhones and iPads in the United States. tech2 News Staff Looks like there is no stopping the news concerning Samsung's upcoming Galaxy Note 8. In the latest update, the AnTuTu and GFXBench benchmark screenshots have leaked out and they give some more insights into the upcoming flagship. For starters, both the benchmarks confirm that the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 will come with 6 GB RAM. This makes it the first Samsung Note series phone with that amount of RAM. The AnTuTu benchmark shows the listing for model number SM-N9500, which according to GSMArena hints at the Chinese variant of the phone. This variant comes with Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chipset, Adreno 540 GPU, 6 GB RAM, 64 GB ROM, Android 7.1.1 out of the box. The GFXBench benchmark shows the SoC as Exynos 8895 with a Mali G71 GPU. In terms of camera specs, both the benchmarks confirm the presence of a 12 MP + 8 MP unit. This is different from a report we came across yesterday which hinted at a 12 MP + 13 MP camera unit. According to a report in GSMArena, the dual rear camera would allegedly be housing one 12 MP sensor with dual-pixel autofocus paired with a 13 MP telephoto camera. The 13 MP telephoto camera is expected to provide a 2x fixed optical zoom. Both the camera sensors will come with optical image stabilisation. The GFXBench shows that the Galaxy Note 8 will be sporting a 6.4-inch display with a resolution of 2960 x 1440 pixels. This is much higher than the resolution seen on the AnTuTu benchmark which is at 2220 x 1080 pixels. In terms of benchmark scores, AnTuTu returned 179,000. Earlier yesterday, there were more details revealed about the Galaxy Note 8. The Korean giant had released a video teaser of the upcoming flagship phone. Apart from this, details pertaining to the dual rear camera and dual SIM variants had also leaked. According to notes on a support page, the Galaxy Note 8 will most likely come in a dual SIM variant for the European markets. India Science Wire By Dinesh C Sharma As India completes 70 years of its independence, it is time to introspect at the contribution of science and technology to national development. Several scientific and technological developments have touched the lives of common people in the last seven decades, though limelight is often hogged by achievements in fields like space and atomic energy. In the past seven decades, India has built satellites and sent probes to the moon and Mars, established nuclear power stations, acquired nuclear weapon capability and demonstrated firepower in the form of a range of missiles. Undoubtedly these are all fabulous achievements of Indian scientists and technologists. At the same time, scientific research combined with favourable public policies - has made India self-sufficient in production of food, milk, fruits and vegetables, drugs and vaccines. All this has had great social and economic impacts and directly and indirectly touched the lives of ordinary Indians. Developments in communications and information technology have enabled timely forecast of weather and early warning of cyclones, saving thousands of lives. These are all results of investments made in scientific research soon after the independence and science-politics network built in decades prior to that. Investment in scientific research was 0.1 percent of GNP in 1947. It went up to 0.5 percent in less than a decade. Scientists like Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, Homi Jehangir Bhabha and Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis not only built scientific institutions but also helped shape policies. Here are seven defining contributions of Indian science and technology since 1947: Green Revolution: In 1947, India produced about 6 million tonnes of wheat which was grossly inadequate to meet the total demand forcing the country to depend on large scale imports. With measures such as land reforms, improvements in irrigation facilities, fertilizer production and Intensive Agriculture District Programme, wheat production rose to 12 million in 1964 which was still insufficient to feed all Indians. While all this was going on, plant breeder Benjamin Peary Pal at the Indian Agriculture Research Institute was working on improving wheat varieties to achieve disease resistance and yield. The first breakthrough came in 1961 when a dwarf spring wheat variety with the Norin-10 dwarfing gene developed by Normal Borlaug in Mexico- was grown in IARI. It had reduced height but long panicles. Later semi-dwarf varieties were grown in farmers fields, yielding great results. These developments led to launch of the Hugh Yielding Varieties Programme covering not just wheat but rice, maize, sorghum and pearl millet. The All India Coordinated Wheat Research Project under Pal remains an outstanding example of agriculture research. By 1970, wheat production went up to 20 million tonnes and rice production to 42 million tonnes. Thus began the Green Revolution, making India self-sufficient in foodgrain production in the decades to come. White Revolution: At the time of the independence, India was not only importing foodgrains but also milk products like baby food, butter and cheese. In 1955, India was importing 500 tonnes of butter and 3000 tonnes of baby food from dairy companies in Europe. The dairy movement had started in 1946 with the founding of the Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited under the leadership of Tribhuvandas Patel. In 1949, Verghese Kurien arrived in Anand to fulfil the condition laid down in the bond he had signed with the government at the time of going to America for higher education with government scholarship. He stayed back and became General Manager of the cooperative in 1950. The dairy faced a problem of fluctuating milk production as surplus milk would find no takers. European dairy companies were not willing to part with milk powder technology and were of the view that buffalo milk cant be converted into milk powder. H M Dalaya, a young diary engineer working with Kurien at Anand, demonstrated with experiments that buffalo milk can be converted into milk powder. Dalaya assembled a device using a spray paint gun and an air heater to make powder from buffalo milk, for the first time in the world. Later he showed that a commercially available machine, Niro Atomizer, could do the same. This laid the foundation for a dairy revolution in India and a national milk grid, making the country self-sufficient. Satellite and communication revolution: When Vikram Sarabhai, as chairman of the Indian National Committee for Space Research, in mid-1960s envisioned the use of satellite technology for communication, remote sensing and weather prediction, few people believed him because India then did not possess any capability in building a rocket or a satellite. He wanted India to use space technology for education, health and rural development. Within a decade, India not only developed such a capability but demonstrated to the world peaceful use of space technology with the success of the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE), and the launch of Aryabhata satellite from the Soviet Union. In another decade, Indian scientists launched the landmark INSAT and IRS series of satellites, bringing communication and television services to millions of people across the country. Timely prediction of weather events like cyclones using India-made satellites has helped save lives. Through pioneering use of the VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal) technology, banking and other services were revolutionized in the 1980s. Drugs and vaccines manufacturing: India today is known as pharmacy of the world as Indian companies are supplying affordable drugs and vaccines to not only developing but also to developed countries. It has been a long journey from the time when Indian drug industry was dominated by foreign companies whose drugs were prohibitively costly. In order to break the hold of multinational corporations, the central government established Hindustan Antibiotics Limited in 1954 and then the Indian Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Limited (IDPL) with Soviet assistance. These public sector units along with national laboratories like National Chemicals Laboratory (NCL), Regional Research Laboratory Hyderabad (now known as Indian Institute of Chemical Technology) and Central Drug Research Institute played a central role in generating necessary knowledge base and human resources needed for Indian industry to grow. The Patent Act of 1970 recognised only process patents, paving the way for Indian companies to make copies of patented drugs using alternative processes. CSIR labs developed processes for a range of drugs ciprofloxacin, diclofenac, salbutamol, omeprazole, azithromycin etc. and transferred the technology to private companies. Over next two decades, all this helped develop indigenous capabilities in both R&D and manufacturing. C-DOT and telecom revolution: Like most other sectors, telecom sector too was dependent on supplies from multinational corporations, and due to high costs as well as shortage of foreign exchange new technology could not come in. The switching technology was considered strategic and only a handful of companies possessed it. The waiting period for a telephone line in India in the 1970s was several years, and connectivity in rural areas was extremely poor. The first attempt to develop an indigenous electronic exchange was initiated at the Telecom Research Centre (TRC) in the 1960s and the first breakthrough was a 100-line electronic switch developed in 1973. Around the same time, scientists at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), along with those from IIT Bombay, developed a digital Automatic Electronic Switch for the army. These efforts got a boost in 1984 when the government established the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) by pooling scientific teams from TRC and TIFR under the leadership of Sam Pitroda. The rural telephone exchange developed by Indians could work under harsh conditions and without air conditioning. The technology developed in public sector was transferred for free to private companies, ending the monopoly of multinational giants and rapidly bringing connectivity to rural areas. C-DOT exchange became popular in dozens of developing nations. IT revolution and railway computerisation: The data processing industry in India during the decades after the independence was dominated by two multinationals - IBM and ICL. The data processing machines of these two firms were in use in the government, public sector, armed forces as well as research institutes. These companies brought old and discarded machines to India and leased them at high rentals. India needed latest computers for applications like National Sample Surveys, nuclear reactor development and other research. In order to break the monopoly of big companies and spur indigenous software and hardware development, the Department of Electronics was established in 1970. Public sector companies like Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL), Computer Maintenance Corporation (CMC) and state electronics development corporations were established. The skills and knowledge thus developed got transferred to private industry. The first major application of information technology was the passenger reservation project of the Railways launched in 1986. It was the largest such project which demonstrated how technology can improve efficiency, cut corruption and touch the lives of millions without the need for them owning a digital gadget. Blue Revolution: The blue revolution refers to adoption of a set of measures to boost production of fish and other marine products. It was formally launched with the establishment of the Fish Farmers Development Agency during the Fifth Five-year Plan in 1970. Later on, similar development agencies were set up for brackish water development to boost aquaculture in several states. The objective of all this was to induce new techniques of fish breeding, rearing and marketing, as well as initiate production of other marine products like prawns, oysters, seaweeds, pearls and so on, using new techniques and scientific inputs. Scores of new technologies developed by research institutes under the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) have been transferred to fish farmers all over the country. tech2 News Staff Last years Google Pixel and Pixel XL devices marked a significant change for Google. The company was moving on from its developer-focussed Nexus program and was looking at building a consumer-focussed Pixel brand. The companys first stab at this resulted in what we would describe as a beta product. The Pixel was spectacular, its performance exceptional and its camera, stunning. However, several issues popped up later and sales have been lack-lustre. Most notably, issues with the microphone and speaker, and the high asking price, didnt help sales any. Its design was also a little dull. It later came to light that the device was made by HTC, wherein a pre-existing HTC chassis was mated to a Snapdragon 821 and Google software. It wasnt a bad product, but there was this nagging feeling that things could have been better. The Pixel 2 is expected to fix that nagging feeling and deliver the stunning, uncompromised Android experience that we all want. While the rumour mill does its thing, and keeps throwing up the odd leaked image or spec, the first concrete evidence of what to expect from the upcoming phone comes in the form of an FCC filing submitted by HTC. The FCC, Federal Communications Commission, is an agency of the US that regulates interstate communication in the US. As per the filing, HTC has requested certification for a device labelled NM8G011A. Android Police notes that the G in the ID represents Google and confirms that HTC is indeed making at least one of the upcoming Pixel devices. As The Verge points out, Google is preparing to release two Pixel devices this year. The smaller Pixel 2 will be made by HTC and the larger Pixel 2 XL is likely to be made by LG. The filing includes several, highly technical documents that only an engineer could enjoy, but perusing through said documents reveal at least some details about the upcoming smartphone. Android Police helpfully points out the relevant bits, which are as follows. In a document explaining the steps to access regulatory information, we find screenshots from the device About Phone page. These images indicate that the device is running Android 8.0.1 with the 5 August security patch. The images also reveal an MSM8998 baseband, which indicates that the device is powered by the Snapdragon 835 (or 836) platform. The device used for the screenshot likely had 64 GB of storage. More importantly, a screenshot of the System page reveals that the device will support Active Edge on, squeeze for your Assistant. In other words, the HTC U11s Edge Sense feature is coming to the Pixel. These revelations arent startling and we were expecting a Snapdragon 835-powered phone with Android O anyway. The Active Edge feature was indeed a surprise, but as we noted in our HTC U11 review, we didnt find it to be particularly useful. Of course, the feature has since been updated to be more functional. And anyway, this is Google were talking about and you can count on them to geek out over it. Judging by the filing, you squeeze for your Assistant. Whether thats a useful way of accessing your assistant is for you to decide. Voice commands notwithstanding, the only other ways to access the Assistant are a little more time-consuming. That said, whats wrong with a simple, dedicated button as Samsung offers on the Galaxy S8? Unfortunately, the filing reveals no images of the device. HTC has specifically requested that the images and schematics of the device and descriptions pertaining to its operation be treated as confidential. The Google Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL are expected to debut in October this year. Washington: An anti-racism tweet by former US President Barack Obama after the Charlottesville violence in which he quoted iconic South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela has become the most liked tweet ever, garnering more than 2.8 million likes. "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..." pic.twitter.com/InZ58zkoAm Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017 It was posted on Saturday along with a photo of 56-year-old Obama looking up to a window of children of different ethnicities and races. "This tweet from @BarackObama just became the most liked tweet ever. It set the record at approximately 10:07 EST," a Silicon Valley-based social media company said in a statement. The tweet has been endorsed by more than 2.8 million social media users and has also been retweeted by over 1.2 million times. "It is also currently the fifth most retweeted tweet ever," the company statement said. The record of most retweeted tweet is by Carter Wilkerson who tweeted earlier this year, "Help me please, a man needs his nuggs". On Monday, Obama's tweet surpassed talk show host Ellen DeGeneres' 2014 Oscars selfie tweet, which stands at number 3 with 2.4 million likes. The Obama tweet became the most liked ever, taking the top spot from pop star Ariana Grande's tweet which has 2.7 million likes. Her heartfelt tweet had come in response to a terrorist bombing that killed 22 people after she performed a concert in Manchester, England, in May. Obama's tweet, which quotes a line from Mandela's autobiography "Long Walk to Freedom" came after a 32-year-old woman was killed and 19 others were injured when a car rammed into a crowd of counter-protesters at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. Two police officers also died on Saturday when their helicopter monitoring the rally crashed. LINN COUNTY CIRCUIT COURT All court cases from Tuesday afternoon: Theft Douglas Aaron Freels, 36, was charged with identity theft, second-degree theft and unlawful entry of a motor vehicle. The crimes allegedly occurred on Aug. 8. Criminal mischief Julia Trietsch, 30, was charged with first-degree criminal mischief. The crime allegedly occurred in Lebanon on Monday, and Trietsch was arrested by the Lebanon Police Department. Domestic assault Matthew Paul Wilkerson, 31, was charged with felony fourth-degree assault. The crime allegedly took place on Monday, and the victim was an adult female. Wilkerson was arrested by the Linn County Sheriffs Office after deputies responded to the 32200 block of Berlin Ridge Road for a domestic disturbance. The incident was reported at about 6:05 p.m. ALBANY POLICE Stolen moped 6:50 a.m. Monday, 3800 block Knox Butte Road NE. A green 1977 Puch Maxi moped was reported stolen, and was last seen the previous day. The moped wasnt operable. LINN COUNTY SHERIFF Cedar trees cut 2:56 p.m. Sunday, Brush Creek area. A forest timber patrol discovered garbage dumped on BLM property and multiple cedar trees cut and removed. Each incident is being investigated. Lawnmower vandalism 6:23 p.m. Sunday, 4900 block Spicer Drive. A caller reported that someone had attempted to steal his riding lawnmower. The suspect was unsuccessful but caused about $2,000 damage to the John Deere mower. LEBANON POLICE Stolen car 11:35 a.m. Monday, 3200 block South Santiam Highway. A white 1997 Subaru Outback was reported stolen. Washington: United States president Donald Trump sparked a political firestorm on Tuesday when he doubled down on his initial response to the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville that ended in bloodshed, saying there was "blame on both sides". The Republican president who one day ago solemnly denounced racism and singled out the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis as "criminals and thugs" also hit out at the "alt-left" over the weekend melee. Trump has faced days of criticism from across the political spectrum over his reaction to Saturday's unrest in the Virginia college town, where a rally by neo-Nazis and white supremacists over the removal of a Confederate statue erupted in clashes with counter-demonstrators. The violent fracas ended in bloodshed when a 20-year-old suspected Nazi sympathizer, James Fields, plowed his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters, leaving one woman dead and 19 others injured. In a rowdy exchange with journalists at Trump Tower in New York, Trump made clear on Tuesday that he was fed up with continued questioning about the issue. "I think there is blame on both sides," Trump said. "You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. And nobody wants to say that, but I'll say it right now," Trump added. "What about the alt-left that came charging... at the, as you say, the alt-right? Do they have any semblance of guilt? (...) There are two sides to a story." 'No words' Trump's comments were immediately welcomed by David Duke, a former "grand wizard" of the Ku Klux Klan and a key figure at Saturday's rally. "Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists," Duke tweeted. But on the political left, the president's words were met with indignation. "Charlottesville violence was fueled by one side: white supremacists spreading racism, intolerance & intimidation. Those are the facts," said Tim Kaine, a former Democratic vice presidential candidate and senator from Virginia. The state's other Democratic senator, Mark Warner, tweeted: "No words." NBA superstar LeBron James tweeted: "Hate has always existed in America. Yes we know that but Donald Trump just made it fashionable again!" After the contentious press conference, the head of the main United States labor union, the AFL-CIO, joined several high-powered executives in stepping down from Trump's advisory panel on manufacturing. "President Trump's remarks today repudiate his forced remarks yesterday about the KKK and neo-Nazis," union leader Richard Trumka said in a statement. "We must resign on behalf of America's working people, who reject all notions of legitimacy of these bigoted groups." Michael Moore led an audience of his Broadway play to Trump Tower to protest his comments. On Facebook, Moore urged people to join him at Trump Tower after Tuesday night's performance of his one-man show "The Terms of My Surrender" to "nonviolently express our rage". 'Is it George Washington next week?' When asked why he waited until Monday to explicitly condemn hate groups present in Charlottesville, Trump said he wanted to be careful not to make a "quick statement" on Saturday without all the facts. "I wanted to make sure, unlike most politicians, that what I said was correct," Trump insisted. Trump called Fields, who has been charged with second-degree murder, a "disgrace to himself, his family and this country". But he also said that while there were troublemakers at the rally, there were also many people there "to innocently protest and very legally protest" the removal of a "very important statue" of Confederate general Robert E Lee. "I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after?" he said angrily. "Are we going to take down statues to George Washington? How about Thomas Jefferson?" The president also used Tuesday's press conference to defend his controversial far-right chief strategist Steve Bannon, saying: "I like Mr Bannon. He's a friend of mine... He is a good man. He is not a racist." Trump, however, did not rule out Bannon's departure from the West Wing, after The New York Times reported that media mogul Rupert Murdoch had urged him to dump the former head of ultra conservative outlet Breitbart News. "We'll see what happens with Mr Bannon," Trump said. The violence in Charlottesville, Virginia in the US shows us how significant symbols can be and either the rich or the ugly historical context they provide. Many of the far-right supporters in Charlottesville brandished Confederate battle flags, considered a symbol of racism by many Americans, while others raised their arms in Nazi salutes. Anti-racism protesters waved flags from the Black Lives Matter movement, chanting slogans like "We say no to racist fear". The statue of Robert E Lee in Charlottesville was the focus of an emotional debate in Virginia's Republican primary election weeks before it became a flashpoint in the nation's struggle over race. Lee was the commander of the pro-slavery Confederate army in the American civil war. Earlier, when the Confederate flag was removed in 2014 from a chapel in Virginia where Lee is buried, it caused a backlash, The Washington Post had reported. Now, after the violence in Charlottesville, state and city leaders across various US southern states said this week that they would step up efforts to remove such monuments from public spaces. Maryland governor called for taking down a statehouse statue of US Supreme Court justice Roger B Taney, who wrote the 1857 Dred Scott decision affirming slavery and denying citizenship to African-Americans. However, Democratic Senate president Thomas V Mike Miller had a different point of view. "As a student of history, I personally believe there is greater value in educating and providing context to Justice Taney and the inflammatory language of the Dred Scott decision rather than removing his statue from the State House grounds," The Baltimore Sun quoted him as saying. But since Saturday's violence, mayors of Baltimore and Lexington, Kentucky, said they would push ahead with plans to remove statues, while officials in Dallas; Memphis, Tennessee; and Jacksonville, Florida; announced initiatives aimed at taking down Confederate monuments. Demonstrators also toppled a statue of a Confederate soldier in North Carolina on Monday. A demonstrator could be seen climbing a ladder and looping a yellow strap around the statue, the Confederate Soldiers Monument, which was erected in 1924 to honour the southern dead in the 1861-1865 civil war. The civil war involved 11 southern states that seceded from the Union, and most Confederate monuments are located in southern states. The efforts by civil rights groups and others to do away with Confederate monuments gained momentum two years ago after avowed white supremacist Dylann Roof murdered nine African-Americans at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. The shooting rampage ultimately led to the removal of a Confederate flag from the statehouse in Columbia. After a 2015 City Council vote, four Confederate monuments were removed in New Orleans, according to ABCNews. The move was taken on the basis of a proposal by Mayor Mitch Landrieu, who had also referred to the Charleston shooting. In May 2017, the word 'SHAME' had been spray-painted across a monument in Norfolk, Virginia. Norfolk News SHAME spray-painted on Confederate monument in downtown Norfolk https://t.co/CekRiRVPhn pic.twitter.com/47pNaMeZkd Norfolk NewsChannel (@Norfolk_NC) May 22, 2017 In June 2017, a Confederate monument was removed in a park in St Louis, Missouri, after which the park became a site of protests. As of April, at least 60 symbols of the Confederacy had been removed or renamed since 2015, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups. But such efforts have also made Confederate flags and memorials a rallying point for white supremacists and other extreme right groups. Opponents of Confederate memorials view them as an affront to African-Americans and ideals of racial diversity and equality. Supporters argue they represent an important part of history, honouring those who fought and died for the rebellious Southern states in the Civil War. Carl Jones, chief of heritage operations for the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said he would continue to make the case that the monuments are items of historical value. Across the country, 718 Confederate monuments and statues remain, with nearly 300 of them in Georgia, Virginia or North Carolina, according to the Southern Poverty Law Centre. With inputs from agencies Washington: The uncertainty over Steve Bannon's future in the White House continued as President Donald Trump refused to give any assurance over his far-right chief strategist's fate, in wake of the violence in Charlottesville over the weekend. Over the last few days, there has been an increasing demand to fire Bannon with critics labelling him as a white supremacist. "Look, I like Mr Bannon. He's a friend of mine. But Mr Bannon came on very late. You know that. I went through 17 senators, governors, and I won all the primaries. Mr Bannon came on very much later than that," Trump told reporters at a news conference at the Trump Towers in New York. "I like him, he's a good man. He is not a racist, I can tell you that. He's a good person. He actually gets very unfair press in that regard. But we'll see what happens with Mr Bannon. But he's a good person, and I think the press treats him, frankly, very unfairly," Trump said. Trump was responding to questions if he still had confidence in Bannon. A day earlier, The New York Times had reported that Robert Murdoch asked Trump to fire Bannon. Baghdad: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi pledged to liberate "every inch" of Iraq's land from Islamic State, confirming that Iraqi troops are preparing for a new offensive. "We will not leave a single inch of the land of Iraq in the hands of Daesh (Islamic State) terrorists," Abadi said at a press conference on Tuesday. Abadi, who is also the Commander-In-Chief of Iraqi forces, attributed the delay of liberation operations to the preparation work by the security forces. Abadi's comments came as the Iraqi forces, including the predominantly Shiite Hashd Shaabi units and Sunni tribal fighters, are taking new positions west of Iraq's northern city of Mosul, preparing for battles to liberate the Islamic State-held areas. The Iraqi forces still have to wage more offensives to drive out Islamic State militants from their redoubts in Hawijah in southwestern Kirkuk, the adjacent sprawling rugged areas in eastern Salahudin province, in addition to the border towns with Syria in the western province of Anbar. Abadi also mentioned a meeting he held with a Kurdish delegation, during which they discussed the referendum of independence for the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan. "The dialogue with the Kurdish delegation was carried out in accordance with the interests of the country, and the atmosphere of respect and understanding has dominated the meeting," Abadi said, adding that the "redrawing of the border (inside Iraq) may lead to tragedies". Abadi officially declared Mosul's liberation from Islamic State on 10 July after nearly nine months of fierce fighting. On Friday, in a small town in Virginia, the largest group of white nationalists came together in over a decade in a march called 'Unite the Right.' Hundreds of white supremacists, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members carrying torches held a rally to protest the planned removal of a statue memorialising Confederate General Robert E Lee. The event turned violent after a car driven by one of the people attending the march reportedly a Nazi sympathiser plowed into a crowd peacefully protesting the rally, killing three and hurting more than a dozen others. President Donald Trump initially condemned what he called an "egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides". However, he failed to explicitly call out the role of white supremacists in the clashes, which led to strong criticism from both Republicans and Democrats. Trump bowed to pressure from all sides and condemned white supremacist groups by name on Monday, declaring "racism is evil" after two days of public equivocation and internal White House debate. But by Wednesday, Trump reversed himself in a rambling press conference. "I think there is blame on both sides," Trump said. "You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. And nobody wants to say that, but I'll say it right now," Trump added. "What about the alt-left that came charging... at the, as you say, the alt-right? Do they have any semblance of guilt? (...) There are two sides to a story." Trump's declaration that there were "fine people on both sides" outraged the Left. But some conservative groups sought to equate the far-left, also known as "Antifa", with the far-right and claim that both sides share equal responsibility for the violence. What is Antifa? According to the Associated Press, Antifa, short for anti-fascists, is an umbrella term for the far-left-leaning militant groups that resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations and other events. The movement emulates historic anti-fascist actors in Europe. Time reports that these groups have a long history of protesting globalisation in Europe, while in the United States, these protesters find common ground in opposing capitalism. Others describe themselves as anarchists. One self-described Antifa activist described the movement to Time thus: "The standard for antifa ideology is anti-capitalism, anti-fascism of course. Those are kind of the two main pillars, but within that, encompassed, it also comes with being anti-racism, anti-sexism, anti-ableism, anti-transphobia, anything like that and just protecting people who are marginalised and oppressed. Why is it controversial? According to the BBC, Antifa does not seek power through electoral victories and legislation and their methods hew uncomfortably close to anarchists, including destruction and property and violence. Antifa made its presence felt during the Berkeley protest of far-right speaker Milo Yiannopoulos and the inauguration of Donald Trump, BBC reported. According to the Daily Dot, violence broke out on the Berkeley campus after a cell of Antifa activists turned up and allegedly set fires, smashed windows and threw fireworkers at police officers to protest Yiannopoulos's invite. Those in the mainstream left tend to shun Antifa because they deem their tactics counter-productive and are wary of Antifa's violent methods. Does it have a hierarchy or a headquarters? No. The Daily Dot reports that Antifa has no official leader or structure, so a local chapter will reach out to other Antifa-linked groups through their committment to fighting sexism, racism and classism. Groups affiliated with Antifa are popping up in almost every major American city, Daily Dot reports. Time describes the Antifa movement as "loose and informal", showing up in graffiti in colleges and online forums. Antifa's genesis According to the BBC, Antifa seems to have its roots in the US, UK and Germany. Germany's Antifaschistische Aktion was formed in 1932 to counter the popularity of the Nazi party. However, they were disbanded in 1933 after Hitler took control of parliament. Antifa reformed in the 1980s after the fall of the Berlin Wall and Trump's election seems to have sparked a resurgence for thee movement. United Nations: US ambassador Nikki Haley says Iran should not be allowed "to use the nuclear deal to hold the world hostage." Haley commented Tuesday after Iranian president Hassan Rouhani warned that the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement with the US and five other world powers could fall apart. Rouhani said Tehran could quickly ramp up and advance its nuclear program if the US continues "threats and sanctions" against Iran. Haley warned that "the nuclear deal must not become 'too big to fail.'" She added that "Iran, under no circumstances, can ever be allowed to have nuclear weapons." Haley said Iran must be held responsible for launching missiles, supporting terrorism, disregarding human rights and violating UN Security Council resolutions. She plans to visit the UN nuclear agency in Vienna next week. Editor's Note: Refugee crisis is an oft-heard term in regular parlance. Ever since German chancellor Angela Merkel's famous 2015 "Wir schaffen das!" (We'll manage it) speech, Germany has emerged as a European nation taking in the most number of refugees. Firstpost's Nimish Sawant travelled to its capital Berlin, as part of the Robert Bosch Foundation's India - Germany Media Ambassadors program, to see how refugees are trying to integrate into the German society. This process goes much beyond just learning the language and knowing the customs and traditions. While some are trying to keep their culture alive in a foreign land, others are building a case for talented migrants in a society that is ageing fast. While some hope to go back home when the situation improves, others prefer building their lives anew in Germany. This article is part three of a five-part series which will explore the stories of refugees living in Berlin. The floor of the kitchen was flooded with large plastic bags from the supermarket, holding food items that would be used later in the day. Two glass containers full of hummus were placed on the table in front. A jar of fruits was placed beside them. One chef was near the basin, washing and sorting out the chicken to be cut in just the right size. One would certainly not expect a Pizza Haus to look this way at noon on a weekday. What used to be a pizza parlour till some months ago, is now the kitchen of a catering service which started in Berlin just a year ago. Jasmin Catering, the brainchild of a Syrian refugee Fadi Zaim, aims at introducing Berliners to a taste of authentic Syrian cuisine. Fadi along with his sister Lana Zaim and their mother Salma Alarmachi who is the head chef, are the core team members. Fadi was checking and re-checking the menu descriptions of all the dishes one last time before packing them in a bag. This is Jasmin Catering's second service for a wedding. Since its formation in 2016, this family-run catering business has certainly come a long way. Fadi, currently living in Berlin, was a business management graduate from the Damascus University. He worked with his father as a contractor for embassies of various European countries, till it became difficult to live in Damascus. His journey to Germany was quite smooth as compared to the rest of his countrymen. He got a visa from the German government under a special programme. His mother and sister were living in Berlin at the time. But the limited variety of German food did not really pique Fadis interests. Coming from Syria, which at one time boasted the worlds largest restaurant and where the cuisine is unique in its own way as compared to other West Asian countries, Fadi found his food options limited. While he was sorted at home, outdoors he would have to settle for German wursts or pizzas or the other Berlin favourite - Doener Kebap. In addition to the Syrian cuisine, Fadi loves Indian and Pakistani spicy dishes as well, with chicken Biryani being his favourite. He would make it a point to speak about this to his classmates at the ReDI School of Digital Integration, where he now works as an Outreach Manager. A chance picnic with his classmates after graduation, would set the ball rolling for the formation of Jasmin Catering. Fadi, his mother and his sister, prepared a Syrian meal for his classmates, on a request from his instructors. While refugee students from Syria and neighbouring countries loved the Syrian food, as it reminded them of home, it was the German teachers and instructors who also instantly took a liking to the food. As part of his graduation, Fadi was expected to present a project. His project was an online food ordering application prototype. During his presentation at Startup Summit 2016 convention, Fadi presented his idea for the app. Since he had used the photos of traditional Syrian food items during the app demo, it made the members of the audience curious. Post the event, a gentleman walked up to me and told me that he would like to taste some of the food that was showcased. I thought he probably needed some tasting menu, and that I would keep aside a plate for him when we prepared Syrian food next time at such events, said Fadi. On speaking further with this business development manager from a large MNC, Fadi realised that it was a formal request for catering opportunity for a team building workshop which would take place a month later. After confirming with his mother and sister, Fadi gave the gentleman the green signal. The next month was a whirlwind - getting his catering service registered, making a business card, writing an offer of different kinds of food items that would be available, clicking professional food photographs and making flyers out of them. A month later, the catering service went smoothly. That team building workshop led to the formation of Jasmin Catering. Participants at the workshop liked what they ate and spread the word. The orders for Syrian food catering have never stopped since. According to Fadi, ReDI School is still one of their biggest supporters. So what exactly is the Syrian cuisine that has a lot of Berliners licking their fingers? Some of the popular dishes include Baba Ghanush, the eggplant based appetizer mixed with a dash of crushed walnuts; the Syrian take on hummus called Fatet Hummus which involves a generous mix of spiced yoghurt and chickpea paste, sprinkled with greens and pomegranate seeds. Jasmin Catering also offers a Vegan Fatet Hummus which replaces yoghurt with soy. Then there are the different varieties of Burak, which are almost like flat fried dumplings with fillings containing spinach and nuts for the vegetarians or meat for the non-vegetarians, along with some secret Syrian sauce for added flavour. Tabbouleh is the popular Syrian mixed vegetable salad prepared with the freshest seasonal vegetables with a dash of lemon. Among the mains, there is Kawag, a stew that can be made with meat, as well as, vegetables. But thanks to the different taste buds of the Germans, Fadis mother had to rework some of the dishes to be adaptable to the German palate. For instance, we cannot prepare very spicy food, like we do back home. In Syria we use a lot of garlic in our cooking, but the German clients dont it so much. So it has been a learning experience. My mother also created the Vegan Kofta, but without tofu, says Fadi. The reception has been quite encouraging for the budding catering company. Fadi said it was difficult to predict the number of orders the service would get each month, as it is still early days. So far, the majority of the orders have come due to word of mouth, thanks to their clients. Having said that, Jasmin Catering company has served at well-known global companies as well as Berlin-based startups on a regular basis. They count Facebook, Cisco, Deutsche Bahn and Deutsche Telekom among their regular clients and that list keeps growing. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has also been among the prominent German personalities to have tasted the food prepared by Jasmin Catering. With the influx of refugees, Berlins food landscape is also witness experimentation. As compared to other German cities, Berlin has quite an international outlook. To give an idea of its multi-cultural ethos, Berlin has more Doner Kebap shops than one would find in Istanbul. But even though Syrian cuisine is something that is relatively new to the city, there are a few restaurants such as Alagami and Mandi which also have an all-Syrian kitchen staff. Services such as Uber den Tellerand are also quite popular in Germany, where refugees have cookout sessions with locals, and which also offer catering services. So Jasmin Catering certainly has competition. But Fadi does not let that affect him. He knows he has a lot of work ahead of him. A website is in the works as well. But it is the idea of empowering the refugees and his fellow Syrians that keeps Fadi going. So even though the core team involves Fadi, his sister and his mother, depending on the orders Fadi does take the help of other Syrian women to help them out. Any chance we get, we try and involve other refugees to help us out, so they can also earn some money on the side. It helps us to keep our bonds stronger. We specially involve the Syrian women as they know how to prepare these traditional food items and how to ensure uniformity of taste, says Fadi. According to Fadi, Syrian food is quite different from Turkish and Lebanese food. Considering Syria used to be a major trading hub in the past, its portfolio of spice-mixes is quite different from other middle eastern countries. Influences range from Asia, Middle-East and even Africa. But are the ingredients for traditional Syrian dishes easily available in Berlin? That is one good thing about Berlin. You will find all the ingredients if you really look for them. This is not true in other parts of Germany, says Fadi. While Fadi would prefer staying in Germany, he still wants to keep the love for his native cuisine alive. Even his companys name - Jasmin - has a connection to his hometown of Damascus, which is also nicknamed Jasmin city due to the abundance of jasmines during the spring season. One can sense a hint of loss somewhere as Fadi talks about Syria, but for him, expanding his catering service to other cities is a priority. It almost seems like Fadi wants to keep Syria alive through the food, as he goes about making his living in Germany. Read more: Part I: Berlin's ReDI school gives talented migrants the chance to integrate, contribute Part II: Two Syrian refugees on a walking tour in Berlin tell us how history teaches us nothing Over 11-13 August, the university town of Charlottesville in the US saw a rally by white nationalists called 'Unite the Right', which turned violent. The demonstrators were protesting the removal of a statue of Confederate Army general Robert E Lee from Charlottesville's Emancipation Park. The protests began at 10 pm on Friday, 11 August, with demonstrators holding tiki torches and chanting slogans like 'Jews will not replace us', 'Blood and Soil', 'White Lives Matter', making their way through the University of Virginia campus. VICE News, tracking the developments in Charlottesville from the frontline, has now released a 16-minute video of the clashes, which left one dead and at least a dozen injured. The VICE video begins with the demonstration mentioned above, before depicting a short interview between one of its organisers, Christopher Cantwell that took place at Charlottesville's McIntire Park earlier that afternoon. Cantwell a bald, muscular man with a penchant for tight t-shirts and guns identifies as a white nationalist and is a speaker for Unite the Right. He tells VICE News' Elle Reeve that for him, the Travyon Martin case was a turning point in realising the need for the alt right to put up a united front. "We need to get more organised...we need someone like Donald Trump, only a lot more (racist?)... who would not give his daughter to a Jew," he says. The scene then shifts to Saturday, 10.30 am at Emancipation Park, where Unite the Right is expected to hold their rally. As Elle Reeve makes her way there with Cantwell and his group, one of their fellow passengers Robert Ray (a somewhat grizzled Neo-Nazi who works as a writer for the Daily Stormer website) tells her, "We're starting to slowly unveil a little bit of our power level. You ain't seen nothin' yet." On reaching Emancipation Park, however, it becomes clear that Unite the Right will not receive permission to proceed, and have to move out. As he exits the vicinity of the park, former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke tells VICE: "They don't want us to tell the truth about the ethnic cleansing of America." A more sombre and chaotic scene unfolds on Saturday afternoon. At about 1.40 pm, near Emancipation Park, a car plows through demonstrators protesting the Unite the Right rally, holding up banners that say 'Black Lives Matter'. One woman is killed and several others injured, as the car drives right through a column of people, before backing up and speeding away from the scene. Medics and police rush in, and there are pedestrians lying on both sides of the road, moaning and screaming. (The driver of the car James Alex Fields Jr, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and idolised Hilter and Nazism when in high school was later apprehended by the police). Later, at a meeting held to salute the victims of the Saturday afternoon attack, local activist Taneesha Hudson tells VICE: "All the chaos you've seen today has been brewing for a long time and I don't think it's ever been about the (removal of the Robert E Lee) statue. It's about right and wrong." Taneesha and other activists also express disappointment in US President Donald Trump's statement after the Charlottesville clash (he said many sides were to blame for the violence). We also see what happens when a Unite the Right organiser, Jason Kessler, tries to address the press at the Charlottesville City Hall on Sunday afternoon. He is heckled by the crowd that then breaks through the cordon of camerapersons to roughly push Kessler away. The most chilling segment of the VICE News video, however, comes at the very end when Elle Reeve interviews Christopher Cantwell once again. With his laptop open before him, Cantwell shows Reeves all the guns he's carrying (at least five) and a knife, before discussing how the rally went off, and the car attack. "Frankly," he says, "I think a lot more people are going to die before we're done here." Watch the full video here: Officials at Albany's Historic Carousel & Museum printed 2,000 boarding passes for Tuesday, opening day. One hour into the day's celebration, they were already printing 1,000 more. "I see a lot of happy people," said Jenifer Weinmaster, operations director for the carousel, which marked its grand opening and ribbon-cutting Tuesday. "That makes me happy." Hundreds of spectators filled the intersection at First Avenue and Washington Street, lining up to be among the first to ride a moving work of art. The lines continued through the evening, to closing time at 7. Carvers, painters, designers, engineers, mechanics, builders, fundraisers and other volunteers have put more than 200,000 hours into the 15-year carousel project. Each of the 30 animals completed so far took some 2,000 hours to carve and another 400 or so to paint. Another 20 are so are still in the works. Wendy Kirbey of Albany, who first brought the idea to town after visiting a hand-carved carousel in 2002 in Missoula, Montana, snipped the ceremonial ribbon with a huge pair of scissors. Her grandson, Aiden Kirbey, 1 1/2, had the honor of receiving Boarding Pass No. 1. With the help of his dad, Adam, he perched on a shaggy dog named Munchie for the carousel's inaugural spin. The ride for the Kirbey family has been metaphorical as well as literal, Adam said, smiling. "There's been the ups, there's been the downs, but here we are: the fruit of 15 years of hard work from a lot of people." Thirty-one children were tapped specially to take the first ride, including Owen Robinson, 10, who checked out the wheelchair-accessible chariot. "We're so excited to have a carousel close to home," said his mother, Tonya-Jo Robinson. Owen's chair is longer than most, but the chariot could still accommodate him, a special bonus, Robinson said. "What's really exciting is the accessibility. It looks like it's going to be big enough for anyone who wants to ride it." Outside, Marcy Hermens of Tangent led the line for the general public. She arrived at 7:15 a.m. for the spot, beating the next closest person carousel volunteer carver Oweta Smith of Albany by 15 minutes. "I love carousel horses," Hermens explained. "Everyone has something they collect, and I collect carousel horses. I've been waiting 15 years since they first started talking about this for this to become a reality." Hermens' husband bought her a fundraising brick for their anniversary, and a print of one of the planned animals, a standing stallion named Morgan, for Christmas. Morgan isn't yet ready to ride, so Hermens clambered aboard Zeus, the zebra, instead. "That was incredible. It was so fun," she gushed afterward. "And I felt like a child." Children of all ages, even ones that looked suspiciously like senior citizens, pressed their noses to the carousel's windows to watch the first spins while they waited their turns. Inside, after the finishing their rounds, visitors wandered through the gift shop and museum and added their comments to a rapidly-filling guest book. Visitors from Washington, California and South Dakota were among those who penned their thoughts in the guest book. "Worth the wait!" one local wrote. John Kiger and his wife, Connie Esmond, moved to Newport from Ohio a year ago. They have friends in Corvallis and and have been watching the carousel's progress for the past seven years. At some point a horse named Kiger no relation will join the carousel's menagerie, but John Kiger settled Tuesday for a magnet bearing his picture, and a ride on a horse named Little Sheba. "We just wanted to see it on opening day," he said. Added Esmond: "We have told people to make this a destination and it is." Lynn Whitacre, who has volunteered as a carver and in the gift shop, also made it a point to be one of the morning's riders. The best part of opening day, she said, is that with additional carvings still to be finished, the celebration is far from over. "We'll just keep having parties every time there's a new animal," she said. Riley Bond, 13, was part of the children's first round and said she was thinking of aiming for a spot on The Guardian, a hippocampus that also serves as the carousel's logo. "My mom (Rebecca Bond of the Albany Visitors Association) says I was the youngest volunteer, because I ate baby food, and the containers were used for paint," the teen explained. A half-hour of speeches and presentations preceded Tuesday's first rides. Former Portland newscasters and Albany natives Mike Donahue and Wayne Faligowski took turns on the microphone as master of ceremonies. Mayor Sharon Konopa welcomed the crowd and Kirbey brought up members of the board of directors and other longtime supporters for a sustained round of applause. Donahue said in past years, Albany was known by many just as a place to grab some gasoline and a bite to eat before continuing along Interstate 5. "Today we are giving all those travelers a reason to come to Albany downtown!" he said, cueing up the Petula Clark tune of the same name and leading the audience in the chorus. "This carousel is making Albany a destination now on Oregon's tourist map." Marie Bradford-Blevins, executive director of Salem's Riverfront Carousel, and Laura Tea-Pelley, assistant director, made a special appearance to award Kirbey "The Guardian of the Light." That's an annual honor their organization bestows on "special people who help keep the dream alive," Tea-Pelley said. During her turn at the podium, Kirbey said she'd forego a long speech and do her best not to get emotional. Instead, she said, she'd share "the biggest compliment I've ever been given in my life: the fact that these people took my idea and made it theirs." WASHINGTON Things could go well for the Democrats in next year's midterm elections if they don't Bern out. President Trump is woefully unpopular, feuding with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and other Republicans. The GOP can't manage to repeal Obamacare or do much of anything. Voters say they'd like Democrats to run Congress. But here come the Bernie Bros and sisters to the Republicans' rescue: They're sowing division in the Democratic Party and attempting to enact a purge of the ideologically impure just the sort of thing that made the Republican Party the ungovernable mess it is today. Bernie Sanders's advisers are promoting a "litmus test" under which Democrats who don't swear to implement single-payer health care would be booted from the party in primaries. Sanders pollster Ben Tulchin penned an op-ed with a colleague under the headline "Universal health care is the new litmus test for Democrats." Nina Turner, head of the Sanders group Our Revolution, told Politico this last week that "there's something wrong with" Democrats who won't "unequivocally" embrace "Medicare-for-all." That notion not just taking a stand but excommunicating all who disagree is what Republicans have done to themselves with guns and taxes, and it would seriously diminish Democrats' hopes of retaking the House next year. At the same time, Our Revolution has stepped up its attack on the Democratic Party. Turner this week sent an email to supporters complaining that she and others attempted to deliver a petition to Democratic National Committee headquarters but "were shut out." In a follow-up interview with BuzzFeed, Turner expressed particular outrage that the DNC offered her ... donuts. "They tried to seduce us with donuts," she said, calling the gesture "pompous" and "arrogant" and "insulting." It's not just about breakfast confections. The Bernie crowd has begun accusing freshman Sen. Kamala D. Harris (Calif.), a rising Democratic star, of being beholden to corporate money. Also in California, Kimberly Ellis, who ran for state Democratic chairman with the support of Sanders and lost in a close race to a former Hillary Clinton delegate, is refusing to concede and threatening to sue. Ellis told the New York Times that the "Democratic Party is in many ways right now where the Republican Party was when the tea party took over." And that's a good thing? Republican fratricide, instigated by tea-party purity police, made Trump possible and left the GOP unable to govern. This is what Sanders's people would emulate. Fortunately, Sanders seems to have lost clout. Candidates backed by Our Revolution have lost 31 races in 2017 and won 16, and the wins include "Portland Community College Director, Zone 5" and "South Fulton (Ga.) City Council 6." Candidates endorsed by Sanders have struggled in high-profile races. Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) lost the DNC chairman race (he was appointed deputy chairman). Sanders-backed Tom Perriello lost the Democratic gubernatorial primary in Virginia, and a Sanders campaign official was blown out in a California congressional primary. Neither did the Sanders magic get the job done for Democrats in special congressional elections in Kansas, Georgia or Montana, and his candidate lost the Omaha mayoral race. Yet the attempt by the Sanders movement to impose a health-care litmus test on Democratic candidates shows their destructive potential within the party. Support for single-payer health coverage has been growing, and it would become a real possibility if Republicans sabotage Obamacare but don't help the tens of millions who would lose insurance. But to force Democrats to take some kind of single-payer purity oath would set back the cause. Democrats need to pick up 24 seats to take control of the House, yet there are only 23 Republicans in districts won by Clinton and only eight of those were won by President Barack Obama in 2012. There are a dozen Democrats in districts Trump won. In such swing districts, it would be suicidal to pledge support for something Republicans will brand as socialism. A Pew Research Center poll in June found that while a majority of Democrats (52 percent) favor single-payer health care, only 33 percent of the public does overall. A Kaiser Health Tracking poll in June had better results: 53 percent of the public favored single-payer coverage. But Kaiser found that opinions were "malleable." If recent trends continue, and particularly if Republicans undermine Obamacare without an adequate replacement, the time for single-payer will come, and soon. But the litmus test distracts Democrats from protecting Obamacare, diminishes their chances of retaking the House and chops up the party over something that has zero chance of becoming law under Trump. That Berns. Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro, successor of last years Gear Fit 2 has surfaced in press shots, thanks to @evleaks. This shows a new watch-style clasp, but the design is similar to the predecessor. This is said to come with IP68 ratings for dust and water resistance and will also be 5 ATM water resistance for use when swimming and will also offer swim tracking. [HTML1] It is said to come with support to sync with Speedo On app, offline Spotify support, subscription to premium Under Armour services and feature GPS support. Even though the images doesnt show the back of the tracker, it will likely come with heart rate sensor. The Tizen OS-powered device will be compatible with Android and iOS devices. We dont have specifications of the tracker yet. The Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro is not expected to be announced along with the Galaxy Note8 on August 23 and we might have to wait till IFA announcement in September. Source BlackBerry KEYone was launched in India earlier this month for Rs. 39,990 on Amazon.in. We already brought you the review of the phone, here we have the battery life test results of the phone. It packs a 3505mAh built-in battery and also has support for Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 fast charging. It has 4.5-inch (1620 x 1080 pixels) 3:2 display, is powered by a power-efficient Snapdragon 625 14nm Mobile Platform and runs on Android 7.1 (Nougat). Check out the test results. Talk Time It lasted for 33 hours and 25 minutes in our talk time test. 3G Browsing It lasted for 9 hours and 7 minutes in our 3G browsing test. WiFi Browsing It lasted for 11 hours and 9 minutes in our WiFi Browsing test. Video Playback It lasted for 14 hours and 16 minutes in our Video Playback test. Charging Time It took 1 hour and 46 minutes to charge the phone, thanks to Qualcomm Quick Charge 3.0 support. Standby Time It lasted for 53 days in our standby test. It achieved a One Charge Rating of 16 hours and 53 minutes, which is good for a phone with a 3505mAh battery. Check out our battery life test procedure, to know more about our tests in detail. Are you looking for the perfect place to retire? As we age our needs tend to change, so do your homework when it comes to finding the ideal retirement spot for you. For those heading into your Golden Years on a fixed income, affordability and healthcare might top your list. According to a new Caring.com report, Utah is the best place for seniors to grow old while New York finds itself in the bottom 3. Focused on senior care, the study ranked all 50 states in 13 categories including financial, healthcare, quality of life, nursing home costs and in-home care prices. We want to use this research as a starting point for really important conversations between family members, said Caring.com vice president Tim Sullivan. Too many people avoid thinking about senior care until it hits a crisis point. There are good options in every state, but it can take some time to sort out the best approach, so ideally youll get the dialogue going early to help maximize your options. Sullivan reviewed for FOX Business the best and worst 3 states to grow old in, according to the research. Best states for retirement No. 1: Utah Utah reached the number one spot in our study by providing truly excellent quality of care for older Americans at a very reasonable cost, said Sullivan. They werent number 1 in any of the factors that drive quality, but they were high enough in most to place them 7th overall for quality. When combined with their respectable 14th rank on cost, they came out on top of our list of best states to grow old. Their one blemish, he said, is a relatively low score for choice of setting and provider, where they rank 47th. No. 2: Iowa Like Utah, Iowa wasnt at the top in any individual category, but they were strong across the board in individual quality measures, resulting in an overall rank of 8th for quality (where they tied with Colorado). They were also rock solid on costs, coming in at 17th overall. No. 3: South Carolina At 22nd place for quality, South Carolina was still ranked in the top half based on quality measures, but that close-to-average quality of care came at a really terrific price for consumers. They were 6th overall for costs, so if you live in South Carolina you can expect care thats likely adequate, but it wont cost you an arm and a leg. Worst states for retirement No. 48: New York New York came in at 48th overall by ranking near the bottom for cost of care measures, where they were 46th, and in the bottom half for quality measures, where they ranked 32nd. Two bright spots for New York were choice of setting and provider, where they ranked 15th, and support for family caregivers, where they came in 10th. No. 49: Indiana While Indiana was relatively affordable, coming in at 21st place for cost of care measures, it wasnt enough to offset the fact that they were near the bottom for quality measures, where they landed at 49th place. One area where theyre somewhat stronger is with consumer opinion. The consumers using Indianas services and communities rated them well enough to rank the state 19th overall for average senior care ratings. No. 50: West Virginia West Virginias position at the bottom of the list was largely driven by their overall quality score, where they also ranked 50th. Their cost ranking is 13th, where they are especially strong on affordability of home services, but this was not enough to pull them up. Notably, West Virginians would probably not disagree with their placement, as they ranked 50th for self-reported well being and 49th for average rating of their services and communities. Online retailer Amazon.com Inc said on Wednesday it would open a distribution center in Bristol, south west England, in 2018, continuing a rapid expansion that saw its investments in the UK triple last year to over 400 million pounds ($513.96 million). Britain is Amazon's third-largest market outside North America, with sales of $9.5 billion last year -- up almost 20 percent in sterling terms on 2015. The U.S. group already planned to open four additional distribution, or fulfilment, centres in 2017, in addition to the 12 operating at the end of last year. Amazon said it intended to hire an additional 1,000 workers at the Bristol plant on permanent contracts. Following criticism from politicians about weak worker protection, the company has been increasingly employing its warehouse staff directly, rather than indirectly via contract firms which offer little employment security. Amazon invested about 850 million pounds in the UK from 2010 to 2016, accounts for its UK subsidiaries show. Increased use of robot technology contributed to the high capex spend last year, a spokesman said. The company said that, including operating costs, Amazon had spent 6.4 billion pounds ($8.3 billion) in the UK since 2010, against sales of around 33 billion pounds. Amazon does not publish profitability figures for its UK operation. However, its main, Luxembourg-based European operating unit, through which all EU sales are routed, reported operating losses for the last six years, its accounts show. Amazon said last month it was not having problems hiring staff in Britain despite last year's Brexit vote. Reporting by James Davey and Tom Bergin; Editing by Kate Holton and Ken Ferris As more and more Americans opt for healthier, fresher options at the grocery store, can big packaged food companies -- like 150-year-old General Mills -- survive the shift? According to recent Nielsen data, fresh and perishable foods like produce and deli-prepared items are booming, with the category seeing growth of $400 million year-over-year. Not to mention, the growing organic packaged goods sector has almost doubled from around $10 billion in 2013 to $17 billion in 2017, according to Nielsens data. Meanwhile, old-school Cheerios and Lucky Charms parent General Mills has reported eight straight quarters of sales declines and even lost its coveted No. 1 spot in yogurt market share once held by Yoplait to Chobanis Greek yogurt. In an effort to turn those losses around, the company has cut thousands of jobs and brought on new CEO Jeffrey Harmening, a 23-year-veteran of the company. Weve been around 150 years and theres a reason for that and the reason is that weve been able to adapt to change over time. I mean, we used to make nerf balls and we dont do that anymore, Harmening tells FOX Business. But he says as the company pivots to keep pace with the consumer shift, it wont turn its back on iconic brands like Lucky Charms, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Haagen Dazs ice cream. What has happened is that people have taken out ingredients that consumers didnt want and Ive been asked, so whats going to happen next? Harmening tells FOX Business. Well, whats going to happen next is that people are going to get back to things that they always wantedhow good does something taste, how convenient is it, and value. So, things that taste good with simple ingredients. Harmening, who took over in June, says when the company added more cinnamon to Cinnamon Toast Crunchsales of the cereal grew. In fact, over the past three years, the 80s classic has delivered 6% growth. "Lucky Charms, when we were talking about no artificial colors and flavors, you know customers didn't really care that much but when we started talking about marshmallows again, the business started to grow, he added. Retail sales for the 60s classic grew 3% this past year and the company expects it to grow even more in fiscal 18all because of the marshmallows, the company says. (The brand did shift to whole grains in 2004.) Additionally, the popularity of the 90s cereal, Reeses Puffs has also seen an uptick recently, with a 7% retail sales growth in the U.S. this year, pushing the company to invest in more advertisements for the chocolate, peanut buttery cereal for 2018. Internationally, he says, the company is betting big on growing its iconic 60s ice cream brand Haagen Dazs. I think people would be surprised to know that we have a billion dollar Haagen Dazs business outside the U.S., and were growing that business in the UK and were growing it in France, China and Korea, he says. But along with the old, the company is also betting on some new brands that appeal to the time-strapped health conscious consumer. "So consumers look for a lot of different things and were confident that we can grow our iconic brands as well as some of our new iconic brands on things like Annies, he says. Harmening spearheaded the acquisition of the healthy, natural food brand for $820 million in 2014. There is a lot of change going on in food, but that spells opportunity. The only question is, are you going to be the ones to capitalize on that opportunity? Or are you going to let someone else do it? he says. The biggest industry change Harmening expects in the next five years wont actually be in how the food is made, but rather how its delivered, especially since Amazon announced plans to acquire Whole Foods market back in June. Certainly the rise of ecommerce and food is going to be the biggest thing that we will see. And we already see if in Korea, we already seeing it in China and as we look at the U.K. and France. You know a high single digit part of our business is done online, and that is going to come to [the] U.S. and the reason that we know its going to come to the U.S. [is] because customers shop online for many other things and they are going to shop for food online as well, he said. A neo-Nazi website's publisher said Wednesday that he has "effectively been completely banned from the internet" after mocking the victim of a deadly car attack at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. "Clearly, the powers that be believe that they have the ability to simply kick me off the internet," Andrew Anglin, who has published the site from an undisclosed location, complained to The Associated Press in an e-mail. Access to The Daily Stormer had been sporadic since Monday, when Google canceled its domain name registration, making its IP address nearly impossible for internet users to locate. The site had moved its registration to Google after GoDaddy tweeted late Sunday night that it had given The Daily Stormer 24 hours to move its domain to another provider. Google then yanked the address as well, citing a violation of its terms of service. The site briefly reappeared Wednesday with a Russian domain name and registration and a dubious top story, making the unsupported claim that President Donald Trump had called Russian President Vladimir Putin to get the site restored. The story presented no evidence that Trump or Putin had any involvement in the move and Trump has no known links to the site. Until mid-day, the site continued to receive performance and security services from San Francisco-based Cloudflare Inc., protecting it from denial of service attacks. Cloudflare said it is cooperating with law enforcement. A company statement called some of the content on Cloudfare's network "repugnant." but said withdrawing its services would not remove the website from the internet, just make it slower and more vulnerable to attack. Shortly thereafter, the site that takes its name from Der Sturmer, a newspaper that published Nazi propaganda, disappeared again. Anglin said he was struggling to find a domain registry service whose terms of service allow for the content he produces. "I have been kicked off of 4 of them so far, and many of them contain explicit references to "hate speech" in their ToS. Others would be incapable of managing the DDoS attacks," Anglin wrote, expressing frustration with ICANN, the international nonprofit that authorizes domain-name registrars. "If they don't have a single registrar willing to host me, then they have effectively banned me from registering a domain." Anglin had been keeping up his inflammatory statements through the Russian domain, mocking Heather Heyer, the woman who was killed when a man remembered for praising Adolph Hitler rammed his car into a crowd of demonstrators in Charlottesville on Saturday. The original story called her, among many other things, "the definition of uselessness." But Anglin had other fresh trouble as well: A Muslim-American radio host filed a federal lawsuit on Wednesday accusing him of defamation by falsely labeling him the "mastermind" of a deadly concert bombing in England. SiriusXM Radio show host Dean Obeidallah said The Daily Stormer embedded fabricated tweets in a June 1 story to make them seem like they had been sent from Obeidallah's Twitter account, tricking readers into believing he took responsibility for the May 22 terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. The death threats came quickly thereafter. "It was literally jaw-dropping," Obeidallah, a comedian and Daily Beast columnist, told the AP. "The death threats were something I've never seen before in my life." The suit claims that the article's defamatory statements were intended to incite violence against Obeidallah, citing other alleged examples of Daily Stormer readers who did just that, including Dylann Roof, who read the site before killing black churchgoers in South Carolina. "Mr. Obeidallah is an ardent believer in and defender of the First Amendment. He recognizes the importance of freedom of speech and political discourse, regardless of viewpoint. But the First Amendment does not license defamation," his suit says. Asked by the AP for comment on the lawsuit, Anglin gave a two-word response: "Wew lads," referring to an internet meme expressing sarcastic fake-surprise and dismissiveness. The Daily Stormer also was sued in April by a Montana woman for orchestrating an anti-Semitic trolling campaign against her family. Tanya Gersh's suit claims anonymous internet trolls bombarded Gersh's family with hateful and threatening messages after Anglin published their personal information in a post accusing her and other Jewish residents of Whitefish, Montana, of engaging in an "extortion racket" against the mother of white nationalist Richard Spencer. Gersh is represented by attorneys from the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups. In July, the law center's lawyers claimed Anglin was "actively concealing his whereabouts" and hadn't been served with Gersh's suit. They said they looked for him at four addresses in Franklin County, Ohio, where he apparently has connections. Obeidallah's lawsuit was filed in Columbus, Ohio, since Anglin is an Ohio native who uses a post office box in Worthington, Ohio. A lawyer for Obeidallah said The Daily Stormer hasn't responded to their request to remove the June 1 article about him. Obeidallah is represented by Muslim Advocates, a national legal and educational organization based in Oakland, California. President Trump boasted Tuesday that he actually has a business connection to Charlottesville, Va., where violent protests erupted over the weekend, killing one woman and injuring multiple others. I own actually one of the largest wineries in the United States. It is in Charlottesville," Trump said after a press conference at Trump Tower in New York Tuesday. Its a great place and its been pretty badly hurt over the last couple of days, he added. Trump bought the vineyard in 2011 and reopened it as Trump Winery in 2015, turning the business over to his son, Eric Trump, who now serves as the owner and president. According to the winerys website, the business is not owned, managed or affiliated with Donald J. Trump, The Trump Organization or any of their affiliates. More on this... This Wine-Filter Could Cure Your Headache In an interview with FOX Business Cheryl Casone duing the winerys grand opening in July of 2015, Eric Trump said that it is the largest distributive winery on the East Coast in the United States. We do 55,000 cases of wine a year. Trump has been criticized this week for his initial remarks regarding white nationalists and neo-Nazi groups protesting the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, saying both sides the left and the right are to blame. On Tuesday, he later backed up his statement again, saying, You had a group on one side that was bad. You had a group on the other side that was also very violent. Nobody wants to say that. Ill say it right now. Trump, however, did condemn neo-Nazis but added that not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists by any stretch. Additionally, he criticized the alt-left group that he said was very, very violent when confronting the while nationalist and neo-Nazi groups that had gathered in Charlottesville. Uncertainty over which health insurers will continue coverage under the Affordable Care Act in New Hampshire ended Wednesday, with three companies confirming their participation before the deadline. Continued confusion in Washington over the fate of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law has created turmoil in the individual market, prompting concern that some insurers would drop out. Anthem, Harvard Pilgrim, Ambetter by NH Healthy Families all had indicated earlier this year they planned to continue in the marketplace, but in recent weeks declined to reaffirm their commitments. All three, however, had done so by Wednesday's deadline for states to submit all 2018 plan information, other than rates, to the federal government. "At a time when markets across the nation are collapsing, New Hampshire has built a bridge through 2018," said Republican Gov. Chris Sununu. A fourth company, Minuteman Health, will not be offering ACA plans in 2018. The Massachusetts-based nonprofit announced in June it was shutting down and hoped to reorganize as a for-profit company in time to offer 2018 marketplace plans, but it failed to secure necessary financing to do so. Minuteman, which has roughly 27,000 New Hampshire customers, blamed a provision of the law that requires insurers with healthier customers to make payments to insurers with sicker customers. "While we had many productive conversations with potential funders, ultimately the chaotic atmosphere in Washington and volatility driven by the Risk Adjustment program proved too much for funders to make a long-term investment at this time," said company CEO Tom Policelli. About 98,000 individuals in New Hampshire are covered through the state's federally facilitated insurance marketplace, including about 43,000 Medicaid recipients. Republicans in Congress have been unable to deliver on a promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, and an analysis released last week by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that President Donald Trump's mixed signals on the issue have created significant uncertainty and led insurers to seek higher premium increases for 2018 than they would have otherwise. Some premiums in New Hampshire are expected to increase by more than 40 percent. The state insurance department has been working on a plan to offset those hikes, but a legislative committee recently rejected a key part of the program it wanted to enact. Insurance Commissioner Roger Sevigny said he's pleased the three companies confirmed they will offer plans next year. "I have been deeply concerned about the stability of the state's individual health insurance market this year, as insurance companies have faced increasing costs and instability from the federal government," he said. "My department has been working closely with the companies and with state policymakers to try to find a path forward for our state." Fiat Chrysler (NYSE:FCAU) said Tuesday it will partner with BMW and Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) to develop a platform for self-driving cars. The Italian-American automaker will contribute engineering and other technical resources to the existing BMW-Intel alliance, which launched in July 2016 to create an automated driving system for global manufacturers. Fiat Chrysler also said its involvement in the group will accelerate product development. Earlier this year, the alliance announced its plan to test 40 autonomous cars on public roads by the end of 2017. The companies, including Intel-owned Mobileye, expect to offer solutions for fully automated driving by 2021. The alliances goal is to create the most relevant self-driving platform that automakers can adopt while maintaining their brand identities. In order to advance autonomous driving technology, it is vital to form partnerships among automakers, technology providers and suppliers, said FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne. Joining this cooperation will enable FCA to directly benefit from the synergies and economies of scale that are possible when companies come together with a common vision and objective. In a joint announcement, the companies said they invite other automakers and technology firms to adopt their platform. Financial terms of the Fiat Chrysler deal werent disclosed. Fiat Chrysler and other automakers have sought out partners in their efforts to create self-driving cars. Fiat Chrysler has been working with Alphabets (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Waymo, which is testing a fleet of self-driving Chrysler Pacifica minivans through a pilot program in Phoenix. Waymo also has a partnership with Lyft. The ride-hailing company is tied to General Motors (NYSE:GM) and Jaguar Land Rover as well. Intel recently completed its $15 billion acquisition of Mobileye, an Israeli driverless technology company. The Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) employee who was fired after penning an internal memo criticizing the companys diversity policies lashed out at the Internet giant for being intolerant of opposing political beliefs. Theres a certain left-wing dogma that they have, James Damore, the engineer who wrote the memo, said to FOX Business Networks Maria Bartiromo of Mornings with Maria. They feel threatened if anyone shows a dissenting opinion. And in my case, they just fire them. Damore said he initially sent the memo to individual Google employees, where it was largely ignored. But when the memo went viral, Damore came under the national spotlight. There was that slight, select group of people that became outraged, he said. And they got extremely angry and started shaming me. Employees who dont share the left-wing creed at Google are shamed by the company, and often are labeled as a sexist, a bigot or a Nazi, he went on to say. In a statement to FOX Business Network, Google wrote that an important part of our culture is lively debate. But like any workplace, that doesnt mean anything goes. Breaking months of silence, the former Russian economic development minister on trial for allegedly accepting a $2 million bribe publicly accused the head of Russia's oil company on Wednesday of setting him up. Alexei Ulyukayev, the highest-ranking Russian official to have been arrested since 1993, was detained last year at the headquarters of Russia's largest oil producer, Rosneft, after a sting operation set up by the FSB intelligence agency. The circumstances of the case have ignited speculation that Ulyukayev fell victim to a Kremlin power play by Igor Sechin, chief executive of Rosneft and President Vladimir Putin's close associate. Ulyukayev, who has been under house arrest since last November, testified in court Wednesday that he was set up by Sechin, saying the CEO had invited him to his office and handed him the briefcase with cash. "The FSB had plotted how to hand over the money," Ulyukayev told the court. "Sechin called me, said he needed to talk about the corporation's affairs and convinced me to come over to Rosneft, where he gave me the money." Ulyukayev said the charges are trumped up and based "solely" on Sechin's testimony. Sechin hasn't commented on the accusation. Neither Ulyukayev nor his lawyers had commented on the case previously, giving rise to speculation that the former minister would not want to publicly take on Sechin, one of the most feared Kremlin insiders. Sechin has been working in different capacities under Putin since the early 1990s and is believed to wield almost unlimited influence in Russia's energy sector. The Ulyukayev case has been widely seen as part of Putin's ongoing efforts to balance rival factions in the upper echelons of power in Russia. Investigators said Ulyukayev accepted the money for having given the green light to Rosneft to take part in bidding for another oil company. Critics, however, questioned why the payment was made a month after Rosneft completed the deal, why it was paid in cash and why the experienced Ulyukayev, who had worked in the Russian government since 2000, would be foolish enough to extort money from the super-powerful Sechin. Ulyukayev, who was appointed a deputy finance minister in 2000 and economic development minister in 2013, has spoken out against increasing government presence in the Russian economy. He had originally opposed Rosneft's bidding for the other company, Bashneft, saying it was wrong for a state-owned company to take part in a privatization drive. Target (NYSE:TGT) snapped a streak of four consecutive quarters of weaker same-store sales, as the retailer joined some of its peers in reporting better store traffic during the second quarter. Retailers including Target have struggled to stem a decline in sales tied to growing competition from Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) and other e-commerce companies. In order to boost sales, Target adopted a plan to invest in smaller stores, online product offerings and its grocery sections. Target plans to remodel more than 100 stores this year and at least 300 in 2018. During a conference call with analysts, executives said the turnaround plan paid off in the last period. Same-store sales, which measure the performance of stores open at least a year, increased 1.3% during the three-month period ending July 29, topping Wall Streets expectations. Targets website contributed most of that growth, accounting for 1.1 percentage points. Comparable digital sales were up 32%. Store traffic improved by more than 2%. Shares rallied 2.6% to $55.70 in recent trading. Target has dropped about 23% this year. We continue to focus on our long-term strategy, as we work to transform every part of our business and build an even better Target that will thrive in this new era in retail, Target CEO Brian Cornell said. Rivals Macys (NYSE:M) and Kohls (NYSE:KSS) also booked better same-store sales than expected for the second quarter. Kohls said there was a noticeable uptick in store traffic, a trend that accelerated through July. However, other retail giants such as J.C. Penney (NYSE:JCP) and Dicks Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS) have turned in disappointing results. Target reported an overall profit of $1.23 per share in the quarter, beating Wall Streets forecast by four cents. Net earnings fell 1.2% to $672 million. Sales also surpassed expectations, rising 1.6% to $16.43 billion. The Minneapolis-based company now expects full-year adjusted earnings of $4.34 to $4.54 a share, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.39. UnitedHealth Group has picked company president David Wichmann to replace CEO Stephen Hemsley in a long-planned transition that quickly played to a positive review on Wall Street. The nation's largest health insurer said Wednesday that Wichmann, 54, will replace Hemsley on Sept. 1, and Hemsley will become executive chairman of the board. Current Chairman Richard Burke will become lead independent director. Company shares edged toward another all-time high price in early-morning trading. Wichmann joined UnitedHealth in 1998, a year after Hemsley arrived, and also has served as the company's chief financial officer. He has overseen the company's largest business, its health benefits segment, since 2014. A spokesman said the leadership transition had been underway for years and dates back to Wichmann's appointment as president in 2014. Hemsley said in a statement that it was the right time for such a transition, "as the company is performing strongly and has a positive outlook for the forseeable future." Leerink analyst Ana Gupte said in a research note that the announcement was not surprising, but the timing was sooner than anticipated. UnitedHealth is coming off a second quarter in which it made $2.28 billion and raised its forecast for 2017. Health insurance is UnitedHealth's main business, and the insurer is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans, which are privately run versions of the government's coverage program for people who are over age 65 or disabled. The company also has been plowing more resources into its Optum business, which provides pharmacy benefits management and technology services and also operates clinics and doctor's offices. The 65-year-old Hemsley has served as CEO since 2006. He took over after the previous leader, William McGuire, was forced to stepdown over a scandal involving the backdating of company stock options. UnitedHealth wound up wiping out more than $1.5 billion in past profits when it acknowledged that it backdated stock options, which involves manipulating the timing of options grants so they look as though they were made on days when the stock's value was lower. Hemsley led the company past that problem, through the Great Recession and into unprecedented growth. UnitedHealth has gained favor with shareholders as a reliable stock that consistently beats earnings expectations. It also became the first insurer to offer more than a token dividend several years ago. Company shares advanced $2.39 in premarket trading to reach $196.89, which would represent an all-time high price in regular trading. The stock has already set several all-time high marks this year, according to FactSet. The United States won't settle for cosmetic changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement, the top U.S. trade negotiator said, as negotiations to rework terms of the pact began. President Donald Trump has called the 23-year-old trade pact the "worst" in history and vowed to fix it or withdraw from it. On the first of five days of talks, U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer said Wednesday that Trump "is not interested in a mere tweaking of a few provisions and an updating of a few chapters. We believe NAFTA has fundamentally failed many, many Americans and needs major improvement." NAFTA did away with most barriers, including tariffs, on trade between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The Trump administration and other NAFTA critics say the agreement encouraged manufacturers to move south of the border to take advantage of lower-wage Mexican labor. Lighthizer said that at least 700,000 Americans have lost their jobs because of the way NAFTA rerouted commerce. The U.S. trade representative said he wanted to change the pact to require that duty-free NAFTA products contain more content made within the trade bloc and specifically in the United States. But Stephen Orava, partner and head of the trade law practice at King & Spalding, said that changing NAFTA's "rules of origin" to promote Made-in-the-USA products would prove "complicated" and risk disrupting the intricate supply chains that manufacturers have built across NAFTA borders. Lighthizer's comments suggest the negotiations could prove contentious. The Canadian and Mexican negotiators say NAFTA needs to be updated, but they defended it as an economic success story. "We have to take very great care in making changes," Chrystia Freeland, Canada's minister of foreign affairs, told reporters after the first day of talks. Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said, "I am not denying that there have been some transfer of jobs." He said the goal of the negotiators should be to improve the agreement to make sure "at the end of the day, we are part of the solution and not part of the problem." Guajardo said he expected the talks this week to lay out opening positions with the hope that when the negotiations resume next month in Mexico City progress can start to be made in narrowing the differences. "We are looking for a constructive process that will take NAFTA into the 21st century," he said. NAFTA critic Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, said Lighthizer's tough talk raises the possibility that the United States will pull out of NAFTA if it can't get the deal it wants. "He doesn't bluff," she said. "It was a message to Mexico and Canada: 'We hope we can reach a deal, but we aren't playing.' " ___ Associated Press Economics Writer Martin Crutsinger contributed to this report. Shares of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE: FCAU) jumped 8.5% on Monday after trade publication Automotive News reported that at least one Chinese automaker may be interested in buying most or all of the company. The Automotive News report hasn't been confirmed, and a lot of details are still fuzzy. As I write this on Tuesday, it's not even clear which Chinese automakers are interested. But by looking at what we do know, including what we know about FCA from moves it has made over the last couple of years, we can see the outlines of what a deal might look like -- and what FCA investors might reasonably expect from such a deal. What we know about China's interest in FCA First, we know that China's government has been encouraging successful Chinese companies to expand outside of China by investing in or acquiring foreign businesses. We know (trust me on this) that the combination of FCA's low valuation and huge, established U.S. presence makes it probably the most intriguing candidate for acquisition by a deep-pocketed Chinese automaker looking to buy a global automaker. From Automotive News' report, we also know that at least one Chinese automaker has already made an offer for FCA. (It was deemed to be too low by FCA's board and rejected.) And we know that four of China's automakers are said to have at least some interest in FCA: FCA executives recently traveled to China to meet with executives of Great Wall Motor Company (NASDAQOTH: GWLLY), according to the report. That company, which sold just over 1 million vehicles in 2016 under its own Great Wall brand, has reportedly been looking for a manufacturing site in North America. (NASDAQOTH: GWLLY), according to the report. That company, which sold just over 1 million vehicles in 2016 under its own Great Wall brand, has reportedly been looking for a manufacturing site in North America. FCA's joint-venture partner in China is Guangzhou Automobile Group (NASDAQOTH: GNZUF), often known as GAC. That joint venture has two assembly plants that build Fiats and Jeeps for the Chinese market. GAC also has joint ventures with other global automakers including Toyota and Honda . GAC and its joint ventures sold 1.65 million vehicles in 2016. (NASDAQOTH: GNZUF), often known as GAC. That joint venture has two assembly plants that build Fiats and Jeeps for the Chinese market. GAC also has joint ventures with other global automakers including and . GAC and its joint ventures sold 1.65 million vehicles in 2016. Dongfeng Motor Group (NASDAQOTH: DNFGY) is one of China's automaking heavyweights, having sold 3.16 million vehicles in 2016. In addition to its own substantial operations, it has joint ventures with Nissan , Renault , and Honda. (NASDAQOTH: DNFGY) is one of China's automaking heavyweights, having sold 3.16 million vehicles in 2016. In addition to its own substantial operations, it has joint ventures with , , and Honda. Geely Automobile Holdings (NASDAQOTH: GELYF) is perhaps the most ambitious of China's automakers. It sold a relatively small 766,000 vehicles in China last year -- but it also owns Swedish automaker Volvo Cars, and is planning to enter the U.S. and European markets with a new vehicle brand developed in conjunction with Volvo, called Lynk & Co. So which is the likely suitor? It could well be Geely -- or could be any of the others, looking to emulate (or counter) Geely's aggressive overseas-expansion moves. What would FCA be willing to sell? FCA's brands include the old Chrysler Corporation's brands (Dodge, Chrysler, Ram, Jeep) and the brands long associated with Fiat (Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Maserati). Fiat also owned a 90% stake in supercar maker Ferrari (NYSE: RACE) for many years -- but Ferrari was spun off in late 2015. Today, Ferrari is publicly traded, and an investment firm created by the descendants of Fiat founder Giovanni Agnelli owns a controlling stake. I think FCA's spinoff of Ferrari might be instructive here. One of Automotive News' sources raised the possibility that Alfa Romeo and Maserati might be similarly spun off, to separate them from FCA and keep them under the Agnelli family's umbrella. (Or, put another way, to keep these old Italian brands under Italian control.) I think that's likely. To the extent that FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne and FCA's board of directors want to sell the company, I think they'd prefer to sell everything but Alfa and Maserati (and the factories and facilities in Italy associated with the two brands). I also think, given that FCA's stock is trading at just 4.5 times its projected 2017 earnings despite yesterday's run-up, that FCA's board will insist on a price that includes a significant premium over the company's current $19.6 billion market cap (possibly minus the agreed-on value of Alfa and Maserati). If that's how a deal ends up being structured, I expect current FCA shareholders to get a significant premium over current prices. But note that part of the payment might consist of stock in a new entity created to house a spinoff of Alfa and Maserati. (And the remainder of the payment might well consist of shares of the acquiring Chinese automaker.) So what will this deal look like? We don't have anything like enough information to know for sure, or to even know how likely a deal might be. For starters, the fact that FCA's board might like to sell all-of-FCA-minus-Maserati-and-Alfa as a single package doesn't mean that's what any of the Chinese suitors will be willing to buy. But it seems clear that if a sale happens, FCA shareholders are likely to be rewarded. Beyond that, we'll have to wait and see what happens. 10 stocks we like better than Fiat Chrysler AutomobilesWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. Click here to learn about these picks! *Stock Advisor returns as of August 1, 2017 John Rosevear has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Two more CEOs announced their resignations from President Donald Trumps manufacturing council on Wednesday, in reaction to the presidents response to white nationalist protests in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend. Inge Thulin, the chief executive at 3M, said in a statement on Wednesday that he believes the policies of his company no longer align with those of the White House initiative. Shortly after, Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB) CEO Denise Morrison announced she would no longer participate on the council, pointedly disagreeing with Trumps response on Tuesday to the protests. I believe the President should have been and still needs to be unambiguous on that point, she said in a statement. Following yesterdays remarks from the President, I cannot remain on the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative. I will continue to support all efforts to spur economic growth and advocate for the values that have always made America great. Thulin and Morrison join a host of other business leaders who resigned from the council already this week. Those individuals include Merck (NYSE:MRK) CEO Kenneth Frazier, Under Armour (NYSE:UAA) CEO Kevin Plank, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) executive Brian Krzanich, Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul and the AFL-CIOs Richard Trumka and Thea Lee. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump went on the offensive against the executives who left the council, saying they were not taking their duties seriously as it pertains to this country. If you look at some of those people that youre talking about theyre having a lot of their product made outside [of the country], Trump said during a press conference at Trump Tower. Now I have to tell you, some of the folks that will leave, theyre leaving out of embarrassment because they make their products outside [the U.S.]. Trump also called the same CEOs grandstanders in a tweet earlier Tuesday. Some of the executives who have committed to staying on the council include Dow Chemicals (NYSE:DOW) Andrew Liveris, Whirlpools (NYSE:WHR) Jeff Fettig and General Electrics (NYSE:GE) Jeff Immelt. Meanwhile, Trumps Strategic and Policy Forum decided to completely disband, according to multiple reports Wednesday. President Donald Trump announced the end of two of his White House councils on Wednesday, the manufacturing initiative and the Strategic and Policy Forum, following a host of resignations due to his handling of the white nationalist protests in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend. Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2017 Stephen Schwarzman, the chief executive of the Blackstone Group, organized a call for members of the Strategic and Policy Forum on Wednesday morning, according to The New York Times, where the group debated how it would proceed forward. In a statement issued Wednesday, members said recent events were serving as a distraction from what the initiative was created to do. "We believe the debate over Forum participation has become a distraction from our well-intentioned and sincere desire to aid vital policy discussions on how to improve the lives of everyday Americans," members said in a statement. "As such, the President and we are disbanding the Forum." Meanwhile, executives belonging to Trumps manufacturing council continued to drop out in droves Wednesday, after Campbell Soup Company (NYSE:CPB) CEO Denise Morrison and 3M CEO Inge Thulin both announced they would no longer participate. Thulin and Morrison joined a host of other business leaders who resigned from the council already this week. Those individuals include Merck (NYSE:MRK) CEO Kenneth Frazier, Under Armour (NYSE:UAA) CEO Kevin Plank, Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) executive Brian Krzanich, Alliance for American Manufacturing President Scott Paul and the AFL-CIOs Richard Trumka and Thea Lee. Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Trump went on the offensive against the executives who left the council, saying they were not taking their duties seriously as it pertains to this country. If you look at some of those people that youre talking about theyre having a lot of their product made outside [of the country], Trump said during a press conference at Trump Tower. Now I have to tell you, some of the folks that will leave, theyre leaving out of embarrassment because they make their products outside [the U.S.]. Trump also called the same CEOs grandstanders in a tweet earlier Tuesday. A Hollywood studio is reportedly considering a six-part series on former UK Independent Party Leader Nigel Farage and his role in Brexit, the countrys exit from the European Union. But when the FOX Business Networks Stuart Varney of Varney & Co. suggested that Hollywood spin would be nasty to him because of his conservative politics, Farage responded, Well I cant stop them if they want to can I? But Farage understood why his story interested Hollywood. Its quite a story isnt it? Theres this bloke that used to work in the city of London trading commodities and he had an idea, he thought the whole political establishment in Britain had got it wrong and so he launched a campaign to try and turn the country around by 180 degrees and you know what, in the end he won. But when Varney suggested Hollywood would blame him and Brexit for President Trumps election win, Farage responded, Of course, I mean, what they will say is that Brexit began the revolution of 16 that lead directly to Trump. Do you know what? If they were to say that, I would be only too pleased because however much the liberal media may hate Trump, the Democrats may hate Trump, and some of the rather snobby members of his own party may hate Trump, actually he is a breath of fresh air in politics in my view. President Donald Trump continued his offensive against some of the United Statesa biggest business leaders on Wednesday, pulling Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) CEO Jeff Bezos into the mix by accusing him of hurting atax paying retailersa and eliminating jobs. Amazon is doing great damage to tax paying retailers. Towns, cities and states throughout the U.S. are being hurt - many jobs being lost! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2017 This pronouncement follows President Trumpas comments against the CEOs who left his manufacturing council this week in reaction to his response to the white nationalist protests in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend. After four executives resigned from the group a including Kenneth Frazier of Merck (NYSE:MRK) and Kevin Plank of Under Armour (NYSE:UAA) a Trump said during a press conference on Tuesday that they were not taking their duties seriously as it apertains to this countrya and some aare leaving out of embarrassment because they make products out of the country.a However, unlike Trumpas plausibly temporary feud with the CEOs of Merck and Under Armour, the president has a years-long feud with Amazonas chief executive. Hereas a look at the timeline. The history A week after Bezos was at the White House discussing ways to modernize federal IT systems in June, Trump went after the tech titan for dodging internet taxes on Twitter. The #AmazonWashingtonPost, sometimes referred to as the guardian of Amazon not paying internet taxes (which they should) is FAKE NEWS! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 28, 2017 But there is some apparent animosity between the president and his fellow billionaire businessman. During an interview with Fox News in May, President Trump said Bezos was agetting away with murder tax-wise,a claiming the Amazon CEO was using The Washington Post to accumulate capital among politicians so that the company can dodge taxes. During the same interview, Trump suggested Amazon had aa huge antitrust problem.a "He's using The Washington Post, which is peanuts, he's using that for political purposes to save Amazon in terms of taxes and in terms of antitrust," Trump told Sean Hannity. Meanwhile, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said Amazon had violated no antitrust laws during an interview with FOX Business last week. aI havenat seen anything that Amazon has done that would qualify remotely for antitrust consideration,a Ross said. Trump said during a campaign rally in February 2016 that the company would have asuch problemsa if he were elected president. In December 2015, Trump aired his grievances against Bezos via Twitter. The @washingtonpost, which loses a fortune, is owned by @JeffBezos for purposes of keeping taxes down at his no profit company, @amazon. Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2015 The @washingtonpost loses money (a deduction) and gives owner @JeffBezos power to screw public on low taxation of @Amazon! Big tax shelter Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2015 If @amazon ever had to pay fair taxes, its stock would crash and it would crumble like a paper bag. The @washingtonpost scam is saving it! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 7, 2015 Bezos responded to Trumpas tweet, in one of his first ever messages on the social media platform, floating the idea of sending him to space. Finally trashed by @realDonaldTrump. Will still reserve him a seat on the Blue Origin rocket. #sendDonaldtospace https://t.co/9OypFoxZk3 Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) December 7, 2015 Bezosa business victories Itas unlikely Bezos will be too fazed by Trumpas most recent tweet, given the stellar year the tech innovator has had so far. Amazonas stock is up more than 30% year-to-date and more than 300% over the past five years. Last month, Bezos also temporarily became the worldas richest person with a net worth of more than $90 billion, according to Forbes, before Amazon shares retreated slightly and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates reclaimed the top spot. In the second quarter, sales on the e-commerce platform surged 25% to $38 billion. And Amazonas conquests are just beginning. The tech company recently announced a bid to acquire organic grocer Whole Foods Market (NYSE:WFM), furthering its expansion into the grocery aisle. aI think itas a very clever move,a Secretary Ross told FOX Business regarding the Whole Foods deal. Amazon also recently announced a new Prime feature that has the struggling retail industry trembling as it seeks to bring the dressing room straight into customersa living rooms. The new service, Amazon Prime Wardrobe, would allow members to try on clothes for free and send back what they donat like at no extra charge. This as Amazon was crowned the second-largest seller of apparel in the United States by Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS). A White House spokesperson said Wednesday President Donald Trump will make key ObamaCare subsidy payments next month, while he makes a final decision about the ultimate future of the payments. Insurers are scheduled to receive their next round of subsidy payments on Aug. 21 and have asked the federal government for $8 billion in cost-sharing reduction payments for the coming year. As of now, the government is making funding decisions on a month-to-month basis. The final deadline for insurers to file rate requests or adjustments for 2018 in many states was pushed back to September, as uncertainty over both health care policy and the future of the key ObamaCare subsidy payments unnerves health companies deciding whether to continue offering plans on the federal marketplace and what to charge for them. Trump threatened to let ObamaCare implode by eliminating funding for the key payments after Republicans in the Senate failed to pass a measure to repeal parts of President Barack Obamas signature health care law late last month. Cost-sharing reduction subsidies have been a big focal point for insurers looking to gauge costs and ObamaCare participation levels for the coming year. One of the nations largest insurers, Anthem (NYSE:ANTM), warned last month that without certainty regarding these payments, it could be forced to narrow its participation on the exchanges even further. In the weeks since Anthem issued that warning, it announced its withdrawal from the ObamaCare marketplace in Nevada and a dramatic reduction of participation in Georgia. Insurers now have until Sept. 5 to submit their final premium requests and until Sept. 27 to sign final contracts for next years plans. We are seven months into this presidency. Will we ever get used to Donald Trump? Probably not. His style and tone are completely different from any president we've seen before. Its not just his use of Twitter. Obviously we've never seen a president communicate in 140 characters or less, at six in the morning, without any kind of filter. But he's also brash, frequently vulgar and always combative. Case in point: Early this morning, he fired off a tweet attacking Amazon. Some CEOs are withdrawing their support, so the president goes right after Jeff Bezos, [the] founder of Amazon, and owner of the vigorously anti-Trump Washington Post. Classic counter-punch. And look at his performance yesterdayat an impromptu press conference, he was attacked over his Charlottesville statements. He pushed right back: It was a sight to seethe President of the United States engaged in a shouting match with the media! His supporters may love it, but this president's style and tone are getting in the way of his agenda. He needs Congress to pass pro-growth legislation. But many politicians are walking away; they believe association with Trump is toxic in next year's elections. Lets be clear: We knew what we were getting. The Trump campaign style left no doubts. But that style and tone are now hurting the agenda we voted forits an impasse. The country will have a hard time getting used to this president, and it doesn't look like he'll change. Fiat Chrysler is joining forces with a project started by BMW and Intel to develop autonomous car technology. The companies are working on an off-the-shelf system that can be integrated into just about any vehicle, which would allow automakers to get into the driverless car game without the huge investment required by going it alone. The move is the latest in a series of acquisitions and partnerships announced by auto and technology companies as they race to deploy self-driving vehicles. THE REMOTE CONTROLLED BMW: Fiat Chrysler also has a partnership to provide vehicles and install technology developed by Waymo, Google's autonomous car unit. A Fiat Chrysler spokeswoman says the partnership will continue. Computer chip maker Intel recently acquired Israel's Mobileye, a leader in software that integrates autonomous car sensors. BMW, Intel and Mobileye announced an autonomous vehicle partnership in 2016. Financial details of the FCA-Intel-BMW deal weren't disclosed. The Associated Press contributed to this report Its been 40 years since Elvis Presley died at the age of 42, but former co-star Ann-Margret is still very protective over The King, according to Turner Classic Movies host Ben Mankiewicz. Ann-Margret does not discuss Elvis and not because she bears him any ill will, Mankiewicz told Fox News. Quite to the contrary, she is very eager to protect Elvis legacy and she thinks, correctly, that the media and others... sort of pick away at his legacy because were so desperate for information on him. And I suspect she thinks his career was mishandled by [manager] Colonel Tom Parker. PRISCILLA PRESLEY TOURS THE NEW EXPANSION AT GRACELAND In honor of the rock n roll star, TMC is airing 24 hours of movies Wednesday made by Presley as part of their Summer Under the Stars series. Mankiewicz previously interviewed the now-76-year-old actress, who co-starred with Elvis in the 1964 romantic comedy Viva Las Vegas. Ann-Margret revealed in her 1994 memoir that she and Presley had a love affair that ended in 1964 when he believed she spoke with British tabloids, claiming they planned to marry. He called it quits and since then she avoids discussing the relationship with the press. A read of her autobiography, and she wrote it, makes it pretty clear that they were in love, said Mankiewicz. She doesn't say it in so many words, but she says it in enough words. And they clearly meant a great deal to each other. They loved each other." He also added, "It probably couldnt last. But they had a real meaningful connection with each other. They understood each other, they both come from small towns, they both loved motorcycles, and they both were uncomfortable in their spotlight of Hollywood And I think thats what connected them to each other during the duration of Elvis life I think my understanding of it is we should all be so lucky to have a friendship thats as meaningful as the one between Ann-Margret and Elvis Presley. Despite the doomed romance, Ann-Margret moved on and married fellow actor Roger Smith in 1967. It was the same year that Presley married Priscilla Ann Beaulieu, who was 10 year his junior at age 21. The couple welcomed daughter Lisa Marie in 1968, but would later divorce in 1973. Ann-Margrets marriage lasted until Smiths death this year at age 84. Presley was a great film star in Mankiewicz's eyes. Those 31 movies that he made? None of them lost money. Not one, which is a remarkable record of consistency," he said. "And speaking of records, the money they made was enhanced massively because each movie had a record connected to it. And the records, of course, all made a tremendous amount of money. Mankiewicz noted all of Presleys movies had a similar plot that featured his chart-topping songs. And because the formula proved to be so successful, it may have limited Presley from taking on more challenging roles. Presleys last movie, Change of Habit, would premiere in 1969. Mankiewicz isnt sure whether Elvis would have gone on to pursue more success in Hollywood. Francis Ford Coppola or Martin Scorsese or Peter Bogdanovich, could they have done something interesting with Elvis Presley? There was a lot that Elvis had to offer and we underestimate him as a performer There was just too much talent there. Another episode of HBOs hit series Game of Thrones has leaked online. HBO said Wednesday that due to an error the sixth episode of Games of Thrones' seventh season was shown ahead of schedule in Spain and Nordic countries. Episide 6 was accidentally made available to subscribers in those countries for about one hour on Tuesday enough time for hackers to get a hold of it. HBO Europe said in a note it had "learned that the upcoming episode of 'Game of Thrones' was accidentally posted for a brief time on the HBO Nordic and HBO Espana platforms. "The error appears to have originated with a third party vendor and the episode was removed as soon as it was recognized," it added. The Game of Thrones fan community Watchers of the Wall tweeted about the leak late Tuesday, encouraging fans not to share images from the upcoming episode on social media to avoid spoiling the show for its loyal fanbase. This is not the first episode this season that has found its way to the web. The fourth episode in the television series' seventh season leaked three days before its planned Aug. 6 air date and quickly circulated online. On Tuesday, Indian police detained the four suspects in that incident. Several weeks ago, HBO was hacked, however the Game of Thrones episode leaks have been unrelated to the hack. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Though Princess Diana is gone, she is far from forgotten -- worldwide tributes are expected later this month for the 20th anniversary of the death of The Peoples Princess. Diana Frances Spencer was just 36 years old when she died in 1997 at a Paris hospital following a car crash. The crash took place early on Aug. 31, 1997, in Paris, France, after Diana and her boyfriend, 42-year-old Dodi Fayed, had left the Ritz in the French capital. There were four people traveling in a Mercedes S280: driver Henri Paul, who was the acting head of security for the Ritz, bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones, the front passenger, and Diana and Fayed in the backseat. While attempting to elude paparazzi, the Mercedes hit a pillar in the Pont dAlma tunnel. Fayed and Paul both died at the scene. Diana was taken to a hospital, where she died around 4 a.m. Rees-Jones was injured yet survived. Both French and British authorities determined the crash to be an accident. The vehicle's driver was in a state of drunkenness and under the influence of medication incompatible with alcohol, a state that prevented him from keeping control of his vehicle when he was driving at high speed, French magistrates wrote in a 1999 judicial report. In the United Kingdom, the Metropolitan Polices Operation Paget, a probe into the incident, began in 2004. The Paget report, which was more than 800 pages long and examined conspiracy claims, was published in December 2006. Our conclusion is that, on all the evidence available at this time, there was no conspiracy to murder any of the occupants of the car. This was a tragic accident, Lord John Stevens, the former Metropolitan Police commissioner who led the inquiry, wrote in an overview. An inquest took place in the U.K. from October 2007 until April 2008, when a jury ruled that Diana and Fayed were unlawfully killed through the reckless actions of their driver and paparazzi. The jury added that the fact Diana and Fayed were not wearing seat belts was a contributing factor to their deaths. PRINCESS DIANA HAD 'A LONELY MISERABLE LIFE INSIDE THE PALACE,' BIOGRAPHER CLAIMS Despite the official rulings, conspiracy theories surrounding Dianas death have persisted for years. Here are some of the popular ones. Prince Philip allegations Dodi Fayeds father, Mohamed Al-Fayed, has claimed that Diana and Dodi were killed in a plot that was arranged for or carried out by security services on behalf of Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, the Paget report said. The motive, according to the report, would have been Diana being pregnant with Dodi Fayeds child and that their engagement would soon be announced. No proof of a connection between Prince Philip and the Secret Intelligence Service -- also known as MI6 -- was found in the Stevens inquiry, according to the BBC. Diana also wasnt found to have been engaged or pregnant. While leading the inquest, coroner Lord Justice Scott Baker rejected the conspiracy theory, and instructed the jury there was no evidence to support Al-Fayeds claims the couple were victims of a murder plot directed by Prince Philip and carried out by British secret agents. The jury was not at liberty to disagree. Former MI6 officer's claims Former MI6 agent Richard Tomlinson told a newspaper following the car crash that Dianas crash was similar to a supposed assassination plot against Serbian politician Slobodan Milosevic which involved a flashing light and a tunnel, the Guardian reported. Stevens wrote in his Paget overview that we are confident that any theories concerning flashing lights inside the Alma underpass can be discounted as the cause of this crash. The Stevens-led inquiry also found the former spys allegation that a flash blinded Dianas driver Henri Paul to have been incorrect, according to the BBC. Tomlinson later gave testimony during the inquest, and reportedly acknowledged he may have gotten details of the supposed plan incorrect. Former MI6 head Sir Richard Dearlove also testified during the inquest, denying that MI6 killed Diana. Dearlove said there hadnt been a plot to kill Milosevic, saying that there had been one against another Balkan leader, and that the plan was killed stone dead, according to the BBC. PRINCESS DIANA'S SHOCKING RECORDINGS DEFENDED BY UK BROADCASTER The Fiat Uno We believe there was a glancing contact between the Mercedes, driven by Henri Paul, and a white Fiat Uno just before the Alma underpass, Stevens wrote in his overview. The Fiat Uno, however, has never been recovered. Stevens dismissed claims that a French photojournalist named James Andanson had been driving the vehicle and was a security services agent. Andanson owned a white Fiat Uno, but had been with his wife at home the night of Aug. 30, 1997, and there wasnt evidence that hed been with the security services, Stevens wrote. Andanson was later found in a burned-out vehicle in France in 2000, according to the Independent. French authorities determined it was a suicide, which Stevens said British authorities agreed with. Two inquest witnesses would identify the white Fiat Uno driver as Vietnamese-born French citizen Le Van Thanh, according to the Telegraph. Thanh sprayed his car red hours after the incident, his father Francois alleged to the Daily Mail in 2006. Thanh didnt attend the inquest, but has denied that he was the Fiat Uno driver, the newspaper reported. Stevens tried twice this year to contact Thanh, but Thanh has reportedly refused to speak with him. Stevens told the Daily Mail, What we have said to Mr. Thanh is, We believe you were the driver of the Fiat. Talk us through what happened. We dont blame him for the accident. My Paget report said that a Fiat Uno was involved but was not the cause of the crash. We are still trying to interview him. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The owners of a Subway restaurant in Layton, Utah, arent too happy with how their local police talked about their sandwich shop on the nightly news and now theyre suing for defamation. Last August, the Layton Police Department accused 18-year-old Subway employee Tanis Ukena of spiking a law enforcement officers lemonade with methamphetamines. But those accusations turned out to be false, and the Layton police admitted as much in a statement released last October. NUMBER OF SUBWAY RESTAURANTS SHRINKING FOR FIRST TIME IN COMPANY HISTORY However, during the police departments investigation, they arrested Ukena on suspicion of second-degree felony, Consumerist reports. A spokesman for the department also appeared on the local news just hours after the incident occurred, explaining that the drink tested positive for THC and methamphetamine, and claiming to be completely terrif[ied] by such a crime. In addition to the location of the Subway restaurant, Ukenas name and face were broadcast on the station, with the spokesman claiming to have seen Ukena leaning over the beverage for an unknown reason on surveillance footage taken from the restaurant. By the time the department officially admitted that lab tests were unable to confirm that contaminates were in the officer's drink" in October, the franchise had already lost many of its employees, as well as much of its business, say franchise owners Kristen Myers and Dallas Buttars. And now, Myers and Buttars are taking the city of Layton and one of its officers to court for defamation and lost revenue, according to a lawsuit filed last Tuesday. STUDY FINDS SUBWAY CHICKEN CONTAINS ONLY ABOUT 50 PERCENT CHICKEN DNA This has been one of the worst years, said Myers in a statement to The Washington Post. Im in the store every day, and I had several days were customers were coming in to give us the riot act. We also had people asking, Can you put that special stuff in my sandwich? In their lawsuit, Myers and Buttars allege that the Layton Police Department allowed a spokesman to appear on the news even though poison in the drink had not been confirmed at the time of the broadcast. Furthermore, the franchisees accuse the police department of taking no prompt action to correct its statements in order to exonerate the restaurant or its employees. [The defendants] actions demonstrated a degree of flagrancy and outrageousness, and a magnitude of potential or actual harm, that was truly conscience-shocking, the lawsuit read. Myers and Buttars are seeking compensory and punitive damages in excess of $250,000. FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS Ukena, meanwhile, had reportedly reached a settlement with the city for $50,000, the Star Tribune reported. A representative for the city of Layton was not immediately available to comment. A Wisconsin man working on his house accidentally shot a nail into his heart and lived to tell about it. Doug Bergeson was trying to finish framing up the fireplace on the home he's building. "I was just bringing the nail gun forward and I was on my tip-toes and I just didn't quite have enough room and it fired before I was really ready for it," Bergeson said. The three-and-a-half inch framing nail fired straight into his heart at the speed of a .22 bullet. "It didn't really hurt. It just felt like it kind of stung me and I looked down and I didn't see anything and I put my hand there and, 'That's not good!'," Bergeson said. He actually drove himself to the emergency room at a hospital 12 miles from the house. Doctors there rushed him to another hospital for surgery. The nail missed a main artery in his heart by the thickness of a piece of paper. He now has a scar but no permanent damage. "Must have had somebody watching over me, because it was close," Bergeson said. "Accidents, they can happen so quickly, and fortunately this one had a good ending." This article originally appeared on Fox 5. A 13-year-old South Jersey boy who died in June had a lethal mixture of heroin and fentanyl in his system, an autopsy report revealed on Monday. Middle Township Police Department had responded to the call concerning Vincent Weiner on June 4. The boys mother, Jamie Lund, shared the results on Facebook and urged anyone with information about how he obtained the drugs to come forward. MOM SHARES PHOTO OF DYING DAUGHTER AFTER FATAL OVERDOSE Whoever is supplying these babies with drugs, needs to be stopped, Lund posted on August 12. My heart is broken, shattered into a million pieces. Thank you all for your continued support. Weiner allegedly had been bullied in the weeks prior to his death, with Lund describing his behavior as unusual at school. POLICE DEPARTMENT GETS HAZMAT-LIKE PROTECTIVE GEAR FOR OVERDOSE CALLS On the day of Weiner's death, Lund posted on Facebook that her world would never be the same again. A cat in the U.K. is lucky to be alive after quick-thinking veterinarians used alcohol to counter-act the poisonous effects of brake fluid that she had earlier ingested. The cat, named Princess, was rushed to Blue Cross animal hospital in Victoria after her owner found her soaking wet and in a deteriorated state, according to the Blue Cross website. Princess had tried to lick the dangerous chemicals from her fur, which was causing dangerous health effects. CHILD CONTRACTS INFLUENZA VIRUS FROM PIG AT STATE FAIR Princess was in a really bad way and it was really touch and go, said Blue Cross veterinarian Heather Loh, according to the website. Household products containing this type of chemical are very dangerous to pets and Princess needed 24-hour intensive care. Part of that care included rushing to find a beverage with high-alcohol content which was administered through a drip. Pets should never be given alcohol but this was the only solution to prevent the poison from taking over and killing her, Loh said. She was a bit worse the wear for several days afterwards but we were relieved blood tests showed the effects of the drip were working and the poison would no longer be fatal. MOM OF DOG ATTACK VICTIM SUFFERS FATAL STROKE AT DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT Princess owner, Teresa Correira Maria, told the website that she was thankful to have Princess home. I will make sure there is no way she can get into this kind of trouble again, she said. A child who contracted a variant of the influenza virus after coming into contact with an infected pig at the North Dakota State Fair has been released from the hospital and is continuing to recover. The childs illness, which marks the first such case in the state, was detailed in a news release issued by the states health department. The news release did not state when the child came into contact with the pig, but said that an out-of-state visitor also contracted the virus after visiting the fair, according to the Bismarck Tribune. While such instances are rare, the Health Department said most cases occur in the summer months and involve those who raise pigs or come into contact with infected animals at agricultural events. MOM OF DOG ATTACK VICTIM SUFFERS FATAL STROKE AT DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT The pair contracted a variant of the influenza variant identified as H3N2v, according to the news outlet. Symptoms of the illness may range from fever, cough, sore throat and headache. Officials recommended that those who report respiratory issues should alert their doctor if they have recently been around pigs. Just as humans can become infected with pig flu viruses, pigs can become infected with human influenza viruses, a spokesperson told the Bismarck Tribune, adding that elderly people, small children, pregnant women and those with immune issues should avoid pigs and swine viewing areas. CT SCAN OF AN OLIVE LED TO MAN'S CROHN'S DISEASE DIAGNOSIS These recommendations help protect both people and pigs from the flu, the spokesperson said. A Georgia mother who suffered a massive stroke last week while at a doctors appointment with her 7-year-old son was declared brain dead on Tuesday, just eight months after the boy survived a vicious Christmas Eve dog attack. Tracy Dowdy Fain, of Gwinnett, Georgia, had taken her son, Ethan Fain, to a post-op appointment at Childrens Healthcare of Atlanta at Eagleton last Monday as part of his continued reconstructive care, The Atlanta Constitution Journal reported. Ethan was getting stitches removed from his ear when his mother began complaining of a headache. 13-YEAR-OLD HAD FATAL DOSE OF HEROIN, FENTANYL IN SYSTEM, AUTOPSY REVEALS All of a sudden, she lost all movement in her body and she passed out, Jessica Dowdy, Tracys older daughter, told the news outlet. She was rushed to Emory Healthcare, where doctors discovered a brain aneurysm and that Fain had suffered a stroke. At the time, she was being monitored for swelling and brain activity. They are doing a series of tests to make sure shes brain dead, but the past two showed that she is gone, Dowdy told the ACJ. US TEEN DRUG OVERDOSE DEATHS INCREASE AFTER YEARS OF DECLINE Doctors confirmed to the outlet that Fain, who was an organ donor, died on Tuesday. A GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family cover funeral expenses while relatives grapple with how to tell Ethan. All he knows is mommy is sick and the doctors are trying to make her better like they made him better, Dowdy told the news outlet. North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un appears to have blinked and President Trump can claim a foreign policy victory and justification for his strategy. Reminiscent of President Ronald Reagans peace through strength approach to deterring adversaries, President Trump stood up to the blustering despot and forced him to back down from his threat to launch missiles at Guam. China, North Koreas biggest ally, no doubt played a role in getting Kim to change his mind, but primary credit should go to the president. What a far cry from the policies of the last several administrations. They favored diplomacy over confrontation, allowing North Korea to proceed with its clandestine nuclear program in exchange for empty promises. Former President Jimmy Carter, former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and Secretary of State Madeleine Albright were among those who visited North Korea on various diplomatic missions. Albright engaged in a champagne toast with Kims father, Kim Jong-il, after claiming success in getting the country to curtail its missile program. We have seen the failure of that approach and are witnessing the success of its opposite. Though Kim seems to have backed down from launching missiles at Guam and touting his capability to strike targets on the U.S. mainland, He has retained his overheated rhetoric. In a case of the pot calling the kettle black, Kim warned the U.S., as reported by The Wall Street Journal, to take into full account whether the current standoff was to its benefit. He added it was incumbent on the U.S. to stop at once arrogant provocations against the DPRK (North Korea) and unilateral demands and not provoke it any longer. Who provoked whom? Kim added, If the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean Peninsula and in its vicinity, testing the self-restraint of the DPRK, the [North] will make an important decision as it already declared, meaning he might still order a strike against Guam, or put some missiles offshore to test American resolve. American resolve has been tested and has prevailed, at least for now. Kim has lost face. His military leaders and others will take notice, as will the rest of the world. The significance of the unanimous UN resolution imposing new sanctions on North Korea, which included the support of China, could not have been lost on Kim. New presidents almost always face a foreign policy test. Some pass, some fail. John F. Kennedy was judged weak by Soviet dictator Nikita Khrushchev, which many believe precipitated the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. Iran believed press reports that Ronald Reagan was a cowboy and dangerous, so they released American hostages on the day of his inauguration in 1981. There is a time for diplomacy and a time for displaying strength. President Obama sent a signal to the world by setting a timetable for withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan before victory over the Taliban could be achieved. He apologized to the world for what he saw as Americas arrogance. Our enemies took notice and viewed his statements as an invitation to adventurism. President Trump and his defense secretary, Gen. James Mad Dog Mattis, took another approach, returning Kims rhetorical fire with rhetorical fire of their own. It worked, at least temporarily. Where to go from here remains an open question, but the goal remains the same. North Korea (and Iran) must never be allowed to develop nuclear weapons capable of reaching the United States or threatening Americas allies, including South Korea and Japan. President Trump deserves credit for standing up for the country and confronting one of the worlds most unpredictable dictators. He probably wont get any credit from the media, most Democrats, or the foreign policy establishment, but our adversaries are bound to take notice and perhaps adjust their view of the president in ways that benefit America. Charlottesville is a story of liberal hubris and political opportunism and the lives they cost. It is a tragedy that never had to happen. Let me explain. This spring Charlottesvilles ultra-liberal city council voted to remove an equestrian statue of General Robert E. Lee thats been standing in a park in downtown Charlottesville since 1924, and to change the parks name from Lee Park to Emancipation Park. Charlottesville is, and has been, a liberal enclave for a long time; in twelve of the fourteen years we have lived there the Lee statue, or the Stonewall Jackson statue nearby, never raised a progressive eyebrow. But after leftwing groups like Black Lives Matter began targeting Confederate Civil War monuments for vandalism and destruction in the aftermath of Ferguson, our city council decided it could score some points with BLM types by having the statue removedand possibly avoid a violent confrontation with those same leftwing extremist groups. Bad call. What the city council did was to create a cause for every crackpot Neo-Nazi and KKK group looking for some free publicity to rally around, and an opportunity for every crackpot leftist group on Saturday, to get into the action. Statues of dead Confederate war heroes is an issue on which we can disagree. I admit its personal with me. My great-great grandfather fought for the Union in the Civil War, and was severely wounded at the battle of Stones River. But I am sure neither he nor anyone in his Wisconsin regiment would have wanted that statue removed or the name changed 150 years later; any more than Ulysses S. Grant or Lincoln who spoke of the need for charity to all and malice towards none and to bind the nations wounds in the aftermath of Americas bloodiest conflict would have wanted it. It was exactly those wounds our city council decided to reopen. At the time I warned a reporter in an interview for Cville magazine that the decision was wrong, and would backfire. Certainly if Mayor Mark Signer and other council members thought they could avoid future trouble this way, they were wildly wrong. Instead what they did was to create a cause for every crackpot Neo-Nazi and KKK group looking for some free publicity to rally around, and an opportunity for every crackpot leftist group on Saturday, to get into the action. The sense that something truly awful was going to happen started on Friday night, with the bizarre torchlight vigil by white supremacist groups at the University of Virginia eerily reminiscent of Nazi Party rallies in the 1930s. The city council tried desperately to move the scene of the white supremacist rally scheduled for Saturday away from downtown, but a judge on an ACLU appeal blocked that move. The council then yanked the rally permit, but it was too little too late. Also by now Governor Terry McAuliffe had gotten into the act, issuing warnings to citizens to stay away from the rally site and flooding the zone with hundreds of Virginia state police in riot gear. Those state police then did nothing as the Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and assorted neo-Communist extremists began arriving that morning in their own riot gear, including helmets and shields, and began flailing away at the neo-Nazi extremists who responded in kind. Its still not clear who ordered the police to stand down; perhaps no one did. Perhaps they simply did not want to appear on YouTube or the nightly news beating up a demonstrator, whether black or white, Brown or Red. They only finally moved in when Governor McAuliffe declared a state of emergency, and only after a car driven by a white supremacist killed a young woman, Heather Heyer, after plowing into the crowd of riotersrioters who should never been allowed to have contact with each other, let alone allowed to battle it out in the streets of Charlottesville. Meanwhile, two state troopers were dead after their helicopter crashed. At the end of the day they were two men simply doing their duty in a futile mission set by a do-nothing governor whose attention was focused on getting applause from the media, just like our mayor and city counciland just like the commentators afterwards who have worked hard to turn these deaths into an indictment of Donald Trump. A governor with any sense of honor and integrity would resign after a debacle like this; so would a mayor. But of course McAuliffe and Signer wont. They are symptoms, not causes, of an American political culture that has become deeply sick. My wife and I have lived in Charlottesville fourteen years, and have been uncomfortable being conservatives in a liberal enclave. Southern hospitality can go a long way to smooth out political differences. Not any longer. The infection has now swept over our beloved Charlottesville, and the scars will be with us a long time. The opinions expressed by white supremacists, neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan are repugnant. The people who convey these views do not share American values. They seem to relish spewing their racist and anti-Semitic bile. Instead of trying to reason with them, it would be easier to somehow banish them all to a remote island. Let them wallow alone in their misery. If only this multi-generational, global problem could be solved so easily. But in crafting the First Amendment, our Founding Fathers resolved to protect all speech, even expressions of hatred and bigotry. It is one of the steep prices we pay for democracy. In America, you are free to be ignorant and to flaunt it. What you are not free to do is visit acts of violence on others. You may not commit assault, battery and murder while exercising your free speech rights. You may not incite violence with your words. There is no constitutional protection for criminality. In this context, President Trump was factually and legally correct. The videotape of the melee in Charlottesville shows, and the Chief of Police confirms, that both protesters and counter-protesters committed acts of violence that constituted crimes. This appears to be the point the president was trying to make. But it is always a mistake to equate the actions of the evil with the righteous. It may be legally accurate, but it is morally suspect. This is where Trump went astray. There were surely a few well intended individuals protesting the demolition of a historical Civil War monument. Nevertheless, they were outnumbered vastly by proponents of hatred and bigotry who stood by their side, shouting slogans that were at odds with the values which American soldiers fought for, and died for, in World War II. The marchers had a legal permit and the constitutional right to express their views, however abhorrent. Yet, our nation should not blind itself to the noxious messages they espoused. But another mistake was made -- this one by a federal judge who chose to permit the rally to go forward. It was a fatal misjudgment. City officials warned U.S. District Judge Glen Conrad that the gathering would turn violent. They asked him to grant an order allowing the rally to be moved to a larger park nearby where law enforcement could better control the protesters, keep them farther apart, and prevent anticipated bloodshed. As explained by lawnewz.com , the city presented affidavits citing evidence gathered by its criminal investigators and detectives that there would be more than 1,000 demonstrators, not just a couple of hundred, and that some of the protesters would be armed. But Judge Conrad would have none of it. He ignored compelling evidence, calling it purely speculative. He refused to alter the rally. He had the legal authority to stop it at the desired location or otherwise restrict it to ensure that no one would be injured or killed. The U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly said that the First Amendment right to free expression is not without its limits. If speech poses a clear and present danger to public safety (Dennis v. United States 341 U.S. 494), or if speech threatens to produce imminent lawlessness (Brandenburg v. Ohio 394 U.S. 444), protests can be prohibited or highly regulated to a time, place & manner that protects citizens (Cox v. New Hampshire 312 U.S.569). Instead, Judge Conrad sided with the ACLU and the white supremacists who erroneously claimed the city was trying to halt the exercise of free speech. The argument was disingenuous and untrue. The city was not attempting to deny or restrain free speech. It was endeavoring to regulate it to ensure public safety. It is indisputable that the primary blame rests on those who engaged in reprehensible acts of violence. But had Judge Conrad taken the evidence seriously, the bloodshed might well have been prevented. Freedom in America comes at a cost. Heather Heyer paid dearly for it with her life. H.R. McMaster is not the enemy. He is a loyal member of President Trumps cabinet. But you might not know that from the attacks the National Security Adviser is taking from the right. There are some issues where I have concerns myself, but there is no reason to question his patriotism or whether he will faithfully execute the orders he is given. He has spent his entire adult life proving he will fight for this country. President Trump faces a major challenge in dealing with both the populist uprising that launched him into the White House and the more establishment members of the right. The current unhappiness with McMaster is a symptom of this problem, but not the problem itself. If this rift gets much deeper it will leave the president without a governing coalition. That helps only our enemies and the political left who dont want any of the agenda that won Donald Trump the election to be implemented. President Trump backed McMaster publicly in the midst of all the uproar, so in the interest of winning, lets get on the same team here. McMaster has been accused of not properly evaluating the depth and breadth of the Islamist threat worldwide. He has often said that speaking about radical Islamic terrorism is not useful and that terrorists are un-Islamic. That tracks more closely with President Obamas views than those of his current boss. I have heard a number of people in the national security community say he does not grasp the danger of the ideology that motivates our enemies. But I had the chance in a closed setting with McMaster and a few others to dig a little deeper. His views on the danger posed by the Islamists is well grounded and during the discussion he said, "We must stop funding to all the radical Islamist groups and not just the violent ones, but also the ones who fund the extremist ideologies like Salafism and Qutbismincluding some of the Muslim Brotherhood affiliates." The reference to Salafism and Sayyid Qutb, one of the architects of Islamist philosophy for the Muslim Brotherhood, shows he sees the true danger of this ideology. Stopping funding for it must be as high a priority as taking down the terror groups like ISIS and al Qaeda. There is broad support among Muslims worldwide for Islamist domination. A Pew poll shows 72 percent in the largest Muslim country, Indonesia, want Islamic law and 50 percent say it should apply to even non-Muslims. The poll shows these beliefs are echoed across the Muslim population in most other countries as well. Another area of concern pertaining to McMaster is the Iran Deal. The National Security Adviser joined other top cabinet officials arguing to certify Irans compliance, although the president has made it quite clear he wants the deal gone. McMaster believes Iran poses a threat with its nuclear aspirations and also in the many regional conflicts such as Iraq/Syria and Yemen and wants to put other pressures on them. But absent a provable material breach of the deal, he prefers to continue the current path until evidence of non-compliance is unearthed. In a recent interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt he said this: And all of our, all the signatories to this have to be clear that, If you violate the agreement, then there there are gonna be consequences. And and we cant adhere to an agreement if the main party here, Iran, is violating it. He also seems to be quite attuned to the presidents concerns regarding North Korea. In the same interview he said: Hewitt: So that would mean, back to the preemptive strike or some kind of action against Kim Jong Un, should he be sleeping easily at night? McMaster: No, I think I think he should not be, because he he has the whole world against him. He further explained that enough talking had been done and it was time for action, either sanctions capable of taking the regimes nuclear saber-rattling out of play, or a military response. And he said there are plans for doing just that in a way that minimized the potential damage to South Korea. Good. There is a near zero chance Kim Jong Un will stop unless he believes continuing would be catastrophic for his regime. McMaster also seems to have a solid mistrust for both Russia and China, which is vital given their power and overall status as global foes. The bottom line is that H.R. McMaster is an asset to President Trump and will give him advice based on his experience and assessments. But when it is time to take action, he will implement the presidents policies. That is exactly what the country needs. President Trump has been having a rough few weeks and could use a win. So why isnt he crowing about what seems to be an important victory in getting Germany to pay its fair share for defense of the Western world? Its no secret that Trump and Germanys chancellor, Angela Merkel, regard one another warily. They have different world views and little regard for each others opinions. Yet, the president has achieved a major if largely overlooked -- win: Merkels government has pledged to live up to its promise to increase its funding of NATO, the defense alliance to which both the U.S. and Germany belong. Merkel committed to earmark two percent of German gross domestic product for NATO by 2024, a significant increase from the 1.2 percent it currently contributes. Trump made no new friends when he scolded other leaders when they gathered in Brussels last May for coming up short on NATO financing. Merkel, in particular, took umbrage at being lectured. But Trumps harsh message apparently got through to her. Now running for a fourth term as German chancellor, Merkel has said shell follow through on her pledge. Separately, Germanys spending on its own military is up eight percent over last year. Thats another significant win for Trump, since Germany is the most powerful and richest European member of the alliance. Ironically, Merkels principled position has become a campaign issue in Germany, where national elections on September 24 will determine who leads the government. Merkel is currently favored to defeat her left-wing Socialist opponent, Martin Schulz. Perhaps hoping to appeal to Germanys significant pacifist population, Schulz has told cheering rallies of supporters that Germany should go back on its NATO funding promise. He went so far as to say that doing what it promised to do is a really mad idea. Which is strange, since the Social Democratic Party that Schulz heads endorsed the NATO spending goal when it was first introduced three years ago. Schulz is trying to tie Merkel to Trump in the German publics eye, disregarding the fact that the two leaders clearly dislike each other. Germany needs the U.S. and the U.S. needs Germany to play an active role in defending the West. Merkel might not like handing Trump a win on that issue, but shes done just that with her promise. She deserves credit for keeping her word. The recent anonymous, backstabbing attacks on National Security Adviser Lieutenant General H. R. McMaster are despicable. I have known H.R. since he was a captain in the Gulf War. He is a remarkable American, and we are fortunate to have him serving the country. He is a decorated combat veteran who is also an intellectual a truly rare combination. H.R. graduated from West Point and earned a master of arts and Ph.D in Military History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Research he did for his doctoral dissertation ultimately led to his book, "Dereliction of Duty," which was a courageous and devastating critique of the failure of senior military officials to insist on telling President Lyndon Johnson about the problems we were encountering in the Vietnam War. Regardless of what nameless critics say, H.R. McMasters service and experience are invaluable. Being openly critical of senior military leadership did not win H.R. many friends on promotion boards. He was passed over twice for brigadier general, despite having a brilliant combat record. As a captain, McMaster earned the Silver Star our nations third highest award for bravery after the Congressional Medal of Honor. He earned this decoration after leading a Gulf War offensive with only nine tanks that destroyed 28 Iraqi tanks and nearly 50 other military vehicles with no American losses. Known as the Battle of 73 Easting, this engagement has been widely studied. Following the Gulf War, McMaster returned to West Point as an assistant professor in history and later went on to the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he conducted research as a national security affairs fellow. Then McMaster went back to war. In 2005, he commanded the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in a remarkably innovative campaign, which became a model for defeating the insurgents in western Iraq. In 2010, he took over planning in Afghanistan and made gains confronting the daunting challenges that still haunt us in that country. McMasters stunning combat and intellectual records have been praised by both Democrats and Republicans. The recent efforts by various individuals (most of whom are anonymous) to slander McMaster, a man who has spent a lifetime of service defending the nation, are nothing more than cowardly and disgraceful. The truth is, McMaster understands three things that his critics do not. First, the American system of national security is extraordinarily complex. Mobilizing it and orchestrating a strategy is an extremely complicated, time consuming process. However, when fully mobilized, it is enormously powerful as we saw in Riyadh where representatives from more than 55 Arab and Muslim countries came together to work toward defeating terrorism in the Middle East, and as we are seeing today, as the U.S. focuses efforts to counter threats from North Korea. McMaster also knows that since 1939, the American system has built allies and assets across the world. Our power as a country is multiplied over and over by alliances. Some of those alliances are now in their third generation. Throwing them away would make America weaker, not greater. Finally, from his firsthand experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan, and his efforts working to modernize the Army, H.R. knows that the challenges to our safety and, indeed, to our survival are getting greater and more complex. He understands that defeating these challenges will take innovative thought, creative solutions, and institutional and cultural change in our national security systems. This includes changes within the Congress and to the tools used for communicating with the American people. Regardless of what nameless critics say, H.R. McMasters service and experience are invaluable. He is the right person, in the right place, at the right time. The vote came as the North Korean regime threatened a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the United States. China and Russia joined the United States in a unanimous vote to impose sanctions that the U.S. Ambassador to the UN said would bite hard for North Korean officials. Developments last weekend in New York? No, it was March 2013 when the Obama administration secured unanimous support at the UN Security Council for yet another round of multilateral sanctions on North Korea in response to that countrys third nuclear test. The Trump administration has now done the same, with the White House hailing a new round of multilateral sanctions, projecting that it will have a very big financial impact of more than $1 billion. Yet the Groundhog Day nature of U.S. response to North Korea for the last decade, during Republican and Democratic administrations alike provocation, followed by multilateral sanctions that usually are not fully implemented, leading to another provocation, to another round of sanctions begs the question: why will this time be any different? American allies such as Singapore and Egypt need to choose: do business with the United States or business with North Korea. We learned a few tough lessons in the U.S. government when we worked to counter the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. First, multilateral sanctions are often worthless unless they are backed by robust unilateral U.S. sanctions. Indeed, following the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 1929 (2010) against Iran, the U.S. Congress passed stringent sanctions that the Obama administration was required to impose on Iran and its facilitators. These sanctions eventually helped bring Iran to the negotiating table. Unless the United States does the same with North Korea, our latest efforts are doomed to fail. The efficacy of international sanctions against North Korea always depends on Chinese cooperation. The last 11 years of UN sanctions resolutions on North Korea suggest that China will cooperate when the spotlight is bright, but will return to old ways when the attention fades. Prior to last weekend, the Trump administration appeared poised to finally crack down on Chinas enablement of North Koreas bad behavior. On July 29, President Trump appeared to have lost patience with Beijing, tweeting that China was doing NOTHING on North Korea, just talking. Sanctions against Chinese financial institutions and Chinese companies that facilitate Pyongyangs sanctions evasion were reportedly in the works. Simultaneously, the administration was supposedly poised to target Chinese manipulative trade practices, fulfilling campaign promises to be tough on China. But that was postponed last week, likely due to the vote at the United Nations. The administration now finds itself in the same position as its Democratic and Republican predecessors. Our international partners will tell us to pause after this latest round of sanctions, and to wait for sanctions to bite. The problem is, with North Koreas nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs rapidly progressing including reports over the last two weeks of revised intelligence community assessments we dont have time to wait. The Trump administration should test Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yis statement that China is willing to pay a price for implementing the resolution. The United States should make clear that Beijing will also pay a price for not implementing the resolution. Chinas leadership feared Israeli military action against Iran and U.S. sanctions against Chinese banks, which led to greater cooperation from Beijing. Senior officials from the State and Treasury Departments should fly to Beijing immediately with a list of actions that China must accomplish. Chinese leadership will balk, but they had 10 years to fix this problem. Some in Washington are beginning to advocate for military strikes. The president himself threatened fire and fury. But beyond a defensive strike to shoot down a missile launched toward the U.S. or our allies, such threats are dangerous and unnecessary at this point. The United States still has many tools short of war that successive administrations have not tried. First, more Chinese entities need to be sanctioned. Recent disclosures show that from 2009 to 2017, North Korea used Chinese banks to process at least $2.2 billion in transactions through the U.S. financial system and likely represents the tip of the iceberg. Chinese banks must now halt all transactions with the DPRK. China must also restrict trade with Pyongyang. For example, North Koreas ICBMs are carried on Chinese-made trucks; the Kim regime claimed the trucks were for the forestry ministry, and the UN has prohibited since 2006 the export of items for the Kim regimes missile program. China has notoriously flouted sanctions in the past and the communist partys recent complaints about U.S. moral arrogance after the UNSCR vote doesnt portend well for this round, either. U.S. secondary sanctions are what truly worry Beijing. The Trump administration needs to move forward now with more designations. Second, the United States must take action to cut off the regimes other financial lifelines. Secretary Tillerson has stressed the need for all nations to contribute to a solution. Yet the UNSCR only capped North Korean workers, seemingly accepting the status quo where Pyongyang sends as many as 120,000 of its citizens overseas to work in slave labor conditions. The Kim regime receives at least $500 million a year from the practice and the new UN resolution said Pyongyang uses the revenue for its nuclear weapons and missile programs. This is unacceptable. We should cut off this economic lifeline to the regime wherever it exists, and the new sanctions law mandates sanctions against those who employ these laborers. To this end, the administration must tell our allies that they must end their financial relationships with North Korea immediately. This will involve some difficult conversations, including with U.S. partners who continue to accept U.S. largesse but do business with North Korea on the side. For example, Singapore, a key U.S. ally, serves as a conduit for luxury goods to North Korea that helps North Korean leader Kim Jong Un remain in power. Even countries like Egypt have been urged by the Trump administration to cut off their dealings with the Kim regime as Cairo was a customer for North Korean missiles. Americas allies need to choose: do business with the United States or business with North Korea. You cant do both. Congress can help convey this message, as well and if necessary, withhold U.S. assistance. Third, we need to shut down North Korean proliferation networks once and for all. For years, the U.S. government has attempted to monitor North Korean shipping networks to prevent proliferation of WMD materials or dual use items. North Korea has successfully evaded these restrictions in part because of the unwillingness of many countries to shut down transshipment points and roll up networks of facilitators. The United States should be boarding North Korean vessels, forcing Beijing to stop flights, and putting pressure on other transit countries to roll up proliferation facilitators. Ignoring the proliferation threat means that the threat could extend well beyond North Koreas ICBM program into the Middle East or other regions. Finally, the Trump administration has said little about North Koreas abysmal human rights record. This is a key pressure point. The administration should continue efforts at the United Nations to act on the recommendations of the 2014 UN Commission of Inquiry. In particular, sanctions should also be used against North Korean officials who oversee the regimes vast apparatus of prison camps a modern day gulag. President Trump came into office vowing to finally solve the North Korea challenge. He still can, but he needs to break out of the old Beijing-Pyongyang trap and begin to finally take action to tackle this problem. The clock is ticking. Editor's note: The following article originally appeared on the Media Research Center's NewsBusters blog. In a jaw-dropping spectacle in the lobby of Trump Tower on Tuesday, the President went off on the media while ranting about his response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend. Trump stepped in it when he appeared to defend the alt-right and double3d down on his original comments from Saturday. The presentation was originally supposed to be the unveiling of an infrastructure proposal that would overhaul the system. The Big Three Networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) could not get enough of Trumps fiery and furious tirade as he went to battle with the press. And their evening news broadcasts later that day were commanded by the coverage of Trump. Minus their commercials and teasers, the total air time the networks set aside for all their news coverage combined was 58 minutes and 38 seconds. Of that total time, they spent 45 minutes and 31 seconds on Trumps wild press conference (77.6 percent). The coverage was absolutely pervasive on CBS Evening News, where they dedicated all 21 minutes and 13 seconds of total news time to the Trump show. Thats right. They used 100 percent of their air time to talk about what Trump said or tie racism back to him in someway. Nothing else was talked about from the whole wide world of news. On NBC Nightly News, their total news time was 18 minutes and 49 seconds. They came in second with their total Trump press conference coverage accumulating for 13 minutes and 18 seconds (70 percent). That meant they only gave five minutes and 31 seconds to all the other possible stories to cover. ABCs World News Tonight had roughly 18 minutes and 36 seconds of total news time and 59 percent of it was talking about Trumps display (11 minutes). This left only seven minutes and 36 seconds for other news stories. The overwhelming amount of coverage the Big Three Networks afforded to Trumps spectacle completely drowned out other major news stories of the day. For instance, CBS and NBC completely omitted how, over night, the murderous North Korean regime blinked and backed down in their game of chicken with the United States. They noted it during their Tuesday morning broadcasts but left only ABC to cover it by evening. One would think the possible aversion of a nuclear attack would be major news. They also ignored the radical leaders of Iran threatening to pull out of the nuclear agreement. According to the Fox News Channels Rich Edson on Special Report: Iran's President threatens its restored nuclear program would be more dangerous than the one suspended two years ago. He also noted how their parliament chanted death to America as they voted on increasing funds for military programs. And it had been a day since Politico published a damaging story about how the Obama team was warned in 2014 about Russian interference, and did little to stop it. There was no explicit warning of a threat to U.S. elections, they wrote. But the official said some diplomats and national security officials in Moscow felt the administration was too quick to dismiss the possibility that the Kremlin incursions could reach the United States. There was no mention of this story on Monday or Tuesday. And for all of their coverage of the Trumps press conference, the Big Three Networks didnt discuss the Presidents infrastructure proposal in any detail. NBC was the lone network to mention it, but it was only to describe why the conference was called at all. ABC and NBC also omitted Trumps strong words condemning the murderer who drove his car into a crowd of counter protesters in an ISIS style attack. Well, I think the driver of the car is a disgrace to himself, his family, and this country. And that is-- you can call it terrorism. You can call it murder. You can call it whatever you want, he exclaimed to the press. The driver of the car is a murderer, and what he did was a horrible, horrible, inexcusable thing. Instead of covering any of those other major stories, ABC chose to report on a lawsuit between jewelry maker Tiffany & Co. and Costco. Meanwhile, NBC hyped the newest popular song on iTunes that literally plays no music. One thing President Trump said Tuesday deserves more attention than it will likely get. On Monday a mob tore down a civil war soldier's memorial in Durham, North Carolina. Police stood idly by and liberals across the country applauded it. Which statues are next, the president asked today, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson? It's not a joke. Suddenly it's a serious question. Thomas Jefferson indisputably was a great man. He was the author of the Declaration of Independence. Founder of the University of Virginia and maybe, most importantly, the greatest thinker in American political history. All of us live in his shadow. Unfortunately, however, Jefferson was also a slave holder. That's real. It's a moral taint. We ought to remember it. But to the fanatics on the left it means that Jefferson must be purged from public memory forever. The demands are already coming that we do that. In 2015, the students at the University of Missouri demanded the removal of a Jefferson statue. Two years ago, on CNN, anchor Ashleigh Banfield suggested the Jefferson Memorial in Washington might have to go. Needless to say there is literally no limit when you start thinking like this. Last year, hundreds of activists in New York demanded the statue of Theodore Roosevelt at the American National History Museum be dismantled. They argued that Roosevelt was a racist. That's the standard. Nobody is safe. Watch out Abraham Lincoln. You're next. Now, to be clear, as if it's necessary, slavery is evil. If you believe in the rights of the individual, it's actually hard to think of anything worse than slavery. But let's be honest. Up until 150 years ago when a group of brave Americans fought and died to finally put an end to it, slavery was the rule, rather than the exception around the world. And had been for thousands of years, sadly. Plato owned saves, so did Mohammed -- peace be upon him. Many African tribes held slaves and sold them. The Aztecs did, too. Before he liberated Latin America, Simon Bolivar owned slaves. Slave-holding was so common among the North American Indians that the Cherokee brought their slaves with them on the Trail of Tears. And it wasn't something they learned from European settlers. Indians were holding and trading slaves when Christopher Columbus arrived. And by the way, he owned slaves, too. None of this is a defense of the atrocity of human bondage. And it is an atrocity. The point however is that if we are going to judge the past by the standards of the present. If we are going to reduce a person's life to the single worst thing he ever participated in, we had better be prepared for the consequences of that. And here's why: Forty one of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence held slaves. James Madison, the father of the Constitution, had a plantation full of slaves. George Mason, the father of the Bill of Rights, also owned slaves, unfortunately. But does that make what they wrote illegitimate? If these men were simply racist villains, and that's all they were, then the society they created is as evil as they were. There is no reason to respect its traditions or uphold its laws. The First Amendment, for example, the right to speak freely -- For hundreds of years Americans have revered it. Now, the left dismisses it as the work of white supremacist slave holders. It is worthless, they tell us. It must go. It is now routine to hear liberals claim that hate speech, whatever that is, isn't protected by the First Amendment. Though of course the whole point of the First Amendment is to protect speech that offends people. It's a statement of shocking ignorance and yet it is now common. CNN's Chris Cuomo said it. He is supposedly a lawyer. At Pomona College in California, students there are claiming that free speech is "a tool appropriated by hegemonic institutions." Whatever that means. They say the right of free expression should only apply to certain racial groups. But that's not racist because as you know there is no racism on the left. They are just sincere people concerned about hate. There is actually a vitally important debate going on in the country right now. And it's not about statues or even the alt-left antifa, it's about American institutions and whether they are worth preserving. Radicals on the left want to tear it all down as they did the statue in Durham Tuesday. Equality under the law. Protections for the individual against the mob. The absolute right to say and believe anything you choose. Those will be gone. Replaced by something darker and more rigidly conformist. Is that a country you want to live in? If it's not, now is the time to speak up. elites are refusing to. They are too afraid. Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore and incumbent Sen. Luther Strange are headed to a Sept. 26 runoff in Alabamas Republican Senate primary after finishing atop the field in Tuesdays election, according to a projection from The Associated Press. The other major candidate, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, finished third in the race for the seat vacated earlier this year by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. State law calls for a runoff if no candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote. Moore, the Ten Commandments judge beloved by his Christian conservative supporters, is famous for having been removed twice from his position on Alabamas Supreme Court. This election, ladies and gentleman, is not over, Moore told supporters Tuesday night. Theres much left to do. Im running to make a difference in Washington. And those in Washington are scared. Strange, the states former attorney general and a favorite of the establishment, was temporarily appointed to the seat in April after Sessions joined the Trump administration. He has benefited from an endorsement from President Trump -- and millions spent on his behalf by a super PAC linked to Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell. Speaking to supporters after the election was called, Strange thanked Trump, telling the story of how the president let him know he would be endorsing him. The reason he did that is he cares about our state and he knows that Im the person in this race who is going to help him make this country great again, Strange said. Brooks, a conservative House member who favors strict immigration policies, enjoyed the support of conservatives like Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin and Sean Hannity. He announced during his election night speech that he planned to run for re-election to his Huntsville congressional seat in 2018. Other Republicans in the GOP race included state Sen. Trip Pittman and Christian Coalition leader Randy Brinson. Doug Jones, a former U.S. attorney under the Clinton administration who was endorsed by former Vice President Joe Biden, won the Democratic nomination. Jones defeated Robert Kennedy, Jr., a Navy veteran. Alabama hasnt elected a Democrat to the Senate in more than 20 years. The rollicking GOP primary began with Strange's appointment by then-Gov. Robert Bentley, who later resigned in the cloud of a scandal. While Strange has said he did Bentley no favors, his challengers have taken repeated swipes at him for seeking an appointment from the governor when Strange, as attorney general, was in charge of an investigation. During the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Brooks supported Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, something his opponents have used against him. A super PAC with ties to McConnell, the Senate Leadership Fund, has been running television ads of Brooks past critical comments about Trump. The Senate Leadership Fund has also run ads against Moore. We congratulate Big Luther Strange for closing the gap in the final week and positioning himself well for the runoff, Steven Law of the Senate Leadership Fund said in a statement. We are proud to have strongly supported President Trumps number-one ally in this race, and we believe the presidents support will be decisive as we head into the next phase of this campaign, which Senator Strange will win in September. Meanwhile, Brooks worked to tie Strange to the Republican establishment and McConnell, whom he pledged not vote for as Republican majority leader. After the September runoff, the general election will be held Dec. 12. Fox News Joe Weber and The Associated Press contributed to this report. John Curtis, the Provo mayor, won Utah's GOP primary special election Tuesday night. He will face off against Democrat Kathie Allen and third-party candidate Jim Bennett, son of the late GOP Sen. Bob Bennett of Utah, to determine who will fill the House seat vacated by Rep. Jason Chaffetz. Three Republicans squared off in Utahs 3rd Congressional District in a bid to replace Chaffetz, the former chairman of the House Oversight Committee who abruptly resigned from Congress in June after slowly climbing through the political ranks for his persistent investigations into Hillary Clintons emails. Former state lawmaker Chris Herrod received the GOP nomination at the party's state convention, while Curtis and Tanner Ainge -- son of Boston Celtics general manager and former Brigham Young University player Danny Ainge -- acquired enough signatures to place their names on the ballot. Curtis, who was endorsed by Utahs Republican Gov. Gary Herbert, faced criticism for having once been a Democrat. But he is now considered the favorite to win the U.S. House seat. Ainge called Curtis to concede and congratulate him on his victory. "The numbers were too insurmountable," Ainges press aide said. This is one of seven special elections scheduled this year to fill vacant seats in the House and Senate. Alabama held a special election of its own Tuesday, to select party nominees to fill the U.S. Senate seat once held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Rep. Luis Gutierrez was arrested outside the White House on Tuesday during a rally demonstrating support for the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. The Illinois Democrat was taking part in a sit-in on the sidewalk outside 1600 Pennslyvania Avenue organized to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the initiatives introduction at the time of his arrest. JUST NOW: @RepGutierrez has just been arrested in front of the White House! #DefendDACA, immigrant advocacy group United We Dream tweeted. The group also tweeted that about 25 people were taken into custody during the event, which was also held in support of temporary protected status for illegal immigrants. The DACA and TBS programs are now both in doubt under the Trump administration. A representative from Gutierrezs office confirmed the arrest over Twitter, saying he was still in U.S. Park Police custody. Click for more from the Washington Examiner. Mess of Indiana conservatism Before we get into the Indiana Senate race, there's some breaking news I want to share. Randy Bryce, the progressive Democrat and iron worker running for the southeast Wisconsin congressional seat occupied by Paul Ryan just moments ago issued a statementcalling on Ryan to initiate censure proceedings in the House against Trump for his divisive 'both sides' comments. "There is no moral equivalence between the repugnant peddlers of hate and violence, and those who bravely stand up to them," said Bryce. "Yesterday President Trump used the presidential seal to give political cover to vile racist extremists. The forces of deadly bigotry will only be emboldened by Trump's comments. When former Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke thanks you for your remarks-- as he did to the president yesterday-- you are on the wrong side of history, decency, and American values. These comments yesterday require more than statements of outrage. They demand an official expression of denunciation from Congress, on the record for all the world to see, and made permanent for history. Speaker Ryan," he said, addressing his opponent directly, "it is time to put action to your words. Only you as the leader of the House can compel that body to move decisively. Demonstrate courage and leadership, not only rhetoric. Initiate censure proceedings now in the U.S. House of Representatives against President Trump for the chief executive's outrageous, unacceptable and un-Amercian remarks." And now back to our regularly scheduled programming: had to do this-- they each have a safe, comfy, congressional seat-for-life in red parts of Indiana-- but their rivalry is going to cost one of them-- perhaps both of them-- his career in politics. Todd Rokita was elected to Congress in 2010. The 4th congressional district west of Indianapolis has a PVI of R+11. Hillary didn't even hot a third of the vote last year in the district. This is one RED seat. And Luke Messer's 6th district, east of Indianapolis, is even redder. The PVI is R+12. It's Mike Pence's old House seat and Messer took over in 2012 when Pence became governor of Indiana. The district gave Trump a huge win, his biggest in the state-- 67.7% to 27.4%. Both are right-wing extremists and total Trump rubber stamps. Rokita's ifetime ProgressivePunch crucial vote score is 6.10 and Messer's score is 2.62. Politico termed their primary for the Republican Party nomination to go up against vulnerable and unpopular Blue Dog Joe Donnelly Neither of themto do this-- they each have a safe, comfy, congressional seat-for-life in red parts of Indiana-- but their rivalry is going to cost one of them-- perhapsof them-- his career in politics. Todd Rokita was elected to Congress in 2010. The 4th congressional district west of Indianapolis has a PVI of R+11. Hillary didn't even hot a third of the vote last year in the district. This is one RED seat. And Luke Messer's 6th district, east of Indianapolis, is even redder. The PVI is R+12. It's Mike Pence's old House seat and Messer took over in 2012 when Pence became governor of Indiana. The district gave Trump a huge win, his biggest in the state-- 67.7% to 27.4%. Both are right-wing extremists and total Trump rubber stamps. Rokita's ifetime ProgressivePunch crucial vote score is 6.10 and Messer's score is 2.62.termed their primary for the Republican Party nomination to go up against vulnerable and unpopular Blue Dog Joe Donnelly the GOP's nastiest Senate primary . And it's personal. The two right-wing goof-balls went the same sub-par college, the all-males Wabash College in Crawfordsville. "The slugfest underway between Republican Reps. Luke Messer and Todd Rokita in Indiana isnt just for the right to compete for possibly the GOPs best opportunity to seize a Senate seat from Democrats in next years midterms," wrote Maggie Severns and Kevin Robillard. "Its a chance to finally settle the score between two ambitious pols whove been vying to outdo one another politically since they graduated from the same small college more than 25 years ago. Yes, this one is personal. Their campaign didnt officially get underway until last week, but Messer, 48, has already accused Rokita of attacking his wife and 'spreading lies' about his record. Rokita, 47, has questioned his rivals mental health, calling Messer 'unhinged' and a 'ticking time bomb.'" Indiana is Trump country-- he beat Hillary 1,557,286 (56.8%) to 1,033,126 (37.9%)-- and Donnelly is disliked by significant numbers of Democrats for his right-of-center approach. He's the GOP's easiest target for 2018. Donnelly only won in 2012 because he was up against a certifiably insane person, Richard Mourdock, who kept destroying his own chances-- and even then, Donnelly would have lost if not for Libertarian Andrew Horning winning 145,282 votes (5.7%), Donnelly's margin of victory. He took 1,281,181 votes (50.0%) to Murdock's 1,133,621 (44.3%). Over the years, Messer has enjoyed the full embrace of Indianas political elite, which appointed him to a seat in the state Legislature and embraced him as part of its leadership. That same elite has always kept Rokita at bay. Rokita became one of the nations youngest statewide elected officials when he was elected Indianas secretary of state at age 31. But he made enemies among Republicans in the state Legislature, which years later redrew Rokitas congressional district in a way that put his home on the wrong side of the new boundary. Many of Indianas most prominent political leaders, including Vice President Mike Pences brother Greg, have lined up behind Messer. And when Rokita put his name forward for governor last year when Pence became Trumps vice presidential nominee, the state Republican central committee instead went with now-Gov. Eric Holcomb, a former party chairman. Todd has a sense that Messer gets all the breaks and I dont, said one GOP operative. Now theyre placed in a zero-sum game, and their underlying feelings come out. Those feelings reached a boiling point in May and have not calmed since. Messer had been considering a challenge to Donnelly since at least last summer, according to allies, and at first, Rokita waited quietly in the wings. But early this year, Rokita started raising money and meeting with Republican leaders in Washington. Then, a May Associated Press story revealed that Messers wife, a lawyer, was being paid a $240,000-a-year consulting fee from a small Indiana town. The attack struck a particular nerve with Messer, who thought it was prompted by Rokita, according to two people familiar with his thinking. And he didnt hold back. "Frankly, I've known Todd a long time and very little surprises me," Messer told a local TV station. "But I would say it's not typical that someone starts a campaign by coming after someone's spouse. Rokita kept needling Messer in public, about that story and for relocating his family to Virginia. Messer distributed a lengthy email accusing Rokita of spreading lies and half-truths, which Rokitas campaign responded to by calling Messer unhinged and a ticking time bomb. Soon, as both candidates lashed out at each other in the press, a dozen edits appeared on Messers Wikipedia page echoing one of Rokitas main lines of attack on Messer: his work as a lobbyist. ...[M]any of the men who helped Rokita defeat a slew of other prominent Republicans in the primary have since abandoned him and are backing Messer for Senate, including his campaign manager Tom John and Grand. Rokita has gone on to earn a reputation as an exacting boss, prone to calling staff late at night. Todd has been more of a squeaky wheel than Luke, said Dan Dumezich, chairman of Rokitas finance committee. Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease, and sometimes the squeaky wheel just irritates people. Rokita and Messer declined to comment for this story. Rokita ran particularly afoul of the state Legislature-- where Messer had quickly risen up the ranks during a stint several years earlier-- in 2009, as lawmakers began preparing for the once-in-a-decade redistricting process. Then in his second term as secretary of state, Rokita proposed making it a felony for lawmakers to consider politics when drawing political boundaries. He toured the state promoting his idea and drew up sample maps with new boundaries. The Legislature bristled at Rokitas suggestion, which would have given his office new power and disrupted lawmakers safe seats. The state Senate president-- a fellow Republican-- said Rokita had crossed the line. Two years later, lawmakers gave Rokita his due: The Legislature drew Rokita, who by then was serving his first term in Congress, out of his district. His home sat just 500 yards from the line-- a slight that lawmakers called coincidental and Rokita publicly labeled as comeuppance. (Rokita would later move into his new district.) Messer had a very different experience in the Legislature: He was appointed to a state House seat in May 2003, and by 2005 was serving in the chambers leadership. After a Time magazine story spotlighted Indiana as a center of the high school dropout crisis, Messer embraced school reform and found support from Gov. Mitch Daniels, as well as Indianas elite donors. Rokita eyed running for Senate in 2010, but opted instead to run for the House. He arrived on Capitol Hill in 2011 and within months found himself at the center of a national clash after he joined other newly elected conservatives in refusing to vote to raise the debt ceiling, enraging House leaders. Messer ran for Congress in 2010 unsuccessfully, but succeeded two years later on his third try. The Wabash grads then found themselves rubbing elbows-- and at times, throwing them-- on Capitol Hill. Messer again rose up the ranks fast: Within two years he was elected as chair of the House Republican Policy Committee. And he again embraced education by leading a school choice caucus, hosting rallies attended by John Boehner and Eric Cantor that featured Messer as the smiling emcee. While Rokita appears endlessly willing to take on unpopular-- but important-- fights, Messer has been quick to build coalitions and quickly rose to leadership positions in both the state House and in Congress. But Messers skill at listening to people and building coalitions can have downsides as well, a GOP strategist warned. Lukes personality is to try to placate both sides. You may not ultimately satisfy anybody, he said. And Rokita, who led an education subcommittee, jockeyed with Messer for prominence on their key issue. In 2015, he was working diligently on a major education bill when Messer nearly unraveled a years work. Messer made a stand in favor of adopting school vouchers, a controversial issue that jeopardized the bill; Rokita fumed to colleagues until Messer backed down. Today, both men are fuming in public as they launch their campaigns. Both say theyre focused on running campaigns that can eventually defeat Donnelly-- but they frequently fall back into a now-familiar habit, nipping at each other instead of their Democratic foe. But theres also an upshot for people like Grand, the Indiana lobbyist, who happens to share an alma mater with the two Indiana congressmen. Either way, Grand said, Wabash College wins. Conservative commentator Laura Ingraham said Tuesday that politics are clearly at the root of the string of protests surrounding the removal of Confederate statues. On Saturday, one person was killed and more than a dozen others injured after a rally protesting the removal of a Confederate statue in Charlottesville, Virginia. Clashes between protesters and counter-protesters sparked a national outcry. Both sides of the political spectrum chimed in. But it was politics, Ingraham said on Hannity, which caused the newfound outrage behind the removal of the statues. I understand that theres this newfound outrage and level of offense thats reached this fever pitch about these statues, Ingraham said. I think a lot of people have driven by these statues probably for decades and never thought twice about them. But now theyve become a political symbol. And, if its a symbol that represents the racist past or any vestige of a racist past of the south then theyre going to be able to say, well, then that has to go, too. TRUMP DECRIES 'ALT-LEFT' IN CHARLOTTESVILLE: 'DO THEY HAVE ANY SEMBLANCE OF GUILT?' What comes next after the protests, Ingraham says, is unknown. I dont know how far they want to take it, she said. I said this morning, maybe theyll take it to certain books that they think are offensive or certain speakers on college campuses who are offensive. Its a symbol and people can do what they want with symbols. They can vote to get rid of all of them then I think we have to ask the question: What next? How are we going to heal as a nation, condemn that which is evil and then come together as a country? Addressing the controversial remarks President Donald Trump gave on Tuesday afternoon -- in which he doubled down on his claim that both sides were responsible for the violence -- Ingraham said the left was hoping for more from the president. But there are some people out there that are just never going to be satisfied with what he (Trump) says, Ingraham argued. No matter what he says, in response to any crisis, theyre going to ridicule him, or satirize him or say hes dumb or say he doesnt really care or hes an egomaniac or you know, pick your poison. Hes not trying to satisfy them at this point. Watch the full interview above. The White House told allies Tuesday that President Trump was entirely correct to blame both sides for the protest violence in Charlottesville, fighting back at critics of his response, Fox News has learned. A memo of talking points obtained by Fox News stated that during his remarks in the lobby of Trump Tower on Tuesday, the president was entirely correct both sides of the violence in Charlottesville acted inappropriately, and bear some responsibility. The memo also stated that Trump with no ambiguity condemned the hate groups that descended upon Charlottesville for the Unite the Right rally, and added the president has been a voice for unity and calm, and that hes taking swift action to hold violent hate groups accountable. TRUMP DECRIES 'ALT-LEFT' IN CHARLOTTESVILLE: 'DO THEY HAVE ANY SEMBLANCE OF GUILT?' It ended by saying both leaders and the media should join the president in trying to unite and heal our country rather than incite more division. The memo was distributed to allies of the White House in an effort to try to get conservatives on board to defend Trump. While speaking to the media Tuesday during what were supposed to be brief remarks without questions from the press, Trump declared that there is blame on both sides for the deadly violence that took place on Saturday. He also said there are two sides to a story. Placing blame on many sides was Trumps initial response to Saturdays events, but two days later, the president specifically condemned the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists. ANN COULTER CHEERS TRUMP: 'TODAY WE GOT OUR LEADER BACK' After Trumps reiteration Tuesday that both protesters on the far left and far right were to blame, former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke tweeted, Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth. White House officials apparently were caught off guard by his remarks Tuesday. Trump had signed off on a plan to not answer questions from journalists during an event touting infrastructure policies, according to a White House official speaking to The Associated Press. Once behind the lectern and facing the cameras, Trump overruled the decision. Trump's advisers had hoped Tuesdays remarks might quell a crush of criticism from Republicans, Democrats and business leaders. But the president's retorts Tuesday suggested he had been a reluctant participant in that cleanup effort and renewed questions about why he seemed to struggle to unequivocally condemn white nationalists. LAWMAKERS, NATIONAL FIGURES REACT TO TRUMP'S CHARLOTTEVILLE COMMENTS Members of his own Republican Party have pressured him to be more vigorous in criticizing bigoted groups, and business leaders have begun abandoning a White House jobs panel in response to his comments. When asked to explain his Saturday comments about Charlottesville, Trump looked down at his notes and again read a section of his initial statement that denounced bigotry but did not single out white supremacists. He then tucked the paper back into his jacket pocket. Fox News' Ed Henry and The Associated Press contributed to this report. The FBI has "reopened" its consideration of a request for records on the infamous 2016 tarmac meeting between then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch and former President Bill Clinton, the group behind that request told Fox News. American Center for Law and Justice President Jay Sekulow called the development a positive sign, in an interview Wednesday on Fox & Friends. Sekulow said the FBI sent him a letter saying it had reopened his Freedom of Information Act request for documents related to the June 2016 meeting. At first, the FBI and DOJ said they did not have documents detailing the tarmac meet-up, before recently releasing a batch of emails. They are now searching for more records. While we appreciate that the FBI has reopened the case file and is now searching for documents responsive to our duly submitted FOIA request from more than a year ago, it stretches the bounds of credulity to suggest that the FBI bureaucracy just discovered that potentially responsive records may exist on its own accord, Sekulow said in a written statement. FBIs newest letter to the ACLJ dated one week after the government watchdog group accused the government of lying to them about the existence of records now states that records potentially responsive to your request may exist. Last week, ACLJ released 400 emails from the initial batch they received. The documents revealed that Lynch used an email alias to discuss the secret meeting that took place between her and Clinton and that DOJ staffers were concerned about the optics of the situation. The tarmac meeting fueled Republican complaints at the time that Lynch had improperly met with the husband of an investigation subject, Hillary Clinton, just before the probe into her personal email use was completed with no charges filed. A week after the meeting, then-FBI Director James Comey called Clintons actions extremely careless but did not recommend charges. The criminal investigation was closed and then briefly re-opened in October just days before the 2016 presidential election. Sekulow, who also serves on President Trumps legal team, said the ACLJ will continue to press on in our legal fight to ensure that the details of the secret Clinton-Lynch meeting and the subsequent cover-up and withholding of information from the public comes to light. JUDICIAL WATCH CLASHES WITH DOJ OVER LYNCH-CLINTON MEETING NOTES He added that his organization will continue to legally hold the FBIs feet to the fire and said he is willing to go to court to get (the records) if necessary. The conservative group Judicial Watch also has clashed with the DOJ, after receiving similar documents it complained were "heavily redacted." In response to those complaints, a Justice Department spokesperson referred Fox News to a letter sent by the DOJ Office of Information Policy on Aug. 1, 2017 to Judicial Watch explaining their decision to maintain redacted materials. The letter explains that those sections pertain to certain inter- and intra-agency communications protected by the deliberative process privilege, and information release of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of the personal privacy of third parties. A Justice spokesperson told Fox News that decisions to claim the deliberative process exemption are routine. In his June testimony, Comey cited concerns with Lynch's handling of the Clinton investigation. Comey told lawmakers that Lynch directed him to describe the email probe as a matter and not an investigation. Comey said the tarmac meeting was a deciding factor in his decision to act alone to update the public on the Clinton probeand protect the bureaus reputation. He has been removed as chief justice of Alabamas Supreme Court not once, but twice. He is famously referred to as the Ten Commandments Judge. He traditionally rides a horse to the polls on election day. Meet Roy Moore, the new front-runner for the Alabama Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The ex-justice is heading into a Sept. 26 runoff with Luther Strange, the appointed senator endorsed by President Trump, after neither candidate was able to clinch the nomination in Tuesday's GOP Senate primary. But while Strange enjoyed high-level backing, Moore won 39 percent of the vote Tuesday to the incumbent's 33 percent. He also bested Mo Brooks, a conservative congressman. The longtime outsider is now seen as having a shot at joining the U.S. Senate. In this overwhelmingly Republican state, Mr. Moore is the betting favorite to become the newest United States senator, Quin Hillyer, a conservative columnist who ran as a Republican for a congressional seat in Alabama in 2013, wrote in an op-ed for The New York Times. Moore is no lock, however, and can expect to see GOP leaders fight to consolidate support -- including Brooks' voters -- behind Strange. Roy Moore's raw vote count yesterday is his ceiling, Alex Schriver, a political operative from Alabama and former chief of staff to GOP Rep. Bradley Byrne, told Fox News. Moore, a favorite of religious conservative voters, has a colorful political history that has both fueled and complicated his rise. He first got national attention in the 1990s as a county judge when he hung a wooden Ten Commandments plaque on the wall of his courtroom. The ACLU filed a lawsuit against him. Benefiting from his popularity after the episode, Moore then ran and won a race for chief justice of the states Supreme Court in 2000. But he was ousted after refusing to remove a 5,280-pound granite Ten Commandments monument from the rotunda of the state judicial building. He resurrected his political career in 2012, getting elected chief justice again. But his tenure was short-lived again: in 2016, Moore was suspended as chief justice after he directed probate judges not to issue marriage certificates to gay couples. His battles have made him enormously popular with his base of Christian conservatives. Rather than being seen as sacrificing justice for his own ambition, Mr. Moore is seen as having sacrificed himself for a higher justice, Hillyer said. MOORE, STRANGE HEAD TO ALABAMA SENATE RUNOFF Appearing on Fox and Friends on Wednesday, Moore suggested he would continue to emphasize these cultural issues if elected. These are the things Ive stood up for, and Ive suffered accordingly by the judicial inquiry commission of Alabama, he said. But Ill continue to uphold the Constitution, and the right to acknowledge God. On the campaign trail, Moore is portraying himself as an anti-establishment figure who would be a reliable ally to the president. But that is complicated by Trump's endorsement of Strange, who also enjoys the support of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and well-funded super PACs linked to him. The president on Wednesday tweeted his congratulations to both Moore and Strange for being the final two. Trump, who endorsed Strange last week, took some credit for Strange making it into the runoff. Wow, Senator Luther Strange picked up a lot of additional support since my endorsement, the president said. Now in September runoff. Strong on Wall & Crime! Allies of Strange argue that while Moore has a loyal base of supporters, he has a ceiling in Alabama elections. While he was elected twice to the Supreme Court, Moore unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2006 and 2010. Schriver said he expects the McConnell-backed Senate Leadership Fund to be heavily engaged on Stranges behalf over the next six weeks. The super PAC spent millions in negative advertising against both Brooks and Moore ahead of Tuesday's vote. He argued Moores history of controversy would make it difficult for him to attract support from conservative groups that might be tempted to spend money on the race. What outside group would put their organization's reputation alongside his history and profile? Schriver asked. The mayor of Richmond, Virginia on Wednesday said he wants to see the removal of Confederate statues on the citys famous avenue of monuments. I wish they had never been built, Democratic Mayor Levar Stoney said in a statement. He added, These monuments should be part of our dark past and not of our bright future. I personally believe they are offensive and need to be removed. During the Civil War, Richmond served as the capital of the Confederacy. The citys Monument Avenue memorializes a number of famous Confederate heroes, including Robert E Lee, Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson, J.E.B Stuart and Matthew Fontaine Maury. Stoney said Thursday he is asking the Monument Avenue Commission to examine the the removal and/or relocation of some or all of the Confederate statues. Let me be clear: we will not tolerate allowing these statues and their history to be used as a pretext for hate and violence, or to allow our city to be threatened by white supremacists and neo-Nazi thugs, he said. We will protect our city and keep our residents safe. Cities and states have accelerated their plans to remove Confederate monuments from public property as the violence over a Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, Virginia, moved leaders across the country to plan to wipe away much of the remaining Old South imagery. The Associated Press contributed to this report. President Trump has promised to crack down on so-called sanctuary cities, signing an executive order in January 2017 that moved to strip federal grant money from towns that harbor illegal immigrants. A federal judge permanently blocked it in November 2017, saying the Trump administration lacks the authority to impose new conditions on spending that has already been approved by Congress. But the Justice Department has taken legal action against California, the first sanctuary state. Its designation means the nations most populous state will limit just how much local law enforcement will cooperate with federal immigration authorities. What are sanctuary cities? While the exact specifications can vary, sanctuary city policies overall limit how much local law enforcement officials can comply with federal immigration authorities. San Francisco, for example, passed an ordinance in 1989 that prohibits city employees, funds or resources from assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in enforcing federal immigration law unless its required by state or federal law. It also passed an ordinance that limits when law enforcement officials can give ICE notice that an immigrant has been released from a local jail and prohibits law enforcement officials from cooperating with detainer requests from ICE. Berkeley, near San Francisco, is reportedly the original sanctuary city. It passed a resolution in 1971 that protected sailors who wanted to resist the Vietnam War. Its difficult to nail down a concrete number of just how many cities are considered to be a sanctuary for illegal immigrants some cities have an ordinance or policy in place; others do not. What about states? Aside from cities, five states California, Oregon, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont have enacted laws that limit how much police can contribute assistance to federal immigration agents, according to The New York Times. California Gov. Jerry Brown signed the law that went into effect this year designating California as a sanctuary state. The law, in part, bars police from asking people about their immigration status or participating in some federal immigration enforcement activities. How are they viewed? The debate about sanctuary cities intensified in July 2015 when Kate Steinle, 32, was killed as she strolled along the San Francisco waterfront with her father. Steinle was shot by a man with a criminal record who had slipped into the U.S. multiple times illegally. Attorney General Jeff Sessions addressed a roomful of federal prosecutors and law enforcement officials last year and criticized cities, like Philadelphia, that are giving sanctuary to criminals. He asked them to reconsider the harm they are doing to their residents. And in suing California, Sessions told Fox News that its federal law [that] determines immigration policy. The state of California is not entitled to block that activity, he said. Somebody needs to stand up and say no, youve gone too far, you cannot do this, this is not reasonable. Its radical, really. Not every city in The Golden State is on board with the states sanctuary policies, however. The Los Alamitos Council voted to opt out of the sanctuary policies, and other municipalities are reportedly exploring similar options. But the Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC) argues that local law enforcement jurisdictions do not have a legal obligation to assist with civil immigration enforcement, which is the responsibility of the federal government. A local decision to offer resources to federal immigration enforcement authorities is completely voluntary, the legal organization said in a 2016 report. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Attorney General Jeff Sessions praised Miami-Dade on Wednesday for shedding its "sanctuary" status, while using a visit to the Florida county to draw a sharp contrast with Chicago -- painting the city as a crime-ridden cautionary tale for its refusal to cooperate with the administrations illegal immigrant crackdown. This is wonderful news for law enforcement and the citizens of Miami-Dade. It means more money for crime fighting and it means we are partners in keeping everyone here safe, Sessions said in front of about 100 law enforcement officers. Unfortunately, some cities like Chicago refuse to follow your example. Sessions accused Chicagos leaders of putting politics ahead of public safety and said respect for the rule of law has broken down. Sessions urged other sanctuary jurisdictions to follow Miami-Dades lead. Miami-Dade is an example of what is possible through hard work, professional policing and a rededication to the rule of law, Sessions said. Miami-Dade has been considered a sanctuary community since 2013, when the county commission first voted to reject detainer requests. A detainer asks local authorities to hold a person in jail up to 48 hours beyond when he or she is set to be released so federal immigration officials can take them into custody. MIAMI-DADE COOPERATES WITH FEDS, GETS OK FOR GRANT $$ By law, jurisdictions are required to inform the feds when they have an illegal immigrant in custody, even if he or she has not been convicted of a crime. The county, though, became the first in the nation to give up its sanctuary status for illegal immigrants earlier this year. Republican Mayor Carlos Gimenezs decision sparked outrage at the time from local immigrant advocates who accused the Cuban-born mayor of betraying his countys tradition of welcoming immigrants. But Gimenez, along with the county commission, said they decided to work with federal authorities because of threats made by the Trump administration to withhold federal funding from cities and counties refusing to cooperate with federal immigration officials to deport people living in the country illegally. The administration has since tried to reward Miami-Dade and others, while punishing cities like Chicago -- which is now suing the administration over the funding cutoff threat. Chicago needs to wake up, because what theyre doing is not right, acting Immigration and Customs Enforcement Director Thomas Homan, who accompanied Sessions to Miami-Dade, told Fox News' "Your World." "Every year, too many Americans' lives are victimized as a result of sanctuary city policies -- whether it be theft, robbery, drugs, assault, battery and even murder," Sessions said Wednesday. Sessions and others in the administration have repeatedly tried to link violent crime to illegal immigration though mayors of sanctuary cities across the country have pushed back. There are an estimated 200 to 608 local and state governments with some sort of sanctuary policy in place however, their degree of cooperation varies. Some work with federal authorities on felony convictions while others only comply in civil investigations. There are a few places that refuse to cooperate altogether. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., told Fox News on Wednesday that Miami-Dade is being rewarded for putting public safety above ideology. In this instance youve had people for years and years who have been arrested on very, very serious offenses sexual assault, homicides and then if they get bail, that information is not provided to ICE so that we can track and identify these people, he said. Had you just notified ICE and then had ICE enforce the law, those future crimes would not have been committed, DeSantis said. The Republican lawmaker admitted part of the reason Miami-Dade shed its sanctuary status was over threats the Trump administration has made to withhold federal crime-fighting funds. He believes other cities should be worried about having their services slashed. This idea that youre going to get money from the federal government but then try to undercut federal law and federal law enforcement that just doesnt sit well with American taxpayers but its also not good policy, he said. But larger cities like Chicago and San Francisco are pushing back against the Trump administrations threats. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is suing the Trump administration over its threat to withhold funds from sanctuary cities, prompting one official to accuse Emanuel of being more concerned about protecting illegal immigrants than legal residents of his beleaguered city. On Monday, California became the first state to sue, accusing the Justice Department of pure intimidation and arguing the state not the federal government should be the one to allocate its law enforcement resources. When President Trump threatened to defund our local law enforcements ability to do its job and protect our people, he picked the wrong fight, state Attorney General Xavier Becerra said. A separate suit was filed by the city of San Francisco. Before Roy Moores sexual assault allegations came to light, the Republican senate candidate was already a polarizing figure. Moore has argued that Muslims shouldnt be able to serve in Congress; he promoted the conspiracy theory that former President Barack Obama wasnt born in the U.S.; and he said in a 2005 interview that homosexual conduct should be illegal. Then, slightly a month before the special election, the Washington Post released a bombshell report of allegations that Moore had inappropriate sexual conduct with teenage girls while he was in his 30s. One woman alleged that Moore had her touch him in private areas when she was just 14. After the initial report, additional women came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct. Moore staunchly denied the accusations, but even still, many leading Republicans called on him to step aside from the campaign. However, others including President Trump and Steve Bannon stood by Moore. The former judge lost the Alabama Senate election earlier this month to Democrat Doug Jones, but he thus far has refused to concede. After a judge rejected a last-minute complaint from Moore that alleged voter fraud had given Jones his victory, the Democrat was officially certified as the winner of the states Senate race on Dec. 28. Read on for a look at the special Senate election held earlier in December to replace Jeff Sessions. Doug Jones, Democrat A former U.S. attorney during the Clinton administration, Jones beat out seven other Democrats to secure the partys nomination. And he eventually became the first Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in Alabama since 1992. Jones, 63, is perhaps best known for successfully prosecuting two members of the Ku Klux Klan accused of bombing a Birmingham church in 1963 that killed four young girls. I may have the honor of serving Alabama as your senator, but the most important thing I have done is prosecuting those klansmen who killed 4 little girls at 16th St Baptist Church, Jones said in a November tweet. Because of his resume, Steven Taylor, a political science professor at Alabamas Troy University, said Jones is considered to be a quality candidate in the political science world. He's someone who is credible and, therefore, competitive, Taylor told Fox News. HERE ARE ALL OF THE REPUBLICANS WHO HAVE COME OUT AGAINST ROY MOORE Weve not seen a lot of quality Democratic candidates for Senate because Sen. [Richard] Shelby and Sen. Sessions, they were so strongly ensconced in their positions that the Democratic nominee was most often a more fringe candidate and not taken very seriously, Taylor said. Jones doesnt fall in that category he has a background as a prosecutor, he has linkage to Civil Rights prosecution for the bombers in Birmingham. This makes him a more serious and significant candidate. Openly critical of Trump, Jones promised to fight for pro-abortion policies, tackling student loan debt and raising the minimum wage. Even prior to the allegations of Moore groping a teenage girl, Democrats reportedly felt optimistic about Jones chances of winning in a historically red state. And after the allegations, some polls such as a Fox News poll conducted days before the election had Jones in the lead. While Jones initially stayed away from the accusations against Moore, the Democratic candidate came out swinging during a speech the week before the election. I damn sure believe that I have done my part to ensure that men who hurt little girls should go to jail and not the United States Senate, Jones said. Jones was endorsed by prominent Democrats, including former Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga. In addition, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., campaigned for Jones, as did former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick. Jones also received a surprising financial backing from a Senate Republican Jeff Flake. The Arizona senator tweeted a photo of a check made out to Jones with the subject line saying, Country over Party. And Trump, although he endorsed Moore, tweeted his congratulations to Jones. Congratulations to Doug Jones on a hard fought victory. The write-in votes played a very big factor, but a win is a win, Trump said. The people of Alabama are great, and the Republicans will have another shot at this seat in a very short period of time. It never ends! Prior to the election, Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D, encouraged Jones to stay the course and not get bogged down with the allegations against Moore. Getting involved in the allegations, that doesnt bring jobs to Alabama. That doesnt bring opportunity or economic prosperity to our state. That doesnt help education or health care. It doesnt help our infrastructure, Daniels told Fox News. Why would he focus on that? Daniels also praised Jones for being a fighter for his entire career. He said Jones would bring unity and civility to the Senate and would work with lawmakers across the aisle to better Alabama. Roy Moore, Republican Called the Ayatollah of Alabama by critics who believe he too closely marries his political and judicial responsibilities with his religious beliefs, Judge Roy Moore emerged as the leader of the Republicans vying for the open Senate seat. In a special primary election earlier this year, Moore defeated incumbent Sen. Luther Strange who was tapped to fill the position when then-Sen. Jeff Sessions became the U.S. attorney general. In the primary, Moore, 70, garnered the support of conservative darlings, such as former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson. Trump initially backed Strange but would eventually throw his weight behind Moore. Trumps former adviser, Steve Bannon, also campaigned for Moore. Moores political past is mired in controversy, which he used to his advantage during the primary election. He was twice removed from Alabamas Supreme Court. The first time, he was dismissed when he refused to move a boulder-sized Ten Commandments monument from the statehouse; he was permanently suspended in 2016 after he instructed probate judges to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The Supreme Court incidents worked in his favor given that Alabamians are generally very conservative and religious, Taylor said. And his refusal to bend to the federal government is in line with a tradition set in the state by the former longtime pro-segregationist Gov. George Wallace, he said. Hes very outspoken in a variety of ways, Taylor said of Moore. Hes a little more reflective of those more populist candidates weve seen of late, including the president. Prior to the election, Taylor thought it possible that voters in the deep red state of Alabama could look the other way. In some ways, that Roy Moore has a very strong religious element to his politics is not substantially out of the mainstream for the state, Taylor said. "He's very outspoken in a variety of ways." Dr. Steven Taylor, Troy University political science professor After Moores primary victory, Trump called him a really great guy who ran a fantastic race. Many Trump supporters turned out to campaign for Moore during the primary, despite the presidents backing of a different candidate. Moores judicial past took a backseat, however, when the Washington Post reported that four women accused Moore of engaging in inappropriate sexual behavior with them while they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. Leigh Corfman, now 58, alleged that Moore first approached her in a courtroom in 1979 when she was 14 years old. Eventually, Moore took her to his house, took off her shirt and pants, touched her private parts and guided her hand to his underwear, she said. The two did not have sexual intercourse, and he took her home when she asked, Corfman said. After the Washington Post's initial report, several more women accused Moore of being sexually inappropriate. Moore vehemently denied the accusations, calling them baseless and the very definition of fake news. It seems that in the political arena, to say that something is not true is simply not good enough. So let me be clear. I have never provided alcohol to minors, and I have never engaged in sexual misconduct, Moore said in a statement provided to Fox News. He also told Fox News Sean Hannity that he generally didnt date women who were teenagers when he was in his 30s and would not date someone without her mothers permission. Moore admitted its possible that he did go on dates with one of the accusers in the Washington Post report who said she was 17 when Moore kissed her. That line of defense was not as strident or strong as one might expect, Taylor said. Despite numerous Republican leaders backing away from Moore, Trump tweeted on Dec. 12 Election Day that Moore will always vote for us. The people of Alabama will do the right thing, Trump tweeted while encouraging his followers to vote for Moore. But following Moores loss, the president noted that he originally endorsed Strange because he knew that Moore will not be able to win the General Election. I was right! Roy worked hard but the deck was stacked against him, Trump said. And on Dec. 23, Trump again said on Twitter that he said [Moore] would lose in Alabama and touted his initial support of Strange. A week before the election, the Republican National Committee began to support Moore again, just three weeks after it pulled its financial support for the beleaguered candidate. But despite his loss, Moore didnt give up. He filed an election complaint on Dec. 27, that said alleged voter fraud was so prevalent, it improperly altered the outcome of this election. The complaint calls for a thorough investigation and is meant to block the certification of Jones until a probe is completed, Moores campaign said. A judge rejected Moores attempt to challenge the election. According to the election results from earlier in December, Moore lost to Jones by a margin of 21,000 votes. If Moore had won, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said he would immediately have an issue with the Ethics Committee. Fox News Lukas Mikelionis and the Associated Press contributed to this report. President Trump said Wednesday that North Koreas Kim Jong Un made a very wise decision in backing down on his threats of a missile attack on Guam, in the U.S. presidents first formal comments on the apparent de-escalation. Kim Jong Un of North Korea made a very wise and well reasoned decision. The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable! Trump tweeted Wednesday morning. He commented a day after North Korean media reported the dictator had delayed a decision about whether to fire missiles toward Guam. According to Reuters, Pyongyang state media arm KCNA reported that Kim made the comments during his first public appearance in nearly two weeks. In doing so, the North Korean leader also warned that if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity, testing the self-restraint of the DPRK, the latter will make an important decision as it already declared. KIM JONG UN APPEARS TO BACK DOWN But tensions eased after Trump had warned of fire and fury if North Korea continued to threaten the U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis also said any sign North Korea was attempting to fire a missile at the U.S. territory of Guam would amount to game on. It could escalate into war very quickly, Mattis said. Yes, thats called war, if they shoot at us. The latest uproar between Pyongyang and the rest of the world began following a stunning acceleration in North Koreas nuke program. North Korea twice successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile in July, and dual reports last week out of Japan and the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency suggested North Korea had acquired the technology to miniaturize a nuclear weapon to fit on a missile. June 8, 1956August 10, 2017 Lon Jay Thompson of Carlin, NV, passed away in his home on August 10, 2017 after a painful battle with cancer. Lon was born to Lyle and Mina Thompson in Flagstaff, AZ on June 8, 1956. They soon moved to San Carlos, AZ where his mother taught elementary school. His father began teaching at Globe High School and they later relocated to Globe where Lon grew up and attended school graduating on the honor roll in 1974. In 1972 his parents purchased the Polar Ice Plant. Lon, along with his siblings; Dean, Bart, and Lori, spent their free time working in the ice business. Lon also worked summers while attending college at Eastern Arizona Jr. College in Thatcher, AZ. He graduated in 1976. Lon spent the next 38 years in the mining industry in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada. In 1980 he married Sherry Buchanan, who he met while working for her Dad, Joe and her brother in N.M. Joe said he was the best cryderman operator he had ever seen. Sherry fell in love and with her dads blessing they married and raised 5 children. After years of being apart, Lon and Sherry found their way into each others lives again, not only as husband and wife, but mother and father, and papa and nana. Lon cared for her for the last year of her life, giving her what she needed, love and companionship. They remarried on February 8, 2016. Lon is survived by his dad, Lyle, mother Mina, brother, Bart; sister, Lori; children, Jill (Terry), David (Amanda), Ben, Katie (Andy), daughter-in-law Erica, and 7 grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his brother Dean, wife Sherry, and son Nick. Services will be held at the LDS Church in Carlin, NV on August 19, 2017 at 11 a.m. Think North Korea and Charlottesville have made President Trump forget about that no vote Sen. John McCain cast July 28 on the ObamaCare skinny repeal amendment? Think again. From all indications at Trumps Tuesday press conference at Trump Tower in New York City, the Arizona Republicans vote remains very much on the presidents mind. In fact, it came up when a reporter asked Trump about McCains defense of H.R. McMaster, the national security adviser who has been targeted with criticism from alt-right activists, the Arizona Republic reported. Senator McCain? You mean the one who voted against ObamaCare? the president responded. You mean Senator McCain who voted against us getting good health care? Trump even brought up McCains name a second time, the newspaper reported, when the president was asked if his infrastructure plan would advance -- unlike stalled agenda items such as health care reform. We came very close with health care, the president said. Unfortunately, John McCain decided to vote against it at the last minute. You'll have to ask John McCain why he did that. But we came very close to health care. We will end up getting health care, but well get the infrastructure. And actually, infrastructure is something that I think well have bipartisan support on. "We came very close with health care. Unfortunately, John McCain decided to vote against it at the last minute." President Donald Trump McCain had urged Trump to defend McMaster from alt-right criticism, the Republic noted. Since this fringe movement cannot attract the support of decent Americans, it resorts to impugning the character of a good man and outstanding soldier who has served honorably in uniform and sacrificed more for our country than any of his detractors ever have, McCain said in a statement. "Such smear tactics should not be tolerated and deserve an emphatic response. I hope the president will once again stand up for his national security adviser and denounce these repugnant attacks. Trump and McCain have been at odds since at least June 2015, when McCain said he didnt approve of Trumps comments about Mexicans when Trump launched his presidential campaign. That sparked some back-and-forth between the two men, including Trumps notorious I like people that werent captured remark the following month, referring to McCain, a former prisoner of war. Following Trumps Tuesday press conference, McCain issued a tweet, criticizing Trump for not more forcefully distinguishing between the groups that participated in the Charlottesville rally over the weekend. Theres no moral equivalency between racists & Americans standing up to defy hate& bigotry, McCain tweeted. The President of the United States should say so. Throughout the first year of his presidency and even as he campaigned for the office President Trumps rhetoric regarding North Korea has been harsh. He warned earlier this year that Americas nuclear capabilities were much bigger [and] more powerful than that of the Asian nation. And at the end of 2017, Trump designated North Korea a state sponsor of terror again a classification that came with additional sanctions. On the heels of a planned, historic summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trumps tone softened, saying great progress has been made. But Trump ultimately cancelled that meeting, citing "open hostility" from North Korea. From agreeing to meet with Kim to dubbing him Little Rocket Man, heres a look at what Trump has said about North Korea and its leader over time. Back together again After meeting with a North Korean official in the White House for more than an hour, Trump announced the June summit with North Korea is back on. We'll be meeting on June 12 in Singapore," the president told reporters after the meeting. Let's call the whole thing off Trump announced on May 24 that he has decided to pull out of the June summit with North Korea. "We were informed that the meeting was requested by North Korea, but that to us is totally irrelevant," Trump said in a letter to Kim. "I was very much looking forward to being there with you. Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting." "You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used," Trump said. "I felt a wonderful dialogue was building up between you and me, and ultimately, it is only that dialogue that matters. Some day, I look very much forward to meeting you," he added. "In the meantime, I want to thank you for the release of the hostages who are now home with their families. That was a beautiful gesture and was very much appreciated." Deal or no deal? After speaking with the South Korean president amid threats from the rogue regime to cancel talks, Trump suggested the historic summit between him and Kim might not happen after all. If it doesnt happen, maybe it will happen later. You never know about deals. Ive made a lot of deals, Trump said on May 22. You never really know. It may not work out for June 12. Trump said he wants the Korean peninsula to be denuclearized in an all in one manner. I can guarantee Kims safety. He will be safe. He will be happy, Trump said. His country will be rich. Trump also said hes noticed a change in Kims attitude recently. I cant say that Im happy about it, he added. Save the date Trump officially announced that he would meet with Kim in Singapore on June 12. We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace! Trump said in a tweet. The announcement came hours after Trump and the first lady welcomed the three Americans freed from detention in North Korea at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland early on May 10. After Trump met with the three men, he publicly thanked Kim for releasing the prisoners. Were starting off on a new footing, Trump said. Positive gesture of goodwill In announcing that a date and place has been set for his much-anticipated meeting with Kim, Trump also confirmed three American prisoners have been released. The three Americans Kim Dong Chul, Tony Kim and Kim Hak Song are returning to the U.S. with newly-confirmed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Trump said in a tweet. The president confirmed the three men are also in good health. WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE HISTORIC SUMMIT BETWEEN TRUMP, KIM JONG UN White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Trump appreciates Kim Jong Uns action to release these American citizens, and views this as a positive gesture of goodwill. Another American detainee, Otto Warmbier, died in June 2017 after he was released back to the U.S. with severe brain damage. Good relationship formed Trump has confirmed that CIA Director Mike Pompeo his pick to lead the State Department secretly met with Kim in April and a good relationship was formed. He said the meeting went very smoothly. The president also disclosed that the U.S. and North Korea have held direct talks at extremely high levels in preparation for the summit. Kim will do what is right After Kims first reported visit to China, Trump said there is a good chance that Kim Jong Un will do what is right for his people and for humanity. For years and through many administrations, everyone said that peace and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was not even a small possibility, Trump said in a March tweet, adding that he is looking forward to his upcoming meeting with the North Korean leader. He also gave North Korea the benefit of the doubt earlier that month, saying he believes the country will abide by its pledge to suspend missile tests. When Trump delivered a speech in Pennsylvania, the crowd booed the mention of Kim, but the president stopped them. No, it's very positive ... no, after the meeting you may do that, but now we have to be very nice because let's see what happens, let's see what happens, Trump said. Invitation accepted Trump accepted an invitation from Kim to meet, the White House said. While a time and place has yet to be determined, the two leaders are expected to meet by June. The invitation to convene was extended by Kim. Kim Jong Un talked about denuclearization with the South Korean Representatives, not just a freeze. Also, no missile testing by North Korea during this period of time. Great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached, Trump said on social media. Meeting being planned! The deal with North Korea is very much in the making and will be, if completed, a very good one for the World. Time and place to be determined, he later said. Possible progress As North Korea is reportedly willing to negotiate its nuclear weapons, Trump cautiously acknowledged possible progress. For the first time in many years, a serious effort is being made by all parties concerned, Trump said on Twitter. The World is watching and waiting! May be false hope, but the U.S. is ready to go hard in either direction! At a later White House news conference, Trump said he believed North Korea, which has a long history of deception and threats to target U.S. cities with nuclear missiles, is sincere. We have come certainly a long way, at least rhetorically, with North Korea, Trump said. Of the possibility for peacefully resolving the nations deep differences, he said: Itd be a great thing for the world, would be great for North Korea, it would be a great thing for the peninsula. But well see what happens, Trump said. Spirit of the Olympics At the conclusion of the 2018 Winter Olympics, North Korea sent the U.S. a message through South Korea, saying it has ample intentions of holding talks with America. During a meeting with the nations governors at the White House in February, Trump said those talks will only occur under the right conditions. The administrations position has been that North Korea must get rid of its nuclear and missile programs first before any talks can take place. Relationship status: Its complicated In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump reportedly said he probably has a very good relationship with North Korea. Trump also suggested that he is open to diplomacy with the country hes spent years criticizing, the newspaper reported. I have relationships with people. I think you people are surprised, Trump said. The Wall Street Journal released the audio and transcript of the interview after Trump denied making the comments. 'Success for the world' Trump told South Korea that he would be open to talks with its northern neighbor under the right circumstances, the White House said. Trump also took credit for the talks between North and South Korea ahead of next months Winter Olympics. At a January Cabinet meeting, Trump said it was his administrations pressure on North Korea that caused the rogue nation to negotiate with the South. "Without our attitude that would have never happened," Trump said of the inter-Korean dialogue. "Who knows where it leads. Hopefully it will lead to success for the world not just for our country but for the world, and we'll be seeing over the next number of weeks and months what happens." Whose button is bigger? After Kim warned Trump about North Koreas nuclear capabilities, Trump hit back on social media, arguing that his Nuclear Button is bigger [and] more powerful. North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the 'Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times,' the president tweeted. Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works! Kim previously warned the U.S. should know that the button for nuclear war is on my table. The entire area of the U.S. mainland is within our nuclear strike range, he said. The United States can never start a war against me and our country. Good news or bad news? Trump insinuated at the start of the new year that sanctions and additional pressures are having a big impact on North Korea. Soldiers are dangerously fleeing to South Korea, Trump said. Kim now wants to talk to South Korea for the first time. Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not we will see! In his tweet, Trump was seemingly referring to the recent, dramatic escape of at least two North Korean soldiers across the heavily militarized border into the southern country He also alluded to Kims recent comments indicating he would send a delegation to the Winter Olympics to be hosted in South Korea. Trump also took credit for the talks between North and South Korean leaders. With all of the failed experts weighing in, does anybody really believe that talks and dialogue would be going on between North and South Korea right now if I wasnt firm, strong and willing to commit our total might against the North, Trump said in a Jan. 4 tweet. Fools, but talks are a good thing! 'Sick puppy' While giving a speech on tax reform at a Missouri event in November, 2017, Trump digressed from the topic to call the North Korean leader a "sick puppy." His comments drew hoots from the crowd. State sponsor of terror Trump re-designated North Korea a state sponsor of terror on Nov. 20, 2017, citing its support of international terrorism, including assassinations on foreign soil. During a Cabinet meeting, Trump announced the designation came along with new sanctions on the murderous regime as part of the administrations maximum pressure campaign in dealing with North Korea. He said these sanctions will be the highest level of sanctions on the North. North Korea was on the list but was taken off by the Bush administration in 2008. Why can't we be friends? In a series of tweets while in Vietnam, Trump said he doesn't know why the North Korean dictator would "insult" him. Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me old, when I would NEVER call him short and fat? Trump said. Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen! The comment came after Kim referred to Trump's speech in South Korea as reckless remarks by an old lunatic. 'Dont try us' In Asia, Trump issued a stern warning to North Korea, saying it would be a fatal miscalculation for the country to attack the U.S. or an ally. This is a very different administration than the United States has had in the past. Do not underestimate us. And do not try us, Trump said during an address at South Koreas National Assembly. North Korea has interpreted Americas past restraint as weakness, Trump said. 'Lets make a deal' While on his Asia trip, Trump implored North Korea to come to the table for talks on its nuclear weapons program. Trumps request for North Korea to make a deal was in stark contrast to his previous hardline rhetoric when it comes to the rogue nation. "It makes sense for North Korea to come to the table and make a deal that is good for the people of North Korea and for the world," Trump said during a news conference alongside South Korean president Moon Jae-in in November 2017. Trump also said hes seen a lot of progress in dealing with North Korea but still called the country a worldwide threat. In a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo the day before, Trump repeated his assertion that the era of strategic patience with North Korea was finished. Some people say my rhetoric is very strong but look what has happened with very weak rhetoric in the last 25 years, Trump said then. 'Rocket Man' is on a 'suicide mission' After dubbing him Rocket Man in a tweet, Trump eventually tried out the new nickname for Kim during his inaugural address to the U.N. General Assembly. During his speech, Trump vowed to totally destroy North Korea if the country so provokes him. He also said Kim was on a suicide mission. No more talking After North Korea said it successfully launched a missile over Japan, a U.S. ally, and into the Pacific Ocean, Trump initially had a subdued response. "Threatening and destabilizing actions only increase the North Korean regime's isolation in the region and among all nations of the world," Trump said in a written statement after North Koreas missile soared almost 1,700 miles into the Pacific Ocean, triggering alert warnings in northern Japan and shudders throughout Northeast Asia. "All options are on the table." The missile launch was said to be a precursor to North Koreas containment of the U.S. territory of Guam by Kim, according to state-run media. But in a tweet, the president suggested the U.S. is finished talking to North Korea. The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer, Trump tweeted. The U.S. is 'locked and loaded' Trump took to social media in August 2017 to proclaim that the U.S. military is locked and loaded in case North Korea act[s] unwisely. 'Fire [and] fury' isn't 'tough enough' With the threat of nuclear violence growing, Trump warned North Korea on Aug. 8, 2017 that he would unleash fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before. But when tensions continued to rise and North Korea threatened to attack Guam, Trump said maybe that comment wasnt "tough enough." "Lets see what [Kim] does with Guam. He does something in Guam, it will be an event the likes of which nobody has seen before what will happen in North Korea," Trump said. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Trump was "sending a strong message to North Korea in language that Kim Jong Un can understand, because he doesnt seem to understand diplomatic language." Kim Jong Un is 'not getting away with it' Trump said Kim has disrespected our country greatly. He has said things that are horrific. And with me, hes not getting away with it, Trump said. He got away with it for a long time, between him and his family. Hes not getting away with it. Its a whole new ball game. 'Strategic patience is over' After meeting with the South Korean president in Washington, D.C., in June 2017, Trump said that the era of strategic patience with the North Korean regime has failed. Frankly, that patience is over, he said. As Trump made these comments, the U.S. was rocked with the death of Otto Warmbier, the 22-year-old American college student who suffered extensive brain damage while being held captive in North Korea for more than a year. There are 'worse things' than assassinating Kim Jong Un In an interview with CBS News during the presidential campaign, Trump said he could get China to make [Kim Jong Un] disappear in one form or another very quickly. When asked if he was talking about assassinating the North Korean dictator, Trump shrugged. Well, you know, Ive heard of worse things, frankly. I mean, this guys a bad dude and dont underestimate him, Trump said. Any young guy that can take over from his father with all those generals and everybody else that probably wants the position, this is not somebody to be underestimated. 'What the hell is wrong with speaking?' Trump told supporters at a campaign rally in Atlanta that should Kim want to come to the U.S., he would be accept[ed]. I wouldnt go there, that I can tell you. If he came here, Id accept him, but I wouldnt give him a state dinner like we do for China and all these other people that rip us off when we give them these big state dinners, Trump said in June 2016. What the hell is wrong with speaking? Trump said, referencing the criticism he received for being willing to talk with North Korea. Its called opening a dialogue. 'Maniac' During a GOP presidential debate in September 2015, Trump railed on the maniac in North Korea while answering a question about Planned Parenthood and womens health issues. Nobody ever mentions North Korea, where you have this maniac sitting there, and he actually has nuclear weapons and somebody better start thinking about North Korea and perhaps a couple of other places. But certainly North Korea, Trump said. You have somebody right now in North Korea who has got nuclear weapons and who is saying almost every other week, Im ready to use them, and we dont even mention it, he continued. China needs to solve the problem Even before he was president, Trump urged China to step in and help alleviate problems with North Korea. North Korea is reliant on China. China could solve this problem easily if they wanted to but they have no respect for our leaders, Trump tweeted in March 2013. In April 2013, Trump continued that line of thinking, adding that North Korea cant survive, or even eat, without the help of China. He then accused China of taunting the U.S. As president, Trump has said he is very disappointed in actions China has taken regarding North Korea, particularly allowing oil to go into the nation. He also said a Chinese envoy to North Korea had no impact on Kim. Additionally, Trump has said hes spoken to Chinas President Xi Jinping regarding the provocative actions of North Korea as well as the planned meeting between Trump and Kim. President Xi told me he appreciates that the U.S. is working to solve the problem diplomatically rather than going with the ominous alternative, Trump said in March 2018. China continues to be helpful! 'Wack job' In April 2013, Trump urged then-President Barack Obama to be very careful with the 28-year-old wack job in North Korea. At some point we may have to get very tough, he tweeted. 'Negotiate like crazy' Trump warned that the U.S. needed to do something to stop North Korea in 1999 during an interview with the late Tim Russert on Meet the Press. "Do you want to do it in five years when they have warheads all over the place, every one of them pointing to New York City, to Washington and every one of us, is that when you want to do it, or do you want to do something now? Trump said. You'd better do it now. And if they think you're serious they'll negotiate and it'll never come to that. He said then that if he ever became president, the first step he would take would be to negotiate like crazy to make sure that the country would get the best deal possible. Trump also predicted then that in three or four years, North Korea would have weapons aimed all over the world, including at the U.S. Fox News' Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report. NEW YORK New York City isn't in the "path of totality," but millions of New Yorkers will be able to see a partial solar eclipse on Aug. 21 and it's totally worth checking out, local astrophysicist and science celebrity Neil deGrasse Tyson said yesterday (Aug. 14) in a briefing at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). Skywatchers along a narrow path from Oregon to South Carolina will see skies darken during the total solar eclipse. But the rest of the U.S. will still have a pretty cool view of this astronomical event using solar eclipse glasses or some type of pinhole projector. In New York City, the partial eclipse will begin at 1:23 p.m. local time, when the moon first appears to touch the sun in the sky. "It starts to look like the Death Star is moving in front of the sun," Jackie Faherty, senior scientist and education manager at AMNH, said during the briefing. The museum will host an eclipse-watching event. [Amazing Solar Eclipse Pictures from Around the World] By 2:44 p.m., the moon will block about 72 percent of the sun's surface as the partial eclipse reaches its maximum. Then, the cusps of the crescent-shaped sun will appear to be pointing downward, Joe Rao, FiOS1 meteorologist and Space.com columnist, said during the briefing. After the maximum eclipse, the moon will slowly begin to slide off the sun's face, and the eclipse will end at 4 p.m. Although the skies won't darken beneath a partial eclipse in the same way that total solar eclipses briefly turn day into night, those who are paying attention may still notice some environmental changes during the partial eclipse, Rao said. He quoted American astronomer Leslie Peltier, who described his experience while watching a 75 percent partial eclipse in Delphos, Ohio, in 1918: "At mid-eclipse, I turned away and looked about. Everything I saw the nearby fields, the distant vistas all seemed wrapped in some strange, unearthly early twilight. The sky seemed darker, shadows sharp and distinct. A cool wind almost chilly had sprung up from the West." The partial eclipse over New York on Aug. 21 will have about the same magnitude as Peltier's partial eclipse and should bring a similar experience, Rao said. "If we're lucky enough to have clear weather here in New York at 2:44 next Monday afternoon, I have a feeling that's pretty much what we're going to see in the New York metropolitan area." Rao equated a partial solar eclipse to a flashlight with low batteries. While the light still shines, it's not as bright as a flashlight with full batteries, and the light looks "almost yellowish" in color. "That's kind of like what it will be like next week at the midpoint of the eclipse," he said. "There's going to be a certain amount of yellowness in the air along with that dimming or diminishing twilight for a few minutes around the peak." So, if you're in the city around the peak of the partial eclipse, don't forget to step outside and check it out. Solar eclipse glasses are the best way to see the partial eclipse, and you can still find them in stores around the city. AMNH will provide safe viewing glasses to visitors at the Hayden Planetarium's special event. But if you can't get the glasses in time and can't make it to the museum, Tyson has a great alternative that most New Yorkers can find in their own homes. "Go into your kitchen and get a spaghetti strainer or a colander," Tyson said. "Not with mesh, the kind with holes in it. Go outside and hold that up over the ground. Each one of those holes will act as a pinhole camera and you'll see hundreds of images of the crescent sun on the ground and you can watch the eclipse unfold safelythat's the urban version of watching the pinhole camera images through the modeled light of sunlight passing through the leaves of a tree. It'll just be fun." So if you happen to be near any tree during the partial eclipse, check out their shadows and look for the tiny eclipse projections on the ground. There's really no excuse for missing out on this celestial event, whether you're lucky enough to be in the path of totality, or if only a partial solar eclipse is heading your way. "It won't happen that often in your lifetime that you can walk outside of your own house and watch even a partial happen," Faherty said. The next time any type of solar eclipse will be visible over New York will be during a partial annular eclipse in 2021. Editor's note: Find out how the solar eclipse will look from your location Space.com has teamed up with Simulation Curriculum to offer this awesome Eclipse Safari app to help you enjoy your eclipse experience. The free app is available for Apple and Android , and you can view it on the web . If you take an amazing photo of the Aug. 21 solar eclipse, let us know! Send photos and comments to spacephotos@space.com. Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+ . Original article on Space.com. Its a solar eclipse. Do you know where your children are? As the U.S. prepares for the eagerly anticipated total solar eclipse on Aug. 21, school districts are taking very different approaches to the historic event. Some have decided to close entirely, while others are donning shades and turning this event into a teachable moment. The eclipse is expected to cover 12 states, spanning from South Carolina to Oregon. Most communities agree that personal safety during the event is paramount and at the top-of-mind. Concerns include proper eye protection, orderly dismissals, potential traffic issues and overall anxiety over the event. SOLAR ECLIPSE 2017: WHAT YOU CAN (AND CAN'T SEE) IN NEW YORK CITY However, because the event is also significant on the education front, the theories on the best way to handle it vary from place to place. Some Catholic schools in south Florida will dismiss early or close entirely for the day. Dianne Laubert, spokeswoman for the Diocese of Palm Beach, told the Sun-Sentinel well-being and safety concerns are related to the time of the eclipse, which will be happening when school dismisses. Being home with family is preferred, and "Its also a once-in-lifetime opportunity for students for children to experience this with their families, Laubert said. In Kentucky, some school districts are canceling classes and allowing students to do their work at home, while other districts are extending the day by 15 minutes and handing out approved eyewear to observe the event. Meanwhile, the Metro Nashville school board voted to close schools on that day, then changed its mind at the urging of the towns mayor, according to the Washington Post. In a statement, the school board wrote: We had originally planned not to have school on the day of the eclipse but were asked by the Mayor to reconsider that decision as she felt strongly that young students could encounter safety issues if they were left home without supervision on that day. The district had already purchased safety glasses for students to take home so they could safely view the eclipse from home. Since Tuesdays vote, the administration has been working through logistics associated with the calendar change including obtaining safety glasses for school personnel and will communicate further details with families as we get closer to the start of school. TOP FIVE WORST SUPERSTITIONS ABOUT SOLAR ECLIPSES Students at the Westside Community School in Nebraska have known since this past spring that they will be donning shades to watch the event unfold, courtesy of Angela Bergman, a business science teacher who secured 7,000 pairs of eyewear for her school. Social media is all abuzz with updates from school districts on the subject. Boaz City Schools in Boaz, Al. announced it would dismiss students early, citing safety concerns. White County Middle School of Cleveland, Ga. also took to Twitter to announce it would close for the day. For teachers looking to capitalize on the moment, the eclipse is pretty compelling. Ada Schools of Ada, Ohio tweeted a picture of students learning about the eclipse: But the teaching audience isnt just limited to science classes. Berman told Omaha.com it cuts across academic subjects. 'GREAT AMERICAN ECLIPSE' 2017: WHAT IT IS, WHEN IT'S HAPPENING AND WHY YOU HAVE TO SEE IT Social studies teachers, for example, can provide the historical context of eclipses, she said. Math teachers can delve into the formulas and computation that describe whats taking place. Biology students can observe how animals react during the darkening, wrote Omaha.com. Apple Inc. has set a budget of roughly $1 billion to procure and produce original content over the next year, according to people familiar with the mattera sign of how serious the iPhone maker is about making a splash in Hollywood. Combined with the companys marketing clout and global reach, that immediately makes Apple a considerable competitor in a crowded market where new media players and traditional media companies are vying to acquire original shows. The figure is about half what Time Warner Inc.s HBO spent on content last year and on par with estimates of what Amazon.com Inc. spent in 2013, the year after it announced its move into original programming. Apple could acquire and produce as many as 10 television shows, according to the people familiar with the plan, helping fulfill Apple Senior Vice President Eddy Cues vision of offering high-quality videosimilar to shows such as HBOs Game of Throneson the companys streaming-music service or a new, video-focused service. Apple declined to comment. This story originally appeared in The Wall Street Journal. Crop dusters regularly fly the skies above Americas heartland, but this combat crop duster is unlike anything Americans have ever seen. This plane is loaded up with weapons and fortified with armor to take the fight to Americas enemies and help protect U.S. forces on the ground. L3s Aerospace Systems worked with Air Tractor to transform the classic crop duster into a combat crop duster ready to strike. Dubbed Longsword, theyve taken Air Tractors AT-802 crop duster and modified it for attack, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions. HOW SHARKS CAN HELP THE US MILITARY IN THE FUTURE What sort of modifications? The cockpit is armored and so are the fuel lines. In fact, the fuel tanks are self-sealing. The wings have been made stronger and equipped to carry some serious firepower into combatand these are just a few of the enhancements. The U.S. Air Force has selected Longsword to participate in the ongoing, innovative Light Attack Experiment, or OA-X. Currently, the Air Force is putting it through a series of tests to see just what it can do at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. Longsword is almost like a flying version of the iconic rugged, versatile, off-roading truck seen on farms throughout America one with lots of weapons ready to take on some tough jobs. What kind of weapons would this modified crop duster bring to the fight? The Longsword can provide four weapon hard points per wing that can be loaded up with all sorts of weapons to defeat a range of threats. USS GERALD R. FORD: INSIDE THE WORLD'S MOST ADVANCED AIRCRAFT CARRIER One option is highly precise hellfire missiles that can eliminate an individual terrorist or even penetrate advanced armor on vehicles. A few other powerful options include BU-12 Paveways laser guided bombs, 2.75 rocket pods and machine gun pods. Longsword could also unleash 500 pounder, seven-and-a-half foot Mark 82 unguided general purpose bombs to devastate enemy forces. Theres also Thales Scorpion Helmet Mounting Cueing System that means that pilots can use their head to precisely steer weapons and sensor cueing. Targets can be acquired super quickly and then rapidly handed-off to sensors and weapons. 3 POWERFUL AMERICAN PLANES FEATURED AT THE ROYAL INTERNATIONAL AIRSHOW TATTOO Theres also an integrated mission operator station with L3 ForceX Widow mission management system - another feature that you dont see every day in the average cropduster. Why would the US military need combat crop dusters? The 16,000-pounder genuinely has potential to add a heck of a lot to the fight. As a light attack aircraft, it could step in to provide air support to American military teams on the ground. It could free up more advanced aircraft like the F-35 to take on other missions. Longsword harnesses the powerful Pratt & Whitney PT6A-67AG turbine engine to race into action. NEW KING STALLION HELICOPTER BOOSTS MARINES' AERIAL POWER Say for example, a U.S. Army Special Forces team is pinned down by Islamic extremists on a mission. Air Force pilots could rapidly fly in to support them with some serious firepower at speeds reaching 200 mph. What exactly can the Longsword do? In addition to reaching forces who need help quickly, another great advantage is that this weaponized crop duster an land with as little as 1,000 yards of runway. And it doesnt need a formal airport runway to land. Dirt roads and tiny airstrips in remote, hard-to-reach places are all fair game. This flexibility is important - the Longsword can land, refuel, reload and rejoin the fight. When the aircraft is reloaded with water to fight fires, the turnaround time to load a full 820 gallons can be less than five minutes. PARIS AIR SHOW: 4 EXCITING NEW AIRCRAFT FEATURED What if a light attack aircraft could rendezvous with a team in a remote location close to forces who need help then reload, refuel and return to the air and the fight in under five minutes? Minutes matter in close air support situations because a minute can mean the difference between life and death for U.S. forces. While reloading the weapons and fuel may take a bit longer, the turnaround could be just as remarkably fast. Anytime, just about anywhere The aircraft also provides versatility in the air. 82ND AIRBORNE TURNS 100: HERE ARE 4 MAJOR INNOVATIONS OVER THE PAST 100 YEARS Even though crop dusters might bring to mind flat vast farming fields, this combat crop duster is actually well suited to tackle challenging war zone terrains like mountainous regions. With lots of agility, it can deliver speedy climbs, tackle narrow flight corridors and fly close and low while maneuvering deep ravines and accessing steep ridge lines. Longsword could quickly reach ground forces under attack and then when it reaches the area, it can slow and unload some serious firepower. And for gathering of critical day from the air, Longsword also has lots of state of the art tech, like an MX-15 EO/IR sensor. Frormer President Barack Obamas tweeted response to the recent tragic violence in Charlottesville, Va. has set a new record for likes on Twitter. "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..." Obama tweeted on Saturday, quoting former South African President Nelson Mandela. The tweet was accompanied by a picture of Obama smiling at four small children. The picture was taken at a day care facility in Bethesda, Md., in 2011, according to news reports. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite," he added in two subsequent tweets. TWITTER USERS IDENTIFY WHITE SUPREMACISTS AT CHARLOTTESVILLE PROTESTS Twitter confirmed early Wednesday that the tweet is the most liked ever. With more than 3.1 million likes, Obamas first tweet has surpassed Ariana Grandes tweet in response to the Manchester terror attack, which racked up more than 2.7 million likes. Obamas tweet is also the fourth most retweeted tweet of all time with over 1.2 million retweets, according to Favstar. Social media expert and President of JRM Comms, Jason Mollica, told Fox News that he was not surprised that Obama's tweet generated so many likes. "This speaks to what people worldwide, not just in the U.S., feel about the events in Charlottesville this last weekend," he said. "Because he is a former President, he knows that his words have to be measured." DAILY STORMER DOWN: WHITE SUPREMACIST SITE LOSES DOMAIN IN WAKE OF CHARLOTTESVILLE VIOLENCE White nationalists had gathered in Charlottesville to protest plans to remove a statue of the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, sparking chaotic scenes that ended in tragic violence. Heather Heyer, 32, was killed Saturday when police say a man plowed his car into a group of demonstrators protesting the planned Unite the Right white nationalist rally. James Alex Fields Jr. has been charged with second-degree murder, as well as three counts of malicious wrongdoing and one count of failing to stop at an accident that resulted in a death. The events in Charlottesville, which sent shockwaves across the U.S., sparked a backlash on social media. Twitter users, for example, have harnessed the platform to identify white supremacists photographed during the protests. The hashtag #ExposeTheAltRight is also being used. MICROSOFT CEO CONDEMNS CHARLOTTESVILLE ATTACKS AS 'HORRIFIC' IN EMAIL TO EMPLOYEES A host of tech executives, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, took to Twitter to voice their dismay at the racist violence in Charlottesville. Intel chief Brian Krzanich also tweeted his condemnation of hate speech and white supremacy. On Monday, Krzanich exited President Trumps manufacturing council in protest at the administrations response to the unrest in Virginia. Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier and Under Armour chief Kevin Plank are also leaving the council, as are AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing. President Trump was heavily criticized for his initial response to the Charlottesville violence, when be blamed many sides for the clashes between white supremacists and counter protestors. On Monday he condemned neo-Nazis and white supremacists, but, in an angry exchange with reporters Tuesday, he again blamed "both sides" for the violence. The Associated Press contributed to this article. Follow James Rogers on Twitter @jamesjrogers In advance of the Supreme Court weighing in on the subject this fall, a number of top tech firms this week argued that when it comes to law enforcement access to customer cell phone records, "expectations of privacy in the digital age" should outweigh "rigid analog-era rules." Later this year, justices will consider whether police need a warrant based on probable cause before accessing cell phone location records from wireless carriers. On Monday, a group of tech giantsincluding Apple, Facebook, Google, Twitter and Verizonfiled a brief with the Supreme Court arguing that the Fourth Amendment, which protects against "unreasonable" searches and seizures by law enforcement, "must adapt to the changing realities of the digital era." "Rather than adhere to rigid Fourth Amendment 'on/off' switches developed in the analog context, courts should take a more flexible approach that realistically reflects the privacy people expect in today's digital environment," said the groupwhich also includes Microsoft, Airbnb, Cisco Systems, Dropbox, Evernote, Mozilla, Nest Labs, Oath, and Snap. "Courts should focus on the sensitivity of the data at issue and the circumstances of its transmission to third parties. That approach would better reflect the realities of today's digital technologies and accommodate the technologies of the future." The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is serving as co-counsel in the case, argues that because cell phone location records offer a wealth of private details about people's lives such as their personal relationships, visits to the doctor, or religious practices they should be covered by the protections of the Fourth Amendment. "The tech firms are sending a very clear message that the law needs to catch up with the technology that is now an integral part of our everyday lives," ACLU attorney Nathan Freed Wessler said in a statement. In Carpenter v. United States, the ACLU is representing Timothy Carpenter, who was convicted of robbery in Detroit, based in part on months' worth of phone location records the government obtained in 2011 without a probable cause warrant. The records covered 127 days, revealing 12,898 separate points of location data. "Carpenter's call records reveal that over the course of four months, his phone was located in more than 200 separate cell tower sectors," the ACLU said. "These records provide a very detailed accounting of everywhere he went." This article originally appeared on PCMag.com. For the second time in a little over a month, President Trump has taken to Twitter to attack Amazon over taxes. "Amazon is doing great damage to tax paying retailers," Trump wrote on Twitter. "Towns, cities and states throughout the U.S. are being hurt - many jobs being lost!" The retail industry has felt the impact of the so-called "Amazon-effect," with many retailers closing stores around the country. SAY WHAT? AMAZON ECHO'S SMART SPEAKER CAN BE HACKED, EXPERT CLAIMS According to Bloomberg, citing a Credit Suisse report, the number of retail stores estimated to close in 2017 are on pace to reach nearly 8,000. In 2016, that number was around 2,000 stores. Amazon had not yet responded to a request for comment from Fox News. Shoppers are gravitating more towards buying items online, as the e-commerce industry experiences significant growth, led by Amazon. Retailers, such as the home improvement company Home Depot, are being bombarded by questions about whether they are "Amazon-proof." On the company's second-quarter conference call discussing its financial performance, Home Depot fielded over 20 questions from analysts, with nearly half of them mentioning Amazon in some form or fashion. In the first-quarter of 2017, e-commerce sales only accounted for 8.5 percent of total sales, according to data from the U.S. Department of Commerce. PRESIDENT TRUMP ATTACKS AMAZON ON TWITTER, SAYS IT DOESN'T PAY 'INTERNET TAXES' Amazon has been busily expanding, hiring thousands of workers. Last month, Fox Business reported the company held a jobs fair at its warehouses, aiming to hire 50,000 workers in a single day. In January, the company said it would create 100,000 full-time jobs in the U.S. over the next 18 months. In June, Trump attacked Amazon, tweeting the company did not pay "internet taxes." As of the time of Trump's tweet, Amazon had paid $229 million in income taxes on approximately $1 billion in profits in 2017. Amazon also collects sales tax in every state (as well as the District of Columbia) that levies a sales tax. Follow Chris Ciaccia on Twitter @chris_ciaccia A snobby British airport lounge turned away an entire family headed for a Disney vacation in Florida all because they were wearing Minnie Mouse t-shirts. Emma Raikes, her mom, her 2-year-old niece Quinn and five other family members were initially told they were persona non grata at the Aspire Lounge at Terminal One of Manchester Airport on Monday morning. Raikes said her mom, Jane Walshaw, shelled out nearly $220 for lounge entrance. We were extremely disappointed at the hassle we faced when trying to enter the lounge we had booked, Raikes, 33, told the Manchester Evening News. We are on a familymoon to Disney and did not think a Minnie Mouse t-shirt with our name on would be seen as offensive. It was a disappointing start to our holiday. The family was allowed inside only after they were forced to cover up Minnie. The airport lounge is operated and owned by Swiss aviation services firm, Swissport, and a company representative admitted they were wrong to boot the Disney-loving family. Our lounges do have a dress code in which we allow guests to wear a myriad of smart casual items and disallow other items such as tour shirts, sportswear and fancy dress, the rep said. On this specific occasion, the member of staff who dealt with the family was wrong to have asked them to cover their personalized t-shirts and has misinterpreted the dress code, which is designed to ensure a comfortable atmosphere for all guests within our network of lounges. Lounge employees will be re-educated, the company rep said. We sincerely apologize to the family for this genuine mistake and would encourage them to contact us directly to resolve this matter, according to the company. This article orginally appeared on the New York Post. JACKPOT A license plate check resulted in high-speed chase involving Elko County and Twin Falls authorities. Deputies found a truck parked near the Idaho border on U.S. Highway 93 last week, according to Elko County Sheriff Jim Pitts. A check revealed the vehicle was stolen, prompting a search for the driver. The driver, Bret Harold Charlton, 55, of Pocatello, returned to the truck and drove south on Highway 93 pursued by Elko County Sheriffs deputies. Charlton turned around in Jackpot and headed north, continuing to the Idaho border where the chase was picked up by Twin Falls County Sheriffs deputies. Charlton drove into a field after his tires were spiked, and he was arrested on Idaho felony warrants. Further investigation revealed Charlton was using stolen plates on a truck that he owned, said Pitts. Charlton was charged by Idaho authorities with eluding, possession of a controlled substance, possession of stolen property, and possession of paraphernalia. He was arraigned Aug. 10. His bail is $250,000. Some vintage military aircraft have been flown from a now-closed Southeast Texas museum to their new home in Houston. Lone Star Flight Museum spokeswoman Katie Jackman said Wednesday that the planes are being prepped for the Sept. 2 reopening at Ellington Airport. Volunteers on Tuesday flew a dozen planes, including a B-17 bomber, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) to Houston. Jackman says the new $38 million complex will include aircraft displays, interactive exhibits and educational programs. The Lone Star Flight Museum opened in 1990 at Scholes International Airport in Galveston. The 1995 Legislature declared the site home to the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame. The museum flooded in 2008 during Hurricane Ike. Museum officials in 2011 announced plans to leave Galveston and move to Houston, farther from Gulf of Mexico storms. Capt. Brett DeVries said he had to think fast when a donut of gas enveloped his gun and aircraft over Michigans Grayling Air Gunnery Range -- forcing him to make a dramatic belly-landing. The 30 mm gun of his A-10 jet misfired just as the entire canopy of the aircraft blew off last month, the Air Force Times reported Tuesday. DeVries, a pilot with the 107th Fighter Squadron of the Michigan Air National Guard, was exposed to winds approaching 350 miles per hour, officials said. The Air Force captain lowered the seat as far as it could go to offer protection from the air around him. The blown canopy had damaged the bottom of the aircraft too. After assessing the damage, DeVries intended to belly-land the plane with no wheels or canopy. As DeVries and his wingman made the 25-minute flight from explosion to runway, they talked through every possibility and how he was going to land it. DeVries came in shallow and slow, landed centerline and got out of the badly damaged jet on his own, according to Air Force Times. In this case, the training took over and it is what made the difference, he said. An off-duty Maryland state trooper was arrested after a DUI-related crash that injured a New Jersey woman and child, officials said. Trooper First Class Tanner Nickerson was driving in Cecil County, Md., on Sunday evening with the emergency lights on in a marked Maryland State Police Chevrolet Tahoe when he rear-ended a Mercedes driving in the same direction, Maryland State Police stated in a news release. ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT IN UTAH WHO WAS DEPORTED RAPED 7-YEAR-OLD GIRL 'THOUSANDS OF TIMES,' POLICE SAY The driver of the Mercedes, a 49-year-old woman from Cherry Hill, N.J., and her 10-year-old passenger, were taken to a nearby hospital and treated for minor injuries. Nickerson, who has been with the state police force for six years, has been charged with driving under the influence, driving while impaired, failure to control speed to avoid a collision, reckless driving and negligent driving. He has been suspended with pay. More than a dozen alleged members of the feared MS-13 street gang were arrested during early morning raids Tuesday in Ohio and Indiana, the Department of Justice said. Federal prosecutors said a grand jury had charged 10 gang members of the "Columbus Clique" with conspiracy to commit extortion and money laundering, as well as the use of firearms during a violent crime, in an indictment returned in late July. The indictment alleges the 10 "conspired to commit extortion through the use of threatened or actual force, violence or fear to intimidate their victims into paying money to the defendants and their co-conspirators." Prosecutors said money was then sent "usually by wire transfer and often through intermediaries," to MS-13 members and associates in El Salvador and elsewhere to promote the group's criminal activities. Besides the 10 members charged in the federal indictment, federal officials said an additional five people were arrested and charged with federal immigration offenses. With more than 10,000 members across 40 states, MS-13 is one of the most dangerous criminal organizations in the United States today," Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement. "MS-13 members have killed children and pregnant women, extorted immigrant-owned businesses, and trafficked underage girls to sell them for sex. President Trump has ordered the Department of Justice to reduce crime and take down transnational criminal organizations, and we will be relentless in our pursuit of these objectives. Today's charges are our next step toward making this country safer by taking MS-13 off of our streets for good. Two of the 15 charged by the grand jury, Jose Manuel Romero-Parada and Nelson Alexander Flores, are still at large. Federal officials say the gang has more than 10,000 members and associates operating in at least 40 states, including Ohio. "I think that there are probably many people in Columbus who didn't know that MS-13 was here before yesterday, but for those people and communities who were being extorted by its members, it was a very big problem," Benjamin Glassman, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, said Wednesday on "FOX & Friends." Glassman said the investigation is focusing on other members of the clique, and crimes they may have committed since 2010. He believes the group may have been in Ohio "going back perhaps even a decade prior to that." The arrests in Ohio's capital Tuesday focused on a mobile home park in North Columbus, WSYX/WTTE reported. TIPS LEAD TO ARREST OF MS-13 GANG MEMBER ON FBI TEN MOST WANTED LIST MS-13, also called Mara Salvatrucha, is believed to have been founded as a neighborhood street gang in Los Angeles in the mid-1980s by immigrants fleeing a civil war in El Salvador. The gang grew after some members were deported to El Salvador, helping turn that country into one of the most violent places in the world. The vicious street gang has garnered national headlines for its brutal killings, including those of four young men who were hacked to death in a New York park in April. In all, 19 killings on Long Island have been blamed on MS-13 since January 2016. Anti-abortion activist David Daleiden has won an appeal in a federal court against a group of research lab employees from the University of Washington and abortion facility personnel who were seeking to have their names redacted from public documents about their work. The employees, who identified themselves legally as Jane and John Doe, sued Daleiden along with the University of Washington in August 2016, claiming they would likely face threats, harassment, and violence if the records about their work procuring, processing, and transferring organs and tissue of aborted human fetuses in connection with the schools taxpayer-funded Birth Defects Research Laboratory were disclosed. A lower court at the time ordered the redactions even though Washington states Public Records Act requires full disclosure. But the recent order from the U.S. Court of Appeals now sends the case back to the district court, which must now justify its decision. This case began when our client requested public records from the University of Washington about its publicly funded research lab, Thomas More Societys Special Counsel Peter Breen, who argued the appeal, said in a statement provided to Fox News. Mr. Daleidens broad-ranging investigation into the trafficking of aborted fetal remains led him to look into the University of Washingtons fetal tissue research and acquisition practices. He asked that names and personal contact info be redacted from the records, but the abortion advocates and government employees pressed for full censorship, even of entity names, job titles and departments within the university. Such heavy redactions render these public documents useless for investigative purposes. A three-judge panel agreed with the defendants and issued a unanimous order reversing the decision by the district court and even criticized the lower court for misapplying case law in their granting of a motion for a preliminary injunction. Although we agree with the district court that there may be a basis for redaction where disclosure would likely result in threats, harassment, and violence, the courts order did not address how the Doe plaintiffs have made the necessary clear showing with specificity as to the different individuals or groups of individuals who could be identified in the public records, says a copy of the ruling obtained by Fox News. The district court also made no finding that specific individuals or groups of individuals were engaged in activity protected by the First Amendment and what that activity was. Breen says the decision has important First Amendment ramifications. The Court of Appeals, by reversing this decision and remanding this case back to district court, has prevented a serious threat to the publics right to know how their tax dollars are being spent, he said. Daleiden first drew public attention in 2015, when he released videos from a three-year undercover investigation his organization, Center for Medical Progress (CMP), conducted on Planned Parenthood. Daleiden and Sandra Merritt, an employee of CMP, posed as fetal researchers and made undercover videos of themselves trying to buy fetal tissue from Planned Parenthood workers. In 2016, California prosecutors charged the pair with 15 felonies, saying they invaded the privacy of medical providers by filming without consent. The alleged that Daleiden and Merritt filmed 14 people without permission between October 2013 and July 2015 in Los Angeles, San Francisco and El Dorado counties. One felony count was filed for each person. But all of the counts were dismissed this past June in a San Francisco court. Daleiden and Merritt had previously been indicted in Texas on similar charges in January 2016, but seven months later all of the charges were dropped as prosecutors said a grand jury had overstepped its authority. Three people described as "Antifa," or anti-fascist, protesters were arrested during an anti-white supremacy protest in Chicago on Tuesday, authorities said. The trio was part of a group of about two-dozen protesters -- many wearing masks -- who gathered outside a Cook County courthouse in the city's North Side section, where they held banners condemning white supremacy and chanted, Neo-Nazis go away! Racist, sexist, anti-gay, the Chicago Tribune reported. The group had gathered to protest the criminal hearing of a man whom organizers claim has ties to far-right, white supremacist organizations. "It's shameful to base your identity on hatred," organizer Sam Zakon, 25, of Chicago, told the newspaper during the rally. "We want to make sure these people know they are not wanted here in Chicago." The mans attorney told the Tribune that he knew of no ties between his client and any hate groups. He was also not charged with any crimes tied to racism. About 90 minutes into the protest, activists took to the street, briefly blocking the intersection. When police ordered them to return to the sidewalk, one of the Antifa members got into a physical altercation with an officer. As the masked activist was being arrested, a struggle with other protesters, who came to his aid, began. A second man was taken down to the ground and arrested. Tensions rose again shortly after, and a third protester was arrested. Chicago police told the Tribune that three protesters were arrested and that charges were pending. Click here for more from the Chicago Tribune The University of Florida is denying a request by a group headed by white supremacist Richard Spencer to rent space on the campus for a September event. UF President W. Kent Fuchs said in a statement Wednesday that the decision was made after assessing risks to the campus, community and law enforcement following last weekend's violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. Spencer, the head of the National Policy Institute, had contacted the university for plans to rent space on the campus in Gainesville, Florida next month. In denying the request, Fuchs said he finds Spencer's racist rhetoric "repugnant and counter to everything the university and this nation stands for." Fuchs said UF is dedicated to free speech and public discourse, but the First Amendment doesn't require risk of imminent violence to students. An argument between two men about military branches resulted in one man's death and the other man charged with murder, Texas police said. Austin police officers said they found Ross Barrow fighting another man, later identified as Allen Niedermann on Saturday. At one point, Barrow, 30, was seen picking up Niedermann by the back of his shirt before throwing him to the ground, police said. Barrow then allegedly jumped in the air and stomped on the man with his right foot. KHOU reported police ran to the two men and found Niedermann motionless on the ground as Barrow continued to kick him. Emergency personnel tried to save Niedermanns life, but he died at the scene. The Travis County Medical Examiner determined he died of blunt force trauma. A witness told police Barrow and Niedermann were drinking and hanging out when they started talking about the different military branches they served in. At one point, the argument escalated when Barrow told Niedermann that he was going to kill him before jumping him, the witness said. Barrow has been charged with first-degree murder. It wasn't immediately clear which branch Barrow or Niedermann served in. A biomedical engineering professor at the University of Arkansas spent the weekend in hiding with his wife after being falsely accused on social media of being one of the torch-bearing white nationalists who marched through the University of Virginia on Friday night. A photo of Kyle Quinn, an assistant professor at the Engineering Research Center at the University of Arkansas, was posted alongside one of a man attending the Friday night rally. The man at the rally was wearing an Arkansas Engineering T-shirt and had a beard and build similar to that of Quinn. While the striking resemblance between Quinn and the man in the photo was enough for some on social media to draw the conclusion that the two were the same person, that assumption turned out to be wrong. Quinn was not in Charlottesville on Friday night, but was actually 1,100 miles away enjoying an art exhibit at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and dinner with his wife and a colleague in Bentonville, Ark. I was at an event in Bentonville, AR with faculty members and university administrators on Friday during the horrible events in Virginia, Quinn wrote in a tweet on Sunday. Whoever wore the shirt obviously does not represent my values, the values of the College of Engineering or the U of A. Despite his clarification, the social media snafu had already gone viral and Quinns Twitter and Instagram accounts were quickly swamped with messages calling for him to be fired and accusing him of being a racist. When his home address was posted on social media, Quinn began to fear for his safety and decided that he and his wife would stay with a colleague for the weekend. Quinns plight highlights the increasing trend of accidently or carelessly spreading incorrect information during a breaking news event. While numerous news organizations have been guilty in the past of misidentifying people, the act of wrongly identifying someone has reached a new level with the emergence of social media channels like Twitter and Facebook. The practice of publicly identifying someone and their personal information has become so widespread that it has become known as doxxing and led Twitter to consider it a violation of their user rules. Still, social media watchdogs like @YesYoureRacist used the platform, and hashtags like #ExposeTheAltRight and #Namethenazi, to identify numerous white nationalists who attended the rally in Charlottesville over the weekend. One man, Cole White, was forced to resign from his job at a hot dog restaurant in California after being outed on Twitter, and a 20-year-old student at the University of Nevada-Reno, Peter Cvjetanovic, was forced to publicly defend himself after a photo of him shouting at Fridays march was published by numerous news organizations. I did not expect the photo to be shared as much as it was. I understand the photo has a very negative connotation, Cvjetanovic told local media. But I hope that the people sharing the photo are willing to listen that Im not the angry racist they see in that photo. In regards to Quinns plight, officials at the University of Arkansas confirmed that the man at the rally was not the professor and added that they were working to figure out if the man was or had been a student in the engineering program. So far those efforts have been unsuccessful. The engineering department has about 1,000 students in the program and the T-shirt seen in the photo is sold at the universitys bookstore. Fostering an atmosphere of diversity and inclusion is a top priority at the University of Arkansas and this image is not a reflection of our universitys values, University of Arkansas Media Relations Manager Steve Voorhies said in a statement to Fox News. Baltimore's mayor said she wanted to move quickly and quietly after officials approved a plan to remove four Confederate statues Monday night, a decision that came amid a national furor over a violent white nationalist gathering in Virginia organized to protest the removal of a Confederate statue there. Mayor Catherine Pugh told reporters Wednesday morning she felt the best way to remove the monuments, in an effort to keep the community safe, was to do the work overnight. I though theres enough grandstanding, enough speeches being made [on the top], lets get it done, she said. I spoke with the city council on Monday and said, 'With the climate in this nation, I think its very important that we move quickly and quietly'...and thats what I did. Pugh, who is African-American, added: I wanted them out of this city. The Baltimore City Council approved the plan Monday night to remove four Confederate statues from the citys public spaces just two days after the deadly white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. on Saturday. Pugh reiterated several times that the citys plan had been in the works since June, and earlier said the quick overnight action was designed to avoid violent conflicts like what Charlottesville experienced. I think any city that has confederate statue has concerns about violence happening in the city, she said, adding it was long overdue. The four statues removed included monuments of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson monument, a Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument, a Confederate Womens Monument and the Roger B. Taney Monument. Pugh dismissed concerns that the city could face potential lawsuits over the removal of the statues, saying: What I know is that I did what was right for my city. That was my intent and it is done. Resident Derek Bowden told the Baltimore Sun that while he agreed with the citys decision to remove the statues, racism and white privilege run deeper than just the statues. Its major in its own right, but its small when it comes to the bigger battle, the 59-year-old photographer told the newspaper. Its a bigger battle. This is a small victory. Theres a larger issue we have to look at, with being Americans and upholding the Constitution to protect all people. Pugh said its unclear where the statues will end up, adding that there are confederate cemeteries across the country that have inquired about them in the past. She said in their place, plaques should be erected explaining what was there and why they were removed. I dont know why they were put there, but I do know they were offensive to many people in this nation, Pugh added. The actions taken by Baltimore officials are not unique to the Maryland city. Across the country, the events in Charlottesville over the moved leaders across the country to plan to wipe away much of the remaining Old South imagery. Two statues were taken down immediately, in Gainesville, Florida, where the Daughters of the Confederacy removed a statue of a Confederate soldier known as "Ole Joe," and in Durham, North Carolina, where protesters used a rope to pull down a Confederate monument dedicated in 1924. Three people have been arrested in connection to the statue in North Carolina. Since the events on Saturday, President Donald Trump defended Confederate statues in wide-ranging remarks. "This week it's Robert E. Lee. I notice that Stonewall Jackson's coming down," Trump said during a visit to Trump Tower in New York. "I wonder, is it George Washington next week, and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop?" ELKO An Elko man received 18 years in prison for the sexual abuse of a child under 14 that took place five years ago. Ricky Lynn Minchew, 30, pleaded no contest in Elko District Court to three counts of sexual abuse or neglect of a child, a category B felony, and was sentenced by Judge Nancy Porter Aug. 3 to an aggregate of 18 years in prison with the possibility of parole in seven years. Minchew is also required to register as a sex offender when released from custody. Minchew was transported from the Northern Nevada Correctional Center in Carson City in 2016 to face charges of sexual assault, sexual abuse and lewdness with a child under 14 and was held in Elko County Jail on $1.7 million bail, according to Elko Daily Free Press files. The incidents took place between May 1, 2012, and Sept. 17, 2013. In a plea agreement in April, Minchew pleaded no contest to three charges of sexual abuse or neglect. In an unrelated matter, Minchew was found guilty of harassment in 2014 and sentenced in Elko Justice Court to 300 days in jail. A former Catholic school teacher convicted of raping a child was released more than a decade early from prison on Wednesday after a judge threw out his conviction amid questions about his accuser's truthfulness. Rather than face a new trial, however, Bernard Shero, 54, pleaded no contest on Monday to less serious child rape and assault charges and was sentenced to the roughly four years in prison he's already served. He originally was sentenced in 2013 to up to 16 years. The accuser had helped to convict three other church officials, including a monsignor who became the first to be criminally charged for mishandling complaints about sexual abuse by priests. Retired detective Joseph Walsh, who had worked on the case for the district attorney's office, told prosecutors several times that he could not corroborate the accuser's story. But the detective said they dismissed him, with one assistant district attorney going so far as to tell him "you're killing my case," according to a court filing. Shero's attorney George Bochetto said he was "deeply, deeply concerned with the way the prosecution took place in this matter." Prosecutors declined to comment on the ruling or the plea, citing ongoing litigation in related cases. Attempts to reach the accuser, who is referred to by prosecutors as Billy Doe, and his family were unsuccessful. A representative for the Philadelphia archdiocese was not immediately available for comment. Another one of Shero's lawyers, Jeffrey Ogren, said prosecutors agreed to seek a sentence of time served in exchange for Shero pleading no contest. "The option was staying in jail for 11 and a half years or pleading no contest and getting out today," he said. The accuser said he was sexually assaulted by Shero and two priests when he was an altar boy in the late 1990s. He has settled his claims against the church in an undisclosed agreement. One of the priests, Edward V. Avery, pleaded guilty in 2012 but has since recanted his confession. The other, the Rev. Charles Engelhard, died in prison while appealing his conviction. The accuser's testimony also was linked to a child endangerment conviction of Monsignor William Lynn, the first church official charged over the mishandling of abuse records. Lynn's conviction has since been overturned. Lynn's lawyer declined to comment, citing ongoing court proceedings. Shero's plea was first reported by the Philadelphia legal blog BigTrial.net. ___ This story has been corrected to show the monsignor's surname is Lynn, not Lynne. A multi-agency team scoured the ocean off Hawaii on Wednesday for five soldiers aboard an Army helicopter that went down during a nighttime training exercise. The UH-60 Black Hawk went missing when another Army helicopter training with it lost visual and radio contact about 9:30 p.m. Tuesday, said Lt. Col. Curtis Kellogg, a spokesman for the 25th Infantry Division. Two pilots and three crew members were on board, he said. The Army has notified the soldiers' families, Kellogg said. "As we do this work, the soldiers and their families are in the forefront of our minds. That's what we're doing this for," Kellogg said. Honolulu Fire Department search and rescue crews found and collected pieces of helicopter fuselage and a helmet in a debris field about 2 miles (3 kilometers) off Kaena Point on Oahu. Photos showed Army soldiers unloading suspected debris from the firefighters' boat and personal watercraft at the harbor in the nearby town of Haleiwa. The search later moved to an area about 5 miles (8 kilometers) offshore where currents moving in different directions converge. Officials closed the state park at Kaena Point while the search was underway. Kaena is a remote spot northwest of Honolulu where Oahu's northern and western coasts meet to form a small peninsula. The park's sandy coastline is home to a seabird colony and endangered Hawaiian monk seals. A Coast Guard plane, two helicopters and several boats were being used in the search. The Army and Marine Corps joined the effort, as did Honolulu firefighters and lifeguards. Two Black Hawk crews were conducting training between Kaena Point and Dillingham Airfield when communications were lost, officials said. Clouds and a few showers were in the area at the time. The soldiers were training at night to maintain the skills they need to do their jobs, Kellogg said. "Our aviation assets, as well as all of our soldiers, train at night. It's what we do," he said. They need these skills to accomplish their wartime mission, Kellogg said. The two helicopters are elements of the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade based in Hawaii. The UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-bladed, twin-engine utility helicopter manufactured for the Army by Sikorsky Aircraft starting in the 1970s. More than 3,000 Black Hawk aircraft are in service around the world, according to Sikorsky's parent company Lockheed Martin. The U.S. Army owns 2,300 of them. In April, one crew member was killed and two others were injured when an Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed onto a golf course in Maryland during a routine training flight. In 2015, 11 crew members were killed when an Army Black Hawk helicopter crashed into the water off Eglin Air Force Base in Florida. An Ohio elementary school teacher faces criminal charges over allegations she let her son sell drugs and teenagers to use the psychedelic drug LSD in her home. Forty-year-old Amy Panzeca, of Springboro, entered not guilty pleas Tuesday in Warren County to charges including permitting drug abuse and endangering children. She was freed on bond. Prosecutors say Panzeca's son sold LSD to at least 20 high school students. He faces felony drug charges and is being held in a juvenile detention center. A drug task found LSD and marijuana during a search of the family's home in May. Panzeca teaches fifth grade. The Springboro school district has placed her on paid leave. Panzeca's attorney couldn't immediately be reached for comment. A former Minnesota beauty pageant queen has been convicted for switching the price tags on clothing she bought from Macy's. Jennifer Kline, a former Mrs. Minnesota -- and later, Mrs. America -- was convicted Tuesday of felony theft by swindle for creating an elaborate scheme that included conducting fraudulent returns. State law allows for Klines felony charge to carry up to five years in prison. According to court documents cited by the Star Tribune, Klines scheme worked like this: She would buy expensive clothing, take it home, then attach the expensive clothings price tags onto clothes she already owned. Then, Kline would return her old clothes to a different Macys and would get a refund on her credit card. FLORIDA LANDSCAPER ARRESTED AFTER ALLEGEDLY STEALING EXOTIC CACTUS Receipts revealed Kline, from Wayzata, spent almost $5,800 on clothing at a Macys store in the Southdale Mall in Edina -- also a wealthy Minneapolis suburb -- as well as the Macys at the Mall of America in Bloomington, as part of her swindling scheme. There was more than just grabbing merchandise and walking out the door, Edina Police Sgt. Kevin Rofidal told ABC News. There was a lot of thought put into this, a lot of effort to conceal it. The former beauty queen eventually fessed up to having a supply of plastic tag holders and the equipment to attach them to clothing, the Tribune reported. Klines attorney called it a dumb mistake. Kline was once crowned Mrs. Minnesota, and later won the title of Mrs. America in 1989. She worked as a TV host on the ShopNBC network, now rebranded as Evine. Her sentencing is set for Oct. 18. A Florida man has pleaded guilty to plotting to bomb a Jewish center during Passover. A U.S. Department of Justice statement said 41-year-old James Gonzalo Medina of Hollywood pleaded guilty Wednesday in Miami federal court to a federal hate crime and a charge of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction. Authorities said Medina admitted to planning to attack the Aventura Turnberry Jewish Center. Medina was arrested in April 2016 after approaching the center with a fake bomb provided by an undercover FBI informant. FBI recordings showed Medina allegedly supported the Islamic State terrorist group and claimed an obligation to attack Jews in the U.S. The Sun Sentinel reports that Medina told U.S. District Judge Robert Scola Jr. he was manipulated in the undercover sting but also said he committed the crime. Jacksonville Beach police used a Taser, a baton and four sets of handcuffs to arrest a man accused of punching a bouncer and walking out on his $235 bar tab on Sunday. Facebook video of the takedown outside Surfer [the Bar] on 1st Street North is leading some beachgoers to question why the use of force was necessary in the first place, since Christopher Alan White did not appear combative when a Jacksonville Beach Police Department officer deployed the first Taser. White pulled the prongs off the first Taser, seemingly unaffected. Stop doing that, White can be heard saying in the video. That comment led to a second Taser deployment from a second officer as well as an attempted headlock, from which White wriggled free. Im not fighting, said White as an officer beat his thigh with a baton. White swatted at the officer during the beating. A third officer deployed a third Taser, which brought White to the ground. Jacksonville Beach resident Annsley Grantham said shes disturbed about what led up to the first Taser being fired. He seemed pretty inebriated, so I dont think it was necessary to tase him at all, said Grantham. The officer wrote in his report that he deployed that Taser because White refused to give him his hand to be cuffed. Action News Jax Crime and Safety Expert Ken Jefferson said he does not believe thats enough of a reason to use a Taser on someone. No, not when you have backup there and additional backup on the way. Theres not enough reason for you to Taser someone just because they wont give you their hand, despite his size, said Jefferson. Action News Jax called the number listed on the police report as Whites cellphone number to get his side of the story. The man who picked up said he didnt know who White was and hung up. Jacksonville Beach police spokesman Sgt. Thomas Crumley said the department is doing a standard use of force review. None of the officers involved are on limited duty. Click for more from WFOX. Pastor Shawn Berkebile says he remembers when two parishioners told him they were going to break the law. They came to me as a confession, said Berkebile, a pastor of St. John's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Abbotstown, Pa. In 2013, Matt and Angie Sharrer told him they were using medical marijuana as a treatment for their daughter, Annie, then 9, who suffered from epileptic seizures. They were gonna do it to save their daughter, and they wanted me to know as pastor, Berkebile told Fox News. At the time, medical marijuana use was illegal in Pennsylvania. Berkebile said the Sharrers were getting their doses of medical cannabis from out of state where its use was legal. The parents did what they could to be discrete about bringing it back home, he added. "There was nothing that was going to help [Annie] pharmaceutical-wise," Berkebile said, noting that her condition had worsened over the years. Berkebile saw no need to notify authorities because the Sharrers, he said, were doing what they could to help their daughter. If this was my child, I would do it the same way, Berkebile said. "I would jump in and I would go through every hoop imaginable. I would break the law. Now Pennsylvania is one of 29 states and that allows medical marijuana use. Before that though, Berkebile asked the Sharrers if they would go public to the congregation with their story. They shared their story, Berkebile said, even though they knew they risked arrest. Berkebile said he too took a stand. To say it has no medical value is sinful, Berkebile said. "Its just abusive. Itsas one of my colleagues said in the Pennsylvania legislatureits legislative child abuse. And I agreed." Permits were issued in June for medical marijuana facilities to open in Pennsylvania. Berkebile says it'll still be a long time before companies who have received permits to be fully operational. But he believes Annies story played a role in passing medical marijuana legislation in the state. "She was barely a child, he remembers of Annie. "She was doped out. She was not able to go to school. Today, Berkebile says Annie, now 13, has controlled seizures, an improvement from what she used to experience. The use of medical marijuana remains controversial, but Berkebile hopes Annie's story can shine a light on a potential benefit of its use. "I see medical cannabis as a way of giving hope to families that lost hope a while ago, he said. Berkebile hopes the rest of the country will one day get on board with the use of medical marijuana just as his congregation did when the Sharrers told their story. An Afghan man who has been detained for five months since he tried to enter the United States on a special visa for people who helped the U.S. military fears deportation, one of his lawyers said Wednesday. The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey announced Tuesday it asked the U.S. District Court to immediately release the 25-year-old man or order that he receive a bond hearing to determine whether his detention is justified. Attorney Farrin Anello, noting that the man speaks limited English, said Wednesday that an asylum officer interviewed him with an interpreter and determined he has a "credible fear" of persecution in Afghanistan based upon his work for the Americans. The ACLU says he worked for five years in dining services for the U.S. Armed Forces and U.S. Embassy, and his service to the U.S. military puts his life at risk in Afghanistan. But the government says in a court filing the man has "explicitly stated that he has no fear of returning to Afghanistan." The man was detained at Newark Liberty International Airport on March 13. Subsequently, government lawyers argued he voluntarily withdrew his application for admission to the U.S. in an interview with a Customs and Border Protection officer after arriving at the airport. Federal Judge Jose Linares in Newark cleared the way for his deportation, ruling that he was unlikely to succeed in his case against the government because his visa was already revoked. That same month, the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily blocked Linares' decision. But last week, an immigration judge ruled that he would not hold a bond hearing and that the deportation case against the man would proceed. The man's next immigration hearing is set for Sept. 6. The ACLU argues the man was held without a lawyer for over 24 hours and the application withdrawal was involuntary because of the language barrier. "Our client has been jailed for the past five months in a country that promised to welcome him. It's an egregious violation of our Constitution," ACLU-NJ Deputy Legal Director Jeanne LoCicero said. "At the very least, he is entitled to a bond hearing after his prolonged detention. But for his rights to be honored, the government needs to release him." This city is bracing for trouble as at least one white supremacy group announced plans to come here to protest the removal of two Confederate statues. After the deadly riots in Charlottesville, the mayor of Lexington, Jim Gray, tweeted out that he was going to announce early this week his plan to ask council members to vote on a motion to move ahead with a petition to remove the Civil War-era statues at the Lafayette County Courthouse in downtown Lexington. Fox News asked Gray if he thought the timing was right to draw attention to the very controversial topic that ultimately resulted in three deaths in Charlottesville. CONFEDERATE STATUES, FLAGS AND OTHER SYMBOLS ABOUND AROUND THE COUNTRY "There's no perfect time to do the right thing," Gray said defending his announcement. "We should do the right thing all the time." Gray said for two years the city has been discussing the plans to remove the statues of John C. Breckinridge and Gen. John Hunt Morgan. Both men fought to keep black people enslaved. The council voted unanimously to move ahead with plans to relocate the statues. The location and cost is still up in the air. "We are absolutely not sanitizing and we are not destroying. We're putting these statues in the proper context out of the center of the city where they're being glorified today," Gray said. "This site was a place where slaves were auctioned. It's not the place to glorify and honor men who fought to preserve slavery." BALTIMORE TAKES DOWN FOUR CONFEDERATE STATUES OVERNIGHT The Lexington Chief of Police said the city is working with federal agencies, including the FBI, to ensure safety in case protests turn violent. "Right now, we've heard they're coming to Lexington. We haven't had any confirmation of that. We've all read the internet stuff that everybody else has but we have not been contacted by anyone. We haven't had anything intelligence-wise from any other agencies indicating they are coming here," said Chief Mark Barnard. Barnard said the city will have a strong law enforcement presence to greet anyone looking to incite violence. "Our role is to protect people's rights, First Amendment rights constitutionally. If we see violence or we see an assault occur we will make an arrest on either side," Barnard said. There was nearly unanimous support for taking down the statues from Lexington residents who spoke before the Lexington Fayette Urban County Council on Monday night. Leaving these Confederate statues in public plazas has silently fueled hate, said Lexington councilmember Angela Evans. Hate in this country, hate in this Commonwealth, and hate this council is obligated to denounce." But another resident questioned whether the city was making the right move at the right time. I feel a lot of extreme voices are leading the agenda as far as the vandalism on the statues, the resident said, and I'm not sure either side is going to be satisfied with your compromise." A Michigan college student was charged Monday with falsely reporting a rape to campus police. Delta College student Mary Zolkowski, 21, faces felony charges after she told officials contradicting stories about an alleged rape at the university, according to Michigan Live. Zolkowski reportedly told police she was walking to her car when a man grabbed her from behind and raped her without a condom while holding her face and throat. She said she only saw the mans hands and he fled in a car before she could see his face. The student refused a physical exam after the alleged incident. When investigators met with her a second time, they reportedly noticed discrepancies in her story. WOMAN, 25, CONVICTED FOR MAKING UP FAKE RAPE CLAIMS AGAINST 15 INNOCENT MEN Police said in Zolkowski's second version, the suspect was an acquaintance and she had been raped at an apartment -- but she said she didn't give consent because she was intoxicated, Michigan Live reported. Zolkowski reportedly apologized for the confusion during the interview and said she didnt want to press charges against the suspect, according to Michigan Live. In a third interview, she reportedly changed her story again telling police she wanted to tell the suspect to stop during sex, but it was over before she was able to. Zolkowski was arraigned Monday in Bay County District Court for one count of false report of a felony. If convicted, she faces up to four years in prison and a $2,000 fine. Three more protesters were arrested Wednesday for participating in the toppling of a nearly century-old statue of a Confederate soldier in North Carolina. Dante Strobino, 35, and Ngoc Loan Tran, 24, were arrested when they attended a court hearing for another woman who was charged Tuesday for climbing a ladder to attach a rope to the bronze soldier. Peter Gilbert, 39, was arrested later Wednesday afternoon. The Durham County Sheriffs office said the three arrested Wednesday were charged with two felonies related to inciting and participating in a riot that damaged property. The woman who climbed the ladder, Takiyah Thompson, was charged with the same counts a day before. She is a student at historically black North Carolina Central University. WARNING: ARREST VIDEO CONTAINS PROFANITY The three are affiliated with the Workers World Party, which helped organize the Durham protest in response to deadly violence over the weekend during a white nationalist rally Charlottesville, Virginia. The North Carolina statue, which was dedicated in 1924, was brought down after Thompson allegedly climbed up and attached a rope. Demonstrators then pulled down it down. Seconds after the monument fell, protesters began kicking the crumpled bronze monument. Im tired of white supremacy keeping its foot on my neck and the necks of people who look like me, Thompson said at a news conference. That statue glorifies the conditions that oppressed people live in, and it had to go. The Durham protest was in response to a white nationalist rally held in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend, which lead to three deaths. Although the violence in Virginia has prompted fresh talk by government officials about bringing down symbols of the Confederacy around the South, North Carolina has a law protecting them, according to The Associated Press. The 2015 law prevents removing such monuments on public property without permission from state officials. Durham County Sheriff Mike Andrews said Tuesday that his deputies were working to identify others involved in the incident and plan to pursue felony charges against them. Late Tuesday, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper called for the removal of any remaining Confederate monuments on state property, directing state officials to study the cost and logistics of moving them to historical sites or museums. "We cannot continue to glorify a war against the United States of America fought in the defense of slavery," Cooper said in a statement. "These monuments should come down." The Associated Press contributed to this report. A North Carolina sheriff has arrested more protesters in connection with the toppling of a Confederate statue. Durham County deputies took two people away in handcuffs Wednesday at a court hearing for another demonstrator who was arrested the previous day. A news release identified them as Dante Strobino and Ngoc Loan Tran. On Tuesday, Takiyah Thompson was arrested at a news conference where she identified herself as the woman who climbed the statue and attached the rope used to pull it down. All three face felony charges related to inciting and participating in a riot that damaged property. Investigators plan more arrests. The statue in Durham came down Monday night after Thompson attached the rope and demonstrators on the ground then pulled the bronze Confederate soldier from its pedestal. The toppling followed deadly violence over the weekend during a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The White House told allies Tuesday that President Trump was entirely correct to blame both sides for the protest violence in Charlottesville, fighting back at critics of his response, Fox News has learned. A memo of talking points obtained by Fox News stated that during his remarks in the lobby of Trump Tower on Tuesday, the president was entirely correct both sides of the violence in Charlottesville acted inappropriately, and bear some responsibility. 'HANNITY' Conservative commentator Laura Ingraham said Tuesday that politics are clearly at the root of the string of protests surrounding the removal of Confederate statues. 'WE GOT OUR LEADER BACK' Conservative author Ann Coulter praised Trump on Tuesday after he publicly denounced the "alt-left" for contributing to violence during a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. this weekend. "We were Gideon's army without Gideon. Today, we got our leader back," Coulter tweeted following the president's remarks. NOT LETTING GO Think North Korea and Charlottesville have made President Trump forget about that no vote Sen. John McCain cast July 28 on the ObamaCare skinny repeal amendment? Think again. From all indications at Trumps Tuesday press conference at Trump Tower in New York City, the Arizona Republicans vote remains very much on the presidents mind. HEADED TO RUNOFF Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore and incumbent Sen. Luther Strange are headed to a Sept. 26 runoff in Alabamas Republican Senate primary after finishing atop the field in Tuesdays election, according to a projection from The Associated Press. The other major candidate, U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, finished third in the race for the seat vacated earlier this year by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. THE NAME'S BOND, JAMES BOND Daniel Craig, who once said hed rather break glass and slash my wrists than play 007 again, told The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Tuesday that he will return for another James Bond film. I think this is it, the British actor said. I just want to go out on a high note. I cant wait. COMING UP ON FOX NEWS CHANNEL 11 AM ET: Memorial service for Heather Heyer. Paramount Theater, Charlottesville, VA 3 PM ET: Attorney General Sessions delivers remarks on the "growing trend of violent crime in sanctuary cities." Watch live on FoxNews.com and Fox News Channel. A growing rift between the tight-knit Hasidic communities of New York state and their Gentile neighbors, who increasingly feel threatened by the expansion of the Orthodox Jewish groups, is on full display this week at a pair of town hall meetings to explore what would amount to a municipal divorce. The occasion for the hearings is a proposal to turn a predominantly Hasidic village in the town of Monroe, N.Y., into its own town provided Monroe officials donate 56 acres to what is now the village of Kiryas Joel. Leaders of Kiryas Joel have said they're all for the proposal and have already come up with a new name for their community, Palm Tree. But other residents of Monroe are divided. Some say a separation is the only way to save Monroes suburban character from the encroaching political and economic dominance of the Hasids. Other Monroe residents worry that the price donating land to Kiryas Joel is too high or that negotiations between Monroe and Kiryas Joel officials have been too secretive. There was lots of emotion among the Gentiles who testified. Its gotten worse and worse, Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus said Tuesday at the nearly three-hour hearing in the auditorium of the Central Valley Elementary School, located about 40 miles north of New York City. The power struggle with Hasidic residents, Neuhaus said, was creating a political Chernobyl thats spilling over into other towns. Neuhaus urged the 21-member Orange County legislative committee to allow a voter referendum on a plan negotiated between a citizen group called United Monroe and Kiryas Joel calling for Kiryas Joel to get 56 acres in addition to 164 acres it annexed in 2015. The town of Palm Tree would include Kiryas Joel, a 1.1-square-mile village of 22,000 people who live in high-rises and whose population grows about 6 percent every year. Only about a dozen Kiryas Joel residents attended the hearing; another was planned for Wednesday in their village. The residents, all men, sat or stood in the back of the auditorium. None of them went up to the microphone to address the county legislators. But in interviews with Fox News, they said they wanted to secede from Monroe and have their own town and elected leaders. This is 90 percent garbage, said Alin Schwartz, when asked his thoughts about the assertion that his community wanted to control Monroe and push special interests. The Jewish community has been hearing this for hundreds of years, he said. Just losers, he added, referring to speakers at the front of the auditorium who were accusing Kiryas Joel of hoodwinking officials and flouting zoning regulations. Separation is the best solution for everyone and for peace, Schwartz said. The Jewish community is working hard for peace. I work with non-Jews. I love them and they love me. Schwartz praised United Monroe for reaching out to Kiryas Joel for a peaceful solution. Some residents of Monroe and other neighboring towns said they wanted to know more details of the plan, and said the negotiations seemed to them too secretive. But whether they were for or against having the plan go to a referendum on Nov. 7, virtually all the speakers expressed resentment over the growing clout of Kiryas Joel in many aspects of life in Monroe. If we do not separate now, the citizens of Monroe outside of Kiryas Joel will not be able to elect our town board members when KJ votes as a bloc, said a handout United Monroe gave to those entering the auditorium. This is because the voters of Kiryas Joel cannot be overcome today and are growing rapidly. Not separating now means giving Kiryas Joel the ability to control our town board, our zoning, our planning, and will mean high-density housing throughout Monroe. United Monroe founders said several times that they were not waging a battle against a religion, though many Hasidic Jews following the arguments felt they were. They want an urban lifestyle, high-rises, high usage of water and other services, said John Egan, a United Monroe founder and key figure in the negotiations with Kiryas Joel. We want the opposite. Separation was really the only solution. Michael Sussman, a civil rights lawyer, warned the legislators that the plan was unconstitutional. He said it violated the concept of separation of church and state by creating jurisdictional boundaries based on religion. This factionalism is what our founders railed against, Sussman said. Don Hall and his girlfriend were sitting in their living room earlier this year when they noticed police lights flashing outside the couples upstate New York home. When the 70-year-old Army veteran greeted Oneida County sheriffs deputies he was given a document saying that Hall had to hand over his six guns four long guns and two pistols -- to law enforcement because he had been deemed mentally defective. Shocked, Hall told the police he had no history of mental issues. The deputies asserted that he must have triggered the order under New York states Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act, and then the officers left with his guns. Ive never been in trouble in my whole life and never done anything" to warrant this. The so-called SAFE Act, which was implemented in 2013 in the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Connecticut, includes a provision that allows heath care providers to report patients that they think may be a risk to themselves or others. In Halls case, however, the sheriffs deputies were wrong. He hadnt triggered an order under the SAFE Act. New Yorks Office of Mental Health found that Halls case originated with a report to the system set up under the federal governments Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act a law that includes a provision making it mandatory that a hospital or other medical facility report anyone who is involuntarily committed or has been ruled mentally defective by a court or similar legal body. Hall hired a lawyer and after receiving a number of affidavits proving he hadnt been treated for mental illness convinced a judge that a hospital worker must have confused him with someone else and got his guns back. Halls plight is just one of a number of cases across the U.S. where provisions in federal and state laws meant to keep guns out of the hands of mentally ill people and criminals have actually led to mistaken seizures of weapons by law enforcement. In April, a California family has won a fight forcing the return of 500 firearms seized by the state's Department of Justice two years ago. The weapons were confiscated on a report that Albert Sheakalee was barred from owning guns because he was in the state's Armed Prohibited Persons database. His attorney, Mark Coleman, said Sheakalee did not know that he was in the database. Sheakalee maintained the Justice Department broke a promise to keep the raid confidential until a court hearing determined whether he was mentally fit to own guns. The California case was followed by one in June where a New York court sided with a woman whose guns were picked up by law enforcement five years earlier. A panel of judges in the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower courts decision that there is no apparent reason why Christine Panzella shouldnt receive a hearing to get her firearms returned by Nassau County Sheriffs Department. Panzella had her guns seized in 2012 by the agency, while she was the subject of a protective order filed by her ex-husband. Such a hearing would provide Panzella with a timely and inexpensive forum to challenge the Countys retention of her long arms, wrote Circuit Judge Guido Calabresi. And its not just modern weapons that are being seized either. In 2010, Michael Roberts surrendered 21 firearms that were family heirlooms to the Torrance Police Department. The court order was the result of a dispute Roberts had with a member of the doctors staff and, after Roberts pleaded no contest, the matter was resolved. Yet, even though he filed the proper Law Enforcement Gun Release paperwork on four separate occasions, obtained clearance from the California Department of Justice and obtained two court orders for the return of his guns, police refused to hand them over. With the backing of the National Rifle Association and California Rifle and Pistol Association, Roberts filed a federal lawsuit in May 2014, over the $15,500 worth of firearms. In the end he got the money, but not the guns. The police had had them destroyed. NRA and CRPA constantly get calls from law abiding people having problems getting their guns back, said Chuck Michel of Long Beach-based Michel & Associates, which represented Roberts in the case. The state Department of Justice wrongly tells police not to give guns back unless the person can document ownership of the gun and it is registered in the state DOJs database. But the law doesnt require this. Malia Zimmerman and The Associated Press contributed to this report. A New York City mom on Tuesday was hailed a hero after she shielded her three children--including a 41-day-old-- from a massive tree that fell on them during a stroll in Central Park. Anne Monoky Goldman, 39, broke her neck and her son Grant, 2, suffered a fractured skull, The New York Post reported. A witness told the paper that if not for the mother's quick action, all three children could have been killed. It was terrifying, Jamie Brown, 42, a Virginia tourist, told the paper. You heard the tree fall and didnt know what happened, and then you hear a baby scream. The Post reported that the mom was walking along West Drive near West 62nd Street with her 1-and-a-half-month-old infant, James, strapped to her chest and Grant and his 4-year-old brother, Will, in a stroller when the towering elm toppled on them at about 10 a.m. The mother hit her head trying to shield branches from striking the children, FDNY spokesman Frank Dwyer told the paper. The scene was chaotic. Rescuers had to use chainsaws to pull the woman from the fallen tree. The report said Goldman lost consciousness for about three minutes and "woke up immediately asking about her kids." "It was giant, it was across all of them, we were able to pull the branches back and get the 3- and 4-year-old out pretty easily, but then the baby was strapped to her so that took a little bit," Jack Jones, a nurse who witnessed the tree fall, told CBS. "They had the stroller tipped up against her so I think that kind of saved them." Goldman was rushed to New York-Presbyterian Hospital, where she was diagnosed with a fractured neck, according to brother-in-law Ryan Goldman. Shes still going through a lot of treatment, shes getting a CAT scan and MRIs, he told The Post. Grant had a cracked skull, but his two brothers including James, who was born just 41 days ago were discharged from the hospital Tuesday afternoon, according to Ryan. The brother told the paper that Goldman is more concerned about Grant than herself. Nothing [is] more important to her than her kids. No question that when her sons recover from this, she, too, will get better. But for the moment, she is struggling, he said. Click for more from NYPost.com A man charged with plotting to kill military members in the U.S. after receiving overseas training is asking for leniency at sentencing, saying he abandoned his plans for the attack. In making his argument, Abdirahman Sheik Mohamud acknowledges that he became radicalized after traveling to Syria in the spring of 2014 and that he recruited others on his return home, according to a court filing this week. Back in the U.S., Mohamud "realized the immoral and illegal nature of terrorist ideology," his attorney, Sam Shamansky, said in the Monday court filing. "He rejected the radical notions he had previously embraced and had completely abandoned any plans to engage in terrorism by the end of November of 2014," the filing said. As a result, a lengthy prison term isn't necessary, Shamansky argues. "Mohamud urges the Court to consider his rejection of terrorist ideology as it fashions a sentence that promotes respect for the law," Shamansky said. Court documents unsealed earlier this summer show Mohamud, 25, pleaded guilty almost two years ago to terrorism charges. The government hasn't explained why the plea deal was sealed for so long. Federal prosecutors want a judge to impose a 23-year sentence. They say Mohamud tried to cover up dangerous terrorist activity, including after his arrest. Sentencing is set for Friday. Recorded jail telephone calls between Mohamud and a person close to him reveal he told others "to keep their mouths shut," assistant federal prosecutor Doug Squires said in a court filing. "Mohamud characterized the situation as a 'domino effect, and if one falls, everyone falls,'" Squires said in the Monday filing. After becoming radicalized in Syria, Mohamud returned home planning "grievous harm" for which he recruited others, Squires said. "Once caught, he orchestrated a cover-up beginning with his material misstatements to the FBI," he said. Court documents say that in 2014, Mohamud obtained a passport to travel to Greece but instead went to Syria for training and expressed a desire to die fighting there. He returned to the U.S. after his brother was killed while fighting for a terrorist organization affiliated with al-Qaida, the documents said. Mohamud wanted to travel to Texas and capture three or four soldiers and execute them, according to the government. ___ Andrew Welsh-Huggins can be reached on Twitter at https://twitter.com/awhcolumbus. His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/andrew-welsh-huggins An Ohio elementary school teacher accused of allowing kids to sell and consume drugs in her home has been released from jail. Amy Panzeca, 48, was arrested Monday night after allegedly permitting her 15-year-old son and other teenagers to use LSD and marijuana in her Springboro home. She appeared in court for the first time Tuesday, entering a not guilty plea to one felony and two misdemeanor charges. Panzecas son was also arraigned Tuesday on counts of trafficking and possession of drugs. According to the prosecutor, he was dealing to 20-30 students, predominately in the Springboro School District. OKLAHOMA TEACHER, 31, WHO HAD SEX WITH STUDENT, 15, ORDERED TO PAY $1 MILLION Panzeca is a fifth-grade teacher in the Springboro Schools district, where she has taught for 15 years. Scott Marshall, a spokesman for the school district, told WHIO Panzeca did not have any prior disciplinary issues and has been placed on paid administrative leave effective Tuesday. The school hired a long-term substitute teacher in Panzecas place, Marshall said. Parents of children in the class are being notified of the situation. SESSIONS PROMISES OF POT CRACKDOWN UP IN SMOKE In May, Panzecas home was raided by the Warren County Drug Task Force. Detectives seized what they suspected was LSD, marijuana and cellphones, according to a search warrant obtained by WKEF. The warrant also states that detectives found text message conversations between Panzeca and her son showing that she was complicit to the use of LSD and marijuana in her home. The Associated Press contributed to this report. A Muslim-American radio host is accusing the publisher of a notorious neo-Nazi website of defaming him by falsely labeling him the "mastermind" of a deadly concert bombing in England, according to a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday. SiriusXM Radio show host Dean Obeidallah sued The Daily Stormer's publisher, Andrew Anglin, two days after domain name registration companies Google and GoDaddy yanked the site's web address, effectively making it unreachable. The companies acted after Anglin's publication of a post mocking the 32-year-old woman killed in a deadly attack at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. Obeidallah's suit says the site embedded fabricated messages in June 1 story to make them seem like they had been sent from Obeidallah's Twitter account, tricking readers into believing he took responsibility for the May 22 terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester. Obeidallah, a comedian and Daily Beast columnist, told The Associated Press that he received death threats after the article's publication. "It was literally jaw-dropping," he said. "The death threats were something I've never seen before in my life." One comment on the post said Obeidallah "just earned himself a spot at the gallows," according to his suit. Another threatened him with hanging, the suit said. "Mr. Obeidallah is an ardent believer in and defender of the First Amendment. He recognizes the importance of freedom of speech and political discourse, regardless of viewpoint. But the First Amendment does not license defamation," his suit says. The suit claims that the article's defamatory statements were intended to incite violence against Obeidallah, citing other alleged examples of Daily Stormer readers who did just that, including Dylann Roof, who read the site before killing black churchgoers in South Carolina. The suit comes at a tumultuous time for The Daily Stormer, which already faced a federal lawsuit by another target of one of its online trolling campaigns. Access to the site has been sporadic since Google canceled the site's domain name registration on Monday. The site had moved its registration to Google after GoDaddy tweeted late Sunday night that it had given The Daily Stormer 24 hours to move its domain to another provider. Google then yanked the address as well, citing a violation of its terms of service. Anglin's article about Heather Heyer the woman killed when a car plowed into a crowd of demonstrators in Charlottesville on Saturday called her "fat" and "childless" and said "most people are glad she is dead, as she is the definition of uselessness." Anglin, an Ohio native who uses a post office box in Worthington, Ohio, didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment Wednesday on Obeidallah's suit, which was filed in Columbus. A lawyer for Obeidallah said The Daily Stormer hasn't responded to their request to remove the June 1 article about him. Obeidallah is represented by Muslim Advocates, a national legal and educational organization based in Oakland, California. Obeidallah's lawsuit claims Anglin libeled him, invaded his privacy and intentionally inflicted "emotional distress." It seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. The Daily Stormer published its post about Obeidallah a day after the Daily Beast published his column entitled, "Will Donald Trump Ever Say the Words 'White Supremacist Terrorism'?" "Their goal was clearly to marginalize my voice," said Obeidallah, 47, a resident of New York City. Anglin's site takes its name from Der Sturmer, a newspaper that published Nazi propaganda. The site includes sections called "Jewish Problem" and "Race War." In April, a Montana woman sued Anglin for orchestrating an anti-Semitic trolling campaign against her family. Tanya Gersh's suit claims anonymous internet trolls bombarded Gersh's family with hateful and threatening messages after Anglin published their personal information in a post accusing her and other Jewish residents of Whitefish, Montana, of engaging in an "extortion racket" against the mother of white nationalist Richard Spencer. Gersh is represented by attorneys from the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups. In July, the law center's lawyers claimed Anglin was "actively concealing his whereabouts" and hadn't been served with Gersh's suit. They said they looked for him at four addresses in Franklin County, Ohio, where he apparently has connections. A 24-year-old stripper in Florida was being held without bond Tuesday after being charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his partner. Authorities said Justin Calhoun of Tampa became convinced that the victim was a cannibal, so he stabbed him multiple times in the eyes with a pen, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Jail records list Calhoun as a homeless female, but an arrest affidavit refers to Calhoun using male pronouns, FLkeysnews.com reported. The alleged attack on Mark Brann, 67, occurred in Branns Key West home, the Times reported. A police report said that during an argument Brann picked up a gun, but Calhoun managed to take it away from him. Then Calhoun tried to fire the weapon but it jammed, the Times said. Thats when Calhoun allegedly grabbed a pen and started stabbing Brann, the Times reported. Later, Calhoun shoved a piece of wood down Branns throat and hit him over the head with a dresser drawer, FLkeysnews.com reported. Calhoun grabbed a backpack, cash and a dress, then fled the residence naked as police responded to the scene, but was apprehended a short time later, the website reported. Calhoun also faced drug and theft charges, the site said. next Image 1 of 2 prev Image 2 of 2 Swedish police say they are assisting their Danish colleagues searching for a missing Swedish journalist who allegedly disembarked from an amateur-built submarine a day before the vessel sank. Police spokesman Mattias Sigfridsson says Swedish police are providing "any elements" about people and places that could be useful to investigators in Denmark, but declined to be specific. Sigfridsson said Tuesday the main probe is in Denmark, where investigators continue searching for 30-year-old freelance journalist Kim Wall, who was on a reporting assignment aboard the UC3 Nautilus submarine owned by Danish inventor Peter Madsen. He made a last-minute escape from the sinking vessel Friday and has denied any responsibility for Wall's fate. Madsen was arrested on preliminary manslaughter charges. Danish police remain tight-lipped but suspect Madsen deliberately sank the submarine. The daughter of the American ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, has immigrated to Israel and taken Israeli citizenship. The 24-year-old Talia Friedman arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on Tuesday on a charter flight carrying over 200 new immigrants from North America and was greeted by her father. Friedman, President Donald Trump's former bankruptcy attorney, was appointed ambassador earlier this year. His appointment was opposed by Democrats and some Jewish groups because of donations to Israeli settlements, opposition to Palestinian statehood and vocal support for hard-line Israeli government positions. Friedman told Israeli media that he was proud of his daughter. He said that "she loves Israel, we all love Israel. Our whole family loves Israel." Friedman is a member of Trump's team spearheading efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. A married British teacher on Wednesday denied accusations she had sex at a trailer park with one of her 15-year-old male students. Deborah Lowe, 53, allegedly had a sexual relationship with the teenage boy while he was enrolled at a high school in Greater Manchester, The Sun reported. Lowe is the head of the schools pastoral care. MIDDLE SCHOOL PE TEACHER, 40, ARRESTED FOR SEX ROMP WITH TEEN BOY STUDENT The former flight attendant reportedly had sex with the unidentified student in her trailer at the Elm Beds Caravan Park in Cheshire, between April 2015 and June 2016. Authorities said the woman became infatuated with the boy and groomed him for more than a year. Lowe, who is separated from her husband, was arrested last month by Greater Manchester Police after they received a tip about the teacher. TEACHER, 36, CHARGED IN ILLICIT, 3-YEAR SEX ROMP WITH TEEN BOY WHICH LED TO HER BEARING HIS CHILD The teacher pleaded not guilty in court to one count of sexual activity with a child and five counts of sexual activity with a child by a person in a position of trust, according to The Sun. The judge awarded Lowe bail before the trial, which is set to begin in April. At least 37 people in a southern Venezuela prison died Tuesday night after a massive fight broke out between inmates and security officials, a governor in the South American country said. The violence started around midnight on Tuesday at the prison in Puerto Ayacucho, according to Gov. Liborio Guarulla of Amazonas state. Guarulla said security forces entered the grounds in an attempt to restore order in the prison, where the inmates had seized control several weeks ago. "At midnight special forces showed up and through the night we heard gunfire and explosions," Guaralla said. The governor referred to the fighting as a "massacre" on Twitter. The bloodshed was believed to be the worst in Venezuela since a prison riot in 2013 that left 61 people dead. The office of Venezuela's chief prosecutor said on social media that 14 prison guards were injured in the fight, and that it was investigating the incident. Venezuela has around 30 prisons, many of which suffer from overcrowding and are dominated by criminal gangs that traffic in weapons and narcotics. The prison system, built to hold about 16,000 inmates, is currently estimated to house some 50,000 prisoners, according to the Venezuelan Prisons Observatory, which monitors prison conditions. But Guarulla said the facility in Puerto Ayacucho housed only about 110 inmates, all of them awaiting trial, and unlikely suffered from the same volatile conditions seen elsewhere in the country's prisons. The Associated Press contributed to this report. Two French government ministers are protesting a website's report that they rented a vacation home linked to a Corsican drug trafficker. Budget Minister Gerald Darmanin and Sebastien Lecornu, a junior energy minister, said in a statement on Facebook Wednesday that they plan to sue investigative website Mediapart for defamation. Mediapart said the rented house belongs to the girlfriend of Gilbert Casanova, a former Corsican nationalist convicted of drug trafficking in 2010. Darmanin and Lecornu acknowledged renting the house, but say Casanova's name was not on the rental agreement. They say they followed government procedure by informing regional authorities about where they planned to vacation on the French island and no one raised objections. President Emmanuel Macron has filed a legal complaint against a photographer covering his summer vacation. A Sydney man pleaded guilty Tuesday to severely burning his girlfriends 10-month-old son in a bathtub filled with hot water -- and leaving the baby unattended so the man could smoke a cigarette and charge his cellphone. The baby was burned on 40 percent of his body. He was hospitalized for almost four weeks, ABC Australia reported. Altare Tepania, 24, was looking after the child while the baby's mother was shopping, according to a statement from prosecutors and defense lawyers obtained by News Corp Australia. After the child vomited, Tepania put him in the bath to wash off. MICHIGAN MOTHER CHARGED WITH KILLING BABY BOY I put him in the f****** shower and I didn't turn the cold on; I only turned the hot on. I left, Tepania reportedly told police at the scene. "I went and put my phone on charge. I had a smoke too." "I don't know what I was thinking, he said. I don't know...not thinking straight today." After hearing the baby screaming, Tepania returned to the bathroom to find the child lying on his back under the scalding tap with his skin peeling off, according to the statement. Tepania picked the infant up out of the bath by one arm and dropped him on the tile floor, fracturing his elbow and causing injuries to his face and head. He then took the baby to the bedroom and poured cups of cold water on the baby. BABY LEFT IN SMOKE SHOP PARKING LOT He also tried feeding the screaming infant a bottle of formula but when the baby spat it out, Tepania forced it into the child's mouth with such force the baby's mouth bled. Court documents say Tepania also struck the boy at least once. When the boys mother returned home shortly after, she said Tepania had a strange look on his face and told her not to call for help. Ignoring him, she put the baby in a cold bath and called emergency responders. Tepania later told police he was hungover really bad, and was a "10" on a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the most hungover. He said he had been drinking and also tested positive for methamphetamine. Since the incident, the baby has healed without scarring and there aren't likely to be long-term effects, according to court documents. Tepania was supposed to face trial Tuesday but instead he pleaded guilty to two charges of recklessly causing grievous bodily harm and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The original charges carried a maximum 25-year sentence, but, after reaching a deal with prosecutors, Tepanias sentence was reduced to 15 years. Tepania is due back in court in October. The Latest on Vice President Mike Pence's trip to Latin America (all times local): 12:35 p.m. Vice President Mike Pence is meeting with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet after arriving in the country. Pence headed from the airport to La Moneda presidential palace in Santiago, where the two exchanged greetings before private meetings. They'll also be delivering a joint statement and having lunch together. Pence is scheduled to meet with U.S. embassy staff and their families before delivering remarks at a dinner on advancing prosperity and economic growth in the hemisphere. Pence is on a weeklong trip to Latin America that has included stops in Colombia and Argentina. He'll head to Panama on Thursday. ___ 12:15 p.m. Vice President Mike Pence's isn't expected to take questions from reporters after meeting with Chile's president even though Pence's public schedule had listed a "joint press conference" with Michelle Bachelet (bah-cheh-LET'). Pence spokesman Jarrod Agen tells reporters traveling with Pence that the leaders had never intended to take questions, at the Chileans' request. That means Pence won't face more questions about President Donald Trump's response to violence between white supremacists and counter-demonstrators last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. On Tuesday, Trump blamed "both sides" for the violence. Pence is on a weeklong trip to Latin America to build ties with the region and speak out against the growing crisis in Venezuela. A new analysis of satellite photos taken two weeks after Flight MH370 mysteriously vanished may help scientists narrow the search area for the missing Malaysian Airlines aircraft to three regions in the southern Indian Ocean. The drift analysis by Australian science agency CSIRO released Wednesday is based on French satellite images taken on March 23, 2014, and captures 12 "probably man-made" floating objects. The agency, however, could not determine whether the objects are actually the debris from an aircraft. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau chief commissioner, Greg Hood, said in a statement, "Clearly we must be cautious" about the lack of a definite link to Flight 370. The image resolution is not high enough to be certain whether the objects originated from MH370 or are other objects that might be found floating in oceans around the world," Hood said. Hood previously said in January, after the Malaysian, Australian and Chinese governments suspended the underwater search for the aircraft, it was "highly likely" the Boeing 777 was within a 9,700-square-mile expanse identified by a panel of experts, and the agency would have liked to continue the hunt. The ATSB is preparing a final report on the MH370 search, which is expected to be released by the end of September, according to Sky News Australia. The area adjoins the original search zone, far southwest of Australia, that was identified through satellite analysis of the final hours of the flight, which apparently ended when the plane carrying 239 passengers and crew on board ran out of fuel. The Australian bureau took over the search for Flight 370 from Malaysia a week after the airliner vanished. Satellite experts at Geoscience Australia were not asked to analyze the images until March 2017, when they concluded a dozen objects appeared to be man-made. CSIRO then investigated where the objects might have originated before drifting for two weeks, identifying three potential crash sites. "So that is a way of potentially narrowing down the search area with the very important caveat that, of course, we can't be totally sure that those objects seen in the images are actual pieces of plane," CSIRO oceanographer David Griffin said. "This might be a really good clue. It might be a red herring. But if you are going to search, then you'd be silly to ignore this potential clue," he added. Malaysian Deputy Transport Minister Aziz Kaprawi told the Associated Press the civil aviation department would need to evaluate the data since it's based on satellite images from a few years ago. "We will need to verify the data to see if it's credible before we make any decision," Aziz said. The prospect of a new search has inspired private groups to search for the Malaysian airliner, including seabed exploration company Ocean Infinity, based in Houston, Texas, which has offered to launch a private search. Voice370, a support group for victim's families, said under the terms of the offer made to Malaysia in April, Ocean Infinity "would like to be paid a reward if and only if it finds the main debris field," and urged Malaysia to accept the offer. Aziz said Wednesday that the offer was still being negotiated. He said there were some other "monetary terms" set by the firm that were unacceptable to the government. "There are three categories of findings in the offer. The terms are a bit ambiguous," Aziz said. "The government wants the terms to be transparent and clear." He declined to give details. Amid the stunning revelations of advancements in North Korea's nuclear missile program, experts say there's another weapon in Pyongyangs arsenal the world should keep a close eye on. Kim Jong Uns military has been collecting large stockpiles of nerve agents, such as sarin and VX, that could target U.S. military bases in the region and large cities like Seoul and Tokyo, according to a new report. Nuclear weapons are not the only threat, Kelsey Davenport, director of non-proliferation policy for the Arms Control Association told the McClatchy Washington Bureau. North Korea could respond to a U.S. attack using chemical weapons. That would be devastating. While Pyongyang officials deny the rogue regime possesses chemical weapons, the country began developing chemical weapons in 1961 amid rising tensions at that time. The Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology reports the country has four military bases equipped with chemical weapons and at least 11 facilities where they are produced and stored. Davenport said it would be difficult, if not impossible, to neutralize North Koreas chemical weapon stockpile with a preventive strike. Compared to the nuclear threat, which involves, a finite number of warheads and delivery systems vulnerable to air defenses and antimissile systems, the chemical threat is not as easily negated, military analyst Reid Kirby wrote in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. The report on Pyongyangs chemical arsenal comes amid rising tensions with the U.S., a conflict which saw an apparent de-escalation this week after North Korean media reported Kim Jong Un had delayed a decision about whether to follow through with his threat to fire missiles toward Guam, a U.S. territory. President Trump said in a tweet on Wednesday the dictator made a wise decision to back down from his threats. The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable! Trump wrote. U.S. military officials have not commented on North Koreas chemical weapons arsenal. VX and sarin are two potent nerve agents, which attack the nervous system. Both are banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention, but several countries maintain stockpiles. Trump accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons on its citizens earlier this year, an attack that killed at least 74 people. There is legitimate concerns that sustained use of chemical weapons in Syria has lowered the threshold for their use elsewhere, Davenport said. A second man has been arrested by police investigating the alleged kidnapping of a British model. Michal Konrad Herba, 36, was arrested in Birmingham on Wednesday, the National Crime Agency said. He is the brother of chief suspect Lukasz Pawel Herba, who has been charged with the kidnapping of 30-year-old Chloe Ayling for extortion. The British model said her kidnappers lured her to a fake photo shoot in Milan, before abducting her and driving her to a remote farmhouse where she was kept captive for six days. Italian police said her captor advertised her "sale" online and demanded a $300,000 (231,000) ransom from her agent. For some reason her captor decided to release her and on 17 July she was dropped off at the British consulate in Milan. Herba was arrested the following day. Following her ordeal Ayling's lawyer said the police had "more than understandable doubts" about the model's story after her ordeal. But he described suggestions that Ms Ayling may have been somehow in on the kidnap as "evil". Read more from Sky News. Moon Jae-in, the president of South Korea, said Tuesday that no country should be allowed to take military action on North Korea without first being approved by Seoul. The New York Times reported that Moon made the comments during a nationally televised speech. Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the U.S. wants to peacefully resolve tensions with North Korea, but Washington is also ready to use the "full range" of its military capabilities. His visit to Asia, which also will include a stop in Japan, comes after Trump last week declared the U.S. military "locked and loaded" and said he was ready to unleash "fire and fury" if North Korea continued to threaten the United States. North Korea's military on Tuesday presented leader Kim Jong Un with plans to launch missiles into waters near the U.S. territory of Guam and "wring the windpipes of the Yankees," even as both Koreas and the United States signaled their willingness to avert a deepening crisis, with each suggesting a path toward negotiations. The tentative interest in diplomacy follows unusually combative threats between Trump and North Korea amid worries Pyongyang is nearing its long-sought goal of being able to send a nuclear missile to the U.S. mainland. Next week's start of U.S.-South Korean military exercises that enrage the North each year could make diplomacy even more difficult. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters in Washington on Tuesday, "We continue to be interested in trying to find a way to get to dialogue, but that's up to (Kim)." Moon, in a televised speech on the anniversary of World War II's end and the Korean Peninsula's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, said Seoul and Washington agree that the nuclear standoff should "absolutely be solved peacefully." The Associated Press contributed to this report Syrian warplanes have bombarded mountainous areas controlled by the Islamic State group near the border with Lebanon. The extremists control a stretch of land on both side of the border and a major military operation is expected soon to remove them. The shelling on the Syrian side came as a Lebanese military official said Wednesday that Lebanese troops attacked IS positions on the other side of the border, tightening the siege on them. The Lebanese official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations. Syrian state TV says troops captured a strategic hill overlooking wide areas controlled by IS. The Lebanese army has been preparing for an all-out attack on IS positions along the Syrian border for weeks, massing reinforcements and pounding the area with artillery shells and rockets. One U.S. service member died fighting an Islamic State affiliate in eastern Afghanistan Wednesday, according to a statement from U.S. Forces Afghanistan. Other U.S. and Afghan soldiers were wounded in the operation in Nangarhar Province and medically airlifted to a hospital. It is not immediately clear how many American service members were wounded in the operation against what the military calls Islamic State-Khorasan, which shares ties with ISIS in Iraq and Syria. This is the tenth U.S. service member killed in combat in Afghanistan this year, surpassing the nine killed in 2016. It comes as President Trump weighs a decision to send up to 4,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan in the coming days to roll back Taliban gains. Asked late last week how soon a decision would be made, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters the Pentagon was very close. HELICOPTER WITH 5 CREW MEMBERS ON BOARD CRASHES OFF HAWAII A statement from U.S. Forces Afghanistan said the U.S. service member was killed and others wounded during a partnered operation with Afghan forces. It was not clear how the death occurred or how the others were wounded. The Pentagon is currently notifying the families of those killed and wounded before their identities will be released. Earlier this month, two U.S. service members were killed when their convoy came under attack in Afghanistan's Kandahar Province. There are more than 8,400 troops currently deployed in the country. Recently, the Marine Corps bolstered security at a base in Helmand Province by adding dozens of additional Marines. The combined U.S. and NATO troop contingent currently in Afghanistan is about 13,500. In early August, two U.S. soldiers were injured when their Black Hawk helicopter made a hard landing in the Achin District. In April, two U.S. Army Rangers were killed by ISIS fighters in Achin District in Nangarhar, just weeks after the U.S. military dropped the Mother of all Bombs, or MOAB, on an ISIS cave complex. New U.K. Treasury chief Jeremy Hunt has reversed most of an economic package announced by the government just weeks ago, including a planned cut in income taxes. Hunt said Monday he was scrapping almost all the tax cuts announced last month by the Conservative government of Prime Minister Liz Truss, and also signaled that public spending cuts are on the way. It was a bid to soothe turbulent financial markets spooked by fears of excessive government borrowing. The move raises questions about how long the beleaguered prime minister can stay in office, though Truss insisted she has no plans to quit. She vowed to lead the Conservatives into the next general election, but many in the party want her gone. Donnie Embrey is a retired firefighter and EMT whos always loved animals. Then he got the chance to combine his interests. You take disaster and emergency response, and you add animals, he said. To me, thats a dream job. Embrey leads the Louisa Community Animal Response Team or CART, a group of volunteers trained to look out for animals during emergency situations such as fires and natural disasters. Formed in 2013, the group recently became the first such CART in Virginia to cross state lines in order to help other animals in need. Embrey and his team traveled to Rhinelander, Wisc., to help take care of more than 50 dogs and horses that were seized as part of an animal cruelty investigation in March. Authorities had received numerous complaints from neighbors about the animals on the property, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. When ASPCA officials investigated, they found deplorable conditions, including chained dogs without access to food or water. Horses also suffered from neglect and malnutrition, and several had died. The ASPCA seized the animals and has been caring for them ever since. It put out a national call for help with basic shelter care, and the Louisa volunteers responded. The locals were as friendly as they could be, and the people with the ASPCA were incredibly nice, very accommodating and great people, Embrey said. Just to be able to go up there and work with the animals and help them in that situation, that made it all worthwhile. He couldnt give a lot of details of the teams activities or the animals conditions because the case against the owner is still pending. But its safe to say that Embrey and his wife, Rhonda; Eric Glenn and Lindsey Devenney journeyed more than 1,000 miles to clean cages and muck stalls. They also socialized with the dogs and horses to get them ready for possible adoption, if thats what the court decides. The ASPCA is incredibly grateful for the support and dedication of groups like the Louisa CART, who volunteered their time, said Tim Rickey, vice president of ASPCA Field Investigations and Response. Our life-saving work would not be possible without the much-needed help we receive from responders across the country. The ASPCA paid travel expenses for the four Louisa residents. When the team is deployed on local missions, volunteers have to take time from work and pay expenses out of their own pockets, Embrey said. No Louisa County taxpayer money is used. The team is managed under the Louisa County Department of Emergency Management and raises its own funds for operations. The team formed after two major events in 2011 illustrated the need for rescuers who knew how to handle animals during emergencies. The first came in February, when brush fires tore through the county and fire officials gave the order to cut loose any dogs or horses that were penned or chained and in the path of the flames. Embrey remembers horses running lose on State Route 522 as fire trucks traveled through the smoke. Later that year, when an earthquake hit the nearby town of Mineral, the first family needing shelter had a dogand the shelter wasnt set up to accommodate pets. Louisa officials decided they needed volunteers who could handle and evacuate animals during such disastersand do so in a controlled fashion. The Louisa CART formed in 2013 and became qualified to respond to out-of-state requests under a national Emergency Management Assistance Compact in December. The group also partnered with the ASPCA last year. The Louisa team members plan to return to Wisconsin to help with shelter duties again in late September. Thats what we do, Embrey said. We take care of animals when theyre in situations like that. Police arrested an Alexandria man on a rape charge after responding to a reported assault Tuesday evening in Fredericksburg. According to the Fredericksburg Police Department, officers responded to an apartment on Cowan Boulevard shortly before 6:30 p.m. After investigating, police arrested a man on charges that he sexually assaulted a woman in her 20s. Police said the man and the woman know each other. Michael Andrew Peterson, 29, is charged with abduction, assault and preventing a person from making a 911 call. He was taken to the Rappahannock Regional Jail, where he remains incarcerated without bond. The former operator of a Spotsylvania County gas station was ordered Wednesday to serve two years in federal prison for his role in a contraband cigarette conspiracy. Bernard Ekelemu, 60, received the sentence in U.S. District Court in Richmond. He also was ordered to pay $3 million in restitution and to forfeit $1.42 million. According to the statement of facts filed with the plea agreement, Ekelemu directed another person to buy the Gulf gas station at 5318 Jefferson Highway in November 2013. He then registered a state corporation to operate the station and obtained a state certificate that exempted him from paying state sales taxes when making business purchases. Ekelemu then opened business memberships at several wholesale clubs, including BJs, Costco and Liberty USA, according to court records. He used those memberships to purchase more than $7.1 million worth of Virginia-stamped cigarettes between March 2014 and November of last year without paying any sales tax. The cigarettes were stored in various locations, including storage units in Fredericksburg and Springfield, before being sold to cigarette traffickers. The traffickers then sold the contraband cigarettes on the black market in New York and elsewhere. Like others who watched the horrific events unfold last weekend in Charlottesville, Im saddened, sickened and angry. Saddened for the loss of three lives and the many people seriously injured because hateful Nazis, white nationalists, KKK members and other vermin chose to spew their disgusting bile in this nearby city. Sickened that these twisted individuals got what they wanted: national and international coverage of a bloody battle with counter-protesters on the streets of downtown Charlottesville. Angry not just because it happened in our great state, but because it happened anywhere in our country in 2017. After all the hurt and travails of the Civil Rights Movement, youd have thought we were beyond seeing idiots going on a rampage because America isnt populated and run by a pure, white race. A young woman is dead, and so are two state police officers involved in a helicopter crash. Nearly two dozen people will probably never be the same because they were rammed by a car amidst fighting on Charlottesvilles streets that looked like a scene from a Third World country. But no, it happened here, because a group that included skinheads, neo-Nazis and others who chanted about wanting to take their country back descended on the home turf of Thomas Jefferson ready to do mayhem. Why, if youre not intent on violence and mayhem, do you show up for a rally armed with batons and clubs, carrying shields and chemical spray and wearing helmets? Or even scarier, come armed with rifles or sidearms? As a journalist and an American, there are no rights more important to me than those enumerated in the First Amendment protecting both the freedom of the press and peaceable assembly. The hate groups that flocked to Saturdays Unite the Right rally like flies to excrement had every right to assemble and protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Army Gen. Robert E. Lee from a park in the city. They could wear their Klan robes, march like Hitlers troops, carry their torches and spew whatever vile pro-Nazi speech they wanted to. As Americans, thats their right. But because they came bearing weapons and wearing riot gear, thats clearly not all these deranged hatemongers hoped to accomplish in Charlottesville. The ones on the side of the angels Saturday were people who simply showed up to say they will never accept the hateful nonsense the alt-right army was there to spread. These were men and women of the clergy, students, local residents and those who came from elsewhere who just wanted to speak to our better selves, to argue against the alt-right and loudly argue that love will never give in to hate. While it may be largely legal in this state to show up for rallies carrying clubs or firearms and wearing homemade riot gear, its a topic legislators may want to consider. Giving police a way to prevent or defuse that sort of situation is certainly something worth reviewing. One or two people decked out that way is one thing, but having dozens and even hundreds of people coming heavily armed to a demonstration is mayhem waiting to happen, shattering any pretense of a peaceable assembly. While some have criticized police for not stepping in sooner on Saturday, I wont, because I dont know enough to do that. Instead, I hope and expect that police all over Virginia will review what happened in Charlottesville with an eye toward preventing anything like it again. Thats important, because the scourge who flocked to this rally may indeed want to come back. And I hope that all the white supremacists and the Nazis that Gov. Terry McAuliffe correctly called out on Saturday heed his advice and from now on stay out of Virginia, where he noted that theyre not wanted in this great commonwealth. Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam, the Democratic nominee for governor, said in a statement on Wednesday that Confederate statues "should be taken down and moved into museums." Republican nominee Ed Gillespie said in response that he agrees that decisions about Confederate monuments should be made at the local level, but that the monuments should remain and "be placed in historical context." Gillespie credited the "balance" that Richmond was taking in what until later Wednesday was its approach. On Wednesday afternoon, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said his commission will now consider removal or relocation of some or all of the Confederate statues. Gov. Terry McAuliffe then changed his position on letting the monuments stand and fell in line with Northam, urging localities to "take down these monuments and relocate them to museums or more appropriate settings." A day of twists and turns by local and state politicians underscored how Saturday's white nationalist rally in Charlottesville that turned deadly is rapidly resetting the politics of what to do with Confederate memorials. Northam said in his statement: "I support city of Charlottesville's decision to remove the Robert E. Lee statue. I believe these statues should be taken down and moved into museums. As governor, I am going to be a vocal advocate for that approach and work with localities on this issue. "We should also do more to elevate the parts of our history that have all too often been underrepresented. That means memorializing civil rights advocates like Barbara Johns and Oliver Hill, who helped move our commonwealth closer towards equality." Northam released his statement after a memorial service in Charlottesville for Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old woman struck and killed Saturday by a car that plowed into counterprotesters at the white nationalist rally. Northam campaign spokesman David Turner said the statement on Wednesday breaks new ground on the issue for the Democratic candidate, but he said it is consistent with past statements made by the lieutenant governor, including as recently as Monday, that he believes the statues belong in museums but defers to local authority. "Does this go a little bit further? Yes, but he doesnt want to suggest that the governor has the authority to take down statues under local control," Turner said. Northam personally favors removing Confederate statues in Richmond, but again would defer to the city on the best approach to the monuments, his spokesman said. He would work with Richmond on this issue to resolve it, Turner said. He would be a vocal advocate for taking them down. Northam's statement comes less than 100 days before Virginia's election for governor. Gillespie, the Republican nominee for governor, nearly lost the June primary to Corey Stewart, the Prince William Board of County Supervisors chairman who made protection of Confederate monuments a centerpiece of his campaign. The day before the June 13 primary, Gillespie's campaign reiterated in a headline on its website: "No, Ed Gillespie Doesn't Support Removing Confederate Monuments." The Gillespie campaign said at the time that in "an act of desperation," Stewart was promoting "his false claim that Ed is 'OK with taking down Robert E. Lee.' " Gillespie's camp clarified on his website: "This is 100 percent false, untrue and totally made up. Ed Gillespie has consistently opposed efforts to take down historical statues, including Civil War monuments." Gillespie said in his statement on Wednesday that he and Northam have "legitimate differences" on the issue and that "I know Virginians are engaging in an ongoing, thoughtful conversation on these issues, one marked by respect and understanding." "There is a balance that can be struck here, one that recognizes the outsized role Virginia has played in our history, while acknowledging that we have not always been on its right side," Gillespie said. "Rather than glorifying their objects, the statues should be instructional. While ensuring that Confederate statues are not exalting them but educating about them, we should do more to elevate Virginias history in expanding freedom and equality by extolling the many Virginians who played critical roles in this regard." Stewart now plans to seek the Republican nomination to run for the seat of U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., in 2018. Stewart said in a Facebook post on Wednesday afternoon: "The left never lets a good tragedy go to waste. We must not give them an inch." He added: "Right after November, Monument Avenue will be coming down. Republicans need to speak before it's gone." In 2015 McAuliffe took steps to ban Confederate flags on Virginia's license plates, but said he did not back the removal of Confederate statues. "I mean, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, these are all parts of our heritage," McAuliffe said in a June 2015 appearance on MSNBC. "And the people that were in that battle, the Civil War, many of them were in it obviously for their own reasons that they had for that. But leave the statues and those things alone." McAuliffe in 2016 vetoed legislation that would prevent Virginia localities from taking down monuments to the Confederacy and other war-related memorials, saying it would prohibit communities from making their own decisions about controversial symbols. In announcing the veto in March 2016, McAuliffe said he supports historic preservation, but called the legislation a sweeping override of local authority that has ramifications for interpretive signage to tell the story of some of our darkest moments during the Civil War. "There is a legitimate discussion going on in localities across the commonwealth regarding whether to retain, remove, or alter certain symbols of the Confederacy, McAuliffe said in his veto message. "These discussions are often difficult and complicated. They are unique to each communitys specific history and the specific monument or memorial being discussed. This bill effectively ends these important conversations." A Confederate heritage advocate who sought a permit to hold a rally on Sept. 16 at the Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue this week withdrew his request for a permit, saying he did not want to see a repeat of Saturday's violence in Charlottesville. Northam also has previously said that the Confederate flag belongs in museums and has spoken about the idea of a commission to examine racial issues following earlier protests over the proposed removal of the Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville. As for the civil rights figures Northam cited on Wednesday, Oliver W. Hill was a famed attorney from Richmond whose advocacy helped win decisions on issues such as teacher pay for African-American teachers and voting rights. He is perhaps best known for taking up the case of black students at segregated R.R. Moton High School in Farmville, who walked out of the school in 1951 to protest substandard facilities that were separate, but not equal. It was one of five cases rolled into Brown vs. Board of Education, which prompted the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark school desegregation decision in 1954. Barbara Johns was the 16-year-old student who led the walkout at Moton High. CHARLOTTESVILLETwo blocks and four days removed from where Heather Heyer was killed, a death that occurred amidst the piercing sounds of screeching tires, crumpling metal and screams, more than 1,000 people packed the Paramount Theater, and overflowed to the nearby Jefferson Theater, for Heyers memorial service. This time, in near perfect silence, they listed to speakers talk about Heyers childhood, her work and her death. They tried to kill my child to shut her up, Heyers mother, Susan Bro, told the audience of family, friends, politicians and community members. Well guess what? You just magnified her. Bros comments brought a standing ovation from the audience, who had listened to a mix of mournful, hopeful and humorous speeches about the 32-year-old Greene County native during the over-an-hour long ceremony. Heyer was killed Saturday when a 2010 Dodge Challenger, which police say was driven by James Alex Fields Jr., 20, plowed into a group of people gathered Saturday to counterprotest the white nationalists rally that was taking place in Charlottesville. Fields was described by a former high school teacher as an admirer of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. He has been charged with second-degree murder and other counts. Local businesses along the downtown mall hung signs in their windows honoring Heather, and many of those in attendance at the service responded to the familys request they wear purple, her favorite color. While Bros line about white supremacists trying to shut up her daughter resonated with the crowd, speaker after speaker painted a portrait of Heyer as a young woman who could never be silenced. Bros close friend, Cathy Brinkley, opened the service for Heyer, welcoming the crowd and urging them to carry her legacy on. Heyers grandfather, Elwood Shrader, recalled rocking her to sleep as a baby and noted that, as she grew older, he could see that same drive, that same passion, that same desire for justice that led Heyer to join thousands of counterprotesters opposing the alt-right rally. He said Heyer had a knack for pointing out things that were unfair or unjust. Shrader said his granddaughter had the constitution to fight for what was right at an early age, and embodied her familys values. In our family, all lives matter, Shrader said. Heyers father, Mark Heyer, told the audience, no father should have to bury their daughter. He broke down in tears after saying, She loved people. She wanted equality. For that, Im truly proud of my daughter. He also recounted a nearly two-hour standoff between Heyer and her mother, when Heyer was a child, over whether she needed to wear a sweater or not. The anecdote illustrating Heyers stubborn conviction to defend her point of view drew laughter from the crowd. Mark Heyer needed to be consoled again, while sitting in the front row of the theater and hearing one of Heather Heyers cousins, Diana Ratcliff, say, When my children ask me who I admired most, Ill tell them you. And, as was the emotional ebb and flow of the day, Mark Heyer laughed out loud when one of his daughters friends and co-workers, Feda Khateeb-Wilson, joked about her hatred of mornings and her penchant for cursing like a sailor, especially when in conflict with the office printer. Bro opened and ended her comments by quoting her daughters last social media posting. If youre not outraged, youre not paying attention, she said. This is just the beginning of Heathers legacy. Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam and Sen. Tim Kaine sat in the front row for the service and spoke to the media afterward, outside the theater. Kaine said the white supremacists and neo-Nazis who took part in Saturdays alt-right rally protesting the removal of the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in a downtown Charlottesville park, dont represent the mind set of the state. Were not anybodys museum piece, Kaine said. Were a living, breathing fellowship, a community. Thats what commonwealth means. We cant stop people from indulging in their own bitter fantasies. But we can be confident, and I am confident, that thats just not who Virginia is now. We will not let anybody drag us backwards. Were just not going to. Gandhi said an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. The American civil rights movement gained traction when decent people saw African-Americans and their white compatriots beaten and killed while non-violently seeking basic human rights. So, what to make of the tragic and deeply disturbing past weekend in Charlottesville? A group of neo-Nazis and other reprehensibles came to one of the countrys most pleasant university towns and held what looked a lot like a Klan rally. Should the progressive folks in Charlottesville have turned the other cheek? Should they have just ignored the hate-mongers in the belief that they would be so abashed, so ashamed of themselves, that they would skulk back into whatever hole they crawled out of? While it would be pleasant to think that the world works like that, we dont believe it does. We believe that there is a time when evil must be confronted. Do nations turn the other cheek when they are assaulted? Did we ignore Pearl Harbor and 9/11? Sometimes, inaction only makes you a victim. When the city of Charlottesville decides to rename a couple of city parks and remove a statue of Robert E. Lee in the name of making itself slightly less reverent about the Lost Cause, and a group tries to hijack that decision with torchlight rallies, hate speech and Nazi and Confederate flags, the time for equivocating is over. Yes, violence begets violence. Heather Heyer, a 32-year-old woman from Charlottesville, is dead today because right-thinking people werent willing to sit by and see their city turned into a neo-Nazi festival of hate. Two Virginia state troopers would still be alive if they hadnt been working to try and keep the peace. How, though, do Americans stand up for whats right if we dont confront evil? The anti-racists seemed just as ready to fight as the white supremacists did, but what is the alternative? Most people dont want to be part of a public brawl, but letting bullies trash much of what defines this country isnt an appealing option, either. There no doubt will be more bloodshed if the Klan-lovers keep returning. The thing is, theyll keep returning anyhow, as long as they think they can override the rights of a city to govern itself. The Constitution gives Americans the right to peaceably assemble. But Saturdays deadly spectacle was anything but that. And when groups with a record of violence choose to flaunt their hate, government officials should turn them away to ensure public safety. One thing is heartening in all this. By the year 2043, according to Census Bureau projections, there will be no ethnic majority in the United States. We are becoming more diverse, in every way, with each passing year. White-power knuckleheads glorifying the worst and the dumbest in American life have no future now, and they will have even less in a few years. Say no to hatred, division through Christianity Charlottesville and North Korea dramatically illustrate the tension, hatred, animosity and win-at-any-cost attitude of leaders and citizens alike. But those same qualities should never be used to label those of us who serve Jesus Christ. We can and must do better. We seek judgment and victories while God provides compassion and grace. Whether the subject is racism, nuclear proliferation, universal health care, immigration reform, abortion or homosexuality; whether you are conservative or liberal, Republican or Democrat, white or blackwe should think, act and behave with an attitude of grace. We are challenged as Christs church to provide a sanctuary where the incredible wealth of Gods love and grace is taught and displayed. As Christians, we have an opportunity to say no to hatred, to racism, to division, to the loss of hope. We can instead say yes to reconciliation, love and Gods amazing grace. Larry Davies Fredericksburg There's a hearty helping of local restaurants and catering businesses that are prepared to help make your turkey day successful without the stress, if cooking isn't your thing. We've got a list for you here: Read moreTired of cooking? Here's where to enjoy or preorder Thanksgiving meals around Columbia. WREN RYAN CLARY Free Access Zach and Erica Clary of Gaffney announce the birth of their daughter, Wren Ryan Clary, born August 17, 2022. Wren has a sister, Reese. Grandparents are Eric and Teresa Bennett... Fresh fruit and veggies for Thanksgiving Free Access Families can receive a box of fresh fruits and vegetables just in time for the Thanksgiving holidays. FoodShare Cherokee provides opportunities for all residents to order fresh food boxes every... Museum, Limestone collaborating on textile history program Free Access The Cherokee County Museum is partnering with Limestone Universitys communications class and local educator Tim Lipsey to conduct a history program on textiles. If you or your family has worked... Story Highlights 47% of Americans view Trump as a strong leader 43% think he can bring about change in the U.S. Fairly static readings since April track closely with job approval WASHINGTON, D.C. -- For the first time, the percentage of Americans who credit Donald Trump with being a strong leader has fallen below the majority level, to 47%. At the same time, Americans' confidence in the president as an agent of change, a quality that helped him win the election, has edged down to 43%. Still, more Americans attribute these two qualities to Trump than three other positive characteristics: empathy, truthfulness and managing government effectively. Assessments of Trump's characteristics have been fairly static since April, tracking closely with his overall job approval rating. Trump's Positive Attributes Eroding Percentage who think each of the following applies to Trump February 2017 April 2017 August 2017 % % % Is a strong and decisive leader 59 52 47 Puts the country's interests ahead of his own political interests * * 44 Can bring about the changes this country needs 53 46 43 Cares about the needs of people like you 46 42 40 Can manage the government effectively 44 41 37 Is honest and trustworthy 42 36 33 * Item was first asked in August 2017 Gallup Shortly after Trump took office, Americans gave him relatively high ratings on two characteristics -- his leadership and his ability to bring about change. By April, Americans had begun to sour on the president's skill at effecting change, but he maintained majority support for his strong leadership until it fell below 50% for the first time this month. While readings for Trump's truthfulness (33%), management of government (37%) and empathy (40%) haven't fallen sharply in the past few months, they are down significantly from February. The latest readings are from an Aug. 2-6 Gallup poll, completed before two recent events dominated news coverage and resulted in widespread criticism of the president. Trump warned North Korea on Aug. 8 that threatening the U.S. would result in "fire and fury." And after a violent rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12 that left three dead, the media and political leaders in both parties criticized Trump for not strongly condemning the white supremacists by name. It is unknown whether these recent events affected any perceptions of the character qualities tested Aug. 2-6. The trends show that in general, and historically, the public's views of personal characteristics edge down in sync with the president's overall job approval rating. In Gallup Daily tracking conducted Aug. 12-14, Trump's job approval stood at 36% -- after hitting a new personal low in polling conducted Aug. 11-13. Republicans Remain Largely Supportive Despite tepid overall character ratings, more than eight in 10 Republicans consider Trump to be a strong leader, able to put the country's interests ahead of his own, a change agent and empathetic. Republicans are somewhat less positive in their ratings of his honesty and whether he can effectively manage government. Trump Attributes, by Party Identification Percentage who think each of the following applies to Trump Republicans Independents Democrats % % % Is a strong and decisive leader 85 45 12 Puts the country's interests ahead of his own political interests 83 38 15 Can bring about the changes this country needs 83 37 13 Cares about the needs of people like you 82 34 7 Can manage the government effectively 71 33 7 Is honest and trustworthy 70 27 5 Gallup, Aug. 2-6, 2017 Majorities in many of the groups that tended to vote for Trump -- men, whites, those without college degrees and those living in rural areas -- also still think he is a strong leader. Bottom Line Views of Trump's characteristics have trended downward in tandem with his approval ratings, but his greatest attributes -- strong and decisive leadership and the ability to bring about needed change -- remain his highest perceived strengths. Historically, attrition in a president's job approval rating is to be expected, yet presidents have typically started their first term in office in higher standing than Trump did. Shortly after his inauguration, Trump's job approval was 46%, but he has since been unable to maintain that rating, much less build on it. Gallup Analytics Subscribe to our online platform and access nearly a century of primary data. Learn more Story Highlights 33% of Republicans, 56% of Democrats are confident in U.S. colleges Republicans down on colleges cite politics, agenda, what is taught Democrats down on colleges most frequently cite the high expense WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Symptomatic of today's politically polarized environment in the U.S., Democrats and Republicans express substantially different levels of confidence in colleges and universities. The 56% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents who have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in colleges is more than 20 percentage points higher than the 33% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents who hold that same view. Please tell me how much confidence you, yourself, have in colleges and universities -- a great deal, quite a lot, some or very little? A great deal/Quite a lot Some/Very little % % U.S. adults 44 56 Republicans/Leaners 33 67 Democrats/Leaners 56 43 Gallup, Aug. 2-6, 2017 The current survey marks the first time Gallup has included "colleges and universities" in its confidence in institutions format, so there is no historical trend. However, a recent report from Pew Research Center measuring partisan responses to a question about colleges and universities' effect on American life found a substantially widening partisan gap between 2015 and 2017. Republicans' positive answers nosedived, while Democrats' responses stayed the same -- and very positive. Thus, at the current time, both the Pew and Gallup results show a wide partisan gap in views about U.S. colleges. To find out what is behind these differing views of higher education, Gallup's study asked those who hold each position to provide their reasons. Americans who expressed a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in colleges and universities were asked to explain why they feel that way, and those with some or very little confidence were asked to explain their position. Gallup coded these open-ended responses into categories. Republicans' Low Confidence Because of Perceived Politics, Agenda The most important distinction in partisan explanations for attitudes toward U.S. colleges is on the negative side of the equation. Republicans are not only less confident than Democrats about colleges and universities in general, but the reasons Republicans give for these attitudes differ from those provided by the smaller group of Democrats who are negative. Republicans with low levels of confidence in colleges are most likely to cite their belief that colleges and universities are too liberal and political, that colleges don't allow students to think for themselves and are pushing their own agenda, or that students are not taught the right material or are poorly educated. In short, Republicans with low confidence tend to see the world of higher education through distinctly political eyes. By contrast, Democrats with low confidence in U.S. colleges are much more likely to cite issues dealing with practical aspects of higher education -- saying colleges are too expensive, are not well-run or have deteriorating quality, or that college graduates aren't able to find jobs. Few Democrats join Republicans in citing colleges as too political or citing specifics in the ways students are taught. What are some of the reasons why you do not have a lot of confidence in colleges and universities? Based on those who have some or very little confidence Republicans/Leaners Democrats/Leaners % % Too expensive 11 36 Too liberal/political 32 1 Not allowing students to think for themselves; pushing their own agenda 21 6 Students not properly educated; teach wrong stuff; not relevant 13 9 Poor leadership; not well-run; too much corporate interest; bad policies 9 14 Unable to find employment 7 10 Overall quality is going down; not bringing up leaders 4 11 Not focused on education; too much focus on sports 2 5 Poor quality of professors/instructors/employees 4 2 Too easy to get education; students don't appreciate/don't take seriously 3 2 Gallup, Aug. 2-6, 2017 Fewer Partisan Differences in Reasons for High Confidence in Colleges The same partisan divide does not exist among those with high confidence in colleges and universities. Few meaningful differences appear in the explanations Republicans and Democrats give for their positive confidence levels. Among the top reasons for expressing high levels of confidence in these institutions are: 1) personal positive experiences with colleges and universities, 2) the belief that colleges are essential for the nation, 3) the belief that colleges are doing a good job of educating students and 4) the belief that a degree is necessary to get a better job. Smaller percentages of both Republicans and Democrats with positive confidence in colleges cite views of the advanced nature of U.S. colleges, the idea that college is important for students to have better opportunities, and the idea that colleges teach students to have open minds and to see different points of view. What are some of the reasons why you have a lot of confidence in colleges and universities? Based on those who have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence Republicans/Leaners Democrats/Leaners % % Personal experience; family member/myself enrolled in/graduated from college; college employee 32 24 Higher education is essential to the country; believe in 16 17 Students are well-trained/educated; doing a good job 12 20 U.S. colleges are advanced/some of the best in world/maintain higher standards 9 10 Need a degree to get better jobs/better opportunities/make more money 15 6 Prepares students for real life/to get ahead in life/for success 7 9 Teaches an open mind/to appreciate different points of view/world views/diversity 5 7 Good professors/instructors/administrators 2 6 Trains students to think for themselves 2 5 Gallup, Aug. 2-6, 2017 Implications The finding that U.S. adults are increasingly divided along partisan lines on various issues is no longer new or surprising. This divide has now crept into views of higher education, likely exacerbated by several high-profile student protests that have spurred debates about free speech and contentious choices for speakers on campus. It could be the case that the frequency and coverage of these issues have contributed to the partisan divide, or that they have helped expose a divide that may have already been present. The effect of this divide on views of higher education -- a pivotal element of the American dream for so many -- raises questions about the future of higher education in this country. To what degree will diminished confidence in higher education among Republicans lead to decreased public support and funding for colleges and universities? Or, will Republican families be less likely to send their children to traditional colleges and universities, and instead seek other ways to educate them? Will various colleges and universities begin to align their brands and curricula increasingly along party lines? Is there any hope that this partisan divide on views of higher education will diminish -- and if so, what would bring that about? The Pew trend data show that Republicans started to sour on higher education a few years ago -- so just as this souring has been relatively recent and significant, it's certainly possible it could swing back in a more favorable direction. If that happens, it will hinge primarily on changes in Republicans' views of whether higher education is too political and too liberal. Read more on this topic: Higher Education: Drop the Term "Liberal Arts" Engage students to prepare them for great jobs and great lives. Gallup provides the tools to help students succeed in university and beyond. Learn more Movies playing in mid-valley theaters as of Friday. Complete and updated Movie Scene listings can be found online. NEW CITY OF GHOSTS 4 stars (Documentary, no MPAA rating, 91 minutes, playing at the Darkside in Corvallis) Matthew Heinemans powerful and unnerving documentary tells the story of the people who decided to expose the horrors of the Islamic State when the organization seized the city of Raqqa -- and the price they paid for their efforts. (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times) THE HITMANS BODYGUARD (Action-adventure-comedy, R, 111 minutes, playing at the Regal 7 in Albany and the AMC Corvallis 12) A bodyguard (Ryan Reynolds) is charged with protecting a hitman (Samuel L. Jackson) whos about to testify against a dictator (Gary Oldman). Salma Hayek co-stars. LOGAN LUCKY 3 stars (Crime caper, PG-13, 119 minutes, playing at the Regal 7 in Albany and the Regal 4 in Corvallis) In what plays like a biscuits-and-gravy take on "Ocean's 11," a couple of twang-talkin' dirt-kickers (Channing Tatum and Adam Driver) plan to steal the cash from a North Carolina speedway vault. Steven Soderbergh's breezy heist romp is great fun and one of the most purely entertaining movies of the year. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate) SAMI BLOOD (Drama, no MPAA rating, 110 minutes, playing at the Darkside in Corvallis) A 14-year-old girl belonging to the Sami people, a Scandinavian ethnic minority, is subjected to racism and eugenic scrutiny in the 1930s when she is removed from her family and sent to a state-run school that aims to re-educate her into Swedish culture. A TRIP TO THE MOON / CONTACT Showing Friday night only at the Darkside in Corvallis, a pair of films to honor the eclipse: "A Trip to the Moon," Georges Melies 1902 silent classic, will be shown at 5 p.m. with live music and NASA images following. At 7 p.m., the 1997 "Contact," starring Jodie Foster in an adaptation of the Carl Sagan novel, will show. Admission to either showing is $10; the double feature will cost $15. CONTINUING ANNABELLE: CREATION (Horror-thriller, R, 109 minutes, playing at the Regal 7 in Albany and the AMC Corvallis 12) A dollmaker (Anthony LaPaglia) and his wife (Miranda Otto) take in a group of orphaned goals. But a haunted doll lurks inside the house in this new chapter in the Conjuring series. Directed by David F. Sandberg, who generated plenty of scares in Lights Out. AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL: TRUTH TO POWER 3 stars (Documentary, PG, 100 minutes, playing at the Darkside in Corvallis) The sequel to 2006's Oscar-winning "An Inconvenient Truth" follows Al Gore around the globe as he meets with young (and practically worshipful) recruits to the climate change cause. The final scenes, urging viewers to sign up and get involved, make it seem as if we've been watching an infomercial all this time. THE DARK TOWER 1 star (Horror-fantasy, PG-13, 94 minutes, playing at the Regal 7 in Albany and the Regal 4 in Corvallis) As the Man in Black, Matthew McConaughey is supposed to send chills down your spine, but he's nothing but a preening, one-dimensional goof. That's just one of the many unfortunate elements in this Stephen King adaptation plagued by washed-out cinematography, mediocre special effects and stilted dialogue. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate) KIDNAP 2 stars (Action thriller, R, 81 minutes, playing at the Regal 7 and the AMC Corvallis 12) Halle Berry is on screen almost every second as a mom giving minivan chase to the captors who just snatched her 6-year-old son. It's decent escapist action, but repeats itself to the point of becoming ridiculous. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate) DUNKIRK 4 stars (War drama, PG-13, 106 minutes, playing at the Regal 7 in Albany, the Regal 4 in Corvallis and the AMC Corvallis 12) Christopher Nolan's faithful and deeply respectful retelling of one of the most pivotal battles in World War II is a gripping, deeply involving and unforgettable film that ranks among the best war movies of the decade. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate) GIRLS TRIP (Comedy, R, 122 minutes, playing at the Regal 4 in Corvallis) Four black girlfriends (Regina Hall, Tiffany Haddish, Jada Pinkett Smith and Queen Latifah) decide to get back together after five years apart, and set their sights on partying at the Essence Festival. Larenz Tate, Mike Colter and Kate Walsh co-star in director Malcolm D. Lees new flick. THE BIG SICK 4 stars (Romantic comedy, R, 119 minutes, playing at the AMC Corvallis 12) In a fictionalized version of real events in his life, Kumail Nanjiani plays a comedian whose new girlfriend (Zoe Kazan) falls ill and goes into a medically induced coma. Funny and smart and wise and silly, it is without a doubt one of the best romantic comedies I have seen in a long time. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate) SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING 3 stars (Action adventure, PG-13, 133 minutes, playing at the Regal 7 and the Pix in Albany and the AMC Corvallis 12). The best thing about the latest Spider-Man (the terrific and well-cast Tom Holland) is that he's still more of a kid than a man. Even with a goodly amount of explosions and action, this scaled-down adventure plays less like an ultimate-stakes battle than a John Hughes teen-angst romance/comedy meshed with a superhero saga. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate) CARS 3 3 stars (Animated adventure, G, 100 minutes, playing at the Pix in Albany) Just when you thought this Disney-Pixar franchise was out of gas, along comes a lovely, clever and entertaining generational tale with tons of heart, a simple and effective storyline, wonderful candy-colored visuals and winning voice work from the talented cast of returning regulars and welcome newcomers. (Richard Roeper, Universal Press Syndicate) Heartbreak is a common theme in country music, and it's a topic that has led to some unforgettable songs. Jackie Lee used his friend Brent Anderson's breakup as the inspiration for his newest single, "Getting Over You." A breakup can mean one of two things, Lee said. "You're going to write a good country song or you're going to drink margaritas with your best friend at 9 a.m.," he said. "We kind of did both." The 25-year-old Lee wrote the song, which was released in December, with Anderson and guitarist Paul DiGiovani of the pop band Boys Like Girls. "It ended up coming out perfect, and I'm just super thankful for it," Lee said. The heartbreak anthem has gone on to surpass 14.7 million streams on Spotify. Lee is the opening act Thursday at the Bi-Mart Willamette Country Music Festival in Brownsville. The up-and-coming country artist came from Maryville, Tennessee, which is about a three-hour drive east from Nashville. Lee said his dad gave him a love for country music and that it was a way of life growing up. He moved to Nashville after high school. "I never made a conscious decision to be anything other than a country music artist. It's just kind of who I was," Lee said. He describes his style of music as soulful country with pop tendencies. A year after he arrived in Nashville, Lee signed a record deal with Republic Nashville in 2012. He joined Broken Bow Records in 2014 and released his debut single, "She Does." Lee released two more singles in 2015, before he cut ties with Broken Bow last month. He is currently in the process of finding a new label. Lee said he considers "Getting Over You" his debut single, and that it's the one song he is the most proud of. He was named a 2017 artist to watch by Billboard, Amazon, CMT, Huffington Post and Rolling Stone Country. The artist attributes the attention to the single. "I think the song hits a chord with a lot of people," he said. "I think it's an honor anytime people give you an accolade like that," Lee said. "Those are publications I grew up seeing my heroes in, so when they say that stuff about me it's pretty surreal." When Lee steps out on stage he just wants audience members to forget about their problems and enjoy the show. "I want to make them feel, for lack of a better saying, like they are getting their money's worth and have a good time," he said. After months of searching, and just in the nick of time, Corvallis officials have found a location for this winters cold weather shelter. The 40-bed shelter will operate at the former Hanson Tire Factory, 211 SE Chapman Place, said Shawn Collins, program manager for the Housing Opportunities Action Council. The site is owned by Devco Engineering, a local company that eventually plans to renovate the building and relocate some of its employees into the space. Devco agreed to make the building available rent-free for one season only, Collins said. We are very grateful to Devco for generously making this space available, said Mayor Biff Traber, who co-chairs the council and is a member of the subcommittee working on the cold weather shelter plan. They stepped in at a critical time in our process, and the remaining pieces quickly came together on our plan for this winter. The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Corvallis will serve as the nonprofit operating entity for the shelter, providing the liability insurance and employing the shelters staff, said the Rev. Jill McAllister, the fellowships senior minister and a member of the cold weather shelter subcommittee. The cold weather shelter had been at 530 SW Fourth St. for the past four years, but community and neighborhood opposition to that location led the Corvallis City Council to oppose any new funding for a shelter at the site. The closest neighbor to the new site is the First Alternative Co-ops South Corvallis store, located across the street. Traber said the co-op is supportive of the shelters new location. The womens cold weather shelter, called Room at the Inn, has operated successfully at the First United Methodist Church for many years, Traber said. The Housing Opportunities Action Council, which is led jointly by Benton County and the city of Corvallis, had been searching for a mens shelter since January. Collins had said some landlords he contacted didnt think it would be appropriate for them to lease to a homeless shelter, citing potential negative effects to the building or neighboring tenants. So he looked for a space that was not next to a residential area or in the midst of retail activity. But the shelter needed to be within walking distance of downtown or readily accessible via public transit, Collins had said. The location also needed bathrooms, showers and laundry facilities. The Chapman site needs bathrooms and showers, exit doors, additional lighting and an outdoor canopy. Collins said the council is working with Habitat for Humanity to coordinate renovation of the location. The council has already received an offer from a local carpenters' union, whose members would like to volunteer to help. In addition to renovation costs, the estimated operating budget for the five-month shelter season beginning in November is about $100,000, Collins said. The Corvallis City Council recently allocated $30,000 to support shelter operations, with an additional $30,000 available with the caveat that Benton County also assist with funding. Now that we have a site and an operating plan, we will begin to approach other potential funders, and I am confident that we will make this work, Traber said. It is very gratifying to see how the community is coming together to address this vitally important need. A group of 15 environmental, outdoor, community and progressive organizations asked the Benton County Commission to pull the county out of a $1.4 billion lawsuit against the state of Oregon by a group of Oregon counties over lost revenue from state forest lands. The representatives of the group used the public comment session of Tuesdays commission meeting to read into the record a letter arguing the lawsuit could compromise the health of state forests, contribute to global warming and harm the states budget for schools, social services and county funding. Groups signed onto the letter included the Audubon Society of Corvallis, the Oregon Sierra Club, the League of Women Voters of Corvallis, 350 Corvallis, the Benton Forest Coalition, the Association of Northwest Steelheaders and Our Revolution Corvallis Allies. The Benton County Commission voted 2-1 in January to remain a defendant in a class action lawsuit filed by Linn County on behalf of 15 Oregon counties and other taxing entities in those counties that claim state forest management policies have cost them revenue they are owed for state forest lands. In essence, the lawsuit argues that by not managing the lands to generate the maximum revenue possible from timber sales, the state has breached a contract with the counties. The counties turned the lands over to the state for management after they acquired logged-over and fire-damaged properties through tax foreclosures in the 1930s and 1940s. Dave Toler, Corvallis resident and a former county commissioner in Josephine County, was among those who spoke at the meeting, saying most of the people in Benton County believed forest lands should be managed with environmental interests in mind rather than just revenue generation. Toler said the lawsuit, if successful, would cause the state to increase logging on state lands. If you sue an owner of a forest for undercutting and you win, its pretty clear what the consequences will be. Vance Croney, the countys counsel, said the period for opting out of the lawsuit ended a long time ago. Once time for opting out passes, the court almost never lets a plaintiff out of a class action lawsuit, he said. The letter by the groups asking the county to drop out of the lawsuit said Clatsop Community College was allowed to drop out of the lawsuit after the normal time for opting out had ended. However, Croney said, that was a special circumstance because the community college was not able to hold a meeting with a quorum of its board members until after the deadline had passed. County Commissioner Anne Schuster, who along with Xan Augerot voted to stay in the lawsuit, said even if the counties win the lawsuit, it did not mean logging would increase. Clackamas County officials, she said, plan to buy more forest land with their share of the money, should they win. Staying in gives us options, she said. Annabelle Jaramillo, the only commission member to vote against staying in the lawsuit, said she regretted that commission decision, but said that it was too late to withdraw from the lawsuit. Augerot was not at the meeting. Toler said even if the county could not leave the lawsuit, the commissioners should make a statement against it because such a statement would align with the values of most Benton County residents. Even if you cant opt out, you can stand up and say we dont believe in the premise of the lawsuit. My guess is they wont keep you in after that. However, Schuster disagreed that public sentiment was as strongly opposed to the lawsuit as Toler believed. She said public comments at a forum in January were evenly split between supporting and opposing the lawsuit. (The Gazette-Times reported that just over half the 45 speakers at the forum urged the county to opt out of the lawsuit). The commission voted to increase the countys stipend for District Attorney John Haroldson from $30,157 last year to $33,250 for the 2017-18 fiscal year. Haroldsons salary of $104,316 is paid by the state, but like most Oregon counties the county pays its DA an additional stipend. The commission will be considering a similar raise for Sheriff Scott Jackson at a meeting at 9 a.m. Thursday at the commissions office at 205 N.W. Fifth St. This log includes incidents in which there might have been a public disturbance or a risk to the public. Information comes from the Corvallis Police Department and the Benton County Sheriffs Office. It does not include all calls for service. The status of incidents might change after further investigation. Locations are approximate. People arrested or suspected in crimes are considered innocent until proven otherwise. Officials at Albany's Historic Carousel & Museum printed 2,000 boarding passes for Tuesday, opening day. One hour into the day's celebration, they were already printing 1,000 more. "I see a lot of happy people," said Jenifer Weinmaster, operations director for the carousel, which marked its grand opening and ribbon-cutting Tuesday. "That makes me happy." Hundreds of spectators filled the intersection at First Avenue and Washington Street, lining up to be among the first to ride a moving work of art. The lines continued through the evening, to closing time at 7. Carvers, painters, designers, engineers, mechanics, builders, fundraisers and other volunteers have put more than 200,000 hours into the 15-year carousel project. Each of the 30 animals completed so far took some 2,000 hours to carve and another 400 or so to paint. Another 20 are so are still in the works. Wendy Kirbey of Albany, who first brought the idea to town after visiting a hand-carved carousel in 2002 in Missoula, Montana, snipped the ceremonial ribbon with a huge pair of scissors. Her grandson, Aiden Kirbey, 1, had the honor of receiving Boarding Pass No. 1. With the help of his dad, Adam, he perched on a shaggy dog named Munchie for the carousel's inaugural spin. The ride for the Kirbey family has been metaphorical as well as literal, Adam said, smiling. "There's been the ups, there's been the downs, but here we are: the fruit of 15 years of hard work from a lot of people." Thirty-one children were tapped specially to take the first ride, including Owen Robinson, 10, who checked out the wheelchair-accessible chariot. "We're so excited to have a carousel close to home," said his mother, Tonya-Jo Robinson. Owen's chair is longer than most, but the chariot could still accommodate him, a special bonus, Robinson said. "What's really exciting is the accessibility. It looks like it's going to be big enough for anyone who wants to ride it." Outside, Marcy Hermens of Tangent led the line for the general public. She arrived at 7:15 a.m. for the spot, beating the next closest person carousel volunteer carver Oweta Smith of Albany by 15 minutes. "I love carousel horses," Hermens explained. "Everyone has something they collect, and I collect carousel horses. I've been waiting 15 years since they first started talking about this for this to become a reality." Hermens' husband bought her a fundraising brick for their anniversary, and a print of one of the planned animals, a standing stallion named Morgan, for Christmas. Morgan isn't yet ready to ride, so Hermens clambered aboard Zeus, the zebra, instead. "That was incredible. It was so fun," she gushed afterward. "And I felt like a child." Children of all ages, even ones that looked suspiciously like senior citizens, pressed their noses to the carousel's windows to watch the first spins while they waited their turns. Inside, after the finishing their rounds, visitors wandered through the gift shop and museum and added their comments to a rapidly-filling guest book. Visitors from Washington, California and South Dakota were among those who penned their thoughts in the guest book. "Worth the wait!" one local wrote. Riley Bond, 13, was part of the children's first round and said she was thinking of aiming for a spot on The Guardian, a hippocampus that also serves as the carousel's logo. "My mom (Rebecca Bond of the Albany Visitors Association) says I was the youngest volunteer, because I ate baby food, and the containers were used for paint," the teen explained. A half-hour of speeches and presentations preceded Tuesday's first rides. Former Portland newscasters and Albany natives Mike Donahue and Wayne Faligowski took turns on the microphone as master of ceremonies. Mayor Sharon Konopa welcomed the crowd and Kirbey brought up members of the board of directors and other longtime supporters for a sustained round of applause. During her turn at the podium, Kirbey said she'd forego a long speech and do her best not to get emotional. Instead, she said, she'd share "the biggest compliment I've ever been given in my life: the fact that these people took my idea and made it theirs." City cancels contract : Kiosk at the Rheinaue may have to close Bonn After 17 years of operation, the lack of a sewage line at her kiosk at the Rheinaue has become a problem. Now Marion Lennarz may have to close her snack bar. Teilen Teilen Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Tweeten Tweeten Weiterleiten Weiterleiten Drucken Quietly, the city administration cancelled the lease extension for the kiosk. CDU politician Herbert Kaupert learned about it by chance when he spoke to Marion Lennarz at an event. 55-year-old Lennarz runs the very popular kiosk on Charles de Gaulle Strae at the northern end of the Rheinaue. At noon, the snack bar is humming. Its cult among some Bonners. There are not only walkers and cyclists, but also many employees from the adjacent offices, the Post Tower, the Deutsche Welle and the UN campus who visit the kiosk. "I have now received the third termination," says Lennarz, while she wipes the plastic counter of the snack bar. The first notice came at the beginning of the year and then there was a deadline set for June. Now, she is to clear out the kiosk by the end of September. The City of Bonn did not want to respond to an inquiry, and referred instead to the suggestion that came out of a district meeting at the beginning of July. A spokesperson said an official statement would come on September 5. The matter is not open for public debate. Lack of sewage lines leads to termination In the confidential papers which give notice of termination, the city cites a lack of sewage lines at the kiosk. This has only occurred to the city after 17 years? asks Lennarz, puzzled. She bought the kiosk stand 20 years ago from the previous owner. At the time, the land belonged to the federal government. For 17 years now, the property has been owned by the city. Permission to operate the kiosk is extended on a yearly basis. Everything has been quiet for all these years. I hadnt even given any thought to it - until the first notice came, said Lennarz. The problem first came to the attention of the city during canal work last year. It was determined that the Kiosk's drainage system was connected to the overflow of the Rheinaue lake as well as to the Post Tower. In a declaration which was not made public, the city reported that the sewage went directly into the Rhine, and this had become problematic because over the years the kiosk had changed into more of a snack bar. Since then, she said she collects the water used for washing up and dumps it into the sewer. She said she disposes of the the grease separately. Possible buyers are deterred The city says the kiosk had not been properly licensed to operate at that location and that it had only been tolerated. In addition, the City Parks Department believes this location should be permanently given up from a technical point of view. Lennarz said a young couple had expressed interest in buying the kiosk from her, and adding lavatories. But they were no longer interested after the termination from the city. At the request of the CDU, the district council has decided that the city may negotiate with the current tenant of the kiosk to extend the lease. But she would need to fulfill certain requirements such as a proper sewage connection, and the construction of restroom facilities. For Lennarz, this is difficult because she is not sure that she can manage the improvements from a financial standpoint. But she asks What is the alternative? And before you jump on the defense and call her an evil bitch for dredging up the past, and/or that shes just a gold digging ho looking for a huge pay out from a tabloid and whatever other misogynistic, villainising BS you want to throw at someone for daring to tarnish the rep of one of our demi gods in black... If you actually go and look at those messages shes done not much. Yes, she could have deleted some of her messages, but from the message received by Aaron it's crystal clear that it was him who pushed the whole affair. And yet the woman has been treated with contempt by the public, think Emma Stone in Easy A. Worse. The woman told the Daily Mail: Without anyone knowing who I was or what had happened, I was called a whore, a home-wrecker and a dumb b**** online, while at the same time the New Zealand public showed support for [Smith], telling him he is still their hero. kacylee at 16-08-2017 08:08 AM (5 years ago) (f) A Nigerian man, simply identified as Anthony , who sought asylum in Germany and lied that he was gay and had fought Boko Haram, is on trial in Muenster, Germany for stabbing and killing his girlfriend earlier this year. A Nigerian man, simply identified as Anthony , who sought asylum in Germany and lied that he was gay and had fought Boko Haram, is on trial in Muenster, Germany for stabbing and killing his girlfriend earlier this year. Prosecutors said the 28-year-old Anthony brutally murdered Soopika Paramanathan, a 22-year-old German student known locally as the Angel of Ahaus for her volunteer work with refugees. Anthony attacked Paramanathan on Feb. 11 after she ended their relationship, prosecutors said, he allegedly stabbed her repeatedly with a long-bladed knife in her head, neck and Bosom s. He was said to have stabbed the lady over 50 times. She sprayed his face with pepper spray in defence and was raced to a local hospital but later died after suffering substantial blood loss. Anthony had bought a large suitcase in which he intended to stuff her body and dump it into a lake after he stabbed her repeatedly in the street. He was stuffing Paramanathans body into the large suitcase on the street when witnesses said they spotted him. He escaped from the crime scene and was caught by police in Basel, Switzerland two days later. Nigerian Anthony I, 28, killed student Soopika Paramanathan, 22, out of jealousy, said prosecutors at a court in Muenster. Paramanathans father, Sivasamboo, said his daughter felt threatened by him in the days leading up to the attack and was afraid, according to German tabloid Bild. The couple met in 2016 at a local refugee home in Ahaus, Germany, where Anthony I. was living and Paramanathan volunteered. Anthony came to Germany in 2015, after spending three years in Italy. He wrote in his asylum application that he was forced to leave his country in 2012 for being homosegxwal and he had fought against the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram in Nigeria. The application was in the process of being rejected, because it dripped with lies. He is facing life imprisonment when an expected guilty verdict is handed down on September 20. German police have not released Anthonys full last name. And Anthony in court had kept mute, according to a report by Bild, the German tabloid. Soopikas lawyer Hans-Peter Maas said; She was a good person. On her birthday she sent gifts to homeless people in Sri Lanka. Prosecutors said the 28-year-old Anthony brutally murdered Soopika Paramanathan, a 22-year-old German student known locally as the Angel of Ahaus for her volunteer work with refugees.Anthony attacked Paramanathan on Feb. 11 after she ended their relationship, prosecutors said, he allegedly stabbed her repeatedly with a long-bladed knife in her head, neck and Bosom s. He was said to have stabbed the lady over 50 times.She sprayed his face with pepper spray in defence and was raced to a local hospital but later died after suffering substantial blood loss.Anthony had bought a large suitcase in which he intended to stuff her body and dump it into a lake after he stabbed her repeatedly in the street.He was stuffing Paramanathans body into the large suitcase on the street when witnesses said they spotted him. He escaped from the crime scene and was caught by police in Basel, Switzerland two days later.Nigerian Anthony I, 28, killed student Soopika Paramanathan, 22, out of jealousy, said prosecutors at a court in Muenster.Paramanathans father, Sivasamboo, said his daughter felt threatened by him in the days leading up to the attack and was afraid, according to German tabloid Bild.The couple met in 2016 at a local refugee home in Ahaus, Germany, where Anthony I. was living and Paramanathan volunteered.Anthony came to Germany in 2015, after spending three years in Italy.He wrote in his asylum application that he was forced to leave his country in 2012 for being homosegxwal and he had fought against the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram in Nigeria. The application was in the process of being rejected, because it dripped with lies.He is facing life imprisonment when an expected guilty verdict is handed down on September 20.German police have not released Anthonys full last name. And Anthony in court had kept mute, according to a report by Bild, the German tabloid.Soopikas lawyer Hans-Peter Maas said; She was a good person. On her birthday she sent gifts to homeless people in Sri Lanka. Post Reply I have been reporting for several years now and I am very interested in visual news reportage with strong inclusion of photos and video multimedia. Posted: at 16-08-2017 08:08 AM (5 years ago) | Addicted Hero bayonel3 at 16-08-2017 11:47 AM (5 years ago) (m) When God remembers you! A Nigerian lady, Henrietta based in the United States, who has been childless for 10 years, alongside her bundles of joy and hubby, paid a visit to the Mayor of Mansfield, Texas. When God remembers you! A Nigerian lady, Henrietta based in the United States, who has been childless for 10 years, alongside her bundles of joy and hubby, paid a visit to the Mayor of Mansfield, Texas. She wrote on social media; She wrote on social media; Quote Thanks everyone for your love and prayers. I am truly overwhelmed. It has not been an easy ride, but Im thankful to God that makes all things beautiful in his time, for honoring me. After more than a decade of waiting on him for the fruit of the womb, hes has made my quiver full of children. To all those who may be going through a similar journey, hold on and hold firm to God. I am a testimony that God answers when we call, no matter how long it takes. #proudmamaofboys#Godschild#iyaibeta# Godovereverything Post Reply I scour the world wide web to bring you interesting stories from around the globe. [email protected] Posted: at 16-08-2017 11:47 AM (5 years ago) | Hero felicilin at 16-08-2017 04:46 PM (5 years ago) (f) Aiteo Chief Executive Officer, Benedict Peters, is the latest Nigerian oil mogul to be named in the case surrounding the bribery allegations against former Nigerian Oil Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke. Aiteo Chief Executive Officer, Benedict Peters, is the latest Nigerian oil mogul to be named in the case surrounding the bribery allegations against former Nigerian Oil Minister, Diezani Alison-Madueke. Three London properties linked to the alleged bribery of Mrs. Alison-Madueke have been frozen under the UK Proceeds of Crime Act, at least one of which is owned by Mr. Peters. The order, issued in September 2016 and obtained by Africa Confidential, forbids defendants Benedict Peters, Mrs. Alison-Madueke, Atlantic Energys Kola Aluko and Jide Omokore, Christopher Aire (a jeweller for Mrs. Alison-Madueke) and Donald Amamgbo (her cousin) from disposing of or dealing with the properties. Messrs Alison-Madueke, Aluko and Omokore were named in the U.S. Department of Justices (DoJ) asset forfeiture, which stated that the same London properties totaling more than 10m were bought for the oil minister in order to secure lucrative Strategic Alliance Agreements (SAAs), which saw prized Nigerian oil assets passed to the ministers cronies for pittance. Mr. Peters company Aiteo has been linked to the 2015 INEC bribery scheme that saw Mrs. Alison-Maduekes son, Ugonna Madueke, distribute $115million to INEC officials via Fidelity Bank in 2015. But the inclusion of Mr. Peters as a defendant in the London case, which relates to an attempt to influence the former Ministers contracting decisions, suggests that international investigations could be more wide ranging than was previously known. Mr. Peters company, Aiteo, did not directly benefit from the SAAs, but it flourished under Mrs. Alison-Maduekes oil ministry. As well as term contracts from the NNPC, Aiteo benefitted from the oil swaps, and bought Shells prize asset, OML 29. With Peters now in the frame, these deals could face the same scrutiny from international law enforcement as the notorious Atlantic SAAs. London, via Houston Mr. Peters has admitted to being the owner of the Seychellois company, Rosewood Investments Limited, who until now has been known as co-conspirator #2 in the DOJs case. Rosewood Investments bought the 2.8m luxury flat in Harley House, London, in March 2011, with the help of London-based estate agent Daniel Ford. Mr. Peters later bought luxury furnishings for the flat from Mrs. Alison-Maduekes favourite Houston store, according to the US documents. The DoJ affidavit says over the course of two days in May 2011, Mr. Peters bought over $107,000 of furniture including a sideboard worth more than $10,000 that was later shipped to the UK and installed at Harley House. Construction workers renovating Harley House over the summer of 2011 were introduced to Mrs. Alison-Madueke as the architect, and Kola Aluko, who was co-ordinating the renovation of Harley House in the summer of 2011, forwarded the plans for the apartment to the former minister. Mr. Peters could not be reached to comment for this story. All his known telephone lines were switched off the multiple times PREMIUM TIMES called in three days. He is yet to respond to an email inquiry sent to him. An official of his Sigmund Group, who was contacted by telephone, said he could not speak for Mr. Peters, and would not provide his latest contact details. Diezanis deals: the swaps and the blocks The Swaps Mr. Peters ran tank farms under the aegis of Sigmund Communnecci Limited until 2008, when a re-branding exercise renamed the company to Aiteo. Its success under the Goodluck Jonathan government has made it perhaps Nigerias largest indigenous oil and gas company. Aiteo entered into its first offshore processing agreement (OPA) contract with Nigerian National Petroleum Corporations Duke Oil in 2010 which gave the company 30,000 barrels of oil a day. Under the contact terms, Aiteo was supposed to refine the crude and import a set value of oil products in return. That deal was periodically renewed, but it was not renewed in 2014. In January 2015, Aiteo received another OPA deal (90,000 barrels per day) directly from NNPC, but the contract was cancelled by the Buhari administration. That same time, the company took over Duke Oils 30,000 barrels per day OPA. The deal was also cancelled shortly afterwards. Former Governor of Central Bank, Lamido Sanusi, published an explosive memo in 2014 that pointed to possible NNPC losses of $20billion between January 2012 and July 2013, and listed the oil swaps as potential leakage points. Experts pointed to numerous loopholes in the contracts that could have cost NNPC millions including a clause stating that records relating to the contract could be disposed of after a year. Benedict Peters bought this 2.8m luxury flat in Harley House, London, in March 2011, with the help of London-based estate agent Daniel Ford. The property is now frozen. President Muhammadu Buhari cancelled the swap contracts as soon as he assumed the Nigerian presidency in 2015, but it took until March 2017 for Aiteo to repay $202m in reconciliation charges and there has been little transparency over how this figure was arrived at. The blocks By arguably the most lasting deal that Mrs. Alison-Madueke presided over during her time at the oil ministry was the sale of Shells onshore assets in the Eastern Niger Delta. The jewel in the Shells divestment portfolio was the Nembe Creek Trunkline, a critical crude oil pipeline that takes crude from the Delta to Bonny Export terminal and the OML 29 oil block. The Aiteo consortium was announced as the highest bidder for the most valuable block, OML 29, in March 2014, just a month after Sanusis memo was published. Aiteo and its partners, Igho Sanomis Taleveras and a little known trader, Tempo Energy, bid $2.85m for the block, which commentators considered inflated. None of the companies had experience of production, and Shell encouraged the consortium to join up with a company that did. It took over a year to for the deal to be completed, and in that time, Shells Chief Financial Officer warned investors that it was difficult to predict how the company would get approval of the sales from the government. Under the Petroleum Act the Minister has power of approval for the sale of oil licences in which NNPC has stake. The purchase of the block was finally completed just days before the 2015 election, financed by Citi Bank, First Bank, Zenith Bank, and Union Bank Nigeria. The CBN demanded the reclassification of the loan in summer 2016 as the Nigerian banking sector reached near crisis because of its exposure to Jonathan era deals. The transaction was also partly funded by $512m of seller financing from Shell under which Shell retains the exclusive rights to market oil from the block for the first five years. Three London properties linked to the alleged bribery of Mrs. Alison-Madueke have been frozen under the UK Proceeds of Crime Act, at least one of which is owned by Mr. Peters.The order, issued in September 2016 and obtained by Africa Confidential, forbids defendants Benedict Peters, Mrs. Alison-Madueke, Atlantic Energys Kola Aluko and Jide Omokore, Christopher Aire (a jeweller for Mrs. Alison-Madueke) and Donald Amamgbo (her cousin) from disposing of or dealing with the properties.Messrs Alison-Madueke, Aluko and Omokore were named in the U.S. Department of Justices (DoJ) asset forfeiture, which stated that the same London properties totaling more than 10m were bought for the oil minister in order to secure lucrative Strategic Alliance Agreements (SAAs), which saw prized Nigerian oil assets passed to the ministers cronies for pittance.Mr. Peters company Aiteo has been linked to the 2015 INEC bribery scheme that saw Mrs. Alison-Maduekes son, Ugonna Madueke, distribute $115million to INEC officials via Fidelity Bank in 2015.But the inclusion of Mr. Peters as a defendant in the London case, which relates to an attempt to influence the former Ministers contracting decisions, suggests that international investigations could be more wide ranging than was previously known.Mr. Peters company, Aiteo, did not directly benefit from the SAAs, but it flourished under Mrs. Alison-Maduekes oil ministry. As well as term contracts from the NNPC, Aiteo benefitted from the oil swaps, and bought Shells prize asset, OML 29. With Peters now in the frame, these deals could face the same scrutiny from international law enforcement as the notorious Atlantic SAAs.Mr. Peters has admitted to being the owner of the Seychellois company, Rosewood Investments Limited, who until now has been known as co-conspirator #2 in the DOJs case. Rosewood Investments bought the 2.8m luxury flat in Harley House, London, in March 2011, with the help of London-based estate agent Daniel Ford.Mr. Peters later bought luxury furnishings for the flat from Mrs. Alison-Maduekes favourite Houston store, according to the US documents. The DoJ affidavit says over the course of two days in May 2011, Mr. Peters bought over $107,000 of furniture including a sideboard worth more than $10,000 that was later shipped to the UK and installed at Harley House.Construction workers renovating Harley House over the summer of 2011 were introduced to Mrs. Alison-Madueke as the architect, and Kola Aluko, who was co-ordinating the renovation of Harley House in the summer of 2011, forwarded the plans for the apartment to the former minister.Mr. Peters could not be reached to comment for this story. All his known telephone lines were switched off the multiple times PREMIUM TIMES called in three days. He is yet to respond to an email inquiry sent to him.An official of his Sigmund Group, who was contacted by telephone, said he could not speak for Mr. Peters, and would not provide his latest contact details.Mr. Peters ran tank farms under the aegis of Sigmund Communnecci Limited until 2008, when a re-branding exercise renamed the company to Aiteo. Its success under the Goodluck Jonathan government has made it perhaps Nigerias largest indigenous oil and gas company.Aiteo entered into its first offshore processing agreement (OPA) contract with Nigerian National Petroleum Corporations Duke Oil in 2010 which gave the company 30,000 barrels of oil a day. Under the contact terms, Aiteo was supposed to refine the crude and import a set value of oil products in return. That deal was periodically renewed, but it was not renewed in 2014.In January 2015, Aiteo received another OPA deal (90,000 barrels per day) directly from NNPC, but the contract was cancelled by the Buhari administration. That same time, the company took over Duke Oils 30,000 barrels per day OPA. The deal was also cancelled shortly afterwards.Former Governor of Central Bank, Lamido Sanusi, published an explosive memo in 2014 that pointed to possible NNPC losses of $20billion between January 2012 and July 2013, and listed the oil swaps as potential leakage points. Experts pointed to numerous loopholes in the contracts that could have cost NNPC millions including a clause stating that records relating to the contract could be disposed of after a year.Benedict Peters bought this 2.8m luxury flat in Harley House, London, in March 2011, with the help of London-based estate agent Daniel Ford. The property is now frozen.President Muhammadu Buhari cancelled the swap contracts as soon as he assumed the Nigerian presidency in 2015, but it took until March 2017 for Aiteo to repay $202m in reconciliation charges and there has been little transparency over how this figure was arrived at.By arguably the most lasting deal that Mrs. Alison-Madueke presided over during her time at the oil ministry was the sale of Shells onshore assets in the Eastern Niger Delta. The jewel in the Shells divestment portfolio was the Nembe Creek Trunkline, a critical crude oil pipeline that takes crude from the Delta to Bonny Export terminal and the OML 29 oil block.The Aiteo consortium was announced as the highest bidder for the most valuable block, OML 29, in March 2014, just a month after Sanusis memo was published.Aiteo and its partners, Igho Sanomis Taleveras and a little known trader, Tempo Energy, bid $2.85m for the block, which commentators considered inflated. None of the companies had experience of production, and Shell encouraged the consortium to join up with a company that did.It took over a year to for the deal to be completed, and in that time, Shells Chief Financial Officer warned investors that it was difficult to predict how the company would get approval of the sales from the government. Under the Petroleum Act the Minister has power of approval for the sale of oil licences in which NNPC has stake.The purchase of the block was finally completed just days before the 2015 election, financed by Citi Bank, First Bank, Zenith Bank, and Union Bank Nigeria. The CBN demanded the reclassification of the loan in summer 2016 as the Nigerian banking sector reached near crisis because of its exposure to Jonathan era deals.The transaction was also partly funded by $512m of seller financing from Shell under which Shell retains the exclusive rights to market oil from the block for the first five years. Post Reply Posted: at 16-08-2017 04:46 PM (5 years ago) | Hero Overall, dont let the bhoot mislead you, nothing bhootiya about this story. Had the makers tried to push the envelope, the idea could have been outstanding for a bhootiya comedy. OIR Officials Announce Latest Strikes in Syria, Iraq From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release SOUTHWEST ASIA, Aug. 15, 2017 U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria yesterday, conducting 31 strikes consisting of 57 engagements, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today. U.S. Central Command continues to work with partner nations to conduct targeted airstrikes in Iraq and Syria as part of the comprehensive strategy to degrade and defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. Officials reported details of yesterday's strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports. Strikes in Syria In Syria, coalition military forces conducted 31 strikes consisting of 43 engagements against ISIS targets: -- Near Dayr Az Zawr, a strike destroyed six ISIS oil stills. -- Near Raqqa, 27 strikes engaged 19 ISIS tactical units and destroyed 59 fighting positions, two heavy machine guns, a mortar system, an improvised explosive device and a logistics node. -- Near Shadaddi, three strikes engaged three ISIS tactical units and destroyed five fighting positions and two command-and-control nodes. Strikes in Iraq In Iraq, coalition military forces conducted seven strikes consisting of 14 engagements against ISIS targets: -- Near Beiji, two strikes engaged two ISIS tactical units and destroyed a staging area and a weapons cache. -- Near Kisik, a strike engaged an ISIS tactical unit, destroyed two IEDs and suppressed two mortar teams. -- Near Qaim, two strikes destroyed an ISIS training camp and a staging area. -- Near Tal Afar, two strikes destroyed nine ISIS roadblocks and two front-end loaders. Previous Strikes Additionally, 33 strikes consisting of 47 engagements were conducted in Syria and Iraq on Aug. 10-13 that closed within the last 24 hours. -- On Aug. 10, near Abu Kamal, Syria, a strike destroyed four ISIS oil storage tanks, three oil stills and a piece of heavy machinery. -- On Aug. 11, near Abu Kamal, Syria, a strike destroyed eight ISIS oil stills. -- On Aug. 11, near Dayr Az Zawr, Syria, two strikes destroyed 11 ISIS oil stills and three oil barrels. -- On Aug. 12, near Abu Kamal, Syria, two strikes destroyed six ISIS oil stills. -- On Aug. 12, near Dayr Az Zawr, Syria, a strike destroyed 10 ISIS oil stills. -- On Aug. 12, near Raqqa, Syria, a strike destroyed an ISIS fighting position. -- On Aug. 13, near Abu Kamal, Syria, four strikes destroyed 11 pieces of ISIS oil equipment and three wellheads. Part of Operation Inherent Resolve These strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to destroy ISIS in Iraq and Syria. The destruction of ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria also further limits the group's ability to project terror and conduct external operations throughout the region and the rest of the world, task force officials said. The list above contains all strikes conducted by fighter, attack, bomber, rotary-wing or remotely piloted aircraft; rocket-propelled artillery; and some ground-based tactical artillery when fired on planned targets, officials noted. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike, they added. A strike, as defined by the coalition, refers to one or more kinetic engagements that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single or cumulative effect. For example, task force officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIS vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against a group of ISIS-held buildings and weapon systems in a compound, having the cumulative effect of making that facility harder or impossible to use. Strike assessments are based on initial reports and may be refined, officials said. The task force does not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address U.S., Chinese Military Leaders Sign Agreement to Increase Communication By Jim Garamone DoD News, Defense Media Activity BEIJING, Aug. 15, 2017 The top military leaders of the United States and China signed an agreement here today that they said will improve communication between their militaries and reduce the chances of miscalculations. Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. Fang Fenghui of the Chinese army, chief of China's joint staff, signed the joint strategic dialogue mechanism at the Ba Yi, the People's Liberation Army headquarters. Dunford is visiting China to further military-to-military ties between the two Pacific powers. Crisis Mitigation The agreement is intended for crisis mitigation, U.S. Joint Staff officials said, noting that direct communication at the three-star level in the Pentagon and the Ba Yi will "enable us to communicate to reduce the risk of miscalculation." Army Lt. Gen. Richard D. Clarke, the Joint Staff's director for strategic plans and policy, will lead the effort for the American military. The first meeting to set up the framework is set for November. These communications are especially crucial now, as the region and world are facing the dangers of a nuclear-armed North Korea, officials said. The joint strategic dialogue mechanism grew out of diplomatic and security talks in Washington earlier this year. Those talks grew out of a Florida meeting between President Donald J. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in April. Difficult Issues The mechanism is a concrete result of the military-to-military discussions the chairman is engaged in. Dunford will spend three days in China and will visit PLA units training, Fang said. "To be honest, we have many difficult issues where we will not necessarily have the same perspectives," Dunford said at the opening of the military-to-military talks. "But from the meeting we had in Washington, D.C., and the meeting we just had, I know we share one thing: we share a commitment to work through these difficulties. With the guidance from our presidents and the areas of our cooperation, I know we will make progress over the next few days." Need for Candor But the two countries must make tangible progress, the chairman said. "As we start these meetings, having the framework for dealing with these difficult issues is different than making progress on them," he said. "I think our collective challenge is to sincerely and with candor attack these issues that we have to address." The military-to-military contacts between the United States and China are important because there will always be some friction between the two countries, Dunford said, adding that military contacts will lessen the chances of a miscalculation. The chairman stressed that lessening miscalculation is "the minimum standard" for military-to-military contacts. "We should also try to see areas to cooperate," he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Army Special Forces: an inside look at the elite group's capabilities By Cindy McIntyre August 15, 2017 FORT SILL, Okla. -- When it comes to elite military teams, the Navy SEALs often come first to mind. For the Army, though, that's okay -- Special Forces Soldiers prefer to be under the radar as the Army's "quiet professionals." Recruiters visit Fort Sill and other installations regularly to find male and female officers and enlisted personnel who think they have the right combination of character and skills to wear the admired Special Forces Green Beret, or to be part of the three other Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF) branches. Two junior officers were on hand Aug. 3 at the Graham Resiliency Training Center to learn more about the opportunities, and one sergeant came by to submit his application packet as the result of a previous visit. Sgt. Salah Elboraa, who reads and writes Arabic, said he wanted something more than what his current position offers. "I'm looking forward to a more challenging environment," he said. Sgt. 1st Class Kiel Mulhern, center leader for Fort Riley Special Operations Recruiting Battalion (Airborne), and Staff Sgt. Zachary Wangerin, recruiter for the same unit, gave a video presentation to the officers about each branch, and told them what they needed for their application packets. Officers must be within a specific year-group as lieutenants, said Mulhern. And, they only get one opportunity to apply. Enlisted ranks from E-3 to E-7 are also recruited, and can apply again if they don't get accepted the first time. Wangerin said that only a small percentage of Soldiers even know that joining the ARSOF is an option in their careers. In addition to meeting a minimum 240 Army Physical Fitness Test score, and a 107-plus General Technical (GT) score (110-plus GT or 110 Combat Score for Special Forces), applicants must be U.S. citizens. They will all learn a foreign language and be airborne qualified by the time they complete their training, which takes up to 52 weeks or more to fully qualify them for a multi-faceted job in one of the four branches. In addition, all ARSOF receive a range of extra pay, which for the languages alone can range from $100 to $1,000 a month. ARSOF Soldiers also tend to earn promotions faster. SECURE THE VICTORY The Civil Affairs branch of ARSOF is prepared to thrive in culturally diverse environments after receiving 13 months of intensive training at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. They work with conventional units, host nations, and Special Forces to marginalize and weaken opposition forces. They also perform peacetime humanitarian work such as disaster relief, immunizations, and provide running water. They are well-versed in the culture of the host nation and work with U.S. ambassadors and local community leaders to prevent conflict and help avoid "boots on the ground" that could inflame hostilities. "They use a diplomatic approach before direct action," said Mulhern. "You'll become cultural experts." A civil affairs team is typically composed of an officer, two noncommissioned officers, and a medic who has enhanced medical skills. PERSUADE, CHANGE, INFLUENCE The Psychological Operations, or PSYOP, Regiment engages in psychological warfare to influence actions, behavior, values, beliefs, and attitudes of citizens and communities in support of Special Forces teams, U.S. ambassadors, allies, and coalition partners. "They try to get the host nation to align with U.S. interests," said Mulhern. During training they are given "impossible tasks" which call upon their intellectual skills more than physical capabilities. Deployments are typically six months in teams of three to 12. These teams are also based out of Fort Bragg. DE OPPRESSO LIBER (To Free the Oppressed) The most elite team in the ARSOF is the Special Forces, also known as the Green Berets. "They don't like people to know what they're doing and why they're doing it," said Mulhern. "They like to work behind the scenes." The Special Forces is the only military unit authorized by Congress to conduct "unconventional warfare," said Mulhern. Even the Navy SEALs can't engage in these types of operations, which include working with local resistance groups to remove leaders and promote greater regional stability. They also engage in special reconnaissance, intelligence gathering, short duration direct action, and counterterrorism. The Alpha Team consists of 12 members who train for at least 64 weeks to attain the highly esteemed Green Beret role. NIGHT STALKERS The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne) provides no-notice, worldwide, rotary wing support, precision air assaults and aerial gunnery. A Soldier must be in one of the authorized military occupational specialties to apply. LEARNING A NEW LANGUAGE Knowing how to communicate in the language of the host country is critical to ARSOF teams, and if they are not already fluent in a foreign language, they are trained to learn one. The Defense Language Aptitude Battery (DLAB) is an aptitude test that cannot be studied for, as it measures one's language-learning potential, not current knowledge. Having a basic comprehension of how the English language works -- grammar, sentence construction, and parts of speech -- are critical skills to grasping how the DLAB's fictitious language works. Scores to qualify for Category I languages mean you can learn the easier languages such as French, Italian and Spanish. German is a Category II language, and the Category IV languages include Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Lebanese army tightens noose around Daesh by advancing along Syrian border Iran Press TV Tue Aug 15, 2017 5:22PM The Lebanese army says its forces have advanced along the Syrian border, tightening the noose on the areas controlled by Daesh Takfiri militants. Militants left bombs and explosive belts behind in the areas captured by the Lebanese troops on the edge of the Lebanese border town of Arsal on Tuesday, the army said in a statement. The body of an unidentified man was also discovered in the areas, the statement said. At present, only Daesh terrorists have remained in the area, as militants affiliated with the Levant People's Brigades and al-Qaeda have left the area. The Lebanese army has been making preparations to launch massive offensive on Daesh positions along the Syrian border for weeks, massing reinforcements and bombing the area with artillery shells and rockets. Meanwhile, Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance movement and the Syrian army are preparing to launch a simultaneous attack on the Syrian side of the border. On Monday, 3,000 Syrian refugees and 300 Saraya Ahl al-Sham militants started evacuating eastern Arsal after the defeat of Takfiri terrorists during a Hezbollah offensive. The departure comes as part of an agreement that followed a July's offensive by the Lebanese resistance movement and the Syrian army to drive out militants from their last stronghold in the border area between Lebanon and Syria. Earlier this month, the Lebanese resistance movement said its fighters had regained control over all areas in Arsal, which lies about 124 kilometers northeast of Beirut. Former Al-Nusra Front terrorists, now known as Fateh al-Sham, withdrew following a series of consecutive defeats that forced them to agree to a ceasefire. Under the truce deal, the Syrian government will shuttle the militants and their families to Idlib Province and some other areas. Hezbollah launched a major push on July 21 to clear both sides of Lebanon's border with Syria of "armed terrorists." Hezbollah fighters have fended off several Daesh attacks inside Lebanon. They have also been providing assistance to Syrian army forces to counter the ongoing foreign-sponsored militancy. On Friday, Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said that the next phase of the battle with terrorists would be aimed at eliminating the Daesh terrorists in the border areas between Lebanon and Syria. He also stressed that that the areas liberated from the control of the militants would be handed over to the Lebanese army. Israel, which continues to occupy Lebanon's Shebaa Farms and Syria's Golan Heights, is widely reported to be offering medical help to Takfiri terrorists injured in Syria. In December 2015, British newspaper, the Daily Mail, said Israel had saved the lives of more than 2,000 Takfiri militants since 2013. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Defected militant commander says al-Shabab not serving Islam Iran Press TV Tue Aug 15, 2017 5:3PM The one-time deputy leader and a senior commander of Somalia's al Shabab has called on for others to quit the Takfiri terrorist outfit following his defection to the government side in Mogadishu. Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, also known as Abu Mansur, who was also al-Shabab's spokesman, told reporters at a heavily guarded hotel in Mogadishu on Tuesday the militant group did not represent the interests of those it claimed to. "I left al Shabab because of misunderstanding, and I disagreed with their creed which does not serve Islamic religion, people and the country," Sheikh Robow said, adding, "I urge the militants to leave al-Shabab." The Somali government earlier announced that Sheikh Robow had finally defected to the country's military. Colonel Nur Mohamed, a Somali military officer, confirmed on Sunday that Sheikh Robow had defected to the government forces. Sheikh Robow and his loyalists had been laying low in jungles of Bay and Bakool since the commander broke ties with Shabab four years ago. He was target of several attacks by Shabab militants who tried to kill or capture him. The government said in June that it had dispatched soldiers to protect the militant commander and that negotiations were underway to convince him to defect. It was not immediately clear whether Sheikh Robow's decision to defect was related to a move by the United States government two months ago to take off the notorious militant commander from a list of wanted terrorists. Washington removed a USD five-million reward for his capture and exonerated him from charges of sponsoring terrorism after five years. The Somali government, which still grapples with Shabab-led militancy in some areas six years after the group was purged from the capital, hopes that recruiting Sheikh Robow could give the military more operational freedom in Bay and Bakool which could effectively slice Shabab's operational territory in two. Some, however, have criticized the defection, saying Sheikh Robow should stand trial for the atrocities he has committed during years of insurgency. The al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-aligned militant group, was forced out of the capital by African Union troops in 2011 but still controls parts of the countryside and carries out attacks against government, military and civilian targets seemingly at will in Mogadishu and regional towns. The Takfiri militant group is just one of the challenges facing the new Somali government, which is still struggling to expand its authority beyond the capital and other selected areas. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Taliban 'open letter' to Trump calls on US to leave Afghanistan Iran Press TV Tue Aug 15, 2017 1:12PM The Taliban militant group has released an "open letter" to US President Donald Trump, reiterating their demand for the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan after 16 years of war. In a long and rambling note that was sent to journalists by Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, the insurgents said a withdrawal would "truly deliver American troops from harm's way" and bring about "an end to an inherited war." The 1,600-word note said Trump should not hand control of the US Afghan policy to the military but rather announce the withdrawal of US troops. The Taliban spokesman said the current US president has recognized the errors of his predecessors by seeking a review of the US strategy for Afghanistan. The United States now has about 8,400 troops in Afghanistan. The Pentagon seeks to send almost 4,000 more to expand training of Afghan military forces and bolster US counterterrorism operations. Trump has so far resisted the Pentagon's recommendations. The Taliban letter, which sought to flatter Trump for initiating the Afghan policy review, also warned against handing it to "warmongering generals." "You must also not hand over the Afghan issue to warmongering generals, but must make a decision where history shall remember you as an advocate of peace," Taliban's letter said, addressing Trump. "We have noticed that you have understood the errors of your predecessors and have resolved to thoroughly rethinking your new strategy in Afghanistan," it added. The letter also offered a long list of complaints against Afghanistan's US-orchestrated unity government. It also referred to a newly formed coalition of disgruntled warlords formed at a meeting last month in Turkey as an opposition bloc to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. Critics have described President Ghani as divisive and accused him of stoking ethnic rivalries. The opposition bloc includes Uzbek warlord and Afghanistan's first vice president, Rashid Dostum, and Atta Mohammed Noor, a Tajik warlord and governor of the northern province of Balkh. Dostum has been criticized by the US for human rights abuses and is currently living in Turkey. Mohammed Mohaqiq, an ethnic Hazara lawmaker, is also in the bloc. US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in its most recent report that the Taliban militants hold sway in nearly 50 percent of the country. The war in Afghanistan is the longest in US history with a cost of about $1 trillion. More than 2,400 Americans have died and another 20,000 have been wounded in the country since the invasion in 2001. US President Donald Trump has been skeptical about the campaign in Afghanistan. US officials have said that Trump's doubts about the war have led to a delay in completing a new strategy in the war-torn country. Trump has said in a recent meeting with his national security team that the United States is "losing" in Afghanistan. The Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, which is mainly concentrated in Iraq and Syria, has been sustaining heavy losses in battles with national armies and allied forces in those countries in the past months. The Takfiri group emerged in Afghanistan in early 2015 and has claimed responsibility for some deadly attacks in the country. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Taliban Calls on Trump to Withdraw US Troops From Afghanistan Sputnik News 14:56 15.08.2017 The Taliban terrorist group (outlawed in Russia) has released an open letter to US President Donald Trump, in which the groups calls for a complete withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, saying they provoke ongoing violence in the country, local media reported Tuesday. MOSCOW (Sputnik) In their letter, the group has claimed that the ongoing violence in Afghanistan had a direct link to the presence of US forces, calling them "occupation forces" that provoke war in Afghanistan used by everyone in their own interest, Khaama Press news agency reported. The group also accused the US-led coalition for the destruction of the country that has made Afghanistan one of the worst nations in terms of security, governance, and economy. The Taliban has released the new letter amid the Trump administration's review of Afghanistan policy. Afghanistan has long been suffering from unstable political, social and security situation due to the simmering militant insurgency, including that of Taliban and Daesh terrorist groups, outlawed in Russia. The United States and its allies launched a military operation in Afghanistan in 2001 following 9/11 terror attacks. The mission in Afghanistan ended in 2014. On January 1, 2015, NATO announced its new mission in the country, called Resolute Support, to train and assist the Afghan security forces. More than 8,400 US troops remain in Afghanistan with an additional 5,000 NATO forces. On July 14, Defense Secretary James Mattis said the Pentagon was close to completing its policy review for a new strategy in Afghanistan. On August 3, US Sen. Lindsey Graham said the United States could turn the tide of the war in Afghanistan with just 3,000-4,000 additional troops and boosted air capacity. Last week, US Sen. John McCain introduced an amendment that details a strategy to resolve the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan, while Trump said his administration was getting closer to making a major decision on Afghanistan. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address UN rights chief urges Kenyan leaders to act responsibly, avoid further violence 15 August 2017 Calling on the Kenyan authorities to avoid violence, the United Nations human rights chief today urged the Government to make an immediate announcement that it will cooperate and ensure accountability for reported abuse by security forces which has led to deaths and injures, including among children. "Kenya is at a critical juncture," said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein. "The country's political leaders must do their utmost to calm a volatile political climate. If there are claims to make about the conduct of the elections, they should be made through constitutional and legal means." He noted that people have the right to assemble and protest peacefully, and the authorities have a responsibility to ensure they can do so. "The Government also has a responsibility to ensure that security forces prioritize dialogue, non-violent means and exercise restraint, using proportionate force only when unavoidable," the Un High Commissioner said. He decried the use of violence by protesters, but also stressed that political leaders should send clear messages to their supporters urging peaceful conduct. "All acts of violence, including the serious allegations of excessive use of force by security forces, must be promptly and independently investigated," he added. As part of that effort, the High Commissioner called on the Government to make an immediate announcement that it will cooperate fully and unequivocally with the Independent Policing Oversight Authority and with subsequent efforts to ensure accountability. There are media reports that Kenyan security forces used live ammunition against protesters, and stories of alleged police brutality, leading to several deaths and injuries, including children. Protests erupted after the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) announced on 11 August that Uhuru Kenyatta was the President-elect. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres this weekend stressed the importance of dialogue to diffuse the conflict. He said the UN, in close collaboration with the African Union and other multilateral and bilateral partners, is fully engaged with Kenya's political leadership and relevant stakeholders to facilitate the successful conclusion of the electoral process. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Taliban Flatters Trump, Urges US to Pull Troops from Afghanistan By Ayaz Gul August 15, 2017 The Taliban has called on U.S. President Donald Trump to pull out all forces from Afghanistan as a "responsible" leader of the United States and stop listening to "stooges" in Kabul. In a so-called "open letter" to the American president Tuesday, the Islamist insurgent group asserted that "a number of war mongering congressmen and generals" are pressing Trump to prolong the Afghan conflict "because they seek to preserve their military privileges." About 8,400 U.S. troops are in Afghanistan, training, advising and assisting local forces under a NATO-led military coalition, in addition to conducting counterterrorism operations. "If you failed to win the Afghan war with disciplined U.S. and NATO troops, advanced technology, experienced military generals, consecutive strategies and mighty economy, you shall never be able to win it with mercenaries, notorious contractor firms and immoral stooges," said the Taliban letter. The insurgency's main spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, released the letter to media outlets, including VOA. While preparing its new military strategy for Afghanistan, the Trump administration is reviewing various options ranging from troop withdrawal to an increased reliance on private security contractors to help Afghan security forces reverse Taliban territorial gains. "We have noticed that you have understood the errors of your predecessors and have resolved to thoroughly rethinking your new strategy in Afghanistan," noted the Taliban letter. "You must also not handover the Afghan issue to warmongering generals but must make a decision where history shall remember you as an advocate of peace," it said. The letter also alleged U.S. generals are "concealing" casualties the Taliban is inflicting on American forces. The statement went on say that the Afghan conflict could be resolved by the withdrawal of U.S.-led foreign "occupation" forces from the country. "Therefore it would be better for you to understand the realities as a responsible president of the United States and then make decisions based upon them," it added. Commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan General John Nicholson has requested several thousand additional troops to help Afghan forces break the military "stalemate" with the Taliban. Some influential Republican congressmen also have supported the call for troop surge. The Taliban has made unprecedented battlefield gains since the beginning of 2017, inflicting heavy casualties on Afghan forces. The insurgents also have besieged several provincial capitals and blocked main highways that cross Afghanistan. "You must realize that these repulsive sellouts neither care about your interests nor that of their own nation, rather the only thing they hold dear is retaining their seat of power and securing their personal interests," said the Taliban letter, while taking aim at the Afghan government. Corruption in security related Afghan state institutions and emerging political rivalries within President Ashraf Ghani's national unity government, critics say, have enabled the Taliban to increase its influence. Afghan officials have not commented on the Taliban letter, nor has there been a reaction from the Trump administration. Taliban spokesman Mujahid, meanwhile, has denied as "baseless propaganda" official claims of him being injured during Afghan forces' operations in northern Faryab province. A regional military commander told reporters Tuesday Mujahid received "serious injuries" but similar previous official assertions had turned out to be untrue. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Former Al-Shabab No. 2 Quits Militant Group By Harun Maruf August 15, 2017 The former number-two leader of al-Shabab says he has quit the Somalia-based militant group. Mukhtar Robow, also known as Abu Mansour, made the announcement to journalists at a Mogadishu hotel on Tuesday. "I would like to state to the Somali people and the international community that I quit al-Shabab five years and seven months ago and that I'm not a member of the group," he said, reading a prepared statement. He said he left the group because of differences with other al-Shabab leaders. "I quit because of misunderstanding and differences over the ideology, which is not in the interest of the religion [Islam], people and the country," he said. The former al-Shabab official indicated he is holding talks with the Somali government and said "I'm hopeful we can pave the way for a lasting peace." Robow surrendered to the Somali government on Sunday in the Bakool region after several days of heavy fighting between his militia and al-Shabab fighters. He said al-Shabab wanted to kill him. "For five years and seven months I was living in the jungle where I was attacked [by al-Shabab]. They wanted to kill me but I defended myself," he said. Robow was a founder of al-Shabab and served as the group's deputy leader under longtime emir Ahmed Abdi Godane. The two men were known to disagree over tactics and strategy in al-Shabab's war to overthrow the Somali government and install a strict Islamist state. In 2012, the U.S. government offered a $5 million reward for information leading to Robow's capture or death. The U.S. dropped the reward offer in June, as al-Shabab closed in on Robow's hideout. No remorse A former senior intelligence official noted that Robow did not express remorse about his role with al-Shabab. Abdi Hassan Hussein, the former director of the U.S.-backed Puntland Intelligence Agency (PIA), says Robow failed to reject al-Shabab's ideology. "He did not make it clear, as Somali people were expecting and waiting, that al-Shabab's objectives and principles have no basis in Islamic law and not suitable for the Somali people," he said. Hussein says Robow only addressed differences he had with al-Shabab and did not reject the ideology itself. "You can tell he is still sympathetic, still has feelings for the organization," he said. "He should have apologized and asked for forgiveness for what he did to the Somali people on behalf of al-Shabab." Human Rights Watch has urged the Somali government to investigate Robow for alleged human rights abuses. It said Robow had a leadership role in al-Shabab at a time when HRW documented "indiscriminate attacks on civilians, forced recruitment of children, and other abuses against residents." "Investigate Robow's role and ensure that those responsible for the worst abuses aren't able to escape just punishment," the rights group said in a brief statement Tuesday. The Somali government has not commented on the defection and Robow's statement. Former PIA director Hussein said he believes the defection of Robow is a positive step and good news for the government. "It's an example to other al-Shabab leaders who still have not found the right conditions to leave the group to emulate," he said. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Tillerson says US still interested in dialogue with N Korea Iran Press TV Tue Aug 15, 2017 5:7PM US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says that Washington remains ready for talks after North Korea postponed a threat to fire missiles into the waters near Guam. "I have no response to his decisions at all at this time," Tillerson said at the State Department on Tuesday. "We continue to be interested in finding ways to get to dialogue, but that's up to" North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The top US diplomat maintained that it would be up to Kim when such negotiations would begin. Tillerson had previously insisted Pyongyang must show that it is ready to abandon its nuclear program by halting ballistic missile and nuclear tests for an unspecified period of time before negotiations can begin on how to resolve the standoff and stop any threat of US military action. North Korea announced Tuesday that it had completed plans to test ballistic missiles near Guam but would not immediately carry them out. Kim however warned that his country would stay fire-ready while keeping a close eye on Washington's actions. According to North Korea's official KCNA news agency, Kim had been briefed by his missile forces on a "plan for an enveloping fire at Guam" earlier on Tuesday. The North Korean leader said he would "watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees" before executing any order. If they "persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions" on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea would then take action "as already declared," he added. North Korea said last week it was finalizing plans to launch four missiles into the waters near Guam. The plan was announced after US President Donald Trump threatened to unleash "fire and fury" on North Korea. Trump has also said the US military is "locked and loaded" to deal with the North. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalated in July, when Pyongyang twice successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of targeting the US mainland. Pyongyang says it needs its weapons as a deterrent against US expansionism and to defend its nation in the face of any US aggression. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address North Korea delays Guam strike plan amid global calls for peace Iran Press TV Tue Aug 15, 2017 5:42AM Amid global calls for calm, North Korea's leader has decided to halt a plan to launch missiles towards the US Pacific territory of Guam, warning, however, that his country will stay fire-ready while keeping a close eye on Washington's actions. The North's official news agency said on Tuesday that Kim Jong-un informed the country's military commanders that he would wait and monitor the actions of the US for the time being. KCNA news agency said Kim made the decision after being briefed on the "plan for an enveloping fire at Guam" during an inspection on Monday of the Strategic Force command in charge of the nuclear-armed state's missile units. Kim said he would "watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees" before executing any order. If they "persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions" on the Korean Peninsula, North Korea would then take action "as already declared," he added. North Korea said last week it was finalizing plans to launch four missiles into the waters near Guam. The plan was announced after US President Donald Trump threatened to unleash "fire and fury" on North Korea. Trump has also said the US military is "locked and loaded" to deal with the North. World urges calm Meanwhile, world leaders continue to urge both sides to calm down and end the dispute peacefully. On Tuesday, South Korea's President Moon Jae-in, an advocate of dialog with the North, vowed that his government would do all in its power to prevent war on the Korean Peninsula, saying there will be no military action without Seoul's approval. "Military action on the Korean Peninsula can only be decided by South Korea and no one else can decide to take military action without the consent of South Korea," said Moon in televised comments. The South Korean leader urged both sides to stop threatening one another and pursue diplomatic solutions. "The government, putting everything on the line, will block war by all means," Moon said. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also said he and the US president had agreed during a phone conversation on Tuesday that their top priority would be to do whatever they could to stop North Korea from launching its missiles. "Through a firm partnership between Japan and the US and cooperating with China, Russia and the international community we agreed that our priority was to work to ensure that North Korea doesn't launch more missiles," Abe said. For his part, Trump said he would stand by Washington's regional allies. "President Trump reaffirmed that the United States stands ready to defend and respond to any threat or actions taken by North Korea against the United States or its allies, South Korea and Japan," the White House said in a statement. On Tuesday, China and Russia urged the US and North Korea to exercise restraint and refrain from provocative actions. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying expressed hope that all sides could put out the flames, not add oil to the fire, with their words and actions. Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova made similar remarks, saying Washington and Pyongyang are edging closer to conflict with their harsh rhetoric while paying little regard to the potential consequences of such confrontation. "We [the Russian foreign ministry] have already said that the situation is on the brink, but despite this, we hear the rhetoric from Pyongyang, and the statements that come out every day from Washington," she said. The official added, "Russia and China have initiated a program to overcome this crisis, there must be a double freezing. The Americans and South Korea freeze their military exercises, which are provocative, and North Korea freezes the tests they are conducting, tests which have been condemned by the UN." European Union's foreign policy chief has urged the sides to seek a "peaceful, not military" solution to the crisis. "At such a critical juncture, the European Union supports diplomatic work with our partners aimed at the de-escalation of the situation and achieving the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through peaceful, not military, means," Federica Mogherini said in a statement. The statement was issued after a meeting of a key EU panel which agreed the bloc would reach out to the two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan. "There is an urgent need for a de-escalation of tensions," Mogherini emphasized. Tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalated in July, when Pyongyang twice successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of targeting the US mainland. World nations took a unified stand against Pyongyang over the missile test, urging the country not to pursue a weapons development program. Pyongyang, however, says it needs its weapons as a deterrent against US expansionism and to defend its nation in the face of any US aggression. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address US Satellites Allegedly Spot North Korean Missile Launchers Moving Into Position Sputnik News 18:41 15.08.2017(updated 20:58 15.08.2017) US observation satellites have apparently spotted North Korean missiles being moved into position for what may be another launch a move that may further escalate the already volatile situation in the region. US surveillance satellites have allegedly detected North Korean missile launcher movement which may indicate preparations for an intermediate ballistic missile launch. This development comes only a few days ahead of the upcoming US-South Korean military drills that are scheduled to begin next week. US Defense Secretary James Mattis warned that further escalation may swiftly devolve into actual war, adding that many young servicemen may find themselves in a wartime situation. It should be noted however that August 15 is celebrated annually in both North and South Korea as National Liberation Day, so the aforementioned missile launcher movements may be a part of some display of military might held by Pyongyang during the occasion. Furthermore, it appears that the North Korean leadership may actually be seeking to diffuse the situation as Kim Jong Un, rather than once again threatening to launch missiles at the island of Guam, declared that he would watch the US actions "a little more" to see if Washington "continues its extremely dangerous reckless actions." Dr Genevieve Hohnen, Lecturer in Politics at Edith Cowan University, told the news.com.au media outlet that Kim's message actually contains "a clear if buried olive branch." "We know what to expect from Kim. This isn't the kind of statement that would be interpreted as aggressive despite all the aggressive rhetoric. The fact Kim Jong Un says he will respond only if the US does not de-escalate the situation is significant," Hohnen said. Earlier North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared that the US should make the "right choice" to prevent a conflict between their two countries, while ordering his generals to prepare for a possible military strike. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Beijing Hopes Seoul, Pyongyang to Reduce Tensions on Korean Peninsula Sputnik News 17:54 15.08.2017 China hopes that both North and South Korea will be able to make concerted and decisive efforts in the direction necessary to break the current deadlock, and allow for a return to peaceful dialogue and consultations, according to Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying. BEIJING (Sputnik) Beijing hopes that Seoul and Pyongyang will be able to make joint efforts that are necessary to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said Tuesday. "The current situation on the Korean Peninsula is extremely sensitive and is approaching a critical point. It is a watershed moment to decide on a return to peace negotiations China hopes that both North and South Korea will be able to make concerted and decisive efforts in the direction necessary to break the current deadlock, and allow for a return to peaceful dialogue and consultations," the diplomat said. Hua stressed that China had always been a supporter of seeking a peaceful solution to the Korean Peninsula nuclear problem. The parties must take joint steps to maintain peace and stability on the peninsula per the common interests of all relevant parties, she stressed. "China believes that in the current situation the parties concerned should show restraint, make the right decisions to ensure the stability and security of their peoples and the entire region, and take the right actions to reduce tensions and solve the Korean peninsula peacefully," Hua said. Earlier this month, the UN Security Council (UNSC) unanimously adopted a resolution tightening sanctions against North Korea after it had launched two missiles in July. The move was criticized by Pyongyang, which subsequently vowed to use any means possible to retaliate against the United States after the UNSC approved the new US-drafted sanctions. In response to Pyongyang's threats, Seoul promised to speed up the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system. Last week, Pyongyang and Washington exchanged threats with one another. Most recently, the North Korean military said Wednesday it was considering a missile attack near the Pacific island of Guam, which hosts several US military bases. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Signs of Diplomacy Appear as North Korea Delays Guam Missile Test By Brian Padden August 15, 2017 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Tuesday appeared to postpone a plan to fire missiles toward Guam, a move that could help defuse the potential for imminent conflict, and give new momentum to reported behind the scenes efforts underway to find a peaceful resolution to the nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula. President Donald Trump's harsh warning last week that the United States would respond to any North Korean threat with "fire and fury" set off a flurry of confrontational rhetoric from both sides. The North Korean People's Army pushed back saying preparations were underway to launch a missile over Japan to land near the U.S. territory of Guam. Trump said the U.S. military was "locked and loaded" and ready to respond to any attack on its territories. On Tuesday, the North Korean leader was quoted by the KCNA state media outlet saying he will wait and see "if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous, reckless actions" before going forward with the missile test targeting the Guam area. Kim also urged the United States to "show through actions if they wish to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula and prevent a dangerous military clash," according to the KCNA report. Diplomacy stirring A possible opening for diplomacy comes amid reports that the Trump administration has been engaged in back channel talks with North Korea. President Trump has used confrontational rhetoric emphasizing U.S. willingness to use force if necessary to prevent the Kim government from developing a long-range nuclear missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland, but he has also indicated support for more direct talks. The Associated Press has reported that Ambassador Joseph Yun, the U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, has been involved in ongoing discussions with Pak Song Il, a senior North Korean diplomat at the country's U.N. mission. The two envoys reportedly first engaged in negotiating the release of U.S. college student Otto Warmbier two months ago. Warmbier fell into a coma while in North Korean custody and died soon after returning home. Lowering the bar And Secretary of State Rex Tillerson seemed to drop a key precondition set by former President Barack Obama that Pyongyang first commit to denuclearization before any talks can occur. Instead, at the recent ASEAN security summit in the Philippines, Tillerson indicated the U.S. would be open to talks if North Korea merely stopped the missile launches. "The United States has actually lowered the bar by saying that the best evidence North Korea is serious about diplomatic negotiations is to stop missile tests," said political analyst Bong Young-shik with the Yonsei University Institute for North Korean Studies. Advocates for diplomacy see hopeful signs in the Trump administration's willingness to talk without rigid preconditions. John Delury, a professor of international relations at Yonsei University in Seoul, said the United States should send a high level envoy to Pyongyang, officially to negotiate the release of two Americans still being held by North Korea, as Canada recently did. "North Korea just released a Canadian citizen when a security adviser to the Canadian prime minister visited Pyongyang. So it could be a hint, sort of a model to get us out of this game of chicken," Delury said. South Korea veto Without directly naming his U.S ally, South Korean President Moon Jae-in Tuesday asserted his veto power over any decision to use military force in the country or launching an attack against North Korea. "Only the Republic of Korea can make the decision for military action on the Korean Peninsula. And without the consent of the Republic of Korea, no country can determine to take military action," Moon said during an address commemorating the anniversary of the end of World War II. Moon also reassured Pyongyang that Seoul does not seek the collapse of the Kim regime or the unification of the Korean Peninsula through force or "absorption," and renewed calls for dialogue and cooperation. "Despite the ups and downs, the North Korea nuclear issue must be resolved peacefully," he said. President Moon has so far been frustrated in his efforts to both increase engagement with Pyongyang and support strong U.S.-led sanctions and military deterrence. North Korea has so far rejected offers of humanitarian aid, and increased cooperation on reunions for families separated by the division of the country. "There is a growing recognition inside the Moon Jae-in government that South Korea's independent capability to dictate the U.S. security conditions on the Korean Peninsula is severely limited," said the Yonsei University analyst Bong Young-shik. With international sanctions preventing Moon from restarting economic aid and joint ventures, the South Korean leader has few incentives to entice the North. For now analysts say Washington and Pyongyang remain the central figures in this standoff, and while the confrontation over Guam may have been deferred, military options remain both a threat and leverage in possible negotiations. Youmi Kim in Seoul contributed to this report. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address IRGC drone patrols in Persian Gulf will continue despite US psychological operations Iran Press TV Mon Aug 14, 2017 8:22PM Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has rejected US claims that a drone made an "unsafe approach" to an American aircraft carrier. The IRGC's drone division released a statement on Tuesday stressing that all aerial operations in Iran's Air Defense Identification Zone are carried out in accordance with the standard safety regulations, rejecting the claims by the US Navy. "IRGC drone patrols in Iran's Air Defense Identification Zone will continue with precision and in a continues manner to safeguard the borders of the Islamic Republic of Iran without taking heed to the psychological warfare operations of foreign forces present in the Persian Gulf," added the statement. Earlier on Tuesday, US Navy spokesman Lieutenant Ian McConnaughey said in a statement that an Iranian QOM-1 drone flew within 300 meters (1,000 feet) of aircraft based on the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier in international waters on Sunday night, calling it an "unsafe and unprofessional" incident. "Despite repeated radio calls to establish communications and remain clear, the QOM-1's controlling station was unresponsive and the (drone) did not use any aircraft navigation lights while it made several passes in close proximity to Nimitz and its escort ships during active flight operations, coming within 1,000 feet of US aircraft," he said. Iranian forces are tasked with guaranteeing security within the country's maritime borders, where they have been involved in a series of face-offs with US vessels for intrusion into Iranian territorial waters. Iran has repeatedly warned that any act of transgression into Iran's territorial waters would be met with an immediate and befitting response. In recent years, Iran's Navy has increased its presence in international waters to protect naval routes and provide security for merchant vessels and tankers. It has also conducted major drills to enhance its defense capabilities. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address IRGC drone patrols in Persian Gulf in ADIZ IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Aug 15, IRNA -- Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) drone patrols in Iran's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) will continue to safeguard the borders of the country without paying even the slightest attention to the psychological war of foreign forces, said a statement released by IRGC on Monday. Rejecting US navy claims that a drone made an "unsafe approach" to a US aircraft carrier, the statement says all aerial operations in Iran's ADIZ are carried out in accordance with the standard safety regulations. Earlier on Monday, US Navy spokesman Lieutenant Ian McConnaughey said in a statement that an Iranian QOM-1 drone flew within 300 meters (1,000 feet) of the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier in international waters on Sunday night, calling it an 'unsafe and unprofessional' incident. McConnaughey said, 'Despite repeated radio calls to establish communications and remain clear, the QOM-1's controlling station was unresponsive and the (drone) did not use any aircraft navigation lights while it made several passes in close proximity to Nimitz and its escort ships during active flight operations, coming within 1,000 feet of US aircraft.' Also, last week on Tuesday, the US navy announced in a statement that an Iranian drone flew within 30 meters (about 100 feet) of a US Navy F/A-18, forcing the jet to take evasive action as it attempted to land on the USS Nimitz in the Persian Gulf. The statement said the drone didn't seem to be armed and the ship attempted to radio the drone control center to warn about it. 9417**1771 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Missile-launcher warship to join North Fleet IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Anzali, Aug 15, IRNA -- Iran's Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said Separ missile-launcher warship would join North Fleet by the end of current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2018) Sayyari made the remarks in a gathering attended by naval forces in Anzali in northern province of Gilan. He added the Iranian navy is planning to equip the South Fleet to submarine and battleship during the mentioned period. Recently, Admiral Sayyari said that the force is ready to ward off threats, bullying and foreign coalitions. "We do not fear any threat in safeguarding our borders and national interests," he added. Now Iran's water borders have broadened, as the Navy has an active presence up to 10 degree latitude of the Indian Ocean, he said. Admiral Sayyari further pointed out that regular presence in open seas, prevention of Iranophobia and protection of national interests and Iran's shipping lines in free waters are indicative of strategic role of Iran's Navy. 9060**1771 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Next cabinet to prioritize defense diplomacy: President Rouhani IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Aug 15, IRNA -- Iran will further engage in 'defense diplomacy' with the region and the world in the new cabinet, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani said on Tuesday. Introducing Brigadier General Amir Hatami as his nominee for Defense Ministry, President Rouhani described him as a 'reliable' member of the big family of Iran's armed forces. He (Brigadier General Hatami) would prop up all groups of Iran's armed forces, as the responsibility of the ministry is supporting them, Rouhani said in the open session of Iran's Parliament (Majlis). Commercializing military and defensive products, and assigning some affairs to civilian sectors, if possible, are among the Ministry's priorities in the upcoming cabinet, the President added. Rouhani was reelected as Iranian President for the second term after winning a landmark victory at the May 19 presidential election. The Parliament is expected to review proposed ministers' qualifications on Tuesday. 9156**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Pres Rouhani: Iran govt ready for talks on lifting all sanctions IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Aug 15, IRNA -- Nuclear deal with the world powers stabilized Iran's nuclear rights, said the Iranian President on Tuesday expressing Iran's readiness to 'hold talks on removal of all sanctions.' 'Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) should be preserved,' said President Hassan Rouhani at the Majlis (Parliament) open session this morning stressing that the country should make use of the international agreement. Addressing the Majlis session held to review the government's plans and give vote of confidence to the proposed ministers, Rouhani noted that Iran's banking transations with the world are being carried out. The JCPOA does not only include the economic questions, the president noted, adding it first refers to the issue of national security, stabilization of nuclear rights and neutrlizing US fiendish plots against Iran. Rouhani was reelected as Iranian President for the second term after winning a landmark victory at the May 19 presidential election. 1483**1771 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address JCPOA opens new chapter in foreign policy: Iran President IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Tehran, Aug 15, IRNA -- The July 2015 nuclear deal did prepare a 'new plan' for the interaction with the world, said the Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, adding that the international agreement unlocked new doors to the country's foreign policy. 'Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is a win-win agreement which offered ways of interaction with the world,' President Rouhani said, addressing the Majlis (Parliament) open session this morning to review the government's plans and give vote of confidence to the proposed ministers. Describing Iran's nuclear program as the country's most complicated question, the president said it was a great accomplishment after a series of intensive expert talks. Turning to the issue of the US lack of commitment, the president said the reason for Washington's disloyalty is Tehran's success in fulfilling its commitments. 'Iran is faithful to its commitments and will seriously respond to any violation,' the Iranian president stressed. He further underlined that the seven reports released by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Iran have confirmed that the country has fully implemented the JCPOA. 'The world in recent months has clearly seen that this is the US, particularly in the Trump's tenure, that has ignored the international agreements [including the JCPOA],' said he while referring to Paris Agreement, North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and agreement with Cuba as the deals which have been violated by the US president. 'Iran, during the history, has been loyal to all its international commitments, and will continue to do this,' Rouhani noted, stressing the country will confidently and vigilantly safeguard the rights of the nation when dealing with disloyalties. 'JCPOA is an example of thought of peace,' said Rouhani, adding Iran as 'a harbor of peace' extends its hand of friendship to the neighbors. Touching the regional developments, President Rouhani said that the regional problems will be solved solely through the regional solutions. 1483**1771 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address IRGC drone patrols in Persian Gulf to continue with precision ISNA - Iranian Students' News Agency Tue / 15 August 2017 / 12:08 Tehran (ISNA) - Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has rejected US claims that a drone made an "unsafe approach" to an American aircraft carrier. The IRGC's drone division released a statement on Tuesday stressing that all aerial operations in Iran's Air Defense Identification Zone are carried out in accordance with the standard safety regulations, rejecting the claims by the US Navy. "IRGC drone patrols in Iran's Air Defense Identification Zone will continue with precision and in a continues manner to safeguard the borders of the Islamic Republic of Iran without taking heed to the psychological warfare operations of foreign forces present in the Persian Gulf," added the statement. Earlier on Tuesday, US Navy spokesman Lieutenant Ian McConnaughey claimed in a statement that an Iranian QOM-1 drone flew within 300 meters (1,000 feet) of aircraft based on the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier in international waters on Sunday night, calling it an "unsafe and unprofessional" incident. Iranian forces are tasked with guaranteeing security within the country's maritime borders, where they have been involved in a series of face-offs with US vessels for intrusion into Iranian territorial waters. Iran has repeatedly warned that any act of transgression into Iran's territorial waters would be met with an immediate and befitting response. In recent years, Iran's Navy has increased its presence in international waters to protect naval routes and provide security for merchant vessels and tankers. It has also conducted major drills to enhance its defense capabilities. End Item NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran denies drone approaching U.S. aircraft carrier People's Daily Online (Xinhua) 16:15, August 15, 2017 Iran has denied a U.S. Navy report that an Iranian drone flew close to a U.S. aircraft carrier in international waters in the Persian Gulf, local media reported Tuesday. The missions of Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) patrolling drones are carried out within the territorial waters of the Islamic republic in the Persian Gulf, the IRGC said in a statement. On Monday, a spokesman for the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command said an Iranian drone came within 300 meters of the USS Nimitz while it was in international waters in the Persian Gulf. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran can return to pre-JCPOA state if US slaps more sanctions: Rouhani Iran Press TV Tue Aug 15, 2017 1:1PM Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has warned that Tehran can go back to conditions before conclusion of the 2015 nuclear deal with the P5+1 group within hours if the US continues to violate the terms of the agreement and impose new sanctions against the country. "The new US administration officials should know that the failed experience of threats and sanctions forced their predecessors to come to the negotiating table. If they prefer to return to those times, Iran will definitely return to a situation much more advanced than the start of the [nuclear] negotiations, not within months and weeks, but in a matter of hours and days," Rouhani said in a televised speech at the parliament's open session on Saturday. Rouhani underlined Iran's commitment to the nuclear deal, which is known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), adding that Tehran will follow up and respond to any breach of the deal by other parties. "Those who seek to go back to the language of threats and sanctions are captives of their past self-made delusions. They merely deprive themselves of the benefits of peace by creating antagonism and phobia," he said. "In recent months, the world has clearly witnessed that it is the US, particularly under the presidency of Mr. [Donald] Trump, which is ignoring this international agreement," the Iranian president said. Apart from the JCPOA, Trump's administration has also ignored several other global agreements, showing to its allies that the US is neither a good partner nor a reliable negotiating party, Rouhani pointed out. Rouhani described the nuclear deal as a "model for peace," but noted, "The JCPOA is not and will not be the only option for the country." The remarks come a few days after Trump said he believed Iran was not in compliance with the nuclear deal, accusing Tehran of not "living up to the spirit" of the "horrible agreement." This is while the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has time and again reported that Iran has been abiding by the terms of the nuclear deal. Despite the IAEA's reports, Washington has recently approved a series of anti-Iran sanctions. The head of the Iranian task force to monitor the implementation of the deal says the US sanctions have broken the terms of the JCPOA. Under the JCPOA reached in July 2015, Iran undertook to put limits on its nuclear program in exchange for the termination of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against the Islamic Republic. The White House is bound by US law to notify Congress of Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal every 90 days. Congress would then have to continue to withhold certain nuclear sanctions against Iran. The Trump administration notified Congress of Iran's compliance for the first time in April. In July, Trump reluctantly agreed for the second time to verify that Iran was in compliance, based on the recommendation of his national security team and the intelligence community's analysis. But the US president then immediately commissioned a group of administration staffers who have no intelligence background to generate a rationale for declaring Iran to be in violation of the deal at the next 90-day review, Foreign Policy reported last month. Trump told The Wall Street Journal in late July that he expected the "detailed studies" to validate his belief that Iran was "noncompliant" with the JCPOA. On July 21, Foreign Policy cited a source close to the White House that Trump had previously tasked Secretary of State Rex Tillerson with making a case for decertification of the deal -- which the sources said they failed to do. "Tillerson did not do this and Trump is infuriated," said the unnamed source who added, "He can't trust his secretary of state to do his job, so he is turning to the few White House staffers he trusts the most." Trump was frustrated when Tillerson told him that he had no choice, but to confirm that Iran was in compliance, the report said. It was not only Tillerson who argued to certify the Iran deal. US Defense Secretary James Mattis, National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford, also believed in Tehran's compliance with the agreement. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Tehran Slams US Claim on 'Dangerous' Flying Maneuvers by Iranian Drone in Gulf Sputnik News 15:21 15.08.2017(updated 21:21 15.08.2017) The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) refuted Tuesday the US statement about an Iranian drone's "dangerously" close encounter with a US aircraft carrier. MOSCOW (Sputnik) On Monday, the US Navy said in a statement that an Iranian drone had flown "dangerously" close to the US aircraft carrier Nimitz in the Persian Gulf for the second time in less than a week. "IRGC's drones are equipped with standard navigation systems and are guided accurately and professionally; therefore, claims made by Americans are rooted in weakness of their diagnostic and identification systems or otherwise in their intention to mislead the public opinion," the IRGC statement said, as quoted by the Mehr news agency. The announcement denied US claims on unsafe approach of IRGC's drone as baseless and unfounded. "Iran's air patrol missions are routinely carried out within the country's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) on a daily basis and in accordance with current laws," IRGC said. IRGC pointed out that it would continue drone patrols carefully and continuously in the mission areas within the framework of Iranian borders regardless of the "mental war created by alien forces" in the Persian Gulf. The incident comes less than a month after the latest confrontation between US and Iranian militaries in the Persian Gulf. In July, the USS Thunderbolt patrol ship fired several warning shots at an Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps ship in the Gulf. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iran underlines dialogue between Baghdad, Erbil IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency Baghdad, Aug 15, IRNA -- Iran's Envoy to Iraq Iraj Masjedi urged dialogue between Iraqi central government and the Kurdish autonomous region to resolve disputes between them. Iran elaborated on its stance regarding referendum for statehood in Iraq's Kurdistan region, the envoy told reporters after a meeting with the Iraqi Kurdistan delegation dispatched for Baghdad. He voiced hope for success of talks between the Kurdistan region and the Iraqi federal government. Meanwhile, Rowsch Nuri Shaways, head of the Kurdistan region delegation briefed the Iranian envoy on the outcomes of his meeting with the Iraqi central government. Iraq's central government and the country's neighbors, including Iran and Turkey have opposed the Iraqi Kurdistan region plan to hold a referendum on statehood in September. The international community and the US have also opposed the idea and many Kurdish people and parties believe that referendum will add to the region's problems. 9191**2050 NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Iraq launches operation to liberate Tal Afar from Daesh control Iran Press TV Tue Aug 15, 2017 8:20AM Iraq has begun an operation to liberate the northern city of Tal Afar from Daesh terrorists weeks after driving the terror group out of its last urban stronghold in the country, the Defense Ministry says. Mohammed al-Khudari, a spokesman for Iraq's Defense Ministry, announced that the Iraqi Air Force launched Tal Afar liberation operation by carrying out aerial attacks on Daesh positions on Tuesday. He stressed that the ground offensive to retake Tal Afar, located 70 kilometers west of Mosul, will start following the completion of those strikes. Following the start of the offensive, a local source said that six large explosions rocked several areas in Tal Afar. One of the blasts reportedly hit a workshop used to manufacture explosives in the west of the city. There were no immediate reports of casualties and the extent of damage inflicted on the terrorists. Tal Afar, which has a population of around 200,000, was captured by Daesh in 2014. A high-ranking official of the Iraqi Popular Mobilization Units (PMU), commonly known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha'abi, said on Monday that the pro-government fighters will actively participate alongside other security forces in the operation to liberate the Tal Afar. Speaking at a youth meeting on July 29, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi also said Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters would take part in the offensive to win back Tal Afar. He said the army and security commanders had devised a plan to dislodge Daesh from Tal Afar, which required the participation of security personnel as well as Hashd al-Sha'abi and tribal fighters. In late June, Commander of Nineveh Liberation Operations Major General Najim Abdullah al-Jubouri said there are between 1,500 and 2,000 Daesh militants holed up in Tal Afar, and predicted a relatively easy victory for government forces in the operation saying the terrorists were "worn out and demoralized. Daesh lost control of Mosul, its last urban bastion in Iraq, early last month, following a two-phased Iraqi military offensive, which first began in October 2016. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Putin: 2018 Defense Spending Cuts Won't Affect Army, Navy Refit Plans Sputnik News 15:03 15.08.2017(updated 15:06 15.08.2017) Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia's defense spending in 2018 will be reduced, though the plans to renovate the country's military will remain in place. NOVO-OGARYOVO (Sputnik) Russia's federal budget for 2018 envisions a reduction in defense spending, but this will not affect the plans to re-equip the army and navy, Putin said Tuesday at a working meeting with United Russia ruling party faction leader Vladimir Vasilyev. "I want to remind you that significant budget savings for the next year are stipulated, by the way, due to a cut in defense spending. This is not connected with the reduction of our plans to refit the army and navy. We will execute the state defense order and will make a new program," Putin said. Putin stressed that every ascpect of the country's 2018 budget should be carefully considered in the State Duma during the preparation process. "This concerns defense, security, it concerns the economy, supporting the economy, the social sphere, health care, the level of wages, citizens' incomes, especially in the budgetary sphere, according to the so-called "unspecified"categories of citizens. I ask you to pay attention to this, "Putin said. Vasilyev noted that working on the 2017 budget law was not easy, but lawmakers managed to fulfill the goals set by the president. In late July, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev held a meeting on budget defense spending in the next three years. The head of government recalled that the three-year budget is being formed in such a way as to complete the state program of armament until 2020, and also to make possible the implementation of a new program that is being developed. Medvedev, that the re-equipment of the army and navy is on schedule. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Saudi crown prince 'wants out' of war on Yemen: Leaked emails Iran Press TV Tue Aug 15, 2017 5:11AM Purported emails recently leaked show that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is seeking an exit from the war that Saudi Arabia has been waging against Yemen on his initiative, more than two years into a conflict the Riyadh regime has been unable to win. The heir to the Saudi throne, who also serves as defense minister, raised the subject in a meeting with ex-US national security adviser Stephen Hadley, and Martin Indyk, a former US ambassador to Israel, the Middle East Eye news portal reported on Monday. The details of the meeting were revealed in an email exchange between Indyk and Emirati Ambassador to Washington Yousef al-Otaiba in April, which was obtained by the GlobalLeaks campaign group and reported by the Middle East Eye. Otaiba wrote to Indyk that he thought Prince Salman "is far more pragmatic than what we hear is (sic) Saudi public positions." Indyk replied, "I agree on that. He was quite clear with Steve Hadley and me that he wants out of Yemen," adding that the Saudi prince "is OK with the US engaging Iran as long as it is coordinated in advance and the objectives are clear." The report comes days after Iraqi Interior Minister Qasim al-Araji said that bin Salman had officially asked him to mediate between Saudi Arabia and Iran. Riyadh broke off relations with Tehran last year. Bin Salman is considered the architect of the Saudi war on Yemen, which began in March 2015 and which Saudi authorities at the time reportedly believed would be over in weeks. The military campaign was launched in an attempt to eliminate the Yemeni Houthi Ansarullah movement and reinstall a Riyadh-friendly former president. But Saudi Arabia has achieved neither of the objectives despite spending billions of dollars on the war and enlisting the cooperation of dozens of its vassal states as well as Western countries. The Saudi-led bombing campaign, which has been accompanied by a naval and aerial blockade on Yemen, has so far killed over 12,000 people in the impoverished state, left 70 per cent of the country's 27 million population in desperate need of humanitarian aid, and caused the worst cholera outbreak in the world. More than half a million Yemenis have been infected with cholera and nearly 2,000 others have died since the epidemic began four months ago, the latest figures provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) show. Saudi Arabia has come under international criticism over the mounting civilian casualties in Yemen and the massive destruction. Bin Salman's purported desire to seek an exit from the war may be a sign that the Saudi regime has realized its failure to impose its will on Yemen militarily, despite its massive military superiority on the Arab world's poorest country. It may also be an indication that the financial costs of the war have become unbearable for Riyadh. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian civilians evade Daesh conscription in eastern Dayr al-Zawr prov. Iran Press TV Tue Aug 15, 2017 12:53PM Hundreds of residents of villages and towns in Syria's conflict-ridden eastern province of Dayr al-Zawr have decided not to comply with the conscription policies of the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group, and have escaped their areas as the extremists lose territory across the war-ravaged country. Many of them have sought refuge in makeshift camps for internally displaced persons in the neighboring province of Hasakah, including Arishah camp that lies in the southern quarter of the province. Residents and the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group reported that Daesh terrorists have told ordinary people via Friday sermons, loudspeakers and leaflets that they have only a week to register their names at militant recruitment offices. Ali, who left his town of al-Eshara, southeast of Dayr al-Zawr city, along with his family, said Daesh Takfiris had described joining their ranks as a religious duty for people, "but the majority of the young men refused and thousands of us fled." "The situation became critical. They carried out raids on houses searching for young men to conscript into their forces," 28-year-old Salah from the city of Mayadin, located about 44 kilometers southeast of Dayr al-Zawr, said. Ahmed al-Abed, also from Mayadin, said those forced by Daesh terrorists to enlist "have to undergo a month of training and then they fight for them for four months." The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has warned that displaced civilians in Arishah camp face "terrible, terrible conditions." "These tents are literally in the middle of the desert. You have snakes and scorpions that are a daily threat for people," ICRC spokeswoman, Ingy Sedky, said on Monday, adding, "You see children playing in toxic waste, drinking and bathing in contaminated water." Government forces, allies make gains in western Syria Meanwhile, Syrian army soldiers, backed by allied fighters from popular defense groups, have established full control over Jeb al-Mazare'a Hill overlooking Salba village in the country's western province of Hama. Syria's official news agency, SANA, reported that army units and their allies inflicted heavy losses on Daesh ranks and their military equipment during the operation to retake the strategic area. The report added that Syrian government forces also seized control of supply routes of Daesh extremists, who are holed up in the western part of Salba village. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address 50,000 stranded on Jordan-Syria border: UN Iran Press TV Tue Aug 15, 2017 7:42AM The United Nations (UN) says roughly 50,000 Syrians are stranded on Syria's border with Jordan, expressing concern about their situation. The refugees reportedly comprise an estimated 4,000 people at the Hadalat border crossing and 45,000, mostly women and children, at the Rukban border crossing in Jordan's extreme northeast. The Takfiri Daesh terrorist group slew seven Jordanian troops in a bombing near Rukban last year, forcing the closure of the common border and triggering the Jordanian army to declare the country's desert areas, which border Syria and Iraq, "closed military zones." Aid agencies have been struggling to reach those in need in the area since the onset of the emergency situation along the border. UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters on Monday that, "Some people are reportedly attempting to leave the area, risking further danger and deprivation in an inhospitable desert location." Haq said that UN agencies "are deeply concerned about the security and protection" of the stranded refugees. The refugees stuck at the Hadalat border crossing were reportedly living solely on flour and water, he added. "The UN calls on all parties to the conflict to take the necessary steps to prevent further harm to the frightened and highly vulnerable individuals stranded at the border," he added. The Syrian army recently advanced to the border with Jordan for the first time since 2011 when foreign-backed militancy started in Syria liberating a 30-kilometer-long stretch of land along the frontier. The operations have blocked the loopholes across the border, which would previously allow arms transfers from Jordan to Syria-based militants. Jordan shares a desert border of more than 370 kilometers with Syria and says it is hosting 1.3 million Syrian refugees. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Syrian Military Jet Crashes in Suwayda Province - Source Sputnik News 19:19 15.08.2017(updated 20:17 15.08.2017) A Syrian military aircraft has crashed in the country's southern Suwayda province, a Syrian military source told Sputnik on Tuesday. The cause of the crash remains unclear. An investigation into the crash is currently underway. "A military aircraft has crashed east of Suwayda. The causes of the crash are being clarified," the source told Sputnik. Earlier in the day, media reported, citing Osoud al-Sharqiyah, a Syrian armed group backed by the US-led coalition, that a Syrian Air Force Mig-21 jet fighter was shot down in the eastern part of the southern Syrian province. Militants are currently searching for the pilot, who reportedly managed to eject himself before the crash. On August 10, Syrian state news agency SANA reported that the Syrian government forces had regained control over some 1,300 square kilometers (500 square miles) of the country's territory from terrorists in Suwayda province. The Syrian Army has been conducting an operation in the region along the Syrian-Jordanian border since mid-May. The Lebanese armed forces are also carrying out an operation to counter Daesh on their side of the border with Syria. It was earlier reported that the country's army shelled terrorists' positions using heavy artillery and rocket launchers. The Lebanese-Syrian border has been a tense region, especially since the beginning of the Syrian civil war in 2011 it has been used for arms smuggling and the transit of terrorist recruits to Syria. The Lebanese army and Shia militia Hezbollah have been fighting to prevent terrorists from penetrating Lebanon's territory. Sputnik NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Chinese aircraft enters Taiwan's ADIZ: MND ROC Central News Agency 2017/08/15 14:52:12 Taipei, Aug. 15 (CNA) A Chinese military aircraft flew in Taiwan's Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ) at one point while on its way back to China after a far-sea training mission two days ago, a Ministry of National Defense (MND) official said Tuesday. After flying close to Japan's Miyako Islands on Aug. 13, the Y-8 electronic warfare aircraft turned west and flew at a latitude of 27 degrees north to enter Taiwan's ADIZ, MND spokesman Chen Chung-chi () said, confirming a report in the Liberty Times. He said that although such incidents "have not occurred very frequently," Taiwan's military has maintained high levels of alert to prevent any Chinese aircraft from making their way into the country's airspace. ADIZs are different from a country's airspace. ADIZs usually cover a broad area and serve as an early warning zone to identify and monitor aircraft approaching its territory, while airspace comprises the sky above a territory plus 12 nautical miles of coastal waterways. According to the MND, China's Air Force has conducted four rounds of far-sea flight training near Taiwan's ADIZ so far this month, after four rounds of similar training in July. The Y-8 aircraft were dispatched on at least five occasions. Chen said the aircraft were likely used to collect intelligence on Taiwan's military, and he assured the public that the military has taken proper measures to protect its data from being intercepted by enemies. (By Lu Hsin-hui and Y.F. Low) ENDITEM/ls NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Russia arrests 'Ukrainian agent' in Crimea during act of sabotage Iran Press TV Tue Aug 15, 2017 3:35PM Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained an alleged Ukrainian agent who was planning acts of sabotage in the Black Sea Crimean Peninsula. In a Saturday statement, the FSB said it had detained an "agent of the Ukrainian Security Service... sent to Crimea to carry out acts of sabotage." The man named, Gennady Lemeshko, was arrested on Saturday while "attempting to damage a power line" and was carrying a grenade, two sticks of TNT and a hand saw, the FSB added. Russian state television showed footage of the man under interrogation. According to the statement, Lemeshko was as a former military reconnaissance officer in eastern Ukraine. Lemeshko 's mission was to destroy a power line out of order, to light forest fires, set fire to an administrative building and cause a landslide in an attempt block a highway, the FSB said. Crimea still relies on Ukraine for its power supply. A spokesman for the Ukrainian border service Oleg Slobodyan confirmed that a Ukrainian citizen of that name had entered Crimea on August 9. "He did not have any banned items with him" and Russian officials allowed him into Crimea, Slobodyan said. The Ukrainian military also confirmed that Lemeshko had served in the armed forces on a contract from November 2016 to May 2017. However, a Ukrainian Security Service statement rejected the allegations of detention of one of its agents in Crimea as a "provocation" and "fake news." In 2015, Ukrainian far-right groups and Crimean Tatars, who opposed Crimea's annexation to Russia, detonated explosives at high voltage power lines, cutting power supply to over a million Crimean residents. Conflict erupted in eastern Ukraine following the overthrow of Ukraine's pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych and after people in Crimea voted for unification with Russia in March 2014. The West brands the unification as annexation of the territory by Russia. The US and its allies in Europe also accuse Russia of having a major hand in the crisis in eastern Ukraine, an allegation denied by Moscow. The crisis has left over 10,000 people dead and more than a million others displaced, according to the United Nations. The warring sides have signed at least two peace deals since 2014, but fighting has not ended. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address Former UN Ambassador Testifies At Yanukovych Treason Trial In Kyiv RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service August 15, 2017 KYIV -- A retired senior Ukrainian diplomat has testified at the in-absentia treason trial of former President Viktor Yanukovych. Yuriy Serheyev, Ukraine's ambassador to the United Nations from 2007 to 2015, spoke for over an hour in the Kyiv courtroom as the trial resumed on August 15 after a two-week hiatus. He gave testimony about the situation at the UN and in Ukraine and Russia in February and March 2014, when Moscow sent troops in unmarked uniforms to Crimea to establish control over the Ukrainian region before illegally annexing it. Serheyev said that Russia used Yanukovych to try to justify its intervention by claiming that the "legal president of Ukraine" had asked Moscow to send troops into Ukraine to preserve order and to ensure the safety of personnel at Russia's naval base in Crimea. "Yanukovych's address to Putin was the last attempt by the Russian Federation to justify its aggression against Ukraine before the world community," he said, referring to a letter dated March 1, 2014, that Russia's UN ambassador read from at a Security Council meeting three days later. Serheyev also recalled a March 27, 2014 meeting at which the UN General Assembly, by a vote of 100-11 with 58 abstentions, passed a resolution declaring that the Russian-orchestrated referendum on Crimea's secession from Ukraine had "no validity" and urging the international community "not to recognize any alteration of the status" of Crimea. Yanukovych abandoned office in late February 2014 and fled to Russia in the face of protests triggered by his decision to scrap plans for a landmark deal with the European Union and instead improve trade ties with Moscow. Dozens of people were killed when his government attempted to clamp down on the pro-European protests known as the Euromaidan. Prosecutors are seeking life imprisonment for Yanukovych, who is accused of treason, violating Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and abetting Russian aggression. After he fled, Russia seized Crimea and fomented opposition to the central government in eastern Ukraine, where the ensuing war between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 10,000 people since April 2014. The Ukrainian court had tried to arrange for Yanukovych to take part in the trial by video-link from Russia, where he remains. But Yanukovych announced on July 6 that he would not participate, charging that the trial is politically motivated, and dismissed his lawyers from the case. The court then appointed a lawyer to represent Yanukovych. Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-yanukovych-trial-un -ambassador-testifies/28677946.html Copyright (c) 2017. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address To the editor: When an extremist drove a truck into a crowd in Nice, France, President Trump called it terrorism right away. When an extremist drove a van into a crowd on a London bridge, Trump called it terrorism right away. Yet when another extremist drove into a crowd in Charlottesville, Trump took 48 hours to comment on the person who did this and the people he represented. I know he didnt want to mention the very groups that support him - the KKK, radical white supremacists and neo-Nazis. These very people make up a vast portion of his base. Trump had no other choice but to mention these groups of people because of the backlash from even from his own party. Neo-Nazis were seen wearing Trump shirts and Make America Great Again hats giving the Nazi salute. Some were heard saying Heil Trump! Is this making America great, Trump? The embrace of white nationalists by Trump is very unsettling. He was endorsed by prominent neo-Nazis and Klansmen during his election campaign, but of course he said he didnt know any of these people. It was his steady push for an anti-immigration platform which is one of the central pillars of the nationalist right. I believe he takes his advice from Steve Bannon and from the alt-right that has been praised by the KKK and the neo-Nazis and other white nationalist groups. Former KKK leader David Duke said, Were gonna fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. Thats what we believe in and thats why we voted for Trump because hes gonna take our country back. How Trump acted during his election campaign was what Duke and other racist groups liked: his racism and bigotry. Of course, his base will overlook this and say thats Trump being Trump or blame it all on Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, the liberal left or fake news. Wonder if they said that in Germany, Thats Hitler being Hitler? Between the threat of nuclear war with North Korea and knowing our president is supported by many racists groups, will this country survive? Lets all hope Heather Heyer and the two Virginia state troopers didnt die in vain and that one day we will all live together in harmony, regardless of our skin color, race, religion or sexual persuasion. God, please help us fulfill that dream. ROBERT HAYDEN Blairs TORONTO, Aug. 15, 2017 /CNW/ - Wallbridge Mining Company Ltd. (TSX:WM, FWB: WC7) ("Wallbridge") is pleased to announce that it has received a Certificate of Non-Liability (Attestation de Non-Assujettissement) from the Government of Quebec for the dewatering of the pit and ramp and a 35,000 tonne bulk sample at its 100% owned Fenelon Gold property. The C of A review process is now underway and typically takes 60-75 days. "We are very pleased to have met this significant milestone and hope to have our permit to start dewatering the pit and the ramp sometime in the early Fall of this year," stated Marz Kord, President and CEO of Wallbridge Mining, "Once underground, we will not only extract the required tonnage to increase our understanding of the Fenelon Gold deposit but more importantly we will be able to explore by underground diamond drilling to determine the size potential of the deposit to depth and along strike". "As reported in our press release of July 12, 2017, drilling from surface continues to expand the resource and we are encouraged by the presence of visible gold in 8 of the 14 holes recently completed. Currently, the laboratories are experiencing a backlog and we are informed that final screen metallic assays, which are necessary to quantify the amount of gold in samples with coarse gold, will be received around the end of August." About Wallbridge Mining Wallbridge is establishing a pipeline of projects that will support sustainable production and revenue as well as organic growth through exploration and scalability. Wallbridge is currently preparing to develop its 100%-owned high-grade Fenelon Gold Property in Quebec with exploration underway and a bulk sample targeted for 2017. Wallbridge is also in discussions regarding several other advanced stage projects which could become the Company's next mines. These discussions benefit from the operating capabilities Wallbridge demonstrated by safely and efficiently mining the Broken Hammer deposit in Sudbury, which was completed in October 2015. Wallbridge is also continuing partner-funded exploration on its large portfolio of nickel, copper, and PGM projects in Sudbury, Ontario, with a focus on its high-grade Parkin project. Wallbridge also has exposure to active exploration for copper and gold in Jamaica and British Columbia through its 12.9% ownership of Carube Copper Corp. (CUC:TSX-V, formerly Miocene Resources Limited). This press release may contain forward-looking statements (including "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the US Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) relating to, among other things, the operations of Wallbridge and the environment in which it operates. Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be achieved". Wallbridge has relied on a number of assumptions and estimates in making such forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, the costs associated with the development and operation of its properties. Such assumptions and estimates are made in light of the trends and conditions that are considered to be relevant and reasonable based on information available and the circumstances existing at this time. A number of risk factors may cause actual results, level of activity, performance or outcomes of such exploration and/or mine development to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements including, without limitation, whether such discoveries will result in commercially viable quantities of such mineralized materials, the possibility of changes to project parameters as plans continue to be refined, the ability to execute planned exploration and future drilling programs, the need for additional funding to continue exploration and development efforts, changes in general economic, market and business conditions, and those other risks set forth in Wallbridge's most recent annual information form under the heading "Risk Factors" and in its other public filings. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and such information is inherently subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are difficult to predict and may be beyond the control of Wallbridge. Although Wallbridge has attempted to identify important risks and factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors and risks that cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Consequently, undue reliance should not be placed on such forward-looking statements. In addition, all forward-looking statements in this press release are given as of the date hereof. Wallbridge disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, save and except as may be required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified by this disclaimer. SOURCE Wallbridge Mining Company Ltd. VANCOUVER, Aug. 16, 2017 - Bravura Ventures Corp. (CSE: BVQ; OTC: BRVVF; FRA: 23B) ("Bravura" or the "Company") wishes to announce that it has closed its previously announced acquisition of 1033602 Canada Inc. (the "Target") pursuant to a share exchange agreement, dated July 28, 2017 (the "Share Exchange Agreement"), among Bravura, the Target and the shareholders of the Target. The Target holds the approximately 1000 hectare Rabbit Cobalt-Gold-Nickel-Silver Property located 55km south of Cobalt, Ontario. Pursuant to the Share Exchange Agreement Bravura paid a cash payment of $350,000 and issued a total of 4,000,000 common shares in the capital of the Company (the "Share"), to the shareholders of the Target in exchange for 1,000,000 Class A common shares in the capital of the Target (the "Acquisition"). A finder's fee in the amount of $35,000 was paid in connection with the Acquisition. Greg Burns, CEO commented "This is a great step to our overall goal of expanding our land package and developing a resource in the town of Cobalt. Also with other recent company consolidations/acquisitions in the area it has reinforced our position on the project and direction of the company." "The rabbit has great exploration potential as it has strong showings and has yet to be drilled out. With the majority of cobalt coming out of the Democratic Republic of Congo to have a plot of land in a stable political environment with great exploration potential, is a very exciting and something we look to take advantage of." About the Rabbit Cobalt Property: Location The Rabbit Cobalt property is located 14 km southeast of the town of Temagami near the eastern border of Ontario. The district is mining friendly having a rich history of cobalt and silver production. 55km north of the property is Cobalt, Ontario. The epicentre of past producing cobalt mines in Ontario. Property Status and Configuration The approximately 1,040 ha Rabbit Cobalt property is comprised of 65 claim units. Access and Infrastructure The Property is accessible via Rabbit Lake which is accessed by 7 km of well-maintained gravel surface road leaving highway 11, 3.5 km south of the town of Temagami. The property is located 10 km from rail and 5 km from power distribution lines. Mineralization Cobalt, gold and nickel mineralization is hosted within a fracture zone in diabase approximately 18 inches in width. The fracture is described as being at the contact between the mafic intrusive and the Gowganda Formation. A grab sample collected by A.G. Burrows returned an assay of 8.76% Cobalt, and 6.56% Nickel. The grab samples are selective samples, and are not necessarily representative of the mineralization hosted on the property. History The town of Cobalt, Ontario is located along the Quebec border, near Temiskaming Shores in Northern Ontario. The town sprang up to serve as its hub during the cobalt silver rush. Sporadic exploration of the property has occurred since at least 1955 with minimal focus on cobalt mineralization in more recent years. In 2002 JML Resources flew airborne geophysics over several prospects in the area looking for diamondiferous kimberlites and partially covered the property. Tres-Or Resources in 2005 was also exploring the area for diamondiferous kimberlites. Further the Company is evaluating a name change to better reflect its new positioning and will provide an update as further decisions are made. ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF BRAVURA VENTURES CORP. "Greg Burns" _______________________ Greg Burns, Director Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information Historical data for the prospects were performed under supervision of a Professional Engineer or a geologist, and believed to be of good quality, with drill core and underground sampling results from fire assay analyses by B.C. Certified Assayers. However, under NI43-101 policy historical information included in this release has not been verified by a QP, and as such cannot be relied upon and must be treated as historical in nature. This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements that address capital costs, recovery, grade, and timing of work or plans at the Company's mineral projects. Forward-looking information may be, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "plan", "planned", "continue", "expect", "thought to", "project", "predict", "potential", "targeting", "intends", "believe", "opportunity", "further" and others, or which describes a goal or action, event or result such as "may", "should", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be undertaken, occur or achieved. Forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is not limited to, statements regarding expectations of management regarding the acquisition of the Property and includes that address future mineral production, reserve potential, potential size or scale of a mineralized zone, potential expansion of mineralization, potential type(s) of mining, potential grades as well as to the Company's ability to fund ongoing expenditure, or assumptions about future metal or mineral prices, currency exchange rates, metallurgical recoveries and grades, favourable operating conditions, access, political stability, obtaining or renewal of existing or required mineral titles, licenses and permits, labour stability, market conditions, availability of equipment, accuracy of any mineral resources, anticipated costs and expenditures. Assumptions may be based on factors and events that are not within the control of the Company and there is no assurance they will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking information involves known and unknown risks, which may cause the actual results to materially differ, and/or any future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking information is subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements including, without limitation, the risks that the Company may not have the funds necessary to make its payments pursuant to the Agreement, that the CSE may not approve the transaction, and other factors beyond the control of the Company. Additional information on risks and uncertainties can be found within Financial Statements and other materials found on the Company's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although Bravura has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking information, there can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Bravura withholds any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by law. Contact Bravura Ventures Corp. 800 - 1199 West Hastings Street Vancouver, British Columbia, V6E 3T5 Tel.: 604.283.1722 Fax: 1.888.241.5996 VANCOUVER, Aug. 16, 2017 /CNW/ - Euromax Resources Ltd., (TSX: EOX; OTCQX: EOXFF): ("Euromax" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce a management restructuring to facilitate the timely and efficient development of its Ilovica-Shtuka Copper-Gold Project in Macedonia (the "Project"). Martyn Konig, currently Chairman, will become Executive Chairman and assume management responsibility for the overall day-to-day activities of the Company. This will allow the Management team to concentrate on the permitting, construction preparation and financing activities. In particular, Steve Sharpe, President and CEO, having made positive progress in liaising with the newly formed government of the Republic of Macedonia, will be primarily focused on securing the last remaining permits for the construction of the Project. Since coming to power in early June this year, the new government has provided a stable political environment and been supportive of the Project in recognition of the important contribution it can make to the national and local economies. Patrick Forward, Chief Operating Officer, will continue to manage the engineering, design and construction of the Project through the anticipated EPC contract with Ausenco, as announced in February of this year and Varshan Gokool, Chief Financial Officer, will be focused on the funding of the business and the construction finance plan. Commenting on the announcement, Martyn Konig, Executive Chairman, stated: "I am pleased to be even more involved with the management of Euromax and to ensure the team is absolutely focused on securing the final construction permits and finalising finance plans for the Ilovica-Shtuka Project. By adding to and capitalising on the varied skills within the Management team we can ensure the timely completion of these activities to deliver a robust Ilovica-Shutka Project as quickly as possible." About Euromax Resources Ltd. Euromax is a Canadian development company, focused on building and operating the Ilovica-Shtuka copper and gold project in Macedonia. Forward-Looking Information This news release contains forward-looking information. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, use of proceeds from the Offering, the completion of the Offering, the continued advancement of the company's general business development, research development and the company's development of mineral exploration projects. When used in this press release, the words "will", "shall", "anticipate", "believe", "estimate", "expect", "intent", "may", "project", "plan", "should" and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements. Although Euromax believes that their expectations reflected in these forward looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statement. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include the potential that fluctuations in the marketplace for the sale of minerals, the inability to implement corporate strategies, the ability to obtain financing and other risks disclosed in our filings made with Canadian securities regulators available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Forward-looking statements contained herein are made as of the date of this news release and Euromax disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. SOURCE Euromax Resources Ltd. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Group Ten Metals Inc. (TSX-V:PGE) (US OTC:PGEZF) (FSE:5D32) (the Company or Group Ten) is pleased to announce the execution of an amended agreement (the Agreement) to acquire a 100% interest in the Catalyst project in the southwest of Canadas Yukon Territory. The project is highly prospective for nickel-copper-PGE mineralization being adjacent to, and contiguous with, Wellgreen Platinums Wellgreen PGM-Ni project which contains a National Instrument Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource1 of 362 million tonnes hosting 2.08 billion pounds of nickel, 6.0 million ounces PGMs+gold, and 1.1 billion pounds of copper; and an Inferred Resource2 of 118.6 million tonnes hosting 0.7 billion pounds nickel, 1.9 million ounces of PGMs + gold, and 0.3 million pounds of copper (as disclosed in a news release dated August 10, 2017 and available under the Wellgreen Platinum profile on Sedar.com). The Agreement has been amended from the Letter of Intent announced on June 23, 2014, to reflect changes to both the property and the Company since that time. By the terms of the Agreement as executed, Group Ten may earn a 100% interest in the property by issuing one million shares (the Shares) over two years to Denali Resources Ltd., paying $10,000 to Ashburton Ventures Inc., and paying $28,062.10 in outstanding invoices for past work on the claims. The issuance of the Shares per the agreement is subject to regulatory approval. The Catalyst project consists of 126 claims adjoining Wellgreen to the northwest and includes the strike extension of the Wellgreen deposit as shown by geophysical surveys. Past work has documented numerous magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE occurrences in layered intrusives similar to the Wellgreen deposit. The project is 15 kilometers from the Alaska Highway and is accessible by well-maintained, all-weather roads. The Companys total land position now exceeds 240 square kilometers in the Kluane Ultramafic Belt, a 600km-long sequence of igneous and sedimentary rocks extending from northern British Columbia through the Yukon and into Alaska which hosts twenty-seven documented magmatic nickel, copper and platinum group element (PGE) gold occurrences, including the Wellgreen deposit. Geology in the belt is similar to that of the world's richest Ni-Cu-PGE deposits including the Noril'sk-Talnakh deposits (Russia), the Stillwater complex (Montana, USA), Raglan and Sudbury (Canada). Group Ten CEO Michael Rowley stated, We are pleased to have finalized the Catalyst acquisition which further strengthens our Yukon land position and exposure to this emerging and under explored Ni-Cu-PGE belt with proven potential. We are highly encouraged by the recent trends and sentiment shift in base metals and nickel, in particular, which has shown significant strength over the past months. The Company has exceptional assets in world-class mining jurisdictions and is well-positioned for what we expect will be a near-term breakout in platinum group metals and nickel. In addition to the exploration efforts in Yukon and Ontario, the Company is currently undertaking a comprehensive and systematic examination of the volumes of historic data that accompanied the recent acquisition of the Stillwater West Project adjacent to Sibanyes Stillwater Mine in Montana, USA. Over the coming weeks, the Company expects to announce key additions to its technical team, which will guide exploration activities moving forward. 1 - Total Measured + Indicated Resource: 362.0 MMT containing 0.26% Ni, 0.14% Cu, 0.231 g/t Pt, 0.244 g/t Pd, and 0.04 g/t Au 2 - Total Inferred Resource: 118.6 MMT containing 0.28% Ni, 0.12% Cu, 0.217 g/t Pt, 0.253 g/t Pd, and 0.032 g/t Au Quality Control and Quality Assurance Garth Kirkham, P.Geo., is the qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101, and he has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release. About Group Ten Metals Inc. Group Ten Metals Inc. is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of high-quality platinum, palladium and gold exploration assets in North America. The Companys suite of holdings include 100% ownership potential on large land positions adjacent to Sibanyes Pd-Pt Stillwater mine in Montana on our Stillwater West project and our Catalyst, Spy and Ultra projects near the Wellgreen Ni-PGE deposit in the Yukon Territory, as well as the Black Lake-Drayton gold project in the Rainy River district of northwest Ontario. On Behalf of the Board of Directors GROUP TEN METALS INC. Michael Rowley Michael Rowley, President, CEO & Director Email: info@grouptenmetals.com Web: http://grouptenmetals.com Tel: (604) 357 4790 TF: (888) 432 0075 Forward-Looking Statements Forward Looking Statements: This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts including, without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization, historic production, estimation of mineral resources, the realization of mineral resource estimates, interpretation of prior exploration and potential exploration results, the timing and success of exploration activities generally, the timing and results of future resource estimates, permitting time lines, metal prices and currency exchange rates, availability of capital, government regulation of exploration operations, environmental risks, reclamation, title, and future plans and objectives of the company are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. Although Group Ten believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include failure to obtain necessary approvals, unsuccessful exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, risks associated with regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, uninsured risks, delays in receiving government approvals, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the companies with securities regulators. Readers are cautioned that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Mineral exploration and development of mines is an inherently risky business. Accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on Group Ten and the risks and challenges of their businesses, investors should review their annual filings that are available at www.sedar.com. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Women dont plan to be raped. Parents dont plan for their children to be victims of incest. Asking a woman or a parent to foresee something like that and buy supplemental insurance to cover that horrific possibility is ... ridiculous. Arkansas has signaled that it intends to invest in Israel and, through the enactment of two laws during this year's regular session, is standing up to a movement that seeks to boycott, divest from and punish the Middle Eastern country, Ron Dermer, Israel's ambassador to the U.S., said Monday.One of the laws is Act 644 -- sponsored by Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Bigelow -- that allows the state Treasurer Dennis Milligan to purchase bonds from Israel that are guaranteed and backed by the full faith and credit of that government. Dermer said at least 30 states allow these investments.The other law is Act 710 -- sponsored by Sen. Bart Hester, R-Cave Springs -- that prohibits state and local governments from contracting with and investing in companies that boycott Israel. About 20 states have enacted similar laws, Dermer said."Those are two very strong messages that, one, we ought to be open to invest in Israel as need be, and we should not have any restrictions on those investments," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said during a ceremonial bill-signing event in the governor's conference room, which Dermer attended. "We should not honor those companies that boycott Israel."Dermer said that "what you are doing here signing this bill is standing up to anti-Semitism. 'Abortion Sanctuary City' New Requirement for Doctors More Power for the Attorney General 'Complication Plan' As legislative sessions across the country wrap up this year, several states are left with new abortion laws -- some that restrict access to the procedure and others that ease it.Most recently, Oregon passed a law this week that requires health insurers to provide birth control and abortion services without a co-pay. Texas, on the other hand, passed a law this week that requires women to buy a supplemental insurance plan for abortion services -- with no exception for rape and incest. Critics are calling the legislation the "rape insurance" bill.But for the future of the anti-abortion movement, Missouri just might be ground zero.Missouri never met a restriction it didnt like. Its just always been a part of their culture. Theyre a state that other states look to when looking for new restrictions, says Elizabeth Nash, a state policy expert at the Guttmacher Institute, an organization that tracks reproductive rights around the world.During a special session that ended late last month, Missouri -- which is led by a Republican governor and legislature -- passed a sweeping abortion bill that introduced several regulations that are firsts of their kind in the country. While several of the provisions were enacted to preempt specific ordinances in St. Louis, the state's liberal enclave, others have the potential to pop up again in conservative states.The ACLU of Missouri isn't planning to challenge the law right now, but the group expressed disappointment when it passed, calling it an attack on Missouris women thats in direct conflict with the will of the people.Both the Missouri Hospital Association and the Missouri State Medical Association declined to comment on the new law, saying they avoid discussing abortion because of the issue's controversial nature.Here are four new abortion provisions in Missouri law.The reason Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens called the second special session was to address a new abortion discrimination ordinance passed by the city council in St. Louis. That measure was meant to prevent potential employers and landlords from discriminating against someone based on her reproductive health decisions and beliefs. In other words, it made it illegal to ask job and housing applicants whether they've had an abortion.The governor condemned the ordinance, saying he didnt want St. Louis to turn into an abortion sanctuary city. He then signed off on a bill that essentially overturned the citys ordinance.I have not read anything like this, ever. Its unusual, says Nash, referring to both the St. Louis measure and the state's law to override it.Refusing a lease or a job to someone based on her reproductive history or beliefs might sound legally dubious to some, but Nash points out that the law around businesses' "right to refuse" has grown murky in recent years.After the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, it wasnt uncommon to hear about wedding vendors refusing to do business with gay couples. That same year, Indiana found itself in a PR nightmare when then-Gov. Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. Once businesses started turning away same-sex couples, boycotts and a national uproar led Pence to amend the law to protect LGBT customers, employees and tenants.On the other side of the spectrum, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2014 that companies could refuse to offer contraceptive coverage to their employees if that violated their religious beliefs.But for Andrew Koenig, the Missouri state senator who sponsored the bill overriding St. Louis' measure, its pretty cut and dry."If you're a part of a pro-life organization, but if youre forced to hire someone who is pro-choice, then youre no longer a pro-life organization," he says.Missouri is now the only state that requires doctors -- as opposed to nurses, physicians assistants and other providers -- to counsel women seeking abortions.The bill's sponsor says it's a common-sense idea.It just seems reasonable. I had a surgery recently, and the doctor did the counseling -- not a nurse or social worker or anything like that, says Koenig.Nash, however, says the new mandate will stretch doctors' resources thinner than they already are and make it harder for women to obtain abortions in a timely manner. The state already has a 72-waiting period to get an abortion, so a doctor must now be available for the counseling and again 72 hours after that. There's only one clinic that performs abortions in the state, Planned Parenthood of St. Louis, so the few doctors who work there will have to counsel every woman in Missouri who's considering abortion.Last summer, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that requiring abortion clinics to meet hospital-like standards, and requiring doctors who perform abortions at clinics to have admitting privileges at nearby hospitals, places an "undue burden on abortion access and thus violate the Constitution." It remains to be seen if this latest wave of restrictions will be challenged in court.Missouri's new legislation also gives power to the states attorney general to prosecute people and organizations not following the states abortion laws. State lawmakers feared that local prosecutors, some of whom are more progressive than Missouri AG Josh Hawley, might not be upholding abortion laws.The prosecuting attorney in St. Louis is a pro-choice Democrat, so we just wanted another set of eyes there, Koenig says.Going foward, abortion clinics in the state must create a "complication plan" for medication-induced abortions and get it approved by the states health department. Medication-induced abortions account for one in four abortions in the U.S."It just makes medical sense," says Koenig.But Nash says there was talk that Planned Parenthood might start allowing abortions in another clinic in the state, and this provision is an attempt to stop that.Theyre trying to make it very hard to get medication abortions and in turn hard to open a new clinic since so many abortions are medication-induced, she says. Skyrocketing price tags for new drugs to treat rare diseases have stoked outrage nationwide. But hundreds of old, commonly used drugs cost the Medicaid program billions of extra dollars in 2016 vs. 2015, a Kaiser Health News data analysis shows. Eighty of the drugs some generic and some still carrying brand names proved more than two decades old.Rising costs for 313 brand-name drugs lifted Medicaids spending by as much as $3.2 billion in 2016, the analysis shows. Nine of these brand-name drugs have been on the market since before 1970. In addition, the data reveal that Medicaid outlays for 67 generics and other non-branded drugs cost taxpayers an extra $258 million last year.Even after a medicine has gone generic, the branded version often remains on the market. Medicaid recipients might choose to purchase it because theyre brand loyalists or because state laws prevent pharmacists from automatically substituting generics. Drugs driving Medicaid spending increases ranged from common asthma medicines like Ventolin to over-the-counter painkillers like the generic form of Aleve to generic antidepressants and heartburn medicines.Among the stark examples:Ventolin, originally approved in 1981, treats and prevents spasms that constrict patients airways and make it difficult to breathe. When a gram of it went from $2.58 to $2.90 on average, Medicaid paid out an extra $54.5 million for the drug.Naproxen sodium, a painkiller originally approved in 1994 as brand-name Aleve, went from costing Medicaid an average of $0.72 to $1.70 a pill, an increase of 136 percent. Overall, the change cost the program an extra $10 million in 2016.Generic metformin hydrochloride, an oral Type 2 diabetes drug thats been around since the 1990s, went from an average 10 cents to 13 cents a pill from 2015 to 2016. Those extra three pennies per pill cost Medicaid a combined $8.3 million in 2016. And cost increases for the extended-release, authorized generic version cost the program another $6.5 million.People always thought, Theyre generics. Theyre cheap, said Matt Salo, who runs the National Association of Medicaid Directors. But with drug prices going up across the board, generics are far from immune.Historically, generics tend to drive costs lower over time, and Medicaids overall spending on generics dropped $1.6 billion last year because many generics did get cheaper. But the per-unit cost of dozens of generics doubled or even tripled from 2015 to 2016. Manufacturers of branded drugs tend to lower prices once several comparable generics enter a market.Medicaid tracks drug sales by units and a unit can be a milliliter or a gram, or refer to a tablet, vial or kit.Old drugs that became far more expensive included those used to treat ear infections, psychosis, cancer and other ailments:Fluphenazine hydrochloride, an antipsychotic drug approved in 1988 to treat schizophrenia, cost Medicaid an extra $8.5 million in 2016. Medicaid spent an average $1.39 per unit in 2016, an increase of 347 percent vs. the year before.Depo-Provera was first approved in 1960 as a cancer drug and is often used now as birth control. It cost Medicaid an extra $4.5 million after its cost more than doubled to $37 per unit in 2016.Potassium phosphates on the market since the 1980s and used for renal failure patients, preemies and patients undergoing chemotherapy cost Medicaid an extra $1.8 million in 2016. Its average cost to Medicaid jumped 290 percent, to $6.70 per unit.A shortage of potassium phosphates began in 2015 after manufacturer American Regent closed its facility to address quality concerns, according to Erin Fox, who directs the Drug Information Center at the University of Utah and tracks shortages for the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.When generics enter a market, competition can drive prices lower initially. But when prices sink, some companies inevitably stop making their drugs.One manufacturer is left standing [so] guess who now has a monopoly? Salo said. Guess who can bring prices as far up as they want?According to a Food and Drug Administration analysis, drug prices decline to about half of their original price with two generic competitors on the market and to about a third of the original price with five generics available. But if theres only one generic, a drugs price drops just 6 percentage points.The increases paid by Medicaid ultimately fall on taxpayers, who pay for the drugs taken by its 68.9 million beneficiaries. And those costs eat into states ability to pay for other stuff that matters to [every] resident, said economist Rena Conti, a professor at the University of Chicago who co-authored a National Bureau of Economics paper about generic price hikes in July. The manufacturers list prices for the drugs named here also rose in 2016, according to Truven Health Analytics, which means customers outside Medicaid also paid more.Conti said that about 30 percent of generic drugs had price increases of 100 percent or more the past five years.Medicaid spending per unit doesnt include rebates, which drug manufacturers return to states after they pay for the drugs upfront. Such rebates are extremely complicated, but generally start at the federally required 23.1 percent for brand-name drugs, plus supplemental rebates that vary by state, Salo said. Final rebate amounts are considered proprietary, he noted. All rebates are completely opaque [its] black-box stuff.Fox said drug prices could also jump when a pharmaceutical product changes ownership, gets new packaging or just hasnt had a price increase in a long time.Recently named FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb has made increasing generic competition a core mission. Plans include publishing lists of off-patent drugs made by one manufacturer and preventing brand-name drugmakers from using anti-competitive tactics to stave off competition.Doctors, pharmacists and patients dont always receive warning when a price hike is about to occur, Fox said.Sometimes, we will get notices. Other times, its like a bad surprise, she said, adding that the amount of wiggle room for alternatives depends on the drug and the patient.Following some price hikes, doctors can use fewer units of a drug or switch it out entirely, she said.Ofloxacin otic, long used to treat swimmers ear, became so expensive when generic manufacturers exited the market that doctors started using eye drops in patients ears, Fox said.When old drugs get more expensive, hospitals try to eliminate waste by making smaller infusion bags and keeping really expensive drugs in the pharmacy instead of stocked in readily available shelves and drawers. But thats not always possible.These drugs do have a place in daily therapy. Sometimes theyre life-sustaining and sometimes theyre lifesaving, said Michael ONeal, a pharmacist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. In this case, you just need to take it on the chin, and you hope one day for competition. Delaware's economic development efforts are about to undergo a major transformation.Gov. John Carney signed a bill Monday that replaces the Delaware Economic Development Office with a public-private partnership partially run by some of the state's largest companies."This is a starting point," Carney said. "The hard work starts now and that's working together in partnership ... to market our state more aggressively and think out of the box about how to develop our entrepreneurial economy."Tentatively called the Delaware Prosperity Partnership, the new nonprofit will be responsible for recruiting new employers to the state, supporting the state's nascent startup community and investing in workforce development programs.That includes vetting and endorsing companies seeking state taxpayer grants and loans.DEDO, the Cabinet-level agency that previously handled most of those functions, was dissolved last month.About 40 former DEDO staffers have been folded into a new agency in the Delaware Department of State named the Division of Small Business Development and Tourism. Nearly half of those positions are expected to be cut by the end of the year.State officials have said savings from those job cuts will free up $2 million a year that will be redirected to the partnership's operating budget, with another $1 million a year supplied by the business community. Ron Richard has had a career in politics with few parallels.He currently serves as president pro tempore of the Missouri Senate and was previously speaker of the state House. Only a handful of politicians in American history have served as the top leader in both of their states' chambers.For that accomplishment, Richard has term limits at least partially to thank.Missouri's term limits are among the strictest in the nation, with a maximum of eight years of service allowed in the House or Senate. As a result, the state legislature sees a lot of turnover. Next year, more than a quarter of Missouri's representatives -- 27 percent -- will be prevented from running for re-election.That constant churn, Richard suggests, has made lawmakers less cooperative."I think thats why Im a little bit jaundiced about term limits, Richard told St. Louis Public Radio. You cant make a deal with somebody because everybody knows youre going to be gone, so people dont need to keep their word.All told, term limits will make a total of 271 state legislators in 24 chambers ineligible to run in 2018, according to an analysis by Ballotpedia. Like state legislatures as a whole, the affected chambers are tilted strongly toward the GOP. Republicans control 19 of the 24 chambers where term limits will have an impact."This year, it's really lopsided -- far more than we've seen in the past," says Charles Aull, Ballotpedia's state legislative project director. "Republicans have about twice as many term-limited legislators as Democrats do."Many of the legislators who will be term-limited out of office in 2018 are in states with eight-year caps. That means members of the so-called Tea Party Class of 2010 -- when Republicans made sweeping gains across most of the country -- are already facing the end of their careers in their current legislative posts.Despite the opening of lots of seats, Democrats shouldn't count on vacancies on the GOP side leading to lots of opportunities for pickups, says Ballotpedia's Aull."I wouldn't expect these term limits to have a significant impact on the partisan breakdown of these chambers," he says.It's possible, however, that term limits will help Democrats rebuild their numbers to some extent. They're not likely to win back the Missouri House, for instance, but perhaps they'll be able to erode the GOP's supermajority there, says Aull. And every seat will matter in narrowly-held chambers, such as the Maine and Colorado Senates (where Republicans have a one-seat majority in each) and the Maine House (where Democrats have a two-seat advantage).In strong Republican districts with open seats, Aull expects "we'll see a lot more contested primaries." It's possible Tea Party veterans will be replaced by new members with a Trumpist bent -- or perhaps old school "establishment" Republicans will regain some ground.Term limits will have the greatest impact next year in Michigan, where 68 percent of the state senators can't run for another term. Michigan Senate Majority Leader Arlan Meekhof said earlier this year that term limits have been a "failed social experiment." Like Richard, Meekhof said limits had the effect of making legislators short-sighted since they won't be in office long enough to answer for the consequences of bad policymaking.There's no doubt that many will run for other offices. Ahead of filing deadlines, it's hard to say for sure. But it's been the case with term limits in general that they haven't brought about a renaissance in citizen legislators. Instead, political pros are coming in with their eyes already set on their next desired gigs."You get extremely politically ambitious people," says Marjorie Sarbaugh-Thompson, co-author of the new book. "They come in as freshmen with a clear outline of the next offices they're running for."Prior to term limits, some members of the Michigan Legislature, which is considered a full-time, professional body, would stick around for decades in one chamber or the other. Term-limited legislators aren't in office long enough to gain real expertise, says Sarbaugh-Thompson, who teaches political science at Wayne State University.There are three chambers where term limits are in place yet no legislator is being term-limited out next year: the Nevada Senate and both chambers in Arkansas. There's already been a good deal of upheaval recently in both states. Control of the Nevada Senate has changed hands twice since 2014. In Arkansas, where Democrats controlled both chambers as recently as 2012, Republicans now hold three-quarters of the seats.The bigger change affecting Arkansas, however, was to the term limits law itself. In 2014, Arkansas voters approved an ethics package that included an extension for legislative terms. Rather than being limited to six years in the House and eight years in the Senate, legislators can now serve up to 16 years in either chamber, or both cumulatively.California voters approved a similar change in 2012. But no state has repealed term limits outright since Wyoming in 2004.Any term-limit changes in Missouri or Michigan will come too late to help Sens. Richard or Meekhof. Both will be term-limited out next year. Photo for illustration. (Source: VNA) Of this, exports were valued at USD2 billion, up more than 34%, and imports reached USD2.24 billion, up nearly 52%. Exports of iron and steel of all kinds, common metal and iron and steel products showed impressive growth with a total value of more than USD346 million in the seven months, up over 98% compared to the same period last year. This is the group with the biggest export turnover of Vietnam to India. Exports of computers, electronic products and components reached more than USD302 million, a year-on-year rise of 83%, while exports of mobile phones and components totaled over USD273 million, up more than 34% over a year earlier. Exports of iron and steel of all kinds gained the strongest growth with more than 991%, followed by tea products (over 565%), fossil coal (over 424%), and plastic materials (over 105%). However, imports of iron and steel continued to rise sharply by 1,040%, to over USD437 million. It was followed by animal and vegetable oil (227%, to USD4.18 million), fruits and vegetable (121%, to over USD12 million), animal feed and material (some 84%, to USD49 million). Specifically, Vietnams trade surplus to India reached nearly USD22 million in June and more than USD46 million in July./. The head of the city's tourism and convention agency said hotels have lost business as a result of a travel advisory issued by the national NAACP last month and that her industry is "being used as a weapon" in the political arena."We have been notified by a number of area hotels that they have lost meeting groups that were in contract phase," said Kathleen "Kitty" Ratcliffe, president of Explore St. Louis in a statement Monday morning. "We've also been working with a number of organizations that are already contracted to help them address any concerns that they have had expressed from their attendees."The statement did not specify how much business was lost as a result and Ratcliffe was not immediately available to address questions regarding her statement. But a spokesman for Explore St. Louis, Anthony Paraino, said: "We do not have permission from the hotels or the groups to give their information to the press."The NAACP travel advisory issued last month came at the urging of Rod Chapel, head of the Missouri NAACP after state legislators passed a bill making it harder for employees to make the case for workplace discrimination.The advisory was the first of its kind from the country's oldest and largest civil rights organization and set off a round of media interviews nationwide for Chapel and other NAACP leaders. Description GIS - 16 August, 2017: The African Union Commission will hold the following two Experts Meetings in Mauritius during the period 28 August to 2 September 2017. The first Expert Meeting will focus on the implementation mechanism of the Draft Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons. Its main objective is to develop a roadmap and to establish a task force to guide the African Union Commission on the implementation strategies. The second one will focus on the finalisation of the Draft Protocol on Statelessness in Africa for submission to the Specialised Technical Committee on Legal and Judicial Affairs. Some 240 delegates are expected to attend the Meetings. Description GIS 16 August, 2017: Government is conscious of the need to give due recognition to the importance and potential of adopting new technologies, matched with infrastructure, as Mauritius moves towards a service and knowledge economy, said the Minister of Technology, Communication and Innovation, Mr Yogida Sawmynaden, this morning at the Westin Turtle Bay Resort & Spa, in Balaclava. The Minister was speaking at the launching of the Mauritius CIO (Chief Information Officers) Summit 2017. The ICT sector strategy, highlighted Mr Sawmynaden in his address, aims to position Mauritius as a reliable software development platform for the African market. According to him, one major area of focus is to make sure that the country has a critical mass of competent software developers, skilled in the latest mobile and web development techniques who are capable of finding efficient and cost-effective software solutions to existing problems. Speaking about CIOs role, the Minister underscored that they will be facing numerous new challenges in this period of ever-shortening cycles of innovation, agile development and deployment, multi-platform and multi-device delivery, and cybersecurity threats. Businesses from different sectors are all rethinking their digital strategies and you, as CIOs, need to keep abreast of latest developments to properly guide your upper management in future plans, he added. For his part, the Group Vice President, Regional Managing Director, IDC Middle East, Africa, & Turkey, Mr Jyoti Lalchandani, gave an overview of how businesses are being reinvented through customer, information and business model transformations. He dwelt on digital transformation investments in Mauritius. These include web-based self-service portal to customers; infrastructure modernisation; and collaborative technologies for employees. Summit 2017 The networking conference which is at its third edition is organised by the International Data Corporation (IDC), in collaboration with the National Computer Board and other key ICT stakeholders. It is bringing together several influential decision-makers of Mauritius in the ICT sector to share ideas and experiences with regard to latest tech trends and proven IT strategies for organisations. Globally respected IDC analysts are providing the compelling intellectual framework and guidance required to power the Summit's discussions. The agenda comprises interactive panels, roundtable debates, best-practice workshops, and dedicated networking sessions. Six sessions are scheduled with focus on: Developing the New IT Capabilities for Digital Transformation; Combating Cyber-Risks with Smart Security Solutions; Future of Business; Internet of Things and Datacentre; Security in an Open Source Digital World; and, Real Challenges, Real Stories - Turning Adversity into Opportunity. (TNS) -- Facebook on Tuesday became the latest tech giant to announce a big investment in central Ohio, but it won't be the last if development officials and Gov. John Kasich get their way.Kasich and others heralded Facebook's announcement of a $750 million data center in New Albany as one more significant step in attracting tech jobs to Ohio.Facebook unveiled renderings of a 970,000-square-foot data center divided into two large buildings on 345 acres just inside Licking County in New Albany, along Beech Road south of State Route 161.The first phase is slated for completion in 2019, with the second phase to be opened in 2020. The company expects to have 100 permanent employees there, in addition to creating about 1,000 construction jobs during the building phase."One of our goals has been ... to diversify the state," Kasich said at the press conference at New Albany City Hall to officially announce the project. "Ohio has had a heavy reliance on manufacturing," he said, after thanking Facebook for recognizing that Ohio has the workforce to support high-tech jobs.John Minor, CEO of JobsOhio, the state's privatized development organization, said that excluding "capital intensive" shale and gas projects, Facebook's investment is the second-largest - behind Amazon - that the state has attracted since JobsOhio's creation in 2011.Facebook officially announced its plans Tuesday morning to build a data center in the New Albany International Business Park.The company will invest $750 million on its 970,000-square-foot facility that it said will be powered completely by renewable energy.The center will be located on 345 acres on a site east of Beech Road and south of State Route 161.Facebook said the New Albany center, which will be the company's 10th, is expected to begin delivering services in 2019."We're thrilled to have found a home in Ohio and to embark on this exciting partnership," said Erin Egan, Facebook's vice president of U.S. public policy, in a statement. "Everything here has been as advertised from a committed set of community partners and strong pool of talent to the opportunity to power our facility with 100 percent renewable energy. The Buckeye State is a great place to do business."After completion, Facebook said it expects to employ approximately 100 workers at its New Albany data center. (TNS) -- WASHINGTON, D.C. The National Science Foundation will provide $3.11 million to Mississippi State University to continue and expand its participation in a program to train cybersecurity professionals, Sen. Thad Cochran announced Monday.The grant for MSU involvement in the CyberCorps Scholarship for Service program supports students studying cybersecurity in order to strengthen the governments cybersecurity workforce.The MSU project also involves supporting East Mississippi Community College (EMCC) students before they transfer and join the universitys program.Cybersecurity is an increasingly important component of our national security. Mississippi State has established itself by preparing students to be well-trained cybersecurity professionals, Cochran said. I am pleased the university has secured funding to continue this program for another five years. OPPOSITION SUPPORT PUSH FOR CONSOLIDATION (TNS) MARION At any given time during her shift, Marion Police Department communications operator Ashley Hill is taking 911 calls, dispatching police officers and firefighters and overseeing the front desk at the station.Oftentimes, Hill one of six communication operators employed by the city; they're trying to hire two more is going at it alone. Police Chief Joseph McHale estimates 70 percent of the time, his dispatchers are working solo."The ability to multitask is absolutely essential," said Hill.That means when a fender bender happens during the evening rush, Hill might take 10 calls all about the same incident. She has to treat each call like its own emergency until she can confirm the call is about the crash, all while dispatching first responders to the scene."The phone is ringing, people are reporting this big accident," McHale said. "You're trying to manage the scene and you're having other calls coming in. How does one person handle that?"Added McHale, "The liability we have right now is huge. We can't continue the way we are right now."McHale who joined the department in December said there are a couple of options to address the situation. He could hire about 15 more dispatchers, which he said would present a "huge sticker shock to a lot of folks."Instead, McHale has bigger plans that would carry an even larger price tag, but would he believes improve 911 communications for all of Linn County.McHale said he wants to see Marion, Cedar Rapids and Linn County consolidate their Public Safety Answering Points or PSAPs. To that end, McHale has requested the county's 911 Board fund a feasibility study that will look at consolidation and whether it's a viable option for the county. The board approved the study last month and it's expected to be completed in October. The $38,000 study will be done by Federal Engineering Inc., of Fairfax, Va., and will be funded by the board.While the board overwhelmingly supported the study by a vote of 7-1, not everyone is in agreement that consolidation is the way to go. The lone dissenting vote belongs to one of the men who oversees one of the three PSAPs in question: Linn County Sheriff Brian Gardner."I do not believe this will be cost effective for Linn County nor do I believe this will be in the best interest for Linn County residents," he said.Gardner said there have been two previous consolidation feasibility studies, the last one in 2008 when Don Zeller was sheriff. Neither one recommended consolidation, Gardner said.Consolidation would require a new facility, Gardner said, which he has heard could cost upward of $13 million. A new dispatch center would still require Gardner to staff the sheriff's office after hours at an additional cost, he said.Gardner also said each PSAP has its own way of dispatching calls. For instance, he said, Cedar Rapids doesn't dispatch "attempt to locate" calls over the air, instead sending them to in-car computers."If I'm driving a car, I shouldn't be driving and trying to read a computer screen," Gardner said.If the centers consolidated, the new entity likely would be run by a committee and he could lose the ability to have county calls dispatched the way he prefers for his deputies.Pointing to the 2008 flood as an example, Gardner said he also believes the three PSAPs provide a valuable resource: redundancy."You look back to '08 when we had massive flooding," he said. "Two of three communications centers went offline. Cedar Rapids was knocked offline. Had Marion not existed, we would have been in really dire straits."Gardner said he empathizes for McHale's situation, however."I don't know that the answer necessarily includes us," he said.Charlie McClintock, Cedar Rapids' 911 director, said consolidation is far from a new topic or a foreign concept to Iowa. Johnson, Black Hawk and Scott counties are among those that have consolidated PSAPs in recent years."The city has traditionally supported consolidation just because of the efficiency of receiving those 911 calls," he said. "We've always been kind of an advocate."Currently, if someone in Linn County calls 911, that call could get transferred to another center if the closest one is busy, McClintock said. With a consolidated center, all calls would go to the same center and be dispatched more efficiently. Those seconds saved can be crucial for first responders, he said."The No. 1 factor is safety," McClintock said. "It's absolutely safer for the public, safer for public safety responders."McClintock also pointed out that Cedar Rapids is the only center with dispatchers trained in emergency medical dispatching. When calls go to that center, dispatchers can give instructions on emergencies such as choking or if a woman is going into labor."You're going to start getting emergency instructions when those other emergency responders are on their way," he said. "The other centers don't do that. We do emergency medical, emergency fire and emergency police dispatch. Those protocols make a difference."The state of Iowa also is pushing consolidation, McClintock said. In December 2016, L.R. Kimball which is now a part of Federal Engineering Inc. released a study for the state on consolidation. McClintock said the state wants PSAPs across the state there are currently 112 in 99 counties to standardize their equipment and move toward consolidation in order to further streamline dispatching statewide."When I busy out, it rolls over to another center," McClintock said. "If I fail down, they have to say where that's going to switch to. It's important the state maintains this infrastructure and knows the equipment you're using and how things go."In order to incentivize consolidation, the state this year approved new funding that will provide each individual PSAP with $200,000 to put toward consolidation. If Linn County, Cedar Rapids and Marion started on that process, they'd receive $600,000 from the state.McClintock agrees that there will be an upfront cost to consolidation, but believes that with reducing three centers and all of their associated equipment and costs down to one money will be saved in the long run. Plus, with the state continuing to push consolidation, one day, local PSAPs may no longer have a choice in the matter, he said."Sooner or later, I think you're going to see it mandated by the state," he said. "If we don't do it voluntarily, it's coming."Comments: (319) 398-8238; lee.hermiston@thegazette.com___(c)2017 The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa)Visit The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) at thegazette.comDistributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. (TNS) -- Meg Lewis wakes up knowing that plenty of people want her to give up on her job. After all, she has the internet.The Montgomery native spends her days and sometimes nights helping to organize unique events in her hometown and spreading the word about some of the positive things going on in the city. But like most days, shes starting this one with a workout in the parking lot of her downtown loft apartment.She concedes she may have family members who still dont believe its safe to visit downtown, much less live here, and she shakes her head at comparisons to the streets of New York in the '70s from people who say the Capital City is beyond help.She sees those kinds of comments on social media all the time. But thats not the city she lives and breathes every day.Sometimes the trolls bring me down, said Lewis, who works for the Chamber of Commerces Convention and Visitor Bureau. The response to that is for me to get out of my office or get out of my house, get off of Facebook and go connect with other people who are interested in making things happen.Lewis is one several 20- and 30-something Montgomery natives who are now building a life in the area while working directly inside the Chamber or the city government to improve it.A few doors down from Lewis office, Temisha Young was going over the citys new South Montgomery development plan and praising the potential of an overlooked part of town. Theres a mix of planned walking paths and recreation alongside affordable housing, all given a shot in the arm by the One Centers rebirth as an education hub.(The plan) is really just a guide, Young said. Now its up to (people) in the community to take that plan and make it their own.Young grew up in South Montgomery and her parents still live there, but she moved to Atlanta after leaving high school. A decade later, she came back to the area with a fresh perspective and said the city looked a lot different. Now she laughs when her mom complains about the traffic here.So, why move back? Its just a more appealing place for a young family, she said with one exception.Our education system is segregated, Young said. A lot of people dont like to talk about that, but I think that is the reality. When you can go to school with people and interact with them on a day-to-day basis, then theyre not as scary or foreign to you. Any way that we can break those walls down and create a more holistic community is going to get us out of the mindset that were currently in.Shes trying to help by starting a podcast to tell the stories of the people of South Montgomery, while juggling her other duties as the Chambers head of diversity and inclusion. Its a job that makes it impossible to ignore the citys problems.Yet she remains baffled by the amount of negativity she sees online.I dont know what was programmed in us to think that our city was so horrible, Young said. I dont know if it stretches back to the Civil Rights movement and the negative things that people know in the history of Montgomery, that we dont love our city the way that we should. I know people come here and (say), Oh, this is the greatest city, and they have a great time. But were the ones saying theres nothing to do and we dont like it.Griffith Waller has a smile on his face as he rushes through City Hall, shifting video equipment from shoulder to shoulder to unlock doors. Its mid-morning and he finished shooting a web series with Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange just in time to duck into a meeting about the rollout of city data online.The 29-year-old city public relations specialist looks like hes living the dream, and theres plenty of evidence around to prove it. He beams when he talks about meeting current department director Michael Briddell during his middle school career day, and Briddell still has an earnest thank-you note that Waller wrote around that time.Over the past year Waller has played a key role in shepherding municipal information onto a public website from street pavings to building permits, making Montgomery one of the first in the state to launch such a service. Of course, he wont tell you that. Instead he talks about IT expert Savio Dias, designer Kim Wright and city department heads who worked to provide the data. And the self-effacing Waller says he often feels like a fish out of water when he sits in on meetings with local techies as part of the effort.But when Strange said he wanted to get on the cloud, Waller volunteered.Its the latest step in a career that has led Waller from Montgomery, to Houston, to Washington, but he said he never doubted that hed come home. Especially when he was crashing on a friends couch in the nations capital to try to save money.Man, cost of living in DC was ridiculous, he said. We were in a one-bedroom basement apartment for $1,400. It was stuff like that.Waller said moving back to his hometown gave Waller a chance to take ownership and make a difference. In other cities it felt like anything interesting had already been done, he said.Now hes living here and creating his own future and helping to run the citys social media accounts, which inspire plenty of negative replies. How does he handle those? Waller shrugs. You can give the cheesy marketing message, or you can just be yourself and say, Look, Im just like you. Im in the same boat. But Im trying to make something cool happen here. Outside Wallers window, another Montgomery native was working on something geared to the citys four-legged residents.Public Works project manager Wesley Cox, 32, stood at the entrance to the new downtown dog park and sized up the concrete work. Its one of dozens of projects the soft-spoken Cox is involved with around the city, an opportunity to make his mark on a hometown that has already changed a lot since he was a kid.Now hes married here with two young kids, and hes never really thought about living somewhere else. Sure, people have plenty of negative things to say about Montgomery, but he doesnt hear those types of things from the people he cares about the most.Its not so much family and friends, Cox said. Most of my family is here in town, and friends that enjoy Montgomery. I see negative things from others.Lewis spends this afternoon in meeting after meeting, each involving something crucial to the citys future. Laying out the events around an Air Force conference thats expected to bring in thousands, including some of the worlds top tech talents. Organizing a celebration of local restaurants. Putting together a national media campaign.Reporter Andrew Yawn's take: It takes one to know one: A millennial's view on his generationAt each, the conversation pauses when the subject of money comes up. This time, the topic is what prize to give the winner of a hackathon when a sponsor isnt allowed. What are we supposed to give them, hugs and kisses? joked a frustrated Lewis. (They went with a heavyweight title belt designed by the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.)Unlike many chambers of commerce, this one shares a pool of money across all branches. That means that any dollar spent on an event is a dollar that could have been used to help lure a new company to Montgomery, among other things. So, Lewis said they try to give local businesses some unique sponsorship opportunities instead of throwing cash at everything.Youd better look at it that way, Lewis laughed.Its well after 6 p.m. when her last meeting wraps up, this one with an officer who was recently moved to Maxwell Air Force Base. He was there to share some first impressions of the city good and bad. The bottom line was that the incoming officers want to be better informed about what to expect before they arrive, and where to find military-friendly businesses.Our view: Want Montgomery to improve and grow? Embrace the ideas, goals of millennialsA back-and-forth led to a list of new projects for Lewis. None of the officers negative impressions were very surprising, but she was happy for the information. And ready to get to work.Theres some sort of an idea that because were not perfect, were not good enough. And so lets dont do anything and instead lets just be negative about it, Lewis said. No place is perfect. The places you go to vacation have their challenges, too.The difference between us and them is theyre out there going, Yes, we are great. This is whats great about it. We have to start doing that for ourselves. It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discover the Detectives of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU) jointly with prosecutors of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) on August 15, 2017 notified the former deputy head of Ukrzaliznytsia, a director of one of the Ukrzaliznytsia's departments and a deputy director of one of the Ukrzaliznytsia's branches that they are suspected of abuse of office. The press service of the NABU said on Wednesday that the persons are suspected of committing crimes under Part 2 of Article 28 and Part 2 of Article 364 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (abuse of authority or office). "The officials are suspected of abuse of office in collusion with a group of persons, and the State Administration of Railway Transport of Ukraine fell short of $10.2 million of revenue [UAH 97 million as of the date when the crime was committed]," the NABU said. According to investigators, early 2014, the suspects using their job position and being members of the tariff commission of the State Administration of Railway Transport of Ukraine a collegiate authority of Ukrzaliznytsia authorized to set beneficial rate for freight transportation applied beneficial tariffs for freight transportation in favor of some shipping companies, having no grounds to do this. "The officials decided that the tariffs will be beneficial if the carriers meet the guaranteed volumes of transportation. The carriers did not meet the condition, but they enjoyed the benefits," the NABU said. Public joint-stock company Ukrtransgaz wants to sign a contract with Zorya-Mashproekt state-owned enterprise (Mykolaiv) supply three DG90L2.1 gas turbine engines for UAH 271.5 million, the press service of Ukrtransgaz has reported. The engines are bought under the negotiations procedure. "New Ukrainian-made engines DG90L2.1 of 16 MW are bought to repair gas pumping units of Ukrtransgaz's compressor stations. Outdated engines will be replaced The installation of next generation engines is the most optimal technical solution providing for the increase of economic and ecological figures of compressor stations to global standards," the company said. Ukrtransgaz, a wholly owned subsidiary of Naftogaz Ukrainy, operates the country's gas pipelines and 12 underground gas storage facilities with a total capacity of 31 bcm. Zorya-Mashproekt is one of the world's leaders in gas turbine construction, designing and constructing gas turbines for the marine merchant fleet and the navy, as well as for power industry and gas transport. Since April 2011, Zorya-Mashproekt has been part of Ukroboronprom Concern. State-owned Ukrainian rocket maker Pivdenmash (also known as Yuzhmash) Machine Building Plant has disclosed details about a telephone conversation on Wednesday between the plant's director general, Serhiy Voit, and Russian pranksters. Russian state-television channel Russia 24 on Wednesday aired a clip about the prank. "The authors of the news item played with words to make it look like it was a conversation about the scandal involving Pivdenmash's dealings with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), about so-called cooperation with them. This does not correspond with reality," the press service of Pivdenmash said. "The Pivdenmash design bureau has for years worked with the Republic of Korea [also known as South Korea]. The first contracts were fulfilled and announcements were posted to the enterprise's website. The partnership today with the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) continues to develop. There has been no cooperation between Pivdenmash and DPRK, however," the press service said, adding that talk about the sale of the enterprise mentioned in Russia 24's news item was impossible. "Pivdenmash cannot be privatized or incorporated according to Ukrainian law," the press service said. As earlier reported, Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council Head Oleksandr Turchynov and the Dnipro-based Pivdenmash rocket factory on August 14 flatly denied manufacturing military missiles or missile systems in the years of Ukraine's independence. Pivdenmash officials said the only serial engine that had been exported in the past several years - the RD-843 shipped to Italy for the European launch vehicle Vega - is designed to operate in outer space, and its features, including its thrust, makes it unsuitable for use in military ballistic missiles. "The information presented in the report is not consistent with reality: in particular, Pivdenmash is far from being a primary producer of missiles for Russia, and it also does not supply Russia with any missiles or its components or elements, including rocket engines," a statement from Pivdenmash says. The power supplied by the vehicle can also be used as emergency power in homes. If more than enough power is supplied, it is possible to prevent a large power outage. In Korea, the amount of industrial damage caused by power outages is estimated to be 650 billion won (US$570 million) per year. Hyundai Mobis has developed an on-board, bi-directional charger for plug-in vehicles. The bi-directional onboard charger (OBC) allows the vehicle to supply electricity in its battery to the grid. The bi-directional OBC uses an ACDC converter and step-up / step-down converter to convert direct current and alternating current in both directions and to synchronize voltage and power frequency with the power grid. The actual vehicle verification begins with a dedicated charging station diagnosing the power state of the vehicle, such as battery efficiency and capacity. The optimal V2G schedule is then created according to the hypothetical scenarios in which the power supply, cost, and load are analyzed. The vehicle receives the data signal and repeats charging and discharging according to a predetermined schedule. The Hyundai Mobis bi-directional OBC is same size as the conventional charger of the Ioniq (which Hyundai Mobis supplies to Hyundai), but with increased the energy efficiency. Both the charge and discharge outputs have achieved 6.6kWthe same level of technology as Japan. The industry estimates that if 100,000 V2G-powered vehicles are deployed, they will be able to secure 500MW of electricityequivalent to the power generation capacity of a thermal power plant. Currently, V2G is in pilot projects in Japan, Denmark, US, and China. Hyundai Mobis participated in the V2G demonstration project initiated by KEPCO in 2015, and was responsible for the development of two-way OBC. Hyundai Mobis is the first company to develop two-way OBC in a plug-in car in Korea and to verify its safety performance and commercialize it through demonstration projects. V2G is expected to be commercialized in Korea by 2020. We will cut the size of the two-way OBC by half and lower the energy loss rate even further. Ahn Byung-ki, executive director of Hyundai Mobis Eco-Design Department Hyundai Mobis has been supplying on board chargers for the Ioniq and Niro since 2016. Last year, the municipality of Florence, Italy called a tender notice that involved 70 new electric taxi licenses, all of which have now been allocated. Nissan LEAF is now the most popular EV taxi in Florence after 67 taxi owners decided to buy a Nissan LEAF ENEL EDITION. In addition, Nissan provided a free Wi-Fi hotspot capable of powering up to eight devicesan advantage for customers and tourists who choose to hail a ride with a Nissan LEAF. With this initiative, Florence joins big European cities like Madrid that has more than 100 Nissan LEAF taxis, Amsterdam with a fleet of 100 taxis (including Nissan LEAF and e-NV200), and Budapest. The European market for electric taxis is expanding, with a growing number of operators choosing the benefits of zero emissions mobility. Nissan has sold more than 1,000 electric vehiclesLEAF and e-NV200 modelsto taxi drivers and companies all over Europe. Holland, the UK and Spain are the three biggest markets in the sector. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has sent a note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation with a request to provide information about all the circumstances of the detention of Ukrainian citizen Hennadiy Lemeshko in the occupied Crimea, the minister's spokeswoman Mariana Betsa has said. "As soon as we received information yesterday about the detention of our citizen in the occupied Crimea by the Russian side, we sent a note to the Russian Foreign Ministry demanding to confirm the detention, the circumstances, and what is incriminated to the Ukrainian citizen," she told Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday. Betsa also clarified that at the moment the Foreign Ministry does not have information, whether Lemeshko was provided with legal assistance or defense. The Foreign Ministry's spokesperson also recalled that repressions, searches and detentions of Crimean Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians continue in the occupied Crimea. "In general, we view recent events in the occupied Crimea as catastrophic, where repressions only intensify [...] In this regard, we will turn once again to the international community with a demand to increase pressure on the Russian Federation to release our citizens on the territory of the occupied peninsula," the Foreign Ministry spokesperson said. As reported, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) announced on Tuesday morning it prevented acts of sabotage against Crimean infrastructure and crucial utilities and detained 'an agent of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU)'. The Kyivsky District Court in Simferopol ordered a two-month arrest of Ukrainian citizen Hennadiy Lemeshko until September 13, 2017. The SBU said the detention of the so-called agent is another provocation and a fake peace of news created by Russia to intimidate Crimeans. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine clarified that Lemeshko earlier served in the ATO zone as a senior officer of a deep reconnaissance unit of the Ukrainian army from November 2016 until May 2017 and was dismissed in May due to a systematic violation of discipline under the article "inaptitude." PJSC Ukrzaliznytsia intends in 2017 to attract loans in the amount of UAH 16.2 billion and to repay loans worth UAH 16.8 billion. Such plans are contained in the explanatory note to the finalized draft consolidated financial plan of the company for 2017 posted on its website. According to its data, as of January 1, 2017 the financial liabilities of the company were UAH 40 billion at the rate of UAH 27.19/$1 at the end of the year, the balance by the end of the year will stand at UAH 39 billion at the rate of UAH 26.6/$1. The company plans to use the funds raised in the amount of UAH 16.2 billion to spend on the completion of construction of the Beskydsky tunnel, the electrification of the railway section Dolynska-Mykolaiv-Kolosivka, track reconstruction, purchase of passenger wagons, modernization of rolling stock, as well as refinancing the existing obligations. It is also planned to place bonds for UAH 2 billion to replenish working capital (refinancing the existing obligations, including the debt owed to the banks from the sanctions list under the decision of the National Security and Defense Council dated March 15, 2017), to attract short-term loans for UAH 1.8 billion. Joseph Ozbey. Yilmaz Guver. Adam Aksoy. Three cousins. Thats where the Cugino comes in. Cugino means cousin in Italian. And the Forno well, thats the heartbeat of it all. Forno means oven. At the pizzeria Cugino Forno, there are three of them. One for each cousin. Those ovens are something. They may be fiery behemoths at the back of the restaurant, but they are central to its operations. They are 7,000 pounds of sand and stone from Mt. Vesuvius in Napoli, Italy. The wood stacked neatly underneath each is hickory and oak. The fires are never extinguished. Joseph even returns to the restaurant in the middle of the night to ensure they stay lit. The heat is volcanic 900 to 1,100 degrees. So hot, a pizza cooks in 90 seconds. But you want to hear more about the pizza, right? Lets start with what you wont get here. You wont get pineapple on pizza. You cant order half pepperoni and half cheese. There are no substitutions. And the cousins will never deliver. Heres what you will get. Handmade Neapolitan style pizza to order with just the right amount of sauce, cheese and toppings. When hot, the thin tip of each slice nearly melts in your mouth. The crispy, just slightly charred crust gives it an earthy, flavorful balance. Most of the ingredients at Cugino Forno are imported from Italy: the San Marzano tomato sauce, Buffalo mozzarella and the flour for the pizza dough. Even the wine is imported. There are about 10 pizza options, but the best sellers are the traditional Americano (pepperoni) and Margherita, with tomato, mozzarella and basil. On Aug. 28, Cugino Forno will host Ethnosh NoshUp, the international food adventurers, to showcase the cuisine and cultures of Italy and Turkey. At this NoshUp, you can meet owners Joseph, Yilmaz and Adam, and their staff who bring all of this goodness to your city. Vegan and vegetarian options are available. Beer, wine and other beverages are available at an additional cost. Electronic reservations are required to attend. Ozbey, who travels to Italy at least once a year, has a favorite pizza spot there. Its called LAntica Pizzeria da Michele in Naples. Theres no menu. Just two kinds of pizza one with just marinara and Margherita. Customers wait at least 45 minutes to get inside. Its simple, but the process and quality of the ingredients is incredible, Ozbey says. Simplicity. I believe simplicity is the ultimate sophistication, he says. His love and affection for pizza is even apparent in the way he says the word. Peezzah. Not petes-ah, the way American say it. Ozbey doesnt run into many people who wont profess an enthusiastic love for his favorite food. When you ask anyone on the street if they like pizza, they will say, No. They will say, I LOVE pizza, Ozbey says, drawing out the word love with a smile. None of the cousins are Italian. They are Turkish. Ozbey, who is Kurdish, came to the U.S. in 2009 to study English at Georgia Tech. He was so excited to be invited to his first college pizza party. Until he saw the pizza. He couldnt eat it. He still went to pizza parties, but not for the pizza. Ozbey says bread is a staple in both Turkish and Italian culture. Italy is really good at it, he says. When he set out to open a pizzeria, he visited Italy several times to learn how to make traditional pizzas. It took a few months to perfect the dough. So many factors can affect it, including the weather and humidity. He has plenty of scars along his forearms for the times things didnt go well between oven and dough. Basically, I think about oven and dough when Im sleeping, he says. In 2016, he drove 16,552 miles in two months, searching for the perfect spot for his pizzeria. He visited Greenville (N.C.), Asheville, Charlotte, Raleigh and Durham. He researched buildings throughout North Carolina until he found Revolution Mill, the historic textile mill. Revolution Mill is American heritage, and pizza is Italian history, Ozbey said. Their family-style restaurant opened in March. Its open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily or until they run out of pizza dough. Orders are placed at a register at the entrance. Customers grab their own drinks from the coolers. Seating is at long picnic tables. A roll of paper towels is at each. Pizzas are delivered on aluminum trays. Self-serve condiments are on a table in front of the ovens. Its casual because Ozbey wants people to feel as if they are at home. If they want something to drink, they can grab it themselves. Want more condiments? Help yourself. If you think about your childhood, all the good memories are around the dining room table, he says. We love pizza, and we love getting people around the table. NEW YORK Fresh pencils and the perfect lunchbox, new clothes and the hottest notebooks. In the wind down of summer as we head into fall, a variety of celebrities time-tripped back to childhood, sharing favorite moments preparing for the first day of school. I went to a military school. Oddly enough, every fall when it came up, the idea of putting on the uniform and going back to school was very exciting, recalled Joe Morton of ABCs Scandal. For Katy Mixon, who stars in ABCs American Housewife, it was all about the duds. Going clothes shopping. I grew up in a family of seven six girls and one boy. My mama used to always take us to go get those back-to-school clothes, and I loved it. Kelly McCreary of ABCs Greys Anatomy was all about the paper products. I still love a great new notebook. Super nerd, she said. Her fellow cast member, Jason Winston George, had other favorite gear. Lunchboxes. It was all about the new lunchboxes and the backpack. Lunchbox and backpack, that was my joint, he said. Ian Ziering, who stars in Syfys Sharknado 5: Global Swarming, has passed down one of his parents back-to-school traditions to his two kids. Its taking a picture in front of the house, in front of the front door. We do it every year with my kids with a little sign: Kindergarten, first day of kindergarten, first day of first grade. Its great. I have that from my childhood and now my kids have that, he said. Its just a great picture to look back on. Kaitlyn Dever, in the summer film Detroit, said it was all about first-day fashion. You gotta bring it first day, and my mom would always get me something so rad and so cool, she said. I would always be coordinated with my sister, whos two years younger than me. Salma Hayeks favorite back-to-school activity growing up in Mexico was wrapping her books and adorning her homemade covers. They dont do it anymore, she said. Finding the paper to wrap it and the decorations. Now its all in the computer. Nobody wraps their books anymore. I remember how exciting it was, to do it all neatly. It was a lovely ritual. Her castmate, Samuel L. Jackson, in the film The Hitmans Bodyguard, said he remembers hunting down the perfect notebook that didnt fall apart after two weeks. Co-star Ryan Reynolds had no specific back-to-school rituals growing up, but his oldest daughter is heading to preschool. Im sure Im the one who needs help, not her, he said. Shell be fine. Max Greenfield, who appears in the film The Glass Castle, said backpacks stand out for him and his daughter, one of his two kids. She had a good backpack this year. She had a Vans backpack, which was pretty cool, he said. This year, were growing out of the Hello Kitty backpack, and now, you have a Vans backpack. Kate Beckinsale, whos in the new film, The Only Living Boy in New York, loved the idea of marking time as the years passed. You could completely reinvent yourself every year, if you wanted to, defined by your backpack and your pencil case. I still like that, the smell of sharpening pencils and all new erasers, she said. Fellow cast member Kiersey Clemons has three little sisters. Taking them school shopping for the supplies and the backpacks and everything, that is my favorite thing, she smiled. I love the fresh pencils and pens and binders. I love that. I love organization. GREENSBORO Heres a look at some of the highlights from Tuesdays Greensboro City Council meeting: Reinstated What happened: Council voted to reinstate the Police Community Review Board, which investigates citizen complaints against the Greensboro Police Department. The council decided to suspend the board last month while it organizes a new type of group called the Criminal Justice Advisory Commission. But council members realized Tuesday that it could take up to six months to create the new commission. So the PCRB will continue its work until the commission gets going. Vote: 8-0 (Councilman Mike Barber was absent) What they said: Mayor Nancy Vaughan: We need to give people some sense of remedy while the commission is in the works. Whats next: The council will get an update on the progress on Oct. 17, then vote on the new commission Nov. 21. After that, the fate of the new commission is in the hands of state legislators in Raleigh. Health insurer hired What happened: Council voted to give UnitedHealthcare a three-year contract as the health insurer for city employees, with the chance to renew for two more years. The contract calls for the city to spend no more than $6.59 million for five years. City Manager Jim Westmoreland said the price for the three-year contract is the best price for the city and employees. Vote: 7-1 (Councilwoman Sharon Hightower; Councilman Justin Outling recused himself) The backstory: The vote comes one month after the councils controversial 5-4 decision to hold off awarding the contract. Westmoreland and a paid consultant recommended the city use Cigna Health Insurance to save money for the city and employees. Outling, an attorney with Brooks Pierce, recommended that the council reject the bidding process. That prompted community activist Lewis Pitts to file a complaint against Outling with the N.C. State Bar, saying Outlings vote was a conflict of interest since two lobbyists from the firms Raleigh office work for UHC. What they said: Hightower said the process for awarding the contract has been tainted from the beginning. If it was legal, then it was at the least immoral, she said. I really dont think this is fair. Its not right. I wont support this. I may drop my insurance. It doesnt cover my prescriptions anyway. Vaughan and Councilwoman Marikay Abuzuaiter said that any cost saving doesnt justify losing the quality of health care provided by UHC. This is my health care, Vaughan said. Its not like Im Congress voting on everyone elses health care. Councilwoman Nancy Hoffmann said its hard not to take into account the fact that UHC is a local company with more than 3,000 employees that pays thousands in property taxes. Then Barber, who is an attorney, said he doesnt want any of the council members comments to be construed as taking into account local preferences. Whats next: City employees, including council members with city health insurance, will continue to be served by UHC. Neighborhood name change What happened: Greensboro City Council changed the name of the Charles B. Aycock Historic District to the Dunleath Historic District on Tuesday. The name honors the long-gone mansion of Robert Dick, whose family was among the earliest residents of what became the Aycock neighborhood. Dunleath residents voted on the name change after the middle school in the neighborhood changed its name from Aycock to Swann in honor of former school administrator Mel Swann. Vote: 9-0 Whats next: Its official: one of the citys three historic districts is named Dunleath. Low-income housing What happened: The council voted to let the Greensboro Housing Authority take out a $38 million bond to buy and renovate 646 low- to moderate-income apartments. This isnt part of the housing bond voters approved in 2016. Vote: 9-0 Whats next: The GHA will fix up the following developments: Woodberry Run, 212 Berryman St., 39 units in 13 buildings. Baylor Court, 3911 Baylor Court, 11 units in 11 buildings. Laurel Oaks, 12 Laurel Lee Terrace, 50 units in 11 buildings. Pear Leaf, 2917 W. Florida St., 50 units in 12 buildings. Stoneridge, 1900 Peale Terrace, 50 units in six buildings. Applewood, 3501 Old Battleground Road, 50 units in 10 buildings. River Birch, 312 N. Swing Road, 50 units in 12 buildings. Silverbriar, 4807 Silver Briar Court, 50 units in 16 buildings. Ray Warren, 1306 E. Gate City Blvd., 236 units in 72 buildings. Lakespring, 4 Lakespring Court, 60 units in 16 buildings. The European Central Bank (ECB) has allowed Ukraine in the person of the Finance Ministry to obtain qualifying participation in PrivatBank (Latvia), according to the website of the Ministry of Finance. "The Latvian Financial and Capital Market Commission and the ECB assessed the compliance of PJSC PrivatBank (Ukraine) with the criteria of the EU Directive on capital requirements IV (CRD IV) and the provisions of the General Recommendations on Qualifying Participation. Based on the assessment, the ECB decided to grant consent for the receipt by the state of Ukraine in the person of the Ministry of Finance of qualifying participation in JSC PrivatBank (Latvia)," the report says. The Ministry of Finance noted the need to obtain qualifying participation is connected with the transfer to state ownership of PJSC PrivatBank (Kyiv), which directly owns 46.54% of the shares in JSC PrivatBank (Latvia). The leader of a North Carolina group affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan said he is glad the woman struck by a car in Charlottesville over the weekend had died. Justin Moore, the grand dragon of the Loyal White Knights of Ku Klux Klan, left a voice message Monday with WBTV in Charlotte, saying he was glad Heather Heyer was killed, according to the television. For more on this story, click here. Republican legislators in charge of court-ordered redistricting told us two things last week: Theyll do whats best for themselves first and their party second. They didnt say they wont mind going back to court, but that seems to be their attitude, too. Twenty-eight state House and Senate districts were drawn with too much emphasis on race back in 2011, federal courts finally confirmed this year. They must be fixed in time for the 2018 legislative elections. U.S. judges in Greensboro want to see new maps by next month. Lawmakers met last week in Raleigh to get started. Republicans, holding the majority, are driving the process and determined the criteria for their work. They wont consider race at all, but they will heed past election results and will aim to avoid putting more than one sitting legislator in any district. The second and third criteria are simply incumbent-protection measures. Allowing past elections to guide the construction of new districts means that a Republican district will remain a Republican one and a Democratic district will remain a Democratic one. And sitting senators and representatives wont be berthed together. Rather, theyll be left alone in favorable, familiar districts. There is something undemocratic about the idea that legislators can draw their own districts for their own benefit, but thats how it works unless a state creates an independent redistricting commission. North Carolina legislative leaders, of both parties, have refused. Ignoring any racial data is asking for more legal trouble. Yes, packing certain districts with as many black voters as possible ran afoul of legal scrutiny. Republicans created these majority-minority districts not to guarantee that black candidates could win, because black candidates could win with far fewer black voters. They did it to drain black voters from adjoining districts, which were made more white and more Republican as a result. This strategy allowed Republicans to win far more seats than their overall vote total would indicate. Such is the power of gerrymandering. Yet, its questionable whether applying the opposite approach no consideration of race will pass muster when a new plan is challenged in court. If it appears that black representation would be put in jeopardy, judges could say no once again. Republicans may not mind if that happens. Any delay favors incumbents. Challengers are kept waiting until new districts are set, and they are the ones who need more time to raise money and introduce themselves to voters. Redistricting is a set-up, just as its always been. On Tuesday, illegal armed groups violated the ceasefire 33 times, wounding three Ukrainian soldiers, the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) headquarters press service reported. "At the end of the past day, the situation in the ATO zone remained tense, the Russian-occupation groups not only actively used mortars of various calibers, but also fired at our positions using Grad (Partizan) rocket launchers," the (ATO) headquarters reported on Facebook on Wednesday morning. In the coastal area, on Tuesday night militants opened fire using mortars of 120 and 82 mm caliber in the area of Krasnohorivka. The Ukrainian positions near Pavlopil were shelled twice from grenade launchers, mortars and small arms, and around midnight four times from a Grad (Partizan) portable rocket launcher. In the Luhansk sector, militants used mortars of various calibers to fire at the strongholds of the Ukrainian Armed Forces near Krymske and Troitske several times. In addition, in the evening, Ukrainian military were caught under fire in the area of Novooleksandrivka and Novozvanivka. In the Donetsk sector, militants continued to shell the Avdiyivka industrial zone. In the evening and at night alone, militants opened fire three times using mortars, grenade launchers and small arms. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate STAMFORD Mary was 8 years old when she stepped off a plane from Haiti with her older sister to visit their ailing grandmother in Stamford. What was meant to be a short trip with their mother was unexpectedly extended after Marys 10-year-old sister wound up hospitalized for four months with a bacterial infection. After the girls recovery, doctors advised the family that she not return to Haiti. That was the summer of 2005, six years before a magnitude 7.0 earthquake would devastate the island nation, killing 220,000 people and displacing 1.5 million. The disaster prompted the U.S. government to extend whats known as Temporary Protected Status (TPS) to Haitians without permanent legal residency. The designation is afforded to immigrants who are unable to return to their home countries because of humanitarian emergencies. Along with her family, Mary, who did not want her real name used because of her immigration status, ended up staying in Stamford while her mother petitioned for legal status. They were ultimately denied, but then came TPS, which has enabled them to remain in the U.S. for the past six years. This may change under new orders from the Trump administration that could put an end to TPS for Haitians and send 58,000 immigrants including up to 150 in Stamford and 750 statewide, according to one attorneys estimate back to an impoverished country still reeling from one of the worst natural disasters in recent memory. The move is yet another example of the immigration upheaval set into motion under President Donald Trump. For someone like Mary, a lot has changed since leaving Haiti, a country the 21-year-old can now barely recall. She went on to enroll in Stamford public schools and excelled academically, landing a scholarship to study civil engineering at a Manhattan college. Her sister became a registered nurse. More Information Deportation fight 58,000 Haitians nationwide with protected status 5,000 Haitian citizens and non-citizens in Stamford up to 150 Haitians with protected status in Stamford See More Collapse With a year left in school, Mary worries about being ordered back to Haiti before she can graduate. At this point, she has no family in Haiti her father disappeared after they left for the U.S. and says she wouldnt know where to stay or how to navigate life there. All I remember is that it wasnt particularly safe, said Mary, who lived an hour outside the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. We stayed inside our house and went to school and came back. Mary and her family could be ordered to leave the country as soon as Jan. 22, when the most recent extension of Haitian TPS expires. TPS for Haiti and 12 other nations, including El Salvador, Honduras, Syria, Somalia, Yemen and Nepal, is re-evaluated for continuation every 18 months. In May, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services announced it would extend Haitian TPS for just six months, and encouraged recipients like Mary to prepare for their return. At the time, then-Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly said the agency would announce 60 days before the January deadline whether it may extend Haitian TPS again. Thousands of Haitians are anxiously awaiting the decision. Activists like Angelucci Manigat, editor and publisher of The Haitian Voice, a monthly newspaper once based in Stamford, have called for TPS to be extended for the standard 18-month period. Meanwhile, he said, Haitians have begun fleeing over the Canadian border to seek asylum in anticipation of a canceled TPS. Manigat said Haitians, who make up at least 4 percent of Stamfords population, are frightened of attracting attention. They are avoiding churches and community centers that were once well attended, and fear doing everyday things like picking up their children from day care or paying a parking fine, he said. People are really, really scared, said Manigat, who now runs his publication out of Bridgeport. Community leaders are trying to prepare them for the worst. It doesnt look good, but were waiting to see what happens. A lot of people are in denial. Mayor David Martin in May joined a coalition of city leaders from across the country who signed a letter to Kelly and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urging a longer extension of Haitian TPS, which would have ended on July 22 without the six-month continuation. Philip Berns, a Stamford immigration attorney who has about 30 clients with Haitian TPS and estimates there could be up to 150 with the designation citywide said he is preparing clients for what comes next. For many TPS Haitians who have lived peaceful and productive lives in the U.S., what it will feel like is not deportation, but exile, said Berns, who added that Haiti has still not recovered from the 2010 earthquake. Many say Hurricane Matthew last year undid much of the progress made since the earthquake. Things have not seriously changed in Haiti, Manigat said. The government still doesnt do much for the people. People like Mary have been in the U.S. for so long they dont know a life back in Haiti, Berns said. This young lady is basically, in her heart and soul, an American, he said. She would be sent a to a country where shes barely familiar with the culture and language, and completely out of her element. Mary said she understands the challenge the U.S. government faces managing a program like TPS, and deciding which undocumented immigrants out of many get a reprieve from deportation. Its a temporary solution, she said. Its not a status thats made for assimilation. In the meantime, life for people like Mary is a high-stakes game of wait-and-see. The thing that makes me worry is that I dont know will happen, she said. But its also my calming factor that I dont know what will happen. eskalka@stamfordadvocate.com Thanks for all the arepas. The Arepa Lady started as a street cart in Jackson Heights, becoming a destination for Colombian food in the 90s before opening its first storefront in 2014. Over time, she became something of a legend in New York food-geek circles. Unfortunately, it appears she has quietly bowed out. Her son Alejandro Osorio confirms that, after 30 years, the Arepa Lady herself hasnt cooked for the crowds since last year. Osorio tells Grub that she renewed her license, but hasnt worked the cart because shes been too tired. Asked if she was done for good, Osorio responded, I hope so. She deserves to just relax now. Judging by Maria Canos life story, in which she inspiringly remade herself, that sounds right. She was a judge in Medellin before the escalating drug war caused her to flee to New York in the 80s for the sake of her childrens safety. She restarted her life here, finding a new vocation, and building a business for her children. Its too bad for New Yorkers who loved her cooking, but it did appear that, in recent years, she had taken a step back, so this isnt coming entirely out of the blue. The permits to tear down our building were approved. Arepa lady has 6 months left. arepalady (@Arepalady) August 15, 2017 Unfortunately, this isnt the only bad news for the arepa clan. Cano and her family will have to close their first brick-and-mortar shop, news they posted to the Arepa Lady Twitter account. According to that message, permits to tear down the restaurants building were approved, and theyll have to go within the next six months. Still, Arepa Lady the business lives on. Canos apparent retirement and the fact that permits to tear down the restaurants building were filed back in December 2016 convinced the arepa clan to open a stand in the fancy Brooklyn food court DeKalb Market Hall. And Osorio does confirm that theyre looking for a new location in Queens. Supermarkets dont want none of this business. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images The Trump administration has boldly gone to bat for the food industrys little guys (like the 2,100-member National Association of Convenience Stores) against New York City. Both the grocery and convenience-store industries are suing the city, which has passed a law requiring them to tell customers how many calories are in their prepared food items. Back in 2015, these industries got a two-year warning about the impending requirement. (Its on the books now, but only applies to restaurant chains with 15 locations or more.) A few places Whole Foods, for instance made preemptive changes, but crunch time has now arrived for everybody else: The rule goes into effect August 21, and food-industry groups that oppose the rule filed a lawsuit back in July hoping to kill the law before its ever enforced. They got a big boost Monday when the Department of Justice filed a statement of interest supporting their lawsuit. The U.S. attorneys argue that the Affordable Care Act (the one Trumps fighting to dismantle) gives the FDA full control over calorie labeling nationwide the agency gets to decide when and how to enforce it. Since the FDA is therefore in charge of determining when and in what circumstances uniform menu-labeling rules will be enforced across the nation, the lawsuit says, that means Mayor Bill de Blasio cant act in the face of this clear expression of Congressional purpose. One strange irony is that the FDA is supposed to be introducing nearly identical requirements. This is per an Obama-era ruling, though, so its not clear that the FDA is in any hurry. In fact, its most recent action was to delay implementation until May of 2018. Health advocates arent thrilled with any of these machinations, telling Bloomberg its more proof President Trump will do whatever industry wants him to do, including potentially even discarding labeling requirements entirely. (Hes yet to suggest that directly, but he has promised to roll back FDA and USDA regulations.) New York Citys health commissioner, Mary Bassett, says that, to her at least, the new executive branch of the government has no intention of supporting menu-labeling, which the city has required in some form since 2008. Poor nutrition is fueling an epidemic of chronic diseases, she said in a statement, and this basic information should be accessible and transparent to all. Atla is a good place to spend one of summers last days or nights. Photo: Melissa Hom This time of year, the city is as empty as it gets, which means the citys dining rooms are, too. Take advantage of the slow season by finally having a meal at that place youve been meaning to go (or get back) to. Reservations open at hot spots and its often easier to just waltz in. Here, a dozen spots that are all popular, but maybe have been too popular for you. Whether theyre walk-in-only or have easier reservations, theyre places worth checking out before the crowds come back. Atla The all-day Mexican restaurant is, the Underground Gourmet wrote, pretty much a perfect restaurant. Those enormous windows also make right now the perfect time to eat here during the day, so head over for guacamole-goat-cheese toast, cafe de olla, and (why not?) a mezcal. Atoboy Junghyun Park cooks a style of modern Korean cuisine thats expert, but for a very reasonable price ($39 for three dishes and rice). That combination of accessibility and originality has made it a top ticket, but there are lots of tables available the rest of this month, and especially during weekends. Augustine Keith McNally places are always a buzzy production when they open or two decades after, as at Balthazar and his latest has been no exception. If youve been daydreaming of vacations in Paris, but werent able to spring for the trip, head here to finish off summer with steak-frites and baba au rhum. Cote The idea behind this restaurant is Korean barbecue for investment bankers. The meat is exceptionally good, and theres a more than likely chance that you lack a backyard, so where else are you going to grill a dry-aged rib eye yourself? Youre not going to the suburbs, which is why youre here, so heres your spot. Flora Bar Are you uptown, really like Estela, but really dont feel like traveling? Then just head to its newer sibling in the Met Breuer, where you can eat lobster and crab dumplings before polishing off desserts from one of New Yorks rising pastry stars, Natasha Pickowicz. The Grill & the Pool The crowd that these two Major Food Group restaurants angle for is the type that migrates to the Hamptons during the summer. Theyre still hot spots, but certainly itll be easier to get that prime rib with deviled bone, or lobster with coconut-and-orange vinaigrette, before the flocks migrate back for the winter. Hanoi House The St. Marks Vietnamese spot has maybe been the years biggest surprise hit. Its been a boon for a city short on quality pho, but kind of a tease: The small size and big crowds have made it very difficult to get into. Those crowds should relent a little as summer winds down, so its a good time to test your luck if youve been waiting it out. Hao Noodle and Tea New Yorkers fell hard for this West Village spots take on cosmopolitan Chinese cuisine. After a quiet opening, its been perpetually busy, thanks to word of mouth and a slew of good reviews. It looks easier to book a table right now than it has been in some time, so go and eat some of the citys very best dumplings. Italienne You can snag a table at the Flatiron restaurant no problem right now, so why not treat yourself to bigoli pasta with tomato or ocean trout with blood orange? Lalito The restaurant formerly as Lalo has a dedicated following, first cultivated by chef Gerardo Gonzalez at El Rey, and a California-leaning mind-set thatll at least encourage your escapist fantasies. Tables are plentiful right now, so have a mini-splurge on a dry-aged baby steak. Public Kitchen Jean-Georges Vongerichtens new restaurant in Lower East Sides sceney Public Hotel is the new spot for Office magazine types and aspiring socialites. But early one recent Friday night when Grub stopped by, you wouldve had no problem popping up, grabbing a table, and kicking off your night with popcorn-cheddar fricco. (Theres also its sister restaurant abcV, Vongerichtens all-vegetables-all-the-time restaurant.) White Gold Butchers April Bloomfields butcher shoprestaurant is the biggest thing in Upper West Side dining since Telepan and the Nuevo Latino chefs arrived. If youre looking to have a summery, meat-centric feast, you could do a lot worse than pork with peaches and mustard greens. Oh, and dont forget to order the crispy potato cooked in beef fat. Szechuan Houses Chongqing chicken and dumplings. Photo: Melissa Hom New Yorkers who love Sichuan food are incredibly lucky: Theres an almost shocking number of places in this city where you can get really, really good mala cooking, from the Bowery to Bensonhurst to Bayside. Whether youre looking to get your fix of dan-dan noodles, double-cooked pork belly, fiery Chongqing chicken, and other go-to classics, or discover a new favorite, here are the absolute best Sichuan restaurants in New York. The Absolute Best 1. Szechuan House 133-47 Roosevelt Ave., Flushing; 718-762-2664 At what is said to be the oldest continuously operated Sichuan restaurant in Flushing, open since 1985 (though it seems to have changed hands and names over the years), the food is simply a cut above. Highlights include the generously portioned, super-spicy dan-dan noodles, made with crispy pork and a deeply funky umami slick; Chongqing chicken fried in an aggressively seasoned batter that brings to mind both the Korean and southern varieties, shatters satisfyingly between the teeth, and vibrates on the tongue; exemplary mapo tofu; and the taut-skinned, half-moon-shaped Wonton Szechuan style, served in a dark pool of slightly sweet chile oil and topped with an impressively dense layer of minced garlic and scattering of snipped scallion. There are dozens of other dishes on the menu, all capable of distracting you from the generic dining rooms lack of atmosphere. And the complimentary dessert course is the tie-breaking final touch: instead of the obligatory orange slices, a perfectly palate-cleansing delicate cold soup, featuring dried white fungus soaked until its gone translucent and gelatinous in a subtly sweet broth. 2. Guan Fu Sichuan 39-16 Prince St., Ste. G01, Flushing; 347-610-6999 This Flushing newcomer earned a rare three-star rave from the Times Pete Wells, and we concur: The place is exceptional, from the atmosphere to the service to the food, which eschews many of the greatest-hit dishes youll find everywhere else for more unusual and refined offerings. Youll want to skip things like dan-dan noodles, wontons in chile oil, and mapo tofu here (get those at Szechuan House!), and focus instead on the boiled fish with pickled vegetable: bony fillets of freshwater carp in an intensely concentrated, flavorful, and fragrant opaque yellow broth, rich and luscious and bobbing with dried chiles and shreds of sour cabbage and whole enoki mushrooms, softened to the texture of noodles. The Chongqing chicken from the special dishes section of the menu is another thrill: It looks and tastes extremely similar to Spicy Villages big tray spicy chicken, featuring bony chunks of meat in a tantalizing murky, deep red, cumin-heavy broth, but instead of quartered potatoes to round it out, as at Spicy Village, Guan Fus version uses slightly softer, slightly sweeter chunks of yellow taro. This way is truer to the traditional recipe, according to the helpful and attentive manager, who is full of tips and suggestions. 3. Bamboo Pavilion 6920 18th Ave., nr. 70th St., Bensonhurst; 718-236-8088 Braised fish; beef and onions. Photo: Nitzan Rubin Good Chinese food, let alone good Sichuan food, might be the last thing youd expect to find in Bensonhurst, which makes a trip to Bamboo Pavilion (formerly known as Spicy Bampa) all the more surprising and delightful. The small dining room is oddly shaped and somehow meandering, with the biggest round tables hidden around a corner in a rather cramped back area, but manages to be cheerful enough. And though the place advertises itself as a hot-pot spot, and you could eat well going that route, the menu is full of other Sichuan specialties, like an excellent, addictive dish of fish fillets and cabbage braised in chile oil and flecked with cilantro, which achieves just the right balance of sweetness and spice, and the cumin-spiced beef sauteed with dried chiles and huge chunks of softened onion. For the ultimate New York experience, head directly across the street afterward to Villabate Alba bakery for the citys absolute best cannoli. 4. Szechuan Gourmet 21 W. 39th St., nr. Fifth Ave.; 212-921-0233 A Szechuan Gourmet spread. Photo: Melissa Hom Theres an embarrassment of riches when it comes to Sichuan restaurants in midtown, but were partial to this one, which has been around since 2004 and also has a branch on 56th Street and another (the original) in Flushing. The dining room is pleasantly appointed, with white tablecloths and tasteful if generic art; the service is speedy and professional; and its packed during lunch for good reason: a menu full of tantalizing and reasonably priced Sichuan dishes. There are many standouts, especially memorable among them the custardy mapo tofu; the tingly salad of smoked, pressed tofu and dense, skinny Chinese celery; the sweet, fiery, ultracrunchy cucumbers; and the sauteed prawns with chile-minced pork and asparagus. 5. Legend Bar and Restaurant 88 Seventh Ave., nr. 15th St.; 212-929-1778 Chelsea is less fortunate than midtown in terms of Sichuan-restaurant density, but wins points in quality with Legend, whose unassuming storefront gives way to a surprisingly elegant dining room, making it both a great choice for a special occasion and a nice place for any old evening or afternoon. The dan-dan noodles are some of the citys best: al dente, strewn with pea shoots (when in season), instead of the usual spinach leaves, and seriously spicy although, if you really want to sweat, you might try the Tears in Eyes (Very Spicy Mung Bean Noodle). The Sichuan entrees are divided into two columns, Traditional and New-Style, both loaded with gems, including super-salty, luscious ribbons of double-cooked pork belly, tossed with leek greens and fermented black beans; and perfectly gamy, thin-cut lamb sauteed in a heavy dose of cumin plus Chinese celery and scallions. 6. Lao Cheng Du 37-17 Prince St., Flushing; 718-886-5595 Theres a lot to like about this homey-feeling spot (formerly known as Prince Noodle House), just around the corner from Szechuan House in primo Flushing: the friendly service, the helpfully photograph-heavy menu, the cold-appetizer bar, the dumbwaiter that delivers the hot food from a mysterious location. And, of course, the food itself, including an unctuous Bolognese-like mapo tofu; shell-on, sweet-meat, salted shrimp on a bed of charred clusters of puffed rice, strewn with dried chiles, garlic, and scallions; and tingly cold rabbit hacked into chunks of tender meat clinging to bone and tossed with peanuts and white-sesame seeds. 7. Land of Plenty 204 E. 58th St., nr. Third Ave.; 212-308-8788 This part of Manhattan, where midtown gives way to the Upper East Side, can feel like a bit of a restaurant wasteland, which makes Land of Plenty extra delightful, with its series of conjoined, sleekly decorated, white-tablecloth dining rooms, and a menu thats a joy to explore. Focus especially on the section labeled Plentys, which features the kitchens specialities, from crispy double-cooked fish fillets and mapo tofu to more adventurous options like wok-tossed duck tongues or braised frog. 8. Hot Kitchen Multiple locations Youd be remiss not to begin a meal here with the pitch-perfect smashed-cucumber salad, which hits all the right notes of spicy, garlicky, and sweet and youd be remiss not to have a meal here, especially at the cheerful, brightly painted East Village location. That salad sets the tone for the rest of the excellent offerings, which include a wonderful mapo tofu, fragrant cumin lamb, blistery dry-sauteed string beans with ground pork, eight different preparations of whole fish, and a host of options for both dry-pot- and hot-pot-style dishes, with your choice of seafood, frog, or cuts of offal. 9. Flaming Kitchen 97 Bowery, nr. Hester St.; 212-925-8083 This triple threat offers dim sum, hot pot, and a sort of preprepared hot pot, no effort required on the diners part, which appears on the menu as House Special Ma-la tang: a huge, piping-hot bowl of various cuts of meat, offal, chicken, and seafood, plus thin slices of potato and taro root, cabbage, bean sprouts, and glass noodles, all bobbing in a fiery broth flecked with chiles and Sichuan peppercorn. Its delicious, and alone could sate a small family or group of friends, but then youd miss out on dishes like the excellent Chongqing chicken and the spicy sauteed Chinese broccoli, which come elegantly garnished with herbs, doilies, and orchids. 10. Legend of Taste 2002 Utopia Pkwy., Whitestone; 718-423-4888 Crispy eggplant with peanuts and chiles. Photo: Melissa Hom If you have access to a car or are willing to pony up for a taxi, its hard to imagine a more pleasant spot to indulge in a Sichuan feast than this thoroughly suburban-feeling and relatively inaccessible corner of Queens, on the border of Bayside and Whitestone. The restaurant is airy, bright, and inviting, and a meal begins with complimentary dishes of chile-roasted peanuts and a vinegary little tangle of pickled carrots and radish, which set the tone nicely for delights to come. These include, especially, the crispy Chinese eggplant cloaked in a puffy, translucent batter that lets its purple skin peek out, and tossed with peanuts, Sichuan peppercorns, and dried chiles, perfect foils to its sweet, creamy flesh and a Chongqing chicken that gives Szechuan Houses version a run for its money. Honorable Mentions Cafe China 13 E. 37th St., nr. Madison Ave.; 212-213-2810 Of all the Sichuan restaurants in the city, this one is probably the chicest, outfitted with cool, vintage chinoiserie and pretty ceramics, old schoolroom-style chairs and blue-velvet-backed booths. And the food is very good, enough so to have earned a Michelin star but the fact that it did is evidence that its also a bit reined-in, perhaps to please a milder palate, and some dishes leave you wishing they were spicier, saltier, and funkier. Grand Sichuan House 8701 Fifth Ave., Fort Hamilton; 718-680-8887 Another pleasant surprise in an unlikely Brooklyn neighborhood, this small, quiet spot makes up for what it lacks in spice with other nuanced flavors, and offers a particularly good, leek-heavy double-cooked pork belly, and Chengdu dumplings in chile oil with a deep and satisfying funk. Han Dynasty 90 Third Ave., nr. 12th St.; 212-390-8685 The two New York outposts of the Philadelphia chain are unfortunately not created equal, and the East Village location is the one to return to (though, in a pinch, its massive Upper West Side counterpart will do just fine, especially for a large group). The mix-and-match menu is easy to navigate: Pick a style of preparation (dry-pot, cumin, double-cooked), a protein (fish, pork belly, lamb), and a level of spice (from one to ten), and you basically cant go wrong. If the choices overwhelm, you can opt for the greatest-hits tasting menu for the exceedingly reasonable price of $25 per person. Little Pepper 18-24 College Point Blvd., nr. 20th Ave., College Point; 718-939-7788 Cumin lamb, fried potatoes, and preserved eggs. Photo: Melissa Hom This Flushing transplant is as beloved for its familiar classics excellent dan-dan noodles; gummy, crispy cumin lamb that arrives in a packet of tinfoil; richly flavored, sticky-textured, batterless Chongqing chicken as it is for its more unusual specialities, which include a platter of head-scratchingly satisfying crinkle-cut fries dusted in ground Sichuan peppercorn, a dish of sauteed pine nuts and corn kernels, and glassine-preserved black eggs with sauteed bell pepper. Spicy & Tasty 39-07 Prince St., Flushing; 718-359-1601 Spicy & Tasty long reigned as the go-to Sichuan spot for destination diners trekking to Flushing, and its easy to see why: Its big, bright, and welcoming, with multiple dining rooms and a cold-appetizer bar at the entrance. In todays crowded field, the Sichuan classics dont stand out quite as much as they used to, but you can still eat very well the mapo tofu, for example, remains one of the citys best. Szechuan Mountain House 39-16 Prince St., Ste. G03, Flushing; 718-888-7893 When it comes to aesthetics, Szechuan Mountain House has no competition which means there is sometimes competition to get a table here. Nearly hidden within a luxury mall (the entrance is not on Prince Street, but rather a sort of alley at the back), the dining room is carefully designed to feel romantically transportive, with details like a koi pond, lush plants, semi-private booths, and paper lanterns. The food, too, is presented with great artistry, in beautiful ceramic, stoneware, and cast-iron vessels. Wu Liang Ye 36 W. 48th St., nr. Fifth Ave.; 212-398-2308 Wu Liang Ye, with its chandeliers and carpeting and heavy crown molding, feels like a holdover from another era, formal and stuffy in a decidedly dusty kind of way, on the second floor of a brownstone thats seen better days. But one might also view it as charmingly retro, and the menu is quite good, if on the pricey side (and sadly lacking lunch specials): dan-dan noodles that made it into the great Mimi Sheratons 1,000 Foods to Eat Before You Die; glisteningly juicy ribbons of cumin lamb with sliced garlic and bell peppers; a hefty bowl of braised fish fillets and cabbage, blanketed in whole dried chiles and fresh cilantro. Zest 45 W. 39th St., nr. Sixth Ave.; 646-870-0521 The newest of three Sichuan restaurants on a single midtown block (including Szechuan Gourmet), Zest holds its own with excellent versions of dishes like thin-sliced sauteed smoked pork belly with leeks, spicy cucumber salad, and finely minced, slightly sour pickled long beans with ground pork. Allo, one of what feels like dozens of different messaging apps from Google, finally has a web version starting today. This was by far one of the most requested features since the service debuted last year, and it's still unclear why it took so many months for it to arrive. Anyway, it's here. However, right now you can only use Allo on the web if you have an Android phone. This is because the Allo app on your phone has to pair to the web client in order for the latter to work. You accomplish this by scanning a QR code, which makes Allo's web client identical to WhatsApp Web in this regard. Sadly, Google didn't emulate Facebook's other chat service, Messenger - in that case there's no pairing required, the web version acts like a standalone client. For Google not to go this route, especially after so much development time, is quite baffling. When you head to Allo Web's page, you're greeted by the screen you can see above. Once you've scanned the code from an Android handset, you're in. iPhone support is promised to come soon. Another caveat is that Allo Web only works in Google Chrome for now. And since the web client basically mirrors what's on your phone, if your device runs out of battery or for some reason disconnects from the internet, you won't be able to use Allo Web anymore. Source Four Ukrainian soldiers have been wounded and none have been killed in the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) zone in eastern Ukraine in the past 24 hours, Ukrainian Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzianyk said at a press briefing in Kyiv on Wednesday. "One of the injured servicemen tripped an unknown explosive device," Motuzianyk said. The ATO staff said earlier that three Ukrainian servicemen had been wounded as a result of 33 ceasefire breaches by militants during the day. Google Home is now able to make phone calls, as long as you're in the US or Canada. This functionality was rumored for many months until it got official at Google I/O back in May, and now it's finally in the process of rolling out. There are, however, plenty of caveats, aside from the aforementioned geographical restriction. You can only call phone numbers from the US or Canada, but on the flip side your Google Home will be able to call any landline or mobile - as long as it has a phone number, you're good to go. That said, there's no support for incoming calls yet, so you can't call other Google Home devices or take calls on yours yet. Furthermore, unless you use Google Voice or Fi (Google's carrier), the people you're calling will not see your actual phone number - instead they'll get "unknown" or "no caller ID". The obvious problem here is that most people ignore such calls. If you're on Fi or use Google Voice then you can tie your phone number to the Google Home to avoid this situation, and the company promises to offer a better solution to everyone else by the end of the year. The good news is that voice calling is completely free, and doesn't use your smartphone plan's minutes or anything like that. To use the functionality, you just say the "OK Google" command and then, if you've given it access to your contacts, can even continue by saying "call mom" and it will do what you expect. Stuff such as "OK Google, call the nearest sandwich shop" should also work. The feature will be rolled out completely for Google Home devices in the US and Canada within a week. There's no telling when (or if) voice call support will make it to the other markets where the device is available to buy (such as Australia, France, Germany, and the UK). Source 1 | Source 2 These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales. Nokia (or rather, the new company behind Nokia now - HMD) has an event lined up for today at which it's expected to show off its first real flagship in a while - the Nokia 8. It will take place in London and will start at 7:30PM local time. Here's what to expect. Nokia 8 Before we get to the question marks let's take a look at what's more or less certain - the unveiling of the Nokia 8. The phone is expected to have a 5.3" QHD display, a Snapdragon 835 chipset likely paired to 6GB of RAM. Finally, there should be a Zeiss-certified dual camera on the back. The Nokia 8 will come in three clors - Silver, Copper Gold and Tempered Blue as leaks suggest. Nokia 2 The Nokia 2 could share the spotlight with the Nokia 8. We know the phone is getting ready to become official - as evidenced by its leaked renders and a live photo. We're pretty certain the Nokia 2 will be powered by a lowly Snapdragon 210 (or the nigh identical 212). Nokia 3310 (2017) (3G) Here things become very debatable as Nokia itself insists this device isn't real. A 3G-enabled version of the resurrected Nokia 3310 (2017) has been rumored (and denied) but we wouldn't count it out just yet. And if there is 3G version of the Nokia 3310 (2017) it could very well be announced later today. Unlikely It's highly unlikely that Nokia will announce any other smartphones today. If it were, they would likely be the bigger (to the Nokia 8) Nokia 9 and a middle-of-the-road Nokia 7 with a Snapdragon 660. Given the lack of solid recent leaks, we expect the Nokia 9 at a later time. The rumors and leaks are even scarcer when the Nokia 7 is concerned so we wouldn't bet on it being unveiled today either. Stay tuned on GSMArena.com for the complete coverage of Nokia's event later today. The HTC U11 landed in India back in June this year, and it went on sale later that month. However, only a couple of colors - blue and silver - have been available in the country so far. That changes now, as the Solar Red variant has been officially made available. The model is currently on pre-order, with shipments scheduled for August 26. The Taiwanese company is also throwing in a free 20W car charger with the red U11. Pricing is same as other color variants: INR 51,990, which currently translates into just under $810. For what it's worth, the red U11 is already available in the US and the UK. Source | Via Dutch Ambassador Kees Klompenhouwer, who is completing his diplomatic mission in Ukraine, and Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin have expressed their belief that those who are behind the downing of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 in the sky over Donbas in the summer of 2014 will be brought to justice. "Empathy and solidarity of Ukrainian citizens with the Dutch people over the MH17 flight tragedy will remain forever in my heart," Klompenhouwer said during a meeting with Klimkin in connection with the completion of his diplomatic mission in Ukraine, the Foreign Ministry's press service said on Wednesday morning. The two officials expressed confidence that the Ukrainian-Dutch cooperation in the investigation of the crash and prosecuting those responsible for the tragedy are extremely important. "During the conversation, they stated that the MH17 tragedy, as well as the Netherlands referendum on the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU became serious tests for the bilateral relations that preserved the spirit of friendship and mutual trust between the two peoples," the report said. The Dutch ambassador noted the progress of reforms in Ukraine, and also said that during his mission in the country he witnessed the strengthening and maturing of the Ukrainian nation. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has designed a package of measures for the Ukrainian army in response to threats that may arise due to the Zapad 2017 (West 2017) drills that are due in Russia and Belarus this September, Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak said. "We are keeping track of the situation and know about all Russian troops movements along our border. We understand what kind of threats may arise and will react in an adequate manner to the threats the military exercises may pose. The General Staff has identified a number of measures that would be adequate for these threats," Poltorak told reporters in Kyiv on Wednesday. Poltorak went on to note that the upcoming exercises potentially pose a threat because large numbers of Russian Armed Forces personnel are moving closer to the Ukrainian border," and currently, we view everything happening at our border as an unfriendly act," Poltorak said. Have you ever found yourself saying, someday I am going to do something. Eventually that changes to, I always wanted to do that. Maybe its time to act on some of these things, before you just cant. In the mid... Published on 2017/08/16 | Source Actress Song Hye-kyo has funded a guidebook on Korean historical heritages in Kyoto, Japan. The guidebook was published in Korean and Japanese to commemorate Korea's Liberation Day on Tuesday. Advertisement Seo Kyoung-duk, a public relations expert and professor at Sungshin Women's University, took charge of the publication. Song and Seo have worked on similar projects to promote Korean history overseas by providing guidebooks to libraries and museums around the world. Some 10,000 copies of the latest guidebook were distributed to guesthouses in Kyoto and Osaka popular among young Korean visitors. "I hope this booklet will help visitors to Kyoto to pay more attention to Korean historical sites there", Song said. Published on 2017/08/16 | Source Added episode 13 captures for the Korean drama "Bride of the Water God 2017" (2017) Advertisement Directed by Kim Byeong-soo Written by Jeong Yoon-jeong With Shin Se-kyung, Nam Joo-hyuk, Lim Ju-hwan, Jung Soo-jung, Gong Myung, Lee Kyung-young,... 16 episodes - Mon, Tue 10:50 Synopsis "Bride of the Water God 2017" is a spin off version of the comic "Bride of the Water God". 'Spin off' means a deviated version from the original, so the classic fantasy and characters will be modernized and moved by time and location to Seoul today. Broadcast starting date in Korea : 2017/07/03 More Rostok-Holding increases winter wheat harvest by 6.7% in 2017 KYIV. Aug 16 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Rostok-Holding agro-industrial group this year has increased the harvest of winter wheat by 6.7% compared to 2016, to 51,100 tonnes. According to a company press release, this crop was collected from 7,700 hectares. The yield of winter wheat increased by 36.7% compared to 2016, to 6.7 tonnes/ha. "This result was achieved due to a well-thought-out investment strategy. The key role was played by the successful selection of sorts and a strict observance of the technology of growing wheat. This year both foreign and Ukrainian sorts of wheat pleased us," Rostok-Holding chief agronomist Yuriy Lebedev said. As reported, in 2017 the share of winter wheat in the structure of the group's sown areas was about 15%. Rostok-Holding LLC, established in 2010, is a vertically integrated agro-industrial group. It specializes in cultivation and sale of grains, production, processing and sale of dairy products, grain trading. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has ordered an inquiry into the information published in The New York Times regarding missile engine supplies from Ukraine to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). "I ordered an urgent, thorough and full investigation of the situation to be conducted under chairmanship of the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, and with participation of the inter-agency commission for military-technical cooperation policy and export control, as well as Pivdenmash state enterprise and Pivdenne design bureau, and to report the results within three days," Poroshenko wrote on Facebook on Wednesday. Ukraine cherishes its reputation as a reliable partner in protecting and not spreading rocket and space technologies, and duly abides by the international rules for non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, the president said. "Having voluntarily rid ourselves from the world's third most powerful nuclear potential, we made a unique contribution in international security and would never let ourselves doubt our adherence to international commitments," Poroshenko wrote. Whatever absurd the accusations directed at Ukraine may look, "as responsible partners we must carefully verify the information published by the New York Times about the alleged deliveries of rocket engines or relevant technologies to North Korea," Poroshenko wrote. "I am convinced that this will help prove with certainty the contrived nature of presumptions about 'the Ukrainian trail' in the North Korean ballistic history and is likely to locate the real source and design of this unsubstantiated fake," Poroshenko wrote. The New York Times reported on August 14 citing conclusions by a missile expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies that the Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile launched by the DPRK in July may have been powered by an engine designed on the basis of the RD-250, which was developed for Soviet ICBMs in the 1960s. The report names the state-owned Pivdenmash machine-building plant, which The New York Times describes as "one of Russia's primary producers of missiles even after Ukraine gained independence," as the most likely supplier of technology for building the North Korean missile's engine. Pivdenmash dismissed the allegations aired by The New York Times and described them as an attempt to discredit Pivdenmash and Ukraine. Dniprovsky District Court of Kyiv has chosen the pretrial restriction in the form of a personal recognizance to head of the NGO Anti-Corruption Action Center Vitaliy Shabunin. The court partially granted the prosecutor's request for a personal recognizance at a meeting on Wednesday. In accordance with this court's ruling, Shabunin must notify the investigation and the court about changing his place of residence or place of work. These obligations are imposed on Anti-Corruption Action Center for a period of not more than two months, until October 14 of the current year. This ruling of the court is not a subject to appeal. Earlier on Wednesday, law-enforcement officials served Shabunin a notice of suspicion for premeditated assault pursuant to Part 1 of Article 122 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. Prosecutors asked the court to release Shabunin on his own recognizance pending trial. Prosecutors allege that "on June 8 the Anti-Corruption Action Center head on Lebedev St. in Kyiv punched citizen 'F' in the face, causing moderate damage." Evidence includes a video clip of the incident, medical examination of the victim, witness statements and the like. "However, given the appeal to the law enforcement agencies of the media representatives and the public about the incompatibility of the injured journalist's status, the article about the infliction of bodily injuries in connection with his professional activities has not been incriminated yet. Information on the victim's involvement in journalistic activities, as well as motives for causing bodily harm, will be carefully checked, after which a corresponding procedural decision will be taken," the prosecutor's office of Kyiv said. US nuclear regulator decides against citing Westinghouse for safety violations The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will not issue a civil penalty or cite Westinghouse Electric Co. for safety violations discovered at the companys nuclear fuel fabrication facility in Richland, Washington state. Westinghouse officials acknowledged that the violations occurred and had taken a number of corrective actions, the NRC said in a press release. Richland plant - Image: KKC In May 2016, plant employees discovered an accumulation of uranium in a scrubber system, which is designed to remove unwanted material from many plant processes, the NRC said. After an analysis showed the amount of uranium exceeded safety limits, the NRC launched an inspection and later issued a confirmatory action letter, or CAL, which outlined a series of corrective actions. Some of those actions have been completed and others have been incorporated into the new confirmatory order, the federal agency said. The NRC conducted additional inspections last fall and identified several violations of NRC requirements. Westinghouse officials chose to participate in the NRC Alternative Dispute Resolution process, and the order is the result of a settlement under that process. The NRC dispute process is facilitated by a neutral third party with no decision-making authority who assists the NRC and the licensee in reaching an agreement when there are differences regarding an enforcement action, the release said. A mediation session between the NRC staff and Westinghouse was held May 19 and discussions between the two parties continued until early August. The order captures the details of the settlement reached during those discussions, the release said. Under the order, Westinghouse has taken and agreed to take a number of corrective actions, including a survey of the safety culture among employees at the site, improvements and modifications to scrubbers and other systems to minimize the likelihood of a similar accumulation, and development of additional methods to provide early indications of abnormal accumulations, the release stated. In addition, the company agreed to provide the NRC with a notification letter once it has completed the terms of the order and the basis for concluding that the order has been satisfied, according to the agency. Contact Details and Archive... rong>HRD: Can you outline your current role at Zurich?Brian Little: Im head of HR for Zurich North America. Im responsible for the full cycle of HR here talent acquisition, talent management, L&D, compensation, benefits, performance management. I also look after our HR business partners and we also have a shared services team that is split between Farmers Management Services and us. I have around 130 team members and we support approximately 9,500 employees.BL: My first job in HR was in a large utility company. I was in operations initially and then moved into HR in a career development centre and then an assessment centre. One thing I found very interesting early in my career was that in operations my chances of working with senior executives was pretty low. I could talk to my supervisor, my managers manager, but very few executives. When I started to work in the career development centre and career assessment centre I found my clients were primarily executives and that changed my view in terms of the type of exposure I wanted to have and where I could have influence. I really learned to enjoy HR and started to realise how important leadership was to the success of the overall company. Poor leadership and decision-making can destroy shareholder value and employee morale. What I found was that those organisations that had leadership as a core component of their DNA did better than those that didnt. I felt I could contribute to that.BL: A couple of things. One is you really must ground your leadership development strategy in the heart of your business and really understand where were trying to go with it. Where weve made some strides at Zurich is by thinking about where we really want to be in the next five to 10 years. The industry is changing quite a bit and we sat down a few years ago and said, we need to make some changes. We needed to prepare our organisation for the future. The type of people who work in our company will be different, but also the environment that well be operating in will be different. Our leadership program needed to be attuned to that.The other big reason why a lot of these programs fail is theyre too complex. Too many bells and whistles are added onto programs which sometimes are oversold by consultants. They must have very clear, actionable development plans and be able to reinforce the behaviours you want to see changed or at least replicated in the organisation. A lot of programs in the marketplace today look pretty on a piece of paper, but if you cant execute them it doesnt really matter.BL: In 2009, when I started at Zurich, I worked with [current CEO] Mike Foley and undertook some research. We figured out something we called the Development Curve. This relates to the time and effort a person needs to be in a role in relation to the investment we need to make in them as a company. We did that for every employee.However, we also realised our managers werent ready to take that kind of research and information and really take action on it. So we embarked upon something that became known as World Class Manager. World Class Manager was essentially designed to take those concepts wed discovered and then apply those in such a way that every manager could be successful. To do that we split manager and leader behaviours into two buckets because while we still want people to be great leaders, we also need them to at least be good, solid managers of people as well.We created a required course for all managers to go through, which was called The Successful Manager at Zurich. What that program focused on was core management behaviours. It laid the foundations for us to build what we now call today Oxygen, which focuses on the eight behaviours that great managers show. The intention was to make our managers more flexible, more empowered, able to take greater accountability and ultimately drive higher performance. An example of that is we flattened the organisational structure down and increased spans of control significantly.We couldnt have done any of that without providing a lot of professional development in return. So we did that through World Class Manager, The Successful Manager at Zurich, and eventually Oxygen. Were pretty proud of what weve been able to accomplish.BL: I have. Ive been lucky. I had a chance to work with great leaders at a company called Amoco, which is now part of BP. Some of the smartest people in the world worked at that organisation PhD geoscientists and engineers who were exceptionally bright.I worked at HSBC with Sir John Bond, who was with the company for over 40 years. He was one of the finest leaders in financial services history. Hes an incredible man with an incredible story who started his career as a teller and worked his way up to lead one of the largest banks. The stories about John are fairly legendary people talk about times they met him in the elevator and those kinds of chance meetings. I learned from him that being kind and caring but also being a great businessman was possible and not mutually exclusive.I work for a great CEO today Mike Foley. Mike is really a visionary, being able to take relatively complex processes and put those into real-life work scenarios over a period of time. Mike can take pretty far-out ideas and make them a reality, but hes always driven by the immediate challenges his business and its people are up against. Hes been great to work with.BL: For me it was a great opportunity to understand what lots of great companies are doing and discover what made them successful. I learned that theres no one leadership style that works for everybody. I also learned that different organisations require different types of leadership styles at different times. Understanding that made me a better business person because as a consultant you have to quickly digest the organisations operating model and whats important to them, and establish how you can actually help them. Its a good experience for anyone who works in HR. They can take that knowledge with them internally. MAKING A DIFFERENCE The 10 key areas determined to drive the greatest benefits for access and inclusion of people with disability within an organisation are as follows: 1. Commitment: We commit to best practice on access and inclusion for people with disability as employees, customers and stakeholders. 2. Premises: Our premises are accessible to people with disability, and whenever necessary we make adjustments for individuals. 3. Workplace adjustments: We anticipate the needs of people with disability and have a robust process for making any adjustments that might be needed by individuals. 4. Communication and marketing: Our communication and marketing channels are accessible to people with disability, and whenever necessary we make reasonable adjustments for individuals. 5. Products and services: We value people with disability as customers, clients and service users and address their needs when developing and delivering our products and services. 6. ICT: Our ICT is accessible and usable by people with disability, and we also make reasonable adjustments for individuals. 7. Recruitment and selection: We attract and recruit people with disability, which gives us access to the widest talent pool at every level. 8. Career development: We value all our employees, including those who experience disability and are committed to their retention and development. 9. Suppliers and partners: We expect our suppliers and corporate partners to reflect and enable us to meet our commitment to best practice. 10. Innovation: We pride ourselves on our innovative practices and continually strive to do better. Source: Access and Inclusion Index Benchmark Report 2016, Australian Network on Disability SHARING BEST PRACTICE Mark McLane outlines three key steps Barclays has taken to lead the company towards the highest-ever score in the UKs Disability Standard. 1. The Barclays mobile banking app is the first banking app to be accredited by Ability Net for its accessibility. 2. Able to Enable, a campaign focusing on accessibility in employment, is an expansion of the Barclays internship and apprenticeship programs. It reaches out specifically to those who identify as people with disability to help the company become a better employment destination for them. 3. This is Me, now in its fourth year, started out as a mental health and wellness campaign focusing on colleagues telling their story about how they manage their mental health and wellness and their careers at Barclays. Today it has become more generally about disability globally. In the past three years Barclays also partnered with the Lord Mayors Office of London to launch the initiative into the city. In turn, 80 companies in the City of London have now deployed similar campaigns to raise mental health awareness. is rapidly becoming the world leader in diversity and inclusion, but its in disability inclusion and accessibility that its truly blazing a pathA solution for one becomes a solution for many. Thats the call to action that Barclays has rallied behind globally for the past several years when it comes to diversity and inclusion. Its especially pertinent when that solution is designed and implemented for people who identify as having some for of disability.The Barclays global D&I strategy has five pillars: gender, disability, LGBT, multicultural and multigenerational. In the UK, all of those pillars are led by senior leaders and direct reports to the companys UK CEO, Ashok Vaswani.Ashok has as part of his remit our retail banking business. He really saw an advantage in establishing Barclays as the most accessible bank, explains Mark McLane, head of global diversity and inclusion at Barclays.McLane explains that a solution for one becomes a solution for many means fundamentally understanding the needs of the banks customers and employees around accessibility. It means we have more inclusive business solutions that quite honestly some of us may not even think of as being a solution until we see that in action, he says.To cite one example, Barclays talking ATMs are today being used to help individuals with visual impairment. As you get older and need reading glasses, sometimes the print at an ATM on a very sunny day can be difficult to see, but once you take your headset out and plug it in you now have a voice-activated machine, McLane says.Another example is Barclays highvisibility debit cards, which use the principles and technology of personalised debit cards. While many people would use an image of their partner or children on the card, an infinitely more practical use might be to make the card red, especially if thats a colour on the spectrum that can be more clearly seen than others.They could also use a big arrow so it looks like a hotel room key, says McLane. For visual impairment across the spectrum, being able to quickly differentiate my ATM card from my credit card, to have that sense of independence in banking, is really what it all comes down to.Its not just customers who benefit its the companys 120,000 employees around the world too. Barclays has made inclusive technology mission-critical. McLane says it may sound simple, but even steps such as ensuring all corporate videos are subtitled can make a big difference.Its putting the work in at the front end, not the back end, not as a bolt-on, he says. Thats transformational for the organisation. With something as simple as subtitling videos Ive had colleagues say to me that in this new hotdesking environment all computers have speakers, but now with my colleagues sitting next to me I can watch a leadership video and read the subtitling. Thats not something I would have thought about in the past, but again you can see its taking something that improves the lives of a few that really improves the lives of many.In many ways, Barclays has taken a design-thinking approach to its inclusive solutions. You must start with the user, says McLane. Although Im the chief diversity officer, I started my career in sales and marketing, so I always think of the end user. You must have the end user in the room. But having you in the room is not enough we also have to listen. We have to take advantage of your voice being in the room. You have to feel like youre working in an inclusive and welcoming environment to be able to bring yourself to work, bring that difference to the table and know that it matters.Wherever he is in the world, McLane says the the question he is most frequently asked is how do we rank in this area, where are we furthest ahead? I always respond, First give me a country and then give me a division of the bank, because even within investment banking, retail banking and corporate banking there are very different cultures and customer bases. So its very fluid.However, he concedes that certain geographical locations are ahead of the pack. He cites some parts of the UK that are ahead of others on accessibility. The US, meanwhile, pulls ahead from an infrastructure standpoint, possibly due to building code changes. He also cites work that his colleagues are doing in Tokyo around accessibility in employment as leading the way in APAC.Increasingly, the organisation is taking part in benchmarking in various jurisdictions around the world. For example, it has used the Accessibility and Inclusion Index in Australia to step back and assess where the company falls among its corporate peers.Similarly, in 2016, Barclays in the UK was the first company to achieve 98% on the Equality Standard by the Business Disability Forum.Someone asked me recently at a conference, So, Mark, whats next? I said for me its working with the Business Disability Forum as one of its founding members to figure out what is next. How do we raise the bar? What would 98% or 100% look like three years from now? Not to rest but continue to pull other companies along on the journey. Getting to 100% doesnt mean the work is done; it means weve reached a good standard today. Like any benchmark Ill use the Human Rights Campaign Corporate Equality Index of the US, but every three to four years a new milestone comes into play: what next, what are we doing? I think thats our responsibility to help drive D&I.He adds that Barclays has the aspiration of being the most accessible FTSE 100 company. I always say, I dont know what that looks like its very aspirational. But knowing thats what we want to achieve gives us the energy and drive to figure out what next.McLane is keen to dispel some misconceptions about what it takes to become a truly accessible organisation. The gravest concern is not knowing what colleagues need to make them successful, he says.For example, its common to put in place practices prior to the individual starting in the workplace, which McLane deems well intended but a bit backward.I think this goes back to where we started about listening. Even through the interview process, asking potential colleagues what they need to be successful. Some of the concern around employing people with disability tends to go right to this idea about infrastructure ramps, barrier-free lavatories and things like that which you should have anyway. But sometimes its as simple as what time do I arrive at work? Do I have any flexibility to make sure I can leave at a certain time? Is there suitable transport available in the city? Sometimes its even simpler for example, I use a certain type of keyboard. Thats not a big ask.McLane, who says his passion for D&I was sparked at Whirlpool Corporation, believes D&I deserves the same level of market segmentation that might occur in a marketing department. The overarching goal, he says, is to attract great talent to an organisation.Thats where I fell in love with the work. Thats where I understood the gap colleagues and customers are not two different sets of people. Colleagues are customers who just happen to work here. If we can start to take some of that discipline around customer understanding into HR and within HR the colleague understanding back into the business, we have a full circle and were really adding value to the organisation.As a final tip, McLane suggests HR be clear on who is leading diversity, and how HR fits in.You need to ask whos leading diversity for your organisation. My role is helping to build the discipline into the organisation both into the business and into the HR function. For HR, they must understand they have permission to know they don t know everything. It becomes an iterative learning process for everyone. When you start to have that realisation you also take some of the fear out of the organisation the fear of getting it wrong. The world is rapidly moving towards digitalisation and automation in all areas of society. Yet some of the most digitally advanced economies in the world are struggling to sustain digital growth and innovation Finland being one of them. This years Digital Evolution Index places Finland in the Stall Out Zone; a category for digitally advanced countries that have reached so-called digital plateaus of slowing momentum in terms of digital growth. Moving past these digital plateaus will require a conscious effort by these countries to reinvent themselves, to bet on a rising digital technology in which it has leadership, and to eliminate impediments to innovation, the researchers behind the Digital Evolution Index suggest. The states in the Stall Out category among them all Nordic nations seem to suffer from issues on both the supply and demand sides of digital growth; past digitalisation is not translating into future innovation because of market saturation and a lacking start-up culture. Yet, compared to its Nordic neighbours, Finland has fared quite well in adding fresh fuel to its digital innovation engine to keep it running. The past years have been a turbulent time for Finnish business, with a long economic recession following the decline of Nokias mobile phone production, yet Finlands digital sector is now evolving faster than those in any other Nordic countries. In fact, Finland is not far away from being included in the Stand Out zone for digitally advanced countries with a fast-paced digital evolution. Nevertheless, the road from the stall out category to the stand out zone is a slippery one, and as noted in the Harvard Business Review, all countries need to continuously generate new demand to avoid stalling out. Countries in the Break Out zone, with China in the forefront, are evolving rapidly and have the potential to become the leaders of digital business and technology in a matter of years. China has gone from almost no digital innovation at the turn of the century to having a population of 730 million Internet users today. This rapid development has made China the country with the largest number of Internet users in the entire world, and thus a lucrative market for e-commerce. If Finland wants to remain at the vanguard of digitalisation, it should look to countries with a similar population size but with a faster digital evolution. Examples of such countries are Estonia, Singapore and New Zealand. Estonia is, of course, a particularly interesting example not only because of its geographical proximity to Finland, but also because of its leading position in e-government. As the data used to measure each countrys pace of digital evolution in this years Digital Evolution Index was gathered between 2008 and 2015, it is worth keeping in mind that Finland only declared its recessionary era to be over as recently as last year. Digital evolution in Finland is thus likely to pick up speed in the coming few years, if it has not already done so. A promising example for Finlands digital future is Slush a phenomenally successful start-up event that brings together the global tech scene in the winter darkness of Helsinki. Nicole Berglund Helsinki Times It is commonly known what kind of negative effects immigrants from developing countries have had on security and the economy in Stockholm and many other cities in Europe, he argued in a press release from the Finns Party on Tuesday. Jussi Halla-aho, the chairperson of the Finns Party, says he disagrees with the assessment that more immigrants are needed to supplement the workforce in Greater Helsinki. While Finland has not traditionally been as popular a destination for immigrants as Sweden, the alienation and ghettoisation of the immigrant population, as well as the consequent segregation of schools and residential areas, have for years been among the most burning questions in Helsinki, added Halla-aho. Jan Vapaavuori (NCP), the Mayor of Helsinki, on Monday urged decision makers to step up their efforts to attract immigrants to work in Helsinki. Helsinki will naturally compare itself to Copenhagen and Stockholm, he stated in an interview with Talouselama. They have an advantage because theyre almost double the size [of Helsinki] and especially because theyre considerably more international. Halla-aho refuted the assessment firmly. He pointed out that the integration rate for people who have arrived from developing countries on humanitarian grounds is as low in Finland as it is anywhere else in Western Europe. Studies indicate that the majority [of immigrants] will even after decades fall short of the income levels of Finns, and that a considerable share will remain reliant on benefits for their entire life, he said. Statistics Finland and the Institute for Economic Research (VATT), for instance, have published data on the income levels of the immigrant and native-born population in Finland. Halla-aho also voiced his doubts about suggestions that immigration could enhance the appeal and vitality of Helsinki: [immigration from developing countries] will undermine security, make an already difficult housing situation even more difficult and add to the burden on social and health care services. Vapaavuori, he highlighted, called for more immigration and more funds to integrate immigrants in the same breath. Halla-aho also seemed to accuse the newly elected mayor of having a double standard when it comes to immigration. Vapaavuori stated repeatedly during his mayoral campaign that he opposes the proposal to build a grand mosque in Helsinki, thus seemingly seeking to profile himself as an alternative to the pro-mosque Greens, analysed Halla-aho. As a proponent of harmful immigration, Vapaavuori seems to have again found common ground with the Greens and Left Alliance, he added. The Finns Party is according to him concerned about the demographic development of Helsinki and other large cities in Finland. We believe Helsinki should follow social, housing and population policies that do not attract any migrant flows that have a negative impact on the city. Helsinki must be a safe city where ordinary wage earners can afford to live and not worry when sending their children to the nearby school, told Halla-aho. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Mikko Stig Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi Prime Minister Juha Sipila (Centre) clarified the partys position on the issue during the summer meeting of the party leadership in Espoo on Tuesday, according to reports by several media outlets in Finland. The Centre Party is in favour of continuing levying the so-called solidarity tax on individuals with annual earnings exceeding 72,300 euros for another two years. We wont abandon the temporary solidarity tax for high-income earners at this time, thats our starting point, he was quoted as saying by Suomenmaa. The Centre thereby became the second of the three ruling parliamentary groups to announce its support for extending the tax until the end of the current electoral term. The New Alternative Parliamentary Group has previously voiced its opposition to restoring the tax threshold to 90,000 euros per annum. The Finnish government decided two years ago to lower the threshold to 72,300 euros for 2016 and 2017. Unless the three ruling parliamentary groups can reach an agreement on extending the tax, which effectively raises the income tax rate for individuals in the highest tax bracket by two percentage points, the threshold will rise back to 90,000 euros as per the recommendation of the Ministry of Finance. The National Coalition has urged the government to stand by its earlier decision. I think we should proceed according to plan. The solidarity tax threshold was lowered temporarily and now well return to normal, Jukka Kopra, a deputy chairperson of the National Coalition Parliamentary Group, said to Helsingin Sanomat on 13 August. Kopra described the demands to extend the tax as populist and reminded that the solidarity tax is part of a series of temporary measures designed to improve the competitiveness and financial standing of Finland. The solidarity tax is part of this package, and we should respect the time limits, he stated. Petteri Orpo (NCP), the Minister of Finance, has estimated that the solidarity tax can be abolished only in the event that tax concessions are introduced also for low and middle-income earners. The Centre Party on Tuesday voiced its reservations about the idea of adopting additional tax concessions and argued that any additional revenues should be used to cut back on borrowing. Sipila added, however, that if new tax concessions were to be introduced, they should be targeted at low and middle-income earners. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Martti Kainulainen Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi The vandalised memorial near the newly renovated halting site at Carrickmines. Photo: Kyran O'Brien A memorial erected in memory of the 11 Carrickmines fire victims has been destroyed in an "appalling" act of vandalism. Local groups have expressed their "disgust" over the destruction of a statue commemorating the people killed in the 2015 tragedy. What was once a fitting memorial to those who perished in the blaze has now been left in ruins. The statue of the Virgin Mary, erected just metres away from where the fire occurred, was recently found broken in several places. Damage However, the granite memorial stone underneath the religious effigy was spared from any damage. The apparent act of vandalism was noticed by Labour Party Cllr Peter O'Brien, who was left stunned. "I'm just lost for words - it's appalling. It's disrespectful not just for the residents, but for the victims of the fire. "In the aftermath of the fire, thousands of people paid their respects at this site. To go from that to this is just disgusting," he added. Sinn Fein Cllr Chris Curran believes the vast majority of the community will condemn what happened. "It's absolutely horrendous," he said. Jim O'Brien, of the Bray Travellers' Community Development Group, told the Herald that it should be treated as a criminal offence, if proven deliberate. "If it was vandalised, then to me that's a criminal offence," he said. A spokesperson from the council said it only became aware of the damage caused yesterday. This news comes just days after the survivors of the Carrickmines disaster moved back to the same site where their loved ones had died. The new state-of-the-art halting site, complete with fire walls, was provided by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. However, Kathleen McDonagh, a sister of one of the victims, said the council should have allocated the permanent structures to the residents years ago. "I don't care that they've built these houses, they can have them back if they want because they are no good to us now," she said yesterday. "What good is a house to you when 11 members of your family are gone? "If they gave me a house and it was full of gold, it would be no good to me, because it is not bringing my family back. "They gave the houses too late," she said. Five adults and five children perished in the blaze, which took place in October, 2015. Willie Lynch (25) and Tara Gilbert (27) died alongside their daughters Kelsey and Jodie. Tara was four months pregnant. Thomas Connors (27) and his wife Sylvia (25) and their children Jim (5), Christy (2) and six-month-old Mary also lost their lives in the fire. A brother of Willie Lynch, Jimmy (39), also died. Otis Reynolds was given bail with a number of conditions. Picture: Caroline Quinn A young man accused of seriously assaulting another man has been ordered to stay away from a street in south Dublin. Otis Reynolds (20) was told by a judge not to set foot on Raphoe Road in Crumlin. He has also been ordered not go near the alleged injured party for the duration of the case. Judge Alan Mitchell remanded Mr Reynolds on bail, subject to conditions, to a date in October. The accused, of Windmill Park, Crumlin, appeared before Dublin District Court charged with seriously assaulting another man. The alleged incident took place at Raphoe Road last March 9. Mr Reynolds is further charged with endangerment at the same time and place. The court heard that gardai had no objections to bail, subject to a number of conditions. Curfew Defence solicitor Terence Hanahoe said Mr Reynolds had agreed to the bail terms. Judge Mitchell remanded Mr Reynolds on bail in his own bond of 300. The accused must sign on three times a week at Crumlin Garda Station and must also observe a curfew between 10pm and 7am. Gardai may call to his home during those hours to ensure Mr Reynolds is abiding by his bail terms, the judge said. The accused has been ordered to have no contact, either directly or indirectly, with the alleged injured party. The court heard that the Director of Public Prosecutions had directed trial on indictment in the circuit court, where the penalties on conviction are greater than in the district court. Judge Mitchell remanded Mr Reynolds on bail to a date in October for the service of the book of evidence. He also assigned Mr Hanahoe free legal aid. The accused has not yet indicated a plea to the charges. The number of students taking a gamble and deciding to take honour level papers in the Leaving Cert has jumped, results today will show. Students have been attracted by the first overhaul of the exam grading and CAO points systems in 25 years. Almost all subjects saw an increase in the uptake of higher level papers where, for the first time, points are available for a grade of between 30 and 49pc. There was a 3.2pc rise in the proportion of papers taken at higher level. Among the 58,500 candidates receiving results today, there is a record high achieving the top grade of H1 - a score of between 90 and 100pc - the equivalent of an old A1. There are 13 students with eight H1s, almost double last year's seven, and 63 with 7H1s, up from 47 last year. Overall, 6,694 candidates achieved at least one H1, up 5pc on last year's 6,367. Candidate numbers overall are up only 0.1pc. Education Minister Richard Bruton welcomed the increased uptake at higher level. However, the higher level gamble did not pay off for all, and some may have fared better on points had they stuck at ordinary level. However, educationalists contend that learning at higher level develops thinking skills and prepares students better for third-level study. The new regime has ended the days when students got no points for a subject if they did not achieve at least 40pc, and are now awarded 37 points for 30 to 39pc. However, some of those aiming higher may have sacrificed points of 56 or 46 awarded for the top grades at ordinary level. The rise in uptake in honours papers has been accompanied by a rise in numbers not achieving 40pc. On a strict comparison, more students sitting higher level got below 40pc this year than last year in some of the big subjects. In English, it was 1,162 candidates out of 38,749 compared with 439 out of 36,576 last year. In Irish, it was 486 out of 22,122 compared with 120 last year out of 20,097. In maths, it was 1,360 out of 16,395 compared with 684 out of 15,198. In physics, the figure was 1,116 of 6,271 compared with 612 out of 6,003 students last year. However, unlike last year, those who get 30 to 39pc, an H7 grade, at higher level will be doubly rewarded. Losers As well as getting the 37 points, the H7 - deemed to be the equivalent of an ordinary level, O3 grade - allows them to meet the minimum entry requirements for a large number of courses. Overall, there will be winners and losers in the new system, the full impact of which will not be evident until the CAO offers are made on Monday. The rise in candidates achieving at the highest level could put pressure on points for high demand courses. Others will feel the loss of a grading scale that moved up in steps of five. The new and wider bands require a 10pc jump to reach the next highest grade and the premium points that go with it. However, some CAO courses will see an easing in points. The grading changes are expected to lead to an increase in applications to view exam scripts to see where marks were won or lost. Mobike, one of China's largest bike-sharing companies, was sued for patent infringement Wednesday. The Shanghai Intellectual Property Court said in a statement that the plaintiff, surnamed Hu, accused Mobike of infringing on his patent for a control system on electric vehicles, which was granted by the State Intellectual Property Office (SIPO) on May 4, 2016. According to the claims, the control system was basically a QR code identifier. A data storage processor compares the QR code a user scans from the vehicle with the stored graphic data. It the two match, a signal is sent to activate the vehicle; if not, an alarm will be activated. He claimed the technology of the lock system equipped on the bicycles Mobike manufactures, sells and rents is identical with that described in his patent. He asked Mobike to stop making and using the lock system, destroy the locks on Mobike's current available bicycles, and pay compensation of 500,000 yuan (75,000 U.S. dollars). Mobike denied all allegations. The court will announce its verdict at a later date. (Photo/Xinhua) Chinese car-hailing service providers are now seeking opportunities overseas given the increasingly stabilized domestic share and mature home market. Shouqi Limousine and Chauffeur, one of the largest car-hailing companies in China, has expanded its business to 217 cities in 30 countries. Starting from September, the company will start operations in 1,500 cities in 130 countries. Shouqi is not the first Chinese car-hailing company to offer services overseas. Two years ago, Chinese car-hailing giant Didi began its international expansion. After teaming up with Uber and complying with new regulations, international expansion has become one of Didi's key strategies. Didi invested $100 million in the Brazilian taxi on-demand service 99Taxis in January 2016. At the end of last April, Didi completed a new round of financing worth over $5.5 billion. It is not a coincidence that Chinese companies are joining in the international competition, as new growth points and scenarios are needed for long-term development. To some extent, it is now impossible to make new profits in the Chinese car-hailing market as huge potentials exist abroad, experts said. However, Chinese firms still have a long way to go before they can compete overseas in temrs of marketing. This is because capital, operations, local policies, strategies, and restrictions need to be surmounted. BRISTOL, Va. Virginia Sen. Mark Warner and about a hundred business leaders, half a dozen craft brewery owners and a smattering of politicians raised their glasses to toast the opening of the Southwest Virginia Mountain Brew Trail on Tuesday night. The announcement from the upper level of Studio Brew in downtown Bristol was met with applause and cheers from those in attendance. Warner said that the trail which has 16 craft breweries currently on its roll and more under construction, including three in Bristol will boost the local economy and provide jobs. The Mountain Brew Trail is the product of years of conversations and planning between local stakeholders and my office, all working together to highlight the success of this growing industry in the region, he said. Heritage trails like these, which highlight heritage music and local artisans, help bring new jobs and attract business and tourism to Southwest Virginia. Virginia Tourism Corp. President and CEO Rita McClenny, who was also in Bristol for the announcement, said craft beer is an important regional asset for Southwest Virginia. Virginia is home to 206 licensed breweries, with the craft beer industry contributing more than $9 billion annually to the commonwealths economy and employing over 28,000 people in production, distribution and retail, according to McClenny. People come here to make family memories, she said. And this trail will give them a reason to come taste, see and fall in love with all that Southwest Virginia has to offer. There's no better way to get a taste of the local flavor than to show visitors why Virginia is for craft beer lovers. President and CEO of the Bristol Chamber of Commerce Beth Rhinehart said the launching of the trail shows visitors that there is always something new to do in the Twin City. The race is starting this weekend, and people come to the speedway from all over the nation, she said. Some of them have come for many years, and it seems that every year there is something new and exciting for them to experience. This trail is one of those experiences that will keep them coming back. Warner also said the trail will attract young people to the area. Young people want somewhere to hang out and listen to music, he said. This brew trail will help attract them to Southwest Virginia and keep them here. Studio Brew owner, operator and master brewer Erich Allen said hes glad Warner gets it. To have the senator be a part of the craft brew trail is fabulous, Allen said. He understands business and what craft beer does to bring in jobs. Its fantastic to have him here. Studio Brew is located on Moore Street in the former Bristol Fire Museum, adjacent to Cumberland Square Park. The website for the brew trail is www.mountainbrewtrail.com. The Southwest Virginia Mountain Brew Trail app can be downloaded at https://appsto.re/us/m4sRlb.i (Photo/iwshang.com) A young couple over the past three years sold 2,709 cremation urns on China's largest e-commerce platform, Taobao. They said the business makes them feel like they have experienced death 2,709 times. During the three years, no one knew their profession except their parents. They made no new friends and avoided contacts with old pals for fear of bringing bad luck to other people. Their only friends were deliverymen who they had to contact every day. (Photo/iwshang.com) Yang Sheng, born in 1989 in Jinhua, south China's Zhejiang province, met Chen Xiaoxiao three years ago when the latter was selecting a cremation urn in his online shop for her mother. Believing prompt delivery matters much to bereaved families, Yang drove nearly a thousand miles overnight to deliver the urn in Chen's hometown, a mountainous area in the west of the province. Chen thought Yang was a reliable person. Thereafter, they fell in love, got married and Chen joined the business. Last year, their online shop posted profits of RMB 150,000 ($22,438).The couple also invested in a cremation urn factory which could earn tens of millions of yuan annually. (Photo/iwshang.com) Producing an urn needs nearly 50 days and the labor cost is high. But the couple has opted to reduce profits in order to provide better services to buyers and help more people. The two said they are not only sellers, but also listeners. Behind each order is a sad buyer. They will listen to their demand, feel their pain and console them. So far, the shop has received 642 good reviews, each having a tear-triggering story. "It is the last order for the dead, so we have to be responsible to them," they said. Maryland cross country: Hubs' Stine, Leopards girls each finish second North Hagerstown sophomore Lauren Stine had the top performance by a Washington County athlete, placing second in the Class 3A girls race. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday noted that no one should be permitted to stir up tensions on China and Russias doorstep, calling for a peaceful settlement to the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula. Wang made the remarks during a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. The two ministers discussed possible ways out of the confrontational spiral on the Korean Peninsula, agreeing that military adventures and threats of force are unacceptable regardless of the source. The high-level conversation comes amid escalating tensions between the DPRK and the US, as the latters decision to conduct joint military exercises with South Korea on Aug. 21 has led to a fierce backlash from the DPRK, which has threatened to launch ballistic missiles toward the US territory of Guam that is home to American military bases. According to Lavrov, the situation on the Korean Peninsula could flare up again as the joint military exercises draw near. The two ministers noted that the US and the DPRK should put the brakes on mutually irritating rhetoric and actions to cool tensions and head off an August crisis. As of press time, the DPRK has halted its threats, saying it would wait to assess the foolish and stupid conduct of the US before deciding whether to order the launch. In response, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday that his country was still interested in talks with the DPRK. Chinas first Sino-foreign university of science and technology on August 14 welcomed its first batch of 222 newly-enrolled students to campus at its first commencement ceremony in Shantou, southern Chinas Guangdong province. Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (GTIIT), established on the famous Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) model, offered admission to students from 12 provincial regions in China, who will major in chemical engineering and technology, biotechnology and material sciences, and engineering, reported news site Caixin.com. The new university will enjoy the same high quality education as the one based in Haifa, Israel. At least one-thirds of the faculty on the Chinese campus will come from Technion. Others will be recruited globally, making English the main teaching language. Some 80 percent of the students got perfect scores on the English section of the gaokao, Chinas college entrance examination. Apart from the gaokao, all applicants were interviewed before they got their final offer. Upon graduation, they will also be examined in accordance with Technion standards. Based on their gaokao scores, some 110 students were also awarded the Headmasters Scholarship at the ceremony, 22 of whom received 100,000 yuan as the first prize. The second and third prizes were 75,000 and 50,000 yuan, respectively. If they maintain good scores, the students will receive the scholarship in the second semester. The scholarship pool was 9 million yuan. Some 4 million of that came from Headmaster Li Jiange, who donated two years worth of his annual salaries. The rest was raised from listed companies in Shantou and a donation from the Li Ka Shing Foundation (LKSF). In 2013, LKSF donated $130 million to Technion and the two sides signed a memorandum to launch a China-Israel university in Shantoumarking the beginning of GTIIT, which was officially approved by the Ministry of Education in April 2016, Caixin reported. Technion is known as the MIT of Israel. Founded in 1912, it is the oldest university in Israel and remains an international leader in industrial engineering and scientific innovation. Of its more than 500 faculty staff, three are Nobel Laureates in chemistry. (Photo/cqcb.com) The Sichuan food delivery courier who was once an Internet phenomenon because of his English text messages to customers has been admitted by Sichuan International Studies University (SISU) after taking the self-taught examination for higher education. The 18-year-old courier, Mao Zhaomu, on August 14 returned to the campus where he worked as a delivery boy, now as a student of the college. Early this year Mao became an internet sensation for messaging customers in English. His story was widely reported by domestic media, attracting much public attention. "I had to receive about two media outlets every day. I never expected such a big social impact," Mao said. Even so, he still kept his dream of learning English alive every day after finishing work. "We all respect people with dreams. I encouraged him every time I received my food from him," a SISU student noted. Mao struggled in science classes beginning in his middle school years, but he always excelled in English. Inspired by his English teacher who earned a university spot through independent study, Mao chose to formally drop out of high school. Ever since, entering SISU has been the young man's target. (Photo/cqcb.com) At the beginning of last March, Mao became a food delivery courier at SISU, all the while preparing for the college entrance examination. Early last month, Mao stopped dispatching food and concentrated on preparations for the examination and college application. Today, his efforts have finally paid off. He received his admission letter from SISU on August 10. Apart from his personal hard work, Mao also received assistance from an anonymous English teacher in Shanghai. The latter taught Mao through the Internet almost every day. Under his instruction, Mao's English improved greatly. "I am very grateful to my parents," Mao said. His parents always supported his decision to go to university, though the family is not so well off financially. "I hope to make some money and take them to travel," Mao noted. Mao plans to pass the College English Tests and national examination for interpretation. His dream is to participate in an English talk show held by China Central Television, CCTV. (Chinanews.com/Li Jinlei) A Chinese expert says the U.S. is short-sighted if it is willing to damage bilateral economic and trade relations with China, as U.S. President Donald Trump authorized the U.S. Trade Representative to launch an investigation into China's intellectual property practices, China News reported on Aug. 15. In the Presidential Memorandum, Trump authorized Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. Trade Representative, to determine whether China's relevant laws, policies, or practices harm U.S. intellectual property rights (IPR), innovation, or technological development. On the same day, Lighthizer issued a statement saying that he would conduct a thorough investigation and, if needed, take action to preserve the future of U.S. industry. The investigation is to be launched on the basis of Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which was designed to eliminate unfair foreign trade practices that adversely affect U.S. trade and investment in both goods and services. China's Ministry of Commerce noted in a statement that Section 301 has been opposed by many countries for its unilateralism, and the U.S. should strictly adhere to commitments and should not become the destroyer of multilateral rules. The statement said that China will not sit idle but take necessary measures to safeguard China's legitimate rights if the U.S. takes actions that impair trade relations, disregards the facts and disrespects multilateral trade rules. Bai Ming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told China News that the U.S. probe reflected the unilateralism of the America First policy, which is short-sighted and would harm bilateral economic and trade relations, as well as the rights of enterprises of both countries. Bai said the probe would have a negative impact on Chinese companies, but many American businesses would suffer from Chinese retaliation. In addition, any protectionist measures the U.S. takes would take time to implement, giving China plenty of time to offset the actions. The research fellow suggests China strengthen talks with the U.S. and, if necessary, try to gain support from the WTO to protect its legitimate rights, adding that relevant enterprises should respond to suits if involved in cases. Meanwhile, experts stress that the U.S. should not overlook the fact that China has improved IP laws, achievements which have been recognized both domestically and internationally. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying also noted that China has been striving to build an innovation-driven society to promote industrial upgrading in recent years. The spokesperson urged the U.S. to respect China's achievements of indigenous innovation, saying that the number of patent applications in China has accounted for 38 percent of the world's total, topping the world list and 1.9 times the number of the U.S., and China's investment in research and development has occupied 17.6 percent of the global investment by 2016, close to that of America. This domain has expired. If you owned this domain, contact your domain registration service provider for further assistance. If you need help identifying your provider, visit https://www.tucowsdomains.com/ A toddler was rescued from a 20-foot-deep borewell in Andhra Pradeshs Guntur district by a team of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel, policemen and administrative officials in the wee hours of Wednesday, nearly 12 hours after the operation was launched on Tuesday afternoon. The rescue team lifted two-year-old Chandrasekhar out of the borewell around 2.45 am, even as hundreds of people including local minister Pattipati Pulla Rao, Guntur collector Kona Sasidhar and rural superintendent of police Venkatappa Naidu looked on with relief. The authorities handed the boy over to his parents, small-time farmers Mallika and Anusha, after administering first aid at a government ambulance stationed at the spot. Doctors pronounced the boy, who was said to be smiling upon being drawn out of the well, as healthy. Chandrasekhar tumbled into the borewell at Ummidivaram village around 3 pm on Tuesday, while Anusha was away fetching fodder for their cattle from a nearby field. Police and district officials launched rescue operations immediately after they were informed. NDRF personnel, who reached the spot soon afterwards, began pumping oxygen into the borewell while digging a parallel crater to reach the boy. Rescue workers reportedly inserted iron plates under the earth to prevent Chandrasekhar from falling deeper into the borewell as the parallel crater was being dug. Though rain hampered rescue operations late at night, the team persisted with its efforts until the boy was retrieved. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON With hardly one day left for BJP national president Amit Shahs visit to Bhopal the state BJP leadership heaved a sigh of relief over the partys performance in the civic bodies elections results of which were declared on Wednesday. Amit Shah will land at Bhopal on Thursday evening by a regular flight to begin attending party meetings and programmes from the 18th morning for three days. He would leave on August 20 evening. The party leaders would have faced an awkward situation before the partys national president who is coming to Bhopal the very next day of the elections results had the party done badly in the elections, said a BJP worker talking to the Hindustan Times. Preparations have been done at a war footing level at the state BJP office to facilitate about a dozen meetings Shah is supposed to attend during his stay at the state BJP office. Tin structures have come up to accommodate the party leaders and workers while media house has been completely renovated. The entire premises has been spruced up. Its the first time when any national president of BJP will be staying for three days at the state capital, that too at the state BJP office. Shah will have meetings with party MPs, MLAs, office-bearers, frontal organisations heads, spokespersons, leaders with media cell etc besides chief minister Shviraj Singh Chouhan and his ministerial colleagues. He would review the partys functioning as well as its preparations for 2018 assembly elections and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. It is mainly examination time of four leaders- chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, state BJP president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan, general secretary in charge Suhas Bhagat and partys state affairs in charge Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, in view of the challenges the party is facing which include anti-incumbency factor against the government, growing factionalism in the party, resentment among party workers, MPs and MLAs against ministers, party leaderships too much dependence on the chief minister for winning the elections, workers feeling neglected etc, said a senior party leader on the condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to media. However, the state BJP president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan said the partys national presidents visit to Madhya Pradesh was a part of his nation-wide tour programme during which he stays for one day in small state, two days in a comparatively larger state and three days in big states. The state BJP would definitely benefit from his visit as he would guide the party how to go ahead to achieve its goal of serving people up to the grassroots level. However, the Congress leaders have decided to raise the issue of corruption before Amit Shah. They have also taken exception to Amit Shahs lunch at parliamentary affairs minister Narottam Mishras bungalow, who was disqualified by the ECI for three years as an MLA on paid news charges. Mishra, has, however, got a reprieve from the Supreme Court. Talking to journalists state Congress president Arun Yadav said, Leader Opposition in state assembly Ajay Singh and myself have written a letter to Shah to meet him in Bhopal. We wish to bring to his notice scams and irregularities in Madhya Pradesh including Vyapam and Simhastha. Our motive behind the meeting is to know if the top BJP leaders who talk of zero tolerance on corruption will take any action against their leaders in MP. For those bitten by the travel bug, this is a book of delights. Epic Drives of the World features 50 of the greatest road trips on earth, from the windswept Wild Atlantic Way in Ireland, to the Ho Chi Minh Road in Vietnam. The otherworldly landscape of Icelands Ring Road, Australias Great Ocean Road and Americas Historic Route 66 also get nods. In recent years, Historic Route 66 has experienced renewed popularity, with foreigners and American alike lured by the lore of the legendary 4,000-km highway that takes travellers on a journey through Americana, from California to Illinois. The highway was officially decommissioned in the 1980s with the construction of interstate freeways, shuttering the doors to greasy-spoon diners, cafes and motels along its path. But thanks to appearances and nostalgic homages in pop culture and the rise of staycations, the Mother Road, as its also known, has experienced a revival, particularly among foreigners from China, Brazil and Europe, drawn to the idea of eating apple pie in a roadside diner, and visiting roadside American attractions. Meanwhile, along with itineraries, the guide book also features first-hand accounts from travel writers who have embarked on these open road journeys themselves, and 200 additional road-tripping ideas including desert drives, wine trails, coastal roads, and cultural cruises. Follow @htlifeandstyle for more There isnt a venerable tradition of literature on Muslims in post-colonial India. Work such as the Handbook of Muslims in India by Rakesh Basant and Abusaleh Shariff, Muslims in India since 1947 by Yoginder Sikand and other publications inquiring into the multiple identities of Indias largest minority, the reasons for its exclusion and the resulting narrative the most recent being Saeed Naqvis Being The Other are few and far between. Almost all attribute a lack of education due to systemic deprivation by the government and lack of reforms from within along with communal politics, weak leadership and the legacy of Partition as reasons for the fretful state of Indias Muslims. The first thing that appealed to the reviewer about Azadis Daughter is that the author opted for a first-person voice. Seema Mustafa weaves her personal journey as a teenager and then a budding journalist and a failed politician with the events that would challenge Indias secular ethos in the decades to come. Mustafa offers a part intimate, part political view of episodes that contributed to shape India in which minorities and backward communities find themselves pushed to the margin. Seema Mustafa belongs to the nationalist Kidwai family of Lucknow one that raised its daughters as persons, not women. Her mother, Azadi, was a sub-editor with the National Herald newspaper; grandfather, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, was minister in the first cabinet; husband, Syed Mustafa, was an army officer who served abroad and held a high opinion of the British Army. The cover of the book. This is not the book if you are looking for data to substantiate the claims of systemic exclusion of Muslims or low social indicators among them. This is a work that puts into perspective the incidents of communal violence that are becoming increasingly common, specifically in Uttar Pradesh. It attempts to reason the present by looking into the past. Nowhere does the author come across as treading the line of any political group, least of which the Congress party, that her family shares a history with. Mustafa notes that the party continued its policy of patronage, hiring mullahs in every district and taking them on campaigns during the 1991 general election to appease Muslims; remained ambiguous on the Shah Bano judgment by making two of its leaders, Arif Mohammad Khan and Z.R. Ansari give contradictory views; opened the locks of the Babri Masjid and tacitly supported the shilanyas (foundation stones for the Ram Mandir). The chapter Politics: A Trial by Fire begins with the authors tryst with politics. A major portion is devoted to what she learnt about the voting pattern of Muslims. It does not offer much if one is well-versed with the theme. Mustafa gives a gripping, inside account of how womens rights groups who were pushing for reforms from within and were jubilant at the Shah Bano case had to step back in the wake of the Babri Masjid demolition. This was because the pulling down of the mosque meant that the fight had become bigger and uglier. The demolition of the mosque was the first time that Muslims in independent India began questioning their leadership, including the authority of Shahi Imaam of the Jama Masjid, remarks the author. Those who wished to be propelled into politics riding on the Babri Masjid action committees vanished overnight. To demonstrate how Indian Muslims had to pay for the 9/11 terror attack, Mustafa reproduces chunks from a fact-finding report she did in Hyderabad where young men were arrested for the Mecca Masjid blast. Change the name and locations, and one would find similar stories across the country. To me, the most important contribution of Mustafas book is her inquiry into why the chances of an Indian Muslim being responsible for a Mecca Masjid blast and other terror activities are dim. Simply put, why arent Indian Muslims terrorists? Indian democracy, in spite of not being in the pink of health, has enough checks and balances that offer Indian Muslims a sense of belonging. Secondly, unlike Pakistan, India did not allow imperialist powers to take charge. The third reason is that the concerns of Muslims in India are same as that of rest of the people of this country. The author maintains a deft tone throughout this slim memoir, which makes it an easy read. Azadis Daughter, A Memoir: Being a Secular Muslim in India By Seema Mustafa Publisher: Speaking Tiger Pages: 208 Price: Rs 299 SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON When Prime Minister Narendra Modi banned high-denomination currency bills in a surprise move late last year, authorities noticed a surge in shell companies depositing cash in banks, seemingly in a bid to hide who owned that wealth. The moment, said a top aide to Modi, was an eye-opener for the government, which had not realized just how much shell companies were being used to hide assets and launder money. Modis office has formed a team of top law enforcement and revenue officials to go after such companies, according to the aide and a government memo reviewed by Reuters. Last month, the authorities ordered nearly 200,000 shell companies to be shut down, and the aide said the government is examining hundreds of thousands more. The systematic crackdown on shell companies - which have no active business operations or assets - is perhaps one of the most tangible outcomes of demonetization, which aimed to hit tax evasion and move India toward cashless, digital transactions that leave a paper trail. We are very much at war against black money. The impact of this (crackdown) will be huge on shell companies, the aide, who cannot be named in line with government rules, told Reuters. In his Independence Day address on Tuesday, Modi claimed credit for going after these companies, and warned that looters of the nations wealth will have to answer. Modi took office in 2014, vowing to fight corruption and bring back billions of dollars stashed away overseas as well as in real estate, stock markets and front companies through a web of fictitious names. While the move to withdraw 85% of bank notes shook the economy and was widely criticised, the fight against unaccounted wealth carries overwhelming support from ordinary Indians who often have to pay bribes for government services. Lalbazar Street, Kolkata A high-level task force leading the investigation has found hundreds of shell companies are registered in a few buildings in Kolkata, according to the government note reviewed by Reuters. More than 400 companies listed their address in a dimly-lit colonial-era building at 9/12 Lalbazar Street. In its warren of offices were firms offering services such as earthmoving equipment, infrastructure financing, information technology consultants and many others which had office space the size of cubicles. Many were locked, with their padlocks coated in dust. Others were grimy residential quarters with laundry hanging from the windows. Data separately provided by Tofler, a company information database service, identified nearly 3,000 companies in two offices in the building. Some were named after flowers. A tax inspector said the Kolkata firms were a virtual money laundering industry and drew a parallel to the Panama legal firm Mossack Fonseca that emerged from obscurity last year after the leak of millions of documents from its offices that illustrated how the wealthy use offshore corporations to avoid taxes. The Kolkata industry does the work of obfuscating money trails. Kolkata companies are a huge network that take your money from one end and bring it out the other, said the inspector, who didnt want to be identified as hes not authorised to talk to the media. Fraud and embezzlement The shell companies support much of the fraud and embezzlement in India, tax authorities say. The owners of these companies create elaborate smokescreens, including naming personal servants and chauffeurs as board directors, the tax inspector said, adding they are used to obscure the ultimate beneficiaries, conceal political investment, route money to evade tax, commit fraud or manipulate tenders. Last week, the Securities Exchange Board of India imposed trading restrictions on 162 listed entities as shell companies as part of its broader crackdown on illegal offshore transfers and tax evasion. Several firms identified in the list of front companies have challenged the decision, saying they were engaged in legitimate business. The Serious Fraud Investigation Office is creating a database of shell companies, and has so far identified 114,269 as front firms. The database contains details of those involved in the shell company eco-system, from those who set up the companies to the beneficiaries of laundered money and the professional mediators who bring the operators and beneficiaries together, the government note said. More than 370 front companies were listed at 23A Netaji Subhash Road, another site in Kolkata, according to the note. Sujit Kumar Mukherjee, the secretary of the 23A Tenants Association, said he was not in a position to say if there were front firms operating from the building. It is very difficult to say who is doing what behind the front door, he said. ($1 = 64.2350 Indian rupees) DEHRADUN: Despite repeated claims by officials that mobile connectivity will be enhanced along the India-Nepal border, the people in frontier areas are largely dependent on cellphone service operators from the neighbouring country to remain in touch with the outside world. Nevertheless, state-run telecom firm BSNL is yet to establish towers in the border areas of Pithoragarh district and claims it will be done by the year end. Not surprisingly, the recent landslides after cloudbursts exposed the poor mobile connectivity in this part of the state. Rescue operations became a Herculean task in the absence of proper mobile connectivity. Malpa and Malti Nalaah, which has seen loss of seven human lives, are usually beset with poor communication network. The entire communication network collapsed after the landslides on Monday. In such a situation, the people in Dharchula have no option but to use Nepalese SIM cards despite higher call rates. Nepalese telecom operators such as Namaste and Sky charge Rs12 per minute, which is nearly 30 times higher than the call rates offered by domestic players. We have little choice. Mobile connectivity of domestic operators is only for namesake. It would have been difficult for us, if there were no SIM cards available from across the border, Dinesh Dhami, a local, says. Meanwhile, the weather gods are yet to hear the prayers of the people in Pithorgarh. On Monday, chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat had to cancel his tour to the landslide-affected areas due to inclement weather. Rawat said his government requested the Union home ministry to help in restoring communication facilities in the border district. We are also requesting the Nepalese mobile companies to increase the frequency of towers so we can get help for accelerating relief works at times of emergencies,he said. Sources in the telecom ministry sources told HT owing to security reasons, it was a practice to not build mobile tower in 10 km area of the border. But this norm is largely relaxed barring some parts of Jammu and Kashmir. BSNL officials accept border areas face troubles due to the poor mobile connectivity. They claim double shielded twisted pairs (DSTPs), which are vital for communication, will be set up in Jholahghat area for better mobile communication. Seven-eight base transceiver station (BTS) that facilitates wireless communication - will be set up in Dharchula area. For this, we have received equipment. Work for site selection is on final stage, BSNL principal general manager telecom, Almora, AK Gupta told Hindustan Times over phone. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The house stood at the dead-end of a narrow, serpentine alley in Khair village. We knocked on the wooden gate. It was the third day of our search for Delhis Midnights Children born on the August 15, 1947. It had brought us to a nondescript village on the south-western periphery, around 30 kilometres from the city centre. A young woman peeped through the gap between the doors. I am looking for Shish Ramji? Is he your relative? we asked. Why are you enquiring about him? she replied, with a question. We are looking for a girl child who was born on August 15, 1947 in Khair village. Her fathers name was Shish Ram as per government records. Shish Ram was my husbands grandfather but he died long ago, she said. My father-in-law would be able to tell you something. He lives outside the village next to the pond near the bus stand. His name is Azad Singh. He retired from DDA. Ask anyone there, they will tell you the exact location. But the meeting with Azad Singh did not yield much. Yes, Laxmi (name changed) was my elder sister who was born on August 15 in 1947 but she died a few years later. Then I was born in 1950, he told us. Before meeting Singh, we had visited 25 addresses, taken down on a notebook from the municipal records, but there had been no breakthrough. The only exception was Gurgaon-based archaeologist and author Himanshu Prabha Ray. We located Ray through the internet. She was born in an Army Hospital in Delhi Cantonment on the day India attained freedom. Birth registration in Delhi Before a proper mechanism to register birth and death could be evolved, it was the duty of the chowkidar (watchman) to inform the police station concerned or the tehsil about these developments in their respective areas or a midwife used to record them. Hospitals and maternity centres would register births and deaths handled by them. This system continued for decades even after the independence. With no organized public transport, it was not possible for chowkidars to go to police station or tehsil office to record birth. Owning a bicycle was a big deal. Therefore, the chowkidars reported birth/death once in a week or 10 days by which time some of the dates slipped his memory. So, it was completely dependent on the chowkidars memory, said MS Shehrawat, 69, Advisor (Public Relations) of New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC). The oldest birth listed in councils record is from 1917. Tracking down 70-year-old addresses According to government data, 132 births (including 62 girls) were registered in Delhi on August 15, 1947. The population of Delhi was around seven lakh at that time. Apart from the New Delhi Municipal Council, set up in 1927, to manage civic affairs of the new capital New Delhi, there were seven municipal sub-committees looking after smaller regions such as Delhi Fort area, Civil Lines, Shahdara, Mehrauli, Narela, West Delhi, and Najafgarh. An undated photograph of Walled City (PIB) As per the documents, at least 46 children were born in the Walled City on Independence Day. We thought tracking down these 46 would be easier because in Old Delhi had stronger community ties unlike the urban population in gated colonies in other parts of the city. However, the records mentioned only the fathers name and the place of birth hospital or locality. A city transformed Even for someone born and brought up in the Old City, the addresses are hard to track. In the past seven decades, not just the demographics, the topography has changed as well. For instance, Pahari Bhojla near Turkman Gate used to have 13XX series for house numbers around 1947 as per the municipal records, but these now begin with 21XX. Similarly, serial numbers in most localities in Shahjahanabad such as Kucha Sohan Lal (Sita Ram Bazaar), Suiwalan, Gali Gadhiya (Kalan Mahal), Shahganj (Ajmeri Gate-GB Road), Kucha Dakhni Rai (Darya Ganj), and Kucha Pandit (Lal Quan) have also been revised. Before the formation of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) in 1958, there were 10 different notified committees functioning for different areas in the city. They have their own arrangement for allocating house numbers. When the MCD came into being, house numbers were changed. This was primarily for property tax, which required standardization of house numbers, said MC Sharma, former Delhi Mayor. Haji Mian Faiyazuddin, 79, who runs a guest house in Jama Masjid area, said his residence number in Kucha Meer Ashiq was also changed twice in 1950s. Another major hurdle was that several families have shifted outside the Walled City. Even their neighbours did not know their whereabouts. Their properties have changed hands twice or thrice like the Saxenas of Kucha Sohan Lal in Bazaar Sita Ram, famous for beautifully carved facades of palatial mansions and family of kulfi makers. The Saxena family, which used to reside in a part of the haveli, had a baby boy on August 15. The family sold the house to its previous owner long ago, I dont remember when. They had two-three children whose name I have also forgotten. No one from the family has visited this place for years, said RN Saxena, 87, a resident of Kucha Sohan Lal. In the last 70 years, new constructions --transformation of single storey structures and mansions into mutli-storeyed apartments has taken its toll on landscape and livability index of Shahajananad. Extinction of Jalal Manzil (in Gali Wakil Abdul Aziz, Kucha Pandit) is one such example. The municipal record has an entry of a birth on Independence Day at this address. There were hardly 10 houses in this street. At present, there are more than 100. I have not heard of Jalal Manzil ever though I am born and brought up here, said Mohd Farid, 45, who runs a salon in Kucha Pandit. In spite of this, we tracked down Saifuddin Azad at Basti Harphool Singh in Sadar Bazar. His son, Moinuddin, said that he had died around 18 years ago. When our efforts in the Walled City failing to bear fruits, we tried out luck in the villages of Delhi in south-west and north-west districts. Makeover of villages Soon, we realized our folly. Mubasi Ram, 90, a resident of Mukundpur, said the villages had started changing rapidly by the end of 1990s. Flashy multi-storeyed houses have come up on agricultural land in Bhalaswa, Pitampura, Mukundpur, Rithala, and adjoining areas. Several old timers, who could not afford a house in the city like Ram, moved out and built their houses on the outskirts. The villages have now become home to migrants from eastern Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The landlords built plush bungalows but people like me built houses outside the village limit, Ram said. Mubasi Ram (HT Photo) Our next stop was Najafgarh sub-division in south-west district. The cluster of villages in Najafgarh Khair, Mitraon, Dhansa, Jaffarpur Kalan, Ghalibpur, Dhichaon Kalan, and others retain families who have been living here for generations. As per the government record, one Bihari Lal family had a boy on Independence Day in Mitraon, 70 years ago. A village elder directed us to retired squadron leader Shree Bhagwan, whose fathers name was Bihari Lal. According to the villagers, there were two men in Mitraon, who would go by the same name around 1947 and Bhagwans father had a child around that time. His father, we were told, had fought in Second World War for the British. Shree Bhagwan with his wife Santra Devi in 1969. (HT PHOTO) Bhagwan was bit surprised and curious when told about our quest. I dont know about my date of birth in government record. I was admitted in the village school by my uncle in 1954, where the birth date was registered as June 6, 1947. At that time, no one would bother to check the municipal records, said Bhagwan, who is the eldest among five siblings. Lilu Ram (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO) Later, we met Lilu Ram, a tailor in Bijwasan village, whose date of birth is also August 15, 1947 in the municipal record. He, too, expressed ignorance. My birth date in school had been registered as January 26, 1947. The record, however, correctly identifies my father as Kishori, Ram said. Record mismatch A senior municipal corporation officer, who is privy to the birth and death registration, said this mismatch might be attributed to two factors -- system for birth registration prevailing during that period and the unwillingness of parents to register the birth of their children. When the registration of births or deaths was made mandatory in 1969, the process was streamlined as per provisions of registration of Births and Deaths Act. Earlier, parents and relatives would not take it seriously and birth date was casually mentioned while admitting children in schools. But the fact is that births and deaths are being registered by all municipalities in Delhi since 1850s. We have records dating back to 1869, he said. Do you want to see them? Maybe some other time. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON (Photo/cnr.cn) Zhang Ruiqing, a county coal mining administration head in north Chinas Shanxi province has been dismissed for being negligent in his handling of a landslide that left at least four people dead and five others missing on August 11, provincial authorities said. Other people involved in the incident will also be punished. After the accident, Zhang led government officials to the site twice to investigate the online report, but the company told them no one was buried in the landslide. The local publicity department then announced that there were no casualties. Police also detained a person accused of "fabricating information online". The man who was earlier detained for "fabricating information online" on the accident was released after the truth was unmasked. The head of the coal mine turned himself in to police on August 15. The Delhi government has proposed to take over 449 private unaided recognised schools which have failed to refund excess fee charged by them despite government order. The government is planning to take over the management of the schools and will be issuing them show-cause notices as they have faltered in refunding excess fees charged from parents on the pretext of implementing the Sixth Pay Commission in 2008. The plan has been sent to the lieutenant governor for approval. The decision was revealed in an affidavit filed by the Delhi government before the Delhi high court, which is hearing a bunch of petitions on the fee hike issue. These schools have been sent notices in the past, yet they are not complying. We have two options as per rules. Either take over the school or derecognise them. The second option will leave hundreds of students without a school so the government has decided to take them over, said Atishi Marlena, adviser to education minister Manish Sisodia. Marlena said the 449 schools, which include some of top private schools, have to refund over Rs 300 crore to the parents. After some parents through Delhi Abhibhavak Mahasangh, an NGO, approached the High Court in the matter, the court constituted Justice Anil Dave Singh committee in 2009 to determine the need for fee hike and for examining the records and accounts of unaided private recognised schools in respect of implementation of 6th Pay Commissions recommendations. The committee had in its 10 interim reports and monthly reports of June 2016 to October 2016 recommended refund of the excess fee charged from the parents, in addition with 9% interest per annum. The committee had also recommended special inspection of 249 schools on the grounds of non-production of relevant documents or incomplete documents. Punya Salila Srivastava, secretary (education ), filed an affidavit in the HC on Wednesday on behalf of the DOE. The department has already processed the proposal to issue show cause notices for taking over the management of schools under section 20 read with section 24 (4) ( c) of the Delhi School Education Act, 2009 and placed it before the Lieutenant Governor, being the competent authority, for approval. , the affidavit said. Marlena said the schools need to reply to the show cause notices within two months and comply with the orders. Otherwise after two weeks, Delhi government will take over these schools, she said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON As the Public Works Department (PWD) of Delhi government has failed to expedite the shifting of utility cables and power transformers in Chandni Chowk, the Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation (SRDC) may rope in technical experts to resolve this long-pending issue. The shifting of all electric wires to underground utility ducts is a critical component of the redevelopment plan of Chandni Chowk. The construction of the first trench along the northern carriageway was completed in December 2014. However, the work could not be started on the southern side due to various issues; relocation of transformer was one of the main reasons. There are 10 transformers which are yet to be shifted out, of which four are on the northern side and six are placed along the southern carriageway. Sources said the joint secretary of union power ministry also held a meeting with Delhi government, SRDC, and discom officials last month regarding the stalled power related development work in Chandni Chowk in which the ministry had given its approval to bear the cost of shifting of power cables. In the meeting it was decided that the Centre can extended financial assistance to Delhi government if a concrete proposal is received. Now, the ball is in Delhi governments court, said an official privy to the development. As per the integrated development plan for Shahjahanabad prepared by the SRDC, the cost of shifting of power cables is estimated at Rs 667 crore, which is under consideration. Observing that the PWD is unwilling to come forth with technical solutions, the Delhi High Court has now asked the corporation to engage private experts to prepare a detailed feasibility report on relocation of transformers underground if the department does not provide a way out. The court had directed the nodal officer of Shahjahanabad redevelopment project to convene a meeting on August 11 with power and PWDs principal secretaries and other officials to find out a solution. As the meeting remained inconclusive, the SRDC has decided to take services of private specialists as per the court directions, said a senior official of the Delhi government. The cost of the study will be borne by the PWD as the court has directed, the official added. Earlier, Chandni Chowk MP Dr Harsh Vradhan had also met Union Minister Piyush Goyal in June 2015 seeking allocation of funds for the project. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Unitech Ltd promoter Sanjay Chandra on Wednesday promised to repay flat buyers within three months, and urged the Supreme Court to release him on interim bail for that period. I will sell my own house and pay everybody. I want to settle with everyone, Chandras lawyer Abhimanyu Bhandari submitted before a bench headed by justice Dipak Misra, adding that he needs to be released from judicial custody to raise funds. Chandra and his brother, Ajay, were sent to jail last week in connection with a cheating case registered against them by investors in a Gurgaon project. Though a trial court had given them interim bail for three months in April, it was not extended on August 11. Later, the Delhi high court also refused to grant them relief. Chandra then moved the apex court against the high court order. Bhandari submitted that several demands have been raised against the company, and his client needs to be in office to fulfill them. If I am left in judicial custody, the entire company will collapse. I need to be out of the jail to arrange for the money, which I will do by selling my assets, the counsel said. He asked the court to let Chandra out on bail for three months, after which the court could impose conditions on him. I am not asking for regular bail. Please see my conduct, and then decide after three months whether I should remain outside or not, the lawyer argued on Chandras behalf. Bhandari said 62 of the 152 investors who filed a complaint with the Delhi Polices economic offence wing have already received settlements. The principle amount yet to be paid in the case comes up to Rs 35 crore. If I fail to meet the demands, punish me. But give me three months to complete the demand, Chandra said in his plea. The bench had earlier taken the petitioner to task, stating that the demeanour of construction companies tends to change when consumers approach them for refunds. This complexion changes when an investor comes to your office. This is the reality, and we are speaking out of experience, commented justice AK Roy, one of the bench members. The court then asked the Delhi Police to submit a report on how many complainants approached them for registering the case, and what is the total principle amount owed by the company. The status report would also contain information on the number of flat buyers who have been accorded monetary compensation, and how many opted for flats instead. The police will also provide details on the number of buyers who havent been paid, and the money Unitech is required to cough up. The court fixed the next hearing on August 25. The case was registered on July 31, 2015, in compliance with a July 27 order passed by a Delhi court on the complaint of Delhi residents Arun and Urmila Bedi. They alleged that the firm had convinced them to book a flat at a residential project called Wild Flowers Country in Gurgaon for a sum of Rs 57.34 lakh in August 2011. Later, more complaints concerning the same project were registered against the firm. They were clubbed with the previous FIR. Police claimed that the firm collected around Rs 363 crore, over Rs 35 crore of which was received from 91 complainants who are part of the present complaint. New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modis Independence Day address on Tuesday from the Red Fort had important messages for the education sector. Reiterating his governments plans to invest Rs 1,000 crore to transform 20 universities into world class educational institutions, Modi said the government had taken an important step to grant the universities freedom from restrictions to make them world class universities. We have asked 20 universities to decide their own destiny. The government will not interfere in their functioning. Besides, the government is willing to provide funds up to Rs 1,000 crore, Modi said. We have appealed to them and I am confident that the education institutions of our country will certainly come forward and make it a success. He added that the government had set up six IITs, seven new IIMs and eight new IIITs over the last three years. We have also done the groundwork for linking education with job opportunities, he said. You grow up really fast when you leave home to go to college in another city especially if that other city is Mumbai. We spoke to students from other parts of the country whove made Mumbai their home. Their biggest issues, it turned out, were roti, kapda, makaan. Accommodation topped the list of problems, with most students not realising just how expensive Mumbai real-estate would be. Money in general was a problem, with some youngsters giving up campus time and college festivals so they could take on paid internships and some found picking up the local culture a challenge. Some students felt out of place based mainly on how different their wardrobe looked; others were confounded by the sheer mayhem own the streets and were left asking themselves, why does a city need so many restaurants? (To be honest, thats something we ask ourselves all the time too). Heres a look at how they tackled the differences and settled in. After a rough start, I am learning and earning I soon realised that people here were more modern than I had realised. I came to Mumbai from Bhopal because I wanted to spend these years among modern youngsters. I soon realised that people here were more modern than I had realised. On the first day of college, I felt everything I was wearing was wrong. Gradually this feeling faded and I realised there was nothing wrong with my kurtis. That I didnt need to make changes to my attire. I just had to be more confident. At first, this caused a serious identity crisis in me. Did I really belong here? Did I make the right decision in leaving home and coming to Mumbai? But with time, I learnt how to deal with the city. In Mumbai, I learnt to speak up. I am now earning from internships, footing some of my expenses and feeling proud about it. I am getting the work experience and life experience I came here for, which I would not have got if I had stayed back in Bhopal. And I am repaying my parents for all the faith and effort they invested in helping me get here. I swapped fests for internships The biggest shock was the massive cost of housing in the city. Even a tiny room was so expensive. Coming from Patna, I was dazzled by this city. Its streets and colleges and lifestyle really were as seen in the Bollywood movies. After spending over a year here, I feel that the educational standards are not that much higher than back home, but you get practical experience, work experience and life experience here. For me, the biggest shock was the massive cost of housing in the city. Even a tiny room was so expensive that I questioned my decision to come to Mumbai. I had to skip some of the best colleges because they were in South Mumbai and I could not afford even a hostel room there. I had to revise my list and retain only those colleges that had their own hostels. I also had to give up my dream of becoming popular in college by participating in various college activities and inter-college festivals. I devoted time to internships instead, because that brought in money to add to my allowance, and provided industry exposure to me which was the main reason I had chosen Mumbai over other cities at the first place. I absolutely love the city now Prarthna Nanda, 20, Kanpur Relying on the safety that Mumbai offered to girls, I came here from Kanpur in 2015. I did not realise that everything would be a struggle from travelling over long distances to secure admission, to dealing with brokers and trying to find accommodation. I had wanted to stay in a hostel, but my college didnt have one. While there are some hostels run by trusts, there is no such Trust for a Punjabi from UP. I finally got Paying Guest (PG) accommodation and thought I had signed a lease for four months, but when I needed to head home at the end of the semester, the landlord said I had to pay one months notice for leaving early my lease had been filed for 12 months instead. I felt so cheated. Then one day, a guy followed me at a train station, and I started to wonder if Mumbai really was all that safe. But then, the people, places and police here have helped me settle in. Ive learnt to adjust to the city and let Mumbais vibe sink in. I absolutely love the city now . Food, language take some getting used to I never imagined that small distance would take an hour and Rs 75 one way! This is a big hit on my limited pocket money. I chose ICFAI Business School (IBS) Mumbai over IBS Hyderabad because of the better job prospects in the financial capital. I arrived from Jaipur in June. Unable to find a house on rent, I stayed at a friends place about 10 km from my college. I never imagined that small distance would take an hour and Rs 75 one way! This is a big hit on my limited pocket money and Im still house-hunting because landlords dont like to rent to bachelors. Commuting on public transport, too, can be confusing. I once reached a wrong stop on a BEST bus and had to walk four kilometres to reach my destination taking two other buses. Food has been another big change. I have managed to adjust to Mumbais relatively sweet food against the super-spicy food I am used to back home. There is some groupism at college because some prefer to speak in Marathi and I dont know that language. All in all, I have stepped out of my comfort zone, but Im learning. Not sure if Ive adjusted successfully I got used to the long distances, local train and crowd, but I had to try really hard and I am still not sure if Ive succeeded to adjust here. After the confusing admission process, the infamous property brokers made the house hunting process a complete nightmare. They do not provide you with the correct specifications of the houses and manipulate you to take the unsuitable deal. But what surprised me more was the culture and the lifestyle here. It is completely different from other parts of India. Yes, I got used to the long distances, local train and crowd, but I had to try really hard and I am still not sure if Ive succeeded to adjust here. People are not as friendly as the people at smaller places, may be because everyone is more focused and minds their own business. But I have learnt to deal with it. This is the first time I have lived without my parents and there are times when I feel homesick, but I have my friends and cousins in the city to help me out. One thing I have learnt from my experiences here is that, you just need to be mentally prepared to make the most out of this city. Princess Diana revolutionised the royal dress code with the help of some of the worlds greatest designers during a glamorous life that came to a tragic end 20 years ago this month. Diana has become a fashion icon in the same way as Jackie Kennedy or Audrey Hepburn timeless, elegant, and still so relevant, said Eleri Lynn, curator of Diana: Her Fashion Story, an exhibition at her Kensington Palace home in London. Nicknamed Shy Di ahead of her marriage to Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, in 1981, Diana came out of her shell and realised how her clothes could be used as a powerful communication tool. The princess learned to make her wardrobe say what she could not, and worked closely with designers like Catherine Walker to curate her personality through clothes, Sophie Goodwin, fashion director of Tatler magazine, told The New York Times in February. Diana mastered the art of wearing the right dress for the right occasion. She wore bright clothes when visiting hospices, in order to appear warm and accessible. On foreign visits, she would chose clothes inspired by the national colours, such as the white dress with red spots she wore on the trip to Japan in 1986. She chose not to wear gloves because she liked to make contact with the people she was meeting, said Lynn. Pictures of the princess shaking hands with AIDS patients in 1987 helped to break down myths surrounding the disease, including the unfounded fear of being able to catch it through touching sufferers. The most photographed woman of the age, Diana understood the rules of royal dressing but was not afraid of twisting them. She breached royal protocol by wearing a black ballgown, a colour worn formally by royal women only during mourning. Her outfits included androgynous gear, such as a tuxedo and a bow tie. Thats quite the bold, fun look that you dont necessarily expect of a princess, said Lynn. She said Diana was the first woman in the royal family to wear trousers to an evening event. She also helped to modernise the royal wardrobe, with outfits that made a lasting impression. The midnight blue Victor Edelstein velvet evening gown she wore for a dinner at the White House in 1985 is one of her most famous.It was in this dress that the princess danced with US actor John Travolta, to the hit You Should Be Dancing from the film Saturday Night Fever in which he starred. Nicknamed the Travolta dress, it even has its own Wikipedia page and sold for 240,000 at an auction in 2013. After her divorce from Charles in 1996, Diana switched up her style once again, abandoning the British designers she had relied upon in favour of international fashion houses such as Dior, Lacroix or Chanel. Diana ditched the frills, taffeta and giant ball gowns and adopted more daring outfits, like the figure-hugging sky blue Jacques Azagury dress that went as far above the knee as the designer felt he could go at the time with a princess. For so many years, the princess of Wales was the worlds one and only fashion obsession, and the forerunner of modern glamour as we know it. She had to make it all up for herself, wrote Sarah Mower in the Daily Mail newspaper. Dianas look was widely copied and still inspires catwalks and designers to this day. The online clothing site ASOS launched a Diana-inspired collection in October 2016, playing on her off-duty look. Her style even has a presence in the social media age. An Instagram account called Princess Diana Forever, which has 160,000 followers, posts a daily picture of her in various outfits, bringing her to a new generation. Follow @htlifeandstyle for more Her name is synonymous with ikat textile processed with resist dyeing and now, Delhi-based design veteran and textile conservationist, Madhu Jain is doing her bit for the growing need for sustainability in fashion. Jain, who has been in the fashion industry for three decades, has come up with bamboo-silk ikat an innovating weaving of bamboo with yarns of khadi, cotton, chanderi and wool which will be launched in Delhi later this week, after 15 years in the making. This new textile does not eat into the earths meagre resources. With bamboo being plentiful in India, it will provide livelihood options for bamboo growers. Also, its biodegradable; so the fabric will leave negligible ecological footprint. Its a fabric of the future, she says. Aashali Shukla in Madhu Jains creation. (Rohit Chawla) Though Jain has always been eco-positive, it is only now that the concept of environment-friendly fashion has become a hot topic. And what does she think about the future of sustainable fashion in India? My response would be a resounding yes! It would be irresponsible for people not to take human and environmental impact into consideration in any production process, including the world of textiles and fashion. We need to bring down the carbon footprint. Thankfully, the concept of eco-fashion is catching on and I increasingly find more and more designers following the trend that I started 30 years ago, she says. Designer Madhu Jain has been in the industry for three decades. (Avantika Meattle) The aim is not only to bring in innovation, but also to revive Indias crafts. In the mid-1990s, when I collaborated with BRAC Bangladeshone of the largest NGOs in the worldI had an epiphany. Working with rural artisans and weavers across Bangladesh, I worked to revive Nakshi Kantha embroidery and Dhaka muslin, both of which had almost vanished from the textiles map. That experience cemented my resolve to devote my work to ensuring artisanal livelihoods, she says. Credits: Picture: Rohit Chawla Makeup and hair: Ashima Kapoor Creative styling: Angnarboo Sherpa Jewellery: Amrapali Location: The Roseate Model: Aashali Shukla Follow @htlifeandstyle for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Navigating the lush, serene expanse of Sultanpur National Park is set to get a lot easier as it opens to visitors again on October 1. The park will get a fleet of battery-operated vehicles to help visitors and tourists get around. As part of an annual procedure aimed at enabling local fowls to breed, the park was closed to visitors on May 1. A proposal for procuring battery-operated vehicles for the benefit of visitors has been sent to the state government. It is currently awaiting clearance by the wildlife department. The initiative is also aimed at providing safety to migratory birds that come to nest in the park. Last year, a few tourists were spotted throwing stones at these exotic birds, following which a large portion of the park was rendered off-limits to visitors. They were not allowed access beyond the duck point. These battery-operated vehicles will take visitors to certain areas from where they can spot birds through binoculars. The visitors will be accompanied by a guide to give them a lowdown on the different species of birds that can be sighted at the park. The binoculars will be provided by the park authority, officials of the wildlife department said. Tourists can rent the battery-operated vehicles from the entry gate of the park. However, they will only be able to take visitors up to a certain point. For birdwatchers, there will be designated areas from where they can take pictures of the migratory birds without disturbing them, Vinod Kumar, conservator of wildlife, Gurgaon, said. The cost of renting the battery-operated vehicles is yet to be fixed by the department. Officials said although the plan is to procure seven such vehicles, the number could go up depending on the demand from visitors. Most visitors usually travel from the main gate till the duck point, a distance of around 2.5 km. The same will now be covered by the battery-operated vehicles. The parks water body will get 15 lakh fishes this week for the migratory birds to feed on, the park authority said. We are getting the park ready for the birds. The fisheries department will provide 15 lakh fishes for them, Shyam Sunder Kaushik, divisional forest officer, wildlife, Gurgaon, said. Read I Bird watching festival to be held at Sultanpur National Park in Gurgaon Every year, the park, which is 15 kilometers away from the city, draws exotic birds from across the globe. The park draws as many as 30,000 migratory birds every year. Among the exotic birds spotted in the park last year were Pallid Scops, Asian Brown Flycatcher, Cettis Warbler, Tickells Leaf Warbler, Ashy-headed Green Pigeon, Grey-headed Fish Eagle, Smoky Warbler, Grey-hooded Warbler, Jungle Nightjar, Spotted Crake and Lesser Florican. Of the 190 species of birds spotted at the park last year, 90 were migratory and 100 were domestic or local. At a glance The total area of Sultanpur National Park is 352 acres (approx) The total area of water body in the park is 180 acres (approx) The park is situated 15 km away from Gurgaon The best time to visit the park is between November and January SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Six children who were electrocuted after coming into contact with live high tension cables near Kendriya Vihar in Sector 56 on Tuesday are still in shock. The incident took place as the cables attached to an electricity pole snapped after a short circuit. The children, who suffered burns, are undergoing treatment at Delhis Safdarjung Hospital and Gurgaon civil hospital. Police said of the six children, five suffered minor injuries, whereas one is reported to be critical. He is undergoing treatment at Safdarjung Hospital. Police said the children came into contact with 220 KV high tension cables between two poles. Sparks were noticed by the children in the switch boxes between the electric poles while they were playing, said Ajay, one of the victims. The victims kin accused power officials and authorities of negligence. The victims were identified as Manjoo(12), Ajay alias Minte (13), Luv alias Kaku(15), Rahul (7), Bannu(10) and Ishwar. The incident took place on Tuesday around 2.40 pm when the students were playing near their hut with a coin. They were jolted by a loud bang and before they could realise what was happening, they passed out. It was only later that they realised that they had sustained burns. We were playing and suddenly we heard a blast. It felt like I was flung to a wall. I screamed in pain. Soon, everything went dark. When I opened my eyes, I felt extreme pain and was told I had suffered burn injuries, Luv, 15, said. The parents standing outside their huts heard the blast and saw their children getting electrocuted in no time. They shouted for help, as they saw two children stuck to the pole. We have been living in Gurgaon for the last 15 years but never saw something like this. This incident has left us shaken. Four of my children were injured and are undergoing treatment. They were screaming in pain and fell unconscious. They suffered burns, Babli, mother of four of the victims, said. Family members said the voltage was so high that it caused a short circuit. They said there were sparks followed by a loud bang.As soon as we heard it, we ran towards the children, but by then they had sustained burns from the fire, Karan Singh, father of the four of the victims, said. Their elder brother, Arjun Kumar (23), who works as a labourer, was at home on Tuesday. He immediately called an ambulance and a passerby informed fire station about the incident. It took 20 minutes for the ambulance to reach the spot and my brother and sisters had lost consciousness by then. Fire officials also reached the spot and took three children in their vehicle. Another four were rushed to the hospital in an ambulance, Kumar said. We admitted five children who suffered burns after coming in contact with a live wire. We gave them first aid and transferred them to Safdarjung Hospital, a spokesperson of Artemis Hospital, said. The family members are in deep shock and their statements are recorded by the tehsildar on Tuesday evening. IS Kashyap, senior fire officer, Sector 29, said, We received the information around 2.51pm and rushed to the spot. I put three of the children in our official vehicle and took them to a hospital. One girl suffered 90% burns, two suffered 70% burns and another four children sustained 20% burns. Read I Gurgaon: Couple dies of electrocution in Mewat, leaves behind toddler The Sector 56 police have not received any complaint from the parents as yet, but visited the spot and recorded the statement of the family members. We will register the case once we receive a complaint from any of the family members, said inspector Arvind Kumar, station house officer, Sector 56 police station. Anil Yadav, superintendent engineer , Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam(HVPN), said, We are conducting an investigation on what caused the short circuit and our teams have visited the spot. They will submit a report at the earliest. The injured children belonged to two families living in a nearby slum. They are originally from Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh and are working for a company laying CNG pipelines in the area. Gurgaon DC Vinay Pratap Singh said that they sought a report on the incident. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON After several years of darkness on South City-2 townships roads, the RWA members finally replaced the defunct bulbs on the stretches with 350 Light Emitting Diode (LED) lights. The area, known previously as the most unsafe in the city, is now a well-lit township. The project cost nearly 15 lakh and it took more than two months to install the LED bulbs. The initiative was taken by the residents welfare association (RWA) after several incidents of snatching, thefts and accidents were reported in the area. Hindustan Times, over the last couple of years, ran a series of reports on defunct streetlights in South City 2. Residents claimed the with the authorities paying scant regard to their plight despite several requests, they took the onus on themselves and pooled money to get the defunct streetlights replaced. When we took up the issue with the developer and its maintenance team, they said they do not have enough resources to ensure that the streets in South City 2 are well-lit, Neeraj Yadav, president, RWA, said. The township is spread across 250 acres and around 2,500 families reside in the area that had been sorely lacking in streetlights. Residents said several accidents took place on the internal roads, leaving elderly residents and children injured. We have installed 350 LED lights on roads connecting most blocks and markets. However, work on a few more are left and will be completed by end of this month, Avneesh Bansal, a resident, said. Most of the sodium vapour streetlights that were installed earlier had been lying defunct. The project brought residents together for a cause that concerned the community at large. We took the onus of lighting up our streets in the interest of ensuring the safety and security of both residents and visitors, Shailesh Giri, president, I block extension, South City 2, said. Read I Gurgaon: South City-2 RWA to install LED streetlights for safety and security of residents LED lights will not only reduce power consumption, but also provide better visibility for commuters. These are environment-friendly as well, residents said. The township has over 1,500 street lights, of which around 1,200 were out of order. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON After months of speculation, Daniel Craig on Wednesday confirmed that he would be returning to play James Bond one last time in a new film, due in theatres in November 2019. In an appearance on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Craig said, I have been quite cagey about it. I have been doing interviews all day and people have been asking me and I think Ive been rather coy. But kind of felt like if I was going to speak the truth I should speak truth to you. I think this is it. I just want to go out on a high note and I cant wait, he said. In 2015, he had famously said that if he ever played Bond again, it would only be for money. After wrapping up Spectre, he was asked if he would play James Bond again. Now? Id rather slash my wrists, he had replied. No, not at the moment. Not at all. Thats fine. Im over it at the moment. Were done. All I want to do is move on. Speaking about the outburst, Craid admitted that he should have shown more grace. Instead of saying something with style and grace, I said something really stupid, he said. Craig has appeared in four James Bond movies - Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace, Skyfall and Spectre. Twitter reacted fittingly to the news, months in the waiting: ForgodssakeNOOO. A few of my friends, fans of #Bondiana, refused to watch 007movies 'cause of #DanielCraig & grim atmosphere. I'm on z edge2 Aunt Cade (@Aunt_Cade) August 16, 2017 So excited #DanielCraig is returning for #Bond25 best news of the day so far. #JamesBond John Dice (@therealjohndice) August 16, 2017 #DanielCraig is back as James Bond I'm so happppyyyy Spaceship (@RealDarkOne_) August 16, 2017 Delighted that Daniel Craig is back as Bond, so that all the good actors floated for the role can continue to do just about anything else. Guy Lodge (@GuyLodge) August 16, 2017 Thank f*cking GAWD! Daniel Craig is coming back as BOND! Hurry the f*ck up!!! pic.twitter.com/tx8MqPhpnR Edan Clay (@EdanClay) August 16, 2017 What was it about the $150m role that convinced #DanielCraig to play it just one more time? #JamesBond Marie Flanagan (@Marie_Flanagan1) August 16, 2017 As predicted by me (& I'm sure others), #DanielCraig waited until the #LoganLucky press tour to confirm that he will return as #JamesBond. Scott Mendelson (@ScottMendelson) August 16, 2017 Has there ever been a better Bond? I don't think so! #DanielCraig confirms he will return as #JamesBond #007 pic.twitter.com/RMuyUEYTl4 PatsyAnne (@PatriciaHoey2) August 16, 2017 Vote for your favourite Bond here: On the occasion of #DanielCraig finally confirming his return as #JamesBond, tell us: Who's your fav? Sorry Dalton and Lazenby HT Entertainment (@htshowbiz) August 16, 2017 Follow @htshowbiz for more Socialite Paris Hilton, who looked up to elegant and amazing women like Princess Diana, says her sex tape with former boyfriend Rick Saloman ruined her image. Hilton filmed the sex tape with Saloman in 2001 and he released it in 2004. By doing so, Hilton feels Saloman robbed her of the type of life and image she had, reports dailymail.co.uk. Its really hurtful, because my whole life I really looked up to Princess Diana, all these elegant, amazing women, and I feel like (Salomon) just took that all away from me, Hilton told Marie Claire magazine. Socialite Paris Hilton and her partner actor Chris Zylka pose. (REUTERS) I could have been like that, but because of that tape, I will always be judged and thought of as whatever they say about me because of a private moment between my boyfriend and me. I wish I had never met him. That is actually the one regret in my life. I wish that I had never met that guy. I could not leave my house for months. I was so depressed, humiliated. I didnt want to be seen in public, she added. Follow @htshowbiz for more The Supreme Court constituted on Wednesday a supervisory panel of its two retired judges to scrutinise 241 cases related to the anti-Sikh riots. These cases were closed by the special investigation team (SIT) that the NDA government set up in 2015 to reinvestigate the riots that killed about 3,000 people after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984. Most of the people were murdered in New Delhi. A top court bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra said the panel will submit its report within three months and fixed November 28 for the next hearing. The names of the two judges were not disclosed. Justice Misra said they would be included in the formal order. Wednesdays order came on a petition filed by Gurnad Singh Kahlon. The bench also issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on another petition filed by the victims of anti-Sikh riots in Kanpur, who have asked for an SIT probe into the murder of more than 125 people. Their counsel was asked to hand a copy of the petition to Uttar Pradesh additional advocate general Aishwarya Bhati and the court fixed September 21 to hear the case. The SIT has closed 240 of the 293 cases it took up for reinvestigation. The cases were chosen after the team scrutinised 630 cases registered by police in connection with the riots. Final investigation reports were filed only for five cases. Senior counsel Arvind Datar and HS Phoolka, lawyers for the petitioner, said nine cases were being tried and demanded the trial to proceed every day. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A slip of tongue by Rahul Gandhi stopping short of describing Indira canteens as Amma canteens, named after late Jayalalithaa, caused a flutter during the launch of the Karnataka governments subsidised food outlets today. That is the vision of the Amma....the Indira Canteen, he said as he corrected himself during the launch of populist outlets. Also, what caught everyones attention was his repeatedly mentioning every single city in Bangalore. The chief minister has mentioned to me that Bangalore is just the beginning, that he is going to expand this programme to other cities. And soon, over the next couple of months, every single city in Bangalore, every single poor person in every single city in Bangalore will feel that in the state of Karnataka under Siddaramaih jis government I simply cannot go hungry, he said. The canteens will offer breakfast at Rs 5 and lunch and dinner at Rs 10 per plate. Apparently taking cue from the popular Amma canteens, the Siddaramaiah government had announced launch of Indira canteens in the 2017-2018 state budget. Initially referred as Namma Canteen, the name of the subsidised food canteens was subsequently changed to Indira Canteen. The Congress legislators have sought to give a political touch to the populist announcement ahead of Assembly polls early next year by naming it after former prime minister Indira Gandhi. Of a total of proposed 198 canteens, 101 were launched today and the rest would start functioning from October 2, the state government said. With this, each ward under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, the city corporation, will have an Indira Canteen. The Bharatiya Janata Party fared better than Congress in elections to the 43 civic bodies in Madhya Pradesh, results for which were declared on Wednesday. However, its overall tally declined while that of the Congress improved as compared to previous elections. In Mandsaur, where five farmers died in police firing in June, Congress won all three bypolls while the BJP drew a blank. Overall, the BJP won 25 seats for president while the Congress registered win on 15. The rest of the three seats went to independent candidates. The previous tally of the two parties was 26 and 8, respectively. The rest of the seats were won by independent and other parties including BSP. Even as the BJP leaders and workers celebrated the partys victory the state Congress president Arun Yadav said, I am satisfied with the results as we fought against the government, administration and dishonest people. Congratulating the party workers, chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said, The victory is a result of Prime Minister Narendra Modis and the state governments welfare schemes and hard work the party workers put in the election. BJP state president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan said the election results showed that the chief minister continued to wield his magic across the state. The Congress leaders were limited to their bastions. Though the BJPs tally decreased by one seat, the BJP leadership was relieved as the victory came in the backdrop of resentment among farmers over the killing of five farmers in police firing in Mandsaur and protest against the government in four districts of Dhar, Alirajpur, Jhabua and Khargone against rehabilitation policy of the government for families affected by Sardar Sarovar Project. The state Congress chief spokesperson KK Mishra said the Congress made huge gains in the election. Not only did our tally increase by almost 100%, we also won seats in chief ministers bastion Vidisha and state BJP president Nandkumar Singh Chauhans home turf Burhapnpur, he said, adding defeat of the BJP in Mandsaur suggested farmers were against the party. A nasty scuffle by Indian and Chinese troops in the Ladakh sector and ways to maintain peace and tranquility in the sensitive region were discussed at a marathon meeting between military officers of the two neighbours on Wednesday. More details werent immediately known as the army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police officers refused comments. The meeting began in the afternoon and continued till late into the evening. It was held a day after Chinese troops hurled stones at Indian border troopers, forcing them to retaliate. Blows were also exchanged, leading to injuries on both sides. The clash near the Pangong Lake, which divides Indian and Chinese territory, was triggered by an incursion bid by Chinese troops that was foiled, sources said. The incident happened at a time when the two neighbours are locked in a standoff thousands of miles away in the disputed Doklam plateau close to Sikkim. Government sources said a pre-scheduled border personnel meeting was held in Ladakhs Chushul area, adding that the Pangong incident was on the agenda. The two sides discussed strengthening of existing mechanisms for maintaining border peace and tranquility, the sources said. Defence minister Arun Jaitley too refused comments. This is not a subject on which the government normally makes a comment. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson in Beijing said she was not aware of any scuffle along the Ladakh border. Two groups of Chinese soldiers reportedly crossed the Line of Actual Control, the de-facto boundary between the two countries, around Pangong. Indian border troopers asked them to return. The Chinese patrol refused to return when the Indian side showed banners that they were in Indian territory, in accordance with the settled drill. Heated arguments took place thereafter, leading to a scuffle in which troops punched each other and then stones were thrown, said an official who didnt wish to be named. Indian troops said the Chinese patrols of around 15 soldiers threw stones, wounding around six men from the ITBP. The Pangong area is prone to such face-offs as two-thirds of the lake is under Chinese control. Normally things are brought under control after showing banners to the Chinese side, telling them they are in Indian soil. There have been occasions when the Chinese refused to leave, leading to tense standoffs. The Asian giants have a long border dispute that led to a war in 1962. The festering feud causes around 400 face-offs every year from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh. An official said meetings usually held on August 15 between Chinese and Indian soldiers along the frontier were cancelled on Tuesday. But the event was marked more informally, with both sides exchanging sweets. The Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday it was not aware of scuffles between its army and Indian forces in Ladakh where men from both sides exchanged punches and threw stones at each other. On Tuesday, Indian border troopers intercepted Chinese patrol at two spots around the Pangong Tso lake in Ladakh and asked them to turn back before the violent exchanges. The incident comes close on the heels of a tense stand-off between forces of the two countries at the Doklam region near Sikkim. I am not aware of the incident, Hua Chunying, foreign ministry spokesperson said at the daily ministry briefing on Wednesday when asked about the Ladakh incident. She added that Chinese border troops were always committed to maintain peace and tranquillity along the Sino-India border. We always patrol on the Chinese side of the LAC. We urge the Indian side to abide by the LAC and relevant conventions, she added. The Chinese media too did not report the incident. But military officials from China sought a flag meeting with the Indian side to discuss the skirmish. The spot where the two troops faced off were identified as Finger Four and Finger Five areas near the Pangong Lake. Finger Four is almost 5km into Indian territory from the Line of Actual Control manned by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. The LAC, or the unmarked border, divides Indian and Chinese territories where boundaries are not clearly defined. Difference of perception over the territory leads to around 400 such skirmishes every year from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh. When Indian troops told the Chinese to retreat, words were exchanged and then a scuffle broke out. Stones were thrown at each other, resulting in injuries to troops from both sides after which finally the Chinese forces retreated, government sources told HT. Hua did not directly answer a query on whether the Ladakh incident was in any way connected to the ongoing standoff. Instead, she repeated that the withdrawal of Indian troops from the Donglang area, identified as Doklam in India, is the precondition for any meaningful dialogue. China has blamed India for the Doklam impasse, accusing Indian soldiers of trespass and for preventing Chinese soldiers from building a road in a region that is also claimed by Bhutan. Beijing wants India to withdraw its troops before the two sides can open talks. New Delhi says the road, if built, will have serious security implications for India. China has repeatedly warned India about the possible fallouts of the standoff. Earlier this month, the Chinese ministry of defence (MOD) said its restraint has a bottom line and demanded that India immediately withdraw soldiers. The CPI (M) and the Union government seem headed for a face-off over public broadcaster, Doordarshans decision to not air a pre-recorded speech of Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkar. The CPI(M) termed the decision as authoritarian. Addressing media persons on Thursday, CPI (M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said Doordarshan and All India Radio refused to air Sarkars speech, recorded on August 12, asking him to reshape it. The Vijaydashmi speech of RSS leader is shown live on Doordarshan. On that there is no objection. He is not an elected member, does not hold an elected office and not answerable to the people of India but his speech was nationally telecasted, Yechury said. While Doordarshans Agartala unit reacted to CPI (M)s allegation and denied blacking out Sarkars Independence Day speech, they declined to comment on whether a pre-recorded speech, where the Tripura CM had lashed out at the central government was dropped from transmission. In the speech, a copy of which was released by Yechury, the Tripura CM had lashed out against the union government for following policies that are not in sync with Indias traditional heritage of unity in diversity. Sarkar also remarked that his governments policies were different from the anti-people policy of the government at the Centre. Yechury appealed to all non BJP state governments to come together to resist the attack by the Centre. This is a brazen attack on the Federal equation between Centre and states. PM and cronies cannot order state CMs on speaking to the citizens, he said. Even as he accused the government of enforcing partisan misuse of state machinery, the public broadcaster asserted that Sarkars speech was relayed for 12 minutes. In a clarification letter, UK Sahoo, head of the DD unit in Agartala said the programme was given wide coverage to the public address of the chief minister and the development activities of the State Government. The letter further said the programme telecast on August 15 at 7 pm, ran up to 29 minutes and 45 seconds, out of which Sarkars speech coverage was for 12 minutes. The programme was aired again on August 16 at 4:45 pm, Sahoo claimed. A Tripura government press statement alleged that Doordarshan and AIR had recorded Sarkars speech on August 12. On Tuesday, at 7pm, the Chief Ministers office was informed through a letter that his speech would not be broadcast unless he reshaped it. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Parents of some of the missing youth believed have joined the Islamic State lauded the Supreme Court order to transfer the alleged love jihad case of Kerala to the National Investigation Agency. While hearing the case, the NIA informed the Supreme Court that Akhila Ashokans (Hadiya Shefin) conversion to Islam and subsequent marriage to a Muslim youth was not an isolated incident and earlier cases also bear many similarities. Her father contended that her daughter was a victim of so-called love jihad and all chances are there she might be dispatched to a conflict zone like Syria. It is a great relief for us. We would like the NIA to probe earlier incidents also. Nobody heard us properly, said Bindhu, mother of Nimisha alias Fathima who was among the missing 21 from the state reportedly joined the Islamic State along Afghan-Syria border. Last month she had moved a writ petition in Kerala high court seeking its help to locate and repatriate her daughter. More than a year passed since the disappearance of my daughter who gave birth to a baby recently. Many agencies probed it but I am yet to get some concrete information. I really fear she will be used as a human bomb, the distraught mother said adding that a well-oiled syndicate was working in the state to spot gullible victims and convert and despatch them to war-torn areas. Nimisha (27), a Hindu who converted to Islam and became Fathima, had gone missing with her husband Bexon alias Easa, a Christian convert, since June 2016. Bexons brother Bestin, who changed his name to Yahiya, was reportedly killed in the US drone attack a couple of months back. There is well-organised syndicate to spot victims and indoctrinate them. In my daughters case the main suspect is still around and working in a reputed hospital. Later my daughter was forced to marry a Christian convert as the former said being a true Muslim he couldnt marry a convert, Bindhu said. She said she produced many evidences to prove the involvement of the main suspect and others but police shied away from questioning him. She said she was not against any religion or belief, but sending an innocent to war-torn areas after indoctrination was a cruel game. The father of another missing youth, who asked not to be identified, said the NIA probe will help open the can. We gave enough evidences to police but they ignored them. Though they arrested a couple of persons from Mumbai they failed to detect the main forces/organisations behind the heinous crime. We suspect some of them enjoyed political patronage, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The stigma of leprosy did not spare a 60-year-old man even in his death in Odishas Boudh district as neighbours refused to lend a shoulder to his body this morning forcing his daughters and sons to act as pallbearers. Soon after Jaynarayan Sahoo, a retired bank official and a leprosy patient for a long time in Basudevpalli village of Boudh district, passed away early this morning, his family expected their neighbours to come forward and help them cremate their father. However, much to their shock, the neighbours and villagers did not came forward to lend a shoulder to take the body to crematorium. Sahoo was under treatment for leprosy for quite some time. The family was reportedly shunned by their near and dear due to Sahoos leprosy. As no one came forward to help them, his daughter Manjurani (35) decided to carry the body along with her brother Sanjib and her husband to the village cremation ground for funeral. People of our own caste had shunned us due to our fathers leprosy. As no one helped us we were forced to do the last rites alone. Only the sarpanch of Manmunda helped us with Rs 2000, said Sanjib Sahoo, son of the deceased. In April last year, two daughters of western Odisha district of Bargarh had to carry the body of their 70-year-old mother to the funeral ground for last rites after no male person in the village turned up. The family was shunned by villagers after the womans husband was found to be sufffering from leprosy. Similarly, in June this year a 62-year-old destitute woman of western Odisha district of Sonepur district died a lonely death as she was once diagnosed with leprosy. The morning she died, the panchayat sent few persons who packed her body in a cloth, loaded it on a bicycle and buried it in a forest near the village. The leprosy prevalence rate in Odisha is above the national average of one. From a prevalence rate of less than one (per 10,000 population) a decade ago, it now stands at 1.8 in 18 of thee 30 districts of the State. Children from local households and migrant workers gather at the Hefei South High-Speed Rail Operation Institute on Aug. 15 for interactive activity with high-speed rail in Hefei City, eastern Chinas Anhui province. Children can also see how the trains are repaired and tested. (Zhang Hongjin/People's Daily Online) Four persons, including two students, were killed and 18 others injured on Wednesday when a passenger bus overturned on the Jammu-Pathankot national highway in Samba district here, police said. The accident triggered protest by locals as the injured claimed that it was a result of rash driving and overloading. However, the police said they are investigating to ascertain the cause. The mini-bus was going to Samba town from the border village of Checkwal when the accident took place around 8.20 am near Rakha Ambpatti area, a police spokesman said. Three people identified as Prem, 45, Jaanu, 17, and Mehak, 21, both students, were killed on the spot, while 55-year-old Ramesh Chandar succumbed to injuries at the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital in Jammu, the spokesman said. The injured, including several students, are undergoing treatment the GMC hospital. Local people were the first to reach the accident spot and rescue people from the wreckage. Following the accident, a large number of people blocked the highway in protest against the state government for failing to check overloading and reckless driving by passenger vehicle operators. It is premature to say whether the accident was the result of rash driving. We have registered a case and started investigations to ascertain the facts, the police official said. He said the protest ended around 2 pm and traffic movement on the highway was resumed. The AAP government in Delhi has moved the Supreme Court against Centres move to regulate state advertisement through its own panel. It has said the three-member committee, formed pursuant to an SC order laying down guidelines regulating the content of government advertisements, does not have territorial jurisdiction over Delhi. The Central government panel last September held the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had violated the guidelines and exploited the exchequers fund to promote Arvind Kejriwal and his party. It had ordered the party to refund the money state had spent on the ads. The fresh face-off between the two sides comes at a time when the top court is already seized of petitions, challenging the Delhi High Court order declaring the Lieutenant Governor as the administrative head of the Capital. The matter has been referred to a larger bench. According to Delhi government, the Centre had constituted the committee in April 2016, also empowering it to have a control over the Capital. However, in May a letter was sent to the state, asking it to set-up its own committee. Three months later, the Centre withdrew its May communique and revived the April order for regulating Delhi government ads. As a result, the LG set aside in September Delhis notification to constitute its own three-member committee. Further, it also adjudicated Congress leader Ajay Makens complaint, alleging misuse of state funds by AAP for party gains, which Delhi government said the panel was not authorized to act upon. The Delhi government argued that the panel fell grossly short of the standard specified by the SC of unimpeachable neutrality and impartiality and did not possess a neutral background. Two of its members were drawing financial benefits from the government, the AAP governments petition alleged. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar on Tuesday alleged that Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) refused to broadcast his Independence Day address unless he reshaped it and termed it as an undemocratic, autocratic and intolerant step. There was no immediate reaction from the Prasar Bharati, which runs Doordarshan and All India Radio. A Tripura government press statement alleged that Doordarshan and AIR had recorded Sarkars speech on August 12. On Tuesday, at 7pm, the Chief Ministers office was informed through a letter that his speech would not be broadcast unless he reshaped it. The letter purportedly said, The message of the Chief Minister was closely examined by competent authority. In view of the sanctity of the occasion, the broadcast code and responsibility of the public broadcaster it is not possible to telecast it in the present format. However, Doordarshan/Prasar Bharati will be happy if the chief minister agrees to reshape the content making it suitable to the solemnity of the occasion and sentiment of the people, it purportedly said. Here is the full text of Tripura CM Manik Sarkars speech: The text of the Independence Day speech by Tripura CM, Manik Sarkar: blacked out by DD & AIR after orders from Delhi. #UndeclaredEmergency pic.twitter.com/90ECzoqLMQ Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) August 16, 2017 A statement by the CMO claimed, The chief minister clearly stated that he would not change a single word and described it as unprecedented, undemocratic, autocratic and intolerant step. (With agency inputs.) Industries in the north eastern and Himalayan states will continue to get tax exemption till March 2027, albeit as refund, under the current Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime which was rolled out on July 1, finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday. Within the framework of the GST Act each industry will be entitled to its own refund mechanism during this particular period (March 31, 2027), he said. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has given approval to the Scheme of providing budgetary support under the GST regime for the eligible industrial units in Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and north eastern states including Sikkim, he said. The support shall be available for the residual period (10 years from the date of the commercial production) in the States of North Eastern region and Himalayan States, he said. DIPP will notify the scheme, including detailed operational guidelines for its implementation within six weeks, he added. Under the new GST regime, there is no provision for exemption but there is one section under the Act which permits refunds. Therefore, refund would be permitted through DBT. The sunset clause of these exemption has been extended to 2027. 4,284 industrial establishment will entitled to this benefit, Jaitley said. Budgetary support of Rs 27,413 crore for the Scheme has been approved from July 1, 2017 till March 31, 2027 for such industrial units located in these states which availed the benefit of Central Excise exemption prior to coming into force of GST regime, he said. The Centre was implementing North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy (NEIIPP), 2007 for north eastern states including Sikkim and Package for Special Category States for Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh to promote industrialisation. One of the benefits of the NEIIPP, 2007 and Package for Special Category States was excise duty exemption for first 10 years after commencement of commercial production. Upon repeal of the Central Excise duty laws, the government has decided to pay a budgetary support equal to the central share of the cash component of Central GST and Integrated GST paid by the affected eligible industrial units. Three teachers of two different educational institutions were arrested in Buxar district on charges of consuming alcohol in dry Bihar, after unfurling the tricolour, to celebrate Independence Day on Tuesday. Believed to shape Indias future, the teachers in Bihar presented a study in contrast after a school headmaster in western Assams Dhubri district braved unprecedented flood to hoist the national tricolour there on the 71st Independence Day. The arrested principal and teachers were sent to jail on Wednesday, Buxar superintendent of police (SP) Rakesh Kumar said. Kumar said the trio was caught drinking liquor in the principals chamber soon after Independence Day celebrations at the NJ High School at Kukudha village in Itadhi police station area of the district. Station house officer (SHO) of Itadhi police station, Shamim Ahmad, said a police team, acting on a tip-off, reached the school and arrested N J High School principal RB Dubey as well as Vinay Dubey and Vaibhav Mishra, both teachers at Kaithna High School, for taking liquor. Medical tests have confirmed presence of alcohol in their blood, the station house officer (SHO) said. Buxar, 164 km west of Patna, has been spared of the flood fury, affecting a population of 70 lakh people in 13 of Bihars 38 districts. Bihar became a dry state on April 5, 2016. Consuming, keeping or dealing in liquor is an offence under the states new excise prohibition law, which provides for imprisonment up to 10 years. A spate of deaths due to swine flu across Gujarat dampened the festive spirit during Janmashtami, with the state government issuing an advisory for people to stay away from the annual festival fairs which draw lakhs of people. An alarming 31 swine flu (H1N1) deaths have been reported in just three days (Sunday to Tuesday) from different parts of the state. As many as 13 people died on Sunday, 11 on Monday and seven on Tuesday, mostly in four major cities Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot where hospitals receive a majority of the cases. Since January, the influenza has claimed 210 lives in the state. While all government hospitals are well equipped to treat patients, a dedicated helpline number 104 has been launched, said Health Commissioner Jayanti Ravi. This season the state has witnessed a total 1,883 H1N1 cases so far. Out of this, 681 people have been have been cured, 994 are under treatment while 210 have died, according to the governments latest health bulletin. A medical staff works at the Swine flu (H1N1) isolation ward of the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, in Ahmedabad on August 12, 2017. (AFP) On Tuesday, seven persons infected with the virus died. Two deaths were reported from Kutch, one death each was reported from Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Gir Somnath, Sabarkantha and Surat. As many as 129 new cases of swine flu were registered on Tuesday, including 55 in Ahmedabad, 31 in Vadodara, six in Gandhinagar and five in Junagadh, among others. The spurt in cases prompted Chief Minister Vijay Rupani to hold a review meeting with senior government officials over the weekend. The government announced that 17,000 teams have launched an intense door-to-door surveillance across the state by roping in ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activists) and Anganwadi workers besides malarial surveillance squads. Around 40,000 Anganwadi workers, over 5,000 doctors and 3,000 AYUSH doctors are part of these teams, an official release said. spurt in the number of deaths and infections caused by Influenza A (H1N1), commonly referred to as swine flu in India, this year has forced state authorities to initiate measures and appeal to people not to panic. This year, till August 6, H1N1 affected 16,565 people and caused 818 deaths, as against 1,786 infections and 265 deaths in the whole of last year. Maharashtra reported the highest number of deaths, 381, and 3,750 cases, while Tamil Nadu reported 15 deaths and 2,956 cases. As many as 31 swine flu deaths were reported between Sunday and Tuesday from different parts of Gujarat. While 13 people died on Sunday, 11 succumbed to the disease on Monday and the toll was seven on Tuesday. The deaths were mostly in the four big cities Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot where hospitals receive a majority of the cases. Since January, swine flu has claimed 210 lives in the state. While all government hospitals are well equipped to treat patients, a dedicated helpline number, 104, has been launched, said health commissioner Jayanti Ravi. The government announced 17,000 teams had launched a door-to-door scanning across the state by roping in accredited social health activists and Anganwadi workers, besides malarial surveillance squads. Around 40,000 Anganwadi workers, more than 5,000 doctors and 3,000 AYUSH (department of Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) doctors are part of these teams. Gujarat has witnessed a total 1,883 H1N1 cases so far this season. In Uttar Pradesh, 26 swine flu deaths and a total of 809 positive cases have been reported this season. The state government directed all schools to suspend morning assembly. Though the health directorate order did not reach many schools, several principals suspended morning assembly after coming to know of it through newspapers, social media and news channels. The health department urged schools to take preventive measures to check the spread of swine flu and screen students for symptoms of influenza, cold, cough, sneezing or red eyes. In case a student is found having these symptoms, send him/her back on a compulsory seven-day leave. Also, talk to his/her parents and ask them to keep him in isolation and get him examined. Talk about symptoms of influenza and swine flu with students in classrooms for half an hour. Screen them again, states the health department directive. The government has ordered a cleanliness mission across the state from August 17-25 to check the spread of Japanese encephalitis (JE) and swine flu. It has also asked officials to ensure another extended five-day cleanliness push in 13 districts worst affected by JE/acute encephalitis syndrome. In Odisha, 15 fresh cases of swine flu were reported, taking the total number of persons affected to 155 even as the death toll climbed to nine. A 67-year-old woman succumbed to the disease at a Bhubaneswar-based hospital on Monday. The state government asked people not to panic, saying all preventive measures were being taken. (With inputs from Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Bhubaneswar) Chinese and Indian officials were holding a flag meeting in Lehs Chusul sector on Wednesday, a day after their Chinese soldiers crossed the de-facto border and exchanged blows with troopers in Ladakh, officials said. On Tuesday, two groups of Chinese army men reportedly crossed the Line of Actual Control around the Pangong Tso lake before they were asked to turn back by the Indian border troopers, ITBP. The government in Beijing said it was not aware of the incident. Sources say "prescheduled border personnel meeting" on in Ladakh's Chushul sector since afternoon, Pangong Tso episode also being discussed Rahul Singh (@rahulsinghx) August 16, 2017 The Chinese patrol refused to move when the Indian side first showed banners that they were in Indian territory, as per the settled drill. Heated arguments took place between the two sides leading to scuffle in which troops punched at each other and then finally stones were thrown. Stone pelting took place during both face-offs, said an official in the security establishment, wishing to remain unidentified. Indian troops involved in the incident said the Chinese patrol teams, consisting of around 15 personnel, started throwing stones first. Around six men from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) suffered injuries. Tuesdays incident comes against the backdrop of a weeks-long stand-off between the militaries of the two country at Doklam, near Sikkim. The Doklam standoff is one of the most serious episodes between the two neighbours who share swathes of disputed territory. The Chinese side has sought a flag meeting in the area with the Indians to discuss matter, the source said. In Beijing, a Chinese official said she was not aware of the incident. I am not aware of the incident, Hua Chunying, foreign ministry spokesperson said at regular ministry briefing on Wednesday when asked about the Ladakh incident. She added that Chinese border troops were always committed to maintain peace and tranquillity along the Sino-India border. We always patrol on the Chinese side of the LAC. We urge the Indian side to abide by the LAC and relevant conventions, she added. A Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) militant was killed by security forces in south Kashmirs Pulwama district on Wednesday. Ayoub Lelhari, the Pulwama district commander of the LeT, was killed in a swift encounter at Bandarpora in Pulwama. The Jammu and Kashmir director general of police, SP Vaid, confirmed the death on Twitter, and congratulated his men. Ayub Lelhari district commander LeT eliminated in #Pulwama. Excellent work boys! Shesh Paul Vaid (@spvaid) August 16, 2017 Police said Lelharis death was yet another success in fight against militancy. The encounter comes three days after three Hizbul Muajhideen militants, including the outfits operational commander Yasin Itoo alias Mehmood Ghaznavi, were killed in a gunbattle on Sunday. Two soldiers were also killed that day. Kashmir has been witnessing vigorous anti-insurgency operations by security forces in the past few months, particularly after increase in militant activities following the killing of the Hizb commander Burhan Wani in July last year. Since July 30, security forces have killed 23 militants in various gun battles, including five infiltrators who were gunned down along the LoC, by the army in Machil sector on August 7. Homemaker Sushma Partis world crashed when her husband Anup Parti died in 2003 before his retirement from service in the Airports Authority of India (AAI). Aware she would have to push on with the life, Sushma rested her hopes on the pension the senior fire superintendent was entitled to. Fourteen years on, the 60-year-old widow is still waiting for that pension money to arrive. I have no other source of income, said Sushma, living in New Delhis Janakpuri. I am fortunate my children have been looking after me all these years. Sushmas husband was among 700 civil aviation employees deprived of their retirement benefits because of various reasons, including wrong interpretation of labour laws. There are 1,600 more people working in this government sector, unsure for the past 31 years if they will ever get a pension when they retire. The civil aviation ministry decided in October 2016 to honour its staffs pension entitlement. But it is yet to resolve the financial impact and modalities of disbursal. Employees say the government is deliberately delaying the process since it cannot guarantee the retirement benefits despite deducting their share of the pension from the salary. The ministrys official spokesperson was not available for comments on Tuesday as she was travelling. But a source said: We are trying to resolve the issue in the interest of the employees as soon as possible. It is taking time to fix the modalities because there are different categories of (current) employees and retired staff such as (those based on) ranks and pay scale, the source added. These employees had joined the National Airport Authority, the AAIs predecessor, in 1986 on deputation from the civil aviation department and the director general of civil aviation (DGCA). In 1989, they became permanent employees of the NAA, and were absorbed in the new entity when NAA became AAI in 1995. Their transfer was governed by a memorandum dated July 5, 1989, from the department of pension and pensioners welfare a constitutional agency under the Prime Minister. The pension of employees having less than 10 years of service at the time of transfer was never under question until August 14, 1995, when the AAI issued an allegedly illegal office memorandum, said S Bhattacharya, former executive director, air navigation services. This memorandum contradicted the terms and conditions under which the employees were absorbed as permanent staff in 1989, said the retired man fighting for his pension. The employees filed petitions in courts, approached the National Human Rights Commission, gave representations to the ministry and wrote letters to the Prime Minister. The pensioners welfare department settled the case in their favour on August 30, 2010. Employees transferred en masse to airports authority are eligible for pension under government rules after retirement from the AAI, it said. But the civil aviation ministry has been delaying obeying the order. RN Choubey, secretary in the ministry, wrote in July to his counterpart in pensioners welfare department, asking for more time for deliberations. Imagine the extent of neglect that even after realising the mistake, the ministry is not showing any urgency. It still wants to deliberate. Thats a pity, said SK Mansukhani, another man waiting for his pension. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON CGTN photo 112 Chinese tourists stranded because of heavy flooding in the southern Chitwan district of Nepal have been safely rescued. The Chinese Embassy in Nepal launched an emergency plan after it was alerted about the stranded tourists. The Chinese tourists were trapped in Sauraha, a popular tourist destination. Three days of incessant downpour led to flash floods and landslides. Floods have killed at least 80 people in Nepal. Rahul Gandhi flayed the Jammu and Kashmir policy of the Narendra Modi government on Wednesday, alleging that it has created a space in the troubled state for Pakistan to misbehave. His attack on the government at a Congress rally in Bengaluru comes a day after Modi, in his Independence Day address, reached out Kashmiris, saying abuses and bullets would not resolve their problems but embracing them would. He (Modi) has created an environment in Jammu and Kashmir of hatred and anger, and the only people who benefit from violence and hatred are the Pakistanis, he said. Claiming that he worked on the J&K issue with Manmohan Singh, who was the prime minister, and leaders such as P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh silently without any drama or tamasha, he said their effort of 10 years was destroyed by Modi in one month. Gandhi said the Congress-led coalition in 2004 inherited a government from Atal Bihari Vajpayee under which Kashmir was burning, and one of the biggest successes of the Manmohan Singh government was creating an environment of peace in J&K. We worked for 10 years to bring peace in Kashmir. We did panchayat elections, we did work on employment, we connected thousands of women there to banks. The reason was we wanted peace and harmony in Kashmir, he said. We wanted to embrace the people of Jammu and Kashmir and we wanted them to embrace us. We wanted peace there, also because when there is peace, Pakistan can do nothing in Jammu and Kashmir... The space for Pakistan to do mischief there closes, he said. Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge, state Congress in charge KC Venugopal and Pradesh Congress Committee president G Parameshwara, among others, were present at the event. Stressing that a peaceful Jammu and Kashmir was a worst thing for Pakistan, Gandhi said what the UPA government did for ten years was destroyed in one month by Modi. Im telling you this because Mr Narendra Modis policy has created a space in Jammu and Kashmir for Pakistanis to misbehave, he added. Hitting out at the Modi governments foreign policy, Gandhi accused the prime minister of alienating Indias neighbours and also Russia. Narendra Modi has not stopped there. When we were in the government, all neighbouring countries, other than Pakistan and China, were favourable to us... One by one Narendra Modi has alienated them, he alleged. For the first time in our history, Russia is selling weapons to Pakistan, he said. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday flayed the Jammu and Kashmir policy of the Narendra Modi-led government, alleging that it has created space for Pakistan to misbehave. His attack on the ruling National Democratic Alliance at a Congress rally in Bengaluru comes a day after Modi, in his Independence Day address, reached out to Kashmiris saying abuses and bullets would not resolve their problems but embracing them would. He (Modi) has created an environment in Jammu and Kashmir of hatred and anger, and the only people who benefit from violence and hatred are the Pakistanis, he said. Claiming that he worked on the J-K issue with Manmohan Singh when he was prime minister, and leaders like P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh silently without any drama or tamasha, he said their effort of 10 years was destroyed by Modi in one month. Gandhi said that the Congress-led coalition in 2004 inherited a government from Atal Bihari Vajpayee under which Kashmir was burning, and one of the biggest successes of the Manmohan Singh government was creating an environment of peace in Jammu and Kashmir. We worked for 10 years to bring peace in Kashmir. We did panchayat elections, we did work on employment, we connected thousands of women there to banks. The reason was we wanted peace and harmony in Kashmir, he said. We wanted to embrace the people of Jammu and Kashmir and we wanted them to embrace us. We wanted peace there, also because when there is peace, Pakistan can do nothing in Jammu and Kashmir... The space for Pakistan to do mischief there closes, he said. Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge, state Congress in-charge KC Venugopal and PCC president G Parameshwara, among others, were present at the event. Stressing that a peaceful Jammu and Kashmir was a worst thing for Pakistan, Gandhi said, Im telling you this because Mr Narendra Modis policy has created a space in Jammu and Kashmir for Pakistanis to misbehave, he added. Hitting out at the Modi governments foreign policy, Gandhi accused the prime minister of alienating Indias neighbours and also Russia. Narendra Modi has not stopped there. When we were in the government, all neighbouring countries, other than Pakistan and China, were favourable to us... One by one Narendra Modi has alienated them, he alleged. For the first time in our history, Russia is selling weapons to Pakistan, he said. As many as 4,321 Indian workers are languishing in 16 out of the 18 West Asian countries, according to the latest government data. There is, however, no Indian behind bars in strife-torn Syria a country where government has warned citizens against travelling and Palestine. The region hosts over 8 million Indians, who are mostly blue collar workers. The exact nature of crimes committed by them are mostly not revealed by the host governments to Indian missions unless they are as serious as murder, drug trafficking, financial fraud, adultery and prostitution, said officials. Majority of the workers are behind bars for not possessing valid travel documents, overstaying visa and violating local laws. Many foreign countries do not provide us with the information about imprisonment of Indian there. They only reach out when somebody is facing deportation, which is often decided by a court, said an official. The Saudi Arabia, which is home to 3 million Indians, have as many as 2,084 Indians in jails. They face charges varying from selling liquor to consuming liquor to more serious charges such bribery, embezzlement, drug use and murder. The United Arab Emirates, which has over 2.3 millions Indians working in the country, has as many as 1,376 Indians nationals behind the bars. Similarly, there are 84 Indians in jail in Oman and 488 in Kuwait. They have mostly been convicted for crimes ranging from forgery and adultery to traffic violation and drug abuse. Qatar has 177 Indians serving jail sentences for trespassing, drug abuse, forgery and bribery. There are 11 Indian nationals serving jail term in Iraq. They are charged with entering the country without relevant documents and overstaying the visa. Many of these Indians are duped by their recruitment agents. Some of the them dont even know the rules in these countries. So a better strategy is needed for migration, said S Irudayarajan, a migration expert. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Pakistan on Wednesday resorted to firing and shelling on forward posts and civilian areas along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch district, prompting the Indian army to give a befitting response. Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars from 0534 hours today in Poonch sector along the Line of Control (LoC), a defence spokesman said. Indian Army retaliating strongly and effectively, he added. There had been reports of firing and shelling in Mankote sub-sector of Poonch too. On Tuesday, Pakistan violated the ceasefire in Baaz and Nambla areas of Uri Sector in Baramulla district of the state. Earlier on August 13, the Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire four times along the LoC in Poonch, Rajouri and Baramulla districts, injuring three Army jawans. Last Saturday, a junior commissioned officer (JCO) of the Indian Army and a civilian woman were killed in separate cases of ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Poonch. 2017 has also seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations at the LoC by Pakistan. Till August 1, there had been 285 such violations by the Pakistan Army while in 2016, the number was significantly less at 228 for the entire year, the figures said adding that last year, eight Army personnel were killed in the ceasefire violations Pakistan on Wednesday resorted to firing and shelling on forward posts and civilian areas along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch district, prompting the Indian army to retaliate. Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars from 5:30am on Wednesday in Poonch sector along the LoC, a defence spokesperson said, adding the Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively. There were also reports of firing and shelling in Mankote sub-sector of Poonch. Officials informed that the shelling was intense in Malikpur Top, Basooni, Dharana and Patri. An ox belonging to one Mehmooa was killed in Patri when a shell exploded in the shed where the bovine was housed. On Tuesday, Pakistan violated the ceasefire in Baaz and Nambla areas of Uri Sector in Baramulla district of the state. Before that, Pakistani troops on Sunday violated the ceasefire four times along the LoC in Poonch, Rajouri and Baramulla districts, injuring three Army jawans. Last Saturday, Naib Subedar Jagram Singh Tomar of the Indian Army and a civilian woman were killed in separate cases of ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Poonch. On August 8, Pakistani troops shelled the KG Sector, in which Sepoy Pawan Singh Sugra was injured. He later succumbed to his injuries. Furthermore, on August 7, an Army jawan was injured in another ceasefire violation in Uri sector of Baramulla district. So far, there have been 285 ceasefire violations by the Pakistan Army till August 1, while in 2016, the number was significantly lesser at 228 for the entire year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met a six-woman navy crew that is preparing to circumnavigate the globe on sailing vessel Tarini. The crew will begin their voyage in the 55-foot vessel in August-end from Goa and is expected to return in March 2018 after completing the circumnavigation. The navy has called the expedition Navika Sagar Parikrama. PM @narendramodi meeting Lt. B Aishwarya of #NavikaSagarParikrama expedit'n; they expect to return to Goa in March2018 after circumnavigat'n pic.twitter.com/XwTi4fhUdN PIB India (@PIB_India) August 16, 2017 A navy spokesperson said the journey will be covered in five legs, with stop-overs at four ports -- Fremantle (Australia), Lyttleton (New Zealand), Port Stanley (Falklands), and Cape Town (South Africa). This is the first-ever Indian circumnavigation of the globe by an all-women crew. Tarini has been built indigenously, and was inducted in the navy earlier this year. Prime Minister wished the women crew well, and said he would keep track of their progress around the world. He exhorted them to project Indias capabilities and strengths across the world. He also encouraged them to write and share their experiences, after the successful completion of the voyage, the navy said. Captained by Lieutenant Commander Vartika Joshi, other crew members are Lieutenant Commanders Pratibha Jamwal and P Swathi and Lieutenants S Vijaya Devi, B Aishwarya and Payal Gupta. In a major step towards involvement of the private sector in government decision making, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be interacting intensively with 400 young chief executive officers and professionals in Delhi on Thursday and next Tuesday with an eye towards job creation, income enhancement, technology disruption and innovation, ease of doing business, and good governance and policy. The young CEOs put forward their action plans before the government on Wednesday with comprehensive presentations on designated topics to me made before PM Modi on Thursday. Finance minister Arun Jaitley and top secretaries to the government will also attend these sessions. Documents accessed by the Hindustan Times said after PM Modi sees all the presentations on August 22, the NITI Aayog has been tasked to cull out action points emerging from these deliberations. In consultation with the concerned ministries, the government will prepare requisite notifications for executive actions, bring out policy notes to tweak the guidelines as per requirement and the NITI Aayog has been tasked to take up the issues with the states where the latters intervention is required. Seen as the first major initiative involving CEOs below 45 years of age under the 2022 New India mission, PM Modi will be devoting his entire Thursday to hear from these young professionals on topics such as Digital India: Reaching the last mile; Energizing a Sustainable Tomorrow, Health and Nutrition,Education and Skill Development and Soft India, and Incredible India 2.0. For the past 15 days, young CEOs after discussing with their senior management are parked in Delhi to make the presentation before the PM. Six groups of 30 CEOs each have been made to make presentations in a bid to transform India, said a senior official. Called Champions of Change: Transforming India through G2B partnership, another batch of CEOs will engage with PM Modi next Tuesday on topics such as Make in India; Cities of Tomorrow: World Class Infrastructure; Doubling Farmers Income; Fixing Finance: Reforming the Financial Sector. All these topics are part of the 2022 New India mission which was announced by PM Modi from the ramparts of the Red Fort on August 15. Interactive session between PM and a group of highly motivated, dynamic, young and progressive entrepreneurs of the private sector who have demonstrated a passion for transforming India and are emerging as champions of change, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant wrote in a letter on August 8 inviting the young CEOs. As one senior secretary put it PM Modi was seen meeting only the global CEOs in the past but now he has invited the young entrepreneurs to use their skills to change India. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Police have arrested the owners of two North Goa beach cafes, including the famous Curlies, after carrying out raids during which they found narcotics from waiters and several guests. The raids were carried out on Tuesday, the same day chief minister Manohar Parrikar said the state will widen its crackdown against drugs, and on late-night parties that are a hallmark of the tourism in the coastal state. Chandan Choudhary, superintendent of Police (North Goa), confirmed the arrests of Edwin Nunes, the owner of Curlies, and Rohan Shetty of Club Nyex. Both cafes, popularly known as beach shacks, are at the Anjuna beach village, 20 km from Panaji. They have been arrested under section 25 of the Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, said Choudhary. According to him, waiters working at Curlies were found with drugs in their possession. Three tourists from Bengaluru were also found with drugs and have been booked. Late night rave parties are illegal and it is where drugs are consumed and distributed. Rave parties on beaches or remote areas should be totally stopped, Parrikar told the media after the Independence Day function in Panaji The crackdown follows the death of two young tourists from Kerala and Tamil Nadu who are suspected to have died of a drug overdose after attending a party at two separate nightclubs in Anjuna. Their bodies were found close to the beach shacks early on Sunday morning. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Union home minister Rajnath Singh has penned his thoughts on Prime Minister Narendra Modis Independence Day speech. He feels that the distinct patterns in Modis speech reflect in his concept of governance. Heres the full text of Singhs article: Decoding PMs speech We have completed 70 years since Independence and now we are in an era distinctively different on every aspect from innovation, motivation and the direction in which the country is marching ahead. The Prime Ministers address from the Red Fort on that Historic occasion had to reflect the same spirit and it certainly did. How was it different from the usual Independence Day speeches? It has given a holistic view to the entire freedom struggle in the present day context. When he mentioned the Centenary of Champaran Satyagraha, 125th year of Sabarmati ashram along with 75th anniversary of Quit India, he made a reference to every major touch point that led to massive political movement of 1942. When he mentioned the journey of nation from Chakra Dhari to Charkha Dhari it was a portrayal of the inspirational values of our country from the ages unknown to the modern era. Thus clearly stating that we are an eternal nation in perpetuity. As a colleague I feel the need to appreciate certain remarkable and distinct patterns emerging from his address, which reflect in his entire concept of governance almost like mantras. Broadly, there are several underlying themes into which the thrust of every single point he made can be placed. At the very outset the Prime Minister recalled the contribution and sacrifices made by our freedom fighters and martyrs, who ensured that we remain fearlessly free indicating the sensitivity of this government towards its heroes, freedom fighters and those who attained martyrdom in the line of duty. He empathised with those affected by the Gorakhpur tragedy and the recent natural calamities like floods and landslides which have affected many parts of the country. This was a reassuring statement to the victims to make from the ramparts of the Red Fort, that even in its celebratory moments, the nation is sensitive enough to not forget those suffering and unable to celebrate. It was heartwarming to see the Prime Minister making his governments stand clear when he said Na Gaali Na Goli can resolve the complexities of Kashmir issue. On the contrary it could only be resolved by embracing the common Kashmiri. The Centre has been consistent in its belief that the common Kashmiri wants to be an active stakeholder in the peace process. They have been made victim by certain vested interests who do not want peace in the Kashmir valley. The Prime Minister in his speech appealed to those who take recourse to violence and exhorted them to abjure violence and adopt democratic means to voice their concerns and grievances. Prime Minister Modis appealed to people to shun violence of every hue and shade, be it communal, casteist, or even a simple case of road rage. He also expressed solidarity with the women who were fighting a spirited battle against the malpractices of triple Talaq. The PM admired the courage of those women who stood up for their rights. It is a big shift from the 80s when the governments and the prime ministers were unwilling to discuss the plight of women and their fight for rights. Our government is extremely sensitive to issues pertaining to womens welfare and their wellbeing. The maternity benefits amendment has made India one of the most sensitive nation in terms of benefits for to-be mothers or mothers of new-borns. The governments concern for poor and weaker sections is well known to everyone. Our Prime Minister has dedicated his government in service to the poor. He reiterated his commitment from the Red Fort in his I-Day speech. Lamenting that there were projects that had been delayed for decades, he informed the nation that the work on those projects had been expedited as such delays affect the poor the most. Moreover, every rupee saved is a rupee earned for the benefit of the under privileged. The push for distributing LED lights is one such example. In an outreach to the millennials, the children of the 21st century, PM Modi said that they were the real Bhagya Vidhatas of this youthful nation since they are the engine of Indias future growth. The youth of this country have been recognised as the demographic dividend and the government has prepared an action plan to integrate our youth into the process of nation building. The Prime Minister mentioned how the bar was set higher for his government right at the beginning when an SIT on black money was constituted through the very first Cabinet decision. Since then, many effective steps have been taken to strengthen Indias fight against corruption. Steps like demonetisation, notification of the Benami Law and its enforcement to seize Rs 800 crore worth properties, crackdown on shell companies and post-demonetisation data mining to detect suspicious accounts have clearly underlined our Prime Ministers integrity, the governments intent and his decisive decision making ability. Outlining the results of his governments decisive actions, PM Modi said that Rs 1.25 lakh crore of black money has been detected, over Rs 1.75 lakh crore is under scrutiny, and over Rs 3 lakh crore of black money that would have never come into the formal system if not for demonetisation. Nearly 3,00,000 shell companies were identified, detected and 1,75,000 of them have been permanently closed. PM Modi assured the honest citizens that their honesty is cherished and valued a remark one rarely comes across because most governments forget the silent majority of honest citizens. He also assured the citizens that those who had looted the nation would not be allowed to sleep peacefully and would be brought to justice. On the security front the Prime Minister highlighted decisive actions taken both by the government and by the armed forces. The overall security scenario has considerably improved in the country since 2014. In his I-Day speech he also mentioned the One Rank One Pension scheme which was kept in a cold storage for decades. It was Prime Minister Modi who fulfilled the commitment of OROP and gave our ex servicemen their due. Our armed forces have made innumerable sacrifices and gone the extra mile to protect our nation from its enemies. The best example of our forces taking extra ordinary measures to protect the country was when the Indian Army crossed the LoC conducting surgical strikes and successfully destroying terrorist launch pads close to border. Realising the need to showcase the valiant acts of our armed forces, I am happy that the PM announced the launch of a unique website to document and preserve the heroic acts of men and women in Indian armed forces who have been awarded gallantry awards. The empowerment of Indias farmers is also an area of primary concern to this government. In his speech, issues of empowerment through the Beej Se Bazaar Tak approach of handholding increased irrigation potential, crores of soil health cards, almost double the coverage of farmers under insurance than earlier, better access to markets, hitherto unseen level of government procurement of pulses, FDI in food processing to ensure better storage and supply chains were all covered as part of the Modi Governments lofty goal of doubling farm incomes by 2022. Another notable focus in this theme was the focus on the under-developed Eastern part of the nation that despite its richness and industrious people has been kept backward. The Prime Minister mentioned empowering this region to perform to its full potential as a priority. The Prime Minister called for an India where democracy does not end at the voting booth but just begins from there to form the bedrock of a participative democracy. His focus on peoples participation in issues of governance is commendable. In Lok Tantra he said, Lok should drive the Tantra rather than governments devising Tantra for the Lok. Popular support for demonetisation, a smooth GST rollout, the citizen ownership of Swachh Bharat and people voluntarily giving up LPG subsidy to help the poor get gas connections were all examples of Team Indias Jan Bhagidari spirit, said the Prime Minister. In many of cases, including the Give It Up campaign to give LPG subsidy to help the poor get LPG connections, citizen participation was encouraging and remarkable. A new culture has set in that of the people and the government coming together to act for a cause which was unheard of in the previous era of trust deficit. This Jan Bhagidari is also the single most overarching theme emanating out of the Prime Ministers speech on the 71st Independence Day. He called upon people to dedicate even the smallest things they do to the spirit of nation-building. Taking a cue from the great epics of Ramayana and Mahabharata he recalled how common cowherds stood with Shri Krishna to lift the Govardhan hill, and even a squirrel wanted to help Shri Rama build the bridge across the sea. The Prime Minister also elaborated upon his vision of a New India an India free of corruption, poverty, terrorism, casteism and communalism. Connecting it to the power of peoples participation, he said that this New India was possible only if 125 crore people made a Samoohik Sankalp to attain the Siddhi in 2022. He likened the years between 2017 and 2022 to the 5 years between 1942 and 1947, the gap between Quit India and a Free India, and asked people to recreate that nation-building fervour. Taking inspiration from our shastras, Prime Minister Modi stressed that the time is right to build a New India and we should not miss this opportunity. The journey from Todays India to New India has already begun. The momentum has been built in the three years of this government. Now it has to be transformed into a mass movement and the Prime Minister exhorted the people of India to join this New India movement stating that this could be a historic turning point in Indias independent history and in its quest for reclaiming the position of Jagadguru in the comity of nations. He stated the vision for future when he said we have got the Swaraj 70 years back now we have to transform it to Suraaj or the righteous government. How will this goal will be attained? By Bharat Jodo means all Indians firmly boding together. This has to be our path ahead in 21st Century. He emphasised on internalizing the empowering attitude of Badal Sakta Hai rather than the passive Chalta Hai attitude which is prevalent. Do not ask why but ask why not, he said...We have to go ahead with the belief and resolve that our country has changed for better, is changing and can be changed. In a blow to Lalu Prasads Rashtriya Janata Dal, its media in-charge Pragati Mehta quit the party on Wednesday to join Nitish Kumars Janata Dal (United), a move he claims would bring him honour. Mehta accepted the membership of the JD(U) in presence of its state president Basistha Narayan Singh at the party headquarters in Patna. He became the first familiar face of RJD to leave the party after the disintegration of the JD(U)-RJD-Congress Grand Alliance in Bihar. Mehta was often seen defending the party on electronic media. After joining JD(U), Mehta told reporters that he was particularly impressed by Kumars zero tolerance to corruption. Now, I feel I am at the right place where I will get honour, he said. Welcoming him, Singh said Mehta would provide strength to the party. Reacting to the development, RJD president Lalu Prasad called Mehta a Barsati Medak (frog of the rainy season). I do not know what extra respect he will get there which he was not getting here, he added. The annulled marriage between a Muslim man and a Hindu woman converted to Islam in Kerala has come under the spotlight yet again, with the Supreme Court asking the National Investigation Agency on Wednesday to probe if there is a love jihad angle to the case. The investigation, to be conducted under the supervision of retired Supreme Court judge Justice RV Raveendran, pertains to the marriage of 27-year-old Gulf returnee Shefin Jehan with Akhila Ashokan alias Hadiya (24), a Hindu woman who had embraced Islam. The marital alliance was later annulled by the Kerala high court. Discounting Hadiyas statement that she was not forcibly converted, the court stated that the possibility of the marriage being part of a love jihad plot should be subject to a high-level probe. Timeline 2016 Dec 19: Akhila Ashokan alias Hadiya and Sefin Jehan get married. Dec 22: Haduyas father moves Kerala high court. Dec 23: Hadiya appears before HC, says she converted to Islam in August. Father says she was indoctrinated while pursuing her studies. High court sends Hadyia to a girls hostel, asks police to probe alleged love jihad. 2017 May 24: After hearing police, HC annulls marriage, sends Hadiya to parents custody. Aug 16: SC orders NIA to probe the case. The story so far Hadiya, a homeopathy doctor, had married Jehan on December 19 last year. Two days later, the womans father ex-serviceman KM Ashokan filed an affidavit before the high court alleging that his son-in-law was part of a fundamentalist outfit, and involved in three criminal cases. Though Hadiya appeared before the court on December 23 and stated that she had converted to Islam in August that year, her father claimed that she was indoctrinated much earlier while pursuing her education in Coimbatore. Ashokan also claimed that the marriage was part of a larger Islamic State conspiracy, and Hadiya could be sent to Syria like 21 others before her. Following this, the court instructed the police to probe the allegations levelled by Ashokan. On May 24, after the police had filed their report in the case, the high court annulled the marriage and sent Hadiya back to her parents. An aggrieved Jehan moved the apex court in an attempt to establish his conjugal rights in July, terming the action taken against them as a serious rights violation. What is love jihad? Love jihad, a term said to be coined by Hindu fundamentalists, is an alleged activity through which Muslim youth target women belonging to non-Muslim communities for conversion to Islam by feigning love. However, the existence of such a phenomenon continues to remain under question. The Supreme Court directed on Wednesday the National Investigation Agency to investigate the alleged forced conversion of a Hindu woman to Islam for marriage in Kerala. The order came after the countrys counter-terrorism organisation said it was not an isolated case but part of a growing pattern of converting women from Hinduism to Islam. The NIA made its remarks during a hearing on a petition filed by Kerala-based Shafin Jahan, a Muslim man whose marriage last December with a Hindu woman was annulled by the Kerala high court. The high court described the wedding as a case of love jihad, a term right-wing groups use to allege an Islamist strategy of converting Hindu women through seduction, marriage, money or threat. The 24-year-old homeopathic doctor, Akhila Ashokan aka Hadia Shefin, was allegedly recruited by the Islamic State terrorist group and her husband was only a stooge. Retired military man Ashokan KM, her father, alleged there was a well-oiled systematic mechanism for conversion and Islamic radicalisation. The woman now lives with her parents. A top court bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar said retired judge RV Raveendran will monitor the NIA probe. When Jahans lawyer Kapil Sibal requested the top court to interview the girl, the chief justice alluded to the controversial internet game, Blue Whale Challenge, to make his point that such things can drive people to do anything. We want inputs from all sides before we take a final decision, he said. The court assured Sibal that it would speak to the girl before passing a final order. The Blue Whale online game provokes players to do self-destructive tasks for 50 days before taking the final step of death by suicide. It is responsible for scores of teenage deaths around the world, including India. While annulling their marriage this May a division bench of the high court made serious observations that a high-level probe was needed to find out whether there was an organised syndicate behind such conversions and their suspected role in recruiting youth for the IS. The 27-year-old Jahan wants the high court order to be set aside, saying it was an insult to the independence of women in the country. The Supreme Court ordered Kerala police on August 11 to hand the case papers to the NIA. Additional solicitor general Maninder Singh, appearing for the NIA, told the court that the case was not an isolated case and the bench agreed with him, saying the high court order also mentioned it. We have arrived at some observations based on the courts order, Singh said. Singh referred to another case and said the organisation that took Akhilas custody was involved in the previous one too. In both, the organisation was involved in getting the women married. The organisation perhaps has some links with SIMI (the banned Students Islamic Movement of India), Singh said. The entities also appear to be common. The pattern appears that girls leave homes due to differences of opinion with family and somebody volunteers to give them shelter and this requires investigation, he informed the bench. Akhila is said to have switched religion through the Therbiyatul Islam Sabha in Calicut. She was allegedly influenced by Sainaba, president of the womens wing of Popular Front of India, which helped legalise her conversation. The NIA report to the top court said the same set of suspects influenced Athira Nambiar, a girl from Palakkad, to convert to Islam and marry a Muslim man. Athira was allegedly taken away from her family and kept in Malappuram district. The agency said Kerala police found 510 people were converted through the Therbiyatul Islam Sabha. The NIA has written to the state police chief seeking information about similar cases of forced conversion. Three people, including two students, were killed and 23 others injured, some of them critically, after a rashly-driven minibus skidded off road and crashed into a tree in Samba town in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday morning. Eyewitnesses said the minibus was being driven recklessly and it skidded off a curvy stretch before crashing into the trunk of a roadside tree. The impact of the crash was such that the heads of the three dead passengers were badly mutilated. Out of the 23 injured, 17 have been referred to Government Medical College in Jammu for specialised treatment, Sambas senior superintendent of police Anil Magotra told the Hindustan Times over the phone. The officer added the driver of the ill fated minibus absconded from the spot after the accident around 8.15am near the gate of an Indian Army unit. The deceased have been identified as 21-year-old Mehak, daughter of Kali Singh of Chalyari, 15-year-old Janu, son of Balbir Singh of Khanpur, and Prem Jeet of Sarti. Mehak was a college student and Janu was in school. Soldiers at the army unit immediately began a rescue operation and shifted the injured to Samba hospital. Enraged over the accident, angry locals blocked the Chachwal-Samba road. Over speeding and rash driving by minibus drivers have become common in Jammu region and the traffic police look the other way for obvious reasons, said an infuriated eyewitness. The United States on Wednesday named Pakistan-based Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation and a Specially Designated Global Terrorist group, a little more than 50 days after adding its chief Syed Salahuddin to its list of designated global terrorists. Todays action notifies the US public and the international community that HM is a terrorist organisation, the US state department said in a statement, adding such designations expose and isolate terrorist groups and individuals, and assist the law enforcement activities of US agencies and other governments. This designation will be welcomed by authorities in India. The Hizb is one of the two most active Pakistan-based terrorist groups operating in Jammu and Kashmir, and claimed responsibility for several attacks, including the April 2014 explosives attack in Kashmir that injured 17 people. The US had named the groups 71-year-old leader Salahuddin alias Mohammad Yusuf Shah as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist on June 26, just hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Donald Trump at the White House. The designation of the Hizb came two days after the two leaders spoke on phone Trump called to congratulate Modi on the 70th anniversary of Indias independence and announced the setting up of a new dialogue mechanism to elevate the strategic ties between the two countries. Indian officials said the listing of the Hizb was a logical step after the designation of Salahuddin. The issue is of key importance to India as it will validate cross-border terrorism as the reason behind the Kashmir issue and the support the Hizb gets from Pakistan. The issue was being discussed between the Indian side and the Trump administration for long, sources said. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and foreign secretary S Jaishankar had taken up the designation of terrorists with their US counterparts. According to sources, Modi flagged the issue of counter-terrorism cooperation with US defence secretary James Mattis and secretary of state Rex Tillerson during meetings before he held talks with Trump in June. New Delhi had actively pursued the case of Hizbul Mujahideen with the US authorities for some time. The home ministry forwarded documents collected from security agencies and Kashmir Police on the activities of the Hizbul Mujahideen. These documents and proofs were used appropriately. Officials were also in touch with the US authorities dealing with the matter, a source said. The US move will help India put the squeeze on Pakistan, whose leaders have sought to portray Hizb cadres as freedom fighters at a time of heightened terrorist activity in Kashmir. Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa are among those who have glorified slain Hizb commander Burhan Wani as a leader of the freedom struggle in Kashmir. The Hizb joins the Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba on the US list of foreign terrorist organisations. The other two groups were designated on the same day on December 26, 2001. Two other anti-India groups, Indian Mujahideen (2011) and al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (2016), are also in the list. By adding the Hizb to the list, the US seeks to to deny HM the resources it needs to carry out terrorist attacks. All its properties and interests in properties subject to US jurisdiction will be blocked and Americans will be prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group. Started in 1989, Hizbul is one of the largest and oldest groups operating in Kashmir. Its leader Salahuddin, who is based in Rawalpindi and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, has claimed to have carried out several operations in India including the Pathankot attack, which Indian blamed on the JeM and has boasted of the capability to strike at any time. (With inputs from HTC in Delhi) The authorities in Punjab and Haryana on Wednesday asked the police in both states to be on alert ahead of a special CBI courts verdict in the rape trial against Dera Sacha Sauda sect chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. Top civil and police officials from both states briefed Union home secretary Rajiv Gauba about the possible ramifications of an adverse verdict by a CBI court in the case. The sect chief has been accused by a former female follower of raping her more than once inside the sprawling Dera campus on the outskirts of Sirsa town. The sect management has been refuting all charges against Singh. Lawyers associated with the case said that matter was heard by CBI special court, Haryana in Panchkula on Wednesday and has been adjourned for further hearing on Thursday. It is in final stages now, a lawyer associated with the case said but whether matter will be reserved for judgment or not on Thursday, they added, could not be said at this stage. Meanwhile, Punjab and Haryana chief secretaries, director general of police (DGP) of both the states attended the meeting with the Union home secretary which took place in Delhi. We have asked the Central government to provide additional manpower to the states since a law and order situation can emerge if the court hands out an adverse verdict against the Dera head who enjoys massive following in Punjab and Haryana, said an official. The information shared with the Central government was based on intelligence inputs from the two states as well as past experiences in such matters. In 2014, hundreds of followers of Sant Rampal, a self styled godman formed a human wall and clashed with the police to prevent his arrest at his ashram in Hisar. The Punjab and Haryana High Court had sought Rampals custody in a contempt matter. Though he was eventually arrested, Rampals followers had attacked the police with petrol bombs and acid pouches in a bid to prevent the cops from arresting him and created a major law and order problem in the state. (With inputs from agencies) Russian President Vladimir Putin has greeted India on its Independence Day and expressed readiness to strengthen the special privileged partnership in the interest of peoples of the two countries and to ensure international stability and security. Responding to the message, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, I thank President Putin for his greetings on Indias Independence Day. In his message, Putin praised Indias economic, social and other achievements, and noted that the country has earned the respect it deserved on the international stage, according to a statement issued by Kremlin, the Russian Presidents office. It quoted Putin as saying that Russia-India ties have always been based on friendship and mutual respect. The two countries have a long track record of fruitful bilateral cooperation in all areas, and coordinating efforts in resolving important matters on the regional and global agendas, the Russian President said. Vladimir Putin confirmed Russias readiness to continue joint efforts to strengthen the special privileged partnership between Russia and India in the interests of the friendly peoples of the two countries, and with a view to ensuring international stability and security, the statement added. Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom also extended the greetings on Indias Independence Day. Modi thanked him for the greetings. Three construction workers employed at the site of the proposed medical college and hospital at IIT Kharagpur died on Wednesday when a temporary hoist which was carrying them crashed to the ground. The deceased were identified as Prabhakar Mishra (52), Chitto Ghosh (24) and Amitosh Halder (34). They were working for a private construction company engaged by IIT Kharagpur authorities. Read: IIT Kharagpur to start offering MBBS courses too All three were declared death on arrival at Kharagpur sub-divisional hospital. The workers union started an agitation after the incident. No safety measures were taken to protect people working at the site, it alleged. Mishra, Ghosh, Halder and a fourth worker were going up the eight-storied site in the morning when the ropes holding the hoist snapped, eyewitnesses told the police. The fourth worker, who could not be identified, had a miraculous escape when he managed to grab a ledge jutting out of the building. He climbed back to safety. The other three were not so lucky. The platform crashed to the ground with the workers still holding on to the rails. Read: Lights off, coffee: How IIT Kharagpur aims to tackle student depression IIT authorities refused to comment on the deaths. Biplab Bhatta, a workers union leader, said the construction company must take security measures immediately. Local police pacified the workers and said the construction company would be asked to ensure the safety of workers. Uttar Pradesh health minister Siddharth Nath Singh on Monday claimed that there was corruption in payment for oxygen cylinders at Gorakhpurs BRD Medical College, where over 30 children died in 48 hours last week. He said the medical college principal had been suspended due to the same reason. He also referred to commissionkhori (payment of commission). Speaking at a function at Hindustani Academy here, the minister said oxygen was being supplied by the firm Inox to the medical college earlier. From where did another firm Pushpa Sales enter the supply chain in 2014 was an issue that needed to be probed, he said. As against the demand of Rs 68 lakh for purchase of oxygen cylinders at the hospital, the Yogi Adityanath government had released Rs 2 crore on August 5. The hospital administration made only Rs 11 lakh payment which will be investigated thoroughly, he said. Referring to his recent statement about the high number of infant deaths in August over the years, the health minister blamed the media for presenting his views in a wrong way. He also said that investigation was on and the guilty will not be spared. Singh asserted, The infants did not die due to lack of oxygen. The health minister said 38 districts in UP were affected by encephalitis and the state government had organised large-scale vaccination against the same in April. For a population of 22 crore, health services in UP are not adequate. Please give me eight to ten months to improve the situation, he said. Read more| Gorakhpur tragedy: Jolted Varun Gandhi to build childrens hospital in Sultanpur Meanwhile, Singh, who has drawn flak over his statement that August sees a high number of deaths, was also shown black flags by student leaders associated with the Samajwadi Chhatra Sabha when his vehicle entered Allahabad on Monday afternoon. The minister, who represents Allahabad West assembly constituency, was travelling from Lucknow by road. Police detained some workers in this connection. No FIR was registered against the workers till reports last came in. The SP students wing workers had thrown tomatoes at the health ministers residence in Rajapur on Sunday. Shedding their image of a force which doesnt care, UP police personnel on Tuesday not only performed their duty hoisting national flag and singing national anthem in knee-deep water but also carried out patrolling in flooded areas to rescue people trapped in affected villages. Some terai districts in the state are in the grip of floods at the moment. Photographs of police personnel hoisting the Tricolour in knee-deep water at Baundi police station of Bahraich have become viral on the micro-blogging site Twitter and also received appreciation from the masses. Uttar Pradesh director general of police (DGP) Sulkhan Singh also acknowledged the dedication of the policemen and announced a reward for them. In his tweet, the DGP said he saluted the devotion of the policemen. Inspector of Baundi police station Jitendra Pratap Singh said all the 23 police personnel, including six women police constables, were present during the flag hoisting. He said they performed their drill before singing the national anthem. Singh said though the police station was located at a safe distance but this time flood water had entered its premises too. Read more: PM Narendra Modis Independence Day promises fact checked Similarly, inspector of Mohammedpur Khala police station Nagendra Chaubey and his team relentlessly toured the flooded villages on I-Day to ensure nobody was trapped in their houses. It was an important day and I decided to go the extra mile to help people in their misery, he said. Chaubey said nearly 15 villages of the area are flood affected and water had entered into many houses. Although relief teams are operational in the areas but they could not possibly reach out everywhere. So we decided to carry out patrolling during the day time and ensure all villagers are safe, he said and added, We covered over 10-15 kilometres on foot where the water level was low while used a boat to reach villages where water level was high. The family of a 19-year-old girl who died on Saturday donated her heart, kidneys and liver on Monday . Pratibha Vijaychand Nishads body had been found on the tracks between Vile Parle and Santacruz railway stations on Saturday. We received information that a girl had been spotted lying near the railway tracks and rushed there. We are yet to find out how the incident took place, said Prasad Pandhare, senior police inspector of Andheri GRP. Nishad was pursuing a course in fashion designing. She was rushed to a nearby hospital and then shifted to Nanavati hospital where she succumbed to her injuries on Saturday evening. Her parents decided to donate her heart, kidneys and liver. One of the kidneys and a liver were given to a person while the other kidney was given to another patient. Her heart could not be used due to some issue, said an organ coordinator from Nanavati hospital. Her brother, Shubham Nishad, 21, a BSC IT graduate, told HT, My sister will not come back. She left us at a very young age. We can do anything for our country. When my family was told that her organs could save lives, we did not think twice before agreeing to it. We are happy she could do something for the countrymen. Chief operating officer (COO) of Nanavati hospital, Dr. Rajendra Patankar, told HT, The girls parents have done a noble thing. Even in such a terrible situation, they thought of doing something good for humanity. They have given two people a second chance at life. Awareness on organ donation is required in our country. NHK, Japans most influential TV station, released a documentary titled The Truth of Unit 731 on August 13, 2017. This is the first time that Japan publicly released the criminal behavior of Unit 731 of the Japanese army. The documentary talked about the units secret development of bacteriological weapon and research on the bodies of the alive during the Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War. Some Japanese audience expressed their anger and astonishment toward the fact, saying that This should never happen again among the Japanese. The bloodstained truth can't be concealed, no matter how hard some Japanese tried. The Japanese government has been denying the deed of Unit 731 in the past, using lack of historical materials as an excuse. In the recent years, the Japanese media even described Japan as a victim of the war. NHKs documentary was based on the audio records of the criminal trial held in the then-Soviet Union after World War II. Interview materials of people going through the war were displayed to present the fact about Unit 731, which is a powerful counterblow against people who failed to face the fact. History cannot be revised and tragedy should not be replayed. At the end of the documentary, a doctor who participated in the bacteriological research and committed suicide with guilt was introduced. The goal of the film is to use the fact to urge the later Japanese generations to face the truth and reflect on the history. As for the Japanese government, it shall adjust its perspective toward the history, regret its war crimes, and oppose the revival of militarism to win the trust and respect from the world. The Bombay high court on Tuesday set free two men sentenced to death for alleged rape and murder of a 14-year-old and her mother at Choramba in Beed district in May 2015 . The evidence brought on record by the prosecution is not cogent, sufficient, convincing and do not inspire confidence to prove the offence against the appellants beyond reasonable doubt, said a division bench of Justice SS Shinde and Justice KK Sonawane, while setting aside the death sentence handed down to Kirshna Ridde, 23, and Achyut Chunche, 24. According to the prosecution, on May 28, 2015, two passers-by found Chand Shaikhs wife Noorjeha and daughter Parveen dead in their house. They then informed the police. Read: 11 years on, Bombay high court acquits 4 of rape, murder of 3-year-old girl The two accused were arrested on June 2. They were prosecuted for double murder and rape on the basis of circumstantial evidence. On August 17, 2016, an additional sessions judge at Majalgaon convicted both the accused and sentenced them to death. The HC bench, however, found several loopholes in the investigation. We find considerable force in the argument that the investigation in the present case to some extent was motivated, said the bench, adding it was probably due to the visit of political leaders like NCP President Sharad Pawar, MPs like Preetam Munde, Ramdas Athwale and the local MLA Jaidatt Kshirsagar. The high court noted that the political leaders had met the investigating officer and had inquired with him about the arrests made in the case. More than 16,000 students among 19, 500 applicants waiting for seats in first-year junior colleges (FYJC) were allotted places in the first special round in the online admission process on Wednesday. The Maharashtra education department will announce the next round soon, to accommodate students who have not got seats yet. The special round, which began from August 13, was meant for students who had not been allotted seats in the last rounds. Those who were allotted seats can now approach the colleges to finalise them on August 18 and 19. After four admission rounds between July and August, more than 19,000 of 2.3 lakh applicants were left without a seat. These included more than 2,000 students who were not allotted any seats in the four rounds 8,000 who did not accept the seats assigned to them and 10,000 who were eliminated from the system as they did not finalise their seats though they were assigned their first choice. Education officials said they will ensure all students are allotted a seat. Students who have accepted admission to colleges in the general category or quota could not apply in this round. We will now think about planning more rounds for other students, said BB Chavan, deputy director of education, Mumbai region. All admissions to FYJCs are being done through a centralised admission process this year, according to a government resolution issued in January. This was done after Pune resident Vaishali Bafna filed a public interest litigation in the Bombay high court in 2015, claiming that the online entrance admission conducted for the past four years for Class 11 in Mumbai and Pune was faulty. The court had directed the government to streamline the process. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Mumbai: The state government on Wednesday replaced the head of the University of Mumbais examination department. The move comes at a time when the university is still struggling to declare results. Arjun Ghatule, controller of examination at Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU), has been appointed as the in-charge director, board of examination and evaluation, for three months or until MU appoints a full time director. Ghatule has replaced Deepak Wasave, who served as the temporary head of the department for the past two years. A week earlier, governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, who is the chancellor of all public universities in the state, sent MU V-C Sanjay Deshmukh on an indefinite leave and appointed the V-C of Shivaji University, Kolhapur in his place. Dhiren Patel, director of Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, Matunga, was appointed acting pro V-C. The change in guard at MU comes with the delay in declaring results, caused by the varsitys decision to overhaul the evaluation system and adopt an on-screen assessment process. For a long time, MU couldnt appoint an agency and the technical glitches continue to get in the way of results. The governor had set July 31 as the deadline to declare all results. But the university failed to meet it. From paper leaks to delayed results, the examination department has been a sore spot for MU. In the past seven years, it has had seven controllers - the term allowed for the position being five years. Even in the past two years, Wasave has put in his papers multiple times, once a few days ago, but his resignation was never accepted. The post has been lying vacant for two years, since the then controller Vinod Bhonde resigned in August 2015, before his term ended. In this period, the university has twice held interviews for the position, in October 2015 and August 2016, but couldnt fill it. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will hold its executive body meeting on Thursday, in the backdrop of several challenges faced by the Devendra Fadnavis-led government including a Lokayukta probe against one of its senior ministers Prakash Mehta, internal strife and ongoing farmers protests. In a one-day meeting to be held in Borivili, the leadership is expected to review organizational milestones and adopt a political resolution besides one on farmers. Senior party leaders will address BJPs local leadership and public representatives in the day but eyes will be on chief minister Fadnavis speech. The speech will lay out the future direction of the party, ahead of the 2019 polls and address sticky issues including graft allegations Ahead of the meeting, speculation was rife over a possible change of gear in the state organisation with the ouster of party president Raosaheb Danve besides a discussion on dropping Mehta in the upcoming cabinet reshuffle. Mehta, the state housing minister is under the scanner over allegations of irregularity and graft in two slum redevelopment projects. However, last week, Fadnavis did not accept Mehtas resignation indicating that the minister would be shielded. Sources close to the CM told HT that such changes were unlikely to be discussed at the executive body meeting. There are no plans to move out Danve as of now. He is a senior Maratha leader and had resigned from the central cabinet to come to the state. Even if the top leadership may be upset with him for past gaffes and poor performance, such a decision will not be taken publicly. Similarly, asking Mehta to go now after Fadnavis successfully handled the Oppositions onslaught is unlikely unless there is a change of tack by the Delhi leadership, said a BJP minister. Danve was elected for a second term as state president for three years until 2019 in 2016. The speculation over such changes however points to internal factionalism within the party with senior leader and former minister Eknath Khadse openly bitter about his political exile. There is a section within the party that feels that the party leadership has not been consistent in dealing with allegations of graft. While Khadse was asked to resign from his ministerial portfolios in the wake of the probe against him, Mehta has been allowed to hold on to the post. Some leaders have termed this as difference in treatment between Marathi and Gujarati leaders in the party. There is also a degree of unhappiness among a section of leadership with the possible induction of Congress leader Narayan Rane. This is a routine meeting to review the progress of the organization. This is not a review of the government or the ministers. In this meeting there will be deliberation on the organizational milestones and planning of future strategy ahead of 2019 polls. A resolution on farmers and a political one will be passed. That is all. Nothing else should be read into it, said Danve. Sources in the party said that the agrarian resolution will congratulate the state government for taking the decision of Rs 36,000 crore loan waiver. The political resolution is likely to chart out plans to expand party organization and demand action against big scams of the last government. The Opposition has no moral standing to make allegations against us. It is time to take action against their many scams including the irrigation scam, said a senior BJP legislator. A meet of state functionaries was held late on Wednesday night to discuss the schedule for the executive body meeting. Meanwhile, 13 Congress corporators from Nanded Municipal Corporation joined the BJP in presence of state BJP chief Raosaheb Dance on Wednesday. The development comes as a blow for state Congress chief Ashok Chavan. Nanded is his hometown. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Dombivli residents issued an ultimatum to the regional transport authority (RTO) saying they would take to the streets if the RTO failed to act on their complaints against rogue auto drivers. Between July 21 and August 14, the Kalyan RTO received 32 complaints against errant auto drivers. However, no action was initiated against a single driver claimed members of Protest Against Autowale. Accepting our demands, the RTO introduced a complaint redressal system. When we followed up on the complaints registered via e-mail, it came to the fore that not a single complaint was addressed by the RTO. What is the point of having a complaint redressal system if the authorities are unwilling to take action? They have asked for five more days to resolve the complaints. If they fail, well take to the streets, said Pramod Kane, spokesperson, Protest Against Autowale. Of the 32 complaints registered, most were about drivers ferrying fourth seat. Others comprised misbehaviour, congesting roads and not plying by meter. The group had recently conducted an online survey in which it received feedback from 1,600 citizens, with most of them demanding action against auto drivers for plying fourth seat and bus services by the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Transport (KDMT) from stations. The group met the RTO and the KDMT officials with findings. The KDMT claims it has started bus services from station, but we failed to find any as there is no proper schedule for these services, said Kane. A KDMT official said the transport body has started a few services on a trial basis. Earlier this month, the traffic police and the RTO initiated a special drive against errant auto drivers. The officials inspected 600 autos and confiscated 15. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Relocating to Mumbai for a job and looking for a place to stay? Good news, the city will soon get a multi-purpose hostel for working women (MHWW), which will be able to accommodate 100 guests. The hostel will be designed by a group of NGOs, gender rights activists, and architects, called Gender and DP, along with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), and will be built on a civic plot in Goregaon. The Development Plan (DP) department of the civic body has completed drafting its policy for the hostel. The policy is ready and work on construction of the building will start once it has the municipal commissioners nod. It will be a seven-storey building, so we need to do soil testing of the plot, said a senior official from the DP department. BMC got possession of the plot only last week, after settlement of a court case. Although the DP has not been passed yet, with an order from the civic chief, we can start work. A member of the group designing the hostel said BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta has directed the DP department to start construction by October. We want to freeze the policy by the end of August, so that BMC can start with the tendering process, she said. Nandita Shah, co-director of Akshara Centre, who is part of the Gender and DP group, said, The idea behind the hostel is to not just provide accommodation for working women, but to encourage the participation of women in the workforce. Lack of safe accommodation discourages women from working in the city. Currently, only 16% of the workforce is women. Often, single women who come to Mumbai for work find it difficult to rent a house as landlords are reluctant to let out houses to them. The hostel will benefit these working women. The hostel will be designed to accommodate women for a period of anywhere between five days and three or five years. It will also provide temporary shelter to women in distress, until they can seek help. Accommodation will be provided to women from all strata of society. Women will have to pay for the accommodation, but the fees will be stratified based on the service and income of the individual. The hotel will have dormitories, and rooms. An official associated with the DP department said, We want to make the hostel self-sufficient, so the fees charged from residents will cover the maintenance and property tax of the building. Since it has to be affordable, we have decided to introduce 20% commercial space in the building. To ensure compatibility with the hostel model, and the safety of the women who will live there, commercial space will be given out only to banks, meeting halls, conference rooms and coffee shops. The design of the hostel was drafted after four months of surveying existing working women hostels in the city. BMC worked with three policy research students from the University of Mumbai, who conducted 11 surveys of existing hostels. Other members of the group, which gave feedback to the policy, include Jyoti Mhapsekar from Stree Mukti Sanghatana, Nirmala Sawant of Amrapali hostel, YWCA, and planners from CIDCO and TISS. The policy for MHWW plans three methods of funding. BMC is one source, and around 75% of the funding will be sourced from the Women and Child Welfare Department of the state. Some money will be sourced from a public-private partnership. The DP department is currently in the process of drafting policies for all reservations under the DP 2034, which includes a day-care centre for children, and for senior citizens, an old age home, and leisure centres. However, since MHWW has been linked to the BMC budget this year, work on that policy was fast tracked. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) plans to conduct waste management competitions among housing societies in each ward to encourage more citizens to segregate their waste. Fifteen housing societies from Parel registered in the competition on Independence Day. The housing societies will have to segregate and process their waste in composting units for a month, after which they will be judged. The civic body is yet to decide on the prizes. The move comes after civic chief Ajoy Mehtas new order to not pick up waste that is not segregated from October 2. Housing societies that produce more than 100 kg of waste daily or have an area above 20,000 square meters will have to segregate waste and install waste processing units in their compounds. The civic body will also conduct presentations for the societies on public holidays to teach citizens various waste management techniques. As Parel sees some of the most famous Ganapti pandals, we have also convinced some of the mandals in the area to take up an environment-friendly theme and promote waste segregation during 10 day Ganapati festival, said VP Mote, assistant municipal commissioner, F south. In the first week of September, BMC will also stage a citywide exhibition, displaying composting machines of 40 to 50 firms before 22,000 bulk generators such as hotels and societies. Such machines can compost wet waste within 24 hours. Meanwhile, a similar project has already started in the G (North) ward, which has Dadar, Mahim, and Shivaji Park in its jurisdiction. The ward has appointed 35 teams to undertake daily door-to-door campaigns and inspect housing societies. If they are found without waste compost pits, the societies are invited to a lecture about waste composting and segregation. The move comes after a dumping ground fire and is meant to reduce the amount of waste going to the citys landfills daily. BMC data shows that only 48% of housing societies in the city segregate waste daily, while around 7,993 metric tonnes of unprocessed waste is dumped at the Mulund, Deonar and Kanjurmarg grounds. According to the recent cleanliness survey 2017, Mumbai ranked 29th in waste management. BMC aims to reduce the waste sent to the dumping ground by 10%-15% in the next three months. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Senior BJP MLA Anil Gote on Wednesday said that suspended IAS officer Radheshyam Mopalwar, who is facing an inquiry by special investigation team (SIT) for alleged corruption, invested his black money in a company from Kolkata. He further alleged that seven other IAS officers also invested in the same company. Gote also released shareholding document of the company, which shows 85,000 shares in the name of Mopalwars relatives. Mopalwar, who was heading chief minister Devendra Fadnavis Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway project, refuted allegations and said that Gote bore a grudge against him. The BJP MLA also said he would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to re-investigate Mopalwars role in the multi-crore fake stamp scam also known as Telgi scam. He said the main accused, Abdul Karim Telgi, had disclosed the details of the modus operandi used by Mopalwar in the scam. Gote, an MLA from Dhule in north Maharashtra, is also an accused in the Telgi case and was in prison. He is currently out on bail. He said Mopalwar had disproportionate assets and he had shared the details with the Prime Ministers Office (PMO), all central investigation agencies and the chief minister. Mopalwar and other officers have invested in a company to hide their disproportionate assets. Soon after their investments, the loss-making company became profitable. Some of the officers have also been buying land for the Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway project, he alleged. Mopalwar said, I was the complainant in the Telgi scam and he is still an accused. Anyone with a vengeful mind can make all kinds of allegations. I deny all of them as they are baseless and incorrect. He said, I have made some small investments, which may not be more than Rs 5-10 lakh. I have to check my accounts. It is a standard practice of criminals to accuse complainants of being a party to the crime, he added. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Santacruz police on Monday arrested a 34-year-old man for allegedly passing lewd comments and harassing a 45-year-old woman on the phone for three days last month. According to the Santacruz police, the accused worked as a driver of the owner of a firm where the woman was also employed. According to the police, the woman received several telephone calls from an unknown number where the accused demanded to have sex with the woman. Read: Two grope woman at Mumbai railway station, pass lewd comment, arrested The calls were made from July to 14 July, the police said. The woman filed an FIR under section 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code against the unknown accused. When the accused somehow learnt that the victim has approached police, he left for his home town in Uttar Pradesh, according to the police. The police, through call records and other technical evidence, learnt he was behind the crime. Acting on a tip off,the accused, who returned to Andheri (West), was arrested. His advocate Sandeep Sherkhane said, The magistrate court has granted him bail after he deposited Rs 15,000. Police arrested a snake rescuer for allegedly cheating 15 parents by posing as a trustee of two convent schools in Andheri (East). The man, Santosh Rajnikant Suryavanshi, lives at Tripathi Nagar on Mahakali Road in Andheri. He is a graduate who works for an animal welfare group, said police. The case came to light after one family realised they had been duped and approached the MIDC police in July. Suryavanshis modus operandi was to stand at the gate of schools and befriend parents. He would tell them he had a lot of clout among school management and ask for Rs25,000 as a donation, promising to help their child secure admission to junior KG or Class 1. Once they paid him, he would cut all contact with them. A local cable operator would occasionally help him select targets. He duped 12 women, two men and a senior citizen of Rs3.5 lakh collectively. All the victims live at either Durga Nagar or Poonam Nagar in Andheri. Suryavanshi returned to his home town in Baramati and gambled away the money he had duped the parents of. Acting on a tip-off, police nabbed him in Mumbai on Monday under section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code. In the past eight months, the MIDC police station at Nagpur has become less noisy. Officers and constables diligently attend to complaints, occasionally offering agitated people a glass of water or a cup of tea to calm them down. It wasnt always like this. Like at other police stations, furious rows between complainants and policemen would echo here too. Occasional instances would end up before the human rights commission, to the embarrassment of senior officers. For several months now, no one from here has been pulled up by the HRC or the courts, said inspector Sunil Mahadik, station-in-charge. Whats behind this newfound change? Expertise Mahadik and his men acquired during a new training regime called the Emotional Intelligence Training Programme (EITP). Though they were inducted into the force decades ago, they had never undergone such training. Earlier, we believed in the age-old maxim: fear begets fear. That used to be the norm for policing, said Mahadik. He added that the EITP helped him and his men reinvent themselves to face the challenges of new-age policing. Policemen cant afford to be brash anymore. People want public service officials to be professional, he said. Mahadik and his men are among the 400 officers and 6,000-plus constables from Maharashtra who have been part of the EITP. The programme has been an integral part of corporate training and is used to help top executives develop interpersonal and managerial skills. However, such training for junior policemen was unheard of till senior IPS officer K Venkatesham introduced the idea a year ago, when he was heading police training facilities in the state. I realised the importance of such training when I signed up for the programme at the Hyderabad academy a few years ago, Venkatesham said. He approached the Indian School of Business (ISB) and leading HR agency, Par Excellence, which conducts a capsule refresher EITP course for senior IPS officers at the Hyderabad academy. Experts from these facilities were brought in and asked to device a separate module in Marathi, said Venkatesham, currently posted as the Nagpur police commissioner. A support team was set up to help them conduct a statewide survey of police so they could understand the nuances of policing and devise a course accordingly, said S Jagannathan, additional director general of police, training. Mahadik said the course not only helped him recognise and manage his emotions, but also helped him avoid miscommunication and stress. As part of our training, we analysed cases in which the police handled situations poorly. We found that those problems could have been avoided if we had acted more professional, he said. He said that earlier, when a drunk person asked them to file a complaint, they would not take him seriously owing to his intoxicated state. The person would then start shouting, aggravating officers, who would then resort to force to calm him down. This would sometimes backfire as the injured man would complain. Now, the EITP has taught officers how to handle such situations. We now listen to such people patiently and try to resolve their problems, he said. Deputy superintendent of police Gajanan Rajmane said the training has helped him cope with stress and work-related problems at the Malegaon division, traditionally a volatile law-and-order pocket in the state. As a senior officer, I not only have to manage hundreds of staff, but tend to the general public daily, said Rajmane, a veteran of seven years. Earlier, work pressure would irritate me and I would get provoked by small issues. After the training, I can feel a change within, said Rajmane. He has trained more than 400 of his men. Jagannathan said he plans to expand the scope of this training to the states five police ranges, which have 60,000-plus men and officers, in the next six months. Before this, we will conduct an assessment survey to see how effective the programme has been and plug any loopholes, he said. Emotional stability translates into clarity of thoughts, overall performance S Jagannathan, additional director general, training, tells HT about the emotional intelligence training programme and why it is important. Could you tell us about the emotional intelligence training programme (EITP)? The training helps police officers realise their behavioural and psychological traits and those of the people they must deal with. It has been established in the corporate sector that a managers success is dependent on his intelligence quotient as well as his emotional quotient. How far is a corporate experiment applicable to policing? It is equally, or even more applicable to policemen. An officer or constable is often approached by people in distress. They expect the police to treat them humanely and resolve their problems efficiently. In such situations, mere enforcement of law is not enough. It is also important to fulfil the complainants expectations. The officer should not only keep his emotions in check, he should also be able to understand the complainants mental state. Emotional stability translates into clarity of thoughts and overall performance. How and when did you decide to train your men? Senior IPS officers have been signing up for the programme at the Hyderabad police academy for years. However, junior state service officers did not have such an option. A year ago, senior IPS officer K Venkatesham, now commissioner of Nagpur police, proposed such an initiative when he was heading police training in the state. We invited experts from the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, as well as renowned HR agency, Par Excellence, to devise this course. We told them of our requirements and conducted a field study across police stations in the state before the course was designed. What does the course entail? The programme helps officers understand emotional intelligence. It comprises an assessment of their behavioural and psychological traits and an understanding of law. It also takes into account the psychology of complainants. As many as 53 officials from the 10 police training schools and the police academy at Nashik were given a five-day training. Once they learnt the ropes, they were certified. They then conducted the programme at their respective institutes, for newcomers, and at mobile training programmes for veterans. The programme was introduced at the schools and at the Nashik academy as part of the curriculum. It was included in the basic training syllabus for the constabulary. It takes one week, comprising 13 sessions, to train officers. How many officers and constables have been trained so far? About 6,000 constables and 400 officers have been trained. A range-wise programme is in the pipeline to train at least five officers from each district. I almost suffered a nervous breakdown, says rejuvenated constable Barely six months after her posting, Mukta Eknath Katkade, 26, a constable at Aurangabad (rural), was planning to quit the force. As mother to a six-year-old girl, she was finding it difficult to strike a balance between her duty and family responsibilities. I almost suffered a nervous breakdown, said Mukta who joined the Maharashtra police in 2016. I left a private sector job to join the force, little knowing what lay ahead, she added. My first posting was gruelling. Long and erratic hours took a heavy toll on my body and mind. I started neglecting my family. I was devastated as I neither had time for my husband, who works at a private firm, nor my daughter, Mukta said. She was constantly irritated and felt depressed frequently. I would lose temper without any provocation and start quarreling at work. Things were no better at home, she said. Just as she was thinking of quitting, she heard about the EITP. I volunteered immediately and was trained at Nagpur, she said. She said she can now stay peaceful at work and at home. Now, I know how to keep stress under control, even though the pressure is constant. I am no longer in a constant state of anger. I can now communicate with my colleagues, superiors and even complainants much better, she said. Though her husband is still getting used to her changed personality, her daughter is much happier, she said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Why was the fourth episode of Game of Thrones season 7 leaked? Cyber police officials of the Mumbai crime branch are questioning the four men they arrested to determine whether they leaked the episode out of sheer excitement, so they could watch it before it was released, or to earn some cash. The crime branch is also investigating whether the accused wanted to tarnish the image of the firm tasked with storing and processing these episodes for the Indian company that airs them. On August 4, a link to the downloaded episode appeared online, three days before its official release. This led the firm to investigate and later ask the Mumbai police to register a case. Three of its current employees and a former employee are under the polices scanner. We are probing how and why they committed the crime, said deputy commissioner of police (cyber), Akhbar Pathan. A crime branch official monitoring the investigation said the police were in the process of ascertaining the roles of each of the accused and collecting evidence against them. The four will remain in police custody till August 21. In a press release, the firm said it was appreciative of the speed with which the Mumbai police were proceeding with the investigation. We are working closely with our client and co-operating whole-heartedly with the police to take the investigation to its logical conclusion at the earliest and bring to book the perpetrators of this crime, said the release. It said the leak was not the result of a system hack, but a malicious offence by four miscreants. It is painful to note that despite constant efforts to sensitise employees about the critical need to adhere to ethical practices and highest protocols of content security, full-time serving employees colluded to commit a crime that could destabilise not only the organisations involved, but thousands of livelihoods, read the release. A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his Independence day speech, advocated resolving the Kashmir issue by peace and not force, the Shiv Sena on Wednesday taunted the Union government should first roll back Article 370 that gives Jammu & Kashmir its special status if it wants to really solve the Kashmir issue. In an editorial in the partys mouthpiece, Saamana, the Sena said Modis stand on Kashmir-- that the stalemate can be resolved neither by a verbal war nor bullets, but by embracing people -- has left not only the Sena, but the entire country speechless. We are surprised how no one had ever come up with this great thought. The government should now do away with Article 370 so that large groups of people can go to Kashmir and hug the people there. Soldiers should break their guns and hug Kashmiris. We welcome the prime ministers speech, the Shiv Sena said in a veiled taunt. Read: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray slams PM Modi for centralising power, demonetisation The party said former vice-president Hamid Ansaris statement about Muslims feeling unsafe in their country recently invited ample backlash from government leaders and people with their thoughts aligned with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The fear that Hamid Ansari expressed and the stand that Modi took in his Independence day speech are contrary to each other. Violence in this country is ongoing and if it is underway in the name of devotion and peace, then why Muslims, even Hindus will start feeling unsafe in this country, the Shiv Sena said. The party also indirectly criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the increasing chasm between vegetarians and non-vegetarians in a city like Mumbai and the latter being denied houses in the city for the same. Read: Shiv Sena slams lynchings by gau rakshaks, praises PM Modi for condemning attacks SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Congress state chief Ashok Chavan, while breaking his silence, indirectly criticised his senior colleague and former chief minister Narayan Rane, saying some people cannot survive without power. He also has said that quitting of some leaders will make way for the new leadership in the party. While speaking to the media at party office in Dadar, Chavan criticised Rane without naming him. The BJP has been inducting leaders and workers from other parties without weighing their utility. We are not bothered about them joining the BJP. Some leaders are known for hopping from one party to another as they cannot survive without power. It gives us an opportunity to cultivate new leadership, he said, when mediapersons asked him about Rane. Rane is believably on the verge of shifting his loyalties and joining BJP soon. Chavan has restrained himself in giving any comment on Rane who has been in the news report for his hobnobbing with BJP. The rumours started making rounds when he reportedly met BJP president Amit Shah in Ahmedabad in presence of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis a few months ago. Party insiders believe that Rane quitting Congress is now only a formality. He has not been active in party meetings for a long. His sons have been openly criticising party strategies and leadership. It is just a matter of time, said a senior Congress leader on the condition of anonymity. Read: Congress Narayan Rane in BJP? Party leaders wont decide before Julys Prez election Taking note of the farmers agitation for better prices, the state government may soon come up with ways to deliver their produce at Mumbaiites doorstep. The state government plans to revive the Maharashtra Agro and Fruit Processing Corporation (MAFCO), a defunct public sector undertaking (PSU) that was formed to sell their produce. It is also looking at signing a memorandum of understanding with NGO Mee Mumbai Abhiyan-Abhiman, which runs Namo Yuva Rozgar Kendra, to deliver it in Mumbai. The Namo Yuva Rozgar Kendra, a farmers market on wheels which is a brainchild of BJPs Prasad Lad, was inaugurated in Mumbai on Tuesday. It will deploy 125 vans to deliver products from farm-to-home. Currently, 10 such vehicles have been rolled out. The remaining 115 vehicles will be launched within a month. This will be in addition to the farmer-to-consumer markets launched in August last year. Launched NaMo YuvaRojgar Kendras by #MiMumbai Abhiyan -Abhiman this morning in Mumbai. Nice initiative by @PrasadLadInd !@BJPMumbai pic.twitter.com/RSeJDQ56g8 Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) August 14, 2017 The state government had earlier decided to disinvest MAFCO, given the losses borne by it consistently. MAFCO had a network of 4,000 retailers and 18 distributors across the state to distribute farm produce, dairy products among others, but suffered losses owing to bad management practices. Fadnavis said farmers needed more space to store vegetables and fruits. The CM said MAFCOs revival will create jobs for the jobless, benefit farmers and consumers. Farmers never get good prices for their produce as they are not in direct contact with consumers. Consumers, on the other hand, dont get good quality vegetables at lower prices. This link will achieve both, the CM said. Earlier, in June last year, the state government had allowed the farmers to sell their produce outside the Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) markets, so they get more options. I must say events of the recent past across governments in the country are deeply disappointing -- to me and several other like-minded citizens who expect a culture of responsibility and accountability from our governments and politicians. Even before I began life as a political reporter, I saw how then Maharashtra chief minister Abdul Rehman Antulay, after some resistance, was compelled to resign over the cement quota scam even though he kept professing his innocence which was established by the courts a decade later. While he did set up a scheme in the name of the poor (and Indira Gandhi) to squeeze donations from the rich against government allotments of cement quotas, all the money was accounted for -- either by cheque or receipted when paid by cash. Not a paisa had gone into his pocket. Yet Mrs Gandhi asked him to resign. Then, while I was a fairly middling reporter, the post-Babri riots overtook the city and then chief minister Sudhakarrao Naik proved inept at handling the violence which seemed endless (it went on for at least a week) and was the worst of its kind until then. He was compelled to quit office by then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao for that incompetence. Barely a decade later, with that experience of accountability, I had expected the same would happen in Gujarat in 2002 when the riots there overtook anything I had seen in Mumbai or Maharashtra or even Assam before that from where I had reported in the mid-1980s. Prime Minister AB Vajpayee thought to follow in the best traditions of governments in this country and spoke of the Rajdharma of leaders who must accept responsibility and quit. But things stood as they were. Later, the Congress in ten years at the Centre and 15 years in Maharashtra enforced many resignations at the Centre at every allegation of a scam, even if investigations later proved otherwise. In Maharashtra, Vilasrao Deshmukh had to quit not once but twice as chief minister -- the first time because of mere suspicion of his proximity to builders and the second time for something that was beyond his control, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Not because he was incompetent to handle the aftermath but because he had been indiscreet enough to allow disaster tourism by a film producer close to his actor son. Even the NCP enforced the resignation of its deputy chief minister RR Patil for an poorly-thought-through remark: bade, bade shehron mein aise chote-mote haadse hote rehte hain? Some years later, Ashok Chavan was compelled to resign for his alleged involvement in the Adarsh scam wherein the jury is still out on his complicity. But things are different now and a different moral fabric cloaks the country. Apart from various allegations of wrong-doing in the Union government, which brought forth no punitive action against those accused, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered Janmashtami celebrations when more than 60 children have died in a hospital in his home constituency of Gorakhpur due to inept handling and government negligence. Closer home, even though Eknath Khadse was sacked as revenue minister over allegations of wrong-doing in a land deal, things have been somewhat different with others. While two ministers in the Maharashtra government, Prakash Mehta of the BJP and Subhash Desai of the Shiv Sena, both accused in land scams, offered to resign, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, turned them down, even as he tries to brush alleged scams by bureaucrats under the carpet. Radheshyam Mopalwar, in charge of delivering his favourite Samruddhi Expressway, exposed in a land deal of 2009, has merely been asked to go on a months forced leave, despite the fact that both the PMO and the Union Home Ministry had written to the Maharashtra government and the Director General of Police respectively some months before the Congress-NCP exposed the scam, to investigate the allegations against him. But what I am now afraid of is that all this brazenness by the BJP might be setting a precedent for future Congress governments in the country. For, the recent Gujarat experience wherein Ahmed Patel outwitted BJP president Amit Shah to win his Rajya Sabha election against all the government might tells me that what the BJP can do, the Congress can do better. And without any of us being the wiser. I can now only resort to a prayer -- God save this country from doom and disaster. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Riyaz Raza, an inmate of Dasna jail in Ghaziabad, is earning by stitching uniforms for government school students. The amount is sent to his family for the education of his two sons. Nearly 19 inmates, like Raza, are utilising the opportunity arranged by the district magistrate. The group of inmates was felicitated by the district administration at Dasna jail on the Independence Day as they have stitched nearly 2,000 uniforms for students within the first week of the project. With the intervention of the district officials, the group has received an order to stitch 6,000 uniforms for children, under a grant of Rs200 per uniform. The students, under the governments directions, will be provided two uniforms a year. I was a chicken supplier but got involved in a case that landed me in jail for the last nine months. I got an opportunity to stitch uniforms and I grabbed it with both hands to help my family financially. I knew stitching, so I learnt to stitch uniforms quickly, he said. Apart from the first order, on which the inmates are working fast, we have decided to give them another order for 9,000 more uniforms. This will help them financially and the students will be able to receive their uniforms in a timely manner. Also, we have also given an order of 8,500 uniforms to womens self-help groups in Murad Nagar and Loni. This will help women achieve financial independence, said Ministhy S, district magistrate, Ghaziabad. Officials of the basic education department said that the materials for the uniforms are purchased by the school management committee. We have nearly 667 schools, in which nearly 98,000 students are studying. It is a big task to provide stitched uniforms to children as per governments directions. However, with the help of SHGs and inmates, nearly 73% of students have received their uniforms now, Vinay Kumar, basic education officer, said. The jail authorities are also training women inmates for taking up the stitching work. Another other initiative started in Dasna jail is a bakery unit, to prepare buns, that is operated by nearly a dozen inmates. The buns are branded DJ (Dasna Jail) and inmates are given an order for nearly 6,000 buns per month. These are supplied to patients admitted to three government hospitals at MMG, Sanjay Nagar and the Womens Hospital. Five residential schools, including three Kasturba Vidyalayas and two for specially able students, will also be provided buns prepared by Dasna inmates. The buns will be purchased by the education department from Dasna jail. The cost of a bun is Rs4.60, which is much cheaper than the market rate, Kumar said. Besides, the jail inmates will also get buns twice a week, as part of their meal. Earlier, I was into agriculture before getting involved in a criminal case and ended up in Dasna jail. Many inmates sit idle but I decided to bake buns. Once I am released, I will start my own bakery, said Neeraj, an inmate who is in Dasna jail for the last three years. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Amrapali Group homebuyers on Wednesday continued their fast for the fifth day outside the builders office in Sector 62. However, no representative from the government, the Noida authority or the Amrapali Group came forward to address their demands. Now, two buyers Vijay Kumar and Ashok Saraswat are sitting on the hunger strike, demanding their investment back and legal action against the Amrapali Groups chairman and managing director, Anil Kumar Sharma. Singh and Jain have been fasting from Saturday while Kumar and Saraswat joined them on Sunday. If the Noida authority or the Amrapali Groups officials do not come for talks and assure us on our investment in the next two days, we will intensify our agitation. Our demand is simple give back our investment and arrest Anil Kumar Sharma, who has cheated thousands of homebuyers, said Kumar. The Amrapali Group had in 2009 launched Amrapali Dream Valley project with a total of 47 towers in Sector Tech Zone-4. Of the 12,000 dwelling units, around 8,000 flats have been sold but the builder has completed only 40% of the construction work. Buyers are now protesting because the builder has failed to deliver the housing projects. The National Company Law Tribunal has also admitted an insolvency plea from the Bank of Baroda against Amrapalis three firms Ultra Homes Private Limited, Silicon City and Amrapali Infra thereby, triggering panic among buyers about their investments. The NCLT is expected to decide on insolvency cases on August 18. Since the Ultra Homes Private Limited is a parent company of the Amrapali Group, buyers in all projects are worried. Ultra Homes Private Limited is the parent company. If anything happens to this company, it will affect all housing projects including Sapphire, in which buyers are living without common facilities, said RK Shrivastava, a retired naval officer and buyer in Sapphire project in Sector 45. The protesters said they will block roads on August 19. Buyers from many other projects, even those having booked houses in projects of other builders, will join us on Saturday. We will reveal our protest plan on Saturday, said Satish Kumar, a buyer, said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In a relief to homebuyers of Jaypee Infratech,Union finance minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said that wherever buyers have bought houses, they will get their flats. The governments sympathies are with them. The insolvency proceedings have the provision to ensure that businesses are not hurt. The insolvency board will ensure that home buyers are not deprived, said Jaitley. After Jaitleys statement, homebuyers said that their hope of getting flats had been rekindled. Jaypee Group homebuyers on Saturday said that were upbeat that the government will help them get flats. We welcome his (Jaitleys) statement and hope things will move in a positive direction from here on, said Vipin Kumar, a buyer of Jaypee Group. Around 30,000 homebuyers have made investments in two housing projects of Jaypee Group Aman and Wish Town located along the Noida Expressway. The Allahabad bench of national company law tribunal (NCLT) has appointed Anuj Jain, a chartered accountant, as interim resolution professional (IRP) under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, after admitting an insolvency plea from IDBI on August 9. Jain has taken over the Jaypee Infratech management since then. SK Nagrath, a retired army officer and president of Jaypee Aman flat buyers association, on Wednesday met Jain at Sector 128 office of Jaypee Group requested him to ensure the protection of rights of buyers. Jain said he will go by the rulebook but he will accept claims from buyers. We will meet the secretary, ministry of corporate affairs and company law board to ensure that interest of buyers is protected. The secretary, ministry of corporate affairs has the power to issue clarifications and define the status of homebuyers and protection of their investment, said Nagrath. A section of buyers feel that government should issue immediate orders to authorities to help homebuyers. I met Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath in April. He directed the Noida authority chief executive officer in front of me to make an action plan of revival of realty projects. It has been five months since that meeting, but there is no roadmap in place to revive the projects. Therefore, if any leader wants to extend help to us they should enable the government take over the projects and complete the same, said Krishan Mitroo, a retired Airforce official and a homebuyer in Jaypees Wish Town. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The National Company Law Tribunal-appointed Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) Anuj Jain on Wednesday met with the chief executive officer and senior officials of the Yamuna Expressway authority to discuss issues pertaining to insolvency proceedings against Jaypee Infratech. The meeting took place at the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authoritys (YEIDA) office in Greater Noida. The Allahabad bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) appointed Anuj Jain, a chartered accountant, as IRP under Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, after admitting an insolvency plea from IDBI on August 9. Jain has taken over the management of Jaypee Infratech since. The IRP has replaced the board of directors of the Jaypee Infratech, the realty arm of the Jaypee Group. Instead of the board, the IRP will take all decisions pertaining to the company. He met us to exchange information regarding the Jaypee Infratech because YEIDA had allotted housing land to Jaypee Infratech, Amarnath Upadhyaya, the additional chief executive officer of YEIDA, said. YEIDA in 2002 allotted 2,500 hectares of housing land to Jaypee Infratech in lieu of the developer building the 25km Noida-Greater Noida Expressway and 165km Yamuna Expressway. The Jaypee Infratech got 500 hectares at five locations one pocket in Noida, two pockets in Greater Noida, one in Agra and one in Aligarh. The IRP wanted to know the land with Jaypee Infratech and its financial liabilities. He also asked the details of legal cases pending in various courts pertaining to the builder. The IRP also appointed persons on his behalf who will seek information from us, said Upadhyaya. Since the resolution proceedings started against the Jaypee Infratech, around 30,000 homebuyers are worried about their investments. The fate of the investments is uncertain until the IRP and NCLT give their final decision. As per the UP government orders, the Jaypee Infratech needs to distribute Rs1,900 crore as hiked land compensation to farmers. Jaypee, however, refused to pay the amount and filed a plea in the Allahabad high court, which ordered that an arbitrator will make a final decision in the case. YEIDA, however, challenged the HC order in the Supreme Court on May 3. Apart from this, YEIDA officials also informed the IRP that it needs to recover Rs300 crore in developmental charges from Jaypee Infratech. Since we allotted the land on a leasehold basis, we will have the first right to claim the money, a YEIDA official said. Jaypee Infratech has 1,000 hectares of undeveloped land in Aligarh and Agra. This land can be auctioned to raise funds for reviving housing projects, an official said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Some of China's latest and most advanced armored vehicles were put on display at the Second Norinco Armor Day in Baotou, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region on Wednesday. It was the first time that many of the pieces of ground equipment and weapons had appeared in public. Among them were the MBT300 main battle tank, developed in China, ZBD05 amphibious armored combat vehicles, and infantry armored vehicles. "All the major battle tanks now in service have been upgraded with an automatic transmission system. The great changes and advantages this system has brought about can greatly improve the operations of our soldiers, making it more comfortable and convenient. It also significantly improves the tank's mobility," said Zhu Zheng, arms expert at the China North Industries Group Corporation. The Second Norinco Armor Day featured tanks and amphibious armored combat vehicles made by state-owned enterprise Norico. It also included tank demonstrations and firing displays. A senior level manager of a nationalised banks SME branch in Noidas Sector 18 was detained by the police on Wednesday for questioning in connection with a fraud worth Rs24.30 lakh from the account of a non-resident Indian (NRI). According to the police, an amount of Rs 24.30 lakh was transferred from the account of an NRI, Sandeep Arora, on August 13 through RTGS, allegedly without the permission of the account holder. We have detained the bank manager for questioning. The complainant had alleged that the manager is involved in the fraud, said Anil Kumar Shahi, station house officer of Sector 20 police station. A complaint was registered and an FIR has been lodged in the matter, he added. The complaint alleged that the phone number registered with the account was changed by the bank staff using fake PAN (permanent account number issued by I-T department) and Aadhaar cards. Sanjeet Arora, the victims brother, told Hindustan Times that his brother owns an automobile parts business in Dubai and is on a vacation in Singapore since August 9, when the bank authorised the transaction without his knowledge. Sanjeet said, On August 13, my brother received an e-mail from the assistant general manager, which read the bank has received a cheque number 000007 dated 10-08-2017 of amount Rs24,30,000/- for RTGS in favour of NS Enterprises. As we discussed with you over the phone we have processed the transaction. Kindly acknowledge the same via mail too. He said that Sandeep had immediately reverted to the e-mail, stating that he had not spoken to anyone in this regard and directed the manager to not debit the amount from his account. He said the cheque leaf is still in his brothers possession and no such transaction through RTGS was authorised by Sandeep. Another attempt to transfer a sum of Rs16.20 lakh was made through another cheque on Monday but the transaction did not take place as Sanjeet was present in the bank branch on the same day with a complaint. Sanjeet said, The manager should have complained to the police when he received the reply in an e-mail from my brother. Instead, he started consoling me and started assuring me that the amount would be returned to the account. The police on Wednesday arrested a man who allegedly murdered his 22-year-old wife at their Shyam Park Extension residence in Ghaziabad on August 14. The body was found with the wrists and throat slashed. The police said that the woman had gotten weak after a miscarriage and the man did not have money to provide for her treatment or even food. The couple, Pooja Bharti,22, and Sandeep Rai, 24, had eloped from their village in Kushinagar near Gorakhpur in May and got married in a temple, the police said. They came to Ghaziabad and stayed at a rented house in Sahibabad. Since her miscarriage two months ago, the woman had become weak and was repeatedly demanding proper treatment and food from her husband. He was earning a monthly salary of Rs5,000 and was unable to take proper care of her, a police officer said. On the evening of the incident, Rai and Bharti had an altercation, following which Rai punched her twice and the woman fell unconscious as she was weak. Rai took a kitchen knife and slashed her wrists. After some time, he thought she may reveal the incident after gaining consciousness and so, slashed her throat and left the knife lodged there, the officer said. The man fled the scene of the crime and returned in the morning to trick the police into believing that some unidentified persons had murdered his wife while he was away on night duty. He also filed a police complaint but the police were not convinced with his story as none of his neighbours reported seeing any outsider or anyone entering the house. There was no motive for any outsider to enter the house for robbery or theft. We found that the man was present in the room on the evening of the incident. We also got confirmation that the woman was murdered during the evening, as per the post-mortem report. When questioned, Rai broke down and revealed that he was facing a cash crunch and could not take proper care of his wife, Akash Tomar, superintendent of police (city), said. The police booked Rai for murder and also charged him under the provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Rai was working at an industrial unit in Sahibabad, the police said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In August 1997, as a journalist for Time magazine, I worked on a special issue celebrating 50 years of India and Pakistan as independent nations. We did report the horrors of Partition the millions who lost lives and homes in bloody riots, the killing of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi soon after by men who thought he spoke too often about the rights of Muslims and not Hindus but only as a memory of unfathomable hate. It was madness, old men, once-murderers, shuddered as they confronted mortality and thought about mercy. In the five decades since Independence, the two nations had in many ways flourished, shaking off famine, disease, illiteracy. Life spans increased, fewer children died young, and more mothers survived birth. As writers, artists, scientists, traders, and achievers in many other fields, Pakistanis and Indians had found their voice and earned international respect. Economic prospects were encouraging, and with that the hope of lifting millions out of poverty. Times special issue, and even the fact that a major international magazine had produced it, was one of optimism. Now, two decades later and 70 years since Independence, despite many gains, both India and Pakistan appear willing to relinquish the one thing that people fought for together: Freedom. They have adopted, and even embellished, the practices of their colonial oppressors. State security forces, used by the colonial administration to suppress the population, remain as abusive as ever. Religious sentiment is deployed to kill, with induced fervour that encourages militants to shoot down people in railway stations or hotels, blow them up in parks, and for mobs to beat a man to death on the streets. Loyalty is always on test, on what people post on social media, what they sing, write, paint, and whether they bow before the flag. Those who dare dissent are vanquished by laws that have long since been dropped by the colonial rulers. Charges of sedition or blasphemy are recklessly handed down, and then marauding followers are let loose to punish, incited by ultranationalist demagogues. Civil liberties and human rights are denounced as imported concepts, created by the former colonisers, forgetting that they are ideas that found global acceptance after the devastation of world war. In Pakistan, secret military courts consign to the hangman, men convicted of terrorism after unfair trials, while establishment forces nurture others who will commit terror attacks. In Pakistan, a Christian woman is facing the death penalty because denouncing discrimination was deemed blasphemous; a politician who spoke for her rights was murdered, and his killer feted. In India, a little boy is left bleeding to death by both his killers and bystanders because he might just have been a beef-eater. And in both countries, leaders speak of protecting women, and yet promptly blame the victim for sexual abuse, domestic violence, acid attacks, and other ill-treatment. India and Pakistan have mirrored a crackdown on critics. Groups who speak out for human rights might lose their funding, and even face arrest. So, 70 years on, both countries need a course correction. Many pledges will be made, but it is time to commit to truly becoming states that rejoice in diversity, and ensure the rights of the most vulnerable are protected. Meenakshi Ganguly is South Asia director at Human Rights Watch Twitter: @mg2411 The views expressed are personal The AI (artificial intelligence) revolution is well and truly upon us, and we are at a significant watershed moment in our lives where AI could become the new electricity pervasive and touching every aspect of our life. While many industries including healthcare, education, retail and banks have already started adopting AI in key business aspects, there are also new business models which are predicated on AI. With the global market of AI expected to grow at 36% annually, reaching a valuation of $3 trillion by 2025 from $126 bn in 2015, new age disruption is not only redefining the way traditional businesses are run, but is also unfolding as a new factor of production. However, the fear of what might happen once AI evolves into artificial general intelligence which can perform any intellectual task that a human can do has now taken centre stage with the ongoing debate between two tech titans Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg. Similarly, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates had also voiced his views that in a few years, AI would have evolved enough to warrant wide attention, while Facebook has ended up shutting down one of its AI projects as chatbots had developed their own language (unintelligible to humans) to communicate. Beyond this, the common citizen wants to know if she should be worried about AI taking away her job? This calls for broader thinking, including the evolution of industry protocols, while making sure that the public is ready for these futuristic advancements. Will AI move my cheese? The emergence of AI has seen criticism because of the probability that it could replace human jobs by automation. However, as we see the shift of AI from R&D stage to various real-life business prototypes, it seems evident that goal of most AI applications is to augment human abilities through hybrid business models. According to McKinsey, AI would raise global labour productivity by 0.8% to 1.4% a year between now and 2065. I believe that both policy makers and corporates must recognise AIs potential to empower the workforce and invest in creating training programmes/workshops to help the labour force adapt to these newer models. For instance, Ocado, the UK online supermarket has embedded robotics at the core of warehouse management. Robots steer thousands of product-filled bins to human packers just in time to fill shopping bags which are then sent to delivery vans whose drivers use AI applications to pick the best route based on traffic conditions and weather. Technology will create more new jobs than it eliminates We must learn from the history of the industrial and technological revolutions over the last 500 years that jobs eliminated in one sector have been replaced by newer jobs requiring refreshed skill-sets. As a corollary, countries such as Japan, Korea or Germany, which have the highest levels of automation, should have seen large scale unemployment over the past 4-5 decades. This is not necessarily the case. Having said that, in the near future, every routine operational task is certainly likely to become digitised and AI could be running the back-office of most businesses. Over the next few decades, many middle skill jobs are also likely to be eliminated. However, AI is unlikely to replace jobs which require human to human interaction. Consequently, fundamental human thinking skills such as entrepreneurship, strategic thinking, social leadership, connected salesmanship, philosophy, and empathy, among others, would be in even greater demand. Further, till a point of singularity is reached, AI will not be able to service or program on its own leading to new, high-skilled jobs for technicians and computing experts. Lets be prepared Globally, policymakers and corporations will need to significantly revamp the education system to address technology gaps. In India, this represents an enormous opportunity for policymakers to make better informed decisions, tackle some of the toughest socio-economic challenges, and address the woeful shortage of qualified doctors, teachers etc. We need to immediately plan for state and nation-wide university hubs, and MOOCs (massive open online courses) built on the framework of DICE (design, innovation, creativity led entrepreneurship). Curricula should be focussed on developing basic skills in STEM (science, technology , engineering and mathematics) fields, coupled with a new emphasis on creativity, critical and strategic thinking. Adaptive and individualised learning systems need to be established to help students at different levels work collaboratively amongst themselves as well as with AI in the classroom. The National Skills Development Corporation will need to evolve into National Future Skills Development, as we as a civil society prepare to bring the future into the present! Rana Kapoor is MD and CEO, YES Bank; and Chairman, YES Global Institute The views expressed are personal Does any State need a special law to deal with crimes committed by organised groups? This is a question which is very difficult to answer. Undoubtedly, the crime graph has shown a dramatic upward rise in the recent past across India. Reasons like poverty, social structures, failure of the agricultural sector coupled with the inability of the nation to create job opportunities for millions of teeming young men and women, the current nature and style of politics, the intense interference with the police force (from recruitment to postings) and the extremely slow pace of the judiciary to deal with criminal cases are responsible. India today has a population of 1.3 billion people and neither the size of the police force nor that of the judiciary can keep pace with the need of providing sufficient manpower and resources to both. Uttar Pradesh is the largest state in India in terms of population and economically it is comparatively backward. Opportunities for jobs in agricultural and non-agricultural sectors are few and far between. Add to these woes the emergence of a nexus between political parties and criminals. A large number of politicians, MLAs and MPs across India, and especially in UP, are facing criminal charges and have criminal antecedents. The emergence of regional parties in UP has further complicated the situation. So, the Uttar Pradesh Control of Organised Crime Act (UPCOCA), proposed by the UP government is no solution to deal with the situation. The provisions of the existing laws, especially the IPC, CrPC and the Evidence Act, provide sufficient powers to the police. The enforcement of the existing laws is the solution. The emergence of criminals on a large scale in UP is a reflection of poor governance and even poorer policing. The government under the new chief minister can perhaps prove that with better governance and policing, the law and order situation can be effectively dealt with. UP stands apart from Maharashtra, where the existence of dangerous and organised criminal groups is a reality. But even with The Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), National Crime Records Bureau statistics show that the number of crimes increased from 603,408 in 2000 to 828,010 in 2015. Special laws like MCOCA are generally prone to abuse by the police and give them reason to hide their failures in effectively implementing ordinary laws. While its provisions have been held to be constitutionally valid, there is no doubt that these provisions are misused quite regularly. The citizens constitutional and fundamental rights are seriously eroded on account of such abuse. In the garb of such laws, political rivals and many a times ordinary citizens who espouse the cause of the underprivileged and the vulnerable sections of the society are targeted. So a balance is needed between security needs and individual rights. If UP is really serious it can bring a special law not to deal with so-called organised crime, but crimes against women, Dalits and Muslims. Mob lynchings need to be curbed with an iron hand. One must remember that many a times such organised gangs are born out of State policies. It is well known that in the United States, the mafia and Al Capone were products of the prohibition policy in the 1920s. In India, for the first 50 years, major criminal gangs indulging in smuggling were born on account of thoughtless policies regulating import and export. Currently, the influx of narcotics, which are seriously destroying a whole generation of young Indians, are being smuggled in despite the presence of paramilitary forces on the western border, the existence of coast guards, intelligence agencies and police forces. A recent haul off the coast of Gujarat shows the size of the trade and the profits which must be shared amongst various stake holders. Liberalising mild drugs for use is being encouraged in many countries to combat it. India is a democracy but its citizens are overly governed. This does not augur well for the future. Far from dealing with the crying need of reducing the laws, the State wants to bring more laws. Perhaps the effort is to do away with the well-known principles of criminal jurisprudence, Presumed Innocence and Burden of Proof, which clearly demand that every accused is innocent till found guilty and that the burden to prove that he/she is guilty, rests on the prosecution. Let us hope that the popular government of UP will not go ahead with UPCOCA and instead provide better governance and effective policing to deal with law and order. One can only be reminded of the sobering words of the full bench of the Supreme Court of Israel, a country often cited for justifying stringent laws and actions, that:at times democracy fights with one hand tied behind her back. Despite that, democracy has the upper hand, since preserving the rule of law and recognition of individual liberties constitute an important component of her security stance. Dushyant Dave is senior advocate and former president, Supreme Court Bar Association The views expressed are personal (Counterpoint: Prakash Singh on why UP needs a special law to fight organised crime) The flood situation in north Bihars East Champaran district worsened following release of more than five lakh cusecs of water from Gandak barrage in Valmikinagar and breach in the Pipra Piprasi embankment, both in the neighbouring West Champaran, on Tuesday. Many villages in Areraj subdivision East Champaran have been inundated, as a result, forcing thousands of people to take shelter on the Gandak embankment and the district administration, already battling the flood fury at Raxaul, Dhaka and Patahi, to open 10 relief camps for providing succor to flood victims. Another embankment on the Gandak, near Mohamadpur in East Champaran, was facing pressure from the swollen river, threatening many more villages as well as the national highway (NH)-28, that links Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh with Barauni in Bihar. Engineers and experts of water resource department were already camping at the embankment and making efforts to prevent the breach, said an official on duty. Annoyed over delayed and insufficient relief material, flood victims across East Champaran organised protests, alleging that food packets and other necessary items were yet to reach the camps. Villagers of Bin Toli in Sangrampur block blocked Manglapur-Areraj road, demanding proper medical aid to the flood victims, people of northern Bhawanipur refused to go to relief camps, alleging lack of facilities. In Adapur block, 14 of the 17 panchayats have been badly affected following breach in the Kaisar-e-Hind embankment owing to pressure of water from Nepal. Most of the affected villages have been cut off from block and district headquarters. District magistrate Raman Kumar said 90 army jawans were helping three teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in carrying out rescue and relief work at Dhaka and Patahi. He said 120 more army jawans would join the relief work. The Bihar police arrested six suspects and may prosecute 150 more people over an attack on Bihars deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi whose motorcade was stoned on Tuesday. The Rashtriya Janata Dal, the party chief minister Nitish Kumar dumped last month to realign with Modis Bharatiya Janata Party, rejected allegations that its members were involved in the attack. According to sources in police, the arrests were made between Tuesday evening and the early hours of Wednesday. Modi was unhurt in the attack but four vehicles were reportedly damaged when they were hit near Chaksikandar in Vaishali district. Minutes before Modis motorcade, RJD leader and former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav, who represents Raghopur assembly constituency in Vaishali district, crossed the same stretch. Modi alleged that his car was attacked by RJD supporters out of political vendetta. He said windowpanes of four vehicles of his convoy were damaged. RJD chief Lalu Prasad said the allegation was an attempt to defame his party. He blamed the police for failing to prevent the attack, especially when Tejashwi and Modi were taking the same route. He attributed the mob attack to public anger against government switch. Tejashwi, who claimed he got to know about the attack from the media, said the RJD could never indulge in such an act as it believes in Gandhian principles. Modi was on his way to Kalapahar village to attend the last rites for the mother of a former MLA Achutanand Singh. Union minister and LJP chief Ram Vilas Paswan, who is also Hajipur MP, condemned the incident and demanded stern action against the attackers. Bihar agriculture minister Prem Kumar, BJP MP Ashwini Kumar Chaubey and LJPs Pashupati Paras also condemned the attack. Pro-Khalistan groups have held a demonstration outside the UN headquarters calling on the world body to support a referendum for self-determination. A delegation of Sikh activists also submitted to UN officials a report A Case For Punjab Referendum 2020 - Sikhs Right to Self-Determination - Why and How?. The report by advocacy group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), addressed to secretary general Antonio Guterres, urged the UN to support the demand of Sikhs for holding a referendum in Punjab for realisation of their right to self-determination. Members of Sikh rights groups and North American gurudwara committees urged the United Nations to support the Punjab Independence Referendum for a separate Sikh homeland of Khalistan. Prabhas is particularly shy when it comes to public functions. But it looks like he is willing to let go of some of his shyness, after all. The Baahubali actor recently attended the audio launch of upcoming film, Anando Brahma, in Hyderabad and fans couldnt have been happier. The moment the star stepped onto the stage to wish the films makers success, the crowd went into raptures. People chanted Prabhas, Prabhas in chorus, reports Times of India. Anando Brahma stars Taapsee Pannu and has been directed by Mahi V Raghav. After the phenomenal success of Baahubali 2, Prabhas next will be Saaho. A Telugu-Hindi bilingual, the film is being directed by Sujeeth. The film also stars Shraddha Kapoor in the lead and Neil Nitin Mukesh as the villain. There was much talk about the popular romantic pair Prabhas and Anushka Shetty coming together for the fifth time in Saaho. Sadly, that didnt happen as Anushka had scheduling problems, having given away the bulk of her dates to a big-budget Tamil film. The action thriller is expected to have many edge-of-the-seat moments. The films teaser realised in April this year has been very well received, garnering more than 12 million views (10 million in Hindi) on Youtube. Unlike fantasy drama Baahubali, Saaho is set in contemporary times. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop Pawan Kalyans next film with Trivikram has created quite a buzz with fans after the debacle of Katamarayudu. The news is that the first look of the film will be unveiled on Pawan Kalyans birthday on September 2. The fans has dubbed the film as PSPK25. Previous reports had suggested that the first look was to be revealed on August 15. Sadly that didnt happen. The films name too hasnt been decided yet. A number of names have been doing the rounds -- Engineer Babu, Gopala Krishnudu, Paradesa Prayanam, says a report in Times of India. The untitled film will be the third time Trivikram and Pawan Kalyan will be working together. While not much is known about the film, it is speculated that Pawan Kalyan will play a software professional. The film will also star Keerthy Suresh and Anu Emmanuel. Part of the film will be shot in Europe. The crew reportedly left for Europe on July 19 for a 20-day schedule. Pawan Kalyan will undergo a special makeover for the film but the look has been kept under wraps. The film is expected to hit the screens on October, around Diwali. Follow @htshowbiz for more ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop A third woman has come forward to accuse Oscar-winning director Roman Polanski of sexually assaulting her when she was a minor forty years ago in the 1970s. According to The Independent, the woman identified only as Robin, said in a news conference that she had been sexually victimized by Polanski in 1973, when she was just 16. She is the third woman to accuse him of child abuse. Attorney Gloria Allred (L) addresses the media as Robin (one name), another accuser of Roman Polanski who alleges she was 16 years old when sexually victimized by Mr. Polanski, wipes a tear from her eye, during a press conference in Los Angeles, California. (AFP) Reading from a prepared statement, she said she had told a friend about the assault on the day after it happened. The reason, with this exception, that I kept it to myself is that I didnt want my father to do something that might cause him to go to prison for the rest of his life, she added. She further noted that her decision to come forward after so many years was because she was infuriated that a statutory rape case against Polanski was dropped after his victim asked a Los Angeles court to end it. In 1978, The Pianist director fled the US after admitting statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl. His victim, Samantha Geimer, asked a Los Angeles court in June to end the case against him. Geimer said she had forgiven the filmmaker for the assault and wanted closure for herself and her family. Samantha Geimer waits in court to deliver a statement in the 40 year-old case against filmmaker Roman Polanski in Los Angeles, California. (REUTERS) Robin, who appeared with her lawyer Gloria Allred in Los Angeles on Tuesday, cannot sue Polanski in a criminal court because the statute of limitation has passed. The Oscar-winning director, who is a citizen of Poland and of France, has been a fugitive since. In 2010, British actor Charlotte Lewis accused Polanski of sexually assaulting her in Paris in 1983, when she was 16 years old. She was also represented by lawyer Gloria Allred. ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktop A black banker in Goldman Sachs Group Incs personal wealth management unit filed a lawsuit on Wednesday accusing the firm of steering top clients to her white colleagues and denying her promotions because of her race. Rebecca Allen in the lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan said Goldmans virtually all-white senior leadership team favors white bankers for promotions and lucrative accounts, so they earn more than black coworkers. Simply put, Goldman Sachs does virtually nothing to hire, promote or develop black talent, instead focusing its efforts on retaining and promoting white employees to positions of leadership, Allen said in the complaint. Goldman in a statement said the claims were meritless. Our success depends on our ability to maintain a diverse employee base and we are focused on recruiting, retaining and promoting diverse professionals at all levels, the company said. Allen, who was hired in 2012, said that last year she was removed from an account she had worked on for three years by a Goldman partner, Christina Minnis. Allen says her supervisor met with Minnis about the decision and said she made racist and anti-Semitic comments about Allen, who is also Jewish. Minnis is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Allens lawyers at New York City law firm Wigdor said in a statement that they believed other black Goldman employees would come forward with similar claims. We can expose what is really happening behind the closed doors with regard to the denial of opportunity for entrance and advancement for qualified black individuals, the lawyers said. Wigdor is also representing a group of non-white current and former employees of Fox News Network LLC who say in a lawsuit in New York state court that they were belittled and marginalized because of their race. Fox has denied the claims. Allens lawsuit comes as Goldman Sachs is facing proposed class action claims in the same court in Manhattan accusing the firm of discriminating against women in pay and promotions. Goldman has denied the claims and in June appealed a judges decision rejecting its bid to dismiss part of the case. In Wednesdays lawsuit, Allen says her male colleagues were assigned to more lucrative accounts. But her legal claims stem only from alleged discrimination based on her race and religion. The case is Allen v. Goldman Sachs Group Inc, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 1:17-cv-06195. (Reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by Marguerita Choy) The only EU country with which the United Kingdom has a land border is its former colony of Ireland, but the Theresa May government announced on Wednesday it wants the current borderless arrangement between the two countries to continue after Brexit. Setting out its intentions in a position paper, the government said it wants to address the unique circumstances with Ireland, with which the UK not only shares the land border from Northern Ireland, but also history, trade and close people-to-people ties. The position paper published ahead of the August negotiating round in Brussels states the government will protect the Common Travel Area (CTA) and associated rights for UK and Irish citizens, and put upholding the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement at the heart of its talks. Londons position on the issue will need to be negotiated with Brussels. The seemingly intractable position between the two sides on various issues was reiterated last week, when the May government proposed a new agreement on the customs union that was soon shot down by Brussels as fantasy. The latest paper put forward proposals on avoiding a hard border for the movement of goods making clear the UKs position that there should be no physical infrastructure at the frontier and plans to preserve the wide range of institutional cooperation between Northern Ireland, Ireland and Great Britain. Prime Minister May said: No one voted to end the special ties between the UK and Ireland or to undermine the unique arrangements between Ireland and Northern Ireland which have underpinned the peace process and have been in place well before our membership of the EU." However, responding to the position paper, a spokeswoman for the European Commission said: We must discuss how to maintain the Common Travel Area and protect, in all of its dimensions, the Good Friday Agreement - of which the UK is a co-guarantor. It is essential that we have a political discussion on this before looking at technical solutions." In London, Brexit secretary David Davis said London and Dublin were clear that protecting the Belfast Agreement in Brexit negotiations and ensuring that the land border is as seamless as possible for people and businesses was a priority. In committing to keep the Common Travel Area, which has existed for nearly a century, we're making sure UK and Irish citizens will continue to be able to travel, live, work and study across both countries, he said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON China hit back on Wednesday at criticism by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson of its record on religious freedom, saying the United States was not perfect and should be looking after its own affairs rather than making baseless accusations. Tillerson, speaking at the State Department while introducing the agencys annual report on religious freedom, said the Chinese government tortures and imprisons thousands for their religious beliefs, citing the targeting of Falun Gong members, Uighur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said China fully respected and protected freedom of religion and belief. The so-called US report ignores the facts, confuses right and wrong and makes wanton criticism of Chinas religious freedom situation, she said. China is resolutely opposed to this and has lodged solemn representations with the US side. The United States would do better to look at its own problems, Hua added. Everyone has seen that the facts prove the United States is not totally perfect, she said, without providing any examples. We urge the United States to respect the facts and properly manage its own affairs, and stop using the wrong means of the so-called religious freedom issue to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. State news agency Xinhua said in an English-language commentary the violence at a weekend rally by white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, meant the United States should reflect on its own problems before pointing the finger at China. Against the backdrop of the recent clash between white supremacists and their opponents, the US accusations against China simply lay bare the double standard it employs, it said. The violence highlighted the danger of racism, which is a serious problem in a still divided US society, Xinhua added. Despite its self-proclaimed role as the worlds human rights champion, the fact is the worlds sole superpower is far from becoming a respected role model in this regard. The violence erupted on Saturday after white nationalists converged in Charlottesville for a Unite the Right rally to protest against plans to remove a statue of Robert E Lee, commander of the pro-slavery Confederate army during the US Civil War. Many of the rally participants were seen carrying firearms, sticks and shields. Some also wore helmets. Counter-protesters likewise came equipped with sticks, helmets and shields. The two sides clashed in scattered street brawls before a car ploughed into the rally opponents, killing a woman and injuring 19. A 20-year-old Ohio man, James Fields, said to have harboured Nazi sympathies, was charged with murder. The relationship between the State and journalism in democratic societies has been a long established theme in media research. Beginning with the idea of the news media as the fourth estate in Edmund Burkes famous words, to Jurgen Habermas conception of the public sphere, to the discourse of manufacturing consent by Edward S Herman and Noam Chomsky, to Benedict Andersons link between newspapers and nationalism the many layers of interaction between the State and journalism have been closely examined. At its most basic, the relationship is a daily contest of whose version of reality gets more space in the news media, whose perspectives prevail, and who gets to set the public agenda. Issues such as propaganda and spin are central to examining the relationship. The contours of the contest, however, change in the case of foreign correspondence; here, the focus is on how journalists report a host country to their home country; how national interests come into play; how the host country exerts to ensure that the right message is received in the foreign country. London has been one of the capitals of international news, host to a large number of journalists from all over the globe. London-based correspondents have been reporting for Indian newspapers long before independence; in fact, one of the earliest despatches from London appeared in James Silk Buckinghams Calcutta Journal in the early nineteenth century. Nearer independence in 1947, several freedom fighters based in London wrote for the nationalist press back home. Since independence, the flow of news from London to India has been regular and institutionalised, with leading newspapers and news agencies posting correspondents; they often functioned under the banner of the Indian Journalists Association (IJA). The new post-1947 situation between India and Britain also led the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) to keep a close tab on Indian journalists output. Steeped in the culture of file and forget, journalists rarely seek to know or are given feedback how their output has been received in official circles in London. Thanks to Britains long cherished and envied value of freedom of expression, few, if any, questions are raised officially to journalists whose output may or may not uphold the national interest from Londons perspective. However, no official feedback does not mean the journalistic output is not analysed, discussed and commented upon within the layers of the FCO and the British high commission in New Delhi. A rare example of this official discourse was made available in a declassified file in July by the National Archives. Titled Coverage of UK by journalists from India, the file dated 1985 includes communication between the high commission and FCO in London, between officials based in London and New Delhi, analyses of Indian publications, profiles of journalists, IJAs invitations, drafts of Prime Minister Margaret Thatchers responses to a questionnaire by Press Trust of India before a visit by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, and significant clippings from Indian newspapers. Contents of the file provide an insight into how the State views and deals with the output of foreign correspondents based in London. It is from 1985, but given the officials forensic analyses and frank remarks about journalists at the time, the discourse can be expected to have become more sophisticated over the years. However, how officials view the current lot of Indian journalists or their output will not be declassified for another 20 years. Two examples from the file (dated January 1 to December 31, 1985) are indicative of the close engagement of the State with journalists and journalism. One relates to the visit of Pritish Nandy, the then editor of The Illustrated Weekly of India, and his article published after the visit; and the reporting of the then London-based correspondent of The Times of India, KN Malik. It was a time of much tension between New Delhi and London on individuals and developments in Britain related to Khalistan and Jammu and Kashmir. New Delhi resented anti-India forces being allowed to operate freely in Britain. Birmingham-based Indian diplomat Ravindra Mhatre was killed in 1984, while Khalistan leader Jagjit Singh Chauhan was interviewed on BBC and held press conferences, raising hackles in New Delhi. A note from the high commission dated November 1985 set out Nandys age and profile, with the comment that he would base most of his writing after the visit on interviews with the Sikh and Kashmiri communities, but recommended he be given an FCO briefing in London. NE Cole of the South Asia Department wrote on November 5: He (Nandy) is clearly not a newcomer to the Sikh terrorist scene. We could not reasonably make it a condition of our seeing Mr Nandy that he should not seek to interview Khalistani and Kashmiri extremists in this country but at the same time it is important that he gets the facts right about the recent arrests. I suggest you make it clear to him that all of our information is given unattributably. After the briefing, a note was sent to the high commission in New Delhi on November 15: Nandy took no notes. But as the discussion developed he made clear that he had little patience with the GOIs position on the Sikh problem generally...In this context he also seemed sympathetic to our position, recognising that we could only act as far as the law permitted in curbing acts by Sikh extremists which would be offensive to the Indians. Our discussion with Nandy was therefore amicable and he seemed very well disposed. British high commissioner Robert Wade-Gery wrote on November 19: Nandy is entitled to seek our views and we are entitled to brief him. Nandy is not the sort of person who we would expect to make a point of giving the Indian high commission a read-out of FCO views. Even if he does divulge the fact of the briefing, we doubt whether the IHC or MEA would infer that he had visited Chauhan at our suggestion. If, of course, there were any suggestion to the contrary we could rebut it. After Nandys piece was published, RP Nash wrote from New Delhi to TC Wood in London on December 20, with a detailed description of the Weeklys cover and contents: Pritish Nandys article The terror network finally appeared in the Illustrated Weekly on 15 December...The predicament of the British government is not unfairly portrayed, but various measures taken by British law enforcement agencies to apprehend individual activists (eg. the detentions in the run-up to the Rajiv visit) are interpreted in essentially PR terms (betraying once again a fundamental failure to understand how things work in Britain). Though sensationalist and undoubtedly unhelpful in its overall presentation, Nandys article contains no glaring inaccuracies or distortions which might suggest that the decision to brief him was wrong. Indeed, the article might have been worse had we not agreed to see Nandy. But the overall effect will be (A) to confirm the impression in Indian minds that Britain could be doing more: (B) to suggest that the problem posed by Kashmiri/Sikh extremists abroad may in fact be more serious that previously supposed: (C) to give credence to the view that extremist/terrorist sympathies are not, as frequently contended by HMG, confined to a tiny radical fringe. Compared to Nandy, Malik often attracted frank and robust remarks. On April 12, MA Runacres informed London of his news report in The Times of India on India-UK relations and Sikh extremists. The report is termed another particularly objectionable article by KN Malik as well as very entertaining reading. The official concludes his note with a comment of what he saw as a tradition of reporting by Indian journalists based in London; the perception was that the Indian news media had an anti-British bias. He wrote: It is depressing that not only that Malik should be taking a negative line, but also that he should be getting facts wrong, especially as we understand that the Indian high commission is his major, if not his only, source. Of course this sort of article is in quite a tradition of Indian reporting from London and Malik would be clearly difficult to deflect from his policy of painting the Indo-British relationship in gloomy colours, but anything which could be done to set him right on a few points would be beneficial, particularly as his articles are given quite some prominence. Another New Delhi-based official, RC Samuel, took the issue further, in a note to London on May 10: We were glad to know you had tackled Malik and hope it will help to restrain his wilder allegationsYour decision on regular briefings is also welcome they lapsed earlier partly, I think, because they proved to be unproductive. But some of the personalities will have changed since then and it would be well worth trying to get into a fruitful dialogue with the present generation of Indian journalists. Since their raison detre is to come up with stories that will get printed, it may of course be unrealistic to discourage them from reporting anything they regard as newsworthy. But I expect you will be making the point to them that inflated coverage of minor incidents or Sikh extremist statements who no-one else in the UK would want to pay attention to only exacerbates the problem so far as the Indian public is concerned. Declassified files such as the 1985 one have rarely been used in media research, even though several academic journals in Britain, United States and elsewhere focus on various aspects of journalism. The issue of how a host country deals with reporting of its affairs by foreign journalists to their home country can enrich research into foreign correspondence, particularly in relation to countries as close to each other as India and the United Kingdom. (This article appeared in the 70th anniversary issue of the Indian Journalists Association (Europe), which was established in London on May 29, 1947.) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The devastating floods in Nepal have not only killed 120 people and displaced tens of thousands but they have also destroyed the habitat of wild animals and swept away several endangered one-horned rhinos to India. Officials at Chitwan National Park, especially famous as the habitat of the Royal Bengal Tiger, one-horned rhinos and elephants, are preparing to bring back the endangered animals that were swept away to different places within Nepal and to India. According to Nepals national news agency RSS, authorities have been searching for the missing rhinos for the past two days. One was found dead while a two-year-old rhino was detected in an Indian settlement and four more in jungles along the Nepal-India border. Chitwan National Parks information officer, Nurendra Aryal, was quoted as saying that Nepalese authorities had located a two-year-old baby rhino at Bagaha, 42 km southeast of Balmiki Nagar in India, and were in touch with Indian officials to bring it back. However, officials are facing difficulties in bringing back the animals from India as the highway on the Nepalese side has been cut off by flood waters. A Nepalese man wades through flood waters across a field close to the village of Tilathi in Saptari district, 450 km southeast of the capital Kathmandu, on August 15, 2017. (AFP) Similarly, an elephant was spotted at Narsahi in a community forest within the Tribeni buffer zone, and another at Balmiki Ashram. Nepalese security personnel have been deployed in border areas to protect the displaced rhinos and elephants. Flood have wreaked havoc in different parts of Chitwan district and several animals have been drowned within the park. Officials believe more wild animals could have been swept away to India. Hotel owners in the same area had rescued more than 600 tourists, including many Indians, with elephants after they were trapped by the floods at a tourist site called Sauraha. The mother of a woman killed while protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville urged mourners at a memorial service Wednesday to make my daughters death worthwhile by confronting injustice and channelling anger into righteous action, stirring applause from the hundreds of people who packed into a downtown theatre wearing the victims favourite colour, purple. Mourners, many dressed in purple, depart after a memorial service for car attack victim Heather Heyer at the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S. (REUTERS) They tried to kill my child to shut her up. Well, guess what? You just magnified her, said Susan Bro, pointing a defiant finger as her audience gave her a standing ovation. The white nationalists who had pledged to show up and potentially disrupt services for Heather Heyer were nowhere to be seen among the residents, clergy people and out-of-town tourists who gathered outside the Paramount Theatre to remember her. A member of the clergy holds a picture of Heather Heyer, who was killed at a far-right rally, as they stand outside of her memorial service in Charlottesville, Virginia, Us. (REUTERS) Heyer was among the hundreds of protesters who had gathered Saturday in Charlottesville to decry what was believed to be the largest gathering of white nationalists in a decade including neo-Nazis, skinheads and Ku Klux Klan members. They descended on the city for a rally prompted by the citys decision to remove a Confederate monument. Counter-protesters had converged for a march along a downtown street when suddenly a Dodge Challenger barrelled into them, hurling people into the air. The Ohio man who police say was driving, 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr., was described by a former high school teacher as an admirer of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. He was quickly taken into custody and has been charged with second-degree murder and other counts. Heyers family members and friends said her death would only inspire them to fight harder for justice. Susan Bro, mother to Heather Heyer, becomes emotional during a memorial for her daughter who was killed Saturday, when a car rammed into a crowd of people protesting a white nationalist rally. (AP) This is not the end of Heathers legacy, Bro said. It was just the beginning of Heathers legacy. Bro urged those who wanted to honor her daughter to find in your heart that small spark of accountability. You poke that finger at yourself like Heather would have done, and you make it happen, she said. You take that extra step and you find a way to make a difference in the world! Heyers grandfather said his 32-year-old granddaughter always wanted fairness, even from a young age. Elwood Shrader said Heyer showed her passion for equality and swiftly called out something that wasnt right. He said she wanted respect for everyone and believed all lives matter. Mark Heyer, her father, said his daughter wanted to put down hate. President Donald Trump tweeted for the first time Wednesday about Heyer, calling her beautiful and incredible and a truly special young woman. He said she will be long remembered by all! Memorial service today for beautiful and incredible Heather Heyer, a truly special young woman. She will be long remembered by all! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2017 Trump told reporters Tuesday that he planned to reach out to Heyers family. The White House did not respond to questions Wednesday about whether Trump has contacted Heyers family. Heyer was a Charlottesville resident and legal assistant. She grew up in nearby Greene County and worked as a legal assistant at a law firm. Her boss, Larry Miller, said the young woman was active in the firms bankruptcy practice and was like a family member to him. Shes very compassionate, shes very precise, got a big heart, Miller said. She wants to make sure that things are right. She cares about the people that we take care of. Also killed Saturday were two Virginia State Police troopers who were aboard a helicopter that was providing video of the event before it broke off to lend support to a motorcade for Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe. The helicopter crashed outside of Charlottesville. An investigation into the crash is ongoing. A funeral for Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates has been set for Friday and a funeral for Lt. H. Jay Cullen, the helicopters pilot, is scheduled for Saturday. Its the kind of story 20-year-old Irish Emma Kelly can tell around the dinner table for years. The time she failed to recognise her countrys prime minister and made him wait 20 minutes for a table at a restaurant. Kelly, a student from Dublin whos working as a waitress in Chicago on a visa, did not recognise Leo Varadkar, Irelands Taoiseach, or prime minister. She first asked Varadkar if he was Irish and then asked his friend and him to wait at the bar before leading them to a tiny table at the restaurant. Kelly realised her mistake when her friend pointed out that it was Varadkar, who is of Indian origin, sitting in the restaurant and took to Twitter to narrate the entire embarrassing story. Leo varadkar comes into our restaurant in Chicago, first I ask is he Irish then I put him on a wait list and then I put him at a tiny table Emma Kelly (@__Emmax3) August 14, 2017 Honestly what is wrong with me Emma Kelly (@__Emmax3) August 14, 2017 Speaking to RTE Radio later, Kelly said she had not expected to see an Irish politician at the restaurant. She said that she was very embarassed and had apologised to the Taoiseach before moving his party to a bigger table. Painfully awkward pic of us and Leo when I realised it was the Taoiseach pic.twitter.com/7zxs4ugAW1 Emma Kelly (@__Emmax3) August 14, 2017 For his part, the half-Indian half-Irish Varadkar, Irelands first openly gay prime minister, did not raise a fuss at all. He was like, no, its kind of nice to feel like a normal person again, Kelly told RTE Radio. Varadkar had a gracious response to Kellys tweet. Thanks Emma. The food & service was gr8. Enjoy the rest of your J1 Leo Varadkar (@campaignforleo) August 14, 2017 Undeterred by violence over the planned removal of a Confederate statue in Charlottesville, Virginia, state and city leaders across various US southern states said this week they would step up efforts to pull such monuments from public spaces. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan on Tuesday joined a growing list of officials seeking to remove statues as a national debate flared anew over whether monuments to the Confederacy are symbols of hate or heritage. Hogan, a Republican, called for taking down a statehouse statue of US Supreme Court Justice Roger B Taney, who wrote the 1857 Dred Scott decision affirming slavery. While we cannot hide from our history nor should we the time has come to make clear the difference between properly acknowledging our past and glorifying the darkest chapters of our history, he said in a statement. A rally by white nationalists protesting plans to remove a statue of General Robert E Lee, commander of the pro-slavery Confederate army in the US Civil War, sparked clashes with anti-racism demonstrators in Charlottesville on Saturday. The rally turned deadly when a car rammed into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing a woman and injuring 19 other people. Saturdays violence appears to have accelerated the drive to remove memorials, flags and other reminders of the Confederate cause. Since then, mayors of Baltimore and Lexington, Kentucky, said they would push ahead with plans to remove statues, while officials in Dallas; Memphis, Tennessee; and Jacksonville, Florida; announced initiatives aimed at taking down Confederate monuments. Some opponents took matters into their own hands. Demonstrators stormed the site of a Confederate monument outside a courthouse in Durham, North Carolina, on Monday and toppled the bronze statue from its base. Durham County Sheriff Mike Andrews said in a statement on Tuesday that his office would seek vandalism charges against those involved. Protesters celebrate after toppling a statue of a Confederate solder in Durham, N.C. Monday, Aug. 14, 2017. (AP) The Civil War involved 11 southern states that seceded from the Union, and most Confederate monuments are located in southern states. The efforts by civil rights groups and others to do away with Confederate monuments gained momentum two years ago after avowed white supremacist Dylann Roof murdered nine African-Americans at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. The shooting rampage ultimately led to the removal of a Confederate flag from the statehouse in Columbia. As of April, at least 60 symbols of the Confederacy had been removed or renamed since 2015, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups. But such efforts have also made Confederate flags and memorials a rallying point for white supremacists and other extreme right groups, according to Ryan Lenz, a spokesman for the centre. Opponents of Confederate memorials view them as an affront to African-Americans and ideals of racial diversity and equality. Supporters argue they represent an important part of history, honouring those who fought and died for the rebellious Southern states in the Civil War. Carl Jones, chief of heritage operations for the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said he would continue to make the case that the monuments are items of historical value. Across the country, 718 Confederate monuments and statues remain, with nearly 300 of them in Georgia, Virginia or North Carolina, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. White nationalist leaders plan to hold a rally in Lexington, Kentucky, to oppose the removal of the statues there and are considering a lawsuit, Matthew Heimbach, chairman of the Traditionalist Worker Party, told the Herald-Leader newspaper on Tuesday. The group said it has not set a date for the protest and did not respond to requests for further comment. Some elected leaders pushed back against the trend of removing Confederate monuments. Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin, a Republican, told a WVHU radio show on Tuesday: I absolutely disagree with this sanitisation of history. Three years after its last train hit the buffers, landlocked Nepal is building a new railway network to boost its ailing economy -- helped by the rivalry between its powerful neighbours, China and India. The railway to India was a lifeline for the small southern frontier town of Janakpur, used to import everything from sweets to clothes and cosmetics and fuelling a vibrant border economy. But it fell into disrepair after years of neglect and since 2014 the train has sat stationary, its rusting carcass now a playground for local children, while Janakpurs markets are empty. When the train was running, we would have a lot of business. I was easily providing (for) my family, said Shyam Sah, whose small family-run cosmetics shop has suffered an 80 percent drop in profits since the railway closed. Now it is being rebuilt with Indian backing, one of three new rail lines -- one funded by China in the north and a third by Nepal itself -- that the country hopes will help boost international trade. Nepal remains largely isolated from the global economy, dependent on aid and remittances. Growth slowed dramatically after a 2015 earthquake but is expected to normalise at 5 percent from 2018 -- one of the slowest rates in South Asia -- according to the World Bank. In recent years it has courted its two large neighbours for investment in an attempt to plug itself into a rail network that links the far eastern reaches of Asia with Europe. But geography is not on its side. The Himalayas form a natural border between Nepal and China, leaving it largely dependent on India -- with which it shares a 1,400 kilometre (900 mile) open border -- for the majority of its imports and exports. Game-changer In recent years Kathmandu has tilted towards Beijing as part of a nationalist drive to decrease the countrys reliance on New Delhi. China has responded, ramping up its diplomatic ties with Nepal -- mostly through large-scale infrastructure investments. In 2017, Beijing pledged $8.3 billion to build roads and hydropower plants in Nepal, dwarfing Indias commitments of $317 million. Feasibility studies are also underway for a Beijing-backed railway connecting Kathmandu to Lhasa in Tibet, cutting straight through the Himalayas at an estimated cost of $8 billion. Ankit Panda, senior editor at The Diplomat magazine, said that could be a game-changer for the small country. The rail line with China holds potential depending on the demand side of the equation, on how China allows Nepal to leverage that link for commercial growth opportunities, he said. But it has strained relations between India and China, who are currently locked in a tense standoff on a remote Himalayan plateau in Bhutan sparked by a new road being built by China. China knows that its chequebook diplomacy with the smaller Asian states is a sore point with India, which simply cannot afford to put up the kind of capital outlays that the Chinese promise, said Panda. The project is part of its One Belt, One Road initiative, a massive global infrastructure programme to connect Chinese companies to new markets around the world that critics see as a geopolitical powerplay. Regional rival India has snubbed the plan and skipped a summit in Beijing in May. New Delhi is funding the reconstruction of the Janakpur line, rebuilding the tracks to carry broad-gauge trains that will allow it to connect to the rest of the subcontinents expansive rail network. Battleground Meanwhile Nepal is building a 945-kilometre line that will cut across the southern plains from east to west. Nearly a third of the track has been built, but construction has stalled for lack of funds and it is not clear when it work will be finished. Some experts warn that Nepal has become a de-facto battleground in a geopolitical struggle for regional supremacy between India and China -- a position that Kathmandu must navigate carefully. None of them (smaller Asian nations) want to become a de facto satellite state, said Michael Auslin, Asia expert and fellow with the Hoover Institution. But by having both India and China essentially compete over it, from one perspective it makes it a battleground, from another perspective it means that Nepal is playing the two off against each other, he added. Meanwhile, the people of Janakpur are eagerly awaiting the rail revival that will connect them to India once again. When the train stopped, everything finished. Business has gone down for all of the city, said bookshop owner Rajendra Kusuwah. After the new rail comes, it will open doors for development. Three women suicide bombers blew themselves up at the entrance to a camp for displaced people in northeast Nigeria on Tuesday, killing 28 people and wounding 82, local sources said. The attack -- the latest in a string of assaults in the troubled region -- took place in the town of Mandarari, 25 kilometres (15 miles) from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, said Baba Kura, a member of a vigilante force set up to fight jihadists. Three female bombers triggered their explosive outside of the IDP (internally displaced persons) camp... killing 28 people and wounding 82 others, Kura said. The first assailant blew herself up, triggering panic, Kura said. People were trying to close their shops when two other female bombers triggered their explosives, causing most of the casualties, he said. Ibrahim Liman, the head of a local anti-jihadist militia force, confirmed the details of the attack, and said that more than 80 injured had been taken to Maiduguri hospital. A source at the hospital said a huge number of patients had arrived. Injured victims of a female suicide bomber lie on the floor awaiting medical attention as beds were no longer available at a Maiduguri hospital in northeastern Nigeria on August 15, 2017. (AFP) Northeast Nigeria is a hotbed of activity by the Boko Haram jihadist group, involving shootings, bombings and kidnappings. It launched an insurgency in 2009 that has killed about 20,000 people and displaced around 2.6 million others, creating one of the worlds biggest humanitarian crises. Nearly two million are suffering from acute malnutrition, according to UN figures. After being elected to power in 2015, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari made tackling the insurgency a priority, winning back swathes of territory and declaring that Boko Haram is technically defeated. But this year has seen a surge in attacks, including an audacious assault on an oil exploration team that killed 69 people in Borno in July, raising fears that Boko Haram is regaining strength. That attack prompted Vice President Yemi Osinbajo -- standing in for President Muhammadu Buhari who is on indefinite sick leave -- to tell the millitary to step up its response. Osinbajo issued fresh directives... to immediately scale-up their efforts and activities in Borno state... to maintain a strong, effective control of the situation, his spokesman Laolu Akandehe said. In August, however, 72 people have been killed in northeastern Nigeria, including 31 fishermen on islands in Lake Chad, according to an unofficial toll compiled from news reports. A nonprofit racial-justice group is stepping up pressure on PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi to leave Donald Trumps advisory panel on manufacturing as the US President loses support from several executives over his response to a violent white supremacist rally in Virginia. The group, Color of Change, has started a campaign -- #QuitTheCouncil to build pressure on the CEOs. In the wake of Trumps tacit response to Charlottesville- a response that has been applauded on stormfront- it is reprehensible that any CEO would continue to carry water for this administration. Under pressure from advocates like Color Of Change, the CEOs Merck, Disney, Uber and Tesla have quit Trumps Business Council due to his dangerous policies, but the CEOs of Pepsi, and IBM remain, simply taking verbal stands against the Muslim ban and Trumps withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement-- but they wont formally quit Donald Trumps Councils, is said on its campaign website. Trump sparked another political firestorm Tuesday when he doubled down on his initial response to the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville that ended in bloodshed, saying there was blame on both sides. The Republican president -- who one day ago solemnly denounced racism and singled out the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis as criminals and thugs -- also hit out at the alt-left over the weekend melee. The head of the powerful AFL-CIO union, Richard Trumka, has added his name to the list of defectors that also includes the heads of Merck Pharmaceutical, Under Armour and Intel, as well as the Alliance for American Manufacturing. Campbell Soup Co. CEO Denise Morrison, another Trump adviser, will be a target of the campaign as well, said Rashad Robinson, executive director of the group, which claims 1 million online members, a Bloomberg report said. Trump has hit out at the business leaders over their move to quit his panel. For every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, I have many to take their place, he tweeted. Grandstanders should not have gone on. JOBS! In the early days of Trumps presidency, which began in January, most of the signs from big business were positive. The Manhattan real estate tycoon-turned-world leader ran as a friend of the business community who pledged to enact tax cuts, streamline regulations and take other steps to boost growth in the worlds biggest economy. But discontent first surfaced in January, when Apple chief Tim Cook and other criticized Trumps controversial travel ban. Then in June, Teslas Elon Musk and Disneys Bob Iger removed themselves from White House advisory panels over Trumps decision to withdraw from the Paris climate deal. Executives are facing a tough choice on whether to stay in the camp of a president who has overall low approval ratings -- but also has both a passionate following among a majority of Republican voters and tax plans they favor. According to the Bloomberg report, PepsiCo declined to comment on the Color of Change campaign. With inputs from AFP US secretary of state Rex Tillerson, releasing the Donald Trump administrations first report on international religious freedom on Tuesday, accused the Islamic State (IS) of conducting genocide in areas it controls and named Pakistan and China among a short list of countries that deny their citizens the right to practice their religion or belief. To remove any ambiguity from previous statements and reports by the state department ISIS is clearly responsible for genocide against Yazidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims in areas it controls or has controlled, Tillerson said, using another acronym for IS. The US first determined ISs actions amounted to genocide in 2016, when Tillersons predecessor John Kerry said: My purpose here today is to assert in my judgment, (IS) is responsible for genocide against groups in areas under its control. It was called a historic announcement Darfur, Sudan in 2004 was the last time the US had declared genocide anywhere in the world. It could not be immediately determined if Tillersons statement suggested change in US policy or an escalation in hostilities against the terrorist outfit. The top diplomat named IS at the top of his list of most egregious and troubling examples of violators of the right to practice religion. Others on his list, which he discussed at the release event, were Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Pakistan, China, Bahrain and Sudan. Religious freedom was under attack in Pakistan, where more than two dozen are on death row or serving a life imprisonment for blasphemy, Tillerson said. The government marginalises Ahmediya Muslims and refuses to recognize them as Muslim. Its my hope, he added, the new prime minister, his government will promote inter-faith harmony and protect the rights of religious minorities. Pakistans had found a special mention in the 2015 report as well, because of its controversial blasphemy laws. Tillerson did not name India in his list of egregious violators of the right to practice religion, but the annual report noted that there were reports of religiously motivated killings, assaults, riots, discrimination, vandalism, and increase in violent incidents by cow protection groups against mostly Muslim victims, including killings, mob violence, assaults, and intimidation. The report said: Hindus threatened and assaulted Muslims and Christians and destroyed their property. The 2015 report had used the phrase Hindu nationalists for a similar observation. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday praised North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for a wise decision not to fire missiles towards the US Pacific territory of Guam, which has eased escalating tension between the two countries. Reclusive North Korea has made no secret of its plan to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the United States to counter what it perceives as constant US threats of invasion. Trump warned North Korea last week it would face fire and fury if it threatened the United States, prompting North Korea to say it was considering plans to fire missiles towards Guam. But North Korean media reported on Tuesday that Kim had delayed the decision while he waited to see what the United States did next. Kim Jong Un of North Korea made a very wise and well reasoned decision, Trump wrote on Twitter. The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable! North Koreas threat to fire into the sea near Guam had prompted Trump to say earlier that the U.S. military was locked and loaded if North Korea acted unwisely. North Korea has long ignored warnings from the West and from its lone major ally, China, to halt its nuclear and missile tests which it conducts in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday it was time to dial down rhetoric and dial up diplomacy on North Korea and that he had told Russia, Japan, the United States, China and North and South Korea that he was available to help broker talks. My good offices are always available and I conveyed this message yesterday to the representatives of the six-party talks, Guterres told reporters. The solution to this crisis must be political. The potential consequences of military action are too horrific to even contemplate. The United States has been hoping China can press the North to rein in its weapons programs, something the top U.S. general reiterated in talks in Beijing this week. Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford told Fang Fenghui, chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Peoples Liberation Army, that North Koreas weapons programs threatened the entire international community, including China. He emphasised that the US and China have the same goal - a denuclearised Korean peninsula achieved through peaceful means ... North Korean actions threaten the economic and military security of China, a US military spokesman said in a statement. In the interest of regional stability, he said the U.S. views with growing urgency the need for China to increase pressure on the North Korean regime, the spokesman said. Solidarity and Resolve China has repeatedly called for all sides to exercise restraint and remain calm, and while it has signed up for tough UN sanctions on North Korea, it says the key to a resolution lies in Washington and Pyongyang talking to each other, rather than expecting China to do all the work. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said while everyone was concerned about the situation, Chinese pressure on North Korea had made him more upbeat. Since yesterday we are a bit more optimistic; I think that above all Chinese pressure contributed to the statements from North Korea about definitely putting aside these ideas of firing a missile, Gabriel said in Berlin. He said he had spoken with his counterparts in China, the United States and South Korea in recent days. All options are on the table with regards to North Korea, US Vice President Mike Pence told reporters in Chile on Wednesday. He called on Latin American nations to break ties with Pyongyang. Japan conducted air manoeuvres with US bombers southwest of the Korean peninsula on Wednesday involving two US Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flying from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam and two Japanese F-15 jet fighters, Japans Air Self Defence Force said in a news release. These training flights with Japan demonstrate the solidarity and resolve we share with our allies to preserve peace and security in the Indo-Asia-Pacific, the US Air Force said. The US aircraft have flown several sorties in East Asia in recent weeks. In addition to air drills with Japanese fighters, the bombers have also exercised with South Korean aircraft. North Korea regards the US exercises with South Korea and Japan as preparations for invasion. The exercises also upset China, which says they do nothing to ease tension. Former US presidents George HW Bush and George W Bush have issued a joint statement that condemns racial bigotry, antisemitism and hatred as Donald Trump faced a growing backlash over his defence of people who took part in the far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The father and son did not mention the president by name, but their rare combined intervention came after Trumps comments that there is blame on both sides for the deadly violence that erupted in Charlottesville on Saturday. America must always reject racial bigotry, antisemitism and hatred in all its forms, the Bushes said in a statement, going on to cite the third US president, Thomas Jefferson, who lived near Charlottesville. As we pray for Charlottesville, we are reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that citys most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence: we are all created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights. We know these truths to be everlasting because we have seen the decency and greatness of our country. Republicans are facing intense pressure to denounce Trump, who drew a moral equivalence between the white supremacists and what he branded the alt-left. The Republican senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina issued the strongest rebuke so far. Mr President, I encourage you to try to bring us together as a nation after this horrific event in Charlottesville, he said. Your words are dividing Americans, not healing them. Graham, a frequent Trump critic, highlighted the death of counter-protester Heather Heyer . Through his statements yesterday, President Trump took a step backward by again suggesting there is moral equivalency between the white supremacist neo-Nazis and KKK members who attended the Charlottesville rally and people like Ms Heyer. I, along with many others, do not endorse this moral equivalency. Many Republicans do not agree with and will fight back against the idea that the Party of Lincoln has a welcome mat out for the David Dukes of the world. A World War II soldier who was missing for nearly 74 years is returning home to Tennessee after his remains were recently identified. The Tennessee Department of Veterans Services announced Monday that the remains of US Army Staff Sgt. William Turner, of Nashville, will arrive at Nashville International Airport on Tuesday, The Tennessean reported . A graveside service at the Nashville National Cemetery is scheduled for August 22 The 20-year-old Turner was an aerial engineer assigned to the 555th Bomb Squadron, 386th Bomb Group and crew member of the Hells Fury B-26 bomber. He was aboard Hells Fury when it was shot down by anti-aircraft artillery during a 219-bomber-strong air raid targeting the German-controlled Schiphol Aerodrome in Amsterdam on Dec 13, 1943. Six bodies were recovered, but only two crew members were identified between 1946 and 1949. Unidentified remains from that crash and another were buried at Arlington National Cemetery in 1951. Decades later, the Royal Netherlands Army Recovery and Identification Unit recovered more remains during a 2007 excavation of the crash site. American agencies used DNA and anthropological analysis to identify the remains. Governor Bill Haslam declared Aug 22 as a day of mourning in Turners honor, with flags to be flown at half-mast from sunrise to sunset. William Turner was among the bravest American heroes to fight for our country in World War II, Haslam said in a release. We are grateful that he will be laid to rest on Tennessee soil and his family will have the closure and certainty of truly knowing his final resting place. President Donald Trump no doubt pleased part of his political base on Tuesday by passionately arguing that both right- and left-wing extremists were responsible for violence at a white supremacist rally in Virginia on Saturday. White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the "alt-right" (L) clash with counter-protesters as they enter Emancipation Park during the Unite the Right rally August 12, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (AFP) But his remarks, one day after he, under pressure, explicitly condemned neo Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan, left White House officials bracing for fallout from disappointed Republicans whose support he needs to govern in the coming months and years. Your base isnt going to win you re-election ... nor is it going to keep you a majority in Congress, said one administration official. It was political reality that the controversy over Trumps response would last for some time, he said. The remarks at Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday that sparked that reality at times bordered on the surreal. Trump pulled out the statement he read on Saturday in an apparent effort to show, despite the subsequent criticism, that his initial instincts that many sides had been at fault were correct. What about the alt-left that came charging at the ... alt-right? Do they have any semblance of guilt? he demanded, using terms that refer to right- and left-wing extremists. He lashed out at the news media, a frequent foil, for its reporting about his reaction to the violence. And he praised Susan Bro, the mother of 32-year-old Heather Heyer, who died after a car driven by a man reported to have harboured Nazi sympathies ploughed into the rally opponents. The praise, however, was for her warm remarks about Trump. Under the kind of stress that shes under and the heartache that shes under, I thought putting out that statement, to me, was really something, the president said. A protesters carries an image of Heather Heyer during a demonstration against racism and the violence over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia on August 14, 2017 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (AFP) Trumps political supporters embrace his style, and the Tuesday back-and-forth with reporters was an example of a characteristic that defines him, said a former adviser: a dislike for being criticized or pressured. When you push the president to do something, hes not going to do it. Hes going to make a point not to do it, said Sam Nunberg, a former campaign aide. White House officials said time would tell how long the issue would remain in the headlines, and whether it would hurt Trump badly with legislators and others within his political base. For now, the administration official said, the best strategy to deal with the fallout was to stay mum. Lets just put a pin in it, and you know, not tweet, not comment any further, he said. Right now explaining is losing. Mike Steel and mining partner F.W. Parish were prospecting the northern Pioneer Mountains in southeastern Montana Territory when, on October 24, 1873, they discovered silver-bearing ore. They named their mine the Elkhorn. Although the ore assayed at a rich 260 ounces of silver per ton, the partners had to transport it by bull team out of the mountains, then by freight wagon to the nearest railhead in Corinne, Utah Territory, for shipment to smelters in Swansea, Wales. The cost of doing so cut into their profit margin, thus the operation remained modest. With the devaluation of silver in 1893, the partners abandoned it altogether. The turn of the century brought an uptick in metal prices and renewed attempts to mine silver in the Elkhorn district, but the remoteness of the diggings remained an obstacle. In 1911 William R. Allen, outgoing lieutenant governor of Montana, recognized the potential of the district. The son of a mine owner, Allen had spent his early working years employed by Marcus Daly, one of the three Copper Kings of Butte, Mont., and was familiar with tough mining problems. The well-connected businessman and politician also had a number of wealthy friends. After obtaining favorable engineering reports for the region, Allen used his own money to buy up several claims in the Elkhorn mining district. He then tapped moneyed friends in New England and formed the Boston and Montana Development Co. to put his plans into motion. Allen first ordered construction of a road along the Wise River to enable ore from the mines to be freighted out by wagon to the Northern Pacific railhead at Divide, Mont. He then hoped to persuade friend James J. Hill, president of the Northern Pacific, to extend a spur line to the mines along the new roadbed, but Hill was in poor health and had relinquished control of the railway. Undaunted, Allen built his own narrow gauge line, naming it the Montana Southern Railway. Given the necessary tunnels and high trestles, work crews didnt finish the line until 1919, when the first of three Baldwin locomotives, purchased from Colorados Cripple Creek Railway, began rolling on the track. The railway enabled Allen to bring in heavy equipment for the construction of a massive mill close to the mines. The completed mill measured 200 feet wide and 750 feet long, topped out at 60 feet and was steam-heated for year-round use. Built on the side of a hill, it used gravity to process the ore through its machinery. The company strung 35 miles of high-tension wires across the mountains to power the works, which recovered up to 93 percent of the ore processed, yielding silver, lead, copper and gold. The mill had a capacity of 700 tons per day. To house the builders, mill workers and miners, Allen started a camp that he named Coolidge after friend (and some believe key investor) Calvin Coolidge, soon to become 30th president of the United States. Being a company town, Coolidge lacked saloons, but it did have a company store, a school, streetlights and electricity in every cabin. Its population peaked at about 400. The massive mill never did work at full capacity, as the mines simply could not produce 700 tons of ore per day. The financial depression of 192021 hit the company at about the same time bonds it had issued came due, resulting in its forced bankruptcy in 1923. Allen had lost his own fortune, yet he faced charges of conspiring to defraud stockholders, and directors drummed him out of his own company in disgrace. The company reorganized without Allen and struggled on. A flood in the spring of 1927 washed out a key bridge over the Big Hole River, suspending production. Crews rebuilt the span in 1930, but the Great Depression swept away the remaining mining operations by 1935. The mill remained standing in 1970, but soon after demolition crews tore down a third of its walls, which still adorn the interior of a restaurant in Idaho Falls. Citing safety hazards, the current owners demolished the rest of the mill in recent years. The Bureau of Land Management owns the town site, which lies along the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway, southwest of Butte, between Montana Routes 43 and 278. Originally published in the August 2012 issue of Wild West. To subscribe, click here. Strewn across the evergreen-studded slopes of the Black Hills are the crumbling remains of gold mining activitymills, shafts, dredges, sluices, flumes, cyanide pits, assay houses and even a few schools and saloons. In Mystic, on a gravel road 12 miles north of Hill City, such ruins belie what was once a burgeoning town with cutting-edge mining technology. In 1874 George Armstrong Custers 1,000-man Black Hills Expedition explored the valley that would hold Mystic, naming the stream there Castle Creek. In the summer of 1875, at the behest of the U.S. government, geologists Walter Jenney and Henry Newton led a party into the hills and found gold on Castle Creek. The resulting rush gave rise to a camp along the creek called Sitting Bull. In 1879 the population of Sitting Bull was 100, though interest soon shifted to richer finds farther north at Lead and Deadwood. Placer mining kept the camp in business and, in 1889, prompted the construction of a station for the newly built Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, the first line into the Black Hills. Railroad officials renamed the growing town Mystic, likely after Mystic, Conn. The arrival of the railroad spurred further mining activity. One early mine ran a simple 10-stamp mill from 1895 to 1902, but Mystic also attracted experimental operations. In 1900 Chicago investors poured $1 million into the Mystic Reduction Mill, an imposing four-story structure built astride the tracks that utilized a state-of-the-art electro-cyanide process. The process used electrolysis to extract precious metal from ore (a version remains in use today). But the Mystic plant was a bustthe crushed ore would not suspend in solution, instead settling and solidifying in the tanks. The mill was demolished in 1913. By 1909 Mystic also boasted the first electric placer-mining dredge in the Black Hills. Its 78 buckets continually dug up the gravel creek bed and conveyed it to revolving screens. The dredge could move 55,000 yards of earth per month. But it, too, proved a costly flash in the pan, operating only a few months before its owners dismantled it and shipped it to Oregon. In 1906 Mystic became a two-railroad town when the Dakota, Wyoming & Missouri laid its tracks through the valley. Better known as the Crouch Line, the 34-mile route from Rapid City to Mystic traveled a hair-raising grade, making 14 complete circles and crossing 100 bridges over Rapid Creek. The Crouch Line connected the smelters in Rapid City to the Black Hills mining districts and Wyoming coalfields. A 1907 flood washed out all but five of the bridges, but the Crouch Line managed to bounce back. In 1918 entrepreneurs built a sawmill on the foundations of the Mystic Reduction Mill, and the following year George Frinkwhose German immigrant father, William, had worked as a baker before investing in the minespurchased the mill. He operated the sawmill almost continuously until 1952, becoming, with the railroad, Mystics chief economic pillar. Frink also served as postmaster for 25 years. In the 1920s tourism from the railroad and improved roadways further buoyed the local economy, and President Calvin Coolidge even visited Mystic in 1927. Religion came to town in 1930 with the raising of the McCahan Memorial Chapel, built with wood from the Frink sawmill. The Depression-era money shortage forced Frink to barter his lumber for more marketable goods in order to pay his men. Frink improvised to keep profitable, hiring trucks to ship his lumber over the new graded roads instead of using the railroad. The Frink sawmill survived a flood in 1920 only to be destroyed by a fire in 1936. Frink soon rebuilt it. Mystic weathered the Great Depression but went into a steady decline after World War II with the closure of the Crouch Line in 1947 and the Frink sawmill in 1952. Constant flooding and the dwindling of timber and coal spelled the end for the Crouch Line.The last Chicago, Burlington & Quincy freight train went through Mystic in 1983, before its tracks also vanished. Mystic, named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986, sits on Black Hills National Forest land, just off graded Forest Service Road 231. It also marks bicycle Trailhead No. 7 on the 109-mile George S. Mickelson Trail. Originally published in the June 2012 issue of Wild West. To subscribe, click here. China denounced Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's monetary offering to the Yasukuni Shrine on Tuesday, the 72nd anniversary of Japan's surrender in World War II. "China strongly opposes Japan's move as the shrine honors Class-A convicted war criminals directly responsible for Japanese aggression in WWII," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said at a regular news briefing. This year marks the 80th anniversary of Lugouqiao Incident, which marked the beginning of Japan's all-out invasion of China, including the Nanjing Massacre that killed 300,000 Chinese soldiers and civilians. "China has demanded Japan face and deeply reflect on its history of aggression and end militarism to gain the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community," Hua said. Two days earlier, the Japanese public broadcaster NHK aired a documentary about Unit 731, a Japanese germ warfare unit that committed atrocities during the occupation of northeast China from 1935 to 1945. Lethal human experiments undertaken by the Japanese military cannot be denied, Hua said. "Only by viewing history in the correct way can Japan possibly unload its historical burden." China appreciates some Japanese for their courage to reveal the truth and hopes Japan can listen to the call for justice and respect the feelings of the people of China and other Asian countries, the spokesperson said. Although overshadowed by tribesman Dull Knife, this Northern Cheyenne leader brought his people home to Montana and not even a controversial killing can detract from his legacy. Just off Route 212 in Lame Deer, Montana, is an unpretentious cemetery surrounded by a wooden fence. Often the air is rich with the scent of sage and ripening buffalo grass. Almost unnoticed are two headstones with brass name plaques. One might find bundles of sweetgrass and other offerings beside the graves, placed there by Indian families. These are the final resting places of two American heroes who happen to be Northern CheyennesOhcumgache or Ohkomhakit (Little Wolf, more accurately translated as Little Coyote), born circa 1820; and Vooheheve (Morning Star), better known as Tamilapesni (Dull Knife), born circa 1810. In 1917 ethnologist George Bird Grinnell had their remains brought to this place from burial sites in the mountains over the objections of Little Wolf s daughter Pretty Walker so that all passing that way might honor them. Dull Knife has received more publicity through the years, especially for his desperate escape from Nebraskas Fort Robinson in January 1879. But Little Wolf, the Sweet Medicine chief, who unlike Dull Knife survived into the 20th century and had to live for 24 years with the killing of a fellow tribesman, was at least as significant in the Cheyenne world and in the history of the Wild West. This is Little Wolfs story. In 1877, shortly after the surrender of the Northern Cheyenne bands that had participated in the Great Sioux War, the Bureau of Indian Affairs decided to punish these Ohmeseheso (true Northern Cheyennes), as they called themselves, by concentrating them with their southern kinsmen on the Cheyenne and Arapaho Indian Reservation at the Darlington Agency in Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), under the protection of nearby Fort Reno. Originally the Cheyennes had been unified as the Tsitsistas (the people). By 1800 they had made their home near the Black Hills and the sacred mountain, Noahavose (Bear Butte), near present-day Sturgis, S.D., where, according to Cheyenne history, their prophet Sweet Medicine had instructed them and given to them the symbols of their two spiritual covenantsMaahotse (the sacred arrows), which kept the people prosperous and brought new people into the tribe; and Esevone or Issiwun (the sacred buffalo hat), which kept the people virtuous. Around 1820 Cheyenne bands migrated south to the Arkansas River in present-day Colorado and Kansas, attracted by the continental horse trade. By 1833 they were trading hides and furs with whites at Bents Fort. Others remained up north, but the northern and southern bands often would gather for sacred ceremonies. With the capture of Maahotse by Pawnees in the 1830s and the subsequent desecration of Esevone by a disgruntled Cheyenne woman, the Cheyenne world began to fall apart. The southern people suffered the most during the 1860s in wars with the advancing white civilization on the central/southern plains. The Northern Cheyennes, in choosing to ally with the Lakotas, suffered the ravages of the Great Sioux War of 187677. Shortly after their forced exile to the humid climate of Indian Territory, the northerners began to sicken. Malarial diseases and other infections unknown to them on Montana Territorys high plains took a toll. Of the nearly 1,000 Northern Cheyennes registered at Darlington Agency, almost two-thirds became ill within two months of their arrival. Most lodges held at least one sick person. Forty-one died of disease during the winter of 187778. Medical supplies did not arrive until the middle of winter, and beef ration allotments were insufficient to meet the needs of the increased population at the agency. By 1877 hide hunters had all but exterminated buffalo on the central and southern Plains. Hunger augmented disease that cold winter. By the spring of 1878 many Northern Cheyennes found their new lives in Indian Territory intolerable. Sick and dying, they formally requested to return to the lands they called home in Montana Territory, Dakota Territory and Nebraska. Sometime around the Fourth of July, Little Wolf asked agent John D. Miles that he be allowed to take his people home. Miles and his superiors refused his plea. So during the late hours of September 9, 1878, a group of men, women and children, including the families of Little Wolf, Dull Knife and Wild Hog, slipped away from the hated Darlington Agency. Of the 353 Cheyennes who left the agency that day only about 60 or 70 were fighting men. Immediately the Army marshaled the technological resources of a modern nation against them. The result was one of the most epic odysseys in American history as well as one of the most important episodes in Cheyenne memory. The 1,500-mile journey northward from Indian Territory in the fall and winter of 187879 brought the Cheyennes through Kansas, Nebraska, Dakota Territory and eventually Montana Territory. Only the more widely publicized exodus of Chief Josephs Nez Perce equaled the Cheyenne trek. But unlike Josephs 1877 flight through deep sheltering mountain wilderness in the Northwest, the Cheyennes traversed open plains and settled country in recently organized counties of Kansas. They had to cross the Santa Fe, Kansas Pacific and Union Pacific railroads, where converging troops and resources from two federal military departments quickly amassed against them. When troops finally did catch up with them, the Indians stopped and fought and suffered and then continued their march north. After crossing the Platte River, the band separated. Little Wolf continued north toward Montana Territory, where troops under Lieutenant W.P. Clark halted his band near the mouth of the Powder River. Dull Knifes group of about 150 headed for the site of the old Red Cloud Agency in Nebraska, not knowing that during their time spent on the southern reservation the Indians at Red Cloud had been relocated to the newer Pine Ridge Agency and the old agency grounds closed. Troops from Fort Robinson cut them off and captured them. Dull Knifes band has received far more attention in the literature on Plains Indians and the Indian wars. Dull Knife and his followers made a dramatic escape from Fort Robinson in the January 1879 snow and then made a determined effort to sell their lives or gain their freedom in the grim fighting above the Hat Creek breaks that culminated in a bloody last stand at Antelope Creek on January 22, 1879. For this reason earlier historians falsely anointed Dull Knife overall leader of the Northern Cheyennes throughout the entire northern odyssey. In fact, it was the younger Little Wolf who led the people north from Indian Territory. Were it not for Little Wolfs leadership and determination, the Northern Cheyennes likely would never have realized their dream of remaining in their beloved Montana hills after 1879. Little Wolf was about 58 at the time of the exodus north. He had a long record of fighting the Vehoe (spiders), the Cheyenne name for their white enemies. The renowned mixed-blood Lakota physician Ohiyesa (Charles Eastman) knew the Cheyenne leader well in his later years. In his memoirs, Eastman told of Little Wolfs lifelong compassion, which gave him the qualities to become a chief. One of his stories related how Little Wolf, when only a small boy, was promised a piece of meat by his mother in return for good behavior. But it was meager times, and a dog ran off with the meat. When his mother went to punish the dog, Little Wolf intervened. Dont hurt him, mother! the son cried. He took the meat because he was hungrier than I am. As a young warrior he saved the life of another man when his hunting party was caught in a blizzard. Little Wolf gave the man his buffalo robe while he took the others thin blanket. Little Wolf rose to become a headman, or little chief, of the Elkhorn Scraper military society. About 1864 the Cheyenne Council of Forty-four chose Little Wolf one of the four Old Man chiefs of the tribe. Because of Little Wolfs ability as an organizer and military tactician, the council at the same time elected him Sweet Medicine chief of all Cheyennes, bearer of the chiefs bundle, which contained the holy presence, the very incarnation of Sweet Medicine, the great Cheyenne prophet. As such Little Wolf was expected to be above anger and to think only of his people and not himself, as Sweet Medicine had taught the Cheyennes from the instructions of Maheoo, the creator. Little Wolf now sat at the head of the Council of Forty-four in their deliberations, the seat of highest honor. Only danger that threatens the people can anger me now, Little Wolf pledged as he took the oath. If a dog lifts his leg to my lodge, I will not see it. After the northern bands established themselves in the Powder and Tongue river country at the time of Red Clouds War (186668), Little Wolfs people allied with the Lakotas in the struggle to resist white encroachment on their homelands east of the Bozeman Trail. Little Wolf led the Cheyennes into battle. He participated in the Fetterman Fight in 1866, losing his brother Big Nose in the engagement. Little Wolf and his warriors eventually burned Fort Phil Kearny following government abandonment of the post in 1868. Little Wolf at first opposed the war with the whites that came in 1876. But in the spring he and a small band of followers moved to join their non-treaty Lakota brethren in Montana Territory. Although he did not participate in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, some accounts say that soldiers of the 7th U.S. Cavalry dispersed members of Little Wolfs band on their way to Sitting Bulls village on June 25, 1876. That encounter helped persuade Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer to attack the great village on the Greasy Grass River (Little Bighorn River) on the 25th, rather than strike at dawn on the 26th. Some Cheyennes criticized LittleWolf for not reaching the fighting in time. Lame White Man instead led the Elkhorn Scrapers in the battle and was killed in action. But Little Wolf resolved to never again let his people down. He, along with Dull Knife, was in the fugitive Cheyennes winter village in the Bighorn Mountains in November 1876 when Colonel Ranald Mackenzies troops attacked (see Cheyenne Fall: The Battle of Red Fork in the October 2011 Wild West). Although Little Wolf suffered multiple wounds and was believed dead by the soldiers, he directed the successful withdrawal of women and children from the besieged village. By late summer 1878, following his peoples exile to Indian Territory in 1877, Little Wolf decided to escape the disease and hunger of Darlington. His words on September 9, 1878, to agent John Miles are widely quoted: Now listen to what I say to you. I am going to leave here; I am going north to my own country. During the late hours of the 9th, Little Wolf and Dull Knife left the agency with 92 men, 120 women, 69 boys and 72 girls. Half of them would perish by the following spring. Although slowed down by the elderly and the young, Little Wolf s people made their way through two-thirds of western Kansas in less than three weeks after departing the hated reservation. The Cheyennes fought four pitched battles with the U.S. Army and armed civilians, engaging them from tactically advantageous fortified positions and repelling mostly dismounted troops skirmishing in textbook formations. Pursuing troops never took their camps by surprise. Indeed, the military engagements of the Cheyenne trek through Indian Territory and Kansas during September 1878 were anomalies in the record of soldier-Indian warfare on the Plains. The clashes were vastly divergent from the Armys surprise offensive strikes against Indian villages from the 1850s through the 1870s, and the Cheyennes familiar style of individualized warfare seems to have given way to the collective protection of women and children, thanks to the disciplined leadership of Little Wolf, who organized lines of concentrated gunfire on the attacking troops. In southwest Kansas that September the Cheyennes also inflicted a larger number of casualties on soldiers and civilians than the whites inflicted upon them. By early October military authorities nationwide justifiably began criticizing the largely fruitless operations against the mobile Cheyennes conducted by troops from the Department of the Missouri. At the September 13 Battle of Turkey Springs, in Indian Territory, Little Wolf soundly whipped a larger command of the 4th U.S. Cavalry under Captain Joseph Rendlebrock from Fort Reno. Detecting Rendlebrocks approach, Little Wolf doubled back on his line of flight to secure familiar defensible ground. Outnumbered, Little Wolf still controlled the field. He commanded the high ground and the water, cutting off the soldiers from that vital resource and eventually forcing the cavalrymen to abandon their position. He then got in their rear, harassed their line of retreat and inflicted an embarrassing defeat upon them in a running fight. At Turkey Springs the Cheyennes won not by superior numbers but through Little Wolfs superior tactical leadership. Less than a week later, on September 18, the warriors of Little Wolf and Dull Knife held off an element of the 4th Cavalry in a one-hour fight known as the Bluff Creek skirmish; one trooper was wounded, while the Cheyennes had no casualties. The parties clashed again September 2122 at Sand Creek, and while neither side reported casualties, Rendlebrock enhanced his unenviable reputation as a master of retreat. The Army later court-martialed the captain and dismissed him from the service. At the September 27 Battle of Punished Womans Fork, near Scott City, Kan., Little Wolf drew a larger force of cavalry under Colonel William H. Lewis into a small box canyon and finally defeated them in a fierce fight that resulted in Lewis death. Little Wolf directed his men from their defensive positions on the heights above the stream. Little Wolf, the warrior Tangle Hair recalled years later, did not seem like a human being; he seemed like an animala bear. He seemed without fear. But the Battle of Punished Womans Fork also proved the Achilles heel of the Northern Cheyennes. During the battle Army scouts discovered a remuda of Indian ponies concealed in a side canyon and destroyed 85 of them, along with most of the Cheyennes food and provisions. As the Indians continued their northward trek, they ran into the fringes of the advancing agricultural frontier in northwest Kansas. Desperate for fresh mounts and provisions to replace those lost at Punished Womans Fork, and determined to stay ahead of the pursuing troops, Cheyenne foragers, mostly young warriors, raided homesteads in Decatur and Rawlins counties. By the time the Indians had exited Kansas into Nebraska in early October, they had killed about 40 civilians. Although many of these settlers defended their property, and although Little Wolf and Dull Knife strongly condemned the killing of civilians by the young warriors, the Kansas raids temporarily turned public opinion in the East against the Northern Cheyennes. The press renewed its sympathy for the Cheyenne cause following the outbreak of Dull Knifes contingent from Fort Robinson in January 1879. The Kansas raids may have prompted Little Wolf and Dull Knife to divide their people while in Nebraska, so that if one contingent befell disaster, the other might continue north. Although Dull Knifes followers surrendered on Chadron Creek and later suffered the consequences at Fort Robinson, Little Wolfs maneuvers during the winter months of 187879 are less known. During that fall and winter Little Wolf and about 100 followers backtracked into the rugged Sand Hills of Neraska, remaining there until February, subsisting on wild game and stolen cattle. In late February, with a break in the weather, Little Wolfs people headed northwest toward the Black Hills. When they left Nebraska, they entered the Military Department of Dakota. Despite newspaper reports that Little Wolf, like Chief Joseph the previous year, was headed for Canada, the Cheyenne chief probably never entertained serious thoughts of joining Sitting Bull and his Lakotas in the north. Given their line of march, Little Wolf and his followers were by late winter 1879 headed toward the Tongue River Cantonment on the Yellowstone River just west of Miles City, Montana Territory. There Little Wolf had scouted briefly for the Army. And Two Moons Cheyennes still lived there. Undoubtedly, Little Wolf figured he could talk the government into allowing his people to stay if he and his warriors rejoined the Indian scouts. Little Wolf did not know the Army had upgraded the status of the Tongue River Cantonment on November 8, 1878, to Fort Keogh. When word spread that Little Wolfs people had broken out of the Sand Hills and were traveling northwest, the Department of Dakota mobilized. On February 22, 1879, Brig. Gen. Alfred H. Terry ordered Lieutenant William P. Philo Clark with elements of the 2nd Cavalry to intercept the Northern Cheyennes. Clark had organized a company of Indian scouts in 1877, and he knew and respected Little Wolf from the time they spent together at Fort Robinson before the removal south. The Cheyennes also respected Clark, whom they called White Hat. Picking up a hot trail near OFallons Bluff, Clark and the 2nd Cavalry shadowed Little Wolf down the Yellowstone. By early March, Clark had brought in Lakota scouts as well as Cheyennes of Two Moons band still living at Fort Keogh to persuade Little Wolf to give up. After a number of unsuccessful attempts, Young Two Moon finally persuaded Little Wolf to surrender on the Yellowstone on March 25. During the last of two meetings with Clark at his final camp on the Yellowstone, Little Wolf made his surrender speech to the lieutenant: You are the only one who has offered to talk before fighting, and it looks as though the wind, which has made our hearts flutter for so long, would now go down. I am very glad we did not fight and that none of my people or yours have been killed. My young men are brave and would be glad to go with you to fight the [Sitting Bull] Sioux. Of the 353 Northern Cheyennes who had started out from Darlington Agency the previous September, 114 (33 men, 43 women and 38 children) surrendered with Little Wolf. When Clark rode into the fort, the troops were all out, wrote one reporter, the cannon thundered, the band played Hail to the Chief and men, women, and children crowded around him with their hearty congratulations. Only 58 remained of Dull Knifes band, and the Interior Department allowed most of them to go to Pine Ridge in Dakota Territory. But the Army returned 20 from Fort Robinson to Kansas, where seven would stand trial for murdering civilians. The Kansas courts acquitted all of them when the prosecution failed to provide witnesses. Following Little Wolfs surrender, the chiefs greatest ally became his captor, Lieutenant Clark. Kansas officials argued for Little Wolfs extradition to stand trial for atrocities committed in their state, and others urged the Indians be returned to Darlington Agency as an object lesson, But Clark maintained the right of the Ohmeseheso to a home in the north. They are weary with constant fighting and watching, Clark asserted. They want peace, rest and a home somewhere in this country where they were born and reared. The federal government heard Clarks arguments only because he made them at an opportune time. By the spring of 1879, after eight months of pursuing the Indians 1,200 miles through three military departments, the Army was embarrassed and weary of the Cheyenne war. So was the Eastern public, some of whom barely a year before had cheered for Chief Josephs Nez Perce to escape into Canada. Terry, the departmental commander, endorsed Clarks report and that of Clarks commanding officer, Major George Gibson. Terry advised Washington: I think that, for the present at least, these Cheyenne prisoners should be left at Fort Keogh. I have no doubt that we shall be able to make great use of them in case active hostilities with the Sioux should be renewed. The Army and the Bureau of Indian Affairs concurred, and shortly thereafter Little Wolf enlisted as a sergeant in Clarks Indian scouts. They became good friends, and Little Wolf helped gather information for the lieutenants book on sign language. Shortly after the surrender a reporter wrote, Little Wolf is happier at [Fort] Keogh than he has been in a long time. Although Little Wolf knew the arrangement made with the whites that spring was only temporary, never again would his followers be pressured to return to Indian Territory. Public opinion was shifting once again in the Army, in the Bureau of Indian Affairs and, most important, in the estimation of Secretary of the Interior Carl Schurz toward letting the Northern Cheyennes remain in their homelands. Little Wolf s people stayed at Fort Keogh until 1884, when Congress approved a small reservation along the Tongue River and Rosebud Creek. From there the tribe endeavored to expand their lands and win approval for all Northern Cheyennes who wished to do so to come north. The survivors at Fort Robinson who did not wish to remain with the Lakotas at Pine Ridge soon joined the Tongue River band. By 1900 the newly renamed Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation had expanded and welcomed many more northerners from Indian Territory who had not made the trek in 1878. But for many of the old Cheyenne families the new life on the reservation brought only alienation and despair. Tragedy and alcohol marred Little Wolfs later life. In 1880 he became furious at fellow Cheyenne Starving Elk for showing improper attention to his daughter Pretty Walker and, in a drunken rage, shot and killed Starving Elk. For the next 24 years Little Wolf banished himself in the wilds along Rosebud Creek. Little Wolf died in relative obscurity in 1904, coincidentally the same year as Chief Joseph (Hin-mah-too-yah-latkekt) of the Nez Perce. White historians never accorded Little Wolf as much acclaim as Chief Joseph for the other great odyssey of Indian peoples in the 1870s. But Joseph died at Colville, Wash., not in his homeland of the Wallowa Valley. Little Wolf died in his beloved Tongue River country. Unlike Joseph, the Cheyenne chief had led his people directly both in council and battle against the whites during his long trek and he had brought his people home. For years into the 20th century, however, many Cheyennes, mostly the younger generations that did not remember the great odyssey of 187879, did not hold Little Wolf in high regard. The name of Dull Knife, whose band suffered so at Fort Robinson, ubiquitously found its way into the early literature of the Cheyenne journey home, while Little Wolf remained a shadowy figure due to his murder of Starving Elk. In Little Wolfs later years the interest generated by only a few whites over his life sustained his reputation as an important chief. Much of the credit must be given to naturalist George Bird Grinnell. Little Wolf and Grinnell met often, smoked together and shared stories. Grinnell selected Little Wolf as a key source for his writings on the Cheyennes, and Grinnell, more than any contemporary, made Americans aware that Little Wolf, not Dull Knife, was the principal leader of the Northern Cheyennes on the trek north. Ultimately, Little Wolf is a tragic hero, the brilliant story of his leadership abilities juxtaposed against societal alienation, depression and murder. In a letter to a friend in 1925 Grinnell paid Little Wolf an ultimate tribute: I knew old Little Wolf almost intimately, he wrote. Toward the end of his life I disregarded the tribal feeling about him and used to pass him my pipe to smoke. I consider him the greatest Indian I have ever known. John H.Monnett,who teaches Western and American Indian history at Metropolitan State University of Denver, wrote about the Fetterman Fight in the December 2010 Wild West. Suggested for further reading are his Tell Them We are Going Home:The Odyssey of the Northern Cheyennes; The Fighting Cheyennes, by George Bird Grinnell; and The Northern Cheyenne Exodus, by James N. Leiker and Ramon Powers. Originally published in the August 2012 issue of Wild West. To subscribe, click here. When not serving patrons, he was out collecting specimens. The Tombstone silver bonanza drew all manner of men to southern Arizona Territory, and Colonel Roderick (also seen as Broderick) Ferdinand Hafford was among the more remarkable if not famous. He certainly rubbed elbows with the most famous of all Tombstone citizens. The slight, balding, bespectacled Hafford was photographed standing at the far end of hisTombstone saloon near the door where Virgil, Wyatt and Morgan Earp stepped out onto Allen Street on October 26, 1881, to begin their march with Doc Holliday to the famous gunfight near the O.K. Corral. Established in 1880, Haffords Corner Saloon (inside Browns Hotel) became one of the most popular watering holes in the boomtown. Patrons included not only the Earps and Holliday but also such Cowboyaffiliated opposition as Johnny Ringo and Billy Claiborne. Hafford prospered with his mining claims and liquor business, but what he really loved to do was collect and study birds and other wildlife. At the time, before the advent of high-tech cameras and binoculars, ornithologists needed to collect specimens to properly identify birds and gain further knowledge of them. Hafford collected about 2,000 bird specimens from the nearby Dragoon, Whetstone and Huachuca mountains, and much of his collection ended up at the Smithsonian Institution. He hung paintings of birds instead of the usual barroom nudes on the walls and often kept live birds inside the saloon. Hafford also posed stuffed animals on the bar and atop kegs of beer. Hafford was born in Massachusetts in 1835. Little is known of his early life, but he did serve in the military (his rank of colonel was not just honorary). After an honorable discharge he came west to Arizona Territory. Hafford settled for a while near Maricopa and ended up in Tombstone in late 1879, just in time for the big silver strike. In the spring of 1880 he opened a saloon and wholesale liquor outlet on Allen Street at Fourth. His establishment also served wine, brandy and other liquors supplied by Hooper & Co. in San Francisco. Two years later in Tucson, Hafford purchased the Congress Hall Saloon, which he ran at the same time. Hafford went back east in 1883 but returned to Tombstone in 1886 and reopened his saloon there. The Tombstone Epitaph noted in February 1887 that Hafford now has a collection of 65 stuffed birds that have been killed in and around this section of country, adding that once he had collected specimens of all Arizona Territory birds, he would donate them to the Smithsonian. Haffords collection made news in The New York Times of March 10, 1887, after the amateur ornithologist collected an unusual specimen: During the past week, the Times reported, Colonel Hafford added some 10 birds to his collection of the feathered tribes of Arizona, among which is a very rare specimen of the hawk family called devil hawk by the Mexicans.The Mexicans are superstitions about him [the bird] and regard his appearance as an evil omen. In 1890 Hafford purchased a blacksmith shop next to his saloon and began renovations to transform the shop into an exhibit space. By November 6 he had completed the work and welcomed visitors to view his bird collection, which had grown to 250 specimens. That same year he helped with the collecting activities of Otto C. Poling, a renowned ornithologist associated with the Smithsonian. Three years later Hafford exhibited his collection of birds and mammals at the Midwinter Fair in San Francisco. Afterward he sold the collection to Adolph Sutro, a mining engineer who served as San Franciscos mayor on the Populist ticket. Sutro put Haffords bird collection on permanent display. On November 26, 1896, Hafford went to Randsburg, Calif., to check out a silver strike, intending a return to Tombstone if matters do not look favorable. But Randsburg boomed, and Hafford built a saloon on the towns main street. The Rand mining district, named for the famed district in South Africa, lay along the KernSan Bernardino county line. Rich gold deposits, such as that found in the Yellow Aster mine, led to a rush, and ore production remained substantial well into the 1940s. Haffords Liquor Store (and saloon) in Randsburg soon became one of the most popular drinking spots in that area. But Randsburg had its downside. Because of murders and the general lawlessness of the Dirty Dozen and other mining camp gangs in late 1896, townspeople formed a Citizens Committee (vigilantes), with Hafford as one of the founders and leaders. It posted fair warning to the gangs: THE CITIZENS OF RANDSBURG HAVE ORGANIZED TO ENFORCE THE LAWS. TEN DEPUTY CONSTABLES HAVE BEEN APPOINTED, AND ANY RIOTOUS AND THREATENING CONDUCT WILL BE SUPPRESSED AND PUNISHED, BY ORDER OF THE CITIZENS COMMITTEE. In addition to his peacekeeping efforts, Hafford also supported such municipal events as Randsburgs first Fourth of July celebration, in 1897; the saloon owner donated a bottle of excellent whiskey to the winners of a sack race. That August, Hafford and his mining partner, A.G. Bowman, sold the colonels claims in the Slate Range to Captain J.A. Black of Salt Lake City for $18,000. They also bonded the Bowman claim to miner George Montgomery of Panamint for one year for a sum of $40,000. On May 6, 1898, a fire started in a house next to Haffords liquor store/saloon on Butte Avenue between Rand and Broadway (Burma Road) and spread to most of the Randsburg buildings. Hafford immediately rebuilt, but deteriorating health forced him to retire. He still ventured into the nearby mountains to check on his claims, if not the birds. However, his health worsened, and he checked into the Bakersfield County Hospital, where he died on December 21, 1900. Haffords obituary noted that he was survived by a wife who lived somewhere in northern California. Originally published in the August 2012 issue of Wild West. To subscribe, click here. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Xinhua photo Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and Nepali Deputy Prime Minister Bijay Kumar Gachhadar agreed on Tuesday to make joint efforts to further advance pragmatic cooperation between the two countries. Calling China and Nepal trustworthy friends and partners for cooperation of mutual benefit, Wang said China is willing to join hands with Nepal to implement consensus reached between leaders of the two neighbors so as to promote their pragmatic cooperation under the framework of Belt and Road Initiative. The Chinese vice premier called on the two sides to expand bilateral trade and investment, increase connectivity including construction of railways, roads and ports, and enhance cooperation in oil and gas, electricity and clean energy. "China is ready to help Nepal increase its self-sufficiency of energy," Wang said. The Chinese vice premier also urged the two countries to deepen people-to-people exchanges, cooperation between local governments, and collaboration in promoting Nepal's tourism in China. Wang said China will increase cooperation in health care with Nepal and conduct joint research on improving quality of drinking water in Nepali cities. Expressing condolences and sympathies to victims of recent flood disasters in Nepal, Wang said China will continue to support Nepal in disaster prevention and reconstruction. For his part, Gachhadar, who is also the minister for federal affairs and local development, said Nepal and China share a long history of friendship and pragmatic cooperation between the two countries has made fruitful achievements. Gachhadar expressed gratitude for the assistance that the Chinese side had offered to Nepal's socio-economic development, especially its assistance to the country's disaster relief and reconstruction efforts. He noted that Nepal looks forward to further expanding cooperation with China under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, enhancing bilateral trade and investment, strengthening interconnectivity, and pushing forward cooperation in such sectors as transportation infrastructure, energy, disaster prevention and relief. Gachhadar added that Nepal is willing to provide a better investment environment for Chinese enterprises, and he expects more Chinese tourists to visit the Himalayan country. Also on Tuesday, Wang met respectively with chairman of Communist Party of Nepal (CPN Maoist Center) and former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda, and CPN-UML (Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist and Leninist) chief and former prime minister Khadga Prasad Oli, on strengthening cooperation. News, events, history, and other mid-week tidbits. Tuesday, October 25, 4:30 7 p.m. Orr Area EMS Open House Brats and burgers will be served. Event includes a new ambulance tour and blood pressure screenings. For more info: 218-780-3798. Orr Fire Hall 4540 Lake St., Orr Tuesday, October 25, 12 6 p.m. Essentia Health Job Fair Talent recruiters and department managers will be on-site at Essentia Health-Virginia. Candidates from all backgrounds are encouraged to attendnurses, nursing and clinical assistants, surgery technicians, radiology technicians, respiratory therapists, human resource professionals, and those interested in environmental services or nutrition services. Essentia staff will greet candidates, conduct an initial screening and filter them to appropriate hiring managers for interviews. Select candidates will be verbally offered a position before leaving. Candidates are asked to bring a resume, but its not required. Attire is business casual. For more info: www.essentiacareers.org. 901 9th St. N., Virginia The Scottish band were temporarily drummer-less before their Minnesota gig, after leaving Richard Colburn hundred of miles away in his pyjamas at a North Dakota Walmart. The group, who are on their US tour, had stopped at the superstore in Dickinson, North Dakota. "I was coming out of the Walmart, and he [Colburn] was coming into the Walmart, and he was waving very happily, in a good mood," frontman Stuart Murdoch explain on Minnesota radio station, The Current. "And that was the last time we saw him." Murdoch says the band has gotten "blase" about their system for making sure everybody is aboard their tour bus. Nobody was awake to notice Colburn was missing, and they pulled out of the car park without him, leaving the drummer stranded with only a credit card. After four hours it became clear nobody was coming back for him, so Colburn checked into a hotel and went to sleep. Advertisement Meanwhile, the band took to Twitter to find him. Shit, we left Richard in North Dakota. Anyone want to be a hero and get him to St Paul, Minnesota somehow. The gig hangs in the balance..? stuart murdoch (@nee_massey) August 15, 2017 Murdoch told the Current fans tweeted back offering to collect Colburn and possibly drive him to St. Paul, Minnesota in time for their gig. Eventually they got the drummer in a car to Bismarck, and on a plane to Minneapolis. Thanks for your help folks. We have Richard on a plane now, so everything is ok. He's in his pyjamas, sitting with a mimosa ?? stuart murdoch (@nee_massey) August 15, 2017 The frontman pointed out how challenging it can be to keep track of everyone, especially when the band used to be bigger. "With the string players, it was like 12, 13 of us. And it's like herding cats. So it's maybe not surprising that something like this happened," he said. Advertisement Now that Colburn has been returned to them, the band can laugh about it. A Drummer Wasting The Loneliness of the Long Distance Drummer The State I Am In (North Dakota) Oh how we laugh... belle & sebastian (@bellesglasgow) August 16, 2017 But that doesn't mean they haven't still made some extra precautions. To kick off our Legends Series of special interviews with iconic cultural figures to mark Hot Press' 40th anniversary Mark Hogan boarded planes, trains, automobiles, and a boat on the Seine, in search of an interview with French screen icon, Beatrice Dalle. The interview, along with an exclusive photoshoot on the Seine, is published in Hot Press, in stores now. In a world exclusive, the grand dame of French film grants Hot Press an interview, revealing all about her remarkable life, including: In 1986, Beatrice Dalle changed cinema forever. With the controversial, Oscar nominated Betty Blue on she became an international sex symbol overnight, and the poster girl on teenage bedroom walls across Ireland. WASHINGTON - For two decades, if anything was untouchable in Texas politics, it was the North American Free Trade Agreement. Even as bathroom bills, gun rights and abortion divided politicians, Republican and Democrat agreed that NAFTA was a godsend for Texas with cross-border trade booming and jobs growing nearly 60 percent since the agreement went into effect in 1994. But as President Donald Trump prepares to begin negotiations Wednesday with Mexico and Canada on overhauling NAFTA much to the trepidation of many within the state's energy, industrial and farming sectors he is also tapping into a growing skepticism of NAFTA and other free trade deals among the increasingly influential populist wings of both political parties in Texas. Last year, as Trump and Democratic candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders were barnstorming the country preaching against globalization, the Texas Republican Party quietly inserted into its platform a call for the "immediate withdrawal" from NAFTA over what the Texas GOP Chairman James Dickey described as "increased awareness" that it and other free trade pacts were not ideal for Texas. "Because of the special deals in [NAFTA], there were some workers worse off than they would have been under a pure free trade agreement," he said. "It's a general populist sentiment." That comes as relations between Mexico and the Texas Legislature flared up over tougher immigration laws and schisms developed within both the Texas Republican and Democratic parties over the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free trade deal similar to NAFTA (also involving Canada and Mexico) that would have opened trade across the Pacific Ocean in a bid to expand U.S. influence in East Asia. When it came before Congress in 2015, it drew opposition from Texas politicians as diverse as Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Joaquin Castro, the San Antonio Democrat even as it was supported by a large coalition of centrist Republicans and Democrats, such as Sen. John Cornyn, the number two Republican in the Senate, and Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo. "There is an undercurrent, and Trump has identified it and grown it, that is very suspicious of trade deals," said Matt Mackowiak, a Republican consultant in Austin. "A lot of this is connected to stagnant wages... so trade and immigration are easy causes to blame." The rise of populist opposition to free-trade deals comes as the Texas economy continues to thrive from cross-border trade. Last year Mexico imported more than $90 billion in goods and services from Texas, about 40 percent of the state's entire export market, according to the Commerce Department. From natural gas flowing through newly built pipelines, to semi-conductors and planes not to mention beef and cotton it is hard to find a segment of the Texas economy not reliant on our neighbor to the south. "You know Texas is the number one exporting state in the U.S., and our number one exporting market is Mexico," said Tony Bennet, president of the Texas Association of Manufacturers. "We want their economy to be robust. It's to our advantage their economy thrives." And for many politicians in Texas, doing anything that might damage that relationship is simply too risky. At a hearing in Austin earlier this year, Texas Secretary of State Rolando Pablos, who was appointed by Gov. Greg Abbott in January, joined with Democrats like State Rep. Rafael Anchia, chair of the House International Trade and Intergovernmental Affairs Committee, in lauding NAFTA and spoke of the "shared destiny" between Mexico and Texas. But among working-class Texans, there is a sense free trade isn't all it's cracked up to be. Since NAFTA came into effect, manufacturing jobs in Texas have declined by 9 percent - even as employment in other sectors of the economy have thrived, according to the Department of Labor. How much of that decline is the result of increased efficiency and automation on production lines, versus jobs moving overseas, is a matter of much debate. Regardless, laid off workers were left to find work in warehousing, retail and other services, occupations that do not offer the same pay and benefits as factory work, said Bob Cash, director of Texas Fair Trade Coalition, which represents a coalition of activist groups and labor unions like the AFL-CIO. "If you look at what was promised by NAFTA, it was supposed to create prosperity on both sides of the border," he said. "If that were the case, the counties in Texas that line the border should still not be the poorest counties in the United States." That sort of criticism which haunts free trade deals in this country - has long found a receptive audience of the liberal wing of the Democratic Party. But it was never enough to present a serious challenge, as Republicans and centrist Democrats supported free trade as an unimpeachable stalwart of American economic policy. But now there's some question about a potential schism developing within the Republican Party, reflected in a split on the TPP between so-called establishment politicians like Cornyn and Kevin Brady, the Woodlands Republican who chairs the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, and conservatives like Cruz and Rep. Louis Gohmert, of Tyler. Cash recounted seeing a town hall meeting hosted by Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Corpus Christi, in which a retired steel worker stood up to complain about free trade and watching people in the audience nodding their heads in agreement. "If you're thinking about who's opposed to free trade deals, it's union members and Tea Party members," Cash said. Farenthold was one of four conservatives who joined with seven liberals in the Texas delegation to vote against giving Obama increased authority to negotiate the TPP - opposing the majority of the 38 congressmen and senators who represent the state in Washington. How much of his vote was about free-trade and how much was opposition to Obama is difficult to say. Farenthold, like every member of the Texas delegation who was contacted for comment, did not respond. Lobbyists representing U.S. industries say they are expecting that any changes to NAFTA are likely to come around the margins, essentially updating it to reflect economic and technological shifts of the past two decades. But so far the White House itself has been fairly tight-lipped on what changes to NAFTA it wants to see. Were Trump to push a more protectionist strategy and convince Canada and Mexico to sign on he would still need to convince not only every senator in his party, but eight Democratic senators as well, to bring it to a vote. If he failed, NAFTA as written would remain in effect. Even as criticism of free-trade pacts has risen among the conservative base in Texas, Dickey, the chairman of the state Republican Party, said it seemed unlikely that a significant contingent of Texas Congressional members would support major changes to NAFTA. "Overall NAFTA was a net positive for Texas," he said. "But I hope the administration takes the opportunity to get it closer to our ideal" of a free trade agreement that relies more on market forces and less on special treatment for favored industries. Some worry that heated negotiations around NAFTA - following the passing of a controversial bill in the state Legislature requiring Texas police to enforce federal immigration law could damage the relationship with Texas' largest export market. Former Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, the early frontrunner to win the presidential election in Mexico next year, has been highly critical of Trump and in an interview earlier this year said he hoped to be able handle the NAFTA renegotiation himself and pledged to stand up to Trump. "One doesn't beg for liberty, one seizes it," Obrador said. "Texas has traditionally been able to maintain a positive relationship with Mexico. It hasn't let issues like immigration get in the way of the business relationship, like some other states have," said Chris Wilson, deputy director of the Mexico Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center in Washington. "Now the question arises whether they can maintain that. It's a complicated moment for the Texas -Mexico relationship right now." The Associated Press and Bloomberg News contributed to this report. Transocean, the Swiss offshore drilling rig company that operates largely out of Houston, is set to buy Norway's Songa Offshore for $1.1 billion as Transocean seeks to expand its deep-water market share with an eye toward an eventual industry recovery. The deal continues a wave of consolidation in the struggling offshore drilling sector, with London's Ensco already in the process of acquiring Houston's Atwood Oceanics for about $850 million. But the offshore acquisitions are risky in a sector that has yet to rebound from the worst oil bust in a generation, even as onshore shale drilling, particularly in West Texas, grows at a strong pace. Analysts were mixed about Transocean's move. Some called it a good strategic fit, while others like Raymond James' Praveen Narra warned that it increases Transocean's debt load and risk in a "harsh environment." Transocean's stock initially fell 10 percent to an all-time low Tuesday morning but recovered somewhat, ending the day down nearly 6 percent, or $48 cents, at $7.91 a share. Of course, Transocean traded for about $45 a share in the summer of 2014, the peak of the last oil boom. Transcoean said it is buying Songa primarily through a stock transaction that is valued at $3.4 billion including the assumption of debt. The deal, which could close by the end of the year, would give Transocean more than 50 combined floating offshore rigs, not counting those under construction. The combined company would be particularly well positioned in the North Sea, where Songa works closely with the Norwegian oil company Statoil. Transocean has pivoted of late to focus on deeper waters, selling its shallow-water rig business earlier this year for $1.35 billion to Norwegian rival Borr Drilling. The world's largest oil field services company, Schlumberger, recently bought a 20 percent stake in Borr. Transocean, which was once headquartered in Houston, moved its legal domicile for tax reasons to the Cayman Islands nearly a decade ago, and then moved again to Switzerland. Songa's chairman and largest shareholder, Frederik Mohn, would join the Transocean board. As a result of the deal, Mohn would become Transocean's largest shareholder. He and Transocean CEO Jeremy Thigpen said the combined company would grow and gain market share just as the industry is showing early signs of recovery. Transocean previously had to deal with the heavy hand of a large shareholder in the form of famed corporate raider Carl Icahn, who influenced cost cutting and a CEO change in 2015. Icahn, however, sold most of his Transocean shares last year. Transocean still remains better positioned than many of its smaller rivals. Houston-based Hercules Offshore filed for bankruptcy twice. Paragon Offshore just emerged from a prolonged bankruptcy. Vantage Drilling filed as well but later emerged from it last year. Seadrill and Pacific Drilling are flirting with bankruptcy or some other restructuring. And Houston's Rowan Cos. revealed Monday it is cutting more jobs in the Gulf of Mexico. Rowan axed close to 150 deep-water Gulf jobs earlier this summer when it idled its Rowan Reliance drillship. Now, Rowan is eliminating jobs in the shallow Gulf as contracts expire for its shallow-water rigs, known as jack-ups. Rowan told the Texas Workforce Commissions it is cutting 60 to 85 jobs from its Rowan EXL III jack-up rig when its contract with The Woodlands-based Arena Energy expires at the end of September. Rowan also warned this month that its Gorilla IV jack-up rig in the shallow Gulf will see its contract expire with Arena at the end of October, possibly triggering more layoffs at that time. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Yes, your boss can fire you for attending a white supremacist rally, or for going to a sex club, or for being gay. Trying to wrap yourself in the Constitution won't help. Americans routinely invoke constitutional amendments as protective shields, but the Bill of Rights only protects Americans from the government limiting their freedom to speak, assemble or exercise liberty. Your employer doesn't have to respect those rights, only follow the slightest of laws or regulations. "If you're doing some stuff that reflects poorly on your company, or creates a workplace problem, you become expendable," said Scott McLaughlin, a board-certified labor attorney in Jackson Walker's Houston office. MORE: Talking with my kids about Charlottesville This week, internet sleuths are combing through thousands of photos taken at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend. Anti-racism activists aim to name and shame the participants and get them fired. Companies have little choice when they discover an employee is proclaiming white supremacy or white nationalism. "When it gets floated around to half the world, then the question is: Does the company ratify or reject that statement? And can it reject that statement and really maintain that employee's employment?" McLaughlin asked. "Or to fully reject it, does it terminate the employee?" Imagine the Ku Klux Klan member who returned this week after his image appeared on television screens across the country, and how an African-American co-worker might feel. "You've got to get rid of the guy in the Ku Klux Klan. You can't have that guy working around an African-American employee and expect to maintain any kind of workplace peace and harmony," McLaughlin said. "Racists are not people who are easy to employ." Another clear-cut case is Google engineer James Damore, who wrote a memo criticizing his employer's effort to hire more women and minorities. Instead of merely pointing out that Google's diversity program was not showing results, he wrote that women are biologically unsuited for software engineering and that Google should abandon the effort. RELATED: Bill would protect Texas workers' jobs over their political beliefs Now, imagine being the woman sitting in the cubicle next to Damore after spending her life trying to overcome the misogyny and junk science he's peddling to coworkers. Google correctly fired him. "As soon as an employee says something that stereotypes people based on gender, race or whatever, you are in foul territory," McLaughlin said. Federal and state laws, not constitutional amendments, forbid employers from allowing an environment where people are discriminated against based on gender, race, ethnicity, national origin or religion. However, neither federal law nor Texas law protect people from discrimination based on their sexual orientation or sexual activities. People who attended a sex club in West Texas learned this in 2010 when a Christian militant group known as Repent Amarillo began recording the license plates in the parking lot. I once edited a story about the group's activities. Repent Amarillo members publicized the names of people who went to the club and lobbied employers to fire them for breaking the Ten Commandments. Many of the employers complied rather than risk angering Repent Amarillo, which remains active. Sexual orientation and gender identity are more complex topics because many states, counties and cities have passed laws forbidding discrimination. But in most of Texas, an employer may fire someone if it doesn't approve of that person's sexuality. While such firings are uncommon, civil rights activists worry that the proposed bathroom bill and efforts like it are encouraging more discrimination. Employers should proceed with caution, though, when they can't prove that an employee is doing something that hurts the company's bottom line. "Things can get very complicated when you start firing people all over the place just because they show up on Facebook supporting something that isn't popular," McLaughlin said. "What you are seeing is that speech is costing people their jobs at a more increased pace than we've ever seen, and it's probably going to become more interesting." Spreading hate or encouraging bigotry only alienates potential customers, employees and suppliers, therefore limiting the company's, and the economy's, growth potential. Employers not only demonstrate moral courage when they fire troublemakers who sow division, but they also act in their self-interest. Yet businesspeople reveal their intolerance when they fire people whose only misdemeanor is not conforming to a portion of society's expectations, and this is when demonstrating loyalty to a hard worker is critical. Enforcing the Bill of Rights in the workplace would be foolhardy and troublesome, but all that does is demand that business leaders act wisely, even in the face of a mob bearing torches. Costco must pay the storied jewelry company Tiffany & Co. more than $19 million for selling about 2,500 diamond rings falsely identified on store signs as "Tiffany" rings, a federal judge ruled this week. Costco's management "displayed at best a cavalier attitude toward Costco's use of the Tiffany name in conjunction with ring sales and marketing," U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain wrote in her opinion. The New York judge's decision followed a jury verdict in 2015 which found that Costco had received a profit of $3.7 million from falsely using the Tiffany brand, rejecting Costco's argument that the word "Tiffany," with reference to a ring's setting, had become a generic term, like Popsicle or dumpster. Swain also ruled Costco is barred from using the stand-alone word "Tiffany" to describe any products that aren't connected to the jewelry brand. Tiffany said in a statement to CNN that the ruling "validates the strength of the Tiffany trademark and the value of our brand, and most importantly, sends a clear and powerful message to Costco and others who infringe the Tiffany mark." After the ruling, Costco said it would appeal, calling the decision "product of multiple errors" on the part of the judge. "This was not a case about counterfeiting in the common understanding of that word - Costco was not selling imitation Tiffany & Co. rings," Costco said. The diamond rings "in question were not stamped or otherwise marked with the Tiffany & Co. name (but rather were stamped with the name of the company that manufactured them); they were accompanied by appraisal documents that did not mention Tiffany & Co., and with sales receipts that did not say Tiffany or Tiffany & Co. Notably," Costco added, "Tiffany & Co. did not claim in the lawsuit that it lost a single sale to Costco as a result of any sign." Instead, Costco argued that "Tiffany" is a commonly used generic term to describe a particular type of ring setting. Tiffany was founded in 1837 and quickly became one of the world's leading jewelers. One of its early achievements was inventing a new type of ring setting in 1886. In an attempt to show more of the gem, it set the stone in a metal claw extending from the ring's band. Before this, diamonds were set in a full shallow cup of metal, obscuring most of the stone, according to Forbes magazine. SAN FRANCISCO - Uber must beef up its privacy protections and submit to 20 years of outside monitoring after failing to safeguard both drivers' and passengers' sensitive information, federal regulators said Tuesday. The penalties - announced as part of a settlement the San Francisco-based ride-hailing company reached with the Federal Trade Commission - are in response to an internal platform known as "God view," which Uber employees allegedly used to track the location of riders. Regulators also fault Uber for a 2014 data breach that exposed driver names, their driver's license numbers, bank account numbers and Social Security numbers. "Companies must honor their promises about how they're going to protect consumer information," FTC Acting Chairman Maureen Ohlhausen said during a conference call Tuesday. "Companies will be held accountable for their promises." In an emailed statement, an Uber spokeswoman wrote that the company is pleased to bring the probe to a close. The FTC complaint cites practices dating to 2014, she pointed out. "We've significantly strengthened our privacy and data security practices since then and will continue to invest heavily in these programs," the spokeswoman wrote. "In 2015, we hired our first chief security officer and now employ hundreds of trained professionals dedicated to protecting user information. This settlement provides an opportunity to work with the FTC to further verify that our programs protect user privacy and personal information." Uber will pay no monetary fine. But Ohlhausen said the FTC could impose a fine if the company violates the terms of the settlement. She touted the deal's requirement that Uber implement a comprehensive "soup to nuts" privacy program, which the company must have reviewed by an outside auditor every two years for 20 years. The FTC accused Uber of misleading drivers and passengers about how it was using and storing their personal information. In 2014, media reports surfaced about "God view," which showed the real-time locations of Uber riders. Uber employees used the platform to track celebrities, politicians and even ex-boyfriends and girlfriends, sometimes showing it off to visitors as a parlor trick, The Guardian reported. In November 2014, Uber issued a statement assuring riders that it had a "strict policy prohibiting" that kind of spying, and promising that employees' access to user data would be monitored going forward. But the FTC claimed the company did not keep its word. Uber developed an automated system for monitoring employee access to customer information in December but it wasn't designed to handle the capacity of requests, according to the FTC complaint. In August 2015, Uber abandoned that system and began work on a new one, but for six months, the company failed to follow up in a timely manner on automated alerts to the potential misuse of user data, the FTC claimed. Regulators said Uber only monitored access to a handful of high-profile users, such as Uber executives. Regulators also claimed that while Uber told riders their data was "securely stored within our databases," in reality, the company failed to protect sensitive information stored in a third-party database operated by Amazon Web Services, the FTC said. Uber didn't encrypt the information, and it allowed employees to access the data with a single, shared key, according to the complaint. As a result, a hacker broke into the database in May 2014 and accessed information including more than 100,000 names and driver's license numbers of Uber drivers, 215 names and bank account numbers, and 84 names and Social Security numbers, according to the complaint. This isn't the first time Uber has landed on the wrong side of the FTC. Uber in January agreed to shell out $20 million to settle claims that the company misled drivers with promises of wages that were higher than it could deliver. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate We asked two scientists from the Houston Museum of Natural Science how to make the most of Monday's celestial phenomenon. James Wooten, planetarium astronomer, and Carolyn Sumners, the museum's vice president of astronomy, will both be in Casper, Wyo., which is on the "line of totality." We won't see a total eclipse like they will - we're too far south - but here's their advice for sky-watching in Houston. What time does the eclipse happen? It starts at 11:46 a.m. - that's when the moon will make its first dent in our view of the sun. We'll hit maximum eclipse here at 1:16 p.m., when the moon covers up two-thirds of the sun. Then, as the moon moves on, more and more of the sun will become visible. The whole thing ends at 2:45. What will it look like? In Houston, we'll see about two-thirds of the sun covered up, casting a crescent-shaped shadow. "It will be like a cloudy day," Wooten said. The sky won't become twilight-dark the way it will north of us. But you'll notice a difference in the light, even if you're inside. What if it's cloudy on Monday? That will be a problem. We won't be able to see anything if it's cloudy. In that case, go inside, enjoy the air conditioning and catch a live feed online from a part of the country on the line of totality. Do I need special eclipse-viewing glasses? Where to watch the eclipse Houston Museum of Natural Science The museum will have telescopes out on the lawn for safe viewing and projects to help kids learn how the eclipse works. Sign up for one of six 15-minute programs that will explain the eclipse and show images from spots along the line of totality as they roll in. At a sold-out 2 p.m. event, Vice President of Astronomy Carolyn Sumners will stream the eclipse live from Casper, Wyo., to the museum's planetarium. When: Noon-2 p.m. at Hermann Park location, 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at HMNS at Sugar Land Where: 5555 Hermann Park Drive and 13016 University Blvd. in Sugar Land. Cost: The 15-minute program is $4; the planetarium livestream is sold out. Information: hmns.org Children's Museum of Houston At the museum's viewing party, learn how to use a pinhole viewer to watch the eclipse. (If you want to make your own, register to attend a 45-minute workshop on Saturday. Times vary; cost is $5. Sign up online.) When: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Where: 1500 Binz Cost: Museum admission $12 ($11 seniors and military personnel, free for kids younger than 1) Information: cmhouston.org Space Center Houston The Space Center will provide some viewing glasses and sunspotters on the plaza. At Pop-Up Science Labs inside, guests can make their own eclipse projectors. Guest speakers from the Johnson Space Center will talk about the sun, the eclipse and solar weather, and screens everywhere will display NASA's livestream. When: 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Where: 1601 NASA Parkway Cost: Museum admission $29.95 ($27.95 seniors, $24.95 kids ages 4-11, free for kids 3 and younger) Information: spacecenter.org Trini Mendenhall Community Center Members of the Houston Astronomical Society will help visitors view the eclipse. Light snacks and eclipse-viewing glasses are provided. When: 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Where: 1414 Wirt Cost: Free Information: astronomyhouston.org Levy Park Scientists and educators from the Lunar and Planetary Institute will be on hand at the park with tips, information and eclipse-viewing glasses. When: Noon-2 p.m. Where: 3801 Eastside Cost: Free Information: lpi.usra.edu Harris County Public Libraries Eight county library branches will have viewing parties, including the La Porte, Tomball, Galena Park and Stratford locations. A limited number of free viewing glasses will be available. At the Freeman Branch Library, scientists and educators from the Lunar and Planetary Institute will be on hand to provide tips and assistance. When: Times vary Where: Multiple locations; check the list online or contact your nearest branch. Cost: Free Information: hcpl.net University of Houston UH's Astronomy Society will provide solar goggles and filtered telescopes, or you can assemble a pinhole projector. Watch a NASA livestream of the eclipse from the path of totality. When: 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Where: 3517 Cullen (University of Houston campus, on the lawn outside the Science and Research buildings) Cost: Free Information: uh.edu Brazosport Center for the Arts and Sciences The Brazosport Astronomy Club will offer tips and guidance in the parking lot, including special demonstrations for kids. Inside, you can watch NASA's livestream on the ceiling of the center's planetarium. When: 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Where: 400 College Blvd., Clute Cost: Free Information: bcfas.org/planetarium See More Collapse If you want to see the eclipse directly, yes. You've heard it all your life: Don't look directly at the sun. You can burn a hole in your retina, the way kids with a magnifying glass can burn holes in objects on a sunny sidewalk. Eclipse glasses will allow you to look at the sun without eye damage. These are the cardboard glasses you've seen at stores for a few dollars. They aren't regular sunglasses; they make the sun 10,000 times dimmer. But be careful here; people wanted to make a quick buck off the eclipse, so the market has been flooded with counterfeit glasses that don't meet safety standards. Even if your glasses say they comply with the ISO 12312-2 international safety standard, they might be fakes. The American Astronomical Society has made a list of reputable retailers that includes major chains such as Lowe's, Kroger, Walmart, Toys R Us and Best Buy. Call ahead before you go to any of these stores because the glasses are going fast. An alternative: The Houston Museum of Natural Science gift shop expects to get a shipment of 2,500 pairs in time for the eclipse. Update: The museum has now sold out of glasses. If you don't have enough glasses for everyone, cut the pair in half and mount each filter on a card, Sumners suggested. You can pass those around so everyone gets a view. How can I tell whether my glasses are the real deal? Here's a test: You shouldn't be able to see through them, even light from lamps or standard light fixtures. The only light you should see is extremely bright, such as a bare CFL lightbulb or the LED flashlight on your smartphone. And even that light won't be too bright. Does my pet need special glasses, too? No. Your dog doesn't know he's supposed to look up. "It's not being in sunlight that causes the problem - it's staring at the sun," Sumners said. "A pet's not going to stare at the sun." What if I can't get any glasses? It's OK. You can make your own device to see (and photograph) a projection of the eclipse. If you don't want to go to trouble, just look for something that casts a shadow on the ground. Anything with small holes will do - a colander, for instance, or even an index card with a hole in it. "Cheez-Its work great," Sumners said. Stand with your back to the sun, hold up your paper and watch the shadow it casts on the ground. In the light that shines through the hole, you'll be able to see the crescent of sunlight change as the moon moves across. You can make a more sophisticated viewer with a shoebox, a thumbtack and some aluminum foil. Google "shoebox solar eclipse viewer" and you'll find YouTube videos and detailed instructions for making a pinhole projector. How big a deal is this eclipse? The last time the United States saw a full solar eclipse, it was 1979 - and no, Texas didn't get the full moon-over-sun experience back then, either. Our next chance comes in 2024, when parts of the state will. But don't ignore this eclipse, Sumners said. This is an opportunity to make a memory. "Most people can recall one or two in their lifetimes," she said. "If you have children and you want your children to remember a day or two in their lives when they're young, they'll remember this one." Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying (Photo source: fmprc.gov.cn) China firmly opposes a U.S. report that made unreasonable assertions on religious freedom in China, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said here Wednesday. Media reported the United States on Tuesday issued its annual religious freedom report, calling out seven countries, including China, for serious problems in terms of religious freedom. Spokesperson Hua Chunying told a daily news briefing that the report ignores the facts on religious freedom in China. "China firmly opposes it, and has lodged serious representations to the United States on the issue," Hua said. "We calls on the United States to respect the facts, mind its own business, and stop using the religion issue to intervene in other countries' internal affairs," she said. Hua said China fully respects and protects freedom of religious belief, and Chinese people of all ethnic groups and all regions enjoy religious freedom in accordance with law. For the last 10 or 15 years, I have been writing books about Texas history that have entailed a lot of research into the bitter experience of black Americans during the Jim Crow era. My first book on this topic was about the 1916 lynching of Jesse Washington in Waco; my new book is about the 1920s Ku Klux Klan. During all this research, I was vaguely grateful, without thinking about it much, that my ancestors never owned slaves or fought to defend slavery. My ancestors, I thought, played no part in the long, ugly history of racism in our country. They arrived in this country decades after the Civil War. As Jews, they weren't even eligible to belong to the despised KKK. In fact, as members of a long-abused minority, they understood persecution firsthand. For centuries in Europe, Jews were forced to travel from country to country seeking a permanent resting place, suffering frequent pogroms in which hundreds or thousands were murdered and their communities destroyed. During the Crusades, Jews were burned in their synagogues by fanatics traveling to the Holy Land. The Spanish Inquisition tortured and executed Jews and those merely suspected of practicing Judaism in secret. At least six million Jews died during the Holocaust. Because of our own long history of suffering, Jews have traditionally been more likely to feel empathy for others who are unfairly mistreated. But while I was congratulating myself that my ancestors had not been part of the problem, I somehow managed to push to the back of my mind the ancestor who was not Jewish and whose family was already living in the United States long before the Civil War. IMPROBABLY ENOUGH, on April 8, 1913, in Shreveport, Louisiana, of all places, my petite, auburn-haired Jewish grandmother, Estelle Braunig, eloped with my Gentile grandfather, Roy Penn Bennett, at a time when it was something of a scandal if a Presbyterian married a Methodist! In our family, we know a great deal about our Jewish ancestors. We have lots of stories and photographs. My father's mother lived well into her 90s and was happy to spin tales about her childhood in Belarus. But Bennett died long before any of his grandchildren were born, and we have never known much about him. We did know that he came originally from Humboldt, Tennessee. As it happens, this fall I will travel to Memphis to promote my new book. Humboldt is only about 100 miles east of Memphis. This will be an opportunity for me to visit the town and find out more about the Bennetts of Humboldt. But I've already begun the investigation on the internet. There are a few a very few stories that have come down to me from my mother in connection with the Bennett family. One elusive bit of lore was that the Bennett family had once owned a plantation called Fruitlands. I quickly discovered that it was not a plantation, just a village near Humboldt, which has since been absorbed into what you might call Greater Humboldt. It appears so far, from most of the documentation I have uncovered, that the Bennetts were farmers, plain, old, ordinary farmers. GRAY MATTERS: What Russia can teach us about Confederate statues And then I got an unexpected shock. I came upon a photograph of the gravestone of a Bennett ancestor in the Center Baptist Church Cemetery of Gibson County, Tennessee, that read, "Maj. G.W. Bennett, 1837-1912." It turns out that, in 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, my very own great-great-grandfather, George Washington Bennett, 26, organized a company of men in Western Tennessee called "Bennett's Battalion." Bennett's Battalion joined up with the Twelfth Tennessee Cavalry and eventually fought under Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was famous as the Confederacy's most brilliant military strategist and infamous for the massacre under his command of black Union troops at Fort Pillow. After the war, Forrest became the first Grand Wizard of the original Ku Klux Klan. WHEN I was growing up in Dallas, many Dallasites would have been delighted to discover that they had an ancestor who had served as a major in the Confederate Army though I seriously doubt that the Dallas branch of the Daughters of the Confederacy of that period would have been thrilled to take on a Jewish member. But we live in a time when some Confederate monuments are being torn down and the names of streets and buildings changed to reflect less devotion to the romanticized "Lost Cause" of the Confederacy and greater sensitivity to the history of all Americans. I was particularly pleased that the statue of the monstrous, rabble-rousing bigot Tom Watson who helped to incite the lynching of Leo Frank a statue contaminating the grounds of the Georgia state capital for more than 80 years was finally removed in 2013. GRAY MATTERS: Where do Confederate statues belong? So it was with mixed feelings that I emailed my three daughters to tell them that their great-great-great-grandfather was a major in the Confederate Army. I expected some sort of excited response, for better or worse. Their reactions were, in this order: 1) eye-roll emoji, 2) "Precisely my response," and 3) distressed emoji. This discovery just doesn't carry a lot of emotional weight for them, one way or another. But for me this is somehow important. I'm on the hunt. This great-great-grandfather of mine was described in his 1912 obituary in the Trenton, Tennessee, Herald Democrat as "an excellent Christian character." I want to know if this excellent Christian character owned slaves. If so, I want to know what happened to those slaves. I want to know if there are any letters or other documents in which he expresses his own feelings about the war and the times. Thank goodness, from what I've seen so far, it looks as though Bennett's Battalion was not present at the massacre at Fort Pillow. At this distance, I certainly can't judge the young man George Washington Bennett was, and I can't take his sins, such as they might have been, on myself. But I'd like to know more about who this man, so radically unlike all of my other ancestors, might have been. Patricia Bernstein is a Houston writer who has published three books, two of them about Texas history, The First Waco Horror: The Lynching of Jesse Washington and the Rise of the NAACP, and, most recently, Ten Dollars to Hate: The Texas Man Who Fought the Klan. She also heads her own Houston public relations firm. Bookmark Gray Matters. It's on the hunt. A 6-year-old boy was seriously injured around noon Wednesday when he was burned in a flash fire in north Liberty County. According to Capt. Ken DeFoor, spokesperson for the Liberty County Sheriff's Office, the boy was part of a group of small children playing near a fire in his grandparents' yard on SH 146 just north of CR 2114 in Moss Hill. She was at some of the most pivotal battles ever fought by Americans. She escorted convoys across the ocean in 1941 and shelled the Axis-held beach at Normandy. She carried out bombardments at Okinawa, clearing the way for Army and Marine landings on the beaches. Her silhouette loomed ominous as she gave supportive fire at Iwo Jima, and her captain nearly grounded her to fire on German forces at Omaha beach. She was also tasked with carrying more than 4,000 troops safely home from the Pacific for demobilization in a mission that was called the "Magic Carpet." Now, the Battleship Texas, the only remaining World War I-era dreadnought battleship, slowly decays in the salt water of the Houston Ship Channel and officials tasked with her wellbeing are making a plea to Texans: A ship that saved thousands of lives now needs the community to save her. "Every once in a while, there will be a story about how the ship is listing or is taking on water," said Stephanie Croatt, assistant superintendent with the Battleship Texas. "Then people won't hear anything else about it and they'll assume the problem is fixed. The problem is not fixed. "It will never be fixed in the ship's current condition." The condition Croatt refers to deals with major weaknesses in the ship's hull - holes and cracks where the steel has eroded away - that require pumps to run 24 hours a day just to keep up with the amount of water the ship is taking on. "We pump about 300,000 gallons of water a day out of the Battleship Texas," said Bruce Bramlett, executive director of the Battleship Texas Foundation. "There are places on the ship where the hull is so thin you can poke your finger through it. So we're constantly pumping water out and patching holes and the water is constantly seeping back in." A Race Against Time Each day, said Croatt, the ship is constantly taking on water, and each day, the pumps continually run to remove that water. But what if a pump breaks? That, said Bramlett, can be a huge issue. "We barely have enough pumping power to keep her out of the water now," he said. "Pumps regularly break, new holes are regularly eroded into her weakened hull and that's how you get into a bad situation. If we lose pumps, we're in big trouble." Salt water on a ship's exterior is bad enough, said Capt. Terry Bragg, executive director of the USS North Carolina, a museum ship and memorial kept at the seaport of Wilmington, North Carolina. Once water gets into the ship, the damage is compounded. "Salt water is going to damage any ship," said Bragg, "but there are precautions in place (specialized coatings) to help reduce that damage on the outside of the ship." Those same protective coatings aren't in place inside the ship, he said, so once water gets inside, erosion can begin to happen much faster. "Once water gets inside the ship, the effects can be devastating," said Bragg. Since the early 1980s, crews have worked to patch holes and replace the steel in the hull of the Battleship Texas. "There isn't really enough good steel left to patch holes," said Croatt. "We can't place patches over holes because the steel around those holes is weak and eroded. At this point, we're not dealing with 'if we run out of time' but 'when we run out of time,' and that timeframe will likely be in the very near future." Funding for Dry Berthing For years, the foundation has worked to get funding to save the ship. So far, this funding has gone for repairs, but at this point, Bramlett says more direct and aggressive measures must be taken. It sits as a testament, Croatt said, to when ships were engineered and designed with paper, pencils and slide rules in a time before Autocad and calculators. "This ship was commissioned one year after the Titanic," Bramlett explained. "It's historic - a living museum - and in order to save it, we can't keep patching it. "It needs to be dry berthed." Dry berthing the ship, an estimated $40 million project, isn't necessarily an easy task. It must be repaired so that the hull is structurally sound enough to be moved. Then a system must be built around the hull so that water can be pumped out or let in as it's deemed necessary. Being able to control the water in contact with the ship is vital to its longevity, Bramlett said. "Right now when we have a leak, we have divers feeling around in the dark trying to find and fix those leaks," he said. "Sometimes, the leaks are below the mudline - it's a terrible way to try and fix an issue. If we were able to control the water, it would be much easier - and cheaper in the long run - to fix these problems." The Battleship Texas is owned by the state, which means the majority of funding is gained through legislative measures. Since the ship has been at its current home in the Houston Ship Channel, a total of about $68 million has been spent on its structural repairs, said Bramlett. "If the state decides to do nothing and we finish this round of repairs and she just remains sitting in the water, she's going to have to be disposed of in the not-too-distant future. That ship is out of time," Bramlett said. Disposing of the ship will cost an estimated $30 million, which doesn't count the money needed to remove the precious artifacts and store them safely, Bramlett said. "If we have to scrap the Battleship Texas, no one is just going to say 'OK, take her away'," Bramlett said. "They're going to want to carefully remove and catalog the artifacts and historical property on the ship. Then those things are going to have to be stored for years. After several years have passed, people are going to say, 'Hey, we should build a museum and put these things in there.' But we already have a museum. It's sitting in our ship channel right now." Bramlett said the cost of removing, storing and cataloging those pieces of history only to spend the money to build a new museum in the future would likely not exceed the cost of saving the ship, especially when taking into consideration the amount the state already has spent to repair her. "So, let's say we do nothing and have to dispose of the ship. You add that $30 million or $40 million (disposal cost) to the $68 million we've already spent on her that's a minimum of $98 million and at the end you've got no ship," Bramlett said. "But if we spend the $40 or $50 million we think it will take to dry berth it, we can build a structure to take that ship out of the water and it can be here forever - we haven't just flushed $98 million down the drain. Either way, the state is going to have to write a very large check. "We can write that check to save her, or we can write it to throw all we've invested into her away." The USS North Carolina, a World War II-era ship, had to undergo similar repairs. "We developed a strategy to build a coffer dam around the ship with vertical steel walls," said Bragg. "This allows us to pump the water out and get direct access to the hull to cut and replace the steel on the ship. We are currently water-tight and have been for years. We hope to finish this project sometime around the beginning of 2018." The USS North Carolina serves as an economic engine for that part of its state, a position that the Battleship Texas could easily hold for the southeast region of Houston, said U.S. Rep. John Culberson, (R-Houston). "Not only is it important to preserve the history of this amazing ship," said Culberson, "but it's necessary as a vital part of our tourism industry. The ship needs to be stabilized and placed where people can see it, tour it and enjoy it regularly. Pier 21 by the Elissa would be a great place." Urging action Culberson has been a proponent of saving historic sites and attractions throughout Texas. He has worked to pass legislation that would create grant programs to save historic battleships. "We need to work with officials at the federal, state and local levels to be sure the (Battleship) Texas has the money they need to save that ship," he said. "The state is primarily responsible for funding, but the federal government has passed legislation that could help historic ships like the Battleship Texas." But local and state representatives need to know that saving the ship is what their constituency wants, Culberson said. "The single most important thing Texans can do is speak to their representatives - speak to the members of congress - and urge them to pass legislation that will save the ship. Tell them that you want funding to restore the battleship so we can enjoy it for the next 100 years," he said. "This ship is part of our history. It was instrumental in saving thousands of lives. I can't tell you how many former servicemen I've met who feel very strongly about saving her. I'll do anything I can to save her. Because she saved me.' That's what they say." President Donald Trump said Tuesday that there was plenty of blame shared for recent violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, which left one person dead and 19 injured. He also used a term that some right-wing websites, commentators and Fox News personalities have for months advanced of a violent wing of liberal activists - the alt-left. "What about the alt-left that came charging at, as you say, at the alt-right?" the president said from Trump Tower in New York, addressing Saturday's violence in Virginia. "I think there's blame on both sides. And I have no doubt about it," Trump said. The term alt-left or violent left has been used to describe anti-Trump protesters and Black Lives Matter activists but most often of "anti-fascist" groups, also known as antifa, that have mobilized to confront right-wing gatherings, sometimes escalating to violence. Trump used it as the flip side to the "alt-right," a term used to describe a white nationalist movement and proponents of anti-globalism. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press Antifa activists vandalized property and committed acts of violence on Inauguration Day in Washington and during protests at the University of California at Berkeley over a planned speech by then-Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos. Their actions have been relatively isolated, focused on disrupting white nationalist rallies. Some of the pro-Trump media have increasingly warned of the dangers of antifa since the Inauguration. Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association has shifted its mission and language to appear as a line of defense against what it calls "the violent left," spinning images of anarchists bringing peaceful democracy down. NRA President Wayne LaPierre has warned against a "gathering of forces that are willing to use violence against us." "If the violent left brings their terror to our communities, our neighborhoods, or into our homes, they will be met with the resolve and the strength and the full force of American freedom in the hands of the American people," he said in a Feb. 24 speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Fox News anchor Sean Hannity, a frequent Trump defender, has expanded the term in recent months to include members of the media. "The Alt Left Propaganda media will run with every leak to help distract from Obamas & Co's role in spying on @POTUS @realDonaldTrump," Hannity tweeted in March. Google searches for "alt-left" spiked in November, with the highest crest following Hannity's Nov. 22 discussion with reporter Rosie Gray on the use of the term "alt-right." Trump, who has insisted language matters when using the phrase "radical Islamic terror" to discuss campaigns against the Islamic State, suffered bipartisan wounds after he took two days to name white supremacists as a driver of violence in Charlottesville, and then only focusing the blame on "many sides." On Tuesday, he called James Alex Fields, Jr., the alleged driver of the car that killed counterprotester Heather Heyer, a "disgrace" to the country and his family. Fields was described by a former teacher as a Nazi sympathizer. That's where the distinctions between white supremacists and counterprotesters for Trump appeared to end. "You had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit and they were very, very violent," he said. - - - The Washington Post's David Weigel contributed to this report. More than 180,000 people have been killed in Mexico since then-President Felipe Calderon sent the army to fight organized crime groups in his native state of Michoacan in 2006. But one small town in that state says it hasn't had a homicide since 2011 because its residents - led by women - took up arms to kick out groups who had expanded from drug trafficking into illegal logging. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN - If it were not for two bills further restricting women's abortion rights that Gov. Greg Abbott signed on Tuesday morning, he would be looking at a meager list of victories after the Legislature abruptly ended its special session after nightfall. Texas already has a reputation of being one of the most anti-abortion states in the nation, passing some of the harshest restrictions on abortions in the nation over the last 10 years - including several more this month. It was Abbott's only area of unequivocal victory with the Legislature gathered back in Austin. Beyond that, the Republican governor, who is up for re-election next year, struck out on much of his agenda. Even so, legislative officials said they had received no word as of late Tuesday about any plans to call lawmakers back for another 30-day special session, as Abbott had warned he might do. No bathroom bill. No property tax reform. And no teacher pay raises. More Information Special session to-do list Done Sunset bills to keep the Texas Medical Board and four other agencies open Mail-in ballot fraud Abortion: supplemental health insurance for coverage Abortion: reporting on complications Abortion: reporting on minors Increased retirement benefits for teachers School finance commission Tree-cutting regulations Annexation referendums Do not resuscitate orders Maternal mortality study Not Done Property tax reform Bathroom Bill School finance reform; only partial action taken School vouchers for disabled students Eliminate union dues collections Government transactions with abortion providers Teacher pay increase Flexibility in teacher hiring and retention State and local government spending limit Speed up local permitting process Construction permitting Overriding local texting-and-driving bans See More Collapse After passing legislation to create a school finance task force to re-examine Texas' convoluted education funding system, the Texas House stunningly moved to end the session a day early Tuesday afternoon, leaving Abbott's 20-point agenda less than half done. A few hours later, the Senate followed suit, formally closing the session and sending members home to answer to constituents in the 2018 elections. "The House quit on the taxpayers of Texas," a dejected Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said after the session ended in a mess. But Patrick contended that a lot of good was done during the special session, and the governor's office agreed. "Our office believes this special session has produced a far better Texas than before," Abbott press secretary John Wittman said. Passage of abortion bills clearly was the high point for the Republican governor who loaded up his special session call with items celebrated by socially conservative groups like Texas Right to Life and Texas Values. He got almost everything he wanted on that front. Abortion measures On Tuesday morning, Abbott signed two abortion-related bills into law as the Senate sent him another. Then for good measure, the Senate sent him a fourth bill that conservatives groups said was years in the making. "I am grateful to the Texas Legislature for getting this bill to my desk, and working to protect innocent life this special session," Abbott said Tuesday after signing House Bill 214, a bill to block women from being able to buy health insurance in Texas that includes abortion coverage even in cases of rape and incest. Abbott also signed House Bill 13, which expands requirements for reporting complications from abortion procedures. "The health and safety of women is of the utmost importance, and we must have the most accurate data available in order to create good policy," he said. "There's a lot of those here who question what else can we possibly do to become more Pro-Life," said Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, who passed the abortion insurance coverage law out of the Senate. "But there are a lot of details that we can do that ultimately have a big impact." Abortion rights groups are frustrated that they are on constant defense in the Legislature. "Unfortunately, some politicians remain single-mindedly fixated on pushing abortion out of reach in our state," said Heather Busby, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Texas. But Texas Right to Life is not necessarily doing a victory dance. The group has let its frustration known that it thinks the Republican-dominated Texas Legislature should be doing more and is frustrated that some of the measures that passed during the special session were bottled up during the regular session, particularly in the House. One of the frustrations has been the insurance bill. Twenty-five other states - including Democratic-leaning states like Pennsylvania and Wisconsin - have already banned health policies on exchanges through the Affordable Care Act from offering base insurance plans that include abortion. Texas had not taken such a step. Creighton said in a lot of ways it is surprising Texas took so long to join those other states but that he's proud of how far Texas pushed the issue. Instead of just banning abortion in insurance plans on the Obamacare exchanges, the bill Abbott signed bars all private insurance in Texas from putting abortion in base coverage, instead forcing women to buy supplemental plans to cover the cost of an abortion. It makes Texas just one of eight states that have gone to such lengths without any exceptions for rape or incest. Sen. Charles Perry, R-Lubbock, said the state may have been slow in taking up ideas like that, but generally the state aims for pushing the limits and being a leader on abortion regulations. "Texas is a leader, and we are always testing the boundaries," Perry said. Patrick agreed, saying, "I don't know if you can find a legislative body in the history of this country that passed so many pro-life bills in 30 days." Some Democrats strongly disagreed with what they consider an attack on abortion rights and women's health. "Planned Parenthood has become the political pinata for a lot of my colleagues," said state Sen. Sylvia Garcia, D-Houston. All the items together are aimed at discouraging doctors from providing abortions and making it harder for women to exercise their rights, Garcia said. Other bills Abbott has signed or is expected to sign from the special session: House Bill 13, which requires stricter reporting requirements for doctors when they have complications while performing abortions. Abbott signed that bill Tuesday morning. House Bill 215, which requires abortion providers to submit more information to the state on minors who get abortions and whether they have parental consent, approval from a guardian or a court granted them allowance. Abbott could sign the bill as soon as Wednesday morning. SB 11, which requires doctors and hospitals to notify patients if there is an order in their files instructing that no one attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation - or CPR - on a dying patient. A patient or the patient's power of attorney must know, an issue Texas Right to Life made one of their priorities. The bill passed the Senate on Tuesday and heads to Abbott for his signature. Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-League City, said one of the biggest reasons for the success was that varying opponents to abortion rights joined together in the special session. "It's a very pro-life Legislature," Bonnen said. School funding One of the other few bills to get done before the special session was a truncated version of a prized school funding bill. "I'm beyond frustrated," said Rep. Dan Huberty, a Republican from Humble who fought throughout the regular and special session to inject some $1.8 billion into public schools in light of a Texas Supreme Court ruling last summer that found the state's outdated funding formula constitutional but in need of repair after decades of Band-Aid fixes. The bill had become a staple in the House, and a major issue for House Speaker Joe Straus, who pressured the governor before the session to add school finance to his list of 20 issues he was calling members back to the capital city for. The governor eventually acquiesced, although the Senate preferred to avoid changing the state's school funding formula until a special committee could study the issue and propose ideas for the 2019 legislative session, saying the House's attempt this year amounted to pouring money into an old car that should be replaced. "There are no wins, in my opinion, in this bill. We're pitting children against children, school districts against school districts, teachers against children in this bill," said Rep. Senfronia Thompson, a Democrat from Houston who tried to convince the House to demand that the Senate keep negotiating. But the House instead voted 94-46 for a version of the bill that would spend $564 million to lower health care payments for retired teachers, offer facilities funding for charter schools and some traditional schools, create a bridge program for rural school districts losing state aid, and spent money on students with dyslexia and autism. The final bill abandoned about $1 billion the House wanted to increase the basic allotment, which would have funneled more money per student across public schools. The bill also rejected $100 million for teaching bilingual students, amid other changes. Huberty told reporters after the body adjourned that the Senate wasn't going to budge, just like it hadn't over the last seven months he had been pushing this or a similar bill in the regular session. "We're going to continue to beat our heads against the wall and we passed many important things but there's nothing, nothing was more important than school finance reform this session and I feel like we failed the 5.3 million children in the state of Texas," Huberty told reporters. Mike Ward contributed to this report. ADS ADS It was in the unlikely setting of Majorca, as part of a fun-packed day discovering the world of extreme sailing with the Armin Strom Sailing Team, that Serge Michel took the time to explain in depth the brands new online configuration tool. In doing so, he both raised and answered the main questions that this new form of retailing, which is inspired by successful implementations in the automotive industry, poses. Why did Armin Strom need an online configurator? There was a clear demand from the market and Armin Strom already had a strong reputation in personalisation thanks to the work of Armin Strom himself, who founded the brand. Furthermore, we already offered possibilities of customisation to our retailers. But the retail landscape itself is changing and people trust e-commerce more. The average price of items purchased online is constantly increasing. Serge Michel Armin Strom What are the advantages of the configurator over traditional retail channels? Its more convenient. Its available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and you dont have to leave your home, which is important in certain regions where customers may not even have access to a luxury watch retailer. As an example, we recently sold a watch to someone who lives in Montana in the US via the configuator. To buy an Armin Strom watch from a retailer, he would have had to get a flight to Los Angeles (where our nearest authorised dealer is) and then a taxi to the store. Is it a threat to the retailer? I dont think its a threat but retailers will have to adapt to these new channels. In order to survive a retailer will need to offer something different and, above all, be good. They will need to act more as a consultancy, offering support, advice and guidance. This means they will need to be knowledgeable, since customers are increasingly more knowledgeable than the sales staff. This doesnt help a brand like Armin Strom, which a salesperson may not push due to lack of knowledge. A concept we are hearing more and more about, and which is one of the trends of the year, is the idea of retail kinship, in other words the connection between the customer, the sales person, the product and the experience. The configurator is also a useful tool for the retailer. It allows their customers to configure their own individual watch, without compromise. It offers them a new sales tool and helps with their cash management. Previously, a retailer would have had to invest up to 200,000 Swiss francs to have a core Armin Strom collection, now they just need five demo watches. Last but not least, the configurator kills the grey market. How will Armin Strom help the retailer? Retailers will be provided with a special configuration terminal with a touch screen and a connection to our sales cloud. They will also receive special point of sales material that shows the configuration possibilities (different treatments, colours, straps etc.). We have a geographical delimitation, so in certain areas watches ordered using the configurator will be shipped to a local retailer. For example, our retailer in Denver has exclusivity for the state of Colorado, so anyone in the state of Colorado who orders an Armin Strom watch using the configurator would collect it from the retailer in Colorado. And how will the configurator help Armin Strom? The most valuable part of the configurator is the data that it provides. It will help with our research, allow us to target promotions and react in real time, plan our production and test new components and materials virtually without having to buy stock. Furthermore, since people can save their configurations, we can see who has saved configurations without buying a watch. We can then pass this information on to a local retailer who can follow up with the customer. What has the initial feedback been? We have seen that the majority of configured watches are our entry-level (manual) pieces. We have also seen that the configurator can open up new sales opportunities beyond traditional retail channels. We are in discussions with a supercar tuning company, for example, about installing our configurator at their dealership. How long does it take from ordering the watch via the configurator to it being delivered? It can be anything from four weeks to two months depending on the type of model. For example, tourbillons obviously take longer to assemble than our entry-level models. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Houston residents stirred by racial clashes in Virginia are demanding removal of a Confederate monument that has sat largely unnoticed more than 100 years in a quiet corner of Sam Houston Park. The downtown monument - titled Spirit of the Confederacy - features a bronze statue of a defiant, winged angel holding a sword and palm leaf. "To all the heroes of the South who fought for the Principles of States Rights," reads the inscription. For Timbergrove resident Christina Gorczynski, it's time for the monument to go. Gorczynski joined about a dozen residents at City Hall Tuesday in urging city leaders to take down a symbol they say celebrates slavery and racism. "As a city, we must demonstrate our commitment to fulfilling the unfulfilled promise of equity for all," Gorczynski said. "We must demolish the symbols that celebrate an evil institution of slavery - those that through their mere existence reinforce and maintain a culture of white supremacy." In response, Mayor Sylvester Turner ordered city staff to assess Houston's public art collection and recommend future steps in light of the requests for the city to remove Confederate monuments. "The important thing is that as we move forward, that we recognize history is also what it is," he said during the City Council's public session Tuesday. "History has its good. History has its bad. But I do think it's important for us to review our inventory and then to make the most appropriate decision that's in the best interest of our city and that does not glorify those things that we shouldn't be glorifying." Tensions have swelled across the county following clashes in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend that left one person dead and nearly three dozen injured. The conflicts arose from a rally by white supremacists protesting the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Protests across the nation Protesters are demanding removal of Confederate statutes across the country, from Gainesville, Fla., where workers hired by the Daughters of the Confederacy are removing a statue of a Confederate soldier, to San Antonio, where lawmakers are looking to remove a statue from a prominent downtown park. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, more than 60 Confederate monuments or symbols have been removed or renamed since the 2015 massacre of nine black churchgoers in Charleston, S.C., by white supremacist Dylann Roof. In the Houston area, the Spirit of the Confederacy is one of just a handful of monuments celebrating the ideals embodied in the Civil War. A monument to Richard Dowling - a Civil War figure whose name was removed from a street earlier this year - has sat in Hermann Park since 1905. In Galveston, a 1911 monument named "Dignified Resignation" sits outside the courthouse with a plaque that reads, "There has never been an armed force which in purity of motives, intensity of courage and heroism has equaled the Army and Navy of the Confederate States of America." The Spirit of the Confederacy is easy to miss nestled in the northwest corner of Sam Houston Park among ducks, shrubs and trees. The unclothed angel with towering wings stares directly at City Hall. It was sculpted by Louis Amateis, a native of Italy, and erected in the park by the Robert E. Lee Chapter No. 186 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy in January 1908. The Texas division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy did not respond Tuesday to emails or phone calls seeking comment. The demands for removal of the Houston monument began with an online petition started over the weekend by the Houston Young Communists League. By late Tuesday, it had gathered nearly 1,000 signatures by late Tuesday and caught the attention of other protesters. Activists plan protest Activists have scheduled a "Destroy the Confederacy!" protest for 3 p.m. Saturday at Sam Houston Park, Black Lives Matter organizer Ashton Woods said by telephone Tuesday before speaking to the City Council. "The goal for Black Lives Matter Houston is to remove the statue and get the names changed on streets," he said. "We need to have these removed because we know the Confederates are but a footnote in American history and the real history begins today." Woods said he wasn't aware of any counter-protests planned but fully anticipated opposition. "I warned parents not to bring kids," he said. The petition drew comments from supporters, who also took to social media to voice outrage. "Just because it's history doesn't mean it should be put on a pedestal," wrote Samantha Pora. "As a historian, I can confirm that no naked, winged men fought for the Confederacy, in case anyone worries about erasing history," said Rice University historian Caleb McDaniel on Twitter. "More seriously ... statues like this were themselves a distorted attempt to revise history in the service of Jim Crow." Petitioners say the monument glorifies hatred and should be replaced with a memorial that is true to history, such as monument to victims of slavery, President Abraham Lincoln or fallen soldiers of the Union during the Civil War. Not everyone signing the petition wants the monument destroyed. Some argued that it is a symbol of the country's history and that tearing it down would deny what had happened. Others called for it to be placed inside in a museum. Turner said city staff will work to find a solution. "It's my hope that we can in a very positive and constructive way move forward and not glorify anything that's been in our past," Turner said. "No one wants to erase history, just try to provide the proper context for the things that we do have." Keri Blakinger contributed to this report. Philip Morris says it has created a less toxic cigarette - an innovation it claims could save lives and eliminate smoking in America. The new technology, called IQOS, consists of a tube that gently heats up sticks of tobacco instead of burning them. By using heat instead of flame, the company says, IQOS eradicates 90 to 95 percent of toxic compounds in cigarette smoke. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to decide in the next two months whether to allow IQOS into the U.S. market. And that has triggered debate and worries among health experts about whether IQOS will help or hurt public health in this country. Among their most pressing concerns: whether the new device will lower tobacco-related deaths, or if it is just substituting one harmful product for another. Deep suspicions Fueling such doubts is the fact that many of America's leading health organizations and experts remain deeply suspicious of Philip Morris. This is the company, they point out, that makes Marlboro - the world's best-selling cigarette - and misled the public for years about the hazards of smoking. "They are masterful liars. That's not an exaggeration - that's a fact proven by decades of evidence," said Matthew Myers, longtime president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "So the question we're all asking ourselves is: What's their ultimate game plan with this thing?" Only one independent study has examined the risks of IQOS and found higher levels of several toxic compounds produced by the device than Philip Morris has claimed. The company's response to the study was so forceful - the bosses of the three Swiss researchers received alarming letters from Philip Morris accusing their employees of bad methodolgy, a response almost unheard of in the scientific community - that the scientists have gone silent, refusing to talk publicly about their work. Even if Philip Morris' health claims turn out to be true, health officials warn, IQOS could be a Trojan horse. Smoking in America has dropped to an all-time low. Some health advocates worry Philip Morris - which spent $3 billion to develop IQOS - wants to use its new machine to halt that progress. If IQOS attracts new smokers, it could hook a new generation on nicotine. "The skepticism is not surprising for us," said one of Philip Morris' chief scientists, Moira Gilchrist. "You don't have to trust or believe us. You don't have to take our word for it. But what we ask is that people have an open mind. Look at the science we've done on this and base your decision on that." No combustion, no smoke On a recent sunny day, standing outside Philip Morris' Washington office, Gilchrist clicked open a smooth, sleek battery pack. With two fingers, she pulled out what looked like a hollowed-out electronic cigar - the latest IQOS prototype. To use it, she explained, you push into its hollow end a short modified cigarette, called a HeatStick. A heating blade inside the IQOS pierces the HeatStick and gently warms the tobacco inside. Gilchrist lifted the IQOS and took a long drag. As she exhaled, a slight musty-sweet smell permeated the air. "Because there's no combustion involved, there's no smoke," she said. Unlike vaping machines, which use a liquid solution to deliver nicotine, the IQOS deliberately uses tobacco. Many smokers have trouble quitting cigarettes even after trying vaping, studies have shown. Philip Morris scientists argue that for smokers to quit, you need to offer something with the same buzz and taste of tobacco. "You have to give them that satisfying experience," Gilchrist said. "You have to deliver nicotine at roughly the same speed and amount." Philip Morris chief executive Andre Calantzopoulos predicts that smokeless products like IQOS will one day be so common that his company stops selling all regular cigarettes. The company has built a $120 million research center in Switzerland to focus on smokeless products. IQOS is now sold in 25 countries. But the clearest sign of its potential has been Japan. Last spring, IQOS became available nationwide there, and in the brief time since, IQOS has grabbed 10 percent of Japan's tobacco market - a feat that has investors salivating over its U.S. prospects. Philip Morris says 72 percent of users in Japan quit cigarettes entirely and converted to IQOS. That's significantly higher than the 7 percent quit rate among those who tried vaping and 6 percent quit rate of nicotine patch users in a trial published by the journal Lancet. Methodolgy questioned The Swiss study compared the harmful compounds in the air generated by IQOS with those of regular cigarettes. The study found that although IQOS generated many toxic chemicals at lower rates, some were much higher than Philip Morris claimed. It also found that IQOS produced 295 percent more of one hazardous compound than traditional cigarettes. In their study, the scientists accused Philip Morris of "dancing around the definition of smoke" and argued that "there can be smoke without fire." Philip Morris has posted an academic rebuttal online, questioning the Swiss study's methodology and interpretation. "When a study like that picks up so much media interest, smokers who have already converted to IQOS and been helped by it have the potential to be misled," spokesman Corey Henry said. For the first time in the United States, scientists have edited the genes of human embryos, a controversial step toward someday helping babies avoid inherited diseases. The experiment was just an exercise in science - the embryos were not allowed to develop for more than a few days and were never intended to be implanted into a womb, according to MIT Technology Review, which first reported the news. Officials at Oregon Health & Science University confirmed Thursday that the work took place there and said results would be published in a journal soon. It is thought to be the first such work in the U.S.; previous experiments like this have been reported from China. How many embryos were created and edited in the experiments has not been revealed. The Oregon scientists reportedly used a technique called CRISPR, which allows specific sections of DNA to be altered or replaced. It's like using molecular scissors to cut and paste DNA and is much more precise than some types of gene therapy that cannot ensure that desired changes will take place exactly where and as intended. With gene editing, these so-called germline changes are permanent and would be passed down to any offspring. The approach holds great potential to avoid many genetic diseases but has raised fears of "designer babies" if done for less lofty reasons, such as producing desirable traits. Last year, Britain said some of its scientists could edit embryo genes to better understand human development. And earlier this year in the U.S., the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine said in a report that altering the genes of embryos might be OK if done under strict criteria and aimed at preventing serious disease. "This is the kind of research that the report discussed," University of Wisconsin-Madison bioethicist R. Alta Charo said of the news of Oregon's work. She co-led the National Academies panel but was not commenting on its behalf Thursday. "This was purely laboratory-based work that is incredibly valuable for helping us understand how one might make these germline changes in a way that is precise and safe. But it's only a first step," she said. "We still have regulatory barriers in the United States to ever trying this to achieve a pregnancy. The public has plenty of time" to weigh in on whether that should occur, she said. "Any such experiment aimed at a pregnancy would need FDA approval, and the agency is currently not allowed to even consider such a request" because of limits set by Congress. One prominent genetics expert, Dr. Eric Topol, director of the Scripps Translational Science Institute in La Jolla, Calif., said gene editing of embryos is "an unstoppable, inevitable science, and this is more proof it can be done." Experiments are in the works now in the U.S. using gene-edited cells to try to treat people with various diseases, but "in order to really have a cure, you want to get this at the embryo stage," he said. "If it isn't done in this country, it will be done elsewhere." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SAN ANTONIO - A federal judicial panel has invalidated the 2013 map for two of Texas' 36 congressional districts, setting up a scramble to redraw the boundaries in time for the 2018 elections. In a unanimous decision late Tuesday afternoon, the three-judge panel found that districts 35 and 27 violate the U.S. Constitution and the U.S. Voting Rights Act because the GOP-controlled Legislature drew the map with discriminatory intent. District 35, represented by Democrat Lloyd Doggett, straddles Interstate 35 and includes portions of San Antonio and Austin. District 27, represented by Republican Blake Farenthold, includes Corpus Christi and Bay City on the Gulf Coast, and reaches north to Highway 71 east of Austin. The panel sided with the state on District 23 - represented by Republican Will Hurd -which stretches from San Antonio to West Texas and was hotly debated at a redistricting trial in June before the panel in San Antonio. The judges also found the plaintiffs, which consist of minority lawmakers and civil rights groups, failed to make their case on similar voting rights allegations in other congressional districts in the Dallas and Houston areas. The panel found that the plaintiffs failed to prove that black and Hispanic voters vote cohesively for purposes of creating a coalition district in Dallas-Fort Worth and that the plaintiffs failed to prove that black and Hispanic voters vote cohesively for purposes of creating a coalition district in Houston. The 107-page ruling orders the state to tell the court within three business days whether the Texas Legislature will take up redistricting to fix the violations. Otherwise, the Texas Attorney General's Office and the plaintiffs will head back to court on Sept. 5 with a number of options to begin redrawing the congressional map, according to the ruling. The judges found that Latino voters in District 27 were "intentionally deprived of their opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice." The judges also said the map drawers created "an impermissible racial gerrymander" in District 35. The ruling said the Republican-controlled Legislature illegally used race as the predominant factor in drawing the district "without a compelling state interest." In a statement, Doggett said: "What Republicans did was not just wrong, it was unconstitutional. Since the U.S. Supreme Court will have the final say, this extended struggle is not yet over. Unless the Supreme Court rules otherwise, I plan to seek re-election in the district that I currently represent. I will continue to remain fully accessible and accountable to my constituents in Bexar, Travis, Hays, Caldwell and the portions of the other counties that I serve." The ruling is the latest round in a six-year court battle over how the state's lawmakers drew political boundaries. "Intentional discrimination is a bad habit for the Texas Legislature," said state Rep. Rafael Anchia, D-Dallas, chairman of the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, one of the lead plaintiffs. "With the 7th ruling of intentional discrimination since 2011, a federal court confirmed today that Texas congressional maps remain unconstitutional. "The court even went so far as to explicitly state that (then-Attorney General Greg) Abbott's legal advice to the Legislature was 'discriminatory at its heart.' Texas failed to act for too long. Thousands of Texans have cast their vote under unconstitutional maps. Partisan politics compromised our electoral maps, and as a result, every Texan lost," he said. The judges said MALC and two other groups of plaintiffs shall take the lead for their side in offering remedial maps, and other plaintiffs or plaintiff-intervenors, can offer advice in an advisory role. Nina Perales, vice president of litigation for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and lead counsel for the Texas Latino Redistricting Task Force, said, "The court's ruling on intentional discrimination is an important safeguard of Latino voting rights." Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, in a statement, applauded pieces of the ruling that sided with the state. He also said that he was disappointed with a portion of the decision, noting that the judges themselves adopted interim maps in 2012 and those have been in effect for the last three election cycles. Paxton said the state plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. A decision on the Texas House maps is pending, and is expected in the coming weeks. AUSTIN -- People who live outside big cities like Houston now have a right to veto unwanted efforts by local lawmakers' to gobble up their communities in unwanted annexations, handing the governor a win in his special session push to curtail local control. Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 6 into law Tuesday, championing the bill's passage after weeks of the Legislature slow-walking many of the governor's 20 priority issues. "In Texas, of all places, property rights matter," Abbott said in a statement after signing the bill. "Residents from across the state that have expressed their concerns about feeling abused by the annexation process have had their voices heard." Abbott, who signed the bill in private, said the bill would end "forced annexation" in communities outside big cities. Sponsored by Humble Republican Rep. Dan Huberty and Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, the bill would trigger an automatic voter referendum in communities larger cities try to annex. The law would apply to unincorporated areas in counties with more than 500,000 people, such as Harris County. Lawmakers who supported the bill say voters should have a voice to reject an unwanted annexation. They say residents worry their new city services after the annexation will pale to their new tax contribution to the city. Opponents argue the law is an overreach and will kill cities' ability to manage growth and development in their bustling cities as their population continues to boom. Houston has a long history of aggressively annexing adjoining property, growing to 667 miles in 175 years. However, annexations in the Bayou City have slowed in the last 20 years after the Legislature tightened up restrictions. Mayor Sylvester Turner has pushed back against the governor's effort to push the annexation bill, telling the Senate State Affairs Committee that more than 600,000 people travel into the city for work and play without paying taxes there. "Unless Houston increases taxes on existing residents and property owners, our city needs to retain the ability to grow through annexation to support these commuters," he said. The measure is one of 20 the governor asked lawmakers to pass during a 30-day special session that concludes Wednesday. The idea is one of many on the governor's conservative agenda that seek to crack down on local government control, including restricting local tree ordinances and banning transactions between municipalities and groups affiliated with abortion providers. Andrea Zelinski covers politics and education for the Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook. Send her tips at andrea.zelinski@chron.com. First, do no harm. Renegotiations of the North American Free Trade Agreement begin today in Washington, and Texans should hope that the economists and representatives treat their job with all the caution and precision of a professional surgeon. Over the past 23 years, the trilateral free-trade treaty has tripled U.S. trade with Canada and Mexico to $1.2 trillion of goods and services last year, from about $350 billion when the treaty was first signed. No state has won more from this growth in trade than Texas. We exported more than $110 billion worth of goods to NAFTA nations last year. That's as much as the next three biggest NAFTA exporters - California, Michigan and Ohio - combined. There's no reason for U.S. negotiators to mess with success - or mess with Texas. Mexico, Canada and the U.S. already agreed to modernize our trade relationship, such as new e-commerce rules and intellectual property protections, during negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Representatives could simply decide, yet again, to adopt those changes and consider it a job well done. Updating NAFTA calls for a scalpel, not a hammer. We already saw what happens when President Donald Trump applies his usual bluntness to trade in his approach to the TPP. He withdrew entirely from the 12-nation treaty as one of his first acts as president and promised instead to pursue "beautiful" bilateral trade agreements. So now we're six months into Trump's first term and when it comes to trade we have to ask: Where's the beef? The answer, unfortunately and literally, is Australia. The Land Down Under is getting a leg up on sales of red meat thanks to its free trade treaties. Just look at Japan, which recently established a staggering 50 percent tariff on frozen beef imports. That tax on trade will end up costing U.S. ranchers about $55 million in sales before the tariff expires in March 2018. Australia, however, won't be affected by the new policy. If Trump had signed the TPP, then Texas ranchers would be able to compete on a level playing field. Japan is the largest importer of U.S. beef on the planet, buying $1.5 billion worth last year - or about 78 million hamburger patties, if you're shopping at HEB. Now there's fear that the higher prices will put a chill through our domestic cattle industry. All across the board, U.S. export growth looks stagnant in comparison to our top competition. The European Union is breaking into Japan on everything from pork to wine. The Pacific Rim nation even offered the EU access to agricultural markets after just a few weeks of negotiations. The United States spent two years hammering out a similar deal during TPP discussions, only to see Trump throw it in the trash. Consider the EU-Japan agreement a direct rebuke to Trump's actions. Detractors to free trade may worry about low-cost nations undercutting the U.S., but a total retreat from the international stage only ends up ceding business to nations like the EU, Canada and Australia. They're making the big, beautiful deals that Trump once promised. The United States is falling behind. Our peer nations know that foreign markets are the best places to find an injection of new sales for manufacturers, farmers and ranchers. If Trump wants to ensure the U.S. economy remains healthy, then he should work to sign the treaties necessary to open new trade opportunities. He can start by quickly and carefully bringing NAFTA into the 21st century. "I dream of Galveston," the late Glen Campbell - who died of Alzheimer's this month at age 81 - first sang in 1969. Thankfully, the waters of Galveston Bay are still worth dreaming about, according to a new report. The Galveston Bay Foundation, an environmental advocacy group, and the Houston Advanced Research Center, a nonpartisan research group, issued Galveston Bay an "A" on water quality and an overall grade of "C." The report card provides a handy snapshot of Galveston Bay as a place to live, swim, boat and fish, but it's currently incomplete due to lack of data in key areas. Federal and state environmental agencies need to step up their monitoring efforts to ensure that policymakers along with the public can track the health of the bay. Stymied by lack of data, researchers couldn't assess the state of the bay's coastal wetlands. Between 1953 and 2010, the Galveston Bay watershed lost more than 50,000 acres of freshwater and saltwater wetlands. If this threatened resource were to disappear, our area would be more vulnerable to flooding and water quality issues. Wetland coverage maps are usually released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration every five years, but they haven't been updated for Texas since 2010. President Donald J. Trump's proposed cuts to the federal environmental budget cast continued funding for this and other coastal programs in doubt, at a time when the coastal population is growing and more natural habitat is being developed. Citizens should contact their representatives to urge support for these maps. Keeping track of our region's wetlands is vital to their protection. On a state level, the Texas Environmental Quality Commission doesn't sufficiently monitor the bay for dioxin even though this chemical is one of the most toxic substances known to man. The federal government monitors dioxin near the San Jacinto Waste Pits. The TCEQ should begin periodic monitoring in the bay, as dioxins can persist in the sediment for decades and can move into the bay food chain. Finally, there's no state or federal monitoring of the types and sources of litter in area waterways. A group of non-profits have come together to fill the vacuum but philanthropic funding is needed. Since almost every piece of litter that flies out of a vehicle in this area ends up in a body of water that drains into the bay, the results of this study can't come too soon. "Galveston, oh Galveston," Campbell crooned. Half the population of Texas currently lives in the Galveston Bay watershed, the area of land that drains to Galveston Bay. A healthy Galveston Bay is needed to sustain all Texans. ADS ADS The East West Automatic, produced to commemorate WorldTempuss 15th anniversary, is a customised one-off piece with an exclusive Tiffany blue number 15 at 3 oclock, available for the same price as the standard model. This is certainly a striking-looking watch, with its elongated rectangular case, its dial rotated 90 to the right, and offset bracelet fittings at 9 oclock and 3 oclock. The design of the East West Automatic by Tiffany & Co., launched in 2015, the year of the great American jewellers return to watchmaking, owes its unique appearance to an unusual folding travel clock dating from 1940. The watch that WorldTempus has created in collaboration with Tiffany & Co. to celebrate its 15th anniversary has another original feature that makes it truly unique: this is the first time an East West Automatic has displayed a number 15 at the 3 oclock position, in the houses signature pale turquoise. With this exclusive piece on your wrist, you will feel as if you just stepped off the set of Breakfast at Tiffanys. The quirky design of the East West Automatic would suit someone easy-going enough to wear an idiosyncratic timepiece, but who also values elegance and fine watchmaking. With your arms in front of you, on your computer keyboard or at the wheel of your car, theres no need to turn your wrist to tell the time: the East West Automatic is correctly orientated. This timepiece has a discreet retro charm and a certain New York je ne sais quoi, without being obviously vintage. It echoes the traditional watchmaking aesthetic of Tiffany & Co., with its haute horlogerie finishes, Swiss made automatic movement, sunray guilloche dial and sapphire crystals front and back, all of which no doubt contributed to the GPGHs decision to shortlist the East West Automatic for the Petite Aiguille category of this years competition. You have to turn the watch over to discover another original feature the half-moon-shaped aperture on the back, revealing the movement. Anyone interested in purchasing this unique watch should send an email to WorldTempuss director, Brice Lechevalier (brice.lechevalier@worldtempus.com), co-creator of this one-of-a-kind model and your personal contact for all requests. Exclusive offer for members of the Fine Watch Club The new Purple Heart Monument is set in place by its maker, Howard Wolford, left, of Wolford Monument in Houston. The Military Order of the Purple Heart Chapter 140 presented a monument on Monday of last week to recognize veterans who have earned one of the most respected decorations in the U.S. Armed Forces: The Purple Heart. The new Purple Heart Monument stands at the Missouri Veterans Cemetery at Fort Leonard Wood. It was made in Houston at Wolford Monument. Brig. Gen. Donna Martin, U.S. Army Military Police School commandant, and representatives from the surrounding communities attended the unveiling. The Purple Heart is a measure of recognition for the heavy price that our service members have paid, Martin said. For those who have completed their service to this great nation, or those who are still serving with this decoration, the United States of America owes you a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid. Each year, Ford Motor Co. teams up with the Military Order of the Purple Heart (MOPH) in a program honoring combat-wounded U.S. veterans called the Purple Heart Run. Basically, a select combat-wounded veteran is given a specially-equipped Ford truck adapted to accommodate a driver who is paralyzed or has lost legs and/or arms. As part of the program, the truck travels the country in the Run, driven exclusively by combat-wounded amputees, making many stops before its final destination the annual MOPH convention in Dallas, Texas where its keys are turned over to its owner. The focus of this years Run is Mobility is Freedom. The featured vehicle is a mobility-equipped, 2017 Ford F-150 Raptor pickup, which made a stop last Thursday at Romines Motor Co. in Houston. About 75 people attended (many of whom signed the truck), including Purple Heart recipients who live in Texas County, several representatives of the Waynesville-based MOPH Chapter 140, numerous local citizens and last years truck recipient, Virginia resident Nicholas Thom. This years recipient is Marine Sergeant (Ret.) Marshall Kennedy, of Farmington, Ark., who was chosen through a nation-wide search of eligible and deserving nominees. For more information, log onto www.purpleheart.org. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. ADS ADS Six years on, not much has changed. Ask your average watch buyer to name a few watch brands in the affordable luxury category (which, for my money, is around 750-3,000), and Id be amazed if any of them mentioned Ball. TAG Heuer, Omega and Breitling, sure (albeit increasingly wrongly as prices soar). Longines, and Bell & Ross, perhaps. But Ball? Unlikely. I still find this odd. Ok, it can take years of heavy investment to give a brand momentum. But Balls got a lot going for it, without the need to bellow from the rooftops. It was because of this tragedy that Webster Clay Ball, a Cleveland watchmaker, was appointed chief inspector of the Lake Shore Lines. Ball was fastidious about timekeeping and insisted on all manner of strict codes to make sure the railroads ran safely and on-time. His system was a success and it was incorporated across the country and into Mexico and Canada, eventually covering 75 per cent of the American network and 175,000 miles of railroad. Starting with a good backstory. Ball was born on the American railroads at the end of the 19th century, good hunting ground for romantic tales. Although in this case, romantic isnt quite the word. Watch aficionados will know that Ball Watch Company only came into this world because of the fatal Kipton railroad disaster in Ohio, USA, in 1891.It was because of this tragedy that Webster Clay Ball, a Cleveland watchmaker, was appointed chief inspector of the Lake Shore Lines. Ball was fastidious about timekeeping and insisted on all manner of strict codes to make sure the railroads ran safely and on-time. His system was a success and it was incorporated across the country and into Mexico and Canada, eventually covering 75 per cent of the American network and 175,000 miles of railroad. From this came his brand, Ball Watch Company, which enjoyed many fruitful years Stateside, becoming the countrys largest wholesale distributor of standard railroad watches. But after the Second World War, the American railroads declined and Ball went with it. At some point between 1960 and 1980, the brand went bust 1962, according to one Cleveland historian, closer to 1980 according to Ball HQ. Backstories and functioning distribution networks only get you so far, mind. But Ball backs these up with good product. Despite the inevitable price hikes during those years since I first interacted with the brand, you can still pick up a Ball watch for under 1,000 in the UK. The Fireman Racer automatic is 920 and a super watch for anyone looking for a quality mechanical on a modest budget. Details of what happened between then and its 1990s rebirth are equally sketchy, but at some point the Ball name was bought from the founders descendants by private investors and became Swiss. The company moved to La Chaux de Fonds and launched its first watch, the Engineer, in 2001. Its home market is still the USA, but growth has taken it into traditional markets including Switzerland, Hong Kong and the UK, and into less familiar territories for luxury watch brands such as Pakistan.Backstories and functioning distribution networks only get you so far, mind. But Ball backs these up with good product. Despite the inevitable price hikes during those years since I first interacted with the brand, you can still pick up a Ball watch for under 1,000 in the UK. The Fireman Racer automatic is 920 and a super watch for anyone looking for a quality mechanical on a modest budget. Further up the ladder, Ball does some nifty complications, again without going anywhere near the ceiling price for mechanicals with equivalent spec. Take its latest Trainmaster Worldtime, launched during Basel 2013. It has day and date indications and can tell the time in 24 time zones simultaneously. Its chronometer certified, shock-resistant to 5,000Gs and has a good smattering of Balls self-powered micro gas lights, which, the brand says, glow 100 times more brightly than SuperLuminova and for 25 years. And it costs just 1,960/2,340. Competition for that kind of get-up at that sort of price is next to non-existent. Slightly pricier, but only by virtue of the innovative tech inside it, is Balls new Hydrocarbon Black an intimidating name for a watch which features its in-house developed SpringLOCK anti-shock system. This, claims the brand, can reduce the impact of shocks by as much as 66 per cent (what, no decimal point?), particularly useful it youre American freeclimber Alex Honnold, for whom the watch was designed. Yours for 2,900/3,470. Hess, for the record, was at the centre of rumours earlier this year that Ball would launch its first in-house movement at Basel 2014, but latest reports from inside the company indicate that while development continues, its unlikely therell be a launch any time soon. Costs incurred to date mean price points for watches powered by such a movement would be prohibitively high, given the brands current positioning. Innovations like these are very much the brands own doing. Jeffrey Hess, who runs Ball in America, stated recently that the brands chief technical officer Philippe Antille has registered 35 patents exclusively for Ball since he joined the company in 2008.Hess, for the record, was at the centre of rumours earlier this year that Ball would launch its first in-house movement at Basel 2014, but latest reports from inside the company indicate that while development continues, its unlikely therell be a launch any time soon. Costs incurred to date mean price points for watches powered by such a movement would be prohibitively high, given the brands current positioning. For now therefore, Ball will continue to be supplied by ETA, a relationship it knows as do many other independent brands wont last forever. Any base calibre Ball produces would, youd expect, be designed to carry all manner of modules because the brands approach to complications is unconventional to say the least. The Ball for BMW TMT, due in retailers now, has a mechanical thermometer. Thats a little pricier, coming in at 4,350/5,200. Theres much to like about Ball, and much to anticipate. If it can stay on the ball, so to speak, theres no reason it couldnt take up a healthy position in the market. In fact, it would be only right and proper if it did the legend has it that the expression on the ball was coined in response to Webster C. Balls revolutionary timekeeping system. Now theres a thing. I remember writing about Ball Watch Company for the first time five, maybe six years ago, and feeling like Id stumbled across one of the watch industrys best-kept secrets. Here was a brand with a wide but measured collection of good-looking, well equipped, affordably priced mechanical watches that nobody seemed to be talking about at least, not in the UK where Im based. Neither injury was notified and WorkSafe only became aware of the injuries when one of the victims complained to WorkSafe nearly two months after the incidents. This case is concerning because less than four months earlier, WorkSafe issued Quality Kitchens a prohibition notice requiring it to implement a workplace hazard management and control system and it had not done so when these incidents occurred, said WorkSafe Chief Inspector, Steve Kelly. There are two employees whove suffered serious injuries because this employer had not implemented any systems to identify and manage workplace risks, nor had the employer formally trained the two workers on how to safely operate the equipment that is unacceptable, he added. In addition to the hefty fine, Quality Kitchens was ordered to pay reparations of $21,828.89 and Quality Construction was ordered to pay reparations of $30,083.84. This incident occurred while the Health and Safety in Employment Act 1992 was still in force. Each company faced one charge of failing to take all practicable steps to ensure the safety of its workers, and one charge of failing to notify WorkSafe of incidents involving serious harm. The 20th Diversity Awards NZ will take place in Auckland later this month with Haydon stepping into the role of judging convenor once again. The judges saw so many different initiatives some had similar themes but when each business launches a programme in its own context, it takes on a new form, she said. For example, we judge literacy and numeracy programmes every year but it never ceases to amaze me how companies take these to another level. Haydon said she was particularly impressed by the breadth of entries this year, which came from a wide range of industries and from organisations of all sizes. She went on to praise the entrants and said every organisation involved in the process can take pride in what they have achieved in the context of their own workplace. Food. It's always about food isn't it? For many of us, the appetite to travel seems to be fuelled on by what we can eat in that destination. We hit the street hawkers in Asia for delicious finger-licking snacks; fire up the grill for some heavy-duty ribs in Texas, cheap and cheerful bratwursts in Germany, almost always paired by a regional stein of beer and then you have the endless dumplings: Chinese (jiaozi/wonton), Russian (pelmenis), Polish (perogis), Italian (ravioli).... But you don't always travel for food, at least, not intentionally. Certainly not around England, where cuisine is never the first motivation for visiting. Advertisement So when I recently visited Vorarlberg, the westernmost state of Austria that borders Germany, Switzerland and Lichtenstein, I had no idea I would be in for a foodies' retreat. In fact, this might be the most delicious destination in Austria. Traditional organic farmlands and quality local produce "Bregenzerwald is all bio," says our guide Helga, a born and bred Bregenderwalder, advised us as she led us through the valley villages, taking spots to admire the fertile pastures and traditional farm houses. "And our food is delicious." Bio means organic, and this fact is evident in the strong scent of manure in the air. On arrival, the smell came as a surprise but the longer we lingered, the less offensive it became. Advertisement Bregenzerwald is a valley in the Vorarlberg state, and those who live and work here are very proud of their farming traditions and local produce. Here, almost everything stays local. Local businesses use and sell local produce. Small independent deli stores such as Metzler Kase-Molke in Egg, stocks up the finest of its farm and the regions produce, from dairy products, meats, honey, jams and sauces. Those who enjoy good old traditional dried and cured meats should visit LaWurscht in Hittisau, with products made from the owner's farm Langenegg, specialising in ethical and respectable farming practices. The Alpine cheese is the hero of the Bregenzerwald valley Then there's the matter of cheese. Or should I say, cheeses, for Bregenzerwald produces 20-30 kinds of cheese! And no visit to Bregenzerwald should be without at least trying the prized alpine cheese. The alpine cheese is made from silo-free milk, giving it an extra creamy texture. 3000 tons of alpine cheese are produced in the valley each year, and are sought after by Austrians in the know. Advertisement Helga tells us that if she ever leaves the valley to visit family and friends outside Austria, there's ever only one thing she has on her gifts shopping list. "I always have to bring at least a few kilos of the local alpine cheese," she laughs. "If I forget to bring any, I am not allowed through the door!" The cheese is so well regarded that it was used to award winners of an architecture competition. The team who won first prize was awarded three barrels of cheese. Lucky them. Bregenzerwald has plenty of independent boutique hotels with culinary offers This part of Austria is a treasure for independent boutique businesses. Not just the food deli, but hotels are family run, with their exterior and interior designed with the spirit of the valley in mind. Advertisement And it is in these hotels I had some of the best meals of my life! "Most of the time, we don't think about eating in hotel restaurants when we travel," says Astrid Mulholland-Licht of Austria Tourism. We are sitting in the cosy dining room of Gasthof Hirschen in the village of Schwarzenberg and I nod and smile in reply, mouth filled with a forkful of duck breast with apple and celery cream. The hotel's walls are plastered with stars and awards, just goes to show how serious and competitive they can get among the different accommodations in the valley. Hotels in rural Austria often offer full or half board tariffs and you'd be silly not to take the package here in Bregenzerwald. Menus change each day depending on the availability of ingredients, which means we got to taste a bit of everything that makes Bregenzerwald the gourmet destination of Austria, not to mention the excellent wine list, featuring local wines from in or around the region to pair with the ever changing menu. Culinary hikes takes away all your calorie worries Imagine spending a whole day sampling delicious local cuisine without having to worry just how many calories you are putting on? In Bregenzerwald, this is certainly possible with a culinary hike! Several itinerary packages of this self-guided hike around the mountains and valley of this beautiful region can be purchased from the local tourism office in the village of Egg, each include the hiking route as well as meals or snacks in local restaurants and cafes along the way. Advertisement You could be breakfasting among panoramic views that goes as far as Lake Constance, lunch in a traditional mountain hut to try a dish made with the alpine cheese and have cake and coffee back on the ground to finish off the hike. Doesn't it all sound deliciously tempting? Time to visit Bregenzerwald the next time you are in Austria! For more information visit: www.bregenzerwald.at www.vorarlberg.travel This post has been published on HuffPost's blogging platform. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the author and should not be taken as those of HuffPost. HuffPost does not allow bloggers to acquire products, access or accommodation for review in the site's name. fazon1 via Getty Images As we run up to A Level results day on August 17 many students will be looking at the option of deferring and/or taking a gap year. Here are some common questions and advice on how to make the most of this valuable time. Q: Gap years used to be about finding yourself and going travelling to far flung places - how has this changed in the past few years? Advertisement A: There has been a major shift towards much more targeted and strategic approach to gap years. No longer is it viewed just a chance to 'find yourself' on a beach in Goa. Graduate employers want more than a degree. They are also seeking a cultural fit and if the student has a range of experiences to draw on it can really enhance employability. Q: Is it important for students to learn another language etc while they are on their trips? A: Having another language is undoubtedly seen as a good thing by many employers and if the chance is presented and the desire is there to do it then absolutely grasp that. With many employers having an increasingly global approach, it can be a significant advantage. However, it is not essential. Q: Why do you think gap years are so popular? A: Alongside the break from education and the chance to travel, a gap year provides the chance to spend time on self-development and build confidence - ideally by participating in a range of activities like volunteering, working etc - and then take that leap the following year. Finally, there will be those who are thinking about their future career plans. Some will want to build relevant experience to help their application to university/graduate job while others might not have made their minds up and need more time before making such a decision. Advertisement Q: What do universities particularly look for from the gap year student? A: Universities will want to see that the year has been spent positively and not been wasted. Self-development is key and whether this is through travel, gaining work experience or volunteering it's important to think about how this will be evidenced. Some universities will want to interview applicants during the process but all will read a personal statement. So, make sure this details the valuable experiences and skills learnt and how this will be put to good use during a degree course. This is essential. Q: What other benefits are there in taking a gap year? A: Gap years where there is a focus on gaining work experience can benefit students in two ways. Firstly, they can explore different roles and see how well suited they are and this can then lead to decisions around what degree to study. An example might be nursing - how do you know that you can work in such a clinical and demanding environment without ever having experienced it? Also, it provides the student with the chance to pull together an employability toolkit. For example, if a student wants to work in law, having experience of working for a law firm helps them develop networks within the sector, gain a better understanding of the role and its wider impact - what we call commercial awareness - as well as offering a range of real life experiences to use in interviews and application forms. Q: If someone wants to take a gap year, and then apply for university for 2018, then how could they do that? Advertisement A: If the students knows in advance they want a gap year holding fire on the application might be easiest. That way, the application would be made with actual grades (as opposed to predicted) and they should receive an unconditional offer rather than the uncertainty of waiting on results. Exceptions to this might be for individual courses where perhaps entry requirements are expected to change for the following year to become more difficult and securing the place under the old requirements is seen as advantageous. If the decision for a year out is last minute and the applications have already been made then, as long the student is happy to commit to the course and university for 12 months later, they should wait until they have their place confirmed and then phone the university and ask for a deferred entry for the following year. Most universities will be fine with this but it is obviously up to the university in question. If they refuse or the student wants to keep their options open, then they will need to be asked to be released from their offer and will be free to reapply next year. monkeybusinessimages via Getty Images At an inquest on Friday, we heard how a man had ended his life. He had spent his final years caring for several relatives and was clearly a devoted family man. The impact of caring for three family members, his severe worries about their deteriorating health, and his financial concerns all compounded. Advertisement I was at the coroner's court as part of research which our charity is undertaking into deaths by suicide. We hope that this research will help prevent future deaths. After an inquest, the journalists and court officials often talk together to express sorrow at the circumstances of the death and to comment briefly. This time, we were all silent. I think there was a sense of such desperate sadness that no one felt able to comment. We were lost in our own thoughts. The circumstances of his death were extremely harrowing. One of his daughters gave evidence to the court. She explained how he had become exhausted and overwhelmed, caring for three different members of his family. She said he didn't want any help, though. Caring for someone can be incredibly protective against suicide. It gives a powerful reason for living. Nurturing, protecting, supporting a loved one - it is one of the most rewarding things in life. You are needed and your life has purpose. It is a privilege to care for family members and there are many moments of joy. Indeed carers may be most at risk of suicide if the person for whom they are caring dies. However, for some of us, circumstances combine in such a way that we reach crisis point while we are caring for someone. Advertisement I was a full-time carer for a member of my family. I recall it as a time when love was abundant, and we lived a life of quiet contentment. It is only now, though, that I can look back and see how my mental health deteriorated during her last few weeks. Like the man whose inquest was on Friday, I carried on alone. I didn't talk to anyone about the inner turmoil I was experiencing. The person I was caring for deteriorated rapidly. The combination of deep love for a family member, profound distress at her deterioration, and my inability to prevent it from happening - it all accumulated. An acute lack of sleep further impacted upon my ability to cope. Carers are often getting up several times a night to tend to their loved one. Food had always been one of her great loves and comforts. In her final weeks, she barely ate. I would cook a meal, she would refuse it, and so I cooked a whole other meal. Still she had no appetite for it. I would walk up and down supermarket aisles trying to find something tempting she might like. My mind was constantly trying to find a food she would eat. If I just thought hard enough, surely I would come up with a new idea. She was fading rapidly - I had to find something. It was a source of such anguish. My brain wouldn't switch off from it. I had been known for being patient and calm. But not now. I felt I was going to explode. One day, I reached the limit of what I could take, went upstairs, lay face down on the floor in exhaustion and bit the carpet to avoid screaming. Never in my life had I done anything like that. It didn't occur to me to ask for help, even at that point. Ten days after our loved one died, a random traumatic experience plunged me into a psychotic episode and a suicidal crisis. I had no history of serious mental illness or suicide attempts. Advertisement It wasn't until last year that a psychiatrist told me that he felt that my fragile mental health in the weeks before the traumatic event contributed very significantly to the severity of my response to it. I guess I had no reserves left, at that point. The man who died had been having paranoid thoughts in the weeks before his death. The combination of stress, feeling overwhelmed, exhaustion, the emotional impact of seeing the person or people you love suffering - all of this can impact so severely on your mental health. Having been a carer, and having experienced such a deterioration of my own mental health, I can say without reservation that it was not the caring role which made me so ill. It was that I did it without support. I had no idea that continuing to care alone would have had such an effect on my health. Like the man who died, I had had no serious mental illness previously. During a fairly routine visit to our loved one at home, our GP saw me break down in tears when I was alone with him. It was perhaps at that point that I should have been referred for help. I know how under pressure and overstretched GPs are, though. I am with a different GP surgery now, and feel extremely supported there. I cherish the time which I spent as a carer for our loved one. They were years of profound contentment. Carers need to be supported, though, during the caring years. We need to ensure that their mental health is protected, when pressures accumulate and become overwhelming. Advertisement Joy runs a Suicide Crisis Centre in Gloucestershire. For information about the charity contact: http://www.suicidecrisis.co.uk Help and support for carers, including a national phone line, is available from Carers UK: http://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice How do you get a slice of a global industry valued at 23 trillion? From designers through to savvy entrepreneurs, it's not only the charismatic appeal of the fashion industry that continues to draw people to make riches from rags. That London is widely recognised as the capital of fashion - valued at 28 billion - having produced the likes of Alexander McQueen and Vivienne Westwood, and is also home to Savile Row no doubt helps the grassroots energy on our island. The 3 trillion dollar question is, of course, how do you design fashion that sells? What's the formula for success? How do you produce a bestseller? How can you consistently make clothes that people want to buy? And how do you shape future trends? Surely there's a formula for success; a common denominator? Advertisement I was recently fortunate enough to listen to two highly respected and - more importantly - successful fashion designers at Pure London, one of the UK's leading fashion trade shows. They each displayed a strong sense of individuality, firm conviction in their method and solid principles - while also following unorthodox routes to their success - no doubt key ingredients to bottling their respective brand's DNA. Dr Pam Hogg, legendary fashion designer, DJ, rockstar and artist was a keynote speaker at the event, where her unorthodox approach and rule-breaking path to cult status - she designed for the Brit Awards in 2016 - was shared with crowds of students, buyers and fashion press hanging on her every word. Image: author's own Self-taught, unorthodox and famously hands-on, Hogg not only designed all her collections but made the majority of them too, while recruiting students to her studio. Initially wanting to be a painter, she harnessed challenges in dressmaking - fastenings, sleeves etc - in order to shape her designs, which emerged from free-hand sketches. Creativity doesn't get much more hands-on than this! Given the scale of production and resources - no more than 10 units of each style were made in spite of demand - Pam's brand retained kudos and prestige rarely seen in mass-produced fashion, her strategy of quality over quantity never compromising revenue. A fabulous raconteur, I was especially taken by a few chosen words she shared in her Expect the Unexpected delivery: Advertisement "Make something new that customers didn't know they want [...] give the unexpected. [...] How do we know what our customers want until we offer it to them?" In her view, a successful fashion brand must "encourage customers to push boundaries, be excited and adventurous". Indeed, she reiterated how fashion changes how we feel and can alter moods: fashion is "life-changing". And, when it comes to one of the most saturated markets in the world, how do you retain identity and stand out from competitors? "If you stay true to yourself the essence of your identity becomes apparent", was the advice of the designer behind the trademark catsuit and one-leg-garter, seen on the likes of Rihanna and Kylie. After she left the stage, what continued to resonate with me was her bravery and fearlessness; her preparedness to be disliked before being adored: "The greatest gift we have is our individuality. I cannot understand why anyone would want to look the same." Sage advice in the design studio, as much as in life itself. Advertisement Similarly refreshing was the contribution made by Henry Holland, who followed on the same platform the very next day. Preferring the title of creative director, rather than designer, the muse behind the slogan t-shirt studied journalism and worked at Bliss magazine, before finding fame in fashion. As he said himself, there's no conventional path to success, "the rule book was ripped up long ago". Following his 10th anniversary, a successful second collection with Habitat, and on the cusp of launching his own concept store in China, Holland is an ambassador for British fashion and is a product of Fashion East, a group that nurtures fledgling talent. Exploring topics such as the art of effective collaboration and the topical See Now/Buy culture, which he admitted is a "challenge", it was Holland's words on authenticity which really stayed with me. In a notoriously competitive market continually fending off saturation, his insights on challenging imitation and homogeneity were refreshing pearls of wisdom. "My journey has been based on authenticity", said the somewhat accidental designer. His journey to critical acclaim on the shopfloor of stores such as Browns Focus and Matches began with irreverent printed t-shirts for his 'fashion groupie' friends (namely Gareth Pugh and Giles Deacon). "Continuity is important for a brand", he said. "Don't try to please everyone or copy - stay true to your DNA, USP and identity. [...] Personality and tone are important. I always go to great lengths to preserve the playfulness in my brand and that translates to the product". "Some traditional designers consider me an upstart, but I don't waste energy tackling objectivity. The playful sense of humour and tone of voice is integral to my brand's DNA". Advertisement How do you create a winning fashion brand with both individuality and commerciality? "Challenges are opportunities. The rule book has been ripped up. [...] There's no formulaic path or single route to market". Addressing retailers, Holland's advice was that "to engage the customer and really develop that shopping experience. It's about theatre, environment and experience. There's been a radical evolution in consumer behaviour [...] there are a lot of unknowns out there right now and uncertainty affects how consumers behave". Following these unorthodox viewpoints and unconventional routes to success, I was then amused by an article profiling Europe's richest man, Amancio Ortega, founder of Inditex (the fashion empire behind high street brands such as Zara, Pull & Bear, Massimo Dutti and Bershka). The humble octogenarian is estimated to be worth 63.2 billion. As business profiles go, the article was noteworthy not only for the founder's signature low profile but also for the fact that Ortega made his billions from the rag trade. So, in answer to the initial question 'How to be a fashion designer', his approach remains the same as when he set out his principles in 1975. Today, J P Morgan considers Inditex a "structural winner" due to its combined store and online services, its "pull model" -- the way it draws ideas from customers -- and its "nimble supply chain". Why was I amused? Because while an icon such as Dr Pam Hogg, who clearly knows a thing or two about designing clothes, advises delivering the unexpected - "How do we know what our customers want until we offer it to them?" - the founder of Inditex set out with the simple aim of asking women what they wanted and then making clothes based on their requests. Inditex asks shoppers what they want and then designs products accordingly. Advertisement Seeking credit where they believe credit is due, songwriters and their trade organisations have sent a strongly worded letter to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) protesting that trade group's ongoing refusal to recognise the moral rights of songwriters. _______________________________________________ Moral rights have been a part of global law since 1928, when The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works outlined basic rights for songwriters and composers including attribution, or the right to be recognised as the author of a work. 172 signatory countries out of 192 in the world are signatories. The US finally signed on 1989, but thus far have not acted on that commitment, saying they are confusing. This year, the US Copyright Office is conducting a study of the issue, including testimony from creators and submissions by writer organisations. The RIAA has consistently opposed U. S. implementation of moral rights which mandate proper credit, but do not address payment including in recent comments made to the Copyright Office. In response, songwriters from the US, Canada, UK and Europe and eleven organisations representing many tens of thousands of songwriters and composers of all genres have come together to tell the RIAA why this is wrong and damaging to the people whose works the music industry is built on. Here is the full text of the letter: Mr. Cary Sherman Mr. Mitch Glazier RIAA Via email Dear Messrs. Sherman and Glazier, It was with great disappointment that we read the recent RIAA comments to the Copyright Office in connection with moral rights; in particular, with regard to the right of attribution. The RIAAs argument prioritizes the inconvenience of dealing with accurate metadata over the principle of the protection of the rights of the people upon whose work the music business is built. In our view, and the view of many in the creator community, this is not only irresponsible, it represents a betrayal of the greater common purpose to which so many of us are committeda purpose with which the RIAA claims to agree. While music creators have greatly appreciated the RIAAs leadership on, for example, the Music Community submission on Section 512, its crucial to note that such a leadership requires buy-in from the community one purports to lead. In this case, not only do you not have buy-in, the RIAA comments have inspired very active opposition, including that from UK and European music creators whose work is consumed widely across the USA but whose moral rights are not recognized, in part, due to your position. The Berne Convention, revised in 1928 to include moral rights, has 172 countries around the world signed up to it; it is only the US that refuses to assert them. To make our position clear, we urge you to read the comments filed by Maria Schneider in this matter, which we believe capture the general views of the performer and songwriter community. Maria has outlined how enforceable rights of attribution (in the form of statutorily protected metadata) can be useful, if not indispensable, tools in achieving the kind of accountability from the internet that, in other submissions, the RIAA seeks to establish. [See Marias comments here.] More fundamentally, RIAAs comments are taken by many in the music creator community as a betrayal of our joint commitment to expand opportunities for creators. Unfortunately, this divergence of views gives our common adversaries an opportunity to divide our community. We certainly are aware that the RIAA and its members have historically not embraced the idea of moral rights, and have tended to view it as a litigation risk. But the basic metadata rights were talking about here are already protected by Section 1202. We are not living in ordinary times, and were sure RIAA is well aware of the sensitivities regarding transparency and accountability. Without accurate metadata, contributors to a work risk not getting paid. Thats a moral dilemma intrinsically linked to the issue of moral rights and on this issue the RIAA has now aligned itself with those who seek to enfeeble IP rights. Even anti-copyright groups like Creative Commons understand the importance of attribution. If the RIAA is seen as less artist-friendly than Creative Commons, the copyleft and all who seek to undervalue our work will benefit. Whats more, this could make the job of aligning creators with the RIAA around our combined interests infinitely more difficult. The RIAA comments raise fears about technical issues concerning implementation of the metadata. However, we believe this misses the point. No one is asking to add new requirements here. The current ID3v2 metadata tag is clearly a standard technical measure, and includes 80 separate fields for including all sorts of metadata, including performers, lyricists, studio engineers etc. This capability is baked in to every MP3 and AAC. The RIAA should fully support and encourage all of us in the music community to harness and protect that metadata. Instead, the RIAA frantically lays out a litany of hurdles they claim will prevent digital platforms from giving credit to the many people that contribute to a creative work. We believe theres no doubt music platforms will come up with innovative and effective ways to give credit. Certainly theres no need to set expectations at rock bottom as the RIAA did in their comments. We have no interest in imposing new requirements that are unreasonable, or that require parties to include information that they themselves do not possess. But we do expect that the metadata capabilities that the industry and Section 1202 have given us will be protected, today and into the future. Accurate metadata is essential to the healthy digital future of music creators, it is also critical to the healthy digital future of each and every Citizen Creator. The potential to report 100% accurate usage is the greatest promise cyberspace makes to Creators. Yet, in your Moral Rights submission, the RIAA seems to approach attribution and the accuracy that metadata provides as if it were a threat. With key efforts like the Open Music Initiative, the future value of metadata to musicians and songwriters will be absolutely critical. And if, in the process of protecting those rights, we also happen to implicate certain moral rights, so be it. The RIAA comments go in the exact opposite direction on this crucial issue, failing to take into account the potential value of legislated accreditation via metadata and providing ethical and political cover for Google and others to treat the internet as some kind of accountability-free zone. That, of course, has much broader implications than just with regard to the issue of moral rights. We urge you and your members to think carefully about how to move forward from here in ways that truly reflect the interests of those you claim to protect. There are corporate players here, whose unfettered commercial self-interest masquerades as ideology and who capitalize upon our perceived divisions. While the comment period may have technically closed, there is no restriction on the RIAA revising its views, endorsing the comments filed by Ms. Schneider, and affirming the following: a) the importance of metadata to musicians and creators; b) its strategic value to rights-holders in the future of payment/accountability technologies; c) the relevance and authority of Section 1202 in protecting those rights; and d) the short-term and long-term damage and chaos that is created by encouraging music distributors such as YouTube to disrespect and strip that metadata from our valuable creative works. In fact, we hope the RIAA will join us in encouraging the Copyright Office to use its authority under Section 1202(c)(8) to expressly include all of the metadata contained in a standard ID3v2 tag as falling within the definition of CMI. We ask that the RIAA work with the creator community to address the specific issues of implementation. More important, we strongly urge the RIAA to present a united front in our common cause to protect the rights of music creators and those who present their work. Sincerely, British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) European Composer & Songwriter Alliance (ECSA) MusicAnswers Music Creators of North America (MCNA) Council of Music Creators (CMC) Screen Composers Guild of Canada (SCGC) Societe Professionnelle des Autuers et des Composituers du Quebec (SPACQ) Society of Composers and Lyricists (SCL) Songwriters Association of Canada (SAC) Songwriters Guild of America (SGA) Songwriters of North America (SONA) Egypt will open the border crossing with the Gaza Strip in both directions for two days starting Wednesday, the Palestinian interior ministry said on its official website on Tuesday. The Rafah crossing will be open in both directions for the first time in almost six months. Since March, the crossing has only been opened occasionally, to allow Palestinians stranded outside Gaza to return home. The crossing in the border Sinai Peninsula is the major gateway to the outside world for 1.8 million Palestinians living in Israeli-besieged Gaza, as it is the only terminal not controlled by Israel. Gaza has been under Israeli blockade since 2006. Egypt has kept the border largely closed over security concerns following the ouster of Islamist ex-president Mohamed Morsi almost four years ago. Earlier this week, Egyptian authorities reopened the border to allow hundreds of Gazans with Saudi visas to cross to Egypt on their way to Mecca for the hajj pilgrimage. The border openings in recent months come amid signs of improving ties between Cairo and Gaza's governing group Hamas. A senior Hamas delegation visited Cairo in late January. Hamas leader Mahmoud El-Zahar said at the time that Palestinian and Egyptian officials had reached a border control agreement. Search Keywords: Short link: Spotify Is Set To Dominate Music Just Like Google Dominates Search In much the same way as Google has risen to become the dominant name in search engines, Spotify may be headed to emerge as the dominant name in music. Here Paul X. McCarthy explains the nature of online competition and why this may be the case. ____________________________________ Guest post by Paul X. McCarthy on The Conversation While competition online starts the same way as that in offline markets, my research shows it often settles very differently online. Both have seen lots of competitors emerge in a new area underpinned by new technologies. But online, consolidation ends in a high-stakes winner-takes-most title fight between the two strongest players. In search this was AltaVista vs Google, in social media it was MySpace vs Facebook and in business networking Spoke vs LinkedIn. The result is that the victor at this critical juncture goes on to dominate their corner of the market and becomes almost unassailable in that space. Source: Online Gravity The evidence is mounting that Swedish music streaming company Spotify is on the verge of seizing the crown in music. Pandora has been for some time the dominant real-time streaming service in the United States. Three years ago it had a clear lead but competition from Spotify appears to be stronger than ever. Pandora was a mass market pioneer in the online radio style streaming format where users pick stations and the music is compiled for them, whereas Spotify adopted an on-demand model which has prevailed. Spotify has created many features that has made it popular with users like the ability to create and swap playlists. Read more: How data is transforming the music industry In the United States, Pandora has more monthly active users than Spotify, Shazam, Soundcloud and Amazon Music, according to App Annie. While Pandora has dominated in the United States its success in other markets has not been so strong. In Australia and New Zealand, for example, it recently closed its service and Jane Huxley, former managing director of Pandora Australia and New Zealand who resigned in March was just announced in the same role at Spotify. giuseppemilo/flickr Spotify also has a massive global subscriber base many of whom are paying higher per user fees than Pandora. It now looks likely to take the global lead for three reasons: Explosive new user growth Growing investor valuations Attraction of technology talent Explosive new user growth While the category of streaming music still is in its infancy, new users are critical to success. And this is where Spotify is killing it. In the context of Apps, new users are all about downloads and for the best part of 2017, Spotify has taken the crown of #1 most downloaded music app in the United States on iOS. So while Pandora is still currently ahead in monthly active users, at this rate it wont be long before Spotify takes the lead overall. Online Gravity with data from App Annie, 2017. Growing investor valuations Investors always have a forward looking view. Companies are valued not on what they are doing today but what investors expect from them in terms of future growth and performance. While still private, and with rumours of a stock market listing later this year, Spotify is now valued by investors at more than US$13 billion over five times the current value of publicly listed Pandora which is currently US$2.3 billion. Attraction of technology talent The success of all online ventures is fuelled by technology talent. And many of the people in the tech sector have their antennae tuned to who is hot and who is not. You can now use data to examine which companies are the most desirable destinations for software developers and tech talent by looking not at what people say, but where they go. When people leave one company to go work for another that creates a data point, and when you have lots of these thats a trend. Using the technology talent movement metrics we can see also Spotify took the lead from Pandora in the United States in September last year. Paysa How competition evolves Initially new segments of the digital economy emerge in the same way as new segments of the traditional economy with a vibrant explosion of new life and competition. Consider the car industry where there have been more than 3,000 car companies formed in the US alone over the last century. Under the influence of competition, these thousands of companies have now winnowed down to ten major global companies, each with sales of more than US$100 billion. The way competition evolves online is akin to how the force of gravity has formed our solar system from lots of smaller rocks over time into clear planets with moons or satellites but, notably with no dual or triple planets. I refer to this phenomena as Online Gravity. Author *Except China, Russia and South Korea. Consider web search where the now-dominant Google launched in 1998. It was about the 16th search engine launched after Infoseek, Alta Vista, WebCrawler and at least a dozen others. Where are todays title fights? We can see competition impacts clearly with the benefit of hindsight, but what about title fights that are currently underway? Has Uber gone to point of market dominance beyond competition, or is it a MySpace awaiting Facebook, perhaps Lyft or another yet to enter entrant to steal its crown? Who will win the title belt for outsourced online labour? Will it be Freelancer.com or UpWork? The prize for understanding who is going to win is large, and explains the premiums venture capitalists and public market investors alike put on companies that are favoured title fight winners. Could Tesla become the Google of electric vehicles? Many people think so or that its battery technology advances could lead it to dominate in broader distributed energy industries of the future. Read more: Itll take more than tech for Elon Musk to pull off audacious new Tesla master plan Much has been made in the media of the market value of Tesla now overtaking both GM and Ford, making it the most valuable US car maker. This is despite the fact Tesla sold less than 100,000 cars vs 10 million at GM and that its revenue is less that 5% of GM and Fords. And its still losing money. Y Charts and Online Gravity Could Teslas rise in market valuation have been predicted? One interesting new data source that may shed light on this is technology talent. Paysa Salary monitoring service Paysa also charts the movement of technology talent. It ranks the desirability of companies as employers, using data on technology talent migration it gets from LinkedIn and other sources. Here we can see that Tesla overtook GM in terms of desirability as a destination for tech talent some four years ago and has remained ahead ever since. This coincides with Teslas subsequent rapid rise in enterprise value as reflected by the stockmarket. Share on: North Adams Schools Set Opening Day 2019 NORTH ADAMS, Mass. Elementary and high school students in the North Adams Public Schools in Grades K-8, along with Drury students newly transferring from another school, will begin school on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019. On Wednesday, Sept. 4, all students in kindergarten through Grade 12 will attend school. Both days are full days of school. Breakfast and lunch will be served at all schools starting on Tuesday, Sept. 3, and one breakfast and lunch will be provided free of charge daily. Additional meals may be purchased for a fee. Contact Cory Nicholas, food service director, at 413-776-1631 or cnicholas@napsk12.org with any questions. Lunch menus are also posted here. Cancellations are listed on television on Channels 6, 10, and 13, and broadcast on the radio at WBEC FM 95.9, WUPE FM 100.1 and AM 1110, WNAW AM 1230, WBRK AM 1340 and FM 101.7. They are also posted on the district's website www.napsk12.org as well as on www.iberkshires.com and www.facebook.com/NAPSK12 and on Twitter at @TheNorthAdamsPS. Additionally, families are contacted via School Messenger. The district encourages families to provide a second number for School Messenger in the event of an unscheduled early release. On early release days, elementary schools are dismissed at 11:30 a.m. and students at the high school are released at 11 a.m. All schools will be open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. beginning Tuesday, Aug. 27, to conduct school business, including the registration of new students. Make sure your childs school has your current telephone number(s) on file as well as an e-mail address. You may contact Nancy Rauscher at nrauscher@napsk12.org or at 413-776-1458 to update information or to provide a second contact number. The school calendar is posted on the district website. Lanesborough Undecided On Appointing Emergency Management Director LANESBOROUGH, Mass. Fire Chief Charlie Durfee says he's been performing the role of emergency management director, but without the title. Now that Director Charles Garrity has resigned from the position, Durfee, who had been the alternative, moves into the job title on an interim basis. But the Board of Selectmen doesn't want to appoint him to the role. "As I see it, this would be a good spot for somebody who is not involved in directing the other departments," Selectman Robert Ericson said. The Selectmen are looking to fill the role and so far only Durfee and former Lanesborough firefighter Timothy Sayers son of Board of Selectman Henry "Hank" Sayers have applied or it. Durfee told the Selectmen that in 99 percent of the cities and towns in Massachusetts, the emergency management director is either the municipality's fire or police chief. "We are the ones who are heavily involved when something is going on," Durfee said. "When [Police Chief Timothy Sorrell] or I are calling the shots, putting another voice in the there will confuse it." Ericson, however, maintains that he'd rather have some one outside of either of those roles. He said if there is a large-scale emergency, he'd like to have the fire chief and police chief managing their respective departments. The emergency management director can oversee the entire operation and call for additional resources as needed. Durfee responded that "that's what I do." With 36 years on the department, the chief says he is the one who is calling for resources when there is an emergency. That was particularly true during Tropical Storm Irene when Garrity was out of town and Durfee, who also works for the town's Highway Department, prepared for it, met with other local officials, directed local resources, and then filed the reimbursement paperwork with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Durfee says he is currently working on an emergency management grant that is due Friday. "I know the job. I've been doing the job for the last eight years. If you don't want me to do it, that's your opinion," Durfee said. Timothy Sayers had been on the volunteer department for years before taking a full-time job in Pittsfield. Hank Sayers said Timothy, who is also an emergency medical technician, can help cover shifts for the struggling ambulance service during the day if appointed. The ambulance service has been struggling to respond to calls during the day, and Sayers said his son would be willing to rejoin the department, take on the emergency management director job, and then cover the ambulance during the day. "I consider both choices to be problematic," Ericson said. Durfee said the job isn't about the ambulance, it is about emergency preparedness "It is about preparing this town for emergency operation if something happens," he said The Selectmen decided i nstead to ask if Police Officer Dale Newberry wants the job. Sorrell said Newberry seemed interested but did not know if he still is. Chairman John Goerlach said he thinks Newberry would be a good person to appoint. "I don't see any great rush to make this choice. I'd like to see if Dale would be interested in submitting an application," Ericson said. In other business, Ericson thanked a passerby for helping a woman escape from a burning vehicle. Ericson said he encountered a woman on Sunday who had driven into a guardrail and her vehicle burst into flames. A man was following the vehicle when it happened and helped protect her from the flames. "It was a courageous act on his part. I don't know if I would do the same thing," Ericson said. "This young man, probably in his 20s, did basically a heroic activity and needs to be commended for it." Durfee said the vehicle went up in flames quickly. Sorrell said he couldn't give Ericson the passerby's name because there is a criminal investigation in the matter, and he would be considered a witness. Letter: Ways to Protest Safely To the Editor: With hate groups marching in cities across the U.S., it's tempting to attend to show opposition. However, direct confrontation will only escalate tensions. Hate-mongers are always wrong. Let them be wrong a little farther away from you in order to de-escalate the cycle a bit. I fear we're heading toward more intense violence at protests in the U.S. and even possibly civil war (sounds far-fetched, I know, but it wouldn't take much). The Southern Poverty Law Center released a guide titled "Ten Ways to Fight Hate: A Community Response Guide." To reduce the chance of violence: Monica Henry-Seifert Quaker Hill, Conn. The recently repaired Sand Mill Road bridge is slated for replacement in 2022. Cheshire's Sand Mill Road Bridge To Be Replaced By State CHESHIRE, Mass. The state intends to replace the Sand Mill Road Bridge. Highway Superintendent Blair Crane told the Selectmen on Tuesday that the state Department of Transportation has slated it to be done in fiscal 2022. The cost is estimated at $2.5 million and the project is in the preliminary design phase. "What needed to be done has been done to get us through those six years and in six years it will be replaced," Crane told the selectmen Tuesday. "So they are going to take care of that and we will start that process." The town used its Chapter 90 road funds to partially repair the bridge this spring after its condition prompted the state to close it two years ago. Residents had complained about the lengthened commute caused by the closure. Crane said when the bridge is replaced, it would likely need to be completely closed for 10 to 15 weeks. "Rather than closing it and going through the motions, the motions will be done so when it does close, it will be torn down and put back together," Crane said. "For bridge construction, that is pretty aggressive." He added that he plans to survey every bridge in town with state inspectors in the next few weeks. "As a group, we will do that so there will be no more surprises," Crane said. Crane also said the Department of Public Works has been busy cleaning up after the rain storms last week. He said the flooding wasn't bad because all the catch basins in town have been cleaned. "We did every catch basin in town. It took four days," he said. "Some that you think would really be full were fine and others were filled to the gills with sediment but we did them all so we know we have a clean slate." He added that downed trees have also been completely removed. "There were a couple downed trees across Outlook Ave but I got there and cut them up," he said. "It is all set now." In other business, Pine Valley Mobile Home Park resident Roseanna St. Pierre told the Selectmen that the roads in the park have yet to be paved. "They are like craters and there is no news when they are going to get it done," she said. "First we heard the spring, then July, now it's August and before you know it will be winter." Last year, after a series of arduous meetings, the Selectmen acting as the rent control board approved a rent increase of $7.46 a month. That amount was 95 percent less than what the park managers proposed. Part of this increase was slated for road repairs. St. Pierre asked if tenants should withhold rent and place it in an escrow account until the roads are complete. Selectman Robert Ciskowski did not think they should do that and said the rent control board will contact the park manager. "I would be leery of that. Why don't you let us get a hold of them so you don't get in trouble," Ciskowski said. "There is still good paving time this summer and fall We as the rent control board will find out what we can find out." Tammy Denease, right, will perform a dramatic re-telling of 'Mumbet's Story,' the story of Elizabeth 'Mumbet' Freeeman, left, as part of Mumbet Day on Aug. 20. Crumbling of Slavery in Massachusetts Celebrated on 'Elizabeth Freeman Day' SHEFFIELD, Mass. On Aug. 21, 1781, in Sheffield, slavery began to crumble in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts when Elizabeth "Mumbet" Freeman successfully sued for her freedom from slavery more than 80 years before the Emancipation Proclamation. On Sunday, Aug. 20, The Trustees of Reservations will host a day of activities to celebrate the story of Elizabeth Freeman at the Ashley House in Sheffield. Activities will include guided tours of the Ashley House and a performance by storyteller and actress Tammy Denease, with her dramatic re-telling of "Mumbet's Story." Preceding the afternoon performance, the public is invited to follow in the footsteps of Elizabeth Freedom on her walk to freedom. At 10 a.m., the annual "Walk to Freedom," co-sponsored by Crow Flies Press, will depart from the Ashley House and walk north to the historic home of Theodore Sedgwick in the village of Sheffield, where, at 11:30 a.m., state Rep. Smitty Pignatelli will read the proclamation that freed Mumbet from slavery. Shuttles will return walkers to the Ashley House for the afternoon activities. At noon, barbecue and refreshments will be served at the Ashley House, and guided house tours will run from noon to 2 p.m. At 2:15 p.m. Denease will perform a dramatic re-telling of Elizabeth Freemans story. Residents of Cairo's Warraq Island who the government says are residing there illegally have chosen a committee of 10 members, instead of 30 as proposed by authorities, to negotiate with the government over the fate of their homes, the former head of Warraq Islands local council Yehia El-Maghraby told Ahram Online. Earlier this week, the head of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority Kamel El-Wazir asked the island's residents to form a 30-member committee to talk with the government and reach a compromise. However, El-Maghraby says that only 10 members have been chosen in order to "maintain neutrality," with a list of the committee members' names presented to government officials. Government officials have said that residents of the island are illegally residing on public land, and that authorities are looking to offer them alternative housing elsewhere so the infrastructure of the island can be upgraded. However, residents insist that they hold proof of legal ownership of their properties on the island. No date has been set for a meeting between the committee and El-Wazir, where the committee is planning to demand the release of 19 residents of the island who were arrested after clashes with police in July, according to El-Maghraby. On Sunday, El-Wazir and island residents failed to find common ground at a public conference that was held on the island. El-Maghraby says that residents are not prepared to abandon their homes on the island, although they welcome the idea of upgrading its infrastructure, which they have called for throughout the years. The state owns a mere 60 feddans of the [1,600-feddan] Island, and 1,500 feddans are the property of the residents. We would rather die than leave our land, El-Maghraby said. During the public conference on Sunday, El-Wazir assured residents that no one would be forcefully removed from their homes. President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi also addressed attendees at the conference by phone to reassure them. The conflict between residents of Warraq Island and the government erupted on 16 July after the surprise demolition of a number of homes on the island. One resident was killed, 19 were injured, and 31 police personnel were wounded in subsequent clashes. This is not the first dispute to arise between residents of Warraq Island and the government. In 2000, then-prime minister Atef Ebeid issued an order to seize the island for public use. In 2002, however, a court ruled in favour of the residents after they challenged the prime minister's decision. Search Keywords: Short link: The visit to Russia will be followed by a trip to Estonia Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry is set to head next week on a European tour that includes Russia and Estonia to discuss bilateral ties, a statement by the foreign ministry read. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said Shoukry will deliver a letter from Egypts President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to Russian President Vladimir Putin that would underline Egypts interest in bolstering ties with Russia. It is unclear if the discussions would touch on the resumption of Russian flights to Egypt, which have been suspended for more than a year over a deadly passenger flight crash. Shoukry will also meet his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to coordinate on several regional and international issues, including combating terrorism. Discussions over Russian investment in Egyptian sectors, as well as a Russian industrial zone set to be established in the Suez Canal Development Zone, will be on the table with Russian trade and industry minister. Shoukry is then set to head to Estonia 22 August, where he will hold meetings with top Estonian officials. Search Keywords: Short link: Calls by some Egyptian MPs to amend the 2014 constitution to extend presidential terms from four years to six have been met with criticism from some political forces. Ismail Nasreddin, an MP affiliated with parliaments majority bloc Support Egypt, was the first to call for amending the constitution, saying Article 140 should be amended to extend the president's term from four to six years. Nasreddin, an MP from the South Cairo district of Helwan, had said in February that he also wants to change Article 146, which mandates parliamentary approval before the president can make cabinet appointments or dismissals, as well as Article 103, which requires MPs to devote their full time to parliamentary business. Nasreddin also said Article 190 should be amended to strip the State Council the countrys top administrative judicial body of some its powers. A number of political parties and figures have criticised the call to amend the constitution to extend presidential terms, including the Wafd, the Future of a Nation, the Conference, El-Tagammu, the Socialist Popular Alliance, the Nasserist, and the Egyptian Social Democratic parties. Amr Moussa, the former foreign affairs minister who headed the 50-member constituent assembly that drafted the 2014 constitution, has also rejected calls to extend the presidents term. In a statement on Saturday, Moussa said that parliament should look to implement the constitution, not amend it. Last week, the head of parliament's Human Rights Committee Alaa Abed called for amending the 2014 constitution to extend presidential terms as well as expand the powers of the president to help future presidents implement their programmes. "The powers we want to give the president include the right to appoint and fire cabinet ministers without first obtaining parliament's approval," said Abed. "A four-year term is a very short period for the people to judge a president, not to mention that this short period does not help keep the country stable in a region plagued by internal conflicts and sectarian strife," Abed said. "An election every four years in Egypt is highly costly in security and financial terms." Abed, who is also the parliamentary spokesman of the Free Egyptians Party (65 MPs), argued that "when the Constituent Assembly met to draft the constitution four years ago, it was under pressure after the 30 June 2013 Revolution, which erupted to eliminate the autocratic rule of the Muslim Brotherhood and religious fascism," said Abed. "However, after [former president Mohamed] Morsi exploited presidential decrees to give himself absolute power, the Constituent Assembly reacted by stripping the president of many of his essential powers in the new constitution, in addition to [limiting] his term to four years in office." Abed also said that the constitution should also be amended to bring back the countrys second legislative chamber, which was abolished in the 2014 constitution. "We want an upper parliament to be created to help the House of Representatives bear its legislative and supervisory responsibilities." Abed added, however, that he does not want to amend the constitution's articles on freedoms and rights. "These articles were drafted in a very good way. All we want is to change at least 15 articles to help the country meet economic and security challenges in the coming years," Abed said. He recommended that the constitution be amended ahead of the 2018 presidential elections. "Let's draft the amendments and let the people approve or reject them in a public referendum." In a meeting on 9 August with constitutional law professors affiliated with Mansoura University, parliament speaker Alaa Abdel-Aal said that "Egypt's 2014 constitution in its current form does not help serve the country's needs in the long run. Many of the articles in this constitution should be reconsidered, such as the article that allows the president to appoint a cabinet minister only after getting parliament's approval," said Abdel-Aal. Al-Ahali, the weekly mouthpiece of the leftist Tagammu Party, said in its Wednesday issue that "the true aim behind these calls is to postpone presidential elections to 2020 to help the incumbent president President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi stay in power for two more years. "And if the current president wins a second term in an election in 2020, he would stay until 2026," Al-Ahali said. Ashraf Rashad, the head of the pro-El-Sisi Future of a Nation party, said in a statement this week that the party supports re-electing El-Sisi next year, but is against amending the constitution at this time. Omar Simida, the head of the Conference Party, which was founded by Amr Moussa, has also said that "what is important now is to encourage citizens to actively participate in voting next year." "This is not the right time to amend the constitution, but the matter could be put to a national dialogue after the presidential poll next year," said Simida. In March, El-Sayed El-Badawi, the head of the Wafd Party Egypt's oldest political party said that "amending the constitution to extend the president's term is a very bad step." "It would do a lot of damage to the president and parliament's reputation," said El-Badawi. In June, Mohamed El-Sewedi, the head of the Support Egypt bloc, told reporters in a press conference that "what we see are just individual calls; there is no collective action seeking to amend the constitution." Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Omar Marawan also told reporters in a press conference in July that "the government does not intend to amend the constitution." "Who said the government wants to change the 2014 constitution?" Marawan asked, adding that "these press reports do not have any foundation." Search Keywords: Short link: Bahrain's state television on Wednesday accused Qatar of attempting to overthrow the government in Manama, upping the stakes in a diplomatic crisis that has seen Doha isolated in the Gulf. Along with Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Egypt, Bahrain cut ties with Qatar in June on accusations that the emirate supports Islamist extremism and is too close to Shia Iran. Qatar, which is Sunni-ruled like the other Gulf monarchies, has denied the allegations. State-run Bahrain Television aired a report which claimed that neighbouring Qatar was behind anti-government protests since 2011. It reported that, Qatar's former prime minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem Al-Thani, in 2011 had contacted Ali Salman --then head of Bahrain's largest opposition group, Al-Wefaq -- and asked him to urge protesters to flood the streets and ramp up pressure on the state. A court order, carried by state news agency BNA, said attorney general Ali al-Bouainen had launched an investigation into a series of phone calls. In the calls, Sheikh Hamad and Salman had allegedly agreed to "work together to escalate unrest so as to harm the interests of the nation and undermine its stability, which are tantamount to the crime of communicating with a foreign state with the intention of harming national interests". Bahrain, which has a history of disputes over Gulf islands and reefs with Qatar, is home to a Shia majority and had been rocked by Arab Spring-inspired, Shia-led protests demanding an elected government. The Shia movement Al-Wefaq was the largest bloc in Bahrain's elected lower house of parliament until 2011, when its members resigned en masse in protest at the state's crackdown on demonstrators. A 2016 court order dissolved Al-Wefaq for "harbouring terrorism", while its leader Salman has been behind bars since 2014. Bahraini authorities have regularly cracked down on protests, which at times have turned violent. Manama and Riyadh have regularly accused Iran of provoking dissent in the island kingdom, located in the Gulf between Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Iran. Bahrain has been a key ally of the United States for decades and is home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet. The United States has not taken sides in the Saudi-led boycott of Qatar, another US ally which is home to the largest American air base in the region. *This story was edited by Ahram Online Search Keywords: Short link: US-led coalition air strikes on the Islamic State group's remaining territory in Syria's Raqqa city killed 17 civilians on Wednesday, including children, a monitor said. The coalition is providing air support in the form of heavy air strikes for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) militia as it battles to oust IS group from its onetime stronghold. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said the deaths on Wednesday followed two days of deadly strikes. Since Monday, the monitor said, 38 civilians have been killed in US-led air strikes on the city. Wednesday's deaths included five children, according to the monitor, which relies on a network of sources on the ground. The coalition says it takes measures to avoid civilian casualties and investigates credible allegations of civilian deaths. The United States has admitted that coalition strikes have killed 624 civilians in Syria and Iraq since 2014. But rights groups and monitors say the figure is exponentially higher than that. The SDF launched an operation to capture Raqqa province from IS group last year, and in June the militia broke into Raqqa city for the first time. It now holds more than half of the city, but the fighting has proved fierce and civilians have been killed both in the crossfire and while trying to flee. Tens of thousands of people have fled Raqqa, but the UN estimates between 10,000 and 25,000 civilians may still be trapped inside. Search Keywords: Short link: White supremacists and neo-Nazi groups enthusiastically embraced President Donald Trump Wednesday, seeing an endorsement of their cause in his insistence that left-wing groups were also to blame for the deadly violence at a "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. "This man is doing absolutely everything in his power to back us up and we need to have his back," Andrew Anglin wrote on the DailyStormer, a neo-Nazi, anti-Semitic website that acts as a hub of the extreme right. "It's going to be really, really hard to have any bad feelings towards Trump for a long, long time after this," he said. Richard Spencer, the white nationalist organizer of the "Unite the Right" rally, hailed Trump's statement as "fair and down to earth." "Trump cares about the truth," said Spencer, who added he was "proud of" the president. Trump stunned many Americans Tuesday after he strongly condemned leftist agitators as equally responsible for the deadly violence at Saturday's rally in Charlottesville. Hundreds of so-called alt-right activists descended on the city armed with clubs and bats and brandishing Nazi flags and symbols, to protest plans to take down a statue of Confederate general Robert E Lee. Violent clashes erupted between white supremacists and anti-racism counter-protesters, and a young woman was killed when a suspected Nazi sympathizer rammed his car into a crowd of demonstrators. Trump has come under fire from other political leaders, including several former presidents, for arguing that there was "blame on both sides" at the rally organized by white supremacists. While Trump added general condemnations of Nazis and racists, groups aligned with the alt-right movement applauded his willingness to tag the left with blame. White nationalist and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke took to Twitter to express his appreciation. "Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists," he wrote. Jack Posobiec, an alt-right figure whose comments Trump has retweeted, wrote "We [are] primetime now" and "Goodnight, Alt Left" as the president spoke to reporters from the Trump Tower in New York. Many alt-right groups who took part in the rally have since been kicked off social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, and had their webpages shut down by hosts enforcing policies against hate speech and threats. But some still managed to communicate. After being blocked by two mainstream hosting services, DailyStormer resurfaced temporarily Wednesday on a site using a ".ru" domain indicating a possible Russian host, before being shut down again. Anglin applauded Trump's apparent sympathy for opponents of the removal of Lee's statue from a Charlottesville park. Trump "uses our talking points -- that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson are next after the Confederate monuments and that they're trying to destroy our history." James Kirkpatrick, the head of VDARE, an organization that seeks to restrict immigration to white Europeans, cheered Trump for focusing the blame for violence on the leftist "antifa" -- short for anti-fascist -- movement. "President Donald Trump finally did what no-one in the Conservative Establishment would: calling out the Antifa (the "Alt-Left" in his words) for sparking violence at the legally-sanctioned demonstration in Charlottesville." Search Keywords: Short link: Egypt's Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr will meet on Sunday with a delegation from the World Bank to discuss final procedures before giving Egypt the final $1 billion tranche of a $3 billion loan, the ministry announced Wednesday. Nasr met on Wednesday in Cairo with the regional director of the International Bank in Egypt Assad Allam, where they discussed preparations for the upcoming visit by World Bank representatives. The World Bank agreed to give Egypt the loan in December 2015. Egypt received the first tranche of the loan in September 2016, while the second tranche was disbursed in March 2017. Nasr and Allam also discussed another planned visit by World Bank representatives in September to follow up on the Upper Egypt development project as well as projects to improve governance, education and the investment environment in Egypt. Nasr also said on Wednesday that the World Bank has allocated $500 million to the Upper Egypt development project, adding that the ministry is calling on the private sector to participate in infrastructure projects in Upper Egypt. The current portfolio of the World Bank in Egypt includes 26 projects at a total commitment of $5.92 billion, according to bank data. Search Keywords: Short link: Lower Capacities Helps with Enterprise Security by Limiting the Amount of Data that can be Transported Outside of Network Firewalls Kingston, the independent world leader in memory products, has added 4GB and 8GB capacity sizes to its family of DataTraveler 2000 encrypted USB Flash drives. The smaller capacities join the existing 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, and are all FIPS-197 certified. All DataTraveler 2000 drives offer 256-bit AES hardware-based encryption and PIN protection with access through an onboard alphanumeric keypad. DataTraveler 2000 drives are designed for global security IT professionals, small-to-medium businesses and corporate end users who require data protection in a USB. As the drives are OS independent (compatible with any device with a USB 2.0 or USB 3.1 Gen 1 port), they are easily deployable in work environments where multiple devices and operating systems are in use. Each drive is protected with 256-bit AES hardware-based encryption and no software or hardware drivers are needed. Lower capacity drives limit the amount of data that can be copied off a network, making it more difficult for large amounts of sensitive data to be transferred to unauthorized parties in the event the drive gets lost or falls into the wrong hands, said Kingston. Since most data leaks are the result of employees or others who have authorized access to an organizations network, the less data that can be copied, the less that can be leaked. DataTraveler 2000 features an alphanumeric keypad which allows users to lock the drive with a word or number combination for easy-to-use PIN protection. A full-drive reset (whereby the existing data is deleted and a new password is required) occurs after 10 invalid login attempts to lessen a brute force intrusion. For additional security, an auto-lock feature is activated when the drive is removed from the host device even if not properly shut down before ejection. Kingston A Drive to Suit Everyones Needs With the addition of 4GB and 8GB capacity sizes to the DataTraveler 2000 line, Kingston has a broad range of solutions designed for the highest levels of government use to enterprises and organizations of all sizes: IronKey S1000 (Standard or Managed) the ultimate security encrypted USB Flash drive is designed specifically to meet the strictest standards and most demanding data-protection needs of sensitive military, government and enterprise information. Capacities: 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB the ultimate security encrypted USB Flash drive is designed specifically to meet the strictest standards and most demanding data-protection needs of sensitive military, government and enterprise information. Capacities: 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB IronKey D300 (Standard or Managed) includes an advanced level of encryption and tamper-evident security that builds on the features that made IronKey well-respected in safeguarding sensitive information. Capacities: 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB includes an advanced level of encryption and tamper-evident security that builds on the features that made IronKey well-respected in safeguarding sensitive information. Capacities: 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB, 128GB DataTraveler 4000G2 (Management ready) offers affordable business-grade security to safeguard 100-percent of confidential data. Capacities: 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB offers affordable business-grade security to safeguard 100-percent of confidential data. Capacities: 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB DataTraveler Vault Privacy (Standard or Managed) provides affordable business-grade security, protecting 100-percent of data stored; also available with optional and anti-virus. Capacities: 4GB, 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB IronKey From Kingston Since early 2016, Kingston has been the proud owner of the entire USB technology and assets of IronKey, a long-time leading brand in encrypted USB Flash drive solutions. Kingston continues the IronKey brand and tradition of delivering FIPS 140-2 Level 3 certified solutions to customers who need the highest level of encryption and security. With the IronKey brand, Kingston demonstrates its commitment as the global leader in trusted encrypted solutions for mobile data. Customer Service Guaranteed DataTraveler 2000, as well as Kingstons full line of encrypted DataTraveler and IronKey USBs, is backed by a five-year warranty, free technical support and legendary Kingston reliability. M Lhuillier announces its partnership with Starmobile and Smart with the launching of the ML Phone, a customized Starmobile PLAY Five smartphone powered by a Smart SIM with data allocation packaged for one year. This partnership brings together the integration of mobile and digital technology to the financial services industry. We are very excited about this partnership with Starmobile and Smart as it extends our relationship with our customers, and expands our network to create new ones. Our efforts to push for strategic alliances help us to deliver excellence, innovation and quality service to the customers we serve, said Lorenzo Escano, general manager for M Lhuillier Luzon & NCR. The ML Phone possesses advanced specifications and access to Smarts widest internet service, thereby allowing M Lhuillier customers to enjoy and enhance their experience with its new digital solution, the ML Wallet. A proprietary technology, the ML Wallet is an embedded app on the ML Phone. But for the millions of M Lhuillier customers with Android or iPhone devices, they can download it through Google Play Store or Apple App Store, respectively. With this breakthrough product, users can conveniently send money, pay bills and electronically load mobile phones anytime and anywhere. Just some of the earlier features available on the ML Wallet app and with more robust features to follow. According to Joey Uy, chief executive officer for Starmobile, We promise to support M Lhuillier all the way, from providing them the units and updating their application. ML Phone is something to experience. With a free Smart SIM Pack and data allocation of up to 100 mbps per month, it is definite to deliver the best network service. Together, our teams commit to a stronger collaboration to deliver a common goal. I am happy that this project will be very fruitful. We look forward to seeing the launch of M Lhuillier Phone in the market, said Alex Caeg, senior vice president and head for wireless and distribution of Smart. ML Phone will be available in select M Lhuillier Branches nationwide starting July 11, 2017. This Isnt Our Last Love Letter Dear Don Don, Way back in 92 I walked into the room and knew Never felt this way before I shook your hand while gazing into your eyes And the feeling grew As I took a seat I knew A love that would have my heart Forever I knew Way back in 92 They say love at first sight doesnt always last or isnt true We were the exception to that rule Our love had no where to hide A spark set fire As if this is how the universe started I never doubted our love or what we could do Together we grew Forming a bond everlasting That became our glue My euphoria was YOU Im eternally grateful for the love and life we shared For how fortunate we were : to have and to hold through sickness and in health Til death do us part Until we are together again This isnt our last love letter I love you with all my heart and soul Yours forever, Deirdre (Mrs. Hank Snow) Im fortunate to have fallen in love with, marry and make a life with the sharpest, coolest, funniest, most rare, bad ass, tender loving, loyal man on the planet, my husband Don Imus. A True American Hero I dont know why it has been so hard for me to write about my dear friend Don Imus. I certainly know what he meant to me, my family, my charity, my hospital and the millions of fans that listened and loved him for so many years. I keep reading all the beautiful condolences that people are writing about how much a part of their lives were effected by listening to him over the years. But what most people dont talk enough about is what he did for all of us. In every sense of the word, he was an American Hero. His work with children with so many different illnesses and his dedication to their future was unmatched by anyone I have ever known or heard about. Besides raising over $100,000,000 for so many causes, he took care of young people for over 20 years in a state where he could not breathe. Along with his incredible wife Deirdre, he created a world where children were not defined by their disease. That was a miracle! He was a miracle. I will miss him ever day for the rest of my life. I was blessed to be a part of his and Deirdes life. No one will ever do what he did. I love you Don Imus - A TRUE AMERICAN HERO David Jurist IMUS IN THE MORNING FIRST DAY BACK! Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A third woman has come forward to accuse film director Roman Polanski of sexually assaulting her in the 1970s 40-years after he went on the run for raping another girl. Identified only as Robin, the woman told a Los Angeles news conference that she had been sexually victimised in 1973, when she was 16-years-old. Reading from a prepared statement, she said she had told a friend about the assault on the day after it happened. She added: The reason, with this exception, that I kept it to myself is that I didnt want my father to do something that might cause him to go to prison for the rest of his life. She said she had decided to come forward because she was infuriated that a statutory rape case against Polanski could be dropped, after his victim asked a Los Angeles court to end it. The Rosemarys Baby director fled the US in 1978 after admitting to the statutory rape of Samantha Geimer, who was 13 at the time. Now 83, he had previously spent 48-days in custody to undergo a psychiatric evaluation before being released. Court documents filed by his lawyer Harland Braun maintained that Polanski was promised that would be the only time he would serve by the judge overseeing the case. But after he became convinced that the plea deal would be scrapped, the Oscar winning director fled to France. Access unlimited streaming of movies and TV shows with Amazon Prime Video Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up A fugitive since then, he has refused to return to the US without assurances that he would not serve any additional prison time. Polanski who is married to the French actor Emmanuelle Seigner, with whom he has two children, remains a citizen of Poland and France. 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 Geimer told the court in June, that she had forgiven the filmmaker for the assault and wanted closure for herself and her family. Robin, who appeared with her lawyer Gloria Allred in Los Angeles, cannot sue Polanski in a criminal court because the statute of limitation has passed. But she could testify against him in the case involving Ms Geimer, who is not the only woman to accuse him of sexually assaulting her. In 2010 British actress Charlotte Lewis, who was also represented by Ms Allred, claimed the directore forced himself on her in Paris in 1983, when she was 16 years old. Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Noel Gallagher will headline a special benefit concert to reopen Manchester Arena next month, it has been announced. The venue has been closed since the bomb attack at an Ariana Grande concert in May, which left 22 people dead and many others injured. Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds will headline a number of north-west acts at the event called 'We Are Manchester', which will re-open the venue on 9 September. Also performing are The Courteeners, Blossoms, Rick Astley, and poet Tony Walsh, who performed his poem "This Is The Place" at a vigil the day after the attack. One Love Manchester Show all 12 1 /12 One Love Manchester One Love Manchester Concert goers queue outside Old Trafford Cricket Ground ahead of the One Love Manchester tribute concert in Manchester. AFP/Getty Images One Love Manchester Music fans embrace outside the Old Trafford Cricket Ground ahead of the One Love Manchester tribute concert in Manchester. AFP/Getty Images One Love Manchester A woman sunbathes as police officers patrol around Old Trafford Cricket Ground ahead of the One Love Manchester tribute concert in Manchester. AFP/Getty Images One Love Manchester Manchester residents cheer as survivors walk to Old Trafford cricket grounds for the concert @AlexScapensMEN/Twitter One Love Manchester Women wearing I Love MCR T-shirts arrive at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground ahead of the One Love Manchester tribute concert in Manchester. AFP/Getty Images One Love Manchester Armed police look-on as fans begin to arrive at the Old Trafford Cricket Ground ahead of the One Love Manchester tribute concert. AFP/Getty Images One Love Manchester One Love Manchester Benefit Concert fans. One Love Manchester One Love Manchester Benefit Concert. One Love Manchester The crowd at the 'One Love Manchester' benefit concert. One Love Manchester AP One Love Manchester Gary Barlow has tweeted a picture of Take That backstage with Ariana Grande. Grande said she wanted to return to the "incredibly brave city" to spend time with her fans and to "honour and raise money for the victims and their families". One Love Manchester Take That with Robbie Williams - Music fans have said they had to attend the Manchester benefit concert to show they were determined to "stay strong and carry on", despite recent attacks. More acts will be announced in the coming weeks. All profits from the event will go towards establishing a permanent memorial to the victims. Gallagher's performance will carry particular significance because of how the Oasis track "Don't Look Back In Anger" became an anthem of solidarity in the wake of the bombing, when crowds spontaneously began singing it at a memorial. Manchester crowd sing Oasis song after minute's silence His younger brother Liam performed at Ariana Grande's benefit concert One Love Manchester two weeks after the attack, alongside acts including Coldplay, Justin Bieber, Usher and Grande herself. Councillor Sue Murphy said: "No one will ever forget the terrible events of 22 May but Manchester has reacted with love, solidarity and a determination to continue doing the things which make this such a vibrant city. "We welcome the reopening of the arena, a major venue which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors, as a powerful symbol of this defiant and resilient spirit." Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up Manchester Arena's general manager James Allen added: "May's events will never be forgotten, but they will not stop us - or Mancunian music fans - from coming together to enjoy live music. "Manchester Arena has celebrated over 20 years hosting some of the greatest musical talent of all time, and the significant economic and cultural impact that this has on the city means that this legacy must continue. "Public safety is always our priority and we are doing all we can to keep people safe at our venue." There will be extra security and ID checks at the We Are Manchester event, and fans have been asked not to bring bags bigger than 35cm x 40 cm x 19cm. Tickets for the show, which will cost 25 and 30, go on sale at 9am on Thursday 17 August. Follow Independent Culture on Facebook for the latest news, features and video Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} It is more than 10 years since Al Gores documentary An Inconvenient Truth brought climate change to the masses. At its heart, it showed the former US vice-president giving a comprehensive global warming slide show warning of the dire consequences if we do nothing about the climate crisis. The film grossed US$24m in the US and US$26m internationally. Not only was it a financial success but a critical one too, winning two Oscars. An Inconvenient Truth has been credited with raising international public awareness of climate change and re-energising the environmental movement. The documentary has been included in science curricula in schools around the world. It was also instrumental in Al Gore sharing the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Recommended 11 images from Nasa that show climate change is real A decade on, Gore has made a follow-up entitled An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power. This film updates us on the major changes that have occurred over the past decade; including the accelerated retreat of the ice caps, extreme weather events and the historic signing of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015. The sequel is different to the first film it is much more biographical and focuses on how Gore became the great climate change communicator and what he has been doing with his charities to build awareness and train future climate change leaders around the world. Had this film been released a year ago, its optimistic tone would not have seemed out of place. It is almost as if the filmmakers had assumed there would be a different election result. The film has been hastily edited to include Donald Trumps withdrawal from the Paris Agreement. The end of the film seems out of kilter with the optimistic tone of the rest of the film, which occasionally borders on triumphant. I had the privilege of interviewing Al Gore and we mainly focused on politics and how to deal with bipartisanship both in the US and the UK, as we both believe that it will be in the political realm where the fight to solve climate change will be won or lost. Mark Maslin: Its clear that the first film had a huge impact. So what is the motivation behind you doing a sequel? Al Gore: When we reached the 10-year anniversary of the first movie it seemed like an appropriate time to present whats new in the previous decade and there have been two very big changes and a third that occurred during the filming of the movie. The first is that unfortunately the climate-related extreme weather events have of course become far more common and more destructive. Mother nature is speaking up in a very persuasive way. The second big change is that the solutions are here now. A decade ago you could see them on the horizon but you had to have the technology experts reassure you that theyre coming, that theyll be here well now theyre here. And for example electricity from wind and solar has fallen so quickly in price that in many regions its much cheaper than electricity from fossil fuels and soon will be almost everywhere. Electric cars are fast becoming the new normal (Shutterstock) Electric cars are becoming affordable. Batteries are now beginning to decline sharply in price which will be a real game-changer for the energy industry. LEDs and hundreds of new, far more efficient technologies are helping to stabilise and soon reduce emissions. I was struck in the middle of your film by a profound statement: To fix the climate crisis we need to fix democracy. And then the film moved on to another topic. How do you think we can fix our democracies now in the 21st century? Well, big money has hacked our democracy even before Putin did. And it accompanied the transition from the printing press to television, when all of a sudden candidates especially in the US were made to feel they have to spend all their time begging rich people and special interests for money so they can buy more TV ads than their opponents. And thats really given an enormous unhealthy and toxic degree of influence to lobbyists and special interests. Now just as television replaced the printing press, internet-based media are beginning to displace television and once again open up the doorways to the public forum for individuals who can use knowledge and the best available evidence. If you believe in democracy as I do and if you believe in harvesting the wisdom of crowds, then the interaction of free people exchanging the best available evidence of whats more likely to be true than not will once again push us toward a government by and for the people. One quick example. Last year the Bernie Sanders campaign regardless of what you might think about his agenda proved that it is now possible on the internet to run a very credible nationwide campaign without taking any money from lobbyists and special interests or billionaires. Instead, you can raise money in small amounts from individuals on the internet and then be accountable to them and not have to worry about being accountable to the big donors. There was a poignant moment in the film when youre sitting in front of the Senate hearing and theres a Republican senator and hes just not hearing what youre saying. In a two-party system, how do you reach out to those Republicans and some of the Democrats that still dont get climate change? Well, part of it is related to the changes necessary in the financing of campaigns. A famous journalist in the US, over a century ago, Upton Sinclair, wrote: it is difficult to get a man to understand something if his salary depends upon him not understanding it. And if you substitute campaign finance for salary, you get part of the answer. But I know for a fact that there are many Republican members of the Senate and House who know that what theyve been advocating is wrong and would like to crawl back from the end of the limb theyve put themselves on. And as more and more people express the passionate view that weve got to solve the climate crisis that can give them the backbone to change their position, some of them already have. Theres a new Noahs Ark caucus called the Climate Solutions Caucus in Congress a reference to the biblical deluge but also a reference to the fact that they can only join by twos, one Democrat one Republican and more Republicans are now switching sides. Youve done a great job at communicating climate change around the world but perhaps you being a very prominent, highly respected liberal Democrat has incensed some Republicans and actually hardened their view against climate change. Do you feel thats fair? I dont think thats fair at all and in fact theres been a great deal of social science research that shows thats completely inaccurate. You may know Joe Romm a great climate blogger he has compiled all that research. For two and a half years after the first movie, bipartisanship increased significantly on this issue. The Republican nominee in 2008, John McCain, had a very responsible position on this issue. But what happened was in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis the carbon polluters launched the Tea Party movement some of them joined on their own, but they actually provided the seed money and insisted that climate denial be a part of that political movement. The polluters have done exactly what the tobacco companies did years ago when they hired actors and dressed them up as doctors and put them on camera to say there are no health problems with cigarettes 100m people died as a result. Well, now the carbon polluters have taken that same approach hiring the same PR firms spending more than a billion dollars to put out pseudo science and false information. Theyre not necessarily going to win the debate. They just want to give the appearance that there is a debate in order to paralyse the political process. But people are seeing through it now. What struck me about the interview and also the film is that Gore is making two very clear points. First is that now all the solutions to climate change exist. There is a wonderful sequence in the movie where he meets Dale Ross, the mayor of Georgetown in Texas. The mayor describes Georgetown as the reddest city in the reddest county in Texas and hes a conservative Republican. But he sees moving toward renewable energy as just making sense. As his job is to deliver the best value for money to his taxpaying citizens and wind and solar are the cheapest energy source. The second is that Gore makes the profound statement that Western democracies are broken and in order to solve the climate crisis they need to fix democracy. In the interview, Gore suggested that big business has bought many politicians and this must be unpicked so that they are free to make informed, unbiased decisions. Recommended This is what Al Gore really thinks of Donald Trump He sees social media as the great leveller as campaigns can be run on much smaller budgets, reducing the power of party donors. He also suggests in the film that educating both politicians and the electorate on the damages of climate change will make a significant difference. But this is the same rhetoric we hear from intellectuals all the time if the poor people were properly educated they would make the correct political decisions. In the post-truth era this neatly sidesteps issues of growing inequality, poverty and a general feeling of disenfranchisement. In this way, An Inconvenient Truth was the right movie at the right time and An Inconvenient Sequel is the wrong movie at the wrong time. At the end of the film, Gore makes an impassioned rally speech part Winston Churchill and part Martin Luther King which even the hardened sceptic couldnt help admire. He finishes by declaring the tag line of the film: Its time to fight like your world depends on it. Given the forces of big business and Trumpism aligned against climate action, we all need to be as passionate, optimistic and committed to a new safer cleaner future as Gore because he is right, the world does depend on us acting now. Mark Maslin is a professor of palaeoclimatology at UCL. This article was originally published on The Conversation (theconversation.com) Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Iceland is close to becoming the first country where no-one gives birth to a child with Down's syndrome. Pre-natal tests were introduced in the early 2000s, and the vast majority who receive a positive test have terminated their pregnancy. While the tests are optional, all expectant mothers are informed about their availability, and up to 85 per cent choose to take it. Its called the Combination Test, and uses ultrasound and blood tests as well as factoring in the mothers age. This determines whether the foetus will have a chromosome abnormality, the most common of which results in Down's syndrome. The law in Iceland allows for abortion after 16 weeks if the foetus has a deformity, and Down's syndrome is included in this category. On average, just one or two children with Down's syndrome are born in Iceland each year. Sometimes, this is as a result of an inaccurate test. "Babies with Down's syndrome are still being born in Iceland," said Hulda Hjartardottir, head of the Prenatal Diagnosis Unit at Landspitali University Hospital, told CBS. On average, just one or two babies with Down's syndrome are born each year in Iceland (Getty Images/iStockphoto) "Some of them were low risk in our screening test, so we didn't find them in our screening. Helga Sol Olafsdottir counsels women who are considering ending their pregnancy over a foetal abnormality. She says she tells mothers: This is your life. You have the right to choose how your life will look like. She told a reporter: We don't look at abortion as a murder. We look at it as a thing that we ended. We ended a possible life that may have had a huge complication... preventing suffering for the child and for the family. And I think that is more right than seeing it as a murder -- that's so black and white. Life isn't black and white. Life is grey. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The UKs impending departure from the European Union has been blamed for weakening the pound, putting London banking jobs in danger and curtailing economic growth. Now its putting at risk a fledgling attempt to bring the complexities of Belgian beer to British drinkers. Twenty beer makers from Belgium, which is home to six of the worlds 11 Trappist breweries, descended on London last month to showcase their brands at the inaugural Ales Tales Belgian Beer Festival, where they are seeking to strengthen their foothold in the UK market. About a thousand people lined up to taste the hops and barley concoctions, just four months after the UK announced its intention to leave the bloc, which precipitated a 5 per cent drop in the pound and the longest fall in consumer spending in more than four years. And since negotiations still havent started on Britains future relationship with the EU, businesses are left guessing what a trade partnership would look like, raising the spectre of new tariffs and questioning the reliability of international supply chains. But some brewers are still willing to take the risk. I have no clue about what will happen, but it makes no sense to wait, said Yvan De Baets, co-owner of Brasserie de la Senne, which was an exhibitor at the festival. The UK and the EU are not that stupid and Im sure they will negotiate something that both parties will be happy with and exports both ways will still be easy. In beer-crazy Belgium, a country of about 11 million people and 1,500 different beers produced by some 224 breweries, craft production has a special status like wine-making in France or the distillation of whiskey in Scotland. UNESCO even added Belgian beer to its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. As such, these niche producers in a founding member of the EU may prove a gauge for the post-Brexit appeal of continental consumer products. While these producers operate in the shadow of industrial giants AB InBev and Duvel Moortgat NV, the challenges they face highlight the economic uncertainties arising from the UKs plan to quit the EU in 2019. It may not be the best time to try and start exporting to England, as nobody knows what is going to happen, and the pound is going down making our beers for the British people more and more expensive, said Jef Van Den Steen, who turned from beer journalism to brewing 15 years ago. But it will not stop me from trying. He is already exporting 80 per cent of the 15,000 hectolitres of unfiltered beer he makes at De Glazen Toren in the town of Erpe-Mere, halfway between Brussels and Ghent, mostly to the US and Italy. I was a bit scared when I started organising the festival with a shadow of Brexit and thought brewers would be reluctant, saying lets wait for two years before we start looking at the UK, Nicolas Tondeur, the organiser of the Belgian Beer Festival and a banker at BNP Paribas in London, said in an interview. None of them mentioned it when we met. With the fall in sterling, UK consumers cut back on spending for a third month in July, with food being among the worst hit, according to a report from IHS Markit and Visa. This comes as the Bank of England downgraded its economic outlook and Governor Mark Carney warned that Brexit uncertainty is weighing on business and households. Belgiums 3bn-euro-a-year beer industry is keeping a close eye on the UK market even though its only the eighth biggest export destination globally after France, the Netherlands, US, Germany, China, Italy and Canada, according to the Belgian Brewers Association. Its share of UK imports rose to 6.5 per cent in 2015 from 4.4 per cent in 2010, according to the British Beer and Pub Association. Earlier this year, the Belgian Brewers Association submitted their views on Brexit to the Belgian Cabinet of Ministers, according to its president, Jean-Louis Van de Perre, an InBev and KPMG veteran. Will the UK increase import tariffs, will it change something with respect to product specification, have a system favouring local beers to protect domestic production? Mr Van de Perre said, speaking from his office in a centuries-old Brewers House in Brussels Grand Place. I hope it doesnt happen as if the UK wants to export their own beers to the EU, they will get a similar reaction. Jonny Garrett, a spokesman for Cave Direct beer merchants, which imports beers to the UK, remains sanguine. Brexit was a real blow to our business and has really squeezed our margins, Mr Garrett said. We hope in the long run that a good deal will be struck for trade with the EU and will campaign for it if necessary. In the meantime we have adjusted our pricing and continue to grow our Belgian and German brands really well. Bloomberg For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The UKs largest firms have listened to shareholders and begun to rein in spiralling executive pay, according to new data. Many FTSE100 companies who saw large shareholder votes against pay in 2016, have submitted more conservative pay policies in 2017 for their executive teams, according to information gathered by the Investment Association, which represents institutional investors. This has resulted in a 35 per cent drop in the number of pay proposals that saw more than 20 per cent of shareholder votes cast in opposition to those resolutions, compared to last year. Investment Association chief executive Chris Cummings said: Data from the 2017 AGM season shows that investors are flexing their muscles and holding big business to account. Executive pay amongst the UKs largest companies is starting to decline to a level more in line with shareholder expectations. The pay of FTSE 100 bosses had already fallen from an average of 5.4m in 2015 to 4.5m in 2016, according to the High Pay Centre think tank and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. A large number of firms saw significant numbers of shareholders vote against remuneration proposals last year. Sir Martin Sorrell of WPP, Bob Dudley at BP and Mark Cutifani at Anglo American all faced an investor backlash over ballooning pay. Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: Europes largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid 3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rues contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped 4m off of Flybes revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airlines estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year. BP reduced Mr Dudleys pay package by 40 per cent after a majority of shareholders voted down a proposed 20 per cent hike depsite the company slumping to its largest annual loss for more than 20 years. Chris Cummings, chief executive of the Investment Association, said: Data from the 2017 AGM season shows that investors are flexing their muscles and holding big business to account. He said there was still, some way to go, but a strong signal has been sent to boardrooms around the country that investors wont tolerate rewards that are out of line with company performance and have concerns about executives spiralling pay. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Nestle has created a new range of Walnut Whips that do not contain one crucial ingredient: walnuts. The company said the new line will cater to a broader range of people with differing tastes. It is the first time that a nutless Whip has gone on sale in the confectionerys more-than 100-year history and comes as walnut prices have surged around a fifth his year due to strong global demand, a poor crop in Chile last year and the fall in the value of the pound. Vanilla and caramel versions of the nutless Whip go on sale this week, with a mint version to follow next month. This means there is something for consumers wanting to try something new, as well as for long-standing fans of our century-old walnut product, A Nestle spokesperson said. They will continue to be sold as a single treat as they have been ever since their launch in 1910. They will also be sold in larger six packs at Christmas, when consumers want to be able to purchase them in larger quantities. After the furore surrounding shrinking Toblerones and Maltesers bags, the announcement kicked up the obligatory social media storm as some consumers worry. However, Nestle confirmed to worried consumers that the traditional Walnut Whip will still be on sale. Nestle has previously claimed that one Walnut Whip is eaten every two seconds in the UK. The British classic was first produced by Duncans of Edinburgh in 1910 and has always been topped with half a walnut. How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Show all 8 1 /8 How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Weetabix Chief executive of Weetabix Giles Turrell has warned that the price of one of the nations favourite breakfast are likely to go up this year by low-single digits in percentage terms. Reuters How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Nescafe The cost of a 100g jar of Nescafe Original at Sainsburys has gone up 40p from 2.75 to 3.15 a 14 per cent risesince the Brexit vote. PA How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Freddo When contacted by The Independent this month, a Mondelez spokesperson declined to discuss specific brands but confirmed that there would be "selective" price increases across its range despite the American multi-national confectionery giant reporting profits of $548m (450m) in its last three-month financial period. Mondelez, which bought Cadbury in 2010, said rising commodity costs combined with the slump in the value of the pound had made its products more expensive to make. Cadbury How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Mr Kipling cakes Premier Foods, the maker of Mr Kipling and Bisto gravy, said that it was considering price rises on a case-by-case basis Reuters How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Walkers Crisps Walkers, owned by US giant PepsiCo, said "the weakened value of the pound" is affecting the import cost of some of its materials. A Walkers spokesman told the Press Association that a 32g standard bag was set to increase from 50p to 55p, and the larger grab bag from 75p to 80p. Getty How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Marmite Tesco removed Marmite and other Unilever household brand from its website last October, after the manufacturer tried to raise its prices by about 10 per cent owing to sterlings slump. Tesco and Unilever resolved their argument, but the price of Marmite has increased in UK supermarkets with the grocer reporting a 250g jar of Marmite will now cost Morrisons customers 2.64 - an increase of 12.5 per cent. Rex How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Toblerone Toblerone came under fire in November after it increased the space between the distinctive triangles of its bars. Mondelez International, the company which makes the product, said the change was made due to price rises in recent months. Pixabay How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Maltesers Maltesers, billed as the lighter way to enjoy chocolate, have also shrunk in size. Mars, which owns the brand, has reduced its pouch weight by 15 per cent. Mars said rising costs mean it had to make the unenviable decision between increasing its prices or reducing the weight of its Malteser packs. iStockphoto Concerned consumers took to social media to protest at what has been labelled by some as the latest in a round of shrinkflation to hit chocolate products. One internet user wrote: I want to laugh and check it isnt April 1st! while another commented: Like buying a car without a steering wheel. Toblerone owner Mondelez caused a stir last November when it increased the gaps between the bars iconic triangular peaks. A host of other household name brands, including Maltesers which lived up to its billing as the lighter way to enjoy chocolate when the size of its bags shrunk from 121g to 103g last Autumn, before another downsizing to 93g in March. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump has attacked who he referred to as the "alt-left" protesters in Charlottesville, claiming that blame should be shared by both sides. His comments appeared to be a doubling down on his initial statements following the reports of violence in which he did not directly condemn the Klu Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, and white supremacists but said that the blame was on "many sides". "There are two sides to every story," said Mr Trump during his press conference intended to introduce a new infrastructure programme. He did read another statement approximately 48 hours after the deaths of Heather Heyer, a counter-protester, and two Virginia State police officers Berke MM Bates and H Jay Cullen in which he specifically said "racism is evil" and condemned those groups. "You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent," he said as he repeatedly called the gathered press "fake media". Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism. Mr Trump said multiple times that many of the protesters were there to "innocently...legally" oppose the removal of Civil War Confederate General Robert E Lee and that not all of them were neo-Nazis and white supremacists. He added that the media "would know [that] if you're honest reporters, but you're not". The "statement I made on Saturday was a fine statement" said Mr Trump. There were protesters on the "other side that came violently charging" at the protesters wanting to keep the statue in place. "Do they have any semblance of guilt?," Mr Trump asked. He accused the media of "changing history, changing culture" for treating the people who were not neo-Nazis or white supremacists in the crowd holding the rally to keep the statue up "very badly". Mr Trump once again denounced those groups but repeated there were "bad people" on both sides of the violence. Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Children who bully classmates online and via apps are more likely to have suicidal thoughts or attempt suicide, according to a study. New research suggests that it is not just the victims of cyberbullying that are more likely to kill themselves or think about doing so than their peers, but the perpetrators themselves who are also at higher risk. The study, by UK researchers, including academics at Birmingham University, is based on a review of available studies and evidence on the impact of cyberbullying on children and young people across 30 countries. Recommended Thousands of children at risk of domestic abuse not getting any help Cyberbullying is using electronic communication to bully another, for instance by sending intimidating, threatening or unpleasant messages using social media. The researchers found that cyberbullies - those that perpetrate such abuse - are around 20 per cent more likely to have suicidal thoughts and to attempt suicide than non-perpetrators. Those who have been victims of cyberbullying are more than twice as likely to self harm and to exhibit suicidal behaviours than those who have not been victims. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures 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 A villager cooks roti bread at the site of the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar, in India's desert state of Rajasthan AFP via Getty Images UK news in pictures 2 November 2022 A red squirrel gathers nuts in Pitlochry, Scotland Reuters UK news in pictures 1 November 2022 Englands Tara-Jane Stanley scores their sides seventh try against Brazil during the Womens Rugby League World Cup group A match at Headingley Stadium, Leeds PA UK news in pictures 31 October 2022 GBs James Hall competes during the mens parallel bars qualification at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 28 October 2022 A cosplayer attends the MCM Comic Con London 2022 at the ExCel Centre in London Reuters UK news in pictures 27 October 2022 98-year-old D-Day Veteran Bernard Morgan, whose story is among those featured on the giant poppy wall, during the launch of The Royal British Legion 2022 Poppy Appeal, at Hay's Galleria in central London PA UK news in pictures 26 October 2022 A meerkat explores a pumpkin in the enclosure at Wild Place, Bristol, where some of the animals are having pumpkin treats as part of their environmental enrichment PA UK news in pictures 25 October 2022 King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak during an audience at Buckingham Palace, where he invited the newly elected leader of the Conservative Party to become Prime Minister and form a new government PA UK news in pictures 24 October 2022 Rishi Sunak celebrates with Tory MPs outside the Conservative Campaign Headquarters after becoming the new leader of the Conservative Party Reuters UK news in pictures 23 October 2022 The Green Man at October Plenty, Borough Market's annual Autumn Harvest festival, in London, which returns for the first time post pandemic PA UK news in pictures 21 October 2022 Sculptor Peter McKenna puts the finishing touches to a pumpkin that will form part of the Planet A Hebden Bridge Pumpkin Trail in the West Yorkshire town PA UK news in pictures 20 October 2022 Britains Prime Minister Liz Truss delivers a speech outside of 10 Downing Street in central London to announce her resignation AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 19 October 2022 Salmon leap up Stainforth Force on the River Ribble in the Yorkshire Dales as they swim upriver to their spawning grounds during the annual Salmon migration PA UK news in pictures 18 October 2022 Just Stop Oil protesters continue their protest for a second day on the Queen Elizabeth II Bridge, which links Kent and Essex and which remains closed for traffic, after it was scaled by two climbers from the group PA UK news in pictures 17 October 2022 Hundreds of students take part in the traditional Raisin Monday foam fight on St Salvator's Lower College Lawn at the University of St Andrews in Fife PA UK news in pictures 16 October 2022 A protester holds a placard during a march into central London at a demonstration by the climate change protest group Extinction Rebellion AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 15 October 2022 A member of the public drags an activist who is blocking the road during a "Just Stop Oil" protest, in London, Britain REUTERS UK news in pictures 14 October 2022 Germanys Womens double skulls during day one of the World Rowing Beach Sprint Finals at Saundersfoot beach, Pembrokeshire PA UK news in pictures 13 October 2022 Family and mourners arrive at St Michael's Church, in Creeslough, for the funeral mass of 49-year-old mother of four Martina Martin, who died following an explosion at the Applegreen service station in the village of Creeslough in Co Donegal on Friday PA UK news in pictures 12 October 2022 Motorists in Coventry pass trees showing autumnal colour PA UK news in pictures 11 October 2022 A woman and her dog in the the North Sea at Tynemouth Longsands beach before sunrise PA UK news in pictures 10 October 2022 Police officers remove a campaigner from a Just Stop Oil protest on The Mall, near Buckingham Palace, London PA UK news in pictures 9 October 2022 A drummer plays during the Diwali on the Square celebration, in Trafalgar Square, London PA UK news in pictures 8 October 2022 Timothee Chalamet attending the UK premiere of Bones and All during the BFI London Film Festival 2022 at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, London PA UK news in pictures 7 October 2022 Two young male fallow deer lock antlers in Dublins Phoenix park as rutting season begins PA UK news in pictures 6 October 2022 The Princess of Wales during a cocktail making competition during a visit to Trademarket, a new outdoor street-food and retail market situated in Belfast city centre, as part of the royal visit to Northern Ireland PA UK news in pictures 5 October 2022 Greenpeace protesters interrupt Prime Minister Liz Truss as she delivers her keynote speech to the Conservative Party annual conference PA UK news in pictures 4 October 2022 Prime Minister Liz Truss and Britains Chancellor of the Exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng wearing hard hats and hi-vis jackets, visit a construction site for a medical innovation campus in Birmingham AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 3 October 2022 British artist Sam Cox, aka Mr Doodle, reveals the Doodle House, a twelve-room mansion at Tenterden, in Kent, which has been covered, inside and out in the artist's trademark monochrome, cartoonish hand-drawn doodles PA UK news in pictures 2 October 2022 Erling Haaland celebrates after scoring Manchester City's second goal against Manchester United at Etihad Stadium. Haaland went on to score a hattrick, his third of the season in the Premier League. City beat United 6-3. Manchester City FC/Getty UK news in pictures 1 October 2022 Protesters hold up flags and placards at a protest in London. A variety of protest groups including Enough is Enough, Don't Pay and Just Stop Oil all demonstrated on the day AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 30 September 2022 British Prime Minister Liz Truss, who has not been seen in days, leaves the back of Downing Street after a meeting with Office For Budget Responsibility following the release of her governments mini-budget Getty UK news in pictures 29 September 2022 The Virginia creeper foliage on the Tu Hwnt i'r Bont (Beyond the Bridge) Llanwrst, Conwy North Wales, has changed colour from green to red in at the start of Autumn. The building was built in 1480 as a residential dwelling but has been a tearoom for over 50 years PA UK news in pictures 28 September 2022 Criminal barristers from the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), demonstrates outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, as part of their ongoing pay row with the Government PA UK news in pictures 27 September 2022 David White, Garter King of Arms, poses with an envelope franked with the new cypher of King Charles III 'CIIIR', after it was printed in the Court Post Office at Buckingham Palace in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 26 September 2022 A gallery staff member poses next to a painting by Lucian Freud - Self-portrait (Fragment), 1956 - on show at a photocall for the Credit Suisse exhibition - Lucian Freud: New Perspectives at the National Gallery in London PA UK news in pictures 25 September 2022 Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer is interviewed by Laura Kuenssberg in Liverpool before the start of the Labour Party annual Conference which he opened with a tribute to Queen Elizabeth II and sang the national anthem PA UK news in pictures 24 September 2022 Handout photo issued by Buckingham Palace of the ledger stone at the King George VI Memorial Chapel, St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle PA UK news in pictures 23 September 2022 A climate change activist protests against UK private jets while lighting his right arm on fire during the Laver Cup tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London EPA UK news in pictures 22 September 2022 Woody Woodmansey, Lee Bennett, Kevin Armstrong, Nick Moran and Clifford Slapper attend the unveiling of a stone for David Bowie on the Music Walk of Fame at Camden, north London PA UK news in pictures 21 September 2022 A flock of birds in the sky as the sun rises over Dungeness in Kent PA UK news in pictures 20 September 2022 Flowers which were laid by members of the public in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at Hillsborough Castle in Northern Ireland are collected by the Hillsborough Gardening Team and volunteers to be replanted for those that can be saved or composted PA UK news in pictures 19 September 2022 The ceremonial procession of the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II travels down the long walk as it arrives at Windsor Castle for the committal service at St Georges Chapel AFP/Getty The figures come amid ongoing campaigns for greater understanding and teaching of the dangers of the web to young children. Separate figures obtained from local authorities in England last month revealed children as young as five were being excluded from school for "sexual misconduct", including the taking and sharing of indecent images. Some 754 incidents were reported between July 2013 and April 2017, however the true figure is believed to be much higher, as the vast majority of councils contacted said they did not hold the information or refused to disclose it. Barnardos childrens charity chief executive Javed Khan expressed concerns that such behaviour was often indicative of underlying child protection issues. Commenting on the cyberbullying figures, Professor Paul Montgomery, from Birmingham University, suggested mobile phone companies had a part to play in tackling cyberbullying too. The people doing the bullying themselves have issues that cause them to act in that way, so it is unsurprising to see that the cyberbullies themselves, in turn, have these quite marked problems," he said. Prevention of cyberbullying should be included in school anti-bullying policies, alongside broader concepts such as digital citizenship, online peer support for victims, how an electronic bystander might appropriately intervene; and more specific interventions such as how to contact mobile phone companies and Internet service providers to block, educate, or identify users. Anyone faced with suicidal thoughts or in need of someone to talk to can access free support by calling the Samaritans on 116 123. PA Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Increasing numbers of young people are seeking help due to exam results stress. Figures released by Childline show that more than 1,000 counselling sessions were provided to teenagers worried about their grades in the last financial year, a rise of more than a fifth (21 per cent) over the last two years. The statistics come the day before teenagers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland receive their A-level results, with many relying on achieving particular grades in order to secure university places. In total, Childline, which is run by the NSPCC, delivered 1,133 counselling sessions to pupils specifically worried about their exam results in 2016/17. Of these, over a quarter (28 per cent), took place in August last year - the month in which A-levels and GCSE results are published. There has been a sharp rise in the number of counselling sessions for 16-18-year-olds - those teenagers most likely to have taken major exams, Childline said. Many young people told counsellors they were disappointed with themselves and worried their grades might affect them getting into the university or college of their choice. Others were concerned about their parents' reaction to their results. Anxiety and low mood were also mentioned when discussing exam results, with some saying they were struggling to cope with the pressure to do well and achieve top grades. One girl who contacted Childline said: I am so worried about my exam results that I feel sick. Read more How to get into university through Clearing "I studied all day and overnight for them. If I dont get all As Ill feel like Ive let everyone down and my parents will be disappointed. I want to make them proud. Peter Wanless, NSPCC chief executive, said: Waiting for exam results can be an anxious time for young people and can leave some struggling to cope. Pressure to achieve good grades and worries about securing further education places and jobs can be too much for some teenagers to deal with on their own. The figures come amid ongoing concerns that young people are being put under increasing pressure to achieve good grades, as schools are held to account for each year group's performance. Speaking at a conference in June, Ofsted's head Amanda Spielman warned too many schools in England put their league table results above pupil interests, with the pressure to boost exam grades overtaking important learning values. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 12 November 2022 The City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor's Show PA 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 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 I know better than most quite how high-stakes these qualifications are as passports to future success, she told educators at Wellington College festival, [but] if you are putting more resources into providing exam scribes than in teaching your strugglers to read and write... then you are probably doing most of your students a disservice. Commenting ahead of A- level results day on Thursday, Rosamund McNeil, Head of Education and Equalities, National Union of Teachers, said: This cohort was the first to face the new linear A-Levels and as such, the challenges that followed too. "The upheaval of a hastily reformed curriculum and the changes leading to a reduction in much of the coursework elements, created unnecessary stress and concern for pupils and teachers alike." Issuing advice for parents and carers ahead of results day, the children's charity warned against pressurising children to achieve. "Try not to place pressure on your children to gain certain grades," the charity said. "Your child may find it hard to talk to you about their results so be patient and supportive until they feel ready to open up about how they feel. "Encourage your child to take their time to think about what they want to do next. Theres no need to rush into a decision straightaway." Dame Esther Rantzen, Childline's founder and president, said: Young people need to remember that getting good exam grades is not a make-or-break moment and, whatever your results, there are options and opportunities to make a great future for yourself. This is proved by all the successful people who have made their way in life despite being nowhere near the top of their class. The important thing during exam results season is to stick together as a family and be as supportive and encouraging to the person waiting to receive their grades and then planning their next steps. And if they are reluctant to open up about how they are feeling or what they want to do then Childline is always ready to provide help and advice. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Elephants have been deployed to help rescue trapped tourists from devastating floods in a popular resort in southern Nepal. The tourists were stranded in the Chitwan district, a well-known destination for rhino-watching and elephant rides, after a period of torrential rain caused flooding and landslides. The Red Cross estimate that 100,000 people have been affected by the floods, with electricity and communication obstructed in the area. At least 49 people across the country have died during this years monsoon season, which lasts from June to September across the south of Asia. Footage of the rescue effort shows locals chest deep in water guiding elephants to hotels where tourists have been stranded. As many as four people at a time ride atop the mammals, and are taken to safety. The chief district officer of the Chitwan district, Narayan Prasad Bhatta, has said We are mobilising all the resources we have to ensure that everyone is safe. Poor weather has also affected parts of India, which neighbours Nepal. In total, 218 people have died across Bangladesh, northern India, and southern Nepal, while millions of others have been displaced. Nepal: High and mighty in the Himalayas Show all 6 1 /6 Nepal: High and mighty in the Himalayas Nepal: High and mighty in the Himalayas 617558.bin Nepal: High and mighty in the Himalayas 617396.bin Alamy Nepal: High and mighty in the Himalayas 617397.bin Alamy Nepal: High and mighty in the Himalayas 617398.bin Alamy Nepal: High and mighty in the Himalayas 617399.bin Alamy Nepal: High and mighty in the Himalayas 617400.bin Alamy The Prime Minister of Nepal, Sher Bahudur Deuba, has since taken to Twitter to express his condolences. He has stated that he is devastated by the loss of lives and property caused by floods and landslides, and has urged people to stay calm and help each other in whatever way they can. Those saved by the elephants were taken to the nearest open roads and airports to return to safety. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Jorge Zorreguieta was a wealthy landowning Argentinian who was later shamed but not convicted for his role within the cabinet of the dirty war military junta during the 1970s and early 1980s. His past caught up with him again when his daughter was engaged to Prince Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, now King. Zorreguieta was told in no uncertain terms by the Dutch royal family that he was persona non grata at the couples 2002 wedding. In fact, Willem-Alexander and Maxima were allowed to marry only after the Dutch parliament investigated Zorreguietas past and concluded that although he was most likely to have known of the dirty war atrocities his daughter Maxima, at primary school during the junta years, had clearly done nothing wrong. The couple were therefore free to marry but the father-of-the-bride could not walk her down the aisle, or even be present. Nor could he be at the couples investiture as King and Queen in April 2013, after the abdication of Queen Beatrix. Zorreguieta and his wife were, however, allowed to attend the christenings of their three granddaughters, since the Dutch government and parliament considered it a private, rather than a state matter. Zorreguieta stayed with the dictatorship for a notable five years, until Videla himself left parliament (Reuters) Jorge Horacio Zorreguieta Stefanini was born in Buenos Aires on 18 January 1928 to a wealthy farming family. He married Marta Lopez Gil in 1956 and they had three children. In 1970, he married Maria del Carmen Cerruti Carricart, and they had three sons and a daughter, the eldest child being Maxima. Landowners and cattle farmers being key to the Argentine economy, they had influence in every walk of life, not least politics. From 1961, Zorreguieta was a leading official in several agricultural bodies, including the Rural Agricultural Confederation, before being named vice undersecretary of agriculture in the 1976 military junta, headed by General Jorge Rafael Videla, which had ousted President Isabel Peron. In 1979, he was promoted by Videla to under-secretary for agriculture and cattle-breeding. He was part of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, over which military officers had ultimate control. He remained in that post until 1981, making him part of the military junta for five of its seven years. All of this time, tens of thousands of Argentinians opposed to the junta, including farmers to whom his department had responsibilities, were disappearing, or being disappeared as Argentinians put it. The Dutch government permitted Zorreguiesta and his wife to attend the christening of their three granddaughters (Reuters) When news emerged that his daughter was to marry Prince Willem-Alexander of Orange, Zorreguieta understandably kept a low profile. But press coverage of his past induced him to make a long statement that included this: The rule of Isabel Peron was one of economical, social and political chaos... the armed forces had to restore the peace in our country to create a stable and peaceful democracy. Like every father, it would be very important for me to accompany my daughter at her wedding. Contacts with the Dutch government, however, led me to the conclusion that controversies about my presence at the wedding could have a negative influence on the future role and position of my daughter as a member of the Royal House of the Netherlands. The Independent erroneously published an obituary of Zorreguieta in November 2014 after he was first admitted to hospital and Argentinian newspapers quoted friends as saying he had expired. In fact, he died of leukemia in Buenos Aires on 8 August. Queen Maxima flew incognito from the Netherlands to Buenos Aires to see him during his dying days (and Zorreguieta had flown quietly to the Netherlands in April to celebrate the 50th birthday of his son-in-law, King Willem-Alexander). Zorreguieta is survived by his wife Maria, their daughters Maxima and Ines, sons Martin and Juan, and three daughters from his first marriage. Jorge Horacio Zorreguieta Stefanini, farmer and politician; born 18 January 1928; died 8 August 2017 Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Cosmetics marketed at women of colour contain higher levels of toxins such as mercury, steroids and hormone-disrupting chemicals that are associated with a range of health problems including cancer, experts have warned. Experts from George Washington University and Occidental College in the US warned that even small amounts of such toxins could also trigger adverse health consequences that affect fertility and the development of unborn childrens brains. In tests, greater amounts of beauty-product related environmental chemicals from skin-lightening creams and other products designed to enable women to confirm to European beauty norms had been found in the bodies of women of colour compared to white women, they added. Some skin-lighteners contain hidden ingredients such as mercury and steroids; hair relaxers and straighteners can be laced with the hormone estrogen, which can trigger premature reproductive development in young girls and tumours in the uterus. A chemical used in vaginal douching and other beauty products, called DEP, may also cause birth defects in babies and has been linked to health problems in women. In a comment article in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr Ami Zota and Dr Bhavna Shamasunder wrote: Racial discrimination based on European beauty norms can lead to internalized racism, body shame, and skin tone dissatisfaction, factors that can influence product use to achieve straighter hair or lighter skin. Thus, beauty product use may be one way that structural discrimination becomes biologically embedded. Women in Africa, India, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and the Americas regularly use skin-lightening cosmetics. Skin-lightening creams can contain hydroquinone, topical corticosteroids, or inorganic mercury. Multiple cases of mercury poisoning, characterized by damage to the kidneys and the central nervous system, have been reported following use of skin-lightening products. They said the US limited the amount of mercury in skin products, but unlicensed cosmetics were still available. The academics warned that doctors working in obstetrics and gynaecology should be aware of the potentially toxic effects of commonly used beauty products, recognize disparities across these demographics, and be prepared to counsel patients who have questions about these and other environmental exposures. Speaking to The Independent, Dr Zota said cosmetics had been known to contain harmful substances for decades. But she said: Im increasingly reminded than the general, everyday consumer, as well as even people with specialist knowledge like clinicians, are still not widely aware that cosmetics have the potential to contain chemicals that can harm reproduction and development [of foetuses]. Things like heavy metals being used in certain cosmetics is something thats been happening for decades. She said the issue was a global problem but added that regulations in the European Union were generally tighter than in the US. While the US does have some controls, Dr Zota said there was very little enforcement of these types of laws. One major problem, she said, was that cosmetics companies do not always reveal the full ingredients of products. Dr Zota said she personally did use cosmetics but added: I do try to buy products that are free of the known bad actors. Where possible I buy fragrance-free products because fragrance is often not supplying an essential function and is purely cosmetic and we know that fragrance often contains a whole host of chemicals, not just one chemical. Because of trade secret laws, companies are not required to disclose the individual components of their fragrance. The following groups attempt to provide lists of cosmetics without harmful ingredients: the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, the Skin Deep Database by the Environmental Working Group, and the Silent Spring Institute, which has a mobile phone app called Detox Me. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The eclipse is coming. Next week, the moon will go in front of the sun and blot it out, turning the US dark. It's the first time that such an event has been seen across the entire US for 99 years. And it will be the biggest ever movement of tourists the world has ever seen. It's all leading up to that couple of minutes when the sun disappears. And, thankfully, we know exactly when that will happen. What day is the eclipse? It will all happen on 21 August, in the morning and early afternoon. What time is the eclipse? It lasts between mid-morning and mid-afternoon, depending where you are. It spreads from the west to the east, meaning that despite the fact it won't take long to actually cross the country, the timings make it look like it lasts much longer. Partial Lunar Eclipse 2017 Show all 12 1 /12 Partial Lunar Eclipse 2017 Partial Lunar Eclipse 2017 A man takes pictures of the moon standing in a partial lunar eclipse on August 7 AFP/Getty Images Partial Lunar Eclipse 2017 The moon standing in a partial lunar eclipse hangs in the sky over Bad Staffelstein, southern Germany AFP/Getty Images Partial Lunar Eclipse 2017 PUT IN SOME TEXT The moon standing in a partial lunar eclipse can be seen behind a constructin crane on August 7, 2017 in Gilching, southern Germany AFP/Getty Images Partial Lunar Eclipse 2017 A man frames with his hands the moon standing in a partial lunar eclipse on August 7, 2017 in Frankfurt am Main, western Germany AFP/Getty Images Partial Lunar Eclipse 2017 A picture shows the moon during a partial lunar eclipse as seen from Kuwait City AFP/Getty Images Partial Lunar Eclipse 2017 Picture taken with long exposure time shows the rising full moon during a partial lunar eclipse (right side) over Frankfurt, Germany AP Partial Lunar Eclipse 2017 The rising moon is seen during a partial lunar eclipse behind the chimney stacks of an electric power station in Delimara, outside the village of Marsaxlokk, Malta REUTERS Partial Lunar Eclipse 2017 The full moon is seen during a partial lunar eclipse in Dresden, Saxony, Germany EPA Partial Lunar Eclipse 2017 This photograph shows a partial Lunar eclipse as seen from the southern Indian city of Chennai AFP/Getty Images Partial Lunar Eclipse 2017 The moon rises with the earth casting a shadow on it behind a construction crane during a partial lunar eclipse in Vienna, Austria REUTERS Partial Lunar Eclipse 2017 The August full moon rises above the 5th Century BC Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounio, south of Athens AP Partial Lunar Eclipse 2017 People admire the full moon as it rises over the cape Sounio, 65 km south of Athens, Greece EPA Obviously, exactly what time the eclipse arrives will depend partly on where you are. But as a rough guide, if you use pacific time then it will arrive at about 10.20 in the morning; if you use mountain time then it will be between 11.30 and midday; if you're on central time then it will arrive sometime between 1pm and 1.30; and those on the east coast will get it sometime between 2.30 and 3. See below for exact details on when it will get to you, and how it will move across the country. How long will it all last? Just a couple of minutes. The longest time will be in Illinois, where it will last 2 minutes and 40 seconds, though it won't be all that much shorter everywhere else. The true joy of an eclipse is in the build-up and the changes, though, so you can certainly drag it out. Make sure to spend a little time outside before the eclipse arrives, so that you get accustomed to the light; that will make the eerie darkness when the moon blocks out the sun even more strange. Where will it happen? Everyone in North America will be able to see some of the eclipse. But not everyone will see all of it. The "path of totality will arrive in the north west, arriving first at Lincoln City in Oregon at 9.05am pacific daylight time. It will then spread across the US, going east more quickly than it goes south, and will leave the US at Charleston, South Carolina, at 2.43pm local time. (Nasa (Nasa) If you'd like more specific information about where and when the eclipse will be passing over where you live, then it's probably best to consult Nasa's special page which is full of very detailed eclipse maps showing the route and times. But it's also worth remembering that you'll see some of it wherever you are, and that the eclipse will be moving quickly so long as you're outside at roughly the right time, you'll see something spectacular. What if you're not in the path of totality, or somewhere else entirely like Europe? Eclipses aren't either off or on the path of totality shows where the moon will cover the sun entirely, but outside of that there'll be lots to see too. Nasa jets will chase the total solar eclipse across the US In places that are far away even as far away as the UK and Europe then you'll still be able to see some of the solar eclipse. The only problem is that it won't be "total", since the sun and moon won't be perfectly aligned, and you'll instead see a partial eclipse where the sun looks like it has had a bite taken out of it. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Police investigating the alleged kidnapping of a British model in Italy have arrested the brother of the chief suspect in the West Midlands. Chloe Ayling is said to have been snatched by a group calling itself Black Death after being lured to a fake modelling shoot in Milan last month. Chief suspect Lukasz Pawel Herba, a Polish national who lives in the UK, has denied knowingly taking part in any crime. On Wednesday the National Crime Agency (NCA) said it had arrested his brother, Michal Konrad Herba. The 36-year-old was detained at an address in the Tividale area of Sandwell, West Midlands, and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday. Michal Konrad Herba was apprehended on a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Italian authorities, the NCA said. Italian police have said Ms Ayling was drugged and transported in a bag to an isolated village near Turin, where she was held for six days as her captors tried to auction her over the dark web. The model said she was injected with ketamine after being lured to a fake modelling shoot before being bundled into the boot of a car and told she was going to be sold as a sex slave. Ms Ayling, from Coulsdon, south London, was eventually taken to the British Consulate in Milan after the "horrific ordeal" but could not return home to London for almost three weeks. Lukasz Pawel Herba has said his involvement stemmed from wanting to raise money to treat his leukaemia and that he was hired by a group of Romanians to rent properties around Europe to store garments they were selling, according to reports. He is also said to have told investigators he posed as a photographer and met Ms Ayling. He said he was paid 500,000 but learned the Romanians intended to kidnap her and backed out of the plan. Ms Ayling's former agent this week said the model had been left humiliated by her capture and did not make up the story for publicity, after questions were raised about about her ordeal. Phil Green told ITV's Good Morning Britain: Trust me, I wouldn't be sat here today, nor would Chloe be giving an interview, had it not been for the Italian police giving a press release. She'd been through an ordeal, she wanted to forget it and come back home and start her normal modelling life. Chloe Ayling 'humiliated' by kidnapping ordeal, says ex-agent Ms Ayling received 200,000 worth of offers of work when she returned to the UK, he said, and has since moved to a new modelling agency. But her ex-agent added: She didn't do this for publicity purposes by any means. The NCA said in a statement: "Officers from West Midlands Police and East Midlands Special Operations Unit this morning arrested the brother of Lukasz Pawel Herba in connection with the kidnapping of Chloe Ayling. "Michal Konrad Herba, 36, was apprehended at an address in the Tividale area of Birmingham on a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Italian authorities. He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 17 August. "The National Crime Agency and Emsou are providing specialist support to the Italian Polizia di Stato as part of this ongoing investigation." For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A drunk moped driver has been jailed for eight years after mowing down a 78-year-old woman and telling her as she lay dying: "What were you doing walking in the middle of the road?" Simon Coker ploughed into Helen Doherty on his defective moped last August before fleeing the scene because people "were giving me sh*t". The 32-year-old was speeding and swerving to avoid speed bumps when he collided with Ms Doherty as she returned from a shopping trip to buy pies for a cancer patient friend. Eyewitnesses rushed to help and an air ambulance took the pensioner to the James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough where she died the following day. A judge said Coker had shown "temerity and cowardice" in the aftermath of the tragedy in Colburn, North Yorkshire. While Ms Doherty, a church volunteer who was known to many as Aunty Helen, was shopping for her friend on a Saturday morning last August, convicted drug dealer Coker was caught on CCTV buying a bottle of wine. After fleeing the scene, he called police from his home where they found him to be more than three times over the legal alcohol limit for driving. Prosecutor Paul Newcombe said Coker's attitude to the victim was summed up when he told police: "I feel concerned for her, but I don't feel responsible." His Lexmoto 125cc moped was put through an MOT test after the crash, and it failed on eight separate elements, including the brakes, steering and tyres. Despite twice disputing it from the dock, Coker was said to have been riding at 30mph in the traffic-calmed 20mph zone which is near a school and often busy with pedestrians. Coker, who lived in nearby Richmond and knew the road well, told police: "I just came around the corner and she was there. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 12 November 2022 The City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor's Show PA 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 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 "She looked okay when I saw her. A lot of people were giving me sh*t, so I came back here." Mr Newcombe said the victim who died a year ago yesterday suffered a devastating head injury. The former school dinner lady, who loved line-dancing and exercise, was crossing the road with her bags of shopping when Coker smashed into her at 10.40am. Mr Newcombe said: "She was semi-conscious and bleeding from a head wound." But the court heard how the defendant did nothing to assist Helen, and just rode off. "Further compounding his careless attitude, he has previously lied when applying for insurance, failing to disclose significant previous convictions which included multiple counts of supplying heroin, burglary and unlawful wounding," Mr Newcombe added. Jacqueline Ross, Ms Doherty's daughter, described her mum as "beautiful" and said the family were "broken" by her death. She said: "People think we are coping, but we are completely broken." "I can't describe the unbearable, hollow emptiness I feel every day. I can see the final tear roll from her eye as she died. "She wasn't just my mum, she was my best friend. Mum was brutally and selfishly taken from us. This I can't bear. "This has affected all the family and the community because mum was there for everyone, was ready to listen and give a hug. "Mum did nothing wrong that day. She was just going about her day as usual, helping people. "Mum always told us to see the good in everyone, but in the case of Simon Coker this is impossible for us to do. "His total disregard for our mum and the law is unforgivable." Rod Hunt, defending, told Judge Simon Bourne-Arton, QC: "There is nothing he could have done had he stayed, but obviously his judgement can be criticised. "He did put his own wellbeing first. Perhaps judging people by his own standards, he though he might be beaten up and had to flee, but once that fear had gone, he did phone the police to say 'I am the person you need'. "He knows what he did, as the family say, is unforgivable in a moral sense." Recommended Hate crime PC ridiculed for calling out gendered supermarket signs Coker, of Castle Hill, Richmond, North Yorkshire, admitted causing death by careless driving while over the prescribed limit for alcohol, and making a false statement. Judge Bourne-Arton told him: "She [Ms Doherty] was a thoroughly decent woman. She was, I am told, nothing but a caring individual. She was 78 when you killed her. She had lead a full life and was still leading a full life. "The fact you didn't remain at the scene is a deeply aggravating feature, thinking solely of yourself. Not only that, but you had the temerity and cowardice to start suggesting she was at fault. "She was up and about doing good for others, shopping for a friend who was unwell. "She was a loving mother and grandmother, obviously well thought of, not only by her family, but the community." North News and Pictures For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A homeless man who rushed to help victims of the Manchester Arena suicide bombing has been charged with stealing a bank card from a woman injured in the attack. Greater Manchester Police confirmed Chris Parker, 33, had been charged with two counts of theft relating to the disappearance of a card on May 22, the night of the atrocity. The card belonged to Pauline Healey, a grandmother who was left in a coma for several days afterwards. Her 14-year-old granddaughter, Sorrell Leczkowski, was killed. Mr Parker was praised for his bravery in helping victims of the bombing and a GoFundMe page set up to cover his living costs raised over 52,000 after a social media campaign. He regularly begged for money in the Manchester Arena foyer after concerts and reacted quickly as the bomber killed 22 people and injured 250 others. Recommended Homeless Manchester attack hero pictured back on streets At the time Mr Parker spoke about the horror he witnessed and described the brave actions he took to help victims. Everyone was piling out, all happy and everything else. As people were coming out of the glass doors I heard a bang and within a split second I saw a white flash, then smoke and then I heard screaming, he said. It knocked me to the floor and then I got up and instead of running away my gut instinct was to run back and try and help. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 12 November 2022 The City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor's Show PA 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 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 I saw a little girl... she had no legs. I wrapped her in one of the merchandise T-shirts and I said 'Where is your mum and daddy?' She said, 'My dad is at work, my mum is up there'. Mr Parker has continued to live on the streets since the attack despite the money raised on his behalf. Last month, he reportedly met with managers at a local homeless charity to plan for his future. He was instructed to appear at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court today. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A moped gang armed with hammers raided a luxury jeweller in broad daylight as bystanders filmed on mobile phones. Dramatic footage showed six robbers dressed in black and wearing helmets speeding away from Boodles in west London as smoke poured from the shop. The gang stormed into the Basil Street store in Knightsbridge and smashed through glass displays with hammers just after 10.35am on Wednesday. They stole jewellery but no one was hurt, said police. Video filmed from a neighbouring building showed the six robbers, one wielding a large sledgehammer, driving off on three mopeds as shocked passers-by watched on. "One scooter mounted the pavement they were waving sticks and shouting at people. It was terrifying," a witness told the London Evening Standard. "There is so much security around here they were taking a big risk." A Boodles spokeswoman said: "I can confirm that there was unfortunately a robbery at Boodles Knightsbridge showroom this morning. I can also confirm that nobody has been hurt. "The police are handling the situation and Boodles is unable to comment any further." The smoke seen billowing from the shop is thought to have been generated by a security alarm. A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the force was called to reports of a robbery at 10.37am. He added: "A number of suspects had arrived on motorscooters, entered the store and then used hammers to smash their way through counter displays. "The robbers removed property from the displays and then made off on the bikes." No one has been arrested and an investigation is underway, police said. The capital has been gripped by a moped crime wave in recent months, prompting calls from some for police to be given stronger powers to tackle offenders. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Demand for care home places will almost double within the next 20 years, a new study reveals, fuelling fears of a crisis that will leave thousands of vulnerable people without vital support. Almost 190,000 more people aged 65 years or older will require care by 2035 to cope with the rise in demand, marking a rise of 86 per cent, according to the paper published in The Lancet. The findings come amid mounting concerns over a creaking care system, prompting experts to urge that unless the Government acts to "urgently" meet the rising costs, elderly people could face terrifying consequences. The increase in life expectancy has coincided with a dramatic rise in the number of elderly people who are highly dependent, the authors found, with the average amount of time pensioners require substantial care needs nearly doubling between 1991 and 2011. It comes amid concerns of an impending crisis in the care sector, as residential homes struggle to cope with steadily rising costs and cuts to funding. A recent report warned that one in six care homes in the UK are showing signs they are at risk of failure. Professor Carol Jagger, lead author from Newcastle University, said: The past 20 years have seen continued gains in life expectancy, but not all of these years have been healthy years. Our study suggests that older people today are spending more of their remaining life with care needs. Though most of the extra years are spent with low dependency including help with activities such as washing, shopping or doing household tasks older men and women are spending around one year more requiring 24-hour care. This finding, along with the increasing number of older adults with higher rates of illness and disability, is contributing to the current social care crisis. In a linked editorial, Sir Andrew Dilnot, who chaired the Commission on Funding of Care and Support in 2011, warned that the projections demand attention and action. Sir Andrew, from the University of Oxford, added: Expenditure on the care of older people will need to increase substantially and quickly. It will be important to ensure that this expenditure is managed efficiently, and in particular that the boundary between health care and social care is well handled. He warned that if the state does not act to ensure is covers the cost of social care provision, the rise in demand could lead to a terrifying scenario for elderly individuals, and urged the state take responsibility. The uncertainties surrounding the possible cost of social care provision are so great that private insurers do not and will not make such cover available, Sir Andrew said. Therefore, in the absence of state activity, individuals cannot pool their risk, so that although most of them will not face high and extended costs, they are all left facing that possible worst case scenario. This scenario is terrifying for individuals, and very inefficient. If the private sector cannot pool the risk, the case for the state taking that responsibility, at least in part by providing social insurance, is very strong. Researchers compared data from two studies, each with more than 7,500 participants aged 65 and older from Cambridgeshire, Newcastle and Nottingham, which were conducted two decades apart. Between 1991 and 2011, life expectancy increased for both men and women, with the number of years spent with substantial care needs classed as medium or high dependency nearly doubling between 1991 and 2011. Older people with substantial care needs were also less likely to be living in a care home in 2011 than in 1991, with the percentage of adults aged 85 who required 24-hour care living in a care home falling from 74 per cent to 52 per cent over the period studied. The authors projected that if rates of dependency remained constant, there would be an additional 190,000 older people with medium dependency, and 163,000 with high dependency by 2025 compared with 2015. Commenting on the study, Janet Morrison, chief executive at the charity Independent Age, said: Creating over 70,000 new care home places seems to be a tall order for a care sector commonly recognised to be in crisis. Older people and their families really cant wait much longer to see a long-term solution to the crisis in adult social care. Caroline Abrahams, Charity Director at Age UK, urged the Government to act as a matter of urgency. She said: There will undoubtedly be a need for more accommodation with care and support for our ageing population, but in the longer term we may see this being provided more in the form of extra care housing than traditional care homes thats what many older people say theyd prefer. In the shorter term theres an intensifying crisis in the care home sector which Government must tackle as a matter of urgency. Rob Burley, director of policy at Alzheimers Society, urged that the Government and the care sector develop future-proof plans to cope with the increase. He said: The Government and sector as a whole must act now to ensure we have future-proof plans to accommodate the enormous rise in demand. A new approach that recognises the needs of people with dementia is desperately needed. The percentage of nursing homes displaying the hallmarks of financial distress increased by about 5 per cent compared with the previous year, with the combination of rising costs, cuts to funding and an ageing population pushing businesses in the sector back to the brink, according to accountancy firm Moore Stephens earlier this week. Analysis of data from a survey of 7,497 companies by the firm revealed that in the year to February 2017, 16 per cent of care home companies were financially stressed and exhibiting signs that they were at risk of failure, compared with 12 per cent the previous year. A report by charity Age UK last month meanwhile revealed that thousands of care home residents were being wrongly charged fees of up to 100 a week, as one in four pensioners who are entitled to free care were being told to contribute towards their care costs to subsidise gaps in care home funding from councils. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 12 November 2022 The City of London Pride Group take part in the parade during the Lord Mayor's Show PA 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 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 The findings warned that families of older people who are eligible for free care which applies to those with assets of less than 23,250 were being charged thousands of pounds a year in top-up fees designed only for those who choose a more expensive care home than their council would pay for. A Department of Health spokesman said: High quality care isnt just about care home beds 61% of people are cared for in their own home and since 2010 there has been a growth in home care agencies of more than 2,900. Weve given local authorities in England an extra 2 billion boost over the next three years to maintain access for our growing ageing population and to put the social care sector on a sustainable footing for the future. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Hindu woman and her Jewish soulmate have married in what is believed to be the UK's first interfaith lesbian wedding. Kalavati Mistry and Miriam Jefferson met more than 20 years ago on a training course in America, and tied the knot on Saturday in a Hindu ceremony, wearing traditional red-and-white bridal colours. Ms Mistry, 48, had kept her sexuality a secret for years and said it had been "very difficult for me as an Asian gay woman". But her friends and family have been "welcoming and embracing" to Ms Jefferson since she revealed their relationship, she said, adding: "I hope many many gay people - no matter what religion or culture they're in - are in loving relationships." The couple, who both work for an interfaith organisation, married at the Chutney Ivy restaurant in Leicester. Ms Jefferson revealed they had already had a Jewish wedding in her hometown of San Antonio, Texas, earlier this year. She told Mail Online: "It's really nice to now have a Hindu wedding here, because it brings both of us together and completes both of us in my eyes." The couple will return to live in the US after the wedding. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Claims that the UKs new 3bn aircraft carrier represents a new era of maritime power for post-Brexit Britain have been greeted with scepticism by former military officers. Theresa May hailed the HMS Queen Elizabeth as a highly versatile and potent asset to combat modern threats, but critics have panned it as a totemic symbol that could swiftly be left behind by emerging technology. Tens of thousands of people gathered to watch the largest warship ever built for Britain arrive in Portsmouth with its company standing to attention on board. It was followed by a flotilla of ships as helicopters and jets flew ahead and a band of the Royal Marines played to entertain the crowds. Speaking on board, the Prime Minister said: Britain can be proud of this ship and what it represents. "It sends a clear signal that as Britain forges a new, positive, confident role on the world stage in the years ahead we are determined to remain a fully engaged global power, working closely with our friends and allieswhether the task be high intensity war-fighting, targeted action to fight terrorism, or humanitarian relief to save lives overseas, these ships will transform the UK's ability to project power around the world. Theresa May stands on the flight deck as she speaks to crew members of the British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth in Portsmouth on 16 August (Reuters) The head of the Royal Navy hailed the HMS Queen Elizabeth as the embodiment of Britain in steel and spirit that will act as a post-Brexit ambassador to the globe. "It's a triumph of national strategic ambition and a lesson for the future, said First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones. "As we prepare to leave the European Union, I have no doubt that the Queen Elizabeth-class will help take our nation's message of partnership and prosperity to the rising economies of the world, aided by the very best ambassadors we could wish for: the men and women of the armed forces. "HMS Queen Elizabeth is the nation's future flagship; the embodiment of Britain in steel and spirit. "In the years and decades to come, she and her sister ship will demonstrate the kind of nation we are - not a diminished nation, withdrawing from the world, but a confident, outward-looking and ambitious nation, with a Royal Navy to match. Sir Philip conceded that the project to build the aircraft carrier and the HMS Prince of Wales, which is still under construction, has not always been an easy path after a series of delays and U-turns in its 20-year development. The 919ft, 65-000 tonne HMS Queen Elizabeth has been undergoing training and tests at sea after setting out from Scotland's Rosyth dockyard in June but no date has been set for operations to start, with trial flights of its 14 jets not due to begin until next year. Critics have accused the Government of prioritising the aircraft carriers over conventional forces while restricting the UKs defence budget, plunging billions into two high-profile assets amid concern over expected cuts to Army troops and the Royal Marines. Crowds watch as HMS Queen Elizabeth, the UK's newest aircraft carrier, arrives in Portsmouth. (PA) Dr Peter Roberts, a former warfare officer in the Royal Navy, said the HMS Queen Elizabeth was a significant moment for engineering achievement but thats about as far as we can go. Its clear that decision to pursue two carriers at the expense of everything else in defence has weakened the defence posture of the UK as a whole, he told The Independent. The idea that HMS Queen Elizabeth represents national ambition is false, but it might represent a political ambition for a totemic symbol. Its useful for the Government during a massive budget struggle with the military. There will be huge decisions coming up that the Government wishes to keep quiet following the strategic defence review and this will prove a massive distraction. Dr Roberts is director of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), which recently published a report warning that aircraft carriers were increasingly vulnerable to cheap missile attacks from potential adversaries like Russia, China and North Korea. The Russian defence ministry has described the HMS Queen Elizabeth as merely a large convenient naval target and issued a threat to the Royal Navy warning it not to show off the beauty of its aircraft carrier too close to Moscows assets. When in operation, it will be protected by a carrier strike group including F-35 Lightning II stealth jets, Crowsnest helicopters, destroyers, frigates and a submarine assets critics say could be put to better use elsewhere. Ships can only be in one place at one time, said Dr Roberts, citing the Gulf and South China Sea as other key areas operations. Theresa May talks with Commodore Jerry Kyd (2L), Captain of the 65,000-tonne British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (Getty Images) They have stripped out the rest of defence in order to get these two new behemoths. Professor John Louth, who served as an RAF officer for 16 years and has audited British defence systems, said the HMS Queen Elizabeth was a powerful symbol and substantial piece of strategic hardware but also a significant target. Fielding these fantastic assets is something we want to do but we also have to give a mind about how were going to protect them, he told The Independent. The balance between offensive and defensive assets needs to be very carefully considered. Prof Louth, who is the director for defence, industries and society at RUSI, said more and more potential adversaries are gaining access to precision guided missiles and drones as technology advances and costs fall. He added that the idea of strike operations from aircraft carriers dated back to the Second World War, with the HMS Queen Elizabeth first conceived in 1998, but the nature of warfare has changed dramatically. Isis is among the groups adapting and manufacturing its own unmanned aerial weapons, while an amateur photographer managed to land a 300 drone on the deck of the HMS Queen Elizabeth unchallenged while it was moored in Scotland last month. In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Show all 11 1 /11 In pictures: Isis' weapons factories In pictures: Isis' weapons factories A mortar round fin manufactured by Isis in Gogjali, Mosul, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Isis rocket components discovered in Gogjali, Mosul, Iraq in November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Isis mortars discovered near Karamlais, Iraq, in November 2016 CAR In pictures: Isis' weapons factories An Isis rocket launch frame in Qaraqosh, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories A memo from Isis' COSQC on quality control at a manufacturing facility in Gogjali, Mosul, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Electrically-operated initiators manufactured by Isis in forces Gogjali, Mosul, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Isis mortar tubes at a manufacturing facility in Karamlais, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories An Isis mortar production facility discovered in Gogjali, Mosul, in November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories An Isis weapons manufacturing facilities near Mosul in November 2016 Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories Stocks of French-manufactured Sorbitol, Latvian potassium nitrate and Lebanese sugar at an Isis weapons factory in Iraq Conflict Armament Research In pictures: Isis' weapons factories A destroyed Isis weapons facility in Qaraqosh, Iraq, November 2016 Conflict Armament Research Dr Roberts cautioned that the democratisation of technology meant the threat against high-tech British military assets was continually rising from nations and non-state actors, whether through conventional attacks or cyber warfare. The Navy still seems to think you can send squadrons of fast jets off a carrier, bomb some far part of the world and thats the end of the matterbut we have a very different environment now, he added. They are blinded by history and theyre not looking to the future. Certainly there are lessons to be learned but there is a failure to understand the current character of conflict and thats a disservice to the taxpayer. The HMS Queen Elizabeth has run far over its original unrealistic budget and will incur substantial operating costs including a monthly food bill of 110,000 for the 700-strong company and 300 contractors and other personnel on board. The UK has committed to spending at least 2 per cent of GDP on defence, as required by Nato, meaning it has the fifth-largest military budget in the world. But ongoing government efficiencies have prompted fears of substantial cuts to the number of Army troops and Royal Marines. Dr Roberts, a former national representative for the Royal Navy who chaired Nato working groups and served around the world, raised concern that the Government was ignoring the scope of the threat to the UK. We have a resurgent Russia, we have a challenge to UK interests and the rule of law in the South China Sea, we have obligations we choose not to look at in Ukraine and Korea, as well as historic obligations to assist former colonies and Commonwealth countries with humanitarian aid, he added. An aircraft carrier has never solved a crisis on its own. Sir Michael Fallon, the Defence Secretary, said the "mighty" new warship would serve as "Britains statement to the world: a demonstration of British military power and our commitment to a bigger global role". Royal Navy Leading Hand Claire Butler is presented with the first 'cap tally' for being the first crew member to board new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (PA) The thousands of people across the UK who have played a part in building her and her sister ship, HMS Prince of Wales, should be immensely proud," he added. "She has made good progress in sea trials and will now embark on the next phase of preparations that will see the return of Britains carrier strike ability. When she enters service she will help keep Britain safe at a time of increased threats. Update: A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said threats to the HMS Queen Elizabeth including that from precision missiles were kept under constant review and the ship is "well protected" thanks to defensive systems as part of a 178bn equipment plan. "The carriers will operate as part of a Maritime Task Group, which will be tailored to meet the required task," he added. "Carrier strike is a strategic capability that will give commanders more options, not take them away." The MoD said the carrier was designed with the ability to be upgraded in coming decades and would be used in battles against non-state actors, potentially as part of the US-led coalition against Isis. The QEC Class Carriers represent the biggest increase in capability in a generation, the spokesperson added. The carriers represent tremendous value for money given the unprecedented level of flexibility that they will offer the Royal Navy and the UK for many decades. "The QEC carriers and F-35 Lightning aircraft are an investment in British security, prosperity and our place in the world. The carriers were commissioned long before the EU referendum, they represent Britains commitment to global and national security." Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Parliamentary authorities have dismissed Theresa Mays call to rethink the silencing of Big Ben, dismissing it as impractical and a waste of money. They rejected the idea of allowing the Great Bell to chime during the hours that work is not being carried out, pointing out it would take half a day to stop and start the process. The statement was issued after the Prime Minister, within hours of returning from her summer holiday, intervened in the row by saying: It cant be right for Big Ben to be silent for four years. Recommended Big Ben to fall silent until 2021 as major conservation work begins And I hope that the Speaker, as the chairman of the House of Commons Commission, will look into this urgently, so that we can ensure that we can continue to hear Big Ben through those four years. Jeremy Corbyn dismissed the growing furore, agreeing that the repairs had to be carried out and saying: Its not a national disaster or catastrophe. The 118 decibel bongs would not only damage the hearing of staff using the 100 metre high scaffolding around the tower, but could also startle them, it is feared. In response to Ms Mays criticism, the Commission agreed to review the length of time of the repair work that will silence the bells, scheduled to last four years. But, in the later statement, it said: Starting and stopping Big Ben is a complex and lengthy process. The striking hammer is locked and the bells can then be disconnected from the clock mechanism. The weights are lowered within the weight shaft to the base of the tower and secured in a safe position. The whole process takes around half a day to complete. Following a thorough assessment, experts have concluded that it would not be practical or a good use of public money to start and stop the bells each day, particularly as we cannot fully predict the times that staff will be working on this project. Asked for his view, the Labour leader suggested it was possible to have bells from all over the country played at various points, instead of silence. He added: I hope Big Ben comes back but, obviously, people working right alongside that wonderful massive bell need to be protected. Earlier, Brexit Secretary David Davis also waded into the row, insisting stopping the chimes was mad, dismissing the health and safety concerns and telling the authorities to just get on with it. The move was also labelled entirely bonkers by Conservative MP James Gray, who sat on the administration committee which first approved the work. MPs have asked officials to look at the cost and practical implications of ringing the Great Bell more often than the current plan to put it back into use for special occasions, such as New Years Eve. Liberal Democrat Tom Brake, who answers questions from MPs on behalf of the Commission, said it did not know about the four-year silence when the plans were signed off. The last bongs will chime at noon on 21 August, beginning the longest period Big Ben has been silenced in its 157-year history. The 29m renovation includes the installation of a lift and repairs to the clocks hands, mechanism and pendulum. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Britain is promising the Irish Government there will be no physical infrastructure on the border with Northern Ireland after Brexit, after rising tensions between the two governments. In a position paper ahead of the next round of talks, London will say there will be no return to the hard borders of the past insisting customs posts, for example, will not be necessary. Britain will hold out the hope of no border at all, if attempts to forge a long-term alignment of customs arrangements with the EU prove successful. But, if customs arrangements are merely streamlined, larger traders would face some checks but smaller traders would not, London will warn. A briefing ahead of the papers publication does not rule out changes even if Brussels agrees to a temporary customs union, for the first two years or so after Brexit, in 2019. And the document will risk a clash with Dublin by describing its proposal for the Irish Sea to become the post-Brexit border with the UK as not constitutionally or economically viable. The UK would protect the Common Travel Area, which allows Irish people to live and work on either side of the border, it says. A UK Government source said: Both sides needs to show flexibility and imagination when it comes to the border issue in Northern Ireland and that is exactly what our latest position paper will do. Top of our list is to agree upfront no physical border infrastructure - that would mean a return to the border posts of the past and is completely unacceptable to the UK. Our paper sets out some creative options on customs and shows the priority we place on making progress on this. In 2015, Northern Ireland sold 10.7bn of goods to Great Britain and a further 2.7bn to Ireland, the Department for Exiting the European Union (DExEU) said. Meanwhile, Great Britain exported 13.6bn worth of goods to Ireland, and imported 9.1bn. Were prioritising finding a solution that protects businesses ability to access these important markets, the source added. The paper is published after Leo Varadkar, the Irish prime minister, made clear his frustration with Britains failure to come up with workable border proposals in the 14 months since last years EU referendum. Dublin fears the impact of even light touch customs using smart technology and spot checks - on the peace process in the North and has urged Britain to stay in the EU customs union. As a fallback, Mr Varadkar proposed the Irish Sea becoming the border with the UK for the whole of Ireland an idea firmly rejected by London today. Any solution short or long-term depends on the EU agreeing to Britains customs proposals, unveiled on Tuesday, which were strongly criticised by some Brussels figures. Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliaments negotiator, described them as a fantasy, while Michel Barnier, his Commission counterpart, insisted the exit settlement must be agreed first. A failure to reach agreement on the Irish border will throw into jeopardy the Prime Ministers hopes of an autumn start to talks on post-Brexit trade with the EU. Brussels has insisted sufficient progress must be made on Northern Ireland, citizens' rights and the so-called divorce bill before the negotiations can move forward. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Sir Vince Cable has said he still believes there is a "significant possibility" that Brexit will not happen. The Liberal Democrat leader told an audience at the Edinburgh International Book Festival that he stood by the view that the UK might not leave the European Union (EU). Sir Vince said a combination of the politics of Brexit "unravelling" and the "sheer practical difficulties" could stop UK Government plans to leave the bloc. The former business secretary told the audience in the Scottish capital: "I think there is more than a possibility that it may never happen. I'm not saying it definitely won't but there is a significant possibility." The MP for Twickenham, who lost his seat in 2015 but was reelected in this year's snap general election, said the Government was dependent on the support of the Labour party to get Brexit legislation through parliament, which may not continue. "Although the Government and (Labour leader) Jeremy Corbyn are far apart in many respects, they are absolutely on the same page on Brexit and many of the people who voted Labour a few weeks ago were probably not aware that the leadership is pursuing this Brexit option of taking us out of the single market. "The Labour party may for its own reasons choose to break this up and try to limit the Brexit process and if it happens and there is a significant group of Tory rebels working with us, the nationalists and quite a lot of Labour rebels then the thing could get unravelled politically. Brexit Secretary: UK wants temporary EU customs deal "The other factor, which I think the Government itself is only just becoming clear on, is that this process is horribly complicated. "The Government is clearly unprepared. They are hiring hundreds if not thousands of civil servants to cope with this. It may just prove way beyond their capacity to deliver. So a combination of the politics unravelling and the sheer practical difficulties may stop this. It is possible." Sir Vince, who was speaking about his new political thriller Open Arms, admitted he had not anticipated the renewal of his political career when penning the book. He said: "I thought the chances of my getting back into parliament, let alone becoming the leader of my party, were rather remote. So the book is perhaps less discreet than it should be." How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Show all 8 1 /8 How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Weetabix Chief executive of Weetabix Giles Turrell has warned that the price of one of the nations favourite breakfast are likely to go up this year by low-single digits in percentage terms. Reuters How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Nescafe The cost of a 100g jar of Nescafe Original at Sainsburys has gone up 40p from 2.75 to 3.15 a 14 per cent risesince the Brexit vote. PA How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Freddo When contacted by The Independent this month, a Mondelez spokesperson declined to discuss specific brands but confirmed that there would be "selective" price increases across its range despite the American multi-national confectionery giant reporting profits of $548m (450m) in its last three-month financial period. Mondelez, which bought Cadbury in 2010, said rising commodity costs combined with the slump in the value of the pound had made its products more expensive to make. Cadbury How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Mr Kipling cakes Premier Foods, the maker of Mr Kipling and Bisto gravy, said that it was considering price rises on a case-by-case basis Reuters How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Walkers Crisps Walkers, owned by US giant PepsiCo, said "the weakened value of the pound" is affecting the import cost of some of its materials. A Walkers spokesman told the Press Association that a 32g standard bag was set to increase from 50p to 55p, and the larger grab bag from 75p to 80p. Getty How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Marmite Tesco removed Marmite and other Unilever household brand from its website last October, after the manufacturer tried to raise its prices by about 10 per cent owing to sterlings slump. Tesco and Unilever resolved their argument, but the price of Marmite has increased in UK supermarkets with the grocer reporting a 250g jar of Marmite will now cost Morrisons customers 2.64 - an increase of 12.5 per cent. Rex How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Toblerone Toblerone came under fire in November after it increased the space between the distinctive triangles of its bars. Mondelez International, the company which makes the product, said the change was made due to price rises in recent months. Pixabay How Brexit affected Britain's favourite foods from Weetabix to Marmite Maltesers Maltesers, billed as the lighter way to enjoy chocolate, have also shrunk in size. Mars, which owns the brand, has reduced its pouch weight by 15 per cent. Mars said rising costs mean it had to make the unenviable decision between increasing its prices or reducing the weight of its Malteser packs. iStockphoto But he moved to dampen speculation about sex scenes in the novel, saying: "There isn't very much. I don't want to create false expectations. "There is a relationship and there is a man and a woman and they fall in love and so on, but there were some politicians who slightly spoilt their reputation by being a bit crude in that area. There was a novel by Edwina Currie I think went down that road, and it doesn't. It is quite discreet." PA Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Cabinet minister has criticised Donald Trump after he again partly blamed anti-fascist protesters for the violence at a far-right march in Virginia. Sajid Javid, the Communities Secretary, spoke out, just two days after Theresa Mays spokesman said the Presidents remarks about the controversy were a matter for him. Neo-Nazis: bad. Anti-Nazis: good. I learned that as a child. It was pretty obvious, Mr Javid tweeted. Recommended Trump came off the teleprompter and his true colours poured out The criticism will pile pressure on the Prime Minister to also speak out about the US Presidents stance on the violence which left one protester dead and many others injured. Ms May is also under growing pressure to officially cancel the planned state visit by Mr Trump, which has already been pushed back because of fears of mass protests. The President sparked fresh outrage overnight when he again defended the far-right marchers at the Charlottesville rally, saying they were not all neo-Nazis and white supremacists. Mr Trump claimed what he called the alt-left was equally to blame for the violence just one day after, under pressure from advisers, he had finally condemned the far-right for what happened. Rochdale-born Mr Javid, tipped as a future possible Tory leader, whose parents were Pakistani, is one of Britains most prominent ethnic minority politicians. The Prime Minister may come under pressure to comment when she visits the HMS Elizabeth aircraft carrier today, in Portsmouth, having returned from her long walking holiday. The Virginia march was organised to protest against the proposed removal of a statue of General Robert E Lee, who commanded the pro-slavery Confederate forces during the American Civil War. It attracted far-right groups, some chanting white supremacist slogans as they held a torchlight parade through Charlottesville. They were confronted by anti-racism groups. Heather Heyer was killed and 19 others injured when a car was driven deliberately into the protesters. In his initial response, Mr Trump blamed the violence on many sides, but switched to condemning the white supremacists when told it was politically necessary to defuse the growing storm. But, on Tuesday, at a rowdy press conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York, the President appeared to revert to what he really thinks. You had a group on one side and group on the other and they came at each other with clubs. There is another side, you can call them the left, that came violently attacking the other group, he said. He then said: You had people that were very fine people on both sides, adding: Not all those people were neo-Nazis, not all those people were white supremacists. The comments have drawn swift criticism, including from many leading figures in Mr Trumps Republican party. But they were welcomed by David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, who tweeted: Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The British Government must withdraw the invitation to Donald Trump to pay a state visit to the UK because he is nakedly sympathising with neo-Nazis, activists have said. The US President caused uproar after saying a group of people he described as the alt-left shared the blame with members of the Ku Klux Klan, white supremacists and neo-Nazi for violence that erupted when the latter attempted to hold a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The far-right group, which included people in paramilitary uniforms carrying assault rifles, gathered to protest against plans to remove a statue to the Confederate general Robert E Lee. Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism. Mr Trump said many of the far-right protesters had gathered innocently and legally to demonstrate and accused the media of dishonesty in their reporting of the subsequent violence. Anti-fascist protester Heather Heyer, 32, was killed when a car was allegedly deliberately driven into a crowd of people in the town. Theresa May invited the Republican billionaire to the UK but he has reportedly delayed the visit until the Government can guarantee he will not face mass protests. Nick Dearden, the director of Global Justice Now, which is part of the UK Stop Trump coalition, urged the Prime Minister to take a stand against fascism and withdraw the invitation. Theresa Mays decision to invite Donald Trump for a state visit to the UK has always been highly controversial, but now that the President is nakedly sympathising with neo-Nazis, there has never been a more obvious time that that invitation must be rescinded immediately, he said. And Mr Dearden warned that failure to do this could embolden the far-right in Britain. Theres nothing that happened in Charlottesville that couldnt happen in the UK, he said. Were witnessing spikes in racist hate crimes, and one of our political representatives was recently murdered by a far-right extremist. Our politicians need to be sending clear messages that such hate and violent bigotry cannot be tolerated. What message is it sending to the people of UK if there is an open invitation to the most high-profile fascist-sympathiser of modern times? In a tweet after the violence in Charlottesville, the Prime Ministers official account said: Our thoughts and prayers are with #Charlottesville. The UK stands with the US against racism, hatred and violence. Downing Street did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Labours Shadow equalities minister Sarah Champion has resigned from her frontbench position following a row over an article she wrote in the Sun newspaper, claiming British Pakistani men are raping and exploiting white girls. In a statement the Rotherham MP said she apologised for any offence cause by the extremely poor choice of words which appeared in the tabloid newspaper five days ago. I am concerned that my continued position in the Shadow Cabinet would distract from the crucial issues around child protection which I have campaigned on my entire political career, she added. It is therefore with regret that I tender my resignation as Shadow Secretary of State for women and equalities. Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, added: I have accepted Sarah Champion's resignation and thank her for her work in the Shadow Cabinet. I look forward to working together in future. Her resignation follows a statement from Ms Champion on Wednesday, alleging the newspaper had altered her article, which ran with the provocative headline: British Pakistani men ARE raping and exploiting white girls and its time we face up to it. But her claim that she did not write the opening sentences was disputed by the newspaper. In a statement a spokesperson for the Sun told The Independent: Sarah Champions column, as it appeared on Friday, was approved by her team and her advisor twice contacted us thereafter to say she was thrilled with the piece and it looked great. Ms Champion hit the headlines last week when she warned people were failing to tell the truth about child abuse because they were afraid of being called racist, following the conviction of 18 men involved in a grooming gang. It was predominately Pakistani men who were involved in such cases time and time again said the MP for Rotherham - a town where a notorious grooming gang was exposed. Sarah Champion on Newcastle sex ring: "The majority of the perpetrators have been British Pakistani But she followed up her comments in The Sun newspaper, claiming: Britain has a problem with British Pakistani men raping and exploiting white girls. There. I said it, she wrote. The column led to much anger being directed at Ms Champion and one of her colleagues describing her as irresponsible for making blanket, radicalised, loaded statements that would set up stigmatised Pakistani boys to fail. It also resulted in praise being heaped on the Labour MP in an incendiary column by Trevor Kavanagh in the newspaper for making it acceptable to say Muslims are specific rather than a cultural problem. On Tuesday, 100 cross-party politicians signed an open letter, published in The Independent, demanding action over Mr Kavanaghs article for using Nazi like language. Ms Champions signature appeared on the letter alongside prominent Conservative and Labour politicians. But on Tuesday, the Labour MP replied to Mr Kavanaghs article, adding: I am ashamed that he made positive reference to my own piece. We must always stand up to racism and prejudice, whatever form it takes. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Theresa May has refused to directly criticise Donald Trump after he partly blamed anti-fascist protesters for violent clashes at a white supremacist march. Quizzed in Portsmouth, after returning from her summer break, the Prime Minister contradicted the US President by saying there was no equivalence between the protesters and far-right marchers. However, unlike hard-hitting comments from a cabinet minister and Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson, there was no direct criticism of Mr Trump. I see no equivalence between those who propound fascist views and those who oppose them, Ms May said. I think it is important for all those in positions of responsibility to condemn far-right views wherever we hear them. Earlier, Sajid Javid, the Communities Secretary, tweeted: Neo-Nazis: bad. Anti-Nazis: good. I learned that as a child. It was pretty obvious. Ruth Davidson, the Scottish Tory leader, tweeted: The President of the United States has just turned his face to the world to defend Nazis, fascists and racists. For shame. And a second minister, Sam Gyimah, tweeted: Words matter. Silence matters. We must call out hate unambiguously to preserve the free & tolerant society many have fought & die for. The criticism had piled pressure on the Prime Minister to also speak out about the US Presidents stance on the violence which left one protester dead and many others injured. Ms May is also facing growing calls to officially cancel the planned state visit by Mr Trump, which has already been pushed back because of fears of mass protests. The President sparked fresh outrage overnight when he again defended the far-right marchers at the Charlottesville rally, saying they were not all neo-Nazis and white supremacists. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Mr Trump claimed what he called the alt-left was equally to blame for the violence just one day after, under pressure from advisers, he had finally condemned the far right for what happened. The march attracted far-right groups, some chanting white supremacist slogans as they held a torchlight parade through Charlottesville. They were confronted by anti-racism groups. Heather Heyer was killed and 19 others injured when a car was driven deliberately into the protesters. But, at a rowdy press conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York yesterday, the President said: You had a group on one side and group on the other and they came at each other with clubs. There is another side, you can call them the left, that came violently attacking the other group. He then said: You had people that were very fine people on both sides, adding: Not all those people were neo-Nazis, not all those people were white supremacists. Donald Trump blames both sides for Charlottesville violence The comments were welcomed by David Duke, a former leader of the Ku Klux Klan, who tweeted: Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists. Speaking on the Portsmouth dockside today, the Prime Minister after more than three weeks walking in Italy and Switzerland stuck to her script. After meeting the crew of the new HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier, she hailed the ship as a symbol of the United Kingdom as a great global maritime nation. It sends a clear signal that as Britain forges a new, positive, confident role on the world stage in the years ahead we are determined to remain a fully engaged global power, working closely with our friends and allies around the world, Ms May said. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Zimbabwes first lady, Grace Mugabe, has sought diplomatic immunity in South Africa, where she is under investigation over the assault of a 20-year-old model in an upmarket hotel, South African police said on Wednesday. Police also confirmed that Ms Mugabe, the 52-year-old wife of Zimbabwes nonagenarian leader Robert, had failed to appear at a court hearing on Tuesday relating to allegations she attacked Gabriella Engels with an electric extension chord. Engels mother, Debbie, told Reuters that her daughter had received 14 stitches on her head from Sundays assault which the mother did not witness and demanded Ms Mugabe face justice. I just want justice for my daughter. Its not about money. Its about justice. She attacked my child for no reason, she said. The police statement said Harare had sought diplomatic immunity for Ms Mugabe which if granted would exempt her from prosecution but said she would be processed through the legal system. Reuters has not been able to verify key aspects of the assault allegations independently, and multiple requests for comment from Ms Mugabes spokesperson in Harare and from Information Minister Chris Mushowe went unanswered. Ms Mugabe, a potential successor to her 93-year-old husband, was in South Africa to receive treatment for an injured foot, according to local media reports. A Zimbabwean intelligence source told Reuters she was not travelling on a diplomatic passport. Criminal attorney Riaan Louw said diplomatic immunity would not apply if Ms Mugabe had indeed entered on private business. If she wasnt here on official business, that rules out the possibility of diplomatic immunity, Mr Louw said. However, given the potential for diplomatic fallout, South African prosecutors could yet decide not to prosecute if they thought the injuries were not too severe, he added. They can fail to prosecute her, he said. Theyve got the powers to decide that its not in the interests of the community or it might create animosity between us and Zimbabwe. Police said Tuesdays abortive court hearing was designed to obtain a statement from Ms Mugabe, along with her version of the events, but that she failed to appear as arranged. Police spokesman Vish Naidoo did not comment on the specifics of the case, other than to say it related to assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. 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 Reuters has been unable to identify Ms Mugabes lawyers in Johannesburg. Isaac Moyo, Zimbabwes ambassador to Pretoria, said he knew nothing. I have to go to my office to get briefed, he said. Gabriella Engels said she was attacked while waiting to meet up with Chatunga, one of Ms Mugabes two adult sons, in the hotel in Johannesburg. The News24 website quoted Engels version of events in the hotel room. When Grace entered, I had no idea who she was. She walked in with an extension cord and just started beating me with it, the model said. The incident is not the first time Ms Mugabe has been accused of assault. In 2009, a newspaper photographer in Hong Kong said she and her bodyguard had assaulted him. Police there said the incident was reported but that no charges were brought. Reuters Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} President Donald Trump angrily denounced the so-called alt-left at a news conference on Tuesday, claiming that the group attacked followers of the so-called alt-right at a white supremacist rally that exploded into deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday. What about the alt-left that came charging at the, as you say, the alt-right? Do they have any semblance of guilt? he asked. There was blame on both sides, he said. I have no doubt about it. Both phrases are part of a broad lexicon of far-right terminology that has become important to understanding US politics during the Trump administration. Many of these terms have their roots in movements that are racist, anti-Semitic and sexist. Here is a brief guide to the meaning of those expressions and others used by white supremacists and far-right extremists. Alt-Right The alt-right is a racist, far-right movement based on an ideology of white nationalism and anti-Semitism. Many news organisations do not use the term, preferring terms like white nationalism and far-right. The movements self-professed goal is the creation of a white state and the destruction of leftism, which it calls an ideology of death. Richard Spencer, a leader in the movement, has described the movement as identity politics for white people. It is also anti-immigrant, anti-feminist and opposed to homosexuality and gay and transgender rights. It is highly decentralised but has a wide online presence, where its ideology is spread via racist or sexist memes with a satirical edge. It believes that higher education is only appropriate for a cognitive elite and that most citizens should be educated in trade schools or apprenticeships. Alt-Left Researchers who study extremist groups in the United States say there is no such thing as the alt-left. Mark Pitcavage, an analyst at the Anti-Defamation League, said the word was made up to create a false equivalence between the far-right and anything vaguely left-seeming that they didnt like. Some centrist liberals have taken to using this term. It did not arise organically, and it refers to no actual group or movement or network, Pitcavage said in an email. Its just a made-up epithet, similar to certain people calling any news they dont like fake news.' On Tuesday, Trump said the alt-left was partly to blame for the Charlottesville violence, during which a counter-protester, Heather Heyer, was killed. Alt-Light The alt-light comprises members of the far-right who once fell under the alt-right umbrella but have since split from the group because, by and large, racism and anti-Semitism are not central to their far-right nationalist views, according to Ryan Lenz, the editor of Hatewatch, a publication of the Southern Poverty Law Center. Members of the alt-right mocked these dissidents as the alt-light. The alt-light is the alt-right without the racist overtones but it is hard to differentiate it sometimes because youre looking at people who sometimes dance between both camps, he said. The two groups often feud online over the Jewish Question or whether Jews profit by secretly manipulating the government and the media. Antifa Antifa is a contraction of the word anti-fascist. It was coined in Germany in the 1960s and 1970s by a network of groups that spread across Europe to confront right-wing extremists, according to Pitcavage. A similar movement emerged in the 1980s in the United States and has grown as the alt-right has risen to prominence. For some so-called antifa members, the goal is to physically confront white supremacists. If they can get at them, to assault them and engage in street fighting, Pitcavage said. Lenz, at the Southern Poverty Law Center, called the group an old left-wing extremist movement. Members of the alt-right broadly portray protesters who oppose them as antifa, or the alt-left, and say they bear some responsibility for any violence that ensues a claim made by Trump on Tuesday. But analysts said comparing antifa with neo-Nazi or white supremacist protesters was a false equivalence. Cuck Cuck is an insult used by the alt-right to attack the masculinity of an opponent, originally other conservatives, whom the movement deems insufficiently committed to racism and anti-Semitism. It is short for cuckold, a word dating to the Middle Ages that describes a man who knows his wife is sleeping with other men and does not object. Lenz said the use of the word by the alt-right often had racial overtones. SJW SJW is short for social justice warrior and is used by the right as an epithet for someone who advocates liberal causes like feminism, racial justice or gay and transgender rights. It is also sometimes used to imply that a persons online advocacy of a cause is insincere or done for appearances. It became widely used during GamerGate, a controversy that began in 2014 over sexism in video game subcultures. Lenz, whose organisation has specific criteria for which groups it classifies as Nazi organisations, said the right uses the phrase to rhetorically address the fact that the left sometimes calls anyone who disagrees with it Nazis. He said the alt-right created the term so its followers had a similar blanket term to deride the left. Blood and Soil Video taken at the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville on Saturday showed marchers chanting blood and soil. The phrase is a 19th-century German nationalist term that connotes a mystical bond between the blood of an ethnic group and the soil of its country. It was used as a Nazi slogan in Germany during the 1930s and 1940s and since then has been transported to neo-Nazi groups and other white supremacists around the world, Pitcavage said. It is one of several Nazi symbols that have been adopted as a slogan by some members of the alt-right. Globalism Globalism is sometimes used as a synonym for globalisation, the network of economic interconnection that became the dominant international system after the Cold War. The word has become more commonly used since Trump railed against globalism frequently on the campaign trail. For the far-right, globalism has long had distinct xenophobic, anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic overtones. It refers to a conspiratorial worldview: a cabal that likes open borders, diversity and weak nation states, and that dislikes white people, Christianity and the traditional culture of its own country. Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism. White Genocide White genocide is a white nationalist belief that white people, as a race, are endangered and face extinction as a result of nonwhite immigration and marriage between the races, a process being manipulated by Jews, according to Lenz. It is the underlying concept behind far-right, anti-immigration arguments, especially those aimed at immigrants who are not white Christians. The concept was popularised by Bob Whitaker, a former economics professor and Reagan appointee to the Office of Personnel Management, who wrote a 221-word mantra on the subject that ended with the rallying cry: Anti-racist is code word for anti-white. Pitcavage says the concept of white genocide is often communicated online through a white supremacist saying called the Fourteen Words: We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children. The saying was created by David Lane, a white supremacist sentenced to 190 years in prison in connection with the 1984 murder of Jewish radio host Alan Berg. The New York Times Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} One of Americas most prominent neo-Nazi websites has apparently ordered its readers to harass the funeral of Heather Heyer, the civil rights worker who was killed during the disorder in the Virginian town of Charlottesville. The Daily Stormer helped organise the ultra-right wing rally where a car was driven into counter-demonstrators, killing the 32-year-old paralegal and hurting 19 other people. James Fields, 20, from Ohio, has been charged with murder. The website has since moved to the dark web meaning it is not available on normal internet browsers after its registration was cancelled by GoDaddy Inc and denied by Google. The companies said their terms of service banned websites from inciting violence. But they removed it, a senior member of the Daily Stormer called for people on the ground at Ms Heyers funeral. Andrew Auernheimer, known by the online pseudonym weev, instructed users on the do some research on the ceremony. He said: Whats the location of the fat skanks funeral get on it, e-sleuths. Id do it myself but slammed with current logistical issues. I want to get people on the ground there. A screenshot of the comments was posted to Twitter by Laura Loomer, a contributor to The Rebel, a conservative new media outlet. The Daily Stormer regularly used to post racist content and mocked the death of Ms Heyer. It had sections labelled race war and Jewish problem. The website also used anti-Semitism to explain Mr Trumps condemnation of the Charlottesville violence, which came before he defended some of the right wing protesters at a recent press conference. 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 After going offline, the sites founder Andrew Anglin promised the site would soon be back online. The Daily Stormer will be live in internet prison with drug dealers, terrorists and perverts, which is where weve been exiled to, for all time, he told Vice News. We should have a real domain online within 24 hours. If it gets shut down again, people will know we are on the black [dark] web. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Confederate-era statues in Baltimore, Maryland have been torn down in the middle of the night after the city council voted unanimously to remove them. Four monuments that paid tribute to leading members of Confederate were toppled, including the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument and the Confederate Womens Monument, as well as statues commemorating Confederate Army generals Robert E Lee and Thomas Stonewall Jackson and pro-slavery Supreme Court judge Roger B Taney. It follows violent clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, that centred on the citys plans to remove a statue of Robert E Lee, who led the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. Confederate statues have been the subject of controversy across the US, with critics saying they inappropriately honour a racist era of US history and those responsible for it. The Confederacy of Southern states supported slavery and split from the rest of the United States in opposition to attempts to restrict the practice. Defenders of the monuments, however, say those they commemorate were killed while fighting to protect their way of life and the right of their individual states to decide on matters such as slavery. They believe removing the statues amounts to destruction of the USs history and heritage. Video posted on social media showed cranes removing the Baltimore statues from their perches and lorries taking them away. The citys Mayor, Catherine Pugh, said some would be taken to Confederate cemeteries. Baltimore City Council decided on Monday to remove the statues after the violent clashes between white supremacist groups and anti-racism campaigners in Charlottesville, in which a 32-year-old woman, Heather Heyer, was killed when a car rammed into protesters. Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism. There are estimated to be 718 Confederate statues and monuments across the US, of which around 300 are in the southern states of Georgia, Virginia and North Carolina. A number of other US towns and cities have plans to take down their Confederate statues. One was removed in the Florida town of Gainesville on Monday, while Lexington in Kentucky also has plans to move two monuments. Some towns have covered up the monuments while they decide what to do with them. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trumps press conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York has been branded his most jaw-dropping yet. The US President managed to plug his winery while claiming blame should be shared by both sides for the violence in Charlottesville. Mr Trumps extraordinary conference, in which he defended the far-right extremists who descended on the Virginia city over the weekend, has sparked widespread condemnation from across the political spectrum. A former speechwriter to President Barack Obama is one of those who has taken aim at the president. Cody Keenan, who worked for Obama from 2007 and 2017, joked a bad presidential press conference used to simply mean wearing a tan suit. This is a reference to a White House press briefing delivered by Obama in 2014 in which he was was widely mocked for wearing a tan-coloured suit. Some joked it was not an appropriate colour to wear for delivering a statement on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and Russias intervention in Ukraine whereas others joked it looked like Obama was on holiday. Mr Keenan said: "Simpler times, when this was classified as a press conference disaster". President Trump received a barrage of questions from reporters about why he did not immediately condemn the actions of the neo-Nazis, skinheads, and members of the Ku Klux Klan who assembled in Charlottesville for a white nationalist rally on Saturday and instead insisted the blame was on many sides. Although he read another statement approximately 48 hours after the violence in which he specifically said "racism is evil" and condemned white Supremacists, KKK, neo-nazi and all extremist groups he performed a drastic U-turn at yesterdays conference and doubled down on his initial comments. Addressing reporters, he said: Im not putting anybody on a moral plane. You had a group on one side and group on the other and they came at each other with clubs there is another side, you can call them the left, that came violently attacking the other group. You had people that were very fine people on both sides. Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism. Not all those people were neo-Nazis, not all those people were white supremacists. Many of those people were there to protest the taking down of the statue of Robert E Lee. So this week, it is Robert E Lee. I noticed that Stonewall Jackson is coming down. I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know, you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop? While repeatedly calling the gathered press "fake media, he also asked reporters: What about the alt-left that came charging at the - as you say, the alt-right? Do they have any semblance of guilt? What about the fact they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs? Do they have any problem? I think they do. As far as I am concerned, that was a horrible, horrible day. Angry clashes between far-right extremists and anti-fascists culminated in Heather Heyer being killed after a car ploughed into a crowd of anti-fascist protesters. Two policemen were also killed in a helicopter crash while trying to reinstate peace to the generally quiet university town. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The founder of a white supremacist website who elicited widespread condemnation for his viral blog post mocking a woman's death at Saturday's white nationalist rally in Charlottesville says he's received death threats since suggesting 32-year-old Heather Heyer was a drain on society because she was unmarried and childless. You should see the hatred in my email box, Andrew Anglin, who operates the Daily Stormer, told The Washington Post in an email on Monday. ...I'll tell you, there is a lot more hatred on their side than ours. He later added: I'm not feeling hate. I'm feeling amused. The Daily Stormer espouses a variety of extreme and sometimes conflicting ideologies, including neo-Nazism and the racist belief that America's growing pluralism has left whites disadvantaged and oppressed. Their side is an apparent reference to anti-fascist protesters who clashed with white supremacists throughout the day, a violent riot that turned deadly when a car, driven by 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr of Ohio, according to police, ploughed into a group of people demonstrating along a crowded, narrow street. Anglin's blog post was published on Sunday after law enforcement officials in Charlottesville identified Heyer as the lone fatality. At least 19 others were injured. In one of the Trump administration's sharpest rebukes of those responsible for inciting such violence, Attorney General Jeff Sessions declared the incident domestic terrorism. In his email to The Post, Anglin disputed authorities' conclusions, suggesting instead that Heyer may have suffered a heart attack at the scene. He twice referred to his blog post as a joke, and complained that politicians, the media and others have described the incident as terrorism. Fake news, Anglin called that characterisation. It was just a case of road rage, he said, not an attack on the alt-right's political enemies. The violence has inflamed a long-simmering debate over race relations in the United States while raising troubling questions about President Donald Trump's initial refusal to disavow the hate groups who descended on Charlottesville for their Unite the Right demonstration. Facing withering pressure from across the political spectrum, Trump finally did so on Monday, declaring the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and other white supremacist groups repugnant and pledging to hold anyone accountable who may have committed crimes. But on Tuesday at Trump Tower, the President again said both sides should share blame for the violence in Charlottesville. The Post contacted Anglin through an email address listed on his website. His response alleged that large numbers of people say they're planning to murder me in retaliation for his missive maligning Heyer. He offered no apology, but instead doubled down in his view that, Women who don't have children are abandoning their natural duty and breaking the social contract, and they should be ostracised for it. Anglin did not provide evidence of any alleged threats, and he did not respond to follow-up questions. On his website, which was subsequently delisted by the web-hosting service GoDaddy, Anglin wrote profusely about his prediction that Jews, Blacks and lesbians will be leaving America if Trump gets elected. He has called the Holocaust a hoax, extolled Adolf Hitler and last year described Trump as the ultimate saviour when the Republican presidential candidate indicated he would restrict immigration from majority-Muslim countries. It's unclear where Anglin is located, though a donation page on his site lists a post office box in Worthington, Ohio, where he attended high school. The Southern Poverty Law Center has assembled a comprehensive case study on Anglin, and suspects he may be living overseas, either in Africa, Eastern Europe or the Philippines. The 33-year-old is considered a skilled propagandist who in his missives for Daily Stormer has taken credit for having encouraged hundreds of thousands of like-minded white nationalists to deliver Trump's election victory in November, said Keegan Hankes, an analyst with the SPLC. Through his writing ahead of the Charlottesville rally, Anglin also helped cultivate interest in the event and inspire the large crowds of white supremacists and white nationalists that appeared, Hankes said. The biggest thing to recognise about Andrew Anglin, he added, is that even though Daily Stormer is just a website, it has a tremendous impact in the real world. The advocacy group filed a lawsuit earlier this year accusing him of directing a cyber-mayhem campaign targeting a Jewish family in Montana. David Dinielli, the organisations' deputy legal director, told The Post that Anglin commands a troll army that specialises in intimidating people via social media primarily. The most vile threats one can imagine, Dinielli added. Emails, texts, Facebook messages. The family was sent images of the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz. They received phone calls that included only the sound of guns being fired. This is not bullying, he said. This is terrorism. Anglin appears to have moved his site to the dark web, a term that describes domains not catalogued by search engines. The dark web has become a destination for those engaging in all manner of illicit activity. After Anglin's blog post disparaging Heyer went viral, GoDaddy indicated it had informed Anglin to take his business elsewhere. In a tweet on Sunday night, the company said such content violates its terms of service. GoDaddy does not condone content that advocates expressions of hate, racism, bigotry, a spokesman, Dan Race, told The Post in a prepared statement. However, we generally do not take action on complaints that would constitute censorship of content and that represents the exercise of freedom of speech and expression on the Internet. It continues: In instances where a site goes beyond the mere exercise of these freedoms, however, and crosses over to promoting, encouraging, or otherwise engaging in violence against any person, we will take action. In our determination, especially given the tragic events in Charlottesville, Dailystormer.com crossed the line and encouraged and promoted violence. It's unclear why GoDaddy tolerated Daily Stormer's content previously. The company did not respond to questions seeking to understand that. It appears Anglin had sought - unsuccessfully - to move his site to Google's hosting service on Monday. In his email to The Post, Anglin indicated he was working with an unidentified agent in Mongolia to reset my server so I can restore from backups. The site is hosted there, he said, because we've been kicked off of so many hosts. Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism. Trump's initial response to the bedlam in Charlottesville, in which he castigated the hatred exhibited on many sides, resonated with Anglin, he said in his email. But he also indicated that he recognised the President had come under intensifying scrutiny to condemn the white nationalists who helped get him elected. I don't really expect him to hold the line on this one, he said. There's too much pressure on him. The Washington Post Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Two women injured during the chaos surrounding a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last week have filed a $3 million lawsuit against individuals they say were the organisers and naming more than two dozen right-wing and neo-Nazi groups in a suit accusing them of inciting violence on Saturday. Sisters Tadrint and Micah Washington were headed home in their car on 12 August when they turned down an open Charlottesville side street where counter-protesters were marching. Within minutes, a Dodge Challenger slammed into the crowd and rammed into the rear of their car, causing a chain-reaction crash that killed one and injured 19 others. Charlottesville police have charged 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr of Maumee, Ohio, with second-degree murder after Heather Heyer was killed in the collision. The Washington sisters were not participating in the protests and had been visiting a friend when they got caught in a maze of detours. Lawyers for the Washingtons - Tadrint, 27, who recently finished EMT training, and Micah, 20, who works in the hospitality industry - say at the point their car was hit, they had nowhere to move as bodies flipped over them and onto their vehicle's windshield. Their car was splattered with blood, and emergency personnel tried to revive Heyer, a 32-year-old counter-protester from Charlottesville, a few inches away. Recommended Crowdfunding sites refuse to raise money for white nationalists In their suit, the women assert Fields deliberately accelerated into the group of people on the street in an attempt to kill and maim as many individuals as possible. Attorneys for the Washingtons argue Fields' actions were part of a well-orchestrated conspiracy by Unite the Right attendees and promoters to inspire mayhem, homicide and violence, said Timothy Litzenburg of the Miller Firm. It's exactly like 1930s Germany, he said. We want the people who incited this catastrophe to sit in a courtroom and face a jury of normal Charlottesville citizens. That jury can decide what it is that they owe to the citizens of this city. The Washington sisters were stopped behind a van and waiting patiently, they said in an interview on Tuesday, when they felt the sudden force of the vehicle that struck from behind. They said they did not know what happened and thought a bomb had gone off. For several seconds, Tadrint Washington said she could not see or hear and had a deep burning in her legs. When things came back into focus, she said, all she could hear was screaming. It took her awhile to organise her thoughts and realise, I'm alive. It came out of nowhere, said Micah Washington, who was in the passenger seat and conscious after flying forward and hitting her head on the dashboard and windshield. She saw a body thrown over the side and tumbling over the hood of her sister's Toyota Camry, as well as bodies on the ground. She checked her sister, who was shaking, and tried to calm her. Micah Washington said she is having a hard time dealing with what she saw as people tried to revive Heyer. It was something I never thought I'd ever have to experience in Charlottesville in 2017, she said. The sisters, originally from Mississippi, said they never anticipated they would experience racial violence in their adopted home town. Tadrint Washington said she hopes the lawsuit will give them a voice and role. They didn't care about our safety, she said, referring to the rally organisers. We hope it ends here. The firm in the lawsuit gained notice for civil suits against the governments of Iran and Sudan, accusing them of providing material support to international terrorists in the 1998 US embassy bombings in Africa. Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism. A lot of the same legal principles will translate in what attorney Jeff Travers and his colleagues expect to litigate as an act of domestic terrorism. Litzenburg said they are prepared to add more defendants and plan to use statements made by white nationalists in the local and national new media to show that rally organisers approved of the violence that occurred. The Washington Post Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} In the fallout from the violent rally in Charlottesville last weekend, a renewed sense of urgency to remove Confederate monuments has taken hold in towns and municipalities across the country. Under the cover of darkness, workers in Baltimore removed four statues memorialising Confederate figures, after the city council voted unanimously to make moves immediately. Statues in Lexington, Kentucky, are set to be taken down as well, pending approval from a state historical board. A woman in Durham, North Carolina was recently arrested for allegedly tearing down a statue there. Recommended Donald Trump compares George Washington with Robert E Lee We cannot continue to glorify a war against the United States of America fought in the defence of slavery, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper later wrote in a post on Medium in what was a light condemnation of the events in Durham, and a call for official action. These monuments should come down. The movement to take down the statues which some argue represent a violent and racist history, while others say are simply a tribute to Southern heritage echoes the zeitgeist seen in 2015, after nine black churchgoers were murdered in cold blood by a white supremacist hoping to start a race war. Photographs of the killer showed him posing with the Confederate flag, sparking outrage that led to efforts across the South to remove that flag from public grounds. The recent rally in support of keeping a Confederate monument also drew blood, and now the rush to remove the monuments is the topic of discussion in many communities with similar statues or plaques. Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism. The debate over Confederate monuments isnt exactly new, however. Public displays honouring Confederate figures and ideas can be seen all across the United States, and many localities have been considering removal for a long time. There were some victories for the anti-Confederate monument camp in the absence of national tragedy, too: New Orleans removed four statues earlier this year, for example. Activists in Hollywood, Florida, tell The Independent that their years-long effort to rename streets honouring Confederate figures is on the verge of succeeding. But, the very fact that this is being debated after a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville ostensibly to protest the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee turned terribly wrong, shows how polarising the issue can be. Tensions were so high in Charlottesville that the planned rally needed to be disbursed almost immediately after its scheduled starting time, but clashes continued between demonstrators and counter protesters. That violence culminated in the death of a woman after a white supremacist allegedly drove his car through a crowd. There are more than 1,500 Confederate monuments or symbols on public grounds around the country, according to the Southern Poverty Law Centre. That includes more than 700 monuments, and more than 100 public schools named after Confederate generals. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} President Donald Trump buoyed the white nationalist movement on Tuesday as no President has done in generations equating activists protesting racism with the neo-Nazis and white supremacists who rampaged in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend. Never has he gone as far in defending their actions as he did during a wild, street-corner shouting-match of a news conference in the gilded lobby of Trump Tower, angrily asserting that so-called alt-left activists were just as responsible for the bloody confrontation as marchers brandishing swastikas, Confederate battle flags, anti-Semitic banners and Trump/Pence signs. Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth, David Duke, a former Ku Klux Klan leader, wrote in a Twitter post shortly after Trump spoke. Richard Spencer, a white nationalist leader who participated in the weekends demonstrations and vowed to flood Charlottesville with similar protests in the coming weeks, was equally encouraged. Trumps statement was fair and down to earth, Spencer tweeted. Governor Terry McAuliffe of Virginia, a Democrat, wasted little time in accusing the President of adding to the divisions that put an unwanted spotlight on the normally peaceful college town. Neo-Nazis, Klansmen and white supremacists came to Charlottesville heavily armed, spewing hatred and looking for a fight, McAuliffe said. One of them murdered a young woman in an act of domestic terrorism, and two of our finest officers were killed in a tragic accident while serving to protect this community. This was not both sides.' No word in the Trump lexicon is as tread-worn as unprecedented. But members of the Presidents staff, stunned and disheartened, said they never expected to hear such a voluble articulation of opinions that the President had long expressed in private. National Economic Council Chairman Gary Cohn and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, who are Jewish, stood by uncomfortably as the President exacerbated a controversy that has once engulfed a White House in disarray. Ive condemned neo-Nazis, Trump told reporters, who interrupted him repeatedly when he seemed to equate the actions of protesters on each side. He spoke of very fine people on both sides. And of the demonstrators who rallied on Friday night, some chanting racist and anti-Semitic slogans, he said, You had a lot of people in that group that were there to innocently protest and very legally protest. Since the 1960s, Republican politicians have made muscular appeals to white voters, especially those in the South, on broad cultural grounds. But as a rule, they have taken a hard line on the partys racist, nativist and anti-Semitic fringe. Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush roundly condemned white supremacists. In 1991, the first President Bush took on Duke, who was then seeking the governors seat in Louisiana, saying, When someone has so recently endorsed Nazism, it is inconceivable that someone can reasonably aspire to a leadership role in a free society. But Trump, who has repeatedly said he is not prejudiced, has been equivocal in his public or private statements against white nationalists and other racist organisations. On Saturday, in his first comments on Charlottesville, Trump blamed the violence on protesters from many sides. After a storm of criticism over his remarks, Trumps aides persuaded him to moderate his message by assigning explicit blame for the violence on far-right agitators, which led to a stronger denunciation of hate groups emailed to reporters and attributed to an unnamed spokesperson. When that failed to quell the controversy, aides, including Trumps new chief of staff, John F. Kelly, pressed him to make another public statement. Trumps daughter Ivanka and son-in-law Jared Kushner urged him to take a more moderate stance, according to two people familiar with the situation. But as with so many other critical moments in Trumps presidency, the two were on vacation in Vermont. Grudgingly, Trump agreed. Racism is evil, the President said on Monday, delivering a statement from the White House that was written with aides during airplane and helicopter flights. Those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, white supremacists and other hate groups, he added in response to bipartisan condemnation of his more equivocal statements during the first 48 hours of the crisis. But his unifying tone, which his staff characterised as more traditionally presidential, quickly gave way to a more familiar Trump approach. No sooner had he delivered the Monday statement than he began railing privately to his staff about the press. He fumed to aides about how unfairly he was being treated, and expressed sympathy with nonviolent protesters who he said were defending their heritage, according to a West Wing official. He felt he had already given too much ground to his opponents, the official said. Trump prides himself on an unapologetic style he learned from his father Fred Trump, a New York City housing developer, and Roy Cohn, a combative lawyer who served as an aide to Senator Joseph McCarthy in the 1950s. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump attracted a significant following of white supremacists, expressed sympathy with white southerners fighting to preserve monuments for Confederate icons and was slow to distance himself from racists like Duke. The Presidents fury grew on Monday as members of a White House business council began to resign to protest his reaction to Charlottesville. As usual, Trump found his voice by tweeting angrily about the media. By Tuesday afternoon, Trumps staff sensed the culmination of a familiar cycle: The President was about to revert to his initial, more defiant stance. As Trump approached the microphone in the lobby of Trump Tower on Tuesday, aides winced at the prospect of an unmediated president. With good reason. Alt-left groups were also very, very violent, Trump said early in his exchange with reporters. He went on to assign blame on both sides echoing his comments on Saturday, and reigniting a fight that has sunk staff morale after a brief bump in enthusiasm that followed the hiring of Kelly, who was to impose discipline on a chaotic West Wing. Eric Cantor, a former Republican congressman from Virginia who was a member of GOP leadership, was horrified by what took place in Charlottesville, and said the President needed to have spoken out earlier. Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism. It really did demand a statement at the very beginning, said Cantor, who is Jewish. He added that efforts by the President to equate the actions of the counter-protesters, however violent they may have been, with the neo-Nazis and the driver of the car that murdered a protester were unacceptable. Theres no moral equivalence, Cantor said. The New York Times Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Ku Klux Klan leader has said he is happy a woman died while taking part in a protest against white supremacists in Charlottesville. Heather Heyer was killed after a car drove at speed into a crowd of anti-fascist protesters in the Virginia city over the weekend and left scores injured. The 32-year-old counter-protester was one of hundreds who descended on the city to protest against the largest gathering of white nationalists in America in decades. James Alex Fields Jr, a 20-year-old from Ohio, was arrested on Saturday and charged with second-degree murder and other criminal counts. He is being held in a Virgina jail in connection with the deadly crash. Justin Moore, the Grand Dragon for the Loyal White Knights of the KKK, has now said he is pleased about the fact Ms Heyer was killed. "I'm sorta glad that them people got hit and I'm glad that girl died," Mr Moore said in a voicemail message to WBTV. "They were a bunch of Communists out there protesting against somebody's freedom of speech, so it doesn't bother me that they got hurt at all." He also warned the deadly violence which erupted was going to become more common. He said: "I think we're going to see more stuff like this happening at white nationalist events." Mr Moore added: "We were out there and I seen a lot of communist flags and anti-fascist and we're going to see more stuff like this. White people are getting fed up with the double standard setup in America today by the controlled press. Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism. "We should have been able to go out there and have our protest and it should have been peaceful but it's the anti-fascist and the communists ... continuing to try and stop us. So I think there will be more violence like this in the future to come." Neo-Nazis, skinheads, and members of the KKK assembled in the ordinarily quiet university town shouting racial epithets, holding flaming torches, carrying assault rifles and wearing paramilitary clothing. Tensions with anti-fascists boiled over into street clashes with rocks and pepper spray, with two policemen killed in a helicopter crash while trying to bring peace to the area. Recommended Former KKK leader David Duke thanks Trump for latest comments David Duke, the former head of the KKK, has been similarly supportive of the young man who is suspected of ploughing into anti-fascist protesters. He said Mr Fields had reacted consistently with the violent chaos which ravaged Charlottesville. When youre under attack you panic, and you do things that are stupid and you do things that are wrong, Mr Duke said in Periscope video. President Donald Trump prompted yet further shock and outrage yesterday after he defended far-right extremists at the Charlottesville rally and claimed blame should be shared by both sides. In the immediate wake of the violence, Mr Trump faced a torrent of criticism after refusing to condemn the actions of white supremacists and instead insisting the blame was on "many sides". We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, he said during a press conference. On many sides. While he read another statement approximately 48 hours after the violence in which he specifically said "racism is evil" and condemned white Supremacists, KKK, neo-nazi and all extremist groups he has now performed a drastic U-turn. During a raucous press conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York in which he repeatedly called the gathered press "fake media, he said: Im not putting anybody on a moral plane. You had a group on one side and group on the other and they came at each other with clubs there is another side, you can call them the left, that came violently attacking the other group. You had people that were very fine people on both sides. Not all those people were neo-Nazis, not all those people were white supremacists. Many of those people were there to protest the taking down of the statue of Robert E Lee. So this week, it is Robert E Lee. I noticed that Stonewall Jackson is coming down. I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know, you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop? Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Two former US presidents have issued a strong statement condemning the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia one day after President Donald Trump failed to do so. Former President George HW Bush and his son, former President George W Bush, issued a joint statement calling on Americans to reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms. As we pray for Charlottesville, we are reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that citys most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence: we are all created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights, the prominent Republicans wrote. The statement comes on the heels of the largest white nationalist gathering in the US in decades. This weekend, neo-Nazis, KKK members, alt-right activists and others descended on Charlottesville to protest the removal of a Confederate statue. The marchers clashed with counter-protesters throughout the weekend, leaving dozens of people injured and one dead. Mr Trump vacillated on the issue, initially blaming the casualties on violence on both sides". Later, under intense pressure, he condemned the white nationalists groups by name. Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism. One day later however, in a free-wheeling press conference at Trump Tower, the President returned to his condemnation of the very, very violent counter-protesters. What about the alt-left that came charging at the, as you say, the alt-right? Do they have any semblance of guilt? he asked on Tuesday, adding: You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. The comments drove politicians on either side of the aisle to speak out against white supremacy. House Speaker Paul Ryan declared that there can be no moral ambiguity when it comes to the repulsive ideology, while Republican Senator Marco Rubio warned against allow[ing] this old evil to be resurrected. The Bushes the only other Republican presidents alive today weighed in on Wednesday. Two other former presidents had already offered their comments over the weekend. Bill Clinton tweeted on Saturday that the US must condemn hatred, violence and white supremacy". Mr Trumps predecessor, Barack Obama, expressed his thoughts via a quote from Nelson Mandela, in what quickly became the most-liked tweet of all time. No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or his background or his religion, he wrote. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the attack on counter-protesters at a neo-Nazis rally in Charlottesville "could be considered a hate crime". Mr Sessions said federal authorities were waiting for more details from the investigation before filing charges over the death of 32-year-old Heather Heyer who was killed when a car ploughed into a group of anti-fascist protesters at the white supremacist event last week. Yet there are no firm indications as to what the charges might be, he said. Speaking to NBC News, Mr Sessions said: "It very well could be a civil rights violation or a hate crime, and there might be other charges that could be brought." Charlottesville police have charged 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr of Maumee, Ohio, with second-degree murder after he allegedly drove his car into the group of counter-protesters killing Ms Heyer and injuring up to 20 people. But the federal government has not yet brought charges against Mr Fields. Asked whether the federal government was close to bring charges, Mr Sessions said "it didn't have to be done immediately" because the investigation was ongoing. "We can bring charges whenever the investigation justifies them. I don't feel like we should feel like we have to do it in a matter of hours or even days," he said. But Mr Sessions said he and his team were working "intensely on the assumption that we may well might want to prosecute him". He said: "We're also working with the state and local authorities who clearly have jurisdiction too. And often they're the ones that have the best charges. "Our people we'll work with the state and locals, in a collaborative wat, and decide together what the best charge will be. And you can be sure it will be fully investigated and thoroughly prosecuted." 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 Monday, Mr Sessions vigorously defended Donald Trump's response to the deadly protests after the US President faced widespread criticism for not singling out neo-Nazis, white supremacists and the KKK in his condemnation of the violence during the rally. Mr Sessions, a Republican, said President Trump "clearly denounced" the violence and that "he totally opposes" the values of white supremacist groups. Mr Trump had initially sought to say there had been wrong on all sides, but under intense pressure from within his own party and without, he then issued a statement in which he said racism was evil and denounced white supremacy and neo-Nazism. Questioned on Tuesday about his slow-paced response to the incident, Mr Trump defended his first response to last week's protests by insisting "there are two sides to every story" and accusing the counter-protesters of being "also very violent". Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump is "trying to start a civil war", a former US Labor Secretary has claimed in the wake of the US President's inflammatory comments on the Charlottesville attacks. Robert Reich accused Mr Trump of licensing violence as a "political strategy" and quietly inciting a conflict between his core base of white, socially conservative voters and everyone else. It comes just hours after the former real estate mogul blamed "both sides" for the deadly violence in Virginia over the weekend in a historic press conference that drew condemnation from around the world. Mr Trump attacked the "alt-left" on Tuesday night, telling reporters those who came "charging" at demonstrators should share a part of the blame. But Mr Reich said Mr Trump's refusal to "denounce hateful violence" has always been part of his political strategy. "Trumps goal has never been to promote guns or white supremacy or to fuel attacks on the press and the left. These may be means, but the goal has been to build and fortify his power. And keep him in power even if its found that he colluded with Russia to get power," he wrote in an op-ed column on his website. Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism. Mr Reich also blamed Steve Bannon - the White House chief strategist and former chair of Breitbart news - for "encouraging" division among the general public and in the President's closest circles. "A smaller version of the civil war extends even into the White House, where Bannon and his proteges are doing battle with leveler heads," he said. "Lets hope the leveler heads win the civil war in the White House. Lets pray the leveler heads in our society prevent the civil war Trump and Bannon want to instigate in America." The Virginia violence was sparked by clashes between those opposed to the removal of a statue from a local park of Civil War Confederate General Robert E Lee and counter-protesters. The rally was the largest assembly of white nationalist groups in over a decade and saw brawls between people holding KKK banners and confederate flags, and groups of anti-fascist counter protestors spill onto the streets. Mr Trump's slow response to the demonstrations was condemned in the immediate aftermath, after he spoke out against "violence on many sides" - despite white nationalist James Fields allegedly ploughing a car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer. Mr Trump then issued a second, stronger statement before appearing to back track on Tuesday on his more measured tone. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump has retweeted a man calling him a "fascist". In a seemingly inexplicable move, the US President shared a post by a Twitter user called Mike Holden, who was responding to a Fox News post. The right-wing news outlet had tweeted a link to a story about Mr Trump "seriously considering" a pardon to former Sherrif Joe Arpaio - who was recently found guilty of criminal contempt for defying a state judges order to stop traffic patrols targeting suspected undocumented immigrants. Having retweeted the initial Fox News post, he did the same with Mr Holden's reply to it, saying: "He's a fascist, so not unusual." At the time of writing, Mr Holden had 831 followers. Mr Holden posted a follow-up message joking that the retweet showed that "Donald agrees with me". Mr Trump usually only retweets things that he approves of. The posts he shares tend to come from supporters or from media organisations sharing stories that he likes. It wasn't clear from the original tweet whether Mr Holden was referring Mr Trump or Mr Arpaio, or both but follow-up tweets from his account suggested that he was talking about the President. About 15 minutes after the post was shared, the President undid his retweet. It wasn't clear whether Mr Trump had retweeted him by mistake, or had chosen to un-share the post after the fact. He also revoked a retweet of a post about the "fake news media", which depicted the "Trump train" running over a person with the word CNN written on their head. Many pointed out that post seemed irresponsible given the fact that one person died and many were injured in Charlottesville when a car was driven into anti-fascist protestors. The posts came just hours after the President finally condemned the racist, Nazi and fascist protestors who were involved in violence in the Virginia city. He had been criticised for taking days to single out those protestors, apparently refraining from distancing himself from far-right activists and instead condemning violence on "many sides". Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism. The President's retweet wasn't the first time Mr Trump has shared a post making explicit reference to fascism. In 2016, while Mr Trump was still on the campaign trail, he retweeted a message that consisted entirely of a quote attributed to Italian Fascist leader Benito Mussolini, and sent by a parody account that explicit referenced him. Mr Trump said after that event that he wanted "to be associated with interesting quotes". "Mussolini was Mussolini... What difference does it make?" he said. "It got your attention, didn't it?" Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump says that North Korea has made a very wise and well reasoned decision. In an apparent reference to Kim Jong-uns suggestion that he could delay a decision to send a nuclear strike towards Guam, the President praised the North Korean leader for his actions. The tweet appears to suggest that the President may be calming down his threats to destroy North Korea using the might of the US military. The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable! Mr Trump tweeted, apparently in reference to his threats to launch fire and fury at the country. The two leaders had issued a series of threats to each other, with Mr Trump recently tweeting that the US military was locked and loaded if North Korea were to act unwisely. Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Show all 30 1 /30 Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Farmer works in a field Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Women soldier walk on the street Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A female soldier guards railway Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A general view of platform of Pyongyang Railway Station Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Students stage a protest against South Korea and the US in Pyongyang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Students rehearsal for celebrating the 70th birthday of Workers' Party of Korea Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone People enjoy the cool at the carriage door Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A general view of countryside Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Korean People's Army soldier rest on the rail 2015 Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A little boy begs food on the platform in Hamhung Railway Station in Hamhung 2015 Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Children swim in a river in noon Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone People cross a railway crossing 2015 Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A boy collects corn cob beside a railway Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A customs officer is seen on the train No.100 from Moscow to Pyongyang at Tumangang railway station in Tumangang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A customs officer checks a passenger's mobile device on the train to Pyongyang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A railway station in Tumangang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A general view of the railway station in Tumangang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Kids pass by Tumanggang railway station in Tumanggang 2015 Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A general view of Tumangang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A general view of Tumangang - a small town located at North Korea and Russia border Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A train carriage on it's way to Pyongyang is delayed for a day and half due to military transportation in Tumangang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A customs officers talks to a passenger at Tumanggang railway station in Tumanggang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone A little girl walks on the street in Tumanggang 2015 Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone An elderly man is seen in Tumangang Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Kids go to school in morning in Tumangang 2015 Getty Images Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Life in North Korea captured with a mobile phone Tensions rose last week after Mr Trump threatened that North Korea could be hit with fire and fury like the world has never seen if it is to escalate the nuclear threat. That led some experts to worry that the two leaders interest in dramatic and bellicose rhetoric could drive the world to the brink of nuclear war. What are the ranges of North Korea's missiles? But since then, US officials have spoken more calmly and the threat of strikes has been walked back a little. Countries including China have warned both countries and their leaders that they should tone down their aggressive rhetoric. It was apparently those warnings that the led North Korean leader to delay a decision on whether he would fire missiles towards Guam, a territory of the US that North Korea has repeatedly threatened to bomb. The President didnt make explicit reference to that delay or the pausing of the escalation, but it appears that his tweet was referencing the statement from North Korea. In his first public appearance in about two weeks, Mr Kim on Monday inspected the command of the Norths army, examining the plan to fire four missiles aimed at landing near Guam, the official KCNA news agency reported. He said that if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity, testing the self-restraint of the DPRK, the latter will make an important decision as it already declared, KCNA said. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in a telephone conversation with Sigmar Gabriel, Germanys minister for foreign affairs, said tensions on the Korean peninsula were showing some signs of easing but had not passed. The parties involved should make a correct judgement and wise choice by taking a responsible attitude toward history and people, Mr Wang said, according to a statement on the Chinese foreign ministrys website. The apparent de-escalation came as the US along with South Korea and Japan conducted the latest in a series of military exercises around the Korean peninsula. China says those exercises increase tension, and North Korea says they are practice for an eventual invasion, but the US and its allies claim they are necessary. These training flights with Japan demonstrate the solidarity and resolve we share with our allies to preserve peace and security in the Indo-Asia-Pacific, the US Air Force said. The US aircraft have flown several sorties in East Asia over recent weeks. In addition to air drills with Japanese fighters, the bombers have also exercised with South Korean aircraft. Additional reporting by agencies Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} White supremacists are celebrating online after Donald Trump's latest remarks addressing the Charlottesville rioting. Mr Trump "went rogue" during a press conference about infrastructure at Trump Tower on Tuesday, a White House source told NBC, by taking questions on Saturday's violence in Virginia and repeating his belief that blame lay on "both sides". He told reporters in New York during a sometimes heated exchange: "I have no doubt about it. You don't have doubt about it either." Not everyone protesting against the removal of the city's statue of Confederate general Robert E Lee was a neo-Nazi, Mr Trump said, and that while "you had some very bad people in that group", there were also "some very fine people on both sides". Ex-KKK leader David Duke praised the President for his "honesty and courage" while a Fox News clip of Mr Trump speaking was shared across far-right sections of Twitter, including by white nationalist blogger Hunter Wallace, who had joined the ranks of protesters on the day. White supremacist leader Richard Spencer also retweeted the clip, while on alternative social media site Gab, users said Mr Trump "came through for us" and that "this is more like it", according to Think Progress. "I was fist-pumping!" said another. Mr Spencer said: "Trump's statement was fair and down to earth. #Charlottesville could have been peaceful, if police did its job." Footage from Saturday showed how the right-wing crowd gathered early in the day, with white nationalist groups armed with batons and shields forming ranks as they approached Emancipation Park. Video also emerged of heavily armed militia groups filing through the Charlottesville streets carrying AR-15 assault rifles with spare ammunition, knives, radios and tactical clothing. Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism. When violence did erupt, anti-fascist demonstrators faced off with members of several white nationalist groups, with pepper spray and other weapons used by both. But it was counter-protesters who were victims in the most shocking violence of the day, when James Fields, 20, allegedly drove a car into their group, killing one and injuring several more. Mr Trump had faced widespread criticism for his failure to condemn directly the racism on display at Charlottesville until two days afterward. Charlottesville mayor: There's a 'direct line' between what happened here and Trump He first denounced "violence on all sides" but issued a second statement on Monday. He said: "No matter the color of our skin, we all live under the same laws, we all salute the same great flag, and we are all made by the same almighty God. "Racism is evil. And those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans." His fellow Republicans reacted swiftly after yesterday's statement. House majority leader Paul Ryan said: "We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity." And senior senator John McCain said on Twitter: "There's no moral equivalency between racists & Americans standing up to defy hate& bigotry. The President of the United States should say so". Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The city of Charlottesville has celebrated the life of Heather Heyer, a passionate, righteous young woman who made us pay attention and who was killed during a neo-Nazi-led protest that has turned into Donald Trumps latest, distracting controversy. Five days after she was killed when an accused white supremacist allegedly drove into her with a car, hundreds of people packed into the citys Paramount Theatre to hear from family and friends, and the people she worked with. Many wore purple, the 32-year-olds favourite colour. Mr Trump tweeted a message of tribute for a beautiful and incredible young woman, while presidents George HW Bush and George W Bush said they were praying for the Virginia college town. But the most striking interventions were from those who knew her best, and who loved her the most. My childs famous final Facebook post said If youre not outraged, youre not paying attention, said her mother, said Susan Bro. My, did she make us pay attention. We talked about all the stuff that caught her attention. Turning somewhat defiant, Ms Bro then said that while it was her daughters compassion that was being remembered, there were many present who had shown such capacity. A lot of you go that extra mile, she said. Those present then gave her a standing ovation, as she added: They tried to kill my child to shut her up. Well, guess what? You just magnified her. Ms Heyer, who worked as a paralegal, was among three people to lose their lives last Saturday after activists turned out to oppose what was among the largest gatherings of white nationalists in a decade. Scores of neo-Nazis, skinheads and members of the Ku Klux Klan, rallied to protest over the decision to remove a statue of Robert E Lee, the Confederate general. The move to remove symbols of the Confederacy, including the iconic but notorious battle flag, has gathered pace since the 2015 shooting of nine black churchgoers by white supremacist Dylan Roof. Police have said that Ms Heyer was killed after she was struck by a Dodge Challenger car that hurled several people into the air. Officials detained 20-year-old James Alex Fields from Ohio over the incident, and charged him with murder. A former high school teacher has said Fields was an admirer of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany. Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism. The two other people to lose their lives were police officers Jay Cullen and Berke Bates, who were covering the protests in a helicopter that crashed. They are to due to be buried later this week. In the aftermath of the incident, Mr Trump drew widespread criticism for his slow, faltering response to events. He initially said he was condemning in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides. Following criticism that he had sought to draw some equivalence between the neo-Nazis and the activists, he issued a subsequent statement denouncing white supremacists. Yet at a press conference on Tuesday at Trump Tower in New York, Mr Trump reverted to his initial position: Heather Heyer's mother: "You tried to shut her up. Well guess what? You just magnified her" I think there's blame on both sides. And I have no doubt about it, he said. You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. No one wants to say that, but Ill say it right now. 'They tried to kill my child to shut her up. Well, guess what? You just magnified her' (AP) For all the controversy his remarks triggered, there was little talk of the President at the memorial. Rather, the hour-long service was given over to Ms Heyers relatives and friends. Her father, Mark Heyer, who has spoken of forgiving the man charged with his daughters murder, admitted he felt ill-prepared for the task required of him. No father should have to do this, but I love her, he said. As I listen to her friends tell stories about her She wanted to put down hate. For my part, I just want to stop all of this and love one another. Ms Heyer's grandfather, Elwood Shrader, said he remembered reading her stories and rocking her to sleep. Sometimes we slept together in the chair, he said. Alfred Wilson, who employed her at his law firm, said the young woman was like a friend. Frequently she helped with bankruptcy cases, something she handled with great empathy. She was very humble, he said. The most amazing thing was the way she interacted with the clients. She would always hold peoples hands. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Hope Hicks, the former Trump campaign spokesperson and a top presidential aide, has been named interim White House Communications Director following the dramatic departure of former Director Anthony Scaramucci. Ms Hicks, who is Mr Trumps longest-serving political aide and one of his most trusted will fill the position while the White House looks for a permanent replacement. The 28-year-old Greenwich, Connecticut native started working for the Trump family 2014, when Ivanka Trump hired her away from her public relations job at Hiltzik Strategies. Ms Hicks worked closely with the President's eldest daughter at the Trump Organisation until January 2015, when Mr Trump asked the then-26-year-old political ingenue to be his campaign press secretary. "I think its the year of the outsider, Ms Hicks says the President told her at the time. It helps to have people with outsider perspective. Since Mr Trumps inauguration, Ms Hicks has served as both presidential adviser and White House Director of Strategic Communications. She earns the White Houses top salary, and is said to play a key role in deciding which reporters get access to the President. She maintains close ties with Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner. Donald Trump's international Presidential trips Show all 22 1 /22 Donald Trump's international Presidential trips Donald Trump's international Presidential trips French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Donald Trump talk as they leave the Army Museum at Les Invalides in Paris AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump arrive for the group photo at the G7 Taormina summit on the island of Sicily in May 2017 Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips Mr Trump was pressed on the subject at the G7 summit in Italy Getty Donald Trump's international Presidential trips US President Donald Trump gives a speeech at the Warsaw Uprising Monument on Krasinski Square Getty Donald Trump's international Presidential trips US President Donald Trump and Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May during a ceremony at the NATO headquarters before the start of a summit in Brussels, Belgium Reuters Donald Trump's international Presidential trips Montenegro's Prime Minister Dusko Markovic is seen to the right of Donald Trump at a Nato summit in Brussels REUTERS Donald Trump's international Presidential trips Pope Francis meeting with US President Donald J. Trump EPA Donald Trump's international Presidential trips Pope Francis poses with US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips US President Donald Trump arrives at Palazzo del Quirinale ahead of the meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella Ufficio Stampa Presidenza della via Getty Donald Trump's international Presidential trips US President Donald Trump is seen during a joint press conference with the Palestinian leader at the presidential palace in the West Bank city of Bethlehem AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas meets US President Donald Trump PPO via Getty Donald Trump's international Presidential trips Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with US President Donald Trump prior to the President's departure GPO via Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips US President Donald Trump and Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shake hands after delivering a speech at the Israel Museum AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump lay a wreath in the Hall of Remembrance as White House senior advisor Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump watch on during a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial museum AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips US President Donald Trump visit to Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem accompanied by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu GPO via Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips US President Donald Trump takes his seat before his speech to the Arab Islamic American Summit in Riyadh in Saudi Arabia Reuters Donald Trump's international Presidential trips Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, US President Donald Trump and US First Lady Melania Trump look at a display of Saudi modern art at the Saudi Royal Court in Riyadh AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips US President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud take part in a signing ceremony at the Saudi Royal Court in Riyadh AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips King Salman presents Donald Trump with The Collar of Abdulaziz al-Saud Medal at the Royal Court Palace on 20 May AP Donald Trump's international Presidential trips US President Donald Trump is welcomed by Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud upon arrival at King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh AFP/Getty Images Donald Trump's international Presidential trips U.S. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump walk on the South Lawn prior to their first foreign trip Getty Images Ms Hicks enters a position fraught with tension, following her predecessor's headline-making departure. Mr Scaramucci lasted 10 days in his White House role, departing after giving a profanity-laden tirade to a reporter for the New Yorker. His predecessor, Michael Dubke, left the office in May amid rumours that he would be fired. The position is a difficult one, centred in the middle of an ongoing fight between Mr Trump and the media. The President, who has denounced the mainstream press as fake news and retweeted violent memes about CNN, is also said to crave attention from outlets like the New York Times. Mr Trump furthered inflamed tensions with the press this week, in an unscheduled, unscripted question-and-answer session at Trump Tower. In the 20-minute press conference, Mr Trump defended the preservation of Confederate monuments and equated leftist protestors with neo-Nazis and white nationalists. You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, he said. Like many of his previous comments, Mr Trumps words on Tuesday drew outcry from both the left and right. Ms Hicks, however, has defended the Presidents unconventional tactics. There is just no way that a camera or an episode or a documentary could capture what has gone on, she told Marie Claire during Mr Trump's campaign. There is nothing like it. She added: I would say 90 percent of that is the people you see and the things they say, and the way they react to Mr. Trump. It is the most unbelievable, awe-inspiring thing. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Two senior US military officers have made what has been interpreted as veiled criticism of Donald Trump in the wake of his comments about the Nazi-led violence in Charlottesville. Mark A Milley, the US Army Chief of Staff, said in a tweet the army did not accept racism, extremism and hatred, though he did not specifically condemn the President, or even mention him. In the tweet, Mr Milley said: The Army doesnt tolerate racism, extremism, or hatred in our rank. Its against our values and everything weve stood for since 1775. Another senior officer, General Robert B Neller, Commandant of the United States Marine Corps, also appeared to counter Mr Trumps comments. No place for racial hatred or extremism in @USMC. Our core values of Honour, Courage, and Commitment frame the way Marines live and act, he said on Twitter. Mr Trump has faced widespread criticism since he veered off the teleprompter at an infrastructure press launch and began answering questions as to whether or not he had been slow to denounce white supremacist-led violence that resulted in the death of one young woman, Heather Heyer, and the injury of up to 20 others over the weekend. Mr Trump had initially sought to say there had been wrong on all sides, but under intense pressure from within his own party and without, he then issued a statement in which he said racism was evil and denounced white supremacy and neo-Nazism. But as he was questioned on Tuesday afternoon about his slow-paced response to the incident, Mr Trump became defensive and then went on the attack. White House Chief of Staff John Kelly watches on nervously at Trump's Charlottesville press briefing You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, he said. I thought what happened was a horrible moment for our country, but there are two sides to every story. Many public figures and officials have come out to condemn the violence at the white supremacists' rally in the Virginia college town, including senior member of the Republican Party. There have been mounting calls for the President to fire a number of his White House staff, among them Steve Bannon, who have been accused of promoting nationalism or white nationalism. Mr Trump notedly refused to voice his support for Mr Bannon when he was asked at the same press conference. Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism. This is not the first time that Mr Milley has appeared to stand up to some of Mr Trumps more controversial comments or directives. Last month, when Mr Trump tweeted that transgender people could not serve in the armed forces, Mr Milley was among those within the military hierarchy that said it would not act on the announcement until it received a formal directive from the White House. We grow up and learn to obey the chain of command, and my chain of command is secretary of the Army, secretary of Defence and the president, Mr Milley said. We will work through the implementation guidance when we get it. To my knowledge, the Department of Defence, Secretary Mattis has not received written directives yet. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Vice President Mile Pence is cutting short his trip to Latin America amid the controversy over President Donald Trump's remarks relating to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. The White House announced that Mr Pence would be travelling to Camp David with the president on Friday to meet with the White House national security team on South Asia strategy. Mr Pence had originally been scheduled to return home Friday afternoon. Instead, he'll be leaving late on Thursday. Recommended We should all be afraid if the Pence 2020 presidential chatter is true Mr Pence is still scheduled to travel to Panama, where he will meet with the country's president and tour the newly enlarged Panama canal before returning to Washington. Mr Pence did not directly answer questions about Mr Trump's comments regarding the Charlottesville protesters, but said he stands with the president. Mr Pence would not say whether he agrees with Mr Trump that there were fine people among the white supremacists and neo-Nazis who took to the streets of Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend. Mr Trump has said that both sides are to blame for the violence between white supremacists and counter-demonstrators in Charlottesville. One woman died when a car rammed into a crowd of people protesting the white nationalist rally. 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 a carefully-worded statement, Mr Pence called what happened in Charlottesville a tragedy and said, the president has been clear on this tragedy and so have I. I spoke at length about this heartbreaking situation on Sunday night in Colombia and I stand with the president and I stand by those words, he added. Mr Pence said on Sunday that these dangerous fringe groups have no place in American public life and in the American debate, and we condemn them in the strongest possible terms. He said on Wednesday that even though he is in Chile, our hearts are in Charlottesville where a funeral for the young woman killed during the protest was being held. He said he has been praying for her. The strength of the United States of America is always strongest as the president has said so eloquently when we are united around our shared values and so it will always be, Mr Pence said. The Vice President is on a week-long trip to Latin America to build ties with the region and speak out against the growing crisis in Venezuela. After meeting with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, he said he will return from this trip more encouraged than ever that not only will our commerce grow, strengthening jobs and opportunities in America, strengthening prosperity across Latin America. He also called on Chile to break all diplomatic and commercial ties to North Korea. He said he made the request to Ms Bachelet, and is making the same ask of Peru, Mexico and Brazil. North Korea has no diplomatic offices or banking institution in Chile, but the two countries do have a trade relationship. Mr Pence said we are beginning to see progress when it comes to North Korea, but says that much more must still be done. The Trump administration has been trying to pressure Pyongyang to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile programme. Associated Press Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} President Donald Trump has taken credit for disbanding his Strategic and Policy Forum, but a new report claims the business council members made the decision for themselves, before the President ever announced his intentions. Members of council decided on Wednesday morning that they would disband the group, a person familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. Hours later, Mr Trump tweeted that he had decided to disband the group himself. "Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both, he wrote. Thank you all!" Recommended Pharmaceutical CEO resigns from Trump advisory council Members of both the Manufacturing Council and the Strategy and Policy Forum which were created to advise Mr Trump on his economic agenda had felt growing pressure to resign following his tepid response to a white nationalist rally in Virginia. On Tuesday, Mr Trump attempted to defend his response by claiming that not all of the rally participants were white supremacists. Some of them, he said were just there because they wanted to protest the taking down of a statue of Robert E Lee. Lee was a Confederate general during the American Civil War. Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism. The President also used the press conference to heap blame on those who counter-protested the rally, claiming that they were very, very violent. You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, he said. A person familiar with the Policy Forum told the Journal that "everything changed for everyone after the press conference. It was clear from a value perspective we were not aligned," the person said. Eight members of the Manufacturing Council and the Policy Forum stepped down between Monday and Tuesday. Kenneth Frazier, CEO of pharmaceutical company Merck, was the first to resign, saying that he felt a responsibility to take a stand against intolerance and extremism. The CEOs of Intel and Under Armour quickly followed suit, setting off a chain reaction. Members of the Policy Forum began to call each other separately to discuss the situation, sources told the Journal. Eventually, about a dozen executives organised a conference call for Wednesday morning, when they decided to disband the group. They later phoned the President to inform him of their decision. As our members have expressed individually over the past several days, intolerance, racism and violence have absolutely no place in this country and are an affront to core American values, the group said in a statement. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} In the wake of Donald Trumps comments on the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, more Americans believe the President supports white nationalism than believe he opposes it. A Huffington Post/YouGov survey shows just 22 per cent of Americans believe Mr Trump is personally opposed to the ideology which advocates for a separate nation for white people compared to 31 per cent who believe he supports it. Another 24 per cent believe Mr Trump does not have a strong opinion on the matter, and the remaining 24 per cent are unsure. The poll was conducted shortly after Mr Trump made his third comments on the subject, walking back his condemnation of white nationalist groups and morally equating them with those who protested their rally in Virginia. You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, Mr Trump said on Tuesday. Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism. The rally in question was said to be the largest white nationalist gathering in decades, organised to protest the removal of a Confederate statue. Various white supremacist, alt-right, and neo-Nazi groups were in attendance. Some attendees carried Confederate flags, brandished swastikas, and chanted Jews will not replace us. Counter protesters also gathered in Charlottesville to oppose the rally, which eventually devolved into violence. Dozens of people were injured, and three died in connection with the gathering. One woman, 32-year-old Heather Heyer, died after a man drove a car through a crowd of counter-protesters. The suspect in the attack, James Alex Fields, is reported to be a Nazi sympathiser. White House Chief of Staff John Kelly watches on nervously at Trump's Charlottesville press briefing Sixty-three per cent of those who responded to the Huffington Post/YouGov survey said the incident was a terrorist attack. Mr Trump who has jumped at the chance to condemn radical Islamic terror in the past has yet to do so. You can call it terrorism, he said on Tuesday. You can call it murder. You can call it whatever you want. Almost half of Americans now say Mr Trump has not done enough to condemn the violence in Charlottesville. The same number believe he should have acted faster in calling out the KKK, white supremacists, and neo-Nazis by name. Only 30 per cent believe the President has spoken sufficiently on the issue. Only half of Americans, however, say that the political positions of the rally attendees were wrong. Twenty-one per cent believe the white nationalist attendees went too far, but they have a point. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A new Korean War is now a real possibility, partly because Donald Trump is so volatile and impulsive, a leading think tank has warned the British government. Civil servants were urged by Malcolm Chalmers, Deputy Director General at the Royal United Services Institute, to begin preparations immediately for the possible outbreak of war between the US and North Korea. Tensions between the two countries have been steadily increasing in recent months, with Mr Trump most recently saying the US was locked and loaded in the face of North Korean missile threats against Guam. What are the ranges of North Korea's missiles? As a close ally of the US, the UK would most likely be asked to provide assistance in the event of a conflict on the Korean peninsula, where the US has around 35,000 troops stationed. Mr Chalmers warning comes as many experienced civil servants have been seconded to Brexit duties, leaving a dearth of knowledge in other departments. It is feared this could weaken the governments diplomatic response to a major crisis. A dangerous mix is being created on the Korean peninsula by the Norths technical advances an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) was recently fired by the country which experts said could reach almost any city in the US and Mr Trumps volatile and impulsive personality, Mr Chalmers wrote. If war did begin, the President would be on the phone to 10 Downing Street within an hour asking for support," he added. The British prime minister would then have only a few hours, at most, to make clear how she stood on what would be one of the most momentous strategic shocks of the post-Cold War era. Despite the enormity of the decision, there would be little time for multiple consultations and deliberations before positions had to be taken, Mr Chalmers said. The die would be cast on Day One, he added. Whitehall needs to be preparing now for a range of possible scenarios that could unfold in the coming months. The response offered by the UK would likely depend on who initiated the conflict, Mr Chalmers said. It is believed the UK could have little choice but to offer strong political support if King-Jong Un, the North Korean leader, obviously started the conflict. But the response could be different if the US was seen as having started the war. Mr Chalmers suggested the best support the UK could offer in this scenario was diplomatic, with negotiations aimed at limiting the spread of conflict and ensure both the US and China were happy with any peace agreement. In pictures: North Korea military drill Show all 8 1 /8 In pictures: North Korea military drill In pictures: North Korea military drill North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un watches a military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) is seen in this handout photo by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) is seen in this handout photo by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill A military drill marking the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the Korean People's Army (KPA) KCNA/Handout via REUTERS In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video In pictures: North Korea military drill This image made from video of still images broadcast in a news bulletin by North Korea's KRT, shows what was said to be a 'Combined Fire Demonstration' held to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the North Korean army, in Wonsan, North Korea. KRT via AP Video It was earlier reported that Kim Jong Un delayed a decision on firing missiles towards Guam while he waited for the USs next move. His plan to fire rockets towards the island, where the US has a key military base, prompted a surge in tensions and a threat from Mr Trump that the American military was "locked and loaded" if it was provoked. But experts have urged caution on the apparent decline in tensions. Kim Dong-yub, a professor and military expert at Kyungnam University's Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Seoul, told Reuters: "There is no stepping back for North Korea. Those who don't know the North very well fall into this trap every time (thinking they are easing threats) but we've seen this before." For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Catholic archbishop has said he is prepared to be jailed for failing to report child sex abuse if it is revealed to him during confession. Denis Hart, Archbishop of Melbourne, insisted confession was "a spiritual encounter with God through the priest" and was "of a higher order" than criminal law. His comments came after the Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse said there should be "no excuse, protection nor privilege" for clergy who failed to alert police of abuse. It recommended priests should face criminal charges for failing to report information heard during confession, one of 85 sweeping changes to the criminal justice system proposed in a report on Monday. "We understand the significance of religious confession - in particular, the inviolability of the confessional seal to people of some faiths, particularly the Catholic faith", said the report. "However, we heard evidence of a number of instances where disclosures of child sexual abuse were made in religious confession, by both victims and perpetrators. "We are satisfied that confession is a forum where Catholic children have disclosed their sexual abuse and where clergy have disclosed their abusive behaviour in order to deal with their own guilt." But Archbishop Hart, President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, called for the confessional seal to remain protected by law. "Confession in the Catholic Church is a spiritual encounter with God through the priest," he said in a statement. "It is a fundamental part of the freedom of religion, and it is recognised in the law of Australia and many other countries. It must remain so here in Australia. "Outside of this all offences against children must be reported to the authorities, and we are absolutely committed to doing so." Asked on Tuesday if he would rather go to prison than breach the seal of confession, he told ABC Radio Melbourne: "I've said that I would. "I believe that this is an absolutely sacrosanct communication of a higher order." He added: "I would go to extreme lengths outside of the confessional to make sure that the law was observed. But there are some matters which are of a higher order, things to do with God." His stance was backed by other high-profile clerics, including his Brisbane counterpart Mark Coleridge and priest and lawyer Frank Brennan, who he said he would "conscientiously refuse to comply with the law" if it was changed. Writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, Father Brennan suggested requiring clerics to report abuse allegations would make children less safe because it "may take away the one possibility that a sex offender will repent and turn himself in". But lawyer Vivian Walker, who has represented child sex abuse victims, welcomed the commission's recommendations. "I think it's about time the Catholic Church was dragged out of the dark ages," she said. "We can no longer think about sexual offending against children as some kind of forgivable sin." 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 its submission to the commission, the Catholic Church's Trust Justice and Healing Council argued requiring priests to disclose information heard during confession would undermine freedom of religion. The whole concept of confession in the Catholic Church is built on repentance, forgiveness and penance, said Frances Sullivan, the council's chief executive. "Part of this forgiveness process, certainly in the case of a child sex-abuser, would normally require they turn themselves in to the police." But the commission's report stressed: "The right to practise ones religious beliefs must accommodate civil societys obligation to provide for the safety of all and, in particular, childrens safety from sexual abuse. "Reporting information relevant to child sexual abuse to the police is critical to ensuring the safety of children." Australia's Parliament will decide whether to enact the changes contained in the report. Archbishop Hart's predecessor at the Diocese of Melbourne, Cardinal George Pell, is due to face trial on multiple sex charges later this year. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A far-right anti-immigration party is on course to become the third largest party in Germany, according to a new poll. The Alternative for Germany (AfD), who enjoyed an unprecedented surge in last years local elections, is predicted to win 10 per cent of the vote in the election this September. According to the poll published by Insa and Bild on Tuesday, this will put them in third place directly behind the Social Democrats (SPD) on 25 per cent and Chancellor Angela Merkels Christian Democrats (CDU) on 37 per cent. The AfD, which has stirred controversy for its members attitudes to the Nazis, was originally founded as a Eurosceptic party in 2013. Since then, it has monopolised on anti-refugee sentiment in the country by attacking Ms Merkels decision to open Germanys borders to Syrian refugees in 2015. The poll found the populist nationalist party are only ahead of their competitors by a fraction. The pro-business Free Democrats (FDP) and Die Linke (The Left Party) are predicted to win nine per cent of the vote. If the AfD were to become the third largest party in the Bundestag in the forthcoming elections on 24 September it would drastically change the German political landscape. The CDU and their Bavarian sister party the CSU have stockpiled conservative votes throughout the postwar period. 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 would also signal a massive cultural and ideological shift. The AfD has capitalised on the fact celebrating German identity has remained taboo since the Second World War with standing for the national anthem and waving flags frowned upon - by embracing an unapologetically nationalist agenda. It has also taken an explicitly anti-Islam approach and has contacts with the far-right anti-islam Pegida movement. It previously adopted some of Pegida's anti-press rhetoric such as the slogan "Luegenpresse", meaning "lying press", which mirrors Nazi Germany. Frauke Petry, who is party chairman of AfD, in the past said German police should "if necessary" shoot at migrants attempting to enter the country illegally. Germany's AfD says Islam is not welcome Spurned by the German mainstream left-wing and conservative, the AfD has been hit by a slew of public controversies. Earlier in the year, it was embroiled in a scandal over its attitude toward Hitler's Third Reich during which over six million Jews were murdered. Bjorn Hocke, a senior member of the party who has denied Adolf Hitler was "absolutely evil", prompted outrage after appearing to attack Berlins Holocaust memorial while calling for the country to take a more "positive" attitude towards its history. Germans are the only people in the world who plant a monument of shame in the heart of the capital, he told supporters in Dresden which is the home of Pegida movement earlier in the year. The remarks were believed to refer to Berlins Holocaust memorial which commemorates the Jewish victims of the Nazi regime with five acres covered with almost 3,000 commemorative blocks. His speech prompted one Left party politician to report him for inciting racial hatred. After fierce criticism, Mr Hocke, who has previously been compared to Goebbels for remarks including claims that Africans are "fundamentally different" to Europeans, released a statement saying any suggestion he had criticised the Holocaust memorial was a malicious and deliberately denigratory interpretation of what I actually said. In my Dresden speech I wanted to ask how we Germans look at our history, he said, adding there were other elements to German history as well as guilt, such as composers and poets. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Swiss hotel has sparked outrage after it posted signs telling its Jewish customers to take a shower before using the pool. Israel's Foreign Ministry sent an official complaint to the Aparthaus Paradies, in the Alpine resort village of Arosa in eastern Switzerland. A horrified guest at the hotel reportedly posted a picture of the note outside the swimming pool on Facebook. It read: "To our Jewish guests: Please take a shower before you go swimming and although after swimming. If you break the rules, I'm forced to close the swimming pool for you." The Times of Israel reported that another sign plastered one the refrigerator read: "For our Jewish guests: You may access the refrigerator only in the following hours:10-11am and 4.30-5.30pm. I hope you understand that our team does not like being disturbed all the time." Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister, Tzipi Hotovely, called the incident "an anti-Semitic act of the worst and ugliest kind". However hotel manager Ruth Thomann, who signed the notice, insited it was a misunderstanding and that there was no anti-Semitic intent. Ms Thomann claimed the hotel was very popular with orthodox Jewish clients and that other guests had complained that some did not shower before using the pool and had asked her to do something about it, the Agence France Presse reports. "I wrote something naive on that poster," she said and admitted that she should have addressed all guests with the same message. She said many of the Jewish clients were using the freezer located in the staff room to store kosher food and she felt she had to ensure staff could enjoy "their lunch and dinner in peace". Ms Hotovely told the Times of Israel she had spoken with Israel's ambassador to Switzerland, Jacob Keidar, who confirmed the signs had been removed. 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 But she said removing the signs was not sufficient as anti-Semitism in Europe was "still a reality" and that punishments had to act as deterrents. Ms Hotovely reportedly demanded a "formal condemnation from Bern". Swiss Foreign Ministry spokesman Tilman Renz told the AFP in an email that the ministry had been in contact with Mr Keidar and had "outlined to him that Switzerland condemns racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination in any form". For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Three tombs dating back 2,000 years have been newly discovered in southern Egypt, the ministry of antiquities has said. The finds were uncovered in al-Kamin al-Sarwahi in Minya province, hidden down deep burial shafts. After careful excavations, in one tomb four sarcophagi were found which had been carved with human faces. 'These tombs were part of a large cemetery for a large city and not a military garrison as some suggest,' lead archaeologist Ali al-Bakry said (Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities) Another contained six burial holes, including a childs. These tombs were part of a large cemetery for a large city and not a military garrison as some suggest, lead archaeologist Ali al-Bakry said, citing bones and other evidence which pointed to the presence of men, women and children of different ages. This was the first time to find a burial of a child at the Sahrawi site, Mr Bakry said. Ancient Egyptian beer making vessels discovered in Israel The authorities think the area was used over a large time period. Clay fragments suggest the tombs date between the 27th Dynasty, founded in 525BC, and the Greco-Roman era, which began in 332BC. al-Kamin al-Sarwahi has been the subject of archaeological exploration since 2015. That year, 20 tombs in a series of ancient catacombs were discovered. Dr Ayman Ashmawy, head of the ancient Egyptian antiquities sector at the ministry of antiquities, hailed the new discovery as very important. More work is underway at the site to discover its secrets, a statement from the ministry said. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} New imagery released by imageSat, which operates Israels EROS-B satellite, reportedly show the first ever Scud missile factory being built inside wartorn Syria. The pictures from a site near Latakia on the Syrian-government controlled coastline resembles a missile plant in Tehran, Israeli media reports said on Tuesday. Experts told Channel 2 the sophisticated construction could not have been undertaken without Iranian experts operating inside Syria. They believe the facility, on which work began at some point last year, has both production and underground storage capabilities of long-range missiles which are capable of striking Israel. They believe it will be completed by the end of 2017. Donald Trump says Iran has helped commit 'unspeakable crimes' in Syria Israel's main worry as the more than six-year-long conflict next door in Syria has evolved has become Irans political influence over the government of Bashar al-Assad, and the presence of Irans Revolutionary Guards, Hezbollah and Shia militias which take part in the fighting. Both Iran and the allied Lebanese militant organisation have sworn the destruction of the Jewish state. Our policy is clear: We vehemently oppose the military buildup by Iran and its proxies, primarily Hezbollah, in Syria and we will do whatever it takes to protect Israel's security, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a speech last week, warning that as Isis was displaced in the country Iran would try to strengthen its position. In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Show all 7 1 /7 In pictures: US missile strike against Syria In pictures: US missile strike against Syria The guided-missile destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78) launches a tomahawk land attack missile in the Mediterranean Sea AP In pictures: US missile strike against Syria The United States military launched at least 50 tomahawk cruise missiles at al-Shayrat military airfield near Homs, Syria, in response to the Syrian military's alleged use of chemical weapons in an airstrike in a rebel held area in Idlib province EPA In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Shayrat airfield in Syria Getty Images In pictures: US missile strike against Syria US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile in Mediterranean Sea Reuters In pictures: US missile strike against Syria US Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Ross (DDG 71) fires a tomahawk land attack missile in Mediterranean Sea Reuters In pictures: US missile strike against Syria President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla., after the US fired a barrage of cruise missiles into Syria in retaliation for this week's gruesome chemical weapons attack against civilians AP In pictures: US missile strike against Syria Syria's President Bashar al-Assad Reuters It emerged last week that Israeli officials had tried to thwart a recent US and Russian brokered peace deal regarding Syrias restive south over worries it gave Iran too much power. Israel reportedly presented numerous objections, arguing that world powers were not focussed enough on the long-term threat of Iranian influence in Syria when the civil war has ended. Washington and Moscow must demand those forces leave the country when the conflict draws to a close, the Israelis said, arguing that Syria could become home to rockets pointed at Israel, as in Lebanon, and outsized Iranian influence could serve to destablise nearby Sunni states. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said earlier this month that Washington would continue to cooperate with Russia in the Syrian theatre on the condition that Iranian forces in the country were eventually removed. Israeli intelligence officials are expected to discuss the situation in Syria with US counterparts in Washington later this week. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Five members of the family of Omar al-Abed, the Palestinian who murdered three members of an Israeli settler family in revenge for Palestinian deaths in last months violence around Jerusalems al-Aqsa mosque, are to be charged with a criminal offence for failing to inform the authorities of his intentions. Israel Defence Forces (IDF) prosecutors have moved to indict Abeds father, Abed al-Jalil, his mother, Ibtisam al-Jalil, two of his brothers and another relative on the charge of failing to prevent a crime, a statement said on Wednesday. According to the prosecution, the family were aware Abed was planning an attack, but did not try to stop him. The family home was demolished earlier this morning, the IDF said, a commonly used move which is supposed to act as a deterrent. Metal detectors removed from holy site by Israel authorities 19-year-old Abed of Kobar snuck over a wall into the Israeli West Bank settlement town of Halamish on 21 July. He entered a home while a family were eating Shabbat dinner and stabbed to death 70-year-old Yosef Salomon and two of his children, Elad, 36, and Chaya, 46. Yosefs wife Tova, 68, was hospitalised with serious wounds. Another family member managed to lock the children present in another room and call the police. A neighbour heard the commotion and brought the incident to an end by shooting Abed non-fatally. Abed was motivated by last months tensions over access to the al-Aqsa mosque. After the murder of two police officers near the holy site, which is also revered in Judaism and Christianity, Israeli authorities argued that new security measures such as metal detectors and CCTV cameras were necessary. Israel: From independence to intifada Show all 7 1 /7 Israel: From independence to intifada Israel: From independence to intifada 26973.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26974.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26975.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26976.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26977.bin Israel: From independence to intifada 26985.bin Robert Capa/Magnum Israel: From independence to intifada 26986.bin Robert Capa/Magnum The new equipment led to protests many of which turned violent because it was widely viewed by Palestinians as an attempt to exert greater control over the compound. Abed stated his intentions in a Facebook post shortly before the attack was carried out which it is alleged his family saw and discussed, but did not report. These are my last words. I am young, not yet 20... I had many dreams and aspirations, but what kind of life is this, with our women and youths murdered without justification? he wrote. Recommended Israel strips citizenship from Arab Israeli for the first time ever They desecrate the al-Aqsa mosque and we are asleep, its a disgrace that we sit idly by, he said, adding that Palestinians who had weapons only take them out for weddings and celebrations: are you not ashamed of yourselves? Abeds mother Ibtisam al-Jalil was arrested after the attack on incitement charges for saying she was proud of her son and hoped that other sons would do the same, the IDF said at the time. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A new campaign has launched in Lebanon to raise awareness that sexual harassment is not something that should be shrugged off or dismissed, but called out and punished. Mesh Basita, or Its not OK, is a six-week-long social media campaign from the American University of Beirut (AUB) and the newly created Womens Affairs Ministry designed to raise awareness of the catcalling, unwanted attention and touching that women receive on a daily basis. While in many ways Lebanon is a leader in the region when it comes to womens rights, there is always more work to be done: currently, there is no legislation specifically outlawing sexual harassment on the books whatsoever, even in the workplace or public spaces. A new bill criminalising sexual harassment presented by the minister for womens affairs, Jean Ogasapian was approved when put before the cabinet earlier this year, but parliament is yet to act on it a not uncommon problem in Lebanons political gridlock. Mesh Basita has stepped in to fill the gap, Heather Jaber, communications coordinator for AUBs KIP Project on Gender and Sexuality, which is behind the project, told The Independent. Over July and August members of the public have been invited to share their thoughts, photos and videos on why sexual harassment is not OK using the mesh_basita hashtag, and posters and billboards have sprung up around Beirut. A powerful video in which a woman confronts comments and stares to more obvious forms of assault such as sexualised touching has been viewed on different social media platforms thousands of times. Women in Lebanon protest law allowing rapists to marry their victims to escape punishment A fictional video from popular fashion blogger Ghina Ghandour showing her being assaulted in a lift also went viral. If it were your mother, sister, wife, daughter or granddaughter then it wouldnt have been OK, Ms Ghandour wrote in the accompanying post. We are subjected to this... and we need to mobilise in order to combat these kinds of crimes. What were doing is highlighting something that doesnt get talked about in Lebanon very often, and its been a positive response many people say they feel relieved they are finally able to talk about it, Ms Jaber said. Recommended Laws that allow rapists to marry their victims come from colonialism What its also shown is that there is a lot of problematic discourse around sexual harassment that its nothing, or something to joke about. What a woman is wearing, whether shes alone, what time of day it is are also issues that have come up. People have reached out to express they think its important to change attitudes to that as well. As well as the Mesh Basita campaign, over the last few months AUBs KIP Project has organised a two-day conference and training workshops to raise public awareness of what constitutes harassment, and ways it can be dealt with. Until legislators take action on this issue, Ms Jaber continued, civil society and other organisations will continue to push for change. Theres been a lot of energy generated by Mesh Basita, Ms Jaber said. We are capitalising on that and will continue to do so until the law is changed. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} With its vast ice-sheet and tremendous calving glaciers, its tundra and its fjords, Greenland is a must-see adventure-travel destination. The lure of the wilds is strong and tourists dont linger for long in the city; most bypass it completely and head directly into nature. But there is a growing community of artists, chefs and artisans keen to prove that there is more to Greenland than icebergs and huskies. Nuuk, they enthuse, is the new Nordic city of culture. Nuuk is one of the smallest capital cities in the world, with just 17,000 inhabitants a mixture of Greenlanders and Danes. In 2009 Denmark granted Greenlanders the right to self-rule and the sense of newly found freedom is still tangible, with Greenland playing an increasingly significant role in the global Arctic community. Last year the Arctic Winter Games for athletes from the circumpolar north was hosted here. In October 200 artists from Scandinavia, Iceland and the Faroe Islands gathered in the city for the Nuuk Nordic Culture Festival, drawing an audience of around 10 per cent of Greenlands entire population. The interest in the Nordic culture scene is developing rapidly, says Mats Bjerde, director of the Nordic Institute of Greenland (Napa), which promotes Greenlandic and Nordic cultural cooperation. We want to create a cultural Nordic playground in Nuuk where new skills can be born and avant-garde productions can be created across all creative genres. Historic artworks in Nuuk Art Museum (Kari Herbert) Nivi Christensen, curator of the Nuuk Art Museum, is equally passionate about supporting up-and-coming artists and engaging a new audience. Christensen says: When I first became curator here, I wondered whether Nuuk was ready to have a cultural institution which had not only old paintings and sculptures but also new, exciting and challenging artworks. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. The single greatest cultural change in Nuuk came with the creation of the Katuaq Culture Centre, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in February. The undulating, timber-clad building, designed by architects Schmidt Hammer Lassen, echoes the form and movement of the nearby fjord, icebergs and the northern lights. Katuaq was built at a time when there was growing focus on the countrys own culture, says the director, Julia Pars. And so the centre became a symbol for nationalism, imagination and the possibility of a new Greenland. Today, we aim to be a window both to our own culture and to the outside world. Katuaq which means drumstick in Greenlandic has become the beating heart of the city, hosting film screenings, theatre performances, gigs and exhibitions that attract 100,000 people a year. Katuaq is like a musical instrument that can begin to play at any moment, says Pars. During the day its full of dreams at night it acts like a magnetic field, drawing people into the light. Creative expression in modern-day Nuuk takes many forms, from exceptional new-Nordic cuisine or artisan craft beer made with glacial ice, to video installations and street art. With the exception of the Katuaq centre, Nuuks architecture is, on the whole, rather grey and unimaginative (some would say ugly). Yet this was an ideal canvas for artists Stefan Baldursson from Iceland and Guido van Helten from Australia, who created the huge artworks that bookmark Nuuks Soviet-style apartment blocks. Stefan Baldursson and Guido van Helten created these murals on Nuuks apartment blocks (Kari Herbert) Ive always been attracted to extreme places. Thats why I really wanted to paint in Greenland, says van Helten. Its been a privilege to work on the [apartment] block, especially as it symbolised another time and migration. His artwork was inspired by a photograph taken in 1906 of a hunter who was relocated from a smaller community to Nuuk as part of a Danish objective to modernise Greenland. The artworks, says Sarah Thode Andersen from Sermersooq Business Council, symbolise Colourful Nuuk the branding initiative recently launched to promote the capital. We want to show the outside world that the city has many different layers the traditional, the new, the edgy and the beautiful, says Andersen. Nuuk is a melting pot of different individuals. These artworks reflect how diverse Nuuk is. It is a Saturday morning, the temperature is around 2C. A few makeshift stalls have been set up on the main street. Weathered fishermen are sitting beside a tarpaulin spread over drifts of snow, displaying their haul of fresh fish. There is no seal meat on offer today. Opposite, a carver is sanding down a reindeer antler that will eventually become a tupilak a carving of a spirit animal. Nuuk may be evolving into a modern Arctic city, but traditional culture is still very much alive. So, could Nuuk become the new Reykjavik? Immaqqa, as they say in Greenland Maybe. Travel Essentials Getting there Nuuk is a three-hour flight from Reykjavik. Air Iceland (airicelandconnect.com) flies from Reykjavik to Nuuk from around 572 return. WOW Air (wowair.co.uk), Icelandair (icelandair.co.uk) and easyJet (easyjet.com) fly to Reykjavik (Keflavik) from London and Bristol from 70 return. Staying there Hotel Hans Egede (hhe.gl) is ideally placed in the centre of town and is home to Sarfalik, the best restaurant in Nuuk, which boasts unbeatable views of the surrounding city, mountains and fjord. Doubles from 195, B&B. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} His silence since being replaced by his Bizarro World nemesis has been as graceful as it has been poignant. How Barack Obama resisted the temptation time and again during these seven frenzied months beggars comprehension. Finally, on the weekend, Donald Trumps protracted silence about the perverted faith behind the terrorist attack in Virginia which led to the death of one young woman forced Obama to break his. When he spoke, he borrowed the words of a black man whose refusal to reciprocate the hate of his racist tormentors dwarfed even Obamas restraint. Spread over several tweets, the Nelson Mandela quote deserves reproducing in full. No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or his background or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love. For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite. Collectively, those words make up the third most popular tweet of all time (though Trump, who can be a little competitive about Obama, will soon claim that one of his own chivalrous offerings about Rosie ODonnells weight was liked and shared more). Fox News hosts blame the media, not Nazis, for Charlottesville and White Supremacy It is a beautiful thought, and one of such timeless potency that we are reminded of Jesus Christ, who put it first and possibly best, and remains the most important political philosopher who ever lived. It has since been expressed countless times in various ways. In 1967, a year after John Lennon made the proto-Trumpian declaration that they were bigger than Jesus, the Beatles offered their own bespoke version. Two millennia after Jesus, half a century after All You Need Is Love, 27 years after Mandela took his slow walk to freedom from his Robben Island cell, and almost nine after Barack Obama was elected President with a demi-landslide, having faith in the thought becomes no easier. And it is a matter of faith, blind faith, when the visual evidence from all over the world suggests that Mandela was wrong. Both the fear of otherness which is the primary malignancy, and the hatred that metastasises from that, seem encoded in human DNA. People do not need lessons in fearing and hating. For whatever ancient survivalist reasons, we are naturally suspicious of otherness, and only with luck learn either to suppress or master it before the fear and hate follow. Babies of six months show an innate preference for people with the same colour skin as them, according to a recently published research from the University of Toronto. Dementia victims routinely revert to offensive racial epithets they havent spoken or heard in decades when the perfect symmetry of this vicious life cycle strips learned behaviour away. Charlottesville: Donald Trump condemns white supremacists as "criminals and thugs" Donald Trump is an ignorant fool. But he has an instinctive genius for understanding and finessing the nastiest aspects of human nature, and every now and again unwittingly reveals it. When he jovially declared, I love the poorly educated at a campaign victory rally in Nevada 18 months ago, this was dismissed as another comic imbecility. Yet in an admittedly uncrowded field, it was the truest statement he ever made. He loves the poorly educated because, while plenty of graduates are racists too, they are less likely to have learned to reason from simple statistics as much as experience that the fear of otherness is misplaced. In western democracies that are wildly divided on several fronts (age, income, skin colour, geography), the most significant electoral schism now is one of schooling. With the surges of xenophobic voting either side of the Altantic Brexit, Marine Le Pens rise in France, the election of Trump the most reliable indicator of voting intention was the age at which a voter had left full-time education. This is not solely because the tragic victims of inadequate education tend to be poorer, and have justified resentment towards traditional political establishments that have ignored and betrayed them. It is because education, in whatever field of study, imbues the ability to analyse data without which it is harder to distinguish fact from the fictions spun by the likes of Trump, Le Pen and Farage. The easily verifiable facts, for example, are that immigration is a net winner for the UK economy, and that the vast majority of terrorist killings in the US have been committed by white supremacists. Donald Trump is not the only billionaire to whom ignorance is bliss. Every media baron whose outlets pour scorn on extending university entry appreciates the direct correlation between how much education a person has and how malleable they can be. The central aim of right-wing media ownership and the political movements with whom they are allied is conning the undereducated to vote diametrically against their own interests. I no more believe that you can teach anyone to love than that love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite, or that all you need is love. If one cleaves to such beautiful thoughts in the face of human history, it is because not doing so feels like a counsel of despair. But even the most benign articles of blind faith are useless in this unending war between reason and unreason. Education though not at the sadly defunct Trump University is the only effective weapon against the fear and hatred upon which every two-bit demagogue depends. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Like the mists rolling over the hills and mountains of County Fermanagh, the British Governments proposals for the Irish border post-Brexit are rather wet, windy and amorphous. Nothing changes the fundamental truth that in March 2019 the 300 or so miles of winding boundary with about 300 crossing points via roads, railways, canals, rivers, streams, wild forests and farmers fields will become the European Unions frontier with the rest of the world. It is at that point that the European Unions customs union begins, as does its single market, the euro currency area and much else. Never before in the history of Ireland has such a border existed on its soil. When Ireland was part (mostly unhappily) of the United Kingdom obviously all movements of people and goods were seamless. After independence nearly a century ago, provision was made for a single travel area, and the British and Irish economies were so closely intertwined there were few real barriers to trade. British and Irish currencies circulated side by side until 1978. Since the single market in goods and some services was established in 1992, the Irish border has ceased to have much significance for anyone beyond some diesel smugglers. Now it threatens to become a hard border not just between two friendly states but between the UK and the European Union, which are becoming much less chummy entities as the Brexit process drags on. Much is made of the easy Norway-Sweden border, but both states are members of the single market but also the Schengen free travel area. Even so, there are controls and checks, and there would be many more if either country had the British phobia about migration. John Major: People shouldnt regard peace in Northern Ireland as a given The reason why the Irish border issue hasnt been sorted out more than a year after the Brexit referendum is that it cannot logically be the same as it is now frictionless and seamless. When the UK leaves the EU customs union, with or without transition arrangements, some mechanism will be necessary to certify origins, to ensure that goods imported into the UK cannot travel into the European Union, ie Ireland, without some notification of their origin and whether they conform to EU rules and have paid EU duties, and vice versa. Otherwise the EUs common tariff barrier and the rest of the world cannot work. Modern technology and licences granted to trusted companies can help assist this, but the fact remains that some fresh bureaucracy, even if mostly digital in form, will be required, and human beings will be needed to police it. Even if the customs union problem could be settled with countless ANPRs (automatic number plate recognition cameras) and CCTV posts, that still leaves the even more fraught issue of the free movement of people. There is nothing today to stop, say, a Lithuanian flying to Dublin, taking a train to Belfast and entering the UK. According to the Department for Exiting the European Union, that seamless, frictionless formality-free travel across the Irish border will continue after 2019. Fine, but where does that leave the British wish to take back control of our borders and limit migration into Britain? The only conceivable way for it to work would be to introduce a continental-style system of registration of personal residence, visa and employment status, plus requiring people to carry ID papers on them. That is something the British have traditionally found highly offensive, and wouldnt do much to deter illegal migration. In other words, David Davis, Michel Barnier, the Irish cabinet and all the other clever people around the capitals of Europe have failed in their quest to make two plus two equal five. It is as if a team of mathematicians had promised to make two plus two equal five because that is what everyone agrees it should be there is lots of goodwill behind the idea, it would make life a lot easier, and it would be much worse for peace in Ireland if two and two actually made four. Of course they could be locked in a room until the end of time and still not find a way to make two plus two equal five, because it cant, and no amount of wrangling will make it happen. It should, then, be highly alarming that on this issue, where there is genuine goodwill and common purpose for once, there is no sign of making the proposals add up because it indicates very strongly that they cannot. In desperation the Irish, British and European authorities may resort to pretending that, so to speak, two plus two equals five, and hope for the best, but it will not be a sustainable arrangement. The Irish governments idea of creating an economic border across the Irish Sea sounds promising, but again suffers from the logical problem of what to do at the Northern Ireland-Great Britain economic frontier, where the same problems would re-emerge. And that is discounting any political sensitivity about being seen to move towards a united Ireland. As it happens a united Ireland would obviously dissolve the border issue, but would obviously provoke some different and more violent troubles. Vital as the Irish border issue is for these islands, it has an even wider significance because it has to be substantially settled before the talks can move on to the even more complex and much more acrimonious issues about the broader trade agreement between the UK and the EU (and indeed the two are logically enmeshed). The British Government may as well face up to the fact that the talks will be nowhere near completed even by March 2019, let alone by the end of this year, which is really the sort of deadline that could help airlines, manufacturers, banks, farmers and other businesses make sensible plans. Hence the British Governments position papers and pleas for a transition period; but we, and the EU, are entitled to ask of Theresa May and her ministers: transition to what? Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney spoke to the media, at Iveagh House in Dublin, in response to the UK Government's Brexit proposals The Irish Government has warned Theresa May it will stubbornly defend the country's interests in relation to Brexit negotiations. Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said the Dublin government will "not be picking fights for the sake of it" but stressed it will be "clear and firm" on what is essential to ensure the best interests of Ireland. Responding to Whitehall's Brexit position paper, Mr Coveney said while he welcomed the commitment to avoid any physical border he warned moving away from the status quo on the island of Ireland "will be difficult" and therefore "imaginative and flexible solutions will be required." He added that during Brexit negotiations the government will be "realistic and fair, but also stubborn in relation to defending Irish interests." Mr Coveney said: "I think this is a good test of the European Union in terms of protecting the interests of small countries as well as big ones. "All of our interaction with the Barnier Task Force has reinforced the point that he (Michel Barnier) made when he said Ireland's interests is Europe's interests." He added: "What is happening here is not by Irish design. The British people have decided to leave the EU. "That has very significant consequences for us and it is my job to make sure I protect Irish interests in the context of negotiations to facilitate that exit. "From that point of view we won't be picking fights for the sake of it but we will be firm and clear in terms of what we regard is important and essential for Ireland to be able to support a future deal." The UK government will be pushing to avoid any physical Border infrastructure or posts between Northern Ireland and the Republic for any purpose following Brexit. It has also dismissed the idea of a Border in the Irish Sea as "not constitutionally or economically viable". In a paper to be published today, the British said their plans for a new customs partnership with the EU - in which the UK would be free to negotiate trade deals with the rest of the world while maintaining free trade with the EU - would avoid the need for any Border. Alternatively, "highly streamlined" arrangements would have to be put in place reflecting the "unique circumstances of Northern Ireland". These would ensure no new customs processes for smaller firms, and new trusted trade arrangements for larger firms. It also proposes a continued waiver on submitting entry/exit declarations and continued membership of the common transit convention - meaning firms from Northern Ireland and the Republic would be able to move goods through the UK to mainland Europe without being hit with duties. Read More A UK government source said both sides need to show flexibility and imagination when it comes to the Border. The UK said its position paper will also make clear plans to protect the common travel area and associated rights for UK and Irish citizens, and uphold the Good Friday Agreement. It is not clear if the paper will set out proposals for deploying technology on the Border - a scenario explicitly rejected by the Irish Government. It follows the UK government's first position paper yesterday on future customs arrangements, in which it warns EU member states to make contingency plans to mitigate the risk of customs delays from the country crashing out of the bloc in March 2019. It said it will slap customs duty and VAT on imports from the EU, and that the EU would have to apply the same customs rules to products from the UK, unless a trading agreement can be reached by the exit deadline. In this scenario, the UK said it would seek to recognise the "unique circumstances" of Northern Ireland and aim to protect individuals and traders by making "maximum use of the UK's flexibility in relation to our own operation of the Border". But it said processes on the Republic's side would be "constrained by the relevant requirements of EU law". The position paper states that the UK will bring forward a customs bill in the autumn that will give the British government the necessary powers to operate standalone customs, VAT and excise systems following its EU exit. Read More This was not its preferred outcome, it added. It said it wants a new customs arrangement that facilitates the most free and frictionless trade possible in goods between the UK and EU, but which also allows it to forge new trade deals with Europe and the rest of the world. In the paper, the UK outlined plans for a future customs agreement with the EU and an interim deal, possibly lasting two years, to ease companies' Brexit concerns. The interim deal would see the UK retain "close association" with the customs union, paving the way for a new arrangement, but it would be free to negotiate trade deals elsewhere - a potential problem for the EU. That new arrangement could either be a "highly streamlined" customs agreement, in which the UK would manage a new customs border with the EU, in which tariffs would be reduced or removed while the use of technology would be expanded, or it could be a new customs partnership that would avoid the need for a customs border. Under that partnership, the UK proposes "mirroring" the EU's requirements for imports from the rest of the world where their final destination is the EU. Improved milk prices and lagging world dairy markets are to blame for a fall in margins at Glanbia Ireland, the new joint venture between Glanbia Plc and Glanbia Co-op. The sale of 60pc of Dairy Ireland, the agri arm of Glanbia Plc to Glanbia Co-op this year, will net cash proceeds of 112m for the Plc. The sale was completed in July and all proceeds are expected to be completed by October. Glanbia Ireland is a joint venture which is 60pc owned by Glanbia Co-operative Society Ltd and 40pc owned by Glanbia plc. It is the largest dairy and agri business in Ireland with 2016 pro-forma revenues in excess of 1.5bn. According to the Glanbia half-year results, Glanbia Ireland is well positioned to support the growth ambitions of its suppliers in the coming years, producing a diverse range of value-added dairy ingredients and consumer products. However, in the first half of 2017, Dairy Ireland (now part of Glanbia Ireland) revenues increased by 0.3pc, reflecting a 2.5pc increase in volumes, a 3.7pc decline in price and a 1.5pc revenue contribution resulting from the consolidation of a subsidiary previously included in Joint Ventures. A 200 base point (bps) reduction in margin drove an EBITA decline of 39.3pc versus the prior half year. A spokesperson for Glanbia Ireland said that the bps reduction was expected, given that milk prices had risen steadily during that time, but there was a lag effect in rising dairy markets. Glanbia Ingredients Ireland, which is part of the Glanbia Ireland, paid 33c/l for June milk to farmer suppliers, with it rising a further 1c/l for July. Glanbia, in its half year results announced, also said that its consumer products delivered continued growth in sales of value-added milk in the period. "However, margins were reduced due to increased milk and dairy product costs which resulted in a reduced performance." It went on to say that the agribusiness side of the company delivered a reduced performance in the period. Increased animal feed and fertiliser volume was more than offset by lower pricing which led to a decline in margin. A Northern Ireland wind farm has been sold as part of a 105m deal, it has emerged. Greencoat UK Wind has agreed to acquire two wind farms from institutional investors in Liverpool and Northern Ireland for around 105m. The acquisitions of the North Hoyle and Slieve Divena wind farms are expected to complete this month and will be funded by the renewable infrastructure fund's revolving credit facility. The deal adds a total capacity of 90MW and takes Greencoat UK's net generating capacity to 547MW. Slieve Divena is located in Co Tyrone, and has a capacity of 30MW. It was originally developed by SSE, and also receives one renewable obligation certificate per megawatt hour. North Hoyle was developed by German firm Innogy SE and was commissioned in June 2004, making it one of the UK's earliest offshore wind farms. Located five miles offshore in Liverpool Bay, it has a capacity of 60MW and receives one renewable obligation certificate per megawatt hour. Following completion of the acquisitions, Greencoat UK's total borrowings will amount to 318m, equivalent to 28pc of gross asset value. Earlier this summer it was revealed that renewable energy giant Gaelectric is launching two new wind farms in Co Tyrone as part of a 41m investment. Inishative and Cregganconroe in Pomeroy will generate a combined total of 27.6MW of renewable energy. They are Gaelectric's fifth and sixth operating wind farms in Northern Ireland. The company said that they would be enough to power 17,500 homes every year. Elsewhere, a renewable energy giant headed by a Co Down man is expanding its growing business into the US. Nick Boyle runs Lightsource Renewable Energy, Europe's biggest developer of industrial-scale solar projects. It built Crookedstone Road Solar Farm for Belfast International Airport under a 25-year agreement that will provide 30pc of the terminal's electricity. After 10 months in operation, Aldergrove has saved 100,000 in energy costs as a result of the scheme. Lightsource employs 300 people and is based in Holborn, London, with offices in Belfast and Dublin. It was established in 2011 with just six employees. The company has announced its North American management team that will lead its expansion into the US energy sector. The San Francisco-based team is chief executive Tim Derrick, chief operating officer Kevin Christy and chief compliance officer Katherine Ryzhaya. The firm's UK arm has grown into a business building and developing more than 2.4bn worth of solar projects alongside investment partners. Meanwhile, one of the largest energy projects in the last decade is due to go before Belfast City Council's planning committee tonight. Evermore is developing a massive 280m gas-fired plant at Belfast Harbour. Co-founder Ciaran Devine told the Belfast Telegraph earlier this year that it could power up to 50% of Northern Ireland's homes and businesses. Now the application, which is being decided by the Department for Infrastructure, will go before the city's planning committee. Record butter prices are continuing to bolster milk returns globally and market analysts predict that demand for dairy fats will remain strong to the end of the year. Spot prices for butter are now north of 6,300/t, while the current heat wave in Europe is driving icecream sales while also hitting milk output. The continuing surge in demand for dairy fats is good news for Irish farmers, with processors coming under pressure from the farm organisations to further raise milk prices. Glanbia and Lakeland Dairies increased their respective milk prices for July by 1c/l to a base of 34c/l including VAT, while Kerry moved from 33c/l to 34.5c/l. Kevin Bellamy of Rabobank predicted the "elevated butter prices" would underpin dairy returns for the remainder of the year. Meanwhile, Ornua's Joe Collins said the milk supply situation and demand for dairy fats had been exacerbated by the recent heat wave in southern and eastern Europe. However, Mr Collins cautioned that there were "clouds appearing on the horizon" due to the increased butter prices and that "some kickback" on sales had already occurred. Nielsen buying data up to the end of June shows butter sales in Germany slumped almost 10pc. "It has been very sluggish from Europe. Traditional importers cannot afford these prices so exports are down about 25pc for that January to May period," Mr Collins said. "Typically butter is contracted three months in advance and prices have risen a lot further," he explained. However, he said further price increases were possible as demand for the Christmas and New Year markets gather pace over the next two months. Dairy prices globally have been driven by a shortage of supply rather than increased demand over the last 12 months. Although milk output has grown this year in both the US and New Zealand, Mr Bellamy claimed that the bulk of these increases were being absorbed into existing markets. He said additional US production was directed primarily at North America, while increased New Zealand milk output was being bought by the Chinese. Chinese buyers have been forced back onto global markets because of low stock levels of dairy produce and "challenged home production", Mr Bellamy explained. In terms of European milk production, Ireland and Poland remain the only countries to have significantly increased output this year. In contrast, milk supplies in France, Germany, Britain, the Netherlands and Denmark have remained largely unchanged. "The two big countries - Germany and France - have been disappointing in terms of output. We think it will recover year on year from here as it was so poor in the second half of last year," Mr Collins said. Reacting to the latest milk price increases, Gerald Quain of the ICMSA welcomed the moves by Glanbia and Lakeland Dairies. However, he said that Irish milk prices continued to lag behind those of the continental processors. Sean O'Leary of IFA urged all co-ops to work harder to pass back as much of the dairy upturn as possible to farmers. He added that milk suppliers had some way to go to rebalance their farm finances after the difficulties of 2015 and 2016. There were 12pc fewer professional job vacancies in Ireland during July, compared to the same period in 2016, according to the latest Morgan McKinley monthly employment monitor. Month-on-month, the figure is down 24pc since June. However, the significant reduction in professional job vacancies in July is regarded as seasonal following a sustained period of intensive hiring in the professional services recruitment market in recent months. "There are currently fewer professional jobs coming onto the market. However, we have seen a much busier period of recruitment in the first half of 2017 than in any year previously since the economic crisis, so some level of seasonality is now to be expected," Trayc Keevans, director of Inward Investment at Morgan McKinley, said. In terms of the number of professionals seeking jobs in Ireland, there was a 5pc increase year-on-year in July, which is seen as an indicator of continuing employee confidence, mobility and a willingness to consider opportunities. Breaking the findings down by industry, the information and communications technology sector continued to perform well, with demand now crossing all industry sectors for experienced and newly-qualifying staff in this area. In particular, the foreign-direct investment sector is recruiting both for organic growth and the completion of staffing for European hubs, according to the data. "FDI interest in Ireland is consistently strong, including interest from multinationals considering Ireland as a European hub and who have already ruled out other European locations, in the context of Brexit," Ms Keevans said. There was continued demand for engineers, including design engineers and electrical design engineers across the medical device, heavy industry, and electrical/automation industries. Demand for accountants, funds management specialists, risk and compliance experts, data analysts, consumer protection and credit control specialists, fintech and cyber security professionals also remains strong. Meanwhile, the human resources sector has seen a trend of candidates returning from overseas with agency and in-house recruitment experience filling these roles. "There are multiple opportunities across all industry sectors for HR professionals with specialisms in organisational design, compensation and benefits, organisational culture and workplace flexibility," said Morgan McKinley. A flood of complaints about banks and insurers is expected to hit the Financial Services Ombudsman after changes in the law. The new legislation means consumers will be able to have a dispute resolved even if they bought the product more than six years ago. This is expected to benefit thousands of people. Up to now, there was a six-year time limit on taking complaints. This meant that the Ombudsman had to throw out thousands of complaints relating to the mis-selling of mortgages, trackers and endowment policies. The Central Bank and Financial Services Authority of Ireland (Amendment) Act 2017, which was championed by Sinn Fein's finance spokesman Pearse Doherty, has now been signed into law by the President. A note on the Ombudsman's website states: "This legislation will have significant implications as it will amend the current six-year limitation period for certain types of complaints. "Arising out of this change, this office expects to receive a large number of queries in relation to complaints which previously could not be dealt with by this office." Up to 1,000 people every year are barred from the process because of the six-year rule. The legal change will apply only to products or services that last for five years and one month, or more. This means it will apply to mortgages, life products and investment products wrapped up as life products. There is no six-year rule on pension products. The legislation extends the time limits for complaints for long-term financial services to six years from the date of the conduct complained of, or three years from the date the complainant knew, or ought to have known, about the conduct. Up to now, the Ombudsman had to throw out complaints if the product or service was bought more than six years ago. Ombudsman Ger Deering, who is also the pensions Ombudsman, said about 3,000 complaints had been rejected since 2011 because of the six-year rule. In fact, the actual figure may be higher as others were advised not to complain because of the six-year rule. Mr Deering said the change would apply to tracker-loss complaints. The Ombudsman has 500 complaints on hold pending the Central Bank-directed probe into all lenders that offered trackers. St Patricks Tower at the Digital Hub there has been a call to increase the available office space The Digital Hub would be forgiven for feeling a bit eclipsed in Dublin's tech scene by Silicon Docks - the area of the city at Grand Canal that's home to giants such as Facebook, Google, Airbnb and others. But Fiach MacConghail points out that as a State agency, the body behind the Digital Hub - the Digital Hub Development Agency - has a broader remit than just establishing a tech nerve centre. "The commitment that our clients buy into is not just that they're part of a digital community, but of a neighbourhood," he says. "I've seen the profound impact the Digital Hub has had on our neighbourhood, particularly with young people attending our digital literacy course." MacConghail says that the Digital Hub has to embrace its wider goal of regeneration and being a focal point for the area. "It's part of the legislation - not only are we dealing with entrepreneurship, success, scaling companies and creating jobs but we're doing that in context of a local community," he said. The Digital Hub still has space that can be developed and will likely engage with private developers to help deliver mixed-use solutions for that space. Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) European shares rose modestly yesterday, recovering further as geopolitical tensions eased in holiday-thinned trading, with airlines supporting gains after Air Berlin filed for insolvency, prompting a rush from Lufthansa and peers to snap up its assets. The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up 0.1pc, with gains capped by a drop in the basic resources and energy sectors after oil prices gave up earlier gains. Travel and leisure stocks led gains after Germany's second largest airline, Air Berlin, filed for insolvency, its shares plummeting 32pc. Gulf carrier Etihad pulled its financial support for the airline. Lufthansa was the best-performing European stock, up 4.7pc, with low-cost rivals EasyJet and Ryanair hot on its heels, after the German government said Lufthansa and another airline were in talks to take over some of Air Berlin's assets. Health stocks and financials were among the biggest contributors to gains, with banks trading up 0.2pc. The bank sector was hit particularly hard in the latter part of last week as tensions rose between the United States and North Korea. Ireland's ISEQ Overall Index jumped 1.65pc to 6,783.21, spurred by the sharp rise in Ryanair's shares. The airline's shares soared 3.4pc to 19.23, a record, as Air Berlin collapsed. Shares in AIB rose 3.5pc to 5.05, while Cairn Homes rose 3.1pc to 1.63. Permanent TSB was 1.2pc lower at 1.92. The UK's FTSE edged 0.4pc higher yesterday. Germany's DAX was rose 0.1pc and France's CAC-40 was up 0.3pc. Danone gained 1pc after a media report that the activist fund Corvex Management owned a stake in the French yoghurt maker. The idea was nothing short of revolutionary: convert America's millions of trucks, buses and other commercial vehicles to run on natural gas instead of petrol and diesel. Back in 2008, the proposal by energy magnate T Boone Pickens had some appeal. US oil production was plunging, and the world's biggest fuel-consuming country was becoming ever more dependent on foreign crude. Oil jumped to a record near $150 a barrel, while natural gas was comparatively cheap. Pickens co-founded Clean Energy Fuels to profit from the switch. The maker of natural gas filling stations was once valued at about $1.8bn. But there was a different kind of revolution. New drilling techniques led to a boom in oil supplies from the US, and electric cars took off. Tesla, which had yet to deliver its first electric car a decade ago, now has 455,000 reservations for its Model 3 - almost 20 times the number of natural-gas vehicles on US roads as of 2015. Shares of Clean Energy Fuels are down 90pc from a 2012 peak, and the company concedes that natural gas may only be a niche market as a transportation fuel. "I'm not sure America is set up for widespread use of passenger natural gas vehicles given all the infrastructure needed to get supplies to customers," Andrew Littlefair, Clean Energy Fuels' CEO, said. "There are a lot of reasons it would make sense to look at that again, but I don't know that I'm ready to say that's going to happen." Pickens, who made his first fortune as an oil wildcatter five decades ago, had high hopes for natural gas because he believed crude supplies were peaking. But by 2011, US oil output began to surge with the shale boom. Three years later, prices for crude, diesel and petrol were tumbling. While natural gas has become a staple for domestic power plants, supplanting coal, the prospect for cheaper alternatives made it less attractive as a vehicle fuel. In April, the most recent month for data from the Department of Energy, liquefied natural gas sold for $2.52 per diesel-gallon-equivalent, compared with $2.55 for diesel. That's hardly a bargain, considering Pavel Molchanov, an analyst at Raymond James Financial, estimates that trucks that run on LNG cost about $30,000 to $50,000 more than a comparable diesel rig. Even though natural gas has remained cheap - trading at $2.948 per million British thermal units at 8am in New York on Tuesday - using it to fuel vehicles is "not something that has taken off", said Salim Morsy, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance in New York. He said while petrol and diesel are undoubtedly the cheapest in total cost of ownership as technology improves and batteries get cheaper the number of electric cars will at least double. The number of plug-in cars in the US almost tripled between 2008 and 2015, government data show. Tesla has introduced three electric models since 2012, and other manufacturers are jumping into the market. Natural gas vehicles have seen their share of the auto market shrink. Honda discontinued a natural-gas-fueled model of the Civic in 2015. Last year, with oil locked in a prolonged price slump, Pickens sold about four million shares of Clean Energy Fuels, which operates more than 500 natural gas filling stations. While the company has declined in value, Tesla traded at a record high in June. (Bloomberg) TV3 presenter Elaine Crowley has hit back at a troll who sent a vile message to her personal Facebook account. On Monday the panel on her daytime show on TV3, 'Elaine', discussed the statistic that almost half of all women and girls suffer online abuse. Following the show she received the message to her personal Facebook account from a man using the name John, which she read out in full on Tuesday's show. "I wasn't going to mention this but I got a bit cross when I came off air yesterday," she told viewers. "I'm going to go through it and, listen, if you don't like me, you don't like the show, there's absolutely no problem - you can turn the television off. I won't be offended. "But sometimes people can get a bit personal and it's not very nice." Elaine read the message, which began, "You have to be the most intolerable yoke I have ever had the misery to listen to on a tv. It's sad how miserable you come across." She responded, "In my defence it was a Monday and I'm never very good on Mondays. And to be fair, Waterford had beaten Cork the day before so I wasn't perhaps my effervescent best". The man's message continued, "Your negative attitude towards women who are more attractive than you is really unforutnate. You are an over weight lonely (though you don't know it) cynical miserable bint." Addressing the overweight comment, Elaine said, "That is true. My BMI is above what it should be." Expand Close Elaine posted the message to the official TV3 'Elaine' Facebook page / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Elaine posted the message to the official TV3 'Elaine' Facebook page She continued, "I'm not sure what a 'bint' is but I shall look it up in the Urban Dictionary. I can be a bit cynical and, as I said, the misery might have had something to do with Cork being beaten in the aul hurling." Video of the Day Elaine read the next excerpt from the message, "You brag about being single and busy and loving it... but you dont address the fact that you are single because of you , the busy part I will never understand quite frankly. I wouldnt hire you do hand out Menus in a back alley greasy spoon.!!" "I wouldn't either," responded Elaine. "I was a waitress once to be quite honest in Jersey and I was sacked after three days. I'm not a very good waitress. My talents lie in other areas but I'm glad you pointed that out." Elaine continued to read what John wrote, "The worst s**t I have ever heard comes out of your mouth". "I do take exception to that," she responded. "We're on the brink of war at the moment with Donal Trump going nuts over in the States plus the fact all the nazi stuff going on around the world so if what I'm saying is the most offensive thing you've ever heard you clearly need to watch more TV channels. She added, "Watch the news for a bit. How's that for an idea?" The final part of John's message was the bit she said she took most exception to. He wrote, "A bear wouldn't hug you, purely because he couldn't get his arms around you and bears can tell when someone is full of s**t." "I love bears, bears love me," joked Elaine. "I don't hang around with them all the time, the ones out in the wild. They're not normally native to Ireland." She showed viewers a photo of her hugging a koala bear before continuing, "I did once get hugged by a bear. Technically speaking it's a marsupial but he looked quite happy to be there, snuggled up to my heaving bosom for a while. Expand Close Elaine Crowley hugging a koala bear / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Elaine Crowley hugging a koala bear "I'm not sure if you've ever been snuggled up to a heaving bosom, John, but that's what it looks like." She concluded with, "I would imagine that you're not a very happy man if you have to spurt such hate out at somebody that you've never met, that you don't even know. "And God knows I can be annoying. I annoy myself on air sometimes but maybe I would strongly suggest to you to find something else to do with your time than attacking people you don't know online because you can be damn sure if this is what you're sending me you're sending it to other people and other people might not be as resilient as I am at the moment and that might tip other people over the edge. "It's not nice to be doing something like that, so just think a little before you send your little messages out." She added that she had tried to engage with the troll on Facebook but he had deleted his Facebook account or blocked her. "So you sir are a bit of a coward," she said, "I hope you have a happier life than you have had so far." Elaine posted the man's message to the official TV3 'Elaine' Facebook account and many viewers expressed their disgust at his message while offering the presenter their support. You can watch Elaine's monologue HERE Nine in ten properties currently available to rent are beyond the reach of people dependent on State housing benefits, according to a snapshot undertaken by the Simon Communities in Ireland. That only 9pc of all properties which were included in the snapshot were available to people in receipt of State housing payments indicates an increasing gap between Rent Supplement/HAP limits and market rents, the Simon Community said. Read more: Renters unable to afford to buy, with property prices expected to continue rising The Simon Community research found that there were 630 properties to rent over the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd of August 2017 snapshot period in eleven locations. This is a fall of 45pc from 1,150 homes available to rent in May 2015 when the first Locked Out of the Market study was undertaken. According to Daft.ie rents have increased nationally by 13.4pc, in the year to March 2017. Commenting on the increase in the Rent Supplement/HAP limits in July 2016, which provided "a brief respite" for people on Rent Supplement/Housing Assistant Payment, Niamh Randall, national spokesperson for the Simon Communities in Ireland, said that the increase has not allowed payments to keep pace with market rents, "The gap between housing benefit payments and market rents is too wide for people who are struggling, people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. The sustainable long-term solution to ending the current crisis is to build more social and affordable housing," Ms Randall said. Ms Randall went on to say that the Government must address spiralling rents and the absence of sufficient security of tenure further. "To address the issue of unreasonable deposits being requested at the commencement of tenancies, we must legislate for a statutory maximum of one months deposit to be paid at the commencement of a new tenancy," Ms Randall said. A windphone which was designed as a space to meditate on life and loss, has been destroyed by vandals. The destruction of the installation has left the artists behind it "a little bit heartbroken". .@AltruchasDublin An Fon Gaoithe (The Wind Phone) destroyed already and not by the wind :( #windphone #windphonedublin Pic taken today pic.twitter.com/YzbFXuyuFn Noel Donnellon (@NoelDonnellon) August 15, 2017 The windphone, or fon gaoithe in Irish, was installed at the top of Two Rock in the Dublin Mountains in recent weeks, with the art collective behind the project choosing to remain anonymous. The group Altruchas said it was informed by a walker that it had been demolished and the remnants piled up at the site. "Given the nature of how it was destroyed and how what was left was laid out, it seems clear that the destruction of the installation was not regular vandals but a strong statement from people that didnt like the project," the art collective said. The structure, with an old telephone inside, was made from salvaged material and made to look like an old-fashioned phonebox. A note said that it was designed as "a place where you can speak privately and openly and your words will be carried on the wind to wherever you want them to go". The inspiration for it from came from the windphone in Japan, which became a popular pilgrimage site following the 2011 tsunami. Some 25,000 people there use the windphone in the town of Otsuchi to communicate with dead loved ones. Otsuchi was devastated by tsunami in March 2011 with 1,285 people dead or missing. Less than two weeks ago, a similar device was positioned at the summit of the Dublin mountain - a spot which is very popular with hillwalkers. It was erected without planning permission, with the creators stating that they had put it there simply for people to enjoy. "Of course we are sad it has been destroyed, but will not let such a mindless and selfish act take away from the positivity of the project," Altruchas said. "We know from some feedback that weve gotten that it genuinely helped some people struggling with grief, so that makes the project completely worth it. "We also hope that the destruction of the wind phone opens up some conversation about our society, goodwill, creativity and open mindedness." Poignantly when the installation first hit the headlines a fortnight ago, the group behind the project said: "We have made many creative compromises to ensure its safety. We also intend on maintaining it indefinitely. With that in mind and giving the reasons and nature of the project, we hope that it will be left alone for people use when they need it." A judge has lifted a gagging order which had granted anonymity to a woman charged in connection with the handover of a loaded gun on a Dublin to Belfast train. Mother-of-one Nikita Murtagh (20) from Mariners Port, Sherriff Street, Dublin 1, is charged with unlawful possession of a CZ model 70 semi-automatic pistol, two rounds of 7.65 Browning calibre ammunition and a shotgun cartridge which were allegedly recovered by gardai on the Dublin to Belfast train at Connolly Station on July 19 last. A court order which had prevented reporters from identifying her was lifted on Wednesday following an application on behalf of the news media. Ms Murtagh and a man, aged 23, also from Dublins north inner city, were arrested following an intelligence led operation involving officers from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau. At her first hearing at Dublin District Court on July 21 last, Judge Gerard Jones, then presiding, had agreed to a defence application for reporting restrictions and he directed journalists not to name her or the 23-year-old man out of safety concerns. The co-defendant is due to face his next hearing later this month but Ms Murtagh appeared again at the district court before Judge Alan Mitchell on Wednesday. He said he had received an application from the press asking for the legal basis for the order made by his colleague and for the order to be discontinued in the proceedings before the court today. The application contended that the reporting restriction order made on July 21 appeared to be inconsistent with Article 34 (1) of the Constitution which states: Justice shall be administered in courts established by law by judges appointed in the manner provided by this Constitution, and, save in such special and limited cases as may be prescribed by law, shall be administered in public. Defence solicitor Eoin Lysaght asked him not to interfere with the order and to put the case back before Judge Jones. However, Judge Mitchell said a question had been raised and he was giving the defence an opportunity to say if there was a reason for the order. He said his colleague is a moveable judge in the Dublin area and did not have seisin (possession) of the the case. He also said restrictions on naming a defendant are normally used in certain cases such as sexual offences. The court must operate in public, he explained, and because he was given no legal basis for the order he lifted the reporting restrictions in Ms Murtagh's case. The young woman was initially refused bail at Dublin District Court last month and was later denied bail when she made an application to the High Court. Garda Marguerite Reilly told Judge Alan Mitchell yesterday/today (wed) that directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) still need to be obtained. Judge Mitchell asked was it likely that the case would be sent to the Special Criminal Court but Garda Reilly said the trial venue had not been decided yet. Judge Mitchell noted the woman is in custody and said the DPP needs to get on with it and he was marking time running in the case. He further remanded Ms Murtagh in custody to appear again in two weeks and he said the DPPs directions should be available then otherwise he will be asking for an explanation. Dressed in a black jacket and grey tracksuit Ms Murtagh remained silent during the hearing today. The man was approached by gardai on the train while Ms Murtagh, who allegedly handed him a bag containing the gun, was stopped outside Terminal 1 at Dublin Airport later that day, the district court has heard. The two are charged with three counts under the Firearms Act, offences which can result in sentences of up to 14 years imprisonment. Garda Reilly had said the woman had strong links outside the jurisdiction in particular in Northern Ireland and she has close associates throughout Europe. Her solicitor had told her bail hearing that the woman denied knowing what was in the bag. The co-defendant is due back before Cloverhill District Court later this month but the gagging order currently remains in force in his case. She may be described as Ireland's biggest Diana fan and now an exhibition of photos taken by Co Laois nurse Michelle Rogers Dunican of the late princess will go on display. Ms Dunican, who worked as a nurse in the UK during the late 1980s and 1990s, made it her business to try to attend every public engagement with the princess. Expand Close A selection of photographs of Princess Diana taken by Ms Dunican. Photo: Michelle Rogers Dunican / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A selection of photographs of Princess Diana taken by Ms Dunican. Photo: Michelle Rogers Dunican Ms Dunican, from Abbeyleix, was lucky enough to cross paths with the princess 37 times during her time in London, but the first time is still a vivid memory for her. "In 1988 I went to London to do my nurse training and Diana was going to a theatre down the road from me in Bromley. I was down to see what was going on, and I saw her going into the theatre. I waited for three hours till she came out, and she came over. She shook hands and said a few words. I couldn't believe it, I was amazed," she said. Ms Dunican (48), who is married to Anthony and has a son Peter (16) and daughter Sarah (14), said her interest in the princess began with the royal wedding of the then Diana Spencer and Prince Charles. "It was nothing to do with an interest in photography, my interest was purely in Diana. In 1981 when she got married, my mum, who is English, had a great interest in it and bought me a book on the royal wedding, and that started my interest in Diana from 1981 on," she told the Irish Independent. "I was 12 when she got married and I had no real interest in the royal family really. It was her, when she got married and the whole razzmatazz about her." Expand Close Michelle Rogers Dunican (on left) with Sarah Webb, the owner of The Gallic Kitchen at Bramley in Abbeyleix, where Michelles exhibition of photographs of Princess Diana opens today. Photo: Michael Scully / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Michelle Rogers Dunican (on left) with Sarah Webb, the owner of The Gallic Kitchen at Bramley in Abbeyleix, where Michelles exhibition of photographs of Princess Diana opens today. Photo: Michael Scully While the nurse built up an impressive collection of photographs throughout the princess's golden era, she explained the main appeal was getting the opportunity to speak to the "charismatic" princess. "Really it was about meeting her and she'd get to know you, she'd see the same faces, me and 10 or 11 other people who always tried to go to her engagements as much as possible," Ms Dunican said. "She'd say things like 'Have you no work to go to?' and I'd explain I was a nurse and worked weekends, and would have days off during the week. So then she'd ask how the nursing was going, or things like that." Collection The mother-of-two said that being Irish was something that set her apart. "One day, as (the princess) was walking, we asked her something about William and Harry, and she looked back at me and said, 'Don't ever lose the accent'." Now a selection of 24 photographs from 1990-97 from Ms Dunican's private collection of more than 400 pictures will go on display in a free exhibition in the Gallic Kitchen at Bramley in Abbeyleix. She said she was grateful to photographer Mick Bunn who mounted the collection for her, and Andy Ring, owner of irishheritagetowns.com and the "driving force" behind the exhibition. It opens today at 7.30pm and runs until August 31. Here's a complete breakdown of the new Leaving Cert grading system. Every year I enjoy watching my students collect their results. Students arrive, nervously accept their envelope, and slink off to a corner to scan the page and take in the list of grades. Whether the student is happy or disappointed, the next step for many school-leavers is to calculate their CAO points and attempt to figure out the course for which they are likely to receive an offer, using the previous year's points as a guide. While we can never predict what the points will be from one year to the next, the changes this year, both to the Leaving Cert grading system and points scale, mean candidates will not even be comparing like with like. As a result, their guesses will not only be meaningless, but likely to cause needless anxiety. The new grading system reduces the number of grades, at both higher level and ordinary level, from 14 to eight. In general, the old bands covered five percentage marks (e.g. 60-65pc) but the new bands stretch across 10 percentage marks (e.g. 60-69pc) to reflect a more marked gap in performance between candidates' achievements. Linked to this, the way in which the grades convert into points for college entry has also been revised. A notable change is the awarding of 37 points for between 30-39pc on a higher level paper. Also of huge signficance is that points will no longer go up in standard steps of five and 10. Different increments will be used between grades: e.g. H1 gets 100 points, while H2 gets 88 (12 lower) and H3 gets 77 (11 lower). The new scale allows for students to score anything from 0 to 625, rather than only have totals ending in five or zero, which resulted in large numbers clustered on the same points, The greater differentiation in scores will minimise random selection. All CAO applicants in 2017 are being awarded points under the new scale, no matter when they sat the Leaving Certificate. Bonus points for higher level maths still apply. Today, there will be many students who will convince themselves, unnecessarily, that they will not receive an offer for their desired course and will begin to panic. Read more: We expect that the overall trend will be that, on average, cut off points will be down, which is a good thing for students. However, it is difficult to say where, and by how much. It is also inevitable that some courses will see an increase in the points cut-off. The best advice for those anxiously awaiting their CAO offers is to be patient. Try not to overthink what will happen. Wait to see the offers and make decisions based on this, and this alone. Anyone with any concern should contact the National Parents Council post primary helpline and talk it through with a guidance counsellor. Don't panic! You have done the work and you will have options regardless of what happens on Monday. Aoife Walsh is a guidance counsellor at Malahide Community School, Co Dublin There is plenty available for students who are only now considering their post-school study options, or who may be rethinking their original plans, writes Aoife Walsh CAO places available Every year, at this time, there are a number of vacant college places available through the CAO. These courses were in the CAO handbook but the level of application did not meet the number of places available, so vacancies still exist. These places continue to be available for application, both for those who have already applied to the CAO and those who have not yet submitted a CAO application. At the end of last week, more than 100 CAO courses, at both Level 8 and Level 7/6, appeared on the Available Places list on the CAO website. The list is constantly updated, and, as the CAO processes the Round One offers, it is suspended and will go live again next Tuesday. The list will continue to be refreshed until all offers have been exhausted so it is worthwhile checking back regularly. If applicants have already submitted a CAO application, there is no charge to apply for a vacant place. Such applicants will be asked to resubmit their CAO list on the vacant places facility on the CAO website. In the new list, they can resubmit any courses for which they still wish to be considered and add any new courses with a vacant place for which they wish to apply, in order of preference. Those who have not previously made a CAO application can do so now, for a fee, listing all courses for which they would like to be considered, in order of preference. Private colleges As well as publicly-funded higher education colleges, such as universities and institutes of technology, there are also a number of long-established private third-level colleges, with strong track records, and offering courses both within the CAO and/or through direct application. Among the better known of these is DBS, Dublin, which has more than 40 courses in the CAO and specialises in business, law, arts, media, social science, humanities and psychology, but others as well. Also very popular is Griffith College, with campuses in Dublin, Cork and Limerick, where the wide variety of courses includes computing, architecture, fashion design, photography, music production, business, accounting and finance, journalism and music. Griffith College also provides on-campus accommodation at its Dublin campus on South Circular Road, which is open both to its own students and to those enrolled in other colleges. The colleges are very attuned to changing trends and maintain course offerings that tap into demand from students and employers and often fill a gap in the market. Many school-leavers, through their CAO research, will already be familiar with these and other independent colleges and their courses, and may, indeed, have applied for them. But, even at this stage, there will still be vacancies on some of these colleges' CAO-listed courses, which will be advertised on the CAO Available Places webpage. Private colleges also offer courses, which are not part of the CAO system. These are known as direct entry courses, and lead to qualifications at all levels. Many colleges will be holding open days and evenings over the coming days and weeks and will be happy to discuss options. Additionally, interested applicants can use the direct entry courses filter on the qualifax.ie 'course finder' to research options. Among the attractions of the private colleges is that they are generally city centre based, making them very accessible for large numbers of students, They also tend to be smaller than publicly-funded higher education institutions, and many students prefer their more intimate atmosphere. Even where a course is listed with the CAO, the cut-off points for entry tend to be lower than in publicly-funded third-level colleges, although an applicant will have to meet any minimum entry requirements. Typically, the annual fees for these colleges are around 5,000, but are tax deductible, at the rate of 20pc. Given that the current student contribution in publicly-funded colleges is 3,000, many families may find that having a child attending a local independent college works out as a more affordable option than moving away for their third-level studies. However, students attending private colleges do not qualify for State grants. Read more: PLC courses Post-Leaving Certificate (PLC) courses are extremely popular - and for good reason. They offer an immense variety of courses, as diverse as animal care , early childhood education and pre-university law, science and engineering, which can prepare school-leavers (and others) to go straight into the workplace, or act as a stepping stone to third-level. With all the talk about points and the fierce competition for CAO places around that process, it is worth noting that thousands of students enter college every year having used their PLC results as the basis for their application. In many cases, such students end up on a desired third-level programme, for which, a year earlier they would not have had the points. Having done a PLC, a student then has the choice of applying to the CAO on the basis of their PLC results, or using Leaving Cert points. They may submit both and the better of the two will be chosen. The pressure of the Leaving Cert means that many sixth years are very unsure of what to do next, and lack confidence about making the right choice, and may use a PLC as a breathing space to build some essential skills, while getting a taste of a particular area of study. A big advantage of PLCs is that entry is not based on points, and all applicants are interviewed. PLCs are available in stand-alone FE colleges all over the country and in many second-level schools. FE colleges come under the umbrella of the 16 local education and training boards (ETBs). In one example, City of Dublin ETB has 15 colleges across the capital offering a choice of more than 400 courses at levels 5 and 6. PLC courses are offered at level 5 (one year) and level 6 (two years). Many colleges have been accepting applications and conducting interviews since January, however most do not have closing dates and will continue to consider applicants until all places have been filled. While many courses will already be filled, it is likely that all colleges will have places available on some courses. Applications are made directly to colleges and anyone interested should contact their local colleges for informaiton about available courses and interview dates. As well as a local college, good starting points for anyone interested in researching or pursuing a PLC is to check with the local ETB, as well as the recently-launched fetchcourses.ie, website, a one-stop shop for all 5,000 further education courses, including PLCs. The website allows for searches using a variety of keywords, such as by location or course category. Fetchcourses.ie was launched in June and is an initiative of the further education and training authority, Solas. The website provides a wealth of information on what each course involves, when they start and at what location. In time, it will be possible to use the website to apply online for any course, but at the moment that facility is restricted to a limited number of courses PLC participants are eligible to apply for a student grant. UK colleges If you are willing to travel, the UK equivalent of the CAO, UCAS, is currently undergoing a process called Clearing. Clearing is where places at third-level institutions in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which are not already filled are available for applications. The requirements for entry for and process of application to a third-level college in the UK is different from what pertains in Ireland and, as a result, applicants who may not achieve the necessary points or meet the requirements for a course in the CAO, may fulfil the more subject-specific requirement for a similar course in the UK. Those interested can apply now even if they have not used UCAS before. Lists of available places are released on ucas.co.ac and applicants deal directly with each institution. If you choose to apply for Clearing, it is important to start this process as soon as possible even if you are not sure you will take the place. This is because even though Clearing remains open until September, courses will be removed as they are filled. The earlier you apply, the more choice you will have. For those who have already applied to UCAS, a process known as Adjustment opens tomorrow, whereby applicants who have performed better than expected in exams can apply for places that not have been available to them previously. While Brexit has raised uncertainties, any student from the Republic of Ireland, entering a UK college this year is guaranteed that they can finish their course on existing terms. Survivors of the Carrickmines fire disaster have moved back to the same location where their loved ones perished nearly two years ago. The new, state-of-the-art halting site, complete with fire walls, was provided by Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council for 11 people, including two orphaned children. However, Kathleen McDonagh, a sister of one of the victims, said the council should have allocated permanent structures years ago. "I don't care that they've built these houses, they can have them back if they want because they are no good to us now," she said. "What good is a house to you when 11 members of your family are gone? "If they gave me a house and it was full of gold, it would be no good to me, because it is not bringing my family back." Since the 2015 inferno, the families had been living in a council-owned car park in Ballyogan, a site which they said lacked basic services. "We were housed in a car park for two years," added Ms McDonagh. Five adults and five children perished in the Carrickmines blaze on October 10, 2015. Willie Lynch (25) and Tara Gilbert (27) died alongside their daughters Kelsey and Jodie. Ms Gilbert was four months pregnant. Thomas Connors (27) and his wife Sylvia (25) and their children Jim (5), Christy (2) and six-month-old Mary also lost their lives in the fire. A brother of Mr Lynch, Jimmy (39), also died. The fire began in the kitchen and spread quickly, engulfing the entire unit. Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council said the new development was delivered following a public consultation process. "Temporary accommodation was provided for the family in Ballyogan," said a spokesperson. "Within nine weeks, permanent grouped housing at Glendruid was offered to the family but their preference was to remain in the immediate Carrickmines/Glenamuck area. "A site in Glenamuck was identified and discussed in detail with the family and the location of this site was agreeable to the family." Meanwhile, local groups have expressed their "disgust" over the apparent destruction of a statue commemorating the Carrickmines victims. The statue of the Virgin Mary, erected just metres from where the fire occurred, was recently found broken in several places. The apparent act of vandalism was noticed by Labour Party councillor Peter O'Brien. "If it was really vandalised then I'm just lost for words - it's appalling. It's disrespectful not just for the residents, but for the victims of the fire," he said. Jim O'Brien of the Bray Travellers Community Development Group told the Irish Independent that it should be treated as a criminal offence, if it is proven to have been deliberate. Statue erected in Ennis in 2011 has sparked heavy debate among locals in Co Clare (Photo: Barry Wrafter) A statue erected in Ennis in 2011 has now sparked heavy debate among locals. The statue is dedicated to the Sisters of Mercy and is located near the site of a former industrial school. However, in the wake of the Ryan Report many locals think the statue should be removed. Local Brian McMahon told RTEs Liveline the statue which depicts a nun, mother and baby is a "distortion of history". "Given what we know of the Sisters of Mercy and the widespread abuse in industry schools, I find it very inappropriate," he said. Brian said he was born into a mother and baby home. "Imagine if there was a statue put up in Tuam about the Bon Secours Sisters. I physically want to get sick when I see it or I want to go at it with a sledgehammer but Im not going to do that," he continued. "I think it is very arrogant. The Sisters of Mercy profited from this apparatus were children were obtained and abused. We have a sanitisation of history. "Its distortion of history. "Its totally ridiculous. We know what happened. We know what the Sisters of Mercy were involved in. Theres truth and theres lies. This is a distortion of truth," he added. In a Liveline programme fully dedicated the issue, Noel Crowley of the Ennis Culture Initiative said the good work the Sisters of Mercy did cant be forgotten. Noel, who commissioned the statue, said he was granted planning permission to place it on the wall of the site which is now a museum. He said the Sisters of Mercy were aware of the plans to erect the statue but he did not consult with local Ennis people or local media. "We gave our plans to the Urban Council," he said, adding that there were no objections. "You cant throw out the baby with the bathwater. "They did tremendous work in Ennis. They were invited in by parishioners and were educating 400 young children who would not have been educated because they were too poor. "You have to acknowledge the good work that was done as well as complain about the bad things," Noel added. He said there was no denying the abuse but the statue was to commemorate what he said was good work done by the Sisters of Mercy. He added that there was another memorial to the victims of abuse in Ennis. Noel said the local Tidy Towns Committee gave a financial contribution but the rest was raised by the Ennis Culture Initiative. He said a "normal person" would approach the museum from another direction to avoid offence. "Theres about three different ways to approach it. The normal persons reaction would be to use the other two ways." The sculptor of the statue joined the Joe Duffy hosted show to raise his own opinion. Barry Wrafter, a sculptor in Ennis, said the commission wouldnt be his chosen subject. "It wouldnt be my chosen subject. Id call it insipid but work is work for an artist," he said. He did not put a name on the statue and has it down as simply "Sisters of Mercy sculpture". Barry said another commission by the Ennis Urban Council was advertised at the same time to make a sculpture commemorating the victims of industrial schools but that fell through. He questioned the timing of Noels commission. "Its a bit of a coincidence. It was at the exact same time. The timing is very strange," he added. He also said that he found it difficult to work with Noel while Noel said the reverse was also true. Caller Mary Ronayne defended Barry as she is an artist herself. "I worked as an artist in Germany and we were commissioned to redesign a very nasty ex-Nazi war camp. It was commissioned by Austrian government to change the whole energy of what went on there where very many young boys were killed," she told Liveline. She believes statue should be removed as "its too hurtful." "Im actually quite offended by the gentleman who commissioned the statue. He has a dismissive attitude." However, not everyone who called in agreed the statue should be removed. Joe OSullivan argued that there should be more such statues. "There should be a statue in every town in the country. I admit the conditions were harsh but the contributions the religious orders have made in this country are underrepresented," he said. "Of course there was abuse. We cant deny that. If there was 10% abused there was 90% success," he added. Niall Fitzgibbon also agreed with Noel and Joe. "I think it should stay. It creates dialogue of what was good and bad at the time. I dont think they should take it out. I was witness and victim to some of that bad," he said. Noel said he was thankful to the religious orders that raised him when his mother couldnt. "I was fed 3 times a day. I was educated up to a certain point and my health was looked after up to a certain point," he said. Noel said he went into St Theresas in Blackrock at 1957 after his father died and his mother could not take care of him and brother while sustaining her new mortgage. "By and large the people were good. I didnt always want to thank them but I do now. It enabled my mother to get some work and some money to keep a roof over her head until she remarried. "She managed to keep the house until then," Noel said. He didnt deny there was abuse or cruelty and said he experienced it himself. "Not everyone can move on at the same time and some of them wont ever move on. There were really good people and most of them were," he said. "Some of the cruelness was inflicted on me. It was people losing their tempers. Its everywhere, its not just in institutions. "I had a lot of issues to deal with after it. Im still trying to deal with stuff but people who didnt go through institutions didnt have it easy either," he added. Noel said there were also probably abandonment issues affecting him too but he added that he didnt know how things were for her after her fathers death. "We did discuss it. Not in the same detail that I would have liked now. She told us through the years why she had to do it. I didnt always accept it but through counselling Ive began to understand and I probably would have done the same thing. What was she to do?" he said. He thought the statue was a positive thing. "I think its good. I would agree with people with an opposing opinion but I would have to say they looked after me as well," Noel added. However, a woman named Catherine said the statue had to go. "There was a rotten fiasco of child abuse. I agree this statue has to go. Ennis is a small town in rural Ireland. The catholic church is very prominent here. Putting these statues and plaques in public spaces sanitising the subject is horrific," she said. "There should be a low that nothing be erected after the Ryan report," she added. "The Sisters of Mercy did no good for Ireland. None whatsoever. They traded in children," Catherine said. Nora Donnelly said that while she knew horrible things were going on she considered the Mercy Sisters as "brave and stalwart. "The Mercy Sisters have been hung, drawn and quartered and the floor has been wiped with them. I know a lot of Mercy Sisters for being brave, stalwart and imaginative women. "I saw them in Ennis and Ennistymon. I saw them feeding them. I saw spirit of kindness and caring," she said. Another woman named Mary also told the Liveline show that she was "delighted and proud" the work of the nuns was being recognised. "The children were well dressed and well looked after. The nuns did everything and anything for them. Im delighted and very proud to be in Ennis. The good that has been in those people has been recognised at last," she said. Siobhan Ni Bhuachalla argued that the Sisters of Mercy did no good in Ireland. "They didnt do any good in educating children. They only educated them on the back of the most unfortunate children and used them as slaves," she said. She said she experienced it first hand in Tipperary. "I was one of those slaves. They were being paid by the state per head for us poor orphans," she added. A man and a mother-of-six have died, and another three people including a child were injured, after a gangland style attack on a house in north Dublin this evening. Emergency services are at the scene of the shooting in Balbutcher Drive in Ballymun. A source said paramedics were working on a man in his 30s outside the home while the woman, in her 40s, was inside the building. They have both passed away following the incident. Two other people - a woman and a man - are being treated for less serious injuries at the Mater Hospital. The attack happened at approximately 4pm in a housing estate in Ballymun. Expand Close The scene of a shooting in Dublin housing estate / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The scene of a shooting in Dublin housing estate Investigation Gardai have recovered a sub machine gun and a handgun they believe were used in the shooting. Gardai are investigating if the victims of today's shooting were not the intended targets. Sources said that a man, who has a number of previous convictions, fled from the scene and was uninjured in the incident. The dead woman is in her 40s and lived at the house with her own mother who is in her 70s. This older woman was in hospital at the time of the attack receiving treatment for a serious illness. Expand Close Scene of shooting in Ballymun housing estate / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Scene of shooting in Ballymun housing estate A younger woman, who is related to the female murder victim, also suffered gunshot injuries in the shooting. A source said this woman was holding a baby, and standing in a kitchen of the home, at the time of the incident. The male victim was shot while sitting in a car at the front of the home. Another man also suffered gunshot injuries. Expand Close Scene of shooting in Ballymun housing estate / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Scene of shooting in Ballymun housing estate A silver Opel Zafira with 08 LS plates was found partially burnt out a short distance from the scene. Eye-witness Expand Close The scene at Bulbutcher Drive in Ballymun / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The scene at Bulbutcher Drive in Ballymun A grandmother has told how she was alerted to the incident after hearing "what sounded like dozens of bullets" and then "screaming babies". Carmel Byrne said: "It was like a machine gun going off. My daughter came out to me and said, 'did you hear that?'" The pair made their way from their home on Balbutcher Lane to Balbutcher Drive where the shooting occurred. "I could hear the babies screaming." She continued: "We saw a fellow jump over the wall, there was only of them there that I saw." The mother and daughter went inside the home where they saw the female victim, a mother in her 40s, was lying on the floor. Ms Byrne said the children were carried out of the building. "I knew that she [female victim] was gone so I went outside and started pushing on his chest. I didn't know who he was." Ms Byrne said emergency services arrived a short time later. "How could they do this? How could they do it with the babies there? "I just want to see whoever did this caught." Ms Byrne continued: "She [female victim] was in the hall when I got there. I told everybody to 'get the f*** out' in case he was going to come back. "The chap was in the car. I kept the pressure on, I kept him alive. He was alone in the car, in the driver seat. "He was shot in the hand, heart and chest. He had a pulse when I was with him but it was only a faint pulse. There was a lot of blood." She continued: "There was another fellow begging me to keep him going. "The guards and the ambulance were there in a few minutes. "Everybody was hysterical down there." Ms Byrne, a mother of five, said there were two others injured in the area but "they seemed fine". Ms Byrne said: "I'm in total shock." "When I went down and seen who it was, it was like seeing your own daughter. "She was lovely, so gentle and kind." Dublin Bus issued a statement saying the No.13 will not be travelling via Balbutcher lane until further notice. "Instead it will operate up and down the Ballymun Road (R108). We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused." Appeal #DBSvcUpdate #DB13 not serving Balbutcher lane until further notice due to an incident in Ballymun.https://t.co/7hUmVdpGfU Dublin Bus (@dublinbusnews) August 16, 2017 Speaking at Ballymun Garda Station, Chief Supt Lorraine Wheatley said: "We are appealing for information in relation to a shooting at 4pm today in Balbutcher Drive. "Four people were injured, two fatally. An incident room has been set up at Ballymun garda station and the technical bureau are at the scene. "I'm appealing to the community if they have any information to come forward." Two vehicles have been recovered including a Solver Opel Safira on Balbutcher Drive with a registration number 08 LS 3101. A Golf GtI 06, registration LH 3466, was also found partially burnt out at Santry Close in the aftermath of the shooting. The senior garda confirmed that a firearm believed to have been used in the shooting was also recovered. Commenting on the victims, Chief Supt Wheatley said the fatally wounded female was a mother to six children. A child also suffered minor injuries but these were not gunshot injuries. Reaction Local TD Noel Rock said: "This is the worst thing to happen in Ballymun in many years, my sympathies are with the deceased and my thoughts with the injured. "I hope that gardai are successful in their enquiries, assisted by the community where necessary and that order is restored and justice is done. It's frustrating to see this happening in Ballymun when we all know that the community is much more than this kind of bad news." Roisin Shortall, TD for Ballymun and co-leader of the Social Democrats, expressed her horror at the shooting. She said she was concerned about the impacts of the violence on the local community in Ballymun. "This afternoon's gun attack in Ballymun where two people lost their lives and a number of other people were seriously injured has been met with shock by the local community who are terrified that recent tensions within the area will now escalate further and spill over into their communities," the TD said. "Todays events are shocking and a huge disappointment to the many community leaders and residents in Ballymun who are building a peaceful community in which families can rear their children in safety, older people can feel secure in their homes and people can go about their ordinary business without fear. "The horrific incident is a chilling reminder of the extent of gangland crime on Dublins streets." She added; "The incident should act as a wakeup call to the Government that gangland crime in Dublin remains prevalent and wreaks havoc across the city and in many local communities. It is crucial to invest in adequate policing and it is also crucial to invest in and to sustain investment in building safe and strong communities across the city." Minister for Justice and Equality, Charlie Flanagan TD, condemned the shooting. This outrageous attack is totally unacceptable and I utterly deplore this shooting which has tragically resulted in the loss of two lives as well as others injured. "These ruthless people have no regard for human life and this will not be tolerated. The gardai continue to confront this threat daily and are determined to see those involved brought to justice. This callous, cold-blooded violence has no place in our communities - the Government and gardai stand with the people of Ballymun against such despicable acts and will continue to ensure there is high visibility policing to combat such attacks, including extensive armed checkpoints across the city, for as long as necessary. More than 160 current students at an Irish university have said they have experienced serious sexual assaults, a new survey has reported. The 'Stand Together Survey' also found that in the majority of cases, the victim knew the perpetrator and believed that their attacker was drunk or high on drugs. The survey, carried out at Queen's University Belfast, also found that nearly half of the victims never mentioned the attack to anyone. More than 3,000 QUB students - 12.5pc of the total - answered questions on their non-consensual sexual experiences. A total of 5.5% - around 165 - said they had experienced a non-consensual penetrative assault while studying at the south Belfast institution. The survey includes what is legally defined as rape, but includes serious sexual assaults that go beyond this definition. But only 6.4pc - approximately 10 - of those 165 Queen's students considered themselves to have been sexually assaulted. Of the Queen's students who had suffered a serious sexual assault, 74pc (around 120) said they knew the perpetrator and 70.4pc (around 116) indicated the perpetrator was under the influence of alcohol. Almost half (43.8pc) of those who experienced a serious sexual assault or an attempt at one told no-one about the experience. This caused a negative impact on the mental health of 60.9pc (around 100) of those victims, with half (49.1pc) missing class as a result. The survey was carried out by Student Consent Research Collaboration (SCORE), a group of six Queen's students focused on changing attitudes towards sexual consent. Groups most likely to be at risk were identified, with the survey also considering the role of drugs and alcohol, the effect on wellbeing and levels of reporting to official bodies. Eimear Haughey, founder of SCORE, said the survey showed a lack of clear understanding around sexual consent and called for students to receive "robust fact-based education" on the issue. "The lack of clear understanding surrounding sexual consent is emphasised by only 6.4% considering themselves to have been sexually assaulted," she said. "Young people deserve a level of education about consent which would allow them to know what sexual assault is and if it has happened to them." Ms Haughey said she hoped education would be the first step towards lowering the rate of sexual crimes, improving support for victims and increasing understanding of sexual consent. John Devaney, Senior Lecturer at Queen's School of Social Sciences, Education and Social Work welcomed the survey. "Sexual violence is a significant societal issue, and it is very encouraging to see students and staff from Queen's University Belfast seeking to better understand the risks that some students experience while in higher education," he said. "Throughout the study, the SCORE team have been committed to using the knowledge gained through the research to inform best practice - and it is positive to see the university engage with the important findings and the implications for both the institution and wider society." For the second year running, first year students at Queen's will be offered peer-led consent workshops backed by the university. Other UK higher education institutions including Oxford, Cambridge, Warwick and York have run similar classes in recent years. In some cases, the classes have sharply divided opinion with a number of students calling them patronising and unneccessary. Jessica Elder, student welfast officer of Queen's Students' Union, said, however, that the classes were vital and among a number of initiatives planned to raise awareness on campus for students. "This survey will be of tremendous value for future research and I applaud the SCORE Committee for their commitment and dedication," she said. "The research re-iterates the message we hear time and time again, that institutions have a role to play in educating and protecting their students." A spokesman for Queen's said the university "is committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of its students and staff". "The Universities UK (UUK) 'Changing the Culture' Report, published in October 2016 , focused on violence against women, harassment and hate crime, and revealed that these issues are relevant to wider society," they said. "Since the publication of the national UUK Report, Queen's has been working pro-actively with the Students' Union and external partners to take forward a range of actions, including awareness-raising campaigns and education programmes around consent, development of a Sexual Misconduct Policy and the recruitment of a new member of staff who will specialise in supporting safe and healthy relationships." Nexus NI - which offers counselling and support to victims of sexual abuse, and those who have experienced rape and sexual assault - commended the students who worked on the report. "Whilst the findings may be distressing or surprising for people to read our focus goes beyond the stats, every percentage is a person, a life that has been impacted by some form of sexual violence and potentially someone who needs our help," a spokesman said. "We hope that those victims who did share their experiences via the survey (and indeed anyone affected by sexual violence) know that these inci dents were not their fault and there are organisations such as Nexus who are here to help them." The widow of an innocent man shot dead by the Kinahan gang has revealed that the hitman placed the gun over their daughter's shoulder before opening fire. Dublin council worker Trevor O'Neill (41) was shot dead in a case of mistaken identity on exactly a year ago tomorrow. Speaking to The Irish Sun, his partner Suzanne Power from Dublin said her children witnessed the murder of their father while on holiday in Spain. I dont have to explain to my children what happened because they were there they saw it. That awful night will stay with them forever and no child should have to endure this, she said. Expand Close MISTAKEN IDENTITY: Gun murder victim Trevor ONeill / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp MISTAKEN IDENTITY: Gun murder victim Trevor ONeill Suzanne (36), from Drimnagh, said the hitman placed the gun over her daughters shoulder before opening fire. Any of us could have been killed that night, she added. On August 17, 2016 Mr O'Neill became the second innocent victim of the Kinahan-Hutch feud as he was shot in the back by a contract killer allegedly hired by Christy Kinahans mob to target Gerry The Monk Hutchs nephew Jonathan. A council worker for Dublin City Council, Trevor had met Hutch because they were staying in the same apartment complex in Costa de la Calma, Majorca. Trevor was just so outgoing, friendly, decent and that is what cost him his life. His biggest problem was that he talked to everyone this is why hes in a grave today, Suzanne added. Suzanne had been in a relationship with Trevor for 20 years and had three children, 12-year-old Ceadaoin, eight-year-old Layla and six-year-old Cody. We never imagined in a million years an ordinary family like ours would be caught up in this mayhem. Nothing can prepare you for something like this and weve been living a nightmare this last year, she added. Suzanne, who had been holidaying in the area since she was 16, told The Irish Sun it was too painful for her children to visit Trevors grave so she has built a memorial in their Drimnagh home. People say time heals but it doesnt I know for me personally nobody sees what its like for me at night when Im on my own. Nobody sees me sitting there crying when Im on my own. Something as simple as seeing an ambulance and things people take for granted can bring back the horror of losing Trevor. Every day Im reminded of what happened, she added. She said his death has affected all of his friends and family. Each and every one of his friends are broken-hearted. My neighbours still cant believe hes not coming in because he looked after everyone in the area, she added. Suzanne added that she is now afraid of going into a post office in case it gets robbed and her sister Caroline is afraid of people coming into work with motorcycle helmets. Its affected the whole family, she said. She said she gave the interview to The Irish Sun to pay tribute to a wonderful man, partner and father . The same newspaper reports that former Lord Mayor Brendan Carr plans to honour Trevor at next months council meeting. This disgusting murder hurt everyone at the council. It was also an attack on the people of Dublin, he said. Parents have been told "not to be blind" to their children's drinking, as thousands of students prepare to celebrate their Leaving Cert results tonight. According to research carried out by Drinkaware, parents are the biggest influence on young people's decisions around alcohol. "The post-results celebrations do not have to be synonymous with the now expected reports about drunken teenagers spilling out of nightclubs across the country," Dr Liam Twomey, chief medical officer of Drinkaware, said. Dr Twomey believes young people are now looking for alternatives to alcohol and that parents can help provide alternatives to a drunken night out. "It's important for parents not to be blind to what their children are doing, you need to be proactive," he told the Irish Independent. He said it was "sooner the better" that the Public Health Bill was passed, to tackle the long-term problem of alcohol consumption among youths. Meanwhile, Alcohol Action Ireland has said alcohol promotions on offer for students will lead to "high-risk" outcomes tonight. Eunan McKinney, head of advocacy at Alcohol Action Ireland, said "a lot these kids will end up in places they haven't planned". "Parents need to be open with their conversations with the children, and have frank understanding of their plans," he said. Mr McKinney said that price-based promotions continued to be used to attract young people, who were "keenly price-sensitive" and who were often deliberately targeted by these promotions. Ireland will be "realistic and fair" in relation to the Brexit negotiations around the border but also "stubborn", Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has said. Responding to the publication of the UK's policy paper on Northern Ireland, the minister said the Government won't be "picking fights for the sake of it". Read More He welcomed the papers but said much of the content needs to teased out and Ireland is preparing for the "worst case scenario". Mr Coveney said Ireland will not allow itself become a pawn in the negotiations between the EU and the UK. He said the developing situation would be "a good test of Europe in terms of protecting the interests of small countries". The minister said the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic must remain open but for that to happen it will require an agreement that "doesn't have any precedent". "There are still significant questions that are unanswered," he said. Forensically enhanced CCTV footage taken from outside Trevor's office at Bank of Ireland Asset Management on Leeson Street. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins Main: A truck carrying gravel arrives at the scene of the search for the body of Trevor Deely in Chapelizod in Dublin. Photo: Colin Keegan Trevor Deely right and the scene (top left) where gardai are searching. Enhanced CCTV footage (below left) was released earlier this year Gardai have uncovered a gun in the search of derelict land following a tip-off about the final resting place of Trevor Deely. It is understood the firearm was located yesterday by officers searching the scrubland in Chapelizod following fresh information from an informant. Mr Deely was just 22 when he disappeared following a night out in Dublin city centre almost 17 years ago. Gardai say that information suggesting that his body had been buried in a three-acre site at Chapelizod was being treated as credible. It came from a source that had been assessed by officers before a decision was made to carry out a search of the area. Last night, the Irish Independent learned that the gun had been recovered on the site, in what could be the most significant development in the case yet. It is not yet clear whether the weapon is in any way linked to the disappearance of Mr Deely. A battery of tests will be conducted on the firearm as the greater search of the area continues. Gardai said they could take several weeks and leave no stone unturned in the search of the derelict land for the body of the missing man. Officers have divided the search area in Chapelizod into four separate zones. Read More They have been slowly working their way to the area which was identified as Mr Deely's grave by the informant. Gardai have vowed to pursue the lead with every effort and are hopeful it could produce a result - with the operation expected to take at least a fortnight and possibly much longer. However, officers are aware many other leads have been checked out fully during their inquiries since Mr Deely disappeared in December 2000, without yielding any success. Pursued "This is a line of inquiry that has to be fully pursued until we are satisfied we have made every effort with it and there is a chance that it could produce a result," one officer said. Gardai pointed out they had no evidence, at this stage, to say that he had been murdered. Mr Deely, a Bank of Ireland worker, was last seen in the early hours of December 8, 2000, in the Haddington Road area of the city centre. The last known images of him were captured by a CCTV camera at the junction of Haddington Road and Baggot Street at 4.14am. A man dressed in black, who gardai believe also spoke to Mr Deely outside his place of work minutes previously, can be seen following him in the direction of Haddington Road. This footage was only made public earlier this year after a specialist unit, set up in Pearse Street garda station to review the case, secured improved CCTV images. Read More The individual who has given information to gardai has not supplied any motive for the alleged murder of Mr Deely. It has been claimed that he was killed after having an interaction with a criminal on the morning of his disappearance. It is understood that the source of the latest information in the case was not influenced by the offer last April of a 100,000 reward. Officers also said it was not linked to any leads that had been examined in the past. As the dig got under way this week, the continuous flow of gardai entering the sealed-off woodland in Chapelizod marked just how extensive their recent search has become. Heavy excavation machinery has also been posted at the site in recent days. Timeline of Trevor Deely's disappearance Thursday, December 7, 2000: Trevor Deely finishes work at Bank of Ireland Asset Management at Leeson Street Bridge and goes to Copper Face Jacks nightclub, on Harcourt Street, with colleagues. Friday, December 8: Trevor and his friends go to Buck Whaley's, on Lower Leeson Street. He leaves the nightclub at 3.25am. 3.30am: Trevor arrives at his office and is seen speaking briefly to a man believed to be taking shelter there. Gardai want to speak to this man after CCTV footage was enhanced. Trevor enters the office and logs on to his computer. He has a cup of tea with a colleague who is working the night shift. 4am: Trevor leaves his office with a bank umbrella as it is raining heavily at the time. 4.06am: Trevor rings his friend Glen Cullen, who is asleep in Naas, Co Kildare. He leaves a voicemail telling him he will call later. 4.14am: Trevor is recorded on CCTV walking past Bank of Ireland, at the junction of Haddington Road and Baggot Street Bridge. This is now a pizza restaurant. His back is to the corner of this junction. Enhanced footage shows a man walking a short distance behind him. Gardai are investigating if this is the man seen speaking briefly to Trevor at 3.30am. This is the last sighting of Trevor. April 2017: In the years since Trevor's disappearance, his family have made numerous appeals for information. In April of this year, a 100,000 reward was offered for information. His family issued an emotional plea for a man seen talking to Trevor on the night he vanished, in December 2000, to come forward. August 2017: It was announced gardai were to begin digging at a site in Chapelizod, some 8km from where Trevor was last seen. He famously snapped up a 10-bedroom, three-kitchen home in leafy Hampstead a couple of years ago and Jamie Oliver's wife appears hell-bent on filling it. Evidently, Jools Oliver adores being pregnant (or picking out unusual baby names) because according to the chef, she's nowhere near done with expanding her brood. The couple already have Poppy Honey Rosie (15) Daisy Boo Pamela (14); Petal Blossom Rainbow (8); Buddy Bear Maurice (6) and River Rocket Blue Dallas, who turned one earlier this month. And while Jools is raring to go when it comes to a potential baby number six, it appears Jamie is not overly enthused. "It is a struggle with nappies all over the house and stair gates, we've got three sets of kids - we've got teenagers so that's revision, hormones, the whole thing," says Jamie. Expand Close Jamie Oliver and his brood / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Jamie Oliver and his brood "And they're girls, which is really hard and they're not interested in much I've got to offer. And then the others are six and eight and I'm pretty good at that. And then one is a baby and we're back to the beginning. "I haven't got any more room in the car, so we'd have to buy a bus. "But Jools would love me to say 'never say never'. She'd tell me not to rule it out." If anyone can let them know about the ups and downs of having six children, it's Ballyfermot-based supermum Debbie Harmon. Expand Close Chaos: Debbie Harmon's Ballyfermot home is often filled with kids; her own six, and several of their friends. "When you cook for so many, one or two more don't make a difference." / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Chaos: Debbie Harmon's Ballyfermot home is often filled with kids; her own six, and several of their friends. "When you cook for so many, one or two more don't make a difference." At 21, and after suffering four miscarriages, Debbie gave birth to her first child Alanna (now 15). Five more children - Evan (11), Lucy (8), Ellie (6), Mason (4) and Jayden (2) - followed thereafter. "A lot of people just call me The Brady Bunch," she smiles. "Every time they see me I have a pram and some kids hanging off it. "A lot of people tell me, 'I don't know how you cope with six, when I can barely deal with two'." After she had Alanna, Debbie and her husband Joe said that they would put off having more children. And after she gave birth to Mason without pain relief, she swore she would have no more children. Yet Debbie's love of pregnancy always won out in the end. "I absolutely love it," she says. "I'm one of the lucky ones that glows. I'm always really healthy. In fact, I would have kept going if the Coombe hadn't told me that I couldn't have any more babies. After so many pregnancies [Debbie would endure two more miscarriages before Lucy was born], my stomach was a bit like a jumper that has been stretched too much." From the outset, new motherhood, hard won though it was, didn't come easy. "I'd been working for a pharmaceutical company before I had Alanna, and on a couple of occasions, the baby had stopped breathing and was put on a heart monitor," recalls Debbie (36). No creche would take her so I had to give up work. And then," she adds with a smile, "all these kids ended up coming. And they're all blessings." In the thick of a hectic day, Debbie admits, it can feel like anything but. "It does be hard, and I do be pulling my hair out with them sometimes," she says. "All you can ever hear in my house is 'Mam. Mam. Mam'. One spills a drink, the other wants a drink, another one falls off the chair. It's a miracle if I can ever talk on the phone. "I don't get time to go to the hairdressers: in fact, a woman has to come to my place for that. "Nothing comes easy," she adds. "People do ask, 'how can you cope with six?' but you just get on with it." Yet the chaos, Debbie says, suits her. "My house is always full with my kids and their friends," she explains. "All the other kids call me 'Mam' and I'm always feeding them. When you cook for so many, one or two doesn't make a difference." Key to the smooth running of their Ballyfermot home, says Debbie, is a watertight regime. She does three loads of laundry a day ("I can't handle a basket of dirty washing lying around"), and has the pre-school routine down to the finest of arts. "At night time, I get everyone's piles of clothes ready and, in the morning, I get everyone up for school," she explains. "Everyone sits down to breakfast while I make the lunches and then I say to one of the older ones to get the schoolbags. "Alanna then gets off to the school beside me and I get everyone else into the car for school and the creche. That's my time to clean the place, even though it gets upended in the day, then I start doing the collections at midday, 1.40pm and 2.40pm. When Alanna comes in at 4pm, I put on the dinners. The kids go to after-school clubs like swimming and horse riding. A few times a week, I throw the little ones into the bath. "The funny thing is, I'm usually full of energy. It's only when I sit in the chair for a minute that I get tired. I'm better off not sitting down." Chief among the main advantages of having a large brood is that each of Debbie's children is self-sufficient and sociable. "We were at swimming lessons a while ago and I watched how one mother was standing there, drying her son, helping him put talcum powder on. Mine were seven and drying themselves, laughing at the bigger kid." Financially, having six children is expensive, but there are ways to make ends meet if you're smart, says Debbie. Debbie's younger kids have long benefited from their older siblings' clothes, cots and buggies. Her older children, meanwhile, have acquired a taste for the finer things in life. Aside from that, the weekly shop for the family of 8 is around 230 a week. "They have to have the best on them, designer stuff," says Debbie of her teenagers. "Alanna's schoolbag was 70 this year, and Evan's was 75." Last week, Debbie gave away Jayden's cot: the first time in 15 years there hasn't been a cot in the house. Certain that Jayden will be her youngest, she has also started looking at local training courses, with a view of working with the elderly in a caring capacity. "They will all be in creche or school from September onwards," says Debbie. "I was even thinking, 'maybe I'll join a gym'. I'm dying to get out and mix with people again." In the meantime, Debbie has some steadfast advice for the Olivers, or anyone with a brood of six in their crosshairs: "Never give the kids too much," she says. "It just makes them greedy. I'd give them jobs around the house and make sure they contribute. I wish I'd thought of it years ago mine wouldn't lift the hoover for you." Our 'electric future' could mean paying annual road tax of 1,200 to make up for the lower amounts of VRT and VAT from greener cars to the Exchequer. THE questions posed by a future of electric cars run far and deep. They will affect us in a profound way, not least because they could mean paying 1,200 a year on road tax. That is just one of many possibilities - and questions - raised by the much-vaunted new era. Among some of the questions are: Will we have to build more power stations to fuel the surge in anticipated demand for electric vehicles (EVs)? How will the network of traditional fuel forecourts here be impacted? Will there be an adverse effect on employment in the motor industry, one of the biggest sectors of the economy? Such issues may appear academic now considering that, with all the incentives available, so few people are buying electric cars. But we're told there will be a take-off in purchases relatively soon. Yet before that can happen, problems perceived to be holding back sales need to be addressed. There are a variety of reasons for our low take-up but 'range anxiety' is still a prime concern for many. Tens of thousands commute to Dublin and our larger cities every day. Why don't they use electric cars? They're clearly spending a fortune on petrol and diesel, tax and insurance. An electric car would be much cheaper to run. And it would be much better for the environment and our shared air quality. Importantly, 'range anxiety' isn't just about whether an electric car can make it from A to B. It is heavily influenced by the perception that it can take a long time to charge an EV. And time, for most working people, is of the essence. By contrast, a commuter's (typically) 2-litre diesel/petrol engine is a sturdy, easily fuelled workhorse. When you need fuel, you fill up in a matter of minutes. But if you have to wait to charge your car, midway between Cork and Dublin, it's a big addition of time. Not to mention the delay if there are cars in the queue before you at a charging point. While there may be a network of 1,200 charge points around the country, if we had a mass adoption of EVs would that be enough to meet demand? And then there is that thorny issue of motoring taxation. The average road tax on a combustion-engined car is 600. The road tax on EVs is just 120. In the first half of the year the Exchequer took 961.7m in car-sale taxes. So where would the government recoup such revenues if tens of thousands of people suddenly bought EVs? Not to mention replacing the considerable revenues from excise duties on fuel. In 2016, close to 3bn was collected from this source. The huge amount of motor-related revenue and the difficulties in replacing it could go a long way towards explaining our apparent lack of progress on EVs. Replacing lost fuel excise alone (if you are recharging an EV at home, you won't be able to distinguish at the socket whether electricity was for EV or 'normal' domestic use) would require annual motor tax of 1,200 a year (based on the current fuel tax take of 3bn and a vehicle fleet of 2.5 million). Some see a strong argument for opting for road congestion pricing as an alternative to an increase in motor tax. Essentially, we'd be charged for using EVs in urban locations during peak periods. But rural road users would not be charged, or charged less, for distances travelled. However, a move towards congestion pricing would likely be unpopular, I believe. The government would have to work hard to sell the benefits and fairness of this approach. What can we conclude? We seem set to embark on a second motoring revolution, with EVs playing a leading role. How quickly other types of car are displaced by EVs will depend on several factors, not least environmental considerations and how quickly diesel engines, in particular, are phased out in response to concerns over NOx levels. Recent research from leading investment bank, UBS, suggests that the cost of owning an electric car will fall to the same level as petrol-powered motors by 2018. By 2025, manufacturers are predicted to make 5pc margins on EVs (the same as they make from conventional vehicles today) with electric vehicles accounting for 14pc of global sales. But even this may be too conservative, given widely announced plans by China and India, both with fast growing car fleets, to pursue an EV-based future. Governments may also experiment with tougher measures to wean motorists off dependence on the internal combustion engine: France and the UK plan to ban new petrol and diesel cars from 2040. But as I've outlined, we face a big challenge. Finding a way of substituting new revenue from EVs - a significant 3bn a year at least - will require a radically new approach. Are we ready for the reality checks of an 'electric future'? Only time will tell but at least we should be aware of what could lie in store. Sean McBrien is Head of Motors at Bank of Ireland 'Ireland was always going to be in an invidious position once the red button on Brexit was pushed.' (Stock) Allowing oneself maximum space for negotiation is regarded as smart, but the latest Brexit proposals revealed yesterday by the British government would require the gift of bilocation to be met. Seemingly exhausted by the debate as to whether to plump for a hard or soft Brexit, Theresa May's government has gone for both in seeking to remain both inside and outside the EU. This is akin to looking for alimony after the divorce - and maintaining full conjugal rights for good measure. If the union is broken, one simply has to live with the consequences. Ireland was always going to be in an invidious position once the red button on Brexit was pushed. An angry showdown over customs arrangements is not what we want but it could now be unavoidable. EU Commissioner Phil Hogan is not known for speaking softly. Even so, he was singularly unimpressed by the position paper and called it for what it was, declaring that Ireland could be the "biggest victim of this mess". He has accused the UK of "high-level delusion". Meanwhile, the European Parliament's Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt also dismissed the proposals for its future customs relationship with the EU as "a fantasy". Hopes of securing an interim customs agreement with Brussels to allow the freest possible trade of goods, but also seeking the right to negotiate other trade deals, is simply naive. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said it was akin to having their cake and eating it. The Irish Government, with little choice but to be diplomatic, has damned the proposals with faint praise, choosing to welcome a degree of clarity instead of addressing the substance - or lack thereof - in the package. But the EU's man, Mr Verhofstadt, was unconstrained by such niceties. "To be in and out of the customs union and 'invisible borders' is a fantasy. First need to secure citizens rights and a financial settlement," he thundered on Twitter, - if that medium can accommodate such a natural phenomenon. "Fog in the Channel" on Brexit after 14 months of vacillating and chaotic fumbling is simply unacceptable, given the enormity of the stakes. Leaving Cert just the first act of the play called life The summer of suspense will end today when the Leaving Cert results are finally released. Once upon a time, the exam was the threshold to a career; today, it is just another rung on the ladder to life-long education. For the approximately 60,000 students, though, whatever the results, to have come so far is an achievement and they should console themselves that whether they go on to become a brain surgeon, a rocket scientist or anything else, no other exam will ever be as exacting, as pressurised or as big a pain in the neck as the Leaving. So well done, its over. As someone once noted, tests arent fair. Those that study have an unfair advantage. And it has always been that way. Whatever about that, today there are options and openings in a multitude of fields not even dreamed of a decade ago. No matter what level one enters, the important thing is to stay in touch with something that means something to you, something that you like and can enjoy. Todays job market is very different and students can expect to have to switch paths and reinvent themselves along the way. There will be stops and new starts. But such, as they say, is life. It is worth remembering, whatever your points tally is, that exams are merely a test of your memory, but life is the true test of your learning and everyone has a level playing pitch on that score. Model Iskra Lawrence attends Glamour Women Of The Year 2016 LIVE Summit Breakfast at NeueHouse Hollywood on November 14, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Glamour) Plus-size model Iskra Lawrence had the perfect response to body shamers who criticised unedited paparazzi photos of her. Regarded as a beacon of body positivity, British model Iskra Lawrence frequently speaks out about her journey to self-love - from encouraging us to love our muffin tops to attempting to erase body blame from our vocabulary. It should come as no surprise then that, when faced with a slew of derogatory comments over untouched paparazzi pictures, that she responded in the most perfect way. While recording a segment for swimwear and lingerie brand Aeries new EveryBODY campaign, which promotes happiness and mental wellbeing rather than weight loss, the model was snapped by photographers. Expand Close British model Iskra Lawrence on Santa Monica Pier. Picture: Brian Lindensmith / Splash News / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp British model Iskra Lawrence on Santa Monica Pier. Picture: Brian Lindensmith / Splash News Consequently, images of her posing in a white swimsuit and denim shorts appeared online only to be met with a slew of nasty comments. For someone who wants to promote a happy and healthy body image she certainly doesn't look like this on her Instagram, one person wrote underneath the Daily Mail article. While another added, She looks a lot different to all her other pictures. Pretty average if I'm honest. The wonders of photo shop strikes again. Taking to Instagram, the Worcester-born beauty shared a photograph of herself during the shoot which has since been like more than 160,000 times - where she said shes finally learned to lover her body after years of insecurities. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Grateful I don't hate my legs anymore grateful I see their strength and appreciate my bodies capabilities, she wrote. Lawrence also took the opportunity to thank paparazzi for publishing images of her that arent retouched something the plus-size model has become well-known for. Video of the Day Also I realise I'm highly privileged but damn I love seeing pap pics that aren't retouched and some of those (lightning bolts) and (tiger stripes) she added, referring to her stretch marks. 2010: Miriam O'Callaghan stood out from the crowd in this embellished blue gown. Georgia (far left) and Alannah McGurk with their pose with Miriam O'Callaghan Paul Costelloe with Miriam O'Callaghan and her daughter Alannah McGurk at the launch of Paul Costelloe Living Studio, an exclusive capsule womenswear collection for Dunnes Stores at The Dawson Brasserie. Photo: Kieran Harnett Mother of the bride Miriam O'Callaghan at The Church of The Holy Cross, Kenmare for the wedding of her daughter Alannah McGurk. Photo: Tony Gavin 20/5/2017 The curtain will come down on Miriam O'Callaghan's Saturday night chat show this weekend as it finishes its summer run. The broadcaster revealed that she's heading off on her first family holiday abroad for years next week as she flies with six of her eight children and husband Steve Carson to Portugal. Given her hectic radio and TV schedule, Miriam usually grabs a few days down in her favourite county of Kerry, but this year she has decided to flee these shores for somewhere warmer. "We used to go a lot to Portugal and then we stopped and then Steve was like, 'I have to book a holiday please - can we just arrange something?' Expand Close Georgia (far left) and Alannah McGurk with their pose with Miriam O'Callaghan / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Georgia (far left) and Alannah McGurk with their pose with Miriam O'Callaghan "I've a fella that has done the Leaving Cert and another son doing the Junior Cert and in rugby camp so we definitely needed a holiday. We just booked a week in Vilamoura. "I'm literally going to lie on a bed beside the pool. I don't think I'm going to move the whole time. Six children are going to come with me, which is nice, because people always say, 'I can't get my older kids to come away with me', and I can't stop them coming with me." Miriam's week away means she's going to miss the RTE schedule launch on August 24 for the first time in years, but said she needed a holiday before heading into the autumn. She said that of all the guests she's had on her show over the past eight weeks, one lady stands out in particular - former glamour model Katie Price. Expand Close Miriam O'Callaghan / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Miriam O'Callaghan The controversial English star might not be everyone's cup of tea, but Miriam got on with her like a house on fire. "I liked her very much. It's good to meet someone who's represented a certain way in the media and then you meet then in person," she said. Video of the Day "Watching her relationship with her son Harvey and the way she is with him, I knew that she must be a very good person as she's a great mother with him." Miriam said that nothing was off-limits when it came to quizzing Price, which was another surprise. Expand Close Miriam O'Callaghan and husband Steve Carson / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Miriam O'Callaghan and husband Steve Carson "No, she was like, 'Miriam, whatever you want to ask me, ask me', which is great. "She's very open and very honest. She's very low-maintenance. There were no riders or other backstage demands. "Sometimes guests are nice to the presenters and not as nice to the researchers, but she was nice to everybody." Miriam was recently revealed as RTE's highest-paid female star, taking home just shy of 299,000 in 2015. She said that it's always "embarrassing" having her salary revealed publicly, but added that she hopes to see many more women in the Top 10 list over the coming years. President Robert Mugabe kissing his wife and first lady Grace Mugabe during the country's 37th Independence Day celebrations at the National Sports Stadium in Harare. Photo: AFP PHOTO / Jekesai NJIKIZANAJEKESAI NJIKIZANA/AFP/Getty Images Zimbabwe's first lady Grace Mugabe returned home on Tuesday from South Africa after failing to turn herself in to police in Johannesburg to face accusations of assaulting a model in a hotel room. There was no immediate public comment on the case from Grace (52) a possible successor to her husband President Robert Mugabe (93) who has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980. But Zimbabwe government sources confirmed she had returned home. "Yes, she is back in the country. We don't know where this issue of assault charges is coming from," said a senior government official, who declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak to the press. A second official also confirmed that Grace had returned, saying "she is around now" and accused the media of a plot to tarnish the first family's name. Earlier, South African police had been negotiating with Grace's lawyers to get her to turn herself in to face charges of assault in a court room, a senior police source said. Gabriella Engels (20) told South African media Grace had attacked her after the model had gone to see the Mugabes' sons Robert and Chatunga at a hotel in Johannesburg's upmarket Sandton district on Sunday. We need your consent to load this Social Media content We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content. Manage Preference Confusion surrounded the case on Tuesday. South African police minister Fikile Mbalula said early in the day that Grace had already handed herself in to police and would appear in court shortly. But in the afternoon, the magistrates' court where police said Grace would be formally charged closed for the day without her appearing. The police source said Grace had earlier agreed to hand herself over at 10 am but failed to do so. The source said police were investigating allegations of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm. The source said Grace Mugabe was not being considered a fugitive because no arrest warrant had been issued. "One cannot be a fugitive for not appearing at a court to which they have not been summoned & when they have not been charged of any crime!" Jonathan Moyo, Zimbabwe's higher education minister and a close ally of Grace tweeted. South African media said Grace had been in the country to have an injured foot examined. It was unclear whether she was travelling on a diplomatic passport. FOREHEAD GASHED A Zimbabwean intelligence source said Grace had been travelling on an ordinary non-diplomatic passport and was in South Africa on personal business. The News24 website quoted Engels' version of events in the hotel room. "When Grace entered, I had no idea who she was. She walked in with an extension cord and just started beating me with it," the model said. "She flipped and just kept beating me with the plug. Over and over. I had no idea what was going on. I was surprised ... I needed to crawl out of the room before I could run away." News24 published a picture of what it said was Engels with a large gash in her forehead. "I am a model, with this scar over my face my whole career is ruined," she said. It was unclear what triggered the incident. "I just want justice," Engels told Talk Radio 702. "She just completely lost it. I was hit all over my body. I have bruises all over my body ... I have two open wounds at the back of my head as well." Mugabe's two sons were asked to leave the Regent luxury apartment complex in Sandton last month after an incident in the middle of the night, staff at the complex told Reuters. Regent manager Imelda Fincham did not elaborate but confirmed the pair had left. "They're no longer here," she said. In 2009, a press photographer in Hong Kong said Grace and her bodyguard had assaulted him. Police there said the incident was reported but that no charges were brought. President Mugabe spoke at a public event marking Defence Forces Day in Harare on Tuesday, but did not mention Grace. Grace was in the news in late July when she challenged her husband to name his preferred successor. The issue of who will succeed Mugabe has deeply divided Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party. One faction supports Grace and the other Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who is recovering in a South African hospital after he fell ill and was airlifted from Zimbabwe. Police officers stand at the site after a mudslide in the mountain town of Regent, Sierra Leone August 14, 2017 in this still image taken from a video. REUTERS/Reuters TV People inspect the damage after a mudslide in the mountain town of Regent, Sierra Leone August 14, 2017. REUTERS/Ernest Henry Residents save belongings in floodwaters after a mudslide in the mountain town of Regent, Sierra Leone August 14, 2017. REUTERS/Ernest Henry Volunteers search for bodies from the scene of heavy flooding and mudslides in Regent, just outside of Sierra Leone's capital Freetown (AP) Volunteers search for bodies after mudslides in Regent, just outside of Sierra Leones capital Freetown. Photo: Manika Kamara/AP A torrent of water flows through a flooded neighbourhood in Regent, east of Freetown, Sierra Leone (Manika Kamara/AP) Rescue workers search for survivors after a mudslide in the Mountain town of Regent, Sierra Leone Security forces search for bodies at the scene of heavy flooding and mudslides in Regent, just outside of Sierra Leone's capital Freetown (AP) Facing the threat of disease, Sierra Leone on Wednesday began burying hundreds of victims of a mudslide that swept away homes on the edge of the capital, one of Africa's worst flood disasters in living memory. Hundreds of Freetown residents queued to identify relatives crushed by the mud on Monday in a valley on the outskirts of Freetown. Aid workers warned of an impending health crisis caused by about 400 corpses left out in the warm, fetid climate. Freetown chief coroner Seneh Dumbuya told Reuters the burial of 297 of the bodies was underway. They were being transported to the Ebola cemetery at Waterloo, about 20 miles (30 km) outside of Freetown, Dumbuya said. "We cannot wait for tomorrow for the burial, as was suggested by government, because most of the bodies are decomposing," he said. "The burial will continue up till night." Expand Close Rescue workers search for survivors after a mudslide in the Mountain town of Regent, Sierra Leone / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Rescue workers search for survivors after a mudslide in the Mountain town of Regent, Sierra Leone Dozens of houses were buried when a mountainside collapsed in the rainy season in the town of Regent. The country of 6 million people is one of the poorest in the world and was ravaged by West Africa's 2014-16 Ebola outbreak, which killed 4,000 people in the former British colony. Emergency response teams have raced to dig out survivors and dispose of bodies but the central morgue is overwhelmed and many bodies are feared trapped under mud and rubble. Sobbing and covering their noses from the stench, relatives stepped around corpses lying on the ground outside the morgue as the sheets covering them were lifted. Expand Close A torrent of water flows through a flooded neighbourhood in Regent, east of Freetown, Sierra Leone (Manika Kamara/AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A torrent of water flows through a flooded neighbourhood in Regent, east of Freetown, Sierra Leone (Manika Kamara/AP) "I came to identify my uncle in particular, but I couldn't find him," said 30-year-old Hawanatu Sesay, after her turn came to look through the morgue. "Let his soul rest in peace," she said through tears. Expand Close Volunteers search for bodies after mudslides in Regent, just outside of Sierra Leones capital Freetown. Photo: Manika Kamara/AP / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Volunteers search for bodies after mudslides in Regent, just outside of Sierra Leones capital Freetown. Photo: Manika Kamara/AP Another man said he had identified his wife's body but had no news of his two young daughters. All had been buried when their house was engulfed in mud, he said. Chief coroner Seneh Dumbuya told Reuters on Tuesday that nearly 400 bodies had been brought in and that he anticipated more than 500 as the search continued. Authorities did not have an updated death toll on Wednesday. Expand Close People inspect the damage after a mudslide in the mountain town of Regent, Sierra Leone August 14, 2017. REUTERS/Ernest Henry / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People inspect the damage after a mudslide in the mountain town of Regent, Sierra Leone August 14, 2017. REUTERS/Ernest Henry The government summoned families to the morgue in a statement and said all unidentified corpses would be buried on Thursday and Friday. Aid workers said there was a high risk of disease outbreaks such as cholera, as corpses are lying in the open in the heat. Authorities have requested air conditioning units to keep the bodies cool and are in need of more protective gear such as masks, aprons and glove disposal stations, said Idalia Amaya, an emergency relief coordinator for Catholic Relief Services. "The morgues are just overflowing with corpses and it is becoming a public health emergency," Amaya said. "They need to get the bodies out." The UKs 3 billion aircraft carrier has arrived at is home port fort the first time. The HMS Queen Elizabeth was greeted by tens of thousands of people in Portsmouth, and Prime Minister Theresa May has hailed the ship as a symbol of the UK being a great global maritime nation. The vessel involved more than 10,000 people in its construction and is the newest and largest of the Royal Navys fleet weighing 65,000 tonnes and stretching some 280m (919ft). Just how big is that though? Well, put it this way In length its like 5.4 Nelsons Columns laid end-to-end. It could also be equated to about 2.9 Elizabeth Towers (which of course houses Big Ben). In terms of weight, its a real behemoth. Using that age-old weight measurement the African elephant, it would take a whopping 10,833 typical adults of the mammal to balance the scales. If you were to choose a more British animal however, youd find the ship equates to roughly 108,333,333 healthy-weight hedgehogs in the UK. Thats a lot of prickly customers and thats a pretty large boat. PM May said of the ship: Whether the task be high intensity war-fighting, targeted action to fight terrorism, or humanitarian relief to save lives overseas, these ships will transform the UKs ability to project power around the world. May added: It sends a clear signal that as Britain forges a new, positive, confident role on the world stage in the years ahead we are determined to remain a fully engaged global power, working closely with our friends and allies around the world. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been briefed on a plan to fire missiles towards the US territory of Guam, home to US air and naval bases, Pyongyang's state media said yesterday. Kim "examined the plan for a long time" and "discussed it" with commanding officers on Monday, during his inspection of the command of the Strategic Force in charge of the North's missile units, according to the Korean Central News Agency. The state-run news agency said Kim would watch the actions of the United States for a while longer before making a decision on how to respond. "The United States, which was the first to bring numerous strategic nuclear equipment near us, should first make the right decision and show through actions if they wish to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula and prevent a dangerous military clash," Kim was quoted as saying. The news agency continued: "He said that if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity, testing the self-restraint of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the latter will make an important decision, as it already declared." Kim's reported remarks would appear to bring into play the large-scale military exercises held every year by South Korea and the United States, which are expected to kick off again later this month. The North has always denounced the drills as provocative rehearsals for invasion and has in the past offered a moratorium on further nuclear and missile testing in exchange for their cancellation. This trade-off has been promoted by Pyongyang's main ally, China, but repeatedly rejected by both Washington and Seoul. Some analysts said the North Korean leader was seeking a similar quid pro quo this time around, using the Guam missile threat as leverage. "This is a direct invitation to talk reciprocal constraints on exercises and missile launches," said Adam Mount, senior fellow at the Centre for American Progress. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said yesterday that he agreed with US President Donald Trump during a phone call that their top priority on North Korea was to do what they could to halt its missile launches. "Through a firm partnership between Japan and the US and co-operating with China, Russia and the international community, we agreed that our priority was to work to ensure that North Korea doesn't launch more missiles," Mr Abe told reporters. He also praised a commitment by Mr Trump that the United States would ensure the security of US allies in the region as threats from North Korea intensify. "President Trump reaffirmed that the United States stands ready to defend and respond to any threat or actions taken by North Korea against the United States or its allies, South Korea and Japan," the White House said in a statement. Stand-off The stand-off has sparked global alarm, with world leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, urging calm on both sides. South Korean President Moon Jae-in weighed in yesterday, saying Seoul would avoid a second Korean War at all costs. "Military action on the Korean peninsula can only be decided by the Republic of Korea and no one may decide to take military action without the consent of the Republic of Korea," Mr Moon said. But he added that there could be no dialogue before the North halts its "nuclear and missile provocations". On Monday, James Mattis, the US defence secretary, said if North Korean missiles were considered to be a threat to Guam "then it's game on". He added: "We do our best to make sure it does not hit the US." Pyongyang's plans for the strike near Guam prompted a fresh surge in tensions last week, with Mr Trump warning he would unleash "fire and fury" on North Korea if it threatened the US. China has urged the United States and North Korea to "hit the brakes" on threatening words and work towards a peaceful resolution of a stand-off over Pyongyang's recent missile tests and threats to fire them towards Guam. The dispute has also raised fears in South Korea, where a conservative political party called for the United States to bring back tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said in a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, that the two countries should work together to contain tensions and permit no-one to "stir up an incident on their doorstep". Mr Wang said: "The most important task at hand is for the US and North Korea to 'hit the brakes' on their mutual needling of each other with words and actions, to lower the temperature of the tense situation and prevent the emergence of an 'August crisis'." Russia said it is against further tightening sanctions on North Korea, warning that economic pressure on Pyongyang has reached its limit. Mr Lavrov warned "we can't support ideas by some of our partners to suffocate North Korea economically with all the negative and tragic humanitarian consequences for its citizens". He added that the "potential for economic pressure has been practically exhausted" and emphasised the need to encourage political settlement. The Russian foreign minister reaffirmed a call by China and Russia for the US to suspend forthcoming annual military exercises with South Korea in exchange for Pyongyang halting its missile and nuclear tests as a first step toward direct talks. China is North Korea's main economic partner and political backer, although relations between Beijing and Pyongyang have deteriorated amid the North's continuing defiance of China's calls for restraint. In recent months, China has joined with Russia in calling for the US to suspend the annual military drills, which enrage North Korean officials every year. Meanwhile, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, continued a visit to China following talks the day before with his Chinese counterpart that touched on North Korea. Speaking to reporters after viewing a Chinese military exercise outside the north-eastern city of Shenyang, Gen Dunford said he told General Fang Fenghui that the US hoped diplomatic and economic pressure would convince North Korea to end its nuclear programme, but that it was also preparing military options. He said: "We hope for a peaceful resolution but we needed to seriously have a conversation about what might happen if there was military action." His visit to Asia comes after President Donald Trump last week declared the US military "locked and loaded" and threatened to unleash "fire and fury" if North Korea continues to show hostility towards America. North Korea's military presented leader Kim Jong Un with plans to launch missiles into waters near the US territory of Guam and "wring the windpipes of the Yankees", even as both Koreas and the United States signalled their willingness to avert a deepening crisis, with each suggesting a path toward negotiations. Mr Trump tweeted on Wednesday that Mr Kim had "made a very wise and well reasoned decision", amid indications North Korea had decided not to proceed with its multiple missile launch. "The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!" Mr Trump wrote. During an inspection of the North Korean army's Strategic Forces, which handles the missile programme, Mr Kim praised the military for drawing up a "close and careful plan" and said he would watch the "foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees" a little more before deciding whether to order the missile test, state media said. Mr Kim appeared in photos sitting at a table with a large map marked by a straight line between what appeared to be north-eastern North Korea and Guam, and passing over Japan - the missiles' apparent flight route. The tentative interest in diplomacy follows unusually combative threats between Mr Trump and North Korea amid worries Pyongyang is nearing its long-sought goal of being able to send a nuclear missile to the US mainland. The US-South Korean military exercises are due to start next week. AP US president Donald Trump has blamed "both sides" for the weekend violence between white supremacists and counter-demonstrators in Virginia. The American leader had sought to rebuff criticism of his handling of the emotionally-charged protests in Charlottesville, during which 32-year-old Heather Heyer was killed, while showing sympathy for a fringe group's efforts to preserve Confederate monuments. Mr Trump's remarks amounted to a rejection of the Republicans, business leaders and White House advisers who had urged the president to more forcefully and specifically condemn the KKK members, neo-Nazis and white supremacists who took to the streets of Charlottesville. The angry exchange with reporters at Trump Tower in New York City stunned senior advisers, with some - including Mr Trump's new chief of staff John Kelly - standing by helplessly as the president escalated his rhetoric. Standing in the lobby of Trump Tower, the president acknowledged that there were "some very bad people" among those who gathered to protest on Saturday. But he added: "You also had people that were very fine people, on both sides." The Charlottesville rally was organised by white supremacists and other groups under a "Unite the Right" banner. Organisers said they were initially activated by their objections to the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee, but the larger aim was to protest against what they saw as an "anti-white" climate in America. In his remarks, Mr Trump condemned bigoted ideology and called James Alex Fields Jr, who allegedly drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing Ms Heyer, "a disgrace to himself, his family and his country". But Mr Trump also expressed support for those seeking to maintain the monument to Lee, equating him with some of the nation's founders who also owned slaves. "So, this week it's Robert E Lee," Mr Trump said. "I noticed that Stonewall Jackson's coming down. I wonder, is it George Washington next week, and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop?" He continued: "You're changing history. You're changing culture." The president's comments effectively wiped away the more conventional statement he delivered at the White House a day earlier when he branded white supremacists who take part in violence "criminals and thugs". Mr Trump's advisers had hoped those remarks might quell criticism of his initial response, but the president's retorts on Tuesday suggested he had been a reluctant participant in that effort. Senior Republicans were quick to respond to the comments. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida said Mr Trump should not allow white supremacists "to share only part of the blame". House Speaker Paul Ryan declared in a tweet that "white supremacy is repulsive" and there should be "no moral ambiguity", though he did not specifically address the president. Mr Trump's remarks were welcomed by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, who tweeted: "Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth." White House officials were caught off-guard by the president's remarks on Tuesday. He had signed off on a plan to ignore questions from journalists during an event touting infrastructure policies, according to a White House official. But once he was behind the lectern and facing the cameras, he overruled the decision. During Mr Trump's speech, chief of staff John Kelly folded his arms and stared down at his shoes, barely glancing at the president. Press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders looked around the room trying to make eye contact with other senior aides. One young staffer stood with her mouth agape. Democrats were aghast at Mr Trump's comments. Virginia Senator Tim Kaine said on Twitter that the Charlottesville violence "was fueled by one side: white supremacists spreading racism, intolerance & intimidation. Those are the facts." Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii said on Twitter: "As a Jew, as an American, as a human, words cannot express my disgust and disappointment. This is not my president." AP President Donald Trump has abruptly abolished two White House business councils, the latest fallout from his combative comments on racially charged violence in Charlottesville. In a face-saving effort, he tweeted from Trump Tower in New York: "Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!" A growing number of business leaders have been resigning from the advisory panels, openly expressing their displeasure with President Trump's comments, including his insistence that "both sides" were to blame for weekend violence that left one woman dead and led to a helicopter crash that killed two state troopers. On Wednesday, Denise Morrison, chief executive of Campbell Soup, declared she was leaving President Trump's manufacturing council, saying, "The president should have been - and still needs to be - unambiguous" in denouncing the white supremacists who organised the Charlottesville rally. CEOs began tendering their resignations from White House councils after President Trump's first comments on Saturday after the violence. The first to step down, Kenneth Frazier of Merck, drew a Twitter attack from the president. Then, barely 24 hours before disbanding the councils, President Trump called those who were leaving "grandstanders" and insisted many others were eager to take their places. Under pressure, President Trump made his condemnation of the Charlottesville violence more specific on Monday, naming white supremacists, the Ku Klux Klan and neo-Nazis. But he returned to his defiant self on Tuesday, effectively erasing the statement he had read a day earlier. In a raucous press conference in the lobby of his skyscraper, he said there were "some very bad people" among those who gathered to protest on Saturday. But he added: "You also had people that were very fine people, on both sides." Publicly criticising the president and resigning from his councils is a significant step for big-name corporate leaders. Though the policy influence of such advisory groups is sometimes questionable, simply meeting with President Trump with TV cameras going is valuable face-time for the executives - and for the president. After his latest tweets, President Trump left New York for his New Jersey golf club where he was scheduled to remain out of public view for the rest of the day. As he navigates this latest controversy, the White House on Wednesday said his long-time aide Hope Hicks would temporarily step into the role of communications director. Ms Hicks is White House director of strategic communications, and a near-constant presence at the president's side. She served as spokeswoman for Mr Trump's presidential campaign and worked for years in public relations for the Trump Organisation and his daughter's fashion and lifestyle brand. AP Switzerland's tourism office has expressed regret over an unfortunate incident in which a small Alpine hotel posted a sign asking Jewish guests to shower before swimming in the hotel pool. Photo: Stock image Switzerland's tourism office has expressed regret over an "unfortunate" incident in which a small Alpine hotel posted a sign asking "Jewish guests" to shower before swimming in the hotel pool. The Simon Wiesenthal Centre demanded the closure of the Paradies Arosa hotel in the Swiss Alps. Swiss tourism spokesman Markus Berger called the sign "unacceptable", adding it has been removed and hotel management has apologised. Under "To our Jewish Guests", the sign read: "Please take a shower before you go swimming. If you break the rules, I am forced to cloes (sic) the swimming pool for you. Thank you for your understanding." Hotel employee Ruth Thomann, who wrote the sign, apologised and said she had made a mistake. She explained that some Jewish guests had gone swimming with clothes, such as T-shirts, on and had not showered first. An injured woman is helped after a car ran into protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. Photo: AP Rescue workers assist people who were injured when a car drove through a group of counter protestors at the "Unite the Right" rally Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., August 12, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts U.S. President Donald Trump delivers a statement on the deadly protests in Charlottesville, at the White House in Washington, U.S. August 14, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst US President Donald Trump has made a series of bizarre comments at one of his most controversial press conferences to date. Members of the press gathered to listen to Trump talk about his plans to overhaul the countrys infrastructure, but Charlottesville soon became the topic of conversation. Hundreds of white nationalists converged in Virginia over the weekend to protest plans to remove a statue of General Robert E. Lee, commander of the pro-slavery Confederate army in the US civil war. They were met by crowds of anti-racism demonstrators as tensions escalated to violent clashes. A suspected Nazi sympathiser, James Fields, plowed his car into a group of the counter-protesters, killing a young woman and injuring 19 other people. Expand Close Rescue workers assist people who were injured when a car drove through a group of counter protestors at the "Unite the Right" rally Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., August 12, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Rescue workers assist people who were injured when a car drove through a group of counter protestors at the "Unite the Right" rally Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., August 12, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts Here are the key moments from Trump's extraordinary press conference: On his delayed response condemning the violence at Charlottesville, which he commented on 48 hours after the violence "I didnt wait long. I didnt wait long. I didnt wait long. I wanted to make sure unlike most politicians that what I said was correct. Not make a quick statement ... It takes a little while to get the facts. You still dont know the facts and its a very, very important process to me ... You dont make statements that direct unless you know the facts. Before I make a statement, I need the facts ... so making the statement when I made the statement, it was excellent. "In fact the young woman who I hear was a fantastic young woman ... her mother wrote me and said, through I guess Twitter, social media, the nicest things and I very much appreciated that ... Her mother on Twitter thanked me for what I said. And honestly if the press were not fake and were honest, the press would have said what I said was very nice. Id do it the same way and you know why? Because I want to make sure when I make a statement that the statement is correct." Read More On who was to blame for for the violence at the protest "When you say the alt-right, define alt-right to me. You define it. What about the alt-left that came charging at, excuse me, what about the alt-left that came charging at as you say the alt-right, do they have any semblance of guilt? They do. What about the fact that they came charging swinging, they had clubs in their hands. Do they have any problem? I think that they do. "As far as Im concerned, that was a horrible, horrible day. Wait a minute, Im not finished, fake news. That was a horrible day. I will tell you something. I watch the shots very closely. You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, and nobody wants to say that, but Ill say that right now. You had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit, and they were very, very violent." Expand Close An injured woman is helped after a car ran into protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. Photo: AP / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp An injured woman is helped after a car ran into protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. Photo: AP On the Charlottesville murder suspect James Fields "The driver of the car is a disgrace to himself his family and this country. And ... you can call it terrorism, you can call it murder. You can call it whatever you want. I would just call it as the fastest one to come up with a good verdict, thats what I would call it ... The driver of the car is a murderer, and what he did is a horrible, horrible, inexcusable thing. " Trump touts his winery while discussing Charlottesville: "I own one of the largest wineries in the United States" https://t.co/jQ6Ol8yAPE CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) August 15, 2017 On David Duke, Former Ku Klux Klan leader, attending the protest "I didnt know David Duke was there, I wanted to see the facts ... everybody said His statement was beautiful, he couldve made it sooner ... theres still things that people dont know." The president's initial remarks about the protest were welcomed by David Duke, who tweeted: "Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists." On Steve Bannon Trump also refused to back his controversial and apparently under pressure chief strategist, Steve Bannon. "We'll see what happens with Mr Bannon," he said, adding: "I like Mr Bannon. He's a friend of mine... He is a good man. He is not a racist." Mr Bannon is seen as the figurehead of the "alt-right", a loosely defined group with far-right beliefs. On George Washington "George Washington was a slave owner. Was George Washington a slave owner? So will George Washington now lose his statues? Are we going to take down statues to George Washington? How about Thomas Jefferson, you like him? ... Because he was a major slave owner ... youre changing history." Read More On his property at Charlottesville As Mr Trump ended his extraordinary press address last night, a question was shouted at him as to whether he planned to visit Charlottesville. He responded by saying that he owned property there - one of the largest wineries in the United States. The price of eggs has remained stubbornly high despite efforts to stabilize it by importing eggs from Thailand in the wake of an outbreak of avian influenza last month. The Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation said on Tuesday that as of Monday a batch of 30 eggs cost an average of W7,955, down only 0.1 percent from W7,965 last week and still much higher than the normal price of W5,438 (US$1=W1,152). Most imported eggs go to bakeries and restaurants, rather than directly to consumers, so prices in supermarkets remain ultimately unchanged. Another factor is high demand for eggs. Koreans consume between 30 million and 40 million eggs a day, so imports of some 1 million Thai eggs a week is not enough to meet demand. U.S. President Donald Trump delivers a statement on the deadly protests in Charlottesville, at the White House in Washington, U.S. August 14, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump has defended his response to the weekend's racially-charged protests in Charlottesville in a bruising exchange with reporters that at times mischaracterised the message and purpose of the event. In his remarks, the president described the rally as largely over the removal of a Confederate monument, although an organiser billed it as pushback against the "anti-white climate". Mr Trump also misstated his levels of political support in the 2016 election. Read More A look at his claims and the facts: On who was to blame for for the violence at the protest Expand Close Rescue workers assist people who were injured when a car drove through a group of counter protestors at the "Unite the Right" rally Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., August 12, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Rescue workers assist people who were injured when a car drove through a group of counter protestors at the "Unite the Right" rally Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., August 12, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts TRUMP: "But not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists, by any stretch. Those people were also there because they wanted to protest the taking down of a statue, Robert E Lee ... There were people in that rally, and I looked the night before. If you look, they were people protesting very quietly the taking down of the statue of Robert E Lee. I'm sure in that group there were some bad ones. The following day, it looked like they had some rough, bad people - neo-Nazis, white nationalists, whatever you want to call them. But you had a lot of people in that group that were there to innocently protest and very legally protest, because you know - I don't know if you know, they had a permit. The other group didn't have a permit." THE FACTS: The organiser of the rally, a local right-wing blogger and activist, has said he initially was spurred because of the city's decision to remove the statue. But he has also said the event, dubbed "Unite the Right," came to represent much more than that. Jason Kessler told The Associated Press last week before the event that it was "about an anti-white climate within the Western world and the need for white people to have advocacy like other groups do". Those in the crowd included Ku Klux Klan members, skinheads and members of various white nationalist factions. Many were heavily armed. Some flew Nazi flags. They hurled racial slurs at counter-demonstrators and gave Nazi salutes. White nationalist Richard Spencer - who popularised the term "alt-right" to describe the fringe movement mixing white supremacy, white nationalism, anti-Semitism and anti-immigration populism - told the AP on Tuesday that the event was more than "just a Southern heritage festival". He said Confederate monuments are "a metaphor for something much bigger, and that is white dispossession and the de-legitimisation of white people in this country and around the world". On his claim that the victim's mother contacted him to say thank you Expand Close Heather Heyer died after a car rammed into a group of counter-protesters at a white nationalist march in Charlottesville, Virginia. Pic: GoFundMe / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Heather Heyer died after a car rammed into a group of counter-protesters at a white nationalist march in Charlottesville, Virginia. Pic: GoFundMe TRUMP: "In fact, the young woman, who I hear is a fantastic young woman and it was on NBC, her mother wrote me and said through, I guess Twitter, social media, the nicest things and I very much appreciated that. I hear she was a fine, really actually an incredible young woman. But her mother on Twitter thanked me for what I said." THE FACTS: Mr Trump is correct. On Monday, NBC News tweeted that Susan Bro, the mother of the counter-protester killed on Saturday, had thanked the president for "denouncing those who promote violence and hatred". When asked in an AP interview on Tuesday about her comments, she did not repeat the praise for the president. "I was so tired I don't remember saying something nice or derogatory about him," she said, adding she did not want to criticise the president. Kim Bro, her husband, said he did not think it was fair for the president to use a grieving mother for his own personal gain. He added that he thinks the focus should be on his stepdaughter - "what she stood for and what will come out of it". On his claims that he won all the primaries TRUMP: "I went through 17 senators, governors, and I won all the primaries." THE FACTS: Mr Trump won most of the Republican presidential primary contests. He lost in Ohio to John Kasich, the state governor. Texas Senator Ted Cruz beat Mr Trump in primaries in his home state and in Wisconsin. Mr Trump also lost Puerto Rico's primary to Marco Rubio. Primary elections were also held on the Democratic side, none of which Mr Trump would have won. Mr Bergeson drove himself to hospital after the nail lodged in his heart (Donna Bergeson/AP) Doctors said a Wisconsin man came perilously close to death after accidentally shooting a nail into his heart while working on his house - before driving himself to hospital and walking into the emergency room. Doug Bergeson, 52, is ready to return to work this week after surviving the accident on June 25. Mr Bergeson said he was working on framing in a fireplace at his house near Peshtigo in north-east Wisconsin when his nail gun accidentally fired, sending a nail ricocheting off some wood and into his chest. He said: "I thought it just nicked me. I looked down. I couldn't see anything. "I felt OK. I wasn't worried about the injury. I couldn't feel any pressure or blood building up." As he tugged at his sweatshirt, Mr Bergeson said he realised only about 1in of the 3.5in nail was sticking out of his chest. "I could see the nail moving with my heartbeat. It was kind of twitching with every heartbeat," he said. "I was frustrated because I knew I wasn't going to get home until late and I couldn't get anything done." Mr Bergeson added that "common sense" told him not to pull the nail out. He drove to Bay Area Medical Centre in Marinette, about 10 minutes away. After parking his truck and walking into ER, Mr Bergeson said he started to feel more pain and summoned a security guard for help. He told the guard: "If you could find someone that would be great, I'm just going to sit down." Still thinking he would soon be on his way home after a little medical attention, Mr Bergeson texted his wife, Donna, to bring him a new shirt because medical staff had cut off the one he was wearing. After X-rays were taken, Mr Bergeson was rushed by ambulance to Aurora BayCare Medical Centre in Green Bay. "I offered to drive myself, but they wouldn't let me," he joked. Dr Alexander Roitstein confirmed the nail hit Mr Bergeson's heart, a 16th of an inch from a major artery. He said it was difficult to assess how deeply the nail penetrated, but it left bruising and a hole in the heart. He commended Mr Bergeson for not pulling the nail out and letting doctors handle it. "It shows the great composure this gentleman had after a very bad day's experience." Mr Bergeson spent just two days in hospital and has been recovering at home since the incident. He finally will be able to return to work this week at the Village of Lena waterworks plant. He also has a vegetable farm and construction repair business. "I feel pretty good. I'm back to doing things carefully," he said. "It was a pretty awakening experience." AP In Germany, a Boy Scout leader on the front lines against the far right ANKLAM, Germany - Because this is Germany, where militarism is taboo, many Scouts in this far-northeastern region forsake a traditional pledge. But they are on the front lines of a battle for the hearts and minds of young people - in a part of the country where the contest over nationalism and democracy still rages. Their leader is Michael Steiger, who heads a Scouting division in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a federal state deep in the former communist east. His life's work, inserting politics into Scouting, is what landed President Donald Trump in hot water last month, when the Boy Scouts of America apologized after the president turned an address at the organization's National Scout Jamboree into a political diatribe, gloating about his electoral victory and lashing out at Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Steiger, a heavyset man with a bald head and bushy eyebrows, said it was "a ridiculous display." But the 51-year-old makes no apologies for infusing traditional Scout activity - canoeing and pitching tents - with politics, particularly as the stakes rise before Germans go to the polls next month. He organizes meetings between young people and nearby politicians and holds mock votes before elections. His message is different from Trump's. He presses Scouts to question nationalism and defend human rights. "Through Scouting, they learn they have choices and freedom," he said. "I hope they choose democratic values." Young people occupy a fraught position in German politics, particularly in the east, where the experience with communist youth organizations is so recent, said Catherine J. Plum, a German historian and the author of "Antifascism After Hitler: East German Youth and Socialist Memory, 1949-1989." Still present, too, is the memory of the Hitler Youth, a paramilitary organization that molded young people to follow the Nazi leader. "Because of our bad history, we try to avoid any connection with military symbols," said Marcus Klapdor, international commissioner of Germany's Catholic Scout association, the largest national federation, which counts about 95,000 members. He estimated there were more than 200,000 German Scouts overall, a minuscule number by American standards. "Unlike in America, we don't have that much attention on individual leadership and strength." In Germany, politics doesn't just mark local Scouting activity. Klapdor's national association released a brochure in June that said its values were incompatible with those of the far-right Alternative for Germany, AfD, declaring, "AfD - For us no alternative!" Compared with the overwrought state of American politics, the German debate is staid. The center-right chancellor, Angela Merkel, appears to be sailing toward a fourth term, shrugging off the left and far right. But Steiger worries that Trump's presidency speaks to broader tensions still simmering in Germany. "It's not just Trump. We're in a more comfortable position now, but a year ago, right-wing parties seemed as popular across Germany as they were in this area," said Steiger, pushing open the double doors of the Demokratiebahnhof, the "Democracy station," a civic center he helped establish in the central transit hub of the hardscrabble town of Anklam. A stronghold of the far right, Anklam has among the highest unemployment rates in the country. It has lost about a quarter of its population since the fall of the Berlin Wall and stands as a counterpoint to the image of Germany as a unified, affluent society; for parts of the former socialist state, the transition to capitalism has been touch and go. "There's a lot in the local powder barrel that we can't get a lid on," the city's mayor, Michael Galander, told the German daily Die Tageszeitung last year. The refugee crisis, he said, brought dissatisfaction to the surface. Steps from the train station, festooned with a rainbow flag and a sign declaring, "Fascism is not an opinion but a crime," sits the offices of the neo-Nazi National Democratic Party of Germany, a faction even further to the right than the anti-immigrant AfD, which captured 26 percent of Anklam's vote in state elections last year. The prominence of right-wing parties conflicts with Steiger's efforts. Last year, his car was torched. This June, a molotov cocktail landed in the station when Scouts were sleeping inside. Police traced the attack to two teenagers. As a form of reparations, the city stopped asking for rent from the democracy station, which was founded in 2014. During the school year, the center teems with people ages 10 to 25, Steiger said. They participate in printing workshops and hold discussions about human rights and anti-racism. Many refugees use the space, he said, adding with a grin, "sometimes I come in and find them playing with Nazi kids." The center is unique, the mayor said in an interview, in not shutting its doors to "youngsters from the right side of the spectrum." Steiger relishes the juxtaposition. "We make the abstract issues personal for the youngsters, and this is also where the trips come in," Steiger said. "All over the world, we encounter people who help us, who bring us into their homes and give us food. It's a lesson about understanding and hospitality." Born in Hamburg in 1966, Steiger got his Scouting start in the green valleys of Ireland, where he went on his first trip as a 10-year-old. His mother was a hairdresser; his father sold office supplies. By age 15, Steiger was planning his own trips. He finished high school in Hamburg and then learned how to build houses, stoves and fireplaces. "That was my profession," he said. But the role he cherished was that of chief of Scouts in Hamburg. After the wall came down, an opportunity arose to develop youth groups in eastern Germany. He moved 165 miles east to Greifswald, at a moment when most people were flocking west. "My parents thought I would stay in eastern Germany for two years and then come back," he said. Instead, he decided to focus on Greifswald, where he still lives, and nearby towns, such as Anklam. About a decade ago, he built up a young people's party and got an 18-year-old elected to local office. Steiger's ideal, he said, would be for every citizen to spend several years working in politics. "I think politics has to open up a bit," he said. Still, he knows there will be setbacks. Several years ago, one of his own, a 14-year-old who had been on Scouting trips, joined a neo-Nazi demonstration. "The Scouts did a silent vigil and then, suddenly, we saw our guy marching with the Nazis," Steiger recalled. The lesson, he said, is that democratic training should begin earlier, because rival forces are already at work on young minds. Two boys about that age sat outside the train station on a recent weekday. "We haven't covered democracy in school yet," said Julian Beck, 15. "My dad says it's a nice idea, but too much democracy is also not good." germany-scouts Washington Post News Service (DC) 8/16/2017 7:30:19 AM Central Daylight Time GST Council finalizes e-way bill At its 20th meeting held on August 5, the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council approved the electronic way (e-way) bill, which mandates pre-registration of goods before transportation. The e-way bill, which is likely to come into force by October 1, 2017, would be applicable for consignments worth more than US$780 (Rs 50,000) only. The Council has decided that the e-way bill will not apply to the inter-city movement of goods within 10 kilometers distance, as well as on items exempted from the GST. The introduction of the e-way bill is expected to significantly reduce wait times at checkpoints, and will streamline the transportation process. The bill would be valid for a period between one day and 20 days, depending on the distance to be traveled. RELATED: Tax Compliance Advisory Revised GST rates on services The GST Council, in its August 5 meeting, revised rates for 19 services and certain goods. Some of the revised rates are given below: Job work for the entire value chain of textiles sector, including embroidery and weaving, will be subject to tax at 5 percent instead of 18 percent, to allow a seamless flow of credit; Tractor parts will be taxed at a reduced rate of 18 percent instead of 28 percent; and The rate for government works contract will be 12 percent with benefits of input tax credit. Besides, rates on other services, including rent-a-car and job works in newspaper printing, were also reduced. The next GST Council meeting is expected to be scheduled on September 9, 2017, where the rate of tax on several other items will be discussed and decided. RELATED: GST in India: Key Terms and Concepts CBDT issues clarification regarding non-resident tax filing The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued a clarification regarding the new provision in the Income Tax Return 2 form (ITR-2) that requires non-residents to disclose their foreign bank account details. In its statement, the CBDT has clarified that it is not mandatory for non-residents to furnish their foreign bank account details in the ITR-2 form. The provision is only meant for non-residents who do not have a bank account in India and wish to claim income tax refund. Until last year, there was no such provision available for non-residents not having bank accounts in India, to receive refunds in foreign banks accounts. Non-residents who do not wish to claim tax refunds or those who wish to claim tax refunds but have a bank account in India are not required to disclose their overseas bank account in the ITR-2 form. About Us 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 Dutch police arrested two suspects on Thursday as part of an investigation into the illegal use of a potentially harmful insecticide in the poultry industry, the Dutch prosecution service said. Millions of chicken eggs have been pulled from European supermarket shelves as a result of the scare over the use of the insecticide fipronil, and hundreds of thousands of hens may be culled in the Netherlands. Prosecutors said in a statement they had conducted raids at eight locations in the Netherlands and Belgium, confiscating cars and seizing bank accounts and real estate. Shah Rukh Khan and Dilip Kumar have shared a beautiful bond since forever now. While SRK respects and admires the legendary actor, Dilip Kumar has always treated SRK like his own son. In one of the interviews, SRK went on to say that Dilip Kumar is the 'pillar of the film industry.' And when SRK, Big B, and Dilip Kumar came together for a Filmfare photo shoot, the pictures reflected the love and admiration they have for each other. Filmfare Filmfare Filmfare And now its been just a few days that Dilip Kumar returned to his home after being briefly hospitalized and SRK like a dutiful son took time out to visit him. Actor Shah Rukh Khan visited veteran actor Dilip Kumar at his Mumbai residence on Tuesday and the pictures were shared from Dilip Kumars official account. He wrote, Message from Saira Banu: Sahab's mooh-bola beta-"son" @iamsrk visited Sahab today. Sharing some photos of the evening. pic.twitter.com/UHV8gzOB8v Dilip Kumar (@TheDilipKumar) August 15, 2017 With back to back losses and big releases flopping one after the other, Hindi Film industry is indeed going through a rough patch. Massive flops include films like Salmans Tubelight, Ranbir Kapoor, and Katrina Kaifs Jagga Jasoos and now, Imtiaz Alis Jab Harry Met Sejal has joined the list. The film that was one of the most anticipated films of the year ended up proving to be one big disaster. Apart from the producers, NH Studioz too has suffered huge losses. The studios had acquired the rights of Tubelight for Rs. 132 crores and Jab Harry Met Sejal for Rs. 80 crores and now that both the films have proved to be such disasters, the intensity of the losses are huge. While Salman had set a great example by returning some amount to the distributors, a Bollywoodhungama report claims that the distributors have sent an SOS message to Shah Rukh Khan, and have asked them to follow the suit. Viral Bhayani According to the reports, they are now expecting a refund for the backbreaking losses since Shah Rukh Khan had made good profits from the pre-sale of All India Rights to NH Studioz, satellite, music, and digital rights. Pinterest Just to jog your memory a little, SRK had distributors of his 2015 film Dilwale when they had incurred losses and he had refunded close to Rs. 25 crores to cover up 50% losses to distributors of Dilwale. And this wasnt the first time SRK did so because, in 2001 and 2005, Shah Rukh Khan had refunded the individual distributors of his films Asoka (Eros) and Paheli (UTV) after they failed to perform at the box-office. While no actor or producer is bounded to return money to distributors, our actors are definitely setting a great example. Canada laid down a tough line ahead of talks on modernizing NAFTA on Monday, suggesting it could walk away if the United States pushed to remove a key dispute-settlement mechanism in the trade deal. Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, giving the most substantive outline yet of Canada's goals, said she was "very optimistic" the negotiations would be a success. North American Free Trade Agreement members Canada, Mexico and the United States hold their first session in Washington on Wednesday. Canada, heavily reliant on exports to the United States, opposes Washington's push to scrap the so-called Chapter 19 dispute settlement mechanism, under which bi-national panels made binding decisions on complaints about illegal subsidies and dumping. The United States has frequently lost such cases. "Canada will uphold and preserve the elements in NAFTA that Canadians deem key to our national interest -- including a process to ensure anti-dumping and countervailing duties are only applied fairly when truly warranted," Freeland said in a speech at the University of Ottawa. Noting that Canada had withdrawn its chief negotiator from 1987 talks on a bilateral trade treaty with the United States over the same issue, Freeland said "our government will be equally resolute." Freeland later sidestepped reporters' questions about whether maintaining Chapter 19 was a make-or-break issue for Canada, saying she would let her U.S. counterparts know how important the matter was to Ottawa. Army has been called out to rescue marooned people and IAF has been put on standby as Assam reels under one of the worst flood fury. As many as 14 people died till Sunday. 21 of 33 districts that have been hit by flood. PTI This is the second wave of flood that has hit the state. The first wave which lasted from April to July claimed 85 lives and hit nearly 19 lakh population. Assam State Disaster Management Authority said that the Army has been called out to assist the local administration in rescuing marooned people in Nagaon and Kokrajhar districts. "On Assam government's request, IAF has also put its men on standby, their choppers can be deployed in minimum time for air dropping of relief and rescue operations," state project coordinator of disaster management Rajib Prakash Baruah said. BCCL "We have also deployed additional forces from National Disaster Response Force and State Disaster Response force," Baruah said. Assam is currently experiencing a tragic chain of events, seemingly state's worst deluge in the last three decades. With more than 10,00,000 affected in the span of 24 hours and over 102 dead, people in the region are undergoing a loss they're ready to recover from. Reuters Amid all the difficulties and tension, the state celebrated Independence day with the same fervour as the entire nation. Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal unfurled the flag at the Veterinary College ground at Khanapara, while other government officials celebrated at different venues in the state. PTI While some took it the streets riding cycles, motorcycles and waving the flag, others stuck to wherever they were to hoist our revered flag. 1. 2. These 2 photos from Assam literally brought me to tears. Its really shameful that we people ignore Northeast India.#IndependenceDayIndia pic.twitter.com/oqlQg2X5t8 Anshul Saxena (@AskAnshul) August 15, 2017 3. Assam: Various schools unfurled the tricolor in flood-hit Morigaon district #IndependenceDayIndia pic.twitter.com/S0RlgYja7g ANI (@ANI) August 15, 2017 4. In a school in Assam Celebrating IndDay. pic.twitter.com/GB7NtwJ2fG shahid siddiqui (@shahid_siddiqui) August 15, 2017 5. Don't know about the location but a picture worth sharing. pic.twitter.com/fRvSKllQwY Assam Floods (@AssamFloods) August 15, 2017 6. Let's keep the enthusiasm alive. Curlies is perhaps the most popular beach shack in North Goa. Located on Anjuna Beach, it is known to be the most thronged places. But it has come in the news for a wrong reason this time around. Curlies Curlies owner, Edwin Nunes, has been arrested along with Rohan Shetty, the owner of Club Nyex after a police raid found the waiters of two shacks in possession of drugs. According to Police, the arrests have been made under Section 25 of the Narcotics, Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act newsx Three tourists from Bengaluru were also booked for carrying drugs, said another police officer from the Anjuna Police Station. These arrests come in the wake of the state administration's crackdown on rave parties and late-night outdoor music festivities. This is arguably one of the most shared images on social media in the past two days. Four people including two children who are almost neck deep in water saluting the tricolour hoisted on the occasion of India's 71st Independence Day. The man who hoisted the flag is Tazem Sikder, the headmaster of a government run Naskara lower primary school in Dhubri, Assam. Others seen in the picture are Mizanur Rahman, a teacher along with Jiarul Ali Khan and Haider Ali Khan, two Class 3 students. The image shared by Mizanur Rahman was an instant hit on Tuesday as the nation celebrated Independence Day. Others too shared images from various parts of Assam where people 'celebrated' Independence Day amid heavy flooding across the state. ANI They too were widely circulated across various social media platforms lauding the patriotic spirit of the Assamese people. But many seemed to have failed to notice one prominent thing in all those images -- the flood waters. Reuters Assam is currently in the middle of a catastrophic flood, the second flood in less than a month, which has left 33 lakh people displaced and 1.83 lakh hectares of standing crops inundated. 28 people have been killed across the state in the second leg of floodings taking the total death toll this year to 112 so far. Reuters Thirty-three lakh people were affected in 25 districts, including Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Sonitpur, Darrang, Baksa, Nalbari, Barpeta and Bongaigaon. Dhemaji district in upper Assam is the worst-hit where nearly one lakh people were affected. Flood water is flowing over the roofs of houses in many areas. As flood waters were flowing over National Highway 37, communication between upper and lower Assam have snapped. Vehicles were stranded on the highway and being diverted via Nagaland. Reuters Kaziranga National Park, which is home to a large population of rhinos, elephants, tigers, wild buffalos and eastern swamp deer have also been hit badly by the flood, with an estimated 85 per cent of the reserve under water. This is the worst deluge the north eastern state has witnessed in nearly three decades. The current flooding is adding to the woes of the state which was almost brought to its knees by heavy rains last month. The first wave of floods between April and July claimed 85 lives and affected about 19 lakh people in the state. At least 107 animals, including seven rhinos, died in last month's flood in Kaziranga. PTI Prime Minister Narendra Modi had come under heavy criticism after he rushed to his home state Gujarat, to assess the flood there while ignoring Assam. He finally visited the state early this month, by the time the initial flood waters had begun receding. Getting groggy teens to get ready for school is always a huge task for parents. But people in California needn't fret anymore, thanks to Californias Senate Education Committee that has passed a bill to ensure opening hours not be earlier than 8:30 am for middle and high school students. Picture for representation/Reuters According to local media reports, the Senate Bill 328 would require all middle and high schools across to have their start times be no later than 8:30 am. The bill author, State Senator Anthony Portantino (D-La Canada Flintridge), said his bill was based on research conducted by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The bill was in the Assembly Education Committee on July 12. It now awaits a hearing in the Assembly Appropriations Committee in late August or early September. According to a study conducted by Centers for Disease Control, among 39,700 public middle, high, and combined schools in US have an average start time of 8:00 am. Picture for representation /Twitter The report states that adolescents who do not get enough sleep are more likely to be overweight, to engage in daily physical activity, suffer from depressive symptoms and engage in unhealthy risk behaviors such as drinking, smoking tobacco, and drug abuse. Anthony Portantino's bill ensures that 3 million students in Californias public middle and high schools can go to school at times that gives them enough sleep time, eat healthy and then head to school. The study suggests that when high schools start at 8:30 am or later, attendance rates and graduation rates improve. Were excited to announce that indmin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com. A new look and an improved experience means you can still stay ahead of this fast-moving market with price data, news and market intelligence right here on Fastmarkets. Discover more than 2000 prices, news and analysis in primary and secondary metals markets. We cover base metals, industrial minerals, ores and alloys, steel, scrap and steel raw materials. If you already have a Fastmarkets account, youll still have uninterrupted access to your markets by logging in with your current details. Dimitris Gikas Director of Educational Programmes & Actilvities Professor of Language and Literature at IIEK American Education Ive read about James Damore, the Google employee who was fired because of a memo, by which he expressed his opinion about why women were underrepresented in technology not only in particular (Google), but also in general. President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday sent a warning to hawkish U.S. officials that only South Korea can decide regarding any military action against North Korea. Speaking at a ceremony marking the 72nd anniversary of liberation from Japanese occupation, Moon said, "War must never break out again on the peninsula. Without the consent of [South Korea], no country can determine to take military action." Describing the North Korean nuclear threat as "the biggest challenge" facing South Korea, Moon said his government will work closely with the U.S. to resolve the security crisis. "The government will do all it can to prevent a war from breaking out," he said. "No matter what twists and turns we suffer, the North Korea nuclear problem must be addressed in a peaceful manner." Kate Chiloane, 30, was shot and killed at about 8am at Sediba-Sa-Thuto Primary School near Bushbuckridge. A man stormed a school in Mpumalanga, South Africa and shot dead his wife while she was teaching her Grade 2 pupils on Monday morning. The man later turned the gun on himself. The teacher was in class, teaching at the time of the incident, said provincial department of education spokesman Jasper Zwane. Zwane said teachers and pupils were currently receiving psychological counselling. Colonel Mtsholi Bhembe, who confirmed the incident said: A 40-year-old man, believed to be the husband of a 30-year-old female teacher, shot and killed her in the schoolyard. According to information at police disposal, however, the teacher was on her way to the classroom when she was accosted by the suspect. He said the man was later found with a bullet wound in the head at his home. Bhembe said two dockets, one for murder and an inquest, were opened. The department is currently monitoring the situation at the school and has also deployed officials from the wellness section to render counselling services to the learners, educators and some family members who were affected. We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident and hereby send our condolences to the family of the deceased and those affected by her passing, said education MEC Reginah Mhaule in a statement. Chiloane had been with the school for a year. She had taken to Facebook at 8.20pm the previous day and posted a picture bearing the words: Accept your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. And face your future without fear. Source: Linda Ikeji A Nigerian MC/Standup Comedian, Nev Harrison shared this photo and story of what some Lagos policemen said when a criminal was handed over to them today at Computer village. Read what Nev posted below I was in computer village Ikeja when this thief was caught while ransacking an office he walked into and found no one on seat. On interrogation, it was discovered that he also uses vodoo charms to sell fufu padded dummy phones to people. Now my concern is this: when the police arrived, the only suggestion they made was that the boy should be beaten up and set free afterwards. Why not take him to the station and punish him there? The office owner asked, the police responded by saying nothing will come out of it and in fact the only person that will spend money is the office owner if eventually the thief is taken to the station and charged to courtare you beginning to see where our local criminals get their confidence from? The Nigerian Army has launched a special mobile strike force to battle Boko Haram insurgents. Ibrahim Attahiru, the Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, made the announcement yesterday at the inauguration of the force at Maimalari Cantonment, Maiduguri where he said the special strike force was one of the new approaches evolved by the military to end insurgency and enhance security network in the region. He said that soldiers deployed to the force were exposed to modern terrorism combat techniques to enable them to crush the insurgents. The Mobile Strike Force is launched to deny the insurgents freedom of action and finally decimate them. This specially selected force with mixed equipment and platforms were deployed to achieve the conduct of long range patrols and ambush deep into the hinterlands. All these are in an effort to ensure the success of Operation Lafiya Dole and enhance our operational efficiency Attahiru said. He also told the soldiers that successful campaign against the insurgents would have indelible mark in the history of counter-insurgency campaign in the North-East. Source: Linda Ikeji A 28-year old Nigerian man identified as Anthony seeking asylum in Germany under false pretenses is currently on trial for stabbing and killing his girlfriend earlier this year. Prosecutors says he brutally murdered Soopika Paramanathan, a 22-year-old German student known locally as the Angel of Ahaus for her volunteer work with refugees. Anthony allegedly attacked Paramanathan on February 11, 2017 after she ended their relationship, allegedly stabbing her repeatedly with a long knife in her head, neck and breasts. He was said to have stabbed her 22 times. She sprayed his face with pepper spray in defence. Anthony was stuffing her body into a large suitcase on the street when witnesses spotted him. He escaped from the crime scene and was caught by police in Basel, Switzerland two days later. Paramanathan was rushed to a local hospital but later died after suffering substantial blood loss. Anthony got to Germany in 2015, after spending three years in Italy. He wrote in his asylum application that he was forced to leave his country in 2012 for being homosexual and he had fought against the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram in Nigeria. He is facing life imprisonment if found guilty on September 20. Source: Linda Ikeji A Federal High Court Sitting in Lagos has ruled that the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Suit filed by Billionaire Kidnapper, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike popularly known as Evans should proceed. According to reports, Justice Abdulaziz Anka dismissed the objections of Emmanuel Eze, the counsel for the third and fourth respondent and agreed with Counsel to Evans, Olukoya Ogungbeje that service on the Ist and 2nd respondent had been properly effected. The first and second respondents in the suit are the Inspector General of Police, the Nigeria Police Force while the other respondents are the Lagos State Police Commissioner and the Special Anti Robbery Squad, SARS. In the application, the suspected Kidnapper, Evans is challenging his continued detention since June 10, 2017 without arraignment. He claims that his parade on June 11, 2017 before journalists at the Lagos police command headquarters in Ikeja, without a court order, is unconstitutional and illegal. Evan wants the court to award him N300m as exemplary damages for his alleged illegal detention and the alleged harm caused by his media trial. He has also asked the court to order the police authorities to immediately arraign him before a law court, or release him from custody. In his ruling, Justice Anka also held that leave was not required for the matter to be heard during vacation as Order 4 Rule 5 of the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules of 2009, enjoins the court to pursue speed and justice on issues of fundamental human rights. Source: Linda Ikeji A teenager is suffering from a disorder that has caused his hand to grow to 11lbs and has turned his fingers into claws Rajib Gain, 19, from Sathkira, Bangladesh, started suffering the mysterious condition at just three months old when he developed a tumour in his hand. Without an early diagnosis, the tumour grew and spread to his back and leg. Rajib who weighs 59kg is unable to walk, sleep or change his clothes on his own due to the rare condition. He also has to sometimes keep his hand over his head to balance while standing. His condition was made public after his uncle, a famous activist known as Mamun Biswas, posted his picture on social media last week. Following that, Bangladeshs health department promised to help Rajib access treatment. Mr Biswas said that the DG Abul Kalam of the health department has promised help to the boy and has asked the department to take all necessary measures for his treatment. They have asked Rajib to visit doctors at Dhaka Medical College so they can start treatment. The teenager said: If I get treated, I can lead a normal life, find a job and support my father in running the family. He added: I am thrilled to be meeting these doctors. I am hopeful that they can finally end my ordeal. I want to lead a normal life like other boys in my school. I want to study further and work but no one gives me work because either they think I am inefficient because of my hand or they ask for money. But if I get treated, I can lead a normal life, find a job and support my father in running the family. Rajib disclosed that hes been the recipient of mockery from other children due to his condition and it affected his self-image. He said: My hand is so heavy that to maintain the balance while walking or standing I have to keep it over my head otherwise I fall. My body cannot take its weight. I cannot sleep peacefully. I have never slept peacefully in my life. I cannot change sides and have to lie down in (the) same position (the) whole night. It hurts my back. There is always a weird sensation, kind of tingling as if someone is pricking me with thousands of needles. In spite of his ailment, he tries to live a normal life, goes to school and endeavors to make friends. He said: Initially, I would feel inferior and think about why God made me like this. But soon I gathered enough confidence to go to school. My father enrolled me into a government-run school in the village. It was certainly not easy. Children mocked me for a long time but there were others who sympathised with me and supported me. They helped me when I needed. Eventually with their help I build the confidence back and could focus on studies. SOurce: Linda Ikeji Yesterday, three female suicide bombers blew themselves up at the entrance to a camp for Internally displaced people in northeast Nigeria, killing 28 people and wounding 82. Sadly, most victims from this horrific act arent getting proper treatment. Photos show the Injured victims lie on the bare floor awaiting medical attention as beds are reportedly no longer available at a Maiduguri hospital to properly take care of the wounded. Source: Linda Ikeji North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Monday called off a threatened missile strike against the U.S. territory of Guam in the Pacific, quelling fears of a potential military confrontation. On an inspection of the Strategic Rocket Forces command for a briefing on a detailed plan to strike Guam, Kim said he would watch the conduct of the U.S. "a little more" before deciding whether to order the strike, the official [North] Korean Central News Agency reported Tuesday. Military officials here said the upcoming South Korea-U.S. joint military drills could prove the watershed for another North Korean provocation. The North's Strategic Rocket Forces in a statement last week threatened to surround Guam with "enveloping fire" in mid-August. But now Kim appear to have tossed the ball over to the U.S., which also toned down threats following President Donald Trump's recent florid threat to unleash "fire and fury" on North Korea. A 24-year-old Myanmar domestic helper in Singapore was so fed up with her employers mother-in-law nagging her every day that she decided to poison the womans drink, hoping her behavior would get her sent back to her home in Myanmar. However, Mya Thet Wai was on Monday, August 14, sentenced to five months in a Singapore prison. According to The Straits Times, the victim, 65-year-old Toh Sew Keok, told a Singapore court on Monday that she had made a cereal drink for herself on the morning of April 6 and covered the drink with a lid before heading into another room to feed her infant granddaughter. When she returned to the kitchen, she took a sip and immediately spit it out and washed out her mouth. When Toh Sew Keok asked Wai whether she had added something to the drink, the maid denied it. But when her employer came home to inspect the CCTV footage and called the police, Mya Thet Wai confessed to putting Dettol in the drink, saying she no longer wanted to work in that household. Mya Thet Wai repeated her confession to the court on Monday and said she knew the mixture could harm the victim. She added that she was desperate to escape Toh Sew Keoks nagging and hoped her employer would send her home over the ordeal. After acknowledging her poor decision and pleading for leniency, the Singapore court sentenced her to five months in prison. Her crime carried a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, plus the possibility of a fine. Copper Nears Important Area Taurus Trading LLC - Sat Nov 12, 11:33AM CST Watch price action between 3.9615 and 4.1167. Elections, inflation and crop reports bring volatility Sidwell Strategies - Sat Nov 12, 11:28AM CST Black Sea Corridor Renewal ahead Americans Are Saving Less. Heres How to Save More. Young & The Invested - Sat Nov 12, 6:00AM CST Several recent data studies show that Americans, after saving heavily during the pandemic, are starting to pull money from those savings. We discuss how to maintain healthy savings habits. Hog Prices Closed Mixed Barchart - Fri Nov 11, 4:21PM CST Lean hog prices were mixed on Friday with 12 to 52 cent losses through the April contract. The deferred contracts closed 10 to 15 cents in the black with May UNCH. The USDA National Average Base Hog Price... HEZ22 : 84.350s (-0.62%) HEJ23 : 94.100s (-0.13%) KMZ22 : 94.900s (-0.63%) Friday Cotton Closes Triple Digits Higher Barchart - Fri Nov 11, 4:21PM CST Cotton added 116 to 182 points to the upside on Friday after a brief pause for the WASDE numbers. That kept the board under the high on Tuesday, but ended as a weekly gain of 253 points. USDAs FAS... CTZ22 : 88.20s (+2.11%) CTH23 : 86.33s (+2.09%) CTK23 : 85.56s (+1.89%) Update 8/14/20 Dymon Storage has submitted a revised plan to city officials for its proposed nine-story, mixed-use project in Toronto. The modifications would reduce the building height from 50.8 to 46.4 meters, decreasing gross floor area by 3,003 square meters to 53,427. The self-storage and office space will drop by 1,385 and 1,641 square meters respectively, with the retail component increased by 23 square meters. The property will contain 674 parking spaces within a two-level, underground garage. Itll also offer 134 bicycle-parking spaces. The revised plans also provide details on the building materials proposed by TACT Architecture, which is designing the project. Windows and doors will be added to the north facade to fulfill a request from city staff. The central tower will feature piers of aluminum-composite panels to frame a patterned column of curtain-wall glazing. In addition, a mix of glazing and metal panels will be used on the majority of the building, with limestone at the base, the source reported. Dymon also opened its new flagship facility in Etobicoke, Ontario. Comprising 500,000 square feet, its the companys 11th operating location. 1/14/19 Dymon Storage has proposed a mixed-use development featuring self-storage, office and retail space for 850 York Mills in Toronto. The nine-story structure would comprise 32,899 square meters of self-storage largely surrounded by 18,458 square meters of office space and 5,073 square meters of retail, according to the source. The project is similar to the Dufferin Street proposal the company submitted last year. The design features a glass-fronted central staircase extending the full height of the building. Storage areas within the structure not obscured by other uses would be finished with an opaque, insulated metal-panel system with horizontal ribs and vertical pewter-colored fins. In addition, the commercial and self-storage areas would be accessed from different lobbies, the source reported. 6/21/18 Dymon Storage continues its aggressive expansion into the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Three self-storage projects are expected to be complete by year end, while another six facilities are planned for 2019. Mixed-use continues to drive the companys market strategy, according to the source. In addition to the 500,000-square-foot complex underway on The Queensway, Dymon is seeking approval for a 600,000-square-foot mixed-use project near Dufferin Street and Wilson Avenue. The multi-story complex would feature retail on the ground floor, office space on the second floor, and a mixture of condominium suites and self-storage space on floors three through nine. The self-storage portion would be built in the core of the structure, with condos wrapped around the outside, the source reported. If approved, the project would likely begin construction this fall and take about two years to complete. Initial reports for the Dufferin Street project indicated the structure would comprise about 475,000 square feet, with 226,494 square feet dedicated to self-storage. Its not clear what is being incorporated with the larger footprint or how the size of the storage segment may be affected. Creighton categorizes Dymons willingness to expand beyond self-storage as a strategic advantage in gaining municipal approval. Part of our success in getting into some of the areas that we want to get to is being able to do mixed-use development and be more than storage, he told the source. We can mix up the uses and make it more community-oriented, and create more jobs and things that zoning requires. Current GTA projects underway include the conversion of a former Target in Oshawa, a 140,000-square-foot location in the Lincoln Fields area, and a mixed-use development at Baseline Road and Clyde Avenue that will feature self-storage, retail and a restaurant. Dymon is also building a storage facility on Industrial Avenue in the Ottawa Train Yards area and another on Strandherd Road in the suburb of Barrhaven. Planned projects include a storage facility in Burlington and a location in Oakville, where Dymon recently closed on a property at 845 Burloak Drive. The company is performing due diligence on a potential site in Hamilton, Ontario, Creighton said. Some locations will offer a retail area selling about 1,500 storage-related and home-decor products including baskets, containers and closet-organizing systems. Short-term office rentals and wine storage connected to upscale lounges are also being planned, the source reported. 8/15/17 Canadian self-storage operator Dymon Storage Corp. is in the process of fulfilling its Greater Toronto expansion plan, with six facilities expected to be complete by the end of 2018. The first will be a massive structure comprising up to 500,000 square feet. The property at 1460 The Queensway in Etobicoke, Ontario, is expected to offer 3,000 storage units, wine storage, office and third-party retail space, delivery service, mailbox rentals, and security vaults, according to the source. In conjunction with its wine-storage offering, Dymon will also host wine tastings and employ a sommelier. Additional services include document shredding, moving assistance, records storage, and the sale of moving and packing supplies. We have created the Ritz-Carlton of self-storage, but at an economic price, Stephen Creighton, senior vice-president, told the source. The company indicated last April that it had entered an agreement to acquire the Etobicoke site. The property is across the street from an IKEA store and adjacent to the Gardiner Expressway. We put our Dymon facilities in high-traffic and highly visible modes, usually adjacent to big-box retail, Creighton said. Dymon is also expected to use the Etobicoke property to house its Toronto corporate offices, according to a company press release. Dymon first announced its expansion plan in July 2015, in which it intended to develop about 80 self-storage facilities in the Toronto market by the end of 2025. Officials expect the companys storage portfolio to amass more than 10 million square feet once the expansion is complete, the release stated. Founded in 2006, Dymon Storage operates eight self-storage facilities in Ottawa, Ontario. Its an affiliate of the Dymon Group of Cos. Sources: Urban Toronto, Office and Retail Space to Mask Storage Facility at 850 York Mills Real Estate News Exchange, Dymon Takes Innovative Storage Concepts Into GTA Dymon Storage, Dymon Announces Second Development Site in the Greater Toronto Area Dymon Storage, Dymon Announces 10 Year Expansion Plan for Toronto National Post, Beyond the Storage Locker: Self-Storage Facilities Expand, Bring in New Perks Urban Toronto, 850 York Mills Mixed-Use Self-Storage Project Resubmitted with Revised Design Actress Song Hye-kyo has funded a guidebook on Korean historical heritages in Kyoto, Japan. The guidebook was published in Korean and Japanese to commemorate Korea's Liberation Day on Tuesday. Seo Kyoung-duk, a public relations expert and professor at Sungshin Women's University, took charge of the publication. Song and Seo have worked on similar projects to promote Korean history by providing guidebooks to libraries and museums around the world. The firm snagged the top spot in Institutional Investors 2017's ranking of the countrys best sales teams. BTG Pactual has landed the top spot in Institutional Investors All-Brazil Sales Team, a yearly ranking of the best sales groups serving investors in Brazil equities. The team dethroned Itau BBA, which had previously held the top spot for two years in a row but fell to fourth place in this years survey. We try to consider every single client as a client with potential to grow, Thiago Faganello, who works on BTGs equity sales team, said by phone. We realize that in the future, some of our smaller clients could grow. Approximately 392 buy-side analysts and money managers at 248 institutions, which manage an estimated $115 billion in Brazil equities, voted in the 2017 survey. The firms were ranked on the following criteria: best at providing special services, best understanding of client needs and customized service, knowledge and effective communication of research product, most proactive in facilitating/integrating access to analysts, quality of idea generation, quality of relationship, quality of service intensity and responsiveness, and best global context for Brazil portfolios. To have the best service, you have to have a good product, Faganello said, referring to BTGs consistently high ranking in Institutional Investors All-Brazil Research Team. The runner-up to BTG Pactual was Bradesco BBI, which jumped six spots to rank second in this years survey. Credit Suisse also moved up the list, climbing one rung to third. J.P. Morgan rounded out the top five. It is a criminal offence if directors do not apply for their director ID on time Being well-versed in emerging risks will help brokers solidify their place in the insurance value chain as disintermediation continues to creep into the market, an expert has said.As direct insurers move into more commercial lines and consumers look for their insurance needs online, brokers should focus on understanding emerging risks. Thats the verdict of Nick Sordon, senior casualty treaty underwriter, Swiss Re , who said that brokers have been integral in their advice to clients over the years and an understanding of emerging risks across a range of areas will be key for the future.It is always a great factor for a broker to provide consolidated advice and be informed about the emerging risks clients may face. Id say this is a powerful tool, Sordon told Insurance Business. Some clients may not be so interested but it is important that the broker has the capabilities to provide that advice or alternatively connect their clients with someone who can provide the advice and support on that.For brokers it has always been vital to understand the risks impacting their clients - but the rate of change around emerging risks is growing at an unprecedented rate and meeting client expectations on the risks that could impact them in the future is a challenge.However, it is not just brokers that could benefit from a better understanding of emerging risks as the entire industry could gain from developing its knowledge around areas of growing client need. Sordon noted that exploring these risks will open doors from a new product perspective and that the industry could gain an advantage by offering value-added risk mitigation advice that other channels may lack.Risk is the insurance industrys business - we have been dealing with new risk since the dawning of the industry, as well as how we adapt to those, Sordon continued. However, not only is it being aware of the risk but being prepared for the opportunity. The terror threat in Australia remains probable, with five terror attacks on Australian soil and 15 further threats foiled since 2014.Terrorism is not only of growing concern domestically, but for those businesses that send staff overseas recent events in Europe and Asia have meant that the threat can no longer be ignored. Daniel Pritchard , CEO of global emergency management company Dynamiq , said that to help businesses protect their staff in the unlikely event they are embroiled in a terrorist incident, brokers should preach preparedness.It all starts with preparedness, Pritchard told Insurance Business. So for a business its identifying what procedures and processes they want to have in place to manage an incident like this should it occur, then ensuring that their staff are really well trained and exercised in those procedures and processes.For brokers, it is essential that they understand the risks facing clients from a terrorism perspective as they are often a key part of any conversation on terrorism preparation with clients, Pritchard said. A key area of preparation and an area that brokers can advise their clients on relates to staff training. Pritchard said that the most effective training they currently see helps staff members develop a personal competency to adjust their mindset to being involved in a terrorist incident.Bringing that type of training to bear in preparation for this type of incident is incredibly beneficial, Pritchard continued.Pritchard also noted that brokers should look to discuss with clients what solutions they have in place that allows the business to locate, communicate and confirm the welfare of staff in as quick a way as possible. The technology sector is booming in the South Island, especially Christchurch, Dunedin, Nelson and Queenstown, according to Delta Insurances first liability underwriter on the ground.Deltas offering for technology and cyber liabilities are a great fit for key South Island technology companies, Delta Insurance South Island Portfolio Manager Karl Samson told the Make Lemonade Samson said Delta is looking to establish itself as a key partner for the technology sector and that the insurance company has recently signed up as a member of the Canterbury Tech.Delta offers much more than insurance for technology risks; they are recognised as market leaders in the broad liability insurance market and this ranges from very standard coverages such as public liability and statutory liability right through to more niche products such as UAV (drone) insurance, Samson said.According to Samson, Delta is the first to offer a local environmental and pollution risk product in New Zealand which, covers increasing and problematic risks such asbestos and meth.This point of difference is leading to a better understanding of South Island businesses and brokers. We want to provide more effective solutions to South Island businesses one example is the technology sector, Samson said. A group of Lloyds underwriters are suing law firm Phelps Dunbar for malpractice, according to court documents.The lawsuit relates to another lawsuit an allegedly botched US$45 million suit that Phelps Dunbar tried to push into arbitration. Phelps Dunbar is one of two firms involved in a case against Nydegger & Associates, a client of Lloyds.Lloyds said it never signed an agreement that Phelps Dunbar cited when trying to force the case into arbitration. Even if the agreement was enforceable, Lloyds argued, it would not require arbitration.Phelps motion is based on an arbitration clause contained within a document that plaintiffs never signed and therefore never became operative by its own express terms, Lloyds said in a court filing.Lloyds originally sued Phelps Dunbar and another law firm, Lindahl Beck, after a jury entered a US$45 million judgment against Lloyds client Nydegger, which had a US$1 million liability insurance policy. Lloyds argued that Phelps and Lindahl, which had defended Nydegger, exposed it to a bad-faith claim through legal malpractice.Phelps Dunbar attempted to compel arbitration and move the case to a federal court. It has also tried to push the case into arbitration in the United Kingdom. Lloyds has filed a motion to remand the case back to state court. Phelps Dunbar also said that as an alternative to arbitration, the case should be dismissed.Lloyds, however, insisted that Phelps was attempting to enforce an agreement it hadnt signed and that the case should stay in US court. Two industry players a general insurance underwriter and a digital insurance claims management company have been recognised at the Australian Business Awards (ABA) 2017.Now on its 12th year, the awards recognise organisations that demonstrate business and product innovation, technological achievement, and employee engagement. QUS Pty Ltd has been recognised as a Winner for Employer of Choice in The Australian Business Awards 2017. The EOC accolade recognises organisations which have developed leading workplaces that maximise the full potential of their workforce through practices that demonstrate effective employee recruitment, engagement and retention. Claim Central Consolidated (CCC), meanwhile, has been honoured with the New Product Innovation award for the research and development of LiveLogik.LiveLogik is a live video-streaming solution that enables a desk-based claim assessor to gather critical and relevant information by seeing the video, photos, and audio live-streamed by customers or field staff. This accelerates the claims process, lifecycle, and cost for insurers as well as providing a better service experience for policyholders.We are thrilled to be recognised for our achievements in the research and development of LiveLogik, CCC CEO Brian Siemsen said. As pioneers of live video streaming across the Asia Pacific, were constantly innovating and looking for new ways to improve LiveLogiks capabilities for our clients and their customers.QUS GM Craig Hodgson also commented on the companys award, saying: This award provides important recognition of the organisations commitment to recruiting, developing, and retaining high performing talent. As an organisation we believe the brand of our employees is equally as important as our company brand. We have invested heavily in working with all our employees to develop and promote their own brand and expertise in all things strata insurance.Tara Johnston, ABA Awards program director, commended the winners of the Australian Business Awards, saying they are proud to acknowledge the role of these leading corporate, government, and non-government organisations for implementing innovative, well-managed, high-performing business initiatives and for the research and development of their innovative products and services. When youre short of actuarial capacity, you call in actuarial consultants to make sure youre assessing your risk correctly.Most insurers and MGAs have actuaries in-house, but when they need an extra body to cover a workload, or if they need some specialist or niche expertise, they might consider calling in a consultant.Greg Fanoe, also a consulting actuary at Merlinos & Associates, an actuarial consulting firm based out of Peachtree, Georgia, said sometimes insurers will also go down the consultancy route if they just dont want or need to hire a full-time employee to cover an actuarial project.Some companies, especially smaller ones, dont have their own actuaries, he explained. Other companies do have their own actuaries, but want to hire a consulting actuary anyway they may not have enough actuaries on staff to do all of the actuarial work that needs to be done or a company may want to get an independent look at some of their projections. And some may want a consulting actuary to supplement the expertise of their in-house actuaries.Merlinos, as one of the larger actuarial consultancy firms in the United States, has 32 credentialed actuaries and 15 actuarial analysts. The company caters to various industry sectors, said Karen Landrum, another consulting actuary at Merlinos.About a third of our clients are in the insurance company space - that includes MGAs [and carriers and reinsurers]. About a third of our work is done in the captive space. And about a third of our work is in the regulatory space, she said.Our firm is very broad in our experience base it ranges from very niche areas like cannabis and flood, to very broad areas. We have people in-house that have tons of experience with homeowners, auto, commercial auto, commercial products including workers compensation, and general liability. We also have experience in niche products like pre-paid legal insurance or credit property insurance, and we have people on staff who do health and life.We might provide some guidance on ERM [enterprise risk management], processes, anything really that assesses risk. Following the tragic incident in Charlottesville, Virginia that saw a car plow through a group of demonstrators, riot insurance might be something that even the smallest towns will need to consider.Last weekend, white supremacists protested Charlottesvilles decision to remove the statues of Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas Stonewall Jackson. In response, a counter-demonstration was held. With tensions running high between both groups, a young man 20-year old James Alex Fields Jr. allegedly drove his car into the counter-demonstrators, resulting in the death of one and injuring 19.Fields has been charged with second-degree murder.Riot insurance is typically a requirement for major cities, especially those cities that are hosting controversial gatherings. But the Charlottesville incident proved that even midsize cities and small towns may need the coverage especially communities in the South, where over 700 Confederate monuments stand.Insurers both in America and abroad have taken notice of the recent increase in political risk and are advocating that cities and municipalities that are facing demonstrations of any kind should secure riot insurance before it is too late.Theres an increase in activism from all sides, Allianz Insurance London head of terrorism Srjdan Todorovic told CBS News. People arent just satisfied with expressing themselves on social media anymore. They want to do their talking on the streets.According to Todorovic, many insurers have been blindsided by the current atmosphere of violence, so traditional municipality insurance, as well as P&C policies, may not be enough to cover damages arising from civil disturbances.Policies generally include coverage for losses caused by riot, explained Insurance Information Institute spokesperson Loretta Worters. [But it has to be] direct physical loss caused by riot or civil commotion, and looting at the time and place of the occurrence.As for those businesses that must suspend operations due to rioting, coverage is only triggered if there is direct physical damage to the premises of such magnitude that the business must suspend its operations, Worters added. A former San Antonio insurance agent has been sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay more than $45,000 for dozens of insurance fraud cases. The Texas Department of Insurance said that Dermaine Clark stole the identities of dozens of people and used them to open fraudulent life insurance policies. He would make the initial premium payments on the policies in order to collect commissions from the insurance company. According to the TDI, Clark tried the scam 49 times in 2009, stealing more than $32,000 in commissions. He even submitted one life insurance application in the name of a woman whod been dead for three months. Its the kind of unscrupulous crime that puts a drag on the entire insurance system, said Chris Davis, TDI fraud director. When an agent with access to peoples most personal information tries to game the system, there will be consequences. Clark was apparently an equal-opportunity thief. During his sentencing, TDI prosecutor Nicole Thornbro said that while Clark was being investigated for stealing insurance commissions, he was also stealing profits from a restaurant he was managing. Part of the restitution he was ordered to pay was to the restaurant owners. He told reporters at the Pentagon that the U.S. will know whether North Korean missiles are headed for Guam "within moments," in which case "we'll take it out." U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis on Monday warned that if North Korea fires at the U.S., "it could escalate into war very quickly." The North last week unveiled plans to surround the U.S. territory in the Pacific with "enveloping fire." "If they shoot at the United State, I'm assuming they hit the United States. If they do that, it's game on," he added. "You don't shoot at people in this world unless you want to bear the consequences." But he declined to be more specific. "I need a certain amount of ambiguity on this, because I'm not going to tell them what I'm going to do in each case." "War is up to the president, perhaps up to the Congress," he added. "The bottom line is we will defend the country from an attack." On Aug. 9, Mattis warned that the North's military actions "will continue to be grossly overmatched by ours" and it "would lose any arms race of conflict it initiates." He urged Pyongyang to "cease any consideration of actions that would lead to the end of its regime and the destruction of its people." It has been 25 years since Hurricane Andrew swept through South Florida leaving $26.5 billion (1992 USD) of economic damage in its deadly wake. Of that astonishing figure, only $15.5 billion was insured, dumping the remaining $11 billion economic loss on American society.But what impact would Hurricane Andrew have if it struck today?A new report from global reinsurer Swiss Re reveals that a similar event today would totally dwarf the losses experienced a quarter of a century ago. The company modelled the outcome of the exact same storm in 2017 and found that economic losses would be estimated at $80-100 billion in current US dollars, of which only $50-60 billion would be covered by insurance.Swiss Re also studied a scenario in which Andrews track shifted 20 miles north today, to directly strike Miami. Losses in this case would range from $100-300 billion, making it the costliest natural disaster ever in the US. Again, just over 50% of the damage would be covered by insurance, leaving a huge shortfall to be made up by taxpayers and the government.The results serve as a wake-up call to the insurance industry, homeowners, small businesses, public officials and the private sector, said Marla Schwartz, atmospheric perils specialist, Swiss Re. A common response is sticker shock, as some of the numbers are hard to fathom and rather unsettling. Although it is certainly difficult to wrap your mind around an economic loss in the range of USD 300 billion, it is critical in order to truly address present-day hurricane risk.The levels of underinsurance are some of the most shocking statistics in the Swiss Re report. For lower-income residents or smaller enterprises in Florida, underinsurance can be blamed on the cost of coverage (premiums and deductibles), according to Schwartz.In emerging and developing markets, there seems to be a rather low level of risk awareness and risk culture, she added. Some people in these markets have never had insurance before or are not familiar with insurance products, so it is difficult to penetrate these markets with traditional products. This highlights the need to develop innovative products that address the unique needs of underinsured communities or those with historically poor risk awareness.Additionally, the US has not experienced a major (Category 3 or greater) hurricane landfall since Wilma in 2005. This extended quiet period can lead to complacency, and insurance take up rates begin to drop as memories of hurricanes fade. However, it is critical to point out that this quiet period does not translate to decreased risk: its not a matter of if a major hurricane will barrel through South Florida, but when.Preparing Florida for Andrews second strike requires team work, communication and education, according to Schwartz. Brokers need to share this profound protection gap with clients so that they fully understand their risk and have as much mitigation and protection in place as possible.Overall, our findings have the same take-away message for primary insurers, consumers and brokers, Schwartz commented. It is more important than ever to better understand hurricane risk, to learn about new solutions that address the protection gap, and to consider if insurance instruments are sufficient to cover financial needs in the event of a significant loss, like an Andrew. Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker last month signed H. 3680, a bipartisan bill to extend protections to pregnant workers in the state. The legislation, An Act Establishing the Massachusetts Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, will prohibit workplace and hiring discrimination related to pregnancy and nursing, as well as require employers to provide reasonable accommodations for expectant and new mothers in the workplace. This includes access to less strenuous workloads, altered work schedules, time off with or without pay and private nursing space. These provisions are important to expectant and working moms supporting their families and raising healthy children, Baker said in a press release issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts press office. The Governor was joined by members of the legislature at a signing ceremony at the State House to enact H. 3680, which closes gaps in federal law for employers of six or more. As a working mom, I know how important it is to balance job responsibilities and family life to support our kids, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito said in the release. Ensuring women in the workplace raising their children have access to these protections is important to the strength and safety of our economy, families and communities. Representative David Rogers (D-Cambridge) explained in the release that The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act was a bill he introduced in order to make it clear that women seeking reasonable assistance from their employers for certain conditions or needs related to their pregnancy must be treated fairly. He thanked Speaker of the Massachusetts House Robert DeLeo and his ninety-nine House colleagues who co-sponsored the legislation. Senator Joan Lovely (D-Salem) added in the release that this bill became a law with the full support of the Governor, legislature, advocates and employers. No expecting mother should have to choose between a healthy pregnancy and a paycheck, Senate President Stan Rosenberg (D-Amherst) said in the release. This legislation would ensure that womens medical needs are addressed without imposing undue burden on employers throughout Massachusetts. Source: Commonwealth of Massachusetts Press Office Topics Legislation Massachusetts The last of the evacuated residents of a small Pennsylvania town were finally able to return to their homes one week after a freight train carrying hazardous materials derailed and caught fire. CSX spokesman Rob Doolittle said residents of 40 homes in Hyndman, about 100 miles southeast of Pittsburgh, could return at 5 p.m. Friday. Most of the more than 1,000 evacuees were allowed to return to their homes last Saturday. Doolittle said the area around the last 40 homes was the site of an intensive cleanup. He said several rail cars that contained propane, molten sulfur and asphalt had been removed, and two carloads of molten sulfur will be taken away this week. CSX is continuing to perform air-quality monitoring at the site, and so far no air quality issues have been detected. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Pennsylvania A blackout caused by a blunder at Taiwans biggest gas-fired plant is the latest challenge to an electricity grid recently pushed to its limit and to President Tsai Ing-wens efforts to reshape the islands power mix. A combination of unusually hot weather, infrastructure damage from typhoons and Tsais drive to abandon nuclear power left Taiwan barely able to supply sufficient electricity to residential and business users in the past week. That balance gave way just before 5 p.m. Tuesday when the Tatan power plant, which accounts for almost 9 percent of the islands generation capacity, stopped after workers accidentally shut off its natural gas supply. Tsai publicly apologized for the power outage that hit more than 6 million households and disrupted some semiconductor production. Electricity was restored by 10 p.m., but not before Lee Chih-kung, Tsais economy minister, offered his resignation. Both the operator and supplier of the plant, Taiwan Power Co. and CPC Corp., are state-run. The outages hurt President Tsais creditability, Jeffrey Bor, economics professor at Chinese Culture University in Taipei, said by phone. The impact on the economy is comprehensive. Its like sending a signal to companies to escape fast, because of the risks of electricity supply disruption. While Tuesdays outage was caused by human error, the blackouts heightened scrutiny of Tsais policies, including a pledge to rid Taiwan of nuclear and cut its use of coal. The island, which plays a critical role in the worlds electronics supply chain, will rely instead under her plan on natural gas, renewables and distributed generation, which entails multiple, smaller power sources that decrease reliance on single plants and can offer greater grid stability. [Editors note: An accompanying opinion piece from Bloombergs Gadfly discusses why Taiwans power woes should worry investors.] The disruption Tuesday occurred when engineers replacing power supply equipment for a control system at Tatans metering station didnt switch the system from automated to manual before starting the work, according to CPC Corp., which provides the plant natural gas. That resulted in two valves being automatically closed, one for about six minutes, shutting off gas supplies. There had been multiple warnings about Taiwans electricity reliability before the blackouts. A week earlier, state-run utility Taiwan Power Co. issued a red alert as the operating reserve margin, the amount of maximum capacity available above peak demand on a particular day, fell to the second-lowest on record. Business associations including the Chinese National Federation of Industries had called for slowing the pace of closing nuclear plants. Tsais apology posted on Facebook late Tuesday included a reiteration of her determination to push forward phasing out nuclear in favor of renewable energy. The government is promoting distributed green energy to avoid the situation where an incident at a single power station can affect the power supply for the whole country, Tsai wrote. We will not change course. Todays incident only makes us more determined. New capacity not being delivered on schedule is compounding Taiwans energy woes, according to Kerry Anne Shanks, a Singapore-based analyst at Wood Mackenzie Ltd. Commissioning of the new gas-fired units has been delayed again and again, Shanks said by email Wednesday. There are now appeals for a review of the nuclear phase-out policy. The government remains committed to a nuclear-free Taiwan by 2025, but this stance will depend on whether the power system can survive the summer. Taiwan has mothballed one of its four nuclear power stations, and three of the remaining six remaining reactors are shut down. Wu Tsai-yi, president at Taiwan Research Institute, said the restart of two of the shut reactors has been stalled by lawmakers. Nuclear made up 12 percent of Taiwans power mix last year, down from 17 percent in 2013, according to its Bureau of Energy. Legislation passed in January set a goal of getting rid of nuclear power by 2025, as well as lowering the share of coal to 30 percent and raising natural gas to 50 percent, with the remainder coming from renewables, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Taiwans three shut reactors both units at Jinshan and the No. 2 unit at Kuosheng have combined capacity of almost 2.26 gigawatts, according to the Atomic Energy Council. The Tatan plant accidentally shut on Tuesday can produce 4.38 gigawatts, according to Taiwan Power Co., known as Taipower. The countrys total generation capacity is 49.9 gigawatts, according to Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs. Semiconductors The impact so far on Taiwans technology industry has been limited. Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc. said production lines are operating again at two plants hit by the blackout and the company is evaluating any losses. ChipMOS Technologies Inc. said production has been restored, while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. said there was no impact on output, with all lines operating as normal. Advanced Semiconductor and TSMC are both suppliers to Apple Inc. The main assembler of iPhones, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., locates most of the production for the U.S. company in mainland China. The power cut Tuesday hit Taiwans Hsinchu Science Park, the heart of its semiconductor industry, said Annabelle Hsu, a senior research manager in Taiwan at International Data Corp. Factories there are running 24 hours a day, so sudden power cut without warning could cause a big damage, Hsu said. With assistance from Dan Murtaugh, Jing Yang, Aibing Guo and Gao Yuan Related: Taiwan Power Crisis a Growing Concern for Local Industry: Opinion Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. Topics Tech China Manufacturing I was having dinner with a friend in downtown Taipei on Tuesday night when the electricity went off for the second time that day. Workers accidentally shut off the supply of natural gas to a single power generator just a few hours earlier, immediately tipping the scales of Taiwans tenuous electricity supply/demand balance into a blackout in some areas. I really hope these power outages hurt TSMC, my Taiwanese friend said, referring to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the worlds biggest custom chipmaker, whose clients include Apple Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. Confused, I asked why anyone would wish harm on Taiwans most important company. If they had even one second of power shortage, thatd be something and maybe thatd push the government into action. There was no impact on our product lines, TSMC spokeswoman Elizabeth Sun told me a little later. Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc., which tests and packages chips for a client list similar to that of TSMC, and its smaller rival ChipMOS Technologies Inc., werent so lucky. Taiwan dodged a bullet that it saw coming at least a week ago, when state-owned Taiwan Power Co. issued a red alert that the operating margin between supply and demand was dangerously low. A 0.1 percent decline in the benchmark Taiex stock index Wednesday morning indicates investors believe either that this blackout was a one-time event, or that one of the worlds most technology-dependent economies can survive its rickety power situation. Theyre wrong on both fronts. For years, analysts have been warning that a shortage is coming. Taiwans decision to do away with nuclear energy, which once accounted for one-third of generation capacity, hasnt been met with any credible alternatives to fill the pending gap. Its been 17 years since former President Chen Shui-bian came to power with no nukes among his campaign platforms. But bickering through three administrations and multiple legislatures; the political impossibility of TaiPower raising prices; a failure to adequately open up the electricity market to local and foreign players; and a utopian belief that renewable energy will be a silver bullet, have all resulted in a glacial pace of reform and capacity increases. Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Joseph Jacobelli, who predicted this crisis, found a positive spin when he wrote last month about the possible upside. Taiwans power crunch is likely to persist in 2017-18, yet is a possible opportunity in disguise A crisis may eventually force the government to liberalize the market, and allow greater foreign investment. Maybe. But even if thats so, any new supply will take a long time to come on stream, leaving those invested in Taiwan to swelter through further power shortages. Another observation from a local: TSMC will be the last company allowed to suffer in a power shortage. That might be true. But do you really want to bet on it? This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Bloomberg LP and its owners. Related: Taiwan Power Outages Disrupt Some Semiconductor Manufacturing Copyright 2022 Bloomberg. USG has promoted Mark Strayhan to insurance producer/broker for the Troy, Mich., office. He formerly held the title of associate producer/broker. Strayhan will continue building his book of business and agency retail network. Strayhan joined the USG team in 2016 with five years of sales. During his time with USG, he has proven to be a dedicated, goal oriented broker. USG has 21 locations and 4 subsidiaries: USG Insurance Services Inc. a national wholesale/MGA operation; BFS, Brokers Financial Services, a premium finance company; AAU, Allied American Underwriters, the specialty division of USG; and Innovations, a full service marketing, advertising, and technology provider for the industry. Source: USG Topics Agencies Michigan A federal judge on Monday said Tiffany & Co. may recover at least $19.4 million in damages from Costco Wholesale Corp. over the warehouse club chains illegal sale of counterfeit diamond engagement rings bearing the Tiffany name. U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain said Tiffany deserves $11.1 million, plus interest, representing triple the lost profit from Costcos trademark infringement, plus the $8.25 million in punitive damages awarded by a jury last October. The Manhattan judge also permanently barred Costco from selling anything that Tiffany did not make as Tiffany products, unless it uses modifiers suggesting that the products have, for example, a Tiffany setting, set or style. Costco said it intends to appeal, calling the decision a product of multiple errors by Swain. This was not a case about counterfeiting in the common understanding of that word Costco was not selling imitation Tiffany & Co rings, Costco said. Tiffany had sued Costco on Valentines Day in 2013. While the case concerned only about 2,500 rings, Tiffany sued to protect its brand and cachet as one of the worlds best-known luxury retailers. Tiffany last month named industry veteran Alessandro Bogliolo as its new chief executive to help arrest declines in same-store sales as millennials spend elsewhere on accessories. Costco had argued that Tiffany had become a generic term, excusing its use on a standalone basis. But the judge found Costcos defenses not credible, given evidence that displays of fine jewelry were a key part of the Issaquah, Washington-based companys marketing strategy. Salespeople described such rings as Tiffany rings in response to customer inquiries, and were not perturbed when customers who then realized that the rings were not actually manufactured by Tiffany expressed anger or upset, Swain wrote. Costcos upper management, meanwhile, displayed at best a cavalier attitude toward Costcos use of the Tiffany name in conjunction with ring sales and marketing, the judge added. The jury had awarded Tiffany $5.5 million rather than $3.7 million for lost profit. Swain found the lower sum sufficient. Leigh Harlan, Tiffanys general counsel, in a statement said the decision sends a clear and powerful message to anyone seeking to infringe the New York-based companys trademark. We brought this case because we felt a responsibility to protect the value of our customers purchases and to ensure that Costcos customers were not misled, she said. The case is Tiffany and Co. et al v. Costco Wholesale Corp., U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 13-01041. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Steve Orlofsky and Dan Grebler) Topics New York A federal appeals court on Tuesday revived a California mans lawsuit accusing Spokeo Inc. of publishing an online profile about him that was filled with mistakes. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 3-0 in favor of Thomas Robins, 15 months after the U.S. Supreme Court asked it to more closely assess whether he suffered the concrete and particularized injury needed to justify a lawsuit. Spokeo sells data aggregated from various databases to users including employers and people seeking romantic partners. Robins sued after learning that his profile, which carried someones elses photo, said he was married with children, affluent, in his 50s and employed, and had a graduate degree. He said all of this was wrong, and accused Pasadena, California-based Spokeo of willfully violating the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, with potential damages of $1,000. The case was significant because Robins tried to pursue a class action, which if successful could expose Facebook Inc., Alphabet Inc.s Google and other online data providers to mass claims in similar lawsuits. In a 6-2 decision in May 2016, the Supreme Court set aside an earlier 9th Circuit ruling favoring Robins, and asked the appeals court to review the severity of Robins injury. Justice Samuel Alito concluded that not all inaccuracies, such as a wrong postal code, could threaten real harm. In Tuesdays decision, Circuit Judge Diarmuid OScannlain said it does not take much imagination to surmise how Robins could have suffered real harm, given the importance of consumer reports to getting jobs, obtaining loans and buying homes. The alleged errors do not strike us as the sort of mere technical violations which are too insignificant to present a sincere risk of harm to the real-world interests that Congress chose to protect with FCRA, OScannlain wrote. Spokeo said it will vigorously defend itself in court, and it believes the need to show individualized inaccuracies will make it very difficult to win class certification. The Supreme Court decision has prompted some uncertainty, with lower courts dismissing some proposed class actions based only on technical violations, while letting other cases continue even when alleged harms were intangible. Were obviously very pleased, Jay Edelson, a lawyer for Robins, said in a phone interview. This lays out exactly what the Supreme Court was getting at. Robins case drew support from the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which in a court brief said Spokeo fell short of seeking maximum possible accuracy in its reports. The CFPB did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The case is Robins v. Spokeo Inc., 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 11-56843. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York, additional reporting by Alison Frankel; editing by G Crosse) Topics USA The non-profit Center for Auto Safety has appointed Jason K. Levine as its new executive director. Levine succeeds the late Clarence M. Ditlow III, who headed the organization for 40 years. Ditlow died from cancer last November. Levine, a consumer protection attorney, has held leadership positions in three federal agencies, including chief of staff at the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and director of the Office of Congressional, Legislative, and Intergovernmental Affairs at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Levine spent almost six years at the CPSC during the Obama administration, including four as chief counsel to Commissioner Robert Adler. He previously served in the same position at the Federal Election Commission for Commissioner Ellen Weintraub, and later served in an advisory capacity to the Assistant Secretary for Aging, Kathy Greenlee, at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He joined OPM in August 2015 to lead the agencys response to Congress in the midst of the cyber incidents involving federal employee data. The organization has championed state lemon laws, airbags, and recall repairs made at no cost to consumers. Consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who founded the Center for Auto Safety with Consumers Union in 1970, called Levine an accomplished former public servant who should assure a productive continuity for the Centers critical missions. Levine joins at a time when the Trump administration is seeking to roll back regulations, auto fatalities are rising, and autonomous cars are on the horizon. In prepared remarks, Levine vowed to continue advocating for consumers and auto safety. Despite rising auto fatalities, and new recalls coming almost daily, the current administration has shown no interest in meeting its statutory duty and moral responsibility to enforce safety laws on behalf of drivers, passengers, and pedestrians. American consumers expect their government to prevent the false advertising of used cars and protect the environment from auto pollution. Yet, the only momentum we see in Washington is a regulatory rollback that too many in the auto industry are aiding and abetting. The Centers role as the eyes, ears, and voice of the consumer is more important than ever, he said. Topics USA Auto South Carolina sued Purdue Pharma LP on Tuesday, becoming the latest state or local government to accuse the OxyContin maker of deceptive marketing practices that have contributed to a national opioid addiction epidemic. The lawsuit by South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, filed in Richland County Court of Common Pleas in Columbia, accuses the company of the unfair and deceptive marketing of opioid painkillers. Wilson claimed Purdue has told doctors that patients who receive prescriptions for opioids generally will not become addicted and those who appeared to be were only pseudoaddicted and needed more of the drugs. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, opioids were involved in over 33,000 deaths in 2015, the latest year for which data is available, and the death rate has continued rising, according to estimates. Since a 2007 settlement with South Carolina, Purdue has continued to downplay the addictiveness of its opioid products and overstated the benefits compared to other pain management treatments, according to the lawsuit. While there is a time and place for patients to receive opioids, Purdue prevented doctors and patients from receiving complete and accurate information about opioids in order to make informed choices about their treatment options, Wilson said in a statement. Stamford, Connecticut-based Purdue denied the allegations and said it shares the concerns of South Carolina officials about the crisis and is committed to finding solutions. Purdue and other drugmakers have been sued over opioid products by Oklahoma, Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri and New Hampshire as well as cities and counties in California, Illinois, Ohio, Oregon, Tennessee and New York. A group of state attorneys general in June announced an investigation into the role played by pharmaceutical manufacturers in the opioid epidemic. Purdue and three executives pleaded guilty in 2007 to federal charges related to the misbranding of OxyContin, which is used to relieve pain, and agreed to pay a total of $634.5 million to resolve a U.S. Justice Department probe. That year, the privately held company also reached a $19.5 million settlement with 26 states including South Carolina as well as the District of Columbia. It agreed in 2015 to pay $24 million to resolve a lawsuit by Kentucky. In Tuesdays lawsuit, South Carolina claimed that since the 2007 settlement, Purdue has continued to engage in misleading opioid marketing practices rather than reforming them to conform with the law. Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe Topics Lawsuits South Carolina The egg contamination scare is spreading from Europe to Korea, where spot checks have also found unacceptably high doses of the pesticide fipronil in farm eggs. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs on Monday provisionally banned egg shipments from farms with more than 3,000 laying hens each. The measure affects more than 80 percent of the 43 million eggs that are distributed in the country every day. Eggs contaminated with fipronil were first found in Belgium on July 20 and later in the Netherlands. The insecticide was first found at a farm in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, which is estimated to have shipped 100,000 eggs until authorities took samples on Aug. 9, and since also in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province and Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. Un ottobre da sogno per Antonio Conte: lex ct della Nazionale italiana, attualmente alla guida del Chelsea, nelle ultime quattro gare di Premier League ha collezionato solo successi, conditi da 11 reti segnate e addirittura nessuna incassata. Numeri da record che non sono certo passati inosservati alla Federazione inglese, la quale ha conferito al tecnico leccese lambito premio di Manager del mese. Unavventura oltremanica iniziata in sordina, quella di Conte, pur a fronte di tre vittorie nelle prime tre gare di campionato. A far vacillare, anche se solo per un momento, le certezze del patron del club londinese, Roman Abramovich, i risultati conseguiti tra la 4a e la 6a giornata, coincisi con un pareggio sul campo dello Swansea City e, soprattutto, con le due pesanti sconfitte subite dal Liverpool, sul terreno casalingo di Stamford Bridge, e dallArsenal. In particolare, la debacle interna coi Reds, aveva irritato non poco il numero uno russo, poiche occorsa proprio nel giorno della sua 250esima partita da presidente della societa. Come detto, solo un momento. Dopo lincontro dellEmirates, il tecnico salentino cambia modulo, adottando un piu equilibrato 3-4-3 e inserendo elementi di corsa come lo spagnolo Pedro. Una svolta totale perche, di li in poi, il Chelsea inanellera solo e soltanto vittorie: 2 gol allHull City e al Southampton in trasferta, 3 ai campioni dInghilterra del Leicester e 4 allo United in casa, con un meraviglioso numero zero nella casella delle reti subite. Un fantastico poker, ottenuto tra l1 e il 29 ottobre. Un cambio di marcia sbalorditivo, confermato dal 5 a 0 rifilato ai toffees dellEverton nel primo match di novembre, e una scalata che, man mano, ha portato i blues al secondo posto in classifica, a soli 2 punti dal Liverpool capolista. E allora, non poteva mancare il riconoscimento di migliore allenatore del mese, ottenuto surclassando tecnici del calibro di Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool), Arsene Wenger (Arsenal) e Mark Hughes (Southampton). Tanta, ovviamente, la soddisfazione: E un grande onore e voglio condividerlo con i giocatori e con la societa ha dichiarato Conte sul sito ufficiale della Premier League -. E la prima volta che lavoro in un altro Paese, con una cultura diversa, e portare la propria filosofia non e facile, ma ora sono contento di questa scelta. A completare la festa, la premiazione del fantasista belga, Eden Hazard, come miglior giocatore di ottobre. Due risultati importanti per il club, ottimo incentivo per la rincorsa al trono dei campioni, occupato dal Leicester di Ranieri. Il prossimo appuntamento per l11 di Conte sara al Riverside Stadium, tana del Middlesborough neopromosso. Il tempo di festeggiare e gia finito. The year 2017 marks the 25th anniversary of the dialogue partnership between India and the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The anniversary coincides with the 50 years of existence of ASEAN as a successful regional grouping. The year 2017 also completes 15 years of India-ASEAN dialogue at the summit level, i.e. between the heads of government of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam on one hand and the India on the other. In tandem, this year also commemorates the completion of five years of strategic partnership between Asias third-largest economy and one of the most successful economic groupings in the world. The bilateral relationship between India and Southeast Asia can be traced back thousands of years. Historically, the coastal kingdoms of Orissa and Southern India had trade connections with Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Cambodia. The Indian influence of Buddhism and Hinduism has spread to almost all countries in the region. Notably, the majority of the people in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand are Buddhists. The strong Indian influence in Southeast Asia can also be found in Cambodia. Angkor Wat temple was built with the influence of Hinduism by the Khmer King Jayavarman II (about 800s-850s). Indias relations with Southeast Asia have been forged over time. The first Indian Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, often accentuated the necessity of closer ties with Southeast Asia, and did so as far back as 1944 when he invited leaders from Vietnam, Indonesia, and Burma to the first Asian Conference in New Delhi in March 1947. Among Southeast Asian leaders, Nehru had close relations with Indonesias President Sukarno, and they were pioneers of the Non-Aligned Movement that emerged from the 1955 Bandung Conference of Asian and African states. With the growing significance of the Southeast Asia region in terms of both economic and strategic dimensions, India has given its foreign policy priority to the region. This can be seen in the initiation of the Look East Policy, which was later shifted to the Act East Policy under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The core concept of the Act East Policy is to cultivate strategic and economic relations with the countries of Southeast Asia in order to strengthen Indias posture as a regional power and furthermore to counterbalance the increasing influence of China. India has actively engaged in several ASEAN-led forums like the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), East Asia Summit, ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus, and the ASEAN-India Summit. Such engagements reflect Indias deepening ties with ASEAN. In addition, India is an indispensable player which is able to contribute to improving regional physical infrastructure and serve as a bridge from South to Southeast Asia. So far, several sub-regional initiatives have been put in place to link the two regions, such as the South Asia Sub-Regional Economic Corporation (SASEC), the Bay of Bangal Initiative for Multisectoral Technical and Economic Corporation (BIMSTEC), ASEAN+1, and the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Initiative, all of which include India as the common factor. With these initiatives and Indias central geographical position, countries in South Asia such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the two landlocked countries Nepal and Bhutan, can all access the Southeast Asian economy. India can be a bridge between South and Southeast Asia both on land and over the sea. The fact that Myanmar shares a land border of 1,700 km with four Indian states Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh has led to several major infrastructure projects like the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway which connect Indias northeast with the ASEAN region. Other projects such as the Trans-Asian railway project and the Kaladan Multimodal Transport Project are aimed at connecting Kolkata with Sittwe port in Myanmar, and stretching further to Lashio through Kaladan River and to Mizoram in India by road, offer potential opportunities to upgrade Indias ties with ASEAN countries. While the potential for road connectivity between South and Southeast Asia is enormous, it is still in the realm of possibility, requiring the road network to be linked with maritime routes to ensure seamless movement of cargo, trade, and transportation. Notably, nearly 95 percent of Indias merchandise trade by volume is moved by sea. Indias maritime connectivity with Southeast and East Asia, although presently limited, can be the facilitator of pan-Asian integration. To achieve the goal of maritime connectivity, India during its annual meeting with the ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee (ACCC) in 2013 suggested establishing a Joint Working Group (JWG) on Maritime Connectivity between India, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, with its primary duty being the examination of the soft infrastructure needed for the seamless movement of goods and passenger traffic along the ASEAN-India connectivity corridors. Furthermore, India has conducted a study of the Mekong-India Economic Corridor to scrutinize the production networks in the Mekong region along the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) Southern Economic Corridor (Ho Chi Minh-Phnom Penh-Bangkok) to the corridors in India (Delhi-Mumbai-Industrial Corridor and Mumbai-Bangalore-Chennai industrial corridor) via the Chennai-Dawei sea link. All these projects will contribute to accelerating regional economic integration. Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley stressed the importance of regional connectivity at SASEC earlier this year: Improved connectivity and infrastructure development could substantially spur economic growth in the region. Enhanced cooperation among the member countries would also give an impetus to small and medium enterprises in the region. Collaboration in knowledge sharing would facilitate innovation and research. Indias Act East Policy should go along with aid provision for funding non-governmental organizations, especially in the area of promoting rule of law, human rights, and democracy. Along with physical connectivity, more Indian multinational corporations should take advantage of the steady growth of Southeast Asia, which is collectively estimated to be about 4.7 percent in 2017 and 4.8 percent in 2018. This growth presents new opportunities for foreign and Indian companies to invest in the region and enjoy latecomer advantage. The success case of Japan-based retailer AEON which has a large presence in Malaysia and Cambodia can be the inspiration for Indian companies. In this regard, government policies to encourage Indian multinational corporations to go abroad, especially to Southeast Asia, have to be put in place to facilitate the smooth process of overseas investment. The Indian government should also have a large amount of foreign currency reserves to help these multinational corporations when they are in financial need for their expansion. In addition, public diplomacy can contribute to the process as well. The Act East Policy, which can be partly seen as Indias security commitment to the region and coincides with the uncertainty of the US in general and particularly in the South China Sea, has led some Southeast Asian countries like Vietnam to forge security ties with India and to ask India to play a larger role in the South China Sea amid growing Chinese assertiveness. As Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh said at Delhi Dialogue IX: ASEAN supports India to play a greater role in the political and security domain, and create a rule-based region. We hope India will continue to partner our efforts for strategic security and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea on the basis of international law and legal convention. His statement is in sync with Indias Act East Policy since India has diplomatic, strategic, and economic reasons to become more active in the South China Sea. For example, Vietnam recently granted a two-year extension to Indian oil firm ONGC Videsh to continue its exploration activities at block 128 off the southern coast of Vietnam in waters contested by China. Moreover, it seems to be in reciprocity that Vietnam has supported Indias bid to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, a position New Delhi has long sought. Indias Act East Policy should go along with aid provision for funding non-governmental organizations, especially in the area of promoting rule of law, human rights, and democracy. Since India is the largest democracy in the world and the US is showing less commitment to the region through its proposed cuts in foreign assistance, India should fill this vacuum. If so, a potential clash with China is likely since China is still the dominant aid provider in the region. Chinese aid however is focused at the governmental level. Leaders in Southeast Asian countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, and Laos are very sensitive to issues like democracy or human rights. For example, communist Vietnam is not happy with US funding of local NGOs which demand democracy. The same thing happened in Thailand when the US criticized issues of human rights and democracy, resulting in the Thai governments tilt towards China. Cambodia had a similarly strong response when it cancelled several joint projects with the US after the US assailed Cambodia about democracy and human rights. India hence should be prudent when providing foreign aid to countries in Southeast Asia, as its generous intentions could lead to a backlash. The reputation of Indian universities, in particular in the STEM fields, is globally renowned. The high quality of Indian higher education can be seen in the massive number of Indian scientists who have gone to work for giant tech companies around the world. India could help countries in Southeast Asia set up universities with a primary focus on STEM fields. This proposal is not novel because Japan has done this already, by working with Malaysia to set up the Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology. India could consider working with less developed countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam to establish similar tertiary institutions. These countries are in need of technological acumen to push their industrialization agendas so that they will be able to catch up economically with the other ASEAN members. For India, this can pave the way for future investments of Indian technology companies. Such initiatives will also be good opportunities for India to project its soft power across the region. All in all, how far India can go with the region remains to be seen. As Hash V. Pant, professor of international relations at Kings College London noted: There is a lot of demand for Indian presence which most regional states view as a benign force. But India is yet to give a signal that it remains committed to a long-term strategic presence in the region. Economically, India needs to develop connectivities with the region so that economic complementaries can be fully realised. Militarily, India needs to evolve into a robust security provider in the region. Diplomatically, it needs a sustained outreach. Culturally, it needs to build on the shared cultural linkages. And most importantly, New Delhi needs to build intellectual capital in the region so that India is studied and understood much more than is the case today. As India is on the steady rise both economically and militarily, it is expected that more active engagement will be on the way. Southeast Asian countries should be ready for this and ensure that peaceful coexistence between and among great and regional powers such as India, China, Japan, and the US is well sustained, and that the real prosperity for every single country in the region can be bolstered and sustained. China has banned imports of North Korean iron, iron ore, lead, coal, and seafood from Tuesday in compliance with the latest UN sanctions, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said Monday. But products that have already arrived will be subject to a 30-day grace period set by the UN Security Council and can go through customs before midnight on Sept. 5. The decisions comes a swift nine days after the UNSC adopted a fresh resolution against North Korea. This measure will slash North Korea's exports to China by a whopping 63 percent. According to the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, North Korea exported US$1.19 billion worth of coal, $225.35 million worth of iron ore, $44.04 million worth of iron, $1.11 million worth of lead, and $192.5 million worth of seafood to China last year. The ban covers $1.65 billion worth of North Korean exports to China, or 62.6 percent of its total exports to China last year. The ban will hit hard on Pyongyang as it has few other trade partners and 92.5 percent of its total exports are to China. A suspected murder investigation is continuing in Mayo after a 21-year-old died over the weekend. Joseph Deacy of St. Albans in England, who was on holidays in the Swinford area, was found with serious head injuries at the house he was staying in in Gortnasillagh. The alarm was raised by a passer-by at around 6.00am and the young man was taken to Mayo University Hospital and later transferred to Beaumont Hospital, Dublin where he was pronounced dead. Superintendent Tony Healy from Claremorris Garda Station is appealing for information. "We are appealing to the local community for any assistance that they can provide us in establishing the facts of this incident," he said. "A family liaison officer has been appointed to liaise with the family and an investigation team is conducting enquiries into the cause of death." The IDA has said it has no reason to believe that US companies will pull out of Ireland following Donald Trump's latest comments. The President called on American firms to stop manufacturing here and come back to the US. He suggested that the reason why some Chief Executives resigned from his advisory council in the wake of Charlottesville was due to the fact they were embarrassed they make products abroad. "If you look at some of those people you're talking about, they're outside of the country, they're having a lot of their products being made outside," said Trump. "If you look at Merck as an example, I have to tell you, some of the folks that will leave, they're leaving out of embarrassment because they make their products outside. "You have to bring it back to this country, you can't do it neccessarily in Ireland and all of these other places, you have to bring this work back to this country, that is what I want." Intel and Merck are just two of 700 US companies which are based here. Combined they employ over 100,000 people and account for 70% of our foreign direct investment. Shane Nolan a Vice President of the IDA has said Trump's latest reaction is not surprising. "We tend to get called out in certain snipets as we are a prominent heart of US globalisation," he said. Mr Nolan has said the companies that choose to locate here do so for easy access to the European and global market, they have been doing so for 60 years and there is no reason to believe they will stop now. The IDA says US businesses continue to be attracted to Ireland but that it's working on attracting more investment from Asia and other new markets. The number of professional job vacancies available in Ireland fell by 12% last month when compared to the same month in 2016. The Morgan McKinley Ireland Monthly Employment Monitor also found that it had gone down by 24% since June. The figures from the professional services recruitment firm found there was a 5% increase in the number of professionals seeking jobs in Ireland in July compared to the same month a year ago. They said they see this as an "indicator of continuing employee confidence, mobility and a willingness to consider opportunities". They said the slide is likely to carry through the current month of August, but consider it as seasonal. Morgan McKinley Ireland Director of Inward Investment, Trayc Keevans, said: There are currently fewer professional jobs coming onto the market however we have seen a much busier period of recruitment in the first half of 2017 than in any year previously since the economic crisis, so some level of seasonality is now to be expected. In a very competitive market for talent acquisition, we are also seeing an elongation of hiring timelines including an increase in assertiveness by employers where there is a trend of counter offers being made to retain employees. This is predominantly for critical functions in the ICT and Financial Services industries. "Employers are also deliberately enhancing their career progression, succession planning and employee retention strategies." They said that foreign direct investment interest in Ireland is still strong. They said: "It includes interest from multinationals considering Ireland as a European hub and who have already ruled out other European locations, in the context of Brexit. "This is due largely to Irelands overall competitiveness, skills availability and supportive business climate. Internationally owned financial services organisations are continuing to expand in Ireland although this is not necessarily being portrayed as a result of Brexit. They highlighted infrastructure as a key concern for Irelands appeal to international companies, including: housing, rental availability and sustainability, telecommunications, commuter transport, educational investments and training opportunities They said: "After a near decade of contraction, the pace of economic recovery is such that there are a range of pressure points which could impinge on our competitive progress. "The Governments proposed new Ireland 2040 spatial strategy anticipates that the population will grow by 750,000 over the next two decades. "Developments must be dispersed throughout urban centres across Ireland, and not just Dublin, including the encouragement of multinational investment and employment in the regions. A combative President Donald Trump has again insisted "there is blame on both sides" for the deadly weekend violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. He appeared to once again equate the actions of white supremacist groups and those protesting against them, and showed sympathy for the fringe groups' efforts to preserve Confederate monuments. The president's comments effectively wiped away his more conventional statement a day earlier when he branded members of the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and white supremacists who take part in violence as "criminals and thugs." Mr Trump's advisers had hoped those remarks might quell heavy criticism from Republicans, Democrats and business leaders. But the president's retorts on Tuesday suggested he had been a reluctant participant in that clean-up effort and renewed questions about why he seems to struggle to unequivocally condemn white nationalists. There was renewed criticism, including from fellow Republicans. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida said Mr Trump should not allow white supremacists "to share only part of the blame". House Speaker Paul Ryan declared "white supremacy is repulsive" and there should be "no moral ambiguity". Mr Trump's remarks were welcomed by former KKK leader David Duke, who tweeted: "Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth." Violence broke out on Saturday in Charlottesville after a mix of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and other far-right extremists assembled to protest against the city's decision to remove a towering statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee. Heather Heyer, 32, was killed when a man ploughed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters. In the immediate aftermath, Mr Trump placed the blame on "many sides", and on Monday, at the urging of his aides, he delivered a more direct condemnation of white supremacists. But he returned to his original arguments on Tuesday during an impromptu press conference in the lobby of his Manhattan skyscraper, declaring "there are two sides to a story". He acknowledged there were "some very bad people" looking for trouble in the group protesting against plans to remove the statue. "But you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides," he said. The president sided with those seeking to maintain the monument to Lee, equating him with some of the nation's founders who also owned slaves. Confederate monuments have become rallying points for supporters of both preserving and toppling them. "So, this week it's Robert E Lee," he said. "I noticed that Stonewall Jackson's coming down. I wonder, is it George Washington next week and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You really do have to ask yourself where does it stop?" He continued: "You're changing history. You're changing culture." The president's comments mirrored rhetoric from the far-right fringe. A post on Monday by the publisher of The Daily Stormer, a notorious neo-Nazi website, predicted that protesters are going to demand the Washington Monument be torn down. Mr Trump's handling of the weekend violence has raised new and troubling questions, even among some supporters. Members of his own Republican Party have pressured him to be more vigorous in criticising bigoted groups, and business leaders have begun abandoning a White House jobs panel in response to his comments. Democrats were aghast at Mr Trump's comments, with Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia saying on Twitter the Charlottesville violence "was fuelled by one side: white supremacists spreading racism, intolerance & intimidation. Those are the facts." Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii said: "As a Jew, as an American, as a human, words cannot express my disgust and disappointment. This is not my president." Mr Trump, who has quickly deemed other deadly incidents in the US and around the world acts of terrorism, waffled when asked whether the car death was a terrorist attack. He said: "There is a question. Is it murder? Is it terrorism? And then you get into legal semantics. The driver of the car is a murderer and what he did was a horrible, horrible, inexcusable thing." AP An exhibition is to honor the German photojournalist Jurgen Hinzpeter, who reported on the 1980 Gwangju democratic uprising and inspired the hit movie "A Taxi Driver." The exhibition of the late reporter's work will be held at Gwangju City Hall from Aug. 21 to Sept. 3 and hosted by the city government and the Gwangju and Jeonnam Press Association. Photos and videos taken by Hinzpeter in Gwangju during the uprising as well as works by local journalists will be on display. His glasses and passport, which was also used in the filming of "A Taxi Driver," will be part of the exhibition. They were lent to the organizers by his widow, Edeltraut Brahmstaedt. Chapman was formerly the political editor of the Daily Mail, which was at the centre of the Brexit campaign. Of far more importance, however, is the fact that Chapman was chief of staff for David Davis, the UK minister for Brexit, up until about 12 weeks ago. Chapman said last week that Brexit was the biggest catastrophe for the UK since the Second World War. He is calling for a full reversal of the decision and is suggesting a second referendum may be needed in 2019 to stop it. This is a remarkable insight from someone at the heart of the Brexit process. Chapman cannot be dismissed as some ideologue or europhile who does not have the UKs interests at heart. Rather, he is outlining a view that has formed as the enormity of what Brexit means is starting to surface. Last week we saw a slew of economic reports and data suggesting the British economy is beginning to roll over. Growth is slowing, exports are struggling despite a weak pound, the government deficit is widening and inward investment flows are contracting. All of this is a logical consequence of a decision to sever relationships with a marketplace that helped drive the entire UK economy forward over the past 30 years. One example illustrates well the incredible risks that the UK is taking with its people and economy through Brexit. Airbus, the European commercial aircraft manufacturer, is headquartered in Paris and is effectively a Franco-German company. It shares with Boeing the leadership of aircraft production worldwide. Airbus has two key factories in the UK. One employs 4,000 people near Bristol and specialises in systems and structures of aircraft. The other, in Broughton, employs 6,000. That plant makes all of the wings for the entire Airbus portfolio and has a rich heritage. The Comet and Mosquito aircraft, for example, were produced there. These plants form a crucial cog in the Airbus production process which exists across Europe. Wings made in Wales are moved to Toulouse in France for final assembly. This highly sophisticated process requires seamless movement of people, services, and products across EU borders. Brexit creates headaches around all that. The movement of highly skilled engineers between Airbus plants is one matter. Sensitive data transfer is another. The physical shipment of parts and final products is yet another. Each of these will be messed up by Brexit and in so doing interfere with the efficiency of the Airbus manufacturing process. This example is replicated over many industries; including car production, food, engineering and other important parts of the UK economy. Whether or not existing factories in the UK survive this Brexit nonsense is open to debate. What is crystal clear, however, is that the next phase of investments by giant manufacturing companies like Airbus will struggle to reach the UK if they impede efficiency. Those investments will, instead, see parts of the EU, where uninterrupted movement of people, services, products, and data is hassle-free, as appealing. If all of this was happening in a place like Belarus, it would be just a spectator sport for Ireland. Yet it is profoundly important that Ireland pulls like a dog on Brexit. The UK is our closest neighbour, our economies are intertwined unlike any other country trading with the UK, and we have replaced centuries of conflict with peace. Getting stuck into a few battles on the diplomatic front will be a small price to pay if we can help change the Brexit momentum. Chapmans comments are very welcome in that regard. Joe Gill is director of corporate broking with Goodbody Stockbrokers. His views are personal The New York-based hedge fund owns shares in Danone worth about 340m. The shares rose for a second day, up to 2.9% at one stage in Paris trading, leading gains in Frances CAC 40 Index. They are now up over 12% this year. Activist investors increasingly have European companies in their sights, and Dan Loebs purchase of a stake in Nestle has shown not even Europes biggest company is immune. Danone was previously a target in 2012, when Nelson Peltz bought a stake and sought tighter cost control. Its incumbent on all of us as investors to be activist, said Nicholas Melhuish, head of global equities at Amundi Asset Management. The figures come amid a renewed weakness for sterling, which traded at 91.25p, the second-lowest level since the Brexit referendum last summer. In recent days, major international banks have predicted sterling could drop much further and reach a historic low of parity against the euro, because the eurozone economy is expanding at a time when the UK economy is slowing. CSO figures show exports across the Irish Sea rose to almost 7.2bn for the first six months, an increase of 14% from a year earlier. Imports from Britain rose 7% to almost 8.2bn. The figures may be evidence that Irish firms have weathered the first waves of the Brexit fallout better than many expected. There had been fears that the 15% slump in the value of sterling against the euro since the eve of the referendum would significantly hamper Irish exporters because the currency drop means firms make a good deal less on the sales they make into Britain. The CSO figures suggest that indigenous Irish firms, such as food companies, which tend to be more exposed than multinationals to sudden foreign currency changes, increased the value of their overall goods exports over the first six months of the year. All but two of 10 types of food exports posted gains, with food exports across the world, and not just to Britain, climbing by 5% to 3.42bn from a year earlier. However, at 396m, exports of beverages were 9% lower. Meanwhile, industries dominated by the multinationals fared even better. The value of exports of medical and pharmaceutical products across the world surged 73% to almost 4.88bn in the first six months of the year, according to the CSO figures. In June alone, medical and pharmaceutical products rose 14% from the same month in 2016, although exports of organic chemicals were down 24%. Volatile exports of machinery and transport, which can be affected by just a handful of the enormous air leasing giants based in Ireland, were down sharply, by 15% to 13.23bn, over the first six months compared with a year earlier. This follows the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) ordering a facility services provider to pay the cleaner 5,600 after finding that the company unfairly dismissed the worker. The male employee was summarily dismissed on January 26 of last year after failing to initially pay for the bar of chocolate at the staff canteen in October 2015. The canteen has a cashless system and workers purchase items with a card. The employee took a bar of chocolate without initially paying as he had only 35c left on his card. The man sat down to have his break and it was only after he was approached by a canteen employee over not paying for the bar of chocolate that he got a colleagues card and paid for the chocolate bar. No parties are named in the case and in her ruling, WRC Adjudication Officer, Aideen Collard found that the firms Sector Directors decision to dismiss the worker at the disciplinary hearing to be a fundamental procedural flaw and indicative of predetermination without taking any time to consider his responses or whether a lesser form of disciplinary action would be appropriate. Counsel on behalf of the worker submitted that the companys dismissal was totally disproportionate to the alleged conduct in question. It was accepted that he had only taken a bar of chocolate which he had paid for before leaving the canteen, and this could not amount to theft. In his evidence to the WRC, the worker confirmed that he had no intention of stealing the chocolate bar, having sat near the tills and had paid for it before leaving the vicinity. This latest salvo in the war of words between the two local authorities came after the city council said the county councils offer to hand over control of Frankfield, Grange, Douglas, and Ballyvolane was minimalist and was nowhere near what the Mackinnon Report, on a new boundary, recommended. The Mackinnon Report had recommended the city boundary should embrace Cork Airport, Ballincollig, Blarney, Glanmire, Little Island, and Carrigtwohill. Cork County Council submitted a very generous proposal to Cork City Council which would see the geographic area of Cork City increase in size by 85%, thereby allowing Cork Citys population to increase by 39,000 with the capacity of the city population to grow to 283,000 over time, said Mr Hurley. He said the county council invested considerable time and effort in identifying a practical way forward but, regrettably, its outreach initiative has not been responded to in kind. The county mayor noted the city council had objected to the statutory Smiddy Report and that now it had also rejected this better and more sensible solution put forward by the county. The elected members of Cork County Council are unanimous in their support for this offering and we believe that it represents a great opportunity to achieve a successful outcome for this issue and for Cork as a whole, he said. Declan Hurley His Cork City counterpart, Tony Fitzgerald, said the city required a substantial boundary increase if it was to compete internationally for investment and act as a sustainable counterbalance to Dublin. Mr Fitzgerald reiterated that the Mackinnon Report had been accepted by the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government, Eoghan Murphy, who set up an oversight group to oversee its implementation and it cannot be rewritten. The Lord Mayor also warned that if Cork Citys population was not allowed to top 500,000 as outlined in the Mackinnon Report, it would lose competitive advantage and fall substantially behind Dublin and Belfast. If we agreed to a more limited boundary extension, Cork City could go from being the second city in this country to possible third or fourth-tier status, he said. As it stands, Belfast is defined as a global city. Cork isnt. If we agree to a more limited boundary extension, Cork would end up one-sixth smaller in size than Belfast is now. Yet Belfast intends growing its population to 427,000 by 2035. This shortsightedness on our behalf would seriously undermine the wider Cork regions capacity to compete globally and to attract investment and jobs. Mr Fitzgerald noted the words of the Mackinnon report which suggested a substantial boundary extension was the opportunity to turn, into reality, rhetoric around Corks enormous potential. This very report warns that other city regions in Ireland are making conscious preparations to grow, develop and respond to new opportunities and could potentially challenge Corks place as the natural counterbalance to Dublin, said Mr Fitzgerald. Meanwhile, Mr Hurley said he was still awaiting clarification from Mr Murphy on the scope and remit of the Implementation Group that has been charged with implementing the Mackinnon report. The use of the flag by some Cork fans has been the subject of criticism in the past but was again in the headlines this week after it was visible on Hill 16 during Corks defeat to Waterford in the All-Ireland hurling semi-final. The use of the flag caused outrage on social media as it came just 24 hours after violence by white supremacists at a far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in the US left one woman dead and a number of people injured. The flag dates from the American Civil War and was used by the pro-slavery Confederate states. It has since been used by elements of the far right in the US. At last nights monthly Cork County Board meeting at the Nemo Rangers complex, Cork chairman Ger Lane made clear his opposition to the waving of the flag. The flying of the confederate flag in Croke Park on Sunday is something which must be addressed, he said. Now, it must also be taken in the context of there being 72,022 people there and only a few flags. That said, people bringing flags into the ground, maybe some do it in ignorance, maybe some do it not in ignorance. The Cork County Board would advise anybody with any knowledge of people with these flags not to bring them in, education is needed. The board and the executive condemn outright the use of the confederate flag and ask people to refrain to bring it to any ground in the future. The only flag is the red and the white one with the Cork emblem on it. However, Independent councillor Michael Finn said the flying of the flag had to be taken in context. Yes, maybe peoples sensitivities and sensibilities are aroused at the moment because of what is going on in the States but I honestly think that the flag being flown by Cork supporters is not a political statement, he told RTE. Prof Emeritus Pat OConnor, of sociology and social policy, with a particular focus on gender, said she hopes that Mr Myers involvement in the upcoming debate isnt a call to legitimise the views of other unreconstructed misogynists. The Sunday Times published an apology following the publication of an article on July 30 last by Mr Myers, which contained offensive remarks about women and Jewish people, and he was also dismissed from the paper. Mr Myers will moderate a talk in Limerick city, entitled How censorship stifles debate and undermines the tenets of free and democratic societies, inviting questions and debate from the audience on the subject. The talk will be given by Jodie Ginsberg, of the Index on Censorship, which publishes the work by censored writers and artists and campaigns for free expression worldwide, on September 28 next. David OBrien, chief executive of Limerick Civic Trust, which has organised the series of talks, said he has not read Mr Myers widely criticised article, entitled Sorry, ladies equal pay has to be earned. Nonetheless, Mr OBrien said he believes Mr Myers has a right to express his own mind, and stressed that their talks are about encouraging debate and having opposing views. But Prof OConnor said her concern is that with this platform, they are framing Kevin Myers as the defender of free speech by putting him in that position. I suspect that it is simply an attempt to drum up an audience by being controversial. Prof OConnor, who has written extensively on gender equality, was the first woman to be appointed at full professorial level in UL in 1997. She was previously invited to advise an NUI Galway (NUIG) taskforce on gender equality, but turned it down, saying she would not be used as a corporate mudflap by the institution. Addressing Mr Myers column, she said its not an acceptable position to say everyone is entitled to free speech if it stirs up hatred against any one group. Its not an uncontested right. I have no time for political correctness. I think if the heart is right, the lip can be forgiven. But it seems to be giving a platform to Kevin Myers, and legitimising opinions that many people found offensive. Prof OConnor, a visiting Fellow at University College Dublins Geary Institute, said she wont be attending the talk, as there were too many crazy assumptions in his column. He said men are more charismatic, and that is one of the reasons why they get ahead, but Im afraid we all know an awful lot of boring men. Me thinks the lady doth protest too much. When there are as many mediocre women as mediocre men in the top jobs, well have equality, she said. Prof OConnor, who is now retired, said while she considers herself a feminist, she said she is not a lunatic man-hater. It takes a lot to get me really angry, and with Mr Myers I just get a very tired feeling of Are we still dealing with this type of rubbish? I dont even give mental space to Kevin Myers; hes not on my list to be redeemed, she said. The six talks will run on Thursday evenings from September 14 to October 19 in St Marys Cathedral. Let Me Tell You is a new bespoke podcast series from Hosts Daniel McConnell and Paul Hosford take a look back at some of the most dramatic moments in recent Irish political history from the unique perspective of one of the key players involved. Marleze Kruger first hit the headlines in early June when she announced she was selling up to fulfil her dream of finding a new partner at the Co Clare lovefest. And veteran matchmaker Willie Daly has revealed hes never experienced as much interest in a woman, and has received a flood of calls from interested bachelors from across Ireland. The 75-year-old love doctor said: Marleze has been in touch with me and Im really looking forward to meeting her when shes over in a few weeks. I can guarantee shes going to have her pick of the fellas here, because so many have been in touch, asking me if I can set them up on a date with her. I would think between 50 to 60 admirers have expressed an interest in her at this stage. They all seem to like her spirit of adventure and the fact that she is selling up to find romance in Ireland. Ive never come across that much interest in a woman in all my years as a matchmaker. Johannesburg-based Marleze, whose life was turned upside-down in 2003 when her husband was murdered following a robbery, said shes now fully committed to starting a new life in Ireland. The 46-year-old mother-of-one said: At the moment Im in the final stages of selling both my house and guesthouse and Im planning to be over in Lisdoonvarna on September 7. Ill be staying in Ireland until mid-October and I hope to have met someone by then. If I dont meet anyone at the festival, I will still move over to Ireland, anyway, and I hope to do that by January of next year. South Africa is a beautiful country and we have great weather and warm-hearted people, but the country is not safe anymore. You always need to be home before it gets dark, because its too dangerous to be out. Marleze who became enchanted with Ireland on two previous visits here said her 22-year-old son, Kurgan-Ray, would also be joining her in Lisdoonvarna for part of the festival. The Lisdoonvarna Matchmaking Festival runs from September 1 to October 8. www.matchmakerireland.com. Any items that could be used as a weapon, from long umbrellas to selfie sticks, were banned. Parking was restricted around the venue and the police searched the venue before the concert. American pop star Ariana Grande's first concert in Korea on Tuesday looked more like a state visit, with security checks at the entrance of Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul resembling those at airports. Over 200 police officers were on duty until the concert finished to avoid a repeat of the Manchester bombing attack at a Grande concert in May. The organizers said the aim was "to be prepared for any possible risk." Some 22 people died from a shrapnel-laden bomb as they were leaving Grande's Manchester concert, and since then security at all her performances has been extra tight. Grande organized a benefit concert for the victims after the attack, and it has done her global popularity no harm. Over 20,000 tickets for the Seoul concert sold out in just five minutes. The concert started 15 minutes later than the scheduled, but the diminutive star lived up to expectations with her big voice and performance skills. When she sang "One Last Time" from her third album, the crowd almost drowned her out. Since the attack in Manchester, Grande has been singing it in tribute to the victims. The atmosphere heated up even more when she sang her biggest hits "Problem" and "Into You" towards the climax. Grande only stayed in Korea for seven hours, arriving in Seoul with no time for a rehearsal and leaving around midnight. The boy is aged 17 and from Dublin. He was spared a custodial sentence after he pleaded guilty to criminal damage and multiple counts of dangerous driving in connection with the 25- minute chase in north Dublin on the night of January 17. Judge John OConnor also ordered the teenager must stay out of trouble for the next year and a half, and accept guidance from the Probation Service to divert him from re-offending. If he breaks the terms, he could face a custodial sentence. At an earlier stage the youth was told he was lucky no one was killed and he did not end up on trial for manslaughter, as he had shown no regard for human life. Garda Cormac McGill told the hearing that two gardai from Ballymun detective unit had come to a roundabout in Finglas when a Fiat Punto driven by the boy came through the roundabout from the left and failed to yield, causing the gardai to brake suddenly. The teen drove on while pursued by the Garda car which had activated lights and sirens. He failed to stop and sped off, before driving over small roundabouts. The court heard the boy drove at excessive speeds in residential areas, and other road-users had to pull in out of his way as he drove in the centre. He overtook a Dublin Bus at speeds in excess of 100kph and drove the wrong way on a roundabout on Balbutcher Lane. He mounted a green and a man had to be pick up his dog and run out of the way to avoid being hit, the garda said. The court heard the youth, who had no driving licence or insurance, eventually collided with a patrol car, causing 4,500 worth of damage. It comes after both the Taoiseach and foreign affairs minister had floated the idea in the first place, leaving Irish hopes severely dashed. The UKs position paper due to be published today will state that a border in the Irish Sea is not constitutionally or economically viable. The paper also will claim that the UK Government will be pushing for a seamless and frictionless border and wants avoid any physical border posts and between Northern Ireland and Ireland following Brexit. However, they will argue for highly-streamlined customs arrangements which could include a waiver on submitting entry/exit declarations and continued membership of the Common Transit Convention to help Northern Ireland and Irish companies transit goods. While Leo Varadkar had softened his stance on creating a hard shell around the entire island, he has remained clear that the Irish Government is not going to design a border for the Brexiteers. The Government had been pushing for a border in the Irish Sea and not a soft border between north and south. This would see tougher checkpoints for sea and air crossings. Last night, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said the Government is adamant that the ability for goods, people and services to travel freely across the border between north and south here is a vital element of the Peace Process which must be protected. Mr Donohoe was speaking to the Irish Examiner after he held a 75 minute face to face meeting with his German counterpart, Wolfgang Schauble, where he reiterated Irish concerns about the potential of the return of a land border. He said: I spoke to him about the North and the peace process. I was in Antrim over the weekend and that ability to allow people, goods and services cross the border is an absolutely vital part of the peace process, and the Irish Government views the maintenance of that with the highest political importance. Mr Donohoe said that there is a high level of understanding within the German government on the Irish issue. He also highlighted the potential impact on Irelands agricultural sector of the UKs exit from the EU. We have a very large market beside us, with similar tastes, so while the entire EU economy is exposed, the Irish economy is particularly exposed because of Irish agriculture and the integration of supply chains into the UK, he said. A British government source said both sides will now need to show flexibility and imagination on the border issue. We have some very clear principles. Top of our list is to agree upfront no physical border infrastructure that would mean a return to the border posts of the past and is completely unacceptable to the UK. Among the other priorities listed in the paper will be the protection of the Common Travel Area and associated rights for UK and Irish citizens, as well as upholding the Belfast Agreement. His nephew, Dan Harvey, made the call yesterday as the Lord Mayor of Cork, Tony Fitzgerald, led graveside tributes to mark the 100th anniversary of Mr Lynchs birth. Mr Harvey said there had been a lot of commentary in recent days about what the Jack Lynch legacy is, or ought to be. What the commentators have all agreed upon is that the legacy is one of leadership a leadership that was tested in highly volatile times, a leadership that survived that tests severity, and a leadership that endured through seismic unprecedented turmoil internally and externally, a leadership that triumphed over hot-headed militarism, he said. The challenge now to make that legacy lasting, in order that these qualities can be learned from to better inform the nations decision making in the future. He urged the State, and the people of Lynchs native Cork in particular, to move the debate on and decide how that legacy can contribute to a better Ireland. Mr Fitzgerald hailed Lynch, the former Fianna Fail leader who was taoiseach from 1966 to 1973 and from 1977 to 1979, and who died in 1999, as a man of the people and a man of peace. He was speaking at the ceremony at St Finbarrs Cemetery in Cork, organised by the Past Pupils Union (PPU) of the citys North Monastery secondary school where both he and Lynch were schooled. Mr Fitzgerald, the 15th Lord Mayor of Cork the school has produced, paid particular tribute to the role their alma mater played in forging Lynchs character. The Fianna Fail councillor said the 230-year-old mayoral chain he wears today and which was worn by former lord mayors Tomas MacCurtain and Terence MacSwiney also past pupils of the North Mon honours the seat of learning that produced those three great heroes. Pic: Eddie OHare However, he said Lynchs true qualities shone through as the Troubles flared in the late 1960s. When this entire fabric of the State was tested, and noble goals were distorted by recourse to violence, Jack Lynch, leader and statesman, ploughed the furrow of peace. In home, in school, on the field, and in public life, he had the courage to do so, he said. Mr Fitzgerald also recalled Lynchs sporting achievements, including winning six All Ireland medals five in hurling and one in football. He said Lynch had a reputation for decency and fair play on the field, characteristics he brought to political life, and praised his appointment of a commission on the status of women in 1970 and his overseeing of Irelands joining of the European Economic Community in 1973. PPU president Barry Hill said other events are planned to mark the centenary, including a Mass in the Cathedral of Saint Mary and Saint Anne on October 1, and the naming of an internal road on the North Mon campus, the Jack Lynch Avenue. LARRY GOGAN DJ, 2FM He was the biggest influence on all of us. When I was a teenager we all wanted to be like Elvis; sing like him, dress like him and especially move like him. The first disc I bought was Jailhouse Rock I think it was seven and six thats seven shillings and six pence. The girls were all mad about him he was so good-looking. As far as I remember, when he appeared on TV they would only film him from the waist up so they wouldnt show him wriggling his pelvis. I remember the day he died very well. I use to do a radio programme on RTE at 11 oclock each evening and just before I went on the air, the newsroom phoned me to tell me that Elvis had died. I couldnt believe it. I thought it was a joke. I remember I shed a tear because Elvis meant so much to me and my friends. To me he was the greatest pop star of all time. Nobody came near him and as long as pop music is played the name Elvis Presley will always be to the forefront. GEORGE HOOK Presenter, Newstalk It is hard for people that did not live through 1950s Ireland to understand the impact of Elvis Presley. Together with Jerry Lee Lewis he brought sex to music. I have quite a few memories of Elvis in my life. I heard Heartbreak Hotel when I was 15 and thats what hooked me, I became a fan. But his later recording of Dont Be Cruel is my favourite all- time Elvis track. There was another time, I remember in 1961 I was dating a German girl, not Ingrid, and I practiced my language skills using the German bit from Wooden Heart. So he was definitely a part of my life, but I have to say that his death had little impact on me as by then his music, his tours, and his movies had really become sub-standard. MARK LEEN, Emerald Elvis Elvis Tribute Artist Elvis was in the right place at the right time. In 1954, Memphis was the home of the blues and Sun producer Sam Phillips knew that there was racism in music that would only be dealt with when a white man came along who sounds like a black man. In Elvis Presley he got exactly what he wanted, the recording of Thats Alright Mama is still one of the greatest classics in music history. It is raw, mean, and imbued with the heat of the Delta. His looks, hair, dress sense, moves, the wonderful voice coupled with an ear for a good melody were all crucial in his meteoric rise to stardom. Even his smile is unique, he could light up any room with that smile. I loved Elvis version of Bridge Over Troubled Water, and songwriter Paul Simon agrees. Simon was asked which one of over 700 versions of the legendary song was his favourite and he said Elviss hands down. Just listen to it on the album Elvis with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. I turn it up and feel the hairs rise on the back of my neck, while the blood rushes to my head at the unsurpassed quality of that choral finish in full voice. Elvis was very special to me and obviously I have a lot of memories from my time as a tribute act, but one memory that stands out for me is my final tribute concert. I was asked by RTE to guest with the full Concert Orchestra at the Bord Gais Theatre in Dublin. I sang CC Rider, Suspicious Minds and Bridge Over Troubled Water. After a standing ovation I went back to the dressing room alone, took off the jumpsuit and cried my eyes out. I had reached 42, the age Elvis died at and I knew this would be the last time I would ever step out on stage as an Elvis tribute artist. I made up my mind and I drove home to Kerry that night alone, in a silent car, my mind awash with years of memories and filled with gratitude for the journey I had been on, the people I met and places I had been thanks to a man I had never met, but loved with all my heart. JOE JACKSON Writer and broadcaster Ive been a fan of Elvis since I was a child. His singing gave me a sense of transcendence and his life story made me feel I could achieve any dream, such as, say becoming a journalist. In 1968, I heard a song of his, If I Can Dream, and made it my anthem. The lines, As long as a man has the strength to dream/he can redeem his soul and fly became my motto and its the inscription I want on my tombstone. The core of Presleys appeal was the spiritual nature of his singing, and being, thats why his memory has lasted 40 years and will forever more. I remember on the day he died, I was listening to a song of his called Suppose when my girlfriend phoned and gave me the news. The next day I suggested to Niall Stokes, of Hot Press, that no newspaper obituary Id read captured how his death feels to a true fan like myself. I wrote three articles and my career began. (Joe Jacksons Conversations About The King was recently broadcast on RTE Radio 1) DICKIE ROCK Singer I liked the way he brought that gospel sound into popular music. I started out in a choir too, so I guess we had that in common. He really was an icon of pop music in his time, and at some point or another, most guys in Cabra, where I grew up, wanted to be him or just like him. I really identified with his strong work ethic and admired him for it. What I found inspirational, was that he was true to himself and his roots, and more importantly, he loved his family. I think Elvis had the complete package; he was humble, never forgot where he was from and loved his fans. This made him Mr Nice Guy, and I think he genuinely was. Then, add in the fact that he was good-looking and had a real talent and how could you not be special? It is really difficult to pick out a strong favourite, there were so many. Love me Tender, for courting obviously, Jail House Rock and Hound Dog for dancing, and then those specific and original Elvis tracks like In the Ghetto. Just the other day I was listening to a remix of A Little Less Conversation and was thinking how up to the minute it sounded. When he died, I was in Spain, on holiday, and only heard the morning after. I couldnt believe it, and thought it was a mistake, or maybe something lost in translation, so I rang my manager in Ireland to check. It was such a tragic end for this great legend and nice man. In its first published position paper on Brexit, Theresa May and her government have taken the have their cake and eat it approach. Today another position paper is to be published which sets out Britains stall in relation to the North and again they want it all their own way. UK government sources have said that they will be pushing to avoid any physical border infrastructure and border posts between the North and Ireland for any purpose following Brexit which undoubtedly is a positive. At the same time, they are not open to any possibility of moving the border out into the Irish Sea as had been suggested by both Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney in recent times. A seamless and invisible border idea, while welcome, is a pure contradiction. In the same breath, highlighting the importance of cementing clear guarantees of no change to the ability to move freely around the Common Travel Area that exists now, todays expected paper will also state that the UK must have the flexibility to design its own arrangements with regards to the border. Perhaps the UK government is not yet completely sure of what it wants so has asked for everything. When it comes to the EU customs union, the UK is intent on leaving. But they also want an easing out period, and at the same time they believe they should be allowed sidle up to other countries to hammer out side deals. The ink on the position paper had barely dried when the demands were dubbed a fantasy by the European Parliaments Brexit co-ordinator, Guy Verhofstadt. On Twitter, Mr Verhofstadt said: To be in & out of the Customs Union & invisible borders is a fantasy. First need to secure citizens rights & a financial settlement. While Mr Verhofstadt may have signalled the need to prioritise other issues ahead of the customs union, there is no doubt that whatever agreement is reached in relation to this will have a significant impact on this country. The customs union has meant that Ireland and the other 27 states in the EU have enjoyed free trade between countries and have also imposed the same tariff on imports from outside the EU. For a small country like Ireland, being part of the customs union has meant being a member of a bloc of 500m people, which undoubtedly wields significant leverage in bargaining with other nations. Currently the EU is in the middle of such negotiations with the US on the controversial Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership agreement and on a similar deal with Japan. Understandably, Britain would like to keep the cushy tariff-free deal between itself and all other EU countries that comes with being signed up to the customs union. They have asked for an interim customs agreement with the EU for approximately two years after the 2019 Brexit talks deadline. This would help soften the blow for UK businesses when Britain finally leaves. But in a greedy move they also want to negotiate other trade deals in parallel with this current rules bar members of the EU customs union from making their own deals outside the bloc. Essentially, Britain could hammer out new deals with countries like Brazil to import their beef which under the EU customs union incurs a 20% tariff meaning they could import Brazilian beef at a far cheaper rate than their EU counterparts. Irelands agri-food sector, meanwhile, has a high dependence on the British market, with 40% of exports destined for the UK market annually. Irish farmers have already been severely hit by the impacts of Brexit and an influx of cheaper Brazilian beef into the UK would be a further and possibly fatal blow to many working in the agri-food industry here. The fact that the UK is finally putting forward and publishing proposals 14 months after its citizens voted to leave the European Union has to be welcomed. The detail of those proposals, however, will have to be toned down before a Brexit deal is reached. WITH India experiencing its worst drought in 140 years, farmers have taken to the streets. At a protest in Madhya Pradesh this summer, police opened fire on farmers demanding debt relief and better crop prices, killing five. In Tamil Nadu, angry growers have held similar protests, and lit candles in remembrance of those killed. And at one rally in New Delhi, farmers carried human skulls, which they say belonged to farmers who have committed suicide following devastating crop losses over the past six months. According to a recent study by Tamma A Carleton of the University of California, Berkeley, suicides among Indian farmers have increased with the temperature, such that an increase of 1 Celsius above the average temperature on a given day is associated with approximately 70 additional suicides, on average. Beyond exposing failed farming policies, this years drought-fuelled turmoil also underscores the threat that climate change poses not just to India, but to all countries. As global temperatures rise and droughts become more common, political agitation, social unrest, and even violence will likely follow. In 2008, when severe weather cut into the worlds grain supply and drove up food prices, countries from Morocco to Indonesia experienced social and political upheavals. More recently, food insecurity has been used as a weapon in the wars in Yemen and Syria. According to the Center for Climate and Security (CCS), failure to address such climate-driven risks could lead to increased fighting over water, food, energy, and land, particularly in already unstable regions. CCS identifies 12 epicentres where climate change might ignite or exacerbate conflicts that could engulf large populations, and spill across borders. It is no coincidence that conflicts proliferate alongside rising temperatures. A 2013 study estimates that interpersonal violence rises by 4%, and intergroup conflicts by 14%, for each one standard deviation change in climate toward warmer temperatures or more extreme rainfall. Moreover, psychological studies have shown that when people are subjected to uncomfortably hot temperatures, they show increased levels of aggression. And new research finding that what is true for the individual also holds true for populations. In Sub-Saharan Africa, researchers have found strong correlation between three decades of rising temperatures and outbreaks of civil war. If warming trends continue, civil wars and other conflicts will become more common in Africa, the South China Sea, the Arctic, Central America, and elsewhere. Avoiding such outcomes will require renewed support for multilateral treaties such as the 2015 Paris climate agreement, which has been weakened by the withdrawal of the US. It will also require increased engagement by countries, cities, and industries on three key areas: Resource management, disaster mitigation, and migration. In largely agricultural societies, farm productivity affects the entire economy. As weve seen in the Horn of Africa and India this year, changes in temperature and rainfall can reduce crop yields, and thus rural incomes. Under such conditions, in the absence of other economic opportunities, communities may resort to violence as they compete for resources. International aid bodies, working with state and federal governments, should go beyond addressing immediate causes of poverty to develop long-term strategies to help agricultural communities survive bad harvests. Additionally, new strategies are needed to co-ordinate disaster-relief efforts. As the climate changes, weather-related calamities such as floods, hurricanes, landslides, and typhoons will increase, undermining livelihoods, and the broader economy. Governments must work together to mitigate these risks, and to respond forcefully to disasters when they happen. Otherwise, the fallout will disproportionately hurt poor and vulnerable communities, perpetuating the cycle of poverty and violence. Finally, we need better policies for managing human migration, much of it related to severe weather and drought. In 2015, the number of international migrants reached a record high of 244m. As the climate shifts, entire regions could become uninhabitable, and many more people will be uprooted. Parts of the Middle East, for example, could become too hot for humans by the end of this century; and heavily populated cities such as New Delhi could experience temperatures over 95 F (35 C) up to 200 days out of the year. Scientists agree that climate change poses a grave danger to the planet. But politicians and government officials have not connected the dots between a changing climate and human conflicts. Among the many threats associated with climate change, deteriorating global security may be the most frightening of all. Gulrez Shah Azhar is an Aspen New Voices fellow, assistant policy researcher at the RAND Corporation, and PhD candidate at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2017. President Moon Jae-in in a speech on Tuesday marking Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule pledged his government will do "all it can" to prevent war on the peninsula and added that "the North Korean nuclear problem must be addressed in a peaceful manner." "Without the consent of [South Korea], no country can determine to take military action," he added. No one disagrees with the president's view. But North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has absolutely no intention of giving up his nuclear weapons since he knows what will happen to him the moment he does. He also seems to sense that North Korea is just inches away from being recognized as a nuclear power, thereby gaining the upper hand in negotiations. Now even former U.S. officials believe negotiations will no longer get North Korea to scrap its nuclear and missile programs. Hwang Jang-yop, the high-ranking North Korean defector, as well as Thae Yong-ho, the erstwhile No. 2 in the embassy in London, have warned that Kim will never give up his nuclear ambitions. What the public wants to hear from their president is what options he has if the North will not budge in spite of dialogue and negotiations. Moon's anti-war approach is a noble aim, but it is equally important for him to lay out a game plan if peaceful moves do not work out. Should we learn to live under the threat of a nuclear-armed North Korea or are there other options? In the past, South Korean administrations did not have to reveal any alternative game plan if dialogue did not work because time was on their side. But now time is running out. But Moon continues to repeat his pledges to uphold the sovereignty of North Korean regime, offer economic incentives and invitations to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. North Korea no longer has any intention of discussing politics with South Korea. The only reason it will sit down for talks is to use Seoul for its purposes or when it needs aid. Moon said the best time to convince the North to scrap its nuclear and missile programs is when inter-Korean relations are good. But it makes no difference whether they are good or bad. The North has plowed on regardless. U.S. President Donald Trump ordered trade officials on Tuesday to investigate Chinese infringement of American intellectual property and is pressuring Bejing to play a more active role in dealing with the North Korean nuclear threat. China retaliated by threatening its own trade war. On Tuesday, a hodge-podge of left-leaning civic groups converged in downtown Seoul chanting anti-U.S. slogans and calling on the government to scrap a military information-sharing pact with Japan. North Korea would welcome a rift between the U.S. and China and rising anti-American sentiment in South Korea. And if Moon adamantly resists any U.S. military move targeting North Korea, South Korea will end up becoming hostage to the North's nuclear antics. If the U.S. finds its military option blocked by South Korean opposition, it may have to find some other way. It may have to give Kim a reward for freezing his nuclear and missile programs, for example by pulling troops out of South Korea. The very real worry is that the U.S. will bypass South Korea and deal directly with the North Korea, and Seoul will have only itself to blame. Moon needs to say what he intends to do if that happens. Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted confirmed to the Russian news agency RBC that he expected the market would continue to shrink. Economic-political condemnations and embargos by Western states are said to be the cause. These had been imposed as a reaction to Russias activities in the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula. This resulted in a loss of purchasing power in Russia and the CIS countries. Adidas feeling low oil prices and sanctions against Russia Moreover, the low price of crude oil, which is Russia's most important export product, is having a negative impact on the market. The Russian economy has already had to put up with recessions in 2015 and 2016. Now the sportswear manufacturer is taking action: Weve already closed over 100 stores, and will do the same with another 50, news agency RBC quoted Kasper Rorsted. Modern Chinas four great new inventions From:Shanghai Daily | 2017-08-15 10:01 DOCKLESS shared bicycles Presently, there are over 30 bike-sharing companies in China that operate around 10 million bicycles for shared use to individuals in dozens of Chinese cities. Although the service of shared bikes originated from Western countries, China surprised the world with a business model of station-less shared bikes that spearheads the sharing economy. Compared with traditional shared bikes, dockless bikes allow users to simply pick up or park a bike anywhere on the street, instead of at designated docking points. By combining GPS, smartphone apps, mobile payment and Internet of Things technology, Chinas system of dockless shared bikes provides the public with a convenient and affordable transport alternative. To unlock a bike, you need to scan a QR (QuickResponse) code on a shared bike through a smartphone app. To finish riding, you manually lock the bike and pay for your ride though mobile payment services that are connected with the bike app, such as AliPay and the WeChat wallet. Chinas two leading bike-sharing operators, Mobike and Ofo, have been gearing up for global expansion. Mobike entered Singapore in March and Manchester, Britain, in June. Its distinctive orange bikes can also be spotted on the streets of Florence and Milan, Italy. This September, Mobike is set to land on the soil of London. Ofo, similarly, has begun operating in the United States, Britain, Singapore and Kazakhstan. In the financial market, the two rivalries have also gone neck and neck. In June, Mobike raised US$600 million US in a Series E financing round led by Chinas Internet titan Tencent, the largest in the global bike sharing industry to date. Now, the companys total funding has reached nearly US$1 billion. In February, Ofo also raised 450 million dollars, which valued the company at US$1 billion. HIGH-SPEED RAIL Boasting low cost and quick delivery, China has built the worlds longest high-speed rail (HSR) network. Branded as a name card for China, HSR runs at speeds of 250-350 kilometers per hour (km/h). By the end of 2016, China had a 124,000-km railway network, which had the worlds largest HSR network of more than 22,000 km. It had operated 2,595 high-speed trains by 2016, which took up 60 percent of the worlds total high-speed trains. HSR service debuted in China in 2008. Since then, the country has witnessed an average annual growth of over 30 percent in passenger trips, according to statistics from the China Railway Corporation. By 2016, there had been more than 5 billion passenger trips on Chinas bullet trains in eight years. Currently, China is working on next-generation bullet trains with a maximum speed of 400 km/h. By 2020, one fifth of the countrys 150,000-km railway network will have been HSR, linking more than 80 percent of major cites across the country, according to data from the National Development and Reform Commission. Chinas HSR has also gone global. In 2014, China completed the construction of its first overseas high-speed rail in Turkey. In June 2015, China and Russia inked deals for 770 km of track connecting Moscow and Kazan. In October 2015, China and Indonesia signed a joint-venture agreement on the construction of a high-speed rail between Jakarta and Bandung. Besides, the China-Thailand railway is currently under construction. E-COMMERCE With 731 million Internet users, China has been the worlds largest and fastest-growing e-commerce market. In 2016, online shopping in China saw a growth rate of 26.2 percent, generating 5.16 trillion yuan (US$767 billion), according to a report on Chinas economic data by the National Bureau of Statistics. Last year, Chinese people bought more food online with a growth of 28.5 percent. Clothing sales rose by 18.1 percent in the year, while items like mobile devices took up nearly 12 percent. E-commerce now accounts for 15.5 percent of the total retail sales in the country. Thanks to lower costs and fewer licensing requirements, the bar for individual merchants to open an online shop in China has been set lower than the threshold for opening a physical retail store. E-commerce has also injected fresh vigor and vitality into the economy of rural China in recent years. In 2016, e-commerce created more than 20 million jobs in rural villages, with over 8.1 million online business owners. Rural buyers also contributed 894 billion yuan (US$131 billion) to Chinas e-commerce sales last year. Leading operators in Chinas e-commerce market include JD.com, and Alibabas Tmall and Taobao. ALIPAY Alipay, or Zhifubao, is Chinas leading mobile and online payment service, established in 2004 by Chinas e-commerce giant Alibaba Group. During the online transaction process, Alipay acts as a third-party platform, on which buyers pay for their goods by imputing payment passwords or scanning payment code on the Alipay app installed on their mobile devices. Besides, Alipay can also be used for transferring money from one Alipay online account to another account, or from the online account to a bank account by binding a debit card to the online account. It is such convenience that enables China to edge its way towards being a cashless society. On top of that, users can pay family or personal bills through Alipay, such as water and electricity bills. Alipay also supports cross-border online and in-store payment, which allows users to make purchases on international websites and apps with Alipay. In 2013, Alipay exceeded PayPal as the worlds largest mobile payment platform. Thanks to the massive user base and various payment scenarios in China, online and mobile payment has enjoyed absolute advantages in market competition. In the first quarter of 2017, the market share of Alipay and its major rivalry Tenpay (Wechat payment) reached respectively 54 percent and 40 percent, according to Chinese market research and consulting company iResearch. Save the date: Israeli-American actress, activist to speak here Noa Tishby, an Israeli-American actress who earlier this year was named Israels first-ever Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism and Delegitimization of Israel, will be the guest speaker at an awards ceremony in Pinellas County in February. A Tel Aviv native, Tishby served in the Israeli army before landing a starring... Postal Service issues new Hanukkah stamp The U.S. Postal Service has issued a new, colorful Hanukkah stamp in anticipation of the holiday, which begins the evening of Dec. 18. This is the first new Hanukkah stamp in two years. The stamp art features the design from an original wall-hanging. The fiber art was hand-dyed, appliqued and... Mini-fest returns with holiday-themed events & more Get ready for the second of the four-part Jewish Arts & Culture Mini-fest to be held Dec. 14 - 18. Sponsored by the Tampa JCCs and Federation, the December Mini-Fest will include live author events, a musical Havdalah and Hanukkah Family Concert, a performance by Patel Conservatory students, a glass... Bible verse on high school property raises First Amendment issues When a teacher paid to have the biblical passage I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me painted on her reserved parking space at Wiregrass Ranch High School in Wesley Chapel, a Jewish woman working at the school complained to the principal, asking the verse be removed. School... Despite Israels 5th election in four years, it remains a beacon of democracy and freedom The Israeli elections are fast approaching. On November 1, Israelis go back to the polls for the fifth round of elections in less than four... What is a Jew? Israeli museum attempts an answer JERUSALEMI was on a short visit to Israel and spent time with a friend with whom I have been engaged in a 30-year argument. Elli... Suchi Saria, PhD, MSc joins an impressive list as one of MIT Technology Reviews 2017 35 Innovators Under 35 for her work using algorithms to predict sepsis risk. Sepsis is a challenge for health care providers as it can be a tricky, sudden and often swiftly fatal condition. Sarias algorithm correctly predicted sepsis in 85 percent of casesa vast improvement over current methods. MIT Technology Reviews accolade is awarded to individuals whose technology solutions ... directly improve, and sometimes save, peoples lives. Saria is an assistant professor at the Whiting School of Engineering with joint appointments to Health Policy and Management and Biostatistics at the Bloomberg School of Public Heath. She is also core faculty with the Center for Population Health IT (CPHIT), the Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research (CHSOR) and the Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. WATCH SARIAS 2016 TEDxBOSTON TALK By continuing to browse or by clicking "Accept," you agree to our site's privacy policy. Investor nervousness about Herbalife Ltd.s sales future in China bubbled to the surface again this week following a generic Chinese regulatory statement targeting pyramid schemes. As has been the case in recent years with perceived negative news for Herbalife, the share price dropped significantly the day the news came out this time as much as 7.8 percent Monday before closing down 6.3 percent to $62.42 And, as also has been the case, the share price rebounded in trading within the next day or two. On Tuesday, the share price rose 3 cents to close at $62.45. The 52-week share price range is $47.62 to $74.49. Herbalife has more than 1,000 employees at its Winston-Salem manufacturing plant. Mondays share price drop followed a statement posted on Chinas State Administration for Industry & Commerce website that announced a three-month campaign to police pyramid schemes, Bloomberg News reported. The statement did not mention Herbalife by name, but just a focus on multi-level marketers. Herbalife officials declined to comment Tuesday on the Chinese regulatory statement. What made Herbalife investors nervous is that nearly 20 percent of the companys sales come from China. Herbalife has acknowledged regulatory and legal investigations involving the Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Justice Department as it relates to its anti-corruption compliance in China. The company is conducting its own review, the company said Aug. 1 in its second-quarter regulatory filing. The company is cooperating with the government and cannot predict the eventual scope, duration or outcome of the matter at this time. Bowman Gray IV, a local independent stockbroker, said its understandable why investors may be cautious about what the Chinese regulatory process may entail for Herbalife. Uncertainty can be more damaging than bad news in the short term, Gray said. Pivotal Research Group analyst Timothy Ramey, who is bullish on Herbalife, said that China is always a source of concern, but I dont have any real reason to be concerned about this latest dust-up. Ramey said his conversation with Herbalife indicated company officials didnt know anything about the Chinese regulatory initiative. It is a good thing that Herbalife and (multi-level marketer) NuSkin dont know anything about it, Ramey told cable business network CNBC. That does not mean they are not impacted, but we assume that they would know if their businesses were being targeted. The Chinese regulatory statement is just the latest in a series of announcements and events that have had Herbalifes share price acting like a yo-yo the past five years. For example, the share price dropped and rebounded following Herbalife releasing a mixed quarterly earnings report Aug. 1 that featured another increase in its fiscal 2017 guidance being offset by slumping North American and global sales. The main factor Herbalife continues to work through is the ripple effect on its North American sales in implementing recently additional Federal Trade Commission regulatory restrictions from its $204 million settlement announced in June 2016. North American sales dropped 18 percent to $218.4 million during the second quarter. Herbalife continued to have legal and regulatory expenses related to billionaire hedge-fund activist Bill Ackmans claim that Herbalife operates as a pyramid scheme. Ackman made his claim public Dec. 19, 2012, the same date the company confirmed its plans for a $130 million local plant. The company has pushed back aggressively against Ackman, spending as of June 30 a total of $70.1 million defending against what it describes as business model attacks. That includes $1.6 million in the second quarter. Herbalife spent $2.9 million in the quarter dealing with regulatory inquiries and $5.2 million related to implementing the FTC consent order. The old Royal Inn, a fenced-in eyesore and a royal pain in the butt for years to neighbors, cops and city officials, has a new suitor with a new plan to redevelop the motel. Its not pricey condos or high-end boutique shops featuring such things as a dog masseuse or another place to grab a $6 cup of coffee. There are no artist renderings, and no vague promises of IMAX movie theaters or office towers adorned with towering water bottles. Not this go-round. No, plans this time we know how plans can change, especially when it comes to development around the BB&T Ballpark call for the old motel to become ... a storage facility. Before the moaning starts, though, lets hear out the developer. He might be onto something. Next to a graveyard, its the quietest, best neighbor you could have, said Jamie Bennett, a key player in Fourstore, a family business with years of experience. Problem property The problems caused by the Royal Inn, both when it was open and after the city forced it to close, have been well-documented. Before 2015, when authorities took aggressive steps to ensure it was shut down, the Royal Inn was a monument to the ills that plague cities like this one which are trying to remake themselves as hip, happening pillars of the new economy. Prostitutes, drug sellers and users, itinerant work crews and people down to their very last chance rented the rooms and frequented the grounds. Cops were there constantly responding to calls about assaults, narcotics and simple vagrancy. Neighbors, the stubborn, proud few who remained, complained until the threat of a public-nuisance lawsuit forced it to close in fall 2015. Chain-link fencing went up around the place to discourage squatters and vandals. A new ownership group swooped in that November and plunked down $560,000 for a property which had an assessed value set at $1 million. A new day, a new deal, was just around the corner. The presence of the ballpark right across Business 40, and the promise of a spiffy, pedestrian-only bridge at the end of Green Street offered glimmers of hope. Then, nothing. For two years, it sat empty. The same cast of drug sellers and users remained in the area, and the dead-end street turned into a dumping ground for cast-off electronics and furniture. As quickly as city crews cleaned the messes, more urban flotsam and jetsam would appear. The two years that the building sat unattended created what we call in law an attractive nuisance, wrote Dean Smith, who lives on Green Street behind the motel, in an email. It was a nuisance because it attracted undesired activity by undesired guests. Drug activity on the sidewalk next to the hotel actually got worse once the property was abandoned. Now into that mess, somewhat ironically, strides Fourstore, a company that makes its money by building storage facilities to house similar household items, albeit in much better condition. Jamie Bennett and his father Richard, who have for years owned and run a series of multi-million dollar companies that have built and operated high-end storage facilities in the Carolinas, Florida, Virginia and Canada, stepped forward recently to make an offer on the Royal Inn and the 2-acres surrounding it. The company is building a similar storage facility on Robinhood Road. The plan for the location is similar to the plan elsewhere, Bennett said. Build a climate-controlled, Class A building, and have another company, Life Storage in this case, manage it. Not as imagined A lot of us, me included, hear the words storage units and conjure up images of the low-slung, single-story buildings spread out behind tall fences where people stash things after a divorce or cleaning out grandmas house. Theyre useful and come in handy when needed. But theyre not exactly the type of place that screams urban renewal. In this case, Bennett describes something a little different. A building with one central loading dock, entrances all on the inside, thats open during normal-ish business hours, not 24/7. Itll be locked at night, well lit and gated; its designed to look like Class A office space. Its not what people perceive it to be, Bennett said. The sale hasnt closed, and Bennett politely declined to disclose the purchase price. The owners, the West Salem Partners LLC, said last month they were planning to ask $1 million. Bennett did say that the planned overall investment would run to between $7 million and $7.5 million. With all the growth downtown and the new residents, it seemed a natural fit, he said. Were always trying to find markets that fit, and the downtown market, we believe, has enough people now to support it. Whether theyll tear down the existing building to start from scratch or try and use it remains to be seen. Were evaluating both scenarios, Bennett said. The plan now is to use the existing structure, at least the floor plates and maybe the exterior walls. A high-end storage building. Who knew? If this deal closes, and theres no reason to think it wont, it will surely be an improvement over the Royal Inn, both when it was in business and after. Im delighted to hear that legitimate business activity will be returning to that property any business activity. ... I think a self-storage business might make a very good neighbor because they usually have excellent security high fences, locked entrances, good lighting, cameras, Smith wrote. The presence of employees and customers alone will help deter illegal activity. President Donald Trump's off-the-rails Tuesday news conference - in which he once again blamed "both sides" in Charlottesville, effectively undoing his earlier conciliatory remarks - earned him another wave of backlash from world leaders Wednesday. British Prime Minister Theresa May didn't call Trump out by name but said in a statement Wednesday there was "no equivalence" between the two sides. Chaos erupted in Charlottesville over the weekend after white supremacist groups that had gathered for a "Unite the Right" rally clashed with counterprotesters. After the planned rally was canceled, a car plowed into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing one person and injuring 19 others. Police later arrested 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr. of Ohio, who was identified by a former teacher as being a longtime Nazi sympathizer. "I see no equivalence between those who propound fascist views and those who oppose them," May said. "I think it is important for all those in positions of responsibility to condemn far right views wherever we hear them." Trump's remarks renewed calls by some British leaders and activists for his state visit to the country to be canceled, according to the Guardian. Similarly, the European Commission mentioned neither Trump nor Charlottesville but, in a tweet Wednesday morning, reiterated the European Union's founding principles: liberty, democracy, respect for human rights and fundamentals, and the rule of law. "We reject and condemn all forms and manifestations of racism and xenophobia," the commission stated. "They are incompatible with the values and principles upon which the EU is founded." Others were more explicit in their criticism of Trump. Germany Justice Minister Heiko Maas blasted Trump's Tuesday news conference as one that sugarcoated the racist violence from the weekend. "It is unbearable how Trump is now glossing over the violence of the right-wing hordes from Charlottesville," Maas said in a statement, according to Reuters. "No one should trivialize anti-Semitism and racism by neo-Nazis." Martin Schulz, leader of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (of which Maas is also a member), didn't mince words. "Nazis must be confronted decisively," Schulz said. "What Trump is doing is highly incendiary. Those who downplay violence and hate betray the values of the West!" Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei implied in a tweet that the Charlottesville violence was evidence the United States needed to get its own house in order before intervening in other countries' affairs. Trump's initial public remarks on the violence in Charlottesville were criticized by many, including members of his own political party, for being insufficient and vague. On Monday, the president specifically called out "the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups" in unscheduled remarks at the White House, though some criticized Trump's comments as too little, too late. However, on Tuesday, Trump seemed to revert to his original sentiments in a terse exchange with reporters at what was supposed to be a news conference about infrastructure: Reporter: Mr. President, are you putting what you're calling the alt-left and white supremacists on the same moral plane? TRUMP: I'm not putting anybody on a moral plane. What I'm saying is this: You had a group on one side and you had a group on the other, and they came at each other with clubs - and it was vicious and it was horrible. And it was a horrible thing to watch. But there is another side. There was a group on this side. You can call them the left - you just called them the left - that came violently attacking the other group. So you can say what you want, but that's the way it is. TRUMP: Yes, I think there's blame on both sides. If you look at both sides - I think there's blame on both sides. And I have no doubt about it, and you don't have any doubt about it, either. And if you reported it accurately, you would say. Reporter: The neo-Nazis started this. They showed up in Charlottesville to protest - TRUMP: Excuse me, excuse me. They didn't put themselves - and you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides. You had people in that group. Politicians in the United States have reacted with varying degrees of outrage to Trump's shifting remarks on Charlottesville. Trump's unscripted speech reportedly caught senior White House aides by surprise. --- The Washington Post's Isaac Stanley-Becker contributed to this report. Washington Post News Service (DC) GENEVA Switzerland's tourism office on Tuesday decried an "unfortunate" incident in which a small Alpine hotel posted a sign asking "Jewish guests" to shower before swimming in the hotel pool. The Simon Wiesenthal Center demanded the closure of the Paradies Arosa hotel, and issued a statement calling on "the broader Jewish community and their Gentile friends to blacklist this horrific hotel." On Twitter, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely called for "justice" against the hotel's management. Officials said the hotel in the eastern town of Arosa had apologized for the incident and taken the sign down. Hotel management didn't immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment. Swiss Tourism spokesman Markus Berger called the sign unacceptable, adding: "It always needs to stay in perspective: This is one unfortunate incident." Under the headline "To our Jewish Guests," the sign read: "Please take a shower before you go swimming. If you break the rules, I am forced to cloes (sic) the swimming pool for you. Thank you for your understanding." Tzipi Livni, a former Israeli foreign minister, posted an image of the sign on her Facebook page and wrote that "there can be no tolerance and no indifference" to anti-Semitism and racism, in comments that also alluded also to violence around a white supremacist rally in Virginia in the United States. We "must not let there be a place in the free world for Nazi flags or Ku Klux Klan masks or ugly signs in hotels directed at Jews only," she wrote. "We cannot allow acts of hate against Jews around the world to become normal." The secretary-general of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities said it was "really a dumb thing" to do, but he called for calm. "It's somebody who really didn't think a lot," Jonathan Kreutner said in a phone interview. He said that calls to close the hotel were "very exaggerated," Kreutner said. "This is the most important thing now: To stay cool. Things happened that are not good. I don't want to reduce the problem behind this, but it is very important to stay cool." Kreutner said that most of the Jews who visit the area are from Belgium, Britain, Israel, Switzerland and the U.S. Berger, the tourism spokesman, cited a recent trend of Orthodox and other Jews traveling to four Alpine villages in the area in the summertime, including Davos of World Economic Forum fame. He said didn't know the origin of the trend, but that numbers "definitely in the thousands" have grown in recent years. He said many area hotels serve kosher food, and that Jewish guests "feel well-treated" there. "It's just this one lady at this one hotel who was not on top of the situation," Berger said. "It's an isolated incident that doesn't need for greater action to be taken." Switzerland's foreign ministry, responding to a request for comment from The Associated Press, said that it has been in touch with the Israeli ambassador and "outlined to him that Switzerland condemns racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination in any form. Switzerland has been strongly committed for years - as it is at the moment, for example, within its presidency for the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance - to raise awareness to the dangers of racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination." WASHINGTON -- If there was one silver lining to President Trump's election, it was supposed to be this: Those who voted for Trump because of, rather than despite, his demonization of Muslims and Hispanics; who fear a "majority minority" America; and who wax nostalgic for the Jim Crow era were mostly old white people. Which meant they and their abhorrent prejudices would soon pass on -- and be replaced by generations of younger, more racially enlightened Americans. The white nationalist rally this past weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, shows that this is a myth. Racist grandpas may be dying out, but their bigotry is regenerating in today's youths. Yes, there were swastika-tattooed, Ku Klux Klan-hooded 50-somethings on the streets of Charlottesville. The most chilling photos, however, show hordes of torch-bearing, fresh-faced, "fashy"-coiffed white men in their teens and 20s. Some marchers in this youth brigade are still students, one the leader of his campus chapter of the College Republicans. And some did more than march. The driver accused of murdering counterprotester Heather Heyer and injuring 19 is a 20-year-old white man. He would of course not be the first radicalized young white man to commit an act of domestic terrorism. There was the then-21-year-old white male who murdered nine African-Americans at a Charleston, South Carolina, church in 2015, and the 28-year-old white Baltimore man who in March allegedly rode a bus to New York in search of black men to kill at random. A recent Joint Intelligence Bulletin, obtained by Foreign Policy magazine, details plenty of other attacks perpetrated by young white-supremacist men. The public faces of the white supremacist "alt-right" movement are likewise skewing younger. David Duke is still around, but as a charismatic figurehead he has mostly been displaced by the likes of 39-year-old Richard Spencer, 26-year-old Matthew Heimbach and 29-year-old Tim "Baked Alaska" Gionet. These are not people whose backwardness we can write off as an unfortunate product of their time. That is, we're not talking about young white Americans whose happy formative years took place in a world with (de jure) school segregation, redlining, anti-miscegenation laws and phrenology. If any had family who fought for the Confederacy, they've been dead for at least a century. No one is telling them about the good ol' days on the plantation. If anything, parents of the Charlottesville rallygoers have professed ignorance or repudiation of their children's odious beliefs. So why are millennials, of all people, at the forefront of the small but highly visible resurrection of neo-Nazism? Some seem to be reactionaries, essentially trolls who may or may not truly believe the anti-Semitic and racist bile that they meme and share to get a rise out of the politically correct left. If youthful rebellion in the 1960s meant embracing free love, peace and equality, then today -- at least for anti-anti-Trumpers -- it is about promoting hatred and structural inequity. Others may genuinely wish to burn the whole system down. It is a flawed system, after all, one whose recent financial crisis irreparably scarred millennials' economic prospects. Most anti-establishment millennials have drifted toward leftist populist alternatives, but some have sorted into the opposite (and more violent) extreme. For right-wing populists, the key flaw with the system is not that it allows the rich to hoard all the money, but that it privileges undeserving minorities at innocent whites' expense. We've already seen a version of this bifurcated youth populism take hold elsewhere. In France's first-round presidential election this year, more young voters chose the Communist-allied far-left candidate. But in second place was far-right ethno-nationalist Marine Le Pen. Here in the United States, extreme ideology and iconography may also no longer carry the same political baggage they once did. Just as "socialism" is not a toxic word to people who came of age after the Cold War, perhaps aligning with Nazis no longer seems as inherently, reflexively evil for those so far removed from World War II. More significantly, the presumption that millennials are uniformly more progressive than earlier generations is false. Millennials overall are more racially tolerant than earlier generations -- but that's because young people today are less likely to be white. White millennials exhibit about as much racial prejudice, as measured by explicit bias, as white Gen Xers and boomers. Yet even young people know that overt racial animus is socially frowned upon, a deal-breaker for those seeking friends, spouses or gainful employment. At least, they did, until the 2016 presidential campaign. Perhaps it's no wonder that some self-aggrandizing young white men heard a siren call in all those dog whistles: Tomorrow belongs to them. crampell@washpost.com. Follow her on Twitter, @crampell. The Washington Post HILLSBORO, Ohio Weve all heard commentators and pundits through the years claim that what the United States needs is an honest conversation about race. But whenever those conversations happen, they quickly devolve into accusations of racism a word with a definition that has expanded to cover any expression that veers from left-wing dogma on the issue. Racism the belief that an entire race of people is inherently inferior, or superior, to another race of people is abhorrent. That is the kind of racism represented by the white nationalists who gathered in Charlottesville last weekend, drawing crowds of counterprotesters, leading to violent confrontations and, eventually, a murderous assault with a vehicle and a tragic helicopter accident. By contrast, simply disagreeing with affirmative action programs, or supporting a crackdown on crime, or wanting to rein in government spending on domestic programs, or opposing sanctuary cities, is not racism. You can argue that these positions are wrong, but they are not inherently racist. When the news broke about the Charlottesville violence, everyone knew what was coming next. The Blame Trump Brigade, always at the ready, would spring forth, predictable as April dandelions. Every Republican president or presidential candidate is accused of racist pandering or catering to white resentment. Its the go-to move from the left and many in the media. With President Trump, the charge has reached frenzied heights of absurdity. The president didnt respond on Saturday within the prescribed time limit, and he then didnt use the right words, critics said. But if his detractors were being honest, they would admit that if Trump had read a statement written by them, saying exactly what they wanted as he basically did Monday they would still lay the events at his feet. When we try to have conversations about race that veer from the approved talking points, conservatives are accused of using dog whistles words or phrases designed to appeal to white bigotry. I had to look up some websites to find examples, because I missed dog-whistle class. Among common dog whistles allegedly used by Republicans are: states rights, apparently designed to oppose federal civil rights initiatives; law and order, a secret signal to crack down on low-income or minority neighborhoods; and family values, a phrase determined by the left to be an attack on gays and lesbians. I wont, for instance, deny that the concept of states rights has been a rationale used in the past by people with ill intent, but the concept can be a legitimate one, too, for issues such as education. There are so many dog whistles that a whole book was written about the practice by University of California at Berkeley law professor Ian Haney Lopez, apparently to help the left decipher secret messages without the decoder rings distributed to the right. I understand why the Confederate flag is offensive, and I dont think anyone should display it. No matter what else it once stood for, it stood for the right to own slaves. I agree with its removal from public buildings and grounds, along with other memorials that seem to celebrate a time when owning slaves was acceptable. Further, I dont agree with the idea of the Justice Department investigating affirmative action programs at universities under the theory that they might discriminate against whites. White people are doing fine in the United States. Whites havent suffered under affirmative action. But many on the left would define me as racist because Im a Trump supporter even though, like anyone who supports any president or candidate, I dont support everything he says or does. The white supremacists who gathered in Charlottesville last weekend understood completely the offensive nature of the symbols they were fighting to maintain and proudly spouted their usual venom. Theres no apology for their hate. But an honest conversation about race, if we could have it, would differentiate between the small, fringe groups of racists in this country and others who have no malice toward anyone but hold different points of view on various race-related issues. An honest conversation about race might help the left understand that many of the people they call racists are not that at all, even if they dont prescribe to all the standard liberal solutions. And it might help the right to better understand why some of their ambivalence or insensitivities including some of the presidents remarks are seen as offensive by many. But with no such discussion allowed, everyone retreats to their corners, and the entrenched accusations continue and amplify, with no progress toward bridging the gulf that divides us. Hero of Mollywood's first musical hit 'Thiramala' shares his Hollywood stint, directing Prem Nazir and more [JURIST] The German constitutional court (ECB) [official website] sent [order, in German] a case concerning the European Central Bank [official website] attempt to buy $2.7 trillion dollars worth of bonds [Reuters report] to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) [official website] on Tuesday. The Publice Sector Purchase Program (PSPP) of the ECB started in March 2015 [MarketWatch report] in order to bolster the Euro. Unlike similar programs put in place by the ECB, the PSPP enables the bank to buys bonds across the eurozone, a move which the constitutional court noted may violated German monetary financing laws. In a press release [text] the court stated: The primary law of the Union provides but little guidance on the decision-making of the ECB Governing Council concerning the manner and scope of risk sharing between the members of the European System of Central Banks. Consequently, the ECB Governing Council may be able to modify the rules on risk sharing within the Eurosystem in a way that would result in risks for the profit and loss accounts of the national central banks and also threaten the overall budgetary responsibility of national parliaments. The court has asked the ECJ for expedited proceedings in order to more quickly issue its ruling at the request of the German government. This is the latest development in the ongoing struggle to establish financial stability in the EU. In June 2016 the German constitutional court ruled that the ECBs Outright Monetary Transaction program [JURIST report] complied with German law. In January 2015 EU Advocate General Cruz Villalon gave legal support [JURIST report] to the ECB program as an attempt to remedy the financial crisis in the Eurozone. In September 2014 the EU Parliament approved [JURIST report] a new bank supervisory mechanism. Last November the ECJ ruled [JURIST report] that the Eurozones permanent bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism, is in line with European law. The ruling came following several member states own courts finding the ESM constitutional under their own laws, including Estonia and Germany [JURIST reports]. That June the European Commission announced [JURIST report] a proposal that would address the problems of bailing out large banks with public funds during financial crises in the future. [JURIST] A Thai provincial court in the north eastern province of Khon Kaen sentenced [NYT report] activist Jatupat Pai Dao Din Boonpattararaksa [FrontlineDefenders profile] to two-and-a-half years in prison for sharing a BBC article about Thailands King Maha Vajiralongkorn Bodindradebayavarangkun [official profile] on Facebook on Tuesday. The article concerned personal details concerning Mahas life as the crown prince, including information from three past marriages that ended in divorce. Poonsuk plead guilty to the charge after his counsel recommended he do so in light of the courts repeated denials of bail. Had Poonsuk not plead guilty, commentators stated he likely would have been sentenced to five years in prison. Thailands enforcement of lese majeste laws and stifling of free speech has become increasingly prevalent in the past few years. In February the Supreme Court of Thailand upheld [JURIST report] the sentence of a former magazine editor who published stories criticizing the royal family under the lese majeste laws. Earlier in February human rights groups urged the Thai Army to drop defamation charges [JURIST report] against three activists. Prior to that, UN Special Rapporteur David Kaye called on [JURIST report] Thai authorities Tuesday to cease using royal defamation laws to counter free speech that is critical of the royal family. In December the Thailand Parliament passed [JURIST report] a controversial cyber-crimes bill that gave the government the right to obtain user data without court approval, which rights groups feared would give the government unrestricted power to police the web and suppress criticism. In September Thailands Bangkok South Criminal Court found [JURIST report] British labor rights activist Andy Hall guilty of criminal defamation and violating cyber crime laws. About a week earlier the same month Thailands military government announced [JURIST report] that it will prosecute cases concerning national security and royal insult in civilian courts, as opposed to military courts where the cases have been tried since 2014. KEARNEY As guests arrive for Thursdays ribbon cutting and open house at Central Community Colleges new Kearney Center, they will encounter a state-of-the-art teaching and training facility. The 66,000-square-foot, $23 million structure is equipped to churn out graduates for a broad range of careers in technology and the trades. Take a close look at the facilities and the trappings, and youll get a glimpse of the Kearney areas evolving economy and why donors dug deep to support the $10 million capital campaign for the Kearney Center. In the last five years, Buffalo County is the fastest growing in our 25-county service area, said Dean Moors, executive director of the CCC Foundation and vice president of institutional advancement. Moors said that recognition among Kearney area business and industry leaders about the need to enhance and broaden career training opportunities are among the factors that propelled the CCC-Kearney campaign to exceed its goals. In 2014, as CCC leaders contemplated whether Kearney was ready to support enhanced technical education, they discovered some businesses already were heavily recruiting people with the right blends of skills and knowledge. CCC leaders also discovered that many of those businesses and industries believed CCC was the right institution to help prepare the next generation of skilled workers in areas such as advanced manufacturing, industrial maintenance, construction, welding, soil testing, nursing and information technology, to name a few. A survey by Rich Gross Solutions of 53 community leaders discovered a significant majority of participants believed CCC was worthy of private-sector support, which was key to the Kearney Center project. The CCC Board of Governors had determined that to proceed with the $23 million project, $13 million would be drawn from CCC cash reserves, but the remainder would be private support. Among the encouraging survey findings: - 98 percent of respondents were favorable toward CCC; - Nearly three-fourths indicated they were or might be willing to participate in a campaign on behalf of CCC; and, - 94 percent indicated they are or might be willing to contribute to a campaign on behalf of CCC. Respondents also said that, given the emerging training needs of area business and industry, the timing was right for a capital campaign. As a result, when CCC leaders decided to pursue the new Kearney Center and then launched their $10 million capital campaign in 2015, many Kearney-area businesses were in expansion mode, and had positions to fill. Most of the responses were between 90 percent and 100 percent with respect to the project, the college and the campaign, Moors said. The community felt it was truly a need in working on the skilled workforce. CCC began its campaign in fall 2015 and by December 2016, the drive had achieved its $10 million capital goal, plus donors gave or pledged $2.3 million for scholarships, Moor said. Some gifts were given to us directly, some will come in when the project is done, and others will come in over a five-year period, he said. I was very, very pleased with the response from the Kearney area and from the total state. We got great response from individuals, companies, families and foundations statewide. The Kearney community really stepped up and supported the project. Moors said supporters recognized the need for welders, nurses, soil lab technicians, construction trades, advanced manufacturing and industrial maintenance skills and information technology. Business and industry leaders not only inspired fundraisers, they also inspired planning for the Kearney Center, which can expand as the future dictates from its current 66,000-square-foot floor plan to 200,000 square feet. Moors said seven Kearney leaders comprised the capital campaigns executive leadership team: Darren Robinson, Jon Abegglen, John Sahling, Dallas Wegner, Dale Pohlman, Dawn Chavanu and Dan Schulte. Theres a direct reason we did so well. They were able to open some doors and the respect for them was amazing in the community, Moors said. He attributed success to several other factors. CCC President Greg Smith and his wife, Marilee, started the momentum with a planned gift of $600,000. Thats the kind of passion he (Smith) has for the programs and students of CCC, Moors said. The new center will dedicate a space called the Dr. Greg P. Smith Community Room. Another key part of our success was the strong support of the Economic Development Council of Buffalo County. Darren Robinson and his board also were instrumental in their strong support of the project, Moors said. Opening of the new Kearney High School last year also inspired support for CCCs new Kearney Center, which is across 11th Street from KHS and its career-centered curriculum and Small Learning Communities educational philosophy. Moors said some KHS students will likely take classes at CCC or have CCC instructors in their KHS classrooms. Some might even earn college credits they can apply when enrolling for associate degrees at CCC. Moors said taxpayers should appreciate one aspect of the capital campaigns success. There will be no long-term debt on this project. Im very proud of that because we also have a responsibility to the college and the communities we serve, Moors said. KEARNEY Central Community College and the University of Nebraska at Kearney have a partnership that allows students to transfer from CCC to UNK as smoothly as possible, allowing the student to stay on track for graduation. Erin Pearson, UNK assistant registrar for transfers, said: UNK and CCC have a really great partnership. Its very collaborative. We have been working with CCC for a very long time; they are one of our oldest standing equivalency partners. I think everybody has the students best interest at heart. Pearson predicts CCCs new Kearney Center will have a positive impact on the relationship between the two colleges and the community. Because the new center has the ability to facilitate more students, Pearson hopes those students will continue their education at UNK. We love the fact that more students will be served by the larger facilities (at CCC Kearney Center) and we look to continue our partnership with CCC, Pearson said. UNK has a partnership not only with the Kearney Center, but also with the locations in Columbus, Grand Island, Hastings, Holdrege and Lexington. Pearson said each student is different. Some enroll at CCC to receive credit for general studies courses and decide on a specific major once they transfer to UNK. Others go to CCC with a specific program in mind for when they transfer. Students who want to transfer to UNK from CCC work with an adviser at both CCC and UNK. The advisers make sure the student is on track to complete the necessary programs before entering their program at UNK. If a student is attending CCC and plans to transfer to UNK in the future, Pearson said the student needs to express an interest to his or her adviser. The adviser will be able to make adjustments to what classes the student should take and will be able to connect the student with an adviser at UNK. Pearson said there are department-specific articulated agreements between CCC and UNK. She explained, for example, if a CCC student wants to be an early childhood educator, an adviser at UNK will evaluate the students planned courses and let the student know if those courses will transfer into the UNK program. After a student earns a degree at CCC, the student will then have a plan in place to finish the degree in another two or two-and-a-half years. We want them to succeed at CCC, if that is where they choose to go in the beginning, and that way we can have a smooth transition for them when they want to start their certification and professional degree here (at UNK), Pearson said. Pearson explained that UNKs website has guides that translate credits from other institutions into equivalent courses at UNK. If there are changes made to a syllabus, the course is evaluated to determine if there is still an equivalent making the guide accurate and reliable. The guides are located at www.unk.edu/offices/registrar/transfer/. Pearson said she has been working extensively to make sure the guides are readable, understandable and covers as much as possible. We dont ever want to tell a student, no, that wont transfer. It always transfers, unless there is a grade issue, Pearson said. There are students who transfer to UNK with just a few credit hours completed and others who transfer the maximum of 66 credits. We work with them as much as possible to make sure every single hour they completed elsewhere has a purpose at UNK, Pearson said. If a student has credits that are beyond general studies courses, Pearson said the registrar staff will work to count those credits as part of the students major specific courses, or at least as an elective. At UNK, all of the transcripts are hand-evaluated and uploaded by one person to ensure consistency and accuracy. Its my goal to start interacting more with advisers at all of the CCC campuses, but also to be interacting with those students, getting them the assistance they need. We are just trying to make sure everybody can make the connections and that its a smooth transition, Pearson said. Pearson said that of all the students who transfer to UNK from a Nebraska community college, more than half come from CCC. In the 2016-2017 academic year, Pearson said there were more than 100 students who transferred from a CCC campus to UNK. To assist with the cost difference between a community college and a four-year institution, UNK offers several scholarships to transfer students. UNK and CCC offer co-enrollment programs for students to take classes at both campuses. CCC and UNK have worked together to create several degree programs that are meant to specifically transfer to UNK. In addition to early childhood and elementary education students, there also are a large number of business administration students who transfer from CCC. We have been seeing an influx of criminal justice students (transferring from CCC to UNK). Industrial technology has also exploded, too, Pearson said. Pearson said she believes students transfer from CCC to UNK because there are so many equivalencies in courses and the advisers at the institutions work together. For more information about transferring to UNK, contact the registrars office located on the first floor of Warner Hall, email unkregistrar@unk.edu or call 865-8527. Its exciting to think about how much we might be able to grow this transfer program. CCC is growing and we (UNK) are always growing and things are always changing, Pearson said. Investigators with the Nebraska State Patrol have arrested a Grand Island man for arranging to have sex with a 12-year-old girl. Jeremy C. Doudney Sr., 44, of Grand Island, was arrested and lodged in Hall County Jail on suspicion of Enticement by Electronic Communication Device. The incident was first reported to State Patrol around 11 a.m. Monday, when a family reported that a man had begun a sexual conversation with their daughter through Facebook. The girl initially tried to end the conversation by telling the man she was 12-years-old. When the man persisted, she told her parents and NSP was alerted. The girl turned-over her Facebook account to a State Patrol investigator who is trained in undercover operations for online internet crimes against children. Posing as the girl, the NSP investigator continued the conversation and was able to identify the suspect through pictures posted on his Facebook page. The messages from the suspect continued to be sexual in nature and he eventually asked the NSP investigator, whom he believed to be a 12-year-old girl, to meet at Pier Park in Grand Island. The investigator and other officers with NSP met the suspect at the park and took him into custody shortly after 2:00 p.m. NSP was assisted by the Grand Island Police Department Patrol Division. The Nebraska State Patrol urges parents to check their childrens Facebook accounts for suspicious activity that could be linked to this case and report it to Nebraska State Patrol Troop C Investigative Services in Grand Island at (308) 385-6000. After years of heartache, relatives of homicide victim Cari Farver now have many of the answers they sought, though big questions remain. Wed still like to know exactly what happened and where my daughter ended up so we could take care of her, said Farvers mother, Nancy Raney. Farvers killer, Shanna Golyar, was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without parole for the November 2012 murder of Farver, who was 37. For years after the murder, Golyar posed as Farver in fake emails and Facebook accounts to cover up her crime. She terrorized too many people, Raney said. She needs to be off the streets. She needs to have the sentence (life) that she gave everyone else. My grandson will never see his mother again. Golyar, 42, sat stone-faced throughout Tuesdays sentencing hearing and didnt address the court. She was convicted in May of first-degree murder and second-degree arson after her 10-day trial. Douglas County District Judge Timothy Burns also sentenced Golyar to 18 to 20 years for the arson charge, which stemmed from a fire Golyar set in her own home in August 2013. Her attorney, Scott Sladek, an assistant public defender, unsuccessfully argued that the arson sentence should run at the same time as the life sentence. Prosecutors said Golyar killed Farver after Farver left the apartment of a man Golyar had dated. Both Farvers son, Max Farver, and Raney testified that they received messages from Golyar, who used Farvers phone and created a fake Facebook profile under Farvers name. Raney also got a message from the fake profile on Mothers Day 2014. The possibility that Farver was still alive tortured her family. What some people are capable of has always astounded and mystified this court, Judge Burns said Tuesday. When he delivered his verdict in May, Burns said Golyar had spun a twisted plot of lies, deceit and impersonations through digital messaging to keep Farver alive online and distract authorities. Cari Farver did not voluntarily disappear and drop off the face of the earth, Burns said then. Very sadly, she was murdered. Prosecutors relied heavily on circumstantial evidence, especially 13 graphic emails they say Golyar sent while posing as someone else. The emails offered detailed information about a slaying that only the killer would know a confession, the state argued. Authorities said they think the murder occurred on Nov. 13, 2012, in Douglas County. Raney said she couldnt thank enough the authorities who made the case against Golyar. Detectives from Iowa and Nebraska pursued the case. Farver disappeared from Omaha but lived in Macedonia, Iowa. Golyar moved to Council Bluffs, then Persia, Iowa, after setting fire to her own Omaha home. After Tuesdays sentencing, Chief Deputy Douglas County Attorney Brenda Beadle said, In my 20-plus years of doing this job, this is one of the most calculated and bizarre cases Ive ever seen. Even in Golyars presentencing letter to the court, Beadle said, the defendant refused to take responsibility for her actions. She lacked empathy and she lacked remorse, Beadle said. She was still making excuses. On Sept. 27, 2015, a friend and I sat out after sunset in the northern New Mexico desert and watched a red veil begin to slip itself over the full moon. Within 20 minutes, that great round sugar-cookie of a moon slipped into shadow and became red as a brick. An hour later, darkness still clung to that moon like Saran Wrap. Around 9:30, I finally headed home. Space.com called that 2015 lunar eclipse a dazzling total lunar eclipse during a perigee full moon, better known as a supermoon. It was lovely, but we ordinary viewers didnt need hype, buzzwords and logos to make it worth watching. Now, as our over-hyped society goes ga-ga over Mondays solar eclipse, Im ready to hurry back to hushed New Mexico to watch in silent wonder. Pre-eclipse hype slammed into me when I returned to Kearney in May. Id been living a sleepy life in Abiquiu, N.M., where Id heard a few whispers about the eclipse but paid it little mind. It was a few months away. Coming back to the world, I was assaulted by gasping schedules crammed with speakers, astronomers, telescopes, T-shirts, recipes, sold-out hotels and even a catchy moniker: the Great American Eclipse. Every hamlet around has an eclipse slogan and a logo. Scientists will see if chickens lay eggs. In Mulligan, theyre going to polka as the sun disappears. Enough, please. I want to crawl away and find silence. During my two years in New Mexico, Id sit on my porch and look east across the alfalfa field and watch the moon hoist itself up onto the mesas rocky shoulders when the moon rose around sunset, that is. I knew the cycles of the moon without the calendar. When it came up late, the sky was so dark I couldnt find my house from the dirt road 20 feet in front of it. When the waxing moon was swelling like a pumpkin, it frosted the world with so much glow I didnt need a flashlight. Some nights, as friends and I roasted marshmallows over a campfire, the full moon would beam down like the sun and dim the billions of stars that salted that dark sky around it. I miss my moon. Living in Kearney now, my eyes grope through streetlights, porch lights and garage lights in search of it. One of my favorite places in New Mexico was Chaco Canyon National Historical Park. Ancestral Puebloans occupied the region from 850 to1250 A.D., and toiled for 250 years building 3,000 structures. The largest has 700 rooms. There are hundreds of kivas and plazas, outlying structures and 30-foot-wide roads that vanish into the desert, all built in alignment with the cycles of the sun and moon. Some believe that one petroglyph, Piedra del Sol (Stone of the Sun) relates to a solar eclipse, but no one is sure about that or anything else because the people left no notes, no written clues. For nearly 100 years, archaeologists and ethnologists have scrambled like spiders over Chaco Canyon asking why and how, but most Ancestral Puebloans sit silent. In a PBS special, Mystery of Chaco Canyon, some of their modern ancestors speak. Some things arent meant to be understood, one says. Last weekend, I asked my cousin Joe Day, whos been married for nearly 40 years to a Hopi woman in Second Mesa, Ariz., what are the Hopi saying about the eclipse. Not much, he replied. Then he changed the subject. Forget the noise, the slogans, the hype. I just plan to shut up and watch. Nebraska is one of 15 states where Mondays total eclipse of the sun will be clearly visible. A 65- to 70-mile-wide swath that crosses the state from Falls City in the southeast to Alliance in the northwest is called a prime viewing area by the Nebraska Tourism Commission. In addition, the commission lists 10 key cities for viewing, from west to east: Scottsbluff, Gering, Alliance, North Platte, Kearney, Hastings, Grand Island, Lincoln, Beatrice and Omaha. Each of those cities has several events planned, some starting as early as Saturday. Thats when the Midwest Theater in Scottsbluff shows the Laser Spectacular light show set to the music of Pink Floyd the band that recorded an album called The Dark Side of the Moon. That show repeats in Kearney at the Merryman Performing Arts Center the night of the eclipse. Gov. Pete Ricketts and several state agencies have joined forces to promote the events and issue some cautions. Ricketts says thousands of visitors from across the country will flock to The Good Life to witness a once-in-a generation event. He touted the state as having some of the best viewing locations because the corridor spans the whole state. This will be the first solar eclipse visible in the continental United States since 1979. The next one will be in 2024. This is also the first nationwide total eclipse since 1918. It goes from west to east and will hit Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming before reaching Nebraska. The total eclipse is expected in Scottsbluff at 11:48 a.m. MDT and will last 1 minute 42 seconds. The eclipse will be visible in Kearney at 12:57 p.m. CDT and will last 1 minute 54 seconds. Falls City, in extreme southeast Nebraska, claims the longest eclipse time of 2 minutes 37 seconds. The Falls City Main Street and Chamber of Commerce are sponsoring an event Monday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the cobblestone streets downtown. Tickets are still available for the Dine in the Dark meal catered by local restaurants. The $30 package includes a T-shirt and special glasses for viewing the eclipse, as well as the meal. The eclipse also will hit Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and Georgia before exiting the states on the South Carolina Atlantic Coast. Ricketts said Nebraskas open spaces make our state a prime location for viewing the eclipse, which is why many visitors have been making plans to travel to Nebraska for this historic event. He said some estimates predict up to 400,000 people, many from foreign countries. Box Butte County Tourism Director Kevin Howard, who also manages the iconic Carhenge site northeast of Alliance, said he received inquiries from Australia and Russia, among other places. The governor encourages Nebraska Nice as locals put on their best behavior to show the visitors this is a great place to live, work and raise a family. One can only hope that visitors will experience something that causes them to realize Nebraska is more than just a fly-over state. J.L. Schmidt, a registered Independent, is the Nebraska Press Associations statehouse correspondent. They say that one lawyer will starve if hes the only one in town, but two lawyers can make a decent living. There are much better lawyer jokes out there, but its no laughing matter if you need legal advice and none is available. Thats too often the case, especially for low-income residents in west-central Nebraska. Eleven counties, including Hayes and 10 others in the sandhills region, have no attorneys at all. Frontier, Dundy and Perkins counties have only two each, and Hitchcock County is home to one attorney, according to the latest information from the Nebraska State Bar Association. The association doesnt require members to provide pro bono legal advice the way some states do, but members are strongly encouraged to provide 50 hours a year, according to Liz Neeley, executive director. Traditionally, thats been accomplished by walk-in clinics, where attorneys staff a desk in a courthouse for set hours, providing simple civil legal advice to citizens who might otherwise ask court officials who are prohibited from doing so. You could imagine how slow business would be for such a system in a small rural county. But for someone who needs a quick answer to a civil legal matter, its no small issue. Fortunately, the internet offers a solution that is being implemented in Nebraska this month. The State Bar Association is now one of 42 states participating in a pro bono initiative sponsored by the American Bar Association, which takes the walk-in clinic online. Nebraska Free Legal Answers Online is available at www.Ne.FreeLegalAnswers.org, where approved volunteer lawyers provide information and basic legal advice about specific legal issues to eligible users. Next, we need a system to address the issue of legal advice for low-income defendants in criminal cases, who are often served by harried public defenders without time or incentive to provide an effective defense. McCook Daily Gazette We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form People watch as Britain's new flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth arrives in Portsmouth, Britain, Wednesday Aug. 16, 2017. HMS Queen Elizabeth has arrived at its home port in southern England to great fanfare. Crowds lined the harbor on Wednesday to welcome the ship to Portsmouth Naval Base, where the 919-foot (280-meter) vessel will be based for its estimated 50-year lifespan.(Victoria Jones/PA via AP) FILE - In this April 9, 2017, file photo, White House chief strategist Steve Bannon steps off Air Force One at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. Bannon was with President Donald Trump on his return trip from Florida. Trump wonAot say whether he plans to keep Steve Bannon, a onetime top adviser and key campaign strategist, in the White House. AuWeAoll see what happens with Mr. Bannon,Au Trump said at an impromptu news conference on Aug. 15 where he fielded questions about his confidence in his adviser. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) FILE-In this Sunday, Aug. 13, 2017 file photo, Marcus Martin pauses during a vigil, held for the victims of an attack on Saturday in Charlottesville, Va. James Alex Fields Jr. plowed a car into a crowd of people protesting a white supremacist rally on Saturday, injuring over a dozen people including Martin. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File) Former Russian Economic Development Minister Alexei Ulyukayev waits for a hearing in a court in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. Alexei Ulyukayev was detained last year after he allegedly accepted $2 million in cash from state oil company Rosneft in a sting set up by the FSB intelligence agency. Ulyukayev was largely seen as a victim of a Kremlin power play against Igor Sechin, chief executive of the oil company Rosneft and President Vladimir Putin's close ally. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin) Mine workers sing during the commemoration ceremonies in Marikana, South Africa, Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2017. On Aug. 16, 2012, police opened fire on workers demanding wage increases and better living conditions at a platinum mine operated by Lonmin Plc in Marikana. At least 70 were injured. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe) Kenosha Ald. G. John Ruffolo is accused of stalking a woman for more than four years, despite repeated warnings from law enforcement officials and pleas from the woman to stop. Ruffolo, who represents the citys 4th District, was charged with stalking, a felony, on Wednesday in Kenosha County Circuit Court. Ruffolo, 54, was arrested Tuesday at his home and is being held in the Racine County Jail. According to the criminal complaint, from February 2013 to July 2017 Ruffolo intentionally engaged in a course of conduct directed at a specific individual that would cause a reasonable person to suffer emotional distress, or fear of bodily injury or death. Intake Court Commissioner Elizabeth Pfeuffer set bond at $10,000 cash Wednesday afternoon. Ruffolo is due in court Aug. 25 for a preliminary hearing. If convicted, Ruffolo would face up to 18 months in prison, up to two years on extended supervision and a $10,000 fine. The Wisconsin Department of Justice is handling the case to avoid any conflict with the Kenosha County District Attorneys Office. The defendants behavior was daily, and sometimes hourly, against this victim, said Assistant Attorney General Robert Kaiser, who asked for a $50,000 cash bond. Ruffolos attorney, Patrick Cafferty, said Ruffolo was never violent with the woman and will not contact her while out on bond. There is no allegation that he represents a danger to any member of the public other than the specific person whos named here in the complaint, Cafferty said. There are no allegations here of any use of weapons, no allegation of claims or threats to use force against this specific person named. Theres no allegation of sexual assault or threat of sexual assault. Cafferty requested a $1,000 cash bond. Kaiser said the allegations warranted the higher bond. The allegations in this complaint do address the character of the person. They include dozens of unwanted phone calls, text messages, emails, spoofed telephone numbers, ignoring repeated warnings from the victim, from police, from the attorney generals office, Kaiser said. Accused of stalking woman According to the complaint, Ruffolo and the 47-year-old woman had a personal and eventually intimate relationship from November 2012 to February 2014, when she ended their relationship. After their relationship ended, Ruffolo began stalking the woman, the complaint states. Despite being told not to contact the woman, Ruffolo allegedly persisted in contacting her cellphone, home and work phones. When she blocked Ruffolos numbers, Ruffolo allegedly continued calling from other numbers and used a spoofing app to generate numerous fake numbers. Ruffolo also is accused of driving past the womans home on dozens of occasions, parking his vehicle in her neighborhood so she could see him, and even driving through her workplace parking lot. The complaint states that initially she feared reporting Ruffolo to police for fear of retaliation. In November 2015, a Mount Pleasant investigator spoke with Ruffolo by telephone. Ruffolo reportedly admitted contacting the woman and was told a complaint against him would be pressed if he continued. However, Ruffolo did not stop, according to the complaint. In 2016 he is accused of leaving unwanted flowers at the womans home on two occasions and emailing people she knew, driving past her house and calling her on the phone. When Ruffolo left messages, many of them were about seeing each other or getting together. The complaint states the woman installed cameras outside her home in 2016 and that Ruffolo told her, I see your cameras, and Im not your property. In the fall of 2016, Ruffolo reportedly sent the woman links to websites, photos and videos, and he continued his pattern of contacting her. Ruffolo was also recorded on video leaving a bottle of wine and note outside her home. At the start of 2017, Ruffolo continued calling almost daily, the complaint states. In spring, Ruffolo insisted they meet because it was time to bury the hatchet. After ignoring warnings to stop, a GPS device was installed on Ruffolos vehicle pursuant to a search warrant. Ruffolo was recorded by investigators driving to the womans home, sometimes multiple times a day. On May 1, Mount Pleasant Police served Ruffolo with a stalking warning letter and said he could be arrested if he persisted. However, after receiving the letter, Ruffolo allegedly was in visual and physical proximity to the woman, according to the GPS tracker. The complaint says Ruffolo continued stalking the woman throughout the summer, driving to her home or work dozens of times. According to state court records, Ruffolo has no criminal history here. Alderman for nearly two decades Ruffolo is chairman of the citys Water Commission and a member of the Public Works and Stormwater Utility committees. He ran unopposed in last Aprils aldermanic election and has served on the City Council for nearly two decades. In 2013 Ald. Patrick Juliana accused Ruffolo of putting glue in the lock of his car door. No criminal charges were filed. The hundreds of locals who attended Tuesday evenings vigil for the victims of weekend violence in Charlottesville, Va., had a clear message: Kenosha has no place for racism, anti-Semitism and hate. Local activists, elected officials and faith leaders said it is time for people to start the conversation about race and the threat posed by white supremacists. We gathered this evening to stand up and speak out about the shocking and shameful actions that have occurred in Charlottesville, said Veronica King, president of the local NAACP branch. Our hearts and prayers are with those that have lost loved ones. Many in attendance Tuesday held signs and remembrance candles for Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old woman killed after a car crashed into demonstrators protesting a white supremacy rally in Charlottesville. It disgusts me completely and totally that this is happening in America, said Zena Blom, who held a sign with one of the last quotes from Heyers Facebook profile reading, If you arent outraged, you arent paying attention. Lt. H. Jay Cullen and Trooper-pilot Berke M.M. Bates were also killed over the weekend in Charlottesville when their helicopter crashed. They were assisting law enforcement by monitoring the rally. Affront to WWII vets Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian gave an impassioned speech at Tuesdays vigil. This weekend we lost three people a young woman and two officers who were doing what they felt was the right thing to do: to stand up, stand up for what is right! Antaramian said. My father fought in World War II against Nazis. For this country to tolerate that now is a crime against all those men and women who fought World War II. Shame on us that that is allowed! Antaramian said. Sometimes I wonder if all of us would be willing to make the same sacrifices that this young woman did, the two officers, and the men and women during World War II. What we stand for as a country is one of the most important things that we can give to our children. The candlelight vigil organized by the Kenosha branch of the NAACP in partnership with Congregations United to Serve Humanity, Forward Kenosha, Our Wisconsin Revolution, Peace Learning Plus and the Coalition for Dismantling Racism was held in downtown Kenoshas Civic Center Park. The vigil was held only a few hours after President Donald Trump ignited controversy after declaring that there is blame on both sides for the deadly violence in Charlottesville, appearing to once again equate the actions of white supremacist groups and those protesting against them. Prayer for peace Rabbi Dena Feingold, of Beth Hillel Temple, prayed for peace. We come together as people of like mind at this moment of crisis for our nation, Feingold prayed. We ask your blessings upon us Eternal Our God, as we come together this day. We ask that you help us to join together to work with those who care about unity, who care about righteousness, who care about justice, who care about the future of our nation. At the end of the vigil, the Rev. Matthew Buterbaugh, of St. Matthews Episcopal Church, led the crowd as they sang We Shall Overcome. The mother of a teenager accused of hiding the body of slain teen Olivia Mackay said she wants people to know her son is not a monster as depicted on social media. Im not trying to say Jamaris involvement was excused or that its OK, but hes far from (being) a monster, said Laurie Tye, the mother of Jamari Cook, 17, of Kenosha, who is in custody along with Daniel Tate, 19, for Mackays death. She said comments on Facebook, newspaper sites and other social media, have also questioned why her son did not try to stop Tate, who, in the criminal complaint, has been accused of killing Mackay. This huge kid could have stopped him (Tate). And he could have. But, put yourself in that position, she said. None of us know what we would do in that position. This is a person that Jamari had put before himself for years. Tye said her son froze when he reportedly saw Tate attack Mackay. His exact words to me were I couldnt move, Mom. I couldnt move, Tye said. We all know Jamari is a protector. Its ingrained in him to protect women, said Tye. So it came as a shock to all of us that he didnt protect her (Mackay), and all of us wanted to know why. Tye said the day before she visited her son at the jail, she had contacted Mackays mother over Facebook to apologize. I told my son about it (Sunday) during the visit, and he just teared up and just repeatedly said how guilty he feels that he didnt save her, she said. He says he dreams every night of Olivia and that he feels like God let this happen in his life to remove Danny from his life because Danny wasnt good for him, she said. And it took him to go through this to see that Danny was never his friend. Tye also has mixed emotions about Tate because of his troubled upbringing. Theres a part of me that is angry at him because my son wouldve never been involved with anything like this if he wasnt with Danny. But at the same time I cant just say Danny is a horrible person, she said. I cant just write him off. Hes been written off his whole life. Thats why we let him live here. Thats why we loved and embraced him because he needed that and nobody else ever did. Tye recounted happier times when Tate and her son would sing, dance, rap and even bake for the family. They used to write me songs. And they were so proud to come in here and do their song, she said. But she said the family is tired of the rumors, including that Jamari was incarcerated in Washington County for beating up siblings and that he raped a cousin, all of which are not true, she said. My son was incarcerated in Washington County because he kept running away from home, she said. Then, he was placed in services in shelter care and he kept running away from shelter care, so the only thing they could do to protect him from himself was to put him in detention where he cant run away. The origins of Veterans Day Throughout the year, we have a few different observances for those who have served our country. We have Memorial Day to celebrate those who gave... Spindle Items .. PLANNING YOUR TRIP For those of you who are planning to visit Universal Studios this winter, you may want to know that Universal... 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The council were asked for the top five longest times an individual or family, still on the social housing list, have been on it. These include applicants on the list since: February 1999, August 2000, November 2000, June 2003 and March 2004. However there were also a number of houses offered to applicants that were refused. There have been 112 refusals since 2013 and the most common reasons given were proximity to services, lack of transport, change of need or change in area of preference. Meanwhile there are 28 units currently vacant across the county with a total of 2,328 social houses occupied. Kilkenny County Council says there are a number of ways in which it can provide social housing. These include Direct Builds where the council contracts a builder to build houses, the building of social houses through Approved Housing Bodies where the AHBs build and maintain the houses but they are allocated to persons on the councils housing list. Then there is Acquisitions where the council buy houses on the market and rented properties from the private sector through the Housing Assistance Payment Scheme and/or the Rental Accommodation Scheme. Before Rebuilding Ireland - a government action plan to increase the delivery of homes - the council had a stock of approximately 2,300 social housing units. If Rebuilding Ireland is translated into a number of additional social housing units for Kilkenny it comes to approximately 820 additional units from any one of the four options available to the council for the provision of social housing. The council says there were 95 new social housing units delivered under Rebuilding Ireland for which construction commenced or was completed over the past 12 months with an additional 110 units identified with Approved Housing Bodies. The local authority has bought over 30 properties to date on the market in 2017 and bought a similar number in 2016. At this point in time there are over 1,100 HAP and RAS properties in Kilkenny. Local Fianna Fail Councillor, Peter Cleere, said: Its absolutely unbelievable to think that people, many of them our most vulnerable in society have been on the list this long. There is a serious shortage of housing supply in Kilkenny and has been for the last 10 years. The government needs to release the necessary funds immediately to allow the local authority build social houses. The housing staff in Kilkenny County Council work tirelessly for the betterment of the county. But they are absolutely starved of the resources - both financial and man power - and until this issue is sorted the harsh reality is the housing list is set to increase. One of the Irelands leading doctors who has a practice in Kilkenny says many of the countys GP services are increasingly finding it a struggle to provide same day service for patients. President of the Irish College of General Practitioners and Ballyhale based doctor, Richard Brennan, says the viability and future of Kilkennys rural practices is seriously under threat due to a GP shortage. He says there is also the worry of a high number of impending retirements on the horizon which will heap more strain on resources. There are 63 GPs per 100,000 population currently practising medicine in Ireland, according to a recent Medical Council report. Mr Brennan said: Kilkenny currently has the second lowest number of GPs per 100,000 population nationally, (37 per 100,000) with only Leitrim having fewer. He added: We are certainly under-doctored. In addition we are an ageing workforce with 40% of GPs in Kilkenny aged over 60 years, which means they are approaching retirement age in seven years. For more on this, pick up this week's Kilkenny People. SHANGHAI, Aug 16 (Reuters) - China's Ministry of Finance on Wednesday auctioned 36 billion yuan ($5.38 billion) of seven-year bonds at an average yield of 3.6518 percent, traders said, above market expectations. For the seven-year bonds, market forecasts had centred on 3.64 percent and ranged from 3.60 percent to 3.66 percent. The auction yield came in below Tuesday's benchmark secondary market yield of 3.6595 percent for seven-year government bonds . For stories on Chinese debt issues, click on . ($1 = 6.6873 Chinese yuan) (Reporting by the Shanghai Newsroom; Editing by Sunil Nair) * State-owned parent among first batch of SOEs targeted for reform * Shanghai-listed unit expected to gain major investment * Hong Kong unit due to report on Weds, results already flagged (Recasts with expectations of major reform announcement) HONG KONG, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Shares in China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd were halted from trade on Wednesday pending the release of a statement - a suspension that comes amid market expectations of imminent reform to the ownership structure of its state-owned parent. Parent China Unicom, formally known as China United Network Communications Group Co Ltd, is one of the world's largest mobile carriers by user numbers but has struggled in a fiercely competitive market. Baidu Inc , JD.com , Alibaba Group Holdings and Tencent Holdings are among firms set to jointly invest about $12 billion in China Unicom's Shanghai-listed unit, China United Network Communications Ltd , people with direct knowledge of the matter have told Reuters. The move is part of the Chinese government's drive to rejuvenate state behemoths with private capital, with China Unicom among a first batch of state-owned enterprises to see mixed-ownership reform. The Hong Kong bourse announced the suspension from trade but did not elaborate on the reason. A representative for China Unicom Hong Kong could not be immediately reached for comment. Last month the unit said China Unicom was in talks with investors but said it had yet to reach any deal. The Hong Kong unit, which has a market value of HK$286 billion ($36.6 billion), will report earnings later in the day. A 70 percent jump in first-half profit was flagged late on Friday. It also forecast competition would intensify in the second half of the year. Shares of Hong Kong-listed China Unicom have risen 32 percent so far this year, outpacing a 24 percent surge in the benchmark index . China Mobile , the world's biggest mobile phone operator by subscribers, last week cheered investors with a special dividend and posted a 3.5 percent rise in first-half net profit. ($1 = 7.8239 Hong Kong dollars) (Reporting by Donny Kwok and Anne Marie Roantree; Editing by Edwina Gibbs) PORT LOUIS, Aug 16 (Reuters) - The weighted average yield on Mauritius' five-year Treasury bond rose to 3.52 percent at auction on Wednesday from 3.28 percent at the previous sale, the central bank said. The Bank of Mauritius sold all the 2 billion rupees worth of the debt it had offered. The bids totalled 4.400 billion rupees, with yields ranging from 3.40 percent to 3.58 percent. It also said the bond has a 3.21 percent coupon. (Reporting by Jean Paul Arouff; editing by Jeremy Gaunt) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. By Tom Daly and Melanie Burton BEIJING/MELBOURNE, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Sanctions on North Korea have spurred concerns about tightness in the physical lead concentrate market in China, the world's top miner and producer, extending a months-long rally in prices for the heavy metal, traders and analysts said. The U.N. Security Council unanimously passed a resolution on Aug. 6 banning North Korea's exports of coal, iron, iron ore, lead, lead ore and seafood, in a bid to choke off a third of Pyongyang's $3 billion in annual export revenue. While the North Korea volumes are a small portion of the 10-million-tonne global lead market, the removal of China's No. 2 ore and concentrate supplier has forced some smelters like Haicheng Chengxin to find alternative domestic sources. "If they are fully and strictly implemented, (the sanctions) would further tighten an already tight Chinese lead concentrate market," said Ivan Szpakowski, Chief Investment Officer of Academia Capital, a U.S.-based emerging markets and commodities-focused hedge fund. Physical lead prices have risen 3 percent since the news of the sanctions, trading at 19,400 yuan per tonne on Wednesday, highest since mid-February. Prices are up 21 percent since the beginning of June. The most-active lead futures on the Shanghai Futures Exchange have risen 3.5 percent since the sanctions. News of the crackdown on North Korea added to existing supply concerns as lead mines in Sichuan have been going into maintenance ahead of environmental inspections across the province over the past two weeks. Located just 140 miles (230 km) away from the North Korean border, smelter Haicheng Chengxin has increased purchases from Inner Mongolia, a major mining hub to its west, said a company executive who declined to be named. Before the sanctions, Haicheng Chengxin bought between 6,000 and 8,000 tonnes of concentrate each month from North Korea through traders, the executive said. That's the majority of China's average monthly lead concentrate imports this year from North Korea, data shows. Haicheng Chengxin has smelting capacity of about 100,000 tonnes of lead each year. The company did not respond to requests for official comment. Antaike said they reckon China's lead concentrate supplies are sufficient for now even though the global market is in a deep deficit, although it will push smelters in Inner Mongolia, Hebei and the northeastern region of the country to buy more raw material domestically. North Korean lead concentrates are typically lower grade, containing less lead than other imports. In June, arrivals of lead concentrates sold for around $800 per tonne, with almost half the volumes from top shipper Russia. (Reporting by Tom Daly in BEIJING and Melanie Burton in MELBOURNE; Additional reporting by Beijing newsroom; Writing by Josephine Mason; Editing by Tom Hogue) HANOI, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official and unofficial markets, indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi and interbank offered rates at 0408 GMT. August 16 USD/VND mid-point 22,450 USD/VND interbank 22,726/22,728 USD/VND unofficial 22,730/22,745 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 36.15/36.37 Interbank offered rates Overnight 0.4-0.8 1 week 0.5-1.0 1 month 1.3-1.8 3 months 3.0-3.6 NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016 the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank offered rates are the latest indicative bid/ask prices, quoted from market sources. One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co. For more interbank rate fixings released at 0400 GMT, click on . For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom) STOCKHOLM, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Sweden sold 10 billion Swedish crowns ($1.24 billion) of treasury bills maturing in November, the Debt Office said on Wednesday. The Debt Office said it sold the T-bills at an average yield of -0.7615 percent and a bid-to-cover ratio of 1.65. ($1 = 8.0796 Swedish crowns) (Reporting by Stockholm Newsroom) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. LISBON, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Portugal sold all 1 billion euros ($1.17 billion) total of three- and 11-month Treasury bills on offer in an auction on Wednesday, with yields slipping further into negative territory. Following are details from the Portuguese Institute for Public Credit Management (IGCP), compared with the previous auction of the closest maturity: 3-MONTH T-BILLS: Auction date 16/08/17 21/06/17 Maturity 17/11/17 22/09/17 Settlement date 18/08/17 23/06/17 Avg. yield (pct) -0.348 -0.337 Avg. price (pct) 100.088 100.085 Highest yield (pct) -0.341 -0.329 Lowest yield (pct) -0.355 -0.365 Tail 0.007 0.008 Total bids 987 mln 1.14 bln Allotment 250 mln 250 mln Bid-to-cover ratio 3.95 4.56 Outstanding after auction 2.197 bln 3.46 bln 11-MONTH T-BILLS: Auction date 16/08/17 19/07/17 Maturity 20/07/18 20/07/18 Settlement date 18/08/17 21/07/17 Avg. yield (pct) -0.291 -0.259 Avg. price (pct) 100.272 100.263 Highest yield (pct) -0.285 -0.255 Lowest yield (pct) -0.296 -0.273 Tail 0.006 0.004 Total bids 1.835 bln 2.13 bln Allotment 750 mln 1.25 bln Bid-to-cover ratio 2.45 1.7 Outstanding after auction 2.023 bln 1.25 bln For more information about the auction please click on ($1 = 0.8526 euros) (Reporting By Andrei Khalip) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. KAMPALA, Aug 16 (Reuters) - Yields on Uganda's Treasury bills declined across all tenors at an auction on Wednesday, where a total of 165 billion shillings ($46 million) worth of debt was on offer. The central bank said in a statement the rate on the benchmark 91-day bill edged down to 9.873 percent, from 9.886 percent fetched at the previous sale on Aug 2. Complete auction results: 91-DAY 182-DAY 364-DAY EFFECTIVE YIELD This Auction 9.873 10.178 11.023 Last Auction 9.886 10.238 11.153 OFFERED (bln shillings) This Auction 10.00 20.00 135.00 Last Auction 10.00 20.00 140.00 TENDERED BIDS (bln shillings) This Auction 24.10 40.40 372.14 Last Auction 23.33 73.11 297.09 ACCEPTED BIDS (bln shillings) This Auction 10.00 20.00 135.00 Last Auction 10.00 20.00 140.00 BID TO COVER RATIO This Auction 2.410 2.020 2.757 Last Auction 2.333 3.656 2.122 ($1 = 3,592.0000 Ugandan shillings) (Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; editing by Katharine Houreld) LONDON, Aug 17 (Reuters) - The British Chambers of Commerce said on Thursday that exporters' confidence has softened slightly, due to concerns about currency fluctuations and a shortage of skilled workers. The BCC said its 'trade confidence index' - a measure based on export documentation provided by regional chambers of commerce during the three months to June - was 2.5 percent lower than a year earlier, though still high by historic standards. "Whilst UK businesses continue to deliver a strong export performance, they are increasingly concerned about what lies on the economic horizon," said Ian Wilson, chief executive of the British operations of delivery company DHL Express, which sponsored the report. Official data last week showed Britain's trade deficit in goods and services was its widest in nine months in June, contrasting with most business surveys which have painted a much more upbeat picture. Sterling's fall of around 14 percent since last year's Brexit vote has boosted the short-term competitiveness of British exporters, but there is little clarity on access to European Union markets after Britain leaves in March 2019. Britain's government outlined plans for a future customs agreement with the EU on Tuesday and an interim deal to ease companies' Brexit concerns, but the proposals were described as "fantasy" by one senior EU official. The BCC said that the proportion of manufacturers reporting stronger exports rose slightly in the second quarter, though orders slipped slightly. Services exporters also saw growth in exports and orders, albeit from a lower base. (Reporting by David Milliken, editing by Andy Bruce) By Woo Ji-won The official poster for Ariana Grande's "Dangerous Woman Tour" concert in Seoul / Courtesy of Hyundai Card American pop star Ariana Grande has finished her first concert in Korea with a seemingly impeccable performance. But there remains strong criticism of her "unprofessional" attitude off stage and the concert coordinator's mistreatment of VIP customers. All 20,000 tickets for her "Dangerous Woman Tour" concert at Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul on Tuesday were sold out in three minutes. The sellout came despite the venue's heavy security checks following the bombing at Grande's Manchester, U.K., concert in May. The pop star was scheduled to arrive at Gimpo International Airport late Monday, but was delayed a day. She eventually arrived at 5 p.m. Tuesday, just three hours before the concert. This led to the cancellation of her rehearsal and a meet-and-greet session with fans, making those who purchased VIP tickets to watch the rehearsal waste 650,000 won ($579). A panoramic view from the observatory at Dolsan Park / Courtesy of Yeosu City Government Officials struggle to understand why tourists flock to the coastal city By Jung Min-ho YEOSU, South Jeolla Province There is no doubt that Yeosu, with its beautiful shoreline and exotic dishes, is a cool city to visit. Even so, a recent tourism boom there has many people scratching their heads, including those who promote tourism in the city. "It used to be a quiet place. The lights were turned off in the early evening and few people would walk the streets late at night. But now, the scene has changed a lot," said Kim Kwang-joong, director general of the Yeosu City Government's tourism department. "And frankly, we do not know why everyone has suddenly fallen in love with Yeosu." In 2009, the number of visitors to Yeosu was 7 million. This year, it is expected to surpass 15 million, up more than 20 percent from 2016. One reason, the official noted, might be the 2012 Yeosu Expo, which attracted fewer visitors than expected but nevertheless helped the city improve infrastructure and its brand image. The hit song, "Yeosu Night Sea" by Busker Busker, which was released the same year, could be another factor. "But they do not fully explain why the city keeps drawing so many people from all across the country and overseas. There is something mysterious about it," said Kim Sang-wook, a senior PR official at the city government. A city that doesn't sleep / Courtesy of Yeosu City Government The rapid increase in the number of tourists has brought lots of money to the city but also many troubles. According to a recent survey by the Yeosu Residents' Association, more than 21 percent of respondents said they would like to move to another city because of the increasing number of tourists. Also, more than 75 percent of them said their lives have become less convenient because of issues such as heavier traffic jams and illegal parking. "Minimizing the problems that come along with the benefits of tourism is one of our most important tasks," the official said. "And Yeosu is one of the very few, if not the only small city seriously concerned about the problem." Busking and night views A moody summer night / Korea Times photo by Jung Min-ho Street musicians and night views are among the city's biggest attractions. Partly because of the song, "Yeosu Night Sea" by Busker Busker, many street musicians have moved there in recent years to make it one of the hub cities for busking culture. To make their performances part of Yeosu's appeal to tourists, the city government has held the annual Yeosu International Busking Festival since 2015. This year's event, which was held from Aug. 4 to 6 across Jongpo Marine Park, ended with a bang after drawing 60,000 people. Don't be disappointed if you missed the event: there will always be buskers in that area. After sunset, colorful lights scatter across the bridges and streets next to the beach in Yeosu. Although Jongpo Marine Park is a great place to enjoy the views with moody music, the city also has plenty of other spots. One of the best viewpoints is the observatory at Dolsan Park, where you can have fantastic views of Dolsan Bridge, the Port of Yeosu and the coastline. The Yeosu Maritime Cable Car, which runs 1.5 kilometers from Dolsan Park to Jasan Park, is also great to try. It offers breathtaking views of the ocean from as high as 98 meters. The author on a race car at Yongma Land / Courtesy of Jericho Li This is the fifth in a series of contributions about Seoul's charms as seen from foreigners' points of view. ED. By Jericho Li If you've already visited Seoul's popular tourist sites, and you are neither a K-pop fanatic nor an indulgent shopper, what else is there to do or see that's unique? I had the chance to go with friends to visit Yongma Land, a closed amusement park on the east end of the city. After a 90-minute bus ride from Hongik University Station where I was staying to Jungnang-gu and about a 10-minute walk uphill, we arrived at our destination. Paying a 5,000 won entrance fee to the property owner, we were free to explore this dilapidated wonderland. The moment I saw those defunct old rides including bumper cars, turbo drop, miniature railroad and space fighters, as well as recognizable fictional characters such as Son Goku, Sailor Moon, Papa Smurf and Dumbo, the whole atmosphere reminded me so much of the neighborhood amusement park in China my mom used to take me to during my youth. Some of the rides were actually still in fine condition although they were lying on the ground and the seats filled with trash and empty bottles. The merry-go-round was apparently a hot spot as people were striking different poses around it. My friend dared me to put a dirty old sphinx helmet on my head, and I surprised him by putting it on and posing for a picture on the disco ride. Obviously we were not the only group there for a photo shoot as the park was filled with Koreans, especially youngsters, some of whom were cosplayers. The most eye-catching pair was a couple of girls wearing costumes and makeup just like Harley Quinn. A few were even there to take wedding pictures. The popularity of Yongma Land could have something to do with the music videos and teasers shot here such as Crayon Pop's "Bar Bar Bar" or TWICE's "Like Ooh-Ahh." But there's more to it. Although "abandoned," Yongma Land is somehow vibrant with visitors like us fascinated by its obsolete beauty. Photographers have lots of inspiration and models can dress up and pose in some of the hidden corners with haunting charisma, or simply just be a street-style fashionista framed through the broken glass of a ride's control room. For me, I mainly wanted to relive some of my childhood memories by jumping up and down on various attractions, even though I scraped myself falling off a Papa Smurf ride. I reminisced about going to the amusement park with my cousins back in China on weekends, always a big family gathering. My favorite memory was trying to seize the swankiest bumper car and careening around with so much happiness and laughter. As dusk set in, I enjoyed the sunset from a desolate Viking ship, trying to imagine how lively this place once was. At the end of the day, the keeper switched on the lights over the train tracks, letting us enjoy a brief moment of romance at this closed but not forgotten amusement park. To my surprise, there was a fellow Cantonese-speaking couple probably from Hong Kong, as well as three Mandarin-speaking young girls taking photos there from their accent, I assume they came from mainland China like I did. Before long, Yongma Land may earn recognition as Seoul's most offbeat tourist spot thanks to social media. I'd certainly like to come back again with friends. Who knows, maybe next time I could bring a crazy costume with intense makeup, and strike poses on a broken piano inside Yongma Land just like what Lady Gaga did in her landmark "Bad Romance" music video. Kil Hae-yong, CEO of the trauma scene cleanup service Sweepers, poses in protective clothing in front of his working tools at his office in Bulgwang-dong, Seoul, Monday. / Korea Times photo by Kim Hyo-jin By Kim Hyo-jin Blood stains, maggots crawling on the floor, rancid odors of a rotting corpse are the basics Kil Hae-yong, a 33-year-old trauma scene cleaner, encounters at his workplace. "There's no single difficulty I've felt in doing my job," Kil said against common expectations during an interview with The Korea Times, Monday. Kil sometimes cleans up spaces where dead bodies have been laying for days, sometimes for months. Unattended deaths, suicide, or murder cases are what he deals with. The ex-barbeque restaurant owner set up the trauma scene cleanup service Sweepers in 2011. The sudden change of career was simply led by his eagerness to find a job with rosy prospects. "To be successful, I had to do something no one else does," Kil said. It was not only a niche business, but also a business that was sure to have solid growth, he said. "About 250,000 people died that year in South Korea, roughly 700 a day. I was sure there should be at least one unattended death I can work with," he said. "Single-family households in Korea number about 5.2 million now. And it is estimated to grow to 10 million in decades. I think they are all my potential customers." Kil is now a veteran in the field who earns about 3-4 million won ($2,600-3,500) per case. He roughly takes six to seven cases a month. What makes his business different to others is how effective he is at getting rid of the stench. His work starts from the scene left behind after a corpse is cleared by people from a morgue. He cleans up the contaminated area where a body has been, and thousands of maggots and flies have spread all over the house from the remains of the body. Keepsakes of the dead are sorted next. In case the person has no family, which is often the case, they are given to a junk dealer and a reclamation company. Kil rips off floorboards and wall paper as body fluids and maggots often seep through cracks. He devotes a day or two more purely to kill the smell by sterilizing the space with an ozone-laser machine. This basic process takes four days. What strikes him the most is not a mess or grisly scene left by the dead, but the moments when he witnesses how broken and fragmented families are, he said. "Those who are over 65 and have no family have better conditions regarding death as they are cared by the government," he said. "A tragic group is males in their 50s who still have distant family. They reluctantly seek help from others and often end up found dead alone." He recalled a case of the death of a "goose father," a man left behind in Korea to make money while the rest of the family lives abroad. The man died in a 6.6 square-meter room at a "goshiwon" or small, cramped room in a housing facility for those preparing for national exams in Seoul and was found days later by a person next door due to the rotten smell. His wife and son from the U.S. who barely speak Korean did not even come inside the room and stayed at a coffee shop and left a few minutes after paying Kil. "It took only 10 minutes to sort out his stuff. It was quite shocking to see how minimalistic he lived his life," Kil said. "It made me wonder what his life meant as I saw his family so nonchalant, and even laughing talking to each other when I approached them." After years of encountering unfortunate deaths, he could not help gaining a pessimistic view in life, or what he said he would rather call a "realistic" view. "Rather than spending your life having family and raising children, I'd recommend you appreciate and invest your given time for yourself," he said. "For your information, having some money in your hands is a smart way to prepare for death," he added, cynically recalling a son who had refused to collect his father's body but came right after he was told a bankbook was found. For "well-dying," now a buzzword in Korean society, he advised that people have a chance to look back at their lives and make a plan for after their death. "I think it'd be ideal if the government would encourage people to write an ending note,' a notebook including personal records and dying wishes, like they do in Japan," he said. Expats call for legalization of same-sex marriage By You Soo-sun This wedding cake symbolizes the marriage of Chris and Ari, a Korean female couple who wed in Canada, 2013. / Courtesy of Chris and Ari Same-sex marriage in Korea is unlikely to be legalized in the foreseeable future. For some, fleeing is no longer a choice, but a necessity to have their marriage recognized. The Korea Times interviewed same-sex couples to understand what marriage means for them and what it is like to live in a place where it is banned. Chris and Ari, a Korean female couple in their 40s, wed in Canada four years ago. Their parents and relatives are still unaware of this. "My father tells me marriage (between man and wife) is a duty one owes to his or her parents. The pain I suffer from hiding our marriage is my way of fulfilling that duty," Chris said. They often feel misunderstood, even by their close friends. "They do not consider our relationship as being serious. They see us as close friends living together," Chris explained. "There was an instance when a friend asked my wife to receive a bouquet at her wedding It was shocking." They plan on returning to Canada, or another country in North America, for good this time to live normally as married partners. "Marriage is a basic right. It's what pulls lovers together and makes them feel more responsible for each other," she said. "I just want to live in a place where I'm not legally discriminated against, and where I can protect my lover." As Korea is no such place, same-sex couples have no choice but to move abroad if they wish to get married and have their marriage recognized. On the top of this wedding cake are miniatures of Simon Hunter-Williams and his Korean partner. The two men got married in Birmingham, London in 2015. / Courtesy of Simon Hunter-Williams In 2015, Simon Hunter-Williams, 33, got married to his Korean partner in his hometown of Birmingham, England. The two men wed under British law, as Seoul the place where they met bans matrimony between people of the same sex. But soon they returned to Seoul, a place they wish to call home. "I just want normal things like raising a family, where our children won't be bullied for having two male parents, where we will have basic marriage rights," Hunter-Williams said. When he consulted lawyers about the issue, they simply suggested: "leave Korea." But even before returning to Seoul, their relationship was often a subject of laughter and mockery. At the Korean Embassy in London, where Hunter-Williams tried to apply for a spouse visa, he was told "there was no such thing as a Korean man who would marry (him)." He tried to register his marriage in Korea, but officials would either "laugh in (his) face" or were "just plain rude." Hunter-Williams has been very vocal about this issue. In 2015, he confronted Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon at a town meeting with over 100 attendees. He asked for legal recognition of his marriage, a way to help him stay in Korea with the man he loves. Recently he submitted a petition to President Moon Jae-in, the Minister of Justice, and to the Commissioner of Immigration seeking legalization of same-sex marriage. And although he is aware this attempt may be futile, as officials and lawyers tell him, he is determined to carry on. He asked many to participate in his online petition. Simon Hunter-Williams questions Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon over LGBT rights at a town hall meeting in Seoul, 2013. / Courtesy of Lee Tae-hoon Expats speak out Many, who reached out to The Korea Times, were expats with Korean partners. And for those who came from a country where same-sex marriage is legal, it was a right that was taken away. "My feeling to live in a country that doesn't allow me to marry someone I love is a feeling of powerlessness," said a 46 year-old man from Latin America, who referred to himself as Pablo. He is a Ph.D. student at a university outside of Seoul. "To see my foreigner straight friends getting married to Koreans and to attend the wedding makes me cry because I don't have the same opportunity: getting married and having the opportunity to stay in Korea for a long time." And although he enjoys living here and wishes to stay, it gets suffocating. As a foreigner, he feels far more isolated. "It seems contradictory to live in a country that I like, a country that has given me opportunities to improve my professional skills but at the same time, doesn't allow me to marry the man I love," he said. Others also shared their thoughts. "It has been legal in my country of South Africa since 2006, and it would allow thousands of people here to be able to live a life equal to their straight peers," Megan Bursey, 27, said. She has a Korean girlfriend whose parents are unaware of her sexual identity. "It is time for Korea to join the rest of the developed world in recognizing gay marriage and granting LGBT people equality under the law." Inspectors check eggs at a farm in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. / Korea Times photo by Bae Woo-han Safe eggs allowed release to market By Jung Min-ho Eggs contaminated with insecticides have been found on four more farms here, the government said Wednesday, bringing the total to six. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the eggs were contaminated with either fipronil or bifenthrin. Both chemicals are used to kill insect pests; but are also harmful to humans. Seen above are eggs believed to have been contaminated with harmful insecticides. The markings on them indicate the region and farm they came from. / Courtesy of Ministry of Food and Drug Safety The ministry noted some eggs at a farm with 55,000 hens in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, were found to contain fipronil, which is banned from being used on poultry products here. Eggs from three other farms in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province; Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province; and Naju, South Jeolla Province were also found to be contaminated with bifenthrin that were over permissible levels. The ministry has carried out inspections on 243 out of 1,456 farms across the country since it confirmed the first case Monday in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province. The ministry said the farms confirmed to be safe have been allowed to resume selling and distributing eggs to the market, saying the situation will return to normal by Friday. "As the head of the government ministry in charge of food safety, I offer an apology for the latest scandal," Minister Kim Yung-rok said. "We are taking swift and strong measures. All contaminated eggs and egg products will be destroyed." The decision came a day after the ministry banned all farms from transporting eggs Tuesday. The country's three largest discount store chains and convenience stores were also ordered to remove eggs from their shelves until notified by the ministry. By Yi Whan-woo President Moon Jae-in offered three-way talks with South Korea, the United States and China to find a solution to the conflict over the deployment of the U.S. missile shield in Korea during his summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in early July, according to diplomatic sources, Wednesday. The sources said Xi, however, did not answer if he would agree on the three-way meeting. Moon then met Xi in Berlin, before joining the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany, from July 7 to 8. The Chinese government has kept mum about Moon's proposal since then, fueling speculation that Beijing gave the cold shoulder to Seoul's reconciliatory gesture concerning the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in South Korea. "It's true President Moon proposed having talks between South Korea, the U.S. and China to discuss issues about the THAAD deployment while launching a joint committee between Seoul and Beijing to go over technical issues," a senior official said on condition of anonymity. "But President Xi did not immediately answer Moon." The sources said National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong secretly visited Beijing recently to discuss Moon's proposal. "It appears that Chung met senior Chinese officials and discussed relevant topics, including another meeting between the leaders of the two countries," a source said. Cheong Wa Dae refused to confirm Moon's proposal, saying "It's not appropriate to mention in detail what the two leaders discussed." It also denied Chung's trip to Beijing. The summit between Moon and Xi in Berlin raised hopes for a thaw in bilateral relations amid China's bullying of South Korea in retaliation for the THAAD deployment. But the two leaders failed to narrow their differences. Moon advocated that THAAD is a defensive measure against North Korea's ballistic missile threats while Xi reiterated Beijing's fear that THAAD can be used to expand U.S. influence in the region and therefore must be removed from the Korean Peninsula. The collision between Moon and Xi overshadowed a possible plan to hold their next summit to mark the 25th anniversary of the Seoul-Beijing diplomatic treaty on Aug. 24. UK adopts Chinese textbooks to enhance math skills By Dr. Chris Baumann The U.K. is introducing Chinese textbooks in order to enhance mathematical skills in its education _ and for a good reason. According to the 2015 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) testing, China scored 531, Korea 524 with the U.K. scoring only 2 points above the OECD average of 490 in math. Given China's success, other countries too are interested in East Asian curriculum in order to potentially boost their educational performance. But is adopting textbooks sufficient? In the post-WWII era, curriculum design (in other words, what was taught in education) was largely U.S./Western dominated. Other parts of the world were catching up learning English, and "consume" knowledge from the English speaking world. American and British textbooks were shipped to East Asia for students to learn from. While knowledge transferred from West to East Asia, in simple terms, the Confucian-driven pedagogy in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan remained localized with a much more disciplined and performance-driven approach. At the same time, the West embarked on a softening in its approach to pedagogy, but also with dropping or at least flattening academic performance. More and more, Confucian pedagogy in East Asia resulted in students there outperforming the West in international student competitions such as PISA. While the U.K. _ and perhaps soon other parts of the West _ now adopt Chinese curriculum in math, East Asia also outperforms the West in other areas. For science, China also scores high with 518, Korea 516; substantially higher than the OECD average of 493. For reading, Hong Kong scores 527, Korea 517; again substantially higher than the U.K. and OECD average (498, 493). Perhaps the real difference between the two geographic regions is not the curriculum alone (so what we teach), but equally, if not more so, the pedagogy (how we teach). Recent research has established that the more disciplined East Asian students statistically significantly outperform the rest of the world, including the West. In addition, it has been found that the relative importance of school discipline (i.e. order in the classroom) on educational performance is 88 percent in comparison to education investment (i.e. how much we spend on education) that contributes "only" 12 percent. (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/IJEM-05-2016-0099). A 9:1 ratio of discipline to investment suggests that it is much wiser to focus on good discipline in education rather than simply increasing budgets without direct effects on students' educational performance. Naturally, that does not mean that investment in education should be neglected _ quite the contrary. But it means that the more effective immediate tool to enhance educational performance is well and truly strict(er) discipline. Notwithstanding, the same study also found that both discipline and educational investment boost a country's global competitiveness, and in an intensified fight for global talent, preparing the next generation for high levels of competitiveness in (job) markets should not be underestimated. The real difference between the East Asian and Western approach to education is not the curriculum alone, but indeed the pedagogical approach. While the West by and large practices a permissive approach, East Asia pursues an authoritative teaching style: high level of discipline, focus on respect for teachers and education, strong performance orientation. The focus is on learning and academic performance, systematic testing, checking of homework with consequences for not completing such, punctuality, compliance with dress code and school uniforms, respect and manners. Subsequently, students experience an effective learning environment, preparing them well for vocational and tertiary education, and ultimately the workforce. While the West is now starting to recognize the effective East Asian curriculum design with attempts to integrate such in Western schooling, what is doubtful is its success without also learning from the stricter East Asian pedagogical approach. The above provides a simplified evolution of how pedagogy and curriculum evolve over time, with a prediction that ultimately, the West will not only learn from East Asian curriculum, but will also aspire to implement a stricter pedagogical approach. The major difference between the East Asian and Western approach to education is discipline. East Asia understands that "Jade will never become a work of art without being carved." (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chris_Baumann/publication/236164047). The next generation needs to be guided to learn with structured and disciplined approach to pedagogy. Simply changing textbooks with the same permissive approach to learning may not be sufficient to make the West more competitive again. There is social and economic value in discipline (better education leads to a better performance, a stronger workforce, a more harmonious society), and ultimately strict discipline in education has also been found to drive work ethic. (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13602381.2015.1129767?src=recsys). Strict discipline has been the driving force of the development of the Asian Tigers, namely China, Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. In the future, it is essential for East Asia to keep its Confucian-driven pedagogy without deviation to a more permissive approach, whereas the West may have to view East Asia as a role model for education altogether. By Jun Ji-hye The defense ministers of South Korea and the United States condemned North Korea's continuous nuclear and missile threats Wednesday, calling on Pyongyang to halt them. The two also confirmed that they will closely discuss all potential actions against North Korean threats, according to the Ministry of National Defense. Defense Minister Song Young-moo and his U.S. counterpart, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, had a phone conversation amid escalating tension on the Korean Peninsula following Pyongyang's continuous missile tests and its threat to launch missiles toward the U.S. territory of Guam. "They urged North Korea to refrain from making further provocations," the ministry said in a press release. "Mattis also confirmed that the U.S. would use diplomatic and economic pressure first (rather than military options)." Mattis also said the U.S. would protect South Korea from any North Korean attacks by using all of its capabilities, the ministry said. Song stressed the need for a strong alliance to resolve the North Korea issue peacefully. The two ministers decided to talk more about ways to bolster the countries' alliance during a scheduled first meeting in Washington, D.C., Aug. 30. In the meantime, the upcoming South Korea-U.S. military exercise is drawing attention amid rising hopes for a possible dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea. However, military officials do not rule out the possibility of the North carrying out fresh provocations to protest the annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercise that starts Monday. Pyongyang customarily reacts with anger and military threats to such joint military exercises, which it says are a rehearsal for invading the North. The ministry told a National Assembly session Monday, "There is a great possibility that North Korea will carry out strategic or tactical provocations to protest the latest U.N. sanctions and the UFG exercise." The exercise this time comes amid high military tension following an exchange of bellicose rhetoric between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last week. Kim threatened to strike areas near Guam with four intermediate-range ballistic missiles; while Trump claimed the U.S. military was "locked and loaded" to deal with the North's provocations. But hopes for a breakthrough have been cautiously raised after Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping agreed to a peaceful resolution of North Korean issues during a telephone conversation Saturday. Since then, U.S. politicians and defense officials have increasingly mentioned the need to resolve issues through diplomatic and economic pressure rather than military actions. The North's young leader also said Monday that he would watch Washington's behavior "a little more" before making any decisions, according to the state-controlled Korea Central News Agency (KCNA), Tuesday. Regarding Kim's backing off, Trump also wrote on Twitter Wednesday: "Kim Jong-un of North Korea made a very wise and well reasoned decision. The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!" Kim, however, added if the U.S. continues "its extremely dangerous reckless actions" on the peninsula, his regime will make an "important decision as it has already declared." He called on the U.S. to "make a proper option first and show it through actions to defuse tension and prevent a dangerous military conflict." The "dangerous reckless actions" were construed as referring to the UFG exercise, in which U.S. strategic assets such as B-1B heavy bombers and nuclear-powered submarines are likely to participate. The defense ministry said Seoul has been in talks with Washington on the dispatch of the strategic weapons as well as additional joint drills in preparation for the North's possible provocations. Experts say the Kim regime could use the dispatch of the assets as an excuse for missile tests. "The KCNA report did not explain concretely, but Kim's comments would mean that he expects the U.S to stop hawkish remarks against the North and decrease the frequency of sending its strategic assets here," Kim Yong-hyun, a professor of North Korea studies at Dongguk University, said. China's state-run Global Times claimed Tuesday that Seoul and Washington should stop their scheduled joint exercise if they really want peace in the region. But the top U.S. general, who visited South Korea earlier this week, made it clear that there will be no change to the planned UFG drills. "I would say you have to look at the rhetoric of North Korea. The exercises are more important than ever," U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford said during a press meeting here, Monday. "These exercises are in developing our operability, developing our readiness and forces here on the Korean Peninsula in case deterrence fails." U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Vincent Brooks, who accompanied Gen. Dunford, also said, "Our exercises are projected well in advance. We have been consistent from year to year, they are not a surprise, and we remain in readiness as these exercises are very important to us." When asked about what the U.S. armed forces would do if North Korean attacked Guam, Gen. Dunford avoided a direct answer, only saying, "Our job is to make sure our leadership has an option available to them." By Chyung Eun-ju A Mexican diplomat who allegedly sexually harassed a Korean employee has dodged a police investigation using his diplomatic immunity. The female employee, 30, reported that the unidentified diplomat sexually harassed her in June, Jongno Police Station and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday. According to the victim, the Mexican touched her thighs and hips several times without permission. Police attempted to investigate on charges of a quasi-indecent act by force last month but the suspect prevented the probe. Police asked the diplomat three times if he was willing to give up his immunity but he refused. The foreign ministry intervened and sent an official letter to the Embassy of Mexico in Korea asking for cooperation with the police investigation. Under the law, if the diplomat claims immunity, he can choose to be investigated in his own country. It is not the first time a foreign diplomat has escaped penalty. The second secretary of the Embassy of Papua New Guinea fled to his country using his immunity while under investigation for quasi-indecent act by force charges in February. The son of a Saudi Arabian diplomat, 18, also claimed immunity and fled to his country while under investigation for assaulting people at a club in April. By Kim Rahn Journalists covering the presidential office used to be required to coordinate their questions for former presidents with Cheong Wa Dae officials before any press conferences took place. Former President Park Geun-hye was especially notorious for rarely holding media conferences and not taking questions without first arranging who would ask what. This time, journalists may be able to ask questions of President Moon Jae-in freely without any preplanning, as he promised to allow it for a conference due today marking the 100th day since his inauguration. This will be his first press conference after being sworn in on May 10, and will be aired live for an hour starting at 11 a.m. About 300 reporters from local and foreign media will participate. They did not send their questions to Cheong Wa Dae officials in advance but will ask questions freely. Moon is expected to face questions about security and diplomacy including the current tension on the Korean Peninsula arising from North Korea's nuclear and missile provocations, political issues such as cooperation with opposition parties, and other various social issues including his policies on curbing rising housing prices, shutting down nuclear reactors and expanding health insurance coverage. It has been customary for presidents to hold a press conference to mark their 100th day in office Kim Young-sam, Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun and Lee Myung-bak did. Park, however, did not do so, and Cheong Wa Dae said at that time it was because she did not like political events and the government reorganization had not been fully settled yet. She held conferences only at the New Year. She had a rare question-and-answer session in January last year, but Cheong Wa Dae collected questions from journalists in advance and scripted her answers. By Yi Whan-woo Chang Jun-ha President Moon Jae-in will offer a commemorative speech Thursday for Chang Jun-ha, a leading political dissident during the rule of military strongman Park Chung-hee in the 1960s and 70s. The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs said Wednesday Moon will have his speech read by Minister Pi Woo-jin during a ceremony to mark the 42nd anniversary of Chang's death. Chang was found dead in 1975. The Park government announced that he died after slipping while climbing down a mountain, but his relatives still suspect he was murdered. Moon is the first sitting president to offer a speech to honor the late Chang. No president has attended a ceremony or written a speech for Chang while they were in office. Pi will be among over 200 participants, including National Assembly Speaker Chung Sye-kyun who will attend the ceremony in Paju, Gyeonggi Province. The memorial foundation for Chang will host the event. Born in 1918, Chang was an independence fighter during the 1910-45 Japanese colonial rule and a democracy activist under the dictatorship of Army General-turned-President Park Chung-hee from 1963 to 1979. Chang joined the Japanese imperial army in 1944 but absconded and served in the Korean Liberation Army from February 1945 after undergoing training with the Chinese military. After serving as a government official in the 1950s, Chang opposed Park who led a military coup in 1961 and was inaugurated as president in 1963. In the 1967 presidential election, Chang raised issues with Park's pro-Japanese past as well as his affiliation with the Workers' Party of South Korea, the country's then-communist party, and was sent to prison for insulting the head of state. Chang continued to fight against Park after being released. He opposed the Yushin Constitution, which was proclaimed in 1972 by Park in an attempt to hold onto long-term power. President Moon attended the ceremony on the 40th anniversary of Chang's death in 2015 when he was serving as chairman of the then-main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, the predecessor of the now-ruling Democratic Party of Korea. By Kim Hyo-jin The rival parties showed conflicting evaluations on the performance of the Moon Jae-in government, Wednesday, a day before the President's 100th day in office. The ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) highly praised Moon for increasing communication with the public, referring to his positive approval ratings. But the opposition parties assessed the administration poorly, saying it failed on security matters, and its personnel screening system while devising populist policies. "The Moon administration has boasted the highest and the most stable public support rate ever. It has been 100 days of active interaction with the people, history and the future," said DPK Chairwoman Choo Mi-ae. DPK floor leader Woo Won-shik echoed the positive view, saying the new administration deserves a good score for responding well to public calls. The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), however, upped its offensive against Moon, describing his 100 days as "incompetent, self-righteous and populist." Criticizing the administration for taking an ideologically-biased attitude, LKP floor leader Chung Woo-taik said, "Moon is still stuck in the candlelit rallies frame of mind. Though it was how he came into office, now is the time for him to make efforts to unite the people." He complained about how Moon's five-year policy plan, including job creation and expanded welfare over the next five years, will be funded. "With the President's one-time comment, his administration poured out financially burdensome policies. They said it would take 178 trillion won for Moon's 100 policy plans but did not specify where the financial resources would come from," he said. Chung also expressed concern about South Korea's diplomatic isolation in dealing with the North Korea issue, while denouncing Moon's conciliatory approach to the nuclear-armed country. "Moon is not even in an assistant seat but in the back seat when it comes to the peninsula issue. If he stays idle, seeking dialogue with the regime, the so-called Korea passing, or even Moon Jae-in passing, will soon be realized," he said. The minor opposition People's Party also criticized Moon's policies for lacking detailed plans for implementation, calling what he has presented "hallucinatory, hypnotic" policies pandering to the public. Park Joo-sun, the party's interim leader, complained that the ruling bloc failed to engage in cooperative politics, saying, "Moon promised to treat the opposition parties as partners in state management but no one can believe this pledge has been fulfilled." "Whatever opinion we express, the ruling bloc stigmatizes it as meaningless opposition and an attitude of merely picking a fight. Ignoring the role of the opposition is how Moon has conducted politics," he said. On security and economic issues, Park was in tune with the LKP, attacking Moon for being stuck in the past liberal governments' frame. "Moon has listened to critical voices as if he was no more than the second Roh Moo-hyun government," he said. "He should be able to overcome the nostalgia for the Roh administration. A fresh vision in state management and personnel are required." The minor opposition Bareun Party also joined criticism. Its floor leader Joo Ho-young pointed out Moon's contentious personnel appointments and nominations. "That is the worst part," Joo said. "Moon only appoints those who were in anti-government protests in the 80s, or those from civic groups and his election campaign. It's truly a shame that if one of these qualifications is missing, people are excluded from state management." / Korea Times photo by Shin Sang-soon Conflicts arise at Incheon International Airport By Jung Min-ho Incheon International Airport became a symbolic place for the Moon Jae-in administration's labor reform when he visited there on May 12 and pledged to open an "era of zero irregular jobs in the public sector." In response, Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC) CEO Chung Il-young promised to turn all of its irregular jobs into regular ones by the end of this year. Over the past three months, the IIAC has been struggling to keep the CEO's word. Meanwhile, the airport has become a battlefield between management, regular and irregular workers. According to the IIAC, it has 1,432 regular and 7,396 irregular workers. Many of its key tasks, including security and baggage handling, are performed by irregular workers who, in general, don't receive as high a salary as the regular workers do. The problem is that the IIAC hires irregular workers indirectly through 60 subcontractors, and many of them already work on contracts that will remain valid until 2020. To fulfill the promise of "zero irregular jobs by the end of the year," the IIAC has to pay a penalty for breach of contract as well as legal costs if they file damage suits. Over the issue, the IIAC's union of regular workers has criticized the CEO for making a "dogmatic decision" without consulting its representatives. Many are also concerned about how the new policy will affect their salaries and the exclusive benefits they have enjoyed. Irregular workers also have complaints about the IIAC, which is considering multiple options to hire them while saving costs. While the workers ask for the same treatment as regular workers get, the company is also thinking of hiring them through a subsidiary or under a new contract that they no longer have to renew every two years. By Kwon Yule-jung The dynamic blockbuster movie "The Battleship Island" has drawn millions of people to the cinemas in a very short period of time. The Hashima Island in the movie, which looks like a navy warship, may motivate the ordinary people to rely on patriotic sentiment because it opened ahead of Liberation Day season in August. The film, which I watched with some close friends recently, is nothing short of a Hollywood movie in terms of vibrating resilience. Some famous celebrities lend their excellent talents to a film that portrays the Japanese colonial times, which is filled with forced labor and tragic deaths. To describe maximum level of excitement and historic awareness, the movie is criticized for its exaggeration in some degrees. However, the movie is also credited with raising the long forgotten historic fact that thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of our ancestors were forced to work in such extremely dangerous mines on the Japanese island by the merciless Japanese. Their current leaders have fabricated facts, contrary to their promise to record the forced labor and deaths as a condition of the island's UNESCO heritage registration. In particular, the same Korean compatriots were found to be embroiled in deadly feuds in favor of Japan and to be taken advantage of by Japanese authorities. It proved that the less privileged Koreans had no other alternative but to be used by the Japanese, who had the upper hand with their power and money. It has taught Koreans not to repeat such a very sad moment in history but to proceed with surpassing the former colonial power in terms of economy and international reputation. According to official data, 122 innocent young Koreans lost their lives in the mines within less than half a year, in addition to several times of the injured. I am not a professional in the theater or film industry. In fact, I am somewhat of a stranger to the field. However, I was still able to find embarrassing faults in the popular movie, despite its efforts to provide historical proofs and facts from many experts in various fields, as shown toward the conclusion of the movie. In the movie, the forced laborers are seen as practicing with their spears on an enlarged portrait of their archenemy, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, in July 1945. However, at that time, Roosevelt had already been dead for three months, dying from pneumonia just one month after his fourth-term inauguration. This scene perhaps appeared twice in the movie for several minutes in each instance. The period of the Japanese-U.S. war overlapped with the 1941 Pearl Harbor Attack during the term of Roosevelt, the 32nd U.S. president. Nevertheless the exact commander-in-chief is not Roosevelt but his successor, Harry Truman. Truman was accountable for ordering his military commanders to drop two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki the next month, August 1945, and for the only usage of the lethal weapon for warfare in history. In the last part of the movie, several survivors watch from the deck of a salvage ship the deadly fiery cloud billow from Nagasaki at 11:02 a.m. on Aug. 9, 1945, as they look forward to going home and embracing the freedom from their unimaginable ordeal. The atomic weapon, known as the "Fat Man," was dropped on the city by the order not of the late President Roosevelt but of Truman, his vice president and successor. It remains in questions that their basic health and safety could be available or compatible with the very fatal component seen just 18 kilometers away. The writer is the chief director of the Daejeon National Cemetery. Write to england6227@hanmail.net. By Kim Tae-gyu The unprecedentedly strong tsunami and the resultant meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear reactors on March 11, 2011, caught me by surprise. More stunning were the responses of the Japanese. Putting aside their nuclear contamination woes, they refused to purchase products en masse. If I had been there, I would have tried hard to snap up products made before the nuclear catastrophe because they were free from radioactive materials. But the Japanese simply refused to do so. They also worried about radioactive contamination, but they did not line up to gobble up foods and other products at hypermarkets or convenience stores. Back then, I thought such composure of the Japanese runs counter to human nature. We saw so many people panic who bought items after such disasters caused by Hurricane Katrina in the United States in the summer of 2005 and the Haiti earthquake in 2010. The U.S. and Haiti cases were not nuclear accidents but also included expected shortages of water and food. But anyhow, they amply demonstrate how human beings react in pursuit of only personal interests in case of emergencies. Ruth Benedict helped me solve the mystery of Japan in the bestselling book "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword," in which she ascribed such a unique feature of the island country to a Japanese sensitivity she calls "giri." According to the highly respected U.S. anthropologist, "giri to one's name" means the duty of keeping one's name and reputation unspotted by any imputation, somewhat after the fashion of German honor.' In other words, the Japanese usually don't opt to damage their honor or lose face over short-term benefits. Her analysis affected so many people including former U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, who permitted the continuation of the Japanese emperor's reign largely due to the recommendations of Benedict and others. Chinese who don't retaliate? Benedict might be correct on understanding the Japanese but she might not be so right about the Chinese. In the same book, she compares the Japanese to the Chinese. She concludes that the former are ready to pay back in case of insults but the latter hardly retaliate in any case. "The Chinese regard all such sensitivity to insults and aspiration as traits of small' people morally small," she said. "Chinese ethics demand a man not indulge himself in reacting to an insult. They think it is rather ridiculous to be so sensitive. Nor do they react to a slur by resolving by all that is good and great to prove the aspersion baseless." Look at the Chinese authority and the Chinese people, who are ready with retaliatory measures against South Korea's deployment of a U.S. anti-missile shield here against the North Korean missile threats. Beijing restricts its people from visiting Seoul and bans South Korean entertainers from performing or appearing on television shows in China. South Korean companies fail to receive Chinese government subsidies, which companies of all other national origins receive, and Korean products have failed to pass through Chinese customs for vague and trivial reasons. Chinese consumers simply refuse to buy Korean brands. Included among the biggest victims are Hyundai Motor and Kia Motors, which saw their sales there halve this year, despite having nothing to do with the anti-missile battery, excluding the fact they are based in Seoul. Suffering the most would be Lotte Group whose outlets were forced to shut down across China for dubious reasons. The South Korean retailer became the target of retaliation because it offered a site for the anti-missile system at the request of the Seoul administration. Benedict died a long time ago. If she were still alive, I would like to ask her what she thinks about her analysis of the Chinese who do not want to retaliate. Two answers would be possible. One is that she was plain wrong. The other is that she was right back then but the Chinese have changed so drastically since. I am curious what her answer would be. Silicon Valley tech companies are implementing mandatory "anti-bias retraining" programs in a collective effort to combat the prejudices supposedly hidden in their employees' subconscious. If that sounds Orwellian, it is because it is. Anti-bias retraining is a top-down intervention into people's thought lives, based on discredited science. And tech is far from the only industry to adopt such initiatives. If there were any evidence that unconscious bias influences people's actions, then perhaps a case for such measures might exist. But the behavioral effects of unconscious bias have been conclusively shown to be "slight" at most. Moreover, the test used to measure a person's unconscious bias the Implicit Association Test is neither reliable nor valid. The IAT is actually a word association game that purports to identify a person's level of unconscious bias against various group identities not the test taker's own (whether race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.). It is pseudo-science. For a diagnostic test to be considered reliable, the test taker must get the same result twice. Takers of the IAT get differing results with each attempt. On these reliability grounds alone the IAT and its findings could be dismissed, but the test has another fundamental flaw: the behaviors it predicts rarely appear. In January of this year, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported that a group of researchers (among them one of the IAT's two creators) analyzed the results of hundreds of studies of the test. Their work revealed that the correlation between implicit bias and discriminatory behavior is far feebler than originally hypothesized. From the Chronicle: "Everyone agrees that the statistical effect linking bias to behavior is slight. They only disagree about how slight." And yet, in the same article, the author gives us this astonishing additional information: "Since it first went online in 1998, millions have visited Harvard's Project Implicit website, and the test's results have been cited in thousands of peer-reviewed papers. No other measure has been as influential in the conversation about unconscious bias." The writer goes onto to recall how the concept "circulated widely after Hillary Clinton mentioned it during the presidential campaign." The concept of unconscious bias is almost limitless. Companies need to stop requiring their employees to take this unscientific test and treating its fallacious results as urgent problems. We ought not to persist in operating under the divisive assumption that everyone is helplessly prejudiced, even if they consciously try not to be. Policing for thought crime is pernicious enough. Policing for unknowing, unconscious thought crime is totalitarian. This editorial appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC. By Lee Min-hyung Naver founder Lee Hae-jin Naver is seeking to become a "no-tycoon chaebol" to improve its brand image and avoid strong regulations. Toward that end, it has vowed to prevent authoritative management and push for transparent decision-making. Earlier this week, Naver founder Lee Hae-jin met with officials from the Fair Trade Commission to make the request. Chaebol is a term to describe a family-owned conglomerate commonly seen in Korea, represented by a top-down governance structure under generations of hereditary control. When the size of a business group reaches preset standards, the country's antitrust agency designates it as a chaebol to apply heavy regulations. But there are some variant categories like the no-tycoon chaebol, which faces fewer regulations. Just a few firms, including POSCO and KT&G have this status as they don't have controlling owners. Because Naver is not ruled by a few owners, the nation's top portal operator and its founder Lee claim it also should get the same status as POSCO and KT&G. Lee had served as chairman until this March when he stepped down from the top management and shifted his title to global investment officer focusing on capital investment on overseas startups. Lee holds 4.64 percent of Naver stock. The latest move comes as part of the firm's efforts to raise its brand value and improve transparency of its management structure enough to win trust from overseas investors. "The family-owned business structure, seen in most Korean conglomerates, is cited as one of the major reasons for the so-called Korea discount in overseas markets," an industry source said. This refers to Korean firms' lower stock valuation than their overseas counterparts due to the nation's rigid labor market structure and the nontransparent corporate management by some owner families. "As Naver taps into global markets, it seems to want to promote itself as a different company compared to traditional Korean conglomerates. In my view, that's why it strives to become a no-tycoon chaebol." Naver has grown to become a top-tier tech company, driven by its portal dominance which has a market share of more than 70 percent. The company, however, has in recent years sought to reduce its heavy reliance on the local market. Last year, LINE, a 100 percent subsidiary of Naver, made a dual listing in New York and Tokyo, seeking to raise its global profile and intensify rivalry against its Western counterparts. The company has since turned its eyes to the U.S. and European markets. But the company is still relatively lesser-known to investors and customers there, compared with Korean hardware manufacturers such as Samsung and LG. Lee has particularly underlined the importance of the European and North American markets, with the company and LINE investing 100 billion euros (123 billion won) in the European capital fund K-Fund 1 based in France in 2016. Naver has yet to make its official stance over Lee's meeting with the nation's business watchdog. "We will announce more details soon," a company official said. / Graphic by Cho Sang-won By Jhoo Dong-chan The Moon Jae-in administration is set to take part in the Northeast Asia super-grid project in a partnership with SoftBank Group, a Japanese tech giant founded and headed by its Korean-Japanese Chairman Masayoshi Son. The ambitious project is to build a power grid that links electricity supply networks of five neighboring countries _ Korea, Japan, China, Russia and Mongolia _ to share energy. The scheme is part of the ambitious push dubbed the "Smart Energy Belt of One Asia" proposed by Son. It aims at constructing wind and solar energy farms in Mongolia to deliver power to neighboring countries through land or seabed power grids. President Moon continuously expressed his vision to reduce the nation's energy dependence on nuclear power during his previous presidential election campaign in 2012. Moon claimed nuclear power's proportion was too high in the country's energy mix. Back then, Moon promised Son he would push ahead with his plan to decommission aging nuclear reactors and discard ongoing nuclear construction plans on the table. "Korea's energy policy should be redefined from square one. We need more alternative power sources to solve the nation's power supply problem," Moon said. Son vowed to make aggressive investments in new renewable energy projects during the meeting. Rep. Song Young-gil of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, President Moon's special envoy to Russia for the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok next month, is expected to meet Son in Japan prior to the forum. Heading the Northward Economic Cooperation Committee established under the presidential office, Song is likely to carry the project forward as a core task. In June, Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEPCO) CEO Cho Hwan-eik also met Son to discuss a possible partnership in promoting the super-grid project. The two companies embarked on the process last year to pioneer the new energy market using KEPCO's big data and SoftBank's internet of things (IoT) technology. During the meeting, they shared a common vision that the super grid in Northeast Asia would reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. They also agreed the power grid project would pave the way for the establishment of a joint economic community in the region. Under its vision to promote the grid as the company's future growth engine, KEPCO signed a series of memoranda of understanding with other major energy companies, including State Grid Corp. of China and Russia's state-run power company Rossetti. Cho, who is the longest-serving head of the Korean state utility, has strongly backed the multinational grid project. As a candidate for KEPCO chief in late 2012, he briskly voiced the need for the company to start the grid project, which connects Korea and Japan. "It is the future of electricity companies. We need to seek the vision in more proactive ways. Technology will continue to advance to buttress the vision," he said at the time. The Nongshim Shin Ramyun / Courtesy of Walmart By Jhoo Dong-chan Korea's most popular instant noodle products have arrived in the United States in a convincing fashion. The nation's top snack maker Nongshim said Wednesday that its best-selling noodles Shin Ramyun hit the shelves of all 4,692 U.S. Walmart stores in the U.S. in June. Nongshim signed a direct supply deal with Walmart for its noodle products in 2013, the first time for a Korean food company to ink such a deal with the world's largest retailer. Only major global players such as Coca-Cola, Nestle and Pepsi directly sell to the U.S. retail giant, and Nongshim has since expanded its market presence through Walmart's distribution network in the U.S. Analyzing Walmart's sales data, Nongshim has carried out customized business operations while holding various promotional events for Shin Ramyun's successful landing in the market. Thanks to Walmart's fast annual sales growth, Nongshim said it expects a positive outlook for this year in the U.S. market. Nongshim first exported its instant noodle products to stores in Los Angles in 1971. It has aggressively made inroads in the U.S. after establishing Nongshim America in 1994 while opening up a factory in L.A. in 2005. Since 1994, it has been expanding its distribution network there by also entering small supermarkets and regional retail markets along with major retail chains including Costco. Walmart has sold a number of famous Korean food products at its "Asian Food Section" at some stores. Of them, Nongshim's Shin Ramyun and Yukgaejang instant cup noodles have been its best-selling products for several years. This prompted Walmart to offer them at all of its outlets. Selling its food products in over 100 countries, Nongshim has 11 manufacturing plants around the world _ six in Korea, four in China and one in the U.S. According to London-based market researcher Euromonitor, Nongshim takes the third place in the U.S. instant noodle market following Japan's Toyo Suisan and Nissin Foods. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspects the long-range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency in May. The suggestion of a nuclear-armed Japan would prompt China to restrain Pyongyang, said John Bird, a former US Navy commander in the Pacific By Robert Delaney, US Correspondent The US should agree on an expansion of nuclear weapons capabilities in the Pacific to Japan to curtail the threat posed by North Korea's newly developed nuclear weapons capability, as such a scenario would prompt China to restrain its neighbour and traditional ally, said a former commander of the US Navy in the Pacific. Recognising that Pyongyang will not give up its nuclear capability, the suggestion of a nuclear-armed Japan as a balancing force might also force China to back away from its demand that the US and Seoul dismantle a missile defence shield deployed by the US Navy in South Korea, retired vice admiral John M. Bird said in a presentation titled "North Korean Lessons for Japan". "Many thoughtful people have said we should introduce tactical nukes into the Western Pacific, making signals that Japan no longer considers the US nuclear umbrella adequate and is going their own way," said Bird, who added that pre-emptive strikes on North Korea might be warranted under some conditions. "Those sorts of things will pique China's interest. Being that they're upset about a THAAD, they'd be very upset and not like that option," Bird added, referring to the acronym for the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence missile system. "And if they thought it was realistic, they the PRC might be willing to really weigh in with the North Koreans. That is only kind of diplomacy that's going to make a difference." Bird and fellow panellist, the former assistant secretary of state Stephen Rademaker, addressed the new geopolitical reality that North Korea has boosted its leverage against the US and the country's other regional foes, South Korea and Japan. Pyongyang has also asserted more independence from Beijing, which voted in favour of a new United Nations Security Council resolution earlier this month, which halts exports of coal, iron ore and other key commodities from North Korea. North Korea's "position is that denuclearisation is out of the question. They've written into their constitution that they are a nuclear-armed state", Hademaker said. "We either have to persuade them to back off that position or we enter into a negotiation about limiting their nuclear capabilities where we're changing our objectives to one of limiting and constraining the size and scope of their nuclear force." A Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) interceptor is test-launched from a location in Alaska in this July 30 file photo. The UN resolution sparked an escalation in militaristic rhetoric between the US and North Korea, which culminated in a threat by Pyongyang to fire missiles into waters near the US Pacific territory of Guam. PLA General Fang Fenghui, left, accompanies US Joint Chiefs Chairman General Joseph Dunford during a welcome ceremony at the Bayi Building in Beijing on Tuesday. Both sides pledge to strengthen ties between defence forces as top US and Chinese military brass meet in Beijing By Laura Zhou Military chiefs from China and the United States have pledged to overcome differences and fortify links between their armed forces as fears of conflict over nuclear-armed North Korea persist. The commitment came as Fang Fenghui, chief of the Joint Staff Department of the People's Liberation Army, met his US counterpart Joseph Dunford in Beijing on Tuesday. According to the defence ministry, Fang told Dunford that China would work with the US to handle disputes and efficiently manage and control risks. Fang, a member of the powerful Central Military Commission, said both sides should "push forward stable military ties as an important and major stablising factor in bilateral relations". Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said both sides were willing to overcome discord. "We have many, many difficult issues where we don't necessarily share the same perspective," Reuters quoted Dunford as saying. "We share a commitment to work through these difficult issues." The defence ministry also said the two sides exchanged views on issues of common concern, including Taiwan, the South China Sea and North Korea's nuclear development. Tensions have flared in the last week amid a war of words between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. But those strains could be easing with North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency saying Pyongyang would put its plan to hit the US territory of Guam on hold to watch the US "a little bit more". It seems no artists is safe from the wrath of netizens! Hit American artist Ariana Grande has recently become a target of hate comments as she was severely criticized by Korean fans after her Korean concert tour. Ariana Grande had a performance set for August 15th at the Gocheok Sky Dome in Seoul for her 'Dangerous Woman Tour'. However, Ariana visited Japan first from August 10th to the 13th and was unfortunately late coming to Korea. Ariana arrived at Kimpo Airport at 5 pm KST on August 15, which was 3 hours before her concert started. When questioned, Ariana explained, "I delayed my arrival in order to avoid the press." Fans were angered and left comments such as, "Don't come any more", "She's looking down on the Korean fans", "She tours Japan after her concert but just immediately leaves Korea", "She has a terrible personality", "She deceived the Korean fans. So disappointed", ''I guess she just came for the money", "Korea was just a pit stop for her", "No manners at all." Fans had already expressed their anger all over the internet and explained how the concert schedule was ruined - especially for people who purchased VIP tickets. Korean fans were angered by Ariana's late arrival because they were unable to watch the rehearsal as originally scheduled. The Meet & Greet session with Ariana was also reportedly delayed and shortened. Many fans felt it was disorganized and international fans expressed their sorrow for fans as well as similar situations have occurred for oversea concerts featuring Korean artists as well. Many international fans reflected on the incidents involving BTS and Jay Park concerts. What do you think of these endless concert problems? Is it the artists or the venues faults? When most people say they have a well-traveled car, it means a lot of miles on the odometer. But for La Jolla resident Phillip Hawley, his creamy white 1936 Ford Cabriolet and copper brown 1951 Jaguar XK120 have had to cross multiple countries and international waters to get home in La Jolla. Hawley said he moved around the world through his work at an international oil company. Starting in Texas, he was sent to London to open an office there, and then to Argentina for a large project involving the government. When that project was done, Hawley and his wife Bridgette moved to France (from where Bridgette hails) and then to Italy. Through it all, the nameless cars have followed the couple internationally. The 1936 Ford Cabriolet was originally assembled in Long Beach and shipped to Argentina where it ran for many years. Apparently it caught on fire at some point and was dumped in a junkyard. But a man bought it and completely restored it and I bought it from him. So the car has been from Long Beach to La Jolla by way of South America and Europe, Hawley explained. The 1951 Jaguar was built in England, shipped to America, and then sent back to England, where Hawley acquired and completely restored it. I did everything mechanically, but didnt paint it. So this car has been in America, England and Italy, he said. Ive always been interested in older cars and dreamed of owning these two models. I know its a subjective view, but I think these two cars are the most attractive for their age and time. I just love their appearance. When I got out of high school, I got a car similar to the Ford, but not nearly as attractive. It had mechanical problems and I learned to fix it, and Im an engineer by education, so mechanical things are interesting to me, Hawley said. Im an amateur mechanic, so I enjoy working on both cars. Secretly, I like it when something little goes wrong so I have something to challenge me and occupy my time. When he had the opportunity to own a Ford Cabriolet, he took advantage of it. He said his model year in particular was special in that it had a Dickey Seat (an additional back-row seat created when the back window is lifted and the trunk folded back, complete with three steps for the rider to climb up and into the seat) and a more fluid design. When it came to getting the Jaguar XK120 to its now glorious state, the work was a little more hands-on. When I retired back in Italy, I had more free time and I restored the Jaguar, he said. This model is one of the first ones made after World War II. The original prototype was shown in 1948 at a motor show in this color. Then the first ones were produced in late 1950. The color is unusual, it was a factory color, but it was only used in 1950 and 1951, and then it was discontinued. It was a metallic paint and at the time, they didnt have the technology to do the paint well. So after a year or so the paint would go bad and so they discontinued the metallic paint in that color. But I tracked it down and found the exact color. Other slight modifications include mechanical replacements, changing the seats to more comfortably accommodate Hawleys 6-foot frame, and adding turn signals. Otherwise, its as it was when it came out of the factory in England, he said. The attention to historical detail is partly why the cars do OK when entered in the La Jolla Concourse dElegance show. Without any computerized mechanisms in the car, Hawley said they are simple to maintain and surprisingly, simple to ship internationally. To get the cars around the world and to La Jolla, they were shipped on a vessel like a ferry. Its actually inexpensive to ship a car. I only paid $300 to ship it from England to Los Angeles. The hassle is when you move to a new country is to get them registered to the legal standards, he explained. When it came to moving to the United States, Hawley said, My wife had never lived in America, and I hadnt lived in America for 40 years, so we decided to buy a vacation home and traveled around to find where we wanted to buy. When we came to visit here, we knew this was the place. We bought a condo and came over for a month or two, but soon decided to move here full time. The cars came with us. And while he acknowledges that keeping the car running mechanically is a challenge, Hawley said he feels proud when he can do it successfully. I drive them both and they both run beautifully well. They attract a lot of attention. I drive them around once every couple of days in La Jolla, and people seem to like them. I know I love them. Editors Note: This story concludes La Jolla Lights classic car series, which was inspired by the Concours dElegance, held here in April. We thank all those who reached out to share the stories behind their treasured toys. To read the entire series, visit lajollalight.com and search One for the Road. WILLIAMS BAY The days of Dronley are drawing to a close. Built in 1878, the three-story cottage, also called the Pinkerton-Chalmers House, was once a private lakeside summer mansion that hosted galas for Geneva Lakes sparkling set for nearly 50 years. Now called the Oak Lawn Building, the aging structure is facing issues with its foundation and antiquated interior, said Christiaan Snedeker, advancement director at the Conference Point Center, 300 Conference Point Road. The nonprofit Conference Point is a nondenominational Christian retreat. Just maintaining the building over the years cost Conference Point $10,000 a year, Snedeker said. Snedeker said structural studies of the old building showed that the foundation needed at least $1 million in repairs, and the remainder of the building would need another $1 million to bring the interior into compliance with ADA regulations and correct some of the changes made when previous owners turned the private residence into a bunkhouse. The failing foundation makes the building appear to be leaning, with its main floor seeming to sink toward the lake. As the Oak Lawn Building, the old house accommodated up to 66 people. Some groups asked to use it for housing up until last summer, Snedeker said. However, the foundation problems and some internal issues that turned up this past off season means the house now stands unused on its perch along the Geneva Lake shoreline. Contemplating a $2 million price tag on the old building, Snedeker said that the Lake Geneva Foundation, which owns Conference Point, decided there was a better way to spend $2 million. The foundation also owns the Lake Geneva Youth Camp in Lake Geneva. Raze in September The foundation plans to raze the old building in September and replace it with a two-story residence and meeting center, which should be ready for use in July 2018, Snedeker said. The goal is to make Conference Point as ADA accessible as possible, Snedeker said. Many of the clientele who enjoy the Conference Point property have physical limitations, he said. And not just accessible for disabled people. Snedeker said the foundation wants to make it so that grandmas and grandpas can negotiate the park, as well. The cottages original owners were William and Joan Chalmers. William Chalmers was a scion of the family that founded the Allis Chalmers Co. in West Allis. Joan Chalmers was born Joan Pinkerton, daughter of Allan Pinkerton, founder of the Pinkerton National Detective Agency and personal bodyguard to President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. Pinkertons agency is often cited as the precursor to the U.S. Secret Service. According to historians accounts of the families, the Chalmerses were a popular couple both in the Geneva Lake area and in their hometown of Chicago. Dronley They were both proud of their Scottish heritage, and they named their home Dronley, after a region in central Scotland. According to a post by author Pamela S. Meyers on Hhhistory.com, the large wood-frame home was built on land purchased from George Bullock, a well-known Chicago painter and photographer. Bullock lost all his paintings and photography equipment in the Chicago Fire of 1871. He moved to Conference Point, which was, and still is, next to the Congress Club, a collection of smaller, privately-owned lakeside properties. In 1919, the Chalmers family sold Dronley to the Conference Point Camp which bordered their property to the south. The camp renamed the house Oak Lawn. Snedeker said that the real tragedy of Oak Lawn, or Dronley, is that it could have been preserved. The people who had the property before us made decisions that had nothing to do with preserving this building, he said. They turned this beautiful mansion into a bunkhouse. The current foundation board took over the property in 2010. He said the new building will keep the historical flavor of the property, but will include all of the modern amenities and ADA accessibility that the old building never had. Designed with neoclassical architecture, the 27 rooms in the new building will feature double queen beds and private bathrooms. There will be no kitchens. The guests will go to the centers dining hall for meals, Snedeker said. The building will be designed primarily as a place to sleep. Visitors will be encouraged to get out during the day and enjoy the lakefront and outdoors. A stone terrace will be built with a view of the lake and the building will boast upper and lower level lobbies and a large meeting room. The building is being designed by Skiffington Architects of Hawthorn Woods, Illinois. Sad about Oak Lawn Were pretty excited about the building and what it will mean to our guests, said Snedeker. Not that were not sad about Oak Lawn. However, he said when the foundation reached out to donors to preserve the old building, there was almost no response. He said some of the interior and exterior touches of the old building will be salvaged with an eye toward incorporating them into the new building. He said it took Conference Point nearly nine months to get the necessary variances and permits from the village. He said the foundation is now in the final stages of getting permits from the state DNR to remove the building. Snedeker said the house had never been on either the national nor state register of historic buildings. The Conference Point property is a picturesque backyard to Williams Bay. Since 1873, its been a retreat, first for ministers, then for Christian groups and individuals. Although it is only 21 acres, Conference Point has 3,000 feet of lake shoreline. Snedeker said the foundation wants to make the center available to groups for 50 weeks out of the year and to increase the attractiveness of the retreat. Snedeker said that since the Lake Geneva Foundation took ownership of the camp, use has increased from 2,300 people a year to about 8,000 last year. When first opened in 1873, Conference Point was a privately-owned retreat. Before being taken over by the Lake Geneva Foundation, it has also been owned and run by the Chicago Sunday School Association and the National Council of Churches. WILLIAMS BAY About 60 residents and visitors showed up at the Kishwauketoe Nature Conservancy on the evening of Aug. 9 to experience the dark skies deep in the heart of the 231-acre park. Many were local. A few traveled some distance. A couple said they were from Janesville. They also came to toast marshmallows, sit by an open fire, apply plenty of mosquito repellent and hear about efforts to have Kishwauketoe declared a Dark Skies Park by the nonprofit International Dark Skies Initiative. Maddy Neubauer and Derek Wautlet, interns at Yerkes Observatory, helped organize the Kishwauketoe Dark Skies Event and are involved in preparing the application to Dark Skies International to have Kishwauketoe named a Dark Skies Park. They told the visitors that today, due to light pollution, the Milky Way is visible over only 20 percent of the continental United States. In a brief conversation, Neubauer and Wautlet said the application to become a Dark Skies Park is lengthy and complicated, requiring getting copies of the local light pollution ordinances and doing ambient light measurements in various parts of the park. Neubauer said she and Wautlet were hoping to have Kishwauketoe the first park in Wisconsin named as a Dark Sky Park, but Newport State Park, at the tip of the Door Peninsula earned that honor in June. Headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, the initiative promotes the protection of night skies through public education about responsible outdoor lighting. The event included a short guided hike and a discussion on the importance of maintaining night skies. Visitors were taken to the parks observation tower, where they could take turns looking through one of four telescopes set up by Yerkes Observatory volunteers. Although the Aug. 9 sky over Kishwauketoe was cloudy at 9 p.m., it was not completely overcast. Through the telescope, visitors were able to see a double star, the planets Saturn and Jupiter and the star Vega. According to the Dark Sky website, Newport park is 2,373 acres that extend 70 miles into Lake Michigan. Because of its geographic situation, Newports nights are remarkably dark, the Dark Skies website says. The Parks location at the sparsely-populated end of the peninsula, separated from the mainland by15 miles of open water, makes its dark sky resource highly defensible in the future. Wautlet said that Kishwauketoe faces a more difficult time getting a Dark Sky Park designation just from its location. It is in a semi-urban area and, to the south and east are the cities of Chicago and Milwaukee, their urban glows noticeable in the distance. WILLIAMS BAY The 40th annual Lions Clubs Corn and Brat Fest is in the rearview mirror, and the Lions are planning to make the festival at Edgewater Park even larger and more attractive for 2018. Every year we try to add something to make the festival more successful, said Sam Asani, last years Lions president. The more successful we make it, the more we can do and the more we can contribute. This year saw the arrival of new bouncy houses for the kids, as well as a meat raffle. One hundred tickets were sold for $20 each. The winner will receive a freezer-full of meat, all of it donated from area businesses, including Lake Geneva Country Meats, said Tom Treichel, the Lions current president. Corn fritters were also added to the Corn and Brat Fest menu. The corn-inspired festival ran from Friday through Sunday, Aug. 11 to 13. Saturday closed with Williams Bays contribution to the pyrotechnic arts, a fireworks display over Geneva Lake. This year was a kind of confluence of anniversaries, Treichel said. It was the 40th anniversary of the Corn and Brat Fest, the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Williams Bay Lions and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Lions Club International. Next year, the fest will add arts and craft booths in the livery area, a half-circle drive between Edgewater Park and the Geneva Lake Law Enforcement Agency headquarters. Treichel said the drive will be closed off to traffic for the Saturday and Sunday of the Corn and Brat Fest, and have enough room for 40 arts and crafts vendors. Treichel said he wants to capture the same atmosphere as the Lake Geneva Farmers Market. Eventually, the Lions would like to see the fest take to Geneva Street, and have the street closed off for the three days of the event, Treichel added. But that is something for the future, he said. The Corn and Brat Fest is the Lions biggest fundraiser, with all of the money finding its way back into the community, Treichel said. In the past, the Lions Club has donated toward the renovation of the Williams Bay Field House, repair of the boardwalk at Kishwauketoe Nature Conservancy, and provided an eyeglass tester at the Open Arms Free Clinic, Elkhorn. The club has also donated money to Yerkes Observatory for programs assisting sight-impaired students interested in astronomy. Treichel estimated that in the past year the Lions Club has donated between $140,000 to $160,000 for community projects. He said the Bay Lions have 55 members and theyre always looking for new, young members. In my last column we talked about some of the many reforms coming out of Washington D.C. in regards to our military veterans. Never did I expect that people on social media would attack veterans benefits and sour grapes the reforms. Another concerning facet were the attacks on social media directed at Congressman Paul Ryan for the lack of health care reform. Stop the dad-burn-bus. Hey, the House passed repeal and replace. The House was waiting to go into Conference Committee with the Senate so together they could come up with a full repeal and replace law Trump could sign. It was 51 U.S. Senators who stopped the process dead in its tracks not Paul Ryan! Not Ron Johnson! People, please read real, not fake, news before posting uninformed, ignorant stuff on social media. Please! OK, back on topic. This time well take a look at a few of the many Wisconsin reforms that have been going on for several years since Republicans have had the lead in the Assembly, Senate and Governors office. Beginning with 2011, there were a number of pieces of legislation in regards to reforms in Wisconsins veterans programs that the governor signed into law. For example, Act 209; directed the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs to establish a program to waive the fees for veterans who apply for a wide range of professional and occupational licenses. Act 212 created an income and franchise tax credit for companies and businesses hiring unemployed disabled veterans. The Tuition Remissions for Veterans and Certain Dependants required the University Board of Regents, each technical college district board and University of Wisconsin-Madison Board of Trustees to grant a full remission of resident tuition and segregated fees for up to 128 credits or eight semesters, whichever is longer to qualifying veterans. You may recall that in my last piece I mentioned the federal Harry W. Colmery Veterans Education and Assistance Act of 2017 / forever GI Bill. Wisconsins earlier reform identified in the previous paragraph filled the gap created by the previous federal GI bill rules. Wisconsin has provided reduced or no cost opportunities for veterans to use state parks, and for hunting and fishing licensing. Act 384 created a program in which the DVA (Department of Veterans Affairs) may award grants to veterans, employers, and nonprofit organizations to improve the employability of veterans here in Wisconsin. Those grants help fund training, gives employers incentives to hire veterans especially the disabled, and gives assistance to veterans engaged in entrepreneurship. Act 386 created the Wisconsin Veterans Employment Initiative. This program is designed to increase the number of veterans holding permanent state government positions and it created a Council on Veterans Employment. Most recently, in the states biennial budget, the state legislature had earmarked $1,360,700 during fiscal year 2017-18 and another $1,360,700 for fiscal year 2018-19. Those earmarked dollars are for costs associated with improved staffing, operational improvements and equipment at our Wisconsin Veterans Homes. Costs such as improved security systems, electronic health records and increases in Medicare A and B therapy are all a part of the budgetary line item. On a final and wonderful note, last week the Trump administration notified Wisconsin that it was extending funds for our homeless veterans at the King and Union Grove facilities for another year. This allows the state DVA to properly reapply for the new and better grant program without current loss of funds to help our homeless veterans. Thank you! Wisconsins reforms for military veterans are having a positive impact on veterans and their families. Those reforms provide meaningful opportunities and care for those who kept us safe at home and abroad. Veterans in Walworth County: to get complete and up to date information and to determine your eligibility please contact fellow veteran, the Walworth County Veterans Service Officer Nathan Bond and the staff at (262) 741-4222 or email them at veterans@co.walworth.wi.us. Chris Goebel is the Chairman of the Republican Party of Walworth County. Historic ties of north Meck span throughout region Though the north Mecklenburg area didnt see significant population growth until a few decades ago, its rich history dates back to the Revolutionary War. That was the basis of... An easier-than-expected first mammogram experience HUNTERSVILLE Scheduling a cancer screening probably ranks somewhere on your to-do list between "clean out the garage" and "donate those clothes that don't fit." Sure, you'll get to it at... PRESS RELEASE Dunford Working on U.S.-China Military Dialogue in Beijing Aug. 15, 2017 (EIRNS)Though the crisis surrounding North Korea is high on the agenda, Gen. Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also discussed the U.S.-China military relationship after he arrived in Beijing, yesterday. Gen. Fang Fenghui, chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Peoples Liberation Army and Dunfords host, said Dunfords visit was a key part of efforts to expand dialogue between the U.S. and China as agreed by Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping when they met earlier this year, reported Associated Press. To that end, China has arranged a series of important meetings and visits to help Dunford "know more about our military, (boost) our cooperation and build up our friendship," Fang said. Dunford responded that the U.S. considered the meetings important to making progress on areas of disagreement, which he did not cite. "I think here, we have to be honestwe have many, many difficult issues where we dont necessarily share the same perspective," Dunford said. "I know we share one thing: We share a commitment to work through these difficult issues," he said, continuing that with the guidance of political leaders "we are going to make some progress over the next few days." According to a U.S. Defense Department (DOD) press release, Dunford and Fang signed a joint strategic dialogue mechanism at the Ba Yi, the PLA headquarters. The agreement is intended for crisis mitigation, U.S. Joint Staff officials said, noting that direct communication at the three-star level in the Pentagon and the Ba Yi will "enable us to communicate to reduce the risk of miscalculation." The DOD release explicitly states that the mechanism PRESS RELEASE Moon Jae-in Declares South Korea Will Not Allow War: Kim Stalls Norths Guam Demonstration Missiles Aug. 15, 2017 (EIRNS)Moon Jae-in, speaking on Korean Liberation Day (liberation from Japanese rule in 1945, celebrated in both North and South), said that there would be no war without Seouls approval, and that "all means" would be used by South Korea to prevent a war. "Military action on the Korean Peninsula can only be decided by South Korea and no one else can decide to take military action without the consent of South Korea," Moon said. "The government, putting everything on the line, will block war by all means." This follows meetings with Chairman of U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford, who was in Seoul yesterday; he was in Beijing today, and will then visit Japan. Meanwhile, Kim Jong-un was shown on TV across North Korea (and around the world) being briefed on the plan to demonstrate North Koreas ability to hit Guam by sending four missiles to hit about 20 miles from the U.S. territory. Kim announced that he was not activating the planned demonstration at this point. Together with the fact that back-channel contacts between the U.S. and North Korea under the Trump Administration were made public over the past days, and following high-level meetings between the Foreign Ministers of North Korea, Russia, China and Japan at the ASEAN Regional Forum a week earlier, these developments indicate a move toward sanity and the possibility of more formal talks beginning in the near future. On the other hand, both General Dunford and the head of the U.S. forces in Korea Gen. Vincent Brooks, said that the U.S. is planning to proceed with the scheduled military exercises with South Korea from Aug. 21-31, which may be met by another North Korean test of some sort. Chinas Global Times editorialized today on the exercises, saying that they Aug. 15, 2017 (EIRNS)"What If the DNC Russian Hack Was Really a Leak After All? A new report raises questions media and Democrats would rather ignore," is the title of an article by Danielle Ryan in the liberal-leaning Salon magazine today. Ryan keys off Patrick Lawrences article on the VIPS Memo in The Nation, reviewing the conclusions of the VIPS intelligence pros and forensic investigators, to hammer at the implications of the media blackout. "The silence from mainstream outlets on this is interesting, if for no other reason than the information appears in a highly-regarded liberal magazine with a reputation for vigorous and thorough reporting, not some right-wing fringe conspiracy outlet carrying water for Donald Trump.... "For the media and mainstream liberals to dismiss the information presented in Lawrences article as lacking in evidence would be breathtakingly ironic, given how little evidence they required to build a narrative to suit themselves and absolve Clinton of any responsibility for losing the election. "The authors of this report are highly experienced and well-regarded professionals. That they can be dismissed out of hand or ignored entirely is a sad commentary on the state of the media which purports to be concerned by the plague of fake news. "If these new findings are accurate, those who pushed the Russia hacking narrative with little evidence have a lot to answer for. The Clinton campaign promoted a narrative that has pushed U.S.-Russia relations to the brink at an incredibly dangerous time. "Unlike the cacophony of anonymous sources cited by the media over the past year, these experts are ready to put their names to their assertions. They expect that pundits, politicians and the media will cast doubt on their findings, but say they are prepared to answer any substantive challenges on their merits. That is more than any other investigators or intelligence agencies have offered to this point," Merriam-Webster, the venerable dictionary publisher known for its often snarky Twitter account, unveiled a new feature on Monday that lets users go back in time. The online dictionarys Time Traveler feature allows curious amateur linguists and cultural historians to enter a year and see all the words that were initially recorded in other words, published in that period. Both apology and civil war were first used in 1533, for example. Other words and phrases that made their first appearances in English that same year include famed, harangue, excrement, good-for-nothing, ovation, ungrateful, vigilance, preposterous, carrot, turnip and utopia. Advertisement The project is extensive, allowing users to choose options time beginning in before 12th century to 2010, the year that brought us Arab spring and gamification. Exploring Time Traveler is surprising and enlightening, with many words first recorded much earlier or later than one might expect, the dictionary publisher said in a news release. Prima donna and unsportsmanlike date back to 1754, while neurotypical wasnt recorded until 1994. Many recent years have yielded words that have become common parts of the American English vocabulary, such as photobomb (2008), hashtag"(2007), bucket list (2006) and sexting (2005). Not all of the recent words will be instantly familiar to the general public, however. Its unlikely that youll hear roentgenium (2004, a type of radioactive element) or rock snot (2005, a single-cellalgae) in casual conversation unless you run in some esoteric circles. Merriam-Webster included a caveat in its news release: Note that there is some art to these facts: antedating happens regularly, and first-known-use dates are subject to frequent (but not instant) updating, as new evidence is uncovered. That might explain why the dictionary has the word cheesesteak, the iconic Philadelphia sandwich that dates to the 1930s, as being first recorded in 1977, the same year that saw brewski (a beer, of course) entered the language. Still, users might be surprised at how long some popular slang words have been around. According to the dictionary, people have been chillaxing since 1999, face-palming since 1996 and smack talking since 1992. Lisa Schneider, Merriam-Websters chief digital officer and publisher, suggested that users explore milestone years using the new feature. Its entertaining to see what words were first used the year you were born, or the year you graduated college, and its especially interesting to discover a word that has been around for centurie slonger than (or is much newer than!) you might expect, she said."Were thrilled to extend this new feature to our users, and invite them to explore along with us. President Trump hasnt shown himself to be a man accustomed to facing reality, but he finally did so Wednesday by disbanding his two leading councils of business CEOs and other leaders. The move had the air of the old exchange between boss and worker: Youre fired! You cant fire me! I already quit! Thats because Trump had become so toxic to the business community that eight members of his manufacturing jobs council had resigned as of midday Wednesday, and his 19-member strategic and planning council already had decided to disband itself. (The original membership of both panels can be found here, courtesy of Forbes.) Advertisement CEOs might argue that while they loathe all that is wrong with the Trump administration, they can be more effective by remaining involved. Give me a break. Former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers It will be tempting to regard this moment as a turning point in the history of the Trump administration or rather, to regard Tuesday as that moment. Thats when Trump held an impromptu news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York and declared that anti-Nazi protesters were as culpable for the weekends violence in Charlottesville, Va., as the neo-Nazi and white supremacist groups who marched, shouting racist and ant-Semitic slogans. Trumps failure to decry outspoken racism threatened to rub off on any CEO or business leader who remained associated with him. Merck & Co. CEO Ken Frazier began the exit from the jobs council Monday morning. By Wednesday, it was on the verge of looking like a possible flood. By midday, 3M CEO Inge Thulin and Campbells Soup CEO Denise Morrison had become the seventh and eighth members to quit the group this week, and the question implicitly being put to every one of the 16 CEOs remaining on board was: Why are you still there? General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt evidently was poised to become the ninth refugee from the jobs panel, but Trump disbanded the group before Immelt had a chance to make his departure public. In a statement he issued subsequently, he called Trumps Tuesday statements deeply troubling The committee I joined, he said, had the intention to foster policies that promote American manufacturing and growth...Given the ongoing tone of the discussion, I no longer feel that this Council can accomplish these goals. Trump said in his tweet announcing the end of both panels that he was doing so rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople who were members. But what percolated below the surface was the business communitys recognition of the obvious: As we observed Tuesday, these panels were never more than Potemkin Villages fake facades of public-private cooperation that never met and had no detectable influence on Trump or his economic policies. In normal times and with a normal president, such fakery might serve a purpose. With this administration, they served only to apply a veneer of responsible policy-making to a process of utter chaos. Plainly, the business leaders who have been lining up at the exits have calculated that the cost of affiliating with Trump now vastly outweighs the benefits. Economist Lawrence Summers, who served two Democratic presidents, Clinton and Obama, as Treasury secretary and chief economist, demolished the case for sticking with Trump concisely in a Financial Times column Tuesday. CEOs might argue that while they also loathe all that is wrong with the Trump administration, they can be more effective by remaining involved, Summers wrote. Give me a break. Anyone who thinks that by attending a meeting less than monthly with 30 people in a room they are moving the nation is engaged in egotistical self-delusion of a high order. From the other side of the political aisle, the Wall Street Journal editorial page implicitly accepted the CEO resignations as the inevitable harvest of Trumps behavior, casting them as a warning shot at a president who wont pay attention. The business community is, or ought to be, a natural part of a Republican Presidents governing coalition, the Journal observed. Yet Mr. Trump has seemingly taken every opportunity to escalate feuds and attack even allies in Congress like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. As if to prove this point, Mr. Trump lashed out at Mercks Mr. Frazier on Twitter Monday with what amounted to a political threat. This display of pique does nothing but make others less likely to get anywhere close to Mr. Trumps orbit. Plainly, many of these business leaders held on in the expectation that Trump would accomplish policy goals they share less regulation, lower taxes. The tone of the Journals editorial implies that may already be a forlorn hope. The importance of this sea-change cant be overstated: Traditionally, even Democratic or progressive Presidents are seen as cheerleaders for American business. Trump, however, is now seen as an obstacle. The CEOs who remained within Mr. Trumps orbit had nothing to gain any longer, and much to lose. Many were consumer product manufacturers vulnerable to customer boycotts Dell computers, Whirlpool appliances, Johnson & Johnson, Campbells soup. Newell Brands, whose CEO Michael Polk was on the jobs panel, owns the brands Sunbeam, Rubbermaid, Graco, Sharpie and dozens of others; to stay on the panel amounted to leading with its chin. Two AFL-CIO officers, including President Richard Trumka, were on the jobs panel; unbelievably, it took the union until Tuesday to withdraw. Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2017 Others faced more generalized threats to their reputation. The members of the strategic and policy forum included Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, Virginia Rometty of IBM, and Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon. McMillon tried to finesse the uproar over Trumps response to Charlottesville with a statement Monday lamenting that Trump missed a critical opportunity to help bring our country together by unequivocally rejecting the appalling actions of white supremacists. But he said he would remain on the panel, especially after Trump issued a statement Monday denouncing white supremacists. But when Trump returned to the fray Tuesday effectively praising the white supremacist marchers, the heat on McMillon and his fellow business leaders was turned back up. The record of the Trump White House thus far offers no reason for confidence that Trumps increasing isolation will lead to a change of tone or policy. But the collapse of his support within the business community presages a further collapse, this time in the political community. Tuesday and Wednesday may indeed have marked a turning point. 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. Jay Belson, a developer of extravagant mansions in the Los Angeles area, has reached a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations he defrauded investors of more than $2 million. In a court filing last week, the SEC alleged that between January 2011 and June 2016, Belson raised nearly $18 million from at least 23 investors, promising them that the money would be used only on individual properties they invested on. Instead, the SEC alleged, Belson, who runs his business out of Beverly Hills, spent $2.5 million in investor funds on himself and unauthorized business expenses. He also used money designated for specific properties on other developments, according to the SEC. Advertisement As part of the scheme, Belson allegedly gave his investors summaries that falsely inflated returns and, at times, he paid those inflated returns to appear as if his enterprises were profitable and to encourage the investors to reinvest, the SEC alleged. As part of the settlement, Belson and related businesses entities will pay a total of roughly $7.5 million to the SEC. In court documents, the agency said it may later redistribute some of the funds. That could result in money being returned to investors. Belson is a luxury real estate broker and developer of mansions in the Hollywood Hills, Bel Air and other posh neighborhoods in the L.A. area. According to his website, he has enjoyed many guest appearances on Bravos Million Dollar Listing, Los Angeles. Among the projects from which Belson diverted investor funds, according to the SEC, was a Hollywood Hills West home with glass walls and what were advertised as spectacular wrap-around views from downtown to the ocean. The home, which Belson completed, sold last year for $9.4 million, according to Redfin. Another such development, the SEC alleged, was a 2.5-acre property in Bel Air slated for a 25,000-square-foot main house and 3,000-square-foot guesthouse. Belson worked to acquire entitlements for the property and then sold it with the plans. Belson did not admit or deny the SECs allegations as part of the settlement and he declined to comment when reached by phone. But according to court filings, he admitted wrongdoing to an investor, who last year accused Belson in a text of taking other peoples money to support your life. Youre 100% right [.] im not sure how I got my attitude so twisted up on this, Belson replied, according to the SECs complaint. andrew.khouri@latimes.com Follow me @khouriandrew on Twitter Conservative protesters scuttled plans to gather outside Googles offices this weekend, putting on hold an effort to take Americas culture wars directly to Silicon Valley. The region was long insulated from political rancor, but now has become one of the most important ideological battlegrounds. That became ever more clear Wednesday, when protest organizers said that the news coverage surrounding their plans had led to threats from left-wing terrorist groups. The now-postponed rallies were inspired by James Damore, the former Google engineer who was fired last week for posting a 10-page internal memo arguing that the lack of women in tech could be attributed to biological differences. His dismissal sparked an outcry from conservatives who say their opinions are being muzzled by liberal technology companies and led Damore to criticize his former company for promoting a particularly intense echo chamber. Advertisement The March on Google stands for free speech and the open discussion of ideas, wrote event organizer Jack Posobiec, a conservative media figure who pushed the Pizzagate and Seth Rich conspiracy theories and recently was retweeted by the president. Posobiec, who did not respond to questions sent to his Facebook page, had said that the planned marches would not be alt-right events and that he wanted to avoid the violence and mayhem experienced in Charlottesville, Va., last weekend. The details Protests had been planned for Saturday at Google headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., and other company offices such as Venice, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Seattle. Organizers say they now plan to hold the events in a few weeks time. A post on the marchs website said the event was postponed because of threats from unspecified alt-left terrorist groups, including one from someone threatening to drive a car into the march. The Mountain View Police Department, Atlanta Police Department and the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C., said Wednesday morning that they had not received any reports of such threats. Police departments in several other cities did not immediately respond to requests for comment; the FBI declined to comment. The march organizers repeated use of the term alt-left as well as placing blame for the postponement of the protests on left-leaning groups and news outlets echoed rhetoric used by President Trump the day before. On Tuesday, Trump used alt-left to describe anti-racism counter-protesters who demonstrated against last weekends far-right rally in Charlottesville, and he faulted both sides for the violence there a contention at odds with local police accounts. The mayhem in Charlottesville included clashes between armed white militias and counter-protesters, as well as deadly violence: A car driven by a man described by authorities as a white supremacist plowed into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing a woman, Heather Heyer, and injuring more than a dozen others. Mountain View police have said organizers of the Google protests were not connected to Charlottesville rally participants. We want you to know that we are working with both Google and with the event planners to ensure the protest is a peaceful one, the department said Tuesday in a statement. Damore told CNBC that he is not involved with the marches, adding, I dont support efforts to try to hurt Google directly. Still, his memo pointed to the clash of ideas within the technology industry at a time when its products play an increasingly bigger role in the daily lives of Americans. Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, Snapchat and other social media occupy 5 1/2 hours of the average U.S. adults week, according to Nielsen, a span that has grown sharply in recent years. And the online platforms power to spread and enforce cultural values has become a matter of contention across the political spectrum. Conservatives point to years of evidence of a liberal agenda in the tech industry. Theyve drawn comparisons between Damores case and Mozilla Chief Executive Brendan Eich, who stepped down a decade ago following outrage over his support of a ban on same-sex marriage. More recently, right-wing activists say YouTube is filtering conservative videos so that they wont appear unless users toggle their settings to accept graphic or potentially offensive content. Shifting politics The conditions are a far cry from just a few years ago, when technologists were thought of as political neophytes the descendants of a counterculture that turned hippies into billionaires like Steve Jobs. If there was a political streak in the valley, it tended to be libertarian. But the 2016 presidential election demonstrated just how influential the regions platforms are to American public opinion. Where would Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders presidential campaign have gone without the rabid support of smartphone-wielding millennials spreading #FeelTheBern? And how long would Donald Trumps campaign have lasted without his supporters memes and the candidates personal Twitter account? Jeremy Carl, a former tech worker who serves as a fellow at conservative think tank Hoover Institution, said the anger among his ideological peers stems from egregious actions taken by Google and other big tech companies. Efforts to take down or stunt the growth of potentially offensive online publications have reached a ridiculous level, he said. Despite Trumps victory last year with the aid of a fearsome social media strategy, conservatives accuse Facebook, Twitter and Google of censoring their points of view by suspending accounts and firing employees like Damore who speak out against diversity training. The recklessness of the industry and its partisan politics have brought us to this point. They have no credibility among the right to do self-regulation, said Carl, who has advocated for treating Google as a utility company that must provide a neutral service. At stake is the future of news and information in a country where facts are so often viewed through a political lens. Control of these digital platforms, once thought to be apolitical, could swing the national conversation around culture and politics. No alternatives What also irks critics is that there are few alternatives to Google and Facebook. So conservatives who dont like those companies politics feel they have no choice but to keep using their services. Internet people brag about freedom of expression in the U.S. relative to whats available in China, but thats just not the case when you look at the Internet monopolies in the U.S., said Ron Unz, a Palo Alto software entrepreneur who launched unsuccessful campaigns for California governor and English-only education. Youre talking about something closer to modern totalitarianism, Unz added. (By comparison, China tightly monitors discourse on its closed-off Internet, employing thousands of censors and trolls to promote the governments positions and stifle open dissent). Unz said he thinks tech companies should be held to the same standards as the government when it comes to freedom of expression because of their market dominance. If the government is legally prohibited from censoring certain forms of speech, it seems wrong to allow Google to do what the government cant do, Unz said. Uncertainty about the agenda It doesnt help either that tech companies operate in near secrecy driving suspicion that the Googles and Facebooks of the world are stifling conservative views with lines of hidden code. The tech industrys point of view is embedded deep in the product, not announced on the packaging, wrote Ezra Klein, editor-in-chief of Vox. Its biases are quietly built into algorithms, reflected in platform rules, expressed in code few of us can understand and fewer of us will ever read. Its been difficult for Silicon Valley to adapt to the new political order. Many companies are at odds with conservative positions on immigration, climate change and sexual identity taking stances that seemed safely mainstream until recently. Nonetheless, theyve tried to appear more welcoming to Trump and his supporters. Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook, Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos and Eric Schmidt, head of Googles parent company Alphabet, are among the big names that agreed to advise the president on his technology council. Google has also tried to hire more conservatives for its lobbying and policy initiatives, and Facebook donated money to the Conservative Political Action Conference in February. The social network also replaced its news editors with an algorithm after conservatives said employees were suppressing right-wing content. To be sure, Silicon Valley counts some conservatives and Trump supporters among its list of top entrepreneurs. None is more famous than Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal and a billionaire venture capitalist, who spoke strongly in support of then-candidate Trump at the Republican National Convention last year. Thiel, despite running large investment funds, has become an outcast in some circles of the industry for his work with Trump. Times staff writer Tracey Lien contributed to this report. david.pierson@latimes.com paresh.dave@latimes.com ALSO Google and GoDaddy boot neo-Nazi website that mocked the woman slain in Charlottesville Michael Hiltzik: Google uproar shows that Silicon Valley isnt a center of innovation, but behind the times Heres what Google workers are saying about an employees controversial diversity manifesto UPDATES: 11:55 a.m.: This article was updated with new details, including information about purported threats and comments from various police departments. 7:05 a.m.: This article was updated with the postponement of the marches. This article was originally published at 5 a.m. USC Village, the largest development in the schools history, officially opens Thursday as the university strives to house more students on campus and broaden its connection to its South Los Angeles neighborhood. The $700-million project spans 15 acres, has beds for 2,500 undergraduates and features a spacious courtyard with a statue that is a female counterpart to Tommy Trojan, the famous sword-wielding casting of a Greek warrior in the schools central plaza. But those students are not cloistered from the urban bustle around the intersection of Jefferson Boulevard and Hoover Street. Rather, they will live upstairs from a Trader Joes, Target, Starbucks and other stores and restaurants that are open to the public. Advertisement It enhances the community to have these shops and restaurants, said shopping center magnate Rick Caruso, who is a USC trustee and longtime school donor. It makes it a much more vibrant neighborhood. At a massive 1.2 million square feet, the development fits into USCs long-running campaign to elevate its profile and status in the academic community. This year, the school reached a $6-billion fundraising goal, announced in 2011, more than a year ahead of schedule. Of that money, $1 billion was designated for building projects including USC Village. U.S. News & World Report now ranks USC among the top 25 universities in the country, consistent with a growth in funding that has made it a leading research school. But USC was looking for more than just a marquee addition to its campus when it set about planning the expansion in 2011, a priority for President C.L. Max Nikias. It wanted to improve the blocks around the school part of a national trend of community building among universities that formerly tried to isolate themselves from the streets outside. As part of the citys approval process, USC pledged to contribute $20 million to the citys affordable housing trust that creates housing for low-income households. It also promised to hire local workers, and about 20% of the projects construction crews lived within five miles of the school. Some of the countrys top schools, including USC, that were established many decades ago are in aging parts of big cities and surrounded by economically challenged neighborhoods that were off-putting to some potential students and faculty. USC officials even considered moving the school out of South Los Angeles decades ago. And the university community was shaken in 2012 when two Chinese graduate students were shot to death while sitting in their car about a mile off campus. Now USC and other schools are finding their urban locations to be an asset with the newest generation of college students, said Christopher Leinberger, a professor at George Washington University, who is head of the Washington, D.C., schools urban analysis program. We have seen a lot of high-density, mixed-use development that incorporates both university and public functions, he said. This is being driven by millennials. Urban schools with walkable environments is what they want. The University of Pennsylvania pioneered the concept of elevating its neighborhood in the 1990s when its president decided Penn was doomed to remain the doormat of the Ivy League unless it could help its deeply challenged West Philadelphia neighborhood troubled by crime and falling homeownership. The school assisted private developers to build homes, apartments, a theater complex, supermarket, hotel, stores and restaurants. The pump priming worked well enough to attract a wide range of people to the neighborhood, Leinberger said. Penn is now ranked among the top schools in the country, and West Philadelphia is one of the hippest areas in town, with the highest office rents in the state. Leinbergers school, George Washington, leased land to developer Boston Properties to build apartments, offices for rent, restaurants and a Whole Foods market, generating about $10 million a year in rent. Its now the main street for the Foggy Bottom section of town, he said. Its just jammed with people. USC Village replaced a run-down outdoor mall dating to the 1970s with five five-story residential buildings around a plaza and brick walkways that will be fitted out with tables and umbrellas to encourage residents and visitors to meet and linger. But there is no doubt this is a high-end university project, with the latest amenities. There is a cavernous dining hall inspired by the Christ Church dining hall at Oxford University with stained glass windows and skylights. Students can eat at long tables, in booths or at high-top tables. Freshmen in the honors program are expected to eat there and have no kitchens, but most of the suites have gas ranges, sinks and refrigerators. Typical suites have two or three bedrooms for four or six students who share a kitchen and common living room. Each building has a furnished interior courtyard where students can study or relax. High-tech laundry facilities will charge students credit cards for service and text them when their wash loads are finished. There is a fitness center open to all students, but security for the residents will be pronounced. Entry to the dorms will require key cards and facial recognition scans, and the entire complex including the courtyard and other outdoor spaces will be shut to nonresidents from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Bicycle parking on elevated racks is provided indoors, and one of the retail tenants will be a bike shop. An elaborate gating system will allow some businesses including Target and Trader Joes to remain open to the public when the courtyard is closed. We met with hundreds of people as part of the approval process, USC spokesman Thomas Sayles said. The community wanted Trader Joes and new jobs. The 30-month construction timeline was too fast to use conventional masonry techniques for the brick-clad buildings, said architect Brent Miller of Harley Ellis Devereaux, the firm that designed the buildings. There werent enough masons in Southern California to do it, Miller said, not to mention the prohibitive cost of scaffolding. The architects solution was to create 88 precast concrete panels that could hold thin bricks laid in while the panels were horizontal. The panels were attached by crane to the side of the concrete-framed buildings that were designed to last 100 years. Improvements to neighborhoods around school properties may extend to the USCs Keck School of Medicine in Boyle Heights. Another major university development could take place next to the Keck School and Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, said real estate consultant Philip Hart, who is working on a plan to build a biomedical research park there with a hotel, housing and restaurants as well as research offices and laboratories. The complex might include teaching labs for middle school and high school students and teachers. If it is approved by county supervisors, Hart said, USC will have another big project on their hands. roger.vincent@latimes.com Twitter: @rogervincent ALSO Most of the Queen Mary Island plans are complete. Heres how itll look LAUSDs costly 20-year construction project ends with opening of $160-million Maywood campus Citing potential health risks, City Council panel rejects plan for homes near the 110 and 91 freeways Barack Obama just made Twitter history. The former president tweeted a Nelson Mandela quote on the day of violent chaos in Charlottesville. He included a photo taken of him in 2011 on a visit to his daughter Sashas school in Bethesda, Md. "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..." pic.twitter.com/InZ58zkoAm Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017 With more than 2.8 million likes already, its the most liked tweet in Twitter history. A spokesperson for Twitter said the tweet broke the record just after 7 p.m. Pacific on Tuesday. Advertisement That was hours after President Trump, who succeeded Obama in the White House, drew new criticism for his most recent remarks about the clash between white supremacists and counter-protesters. Trump told a room of journalists gathered at Trump Tower in New York that both sides were to blame that day. His off-the-cuff remarks were a whiplash back to his first comments and came a day after he read a prepared response saying racism is evil and condemning neo-Nazis and the KKK. Timeline: Trumps shifting statements on Charlottesville Trump, as he often does, has had a lot to say in Twitter over the last few days. On Saturday, he tweeted generally about condemning hate but did not call out any groups specifically. On Monday, after the scripted event specifically calling out white supremacists, he complained about the media not being satisfied. Made additional remarks on Charlottesville and realize once again that the #Fake News Media will never be satisfied...truly bad people! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2017 Late Monday, he retweeted a post from an alt-right media figure who pushed the PizzaGate and Seth Rich conspiracy theories. This post asked why there was no media outrage about violence in Chicago. Early Tuesday morning, Trump retweeted and then deleted a photo of a train running down a person with a CNN logo over their face. He also retweeted a person calling him a fascist, which was likely accidental and was also later removed. Follow me on Twitter @jessica_roy. jessica.roy@latimes.com ALSO Who was responsible for the violence in Charlottesville? Heres what witnesses say Confederate monuments taken down in Baltimore overnight In some states, its illegal to take down monuments or change street names honoring the Confederacy After what appeared to be an accelerating exodus of chief executives serving on President Trump s business and manufacturing advisory councils, Trump announced Wednesday that he was disbanding the panels entirely. He announced his decision in a tweet, saying: Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all! The most notable firings and resignations in the Trump administration Panel members had been resigning since Monday, most directly or indirectly citing Trumps response to the violence in Charlottesville, Va. over the weekend. Here are the CEOs who left and the reasons they gave, as well as who had intended to stay, and others who made no public statements about their intentions before the panels were disbanded Wednesday. Executives who left after Trumps comments on Charlottesville violence Kenneth Frazier Frazier resigned Monday morning from the manufacturing council, prior to Trumps scripted statement that racism is evil. What he said: Less than an hour later, Trump responded with a mocking tweet. Now that Ken Frazier of Merck Pharma has resigned from President's Manufacturing Council, he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES! Kevin Plank Plank resigned Monday from the manufacturing council. What he said: Brian Krzanich Krzanich announced his resignation from the manufacturing council in a blog post Monday. What he said: Brian Krzanich (Richard Drew / Associated Press) (Richard Drew / AP) Earlier today, I tendered my resignation from the American Manufacturing Council. I resigned to call attention to the serious harm our divided political climate is causing to critical issues, including the serious need to address the decline of American manufacturing. Politics and political agendas have sidelined the important mission of rebuilding Americas manufacturing base. I have already made clear my abhorrence at the recent hate-spawned violence in Charlottesville, and earlier today I called on all leaders to condemn the white supremacists and their ilk who marched and committed violence. I resigned because I want to make progress, while many in Washington seem more concerned with attacking anyone who disagrees with them. We should honor not attack those who have stood up for equality and other cherished American values. I hope this will change, and I remain willing to serve when it does. I am not a politician. I am an engineer who has spent most of his career working in factories that manufacture the worlds most advanced devices. Yet, it is clear even to me that nearly every issue is now politicized to the point where significant progress is impossible. Promoting American manufacturing should not be a political issue. My request my plea to everyone involved in our political system is this: set scoring political points aside and focus on what is best for the nation as a whole. The current environment must change, or else our nation will become a shadow of what it once was and what it still can and should be. Scott Paul Paul resigned Tuesday from the manufacturing panel. What he said: Richard Trumka, president, and Thea Lee, deputy chief of staff Trumka and Lee quit the manufacturing panel Tuesday. What they said: Inge Thulin Thulin quit the manufacturing panel Wednesday, just before Trump announced that he was disbanding it. What he said: Denise Morrison Morrison announced that she had left the manufacturing council Wednesday, the same day it was disbanded. What she said: Denise Morrison (Paul Sancya / Associated Press) (Paul Sancya / AP) Racism and murder are unequivocally reprehensible and are not morally equivalent to anything else that happened in Charlottesville. I believe the President should have been and still needs to be unambiguous on that point. Following yesterdays remarks from the President, I cannot remain on the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative. I will continue to support all efforts to spur economic growth and advocate for the values that have always made America great. Jeff Immelt Immelt had said previously that he would remain on the manufacturing council, but departed on Wednesday. What he said: CEOs who quit after Trump disbanded the councils Alex Gorsky Gorsky announced his resignation from the manufacturing council Wednesday, after Trump disbanded his advisory councils. What he said: Alex Gorsky (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) (Evan Vucci / AP) Johnson & Johnson has a responsibility to remain engaged as important policy decisions are made. That hasnt changed. The Presidents most recent statements equating those who are motivated by race-based hate with those who stand up against hatred is unacceptable and has changed our decision to participate in the White House Manufacturing Advisory Council. We will continue to support, advocate and champion policies and programs that make this country and the world healthier, stronger and more united. Jamie Dimon Dimon released a statement Wednesday saying that the members of the business advisory panel had agreed to disband. What he said, in part: Jamie Dimon (Eric Piermont / AFP/Getty Images) (ERIC PIERMONT / AFP/Getty Images) I strongly disagree with President Trump's reaction to the events that took place in Charlottesville over the past several days. Racism, intolerance and violence are always wrong. The equal treatment of all people is one of our nations bedrock principles. There is no room for equivocation here: the evil on display by these perpetrators of hate should be condemned and has no place in a country that draws strength from our diversity and humanity. As a company and for all business in general, it is critical that we help develop rational, intelligent policies to help expand opportunities for all of our citizens. I know that times are tough for many. The lack of economic growth and opportunity has led to deep and understandable frustration among so many Americans. But fanning divisiveness is not the answer. Constructive economic and regulatory policies are not enough and will not matter if we do not address the divisions in our country. It is a leaders role, in business or government, to bring people together, not tear them apart. Larry Fink Fink announced his resignation from the business advisory panel on Wednesday. What he said: Larry Fink in 2014 (Mark Lennihan / Associated Press) (Mark Lennihan / AP) Late last year, I joined President Trumps Strategic and Policy Forum because I believe we need to advance policies that can spur economic growth and improve life for all Americans. Engaging constructively with governments is central to advancing BlackRocks mission, and, in the United States, we desperately need to find common ground on which Americans of different views and from different parties can come together to move the nation forward. While I have disagreed with the President in certain instances this year, I continued to participate in the Forum because I believed it was important to have a voice at the table for investors, including our clients. Unfortunately, after the last few days, I concluded that I could no longer in good conscience participate in the Forum. The events that occurred in Charlottesville, as I said on Monday, are nothing short of domestic terrorism. Such racism and bigotry must not just be condemned, but must be condemned unequivocally. The diversity of America works because leaders from all walks of life have always been willing to step forward and reject intolerance without equivocation. In the last 24 hours, I informed our clients on the Forum as well as the Forums chairman of my decision to resign. I also made clear that while I wont be participating in the Forum, BlackRock will continue to engage on issues of public policy with governments at all levels and around the world. For the U.S. economy, successfully enacting tax reform and rebuilding our infrastructure are of paramount importance. BlackRock will continue to contribute to the debate on these and other important issues, but we will do so in ways that are consistent with our culture and values. CEOs who left before Charlottesville controversy Elon Musk Musk left Trumps business and manufacturing panels in June, when the president announced that the U.S. would leave the Paris climate agreement. Robert Iger Hours after Musk pulled out of the business advisory panel June 1, Iger said he was leaving that council as a matter of principle. Travis Kalanick Kalanick left a White House economic advisory panel in February. Travis Kalanick (Evan Agostini / Invision/Associated Press) (Evan Agostini / Evan Agostini/Invision/AP) Kalanick faced mounting pressure from employees and customers to leave the council, especially after Trump signed an executive order barring travelers and refugees from majority-Muslim countries from entering the United States. (The ban was later scaled back and won Supreme Court approval.) Earlier today, I spoke briefly with the president about the immigration executive order and its issues for our community, Kalanick wrote in a memo obtained by the Los Angeles Times. I also let him know that I would not be able to participate on his economic council. Joining the group was not meant to be an endorsement of the president or his agenda, but unfortunately, it has been misinterpreted to be exactly that. The criticism of Kalanick came to a head when Uber customers began deleting the ride-hailing app from their phones in protest of Kalanicks cooperation with the Trump administration, prompting the hashtag #DeleteUber to trend on Twitter. Kalanick was later forced out as CEO. Stayed until the panels dissolved Mary Barra , CEO of General Motors (business advisory panel) , CEO of General Motors (business advisory panel) Toby Cosgrove, CEO of the Cleveland Clinic (business advisory panel) (business advisory panel) Doug McMillon, CEO of Wal-Mart (business advisory panel). McMillon released a statement admonishing the president. Dennis Muilenberg, CEO of Boeing (manufacturing panel) (manufacturing panel) Stephen Schwarzman, CEO of Blackstone Group (business advisory panel) Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric (business advisory panel) Michael Dell, CEO of Dell (manufacturing panel) Rich Kyle, CEO of Timken (manufacturing panel) Michael Polk, CEO of Newell Brands (manufacturing panel) Mark Sutton, CEO of International Paper (manufacturing panel) Wendell Weeks , CEO of Corning (manufacturing panel) Made no specific comments Rich Lesser, CEO of BCG (Boston Consulting Group) Jim McNerney , former CEO of Boeing , former CEO of Boeing Indra Nooyi , CEO of Pepsico , CEO of Pepsico Adebayo Ogunlesi, chairman of Global Infrastructure Partners Virginia Rometty, CEO of IBM Kevin Walsh, visiting fellow at Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution Mark Weinberger, CEO of EY (Ernst & Young) Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of IHS Markit Andrew Liveris, CEO of Dow Chemical John Ferriola, CEO of Nucor Corp. Greg Hayes, CEO of United Technologies Marillyn Hewson, CEO of Lockheed Martin Jim Kamsickas, CEO of Dana Inc. Previously retired from company and left manufacturing council Mark Fields, former CEO of Ford Motor Co. Klaus Kleinfeld, former CEO of Arconic Mario Longhi, former CEO of U.S. Steel Doug Oberhelman , former CEO of Caterpillar The most notable firings and resignations in the Trump administration matthew.ballinger@latimes.com @mkballinger ALSO Neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer accused of defamation by radio host, as it's 'completely banned from the Internet' Corporate America voices its strongest repudiation yet of Trump as councils disband Will a trade fight with Asia sabotage the U.S. solar industry? That may be up to Trump I shoot a lot of crap, Dennis Hopper once said of his photographs, most of which date from the early to mid-1960s, the period when the difficult actor, often unemployed, most avidly wielded a still camera. Ample evidence is offered in an exhibition of unearthed pictures that apparently have not been seen in the U.S. for nearly 50 years. (Hopper died in 2010, and the work was shown in London in 2014.) Yet, it also shows why Hoppers photographs are worth looking at. Sorting through the more than 375 images in Dennis Hopper: The Lost Album at Michael Kohn Gallery, mundane if sometimes useful documents of their time and place are peppered with photographs that sing. Photographs are clustered by subject and theme portraits of artists, biker gangs, bullfights, a homeless man with a baby carriage foraging by the side of a road, hippies and Holy Rollers. Artists typically engage Hoppers camera most directly, unsurprisingly conscious of the power of images. Hopper often photographed street signs, grafitti and commercial logos. (Christopher Knight / Los Angeles Times) Portraits of artists, gallerists and curators were a Hopper staple, including Henry T. Hopkins (lower right), who organized a 1970 Hopper show in Texas. (Christopher Knight / Los Angeles Times) Surprises do emerge, such as the latent homoeroticism of roughhousing Hells Angels. Numerous pictures of battered and paint-peeling urban walls shout serious abstraction, but theyre wholly derivative of 1950s photographs by Aaron Siskind and others. Scanning the dross adds dramatic punch to the best works, which flare into consciousness as little cinematic bursts of powerful insight. Take a group of pictures shot during the 1965 Freedom March from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery, culminating in a remarkable photograph of Martin Luther King Jr. Or, rather, in a photograph centered on a bristling jumble of microphones, which virtually leap across the frame toward the great civil rights leader and orator. King is shunted to one side, as if cornered by a mass media hungry to hear and broadcast his words The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice as well as to devour him. Hopper, by then a significant Hollywood celebrity and an intimate of such pop artists as Edward Ruscha and Andy Warhol, understood the double-edged media dynamic. Hopper went to the 1965 Freedom March from Selma, Ala., to Montgomery and photographed Martin Luther King Jr. (Michael Kohn Gallery) Martin Luther King Jr. addressed the Freedom Marchers at the Alabama state Capitol. In another, a man weighs himself on a big sidewalk scale, the kind that used to be common outside small-town pharmacies. A blaring advertising banner in an adjacent store window proclaims, We give Blue Chip stamps. The silent juxtaposition of scale and blue chip wryly identifies weightiness with quality. Black-and-white, uncropped, printed full-frame and casually mounted on cardboard, the photographs were shown in 1970 at the Fort Worth Art Center, forerunner to todays Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and then directed by Henry T. Hopkins, former curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art . Taken with a 28-millimeter Nikon, they were discovered in storage after Hoppers death. The work is shown in a comparable manner at Kohn. If you saw the blandly overblown 2010 Hopper retrospective at the Museum of Contemporary Art, which featured lots of bad paintings and sculptures draped in celebrity gauze, dont let it deter you from visiting this far more revealing show. MOCA s bloated offering struck me as suggesting that, artistically, Hopper was an incisive if short-lived photo-documentarian. This show does too, but more deeply so. Michael Kohn Gallery, 1227 N. Highland Ave., Hollywood. Through Sept. 1; closed Sundays and Mondays. (323) 461-3311, www.kohngallery.com christopher.knight@latimes.com Twitter: @KnightLAT True Detective season three, starring Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, is officially confirmed at HBO By Sarah Rodman Mahershala Ali accepting his Oscar for Moonlight. The actor will star in the third season of the HBO drama True Detective (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times) During the HBO executive session at the summer edition of the Television Critics Assn. press tour, programming president Casey Bloys confirmed reports that Moonlight Oscar winner Mahershala Ali would star in a third season of True Detective. Although he was mum at the time on when it might happen, he did say that he had read five scripts and thought they were terrific. Thursday night, the premium pay cabler released a statement officially confirming that the series will indeed return for a third installment. While no episode count or premiere date was included in the release, an enclosed synopsis stated that the next iteration of the show tells the story of a macabre crime in the heart of the Ozarks, and a mystery that deepens over decades and plays out in three separate time periods. Ali will star as Wayne Hays, a state police detective from northwest Arkansas. (Ali follows in the footsteps of season one stars, and continuing executive producers, Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, and season twos Colin Farrell and Vince Vaughn. No word yet on whether hell have a partner.) The show will once again be helmed by creator Nic Pizzolatto, who penned all the episodes of the upcoming series, save the fourth, which he co-wrote with David Milch (Deadwood, NYPD Blue). He will share directing duties with fellow executive producer Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin.) Im tremendously thrilled to be working with artists at the level of Mahershala and Jeremy, said Pizzolatto in a statement. I hope the material can do justice to their talents, and were all very excited to tell this story. Bloys noted that Nic has written truly remarkable scripts. With his ambitious vision and Mahershala Ali and Jeremy Saulnier aboard, we are excited to embark on the next installment of True Detective. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Newly reopened Angels Flight has long been a popular L.A. shooting location By Mark Olsen Its among the more unusual landmarks in Los Angeles, a short, steep railway that gets people up and down a single hill. So it makes sense that Angels Flight has been featured in many movies and television shows over the years. Angels Flight resumed regular service Thursday after being closed since 2013 (it did operate for one day of shooting on La La Land). It remains to be seen if it starts to appear again in movies and television shows. (Not that it ever really stopped.) Speaking to The Times at last years Toronto International Film Festival, La La Land star Ryan Gosling reflected on the use of historic locations in the movie. This was an opportunity to show an L.A. thats still there.... Youve got to squint your eyes a little, but there are still places in L.A. that are still part of the golden years of Los Angeles when Hollywood was in its heyday, Gosling said. I lived around the corner for a long time from Angels Flight and Grand Central Market, although I never got to ride Angels Flight because it had been shut down, Gosling added. Those places are still there... these gems that are there, and we were able to shoot them one by one. Angels Flight reopened on Thursday. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) The small piece of land next to the top of Angels Flight, known as Angels Knoll, was also prominently featured in (500) Days of Summer. The location has appeared in a wide variety of movies over the years, as early as 1916s Good Night, Nurse, 1918s Up She Goes and 1920s All Jazzed Up. It has also had high-profile cameos in Act of Violence (1949), M (1951), Kiss Me Deadly (1955), The Exiles (1961), The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies (1963) -- all the way up to to 2011s The Muppets and last years La La Land. And on television, Angels Flight has been seen on Perry Mason, Dragnet and the recent series Bosch. READ MORE: Angels Flight: How it works and what its been through in its 100-year history Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Jamie Foxx announces telethon for Harvey relief By Libby Hill (Andrew Krech / News & Record via Associated Press) A new stream of celebrity support for victims of Hurricane Harvey opened Wednesday, as Jamie Foxx announced that a telethon fundraiser is in the works. In an Instagram post where the actor revealed his own donation of $25,000 to GlobalGiving, Foxx also shared preliminary plans for the upcoming benefit. From a fellow Texan, my heart goes out. My prayers go out, Foxx, from Terrell east of Dallas, said. September 12 we have a telethon that were doing. Well give you more details, so we can raise as much money as we can for everybody down there. View Instagram post Scooter Braun, talent manager and mastermind of One Love Manchester, is helming the event along with rapper and Houston native Bun B. TMZ reported that Foxx, Reese Witherspoon, Blake Shelton, Hilary Duff and Michael Strahan are all involved with the project, with commitments from the four major broadcast networks to air the special for an hour on Sept. 12. In an interview with TMZ, Bun B said that fellow Houston natives Beyonce and Jim Parsons are high on his wish list for the telethon. The outlet also reported that Bun B would only want President Trumps presence if it was via a show of unity with other former presidents. Solange also announced Wednesday that she will be holding a benefit show at Bostons Orpheum Theatre on Sept. 28. Featuring the Sun Ra Arkestra, the performance is titled Orions Rise and all proceeds will go to Hurricane Harvey relief. View Instagram post Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gwyneth Paltrows love life? Yeah, she admits shes screwed up plenty of relationships By Libby Hill Gwyneth Paltrow takes full responsibility for her romantic failings. She admitted as much in a recent interview with the podcast Girlboss Radio, during which Paltrow went deep on some of her lost loves. Oh, my god, Ive [screwed] up so many relationships, so many, Paltrow said. Im actually a pretty good friend and a good sister and a daughter and a mother, but I am at my potentially most vulnerable in the romantic slice of the pie. So its taken me a lot of work to get to the place where I have a good romantic relationship. Paltrow consciously uncoupled from ex-husband Chris Martin in 2014 after 10 years of marriage and has been romantically linked to American Horror Story creator Brad Falchuk for the past three years. On Girlboss Radio, Paltrow sent a shout-out to former beau Brad Pitt, whom she dated from 1994 through 1997, and was at one point engaged to. I [screwed] that up, Brad, Paltrow said. Paltrow also delved into her experiences as founder and CEO of her lifestyle brand Goop, sharing that once shes in the boardroom with investors, no one cares if shes a celebrity. I go into the room, and for the first 90 seconds, Im Gwyneth Paltrow, she said. And theyre like, Oh, my god, my wife loves you .... And then, about 90 seconds later, Im just getting grilled like anyone else. But she doesnt get offended; she relishes the challenge. It was such a beautiful chapter of my life when I started raising [venture capital financing], because it knocked me down so many pegs. I was like, Oh, Im, like, no one. Im nothing. This [stuff] is real. I have to know the most granular aspects of my business and be able to defend it. The celebrity just completely drains out of the room. Its irrelevant, she said. Paltrows full conversation with Sophia Amoruso can be streamed at Girlboss. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Longtime Simpsons composer Alf Clausen fired from the show after 27 years By Randall Roberts When the 29th season of The Simpsons premieres in the fall, it will, for the first time in decades, be doing so without its longtime musical contributor, Alf Clausen. Clausen, who composed the Fox animated shows incidental music, was told that the show was looking for a different kind of music moving forward, according to Variety. Clausen confirmed his firing via Twitter. Thank you for all of the support...unfortunately, the news is true... https://t.co/jBQH0b40cz Alf Clausen (@TheAlfClausen) August 31, 2017 The composers orchestral scores supported the familys foibles since the shows primitively drawn early days. And although The Simpsons theme song was penned by Danny Elfman, the sonic feel of the series has been defined by Clausens grandiose, often epic productions. Hes responsible for scoring Mr. Burns breakout See My Vest moment and crafted the tunes for the Springfield musical theater companys A Streetcar Named Desire adaptation. Ditto The Planet of the Apes musical. In short, nearly every classic music moment of The Simpsons has featured Clausens fingerprints. On Twitter, fans thanked Clausen for his work while expressing outrage at the circumstances surrounding his departure. Fired over the phone, yet, wrote one user. Clausen quickly corrected him with a one-word reply: Email ... On Thursday, producers for The Simpsons issued a statement to Variety. It stressed that Clausen will continue to contribute to the series: We tremendously value Alf Clausens contributions to The Simpsons and he will continue to have an ongoing role in the show. We remain committed to the finest in music for The Simpsons, absolutely including orchestral. The statement concluded: This is the part where we would make a joke but neither Alfs work nor the music of The Simpsons is treated as anything but seriously by us. Update, 1:16 p.m.: This story was updated with a statement from The Simpsons. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Instead of statues, Trevor Noah and Roy Wood Jr. have another idea for honoring Confederate history By Chris Barton With the country still reeling from the harrowing impact of Hurricane Harvey in Texas, Wednesday nights Daily Show looked at one of the summers ongoing controversies: Confederate monuments. Occasionally setting aside the shows usual comedic tone, Trevor Noah enlisted correspondent Roy Wood Jr. to consider whether these statues honor Southern heritage, as their supporters claim, or the nations history and lingering problem with racism. After showing a montage of guests on network news shows who reminded viewers that these statues were erected during the Jim Crow era, decades after the Civil War, Wood equated slavery to another tragedy. Its like if a woman got out of an abusive relationship and then she had to keep pictures of her ex up in her house to remember the time, a straight-faced Wood explained. No, I dont need pictures to remember pain. People say, We want to remember the history of the Civil War, Noah added. Theres an easier way to remember what happened in the Civil War: Just walk around in the South. And if you see free black people, then you know what happened. Watch the segment above. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Gloria Gaynor sings to Texas Harvey victims: You will survive By Christie DZurilla (Astrid Stawiarz / Getty Images) Gloria Gaynor wants people affected by Harvey to know they will survive, and shes communicating that message through a new version of the song that has defined her career. Gaynor, whose I Will Survive became an anthem over the years, rewrote the 1978 disco hit to reach out to victims in Texas and posted her rendition on social media Wednesday. Hi, my neighbors in Texas, she said in a video shot while she sat at a piano she was about to play. This is Gloria Gaynor with a song that hopefully will cheer you up just a little bit. @SylvesterTurner @rashivats @SallyMacFox26 @TheRitaGarcia @kaitlinmonte @ChrisdyannUribe @MsCoCoDominguez @JMartinFOX26 TX WILL SURVIVE pic.twitter.com/FCNOnDr85o Gloria Gaynor (@gloriagaynor) August 30, 2017 Here are the tweaked lyrics, for those who dont want to hit play with the sound on. First we were afraid We were petrified Thinking Texas couldnt live With floodwaters this high We know you spent plenty of time Preparing for this hurricane Who couldve known that it would come With so much devastating rain But we will strive And youll survive With all our love and help and prayers We will stay strongly by your side We are your neighbors tried and true Well do all we can for you And youll survive You will survive, you will survive Similarly on Monday night, Coldplay unleashed a new original song written after the band was forced to cancel its Friday show in Houston with Hurricane Harvey bearing down. This is a new song, and well never play it again, frontman Chris Martin told an audience in Miami. Its a once-off. Its called Houston. Were going to sing it in Miami for everybody here, and then were going to send it over there to everyone who missed the show. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation donates $1 million to Harvey recovery By Christie DZurilla (Kirk McKoy / Los Angeles Times) Leonardo DiCaprio has stepped up with a $1-million donation to aid the victims of Hurricane Harvey, now a tropical storm, which has dumped historic levels of rain on the Gulf Coast over the last several days. United Way Worldwide announced Wednesday that it has started the United Way Harvey Recovery Fund with a seven-figure donation from the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation. The money 100% of it, according to the charity will go to help victims of flooding with mid- and long-term recovery over the coming years. There are 23 United Ways that operate in the path of the storm, which made landfall Aug. 24. We are incredibly grateful for the generosity of Leonardo DiCaprio and his foundation, United Way Worldwide President and CEO Brian Gallagher said in a statement. Responding to Hurricane Harvey requires the best of all of us and thats what this gift represents. DiCaprio has been urging support of the United Way and American Red Cross this week on his Twitter account and retweeting stories talking about Harvey and climate change. Di Caprios foundation has been committed to climate-related issues and environmental projects since 1998, Terry Tamminen, president and CEO of the foundation, said in a statement. We support efforts to build climate resilient communities and protect vulnerable wildlife and ecosystems across the planet, and have supported disaster relief and victim funds in the past. We hope others will step up and support the United Way and other organizations. Earlier this week, Sandra Bullock, who has a home in Texas, gave $1 million to the American Red Cross, repeating the lump-sum generosity she showed after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan and the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. Ellen DeGeneres was also in the seven-figure donation tier. The comic and talk-show host dropped $1 million in the relief bucket on Wednesday via J.J. Watts foundation. The effort by the Houston Texans star player topped $10 million on Thursday, with Watt chronicling its progress all week via videos on social media. Update, 8:50 a.m.: This post was updated with information about DeGeneres donation to Watts fund. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print A Star Is Born: Chris Tucker turns 45 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Iris Schneider / Los Angeles Times) I had a dream as a kid: I wanted to be big, big like Richard [Pryor] and Eddie [Murphy]. I imagined it. I studied it. I had a passion. Chris Tucker, 2001 FROM THE ARCHIVES: In a Big Rush Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Springsteen on Broadway was born to run, is extended through February By Libby Hill Bruce Springsteens solo shows on Broadway have been extended through February, just hours after the original run sold out. (Greg Allen / Invision/Associated Press) Good news for Bruce Springsteen fans who were locked out of purchasing tickets Wednesday morning for his upcoming run of shows on Broadway. Ticketmaster announced that Springsteen on Broadway, an intimate stage experience that launches in October and features the rock legend performing solo, will be extending for 10 additional weeks. Originally scheduled to close in November, the show was extended through February after the original block of tickets sold out in a matter of minutes Wednesday. "#SpringsteenBroadway has been EXTENDED! the ticket outlet tweeted, with a follow-up tweet explaining that fans who had previously registered to purchase tickets will not have to register again. #SpringsteenBroadway has been EXTENDED! More information coming today. There will NOT be any additional codes released for today's onsale. pic.twitter.com/xGY3rj3Yrl Ticketmaster (@Ticketmaster) August 30, 2017 #SpringsteenBroadway extended run information YOU DO NOT HAVE TO REGISTER AGAIN! NEW #VerifiedFan registration: https://t.co/2xNBBhcVES pic.twitter.com/FT3mLaTLPV Ticketmaster (@Ticketmaster) August 30, 2017 Springsteen will be performing at New York Citys Walter Kerr Theater, which houses fewer than 1,000 seats. To curtail ticket scalping, Ticketmaster relied on its Verified Fan program. The program forces fans to register to even have an opportunity to purchase tickets and are limited to two tickets per purchase. For all of Ticketmasters efforts, resale sites already are flooded with Springsteen on Broadway tickets, with some reaching $10,000 apiece. Fans interested in trying their luck for the second batch of performance dates will need to register with Ticketmaster Verified Fan by Sept. 3 (at 7 p.m. Pacific). Tickets will be available for purchase 10 a.m. Pacific on Sept. 7. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Sandra Bullock donates $1 million to Harvey relief efforts By Libby Hill Sandra Bullock donated $1 million to the American Red Cross for storm relief. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) With the Gulf Coast still battling the aftereffects of Tropical Storm Harvey, celebrities continue to come forward to help with relief efforts for the humanitarian crisis. Sandra Bullock, who has a home in Texas, donated $1 million to the American Red Cross emergency efforts, the organization confirmed to The Times on Wednesday. We are so thankful for the overwhelming and generous response from those who want to help those affected by this devastating storm, Elizabeth Penniman, vice president of communications for American Red Cross national headquarters, said in an email. Massive disasters like Hurricane Harvey create many critical and immediate needs, so we are heartened by donations like this which allow us to provide immediate shelter, food and comfort to thousands in need, Penniman continued. The entertainment community has been so supportive to the Red Cross in response to this devastating disaster, and we are so grateful. Bullock is just the latest star who has donated to recovery efforts in Texas. The Kardashian family pledged $500,000 to the Salvation Army and Red Cross on Tuesday. Kevin Hart also spearheaded a celebrity-driven fundraising campaign on Crowdrise that has brought in more than $1 million for the Red Cross. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Corinne Olympios wants DeMario Jackson to know she doesnt blame him for anything By Christie DZurilla Corinne Olympios doesnt have any hard feelings toward DeMario Jackson, the fellow Bachelor in Paradise cast member who was with her at the center of a scandal that shut down production on the reality TV series in June. I dont blame DeMario. I never pointed fingers at DeMario. I never said a bad word about DeMario, the 25-year-old told host Chris Harrison in an early-August taped interview that aired Tuesday night on ABC. She and Jackson havent spoken since production was halted after allegations of misconduct were made by a producer, leading to an investigation of what happened during a period when, Olympios now says, she was blacked out. I was almost a little bit nervous to talk to [DeMario], because he did run to the media and I didnt want to add fuel to the fire, she said. Before she had a chance to collect her thoughts, he was out there and so on the defensive, she said. He was doing his thing and I didnt want to get messed up in that. ... I cant help but feel like maybe he felt like I thought he did something to me. Jackson did not do anything bad, she insisted. Seeing him start crying in a clip from his own interview with Harrison, which had aired on the show last week, Olympios welled up a bit too. It was hard for me to go through something like that. I know exactly how he feels. The media wants to paint you a certain way that you know youre just not, she said. Olympios told Harrison the same things she had said in a Tuesday morning interview with Good Morning America about blacking out from drinking too much and mixing alcohol with medication. However, she didnt directly address her I am a victim statement that was released at the height of the scandal. On GMA, she said she meant she was a victim of the media. Regarding Bachelor in Paradise with Harrison, she simply talked about how awful it was to have so many people acting like they had been there or were suddenly experts on her life. To even get up and go get eggs at the grocery store ... my face was all over every magazine and I had to check out and everyones staring, Olympios said. Youre looking at them and its like, Im not what youre thinking right now. Then, near the end of the interview, she shared one big wish. Obviously hindsight is 20/20, she said, and I wish it could have been handled differently. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Tomi Lahren finds new home at Fox News By Libby Hill Conservative firebrand Tomi Lahren is again gainfully employed after being fired from Glenn Becks The Blaze in March. On Wednesday, Lahren announced via her Facebook page that she is joining the Fox News team as a contributor. This exciting new step will allow me to give voice to all the America-loving patriots who have had my back since day one, Lahren wrote. I will remain a solid and passionate advocate for you. Though 25-year-old Lahren has made television appearances before -- including a contentious appearance on The Daily Show With Trevor Noah -- much of her career has been in digital media. She hosted On Point With Tomi Lahren for One America News Network, and her Final Thought videos have garnered her over 4.4 million Facebook followers. In addition to her role as a contributor, Lahren will also have a signature role on a Fox News digital product in development, according to a press release issued by the network. Lahren makes her debut on Wednesdays edition of Hannity at 7 p.m. PDT. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trevor Noah is shocked shocked by the latest revelations about Trump and Moscow By Robert Lloyd Even as the Earth offers humanity another taste of its weather future and President Trump keeps Sheriff Joe Arpaio out of jail and North Korean missiles fly over Japan late-night TV hosts have disappeared from their chairs as if it were August in France. Trevor Noah is on the job, though, hosting The Daily Show. Tuesday night, he had some mirthful words about the ongoing investigation into the Trump campaigns Russian affairs. Specifically, he reflected on the revelation of a letter of intent, signed by POTUS himself, to build a Trump Tower skyscraper in Moscow and make it the tallest building in the world despite Trumps repeated claims to have no business, no interests, no nothing in Russia. How can one person lie so big? HOW? Noah asked, amazedly. Its like if your friend said he had never heard of Mumford and Sons and then one day you see the album cover and youre like, wait a minute, youre Mumford. Were those connections strictly business, or were they getting out on the votey-votey action? Thats not clear yet, he said. What was clear is that a typically dubious character was at the center of it namely Felix Sater, a Russian-born real estate developer once convicted of stabbing a man in the neck and face with the stem of a broken margarita glass. Of all the glasses to stab someone with, a margarita glass is the worst, Noah said. Youre literally putting salt into the wounds. There was also a conviction for Saters involvement in a $40-million stock fraud, Noah added, which came as no surprise to the host. You never trust someone with a cat name. If a human goes by Felix or Whiskers or Mittens, you should probably just stay away. There were emails, of course; there are always emails. Buddy, our boy can become President of the USA and we can engineer it. I will get all of Putins team to buy in on this, Sater wrote to Trumps personal lawyer, Michael D. Cohen. This buddy boy email may not be the smoking gun for Trump, Noah concluded, but what it could end up being is the broken taillight the thing that gives law enforcement the excuse they need to look into Trumps trunk. And we all know, he said, as a picture of the golfing presidents derriere appeared over his shoulder, hes got a lot of junk in that trunk. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Jury president Annette Bening addresses lack of female representation at Venice Film Festival By Nardine Saad (Claudio Onorati / Associated Press) Though there arent as many women represented at this years Venice Film Festival as she would like, jury president Annette Bening believes things are changing. The four-time Oscar nominee, whose film credits include American Beauty, The Kids Are All Right, 20th Century Women and Bugsy, addressed the lack of female directors Wednesday during the 74th annual Venice Film Festivals opening press conference. (Only one of the 21 films in competition is directed by a woman this year.) As women, we have to be sharp, shrewd and creative in what we choose to make. Sexism does exist and there is no question about it. But things are changing, the actress said at the opening press conference, according to Variety. The more we can make films that speak to everybody, the more we will be regarded as filmmakers, she added. Bening, the first woman to chair the jury in more than a decade, said she knew of both veteran and rookie filmmakers struggling to get their movies made whether they are men or women. She said the industry has a long way to go, in terms of parity but was confident that the direction were going is positive. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print A Star Is Born: Lisa Ling turns 44 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) [People have said to me], When you were in the worlds largest slum [in India], you could almost smell what it was like by your expression.' Its not that Im trying to force myself on the viewer. Im just their eyes and ears. I think our work is quite pure. Lisa Ling, 1997 FROM THE ARCHIVES: Taking news personally Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement In wake of Charlottesville strife, Virginia Film Festival to host director Spike Lee as special guest By Josh Rottenberg Director Spike Lee photographed in 2015. (Ricardo DeAratanha / Los Angeles Times) As the city of Charlottesville, Va., and the nation as a whole continues to grapple with the violent racial strife that erupted earlier this month, the Virginia Film Festival announced on Tuesday that it will host filmmaker Spike Lee as a special guest at the upcoming festival as part of a program around the legacy of slavery. Lee, who has tackled thorny issues of race throughout his career, will present his Oscar-nominated documentary 4 Little Girls about the 1963 bombing of a Baptist church in Birmingham, Ala., that claimed the lives of four African American girls, an act of white supremacist terrorism that marked a pivotal moment in the civil rights movement. We have for many years been interested in bringing Spike Lee to the Virginia Film Festival as he remains one of the most talented, innovative, and socially conscious filmmakers in our world today, said Jody Kielbasa, director of the film festival and vice provost for the arts at the University of Virginia. We first reached out to Mr. Lee in the spring to include him in our upcoming collaboration with Montpelier, and of course, the recent events in Charlottesville have made his participation more compelling, relevant and vital. The festival program will also include a short film titled I Cant Breathe that combines footage of the 2014 chokehold death of Eric Garner during his arrest by a New York City police officer with footage of the death of Radio Raheem under similar circumstances in Lees 1989 film Do the Right Thing. The program is part of a larger collaboration with Montpelier, the Virginia plantation of President James Madison, who owned more than 100 slaves, that will explore both how the legacy of slavery continues to affect the lives of African Americans and how they are depicted in film and other media. The 30th annual Virginia Film Festival will run from Nov. 9 to 12 in Charlottesville. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Jerry Seinfeld recaps childhood in Netflixs first Jerry Before Seinfeld trailer By Nardine Saad The first trailer for Netflixs stand-up special Jerry Before Seinfeld has arrived, and its a madcap recap of Jerry Seinfelds humble beginnings, quirky family dynamics and bits of everyday observations. The teaser opens with Johnny Carson introducing the iconic comic in 1981 during his debut on The Tonight Show. Then it showcases the sitcom star back at the mike at the Comic Strip, the famous New York comedy club where he launched his career. Throwback photos, videos and interviews with Seinfeld are woven throughout. Hes back where he began, the title reads, doing what he loves. The original comedy special is the first of two stand-up specials Seinfeld will deliver in his massive deal with the streaming giant. (The deal also includes the entirety of his Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee catalog and 24 new episodes of the Emmy-nominated talk show, which will launch later this year.) Seinfeld and Netflix teased to the special last week with several clips posted on Instagram and a close-up look at the numerous legal pads scrawled with handwritten jokes hes kept from the 1970s. Jerry Before Seinfeld begins streaming Sept. 19. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Kermit the Frog finds his new voice in Matt Vogel By Nardine Saad The new Kermit the Frog has arrived and hes following his dreams -- literally. New Muppeteer Matt Vogel made his vocal debut as the iconic frog on Monday in a Muppet Thought of the Week video posted on YouTube. Dreams are how we figure out where we want to go. Life is how we get there, he says in the brief clip. Im headed this way. The veteran voice actor has worked on Sesame Street and also operates the Muppets Floyd, Constantine and Sweetums. He is only the third puppeteer to take on Kermit the Frog full time since the character was created in 1955. He replaced former puppeteer Steve Whitmire, who began work on The Muppet Show in 1978 and inherited the role of Kermit when creator Jim Henson died in 1990. Whitmire was dismissed over concerns about his repeated unacceptable business conduct over a period of many years and he consistently failed to address the feedback, the Muppets Studio said at the time. Whitmire claimed he was fired in October 2016 and kept quiet about it until Vogel was announced as his replacement in July. It was his opinionated communication style that earned him his walking papers, he said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Trevor Noah says Trumps pardon of Sheriff Arpaio renders courts powerless By Nardine Saad The Daily Show host Trevor Noah broke down former Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaios presidential pardon on Monday, explaining how President Trumps decision undermines the judicial branch of government. The controversial Maricopa County lawman, who was convicted of criminal contempt of court for violating Latinos rights, earned himself a thuggish reputation as a sheriff, Noah said, citing his agencys use of tent cities, stun guns, jail overcrowding and numerous cases of inmate deaths and police brutality. But those were just his extracurriculars, Noah said. It turns out his full-time job is racism. The 85-year-old Arpaio was found guilty in July of defying a 2011 court order barring officers from stopping and detaining Latino motorists to check their immigration status. As much as Sheriff Arpaio presented himself as anti-illegal immigrants, it turned out really he was just anti being a decent human being, Noah said. When the president of the United States steps in and pardons someones contempt conviction, hes essentially rendering the courts powerless. Daily Show host Trevor Noah His abuses hurt inmates and taxpayers, costing the state $142 million in legal fees, settlements and compliance costs, Noah said. Other things they could have spent that money on? Schools, roads or they could have just paid Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather to just punch Arpaio in the face. But Noah made the point that Trumps decision completely undercut the judiciary. Remember how the three branches of government are supposed to be equal? Well, convicting someone of contempt is the one and only way the judicial branch can put muscle behind its decisions. So when the president of the United States steps in and pardons someones contempt conviction, hes essentially rendering the courts powerless, he said. Watch the full segment above. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch Coldplay dedicate new song to Harvey victims -- and vow never to play it again By Randall Roberts (Jens Meyer / Associated Press) On Monday night in Miami, Coldplays Chris Martin drew attention to the victims of Tropical Storm Harvey by unveiling a new song called Houston -- and then vowed never to play it again. The band, which was forced to cancel its Houston show days earlier due to the storm, wrote the song as the region was enduring historic flooding. After acknowledging that he and the band all grew up loving country music, and, of course, thats kind of what we think of when we go to Texas, Martin asked the crowd to bear with them. This is a new song, and well never play it again, Martin said. Its a once-off. Its called Houston. Were going to sing it in Miami for everybody here and then were going to send it over there to everyone who missed the show. Vowing to return to Houston, Martin and band huddled and tentatively started a twangy little number. Im dreaming of when I get back to Houston, sang Martin, replete with a touch of Johnny Cash-ian twang. Describing it as that city where they send you into space, Martin crooned of Corpus Christi, Harris County, Galveston, of a harmony that hums down there in Houston, and urged the region to keep on keeping on. Merle Haggard it wasnt (and everyones a critic), but the performance drew huge applause from fans and went viral on Tuesday morning. Coldplays quick-turnaround ditty is hardly the first to document such deluges. Johnny Cashs Three Feet High and Rising occurred in real time as a family struggled to keep dry. In Charley Pattons High Water Everywhere, the country blues singer recalled the lives lost in the Great Flood of 1927, which consumed the Mississippi Delta and spawned dozens of songs: Oh, Lordy, women is groaning down / Oh, Lordy, women and children sinking down, Patton sang. I couldnt see nobody home, and was no one to be found. Below is another song about the flood of 27: Bessie Smiths Backwater Blues. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Corinne Olympios on Bachelor in Paradise scandal: I was really a victim of the media By Christie DZurilla (Frazer Harrison / Getty Images) Corinne Olympios says medication, the booze and the media were key players in Junes production-stopping Bachelor in Paradise scandal and its aftermath. Calling the situation just really unfortunate, she said Tuesday on Good Morning America that she doesnt remember anything that happened. Seeing video of what transpired on the first day of production on the looking-for-love reality show was like watching not-me, she said. Im watching someone else. On that day, Olympios and fellow cast member DeMario Jackson allegedly wound up in the pool or hot tub together in a situation that a producer thought went too far. Allegations of misconduct were made, and production shut down the next day for an investigation that ultimately determined nothing untoward had happened. The show, sans Corinne and DeMario, premiered its fourth season Aug. 14, a week later than originally planned. I did drink, too much, I definitely understand that, Olympios said. But I was also on a medication that severely blacks you out and impairs your judgment and messes with your balance, that I didnt know you were not supposed to not drink on, and so it really just caused a horrible, horrible blackout. It was like I went under like anesthesia and then just like woke up. Shes now weaning off the medication, she said, and cutting down on her drinking. But in explaining her provocative official statement that she was a victim living out her worst nightmare, Olympios revealed her specific definition of victimhood, which had little or nothing to do with consent, which was a hot topic throughout the scandal. I was really a victim of the media, Olympios said. It was just, all of a sudden people became an expert on the situation and on what happened, and it was like, Im still trying to figure out exactly what happened. It was just horrible to deal with. It got really, really bad. ..., she added. The things people say are just insane. When the remaining Paradise cast met as a whole on the first episode of the season, their sympathies seemed to lie with Jackson as they worried about the long-term effects the scandal would have on him and any future career opportunities, especially given the lingering racial issues of alleged misconduct between a white woman and a black man. However, they were quick to say they were not slut-shaming Olympios either. Jackson spoke last week on Bachelor in Paradise, sitting down with host Chris Harrison to give his take on what happened. Heres a taste of that, courtesy of GMA: Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Victorias Secret Fashion Show heads to Shanghai this year By Nardine Saad Angels will fly over the Great Wall of China in November as the Victorias Secret Fashion Show heads to Shanghai for the first time. Supermodels Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, Behati Prinsloo, Candice Swanepoel, Lily Aldridge and more will strut their stuff for the annual lingerie extravaganza, Victorias Secret and CBS said in a statement on Tuesday. The iconic pre-holiday show replete with teensy underwear and massive angel wings is usually filmed in New York, but Miami, Los Angeles and London have also hosted the scantily clad runway walk. The broadcast will air on CBS on Nov. 28 and will be shown in more than 190 countries. Models Elsa Hosk, Jasmine Tookes, Josephine Skriver, Lais Ribeiro, Martha Hunt, Romee Strijd, Sara Sampaio, Stella Maxwell and Taylor Hill will also walk in this years show. Musical performers will be announced at a later date, the statement said. Ni hao, China! This year's #VSFashionShow is headed to Shanghai. Watch it Nov 28, 10/9C on @CBS. Learn more: https://t.co/AHWHWjKOCI pic.twitter.com/tgIVJs7Lsr Victoria's Secret (@VictoriasSecret) August 29, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print A Star Is Born: William Friedkin turns 82 today By Los Angeles Times Staff (Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times) I love the experience of making films. I love the mud. I love the dirt. I love all the inconveniences. Thats why you do it. If you do it because youre looking to be the Great American film maker, youre liable to experience disappointment. William Friedkin, 1989 FROM THE ARCHIVES: The Exorcisms of William Friedkin Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Taylor Swifts Look What You Made Me Do video bashes another YouTube record By Randy Lewis Taylor Swifts official video for her first new music in three years, Look What You Made Me Do, has blasted through the existing YouTube record for most views tallied during its first 24 hours of release. The clip logged 43.2 million views since the video was posted Sunday evening. That far surpasses the record set in 2013 by Korean pop star Psys Gentleman, which racked up 36 million views in its first day. It also hasnt slowed interest in Swifts previously released lyric video for the same song, which set a record for lyric video viewership by drawing 19 million views in the first 24 hours. That version has now surpassed 47 million views in less than four days. Both videos have generated flurries of debate and analysis among Swifts fans and her dissenters, the former seemingly outnumbering the latter by a margin of nearly 5 to 1. Likes have surpassed the 1 million mark, while dislikes stood at 232,000 at the 24-hour mark. The song is the first single from her forthcoming album Reputation, due Nov. 10. It will be Swifts sixth studio album. Each of her last three albums sold more than 1 million copies during the first week of release. Swift is the only artist with that achievement to her credit. Update Aug. 29, 10:30 a.m.: This post has been updated with the finalized 24-hour viewer total. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Watch the Game of Thrones cast and crew break down some of Season 7s best scenes By Tracy Brown Game of Thrones Season 7 may have concluded Sunday, but there is still plenty left for fans to unpack before Thrones"-withdrawal sets in. Along with all the burning questions left in the wake of the season finale, HBO has left us with some behind-the-scenes videos from this seasons most epic moments. The production magic of Game of Thrones is undeniable and it extends to beyond special effects dragons. From Arya donning Walder Freys face to dole out her brand of vengeance to Daenerys walking into Dragonstone for the first time, there is plenty to explore from just the first episode alone. The video above dives deep into what it took to craft the Season 7 premiere, including how Cerseis fancy new giant map came to be. Of course, plenty of fans are probably still contemplating the latest episode and what Jon and Danys new level of intimacy means going into the final season. Can this be how the actual prince that was promised is conceived? And if you were a bit squicked out by the pairs developing relationship, youre not alone. Unlike Jon and Daenerys, Emilia Clarke and Kit Harington are definitely aware that they are both Targaryens. For us as actors its just weird, said Clarke in a video about the coupling. The reality of what they are to each other. In fact, the actors had more facial expressions and sound effects to convey their feelings about this union than words. Watch in the video below. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Ed Skrein leaves Hellboy after whitewashing furor By Christie DZurilla (Jordan Strauss / Associated Press) Ed Skrein will not play Maj. Ben Daimio in a reboot of Hellboy, the English actor said Monday, noting that when he accepted the role he didnt know that in the comics the character was of mixed Asian descent. Just a week ago, Skrein had tweeted his excitement over taking on the role. Backlash in the form of whitewashing allegations ensued. It is clear that representing this character in a culturally accurate way holds significance for people, and that to neglect this responsibility would continue a worrying tendency to obscure ethnic minority stories and voices in the Arts, the 34-year-old Deadpool actor said in a statement announcing that he had changed his mind about portraying Daimio. Calling it a moral decision, he said he was sad to leave the movie but hoped his action would make a difference in making equal representation in the arts a reality. David Harbour, the Stranger Things actor slated to play Hellboy, tweeted, Hey internet. Thank you for your voices. An injustice was done and will be corrected. Many thanks to @edskrein for doing what is right. Mike Mignola, who created the Hellboy comics, also thanked Skrein on Monday and said the move was very nicely done. Hey internet. Thank you for your voices. An injustice was done and will be corrected. Many thanks to @edskrein for doing what is right. https://t.co/tUvP6YibgG David Harbour (@DavidKHarbour) August 28, 2017 In addition to Harbour, the 2018 version of the story so far stars Milla Jovovich as Nimue, Ian McShane as Professor Broom and Alice Monaghan as Sasha Lane, according to IMDb. Neil Marshall, who among other things has helmed episodes of Game of Thrones and Westworld, is set to direct. The Daimio character didnt appear in the 2004 or 2008 Guillermo del Toro films based on the Hellboy comics. Heres Skreins full explanation: pic.twitter.com/8WoSsHXDFO Ed Skrein (@edskrein) August 28, 2017 Updated, 2:39 p.m.: This story was updated with comments from Harbour and Mignola. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper are super-friends no more By Libby Hill Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin (Rob Kim / Getty Images) What began as a tasteless joke at the expense of President Trump continues to have real-life consequences for comedian Kathy Griffin. In an extensive interview with The Cut, Griffin admitted that her 17-year friendship with Anderson Cooper, with whom she co-hosted CNNs New Years Eve gig for a decade, ended in the wake of the Trump controversy. In May, Griffin publicized a photo shoot that featured her holding a bloodied imitation severed head bearing a strong resemblance to the president. The backlash was immediate and largely bipartisan, as many saw the images as glorifying violence and furthering political division. Griffin quickly apologized for the misstep but the damage had been done, with condemnation from the White House, investigation by the Secret Service and the loss of several jobs, including her CNN gig. On May 30, Cooper tweeted his disapproval of Griffins artistic expression, calling it disgusting and completely inappropriate, and Griffin admitted at a June 2 news conference that Coopers comments hurt her. For the record, I am appalled by the photo shoot Kathy Griffin took part in. It is clearly disgusting and completely inappropriate. Anderson Cooper (@andersoncooper) May 31, 2017 In July, Cooper appeared on Bravos Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen and stated that he and Griffin were still friends. Yeah, were still friends, and look I said what I said about I didnt think what she said was appropriate, but I wish her the best and I hope she bounces back, he stated. But Griffin claimed that at that point, nearly two months after the fact, she had yet to hear from Cooper privately. In reality, it wasnt until Aug. 10 that Cooper finally reached out to Griffin in a series of text messages, CNN confirmed to The Cut at which point Griffin informed him that their friendship was over. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print In One Mississippi Season 2 trailer, Tig Notaro prays for the gay to stay By Christie DZurilla Tig Notaros One Mississippi is coming back for a second season, one in which her character is getting used to life back in her small Mississippi hometown. Season 1 of the Amazon Prime Video series took viewers through a fictionalized series of events that echoed Notaros own life: a potentially deadly intestinal illness, breast cancer, a double mastectomy, the unexpected death of her beloved mother and a romantic breakup. Yup, its a dark comedy. In Season 2, L.A. transplant Tig is navigating her new environs, including strategizing about how to proceed with a crush on Straight Kate and dealing with some well-meaning, pray-the-gay-away critics of her radio show. Plus, theres her stepfathers whole dishwasher drill to contend with, not to mention the story line that has to do with sexual assault. The new season of One Mississippi starts streaming Sept. 8. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Watch Frank Oceans lyric video for new song Provider By Randall Roberts As is his wont these days, R&B superstar Frank Ocean unveiled a new song, Provider, his own way: during the newest installment of Blonded Radio, the Apple Music/Beats 1 radio show he hosts and curates. The ballads a meditation that name-checks Aphex Twin, shoegaze, Talking Heads, Jaws, Patagonia sportswear and Stanley Kubrick, and moves through verses without much regard for structure. Immediately following the Sunday premiere, Ocean dropped the lyric video on his website. Featuring a souped-up mini-boombox retrofitted with bigger speaker cones and a Velcro-attached machete, the clip suggests an owner getting ready to hunt prey while using Provider as the lure. Ocean hasnt uploaded the clip to YouTube, but you can listen and watch on his blonded.co website. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Gone With the Wind, deemed insensitive, has been pulled from a Memphis theater By Christie DZurilla Gone With the Wind will not be shown in the future by a Tennessee theater that decided it was insensitive to many in the local community. The 1939 movie, which marked the first Oscar win by a black actor, depicts a romanticized view of slavery and life on a Southern plantation before, during and after the Civil War. Gone With the Wind, which won 10 Academy Awards in 1940, including for best picture, had been shown by the Orpheum Theatre Group for years as part of an annual Summer Movie Series, according to Memphis Commercial-Appeal. At times, it was screened more than once a year, the paper said. This year, however, a different climate prevailed. The recent screening of Gone With the Wind at the Orpheum on Friday, Aug. 11, 2017, generated numerous comments, Brett Batterson, president of the theater group, said Friday in a statement (via the New York Times). The Orpheum carefully reviewed all of them. As an organization whose stated mission is to entertain, educate and enlighten the communities it serves, the Orpheum cannot show a film that is insensitive to a large segment of its local population. The majority of Memphis residents are black, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The screening happened, coincidentally, on the day before a rally of white nationalists that turned violent in Charlottesville, Va. a rally that has been followed by a national conversation about whether to purge monuments to Civil War generals and soldiers from public spaces. In an interview with the Commercial-Appeal, Batterson said the appropriateness of screening Gone With the Wind had been discussed every year, but the social media storm this year really brought it home. By Monday, comments on social media, including on the Facebook post announcing the screening, had shifted in large part to defense of Gone With the Wind as a product of its time that, despite its romanticized portrayal of the Old South and of slavery, was still part of movie history and worth showing on a big screen. The Orpheum did not respond Monday to The Times requests for comment. Hattie McDaniels Oscar win for supporting actress was a significant first but was also loaded with a lot of political and racial issues given that the film was the classic archetype of the Mammy, said Adilifu Nama, associate professor of African American Studies at Loyola Marymount University, speaking to The Times in 2014. McDaniels role of Mammy is fundamentally a subservient role and is part of a film that is a Southern racial fantasy, Nama said. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Taylor Swift gets petty and Pink talks pretty in the must-see moments from MTVs Video Music Awards By Libby Hill Were you too busy watching [spoiler] revealed as [spoiler] on Sunday nights Game of Thrones finale to watch MTVs Video Music Awards? Fear not! Weve gathered up four must-see moments from the socially conscious affair (and one lackluster video debut from Taylor Swift) to keep you in the loop. Pinks PowerPoint presentation It was a banner night for singer Pink, who received the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award for her body of work and used the occasion to share an anecdote about her daughter Willow. Recently, Pink stated, her daughter referred to herself as the ugliest person she knew and complained that she looked like a boy with long hair. At first, the Raise Your Glass singer was taken aback by her daughters words but soon swung into action, compiling an elaborate PowerPoint presentation about the history of androgynous rock stars, including Michael Jackson, David Bowie and Annie Lennox. Pink relayed a simple sentiment that most of us could learn a lot from: So, baby, girl, we dont change. We take the gravel and the shell and we make a pearl. Logic talks emotions Plenty of artists used the VMAs stage to speak passionately about issues they care about, but few did so as extensively as rapper Logic. After his performance of 1-800-273-8255" with Khalid and Alessia Cara, the title of which is the phone number of the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Logic talked about mental health and equality. Beginning at 3:50 in the above video, Logic first thanked the audience for giving him a platform to discuss the important issue of mental health. He then quickly pivoted to other pressing social issues including discrimination, sexism and domestic violence. I dont give a damn if youre black, white or any color in between, Logic said. I dont care if youre Christian, youre Muslim, youre gay, youre straight, I am gonna fight for your equality because I believe that we are all born equal, but we are not treated equally and that is why we must fight. Jared Leto honors Chester Bennington Logics performance and subsequent speech were particularly moving given the past years loss of two rock musicians to suicide Linkin Parks Chester Bennington and Soundgardens Chris Cornell. Jared Leto, an Academy Award winner and frontman of Thirty Seconds to Mars, spoke about both men at Sundays ceremony. MTV asked me to come here to say a few words about Chester and the late, great, Chris Cornell, two artists I had the absolute pleasure of touring with, Leto said of the two singers who were also close friends. Chester said of Chris, Your voice was joy and pain and anger and forgiveness, love and heartache, all wrapped up into one, Leto recalled. Leto also recounted his own memories of Bennington. I think about his heart, Leto said. And I remember his voice. At once ferocious and delicate, that voice will live forever. Fifth Harmony gets shady Despite the pleas for equality and the heartfelt speeches, there was still plenty of time for pettiness at the VMAs, as evidenced by Fifth Harmonys performance. As the group took the stage to perform its latest single, Angel, a mystery fifth member appeared in the lineup before being unceremoniously yanked offstage as the song began. What appeared as an inexplicable stunt to the uninitiated was likely a shady reference to former Fifth Harmony frontwoman Camila Cabello, who exited the group in December to pursue a solo career. It wasnt so much that Cabellos departure stung her former colleagues but that she reportedly failed to inform them of her decision before announcing it to the world. Oops. Also Taylor Swift Unless you were in a coma for the whole of last week, you probably heard that Taylor Swift announced the release date for her upcoming album, Reputation, as well as releasing the first single, Look What You Made Me Do. Its fine. Sunday night, Swift debuted the video for Look What You Made Me Do. It is also fine. This has been your daily Taylor Swift update. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Kevin Hart, Beyonce and Drake lead charge for Hurricane Harvey flood relief By Nardine Saad (Liz O. Baylen / Los Angeles Times) As Harvey lashed southeastern Texas over the weekend, celebrities rallied for the relief effort. Comedian Kevin Hart led the charge Sunday night, donating $25,000 and challenging his celebrity friends to donate to the Red Cross amid catastrophic flooding in the Lone Star State. I think weve participated in a lot of challenges on the Internet, some meaningful, some meaningless, but weve all done them. Ive been a person thats partaken in several of them, Hart said in an Instagram video. At this point, this is a serious matter, he continued. I think the people are in bad shape and they need help. Im going to lead the charge and step up in this way. The Jumanji star called on his co-star Dwayne Johnson, comics Steve Harvey, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle and Jerry Seinfeld, as well as musicians Jay-Z, Beyonce and Justin Timberlake to make donations and tag someone else to do the same. At that point, Houston native Beyonce and Kelly Rowland of Destinys Child had already posted notes about their hometown on Instagram, sending thoughts and prayers to the state that launched their careers. View Instagram post View Instagram post The deluge of support continued with country star Chris Young. The Man I Want to Be singer posted an emotional YouTube video about his certainty that his Texas home was destroyed and concern for his friends and family in the state. He donated $100,000 to relief efforts to a GoFundMe campaign to benefit the Red Cross. Harvey, one of the worst natural disasters in the states history, slammed onshore Friday as a Category 4 hurricane, then weakened to a tropical storm on Saturday, dropping up to 24 inches of rain on Houston in 24 hours. The National Weather Service reported that at least five people had died as of Sunday evening, but that number was expected to increase as the floodwaters recede. More than 30,000 people across the Gulf Coast are likely to seek temporary shelter as the tropical storm continues to drench southeastern Texas and Louisiana with heavy rains and surging floodwaters, The Times reported. Toronto native Drake, who has lived in Houston for the last eight years, said that he and DJ Future the Prince are working with local relief groups to aid and assist the people of Texas in anyway we can and in the most immediate way possible. I also want to thank all the men and women of service and volunteers for their courageous efforts to help people in need, the rapper said on Instagram. I encourage everyone to do what they can to assist the people of Texas knowing whatever effort you can make to help will go a long way. View Instagram post Also, during the MTV Video Music Awards Awards on Sunday, host Katy Perry touched upon the catastrophic event. She too urged viewers to donate to the Red Cross. All of us here at the VMAs are sending love to the people of southeastern Texas and everyone affected by Hurricane Harvey right now, Perry said onstage. Were praying for your safety in the days to come and we stand with you as you rebuild because were all in this together. According to the Houston Chronicle, more than 15 inches of rain could fall on several more southeastern Texas cities. Corpus Christi, where Harvey first made landfall, saw upward of 20 inches of rain in two days. By Monday morning, up to 40 inches of rain had fallen on northeast Houston. Another 20 inches were expected Monday before Tropical Storm Harvey travels farther east. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Susan Bro, mother of slain Charlottesville protester Heather Heyer, announces anti-hate foundation at the MTV VMAs By Randall Roberts (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP) During an evening filled with defiant messages against racism, homophobia and body shaming, the mother of Heather Heyer announced some concrete actions to further the cause. Susan Bro, whose daughter was killed two weeks ago during protests in Charlottesville, Va., has worked through her grief by speaking out against racism, and took a further step by creating the Heather Heyer Foundation. Describing it as a nonprofit organization that will provide scholarships to help more people to join Heathers fight against hatred, Bro requested that viewers visit the new site to help me make Heathers death count. Added Bro: Heather never marched alone. She was always joined by people from every race and every background in this country. Bro was introduced by Robert Lee IV -- a descendant of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee -- who said his ancestor has became of idol of white supremacy and hate. Lee went on to describe racism as Americas original sin. He went on to ask all of those with privilege to confront white supremacy and racism head-on. Watch his speech below. I call on all of us with privilege and power to confront racism and white supremacy head-on" - Robert Lee IV #VMAs pic.twitter.com/ko4SM9VnaU MTV (@MTV) August 28, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch Pinks inspiring MTV VMA speech to individuality By Randall Roberts In receiving her Video Vanguard award at the MTV VMAs on Sunday at the Forum -- the shows equivalent of a lifetime achievement trophy -- the pop star Pink told a story about a conversation shed recently had with her young daughter. They were driving to school and her daughter said, Mama, Im the ugliest girl I know. Pink replied, Huh? And she was like, Yeah, I look like a boy with long hair. Pink said that she immediately thought, My god, youre 6. Where is this coming from? The artist and mom didnt lecture her daughter. Instead, said Pink: I went home and made a PowerPoint presentation for her, and in that presentation were androgynous rock stars and artists that live their truth; are probably made fun of every day of their lives and carry on and wave their flag; and inspire the rest of us. These are artists like Michael Jackson and David Bowie and Freddie Mercury and Annie Lennox and Prince and Janis Joplin and George Michael, Elton John, so many artists. Pink said that her daughters eyes glazed over, but Pink pressed her about why she felt that way about herself. What do you think I look like? She said, Youre beautiful. The pop singer explained that she gets critiqued, too. They say I look like a boy or Im too masculine or Im too -- I have too many opinions. My body is too strong. I said to her, Do you see me growing my hair? She said No Mama. I said, Do you see me changing my body? She said, No Mama. Do you see me changing the way I present myself to the world? No Mama. Do you see me selling out arenas all over the world. Yes Mama. OK baby girl. We dont change. We take the gravel and the shell and we make a pearl. And we help other people to change so that they can see more kinds of beauty. Added Pink in closing: To all the artists here, Im so inspired by you. Thank you for being your true selves and for lighting the way for us. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch Jared Leto offer touching tribute to Chris Cornell and Chester Bennington at the MTV VMAs By Randall Roberts In a moving tribute to two fallen musicians, the actor and musician Jared Leto honored the lives of Chris Cornell of Soundgarden and Chester Bennington of Linkin Park at the MTV VMAs on Sunday. Cornell and Bennington committed suicide in 2017, and Leto was friends with both. In 1976 in Phoenix, Ariz., a child was born. He was precocious, full of life, and determined, and grew up to become the singer of one of the greatest rock bands in the history of music, Leto said. His name was Chester Bennington, and the band is Linkin Park. Leto added that MTV asked him to say a few words about Bennington and Cornell, who he described as two artists that I had the absolute pleasure of touring with. They were close friends with one another -- Chester even singing the cover of the classic Hallelujah at Chris funeral. Recalling Benningtons words at Cornells funeral service, Leto said: Chester said of Chris, Your voice was joy and pain and anger and forgiveness, love and heartache all wrapped up into one. Just weeks later, Chester himself was gone. Chester was my friend. As he was to so many. Witnessing his life taught me important things -- especially about working relentlessly, pursuing dreams and being kind and caring while doing it. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Kodak Black, Lil Uzi Vert and more steal the MTV VMA spotlight By Gerrick Kennedy Kodak Black arriving at the MTV VMAs. (Jordan Strauss / Invision / Associated Press) The line near a concession stand inside the Forum minutes before the MTV VMAs kicked off on Sunday was lengthy, but no one was waiting on food or drinks. Instead, a dozen or so folks waited patiently to get a selfie with Kodak Black, who high-fived and posed with as fans fumbled with smartphones. The VMAs are typically rife with heavyweights (Kendrick Lamar, Katy Perry, etc.) but this years ceremony looked to tap into the wide scene of rising acts that have been dominating streaming services and social media all summer. Before the telecast even began Lil Uzi Vert clinched a major win, taking the trophy for song of summer for XO Tour Llif3" and he later joined Ed Sheeran for the tune, no doubt the nights most surprising collaboration. Meanwhile, Khalids pre-show medley could have easily anchored the main show while reality star turned breakout rap sensation Cardi B was another highlight of the pre-show festivities. Her viral hit Bodak Yellow rattled throughout the Forum during nearly every commercial break. Fifth Harmony later made its debut at the VMAs with an explosive main stage performance of Down, a song that also won the award for pop video. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Jack Antonoff is living his best life at the MTV VMAs By Mikael Wood Jack Antonoff performs onstage during the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards pre-show. (Joshua Blanchard / Getty Images) Has anyone at MTVs Video Music Awards had more screen time so far than Jack Antonoff? First the A-list producer and songwriter turned up on the nights pre-show ceremony for a performance with his band Bleachers. Then he introduced Lorde by noting that hed seen her eat gas-station sushi during the two years they spent together working on her album Melodrama. He also accepted the award for best collaboration for Taylor Swift and Zayns I Dont Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker), which he helped create because the singers couldnt be there. But Antonoffs best moment? Obviously the candid reaction shot in which he was shown casually eating a banana, as his girlfriend, Lena Dunham, described it on Twitter. My boyfriend just casually eating a banana at the VMAs is a good reminder of why we've been at it half a decade Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) August 28, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Watch Taylor Swifts bold Look What You Made Me Do video, which premiered during the MTV VMAs By Randall Roberts Taylor Swifts new video for Look What You Made Me Do, which premiered during the 2017 MTV VMAs on Sunday night, features her dressed as a zombie, a diamond-drenched queen, a red-dressed seductress, a car-crash victim, a bird in a cage, a kitty-masked thief with a baseball bat, a biker chick wearing studded leather and a whip-snapping dominatrix. As she poses and pretends, Swift makes a not-so-veiled reference to her ongoing feud with Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, getting all combative behind the microphone as a feather-light melody jumps behind her. The video premiered during a ceremony hosted by pop star and avowed Swift nemesis Katy Perry. Perry didnt introduce the clip, a hint that the two probably still arent besties. Inside the Forum, the video premiered on multiple big screen TVs rose that from the stage, and Perry was nowhere in sight. As the clip seems to be winding down, the music fades. But Swift hasnt fully made her point. In its final moments arrive a dozen-odd versions of Swift standing in front of a black private jet with the name of her new album, Reputation, scrawled on it. The many Swifts start bickering and referencing the various criticisms that have been lobbied at her over the years. Stop making that face, its so annoying, the zombie Swift says, a nod to what some believe is the exaggerated excitement the artist shows when she wins awards. A young version of Swift interrupts with an innocent Yall! but is shot down by an embittered Swift: Oh stop acting like youre so nice. Youre so fake! Standing in the center of the line is Swift seemingly dressed as she was at the 2009 VMAs, when West interrupted her victory speech to decry Beyonce's loss. Holding her VMA trophy, she says, Id like very much to be excluded from this narrative, both a nod to to the musical Hamilton and a repeat of a phrase Swift posted on social media in wake of controversy resulting from Wests song Famous. In that 2016 tune, he he boasted that I made that [profanity] famous and, therefore, that he and Swift might still have sex. The other Swifts reply in unison: Oh shut up! Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Kendrick Lamar opens 2017 VMAs with fiery performances of DNA and Humble By Randall Roberts Wearing a red scarf on his head and a poofy winter coat onstage, Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar opened the 2017 MTV VMAs needing neither. Within a few minutes of launching with DNA a dancer center stage burst into flames. You could almost feel the heat simmering through the screen. I was born like this, since one like this, Lamar rapped. Immaculate conception/I transform like this, perform like this. Perform he did, moving into a second track, Humble, from his recent album Damn. Shedding the coat, he stood in front of a fiery backdrop grid that burned as dancers scaled it. As they did so, Lamar rapped, My left stroke just went viral/Right stroke put lil baby in a spiral. It was the opening shot of a VMAs in which politics and protest may end up taking center stage. Indeed, moments later presenter Paris Jackson drew a rousing applause when she denounced the racism and hatred propogated by white supremacists and neo-Nazis. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Heidi Klum, Jack Antonoff and others stand in support of transgender military service members at VMAs By Randall Roberts View Instagram post As the 2017 Video Music Awards were approaching, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) was out in full force at the Forum. Its president and CEO, Sarah Kate Ellis, walked the red carpet along with her invited guests: six transgender members of the military. The action came in the wake of President Donald Trumps direction to the Pentagon on Friday, as reported in The Times, to return to the long-standing policy and practice barring military service by transgender individuals. Praising MTV as a pioneering advocate for the LGBTQ community, Ellis said in a statement, Throughout all the tweets, memos, and speculation, brave transgender Americans are still serving their country and defending the freedoms of this nation while meeting the same rigorous standards of their peers. We are proud to stand with them. Posing in support: musicians and celebrities including Jack Antonoff (Bleachers), supermodel Heidi Klum, actor-comedian Billy Eichner and others, who stood alongside transgender service members including Jennifer Peace, Logan Ireland, Sterling James Crutcher and Akira Wyatt, as well as trans veterans Laila Ireland and Brynn Tannehil. Also joining them was LGBTQ philanthropist August Getty, who in his other life is a fashion designer responsible for Miley Cyruss red carpet dress. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print MTV VMAs return to Southern California with an overwhelmingly impressive setup By Gerrick Kennedy Cardi B performing at the pre-show for the MTV VMAs. (Chris Pizzello / Invision / Associated Press) After heading to the East Coast last year, the MTV VMAs have returned to Southern California. And tonight at the Forum in Inglewood, it was clear that the network decided to go big huge really. Upon arrival to the venue it appeared that the scale of this years show was unlike anything MTV had done in recent history. A structure that looked like a space shuttle swallowed the lot in front of the venue, and stars such as Cardi B and Big Freedia could be seen pumping through the red carpet (its a deep shade of blue this year). Inside the Forum, the stage took up the entirety of the venues ground floor. The imprint of the stage was impressive, even overwhelming in size as a maze of catwalks and secondary stages traced the floor, all of which was outlined by hundreds of glowing triangles and projection screens. It made for a futuristic playground of geometric glowing shapes that show opener Kendrick Lamar put to use immediately as he emerged from the center of the venue for the explosive DNA, strutting through half of the venue before making it to the main stage. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Taylor Swift breaks YouTube record with Look What You Made Me Do video By Randy Lewis Taylor Swift set a YouTube record with the lyric video for her new single Look What You Made Me Do, tallying 19 million views in just the first 24 hours. Thats more than double the previous first-day record for a lyric video, which was set in February by the lyric video for the Chainsmokers Something Just Like This featuring Coldplay, which registered 9 million views upon its release. Its also the best 24-hour figure Swift has logged, besting the first-day result for her 2015 official video for Bad Blood, which attracted 17 million views, and has since totaled more than 1.1 billion views. As of Sunday morning, the tally for Look What You Made Me Do had surpassed 35 million. It sets the stage for the premiere tonight of Swifts official video for the new single, which will be introduced during the MTV Video Music Awards Ceremony, taking place at the Forum in Inglewood. The overall record for viewership in the first 24 hours for any music video belongs to Adele, who registered 27.7 million views in 2015 at the premiere of the official video for her song Hello. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Why William Friedkin called Tobe Hoopers Texas Chain Saw Massacre an Umami Burger of a movie By Mark Olsen Director Tobe Hooper, who died in Los Angeles on Saturday at age 74, created many movies and TV shows during his long career including stepping to helm the filming of Poltergeist when Steven Spielberg was contractually banned from directing other films during the production of ET: The Extra Terrestrial. Hoopers most admired film, of course, was 1974s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. In 2014, on the occasion of the films 40th anniversary, The Exorcist director William Friedkin interviewed Hooper before an overflow audience at Los Angeles Vista theater. During the engaging conversation, Friedkin called Hooper one of the sweetest, nicest guys Ive ever known. And then added, So I often wonder where this stuff comes from. Hooper talked about purposely pitting his actors against each other to keep the on-screen tension high, how an unlikely pair of albums Elton Johns Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Lou Reeds Berlin inspired him during the writing of the screenplay, and about how damn strong women are, referring to the resilent character played by Marilyn Burns. Shes just not going to die. At one point, Friedkin provocatively asked, Do you think this is a work of art? Hooper first asked, Should I be modest? before responding with a salty confirmation, Its a ... work of art. The Times Mark Olsen was there for the interview. At the end of his article, theres this affirmation of the film from Friedkin: No 3-D, no CGI, welcome to this Umami Burger of a movie. Read on to find his reasoning. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Cinefamily suspends all activities in wake of sexual misconduct allegations By Sonaiya Kelley The Cinefamily on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles. (Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times) Following the resignations Tuesday of two leadership figures at Cinefamily, the Los Angeles independent film venue has announced that it is temporarily suspending all activities to allow for the investigation and necessary restructure of management and the board. Recently, claims were made alleging improper behavior by one of more members of the organization, reads a release posted on the organizations website and social media pages. The Board of Directors of The Cinefamily has no tolerance for any form of behavior that does not conform to the high standards demanded by our members and staff and that of common human decency. The letter also says that Cinefamily is bringing on an independent third party, Giles Miller at Lynx Insights & Investigations, to conduct a thorough investigation into the allegations. View Twitter post A spokesperson for the theater could not immediately be reached for comment. The announcement comes in the wake of two high profile exits: co-founder and executive creative director, Hadrian Belove, and vice president of its board of directors, Shadie Elnashai, resigned on Tuesday following allegations of sexual misconduct. The exits were announced in postings on Cinefamilys social media accounts. In light of recent events, Shadie Elnashai has resigned from Cinefamilys Board of Directors and Hadrian Belove has resigned as the Executive Creative Director of Cinefamily, read the statement. Addressing the anonymous allegations in a post to his personal Facebook account following his resignation, Belove described the emails contents as demonstrable lies and half-truths, and allegations without known victims. It is not clear whether screenings currently scheduled will still run, and there has been grumbling by monthly billed members as to whether or not automated charges will be suspended or cancelled. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print The Texas Chain Saw Massacre director Tobe Hooper dies in Los Angeles at 74 By Associated Press Tobe Hooper, the horror-movie pioneer whose low-budget sensation The Texas Chain Saw Massacre took a buzz saw to audiences with its brutally frightful vision, has died. He was 74. The Los Angeles County coroners office says Hooper died Saturday in Sherman Oaks. It was reported as a natural death. Hooper and contemporaries like George Romero crafted some of the scariest nightmares that ever haunted moviegoers. He directed 1982s Poltergeist from a script by Steven Spielberg and was behind the 1979 miniseries Salems Lot, based on the Stephen King novel. Read More Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Is Taylor Swift trying to turn off her listeners? By Mikael Wood We can skip the rundown of Taylor Swifts feud with Kanye West, right? Less than 24 hours after the worlds biggest pop star unleashed her new single on a waiting commentariat, Im already exhausted by the idea of having to read (let alone write) yet another rehash of this deeply tiresome conflict. But you know whos not over it? Taylor Swift. In Look What You Made Me Do released online Thursday night as the lead single from a new album, Reputation, due in November the singer sounds positively fired up as she takes whack after brutal whack at the rapper who once interrupted her at an awards show. (Swift doesnt name West, to be clear, but with her reference to a tilted stage, she doesnt need to.) I dont like your perfect crime / How you laugh when you lie, she seethes over a throbbing electronic groove, You said the gun was mine / Isnt cool no, I dont like you. Later in the tune, which Swift created with Jack Antonoff, she pretends to answer a phone call from someone evidently looking for the old Taylor the sucker, you presume, who mightve let bygones be bygones. But she cant come to the phone, Swift tells the caller. Why? she adds. Oh, cause shes dead. Whats surprising about Look What You Made Me Do beyond the harsh industrial production that makes it feel like Swifts response to her enemys Yeezus is that it suggests the singer no longer cares (or is no longer able to tell) what pop fans want. Swift rose to superstardom by anticipating listeners desires; she knew just when to pivot from acoustic guitars to sleek synthesizers, from the fairy-tale romance of early hits like Love Story to the more grown-up depiction found on her last album, 2014s smash 1989. On tour behind that record, she spent a good portion of her show every night telling the members of her audience how closely shed been paying attention to them. But dredging up Taylor v. Kanye again? I mean, I cant be the only one whos sick of this topic something Swift wouldve known a few years ago without even having to think about it. OK, so she hardly lacks for company among A-listers eager to cook expired beef. Earlier this summer Katy Perry revived her ancient tussle with Swift I believe it had something to do with backup dancers? for Swish Swish. But Perrys song takes delight in its own pettiness, whereas Look What You Made Me Do just makes me think of President Trump whining endlessly about fake news. (Crediting Right Said Fred for the songs supposed debt to Im Too Sexy is funny in writing, but the inspiration adds little humor to the dour music.) Maybe Swift isnt aiming for me, though. Maybe this polarizing song is meant to galvanize her base which, sure enough, is rhapsodizing about the track on social media even at the expense of the wider world shes dominated for much of the last decade. If thats her play, its a wild one, especially coming after her powerful testimony during the recent trial regarding her alleged sexual assault at the hands of a Denver radio DJ. In court, Swift appeared driven to speak with a voice loud enough for others. Now, just days later, she seems uninterested in that job. Have we ever seen a pop star so happily give up a portion of her following? Thats an idea Im not tired of considering. Maybe Reputation will take it up. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Concerts by Coldplay, other acts canceled as Hurricane Harvey nears Texas By August Brown Coldplay performs at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena in 2016. (Michael Owen Baker / For The Times) As the potentially devastating Hurricane Harvey approaches the Texas coast, major acts including Coldplay, Lady Antebellum and Mary J. Blige have canceled or rescheduled their Houston-area concerts. Coldplay on Friday postponed a show scheduled for NRG Stadium in Houston. We really wanted to play tonight, but sitting here all together watching the news about the storm, we feel that we cant ask anyone to put their safety at risk. So, sadly, we will have to postpone, the band wrote. Live Nation Houston said ticket-holders would be updated when there was further information. We urge all fans in the area to stay safe, it said. A makeup date has not yet been scheduled. The country trio Lady Antebellum canceled its Sunday show at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in the Woodlands, citing the storm. Blige postponed her Friday show at the Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land. The venue announced that the concert had been rescheduled to Sept. 19. The Category 3 storm, which would be the first major hurricane to hit the United States since 2005, is expected to make landfall in coastal Texas on Saturday morning, bringing 100-mph winds and up to 35 inches of rain in some areas. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Bachelor couple Nick Viall and Vanessa Grimaldi break off their engagement By Christie DZurilla (Leon Bennett / Getty Images) Nick Viall and Vanessa Grimaldi, who got engaged on the most recent season of The Bachelor, have with a great amount of heartbreak called the whole thing off. We gave this relationship our all and we are saddened that we did not get the fairytale ending we hoped for, they said Friday in a statement to E! News. The relationship lasted five months after the proposal aired on the Season 21 finale of The Bachelor in March. The two said in their statement that theyre parting with love and admiration for one another. The silver lining to what they called a difficult decision? This means Nick is potentially available for yet another TV stint in the Bachelor/Bachelorette franchise. That as-yet-imaginary gig would be his fifth ride on the looking-for-love roller coaster. In Bachelor Nation, its always good to dream. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher settle lawsuit over websites photos of their kids By Nardine Saad (Michael Nelson / EPA) Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis legal battle with British website MailOnline has been settled. The Two and a Half Men actor, the Bad Moms actress and the outlet have reached a satisfactory resolution of their legal action regarding the publication of photos of their children, their legal representatives said in a joint statement to The Times on Friday. The couple, who starred in That 70s Show together years before they began dating, took the websites publisher, Associated Newspapers, to Londons High Court in July 2015 over two articles featuring their daughter, who was 1 at the time. The U.K.'s MailOnline.com published images of Wyatt taken during a private family outing to the beach. A paparazzo used a long-lens camera to obtain the images, and the couple said they were unaware the photos were being taken. They claimed that the photos breached the Data Protection Act and were used for the unauthorized promotion of clothing on the website. [T]hey have reached a satisfactory resolution of their legal action, which includes an agreement to pixelate photographs of their daughter, Wyatt, their son, Dimitri, and any future children they should have together. Joint statement from Kutcher, Kunis and the MailOnline announcing their lawsuit settlement Per the agreement announced Friday, the outlet will pixelate photographs of Kutchers and Kunis daughter, Wyatt, their son, Dimitri, and any future children they should have together. The settlement is the latest legal blow to MailOnline and its associated newspaper, the Daily Mail. (The U.S. version of the website, DailyMail.com, is run by a separate news team.) In April, the tabloids parent company settled a libel suit with First Lady Melania Trump over an article it ran in the paper and online that suggested she may have once worked as an escort. In July 2014, George Clooney lambasted the Daily Mail in a USA Today op-ed that accused it of making up stories in the wake of an article it published about his mother-in-law. He got an apology and an acknowledgement that the story was inaccurate. That same month, Angelina Jolie reportedly threatened to take legal action after it published a video that claimed to show her under the influence of heroin in the 1990s. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Taylor Swifts Look What You Made Me Do lyrics: Let the analysis begin By Randy Lewis As if there were any doubt as to the level of interest in Taylor Swifts first new music in three years, her first single from her forthcoming album, Reputation, has been blowing up since it premiered Thursday night. The lyric video for Look What You Made Me Do had logged more than 7 million views as of 9:30 a.m. Friday. Additionally, Swift tweeted that the official video for the song will premiere Sunday during the MTV Video Music Awards ceremony. For those who want to dig in and attempt to decode what and to whom the I dont like you references might refer, here are the full lyrics to the song: Look What You Made Me Do FIRST VERSE I dont like your little games Dont like your tilted stage The role you made me play Of the fool, no, I dont like you I dont like your perfect crime How you laugh when you lie You said the gun was mine Isnt cool, no, I dont like you PRE-CHORUS But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time Ive got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined I check it once, then I check it twice, oh! CHORUS Ooh, look what you made me do Look what you made me do Look what you just made me do Look what you just made me do Ooh, look what you made me do Look What you made me do Look what you just made me do Look what you just made me do SECOND VERSE I dont like your kingdom keys They once belonged to me You ask for a place to sleep Locked me out and threw a feast (what?) The world goes on, another day, another drama, drama But not for me, not for me, all I think about is karma And then the world moves on, but one things for sure Baby, I got mine, but youll all get yours PRE CHORUS REPEATS But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time Ive got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined I check it once, then I check it twice, oh! CHORUS REPEATS Ooh, look what you made me do Look what you made me do Look what you just made me do Look what you just made me do Ooh, look what you made me do Look what you made me do Look what you just made me do Look what you just made me do THIRD VERSE I dont trust nobody and nobody trusts me Ill be the actress starring in your bad dreams I dont trust nobody and nobody trusts me Ill be the actress starring in your bad dreams I dont trust nobody and nobody trusts me Ill be the actress starring in your bad dreams I dont trust nobody and nobody trusts me Ill be the actress starring in your bad dreams (Look what you made me do) (Look what you made me do) ANSWERING MACHINE INTERLUDE Im sorry, the old Taylor cant come to the phone right now. Why? Oh cause shes dead! CHORUS REPEATS Ooh, look what you made me do Look what you made me do Look what you just made me do Look what you just made me do Ooh, look what you made me do Look what you made me do Look what you just made me do Look what you just made me do Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Patty Jenkins isnt surprised James Cameron doesnt get Wonder Woman By Tracy Brown Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins has some words about James Camerons comments on the Amazonian warrior goddess: Of course he doesnt get it. Following the Avatar directors claims that Wonder Woman is a step backwards for women, Jenkins responded in a tweet that Camerons thoughts are unsurprising because he is not a woman. In an interview with the Guardian, Cameron threw some shade on Wonder Womans success by trying to compare Diana Prince to Sarah Connor from his Terminator franchise. "[Sarah Connor] was strong, she was troubled, she was a terrible mother, and she earned the respect of the audience through pure grit, Cameron said. Nothing like the objectified beauty icon he considers Wonder Woman to be. Jenkins points out that Camerons narrow qualifications for what makes a good female hero are restrictive and not at all progressive. If women have to always be hard, tough and troubled to be strong, and we arent free to be multidimensional or celebrate an icon of women everywhere because she is attractive and loving, then we havent come very far have we, Jenkins wrote. Jenkins also insisted that there should be room for all types of female lead characters and that women themselves should be the judge of these icons of progress. There is no right and wrong kind of powerful woman, she wrote. Read Jenkins full statement below. pic.twitter.com/8zkJXHLCJW Patty Jenkins (@PattyJenks) August 25, 2017 Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Copy Link URL Copied! Print Advertisement James Cameron thinks Wonder Womans success is misguided: Shes an objectified icon By Nardine Saad (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times) James Cameron isnt here for Wonder Womans blockbuster success. In fact, the moviemaker calls the much-loved superhero flick (Wonder Woman is currently at 92% on Rotten Tomatoes) a step back from the female heroes he created in the 80s and 90s. It appears that the Titanic and Terminator 2" director, whose films often put tough women at the center of the action, doesnt think that Gal Gadots character was complicated or groundbreaking enough to merit so much acclaim -- $800 million at the worldwide box office aside. All of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywoods been doing over Wonder Woman has been so misguided. Shes an objectified icon, and its just male Hollywood doing the same old thing! Cameron said in an interview with the Guardian. All of the self-congratulatory back-patting Hollywoods been doing over Wonder Woman has been so misguided. Shes an objectified icon, and its just male Hollywood doing the same old thing! Filmmaker James Cameron on Wonder Woman The director, who was cast in the article as softened and evolved from his bone-crushing early movie-making days, believes that Wonder Woman was a step backwards. (Dont get him wrong, he did like Patty Jenkins summer blockbuster -- the first-ever feature-film incarnation of the DC Comics heroine and the highest-grossing live-action film directed by a woman -- just not enough to let it pass without throwing a little shade Diana Princes way.) Backwards in comparison with Camerons complex Sarah Connor character from the Terminator franchise. Sarah Connor was not a beauty icon. She was strong, she was troubled, she was a terrible mother, and she earned the respect of the audience through pure grit. And to me, [the benefit of characters like Sarah] is so obvious. I mean, half the audience is female! Cameron said. The three-time Oscar wi New York City is in peril, again. Good thing the citys local superheroes practically outnumber the Starbucks, each with a film franchise and/or TV series devoted to their crusades against evil forces. This week its The Defenders turn to clean up the already clean streets of Manhattan. The Marvel superheroes, each equipped with disparate powers and their own Netflix series, are thrown together for an eight-episode limited series that debuts Friday on the streaming service. In it, Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and Iron Fist (Finn Jones) reluctantly join forces after they each encounter a nefarious network of ninja masters known as the Hand. Advertisement This dangerous cult will do anything to achieve immortality, a mission that includes, of course, wiping out considerable swaths of humanity. Members of the Hand hide in plain sight among the moneyed jerks of the New York 1%, sipping fine wine and listening to classical music while their minions exploit the other 99% to get what they want. Imagine if such evil was real! Leading the charge is the ancient being Alexandra (Sigourney Weaver) and her sidekick, the recently resurrected Elektra (Elodie Yung). Alexandra has been around for centuries, but for some reason shes now taken ill and isnt expected to live much longer. So much destruction to wreak, so little time. She needs to move fast, but theres a formidable opponent in her way: The series pacing. The first three episodes eat up precious time with superhero exposition: Heres what theyve been doing since the last season of their series, their ongoing internal battles and how their paths cross, etc. The bullet-proof Cage, for instance, has been released from prison; back in Harlem, he continues to fight crime while accompanied by a soundtrack of hip-hop, soul or funk (no other character gets such treatment). After being assumed dead for 15 years, trust-funder Danny Rand, a.k.a. Iron Fist, returns to civilization where he is still as annoyingly wussy as he was during his much-maligned series. Meanwhile, Daredevils move away from crime fighting didnt last long. The attorney whos offered to represent Jones after one of her many run-ins with the law, Daredevil still cant resist jumping in when needed be it a mugging in progress or full-tilt battle with the ninja crime syndicate. The cynical Jones is the only one in this gifted crew who remains stubbornly the same. The private detective would rather drink, curse and forgo showering than help anyone in need unless she absolutely has to, and of course, she does. And that window on the front door of her apartment? Its still busted and covered with plywood and screaming out to be fixed. Exploring the origins of the Hand also takes up extensive amounts of time. Something about bad chi, the Himalayas and defecting from an ancient order of monks? Regardless, most viewers will still need a flow chart to figure out where and how the group came to be, and why theyre in New York (other than its obvious status as a mecca for evildoers with expensive taste). Or just watch with this series with a Marvel aficionado they can explain in laborious detail while you admire Weavers transformation from top-tier Hollywood film star into elegant, well-heeled TV super villain. The show really begins after The Defenders decide to work as a team, which essentially comes in Episode 4. Until that point the superheros story lines are stylistically in the same vein as their individual series Jones is shot through a gritty, punk rock lens; Iron Fists scenes are gauzy and emo. Cages world is bathed in a cool, 70s vibe. Once they join forces, however, the tone becomes crisp, modern and fast moving a colorful yet neutral backdrop for all the butt-kicking to come. And theres a lot of action here; wall-smashing, bullet deflecting, car-throwing fight scenes that make up for the slow start. Humor and insider jokes, such as the crews immediate exasperation with Iron Fist, also help move things along. When the team members first introduce themselves, and the hippy-like Rand says, I am the immortal Iron Fist, Cage rolls his eyes while Jones snarks Are you on lithium? Jones one-liners are the high point of dialogue that often gets bogged down under the weight of explaining just one more thing. Why dont any of these superheroes have normal names, she says when she meets Daredevil and Iron Fist. And after a fight with one of the Hands agents, she quips: Am I the only one left who doesnt know karate? The Defenders isnt as sharp and powerful as Jessica Jones, as deep as Season 1 of Daredevil or as stylized as Luke Cage, but it does the job as a holdover until these flawed heroes return with follow-up seasons. Until then, allow Cage to take a bullet for the Netflix franchise, or Jones to lift a car or even the underwhelming Iron Fist to shatter a ninja blade with his fist. Theyre keeping NYC safe. At least until the next superhero-supervillain show rolls into town five minutes from now. The Defenders Where: Netflix When: Anytime, starting Friday Rating: TV-MA (may be unsuitable for children under the age of 17) lorraine.ali@latimes.com @lorraineali It was over dinner with friends that Chanels global creative makeup and color designer Lucia Pica decided a California road trip would be the perfect source of inspiration for a beauty collection. I wanted to go on a journey and get out of my comfort zone, says Pica during a recent summer day at the Beverly Hills Chanel boutique about her 2015 California adventures. I wanted to get inspired by what was happening in the moment, so we decided to go on a road trip to take beautiful photographs. Its important a brand like Chanel dedicates time to creativity. Pica left her home in London and crossed the pond to meet up with her friends and road mates, photographer Max Farago and videographer Clara Cullen, who are based in Venice. Advertisement From there, the trio took to the open road, starting in downtown Los Angeles before meandering to Big Sur and back. They stopped along the route to take in the city lights, picturesque coastlines, sunsets and any other moment that gave them pause. Farago snapped photos during the journey. Later Pica allowed those images to serve as her muse. The Travel Diary makeup collection, released this month, was based on the colors, details and intricacies Pica found in Faragos photos. It is a different approach to color inspiration, she says. There is personal involvement and memory, and there are all these other layers of things involved, which makes the idea of luxury even more interesting. I think that is what luxury is now not just buying something really expensive but something with history and personal authenticity. I feel like if you look at things with a poetic eye, you can find beauty in everything the shadows, the lights, the moments. Lucia Pica The resulting 23-piece collection, which ranges from $28 to $61, includes face palettes, cream eye shadows, eyebrow pencils, nail polishes, eye-shadow quads, lip colors and brushes. There is also an accompanying video and book featuring the images the range is inspired by. This fall and winter 2017 beauty collection is available at chanel.com, and will be in Chanel boutiques starting in September. Certain pictures are direct inspiration for the products in the collection, and others are just for mood, Pica says. In her creative hands, a horizon became a nail color, lights in DTLA transformed into an eye-shadow palette, and the Los Angeles River turned into cream eye shadows. As a makeup artist, I know how to transform those things and imagine them on womens faces, she says. I feel like if you look at things with a poetic eye, you can find beauty in everything the shadows, the lights, the moments. The collection includes Picas first product for the face, Palette Essentielle, comprised of a concealer, a highlighter and a lip/cheek color. Its all you need to create your perfect fresh face, she says. I call it The Little Black Palette, because if youre going out, the one thing you should take in your purse is this palette. Im not doing the contouring and highlighter approach. I want to see beautiful, fresh skin. I want to see skin coming through. I want texture to be really transparent. I think that is what modernity means when it comes to a product. The road trip was Picas first through Southern California, but she was already a fan of Los Angeles before she got into the car. I have always had a nice connection to L.A., she says. Sometimes you dont know why you have a favorite place, but you just feel comfortable there. [L.A.] feels familiar, but its not that familiar because its a new country. So its still exciting to the eyes. The Travel Diary makeup collection is Picas fifth for Chanel. While she says she has settled into her role, she insists you never get totally comfortable when youre creating for such a legendary house. There is always another collection to make that idea has to come, she says. You dont get [too] relaxed. image@latimes.com For fashion news, follow us at @latimesimage on Twitter. ALSO Guns N Roses marks 30th anniversary of Appetite for Destruction with a high-end Maxfield pop-up shop Its Valentino in the topiary and Zoe Saldana on the guest list at Lotuslands Avant Garden gala Dolce & Gabbana & Giselle: South Coast Plaza soiree celebrates Teatro alla Scala Ballet Company David Yi pops into the Instagram-famous Alfred Tea Room in Beverly Grove for a cup of tea and to chat about his recent media foray creating a website devoted to mens beauty and grooming, particularly addressing the needs of men of color and the LGBTQ community as a whole. The tea room is a drool-worthy, eye-grabbing cotton candy pink. In more recent decades, the color pink has been associated with girls, but in a rapidly changing cultural landscape, that is no longer the case. Society is slowly chipping away at hardened gender associations. People from all walks of life and backgrounds are expressing their truest selves outside the box of traditional societal norms. And its part of this larger shift that has prompted Yi, the founder of the mens beauty, grooming and culture website Very Good Light, to want to help continue to change hetero-normative stereotypes and redefine the concept of male masculinity in todays society. Recent pieces on the site include: how one writer finally accepted his man boobs, the allure of an Internet-famous face mask and a young photographer who has challenged masculinity by taking photos of male subjects wearing glitter. Prom photo shoot for Very Good Light. (Ella Weisskamp) We launched our website two days after James Charles was named CoverGirls first CoverBoy, Yi said. It basically was like the universe was affirming everything that I already knew about the importance of boy beauty. Days after a spring dinner for influencers and stylists with L.A.-based mens skin-care brand Baxter of California, Yi, a USC alumnus who now lives in New York, answers five questions, touching on his mission, mens beauty and his favorite things about L.A. I could feel it in my bones that boy beauty wasn't just a trend, it was a movement. David Yi How did you get into the world of beauty and style? Growing up in a Korean household, skin care has always been in my DNA and a point of interest for me. But I went into it professionally ... [by launching a website and discussing mens grooming topics]. Also I could feel it in my bones that boy beauty wasnt just a trend. It was a movement. Why did you start the website Very Good Light? Boys, men, guys all want to be a part of the beauty movement, but there is no outlet for them. Publications like GQ and Esquire are too old and too hetero-normative, and theyre stuck in that small box when it comes to masculinity. Guys want progressive grooming tips and information on good skin care. But where do they go? They cant go to traditional male sites or feel like they belong at Allure or Cosmopolitan these traditional womens beauty sites because their skin is different. And makeup will look different on their male faces. So I felt like there was really a gap in the market and I felt we could fill it by doing tutorials and how-to guides for men. But more so, grooming was a funnel to redefine masculinity and create a more inclusive space for Generation Z, which is the most gender and sexually fluid generation ever. Think of Jaden Smith and Young Thug, who readily wear dresses, and no one bats an eye. I wanted to discuss what it means to be a man in 2017. You can be any form of a guy on the spectrum from super-feminine to super-masculine, but if you consider yourself a man, you are a man. I felt there needed to be a safe space and a website that empowered young people. If you consider yourself a man, you are a man. David Yi Who are your style icons? Everyone [in the fashion industry] says Raf Simons. We have to put Raf Simons in there. Another style icon that I love is a K-pop star named G-Dragon. He is the biggest pop star in the world in my eyes and he is always front row at Chanel. He is the purveyor of everything cool. What is your best mens beauty and grooming tip? I think a big tip is to listen to your skin and use what works for your skin. I wish more guys would know that skin care is not scary. It is self care. Also moisturize and use SPF! As a New Yorker visiting the West Coast, what are some of your go-to spots when youre in L.A.? I love going to eat at Bestia downtown. Also, Koreatown now has the Line Hotel, which is so chic. After that, you have to try karaoke in L.A. It is very different than in New York. There is a bigger Korean population in L.A., and it is much more authentic. And of course, L.A. is known for brunch food, and right now Kings Road Cafe is my favorite brunch spot. Einkorn buttermilk cake with lemon verbena and lemon sherbet, fermented blackberry jam and emerald plums is on the menu at Bestia in Los Angeles. (Christina House / For The Times) (Christina House / For The Times) Fashion Videos tara.paniogue@latimes.com ALSO It's Valentino in the topiary and Zoe Saldana on the guest list at Lotusland's Avant Garden gala Dolce & Gabbana & 'Giselle': South Coast Plaza soiree celebrates Teatro alla Scala Ballet Company Eva Longoria, Ciara and more turn out for Serena Williams' 1950s-themed baby shower A pair of SoCal brands L.A.s Libertine label and San Clemente sock juggernaut Stance have joined forces for a colorful capsule collection that promises to pull focus with each step. The collaboration, which we actually got a quick glimpse of at Libertines fall/winter 2017 runway show in New York, serves up an assortment of boldly patterned mens and womens socks that feature familiar Libertine motifs English roses, animal prints and a magic eye emblem along with design elements inspired by Romanian textiles and 17th century operas. Even though theyre all eye-candy for the feet (one pair spells out a Robert Burns poem in multicolored, all-cap letters, another a vicious cat with bloodied fangs juxtaposed with roses) theres one standout style that brings out the best of both brands: the Magic Eye. Advertisement Offered in both mens and womens versions, the sock mixes animal prints (giraffe and leopard), vibrant colors (hot pink, magenta and pale yellow among them) and Libertines magic eye design with a fringe-tastic back seam detail that makes each sock look like its sporting a multicolored Mohawk haircut. (Added bonus: The phrase socks with Mohawks sounds like something out of a Dr. Seuss book.) The Libertine X Stance collection ranges from $12 to $18 and is available now at a handful of retailers including Joan Shepp, Selfridges, Fred Segal, Stances flagship store in New York as well as online at stance.com. And if youre looking for a little extra levity, we highly recommend checking out the Beyond the Design video that Stance posted to its YouTube channel on Aug. 1 the day the collection launched. In it, Libertines founder, CEO and creative director Johnson Hartig hilariously recaps the collaboration and notices there are a couple of things missing. adam.tschorn@latimes.com For more musings on all things fashion and style, follow me at @ARTschorn. ALSO: How Stance socks got to be on Rihannas and NBA players feet Johnson Hartigs Libertine fashion label goes its own crazy, crafty way in Hollywood Filson collaborates on limited-edition U.S. Forest Service collection The backhoe crept into the graveyard as the city lay still. It had come for the six-foot granite monument with the bronze plaque, a salute to the Confederate Army veterans interred below. Hollywood Forever Cemetery had housed the marker since 1925, but the recent events in Charlottesville, Va., had sparked phone calls, emails and social media rants calling for its removal. An online petition circulated. Vandalism threats were made. By Tuesday, the word No had been written across the monument in black. The staff of a generally beloved institution was overwhelmed; the monument owners uneasy. And so at 3 a.m. Wednesday, the monument aged with a green patina was excavated, covered with a blue tarp and carted away in a pickup, a patch of fresh sod patted into its place. Advertisement Sitting far from the battlefields of the Civil War, California is often viewed as a region far removed from that era. But historians say racism ran rampant through the state and that the emancipation proclamation was widely unpopular. There also were high-profile legislators who spoke in support of slavery or slipped off to fight for the Confederacy and found a significant number of supporters. California remained a Union state during the war. But Southern California was a hotbed of Confederate sympathizers, many of whom had migrated west from Texas and Kentucky, and boasted a Confederate newspaper, said Glenna Matthews, author of The Golden State in the Civil War. In some ways, Los Angeles was a militarized town in order to keep the Union in control, because a lot of the local politicians supported the Confederacy, she said. Los Angeles resident Monique Edwards says historical monuments, like the Confederate statue removed from Hollywood Forever Cemetery, need to be preserved and used as teachable moments. For those who go looking, there are Confederate tributes scattered across the state. In recent years, those symbols have been up for debate, with many calling the tributes heralds of racism, while others argue that they help preserve the past. Around the same time that Hollywood Forever removed its Confederate memorial, a similar ritual was underway in downtown San Diego. The city quietly removed a plaque honoring Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, which for decades sat at Horton Plaza. San Diegans stand together against Confederate symbols of division, Mayor Kevin Faulconer said in announcing the move. California has been grappling with uncomfortable symbols of past racism and cruelty for years. In 2009, officials changed the name of Malibus Negrohead Mountain (which was itself a 1960s refinement of the N-word that formed its original name). The peak, an unlikely memorial to a former slave, was renamed John Ballard Mountain. In 2014, California adopted a law banning the display or sale of merchandise with the Confederate flag on it. The next year, activists pressured the Long Beach Unified School District to change the name of Robert E. Lee Elementary weeks after a young man who had posed with the Confederate flag in photos fatally shot nine black men and women in Charleston, S.C. A year later, the school board voted the campus would no longer be the namesake of a Confederate general, but that of Olivia Herrera, a woman who founded a nonprofit that serves impoverished neighborhoods. Around the same time, a school in San Diego named after Lee was also given a new moniker. Though debates about homages to Confederate leaders are far from new, tensions have deepened since the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, where a counter-protester was killed. The rally was planned in protest of the removal of a statue of Lee. Such tributes smack of racism and need to go, many say. But others argue there is validity in both preserving the past and honoring the fallen. Patrons of Fairhaven Memorial Park in Santa Ana, where about 300 Civil War veterans are buried, including some Confederates, worry that the outrage against such symbols is misplaced. Where do you stop? Where do you draw the line? asked La Habra resident Ebbe Rosendahl, who arrived Wednesday to tour the antique headstones. It doesnt erase the past if you want these monuments gone. You want to learn from the past. If people dont see it, how can they remember if mistakes were made? The 52-year-old was curious about Californias Civil War connection, which he had heard little about. I feel history should be alive and breathing, Rosendahl said. Why would we hide what happened? Were told that George Washington was a slave owner. If thats the case, why are his statues and tributes still everywhere? The group that owns the Confederate monument that once stood at Hollywood Forever said it does not condone violence, slavery or white supremacy. The marker was merely a show of respect for people who had died. The group said it felt forced into removing the grave marker so that it would not be defaced or cause problems for the cemetery. We really think that anything to do with a cemetery has to be respected, said Scarlett Stahl, president of the California division of United Daughters of the Confederacy. Its shocking to me that this would happen in the United States of America. There is an awful lot of hatred being displayed throughout the country on both sides. Im uncomfortable. I didnt think Id ever feel this way in the United States. Its very surreal. For now, the monument will be kept in storage. If the group decides to return it to the cemetery, officials will consult with the state Department of Consumer Affairs and local police to follow necessary regulations, a cemetery spokesperson said. On Wednesday, hours after the monument was removed, the grounds of the cemetery were nearly empty, with only security and police standing by in case of protesters. They never appeared. The remains of at least 37 Confederate veterans and their families remained undisturbed. esmeralda.bermudez@latimes.com corina.knoll@latimes.com anh.do@latimes.com Times staff writers Veronica Rocha and Alene Tchekmedyian contributed to this report. ALSO George Skelton: Dont be too smug, California: The state has its own shameful history of racism and bigotry Thousands march in Charlottesville against racism and violence Phoenix mayor calls on Trump to halt campaign-style rally next week UPDATES: 4:25 p.m.: This article was updated with additional background on other Confederate monuments in California and the states Civil War history. This article was originally published at 12:40 p.m. Michael C. Mejia violated his probation several times in the 10 months after he was released from Pelican Bay State Prison in April 2016. Then, on Feb. 20, authorities say, Mejia gunned down his cousin, followed by the fatal shooting of Whittier police Officer Keith Boyer hours later. He has been charged with two counts of murder. The officers slaying prompted a county investigation into Mejias release and his supervision by the L.A. County Probation Department. On Tuesday, it was cited repeatedly as a reason to create a blue-ribbon commission to study the impact of state criminal justice reforms in L.A. County. Advertisement Creation of the 27-member panel was approved by the county Board of Supervisors in a 3-0 vote. It will examine the challenges and opportunities related to recent state criminal justice reforms. Those reforms are Assembly Bill 109, passed in 2011; Proposition 47, passed in 2014; and Proposition 57, approved in 2016 but not yet fully implemented. Those measures shifted public safety responsibilities from the state to counties, downgraded some property and drug felonies to misdemeanors, and allowed for the early release of some inmates, respectively. This is not a referendum on criminal justice reform efforts, said Supervisor Janice Hahn, whose district includes Whittier and who coauthored the motion with Supervisor Kathryn Barger. Instead, this should be a conversation on how we make the reforms that we do have work. Discussion at Tuesdays board meeting, however, often centered on the merits of the reform measures and their effects on crime rates. While developed with good intentions, the legislation may have created unintended consequences, placing our public and our first responders at risk, said L.A. County Sheriff Jim McDonnell, who favored the creation of the commission. Negative impacts from these changes have been far-reaching, and crime rates are increasing, Whittier Mayor Joe Vinatieri said. Research from the Public Policy Institute of California in 2016 concluded that AB 109 had little effect on the percentage of former inmates who committed another crime and did not cause an increase in violent crimes. Ivette Ale, with Californians United for a Responsible Budget, called Tuesdays motion misguided, saying it inaccurately linked the killing of Boyer to the passage of reforms. After Boyers death, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said that AB 109 was not a factor in Mejias release and that he had served his full state prison terms. In addition, Mejias criminal convictions for car theft and attempted car theft came before Proposition 47 and would not have been downgraded. Under AB 109, however, the L.A. County Probation Department, rather than state prison officials, supervised Mejia after his release. Several people who spoke at Tuesdays meeting to oppose formation of the panel pointed out that criminal justice reforms were passed by clear majorities of California voters. Others argued that the composition of the commission would undermine its purpose. As proposed in the original motion, 10 of the commissions members would come from law enforcement and 10 from other areas of government. Only one representative would come from a community-based organization providing reentry services. If we are forming a commission that is tied to shooting a police officer and it is law enforcement heavy, how could we expect this commission to come out with an unbiased report or set of recommendations? said Jose Osuna, external affairs director for Homeboy Industries, a nonprofit that rehabilitates former gang members. After the public comments, Supervisor Hilda Solis introduced amendments to expand the commissions membership to 27 to include more people who have been directly affected by the reforms. Board of Supervisors Chariman Mark Ridley-Thomas called for the motion and amendments to be continued one week so that the board could deliberate further and county attorneys could vet the item. It would be ill-advised to adopt anything absent a clear sense of what is being brought before us, said Ridley-Thomas, who abstained from voting. Despite his plea, Barger called for a vote. For those that have looked at this motion what are you afraid of? We have to have facts, she said. nina.agrawal@latimes.com Twitter: @AgrawalNina Homeless advocates were regrouping Wednesday after a Los Angeles City Council committee sided with a Boyle Heights shopping center owner who opposed a project to build 49 units for mentally ill homeless people. The councils Planning and Land Use Management committee granted an appeal Tuesday filed by the owner of the Eastside landmark El Mercado. It contested the planning departments environmental clearance of the project proposed by the nonprofit group A Community of Friends. For the record: A previous version of this article misspelled Mike Alvidrezs surname as Alvidres. If backed by the full council, the appeal would require an environmental report that could further delay and potentially derail a project that has been in the works more than five years. Advertisement Leaders of homeless services agencies said defeating the project would set a dangerous precedent for the success of the $1.2-billion Proposition HHH homeless housing bond approved by voters last year. This isnt a good sign, said Ruth Schwartz, executive director of Shelter Partnership. Gary Toebben, president and chief executive of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, said backers of the project should discuss with committee members how to make the project acceptable to them. If we dont find a way to make it work we have sent a message to everyone who would oppose a project like this in their neighborhood that they should shell out money, hire lobbyists and fight it because there is some possibility of success, Toebben said. City Atty. Mike Feuer offered legal assistance to supporters. If there is any way this project can go forward, it should, Feuer said. My office stands ready to help make that happen. Dora Leong Gallo, executive director of A Community of Friends, said she was still hopeful for an opportunity to resolve this matter in a collaborative way, instead of through legal means. Representatives of the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, the California Community Foundation, the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce and a handful of homeless service agencies organizations that led last years successful campaign for Proposition HHH had rallied around A Community of Friends. The group has built and manages about 40 buildings with supportive services for people with mental disabilities. They were stunned when Councilman Jose Huizar without calling a vote declared Tuesday that the committee had granted an appeal of the projects environmental clearance. When members of the audience shouted demands for a vote, Huizar, who chairs the committee, simply asked if there were any objections. The three other committee members who were present remained silent. Gallo said after the meeting that she hoped to fare better when the item goes before the full City Council. But the unanimous rebuke by the committee illustrated the difficulty of overcoming the councils long-standing practice of deferring to members wishes on matters in their districts. Huizar, who represents Boyle Heights, has opposed the project since at least 2013, when he cast the only vote against it as a member of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority board. The property, sandwiched between the Evergreen Cemetery and the Mexican-themed shopping center on East 1st Street, was acquired by Metro as a potential site for a Gold Line station. When the station was later placed elsewhere, the lot became a staging area during construction, then was offered for transit-oriented development. A Community of Friends proposal was accepted. The vacant lot in Boyle Heights where A Community of Friends seeks to build homeless housing. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times) The city planning department signed off on the project in spring 2016. The late Pedro Rosado, owner of El Mercado, appealed, demanding a full environmental report. Huizar let the matter languish for more than a year before posting it on the committees calendar in June. At that meeting, an attorney representing El Mercado submitted a lengthy document outlining 10 flaws in the citys environmental review, leading to a continuance. At the beginning of Tuesdays hearing, Senior City Planner Blake Lamb rebutted all 10 points, saying each had been reviewed and found to have no merit. Boyle Heights residents spoke on both sides. About 20, including Pedro Rosados son Tony, said the project would be too dense for the area and chastised Metro for failing to build a parking structure there. Others said the project would bring much-needed housing. But the majority of the 30 people who spoke in favor of the project came from organizations involved in homelessness, which also submitted more than 40 letters of support. Among them were Mike Alvidrez, chief executive of Skid Row Housing Trust; Ann Sewill, vice president for health and housing of the California Community Foundation, and Schwartz. They extolled A Community of Friends as an exemplary housing provider. Schwartz characterized opposition to the project as discriminatory. Huizar defended his record on affordable housing, saying he has supported homeless housing at numerous sites in Boyle Heights. He cited an abandoned oil well on the property an issue discounted by the city planning department only an hour earlier as a reason for requiring a full environmental report. Invoking the toxic contamination caused by the defunct Exide battery reprocessing plant in Vernon, Huizar said the project posed unknown health hazards to nearby residents. Councilman Mitch Englander, who represents the northwest San Fernando Valley, joined Huizar, and caused gasps in the audience by accusing A Community of Friends and its director, Gallo, of poor management. Englander said a building in his district owned by A Community of Friends has had an excessive number of calls for police service. Councilmen Marqueece Harris-Dawson, who was a leading figure in the Proposition HHH campaign, and Bob Blumenfield also raised no objection to the appeal. Committee member Curren Price Jr. was absent. doug.smith@latimes.com Twitter: @LATDoug ALSO Citing potential health risks, City Council panel rejects plan for homes near the 110 and 91 freeways Steve Lopez: If we want a real river in L.A., we should start by cleaning up the water LAUSDs costly 20-year construction project ends with opening of $160-million Maywood campus USCs massive campus addition features student housing and Trader Joes and Target open to the community UPDATES: 6:20 p.m.: This article was updated with reaction to the committee action. This article was originally published at 10:25 a.m. A key committee of the Los Angeles City Council rejected a plan Tuesday for putting 15 homes near a freeway interchange, in part over the potential health risks from car and truck pollution. The councils Planning and Land Use Management Committee unanimously declined the request from businessman Ali Awad to change the zoning on the site, a move that would allow housing to be built. The site sits next to the 110 and 91 freeways and previously was owned by the California Department of Transportation. California air quality officials have warned for more than a decade against building new homes within 500 feet of freeways, noting that residents in those areas have higher rates of asthma, heart attacks, lung cancer and pre-term births. A recent Times analysis found Los Angeles has nevertheless experienced a spate of home building in those locations, with thousands of units going up. Advertisement Harbor Gateway resident Craig Kusunoki looks at the site of a proposed 15-unit housing development next to the interchange of the 110 and freeways. Kusunoki and his neighbors say it would put housing too close to the interchange and a nearby freeway ramp. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Councilman Bob Blumenfield said he was very uncomfortable with the project and the possible environmental issues that future residents would face. People will be in the backyards, he said. Its not like the [freeway-adjacent] apartment projects we see where they put in the inoperable windows and you have the air filters. The backyards are right up against the freeway. The project still must be heard by the City Council. But its prospects are much dimmer in the wake of Tuesdays vote. The proposed subdivision had previously been rejected by the Harbor Area Planning Commission, which is made up of mayoral appointees, and the neighborhood council for the area. Residents in L.A.s Harbor Gateway neighborhood also argued that future residents would be exposed to noise and unhealthy air. How this is up for discussion is beyond me, said Harbor Gateway resident Craig Kusunoki. It would be irresponsible to put people in this situation. The project site is about 100 feet west of the 110 and 150 feet north of the 91, according to one city report. A project map submitted last year for the subdivision showed that some homes would sit within 60 feet of a swooping carpool ramp. Planning officials said they had sought to mitigate the freeway impact by pushing for a landscaped buffer and a six-foot wall to shield the noise. They also required that each home have air conditioning systems with higher performing filters than those required by the state. With those features, the developer argued, air quality in the new homes would be better than in other existing residences. There is no danger to be in that proximity to the freeway, said Emilio Gutierrez, a land-use consultant for the developer. Harbor Gateway residents had been fighting efforts to put homes on the site for years. In 2012, the Planning Commission voted to reject a larger, 24-unit development in the same location. At that time, a planning aide to Councilman Joe Buscaino spoke against that project, saying the location was unsuitable for housing. Buscaino, who represents Harbor Gateway, stayed silent on the project this time. He declined to send a representative to Tuesdays hearing to weigh in on the development. Rosalie Preston, who sits on the Harbor Gateway North Neighborhood Council, said she was ecstatic with the committees decision to reject the proposal. But she voiced unhappiness with Buscaino, who sits on the board of the South Coast Air Quality Management District, an agency that frequently objects to freeway-close developments, on the grounds that they would expose occupants to toxic exhaust gases and other harmful pollutants. I am disappointed, Preston said. When the project was discussed in 2012, his planning deputy was here and worked on behalf of the residents to make a good decision. A Buscaino spokesman did not respond to requests for comment from The Times. Times staff writer Tony Barboza contributed to this report. david.zahniser@latimes.com Twitter: @DavidZahniser ALSO Higher rates, missed pickups: L.A. is hearing a rash of complaints about its new waste removal system Prosecutors spell out their case against L.A. over housing for the disabled L.A. to make sure air filters are being installed in homes near freeways LAUSDs costly 20-year construction project ends with opening of $160-million Maywood campus The Hollywood Forever Cemetery removed a monument commemorating Confederate veterans early Wednesday after hundreds of activists requested it be taken down and some threatened vandalism. The monuments removal came days after violence erupted at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., over the citys ordered removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The events triggered a national debate about similar monuments across the country. After fielding dozens of calls and emails seeking the monuments removal, the owner of the cemetery, as well as the owner of the monument the Long Beach Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy agreed to move it to an undisclosed location, said Theodore Hovey, cemetery spokesman and family services counselor. Advertisement This is not a place to fight: Under cover of dark, Confederate marker whisked out of Hollywood Forever Cemetery It was thought that it would become impossible for us to maintain an atmosphere of tranquility, harmony and inclusion for all of our families and all of our visitors with the monument present here, he said. The process of removing the monument started before dawn, Hovey said. By Wednesday morning, it was covered with a blue trap and hauled away in a pickup. Since 1925, the monument has stood in the Confederate section of the cemetery, where at least 37 Confederate veterans and their families are buried. The tall, granite rock marker holds a tablet emblazoned with three Confederate flags, two crosses and the words, In memory of the soldiers of the Confederate States Army who have died or may die on the Pacific Coast. It went on to say, Lord God of hosts, be with us yet, lest we forget lest we forget. I dont think a lot of people were aware of its presence, Hovey said. That was the case until the Los Angeles Times published an op-ed about Californias Civil War-era history this month, said Tyler Cassity, the cemeterys president and co-owner. The angry reaction to the piece escalated over the weekend when a man described by authorities as a white supremacist plowed into a crowd of counter-protesters in Charlottesville. Heather Heyer was killed in the incident, and more than a dozen people were injured. Later, a Change.org petition calling for the removal of the monument in the L.A. cemetery drew more than 1,700 signatures. On Tuesday, someone wrote No in black marker across the monuments bronze plaque, Cassity said. Los Angeles resident Monique Edwards says historical monuments, like the Confederate statue removed from Hollywood Forever Cemetery, need to be preserved and used as teachable moments. After the marker was vandalized, Cassity said he reached out to the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which ultimately made the decision to take it down to prevent further acts of vandalism. But the decision triggered anger and a series of hostile messages from people who opposed the monuments removal and had threatened to protest. A spokeswoman for the Daughters of the Confederacy explained the groups decision to remove the monument this way: I was afraid to leave it overnight, said the spokeswoman, who asked that her name not be used for fear of reprisal. We have had the cemetery remove it until we decide what to do. Those calling for the monuments removal are erasing history, she said. I do not believe in slavery no sane human would believe in that today, she said. But back then, they did. She condemned the violence in Virginia and expressed sorrow for those killed and injured. We weep for the people who are involved in all of the things that are going on in our country on both sides. We find hatred among white supremacists, we find hatred among Black Lives Matter, she said. We should all come together and become one under the United States of America. Cassity said he was relieved by the groups decision. I understood everyones frustration, but I really felt like it wasnt our right to remove the monument. Its kind of against what were supposed to be doing there, preserving history, Cassity said. I think they made a wise decision given how quickly it escalated and whats happening right now in the country. Over time, he said, the organization has been cooperative with the cemeterys requests to modify its annual memorial service. The group has stopped staging reenactments, as well as bringing guns and Confederate flags. We feel they have a right to commemorate their dead, but Confederate flags and guns can be disturbing to our visitors, Cassity said. At the cemetery on Wednesday, visitor Monique Edwards, a South Los Angeles resident, said she came to see whether there was any public reaction to the monuments removal. Edwards, who is African American, said its removal was not fair and should not be done because it was an important historical reminder. If you remove it, place it in a museum so that all of us can see and use it as a teachable moment, she said. alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com Twitter: @AleneTchek ALSO Who was responsible for the violence in Charlottesville? Heres what witnesses say Confederate monuments taken down in Baltimore overnight In some states, its illegal to take down monuments or change street names honoring the Confederacy UPDATES: Aug. 16, 11:10 a.m.: This article was updated with details about the monument and its removal. Aug. 16, 8:30 a.m.: This article was updated with the monument being removed. 11:10 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from a spokeswoman for the United Daughters of the Confederacy. This article was originally published at 9:15 p.m. Aug. 15. The attorney of a woman accused of driving drunk as she livestreamed a crash that killed her younger sister says she watched the video for the first time Sunday from jail. She couldnt believe thats the way she reacted after the fact, Obdulia Sanchezs attorney, Ramnik Samrao, told the Los Angeles Times. She could understand why so many people hate her. It was kind of like a lightbulb went off in her head. Sanchez also reviewed body camera footage recorded by officers, Samrao said. Advertisement The 18-year-old Stockton resident, who is charged with half a dozen criminal offense, including gross vehicular manslaughter in the death of her sister, received international attention after she filmed the moments before and after the July 21 crash on Instagram Live. The video showed Sanchez behind the wheel of a 2003 Buick while her 14-year-old sister, Jacqueline Sanchez, and a second 14-year-old girl sat in the back seat. As Sanchez recorded herself, she lost control of her vehicle and crashed north of Los Banos. After the crash, Sanchez started recording again and panned to the body of her sister, who was lying in the grassy field and appeared to have suffered major head trauma. Sanchez kissed her sisters face, then shook her several times and said, Jacqueline, please wake up. I killed my sister, OK? I know I am going to jail for life, all right? Sanchez said. This is the last thing that I wanted to happen, OK? Sanchez was arrested after the crash, which occurred when she swerved off the road and over-corrected her turn, according to the California Highway Patrol. She then veered across the road and crashed into a wire fence. As the car rolled into a field, the two girls in the rear seat, who were not wearing seat belts, were ejected from the vehicle, the CHP said. Deputy Dist. Atty. Harold Nutt, who is prosecuting the Merced County case, has said Sanchezs blood alcohol content was 0.10% at the time of the crash. He said Sanchez was not paying attention while driving. She was driving erratically and not holding the wheel, he said. But Samrao, Sanchezs attorney, said other factors may have led to the crash. He said the defense is looking into whether there were some issues with the tread on the vehicles tires. Samrao said his clients vehicle was older and the tread appeared to be worn. One tire was flattened and another broke off from the vehicle during the crash, he said. We dont know how that happened, Samrao said. A vehicle collision expert working for the defense will inspect Sanchezs vehicle and airbag control module this week. Additional details on the vehicles condition and performance before and after the crash could help Samrao determine how the case will move forward, he said. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 13 in Merced County. veronica.rocha@latimes.com For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter. The latest nuclear crisis with North Korea appeared to ease Tuesday as Pyongyang and Washington sought to lower tension before their increasingly heated threats could spiral into war. The question is what happens next in the worlds most dangerous hot spot. U.S. and South Korean military forces are gearing up to start joint large-scale air, land and sea maneuvers Monday in South Korea. The annual exercises, dubbed Ulchi-Freedom Guardian, normally involve 17,500 U.S. troops and last for 10 days. Advertisement Kim Jong Uns government has always denounced the joint exercises as a provocative ruse designed to hide a U.S. invasion. North Korea expressed outrage again Tuesday, but in the kind of furious rhetoric that in some ways signaled a return to what passes for normality. If the U.S. carries out its planned fire of power demonstration, North Koreas official news agency warned, North Korean artillerymen will wring the windpipes of the Yankees and point daggers at their necks. In contrast, North Korea had unveiled a highly specific plan last week to fire four midrange ballistic missiles over several Japanese islands and into international waters about 20 miles off Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific that hosts two major U.S. military bases. On Tuesday, the state news agency said Kim had toured the command post of the countrys strategic missile force, and then quoted him saying he would watch a little more before firing anything toward Guam, language that helped defuse the standoff. China repeated its calls Tuesday for the U.S. and South Korea to suspend the military exercises as a show of good faith to give diplomatic breathing room to restart the multilateral talks with North Korea that collapsed in 2008. The Trump administration has rejected that appeal in the past, and the Pentagon gave no indication Tuesday that it was changing its plans even as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson insisted he was looking for a way to restart negotiations. We continue to be interested in finding a way to get to a dialogue, Tillerson said. Frank Aum, a former Pentagon advisor on North Korea who contributes to 38 North, an analysis website that focuses on the country, said the crisis could reignite quickly because the underlying sources of tension are still there. There have always been issues between North Korea and the United States, but weve shown restraint, he said. The difference now is the war of words. Kim Jong Un will use bellicose language and President Trump dishes it right back. More important, Kims apparent decision not to fire a missile salvo toward Guam does not alleviate the larger U.S. concern: North Koreas surprising progress in developing a long-range missile powerful enough to reach California, although not yet with a nuclear warhead. Officials in China, South Korea, Japan and Russia the countries most directly at risk if a major war breaks out with North Korea all appealed for calm and a return to diplomacy. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in a phone call Tuesday that their governments needed to prevent a confrontational spiral near their borders, according to statements from the Chinese and Russian foreign ministries. The urgent task is to slam the brakes on the mutually provocative words and actions between North Korea and the United States, the Chinese statement said. Cool the tensions and prevent an August crisis from breaking out. Military adventures and threats of force [are] unacceptable, the Russians added. Trump said nothing about North Korea during a raucous 25-minute exchange with reporters at Trump Tower in New York. But he earlier had a 30-minute call with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to discuss the growing threat from North Korea, according to the White House. Abe told reporters in Tokyo that the two leaders frankly exchanged opinions on the current North Korean situation, saying he appreciated Trumps commitment to the safety of its allies. But South Koreas new president, Moon Jae-in, appeared to rebuke Trumps threats last week to unleash fire and fury on North Korea if it continued making threats. Moon said any military action on its territory requires South Koreas permission. Its only [South Korea] that can decide on military action on the Korean peninsula, Moon said in a televised speech marking National Liberation Day, which celebrates the end of Japans colonial rule when World War II ended. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert would not say whether the United States needed South Korean permission to launch an attack. She emphasized the U.S. position that North Korea must give up its nuclear arsenal. The No. 1 thing you hear Secretary Tillerson talk about is goals and efforts to try to denuclearize the Korean peninsula, getting Kim Jong Un to give up those illegal weapons, getting him to stop with his destabilizing activities, she told reporters at the State Department. Few diplomats or arms control experts foresee Kim abandoning his nuclear arsenal now estimated to include 20 to 60 bombs and Tillerson has publicly said North Korea should stop testing ballistic missiles as a confidence-building measure to allow diplomacy to proceed. The White House scored a diplomatic victory Aug. 5 when the United Nations Security Council voted unanimously to impose new sanctions on North Korea in response to its latest ballistic missile tests. On Monday, China, North Koreas largest trading partner by far, announced it had banned imports of North Korean coal, iron and seafood to support the sanctions, a move Beijing had avoided in the past. Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has visited Tokyo, Seoul, and Beijing this week in an effort that he said was aimed at finding a diplomatic, not a military, solution. We are seeking peaceful resolution to the crisis right now, he told reporters in Beijing. On Wednesday, Dunford is slated to visit Chinas Northern Theater Command, which oversees Chinese military forces deployed along the 880-mile border with North Korea. Beijing fears that a collapse of North Koreas economy could cause a flood of refugees to cross the border. william.hennigan@latimes.com Twitter: @wjhenn tracy.wilkinson@latimes.com For more on international affairs, follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter In Durham, N.C., this week, an angry crowd yelled chants against the police, the Ku Klux Klan and Nazis before turning its attention to a 93-year-old bronze statue of a Confederate soldier that stood 15 feet high outside a courthouse. Demonstrators tied a yellow rope around the neck. It came down in seconds. Protesters took turns kicking the head. Some spat on it. Others sat on the chest and triumphantly posed for photos. The toppling, which was captured on video and went viral on social media, was a response to deadly violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., to preserve a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Activists across the country celebrated the statues removal in Durham as a victory against racism. But there was a problem: It was illegal. The county sheriff in Durham said he was investigating it as a crime of vandalism. Politicians, meanwhile, went on television to remind residents of a law the state General Assembly passed two years ago barring governments from removing any object of remembrance on public property. In the aftermath of Charlottesville, officials in Baltimore, Houston, San Antonio, Louisville and Lexington, Ky., Jacksonville, Fla., and other cites said they would push for the review or removal of Confederate monuments. Taking down the statues may prove harder than it would seem, however. Heres why: Several states have laws protecting monuments North Carolina isnt the only state where laws help keep monuments in place. In May, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a law banning local governments from altering, renaming or removing monuments, memorial streets or memorial buildings that have been on public property for more than 40 years. That includes most, if not all, Confederate monuments in the state. The law defined schools, buildings and streets as memorial if they are erected for, or named or dedicated in honor of, an event, a person, a group, a moment, or military service. After civil rights groups criticized the governor, her office released a statement defending the law as a way to support all generations to learn not only from our heroes and our greatest achievements, but to also ensure that we learn from our mistakes and our darkest hours. In Virginia, where a lawsuit is proceeding over the Charlottesville City Councils proposal to remove the Robert E. Lee statue, a state law bans cities that attempt to disturb or interfere with historic monuments and memorials. The law, which Charlottesville officials have fought, previously stopped attempts in Alexandria and Loudoun County from removing Confederate statues. A similar law in Mississippi says statues, landmarks and memorials cant be taken off public property unless they block drivers from seeing the road or are put in another approved location. Whether we like them or not, you have to go to the orderly process of either the Legislature, the executive, if they have the authority for that, or judiciary in removing such memorials, the states governor, Phil Bryant, told reporters Tuesday. The spot where a Robert E. Lee statue stood until May 27, 2017, in New Orleans. (Kurtis Lee / Los Angeles Times) Even when statues are set for removal, it can be an arduous process The announcements by city officials this week on monuments were not as as spontaneous as they appeared. Weve been talking about this for two years, said Lexington Mayor Jim Gray, who said that after the violence in Charlottesville he pushed up an already planned announcement to remove two statues in front of an old downtown courthouse. In Louisville, the city has also tried for years to rid itself of Confederate imagery. In April 2016, Mayor Greg Fischer announced that he wanted to move a 70-foot-tall Confederate monument out of city but had no place to put it. The city faced a lawsuit from the Kentucky chapter of Sons of Confederate Veterans after the group accused it of violating state and federal preservation laws. By December, the statue was reconstructed 44 miles west in Brandenburg. Other Confederacy-related displays remain. Fischer this week pushed city officials to review all public art to see which should stay. There is no question this history needs to be understood and maintained, but if its in a place that glorifies it, that is wrong, Fischer said. In New Orleans, which made national news in May after workers removed memorials including those dedicated to Gen. Lee, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Confederate Gen. P.G.T. Beauregard, the process took nearly two years of debate and legal battles. Those removals happened overnight to avoid confrontations. The Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Baltimore was vandalized Saturday with red paint. It was erected in 1903. (Jerry Jackson / Baltimore Sun) Beyond monuments and memorial laws, other challenges loom In Dallas, school board member Miguel Solis tweeted this week that it was past time to change the name of all Confederate schools, including an elementary school named after Gen. Lee. A womans petition to change the name of a Tulsa elementary school Lee Elementary also took off. But as in other parts of the country, proponents of change are already facing opponents. In Atlanta, Baltimore and other cities where statues were vandalized after the violence in Charlottesville, authorities could bring charges against protesters for defacing public property. In Baltimore, where city officials ordered monuments removed, crews did so quietly late Tuesday and early Wednesday. On Tuesday, a student from North Carolina Central University was arrested on suspicion of damaging the statue in Durham. Takiyah Fatima Thompson, 22, faces charges of rioting, property damage and disorderly conduct. Durham County Sheriff Mike Andrews addressed the incident in a news conference Tuesday. "Let me be clear, no one is getting away with what happened. We can all agree yesterday went too far, he said. Gov. Roy Cooper also spoke out against the incident but suggested on Monday he may be open to monument removal. The racism and deadly violence in Charlottesville is unacceptable but there is a better way to remove these monuments, he tweeted. On Tuesday, he took it a step further, blogging against the memorials. We cannot continue to glorify a war against the United States of America fought in the defense of slavery, he wrote. These monuments should come down." jaweed.kaleem@latimes.com Jaweed Kaleem is The Times' national race and justice correspondent. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. ALSO Hollywood Forever Cemetery to remove Confederate monument after calls from activists and vandalism threats Who was responsible for the violence in Charlottesville? Here's what witnesses say Confederate monuments taken down in Baltimore overnight UPDATES: 1:05 p.m.: This article was updated with the removal of monuments in Baltimore overnight. This article was originally published August 15 at 7:25 p.m. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions on Wednesday ripped Chicago for its defiant sanctuary city stance against turning over local prisoners for deportation, once again blaming the citys surge in crime on policies designed to protect immigrants. Speaking in Miami, where county authorities hold prisoners for federal immigration agents, Sessions said sanctuary policies are an example of lawlessness and again vowed to cut off federal funding to communities that use them. Although the link between illegal immigration and rising crime is weak studies show immigrants tend to commit crimes at lower rates than other people Sessions suggested Miamis policies contributed to a dramatic drop in murders. Advertisement The same Independence Day weekend when Chicago suffered more than 100 shootings and 15 homicides, Miami-Dade also had a historic number of shooting deaths zero, he said. He said the Trump administration would not continue giving money to cities that actively undermine the safety and efficacy of federal law enforcement and actively frustrate efforts to reduce crime in their cities. So if voters in Chicago are concerned about losing federal grant money: Call your mayor, he said. The dangers of immigrant crime are a major concern for President Trumps base of voters, and the issue was a favorite theme for his campaign. Sessions, a hard-line advocate for reducing immigration while serving in the U.S. Senate, has made the cause a top priority for the Justice Department. Although immigration enforcement is mostly the responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security, Sessions has pushed to hire more immigration judges and has been determined to use financial grants as leverage, threatening to withhold millions of dollars from cities that keep their sanctuary policies. Last week, Chicago, which received $2.2 million from a Justice grant program last year, filed a lawsuit aimed at blocking the department from linking the grants to immigration cooperation, a tactic the city calls blackmail. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Sessions could not have picked a worse time for his speech, a week when Trump has been under siege for his shifting statements about violence during a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. Chicago will continue to stand up proudly as a welcoming city, and we will not cave to the Trump administrations pressure because they are wrong morally, wrong factually and wrong legally, Emanuel said in a statement. Other cities and states also have gone to court to block the administrations attempted crackdown. California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra announced this week that the state would join San Francisco in suing to protect $28 million in federal grants from what he called the administrations bullying. The main conflict now concerns the treatment of immigrants in the country illegally who are held in local jails. Immigration and Customs Enforcement wants cities to hold them for up to 48 hours after they would be released, to give agents time to pick them up. Some courts have ruled that these detainer requests are a violation of the Constitution. ICE also asks jails to allow its agents to interview detainees, or give two days notice before one is to be released. Many cities cooperate to varying degrees, but the agency has singled out four that refuse to provide any assistance: Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Philadelphia. Sessions said those policies make immigration enforcement more difficult and more dangerous because ICE agents then must hunt for people after their release. At its root, it is a rejection of our immigration laws and a declaration of open borders, Sessions said. Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said the administrations policies on immigration make it tougher for police to do their jobs. I have said it before and I will say it again, undocumented immigrants are not driving violence in Chicago, he said. And thats why I want our officers focused on community policing and not trying to be the immigration police. Its a different story in Floridas Miami-Dade County. After Trump signed an executive order in January and vowed to strip federal funds from sanctuary cities, Mayor Carlos Gimenez decided to honor ICE requests to hold county prisoners for deportation. The decision drew heated protests in immigrant-rich Miami Gimenez himself was born in Cuba but it was later endorsed by the county commission. Since February, the county has held 477 inmates at the request of ICE though the agency subsequently arrested only 185 of them on immigration charges. While some were accused of aggravated assault or auto theft, the countys list shows some were charged with petty crimes like driving without a license. The county simply honors all detainer requests, said Michael Hernandez, a spokesman for Gimenez. We dont question federal authorities, he said. We treat everyone the same, thats the bottom line. If you are violating local laws, you are treated in the same manner. Immigrant rights advocates in Miami say Trump administration policies arent helping public safety. Weve heard it from people, I dont want to call the police, because I dont want immigration to come, said Adonia Simpson, director of the Family Defense Program of Americans for Immigrant Justice, a Miami-based advocacy organization. Since the new policies were announced, she said, attorneys are seeing a shift in the population of detention centers: more people who have been in the country for years, fewer violent criminals and more people who were picked up on petty offenses. Its often difficult for that person to have a day in court and prove innocence if theyre being held in detention, she said. A Muslim American radio host is accusing the operator of a notorious neo-Nazi website of defaming him by falsely labeling him the mastermind of a deadly concert bombing in England, according to a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday. SiriusXM Radio host Dean Obeidallah sued the Daily Stormers publisher, Andrew Anglin, two days after the domain name registration companies Google and GoDaddy yanked the sites Web address, making it unreachable until it reemerged with a Russian domain name Wednesday. As of noon Pacific time, however, that domain name was unreachable too. The companies acted after Anglins republication of a Daily Stormer post mocking the 32-year-old woman killed in a deadly attack at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. Advertisement Obeidallahs lawsuit says the site published fabricated messages in a June 1 story to make them seem like they had been sent from Obeidallahs Twitter account, leading readers to believe that he took responsibility for the May 22 terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England. Obeidallah, a comedian and Daily Beast columnist, told the Associated Press that he received death threats after the articles publication. It was literally jaw-dropping, he said. The death threats were something Ive never seen before in my life. One comment on the post said Obeidallah just earned himself a spot at the gallows, according to his suit. Another threatened him with hanging, the suit said. Mr. Obeidallah is an ardent believer in and defender of the 1st Amendment. He recognizes the importance of freedom of speech and political discourse, regardless of viewpoint. But the 1st Amendment does not license defamation, his suit says. The suit claims that the articles defamatory statements were intended to incite violence against Obeidallah. It cites other alleged examples of Daily Stormer readers who did just that, including Dylann Roof, who read the site before killing black churchgoers in South Carolina. Anglin emailed a two-word response to the APs request for comment on the lawsuit: Wew lads, referring to an Internet meme expressing sarcastic fake-surprise and dismissiveness. The suit comes at a tumultuous time for the Daily Stormer, which already faced a federal lawsuit by another target of one of its online trolling campaigns. Its publisher said Wednesday that he has effectively been completely banned from the Internet after mocking the victim of a deadly car attack at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. Clearly, the powers that be believe that they have the ability to simply kick me off the Internet, Andrew Anglin, who has published the site from an undisclosed location, complained to the Associated Press in an email. Access to the Daily Stormer had been sporadic since Monday, when Google canceled its domain name registration, making its IP address nearly impossible for internet users to locate. The site had moved its registration to Google after GoDaddy tweeted late Sunday night that it had given the Daily Stormer 24 hours to move its domain to another provider. Google then yanked the address as well, citing a violation of its terms of service. The site briefly reappeared Wednesday with a Russian domain name and registration and a dubious top story, making the unsupported claim that President Trump had called Russian President Vladimir Putin to get the site restored. The story presented no evidence that Trump or Putin had any involvement in the move, and Trump has no known links to the site. Until midday, the site continued to receive performance and security services from San Francisco-based Cloudflare Inc., protecting it from distributed denial-of-service attacks. Cloudflare confirmed Wednesday afternoon that it had terminated the websites account. The tipping point for us making this decision was that the team behind Daily Stormer made the claim that we were secretly supporters of their ideology, said Chief Executive Matthew Prince in a blog post. Like a lot of people, weve felt angry at these hateful people for a long time. The site takes its name from Der Sturmer, a newspaper that published Nazi propaganda. It includes sections called Jewish Problem and Race War. Anglin said he was struggling to find a domain registry service whose terms of service allow the content he produces. A lawyer for Obeidallah said the Daily Stormer hasnt responded to a request to remove the June 1 article about him. Obeidallah is represented by Muslim Advocates, a national legal and educational organization based in Oakland. Obeidallahs lawsuit claims Anglin libeled him, invaded his privacy and intentionally inflicted emotional distress. It seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. The Daily Stormer published its post about Obeidallah a day after the Daily Beast published his column entitled, Will Donald Trump Ever Say the Words White Supremacist Terrorism? Their goal was clearly to marginalize my voice, said Obeidallah, 47, a resident of New York City. The lawsuit was filed in Columbus, Ohio. Anglin is an Ohio native who uses a post office box in Worthington, Ohio. In April, a Montana woman sued Anglin, accusing him of orchestrating an anti-Semitic trolling campaign against her family. Tanya Gershs suit claims anonymous Internet trolls bombarded her relatives with hateful and threatening messages after Anglin published their personal information in a post accusing her and other Jewish residents of Whitefish, Mont., of engaging in an extortion racket against the mother of white nationalist Richard Spencer. Gersh is represented by attorneys from the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups. In July, the centers lawyers claimed Anglin was actively concealing his whereabouts and hadnt been served with Gershs suit. They said they looked for him at four addresses in Franklin County, Ohio, where he apparently has connections. ALSO Mitch McConnell: There are no good Nazis U.S. military leaders condemn racism following Trumps comments on Charlottesville violence Who was responsible for the violence in Charlottesville? Heres what witnesses say Trump provokes new furor by giving foes of white supremacists equal blame for Charlottesville violence UPDATES: 6:05 p.m.: This article was updated with comments from the Daily Stormers publisher that the site had been banned from the Internet. This article was originally published at 12 :10 p.m. President Trump has caused a new furor by giving the foes of white supremacists equal blame for the violence in Charlottesville, Va. Im Davan Maharaj, editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Times. Here are some story lines I dont want you to miss today. TOP STORIES Trump Goes Back to Blaming Both Sides Advertisement In the gilded lobby of New Yorks Trump Tower, President Trump returned to the topic of the violence in Charlottesville, Va.: What about the alt-left that came charging at the as you say the alt-right? Do they have any semblance of guilt? Before departing, Trump condemned the alleged white supremacist charged in a deadly car attack; suggested more jobs would improve race relations; mentioned the Trump Winery in Charlottesville; and said of plans to remove Confederate statues: So this week its Robert E. Lee. I wonder is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You really have to ask yourself, where does it stop? (Read the transcript here.) New White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly was seen looking at the floor. Afterward, Trump drew a fresh round of rebuke from Democrats, many Republicans and business leaders, and got a thank-you tweet from former KKK leader David Duke. President Trump at Trump Tower on Tuesday, with National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn, left, Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin and Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. (Drew Angerer / Getty Images) More From the Charlottesville Aftermath -- Who was responsible for the violence over the weekend? Heres what witnesses say. -- The Hollywood Forever Cemetery will remove a monument commemorating Confederate veterans; some activists threatened vandalism. -- In some states, its illegal to take down monuments or change street names honoring the Confederacy. All Is Slightly More Quiet on the Korean Front You know things have been tense when its seen as a positive sign that North Korea has returned to its usual rhetoric of planning to wring the windpipes of the Yankees and point daggers at their necks if the U.S. and South Korea conduct their annual military exercises next week. For now, at least, the latest nuclear crisis appears to have eased. But the long-term threats remain. Why Buying American Is Complicated, Part 1 For a president who preaches an America first philosophy, it seems like a no-brainer: Add a buy American provision into the North American Free Trade Agreement that would give the edge to U.S. companies when it comes to federal government purchases. But as officials start talks today with their Mexican and Canadian counterparts to rewrite NAFTA, doing so wont be easy. Its a proposition made even more complicated by competing interests among American companies. Would a Tariff Burn Up the Solar Industry? Speaking of competing interests . Two bankrupt solar panel makers in the U.S. want President Trump to slap tariffs on their competitors in China and other countries so they can get back on their feet. But American solar installers and some unlikely allies including conservative think tanks and big electricity companies say that would be penny-wise and pound-foolish, considering the estimated 88,000 jobs that could evaporate when the price of panels doubles. Meanwhile, coal, oil and gas firms stand to benefit. LAUSDs Building Plan Is Complete, Just in Time for an Enrollment Drop It took 20 years and cost $10 billion, but the largest school construction project in the U.S. has come to an end. With the opening of the $160-million Maywood Center for Enriched Studies in southeast Los Angeles County this week, the final piece of the L.A. Unified puzzle is in place. But the picture of what the school district looks like now is different: Enrollment is shrinking, staggered scheduling is gone, and the question now is how to pay for renovations of old campuses and maintenance of new facilities. MUST-WATCH VIDEO -- Ten minutes from President Trumps Q&A in which he blamed both sides for the violence in Charlottesville and spoke about White House advisor Stephen K. Bannons future. -- Two Border Patrol agents discuss the changes at the U.S.-Mexico border, looking at the situation decades ago and now. -- Kevin Costner has cut his asking price for his ocean bluff property in Carpinteria. Just $55 million now! CALIFORNIA -- Carol T. Christ, UC Berkeleys 11th chancellor and the first woman to lead the nations top public research university, unveiled plans for a Free Speech Year as right-wing speakers prepare to come to campus. -- A group of California lawmakers called for the National Park Service to rescind a permit issued for a pro-Trump rally organized by a blogger and scheduled for Aug. 26 in San Francisco. -- A third woman has come forward claiming that film director Roman Polanski sexually assaulted her in the 1970s when she was underage. -- L.A. County sheriffs detectives are searching for the journal and friends of a man who overdosed at the home of a prominent Democratic donor in West Hollywood. HOLLYWOOD AND THE ARTS -- My fight every day was their fight 250 years ago: The Hamilton creative team speaks about why the show works. -- Surprise! A stealth Louis C.K. movie will have its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival next month. -- MoviePass, a subscription ticket reselling startup, is trying to become the Netflix of movie theaters. But the worlds largest chain, AMC Theatres, isnt happy about that idea. -- Robert Yancy, son of the late R&B star Natalie Cole and grandson of music legend Nat King Cole, has died at age 39. CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD If you grew up in the 1950s or 60s, you probably remember Fess Parker, the 6-foot-6 actor who first played Davy Crockett and then Daniel Boone on TV. The man who made coonskin caps a kids fashion statement was born on this date in 1924 and died March 18, 2010. NATION-WORLD -- The federal deficit would swell and premiums for some health plans would rise sharply if the Trump administration makes good on a threat to cut off subsidies for low- and medium-income buyers of health insurance, the Congressional Budget Office said. -- With a strong push from President Trump, Alabama Sen. Luther Strange secured a runoff spot in the Republican primary for the seat he has held since he was appointed to replace Jeff Sessions. -- In a direct challenge to Trump, Irans president says it could restart its nuclear program within hours. -- Hong Kong police arrested a pro-democracy opposition party member, saying surveillance footage contradicted his claim of being kidnapped by mainland Chinese. -- Your solar eclipse checklist: what to look for on the big day. BUSINESS -- With plans to protest outside Googles offices this weekend, conservatives are taking Americas culture wars directly to Silicon Valley. -- Wells Fargos chairman and two directors will step down amid the continuing fallout from the banks sham-accounts scandal. SPORTS -- The Dodgers are glad to finally have Yu Darvish, and all his complexities, in L.A. -- Inglewood residents and a church wouldnt be displaced under a new agreement between the City Council and the Clippers on a potential arena. OPINION -- Trump doubles down on his irresponsible, inexcusable comments about Charlottesville. -- The trio that pulled the U.S. back from the nuclear brink. WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING -- David French argues that Trumps comments are the stuff of the alt-rights dreams. (National Review) -- Are Confederate statues considered art? (The News & Observer) -- Its hard not to take it personally: The Japanese American star of a touring production of The Little Mermaid faces fans who are upset Ariel isnt white. (Buffalo News) ONLY IN L.A. Outside, a 6-foot chartreuse sculpture of a dog stands sentinel. Inside, three real rescue dogs rule the roost. When Robert Alschuler and Meryl Wecksler bought this 1940s ranch house in Santa Monica two decades ago, it was mostly white and beige. Now its just as colorful as the contemporary art that fills it. If someone comes in and says this house is so you its so crazy and out there and eclectic, Wecksler says, I say thank you. Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj. If you like this newsletter, please share it with friends. Arguments were filed last week in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in support of Maranda Lynn ODonnell, a young mother who was held in a Houston jail for three days last year because she couldnt pay $2,500 in bail. Her alleged crime? Driving with an invalid license. ODonnells plight is similar to that of thousands of people each year in Texas, California and around the nation who are arrested, then jailed without any finding of guilt or innocence because they dont have the money to buy their release. As in California, Harris County prosecutors and judges determine the level of bail by consulting a schedule that assigns an amount to the offense but does not answer a set of questions tied directly to the purpose of bail: Can this defendant afford it? Is she a risk to flee? Does she pose a threat to public safety? Recall that another Texas driver, Sandra Bland, was arrested in 2015 and died in jail while waiting for her family to try to scrape together $515 in bail. Her story is often and appropriately juxtaposed with the saga of Robert Durst, who was charged in Texas with murder in 2001. Durst, one of the heirs to a vast New York real estate fortune, could afford his $300,000 bail and was released. But the money did not reduce the risk. He fled. Advertisement Unjust money bail policies have improperly stripped people of their basic rights for too long. Meanwhile, the typical U.S. jail is about 60% filled not with convicted criminals but with people awaiting trial, stuck behind bars not because of their guilt or innocence or their risk to flee, but because of their poverty. Such a system is unjust. And stupid. The federal criminal justice system virtually eliminated money bail half a century ago, so bail injustices persist because of the sluggishness of the states. But momentum has been building for bail reform across the nation, and money bail has been severely restricted or eliminated and replaced with risk-based systems in Washington, D.C.; Kentucky; New Jersey; and Californias Santa Clara County. Even in unexpected places like Missouri and Alabama, courts now consider a defendants ability to pay before setting bond. U.S. Sens. Kamala Harris (D-California) and Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) have introduced a bill in Congress to help entice states to opt for risk-based pretrial release instead of money bail. Earlier this year, the California Assembly killed a bail overhaul bill that would have tied pretrial release not to wealth but to risk the likelihood that the defendant would fail to show up for trial or would do harm to others while out of jail. Leading opponents included the bail industry and prosecutors. An identical bill, having moved through the state Senate, will come before the Assembly when lawmakers return to work next week. Before voting, they would be wise to peruse the briefs filed in ODonnells case and to refrain from scoffing at the pretrial release systems in supposedly backward red states like Texas. They should note instead that the strongest supporters of ODonnell and sweeping reform include Harris County Dist. Atty. Kim Ogg and Sheriff Ed Gonzalez, who want a smarter, more just pretrial release system so that their jails can be used to house serious criminals rather than traffic violators who dont have bail money. They have put Texas in the vanguard of justice. It is difficult to identify prosecutors or sheriffs in blue California who would take such principled stands. Like landmark lawsuits that challenged the segregation of schools and other public facilities, the Texas case asks how it is possible that we have put up with such an obviously unjust system for so long. Like critics of the California Senate bill, Harris County has acknowledged problems with its bail system and says it is working to change that, if only it can be given a little time. But already generations of criminal defendants who ought to have been at liberty while preparing their trial defenses have needlessly languished in jail. Now even the Harris County district attorney and sheriff, plus dozens of other supporters in amicus briefs, are siding with the plaintiffs in arguing that unjust money bail policies have improperly stripped people of their basic rights for too long and that the practice must be scrapped and replaced by a constitutional system not in the fullness of time, nor with all deliberate speed, but now. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Mass transit systems are more than a way to carry people to and from work; they also provide a prized platform for advertisers who covet the attention of a captive commuter audience. But what if a public transit agency worries that an advertisement will offend or scandalize some of its riders? An ad that is racist, say. Or one that takes a controversial position on a provocative issue. Can it refuse such advertising? Not if it picks or chooses based on the ads point of view. That sort of favoritism violates the 1st Amendment. And that is precisely what the American Civil Liberties Union says the transit agency that serves the nations capital has been doing. In a complaint filed in federal court, the ACLU faults the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority for rejecting or removing several ads: one for an abortion pill; one for Dangerous, a book by right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos; a series of public-service announcements by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (including one with a pig saying: Im ME, Not MEAT.); and a display of the text of the 1st Amendment in English, Spanish and Arabic. The last ad had been submitted by the ACLU itself. Advertisement In criticizing the transit agencys guidelines, the ACLU flirts with a breathtakingly broad definition of issue advertising. The ads for the Yiannopoulos book, which featured the authors face and short blurbs from reviews, were removed from subway stations and cars because of protests after the transit agency originally decided that they met its guidelines. The transit agency once permitted a wide variety of commercial and noncommercial messages on its buses and subway cars and in its stations. But in 2015, after a pro-Israel group sought to display an ad featuring a caricature of the prophet Muhammad, the agency stopped accepting issue-oriented advertising. It later adopted additional guidelines that banned ads intended to influence members of the public regarding an issue on which there are varying opinions. Also prohibited were ads that support or oppose an industry position or industry goal without any direct commercial benefit to the advertiser and medical and health-related messages that werent accepted by the American Medical Assn. and/or the Food and Drug Administration. The agency insists that its advertising guidelines are reasonable and viewpoint-neutral. But the ACLU complaint strongly suggests that, even within these restrictions, the transit agency acted inconsistently. For example, the suit says, the agency refused the ACLUs 1st Amendment ad because it violated the rule against issue-oriented ads; yet, the lawsuit says, the agency accepted other such ads, including one showing a crowd of demonstrators holding signs saying Black Lives Matter. And though the agency removed the ad for Yiannopoulos book, it accepted one for a play called The Originalist, about the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. The ACLU deserves praise for flagging what it says are inconsistencies in the transit agencys implementation of its viewpoint-neutral policy. Certainly the agency should be consistent and not accept, say, one ad for a book or play while rejecting another. But in criticizing the transit agencys guidelines, the ACLU flirts with a breathtakingly broad definition of issue advertising one that could make it difficult for transit agencies to decide to limit advertising on their systems to purely commercial ads. Thats a choice the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has made. Its advertising policy forbids messages [that] take positions on issues of public debate. Similarly, the City of Los Angeles Department of Transportation has adopted a policy for advertising on its vehicles that bans ads expressing or advocating positions on public issues. Courts have deemed that to be acceptable as long as all viewpoints rather than just certain ones are prohibited. But the ACLU says that such distinctions between commercial ads and advocacy ads are a bad idea, because even non-issue ads say, a defense contractors ad for a weapons system have political ramifications. Even an ad for McDonalds is political to vegetarians. Does this mean that a transit agency that accepts an ad for McDonalds hamburgers must also accept an issue ad from a vegetarian advocacy group because a hamburger ad by definition is advocating the industry position that people should eat meat? If every commercial ad is also an issue ad, a transit agency that wanted to avoid issue ads would have to avoid all advertising. We recognize that advertisements for commercial products (such as Yiannopoulos book or a medical service) can raise 1st Amendment questions involving viewpoint discrimination. Transit agencies can also run afoul of the 1st Amendment with vaguely worded policies that can result in viewpoint discrimination. But obliterating the distinction between commercial advertising and political or issue advertising a distinction that has been recognized by the courts could mean less of both. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook For perhaps the first time, Donald Trump expressed an opinion that no one could disagree with. Racism is evil, he declared on Monday, two days after the attack on counter-protesters at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. (And one day before he said there were very fine people on both sides.) The president was essentially condemning no one. Because nobody thinks of themselves as an evil racist. Not you. Not me. Not Trump, who once attacked a federal judge because of his Mexican heritage, accepted an endorsement from ex-KKK leader David Duke before weakly renouncing him and appointed men with ties to neo-Nazi extremists to his advisory team. (Heres looking at you, Sebastian Gorka.) Not even the swastika-swaddled, Confederate-flag-waving marchers who took to the streets of Virginia on Saturday consider themselves racist. I dont hate anyone, tweeted one of the speakers at the Unite the Right rally. I believe everyone should be proud of who they are including white ppl. Advertisement Its easy to say that racism is evil. Its much harder to grapple with racism, much less combat it. To declare that racism is evil is to frame it as an abstract scourge that lurks in the hearts of only a few bigoted individuals. Its a way of denying that, since this countrys founding, race has been a determining factor in how the government, the courts and your fellow citizens treat you. Racism is rarely as blatant as a torch-lit rally. Often subtly but surely, it manifests in public policies, political debates, cultural output and social interactions. This is not what many of us were taught as children. I learned that racism is evil because people of all races and ethnicities are equal and should be treated as such. I did not learn about how everything we hold dear as Americans, as Trump put it, has been fundamentally shaped by race. If were collectively only able to stand up to racists who self-identify as racists, well never come close to ending racism. To many Americans not just on the right, but mostly on the right real, tangible racism is all in the past. Its not something that shows up in education, despite the fact that the number of hyper-segregated schools, in which 90% or more of students are minorities, grew from 5.7% in 1988 to 18.4% in 2016. And a General Accounting Office study found that such isolated schools offered disproportionately fewer math, science and college-prep courses. (This is why many university admissions departments give members of marginalized groups, such as black and Latino students, consideration over other applicants with comparable or higher test scores. But thats another matter.) Only an evil racist would deny people the right to vote based on the color of their skin. Yet voter identification laws which Trump vociferously supports have been proved to reduce turnout among black, Latino and Asian American voters. White turnout, according to political scientists, is unaffected. Modern Americans who understand that racism is evil would never tolerate a racist immigration policy, which until 1965 assigned quotas based on country of origin, with a preference for whites from northwestern Europe. And yet today, immigrants from countries such as the Philippines and Mexico typically have to wait to wait much longer for a visa than people from other countries. The day before the president declared racism evil, he was on Fox News saying he might pardon Sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was convicted of criminal contempt after he ignored a federal judges order to stop racially profiling people in Arizonas Maricopa County, under the auspices of enforcing immigration law. Of course Trump is not the only one to condemn racism while promoting policies that keep it firmly entrenched in American society. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions appeared on the Today show to say that the ideology of hatred, violence, bigotry, racism, white supremacy those things must be condemned in this country. Under Sessions, the Justice Department has supported voter ID laws in Texas and may soon seek to curb affirmative action programs. If we truly believe racism is evil, we cant just say so when the cameras are rolling. We have to root out the ways that it operates in real time. We have to work to change the long-standing systems that allow disproportionate wealth, opportunities and safety to accrue to white Americans. If were collectively only able to stand up to racists who self-identify as racists, well never come close to ending racism. White supremacy is a scourge, tweeted House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.). This hate and its terrorism must be confronted and defeated. I agree. Who wouldnt? Lets get to work. Ann Friedman is a contributing writer to Opinion. She lives in Los Angeles. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook MORE FROM OPINION Trump doubles down on his irresponsible, inexcusable comments about Charlottesville Racist extremists, not many sides, brought terror to Charlottesville Why would Charlottesville racists do so much to protect a Robert E. Lee statue? As tempting as it might be, violently confronting hate speech wont end it After threatening fire and fury, how does a superpower deescalate? By scrambling its secretary of State, secretary of Defense and military chief to reassure foreign leaders that President Trump should be taken seriously, not literally. Thats what Rex Tillerson, James N. Mattis and Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have been doing for the past week and it seems to have worked. Only eight days ago, Trump warned that if North Korea made any more threats against the United States, hed unleash fire and fury like the world has never seen. Mattis quickly clarified that the U.S. red line would be an actual military attack, not verbal assaults. Advertisement Only five days ago, Trump sounded ready for battle, tweeting that U.S. forces in Asia were locked and loaded. Dunford, on a visit to Korea, lowered the temperature. Were all looking to get out of this situation without a war, he said. And perhaps there wont be one, after all. On Monday, North Koreas leader, Kim Jong Un, backed down, announcing that he had decided to delay his plans for a missile strike on Pacific Ocean waters near the U.S. territory of Guam. Give ... [Trumps] aides some credit especially Mattis, Tillerson and Dunford for building a ladder to help their boss down from the limb he climbed on. A win for the madman theory, the notion that a president can get his way simply by scaring the bejesus out of the rest of the world? Not necessarily. U.S. officials argue that the credit should go to Mattis blunt clarity, Dunfords reassuring steadiness and Tillersons patient diplomacy. To them, Trumps incendiary tweets actually got in the way. Even some Democratic foreign policy experts are willing to give the Trump administration kudos for making headway on one of the worlds most intractable problems. Theres a fairly considered policy running underneath all that noise, Ely Ratner, a former advisor to former Vice President Joe Biden, said. Theyre pursuing a maximum pressure strategy with a sanctions regime that is unprecedented. ... I think were heading down the right road. The key to the strategy, aimed at stopping North Korea from building a nuclear weapon that can strike the United States, has been a persistent campaign to woo China, North Koreas powerful neighbor and trading partner, to Trumps side. Economic and military pressure on North Korea wont work unless the United States and China are working together. Thats why the most important U.S. success in the last few weeks wasnt Kims stand-down on Guam; it was Chinas decision to support and enforce new and tougher trading sanctions against North Korea. Those decisions stemmed from Trumps success in convincing Chinas leader, Xi Jinping, that the Korean problem should be a top priority for both countries and that China could reap rewards in trade negotiations with the United States if it cooperates. The drive to enlist Xis help also included conciliatory signals from Mattis and Tillerson, who said the United States is willing to negotiate with North Korea, which China wants, without tough preconditions like a complete halt to the nuclear program. The U.S. has no interest in regime change or accelerated reunification of Korea, Mattis and Tillerson wrote in the Wall Street Journal this week. If China wishes to play a more active role in securing regional peace and stability from which all of us, especially China, derive such great benefit it must make the decision to exercise its decisive diplomatic and economic leverage over North Korea. The next big decisions may come this fall, when Trump is scheduled to meet Xi in Beijing. China experts believe Xi would like to show significant progress on the Korea problem then. And that will touch off new debates inside the Trump administration. What concessions is the United States willing to make to induce North Korea to consider ending, or at least freezing, its nuclear program? And if Kim wont give up his weapons, as experts anticipate, is the United States ready to adopt a policy of containment, hoping to deter a nuclear North Korea from ever using them? The administrations answer, so far, is no. But in the long run, even with Chinas help in imposing sanctions on North Korea, it may have no choice. Deterrence is not desirable, said Jeffrey A. Bader, an Asia expert who worked on former President Obamas National Security Council staff. Its inadequate in the face of a regime like North Koreas. It sounds passive, and no administration wants to look passive. But its what youve got left if everything else fails. Come back in four years, and Ill bet thats where we are. Still, containments better than a hot war, especially a hot nuclear war. Give the president and his aides some credit especially Mattis, Tillerson and Dunford for building a ladder to help their boss down from the limb he climbed on. doyle.mcmanus@latimes.com Twitter: @DoyleMcManus Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook Its time for the rebirth of a National Womans Party. Before the 2016 campaign, the idea would have seemed quaint. But we now see that the chances for continuing progress for women are dimming substantially. Yes, women have made historic gains over the past century. But much of the legal progress was the result not only of the womens movement but of a quirky accident of history. When Congress was debating the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Rep. Howard W. Judge Smith (D-Va.) came upon a scheme he hoped would make a joke of the law and take it down to defeat. He added language to the bill that would outlaw discrimination not only on the basis of race but also sex. His ploy failed; the bill passed. Much of the legislation that benefited women in the following years was based on Smiths gamble. How he must be turning over in his grave! Unfortunately, the major initiative for full justice, the Equal Rights Amendment, didnt get ratified in the 1970s. President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act in 1963, but the gender gap in wages has budged just barely since then. And the movement of women into high-level jobs in the 80s has slowed down. Women now occupy more college seats than men, but its the opposite picture in the workplace. The higher women go, the harder it gets. As of 2017, just 32 female CEOs ran Fortune 500 companies. Advertisement The WAGE (Women Are Getting Even) Project, a national group that helps women close the gender gap in pay, illustrates the salary difference in a stark way. Tina and Ted graduated from the same university, with the same degree. They work the same number of hours, in the same type of job. And yet, as they start their first jobs, Ted is making $4,000 more than Tina. Over a lifetime of work, a woman with a bachelors degree will earn a third less (some $700,000) than a man with the same degree, the group found. The [National Womans] party could throw its support to the Democrat or Republican presidential candidate most in line with its views. Many people thought 2016 would be the year when the first American female president took office. And yet the winning candidate ran on misogyny. The Trump administration has attacked womens reproductive rights and insurance coverage for contraception, pregnancy and childbirth. Among the opposition, meanwhile, some are calling for the Democratic Party to give up on the Obama coalition of blacks, Latinos and women and focus instead on the angry white men. We see womens issues sinking to the bottom of the national agenda. Even with women making up 47% of the workforce and 73.7% of eligible voters, there seems to be little chance that the U.S. will catch up to the rest of the industrialized world. 163 nations around the world guarantee paid sick leave; the U.S. does not. 164 nations guarantee paid annual leave; the U.S. does not. 177 nations guarantee paid leave for new mothers; the U.S. does not. 74 nations guarantee paid leave for new fathers; the U.S. does not 48 nations guarantee paid time off to care for childrens health; the U.S. does not. Perhaps we have pushed the present two-party system to its limits. The Republicans seem hopelessly fractured while the Democrats seem angry and demoralized. There is no sane center anymore. In contrast, the womens march after the election was energized and full of purpose, drawing many men as well as women to oppose Trump policies. Could a womans party capitalize on and add power to that energy and excitement? A National Womans Party did exist in the United States, founded by suffragist Alice Paul in 1916. But it faded away after women were given the vote. Third parties historically do not do well in presidential elections in American politics. Perhaps this party could be focused not on gaining the presidency but electing state officers, governors, representatives and senators who can meet the NWPs goals of getting for American women all those things that other nations take for granted. The party could throw its support to the Democrat or Republican presidential candidate most in line with its views. Electing women candidates would probably help the most. It took two female Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, to lead the way on deep-sixing the disastrous GOP healthcare legislation. Democrats Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Claire McCaskill of Missouri teamed to change the way the military handled sexual assault. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) has been a vocal supporter of Planned Parenthood and abortion rights. Once its primary goals were achieved, the National Womans Party could fold its tent. Or maybe not. Maybe it would be a great success, achieving for all Americans basic rights that so many other people around the world have had for ages. Maybe no one male or female would want it to go away. Caryl Rivers, professor of journalism at Boston University, and Rosalind C. Barnett, senior scientist at the Womens Studies Research Center at Brandeis University, are the authors of The New Soft War on Women. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinionand Facebook May you die in pain: California GOP congressman gets an earful at town hall Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) kicks off his Monday morning town hall in Chico. (Phil Willon / Los Angeles Times) May you die in pain. That was the nastiest moment of Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfas early morning town hall in the Northern California town of Chico on Monday. The wish was uttered by an older man who criticized LaMalfa for voting for the House GOP plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. He was also holding a pink sign that read Lackey for the Rich! ALSO: LaMalfa says the Russia investigation is a bunch of crap The open hostility and intransigence inside the Chico Elks Lodge came as the political divide in the country has grown more inflamed, with Trumps election unleashing a wave of both liberal activism and conservative empowerment. As a result, Washingtons deeply partisan fights over issues such as health care, immigration and environmental protections have followed members of Congress home, turning once sedate town halls into in-your-face venting sessions that in left-leaning California have Republican House members on the defensive. LaMalfa stood his ground on stage as person after person ripped into him for his votes and positions on healthcare and climate change, as well as for his unyielding support for President Trump. A few speakers asked LaMalfa to resign, including one dressed up as the Wicked Witch of the West Coast. Heather Calun dressed up as the Wicked Witch of the West Coast in protest. She wants LaMalfa to resign over his vote to repeal Obamacare. pic.twitter.com/rBZXAnjd2l Phil Willon (@philwillon) August 7, 2017 Most comments and questions during the hour-long town hall were fairly cordial, although they were laced with plenty of boos and catcalls. Norma Wilcox, a retired nurse who lives in Chico, also questioned LaMalfas healthcare vote. Wilcox told LaMalfa the House plan would take away healthcare for millions of Americans while providing tax breaks to the rich. I am open to new ideas, LaMalfa told her, describing the House GOP bill as a placeholder that everyone expected to be improved during negotiations with the Senate. (The Senates healthcare efforts now appear dead.) But the Richvale congressman, who represents Californias massive 1st Congressional District in the northeast corner of the state, said he will support only a new healthcare program that provides affordable coverage to middle-class Americans. LaMalfa said Obamacare is quickly become unaffordable and unsustainable, with premium costs rising and the number of insurance companies offering coverage declining. People across the board are being hurt by this, LaMalfa said. When shouts and boos rained down on him, he chastised the crowd saying, I have the mic folks. Yep, boo away. Ann Sisney of Chico told LaMalfa that her son, William, died of an opioid overdose two years ago. She held up a picture of the 19-year-old, asked the congressman to take it, and told him more people will die if GOP leadership in Congress gets its way on healthcare. These are life-and-death decisions that you are making, Sisney told him. LaMalfa assured her that Congress was working to find funds to address the nationwide opioid epidemic. The Republican congressman also raised the ire of the crowd when he was asked about climate change and the degraded air quality in this stretch of Northern California. I dont buy the idea that man-made activity is responsible, LaMalfa said bluntly. The crowd of several hundred did include some LaMalfa supporters, though most stayed silent. Ron Jones, 67, of Paradise said hes been to a few of LaMalfas town halls and all have been dominated by his critics. Most of the time people want to ... complain, said Jones, a self-described conservative, after the event ended. The people who support him are quietly in the background. LaMalfa does indeed have a lot of support in the district that also overwhelmingly voted for Trump over Hillary Clinton in last years presidential election. LaMalfa won his last election by almost 15%, and though he has attracted a few Democratic challengers, the district is not considered a battleground for 2018. Unlike many California Republican members of Congress, LaMalfa hasnt shied away from holding town halls, though its rarely a pleasant experience for him. He held one in Nevada City in March and another in April in Oroville. No other California Republicans are scheduled to hold town halls during their August recess. Near the end of Mondays town hall, a woman criticized LaMalfa for inviting only Christian pastors to provide invocations at his town halls and other events, and urged him to include religious leaders of all faiths. If you want to have your own town hall, you can invite whoever you like, LaMalfa told her. With a strong push from President Trump, Alabama Sen. Luther Strange secured a runoff spot late Tuesday in the Republican primary for his seat. The senator now faces top vote-getter Roy Moore, the outspoken former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court. Moores horseback ride to the polls Tuesday demonstrated the political showmanship that has made him a favorite among Alabama voters. With about four-fifths of precincts reporting results late Tuesday, Moore had 43% of the vote, compared with 31% for Strange. With no candidate achieving the 50% needed to secure the nomination, the Republican runoff is set for Sept. 26. Advertisement The race exposed the potential reach as well as the limits of Trumps influence, even in a state where the president remains hugely popular. Voters consistently preferred Moore, despite a strong White House endorsement for Strange, who took over the seat this year when Jeff Sessions, the states longtime senator, resigned to become U.S. attorney general. But Trumps support appears to have at least enabled Strange to avoid the embarrassment of not securing the second spot. Were on to the runoff, Moore tweeted as the Associated Press called the race about two hours after polls closed. Time for conservatives across Alabama to unite and deliver a knockout punch to the establishment! Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore rides to the polls on Tuesday. (Brynn Anderson / Associated Press) Trumps investment in the race was never a sure bet in the primary. And it may not be one that can be easily replicated in other contested Republican primaries in Nevada and Arizona, where the president is far less popular. Its a weird race, said Brent Buchanan, a consultant in Alabama who is unaffiliated with any of the candidates. I dont think you take this and say this is an omen for the 2018 primaries. Theres just too many anomalies to make assumptions off what happens. Trump may be more helpful in upcoming primary races by steering clear of the states where his popularity has tumbled and the Republican incumbents are charting their own paths, often with their own brands. In Nevada, Sen. Dean Heller, who faces a pro-Trump challenger, recently acknowledged that he voted for Trump last fall, a disclosure that may shore up his base of Republican support but could drive off more centrist Republicans and independents in the Silver State. In Arizona, ads are now promoting Sen. Jeff Flake, one of Trumps most outspoken Republican critics, as principled in a nod to opposition to the president, despite a challenge from a Trump-aligned candidate. Other primary races among Republicans hoping to take on Democratic incumbents in Indiana and West Virginia are emerging with splits over Trump support. But in Alabama, strategists were relying on the presidents high-profile tweets to boost Stranges sagging campaign by turning out voters who may not have been paying close attention to an otherwise sleepy August special primary election. Trump repeatedly tweeted his support for Strange as polls opened Tuesday morning, as did Vice President Mike Pence. The Senate Leadership Fund, a group aligned with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), poured $4 million into the race. Strange highlighted his ties to the president. Weve developed a personal friendship. We like each other, he said on Fox & Friends. Ive done everything you could possibly do to support the presidents agenda, and believe me thats what the people of Alabama want to see done. But the senator continued to face skepticism from voters that may follow him to the runoff. On the job just a few months, Big Luther, as the towering senator is known, was scrutinized over his backing from McConnell, who is unpopular among many Trump voters, and his appointment by the former governor, who resigned amid an ethics investigation Strange had spearheaded as Alabamas attorney general. In Moore, voters had a known favorite who in many ways had captured Trumps appeal to state voters. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) in Washington. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Moore has twice been sidelined from the bench, forced to resign as chief justice of the state Supreme Court for refusing to take down a Ten Commandments display, and later, after being reinstated by voters, suspended for failing to comply with the U.S. Supreme Courts upholding of same-sex marriage. Trailing in the nine-candidate field was Rep. Mo Brooks, who was backed by Sean Hannity, the Fox News host, and other conservatives as the hard-driving House Freedom Caucus member whose early criticisms of Trump strategists say cost him among voters. On the Democratic side, Doug Jones cleared a crowded field to become the nominee. Alabama remains a Republican stronghold, but Democrats are monitoring the race for the possibility of inroads for the general election in December. lisa.mascaro@latimes.com @LisaMascaro ALSO Trump wants a border wall, but few in Congress want to pay for it Trumps election has mobilized a resistance like no other, but will Democrats answer to the tea party divide the ranks? With a push from Trump, House Republicans pass Obamacare overhaul More coverage of Congress More coverage of politics and the White House The Trump administration, faced with increasing pressure from Republican members of Congress, backed away from causing an immediate crisis in healthcare marketplaces and agreed Wednesday to continue making payments to insurance companies that are widely viewed as critical to keeping the industry stable. President Trump and his top aides have flirted for months with cutting off the money, known as cost-sharing reduction payments, which help subsidize insurance co-payments and deductibles for low-income and moderate-income Americans. Doing so would be one step toward causing the Affordable Care Act to implode as Trump has sometimes put it. The decision to make this months payment, due next week, signaled that the administration has decided against immediately precipitating a collapse, potentially giving Congress time to pass a bipartisan package of fixes to some of the laws problems. Advertisement Leading Republican members of Congress have pressed the administration to keep making the payments, fearing that any move to cut them off would cause chaos in insurance markets. Trump has said voters would blame Democrats for any problems with the markets, but few Republican elected officials share that view. The pressure to continue the payments increased Tuesday when the Congressional Budget Office reported that cutting off the payments would actually increase federal spending. Ending them would cause insurance premiums to rise sharply and thereby increase the cost of other government subsidies, the budget office said. A White House official confirmed Wednesday that the administration had decided to make this months payment, which will total about $600 million. The question of whether to make future payments remains under review. The announcement drew praise from Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), the head of the Senate committee that handles healthcare legislation. The decision to continue the subsidies helps 18 million Americans who dont get insurance from the government or on the job, Alexander said in a statement. When Congress returns from its recess in September, lawmakers should quickly pass legislation that would continue the payments through next year, Alexander said. The continuation should be linked to changes in the current law to give states more flexibility on the kinds of insurance policies that consumers can buy, he added. But some conservative lawmakers and organizations were quick to voice their displeasure, calling the payments a bailout of insurance companies. That opposition illustrated the difficulty Alexander and like-minded lawmakers will face in trying to round up Republican support for legislation to stabilize a healthcare law the party has long wanted to repeal. And if Congress does not quickly settle the issue, the continued month-to-month uncertainty about the payments is likely to cause insurers to hike premiums. Already, industry executives have publicly blamed the uncertainty for higher premiums for next year. Insurers are coming up on deadlines next month for setting their premiums for next years open enrollment period. The part of the healthcare law at issue greatly lowers the cost of insurance for millions of low- and middle-income consumers by requiring insurers to hold down deductibles and co-payments. That requirement can save thousands of dollars for families with big medical bills who can qualify for the cost reductions if their incomes are below about 2 times the federal poverty level. The requirement to hold down co-payments and deductibles, however, costs insurance companies a lot of money. To make them whole, the government reimburses them with the monthly payments. Since early this year, the administration has refused to commit to continue sending the checks. In late July, after Republicans failed in their effort to repeal the healthcare law, Trump said that he wanted to let Obamacare implode. An abrupt cutoff of the cost-reduction payments would be among the quickest ways to make that happen. The cost-sharing reductions have long been a controversial part of the healthcare law. Republican lawmakers went to court in 2014 to challenge the payments, saying Congress had never appropriated money for them. A federal district judge in Washington agreed last year. The Obama administration appealed, and the ruling has been on hold ever since. At one point, Trump administration officials talked of dropping the appeal as a way to kill the payments. That option faded this month after Democratic state attorneys general won the right to intervene in the case, which would allow them to keep the appeal alive if Trump pulled out. Although many of Trumps advisors oppose the payments, the budget office report Tuesday put them in a difficult position. The report from the nonpartisan budget office said that cutting off the payments would have paradoxical effect of increasing federal spending. Thats so because insurers would still be required to hold down deductibles and co-payments for low- and moderate-income consumers. To avoid losing money, some insurers would pull out of the marketplaces. Most, however, would raise premiums, the budget office projected. The premiums for the medium-cost silver plans on the exchanges, which are the most popular plans among consumers, would go up by about 20% to 25% over the next couple of years if the cost-sharing payments ended, the budget office said. The cost of those higher premiums would land primarily on taxpayers, not on individual consumers. Thats because nearly 80% of people receiving coverage on the marketplaces also receive a second kind of government assistance to help pay monthly premiums. As overall premiums rise, so will the cost of those other government subsidies. The net result would be to increase the federal deficit by almost $200 billion over the next 10 years, the budget office said. If the subsidy payments were ended, insurers pulling out of the market would leave about 5% of the population in counties with no marketplace insurer, the budget office also projected. david.lauter@latimes.com For more on Politics and Policy, follow me @DavidLauter on Twitter. ALSO About 1 in 4 Americans would follow Trump to the end -- about the same share that totally rejects him Who was responsible for the violence in Charlottesville? Heres what witnesses say Latest crisis on North Korea eases as both sides pull back for now Get the latest news from the nations capital on Essential Washington >> UPDATES: 3:25 p.m.: This article was updated with additional detail and reaction. The article was originally published at 1:55 p.m. The nations top military officers issued public statements condemning racial bigotry and extremism, a rare foray into domestic politics that indicated deep unease Wednesday in the Pentagon with President Trumps views on race and underscored his growing isolation. The social media posts from the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff the commanders of the Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Air Force came amid a torrent of criticism of Trump as business executives abandoned his advisory councils, Republican elected officials distanced themselves from him and previously friendly foreign leaders criticized his comments suggesting an equivalence between neo-Nazi groups and their opponents. In a further sign of an administration in crisis, Vice President Mike Pence announced he was cutting short a visit to South America to return to Washington a day early for meetings with Trump. Advertisement The Army doesnt tolerate racism, extremism, or hatred in our ranks. Gen. Mark Milley, chief of staff of the Army But it was the statements from the countrys top uniformed military leaders that broke most dramatically with precedent. Each used his official Twitter account to denounce the far-right protesters behind Saturdays deadly violence in Charlottesville, Va. and not those who had confronted them. I stand with my fellow service chiefs in saying we're always stronger together-it's who we are as #Airmen pic.twitter.com/9XxOry93nf Gen. Dave Goldfein (@GenDaveGoldfein) August 16, 2017 Events in Charlottesville unacceptable & musnt be tolerated @USNavy forever stands against intolerance & hatred...https://t.co/tg0cETibaq Adm. John Richardson (@CNORichardson) August 13, 2017 No place for racial hatred or extremism in @USMC. Our core values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment frame the way Marines live and act. Robert B. Neller (@CMC_MarineCorps) August 15, 2017 The Army doesn't tolerate racism, extremism, or hatred in our ranks. It's against our Values and everything we've stood for since 1775. GEN Mark A. Milley (@ArmyChiefStaff) August 16, 2017 They did not mention their commander in chief by name. But three of the four posts appeared after Trump sparked a bipartisan furor Tuesday by repeatedly blaming both sides for the clashes that followed a march by neo-Nazis, white supremacists and their allies, ending with the death of a counter-protester. The Army doesnt tolerate racism, extremism, or hatred in our ranks, Gen. Mark Milley, chief of staff of the Army, tweeted Wednesday. Its against our Values and everything weve stood for since 1775. Similar implied denunciations of Trumps stand poured in from former Presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush, Republican leaders in Congress, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), as well as several major allies in Europe. British Prime Minister Theresa May, one of the few European leaders who has been openly friendly with Trump, condemned the presidents comments. I see no equivalence between those who propound fascist views and those who oppose them, and I think it is important for all those in positions of responsibility to condemn far-right views whenever we hear them, May said in Portsmouth, England. The last two Republican presidents signed a joint statement Wednesday declaring that America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism and hatred in all forms. Like the military chiefs, the Bushes didnt name Trump, but their statement broke with the usual practice of former presidents refraining from even indirect criticism of the sitting chief executive. The rebukes underscored how Trumps response has isolated him more than perhaps any incident since the Access Hollywood tape was leaked a month before the 2016 election. On it, Trump was heard crudely boasting a decade ago of his ability to get away with groping women. Theres a truism in ... politics: Just stay away from anything remotely involving Nazis, commented Michael Steele, who headed the Republican National Committee from 2009 to 2011, the first African American to hold the post. Trump strained that tradition during last years campaign, appearing to embrace far-right groups who backed him. But as he seeks support in his latest self-created crisis, he is finding fewer safe harbors. Business and labor leaders, whose support Trump craves most, have quit his side to protest his equating neo-Nazis to leftist activist groups, and his claim that some very fine people took part in the white supremacy rally. After the chief executives of 3M and Campbell Soup bailed Wednesday from a White House advisory council on manufacturing the seventh and eighth members to quit Trump disbanded the group, along with a second panel devoted to general economic policy advice. At a news conference in Chile, Pence conspicuously declined to say whether he agreed with Trump that there were good people among the white supremacists who marched. What happened in Charlottesville was a tragedy, and the president has been clear on this tragedy, and so have I, Pence said. Even before the Charlottesville violence, Trumps support had slid in public opinion polls, and he has increased his appeals to his core supporters, holding reelection rallies far earlier in his term than his predecessors. His 2020 campaign announced Wednesday that he will address a rally in Phoenix next week, his first visit to the West since the election. To help him weather the latest crisis, he will rely on a 28-year-old aide, Hope Hicks, whom he appointed as interim communications director on Wednesday. Depending on how one counts, Hicks, who was one of Trumps first hires in his presidential campaign, is the fourth or fifth communications director in the Trump White House. Hicks will replace Anthony Scaramucci, who was ousted so quickly after 10 tumultuous days that he was never formally sworn in. Trump tends to ignore communications advice and Tuesdays impromptu news conference in New York was a prime example. His comments reportedly stunned his senior staff, who only expected him to deliver a statement on infrastructure, not take questions on Charlottesville. The Twitter posts from the military chiefs that followed suggest mounting discomfort at the Pentagon. The service chiefs support Trumps proposals for a military build-up but have yet to implement his unexpected call on Twitter last month to block transgender troops from serving in the armed forces. Since then, the Pentagon has stated that transgender people can serve openly until the White House issues new guidance through proper channels on how to carry out a ban, including whether to discharge transgender troops already in uniform. Pentagon leaders were blindsided by Trumps tweet that the military would not allow or accept transgender troops to serve. They also were caught off guard by his warning that he would unleash fire and fury if North Korea continued to threaten the United States, as well as his startling claims of a possible military option for the political turmoil in Venezuela. The Twitter messages from the Pentagon chiefs had a special resonance because several of the individuals who played prominent roles in the far-right rally Saturday, or the deadly violence that followed, had served in uniform. James Alex Fields, the alleged Nazi sympathizer accused of killing a woman and wounding more than a dozen others by ramming his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, spent four months in the Army in 2015 but failed out of basic training. In addition, a former Marine staff sergeant who served combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, Dillon Ulysses Hopper, was identified as the leader of Vanguard America, a group that helped organize the Unite the Right rally. According to Hoppers service records, he was in the Marine Corps from July 2006 until January this year, serving as a recruiter for part of that time. Participation in supremacist or extremist organizations is a violation of Defense Department orders and leads to mandatory dismissal. Marine Commandant Gen. Robert B. Neller tweeted Tuesday that there is no place for racial hatred or extremism in the Marine Corps. Adm. John Richardson, the Chief of Naval Operations, started the trend on Saturday when he posted a statement on Twitter and Facebook that called the events in Charlottesville shameful and unacceptable. The Navy will forever stand against intolerance and hatred he said. We want our Navy to be the safest possible place a team as strong and tough as we can be, saving violence only for our enemies. Gen. David L. Goldfein, chief of staff of the Air Force, tweeted Wednesday that he stood together with my fellow service chiefs in saying that were always stronger together. Separately, the military moved to disavow some of the white nationalists who were photographed wearing military-affiliated clothing during the clashes. The 82nd Airborne Division, whose paratroopers jumped into Europe to defeat the Nazis in World War II, took to Twitter on Monday to disavow a man photographed giving a Ku Klux Klan salute while wearing a hat with the divisions insignia. Respectfully, anyone who thinks this man represents our culture and values has never worn the maroon beret... and never will, the 82nd Airborne tweeted. william.hennigan@latimes.com Twitter: @wjhenn ALSO Read 3M CEO Inge Thulins statement on his resignation from Trumps manufacturing council Who was responsible for the violence in Charlottesville? Heres what witnesses say Obama tweeted a response to the Charlottesville violence. Its now the most liked in Twitter history President Trump on Tuesday forcefully blamed counter-protesters as well as white supremacist groups for the weekends deadly violence in Charlottesville, Va., abandoning his scripted condemnation just a day earlier of the neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan and other racist groups widely seen as responsible. Trump reverted instead to his initial stance, which he articulated just after a woman died on Saturday when a car allegedly driven by a white supremacist sped through counter-protesters and pedestrians. In that first reaction, he faulted many sides for the violence igniting two days of bipartisan criticism that Trump sought to answer with Mondays unequivocal denunciation of white supremacists. On Tuesday, the president called his Saturday response a fine statement. Advertisement In a combative and caustic exchange with reporters at Trump Tower, the president described what he saw televised from Charlottesville: You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. And nobody wants to say that, he continued, but Ill say it right now. Trump also expressed common cause with Confederate sympathizers and others working in a number of Southern communities to preserve monuments to Confederate heroes, as many locales act to take them down as a gesture of racial healing. It was a plan in Charlottesville to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that brought the white supremacists there from all over the nation for the rally on Saturday. This week its Robert E. Lee. I noticed Stonewall Jackson is coming down, Trump said, alluding to another Confederate general. I wonder is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You really have to ask yourself, where does it stop? His statements brought a thank you from former Klan leader David Duke, but once again provoked widespread opposition, including among many Republicans who expressed anguish at Trumps rhetoric. The remarks amounted to another surreal moment in a presidency that has been full of them, in this case driving a new wedge into the nations racial divide. Trump, standing in the gilded lobby of Trump Tower in New York for the first time since his inauguration, beside two Cabinet secretaries and two economic advisors there to discuss infrastructure, grew defensive and angry when reporters asked him repeatedly about his initial failure, for two days, to unequivocally condemn the white supremacists. He defended himself for the delay I didnt wait long; I wanted to make sure, unlike most politicians, that what I said was correct yet he in effect disavowed the Monday statement denouncing the white supremacists in Charlottesville that hed made after presumably getting the facts, as he put it. Then he reached into his suit coat, brandished a copy of his prepared remarks from Saturday, and approvingly read the most pertinent line: We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence. But Trump omitted the next phrase on many sides, on many sides that he had ad-libbed on Saturday, and which provoked the firestorm of criticism. The president then explicitly and aggressively made the case for why the anti-racism counter-protesters were as much as fault as the armed white militias a contention at odds with local police accounts. What about the alt-left that came charging at the as you say the alt-right? Trump challenged the reporters. Do they have any semblance of guilt? What about the fact they came charging that they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs? Do they have any problem? I think they do, he said of the counter-protesters. From there, the exchange became chaotic, as Trump sparred with reporters about the clash and the state of racial relations. He addressed reporters as fake news and repeatedly called them dishonest, in a performance that was at turns abrasive, defensive and cutting. Intermittently, he remembered what he had initially intended to talk about. How about a couple of infrastructure questions? Nearby, White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, the retired general newly brought in to enforce discipline in the White House, clasped his hands and looked at the floor. Trump even suggested some added culpability on the side of the counter-protesters, noting that the white supremacists had permits to demonstrate. At one point the president echoed the sentiments of the white nationalists in his political coalition who often express fears of a lost heritage and traditions, as symbolized by moves against Confederate monuments.. Was George Washington a slave owner? So will George Washington lose his status? he said. What do you think of Thomas Jefferson? Do you like him? he asked, adding, Youre changing history. Youre changing culture. Trump condemned the alleged white supremacist in Charlottesville who was charged with murder for driving into a crowd of counter-protesters on Saturday and killing a woman, Heather Heyer, and injuring others. But he declined to label it specifically as an act of terrorism. The driver of the car is a disgrace to himself, his family and his country, Trump said. You can call it terrorism, you can call it murder. You can call it whatever you want. Duke, the former Imperial Wizard of the KKK, wrote on Twitter: Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists. Democrats and many Republicans renewed their criticisms. What he did today again goes back on what he said yesterday and thats unacceptable, tweeted Sen. Cory Gardner, a Republican from Colorado. The President was wrong to do that. Other Republicans, including Sens. Orrin Hatch of Utah, Marco Rubio of Florida and Dean Heller of Nevada, simply retweeted their weekend comments distancing themselves from Trumps equivocal Saturday statement. Sen. Christopher S. Murphy, a Connecticut Democrat, may have had the most visceral reaction, tweeting that he read Trumps remarks after stopping on the side of the road. I nearly threw up, he wrote. An American President offering a defense of white supremacists. My god. Trump, asked about race relations during his presidency, said, I think theyve gotten better or the same, adding, Look, theyve been frayed for a long time. And you can ask President Obama about that, because hed make speeches about it. Jobs will unite the country, he said, promising to bring more of them, great jobs, with good pay. Trump had seemed eager to move past the controversy over his leadership amid the violence, but even before Tuesdays diatribe, he could not let his grievances go. Up early as usual, the president retweeted a cartoon depicting a Trump train mowing down a CNN reporter, a particularly ill-timed gesture after the chilling images from the fatal car attack in Charlottesville. The posting was quickly deleted along with one other. A White House aide, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the retweets were inadvertently posted but did not say who removed them. The deletions were a rare move for a White House that is loath to admit error. At the same time, the since-deleted postings seemed part of a pattern in which Trump lately has said or done things to appeal to his most ardent supporters on the right, as if to signal solidarity with them especially after his Monday criticism of the white hate groups. Subsequently there were his tweets and remarks lambasting the media, and in particular CNN. He told Fox News that he was considering a pardon for Joe Arpaio, the former Arizona county sheriff and Trump campaign supporter who was recently convicted of defying a judges order to stop racial profiling of Latinos when he was sheriff. Trump tweeted Foxs report, and that tweet remained on his feed. And Trump did not back down from his much-criticized attack a day earlier, on Twitter, against the African American chief executive of Merck & Co., Kenneth C. Frazier, who left the presidents advisory council on manufacturing in protest of Trumps initial failure Saturday to specifically blame the hate groups for the violence in Charlottesville. On Tuesday, after two more corporate chief executives resigned from his council, the president lashed out at the group on Twitter for their grandstanding. But if Trumps tweet was meant to intimidate other would-be defectors, it seemed to backfire. After he sent it, another member of the council, Scott Paul, president of the trade group Alliance for American Manufacturing, withdrew. Wal-Marts chief executive, Doug McMillon, did not resign his position on a different advisory panel, but said in a statement that Trump on Saturday had missed a critical opportunity to help bring our country together by unequivocally rejecting the appalling actions of white supremacists. Javier Palomarez, president and chief executive of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, who serves on Trumps National Diversity Coalition, denounced the presidents handling of the Charlottesville violence and called for the ouster of Stephen K. Bannon, the White House strategist who served as a conduit to white nationalists when he was head of Breitbart News. Theyre leaving out of embarrassment because they make their products outside [the United States], and Ive been lecturing them, Trump said Tuesday. His remarks to reporters prompted a fifth defection from the manufacturing council, Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO. President Trumps remarks today repudiate his forced remarks yesterday about the KKK and neo-Nazis, the union said in a statement. We must resign on behalf of Americas working people, who reject all notions of legitimacy of these bigoted groups. Times staff writers Sameea Kamal and Jim Puzzanghera contributed to this report. noah.bierman@latimes.com Twitter: @noahbierman ALSO Who was responsible for the violence in Charlottesville? Heres what witnesses say Analysis: Americas far right stole the spotlight. Now comes the backlash Robin Abcarian: President finally speaks from the heart. Former KKK leader says, Thank you Politicians facing news coverage that theyd rather avoid generally dont convene free-wheeling press conferences. But as weve seen most every week of his time in office, President Trump is not a normal politician or public figure. Look no further than the 23 minutes he spent with reporters on Tuesday. Good morning from the state capital. Im Sacramento Bureau Chief John Myers, and things have been quiet here on the final week of a month-long legislative recess. Advertisement But not so in the lobby of the Manhattan skyscraper that bears the presidents name. TWO SIDES, TRUMP INSISTS Trumps news conference ostensibly convened to talk about his infrastructure plans was dominated by his decision to again insist that it wasnt just white nationalists responsible for the melee in Charlottesville. And then, he insisted that some attendees wanted nothing more than to protect the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. This week its Robert E. Lee. I noticed Stonewall Jackson is coming down, Trump said, alluding to another Confederate general. I wonder is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You really have to ask yourself, where does it stop? All of this just one day after much more stern comments about, and condemnation of, the various far-right groups that assembled in Virginias most well-known college town. If youve lost track a little of the presidents various comments about the deadly violence there, were keeping tabs. Weve also got the full transcript of Trumps remarks to reporters in New York City on Tuesday. THE AWKWARD AFTERMATH FOR REPUBLICANS Like so many times before in the first seven months of this presidency, and the second time since the weekend, Republicans sought some way on Tuesday to put some daylight between themselves and their party standard-bearer. THE BLAME AND THE BACKLASH Matt Pearce takes a closer look at what happens now for the alt-right movement and how all of the attention these groups have received is likely a double-edged sword. Pearce also compiles a look at how blame for Saturdays violent clashes is being assigned by far-right and mainstream media. AND SPEAKING OF RACE, HATE AND SPEECH... There are laws in many states about who can take down statues like those of Confederate soldiers, and when. California lawmakers have urged the National Park Service to think twice about a permit for an alt-right groups event next weekend in San Francisco. In the aftermath of the weekends events, Los Angeles officials took aim at a Canoga Park house from where they allege a white supremacist group has been running a major drug operation. The Hollywood Forever Cemetery plans to take down a monument commemorating Confederate veterans after calls from activists and vandalism threats. Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger donated $100,000 to a group devoted to fighting hate speech. And the new chancellor of UC Berkeley, where earlier clashes have made news, told returning students that the new academic year will be devoted to free speech. SWEET HOME, ALABAMA: ELECTION NIGHT The furor over Trumps comments obscured important political news from Alabama, where the presidents pick, Sen. Luther Strange, advanced to a Republican runoff next month with Roy Moore. Democrat Doug Jones cleared a crowded field to become his partys nominee. THE DANGER OF CUTTING OBAMACARE SUBSIDIES Also overshadowed by Tuesday afternoons events was a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office that showed even Trumps talk of ending federal healthcare subsidies could have huge effects. The analysis shows that doing so would balloon the size of insurance payments for some Americans as well as the federal governments deficit. White House officials responded by calling the budget office projection a flawed report, although they didnt actually identify any flaws in it. A FALL RECALL ELECTION IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA? The backers of an effort to remove state Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton) after only months in office won an early round in court on Monday. An appeals court put a temporary stay on the election law that Democrats crafted to lengthen the election calendar and push a potential contest into 2018. Meanwhile, the states campaign finance watchdog agency takes a big vote on Thursday deciding whether to remove campaign contribution limits for Newmans fellow lawmakers who want to give money to the anti-recall effort. As Patrick McGreevy reports, the agencys vote comes on the heels of surprising new information revealed through public records obtained by several news organizations that show the effort to erase the campaign donation limits was quietly discussed by one labor union backed commissioner and a Democratic attorney. TODAYS ESSENTIALS -- California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra joined San Francisco City Atty. Dennis Herrera on Monday in suing the Trump administration over threats to take money from sanctuary cities. -- The Koch networks influence hasnt exactly waned, even after its backers snubbed the president. -- Homicide detectives in L.A. want to know more about the overdose death of a man at the home of a prominent local Democratic Party donor. -- Former state Sen. Ron Calderon could be getting out of federal prison early after his conviction last year after a corruption investigation. Thats not sitting so well with one Assembly Democrat. -- The two most prominent GOP candidates for governor talked up their support for Trump at a convention of California tea party members. -- Thirteen people filed paperwork to run for the vacant Assembly seat in Los Angeles. None of them are Republicans. LOGISTICS Essential Politics is published Monday, Wednesday and Friday. You can keep up with breaking news on our politics page throughout the day. And are you following us on Twitter at @latimespolitics? Miss Mondays newsletter? Here you go. Please send thoughts, concerns and news tips to politics@latimes.com. Did someone forward you this? Sign up here to get Essential Politics in your inbox. #World University Games Chuncheong named host of 2027 World University Games The South Korean central region of Chungcheong was named the host of the 2027 Summer World University Games on Saturday, bringing the biennial event to the country for the fourth t... #first lady First lady visits home of Cambodian child with heart disease First lady Kim Keon-hee visited the home of a Cambodian child with a heart disease Saturday and comforted the family, urging them not to give up under any circumstances, the presid... The states campaign watchdog agency is poised on Thursday to open the spigot for large political contributions that would help an embattled Democratic state senator fend off a recall campaign, a change that opponents say is tainted by secret talks between a commissioner and a Democratic attorney. The state Fair Political Practices Commission last month began the process of lifting the $4,400 limit on political contributions by elected officials to anti-recall campaigns. The change was requested by Democrats to help state Sen. Josh Newman (D-Fullerton), who is facing an effort to remove him from office after his vote in April for a $52-billion gas and vehicle tax package. FPPC Commissioner Brian Hatch is facing criticism for communicating before the vote with an attorney for the Senate Democrats, Richard Rios, holding a private meeting and exchanging emails and text messages that appeared to strategize on passing the policy change. Advertisement Hatch, a Democrat and former firefighters union lobbyist, defended his communication with Rios, saying it was needed to counter what he saw as a bias in favor of keeping the existing policy which Hatch said he saw as unfair by commission staff and FPPC Chairwoman Jodi Remke. Hatch challenged the notion that a campaign to recall an official could receive unlimited contributions while those fighting a recall were subject to limits. I was shocked to see what lengths Chair Remke would go to in order to derail this effort, Hatch told The Times. She continues to imply that to vote to correct this grievous error is somehow corrupt. Rios said such private communications are common and expected practice at the FPPC. A manual for commissioners says they are strongly urged to disclose private, ex parte communications, but Hatch noted it does not prohibit these discussions as long as issues of fairness and bias are considered. There was absolutely nothing improper about my talking to Mr. Rios privately about his pending request for a commission opinion, Hatch added. Remke has asked the state attorney generals office to provide training to the panel on the state open meeting law and ex parte communications, FPPC spokesman Jay Wierenga said Tuesday. After that meeting, we will decide whether any changes are necessary, he said. Supporters of the recall say Hatchs actions and the commissions vote are part of a series of attempts to keep Newman in office so Democrats can keep their two-thirds majority in the Senate. In June, lawmakers and Gov. Jerry Brown revised the rules governing recall efforts to delay a special election. That new law is being challenged in court. Sleazy maneuvers are their last desperate attempt to cling to power, said Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn. Brian Hildreth, an attorney for the state Republican Party who opposed the change in policy, said Hatch should have followed the lead of other commissioners who, in the past, have disclosed ex parte communications. Not disclosing the communication tends to erode trust in government, Hildreth said. The private communications via text and email between Hatch and Rios were obtained through a Public Records Act request by the Los Angeles Times and were first reported by the Sacramento Bee and Associated Press. Updates from Sacramento After the commissions chief counsel wrote a memo opposing the policy change, Rios sent a text message to Hatch: Have you seen the FPPC memo on the opinion request. Hardly a fair and balanced approach. I thought you asked them to prepare the issue briefing both sides of the issue. Responded Hatch: Yes I did more work to do. At another point a month before the July 27 vote, Rios sent a text message to Hatch saying he was making a change to his written argument to the commission after talking to Hatch. Ok, will change. Otherwise good? Rios texted. I think its good to go, Hatch texted back, noting the attorneys letter included a 2006 case on a similar subject. The Schwarzenegger suit seems to fit nicely. Good job. Rios responded: Thanks! Will submit tomorrow morning first thing. Commissioners should be able to ask questions of attorneys involved in a policy debate outside of the commission meeting, but such contacts should be disclosed, said Jessica A. Levinson, a professor at Loyola Law School and president of the Los Angeles Ethics Commission. Commissioners should absolutely be free to educate themselves on the issues and to talk to people with a variety of viewpoints, Levinson said. However, at a certain point, those discussions can start to look like backroom deals. A stronger policy requiring disclosure would help, said Robert Stern, who was the FPPCs first general counsel. I would not prohibit such [ex parte] discussions, but I think a rule requiring disclosure is very appropriate, Stern said. patrick.mcgreevy@latimes.com Twitter: @mcgreevy99 Updates on California politics Updates from Sacramento ALSO Watchdog panels support for lifting some donation limits is likely boost to state senator facing recall Lawmakers approve changes to California election law after a bitter budget debate Campaign to recall Newman submits more than enough signatures to force a special election How many false statements did Trump make in his interview with the Wall Street Journal? We count at least five (Carolyn Kaster / Associated Press) The Wall Street Journal didnt release the full transcript of the interview its reporters and editors had last week with President Trump, but when Politico obtained a copy and published it, the interview quickly drew attention for several false statements Trump made. The one that immediately gained notoriety was Trumps claim that after his speech at the Boy Scout Jamboree last week, I got a call from the head of the Boy Scouts saying it was the greatest speech that was ever made to them. On Wednesday, the Boy Scouts of America released a statement saying we are unaware of any such call. The Scouts specifically said that neither the organizations president, AT&T chairman Randall Stephenson, nor its chief executive, Mike Surbaugh, had made such a call. In fact, Surbaugh last week issued an unprecedented apology for a presidential speech Scouts have heard from presidents back to Franklin D. Roosevelt saying he was sorry that some members of the scouting community had been offended by Trumps partisanship, language and tone. In the daily White House press briefing, press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that other Boy Scout leaders, whom she did not name, had complimented Trump after his speech. That wasnt the only call to come into question recently. A few days after the Journal interview, Trump said that Mexicos president, Enrique Pena Nieto, had paid him the ultimate compliment by calling and telling him that their southern border, very few people are coming because they know theyre not going to get through our border. The Mexican government press office issued a statement Wednesday denying that. Pena Nieto has not had recent telephone communication with President Donald Trump, the statement said. Sanders said that Pena Nieto did compliment Trump, but in a personal conversation, not a telephone call. I wouldnt say it was a lie, she said of Trumps statements. Other false statements involved broader factual matters. Were the highest-taxed nation in the world, Trump said a statement that he has repeatedly made and which has repeatedly been debunked. Whether measured by the top tax rate or the overall percentage of national income which is taxed, the U.S. has lower taxes than most of its chief economic competitors. Trump may have been thinking about the U.S. corporate tax rate, which is higher than most developed countries, although not the highest. Yet few companies actually pay that top rate given various tax deductions, credits and exemptions. Trump also said I honestly believe for six months, I have done more than just about any other president when you look at all of the bills that were passed, 42, 43. Thats untrue. Many of Trumps predecessors had signed more legislation, and nearly all recent ones had signed more significant measures by this point in their tenures. Jimmy Carter had signed 70 bills into law by this point, Bill Clinton 50. Franklin D. Roosevelt had 76 in just his first 100 days. About one-third of the bills Trump has signed have been ceremonial measures, such as renaming courthouses. Referring to his top economic advisor, Gary Cohn, Trump said Gary wrote a check for $200 million when he entered the government. He had to pay $200 million in tax. Trump has said that before, including in a speech in June. Its false. Cohn owned about $220 million in Goldman Sachs stock when he resigned as the banks president to become the head of Trumps National Economic Council. He sold the stock to minimize conflicts of interest, as most appointees do. But he certainly didnt have to pay $200 million in tax on that sale. In fact, its likely Cohn hasnt paid any tax so far. He may never have to. Federal law allows appointees to government positions to defer any tax they owe on assets that they sell to avoid conflicts. The law requires that they put the proceeds of the sale into neutral investments such as Treasury securities. If his securities go up in value, Cohn might have to pay tax on that gain. The top tax rate on capital gains is 20%. Trump also repeated a false claim about his defeated rival from the election, Hillary Clinton. Real crimes are what Hillary did with 33,000 emails, where she deleted them and bleached them after getting a subpoena. Trump made that claim more than once during the campaign, and more recently on Twitter. He is correct that Clinton deleted 33,000 emails from the private server she used for her messages while she was secretary of State. She says that all of those deleted emails were personal and that she had no obligation to keep them. No one has come up with evidence to the contrary. The evidence from the FBIs investigation of the emails shows that in December 2014, after she turned over about 30,000 work-related emails to the State Department, Clintons aides told the company that managed the server to delete the rest of the emails. The emails were subpoenaed about three months later, on March 4. The company didnt actually do the deletion until later in March, but theres been no evidence that Clinton knew about the delay at the time or that the company knew the messages were under subpoena. In any case, the FBI declined to recommend prosecution, contrary to Trumps assertion that Clinton committed real crimes. A poll released Wednesday by Quinnipiac University asked Americans if they believe Trump is honest. By 62% to 34%, a majority said no. 12:30 p.m.: This article was updated with comments by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Hoping to catch a trio of thieves behind the robbery of a Burbank nonprofit late last month, two local groups are offering $1,000 for information leading to their arrests. The Burbank Police Officers Assn. and the Burbank City Employees Assn. are each offering a $500 reward to anyone with information about the theft of three adult-sized tricycles from BCR a place to grow on July 27. Thieves were caught on camera breaking into the nonprofit, which serves adults and children with developmental and intellectual disabilities, and stealing the trikes. The tricycles are described as tan or cream in color and each is worth approximately $250. Robert Kaczmarek, president of the employees association, said the reward will hopefully entice someone to do the right thing and come forward with the thieves identities. I just cant understand how anybody can be so heartless to go steal a tricycle from those people, he said. That center does so much good work Theres just sad people out there, I guess. Lt. Jay Hawver, president of the police association, said the two groups were originally going to buy new tricycles for BCR. That changed when someone anonymously came forward to replace the stolen items. [We were] outraged as equally as the community over this selfish act of theft, Hawver said. So we thought our contribution would be in the form of offering a reward. Anyone with information about the theft can contact the Burbank Police Department at (818) 238-3000. The reward will only be paid if the information leads to an arrest and conviction of the suspects. It must also be approved by the boards of both associations. People are ineligible for the award if they are employed by a law enforcement agency or any other similar organization, a public official, acting at the behest of the alleged thieves or a relative of someone is ineligible. andy.nguyen@latimes.com Twitter: @Andy_Truc He was the kind of kid you avoided in school there was always one. And when he rolled by Lagunas Main Beach on Sunday afternoon yelling Trump, Trump, Trump to a group of anti-Ku Klux Klan demonstrators, it was hard to forgive his lack of context. Why take a protest position and invoke the presidents name at an anti-KKK rally? By definition, he was saying Trump supports the KKK. Everyone in the group chuckled at the boys ignorance. Advertisement But then he came back. He was in the back seat of an SUV wearing a fishing hat, carrying the look of a good-ol boy wanting to start trouble. He leaned out the window and gave a slow, deliberate Nazi salute, holding it high and firm for the entire ride across Main Beach, staring down the group with a glib smirk. Given the timing, the day after Charlottesville, Va., the day after another young man drove his car into an anti-KKK crowd, you could not write it off as stupidity. This weekend there will be another rally on Main Beach, this time by an ultra-conservative group calling itself America First! Officially, the members claim to be anti-illegal immigration. Unofficially, they are haters. According to various online manifestos, which often include automatic weapons in the background, they hate feminists, transgenders, liberals anything outside their little sacred circle. Theyve been to Laguna before, just a few weeks ago, in fact, but this time feels different. Theres a lot more social chatter. Many sides are mobilizing and so are the police, who have received enough community phone calls that they issued a news release earlier this week. Sgt. Jim Cota, public information officer for Laguna Beach police, told me the department is trying to keep everyone calm. Theyve been here three times prior with no incidents, Cota said. The thing is, people are trying to tie this into the same group that was back East, and its not even close. One challenge for the police is knowing how to make a proportionate response. Its the same tactic we used last time with them: We downplay this thing, he said. We dont give them the attention they seek. Its clear the group picks Laguna for a reason. In a rambling online video, one of the groups organizers, Kenny Strawn of Mission Viejo, said Laguna automatically creates the type of political tension the group seeks. Why Laguna Beach? he asks. As far as hitting the left where it hurts, Laguna Beach is ground zero. Anti-feminists, which I am definitely one of, who are sick of the way the (George) Soros donors that live in Laguna Beach are bankrolling dangerous rhetoric in our colleges (are) welcome. Anyone who values safety over diversity is desperately needed. We need to show the Soros donors who the diverse ones are now, and that is only going to happen if you show up to do damage. This talk of doing damage is the type of language that gets the attention of law enforcement. Cota said that while he doesnt expect any trouble, police can never underestimate a situation. They are speaking their beliefs, he said. It only gets fired up if you inflame the whole thing. You have to just separate them. You guys are over here and you guys are over there. Perhaps by Sunday there will be a lessening of national and local tension. But perhaps not. Think again about the Nazi salute. Take a look at Strawns video diatribe, which unfortunately is fairly easy to find. That pit in your stomach is the same one you felt with the school bully, the one who was just a little off. DAVID HANSEN is a writer and Laguna Beach resident. He can be reached at hansen.dave@gmail.com. ALSO America First! group plans to rally Sunday in Laguna Indivisible OC chapters plan Saturday rally in Laguna Beach Police have identified a person of interest in custody on unrelated allegations as a suspect in the killing of an Irvine man on a bike path last month. The suspect, Dennis Thomas Monson Jr., a transient who frequents the bike path near the Los Olivos neighborhood, was arrested the evening that Sidney Siemensma, 51, was stabbed to death, the Police Department said in a news release Wednesday. Siemensmas body was discovered about 7 a.m. Jan. 19 on a bike path that runs adjacent to the southbound side of the 405 Freeway south of the 133 Toll Road, according to police. Authorities received calls from passersby who thought a bicyclist on the path had been injured, Irvine police spokeswoman Farrah Emami said at the time. But when emergency crews arrived, they determined the man was dead, she said. Police said Wednesday that a man with whom Siemensma was acquainted was quickly identified as a possible suspect the evening of Siemensmas death. According to the news release, police believe Siemensma was stabbed repeatedly during an altercation between the two. Monson, 37, was contacted by police on the same bike path where the stabbing had occurred earlier. Officers also discovered what they believed to be child pornography on Monsons cellphone. He has been in custody on child pornography charges since Jan. 19, authorities said. Detectives continued their investigation and identified Monson as the suspect in the stabbing, the department said. A document that will guide development decisions in Huntington Beach through 2040 was approved by the Planning Commission on Tuesday night. In separate votes, the commission unanimously authorized the citys general plan update and an associated environmental impact report. The documents are scheduled to go before the City Council on Sept. 18. The commission had been reviewing the general plan update for months in preparation for the hearing, submitting questions to city staff and requesting amendments to the document, which has been in the making since the City Council voted in 2013 to hire planning consulting firm Michael Baker International to assist. Commissioners voted on a series of proposed amendments during the more than five-hour meeting Tuesday. Items included various rewordings and deletions and a recommendation from Commissioner Dan Kalmick to explore the feasibility of short-term rentals. Commissioners approved Kalmicks request. California cities are required to have general plans and update them at regular intervals. Huntington Beachs general plan hasnt been comprehensively updated since 1996, according to a city staff report. Commission Chairwoman Connie Mandic said after the meeting that the updated general plan improves on the last one, including making necessary changes to areas dealing with technology. It also streamlines the contents of the last general plan, she said. The accompanying EIR looks at potential adverse environmental effects as part of the plan implementation. It delves into air quality, biological and cultural resources and noise, among other issues. About 20 people attended the meeting, but only a few expressed concerns with the documents. Resident Tony Bisson was worried that the update may not have necessary forethought, saying the city will face growth issues in the future that need planning, such as problems associated with self-driving cars. Adam Wood, representing the Building Industry Assn., said he was concerned that the anticipated capacity of residential units in the city has declined since the last general plan and that the region needs new housing. The BIA is a nonprofit that represents companies associated with the Southern California homebuilding industry. The 1996 general plans forecast build-out through 2040 was for 86,499 residential units. The updated general plan projects 85,403 units through 2040, according to a presentation at the meeting. The update also includes a new land-use designation research and technology to help fuel job and economic growth, the report says. The designation would allow for industrial and commercial uses that arent accommodated in the current commercial or industrial areas. benjamin.brazil@latimes.com Twitter:@benbrazilpilot Last year, about 1,000 people flocked to panels, job fairs and networking events over the course of four days in September for the first-ever Tech Week in Glendale. The event, organized by the city of Glendales Economic Development Division, will return this year from Oct. 9 to 12 to help elevate Glendales brand in the tech world. Our intention is to highlight the tech and innovation thats happening here in an effort to keep these businesses and retain more firms in the area of tech, said Jennifer McLain, principal economic development officer for the city. McLain added that the city expects even more participation this year, and organizers have reconfigured some of last years popular events to accommodate the anticipated growth. The week will open with two days of pop-up events that will lead into the city-sponsored, ticketed portion of the event to be held on Oct. 11 at the Alex Theatre, featuring a yet-to-be-announced rotating panel of guest speakers from tech firms in and around the Glendale area. They will include representatives from companies such as Service Titan, Age of Learning, Inc. and Expert Dojo. This years Tech Week will focus on the start-up journey, McLain said. Weve arranged programs that really look at the early stages from ideas, planning and issues to overcome as an entrepreneur. Among the returning events will be Pitchfest, where owners of 10 selected start-ups will have a few minutes to sell their idea in the style of the television show Shark Tank to a panel of judges. The winner of the event, to be held on Oct. 12 at the Alex, will take home a $20,000 prize package. Also returning will be a tech job fair organized by the Verdugo Job Center. The recently renovated Glendale Central Library will host the event this year, and more than 350 people are expected to attend. While Tech Weeks closing ceremony will be on Oct. 12 at the Alex, there will be an additional tech-related event the next day. The third annual Valley Hackathon, sponsored by the Valley Economic Alliance, will be held on Oct. 13 at the Central Library. At the daylong competition, college and high school students will be divided into teams and assigned a technical problem to be solved by developing applications. First-, second- and third-place teams will receive prizes. For more information and updates, visit glendaletechweek.com. jeff.landa@latimes.com Twitter: @JeffLanda After learning a residential drug and alcohol detox center was being planned for a home on Green Lane, a group of neighbors complained to the La Canada City Council Tuesday, only to learn the citys hands are tied by state law. In a packed council chambers, residents expressed their concern with the opening of Ridgeview Ranch III, a six-client residential detoxification center leasing a property at 915 Green Lane. Many learned of the new arrival after reading crime reports in local newspapers last week describing a July 24 burglary that had occurred in the still-vacant house. For the record: An earlier version of this story stated that Dan Khatchaturian is a Princess Anne Road resident. He resides on Valley Crest Street. Valley Crest Street resident Dan Khatchaturian was among a group of about 40 residents, many of whom shared in public comments worries about increased crime rates, addicts walking the streets and the potential depreciation of home values in the surrounding area. Its really going to mess up things for us, Khatchaturian said, publicly naming the owners and lessors of the Green Lane property as residents of a home on the 5100 block of Princess Anne and calling on them to evict the new tenants. Theyve told us they are not aware of this drug rehab center I dont believe them. Fellow neighbor Matthew Renshaw said the property owners, who used to occupy 915 Green Lane, told him they thought the group moving in was related to a church. If the operator misrepresented to the ownership what the use was, they could terminate the lease, Renshaw told the council. I just find it hard to believe a family in our neighborhood would want to have that use in their own neighborhood. Community Development Director Robert Stanley told residents Tuesday the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) oversees the licensing of such facilities. The states health and safety code dictates treatment and recovery centers with six or fewer residents be considered a residential occupancy and not be subject to conditional use permits or zoning variances. The state does not require them to notify the city or any of the neighbors in the neighborhood that this facility is going in, Stanley added. Anticipating Tuesdays discussion, city staff provided a handout of frequently asked questions about residential treatment facilities and their licensing and regulation. Councilman Greg Brown encouraged local residents to take their complaints to state lawmakers, who have the power to enact legislation requiring advanced notification or the creation of more restrictive city ordinances. Theyre the only ones who can change this, Brown said. State Sen. Anthony Portantino (D-La Canada Flintridge), whose office was contacted by some of the upset residents, turned out to Tuesdays meeting to share news of proposed legislation that aims to restore some measure of local control. Currently stalled in the states Senate Appropriations Committee, SB-786 would prohibit the over-concentration of recovery or treatment facilities in one geographic area and demand the DHCS or county planning department notify local planning agencies at least 45 days prior to approving applications for new facilities. I cant promise you something magical is going to get through the system, Portantino said. But I will tell you that Ill work with the city attorney and my former colleagues and friends on the City Council to try to come up with some tool for the toolbox. Ridgeview Ranch III will be operated by Ridgeview Ranch Drive, LLC, an Altadena-based company that describes itself and the services it provides on three separate online directories as substance abuse disorder rehabilitation, accounting and tax services, and a small organization in the animal farms industry. Ridgeview Ranch Drive currently runs two other residential treatment facilities in Altadena that, according to the companys website, offer therapies ranging from yoga to equine therapy for men and women ages 18 to 60. sara.cardine@latimes.com Twitter: @SaraCardine Enjoy the highlights of Peru on a seven-day small-group tour offered by JourneYou. The excursion begins with an overnight stay in Lima and a city tour, followed by a flight to Cuzco. Participants will spend the night in Urubamba and tour the Sacred Valley of the Incas, including a visit to the fortress and town of Ollantaytambo. Advertisement At Machu Picchu, reached by train and bus, the itinerary includes a guided tour, lunch at a local restaurant and an opportunity to explore on your own. On the return, participants will have a free day to spend in Cuzco, with an optional city tour. Dates: Sept. 16, Oct. 21 and Dec. 9. Availability may be limited. Price: From $899 per person, double occupancy. Includes accommodations, ground excursions, food and beverages per the itinerary, flights within Peru and the train to Machu Picchu. International airfare not included. Info: JourneYou, (800) 690-4801 ALSO Heading to Catalina this summer? Here are 20 new things to see and do Where its snowing in Vegas right now, and other chilly scenes of summer Paddle and play on a weekend escape to picturesque Pinecrest Lake in the Sierra Delmar Watson, Los Angeles Mirror-News staff photographer, shot this image after getting caught in the middle of the jewelry story robbery and helping chase Hirschfield. The Mirror-News reported the incident in the Feb. 25, 1957 edition: Mirror-News Photographer Delmar Watson and Reporter Jack Springer found its possible to get TOO close to the news - they covered a robbery Saturday while it was still in progress and Watson was a shot-at victim. Advertisement Springer and Watson were five blocks from the scene of a jewelry store robbery at 6317 Hollywood Blvd. when the police radio reported a holdup. They dashed to the scene just as one robber ran out. Springer pursued the fleeing bandit while Watson ran into the Kruse Jewelry Store to discover that Bandit No.2 was still very much in business. Benny Hirschfield, 40, the ex-convict robber, had just herded Jack Sanford, store manager, and Patrolman J.E. Eifert into an upstairs storeroom when Watson barged in. Hirschfield menaced Watson with his gun, but the distraction provided Officer Eifert with an opportunity to fire at Hirschfield who fled from the store. Eiferts bullet, which missed Hirschfield, passed over Watsons shoulder. Hirschfield was arrested minutes later in a nearby parking lot by Officer Fred Kite and Watson was on hand to get a vivid, grade-A action shot of Kite just after he stretched the bandit on the asphalt with a tackle. Bandit No. 1 out sprinted Springer and boarded a bus just pulling away from a stop. Springer furnished the only accurate description of the thug who escaped with $20,000 in jewelry in a shopping bag. Daniel Watson, curator at the Watson Family Photographic Archive, says this was one of his uncle Delmars favorite images. Delmar loved to tell the story, " says Daniel, He went into the store during the robbery and was confronted by the robber with a gun. Delmar held his hands up - with his Speed Graphic in one hand -- to let the robbery know he was not a cop. The robber had a policemans gun, says Daniel. The policeman was handcuffed to a sink upstairs. Those details were left out of the original story because, says Daniel, in those days to stay in good with police, if you didnt have to report it, you didnt. Delmar in later years, according to Daniel, would say, In this day of long lenses, and motor drives, look what I did with a 4 by 5 Speed Graphic. Delmar Watson passed away in 2008. His Los Angeles Times obituary is online: Child actor turned photographer. The Mirror-News, owned by the Los Angeles Times, was closed in 1962. An earlier version of this post appeared on Jan. 11, 2011. See more from the Los Angeles Times archives here President Trumps demand that Germany nearly double its defense spending has become an election issue for Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has increasingly come under attack for sticking to her 3-year-old promise to NATO to sharply increase investments in weapons. Although Merkels Christian Democrats who have won the last three elections are still far ahead of the center-left Social Democrats in opinion polls, the opposition has latched onto the military defense spending issue in hopes it will resonate with German voters. In a last-ditch attempt to tap into anti-Trump sentiment prevailing in Germany, the Social Democrats have criticized Merkels pledges to Trump and NATO to raise that spending on military equipment. It would be simply insane for us to follow Trumps goal and start investing 2% of our annual economic output on defense, said Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel, noting that would be nearly double the 1.2% of GDP, or $45 billion a year, that Germany currently spends. This election is among other things a decision if were going to submit to Trump or not. Advertisement After Merkel reaffirmed her commitment on Monday to raise Germanys defense spending toward 2% of GDP by 2024 as NATO countries agreed at a 2014 summit in Wales Gabriel went on the attack: For me thats an act of submission to the American president that I find hard to believe. Another Social Democrat leader, Manuela Schwesig, added to the drumbeat of criticism on Tuesday: We dont need rearmament, we dont need to spend an additional 20 billion euros [$23.5 billion] a year on weapons. We want to spend that money instead on education and better equipment at our schools. The Social Democrats, or SPD, who have been junior coalition partners to Merkels conservatives since 2013, initially supported the NATO pledge to increase defense spending. Only four of the 29 North Atlantic Treaty Organization members reach that 2% target, with the United States leading the way with 3.6% a point of contention with successive U.S. presidents even before Trump asked Germany and other nations to do more. Even though it is one of Europes most prosperous countries and its federal government produces annual budget surpluses, Germany ranks 17th behind countries such as Romania, Poland, Montenegro, Norway, Portugal and Croatia. After first telling Merkel that Germany owed the United States vast sums for the U.S.-led defense, Trump launched public criticism of Germany on May 30. He tweeted: We have a MASSIVE trade deficit with Germany, plus they pay FAR LESS than they should on NATO & military. Very bad for U.S. This will change. Earlier, on March 18, Trump wrote: Germany owes vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany! Yet Trumps attacks have only galvanized opposition in Germany. In a country with a deep aversion to war in part due to its militaristic 20th century history and with an electorate already leery about spending money on tanks and warplanes while many school buildings are in need of repairs, the SPD has thrown off its gloves and attacked Merkel head on over the issue in what appears to be a Hail Mary attempt to shake up the dynamics of the election campaign. The SPD sense that this might be their only chance, said Gero Neugebauer, political scientist at Berlins Free University. They know that Germans are against military interventions abroad and most arent interested in more defense spending as long as so many school buildings are in a state of disrepair. But Neugebauer added that Merkel is trying hard to defuse the issue in her own stay-calm style. Shes trying to tone down any confrontation by pointing out that its only a voluntary goal for a distant date seven years away. Merkel is seeking a fourth four-year term. She and her conservatives are currently polling around 39% in opinion polls with the SPD, led by Martin Schulz, a distant second at 24%. Merkels conservatives hope to win enough support to form a center-right coalition with the pro-business Free Democrats, polling around 8%. The election will be Sept. 24. Thorsten Hasche, a political scientist at Goettingen University, said Merkel was doing all she could to avoid getting blindsided late in the campaign by the defense spending issue and prevent any fallout from harming her still-sterling reelection prospects. Yet she knows well that the antiwar issue goes down exceptionally well in Germany. Another SPD candidate, Gerhard Schroeder, came from far behind the conservatives in opinion polls in 2002 to narrowly win reelection by campaigning fiercely against U.S. President George W. Bushs plans to invade Iraq. The SPD would certainly like to make this one of the main campaign issues while Merkel is doing everything she can to stay away from it, said Hasche. Schulz, the SPD candidate, is doing all he can to turn the contest into an anti-Trump election. Martin Schulz has become the strongest Trump critic in Germany in an attempt to improve his standing with voters, said Hasche. But it hasnt really had much traction yet because the reality in Germany is: Pretty much everyone is against Trump. Kirschbaum is a special correspondent. The recent takeover of the Syrian province of Idlib by an extremist organization has created a dilemma for the United States and other countries that send humanitarian aid to civilians and military aid to various rebel factions fighting the Syrian government. It has become impossible to provide assistance without inadvertently supporting Al Nusra Front, a former affiliate of Al Qaeda that has been deemed a terrorist group by the U.S. government. But cutting off the aid could spur a humanitarian disaster among the estimated 2 million civilians who live in Idlib and derail efforts to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad. Advertisement The takeover comes as the Syrian government and its Russian and Iranian allies are threatening an all-out military assault on Idlib. Though the province is part of a deconfliction zone established in May in U.N.-approved peace talks between rebel groups and the government, it is home to thousands of Assads most implacable foes, many of whom were shuttled in reconciliation deals from other besieged areas of the country over the last two years. Al Nusra Front, which is also known as the Organization for the Liberation of Syria, was excluded from the talks and is not part of the deal. Its power grab could provide a pretext for Assad to attack in the name of eliminating the opposition forces arrayed against his government. The groups rise in Idlib began in 2015, when it and another hard-line Islamist faction, Ahrar al Sham, worked to together to defeat troops loyal to Assad and take over Idlib and the vital Bab al Hawa border crossing linking the province to Turkey, which generated millions of dollars a month in customs payments for the jihadis. The two groups ruled the province together in an uneasy alliance until last month, when tensions between them escalated into open conflict. By late July, Ahrar al Sham had been booted from most of the province, leaving Al Nusra Front in control. It wasted no time in asserting its newfound power, prohibiting the formation of any new rebel group in the area and banning tobacco products as part of an expansion of its strict version of Sharia law. In the past, humanitarian groups and backers of the rebels fighting Assad had worked with Ahrar al Sham and the local councils that manage electricity, garbage collection and other services and serve as the main points of contact for aid distribution. Al Nusra Front officials have told humanitarian organizations they would work with them to ensure their independence and neutrality. A spokesman for the group, Emad Din Mujahid, said in an interview Wednesday that it would eventually hand over administration of the territory it controls to civilian parties. He did not say whether those would be existing local councils or new entities. But many in the Western aid community expressed deep skepticism that they could work with the provinces new overlords. One aid worker with a Western NGO, who didnt want to be identified for fear of jeopardizing aid programs, worried that contacts with local councils had suddenly become useless. They went from being the only local government bodies on the ground to, How do we deal with them if Nusra doesnt even work with them? he said in a phone interview. Fuad Sayed Issa, a spokesman for the Syrian NGO Banafsaj, said a German aid group that had been funneling assistance from Turkey through Bab al Hawa has suspended its shipments. They told us to get the items another way or to buy them from a different area, he said. Michael Ratney, the U.S. State Departments top official for Syrian policy, has described the takeover by Al Nusra Front as one of the greatest tragedies to hit Syrias north and said it would put the region in great danger. The Nusra Front will remain a target of the United States, he said in a statement this month, adding that any civil administration created by the group would be considered a false front and not be given any U.S. assistance. We hope to find channels that enable us to deliver humanitarian assistance to the Syrian people without passing through the hands of the Nusra Front and the crossings that have fallen into its hands, he said. Even before the July assault, the jihadis forced Syrian aid groups to seek permission to work in the territory they controlled, humanitarian workers said. Al Nusra Front has also demanded a portion of the aid entering its area, according to people who work in the region. Saleem Omar, a local journalist, said the group had recently commandeered several ambulances from a donation of 88 vehicles provided by the British government to organizations in Idlib. He said that factions of the anti-Assad Free Syrian Army are forced to give the jihadis up to 15% of the military aid they receive. Much of it comes from the U.S. How much aid must be turned over depends on the number of checkpoints you have to pass and what youre carrying, said one aid worker. Normally for food [Nusra] dont take so much. Theyre merciful. But medicines are highly taxed. In May, the jihadi group began to license local hawala businesses, which work with informal cash transfers and have become the primary method for outside donors to pay local NGOs for work in northern Syria, where the formal banking system has collapsed. Bulos is a special correspondent. Twitter: @nabihbulos Laois has not one but two Roses in this years Rose of Tralee, because the Perth Rose has Mountmellick and Portarlington connections. Kerrie-Ann Barnes, 19, returned to Mountmellick for some final preparations for the International Rose of Tralee Festival. The beautiful young Rose was born in London to Stephanie ONeill from Mountmellick and Jamie Barnes. The family emigrated to Australia in 2005, where Kerrie-Anns twin brothers Jack and Alex, sister Katie and dad will be watching the festival online. Growing up in Perth, I didn't know much about the Rose of Tralee, mum told me a bit, but when applications opened for the Perth Rose, she encouraged me to apply, Kerrie-Ann explained. Her nanny is from Mountmellick, and her late grandads family from Port. I'm very proud to have my roots originate here. It's strange to be back as an adult, the last time I was here I was only small, but it's so lovely to remember all the fun times spent with family and friends here, she said. Her mum has returned home along with a crew of local, English and Aussie supporters heading to Tralee. I will have mum, nanny Ann ONeill, nana Maggie Balmuth, aunties Lenore Horan, Therese ONeill and Sue Morris, and family friends and support from the Perth Rose Centre, she said. Kerrie-Ann works as a cosmetician and a bartender, and is studying a Certificate III in Education Support. She has brought a stash of a famed Aussie snack. Tim Tams are delicious chocolate biscuits that are always a crowd favourite, you can't really get them anywhere else but Australia, so everyone goes mad for them. I have brought over a few packets with me for everyone to enjoy, she revealed. She is ready to embrace the busy week in Tralee. Each day there is something new to do, and people to meet. I expect to be busy but I know I will have an absolute ball, there's nothing like the Rose of Tralee, and I am so excited and grateful to be part of it, she said. Kerrie-Ann has carefully prepared her outfits. I have almost finished labelling my outfits for each day, and over the past week I have been getting last minute bits and pieces, now I'm just hoping everything fits in my suitcase, she said. The support is amazing. I honestly cannot thank my friends and family enough for all the love and support I received from being selected, right up to now, she said. Kerrie-Ann and Laois Rose Maeve Dunne are among 64 Roses, with live TV interviews for the 32 finalists on August 21 and 22. More than 70 homes will have been completed in a Laois town for housing list tenants by next June but people on Carlow Council's housing waiting list will be housed in those homes. Eoghan Murphy TD, Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, today (15 August, 2017) visited a number of social housing schemes for Carlow people. During a site visit to a project at Sleaty St, Graiguecullen, the Minister turned the sod on 26 units development. The units are set out over 3 blocks and consist of 9 x 2 bedroom terraced houses and 17 x 3 bedroom terraced houses. The housing agency Cluid is developing the project. Minister Murphy's department said Carlow County Council has established there are significant requirements for housing. It said the Sleaty St project is a very good example of a partnership between a housing body and the local authority to address acute accommodation need in this area which has a low percentage of public housing and large private ownership of housing stock. The construction of these 26 units is expected to be completed in June 2018. The Minister also viewed an infill development at Maryborough St, Graiguecullen where construction of 5 apartments comprising: 2 ground-floor 1 bedroom units and 3 upper-floor 2 bedroom units is underway. It is expected that these homes will be ready in October 2017. This year up to 40 houses in the 74 house Fruithill Manor estate on the Laois side of Graiguecullen went to Carlow waiting list tenants. Co-operative Housing Ireland developed the houses after the estate came out of NAMA. Some 800 houses were originally supposed to have been built in Fruithill Manor. About 19 homes went to Laois people. While all of Graiguecullen is located in Laois geographically and at Dail elections, Carlow County Council has responsibility for part of the border town. The Minister also visited a number of other projects in Carlow. At Tullow Rd the Minister gave stage 1 approval to Carlow County Council to proceed with this Turnkey acquisition of 63 units at a value of approximately 12m. Minister Murphy also visited four two-bedroom bungalow units at Mount Leinster Park, for elderly persons at a cost of 550,000. The keys will be handed over shortly. The Minister also formally opened Gleann na Bearu, Bagnalstown (a local authority project) consisting of 24 units comprising: eighteen three-bed, two storey units, and six two-bed bungalows. The Minister also visited Barrett Street, Bagenalstown, Tintean Housing Association project. The project is a turnkey acquisition of ten three-bedroom terraced houses for the purposes of providing long term accommodation for people currently on Carlow County Councils Housing waiting list. The units are set out in 3 storey design and are situated at Presentation Place, Barrett Street in the town centre. Total cost of the project is 1,410,000 approx. of which some 423,000, has been funded under the Capital Advance Leasing Facility with the balance made available from the Housing Finance Agency. I would like to compliment Carlow County Council and their partners Cluid & Tintean Housing Association in some of these projects. It is great to see local authorities and Approved Housing Bodies working together to provide much needed social homes, said Minister Murphy. A Portlaoise-based cello teacher whose first language is Dutch was among the adult learners at the Laois Offaly ETB this week celebrating academic success in Leaving Cert English. Sonja Cadogan, who teaches the cello at the School of Music in both Kilkenny and Laois, was one of five adult learners who sat the exam at the Portlaoise Further Education and Training Centre. Although she completed the Leaving Cert equivalent in Holland years ago, Sonja decided to return to education recently in order to not only improve her English, but also to assist her children who are themselves sitting school exams. Im originally Dutch and was not confident in my English, especially writing English, and my children who are doing Junior Cert and Leaving Cert wanted help, she told the Leinster Express. I have one child doing Junior Cert next year and one doing Leaving Cert, and I have some who did it already. We studied together. Sonja also did the maths paper, studying with her son who completed the same subject to do a PLC course. She says that she would like to go on to do further studies, but felt she wasnt confident enough in her use of written English. That has now changed in the wake of her achievement. It doesnt really matter to me the results, it was more to do it and now I can help the children. It gave me confidence, confidence that I can do another course now. I looked at other courses and you have to submit text and it used to take me ages to get a text together, but now I know I can do it, I can do essays, she said. Despite having a packed life as a mother and music teacher, Sonja is keen to do learn more English, maybe at a higher level, and would consider continuing her studies with the ETB. I enjoyed maths and English, but English is much nicer because you can talk to each other. Its worth the time, I work fulltime and have children, but still had the mornings free, she said. Course tutor, Deirdre Brennan said that all the adult learners did great work this year, while Kathleen Dunne, director of the centre, pointed out that some of the learners are managing work and family life as well as studying, which is an extra credit to them. The centre will be holding an open day on August 31, for more information see www.portlaoisefec.ie or visit their Facebook page. A top mark of around 580 was the achievement realised by one dedicated student at Portlaoise College in this years Leaving Cert, with the overall results in the college once again exceeding the glories of past years. Speaking to the Leinster Express before the first students received their envelopes, principal, Noel Daly said that everyone was very pleased with how this years 70 students fared in the exams, with a number achieving 570+ points. He said that he thought the top mark was somewhere around 574 to 580, with the young man in question planning to go on and study medicine. I am absolutely delighted with the results from the school over all, with this years maths results well above the national average. We are extremely proud of all our students, he said, adding that the excellent results are also testament to the commitment of all staff in Portlaoise College. Among the many happy faces was Raphael Mapwata, Mountmellick, who got on well and achieved the points necessary to go on to study languages and international tourism at DIT. Also pleased with their efforts were sisters, Lynn and Courtney Breen. Maths I was kind of unsure about, but Im happy enough, said Lynn, who got 155 points and now plans to go to Carlow Institute of Further Education to do an animal care course. Meanwhile, Courtney got 194 points, which is what she needed to go to the Sharon Leavy College of Hair and Beauty. Good friends, Ciara Harney, from Mountmellick, and Katie Lawless, Portlaoise, both got what they wanted in their results, with both intending to go on and do a PLC in beauty therapy in Portlaoise. And Rebecca Conroy, Mountrath, said that she was hoping to get 300, but her total mark of 244 is still enough for her to go on and do a PLC. Also delighted on the day was Craig McCormack, Portlaoise, who was working out his total mark outside the college building with his mum, Louise. Were just trying to work it out, I think he did very well, he got 80% in Irish anyway, said Louise, who was very happy with her sons achievements. Craig now plans to go on and do carpentry locally. A few students seemed to take the whole thing in their stride, with Eoin Murphy, originally from Kildare, declining to open his results until her returned home. Anything over 250 Ill be happy with, he said, adding that he hopes to go to LIT to do a management course. The local community is being asked for its help in setting up a new voluntary club in Portlaoise to promote a drink and drug-free environment for young people. The No Name! Club is a national voluntary youth organisation founded in 1978 with clubs throughout the country. No Name! Clubs are run by and for young people aged 15 years + who come together in a safe and lively environments where theres fun, friendship and enjoyment without the pressure of alcohol or other drugs. The organisation was founded to provide an alternative to pub culture for young people in Ireland. The clubs demonstrate a lifestyle in which the use of alcohol or drugs is seen as unnecessary to the enjoyment of a happy, cheerful and fulfilling social life for young people. Over the last 38 years, thousands of young people have valued their involvement in a programme of activities that allows them to enjoy themselves socially with their peers in safe and friendly environments that are free from the dangers and influences of alcohol and drugs. At present, there are over 15,000 young people influenced by the No Name! Club throughout the country. No Name! Club is currently funded through: The Office of The Minister for Children & Youth Affairs and Population Health, Health Promotion, HSE. Organisers, led by chairperson, Matthew Kennelly, hope to have the new club up and running in Portlaoise by early September and are asking the public to make a donation to help run the club. Anyone who would like to donate can transfer money to - IBAN: IE4BOFI9018883753153 BIC: BOFIIE2DXXX Alternatively, people can send cheques to EBS, Main Street, Portlaoise. A total of 85 people were waiting for funding for a Home Care Package (HCP) or home help service to kick in from the HSE, in Laois, at the end of June this year. This is compared to zero people waiting on the service to commence in the Kildare and West Wicklow Local Health Service according to Sinn Fein TD, Brian Stanley. The people on this waiting list have gone through the application and approving process and are waiting on the funding to come through for the service to commence. A Home Care Package is a set of services provided by the HSE to help an older person to be cared for in their own home. The issue for many people in Laois lies in the time period before they are approved for home help which can be dragged out for over a year in some cases. Deputy Stanley recently said that the home help crisis in Laois is shameful. The big problem is getting them approved, the HSE drag their heels in approving and assessing them. This is where the fancy footwork comes in, the biggest problem before getting on that waiting list is proving that the person needs the service. There is no waiting list for that. We are talking about elderly people, people who have no family living around the corner, it is very very difficult, he said. Deputy Stanley added that there are elderly people with no family who are isolated and if the home helpservice does not become available in time, it is possible for the elderly person to end up in a nursing home. You will come across cases where an hour [of home help] a day can help them remain living independently, he said. Once a person is approved for home help hours, the length of time they wait for the service to begin can vary, according to the HSE. It is estimated that the average waiting time for funding for a Home Care Package is in the region of 3-4 weeks at present both nationally and in Co. Laois, but, as this is an average, some clients are dealt with in a significantly shorter time as a priority and others may wait longer depending on their assessed needs, said a spokesperson from the HSE. Brian Stanley has recently dealt with a case where the help was approved in early June and did not begin until August. Nationally, at the end of June 2017, the number of people waiting for funding for a Home Care Package was 2,231. The 2017 National Service Plan provides that 16,750 people will be in receipt of a Home Care Package. People being discharged from acute hospitals, who are in a position to return home with supports, are prioritised. On December 31, 2016, a total of 16,351 people were in receipt of a Home Care Package in Ireland. The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) today congratulated Leaving Certificate students in Laois and around the country on receiving their results urging important next steps to be taken after celebration. Today is a milestone in the lives of these students, and USI hopes that students have received the results that will see them enter third-level education. USI President Michael Kerrigan said: Today is a tense and anxious day for Leaving Certificate students receiving their results. Remember, if youre happy or disappointed with your results you should still be proud of your achievement of getting past one of the toughest moments of your education. Prospective students will be getting CAO offers on Monday the 21st of August from 06:00 online. These will also issued by post, e-mail and SMS text. USI is calling on students enrolled for next year or incoming first years to start searching for suitable and affordable student accommodation as soon as possible. There are a number of useful resources for students coming to college next year who are unsure about what to do next about getting somewhere to live, Mr Kerrigan said. The USI and RTB Finance and Accommodation Guide details the rights students have as tenants, and it is particularly useful for students who are renting for the first time. Students should also check out homes.usi.ie if they are finding it tough to find suitable and affordable accommodation during the accommodation rush. Mr Kerrigan urged students to be cautious stating: Use cheques or bank drafts to pay the deposit and keep copies of receipts of payments and any correspondence. Dont hand over any cash to anyone, because you will not have a record or trace of your deposit. The union is advising anyone feeling confused or worried about their choices to get in contact with their prospective colleges Students Union or access office. The Students Union website will have a lot of helpful advice more here Full copy of the USI Finance and Accommodation Guide can be found here RENUA leader and Offaly councillor wants answers from HSE and Minister Simon Harris Lives are at risk in Laois and Offaly due to dangerously long ambulance turnaround times for patients, according to RENUA Ireland leader John Leahy. Cllr Leahy said ambulances in emergency should meet an average turn-around time of twenty minutes but these targets not being reached at two bases in either county. The Offaly county councillor challenged the HSE to explain why. The former general election candidate said figures prove these targets are being badly missed at bases in Portlaoise and Tullamore. TULLAMORE Cleared in 20 Minutes or less - 13.5% Cleared in 30 Minutes or less 39.5% Cleared in 60 minutes or less - 94.2% Cleared in 1-2 hours or less - 5.8% Average Time 35.13 PORTLAOISE Cleared in 20 minutes or less -25.3% Cleared in 30 minutes or less - 53.1% Cleared in 60 minutes or less - 90.5% Cleared in 1-2 hours or less - 9.2% Cleared in 2-3 hours - 0.3% Average Clearance time 33.11 minutes "I am gravely concerned that Tullamore is failing utterly to meet HSE targets and the situation in Portlaoise is equally unsettling," said the Offaly County Councillor. He said it is not good enough that barely one in eight Tullamore ambulances are cleared in the correct time. The main hospital for Laois and Offaly is located in Tullamore. "The fact that it takes so many ambulances, more that 50%, take up to an hour to be cleared speaks of a totally dysfunctional system. "How on earth for example is that one in twenty ambulances take between one and two hours to clear. "We need answers quickly as to why the average turn-around time is, at 35.13 minutes almost twice the acceptable rate," he said. Cllr Leahy said Minister Harris needs to impose some accountability on this system. He warned the situation is equally deplorable in Portlaoise. "The situation in Laois is equally stark with three quarters of ambulance clearances failing to meet the twenty minutes objective," he said. "I am particularly concerned that almost one in ten hospitals take more than an hour whilst the average clearance time, at 33.11 minutes, is little better than that of Tullamore. Mr Leahy said: Once again lives are being put at risk. Ambulances backed up in Emergency Departments are not available to the community or to people who are seriously ill. He said there are always exceptional circumstances, but, currently the exception is the norm. "It is time to tackle this crisis now with leadership and organization and to ask the National Ambulance Service and the HSE National Hospital Managers to identify realistic pro-active solutions on the ground, said the councillor. The HSE said ambulance turnaround times are measured as part of the National Service Plan. It said the ambulance turnaround in the National Service Plan is as follows: % of ambulance turnaround delays escalated where ambulance crews were not cleared nationally in 60 minutes (from ambulance arrival time through clinical handover in ED or specialist unit to when the ambulance crew declares readiness of the ambulance to accept another call) in line with the process / flow path in the ambulance turnaround framework are measured monthly. The HSE said there is an agreed ambulance turnaround framework agreed with the acute hospital division, where there is an escalation process for delays experienced. Two happy lads from Portarlington have already got their future mapped out, and it's not a conventional one. Steven Dolan, 19 and Steven McCarthy both achieved enough points to study psychology in the Netherlands, where college costs are cheaper than in Ireland. Steven Dolan was ebullient about his future. "I'm feeling great, I've already been accepted into college in the Netherlands, bang!" he told the Leinster Express. He suggests that people keep up to date with his "adventure" by following Steofella on social media. The decision to head to the Netherlands was made after both Stevens attended the Higher Options exhibition. They have already sat the entrance exams for Radbaud University in Nijmegen. "It's cheaper than here and I will get a grant. My parents are a bit nervous but I made an executive decision," said Steven Dolan, who only came to live in Portarlington two years ago, having lived in Cork and Kildare. "I had no friends when I got here, but they welcomed me with open arms, it's a good school," he said. The second Steven is from Portarlington, and likewise delighted with his results. "I got on grand, I'm delighted. I was nervous but we've got our places. I was always into psychology, and I wanted to go somewhere different. We looked at Denmark as well because there is free education there," Stephen McCarthy said. In all 144 students sat the Leaving Certificate in Colaiste Iosagain, which serves both Laois and Offaly areas. Another 13 students sat the Leaving Cert Applied exam. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. Mrs Browns Boys actor Fiona OCarroll is coming to Kildare town today as part of a fundraising walk for Irish charity Billys World. Fiona, who plays Maria Brown in the hit series, set out on her walk from Cork to Belfast on August 11 and she hopes to reach her destination by August 23 . Notching up approximately 20 miles a day, you never know who will be joining her on the route as some of the cast of Mrs Browns and her celebrity friends have planned to take part at various stages of the fundraiser. Maria, who is Brendan OCarrolls daughter, will be arriving into Kildare Town between 6:15pm and 6.30pm today. Tomorrow, the actress is due to make her way through Newbridge, Naas and Kill. Money will be raised through donations, bucket collecting and sponsored walkers. Fiona will also donate 1 for every beep she gets along the way. She is walking for the registered Irish charity Billy's World www.billysworldireland.com Billy's World is a charity set up to raise money to build an interactive recreation holidays facility for families with children with special needs. The emphasis will be on the whole family building dreams and memories. The charity has planning permission beside The Heritage Resort in Co. Laois and is now raising funds to build the facility. People can donate to Fionas Walks by going to Fiona OCarrolls Everydayhero.ie Page. They can also donate, register to join Fiona on the walk or volunteer to bucket collect by going to www.billysworldireland.com Even though the handing out of Leaving Results at Ballinamore Community school only started at 9.30 this morning, by 10am 60% of students had been in to collect their envelopes. Speaking to the Leitrim Observer this morning, Principal, Padraig Leyden, said this was a "nervous time for a lot of people" adding that the chance in the grading system also added to the initial uncertainty for students. "It takes a while to get your head around it, but each student has an explanatory handout with their results to guide them through the new system and how to calculate their points," he said. Mr Leyden said that students should be happy overall with their results noting that the school had a lot achieving points in the mid 500 range. Offering advice to students, Mr Leyden encouraged those getting results to enjoy the day and to also enjoy tonight but to do so in a sensible manner. "Monday, when the CAO offers come out, will be another big day for students," he added. "Some might not get their first choice but if you have filled in your CAO form well, there will be other options available, so don't panic." The Ballinamore Community School principal went on to thank everyone involved in the whole education system noting: "Thank you to the students who worked so hard towards this day and to their families, and especially their parents, who supported them. Thank you also to the teachers who worked with the students throughout the Leaving Certificate. Well done to everyone." Staff at Abbey Community College in Boyle wish to congratulate all their Leaving Cert students on a wonderful set of results published this morning. David Harding (Principal) and Frank Colohan (Deputy Principal) told www.leitrimobserver.ie "With many students exceeding the 500-point mark it and many others exceeding their own expectations, it was wonderful to see the work put in by students and indeed our wonderful staff, coming to fruition. "I would also like to congratulate the parents for the incredible amount of work they have also put in and to thank them once again for placing the education of their sons/daughters in the hands of Abbey CC. "For those students who may feel slight disappointment with their results I would like to reassure them of all our support and to remind all students that there are many paths in education available to them and not to panic. Take their time, seek advice, consider the many options available to them. "Abbey CC would also like to remind all students to be careful and sensible in their celebrations and to continue as always to have respect for themselves, their families, and their school. "Very well done" they concluded. Fine people on both sides said Donald Trump of the horrific events in Charlottesville at the weekend. I suspect most of you reading this site will, like me, utterly reject the notion that you can go to a demo, stand on the same side as people carrying swastikas and dressing kids up in KKK costume and be a fine person. Vince Cable has condemned Trumps remarks and has renewed Liberal Democrat calls for the offer of a State visit to be withdrawn. He said: The events of the last few days have shocked and appalled the entire world. Images of Nazis, marching in American streets, terrorist attacks on peaceful protestors. Every world leader should be able to condemn that. Donald Trumps response to these tragic events has been shocking. He has shown that he is unable to detach himself from the extreme-right and racial supremacists. The fact he remains highly dependent on White House advisors from the extreme-right shows he is firmly anchored in this detestable worldview. It would be completely wrong to have this man visit the UK on a State Visit. The government should be following the far more prudent example to relations with the US President set by Angela Merkel in Germany. Tim Farron first called for the State visit offer to be withdrawn in the wake of Trumps first attempt at a travel ban the week after he entered the White House. It is pretty awful to have a Government that is so dependent on the hope of a trade deal that they wont condemn the way he has reacted. Weve spent the last 70 years at the heart of an organisation that has fought for human rights and democracy across the world. Now we are going to be entering a period of excessive pandering to all sorts of dodgy characters because we need their trade and will probably have to take it on whatever terms they demand. It will be a far cry from the days when we could roll up with 27 of our mates and tell them to get lost with their chlorinated chicken. There is no room for equivocation in reaction to the events of Charlotteville. We should be looking at how we can prevent that level of hatred extending its grip. Its about tackling prejudice against Muslims, the disabled, immigrants, benefit claimants, LGBT people and other marginalised groups wherever we see it. Im glad that Tom Brake, Wera Hobhouse and Meral Ice were among the Liberal Democrat signatories of the letter demanding action over that appallingly Islamophobic editorial in The Sun. Its only a couple of weeks since the Sunday Times had to withdraw a column containing anti-semitic remarks that should never have seen the light of day. Its so shocking that none of the people who would have had to have seen that before publication sensed the danger. People should not feel that airing these sorts of views is in any way acceptable and should be challenged at every turn. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings Vince Cable has set out six questions the Government must answer after the constructive ambiguity in its document published yesterday told us not a huge amount. The questions seem designed to reveal whether the governments position is actually based on any evidence about the impact of its options or whether the options are just a fig leaf to cover up the deep divisions in the Cabinet. Vince said: The government is offering two ways forward but wont tell us which it prefers. Thats no doubt because cabinet ministers cant even agree amongst themselves. These plans are more concerned with papering over the cracks within the Conservative party than protecting our economy. All those industries that depend on membership of the customs union, from the car industry to aerospace, still have no clear idea what is coming down the track. All they know is that instead of jumping off a cliff in 18 months, the government now wants to do so in a few years time. The government must come clean over the real costs of these plans for British businesses and consumers. And on to the six questions: he government has outlined two future approaches, a streamlined customs arrangement or a new customs partnership. Has the government decided which would be its preferred outcome, and if so why was this not specified in the paper? How does the government expect to be able to negotiate new trade deals with non-EU countries before the terms of any future deal between the UK and EU are known? The government says that in the case of a no deal scenario, it would treat trade with the EU as it currently treats trade with non-EU countries and customs duty and import VAT would be due on EU imports. Have ministers modelled what the potential costs of this scenario would be for UK consumers and businesses? Has the government considered the impact that lowering environmental and consumer standards, e.g. the ban on imports of chlorinated chicken, could have on future customs arrangement with the EU? Has the government estimated the financial cost to taxpayers of setting a new streamlined customs arrangement and how long these will take to put in place? Can the government confirm that every member of the cabinet, including Liam Fox, has endorsed this paper? Earlier, Alistair Carmichael had taken David Davis to task over his use of the phrase constructive ambiguity. THERE was no record of Garda Siochana vetting for a number of foster carers in the Mid-West, a report by Health Information & Quality Authority (HIQA) has found. The report, published this Tuesday, found that of the eight standards inspected in this area, three standards were substantially compliant and five standards were non-compliant, three of which were major non-compliances. Labour deputy Jan OSullivan told the Limerick Leader that she was particularly concerned by the report, following inspections carried out in the Mid-West this March. It is just not acceptable that vulnerable children are living in homes where no Garda vetting has been carried out on people living in that household, said deputy OSullivan. Additionally, she said there is an urgent need to recruit more social workers and to put measures in place to retain those already in the service. As well as a shortage of social workers, there is also a shortage of foster carers in the Mid-West, she said. The report found that supervision and support of foster carers was not provided in line with the standards. In a number of foster carer households, neither the foster carers nor the children had been allocated a social worker. Furthermore, safeguarding visits to these households were infrequent. Inspectors requested and received written assurances that these foster carers have now received appropriate safeguarding visits, it stated. Data provided by the area showed that, in the 12 months prior to inspection, there were 427 foster care households in the area. These foster care households comprised of 287 general foster carers and 140 relative foster carers. We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page. President Xi Jinping has encouraged college students to get to know their country and achieve their true value as the nation comes "closer than ever" to its goal of rejuvenation. Xi made the remarks on Tuesday in a letter replying to college students who took part in the third China College Students' "Internet Plus" Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. The students wrote to Xi earlier this year about how they used business startup programs to address local need for development and help boost efforts in eradicating poverty in Yan'an, Shaanxi province. Yan'an was once a home to China's revolutionary bases before the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, and it has been underdeveloped. In April and July, around 100 groups taking part in the competition went to Yan'an to help local people eliminate poverty and live a well-off life. In the reply to the students on Tuesday, Xi said he is glad to know that the students have achieved progress and received inspiration during their stay at the hometown of China's revolution. The students have integrated their dreams of youth into the Chinese Dream, and have projected the upbeat look of the modern Chinese youth when they followed the paces of revolutionary predecessors there, Xi said. "As long as the younger generation of the country have ideals, pursuits and shoulders, there will be endless power of youth supporting the Chinese nation's rejuvenation," Xi wrote. It is hoped the students will improve their talent and abilities via innovation and entrepreneurial activities and strengthen their willpower through hard work, Xi said. As the country has set the goal of eliminating poverty by 2020, Yan'an reduced its registered population of poor residents to 10,200 people as of the end of last year, according to the city's information office. Traditional artifacts on display at Shanghai Cooperation Organization Camp for Intangible Cultural Heritage in Beijing. [Photo by Wang Kaihao/China Daily] Shanghai Cooperation Organization Camp for Intangible Cultural Heritage lifted its curtain in Beijing on Aug 12, and will last through Aug 17. The event is co-launched by Ministry of Culture and its counterparts in member and observer states of the organization, and attracts 24 inheritors of intangible cultural heritages from 10 countries to attend. The delegates exhibited their intangible cultural heritage artifacts, visited training centers in Beijing, and will also attend forums to share experiences in Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province. Amid the ongoing standoff between Indian and Chinese soldiers in the Donglang area of the Sikkim sector of the China-India border, several ultranationalist Indian politicians of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and some right-wing Hindu organizations are trying to incite Indian citizens to boycott Chinese goods. The call to boycott Chinese goods is a frog-in-the-well kind of perspective, which will not help India but could deter Chinese enterprises from investing in India and thus harm bilateral cooperation. On Aug 7, the BJP's Karnataka provincial general secretary called upon people to boycott Chinese goods such as toys and consumer durables, saying the ruling party "will create awareness among the people about the problems caused by China at the border and the need to boycott Chinese goods". Two days earlier, yoga guru Baba Ramdev, who is more like a televangelist and heads a multibillion-dollar business empire, had urged Indians to boycott Chinese products, in order to stir up Hindu nationalism. Over the past two years, various Indian right-wing organizations have called for a boycott of Chinese goods to "teach China a lesson" for creating trouble by preventing the UN Security Council from declaring Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar a global terrorist and opposing India's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group. The ultra-nationalist elements' call to boycott Chinese products is an infantile move, simply because Chinese goods have become part and parcel of everyday life in India. Still, if they insist on boycotting Chinese goods, they will cause much greater harm to the Indian economy. Nationalism and trade are two different things. They must never be mixed together. China is the world's largest trading country, with its volume of exports reaching 13.84 trillion yuan ($2.07 trillion) last year, of which only about 2.5 percent was to India. This means a boycott of Chinese products would have little effect on China but a major impact on India, as 17 percent of India's total imports comes from China. In the two years since President Xi Jinping's visit to India, Chinese investment in India has increased, with $2.3 billion invested in the first three months of this year, compared with only $1.35 billion between 2000 and 2016. Besides, Chinese enterprises are strong participants in the Indian government's "Made in India" campaign, with a total investment of $5 billion so far. Despite the calls for a boycott, companies of all sizes across India still seek Chinese investment. And it is no exaggeration to say that Chinese products have entered almost every middle-class living room in India. A recent survey conducted by Hindustan Times, a leading English-language newspaper, showed 83 percent of the respondents preferred Chinese goods over Indian ones because "they are cheaper". Each year during the festival season, which generally starts in October and includes Dussehra, Diwali, Christmas and New Year, Chinese products including decorative lights and lamps, gift items and firecrackers worth tens of millions of dollars are sold across India. So, by boycotting Chinese goods, Indian citizens will end up hurting Indian traders, who buy from China and sell in India. They will also reduce the government's tax revenue, for many of the traders are also big taxpayers. Moreover, Chinese goods have helped to keep prices low in the Indian market, thereby helping poor and low-income families. More important, the call to boycott Chinese goods is not a solution to the border standoff. Such "nationalistic" calls are devoid of any logic, and a violation of World Trade Organization rules. Right-wing Indian politicians should realize that bans and boycotts would mar overall bilateral relations. Besides, they would do good to remember that "consumer is king" at all times. The author is secretary of New Horizon Radio Listeners' Club, West Bengal, India. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Laredo Sector Border Patrol recently selected Michael S. Lata as the newly appointed patrol agent in charge of the Laredo North Border Patrol Station. The Laredo North Station is the largest station in the Laredo Sector. Laredo North Station's daily duties include line watch, sign cutting, checkpoint operations, the use of all-terrain vehicles and freight train checks. The Laredo North Station also operates one of the largest Border Patrol checkpoints, which is located on Interstate 35. Lata brings with him over 20 years of Border Patrol service which started in 1997 in El Centro California. Prior to taking charge at the Laredo North Station, Lata was the deputy patrol agent in charge at the Rio Grande City Station in the Rio Grande Valley Sector. READ MORE: Women kicked out organized crime in this Mexican town Lata served in various leadership positions prior to his arrival in Laredo, which included: attache for Customs and Border Protection in East Africa, assistant chief patrol agent of the Blaine Sector Border Patrol, assistant chief of special operations at Border Patrol Headquarters, and CBP congressional liaison officer. While in his leadership roles, Lata was instrumental in the implementation of significant programs and operations critical to border security such as the Patrol Canine Program and Operation Jump Start, where 20,000 National Guard members were deployed to the U.S.-Mexico border. Lata holds a bachelor's degree in sociology and a minor in criminology from Northern Illinois University. Texas business leaders are breathing a sigh of relief after state lawmakers left the capitol Tuesday without passing the so-called bathroom bill averting statewide boycotts and potentially billions of dollars in economic losses over legislation opponents deemed as discriminatory. Efforts to pass legislation restricting transgender bathroom use in Texas was met with widespread condemnation from the states business community, which warned top state lawmakers that it would spur conventions to relocate their meetings, take Texas out of the running for major sporting events and dampen the states ability to attract young talent. The bill, backed by Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, died for the second time this year after House Speaker Joe Straus, a San Antonio Republican, refused to bring the bill up for debate and the Legislature adjourned for the year Tuesday. Abbott called lawmakers back to Austin for a special session in July, in part, to deal with the issue after a similar bill died during state lawmakers biennial 140-day session earlier this year. Passing the bill would have had a damaging and longstanding effect for Texas business landscape, including the important travel and tourism industry, Casandra Matej, president and chief executive officer of Visit San Antonio, said in a statement. That hospitality sector has existed and thrived on the enduring promise that the Lone Star State is an inclusive and diverse destination, and that discrimination in any form is not who we are as a state or a community. But the bills opponents arent celebrating too much. Abbott could call another special session to force lawmakers to reconsider the bill, potentially rendering this a temporary victory, said Ramiro Cavazos, CEO of the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Were not going to attract new manufacturing facilities like Toyota if were too busy fighting against families in Texas and coming across as negative to business, Cavazos said. San Antonio officials are pursuing a new $1.6 billion plant Toyota said it plans to build with Mazda in the U.S. The debate on the bathroom bill, alone, has already cost the state millions of dollars in lost convention business, tourism leaders say. San Antonio, Austin and Dallas collectively lost conventions that were estimated to generate a combined $53 million in spending, according to figures provided to the Express-News. In all, supporters of the proposed law risked $1.4 billion in convention business over the controversial measure, said Phillip Jones, CEO of Visit Dallas. I never in a million years wouldve thought that there were some members of the Republican party that were anti-business, Jones said. But, thats what happened. CEOs of major Fortune 500 companies including Tim Cook of Apple and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook joined executives from dozens of companies in San Antonio, Houston and Dallas in denouncing the legislation. They lobbied alongside LGBT activists, who said the legislation would lead to discrimination, and state law enforcement leaders, who shot down claims by the bills supporters that it was necessary to prevent sexual predators from posing as transgender women to prey on other women. The effort by business leaders to kill the bill was consistent with our fundamental belief that a stronger Texas is grounded in policies and laws that foster an open, welcoming and business-friendly state for businesses, their employees and their families, said Jeff Moseley, CEO of the Texas Association of Business, which opposed the bill. In San Antonio, about 50 executives and business leaders Republican fundraiser Dennis Nixon of IBC Bank, Joe Eazor of Rackspace and Bill Greehey of NuStar Energy blasted the bill as discriminatory in a letter to Abbott, Patrick and Straus earlier this month. Most of the people in the business community dont want to get involved in politics because they see it as something that affects business, Cavazos said. But, their businesses are getting affected already by these right wing views that are creating a negative perception and stereotype of Texas. But the state is still seeing fallout in its $129-billion-a-year tourism industry over other unrelated, but controversial bills passed by Texas lawmakers earlier this year. At least two convention groups pulled their events from Texas cities over Senate Bill 4, which is aimed at curbing so-called sanctuary cities by allowing law enforcement officers to question detainees about their immigration status. California banned state employees in June from using taxpayer funds to travel to TEXAS because of a new law that allows adoption groups with religious affiliations to cite sincerely held religious beliefs in denying adoptions and services to prospective parents and children. Opponents say the law will allow discrimination against LGBT couples who want to adopt. Stephen Hartnett, president of the National Communication Association, based in Washington, D.C., told members that the organization would reconsider keeping its November convention in Dallas because the ban harms California members. Whether the tourism industry will continue to see harm from those two laws is up to the courts, Jones said. As political leaders from the U.S., Mexico and Canada met Wednesday in Washington for the first round of talks reopening the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, a binational group of private business leaders in El Paso reminded negotiators of pacts importance to livelihoods throughout the U.S. and Mexico. We hope to let other people outside this region and around the United States know that Mexico is an economic ally of the United States, not a foe, and not a thief of American jobs, said Jon Barela, CEO of the Borderplex Alliance, a private sector economic development organization for El Paso, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico; and southern New Mexico. The Alliance is hosting its annual border summit through Thursday. Governments dont trade, people trade, said Gerry Schwebel, executive vice president of Laredo-based International Bank of Commerce, quoting former Mexican trade secretary Jaime Serra. So its the people, those of us who are engaged in trade, that are the ones that have the most at stake. Mexico is Texas biggest trading partner, responsible for 400,000 trade-related jobs in the state and movement of more than $180 billion in goods and services. Its also Arizonas biggest trade partner, with more than $17 billion in annual trade fueling about 90,000 jobs, said Lea Marquez-Peterson, CEO of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. But maintaining the benefits of the agreement should not be a priority just for the border, Marquez-Peterson said. Were concerned about the tone and the conversation thats occurred within the Trump administration related to the importance of trade with Mexico, she said. This is a conversation thats important to Michigan, Indiana and Ohio and others to change the misperception that we really think has been created about the loss of jobs as NAFTA has grown and Mexican relations have grown. President Donald Trump railed against the free trade pact during the election, blaming it for encouraging corporations to shift U.S. manufacturing jobs to Mexico. While he originally threatened to pull the U.S. out of the accord, the administrations tone has softened, with the key word now being modernization of a trade deal that went into effect in 1994 before the global economy turned digital and Mexico broke its government monopoly on oil and gas. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross has said he wants negotiations to wrap up by early next year before Mexicos July presidential election and midterm congressional elections in the U.S. further politicizing discussions. That may be a challenge, considering that historically it has taken years for presidents to negotiate and implement trade deals. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer dimmed any hope of a quick agreement on Wednesday. Trumps not interested in a mere tweaking of a few provisions and an updating of a couple chapters, Lighthizer said. We feel that NAFTA has fundamentally failed many Americans and needs major improvements. NAFTA has cost the U.S. at least 700,000 jobs since the deal came into effect, Lighthizer said. The U.S. will seek improvements in a number of areas, including tighter rules-of-origin that dictate local-content requirements in products, stronger labor standards and guards against currency manipulation. The administrations tough tone contrasted with expectations the U.S. might merely just move to modernize NAFTA along the lines of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, an agreement with Asia-Pacific nations that Trump withdrew from in his first week in office. Trade experts have said much of what was outlined in Lighthizers July 17 summary of negotiating objectives was hammered out in negotiations for the TPP. Remarks from Canadian and Mexican officials speaking alongside Lighthizer indicated that while the U.S. is focusing on protecting American workers and improving its trade balance, Mexico and Canada are more interested in preserving the broad gains all three nations have experienced under the trade bloc. Mexican Economy Minister Ildefonso Guajardo said NAFTA has been a strong success for all parties, and he cautioned against tearing apart the aspects of the accord that have worked. To be successful, it has to work for all parties involved, otherwise its not a deal, Guajardo said. Canadas Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland reiterated the countrys position that the trade agreement needs modernizing, but said fundamentally it has benefited all three countries. Canadas objectives are clear: We want to protect NAFTAs record as an engine of job creation and economic growth. We will work to modernize NAFTA to bring it up to date, she said. Were going to work hard with our partners to make NAFTA more progressive, particularly with regard to labor, the environment, gender and indigenous rights. A conflict over how complaints about subsidy and dumping disputes are resolved reportedly has talks at a contentious start. The U.S. wants to get rid of Chapter 19 provisions under NAFTA that create panels that handle such disputes. Trumps America First trade policy is in part based on being able to protect U.S. industries against unfair trade policies. Canada and Mexico want to keep the panels, saying its important to have such a mechanism. We anticipated that definitely was going to be the first topic, perhaps is probably one of the most difficult topics that theyre going to be addressing, Schwebel said. U.S. agricultural producers have a lot at stake in the renegotiation, as agricultural exports to Mexico alone have increased fivefold since the agreement was signed. While Mexican producers of avocados, for example, have fared well during the NAFTA years, U.S. producers of corn, sugar, and milk arent so happy. Nor are U.S. farmers who say their tomatoes, berries and other products cant compete with subsidized production south of the border. Cristina Jimenez, a Mexican congresswoman who was participating in the El Paso summit, said Mexico was prepared for a long slog on the agricultural front. She said her countrys dairy sector, upset over U.S. market share, had already established formally in a written way their intention of not being included in NAFTA. We have determined that every sector in the agriculture area would be defined and would be negotiated one by one, which is a very complex exercise I think, but this is how the federal government decided in Mexico they would go about their positioning. Bloomberg News contributed to this report. LBrezosky@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Neighbors and immigrants-rights advocates questioned Oaklands commitment to its sanctuary policies Wednesday after police officers provided support during a human trafficking investigation by federal agents. Plainclothes agents working in Homeland Security Investigations, the criminal division of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, executed a search warrant on 27th Street near Martin Luther King Jr. Way around 6:30 a.m. while Oakland police officers blocked off traffic in the area. Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick said in a statement that Homeland Security on Tuesday requested the presence of marked Oakland squad cars and uniformed officers, which she authorized, to help with traffic control and officer safety not only for them but the safety of those on the scene. Last month, City Council unanimously voted to rescind an agreement that allowed Oakland officers to be deputized as U.S. customs enforcement officers a designation that allowed the police force to work with federal immigration officials on cases of human trafficking, narcotics smuggling and other cross-border crimes. Kirkpatrick said the assistance officers provided Wednesday didnt violate parameters laid out by the council. The officers and Commander were given strict instructions that they may not engage in any capacity in their enforcement efforts and their only role was that of traffic control and safety, read the statement from Kirkpatrick. But several dozen neighbors and activists, including members of the Alameda County Immigration Legal and Education Partnership, a coalition of local legal service organizations, congregated on 27th Street to protest the operation and the assistance Oakland officers gave. The narrative they kept telling us is, Dont worry. Youre safe. We cant release any information. This doesnt affect you, said Hadar Cohen, who lives two doors down from the searched residence. Thats not the narrative of safety I buy into. My safety is bound up in the safety of everybody, particularly the people who are most vulnerable. Adley Penner, also a neighbor, called Oakland polices involvement pathetic and said it was contrary to the citys sanctuary status. A distraught woman living at the residence, 21-year-old Laura Barrios, said the agents received a tip about her familys cleaning business and wanted to verify that it was actually a good business. James Schwab, an ICE spokesman, said he couldnt provide details about the investigation, but Oakland officials said that Homeland Security agents were there to investigate the alleged human trafficking of juveniles. The operation came just hours before half of an Oakland family with no criminal history, including a Highland Hospital nurse, was to be deported to Mexico after authorities denied an emergency stay. Holding her 1-year-old son on the stoop of her home, Barrios told reporters through tears that her mothers business didnt exploit anyone and that some of the profits were sent home to relatives in Guatemala. Barrios said agents arrested her brother-in-law and adoptive brother. Some members of her family came to the United States seeking political asylum and escape from the violence in their home village, Barrios said. In the Bay Area, her family opened the cleaning businesses Mendozas Janitorial and Prestige Janitorial. It had been brought to their attention that probably my mom was exploiting, which is not the case, Barrios said. They made their investigation and they said that everything should be fine, but in the meantime they took the majority of my family members. Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: KVeklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov From Holmes to Sherlock: The Story of the Men and Women Who Created an Icon By Mattias Bostrom. Translated from the Swedish by Michael Gallagher The Mysterious Press. 597 pp. $28 --- In 2002, at the end of a festive January evening, I was made a member of the Baker Street Irregulars, a literary society devoted to Sherlock Holmes. As part of what is called an investiture, a new Irregular is assigned an alias - a name or phrase drawn from the 60 canonical adventures recounted, somewhat sensationally, by Dr. John H. Watson. Quite frequently, these names are keyed to one's profession, as is mine: Langdale Pike. Some readers may recall that Pike is a newspaper gossip columnist who appears in arguably the worst Sherlock Holmes story, "The Three Gables." In the 15 years since that glorious night I've gone on to review scholarship about the great detective and his creator, introduce a Penguin paperback of the four Sherlock Holmes novels and even bring out a small book called "On Conan Doyle." I mention all this simply to establish my bona fides in saying that Mattias Bostrom's "From Holmes to Sherlock" is the best account of Baker Street mania ever written. Really. That said, it's important to clarify what Bostrom, himself a Swedish member of the BSI, has and hasn't done. He doesn't provide a full-scale life of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - for that you should look to the biographies by Daniel Stashower or Andrew Lycett. Neither does he offer any commentary on the novels and stories - for such illumination you should turn to Leslie S. Klinger's three-volume "New Annotated Sherlock Holmes," which gathers together decades of highly ingenious speculation, or consult the more sober introductions and scholarly notes to the nine-volume "Oxford Sherlock Holmes." But what Bostrom has accomplished supremely well is to relate, as his subtitle proclaims, "the story of the men and women who created an icon." In effect, he shows us how Sherlock Holmes enchanted the world. Bostrom first focuses on the origins of the detective, largely modeled after a brilliant medical diagnostician named Dr. Joseph Bell, who had been Conan Doyle's teacher at the University of Edinburgh. He then reminds us that, after the comparatively lukewarm reception of "A Study in Scarlet" (1887), we might never have had any further knowledge of Holmes and Watson if Joseph M. Stoddart hadn't come to London to commission short novels for Lippincott's Monthly Magazine. Over dinner at the Langham Hotel, the American publisher signed contracts with his two young guests: Oscar Wilde wrote "The Picture of Dorian Gray" and Arthur Conan Doyle produced "The Sign of the Four" (1890). Inconceivable as it now seems, that thrilling novel still didn't make Holmes a household name. Conan Doyle returned to other projects, mainly historical fiction, but in 1891 decided to submit stories featuring his sleuth to the Strand magazine. The first, "A Scandal in Bohemia," opened with Watson's now-immortal sentence about Irene Adler: "To Sherlock Holmes she is always the woman." Soon thereafter, Baker Street mania began to sweep England and then the world. As Bostrom proceeds, he tells us about Sidney Paget, whose illustrations first depicted Holmes in the Strand, and the American actor William Gillette, who brought the detective to life on the stage and then provided a model for the more handsome, romantic-looking figure painted by Frederic Dorr Steele for Collier's Weekly magazine. In 1911, Oxford undergraduate Ronald Knox presented his groundbreaking lecture "Studies in the Literature of Sherlock Holmes," and during the 1920s and '30s, Saturday Review journalist Christopher Morley established various dining clubs, one of which would give rise to the Baker Street Irregulars. In those same decades, mock-serious scholarship began to proliferate, spearheaded by Vincent Starrett's "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" (1933), while in the years after World War II the mortician John Bennett Shaw would gradually emerge as the greatest American collector of Sherlockiana - and an eventual mentor to young Mitch Cullin whose novel 2005 "A Slight Trick of the Mind" would be filmed as "Mr. Holmes." In fact, Bostrom closely tracks the almost innumerable dramatic interpretations of Holmes and Watson. He describes early silent films, the influential radio scripts of the 1930s and '40s written by Edith Meiser, the performances of Holmesian actors Eille Norwood, Basil Rathbone, Douglas Wilmer and Jeremy Brett, and the phenomenon - as novel and film - of Nicholas Meyer's "The Seven Per-Cent Solution." Not least, he briefly discusses the genesis of the two immensely popular contemporary interpretations of the great detective, "Sherlock" and "Elementary." Bostrom also follows the money. Many chapters - some quite funny - depict the shenanigans of Conan Doyle's playboy sons, Denis and Adrian, as they try to squeeze every penny possible out of their father's creation. These pages revel in accounts of crafty agents, intricate legal suits and soap-operatic goings-on worthy of reality TV. "From Holmes to Sherlock," then, is more than a treat, it's a smorgasbord. There are sections about the legendary Adventuresses of Sherlock Holmes and the birth of the Baker Street Babes. We learn about the generosity of Conan Doyle's most sensible child, Dame Jean Conan Doyle, and the treasures acquired by the much-loved English collector Richard Lancelyn Green. Bostrom even mentions various specialty publishers, including Gasogene Books, for which he and Matt Laffey have been compiling "Sherlock Holmes and Conan Doyle in the Newspapers," an ongoing series of archival volumes reprinting hundreds of early reviews and articles about the detective, a true labor of love - like so much that goes on in the Sherlockian world. Let me close with one final comment and a small cavil. First, all praise to Michael Gallagher for his superb English translation of this book's Swedish original. Second, be aware that Bostrom's narrative style verges on the melodramatic: Each chapter is a short vignette, often ending with a cliffhanger. This can take getting used to, but remember that Holmes himself could never resist a theatrical flourish. In the lowlife picaresque "Good Time," Robert Pattinson delivers what some will surely call a career-making performance, especially if they've missed his impressive turns in such similarly non-"Twilight" indies as "The Rover," "Maps to the Stars," "Queen of the Desert" and "The Lost City of Z." No matter. Connie Nikas, Pattinson's stumblebum character in "Good Time," feels reverse-engineered to allow the former teen screen idol the attention he deserves for serious-acting chops, checking every box from aggressively antisocial tendencies to a startling physical transformation. As "Good Time" opens, Connie bursts into an office where his hearing-impaired and cognitively delayed brother Nick (Ben Safdie) is being questioned by a well-meaning therapist. Connie arrives just at the moment when a seemingly long-buried trauma is surfacing, which alerts the audience to the multivalent irony of the film's title: No matter how noble the intentions of even the most optimistic protagonist, there's something to be said for good timing. And some old-fashioned smarts and self-awareness wouldn't hurt either. As Connie leads Nick on what begins as a caper and ends in his own increasingly hallucinatory journey through the neon-lit underworld of Queens, "Good Time" takes the shape of movies we've seen before. One scene elicits memories of "Dog Day Afternoon," while others recall "Midnight Cowboy," "Mean Streets" and "Panic in Needle Park." In a manic, dead-eyed rendition of an antihero who's one part Charlie Manson and one part Kurt Cobain (especially after an ill-advised dye job), Pattinson infuses Connie with both charm and malevolence. He'll do anything to get what he wants in the course of a fateful night of his own misbegotten making. In the name of fraternal loyalty, he'll manipulate himself into the pocketbooks and good graces of anyone whose path he crosses, whether it's the frowzy, magical-thinking woman he's dating (played with ditsy pathos by Jennifer Jason Leigh) or the wised-up but clearly vulnerable teenage granddaughter of a Haitian immigrant (Taliah Webster). Co-directed by Safdie with his brother Josh, "Good Time" bears some resemblance to their previous films, "Daddy Longlegs" and "Heaven Knows What," both of which gave viewers an unsettlingly intimate glimpse of overwhelming love borne of dysfunction and dead ends. "Good Time" traffics in the same sentiments, but it also represents an artistic leap forward, both in its debt to canonical thrillers and its improbably rich look. Sean Price Williams, who shot "Heaven Knows What" as a gritty verite-like piece of street art, here embraces a far more elegant, composed sense of visual beauty, occasionally leaving behind tight, jangly close-ups to take to the skies and deliver exhilarating views of the Queens streets down below. ("Good Time" was shot on 35 mm film, and it has the texture and translucence to show for it.) As Connie trips the night fatalistic, a shaggy-dog story turns out to contain yet another shaggy-dog story, with the fablelike weirdness of "Good Time" taking on a harder edge by way of the assaultive, techno score (by Daniel Lopatin, under the recording alias of Oneohtrix Point Never) and Connie's own increasingly off-putting sense of exceptionalism. At one point, now conspiring with a hangdog miscreant named Ray (Buddy Duress), Connie delivers a screed against dependency that somehow mashes up Freud and Ayn Rand with his own supreme hypocrisy. He has a way of saying "God bless you" just before he tricks yet another mark into helping him down his particular road to hell. Many of those victims are immigrants, making "Good Time" feel authentically of its time and place, especially when two black characters - and not Connie - are reflexively apprehended by the police. But the filmmakers choose to keep the film's politics buried under the surface of Connie's lunkhead-on-the-lam hop from bail bond office to bodega to pizza joint to hospital. (Josh Safdie wrote the script with his longtime collaborator Ronald Bronstein.) A climax set in a hellish after-hours amusement park pushes "Good Time's" visuals - and the audience's patience - to their limit. What starts out as an invigorating odyssey winds up becoming an enervating series of postures. For all of the Safdies' prowess, and Pattinson's willingness to tarnish and rough up his own celebrity persona, there's little by way of deeper meaning to a pulp thrill ride that turns out to be as petty as Connie's crimes. - - - Two stars. Rated R. Contains crude language throughout, violence, drug use and sexuality. 100 minutes. Ratings Guide: Four stars masterpiece, three stars very good, two stars OK, one star poor, no stars waste of time. End advance fri aug 18 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A man standing trial for slaying his 23-year-old wife asked responding officers to shoot him in the head and told family members he should be given the death penalty before being taken into custody, according to testimony heard Tuesday in the 111th District Court. Alberto Espinoza's attorneys are not disputing that he fatally slashed the throat of his wife, Yolanda Martinez-Perez, on July 22, 2014. However, they are asking the jury to find Espinoza not guilty of murder by reason of insanity. "He was paranoid, he was delusional and he was hearing voices," Joaquin Amaya, Espinoza's attorney, said. While insanity defenses are rare, Amaya is arguing his client was not responsible for his actions due to a psychiatric disease when he attacked his wife with a knife in their home in 2014. Espinoza wasn't previously competent to stand trial, according to Amaya, who said his client had to be sent to a state hospital so he could know what was going on. Amaya said the jury will hear from three experts who will say Espinoza suffers from "severe mental illness" and would not have committed the offense if it wasn't for his illness. READ MORE: Seldom-used insanity defense expected in Laredo murder case trial that starts Monday During opening statements, assistant district attorney Julia Rubio asked the jury to return a guilty verdict, saying the prosecution will show evidence to prove Espinoza is criminally responsible for his wife's death. "A troubled relationship, stress and rage, that is what this case is about," Rubio said. The prosecution rested its case at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday after calling first responders, police investigators, medical personnel and family members of Espinoza to the stand to provide insight into what occurred in the weeks before and after Martinez-Perez's death. The day of the homicide, Espinoza allegedly heard a voice tell him that his wife, whom he had been estranged from for about six months, was cheating on him and betraying him. Espinoza told police investigators he heard a voice tell him that Martinez-Perez intended to kill him by poisoning potatoes being cooked for breakfast. Using photographs taken of the crime scene, Espinoza's defense counsel noted a bottle of bleach on the kitchen sink and a container of ant killer seen in a lower cabinet near Martinez-Perez's body. In a recorded interview played for the jury, Espinoza said he "smashed (the knife) against her on her throat" when Martinez-Perez was standing up from bending down by the oven to pick up a pan. The prosecution said Espinoza approached Martinez-Perez with a knife he had sharpened and slashed her throat in one swift movement, cutting through every part of her neck except the bone. Later in the interview, Espinoza said that after the incident, "I didn't feel rage. I didn't feel anything anymore. I just felt love for my daughters." His daughters, ages 3 and 6 at the time, were in another room inside the residence at the time of the slaying. After Martinez-Perez's death, Espinoza collected a photo of his wife and took it to the girls so they would have something to remember her by. RELATED: Jurors to hear opening statements Tuesday in trial of man who allegedly killed wife during breakfast Investigators found the photo lying on the bed, where Espinoza allegedly told his daughters to lay down. The girls were found crying and clinging to each other by a responding officer, according to testimony heard Tuesday. LPD Officer Juan Lorenzo Villarreal said he responded to the 4500 block of Corrada Avenue after Espinoza's relatives called police, concerned about Espinoza's welfare. Espinoza had called a relative, telling her that he had done something bad. Villarreal discussed seeing Espinoza, with blood on his shirt, pants and sandals, answer the door. "The first thing he told me (was) 'I did something very bad. I want to kill myself. I want you to kill me,'" Villarreal said. Another officer, Mauricio Ivan Chaires, recalled Espinoza telling him, "shoot me, shoot me in the head." Alleged voices Lorena Espinoza and her husband, Jesus Eduardo Garay, said they arrived at the scene as Espinoza was being taken to a patrol car. Garay said he approached the vehicle and asked Espinoza where his wife was. In response, Espinoza gestured while smiling, moving his hand across his throat, according to Garay. While Garay said he had heard Espinoza was hearing a voice and didn't trust anyone, he said Espinoza seemed "normal" and did not appear sick when working with Garay at a restaurant. Lorena Espinoza, the defendant's cousin, testified about a conversation that occurred between Alberto Espinoza and some of his extended relatives a few days before his wife's death. "That day, he sat us down to talk to us. He looked very upset and he told us that 'he' we don't know who he was referring to would tell him things," Lorena Espinoza said. That same day, Alberto Espinoza had been released from the hospital after seeking treatment. It was his second visit to the hospital in a two-day span due to anxiety attacks. A Laredo Medical Center emergency room nurse, Julia Casso, said Espinoza did not report any anxiety or depression during the two visits. It wasn't until he was taken to the hospital after killing his wife that he answered yes to all questions related to suicide, according to Casso. MORE FROM LMTonline: Police identify 16-year-old victim, provide more information on suspect in Laredo murder case Espinoza was taken to LMC for a self-inflicted wound to the arm. According to the criminal complaint, Espinoza attempted to die by suicide before police arrived. Sara Zamora, an employee of Border Region Behavioral Health Center, said she completed an assessment of Espinoza at the hospital, where she noted he appeared to be responding to "internal stimuli." Internal stimuli is a phrase used in reference to a patient who may be hearing things or seeing things but don't report it or deny hearing or seeing anything. In this case, Zamora said Espinoza "directly denied hearing voices." Espinoza appeared to be talking to someone, looking up from his hospital bed and saying, "I'm going to be with you. I want to go with you," according to Zamora. She said those statements were not matching up with the questions being asked as part of the assessment. The trial is scheduled to continue Wednesday with expert testimony from witnesses who are expected to discuss Espinoza's mental health before the defense rests its case. Well, its August. These are the doldrums. The summer, as a movie season at least, is effectively over, and the fall hasnt started yet. Perhaps for that reason, The Hitmans Bodyguard seems just a little better than it really is. For the record, its a pleasing action movie that aspires to be something more, but doesnt quite achieve its intention. But it really is pleasing and better than routine, and it has a way of topping itself. So if, after about 80 minutes, you think the movie is offering you its big climax, that its giving you all its got, its not. It goes on to catch a second wind and gets bigger and wilder and even more satisfying. The movie also is a chance to appreciate Samuel L. Jackson in something close to his purest form. Other movies, after all, have other reasons for being. There are roles to be cast and actors to play them. But its hard to imagine any reason for this movies existing but for the fact that Jackson was willing to be in it. Its impossible to imagine it even making sense without the menacing joviality that he brings to it and also his history with the audience, our shared feeling of knowing this actor and of being in on his particular comic wavelength. The Hitmans Bodyguard pairs Jackson here with Ryan Reynolds, and sprinkled throughout we get moments that suggest an attempt by Tom OConnors screenplay and Patrick Hughes direction to turn the movie into a buddy action-comedy. But OConnor and Hughes arent quite sure whether theyre making a buddy action-comedy or lampooning the genre, and so their attempt is stuck somewhere in between. This is less a problem than it sounds, though, because, lampoon or not, Jackson and Reynolds are good together. Reynolds plays Bryce, a former CIA agent specializing in first-class (Triple-A rated) protection for corporate clients who feel their lives might be in danger. In an opening scene, we meet him in flashback, giving the deluxe treatment to a Japanese businessman. He and his team escort the gentleman to the tarmac and see that he is safely boarded onto his private jet. And then just as they are all congratulating themselves for a job well done, the businessman is assassinated through the window of the plane. This is what passes for slapstick in The Hitmans Bodyguard assassination as punchline. If you dont think you could possibly consider that funny, this fine cinematic exercise is not for you. Anyway, two years later, Bryce needs a shave; his love life is nonexistent, and his once top-flight business is a shadow of itself. Then one day he gets a phone call from his estranged ex-girlfriend, an Interpol agent played by French actress Elodie Yung: She needs him to escort a notorious hit man (Jackson, of course) to the Hague, where he is to testify against a really, really horrible war criminal (Gary Oldman, of course). The only catch is that there are many dozens of heavily armed criminals and corrupt Interpol agents who want to make sure that this testimony never happens. Does this story have a certain familiar ring? The last time somebody made this movie, it was called Hot Pursuit, with Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara essentially a road trip comedy about a pair of opposites, whose slowly blossoming friendship keeps getting interrupted by violent interludes. That movie collapsed into total discord, but The Hitmans Bodyguard finds a tonal universe in which the violence and the comedy are not in conflict. Then again, perhaps the tone didnt really have to be arrived at. Perhaps the tone was just a given, something that was automatically built in from the moment Jackson appeared on the set. Aside from the principals, who are everything they should be, there is Oldman, who is appropriately repellent in a couple of key scenes, and Yung, who makes a nice impression of strength and purpose as the Interpol agent. In a sense, Oldman and Yung play dramatic characters in the midst of a comedy, but the filmmakers weave them into the flow. Meanwhile, Salma Hayek stands out in a comic role as the hit mans impossibly vulgar, assertive wife. Its also worth noting that there are lots of car chases here, and they actually arent boring. That qualifies as a rare achievement. Mick LaSalle is The San Francisco Chronicles movie critic. Email: mlasalle@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MickLaSalle The Hitmans Bodyguard Action comedy. Starring Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds. Directed by Patrick Hughes. (R. 118 minutes.) Associated Press Ingrid Goes West is an ideal vehicle for Aubrey Plaza, in that it taps into everything we know she can do and challenges her to do other things that she hasnt done before. This is a comic actress who is particularly good at playing people who are trying to get away with something, whose manner suggests one thing but whose eyes tell us something else. Here she gets to play that situation in virtually every scene to comic effect, mostly, but with moments of drama seeping in as well. This is an assured first feature film from director and co-writer Matt Spicer, who is 33 and thus young enough to understand the social media bubble that his lead character inhabits. At the start of the film, Ingrid (Plaza) is boiling over with rage as she sits in a car and looks at a friends Instagram entries. We soon realize that she is parked outside the wedding of that friend. Ingrid gets out, marches up to the bride, who is horrified to see her, and sprays her with Mace. Marjorie is in her 80s, and she tells her handsome fortysomething husband, Walter, that its his job to keep her from sinking into the oblivion of dementia. I dont have to get better, she says. Just keep me from getting worse. Easier said than done for Walter, because, after all, he doesnt really exist. Played with aching sensitivity by Lois Smith, Marjorie has created a holographic image of Walter (Jon Hamm) from the time they met. The real Walter has long since died. In the near future, we can create idealized holographic images, or primes, of our deceased loved ones in Michael Almereydas minimalist science fiction film Marjorie Prime. If the mid-20th century Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu had made a science fiction film, it might look something like this, because Almereyda is less interested in the technology behind the primes than the family drama it helps unlock. Soon, Marjories daughter Tess (Geena Davis), who has had a troubled relationship with her mother, and her husband, Jon (Tim Robbins), will need their own primes. Set in an undetermined future circa 2060 is an educated guess, because Marjorie is the films only 20th century woman it is filmed in and around a modernist seaside house. Javiera Varas colorfully simple production design is a plus, as is Sean Price Williams cinematography. Almereyda whose documentary on Blade Runner co-screenwriter Hampton Fancher, Escapes, has also opened in the Bay Area even shoots Marjorie Prime like an Ozu film, with characters often shot at eye level, seated in diametric opposition with each other. If this vision of the future holds, we will be no closer to solving our communication problems in the next half century. The living humans in Marjorie Prime cant express their true feelings to each other; they can only say what they really want to say to the primes. And thats no way to solve a family crisis. Interestingly, the linchpin to this family drama is the only character who is never real. The real Walter must have been a real piece of work. His wife only wants to remember the beginning of their relationship, when all was ideal. His daughter doesnt want to remember him at all. And his son-in-law talks to Walters prime only to try to understand his wife, and gain some sort of acceptance into the family he never felt he got at least from Walter. Hamm perfectly plays Walter as a sort of suave, GQ version of HAL 9000, and Davis and Robbins have their most satisfying feature film roles in years. Along with the pitch-perfect Smith, they provide the humanity to Almereydas vision of a species in danger of slipping into the void of selective memory and loss. G. Allen Johnson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ajohnson@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @BRFilmsAllen Marjorie Prime Science fiction. With Jon Hamm, Geena Davis and Tim Robbins. Directed by Michael Almereyda. (Not rated. 98 minutes.) The Filipino Film Festival, a grand showcase for the latest in aesthetically and politically inventive Filipino cinema, returns to San Francisco for its sixth year at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts from Thursday, Aug. 17, through Sept. 3. This years festival has been co-curated by YBCA film and video curator Joel Sheperd and Philippines-based film critic Philbert Dy. The films shed an artistic light on the recent political and human rights crises that have taken place during Rodrigo Dutertes presidency. As the indelible specter of dictatorship continues to cast a shadow on the nation, filmmakers continue to tell stories that bring to light, in ways both overt and subtle, the injustices that Filipinos face every day, Dy said in a statement. Exciting films at the festival include Forbidden Memory, a documentary on the little-known 1974 massacre in the town of Malisbong, where 1,500 citizens were killed by the Philippines army; Seklusyon, a religious horror parable directed by Erik Matti (On the Job, Honor Thy Father); and Brillante Mendozas MaRosa, which won Jaclyn Jose an award for best actress at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival. A special event, Inside the War on Drugs, with Manila photojournalist Raffy Lerma, is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 20. Pagdating Sa Dulo (At the Top), the 1971 debut feature of Ishmael Bernal, will be screened in a new digital restoration on Aug. 27. American moviegoers have not yet been adequately exposed to the riches of the Philippines cinematic history. At the Top, about a stripper (Rita Gomez) groomed to be an actress during a time of toxic political strife, promises to be an essential rediscovery of a shamefully overlooked corner of world cinema. The festival will conclude the weekend of Sept. 2-3 in remarkable style, with two screenings of Lav Diazs most recent work, the eight-hour epic A Lullaby to the Sorrowful Mystery. Diaz traces the history and future of the Philippine Republic through the characters of one of its most nationally recognized classics, Jose Rizals El Filibusterismo, written in 1891. The film won the Alfred Bauer Prize at the 2016 Berlin Film Festival, awarded to films that open new perspectives on cinematic art. Diazs film will be presented with a one-hour intermission at 4 p.m. For more information on tickets and screenings, go to www.ybca.org. Rebecca and Marnie: The Castro Theatre screens two of Alfred Hitchcocks weirdest psychological thrillers: Rebecca (Daphne du Mauriers classic ghost yarn, starring Joan Fontaine and Laurence Olivier, and produced by David O. Selznick) and Marnie (the second of two unsettling, expressionist masterpieces Hitchcock made with actor Tippi Hedren in the 1960s). Rebecca was Hitchcocks first Hollywood film and won Selznick an Oscar for best picture, just a year after his Gone With the Wind sweep. This creepy tale of a woman forced to fit the image of her lovers ghostly past love is a dress rehearsal for the more ecstatic and American-as-hell Vertigo and The Birds. Marnie features Hitchcock at his most off-puttingly artificial with a schizoid, swirling Bernard Herrmann score to boot. (This would mark the last Hitch-Herrmann collaboration; they had a falling-out in 1966 over the rather dismal Torn Curtain.) The subject matter of Marnie is disturbingly close to the directors heart: Men (Sean Connery) trying to dominate mysterious chic women. Hedrens Marnie is less subject and more object, something to be sliced up and looked at by the unfeeling camera. This unforgettable, tricky tale of a brutalized woman will leave you feeling unclean for a long time. Rebecca 7 p.m., Marnie 4:30 and 9:20 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 20. $9-$12. The Castro Theatre, 429 Castro St., S.F. (415) 621-6120. www.castrotheatre.com. Antonio Gaudi: Hiroshi Teshigaharas sublime 1984 visual essay on the celebrated Catalan architect. The camera of Teshigahara (Woman in the Dunes, The Face of Another) films in and around Gaudis schools, houses and parks, tracing the gentle slopes and flowing curves of Gaudis architectural marvels, including the still-unfinished Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona. This 72-minute film is quietly hypnotic, like a hushed Mass held in a Church of Aesthetic Wonder. It features an eerie, unforgettable score by the Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu. (A word of warning: There is no narration, so theres not much context on Gaudi beyond his impeccable forms, which speak for themselves. If you need a quick primer on the man, watch Ken Russells 15-minute documentary short on Gaudi, made for the BBC in 1961 and available in two parts on YouTube.) 6:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 18, and 5 p.m. Aug. 27. $7-$12. Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, 2155 Center St., Berkeley. (510) 642-0808. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu. Carlos Valladares is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: CValladares@sfchronicle.com Secretary of State Rex Tillerson highlighted abuses committed by the Islamic State group and Iran as he released Tuesday a new survey of religious rights and freedoms around the world. The first global report on the status of religious freedoms issued under President Donald Trump is critical of U.S. adversaries and allies alike. Tillerson called out some important partners, such as Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Bahrain and Pakistan, in brief remarks introducing the annual report, which has been mandated by Congress since 1998. He devoted the most attention to the Islamic State, however, accusing the group of targeted, religiously motivated atrocities against Christians and minority sects. The Obama administration had previously accused the Islamic State of genocide, and Tillerson endorsed that position Tuesday. "ISIS has and continues to target members of multiple religions and ethnicities for rape, kidnapping, enslavement and death," Tillerson said, using one acronym for the group that holds territory in Syria and Iraq. "ISIS is clearly responsible for genocide against Yazidis, Christians and Shia Muslims," as well as ethnic cleansing. "The protection of these groups and others who are targets of violent extremism remains a human rights priority for the Trump administration," he added. Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., a longtime advocate for U.S. action on religious persecution overseas, welcomed the focus on the Islamic State. "I applaud Rex Tillerson for being so clear and unambiguous about ISIS," Smith said, adding that he had been frustrated at how long it took the Obama administration to brand the group's actions as genocide. Criticizing Iran, Tillerson pointed to persecution of religious minorities and said that country had carried out executions last year under "vague apostasy laws." The new report covers 2016, prior to the Trump presidency, but conclusions and decisions about what to highlight were reached under the current administration. "Religious persecution and intolerance remains far too prevalent. Almost 80 percent of the global population live with restrictions on or hostilities to limit their freedom of religion," Tillerson said. "Where religious freedom is not protected, we know that instability, human rights abuses, and violent extremism have a greater opportunity to take root." Human rights groups and some political conservatives were waiting for the report, hoping it would provide clues to the new administration's priorities. The survey is of particular interest to evangelical Christians, who were an important part of Trump's political base. Exit polls in November showed Trump defeating Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton 80 percent to 16 percent among white evangelical Christians, and he has been eager to please this key part of his base. He signed an executive order in May aimed at allowing churches to engage in more political activity and a month later told the Faith and Freedom Coalition, "it is time to put a stop to the attacks on religion." But the report also comes under an administration with an "America First" mandate that has sought to temporarily ban travel from several Muslim-majority nations and temporarily restrict U.S. acceptance of refugees, many of whom claim to be fleeing religious persecution at home. The report singles out Saudi Arabia, the first foreign country Trump visited as president, as a country of "special concern" for its religious restrictions. The designation can be a first step to U.S. sanctions, although past administrations have waived that for Saudi Arabia, a key partner in counterterrorism. That message contrasts with Trump's speech during his May visit, when he said, "We are not here to lecture - we are not here to tell other people how to live, what to do, who to be, or how to worship." The report has been a regular irritant to Saudi Arabia and to other major countries, like Russia and China, where Trump has sought new footing. The current report was released without much fanfare and without lengthy thematic analyses and personal anecdotes about victims of religious persecution that have marked previous annual surveys. On China, Tillerson said the report documents how China "imprisons thousands for practicing their religious beliefs." The report notes that China has been labeled a "country of particular concern" under the law that established the State Department office responsible for the report. Tillerson did not mention Russia in his remarks at the State Department. The report details alleged persecution against Jews and others in Russia. Russia is not singled out for special concern based on the 2016 findings. Tillerson noted that Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican, has been selected as the next head of that office, which carries the title of ambassador-at-large. Brownback's selection eased concerns that the position might be on Tillerson's chopping block. Tillerson has said he wants to reduce the overall size of the State Department and has targeted various special representatives and advisers with overlapping authorities. Shaun Casey, who until January was the State Department's special representative for religion and global affairs and headed an office of 30 people, said the diplomatic effort to promote religious freedom has been undermined by Trump's other actions. "When he went to Riyadh and told the Saudis, 'We're not going to tell you how to run your country,' that means, 'We're not going to hector you about religious freedom problem,' " said Casey, who now heads the Berkley Center for religion at Georgetown University. "If you're going to ban a specific religious group," from entry into the United States, "that doesn't comport with international norms for religious freedom." The U.S. government also has an ambassador and a separate commission for religious freedom. Casey called the overlapping branches duplicative, inefficient and often ineffective. BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Moments after he secured a runoff spot in his race for a full term in Washington, Sen. Luther Strange, R-Ala., commented for the first time on President Donald Trump's remarks that blamed "the alt-left" for violence in Charlottesville. It was good, said Strange, that Attorney General Jeff Sessions was probing the violence. But Trump's latest reaction was news to him. "I wasn't honestly able to watch everything, because I was pretty busy today," said Strange to reporters at his election night party. "But the president has condemned, and I certainly have condemned, the racist violence in Charlottesville. As a former attorney general, I hope they put everybody under the jail." Strange had been saying exactly that since Trump's first response to the Charlottesville tragedy, which ended with a man apparently motivated by racist sentiments plowing his car into a crowd of protesters, killing 32-year old left-wing activist Heather Hayer. He'd used his election night speech to thank Trump for supporting him, support that had been the driving message of his tough campaign. As Republicans in the rest of the country agonized over how to respond to Trump, Alabama's race seemed to speed into the future - several news cycles from now, when Democrats and Republicans had largely returned to their bunkers. Conservative voters varied between wishing the president had responded differently to Charlottesville, and blaming the media for creating furor out of tragedy. Liberal voters, in between vigils, nominated a civil rights lawyer for the Senate race, and lauded the covering up of Birmingham's major Confederate memorial. The lawyer, Doug Jones, celebrated a Tuesday night victory by lunging at Trump over his response to Charlottesville. At his party, held in a restaurant near the city's Five Points neighborhood, several supporters wore T-shirts that celebrated Jones's successful prosecution of Klansmen who in 1964 had bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church. Jones, who chaired the board of the city's civil rights museum before running for Senate, ran his race - on the cheap - as a defiantly liberal Democrat. Tuesday clarified that pitch, with Jones taking several opportunities to condemn the president's Charlottesville response as a sop to racists. "Fifteen years ago I actually went up against the Klan, and we won," Jones told supporters after his primary win was official. "I thought we'd gotten past that. But we obviously haven't." Jones's voters felt the same way. Wanda Bryant, 59, said she was utterly unsurprised when Trump went back on his statement about the shame of white supremacists to take a whack at the "alt-left," a term coined by conservatives to brand liberal protesters. "That's just who he is," she said. "If you pay attention, it doesn't surprise you." Kathy Smith, 60, voted shortly after Strange did, at the senator's suburban polling place, which happened to be a special needs facility that her daughter used. She voted for Jones thinking it would send a message, but not confident he would win. "We came too far to slide back into craziness," she said. "I feel like things are going too fast in that direction. I've been here too long; I don't have any confidence in these Republicans to stop it." Republican voters unsurprisingly disagreed, even when they did not defend Trump's comments. Laura Payne, who had been a Trump delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention, cast a vote for Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Ala., bucking Trump's endorsement. She supported the president regardless, and was frustrated at the story obscured by his comments - the street brawls over whether to take down symbols of the Confederacy. "We shouldn't take our statues down; that's just stupid," said Payne. "They should be focused on peaceful solutions instead of anger." In more than a dozen voters interviews on Election Day, no Republican primary voter said that Trump had intentionally defended white nationalists, though some voters were quick to move off the subject. There was little evidence that the controversy would last - and little that it would hurt Strange if it did. One Republican strategist who worked to help Strange though the primary said that the short-term effect of the comments would be a 2-point drop in Trump's support from all voters, but a 10-point spike in support from Republicans. AMARILLO Thomas Roy Clark, 52, of Bushland pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of health care fraud stemming from a scheme to defraud insurance companies through the submission of improper billing. The announcement was made Wednesday by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas. Clark, who remains on bond, faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in federal prison, a $250,000 fine, and may be ordered to pay restitution. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 29, 2017, before U.S. District Judge Sidney A. Fitzwater. James Alex Fields Jr. held up a black shield emblazoned with Vanguard America's logo, and he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with members of the self-proclaimed fascist group as they formed a barrier around a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee. At the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday, Fields also sported the unofficial uniform of the group: a white polo shirt and khaki pants. Soon after, Fields allegedly drove a car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing a 32-year-old woman and injuring at least 19 people. Vanguard America was quick to say Fields was not a member of the group and had nothing to do with the contingent at the rally. He had simply walked up and grabbed a shield - which he displayed upside down, as shown in photos - and stood a post with Vanguard. "The driver of the vehicle that hit counter protesters today was, in no way, a member of Vanguard America," the group said in a statement on Twitter. "The shields seen do not denote membership, nor does the white shirt. The shields were freely handed out to anyone in attendance." The secretive organization has been emerging publicly since the presidential election, starting with white nationalist fliers on several college campuses and recruiting on a website that vilifies Jews, racial minorities, gays and multiculturalism. Group members have been rallying alongside neo-Nazis, white nationalists and white supremacists, and its members have been seen in images on social media - faces often blurred - as groups of young white men waving black flags and wearing black hats emblazoned with a Vanguard America white eagle logo. Despite the group's presence at numerous white nationalist rallies, the most notable being the Charlottesville event, it is unclear how many members Vanguard America has or what broader influence it has achieved. The group's website rails against the loss of white control of the United States and proclaims white America's "right to exist." Leaders claim to have more than 100 members nationwide, many of them in the D.C. region and in Texas, but they have declined The Washington Post's requests for reporters to attend membership meetings. Five men who said they are members of Vanguard met with Post reporters on the Mall this year; all wore masks and some wore sunglasses. They almost always speak anonymously. Dillon Irizarry, 29, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and identifies himself as the group's president, said in a Skype interview Monday that his is a political group that does not calling for or condone violence. He said that Fields has nothing to do with Vanguard, which says it has strict membership criteria, including that applicants be employed, not smoke or drink, or display hand or neck tattoos. Irizarry legally changed his name to Dillon Ulysses Hopper in 2006 and served in the military using that name, according to court and military records. A spokesman for Irizarry said no one using Fields's name ever applied to join Vanguard: "I can assure you if he did apply, by his actions, he seems psychotic. He would not have gotten in." Fields obtained the Vanguard shield in Charlottesville because of a "communications error," the spokesman said. Vanguard equipment was distributed to "any person who asked" or "who showed up." The Vanguard leader who made the decision to distribute shields to nonmembers - including Fields - is now being drummed out of the organization, Irizarry said. "The reason this person was photographed with us was due to leadership being incompetent," Irizarry said. While arguing that counterprotesters were responsible for some of the violence Saturday, Irizarry and his spokesman condemned the vehicle attack. "Personally, I'm disgusted," the spokesman said. "We obviously do not condone violence. We don't tell our members to do this kind of stuff. We are a political movement . . . nothing more." The group's manifesto states that it is not an advocate of lawlessness and does not condone or endorse the use of criminal activity. It also says that members "who wish to commit criminal acts are expelled, and those left are those who assuredly respect the law." By distancing itself from Fields, Vanguard acknowledged that white nationalist movements are attracting unaffiliated people - many of them young men - whose motives range from political demonstration to hatred to violence. And because much of the recruitment for the rallies is done online, it can draw anyone from anywhere. In this case, Fields drove from Ohio and was able to blend in immediately. Oren Segal, director of the Anti-Defamation League's Center on Extremism, said Vanguard America is "loosely organized and not particularly coherent." Much of its organizing targets 18- to 24-year-olds, he said. Segal, who tweeted a New York Daily News photo showing Fields at the rally, said whether he was an official Vanguard America member is in some ways irrelevant. "You have this individual dressed like a white supremacist, holding a white supremacist symbol and hanging out with white supremacists," he said. "Whether he was a member or not, that was his crew for that day." Irizarry, whom the ADL also identifies as the group's leader, said Vanguard has a centralized application procedure. Its website - removed from its host Monday and republished on another host as of Tuesday morning - lists requirements, saying members must be "at least 80% White/European heritage," and that the group prohibits "homosexuals, transsexual, adulterers, or any other form of sexual degeneracy," as well as criminals and those with addictions. Vanguard makes clear that it is a white nationalist group that seeks "a nation for our people." "A multicultural nation is no nation at all, but a collection of smaller ethnic nations ruled over by an overbearing tyrannical state," the group says on its website. "Our America is to be a nation exclusively for the White American peoples who out of the barren hills, empty plains, and vast mountains forged the most powerful nation to ever have existed. Vanguard America stands indomitably opposed to the tyranny of globalism and capitalism, a system under which nations are stripped of their heritage and their people are turned into nothing more than units of cheap, expendable labor." But members say they do not want to appear as neo-Nazis. They want respect. " 'Fascist' is an accurate term," said a man who identified himself as Francisco Rivera, speaking in front of the White House in May. Rivera, who said he is a spokesman for Vanguard America's Virginia branch, also appeared at an anti-sharia rally in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in June, giving a speech to about a dozen people there. "The lying press and the feeble politicians preach at us that we need more multiculturalism," Rivera said. "To them we say . . . we will take action to defend our country." The Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks hate groups, said in May that its information on Vanguard America was sketchy. Heidi Beirich, director of the SPLC's Intelligence Project, said that Vanguard America does not have a membership list. "There has been a bit of a sea change in the white supremacist world in the last few years," Beirich said. She said that five or six years ago, she thought that the movement was dying but that it has since been infused with a new generation of adherents. - - - The Washington Post's Julie Tate contributed to this report. Fifty years ago, fresh out of Saint Louis University, Bill Haine enlisted in the Army and went to war in Vietnam. It was the first step in a lifetime of public service that would include a Bronze Star for combat service as a member of the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in Vietnam from 1967 to 1969, election to the Madison County Board, 14 years as Madison County States Attorney and service in the Illinois Senate since 2002. On Wednesday, Haine announced his career in elected office will come to an end and that he will not seek another term in the Illinois Senate. It has been my honor to represent the people of the Metro East region. They are my neighbors, my friends, the people of the communities of my life. I have always tried my best to serve them, and I hope I have done a good job, said Haine, who was born in Alton and lives around the corner from his boyhood home. The good Lord gives us a finite amount of time on this Earth. I believe the time has come for me to find a new adventure and for someone else to take up the challenge and honor of serving the people in the Illinois Senate, said Haine. He intends to serve out his current term. Earlier this year, Haine, 73, was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer. A regimen of medical treatments kept him away from the Capitol for most of the legislative session, though he recently returned to cast deciding votes on a balanced budget and override the governors rejection of a historic school funding overhaul. Haines tenure in Springfield has been marked by practical politics rather than political agendas. His focus has at times been big. He was the legislative architect of a sweeping plan to modernize the levee system in the Metro East region, an effort that has helped protect homes and businesses from damage in recent years flooding. He helped win state investment in maintaining and expanding the Edwardsville campus of Southern Illinois University and other key infrastructure such as I-255. He similarly led successful efforts to approve a Constitutional Amendment protecting the states Road Fund from being raided for non-transportation related spending. He drew upon his distinguished, award-winning law enforcement background from his time as Madison County States Attorney to sponsor, negotiate and win approval of the states medical marijuana law that balanced compassionate use with stringent standards and regulations. Proving he wasnt afraid to think outside the box, Haine raised political eyebrows when, just a few years after taking office, he sponsored and helped pass medical malpractice litigation reforms opposed by some of his staunchest allies. Those reforms were later thrown out by courts, but Haine credits the effort with helping change the tenor of the legal practice in this area. At the same time, Haine kept an eye out for injustice at any level. In response to media reports of motorists being ripped off and forced to pay outrageous amounts of up to $500 to have towed vehicles released from impound lots, Haine sponsored and passed a consumer protection law to limit those charges and end abuses. To protect jobs at the US Steel plant in Granite City, Haine rallied the Illinois Senate to protest Chinas dumping of low quality, cheap steel into the U.S. market. He called on the president and Congress to rewrite national tariff policy on steel goods in order to protect American jobs. Ive never forgotten that its the people who sent me to Springfield to represent and fight for them, Haine said. A true historian, Haine often sprinkles legislative debates with rhetorical lessons and anecdotes from the works of Roman emperors, a litany of popes spanning civilized history and the founding fathers. Despite his many awards and accomplishments, Haine considers the crowning achievement of his life to be his marriage to his wife Anna, whom he met in college, and the family they have built. Bill and Anna Haine have seven children and, at press time, 32 grandchildren. Haines future plans include spending more time with all of them. WASHINGTON - House Democrats are exploring ways to push wary Republican lawmakers to go beyond measured statements denouncing last week's white-nationalist rallies in Virginia and President Donald Trump's equivocal response to them. Three Democrats on Wednesday announced plans to introduce a House resolution censuring Trump for his remarks, which included the suggestion made Tuesday that some "very fine people" were among those who participated in the racist "Unite the Right" march and that "both sides" were to blame for violence that killed a Charlottesville, Virginia, woman and injured many others. "We're at a very significant juncture here," Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-N.J., one of the measure's co-sponsors, said in an interview. "We can either have peace, or we can have this president fuel and fan the fires of violence, and that is scary. He needs to be held accountable." The move to censure the president - which has been accompanied by parallel efforts to increase scrutiny of white-supremacist groups and to remove symbols of the Confederacy from federal property, including the U.S. Capitol - reflects a growing frustration among Democratic lawmakers and activists with the seemingly never-ending cycle of Trump controversies. There is no indication, however, that Republican leaders will be inclined to take action on a censure resolution - a step that the has not been invoked against a president by the House since 1848. Since he launched his presidential run two years ago, Trump's words and actions have repeatedly prompted his fellow Republicans to issue carefully crafted responses condemning the particular episode but without denouncing Trump personally. Several, including House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., have simply refused to comment on many of the president's tweets. A spokesman for Ryan declined to comment on the Democrats' censure effort. But many Democrats believe Trump's effort to draw an equivalence between the racist marchers and counterprotesters crossed a new line of misbehavior and should draw a more serious level of accountability. "The irony for Republican leaders is that they thought they could weasel out of Trump being Trump by blaming it on Twitter and saying, 'I don't like it when he tweets,'" said Jesse Ferguson, a Democratic political strategist. "The problem is, he stood at a mic with cameras running and provided the opportunity for 20 minutes to defend the behavior of Nazis and white supremacists. They've sort of run out of excuses." Both top congressional leaders issued statements after Trump's Tuesday news conference clearly denouncing the white-nationalist marchers. "White supremacy is repulsive," Ryan tweeted. "This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Americans "can have no tolerance for an ideology of racial hatred." "There are no good neo-nazis, and those who espouse their views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms," he added. "We all have a responsibility to stand against hate and violence, wherever it raises its evil head." Their rebuke of Trump remained implicit, however, even as other GOP lawmakers chose to explicitly criticize the president. Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., for instance, tweeted Wednesday, "White nationalism and racism are antithetical to our fundamental values. The President needs to be crystal clear that hatred has no place in our society, but he is currently failing at it." "Blind allegiance to the supreme leader? No thanks," tweeted Rep. Carlos Curbelo, R-Fla. "He's dead wrong here and I won't stop saying it." And Rep. Patrick Tiberi, R-Ohio, a senior member of the Ways and Means Committee who is close to Ryan, said Trump "deflected from the fact that a young woman was killed & others were injured by a bigoted follower of the white supremacist movement." Rep. Jerrold Nadler, R-N.Y., a co-sponsor of the Trump censure resolution, said GOP members have been approached about supporting the effort but none have yet signed on. "I am hoping that they will put their money where their mouth is," Nadler said Tuesday. "This should not be viewed in normal political terms. What Donald Trump did was not a normal political reaction for a president of the United States." Another House Democrat, Rep. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin, issued a statement after Trump's news conference Tuesday calling for Trump's "removal" as president: "For the sake of the soul of our country, we must come together to restore our national dignity that has been robbed by Donald Trump's presence in the White House." Top House Democrats have so far resisted calls to impeach Trump over his alleged ties to Russia or his potentially unconstitutional business dealings. Instead, they have called for more aggressive investigations of Trump and a rigorous inquiry into the recent resurgence in white-nationalist activity. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., again played down impeachment calls at a Wednesday event in Los Angeles but she flagged the "deafening silence" of Republican lawmakers on Trump's behavior. "What we saw yesterday was the president clearly demonstrating that he doesn't know right from wrong, true from false, American patriotism from white nationalism," she said. "Very sad for our country." CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Those who loved Heather Heyer, along with strangers who have already elevated her into a symbol of defiance in the face of hate, gathered Wednesday at her memorial service to remember her as a born defender of justice who died for showing up when her beliefs demanded it. "They tried to kill my child to shut her up, but guess what, you just magnified her," said Heyer's mother, Susan Bro, sparking an ovation from a packed theater in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia, that lasted nearly a minute and a half. Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., were among those in the crowd. Two Virginia gubernatorial candidates also attended: Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam (D) and former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie. Heyer, 32, was killed when a white nationalist allegedly plowed his car into a crowd. The ramming followed hours of unrest Saturday between white supremacists and counterprotesters. Heyer was there to oppose the white nationalist rally. On Wednesday night, hundreds of students and residents marched with lit candles across the University of Virginia campus as they gathered at the Rotunda for a vigil. They sang "God Bless America" and the "Star-Spangled Banner" before invoking in unison the civil rights era anthem, "We shall overcome." Charlottesville resident Ben Brinkop said he learned of the vigil through an email that cautioned him not to place it on social media to avoid attempts to disrupt the event. "I thought it was just about coming out and not being afraid," the 41-year-old said. As the political and emotional shock waves from the violence continued to roil the nation, Heyer's family and friends filled the front rows, rising by turns to grieve and to galvanize. Her mother beseeched those who mourned for Heyer to take up her commitment to social justice. "I have aged 10 years in the last week," Bro said as she struggled up the stairs to the stage. But once from the podium, she delivered a fierce call to those who knew her daughter - and those around the world coming to know her now - to make her death worthwhile by fighting "as Heather would do." "I'd rather have my child, but by golly if I got to give her up, we're going to make it count," she said. Moments later, as the service ended, Bro implored a protester in the audience to stop her critical comments about President Donald Trump by asking the woman to be respectful of her daughter. The woman, who called Heyer a hero, complied and there were no other outbursts. Outside the Paramount Theater, just two blocks from where Heyer was killed, a handful of people with purple shields, pink bats and pink helmets with a heart drawn on each said they had come to monitor the memorial because they lacked faith that police would stop any "fascist groups" that might disrupt the event. There were no reports of problems around the theater. A woman played "Amazing Grace" and "America the Beautiful" on the saxophone. Inside, it was a time for shared memories, and intense pain. "No father should ever have to do this," said Mark Heyer, his voice breaking as he spoke from the stage filled with flowers and smiling images of his daughter flashing on the screen above. Mark Heyer recalled raising a defiant, strong-willed and compassionate daughter who always argued for what she thought was right. He said they didn't always agree, but he always heard her perspective. "She loved people, she wanted equality," he said. "On the day of her passing, she wanted to put down hate." Bro said Heyer would have appreciated the unusually public, occasionally boisterous service that attracted more than 1,000 mourners, many of them wearing purple sashes and purple ribbons, Heyer's favorite color. The paralegal lived boldly, her friends and family said, seldom hesitating to call out injustices she perceived in society. And sometimes, as on Saturday, she put her body on the line. That's what Heyer was doing, her mother said, when a speeding muscle car rammed a group of counterprotesters during a white supremacist rally. James Alex Fields Jr., who had come from Ohio for the rally, is charged withsecond-degree murder in her death. It was no surprise, Bro said at the service that Heyer went out "big and large." "I want this to spread," said Bro, describing the hundreds of messages from people telling her that Heyer had inspired them and asking for advice. "This is just the beginning of Heather's legacy." Those who knew Heyer eulogized her as a lively and vivacious companion, a born defender of her ideals who wasn't always an easy child or a flawless employee. Her grandfather remembered little Heather as a pint-size fighter for "fairness." Her boss remembered a time when the paralegal ended a romance after her boyfriend made a disparaging comment about her African-American supervisor's race. Co-worker Feda Khateeb-Wilson said Heyer - who was known to "curse like a sailor" at balky office printers - paid the ultimate price for her social commitments. "Maybe if you didn't speak so loudly they wouldn't have heard you and you would still be here," she said. "But thank you for making the word 'hate' real. . . . Thank you for making the word 'love' even stronger." Politics played out on the periphery of the service, with protesters challenging officials as they came and went. One man repeatedly asked McAuliffe whether he would push for the removal of Confederate statues in the state. The governor replied that Virginia law left that decision up to local communities. But later, McAuliffe issued a statement urging the state legislature and municipalities to relocate such statues from public spaces to museums. Another resident asked Kaine why Charlottesville police had failed to head off the weekend's violent clashes. He said city officials had promised an independent review of the police response. In an interview after the service, Kaine condemned the lack of "moral leadership" from the White House and pledged that Virginia would not become a haven for avowed racists. "We're not going backward," Kaine said. "I don't care how much a president's rhetoric might embolden them, this is one place that I can say with confidence, we're not going backward." Trump took note of the memorial Wednesday morning by Twitter: "Memorial service today for beautiful and incredible Heather Heyer, a truly special young woman. She will be long remembered by all!" Trump had previously praised Heyer as "an incredible young woman" and noted that Bro had released a statement Monday thanking him for his remarks on the tragedy. After days of criticism of his initial response, which put blame "on many sides," Trump on Monday explicitly condemned "the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups." But in a combative news conference Tuesday, Trump again pointed to "blame on both sides," and argued that many of those gathered in Charlottesville, who marched with torches in a dramatic scene Friday night, were not white supremacists but rather were there to voice concern over the fate of a Robert E. Lee statue. Neither Trump nor any administration officials were visible at the service. The service capped an intense several days for Heyer's family. In text exchanges with the Post, Bro declined to respond to Trump on Tuesday. She said she had barely slept in days, was trying to keep things together and didn't comment on the president's latest remarks. She said she was going to identify her daughter's body, was picking up her daughter's last paycheck and was concerned about her daughter's sick chihuahua. "Huge public farewell to my child tomorrow," she wrote on Tuesday. In her remarks at the service, Bro described a determined, argumentative and passionate child who made an impact on her community despite never going to college. She implored those who wished to honor Heyer to pay attention to social events in the way that her daughter had taught her and others to do. Citing a Facebook post of Heyer's, Bro said: "If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention." - - - Video: Heather Heyer's mother: You didn't shut her up, you just magnified her. Susan Bro, the mother of Heather Heyer, who was killed on Aug. 12 in Charlottesville while protesting white nationalists urged others to fight injustice and speak up. Short URL: http://wapo.st/2i5fxAV Embed code: - - - Video: Heather Heyer's father: 'She wanted equality' Mark Heyer gave an emotional tribute to his daughter, Heather Heyer, who was killed on Aug. 12 in a vehicle attack while protesting white nationalists in Charlottesville. Short URL: http://wapo.st/2i6PWrm Embed code: Convicted sniper Lee Boyd Malvo's six life sentences, for the six Montgomery County, Md., slayings he committed as a 17-year-old in 2002, were allowed to stand Tuesday by a Montgomery judge, who found that Malvo was not given mandatory life terms, which the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled are unconstitutional for juveniles. Malvo, now 32, could still have the sentences overturned by a federal court in Maryland, which is also considering his appeal. In Virginia, life sentences for his jury conviction in one murder case and his guilty pleas to two other murders were overturned in May by a federal judge because of the Supreme Court's ruling. Virginia is appealing the order that Malvo must be resentenced in those three cases. The Elizabeth Tower, which houses the Great Clock and the 'Big Ben' bell, is seen above the Houses of Parliament, in central London, Britain August 14, 2017. [Photo/Agencies] The British Prime Minster has said that it is wrong for the London landmark Big Ben to go silent for four years. The Elizabeth Tower which houses the Big Ben bell is scheduled to undergo four years of renovation. The bell will ring for the last time at noon on August 21 when the ringing mechanism will be cut. Speaking in Portsmouth after a ceremony involving the new British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, May told reporters: "Of course we want to ensure people's safety at work but it can't be right for Big Ben to be silent for four years." "And I hope that the Speaker, as the chairman of the House of Commons commission, will look into this urgently so that we can ensure that we can continue to hear Big Ben through those four years." The silencing of Big Ben was announced this week to the surprise of many even though it has gone silent many times during its 157-year history. The announcement happened in August when the British politicians and civil servants holiday and the media tends to amplify small stories. The period is referred to in the media as the "silly season". The administrators of the Palace of Westminster, which houses the Houses of Parliament and the Elizabeth Tower defended their actions, which they said were first agreed in 2015 by three separate committees of members or parliament. They said in a statement: "Starting and stopping Big Ben is a complex and lengthy process. The striking hammer is locked and the bells can then be disconnected from the clock mechanism. The weights are lowered within the weight shaft to the base of the tower and secured in a safe position. The whole process takes around half a day to complete." "Following a thorough assessment, experts have concluded that it would not be practical or a good use of public money to start and stop the bells each day, particularly as we cannot fully predict the times that staff will be working on this project." The House of Commons website confirmed that the bells will stop as planned at noon on August 21 but they would be happy to hold further discussions on the duration of the silence. SANTIAGO, Chile - Vice President Mike Pence is cutting short his Latin America trip by one day to return to Washington for a strategy meeting Friday at Camp David with President Trump and the national security team. Pence also has canceled two scheduled political appearances on Saturday in Virginia: A campaign stop with Republican gubernatorial nominee Ed Gillespie and a speech at the Americans for Prosperity summit. The vice president canceled the appearances to make himself available over the weekend to work on national security matters, according to aides. Pence was scheduled to spend most of the day Thursday in Panama City, and remain overnight there before returning home to Washington on Friday. But instead he will depart Panama on Thursday following a tour of the newly expanded Panama Canal, returning to Washington in time for the Camp David session. Pence spent Wednesday in Santiago, meeting with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet to discuss a range of issues, including trade and security issues. Pence said he pressured Bachelet for her country to take a tougher stand against North Korea, in light of that country's nuclear provocations. "We strongly urge Chile today - and we urge Brazil, Mexico and Peru - to break all diplomatic and commercial ties to North Korea," Pence said at a joint press event with Bachelet. Pence suggested that Chile reclassify Chilean wine as a luxury good to prevent North Korea from obtaining the commodity and converting it into hard currency to find its military. Bachelet did not directly address Pence's request, though she did state her country's opposition to North Korea's nuclear weapons program. She said that Chile backs six-party talks with North Korea, involving South Korea, the United States, China, Russia and Japan, to find "a peaceful path to a peaceful Korean Peninsula without nuclear weapons." Pence said the United States is committed to bringing "the full range of American power, economic and diplomatic," to bear until North Korea abandons its nuclear program. "As President Trump has made clear, the era of strategic patience is over," Pence said. The vice president added, "We are beginning to see progress with dealing with North Korea's provocations and pursuit of a nuclear ballistic missile program, but more must still be done. Much more." Richard Gordon, a British anesthesiologist who left the medical profession for a five-decade career as a writer, mining his memories of arrogant surgeons and hard-drinking doctors to comic effect in the popular 1952 novel "Doctor in the House" and more than a dozen sequels, died Aug. 11. He was 95. His literary agency, Curtis Brown, announced his death to the Bookseller, a British magazine, but did not provide additional details. Dr. Gordon, a pen name for Gordon Stanley Ostlere, wrote more than 30 books. They included fictionalized accounts of the nurse Florence Nightingale - he described her as a lesbian whose "experience of women is almost as large as Europe" - and the London serial killer Jack the Ripper, whose eviscerations he detailed with surgical precision. While nearly all his novels drew upon his short-lived medical career, his work was concerned less with the art of diagnosis than with the fickle, fragile nature of human beings. "Being a doctor, for Gordon, is a framework in which to write about humanity, and jokes are a way of dissecting truths about failure, death, ignorance and venality," critic Michael Bywater wrote in 2008. Gordon was professionally adrift, working as a surgeon on a cargo ship in the South Pacific, when he began writing his first book in 1950. "I had nothing to do except drink gin with the chief engineer," he later told the Daily Mail. "To save myself from developing cirrhosis of the liver, I wrote about my experiences as a medical student." The result was "Doctor in the House," a ribald comedy about a callow, rugby-playing medical student who chases women, spends nearly as much time at the bar as at the hospital and is eventually "transformed from an unearning and potentially dishonest ragamuffin to a respectable and solvent member of a learned profession." The protagonist, like the pseudonymous author, was named Richard Gordon. The novel sold more than 3 million copies and was reportedly used to teach conversational English in Japan. Two years later, it was adapted into a popular film starring Dirk Bogarde - his character's name was changed from Gordon to Simon Sparrow - alongside a trio of rowdy medical students played by Donald Sinden, Kenneth More, and Donald Houston. While the film helped cement Bogarde's popularity, its most memorable role was filled by James Robertson Justice, who played the booming, bearded chief surgeon Sir Lancelot Spratt. The character, who urged his charges to know "the bleeding time," was in part a reflection of Gordon's dislike for surgeons - a class of people so egotistical and deprived, he said, that they were "a damn sight worse than patients." Gordon helped write the movie's script and contributed to its sequel, "Doctor at Sea" (1955), which featured Brigitte Bardot in her first major English-language role. The film was followed by five more movies and a string of theater, radio and television adaptations in the 1960s and '70s, many of them created with Gordon's collaboration. He was born in London on Sept. 15, 1921, and studied medicine at the University of Cambridge. While his writing persona was often that of a worldly charmer, he said he suffered from an "anxiety neurosis" and disliked meeting people, leading him to become an anesthesiologist. As one of his characters put it in "Doctor at Large" (1955), the field placed patients in one of three stages: "awake, asleep and dead." Gordon attempted to help other doctors avoid that last stage in one of his first books, "Anaesthetics for Medical Students" (1949). The textbook was written, he said, so that students could turn to the index to find entries such as "Patient: going blue, what to do." He married Mary Patten, a fellow anesthesiologist, in 1951. According to some accounts, he proposed to her while they were standing over an unconscious patient. British newspapers list his wife and four children as survivors. Gordon traced his writing career back to a childhood love of humorist P.G. Wodehouse and to a stint at the British Medical Journal in the late 1940s. He often joked that he "learned to write convincing fiction" while running the journal's obituaries section. By the mid-1960s, he said he "felt due for a literary change of life" and turned to writing more serious novels such as "The Facemaker" (1967), about an ambitious plastic surgeon in 1918, and "The Facts of Life" (1969), about a female physician who wages a legal battle against a corporate drug manufacturer. His sense of humor never left him entirely. He was a prolific contributor to Punch, the British humor magazine, and also edited books including "The Literary Companion to Medicine," an acclaimed 1993 anthology that offered puckish descriptions of James Boswell's 19 bouts of gonorrhea and Charles Dickens's bloody bowel movements. "Medicine means life and death, deliverance and despair, hope and fright, mystery and mechanics," Gordon wrote in the book's introduction, offering an explanation for the continuing popularity of medical books and novels. "It is a microscope trained upon life's fundamentals, eagerly focused by novelists since the 1820s. Readership is guaranteed. There may be doubters about the soul, but no one can deny the existence of the body, and everyone wants to know the terrible things that can happen to it." There are many ways to measure the strength of a franchise. How many units does it have? What are its financials? Its growth? How well does it support its franchisees? But this month, for the first time ever, Entrepreneur is zeroing in on a factor that's challenging to measure, easily overlooked and yet critical to the health of any business: branding. Related: 2017 Top Franchises from Entrepreneur's Franchise 500 List We wanted to know: Which franchises have done the best job of building themselves up as beloved, recognizable, robust brands? We did this by analyzing factors such as social media followers, system size, number of years in business, number of years franchising and overall reputation -- and looking at how they all combine to form lasting relationships with fans. Our list shows that great brands are a paradox. Longevity and consistency matter, but only if a brand also constantly evolves. A prime example is KFC, which tops our list. On the following pages, you can see how its recent Re-Colonelization efforts have paid off, and learn how other top franchise brands stay fresh while maintaining their already strong foundations. Related: 5 Affordable Franchises You Can Start for Less Than $10,000 Please keep in mind that this list is not intended as a recommendation of any particular company. A vibrant brand is just one of many elements to consider when buying a franchise; its critical that you do due diligence before investing in any opportunity. Read the companys legal documents, consult with an attorney and an accountant and talk to as many existing and former franchisees as you can. To learn who made the cut, check out our list of The Most Powerful Brands in Franchising. Related: Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com Description Performance Dates: Wednesday, August 16 at 2:00p.m.; Friday, August 18 at 8:00p.m.; Saturday, August 12, 19 and 26 at 8:00p.m.; Sunday, August 13, 20 and 27 at 2:30p.m. Location: Bayway Arts Center Contact: 631-581-2700 Musical by Rodgers & Hammerstein This 1952 Tony Award-winner for Best Musical, is based on Anna and the King of Siam, a 1944 novel by Margaret Landon. Anna is a widowed British schoolteacher brought to Siam to tutor the Kings many children. When she arrives, though she enjoys an instant connection to the students, she struggles with cultural differences and with the headstrong King. Through her kindness and persistence, Anna eventually connects with the King, helping to fuel mutual feelings of social understanding and cultural acceptance and openness. Apart from hosting and possible maintenance costs, there are not exactly downsides to having your own website. Even if its just a personal blog it can always become more useful down the line, if you utilize it in the right manner. In other words, more This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Victoria Castro tried to bolt towards the door after her parents dropped her off at Best Elementary School on Wednesday, but teacher Giaconda Mayes scooped up the wailing child into a hug before she could escape. The 4-year-old later refused to sort stuffed frogs into colored bins with the other prekindergarten students. When breakfast was served, she lay her head down on the table and didn't glance at her untouched food. "She was begging me all week to come to school," said Victoria's mother, Mary. "She's nervous now. I've never left her with anyone or anywhere before." Wednesday marked the first day of classes for about 190,000 students in the Alief, Channelview, Conroe and Katy school districts. They're among 17 local districts starting this week and next week thanks to a new state designation that allows districts to exempt themselves from some state rules, including a mandate that schools start no earlier than the fourth Monday of August. Houston, Cypress-Fairbanks, Deer Park, Goose Creek, Huffman, Humble, New Caney and Waller ISDs each begin classes on the latest possible start date, Aug. 28. Katy ISD Superintendent Lance Hindt spent the first day of classes waiting in front of the new Bryant Elementary School as students lined up early. "Does anyone know when it opens?" Hindt quipped. A first-grader answered in a tiny voice, "7:55." Kimberly Crawford, the 6-year-old who was keeping track of the time, was ready to get started. "I'm a little nervous and a little excited," Kimberly said, standing close to her proud father, J.P. Crawford. "It's a beautiful school," Kimberly's dad said. "The facilities are amazing. They really put a lot of thought into the details." Kimberly and about 500 other students will be part of the first group to attend the just-opened Bryant Elementary - named for a pair of veteran Katy ISD educators. Bryant Elementary is the district's first campus in Waller County. The district covers parts of Fort Bend, Harris and Waller counties. The school is among three in Katy ISD opening its doors for the first time this academic year. The others are Stockdick Junior High School and Paetow High Schools. In Alief ISD, the beginning of this school year came with a sigh of relief. The district faced state takeover or a school closure if Best Elementary did not improve its performance on the state's academic accountability ratings. On Tuesday, Best Elementary officially climbed off the state's "improvement required" list for the first time since 2013, warding off potential state action. Craig Eichhorn, a spokesman with Alief ISD, said high school drumlines, cheerleaders, central administration staff and dozens of supporters lined the halls to congratulate teachers and Best Elementary Principal Renee Canales on getting the school out of "improvement required" status." "We know the hard work (Principal Renee Canales) and her staff put in. We know to get off that IR list, it doesn't happen overnight," Eichhorn said. "It was the plan, execution of that plan, and embracing their relationships with students to get them to achieve that turned things around." Alief ISD was among six Houston-area school districts threatened with state action thanks to a 2015 law that compels the Texas Education Agency to either close schools that have been on the state's "improvement required" list for five straight years as of August 2018 or to appoint a board of managers to take over operations and governance of any district that contains at least one such long struggling school. State school ratings released Tuesday showed that Aldine, Alief, Brazosport and Spring Branch districts showed enough improvement to stave off state action but HISD and Galveston did not. For Best Elementary Principal Canales, improving the school's accountability ranking was the culmination of three and a half years of hard work. Before she came to the school in 2013, Best would often rank last or near last out of all Alief ISD elementary schools when it came to academic performance. "It wasn't ever a surprise to see Best down towards the bottom," Canales said. "I wouldn't say it was worrisome, I just knew it would take a lot of work." More than 95 percent of students at Best come from low-income households, according to state data, and nearly one in three cycled out of the school during the 2016-2017 school year. It's hard to stem a tide of low performance when so many students leave and come each year. But after implementing new teaching strategies and discipline practices, Best Elementary is finally on track. Blanca Nuno, whose daughter Vianney attends Best, said it couldn't have happened without Canales. "She's made the school," Nuno said. "It took her a couple of years, but in a pretty short time she was able to bring the school up again." But those improvements didn't matter to 4-year-old Victoria, who slipped past her teacher's grasp when she caught a glimpse of Mary and her father Carmen hiding in the hallway. After they assured her they would be back in a few hours and would all eventually return home, the parents started walking toward the school's exit. Victoria remained inconsolable, which led several other students to begin crying, including 4-year-old Na'riya Stevenson. As her mother, Courtney Aych, peered into the classroom from the hallway and waved to Na'riya, the preschooler waved softly with one hand and rubbed her wet eyes with the other. Aych said Na'riya is her only child, making their separation all the more painful. "It's extra hard because I'm used to it just being us," Aych said. "It's emotional. She's just sad and I know she's scared. It's a good moment though - she's getting educated." Mike Glenn contributed to this report. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate In 2015, Harris County reported 149 deaths from impaired drivers who had a blood alcohol level of at least .08. The county ranked among the highest alcohol-related driving deaths for 2015 in the state, but that doesn't mean it's the deadliest county in Texas. DRUNK DRIVING IN EAST TEXAS: Jury issues sentence for woman convicted in Pearland officer's death Based on statistics provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Harris County had a drunk driving related fatality rate of 3.28 for every 100,000 people. Given that the U.S. Census estimates Harris County had about 4.5 million people in 2015, 149 deaths represent a sliver of the population. Loving County in West Texas only recorded one drunk-driving death for 2015. But with a population of 112 people, that one death impacted the county's population far more than 149 deaths in Houston. Considering Loving County had zero drunk driving deaths from 2011 to 2014, the one death in 2015 made the county's drunk driving fatality rate jump from zero to 892 per 100,000 people. FATAL DRIVING: Suspect in fatal wrong-way wreck was out on bond for drunk driving Armstrong County in North Texas saw the biggest decrease in drunk driving deaths by population between 2011 and 2015. One fatality in 2011 gave the county a 51.79 death rate per 100,000 people. With zero deaths from crashes involving alcohol in 2014 and 2015, the death rate dropped to zero. The county had a population size of 1,947 people in 2015. Click through the slideshow above to see the counties that have been affected the most by drunk driving fatalities by population size between 2011 and 2015. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The driver of a big rig that had dozens of immigrants trapped in its sweltering trailer last month, 10 of whom died, is facing more charges including two counts of conspiracy. A federal grand jury Wednesday formally indicted James Matthew Bradley Jr. with one count of conspiracy to transport and harbor undocumented aliens for financial gain resulting in death; one count of transportation of undocumented aliens resulting in death; one count of conspiracy to transport and harbor undocumented aliens for financial gain resulting in serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy; one count of transporting undocumented aliens resulting in serious bodily injury and placing lives in jeopardy. Bradley also faces one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Authorities recovered a .38 caliber pistol from the cab of the rig operated by Bradley, who has several convictions and arrests in several states, including felonies. On the night of July 22 and early morning of July 23, Bradleys tractor-trailer was parked near a Walmart store on the Southwest Side when store employees called police upon seeing several immigrants emerge from the refrigerated trailer. When San Antonio police and firefighters arrived, they found the 39 people, with eight of the immigrants dead at the scene. Court records stated the trailers cooling system wasnt working. More Information Trailer victims identified Ruben Hernandez-Vargas, 27, of Mexico, died July 23. Osbaldo Rodriguez-Cerda, 21, of Mexico, died July 23. Frank Fuentes-Gonzalez, 18, of Guatemala, died July 23. Jorge Reyes-Noveron, 26, of Mexico, died July 23. Jose Rodriguez-Aspeitia, 36, of Mexico, died July 23. Benjamin Martinez-Arredondo, 37, of Mexico, died July 23. Mariano Lopez-Cano, age unknown, of Mexico, died July 23. Ricardo Martinez-Esparza, 24, of Mexico, died July 24. The identities of the remaining two deceased victims are not being released. One, who is a juvenile, has been identified. The other, an adult, has yet to be identified. See More Collapse The survivors were taken to local hospitals, where two more immigrants later died. The 61-year-old Florida man was arrested July 23 on a preliminary charge of transporting undocumented immigrants for financial gain resulting in death. On Wednesday, four survivors testified as material witnesses before the grand jury, accompanied by their court-appointed lawyer, Mike McCrum. My clients were nervous, McCrum said upon leaving. This is not a pleasant experience for them, but they know its part of the justice system. They have concerns for themselves or their families, but theyre doing everything possible so this won't happen to anyone else. They just wanted to work, McCrum added. Their families wanted them to work to help pay for living expenses. After they were rescued, some of the survivors told officials they had been smuggled from Mexico, were picked up in Laredo and that there had been between 70 and 180 to 200 people during transport. They also described differing fees for being transported. The records stated some survivors described desperately pounding on the trailers walls as the heat overcame them. They also took turns taking gasps of air through a small hole in the trailer. The trucker has told investigators he did not know the immigrants were in the trailer until he stopped at the Walmart to use the bathroom and was overrun by immigrants when he opened the doors. Court records said some of the immigrants had fled by the time police arrived or were picked up by sport utility vehicles. Since then, 27 of the victims 23 adults and four teens have been released from the hospitals. Two immigrants remain in the hospital, the U.S. Attorneys Office said in a statement late Wednesday. Of those who died, eight were from Mexico and one was from Guatemala, and were identified by the U.S. Attorneys Office. The identity of a juvenile was not released. The 10th victim has not been identified, according to an official with Mexicos Consulate General in San Antonio and the statement from the U.S. Attorneys Office. All but one of those adults were sent to U.S. Marshals custody, where they are being held as material witnesses. Prosecutors said in the statement the minors have been turned over to the Office of Refugee Resettlement. One adult is being processed by immigration officials for possible deportation. Bradley was an owner-operator, but was working with Pyle Transportation of Iowa at the time. Company officials have said he was supposed to deliver the trailer to a buyer in Brownsville, and was not supposed to be in Laredo or hauling any cargo. Florida had suspended Bradleys commercial driving license in April after Bradley, who has diabetes and a series of amputations, failed to provide the state with a current medical card. Federal law requires commercial drivers to submit such a card to show they are fit for the road. Because of that suspension, he was also barred from driving commercial anywhere in the U.S., officials have said. Bradley could face up to life in prison if convicted of the charges resulting in death, or even the death penalty if local federal prosecutors make that recommendation to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and he signs off on that prosecution. The charges resulting in bodily injury carry a maximum of 20 years in prison while the gun charge is punishable by up to five years. No one else has been charged. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The Bexar County Sheriff's Office released the names of the seven deputies placed on leave after an alleged hazing incident over the weekend. The list includes five officers and two corporals, all of whom are part of the jail's Special Emergency Response Team, or SERT. The deputies, who are now the subject of an internal and separate criminal investigation, are Ryan Ferrell, Devin Tutor, Michael Gomez, Joseph Martinez, Juan Macias, Joshua Montoya and Alyssa Aranda. RELATED: 7 Bexar County deputies placed on leave after alleged hazing incident Now Playing: The Bexar County Sheriff's Office is investigating a hazing incident involving multiple department employees, Sheriff Javier Salazar told reporters Monday, Aug. 14, 2017. Video: San Antonio Express-News Ferrell, a corporal, was hired in February 2012 and joined SERT in November 2012. Tutor, a corporal, was hired in October 2013 and joined SERT in May 2015. Gomez, an officer, was hired in October 2014 and joined SERT in August 2015. Martinez, an officer, was hired in December 2014 and joined SERT in July 2016. Macias, an officer, was hired in April 2016 and joined SERT in December 2016. Montoya, an officer, was hired in April 2015 and joined SERT in April 2016. Aranda, an officer, was hired in April 2014 and joined SERT in July 2016. The seven deputies were placed on administrative leave after a hazing incident at a house party that involved county-issued handcuffs, shackles and a taser, Sheriff Javier Salazar said Monday in a news conference. Salazar said at one point in the video of the incident, a 4-year-old daughter of one of the deputies takes part in the hazing. She was not harmed, he said. Criminal charges are being considered, including hazing, unlawful restraint and child endangerment, Salazar said. "Had somebody not told me these were seven of my deputies involved ... and said this was video of a violent disturbance or even a murder, I would have believed it based upon what I saw," Salazar said. Juan Contreras, president of the Deputy Sheriff's Association of Bexar County, said the punishment was an overreaction. He added he had not yet seen the video. "They didn't cause an accident, they weren't DWI, it was an incident," Contreras said. "As short-staffed as we are in the jail, we should pick and choose who we put out." Salazar said he and others will be working overtime to fill in during the investigation. Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com fsabawi@mysa.com Twitter: @FaresInSA On Wednesday Chance Bandy found himself behind bars in the same jail he allegedly threatened to bomb. Bandy called the Hays County Sheriff's Office around 9:26 a.m. said he wanted to talk to a detective or sergeant, according to a news release. In times of crises, American presidents unite and calm the public. President Donald J. Trump failed to do that in his underwhelming response to this weekends race-fueled violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. A failure that will be a lasting stain on his presidency. His initial remarks were flaccid and marked by a false moral equivalency that only fueled tensions and division. It took Trump two days to formally denounce white supremacists and neo-Nazis. While his words by then were adequate, they also rang hollow. It was too little, too late. And it appeared to come from outside pressure. After all, before he denounced neo-Nazis, Trump found time to slam Merck Chief Executive Kenneth C. Frazier, who left the presidents manufacturing council in protest to Trumps limp response to bigotry. And after belatedly rebuking neo-Nazis, Trump turned around and ripped violence from the alt-left. Yes, there was mutual brawling, but one side the white nationalists and neo-Nazis was there to promote racism and the other side to protest it. We can bemoan violence whatever the sources, but we cannot confer moral equivalency between the sides. This story wont end in Virginia. White supremacist leaders plan provocative rallies and events across this nation. This included, until recently canceled, a white nationalist rally at Texas A&M University. While he has shown no ability to do so, Trump could use his position to calm this nation, fracture divides and rhetorically dismiss bigotry and hate. These are fringe and extremist elements, built on perverse and failed ideas, and they must not be tolerated or winked at. They have no place in our national conversation. A unifying president would say that while bigotry is regrettably part of American history, it has no place in the America of today. That when confronted with those who would divide and diminish us, the American people stand united in the tenets of mutual love and respect. A unifying president would say those who denigrate and judge others by the color of their skin or their faith are un-American. A unifying president would travel to Charlottesville and march with civic leaders of all races, faiths and political views. A unifying president would denounce domestic terrorism and celebrate the life of Heather Heyer, just 32, who was killed after a car plowed into a group of counterprotesters. Sadly, perhaps this is the best we can expect from Trump, whose political rise began by lying about former President Barack Obamas birthplace and who belatedly in his campaign disavowed David Duke, former imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. But it is not what should be expected of the president. The violence in Charlottesville erupted over the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. San Antonio is no stranger to this sensitive topic. Members of San Antonio City Council and Mayor Ron Nirenberg are considering moving a Confederate monument at Travis Park. During this tough conversation, we all have a responsibility to conduct ourselves with respect to others and in honor of the American values of equality, plurality and peace. We all have an opportunity to set a better tone. To denounce racism, and to not be provoked by it. We grieve on a few levels these days for those who lost their lives, including two officers on a helicopter; for their families; for the divisions besetting the land; and for the seeming loss of that ideal of unity and inclusion that has long shaped this country. Those who work against that ideal should not be allowed to win. Where to watch the eclipse San Joaquin Delta College The Stockton Astronomical Society and Dr. Lincoln Lee at Delta College will set up solar telescopes and other viewing devices at the Delta campus, 5151 Pacific Ave., Stockton. Powerhouse Science Center The Sacramento Valley Astronomical Society will host an eclipse viewing event with solar telescopes at Powerhouse Science Center, 3615 Auburn Blvd., Sacramento. Online From 10 to 10:30 a.m., the San Joaquin County Office of Education will livestream the eclipse over Stockton on their YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/c/sjcoelive. Theres an app for that Total Solar Eclipse 2017 The Exploratoriums app includes live coverage by Exploratorium and NASA scientists in both English and Spanish, non-narrated live telescope streams from Oregon and Wyoming, and a live telescope view with musical accompaniment by the Kronos Quartet. Head to exploratorium.edu for more information. Eclipse 2017 The Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics has created an interactive app that includes a viewing guide, crash course videos explaining the science behind the eclipse, an interactive map and more. Learn more at the Harvard Gazette. The eclipse on the World Wide Web Heavens Above This website lets you plug in your viewing spot and find out when the eclipse will start, its maximum point, and when it will be over, tailored to your location. Heavens Above is a general astronomy site, so you can find information about other solar and lunar eclipses, the travels of the International Space Station, sky maps and more. Find out more at www.heavens-above.com. NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Lab has two options for computers, a browser-based web app and a desktop app. The desktop app is part of the comprehensive Eyes on the Solar System computer simulation software. Its Java-based and works across several operating systems and browsers. Find out more at eyes.jpl.nasa.gov. Great American Eclipse Learn about the history of eclipses in the U.S., find the best places to watch the the Aug. 21 event, and more. The educational section is a great resource for teachers and homeschoolers looking to add eclipse activities to their lessons. Visit www.greatamericaneclipse.com. If you do not have a current print subscription to the Lodi News-Sentinel, but want to view unlimited articles for the month, please choose this option. Andrew Taylor scored 24 points and Taevion Kinsey added 15 points and eight rebounds to lead Marshall past UPike, 83-69, in the exhibition finale for the Thundering Herd. Marshall opens its season on Monday at Queens University. Local News, Crime, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: August 16 2017 The Manhattan Club, Timeshare In Midtown Manhattan, Will Pay Restitution To Hundreds Of Purchasers That Were Misled About Their Ability To Reserve Rooms And Resell Shares. New York, NY - August 16, 2017 - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced a $6.5 million settlement with the owners and operators of the Manhattan Club, a timeshare building in Midtown Manhattan, over the sponsors repeated false promises to potential and current share owners. The settlement is the largest in recent history for the Attorney Generals Real Estate Finance Bureau. Under the terms of the settlement, the operators of the Manhattan Club, at 200 West 56th Street, acknowledge that they repeatedly misled shareowners about the clubs reservation process, their ability to sell back their shares, and the details of the clubs state-approved offering plan. The owners of the Manhattan Club lured thousands of timeshare buyers with false promises and shady sales tactics that violated New York law, said Attorney General Schneiderman. While timeshares can be legitimate enterprises, scams like this one are common. To avoid becoming a victim, always be wary of high pressure sales tactics. The club bills itself as a unique residence-style boutique hotel that blends a vacation ownership retreat with a luxury suite hotel and that offers a hard-to-find haven in the midst of this active city. The website appeals to people who frequently visit New York City to enjoy Broadway theatre, fine dining and shopping, [and] classical performances. The owners and operators in this case are T. Park Central LLC, O. Park Central LLC, Park Central Management, LLC, Ian Bruce Eichner, Leslie H. Eichner, Stuart P. Eichner, Scott L. Lager, Hospitality Advisors, LLC, New York Urban Ownership Management, LLC, and Manhattan Club Marketing Group LLC. In addition to the $6.5 million restitution to eligible timeshare owners, the settlement requires: The owners and operators to be barred from the timeshare industry The owners and operators will sell their stakes to a third-party purchaser and relinquish management control Remove all sponsor-appointed current officers and directors from their positions as members of the Board of the Timeshare Association. Eligible timeshare owners will be contacted by a Claims Administrator at a later date about disbursement of the restitution. The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) began investigating the Manhattan Club in 2014 after receiving repeated complaints from shareowners who paid tens of thousands of dollars to become Manhattan Club owners, but were unable to make reservations due to a claimed lack of available rooms by the hotels operators. At the same time, rooms in the Manhattan Club were being rented over the internet to the general public, in violation of the timeshares offering plan. In Spring 2014, OAG sent undercover investigators to record the Manhattan Clubs Vacation Ownership Experience sales presentation. Investigators found evidence indicating that the Manhattan Clubs sales tactics amounted to a bait-and-switch scheme. Prospective purchasers were baited by a relentless sales pitch that included a number of misleading promises, including that ownership in the Manhattan Club is better than money in the bank. Prospective buyers were also told that the club does not rent rooms to the general public, that reservations were easy to make, and that few restrictions apply to reservations by owners. But these promises were false. For example, contrary to the clubs explicit promises in its offering plan, room availability to owners was greatly limited because rooms were being rented out to the general public. That means that all reservations are subject to availability and owners, in some cases, were unable to use any of the time they purchased. Further, the owners annual common charges jumped approximately 200% in the last ten years to about $2,000 per ownership interest per year for the smaller units on top of the upfront purchase costs that ranged from just under $10,000 to over $40,000 per ownership interest. Some frustrated owners have sold their ownership interests back for a mere $1, just to escape the burdens of paying these charges. In July 2014, pursuant to General Business Law section 354, a provision of New Yorks Martin Act that confers broad powers on the Attorney General to investigate and halt fraud, a Manhattan Supreme Court justice barred the Manhattan Club from selling timeshare interests, preventing them from withdrawing money from certain bank accounts, and stopping them from foreclosing on Manhattan Club purchasers during the pendency of the investigation. For information about how to protect yourself from timeshare, home improvement and vacation scams, click here for the Attorney Generals brochure Dont Get Burned: Attorney Generals Guide To Protecting New Yorkers From Summer Scams. Tech & Science, Nature & Weather, Local News, Crime, Health & Wellness, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: August 16 2017 Department of Environmental Conservation Spearheads Multi-Agency Training Exercise to Improve Homeland Security, Water Quality and Maritime Safety. Albany, NY - August 16, 2017 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the start of "Operation Blue Trident" - a multi-agency homeland security training exercise on Long Island that will deploy more than 100 personnel from 23 local, state and federal agencies conducting radiological detection training, as well as navigational boating safety, marine fisheries compliance, and environmental monitoring operations throughout the week. Residents and visitors to the area are urged to be aware that this is only an exercise. "Long Island is a vital gateway to the New York Metropolitan area, and we must be fully prepared to handle any crisis that threatens the wellbeing of New Yorkers," Governor Cuomo said. "Preparedness, organization and coordination are key in any emergency response, and this exercise will help ensure that New York is ready and able to deal with anything that threatens our heath, environment, or security." This full-scale exercise, which is being led by the Department of Environmental Conservation Environmental Conservation Officers with strong support from the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, is the first training of its kind in eastern Long Island and is constructed in accordance with federal Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program guidelines. It will employ 24 vessels at various locations across Suffolk County's east end and will be teamed with water quality, maritime navigational, and marine fisheries compliance efforts. At least 50 DEC police and civilian support staff and more than 50 law enforcement officials from more than 20 local, state and federal agencies will be utilized in the exercise, including: Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Office of Counter Terrorism Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Office of Emergency Management State Police Troop L State Park Police New York State Naval Militia New York Army National Guard Civil Support Team State Police Department Counter Terrorism Division Suffolk County Police Department Suffolk County Sheriff's Office Nassau County Police Department East End Marine Task Force (East Hampton, Riverhead, Southampton, Southold, Sag Harbor, Shelter Island, Westhampton and Quogue Police Departments) Federal Domestic Nuclear Detection Office U.S. Coast Guard Sector Long Island U.S. Customs and Border Patrol National Marine Fisheries Service New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos said, "DEC's Environmental Conservation Officers who patrol our state are the first line of defense in protecting New York's environment, our natural resources and public health. I commend our staff for coordinating this important training on Long Island and bringing together all partners for this vital emergency preparedness exercise which will ensure proper coordination in any future environmental or homeland security incidents." The operation is being conducted in two phases. Phase I is a shore-based water quality initiative that took place from Aug. 2-16 to identify and remove threats to Long Island waterways. DEC ECOs, Region 1 Spills Response Unit, pesticide and water quality staff, along with U.S. Coast Guard and the Suffolk County Health Department, inspected marinas and other shore-based facilities to investigate petroleum bulk storage, pesticides, and sewage point-source discharges to ensure regulatory compliance. Phase 2, which runs from Aug. 16-19, will focus on the structured homeland security/radiological training in actual maritime operations and will include navigational safety, foreign vessel interdiction, and marine fisheries and water quality compliance efforts. DEC and Suffolk County Police will also conduct tactical weapons of mass destruction training, enhancing the skills needed to intercept illicit radiological materials in rapidly emerging situations. The East End Task Force and partners will be conducting "OP SHIELD" activities over the course of the weekend, focusing on navigational safety and boating while impaired enforcement, while ECOs will address threats to water quality such as unsecured marine sanitation devices, threats to fisheries stocks, and general navigational safety. Operation Blue Trident will accomplish several objectives: Improve maritime counter-terrorism capabilities and agency responses to natural and man-made disasters through real-world threat exercises; Bring together local, state and federal agencies working jointly to help prevent the illicit transport of materials posing a significant public safety threat; Enhance partnerships and improve coordination with agencies that protect Long Island and the metropolitan New York City area; Protect Long Island water quality from pollution and sewage threats; Improve boater safety and protect marine fisheries through navigational enforcement; and Educate the boating public on homeland security issues, including the "See Something - Say Something" Safeguard New York campaign to get the public to recognize suspicious activity. An added benefit of this maritime homeland security training exercise is its applicability to a range of potential incidents, both natural and manmade, that might affect Long Island's east end waters, including hurricanes, major oil spills, vessel collisions or groundings, and plane crashes. The same multi-agency planning, coordination and operations employed for Operation Blue Trident will prove highly valuable in any of these possible disasters. Also this week, the Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services' Office of Counter Terrorism will conduct approximately 70 counter terrorism exercises to test their suspicious activity reporting programs. Law enforcement teams will visit a wide variety of locations on Long Island, including mass gathering sites, truck rental companies, various retail stores, marinas and other public locations. After each visit, homeland security, federal, state and local partners discuss encounters with each location to point out successful actions and areas of improvement. Long Island, at approximately 118 miles in length, provides an international maritime route of entry into New York State, and Long Island Sound and associated inland bays provide a natural sanctuary for potential smuggling of terrorists and/or radiological devices to the New York City metropolitan area. Long Island is also an active location for recreational boating, home to nearly 77,000 state registered vessels. The high population density and potentially dangerous maritime conditions creates the possibility of significant navigational safety risks. DEC has coordinated similar joint training exercises like this in the past on Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and, just last year, Operation Clear passage on Lake Champlain. Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Commissioner Roger L. Parrino, Sr. said, "The consequences associated with the malicious use of nuclear and other radioactive materials by nefarious state or non-state actors, could be catastrophic. It is imperative that all maritime law enforcement teams regularly conduct this type of exercise along the state's waterways. This week's exercise, which supports the Department of Homeland Security's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office 'Securing the Cities' program, helps ensure that Long Island's maritime law enforcement teams have the capability to detect and protect against radiological and nuclear threats." New York State Police Superintendent George P. Beach II said, "Operation Blue Trident provides an opportunity for our members to sharpen their skills while working alongside our state and federal partners. This training is critically important because it ensures all of the agencies involved are prepared to handle any type of emergency response." Assemblyman Fred Thiele said, "Operation Blue Trident is an important exercise to protect our water quality, environment, and our homeland security. Through a federal FEMA grant, this operation will improve coordination and preparedness of our State, County and local law enforcement agencies. Training in a maritime environment will be undertaken that could be applicable to a full range of potential future incidents, including hurricanes, oil spills, or a radiological incident. At a time of increased risk to New York's security, law enforcement must be prepared for all eventualities. The State DEC is to be commended for spearheading this effort." New York State Park Police Chief David Page said, "New York State Park Police Officers bring unique training and skills to bear when it comes to protecting the residents and natural resources of New York State. The residents of the state are all safer when local, state and federal law enforcement agencies coordinate their resources in exercises like Operation Blue Trident to prepare for the threats we could face." New York State Naval Militia Commander Anthony P. German said, "This exercise is an excellent opportunity for the New York Naval Militia, along with other elements of New York's military forces, to train with local law enforcement and other state agencies. The time we spend training with other agencies makes us more effective when the Governor calls on us to aid local governments and New York's citizens." Suffolk County Police Commissioner Timothy D. Sini said, "Operation Blue Trident is an important and comprehensive joint training exercise that we are excited to participate in. Our trained experts in Emergency Services Section, Marine Bureau, Homeland Security, Aviation Section and Highway Patrol Bureau serve and protect our residents and visitors by land, sea and air each and every single day. This additional collaboration of intensive training between our department and our partners in local, regional and federal law enforcement will further prepare us for the call-to-action in the event of man-made or natural disaster." Suffolk County Chief Deputy Sheriff Michael Sharkey said, "The Suffolk County Sheriff's Office is pleased to participate in "Operation Blue Trident" along with our partner agencies in the East End Marine Task Force. We are grateful to the State for conducting it in our area, recognizing the significance of the east end as a gateway to the greater metropolitan area. These training exercises and workshops will build our skills and working relationships with our partner agencies, strengthening our capability to protect Long Island and enhancing the safety of the residents in our area of operations." School & Education, Local News, Business & Finance, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: August 16 2017 Cuomo: "With this law, we are ensuring protections under the law keep pace with our evolving education system." Albany, NY - August 16, 2017 - Governor Cuomo today signed legislation putting into place additional protections for students and expanding anti-tampering laws to prohibit unlawful alteration of any official student record in any primary, intermediate, high school or college in the state. "These records can set the course for a student's entire future and New York must make every effort to protect their integrity and privacy," Governor Cuomo said. "With this law, we are ensuring protections under the law keep pace with our evolving education system and authorities have the tools they need to protect New Yorkers." The prior law prohibited the unlawful altering of grades, credits and awards on a student's record. However, other records that are now commonplace - including test results, disciplinary proceedings, and disability determinations - are not covered. This bill, (S.5273-A/A. 2093-B), makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly alter any official student record. Additionally, those certified or licensed by the State Education Department who are found to be in violation of this new law would be subject to further disciplinary action. Senator Patrick M. Gallivan, "This new law will help preserve the private nature of a student's official record, allowing young New Yorkers and their families to rest assured that their information and records are protected. I'm proud to have sponsored this bill, and I thank Governor Cuomo for signing this important piece of legislation into law." Tech & Science, Nature & Weather, Local News, Business & Finance, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: August 16 2017 All homeowners are welcome and encouraged to attend one of the two sessions offered. Huntington, NY - August 16, 2017 - Suffolk County Legislator William R. Spencer, M.D. has partnered with Long Island Green Homes to offer two home energy presentations for residents in the Suffolk County Legislator William R. Spencer, M.D. has partnered with Long Island Green Homes to offer two home energy presentations for residents in the Town of Huntington during the month of September. The presentations will provide information on how homeowners can receive a FREE energy audit which will specify the areas in their home where the most energy is being wasted and give clear guidance on how homeowners can fix the issues to save money on their bills, and make their home more energy efficient and comfortable year round. As the Suffolk County Legislator in the 18th Legislative District, protecting our environment while addressing affordability for residents continues to be of great importance to me. I am always looking for opportunities to bring available resources and programs to homeowners. That is why Im so excited to work with Long Island Green Homes to provide this seminar. stated Legislator Spencer. I strongly encourage my constituents to take advantage of this free home energy audit as a way to lower heating and cooling bills. Participants will also help Long Island reach its renewable energy goals. As a physician, its also encouraging to know that the energy audit will include a number of measures to ensure that your home is a safe and healthy environment." On average, participants save up to $1,000 per year on heating, cooling, and electric bills. At the session there will be a PowerPoint presentation and a discussion about what takes place during an energy audit, common household problems, and the benefits of undertaking the audit. After the presentation, all attendees will have the opportunity to sign up for the free audit. The Long Island Green Homes Initiative is a non-profit collaborative partnership of Long Island Towns, community-based organizations and Molloy College funded primarily with a community outreach grant awarded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) in order to help residents improve their homes and use energy more wisely in their everyday lives. Through one-on-one support from an experienced Energy Navigator, homeowners are connected with government incentives they may qualify for and local certified contractors to help them maximize their savings on energy efficient improvements. In addition to reducing our carbon footprint and saving money, the Long Island Green Homes Initiative stimulates job growth and business opportunitiesright here in Suffolk County. Local News, Crime, Community, Charity & Cause By Long Island News & PR Published: August 16 2017 Brooks rated 94% for votes protecting people, environment - in newly released scorecard. NCPD reports the details of an attempted suicide that occurred in Oceanside on Wednesday, August 16. Oceanside, NY - August 16, 2017 - The Fourth Precinct reports the details of an attempted suicide that occurred in The Fourth Precinct reports the details of an attempted suicide that occurred in Oceanside on Wednesday, August 16, 2017 at 12:49 A.M. Fourth and First Precinct police officers responded to a 911 call for a male threatening to jump off of the Atlantic Avenue/Brower Avenue Bridge. Upon arrival to the scene, officers observed a male holding onto the lower portion of the bridge with a jumper cable cord wrapped around his neck. The male then let go of the bridge and was hanging over the water. The male became unconscious and fell into the water. A police officer jumped into the water after him, pulled him to shore and administered CPR. Nassau County Police Ambulance transported the aided to a local hospital, where he was reported to be conscious and breathing. Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Health & Wellness, Politics By Long Island News & PR Published: August 16 2017 Bellone: "Whether you live in Huntington or Hampton Bays, our goal is keep residents safe as we enter the final weeks of the summer season." Suffolk County, NY - August 16, 2017 - Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone today announced a series of Tick Prevention Educational Forums that will be held by the Suffolk County Department of Health Services to inform residents of various tick-borne diseases and best practices to minimize contact with the tick population. A detailed presentation will be conducted by Suffolk County Health Services Entomologist Dr. Scott Campbell, who will be joined by Suffolk County Legislators and Dr. James Tomarken, Suffolk County Commissioner of Health Services. Residents can also submit questions to Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone today announced a series of Tick Prevention Educational Forums that will be held by the Suffolk County Department of Health Services to inform residents of various tick-borne diseases and best practices to minimize contact with the tick population. A detailed presentation will be conducted by Suffolk County Health Services Entomologist Dr. Scott Campbell, who will be joined by Suffolk County Legislators and Dr. James Tomarken, Suffolk County Commissioner of Health Services. Residents can also submit questions to Tick.Prevention@suffolkcountyny.gov to receive guidance from experts at the Department. At my direction, the Suffolk County Department of Health Services will undertake an educational campaign to remind the public of health risks associated with tick-borne diseases such as Lyme disease, said Suffolk County Executive Bellone. Whether you live in Huntington or Hampton Bays , our goal is keep residents safe as we enter the final weeks of the summer season." Dr. James Tomarken, Suffolk County Commissioner of Health Services, said: It is essential for everyone to take appropriate steps to protect themselves from tick-borne diseases. I encourage residents to attend these forums to learn how to stay safe, as always, seek prompt medical attention if becoming ill after a tick bite." Suffolk County Legislator Bridget Fleming said: Tick-borne illness is a serious public health crisis in Suffolk County, particularly on the East End. Adequate funding, resources, and public outreach are critical to controlling the tick population and preventing the spread of disease. I am pleased to work with County Executive Steve Bellone on educating Suffolk County residents and tourists, and advancing the Tick Surveillance and Management Program. Suffolk County Legislator Al Krupski said: It is important to be hyper vigilant when hiking, or even recreating in ones own backyard, and use the proper precautions to prevent contracting a tick-borne illness. The more information the public has, the better. Tick-borne illnesses are epidemic on the East End because the number of ticks has exploded over the last couple of decades due to do the over-population of white-tailed deer. At some point, we have to come to terms with the fact that we need to control the population of white-tail deer. Suffolk County Legislator Tom Muratore said: The health and safety of our residents is top priority. It is important to educate the public on all tick-borne illnesses, especially with the abundant deer population in Suffolk County. I encourage all to attend this forum. Earlier this year, the County Legislature passed Capital Project 4091 that will provide funding to enhance the Countys Arthropod Borne Disease Laboratory which studies tick-borne and mosquito-borne pathogens. Under the direction of County Executive Bellone, the Suffolk County Department of Health, in collaboration with the New York State Department of Health, established a Tick Surveillance and Management Program, which conducts surveillance and monitors the tick population and tick-borne pathogens and provides local municipalities with best practices for tick management. Suffolk County Legislator Fleming has also reassembled the Tick Control Advisory Committee to advise Suffolk County Department of Public Works, Division of Vector Control in developing a successful plan to reduce tick-borne illnesses in Suffolk County. The Committee has been reviewing tick control methods and management options, advising the TSMP, providing input to the annual vector control plans and is currently creating a plan to assist in public education and the dissemination of information regarding the prevention of tick-borne illnesses. The series of tick prevention educational forums hosted by the Suffolk County Department of Health are as follows: South Fork Forum Monday, August 21 7:00 PM Southampton Town Hall 116 NY-27A Huntington Tuesday, August 22 7:00 PM LaunchPad Huntington 315 Main Street, 2nd Floor Brookhaven Tuesday, September 5 7:00 PM Middle Country Library 101 Eastwood Boulevard North Fork Forum Tuesday, September 5 7:00 PM Peconic Recreational Center 1170 Peconic Lane There are multiple types of tick-borne illnesses in Suffolk County including Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, babesiosis and ehrillichiosis. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are nearly 300,000 cases of Lyme disease reported on an annual basis across the country. Since it was first identified nearly 30 years ago, Lyme disease has continued to spread, particularly in the Northeastern and North-central regions of the United States. Zaki-ur Rehman Lakhvi [center], the military commander of the Lashkar-e-Taiba who has been implicated in the November 2008 terror assault on Mumbai, prays with Syed Salahuddin [right], the leader of the Hizbul Mujahideen, just two weeks after the November 2008 Mumbai attack. Associated Press photograph. The US Department of State added Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) to its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations today. As with the official designation of HMs emir, Syed Salahuddin, State highlighted the groups activities in Kashmir while ignoring its connections to the bevy of Pakistani and regional jihadist groups, including those that fight against US forces in Afghanistan. State noted that HM, which was founded in 1989, is one of the largest and oldest militant groups operating in Kashmir and has claimed responsibility for several attacks, including the April 2014, explosives attack in the [Indian] state of Jammu and Kashmir, which injured 17 people. The brief designation omitted HMs support for al Qaeda in the past, as well as its relations with other jihadist groups in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and India, such as Lashkar-e-Taiba. Hizbul Mujahideen also receives support from Pakistans military and the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI), which allows the group to operate openly inside Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Salahuddin, who leads HM, was added to the US list of specially designated global terrorists on June 27, 2017, just as President Donald Trump met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In addition to serving as the emir of HM, Salahuddin is also the chairman of the United Jihad Council, which is supported by the Pakistani military and the ISI. The focus of the United Jihad Council is waging jihad against Indian institutions inside Kashmir, but the council also serves as a bridge to other jihadist groups operating in the region. Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, two groups that are on the US and United Nations lists of terror organizations, are part of the United Jihad Council. Salahuddin operates openly and is immune to arrest from Pakistani authorities. He is known to maintain an office in the Baila Noor Shah area of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The Pakistani government refuses to act against Salahuddin and other terrorist leaders, despite their direct involvement in terrorist activities. In the past, Salahuddin has admitted that the Pakistani military allows him to run hundreds of training camps in the state where we recruit and train the mujahideen. He is also known to raise money for jihadist groups operating in South Asia. In July 2012, Salahuddin spoke at a fundraising and recruiting drive for jihad in Afghanistan and India, and said Pakistan is the victim of a US and Israeli conspiracy. At the conference, which was held in Rawalpindi, he stated that his fighters were waging jihad against the US. Pakistan is the target of the US-Israeli nexus. Our fighters are defending Pakistan at a time when its geographical boundaries, its security and Islamic identity are at risk, Salahuddin said. We are fighting in Kashmir. It doesnt matter to us if we are labelled terrorists. We are proud to be called terrorists for fighting the US and its allies in Afghanistan. The month prior, Salahuddin threatened the Pakistani state if it withdrew its support for jihadist groups. At the time, Pakistan was pressuring jihadist groups to pare back activities in the Indian state of Kashmir and Jammu. Salahuddin also attended funeral of Engineer Ahsan Aziz, a jihadist killed in US drone strike in North Waziristan in Aug. 2012. According to Azizs father, his son was based in Waziristan for a decade and fought in Afghanistan. We are fighting Pakistans war in Kashmir and if it withdraws its support, the war would be fought inside Pakistan, he said, according to The Times of India. Bill Roggio is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Editor of FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. Karry Lai Asia Reporter Managing IP Contact email linkedin Karry joined the Managing IP team as Asia Reporter in October 2017. She covers all aspects of IP across Asia. Based in Hong Kong, she is also the Asia Reporter for International Financial Law Review. She has been with Euromoneyas Legal Media Group since December 2015. Kochi: As the entire Kerala was eagerly waiting to hear the revelations of Pulsar Suni, the prime accused in the actress attack case as he was on his way to Angamaly Judicial Magistrate Court, the police put up a smart play by keeping Suni away from scribes. The police team probing the case completed the case procedures without presenting Suni in the court. Meanwhile, the court extended the judicial custody of Suni till August 30. Suni on Sunday said that the person referred to as 'madam' is an actress and he would reveal her name on Wednesday. Suni, the history-sheeter has been throwing hints every time about the case as he came across TV personals. It was Suni's revelation regarding the alleged conspiracy in the case that led to the arrest of actor Dileep. The actor who was arrested on July 10, has been lodged in Aluva sub-Jail and is yet to grant bail. New Delhi : The Supreme Court today directed an NIA probe under the supervision of a retired apex court judge into issues raised by a Muslim man whose marriage was annulled by the Kerala High Court that described the case as an instance of 'love jihad'. A bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said the investigation into the matter will be supervised by the retired apex court judge R V Raveendran. It directed the probe agency to furnish the report to it after completing the investigation. The apex court bench, also comprising Justice D Y Chandrachud, said it will take a view after considering the NIA's probe report, inputs from the Kerala Police and after talking to the woman. On August 10, the apex court had asked the Kerala Police to share the probe details of the case with the NIA. The issue reached the apex court as Kerala-native Shafin Jahan challenged the annulment of his marriage by the Kerala High Court which ordered the state police to probe such cases. The top court had said that it was entrusting the task to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as a neutral agency to get a "whole picture" and ascertain whether the particular instance was limited to a "small pocket" or was there "something wider" to the issue. Jahan, who had married a Hindu woman in last December, had moved the apex court after the Kerala High Court annulled his marriage, saying that it was an insult to the independence of women in the country. The woman, a Hindu, had converted to Islam and later married Jahan. It was alleged that the woman was recruited by Islamic State's mission in Syria and Jahan was only a stooge. Earlier, the apex court had sought a response of the NIA and the Kerala government on the plea of Jahan. Ashokan K M, the father of the woman, had alleged that there was a "well-oiled systematic mechanism" for conversion and Islamic radicalisation. The NIA has recently conducted probe into some cases of love jihad' in which women were allegedly being sent to Syria to join the ISIS. ABSTRACT Background: Depression is one of the leading causes of disability including impairment in the subjective Quality of Life (QOL) of the patient. Unfortunately, only a fraction receives the correct diagnosis and treatment in general practice. This study aims to determine the subjective Quality of Life of depressed patients. Method: A representative sample of adults, 18 years and above (100 each for cases and controls), were assessed for QOL using the World Health Organization Quality of Life instrument (WHOQOL-BREF). Respondents were also evaluated for socio-demographic factors. Major depressive disorder was assessed using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview. Severity of depression was measured using Hamiltons Rating Scale for Depression and global functioning was assessed with the Global Assessment of Functioning scale. Results: Majority of the participants were females (62.0%) and young with a mean age of 39.11 12.40 years. Overall subjective QOL (P < 0.033), as well as the physical (P < 0.002), psychological (P < 0.001), social (P < 0.006) and environmental (P < 0.048) domains were significantly impaired in depressed patients compared to healthy control. Global functioning was also impaired (P < 0.001) in depressed patients compared to healthy control. Conclusion: The finding of the study showed that depression is a serious illness that affects the patients perception of the quality of his/her life. It is therefore very necessary to innovate better treatment modalities to reduce its burden. Keywords: Depression, Quality of Life, Outpatients, Controls 1. Introduction Quality of life (QOL) is a broad ranging concept, incorporating in a complex way the persons physical health, psychological state, level of independence, social relationships, personal beliefs and relationship to salient features in the environment [1] . The World Health Organization (WHO) has described quality of life as individuals perception of their position in life in the context of the culture and value systems in which they live and in relation to their goals, expectations, standards and concerns [2] . With this in mind, it would be right to say that QOL is largely dependent on several factors including economic, political, social, health related factors, etc. Depressive disorders are highly prevalent and are associated with functional, psychological and occupational impairment. The prevalence of major depressive disorder over the course of a life time is estimated to range between 6% - 17% [3] . An estimate within the community and in primary care elevates these percentages to 10% - 30% of the population [3] [4] . Depression is presently considered to be the fourth (4th) leading cause of disability [5] and is projected to become the second (2nd) leading cause of disability by 2020 [6] . In current literature, there are several studies that demonstrate the association of depression with quality of life measures. Depressed patients suffer diminished quality of life equal to or greater than those with other chronic conditions and depression has also been associated with a decrease in experiencing positive well-being, impairment in role functioning and disabilities in social functioning [7] [8] [9] . Patients with depressive disorders have been found to have poorer subjective quality of life than healthy control subjects [10] [11] [12] . Depressive disorders are common illnesses associated with relatively long duration of episodes, high rates of chronicity, relapses and recurrence [13] [14] . Several studies have examined quality of life in patients with severe depressive disorders [15] [16] [17] . Notable among these studies was that conducted by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Epidemiological Catchment Area Program [18] , which showed that patients with major depressive disorders or sub-syndromal depression experienced higher levels of household strain, social irritability, financial stress, limitation in occupational functioning, poor health status and days lost from work [19] [20] . Another study also found that women with major depressive disorder had impairment in family, marital, occupational and leisure activities [21] . Depressive disorders have impacted negatively on the quality of life of patients [22] - [35] . Despite the debilitating nature of depression, about 50% - 60% of cases remain undetected in primary care and even the patients who receive correct diagnosis are not given appropriate and specific treatment [36] [37] . The aim of this study therefore is to determine the subjective quality of life of depressed outpatients currently receiving drug treatment in comparison with socio-demographically matched controls. The study is also relevant because there are many studies showing that depression affects the quality of life in a negative way. Most of them are from developed nation with Caucasian population. This study records the impact of depression among Nigerian population. From that epidemiological aspect, this is a good addition to the current literature. 2. Method and Materials Ethical clearance was obtained from the Joint Ethical Committee of the Jos University Teaching Hospital before the study was carried out. The study was a case-control study conducted at the psychiatric outpatient clinic of the Jos University Teaching Hospital. Adults (18 - 60 years) who have been diagnosed to have depression using Mini International Neuropsychiatry Interview (MINI) and have been receiving treatment for at least 6 months were included in the study as cases. Those excluded from the cases were patients with other physical or neurological conditions, those with head injury, patients with substance use disorders and those with bipolar affective disorder in depressive phase. 2.1. Sociodemographic Questionnaire Socio-demographic variables were measured using a semi-structured socio-de- mographic questionnaire designed by the authors. This questionnaire was administered to enquire about the following socio-demographic data; age, sex, ethnicity, marital status, religion, educational level, monthly income, occupation, level of social support received from relations. Number of depressive episodes was also included in the sociodemographic questionnaire. 2.2. World Health Organization Quality of Life Brief Subjective quality of life was assessed using the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale-Brief version (WHOQOL-BREF) which is a 26-item self administered generic questionnaire, it is a short version of the WHOQOL-100 scale [38] . The instrument was developed to measure subjective response of patients rather than their objective life conditions, with assessment covering the preceding 2-week period. This instrument is available in a wide range of languages and has been employed in a variety of cultural settings (including sub- Saharan Africa like Nigeria) [35] , and yields comparable scores across cultures. 2.3. Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview Depression was diagnosed with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I) English version 5.0.0 [39] . The MINI is a brief structured interview designed for major axis I psychiatric disorders in DSM-IV and ICD-10. It has both life time and current diagnosis versions. The life time diagnosis version was used for this study in order to provide a premise for comparing homogenous group. 2.4. Data Analysis Data analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.0. The result was presented using simple descriptive statistics. Analysis of categorical and continuous variables was done using chi-square test and paired t-test respectively. Domain scores of the patients (as a group) was compared with those of the matched general population (as a group) using paired t-test. Summary of scores was generated for the WHOQOL-BREF by organizing the questionnaire items into groups representing the domains covered by the questionnaire. The domain scores of the WHOQOL-BREF were calculated according to the instructors manual and served as the dependent variable. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. 2.5. Procedure Consecutive outpatient attendees who were on follow up for depressive illness at the psychiatry clinic of Jos University Teaching Hospital were identified and the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) was used to confirm the diagnosis and to diagnose ongoing depression among the cases. The control population was obtained from a cosmopolitan community in Jos, the State Capital using a multi-stage sampling method. The MINI (Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview) questionnaire was administered to the target control population to identify and exclude those that scored high for depression. Stage 1: Tudun Wada (which has 18 settlements) was selected from Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau state. Stage 2: Ten settlements were selected from the original 18 settlements through balloting. Stage 3: The number of housing units (as used during the National Population Commission, National census of 2006) [40] was identified within the ten settlements. Stage 4: All the selected enumeration areas were visited and the housing units listed (twenty housing units per settlement were listed and numbered). These lists (200 in total) were entered into a computer to generate a table of random numbers from which the study households were selected. Stage 5: A full listing of all residents in each selected housing unit was obtained from an informant and those who fulfill the criteria for the study were identified. A participant was then selected from each housing unit until the required control sample was reached. 3. Results The sociodemographic parameter of all participants (Cases and Controls) is as illustrated below. As shown in Table 1, A total of 200 participants were recruited into the study (100 each for Cases and Controls) Females constituted the majority of participants, 64.0% for cases and 60.0% for controls compared to the males. The mean age SD of the cases was 39.78 13.36 years while that of the controls was 38.44 12.12 years. Of the participants, 158 (79.0%) were Christians and 42 (21.0%) were Muslims. A sizeable number of the participants were single 88 (44.0%) and married 87 (43.5%). Only 8 (4.0%) were separated and 17 (8.5%) were widowed. Thirty six (18.0%) of the respondents had no formal education, 31 (15.5%) had acquired primary education while 77 (38.5%) and 56 (28.0%) had secondary and tertiary education respectively. Most of the participants studied were employed 149 (74.5%) while 51 (25.5%) were not. Among the controls, 81.0% were employed while 19.0% had no work. The category of occupation (P < 0.001), monthly income (P < 0.002) and employment status (P < 0.035) were all statistically significant. A statistically significant relationship (P < 0.002) was found to exist between cases and controls with regards to overall quality of life as presented on Table 2. As shown in Table 3, the number of depressive episodes on overall quality of life was not statistically significant (P = 0.822). The mean domain scores were higher for the controls in comparison with the cases. An association was observed between participants with regards to depressive disorders. See Table 4. Table 2. Comparison of overall quality of life between cases and controls. Table 3. Relationship between overall quality of life and number of depressive episodes among cases. Table 4. Mean domain scores of cases and controls. Values are expressed as Mean SD. 4. Discussion 4.1. Sociodemographic Characteristics of Participants Out of the 200 participants studied 62% were females. This female predominance applies to both cases and controls. This conforms to the findings of Rocha et al. [41] who reported that 156 (75.0%) of their study subjects were females while validating the WHOQOL-BREF in depressed Brazilians. A similar result was presented by Yun-San et al. [27] while studying the QOL in elderly depressed patients in Taiwan. The predominance of females in this study is consistent with the World Health Organizations (WHO) epidemiological results indicating that more women suffer from depression than men. Another reason for the female predominance could be explained by the fact that, most of the female participants were housewives and more likely to be found at home during the interview, unlike the male participants who were either at work or out of the house with friends. The males were also found to have alcohol and substance use problems thus excluding them from the study. Other possible explanations include; the cyclical fluctuation of female hormones which intensifies the physical stress-response that may amplify vulnerability to depression. Social factors present the world over also result in certain features being more typical of womens experience than mens, thus predisposing them to having a higher rate of depression. These include the greater likelihood of experiencing sexual and physical abuse, stress of bringing children up, a greater dependence and higher emotional reliance on social support, along with an increased willingness to report symptoms of current and past episodes of depression to physicians. In addition, poor education, including poor health education resulting in a lack of awareness, as well as orthodox customs, compounds the situation of women. Men tend to suppress their feelings and may perceive the need for assistance for emotional problems as a sign of weakness making it difficult to detect depression in men. Although a sizeable number of the study subjects were married, a majority of them were single. The reason for the lower number of married subjects was not surprising because of the young age of the study population. The mean age of the participants was 39.11 12.40 years. This is similar to what was found by Rocha et al. [41] where the mean age was 39.12 13.6 years while validating the WHOQOL-BREF among depressed patients in Brazil. Another reason for the characteristic young age of the study population is because it is a common phenomenon in developing countries including Nigeria. A majority of the study subjects had secondary education while less than a third had acquired tertiary education. Eighteen percent had no formal education as 15.5% only, had attained primary education. This conforms to the findings of Afolabi et al. [42] . They found that most of the subjects they studied had one form of tertiary education (36.0%) or the other, 21.6% had no formal education while 21.2% had primary and secondary education each. In addition, the high rate of lack of education should be expected among the study subjects due to the fact that many children do not attend school because their labor is needed to either help at home or to bring additional income into the family. Many families cannot afford the associated costs of sending their children to school such as uniforms and textbooks. For others, the distance to the nearest school is a major hindrance. Another cause of low enrolment, especially in the North, is cultural bias. Most parents do not send their children, especially girls, to school and prefer to marry them out as teenagers. About three-quarters of the subjects were employed while a quarter were however, not employed at the time of this study. A significant proportion of those employed (81.0%) were in the control group while those employed among the cases constituted less than two-thirds. Agbir et al. [43] in their study to determine the prevalence of depression among medical outpatients with diabetes in Jos also reported a similar result where they found that majority of their subjects were employed while a quarter of them were not. The low employment level among the cases should be expected because of the discrimination and stigma which lead to job losses or outright refusal to employ individuals who have mental illness even if they are the most qualified for the job. This low employment status leads to lack of financial independence which is known to improve self-esteem and reduce stress. Most of the subjects who had jobs earned less than 50 dollars ( 4.2. Comparison of Domain Scores In considering the results of this study on Table 4, there was a statistically significant relationship between the four domains of QOL and depression. A comparative analysis of the mean scores revealed that depressed respondents scored lower than the control group which is indicative of poorer QOL. The result also showed a negative association between the four domains and depressive disorders. This means that depression had significantly lowered QOL in the respective domains. The outcomes here were consistent with those of previous studies [27] [28] [34] [45] . The physical domain which assesses areas such as energy and fatigue, pain and discomfort, and sleep and rest was impaired among the cases as they scored poorer on the WHOQOL-BREF. This can be explained by the fact that depression as an illness impacts negatively on energy levels, sleep and comfort. Previous studies [19] [46] reported a similar outcome. On the psychological domain, the depressed respondents (cases) rated their QOL to be worse than the control group as evidence by their lower mean score. The reason for this could be adduced to the fact that depression as a clinical entity is almost always associated with negative self perception and negative cognition. The finding here is supported by studies [7] [8] [46] carried out by other researchers in the past. The depressed respondents in this study also fared poorly on the physical domain when compared to the controls. This could be due to the strained interpersonal relationships, poor social support, loss of interest in pleasure and negative cognition that is common among depressed individuals. The poor relationship can also explain the poor sexual function among the cases when compared to the control group. In separate studies conducted by Dew et al. [9] and Lynn Chung et al. [17] among depressed patients in Taiwan using the WHOQOL- BREF, intensity of depressive symptoms and social isolation were reported to have the greatest direct effect on all four QOL domains The environmental domain measures financial resources, freedom, physical safety and security, health and social care: accessibility and quality, home environment, opportunities for acquiring new information and skills, participation in and opportunities for recreation/leisure, physical environment (pollution/ noise/traffic/climate) and transport. This study was able to demonstrate that patients who suffer from depressive illness are more likely to report a decrease in their satisfaction in the above mentioned areas. One thing that could have impacted negatively on this domain is the increasing security challenges and worry for safety among the patients who are usually vulnerable or abandoned during the repeated crises the state is experiencing now. 5. Conclusions This study shows that depression significantly affects the QOL of patients. The overall subjective QOL as well as the physical, psychological, social and environmental domains of the patients was shown to be poorer when compared to that of the control population. The study also revealed that patients who suffer from depression experience marked reduction in global functioning when compared with non depressed population. Finally, depression just as it has been reported in previous is shown to interfere with the fulfillment of goals, roles and dreams in this study. Practitioners are therefore expected to screen for and develop treatment programs aimed at improving depressive symptoms. This will ultimately improve the QOL of patients with depression. 6. Strength and Limitation of the Study Nigeria is a very large country with important cultural differences among its regions. This study was carried out in North Central zone of the country. Thus, it cannot be considered as being representative of the diversity that occurs in the country. Nevertheless, it is relevant due to the fact that it highlights the importance of early diagnosis and appropriate treatment for depression. Cite this paper Davou, F.J., Audu, M.D., Akinhanmi, A.O., Umar, M.U., Philip, T.F., Taru, M.Y. and Yushau, A.A. (2017) A Case Control Study of Subjective Quality of Life in Outpatients with Depression. Open Journal of Psychiatry, 7, 248- 260. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojpsych.2017.74022 References WESTFIELD -- Management at Baystate Noble Hospital remains hopeful that negotiations, not a strike, can end a contract dispute with nurses that has dragged on for 18 months. Ronald Bryant, president of Baystate Noble Hospital, said in a written statement: "We are disappointed with the recent vote by members of the Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) to authorize their representatives to issue a strike notice in the future. This action is completely inconsistent with our leadership's good faith efforts to address issues collaboratively and reach resolution in a way that is fair to our nurses." The next bargaining session is Aug. 24. The MNA announced Wednesday that the 130 unionized nurses at Baystate Noble have voted to authorize a one-day strike. No date was set. The MNA must notify Baystate of a strike at lest 10 days in advance. The MNA members in Westfield have been working under the terms of an expired contract since March 2016. There has been no strike in Westfield thus far, but the union has had informational pickets and rallies. Also on Wednesday, the Massachusetts Nurses Association announced that nurses at Baystate Franklin Medical Center in Greenfield voted to reject managements' "best and final" contract offer, according to a statement from union spokesman Joe Markman. More than 200 nurses at Greenfield hospital began bargaining with Baystate Health in November 2016 and have been working under the terms of an expired contract since Jan. 1. Greenfield nurses staged a one-day strike in June. Baystate management responded by instituting a 2-day lockout. Traveling nurses used to fill jobs left by striking nurses typically won't come to town without three days of guaranteed work, the hospital said. At issue is the nurses union's demands that minimum staffing requirements be written into their contract. Baystate maintains that enshrining how many nurses must be working and where would rob the health system of necessary flexibility. At Noble, Bryant said management has made offers to increase wages, provide strong health insurance and improved benefits. Baystate Noble will take steps to increase staffing, but thinks the MNA proposal is inflexible. Bryant said Baystate Noble is preparing for a possible strike just in case. Markman said the next step in both Greenfield and Westfield is to keep negotiating. The last bargaining session in Greenfield was July 21, a few weeks after the strike, with its picket lines and public demonstrations. The next negotiation date is not yet scheduled. Markman said nurses from Baystate Noble and Baystate Franklin will continue taking joint action. Together they picketed Baystate headquarters in Springfield a week ago. "It's all about the public pressure," Markman said. "We want to do this so the public gets involved and Baystate management sees the error of their ways and gets back to the table." Massachusetts Nurses Association also had a strike at Tufts Medical Center in Boston last month, and members have authorized a strike at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield. Staffing, and the nurses' desire to write minimums into their contracts, is at issue in Boston and Pittsfield as well. Baystate Health took over the 97-bed Noble Hospital in Westfield two years ago in the summer of 2015. The current contract was signed by the former Noble Hospital and continued under a successor agreement with Baystate. Boston's Parks and Recreation Department has approved a permit for the controversial "Free Speech" rally on Boston Common this Saturday. Following the violent clash between white nationalists and counter-protesters in Charlottesville last weekend, many in Boston have asked that the rally not go forward. Organizers of the rally are part of a group called "Boston Free Speech." Newton native John Medlar, 23, said the event aims to advocate for free speech, and should not be compared to the "Unite the Right" rally that took place in Virginia. "I would say this contrasts to Charlottesville. We're trying to get people to stop fighting and start listening," Medlar said. "The fringes on the left and right do not respect free speech." Medlar said the group will use the right of free association to separate themselves from any hate groups that could show up on Saturday: "that includes standing up against white supremacists, radical leftist groups." He added that the Free Speech promoters "categorically oppose groups like the Ku Klux Klan, Nazis, and so forth." Speakers Gavin McInnes and Augustus Invictus - both far right-wingers who enjoy the support of white nationalists - have announced they are dropping out of the Boston rally. McInnes is the co-founder of Vice and founder of the chauvinist "Western fraternal organization" called Proud Boys, whose members made a showing in Charlottesville. Medlar said the speakers pulled out in all of the "panic and confusion" and "high emotions" following the events in Charlottesville. "Hate will not be tolerated in our City," Mayor Marty Walsh said earlier this week. Walsh and Governor Charlie Baker spoke at an event in front of the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston on Tuesday, after the memorial was vandalized for a second time this summer. Walsh repeated he does not want any far right-wing protestors in Boston, which "Proud Boy" McInnes told Boston Herald Radio is a political maneuver. "He is calling this a Nazi thing. He is going to let a riot happen and tell the police to stand down. I can tell the Mayor is going to make sure we are endangered...it is a common political tactic," McInnes said. A large counter-protest, which Mayor Walsh has said should be referred to as a peaceful rally, is expected to take place at the same time as the Free Speech event. Thousands of people have shown interest in the "Fight Supremacy! Boston Counter-Protest & Resistance Rally" on Facebook. Boston Police Commissioner William Evans said his department is prepared for the rally. "I don't like the idea of them coming to the city a week after what happened in Charlottesville," Evans told MassLive. But, he added, "We've handled much larger protests." Boston Police have not announced any road closures around Boston Common on Saturday. "We come together today to stand strong against the rising tide of hate and white supremacy in this country," speaker Mirah Sand told a crowd of hundreds gathered at the New England Holocaust Memorial in Boston. "White supremacy is a force that seeks to tear us down, and to tear Jews apart from other oppressed groups," Sand said. Hundreds flocked to Union Street Tuesday evening to show their solidarity with the Jewish community after the towering glass memorial was vandalized for a second time this summer. The damaging act follows a weekend of terror in Virginia, where white nationalists gathered in a rally that ended in violence between the rally-goers and counter-protestors. Many neo-Nazis attended the rally in Charlottesville on Friday and Saturday. As Boston braces for a "Free Speech" rally anticipated to draw similarly racist and hateful crowd, the Jewish community and its supporters came together Tuesday to condemn the hatred - specifically anti-Semitism and white supremacy - and in its place, share a sense of hope. The rally was organized by the American Jewish group "If Not Now," a national organization that promotes peace and ending Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip. One speaker, Michaela Caplan, of Acton, said she went to Charlottesville last weekend with a group of people from "If Not Now" to stand against white supremacy. Caplan said she was working as a medic at the rally, and was able to respond when a car - which narrowly missed her - plowed into a crowd of counter-protestors, killing one woman, Heather Heyer, and injuring 19 others. "When you got to Charlottesville you could kind of feel the hate there... you could also feel the love," Caplan said. The crowd applauded when Caplan said some Charlottesville businesses had signs banning white supremacists, while welcoming all others. "I felt a lot of generational trauma. My grandma is a Holocaust survivor...That's been an integral part of my identity growing up," Caplan said. Another speaker, Miles Moth also mentioned his late grandmother, who had escaped the Holocaust at the age of 23. Moth explained how she traveled through China, on a boat to Ecuador, where she learned just enough Spanish to survive. She would then move to New York City to open up her own business. "I was thinking about what my grandmother would be saying if she saw those same images of Nazis proudly emboldened, going through the streets of the United States. She would want me out here. She would want us out here," Moth said. Many of those in attendance came out to show solidarity with the Jewish community following the attack on the memorial, also expressing their concerns following the violence that unfolded in Virginia. "It breaks my heart," said Ashley Shinabukuro of Arlington. Sporting a tanktop that said "violence is silence," Shinabukuro said she came out to join a community that shares her sentiments, and "to feel the love, basically." Somerville resident Joelle Hochman said she came out because she felt deeply moved by news of the vandalism, despite never having visited the memorial before. "Even more moving is all the hate that's been happening and the situation in Charlottesville," Hochman said. "Anti-Semitism is still unfortunately alive and people have to fight this together...we really can't do this alone." Former Presidents George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush, the last two Republicans to be in office, have condemned racism in a statement released Wednesday following protests that rocked Charlottesville, Virginia, and left one dead. "America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms," the former presidents said in a joint statement. White supremacists rallied in Charlottesville on Saturday, chanting racist phrases. A car plowed into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing Heather Heyer, and injuring at least 19 others. The violence has been called domestic terrorism by some. Others have been frustrated by the response from President Donald Trump, who on Tuesday blamed "both sides" for the weekend's violence. "As we pray for Charlottesville, we are reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that city's most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence: we are all created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights," the Bush statement continued. "We know these truths to be everlasting because we have seen the decency and greatness of our country." In the wake of the Charlottesville rally, the Boston Holocaust Memorial was vandalized for the second time this summer. Boston is also preparing for a Saturday "Free Speech" rally anticipated to draw a crowd similar to that of Charlottesville. COLRAIN -- The Northwestern district attorney's office has identified the driver killed when a dump truck crashed into a house Tuesday morning as Robert Leustek, 46, of Winchester, New Hampshire. The house, on Jacksonville Road, was unoccupied at the time of the 8 a.m. crash, the DA's office said. The incident remains under investigation by Colrain police, state police assigned to the DA's office, as well as the state police Crime Scene Services and Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section . Jacksonville Road, or Route 112, runs between the Vermont state line and Route 2 in Shelburne. Western Mass News reported that the accident scene was in the area of 3 Jacksonville Road, which would be near the intersection with Greenfield Road. HOLYOKE -- "Radical agenda for Holyoke." "Making Holyoke into a corporate drug dealer." "Filled with hubris as the self-righteous social justice warrior." These are among the phrases City Council President Kevin A. Jourdain used Wednesday in slamming Mayor Alex B. Morse for vetoing the City Council's moratorium on approval of recreational marijuana retailers. (see below) Morse said he vetoed the measure because a statewide moratorium makes it unnecessary and it hinders the city economically in the competition with other cities and towns for the marijuana industry's jobs and revenue. The Council on Aug. 1 voted 10-4 to impose a moratorium on recreational marijuana retailers until July 1, 2018 or until the city establishes an ordinance to regulate the industry. Jourdain said a moratorium on retailing of recreational marijuana is necessary to ensure local laws are established to regulate the new industry. The Council will consider whether to override Morse's veto at its next meeting on Sept. 5, Jourdain said. Ten votes, or a two-thirds majority, are needed on the 15-member City Council to override a veto. "To have no moratorium is to invite chaos and allow potential locaters of marijuana facilities or retail shops to come into the city without having to follow any local controls to protect the city and its residents," Jourdain said. "Regrettably like everything else, the mayor has politicized this issue and thrown common sense out the window due to his blind following of his on-going radical agenda for Holyoke. His is an agenda of making Holyoke into a corporate drug dealer, without consideration to any of the impacts on neighborhoods, businesses, families, etc.," he said. "Our mayor now sits so high on his horse filled with hubris as the self-righteous social justice warrior he views himself that he cannot see the decay he is creating around him," he said. Morse said the language Jourdain used was striking and unnecessary because officials should be able to debate and disagree. "I honestly don't understand the need for such vitriol. We can disagree on policy without resorting to hostility and sarcasm. I have never gone so far as to disrespect Councilor Jourdain or any members of the City Council, and I expect that same respect. Other than that, my veto letter speaks for itself and I look forward to the City Council deliberating whether or not to override the veto," Morse said. Voters in Massachusetts approved the recreational marijuana law in 2016 and permitted medical marijuana facilities by approving a statewide ballot question in 2012. Here is Holyoke City Council President Kevin A. Jourdain's statement about Mayor Alex B. Morse's veto of the Council's moratorium on approval of recreational marijuana retailers: The temporary moratorium has been the common sense solution used by nearly every community on the adoption of both medical marijuana and now recreational marijuana legalization laws. It is used to allow the city some time to draft and approve new ordinances to regulate the placement and permitting of marijuana facilities. After the legalization of medical marijuana, Holyoke passed a moratorium until our final zoning ordinance was adopted. The moratorium was then lifted, and the City Council has received exceptional praise for the comprehensive and thoughtful law we have adopted. Permit seekers such as Green Thumb Industries were then allowed to proceed accordingly. To have no moratorium is to invite chaos and allow potential locaters of marijuana facilities or retail shops to come into the city without having to follow any local controls to protect the city and its residents. It is not a simple matter to pass zoning ordinances and requires public hearings and much work. This is made more difficult by the fact that we have not yet even received a final version of the state law on recreational marijuana, and the state has released no regulations on how the new law will be administered. We also need guidance from our law department and municipal organizations on these new rules to make sure we get this right. The state has also placed a moratorium until June 1, 2018 on the operating of a recreational marijuana facility but we cannot count on that alone to protect the city and nor has other cities. Therefore, following our time tested method for protecting the people of Holyoke we have adopted a waiting period until our zoning ordinances can be adopted to accommodate the new law. We have already begun our work. When those are completed which will not extend beyond July 1, 2018 and hopefully sooner, the temporary moratorium will automatically be lifted. Regrettably like everything else, the Mayor has politicized this issue and thrown common sense out the window due to his blind following of his on-going radical agenda for Holyoke. His is an agenda of making Holyoke into a corporate drug dealer, without consideration to any of the impacts on neighborhoods, businesses, families, etc. He uses a fake message of marijuana as economic development because he is entirely empty of real solutions to grow Holyoke in any meaningful way and now admits marijuana is the best hope for our future. This is a clearly sad indictment of his Mayorship. His failed thinking on this issue is the same failed thinking that has brought hundreds if not thousands of more heroin addicts to our city, as well as, made us a mecca for more panhandlers. Our Mayor now sits so high on his horse filled with hubris as the self-righteous social justice warrior he views himself that he cannot see the decay he is creating around him. A company under the name "The Small Business Growth Alliance" or "Merchant Services" is still calling merchants and phishing for information. There are several numbers associated with the company including: 888-642-1153, 714-679-4760, and 888-642-1154 ext. 7128 (via Ripoff Report and information from merchants called upon). We strongly recommend rejecting calls from these numbers and/or blocking them. If you have any questions regarding companies that have contacted you, even if youre not one of our clients, please message or call us at 406-327-0611. Stay safe and keep your business information protected! Big Sky Commerce, Inc. https://bigskycommerce.com/ DURHAM North Carolina's governor said Tuesday that he wants to bring down Confederate monuments around the state, thrusting himself into a debate stoked by violence in Virginia and the toppling of a statue in his own state. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper's call to remove the monuments from public property came as a sheriff began arresting people responsible for tearing down a nearly century-old Confederate statue in Durham on Monday night. North Carolina is among three states with the most Confederate monuments, but the Republican-controlled General Assembly passed a law in 2015 preventing their removal without legislative approval. Cooper is likely to face an uphill battle against legislative leaders, who hold veto-proof majorities. "We cannot continue to glorify a war against the United States of America fought in the defense of slavery," Cooper said in a statement. "These monuments should come down." Around the time of Cooper's announcement, deputies were arresting the woman who climbed the statue in Durham and attached the rope that was used to tear it down. During a news conference Tuesday held by protest organizers, Takiyah Thompson identified herself as the woman who climbed the statue. She said her actions were a justified response to white supremacists. "The statue had to go, and it's linked to white supremacy that we see today," said the 22-year-old college student. After the news conference, sheriff's deputies arrived and took her away in handcuffs. The sheriff's office said she's charged with two felonies related to inciting and participating in a riot that damaged property, along with two misdemeanors. Investigators said late Tuesday that they expect to make other arrests. The 2015 law prohibits the removal of Confederate monuments without General Assembly approval. The governor said legislators need to repeal the law. Spokespeople for GOP House and Senate leaders didn't immediately respond to emails seeking comment. Cooper also directed state officials to study the cost and logistics of removing Confederate monuments from state property and moving them to historical sites or museums. There are three on the old Capitol grounds in Raleigh and one at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources said. The governor said he was moved to act by the violence at the Charlottesville, Virginia, rally, as well as the protest in Durham that toppled the statue. The Virginia rally was organized by people who disagree with efforts to remove a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee from a downtown park. North Carolina is one of only three states along with Virginia and Georgia that have 90 or more Confederate monuments, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. A state tally shows at least 120 Civil War monuments around North Carolina, with the vast majority dedicated to the Confederacy. Around 50 are located at contemporary or historic courthouses. Durham's Confederate Soldiers Monument, dedicated in 1924, stood in front of an old courthouse building that serves as local government offices. The statue came down Monday night after Thompson climbed a ladder and attached the rope. Demonstrators on the ground then used the rope to pull the bronze Confederate soldier from its pedestal as a crowd cheered. After it fell, some began kicking the statue, while others took photos standing or sitting on it. Organizers said the protest was in response to the Charlottesville violence. Law enforcement officers took video throughout the protest but didn't intervene. Durham County Sheriff Mike Andrews said he was aware of the potential for vandalism, but used restraint because of the risk of injuries if deputies moved in. "Had I ordered my deputies to engage a hostile crowd, there would have been serious injuries," Andrews said. "Statues can be replaced. Lives cannot." Still, he said he would pursue felony charges against the protesters responsible for bringing the statue down: "Let me be clear. No one is getting away with what happened yesterday." Some people who passed by the empty pedestal on Tuesday expressed mixed feelings about the statue and its fate. "I've walked by this statue several times in the last few weeks. And I've wondered, if it is appropriate," said Emily Yeatts, an attorney in Durham. "If there IS a way to remember and honor, as it says, 'The boys who wore the gray,' without also lending some legitimacy to the cause for which they fought. This statue has struck me as out of place in Durham, for some time. And while I was surprised to see the news footage last night, it seemed right." At the regular Monday meeting, the McDowell County Commissioners heard about a crisis now taking place at the Rutherford-Polk-McDowell District Health Department regarding a shortage of environmental health inspectors. Due to retirements and others leaving their positions, the district Health Department has experienced a shortage of people who perform environmental health inspections. These are the inspectors who check out septic tanks, wells, child care facilities, restaurants and other food establishments and swimming pools. Health Director Karen Powell said to the commissioners the district department has hired two new people but state law requires for them to spend a year in training before they can go out in the field and do inspections. In the meantime, this has caused a considerable backlog in getting inspections done for new homes, businesses and eateries. Powell said her department has filled one position in McDowell but more help is needed. Inspectors are coming from Buncombe County to work on the weekends and some retired inspectors are going to back to work on a part-time basis to ease the backlog. Anyone who raises their hand to work, were bringing them on, said Powell to the commissioners. She talked about one retired inspector with 30 years of experience who was willing to go back to work and help with the situation. But because of a state rule, he had to sit around and wait for more training before being able to go into the field again. After hearing from Powell, the commissioners agreed to send a resolution to state officials in Raleigh asking them to change this procedure. Commissioner Tony Brown said he was concerned about how this could affect the work of contractors in building new homes and buildings. In a related matter, the commissioners voted to have a study done that would look at the feasibility of a stand-alone health department for McDowell County. County officials said Monday they have heard from local residents about why McDowell does not have its own department, apart from the one that is shared with two other counties. This item was added to the agenda just before the start of Mondays meeting. On Tuesday, County Manager Ashley Wooten said the issue was more about the cost for health department services. He said the board is asking for a cost comparison between the county operating a standalone health department versus maintaining the current health district arrangement. The information should allow the board to determine if the services currently being provided by the district could be delivered through a different avenue at a lower cost, he said Tuesday. On the other hand the information may also indicate that the current system is the best and most cost efficient arrangement. In other business, the McDowell County Commission: Approved the tax collection settlement. Tax Collector Linda Onufrey reported a final collection rate of 99.22 percent. The commissioners also gave her the Order of Collection, which is the formal authorization to collect taxes. Heard a presentation from Anthony Carter with Morris Broadband. This cable TV and broadband Internet company serves the eastern and southern parts of McDowell and Carter gave an overview of what is now provided. He said Morris is looking at increasing broadband services in McDowell and upgrading the existing system. Were always going to invest in growth, he added. County officials said they want to see that happen. Weve got kids having to go to McDonalds to use their laptops, said Commission Chairman David Walker. Heard an update from Jerry Broome about the Workforce Development Pipeline. This effort seeks to connect people with available jobs in McDowell and helping them succeed in their careers. Theres jobs here for unskilled and skilled labor, said Broome. Theres good jobs in McDowell County going unfilled. However, employers need workers who are dependable and have a good work ethic. We have problems with folks showing up on time, with the right attitude, said Broome. He added the latest job fair, held on Thursday, Aug. 10, attracted 244 people and the latest unemployment rate for McDowell is 3.8 percent for the month of June. Heard another update about a proposed shooting range in McDowell. Since the July meeting, county officials have met with N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission and an adjacent property owner to talk about the shooting range proposal for the Ashworth Road property, which is county owned. N.C. Wildlife officials are now moving forward with additional sound tests. They will also hold a public meeting in the next few months to receive comments about the idea. The commissioners said they want to stay on top of this. Lets not let this sit around for a few weeks, said Brown. Approved a contract with the Asheville engineering consulting firm of McGill Associates to do the design work for the countys greenway park, which will be off Greenlee Road on the south bank of the Catawba River. A planned dog park could be located there. Approved the fire protection ordinance, which covers outdoor burning. This ordinance will be enforced by the county fire marshal and the Sheriffs Office. Heard an update about the reclassification of Lake James, which is part of the countys effort to build a water system. The state Environmental Management Commission approved the reclassification of the lake at their May meeting and the final rulemaking was approved as of July 1. McDowell County, Burke County and the city of Marion now have until March to adopt new watershed protection rules for the affected areas. The commissioners then directed the Planning Board to propose amendments to the Watershed Ordinance in order to comply with the reclassified area. Approved an agreement with the city of Marion about the extension of sewer to the property on N.C. 226 South that is planned Holiday Inn Express site. Property owner Prakash Kadire of New Jersey plans to build a hotel and other businesses on that property, which is next to Interstate 40. The new Holiday Inn Express is expected to create 24 full-time jobs. He and his company are investing quite a bit of money to get infrastructure to that site, said Wooten, adding this will allow for several nearby county buildings to be connected with city sewer. Talked about the ongoing contract dispute between Mission Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina. McDowell County, as well as several large employers such as the state of North Carolina, use Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC. Wooten said the countys insurance broker is working on a plan in case the contract is now renewed. The commissioners voted to send a letter to both parties asking for an amicable resolution to the contract negotiations. Reappointed Don Ramsey to the Adult Home Care/Nursing Home Advisory Board. The commissioners also reappointed Robert Boggs, Butch Justice, Kathy Rabb and David Wooten to the McDowell County Industrial Facilities and Pollution Control Financing Authority. We value your privacy. Focus Taiwan (CNA) uses tracking technologies to provide better reading experiences, but it also respects readers' privacy. Click here to find out more about Focus Taiwan's privacy policy. When you close this window, it means you agree with this policy. Tetrahydrocannabinol, the main active ingredient in cannabis, is linked to changes in how oxygen travels through the brain. This may correlate with changes in brain functions in the long-term, a new study argues. Share on Pinterest Chronic cannabis users have altered cerebral blood flow and metabolize oxygen at a different rate, new research suggests. Cannabis is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States, according to data from the 2015 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Recently, medical marijuana which is used for health treatment purposes has been legalized in a number of U.S. states. Some studies suggest that controlled cannabis use can reduce chronic pain, and Medical News Today have reported on research that linked marijuana with lower stress levels in consumers. However, medical marijuana has not yet been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a safe product to use, and some studies suggest that it can have negative effects, such as psychological decline, on long-term users. Considering the split opinions on the pros and cons of using cannabis, as well as its widespread use both recreationally and for medical purposes, it is important for specialists to gain a better understanding of its effects on the human system. Dr. Francesca Filbey, the director of Cognitive Neuroscience Research in Addictive Disorders at the Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas at Dallas, has recently led a new study analyzing the effects of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the main active substance in cannabis, on the brains of chronic cannabis users. THC is the ingredient responsible for the feeling of intense wellness that comes with cannabis use. This feeling is linked to the brains processing of oxygen, so Dr. Filbey and colleagues were quite interested in seeing how, exactly, THC affects the flow of oxygen through the brain, and the brains use of it. Our finding suggests that functional and structural changes that have been reported in the brains of marijuana users may be due to alterations in cerebrovascular function, declared Dr. Filbey for MNT. In theory, transplanting insulin-producing cells into the body should work as a treatment for type 1 diabetes. However, in practice, researchers face many challenges, especially in finding a non-hostile environment for the cells. Now, a new study describes a tissue engineering approach that may create a suitable environment under the skin. Share on Pinterest Researchers say implanting insulin-producing cells under the skin could be an effective treatment for type 1 diabetes. In the journal Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from the Institute of Biomaterials & Biomedical Engineering (IBBME) at the University of Toronto in Canada describe how they developed and tested their subcutaneous transplant method in a mouse model of type 1 diabetes. A significant feature of the study is that the transplant method uses tissue engineering to generate blood vessels that integrate with the hosts blood supply. Insulin-producing cells are very sensitive to lack of oxygen, and inadequate blood supply is a problem that has dogged previous attempts to transplant them. Type 1 diabetes destroys islet cells Diabetes is a chronic disease that develops when the body cannot stop blood sugar or glucose getting too high. If untreated, high blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, damages many parts of the body, including the heart, kidneys, eyes, nerves, and blood vessels. Insulin a hormone that is produced in the pancreas is the bodys main regulator of blood sugar. It helps cells to take in sugar and use it for energy. In people with type 1 diabetes, their immune system destroys the islet cells in their pancreas that produce insulin. In type 2 diabetes, the body produces insulin but cannot use it effectively. There are approximately 30.3 million people living with diabetes in the United States. Type 1 diabetes, which accounts for around 5 percent of diabetes, is most often diagnosed in childhood, or during the teenage and young adult years. There is currently no cure for type 1 diabetes and as yet, nobody knows how to prevent it. People with the disease need daily insulin injections to survive. Challenges of transplanting islet cells Transplanting of islet cells from donors is seen as a promising approach to treating type 1 diabetes. However, where to transplant them in the body and then how to help them survive is proving to be a major challenge to researchers. Alexander Vlahos, lead author of the new study and Ph.D. candidate at IBBME, says that, Pancreatic islets are scattered throughout the pancreas in between other pancreatic cells that secrete digestive enzymes. This makes it impractical to try and deliver islets to the pancreas: you would most likely be delivering it to a region of the pancreas that is secreting these enzymes, he explains. Other sites, such as the liver or the abdominal cavity, are equally unsuitable. Their hostile environments soon damage the cells. For example, in transplants into the portal vein of the liver, around 60 percent of the cells die in the first 48 hours. To ensure that enough cells survive, the transplant requires such a large volume of cells that the patient would require islet cells from several donors. Therefore, explain the researchers, there is a need for a less hostile transplant site that is both minimally invasive and able to support a large transplant volume. Not only does the skin meet these requirements, it is accessible, and makes islet transplantation a lot more manageable, especially if the patient responds negatively to the donor cells, says Vlahos. Could as little as 1 hour of sleep influence childrens risk of developing type 2 diabetes? A new study suggests so. Share on Pinterest New research investigates the link between sleep duration and risk markers for type 2 diabetes in children. In the United States, 1 in 3 people are estimated to develop type 2 diabetes at one point in their lifetime. The disease affects men and women of all ages, but according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), over 5,000 young people are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes every year. Researchers from St. Georges, University of London in the United Kingdom set out to examine the potential link between sleep duration and type 2 diabetes risk in children. The team was led by St. Georges professor Christopher G. Owen, and the findings were published in the journal Pediatrics. As the authors of the new research explain, the possible associations between the length of sleep and the risk markers for type 2 diabetes have not been sufficiently studied. Studying sleep duration and diabetes risk Prof. Owen and colleagues examined 4,525 multiethnic children aged between 9 and 10 years, all of whom were living in the U.K. They took the childrens body measurements, including height, weight, blood pressure, and bioimpedance a measure of how well the body resists electric current, which gives insights into body composition. The researchers took blood samples and tested the childrens predisposition to type 2 diabetes using a plasma glucose test. The scientists also tested the childrens levels of lipids, insulin, and the hemoglobin HbA1c, among others. Insulin is the hormone that regulates blood sugar. An imbalance in the bodys lipids or body fat is thought to be involved in cardiovascular complications for people with type 2 diabetes. Finally, HbA1c has been shown to be a marker of such lipid impairment. Sleep duration was calculated using the information provided by the children. They reported on the time they typically go to bed and the time they wake up on a school day. The researchers confirmed this information in a subgroup of children, using an accelerometer-based sleep tracker. Prof. Owen and team fed the body measurements, as well as the cardiovascular and type 2 diabetes risk markers, into multilevel linear regression models, adjusting for possible confounders such as sex, age, ethnicity, socioeconomic background, and the effect their schools might have on the results. Stanford University scientists have described a new type of test that can detect genetic mutations in minute amounts of DNA released from cancer cells into the blood. The test, which is called single color digital PCR, requires only a fraction of a tube of blood and can detect as few as three mutation-bearing molecules in a single reaction. According to the report in The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, this highly sensitive test has the potential to be personalized to recognize mutations unique to any individual cancer. "For monitoring patient tumors, only a handful of blood tests are available which are limited to only several types of cancers. Nearly all cancer patients require monitoring by whole body imaging, which can be costly, complex, and time-consuming. In contrast, molecular tests like the one we have developed will enable patients to be monitored at every visit, and thus have the potential for quickly tracking cancer growth and spread. Moreover, the test's rapid turnaround and relatively low cost, especially compared to next-generation DNA sequencing, provide a potential opportunity for universal monitoring of more patients than is currently done," explained lead investigator Hanlee P. Ji, MD, Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine at Stanford University and Senior Associate Director of the Stanford Genome Technology Center. The report describes the use of the test to analyze samples from six patients. Five patients were previously diagnosed with colorectal cancer and one with cholangiocarcinoma. After generation of customized mutation detection assays, the researchers were able to identify tumor-derived circulating DNA from three out of six patients. In one patient, the assay was able to show the presence of three different mutations. The three patients, whose samples did not show elevated cancer DNA, were undergoing active treatment at the time of collection. The single-color digital PCR test offers several advantages over other methods of circulating tumor DNA analysis, compared to next-generation targeted sequencing and fluorescent probe-based digital PCR assays. The main advantage is that the new technique does not rely on pre-amplification, which can introduce errors and biases. "This test is simple enough to set up and analyze without extensive training, and therefore, it can be implemented by anyone, making it highly accessible to any laboratory. It has been truly motivating to work with a technology that will help transform the way that we monitor and treat individuals with cancer. I am excited to share our findings with the cancer research community," noted lead author and researcher Christina Wood Bouwens, of the Stanford Genome Technology Center and the Division of Oncology, Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California. Article: Single-Color Digital PCR Provides High-Performance Detection of Cancer Mutations from Circulating DNA, Christina Wood-Bouwens, Billy T. Lau, Christine M. Handy, HoJoon Lee, and Hanlee P. Ji, The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics, doi: 10.1016/j.jmoldx.2017.05.003, published online 14 August 2017. Advertisement To understand what factors are driving this increase, researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center asked women how they approach the emotional side of decision-making - if they often regret their decisions, if they take a more rational or more intuitive approach and how much they want their doctor to tell them what to do."The decision-making process is complicated. We found there are a lot of values that come into play," says lead study author Sarah T. Hawley, Ph.D., MPH, professor of internal medicine at Michigan Medicine.Researchers surveyed 2,362 women newly diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. Women were asked how strongly they considered prophylactic contralateral mastectomy as a treatment option. They were also asked about their values and their decision-making style. About 54 percent of women said they considered double mastectomy, with a quarter saying they strongly considered it.Women who reported they were worried about making a bad decision were more likely to consider double mastectomy. Those who considered themselves more logical in their decision making considered it less often than those who said they go with their gut.Of the concerns studied, worry about cancer returning and avoiding radiation exposure were most strongly associated with considering contralateral prophylactic mastectomy. But a more aggressive surgery does not always address those concerns, the researchers note."Fears about radiation are common, so it is very important to make sure women are fully informed before they make the decision to pursue much more aggressive surgery than they need," says study author Reshma Jagsi, M.D., D.Phil., professor and deputy chair of radiation oncology at Michigan Medicine."We need to make sure women understand how far technology has advanced to make radiation treatment safe and tolerable. We also need to make sure women understand that even after mastectomy radiation might be recommended, if the cancer has certain features," she adds.In addition,. The findings suggest that this more aggressive treatment tends to be driven by patient desire, rather than a physician's recommendation."It goes against what the traditional shared decision-making model would suggest, which is when you involve people and inform them fully, most people would be inclined to choose less extensive treatment," Hawley says.The researchers suggest that physicians and decision aids need to consider patient values during the process. Hawley and colleagues have developed a decision tool that walks patients through an exercise to prioritize their values, mapping those values to potential treatment decisions. They plan to broaden that based on these findings.This could mean educating patients about misperceptions around risk. Many patients overestimate their risk of cancer returning, and they may not understand the impact of double mastectomy. It could also mean simply acknowledging a patient may feel uncomfortable with some treatment recommendations."A lot of these conversations around therapy - including extensive therapy that may not be truly beneficial in terms of survival - may come down to emotional values. Physicians need to help patients feel comfortable with treatment decisions within their underlying nature and values. This includes helping patients understand when less extensive treatment might be the right option. Patients need to feel secure in knowing that choice will give them their best chance at survival," Hawley says.Source: Eurekalert Please complete this form and we'll send you a personalised information that is requested You may use this for your own reference or forward it to your friends. Please use the information prudently. If you are not a medical doctor please remember to consult your healthcare provider as this information is not a substitute for professional advice. Pakistan seems to be a land of some really aesthetically blessed people. People have spotted a man who sold tea and went on to become a super model, then the Virat Kohli look alike who actually works at Domino's, and what not! Well, a new celebrity has risen from the land of the better version of Coke Studio and this time he is being called a hybrid of Zayn Malik and Harry Potter. After Tallie Dar shared his pictures on Twitter, many people on the internet jumped on the band wagon and couldn't believe it. Zayn cut the crap when are you dropping your new album? London Tipsy (@britwillsit223) August 8, 2017 The guy has been renamed as Zayn Potter by the good folks on Twitter Zayn Potter. daddy moratita (@chillchinchilIa) August 7, 2017 And some people don't want to come to terms with the fact that he is not actually Zayn! Ya @zaynmalik, when you dropping your new album? Tallie (@talliedar) August 8, 2017 I LEGIT THOUGHT THIS WAS ZAYN ? (@Mstilinski0) August 7, 2017 I'm not gonna go like others & say I thought you were zayn for a sec but I legit thought you were zayn for a sec I like u bye (@Manorita_) August 7, 2017 He might look like Harry , but gals want to Slytherin into the good books. Sorry Gryffindor! A guy that looks like zayn and Harry Potter? Sign me TF UP https://t.co/U13YSCKMWE (@XOFXRH) August 10, 2017 The internet is a funny place because sometimes you'll get the stardom that you didn't even sign up for. So if you look like someone, here's your chance to claim some fame. We wonder how Mr. Tallie Dhar is feeling right now? Turkmenistan, Georgia mull trade, economic projects The Turkmen Foreign Ministry hosted a meeting with a Georgian delegation headed by countrys Deputy Finance Minister Nikoloz Gagua in Ashgabat on August 8.They discussed issues of trade and economic relations, as well as possibilities of major strategic projects in this area.The Turkmenistan representatives expressed their commitment to the development of cooperation with the countries of the Caucasus region, the message said. In this context, the role of high-level visits and the commitment of the sides to further implementation of the agreements reached on a systematic basis were noted.Talking about bilateral cooperation in cultural and humanitarian sphere, the sides discussed the opportunities for boosting bilateral contacts for the purpose of achievement of a qualitatively new level in this sphere. We condemn the participation of fYROM's Consul General in Toronto, Jovica Palacevski, in an irredentist event, a participation that constitutes yet another violation by fYROM of the Interim Accord, which requires abstention from any action supporting territorial claims. The backdrop of the platform from which Mr. Palacevski addressed the participants of this event depicted irredentist symbols and a map of fYROM that included Greek territory. FYROM's new government claims that it aspires to a new beginning in its relations with Greece. However, despite the change of leadership, it seems that irredentism continues to be the dominant state ideology and day-to-day political practice in our neighbouring country. The renouncement of irredentism, respect for borders, and practical compliance with the principles of good neighbourliness are necessary conditions for the realisation of fYROM's Euroatlantic aspirations. MHz said: When challenged, hire a professional. Anybody got a number for Moses? Click to expand... ========================================================================================================Poor LIE-berals- they simply do NOT want to face reality!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ALL LIE-beral trade problems stem from their contempt for national security!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!And Trump considers that criminals using Canada as a base of operations to prey upon Yankees IS A NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUE!!!!!!!!!When it comes to trade and national security- the ENTIRE WORLD is laughing at Our idiot Boy Justin!!!!!!!!!!!Here is an article illustrating exactly how out of touch Our idiot Boy is with regard to trade and national security issues. With some comments of my own in brackets):Chinese ambassador says Trudeau's 'progressive' agenda has no place in free trade pactFrom Canadian Press. Published: April 10, 2018. Updated: April 10, 2018 4:26 PM EDTFiled Under: Toronto SUN/ News/ CanadaOTTAWA Chinas ambassador says his country firmly rejects Canadas attempts to entrench labour standards in a free trade pact.Envoy Lu Shaye says Canadas so-called progressive trade agenda has no place in a free trade agreement.Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was unable to persuade Chinas leaders to formally entrench labour, gender, environment and governance issues in the negotiating framework of free trade talks.(It is silly enough for Our idiot Boy to talk progressive trade issues with our Yankee allies but it is quite utterly INSANE to talk progressive issues with China! China has a LONG HISTORY of using convicted criminals and political prisoners in dangerous and dirty jobs- working these social undesirables as slave labour! Our idiot Boy actually thought he could discuss women`s issues and the rights of people labouring in Chinese Galags with his Chinese pals! The Chinese must have wondered what Our idiot Boy was smoking? Or maybe they were just put off by his tactless stupidity and hunger for selfies?)(After all, Pierre Trudeau heaped fawning praise on Chairman Mao for his genius in rushing 30 million Chinese to the gallows! And Our idiot Boy told us a couple of years back that he admires the Chinese Communist Party for the way they get things done! And idiot brother Sacha Trudope penned an homage to vile Cuban dictator Castro in which he claimed that Castro ws the greatest South American leader of the twentieth century- and much superior to other leaders who had only been elected!)(And yet- there was Our idiot Boy whining about progressive social issues to Chinese leaders who consider the entire Trudeau clan to be useful idiots- to use the Lenin phrase! China will be polite enough to the Trudopes when it is convenient for China! But they have no desire to become props in the psycho drama being played out by a silver spoon socialist with daddy issues like Our idiot Boy!)(Pierre Trudeau has clearly indoctrinated his boys fully into his poisoned mind set that includes such philosophical gems a these: that the war against Nazi Germany was British imperialism and that what Pierre referred to as Cdn Imperialism has to be destroyed- apparently Pierre was referring to what we now call white privilege! With such a twisted freak family back ground it is little wonder that Our idiot Boy thinks that Isis fighters returning to Canada can become a powerful voice in our country! And there is little surprise that Chinese leaders refused to be part of the Trudope progressive trade parade that seems motivated mainly by a hope that Our idiot Boy can find some international approval and support for the wsy he is deliberately screwing up NAFTA to spite the Yankees that he hates!)Trudeau spent four days in China in December but left without a formal commitment to moving the free trade talks past the exploratory phase into formal negotiations.Lu says Canadas insistence on pushing labour standards in the NAFTA talks with Mexico to raise wages would only lead to the shuttering of Mexican auto plants and lost jobs.(Yes- the Chinese see more clearly than Our idiot Boy! The jobs went to Mexico as a vital way to control rising union costs and make Yankee cars more affordable- in the face of formidable sales pressure from other auto makers around the world! A trade agreement that raised Mexican wages WOULD result in CLOSED Mexican car plants as higher prices killed car sales!)Lu says starting a free trade negotiation with Canada would send a strong message to the world as it contends with the Trump administrations America First protectionism.(Our idiot Boy would be DELIGHTED to set up a free trade deal with China! The problem is that such a deal would GUT CDN SOVEREIGNTY! Chinese negotiators play HARD BALL! A free trade deal with China would make those current Trump demands on national security- which would BENEFIT CANADA AS WELL AS YANKEES- seem simple and mild compared to Chinese requirements for a deal! Our idiot Boy must have been badly disappointed at having his progressive trade shtick so bluntly rebuffed by the Chinese after having spent so many years as a dedicated, card carrying member of the silver spoon socialist useful idiot brigade!) As I began college, I attended a large assembly of new students. I remember the speaker at the time saying, look to your right, and look to your left. Each of those persons will not be here in four years. In other words, two of the three people who were starting would not finish. I assume at the time it was supposed to be a motivating factor, and, for me, it was. But, those words also point to a problem about what college is, whether it has been oversold, and what other good options exist outside the college experience. Its time to ask the question: Is College Worth It? Lets look at both sides of the question. As studies document, in the long term, college education creates the conditions for higher levels of attainment (measured by earnings). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, holders of four-year bachelor degrees earn over $1 million more in their lifetimes than do high school graduates. Moreover, college, when fully engaged, provides a great gift: the opportunity to gain knowledge about higher things and probe deeper meaningsincluding the wisdom of the ages, the nobility of the arts, and the reservoir of scientific understandingin order to better oneself and the world. All of this is good. Clearly, college has the potential to enhance the human experience and effectively position a person for advancement. Now, lets look at another answer to the question. College is not the be-all and end-all of human existence, as some would have you believe. In fact, it is now a place where many students become frustrated, waste time, waste money and confront an ideological environment that can be hostile. A place of enormous promise, but, increasingly, a place where its exorbitant and soaring cost might not justify the potential earning benefits of particular degrees. A place where isolation and loneliness can be real. Where pressures mount amid human unraveling. On the price equation, underwriting the cost of education through student loans has placed enormous debts on recent graduates, some of whom have limited means to pay those debts back. At $1.3 trillion, student loan debt is now the second highest category of consumer debt, surpassing auto loan and credit card debt. The average student from the class of 2016 owes around $37,000 in loans. Over two million borrowers have student loan debt above $100,000. The student loan default rate sits at 11.2 percent. This is why I often caution young students to not exceed a standard car loan in terms of indebtedness. Today, positive changes in vocational education, along with innovative partnerships with paid apprentice programs, are creating extraordinary options for young people. With a trade focus beginning in high school (combined with community college), in-demand trades like welding, machine operation, and electromechanical tech can earn a person $30,000-$50,000 right out of school. A dedicated person can quickly evolve to be a master craftsman, making $60,000-$80,000 a year. The top craftsmen make over $100,000 a year. All right here in Nebraska. In its ideal form, education, not just college, should be about wonder. That means, at its core, advanced education should engender an authentic commitment to the whole person, and a daily renewal and alignment of the will, the mind, and the imagination to that which humbly serves all of humanity. So, to answer the questionIs College Worth It? It depends. For some, the revived and noble idea of becoming an American craftsman, or working in other service fields, is a great pathway that comes with the reward of knowing how to make things. For others, a four-year college is an appropriate investment in intellectual and self formation. Over time, I obtained three degrees. As my family often teased me, Jeffrey would study for a blood test. For the third consecutive year, Archbishop Bergan Catholic Schools reached record enrollment heading into the new academic calendar. During the 2016-2017 school year, total enrollment pre-kindergarten through 12th grade peaked at 455 students, a 5-percent increase from the previous school year. This year, Bergan Principal Dan Koenig said during a Tuesday interview with the Tribune that enrollment has reached a new all-time high of 510 students a 12-percent increase. In addition, in its second year of operation, Bergans Early Childhood Center housing 3, 4 and 5-year-olds has proven to be a great success, Koenig said. Bergans high school, consisting of seventh-graders through 12th-graders, could still grow ever so slightly in terms of student numbers, however, the elementary is at capacity this year. Bergan elementary is just full, Koenig said. I mean, we have no more classroom space to utilize, so at this point we are just making sure we have the appropriate student to teacher ratio. That ratio is generally 13 students to every instructor, he said. With the predominant growth occurring at the elementary building, some adjustments were made over the summer months. Bergan Elementary now consists of two units for every classroom two kindergartens, two first-grades, two second-grades, two third-grades and two fourth-grades. And then our fifth and sixth-grade program is three classrooms where the kids rotate between those three classrooms, Koenig said. Last year we only had one fourth-grade class, and now due to growth and continual movement those fourth graders have moved up into the fifth and sixth-grade model and they rotate through into three different classrooms. Because of the growth, the schools art room has shifted into a fifth and sixth-grade classroom. That led to some growth there, and now art is on a cart for the time being, he said. But its working out pretty well for us. Another new item being integrated into Bergan Elementary is Project Lead the Way, which implements STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) into current curriculum. The program will start at the elementary pre-k through sixth-grade, and the plan is to integrate it into the high school next year. Currently, Trinity Lutheran Schools utilizes Project Lead the Way, too. When we do become Project Lead the Way certified at the middle school and high school level, we will become the only school in the state of Nebraska that is K-12 Project Lead the Way certified that we are aware of. At Archbishop Bergan High School this year, an emphasis is being placed on student ministry. While this is always a focal point, an even greater amount of time will be spent guiding students on their faith path. We want to make sure that we are allowing our kids to lead the faith programs, whether thats retreats, whether thats worship or whether thats service work, he said. We are really trying to push at the K-12 level campus ministry, and getting our kids involved in the ministry. Father Walter Nolte, who recently replaced Fr. Dave Beldt to oversee the parish, will play a vital role in this. He has a real passion for campus ministry, Koenig said of Nolte. He will work with our current director of campus ministry, Michael Vanek, to help push that forward. Koenig is excited to dive into a new year with his students and staff. In his fifth year as principal, Koenig is in many different places throughout the day, and he love it. Im excited to continue working through three different buildings, he said. The variety that I get to experience daily personally of working with 3-year-olds, and then working with 18-year-olds, is my favorite part of my job. I start off at the high school in the morning, then check in with the Early Childhood Center and then I come down here (elementary building) in the afternoon and do this. The variety is very evident with what I do and thats something that I really do enjoy. In preparation for the celestial event of the century, Keene Memorial Library has featured a bevy of Solar Eclipse related programming throughout the last month. After hosting presentations by the Edgerton Explorit! Center from Aurora earlier this month, the library will continue with eclipse related programming leading up to the big day next week. At a presentation slated for Wednesday night at the library, Librarian Laura England-Biggs will speak about the science behind eclipses. The presentation will begin at 7 pm and last approximately 45 minutes to one hour. I have a PowerPoint presentation that looks at the difference between a lunar eclipse and a solar eclipse, and talks about what makes this eclipse so special, England-Biggs said. Attendees will also get a chance to get their hands on eclipse glasses that will be available at the event. We are hoping to give away one per person, England-Biggs said. There will also be programming on the day of the eclipse, Aug. 21, which will feature a short presentation, building of pinhole viewers and decorating sun cookies. The presentation will feature an abbreviated PowerPoint that will appeal more to children and the building of pinhole viewers to watch a projection of the eclipse through a cereal box. We are using cereal boxes and you put a white piece of paper in the bottom of the box to be the viewing screen, and then you cut parts of the box top off on either end, and then put a sheet of aluminum foil on one of the holes and poke a hole in it, England-Biggs said. That acts as a little mini projector and you look through the other side and you can watch the eclipse as it is projected on the bottom of the box. There will also be eclipse glasses available for attendees to look through during the eclipse, and cookies made to look like the sun complete with solar flares and solar spots. We will use icing and colored sugar for the sun, and Skittles to be the magnetic storms that are called sunspots, England-Biggs said. The library has focused its programming on the spectacle of the total solar eclipse where the shadow of the moon will sweep across the United States in a narrow band from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, because of its rarity. For us it is once in a lifetime, England-Biggs said. The last total eclipse was 40 years ago and the next total eclipse that is going to be visible from Nebraska is in about 400 years. So unless someone knows something I dont know this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Keene Memorial Library has joined the STAR Library Education Network (STAR_Net) and its NASA Library initiative, which are providing resources and STEM activities to libraries across the nation related to the eclipse. Partners include NASA, the American Library Association, and many other organizations. This project was made possible through support from the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Google, and the National Science Foundation. We have really been trying to focus on our STEM to support the schools, England-Biggs said. A lot of kids are interested in the sciences and so we want to hook them and keep them interested and remind them that there are books about these things. For the first time since 1776, the path of the Aug. 21 total solar eclipse will be exclusively visible in the contiguous United States. Nebraska Extension is hoping to capitalize on the rare scientific opportunity by encouraging Nebraskans to become citizen scientists. Citizen scientists are community members who contribute to research, observations and projects from their own backyards. Evidence from past solar eclipses suggests there will be a temperature change throughout the eclipse. According to NASA, the difference in temperature is three-quarters to one-half of the maximum day-night difference. Extension is asking classrooms, schools, organizations and individuals to assist in confirming this temperature change by measuring, recording and reporting the ambient temperature in Fahrenheit before, during and after the eclipse. During the eclipse, the moons umbral shadow will move across the United States from Oregon to South Carolina in a little more than 90 minutes. More than 200 Nebraska communities fall within the path of totality, where observers will see the moon completely cover the sun for roughly two-and-a-half minutes. Citizen scientists are encouraged to visit http://raisingnebraska.unl.edu/solareclipse, where they will find a tool to submit their recorded temperatures. The tool was developed by IANR Media. Also at the site, Nebraskans can watch educational training sessions focused on the eclipse. Camp Lejeune Town Halls Aim to Help Those Exposed to Toxic Water. Heres How You Can Go. Retired Marine Master Sgt. Jerry Ensminger made it his mission to tell the world that if they lived or served on Camp Lejeune... Starving ISIS defenders who have surrendered or been captured in the siege of Raqqa have shown signs of using amphetamines to stay in what is described as a "brutal fight" for the Syrian city, a U.S. military spokesman said Wednesday. The ISIS fighters taken into custody recently by the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces and questioned by "coalition" advisers have been malnourished and emaciated, with track marks on their arms. The SDF, a mix of Arab and Kurdish fighters, and advisers who have seen detainees with "pocked needle marks" on their arms have concluded ISIS fighters are using amphetamines to boost their "murderous fervor," said Army Col. Ryan Dillon, a spokesman for Combined Joint Task Force-Operation Inherent Resolve. "Those are the signs we assessed to be amphetamine," he said. In a phone briefing to the Pentagon from Baghdad, Dillon said the initial reports from Raqqa, the so-called capital of the ISIS caliphate, are the first he has heard of ISIS fighters "using some sort of drugs to keep them alert and keep them going." He said it is one of the "signs of their desperation" in the fight for Raqqa, where "desperate and fanatical terrorists are clinging to territory with no chance of escape." The SDF claims control of about 55 percent of Raqqa, but Dillon predicted the fight for the town will not get "quicker and easier" as ISIS employs "fiendishly clever" improvised explosive devices and relies on the same "three-dimensional" defense U.S. and Iraqi commanders described them using in the battle for Mosul. ISIS troops in Raqqa have been fighting from rooftops, on the ground and in the warren of tunnels they have dug under the city, Dillon said. Earlier this week, the SDF repelled a counterattack launched by ISIS from a tunnel complex, he added. Dillon confirmed that Army Gen. Joseph Votel, commander of U.S. Central Command, had arrived in Baghdad to meet with Iraqi officials and to confer with Army Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, commander of CJTF-OIR, on the progress of the war in Iraq and Syria against ISIS. It was not immediately clear whether Votel would go into Syria, which he has done in the past. In his briefing from Baghdad, Dillon was questioned on the long-standing discrepancies between the numbers of U.S. troops reported to be in Iraq and Syria by the Pentagon and the numbers actually on the ground. Dillon again gave the "Force Management Levels" of troops -- 5,200 in Iraq and slightly above 500 in Syria -- but acknowledged the numbers could be considerably higher when those deemed to be on "temporary" assignment are taken into account. President Donald Trump has given Defense Secretary Jim Mattis wide latitude to set the Force Management Levels, or numbers of troops, in Iraq and Syria, but Mattis to date has retained Obama administration levels, while boosting forces on temporary assignment. Dillon acknowledged that the numbers he gave on U.S. troops in Iraq and Syria did not include "people who come in and out for the fight on a temporary basis. This is policy, and I can't comment further." -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Related Video: This op-ed by Derek Coy originally appeared on Task & Purpose, a digital news and culture publication dedicated to military and veterans issues. Derek Coy is a former Marine sergeant and Iraq War veteran. He earned a master's degree in Middle Eastern history from the City College of New York and currently lives in the Bronx. Follow Derek Coy on Twitter @classicdcoy After hearing that white nationalists were gathering in Charlottesville this past weekend to protest the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee, I was disgusted. The issue hit way too close to home. Before enlisting in the Marine Corps, I attended a high school in my hometown of Baytown, Texas, named after "the Confederacy's top general." I attended a junior college down the street that was named after him as well. Its mascot was a Confederate flag-toting "Rebel." I never really thought much of it, considering Confederate flags were damn-near ubiquitous in the South. At least 20 other schools in Texas were named after him, and others still that had Rebels as their mascot. This seemed totally ordinary growing up. It wasn't until after I studied history in college and grad school on the GI Bill that I realized just how troubling it was to name an American school after him. "Treason against the United States," the Constitution tells us, consists "only in levying war against them." If your definition of a "traitor" doesn't include Robert E. Lee, it doesn't include anyone. But his, and the Confederacy's, treason was doubly toxic: His was an organization that levied war against the United States to keep human beings in bondage for no other reason that the color of their skin. I discussed these feelings with a few people I grew up with and got the typical rebuttals: "The war wasn't about slavery, it was about state's rights." Or "The flag isn't about racism, it's about Southern pride." Both excuses are bull----. The Civil War was fought to preserve the institution of slavery, and any pride in that flag is inextricably linked to the band of traitors who rebelled against the United States to keep black human beings in bondage. Here is South Carolina's declaration of secession, the first among Confederate states; the word "slave" appears 18 times. Lest you think my position is just a product of liberal college brainwashing, here's a great video of Army Col. Ty Seidule, the head of West Point's history department, breaking it down for you. And though paying homage to traitors is pervasive in the South -- 10 military bases there are named for former Confederate officers -- the problem isn't exclusive to southern states by any means. Last June, Democratic Rep. Yvette Clark of New York called on the Department of the Army to re-christen two streets on Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn that are named after Lee and fellow traitor Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson. The Army denied her request. Honoring these treasonous men isn't just inappropriate; it sets a dangerous precedent whose ramifications are being felt today. Not only does keeping "rebel" names on monuments and places normalize the disgusting beliefs they fought for, it fuels hatred and violence that is felt to this day -- with no more clear example than the heinous acts that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend. If we continue to honor men who committed treason, or held beliefs that are counter to the ideals that this country has striven to achieve, then we shouldn't be surprised to see the Confederate flag waving, as it did last weekend, next to another sinister symbol of hate: the swastika, an icon of yet another inhuman militant force that the United States has had beat in war. Our country is by no means perfect. I'll be the first to admit it -- especially as an historian. When the Harlem Hellfighters came home after their storied deployment during World War II, they were met with Jim Crow segregation. When the Navajo Code Talkers did the same, they faced the same oppression their people had already endured for hundreds of years. The same story is true of more than half a million Jews who served honorably during World War II; those who survive today still see Nazi flags being waved -- but it's 2017 now, and this is America. That s--- has got to stop. Countless women and men have served this country honorably in the face of adversity and excelled against insurmountable odds. It should not be controversial to honor them, rather than disloyal citizens willing to take up arms against the country that provided them with the freedom to display their repugnant beliefs. Furthermore, it is incredibly irresponsible for the U.S. Army to demand its soldiers swear an oath to defend our country's constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, while simultaneously paying homage to the idols of one of its largest domestic threats. To do so at a time when "the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security" just recently "warned that white supremacist groups had already carried out more attacks than any other domestic extremist group over the past 16 years and were likely to carry out more attacks over the next year" is incomprehensible. More articles from Task & Purpose: A Brief History Of The US Military As An American Social Experiment 6 Types Of Majors You Meet In The Military Its Time To Change The Names Of Bases That Honor Confederate Traitors The opinions expressed in this op-ed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Military.com. -- If you would like to submit your own commentary, please send your article to opinions@military.com for consideration. As I began college, I attended a large assembly of new students. I remember the speaker at the time saying, look to your right, and look to your left. Each of those persons will not be here in four years. In other words, two of the three people who were starting would not finish. I assume at the time it was supposed to be a motivating factor, and, for me, it was. But, those words also point to a problem about what college is, whether it has been oversold, and what other good options exist outside the college experience. Its time to ask the question: Is College Worth It? Lets look at both sides of the question. As studies document, in the long term, college education creates the conditions for higher levels of attainment (measured by earnings). According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, holders of four-year bachelor degrees earn over $1 million more in their lifetimes than do high school graduates. Moreover, college, when fully engaged, provides a great gift: the opportunity to gain knowledge about higher things and probe deeper meaningsincluding the wisdom of the ages, the nobility of the arts, and the reservoir of scientific understandingin order to better oneself and the world. All of this is good. Clearly, college has the potential to enhance the human experience and effectively position a person for advancement. Now, lets look at another answer to the question. College is not the be-all and end-all of human existence, as some would have you believe. In fact, it is now a place where many students become frustrated, waste time, waste money, and confront an ideological environment that can be hostile. A place of enormous promise, but, increasingly, a place where its exorbitant and soaring cost might not justify the potential earning benefits of particular degrees. A place where isolation and loneliness can be real. Where pressures mount amid human unraveling. On the price equation, underwriting the cost of education through student loans has placed enormous debts on recent graduates, some of whom have limited means to pay those debts back. At $1.3 trillion, student loan debt is now the second highest category of consumer debt, surpassing auto loan and credit card debt. The average student from the class of 2016 owes around $37,000 in loans. Over two million borrowers have student loan debt above $100,000. The student loan default rate sits at 11.2 percent. This is why I often caution young students to not exceed a standard car loan in terms of indebtedness. Today, positive changes in vocational education, along with innovative partnerships with paid apprentice programs, are creating extraordinary options for young people. With a trade focus beginning in high school (combined with community college), in-demand trades like welding, machine operation, and electromechanical tech can earn a person $30,000-$50,000 right out of school. A dedicated person can quickly evolve to be a master craftsman, making $60,000-$80,000 a year. The top craftsmen make over $100,000 a year. All right here in Nebraska. In its ideal form, education, not just college, should be about wonder. That means, at its core, advanced education should engender an authentic commitment to the whole person, and a daily renewal and alignment of the will, the mind, and the imagination to that which humbly serves all of humanity. So, to answer the questionIs College Worth It? It depends. For some, the revived and noble idea of becoming an American craftsman, or working in other service fields, is a great pathway that comes with the reward of knowing how to make things. For others, a four-year college is an appropriate investment in intellectual and self formation. Over time, I obtained three degrees. As my family often teased me, Jeffrey would study for a blood test. The hateful signs and speech of the infamous Westboro Baptist Church have become synonymous with soldiers funerals. As deplorable as their message is, it is protected under the First Amendment and must remain so. In that vein, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals struck an appropriate balance in upholding Nebraskas funeral picketing law as constitutional in a ruling released Friday morning. The 500-foot buffer allows funeral-goers space to grieve while not infringing upon protesters right to free speech. Even the churchs despicable rhetoric merits protection. The First Amendment makes no distinction between popular speech productive to society and speech that is abhorrent. Celebrating the deaths of soldiers as some twisted sign that God is punishing the United States for tolerating homosexuality is certainly the latter. The case that came before the court centered on the 2011 funeral of Navy SEAL Caleb Nelson in Omaha. There, Westboro members were still allowed to picket and share signs that read God Hates Fags with passersby. Nelsons family and friends, meanwhile, could grieve without being forced to consume Westboros venom as should be the case. As Judge Bobby Shepherd wrote in the opinion: The First Amendment guarantees free speech, not forced listeners. "This law strikes the appropriate balance between First Amendment free speech rights and the rights of grieving families to bury their loved ones in peace," Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson said in a release after the ruling. Though first written more than 230 years ago, the First Amendment remains under a microscope for interpretation in the present era. The boundaries of speech and expression are always being pushed by a new group, aiming to win over hearts and minds, regardless of the content of that message even if its one we wish could be silenced. Part of the irony of Westboros ongoing crusade to parlay the deaths of soldiers into a megaphone for the churchs message of hate is that the freedoms for which these men and women fought and died still protect Westboros right to spread its vile opinions. Judges and attorneys constantly have to take into consideration speech and dissemination the Founding Fathers never would have dreamed of seeing and few entities are more responsible for that evolution than Westboro. After all, the churchs success in a previous court case invalidated Nebraskas previous 300-foot buffer, which was replaced by the 500-foot limit upheld this week by the courts. The outcome of Fridays ruling was the best of both worlds preserving families chance to grieve in peace without restricting Westboros ability to deliver its appalling message. Qatar Airways will launch flights to Thailands beautiful Chiang Mai, its fourth destination in Thailand. The new route comes in addition to existing services to the Thai capital Bangkok, and to the top holiday destinations of Phuket and Krabi. The new four-times weekly seasonal service will operate between Doha and Chiang Mai (CNX), using a wide-body aircraft, from December 2017 until May 2018. Laid-back Chiang Mai offers a retreat from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok, and has been called the Rose of the North in recognition of its calm vibe and lush setting. Nestled amid surrounding rainforest, Chiang Mai offers visitors an amazing authentic Thai experience, with scores of stunning temples, fabulous restaurants and incredible natural scenery. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: Thailand continues to grow in popularity with holiday-makers and its not hard to see why. Our new flights to Chiang Mai mark our fourth route to this beautiful country, reflecting the demand from our customers for more high-quality leisure destinations. Our existing services to Phuket, Krabi and Bangkok are already incredibly popular, especially with customers from European countries such as the UK, France and Germany. Therefore, we are delighted to announce yet another destination, offering our renowned five-star service between Doha and Chiang Mai for leisure travellers. It also demonstrates our commitment to expand our reach with ambitious new routes around the world, taking our passengers to where they want to fly. Flight Schedule: Doha Chiang Mai (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday) Doha (DOH) to Chiang Mai (CNX) QR822 departs 20:05 arrives 06:00 (+1) (Tue, Thu, Sat, Sun) Chiang Mai (CNX) to Doha (DOH) QR823 departs 07:10 arrives 10:55 (Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun) Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, and Aegean Airlines, Greece's largest carrier, have entered into a codeshare partnership widening their respective networks across Europe and the Middle East. Specifically, travelers can now codeshare on flights from Bahrain, via Athens, to and from the European cities of Brussels and Rome while travelers from Geneva, Milan and Vienna can now codeshare on flights, via Athens, to the Kingdom of Bahrain with Gulf Air. Mr. Ahmed Janahi, Gulf Air Chief Commercial Officer, said, Our commitment to strengthening Gulf Airs network is reinforced with this codeshare agreement allowing us to connect our passengers to popular destinations across Europe that extend beyond our network, while giving passengers from more cities in Europe the distinctive opportunity to visit the Kingdom of Bahrain while experiencing our unique product and service offering. We are welcoming this new codeshare with Gulf Air and we strongly believe that the combined networks of our two carriers will offer our guests new travel opportunities not only between Greece and Bahrain, but also beyond, stated Tassos Raftopoulos, Network Planning and Alliances Director of Aegean Airlines. The national carrier operates a year-round direct four weekly service between Bahrain and the Greek capital in addition to operating double daily flights or more to ten regional cities across the GCC and MENA region allowing passengers to easily and conveniently transit through Bahrain for seamless onwards travel across the Gulf Air network. Gulf Air flights can be booked online at gulfair.com. Over a dozen organizations from all over Malaysia show their support to Sarawaks boldest campaign, Redefining Global Tribes. Redefining Global Tribes, Sarawaks latest global branding campaign, is issuing a challenge to Business Event (BE) planners and associations around the world to increase the impact of their events on their profession and economy, and change the very definition of how and why a Business Event is designed. In this mission, Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB) welcomes a carefully selected panel of partners who have the capability to redefine business events and which can light the path for associations, business event planners and industry media to venture down unconventional paths. Taking place on 19th August, the We Are Global Tribes-Redefined Business Forum unites 100 decision makers from national and international associations, industry partners, government agencies, and media for a highly charged panel discussion on the correlation of global tribes and successful Business Events which can leave a legacy for Sarawak in the nation and the region. The Business Forum is followed by the public event Tribal Warrior Challenge, which stages the celebration of Redefining Global Tribes 3-day familiarization (FAM) trip spearheaded by SCB to elevate the states appeal to international Business Events buyers. Major sponsors include Borneo Tru Events, Qatar Airlines, Hilton Hotel Kuching, Pullman Kuching, CPH Travel Agency, Place Borneo, Evenesis (Y Us Sdn Bhd), and Intellect Asia. The Redefining Global Tribes campaign also engages BESarawak partners such as destination management company Aiman Planet Borneo, UCSI Hotel, and event organisers Spiral Events and Event Horizon for offsite venues for the 4-day 3-nights familiarization (FAM) trip. International associations such as the International Congress and Conventions Associations (ICCA) Asia Pacific rallied to join the campaign movement as well, with Regional Director Mr Noor Ahmad Hamid elected as the main facilitator for the "We Are the Global Tribes- Redefined Business Forum"; a deep dive into the significance of global Business Events tribes. What we have here today is a projection of a unified goal, backed by our sponsors and partners who understand the value of Business Events. Redefining Global Tribes is not a one-off campaign; the call for collaboration will be much more evident as we venture into the next decade of Business Events, remarked Amelia Roziman, Chief Operating Officer of Sarawak Convention Bureau (SCB). Commencing this Thursday 17th July, SCB will gather approximately 100 experts from national and international associations, academia, corporate, media, and convention ambassadors to be the pioneering batch of the States boldest branding campaign to date. Ending August 20, the FAM trip also sets the scene to ignite the Tribal Warrior Challenge; an obstacle course race where the 100 experts will be participating in 5km Bizst Mode category. Roziman explains the significance of an obstacle course race held during a FAM trip. It is rather unusual, but we are always reinventing what Sarawak can offer for the Business Events sector. The 5km Bizst Mode reinforces the key values of tackling a challenge in life or business using the values of Unity, Community and Identity. The nature of the challenge demonstrates the value of teamwork, and how the obstacles, as imposing as they may seem, can be overcome with a community of like-minded individuals, concluded Roziman. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More This is to inform that the Bank has convened an Extraordinary General Meeting of its Shareholders on Thursday, 12th October, 2017 at 10.15 a.m. at Bank of India Auditorium, Star House, Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai to transact the following business:1. Election of two directors from amongst the shareholders of the Bank other than the Central Government.September 08, 2017 (Friday) has been fixed as the Record / Cutoff date to consider the names of the shareholders entitled to participate i.e.to nominate, contest and vote (including E-voting) for the electionSource : BSE Read More live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More The 38th Annual General Meeting of the Company will be held on Monday, the 18th September, 2017 at 12.30 PM at Hotel The Suryaa, New Friends Colony, New Delhi 110 025.Register of the Members and Share Transfer Books of the Equity Shareholders of the Company shall remain closed from Wednesday the 13th September, 2017 to Monday the 18th September, 2017(both days inclusive) for the purpose of the 38th Annual General Meeting of the Company.The members holding shares either in physical form or in dematerialized form, as on cut off date i.e. 12.09.2017, may cast their vote electronically on the business as set out in the Notice of the 38th Annual General Meeting of the Company. The voting commences on Friday, the 15th September 2017 at 10.00 A.M. and ends on Sunday, the 17th September, 2017 at 5.00 P.M.Source : BSE Read More live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Sub: Notice of 8th Annual General Meeting of the members of the CompanyWe wish to inform you that the 8th Annual General Meeting of the Members of the Company will be held on Friday, the 29th Day of September, 2017 at 10.00 A.M. at the Registered Office situated at Plot No. 58, Ingole Nagar, Wardha Road, Nagpur MH- 440005.The Notice Containing the business to be transacted at the meeting is enclosed herewith.The register of members and share transfer book of the company will remain closed from Tuesday 26th Day of September 2017 to Friday 29th Day of September 2017 (both days inclusive) for the purpose of the 8th Annual General Meeting to be held on Friday, the 29th Day of September, 2017Source : BSE Read More Sudarshan Sukhani of s2analytics.com told CNBC-TV18, "It is midcaps and mainly on the buy side, on the long side. So, ACC which has not corrected, that mild dip on ACC was bought on Monday and I think there is a continuation of the up move. ACC is a buying opportunity." "Britannia Industries which actually on Monday had a highest closing high, not intraday, but at the close it was highest close. So that is lifetime high close and Britannia is part of the favourite FMCG sector. That is a buying opportunity. It is also an opportunity for positional traders, not just a swing trade," he said. "Then we have Dabur India, the stock is a little volatile, but inspite of the volatility, the stock is finding support after a sharp correction and that justifies attention. It is a buy." "Finally, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) which has been a buy in my list earlier, a small correction in HPCL is suggesting that higher levels are coming. It is outperforming the market." "One short sell, Indo Count Industries ; it is in the F&O segment. ICL has been falling day-after-day; something to do with cotton prices perhaps, but it is a short sell," he added. Sudarshan Sukhani of s2analytics.com told CNBC-TV18, "Interglobe Aviation is a buying opportunity. There is a momentum here and that is probably going to see it higher." "Bharat Forge has been an outperformer. Last week when the Nifty was falling, Bharat Forge was consolidating at a standstill. That is a very good sign for a stock to outperform when the Nifty starts rising. So two buying ideas." "Third is Lupin. It is a short sell. Pharmaceutical stocks are not coming out of that big bear market they are in. They go and rally and then fall again. Short selling should be done generally only intraday but most pharmaceutical stocks are available on that side. So two buys and one sell," he said. "L&T Finance Holdings is in a very strong uptrend. All dips in L&T Finance are buying opportunities. Now you dont have short positions in strong outperformers. So, if you really have one, you must exit immediately. L&T Finance, M&M Financial are the type of stocks where you just want to be on the long side of the market. If you are a long term investor, even at current level, L&T Finance is a buy." "There is no price data for Cochin Shipyard , there is no technical history. So, just on the basis of the fact that it is a good quality government company and we are in a strong long term bull market, it is probably a hold," he added. business Buy Motherson Sumi, Tata Global, HUL; sell Yes Bank, Bank of Baroda: Ashwani Gujral Ashwani Gujral of ashwanigujral.com is of the view that one can buy Motherson Sumi Systems, Tata Global Beverage and HUL and sell Yes Bank and Bank of Baroda. Following a number of violent crimes in the most important tourist destinations in Mexico, Mexican authorities swept through 31 resorts, restaurants and nightclubs in Cancun and Playa del Carmen in recent days, suspending operations at least two locations for unsanitary alcohol and have seized 10,000 gallons of illicit alcohol from a company which they did not release its name. One of the two suspended places is the lobby bar in the Iberostar Paraiso Maya, a resort in the complex where Abbey Conner, a 20-year-old Wisconsin woman, blacked out in a swimming pool and drowned in shallow water while on vacation with her family in January. Her brother; Austin, who was with her, has also passed out in the water. He said ABC News, The bartender pours out a line of shots, and I take one, and everyone else does. And the last thing I remember was like we are right now, sitting here talking, and lights went out. And I woke up in the ambulance. Details of a broader government crackdown on counterfeit alcohol are expected next month. Mexican officials, according to ABC, have reported seizing 1.4 million gallons of tainted alcohol from Mexican businesses including resorts, bars, warehouses, and manufacturers over the last seven years. business Nomura India's Neeraj Gambhir in race for RBI deputy governor post Private sector banker Neeraj Gambhir of Nomura is in the fray for role of Deputy Governor of Reserve Bank of India (RBI). live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Exactly a decade ago, Bajaj Auto's Managing Director Rajiv Bajaj attempted to take over UKs famed motorcycle brand Triumph. Bajaj and John Bloor, owner of the privately-held Triumph, held extensive talks across 2007-08. Bloor had even visited Bajajs plant in Chakan near Pune as part of the due diligence process. However, the deal fell through. Interestingly, Ducati was also up for sale during the same period (as it is now) and Bajaj had thrown its hat in the ring. But those plans did not work out either because of the high asking price. The Italian company was eventually sold to VW-controlled Audi five years later. In the end, Bajaj bought a stake in little-known Austrian off-road bike specialist KTM. Now, a decade on, the Bajaj and Triumph courtship has come full circle. Last week, the two companies announced a tie-up to build mid-capacity motorcycles together not just for the Indian market but for world markets as well. This non-equity partnership will address the growing demand for leisure riding, which has contributed to making Harley Davidson the leader in the segment. We hope to bring to bear upon global markets the individual strengths of the partners including brand position and perception, design and development technology, quality and cost competitiveness and worldwide distribution, Johns son Nick Bloor and Bajaj said in a joint statement which promised to disclose more details in the future. Premium bikes, premium price Over the years, Bajaj Auto, the countrys fourth biggest two-wheeler maker, has rapidly moved from scooters to economy motorcycles to premium bikes. Today, the most powerful and most expensive two-wheeler in its line-up is the Dominar 400. The company aims to scale up further by building bikes that can have engines up to 800cc from the Chakan facility. To do that, it needs a leg up on complex technology that is vastly different from what is used in everyday commuter bikes. And that's where Triumph comes in. Triumph has an engine capacity range starting from 675cc going up to 2,300cc, the largest seen on any mass-production motorcycle in the world. Its bikes cost 9600- 14,100 (about Rs 8 lakh-11.7 lakh) in its home market, the UK. In comparison, Bajajs engine range starts at 100cc and goes up to 375cc. Its price starts at Rs 32,000 and peaks at Rs 1.55 lakh. While Bajaj has steered clear of the rapidly growing segment of scooters, the company has managed to make the switch to premium bikes, a segment where its competition including Hero Motocorp, Honda and TVS Motors have failed to make a mark. With flagships such as Pulsar, Avenger and now Dominar 400, Bajaj is the leader in the premium category of commuter bikes (loosely classified as those having engines above 150cc but under 350cc). Lessons from KTM When Bajaj bought an initial stake in KTM, the Austrian companys annual sales hovered around 65,000 units. By the end of this year, year more than 2.5 lakh KTMs will be sold across the world, out of which 100,000 will be made by Bajaj at Chakan. Like Triumph, the loss-making KTM too was into low volume, high engine capacity bikes targeted at the developed markets of Europe, Asia and North America. Bajaj and KTM then kick-started a number of projects addressing the needs of emerging markets including India, Thailand, Malaysia as well as the developed markets. KTM did not have sporty, smaller capacity (125cc-375cc) street bikes in 2007 and was instead into off-road, dirt bikes and some big engine touring bikes. The partnership with Bajaj resulted in the development of six new models under the Duke and RC brands, including a 125cc bike which is built in India but sold only in export markets. All these models are priced in the range Rs 1.4 lakh -2.3 lakh, which was also a white space when they debuted a few years ago. This year, another brand Husqvarna (owned by KTM) will be added to the production lines at Chakan plant. KTM and Triumph The similarities between KTM and Triumph are uncanny. Back in 2007, Triumph Motorcycles clocked annual sales of around 37,000 units. Over the decade, this figure increased to just 65,000 while volumes of KTM jumped nearly four times during the same period. Triumph tried its hand in the mid-capacity segment five years ago when it announced plans of downsizing its engines to around 300cc. This was done to address the needs of buzzing new markets like India where the consumer trend of moving to mid-capacity bikes was gathering pace. However, it later abandoned those plans as entering a price-sensitive segment without a local partner carried a substantial risk on return on investment. The management at Triumph then decided to focus solely on superbikes. Triumph strategy The popularity of cruiser and touring bikes is on the rise not just in India but across emerging markets. Eicher Motors-owned Royal Enfield, which makes this class of motorcycles, has seen demand go through the roof. In just five years, the Delhi-headquartered company raised annual production five-fold to 8.25 lakh (2017-18) from 1.5 lakh (2012-13). KTM rides in a space which is sporty riding. There is also another world out there which is the world of easy riding, the world of Harley-Davidson, Triumph and Royal Enfield. This segment so far was the only missing piece in our puzzle, Rajiv Bajaj had said at the 10th AGM of Bajaj Auto recently. According to Bajaj, KTM and Husqvarna have a potential to do 500,000 units a year in sales jointly. Taking a cue from Royal Enfield sales, Bajaj is confident of clocking a similar number from Triumph as well. If KTM and Husqvarna can do half a million motorcycles a year believe me they can do a million motorcycles together (with Triumph), said Bajaj. Shares of Biocon fell 6.26 percent and were trading at Rs 327.55 on BSE in early trade after the company said it sought withdrawal of dossiers currently under review for marketing authorisation by Europe drug regulator for its biosimilars of cancer drugs Trastuzumab and Pegfilgrastim. The European regulatory authorities had informed us of the need for a re-inspection of our drug product facility for these products, Biocon said in a disclosure to stock exchanges. The request for withdrawal of the dossiers and re-submission is part of EMA (European Medicines Agency) procedural requirements linked to this re-inspection and will be considered by the EMAs Committee for Medicinal Products of Human Use (CHMP), the company added. Biocon said it is on track to complete its 'corrective and preventive actions' (CAPAs) by the end of this quarter and intends to seek re-inspection and re-submission thereafter. This is part of a regulatory process, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director told CNBC-TV18. These regulatory processes are extremely complex." The French National Agency for Medicines and Health Products Safety, known as ANSM, inspected the Biocon's Bengaluru plant on behalf of the European Medicine Agency (EMA) between March 13 and March 17. While the French drug regulator last month approved Biocons drug substance facility for Trastuzumab and Pegfilgrastim, it found lapses at Biocon's Bommasandra product facility in Bengaluru with respect to good manufacturing practices (GMP) for activities related to three biosimilar products. EMA was reviewing Biocon's three biosimilar products Fulphila (Pegfilgrastim), and Ogivri (Trastuzumab) for marketing authorisation in European Union. The ANSM raised 35 deficiencies, including 11 major deficiencies, concerning biosimilar products. Biocon is the first company to file for marketing approval of Trastuzumab in Europe. The re-inspection could potentially delay the arrival of first biosimilar Trastuzumab drug in Europe market. Below is the verbatim transcript of the interview. Surabhi: I understand that you have given the release to the exchanges. What prompted the withdrawal? What happens right now and what is the damage control that you are looking at from your end? A: Please do not use such words because I really want to basically share with all of you that the regulatory processes involved for biosimilars and new biologics are extremely complex. I think the danger we have is to keep trying to compare it to simple Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) and generics. So please understand that there is a regulatory process, there are administrative processes involved. As you know, this is linked to a re-inspection intimation that we got from European Medicines Agency (EMA) for our drug products facility, if you remember and this is something that has been shared with you in the past. We have fought for a withdrawal of our dossier for re-submission based on this re-inspection. It is a part of a regulatory process. Now, this information we are sharing with you to tell you that we are on track, as we have shared with you, to complete our kappas by the end of this quarter. We will then seek re-inspection and re-submit the dossier which is what we have indicated to you in our statement. So please understand this is a part of a regulatory process. These regulatory processes are extremely complex. So do not please read anything into it and start speculating a lot of things because we have to go through a regulatory process. We have fought withdrawal and this is the information that is coming out. Varinder: Is this voluntary or is this forced on Biocon in terms of EMA? A: What do you mean by voluntary or forced? Please understand when it is part of a regulatory process, we have to go for it. Now for instance, you know that this re-inspection is not something that we anticipated. So as a part of the re-inspection, we have to seek this withdrawal. This is all part of it. Varinder: And how much time will it take? A: This is all dependent on when we will be re-inspected. We are going to seek re-inspection in Q3 and as soon as we are re-inspected, we will give you the timelines of when we expect the approval. Varinder: Will this have any impact on the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), that most critical day which everyone is watching out. A: Please understand that US FDA and EMA have no connection. US FDA goes according to its own regulatory track, EMA goes according to its own regulatory track. We have clarified this in the past. Please understand that this has no connection with anything to do with US FDA. This is connected with the re-inspection request or notice, should you say, from EMA, for our drug products facility. I would like to reiterate that we got an approval for our drug substance facility, but we got a request or a notice of re-inspection for our drug products facility. As a part of that, we have to basically withdraw our dossier and resubmit the dossier and we are ready to seek re-inspection in Q3, as we have discussed in the past. And we have already stated this position in the past. So we are on track as per what we have stated. Vikas: A quick clarification. Since there are a number of observations that have been put forth by the French regulator, what do you think will be the timeline for addressing those, out of which 35, 11 were said to be serious. A: Please understand, we have already said to you that we are on track to complete these kappas by the end of this quarter which means that we are on track and we are confident of completing these kappas by the end of this quarter and I said to you just now that we will be seeking re-inspection in Q3. So as soon as these quarters are completed, we will immediately seek re-inspection from EMA. Now, it is beyond my control to know exactly when they will come for that re-inspection. Will they come immediately, will they come in two months, will they come in one month? We do not have optics on that. So it is our hope and desire that they will come and inspect us at the earliest. But we have no way of understanding when they will come. Vikas: You also explained that the US FDA process of examination is separate from what the EMA is doing, but at the same time, we also hear announcements from both the regulators that there is a constant exchange of information. In that light, do you think there will be some kind of an evaluation that the US FDA may also do of what the European Union (EU) is finding? A: Please let me tell you that there are obviously regulatory sharing of information in terms of the inspections. I agree with that. Obviously we know that some of these inspections will be made aware and we ourselves are made US FDA aware of this inspection report that we got from US FDA. So it is not as if to say we are not sharing it. We ourselves are voluntarily sharing these kind of reports that we get from EMA and so on and so forth. Now the point is please let me tell you, the review process is a very separate process. EMA and US FDA will do their own review processes. Please let me tell you that as far as the review processes are concerned, each one will evaluate. As you know, you have gone through and Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee (ODAC) with US FDA where they have actually reviewed everything about our product. What they will be looking at is definitely the good manufacturing practice (GMP) status of these plants. So again I just want to tell you that please do not confuse GMP and the dossier review of the other aspects of the product. So what happens is there is a clinical evaluation, there is a chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC) evaluation and then there is a GMP evaluation. Each one of these has different tracks at both agencies. And what we are talking about right now is a current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) track where we have had this unfortunate re-inspection request by EMA which we are working towards and we are on track to complete the kappas by the end of the this quarter and we are going to seek re-inspection at the earliest. Vikas: A quick one on the evaluation process that might happen for some of the other filers which had also filed around the time when Biocon had also filed. Do you think because this review process has been delayed, there may be a chance that even those other filers may also see an extension of their inspection process because so far, we do not know if their inspections have happened? A: No, I cannot comment on that. I cannot be speculating on what is happening with others. I can only share with you what is happening to us and I am going to focus on this. I do not want to get distracted with all these other scenarios. I want to focus and make sure we get approval at the earliest. It has been a very disappointing setback for us, as I have already said to you, but we will make all attempts to get back on track. I want this approval at the earliest. Now we are going to try. We are making all efforts and this is part of that process. So I just want to share with you, please do not start speculating randomly and start imagining the worst. Please do not do that. This is a regulatory process which we have to go through and biosimilars review and approval process is extremely complex. Please let me explain that also to you. Surabhi: Can you just help us understand how to look at the numbers afresh, in light of the present circumstances? Some of the reports that I am looking at are giving the EU market a size of about 2 billion, the US market a size of about 2.5 billion for this drug. So obviously we have to shift estimates by a couple of quarters now. You said Q3, you are hoping to hear from the EMA, so what should we pencil in in terms of revenues by next year maybe? A: Please understand, you know that the launch of these products were never going to happen this fiscal. It was probably going to happen, at the earliest, late next fiscal. We are hoping that the material impact is minimal. I will only be able to give you more optics on this as soon as we are inspected. Surabhi: Could the first two filed status be under a bit of a cloud with the EU market given that the timelines are now shifting? A: I do not believe so, but I do not want to comment on it till I know what is happening with others. If anyone files, you know that it takes a certain amount of time to review. Varinder: So according to you, at least for analysts, for September 3, there should be no connection, nothing changes in terms of the September 3 date which is in front of the company? A: Please, I do not want you to confuse EMA with US FDA. I do not want to comment on such things. I want to focus on EMA right now. I do not want you to confuse the two things because you are linking the two things which is very wrong. Varinder: Were you surprised by all the re-inspection and there are a lot of things which has happened with Biocon in the last 2-3 months because we have never heard anything. A: Yes, I was. Absolutely, but this is the India effect. Unfortunately, we have to face it. Varinder: You said that you are really disappointed by what has happened in the last 2-3 months. A: Yes. I am disappointed because this is the first time we have had these kind of, this is the first time we have had a re-inspection request. This is not something that we had expected because we have had a very good track record of compliance and you know that this is a very disappointing setback for us. But we are going to now go ahead and solve it because that is what we have to do now. I do not want to get into what if, what not, all this is behind us. I have to now focus on course correction and making sure that we get the things back on track and make sure that we are only focused on the regulatory approvals. Prashant: You said India effect. Could you explain that? A: Basically, India does not enjoy a very high quality credibility amongst regulators. You know that. And all the companies are impacted. You know the best of companies are impacted because of this particular scrutiny and you know that the way these inspections are being carried on are extremely stringent and extremely forensic in nature which never used to happen in the past. And therefore, when you look at the kind of observations that are being noted, I just believe that we need to be much more focused on ensuring that we do not get such observations in the future. Varinder: That is very true, coming from Biocon which has a very neat past in terms of no observations or nothing at all. A: Yes, this is the first time we have had this kind of observation and I am personally overseeing all these issues because I never expected this. Varinder: Only focusing on EMA, even if the re-inspection happens in Q3, do you expect at least by the next one year from where we are sitting right now, the approval should come in? A: That is the expectation and that is why I said that it will all depend on when does this re-inspection happen. I am hoping that it will happen sooner than later. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Harassed home buyers of properties proposed to be constructed by Jaypee Infratech and Amrapali have come together to pursue their cases against the two companies jointly, people familiar with the development told Moneycontrol. The buyers have written to the authorities, seeking help of state-owned companies like Housing and Urban Development Corporation Ltd (HUDCO) and NBCC Ltd, to step in and complete the pending projects of the two companies. Most of the projects of the two real estate developers are located along the Yamuna Expressway in Noida and Greater Noida areas of Uttar Pradesh, bordering Delhi. They have come together to make their cases stronger and present them as a broader suffering of a large population of home buyers in Noida and Greater Noida region. We want HUDCO or NBCC to take over the projects and have written to the Uttar Pradesh and Noida and Greater Noida authorities. But there has been no word from them. The government too has offered little help so far. We feel stories of NBCC taking over the project, without there being any genuine communication from the government so far on this, are a way to distract the agitation against the builders, a buyer in one of the Jaypee projects said. Most of the buyers want refund of their money, having waited for at least three years beyond the promised date of delivery of their assets. On Saturday, buyers numbering anywhere between 5,000 and 10,000, camped outside Jaypees Sector 128 Noida office. A short, passionate address by company promoter Manoj Gaur, promising delivery of their flats, was enough to scatter the large crowd that had pulled down barricades at the site the same morning. What led to the delay in projects? One of the reasons behind this issue that is most discussed is developers piled up huge debts and were unable to pay the banks their interest. Court rulings and orders by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) have forced many developers in Noida and Greater Noida area to halt construction. Needless to say, its a complex mix of developers being in cahoots with the state authorities and them starting construction and taking deposits from buyers without complying with the laws. Scores of cases in consumer courts are pending against Jaypee and Amrapali and several others like them for delay in deliveries. On August 9, the Allahabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal accepted lender IDBI Banks plea and admitted Jaypee as a case for insolvency resolution. It appointed Anuj Jain, an insolvency resolution professional from BSSR & Co, to sit with the IDBI Bank officials and other creditors of Jaypee to arrive at a resolution of the companys debt. Jain has 270 days to arrive at a resolution. The company's board will remain suspended in this period. As on March 31, 2017, Jaypee Infratech had borrowings of Rs 8,365 crore and an interest service coverage ratio of less than zero, implying an inability to service its debt. The admission of IDBI Banks plea in NCLT is a big setback to thousands of buyers of various properties that were being set up by Jaypee. Under the current circumstances, the secured lenders of Jaypee will have the first right to the companys assets. In case the lenders are unwilling to convert their debt into equity, there will be no option but to liquidate the company, leaving the buyers of the companys under-construction properties with little choice. Automotive interior specialist International Automotive Components (IAC) has lined up investments of Rs 100 crore for capacity augmentation in India for this year and the next. The Luxembourg-headquartered company specialises in instrument panel and consoles, door systems, headliner and overhead system, flooring and acoustic systems. Gajanan Gandhe, Senior Vice President, Asia Operations at IAC, said: The investment will be towards augmenting of capacity to support new business awards with Suzuki, Mahindra, VECV and Force Motors. IAC Indias primary focus for growth will be in the Instrument Panels/Cockpit assembly, Door Panels, Floor Console, Headliner and Overhead Systems and Interior/Exterior trim. In June, the company inaugurated a new regional and global engineering centre in Pune that will focus on application development engineering to support the vehicle interior needs of domestic and global customer programmes. The engineering centre will provide a key competitive advantage to IAC India for supporting indigenisation of new programmes and building local talent and capability. The total head count at this engineering center will be between 150-180. It will also serve IACs global locations for providing high quality engineering services which are increasingly being demanded by our global customers, added Gandhe. The Rs 100 crore investment will be done across three locations Pune, Manesar and Nashik. The Manesar plant will be able to support expansion up to 500,000 vehicles and Nashik for up to 300,000 vehicles upon completion of the expansion programme. Bank accounts opened under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) witnessed a drop this year in deposits of nearly Rs 10,000 crore, down 13 percent from its peak balance in December during demonetisation. On the other hand, the number of accounts increased by 3.2 crore (from 25.8 crore to 29.1 crore accounts) during the January-July period. Just a day after the announcement of demonetisation of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, the number of accounts under PMJDY stood at 25.51 crore with a balance of Rs 43,636.60 crore as on November 2016. In a month, this balance jumped by over 70 percent to peak at Rs 74,609.5 crore in 25.82 crore number of accounts by December 7. However, in just over six months, this has gradually reduced by Rs 9,832.87 crore to Rs 64,776.62 crore, a drop of 13 percent as on July 19 this year since the demonetisation peak. The spike was attributed to the higher usage of these accounts from several transfers were made both by households as well as those stocking black money for conversion purposes. On the other hand, there are allegations that some of them were used to launder black money. Investigations are on and the reason for the sharp increase is yet to be ascertained. Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, CARE Ratings, said: "The fact remains that people are habituated to holding cash of certain quantum and currency is still dominating. The money that came into the system cannot be attributed to black money because it came into the system irrespective of whether it was accounted for or not as it became invalid and had to be deposited." He also adds, given that the average balance is not going up is because people do not have enough money and that their cash habits are back. There is also more competition that is increasing with small payment banks coming in and there is very less money. This will only increase if the standard of living of rural people increases or their income goes up. The average balance in the accounts also fell from Rs 2,889.6 in December to Rs 2,220.6 crore in July. While the deposits in Jan Dhan accounts are already under the scanner, it remains to be seen how the scheme performs going forward. In Sabnavis view, banks are doing a very good job of financial inclusion in terms of opening accountsbut the quantum of money coming in is not substantial. Where government transfers are forcibly done, the accounts are seeing an inflow of money but for the rest of the accounts, poor people do not have enough money to put into the system. Launched on August 15, 2014 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his maiden Independence Day speech, PMJDY was announced as a people money scheme is India's National Mission for Financial Inclusion to ensure access to financial services, namely Banking Savings & Deposit Accounts, Remittance, Credit, Insurance, Pension in an affordable manner. Although an extension of previous financial inclusion schemes, this was Modis hobbyhorse and hence got the most aggressive push through government-owned banks like never before. Since the launch of PMJDY scheme, the number of accounts rose to 5.37 crore with balance in accounts at Rs 4,273 crore as on September 30, 2014. This surged to 29.48 crore accounts with balance of Rs 65,697 crore as on August 9, 2017. "The fact that average balance is not coming up is because people have not enough money and that their cash habits are back. There is also more competition that is increasing with small payment banks coming in and there is very less money. This will only increase if the standard of living of rural people increases or their income levels go up," he added. Primarily driven by the public sector banks with a share of around 80 percent, followed by regional rural banks with 16-18 percent while private sector banks have averaged around 3.2-3.5 percent, the leading states benefited are UP, Bihar, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Manipur, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Assam and Odisha. Jan Dhan has been successful to the point that it has helped open bank accounts but having said that there is an increased need for people to be actually banking with it, which is yet to be seen. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un watches the test of a new-type anti-aircraft guided weapon system organised by the Academy of National Defence Science. Photo: Reuters Like celebrity news, North Korea easily finds space in the papers and portals across the world. This time, those column inches on the country and its supreme leader Kim Jong-un, speak about the deliberations over the country's decision to 'delay' the planned missile attack on Guam - an unincorporated territory held by the US. Simmering tensions between the US and North Korea have led to many questions around how a clash between the two would result in. The US isn't alien to the rules of engagement in a war, but for North Korea, sustaining the fourth largest army in the world won't be easy. Especially considering the minimal business ties it keeps amid complete international isolation. Who is North Korea's friend in need? The premise of a Free Trade Agreement between countries is good political relations. Simply put, if you're good to me and I'm good to you we can be friends and then we can do business together. Despite their disagreements in the recent past over nuclear tests, China is North Korea's go-to friend when it comes to business. According to data analytics firm Statista, North Korea imported 85 percent of its goods worth USD 3.47 billion from China in 2015. In the same year, North Korea exported about 83 percent of goods worth USD 2.83 billion to the manufacturing superpower. Source: Statista The more surprising fact is that India comes right after China as North Korea's second biggest trade partner among all other countries who maintain trade relations with the communist state. The data obtained by The Observatory of Economic Complexity, a leading data visualisation site for international trade data pegs India ($97.8 m), Pakistan ($43.1 m) and Burkina Faso ($32.8 m) as the top export destinations of North Korea. Likewise, most imports for the country apart from China come again from India ($108 m) followed by Russia ($78.2 m), Thailand ($73.8 m) and the Philippines ($53.2 m). If one ignores the numbers, then it is interesting to ascertain what North Korea trades with its major export partners. Among major products of use, refined petroleum ($186 m), synthetic filament yarn woven fabric ($138 m) and delivery trucks ($108 m) are the top products, North Korea gets from abroad. The country's primary exports include coal briquettes ($952 m) and textiles (non-knit coats & suits). A report from Confederation of Indian Industries says India's exports to North Korea in 2013 totalled more than US$60 million and these primarily included food and medicine. On the global front, India has been a critic of North Korea's nuclear tests and has also criticised its ties with Pakistan and its support for the Kashmir conflict. In May 2017, after new UN sanctions were imposed on North Korea over its increasing number of missile tests, India banned all trade with North Korea excluding only food and medicine items. Following suite, China - a critic North Korea's nuclear ambitions in the past, banned imports of iron ore, iron, lead and coal from North Korea this month. The Telangana government would soon take steps to fill up about 85,000 government jobs, Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao said in his Independence Day address. "On this happy and auspicious occasion of the Independence Day, I would like to give good news to the unemployed youth. I am happy to announce that besides 27,660 appointments so far we made, measures are being taken to make appointments for another 84,876 jobs shortly," he said. It was promised during separate Telangana agitation that about one lakh jobs would be provided in the new state, but more than 1.12 lakh recruitments are being made now, he said. "With this, 1,12,536 posts have been created which are over and above the one lakh figure that has been promised," he said. Rao unfurled the National Flag at the historic Golconda Fort here on the occasion of Independence Day. He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump would attend the World Industrialists Forum meeting to be held here from November 28 to 30. "All of us should feel happy that the State is going to be a venue for the world Industrialists Forum which will take place in Hyderabad from November 28 to November 30. "For this conference, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, US President Donald trumps daughter and US Government Advisor Ivanka Trump are participating," he said. The conference would be an occasion for industrialists all over the world to exchange their views and offer help to aspiring entrepreneurs, he said. The government is making all efforts to make the conference a grand success so that the name and fame of Telangana will spread all over, he said. The state stood first in the Ease of Doing Business rankings (along with Andhra Pradesh), he said. "So far, with Rs 1,01,722 crores of investment has come to the state. 4,118 new industries were given industrial clearances and licenses providing employment to 2.90 lakh people," he said. For the benefit of farmers, the state government would launch a scheme for providing Rs 8,000 per acre towards input costs from next year, Rao said. "Farmers often end in debt trap unable to pay back the loan. To overcome this problem, the government has decided to offer financial assistance for their agriculture inputs. From the next year onwards, the government will give Rs 8,000 per acre to farmers in year for two crops," he said. The state government is conducting a comprehensive land survey in the state, he said. "The land survey was done way back in 1936 under the then Nizam and so far, no other survey ever conducted. After a gap of 81 years, the government is now conducting the survey," he said. He also explained the numerous welfare and development initiatives of the state government for the benefit of various sections and communities. The Independence Day was celebrated in the offices of Congress, TDP, BJP and others. No. 2: Bill Gates | Country: US | Total net worth $89.4B | Industry: Technology (Image: Reuters) live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Billionaires and millionaires belong to several exclusive clubs, but one of them stands apart. Giving Pledge is an effort to help address societys most pressing problems by inviting the worlds wealthiest individuals and families to commit more than half of their wealth to philanthropy or charitable causes either during their lifetime or in their will. With Bill Gates and Warren Buffett leading the effort to gather members, the philanthropy club counts some prominent Indian and international businessmen among its members. Bill Gates On Tuesday, Microsoft founder Bill Gates donated 64 million shares of the company worth USD 4.6 billion to a charity, according to a US Sec filing. Bill Gates and his wife run a charity foundation called the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which aims to fight against poverty and improve healthcare all over the world. According to The Guardian, Bill and Melinda Gates have contributed USD 35 billion since 1994. Warren Buffett Berkshire Hathaway owner and legendary investor Warren Buffett is known to be one of the biggest philanthropists of the world. In July, he contributed close to USD 3 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. According to CNN, Buffett has donated billions every year in the past decade. Azim Premji Wipro founder Azim Premji is known to be among the most generous Indian philanthropists. He was the first Indian to join the Giving Pledge bandwagon and set up the not-for-profit Azim Premji University in 2010. Premji has donated half of his stake in Wipro to charity. Last year, he contributed Rs 27,514 crore to charity. Premji has urged other crorepatis to come forward and help solve India's social problems. Mark Zuckerberg In 2015, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla pledged to contribute 99 percent of their Facebook shares over the course of their lifetime. The couple set up the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative where they promote equality among all children, curing diseases and building a stronger world community. He also pledged USD 100 million towards fixing the public schooling system in Newark, New Jersey. Shiv Nadar HCL Chairman Shiv Nadar has contributed over Rs 1,136 crore to solve the rural and education issues that plague India. Last year, he contributed more than Rs 630 crore in charity. He has also set up the Shiv Nadar University and several schools. According to reports, Shiv Nadar is so passionate about his causes that he is personally involved in running his philanthropic projects. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is about to make a critical intervention in the cost of mobile call charges. According to reports, TRAI is pretty close to slashing interconnect usage charge (IUC) from the current 14 paise per minute to 10-11 paise. This is a welcome move, one that has been long overdue, because TRAI will demonstrate that though it is mandated to steer the telecom marketplace in a manner that ensures the health of the operators, its primary commitment is to a much larger cause: Consumer interest. The Economist's liveability rankings for 2017 show that worlds top 5 most liveable urban centers are not changed. For the seventh consecutive year, Melbourne in Australia is the most liveable city, closely followed by the Austrian capital, Vienna. Melbourne, Australia Only 0.1 percentage points separate the top two cities, and just 0.2 and 0.3 percentage points separate Canadas Vancouver and Toronto (ranked 3rd and 4th, respectively), from Melbourne. Another Canadian city, Calgary, shares joint fifth place with Adelaide in Australia. Although the top five cities remain unchanged, the past few years have seen increasing instability across the world, causing volatility in the scores of many cities. In Europe, cities have been affected by the spreading perceived threat of terrorism in the region. At the same time, this year cities such as Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland, and the Dutch capital, Amsterdam, have benefited from an increasing cultural availability and falling crime rates, enabling them to register improvements in living conditions. Over the past six months 35 of the 140 cities surveyed have experienced changes in their ranking position. This rises to 44 cities, or about one-third of the total number surveyed, when looking at changes over the past 12 months. Overall, the survey shows a higher incidence of positive index movements. In fact, of the 17 cities with an index movement since last year, 12 have seen an improvement in their score, reflecting positive developments in other categories, despite heightened threats of terrorism or unrest with which cities around the world continue to grapple. Violent acts of terrorism have been reported in many countries, including Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, France, Pakistan, Sweden, Turkey, the UK and the US. While not a new phenomenon, the frequency and spread of terrorism have increased noticeably and become even more prominent. On the flip side, however, cities moving up the ranking are located largely in countries that have enjoyed periods of relative stability after previously reported falls in liveability. These include, for example, Kiev in Ukraine, Tripoli in Libya and Colombo in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, the improvements have been marginal and have not seen liveability recover from previous levels or resulted in large shifts up the ranking. Amsterdam, Reykjavik, Budapest, Singapore and Montevideo are among those that have seen both their ranks improve. In total, there are 12 cities with scores that have improved over the past 12 months, up from seven. Overall, the global average liveability score has fallen by 0.8% to 74.8% over the past five years. Weakening stability has been a key factor in driving this decrease. The average global stability score has fallen by 2% over the past five years, from 73.4% in 2012 to 71.4% now. Over five years, 95 of the 140 cities surveyed have seen some change in their overall liveability scores. Of these cities, an overwhelming 66 have seen declines in liveability, but there is a silver lining, as this number is actually down from 69 just six months ago. Two cities in particular, Damascus in Syria and Kiev, have seen significant declines of 16 and 21 percentage points respectively, illustrating that conflict is, unsurprisingly, the key factor in undermining wider liveability. Although the most liveable cities in the world remain largely unchanged, there has been movement within the top tier of liveability. Of the 65 cities with scores of 80 or more, six have seen a change in score in the past 12 months. While most cities in the top tier have registered an improvement in their scores, two of them, Manchester in the UK and Stockholm in Sweden, have seen their scores decline as a result of recent, high-profile terrorist attacks. Over the past few years several US cities have registered declines in their scores. This stems in part from unrest related to a number of deaths of black people at the hands of police officers. In addition, the country has seen protests held in response to President Trumps policies and executive orders. Sydney in Australia is another city that has seen a decline in its ranking, reflecting growing concerns over possible terror attacks in the past three years. Sydney now ranks outside the top ten most liveable cities, at number 11, down from seventh place just over a year ago. The ten most liveable cities Country City Rank Overall Rating (100=ideal) Stability Healthcare Culture & Environment Education Infrastructure Australia Melbourne 1 97.5 95 100 95.1 100 100 Austria Vienna 2 97.4 95 100 94.4 100 100 Canada Vancouver 3 97.3 95 100 100 100 92.9 Canada Toronto 4 97.2 100 100 97.2 100 89.3 Canada Calgary 5 96.6 100 100 89.1 100 96.4 Australia Adelaide 5 96.6 95 100 94.2 100 96.4 Australia Perth 7 95.9 95 100 88.7 100 100 New Zealand Auckland 8 95.7 95 95.8 97 100 92.9 Finland Helsinki 9 95.6 100 100 88.7 91.7 96.4 Germany Hamburg 10 95 90 100 93.5 91.7 100 The ten least liveable cities Country City Rank Overall Rating (100=ideal) Stability Healthcare Culture & Environment Education Infrastructure Ukraine Kiev 131 47.8 35 54.2 48.6 75 42.9 Cameroon Douala 132 44 60 25 48.4 33.3 42.9 Zimbabwe Harare 133 42.6 40 20.8 58.6 66.7 35.7 Pakistan Karachi 134 40.9 20 45.8 38.7 66.7 51.8 Algeria Algiers 134 40.9 40 45.8 42.6 50 30.4 PNG Port Moresby 136 39.6 30 37.5 47 50 39.3 Bangladesh Dhaka 137 38.7 50 29.2 43.3 41.7 26.8 Libya Tripoli 138 36.6 20 41.7 40.3 50 41.1 Nigeria Lagos 139 36 10 37.5 53.5 33.3 46.4 Syria Damascus 140 30.2 15 29.2 43.3 33.3 32.1 Global business centres tend to be victims of their own success. The big city buzz that they enjoy can overstretch infrastructure and cause higher crime rates. New York, London, Paris and Tokyo are all prestigious hubs with a wealth of recreational activities, but all suffer from higher levels of crime, congestion and public transport problems than are deemed comfortable. The question is how much wages, the cost of living and personal taste for a location can offset liveability factors. Although global centres fare less well in the ranking than mid-sized cities, for example, they still sit within the highest tier of liveability and should therefore be considered broadly comparable, especially when contrasted with the worst-scoring locations. The total assets of the 10 largest India-focussed offshore funds and ETFs swelled during the quarter ended June 2017 compared with the previous quarter. It ended the June quarter at USD 27.3 billion compared with USD 25.4 billion in the previous quarter and USD 20.5 billion as of June 30, 2016, Morningstar said in a report. Positive environment in the domestic markets kept sentiments in the Indian stock markets upbeat, leading almost all the major domestic stock market indexes to surge during the quarter, said the report. The S&P BSE Sensex Index moved up by 4.4 percent, although it was lower than the 11.2% appreciation it witnessed in the previous quarter (ended March 2017). These funds constitute around half of the overall assets of the India-focussed offshore funds and ETF universe. For the June quarter, the list of the 10 largest India-focussed offshore funds and ETFs remained unchanged from the previous quarter. IShares MSCI India retained its top spot as the largest India-focussed offshore fund and ETF during the quarter. Robust inflows helped the funds asset size to grow to USD 5.0 billion from USD 4.7 billion in the previous quarter. Strong flows and surging markets expanded the asset base of Franklin India A Acc, which grew during the quarter to USD 4.3 billion from USD 4.1 billion recorded in the previous quarter. The fund continues to retain its second spot among the 10 largest India-focussed offshore funds and ETFs. Backed by consistent inflows, Nomura India Equity has been rising on the charts. In the last quarter, it moved up one spot to the fourth position, and in this quarter, it moved up another notch to the third position, displacing Aberdeen Global Indian Equity to fourth. The fund ended the quarter with an asset size of USD 3.3 billion, significantly higher than the USD 2.3 billion in the previous quarter. In June 2016, the funds size was USD 852 million. Consistent net outflows continue to dent the asset base of Aberdeen Global Indian Equity fund. During the quarter, it slipped one spot down to the fourth position. At the end of the June quarter, its assets stood at USD 3.3 billion, almost the same as that in the previous quarter. Its current asset size is lower than the size of USD 3.6 billion at the end of the June 2016 quarter. Earlier, it was the largest fund in the category. However, huge and steady outflows have resulted in the funds assets reducing significantly and it losing its top position. With an asset size of USD 2.3 billion, GS India Equity Portfolio A retained its fifth position in the list during the quarter. The fund had an asset size of USD 2.2 billion at the end of the previous quarter. Flows into India focused funds: India-focussed offshore funds and ETFs continue to receive robust flows during the quarter ended June 2017 as well. Through the quarter they garnered net assets worth USD 2.6 billion, higher than the net inflow of USD 2.0 billion they had received in the previous quarter. So far, this year (until June 2017), the category has received net assets worth USD 4.6 billion. During the same period last year, the India-focussed offshore funds and ETFs witnessed a net outflow of USD 2.3 billion. The total universe for asset flows are 220 Primary Funds and ETFs. The Vivo XPlay 6 is displayed at the Qualcomm stand at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, March 1, 2017. REUTERS/Paul Hanna - RTS10YKQ Oppo and Vivo reported a drop in sales for the first time as their sales declined around 30 percent in July. The drop in sales comes at a time when the overall smartphone market in the country grew by approximately 8 percent. Both the companies together comprised of 22 percent of the Indian smartphone market in around a year. The fact that other smartphone manufacturers like Xiaomi, who previously were Online exclusive, are now entering the offline market, may have contributed towards this decline in the sales of Oppo and Vivo. Xiaomi claims to have sold more than 5 Million units of the Redmi Note 4 smartphone till date, with high chances of disrupting the sales of its competitors in the segment. As per an ET report, the Oppo and Vivo owners have sent their Chinese expats along with Indian executives into the market to get to the depth of the situation by talking to the distributors. Amit Gupta of ICICIdirect told CNBC-TV18, "There are pockets in Bank Nifty which are looking little weak for a very short term scenario. For example, State Bank of India's (SBI) results were not that kind of great for what the market was expecting. So, a little weaker, in that case what we have observed is the call writing is that around Rs 290 levels which has already started. In futures day before yesterdays session when the market was a little fine and recovering, this stock was under pressure and there was addition of around 2-3 percent on the short side. So, we are recommending writing 290 Call option of SBI which will be somewhere around Rs 3.5-4 of premium for this particular series and for the PSU banking I think some more consolidation is likely." "Federal Bank has recovered in the last couple of sessions, I think it will be very difficult for the stock to move beyond Rs 115 levels. The kind of positions we have there, it is slightly on the short side. So, the premium of around Rs 1.2-1.5 for the Call options around 115 strike can be written. So, these are two stocks we are picking on the short side particularly and we are writing the Call for this." "We need to look at certain stocks which we have remained resilient so far and the leverage is also not very high because it is dangerous. In the current market parlance if the leverage is high, we can see liquidation, but that is not there in certain stocks. For example, if you look at Pidilite Industries, Asian Paints, or Petronet LNG, I think these stocks are looking fine from that perspective. In fact, there is more short covering which is panning out in these stocks. For example, Pidilite after the results, came down to Rs 780, now it is recovering above Rs 800. I think Rs 800 will remain a good support and it should move towards Rs 837 levels," he added. "Asian Paints, I think it has formed a good base because 1,100 Put for the last two or three series has remained the highest. Whenever it falls, it recovers from those levels. It is just a matter of time when it will recover above Rs 1,200 levels. So we are punting on this that towards this particular series expiry also, it can see some kind of move on the higher side. So, we can start buying this stock. In the last session, around 5-6 percent of short closer was seen in this particular stock." "Third one is from oil & gas space because I think there are few pockets in oil & gas which are performing, particularly the gas stocks. We saw how Indraprastha Gas has performed. I think Petronet which remains subdued because of the Qatar news, now nothing significant is panning out so far from that perspective from the Qatar end. So, I think the short covering is there now in the stock which can pan out. The level of Rs 205 was a very good support after being ex-bonus, that was a good support level and now it is recovering. It closed near Rs 218-219. So, we are looking for a target of Rs 237 in the stock on the higher side," he said. Sandeep Wagle of powermywealth.com told CNBC-TV18, "I would talk of a sideways move between Rs 155-165, probably Rs 170 in Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC). Nothing that excites me. The strength would come in ONGC only when it stays above Rs 180 and cant say when that will happen. Pretty sideways and I think best avoided." At 15:13 hrs Oil and Natural Gas Corporation was quoting at Rs 161.00, down Rs 0.75, or 0.46 percent. The share touched its 52-week high Rs 212 and 52-week low Rs 154.87 on 31 January, 2017 and 16 August, 2016, respectively. Bull's Eye, CNBC-TV18's popular game show, where market experts come together to dish out trading strategies for you to make your week more exciting and compete with each other to see whose portfolio is the strongest. Remember these are midcap ideas not just for the day, but stocks that look attractive in the medium-term as well. This week, Ruchit Jain, Rakesh Bansal and Vishal Malkan battle it out for top honours. Below their top stock picks and analysis: Ruchit Jain of Angel Broking Buy Petronet LNG with a stoploss at Rs 209 and target of Rs 230 Buy JSW Steel with a stoploss at Rs 225 and target of Rs 242 Buy NHPC with a stoploss at Rs 30.35 and target of Rs 32.50 Sell Engineers India with a stoploss at Rs 158 and target of Rs 137 Rakesh Bansal of RK Global Buy Mahindra and Mahindra Financial with a stoploss at Rs 387 and target of Rs 447 Buy Jubilant Foodworks with a stoploss at Rs 1265 and target of Rs 1520 Buy Torrent Power with a stoploss at Rs 192 and target of Rs 220 Buy CG Power with a stoploss at Rs 78 and target of Rs 86.75 Vishal Malkan of malkansview.com Buy Reliance Capital with a stoploss at Rs 740 and target of Rs 795 Buy PTC India with a stoploss at Rs 107 and target of Rs 118 Buy DCB Bank with a stoploss at Rs 176 and target of Rs 195 Shahina Mukadam, Independent Market Expert told CNBC-TV18, "This is the right time or maybe in the next six months it is a time to sort of accumulate pharmaceutical stocks for a three to five year period. I have myself done this, I have picked up something like an Aurobindo Pharma at declines, Glenmark Pharmaceutical, Fortis Healthcare I have been holding from much lower levels basically the reason being that this is a very bad period that the pharmaceutical sector is going through." She further added, "We are serious in terms of numbers across pharmaceutical companies, the results that they are declaring, we have seen the USFDA becomes very stringent and most of them have got certain negative - the USFDA has come on very seriously with negative observations for a lot of these companies and this has impacted both their US sales which is the mainstay for their profitability. So, this in my view is a time to start accumulating with three to five year view because I believe that the US market cannot do without Indian pharmaceutical generic companies." "The way they are structured, I believe after the phase of correction, there will be increased competition in terms of generic pricing pressure, over a period of time Indian pharmaceutical companies will be better placed and able to adapt. So I would be buying something like Aurobindo Pharma, Fortis Healthcare, I would also be looking at Lupin where there is some resolution coming about from the USFDA for a couple of their plants. So to that extent one can start accumulating but I dont see any upward movement over the next six months because if you see on year-on-year (YoY) basis it is going to look optically very bad." "We are going to see lower margins, lower profitability and lower turnover, so to that extent one needs to be sure as to what one is doing when you are getting into these pharmaceutical companies as of now," she said. Telecom regulator TRAI is likely to take a decision on the contentious interconnect usage charge (IUC) by the end of August. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is holding discussions with the industry and is mulling reducing IUC to 10-11 paise per minute from the current 14 paise per minute, people privy to the developments told CNBC-TV18. IUC is a charge paid by the telecom operator from whose network a call originates to the telecom player where the call ends. A cut in the IUC will be positive for consumers, and will not be a surprise given that TRAI has been in favour of lower interconnect charges long before Jio, the latest entrant, was born. The TRAI will also consult the interministerial group (IMG) which was set up to resolve financial woes of the telecom sector, sources told CNBC-TV18. While most telecom operators are against downward revision of the IUC, the quantum of the cut will be such that not many players are affected, they said. The TRAI will ensure there is not strain on the balancesheets of the telcos, sources said. In 2015, TRAI had slashed IUC to 14 paise per minute from 20 paise per minute. On August 5, 2016 had issued a consultation paper which stated that the industry may need to effectively scrap IUC as telecom services of the future will be dependent on IP-based networks. Watch video for more (Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd) Aurobindo Pharma Ltd. live bse live nse live Volume Todays L/H More Drug firm Granules India today said the US health regulator has issued establishment inspection report for its Gagillapur plant in Hyderabad without any observations. The United States Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has issued establishment inspection report (EIR) for the company's Gagillapur facility in Hyderabad, Granules India said in a regulatory filing. "The facility was inspected by the USFDA in October 2016 and there were no observations during the inspection", it added. Finished dosages and pharmaceutical formulation intermediates are manufactured at the plant, it said. Granules India stock was trading nearly 8 per cent up at Rs 125.75 on BSE in the afternoon. Pakistan today shelled forward posts and civilian areas along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, even as an Army jawan wounded in an earlier incident in Uri sector succumbed at a hospital, an Army officer said. This is the fifth consecutive day that Pakistani troops have violated the ceasefire along the LoC. Four jawans and a woman have died this month in Pakistani firing. "One Havaldar Narendra Singh, who was injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistani Army on August 7, died today," an Army officer said. The 43-year-old jawan, who belonged to Haripur village of Uttarakhand, is survived by his wife Asha Devu and two daughters. There have been nine ceasefire violations in past five days starting from August 12 wherein two jawans and a woman were killed. Five persons, including four jawans, were injured in the attacks. "Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars from 0534 hours in Poonch sector along the Line of Control (LoC) today," a defence spokesman said. "Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively," he added. According to reports, firing and shelling were reported at six places in Mankote, Basuni, Mendhar, Malipur, Dharna and Patri of Poonch district. Pakistan violated the ceasefire four times on August 13 by firing and shelling in Krishnagati, Nowshera and Mankote, resulting in injuries to three jawans. On August 12, Pakistani troops heavily fired on forward posts and civilian areas in Krishnagati and Poonch sectors in which a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and a woman were killed. A Pakistani Army shell exploded near a house killing 40-year-old Raqia Bi of Gohlad Kalran on August 12. Naib Subedar Jagram Singh Tomar was also killed in Pakistani firing in Krishnagati sector. On August 8, Pakistani troops shelled Krishnagati sector of Poonch district, in which Sepoy Pawan Singh Sugra was grievously injured and later succumbed to injuries. On August 7, an Army jawan was injured in a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the LoC in Uri sector of Baramulla district. On August 6, Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire by firing at Indian posts along the LoC in Baba Khori area of Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir. 2017 has seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistan. Voting polling EVM election Question marks have once again been raised over Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) after a Right to Information (RTI) response revealed 70 instances of voting machines being stolen in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh across multiple elections, according to The Economic Times. The information provided under RTI states that during a training programme in Gujarat, a trainer handed over the EVMs to another person and went for lunch. When he returned, the machine was found missing, reads the RTI response. Investigations are still ongoing in the matter and lie detector tests have been conducted. Activist Tehseen Poonawalla, who has made complaints in different states over EVM malfunctioning, said the RTI proves that EVMs have been regularly stolen which means the source code can be gained through reverse engineering and results manipulated. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has repeatedly claimed that EVMs are unhackable and tamper-proof. The Commission says it follows strict protocols to protect EVMs which stipulates that stolen machines are censured and do not make it back into the system. Earlier this year, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Delhi demonstrated in the Assembly how EVMs can allegedly be hacked. In response, the Election Commission conducted a hackathon in June. However, AAP was not among the two participating parties, who did not attempt to hack the machines but only watched a demonstration and declared they were satisfied with the security. Nagpur: Congress Party Vice President Rahul Gandhi addressing at a public meeting to mark culmination of 125th birth anniversary celebrations of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, at Kasturchand Park in Nagpur on Monday. PTI Photo (PTI4_11_2016_000433B) Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had another faux pas moment after he confused the name of the state of Karnataka with that of Bengaluru its capital. The Congress Vice President made the mistake while inaugurating the Indira Canteen project at Bengaluru on Wednesday. During his speech, Rahul Gandhi said Most cities in Bangalore will have such canteens soon," while intending to mean that Karnataka will have such canteens soon. He also made other errors in the short speech including calling Indira Canteen, named after Indira Gandhi, as Amma Canteen started by Jayalalitha. He also used the word campaign instead of canteen during the inaugural address. Watch | Rahul Gandhi launches Indira Canteen in Bengaluru (Source: Speech Bank) The Indira Canteen project, which seeks to provide food at economical rates was announced during the budget by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah last March. As per The Times of India, initially 101 Indira canteens will be opened in the Bengaluru city. Though the city administrative body of BBMP had set a target of 198 stalls, controversy and poor planning led to the delay of projects in many locations. Primarily, lack of adequate space in the city has created problems for the project. Many residential associations came forward against the canteens after the government tried to set up stalls in public spaces including heritage buildings and parks. In Banashakari area, attempts to set up a stall in the premises of a temple led to opposition from locals and devotees. The canteens are aimed at the poor and will serve breakfast at Rs 5 and lunch/ dinner at Rs 10 on all days except Tuesdays. Minister KJ George, who had earlier inaugurated a centralised kitchen at Konena Agrahara and the Indira Canteen app said the canteens will maintain high standards. These canteens will be on a par with star hotels when it comes to maintaining hygiene and quality of food, he said. Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister of India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh, addresses the audience after inaugurating power projects in Allahabad The death of 23 children in Gorakhpur district of Uttar Pradesh has raised questions on the governments outlook towards health care facilities and its capacity to utilise the assigned funds properly. Allegations were made that the deaths were caused because a private firm decided to cut oxygen supply to the medical facility as the medical facility hadnt paid dues. The state government had allocated Rs 4,479.5 crore in 2016-17, under the National Health Mission of which around Rs 19.22 crore was allocated for purchasing required medical equipment, according to government reports. Union Health Minister JP Nadda has also said that India doesnt face a shortage of funds for healthcare, but that it isnt allocating these wisely, as reported by Livemint. We have also sought a report; strict action will be taken against the guilty. BRD Medical College is suffering from the overburden of patients. They get far too many patients beyond their capacity to handle. We need to work out a plan and strengthen the periphery of more medical facilities in Uttar Pradesh, Health Secretary CK Mishra was quoted in the Livemint. The District Magistrate of Gorakhpur, had submitted a report on August 11 regarding the shortage of oxygen and how the hospital still managed to arrange cylinders. On August 10, the hospital ran out of oxygen and witnessed deaths of 23 children. This crisis has not only put a spotlight on the states health crisis, but also on the fact that Gorakhpur has always been battling the long-standing problem of improper health care infrastructure. Gorakhpur has 37% shortage of health sub centres and only 45% villages have an access a sub-centre in the 5 km radius, according to Brookings India, a health monitor that conducts research based on public health data. The survey says that there are no sub-divisional hospitals in the district, which shows the state of poor infrastructure across UP. Incidentally, UP also ranks in the bottom three among all the states in the countrys health infrastructure ranking index. The health monitor also shows that there is a 95.7% shortage of male health workers in sub-centres across UP. It also showed that a 31% of the sub-centres were found to be without electricity. The director general of Health Services, Jagdish Prasad, also said that apart from the Japanese encephalitis, the district is a hub to other diseases such as malaria. Other issues such as sanitation, drinking water problem, and hygiene issues also add to the states health problems. Moneycontrol News A review of the huge imports of Chinese electronics and information technology has been started by the Indian government amid concerns due to security and data leakages, as per a report in Times of India. The move comes at a time when tensions on the borders with China have been intensifying. Chinese companies have now almost become the backbone to Indias massive requirement in electronics manufacturing with the current valuation of tech imports from China sitting at approximately USD 22 billion as per a recent study by Confederation of Indian Industries. Also Read: India, China cannot defeat each other: Dalai Lama The huge volume of trade with the rising superpower has alarmed the Indian government of possibilities of China gaining access to critical information infrastructure of businesses and government setups, apart from data of individuals. IT and Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad reportedly held a top-level meeting recently to assess the situation with regard to Chinese engagement in Indias electronics and IT sector. "There are increasing concerns about the preparedness of the security apparatus, especially as there are fears that electronics, online trade platforms and finished goods can be tapped into for procuring sensitive information," industry sources told TOI. Also Read: Baba Ramdev calls for boycott of Chinese products The Indian government's move towards digitisation of services and trade has added to security concerns. A few days back, an article in The Global Times, part of the ruling Communist Party's publication group, urged Chinese firms to "reconsider the risks" of investing in India and warned New Delhi to be "prepared for the possible consequences for its ill-considered action." The share of Chinese devices in the Indian smartphone market is increasing with each passing day The article said that China "could easily retaliate" with restrictions on Indian products, but added that it "doesn't make much economic sense" for the country. How can electronic devices track us? As per the report, devices transmit or store data back into Chinese servers, which could pose a security risk. Also Read: On I-Day, RSS functionary calls for boycotting Chinese goods Some of the most popular mass-imported goods from China include mobile phone components, medical equipment, telecom network gear and Internet of Things (IoT) devices. Many Chinese players also hold stakes in Indias e-marketplaces which has made the Indian government further wary about Chinese technology being misused to gain illegal access to important data. On the electronics front, the government has been pushing hard to promote and increase local manufacturing through Make in India initiatives. BSF Pakistan today resorted to firing and shelling on forward posts and civilian areas along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district, prompting the Indian army to give a befitting response. "Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars from 0534 hours today in Poonch sector along the Line of Control (LoC)," a defence spokesman said. "Indian Army retaliating strongly and effectively", he added. There had been reports of firing and shelling in Mankote sub-sector of Poonch too. It may be recalled that Pakistan violated ceasefire 4 times on August 13 by resorting to firing and shelling in Krishnagati, Nowshera, Mankote and north Kashmir, resulting in injuries to three Jawans. On July 12, Pakistan troops had heavily fired on forward posts and civilian areas in Krishnagati and Poonch sectors in which a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and a woman were killed. Pak army's shells exploded near a house killing 40-year-old Raqia Bi of Gohlad Kalran on August 12. Naib Subedar Jagram Singh Tomar was also killed in Pak firing in Krishnagati sector on August 12. On August 8, Pakistan troops resorted to firing and shelling in Krishnagati sector of Poonch district, in which Sepoy Pawan Singh Sugra was grievously injured and later succumbed to his injuries. On August 7, an Army jawan was injured in a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Uri sector of Baramulla district. On August 6, the Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire by firing at Indian posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Baba Khori area of Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir. Prior to that, on July 30, Pakistani forces had resorted to firing from light weapons and medium machine guns in the Baba Khori belt of Naushera sector. 2017 has also seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations at the LoC by Pakistan. Till August 1, there had been 285 such violations by the Pakistan Army while in 2016, the number was significantly less at 228 for the entire year, the figures said adding that last year, eight Army personnel were killed in the ceasefire violations. Eleven people including nine soldiers, were killed and 18 injured in ceasefire violations by Pakistan army in the month of July. There were 83 ceasefire violations, one BAT attack and two infiltration bids from the Pakistani side in June in which 4 people, including 3 jawans, were killed and 12 injured. In May, there were 79 ceasefire violations, according to officials. PTI AB ARK . BJP chief Amit Shah will be on a three-day visit to Bhopal starting from August 17, during which he is scheduled to hold meetings with party leaders and unveil a statue of Jan Sangh founder Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya here. Talking to reporters here on Wednesday, Madhya Pradesh BJP president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan said Shah will arrive in Bhopal on August 17 evening. "The BJP national president will be on a three-day visit to the state capital. He will arrive here tomorrow evening. During the visit, he will unveil the statue of Deendayal Upadhyaya at Lalghati square on August 18," he said. According to Chauhan, Shah's visit is aimed at strengthening the party. "During his three-day visit, he will interact with the party's core group members, office-bearers, frontal organisation leaders, members of the state cabinet, MPs and MLAs, among others," he said. Elections to the Madhya Pradesh legislative assembly will be held in 2018. Shah is also scheduled to address a meeting of intellectuals and release a book penned by senior BJP leader Kailash Narayan Sarang. The BJP chief will address meritorious students and also hold a press meet during his visit, for which the party has made elaborate arrangements, Chauhan said. Manik Sarkar Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar on Tuesday alleged that the Prasar Bharati-ran Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) refused to broadcast his Independence Day address unless he "reshaped" it. According to media reports, Manik Sarkar, in his speech, said that the secular spirit of India was "under attack". There was no immediate reaction from Prasar Bharati which is the Public Service Broadcaster of India. Sarkar has described Prasar Bharati's move as an "undemocratic, autocratic and intolerant step" while CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said Doordarshan was "not the private property" of the BJP-RSS ruling at the Centre. Yechury accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "instructing his cronies to black out voices" of the opposition, including that of an elected chief minister. The Leftist politician also tweeted saying the blackout amounted to "authoritarianism" and "undeclared Emergency". The Left Front-led Tripura government issued a press statement alleging that Doordarshan and AIR had recorded Sarkar's speech on August 12. On August 14, at 7 pm, the Chief Minister's office was informed through a letter that his speech would not be broadcast unless he "reshaped it". The letter purportedly said, "The message of the Chief Minister was closely examined by competent authority. In view of the sanctity of the occasion, the broadcast code and responsibility of the public broadcaster it is not possible to telecast it in the present format." "However, Doordarshan/Prasar Bharati will be happy if the chief minister agrees to reshape the content making it suitable to the solemnity of the occasion and sentiment of the people," it purportedly said. The CMO statement claimed, "The chief minister clearly stated that he would not change a single word and described it as unprecedented, undemocratic, autocratic and intolerant step." Sarkar's speech was supposed to be broadcast on Tuesday by Doordarshan and AIR in Tripura. A part of the speech, which was published on Twitter by Yechury later on, says, "Conspiracies and attempts are underway to create an undesirable complexity and divisions in our society; to invade our national consciousness in the name of religion, caste and community, by inciting passions to convert India into a particular religious country and in the name of protecting the cow." In a statement, the CPI-M Politburo said it "strongly condemns the refusal by the Doordarshan and All India Radio to broadcast the customary Independence Day address of Sarkar". The party demanded action against those responsible for "prohibiting" the broadcast. "This is a gross infringement on the right of a chief minister to address the people of his state on Independence Day. This act is reminiscent of the Emergency days and goes beyond as it seeks to gag the elected Chief Minister of a state. The central government is trampling upon the autonomy of Doordarshan/AIR and Prasar Bharati by such acts of censorship," the statement said. "Doordarshan Refuses to Broadcast Tripura CM Manik Sarkar's Speech. Is this the Cooperative Federalism that PM Modi Talks About? Shame!" the CPI(M)'s official Twitter handle said. Tagging the tweet, Yechury hit out at the central government saying the channel's refusal to air Sarkar's speech was "illegal". "PM can pay homilies to cooperative federalism while instructing his cronies to black out voices of the Opposition, including an elected CM," he said. With inputs from PTI. A sign is seen outside a business where a Bitcoin ATM is located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada June 3, 2017. REUTERS/Chris Helgren - RTX38TW3 Bitcoin broke past the crucial USD 4,000 mark on Sunday, in a breath-taking move that has seen prices about quadruple this year. But prices turned volatile after the digital currency topped out at USD 4,400, falling back below USD 4,000 before coming back above the mark. At the time of writing, bitcoin stood at USD 4,172, as per Coindesk price index. Bitcoin prices have got a lift from heavy buying from Japan and South Korea. At time of filing, 40 percent of bitcoin trade was happening over the Japanese Yen and around 15 percent over the Korean won, as per cryptocompare.com. Source: Cryptocompare Some believe that the recent squabble between the US and North Korea is making investors park their money in bitcoin as it is being seen as a safe haven investment. Japan and South Korea are in direct conflict with North Korea and being close neighbors, are at huge risk in case a war breaks out. This buying of bitcoins from both these countries could be a result of the war scare. Experts also list various other reasons which might have fuelled this sudden spike in price. Cryptoasset expert Chris Burniske, pointed to the increasing trend of Google searches being carried out on bitcoin. "An increasing price drives interest in bitcoin. That interest further drives the price of $BTC. A virtuous Satoshi cycle," he tweeted. But Burniske highlighted previous corrections Bitcoin has undergone, pointing to the correlation between search interesting peaking out and bitcoin bursting out of a bubble. "I define a bitcoin bubble as a period where price doubles (or more) in a 30-day period. As $BTC nears $3,800 we are up 70 percent in 30 days," he said. However, he does point out that previous corrections bitcoin has undergone were when markets had thin liquidity, exchanges were fragile and there were a fraction of users and investors that are there now. The expert said he does not expect a severe fall in bitcoin's price as it has not yet reached his definition of a bitcoin bubble but urged investors to be aware of these correlations. "Bitcoin has been through a few boom-bust cycles already, most notably the waxing enthusiasm leading into late 2013, when bitcoin first broke USD 1,000, followed by the painful waning that lasted until January 2015 and bitcoins bottom at USD 175," he wrote on his blog while trying to build a pattern between the price movements of cryptoassets and the J-curve. "With bitcoin now pushing towards USD 4,000, up nearly 4x in 2017 alone, we are once again in a period of waxing enthusiasm," he adds. It's not just retail investors who are parking their money into bitoin, but this rally is also seen as a result of growing participation from institutional investors. Over the past few months, investment bank Goldman Sachs has taken a keen interest in bitcoin and has been issuing advisories to its client base on the price movement of the cryptocurrency. Recently speaking to Business Insider, Sheba Jafari Goldman Sachs head of technical strategy predicts bitcoin's price to climb to levels of USD 4,827 before it corrects all the way down to around USD 2,221. The price of ethereum, the second largest digital currency, was at levels of USD 291. The newly born bitcoin cash was at USD 300, seemingly finding its foot after it was born this month following a split with bitcoin. The total cryptocurrency market cap stood at USD 136 billion at time of this writing. Google Allo, the ambitious video calling and chatting app from the tech giant has launched Allo for web which will allow users to access chats on their desktops and laptops as well. However, the service is available only on Chrome web browser. Allo for web is here! Try it on Chrome today. Get the latest Allo build on Android before giving it a spin https://t.co/OPn6Q5hdkg pic.twitter.com/awxr9wFvoD Amit Fulay (@amitfulay) August 15, 2017 Amit Fulay, head of product for Google Allo, Google Duo & WebRTC announced in a tweet: Allo for web is here! Try it on Chrome today. Get the latest Allo build on Android before giving it a spin. In order to use the service, a user needs to have Allo installed and running in the mobile. Similar to how WhatsApp Web works, the user has to select Menu and then select Allo for web. After selecting that, all a user needs to do is scan the QR code appearing on Google Allo's website opened on the desktop. Also Read: Numbers don't lie: Diversity data reveal big gaps in gender and demographics of Google's workforce The service is currently available only for Android and the support for iPhone is coming soon. Also, one needs to have the latest version of Chrome installed on the desktop. The move brings Allo in direct competition with WhatsApp. However, currently, Allo stands nowhere in front of WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. Both these apps have more than a billion downloads and active users, whereas, the app by Google is a late entrant and as of March has a little over three million downloads. A concept image of Nokia 8 All the rumours and leaks will come to an end today, on August 16, as Nokia 8 is set to be launched at an event in London. The phone which is slated to be the most expensive phone yet from the Finnish company is going to position itself in the premium range of phones to compete against the likes of upcoming Apple iPhone and Samsungs Galaxy series. The phone is expected to be priced upwards of Rs 41,000. However, the company is also coming with its another high-end phone Nokia 9 which will be priced around 45,000. According to an NDTV report, the time of the launch event is 7.30 BST or 12 midnight IST. The event is expected to be streamed on YouTube by the promoters of the company, HMD Global. Although nothing is certain, according to leaked details, the phone is coming with Snapdragon 835 octa-core processor with a clock speed of 2.45 gigahertz. Many other popular smartphones like OnePlus 5 currently use this processor. The phone which will be launched in Europe initially is equipped with 4 GB RAM and 64 GB internal memory. The company is expected to launch a single SIM variant of the model as it has done with earlier models. The phone is tipped to come at least in four colour variantsBlue, Silver/steel, Gold and Copper. Rumours had also suggested that the phone would come with dual speakers, iris and fingerprint scanners. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi hugs U.S. President Donald Trump as they give joint statements in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, U.S., June 26, 2017. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque - RTS18QSB President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have agreed to enhance peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region by establishing a new two-by-two ministerial dialogue, which would elevate their strategic consultations, the White House said. Trump spoke with Modi last night to greet him on the eve of India's Independence Day. During the phone call, Trump welcomed the first-ever shipment of American crude oil to India, which will begin this month from Texas. He pledged that the US would continue to be a reliable and long-term supplier of energy to India, the White House said in a readout of the phone call between the two leaders. "The leaders resolved to enhance peace and stability across the Indo-Pacific region by establishing a new two-by- two ministerial dialogue that will elevate their strategic consultations," the White House said, without giving details of the mechanism. As the leaders of two of the world's largest and fastest-growing major economies, Trump and Modi looked forward to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in India this November, the White House said, adding that Trump has asked his daughter and advisor Ivanka Trump to lead the US summit delegation. "Prime Minister Modi thanked President Trump for his strong leadership uniting the world against the North Korean menace," it added. Trump had recently warned North Korea that it would face "fire and fury" if it attacked the United States, while the North threatened to test-fire its missiles over Japan and towards the US Pacific island of Guam. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson extended his best wishes to the people of India on the country's Independence Day today. "The US is proud to stand with the people of India, the worlds largest democracy, in the cause for freedom and prosperity around the globe," he said. "Prime Minister Modi's ambitious vision for the US-India relationship holds great promise for advancing our shared interests in the 21st century, and we look forward to the many years of friendship before us," Tillerson added. programmer-jobs-you-can-do-forever-cnbc_33343871 An Indian origin man in Singapore has got approximately USD 2.5 million awarded to him in damages from his previous employer after a defamatory reference letter that was based on false claims cost him his new job. Ramesh Krishnan had accused AXA Life Insurance of Singapore of defaming him while providing references on his work performance in 2012, as per a report in the Strait Times on Tuesday. Krishna, who had lost his initial defamation suit in 2015, this time claimed that he should get 63 million Singaporean dollars whereas AXA said that a nominal amount of 1 Singaporean Dollar could settle the dispute. AXA in its reference letter has written that He showed a very poor 13-month persistency rate and we are very concerned as to whether the clients have been provided with proper advice". The Court of Appeal in Singapore ruled that AXA had breached its duty of care to Krishnan as his former employer. This was the reason why Prudential Assurance Company did not to hire him. However, Ramesh was, as per evidence, one of AXAs best financial services director and the company had persuaded him not to quit the job. Law professionals | Corporate lawyer- Rs 6,10,000 | Senior attorney- Rs 9,50,000 | Interpreting and using the rule of the law to win arguments in favour of the client is a lucrative profession. The best lawyers earn several lakhs, even crores for a case. So much so that lawyers give up offers to become a judge so that they can maintain their incomes as lawyers! Being a lawyer requires a high level of patience, education and communication skills. In the first insolvency resolution order under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has approved the plan proposed by SynergiesDooray Automotive Ltd. The company, which manufactures alloy wheels for cars, submitted its application to NCLT on January 23. This is the first case filed at any of the NCLT benches, under the new insolvency code. The resolution plan was submitted by the company on July 21, and accepted by the tribunal on August 2 within the prescribed period of 180 days. The final order was uploaded on NCLT website on August 14. The Vishakhapatnam-based company has a total due amount to financial creditors, including three asset reconstruction companies (ARCs), of Rs 972 crore and the cost of the proposed scheme is Rs 54 crore, according to a report by Livemint. Alchemist ARC, Edelweiss ARC, Synergy Castings and Millennium Finance were the financial creditors involved. Edelweiss took over the debt from EXIM bank. According to the scheme proposed by NCLT, the SynergiesDooray merges with Synergies Casting, a creditor and a related party. The process involves restructuring debts of the financial and operational creditors, remaining payments to the government and capital (including equity) from the government. The Synergies Castings revival of Synergies-Dooray, a firm whose rehabilitation was objected by an 8% minoritys creditor for 10 long years, which demonstrates both what was wrong about the previous system, and what is right about new IBC. Revival also demonstrates that IBC is not merely about liquidation but revival which should always be the first preference for all stakeholders, including creditors, Sekhar Movva, president of Synergies-Dooray, was quoted as saying. The new order also exempts the merged body from stamp duty. The Andhra Pradesh government will also renounce penalties, interest on sales and service tax. The selected plan also takes care of dues of operational creditors and the government, which is generally not the case when the liquidation value is zero. We are increasingly seeing that committee of creditors are conscious of the dues of operational creditors, as these are mostly small and medium enterprises and if their dues do not get paid then the companies can go under and overall hurt the economy, said Mamta Binani, the Insolvency Resolution Professional for Synergies-Dooray and past president of Institute of Company Secretaries of India (ICSI), was quoted as saying. The bankruptcy law was passed in May 2016, by the Parliament and came into effect in December. The law intends to tackle the problems of bad loans and existing Non-Performing Assets (NPA) in the system. Nepal and China signed three pacts to further boost their ties in power and energy sectors and undertake a feasibility study to excavate natural gas and petroleum in the Himalayan country, including in the southern Terai plains. The pacts were signed after visiting Chinese vice premier Wang Yang held discussions with Nepal's deputy prime ministers Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar and Krishna Bahadur Mahara. Gachhadar reiterated Nepal's commitment to the 'One China' policy, "including the principled position of not allowing its territory to be used against neighbours." Both sides held discussions on enhancing cooperation in tourism, infrastructure development, energy, cross-border connectivity and people-to-people relations, he said. The agreements signed today cover economic and technological cooperation, oil and gas resources exploration, and promotion of investment, according to Nepal's foreign ministry. The pacts include a feasibility study for excavating natural gas and petroleum in mountain areas and plains of the Terai region, Nepal's state-run National News Agency reported. The two countries also agreed to establish hydropower projects and transmission lines and take steps for economic and technological development in Nepal, which suffers from acute shortage of electricity. Finance Secretary Shanta Raj Subedi told the agency that China responded positively on Nepal government's request to immediately reopen the 114-kilometre Araniko highway - an old route connecting the two countries. The highway was damaged and subsequently closed following the massive earthquake in Nepal in 2015. China has agreed in principle to upgrade the highway, the report said. The two countries, however, could not reach a concrete decision on developing other infrastructure projects such as constructing the Kerung-Kathmandu-Lumbini railway track and a bridge in Timure of Rasuwa district in northern Nepal. "The Chinese side is positive over the matter, but extensive talks and discussions are essential as a single round of talks is not enough to finalise all issues. They are positive towards our priorities of national development," said Subedi. Earlier today, the Chinese vice premier announced a USD 1 million assistance to Nepal, where more than 100 people have died in flooding and landslides. China's vice premier Yang led the Chinese delegation while Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara led the Nepalese delegation during the talks. Yang arrived in Kathmandu yesterday from Pakistan after attending the country's Independence Day celebrations as a "special guest". White supremacists clash with counter protesters during a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, U.S., August 12, 2017. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts - RTS1BJIL Racism and right-wing extremism have returned to the forefront of public discourse in the US after deadly violence in the south-eastern city of Charlottesville in Virginia over the weekend that saw radical ideologies take centrestage. The platform Jason Kessler, a self-proclaimed pro-white activist, organised a Unite the Right rally on August 12. The intention was to protest the impending removal of a statue of General Robert E Lee, who commanded the Confederate forces during the American Civil War in the 1860s. The Confederation, which consisted of 11 states including Virginia, was pro-slavery and the decision to remove Lees statue was prompted by the idea that it was a monument of white supremacy. However, critics feel bringing down the statue is an attempt to erase history and heritage. What went wrong? The night before the scheduled rally, around a hundred protesters marched on the University of Virginia campus. They held aloft tiki torches and chanted Nazi slogans including blood and soil and Sieg Heil (German for Hail Victory), "White Lives Matter" and "You Will Not Replace Us (white)". They also gave the Nazi salute. The police dispersed the protesters but they reconvened the following morning at the Unite the Rally match, where there were violent clashes with counterprotesters. The climax Reminiscent of recent terror attacks in the US, a car plowed into a gathering of counterprotesters on Saturday afternoon, killing one woman 32-year-old Heather Heyer and leaving dozens more injured. The driver was identified as 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr. The participants The participants in the rally belong to groups that can be classified under the umbrella of "far-right" extremist groups. The ideologies of these groups differ in various aspects but the lines between them are constantly blurring. Alt-right While not a formal grouping, the alt-right largely consists of white nationalists generally by critics to anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim and anti-immigrants. They have a heavy online presence and use internet forums, besides trolling and memes to further their ideas against diversity and immigration. White supremacists They believe that interracial marriages and non-white immigration are resulting a white genocide, where white people as a race are in danger of extinction. Their ultimate goal is the creation of a white-only state. In the words of one of its leaders Richard B Spencer, its identity politics for white people. Ku Klux Klan Known for roaming streets in white robes and conical hats, members of Ku Klux Klan are white supremacists who have historically targeted African Americans by violently attacking them in their bid to "purify" American society. A leader of the group reportedly said he was "glad" about the woman being run over in Charlottesville. Neo-Nazis Many of the Unite the Right protesters were clad in Nazi attire such as helmets from the era. A group even arrived armed with heavy weaponry. Their aim is to revive Adolf Hitlers Nazism and its key elements. They deny that the Holocaust in which six million Jews died ever happened. Marchers at the rally were filmed chanting blood and soil. The phrase was borrowed from 19th German nationalists who believed in the bond between ethnic groups and the soil of their homeland. Nazis used the cry in the 1930s and 1940s during the peak of Adolf Hitlers powers. A teacher of James Alex Fields Jr., who mowed his car into the counterprotesters, believes his high school research indicated his beliefs were "very much along the lines of the neo-Nazi movement". Common cause Collectively, these groups stand against Leftism (they consider it the ideology of death), immigrants, feminists, homosexuality and gay and transgender rights. What about Donald Trump? President Donald Trumps reaction to the events has generated controversy. He initially condemned the violence from many sides. But after being criticised for not specifically singling out extremists, Trump spoke out against evil racism two days later and said the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and hate groups were "repugnant" to everything Americans held dear. He also called the driver of the car who ran over protesters a disgrace to himself, his family and this country. However, on Tuesday, the President once again switched back to his initial stance, saying both sides were to blame for the violence. He accused the alt-left of charging at right-wing supporters with clubs. Trump, who is widely percieved to be anti-immigration and protectionist, has traditionally been reluctant to criticise white nationalists, possibly out of fear of losing one of his major support bases. After former Ku Klux Klan head David Duke publicly supported Trump ahead of last years elections, the then Presidential candidate had refused to immediately denounce him. Trumps latest reaction to the Charlottesville violence was cheered by Duke. Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville, Duke tweeted. Drop box worries, ballot harvesting concerns, voter intimidation fears, lengthy delays and long-awaited results: The fretting over Election Day procedures was on full display in the weeks before the mid-term election on Tuesday. Add to those unfounded worries were the... Jarrett Coleman goes from school board to statehouse with win in 16th Senate District race Friends In Pink is still on the radar and growing every year Letter to editor: Voting is necessary to protect democracy Education Montgomery County Community College will present the spring installment of the interview/talk show program Issues and Insights April 20 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in Science Center room 214, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The programs will be simulcast to the Colleges West Campus in South Hall room 216, 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Dr. Kolsky will offer a humorous presentation, Carrots, Sticks and Politics: A State of the Nation and the World Message. In this speech, he will provide his interpretation of domestic and international politics and then welcome questions from the audience for discussion. Issues and Insights, is free and open to the public. For information, contact Dr. Thomas Kolsky, professor of political science, at 215-641-6380 or tkolsky@mc3.edu. Montgomery County Community Colleges STEM Scholars Program will host a STEM Jam! open house April 25 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Advanced Technology Center at the Colleges Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The drop-in event is designed for students interested in learning more about careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Activities will include STEM program information and career advising, STEM speakers throughout the day from industry and academia, micro-helicopter and robotics competitive obstacle courses and demonstrations and static models of STEM student and faculty work. For more information about STEM Jam! or STEM programs at MCCC, contact William Brownlowe at wbrownlowe@mc3.edu or 215-641-6644, or Robin Zuhlke at 215-619-7440 or rzuhlke@mc3.edu. Temple Ambler, located at 580 Meetinghouse Road, presents the following events: International Club Global Bazaar April 15 from 5 to 8 p.m. The Ambler Campus International Club invites all students, faculty, staff and the community to celebrate a multitude of diverse cultures, which will be showcased at the organizations Global Bazaar. This family friendly event will highlight cultural traditions and celebrations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, South American, North America and Africa through music, entertainment, food and informative displays developed and presented by students at the Ambler Campus. Young visitors will be provided with passports, which they may get stamped at each country they visit. Prizes will be awarded to world travelers who talk to cultural representatives, answer questions about the countries theyve visited and take part in fun-filled activities designed to help them learn about the rich diversity of cultures found throughout the world. Refreshments will be served. The event is free. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail tuc36466@temple.edu. EarthFest 2011 April 29 from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. More than 75 exhibitors, including the Philadelphia Zoo, The Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, the Elmwood Park Zoo and the Insectarium, will take part in EarthFest 2011. School students of all ages are invited to attend and develop displays of their own. EarthFest partner the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society also offers its Kids Grow Expo, featuring the Junior Flower Show, as part of the event. For more information, call 267-468-8108 or e-mail duffyj@temple.edu. Annual Spring Plant Sale May 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The plant sale an Ambler Campus tradition dating back to the early 1900s will feature woody plants and perennials in portable sizes, hardy trees, shrubs, and vines, native plants that are attractive to wildlife, herbs, and hanging baskets. There will also be numerous special plants for sale to highlight Amblers special anniversary year. Garden books and garden tools will also be available for sale. Students, staff, and volunteers from the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture and the Ambler Arboretum Advisory Committee will be available to answer questions. All proceeds from the Spring Plant Sale will support the Ambler Arboretum Fund and the Pi Alpha Xi National Honor Society. Information: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. June Homecoming/Louise Bush-Brown Garden Dedication June 5 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. (June Homecoming), Bright Hall Lounge; 2 p.m. (Garden Dedication), Ambler Campus Formal Perennial Gardens. Tickets June Homecoming: Participant $18 per person; Sustainer $25 per person; Benefactor $40 per person. The 2011 June Homecoming, sponsored by the School of Environmental Design Alumni Association, will include the Alumni Association annual meeting and luncheon. June Homecoming will be followed by the formal dedication of Temple University Amblers Formal Perennial Gardens as the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Gardens. During this 100th anniversary of the campus, Temple University Ambler and the Ambler Arboretum of the Temple University is honoring Louise Bush-Browns many contributions to the history of the campus by formally dedicating the gardens in her honor. During the program, campus Executive William Parshall will welcome guests, Ambler Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey will speak about the Bush-Browns and the history of the garden, and an official ribbon cutting will be held for the Louise Bush-Brown Formal Garden. Following the ribbon cutting, guests are invited to take a tour of the gardens, which will wend their way to the Campus Greenhouse for the School of Environmental Designs annual Plant Auction. Information (Garden Dedication): 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Information (June Homecoming): 215-482-0722. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. Northview Garden Tour and Fundraiser for the Ambler Arboretum June 12 from noon to 5 p.m. Call for reservations. Tickets: $15 per person or $20 at the door. In addition to the gardens of the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University, Arboretum Director Jenny Rose Carey has a garden oasis all her own right in Ambler Northview. Visitors will have the opportunity to take self-guided tours throughout the many gardens, where garden experts will be available to answer questions about the various designs. The Ambler Keystone Chapter of the Womans National Farm and Garden Association will also provide tea and refreshments. All proceeds from the tours will support the Ambler Arboretum of Temple University. Information or to register: 267-468-8001 or judy.shatz@temple.edu. Learn more at www.ambler.temple.edu/anniversary. The Senior Adult Activities Center of Montgomery County, 536 George Street, Norristown, will hold the following events: SAAC Adult Day Care, an alternative to Nursing Home Care is available for information call 610-275-1960 Volunteers are needed for Meals on Wheels Program (call the number above) SAACs Fifth Avenue Boutique opens Monday through Friday from 10 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Exercise with Theresa will be held every Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 1 p.m. Dance class is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Tai Chi is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Yoga is held every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. Line Dancing is held every Thursday at 10:30 a.m. Dancing with Joan is held every Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. Sculpture Class is held Wednesdays from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Why Should I Learn Spanish? will be held Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. Generations On-Line computer classes for seniors will be held Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. 4 p.m. computers are available during those hours. Health Living will be held every Tuesday at 1 p.m. Boomer U will hold the following events. Boomer U is located at 45 Forest Avenue, Ambler. Registration & payment is required for all events: 215-619-8863. Pilates Class is held Wednesdays and Fridays at 9:30 a.m. First class is free; please bring a mat. For information call 610-291-5376. Blue Bell School of Dance, 921 Penllyn Blue Bell Pike, Blue Bell, hosts Argentine Tango Classes and a Milonga dance party every Friday evening. Lessons start at 8:30 p.m. followed by dancing at 9:30 p.m. Andrew Conway, master Argentine Tango dancer, instructor and performer and his partner Linda Chase will instruct. All levels welcome and no partner is needed. Refreshments will be served. Fee is $12 per person and includes lesson and dancing. Information: 215-634-1101 or www.amoretango.com. The Montgomery Hospital Medical Center will offer the following classes: Childbirth Education Class- all parents are invited to participate, including those who are delivering at other hospitals. For more information on maternity services or classes, call 610-270-2020. CPR and First Aid Courses are offered for beginners to experiences health care providers. Call 610-270-2313. The Ambler SAAC (Senior Adult Activities Center), located at 45 Forest Ave in Ambler will hold the following events: Tai Chi every Monday and Thursday at 11 a.m. Yoga is every Tuesday at 1 p.m. and Friday at 10:30 a.m. Strength and balance training every Wednesday at 10 a.m. Armchair Aerobics is held every Monday at 10 a.m. Gourmet Weight Wise every Thursday at 12:30. Fitness Center and Pool Room open daily 8 a.m.-4 p.m. The Diabetes Education Center will offer day and evening classes each month. Health insurance pays for diabetes education classes. Preregistration is required. Call 610-270-2301. For Kids & Families The Ambler Kiwanis Club will host its annual Easter Egg Hunt April 26 at 10 a.m. in Ambler Borough Park, located just off of the intersection of Hendricks Street and Valley Brook Road. Members of the Wissahickon Key Club will assist Kiwanians in hiding thousands of wrapped chocolate eggs in a designated area of the park. Also hidden will be plastic colored eggs, which are redeemed for prizes. Elementary school children are separated by age. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation will hold its 21st annual Storybook Egg-Stravaganza April 15 fom 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Upper Dublin Township Building. Toddlers and preschoolers love this annual event where photo opportunities with favorite friends abound! Treasures are collected from UDP&Rs assortment of lifesize cutouts of favorite cartoon characters from Disney, Sesame Street, Nickelodeon and other well-known animation. Children can have their picture taken with Bugsy OHare; bring your own camera. And dont forget a basket for goodies! $7 for UD residents; $12 for non-residents. Pre-register at 215-643-1600 ext. 3443. Splash Week is a free week-long program that teaches children and families basic swimming skills and water safety practices. All YMCA branches will host multiple classes each day from April 11 to 15. For more information, contact the Ambler Area YMCA at 215-628-9950. Healthy Kids Day is April 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The day is filled with fun, engaging and artistic activities that cultivate healthy living as part of the YMCAs larger efforts to help more kids and families become physically active. All activities are free and open to the community. For more information, contact the Ambler YMCA at 215-628-9950. No reservation is required. The Ambler Area YMCA has added several new programs for area youngsters. Classes are held late afternoons or evenings on various weekdays. For more information, visit philaymca.org or call 215-628-9950. Basic Beading: Ages: 10+. Wednesdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. This class will teach you the fundamentals of wiring and stringing along with how color can be used to create unique and vibrant beadwork design. You will create various jewelry including earrings, bracelets, charm pendants and much more! Supplies will be provided. Bringing your own jewelry pliers or tools would be a plus. Messin with the Masters: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 7 to 7:45 p.m. Learn about some of the worlds greatest artists. You will be inspired to create your own Starry Night with oil pastels and tempera paints, a tissue paper painted Monet garden, a Picasso head using scraps of paper, a Georgia OKeeffe clay flower bowl and a Rousseau jungle collage. Super Scientist: Ages: 5-7. Mondays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Well be concocting chemistry experiments such as making slime, mixing potions and having fun with magnet magic. Your budding little scientist will enhance his/her creative thinking and motor skills and to top it off will learn that science can be serious fun. Wacky Junk Art: Ages: 8-12. Thursdays 6 to 6:45 p.m. Why throw it away! Instead join us to make household junk into aliens from outer space, wacky specs, crazy hats, body masks or a recycled train. Globe Trotters: Ages: 4-6. Tuesdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Youre never too young to start thinking globally. Each week, we explore a new country through crafts, games, music, stories and even some taste-testing. A perfect introduction to our great big world! Crazy about Crafts: Ages: 5-7, Thursdays 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. Let your childs creative juices flow with our fun arts and crafts projects each week. Fine motor skills and creative thinking skills will be enhanced with this crafty class. Come out and join the Ambler Area YMCAs Teen and Junior Leaders Club. Participants are given the freedom to plan community service projects year round and truly make a difference in the lives of people in need. Those in Teen and Junior Leaders also attend leadership retreats all along the East Coast three times a year and meet other leaders who are doing the same great work in their respective areas. Dont miss out on this inspiring opportunity. Teen Leaders, ages 13-17, meet every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Junior Leaders, ages 10-12, will begin in the spring and will meet every Monday. For more information, contact Mike Miles, Teen Director, 215- 628-9950 x 1540 or mmiles@philaymca.org. Did you know that the new Ambler Area YMCA holds childrens birthday parties at its site for members and non members as well. The Ambler Y does all the work from start to finish and birthday parties include a personalized cake, ice cream, beverage and paper products. Parties are held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons and include two party hosts to lead activities, set-up, clean-up and assist with serving. You can have a Splash Party for children ages six to 12 in the new zero depth entry pool with water slide and spray fountains. Up to 25 children have exclusive use of the pool area with 30 minutes in the party room. Sports Parties are offered for kids ages four to 12 with age appropriate activities and games, and sports such as floor hockey, soccer, basketball or dodge ball. Children ages three to five years of age will enjoy parties in the Family Active Center with use of the Moon Bounce and organized activities, such as parachute play and songs. For information, 215-628-9950 ext. 1583. Community Events at the Ambler Y: -YAchievers YMCA Achievers is a developmentally based, extracurricular, educational and team mentoring program designed to help students in grades five through 12 prepare for fulfilled livelihoods in college and beyond. Participation is free and all students in this program receive a free YMCA membership. Registration for the 2009 program begins now. You do not need to be a YMCA member to utilize these special services. Call 215-628-9950 to register. Greater Norristown Art Leagues Childrens Weeklong Summer Art Camps will be held at 800 West Germantown Pike in East Norriton, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday throughout the summer. The cost per session is $125 per student for ages 6 and up. Jo Ann Cooksey Bono teaches an introduction to basic drawing skills and techniques from 10 a.m. until the lunch break each day. In the afternoon sessions, Mary Vogel Lozinak involves the students in hands on projects such as collage, papermaking, T-shirt printing, 3D design and sculpy clay. Fridays Graduation Day includes an art show, awards ceremony and reception for parents, siblings, grandparents and friends. All supplies are included. Students provide their own lunch. A refrigerator is available and the building is air-conditioned. This is the 15th year to run this successful program. Both instructors are professional artists with State Police and Child Abuse Clearances. To register, call Jo Ann at 610-279-1008, or register on-line at www.gnal.org. Health Dresher Physical Therapy is hosting an interactive seminar discussing its Golf Assessment Progam April 30 from 10 a.m. to noon at Dresher Physical Therapy, 1075 Virginia Drive, Suite 200, Fort Washington. Physical therapist Chris Miller, certified through the Titleist Performance Institute, will discuss why your body may be the most important piece of golf equipment you invest in and how this can drastically improve your game. $10 in advance; $15 at the door. Call 215-619-4545 to reserve your spot. The Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment, Center on the Hill and Chestnut Hill Hospital will host a Senior Health and Resource Fair April 14 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church, 8855 Germantown Ave. The event is free. For more information, call 215-248-0180 or e-mail chseniors@cavtel.net. The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is hosting Help Yourself to Health, a new six-week workshop for older adults with ongoing health conditions such as arthritis, diabetes, high blood pressure, anxiety, heart disease and others. The free workshop will take place at the Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center, 45 Forest Ave. on six Thursdays, May 12 through June 16 from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Although there is no charge to participate, registration is required. To register, call 215-619-8863. The Ambler Senior Adult Activities Center is sponsoring an eight-week program called A Matter of Balance: Managing Concerns About Falls. Presented by the Montgomery County Health Department, this workshop will be held on Tuesdays, May 3 to June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Ambler Center, 45 Forest Ave. If you pre-register by April 27, the fee is only $5! Registration at the first class is $10. (Checks should be payable to SAAC and will benefit our Meals on Wheels program that serves homebound seniors.) A workbook will be provided and refreshments will be served. Call 215-619-8863 to register or for more information. Fort Washington Wellness Center classes are ongoing. There are several offered during lunch or right after work, for your convenience: Boot Camp from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday; Zumba is MWF from 11 a.m. to noon and Friday at 4 p.m.; there are 25 cycling classes; Ashtanga and Vinyasana Yoga and Pilates; and a group Womens Strength Training class M-F from 10 to 11 a.m. Questions, call Cathy DeMarco at 215-641-1245. Following the success of other local area programs, Impact Sports and Upper Dublin Parks and Recreation are delighted to team up again to offer a spring program for the 2011 season! Upper Dublin area children ages 3-5 years old can attend a Sports Program featuring their favorite sports games; soccer, rugby, hockey, track and field, basketball, and more. The program will start on April 27 and run through June 1. Cost for the program is $85 for the six weeks. The classes will be running 12- 1 p.m.; 1- 2 p.m.; 2- 3 p.m. For more info or to register, call Upper Dublin Township on 215 643 1600 or visit their website a http://www.upperdublin.net. Spring Aquatic Programs UDHS Pool: -Summer is just around the corner Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool can help get you into shape! Programs begin in March; preregistration is required. Shallow Water Aerobics Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 8-8:45 p.m., $40R/$50NR. Adult Swim Instructions Two 5-week programs, Wednesday nights, 7-8 p.m., $50R/$60NR -Open Rec Swims are fun for the whole family! Come out on Fridays from 7-9 p.m. or Saturdays from 1-4 p.m. and enjoy use of the pool and diving area. Fridays are offered through June 17; Saturdays are offered March 12-May 21. -Join a growing group of adult lap swimmers and water walkers. Lanes are set aside evenings and weekends for use; lanes are shared. Monday Thursday from 7:30-9:30 p.m.; Fridays from 7-9 p.m. and Saturdays (March 12-May 21) from 1-4 p.m. -Private Swimming & Diving Lessons for ages 3-adult are offered at the UDHS Pool through a partnership with the Upper Dublin Aquatic Club (UDAC). Visit the UDAC website for more information, www.udac.us, and click the link to UDHS Private Lessons. -Looking for local programs for US Masters Swimming (adults) or Water Polo (all ages)? UDAC and UDSD are working together to develop programs that will be offered at the UDHS Pool. Add your name to Interest Lists by emailing slohoefer@upperdublin.net. emails will be sent about clinics and program start dates. Questions about Community Aquatic Programs at the UDHS Pool, group use of the pool or pool rental? Contact Susan Lohoefer, Facility & Community Affairs Manager at slohoefer@upperdublin.net or call 215-643-8800 x8994. SilverSneakers Fitness Program. The Healthyways SilverSneakers Fitness Program is a result-oriented program that enables older adults to take charge of their health. The program is an innovative blend of physical activity, healthy lifestyle and socially oriented programing. Members of the program are eligible for a free YMCA membership, with use of the pool and exercise equipment, along with customized classes designed for older adults who want to improve their strength, flexibility, balance and endurance. If you are a subscriber to Independence Blue Cross (Personal Choice 65 PPO) or Keystone 65 HMO, Bravo Health, or Health Options Programs (HOP), call the Ambler Area YMCA, 215-628-9950 or Hatboro Area YMCA, 215-674-4545. You can also visit www.silversneakers.com. Zumba Fitness offers Zumba dance/fitness classes at Academy of Dance and Music/BBAD Studio located at 1524 DeKalb Pike in Blue Bell (behind Sherwin Williams). Classes are offered three times a week: Tuesdays at 6 p.m., Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 a.m. For a free trial pass for your first class, email us at info@danceandmusic.biz or call 610-277-2557. For more info, visit our site at www.academyofdanceandmusic.org. Chestnut Hill Health Systems presents the following Health Education Programs: FITNESS CLASSES Golden Yoga: A Breathing, Stretching and Relaxation Class. Fridays, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Lea Auditorium, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. Registration for four classes at a time required. Golden Yoga is Classical Yoga, adapted by the SKY Foundation, to accommodate those who have difficulty getting up and down from the floor. The program includes postures, breathing, relaxation and meditation techniques, all performed while sitting in a chair and standing. Registration required. Call 215-247-3029. Cost: $20 for 4 classes per month. Tai Chi: Tuesdays & Thursdays, 8:30 9:30 a.m. Springfield Residence, 8601 Stenton Ave. Classes, for the novice or beginner/intermediate student, are designed to improve balance, power, posture, coordination, flexibility and mental focus. Slow, gentle movements are modified to most everyones abilities. For more information or to sign up for a free introductory class, call 215-882-2804. Cost: $8 per class/paid monthly. SUPPORT GROUPS Weight Loss Surgery Support Group: Fourth Wednesday of the month, 7-8 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. Join us for a monthly get-together where well share information for those interested in weight loss surgery, learn from guest speakers discussing current news on issues including lifestyle modification, nutrition and exercise and provide ongoing support for those who have completed surgery. Registration required. Call 215-753-2000. Breast Cancer Networking Group: Fourth Tuesday of the month 5:30 7 p.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave., Philadelphia. A free, confidential support group for women living with a diagnosis of breast cancer designed to provide a forum for sharing information, feelings and concerns associated with breast cancer. Facilitated by Tish Wakefield, LCSW, Oncology Social Worker. Registration required. To register or for more information, call 215-248-8047. New Moms Support Groups Tuesdays 10:30 a.m. 12 p.m.; contact Jeanine ORourke, MSW or 2:30 4 p.m.; contact Susan Schack, Ph.D Volunteer Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. The Center for Postpartum Depression at Chestnut Hill Hospital is pleased to offer two new support groups to support new moms. Both groups will be run by experienced mental health professionals who really get it when it comes to new motherhood and juggling relationships, extended family, work/family balance and self-care. If you are experiencing new mom challenges that often heighten anxiety and involve hormonally driven depression, join us for an informative and supportive forum to connect with other moms. Infants are welcome. $30 per session (flexible based on need). Registration is required. Call Dr. Schack, 646-265-2484, or Ms. ORourke, 215-206-2931. Man to Man Prostate Cancer Support Group Third Thursday of the month 8-9 a.m. Williams Conference Room, Chestnut Hill Hospital, 8835 Germantown Ave. A networking group for men diagnosed with prostate cancer designed to provide education, support and encouragement. Spouses and partners welcome. Harry M. Baer, MD, Chief, Urology Division, will host Ask the Doctor. Registration required. Call 215-248-8325. Contact the Senior Center by phone 215-248-0180 or email (chseniors@cavtel.net) with your questions about these programs or any of our on-going activities and classes. Holy Redeemer HomeCare and Hospice seeks compassionate and emotionally mature volunteers to provide support to local hospice patients and their families in Bucks, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties. Volunteers may also assist with pet therapy and administrative work within the hospice department and are requested to have daytime availability. Hospice patient care volunteers visit with patients in their homes or nursing facilities once a week for two to three hours. They provide emotional support and companionship to patients and family members, assist with errands or provide respite for caregivers. Bereavement volunteers support the families of hospice patients following the loss of a loved one, while administrative volunteers assist with typing, mailings and/or filing. Hospice care workers provide a great service to families and loved ones of hospice patients. Many volunteers also report a great deal of personal satisfaction as a result of their services. Patient care and bereavement volunteers complete an application and attend an 18-hour volunteer training program that covers the medical, psychological and spiritual aspects of hospice volunteering. Day and evening training programs are offered. To sign up for volunteer opportunities in Pennsylvania, contact Holy Redeemer Volunteer Coordinator Jean Francis at 215-698-3737 or email jfrancis@holyredeemer.com. Librarytalk Upper Dublin Public Library, 805 Loch Alsh Avenue, Ft. Washington, 215-628-8744 www.upperdublinlibrary.org APRIL CHILDRENS PROGRAMS: Storytimes: Please register in the library. o Wee Ones: 0 to 23 months Thursdays and Fridays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. o Tiny Tots: age 2. Wednesdays 10:30 to 10:50 a.m. and Fridays 11 to 11:20 a.m. o Jr. Book Lovers: ages 3 to 6. Tuesdays 10:30 to 11 a.m. o Bedtime Storytimes: 7 to 7:30 p.m. April 20 and 27. Wear your jammies, bring your teddy & hear Miss Barbara read bedtime stories! For ages 3 to 6. APRIL TEEN PROGRAMS: North Hills Library Teens April 28 from 4 to 6 p.m. Movie Matinee APRIL UDPL ADULT PROGRAMS: NEW! ESL Conversation Group. Tuesdays from 7 to 8 p.m. Interested in practicing your English in a safe and caring environment? Come to our conversation group and improve your skills! Please register with Kay Klocko at 215-628-8744 or kklocko@mclinc.org. One-on-One Computer Mentoring. Get personalized assistance from experienced computer volunteers! Sign-up for a one-hour session. Limit one session per month. Please register contact info above. Book Groups Please register with Kay Klocko 215-628-8744. o Daytimers: April 21 at 1:30 p.m. Tired of book groups where you all read the same book? Read any fiction or non-fiction book on this months theme: Explorers. Please register. Meetings: Annual Meeting of the Friends of UDPL: April 14 at 1 p.m. Board of Directors: April 20 at 7 p.m. Blue Bell Library www.wvpl.org Upcoming Events: The Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 650 Skippack Pike (Route 73) in Blue Bell, is diagonally across from the Blue Bell Inn. Call 215-643-1320 or visit their website at www.wvpl.org. For children and teens at Blue Bell: * Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian. * Mondays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages. * Fridays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Family Movies, new releases, second Saturdays of the month at 1:30 p.m. * May 14 Despicable Me * June 11 Alpha and Omega * Special Events * April watch for date of spring/Easter events * April 14 at 4:30 p.m. Junior Lego Club for children ages 3 through 5. Parents and caregivers need to stay with children. * April 14 at 7 p.m. Jeopardy for ages 11 to 18. Test your book and library knowledge for prizes. Sign up to be a contestant. No sign up to be in the audience. Snacks provided. * April 16 at 1 p.m. Adult Mystery Book Group discussing The Beekeepers Apprentice by Laurie King. * April 16 at 1:30 p.m. Childrens event for One Book, Every Young Child celebration. Story and craft for book Whose Shoes? * April 19 at 7 p.m. and April 26 at 1:30 p.m.- Adult book group discusses The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. Group led by Adam Button. * April 30 through May 3 Friends book sale with about 10,000 items for sale for children, teens and adults. * May sign up for Science in the Summer * June sign up for Enrichment Programs for Elementary-Age children * June sign up for Summer Reading, all ages For adults at Blue Bell: * Daytime Book Discussion Group fourth Tuesday, Jan April at 1:30 p.m. * April 26 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester * Night-time Book Discussion Group third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. o April 19 The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester * Art Series with Dr. Sheldon Weintraub, docent at The Barnes and speaker at local colleges o April 27 at 2 p.m. The Art of Looking at Art-Is She Nude or Is She Naked? *Mystery Book Discussion Group, third Saturday of the month at 1 p.m.; new mystery theme each month; www.wvpl.org/programs * Yoga on Mondays at 1:30 p.m. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop-in class. * Tai Chi on Mondays at 3 p.m. with Dr. Kurt Findeisen. $20 for eight classes; $5 per drop in class. * Philadelphia Museum of Art presents class on their Marc Chagall exhibit, April 13 at 2 p.m. * Giant Book Sale, April 29 May 3 o Starts with almost 10,000 items for children and adults! o Held during library hours. o Preview for members of the Friends of the Library, April 28 at 7 p.m. o Join the Friends and attend the preview sale. Modest fee to join. * Blooms at Blue Bell Gardening Series o May 11 at 1 p.m. Summer Bulbs by PA Horticultural Society * Knitting group Mondays and Wednesdays at 10 a.m. Work on your project or observe and learn. The groups continue year-round in the community room. * Socrates Cafe discussion group every Monday at 7 p.m. You pick the topic to discuss each week. No sign-up, nothing to read. * Bridge every Friday at 12:30 p.m. New players welcome. * Mah Jong every Wednesday at 1 p.m. New players welcome. *Chess every Wednesday at 7p.m. for adults and teens 14 and older. * Movie Matinee showing recent releases every Thursday at 2 p.m. April 14: Maos Last Dancer; April 21: Welcome to the Rileys; April 28: Conviction; May 5: Inception; May 12: Inside Job; May 19 The Kings Speech; May 26 The Fighter; June 2 Rabbit Hole; June 9 Black Swan; June 16 127 Hours * Ongoing like-new, year-round book sale for adults & children during library hours * Library opening at 10 a.m. Monday through Saturday! Ambler Library, a branch of the Wissahickon Valley Public Library, 209 Race St., 215-646-1072. www.wvpl.org. All the following events occur at the Ambler Library. * Story times with guitar music by Miss Michelle, the singing librarian. * Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m. for all ages. * Thursdays at 4:30 p.m. for all ages. * For adults: * Beading Group meets the first and third Monday of every month at 1 p.m. Work on your own projects or come to watch and learn. * Free Family History Lookup with Connie Briggs. Email Connie for an appointment at the Ambler Library. conniebriggs@comcast.net * Special Events: * April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Book Group discusses Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian. * April 19 at 7 p.m. Travel to Paris with world traveler Harry Balin. Tea and scones at 6:30 p.m. * April 21 at 7 p.m. Art with Sara for children in fourth through seventh grades. *May 2 at 6:30 p.m. Discuss the movie Lone Star with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time. *May 10 Robert Capucci discusses Art into Fashion. Tea and scones served at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. *May 12 at 1:30p.m. Book Group discusses The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman. *May 17 Tour the gardens of Devon and Southwest England with Lois McMullen. Tea and Scones at 6:30 p.m. Program at 7 p.m. *June 13 at 6:30 p.m. Discuss the movie Blade Runner with Temple Professor Lisa Hawkins. Watch the movie ahead of time. Meetings and Lectures The Unisys Blue Bell Retiree Group will meet in the Church on the Mall in the Plymouth Meeting Mall April 14 at 1:30 p.m. Kathy Sacket Young, director/trainer with the North Penn YMCA, will speak on Keeping Fit in Retirement. For more information, contact Membership Committee Chairperson Jerry Feldscher at 610-275-3538 or President Al Rollin at 215-368-4833. The next FWBA meeting will be April 28 at the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Networking begins at 11:30 a.m.; meeting from noon to 1 p.m. Leon Singletary, Principal, First Contact HR and FWBA Executive Board, will present: Social Media: How to Use It To Get More Business. Lunch is provided courtesy of the Hilton Garden Inn Fort Washington. Members are welcome to bring a guest. An RSVP is requested by return email or 215-628-0313. Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA is hosting a information sessions over the next few weeks on how to become a Big Brother. The information sessions will take place: April 16 at noon, April 19 at 8 a.m. and April 28 at 6 p.m. All sessions will be held at the groups Norristown Office,t 530 DeKalb St., Norristown. For more information, call 610-277-2200. The North Penn Chapter of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) normally meets on the third Tuesday of each month from now until May. Meetings are held at the William Penn Inn on Route 202 and Sumneytown Pike, Upper Gwynedd, PA. Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m., dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., and the technical program begins at 7 p.m. Cost with reservation is $28 for members. Members without reservations and guests pay $30. Students with reservations pay $15. Reservations may be made by noon on the Monday preceding the meeting by phoning 215-371-1854 or emailing the reservation to northpennima@yahoo.com northpennima@yahoo.com. Information about the North Penn Chapter is available at http://northpenn.imanet.org/. LeTip, a professional organization of men and women who are dedicated to the highest standards of competence and service meets every Tuesday at Cedar Brook Country Club, 180 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell at 7 a.m. -meeting officially starts at 7:16 a.m. and ends at 8:31 a.m. Our purpose is the exchange of business tips, leads, and referrals. Each business category is represented by one member and conflicts of interest are disallowed. Guests are welcome to visit any of our breakfast meetings. Every third Thursday of month, Sunrise Assisted Living of Blue Bell (795 Penllyn Pike, Blue Bell, PA 19422, 215-619-2777) serves as a satellite site to 148th Legislative district PA congressman Mike Gerber from 10 a.m. to noon. Stop by for help needed with things such as disability placards and license plates, vehicle registration, utilities issues, birth/death certificates,property tax/rent rebates, etc. Notary services arranged by appointment. The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce is an action-oriented organization dedicated to promoting its members and the economic health of eastern Montgomery county. The Chamber is committed to serving as a catalyst by uniting business, community agencies, government and education to make our county a great place to live and work. For information, call 215-887-5122 or visit www.emccc.org. Do you have a fear of public speaking? Blue Bell Toastmasters Club can help. We meet from 7 to 9 p.m., on the second and fourth Tuesday at the Marriott Courtyard, located on Route 202, directly across from the Montgomeryville Mall. Learn how to improve communication and leadership skills in a friendly and supportive environment. Guests are welcome. Admission fee: $5. For more info, visit www.bbtoast.org. The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will hold the following meetings (for reservations to any of the following, email info@PennSuburban.org) -Breakfast News Network, 7:30-8:45 a.m. at Normandy Farm Hotel (1401 Morris Road, Blue Bell, PA 19422) $15 members, includes full buffet breakfast. Join us for a networking program at Normandy Farm Hotel every Thursday morning for breakfast, business news, informative speakers, and plenty of networking. The cost includes a full breakfast buffet. Copies of the business cards will be made available to those who would like them. The BNI, Fort Washington Chapter meets every Monday at The Hilton Garden Inn, 520 Pennsylvania Ave., Fort Washington for a networking meeting. Meetings are from 11:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. Visitors are welcome. The only cost to attend is the cost of your meal. For information or a reservation to attend, please call Luanne Cram at 215-947-7784, or visit our Internet site at: http://www.BNIDVR.Com and click on the menu item Find a Chapter. For the past seven years, people have enjoyed participating in WVWAs Adopt-a-Tree program. Individuals can support the Association in its reforestation efforts by purchasing native trees to be planted. Supporters can plant their adopted tree or have WVWA volunteers will plant it. Trees cost $30 each. If you would like to volunteer or purchase a tree(s), please contact: Bob Adams at Bob@wvwa.org or call: 215-646-8866 for more information. Check www.WVWA.org for directions and maps. Sustainable Upper Dublin, http://sustainableupperdublin.org, meets the first Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m., at the Upper Dublin Township Building, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington, PA 19034. Please send any questions to suec@sustainableupperdublin.org or call 610-996-6316. To learn more about Sustainable Upper Dublin, view or join the discussion at http://googlegroups.com/group/sustainableupperdublin. Special Events The Mattie N. Dixon Community Cupboard will hold its first nutrition class April 19 at 10 a.m. at the Community Cupboard, 150 N. Main St., Ambler. Lynne Sinclair, a nutritionist from Abington Memorial Hospital specializing in diabetic nutrition, will conduct the class. Topics will include healthy eating, beneficial foods, recipes, making meals with every day foods, and how to use unfamiliar produce. A healthy snack will be provided.The class is is open to all residents in Montgomery County. The Historical Society of Fort Washington presents The History of Conshohocken April 19 at 8 p.m. at the Clifton House, 473 Bethlehem Pike, Fort Washington. Jack Coll will present an illustrated program on the history of the Borough of Conshohocken. Coll is a longtime resident of Conshohocken and a member of the Conshohocken Historical Society. He is co-author with his son, Brian, of the Arcadia Then and Now Series book Conshohocken. He has also done books Conshohocken and West Conshohocken Sports and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Italian Feast. He has taken many photos for the Conshohocken Record and the Norristown Times Herald. This program is free. Refreshments will be served. For additional information, call 215-646-6065. Taste of the White House Soiree featuring former White House Chef Walter Scheib will take place April 29 at 6 p.m. at Manufacturers Golf & Country Club in Fort Washington to celebrate HealthLinks 10th anniversary and honor its founders, the Eugene Jackson Family. The evening will heat up with a Chef Meet & Greet, followed by a specially selected presidential menu. Gala tickets are $150 per person. Proceeds benefit HealthLink, a free clinic providing compassionate, quality medical and dental care to uninsured, working adults in Bucks and Montgomery counties who fall in between the health care cracks. Go to http://tasteofthewhitehouse.charityhappenings.org to make reservations online or lend support through sponsorship. For event information, call 267-699-0124 or email jmarushak@healthlinkmedical.org. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association will hold an open house at the Evans-Mumbower Mill April 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. The Mill is at the corner of Swedesford and Township Line Roads in Upper Gwynedd. The open house is free but donations are welcome. For more information, call 215-646-8866 o email info@wvwa.org. The Eastern Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce will host Breakfast With Your County Commissioners and State Representatives April 21 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Fort Washington, 432 W. Pennasylvania Ave. Commissioners: James R. Matthews (Chairman), Joseph M. Hoeffel (Vice Chair), State Representatives: Todd Stephens (District 151) and Josh Shapiro (District 153). Register onlineat www.emccc.org. $10 for EMCCC member; $20 for non-members. Upper Dublins Districtwide Allied Art Show will be held April 27 from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Upper Dublin High School Athletic Complex. The Rev. Alfred Muli, chaplain at Fort Washington Estates, will be the featured speaker at the Kiwanis sponsored breakfast observing the National Day of Prayer May 5 at 7 a.m. at the William Penn Inn. The breakfast is open to the public ($15). Reservations can be made by calling 215-646-4356 or by emailing georgesaurman@Juno.com. The Upper Dublin Shade Tree Commission invites people to participate in its spring bare root planting events, sponsored in part by Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Friends of Robbins Park. On April 9, zix trees will be planted at the Evelyn B. Wright Park & Community Pool, 401 Logan Ave., North Hills, at 9 a.m., followed by the planting of 10 trees at Sheeleigh Park, Loch Alsh Avenue and Douglas Street, Ambler, at 10:15 a.m. On April 29, students from Upper Dublin High School will join the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society to plant 16 trees in Robbins Park, Butler Pike and Meetinghouse Road, Ambler, to help launch the societys Million Trees campaign. This event will occur in conjunction with Temple Amblers EarthFest. Experienced tree-tenders are sought to assist the students. For more information,contact Ron Ayres at 215-653-0421 or 215-483-4348. The Friends of the Wissahickon and the Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association are teaming up once again to clean the Wissahickon Creek from top to bottom April 30 from 9 a.m. to noon. This spring marks the 41st anniversary of Wissahickon Valley Watershed Associations annual Creek Clean Up, and the second year that FOW has teamed up with WVWA. Volunteers of all ages will clean the creek, the surrounding trails and the many tributaries of the Wissahickon Creek. Armed with bags, volunteers will be assigned to sections of the creek. Following the clean up, all volunteers are invited to WVWAs Talkin Trash picnic in Fort Washington State Park, with food provided by Whole Foods Market of North Wales. The pavilion is located on Mill Road in Flourtown. To help out in Montgomery County, all volunteers must be pre-assigned a section of the Wissahickon Creek to clean. Please contact Bob Adams, WVWA director of stewardship, at 215-646-8866 ext. 14 or bob@wvwa.org. To work with the Friends of the Wissahickon in Philadelphia, meet at the pavilion along Forbidden Drive, a short distance south of the intersection of Forbidden Drive and Northwestern Avenue. Limited parking is available along Northwestern Avenue and other nearby streets. Volunteers are encouraged to bike or carpool to the event. To participate, register at www.fow.org. Contact Kevin Groves with questions at 215-247-0417 ext. 105 or groves@fow.org. Montgomery County Community Colleges International Club invites the community to the second annual International Festival April 20 from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Central Campus, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The rain date is April 26. The International Club will transform the outside quad area into multicultural celebration with various performances by dancers, singers and musicians. Artists will share their artwork at various display tables. Activities include games, raffles, Easter egg decorating and henna tattoos. Students will have samples of international cuisine at tables representing different countries and will serve food from various local ethnic restaurants. Throughout the evening, volunteers will accept donations and will raffle gift baskets and prizes to raise funds for Habitat for Humanity. Donations of food, international clothes and prizes are needed. Volunteers, including artists and performers, are welcome. For more information or to sponsor an activity, contact Gillian Nel, International Club president, at gnel9277@students.mc3.edu or 267-974-0163. The Arts and Humanities Division at Montgomery County Community College is partnering with the Philadelphia Writers Conference to host Memoirs Matter: How Life Stories (Including Yours) Can Transform Your Relationship to Literature April 23 from 1 to 3 p.m. in Advanced Technology Center room 101, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell. The event is free and open to the public. In the first part of this two-hour seminar, professor and author Robert Waxler will explain how writing his two memoirs affected his life as well as his relationship to literature. In the second part, blogger and workshop leader Jerry Waxler will present a sequence of steps to help writers find their own story. For information, contact Dana Resente at dresente@mc3.edu. The Maple Glen Garden Club will hold its fourth annual Plant Sale on May 7 from 8 to 11 a.m. Perennials, shrubs, vegetables and native plants grown by the club members will be sold. The club uses the plant sale proceeds to fund community projects, a college scholarship and community plantings. The sale will be held in the 500 block of Coach Road, Horsham, as part of a neighborhood garage sale. Plants will be sold at bargain prices. For more information, email MapleGlenGardenClub@gmail.com. The Relay for Life Craft Show is looking for local crafters to participate in show, which will be May 21 from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the Wissahickon High School track, 521 Houston Road, Ambler. There is a $10 entry fee, and 20 percent of sales are donated to the American Cancer Society. Participants will receive a 6-foot table under a tent. For information, contact Joanne at joannescoles@comcast.net or Mindy at mcamsilver@comcast.net. Spring House Estates is hosting its annual book fair on April 18 from 4 to 7 p.m. and April 9 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Included will be hardback and paperback used books. Spring House Estates is located at 728 Norristown Road, Lower Gwynedd. The PennSuburban Chamber of Commerce will present the Penn Suburban/Hatfield Joint Business Card Exchange April 20 from 5 to 7 p.m. at Univest Bank Lansdale Area Financial Service Center, 120 Forty Foot Road, Hatfield. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. Join Univest National Bank and Trust Co. for a spring-inspired Business Card Exchange at its newest office in the Hatfield Pointe Shopping Center. Come out and meet members of Univests executive management team while enjoying fine food and beverages. 13th Annual Community Reading Day Kick-off Breakfast Get Together April 26 from 8 to 9:30 a.m. at the North Wales Area Library, 233 Swartley St., North Wales. The event is free. To make reservations, visit PennSuburban.org/Events. For more information, contact the chamber office at 215-362-9200 or info@pennsuburban.org. Join presenting sponsor Verizon, chamber staff and fellow members for the Community Reading Day volunteer get together. The Community Reading Day program allows volunteers to read a designated book to second-grade students throughout 38 area public and private schools and present the book as a gift to each class. Even if you are not a volunteer, you are cordially invited to stop by to network, enjoy coffee and pastries. Ambler Mennonite Church is hosting a Spring Craft Show and Flea Market May 21 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Rain date will be May 28. The community is invited to shop the great craft booths, find some gifts and deals, as well as enjoy home baked goods and tasty lunch specials. Childrens activities are planned. All vendors are encouraged to contact the church at 215-643-4876 or AmblerMennonite@verizon.net. Advertising, signage, customer parking and a shuttle to auxiliary parking at nearby lots for vendors will be provided. 10 foot by 10 foot spaces can be rented for $5 each and tables for an additional $5 each. All proceeds from space and table rentals go toward school kits for children around the world. The church is located at the corner of East Mt. Pleasant Avenue and North Spring Garden Street, Ambler. The Wissahickon Valley Watershed Association presents The Life & Times of Aquatic Insects in the Wissahickon Creek April 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. Join WVWA for a hands-on program. RSVP required: www.wvwa.org or 215-646-8866. WVWA member fee: $5 per person / $15 per family. Non-WVWA member fee: $10 per person / $20 per family. The photography exhibition Natures Palette by photo-artist Judy Miller will run March 18 to May 19 at the Art in the Storefront gallery, 41 E. Butler Pike, Ambler. JPRN Networking For People in Transition & People Who Can Help Them Unemployment remains high. JPRN, the Jarrettown Professional Relationship Network can help. Are you trying to network your way to a new job? Do you have expertise or contacts that can help people in transition? Is your company or organization looking for people in the area? This is a free outreach program to support those seeking work, involve people with contacts and networking know how, and involve local companies. Meetings held monthly at Jarrettown United Methodist Church, Limekiln Pike. Pennsylvanias Low-Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) grant program is now open for the 2010-11 heating season. Grants are based on income, family size, type of heating fuel and region. Additional information, such as specific income limits, and applications for LIHEAP grants are available online via the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Access to Social Services (COMPASS) website at www.compass.state.pa.us. Applications are available at most public officals district offices, county assistance offices, local utility companies and community service agencies, such as Area Agencies on Aging or community action agencies. Begin your holiday shopping at Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation! Entertainment books for 2011, Philadelphia North, are now on sale at $30 each. Regal/United Artists movie tickets are on sale for just $7.50 each, and tickets to the Adventure Aquarium, Baltimore Aquarium, and the Philadelphia Zoo are also available. Discounted ski vouchers to area mountains will be arriving in December; call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation office hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. RSVP of Montgomery County and the Wissahickon Valley Public Library have partnered again to offer the public their popular free mock interview sessions. The mock interviews are conducted by RSVP volunteers who are retired professionals, some of whom were in hiring positions themselves. Packets of information which include a sample employment application and interviewing tips with mock interview questions are available at the library to pick up prior to a scheduled mock interview or will be sent via email once the interview is scheduled. To schedule your interview, please contact Janis Glusman at RSVP 610-834-1040, ext. 16. The library is also offering a free resume review service. Bring in your current resume and the professional reference staff will assist you with hints and tips on capturing your work history accurately. Registration for Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation summer playgrounds, Camp B.I.G. and Small Folks, X-Zone, and sports camps has began. Register online at www.upperdublin.net/store, or at the UDP&R office, 801 Loch Alsh Avenue, Fort Washington. Call 215-643-1600 x3443 for more information. Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation and Danielles Espresso Cafe presents Mornings at Mondaug Bark Park April 16 and May 21 from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Meet fellow dog lovers. These events include complimentary coffee, treats for people and pups and raffles/giveaways. Upper Dublins Annual Spring Flea Market will be held June 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Reserve a table, or come and shop. Tables are $15 for UD residents, $20 for non-residents. This successful event occurs rain or shine. Refreshments available. Call 215-643-1600 ext. 3443 to register for a table. Regal movie tickets available for purchase at Upper Dublin Township Parks & Recreation. Reduced rate: $7.50 per ticket. Some restrictions apply. Call 215-643-1600 x3443. Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation movie tickets $7.50 Regal Cinemas, United Artist & Edwards Cinemas on sale throughout the year Monday Friday from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. Whitpain Township Parks & Recreation Camp Sign-ups for Stony Creek Day Camp Stony Creek Tracers and Park n Tots. Register on-line at www.whitpaintownship.org OrCome to Township Building with check or Visa MasterCard Monday Friday from 9 a.m. 4 p.m. For additional information call 610.277-2400 ext. 374 Upper Dublin Parks & Recreation offers exciting new programs for the fall: -Returning favorites include UK Elite Petite Soccer, Tiny Dancers, Kiddie Tennis, Fun-nastics, Messy Playtime, Little Chefs, and more. Babysitters Training will be offered in November and December. Continuing Adult Fitness Classes include Cardio Circuit, Core & More, Yoga, Boxing, and Adult G.Y.M. For more information call 215-643-1600 x3443. Register for programs online at www.upperdublin.net/store. Music and Theater The community is invited to a Cantors Concert April 16 at 8 p.m. Congregation Beth Or, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen. Listen and hum-along to the Yiddish, pop tunes and classical music performed by Congregation Beth Ors own Cantor David Green and his special guest, Cantor Irvin Bell, from Temple Beth Israel in Deerfield Beach, Fla. The cantors will be accompanied by Mark Sobol and his Klezmer musicians. Tickets are $18 in advance and $25 at the door. RSVP with payment to Barb Murtha, 239 Welsh Road, Maple Glen, PA 19002, or call 215-646-5806 ext. 220. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse will host the Jameson Sisters May 14. Doors open at 7:30 pm, performance at 8:00 pm. Gwynedd Friends Coffeehouse is located at the corner of Rte. 202 & Sumneytown Pike, Gwynedd. $5 suggested donation. Light refreshment available at a modest cost. For further information, call 215-393-9576 or visit gwyneddmeeting.org/coffeehouse.html. Celebrate patriotism through song with Gwynedd-Mercy Colleges choir, the Voices of Gwynedd, as it presents Hear America Singing April 15 at 8 p.m. The choir will perform song selections from all over the country, including Georgia on My Mind, New York State of Mind, and a medley including Philadelphia Freedom and Allentown. The performance will end with When the Saints Go Marching In to acknowledge the choirs upcoming tour in New Orleans. Hear America Singing will take place in the Julia Ball Auditorium, located in St. Bernard Hall. Parking is available in lots A, C and D. Admission is free. The Choristers will present Anton Dvoraks Stabat Mater April 16 at 7:30 p.m. at Upper Dublin Lutheran Church in Ambler. The choir will be accompanied by a 41-piece orchestra. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for senior citizens, $10 for students and children are free. Tickets will be sold in advance or at the door. For more information, call 215-542-7871 or visit TheChoristers.org Religious News The Staircase Gallery at Or Hadash: A Reconstructionist Congregation in Fort Washington will feature the work of Emily Ennuat-Lustine. The artist will be showing paintings and graphics inspired by her own personal spiritual journey and quest for meaning. Some of the works to be shown have been inspired by Biblical Psalms and writings. Her work has been shown at Abington Art Center, Cheltenham Arts Center and Old City Gallery of Jewish Art among others. The exhibition is open Friday evenings starting Feb. 18 after Shabbat services. Gallery hours are: Mondays through Thursdays 10-4:30, Fridays 10-3 and following Shabbat Services and Sundays 10-1. The synagogue is located at 190 Camp Hill Road in Fort Washington. For additional information contact the synagogue office at 215-283-0276. Reunions St. Matthews High School Conshohocken Class of 1961 is looking for classmates. For details, contact Greg Marincola at 215-646-2239, 215-740-1296 or gregcola@comcast.net. Olney High School Class of 1971 is Lloking for classmates for a 40th reunion Oct. 28. For details, contact Judy at ohsclassof71@yahoo.com or 215-870-7572. Abington High School Class of 1961 is seeking classmates for a 50-year reunion to be held Oct. 14-15, 2011.Visit the website, www.abington61.com, for details or call 215-947-1779. Overbrook High School class of January 1956 is having a 55 year reunion on May 22, 2011 at the Bala Golf Club in Philadelphia. For information please contact overbrookreunion56@comcast.net Germantown High School Class Of January 1961 is looking for classmates for 50th year reunion to take place in May of 2011. Please contact: 215-362-9148, 856-577-0659 or samdelcomo@comcast.net The June 1961 class of Germantown High School is holding their 50th reunion on May 15, which will be a brunch. For further details please contact Linda Dorfman Alten at lindaalten@yahoo.com or call 215-441-8411. Support New Life Presbyterian Church in Dresher, will host GriefShare, a special seminar and support group which will run on Monday evenings from 7 to 9 p.m., from March 7 through June 6. At each meeting there will be a DVD about the grief process, discussion and reference to a grief workbook. Preregistration is required to secure a place in the group and to purchase a GriefShare notebook (for a one-time fee of $15). The notebook goes along with the 13-week schedule covering such topics as: living with grief, the effects of grief, and stuck in grief. For more information or to register, call: Sandy Elder at 215-884-5149. PUPS (People Understanding Parkinsons) A self-help group for those adjusting to a new diagnosis or dealing with the early stages of Parkinsons Disease. Meets fourth Tuesday of the month from 1 to 2:30 p.m., at Abington Health Center, Schilling Campus, Willowood Building, 2510 Maryland Road, Suite 251, Willow Grove. For more information or to RSVP, contact Lorna at 215-542-2931. The North Penn Visiting Nurse Associations Meals on Wheels program is looking for volunteers to pack or deliver meals to the elderly and infirmed. Meals are packed and delivered mornings, Monday through Friday. You can volunteer for as many days per week or month as you would like. Packaging meals requires approximately 2-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves making sandwiches, packaging food into individual serving containers and packing coolers with the meals. Delivering meals requires approximately 1-1/2 hours of your time each day and involves loading coolers into your car and delivering a route of approximately 10 to 15 stops. The Meals on Wheels program is also in need of emergency, winter-weather volunteers to pack and deliver meals in bad weather. North Penn VNA is located at 51 Medical Campus Drive in Lansdale and delivers meals in the Lansdale, North Wales and Blue Bell areas. For more information or to volunteer, please call Bridget, North Penn VNA Meals on Wheels coordinator at 215-855-8296. Elkins Park Area CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) meets the first Tuesday of every month, 7- 8:30 p.m., at Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital in Elkins Park. For information on CHADD or ADHD, please see our website www.chadd.net/249 or call Claire Noyes at: 215-779-6656. Center for Loss and Bereavement, 3847 Skippack Pike, Skippack (610-222-4110) www.bereavementcenter.org Offers professional counseling for individuals, couples, children and families dealing with issues of loss and bereavement. Six-week adult support groups: Newly forming young adult grief support group every other Wednesday, 7 8:15 p.m. (free of charge); Monthly loss of child support second Mondays, 7-8:15 p.m.; Six-week young loss of spouse/partner Thursdays, 10-11:15 a.m.; Other groups scheduled as interest is shown for suicide loss support, adult loss of parent, motherless daughters, adult loss of sibling, coping with chronic illness and disability and mens loss of spouse. Nellos Corner Family Bereavement program offers peer grief support groups for ages 4 through teen and their caregivers Every other Tuesday or Wednesday (free of charge) Local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children also meets at the Center. Registration required. Call for further information. CHADD is a national organization for children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder, providing education, advocacy and support for individuals and their families with AD/HD. Einstein at Elkins Park Hospital, 60 Township Line Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027, will host children & adults with Attention-Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder on the First Tuesday of each month 7 8:30 p.m. Free, no childcare provided. The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphias Kehillah of Old York Road is sponsoring a free Caregiver Support Group for individuals who care for an elderly person with cognitive and/or physical impairments. The group meets at SarahCare Adult Day Care Center, 101 Washington Lane, Suite G-6, Jenkintown, Pa., on the first Wednesday of each month. Patty Rich, Rabbis installation at Keneseth Israel will get a boost of student creativity Geekologie has shut down. Thank you to everybody. Now go be happy. Henry Ward Beecher wrote, There is no faculty of the human soul so persistent and universal as that of hatred. As we watched with awe the events of the last 48 hours, in our nation, we are reminded of pre-civil rights America struggling to affirm the humanity of all Gods children. Therefore, we appeal to all who love liberty, and justice to condemn the vestige of evil and hatred that has fueled Charlottesville, Virginia and Seattle, Washington. Please join the Burke County Ministerial Alliance on Aug. 17 at 7 p.m. at Gaston Chapel AME Church, 100 Bouchelle St., Morganton, as we denounce hatred and bigotry in all its forms. Smart beta funds are well established in the US, with $636 billion of assets under management, 10 times bigger than the equivalent European market. But these hybrid offerings are already gaining traction on this side of the Atlantic with professional advisers and investors and we believe that where the US leads, the rest of the investing world will surely follow. But are strategic beta funds also known as smart beta any good compared to plain vanilla ETFs? According to Morningstars head of passive fund research, Ben Johnson the short answer is No although those tracking larger cap indexes perform better than funds following indexes of smaller-sized companies. His analysis chimes with the views of legendary Vanguard founder Jack Bogle, who gave a damning appraisal of strategic-beta funds in a Morningstar interview last year. Strategic-beta exchange-traded funds track indexes that make active bets in an attempt to deliver better returns, less risk, or some combination of the two, as measured against a market-capitalisation weighted index. Beta refers to how closely a particular fund or stock tracks an index; most investors can track this simply in a low cost way. But others want funds that outperform the market without paying the higher costs associated with active fund management. Johnsons findings are worth noting for investors this side of the pond keen to tap into the boom in smart-beta ETFs. His analysis used nine categories and measured ETF fund performance against an equal-weighted benchmark of peers in the passive fund category rather than one simple index. He argues that this approach is more pragmatic as it stops fund managers cherry picking a favourable index to compare the funds performance against. For the purposes of calculating success rates, a strategic-beta ETF is considered to have succeeded if it survived to the end of the period and outperformed the equal-weighted composite of its cap-weighted counterparts. Getting Strategic About Smart Beta Investing Large-cap strategic-beta ETFs generally fared better relative to their mid- and small-cap peers: For the 10-year period ended March 31, 2017, 84% of large-cap strategic-beta ETFs outperformed their average market cap-weighted passive peer, while just 29% of their mid-cap and 33% of their small-cap counterparts managed the same feat. Johnson argues that the results may be skewed by the smaller sample size. Investors have generally selected below-average performers from the menu of strategic-beta ETFs: In eight of nine categories, strategic-beta ETFs asset-weighted returns were less than their equal-weighted returns. This indicates that most of investors money has been plowed into funds that produced below-average results. On an asset-weighted basis, they outperformed in only two categories. The survivorship rates are materially higher: than those for traditional actively managed funds. This difference is likely because this universe is much smaller, less saturated, and less mature than the market for active funds. Survivorship refers to whether a fund is still trading at the end of the period analysed. Many active funds are closed or merged with other funds after long periods of underperformance. Greater risk has been taken on to improve performance: as Johnson notes the outperformance of strategic-beta ETFs in some categories may be at least partially attributable to the fact that they have, on average, assumed more risk. Almost all of the strategic-beta categories involve value investing: which aims to uncover undervalued shares. This means that the funds analysed are tilted towards toward cheaper and smaller stocks which has been traditionally the preserve of active fund managers. Given that these were the poorest performing funds 29% of midcap smart-beta funds outperformed their passive benchmark and 33% of small-cap managed to do so UK investors may well want to search for smart beta funds with a large-cap bias. In Conclusion? Johnson argues that strategic-beta ETFs have undeniable advantages over the majority of their actively managed peers, as they attempt to combined the best attributes of active and passive approaches by outperforming the market at lower cost. He says the absence of idiosyncratic risk, which strips out the star fund manager factor, is another key plus point. However, he concludes that these ETFs arent a clear improvement on their active counterparts: All we can say for certain is that they will deliver a risk/return profile that differs from the market. So, like their active peers, they will experience cycles of relative out- and underperformance. Ultimately, whether or not investors reap the benefits of investing in these strategies depends on their ability to stick with them through thick and thin. So the lesson for UK investors is that they should choose carefully when attempting to surf the wave of smart-beta funds and that a popular fund which attracts a lot of money is not more likely to outperform its rivals. CLEAR LAKE | Dana Brant announced Wednesday he will seek an at-large position on the Clear Lake City Council. Brant previously served as the Ward 1 councilman but lost his council position in an unusual set of circumstances two years ago. He could not not seek re-election from Ward 1 in 2015 because, through redistricting, his home was now located in Ward 3. He ran against Jim Boehnke, the Ward 3 incumbent, and lost. In a press release, he said he is now seeking the at-large position because he still has the desire to serve. "As a business owner in Clear Lake for the past 13 years, I've learned problem-solving skills and the importance of fiscal responsibility which I used to serve the city previously and look forward to using again," said Brant. He said he intends to continue to address citizens with a positive attitude and make himself available as needed "to provide the best service with the most favorable impact on the community." Brant and his wife Kristi are the parents of four children. John Skipper With the petroleum-centric Albertan economy gradually making a comeback, the provinces real estate sector is growing more and more tempting for buyers and investors alikeand nowhere is this more evident than the resurgence in the Edmonton and Calgary housing markets, according to industry observers.For both Edmonton and Calgary, there are great buying opportunities right now, but theres no rush, Real Estate Investment Network (REIN) CEO Patrick Francey told Next Home. Thats the good news. Youre finding the properties that cash-flow in a single-family would have preferably come from basement suites. Anything thats in the $400,000 to $500,000 range is still very strong, but ultimately, there are good opportunities to buy. Youve got to look for the deals, but they exist. And there are cash-flow opportunities, especially in single-family uptown suites.Culling data from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. along with latest provincial information on employment, population, and wage growth, Next Home noted that Edmonton and Calgary properties currently offer the best returns for investors who buy, hold, and rent.Edmonton benefited from being hardier than other provincial markets, according to local real estate professionalsThe Edmonton market has been a real head-scratcher the last little while, according to Tom Shearer of Royal LePage Noralta Real Estate, Edmonton. Investors keep asking me, When is the big drop going to happen, so I can buy in? The big drop never really hit. Prices climbed in 2015, 2016 and now were finally seeing a small drop in prices. That might even be attributed to the changes in financing rules in October 2016.Shearer cited the citys downtown as a spot of particular interest, especially with its several new condo complexes under construction. I believe that the excitement of having the Ice District and several other projects come to life downtown has created a new energy and is increasingly drawing interest from homebuyers and investors alike.Meanwhile, Calgarys downtownalong with Okotoks and Chinookboast of competitive home prices, rental growth, and occupancy rates.Demand for these regions is continually growing, as many buyers and potential renters have become increasingly interested in these markets, sayeth John Hripko of Royal LePage Benchmark, Calgary. If investors choose to suck it up and purchase a property at current rates, they would likely turn a monthly profit in the near future, as oil prices continue to stabilize and the Alberta economy returns to its former glory, causing rental rates and home prices to increase. A broker recently received a massive regulatory fine and the case serves as a good reminder for industry players to brush up on their compliance knowledge, according to one industry veteran.The B.C. Securities Commission ordered a Lance Sanford Cook, a Victoria-based mortgage broker, to pay over $200,000 in fines for issuing interest-bearing promissory notes without filing a prospectus to clients a breach of the securities act.CMBA has been following this proceeding as many mortgage brokers are not aware that it is unlawful for them to issue promissory notes without being registered under the applicable provincial Securities Act or relying on an available exemption, Samantha Gale , CEO of the Canadian Mortgage Brokers Association, said in an email to MortgageBrokerNews.ca. Unlike mortgages, promissory notes are simple, uncomplicated documents but the regulation behind promissory notes is anything but simple and is exceptionally complicated.Cook has been barred from trading and was forced to close her brokerage, along with the fines.According to Gale, the case should serve as a reminder to brokers about importance of compliance awareness.In the case of Cook, the BC Securities Commission ordered Cook to pay the sum of $218,500 as disgorgement for wrongly taking monies without following the securities rules, Gale said. The disgorgement amount of $218,500 is higher than any amount paid under a mortgage broker regulatory regime that I am aware of.The important message here is that brokers need to be aware of the securities requirements when issuing promissory notes, as the costs for non-compliance can be profoundly significant.CMBA has published a note on promissory notes and the required compliance. Click here to read it Looking for your next property investment? Good news we already found them. Subscribe today to get your hands on our annual Top 100 Neighbourhoods More and More eClosings; Credit Score Trends: 850 FICO a Goal? Ive only been in this business since the mid-80s, and as a capital markets person always find it amusing when an owner says, If it wasnt for TBA pair off costs, we would REALLY be making money! For the antithesis of making money, on this date 10 years ago news broke that First Magnus...well... didn't make money. (And just look at those Fed Fund rates!) Vendor updates Here's the latest from The Mortgage Collaborative, which holds its summer "eclipse" conference in Nashville next week. "The Mortgage Collaborative, the nation's only independent mortgage cooperative, announced a new partnership with national compliance solutions provider, Strategic Compliance Partners. The new relationship with Strategic Compliance Partners adds another best-in-class mortgage compliance company to their preferred partner network. The Mortgage Collaborative network is more than 110 lenders strong, with an aggregate annual origination volume of over $190 billion. The Mortgage Collaborative also announced a new pilot with a focus on affordable lending support and education for select lenders that are members of TMC's network, using educational resources and materials provided by Fannie Mae. "The new Affordable Lending Outreach Pilot Program was developed to promote the cooperative's lender members' initiatives to expand lending to low-income to moderate-income borrowers, rural and manufactured housing communities. It will help participating lender members expand educational events with nonprofit organizations, enhance partnerships with community groups to promote affordable lending options, train targeted populations and assist with the cost of homeownership counseling for consumers." First Choice Loan Services Inc., a Berkshire Bank Company, announces the launch of a new customer relationship management (CRM) tool powered by the Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist (CMPS) Platform. "Aimed to equip the loan originators of First Choice Loan Services with the leading mortgage industry tools, CMPS Platform is designed to improve productivity and increase business. This is accomplished by providing increased efficiencies in prospecting, communications, pipeline management, and marketing." To make online closings available to borrowers across the country, UWM partnered with Arlington, VA-based Notarize, the nation's first digital platform for legally notarizing documents online. Notarize, the first digital platform to legally notarize documents online, announced Notarize for Mortgage, the first platform to enable an entirely online mortgage closing process. With the launch, Notarize has successfully completed the first-ever online mortgage closing in partnership with lender United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) and Stewart Title. Verified by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Notarize for Mortgage platform digitizes the entire closing process with technology to securely coordinate lenders, title companies and borrowers online. Dwell time is reduced from 17 days to one, effectively eliminates the 280 pages typically required to close a mortgage, and reduces the average cost for a lender to issue a mortgage, which has risen from $2,291 in 2008 to nearly $8,887 today. Lender Greater Nevada Mortgage and mortgage technology provider Pavaso have teamed up in Nevada to complete the first residential hybrid "eClosings" in state history. "These otherwise traditional home closings were made historic by Greater Nevada's use of the Pavaso Digital Close platform, through which the typically hefty package of documents was digitally delivered to the buyers three days before closing. This allowed the homebuyers to review each document online, to understand them, and ask questions prior to closing. At the closing table, they digitally signed all documents, with exception of a few documents that are required by state law to be 'wet' signed. Each wet-signed document was automatically barcoded when printed from Pavaso's system so that, upon the physical signing of the required documents, the forms could be digitally scanned and imported back into the system." Docutech and Veritax have expanded their integrated services to enable lenders to easily obtain the tax transcripts needed to enroll in Fannie Mae's DU validation service. Once enrolled in DU, lenders can receive Fannie Mae's Day 1 Certainty. Veri-Tax is authorized to provide 4506-T tax transcripts through the Fannie Mae DU validation service. "By expanding the integration between Veri-Tax and Docutech, lenders that use Docutech's ConformX platform can easily satisfy Fannie Mae's requirements by placing and retrieving tax transcript orders seamlessly within ConformX, where borrower information is already stored, while shortening the loan process by days." Spiegel Accountancy Corp., a professional accounting firm that serves the mortgage industry and small businesses nationwide, has formed a professional alliance with 5X Solutions, a mortgage research, data analytics technology company. It is the only accounting firm to have an alliance with the mortgage business intelligence company. Trends in credit scores Average credit scores have eclipsed their October 2006 peak, hitting 700 this year. iServe's Brent Nyitray opined, "US consumer debt levels are at all-time highs; however, debt service is at a low." Debt service is one's mortgage, car, installment, and credit card debt as a percentage of income. It seems that 1.4% of U.S. consumers have a FICO credit score that is a perfect 850. The number is hugely consequential when it comes to securing credit, and many aspire to that top figure and will use all the idiosyncrasies of the algorithm to get there. Indeed, the percentage of Americans with 800+ credit scores is steadily rising. Underwriters are keeping an eye on Artificial Intelligence (AI) issuing credit decisions. Does it work, or does it merely create the illusion of good credit decisions? There is the Alt-Prime Program from Excelerate Capital. Its features include: NO MI 661 Fico minimum, Up to 50% DTI, CONDOs Up to 85% LTV-Full Doc and Refi C/O up to 85% LTV-Full Doc. Remember that Fannie Mae announced its new policy addressing debt-to-income ratios. Now, the new debt ratio guideline tops out at 50, up from 45. As a quick refresher probably not needed by anyone reading this, a debt-to-income ratio, or debt ratio, compares monthly credit obligations with gross monthly income from the individuals on the mortgage application. This is quite a change and something that shouldn't be ignored NYCB Mortgage Banking's seller guide has been updated with changes effective August 14th, 2017. DTI Enhancements 12.0 Liabilities and Debt-to-Income Ratios referencing alimony/child support/separate maintenance. The policy update allows more flexibility on the treatment of alimony paid by the borrower. An additional update now allows for timeshares to be treated as installment loans rather than mortgage debt, even if they are identified as mortgage debt on the credit report (or other documentation). Also included in the updates, Conforming Std ARM Expansion to 95% LTV/CLTV/HCLTV plus other enhancements. Capital markets Relations between the U.S. and North Korea have been moving markets. Interestingly, Tesla CEO Elon Musk says people should be more concerned about artificial intelligence (AI) than North Korea, saying it has "vastly more risk than North Korea." Musk pointed to the fact that AI has defeated some of the world's best video game players in a game that is much more complex than chess or Go. And don't forget that Facebook's AI created its own language between bots that had to be shut down. Switching back to rates, U.S. Treasuries ended Tuesday on a lower note due to further easing of tensions with North Korea. An improvement in global risk appetite contributed to a lower start after it was reported that North Korea will not follow through on its threat to envelop Guam in fire...for now. A better-than-expected retail sales release also helped nudge rates up, given that this feeds directly into GDP estimates. The 10-year yield touched a high of 2.28%, vs. Monday's 2.22% close - certainly still within the range we've been in all summer. Price-wise the 10-year worsened .375 while the 5-year T-note and agency MBS prices sold off .125-.250 depending on maturity, coupon, and type. For news, this morning we've had the MBA's survey of retail applications for last week (+.1%). Coming up are July housing starts and permits, and at 2PM ET, 8AM in Hawai'i, is the Fed releasing the minutes from the July meeting: look for more confirmation of a September announcement regarding the commencement of tapering which is expected to start in October in addition to assessing odds of another rate hike this year with December heavily favored. We start Wednesday with the 10-year yielding 2.28% and agency MBS prices nearly unchanged versus last night. Jobs and Announcements "Choose a career you love and you will never have to work a day in your life. This is the story behind our most recent addition to the Axia team, Deirdre Rogers - who will lead our corporate training efforts. Deirdre was most recently at Fannie Mae in numerous capacities, but most of you will remember her as the SVP - Head of National Correspondent Sales at Thornburg Mortgage. In her 40 years, she has done it all, seen it all and still loves it all. 'Those of us that do this for a living are blessed to make a difference in the lives of those that become homeowners in every sense of the word.' Welcome to Axia Home Loans, Deirdre! What's your passion in mortgage? What's your purpose in life? We want to hear about it: contact Shelly Schwieso, SVP of Bus. Dev." In retail job news, Capital Markets Cooperative, a Computershare Company, is looking for Mortgage Loan Originators with an NMLS license to join its growing team in the Jacksonville, FL Area! "We offer a competitive base salary plus commission. Contact us for an interview!" Click here and page down once for the complete job posting, or contact Gail Cunningham, Corporate Recruiter with any questions (720-563-8120). For over 20 years, Freddie Mac has provided superior underwriting capabilities to lenders. "Now, we're leveraging the power of big data and advanced analytics to build game-changing solutions into Loan Product Advisor - our next-generation underwriting solution. Our goal is to drive efficiency in your loan manufacturing process, ultimately helping you cut costs and giving you rep and warranty relief sooner. For example, our automated collateral evaluation will speed up, simplify and save money in your appraisal process - you'll get your borrowers to closing faster, while receiving immediate certainty for collateral rep and warranty relief. Loan Product Advisor's automated asset and income validation will reduce paperwork helping to quickly confirm qualifications for borrowers. Finally, you can now expand homeownership opportunities through automated assessments for borrowers without credit scores. Plus, Loan Product Advisor is a simpler, more intuitive tool with easier navigation and data visualization, Ready to learn more? Visit our Loan Product Advisor web page." Paul Clifford of Simplifile writes, "Simplifile continues to expand its e-recording network, which now allows settlement agents in more than 1,653 jurisdictions nationwide to electronically transmit deeds, mortgages, and other real estate documents for fast, secure, and efficient recording. Last week, we announced the addition of 17 new counties across the Midwest and Western United States. We also celebrated the achievement of Hawaii's first-ever Land Court e-recording. Just imagine having to manually record a mortgage when the only recording office is on another island!" Congratulations to a good friend of this commentary and industry veteran, Allen Friedman, celebrating 8 years with iServe Residential Lending as its Western Regional Sales Manager. Co-CEO Ken Michael writes, "Allen's longevity and success over the years speaks volumes, but this type of stability is just as representative of iServe's attractiveness as an employer as it is Allen's accomplishments." Few better ways to measure a company, its management and team members, than the longevity of its employees. This commentary has enjoyed its relationship with Allen and iServe and looks forward to our association for many more years to come. "Are you a compliance officer, MLO trainer, or origination manager interested in working with a start-up team of mortgage execs who are reshaping the industry? Neat Capital is a jumbo-focused mortgage originator that has developed proprietary technology that gives borrowers real-time feedback as they progress through their application. By underwriting borrowers in the application itself, applicants receive a smoother, more transparent process while originators spend substantially less time chasing documents. The result is a faster overall process, with an average clear-to-close time of 12 days. The team at Neat is expanding across the board and we are currently seeking a Compliance Offer and an Inside Sales Manager to be based out of HQ in Boulder, CO. Detailed descriptions - as well as other positions - are available here or resumes can be sent to careers@neatcapital.com." Congrats to Sherry Valladares. LenderLive Network LLC announced that Sherry has joined the firm as its Northeast Correspondent Lending Regional Account Manager. She will work with current and prospective clients, including mortgage banks, community banks and credit unions participating in or considering the LenderLive correspondent program. DES MOINES | An advocacy organization is pressing state environmental regulators to strengthen a program designed to add additional layers of environmental protection to large-scale animal feeding operations. Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement recently submitted a petition urging the states Environmental Protection Committee to strengthen Iowas master matrix program and put a moratorium on large-scale farming operations until the permit process has been reviewed. Dozens of CCI members attended the commissions regular meeting Tuesday, and 22 members spoke during the public comment period. Janis Elliot, a CCI member from Avon, said tests have revealed the drinking water in her well has potentially harmful nitrate levels at 19 parts per million. She said that is up from 12 parts per million 2 years ago and 8 parts per million 3 years ago. The Federal Environmental Protection Agency recommends drinking water not have nitrates over 9 parts per million. Ive been drinking poison water and I dont know for how long, Elliot said. And Im looking at you and Im feeling our legislature is not protecting us. Youre the Environmental Protection Committee and I dont feel like youre protecting me. I dont know what to do. Many speakers came from Worth County, where several large-scale animal feeding operations are planned. They expressed concerns regarding pollution from animal manure and noise and air pollution from large farm operations built near homes. The organization is asking the commission to strengthen the master matrix they think its too easy for large farm operations to meet the criteria. Meantime, the organization is asking the state to stop issuing permits for large farm operations until the master matrix program is addressed. Iowans are rising up and demanding clean water, said CCI board President Cherie Mortice, of Des Moines. The master matrix is indefensible to logical, everyday people. After the meetings, Iowa Department of Natural Resources Director Chuck Gipp said in an interview that the department is examining the CCI petition. The department has until Sept. 16 to determine whether to take action on the petitions recommendations. Well be looking at the petition (and) will determine whether or not it meets the criteria of the law, whether we will give a recommendation to the (commission) at that particular time, Gipp said. Mortgage Rates Back to 2017 Lows on Trump Tweet Mortgage rates dropped today after news broke (first rumors, then confirmation via Twitter) that President Trump was disbanding his councils of CEOs. The move apparently came in response to attrition among several CEOs following Trump's press conference on recent events in Charlottesville, VA. In not so many words, Trump disbanded the councils before any more CEOs had a chance to quit. Political turmoil--especially that which appears "anti-business" in any way--always runs the risk of hurting stocks and helping bonds. That's exactly what happened today. "Helping bonds" in this context means higher demand for bonds among investors. Excess demand for bonds pushes rates lower. The market reaction to the Trump news overshadowed what was set to be the day's big-ticket event up to that point--the release of the Minutes from the most recent Fed meeting. The Minutes ended up being fairly tame--especially for those who'd tuned in to most of the recent Fed speeches (which, over the past 3 weeks, have largely reiterated views stated in today's Minutes). In other words, the Fed Minutes were old news, and they did nothing to stop the positive moves in bonds. Rates ended the day back at 2017's lows, but only after a throng of mid-day price improvements from mortgage lenders. The average lender is right in line with last week's best levels. Loan Originator Perspective Bonds rallied somewhat today, as Fed minutes mirrored recent Fed board members' comments. By mid PM, a few lenders improved their pricing, with more likely to follow. We're still within our prior range, with treasury yields at 2.22%, so don't look for radical gains. Folks within 30 days of closing should look at pricing later today or tomorrow AM to see if locking makes sense for their situations. -Ted Rood, Senior Originator Bonds managed to bounce off support at 2.28 continuing to confirm our range-bound trading between 2.28 and 2.21. Following the FOMC annoucement, bonds have continued to move lower and have bounced at 2.21. Unable to break again. All that said, if your lender reprices for the better today, I would lock up. If your lender doesnt reprice better, I would still consider locking but am open to the idea of floating overnight. -Victor Burek, Churchill Mortgage Today's Most Prevalent Rates 30YR FIXED - 4.00% FHA/VA - 3.75% 15 YEAR FIXED - 3.375% 5 YEAR ARMS - 2.75 - 3.25% depending on the lender Ongoing Lock/Float Considerations A federal court has given preliminary approval to $15 million in settlements for a national class action lawsuit accusing mortgage companies of taking kickbacks from mortgage insurers. The latest settlement would bring the total in similar cases up to $39 million.The lawsuit alleged that mortgage companies forced borrowers to buy policies from insurers at inflated prices, then funneled some of the money back in the form of commissions, reimbursements and other charges. Tens of thousands of homeowners were made to buy the policies.The insurance companies involved are American Modern Home Insurance Co. and Southwest Business Corp. Several mortgage companies were involved in the alleged kickbacks, including Fay Servicing and Residential Credit Solutions.The court ruled that affected borrowers would receive 6% to 10.5% of the premiums they were overcharged since 2008, according to The Real Deal, a South Florida real estate news publication.The settlement follows a similar one over force-placed insurance. That settlement, also in a class-action case, was almost $24 million and involved almost 75,000 borrowers, according to The Real Deal.Force-placed insurance is taken out when a lender requires a borrower to insure a mortgage, usually due to a low down payment. If the borrower doesnt get his or her own mortgage insurance, the lender can force-place a policy on the mortgage. However, many lenders and insurers have been tagged over the last few years for artificially inflating force-placed insurance premiums in order to fund kickbacks. MASON CITY | The city of Mason City rejected almost all of the claims made in lawsuit filed by a San Diego developer who failed to build a downtown hotel, according to court documents. Mason City denies most of the claims listed within the suit and asked that the suit be dismissed with costs to the developer, G8. Plaintiff failed to perform its obligations under the terms of the Development Contract making said contract unenforceable by Plaintiff, the citys response said. On July 18, G8 Development filed suit against Mason City and the Chamber of Commerce Foundation in Cerro Gordo County District Court, claiming the city was in breach of contract. Both parties have been served but only the city has filed a response so far. Attorney Randall E. Nielsen filed the response and requested a jury trial. In the lawsuit, Philip Chodur of G8 Development makes several claims against the city and the chamber, namely claiming the city was in breach of contract. In its claims of the city's breach of contract, the developer lists several demands the city imposed that it claims were not part of the contract. During the negotiation and pendency of the Development Contract, the City continually sought to impose upon G8 artificial and extra-contractual obligations that were not in good faith and that were not part of the Development Contract, the petition states. The city responded, saying, the city expected performance by the Plaintiff under the terms of the Development Contract. The lawsuit listed the obligations: Altering the long-expected scope of the project to satisfy the requests the city had to meet to receive state grant funding, including as related to a mixed-use requirement imposed by the state. Requiring requests for proposals that the city suggested to G8 Development were only perfunctory, and that would not affect the company's rights under the eventual development contract. Imposing arbitrary deadlines related to the submission of construction drawings. Imposing arbitrary deadlines related to construction lending and loan commitments. Arbitrarily delaying G8 Development's ability to meet its obligations under the development contract by misplatting the site, requiring G8s architects and engineers to rearrange its site plan on the existing lot lines. Requiring the City Architectural Review committee to approve new site plans. G8 Development claims that the obligations shortened the timelines within the development contract and hindered performance, making it impossible to complete its project. When the city terminated the development contract, G8 Development claims the termination was not in good faith. At that time, the city said the developer had defaulted on the project. The response stated that the city has acted in good faith and added that G8 did not act in good faith in the performance of obligations under the terms of the development contract. Chodur filed a similar lawsuit alleging the city of Vista, California, breached its contract with him on a condominium, commercial and office space project, according to an article published in the San Diego Union Tribune in October 2015. The suit claimed the city changed agreements for the project. Chodur filed a claim with the city for $3 million, which was rejected. He then filed a suit for breach of contract, which is still pending. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate With custom, Whataburger-inspired kicks worth up to $2,000 up for grabs, fans came up with some beefed up versions of your favorite meals in a contest that may change how you order burgers. Whataburger launched the #WhataThoseContest in July. The competition asked fans to share how they customize their orders via social media for the chance to win sneakers designed by San Antonio's own Jake Danklefs, of Dank Customs. Now the Top 10 have been chosen. And you can help decide the winners. These finalists don't just saunter up to the Whataburger counter and order a No. 1 (though delicious in its own right.) Their orders bathe chicken strips in spicy strawberry jam, turn grilled chicken sandwiches into salads and toast the toast not once, but twice. Whataburger received 2,000 entries, but they didn't just take the fans' word for it a lucky panel of judges taste-tested each order to narrow the competition down to ten finalists. RELATED: Win one-of-a-kind Whataburger-themed shoes designed by San Antonio artist Fans can vote online for their favorites until Aug. 18 at noon. The top three entries will win the custom shoes, which are as unique as the orders. Each pair is a wearable ode to the Texas favorite one pair features the iconic orange-and-white stripes, another mimics the Spicy Ketchup packages and the third features prints of the stickers Whataburger sticks on the yellow burger wrappers. Winners will take the prizes when they're announced on Friday, but they won't be immortalized on the menu. Whataburger fans whose taste buds were tantalized by the out-of-the-box recipes will have to memorize them if they want to copy the order. "Please note, despite how amazing they taste, the top 10 and final three builds will not be added to the menu," the restaurant said in a release. Check out the gallery above for mouth-watering inspiration from the ten finalists. mmendoza@mysa.com Twitter: @MaddySkye Mexican authorities swept 31 resorts, restaurant and nightclubs in Cancun and Playa del Carmen where regulators seized 10,000 gallons of illegal alcohol, according to reports. The thousands of gallons of counterfeit alcohol came from a company with "bad manufacturing practices," the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports. The results of the search were announced Friday at a news conference in Mexico. GALLERY: See the slideshow below to learn of the safest places in Mexico to visit. TOUCHING TALE: Dad bikes to Louisiana to meet his daughter's heart recipient KTRK reports the Fat Tuesday bar in Cancun and the lobby bar in the Iberostar Paraiso Maya, where 20-year-old Abbey Conner of Wisconsin allegedly drank tainted alcohol and later drowned in a resort pool, have been shut down as a result of the search. "This is awesome; this is huge," Ginny McGowan, Abbey Conner's mother told the Journal Sentinel. "It's needed. There is obviously stuff going on that needs to be cleaned up and looked into further. They need to investigate and interview employees. This makes sense. This needs to happen." WARNING: State Department warns tourists of 'tainted alcohol' in Mexico The McGowan case is among multiple reports of people being served alcohol that had negative effects on them. The Journal Sentinel uncovered that dozens of vacation goers have been given tainted alcohol or possibly drugged, in order to mug, sexually assault or extort them. The travelers' accounts were backed up by hospital, ambulance and hotel records. Charges have been filed on the Midland man who was shot Saturday morning by a Midland County Sheriffs Office deputy after an incident on Farm-to-Market Road 1788 and State Highway 158, according to court documents. Edwin Jordan Soto-Contreras, 20, is facing a second-degree felony charge of robbery and a third-degree felony charge of assault on a public servant. Bond had not been set as of Tuesday evening. Midland ISD continued its climb up the Texas Education Agencys accountability system ladder. On Tuesday, MISD released results that showed: - the district as a whole and 32 of 36 campuses eligible for ratings received a passing rating; - fewer campuses on the TEAs list of failing schools (four, down from nine last year and 11 in 2014 and 2015); - campuses and the entire district met at least 91 percent of the TEA four indexes (student performance, student progress, closing the achievement gap and postsecondary readiness); - a year-to-year increase in targets met; - a 76 percentage rate of campuses showing growth or remaining stable on its performance on the TEAs four indexes; - an increase in the number of distinction designations (from 11 in 2015 to 18 last year to 22 this year); - an increase in the number of campuses receiving a distinction designation (from two in 2015 to six last year to eight this year). Superintendent Orlando Riddick said in a press release that while there is still more to accomplish, these results provide the momentum to become the great educational system this community expects and is ready to support. These results prove that working together as a team toward a singular goal, embracing a growth mindset and a no-excuses philosophy has set us on the right path to success, he said. The TEA, according to the district, provides three performance ratings -- met standard, improvement required and met alternative standard. Four schools worked their way off the improvement required list, led by Milam Elementary, which had been rated IR for four consecutive years. DeZavala Elementary (three straight years on IR), Bunche Elementary and San Jacinto Junior High also will start the 2017-18 year off the list of failing schools. Because it was closed, Crockett Elementary is also off the districts list, although district officials said in a press release Crockett would have been labeled IR based on the data from the past year. Crocketts six straight years as IR heading into 2016-17 was the second longest streak in the state, according to the TEA. Four campuses remained on the improvement required list for 2017-2018 -- Lamar, Houston, South and Travis elementaries. South will remain on the list for a fifth-straight failing year. To put that in perspective, a student entering the fifth grade at South has not experienced a year when South didnt perform at a passing standard. Houston made the list for the third straight year. Still, MISD officials celebrated the news that its secondary schools all met standard and a number of campuses progressed out of improvement required or formerly improvement required status. Those campuses, according to Elise Kail, executive director of accountability, are Alamo Junior High, San Jacinto Junior High and Bonham, Burnet, De Zavala, Long, Milam, Rusk and Bunche elementaries. Midland ISD also reports its campuses received 22 distinction designations for the 2016-17 school year. Distinction designations, according to the district, are awarded to campuses for achievement in different areas based on performance relative to a group of campuses of similar type, size, grade span and student demographics. In 2013, Midland ISDs total, as a district, was four. Milam again stood out, moving from IR this past year to meeting standard and receiving three distinction designations this year. Lastly, the district met 138 of 152 targets (individual indexes -- student performance, student progress, closing the achievement gap and postsecondary readiness). We all understand that the basis of our success is the teacher in the classroom, Chief Academic Officer Patrick Jones said. Our MISD board of trustees adopted a mission statement which set the goal. Our teachers embraced the mission to ensure that all MISD students will graduate prepared and ready for college and career. Percentage of targets met by campus and district Index 1 (student performance): 79 (30 of 38) Index 2 (student progress): 95 (36 of 38) Index 3 (closing the achievement gap): 89 (34 of 38) Index 4 (postsecondary readiness): 100 (38 of 38) Overall: 91 percent (138 of 152) Number of target changes for campuses and district Index 1: 24 growth, 4 stable, 10 decline Index 2: 21 growth, 2 stable, 15 decline Index 3: 29 growth, 2 stable, 7 decline Index 4: 30 growth, 3 stable, 5 decline Overall: 104 growth, 11 stable, 37 decline (75.6 percent of campuses showed growth or remained stable) Distinction designations Early College High School at Midland College Academic Achievement in Mathematics Top 25 percent Student Progress Top 25 percent Closing Performance Gaps Postsecondary Readiness --- Midland Freshman High School Academic Achievement in Mathematics Top 25 percent Student Progress --- Bonham Elementary Academic Achievement in Science --- Burnet Elementary Academic Achievement in Science --- Milam Elementary Academic Achievement in Mathematics Top 25 percent student progress Top 25 percent closing performance gaps --- Rusk Elementary Top 25 percent closing performance gaps --- Parker Elementary Academic achievement in Mathematics Academic achievement in Science Top 25 percent closing performance gaps Postsecondary Readiness --- Carver Center Academic achievement in Reading/ELA Academic achievement in Mathematics Academic achievement in Science Top 25 percent student progress Top 25 percent closing performance gaps This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate As tensions rise between America and North Korea, so do sales at a North Texas bomb shelter company. Gary Lynch, general manager of the Rising S Company in Murchison, said so many people have been inquiring and buying bomb shelters from his company that he can no longer keep with up how much their sales have grown. RISING TENSION: Now that North Korea has nuclear missiles, what would it look like if they struck U.S. cities? "I quit trying to keep up with the percentages, it just takes time away from everything else," Lynch told Chron.com. (Story continues below...) The boom in business comes after it was revealed North Korea has nuclear weapons. Lynch said most customers are spending between $150,000 to $160,000 for bomb-safe shelters. Many customers are hiring the company to build the shelters as an addition to their new homes as they are being constructed, Lynch said. The company is also getting inquiries from people of all different backgrounds. "It doesn't matter who you voted for, Clinton of Trump, you want to protect your family," Lynch said. "Doesn't matter your color, your creed, your origin. Everyone sees the threat from overseas." DEFENSE: US would 'take out' any North Korean missile aimed at US, Mattis said The Washington Post reported earlier this month that North Korea has missile-ready nuclear weapons. President Donald Trump reacted by saying, "They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen." North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has said his nuclear bombs have the capability of hitting U.S. cities, which Lynch said has pushed people to inquire more about the shelters. "He could easily get a submarine into the Gulf of Mexico. That leaves every coastal city from Houston to New Orleans to Miami as a target," Lynch said. "The shelters are a form of insurance." Guam has also become a potential target for North Korea, due to its status as a U.S. territory. IN THE CROSS HAIRS: A snapshot of Guam before US-North Korea conflict and now According to its website, the Rising S Company can install shelters that are above ground and underground, attached to the customer's home. Each shelter is custom fit to the customer's needs, Lynch said. The number of people, budget and duration of time that customers may stay in the shelter are all factors of how the shelters are built. The quarter-inch plate, high grade steel helps keep radiation from seeping into the shelter. According to Ready.gov, heavier and denser materials have a better chance of keeping people from being affected by a nuclear fallout and radiation. Click through the slideshow above to see some of the shelters built by the company. No Midlanders participated during a public hearing Tuesday about the citys budget and tax rate. The non-event was the first of two public hearings regarding the proposed tax rate, which was set at 41.11 cents per $100 valuation. The rate is a 3 percent increase over the effective rate. Last year, a person living in a home valued at $200,000 paid about $799 in city property taxes. That amount would increase to $822, according to the tax rate in the proposed budget. The next tax rate hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. A public hearing to gather input about the citys $231.5 million budget is set for Aug. 29. The general fund budget, which is supported by property taxes, sales taxes, franchise fees and other fees, is $111.8 million, an increase of $5.361 million compared to last year. The council will have first readings on the budget and tax rate ordinances on Aug. 29. The second readings on both ordinances is set for Sept. 12. The proposed budget is available online and in the City Secretarys Office. Budget notables include: - Property tax is listed as 41 percent of the total general fund revenues. Sales tax, which is expected to increase from $36 million to $38 million, is listed as 35 percent of the total. Franchise fees will make up 12 percent of general fund revenues. - Police and fire departments combine to make up 49 percent of the overall general fund expenditures, which is more than the revenue brought in by property taxes. The departments have 471 of the 1,076 city employees. - Police Department and Fire Department rank first and second, respectively, in expenditures. Third is the Engineering Department at $18.9 million and fourth is the Community Services Department at $10.6 million. - $7.5 million is proposed for road maintenance and other major street treatments. - Year-end reserve balance for the General Fund is scheduled to be about $41 million. Current tax rates by city Midland 0.399679 Odessa 0.4047059 Plano 0.4786 Lubbock 0.53802 Richardson 0.62516 Wichita Falls 0.70598 Abilene 0.7465 San Angelo 0.9194 Source: City of Midland FOREST CITY | A Forest City man has been charged with felony first-degree burglary for allegedly breaking into a residence and threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend with a knife. Tylor Christopher Anderson, 27, is accused of breaking through the door of an apartment in the 100 block of West G. Street at 1:39 a.m. on July 31. He allegedly a folding pocket knife in his possession and threatened his ex-girlfriend, who was inside the residence, according to court documents. Anderson was arrested on a warrant for second-degree burglary on Aug. 2. Winnebago County Attorney Adam Sauer increased the charge to first-degree burglary when filing trial information on Aug. 10. Anderson is being held in the Winnebago County Jail on $53,000 cash or surety bond. His arraignment is set for Aug. 22. He faces a maximum sentence of up to 25 years in prison if convicted. MASON CITY | Noises Off, called the funniest farce ever written by the New York Post, opens Thursday, Aug. 17, at Mason City Community Theatre. The play within a play received the Olivier Award in 1982, and in 1984 was nominated for both Tony and Drama Desk awards, all for best play. In 1992, it was made into a movie with a star-studded cast, but wasnt quite as good, according to Tom Ballmer. A farce is always better live, Ballmer said. The awe you feel watching a farce doesnt live in the world of movies. Ballmer, executive director at Stebens Childrens Theatre, is making his directorial debut at MCCT with this play. And hes brought several of his alumni with him. Its great to use my Stebens kids in adult roles, Ballmer said. Its really fun. Catherine Gobeli, a graduate of Mason City High School and student at North Iowa Area Community College, is one of the Stebens veterans. This is definitely different than childrens theater, Ill tell you that, Gobeli said. Especially my character who spends much of the play in her underwear. In this production, the cast of Noises Off is performing a play called Nothing On. The second act is that play from backstage, and theres intrigue on stage and off. Michelle Murray said it gives the audience a good look at the things that go on backstage. There are always wacky things happening back stage, Rocha said. Its funny to see how things go wrong in the play within the play, and in our rehearsals, Sarah Betz added. By the third act, the play has returned to the stage, and lines are being cut so each act is shorter, Rocha said. Gobeli said she hopes audiences realize the lines are being dropped on purpose. Its a really big show, Ballmer said. The whole idea of the set turning around its a huge, huge undertaking. David Lee gets the credit for set design and construction. Totally, Ballmer said. We would not have been able to do it without him. Its a stellar crew, Ballmer added. The play is very much a challenge. Theres a lot of staging. Rocha, a 20-year veteran of both Stebens and MCCT, said this is the hardest thing shes ever done on stage. Its not only extremely mentally exhausting, but physically exhausting. Im really glad Tom is directing, Murray said. It would be a nightmare to direct. Ballmer called the play a "lust fest," rather than a love fest, and Gobeli and Betz are part of a love triangle. "Its fun to be Catherines enemy," Betz said. "Were best friends in real life." Ballmer said there's a lot of talent on stage. "This ensemble we are a pretty tight ensemble, allowing each other to do some pretty amazing things." Opinions on President Donald Trump vary sharply, but we think there's one thing upon which all Americans can agree: The 45th president is not a fan of the Affordable Care Act, also known as "Obamacare." He says it is "hurting people," that it is "imploding," and that we should "let it implode." What's problematic is, in his apparent desire to "let it implode," he has suggested that he might not enforce the law's provisions. On July 29, in apparent frustration over the previous day's failure by the Senate Republican majority to pass a bill repealing parts of the Affordable Care Act, Trump tweeted: "If a new HealthCare Bill is not approved quickly, BAILOUTS for Insurance Companies and BAILOUTS for Members of Congress will end very soon!" These aren't bailouts, Mr. President. These are payments to insurance companies required under the law. The subsidies, known as cost-sharing reductions or CSRs, total about $7 billion a year and help reduce deductibles and copayments for consumers with modest incomes, the Associated Press reported. It is true that the payments are the subject of a lawsuit brought by House Republicans over whether the law specifically included a congressional appropriation for the money, as required under the Constitution. But in the meantime, there are Republicans and Democrats who are fearful of what a withholding of the CSR payments would do to the insurance marketplace. The Senate's Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer of New York, said such a step will make health care even more expensive. "If the president refuses to make the cost sharing reduction payments, every expert agrees that premiums will go up and health care will be more expensive for millions of Americans," Schumer said July 29 in a written statement. "The president ought to stop playing politics with people's lives and health care, start leading and finally begin acting presidential." On Wednesday, a bipartisan panel of U.S. governors urged the president to maintain CSR funding. "The Administration has the opportunity to stabilize the health insurance market across our nation and ensure that our residents can continue to access affordable health care coverage," said a statement by the Health and Human Services Committee of the National Governors Association. "A first critical step ... is to fully fund CSRs (cost-sharing reduction payments) for the remainder of calendar year 2017 through 2018," the statement said, adding this was needed as Congress and the administration address long-term reform efforts. The committee is led by Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a Democrat, and Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican. Earlier this year, the governors sent a letter calling on Congress to fully fund the cost-sharing payments. Some Congressional Republicans have joined Democrats in urging Trump to continue the payments, Reuters reported. Republican Senator Lamar Alexander, chairman of the Senate Health Committee, said Tuesday the president should pay the subsidies through September while lawmakers work on bipartisan legislation to fund the outlays for another year. The president, like any other American, is free to express himself, to give his opinions on any matter he chooses. However, as president and the head of the executive branch of the federal government, he must enforce all federal laws, regardless of his opinions about them. When the two houses of Congress send him bills to repeal or alter existing laws, he has the choice of signing the bills into law or exercising his veto power. If an ACA repeal bill is delivered to his Oval Office desk, President Trump can sign it into law; we have reason to believe he'll do just that. Until then, he's obligated under Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution "he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed" to enforce "Obamacare." This editorial appeared in the Aug. 6 edition of The Journal Times of Racine, Wisconsin, another Lee Enterprises publication. GET OUR APP Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Download it here. CALGARY, Alberta, Aug. 15, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Antioquia Gold Inc. ('Antioquia Gold" or the "Corporation") (TSX VENTURE:AGD) (OTCQX:AGDXF) is pleased to announce that it has received an updated National Instrument 43-101 ("NI 43-101") compliant resource report (the "Report") for its Cisneros gold project in Antioquia Department, Colombia. The report was prepared by Mr. Fernando Linares, MAusIMM of Lima, Peru and Mr. Edgard Vilela, MAusIMM (CP) who by reason of education, affiliation with a professional association and past relevant work experience, fulfill the requirements of a "qualified person" as defined in NI 43-101. The current mineral resource estimate (Antioquia Gold Ltd. Cisneros Gold Project, Antioquia Department, Colombia NI 43-101 Technical Report Update on Mineral Resource Estimate, July 16, 2017) is an update to the 2013 resource estimate accompanied by the Technical report prepared by LINAMEC SAC and utilized ordinary kriging interpolation as estimation methodology on a more extensive database. The resource of Guayabito Deposit and Papi Deposit, remains unaltered since 2013 and was estimated using inverse distance cubed (ID3) interpolation methodology. The Report has an effective date of July 16, 2017 and the Corporation has filed the complete report on SEDAR. It should also be noted that Antioquia Gold has identified an additional six targets that merit further exploration via diamond drilling. The main objective of the Corporation's drilling campaign during the past year was to increase resource confidence levels at the Cisneros gold project in Antioquia. The Mineral Resource Estimates (MRE) prepared by LINAMEC utilized a total of 107 drillholes, included 11 new drillholes drilled by AGD in 2016 and 992 underground channel samples, sampled between 2016 and 2017. The mineralized structures, updated with new data are: Nus, Guaico, Footwall-03, Footwall-05 and La Manuela-01. The other areas, Guayabito North and Papi, remain unchanged from 2013. Cisneros Resources Highlights: Updated Mineral Resources for the Cisneros Properties, above cutoff grade for all mineralized structures consist of 509,508 tonnes of Measured + Indicated Mineral Resources with an average grade of 5.95 g/t Au and 495,771 tonnes of Inferred Mineral Resources with an average grade of 6.66 g/t Au (See Table 1). Table 1. Cisneros Resource Estimate Summary Classification Tonnes Grade Au (g/t) Au (oz) Measured 195,846 5.29 33,319 Indicated 313,662 6.36 64,149 Measured + Indicated 509,508 5.95 97,468 Inferred 495,771 6.66 106,275 Mr. Fernando Linares and Mr. Edgard Vilela, are the Qualified Persons for the Mineral Resource estimate. The effective date of the estimate is 16 July 2017. Mineral Resources are reported using a cut-off grade of 2.7 g/t Au for GCO, GCFW3, GCFW5 and LMN1. Mineral Resources are reported using a cut-off grade of 1.5 g/t Au for NUS and PAPI. Mineral Resources are reported using a cut-off grade of 2.5 g/t Au for GYB. Reported Mineral Resources contain no allowances for hanging wall or footwall contact boundary loss and dilution. No mining recovery has been applied. Rounding as required by reporting guidelines may result in apparent summation differences between tonnes, grade and metal content. Mr. Gonzalo de Losada, President and Chief Executive Officer of Antioquia Gold stated: "We are very pleased with the mineral resource estimate update for the Cisneros project which incorporates additional drill holes and underground sampling. The revised mineral resources are defined at a higher cut-off grade and the measured and indicated resources have improved both in grade and contained ounces of gold. In addition to improving confidence in the deposit, we are encouraged by sample results that have identified six additional potential mineralized gold systems: Bareno, Santa Gertrudis, Cucurucho, Los Planes Monte-Bello, Alto La Cumbre and Guayabito Sur sectors. The geochemical pattern of anomalies encountered for Au, Cu and As are very similar to the La Quiebra- El Limon System where the four gold vein deposits of Guayabito, Guaico, Nus and Papi are located. The potential mineralization of these six sectors is very promising and remains unexplored at depth. Our goal with planned surface and underground drilling (see News Release July 24, 2017) is to continue to build confidence in the resource, de-risk the project and provide value for investors. Cisneros Resource Estimate Parameters are as follows: The current mineral resource estimate (Antioquia Gold Ltd. Cisneros Gold Project, Antioquia Department, Colombia NI 43-101 Technical Report Update on Mineral Resource Estimate, July 2017) is an update to the 2013 resource estimate accompanied by the Technical report prepared by LINAMEC SAC and utilized ordinary kriging interpolation as estimation methodology on a more extensive database. The resources of the Guayabito Deposit and Papi Deposit, remain unaltered since 2013 and were estimated using inverse distance cubed (ID3) interpolation methodology. The Mineral Resource Estimates (MRE) prepared by LINAMEC utilized a total of 107 drillholes, including11 new drillholes drilled by AGD in 2016 and 992 underground channels, sampled between 2016 and 2017. The mineralized structures, updated with new data are: Nus, Guaico, Footwall-03, Footwall-05 and La Manuela-01. The other areas, Guayabito North and Papi remain unaltered. For modelling of the main mineralized structures, LINAMEC use Leapfrog and GEMS. The modelling was based upon information obtained from drill hole and channel sampling databases, which compiles the different lithological, mineralogical, structural and alteration characteristics in the Guaico Domain. All tables include the resources estimated in 2013 for Guayabito and Papi deposits to obtain the global mineral resources estimate of the Cisneros Property. All Mineral Resources were estimated by Fernando Linares, principal geologist with Linares Americas Consulting S.A.C. using the Canadian Institute of Mining (CIM) Standards on Mineral Resources and Reserves, Definitions and Guidelines prepared by the CIM Standing Committee on Reserve Definitions. Mineral resources, which are not mineral reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability. The quantity and grade of reported Inferred resources are uncertain in nature and there has been insufficient exploration to classify these Inferred resources as Indicated or Measured; it is uncertain if further exploration will result in upgrading them to a Measured or Indicated category. Qualified Persons Mr. Edgard Vilela, MAusIMM (CP), is a Qualified Person under NI 43-101. Mr. Fernando Linares (MAusIMM), reviewed and approved the scientific or technical disclosure in this release and has verified the data disclosed. This press release has been prepared under the supervision of Dr. Roger Moss, Ph.D., P.Geo a Qualified Person as defined by NI 43-101. Q2 2017 Interim Financial Statements and Annual Information Form The Corporation announces that it has filed its interim unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements for the three and six month period ended June 30, 2017 and related Management Discussion and Analysis. Antioquia has also filed an annual information form for the year ended December 31, 2016. Copies of these documents are available at www.sedar.com under the Corporations profile. Resignation of Mr. Alvaro Espinoza The Corporation announces that Mr. Alvaro Espinoza has resigned as Executive Vice President of the Corporation and Antioquia Gold Ltd. The Corporation would like to thank Mr. Espinoza for his dedication, hard work and support. On behalf of the Antioquia Gold Board of Directors Mr. Gonzalo de Losada, President and Chief Executive Officer Antioquia Gold Inc. For further information on Antioquia Gold Inc., visit our website at www.antioquiagoldinc.com Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release. Reader Advisory Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities legislation. This information and these statements, referred to herein as forward-looking statements, are made as of the date of this press release and the Corporation does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Forward-looking statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect current expectations or beliefs regarding future events and include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to: capital expenditures, operating costs, and the anticipated project schedule. Any statements that express or involve discussions with respect to predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions or future events or performance (often, but not always, using words or phrases such as expects, anticipates, plans, projects, estimates, assumes, intends, strategy, goals, objectives, schedule or variations thereof or stating that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved, or the negative of any of these terms and similar expressions) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are made based upon certain assumptions by the Corporation and other important factors that, if untrue, could cause the actual results, performances or achievements of Antioquia to be materially different from future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business prospects and strategies and the environment in which Antioquia will operate in the future, including the accuracy of any resource estimations, the price of gold, anticipated costs and Antioquias ability to achieve its goals, anticipated financial performance, regulatory developments, development plans, exploration, development and mining activities and commitments. Although management considers its assumptions on such matters to be reasonable based on information currently available to it, they may prove to be incorrect. Additional risks are described in Antioquia's most recently filed Annual Information Form, annual and interim MD&A and other disclosure documents available under the Corporations profile at: www.sedar.com. By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties, both general and specific, and risks exist that estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not be achieved or that assumptions do not reflect future experience. We caution readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements as a number of important risk factors could cause the actual outcomes to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives, expectations, anticipations, estimates, assumptions and intentions expressed in such forward-looking statements. Readers should also be cautioned that the Corporations decision to move forward with the construction and production of the Cisnero Mine is not based on the results of any preliminary economic assessment (PEA), pre-feasibility study or feasibility study of mineral resources demonstrating economic or technical viability. Readers are referred to section 14.14 of the Cisneros Report for details on independently verified mineral resources on the Cisneros Project. Since 2013, the Corporation has undertaken exploration and development activities; and after taking into consideration various factors, including but not limited to: the exploration and development results to date, technical information developed internally, the availability of funding, the low starting costs as estimated internally by the Corporations management, the Corporation is of the view that the commissioning of a PEA, the establishment of mineral reserves, the commissioning of a pre-feasibility study or feasibility study at this stage is not necessary, and that the most responsible utilization of the Corporations resources is to proceed with the development and construction of the mine. Readers are cautioned that due to the lack of a PEA, pre-feasibility study or feasibility study, there is increased uncertainty and higher risk of economic and technical failure associated with the Corporations decision. In particular, there is additional risk that mineral grades will be lower than expected, the risk that construction or ongoing mining operations will be more difficult or more expensive than management expected. Production and economic variables may vary considerably, due to the absence of a detailed economic and technical analysis in accordance with NI 43-101. Project failure may materially adversely impact the Corporations future profitability, its ability to repay existing loans, and its overall ability to continue as a going concern. The Daytona Beach Police Department is investigating three separate road rage incidents that happened within a week, and police said guns were pointed at all of the victims. 3 road rage incidents in Daytona Beach in the past week All of the incidents involved guns Police searching for the suspects "It seems like she was driving angry and it was just a regular day for us. We were driving slow, trying to figure out where we were going to eat," said victim Tania Williams. Williams wants justice for what she said happened. She said she pulled her car out in front of the woman as she headed out with her teenage children to celebrate her daughters birthday. "When I went to turn on Nova, she turned behind me and shot on the side of me real fast to get in the turning lane. She put her window down and started cursing me out and I was like I'm sorry," said Williams. Williams said the woman continued to use profanity against her. "I told her listen we can pull over and talk about this if you want to, and she pulled the gun out and pointed the gun at the car and said she doesn't fight with her hands. That's one of the things you don't do, you don't pull a firearm on someone and their children," said Williams. Williams said after the incident she continued to follow the woman, and was able to get close enough for her daughter to snap a picture of her tag. Police said Williams case wasn't the only one. There was another incident where someone was cut off and another where the road rage argument started at a stop light. In all the cases, the suspects pulled guns on their victims. Williams said they need to be caught. "When she pulled the gun out that was it for me. No more talking. I've got my kids in the car, I want your tag because I don't want you to do this to anyone else. It's not fair, the roads are supposed to be safe," said Williams. Police have tried tracking down the vehicles involved in these suspected road rage incidents. In Williams' case and another one, they went by the locations where the suspect vehicles are registered but did not have any luck. The National Libertarian Party says it stands for freedom for all, but it won't stand for white nationalists. Libertarians denounce white nationalists, racism Says any members who are white nationalists need to resign 2016 Florida candidate was headliner at Charlottesville rally The party, considered the fastest growing third party in the country, issued a statement Tuesday asking any white nationalists who belong to the party to leave. "There is no room for racists and bigots in the Libertarian Party," said Libertarian National Committee executive director Wes Benedict. "If there are white nationalists who inappropriately are members of the Libertarian Party, I ask them to submit their resignations today. We dont want them to associate with the Libertarian Party, and we dont want their money. Im not expecting many resignations, because our membership already knows this well." Benedict says the Libertarian Party supports civil liberties, regardless of ethnicity, religion, gender or sexual orientation. The party also believes in open borders, racial diversity and free trade -- things he says white nationalists abhor. The statement comes in the wake of a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville that turned violent as protesters engaged with some counterprotesters and one suspected white nationalist drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing one and injuring 19. Among the headliners of that "Unite the Right" Rally was Augustus Invictus, who ran for U.S. Senate as a Libertarian in 2016. At the time his candidacy caused a stir. Florida Libertarian Party Chairman Adrian Wyllie resigned his post because he believed Invictus was a white nationalist who believed in eugenics wanted to start a civil war. Invictus denied the charge. On Invictus' Twitter account, he describes himself as "the Most Dangerous Libertarian in America." Invictus announced he was leaving the Libertarians in July for the Republican Party. He announced Tuesday he is running as a Republican candidate for Senate in Florida in 2018, though his name does not yet show up in the listing on the Florida Division of Elections website. A driver who slammed into a power pole, setting a house on fire and knocking out power to about 1,700 homes in Merritt Island, has died, troopers said Wednesday. Troopers: Motorist was driving at a 'high rate of speed' Vehicle slammed into power pole, broke in half Richard Seborowski died at Holmes Regional Medical Center 1,700 homes were without power in Merritt Island Richard Seborowski died at Holmes Regional Medical Center after incurring critical injuries, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. Seborowski, 36, of Merritt Island was speeding down Newfound Harbour Drive northbound at about midnight when his 2017 Chevrolet drove onto an unpaved shoulder and into a power pole at the intersection of Keokuk Lane, FHP said in a news release. The crash took down power lines and a transformer, troopers said. A deadly crash on Newfound Harbour Drive knocked down a power pole and transformer late Tuesday night, taking out power to about 1,700 homes in Merritt Island. (News 13) The vehicle spun clockwise, struck a tree and split in half. Seborowski was thrown from the car. The rear half of the vehicle struck a stop sign and came to a rest in the yard of a home on the 400 block of Newfound Harbour Drive, then caught fire. The vehicle's front half came to rest in the eastbound travel lane of Keokuk Drive. Investigators were still working to determine whether Seborowski was wearing a seat belt or whether the crash was alcohol-related. Here's what remains after a vehicle hits a power pole in Merritt Island. Details on @MyNews13. @BCFRpio pic.twitter.com/0cPpnCZjUm Jerry Hume (@JerryHume) August 16, 2017 Florida Power and Light said the crash impacted 1,700 customers. Power to most of the homes was restored mid-Wednesday morning. Neighbor Leanna Malone described the accident. "We just heard a really loud bang, and the lights went out and we ran out of the house and saw part of the car catching on fire," she said. Neighbors say they see an accident on their street at least once a month. Representatives from national memorials across the United States will be on a panel during the first public meeting to discuss what should be in a memorial to the victims of the Pulse nightclub massacre. Town hall scheduled for future Pulse memorial Event takes place 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13 Admission is free, but you need tickets to attend OnePULSE Foundation, the foundation for the Pulse nightclub memorial, said in a news release Wednesday that next month's panel would include officials from memorials constructed to honor the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks and the Oklahoma City bombing. "To build a memorial, it has to be what the community wants," said Sara Brady, a spokeswoman with the OnePULSE Foundation. "What do they feel? Do they want the building to stay? Do they want it to come down?" Brady said organizers of the town hall-style discussions hope the public feels comfortable giving input and that people come away knowing more about the process of creating a permanent memorial. "We hope that we have a good community involvement," she said. "How does a community put together and build it and create it so that everyone feels that the tragedy has been properly recognized? The only way to do that is for these public conversations to take place." The first event is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13, at the Orlando Repertory Theater, 1001 E. Princeton St. Admission is free, but tickets are required and available through Eventbrite. Seating is limited. We are proud to announce our #TownHall Series Forum presented by JP Morgan Chase & Co. Click here to find out more: https://t.co/M3u8Li3BTW pic.twitter.com/TMrbKsgSyL onePULSE Foundation (@onePULSEorg) August 16, 2017 Brady said the group hopes to have at least four such meetings with the community, with the second in the beginning of 2018. They have already solicited input from victims and their families. The foundation's public survey to acquire public input regarding the future of the Pulse site will go live on the foundation's website that same day. Anyone interested in sharing their ideas is encouraged to participate in the online survey available at www.onePULSEfoundation.org. Barbara Poma, the owner of Pulse nightclub, has said she wants the memorial in Orlando to be a place to comfort the bereaved now and educate future generations. Forty-nine people were killed and more than 50 others were injured in June 2016 in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The Plainview Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors hosted a formal ribbon cutting Tuesday at the new location of Express Employment, 1415 W. Fifth St. Formerly in a shopping center with Cinema 6 along the I-27 West Service Road, Express Employment has moved into the offices previously occupied by the Jim Posey Agency in the Wayland-Gabriel/Runningwater Draw Shopping Center. When Michelle Rutherford arrived July 31 as director of operations for The Salvation Army in Plainview, she was impressed by the agencys consolidated store and social services office at 615 Broadway. The building is very nice and well taken care of, Rutherford commented this week. But what we need most of all is volunteers. With more help, we can do so much more. Rutherford comes to Plainview from central Washington State where she served with The Salvation Army for seven years after 30 years working in social services. Accompanying her on the move are husband, Gene, a Salvation Army spiritual support volunteer, their 19-year-old daughter and her husband. We had three weeks notice, but our daughter decided to move three days before we left, Rutherford said. They have other grown children. Were really enjoying the weather, Rutherford commented. She and her family are used to the cool, damp weather Plainview has had lately. When we left Central Washington, they were going through their hottest week ever, she explains. It was up to 114 degrees. Rutherford is taking the helm of the local Salvation Army during a time a transition following the reassignment of Majors David and Clara Hodge in June. The Hodges are ordained ministers and held worship services at the Salvation Army chapel, 201 Ash, while overseeing social services and the Family Store at 615 Broadway. With their departure, The Salvation Army no longer holds regular worship services locally. Spiritual support remains an important part of our social services program, Rutherford explains. Thats because most of our clients are going through a very stressful situation when they come in. They need someone to spill their guts and unload. Thats where training as a counselor is important. With a paid staff of four, Rutherford said its vital to have a number of volunteers as well as the continued support of a strong board of directors. We need volunteers so we can open the store for longer hours during the week and on Saturdays, she explains, and expand social services. She would like to begin using the old Salvation Army store in the 600 block of Ash Street as a donation center and for sorting. Its now a warehouse. We really need more volunteers to do that, she explains. Its too cramped to keep sorting at our Family Store. Rutherford has enlisted the help of Enactus at Wayland Baptist University to take review operations at the Family Store. Getting the business students at Wayland to help us reset the store is next on our agenda. That should really help. Rutherford is working on the agencys Facebook and webpage as well. They are part of our marketing and fund development efforts, she explains. Rutherford received her undergraduate degree from Washington State University and a masters in counseling and leadership from Liberty University. Earlier this week she met with the Plainview Area United Way, which supports The Salvation Army. She wants to speak to local service clubs, enlisting their continued support for the Red Kettle Campaign. Id like to get as many businesses, clubs and organizations to work at day at the kettles or to sponsor our bell ringers for a day. We are so much more than just a store, she adds. The Salvation Army is really about helping people. AUSTIN -- The First Called Session of the 85th Legislature ended a day early Tuesday after the House passed the Senate version of a school finance bill and adjourned sine die. The 29 day session saw the passage of a number of the 20 items placed on the call by Gov. Greg Abbott, including measures that would control municipal authority and place additional requirements and restrictions on abortion procedures in Texas. The Texas Privacy Act, more commonly known as "the bathroom bill" didn't receive a hearing in the House, and a key property tax bill died when the chambers couldn't come to an agreement on a rollback figure. The failure of that tax bill disappointed its author, Houston Sen. Paul Bettencourt, who also led the effort to pass the bill in the regular session. "The taxpayers of Texas demanded property tax relief," he said. "They've had double digit increases by any measurement, faster than Texans' ability to pay." At issue was the tax increase rate that would trigger an automatic rollback election. The House version set that threshold at 6 percent but the Senate wanted 4 percent. When the House declined to appoint a conference committee to resolve these differences, it was up to the Senate to decide to accept the House version or let the bill die. Bettencourt chose the latter and vowed to champion the Senate's four percent version of the bill the next time the Legislature meets. TORTOLA, British Virgin Islands, Aug. 15, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Orca Exploration Group Inc. ("Orca" or "the Company") (TSX-V:ORC.A) (TSX-V:ORC.B) announces that it has filed its condensed consolidated interim financial statements and management's discussion and analysis for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2017 with the Canadian securities regulatory authorities. Operating and Financial Highlights Revenue for the quarter decreased by 1% to US$14.4 million from US$14.6 million in Q2 2016 and decreased 1% to US$30.0 million over the six months ended June 30, 2017 compared to US$30.4 million for the comparable prior year period. Additional Gas deliveries and sales for the quarter averaged 39.5 million of standard cubic feet per day (MMcfd) a decrease of 2% over 40.3 MMcfd in Q2 2016 and decreased 4% to 41.4 MMcfd for the six months ended June 30, 2017 compared to 43.4 MMcfd for the comparable prior year period. The decrease in Additional Gas volumes for the quarter and the six months ended June 30, 2017 to the comparable prior year periods is primarily the result of reduced nominations of natural gas volumes by TANESCO. The decrease in volumes having been offset by a 1% rise in the weighted average price for the quarter to US$4.90/mcf from US$4.83/mcf in Q2 2016 and a 2% rise to US$4.79/mcf for the six months ended June 30, 2017 from US$4.71/mcf for the comparable prior year period. There was a net loss for the quarter of US$0.6 million (US$0.02 loss per share diluted) compared to net income of US$1.5 million in Q2 2016 (US$0.04 per share diluted) and US$2.2 million net income (US$0.06 per share diluted) for the six months ended June 30, 2017 compared to a net loss of US$4.2 million (US$0.12 loss per share diluted) for the comparable prior year period. The net loss for the six months ended June 30, 2017 was primarily a consequence of recording a provision for doubtful accounts of US$11.5 million against the TANESCO receivable, which was partially offset by lower interest associated with the IFC Loan. The interest associated with servicing the IFC loan for the six months ended June 30, 2017 was US$4.6 million compared to US$2.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2016. Cash flows from operations for the quarter decreased by 32% to US$4.6 million (US$0.13 per share diluted) from US$6.8 million (US$0.19 per share diluted) in Q2 2016 and decreased by 33% to US$10.5 million (US$0.30 per share diluted) for the six months ended June 30, 2017 from US$15.6 million (US$0.44 per share diluted) for the comparable prior year period. The decrease for the quarter and the six months ended June 30, 2017 from the comparable prior year periods is primarily due to the fall in the Companys operating revenue due to the change in the TANESCO revenue recognition criteria, the lower Additional Gas volumes and associated Profit Gas entitlement and the increase in the costs associated with servicing the IFC loan. Total capital expenditures for the quarter were US$0.4 million compared to US$2.8 million in Q2 2016 and US$7.8 million for the six months ended June 2017 compared to US$16.9 million for the comparable prior year period. The capital expenditure in the quarter relates to flow line and platform expenditure related to the SS-12 well, the capital expenditure in Q2 2016 relates to the final demobilization cost associated with the 2015/2016 Offshore Development Program. The capital expenditure for the six months ended June 30, 2017 includes the transfer of US$7.4 million of the Songas share of workover costs originally incurred in 2015 from accounts receivable to property, plant and equipment. Working capital as at June 30, 2017 was US$69.7 million compared to US$72.0 million as at December 31, 2016. The decrease in the Songas receivable relating to the Songas workover program being offset by the increase in cash balances due to the continued receipts from TANESCO. The closing cash at June 30, 2017 was US$98.5 million (December 31, 2016: US$80.9 million). At June 30, 2017 the current receivable from TANESCO was US$ nil (December 31, 2016: US$5.7 million). During the quarter the amounts received from TANESCO were in excess of the revenue recognized for gas sales to TANESCO resulting in a deferred revenue balance of US$4.1 million (December 31, 2016: US$ nil). The long-term trade receivable at June 30, 2017 was US$74.4 million (provision of US$74.4 million) compared to US$80.1 million (provision of US$74.4 million) as at December 31, 2016. Since the quarter end, TANESCO has paid the Company US$5.3 million. As at the date of this report the TANESCO current receivable balance is US$ nil and the deferred revenue balance is US$6.8 million with no change in the long-term receivable or provision. Financial and Operating Highlights THREE MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30 SIX MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30 (Expressed in US$000 unless indicated otherwise) 2017 2016 2017 2016 OPERATING Daily average gas delivered and sold (MMcfd) Additional Gas 39.5 40.3 41.4 43.4 Industrial 12.7 12.6 12.1 11.7 Power 26.8 27.7 29.3 31.7 Average price (US$/mcf) Industrial 7.69 7.64 7.72 7.87 Power 3.57 3.55 3.57 3.55 Weighted average 4.90 4.83 4.79 4.71 Operating netback (US$/mcf) (1) 3.44 3.32 3.40 3.19 FINANCIAL Revenue 14,448 14,572 29,990 30,382 Net cash flows from operating activities 12,038 6,237 20,825 5,083 per share - basic and diluted (US$) 0.35 0.18 0.59 0.15 Net (loss) income (622 ) 1,452 2,218 (4,186 ) per share - basic and diluted (US$) (0.02 ) 0.04 0.06 (0.12 ) Cash flows from operations (1) 4,610 6,772 10,536 15,620 per share - basic and diluted (US$) 0.13 0.19 0.30 0.44 Weighted average of outstanding Class A and Class B shares (000) 34,857 34,857 34,857 34,857 Capital expenditures 350 2,841 7,822 16,838 AS AT JUNE 30, 2017 AS AT DECEMBER 31, 2016 Working capital (including cash) 69,718 71,989 Cash 98,285 80,895 Long-term loan 58,468 58,399 Outstanding Shares ('000) Class A 1,751 1,751 Class B 33,106 33,106 Total shares outstanding 34,857 34,857 (1) The cash flow from operations and operating netback are non-GAAP measures which may not be comparable to other companies. Please refer to the Management Discussion and Analysis ("MD&A") for Information on non-GAAP measures. The complete condensed consolidated unaudited interim financial statements and managements discussion & analysis for the three and six month periods ending June 30, 2017 may be found on the Companys website www.orcaexploration.com or on the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Orca Exploration Group Inc. Orca Exploration Group Inc. is an international public company engaged in natural gas exploration, development and supply in Tanzania through the wholly-owned subsidiary PanAfrican Energy Tanzania Limited, as well as oil and gas appraisal in Italy. Orca trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbols ORC.B and ORC.A. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Abbreviations Mcf thousand cubic feet MMcfd million cubic feet per day Reader Advisory The Company discloses several financial measures herein that do not have any standardized meaning prescribed under International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS"). These financial measures include cash flows from operations, cash flows from operations per share and operating netback. Cash flows from operations represents cash flows from operating activities less interest paid and before changes in non-cash working capital and demonstrates the Company's ability to generate sufficient cash flow to fund capital expenditures and repay debt. Cash flows from operations per share is calculated on the basis of cash flows from operations divided by the weighted average number of shares outstanding. Operating netbacks represent the profit margin associated with the production and sale of additional gas and is calculated as revenues less processing and transportation tariffs, government parastatals revenue share, operating and distribution costs for one thousand standard cubic feet of additional gas. Management believes that these financial measures are useful supplemental information to analyze operating performance and provide an indication of the results generated by the Companys principal business activities. Investors should be cautioned that these measures should not be construed as an alternative to net income or other measures of financial performance as determined in accordance with IFRS. The Company's method of calculating these measures may differ from other companies, and accordingly, they may not be comparable to similar measures used by other companies. Please see the Companys managements discussion and analysis, which is available at www.sedar.com for additional information about these financial measures. PLAINVILLE Before the 33rd annual Hot Air Balloon Festival this month, members of the Plainville Fire Company are making sure they are prepared for any emergencies. What really got exposure was the tragedy last year, said fire company member Phil Brousseau. Brousseau, festival co-chair, was referring to a balloon crash in Texas that killed all passengers on board. Its usually every other year, Jim Lenois, co-chair of the festival and member of the company, said of safety training. Brousseau said Monday nights session was essential for several new members of the fire company. In total, 25 new and old members were trained by balloonists from the Connecticut Lighter than Air Society behind the firehouse. They were trained in how to approach the balloon basket and propane tanks as well as other hazards they could encounter. Balloonists provided company members with brochures and tip sheets to help navigate and understand the balloons. The documents included the ignition temperature of the balloons, which is 900 to 1,100 degrees, as well as properties of the propane and fuel tanks. The fire company put up a notice for attendees on social media warning to be aware of your surroundings. The company is reminding people that smoking near the balloons or use of drones are not allowed in Norton Park during the festival on Aug. 25, 26 and 27. More information can be found at http://www.plainvillefireco.com/Balloon_Festival.html PLANO, Texas, Aug. 15, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Together H-E-B Tournament of Champions and Central Market have pledged a 4-year, $255,000 commitment to My Possibilities (MP), a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. MP recently launched a 3-year, $25 million campaign that will expand its capacity to serve a larger percentage of the more than 250,000 individuals with a cognitive disability over the age of 5 that reside in the DFW area. Representing a population that is roughly the size of the entire city of Plano, the educational opportunities available to adults with special needs is sadly lacking once these individuals phase out of the public education system. Starting with ten clients, lovingly referred to as HIPsters (Hugely Important People), just eight years ago, today My Possibilities currently serves nearly 400 HIPsters each week. With so many people in need of these services, the demand is high, and despite their growth, MP is only able to scratch the surface in providing advanced educational opportunities for adults with special needs in North Texas. With the hopes to expand and build upon its current services, My Possibilities purchased 20 acres of land in Plano, Texas to launch its Lifelong Learning Program. This will be an educational environment modeled after a college campus but designed specifically for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. At its max capacity, this facility will serve 1,600 individuals with special needs per week. Started in 1986, the H-E-B Tournament of Champions is one of the largest charitable events of its kind in the nation. The H-E-B Tournament of Champions was created to provide an opportunity for H-E-Bs suppliers to partner with the company to support nonprofit organizations focused on providing initiatives important to children and families across Texas. Since its inception, the H-E-B Tournament of Champions has raised almost $100 million and has helped more than 600 nonprofit organizations throughout the state. My Possibilities is the most recently named beneficiary. H-E-B Tournament of Champions and Central Market recognize how many more individuals in North Texas need access to the quality education that My Possibilities offers, says Stephen Butt, President of Central Market/H-E-B division. The My Possibilities University Campus is a bold vision that will only come to life with the support and investment from local communities. H-E-B Tournament of Champions and Central Market are proud supporters of MP and its dedication to changing the lives of their HIPsters. The need for these services in North Texas is tremendous, and both MP and Central Market invite everyone to join the 3-year campaign to raise $25 million for the first phase of construction of the new campus. With the help of the community, thousands of lives within North Texas can be changed. Inquiries can be sent to campaign@mptx.org, or contact Executive Director, Michael Thomas at 469-241-9100. About My Possibilities: My Possibilities is a Plano, Texas-based non-profit, charity - 501(c)(3), for adults with intellectual and cognitive disabilities. Started in June 2008, this organization is a full-day, full-year program in Collin County for Texans who have "aged out" of secondary education. My Possibilities helps special needs adults build independence and vocational skills in a safe and nurturing environment. To learn more, please go to www.mypossibilities.org. About Central Market: Central Markets open, serpentine-flow, full view European-style layout offers a completely new food shopping experience. A bountiful produce department with unmatched quality and variety, an 80-foot seafood case with selections from throughout the world, hundreds of cheeses, 2,500 wine labels, stupendous specialty grocery aisles with delights from every continent, and a world class cooking school featuring hands-on instruction are among the features that make the Central Market experience unique. http://www.centralmarket.com. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Sen. Dianne Feinstein said Wednesday that the Trump administrations decision to deny a delay in the deportation of an Oakland nurse and her husband who have lived in the country for more than two decades was an act utterly devoid of humanity. The California Democrat visited the family last week after reading a front-page Chronicle story about Maria Mendoza-Sanchez and Eusebio Sanchez, who plan to depart for their native Mexico late Wednesday with their 12-year-old son to start a new life, while leaving behind three daughters aged 16, 21 and 23 who have legal status. It was Feinstein who informed Mendoza-Sanchez on Tuesday that last-minute legal efforts to keep them in the country had failed. This is a travesty, plain and simple, and evidence that Donald Trumps immigration policy is nothing more than a hateful deportation program targeting law-abiding families, Feinstein said in a statement. Its shameful and stands against the very ideals upon which this country was founded. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE, defended the deportation order last week, saying the familys case had gone through a lengthy review in immigration courts and, neither of these individuals has a legal basis to remain in the U.S. The family decided to bring their son, Jesus, who is a U.S. citizen by birth, with them to Mexico due to his young age. But they believe it is better to leave behind their daughters, one of whom is a UC Santa Cruz student. The plan, for now, is for the older girls to raise the youngest, seeing her through two more years of high school. Feinstein said the deportation of two people with deep ties to the country and no criminal record was a clear message about the administrations immigration policy. By deporting Maria and Eusebio Sanchez, she said, the administration admits it will refuse to distinguish between criminals and families, proving once and for all that all undocumented individuals and families are priorities for deportation. Sen. Kamala Harris also weighed in on the case Wednesday, posting on Twitter: A disgrace. My heart goes out to Maria & Eusebio. I will keep fighting for them & all families being targeted by these hateful policies. Hamed Aleaziz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @haleaziz This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When Oakland nurse Maria Mendoza-Sanchez noticed an incoming call Tuesday afternoon from Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the mother of four waved her family into her bedroom and put the phone on speaker. She knew there was a chance, albeit a small one, that she would receive an 11th-hour piece of good news one that would spare her from having to split up her family by moving to her native Mexico with her husband and youngest child Wednesday under a federal deportation order. But Feinstein, D-Calif., told Mendoza-Sanchez, as she stood surrounded by loved ones, that immigration authorities had denied the request for a stay for her and her husband, who have lived in the U.S. for more than two decades but do not have legal status. She said she was sorry she couldnt do anything, Mendoza-Sanchez said. The room fell quiet. Im already tired of fighting, fighting, fighting, she said. What can I do? I did everything I could and Im exhausted. This has been a battle that took everything out of me. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged The couple and their 12-year-old son, Jesus, who is a U.S. citizen by birth, will catch a flight to Mexico City Wednesday evening a flight they had pushed back one day in hopes of winning a late reprieve from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE. They will start a new life while leaving behind daughters, ages 16, 21 and 23. The plan is for the older girls to raise the youngest, seeing her through two more years of high school. The familys attorney, Carl Shusterman, said Tuesdays denial of the stay request, which had been filed Friday, was a tragedy. He said ICE officials had indicated they couldnt make an exception for her. If they did, they would have to make an exception for other people, too. ICE officials did not comment Tuesday, but an agency spokeswoman defended the deportation order last week, saying the familys case had gone through a lengthy review in immigration courts and, neither of these individuals has a legal basis to remain in the U.S. Mendoza-Sanchez is a nurse in the oncology and cardiology wing of Highland Hospital, and neither she nor her husband, truck driver Eusebio Sanchez, has a criminal record. Their removal after many years reflects the contours of an immigration crackdown under the Trump administration, in which nearly all immigrants without documentation are eligible for deportation. One immigration expert said the denial of the stay was indicative of clear shifts in the governments approach to deportation. In past cases that received attention from the media and opposition from local politicians, ICE would often change course, fearing negative publicity, said Pratheepan Gulasekaram, a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law. ICE is sending a message with this removal, he said. Everybody is potentially a target. In May, the couple were told by immigration officials that they had three months to arrange their travel to Mexico, and they decided the best option was to split up the family. The two younger daughters are U.S. citizens, while the older daughter, Vianney, is protected by the governments Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Feinstein, who met with the family last week after reading a front-page Chronicle story about the case, said she would introduce a private bill in September to help the family gain permanent residence. However, such bills are rarely signed into law. Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf on Tuesday called on ICE to reverse the deportation, saying Mendoza-Sanchez represents the best of Oakland. At Mendoza-Sanchezs home, everything was set for the big move. Duffel bags, backpacks and suitcases lined the living room floor, ready to be packed into a van and taken to the airport. But by delaying the flight, the family gained a little more time together. Theyre not leaving today at least, said the 21-year-old daughter, Melin, a UC Santa Cruz senior. We have one more day with our parents. Her mother recounted that as she worked her regular night shift at the hospital Saturday, a patient facing surgery told her, Can you believe whats happening to this nurse here? Maria? Its horrible. Mendoza-Sanchez said she laughed and responded, Thats me! Im that nurse! The patient was surprised, and followed up: How are you able to tell me jokes and try to keep me calm while you have all of this going on? This is my passion, Mendoza-Sanchez recalled telling the patient. Im doing what I love. Whenever Im at work, I leave whatever is happening to me outside. After a nap following Feinsteins Tuesday call, Mendoza-Sanchez sent a message to her nursing colleagues, with whom she had become close. Many of them attended a rally Monday at the hospital to support her. You are the most beautiful friends anyone could ask for. Working with you has been a wonderful experience. I wish you guys the best in everything you do. I will miss you very much, she wrote. I am sorry if I caused any kind of emotional pain. God bless you guys. Hamed Aleaziz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @haleaziz This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Inc. magazine named 18 San Antonio-based businesses to its 2017 list of the 5,000 fastest-growing companies in the United States. Vighter Medical Group, Silotech Group, Stability Staffing and Consulting and Top Box Solutions were the areas highest-ranked companies and the only four in Inc. magazines top 1,000 as measured by their 3-year revenue growth rate, according to the magazines annual listings that were released this week. Fort Worth company EnviroSolar Power is the fast-growing company in the state and No. 2 in the nation with a 36,065 percent 3-year growth rate and $37.4 million in revenues. The top-growing company in the nation is Skillz, which holds streaming mobile video game tournaments. The company has a 50,059 percent 3-year growth rate and 2016 revenues of $54.2 million. Among the companies on the list that are expanding into San Antonio is Los Angeles-based TaskUs, providing outsourced customer service for high-technology companies. TaskUs, listed at No. 370 on the list, has a 1,177 percent 3-year growth rate and 2016 revenues of $79.7 million. It employs 5,200 people and announced in April it would hire 500 people in San Antonio. Inc. magazine ranked and gave top nods to the following San Antonio companies: Vighter Medical Group at No. 714. Vighter Medical Group, which provides medical services to the U.S. government, including the military, and to commercial companies, has a 640 percent 3-year growth rate, and 2016 revenues of $9.1 million. It employs 331 people, according to the magazine. Silotech Group at No. 774. Silotech, which offers cyber and information technology services, has a 591 percent 3-year growth rate, and 2016 revenues of $8.5 million. It employs 70 people. Stability Staffing and Consulting at No. 871. Stability Staffing, a professional staffing firm, has a 515 percent 3-year growth rate, and 2016 revenues of $3.5 million. It employs 120 people. Top Box Solutions at No. 962. Top Box, a remote and on-site information technology provider, has a 452 percent 3-year growth rate and 2016 revenues of $2.4 million. It employs 12 people. TAVHealth at No. 1,526. TAVHealth, which coordinates patient care after discharged from hospitals and clinics, has a 263 percent 3-year growth rate and 2016 revenues of $12.4 million. It employs 78 people. Texas Utility Engineering at No. 1,943. Texas Utility, which engineers and inspects public utilities and telecommunications systems, has a 196 percent 3-year growth rate and 2016 revenues of $12.4 million. It employs 121 people. Aventine Hill CFOs at No. 1,980. Aventine Hill, a corporate-level staffing and advisory firm, has a 191 percent 3-year growth rate and 2016 revenues of $2.1 million. It employs 19 people. Synergyst Research at No. 2,009. Synergyst, a health industry administrative support company, has a 187 percent 3-year growth rate and 2016 revenues of $11.7 million. It employs 24 people. Galaxy Builders at No. 2,102. Galaxy Builders, a general contracting company, has a 175 percent 3-year growth rate and 2016 revenues of $137.7 million. It employs 63 people. Dilligas at No. 2,275. Dilligas, a human resources company, has a 160 percent 3-year growth rate and 2016 revenues of $8.3 million. It employs 150 people. Inspired eLearning at No. 2,830. Inspired eLearning, a web-based security and compliance training company, has a 121 percent 3-year growth rate and 2016 revenues of $10.8 million. It employs 68 people. CE Group at No. 2,909. CE Group, a public relations and marketing firm, has a 116 percent 3-year growth rate and 2016 revenues of $7.6 million. It employs 45 people. Pax Financial Group at No. 2,924. Pax Financial, a financial services company, has a 115 percent 3-year growth rate and 2016 revenues of $2.2 million. It employs 17 people. KFW Engineers & Surveying at No. 3,051. KFW Engineers, a civil engineering firm, has a 108 percent 3-year growth rate and 2016 revenues of $12.4 million. It employs 95 people. TeleQuality Communications at No. 3,146. TeleQuality, providing telecommunications services to rural health facilities, has a 104 percent 3-year growth rate and 2016 revenues of $23.8 million. It employs 47 people. The Gents Place at No. 4,045. The Gents Place, a mens grooming service, has a 69 percent 3-year growth rate and 2016 revenues of $4 million. It employs 61 people. Massage Heights Franchising at No. 4,657. Massage Heights, providing massage and skin care therapeutic services, has a 50 percent 3-year growth rate and 2016 revenues of $95.1 million. It employs 27 people. Cox Manufacturing Co. at No. 4,993. Cox Manufacturing, offering precision screw machine products, has a 40 percent 3-year growth rate and 2016 revenues of $18.5 million. It employs 148 people. dhendricks@express-news.net This article was updated to correct the name of Aventine Hills CFOs. Only a day after Donald Trump labeled the growing number of CEOs quitting his business council grandstanders who, in some cases, were hurting ordinary Americans, the president tweeted that he would abolish the advisory groups rather than put pressure on executives to stay. Thank you all! Trump tweeted Wednesday afternoon. His announcement came within an hour of reports that one of the groups -- a forum of top finance and business executives -- was planning to disband. It appeared to be an effort by Trump to get ahead of the business leaders who were abandoning him following his remarks the day before at a New York City press conference. Its a stunning rebuke for the first CEO president, who pitched himself as a savvy businessman who would slash taxes and regulations to unleash growth by U.S. companies. Markets largely ignored the move, however, and the Standard & Poors 500 Index was up less than 1 percent as of 3:24 p.m. At a press conference Tuesday, Trump said he would replace those who quit his council of manufacturing executives. He bid good riddance to one CEO -- Merck & Co.s Kenneth Frazier -- who was first to resign. He then went on to talk about race relations and the violence in Virginia, placing partial blame on demonstrators protesting a gathering of white supremacists in Charlottesville. A woman was killed during the event after a man rammed a car into a crowd. The evening after Trumps comments, members of the strategy and policy forum -- led by Blackstone Groups Stephen Schwarzman -- began to waver. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink called some of his firms clients and said he planned to resign from the forum, according to a person familiar with the matter. The next morning, he told Schwarzman he was out. On a conference call late Wednesday morning with members of the strategy forum, the group was polled to ask who would stay. Of the dozen executives on the call, 10 voted to leave, according to another person familiar with the event. The group planned to tell the White House about their decision before making it public, according to a third person. In a memo sent to BlackRock employees and provided to Bloomberg Wednesday, Fink said that the violence, racism and antisemitism in Virginia had to be criticized without caveats. While I have disagreed with the president in certain instances this year, I continued to participate in the forum because I believed it was important to have a voice at the table for investors, including our clients, Fink wrote. Unfortunately, after the last few days, I concluded that I could no longer in good conscience participate in the forum. The events that occurred in Charlottesville, as I said on Monday, are nothing short of domestic terrorism. Such racism and bigotry must not just be condemned, but must be condemned unequivocally, he said. The strategy group is one of several the White House convened earlier this year to advise the president, though it and the manufacturing panel havent met recently. Jamie Dimon, the JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO, was also a member of the strategy council and said he supported the breakup. It is a leaders role, in business or government, to bring people together, not tear them apart, he said in a memo to employees provided to Bloomberg. The strategy and policy forum said the controversy over Trumps remarks about the Virginia violence led to the decision. The debate over forum participation has become a distraction from our well-intentioned and sincere desire to aid vital policy discussions on how to improve the lives of everyday Americans. Several CEOs from a manufacturing council quit before Wednesday, including the CEOs of Under Armour Inc. and Intel Corp. Before Trumps announcement, Inge Thulin, CEO of 3M left, as did Campbell Soup CEO Denise Morrison. Following yesterdays remarks from the president, I cannot remain on the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative, Morrison said in a statement. I will continue to support all efforts to spur economic growth and advocate for the values that have always made America great. The dispute over the panels began Monday, when Merck CEO Frazier took a public stand against Trump, saying that quitting the manufacturing council was matter of personal conscience and said that U.S. leaders had to reject hatred, bigotry and group supremacy. In the past several days, other executives have echoed those sentiments. General Electrics Jeffrey Immelt, one of the biggest names in American manufacturing, said soon after Trumps tweet that he too planned to step down from the now-disbanded group, reversing a decision from two days prior. Immelt, who notified council members earlier in the day, said Trumps comments at the Tuesday press conference were deeply troubling. The disbanding of the councils doesnt mean corporate America will fully turn its back on Trump, said Dan Eaton, a business ethics lecturer at San Diego State University. Businesses are still hoping that the administration can move ahead with corporate tax reform and infrastructure spending. It was personal, not necessarily policy related, Eaton said of CEOs. They are going to continue support the agenda of the president and congressional leaders when it serves corporate Americas purpose. Ever catch yourself sipping a crafty martini several stories above San Antonio when the thought I could really go for a deviled egg right now pops into your head? If so, youre in good hands at Paramour. The bar has added a menu from one of the citys top toques in the hopes of establishing itself as a national drinking destination. Chef Jason Dady has contributed a 15-item lineup of bar bites, small plates and favorites from his restaurants including his signature deviled eggs, grilled cheese sandwich and duck confit tacos. Cheese and charcuterie plates, salted pretzel bites with smoked Gouda fondue, a popcorn-based twist on Mexican street corn and spicy bravas-style almonds are among the other offerings. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Cha-Cha's Mexican Restaurant has closed. Ricardo Ruiz announced via his personal and business Facebook pages that the 32-year-old business at 5616 Bandera Road is permanently shuttered. "There was no announcement of closing because there was a potential buyer to continue the family name legacy," the post reads. "Discretion was needed in order to finish the deal but the buyer decided not to follow through. Being closed for the trial selling period made it difficult for me to reopen." RELATED: S.A. gets new place to buy barbacoa, tamales and menudo in bulk Ruiz wrote that being the place where generations of San Antonio families celebrated milestones is accomplishment he and his family "cherish." Fans of the restaurant can take some solace in the fact that though the establishment's final remaining permanent location has closed, Cha-Cha's will still exist in some form. It will still compete in the annual Margarita Pour-Off on Sept. 23, a competition it has won in the past. Cha-Cha's will still cater and operate as a "margarita machine business," the post said. RELATED: #WhataThoseContest reveals custom Whataburger orders you might want to try The Bandera location was the last remaining Cha-Cha's restuarant after the Babcock spot closed in 2014. That restaurant closed on Sept. 13 after 20 years of business, according to mySA.com archives. Ruiz was not immediately available to respond to requests for comment, but said in his post "My life and heart is in Cha-Cha's and it is very difficult to end such a great era." "Let the margaritas and memories live on," he said. mmendoza@mysa.com Twitter: @MaddySkye Two Texas newlyweds recently got an upgrade to their wedding aboard a Southwest Airlines flight. Taylor and Mikaela Flowers, from Abilene, got hitched on Aug. 4. The following day, they took off on Flight 288 to Riviera Maya, Mexico, for their honeymoon. The groom said he asked a flight attendant for a celebratory drink, which is when she apparently began hatching her plan. "An hour later, (the stewardess) woke me up from a nap and took us to separate ends of the plane," Taylor said. "My wife looked at me and said 'What did you do wrong.'" RELATED: UTSA student tweets wedding note from the Obamas, and the internet responds The flight crews dressed the couple in regal crowns made of peanut bags, gave Mikaela a bouquet of toilet paper sheets and sent her down the aisle to Taylor amid applause from her fellow passengers. The smitten couple exchanged vows again this time under "Southwest Airlines jurisdiction." "We vow to love each other, only fly Southwest and to always put our small carry-on bags under the seat and not in the overhead bins," they each promised under direction of a flight attendant. "You're wedding's not official until you get married on Southwest Airlines," the employee said. The company was not able to identify the impromptu wedding officiant, but they did say her idea was "encouraged." "Southwest Employees are encouraged to have fun with customers, and we love the way our creative, witty flight attendant ensured a great time onboard this flight with their unique delivery of Southwest Hospitality," a company spokesperson said in an email on Wednesday. The Southwest Airline social media team told Taylor they had a "special wedding gift" for him and his "forever travel companion." "Thanks for letting us be a part of this happy occasion," Southwest Airlines said in a tweet. mmendoza@mysa.com Twitter: @MaddySkye The Leftovers and Little Children author Tom Perrotta is your go-to guy to take the crazy pulse of America and make a wise and witty diagnosis. His latest novel, the sublimely funny Mrs. Fletcher (Scribner, $26), is about love, sex, disability, able-bodiedness and gender. It also skewers how we navigate parenthood, morality, letting go and moving on. Eve Fletcher is at a crossroads. Shes in her mid-40s and believes that surely life should be better than whats been dished out to her. Shes the top executive at the Haddington Senior Center, surrounded by the faces of old age, which repeatedly remind her of whats next down the road. In this shimmeringly satisfying novel, Perrotta uses the sense of loneliness like a propeller, raising a vividly drawn set of characters into glorious flight if they can just let themselves trust that they have wings. Read the full review here. Take a glance at some other recent books on our night table: The prison system and how to treat incarcerated criminals always has been problematic, no matter the plan. Adam Sternberghs imaginative The Blinds (Ecco/HarperCollins, $26.99) doesnt solve the problem, but offers an unusual alternative: Round up the most violent murderers, house them in a remote, unescapable town and, as a kicker, wipe their memories clean. The Blinds expertly melds the thriller with the Western, adding a soupcon of medical science fiction while paying a bit of homage to Jim Thompsons The Getaway, the novel, not the movie, and Pop. 1280. Read the full review here. Texas native Hollie Overtons The Walls (Redhook, $25) is set in East Texas amid the Texas prison system complex that operates there. Kristy Tucker, the main character, is a struggling single mother who works as a public information officer for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, basically handling the media for executions and other news stories stemming from prisoners. She marries an abusive man who threatens both her teenage son and aging, sickly father. Can she commit the ultimate crime? Read the full review here. Its invisible, omnipresent, our bodies draw it in automatically and its criminally underappreciated, according to science writer Sam Kean. The story of Earth is the story of its gases, he writes in the introduction to Caesars Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us (Little, Brown, $28). He goes on, earnestly: I hope this book compels you to revise your own mental picture of air, and I think your notion of air will indeed shift from chapter to chapter, leaving you with a more holistic view of it. A natural response to this might be mild skepticism: Why would anyone be so entirely gung-ho about air? But by the end of this delightful, deeply researched exploration, Keans assertions will seem justified the book brims with such fascinating tales of chemical history that itll change the very way you think about breathing. Read the full review here. Martin Edwards himself a gifted and prolific writer of mysteries, as well as a scholar of the field has emerged as a driving force behind the republication of older detective fiction, contributing introductions to many of the titles in the series British Library Crime Classics. All that reading lies behind his new work of critical appreciation and rediscovery, The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books (Poisoned Pen, $15.95). Note that phrase classic crime. Edwards focuses on the first half of the 20th century, the period between Arthur Conan Doyles The Hound of the Baskervilles (1902) and Julian Symonss The Thirty-First of February (1950). Be warned: While he does include a few Americans Dashiell Hammett, Patricia Highsmith as well as the Belgian Georges Simenon and the Argentine H. Bustos Domecq (the collaborative pen name of Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares), the emphasis is overwhelmingly on British writers. Read the full review here. SBennett@express-news.net CLEARWATER, Fla., Aug. 15, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In honor of National Piano Month, celebrated in September each year, Polish pianist, Mr. Andreas Kazmierzack will perform a classical piano concert on Saturday, September 16th at the Scientology Information Center in Downtown Clearwater. Refreshments will be served at 6:30pm, and the concert starts 7pm. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/45534c92-15c3-4f37-8494-6f4f1b6df1b7 The performance will celebrate the grand instrument, the piano - originally called pianoforte which was first manufactured in 1698 by Bartolomeo Cristofori in Italy. At its largest size of 8 11 (a concert grand piano), weighing over 1400 lbs the piano has 7,500 working parts. Despite being 319 years old, it is a relatively new instrument compared to other instruments such as the flute, which has existed for thousands of years. The concert will honor artists who have achieved great skill through observation, study and practice Chopin, Beethoven and Liszt. These concepts are also reflected in the precept Be Competent, from the book, The Way to Happiness. The Way to Happiness written by philosopher L. Ron Hubbard covers this precept wherein he wrote, The ingredients of competence include observation, study and practice. Mr. Kazmierzack will illuminate each piece with historical details bringing each piece to life. After the performance, Mr. Kazmierzack will also provide a 30-min question and answer period providing further understanding of the piano and its history. Mr. Kazmierzack is originally from Poland, a proud father of four, a computer programmer, Master of Civil Engineering and has ten years of classical piano training. He studied under Tibor Yusti Von Arth from Austria, a well-known musician and teacher. Mr. Kazmierzack stopped performing at the age of 21 due to extreme stage fright at a piano competition. He credits his ability to now perform in front of audiences with the spiritual counselling he received in Scientology and has since given two special performances for charitable causes. His debut performance at the Scientology Information Center on Saturday, June 17th honoring Fathers Day. The piano is a very magical instrument. Its music creates such a wide range of emotions and feelings. I look forward to sharing this music and its history with everyone, said Andreas. To attend this concert or to learn more about the Scientology Information Center, please contact Amber at 727-467-6966 or amber@cos.flag.org. The Scientology Information Center: The Scientology Information Center, located in the Historic Clearwater Building in downtown Clearwater, opened on July 11, 2015, and currently houses a gallery of audiovisual displays with some 400 videos. The Center is open to all provides a self-guided tour showing basic Scientology beliefs, Churches around the world, ongoing social programs and the life of L. Ron Hubbard, Scientologys founder. The Center offers tours to the broad public and civic leaders; holds concerts, theatrical performances and receptions for the community; and opens up the use of its conference room to social, civic and non-profit groups. For more information please visit www.scientology-fso.org. Throughout the years those in northwest Houston area have seen changes such as new and updated parks and green spaces. Community members will have an opportunity to receive updates of the Cypress Creek area at the "Town Hall: State of the Cypress Creek Community" session on Sept. 7. "It is our expectation that those attending, and those reading about it later on, will understand the progress that has been made, both visible evidence and invisible evidence, regarding community improvement," said Barbara Thomason, president of the Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce. The three key priorities that will be discussed are safety and security, economic development, community image and branding. The town hall includes Champions, Willowbrook, Spring, Klein, northwest Houston and the surrounding areas. Houston Northwest Houston Chamber of Commerce which is a nonprofit corporation, will be hosting the meeting at Northwoods Presbyterian Church in the sanctuary. The event is free of charge. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged "We will also have some mention of those projects outside of Grow Northwest, but falling into the category of community improvement such as the Green Sides project and the Cypress Creek Greenway project," Thomason said. "The second objective is to provide an opportunity for the attendees to respond to a series of questions regarding their priorities going forward for our community and this will be accomplished using texting technology from their smartphones." Utility district boards, HOA boards, civic associations, business representatives and citizens are invited to participate. "Given our area's important relationships with utility districts, we hope they will take this opportunity to hear what is happening on a more regional basis and learn how their district can benefit," Bobby Lieb said, director of community and economic development for the chamber and Grow Northwest Initiatives. To kick-off the event, from 5:30-6 p.m., a meet and greet will be hosted in the foyer with community leaders. Citizens will have the opportunity to meet leaders such as state Rep. Kevin Roberts, state Rep. Valoree Swanson, Pct. 4 Commissioner R. Jack Cagle, Constable Mark Herman, Bret Champion of Klein ISD and Rodney Watson of Spring ISD. Also in attendance, along with chamber board members, will be Tim Puthoff, CEO of Houston Northwest Medical Center and Keith Barber CEO of Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital and senior vice president of the Methodist System. Starting at 6 p.m. the community forum is scheduled to begin with an overview of the Grow Northwest Initiative and updates from community leaders. The mission of the Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce is developing successful businesses and a thriving community. Thomason and other chamber members encourage the community to attend the town hall meeting. She believes it is important to address and serve the interaction between the condition of the business community and the residential areas of the community. "The economic health of both rely on the other and have a direct impact on our property values, both commercial and residential. Secondly, our chamber is unique among chambers in that we serve an unincorporated area that depends on its chamber for many services provided by municipalities in other regions," Thomason said. "They look to us for having a positive impact on the community image, our branding, our education systems, our health systems, the use and disuse of property, our public policy positions and the list goes on. So, we look at our total community has having an interest and an influence on the economic health of our area and we want to be responsive to this call to serve." The Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce was founded in 1974 to serve the greater northwest area of Harris County. To date, according to the chamber, the organization has grown to more than 700 members serving an area of approximately 500,000 residents. Want to know more? www.HoustonNWChamber.org Northwoods Presbyterian Church 3320 Cypress Creek Pkwy. Houston, TX 77068 With less than a week before a total solar eclipse traces its shadow across the nation, scientists, amateur astronomers and wayfaring mystics are feverishly watching the forecast, hoping the rare celestial event isnt a bust. But on the West Coast, where the eclipse will come into view Monday morning, forecasters are starting to see some bad omens. Early computer models suggest cloudy skies are likely along the coast, from the path of totality, where the moon will pass entirely in front of the sun, in Oregon to the Bay Area, where the moon will cover about 75 percent of the sun. We will have some clouds around, said Matthew Cullen, a meteorologist with National Weather Services Portland, Ore., office. In the Pacific Northwest, we see morning clouds that burn off, but just how many clouds, where they will be, and how long they stick around those are the big questions we have. Even if there are clouds, the eclipse will still produce an eerie daytime darkness that will be less noticeable farther from the path of total coverage. The total eclipses path will run across the contiguous United States from Oregon to South Carolina, with points to the north and south experiencing various levels of partial eclipse. The event marks the first coast-to-coast total solar eclipse since 1918 and the first to touch any part of the lower 48 states since 1979. With Oregon offering the West Coasts best viewing, up to 1 million people many from California are expected to converge there by the roughly 10:15 a.m. start time. Eclipse tourism has already been a boon to the states economy, and hotels up and down the coast are at or near capacity. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Some of Oregons eclipse chasers arent taking any chances on the possibility of clouds and are heading inland to towns like Madras, Mitchell or Prairie City, where clear skies are forecast. The best spots in the Bay Area, should there be cloud cover, will likely be the inland East Bay valleys or on peaks like Mount Tamalpais, Mount Hamilton or Mount Diablo. A last-minute scramble for higher ground in California could cause serious traffic problems around the peaks and on roads heading east. The highway patrol is urging drivers to be patient. Transportation officials in Oregon are already planning for major traffic problems. If the clouds dont burn off and everyone on the Oregon coast suddenly breaks for high ground, the congestion would only worsen. People are watching the weather keenly right now, said Lorna Davis, director of the chamber of commerce in Newport, Ore. It can change day to day or even hour to hour. Thats the nature of the coast weather. The good news is there are no major storms forecast for Monday. A cloudy coast in August is typical weather for Oregon just like San Franciscos famous Fogust. Whats more, clouds are no certainty. Forecasting storms is challenging enough one week out. Predicting what clouds will look like seven days in advance is even tougher. The forecast will likely change as the models come into agreement, Cullen said. In the meantime, what we know now is we are not seeing any signs of heavy rain. If Mondays eclipse gets clouded out, the next total solar eclipse in the U.S. will be in 2024. Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky As the school year approaches, so do the influx of sniffles and sneezes that pick up as kids return to the classroom. Along with readying school supplies and summer reading, sometimes a little health preparation goes alongside the back to school routine. Dr. Mitchell R. Lester, an allergist who previously practiced general pediatrics, talked back-to-school allergy preparation and childrens health. An undergraduate and medical school alumnus of Brown University, the Westport resident practices in Norwalk, Greenwich and Stamford at Fairfield County Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Associates, PC. Before specializing in allergy and immunology, Lester spent five years practicing general pediatrics. Around the start of school, kids with allergies can expect more indoor allergen exposure and a different allergenic burden, like outdoor mold levels spiking in the early fall, Lester says. If your child has allergies or asthma, his counsel is to be prepared and make sure things are in great shape before school starts. But for students without significant health concerns, his best advice is to treat them normally go to school and have fun. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Q: What is some of the advice you give to parents around back to school time? A: I think it depends on what the childs medical problems are. For kids with allergic airway disease which is nasal allergies and asthma, for most people its the same disease its just different ends of the same airway a lot of people have fall-worsening or year-round symptoms, may be worsening in the winter. A lot of people worsen at the start of the school year, and people accommodate to their symptoms. They say Im good enough. But sometimes they dont realize how good they can be until you get them doing better. I think its very important to go into your worst time of the year being as good as you can be because if you go in in worse control, youll do worse. Going in in good shape is always the way to start. Q: When it comes to general germs and disease, what are some of the best ways to prepare kids for the fall? A: Just like your mother taught you, wash your hands. Cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze. But no matter where one goes to school in the country, about a month after school starts theres a spike in viral loads. So if youre out west and school starts in early August, it happens in early September; around here its late September/early October. Thats just because people are in close spaces, and your 3-year-old is sneezing in his brothers face. But just basically tenets of hygiene that you shouldve learned by the time you got to kindergarten. But then what happens is if you have allergies or asthma same disease that are not well controlled in particular when you get a viral infection it will go farther and do more to you than if your allergic airway disease is in good control. Its another reason to keep it in good control. I actually frequently see kids no matter what theyre doing over the summer we plan something for the start of the school year. I say I want to see them about a month after school starts. Q: In addition to hygiene, are there any other things youd recommend for parents health-wise to prepare their kids for back to school? A: Youve got to be prepared. For kids who have food allergies sometimes theyre going off to kindergarten for the first time and public schools are not the same degree of protections as nursery schools many of which are say peanut- and nut-free. Schools are pretty aware of this type of thing these days. I think parents as theyre doing it though they need to for food allergies they need to as it becomes developmentally appropriate, they need to prepare the kids to be able to take care of themselves. Mommy cant be there all the time. Q: Pennsylvania recently toughened its vaccine requirements for schools, eliminating a lengthy grace period and requiring additional vaccines. But like Connecticut, exemptions can still be applied for under certain conditions. Connecticut allows medical or religious reasoning. A: I personally think if you choose to not immunize your child, you are being selfish. These are public health issues can be public health crises. These are people that have never seen somebody with whooping cough. When I was practicing pediatrics and told my mother that some people dont immunize their children she couldnt believe it because she grew up in the era where she knew people who ended up in iron lungs from polio. Immunizations are incredibly safe. Theres an incredibly rare reason not to give them, and yet people read things on the internet and on social media and not everything you read on the internet is true. Quite a few years ago there was an article published in The Lancet talking about MMR vaccines and autism. It was made up and in fact the article was retracted, but the panic never died. I know of pediatricians that if you dont vaccinate your child, they will discharge you from practice. Lets face it, if youre going to immunize your child but theyre three month old and havent had all their immunizations yet, do you want someone who didnt immunize his child bringing a 5-year-old with whooping cough in sitting next to you in the waiting room? These are public health issues. LWeiss@hearstmediact.com; @LauraEWeiss16 ANNAPOLIS - Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) announced Tuesday that he wants to remove from the State House grounds the statue of Roger B. Taney, a U.S. Supreme Court justice and slavery defender who penned in the infamous 1857 Dred Scott decision that black people cannot be U.S. citizens. "While we cannot hide from our history - nor should we - the time has come to make clear the difference between properly acknowledging our past and glorifying the darkest chapters of our history," Hogan said in a statement. "I believe removing the Justice Roger B. Taney statue from the State House grounds is the right thing to do." The decision, which comes after the deadly white nationalist rally in Charlottesville over the weekend, is a reversal for Hogan. Last year, the governor said he had "no interest" in removing Taney's statue and described calls for the removal of statues and other Confederate monuments as "political correctness run amok." Hogan said Tuesday that he will ask the State House Trust to take immediate action to remove the statue. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged The governor chairs the four-member State House Trust board, which controls the grounds of the capital complex. House Speaker Michael E. Busch, D-Anne Arundel; Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr., D-Calvert; and Maryland Historical Trust Chair Charles L. Edson make up the rest of the board. On Monday, Busch said in a Facebook post that "the time has come for Taney to come down." Miller and Edson have indicated that if Hogan wants to remove the statue, they will agree. Communities across the region and country are debating whether to remove from other public spaces the names and statues of historical figures who represent a legacy of slavery and racism. On Monday, Baltimore City Mayor Catherine E. Pugh announced plans to remove four Confederate statues in that city. And, in the District on Tuesday, D.C. Council member David Grosso, I-At Large, sent a letter to the National Park Service asking that it "do everything in its power to permanently remove the Albert Pike Statue," which is located in Judiciary Square. Pike, a lawyer and poet, was a brigadier general in the Civil War. Amelia Chasse, a spokeswoman for Hogan, said the governor was "disgusted" by what happened in Charlottesville "and he rightly concluded that these memorials have become a rallying point for white supremacists and bigots and he believes that their presence on prominent public land was sending a confusing and ultimately inappropriate message." Several state lawmakers, including Busch, and Ben Jealous, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate, on Monday pressed Hogan to remove the controversial statue. Jealous, a former NAACP president, said Hogan took action only to improve his standing for the 2018 election. "The only difference between now and then is Governor Hogan is running for re-election," he said. "Real leadership doesn't tie our values to the political calendar. As Governor, Larry Hogan has a responsibility to show our children that doing what's right should always matter more than political convenience." There have been several unsuccessful efforts in the state legislature to remove the Taney statue. Former Del. Aisha Braveboy said last year the J. Franklin Bourne Bar Association, an association of black lawyers from Prince George's and Montgomery counties, lobbied last year for a bill, but no action was taken. "It's a great feeling to know that our leaders are recognizing that having a symbol of white supremacy at a place of honor, on our State House grounds, is unacceptable," Braveboy said. "Taney has no place at our State House." Hogan, who called Maryland a "state of middle temperament," received some backlash on social media. Debby Mullins wrote on Hogan's Facebook that she appreciated his "fortitude and good sense" when he opposed the removal of the monuments last year. With Tuesday's decision, she said: "You have lost my vote." Chasse said the State House Trust board could vote on the removal of Taney's statue in coming days or weeks. In the District, Grasso's letter to the National Park Service, which was also signed by D.C. Attorney General Karl A. Racine (D); Council members Kenyan R. McDuffie, D-Ward 5; Anita Bonds, D-At Large; Charles Allen, D-Ward 6; Brianne K. Nadeau, D-Ward 1; Elissa Silverman, I-At Large; and Robert C. White Jr., D-At Large, is seen as the first step toward removing Pike's statue. Grasso plans to introduce a resolution when the D.C. Council reconvenes next month. "It's not that we shouldn't remember or study history, but we don't need a whole statue to someone who doesn't represent the values of the District," Grosso said. --- Rachel Chason contributed to this report. Dublin, Aug. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Security Applications and Wireless M2M - 8th Edition" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering. According to a new research report, the number of monitored alarm systems in Europe is forecasted to grow from 8.7 million in 2016 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.0 percent to reach 10.6 million in 2021. In North America, the number of monitored alarm systems is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 2.9 percent from 32.1 million at the end of 2016 to 37.1 million at the end of 2021. Small alarm systems for businesses and private homes can be divided into two main categories - local alarms and monitored alarms. The simplest type of local alarm only reacts to activation by ringing bells to alert the surroundings and scare off intruders. A more advanced type of local alarm is a self-monitoring alarm. Monitored alarms are connected to an Alarm Receiving Centre (ARC) that can respond to an activated alarm by contacting the police or dispatching a security patrol. ADT is the leading provider of monitored alarm systems in North America. In 2016, ADT merged with Protection 1, which makes the combined company the clear market leader. Vivint and MONI Smart Security are other players with well over a million monitored alarms. Comcast and Slomin's are two other major actors on the very fragmented North American market. Verisure is the leading player on the European market, with monitored alarms in a dozen countries. Securitas, G4S and the rising star Sector Alarm are all sizeable players, especially in the northern part of Europe. In the southern part of Europe, Prosegur and EPS are two dominant players. United Technologies Corporation with its Climate, Controls & Security business as well as Stanley Security and Johnson Controls (acquired Tyco in 2016) are also important players active in both Europe and North America. There is still a significant growth potential for monitored small alarm systems, especially in Europe where the total penetration reached only 3.7 percent of all businesses and households at the end of 2016. The penetration of monitored alarm systems in North America is much higher than in Europe and the corresponding figure was in this region 22.0 percent at the end of 2016. The most important factor for market growth today is active marketing and sales led by specialist alarm service companies and new market entrants from the home automation industry. Alarm systems are becoming more valuable for customers as the scope of offerings are being expanded to include detection of fire, carbon monoxide and water leaks, as well as home automation features such as smart plugs, locks, cameras, lighting and thermostat control, concluded Mr Frick. This report answers the following questions: Which are the key applications that generate most benefits for the end customers? Who are the leading providers of monitored small business and home alarm systems? Why are leading alarm system providers investing in smart home technology? When will wireless connectivity become a standard feature in alarm systems? Who are the leading providers of aftermarket vehicle tracking solutions? Which carmakers offer stolen vehicle tracking services as part of telematics services? What is the potential market size for wireless M2M communication in the security industry? Key Topics Covered: Executive summary 1 Overview of the security industry 1.1 Market overview 1.1.1 Security services 1.1.2 Security systems 1.1.3 Small alarm systems 1.1.4 Cash handling 1.2 Key industry players 1.2.1 G4S 1.2.2 Securitas 1.2.3 Tyco (Johnson Controls) 1.2.4 Prosegur 1.2.5 Brink's 1.2.6 ADT 1.2.7 United Technologies Corporation 1.2.8 Stanley Black & Decker 1.2.9 Allied Universal Security Services 1.2.10 Loomis 1.2.11 GardaWorld Security 1.2.12 Verisure 2 Small business and home alarm systems 2.1 Alarm systems and smart homes 2.1.1 Small alarm system technology overview 2.1.2 European standards for intruder alarm systems 2.1.3 Secure alarm communication services 2.1.4 Alarm system value chain 2.1.5 Smart homes and home automation systems 2.2 Market value and alarm system penetration 2.2.1 The European market 2.2.2 The North American market 2.3 Company profiles 2.3.1 ADT 2.3.2 AddSecure 2.3.3 Alarm.com 2.3.4 AT&T 2.3.5 BT Redcare 2.3.6 Comcast (Xfinity) 2.3.7 CSL DualCom 2.3.8 EPS Tlsurveillance 2.3.9 G4S 2.3.10 Guardian Protection Services 2.3.11 MONI Smart Security 2.3.12 Numerex (Uplink) 2.3.13 Prosegur 2.3.14 Protection 1 2.3.15 Sector Alarm 2.3.16 Securitas 2.3.17 Slomin's 2.3.18 Stanley Security Solutions 2.3.19 Telular (Telguard) 2.3.20 Tyco (Johnson Controls) 2.3.21 UTC Climate, Controls & Security 2.3.22 Verisure 2.3.23 Vivint 3 Commercial vehicle and asset tracking 3.1 The European and North American commercial vehicle markets 3.2 Fleet management solutions 3.2.1 Vehicle management 3.2.2 Security tracking 3.2.3 Driver management 3.2.4 Transport management 3.2.5 Mobile workforce management and lone worker security 3.3 Trailer and cargo container tracking 3.3.1 Intermodal shipping containers 3.3.2 Trailers, semi-trailers and swap bodies 3.3.3 Overview of transportation industry actors 3.3.4 Container and trailer tracking solutions 3.3.5 Business models 3.3.6 Trailer and cargo container tracking solution providers 3.4 Key fleet management and asset tracking providers 3.4.1 Teletrac Navman 3.4.2 Ctrack (Novatel Wireless) 3.4.3 Fleetmatics 3.4.4 FreightWatch International 3.4.5 I.D. Systems 3.4.6 Idem Telematics 3.4.7 Locus Traxx (Emerson) 3.4.8 Masternaut 3.4.9 Microlise 3.4.10 Novacom 3.4.11 Omnitracs 3.4.12 Orbcomm 3.4.13 Savi Technology 3.4.14 SkyBitz 3.4.15 Telogis 3.4.16 TomTom Telematics 3.4.17 Trimble 4 Car and consumer asset tracking 4.1 The European and North American passenger car markets 4.2 Passenger car telematics 4.2.1 eCall and roadside assistance 4.2.2 Stolen vehicle tracking 4.2.3 Motor insurance telematics 4.3 Insurance industry standards for vehicle tracking 4.3.1 Belgium 4.3.2 The Netherlands 4.3.3 Norway 4.3.4 United Kingdom 4.4 Aftermarket vehicle tracking solutions 4.4.1 Octo Telematics: European leader in motor insurance telematics 4.4.2 Vodafone Automotive: Pan-European SVR provider 4.4.3 LoJack distributors in Europe: TRACKER, Traqueur and Detector 4.4.4 Viasat: Offers SVR through its wholly owned Security Operations Centres 4.4.5 LoJack: Leading vehicle recovery provider in the US acquired by CalAmp 4.4.6 Guidepoint Systems: Branded and OEM cellular/GPS SVT systems 4.4.7 Spireon: Leading vendor of tracking systems for vehicle financing 4.5 OEM car telematics services 4.5.1 Car OEM telematics services in North America 4.5.2 Car OEM telematics services in Europe 4.5.3 BMW ConnectedDrive 4.5.4 Fiat Chrysler Automobiles UConnect 4.5.5 GM OnStar 4.5.6 Mercedes-Benz Mbrace and Connect Me 4.5.7 PSA Group telematics services 4.5.8 Volvo On Call 4.6 Motorcycles and mopeds in Europe and North America 4.6.1 Motorcycle theft in Europe and North America 4.6.2 Motorcycle tracking solutions 4.7 The leisure vehicle and boat markets 4.7.1 Overview of the caravan and motor caravan markets 4.7.2 Overview of the European and North American leisure boat markets 4.7.3 Leisure vehicle and boat theft in Europe and North America 4.7.4 Tracking solutions for leisure vehicles and boats 5 Market forecasts and trends 5.1 Market trends and drivers 5.1.1 Alarm services have become a core feature in home automation systems 5.1.2 The fleet management industry shows healthy growth in both regions 5.1.3 Rapid progress in the asset tracking and cargo container tracking segment 5.1.4 Telematics is becoming a standard feature on most new passenger cars 5.1.5 Lack of awareness and cost remain barriers for consumer asset tracking 5.2 Europe 5.2.1 Alarm systems 5.2.2 Fleet management and commercial vehicle & asset tracking 5.2.3 Car telematics and SVT 5.2.4 Consumer asset tracking applications 5.3 North America 5.3.1 Alarm systems 5.3.2 Fleet management and commercial vehicle & asset tracking 5.3.3 Car telematics and SVT 5.3.4 Consumer asset tracking applications For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/488d7v/security The Trump administration began talks Wednesday to reform the 23-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, a negotiation that could boost U.S. business and fulfill one of the president's primary campaign promises - or end up jeopardizing the North American economy. At stake is the legitimacy of President Donald Trump, who criticized NAFTA as "the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere" and campaigned on a pledge to renegotiate it. But also on the line are trillions of dollars of trade that flow through the North American economy. As talks have approached, American farmers, ranchers, retailers and other industries have warned the administration against disrupting the pact, fearful of losing the trading advantages that NAFTA gives them. On Wednesday, U.S. trade negotiators confronted the challenge of translating Trump's campaign trail pledges into technical policy as they met Canadian and Mexican representatives for the first of several rounds of negotiation scheduled to take place before the end of the year. In an opening statement, Robert Lighthizer, the Trump administration's chief trade negotiator, said the United States would seek to preserve the pact's advantages for American farmers and ranchers, but he emphasized that Trump would not be content with minor updates. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged "I want to be clear that he is not interested in a mere tweaking of a few provisions and a couple of updated chapters," Lighthizer said. "We feel that NAFTA has fundamentally failed many, many Americans and needs major improvement." Among the U.S. goals he listed were reducing substantial trade deficits, manufacturing more goods in North America and improving standards for workers. Trade experts described Lighthizer as an experienced negotiator, having served as a deputy trade negotiator in the Reagan administration. But they suggested that the United States may face more challenges in the NAFTA talks than the president's statements have implied. "There's considerable political risk in reopening these negotiations," said Cecile Shea, a senior fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and a former diplomat. "I'm not sure that the White House, which is not filled with a lot of people with international negotiating experience, is focused on that fact that Canada and Mexico will have demands." Like other agencies in the Trump administration, the U.S. Trade Representative, the body that negotiates trade agreements, still has numerous high-level vacancies. The USTR website shows that five important positions directly under Lighthizer have yet to be filled - including deputy U.S. trade representative posts and the chief negotiators for agriculture and intellectual property, key areas for the NAFTA negotiations. Trade analysts noted that the administration has few negotiators with previous NAFTA experience. Trump has been so opposed to NAFTA that having taken part in the initial NAFTA negotiations in the 1990s is often viewed as a political liability for potential appointments, they said. The administration may also be coming to the negotiating table with an informational disadvantage, analysts said. The United States is renegotiating NAFTA under a legal provision known as Trade Promotion Authority, which allows U.S. negotiators to submit the agreement's final text to Congress for a simple up or down vote, rather than voting on every provision of the deal. That law also requires U.S. negotiators to clearly lay out their goals for the public, as the administration did in a document released July 17. That process means that Congress has been able to review and give guidance on the administration's goals for NAFTA. But trade experts say it also creates a negotiating dynamic in which Mexico and Canada, which don't have such provisions, are entering the talks with more knowledge about what the United States needs to achieve politically than U.S. negotiators have about them. In remarks Monday, Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland appeared to take a tough stance as she briefly outlined Canada's main goals - including adding new provisions to protect the environment and the rights of workers, women and indigenous people, as well as preserving a mechanism for settling disputes that some U.S. industries have opposed. Freeland mentioned an incident in U.S.-Canada trade negotiations in 1987 when a Canadian administrator walked out on the Reagan administration over a disagreement on the dispute settlement process. "Our government will be equally resolute," Freeland said. Negotiators will also face a particularly ambitious timeline. U.S. and Mexican officials have said they would like to conclude talks before the end of the year, well before Mexico's next presidential election on July 1, 2018 - when NAFTA could become a contentious political issue. Chip Roh, the former deputy U.S. chief negotiator of NAFTA, said the timeline will be hard to follow, given the size of the trade agreement. "It's hard for me to see how you have a resolution that everyone can call a win-win in that time frame," he said. The United States' position as the largest economy in North America will give U.S. negotiators an advantage as they seek to reform the pact - a factor Trump has often mentioned in his vow to renegotiate NAFTA. Yet Canada and Mexico have been hedging that advantage by actively seeking out other free-trade agreements that would give them alternatives to the U.S. market, said Shea. Mexico is negotiating a deal with the European Union, and Canada is exploring talks with China. Meanwhile, both Canada and Mexico are pushing forward with the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a pact with a dozen countries that Trump officially withdrew the United States from on Jan. 23. Mexico in particular has emphasized that it is exploring alternatives to the massive supply of grain and other agricultural goods that U.S. farmers send south of the border. "We've said that Brazil and Argentina are two of the big markets that we're looking at, especially for grains and other basic supplies that come from the United States," Moises Kalach, the international negotiations coordinator of the Mexican private sector, said Wednesday. "We need to be open to make sure we have Plan B, Plan C, Plan D." Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Wednesday that the Charlottesville, Virginia, car attack could be prosecuted as a hate crime, saying that federal authorities "intensely" probing the case could ultimately decide to prosecute the driver in a number of different ways. Sessions cautioned that no federal charges were imminent as officials are still conducting an investigation into the deadly attack that killed one woman Saturday and injured 19 others. "It doesn't have to be done immediately," he told NBC News in an interview. "We will be working with the state to see how they will proceed with their charges. We could bring charges whenever the investigation justifies them. But I don't think we should just feel like we've got to do it in a matter of hours or days." Local authorities have charged James Alex Fields Jr., 20, with second-degree murder, hit and run and three counts of malicious wounding. He is being held in a Charlottesville jail about two miles from the site where police say he crashed his car into a group protesting white supremacists and neo-Nazis who had gathered in Charlottesville. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Sessions's comments characterizing the attack as a potential hate crime, during which he again stressed how seriously the Justice Department takes what happened, came as President Donald Trump has drawn intense criticism for his reaction to the Charlottesville violence. During a remarkable news conference Tuesday in New York, Trump - who had at first declined to condemn hate groups by name, then did so after blowback - defiantly reiterated his belief that "both sides" were to blame for the bloodshed. He also defended some of the marchers who descended on Charlottesville. A day after Sessions said the Charlottesville car attack meets the federal definition of domestic terrorism, Trump on Tuesday pilloried the suspected driver but declined to call the attack terrorism when asked by a reporter. "I think the driver of the car is a disgrace to himself, his family and this country," Trump said. "You can call it terrorism. You can call it murder. You can call it whatever you want. I would just call it as the fastest one to come up with a good verdict. There is a question. Is it murder? Is it terrorism? Then you get into legal semantics. The driver of the car is a murderer. What he did was a horrible, horrible, inexcusable thing." Sessions's comments labeling the Charlottesville incident terrorism echoed the way a number of lawmakers and citizens have characterized the car attack, but they did not immediately suggest what kind of federal prosecution could follow. There is no specific federal criminal charge for domestic terrorism, so authorities seeking to prosecute Fields in federal court would need to charge him with another crime. Experts have said that the attack might straddle the line between terrorism and a hate crime and could ultimately be viewed as both. Former federal prosecutors said that a possible hate crime prosecution would depend on whether Fields was specifically targeting someone in a group covered by the hate-crime statute. "If you're a racist and you kill someone, that doesn't mean it's a hate crime," said Timothy Heaphy, a former U.S. attorney in the Western District of Virginia, which encompasses Charlottesville. "There has to be an explicit connection between the two for it to be a civil rights offense." Heaphy, who lives in Charlottesville, said that federal and local authorities will coordinate as they pore through Fields' history and social media accounts and speak with people that know him in an effort to uncover whether there was anything directly linking the car attack to a hateful ideology. "The question is, is there a connection between the odious views that this person evidently has and his action at that time?" Heaphy said. Federal officials, who launched a civil rights investigation Saturday, have approached the incident as both an act of terror and a civil rights case. The Justice Department said it dispatched FBI counterterrorism agents and counterterrorism prosecutors Saturday. On Wednesday, the FBI announced that it had established a tip line as well as a website to handle an influx of information from people trying to help authorities with the investigation into what happened in Charlottesville. The bureau said that "many citizens have proactively contacted law enforcement to provide information and video captured of possible criminal activities and persons" over the weekend. Sessions said Wednesday that federal authorities could ultimately opt to prosecute a civil rights violation, a hate crime or unspecified "other charges" in the case. "We are working it intensely on the assumption that we may well want to prosecute it under one of those theories or whatever theory that we would find," he told NBC. "We're also working with the state and local authorities who clearly have jurisdiction too, and often they're the ones that have the best charge." In some other cases, federal authorities followed local charges with their own. This happened in two high-profile situations in South Carolina recently. After the Charleston church massacre in 2015, local authorities charged the attacker, Dylann Roof, with murder. The Justice Department later indicted him on federal hate crime charges. Similarly, after Michael Slager - a former North Charleston police officer - was charged locally with murder for shooting a man fleeing a traffic stop, a federal civil rights charge was filed against him. In both cases, the federal charges proved key. Roof was found guilty in his federal trial and sentenced to death, so he pleaded guilty to the state charges to avoid a second death-penalty trial. A mistrial was declared in Slager's local trial on the murder charge. Though local prosecutors had pledged to try him again, the local and federal cases were both resolved in May when the former officer pleaded guilty to the federal civil rights charge. Sessions said that whatever authorities decide to do in Charlottesville, "you can be sure it'll be fully investigated and thoroughly prosecuted." NEW CANAAN Last August, New Canaan residents submitted 137 ticks to be tested for Lyme disease by the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven. The month is not even out and already residents have surpassed last years number, with a higher percentage testing positive for for the bacteria that transmits Lyme disease, too. So far this August, theyve submitted 191 ticks, 29 of which tested positive. Last year, only 14 of the submitted ticks tested positive for Lyme. The increased number of ticks was not unexpected after the mild winter Connecticut saw. Even before warm temperatures crept in during April of this year, state officials reported seeing higher tick numbers and Lyme disease infections statewide. On April 17, the state lab said theyd already received over 450 ticks to be tested for Lyme disease and almost 38 percent had tested positive for the illness. We have certainly seen the increase in tick submissions this year and we would like to remind all New Canaan residents to be diligent and to perform tick checks upon coming in from the outdoors and if they find a tick on themselves (or their children) they can bring it to our department and we will send it to the state lab for them, said Jen Eielson, New Canaans director of environmental health. There is no fee and it is a simple, short form to be completed. Also, residents should check their pets for ticks since ticks are hitchhikers and will come in the house on pets. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged According to Gourdaz Molaei, a research scientist for the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station and director of the Connecticut state tick-testing program, tick numbers will double by the end of 2017. He also said the infection rate has gone up dramatically. This sample size is rather low, he said. But this is quite consistent with results were getting from other regions in our state. The infection rate in our state is at about 38 percent as compared to the average of the last several years of about 28 percent. More Information Ticks for testing can be dropped off at the New Canaan Health Department in the lower level of New Canaan Town Hall, 77 Main St. The ticks will be mailed to the state lab free of charge and results are emailed around three weeks later, depending on the number of ticks sent in. See More Collapse Molaei said the increase in tick infection rates can be linked back to a surge in the population of white-footed mice, the primary carriers of the Lyme bacteria Borrelia burgdorferi. The mice population has grown thanks to warmer winters, which are a result of climate change. Climate change is impacting not only ticks, Molaei said. It impacts our behavior in regards to how we expose ourselves to tick bites. EKayata@hearstmediact.com Only a day after Donald Trump labeled the growing number of CEOs quitting his business council "grandstanders" who, in some cases, were hurting ordinary Americans, the president tweeted that he would abolish the advisory groups rather than put pressure on executives to stay. "Thank you all!" Trump tweeted Wednesday afternoon. His announcement came within an hour of reports that one of the groups -- a forum of top finance and business executives -- was planning to disband. It appeared to be an effort by Trump to get ahead of the business leaders who were abandoning him following his remarks the day before at a New York City press conference. It's a stunning rebuke for the first CEO president, who pitched himself as a savvy businessman who would slash taxes and regulations to unleash growth by U.S. companies. Markets largely ignored the move, however, and the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up less than 1 percent as of 3:24 p.m. At a press conference Tuesday, Trump said he would replace those who quit his council of manufacturing executives. He bid good riddance to one CEO -- Merck & Co.'s Kenneth Frazier -- who was first to resign. He then went on to talk about race relations and the violence in Virginia, placing partial blame on demonstrators protesting a gathering of white supremacists in Charlottesville. A woman was killed during the event after a man rammed a car into a crowd. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged The evening after Trump's comments, members of the strategy and policy forum -- led by Blackstone Group's Stephen Schwarzman -- began to waver. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink called some of his firm's clients and said he planned to resign from the forum, according to a person familiar with the matter. The next morning, he told Schwarzman he was out. On a conference call late Wednesday morning with members of the strategy forum, the group was polled to ask who would stay. Of the dozen executives on the call, 10 voted to leave, according to another person familiar with the event. The group planned to tell the White House about their decision before making it public, according to a third person. In a memo sent to BlackRock employees and provided to Bloomberg Wednesday, Fink said that the violence, racism and antisemitism in Virginia had to be criticized without caveats. "While I have disagreed with the president in certain instances this year, I continued to participate in the forum because I believed it was important to have a voice at the table for investors, including our clients," Fink wrote. "Unfortunately, after the last few days, I concluded that I could no longer in good conscience participate in the forum." "The events that occurred in Charlottesville, as I said on Monday, are nothing short of domestic terrorism. Such racism and bigotry must not just be condemned, but must be condemned unequivocally," he said. The strategy group is one of several the White House convened earlier this year to advise the president, though it and the manufacturing panel haven't met recently. Jamie Dimon, the JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO, was also a member of the strategy council and said he supported the breakup. "It is a leader's role, in business or government, to bring people together, not tear them apart," he said in a memo to employees provided to Bloomberg. The strategy and policy forum said the controversy over Trump's remarks about the Virginia violence led to the decision. "The debate over forum participation has become a distraction from our well-intentioned and sincere desire to aid vital policy discussions on how to improve the lives of everyday Americans." Several CEOs from a manufacturing council quit before Wednesday, including the CEOs of Under Armour Inc. and Intel Corp. Before Trump's announcement, Inge Thulin, CEO of 3M left, as did Campbell Soup CEO Denise Morrison. "Following yesterday's remarks from the president, I cannot remain on the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative," Morrison said in a statement. "I will continue to support all efforts to spur economic growth and advocate for the values that have always made America great." The dispute over the panels began Monday, when Merck CEO Frazier took a public stand against Trump, saying that quitting the manufacturing council was "matter of personal conscience" and said that U.S. leaders had to reject "hatred, bigotry and group supremacy." In the past several days, other executives have echoed those sentiments. General Electric's Jeffrey Immelt, one of the biggest names in American manufacturing, said soon after Trump's tweet that he too planned to step down from the now-disbanded group, reversing a decision from two days prior. Immelt, who notified council members earlier in the day, said Trump's comments at the Tuesday press conference "were deeply troubling." The disbanding of the councils doesn't mean corporate America will fully turn its back on Trump, said Dan Eaton, a business ethics lecturer at San Diego State University. Businesses are still hoping that the administration can move ahead with corporate tax reform and infrastructure spending. "It was personal, not necessarily policy related," Eaton said of CEOs. "They are going to continue support the agenda of the president and congressional leaders when it serves corporate America's purpose." --With assistance from Justin Sink Melissa Mittelman Hugh Son Sabrina Willmer Matt Townsend and Richard Clough Two women injured during the chaos surrounding a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last week have filed a $3 million lawsuit against individuals they say were the organizers and naming more than two dozen right-wing and neo-Nazi groups in a suit accusing them of inciting violence Saturday. Sisters Tadrint and Micah Washington were headed home in their car Aug. 12 when they turned down an open Charlottesville side street where counterprotesters were marching. Within minutes, a Dodge Challenger slammed into the crowd and rammed into the rear of their car, causing a chain-reaction crash that killed one and injured 19 others. Charlottesville police have charged 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr. of Maumee, Ohio, with second-degree murder after Heather Heyer was killed in the collision. The Washington sisters were not participating in the protests and had been visiting a friend when they got caught in a maze of detours. Lawyers for the Washingtons - Tadrint, 27, who recently finished EMT training, and Micah, 20, who works in the hospitality industry - say at the point their car was hit, they had nowhere to move as bodies flipped over them and onto their vehicle's windshield. Their car was splattered with blood, and emergency personnel tried to revive Heyer, a 32-year-old counterprotester from Charlottesville, a few inches away. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged In their suit, the women assert Fields deliberately accelerated into the group of people on the street "in an attempt to kill and maim as many individuals as possible." Attorneys for the Washingtons argue Fields' actions were part of a well-orchestrated conspiracy by "Unite the Right" attendees and promoters to "inspire mayhem, homicide and violence," said Timothy Litzenburg of the Miller Firm. "It's exactly like 1930s Germany," he said. "We want the people who incited this catastrophe to sit in a courtroom and face a jury of normal Charlottesville citizens. That jury can decide what it is that they owe to the citizens of this city." The Washington sisters were stopped behind a van and waiting patiently, they said in an interview Tuesday, when they felt the sudden force of the vehicle that struck from behind. They said they did not know what happened and thought a bomb had gone off. For several seconds, Tadrint Washington said she could not see or hear and had a deep burning in her legs. When things came back into focus, she said, all she could hear was screaming. It took her awhile to organize her thoughts and realize, "I'm alive." "It came out of nowhere," said Micah Washington, who was in the passenger seat and conscious after flying forward and hitting her head on the dashboard and windshield. She saw a body thrown over the side and tumbling over the hood of her sister's Toyota Camry, as well as bodies on the ground. She checked her sister, who was shaking, and tried to calm her. Micah Washington said she is having a hard time dealing with what she saw as people tried to revive Heyer. "It was something I never thought I'd ever have to experience in Charlottesville in 2017," she said. The sisters, originally from Mississippi, said they never anticipated they would experience racial violence in their adopted home town. Tadrint Washington said she hopes the lawsuit will give them a voice and role. "They didn't care about our safety," she said, referring to the rally organizers. "We hope it ends here." The firm in the lawsuit gained notice for civil suits against the governments of Iran and Sudan, accusing them of providing material support to international terrorists in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Africa. "A lot of the same legal principles will translate" in what attorney Jeff Travers and his colleagues expect to litigate as an act of domestic terrorism. Litzenburg said they are prepared to add more defendants and plan to use statements made by white nationalists in the local and national new media to show that rally organizers approved of the violence that occurred. Ocean View, Delaware, Aug. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Breast Implants Market is poised to surpass USD 4 billion by 2024; according to a new research study published by Global Market Insights, Inc. Rising number of breast augmentation procedures coupled with increasing breast cancer incidence will drive market size over the forecast timeframe. Augmentation procedures enable women to increase their breast size and improves bust and hip contour balance. Reconstruction procedures help to restore one or both breasts to near normal size, shape and appearance. High cost of implantation procedure will impede industry expansion. Risk of complications in the case of both saline and silicone implants further limits procedure adoption. Complications associated with the procedure include infection, scarring, capsular formation and contraction, sensation changes to breast and nipple and chances of implant rupture. Additional surgeries may be required for treating the same. Request for a sample of this research report @ https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/2020 Silicone implants accounted for the largest revenue share due to its resemblance to natural breast tissue. Other benefits such as reduced probability of rippling and wrinkling further boosts adoption. However, difficulty of detecting device rupture restrains segment expansion. The rupture can only be detected after conducting an MRI. Anatomical implants are poised to grow at a lucrative pace owing to its sloped contour with more implant material located at the bottom that provides a more natural appearance. These inserts provide greater projection with same volume as compared to round shaped ones. However, risk of rotation and rippling coupled with higher costs restrains segment growth. Browse key industry insights spread across 95 pages with 118 market data tables & 18 figures & charts from the report, Breast Implants Market in detail along with the table of contents: https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/breast-implants-market Application of the inserts in breast reconstruction will grow at a rapid rate over the forecast time frame due to increasing incidence of breast cancer. Growing awareness regarding reconstruction surgery has resulted in increasing procedure adoption. Advantages of the reconstruction surgery such as short duration and less complex nature along with little scarring should further escalate demand. However, risks of complications such as infections, bleeding and delayed healing limits adoption rate to some extent. U.S. breast implants market held significant industry share. Increasing number of women opting for augmentation procedures will drive growth. Increasing per capita expenditure on cosmetic procedures will serve to be a high impact rendering factor. South Korea breast implants market is slated to witness robust growth over the forecast years. Increasing number of clinics and hospitals catering to plastic surgery coupled with increasing number of plastic surgeons is driving industry growth. Increasing desire to look attractive for excelling in professional life further fuels demand. Furthermore, growing influx of overseas patients especially from neighboring countries augments industry expansion. Prominent industry players include GC Aesthetics, Sientra, Allergan, Mentor, Arion Laboratoires, Ideal Implant, Groupe Sebbin, Cereplas, Establishment Labs and HansBiomed. The industry players resort to strategic initiatives such as agreements, acquisition and strong emphasis on product development and innovation in order to broaden their product portfolio and strengthen industry presence. For instance, in June 2016, Establishment Labs entered into a ten-year distribution agreement with Human Wellness Corporation to market its Motiva Implants. Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @ https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/2020 Browse Related Reports: Breastfeeding Accessories Market Size 2017 2024 Breastfeeding Accessories Market share was more than USD 650 million in 2016, with expected growth of over 10% CAGR from 2017 to 2024 due to, increasing awareness regarding importance of breastfeeding coupled with rising breastfeeding rates will drive breastfeeding accessories market growth over the forecast timeframe. https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/breastfeeding-accessories-market Breast Lesion Localization Methods Market Size 2017 2024 Breast Lesion Localization Methods Market share is anticipated to witness a considerable growth from 2017 to 2024. Rising number of breast cancer surgeries and increasing awareness about disease screening are the primary factors stimulating breast lesion localization methods market growth. https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/breast-lesion-localization-methods-market About Global Market Insights Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology. Contact Us: Arun Hegde Corporate Sales, USA Global Market Insights, Inc. Phone: 1-302-846-7766 Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688 Email: sales@gminsights.com Web: https://www.gminsights.com Blog: https://www.gminsights.com/blogs Connect with us: Facebook | Google+ | LinkedIn | Twitter VANCOUVER, Aug. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Balmoral Resources Ltd. (TSX:BAR) ("Balmoral" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that due to strong demand it has increased the previously announced brokered private placement of national flow-through common shares (National FT Shares) (see release NR-17-13, August 8, 2017). PI Financial Corp. as lead agent on behalf of a syndicate of agents (collectively the Agents), have now agreed to offer 5,700,000 National FT shares (the National FT Shares) at a price of C$0.71 per National FT Share for aggregate gross proceeds of C$4,047,000 (the Revised Offering). The Revised Offering has been fully subscribed by the Agents and there is no further Over-Allotment Option. In consideration of the Agents services, the Company has agreed to pay the Agents a cash commission of 5.0% of the gross proceeds of the Revised Offering aside from those orders submitted by insiders of the Company, on which there will be no cash commission, and those orders delivered through the Presidents List, on which a reduced commission has been negotiated with the Agents. The Revised Offering is being made on a best efforts private placement basis to be offered for sale in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario and such other Canadian jurisdictions as the Company and the Agents may agree. The closing of the Revised Offering is anticipated to occur on or before September 15, 2017 (the Revised Offering Closing Date) to accommodate certain institutional investor interest. Closing of the Revised Offering is subject to certain conditions including the receipt of regulatory approvals, such as the acceptance of the Revised Offering by the Toronto Stock Exchange (the TSX). The National FT Shares issued under the terms of the Revised Offered Securities will be subject to a four month hold period under applicable securities laws in Canada. Quebec Flow-Through Share Offering In addition, the Company is pleased to announce that it will offer, for shareholders and investors in the province of Quebec, a non-brokered private placement of up to 3,333,333 flow-through common shares of the Company (the Quebec FT Shares) at a price of $0.90 per Quebec FT Share for aggregate gross proceeds of $3,000,000 (the Quebec Offering and together with the Revised Offering, the Offering). The Company may pay certain finders a cash finders fee of up to 6% of the gross proceeds of the Quebec Offering. The Quebec Offering is being made on a private placement basis and offered for sale in the province of Quebec. The closing of the Quebec Offering is anticipated to occur on or before September 15, 2017 (the Quebec Offering Closing Date and together with Revised Offering Closing Date, the Closing Date). Closing of the Quebec Offering is subject to certain conditions including the receipt of regulatory approvals, such as the acceptance of the Quebec Offering by the TSX. The Quebec FT shares to be issued under the terms of the Quebec Offering will be subject to a four month hold period under applicable securities laws in Canada. The gross proceeds from the Offering will be used by the Company to continue exploration of its Detour Gold Trend Project in the province of Quebec and for the exploration of other gold properties held by the Company in Canada, such exploration work to constitute Canadian exploration expenses (as defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada)) with the expenses to be renounced for the 2017 taxation year. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy the securities described herein in the United States. The securities described herein have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to the account or benefit of a U.S. person absent an exemption from the registration requirements of such Act. About Balmoral Resources Ltd. www.balmoralresources.com Balmoral is a well-funded, Canadian-based company actively delineating and expanding a series of gold deposits on its Martiniere Property located within the prolific Abitibi greenstone belts in Quebec, Canada. The Martiniere Property is just one of several large, highly prospective properties comprising the Companys wholly owned, 1,000 km2 Detour Gold Trend Project. Employing a drill focused exploration strategy in one of the worlds preeminent mining jurisdictions, Balmoral is following an established formula with a goal of maximizing shareholder value through discovery and definition of high-grade, Canadian gold and base metal assets. On behalf of the board of directors of BALMORAL RESOURCES LTD. Darin Wagner President and CEO This press release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United States.This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, forward looking statements) within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities laws. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including statements regarding the anticipated Closing Date and approval of the offering by the TSX, the existing funding of the Company being sufficient to fund, the anticipated content, commencement, duration and cost of exploration programs, anticipated exploration program results, the discovery and delineation of mineral deposits/resources/reserves, the timing of the receipt of assay results, and business and financing plans and trends, the potentially open nature of the mineralized zones on the property and the potential for future discoveries of additional mineralization on the property are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions or are those which, by their nature, refer to future events. Although the Company believes that such statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual events and results to differ materially from the Companys expectations include those related to weather, equipment and staff availability; related to the existing funding of the Company being sufficient, performance of third parties; risks related to the exploration stage of the Companys projects; market fluctuations in prices for securities of exploration stage companies and in commodity prices; and uncertainties about the availability of additional financing; risks related to the Companys ability to identify one or more economic deposits on the properties, and variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located on the properties; risks related to the Companys ability to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required for its activities on the properties; and risks related to the Companys ability to produce minerals from the properties successfully or profitably. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. All of the Companys public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the latest technical reports filed with respect to the Companys mineral properties. This press release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United States. Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange nor its Regulatory Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The performance of students in more than two dozen schools in Bexar County has been deemed unacceptable, according to ratings released Tuesday by the Texas Education Agency. Thirty-one schools in the county received an "improvement required" rating in the 2017 accountability ratings, which grades the academic performance of each school district and campus in the state. ATLANTA - August 16, 2017 - Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE: AYI) introduced today Atrius(TM) Spaces, an Internet of Things (IoT) platform service that helps customers manage space utilization using a building's occupancy data. Atrius Spaces, which includes a web application and an application programming interface (API), can be used to efficiently allocate and plan for spatial requirements, allowing building managers to optimize facility operations and budgets, as well as the overall management of a building or campus throughout its lifecycle. Atrius Spaces converts occupancy data available from the Atrius Sensory Network (through nLight lighting controls from Acuity Brands) into a value-added building and business solution. The Atrius Spaces web application visually represents real-time usage of spaces and provides metrics based on historical data that identifies peak and average space utilization and types of spaces used within one or multiple buildings. Using optional Map Design and Site Audit services, building managers can access room, floor and building plans from any standard web browser at any time and from anywhere. In addition, the Atrius Spaces platform service features an API that allows developers to easily integrate the service with existing customer tools and dashboards, or create different applications, making IoT integration easier to achieve. "New occupant dynamics, such as shared workspaces, "hoteling" for employees who travel frequently, and those who intermittently work remotely, make accurate space utilization data critical to building operation," said Greg Carter, Acuity Brands Lighting Senior Vice President, Software Products. "Atrius Spaces reduces the effort required to collect, interpret and analyze data, and provides real-time actionable insights into to a building's space utilization, which allows building managers to focus on optimizing space tailored to tenant and employee needs." The Atrius brand encompasses the entire portfolio of IoT business solutions from Acuity Brands. The Atrius framework delivers connectivity and intelligence to a space via an expansive network of smart LED lighting and controls and a software platform that gathers, unlocks and transforms raw data to enable a broad range of software solutions addressing critical business challenges. Atrius solutions have already been deployed across more than 60 million square feet of spaces, leveraging more than a million nodes. For more information about Atrius, please visit www.acuitybrands.com/atrius. To view the new Atrius Spaces video, please click here. About Acuity Brands Acuity Brands, Inc. (NYSE: AYI) is the North American market leader and one of the world's leading providers of lighting and building management solutions. With fiscal year 2016 net sales of $3.3 billion, Acuity Brands currently employs approximately 12,000 associates and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with operations throughout North America, and in Europe and Asia. The Company's products and solutions are sold under various brands, including Lithonia Lighting, Holophane, Peerless, Gotham, Mark Architectural Lighting(TM), Winona Lighting, Juno, Indy(TM), Aculux, Healthcare Lighting, Hydrel, American Electric Lighting, Carandini, Antique Street Lamps(TM), Sunoptics, Distech Controls, Acuity Controls(TM), nLight, ROAM, Sensor Switch and Atrius(TM). Visit us at www.acuitybrands.com. # # # Media Contact: Ketchum Alex Fencl 404.879.9122 alex.fencl@ketchum.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate With "extremely dangerous heat" warnings coming almost daily, the Texas prison system has shipped more than 350 inmates from the Wallace Pack Unit under a federal court order that requires cooler quarters for vulnerable inmates during the hottest summer months. So far, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has relocated more than 800 other inmates in a week to make room for Pack inmates designated as "heat sensitive." But inmates' relatives say the state's remedy has created chaos without quelling their fears. "I'm more worried about him now," said Cynthia Evans whose husband went from living in a minimum-security dorm at the Pack Unit, northwest of Houston, to a solitary, maximum-security cell in Beaumont. MOONLIGHT RIDE: Transfers get underway Meanwhile, the wife of an inmate at Fabian Dale Dominguez State Jail in San Antonio likened the scene during visiting day last weekend to a "circus," with family members showing up to see relatives who hadn't had time to notify them they'd been moved to other facilities. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged The exodus of more than 1,000 Pack inmates and the transfer of hundreds of others to make room for them in other facilities stems from a temporary injunction by U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison who ruled in July that the indoor heat was "cruel and unusual" punishment. The judge did not order the geriatric facility to install air conditioning but to provide relief for inmates who are elderly, who have conditions such as asthma, hypertension or diabetes or who take medicine that makes them sensitive to heat. At least 23 inmates have died from heatstroke in Texas prisons since 1998. The transfers began a week ago on Aug. 9, the day after Ellison approved a complex plan by TDCJ to shuttle inmates among facilities. The entire operation, which must be completed within three weeks, is a temporary remedy pending trial on a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of a group of Pack Inmates. Lawyers for the inmates want a swifter response. "We're glad this is happening but we wish it were moving quicker," said Scott Medlock, an attorney for the six Pack inmates who sued the prison system. "We understand this is a complex endeavor but this is people's health and safety we're talking about. We're in the middle of the hottest part of the year when these people need this protection the most." JUDGE'S TIPS: Suggestions on how to fix overheated prisons Prison officials said it was happening as quickly and efficiently as feasible. "Staff is working diligently to ensure the safe transfer of offenders from the Pack Unit to other facilities," said Jason Clark, TDCJ spokesman. The prison has sent out air-conditioned busloads during the coolest times of day, moving 359 Pack inmates by the end of Tuesday to Travis State Jail in Austin, French Robertson Unit in Abilene, Hospital Galveston and the Mark W. Stiles and Richard P. LeBlanc units, both in Beaumont, officials said. To make room, inmates have been removed from Dominguez, Stiles, Travis, Robertson and Diboll Correctional Center near Lufkin and placed at more than a dozen other prison facilities. In the meantime, TDCJ is deploying the same methods it has used in the past to keep inmates cool during extreme heat, offering cold showers on demand, turning on fans, restricting outdoor activity, providing extra water and ice and allowing access to air-conditioned respite areas. The prison also trains guards and inmate to recognize the signs of heat exhaustion. Gaylyn Dutton, whose son Steven Parker expects to remain at the Pack unit, said inmates are uncertain about the moves. "Everyone is very apprehensive about what is going to happen to them," he told her Tuesday. Dutton thinks the prison's plan is ludicrous. "With the money they are spending on all the moves, the overtime, the gas, wear and tear on the buses, TDCJ could be using a big chunk of the money to at least make a dent in some type of ... cooling system," she said. James Evans, 49, of Conroe, was among the bus loads of men being ferried from Pack to other units. Evans, who has had seizures and has taken medication for hypertension in recent years, left Friday for the Mark W. Stiles unit in Beaumont, according to his wife, Cynthia. At the Pack Unit, James Evans was in a dormitory with about 50 men, she said. Now he's in a solitary cell without phone access, though he does have air conditioning. "It's a big change," she said. "Our oldest granddaughter told my husband that she was worried about him being there, and she's only 8-years-old." Cynthia Evans worries he's lonely and stressed by the heightened security, but now can't call her daily or offten twice a day -- to check in. "I'm usually strong but Sunday was a hard day for me," she said. "I broke down." A summer weekend of road construction could be even more frustrating than usual for those navigating the Fair Oaks Parkway intersection with Interstate 10, which at 9 p.m. Friday kicks off the first of two weekend shutdowns that even the Texas Department of Transportation terms doozies. The Fair Oaks project, which involves the demolition of the old parkway overpass and a complete reconfiguration of the intersection, is about halfway through its two-year schedule and should be done next summer, said TxDOT spokesman Josh Donat. AUSTIN - Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday said he of course blamed Speaker Joe Straus for the failure of nearly half his agenda items to even get a vote in the House, declaring that the ballot box is the place to make changes. Abbott, in an interview with Houston radio station KTRH, didnt say if he would call another special session. But he suggested it would be pointless unless House support can be mustered for the measures that died. A special session is appropriate if we are able to show that we are able to get something done. Otherwise, it will be a complete waste of millions of dollars of taxpayer money, Abbott said. Abbott said Straus, R-San Antonio, had told him before the special session began that he wouldnt allow a House vote on the so-called bathroom bill. The bill, which was opposed by top businesses and others who denounced it as discriminatory, would have restricted which public restrooms transgender people could use in government buildings and schools. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged The speaker made clear that there were multiple items that would not receive a vote. And hand it to him, he wasnt tricky about it, Abbott said. He was open and overt about his desire not to allow some of these issues to even be voted on and/or to come out of committee. He told me during the regular session that if this (bathroom bill) came up during the special he would not allow a vote on it. There is no evidence whatsoever that he is going to change his mind on it, and thats why elections matter, Abbott said. Abbott, who has said he will get involved in Republican primary elections, didnt specify whether he might target Strauss re-election to the House or target House members aligned with the speaker. Straus was unanimously re-elected speaker by the House in January. Asked on Tuesday by the San Antonio Express-News about Abbotts plans to get involved in primary elections, Straus said, I cant speak for the governor. Speaking as a five-term speaker of the House, Im very engaged in primaries, but Im engaged in helping incumbent members who deserve to be re-elected. I think the House members in the 140 days of the regular session and the 29 days of the special session have much to be proud of, and accomplishments that each one of them individually can take home and do well in discussing with their constituents, Straus said. The House abruptly adjourned on Tuesday, one day before the 30-day special session that Abbott called on a slew of issues. Lawmakers passed a number of Abbotts priorities, but high-profile items failed, including the bathroom bill and a proposal to restrict local property tax increases by cities and counties. Straus said the House had given Abbotts priorities due consideration and that as a practical matter, it was too late to pass anything else, hence the Houses decision to end a day early. pfikac@express-news.net Twitter: @pfikac This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate AUSTIN The Texas House pulled a dramatic and early final curtain on the special session Tuesday, leaving a number of Gov. Greg Abbotts priority items unfinished and giving senators a take-it-or-leave it choice on a proposal to rein in property tax increases. The Houses adjournment came one day ahead of Wednesdays deadline to end the special legislative session called by Abbott to address a slew of issues, half of which died. The Houses decision to end early killed all hopes for the so-called bathroom bill, which was one of the most prominent bills touted by Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. The session began July 18, and was scheduled to end Wednesday. Abbott, if he chooses, can call another special session, or he can claim victory with the bills that passed. His spokesman, John Wittman, accentuated the positive, saying, Our office believes this special session has produced a far better Texas than before. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged I think I can speak for a near unanimous number of Texas House members that we considered the agenda placed before us, and we have worked through it extensively and are ready to go home to our districts, our families, our businesses and our lives as citizens, House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, told the San Antonio Express-News after his chamber adjourned at 6:51 p.m. Some tea party lawmakers disagreed, with Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, saying on Twitter that members were loudly objecting at the prospect of an early adjournment. Straus said that given deadlines for considering legislation, there was no more work that the House could do, as a practical matter. Asked whether he had informed Abbott and Patrick, who presides over the Senate, that the House planned to adjourn sine die, Straus said, It was literally a decision made on the fly. I think its pretty clear that our work was done, and Ive not spoken to the lieutenant governor or the governor directly today, Straus said Tuesday night. Straus said he had no idea whether Abbott would call another special session. He made note that before this special session, lawmakers had met for 140 days in their regular session that ended May 29. I think 140 days to get our work done is what I prefer, and I think Id be in the majority of Texas citizens in saying so, Straus said. Lawmakers addressed a number of the issues that Abbott put before them, including a must-pass bill to continue several state agencies and legislation on school finance; retired teachers health care; abortion restrictions; cities authority over trees and annexation; targeting maternal mortality; do-not-resuscitate orders; and mail-in ballot fraud. But the House under Straus stood firm against the bathroom bill championed by Patrick and passed by the Senate to restrict the restrooms that transgender people can use in buildings of political subdivisions, including schools. Straus, top business executives and a number of faith leaders said the bill would target vulnerable people and prompt boycotts affecting the states economy because the measure is widely viewed as discriminatory. Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, a Brenham Republican who authored the bathroom bill, said she was disappointed in its failure. It was a worthy discussion and something that I think the state should have purview over, to set the policies, especially in our schools, said Kolkhorst, who like other bill backers called it important to protect the safety and privacy of women and children. Left hanging Tuesday evening was a proposal to institute automatic rollback elections if big cities, counties and special districts raise local property tax revenues over a certain amount. The Senate had approved a bill to institute automatic rollback elections if those property tax revenues are slated to go up by more than 4 percent. The House version the only one thats now alive put the threshold at 6 percent. Both measures contained exemptions at differing levels. Senators had asked for a conference committee to negotiate differences on the measures, but the House declined, citing the tight deadline. Tuesday night, the Senate faced the decision of approving the House bill or nothing, unless Abbott decides to start the clock running on a second special session. The bathroom and property tax issues are the ones that forced the special session in the first place, courtesy of Patrick. When he saw the House in the regular session wasnt going to pass the bills in a form he wanted during the regular session, Patrick stalled the legislation to continue several state agencies, including the Texas Medical Board. The House adjourned Tuesday night after approving Senate changes to a school finance measure. House Public Education Committee Chairman Dan Huberty, R-Houston, called the bill a disappointment, noting it contained far less money for schools than the House had wanted. However, he said, it also addresses important issues, including providing funding to help retired teachers with their health care costs, assist schools in danger of closing and funds for children with autism and dyslexia. Ive been in sales my entire life. I know when you get the best deal, Huberty said. Senate Finance Committee Chair. Jane Nelson, R-Flower Mound, said after the bill passed, We could not leave here without helping our retired teachers, we could not, could not ... and we're helping our schools. pfikac@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A rally that aims to "promote the true Confederate heritage that most Americans are unaware of" is being held in Austin next month and San Antonio protesters plan to disrupt the event. On Sept. 2, the Texas Confederate Militia is holding the "Dixie Freedom Rally" near the Capitol. As of Wednesday morning, 35 people have signed up to attend the event and 191 others are interested, according to the event Facebook page. The event will kickoff at 7 a.m. at Woolridge Square, roughly a quarter-mile from the capitol's entrance on East 11th Street. Attendees will march at 12 p.m. to the capitol building. RELATED: A&M officials cancel White Lives Matter on campus after House members line up against 'hatred, bigotry and terrorism' A protest against the Dixie Freedom Rally has attracted more than 1,100 planned attendees and is slated for 7 a.m. at Woolridge Square. A Unity March and Concert is slated for the same day as the Confederate rally, according to the 11 groups hosting the counter-protest. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Members of San Antonio Antifa, or anti-fascists, said on Facebook Monday they planned to counter the Confederate rally. "Okay brothers and sisters, we have to disrupt this rally at all cost," reads the group's Facebook page. "We must coordinate our groups and allies to create a show of force." Confederate and U.S. flags are encouraged at the Confederate rally, and the Facebook event notes that firearms are allowed, but "no racism tolerated," according to the militia group. In response to some comments on the event page the group said they had begun planning the rally before the events in Charlottesville over the weekend and that it will also be a food and toy drive. "Let's show everyone true southern hospitality," reads the Texas Confederate Militia's event page. RELATED: Rowdy but peaceful counter protesters converge on Travis Park Saturday The planning for the event comes as the country reels from protests in Charlottesville where white supremacists and neo-Nazis marched under both Confederate and Nazi banners. Ostensibly a protest against the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee, the groups clashed with counter-protesters and the weekend turned deadly after a man ran his car through a group of counter-protesters, killing one and injuring 19. The Austin Police Department said they are aware of the competing rallies and will follow its "normal process of planning for this rally." "We will not discuss the specifics of our planning efforts," said Senior Police Officer Destiny Winston, in an email. kbradshaw@express-news.net Twitter: @kbrad5 A.B. Quintanilla, the brother of the late Tejano superstar Selena Quintanilla, will be spending some time in Nueces County Jail after the judge ordered him into custody Wednesday morning. He'll also need to pay back more than $87,000 in child support, court officials said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Elizabeth Contreras' cell phone records led police to her decomposing body in the brush by Corpus Christi Road, records show. Three days later, San Antonio police arrested her estranged husband, Guadalupe Contreras, in connection to the death. The affidavit attached to his arrest warrant sheds light on what police believe happened leading up to Elizabeth Contreras' disappearance and death. On Aug. 2, Elizabeth Contreras told her boyfriend she needed to go to her job at Mission Trail Baptist Hospital. She drove off in her boyfriend's blue 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe, according to the affidavit. When she did not return home that night, Elizabeth Contreras' boyfriend alerted her mother, who reported her daughter missing to police on the evening of Aug. 3, police said. RELATED: Man arrested in connection with human remains found off Old Corpus Christi Road Police found the car on Aug. 4 off the right shoulder on Highway 37 North near Sandy Oaks, authorities said. When police searched the car, they found blood on the driver side door panel, the steering wheel and the sun visor. More blood was found in the cargo area of the car, according to the affidavit. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Police learned that Guadalupe Contreras, who works for a delivery company, made a delivery near the same area the car was found, the affidavit says. A detective interviewed Guadalupe Contreras, who agreed to submit to polygraph examination. He told police that he last saw Elizabeth on Aug. 1, and that she came by to talk about getting added on to his insurance policy, according to the affidavit. When asked if he knew where Elizabeth was, Guadalupe Contreras said "no," which the polygraph determined was a deceptive answer, officials said. Despite Elizabeth Contreras' phone records showing the two were in contact on Aug. 2, Guadalupe allegedly denied that they spoke or met up that day. He invited police to check the GPS on his delivery truck. Police reviewed the GPS, and the data revealed the delivery truck deviated from its route and turned onto Old Corpus Christi Road and Highway 181, before stopping around 11 p.m. at the 5000 block of Chive Drive, about 300 yards from where the blue Hyundai was found, authorities said. The delivery truck stopped again shortly after midnight for about 9 minutes on Highway 281 near East Hildebrand Avenue, according to the affidavit. Investigators said they found more blood in the 5000 block of Chive Drive, where Guadalupe Contreras first stopped. RELATED: Tip regarding active homicide investigation leads SAPD to body Police used Elizbaeth's phone records to find her body in the 12800 block of Corpus Christi Road on Aug. 8. Because of the state of decomposition, the affidavit states her cause of death could not be determined. Investigators believe the two met up at the 5000 block at Chive Drive on Aug. 2, where Guadalupe Contreras allegedly killed Elizabeth Contreras, according to the affidavit. Then, police say they believe he put her in the Hyundai and drove her to Old Corpus Christi Road, where he dumped her body. He drove the car back, parking it on the side of the highway, before taking her cell phones and locking her car. Police believe Guadalupe Contreras walked through a hay field to return to his truck, stopping once more to throw her phones and clothes. Guadalupe Contreras remained in Bexar County Jail Monday on a $75,000 bond. He's charged with murder, a first-degree felony. Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com fsabawi@mysa.com Twitter: @FaresInSA Border Patrol agents seized more than $10 million worth of narcotics at the Sarita checkpoint on Monday, according to a news release from the agency. A car occupied by two American citizens stopped at the checkpoint on their way to Houston, officials said. CUDAHY, Wis., Aug. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Patrick Cudahy, The Home of Sweet Apple-Wood Smoked Flavor, has been providing quality bacon, ham, and sausage since 1888. Patrick Cudahy continued a delicious tradition at the Wisconsin State Fair this year by sponsoring a recipe contest featuring ham appetizers created by fans and home cooks on Friday. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/814429eb-969e-4d8f-9d75-07f1c53c1dd2 The contest included two rounds of judging based on creativity and originality, taste, and presentation. The first round took place at the Horticulture, Craft and Culinary Pavilion at Wisconsin State Fair Park in June. The four finalists presented their recipes during Fridays final round at the fairs Central Park. Each finalist displayed appetizer recipes featuring Patrick Cudahy ham. The winner, Beth Campbell of Belleville, Wis., took home Patrick Cudahy Sweet Apple-Wood Smoked ham for a year and a $250 cash prize. Each finalist also received a cash prize. Campbell delivered a dish with the unmistakable flavor and quality of Patrick Cudahy ham. Her Cudahy Cream Puff Hamsters, a savory cream puff filled with ham, cream cheese, sour cream, fruit, and spices, are sure to be a holiday hit. Patrick Cudahy fans can enjoy the winning recipe at home by visiting www.facebook.com/patrickcudahymeats. In another cooking contest during the event, four celebrity teams featuring local television and radio personalities created recipes using Patrick Cudahy Sweet Apple-Wood Smoked bacon, ham, and deli meats. Sally Severson and Lindsey Slater from WISN-TV won the celebrity cooking competition for the second year in a row and donated their prize of free bacon and ham for a year to a local food pantry. Other highlights throughout the day of bacon-loving fun included cooking demonstrations, live music, giveaways, and an appearance by the Pack House mobile tour. "Patrick Cudahy Day was a tremendous success," said Bud Matthews, Patrick Cudahy senior vice president for Smithfield Foods. "Through our 18-year partnership with the Wisconsin State Fair, we've been able to offer our fans and Wisconsin neighbors one-of-a-kind experiences. We were delighted to see everyone have such a wonderful time at the fair." Patrick Cudahy has proudly served as a primary sponsor of the Wisconsin State Fair since 1999. For more information about Patrick Cudahy and the Wisconsin State Fair, visit www.Facebook.com/PatrickCudahyMeats. Patrick Cudahy is a brand of Smithfield Foods. About Patrick Cudahy For more than 125 years, families throughout the Midwest have known the name Patrick Cudahy as one they can count on for quality, value, and for the unmistakable flavor of Sweet Apple Wood. Our product line includes fully cooked and traditional bacon, bacon pieces and toppings, dry sausage, pepperoni, ham, deli, and sliced meats. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate At least three suspects forced their way into a West Side home Monday, began beating the occupants inside and ultimately threatened to kill them over some stolen marijuana. On Tuesday, police jailed two of the three identified suspects. Joshua "Turbo" Estrada, 20, and Genevieve Elva Gonzales, 21, each face three charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. They remain in the Bexar County Jail on $225,000 bonds. RELATED: SAPD: S.A. businesswoman tried to hire undercover officer to kill another woman A third suspect listed in the assault, 36-year-old Jim Cervantes, had not been jailed by Wednesday afternoon. According to arrest affidavits for Estrada and Gonzales, a juvenile stole some marijuana from Estrada at some point prior to the attack. Estrada, Gonzales, Cervantes and possibly more suspects, went to the juvenile's West Side home to look for the money, police said. The suspects forced their way into the home and began assaulting a 58-year-old woman inside, according to police. A 17-year-old girl rushed to try to intervene, but the suspects assaulted her as well, according to the affidavit. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged RELATED: 2 years after disappearance of S.A. woman's body, new developments emerge in Julie Mott case Then the juvenile who allegedly stole the marijuana tried to stop the attack, but one of the suspects pulled out a gun and threatened to kill all three of them, police said. Estrada and Gonzales's affidavits do not list what occurred after the alleged assault, but the documents do say all three victims were able to show officers Gonzales's Facebook profile, and the juvenile was able to identify Estrada. Gonzales and Estrada were later arrested at their San Antonio apartment. Gonzales confessed to her involvement in the attack, according to her arrest affidavit. Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com cdowns@mysa.com Twitter: @calebjdowns This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A 40-year-old San Antonio businesswoman was arrested Tuesday after she allegedly tried to hire an undercover police officer to kill one of her relatives. Angelica Navarro-DePaz faces a charge of solicitation of capital murder. She remains in the Bexar County Jail on a $1 million bond. Navarro-DePaz is the listed owner of Angelica's Cantina in the 2500 block of SW Loop 410 and multiple Austin-area businesses, according to Texas Secretary of State records. According to her arrest report, the San Antonio Police Department's High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas detail received information that Navarro-DePaz was looking to hire someone to murder another woman in her family. RELATED: Party-goers pretended to be asleep when officers crashed drug-fueled bash in Castle Hills: chief The detail was able to plant an undercover officer inside the negotiations, and around 5 p.m. on Tuesday, the officer met with Navarro-DePaz while posing as the hitman, authorities said. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Navarro-DePaz met with the officer at South Park Mall, where they settled on a price of $1,700, according to Sgt. Jesse Salame, a spokesman for the San Antonio Police Department. She paid him half of the money up front, saying she would pay the remaining half when the job was done, according to police. Soon thereafter, Navarro-DePaz was arrested and booked into jail. In addition to Angelica's Cantina on San Antonio's West Side, Navarro-DePaz is the listed owner of Angelica's General Store in Cedar Creek, according to her Facebook profile. She's also an owner of Angelica's Auto Sales and Angelica's Solutions, LLC which operate out of Austin. Representatives of Angelica's General Store declined to comment on Navarro-DePaz's arrest. Text "NEWS" to 77453 for breaking news alerts from mySA.com cdowns@mysa.com Twitter: @calebjdowns This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Jacob Beltran Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Jacob Beltran Show More Show Less 3 of 3 SAN ANTONIO - A man was chased around his vehicle while being shot at by a group of men Tuesday night on the West Side. San Antonio Police Department Sgt. Roy Miller said the man, in his 40s, was hit by gunfire on his foot and leg at about 7 p.m. in the 1200 block of Southwest 35th Street. Bexar County sheriff's deputies seized more than three pounds of methamphetamine from a home near a San Antonio elementary school, officials said. On. Aug. 10, deputies executed a search warrant in the 1300 block of West Hermosa Drive, near Wilson Elementary School. In the home, deputies found the meth, which is estimated to be worth about $140,000, according to a news release from the sheriff's office. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate America's only living father-son duo of former presidents issued a statement Wednesday condemning hatred and borrowing Thomas Jefferson's language from the Declaration of Independence to support equality. The statement from former presidents George W. Bush, 71, and George H.W. Bush, 93, was released by family spokesman Jim McGrath. FAR RIGHT RESPONDS: Richard Spencer claims First Amendment right was violated by Texas A&M It comes after current President Donald Trump faced criticism for taking two days to call out the KKK and neo-Nazis before once again on Tuesday blaming "both sides" for Saturday's violence in Charlottesville. Here is the Bushes' full statement, sent from the family's vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine: BACKLASH: Father of white-nationalist marcher: He "is not welcome at our family gatherings" "America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms. As we pray for Charlottesville, we are reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that city's most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence: We are all created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights. We know these truths to be everlasting because we have seen the decency and greatness of our country." More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged The elder Bush has been hospitalized twice this year for pneumonia. He was most recently discharged in late April after a two-week hospital stay. COMIC RELIEF: Late-night hosts process Trump's wild news conference Former presidents generally remain quiet on issues that arise after their terms in office, deferring to their successors. As Politico observed in May, "Trump's predecessors are trying to both defend their legacies and respect the unwritten rule of not undermining the current commander in chief." However, there have been calls this week from Democrats and some Republicans for former presidents to speak out in more clear terms than Trump has used. The Atlantic noted that former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, both Democrats, quickly posted on Twitter about the violence. Note: This article was updated to reflect that the Bushes are the only living father-son duo of former presidents - but not the only such duo in history. John Adams and John Quincy Adams were the first. English Lithuanian Vilnius, Lithuania, 2017-08-16 15:01 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- For 6 months of 2017, the unaudited consolidated net profit of the INVL Baltic Real Estate group was EUR 1,528 thousand, revenue was EUR 3,281 thousand (for 6 months of 2016 consolidated net profit was EUR 591 thousand, revenue was EUR 3,072 thousand). Additional information: The real estate investment company INVL Baltic Real Estates consolidated net profit for the first half of this year was of EUR 1.5 million and was more than 2.5 times larger than in January-June 2016. The companys consolidated equity value per share increased 20 per cent from a year earlier to EUR 0.48 per share at the end of June 2017 (equity per share at the end of June 2016 was EUR 0.41, also taking into account dividends of EUR 0.012 per share that were paid). Were pleased that the active work and investments reconstructing the Vilnius Gates business centre have brought the expected results, leading to an increase of about 1 million euros in this propertys value. In the second half of the year, once the Vilnius Gates renewal is complete, well see the final results of the work done over the past year and a half. We dont intend to stop and will continue working actively to boost the value and leasing income of property holdings, said Vytautas Baksinskas, Real Estate Fund Manager at INVL Asset Management, which manages INVL Baltic Real Estate. INVL Baltic Real Estates consolidated net operating income from the properties it owns was EUR 1.2 million in the first half of this year and increased 2.7 per cent compared to the same period last year. The companys financial results show that active work with property holdings pays off and the chosen operating strategy is correct. Some of what was done in the first half of this year will be reflected in the results later, since most of the new leases and renewal agreements that were signed will take effect in the second half of the year. So the current half-year can be expected to be even more successful for INVL Baltic Real Estate, Vytautas Baksinskas said. The companys consolidated revenue in January-June was EUR 3.3 million and grew 6.8 per cent compared with the first half of 2016. Of that, EUR 1.9 million was consolidated leasing income from owned properties, which was up 6.8 per cent. In late July the company announced it had signed an agreement on the sale of 3 000 square metres of office and warehouse premises on Kirtimu Street in Vilnius. The transaction, completion of which is planned until October, has a value of EUR 1 million. The property was valued at EUR 0.8 million at the end of 2016, so the transaction will have a positive impact of EUR 0.2 million on 2017 results. INVL Baltic Real Estate also manages real estate in Vilnius and Riga: office and commercial premises at the Vilnius Gates complex in the Lithuanian capital, the IBC Business Centre near Konstitucijos Avenue, office buildings in the Old Town on Vilniaus Street and in Siaures Miestelis, and the Dommo Business Park manufacturing, warehouse and office complex beside the Riga bypass. As at June 30 of this year, the companys property holdings including the building on Kirtimu Street in Vilnius had a total area of 58 000 square metres and a value of EUR 54.1 million. Since 22 December 2016, INVL Baltic Real Estate has operated as a closed-end investment company. Management of the company was assumed by INVL Asset Management, one of Lithuanias leading asset management firms. The company will operate as a closed-end investment company until 2046, with extension possible for another 20 years. Though devastated when her husband was killed in Vietnam in 1970, Grace Marie DiNoia Jennings had little time to grieve. Her five children ages 18 months to 14 years needed her. It was very hard on her, her daughter Margaret Anne Forshey said. She was destroyed at the beginning, and then I think she just realized she had to take care of us. Never remarrying, Jennings, whose parents had immigrated from Italy in the early 1900s, brought up her own children with the same Italian traditions with which she had been raised. She realized how fortunate we were to have those kind of roots and to feel that connection, Forshey said. Jennings, who turned 90 in March, died July 31. The second oldest of six children, Jennings was raised during the Depression in the home her father, a stone mason, had built. An especially difficult time was when the family lost their home, forcing them to move into an apartment. More for you Texas couple finds ring lost in tornado, immediately gets engaged Though they later recovered, that was truly a defining and shaping event for her, Forshey said. Meeting her future husband while at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in the summer of 1951, Jennings married the following spring, becoming the wife of an army officer. More Information Grace Marie DiNoia Jennings Born: March 14, 1927, Worcester, Massachusetts Died: July 31, 2017, San Antonio Preceded by: Husband John M. Jennings Survived by: Daughters Margaret Anne Forshey, Catherine Shapiro and Mary Salazar; sons John Jennings Jr. and Patrick Jennings; six grandchildren Services: Services at Arlington National Cemetery are pending See More Collapse She had never been exposed to military life, but she took to it like a fish to water, Forshey said. She supported the army community entertained, and supported my father. After living in Germany, Kentucky, Kansas and Virginia, the family was living in Maryland when her husband, a colonel, accepted a posting to Vietnam. All of his contemporaries were going and everyone said that at his level, hed be fine, Forshey said. After his helicopter was shot down while on a reconnaissance mission, Jennings decided to stay in the house she and her husband had bought together. She was very emotionally attached to the house, Forshey said. And she always felt there was more opportunity for us minutes from an Army base and 30 minutes from (Washington) D.C. But Jennings moved to San Antonio to live closer to one of her sons when her health began to fail in 2009. Jennings especially enjoyed celebrating the holidays. She would start planning Christmas and New Years a month out, Forshey said. For Thanksgiving, she made platefuls of Italian cookies for the neighbors and have them over for holiday cocktails, appetizers and cookies. mheidbrink@express-news.net Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz are clear that their values and faith in American capitalism and market approaches offer the best solutions for the U.S. health care system. Their recent votes to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act echo their beliefs. Its simply supply and demand influenced by what we choose to buy and can afford. A belief so strong that it overshadowed the loss of health insurance and harm to millions of Americans that would have resulted if they had succeeded. While I, too, believe in capitalism, though not unrestrained, pure market approaches in health care are competitively unworkable. Purchasing medical care is not comparable to purchasing a car, clothing, home and so forth. I would argue, and recent public surveys mostly indicate, Americans would prefer a universal or single-payer health care system. Simply, I dont think they want the health and costs-related impacts of pregnancy and childbirth, a fever of 101, a chronic disease or injuries suffered in a car accident in the hands of the unseen free market. It is arguable that some business-type approaches are aspects of a health care system, and I suspect they are incorporated even in countries with universal or purported socialist health care system. Nonetheless, I would like Cornyn and Cruz or like-minded colleagues to name one developed country where a free market health care system is established that works for everyone or even the majority. The famous Flexner Report of 1910 put American medicine on a path to quality medical education, biomedical discoveries, and more effective science-based treatment and care. Concurrently, the report called for compassionate care not to be driven by profit motives. With each passing decade, it appears the profit motive has won. The Institute of Medicine has amply documented $755 billion annually resulting from fraud, fragmented care, profiteering and bureaucratic waste. Yet reasons for exorbitant health care costs are primarily portrayed as caused by increases in the population over 65, poor health behaviors and unnecessary medical care. The poor and people of color on Medicaid and other health care subsidies are particularly espoused as major causes. President Harry Truman recommended to Congress a proposal for universal health insurance coverage to be administered and paid for by a National Health Insurance Board. The American Medical Association screamed socialized medicine, and the bill died in Congress. Every president since has proposed changes to our health care system, with some legislative successes through fragmentary programs to control costs, and coverage expansion to the poor. President Barack Obamas successful passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 was historic given its comprehensive approach to restructure and improve the U.S. health care system to work for everyone. Ironically, Obamacare, by most objective analysis, is more a Republican- and not Democratic-based law in substance. In other words, its built on more market principles. Regardless of perceived weaknesses in the bill, Americans supported and accepted the laws passage, understanding its comprehensive scope and approaches to increase health insurance coverage and access, improve health care quality, support and create prevention-based approaches in care and peoples behaviors, and reduce costs. With all its warts and some failures to date, Obamacare has had success across all four of these major components. Nonetheless, instead of efforts to fix and strengthen the ACA, Sens. Cornyn and Cruz continue their opposition to the law and support efforts to undermine it. This occurs though the U.S. House and Senate repeal and replace health care bills were overwhelming not supported by the American public. Its apparent that blind ideology for a free-market health care system is their mantra, with little regard for objective solutions or our families. Juan H. Flores is with La Fe Policy Research and Education Center. Today, when the formal NAFTA renegotiation process kicks off, Ill be joined by government, business and nonprofit leaders in El Paso at the 2017 U.S.-Mexico Border Summit to discuss the merits of this trade agreement and what the future holds for U.S.-Mexico trade relations under NAFTA 2.0. While in some ways our conversation will mirror that happening in Washington, D.C. what about the original trade agreement worked well, what has changed in our economies since the agreement was signed, how do we create a new trade agreement that benefits all countries involved our conversation will not revolve around political rhetoric. Instead, we will focus on real data and the stories of those who have seen firsthand the economic benefits of NAFTA and how it can work better. While NAFTA has been referred to as a horrible trade deal for the U.S., those of us who enjoy a positive economic relationship with Mexico (including a trade surplus) have plenty of data that say otherwise. As the president of the Texas Business Leadership Council, or TBLC, an organization committed to long-term growth and prosperity for Texas, I am hopeful about what NAFTA 2.0 could mean for our state. NAFTA has been very good for Texas. Mexico is Texas top trading partner, with trade between our regions nearly quadrupling since the agreement was signed in 1994. Today, Mexico makes up 40 percent of Texas total export market, representing 6 percent of our state GDP. Nearly 400,000 Texas jobs rely on the movement of goods and services between the U.S. and Mexico. I frequently hear that NAFTA only helped large multinational corporations. Again, my experience and the numbers tell a different story. NAFTA has helped U.S. farmers and small businesses by dramatically expanding their markets. In 2014, more than 125,000 small and medium American businesses 40,000 from Texas sold their goods and services in Mexico and Canada. Texas has done an outstanding job capitalizing on the opportunities offered by NAFTA. We have been slower, however, in reaching out to policymakers to share our stories of transformation and success, and how the benefits of NAFTA trickle out to states beyond those along the border. Now that NAFTA renegotiations are at hand, the Texas business community is making up for lost time. There are many ways that the agreement could be modified and updated to make goods and services flow more smoothly across North America, and we hope the Trump administration advances some of those. But the first principle should be to do no harm to the existing framework. We are actively working to consolidate and amplify the voice of the Texas business community in the renegotiation process. I was recently in Washington meeting with elected officials and staff at the Commerce Department about the importance of trade in our region, and TBLC recently joined forces with the Borderplex Alliance, the Texas Association of Business and the Texas Association of Manufacturers to form the Texas-Mexico Trade Coalition, which will coordinate advocacy efforts on NAFTA and trade. And we are continuing to do what we have done so well for nearly two decades: collaborate with our trading partners to keep business opportunities robust for employers and costs low for consumers. At the border summit, for example, the panel I will be moderating features the consul general of Mexico in El Paso, the president of Southwest Steel Coil, the president and CEO of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber, and the president of the Texas Association of Business all whom have a unique and valid perspective on NAFTA and whom policymakers should be paying attention to. Our job is to make sure they do. Back in Washington, today is just the beginning of a process that will extend for many months, but in the border states, it is our decades worth of work and future that will be on display. Justin Yancy is president of the Texas Business Leadership Council. It was inevitable. Eventually, President Donald Trump would treat a foreign adversary as harshly as he has Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un was on the receiving end of the alliteration heard around the world, when Trump promised fire and fury if Pyongyang continued to threaten the United States. An American president has said this kind of thing before, although, it must be noted, he was actually in the act of waging a nuclear war. They may expect a rain of ruin from the air, President Harry S. Truman said of the Japanese after Hiroshima, the like of which has never been seen on this Earth. As cable TV prepared to go to DEFCON 1, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson popped up to smooth everything over with ample diplo-speak. Tillerson supported what Trump said, but at times took a tone of polite distance from the president for whom he works. Secretary of Defense James Mattis, meanwhile, issued his own, much tougher statement. So, you can choose the presidents bellicosity, the secretary of defenses firmness or the secretary of states palaver. Which reflects the administrations true posture? Who knows? In his own mind, Trumps intention may really be to use military force to deny North Korea the capability to threaten the United States with a nuclear-armed ICBM. The goal is obviously a worthy one, but a raid against North Korea, even one conceived as limited, would have the potential to spin into something much broader. For a military operation that sober-minded people believe could cause more than a million casualties, the president should probably get authorization from Congress when its not obvious Congress can even pass a budget. Hed need to undertake extensive war and postwar planning, mustering all relevant agencies of the U.S. government when its in doubt whether his new chief of staff can succeed in keeping order within the Oval Office. Hed need to get regional allies on board for a war that could bring untold destruction to their countries when South Korea just elected a dovish president and we dont even have an ambassador in Seoul. Hed need to commit himself to an enterprise that would require all of his attention in high-stress conditions for an extended period of time when he couldnt stick with one position on the House-passed health care bill for more than a couple of weeks. So its hard to see the president cashing this particular rhetorical check. At least Trumps words reflect a desire to do or at least say something different after three decades of bipartisan failure on North Korea. His is the rhetoric of strategic impatience, and the impulse is understandable. For years, we have pursued desultory sanctions against Pyongyang with intermittent negotiations conducted through a prism of self-delusion. The strategy of negotiating over a nuclear capability that you develop while talks are ongoing is a North Korea invention, borrowed by the Iranians. Itd be nice if Tillerson showed any awareness of this background as he mouths foreign-service talking points. According to Tillerson, we are not North Koreas enemy, we dont seek regime change, and we just want to sit down and denuclearize the Korean Peninsula like reasonable people. The middle ground between Trumps saber rattling and Tillersons diplomatic pleading would be a comprehensive policy toward the goal of regime change. As former Bush administration official Robert Joseph argues, such a strategy would involve cutting off the North from the international financial system, interdicting its weapons trafficking and perhaps shooting down its test missiles or instituting a blockade. If such an approach would have its own risks, at least it would be a strategy. If the Trump administration wants to really send a signal to Kim Jong-un, it should get itself together and pick one. comments.lowry@nationalreview.com FORM 8.3 PUBLIC OPENING POSITION DISCLOSURE/DEALING DISCLOSURE BY A PERSON WITH INTERESTS IN RELEVANT SECURITIES REPRESENTING 1% OR MORE Rule 8.3 of the Takeover Code (the "Code") 1. KEY INFORMATION (a) Full name of discloser: OCTOPUS INVESTMENTS LIMITED (b) Owner or controller of interests and short positions disclosed, if different from 1(a): The naming of nominee or vehicle companies is insufficient. For a trust, the trustee(s), settlor and beneficiaries must be named. (c) Name of offeror/offeree in relation to whose relevant securities this form relates: Use a separate form for each offeror/offeree Clinigen Group plc (d) If an exempt fund manager connected with an offeror/offeree, state this and specify identity of offeror/offeree: (e) Date position held/dealing undertaken: For an opening position disclosure, state the latest practicable date prior to the disclosure 15/08/2017 (f) In addition to the company in 1(c) above, is the discloser making disclosures in respect of any other party to the offer? If it is a cash offer or possible cash offer, state "N/A" NO 2. POSITIONS OF THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE If there are positions or rights to subscribe to disclose in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 2(a) or (b) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security. (a) Interests and short positions in the relevant securities of the offeror or offeree to which the disclosure relates following the dealing (if any) Class of relevant security: Interests Short positions Number % Number % (1) Relevant securities owned and/or controlled: 5037361 4.37 (2) Cash-settled derivatives: (3) Stock-settled derivatives (including options) and agreements to purchase/sell: TOTAL: 5037361 4.37 All interests and all short positions should be disclosed. Details of any open stock-settled derivative positions (including traded options), or agreements to purchase or sell relevant securities, should be given on a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions). (b) Rights to subscribe for new securities (including directors' and other employee options) Class of relevant security in relation to which subscription right exists: Details, including nature of the rights concerned and relevant percentages: 3. DEALINGS (IF ANY) BY THE PERSON MAKING THE DISCLOSURE Where there have been dealings in more than one class of relevant securities of the offeror or offeree named in 1(c), copy table 3(a), (b), (c) or (d) (as appropriate) for each additional class of relevant security dealt in. The currency of all prices and other monetary amounts should be stated. (a) Purchases and sales Class of relevant security Purchase/sale Number of securities Price per unit (b) Cash-settled derivative transactions Class of relevant security Product description e.g. CFD Nature of dealing e.g. opening/closing a long/short position, increasing/reducing a long/short position Number of reference securities Price per unit (c) Stock-settled derivative transactions (including options) (i) Writing, selling, purchasing or varying Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Writing, purchasing, selling, varying etc. Number of securities to which option relates Exercise price per unit Type e.g. American, European etc. Expiry date Option money paid/ received per unit (ii) Exercise Class of relevant security Product description e.g. call option Exercising/ exercised against Number of securities Exercise price per unit (d) Other dealings (including subscribing for new securities) Class of relevant security Nature of dealing e.g. subscription, conversion Details Price per unit (if applicable) 4. OTHER INFORMATION (a) Indemnity and other dealing arrangements Details of any indemnity or option arrangement, or any agreement or understanding, formal or informal, relating to relevant securities which may be an inducement to deal or refrain from dealing entered into by the person making the disclosure and any party to the offer or any person acting in concert with a party to the offer: Irrevocable commitments and letters of intent should not be included. If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none" None (b) Agreements, arrangements or understandings relating to options or derivatives Details of any agreement, arrangement or understanding, formal or informal, between the person making the disclosure and any other person relating to: (i) the voting rights of any relevant securities under any option; or (ii) the voting rights or future acquisition or disposal of any relevant securities to which any derivative is referenced: If there are no such agreements, arrangements or understandings, state "none" None (c) Attachments Is a Supplemental Form 8 (Open Positions) attached? NO Date of disclosure: 16/08/2017 Contact name: Annaliese Maisch Telephone number: 0207 710 6477 Public disclosures under Rule 8 of the Code must be made to a Regulatory Information Service and must also be emailed to the Takeover Panel at monitoring@disclosure.org.uk. The Panel's Market Surveillance Unit is available for consultation in relation to the Code's disclosure requirements on +44 (0)20 7638 0129. The Code can be viewed on the Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk. No one should have been surprised to see President Donald Trump playing footsie with racists. Hes been doing it for years. On Saturday, when Trump could not bring himself to condemn white supremacists for the Charlottesville tragedy, he was just being consistent: He often has shown empathy for white racial grievance. After all, who was the most prominent voice of birtherism, the unfounded and blatantly racist challenge to President Obamas legitimacy? Who exclaimed on Twitter in 2014 that you wont see another black president for generations because of Obamas performance? Who has disseminated false, racially charged statistics about black crime? Trump made a rare climb-down on Monday, specifically condemning violence by white supremacists, neo-Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan. But his initial reaction on Saturday after a car, allegedly driven by a young Nazi sympathizer, plowed into a crowd of demonstrators, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring many others was to denounce hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides, on many sides. In fact, there were just two sides in Charlottesville: militant white nationalists, including former Klan leader David Duke and neo-Nazis, who had descended in large numbers; and counter-protesters who came out to tell the assembled racist horde to get lost. Trumps first statement seemed to make no moral distinction. I urge the Department of Justice to immediately investigate and prosecute this grotesque act of domestic terrorism, tweeted Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. We should call evil by its name. My brother didnt give his life fighting Hitler for Nazi ideas to go unchallenged here at home, wrote Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah. Those are stirring words, gentlemen, but were you not paying attention when then-candidate Trump attacked a federal judge for his Mexican-American heritage and demeaned a Gold Star mother and father for their Muslim faith? Did you not hear the screech of white grievance at his campaign rallies? I might take all the GOP breast-beating more seriously if the party would abandon its state-by-state campaign to impose restrictive election laws that disproportionately disenfranchise African-American and Hispanic voters. In contrast to the Republican reaction, the neo-Nazi Daily Stormer website was quite pleased with Trumps initial comment. He didnt attack us. He just said the nation should come together, wrote the racist, anti-Semitic sites founder. No condemnation at all. When asked to condemn, he just walked out of the room. Really, really good. God bless him. One prominent African-American who gave the Trump administration a chance Kenneth Frazier, chief executive of the giant Merck pharmaceutical company decided Monday morning that hed had enough, resigning in protest from Trumps advisory American Manufacturing Council. Trump shot back on Twitter that now Frazier will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES! There are those who see Trumps initial reluctance to denounce white-power groups as nothing but politics an appeal to white voters who are anxious about growing diversity. Yet the presidents Monday reversal was clearly a political calculation. I believe what we heard Saturday was simply a genuine first reaction. In 1973, Trump and his father were sued by the Justice Department for refusing to rent apartments to African-Americans. He said in a 1989 interview that a well-educated black has an advantage in the job market a victimhood claim refuted by academic studies and his own record of not having minorities in key posts at the Trump Organization. He maintained as recently as last October that the Central Park Five four African-American men and one Latino were guilty of a brutal 1989 rape, despite definitive DNA evidence that exonerated them years ago. Trump has called himself the least racist person on earth. There is no end to the mans lies. eugenerobinson@washpost.com We wish T. Taylor Eighmy well as he moves forward with his ambitious plans for the University of Texas at San Antonio, where he will begin serving as the 48-year-old institutions sixth president on Sept. 1. I believe that great cities need great universities. All the ingredients are in place for UTSA to leverage access and discovery to become the very best Hispanic-serving top tier research university, Eighmy said in a prepared statement last month, after he was named to fill the post vacated by Ricardo Romo. Eighmy merits the communitys support as he settles into his new job and moves forward with taking the citys largest public university to the next level. The universitys successes and the economic prosperity of our community are intertwined. Approximately 70 percent of students who earn their degrees at UTSA remain in the community. Eighmy comes with strong credentials, but it may be his people skills that are put to the test first. The eyes of Texas will be upon Eighmy as he works to ease the tensions created by the process used by the University of Texas System board of regents in selecting a new president for UTSA. Chief among the complaints was the lack of Hispanic representation on the 15-member search committee. The system-appointed committee launched the recruitment effort on the wrong footing. The selection process was also blasted by state Sen. Jose Menendez for its lack of transparency and lack of consideration of a Latino candidate. When the last UTSA president was selected in 1999, the finalists were brought to San Antonio and introduced to the community before a decision was made. Although he had nothing to do with the way the selection process was conducted, it places the new president in an awkwardly defensive position as he embarks on his new job. Eighmy, 60, was recruited from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, where he served as vice chancellor for research and engagement, and taught civil and environmental engineering since 2012. He previously worked at Texas Tech University in Lubbock as vice president for research under former UTSA Provost Guy Bailey, who then was the president at Texas Tech. Eighmys background in research and engineering will serve him well in San Antonio. That portion of his resume and his focus on growth and development were among the many reasons he was chosen for the job, Steve Leslie, UT System vice chancellor of academic affairs and head of the search committee, told the Express-News. Earlier this summer, the university broke ground for a $95 million science and engineering facility to house its expanding mechanical, civil, electrical and chemical engineering programs. UTSA is also one of several Texas institutions seeking to become the next Tier One research university in the state. Thus far only UT-Austin, Texas A&M in College Station and Rice University have achieved that enviable status. Increasing research on campus, growing the university endowment fund of $100 million, improving the graduation rate, and increasing the number of doctoral degrees granted and number of faculty with memberships in the National Academies are keys to that success. UTSA has done a tremendous job of attracting students, but it has appalling retention and graduation rates. The school enrolled close to 29,000 students last fall, but its four-year graduation rate is 18 percent and its six-year graduation rate is only 36 percent. Efforts are underway to improve those stats. The school was the recipient of a $3.25 million, five-year grant in 2015 from the U.S. Education Department to improve graduation and retention rates. Keeping tuition affordable while dealing with increased costs and reduced support from the state is another continuing battle facing the new university president. UTSA has roughly $10 million less in state funding for the next biennium than it did after the 2015 legislative session. The higher education landscape in Texas keeps changing and requires university presidents to wear many hats. Its a challenging and competitive environment. We look forward to seeing where Eighmy takes UTSA. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate USAA Real Estate Co. bought the $88 million Bank of America Plaza on Monday in what was likely the largest property transaction to occur in downtown San Antonio in many years. The 28-story high-end office building, the sixth-tallest in San Antonio, includes 534,000 square feet of space and a 10-story parking garage with 873 spaces, said Samira Bitar, senior director of asset management for USAA Real Estate. She declined to share the purchase price. From a dollar amount, on one particular transaction, I would certainly say its the largest in recent memory, said Larry Mendez, an executive in the local office of Transwestern, a commercial real estate firm. Its one of the most iconic buildings in all of San Antonio. There are two class A towers downtown, and (Bank of America Plaza) is one of them. Patrinely Group, a Houston real estate firm that often works with USAA Real Estate, was a minority partner in the acquisition, Bitar said. The building is across the street from One Riverwalk Place, an 18-story office tower with a five-story parking garage that USAA Real Estate bought in 2013. The company has since moved about 200 employees to the building, occupying four floors. Together, Bank of America Plaza and One Riverwalk include 747,000 square feet of office space, according to the Bexar Appraisal District roughly 14 percent of the available office space downtown. The company doesnt currently have plans to move offices into the Bank of America building, spokesman Matt Hartwig said. Bitar declined to share information about its occupancy and rental rates but said it is substantially leased and occupied. We believe it is one of the premier buildings in San Antonio and an outstanding addition to our existing portfolio of holdings here, Bitar said in an email. The previous owner was a partnership between New York-based Clarion Partners and Houston-based Griffin Partners, which had owned it since December 2014, property records show. They made extensive renovations, adding a fitness center, fixing up the lobby and installing distinctive rainbow-colored lights on the buildings exterior. The 1.8-acre propertys value has skyrocketed in recent years the district assessed it at $88 million this year, an increase of 53 percent from its value of $57.7 million in 2014. USAA Real Estate and Patrinely plan to invest in the building, which was constructed in 1983, to raise it to an even higher standard, Bitar said in an email. Crimson Services, an affiliate of Patrinely, will manage the building. USAA is a real professional outfit. They are going to take very good care of that building, said Ernest Brown, an investment broker with Rohde, Ottmers & Siegel Realty Services. They understand what asset management is about in the long term. Theyre not short-term holders. The surrounding area also has been going through a renewal. The Tobin Center for the Performing Arts opened two blocks away in 2014. Across the street, plans are underway to rehabilitate a dilapidated 10-story building into apartments and retail. The Arts Residences, a $116 million mixture of condominiums and a hotel, is being built on the River Walk nearby. Mendez noted that the purchase gives USAA Real Estate control of a huge amount of parking downtown, where parking is much like water if you dont have the parking, youre in trouble. Transwestern leased and managed the Bank of America building until after it was purchased by Clarion and Griffin. USAA Real Estates purchase seems likely to be the largest transaction downtown in recent years. In May, a New York real estate firm bought the Agave Apartments in south downtown, which the Bexar Appraisal District assessed at $78 million this year, for an undisclosed price. CPS Energy bought two vacant towers on the River Walk last summer for $25.3 million to renovate them for a new headquarters. Local developer GrayStreet Partners bought nine properties on Houston Street in 2015, including several prominent historic buildings, but didnt share the purchase price. USAA also revealed Wednesday that it is building two new office complexes capable of holding 1,850 new employees in Tampa, Florida, and in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. It is expanding its campus in Tampa with a 240,000-square-foot office building that can accommodate about 1,000 employees, bringing its workforce there to 4,500. The new facility in Plano will be able to house 850 workers, doubling its staff there, the company said. For 95 years, we have focused on serving the financial needs of the military community, CEO Stuart Parker said in a statement. Our investments today better prepare us to care for our members for years to come. RWebner@express-news.net @rwebner This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate On August 21, a solar eclipse will pass over the United States. It will begin in the early morning over Hawaii, extend past Alaska and continue all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. Residents of every state will have the chance to view the moons shadow cover at least part of the sun. The ultimate spectacle of totality, in which the moon blocks out all but the wispy solar atmosphere, or corona, will appear as a band 60 to 71 miles wide, taking about 90 minutes to travel across 14 states, from Oregon to South Carolina. Along that path, complete darkness will last for up to 2 minutes, 40 seconds. Millions of spectators -- including hundreds of professional and amateur astronomers -- will gather under the path for the opportunity to experience the event. Beyond the spectacle, theres a key scientific question: What can astronomers possibly discover from solar eclipses that they havent learned already? After all, theyve been analyzing eclipses for at least 300 years. And at least two occur every year, many in reachable parts of our planet. The answer to the question: A lot. If you were a heart surgeon allowed to look inside a human heart only for two minutes every two years, youd look again if you got a chance two years later, explained Jay Pasachoff, an astronomer at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, who is preparing to observe this eclipse, his 66th, from Salem, Oregon. The sun is different every time, he added. Were back in a solar minimum for the first time in about ten years. Thats the time of least activity on the sun during the roughly 11-year solar cycle. Just as important, methods of observing eclipses continue to improve. We have all kinds of new instrumentation, Pasachoff said. Well get more sensitive views at higher speed. The instrumentation includes improved infrared imaging tools and other new means of studying magnetic fields in the sun. Researchers plan to use ground-based telescopes and radars, aircraft, balloons, and orbiting satellites to collect data during the hour and a half the eclipse takes to travel across the U.S. That data will provide fresh understanding of the sun and its surroundings. This is a natural controlled experiment that nature has provided to us, said Madhulika Guhathakurta, an astrophysicist at NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, who is the space agencys lead scientist for the eclipse. We have a tremendous opportunity to collect ground-based observations on the effects of cutting off solar radiation. Although the period of totality at any single location is brief, the eclipse's path over so many accessible viewing sites will allow astronomers and their scientific colleagues to combine data collected at many different points. And the number of observing sites will ensure tangible observations despite cloudy weather that might obscure the event in some regions. That will hardly appeal to observers who miss the show. The problem is that you dont get a second chance, said Paul Bryans of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, who will be studying his first eclipse from Casper, Wyoming. Bryanss group is one of several that will focus on the corona, the wispy solar atmosphere that the suns light overwhelmingly outshines, making it visible only during eclipses. The corona puzzles astronomers because its temperature increases from about 5,500 degrees C at the solar surface to millions of degrees farther out. Intuitively, temperatures should decrease with distance from the hot sun. For me and a lot of others, one of the biggest topics is why is the corona so hot? said Amir Caspi of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. Astronomers have two main theories for the strange behavior. Either what are called Alfven waves transfer heat along magnetic fields in the corona or huge numbers of tiny explosions called nanoflares combine to create a huge heating effect. To try to differentiate between the theories, Caspis team will use cameras in the nose cones of NASA WB-57 jets to take high-speed, high-resolution videos of the corona as they fly along the path of totality. That will allow us to see motion and waves that would be invisible from the ground, Caspi said. Bryans, meanwhile, will use three instruments -- an interferometer, an infrared camera and a polarizing camera -- to study the infrared part of the corona. Thats because infrared wavelengths are more sensitive to magnetic fields, he explained. The study could help astronomers better understand space weather and its potentially disruptive impact on communications and the power grid. We want to predict when we can prepare for solar eruptions by putting satellites in safe mode and shutting down power grids, Bryans said. We want to measure these magnetic fields to find the structures most likely to erupt. But eclipse observations wont focus entirely on the sun and its corona. Well be making measurements on how the abrupt shutting off of sunlight affects Earths atmosphere and generates gravity waves, Pasachoff said. Douglas Drob and Joseph Huba, atmospheric physicists at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., will use observations from satellites and instruments on and launched from the ground to study the physics of Earths upper atmosphere as its temperature falls during the eclipse. We want to use the eclipse to see if our current models of the upper atmosphere hold up, Drob said. Those models form the bases of calculations of the upper atmospheres effect on such effects as satellite drag and radio communications. Eclipse experiments even extend to zoology. The California Academy of Sciences offers an app, iNaturalist, that anyone can download to study the eclipses influence on the behavior of living things. The academy asks citizen scientists who use the app to select individual animals or plants and observe and photograph their behavior 30 minutes before and after the eclipse and during totality itself. The data and photos will provide the academy with detailed records of organisms behavior during eclipses; at present, such records are largely anecdotal or obtained only from captive animals. Another non-astronomer -- retired California physicist Don Bruns -- plans to repeat the most famous eclipse experiment of all: British astronomer Arthur Eddingtons confirmation on May 29, 1919 that the sun's gravity bends the light of other stars, as predicted in Albert Einsteins general theory of relativity. Bruns has equipped a telescope to take very precise images of stars during totality. Those will indicate the extent of deflections in their apparent position, caused by the sun. But Einstein fans shouldnt worry -- multiple other astronomical and non-astronomical experiments have consistently confirmed the general theory. What about those unfortunate scientists who miss this months eclipse because of poor weather or other circumstances? They wont have too long to wait for the next one. They can prepare for eclipses in Chile and Argentina in 2019 and 2020. And if they want to stay stateside, a total solar eclipse will travel from Texas to Maine in 2024. This article originally appeared on Inside Science. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Group Ten Metals Inc. (TSX-V:PGE) (US OTC:PGEZF) (FSE:5D32) (the Company or Group Ten) is pleased to announce the execution of an amended agreement (the Agreement) to acquire a 100% interest in the Catalyst project in the southwest of Canadas Yukon Territory. The project is highly prospective for nickel-copper-PGE mineralization being adjacent to, and contiguous with, Wellgreen Platinums Wellgreen PGM-Ni project which contains a National Instrument Measured and Indicated Mineral Resource1 of 362 million tonnes hosting 2.08 billion pounds of nickel, 6.0 million ounces PGMs+gold, and 1.1 billion pounds of copper; and an Inferred Resource2 of 118.6 million tonnes hosting 0.7 billion pounds nickel, 1.9 million ounces of PGMs + gold, and 0.3 million pounds of copper (as disclosed in a news release dated August 10, 2017 and available under the Wellgreen Platinum profile on Sedar.com). The Agreement has been amended from the Letter of Intent announced on June 23, 2014, to reflect changes to both the property and the Company since that time. By the terms of the Agreement as executed, Group Ten may earn a 100% interest in the property by issuing one million shares (the Shares) over two years to Denali Resources Ltd., paying $10,000 to Ashburton Ventures Inc., and paying $28,062.10 in outstanding invoices for past work on the claims. The issuance of the Shares per the agreement is subject to regulatory approval. The Catalyst project consists of 126 claims adjoining Wellgreen to the northwest and includes the strike extension of the Wellgreen deposit as shown by geophysical surveys. Past work has documented numerous magmatic Ni-Cu-PGE occurrences in layered intrusives similar to the Wellgreen deposit. The project is 15 kilometers from the Alaska Highway and is accessible by well-maintained, all-weather roads. The Companys total land position now exceeds 240 square kilometers in the Kluane Ultramafic Belt, a 600km-long sequence of igneous and sedimentary rocks extending from northern British Columbia through the Yukon and into Alaska which hosts twenty-seven documented magmatic nickel, copper and platinum group element (PGE) gold occurrences, including the Wellgreen deposit. Geology in the belt is similar to that of the world's richest Ni-Cu-PGE deposits including the Noril'sk-Talnakh deposits (Russia), the Stillwater complex (Montana, USA), Raglan and Sudbury (Canada). Group Ten CEO Michael Rowley stated, We are pleased to have finalized the Catalyst acquisition which further strengthens our Yukon land position and exposure to this emerging and under explored Ni-Cu-PGE belt with proven potential. We are highly encouraged by the recent trends and sentiment shift in base metals and nickel, in particular, which has shown significant strength over the past months. The Company has exceptional assets in world-class mining jurisdictions and is well-positioned for what we expect will be a near-term breakout in platinum group metals and nickel. In addition to the exploration efforts in Yukon and Ontario, the Company is currently undertaking a comprehensive and systematic examination of the volumes of historic data that accompanied the recent acquisition of the Stillwater West Project adjacent to Sibanyes Stillwater Mine in Montana, USA. Over the coming weeks, the Company expects to announce key additions to its technical team, which will guide exploration activities moving forward. 1 - Total Measured + Indicated Resource: 362.0 MMT containing 0.26% Ni, 0.14% Cu, 0.231 g/t Pt, 0.244 g/t Pd, and 0.04 g/t Au 2 - Total Inferred Resource: 118.6 MMT containing 0.28% Ni, 0.12% Cu, 0.217 g/t Pt, 0.253 g/t Pd, and 0.032 g/t Au Quality Control and Quality Assurance Garth Kirkham, P.Geo., is the qualified person for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101, and he has reviewed and approved the technical disclosure contained in this news release. About Group Ten Metals Inc. Group Ten Metals Inc. is a Canadian mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition and development of high-quality platinum, palladium and gold exploration assets in North America. The Companys suite of holdings include 100% ownership potential on large land positions adjacent to Sibanyes Pd-Pt Stillwater mine in Montana on our Stillwater West project and our Catalyst, Spy and Ultra projects near the Wellgreen Ni-PGE deposit in the Yukon Territory, as well as the Black Lake-Drayton gold project in the Rainy River district of northwest Ontario. On Behalf of the Board of Directors GROUP TEN METALS INC. Michael Rowley Michael Rowley, President, CEO & Director Email: info@grouptenmetals.com Web: http://grouptenmetals.com Tel: (604) 357 4790 TF: (888) 432 0075 Forward-Looking Statements Forward Looking Statements: This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts including, without limitation, statements regarding potential mineralization, historic production, estimation of mineral resources, the realization of mineral resource estimates, interpretation of prior exploration and potential exploration results, the timing and success of exploration activities generally, the timing and results of future resource estimates, permitting time lines, metal prices and currency exchange rates, availability of capital, government regulation of exploration operations, environmental risks, reclamation, title, and future plans and objectives of the company are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. Although Group Ten believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on a number of material factors and assumptions. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include failure to obtain necessary approvals, unsuccessful exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, results of future resource estimates, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, risks associated with regulatory changes, defects in title, availability of personnel, materials and equipment on a timely basis, accidents or equipment breakdowns, uninsured risks, delays in receiving government approvals, unanticipated environmental impacts on operations and costs to remedy same, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the companies with securities regulators. Readers are cautioned that mineral resources that are not mineral reserves do not have demonstrated economic viability. Mineral exploration and development of mines is an inherently risky business. Accordingly, the actual events may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. For more information on Group Ten and the risks and challenges of their businesses, investors should review their annual filings that are available at www.sedar.com. Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Defeating cyberattacks on 3-D printers (Nanowerk News) With cyberattacks on 3D printers likely to threaten health and safety, researchers at Rutgers University-New Brunswick and Georgia Institute of Technology have developed novel methods to combat them, according to a groundbreaking study. "They will be attractive targets because 3D-printed objects and parts are used in critical infrastructures around the world, and cyberattacks may cause failures in health care, transportation, robotics, aviation and space," said Saman Aliari Zonouz, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. He co-authored a peer-reviewed study ("See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Feel No Evil, Print No Evil? Malicious Fill Pattern Detection in Additive Manufacturing") that was published today at the 26th USENIX Security Symposium in Vancouver, Canada. It's the security community's flagship event, highlighting the latest advances in protecting computer systems and networks. Among several unique techniques, the Rutgers and Georgia Tech researchers are using cancer imaging techniques to detect intrusions and hacking of 3D printer controllers. Rutgers University-New Brunswick and Georgia Tech engineers have devised three ways to combat cyberattacks on 3-D printers: monitoring printer motion and sounds and using tiny gold nanoparticles. (Image: Christian Bayens/Georgia Institute of Technology) (click on image to enlarge) "Imagine outsourcing the manufacturing of an object to a 3D printing facility and you have no access to their printers and no way of verifying whether small defects, invisible to the naked eye, have been inserted into your object," said Mehdi Javanmard, study co-author and assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rutgers University-New Brunswick. "The results could be devastating and you would have no way of tracing where the problem came from." 3D printing, also called additive manufacturing, plays an increasingly important role in industrial manufacturing. But health- and safety-related products such as medical prostheses and aerospace and auto parts are being printed with no standard way to verify them for accuracy, the study says. Even houses and buildings are being manufactured by 3D printers, noted Javanmard. Instead of spending up to $100,000 or more to buy a 3D printer, many companies and organizations send software-designed products to outside facilities for printing, Zonouz said. But the firmware in printers may be hacked. For their study, the researchers bought several 3D printers and showed that it's possible to hack into a computer's firmware and print defective objects. The defects were undetectable on the outside but the objects had holes or fractures inside them. Other researchers have shown in a YouTube video how hacking can lead to a defective propeller in a drone, causing it to crash, Zonouz noted. While anti-hacking software is essential, it's never 100 percent safe against cyberattacks. So the Rutgers and Georgia Tech researchers looked at the physical aspects of 3D printers. In 3D printing, the software controls the printer, which fulfills the virtual design of an object. The physical part includes an extruder or "arm" through which filament (plastic, metal wire or other material) is pushed to form an object. The researchers observed the motion of the extruder, using sensors, and monitored sounds made by the printer via microphones. "Just looking at the noise and the extruder's motion, we can figure out if the print process is following the design or a malicious defect is being introduced," Zonouz said. A third method they developed is examining an object to see if it was printed correctly. Tiny gold nanoparticles, acting as contrast agents, are injected into the filament and sent with the 3D print design to the printing facility. Once the object is printed and shipped back, high-tech scanning reveals whether the nanoparticles have shifted in the object or have holes or other defects. "This idea is kind of similar to the way contrast agents or dyes are used for more accurate imaging of tumors as we see in MRIs or CT scans," Javanmard said. The next steps in their research include investigating other possible ways to attack 3D printers, proposing defenses and transferring methods to industry, Zonouz said. "You'll see more types of attacks as well as proposed defenses in the 3D printing industry within about five years," he said. Find the newest releases to watch from National Geographic on Disney+, including favourite documentary series and films Free Solo, The Rescue, Shark Beach with Chris Hemsworth and The World According to Jeff Goldblum. IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ConversionPoint Technologies Inc., a leading eCommerce technology solution, empowering direct-to-consumer performance marketing, has named Andre Peschong as its Chief Strategy Officer. Peschong will be responsible for driving ConversionPoints long-term growth strategy, which includes strategic acquisitions and capital markets navigation, as well as transitioning the company toward greater adoption of its fully integrated SaaS eCommerce solution. As our company continues to realize tremendous growth, we expect Andres extensive financial background and understanding of the eCommerce industry will provide us an effective tactical roadmap and corporate development focus, said ConversionPoint Technologies CEO, Robert Tallack. Andres appointment to this new role reflects his proven leadership across ConversionPoints operations, particularly in our successful capital markets and acquisition efforts. We believe his expertise and extraordinary communications skills will contribute significantly to our long-term growth. Peschong brings to ConversionPoint more than 25 years of experience in the capital markets, having previously structured and closed more than $300 million in capital formation. He has also co-managed three different investment fund strategies, and has served as CEO of a high-growth consumer products company. Since joining the company last year, he has been instrumental to ConversionPoints transition from marketing consumer products to commercialization of its uniquely-capable SaaS eCommerce technology stack. My experience on all sides of a transaction affords me a unique perspective and understanding in terms of driving a long-term growth strategy and effective execution, said Peschong. I look forward to this exciting opportunity to work with a world-class management team, particularly at this pivotal stage of its growth and development. About ConversionPoint Technologies ConversionPoint Technologies Inc., with offices in California and Minnesota, is a high-growth, eCommerce technology solution that empowers direct-to-consumer performance marketing. The companys proprietary eCommerce technology enables high-volume product sales across multiple consumer verticals. Its technology suite includes a media optimization solution that uses machine learning to optimize ad purchases and lower customer acquisition costs, and a CRM that provides a robust payment processing and customer data management platform. An integrated post-purchase customer management platform automates product delivery and customer re-marketing, and improves sales campaign ROI. The company also offers its technology platform to other eCommerce companies, generating SaaS-based recurring revenue in addition to product subscription revenue. For more information, visit www.conversionpoint.com. Important Cautions Regarding Forward Looking Statements Except for historical information contained herein, this press release contains forward-looking statements, which reflect the expectations of management of ConversionPoint Technologies, Inc. (ConversionPoint or the Company) with respect to potential future events. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to comments regarding: the Company's relationships with its customers; management's expectations with respect to future services to be offered by the Company; management's current growth projections including the Company's annual revenue and gross profit run rates, expansion of operations including through acquisitions; the value and timing of future projects with existing or new customers or products; perceived benefits of becoming a public company and the timing for an initial public offering; and management's expectations regarding the Company's interim financing requirements and the proposed use of proceeds for such bridge financing; the Companys plans to become a leading e-Commerce company; plan to establish relationships with customers, partners, and/or agents which will enhance scalability, and sales and work efforts; the Companys strategic growth plan for coming years, including accelerating the growth of its business; the Companys predictions of its growth potential of its services and workforce. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of such risks and uncertainties. (Natural News) Diamond and Silk, two Southern ladies who were early, exuberant supporters of President Donald J. Trump and remain so today, say that Google-owned YouTube has suddenly demonetized 95 percent of their videos, in what appears to be the latest effort by the media giant to punish political speech it does not agree with. As reported by the Washington Times, the two ardent Trump supporters, Lynnette Hardway and Rochelle Richardson of North Carolina, said they were informed by the video site that their videos were being demonetized, turning them into the latest casualties of censorship. @YouTube @TeamYouTube stopped over 95% percent of our videos from being monetized, stating: Its Not Suitable For All Advertisers, the pair announced in a series of recent tweets. Wonder if @YouTube @TeamYouTube stopped the monetization of our videos because we are loyal supporters of the @POTUS. Hummmm. Sounds like Censorship to us, which is a Violation of our First Amendment. A Bias Method used to Silence our Conservative Voices. @YouTube, how was it OK to monetize our videos for the past two years and now those same videos are no longer eligible for monetization? The two became extremely popular during Trumps campaign last year for their no-nonsense delivery of support for his candidacy. They were also paid $1,275 for field consulting work by the campaign. They have around 89,000 subscribers on YouTube and another 361,000 on Twitter, the Times reported. Not so coincidentally, the duos announcement that their videos have been demonetized comes just two weeks after the online video company announced plans that it would begin combatting extremist and inappropriate content. (Related: Google joins Monsanto among the most evil corporations in the world by announcing a ban on anything it considers a conspiracy theory.) Well soon be applying tougher treatment to videos that arent illegal but have been flagged by users as potential violations of our policies on hate speech and violent extremism, the company said Aug. 1 on its official blog. If we find that these videos dont violate our policies but contain controversial religious or supremacist content, they will be placed in a limited state, the company said. The videos will remain on YouTube behind an interstitial, wont be recommended, wont be monetized, and wont have key features including comments, suggested videos, and likes. Obviously, the companys speech Nazis think any support for Trump is controversial and otherwise inappropriate. The demonetization of Diamond and Silks videos is not the first example of Googles attempts to punish commentators and websites offering independent thought and opinion outside of the far-Left politically correct intelligentsia. As NewsTarget reported this week, Google insiders are warning that the company is engaging in outright censorship of the Internet that its a top priority for the media and tech giant: Currently, and sadly, the freedom of speech is under attack in America. The mainstream media, Hollywood, and leftists on college campuses across the country have been the main culprits of the assault on free speech, however recently it has also been undermined on the Internet. More and more frequently, stories are emerging of conservative voices being suppressed or even silenced by various social media websites, search engines, and even Google. In a series of interviews with former and current employees of the company, Breitbart News asked whether Google, Facebook, and other large Left-leaning media companies were moving to censor content and political speech they dont like. That is absolutely what Google is trying to do, one worker going by the pseudonym Hal said. The pro-censorship voices are very loud, and they have the managements ear. The anti-censorship people are afraid of retaliation, and people are afraid to openly support them because everyone in their management chain is constantly signaling their allegiance to far-left ideology. And, as evidenced by what happened to Diamond and Silk, what YouTube, Google and others arent censoring outright, they are blocking revenue for in an attempt to starve companies of operating cash. J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel. Sources include: WashingtonTimes.com NaturalNews.com NewsTarget.com (Natural News) Shortly after violence erupted in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday, where white supremacists and Left-wing anarchists battled one another over the fate of a Civil War monument, President Donald J. Trump tweeted out this message: We ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Lets come together as one! To the disgustingly dishonest establishment media that wasnt good enough. They insisted no, demanded that the president call out only the white supremacist organizations by name who reportedly had attended the Charlottesville protest in some capacity. So, bending to the request Trump took time on Monday to address specifically that racial hate espoused by the KKK and other white nationalist organizations would not be tolerated. We ALL must be united & condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America. Lets come together as one! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2017 Not good enough. Oh, Trump didnt condemn those groups quickly enough, the chattering Left-wing commentariat in the media complained. And when he finally did, it was only because we forced him to he didnt really mean it and we dont believe him! Like former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Monday in an interview with Fox News, no matter what this president says or does, the haters are gonna hate and the Alt-Left is gonna riot. [C]learly there was a hunger for him to use the specific phrases about white supremacists and about the KKK and about Nazis. He came back today (Monday afternoon), he said every single thing that his critics on the left want. So now you have crowds that are saying well, he didnt say it soon enough. I just want to suggest to you theres an anti-Trump movement in this country that will never, ever be satisfied as long as hes president, Gingrich said. Absolutely right. But the former speaker reminded viewers of this nugget, too: By the way, remember, its Donald Trump who, last year, in the campaign, repudiated David Duke, he repudiated the KKK and in his inaugural, he said all of us bleed the same color and to be racist is to be un-American. Again, not good enough. Its Trump, after all, so the false narratives thats hes racist, bigoted, homophobic will endure no matter what. I want to be clear about something: Yes, Im part of the media, but not part of the establishment media that is responsible for ginning up and then perpetuating so much vile hatred of Trump that its literally making people on the Left insane. Consider this: As reported by The Daily Caller, Left-wing extremists doxxed a University of Arkansas professor, Kyle Quinn, and began calling him out on social media because they believe he was one of the right-wing extremists marching in favor of white supremacy in Charlottesville. Only, as The New York Times reported, Quinn was nowhere near the city on Friday night; he was 1,000 miles away in Bentonville, Ark., having dinner with his wife and viewing an art exhibit. The Times noted: Mr. Quinn, who runs a laboratory dedicated to wound-healing research, was quickly flooded with vulgar messages on Twitter and Instagram, he said in an interview on Monday. Countless people he had never met demanded he lose his job, accused him of racism and posted his home address on social networks. He had been misidentified. The right-wing protest marcher carrying a tiki torch Friday night that Quinn was mistaken for sported an Arkansas Engineering t-shirt; Quinn teaches at the facility. The marcher had a beard and similar build to Quinn as well. But it wasnt him. You have celebrities and hundreds of people doing no research online, not checking facts, Quinn told Times, Ive dedicated my life to helping all people, trying to improve health care and train the next generation of scientists, and this is potentially throwing a wrench in that. This is the establishment medias fault. They are responsible for creating and then enabling an outsized hatred for Trump because it empowers them and advances their anti-American political objectives. (Related: The real goal of the intolerant Left is the outright extermination of conservative White culture (and elimination of the First Amendment.) Its time someone held them responsible. J.D. Heyes is a senior writer for NaturalNews.com and NewsTarget.com, as well as editor of The National Sentinel. Sources include: TheNationalSentinel.com DailyCaller.com NYTimes.com (Natural News) Political totalitarianism is coming to America, and it is being ushered in not by government thugs in jackboots but by progressive activists and their allies in Silicon Valley. (Article by Edmund Kozak republished from Lifezette.com) In a chilling oped published in The New York Times on July 14, Lisa Feldman Barrett, a professor of psychology at Northeastern University, argued that so-called hate speech is the same thing as physical violence because it may possibly cause emotionally fragile individuals stress and should be made illegal. Thankfully, the First Amendment prohibits the federal government from following such advice, but online companies are taking it upon themselves to stamp-out so-called hate speech, strangling free speech and the free exchange of ideas in the process. A number of troubling actions by internet companies Google most prominent among them are making it increasingly clear that some in Silicon Valley have proclaimed themselves defenders of the progressive, politically correct faith, and that those firms will silence any and all heretics who challenge those beliefs. Silicon Valley lives in a politically regressive, exclusive bubble. They are not aware of their own biases in how they talk, have a limited understanding of the philosophy behind free speech, and find it difficult empathizing with other points of view, said Aaron Ginn, co-founder of the Lincoln Network, a think tank that seeks to promote libertarian ideas in the tech industry. But Google not only has difficulty empathizing with other points of view it is also actively trying to suppress them. Google recently made the controversial decision to fire engineer James Damore for authoring an internal memo questioning the companys ideologically motivated diversity practices and highlighting sound scientific research suggesting that possible biological differences between men and women, not discrimination, could be a factor in the tech fields high percentage of men. In the aftermath of Damores firing, a number of anonymous current and former Google employees have come forward to reveal the full extent of the companys efforts to silence right-wing voices. One anonymous employee identified as Hal told Breitbart News last week that some employees in Googles ad sales department are openly encouraging Adwords customers to pull their ads from Breitbart and Rebel Media. Another anonymous employee under the alias Emmet confirmed this with Breitbart News, and also revealed the existence of efforts to demote anything non-PC, anti-Communist, and anti-Islamic terror from search results. Emmett says he personally witnessed efforts from leftists within Google to bias YouTubes algorithms to push anti-PC content off the platforms related videos recommendations, Breitbart reported. The software could just astroturf your Related Videos section [an effort to hurt overall ratings], and you would be none the wiser, said Emmet. Sure, if you know what to look for, perhaps youd notice, he continued. But the vast majority of the viewership would never ever know. Thats the whole point of such a disinformation program, right? If you can tell its disinformation, you would never, ever believe it. People familiar with the process have told reporters recently that YouTube, a subsidiary of Google, is also laboring to cleanse its platform of alternative voices that challenge the mainstream liberal narrative. The social media video-sharing site has in the past few months systematically demonetized videos of right-wing commenters and journalists, such as Infowars editor-at-large Paul Joseph Watson and former Rebel Media reporter Lauren Southern. Read more at: Lifezette.com Join the March on Google this Saturday, August 19th, across the USA. Quakeland: On the Road to America's Next Devastating Earthquake Kathryn Miles Dutton: 2017 9780525955184. | ISBN: 978-0-52595-518-4 The Great Quake: How the Biggest Earthquake in North America Changed Our Understanding of the Planet Henry Fountain Crown: 2017 9781101904060. | ISBN: 978-1-10190-406-0 Given recent seismic activity political as well as geological it's perhaps unsurprising that two books on earthquakes have arrived this season. One is as elegant as the score of a Beethoven symphony; the other resembles a diary of conversations overheard during a rock concert. Both are interesting, and both relate recent history to a shaky future. A geyser in Yellowstone National Park, much of which sits in the seismically active caldera of a volcano. Credit: Michael Nichols/NGC Journalist Kathryn Miles's Quakeland is a litany of bad things that happen when you provoke Earth to release its invisible but ubiquitous store of seismic-strain energy, either by removing fluids (oil, water, gas) or by adding them in copious quantities (when extracting shale gas in hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, or when injecting contaminated water or building reservoirs). To complete the picture, she describes at length the bad things that happen during unprovoked natural earthquakes. As its subtitle hints, the book takes the form of a road trip to visit seismic disasters both past and potential, and seismologists and earthquake engineers who have first-hand knowledge of them. Their colourful personalities, opinions and prejudices tell a story of scientific discovery and engineering remedy. Miles poses some important societal questions. Aside from human intervention potentially triggering a really damaging earthquake, what is it actually like to live in neighbourhoods jolted daily by magnitude 13 earthquakes, or the occasional magnitude 5? Are these bumps in the night acceptable? And how can industries that perturb the highly stressed rocks beneath our feet deny obvious cause and effect? In 2015, the Oklahoma Geological Survey conceded that a quadrupling of the rate of magnitude-3 or more earthquakes in recent years, coinciding with a rise in fracking, was unlikely to represent a natural process. Miles does not take sides, but it's difficult for the reader not to. She visits New York City, marvelling at subway tunnels and unreinforced masonry almost certainly scheduled for destruction by the next moderate earthquake in the vicinity. She considers the perils of nuclear-waste storage in Nevada and Texas, and ponders the risks to Idaho miners of rock bursts spontaneous fracture of the working face when the restraints of many million years of confinement are mined away. She contemplates the ups and downs of the Yellowstone Caldera North America's very own mid-continent supervolcano and its magnificently uncertain future. Miles also touches on geothermal power plants in southern California's Salton Sea and elsewhere; the vast US network of crumbling bridges, dams and oil-storage farms; and the magnitude 79 earthquakes that could hit California and the Cascadia coastline of Oregon and Washington state this century. Amid all this doom, a new elementary school on the coast near Westport, Washington, vulnerable to inbound tsunamis, is offered as a note of optimism. With foresight and much persuasion from its head teacher, it was engineered to become an elevated safe haven. Miles briefly discusses earthquake prediction and the perils of getting it wrong (embarrassment in New Madrid, Missouri, where a quake was predicted but never materialized; prison in L'Aquila, Italy, where scientists failed to foresee a devastating seismic event) and the successes of early-warning systems, with which electronic alerts can be issued ahead of damaging seismic waves. Yes, it's a lot to digest, but most of the book obeys the laws of physics, and it is a engaging read. One just can't help wishing that Miles's road trips had taken her somewhere that wasn't a disaster waiting to happen. Catastrophic damage in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1964, caused by the second-largest earthquake in the global instrumental record. Credit: Bill Ray/The Life Picture Coll./Getty In The Great Quake, journalist Henry Fountain provides us with a forthright and timely reminder of the startling historical consequences of North America's largest known earthquake, which more than half a century ago devastated southern Alaska. With its epicentre in Prince William Sound, the 1964 quake reached magnitude 9.2, the second largest in the global instrumental record. It released more energy than either the 2004 SumatraAndaman earthquake or the 2011 Tohoku earthquake off Japan; and it generated almost as many pages of scientific commentary and description as aftershocks. Yet it has been forgotten by many. The quake was scientifically important because it occurred at a time when plate tectonics was in transition from hypothesis to theory. Fountain expertly traces the theory's historical development, and how the Alaska earthquake was pivotal in nailing down one of the most important predictions. The earthquake caused a fjordland region larger than England to subside, and a similarly huge region of islands offshore to rise by many metres; but its scientific implications were not obvious at the time. Eminent seismologists thought that a vertical fault had slipped, drowning forests and coastlines to its north and raising beaches and islands to its south. But this kind of fault should have reached the surface, and extended deep into Earth's mantle. There was no geological evidence of a monster surface fault separating these two regions, nor any evidence for excessively deep aftershocks. The landslides and liquefied soils that collapsed houses, and the tsunami that severely damaged ports and infrastructure, offered no clues to the cause. Previous earthquakes provide clear guidance about present-day vulnerability. The hero of The Great Quake is the geologist George Plafker, who painstakingly mapped the height reached by barnacles lifted out of the intertidal zone along shorelines raised by the earthquake, and documented the depths of drowned forests. He deduced that the region of subsidence was the surface manifestation of previously compressed rocks springing apart, driving parts of Alaska up and southwards over the Pacific Plate. His finding confirmed a prediction of plate tectonics, that the leading edge of the Pacific Plate plunged beneath the southern edge of Alaska along a gently dipping thrust fault. That observation, once fully appreciated, was applauded by the geophysics community. Fountain tells this story through the testimony of survivors, engineers and scientists, interweaving it with the fascinating history of Alaska, from early discovery by Europeans to purchase from Russia by the United States in 1867, and its recent development. Were the quake to occur now, it is not difficult to envisage that with increased infrastructure and larger populations, the death toll and price tag would be two orders of magnitude larger than the 139 fatalities and US$300-million economic cost recorded in 1964. MOOCs and Their Afterlives Elizabeth Losh University of Chicago Press (2017) 9780226469317 | ISBN: 978-0-22646-931-7 Whither MOOCs the massive open online courses that promised to vastly scale up access to higher education? This multi-author volume reveals a bumpy evolution, from wrangles over educational monoculture to the emergence of spin-offs such as POOCs (participatory open online courses). Media theorist Elizabeth Losh is typically insightful. She argues that if we forget the long US tradition of open learning through efforts such as the Chautauqua adult-education movement and the Tuskegee Institute Movable School, we are likely to romanticize novelty and cramp innovation. Planet Hunters: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life Lucas Ellerbroek (Translated by Andy Brown.) Reaktion (2017) 9781780238142 | ISBN: 978-1-78023-814-2 In this delightful scientific chronicle of humanity's quest for other worlds, astronomer Lucas Ellerbroek mixes memoir, history and meetings with remarkable planet hunters. The field's roots are speculative: mathematician Christiaan Huygens's 1698 best-seller Cosmotheoros, for instance, posited intelligent extraterrestrial life. Over the past century, with chemists and biologists joining in, emerging stars such as William Borucki and Sara Seager have contributed to an inspiring haul of more than 3,000 exoplanets so far. Inside the Lost Museum: Curating, Past and Present Steven Lubar Harvard University Press (2017) 9780674971042 | ISBN: 978-0-67497-104-2 Far from being cases of 'stuff', museums are gestalts complete entities that capture and contextualize the past. Here, former curator Steven Lubar examines the institutions through the lens of Brown University's Jenks Museum in Providence, Rhode Island: set up in 1871 by naturalist John Whipple Potter Jenks, its collections were summarily dumped in 1945. Lubar (who is involved in a project to reimagine the Jenks; https://jenksmuseum.org) elucidates what we lose through such erosion of material culture, from repositories of shared histories to 'object libraries' for generations of researchers. Traces of Vermeer Jane Jelley Oxford University Press (2017) 9780198789727 | ISBN: 978-0-19878-972-7 The exquisitely luminous paintings of Johannes Vermeer have long stirred debate over whether the seventeenth-century Dutch master used optical aids. Artist Jane Jelley probed the issue pragmatically. Before assessing any use of camera obscura, she investigates the tools, materials and studio Vermeer was known to have used, and his virtuosic layering of paint. She concludes that he probably embraced close-up and distance observation, perspective drawings and lenses. But artists, she notes, have always made use of technology and that does not, in Vermeer's case, diminish genius. The Curious World of Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn Margaret Willes Yale University Press (2017) 9780300221398 | ISBN: 978-0-30022-139-8 As a PhD student, Kevin Chong studied microorganisms in Antarctica. Now, he's a forensic scientist at the DNA Profiling Laboratory, part of the Singaporean government's Health Sciences Authority, where he helps investigators to solve crimes. What do forensic scientists do? It's similar to what is portrayed in the US TV series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Forensics is the application of science in the legal arena, and a forensic scientist in the biological sciences examines crime-scene evidence for biological fluids, such as blood or semen, and tries to obtain a DNA profile from them. What happens next? We match the profiles to those of convicted offenders in our database. This does not mean that a given person is the suspect they could be the victim, or unrelated to the case. Law-enforcement agencies determine involvement. Did you plan to go into forensic science? No. When I was an undergraduate student, my research supervisors had PhDs, which influenced me to follow their paths. So I applied to labs that were working on projects that fascinated me, such as on microorganisms that thrive in harsh environments. Why did you leave academia? Pushing the boundaries in science often requires serendipity and time which can be fleeting in a pressure-cooker environment focused on producing paper-worthy results. How does your lab differ from academia? The focus is on quality assurance. In academia, there are quality controls in every experiment. But we go beyond that here. Our lab's staff members have to be proficiency-tested annually to ensure that we can perform tests to produce a reliable result. Analysts have to review all forensic work and tests. And you can't use expired chemicals. That was a shock in my PhD lab, no one cared about expiry dates. What have you learnt in this job? Science and those practising it should be neutral. We want the evidence to speak for itself. Washington, D.C., Aug. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (USHCC) is proud to announce that Laura Folse, CEO of BP Wind Energy, will join the USHCCs CEO Panel Series: A Dialogue with Corporate Leaders during the organizations 2017 National Convention in Dallas, Texas. The panel will take place on Monday, October 2nd. The CEO Panel Series brings together industry leaders from diverse sectors to engage in an informative discussion on management style, leadership philosophy, best practices, and their outlook on todays global market. We are honored to have Laura Folse participate in this years CEO Panel. With years of experience and more than a dozen productive wind farms under her command, she is a proven leader in the renewable energy industry, said USHCC President & CEO Javier Palomarez. Her commitment to supply America with clean and dependable energy started when she first joined BP in 1998. Her expertise has helped BP become the global leader in renewable energy it is today. Lauras vision for an energy independent America and commitment to a sustainable future makes her an ideal guest for this years CEO Panel. We look forward to hearing Lauras insights into this critical field. Laura embodies BPs position at the forefront of innovation in the quest for fueling America in a dependable and responsible way, said USHCC Chairman Don Salazar. She also understands the tremendous opportunities that the renewable energy sector represents for American small business. We are proud to have her with us for this years CEO Panel. Laura Folse said: Im honored to be selected to join the CEO panel series. Our industry is changing faster than at any time in our lifetime. As energy shifts towards lower carbon sources it is an exciting time to be in the renewable sector. BP has the largest operated renewable energy business of any major international oil and gas company, and that experience gives us a deeper understanding of the opportunities and obstacles as we advance towards lower carbon energy solutions. In the future, the way we deliver heat, light and mobility will change dramatically. Prior panelists include* Bob Unanue, CEO of Goya Foods Inc.; Robert Sanchez, CEO of Ryder System; Jose Mas, CEO of MasTec; Marcelo Claure, President & CEO of Sprint Corporation; Tom Greco, President & CEO of Frito Lay; Manolo Sanchez, Chairman & CEO of BBVA Compass; Scott Anderson, President & CEO of Zions Bank; Joe Alvarado, CEO & Chairman of Commercial Metals Company; Ilene Gordon, Chairman, President & CEO of Ingredion Incorporated; Jonathan Johnson, Executive Vice Chairman of Overstock.com; Edward Rust, Chairman & CEO of State Farm; Anne Shen Smith, Chairman & CEO of Southern California Gas; Tim Leiweke, President & CEO of AEG; George Halvorson, Chairman & CEO of Kaiser Permanente; Anne Sweeney, President of Disney/ABC Television; Pamela Patsley, Chairman and CEO of Moneygram; and Matt Rose, Chairman of BNSF Railways. *All titles herein pertain to the dates of the respective CEO panels, and may/may not reflect the current positions or status of employment of the listed individuals. To learn about the USHCC National Convention, visit ushcc.com/convention. About BP BP is among the top wind energy producers in the US. In the 31st of December 2016, they directly operated 14 wind farms across eight US states, while holding an interest in a separate facility in Hawaii. Their net generating capacity from this portfolio, based on their financial stake, was 1,452MW of electricity. Their net share of US wind generation for 2016 was 4,389GWh. BP also runs one wind farm at their refinery sites in the Netherlands, operating on a much smaller scale and managed by Downstream segment, with 22.5MW of generating capacity. Safety remains their number one priority and a number of sites achieved safety milestones in 2016. For example, Silver Star and Titan both achieved seven years without a recordable injury, and Fowler 1 and 3 have received awards from Vestas - a leading wind turbine manufacturer - for best overall balanced scorecard, which includes metrics for safety and availability. About the USHCC The USHCC actively promotes the economic growth, development and interests of more than 4.2 million Hispanic-owned businesses, that combined, contribute over $668 billion to the American economy every year. It also advocates on behalf of 260 major American corporations and serves as the umbrella organization for more than 200 local chambers and business associations nationwide. For more information, visit ushcc.com. Follow us on Twitter @USHCC. Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c8b3e769-4b9e-4048-a78b-d1499abd14e4 A former Concord dental assistant pleaded guilty Tuesday morning to five counts of lewd and lascivious acts with a child under 14 years old, Contra Costa County prosecutors said. Alejandro Saro of Antioch made his plea at 8:30 a.m. in a Martinez courtroom before Judge Patricia Scanlon. The guilty plea included an enhancement for having contact with more than one victim, Deputy District Attorney Aron DeFerrari said. Saro will likely spend 25 years to life in prison when he is sentenced on Sept. 22, prosecutors said. Saro was arrested on April 2, 2016, on suspicion of molesting a sedated 8-year-old girl in the Concord dental office where he worked. Since then, police identified four other victims. Saro worked at La Clinica Monument at 2000 Sierra Road where some of the victims were molested after Saro started there in March 2015. Saro also worked at Patino Orthodontics at 2751 Concord Blvd. where at least one victim was molested, police said. According to DeFerrari, the victims were courageous in coming forward and were able to prevent Saro from possibly abusing anyone else. The first allegation was made by a girl who said that he touched and photographed her vaginal area as she was being sedated in an exam room. DeFerrari also praised the Concord Police Department whose officers "used community outreach and compassion for the victims and their families that made it possible to achieve this result today." Saro's attorney, Evan Kuluk with the county's Alternate Defender's Office, was not immediately available for comment. A grieving father is vowing to find the men who killed his son last week in Oakland. On Aug. 9, David DePoris was killed in broad daylight near Telegraph Avenue. A thief grabbed his laptop. DePoris gave chase and was dragged and run over by the getaway car. The 40-year-old man was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. "I'm here for one reason and one reason alone: to see what I can do to find my son's killer," said Gene DePoris. The father late Tuesday also said he wants people to remember his son's music and why he loved Oakland. David DePoris wrote songs about nearly everything: love, plywood doors and even toilets. "He had a hell of a sense of humor," Gene DePoris said. But the musician also believed strongly in nonviolence, doing the right thing and he believed with all his might in the city where he lived and died. "He loves Oakland, and to him embodied everything that he hoped America would stand for," Gene DePoris said. The father plans to bring his son's ashes back to Florida with him, but said he will be scattering much of them in Oakland at a memorial service scheduled for Sept. 9 at Sol Gate Studios in Oakland. CrimeStoppers is offering a $15,000 reward in the case. Gene DePoris said he has every reason to believe that this case will be solved by the Oakland Police Department. People with information about the case are asked to call the Oakland Police Department's Homicide Section at 510-238-3821. Following a postponed vote on a housing project at the Brisbane Baylands, the Brisbane City Council has canceled its meeting Thursday and expects a ballot measure related to the plan to be ready by June or November of 2018. Deliberations had been set to come to a close this month ahead of a ballot measure in November. However, Brisbane Mayor Lori Liu stated that the council would postpone its vote in order to review statewide housing legislation that may impact the city' use of the Baylands site. The San Francisco Housing Action Coalition, a strong proponent of the housing proposal, has said it has no knowledge of proposed state legislation that would impact the Baylands project. The vote was initially delayed for an eight-month review period between October and May of 2016, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, during which time proponents and critics of the project packed a series of public hearings set to discuss the proposal. The vote was further delayed to conduct additional environmental and fiscal impact reports to determine the safety of building on a former landfill. The extended review process is, in part, due to disagreement over the number of housing units the city will approve on its Baylands site. Developer Universal Paragon Corp. has proposed converting the 684-acre former rail yard and sanitary landfill into seven million square feet of office space and 4,500 home units, while a community proposed plan suggests adding hotel units in place of housing. Residents argue that the developer's plan, which would nearly triple the population, will change the fabric of their small-town community for good. However, California state lawmakers and local job makers argue that bringing nearly 16,000 new jobs to the area without housing units would further deepen the region's housing crisis. "As with most public policy issues, it is more complicated than a simple yes or no ballot measure," Brisbane City Manager Clayton Holstine told NBC Bay Area. "The council not only needs to review and make a determination on the applicant's proposal but also needs to deliberate on general plan land use and policy designations and issues." To learn more about the proposed redevelopment, click here. Youve decided not to join a bazillion people clogging highways and small Oregon towns to watch the moon obscure the sun for about two and a half minutes. What now? Miss out on this truly rare spectacle subject yourself to an endless stream of Facebook photos from way cooler friends who actually jammed themselves somewhere beneath the Path of Totality? Or find an alternative? Astronomer Gerald McKeegan of the Chabot Space & Science Center says there are plenty of gadgets that will make eclipse viewing in the Bay Area almost as cool if you dont mind settling for an almost total eclipse because the Bay Area will see about a 75 percent solar eclipse. For far, far less than grossly inflated hotel bills, you can experience the eclipse at home with as little as just a piece of paper. Take a piece of card stock and punch a hole in it, McKeegan demonstrated, holding what looked like a regular postcard with a small nail hole in the middle. Hold this over a piece of white paper. McKeegan said the wholly humble viewer will allow the eclipse to project through the hole and onto the paper creating a mini eclipse you can enjoy anywhere under the sun. McKeegan also showed off a pair of popular paper eclipse glasses fetching $2.99 in the Chabot gift shop. Outlets like Amazon have recalled some batches of eclipse glasses because they turned out to be fakes. McKeegan said the only protection for buyers is to get them from reputable outlets. They look like sunglasses, McKeegan explained, except when you look through them you wont be able to see anything unless youre looking at the sun. Another easy homemade gadget is to get No. 14 welders glass from a hardware store and mount it in a small frame, which makes for another safe eclipse viewer, according to McKeegan. Next the astronomer demonstrated a small commercial Sun Spotter, a sort of deconstructed box with a mirror and a viewer that will project the eclipsed sun onto a piece of paper. During an eclipse, McKeegan said, its Mother Natures way of reminding us that theres a lot of stuff going on out there in space. For budding astronomers interested in space, McKeegan said small telescopes can be modified with sun filters to make for safe viewing. You can also fork out for an actual solar telescope made just for the occasion of looking at the sun. With "a small telescope with a proper solar filter on it, McKeegan said, you actually get as good or better (than) an image than you would with a big telescope. Chabot boasts some of the biggest and most advanced telescopes around. Yet McKeegan said the centers large modern computer-operated telescope is unsuitable for looking at the eclipse since it would require a large solar filter for the job. Instead, the center will employ its 134-year-old telescope for the eclipse viewing party the center is hosting next Monday. The event will begin around 9 a.m. and run until around 11:30 a.m. However, there is a big caveat McKeegan noted, pointing up at the thick fog, which swallowed the center on a recent day. Unfortunately August is the foggiest month of the year for the Bay Area, McKeegan said. So if its foggy youre going to be out of luck. McKeegan himself, isnt leaving things to chance. He and members of the East Bay Astronomical Society will head to Mitchell, Oregon to watch the spectacle. They will double the small town's population of 130 people. This is the first time in my life I will be able to see a total eclipse, McKeegan said. For millions of people across the country, this will be their only time to see a total eclipse. So whether you go whole hog or just partial hog the eclipse, like the weather, will be something everyone is talking about. And if nothing else, consider this: Most people dont deal with science that much, McKeegan said. But this is their chance to get a little science. Redwood City, CA, Aug. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Runtime, open source IoT software provider, announced it was awarded the Outstanding Contributor Award for its open source implementation of OIC Core Specification v1.1.0 from the Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF). Runtimes open source, modern environment allows development using open APIs, running applications on sensors that require small footprints and low power requirements, like many IoT and IIoT applications require. The growth and massive deployment of smart cities, agriculture, and other IoT applications require an open, platform agnostic, small footprint software, said Runtime CEO and co-founder James Pace. Were proud to get the recognition of this award and look forward to continuing our work to support the IoT industry. In June 2017, Runtime demonstrated a hyper-efficient implementation of OIC Core Specification v1.1.0 based on IoTivity-Constrained--the reference implementation of the OCF application framework--on Qualcomm Technologies QCA4020 and QCA4024 connectivity system-on-chips (SoC). The demonstration highlighted the ability to run OCF services over higher speed, IP-based transports (e.g., Wi-Fi) and lower throughput, constrained transports such as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) 4.2 and Bluetooth 5, and communicate with iOS and Android client applications. Runtime is proud to have demonstrated the OCF framework with Qualcomm Technologies connectivity SoCs in delivering a tight, robust and flexible implementation of OIC 1.1, said Runtime CTO and co-founder Sterling Hughes. Our implementation, ported from the open source Apache Mynewt project, uses only 19KB of NVRAM and 3KB of RAM. Irrespective of the underlying network, the use of OCF specification brings proven app layer coherence across any network in multi-transport environments, from constrained BLE and LoRa to higher throughput Wi-Fi. The OCF framework is emerging as the de facto open application layer for consumer and industrial applications, a contrast with closed, vendor-driven ecosystems. Key attributes of the OCF specification include a robust security framework and a transport-independent service discovery model. The use of efficient protocols such as CoAP and CBOR make OCF implementations ideally suited for devices running high throughput applications and, importantly, for constrained devices with battery-power and intermittent connectivity. Runtimes OCF implementation was derived from Apache Mynewt, an open source operating system for microcontroller-class IoT devices from the Apache Software Foundation (ASF). Apache Mynewt provides the components developers expect in a general purpose OS, but for IoT devices incapable of running Linux or Android. Apache Mynewt was designed for connected devices that require manageability at scale and includes deep, controller-level implementations of BLE 4.2 and Bluetooth 5, and LoRaWAN. QCA4020 a tri-mode SoC integrating BLE 4.2 and Bluetooth 5, Dual-band Wi-Fi, and 802.15.4-based technologies, including ZigBee and Thread, and QCA4024 integrates Bluetooth Low Energy 5 and 802.15.4. Both solutions help address IoT fragmentation, making for flexible product development for OEMs, and support for various devices from different manufacturers to talk to each other across different wireless standards, protocols and communication frameworks, while connecting to a system network and cloud and application services. The QCA4020 and QCA4024 IoTivity-Constrained implementation has been validated against iOS, Android, Linux, Mac OS, and Windows 10, making it ideal for a vast array of connected-device use cases. About Runtime Runtime provides cloud-based management of connected devices and is a complete solutions provider for consumer, medical, commercial, and industrial IoT applications. Free, open source software is essential to all Runtime offerings. Runtime supports Apache Mynewt, an embedded OS optimized for networking and built for remote management. Apache Mynewt provides the components developers expect from a modern general purpose OS, but for constrained devices that are incapable of running either Linux or Android. Please visit http://www.runtime.io/ . About IoTivity and the Open Connectivity Foundation IoTivity and the Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF) are Linux Foundation Collaborative Projects. IoTivity delivers open source reference implementations of OCF standards. The current OCF baseline specification is OIC 1.1. Please visit https://openconnectivity.org. ### Bluetooth is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc. Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. Other product and brand names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. QCA4020 and QCA4024 are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. Community activists unleashed their fury on agents with Homeland Security Investigations part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who, police said, served a federal search warrant related to human trafficking in West Oakland on Wednesday morning. The operation began around 6:30 a.m. on 27th Street, near West Street. Law enforcement officers were at the scene for hours. "HSI is conducting a criminal investigation, not a civil immigration or deportation action," Oakland police spokeswoman Officer Johnna Watson said in a statement. Although ICE officials remained tight-lipped, Oakland police said they were looking for suspects in an alleged human trafficking ring that is targeting juveniles. However, Laura Barrios, whose house was raided, claims investigators are looking into their family-owned janitorial business, and at least two undocumented family members from Guatemala were taken into custody. A tense situation unfolded as agents, who filed out of a house with boxes of evidence, were confronted by an angry crowd. People yelled "Boo" and chanted "Shame." Lucas Solorzano, with the Alameda County Immigration Legal and Education Partnership, said it's up to communities to protect their own. ICE agents are not welcome, he said. "This is the political climate we're in right now," he said. "It shows how important community defense models are right now, how we need to be able to defend community members." Near the house where the federal search warrant was served, messages scrawled in chalk on the sidewalk offered insight into the neighborhood's views on the city's police department and ICE. "We (love) our neighbors," "Get ICE out," Don't talk to cops" and "OPD is a disgrace" warred with "Oakland is not a sanctuary." Community activists unleashed their fury on agents with Homeland Security Investigations part of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement who served a federal search warrant related to human trafficking in Oakland on Wednesday morning. Laura Malpert reports. In fact, Oakland is a sanctuary city, but police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick authorized officers to provide traffic control after HSI on Tuesday requested their assistance. "Chief Kirkpatrick gave strict instructions to the commander and officers that they may not assist HSI with any enforcement efforts," Watson said. "The officers' only role was that of traffic control and neighborhood safety." Last month, the Oakland City Council moved to terminate an agreement between the police department and ICE allowing some officers to be designated as customs task force officers, but Watson said the department may still "assist our local, state and federal agency agencies when requested as it pertains to traffic control, community safety and officer safety." James Schwab, a spokesman for ICE in San Francisco, could not confirm what type of investigation was underway or whether any arrests had been made this morning. However, Schwab did explain the relationship between HSI and ICE. "Under ICE there are two organizations," Schwab said. "One is Enforcement and Removal, that's deportation." He continued: "And then there's Homeland Security Investigations. That's our criminal investigation side." Additional information is unlikely to be released Wednesday, but more details might be available Thursday, according to Schwab. "It's an ongoing investigation," he said. "They're going to have to go through everything." San Francisco is bracing for what could be the next battleground between protesters. Following the violence last weekend at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., local, state and federal officials on Tuesday sent a strong message to organizers of a right-wing rally planned for later this month at Crissy Field. "No, you are not welcome in San Francisco," Board of Supervisors president London Breed said. "You are not welcome here, don't come to San Francisco, we are going to do everything we can to stop you." Breed joined Mayor Ed Lee and police Chief Bill Scott in sending a letter to the National Park Service on Tuesday, expressing "outrage" over its decision to grant a permit to the group Patriot Prayer for an Aug. 26 rally. The park service has jurisdiction over Crissy Field, which is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The letter calls for the park service to impose conditions to ensure public safety and to provide assurances to the city that detailed security plans and measures will be in place. "San Francisco has a long and storied history of championing freedom of expression and First Amendment rights, but as we have witnessed in recent months, these types of rallies can quickly turn hateful and violent with tragic consequences," Lee said in the letter. He continued: "Events in Charlottesville and Seattle are proof that rallies such as these attract extreme and racist fringe groups who only want to provoke malice and incite brutality." House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi also called for the park service to reconsider the permit. "Free speech does not grant the right to yell fire in a crowded theater, incite violence or endanger the public in any venue," Pelosi said in a statement. State Sen. Scott Wiener and Assemblymen Phil Ting and David Chiu sent letters to the park service expressing concerns about the rally. "As public officials we are used to differences in ideology, but the events in Charlottesville, complete with violence and protestors armed with automatic weapons, have moved us past any sense of civil discourse or peaceful assembly," that letter reads. "If this rally goes forward, we are extremely concerned for the public safety of the people of our city." National Park Service spokeswoman Sonja Hanson on Monday said the agency had issued a permit, and noted that the agency was required by law to grant such permits on First Amendment grounds. Hanson said that the agency is working with U.S. Park Police and San Francisco law enforcement to develop plans for security at the event, which organizers had said on their application would involve around 200 people. Park service officials did not return calls Tuesday seeking comment on the concerns raised by local elected officials. City officials said they had only learned of the event or the permit Monday. Scott said his department is in talks with the park service now to work out security details. "We will not tolerate violence in any form," Scott said. Patriot Prayer, which has been described as an alt-right group by the hate group watchdog Southern Poverty Law Center, has dubbed its event "Free Speech, Unity and Peace San Francisco." It is billed as "a day of freedom, spirituality, unity, peace, and patriotism!" "San Francisco has long been a city that prides itself in acceptance of all, so together, let's unite in this beautiful city to listen to some great speakers & live music!" the event's Facebook page states. Joey Gibson, the organizer of the Crissy Field Protest, told NBC Bay Area that the deadly violence in Charlottesville was reprehensible and conveyed a message that Patriot Prayer doesn't agree with. "I mean, I'm brown, for crying out loud!" he said. "You know, we have a black speaker, we have two Hispanics, we have a transsexual, we have a white woman. I mean our message is about freedom, and love, and peace. Gibson said a Trump rally last year, where the president's supporters were assaulted, galvanized him to action. That's when he began organizing protests. The next one is in San Francisco because of its "intolerance," he said. San Francisco is freaking out right now, which is legitimate because of what happened in Virginia," Gibson said. "But even if that didnt happen, theyre still freaking out because people who are coming in are different from them, and they dont understand them, so it makes them afraid. There is no question the city is afraid that people meaning to do harm, will latch on to this protest as an opportunity. We are a city (where) we love each other," said Shamman Walton, president of the San Francisco Board of Education. "We want to make sure that everyone has an opportunity to be successful. But we also have to deal with some of these issues that are happening in other parts of the country. And how are we going to be the example? Patriot Prayer held an event in Seattle on Sunday that was met with a heavy police presence and a large counter-protest. While police deployed pepper spray and worked to keep the groups separate, the event ultimately ended without major violence. Scheduled speakers at Aug. 26's event include right-wing figures associated with violent protests in Berkeley that took place in March and April, including "trans patriot" Amber Gwen Cummings and Kyle "Based Stickman" Chapman. The event is the first of two planned for the Bay Area, with a second one scheduled for Berkeley on Aug. 27. That event, hosted by Cummings on Facebook, is titled "No to Marxism in America," and will take place in Berkeley's Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park from 1 to 5 p.m. Steve Jobs' life story has been remade into Hollywood films, a TV-movie and now an opera. Rife with tension and contradictions, composer Mason Bates said the tech mogul's story was made for the stage. In his latest piece, "The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs," Bates fused traditional theatrics with the 21st century story to create the popular piece. With nearly every seat sold out at its world premiere in Santa Fe, New Mexico, NBC Bay Area caught up with the Burlingame-based composer to find out what makes Jobs' life so riveting to audiences around the country. Questions and answers have been edited for brevity: What gave you the idea to make an opera about Steve Jobs? "I looked at the life of Steve Jobs, and I found that it has all of these interesting tensions," Bates said. "Opera has to be full of tension because the tension release is the blood and guts of opera." Jobs was adopted as a baby, refused to acknowledge his first child for many years and died young at the age of 56. "He had passion, obsession and his story includes death," Bates said. "It includes love." However, he realizes some are hesitant to merge modern day characters with the opera stage. "You think, Steve Jobs?" Bates said. "Wait a minute. How does he fit into the opera house, which usually tackles subjects like lovers' long past or that kind of thing, but when you look at Steve Jobs, his life really is the stuff of opera." Why do you think the story of Steve Jobs resonates with people? "I think what's happening is that so many people carry a little piece of Steve Jobs around in their pocket," Bates said. "They have a relationship to the subject in a very personal way." Aside from Steve Jobs, what is the story about? "His story is one that accumulates a challenge we all face: how do we take all of our beautiful messiness of human communication and cram it into these little devices?" Bates said. "That kind of tension between the beautiful minimalism of these devices and the beautiful messiness of human life is what this opera is all about." Bates says the opera also focuses on Jobs' search for inner peace. Major characters aside from Jobs, played by Edward Parks, is Steve Wozniak and Laurene Powell, the wife of Jobs. What's next for the production? After finishing at the Santa Fe Opera next year, the production will run in Seattle for the 2018-2019 season and finish at the San Francisco Opera during the 2019-2020 season. "I think opera as a medium for this story is a really powerful idea, and the reception weve had has just been so gratifying," Bates said. To learn more about the opera, visit the Santa Fe Opera website. As Seen On Three children who were believed to have been abducted from Indianapolis and "in extreme danger" were found safe less than an hour after an Amber Alert was issued for their disappearance, police said Wednesday. The children were last seen around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, authorities said. The Brownsburg Police Department said it believes they may have been abducted by their father, 25-year-old Christhian Garcia, described as an Hispanic man with brown hair and brown eyes. Johnson Garcia, 2, is described as an Hispanic boy, 2 feet, 11 inches tall, weighing 33 pounds with brown hair and brown eyese. Christhian Garcia, 5, is described as an Hispanic boy, 3 feet, 7 inches tall, weighing 40 pounds with brown hair and brown eyes. Marcos Garcia, 8, is described as an Hispanic boy, 4 feet, 3 inches tall, weighing 75 pounds with black hair and brown eyes. It was not immediately known what the boys were wearing at the time they went missing. Further information on the disappearance wasn't released. Anyone with information is asked to call (888) 582-6237 or 911. Hundreds of protesters marched Tuesday from Federal Plaza to Trump Tower in downtown Chicago. The demonstration comes shortly after President Donald Trump blamed both sides, again, for the violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend. The politically-fueled clash, including armed militiamen, Nazi-flag toting racists, white nationalists and counter protesters. A 32-year-old woman dead was killed when an Ohio man allegedly drove his car into a crowd of protesters. "The murder and attempted murder of anti-racist demonstrators Saturday in Charlottesville, VA, by armed thugs marching under the banners of openly white supremacist anti-Semitic and homophobic organizations is not an isolated incident," the organizers of the demonstration said in a statement. "This assault was organized by the neo-fascist forces of the United States who are seeking to become the Storm Troopers of the Alt Right and Donald Trump." Mayor Rahm Emanuel released a statement Tuesday evening denouncing Trump's stance on the weekend's violence. For the second time in three days, this president equated neo-Nazis, white supremacists and bigots with those who courageously stood up to confront their hate and give voice to our shared values," Emanuel said. Emanuel said he protested against a Nazi march in Marquette Park in 1978 and called it his "political awakening." The Chicago mayor called Trump's comments "unworthy of the office and its moral authority" and invoked the works of poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou. "When someone shows you who they are, believe them," the quote reads. Hundreds of demonstrators marched down Dearborn Street Tuesday evening carrying signs and chanting. At one point, traffic was stopped at Wacker Drive and State Street. Black Lives Matter, Arab American Action Network, Jewish Voices for Peace and dozens of other organizations were present. Chicago police and the Office of Emergency Management Communications did not immediately respond to request for comment on the demonstration. Confusion about who was in charge and an uncontrolled self-evacuation added to the chaos during the January shooting at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, according to a new report released Tuesday. The 82-page report, prepared by a consulting firm and released by the Broward County Aviation Department, analyzed the response to the January 6 shooting, which left five people dead and six wounded. The report said a unified command was "never established causing confusion as to who was in charge." The lack of unified command led to "a lack of information regarding resource needs and disjointed, misinformed, and conflicting mission development." Police say 27-year-old Esteban Santiago flew from Alaska to the airport and opened fire in a crowded baggage claim area. Santiago has pleaded not guilty to a 22-count indictment in the shooting. "Speculation of additional firearm discharges in other areas within FLL caused an uncontrolled self-evacuation throughout the airport," the report said. "The self-evacuation of people into secure areas led to the complete closure of FLL, passenger delays, traffic control issues, and personal property claim issues." Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel strongly disputed the report, saying he, airport manager Mark Gale and the FBI agent in charge quickly took command of the situation shortly after the shooting. He conceded he hadn't read the report, saying he had received it Monday night. "It's just not accurate," Israel told a press conference Tuesday. "Critics are going to criticize, but I was out there." He admitted there was no plan for staging and deploying that many officers at the airport, but said a lot of the confusion and perceived lack of command was caused by the overwhelmed radio system. He said staging plans are being improved and a new radio system is being purchased. "Command was unified, we knew what was going on (but) it wasn't perfect," he said. Authorities say Santiago, an Iraq war veteran from Anchorage, Alaska, surrendered 85 seconds after the first shot was fired. The report praises the initial response and capture of Santiago, who admitted the shooting to investigators. But chaos broke out again 90 minutes after Santiago's barrage when false reports of a second shooter sent people stampeding, injuring 40. The report says that could have been largely avoided if police officers had earphones to listen to their radios without civilians overhearing them. More than 12,000 passengers were at the airport during the shooting. Many of them ran out through emergency exits onto the airfield after the false second report. There was also terror caused by plainclothes police and deputies, some wearing masks to protect their identities, running through the airport with their guns drawn as they responded to the false report. That could have resulted in uniformed officers accidentally shooting them. Overall, Israel, Gale and county officials said they are proud of the response but will implement the report's 132 recommended changes as needed. "It is clear we have some work to do," Gale said. "That is not to say we performed poorly that day, not by a long shot. But we do recognize that as professionals we need to continually improve our performance." The FBI says Santiago admitted committing the shootings in recorded interviews with agents. His federal trial has been delayed until at least January as prosecutors decide whether to seek the death penalty. Santiago, a diagnosed schizophrenic, told FBI agents he acted under government mind control and then claimed inspiration by the Islamic State extremist group. No terrorism links have been found. One after another, the nation's most powerful Republicans responded to President Donald Trump's extraordinary remarks about white supremacists. Yet few mentioned the president. The Senate's top Republican, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, condemned "hate and bigotry." House Speaker Paul Ryan charged that, "White supremacy is repulsive." Neither criticized the president's insistence that there were "very fine people on both sides" of a violent weekend clash between white supremacists and counterdemonstrators. The nuanced statements reflect the party establishment's delicate dance. Few top Republican officeholders defended the president in the midst of an escalating political crisis. Yet they are unwilling to declare all-out war against Trump and risk alienating his loyalists. And as the 2018 elections begin to take shape, the debate over Trump's words appears to be taking hold in GOP primaries. Trump's overall approval rating may be dismal, but a small group of die-hard supporters is expected to play an outsized role in next year's midterm elections when the Republican control of Congress is at stake. Those supporters are praising the president's response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, which left one dead and many more wounded. "You got racism in both factions, on both sides," former New Hampshire GOP chair Jack Kimball said. "Trump has zero fault here. None." Republican leaders also need the president: They hope to work with him to enact meaningful legislation on infrastructure, taxes and health care to prove to voters their party can govern. The delicate relationship helps explain Wednesday's cautious comments from powerful Republicans like McConnell. "We all have a responsibility to stand against hate and violence, wherever it raises its evil head," McConnell said in a statement, noting that white supremacists are planning a rally in his home state of Kentucky. "Their messages of hate and bigotry are not welcome in Kentucky and should not be welcome anywhere in America," he said. Former Republican Presidents George H.W. and George W. Bush, usually silent on current political developments, released a joint statement that stopped short of criticizing Trump as well. "America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism and hatred in all forms," the Bushes said. The political tap dance frustrated as least one member of Trump's diversity council, CEO of the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Javier Palomarez, who called Trump's response "a monumental failure in leadership." He challenged those who denounced racism in general terms without calling out the president by name. "That's a sign of weakness, and I don't think the American people and the Republican Party is going to forget," said Palomarez, who noted he would remain on Trump's diversity council "for now." But Trump loyalists on the ground in key states are ready to fight for their leader. And there were signs that the divide between the loyalists and establishment Republicans is already shaping the mid-term political landscape. "We've always had these weak skittish so-called Republicans in the D.C. crowd. They're always peeing their pants," said Corey Stewart, a former Trump aide who has already launched a 2018 Senate bid in Virginia. Many were quick to blame the media for Trump's struggles. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the liberal media is not a fan of President Trump," said Trump's Alabama campaign chairman, Perry Hooper, arguing the Russia investigation is driven by media obsession. He added, "Now they're trying to make him some kind of racist. It's ridiculous. He doesn't have a racist bone in his body." Nevada Republican Danny Tarkanian, who is challenging Republican Sen. Dean Heller, said those criticizing Trump's response to the white supremacist rally were "splitting hairs." "It was clear the media went out of their way to find fault with his statement," Tarkanian said. Heller, who is considered one of the most endangered Republicans in the nation heading into the 2018 election, posted a simple statement on Twitter late Tuesday that stopped short of criticizing the president: "There is no defense or justification for evil in the form of white supremacists and Nazis. None," he wrote. The Republicans who lashed out at Trump most aggressively were, in many cases, those with the least to lose politically. South Carolina Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, who doesn't face re-election until 2020, said the president "took a step backward by again suggesting there is moral equivalency between the white supremacist neo-Nazis and KKK members who attended the Charlottesville rally" and the people demonstrating against them. "Many Republicans do not agree with and will fight back against the idea that the party of Lincoln has a welcome mat out for the David Dukes of the world," Graham added, referring to the former Ku Klux Klan leader. With excitement building over the total solar eclipse on Aug. 21, the first in almost 40 years, enthusiasts are finding solar viewing glasses are getting harder to find. Several major retailers have sold out of the eye-protecting glasses in Connecticut, but 13 libraries statewide will offer them for free. "Its not just library patrons," said Nicole Cignoli, of Glastonbury Welles Turner Memorial Library, regarding the sparked interest from her community. "Everybodys excited." For Cignoli, preparations for Mondays solar eclipse have been one year in the making. Last August, a NASA affiliate sent her and several other librarians nationwide information regarding a grant to help fund programs related to the eclipse. On Tuesday, she and her team had about 120 pairs, but more than 200 people had already lined up as of 8 a.m. for the glasses. Other libraries, like Rocky Hills, had close to 1,000. In Glastonbury, science enthusiasts who hope to safely catch a glimpse of the rare phenomenon can pick up their free frames Monday at 10 a.m. on a first come, first served basis. From there, viewers can stick around for around for the librarys viewing party. "It should be at 2:45 p.m. (for) 66 percent totality, so it wont be a total eclipse but itll be fun just to see what happens," said Cignoli. Another option is to get creative with welding supplies. Kevin Slate from Maine Oxy said hes received several inquiries from people asking if he has the shade 12 glass in stock. "The shade part means the darkness of the filter plate," Slate said. "The lower the number, the easier it is to see through." Shade 12 is the minimum shade NASA requires, which is so much darker than what Slate typically uses for welding that he hardly ever sells it. Whether in-store or through welding suppliers, the proper protectant typically costs less than two dollars. The full list of libraries offering glasses is as follows: (Note: Several of these locations might be out of solar eclipse glasses at this point.) Kent Memorial Library, Suffield Goshen Public Library, Goshen Manchester Public Library, Manchester Cora J. Belden Library, Rocky Hill New Milford Public Library, New Milford Prospect Public Library, Prospect Brainerd Public Library, Haddam Ridgefield Library, Ridgefield Huntington Branch Library, Shelton New Haven Free Public Library, New Haven Groton Public Library, Groton Stratford Library, Stratford Fairfield Public Library, Fairfield Keep in mind that there is high demand and these locations might have run out. American Airlines announced it will be adding new seasonal flights - and adding services to existing locations - for summer travelers heading to Europe. The new flights will begin in May of 2018, adding trips to Budapest and Prague from Philadelphia, as well as additional services from Chicago to Venice. "Summer travel to Europe is very popular," said Vasu Raja, American's vice president, Network & Schedule Planning. "These flights will conveniently connect customers from two very important hubs - Chicago and Philadelphia - to exciting markets." The move will continue American's expansion in Europe - American Airlines began service from Dallas/Fort Worth to Amsterdam and Rome; and Chicago to Barcelona, just this summer. American currently offers over 130 daily departures for its 23 nonstop-destinations from the United States to Europe. The airline says the new flights should be available for booking before the end of the month, subject to government approval. Minneapolis, MN, Aug. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Sons of Norway has announced its agreement with Ryan Companies US, Inc. and Weidner Apartment Homes for the sale and redevelopment of their land parcel in South Minneapolis. The land parcel is located on Lake Street between Holmes and Humboldt avenues and is in the heart of the Uptown neighborhood. Considered to be a marquee location, this property has been home to the International Headquarters of Sons of Norway since 1962. Once complete, the Sons of Norway plans to continue business operations on the site including their financial services and international cultural organization. After an extensive process to ensure the highest and best use of our primary asset, the clear choice was to sell the property that has served us so well, said Eivind J. Heiberg, CEO Sons of Norway. Considering market conditions in the Uptown neighborhood and the challenges of an aging facility, it was time to make the most forward-thinking decision for the long-term health of our organization, employees and the community. Were extremely pleased to partner with Ryan Companies and Weidner Apartment Homes to redevelop what has been our home for more than 55 years and to continue our presence in the vibrant Uptown neighborhood, said Heiberg. Ryan Companies will develop, design and construct the project and has been involved in a number of iconic properties that have been successfully re-envisioned in the Twin Cities. These properties include Midtown Global Exchange, Grainbelt Brewery, and Downtown East among many others. We have been in dialogue with Sons of Norway for quite some time and we feel that the location provides an incredible opportunity. We are thrilled to be partnered with Sons of Norway and Weidner in re-visioning this great site, said Tony Barranco, Vice President of Real Estate Development for Ryan Companies. About Ryan Companies US, Inc. Founded in 1938, Ryan Companies offers comprehensive commercial real estate services as a national developer, architect, capital investment consultant, builder and real estate manager with a focus on bringing lasting value to its customers and the communities in which it works. Ryan market depth includes retail, industrial, healthcare and senior living. Ryan development and corporate build-to-suit work spans a wide range of product types including office, mixed-use, hospitality, multifamily housing and mission critical facilities. Ryan has nearly 1,300 employees in 13 offices and has completed projects in 38 states. For more information, visit ryancompanies.com About Sons of Norway Sons of Norway, a financial services and international cultural organization headquartered in Minneapolis, began with shared values and a simple promise of financial security when like-minded people came together to protect their families, celebrate their culture and strengthen their community. For more than 120 years, weve lived our mission to promote and preserve the heritage and culture of Norway, celebrate our relationships with other Nordic countries and provide quality insurance and financial products to our members. Now more than 50,000 members strong, we play an active role in communities throughout North America and Norway. Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f2669739-ae49-44ef-bccb-13ad92e53991 Attachments: A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/6bd2af73-a533-4538-b3c9-b38071d1652b What does the federal government want to do with records on everyone who visited an anti-Donald Trump website? The Justice Department's demand is part of the ongoing case against people who allegedly broke laws while protesting President Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration in Washington, NBC News reported. Prosecutors say the website, DisruptJ20.org, was used to organize "a violent riot." The U.S. Attorney's Office in Washington D.C., which is prosecuting the protesters in local courts, points out that the warrant has already been approved by a judge. But the target of the search warrant, a web-hosting company that has provided information about the people who registered for the site, says federal officials have gone too far by seeking IP addresses for anyone who entered the site. After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the era of nuclear nightmares of the atomic arms race, of backyard bomb shelters, of schoolchildren diving under desks to practice their survival skills in the event of an attack seemed to finally, thankfully, fade into history. Until now. For some baby boomers, North Korea's nuclear advances and President Donald Trump's bellicose response though he did compliment Kim Jong Un in a tweet on Wednesday have prompted flashbacks to a time when they were young, and when they prayed each night that they might awaken the next morning. For their children, the North Korean crisis was a taste of what the Cold War was like. "I'm not concerned to where I can't sleep at night. But it certainly raises alarms for Guam or even Hawaii, where it might be a real threat," said 24-year-old banker Christian Zwicky of San Bernardino, California. People of his parents' generation were taught to duck and cover when the bombs came. "Maybe those types of drills should come back," Zwicky said. He isn't old enough to remember the popular 1950s public service announcement in which a cartoon character named Bert the Turtle teaches kids how to dive under their desks for safety. But Zwicky did see it often enough in high school history classes that he can hum the catchy tune that plays at the beginning. That's when Bert avoids disaster by ducking into his shell, then goes on to explain to schoolchildren what they should do. "I do remember that," says 65-year-old retiree Scott Paul of Los Angeles. "And also the drop drills that we had in elementary school, which was a pretty regular thing then." Even as a 10-year-old, Paul said, he wondered how much good ducking under a desk could do if a bomb powerful enough to destroy a city fell nearby. No good at all, his teacher acknowledged. Then there were backyard bomb shelters, which briefly became the rage during the missile crisis of 1962, when it was learned the Soviets had slipped nuclear-tipped missiles into Cuba and pointed them at the United States. After a tense, two-week standoff between President John F. Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that some believe brought the world the closest it's ever come to nuclear war, the missiles were removed and the shelters faded from public interest. Now they, too, seem to be having a revival. "When Trump took office it doubled our sales, and then when he started making crazy statements we got a lot more orders," says Walton McCarthy of Norad Shelter Systems LLC of Garland, Texas. "Between now and a year ago, we've quadrupled our sales." His competitor, California-based Atlas Survival Shelters, says it sold 30 shelters in three days last week. During its first year in business in 2011 it sold only 10. Bill Miller, a 74-year-old retired film director living in Sherborn, Massachusetts, thinks these days are more nerve-wracking than the standoff in October 1962. "I think it's much, much crazier, scarier times," he said. "I think the people who were in charge in the Kennedy administration had much more of a handle on it." Nathan Guerrero, a 22-year-old political science major from Fullerton, California, agrees, saying he learned in history class that the "shining example" of a way to resolve such a conflict was how Kennedy's brother and attorney general, Robert Kennedy, brokered the tense negotiations. "But knowing the way the current administration has sort of been carrying itself, it doesn't look like they are keen to solving things diplomatically," he said. "As a young person, honestly, it's pretty unsettling," he continued. Had he given any thought to building a backyard bomb shelter? "I'd be lying if I said such crazy things haven't crossed my mind," he said, laughing nervously. "But in reality it doesn't strike me as I'd be ready to go shopping for bunkers yet." Instead, he studies for law school and tries "not to think too much about it." Other Americans are more sanguine about the possibility of nuclear war. Rob Stapleton has lived in Anchorage, Alaska, since 1975, and he is aware that Alaska has been considered a possible target because it is within reach of North Korean missiles. "There's been some discussion about it around the beer barrel and I'm sure the United States is taking it seriously, but we're not too concerned around here," he said. Alaska is so vast and spread out, said Stapleton, that he and his friends can't imagine why North Korea would waste its time attacking The Last Frontier. "I mean sure you'd be making a statement, but you'd not really be doing any damage." A Fort Myers woman was arrested Wednesday after snorting cocaine in the parent pick-up line of a local middle school, an arrest report stated. Deputy Christopher Dought was on uninformed patrol at Lexington Middle School when he noticed Christina Hester, 39, take a straw and snort a white, powdery substance off her iPhone screen, the officer said. Hester allegedly used a credit card to "chop up" the drug, which was determined to be cocaine after Dought tested the substance. When Dought asked if she had anything illegal in her car, Hester said she had "a little bit of drugs," the report said. A bag of cocaine and two straws were discovered in the vehicle, weighing a total of 0.5 grams. Hester was charged with posession of cocaine and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was transported to the Lee County jail for booking. The Trump Administration reached out to University of Miami medical experts after American diplomats in Havana continuously became sick and experienced severe hearing loss, according to a New York Times report. Diplomats reportedly have also experienced other symptoms such as headaches and dizziness at the embassy since it opened during former President Barack Obamas restoration of diplomatic relations with the island nation. The hearing loss in particular has been so severe that many diplomats have returned to the US with at least six patients being treated in UMs hospital this year - and a UM specialist traveled to Havana this month to examine diplomats experiencing this nameless illness. US officials have also stated that the diplomats were exposed to a sonic wave device either within or outside of the diplomats homes, which are owned and run by Cubas government. The illness reports date back to 2016, State Department officials told the paper. Canadian diplomats have reportedly also become sick. On August 10, the Cuban Foreign Ministry told the Times that Cuba has never allowed or will it allow the Cuban territory to be used for any action against accredited diplomatic officials or their families, without exception." A family member of a South Florida soldier spoke to NBC 6 on Tuesday after the soldier died while in combat in Iraq on Sunday. Sergeant Roshain Brooks was one of two soldiers killed Sunday, while their artillery unit was firing on an ISIS mortar position. The Pentagon blamed their deaths on a mishap, and said there is no indication ISIS played a role in their deaths. Brooks grew up in South Florida and graduated from Coconut Creek High School before moving to New York. His cousin told NBC 6 that he loved being in the military. He did something that he loved. He died doing something that he loved. He could have left. Of course, his family members asked him to leave but he wouldnt, said Tosha Chambers. It was his choice. He died doing something that he believed in. Five other soldiers were also injured in the incident, which remains under investigation. What to Know The Department of Environmental Conservation said it got another call about discolored water near the Maid of the Mist dock Heavy rain in the area and may have caused a discharge from a local wastewater treatment plant operated by the Niagara Falls Water Board The water board is under investigation for a July 29 discharge of wastewater into the Niagara River that turned water black New York state officials say they're investigating a possible wastewater discharge near Niagara Falls similar to one last month that turned the water below the world-famous attraction black and smelly. The Department of Environmental Conservation announced Tuesday evening that its staff responded to a call earlier in the day reporting discolored water near the Maid of the Mist dock on the American side of the falls. DEC officials say heavy rain was reported in the area and may have caused a discharge from a local wastewater treatment plant operated by the Niagara Falls Water Board. The water board blamed the overflow on the heavy rain. The water board is under investigation for a July 29 discharge of wastewater into the Niagara River below the falls, turning the water black as tourists looked on. Gov. Cuomo had previously ordered an investigation. Later, local lawmakers called for a criminal probe. What to Know Protesters gathered for a second night of demonstrations outside Trump Tower Tuesday Donald Trump has been under fire for his response to weekend violence at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia At least three people were arrested in separate rallies outside Trump Tower Monday evening Award-winning documentary filmmaker Michael Moore, joined by actor Mark Ruffalo, led audience members of his new Broadway play to Trump Tower to protest President Donald Trump's comments about the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. It was the second round of protests outside the building since the president arrived in New York City Monday night, and it was a swift and vocal response to Trump's earlier news conference at the tower, where he angrily doubled down on his belief that "both sides" were to blame for the violence in Charlottesville. "I think there's blame on both sides," Trump said Tuesday. "I have no doubt about it, and you don't have any doubt about it either." Violent clashes broke out Saturday at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville between people protesting efforts to remove of a Confederate statue and counter-protesters. Police said one of the white nationalists plowed a car into a crowd, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and wounding many others. Feels good to be home after seven months, but the White House is very special, there is no place like it... and the U.S. is really my home! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 15, 2017 On Facebook, Moore urged people to join him at the tower following Tuesday night's performance of his one-man show "The Terms of My Surrender" to "nonviolently express our rage." Moore, who led groups of people on buses to the tower, described the president's comments as "just awful, disgusting." During the bus ride, Ruffalo, using a bullhorn, led the group in chants including "No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA" and encouraged people on the street to join them at the Manhattan skyscraper. "I've condemned Neo-Nazis," Trump added at the press conference. "I've condemned many different groups. But not all of those people were Neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists. By any stretch." [NATL] In Pictures: Protesters March to Trump Tower Ahead of President's 1st Visit At the protest, Moore and Ruffalo held a candlelight vigil, urging the crowd to never forget Heyer and make sure she didn't "die in vain." One protester outside the tower said she thinks Trump equated peaceful protesters to Nazis. "It was a disgusting statement," protester Marina Sgroi said. "They weren't bad people trying to start a fight. They were people there to denounce hate." Hundreds of demonstrators have been gathering at Trump Tower since the president arrived. Three people were arrested Monday and are facing charges of disorderly conduct, reckless endangerment and obstructing government administration, police said. President Trump lands in New York City Monday night. The Associated Press contributed to this report. DUNMORE, Pa., Aug. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fidelity D & D Bancorp, Inc. (OTC US:FDBC) (the Corporation) announced that the Board of Directors has declared a three-for-two stock split effected in the form of a fifty percent (50%) stock dividend which equates to one (1) additional share of common stock for every two (2) shares of common stock outstanding to shareholders of record as of September 18, 2017 and payable on September 28, 2017. Cash will be paid in lieu of fractional shares based on the closing price of the common stock on the record date. The Corporation is paying this fifty percent (50%) stock dividend to reward the shareholders for the continued growth and profitability of the Corporation. We are pleased to declare a stock split that will be delivered in the form of a stock dividend, stated Daniel J. Santaniello, President and Chief Executive Officer. We believe that the increase in number of shares creates long-term shareholder value and increased liquidity. Fidelity D & D Bancorp, Inc. is the parent bank holding company of The Fidelity Deposit and Discount Bank. Forward-looking statements Certain of the matters discussed in this press release constitute forward-looking statements for purposes of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as such may involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The words expect, anticipate, intend, plan, believe, estimate, and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. The Companys actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including, without limitation: the effects of economic conditions on current customers, specifically the effect of the economy on loan customers ability to repay loans; the costs and effects of litigation and of unexpected or adverse outcomes in such litigation; the impact of new or changes in existing laws and regulations, including the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 and the regulations promulgated there under; impacts of the capital and liquidity requirements of the Basel III standards and other regulatory pronouncements, regulations and rules; governmental monetary and fiscal policies, as well as legislative and regulatory changes; effects of short- and long-term federal budget and tax negotiations and their effect on economic and business conditions; the effect of changes in accounting policies and practices, as may be adopted by the regulatory agencies, as well as the Financial Accounting Standards Board and other accounting standard setters; the risks of changes in interest rates on the level and composition of deposits, loan demand, and the values of loan collateral, securities and interest rate protection agreements, as well as interest rate risks; the effects of competition from other commercial banks, thrifts, mortgage banking firms, consumer finance companies, credit unions, securities brokerage firms, insurance companies, money market and other mutual funds and other financial institutions operating in our market area and elsewhere, including institutions operating locally, regionally, nationally and internationally, together with such competitors offering banking products and services by mail, telephone, computer and the internet; technological changes; the interruption or breach in security of our information systems and other technological risks and attacks resulting in failures or disruptions in customer account management, general ledger processing and loan or deposit updates and potential impacts resulting therefrom including additional costs, reputational damage, regulatory penalties, and financial losses; acquisitions and integration of acquired businesses; the failure of assumptions underlying the establishment of reserves for loan losses and estimations of values of collateral and various financial assets and liabilities; volatilities in the securities markets; acts of war or terrorism; disruption of credit and equity markets; and the risk that our analyses of these risks and forces could be incorrect and/or that the strategies developed to address them could be unsuccessful. The Company cautions readers not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect analyses only as of the date of this release. The Company has no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release. For more information please visit our investor relations web site located through www.bankatfidelity.com. A middle schooler from the Jersey Shore is another young victim of the ever-growing opioid crisis after testing found a mixture of heroin and fentanyl killed him. Vincent Weiner, 13, was found dead June 4 at his mother's home in Middle Township, New Jersey. He died sometime during the night, discovered in his bed around 10 that morning, authorities said. The Cape May County District Attorney's Office said Monday that toxicology testing revealed the teens death was a direct result of a drug overdose. Both heroin and fentanyl, a much stronger opioid, were found in his system. Detectives said Weiner was actively taking the illicit substances though they did not reveal the specific method. Jamie Lund Vincent's mother, Jamie Lund, said her "heart is broken, shattered into a million pieces" over the boy's passing. Lund said she's not sure how he got the drug. She's urged anyone who knows to tell her and police. "If he had been using, it was unknown by all of us...there were no signs of anything," she told NBC10. Lund described Vincent as a happy, goofy kid, but he was sometimes bullied in school. She learned of the bullying shortly before his death. "The two weeks or so prior [to Vincent's death] there had been unusual behavior at school, it was discovered that he had been cutting. And stories of bullying in school began to surface," Lund said. He was set to enter eighth grade this fall. Jamie Lund Fentanyl is a powerful opioid approximately 100 times more potent than heroin. When used illegally, it is often converted to powder form by drug dealers. Cape May County's forensic lab has recently seen an increase in heroin laced with fentanyl, prosecutor Robert Taylor said. The proliferation of opioids continues to claim more lives across the nation than car crashes and homicides. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 142 people die from a drug overdose every day. Half of the deaths are linked to opioids. Over about an hour's span last Wednesday, 16 people nearly died during a purported opioid "free giveaway day" in Camden. All were revived using the overdose reversal medicine, naloxone. Once rare, adolescent drug overdoses doubled between 1997 and 2012, a Yale School of Medicine Report found. A 2015 survey by the Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality found 21,000 adolescents (ages 12 to 17 years old) had used heroin in the past year. President Donald Trump made his case for a crisis on the U.S.-Mexico border in a speech to the country Tuesday night. But Trump and members of his administration have repeatedly made false statements about immigration, legal and illegal, to bolster a need for a wall or at least steel slats and baseless assertions that Mexico will pay for it. President Donald Trump declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency last week at the urging of the presidential opioid commission. The commission is led by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has focused his last months in office around combating the opioid epidemic. Taylor urged families to talk with their loved ones about the dangers of illegal drugs and to report any drug or criminal activity to the by visiting the Cape May County Sheriff's Office website or calling the Cape May County Crime Stoppers at 609-465-2800. Iraq is asking the U.N. Security Council for assistance in collecting evidence to prosecute extremists from the Islamic State group for possible crimes against humanity. Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres circulated Wednesday that his government and the United Kingdom are working on a draft Security Council resolution seeking assistance. It was sent more than five months after human rights lawyer Amal Clooney urged Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to send a letter to the council so it can vote to set up an investigation into crimes by ISIS militants in Iraq. Clooney represents victims of ISIS rapes and kidnappings from Iraq's Yazidi community. The lawyer, who is the wife of actor George Clooney, said in early March that the world's nations must not let ISIS "get away with genocide." Amal Clooney on Wednesday welcomed al-Jaafari's letter as an important first step to bring ISIS members to justice. But she cautioned that it will only be meaningful if the Security Council acts promptly so evidence can be collected of crimes by ISIS. "Yazidis and other ISIS victims want justice in a court of law, and they deserve nothing less," Clooney said in a statement. "I hope that the Iraqi government's letter will mark the beginning of the end of impunity for genocide and other crimes that ISIS is committing in Iraq and around the world." Britain's deputy U.N. ambassador, Jonathan Allen, said the United Kingdom is delighted the Iraqi government's letter makes clear it wants accountability. He noted that Iraq, Britain and Belgium launched a campaign last September to prosecute ISIS crimes. Allen said London will work to put forward a resolution to achieve accountability, "leaving no hiding place for Daesh anywhere." Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told reporters: "Of course we'll support it (but) we'll have to see the resolution." Britain's U.N. ambassador, Matthew Rycroft, said in March that the aim of a Security Council resolution would be to assist Iraq "with the difficult but crucial challenge of preserving the huge amount of evidence of Daesh crimes committed on Iraqi territory." In the letter, Al-Jaafari praised Iraq's armed forces for recently liberating the city of Mosul from "the Daesh terrorist organization" and for "brilliant military victories with the support and cooperation of the international coalition." "The crimes committed by the Daesh terrorist organization against civilians and destruction of infrastructure and archaeological sites in Iraq are crimes against humanity, which makes it important to bring its perpetrators from Daesh terrorist gangs to justice, in accordance (with) the Iraqi law," he said. In this light, al-Jaafari said, "we request assistance of the international community to get benefited from international expertise to criminalize Daesh terrorist entity." The foreign minister underlined Iraq's "sovereignty and jurisdiction" in both negotiating and implementing any Security Council resolution. A council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said Wednesday that work on a resolution was just getting started. In March, Clooney said it was initially Iraq's idea to involve the United Nations and she told the Iraqi prime minister that sending a letter "would silence those who doubt your commitment to bring Daesh to justice." If no letter is forthcoming, she said, the Security Council could act without Iraq's consent or it could refer the extremist group to the International Criminal Court, or the General Assembly could establish "an accountability mechanism" as it did for crimes in Syria in December. The secretary-general could also launch an investigation, she said. Nadia Murad, a Yazidi survivor and U.N. goodwill ambassador, said Wednesday she was grateful to Iraq for taking a first step toward justice. "Victims deserve a meaningful accountability mechanism in which they trust and I hope the Security Council resolution will reflect that," she said in a statement. Defense Secretary James Mattis praised Navy sailors for their service earlier this month and used an obscenity to make his point, NBC News reported. Speaking at Naval Base Kitsap in Washington state, Mattis said the sailors "will have some of the best days of your life and some of the worst days of your life in the U.S. Navy." He added, That means you're living. That means you're not some pussy sitting on the sidelines, you know what I mean, kind of sitting there saying, Well, I should have done something with my life. The Pentagon made a transcript of the Aug. 9 speech available earlier this week. Mattis, a former Marine who went on to serve as the head of U.S. Central Command and picked up the nickname "Mad Dog," said he wished he was young enough to go back out to sea. A day after pledging she would stay on a business advisory board to President Donald Trump, Campbell's Soup CEO Denise Morrison announced she's defecting from the group. Shortly after her resignation, the president dissolved the manufacturing council. Morrison, in a statement released by her Camden, New Jersey-based food company Wednesday afternoon, cited Trump's latest remarks on the Charlottesville attacks as the primary reason for leaving. "Racism and murder are unequivocally reprehensible and are not morally equivalent to anything else that happened in Charlottesville. I believe the President should have been and still needs to be unambiguous on that point," Morrison wrote in that statement. Morrison was the sixth CEO to leave the president's American Manufacturing Council. 3M CEO Inge Thulin announced his departure shortly before Morrison. Kenneth Frazier, a North Philadelphia native who heads up pharmaceutical giant Merck, as well as the leaders of Under Armour, AFL-CIO, and Intel previously left the group. Within minutes of the departures of Morrison and Thulin, the president tweeted that he is ending the manufacturing council and the President's Strategic and Policy Forum. "Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all," the tweet read. On Tuesday, Campbell's said Morrison felt it was important to "have a voice and provide input on matters that will affect" the industry and company. That statement came a mere five hours before Trump doubled down on his initial comments about this weekend's violent and deadly white supremacist rally in the Virginia college town saying "there is blame on both sides." "You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was very violent. And nobody wants to say that," Trump said. Trump's unplanned comments, made during a news conference about infrastructure at Trump Tower in New York City, immediately enraged politicians from both parties and the public. It also seemed to wipe away the statement he made Monday when he denounced white supremacists, Klu Klux Klan members and neo-Nazis as "criminals and thugs." The president's new comments were applauded by former KKK leader David Duke with him tweeting: "Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth." Here's a list of business leaders who were part of the manufacturing council before either leaving or the group being disbanded: Bill Brown, Harris Corporation Michael Dell, Dell Technologies John Ferriola, Nucor Corporation Jeff Fettig, Whirlpool Corporation Mark Fields, Ford Motor Company Kenneth Frazier, Merck Alex Gorsky, Johnson & Johnson Greg Hayes, United Technologies Corp. Marilynn Hewson, Lockheed Martin Corporation Jeff Immelt, General Electric Jim Kamsickas, Dana Inc. Klaus Kleinfeld, Arconic Brian Krzanich, Intel Corporation Rich Kyle, The Timken Company Thea Lee, AFL-CIO Andrew Liveris, The Dow Chemical Company Mario Longhi, U.S. Steel Denise Morrison, Campbell Soup Company Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing Elon Musk, Tesla Motors Doug Oberhelman, Caterpillar Scott Paul, Alliance for American Manufacturing Kevin Plank, Under Armour Michael Polk, Newell Brands Mark Sutton, International Paper Inge Thulin, 3M Richard Tumka, AFL-CIO Wendell Weeks, Corning A woman who once worked as a police officer in the Pittsburgh suburbs is facing charges she was found passed out in her car with her newborn son in the backseat and was revived with an opioid antidote. O'Hara Township police say officers responding to a call Sunday of a shirtless man wandering around found the 32-year-old woman in the car and her 29-year-old boyfriend sitting on a curb. They say the woman was revived with Narcan. They say the boyfriend first said they had taken Percocet possibly laced with heroin then he said she was on Xanax. Nicole Mautino and Anthony Schulli face charges including endangering the welfare of children. Lawyers for them weren't listed in online court documents. The infant wasn't injured but taken to a hospital as a precaution. Days after violence turned fatal over a statue of Robert E. Lee in Virginia and within hours of President Donald Trump asking if statues of George Washington would be next, a Philadelphia council member called for the removal of a statue of former Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo in the shadow of City Hall. All around the country, we're fighting to remove the monuments to slavery & racism. Philly, we have work to do. Take the Rizzo statue down, Councilwoman-at-large Helen Gym said in a tweet Monday. Rizzos fraught history with the city is nothing new, Gym told NBC10. In a way, you can date this all the way back to when he was in office, she said, adding that Rizzo regularly used racial epithets and advocated for publicly strip-searching members of the Black Panther party. What happened, to some extent in Charlottesville, comes out of a nation that needs to be able to confront its own racism and history. We cant marginalize racism. We cant deny that its growing [and] growing more violent. Philadelphia councilwoman-at-large Helen Gym is calling for the removal of a statue of former Philadelphia mayor Frank Rizzo. NBC10s Brandon Hudson speaks to both supporters and detractors of the controversial figure. A day after Gym's public call for its removal, police responded to a report of a vandalism at the statue. An hour after that report, an unidentified man threw an egg at the statue and placed the sign, "Shame on President Trump" on it. On Wednesday morning, NBC10 cameras captured police taking a man into custody after he also egged the statue, which was barricaded off. Police charged the Maplewood, New Jersey man with disorderly conduct and criminal mischief. The incidents occurred in the aftermath of President Trump's controversial comments blaming the violence in Charlottesville on both the white supremacist groups and the groups that were protesting them. Man put sign & egged #Rizzo monument in Center City. Happened an hour AFTER police checked it out for vandalism call. @NBCPhiladelphia pic.twitter.com/2hm7GlgoVi Brandon Hudson (@BHudTV) August 16, 2017 The Rizzo statue, located outside the Municipal Services Building on John F. Kennedy Boulevard in Center City, was erected in 1998 using privately funded money. That it lives on public land in a highly visible location is one of the problems that needs to be addressed, Gym said. She would support moving it somewhere less visible or onto private property. For the people who say this is erasing history, I would say the plaque and memorial also erased history. Frank Rizzo means a lot of different things to a lot of people, but there is no question he stands for racism for a lot of people, Gym said. AP The councilwoman has at least one supporter in Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney. His spokeswoman, Lauren Hitt, told NBC10 that "now is a good time to have that conversation." "We need to figure out the proper forum for that conversation in a serious, structure way," she said. "Now is the right time." On Wednesday, Kenney noted that he can't unilaterally take action to remove the statue. "The Rizzo statue went up in a public process, there were people who petitioned the government to erect the statue to pay for the statue," Kenney said. "If there's a group of people or folks in the city who want to reconsider the placement of that statue, whether it be removed or relocated, that's up to them to petition the government and go through the same process as the people that erected it did." Many of Rizzo's supporters have come forward however, calling for the statue to remain. "It's very near and dear to my heart that the statue stay and that the mayor's legacy live on," Edward Durst told NBC10. Thousands of people signed a recent online petition to keep the statue in place, including Jody Della Barba who doesn't believe Rizzo was racist. "The first thing he did was integrate the police cars," Barba said. "Put a black and white officer inside the car. Is that a racist? I don't think so." Robert Bogle, the president and CEO of the Philadelphia Tribune, told NBC10 his feelings on the statue are mixed. While he acknowledged that Rizzo gave the Philadelphia Tribune, the country's oldest continually published African-American newspaper, equal access for the first time in 90 years, he also feels the former mayor didn't always do the right thing. "I think those who permitted the statue to be put there, who represent the citizens of Philadelphia, should be responsible to respond to that," Bogle said. Rizzo first joined the Philadelphia police department in the 1940s and became its commissioner in 1967. It was during that time that he strong-armed Black Panthers and also broke up riots. He often bragged that Philadelphia had the lowest crime rate of the countrys biggest cities, the New York Times wrote in his 1991 obituary. Rizzo served as a two-term mayor from 1972 to 1980. His list of accomplishments included introducing the Commuter Tunnel in Center City that connects Suburban Station to Reading Terminal Market. But his racist relationship towards Philadelphias African-American community has always been one of violence, devastation and despair wrote Erica Mines, who started an online campaign to remove his statue. The petition received 1,000 signatures last year when it first surfaced, and has since received nearly another 1,000. In May, a Rizzo mural in South Philadelphia was defaced by black paint. It has previously been spray-painted with vulgar language calling him a fascist. Murals Arts Philadelphia, which oversees the mural, said its future is also uncertain. "Given our history about community-driven projects, perhaps it is time to have a conversation about whether this mural should stay or be replaced," Mural Arts executive director Jane Golden said. "We would love Philadelphia to show thoughtful leadership in our country about these issues." The United States won't settle for cosmetic changes to the North American Free Trade Agreement, the top U.S. trade negotiator said, as negotiations to rework terms of the pact began. President Donald Trump has called the 23-year-old trade pact the "worst" in history and vowed to fix it or withdraw from it. On the first of five days of talks, U.S. Trade Rep. Robert Lighthizer said Wednesday that Trump "is not interested in a mere tweaking of a few provisions and an updating of a few chapters. We believe NAFTA has fundamentally failed many, many Americans and needs major improvement." NAFTA did away with most barriers, including tariffs, on trade between the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The Trump administration and other NAFTA critics say the agreement encouraged manufacturers to move south of the border to take advantage of lower-wage Mexican labor. Lighthizer said that at least 700,000 Americans have lost their jobs because of the way NAFTA rerouted commerce. The U.S. trade representative said he wanted to change the pact to require that duty-free NAFTA products contain more content made within the trade bloc and specifically in the United States. But Stephen Orava, partner and head of the trade law practice at King & Spalding, said that changing NAFTA's "rules of origin" to promote Made-in-the-USA products would prove "complicated" and risk disrupting the intricate supply chains that manufacturers have built across NAFTA borders. Lighthizer's comments suggest the negotiations could prove contentious. The Canadian and Mexican negotiators defended NAFTA as an economic success story, though they say it needs to be updated to reflect economic and technological changes. NAFTA critic Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch, said Lighthizer's tough talk raises the possibility that the United States will pull out of NAFTA if it can't get the deal it wants. "He doesn't bluff," she said. "It was a message to Mexico and Canada: 'We hope we can reach a deal, but we aren't playing.' " All eyes will be on the sky Monday across the United States during the highly-anticipated total solar eclipse and, in San Diego, there are plenty of places where you can safely watch the rare astronomical event. Although San Diego is not located in the eclipses path of totality, locals will be able to see the partial eclipse beginning at 9:07 a.m. From San Diegos vantage point, the eclipse will reach its maximum point of visibility at around 10:23 a.m.; the celestial phenomenon ends around 11:45 a.m. NBC 7's Alex Presha reports the safest way to view the upcoming solar eclipse. In Balboa Park, the Fleet Science Center will host an eclipse viewing event starting at 9 a.m. in the plaza in front of the center. The free, all-ages outdoor event features educational activities such as a session with the Fleets resident astronomer, Dr. Lisa Will, who will answer questions about the eclipse. Visitors will also learn about the Sun, orbits of planets and more. Attendees will get the opportunity to get crafty by making pin-hole projectors that can then be used to safely view the eclipse. For weeks, the Fleet has been selling solar eclipse glasses in anticipation of the big event. However, as of Thursday, the Fleet said they had sold out of those glasses and they will no longer be available at Monday's viewing party. Still, the center said they will have other safe viewing options to share with those who attend the party. Meanwhile, more than two dozen of the City of San Diegos public libraries will take part in the "Sky Party @The Library." The gatherings, most of which start at 9:45 a.m., will feature activities such as scavenger hunts and story time during the eclipse. Some libraries will show a livestream of the eclipse, too. Participating libraries include: Allied Gardens/Benjamin Library Balboa Library Carmel Valley Library San Diego Central Library @ Joan Irwin Jacobs Common. *This location will also live-stream NASA coverage of the eclipse. College-Rolando Library La Jolla/Riford Library Linda Vista Library Logan Heights Library. *This location will also live-stream NASA coverage of the eclipse. Mira Mesa Library Mission Hills Library Mission Valley Library North Clairemont Library North Park Library North University Community Library *This location will also live-stream NASA coverage of the eclipse and host a Sunshine Storytime for children. Oak Park Library Ocean Beach Library Otay Mesa-Nestor Library Pacific Beach/Taylor Library Paradise Hills Library Point Loma/Hervey Library Rancho Bernardo Library Rancho Penasquitos Library. *This location will also live-stream NASA coverage of the eclipse. San Ysidro Library Scripps Miramar Ranch Library Tierrasanta Library University Community Library. *This location will also live-stream NASA coverage of the eclipse. NBC 7's Consumer Bob shares the growing problem of scammers selling solar eclipse glasses that do not protect the eyes from damaging rays. The citys website says each library will have a limited supply of solar eclipse viewing glasses to hand out at the Sky Party. In San Diegos North County, Oceanside Photo and Telescope (OPT), located at 918 Mission Ave., plans to set up 10 solar telescopes in the parking lot during the eclipse from about 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Jason Brown, OPTs director of marketing, said anyone could come out to the lot, for free, and take a look at the telescopes. However, as of Tuesday, Brown said OPT had sold out of their solar eclipse viewing glasses, so those will not be available for purchase there on the day of the eclipse. 10 Things To Know About the Upcoming Solar Eclipse And, according to NASA, eye protection during an eclipse is crucial; the only safe way to directly view an eclipse is through special-purpose solar filters, such as eclipse glasses. NASA has put together this list of eclipse safety tips. At Mission Trails Regional Park (MTRP), the Visitor Center will host a small gathering during the eclipse with the help of a few members from the San Diego Astronomy Association (SDAA). Kin Searly, vice president of the SDAA, said he, along with other members, will bring a couple of special solar telescopes to the Visitor Center -- including one with a white light filter -- so people can view the eclipse. Searly said another SDAA member will be positioned at the park's West Sycamore entrance, also with a telescope. He said members will provide a limited number of eclipse viewing glasses as well. He said SDAA members will be available to answer questions about the eclipse throughout the gathering. The MTRP Visitor Center also plans to livestream NASA's broadcast of the eclipse in the facility's 94-seat amphitheater. Since there are size constraints at this venue and parking is limited, the MTRP event will be small, a park official said. Searly said only a few SDAA members will be there since most of them are out of town, traveling toward the eclipse's path of totality. "They are chasing totality," he said. "And I don't blame them." Now, if youre up for a short Southern California road trip to view the eclipse, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway will host viewing events on Monday. Mount Jacinto State Park Interpreter Allison Barnes will host a program on the viewing deck of the Tramways Mountain Station with the park providing solar viewing glasses for the first 50 people and a telescope with a solar filter. Meanwhile, the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles plans to host a free, public viewing party from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. that includes telescope viewing from the lawn, sidewalks and on the observatorys solar telescope in the Hall of the Sky. Solar eclipse viewing glasses will be sold at the facilitys Stellar Emporium gift shop, which opens at 8 a.m. that day. Mondays total solar eclipse is exclusive to the U.S.The last total solar eclipse visible in the continental U.S. was on February 26, 1979, but we haven't a total solar eclipse exclusive to the U.S. since June 2018. The eclipses 70-mile path of totality crosses through Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and North and South Carolina. All of North America thats outside of the path including San Diego will be able to see a partial eclipse. Fatmata Kamara had just stepped outside her house before dawn Monday when she saw the muddy hillside collapsing above her. The only thing she could do was run. She was one of the survivors, those who managed to escape the surging mudslides and floodwaters in and around Sierra Leone's capital that killed more than 300 people, many of them trapped as they slept. Another 600 people are missing, the Red Cross said Tuesday, and the death toll is expected to rise. Thousands lost their homes in the disaster, which was triggered by heavy rains. "I ran away from the house, leaving behind my family," a grieving Kamara told The Associated Press. "I am the only one that has survived, as my house and dozens of others were covered with mud and boulders." Rescuers dug with their bare hands through the thick, reddish mud to try to find any survivors in the debris of the homes. Heavy equipment was later brought in, said government spokesman Cornelius Deveaux. The military also was deployed to help. Some bodies were swept into the sea off the coast of the West African nation and have begun washing back ashore. The mortuary of the Connaught Hospital in central Freetown was overwhelmed with the dead. More than 300 bodies of men, women and children were brought there, and many were laid out on the floor. Deveaux said an exact death toll was unknown, and many of the bodies were horribly mangled. President Ernest Bai Koroma said Sierra Leone was in a state of grief and mourning, with many survivors still in shock. Radio journalist Gibril Sesay said he lost his entire family. "I am yet to grasp that I survived, and my family is gone," he said through sobs, unable to continue. Ahmed Sesay, caretaker of a two-story house near the Guma Valley Dam east of the capital, said he was sleeping around 6 a.m. when he felt a vibration. "It was like an earthquake. I ran out of my quarters to the gate of the compound," he said. "The ground shook and I had to stay outside the compound until daybreak." An estimated 9,000 people have been affected in some way by the disaster, said Abdul Nasir, program coordinator for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. "I have never seen anything like it," he said. "A river of mud came out of nowhere and swallowed entire communities, just wiped them away. We are racing against time, more flooding and the risk of disease to help these affected communities survive and cope with their loss." Charles Mambu, a civil society activist and resident of one affected area, Mount Sugar Loaf, said the magnitude of the destruction indicated that hundreds more people could be dead. In one sign of hope, two people were pulled alive from the debris Monday evening, Mambu said. The U.N. said it is providing emergency response assistance. Contingency plans are being put in place to try to stem the outbreak of diseases such as cholera, Deveaux told radio station FM 98.1. The bodies that have been recovered will begin to be buried in the next 48 hours, said Sulaiman Parker, environmental protection officer for the Freetown City Council. Many of the poor areas of Freetown are near sea level and have poor drainage systems, which makes flooding worse during the rainy season. The capital also is plagued by unregulated construction of large residential houses in hilltop areas. Thousands of makeshift settlements in and around the city were severely affected. "The government has been warning people not to construct houses in these areas. When they do this, there are risks," Nasir said. "People don't follow the standard construction rules, and that is another reason that many of these houses have been affected." Deforestation for firewood and charcoal is one of the leading contributors to the flooding and mudslides. Associated Press writer Carley Petesch in Dakar, Senegal, contributed. What: Miss Universe Iris Mittenaere, attends the 2017 Miss Universe Guyana Competition Where: York College Performing Arts Center When: Saturday, August 19th, at 6pm NEW YORK, Aug. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Miss Universe Iris Mittenaere will visit Little Guyana in Queens, New York for the Miss Universe Guyana Competition sponsored by PPMT Strategic Group, Inc. at The York College Performing Arts Center on August 19th. Iris, along with other staff members of the Miss Universe Organization, will be present to enjoy the festivities and meet with the National Finalists and other guests in attendance. The Miss Universe Guyana Competition will be held in Little Guyana in Queens, NY for the first time with 15 beautiful and accomplished Guyanese ambassadors competing for the coveted title and opportunity to represent the country at the next MISS UNIVERSE. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a30619d2-feaf-4dbc-a691-f903e325352b About MISS UNIVERSE GUYANA: The Miss Universe Guyana Organization, a division of Tajuni Media, Inc, is a global community empowering role models of beauty, health and leadership for young women of Guyana. As part of the Miss Universe Organization, Miss Universe Guyana is dedicated to partnering with charities and to increasing awareness and prevention of domestic violence as well as other causes, and is focused on becoming a major scholarship organization for women in Guyana. For more information, visit: www.missuniverseguyana.org Follow Miss Universe Guyana: Facebook: www.facebook.com/missuniverseguyana Twitter: @MissUniverseGY Instagram: @MissUniverseGuyana For Press Pass, please email: Info@MissUniverseGuyana.org Tickets: MUG2017.Eventbrite.com A man and woman were found dead inside a condo in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, Tuesday night after an apparent murder-suicide, police say. Prince George's County police were called to a retirement community on the 14000 block of New Acadia Lane about 8:30 p.m. for a welfare check. They found the victim, 54-year-old Bernard Williams, of Brooklyn, New York, suffering from a gunshot wound, police said. They found 53-year-old Kiwa Toomer, of Upper Marlboro, with an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Both were pronounced dead at the scene. Williams and Toomer were in a relationship. Investigators are working to establish a motive. CORRECTION (Aug. 20, 2017, 5:30 p.m.): An earlier version of this article stated Williams was the suspect and Toomer was the victim. Prince Georges County executive Rushern Baker is calling for President Donald Trump to resign after remarks the president made about the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. On Tuesday, Trump declared again "there is blame on both sides" for the deadly violence last weekend in Charlottesville, appearing to once again equate the actions of white supremacist groups and those protesting them. Baker issued a statement, calling Trumps comment doubling down on refusing to directly criticize the hate groups involved in Charlottesville. "President of The United States Donald J. Trump is unfit to serve the people of our country and should resign, effective immediately. His equivocation on the incidents which transpired this past weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia is an affront to the promise of this nation, our World War II Veterans, the families of the Charlottesville victims, and every citizen past and present, and his actions have no place in the Oval Office. During these times of unnerving, regressive, divisive, heightened rhetoric, Americans of all creeds and colors have traditionally looked to the Presidency as a moral compass to guide our way through the morass and right the ship. Empathizing with the message and mission of organizations linked to a bloody legacy of domestic terrorism, racist attacks, and anti-Semitic violence leaves too many citizens of this great nation with no confidence that their President honors or understands the responsibility of the office, or can assure application of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. Regretfully, as a citizen, and as an elected representative of over 900,000 Marylanders who come from all over the world, who are veterans of foreign wars, who have struggled for civil rights, who have participated in suffrage movements, and who love peace and prosperity, I contend we have gone far enough under President Trump and that he should resign for the good of the nation." Baker is also a Democratic candidate for governor of Maryland. The state medical examiner's office says a 72-year-old Maine woman died from a heart attack after a naked trespasser jumped into bed with her during a home invasion. The Morning Sentinel obtained a medical examiner's report saying Joyce Woods, of Burnham, suffered from coronary artery disease and died of shock during the April home invasion. Thirty-six-year-old Tara Shibles was indicted in May on manslaughter, aggravated criminal trespassing and assault charges. Her trial is tentatively set for December. Efforts to reach Shibles on Wednesday were unsuccessful. Police say Woods called 911 early April 2 after Shibles climbed into bed with her and refused to let her turn on the light. Woods' family members arrived before police and placed her in a car, where she died. A drone narrowly missed crashing into a Massachusetts State Police Air Wing helicopter on Wednesday morning. State police said one of its helicopters was flying from the Holliston area, headed to Newburyport, on a training flight around 11:20 a.m. when it passed through Lawrence Municipal Airport air space. While flying at an altitude of 600 feet, the flight crew said they observed a large drone approach from the side, flying toward the area in front of the helicopter. The drone got as close as 100 feet in front of the helicopter before suddenly dropping to the ground. Considering the flight speed of the helicopter, state police said a collision could have resulted in the drone breaching the flight cabin if it had struck the windshield. The crew of the helicopter quickly reversed direction and searched for the person who was flying the drone, but didn't find anyone. State police cruisers also responded to the area but did not locate any suspects. The helicopter landed safely back at the Lawrence base. An investigation into the incident is ongoing. The school year is just around the corner, and many school districts are facing a bus driver shortage. "I think there are a few districts out there that don't have enough drivers to start the school year," said Lennie Goff, the transportation director at RSU 18 in Oakland, Maine, and former president of the Maine Association of Pupil Transportation. While Goff has enough full-time bus drivers at RSU 18 to start the school year, he has a banner in front of the elementary school, advertising for more. "We are always looking for good substitute drivers," he said. Goff said it's become difficult to recruit drivers for several reasons: Maine's unemployment rate is low, so there are fewer job seekers. Bus drivers work part-time, with hours early in the day and in the afternoon: a schedule that doesn't work for everyone. The job also requires a special license, and several weeks of training. According to the Maine Department of Education, there are 50 open bus driver positions to be filled immediately. The bus driver shortage is impacting districts across the nation, according to a survey by School Bus Fleet Magazine, which asked 50 of its top contractors to describe their shortages. More than half of the respondents said their driver shortage was "moderate," and nearly a quarter said it was "severe." Goff said a driver shortage can put school districts in a tough position. Some have chosen to consolidate bus routes, recruit drivers from other districts, and expand the area where students must walk to school. School Bus Fleet reports that nearly half of their contractors ramp up advertising to recruit drivers. In Maine, the Department of Labor is teaming up with the Department of Education to address the school bus driver shortage with its "Hire a Vet" campaign. For some school districts, veterans can receive free training to become bus drivers. "Veterans were a niche for this particular job," said Maine Department of Education communications director Rachel Paling. "They've got experience with mechanics, theyve been trained in safety and security, and working in team environments." The Department of Labor is kicking off its statewide Hire A Vet campaign on Labor Day, and offering a job fair in Augusta on Aug. 29. With Confederate monuments being vandalized and defaced in cities across America, attention is now being turned to what will happen to the one remaining Confederate memorial in Massachusetts. The memorial stands outside of Fort Warren on Georges Island in Boston Harbor. Right now, it's covered with wooden planks as state leaders decide what the next steps are to get it removed. "Governor Baker believes we should refrain from the display of symbols, especially in public parks, that do not support liberty and equality for the people of Massachusetts," said Lizzy Guyton, communications director for Baker. The monument was erected in 1963 by The United Daughters of the Confederacy's Boston Chapter. Engraved in stone are the names of 13 confederates who died in captivity at the fort. "I think you really need to look at how the memorial is being presented," said Jennifer Giaccai, of Washington D.C. "If it's being presented as honoring the hatred that was presented in our past, I believe they belong nowhere." In June, the monument was covered. "I think it's weak," said Andrea Ferguson of Hyannis. "I think it's a quick band aid. Not a fix." Due to the fact Fort Warren is a National Historic Landmark, the removal process will be under more scrutiny. Last month, the Massachusetts Historic Commission informed the Department of Conservation and Recreation they would need to submit a form highlighting preferred alternatives, options they are considering and a description of removal techniques. In other American cities, confederate monuments are coming down. One was topped Monday in Durham, North Carolina. In Louisville, Kentucky, vandals spattered paint on another monument. "Where these statues are, in public squares and so on, you can't help but interpret that as a statement that we still support that message," said John Guyer of Washington D.C. For now, the memorial in Boston Harbor will stay on the island shielded from its visitors as its Confederate past leaves its future in question. Farming has given a convicted felon from New Hampshire a new lease on life. Inside the Carroll County Jail in Ossipee, New Hampshire, youll find some convicted felons like Daniel Lennon. In 2015, Lennon stole $65,000 from a family in Bartlett and was later arrested for drug possession. I dont know very many people who were as bad as I was, Lennon said. But on a sunny Tuesday afternoon outside of the barbed wire, youll meet a different kind of man. It feels so good to do the right thing, Lennon said during an interview with NBC Boston. Once addicted to drugs, now his vice is work. All day, every day, 12 hours a day, Lennon said. His good behavior allowed him to start working at the county farm. Its really hard work, but it feels good at the end of the day, Lennon said. Hes even found what some may call an unlikely friend in County Commissioner Dave Babson. They spend weekends working together at the countys blueberry patch. I hope that some of these kids in here who have been as stupid as he has wake up and realize they can do it too, Babson said. Over the last couple of years, state leaders have cut $196,000 in funding to the county farm. Lennon says its a concerning trend for inmates like him who rely the work out here. For a few minutes, you feel like youre somewhere else, he said. Even if it saves one person, its worth it. The 27-year-old felon turned hard-working farmer is proving to his son Connor, and so many others that its never too late to make a good decision. If I can do it, anybody can do it, Lennon said, laughing. Ill be the guy that turned it around and maybe helped somebody. Lennon will be out of jail in six months and already has a job lined up at an industrial plant nearby. After President Trump addressed reporters about the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, blaming "both sides," local lawmakers reacted on social media with outrage and frustration. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren tweeted, "The President of the United States just defended neo-Nazis and blamed those who condemn their racism and hate. This is sick." "Its a sad day in American history when the President of the United States defends white supremacists," Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey added. Massachusetts Representative Jim McGovern tweeted, "This is sick. @realDonaldTrump is defending neo-Nazis and white supremacists -- again. Let that sink in." Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse added, ".@realDonaldTrump what part of Nazi = evil do you not understand?" White House officials have said they did not intend for the President to take comments following the press conference and explained Trump "went rogue" once in front of reporters. [[440725623, C]] Mental health is Norfolk young peoples biggest concern Mental health is Norfolk young peoples biggest concern Mental health is the biggest concern of Norfolks young people says YMCA Norfolk CEO Tim Sweeting. The internet of things (IoT) is a catch-all term for the growing number of electronics that aren't traditional computing devices, but are connected to the internet to send data, receive instructions or both. There's an incredibly broad range of things that fall under the IoT umbrella: Internet-connected smart versions of traditional appliances such as refrigerators and light bulbs; gadgets that could only exist in an internet-enabled world such as Alexa-style digital assistants; and internet-enabled sensors that are transforming factories, healthcare, transportation, distribution centers and farms. What is the internet of things? The IoT brings internet connectivity, data processing and analytics to the world of physical objects. For consumers, this means interacting with the global information network without the intermediary of a keyboard and screen (Alexa, for example). In enterprise settings, IoT can bring the same efficiencies to manufacturing processes and distribution systems that the internet has long delivered to knowledge work. Billions of embedded internet-enabled sensors worldwide provide an incredibly rich set of data that companies can use to improve the safety of their operations, track assets and reduce manual processes. Data from machines can be used to predict whether equipment will break down, giving manufacturers advance warning to prevent long stretches of downtime. Researchers can also use IoT devices to gather data about customer preferences and behavior, though that can have serious implications for privacy and security. How big is the IoT? In a word: enormous. Priceonomics breaks it down: There were more than 50 billion IoT devices in 2020, and those devices generated 4.4 zettabytes of data. (A zettabyte is a trillion gigabytes.) By comparison, in 2013 IoT devices generated a mere 100 billion gigabytes. The amount of money to be made in the IoT market is similarly staggering; estimates on the value of the market in 2025 range from $1.6 trillion to $14.4 trillion. In its Global IoT Market Forecast, IoT Analytics Research predicts there will be 27 billion active IoT connections (excluding computers, laptops, phones, cellphones and tablets) by 2025. However, the company did lower its forecast based on the ongoing chip shortage, which it expects to impact the number of connected IoT devices beyond 2023. How does the IoT work? The first element of an IoT system is the device that gathers data. Broadly speaking, these are internet-connected devices, so they each have an IP address. They range in complexity from autonomous mobile robots and forklifts that move products around factory floors and warehouses, to simple sensors that monitor the temperature or scan for gas leaks in buildings. They also include personal devices such as fitness trackers that monitor the number of steps individuals take each day. In the next step in the IoT process, collected data is transmitted from the devices to a gathering point. Moving the data can be done wirelessly using a range of technologies or over wired networks. Data can be sent over the internet to a data center or the cloud. Or the transfer can be performed in phases, with intermediary devices aggregating the data, formatting it, filtering it, discarding irrelevant or duplicative data, then sending the important data along for further analysis. The final step, data processing and analytics, can take place in data centers or the cloud, but sometimes thats not an option. In the case of critical devices such as shutoffs in industrial settings, the delay of sending data from the device to a remote data center is too great. The round-trip time for sending data, processing it, analyzing it and returning instructions (close that valve before the pipes burst) can take too long. In such cases edge computing can come into play, where a smart edge device can aggregate data, analyze it and fashion responses if necessary, all within relatively close physical distance, thereby reducing delay. Edge devices also have upstream connectivity for sending data to be further processed and stored. A growing number of edge computing use cases, such as autonomous vehicles that need to make split-second decisions, is accelerating the development of edge technologies that can process and analyze data immediately without going to the cloud. Network World / IDG How the internet of things works. Examples of IoT devices Essentially, any device that can gather and transmit information about the physical world can participate in the IoT ecosystem. Smart home appliances, RFID tags, and industrial sensors are a few examples. These sensors can monitor a range of factors including temperature and pressure in industrial systems, status of critical parts in machinery, patient vital signs, the use of water and electricity, among many, many other possibilities. Factory robots can be considered IoT devices, as well as autonomous vehicles and robots that move products around industrial settings and warehouses. Municipalities exploring smart city ecosystems are using IoT and machine-to-machine (M2M) sensors to enable applications such as traffic monitoring, street light management, and crime prevention through camera feeds. Other examples include fitness wearables and home security systems. There are also more generic devices, like the Raspberry Pi or Arduino, that let you build your own IoT endpoints. Even though you might think of your smartphone as a pocket-sized computer, it may well also be beaming data about your location and behavior to back-end services in very IoT-like ways. IoT device management In order to work together, all those devices need to be authenticated, provisioned, configured, and monitored, as well as patched and updated as necessary. Too often, all this happens within the context of a single vendor's proprietary systems or, it doesn't happen at all, which is even more risky. But the industry is starting to transition to a standards-based device management model, which allows IoT devices to interoperate and will ensure that devices aren't orphaned. IoT communication standards and protocols When IoT gadgets talk to other devices, they can use a wide variety of communication standards and protocols, many tailored to devices with limited processing capabilities or low power consumption. Some of these you've definitely heard of Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, for instance but many more are specialized for the world of IoT. ZigBee, for example, is a wireless protocol for low-power, short-distance communication, while message queuing telemetry transport (MQTT) is a publish/subscribe messaging protocol for devices connected by unreliable or delay-prone networks. (See Network Worlds glossary of IoT standards and protocols.) The increased speeds and bandwidth of 5G cellular networks are expected to benefit IoT. In its Global IoT Market Forecast, IoT Analytics Research predicted a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 159% for 5G-based IoT devices from 2021 through 2025. IoT, edge computing and the cloud Network World / IDG How edge computing enables IoT. For many IoT systems, the stream of data is coming in fast and furious, which has given rise to a new technology category called edge computing, which consists of appliances placed relatively close to IoT devices, fielding the flow of data from them. These machines process that data and send only relevant material back to a more centralized system for analysis. For instance, imagine a network of dozens of IoT security cameras. Instead of bombarding the building's security operations center (SoC) with simultaneous live-streams, edge-computing systems can analyze the incoming video and only alert the SoC when one of the cameras detects movement. And where does that data go once its been processed? Well, it might go to your centralized data center, but more often than not it will end up in the cloud. The elastic nature of cloud computing is great for IoT scenarios where data might come in intermittently or asynchronously. Cloud vendors offer IoT platforms The cloud giants (Microsoft, Amazon, Google) are trying to sell more than just a place to stash the data your sensors have collected. They're offering full IoT platforms, which bundle together much of the functionality to coordinate the elements that make up IoT systems. In essence, an IoT platform serves as middleware that connects the IoT devices and edge gateways with the applications you use to deal with the IoT data. That said, every platform vendor seems to have a slightly different definition of what an IoT platform is, the better to distance themselves from the competition. IoT and Big Data analytics Imagine a scenario where people at a theme park are encouraged to download an app that offers information about the park. At the same time, the app sends GPS signals back to the park's management to help predict wait times in lines. With that information, the park can take action in the short term (by adding more staff to increase the capacity of some attractions, for instance) and the long term (by learning which rides are the most and least popular at the park). The theme park example is small potatoes compared to many real-world IoT data-harvesting operations. Many big data operations use information harvested from IoT devices, correlated with other data points, to get insight into human behavior. For example, X-Mode released a map based on tracking location data of people who partied at spring break in Ft. Lauderdale in March of 2020, even as the coronavirus pandemic was gaining speed in the United States, showing where all those people ended up across the country. The map was shocking not only because it showed the potential spread of the virus, but also because it illustrated just how closely IoT devices can track us. (For more on IoT and analytics, click here.) IoT and AI The volume of data IoT devices can gather is far larger than any human can deal with in a useful way, and certainly not in real time. We've already seen that edge computing devices are needed just to make sense of the raw data coming in from the IoT endpoints. There's also the need to detect and deal with data that might be just plain wrong. Many IoT providers are offering machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities to make sense of the collected data. IBM's Watson platform, for instance, can be trained on IoT data sets to produce useful results in the field of predictive maintenance analyzing data from drones to distinguish between trivial damage to a bridge and cracks that need attention, for instance. Meanwhile, Arm has announced low-power chips that can provide AI capabilities on the IoT endpoints themselves. The company also launched new IoT processors, such as the Cortex-M85 and Corstone-1000 that supports AI at the edge. IoT and business applications Business uses for IoT include keeping track of customers, inventory, and the status of important components. Here are four industries that have been transformed by IoT: Oil and gas : Isolated drilling sites can be better monitored with IoT sensors than by human intervention. : Isolated drilling sites can be better monitored with IoT sensors than by human intervention. Agriculture : Granular data about crops growing in fields derived from IoT sensors can be used to increase yields. : Granular data about crops growing in fields derived from IoT sensors can be used to increase yields. HVAC : Climate control systems across the country can be monitored by manufacturers. : Climate control systems across the country can be monitored by manufacturers. Brick-and-mortar retail: Customers can be micro-targeted with offers on their phones as they linger in certain parts of a store. More generally, enterprises are looking for IoT solutions that can help in four areas: energy use, asset tracking, security, and customer experience. Industrial IoT The IIoT is a subset of the Internet of Things made up of connected sensors and instrumentation for machinery in the transport, energy, and industrial sectors. The IIoT includes some of the most well-established sectors of the IoT market, including the descendants of some devices that predate the IoT moniker. IIoT devices are often longer-lived than most IoT endpoints some remain in service for a decade or more and as a result may use legacy, proprietary protocols and standards that make it difficult to move to modern platforms. Consumer IoT The move of IoT into consumer devices is more recent but much more visible to ordinary people. Connected devices range from fitness wearables that track our movements to internet-enabled thermometers. Probably the most prominent IoT consumer product is the home assistant, such as Amazon Alexa or Google Home. IoT security and vulnerabilities IoT devices have earned a bad reputation when it comes to security. PCs and smartphones are "general use" computers designed to last for years, with complex, user-friendly OSes that now have automated patching and security features built in. IoT devices, by contrast, are often basic gadgets with stripped-down OSes. They are designed for individual tasks and minimal human interaction, and cannot be patched, monitored or updated. Because many IoT devices are ultimately running a version of Linux under the hood with various network ports available, they make tempting targets for hackers. Perhaps nothing demonstrated this more than the Mirai botnet, which was created by a teenager telnetting into home security cameras and baby monitors that had easy-to-guess default passwords, and which ended up launching one of history's largest DDoS attacks. VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Aug. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Senator Minerals Inc. (TSX-V:SNR) (OTC:SNRAF) (Frankfurt:T1KA) (Senator or the Company) is pleased to announce that the Companys geological team has completed site visits to both the Patterson Northeast (PNE) and Carter Lake Uranium Projects in the western Athabasca Basin, Saskatchewan. The site visits confirmed both access and local infrastructure for the upcoming 2017 Phase One radon gas survey program. The visits also provided an opportunity for regional scale reconnaissance of the projects and to assess their possible relations to known deposits, including the Arrow and PLS deposits. The Company is now preparing for deployment of the field crew to the PNE Project to commence survey work. The Company also announces that it has received commitments for the full $2.5 million of its previously announced private placement. Subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company anticipates closing of the placement to occur in the next week. About the Patterson Northeast (PNE) Uranium Project The PNE Project covers approximately 531 hectares, directly adjoining the easternmost boundary of Fission 3.0's Patterson Lake North (PLN) project. The PNE project is located approximately 163 kilometres north of the town of La Loche, and approximately 48 kilometres south of the decommissioned Cluff Lake mine site. The project is accessible by ground vehicle from La Ronge via Saskatchewan Highways 2, 155, 165 and 955. About Senator Minerals Inc. Senator Minerals is a junior mineral explorer focused on uranium exploration in northern Saskatchewan. Senator has entered into an agreement with an arm's-length vendor to acquire a 100-per-cent interest in the Patterson Northeast (PNE) Uranium Project, located on the east side of the Athabasca basin in Northern Saskatchewan, the most productive uranium-producing region in the world. The PNE Project covers approximately 531 hectares, directly adjoining the easternmost boundary of Fission 3.0's Patterson Lake North (PLN) project. The PNE Project was last explored in 2013 with an Alpha-Track radon cup survey, and in June, 2014, with a 5.7-line-kilometre DC resistivity survey, the latter performed by Patterson Geophysics. Peter Born, P.Geo., a Qualified Person, has reviewed and approved the disclosure of technical information within this news release. For further information contact Tim Fernback at 604-340-3774. Tim Fernback President & CEO Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. Statements in this release that are forward-looking information are subject to various risks and uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed here. Information provided in this document is necessarily summarized and may not contain all available material information. All such forward-looking information and statements are based on certain assumptions and analyses made by management in light of their experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors management believes are appropriate in the circumstances. These statements, however, are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information or statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include those described under the heading Risks Factors in the Companys most recently filed MD&A. The Company does not intend, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or revise the forward-looking information contained in this news release, except as required by law. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information or statements. It's not the server -- it's the system. That's the word from Cisco as it rolls out its new, M5 generation Unified Computing System rack and blade servers, triggered by Intel's release of the Xeon Scalable Processor platform. Cisco's new servers use the Xeon Scalable processors -- unveiled Tuesday in New York -- to fuel performance as well as increase server density and throughput. But the value in the UCS product family lies in how the hardware works with configuration management and optimization software to make data centers run at peak efficiency, company officials say. RELATED: What is intent-based networking? Competitors in the data center market would likely agree with that system concept, but Cisco says it has the software and hardware now to start delivering on the promise of "intent-based" data center management. The idea is that data center managers define usage policies and the desired state of the network and servers; then, software automatically balances and reconfigures resources to get to that desired, optimal state. "UCS isn't about the individual components -- it's not about the switching or the server or the components therein; it's really about how we bring a total system to customers," said Todd Brannon, marketing director for unified computing at Cisco. "It's a system and not a server; our customers can build on top of all the things that we've done to abstract all the underlying infrastructure elements so the switching, the servers, all the different pieces can be controlled by customers through software." Many of the new capabilities in the M5 line come from the Xeon processors, which are being picked up by other server makers. This is one reason why Cisco is stressing software capabilities as a differentiator. "Given that the server market has reached a level of maturity, many product refreshes are a big yawn, so (server makers) try to differentiate themselves in different ways," said Ashish Nadkarni, an analyst with IDC. "Cisco is focusing on their installed base, which is all mission critical workloads, and sort of saying look, we've enhanced our line to make it even more appealing for mission critical workloads and our leadership position in integrated infrastructure speaks for itself." Software for workload optimization Along with two new blade and three new rack servers, Cisco is updating its UCS Director data center management software and offering something new: a Workload Optimization Manager. The technology behind the optimization manager comes from Turbonomic, with which Cisco has entered into an OEM agreement. Cisco discovered the benefits of Turbonomic software itself, saving $17 million in additional equipment costs and $2.8 million every month in rental costs for space, said Joann Starke, senior manager for hybrid cloud and machine learning at Cisco. The optimization manager uses intent-based analytics based on principles of supply, demand and price to match workloads to available infrastructure. "Data centers have become so complex that you need to have software in control and automatically -- autonomically, as it's called -- making changes in real time," in order to maintain a state of peak efficiency, Starke said. Otherwise, by the time a human responds to an alert that a system is degrading, money can be lost, especially if it involves a revenue-generating website, for example. The optimization manager assures workload performance "because it's looking at a deep level of inspection from the application layer all the way down to the chassis, allowing data centers to increase workload density by getting maximum utiilization out of what they have," Starke said. "We all know that there are a lot of idle VMs out there with a lot of stuff attached to it, and it's just sitting there." Cisco is billing the M5 series as a nondisruptive refresh of its UCS servers, and the optimization manager can play a part in smoothing the way for data center upgrades to the new line, Starke said. It does this by performing a type of what-if analysis on different workload scenarios, suggesting, for example, how a data center could save operational costs by moving to new servers. The opimization manager does not do the actual provisioning -- that work is done by the the UCS Director. Version 6.5 has been updated to work with the optimization manager. Cisco claims that the Director can provision, configure and automate 80 percent of data center operations from a single console. The new version has been extended to be able to natively automate functions of PowerShell, an object-oriented task automation and configuration management framework from Microsoft, as well as virtual machine mobility across VMware vCenter data centers. The new UCS M5 servers On the hardware side, Cisco's new M5 servers include: --The UCS C220 M5 Rack Server, a general-purpose enterprise infrastructure and applications server with 56 cores (via multiple Xeon Scalable processors), 24 DIMM sockets and support for 10Gb LOM (Lights Out Management) systems and M.2 format internally mounted expansion cards. --The UCS C240 M5 Rack Server, optimized for storage and I/O, offering 56 cores, up to six PCIe 3.0 slots, up to 3TB memory, and support for 10Gb LOM systems as well as M.2 cards. --The UCS C480 M5 4S Rack Server, for applications including in-memory databases, offering 112 cores, up to 6TB addressable memory and supporting up to six GPUs, 12 PCIe 3.0 slots and 32 drives. --The UCS B200 M5 Blade Server, offering a half-width blade form factor for traditional or multitier applications, supporting up to two GPUs and offering up to 20.5TB of storage. --The UCS B480 M5 Blade server, intended for versatility and density for tasks such as distributed database virtualized workloads. It offers 56 cores, up to four modular GPUs and up to 39TB of storage. Available recommended retail starting prices include $3,680 for the B200 M5; $3,165 for the C220 M5, and $3,328 for the C240 M5. Network slicing technology has large parts of the wireless networking community excited, and its easy to understand why: It can deliver multiple logical networks over a single physical infrastructure and give each network the unique set of characteristics required to meet specific user needs. The idea of re-using scarce radio-frequency spectrum to create more value for providers that own the infrastructure, in addition to the ability to offer over-the-top services beyond mere connectivity, has the telecom giants interested, particularly those deploying 5G cellular services. What is network slicing? Network slicing is a layer of virtualization applied to wireless network services. Just as servers in the cloud or containers are virtual constructs, not simply physical servers, a network slice its own logical network carved out of a larger physical network via the automated allocation of bandwidth, QoS rules and other network functions. The actual process of doing this varies by the company offering the technology, but its essentially an outgrowth of software-defined networking and network function virtualization technologies, coupled with automation in order to dynamically manage multiple slices of a large network. A network slice contains the same control plane, user plane and access network interfaces as any other network, it simply portions out parts of them as necessary to support multiple virtual networks. Using this technique, a single network can be subdivided logically into a host of different networks, each with capabilities and features appropriate to their use. Spectrum efficiency Spectrum is a finite commodity, and conventional QoS technology simply doesnt do enough to maximize its use. During peak demand, large portions of spectrum may remain unused, while other portions might be uncomfortably crowded. For example, a base station near a large public venue might be swamped with voice, video and app traffic while an event is in progress. At the same time, bandwidth the operator has set aside for machine-to-machine use, like smart meter reading or smart home services, remains mostly inactive. With network slicing virtual networks could be reconfigured and reprovisioned largely on the fly to automatically shift bandwidth and other resources from the machine-to-machine use to the needs of the event goers, alleviating the crunch and providing better service. Use cases Much of the conversation around network slicing centers on 5G because slicing is a key reason that that 5G will be able to provide new functionality carriers have advertised. Telecoms are eager to offer services beyond simple connectivity to business users, and the ability to create individualized, virtual networks on the fly is central to that concept. Here are the three types of network slice currently contemplated by 5G proponents. Enhanced mobile broadband Mobile broadband is traditional data-to-your-cellphone service. Network slicing can support enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), which is aimed at maximizing the data rate while supporting moderate reliability and packet-error rates of about 10-3, according to an IEEE working paper on the subject. A network slice devoted to eMBB would be provisioned with those constraints in mind, letting the system select and manage clear channels for use in eMBB.Massive machine-to-machine connections Massive machine-to-machine connections One implementation of the Internet of Things (IoT) is deploying large numbers of data-gathering devices that need to phone home only intermittently to provide small bits of datamassive machine-to-machine connections (mMTC). Rather than low latency and high bandwidth, mMTC requires the network to support huge numbers of low-bandwidth connections simultaneously. The idea behind mMTC is to provide a maximal arrival rate for any given band of radio frequency, but allowing a packet-error rate around 10-1. That is much higher than the 10-3 target rate for eMBB but is perfectly acceptable given the small size of the messages being sent. Ultra-reliable, low-latency communications Many of the more novel wireless services made possible with network slicing fall into the category of ultra-reliable, low-latency communications (URLLC). These include support for critical infrastructure, medical services like remote surgery, connected vehicles, and real-time process coordination in fields like manufacturing, according to the Federal Communications Commission. The IEEE says this type of transmission is intermittent, like mMTC, but its use of comparatively small blocks of data and strict latency requirements mean that a much higher level of reliability is required, on the order of a packet error rate of 10-5. Standards While the technology itself promises to be a fairly direct upgrade over current-generation methods of QoS and traffic shaping, the radio access networking (RAN) technology that enables its deployment remains relatively immature, and the standards governing it have yet to be finalized. Even prominent wireless equipment vendors like Ericsson have only recently begun to deploy slicing capability in their radio-access-network technology, meaning that the hardware to implement it is still in the process of reaching the market. Whats more, all the vendors involved are still producing pre-standard equipment. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), an alliance of seven telecommunication standards-development bodies, is working toward standards, but has yet to finalize them for parts of the stack that are critical to implementing network slicing at scale. Multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO)sending and receiving multiple signals over the same channel at the same timeenhancements to vehicular wireless connectivity, and RAN slicing itself are all part 3GPPs work and are expected to remain in the pipeline until at least mid-2022. Denver, CO, Aug. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Oakwood Search announced today that it landed #74 overall on the 2017 Inc. 500 honoring the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the United States. In its category of Human Resources, Oakwood Search placed #2. Over the past 36 years, this award has honored top performing growth companies including Microsoft, Zappos, Under Armor, GoPro and dozens of others that have gone on to become household names. Oakwood Search specializes in identifying, securing, deploying and managing top talent for 5 of the top 20 largest banks in the world. Its Contingent Workforce Solutions have proven valuable to the complex environments of todays modern businesses. Asked about the success of the company, Managing Partner Brian McIntyre commented This award is a testament to the skill, ingenuity, and collaboration of our clients, vendors and tremendously talented staff. Oakwood Search has excelled in its category of Human Resouces companies, showing fantastic prowess in its ability to reach a wide and deep audience in almost all business disciplines quickly and most importantly, accurately added Jake Norris, Managing Partner. Norris and McIntyre first met in the early 2000s establishing and growing the Internal Recruiting Department for Fortune 500 Company, MDC Holdings. For further information on Oakwoods rankings, please visit https://www.inc.com/profile/oakwood-search The annual Inc. 5000 event honoring all the companies on the list will be held from October 10 through 12, 2017 at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa in Palm Desert, CA. Speakers include some of the greatest entrepreneurs of this and past generations, such as former Ford president Alan Mullaly, FUBU CEO and founder and Shark Tank star Daymond John, Dollar Shave Club founder Michael Dubin, researcher and #1 New York Times bestseller Brene Brown, and Gravity Payments founder and CEO Dan Price. A full list of the Inc. 500 Award Winners can be found in this months issue of Inc. magazine or online at https://www.inc.com/inc5000 About The Inc 500 The Inc. 500 is an annual list of the 500 fastest-growing private companies in the United States, introduced in 1982. The Inc. 5000 is an expansion of the Inc. 500, which ranks the country's top 5000 fastest-growing private companies and also features a special ranking of the top 10% of the list as the Inc. 500. J Deepthi Nandan Reddy By Express News Service HYDERABAD : Walk into any big hospital and chances are that most of the expensive medical equipment that you see are imported ones. This is because currently, 80 per cent of the medical devices demand in India is catered to by imports. The trend, though, could change with the government taking conscious steps to encourage local industry, say experts. "We have grown by facing all sorts of hurdles right from lack of support from financial institutions to unfavourable government polices to tough market conditions in the past. But now, there is a positive momentum. Several state governments are focusing on encouraging medical devices as the sector presents huge growth potential," said Mohammed Niaz Ahmed Khan, MD of SAP Medicals and Oasis Nephro Care. Industry estimates the medical devices market is Rs 30,000 crore growing at 15-20 per cent a year. While companies like Johnson & Johnson, GE Healthcare, Philips Medical and others operate in the space, many SMEs also co-exist with them. "Earlier, there used to be preference to imported devices and products by MNCs. But now, hospitals are open to buying devices produced by indigenous manufacturers. Price also plays a key role," said Anand Madanagopal, founder CEO and MD of Bengaluru-based start-up Cardiac Design Labs. Around 30 companies operate in India's biggest medical devices park set up near Hyderabad two months ago, said EV Narasimha Reddy, vice-chairman and MD of Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation. "Our aim is to not just attract the biggest of players globally but also give fillip to indigenous medical devices manufacturers in India." HYDERABAD : Walk into any big hospital and chances are that most of the expensive medical equipment that you see are imported ones. This is because currently, 80 per cent of the medical devices demand in India is catered to by imports. The trend, though, could change with the government taking conscious steps to encourage local industry, say experts. "We have grown by facing all sorts of hurdles right from lack of support from financial institutions to unfavourable government polices to tough market conditions in the past. But now, there is a positive momentum. Several state governments are focusing on encouraging medical devices as the sector presents huge growth potential," said Mohammed Niaz Ahmed Khan, MD of SAP Medicals and Oasis Nephro Care. Industry estimates the medical devices market is Rs 30,000 crore growing at 15-20 per cent a year. While companies like Johnson & Johnson, GE Healthcare, Philips Medical and others operate in the space, many SMEs also co-exist with them. "Earlier, there used to be preference to imported devices and products by MNCs. But now, hospitals are open to buying devices produced by indigenous manufacturers. Price also plays a key role," said Anand Madanagopal, founder CEO and MD of Bengaluru-based start-up Cardiac Design Labs. Around 30 companies operate in India's biggest medical devices park set up near Hyderabad two months ago, said EV Narasimha Reddy, vice-chairman and MD of Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation. "Our aim is to not just attract the biggest of players globally but also give fillip to indigenous medical devices manufacturers in India." By Express News Service BENGALURU: After Bengaluru experienced a record breaking downpour on Independence Day, an under construction building on the verge of collapse at Ejipura, made life difficult for several residents. The five-storey building located near Ejipura 14th main began to tilt at around 4.30 am, and Fire and Emergency Services personnel were on the spot by 5 am, said locals. Two nearby buildings were evacuated to prevent untoward incidents. BBMP officials at the spot said that the owner of the building had applied for an underground drainage connection which had not been sanctioned. He then dug a large pit in front of the building where water accumulated and seeped in following the deluge on August 15, weakening the foundation which subsequently sank, said officials. Police officials have currently cordoned off the area, with demolition engineers at the spot. Meanwhile, the deluge continued to affect people across Bengaluru. Bellandur Lake continued to froth due to pollution, despite the massive de-weeding exercise recently, affecting residents near the lake. Few streets in HSR Layout, Koramangala and Eshwara Layout were also still inundated. However, the city received only moderate showers as compared to Tuesday. Kengeri reportedly received maximum rainfall of 68 mm. Areas which were at the center of the downpour, such as Lakkasandra, Koramangala and Bilekahalli received 17.5 mm, 12.5 mm and 30 mm rainfall respectively. BENGALURU: After Bengaluru experienced a record breaking downpour on Independence Day, an under construction building on the verge of collapse at Ejipura, made life difficult for several residents. The five-storey building located near Ejipura 14th main began to tilt at around 4.30 am, and Fire and Emergency Services personnel were on the spot by 5 am, said locals. Two nearby buildings were evacuated to prevent untoward incidents. BBMP officials at the spot said that the owner of the building had applied for an underground drainage connection which had not been sanctioned. He then dug a large pit in front of the building where water accumulated and seeped in following the deluge on August 15, weakening the foundation which subsequently sank, said officials. Police officials have currently cordoned off the area, with demolition engineers at the spot. Meanwhile, the deluge continued to affect people across Bengaluru. Bellandur Lake continued to froth due to pollution, despite the massive de-weeding exercise recently, affecting residents near the lake. Few streets in HSR Layout, Koramangala and Eshwara Layout were also still inundated. However, the city received only moderate showers as compared to Tuesday. Kengeri reportedly received maximum rainfall of 68 mm. Areas which were at the center of the downpour, such as Lakkasandra, Koramangala and Bilekahalli received 17.5 mm, 12.5 mm and 30 mm rainfall respectively. By PTI BENGALURU: Rahul Gandhi today flayed the Jammu and Kashmir policy of the Narendra Modi government, alleging that it has created a space in the troubled state for Pakistan to "misbehave". His attack on the government at a Congress rally here comes a day after Modi, in his Independence Day address, reached out Kashmiris, saying abuses and bullets would not resolve their problems but embracing them would. "He (Modi) has created an environment in Jammu and Kashmir of hatred and anger, and the only people who benefit from violence and hatred are the Pakistanis," he said. Claiming that he worked on the J-K issue with Manmohan Singh, who was the prime minister, and leaders like P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh silently without any "drama or tamasha", he said their effort of 10 years was "destroyed by Modi in one month". Gandhi said that the Congress-led coalition in 2004 inherited a government from Atal Bihari Vajpayee under which Kashmir was "burning", and one of the biggest successes of the Manmohan Singh government was creating an environment of peace in J&K. "We worked for 10 years to bring peace in Kashmir. We did panchayat elections, we did work on employment, we connected thousands of women there to banks. The reason was we wanted peace and harmony in Kashmir," he said. "We wanted to embrace the people of Jammu and Kashmir and we wanted them to embrace us. We wanted peace there, also because when there is peace, Pakistan can do nothing in Jammu and Kashmir... The space for Pakistan to do mischief there closes," he said. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge, state Congress in-charge K C Venugopal and PCC president G Parameshwara, among others, were present at the event. Stressing that a peaceful Jammu and Kashmir was a "worst thing" for Pakistan, Gandhi said what the UPA government did for ten years was "destroyed in one month by Modi". "I'm telling you this because Mr Narendra Modi's policy has created a space in Jammu and Kashmir for Pakistanis to misbehave," he added. Hitting out at the Modi government's foreign policy, Gandhi accused the prime minister of alienating India's neighbours and also Russia. "Narendra Modi has not stopped there. When we were in the government, all neighbouring countries, other than Pakistan and China, were favourable to us... One by one Narendra Modi has alienated them," he alleged. "For the first time in our history, Russia is selling weapons to Pakistan," he said. BENGALURU: Rahul Gandhi today flayed the Jammu and Kashmir policy of the Narendra Modi government, alleging that it has created a space in the troubled state for Pakistan to "misbehave". His attack on the government at a Congress rally here comes a day after Modi, in his Independence Day address, reached out Kashmiris, saying abuses and bullets would not resolve their problems but embracing them would. "He (Modi) has created an environment in Jammu and Kashmir of hatred and anger, and the only people who benefit from violence and hatred are the Pakistanis," he said. Claiming that he worked on the J-K issue with Manmohan Singh, who was the prime minister, and leaders like P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh silently without any "drama or tamasha", he said their effort of 10 years was "destroyed by Modi in one month". Gandhi said that the Congress-led coalition in 2004 inherited a government from Atal Bihari Vajpayee under which Kashmir was "burning", and one of the biggest successes of the Manmohan Singh government was creating an environment of peace in J&K. "We worked for 10 years to bring peace in Kashmir. We did panchayat elections, we did work on employment, we connected thousands of women there to banks. The reason was we wanted peace and harmony in Kashmir," he said. "We wanted to embrace the people of Jammu and Kashmir and we wanted them to embrace us. We wanted peace there, also because when there is peace, Pakistan can do nothing in Jammu and Kashmir... The space for Pakistan to do mischief there closes," he said. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge, state Congress in-charge K C Venugopal and PCC president G Parameshwara, among others, were present at the event. Stressing that a peaceful Jammu and Kashmir was a "worst thing" for Pakistan, Gandhi said what the UPA government did for ten years was "destroyed in one month by Modi". "I'm telling you this because Mr Narendra Modi's policy has created a space in Jammu and Kashmir for Pakistanis to misbehave," he added. Hitting out at the Modi government's foreign policy, Gandhi accused the prime minister of alienating India's neighbours and also Russia. "Narendra Modi has not stopped there. When we were in the government, all neighbouring countries, other than Pakistan and China, were favourable to us... One by one Narendra Modi has alienated them," he alleged. "For the first time in our history, Russia is selling weapons to Pakistan," he said. By Online Desk Daniel Craig, who, much to the disappointment to fans, had previously told a radio host that he is uncertain about him returning as the British spy in the 25th installment of James Bond series, has now confirmed that he is indeed returning to the franchise. Craig confirmed the news to Stephen Colbert at the Late Night Show on Tuesday. When asked, the 'Defiance' actor blankly told Colbert, "We've been discussing it, we've just been trying to figure things out," adding, "I always wanted to, I needed a break." Daniel Craig in the Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert. (Twitter) Appearing on a US radio show Morning Magic 106.7 Craig had previously refuted the reports that suggested he had agreed to carry on for the 25th film in the series in November 2019. "I'd hate to burst the bubble, but no decision has been made at the moment. There's a lot of noise out there and nothing official has been confirmed and I'm not, like, holding out for more money or doing anything like that. It's just all very personal decisions to be made at the moment," Craig said as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. "I know they're desperate to get going and I would in theory love to do it, but there is no decision just yet," he had said. The Defiance star succeeded Pierce Brosnan as Bond and made his debut in Casino Royale in 2006. (with inputs from ANI) Daniel Craig, who, much to the disappointment to fans, had previously told a radio host that he is uncertain about him returning as the British spy in the 25th installment of James Bond series, has now confirmed that he is indeed returning to the franchise. Craig confirmed the news to Stephen Colbert at the Late Night Show on Tuesday. When asked, the 'Defiance' actor blankly told Colbert, "We've been discussing it, we've just been trying to figure things out," adding, "I always wanted to, I needed a break." Daniel Craig in the Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert. (Twitter) Appearing on a US radio show Morning Magic 106.7 Craig had previously refuted the reports that suggested he had agreed to carry on for the 25th film in the series in November 2019. "I'd hate to burst the bubble, but no decision has been made at the moment. There's a lot of noise out there and nothing official has been confirmed and I'm not, like, holding out for more money or doing anything like that. It's just all very personal decisions to be made at the moment," Craig said as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. "I know they're desperate to get going and I would in theory love to do it, but there is no decision just yet," he had said. The Defiance star succeeded Pierce Brosnan as Bond and made his debut in Casino Royale in 2006. (with inputs from ANI) By IANS NEW DELHI: Actor Akshaye Khanna says he doesn't look like his late father and actor Vinod Khanna. Asked if the "Mom" actor would like to essay his father's character in a biopic, Akshaye told IANS over the phone from Mumbai: "To portray any real life character, you have to look like that person. I don't look anywhere close to my father... Not an option." Vinod Khanna died in April after a prolonged illness at the age of 70. The actor was admitted to Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital in the first week of April after reportedly suffering from severe dehydration. Asked if he wants a biopic to be made on his father, Akshaye said: "I haven't ever thought about it so I can't say. But I think biopics by nature, I suppose as accurate as they can be, the better for an actor. "It's very challenging as well as risky for an actor to portray a real life character because you are portraying some one who actually existed. So, it becomes really difficult." Akshaye, 42, feels that one must think "10 times before portraying a real life person". He will next be seen in "Ittefaq", a thriller film, directed by Abhay Chopra. It is an adaptation of the 1969 film by the same name. NEW DELHI: Actor Akshaye Khanna says he doesn't look like his late father and actor Vinod Khanna. Asked if the "Mom" actor would like to essay his father's character in a biopic, Akshaye told IANS over the phone from Mumbai: "To portray any real life character, you have to look like that person. I don't look anywhere close to my father... Not an option." Vinod Khanna died in April after a prolonged illness at the age of 70. The actor was admitted to Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital in the first week of April after reportedly suffering from severe dehydration. Asked if he wants a biopic to be made on his father, Akshaye said: "I haven't ever thought about it so I can't say. But I think biopics by nature, I suppose as accurate as they can be, the better for an actor. "It's very challenging as well as risky for an actor to portray a real life character because you are portraying some one who actually existed. So, it becomes really difficult." Akshaye, 42, feels that one must think "10 times before portraying a real life person". He will next be seen in "Ittefaq", a thriller film, directed by Abhay Chopra. It is an adaptation of the 1969 film by the same name. Anand ST Das By Express News Service PATNA: The flood situation in northern and eastern Bihar worsened on Tuesday and the death toll rose to 56 even as rescue and rehabilitation work continued on a war-footing amid reports about swollen rivers breaching their embankments at several locations, inundating villages and agricultural fields. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is monitoring the rescue and rehabilitation work carried out by over 2,000 trained personnel, conducted an aerial survey of the flood-hit districts for the second consecutive day. As many as 70 lakh people in 25 districts, 13 of them among the worst hit, have been affected by the floods caused by rivers overflowing due to incessant rains in their catchment areas in Nepal in the past four days. With four major rivers Kamla Balan, Baghmati, Gandak and Marha having breached their embankments at several locations in the past 24 hours, scores of low-lying villages got inundated and thousands of people were forced to shift to safer locations. The situation turned grimmer after the meteorological department forecast on Tuesday about more rains with lightning in the next 24 hours. Over two lakh people have so far been evacuated from inundated areas by 44 rescue teams comprising trained personnel from National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, the Army and Indian Air Force, said Pratyay Amrit, principal secretary of Bihars disaster management department. Most of the deaths due to the floods took place in West Champaran and Araria districts, said Anirudh Kumar, additional secretary of the disaster management department. As many as 98 blocks in 13 districts are currently struggling with swirling waters, he added. District administration officials reached several areas cut off from the rest by boats to observe Independence Day with the local people there. All government offices and the court have been inundated. The official residence of Araria SP Dhurat Saayli Savlaram was inundated by flood waters, forcing her family to shift to the circuit house, but flood waters also entered this building. It may take at least a week for the situation to start returning to normalcy. It will happen when the flood waters recede from inundated areas. That will depend on the rains in Nepals southern parts relenting. But rescue, rehabilitation and relief work is going on well, said Bihar water resources minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh. He rubbished RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadavs allegation of shoddy rescue work as not based on facts. More than 65,000 people have been provided shelter at the 340 relief camps set up by the state government, said Singh. PATNA: The flood situation in northern and eastern Bihar worsened on Tuesday and the death toll rose to 56 even as rescue and rehabilitation work continued on a war-footing amid reports about swollen rivers breaching their embankments at several locations, inundating villages and agricultural fields. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who is monitoring the rescue and rehabilitation work carried out by over 2,000 trained personnel, conducted an aerial survey of the flood-hit districts for the second consecutive day. As many as 70 lakh people in 25 districts, 13 of them among the worst hit, have been affected by the floods caused by rivers overflowing due to incessant rains in their catchment areas in Nepal in the past four days. With four major rivers Kamla Balan, Baghmati, Gandak and Marha having breached their embankments at several locations in the past 24 hours, scores of low-lying villages got inundated and thousands of people were forced to shift to safer locations. The situation turned grimmer after the meteorological department forecast on Tuesday about more rains with lightning in the next 24 hours. Over two lakh people have so far been evacuated from inundated areas by 44 rescue teams comprising trained personnel from National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force, the Army and Indian Air Force, said Pratyay Amrit, principal secretary of Bihars disaster management department. Most of the deaths due to the floods took place in West Champaran and Araria districts, said Anirudh Kumar, additional secretary of the disaster management department. As many as 98 blocks in 13 districts are currently struggling with swirling waters, he added. District administration officials reached several areas cut off from the rest by boats to observe Independence Day with the local people there. All government offices and the court have been inundated. The official residence of Araria SP Dhurat Saayli Savlaram was inundated by flood waters, forcing her family to shift to the circuit house, but flood waters also entered this building. It may take at least a week for the situation to start returning to normalcy. It will happen when the flood waters recede from inundated areas. That will depend on the rains in Nepals southern parts relenting. But rescue, rehabilitation and relief work is going on well, said Bihar water resources minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh. He rubbished RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadavs allegation of shoddy rescue work as not based on facts. More than 65,000 people have been provided shelter at the 340 relief camps set up by the state government, said Singh. Vikram Sharma By Express News Service JAISALMER: A Bollywood film is always a likely break from tedium, and so it is on this border in Rajasthan but in a different way. The film industry Bollywood, Tollywood, Kollywood and every other kind of wood loves the desert and as winter approaches, a week wont go by without a film-maker waiting to shoot amid the sand dunes. For the Border Security Force (BSF) officers its an opportunity to Shanghai some of the stars into putting in an appearance in the barracks to shore up morale, and for the soldiers, it is a diversion from endlessly gazing over the dunes. The desert near Jaisalmer is a hotspot for film shootings; the sensuous folds of sand are a cinematographers delight, and the bleak landscape is an opportunity for a choreographer to orchestrate some colourful song sequences. No wonder BSF officers are flooded with requests for permission to shoot near the border. Registan movies are not new to Bollywood but it was the war film Border (1997), about the battle of Longewala in the war of 1971, that triggered a fresh wave of location hunting off Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. IN PICTURES | Bollywood bonds with BSF at Rajasthan deserts We have had a host of Bollywood stars descending here: Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Ajay Devgn, Esha Gupta, Emraan Hashmi. Not just Bollywood, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam movies are shot here, says BSF DIG Amit Lodha. Rumour has it that the Ajay Devgn starrer Gangajal is on the life of Lodha, a Bihar cadre IPS officer on deputation to the BSF. Since this is a border, its the BSF that gives permissions to shoot. No shooting is allowed on the border per se, or even close to it, or anywhere near sensitive and vital installations. When permission is sought from BSF, the General Intelligence unit of the force is asked to vet the project and assess its implications for national security. Normally, film units are happy enough to stay within the BSFs restrictions and locations are changed or adjusted enthusiastically. The latest movie project being vetted by the BSF is a John Abraham starrer. The actor has been scouting Pokhran to shoot a movie titled Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran. Its in winter that film makers begin shooting and wind up well before the summer, which here is not too good for the leading ladys complexion. One BSF veteran guessed that close to 200 movies and TV serials have been in the deserts off Jaisalmer during his time in the force. Film stars are always enthusiastic about taking time off from the shoot to meet the faujis and feel a bit patriotic themselves. We request actors to visit our soldiers. I took Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn to our barracks to give them a first-hand feel of what a soldiers life is on this border. The jawans clicked selfies and interacted with the stars. It was a welcome change for our men,'' said Lodha. While the desert is a cinematographers delight, its an ideal locale too for the actors for five-star luxuries and been-there-done-that places are not too far away. There are breathtaking palaces, placid lakes and awe-inspiring forts-turned heritage hotels in Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Jaipur. According to him, it is not only the Indian film industry that has shot movies in Jaisalmer, even movie makers from abroad had shot movies here. Innumerable TV serials have also been shot here. While in the border areas, it is the BSF that has to give permission, elsewhere it is the state administration that gives clearances,'' adds the official. JAISALMER: A Bollywood film is always a likely break from tedium, and so it is on this border in Rajasthan but in a different way. The film industry Bollywood, Tollywood, Kollywood and every other kind of wood loves the desert and as winter approaches, a week wont go by without a film-maker waiting to shoot amid the sand dunes. For the Border Security Force (BSF) officers its an opportunity to Shanghai some of the stars into putting in an appearance in the barracks to shore up morale, and for the soldiers, it is a diversion from endlessly gazing over the dunes. The desert near Jaisalmer is a hotspot for film shootings; the sensuous folds of sand are a cinematographers delight, and the bleak landscape is an opportunity for a choreographer to orchestrate some colourful song sequences. No wonder BSF officers are flooded with requests for permission to shoot near the border. Registan movies are not new to Bollywood but it was the war film Border (1997), about the battle of Longewala in the war of 1971, that triggered a fresh wave of location hunting off Jaisalmer and Jodhpur. IN PICTURES | Bollywood bonds with BSF at Rajasthan deserts We have had a host of Bollywood stars descending here: Akshay Kumar, John Abraham, Ajay Devgn, Esha Gupta, Emraan Hashmi. Not just Bollywood, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam movies are shot here, says BSF DIG Amit Lodha. Rumour has it that the Ajay Devgn starrer Gangajal is on the life of Lodha, a Bihar cadre IPS officer on deputation to the BSF. Since this is a border, its the BSF that gives permissions to shoot. No shooting is allowed on the border per se, or even close to it, or anywhere near sensitive and vital installations. When permission is sought from BSF, the General Intelligence unit of the force is asked to vet the project and assess its implications for national security. Normally, film units are happy enough to stay within the BSFs restrictions and locations are changed or adjusted enthusiastically. The latest movie project being vetted by the BSF is a John Abraham starrer. The actor has been scouting Pokhran to shoot a movie titled Parmanu: The Story of Pokhran. Its in winter that film makers begin shooting and wind up well before the summer, which here is not too good for the leading ladys complexion. One BSF veteran guessed that close to 200 movies and TV serials have been in the deserts off Jaisalmer during his time in the force. Film stars are always enthusiastic about taking time off from the shoot to meet the faujis and feel a bit patriotic themselves. We request actors to visit our soldiers. I took Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn to our barracks to give them a first-hand feel of what a soldiers life is on this border. The jawans clicked selfies and interacted with the stars. It was a welcome change for our men,'' said Lodha. While the desert is a cinematographers delight, its an ideal locale too for the actors for five-star luxuries and been-there-done-that places are not too far away. There are breathtaking palaces, placid lakes and awe-inspiring forts-turned heritage hotels in Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Udaipur and Jaipur. According to him, it is not only the Indian film industry that has shot movies in Jaisalmer, even movie makers from abroad had shot movies here. Innumerable TV serials have also been shot here. While in the border areas, it is the BSF that has to give permission, elsewhere it is the state administration that gives clearances,'' adds the official. By Express News Service RAIPUR: Area domination exercises by the Chhattisgarh police ensured that the national flag was hoisted at schools in the naxalite-affected region of Mundagarh in Bastar on Tuesday. Mundagarh, located some 70 km from Jagdalpur, the district headquarters of Bastar on the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border, falls in a forested area dominated by the banned CPI (Maoist), which in previous years prevailed upon tribal people to hoist black flags on Independence Day and Republic Day. This time, policemen conducted area domination operations close to a primary school located in the hilly terrain of Tulsidongri and Chandameta, and on Tuesday, the Tricolour was unfurled, the national anthem was recited and sweets were distributed to children.Villagers assembled to pay respect to the national flag. It was a cautious move, said Arif Sheikh, the Bastar superintendent of police. Last week the Maoists had visited Mundagarh and warned villagers not to support security forces. Despite this students and tribals dared to celebrate Independence Day. Mundagarh sarpanch Pandru said the naxalites had asked them to hoist a black flag on August 15. The villagers were threatened with punishment if we support the police. We were told not to offer even drinking water to jawans. RAIPUR: Area domination exercises by the Chhattisgarh police ensured that the national flag was hoisted at schools in the naxalite-affected region of Mundagarh in Bastar on Tuesday. Mundagarh, located some 70 km from Jagdalpur, the district headquarters of Bastar on the Odisha-Chhattisgarh border, falls in a forested area dominated by the banned CPI (Maoist), which in previous years prevailed upon tribal people to hoist black flags on Independence Day and Republic Day. This time, policemen conducted area domination operations close to a primary school located in the hilly terrain of Tulsidongri and Chandameta, and on Tuesday, the Tricolour was unfurled, the national anthem was recited and sweets were distributed to children.Villagers assembled to pay respect to the national flag. It was a cautious move, said Arif Sheikh, the Bastar superintendent of police. Last week the Maoists had visited Mundagarh and warned villagers not to support security forces. Despite this students and tribals dared to celebrate Independence Day. Mundagarh sarpanch Pandru said the naxalites had asked them to hoist a black flag on August 15. The villagers were threatened with punishment if we support the police. We were told not to offer even drinking water to jawans. NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 16, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC (KSF) and KSF partner, the former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until October 16, 2017 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against ZTO Express (Cayman), Inc. (NYSE:ZTO), if they purchased the Companys American Depositary Shares (ADSs) pursuant to its October 27, 2016 initial public offering (IPO). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. What You May Do If you purchased ADSs of ZTO and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email (lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com), or visit http://ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-zto/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court by October 16, 2017. About the Lawsuit ZTO and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information in its Registration Statement filed in connection with its IPO, violating federal securities laws. On October 27, 2016, ZTO conducted its IPO having previously filed its Registration Statement with the SEC. However, ZTO failed to disclose adverse material facts in its Statement involving the Companys use of its network partner businesses for low-margin shipping services, which businesses were not maintained on its books, and which caused ZTOs profit margins to be inflated. Since the IPO, the price of ZTOs shares has fallen significantly. About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC KSF, whose partners include the former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is a law firm focused on securities, antitrust and consumer class actions, along with merger & acquisition and breach of fiduciary litigation against publicly traded companies on behalf of shareholders. The firm has offices in New York, California and Louisiana. To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com. By ANI GORAKHPUR: Father of a deceased child, who died in Gorakhpur's BRD Medical College tragedy, has filed a police complaint against the Health Minister, the Medical Education Minister and the Principal Secretary Health in Gorakhpur. The father of the deceased child, Rajbhar, who hails from Gopalganj in Bihar had admitted his child for treatment on August 10. Rajbhar, in a letter, has claimed that his child died due to disruption of oxygen supply and has blamed Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh, Medical Education Minister Ashutoh Tandon and Principal Secretary Health Prashant Trivedi for the same. He also alleged that no post-mortem was done after the child's death. The complaint was filed on August 14, but no FIR has been registered as yet. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, meanwhile, has outrightly blamed the college principal, Rajiv Mishra, for laxity in performing his duty. He also said that a team of top ministers was asked to determine if the death of the children was actually due to a disruption in oxygen supply at the hospital and assured to "not spare anyone found guilty". GORAKHPUR: Father of a deceased child, who died in Gorakhpur's BRD Medical College tragedy, has filed a police complaint against the Health Minister, the Medical Education Minister and the Principal Secretary Health in Gorakhpur. The father of the deceased child, Rajbhar, who hails from Gopalganj in Bihar had admitted his child for treatment on August 10. Rajbhar, in a letter, has claimed that his child died due to disruption of oxygen supply and has blamed Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh, Medical Education Minister Ashutoh Tandon and Principal Secretary Health Prashant Trivedi for the same. He also alleged that no post-mortem was done after the child's death. The complaint was filed on August 14, but no FIR has been registered as yet. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, meanwhile, has outrightly blamed the college principal, Rajiv Mishra, for laxity in performing his duty. He also said that a team of top ministers was asked to determine if the death of the children was actually due to a disruption in oxygen supply at the hospital and assured to "not spare anyone found guilty". By Express News Service NEW DELHI: A day after the Indian and Chinese soldiers involved in a brawl, when People Liberation Army troops tried to enter Indian territory along the Pangong Tso lake in Ladakh, key military officials from both armies held a border meeting to discuss the issue. According to sources, Border Personnel Meeting between officials of Indian and Chinese army held in Chushul sector of Eastern Ladakh on Wednesday afternoon, where Tuesdays incident of clashes between soldiers from both sides were raised. Meeting between military officials from both armies was held in Chushul, where incidents, issues to ensure strengthening of existing mechanism for maintaining peace and tranquility were discussed, said a defence source. Though Army sources refused to divulge more details about the outcome of the meeting, but sources have indicated it went inconclusive. On Tuesday, a joint patrol of ITBP and Indian army foiled a bid by a group of Chinese troops to enter Indian Territory in Ladakh, near the Pangong Lake. While resisting, some of the Chinese soldiers carried iron rods and stones, and troops on both sides suffered minor injuries in the melee. In fact, Chinese soldiers reported to have formed a human chain and then they began hurling stones at Indian patrol. During which at least five ITBP soldiers also sustained minor injuries. Sources claimed that Chinese troops had managed to enter up to Finger Four area in the region from where they were sent back. This area has been a bone of contention between India and China as both claim it to be a part of their territory. Two-thirds of the Pangong Lake is controlled by China while one-third of it is controlled by India. But, in response to Tuesdays incident, Chinas Foreign Ministry on Wednesday urged India to protect the peace and stability of the border region. According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, Chinese border forces have consistently and always dedicated themselves to protecting peace and tranquility on the China-India border region and we have always patrolled on the Chinese side of the line of control, Hua told a daily news briefing. We urge the Indian side to scrupulously abide by relevant agreements, protocols and rules between the two countries and earnestly respect the 1959 line of control and earnestly protect the peace and stability of the border region. Tuesdays incident comes against the backdrop of two month old standoff between Chinese and Indian soldiers, who have been engaged in a eyeball to eyeball situation since June 16th after Indian troops objected to road construction by Chinese soldiers in a strategically important Dokalam plateau close to Sikkim border. Since then, over 300 soldiers from each sides are camping in the disputed site. And multiple efforts to break the ice have not yielded any positive outcome including National Security Adviser Ajit Doval's visit to Beijing last month. Now all eyes are on Prime minister Narendra Modi's next month visit to China to take part in the BRICS summit where leaders from both sides are expected to resolve the issue. In fact, due to ongoing faceoff, Chinese troops did not attend the ceremonial Border Personnel Meeting on the occasion of Indians Independence Day, shying away from nearly two decade old practice. There are five BPM points at Bum La and Kibithu in Arunachal Pradesh, Daulat Beg Oldi and Chushul in Ladakh and Nathu La in Sikkim. NEW DELHI: A day after the Indian and Chinese soldiers involved in a brawl, when People Liberation Army troops tried to enter Indian territory along the Pangong Tso lake in Ladakh, key military officials from both armies held a border meeting to discuss the issue. According to sources, Border Personnel Meeting between officials of Indian and Chinese army held in Chushul sector of Eastern Ladakh on Wednesday afternoon, where Tuesdays incident of clashes between soldiers from both sides were raised. Meeting between military officials from both armies was held in Chushul, where incidents, issues to ensure strengthening of existing mechanism for maintaining peace and tranquility were discussed, said a defence source. Though Army sources refused to divulge more details about the outcome of the meeting, but sources have indicated it went inconclusive. On Tuesday, a joint patrol of ITBP and Indian army foiled a bid by a group of Chinese troops to enter Indian Territory in Ladakh, near the Pangong Lake. While resisting, some of the Chinese soldiers carried iron rods and stones, and troops on both sides suffered minor injuries in the melee. In fact, Chinese soldiers reported to have formed a human chain and then they began hurling stones at Indian patrol. During which at least five ITBP soldiers also sustained minor injuries. Sources claimed that Chinese troops had managed to enter up to Finger Four area in the region from where they were sent back. This area has been a bone of contention between India and China as both claim it to be a part of their territory. Two-thirds of the Pangong Lake is controlled by China while one-third of it is controlled by India. But, in response to Tuesdays incident, Chinas Foreign Ministry on Wednesday urged India to protect the peace and stability of the border region. According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, Chinese border forces have consistently and always dedicated themselves to protecting peace and tranquility on the China-India border region and we have always patrolled on the Chinese side of the line of control, Hua told a daily news briefing. We urge the Indian side to scrupulously abide by relevant agreements, protocols and rules between the two countries and earnestly respect the 1959 line of control and earnestly protect the peace and stability of the border region. Tuesdays incident comes against the backdrop of two month old standoff between Chinese and Indian soldiers, who have been engaged in a eyeball to eyeball situation since June 16th after Indian troops objected to road construction by Chinese soldiers in a strategically important Dokalam plateau close to Sikkim border. Since then, over 300 soldiers from each sides are camping in the disputed site. And multiple efforts to break the ice have not yielded any positive outcome including National Security Adviser Ajit Doval's visit to Beijing last month. Now all eyes are on Prime minister Narendra Modi's next month visit to China to take part in the BRICS summit where leaders from both sides are expected to resolve the issue. In fact, due to ongoing faceoff, Chinese troops did not attend the ceremonial Border Personnel Meeting on the occasion of Indians Independence Day, shying away from nearly two decade old practice. There are five BPM points at Bum La and Kibithu in Arunachal Pradesh, Daulat Beg Oldi and Chushul in Ladakh and Nathu La in Sikkim. By Express News Service NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the Red Fort ramparts to reach out to Kashmiris on the Independence Day. Describing his vision for a new India the Prime Minister also asserted that violence in the name of faith was unacceptable. Na gaali se, na goli se, parivartan hoga gale lagaane se... (Kashmir crisis cannot be resolved through bullets or abuses, but only by embracing Kashmiris), he said, referring to the year-long crisis. The Prime Minister said his government was committed to restoring Kashmirs status as heaven on earth, stressing that progress of the State lies in drawing youngsters into the mainstream. However, he added, crackdown against terror would continue. You have every right to make your voices heard in Indian democracy, he said. The comments were, surprisingly, welcomed by moderate separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah. Welcome Modi also believes Goli and Gaali will not help resolve Kashmir. If Insaniyat (humanity) and Insaaf (justice) replace them, resolution can become a reality, Mirwaiz tweeted.Condemning violence unleashed by cow vigilantes, for the second time in a public address, the Prime Minister stressed that violence in the name of faith is unacceptable. Violence in the name of Astha is not something to be happy about, it will not be accepted in India. India is about Shanti, Ekta and Sadbhavana. Casteism and communalism will not help us. Some people, due to lack of patience, end up destroying the social fabric... The poison of casteism and communalism can never benefit the country. This is the land of Gandhi and Buddha; we have to move forward taking everyone along. This is a part of our countrys culture and tradition, he said. In his shortest speech in the last four years, the Prime Minister also mentioned the recent deaths of children at a hospital in Gorakhpur and the lives lost in the ongoing floods. The people of India stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those affected due to natural disasters and the great tragedy in UP, where innocent children died in hospital. Without directly referring to Pakistan or China, Modi said national security is a priority and the country is capable of defending itself in all spheres. India is capable of tackling any challenge in any frontier, he said. Here are some important points from the Prime Minister's Independence day speech: Ambition We will create an India where the poor owns a house and has access to electricity and water. An India, where the farmer sleeps in peace and grows his income two-fold by 2022. An India, where the young women get opportunities in every field. East India push We are devoting significant attention to eastern India Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Odisha and the Northeast. These areas have to grow Cant tolerate... Corruption will not be tolerated. Everyone will be answerable. We are fighting corruption for the bright future of India Stop this! We will not tolerate violence in the name of faith. Before freedom, the slogan was Bharat chhodo (Quit India). Today, it should be Bharat Jodo (Bring India together) Solidarity to... I want to mention those women who have to suffer due to Triple Talaq- I admire their courage. We are with them in their struggles. The women of this country created a revolution against Triple Talaq World looking up Indias stature in the world is rising. The world is with us in fighting the menace of terror. Some self pat GST has shown the spirit of cooperative federalism. The nation has come together to support GST. Role of technology has helped Embrace Kashmiri Neither gaali (abuse), nor goli (bullet) will bring a change. The change will take place when we embrace every Kashmiri. New attitude We have to leave this Chalta Hai attitude. We have to think of Badal Sakta Hai- this attitude will help us as a nation. In our nation, no one is big or small...everybody is equal. Surprise in store 1st January 2018 will not be an ordinary day- those born in this century will start turning 18. They are Bhagya Vidhatas of our nation. NEW DELHI : Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the Red Fort ramparts to reach out to Kashmiris on the Independence Day. Describing his vision for a new India the Prime Minister also asserted that violence in the name of faith was unacceptable. Na gaali se, na goli se, parivartan hoga gale lagaane se... (Kashmir crisis cannot be resolved through bullets or abuses, but only by embracing Kashmiris), he said, referring to the year-long crisis. The Prime Minister said his government was committed to restoring Kashmirs status as heaven on earth, stressing that progress of the State lies in drawing youngsters into the mainstream. However, he added, crackdown against terror would continue. You have every right to make your voices heard in Indian democracy, he said. The comments were, surprisingly, welcomed by moderate separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah. Welcome Modi also believes Goli and Gaali will not help resolve Kashmir. If Insaniyat (humanity) and Insaaf (justice) replace them, resolution can become a reality, Mirwaiz tweeted.Condemning violence unleashed by cow vigilantes, for the second time in a public address, the Prime Minister stressed that violence in the name of faith is unacceptable. Violence in the name of Astha is not something to be happy about, it will not be accepted in India. India is about Shanti, Ekta and Sadbhavana. Casteism and communalism will not help us. Some people, due to lack of patience, end up destroying the social fabric... The poison of casteism and communalism can never benefit the country. This is the land of Gandhi and Buddha; we have to move forward taking everyone along. This is a part of our countrys culture and tradition, he said. In his shortest speech in the last four years, the Prime Minister also mentioned the recent deaths of children at a hospital in Gorakhpur and the lives lost in the ongoing floods. The people of India stand shoulder-to-shoulder with those affected due to natural disasters and the great tragedy in UP, where innocent children died in hospital. Without directly referring to Pakistan or China, Modi said national security is a priority and the country is capable of defending itself in all spheres. India is capable of tackling any challenge in any frontier, he said. Here are some important points from the Prime Minister's Independence day speech: Ambition We will create an India where the poor owns a house and has access to electricity and water. An India, where the farmer sleeps in peace and grows his income two-fold by 2022. An India, where the young women get opportunities in every field. East India push We are devoting significant attention to eastern India Bihar, Assam, West Bengal, Odisha and the Northeast. These areas have to grow Cant tolerate... Corruption will not be tolerated. Everyone will be answerable. We are fighting corruption for the bright future of India Stop this! We will not tolerate violence in the name of faith. Before freedom, the slogan was Bharat chhodo (Quit India). Today, it should be Bharat Jodo (Bring India together) Solidarity to... I want to mention those women who have to suffer due to Triple Talaq- I admire their courage. We are with them in their struggles. The women of this country created a revolution against Triple Talaq World looking up Indias stature in the world is rising. The world is with us in fighting the menace of terror. Some self pat GST has shown the spirit of cooperative federalism. The nation has come together to support GST. Role of technology has helped Embrace Kashmiri Neither gaali (abuse), nor goli (bullet) will bring a change. The change will take place when we embrace every Kashmiri. New attitude We have to leave this Chalta Hai attitude. We have to think of Badal Sakta Hai- this attitude will help us as a nation. In our nation, no one is big or small...everybody is equal. Surprise in store 1st January 2018 will not be an ordinary day- those born in this century will start turning 18. They are Bhagya Vidhatas of our nation. Prasanta Mazumdar By Express News Service GUWAHATI: Doordarshan on Wednesday rubbished allegations that Prasar Bharati had blacked out Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkars Independence Day programme. In a statement, U K Sahoo, head of office, Doordarshan Kendra, Agartala, claimed, The news unit of the local station of Doordarshan at Agartala has given wide coverage to the public address of the Honble Chief Minister of Tripura and the development activities of the State government On August 15, 2017, Doordarshan also gave wide coverage to the Chief Ministers Independence Day programme and telecast a report running to 29 minutes and 45 seconds. Out of which, the Honble Chief Ministers speech coverage was for 12 minutes. This was telecast at 1900 hrs, Sahoo said. On Tuesday, the Information and Cultural Affairs ministry of Tripura government, said, According to Prasar Bharati, the CMs pre-recorded (I-Day) speech... was inept keeping in mind the sanctity and solemnity attached to the occasion. An enraged Sarkar said Prasar Bharati could not decide on his speech. He described as undemocratic, authoritarian and uncalled for Prasar Bharatis directive to him. He said it was a blow to freedom of speech. Narrating the incident, Sarkar said: On August 12, my I-Day speech was pre-recorded by the Agartala centres of Doordarshan and AIR. Then at 7 pm on August 14, we were informed by the AIR through a letter and soon after, by Doordarshan that my speech would not be aired following a directive from Prasar Bharati. They said Prasar Bharati wanted me to reshape my speech by making changes in it and only then it would be aired. Sarkar stood his ground and made it known that he was not going to change even a single word or sentence of his speech. He slammed AIR and Doordarshan saying they cannot decide what I would speak or how my speech should be like. His CPM has also vented ire through social media. Doordarshan refuses to broadcast Tripura CM Manik Sarkars speech. Is this the cooperative federalism that PM Modi talks about? Shame! the partys official twitter handle posted. But what was Sarkars pre-recorded speech like? Well, he spoke about the attacks on Dalits and minorities, the growing disparity between the rich and the poor, the alleged attack on secularism and attempts to make India a country of one religion and cow vigilantism etc. GUWAHATI: Doordarshan on Wednesday rubbished allegations that Prasar Bharati had blacked out Tripura chief minister Manik Sarkars Independence Day programme. In a statement, U K Sahoo, head of office, Doordarshan Kendra, Agartala, claimed, The news unit of the local station of Doordarshan at Agartala has given wide coverage to the public address of the Honble Chief Minister of Tripura and the development activities of the State government On August 15, 2017, Doordarshan also gave wide coverage to the Chief Ministers Independence Day programme and telecast a report running to 29 minutes and 45 seconds. Out of which, the Honble Chief Ministers speech coverage was for 12 minutes. This was telecast at 1900 hrs, Sahoo said. On Tuesday, the Information and Cultural Affairs ministry of Tripura government, said, According to Prasar Bharati, the CMs pre-recorded (I-Day) speech... was inept keeping in mind the sanctity and solemnity attached to the occasion. An enraged Sarkar said Prasar Bharati could not decide on his speech. He described as undemocratic, authoritarian and uncalled for Prasar Bharatis directive to him. He said it was a blow to freedom of speech. Narrating the incident, Sarkar said: On August 12, my I-Day speech was pre-recorded by the Agartala centres of Doordarshan and AIR. Then at 7 pm on August 14, we were informed by the AIR through a letter and soon after, by Doordarshan that my speech would not be aired following a directive from Prasar Bharati. They said Prasar Bharati wanted me to reshape my speech by making changes in it and only then it would be aired. Sarkar stood his ground and made it known that he was not going to change even a single word or sentence of his speech. He slammed AIR and Doordarshan saying they cannot decide what I would speak or how my speech should be like. His CPM has also vented ire through social media. Doordarshan refuses to broadcast Tripura CM Manik Sarkars speech. Is this the cooperative federalism that PM Modi talks about? Shame! the partys official twitter handle posted. But what was Sarkars pre-recorded speech like? Well, he spoke about the attacks on Dalits and minorities, the growing disparity between the rich and the poor, the alleged attack on secularism and attempts to make India a country of one religion and cow vigilantism etc. Fayaz Wani By Express News Service SRINAGAR: A top commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba was killed in a brief encounter with security forces in south Kashmirs Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. A police official said a police and paramilitary CRPF men had set up a Naka at Banderpora, Quil area of south Kashmirs Pulwama district today. The security personnel deployed at the Naka signalled a vehicle to stop. However, instead of stopping, a militant travelling in the vehicle fired towards the security personnel. The fire was returned by the troops and in the brief gunfight, the militant was killed, he said. The police official identified the slain militant as Lashkars district commander Ayub Lelhari, a local. A policeman was also injured in the brief shootout. Police sources said security men arrested a driver of the vehicle and his questioning was going on. A police official termed Lelharis killing as another major jolt to Lashkar. It is yet another success in fight against militancy. On August 1, Lashkars Kashmir chief and most wanted militant Abu Dujana along with two of his associates was killed in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmir. Dujana, who had infiltrated into Valley in 2010, was the brain behind most militant attacks in the Valley in last two years. He carried a bounty of Rs 15 lakhs. Meanwhile, Director General of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar told reporters on sidelines of a function in Srinagar today that seven militant commanders have been killed by security forces in Valley this year. He said overall 132 militants have been killed by security forces during gun battles in Valley this year so far. CRPF jawan injured in grenade attack succumbs A CRPF jawan, who was injured in August 14 grenade attack by militants in Magam area of central Kashmirs Budgam district, succumbed to injuries today. The deceased was identified as Constable Reyaz Ahmad. He was among the three CRPF and a police man injured in grenade attack on August 14. He was undergoing a treatment at a Srinagar hospital, where he succumbed today. Soldier injured in Pakistani firing dies Defence spokesman in Srinagar, Colonel Rajesh Kalia said Havaldar Narendra Singh, who had sustained bullet injuries in Pakistan troops firing in Rampur sector of North Kashmirs Baramulla district on August 7, succumbed to injuries at a military hospital in Srinagar today. He said 43-year-old Singh had joined Army in 1994. He hailed from Village Haripur in Dehradun and is survived by wife Asha Devi and two young daughters. In this hour of grief, the Army stands in solidarity with the bereaved family of the deceased and remains committed to their dignity and well being, Kalia said. SRINAGAR: A top commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba was killed in a brief encounter with security forces in south Kashmirs Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. A police official said a police and paramilitary CRPF men had set up a Naka at Banderpora, Quil area of south Kashmirs Pulwama district today. The security personnel deployed at the Naka signalled a vehicle to stop. However, instead of stopping, a militant travelling in the vehicle fired towards the security personnel. The fire was returned by the troops and in the brief gunfight, the militant was killed, he said. The police official identified the slain militant as Lashkars district commander Ayub Lelhari, a local. A policeman was also injured in the brief shootout. Police sources said security men arrested a driver of the vehicle and his questioning was going on. A police official termed Lelharis killing as another major jolt to Lashkar. It is yet another success in fight against militancy. On August 1, Lashkars Kashmir chief and most wanted militant Abu Dujana along with two of his associates was killed in an encounter with security forces in south Kashmir. Dujana, who had infiltrated into Valley in 2010, was the brain behind most militant attacks in the Valley in last two years. He carried a bounty of Rs 15 lakhs. Meanwhile, Director General of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar told reporters on sidelines of a function in Srinagar today that seven militant commanders have been killed by security forces in Valley this year. He said overall 132 militants have been killed by security forces during gun battles in Valley this year so far. CRPF jawan injured in grenade attack succumbs A CRPF jawan, who was injured in August 14 grenade attack by militants in Magam area of central Kashmirs Budgam district, succumbed to injuries today. The deceased was identified as Constable Reyaz Ahmad. He was among the three CRPF and a police man injured in grenade attack on August 14. He was undergoing a treatment at a Srinagar hospital, where he succumbed today. Soldier injured in Pakistani firing dies Defence spokesman in Srinagar, Colonel Rajesh Kalia said Havaldar Narendra Singh, who had sustained bullet injuries in Pakistan troops firing in Rampur sector of North Kashmirs Baramulla district on August 7, succumbed to injuries at a military hospital in Srinagar today. He said 43-year-old Singh had joined Army in 1994. He hailed from Village Haripur in Dehradun and is survived by wife Asha Devi and two young daughters. In this hour of grief, the Army stands in solidarity with the bereaved family of the deceased and remains committed to their dignity and well being, Kalia said. By PTI BEIJING: China said today that it was not aware of the reports of PLA soldiers entering Indian territory along the banks of the Pangong lake in Ladakh and maintained that it was committed to peace and tranquility along the border. Indian border guards yesterday foiled an attempt by Chinese soldiers to enter Indian territory in Ladakh, resulting in stone pelting that caused minor injuries to people on both sides. Asked to comment on the incident, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hu Chunying said, "I am not aware of the information I can tell you that the Chinese border troops are always committed to maintain peace and tranquility of the India-China border." "We always patrol in the Chinese side along the Line of Actual Control. We urge the Indian side to abide by the LAC (Line of Actual Control) and relevant conventions between the two sides," she said. In the past too, whenever such incursions have taken place, China has always maintained that its troops were patrolling the Chinese side of the border highlighting that border is yet to be delineated as the two countries were in the process of resolving the boundary dispute. Special Representatives of China and India have held 19 rounds of talks to resolve the boundary issue. Asked whether there is any progress to resolve the standoff at the Doklam area in the Sikkim section which has now entered the third month, Hua reiterated China's stand that Indian troops illegally trespassed into Chinese territory and they should unconditionally withdraw. "This is pre-condition for any meaningful talks between the two sides," she said. However, China has been acknowledging that the talks are on through the diplomatic channels to discuss the issue. Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim. BEIJING: China said today that it was not aware of the reports of PLA soldiers entering Indian territory along the banks of the Pangong lake in Ladakh and maintained that it was committed to peace and tranquility along the border. Indian border guards yesterday foiled an attempt by Chinese soldiers to enter Indian territory in Ladakh, resulting in stone pelting that caused minor injuries to people on both sides. Asked to comment on the incident, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hu Chunying said, "I am not aware of the information I can tell you that the Chinese border troops are always committed to maintain peace and tranquility of the India-China border." "We always patrol in the Chinese side along the Line of Actual Control. We urge the Indian side to abide by the LAC (Line of Actual Control) and relevant conventions between the two sides," she said. In the past too, whenever such incursions have taken place, China has always maintained that its troops were patrolling the Chinese side of the border highlighting that border is yet to be delineated as the two countries were in the process of resolving the boundary dispute. Special Representatives of China and India have held 19 rounds of talks to resolve the boundary issue. Asked whether there is any progress to resolve the standoff at the Doklam area in the Sikkim section which has now entered the third month, Hua reiterated China's stand that Indian troops illegally trespassed into Chinese territory and they should unconditionally withdraw. "This is pre-condition for any meaningful talks between the two sides," she said. However, China has been acknowledging that the talks are on through the diplomatic channels to discuss the issue. Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim. By Express News Service BHOPAL: Showcasing a unique bond of Hindu-Muslim friendship, a girl from Pakistan is returning to her country with a memorable gift for her friend the idol of the goddess of wisdom and knowledge, Saraswati. Karachi resident Tuba Fatima (21) left her maternal place in Harda district of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday morning accompanied by her mother and brother. Talking to journalists in Harda (165 km from Bhopal), Tuba said, A month back while I was leaving for maternal uncles place in MP, I asked my best friend Ritu what she wanted as a gift from India. She asked me to bring the idol of goddess Saraswati. Her maternal uncle Ahad Khan in Harda added, My niece (Tuba) told me that she wanted a goddess Saraswati idol. I took her to the store selling religious items, where she got the goddesss idol for her friend. Tuba said, I sincerely hope that this memorable gift fulfils Ritu's prayers. Both Tuba and Ritu, who work in a private factory in Pakistan, have long shared a strong bonding. Last year also, when my mother visited her brother in Harda, she returned with a Lord Ganesha idol for Ritu, remembered Tuba. BHOPAL: Showcasing a unique bond of Hindu-Muslim friendship, a girl from Pakistan is returning to her country with a memorable gift for her friend the idol of the goddess of wisdom and knowledge, Saraswati. Karachi resident Tuba Fatima (21) left her maternal place in Harda district of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday morning accompanied by her mother and brother. Talking to journalists in Harda (165 km from Bhopal), Tuba said, A month back while I was leaving for maternal uncles place in MP, I asked my best friend Ritu what she wanted as a gift from India. She asked me to bring the idol of goddess Saraswati. Her maternal uncle Ahad Khan in Harda added, My niece (Tuba) told me that she wanted a goddess Saraswati idol. I took her to the store selling religious items, where she got the goddesss idol for her friend. Tuba said, I sincerely hope that this memorable gift fulfils Ritu's prayers. Both Tuba and Ritu, who work in a private factory in Pakistan, have long shared a strong bonding. Last year also, when my mother visited her brother in Harda, she returned with a Lord Ganesha idol for Ritu, remembered Tuba. By PTI KATHMANDU: Nepal and China today signed three pacts to further boost their ties in power and energy sectors and undertake a feasibility study to excavate natural gas and petroleum in the Himalayan country, including in the southern Terai plains. The pacts were signed after visiting Chinese vice premier Wang Yang held discussions with Nepal's deputy prime ministers Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar and Krishna Bahadur Mahara. Gachhadar reiterated Nepal's commitment to the 'One China' policy, "including the principled position of not allowing its territory to be used against neighbours." Both sides held discussions on enhancing cooperation in tourism, infrastructure development, energy, cross-border connectivity and people-to-people relations, he said. The agreements signed today cover economic and technological cooperation, oil and gas resources exploration, and promotion of investment, according to Nepal's foreign ministry. The pacts include a feasibility study for excavating natural gas and petroleum in mountain areas and plains of the Terai region, Nepal's state-run National News Agency reported. The two countries also agreed to establish hydropower projects and transmission lines and take steps for economic and technological development in Nepal, which suffers from acute shortage of electricity. Finance Secretary Shanta Raj Subedi told the agency that China responded positively on Nepal government's request to immediately reopen the 114-kilometre Araniko highway - an old route connecting the two countries. The highway was damaged and subsequently closed following the massive earthquake in Nepal in 2015. China has agreed in principle to upgrade the highway, the report said. The two countries, however, could not reach a concrete decision on developing other infrastructure projects such as constructing the Kerung-Kathmandu-Lumbini railway track and a bridge in Timure of Rasuwa district in northern Nepal. "The Chinese side is positive over the matter, but extensive talks and discussions are essential as a single round of talks is not enough to finalise all issues. They are positive towards our priorities of national development," said Subedi. Earlier today, the Chinese vice premier announced a USD 1 million assistance to Nepal, where more than 100 people have died in flooding and landslides. China's vice premier Yang led the Chinese delegation while Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara led the Nepalese delegation during the talks. Yang arrived in Kathmandu yesterday from Pakistan after attending the country's Independence Day celebrations as a "special guest". KATHMANDU: Nepal and China today signed three pacts to further boost their ties in power and energy sectors and undertake a feasibility study to excavate natural gas and petroleum in the Himalayan country, including in the southern Terai plains. The pacts were signed after visiting Chinese vice premier Wang Yang held discussions with Nepal's deputy prime ministers Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar and Krishna Bahadur Mahara. Gachhadar reiterated Nepal's commitment to the 'One China' policy, "including the principled position of not allowing its territory to be used against neighbours." Both sides held discussions on enhancing cooperation in tourism, infrastructure development, energy, cross-border connectivity and people-to-people relations, he said. The agreements signed today cover economic and technological cooperation, oil and gas resources exploration, and promotion of investment, according to Nepal's foreign ministry. The pacts include a feasibility study for excavating natural gas and petroleum in mountain areas and plains of the Terai region, Nepal's state-run National News Agency reported. The two countries also agreed to establish hydropower projects and transmission lines and take steps for economic and technological development in Nepal, which suffers from acute shortage of electricity. Finance Secretary Shanta Raj Subedi told the agency that China responded positively on Nepal government's request to immediately reopen the 114-kilometre Araniko highway - an old route connecting the two countries. The highway was damaged and subsequently closed following the massive earthquake in Nepal in 2015. China has agreed in principle to upgrade the highway, the report said. The two countries, however, could not reach a concrete decision on developing other infrastructure projects such as constructing the Kerung-Kathmandu-Lumbini railway track and a bridge in Timure of Rasuwa district in northern Nepal. "The Chinese side is positive over the matter, but extensive talks and discussions are essential as a single round of talks is not enough to finalise all issues. They are positive towards our priorities of national development," said Subedi. Earlier today, the Chinese vice premier announced a USD 1 million assistance to Nepal, where more than 100 people have died in flooding and landslides. China's vice premier Yang led the Chinese delegation while Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara led the Nepalese delegation during the talks. Yang arrived in Kathmandu yesterday from Pakistan after attending the country's Independence Day celebrations as a "special guest". By PTI BUENOS AIRES: US Vice President Mike Pence heard more complaints from Latin American allies about President Donald Trump's warning of a possible US military option to deal with the crisis in Venezuela. "The use of force is not the way," but rather political pressure, Argentine President Mauricio Macri said at a news conference alongside Mike Pence yesterday, who is on a tour of Latin American countries. Trump warned on Friday that he was considering various options to resolve the Venezuela crisis, "including a possible military option if necessary." Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro responded by ordering his armed forces to carry out a national exercise next week. Pence moved to soften the impact of Trump's announcement, stressing that peaceful pressure is the priority. But he did not rule out Trump following through on his threat. "The United States has many options, and we reserve those options," Pence said. But we truly believe that by increasing economic and diplomatic pressure on the Maduro regime -- not just across the Americas, but across the wider world -- that we can achieve a restoration of democracy in Venezuela by peaceable means." The United States along with Argentina and other regional allies have joined in international condemnation of Maduro. But the South American bloc Mercosur, of which is a member, over the weekend rejected any use of force to resolve the Venezuela crisis. Maduro has been tightening his grip on power in response to economic chaos and angry street protests by opponents demanding elections. Nearly 130 people have died in recent months of unrest. The US vice president was on the second stop in a tour of Latin America to rally the region over the Venezuela crisis. He earlier visited Colombia and was due to travel to Chile on Wednesday and later to Panama. Pence said a million Venezuelans had fled to Colombia and more than 60,000 to Argentina to escape the chaos in their country. Pence and Macri said they discussed increasing trade between their countries. Pence praised the economic reforms Macri has introduced since taking office in 2015. The conservative president has moved to open up Argentine trade and finance, though his critics say the measures have worsened hardship for the poor. BUENOS AIRES: US Vice President Mike Pence heard more complaints from Latin American allies about President Donald Trump's warning of a possible US military option to deal with the crisis in Venezuela. "The use of force is not the way," but rather political pressure, Argentine President Mauricio Macri said at a news conference alongside Mike Pence yesterday, who is on a tour of Latin American countries. Trump warned on Friday that he was considering various options to resolve the Venezuela crisis, "including a possible military option if necessary." Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro responded by ordering his armed forces to carry out a national exercise next week. Pence moved to soften the impact of Trump's announcement, stressing that peaceful pressure is the priority. But he did not rule out Trump following through on his threat. "The United States has many options, and we reserve those options," Pence said. But we truly believe that by increasing economic and diplomatic pressure on the Maduro regime -- not just across the Americas, but across the wider world -- that we can achieve a restoration of democracy in Venezuela by peaceable means." The United States along with Argentina and other regional allies have joined in international condemnation of Maduro. But the South American bloc Mercosur, of which is a member, over the weekend rejected any use of force to resolve the Venezuela crisis. Maduro has been tightening his grip on power in response to economic chaos and angry street protests by opponents demanding elections. Nearly 130 people have died in recent months of unrest. The US vice president was on the second stop in a tour of Latin America to rally the region over the Venezuela crisis. He earlier visited Colombia and was due to travel to Chile on Wednesday and later to Panama. Pence said a million Venezuelans had fled to Colombia and more than 60,000 to Argentina to escape the chaos in their country. Pence and Macri said they discussed increasing trade between their countries. Pence praised the economic reforms Macri has introduced since taking office in 2015. The conservative president has moved to open up Argentine trade and finance, though his critics say the measures have worsened hardship for the poor. By Associated Press MAIDUGURI (NIGERIA): Suicide bombers attacked a camp for internally displaced people and a nearby market in a northeastern Nigeria village Tuesday, killing at least 20 people, a local official said Tuesday. Village chief Lawan Kalli said Tuesday at least three suicide bombers entered Mandarari's market around 5 p.m. posing as buyers, then an undetermined number went to the nearby camp for people displaced by Nigeria's conflict while at least one stayed at the market. They all detonated their explosives almost simultaneously, he said. "Our village is right at the entrance into Konduga town and that is where both the camp and the makeshift market are situated, which made us an instant target point of the insurgents," Kalli said. At least 80 people were injured and were rushed to the hospital in Maiduguri, a town about 30 kilometers (18 miles) away, he said. Musa Bura, a youth volunteer in nearby Konduga town, said most members of the local defense force were on guard at the market and not the nearby camp. "The suicide bombers came, three in number. One went into the camp and detonated and almost immediately everywhere turned into disarray, and in the confusion, the two other suicide bombers detonated in the market," he said. The death toll will likely rise, he predicted. Boko Haram's eight-year insurgency has displaced millions in Nigeria and neighboring countries and has killed more than 20,000 people. The Islamic insurgents also staged attacks late Monday that killed seven people in the communities of Nyibango and Muduhu in the Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa, said the chairman of the Madagali Local Government Council, Yusuf Muhammed. MAIDUGURI (NIGERIA): Suicide bombers attacked a camp for internally displaced people and a nearby market in a northeastern Nigeria village Tuesday, killing at least 20 people, a local official said Tuesday. Village chief Lawan Kalli said Tuesday at least three suicide bombers entered Mandarari's market around 5 p.m. posing as buyers, then an undetermined number went to the nearby camp for people displaced by Nigeria's conflict while at least one stayed at the market. They all detonated their explosives almost simultaneously, he said. "Our village is right at the entrance into Konduga town and that is where both the camp and the makeshift market are situated, which made us an instant target point of the insurgents," Kalli said. At least 80 people were injured and were rushed to the hospital in Maiduguri, a town about 30 kilometers (18 miles) away, he said. Musa Bura, a youth volunteer in nearby Konduga town, said most members of the local defense force were on guard at the market and not the nearby camp. "The suicide bombers came, three in number. One went into the camp and detonated and almost immediately everywhere turned into disarray, and in the confusion, the two other suicide bombers detonated in the market," he said. The death toll will likely rise, he predicted. Boko Haram's eight-year insurgency has displaced millions in Nigeria and neighboring countries and has killed more than 20,000 people. The Islamic insurgents also staged attacks late Monday that killed seven people in the communities of Nyibango and Muduhu in the Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa, said the chairman of the Madagali Local Government Council, Yusuf Muhammed. Estimados amigos, Les doy cordialmente la bienvenida a este Blog informativo con articulos, analisis y comentarios de publicaciones especializadas y especialmente seleccionadas, principalmente sobre temas economicos, financieros y politicos de actualidad, que esperamos y deseamos, sean de su maximo interes, utilidad y conveniencia. Pensamos que solo comprendiendo cabalmente el presente, es que podemos proyectarnos acertadamente hacia el futuro. Las convicciones son mas peligrosos enemigos de la verdad que las mentiras. There are decades when nothing happens and there are weeks when decades happen. You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out. No soy alguien que sabe, sino alguien que busca. Only Gold is money. Everything else is debt. Las grandes almas tienen voluntades; las debiles tan solo deseos. Quien no lo ha dado todo no ha dado nada. History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. If you know the other and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity. By AFP BEIJING: China on Wednesday denied violations of religious freedom after the United States accused Beijing of persecuting Christians, Muslims, Falun Gong members and Tibetan Buddhists in an annual report. "All Chinese people of all ethnic groups and all regions are fully entitled to religious belief. The so-called report ignores facts," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular press briefing. "We see that the United States is not a perfect country either. We urge the US to... manage its own affairs," Hua added. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pointed to China along with Bahrain, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Turkey as he presented the State Department's annual report on Tuesday. The report said that in 2016, China "physically abused, detained, arrested, tortured, sentenced to prison, or harassed adherents of both registered and unregistered religious groups." It cited a national security law that explicitly bans "cult organizations," which includes the Falun Gong, Buddhist-inspired groups and several Christian groups. A new government regulation in the northwestern Xinjiang region bans any religious activity in schools and stipulates that parents or guardians who "organize, lure, or force minors into religious activities" may be reported to the police, the report said. It also noted arrests and harassment of church leaders in eastern Zhejiang province, who have opposed a government campaign to remove crosses from churches. In response, Hua said Washington should "stop the wrongdoing of using religion to interfere in other country's affairs". China's officially atheist Communist authorities are wary of any organised movements outside their control, including religious ones, and analysts say controls over such groups have tightened under President Xi Jinping. Chinese authorities had outlawed Falun Gong in July 1999, branding it an "evil cult". Members claim that hundreds of followers have since been beaten and killed in labour camps, a charge the Chinese government denies. Beijing says it "peacefully liberated" Tibet in 1951 and insists it has brought development to a previously backward region. But many Tibetans accuse the Chinese government of exploiting natural resources, as well as promoting activities and business of China's majority Han ethnic group at the expense of locals and the environment. Several Tibetan monks have died in self-immolation protests in recent months, according to rights groups. BEIJING: China on Wednesday denied violations of religious freedom after the United States accused Beijing of persecuting Christians, Muslims, Falun Gong members and Tibetan Buddhists in an annual report. "All Chinese people of all ethnic groups and all regions are fully entitled to religious belief. The so-called report ignores facts," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a regular press briefing. "We see that the United States is not a perfect country either. We urge the US to... manage its own affairs," Hua added. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pointed to China along with Bahrain, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Turkey as he presented the State Department's annual report on Tuesday. The report said that in 2016, China "physically abused, detained, arrested, tortured, sentenced to prison, or harassed adherents of both registered and unregistered religious groups." It cited a national security law that explicitly bans "cult organizations," which includes the Falun Gong, Buddhist-inspired groups and several Christian groups. A new government regulation in the northwestern Xinjiang region bans any religious activity in schools and stipulates that parents or guardians who "organize, lure, or force minors into religious activities" may be reported to the police, the report said. It also noted arrests and harassment of church leaders in eastern Zhejiang province, who have opposed a government campaign to remove crosses from churches. In response, Hua said Washington should "stop the wrongdoing of using religion to interfere in other country's affairs". China's officially atheist Communist authorities are wary of any organised movements outside their control, including religious ones, and analysts say controls over such groups have tightened under President Xi Jinping. Chinese authorities had outlawed Falun Gong in July 1999, branding it an "evil cult". Members claim that hundreds of followers have since been beaten and killed in labour camps, a charge the Chinese government denies. Beijing says it "peacefully liberated" Tibet in 1951 and insists it has brought development to a previously backward region. But many Tibetans accuse the Chinese government of exploiting natural resources, as well as promoting activities and business of China's majority Han ethnic group at the expense of locals and the environment. Several Tibetan monks have died in self-immolation protests in recent months, according to rights groups. By Associated Press DUBAI: Six buildings have caught fire in a 1400-year-old Saudi neighbourhood in the city of Jiddah, with three buildings completely destroyed by the blaze. Saudi Arabia's Civil Defense says 60 people were forced to evacuate their homes because of the fire, which broke out late on Tuesday evening, but that no one was injured. It didn't say what may have caused the fire. Amateur video shared on social media showed residents in Jiddah's Old Town standing in the street as flames raged through several buildings amid falling debris. WATCH: Fire engulfs historical center in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia pic.twitter.com/DMrvL9xuYQ Press TV (@PressTV) August 16, 2017 Jiddah's Old Town, also known as "al-Balad", is a UNESCO world heritage site established in the 7th century as a major port and trade route channelling goods to Mecca. Its streets are narrow and many of its buildings are characterized by unique architecture. DUBAI: Six buildings have caught fire in a 1400-year-old Saudi neighbourhood in the city of Jiddah, with three buildings completely destroyed by the blaze. Saudi Arabia's Civil Defense says 60 people were forced to evacuate their homes because of the fire, which broke out late on Tuesday evening, but that no one was injured. It didn't say what may have caused the fire. Amateur video shared on social media showed residents in Jiddah's Old Town standing in the street as flames raged through several buildings amid falling debris. WATCH: Fire engulfs historical center in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia pic.twitter.com/DMrvL9xuYQ Press TV (@PressTV) August 16, 2017 Jiddah's Old Town, also known as "al-Balad", is a UNESCO world heritage site established in the 7th century as a major port and trade route channelling goods to Mecca. Its streets are narrow and many of its buildings are characterized by unique architecture. By AFP ATHENS: Greece on Wednesday called off a request for European assistance in battling wildfires as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said firefighters had gained the upper hand in halting a destructive blaze near Athens after three days. "The worst has been avoided," Tsipras said after flying over the disaster zone northeast of Athens by helicopter, adding that about 3,700 acres (1,500 hectares) of forest and scrubland had been ravaged. "Fortunately there are no victims... the damage was limited through your superhuman efforts," Tsipras told firefighters. Authorities said they had finally placed under control a huge wildfire in Kapandriti and Kalamos that had broken out on Monday in an area dotted with vacation homes. It took nearly 300 firefighters, 100 soldiers, five air bombers and seven helicopters to check its advance. At least five properties were destroyed, authorities said. "The situation is better this morning," a fire department source told AFP. As a result, fire service spokeswoman Stavroula Malliri said Greece had cancelled a request for European assistance. "International assistance was deemed unnecessary. The dispatch of firefighters from Cyprus and fire-fighting aircraft has been cancelled," she said. But Malliri said active fronts remained on the island of Zakynthos and in the western Peloponnese, though the situation was improving there as well. Greek officials say many of the fires were thought to have been started deliberately. The fire service said an incendiary device had been found in a forest on the island of Samos on Tuesday. ATHENS: Greece on Wednesday called off a request for European assistance in battling wildfires as Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said firefighters had gained the upper hand in halting a destructive blaze near Athens after three days. "The worst has been avoided," Tsipras said after flying over the disaster zone northeast of Athens by helicopter, adding that about 3,700 acres (1,500 hectares) of forest and scrubland had been ravaged. "Fortunately there are no victims... the damage was limited through your superhuman efforts," Tsipras told firefighters. Authorities said they had finally placed under control a huge wildfire in Kapandriti and Kalamos that had broken out on Monday in an area dotted with vacation homes. It took nearly 300 firefighters, 100 soldiers, five air bombers and seven helicopters to check its advance. At least five properties were destroyed, authorities said. "The situation is better this morning," a fire department source told AFP. As a result, fire service spokeswoman Stavroula Malliri said Greece had cancelled a request for European assistance. "International assistance was deemed unnecessary. The dispatch of firefighters from Cyprus and fire-fighting aircraft has been cancelled," she said. But Malliri said active fronts remained on the island of Zakynthos and in the western Peloponnese, though the situation was improving there as well. Greek officials say many of the fires were thought to have been started deliberately. The fire service said an incendiary device had been found in a forest on the island of Samos on Tuesday. By Associated Press JAKARTA: Indonesia's president on Wednesday vowed a fairer distribution of the nation's wealth and a renewed commitment to protecting diversity after volatile months in which the country's reputation for tolerance was undermined by religious tensions and attacks on minorities. Joko "Jokowi" Widodo repeated familiar themes in his annual address to parliament that comes a day before celebrations of the 72nd anniversary of Indonesia's independence from Dutch colonial rule. Jokowi, the first Indonesian president from outside the ranks of the elite or military, said economic development must be spread to all corners of the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. "Equitable development will unite Indonesia. Fair development will make us stronger in facing global competition," he said. Indonesia is the third largest democracy after India and the U.S. and as a member of the Group of 20 major industrialized and developing nations, its economy is among the biggest in the world. But it has dramatic extremes of wealth and poverty, grappling with both childhood stunting from malnutrition and a mounting health care burden from obesity-related diseases among the wealthier. About 11 percent of the country of more than 250 million people lives in extreme poverty and large numbers are just above that poverty line. People in far-flung areas of the archipelago such as the westernmost province of Aceh, a region granted substantial autonomy under a peace deal in 2004 with separatists, should be able to get the same standard of education, health care and other services as their "brothers" around the country, Jokowi said. He also singled out the easternmost Papua region, one of the country's poorest areas where Indonesian rule is deeply resented by indigenous Papuans, saying he wants Papuans to feel the same nationalistic pride as other ethnic groups that make up Indonesia. He said the government will strengthen its commitment to protecting the idea of "unity in diversity" and "Pancasila," the official state ideology that promotes principles such as social justice, democracy and belief in one God. It has been seen as under increasing threat from an upsurge in religious conservatism that led to the imprisonment earlier this year of the then-governor of Jakarta, a minority Christian and ethnic Chinese, on charges of blasphemy. Persecution of LGBT people has surged in the past two years and religious minorities have faced an increase in violations of religious freedom and acts of intolerance including the eviction of more than 7,000 members of the Gafatar religious community in Kalimantan in early 2016. JAKARTA: Indonesia's president on Wednesday vowed a fairer distribution of the nation's wealth and a renewed commitment to protecting diversity after volatile months in which the country's reputation for tolerance was undermined by religious tensions and attacks on minorities. Joko "Jokowi" Widodo repeated familiar themes in his annual address to parliament that comes a day before celebrations of the 72nd anniversary of Indonesia's independence from Dutch colonial rule. Jokowi, the first Indonesian president from outside the ranks of the elite or military, said economic development must be spread to all corners of the world's most populous Muslim-majority nation. "Equitable development will unite Indonesia. Fair development will make us stronger in facing global competition," he said. Indonesia is the third largest democracy after India and the U.S. and as a member of the Group of 20 major industrialized and developing nations, its economy is among the biggest in the world. But it has dramatic extremes of wealth and poverty, grappling with both childhood stunting from malnutrition and a mounting health care burden from obesity-related diseases among the wealthier. About 11 percent of the country of more than 250 million people lives in extreme poverty and large numbers are just above that poverty line. People in far-flung areas of the archipelago such as the westernmost province of Aceh, a region granted substantial autonomy under a peace deal in 2004 with separatists, should be able to get the same standard of education, health care and other services as their "brothers" around the country, Jokowi said. He also singled out the easternmost Papua region, one of the country's poorest areas where Indonesian rule is deeply resented by indigenous Papuans, saying he wants Papuans to feel the same nationalistic pride as other ethnic groups that make up Indonesia. He said the government will strengthen its commitment to protecting the idea of "unity in diversity" and "Pancasila," the official state ideology that promotes principles such as social justice, democracy and belief in one God. It has been seen as under increasing threat from an upsurge in religious conservatism that led to the imprisonment earlier this year of the then-governor of Jakarta, a minority Christian and ethnic Chinese, on charges of blasphemy. Persecution of LGBT people has surged in the past two years and religious minorities have faced an increase in violations of religious freedom and acts of intolerance including the eviction of more than 7,000 members of the Gafatar religious community in Kalimantan in early 2016. By PTI UNITED NATIONS: US Ambassador Nikki Haley says Iran should not be allowed "to use the nuclear deal to hold the world hostage." Haley commented yesterday after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned that the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement with the US and five other world powers could fall apart. Rouhani said Tehran could quickly ramp up and advance its nuclear program if the US continues "threats and sanctions" against Iran. Haley warned that "the nuclear deal must not become 'too big to fail.'" She added that "Iran, under no circumstances, can ever be allowed to have nuclear weapons." Haley said Iran must be held responsible for launching missiles, supporting terrorism, disregarding human rights and violating UN Security Council resolutions. She plans to visit the UN nuclear agency in Vienna next week. UNITED NATIONS: US Ambassador Nikki Haley says Iran should not be allowed "to use the nuclear deal to hold the world hostage." Haley commented yesterday after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned that the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement with the US and five other world powers could fall apart. Rouhani said Tehran could quickly ramp up and advance its nuclear program if the US continues "threats and sanctions" against Iran. Haley warned that "the nuclear deal must not become 'too big to fail.'" She added that "Iran, under no circumstances, can ever be allowed to have nuclear weapons." Haley said Iran must be held responsible for launching missiles, supporting terrorism, disregarding human rights and violating UN Security Council resolutions. She plans to visit the UN nuclear agency in Vienna next week. By Associated Press KIBBUTZ NIRIM: Israel is pressing ahead with construction of an underground barrier along the border with the Gaza Strip in an ambitious project meant to halt the threat of attack tunnels built by the Hamas militant group. Cranes and work crews are digging holes and installing sensors and other equipment for a structure that is expected to stretch along the entire 60-kilometer (40-mile) border when it is complete. Gadi Yarkoni, head of the local Eshkol regional council, said the project is a key reason that the area has enjoyed a surge in growth and attracted young families since a devastating war with Hamas three years ago. "I believe building the barrier is the right thing to do, to build in order to stop and to give an answer to the issue of the tunnels, and to the issue of the communities in the area," he said. "The surge in development in this area is unbelievable." During the 2014 war, Hamas militants on several occasions made their way into Israel through a tunnel network that caught Israel off guard. Although they did not manage to reach civilian areas, the infiltrations terrified the local population. Israel destroyed 32 tunnels during that conflict, and since then has made neutralizing the tunnel threat a top priority. Israeli defense officials have said little about the new barrier project or how much has been completed. At one construction zone, a sign said "military zone - no passage," and Associated Press reporters could not approach as cranes and bulldozers were at work. Last week, Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir, head of Israel's Southern Command, which is responsible for Gaza, told reporters the project would take about two years to complete. He said the barrier would stretch several meters (yards) above and below ground and be equipped with sophisticated sensors. It's being built entirely on the Israeli side of the border, to avoid friction with Hamas. Atai Shelach, a retired colonel and former commander of the Israeli military's "Yahalom" unit in charge of dismantling the militants' tunnels, said the new barrier would be a game-changer, but would not solve the problem on its own. "It is part of a cocktail, or a combination of many other solutions," he said. Neutralizing the tunnel threat will also require good intelligence and operational decisions by the army, he said. Otherwise, militants will eventually figure out how to get through. "That barrier can prevent war," he said, because it will be harder for Hamas and other militant groups to "create surprises" that frighten Israeli residents. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since the Islamic militant group seized control of Gaza from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. While Hamas has largely respected a cease-fire that ended the last round of fighting in 2014, it is believed to be building new tunnels and re-arming in preparation for future conflict. Hamas seeks Israel's destruction. "All the measures by the occupation on the border will not provide security for them," said Hazem Qasem, a spokesman for the group. "As long as they occupy the Palestinian land and put a siege on our people in the Gaza Strip, the resistance will continue to possess all the means of force that enable it to defend the people against Israeli aggression," he said. Israeli residents expressed mixed feelings about the new structure. Miriam Diener, a resident of Kibbutz Nirim, a communal farm near the Gaza border, said Israel must seek peace with its neighbors, and not just build new barriers. "No fence will solve the problems," she said. "Only peace will bring the possibility of a good economy, good education, good hospitals, good health. That is what is needed." But Shimon Avraham, another kibbutz resident, said the project will put people at ease after the terrifying experience of tunnel attacks. "Now it makes things feel calmer," he said. KIBBUTZ NIRIM: Israel is pressing ahead with construction of an underground barrier along the border with the Gaza Strip in an ambitious project meant to halt the threat of attack tunnels built by the Hamas militant group. Cranes and work crews are digging holes and installing sensors and other equipment for a structure that is expected to stretch along the entire 60-kilometer (40-mile) border when it is complete. Gadi Yarkoni, head of the local Eshkol regional council, said the project is a key reason that the area has enjoyed a surge in growth and attracted young families since a devastating war with Hamas three years ago. "I believe building the barrier is the right thing to do, to build in order to stop and to give an answer to the issue of the tunnels, and to the issue of the communities in the area," he said. "The surge in development in this area is unbelievable." During the 2014 war, Hamas militants on several occasions made their way into Israel through a tunnel network that caught Israel off guard. Although they did not manage to reach civilian areas, the infiltrations terrified the local population. Israel destroyed 32 tunnels during that conflict, and since then has made neutralizing the tunnel threat a top priority. Israeli defense officials have said little about the new barrier project or how much has been completed. At one construction zone, a sign said "military zone - no passage," and Associated Press reporters could not approach as cranes and bulldozers were at work. Last week, Maj. Gen. Eyal Zamir, head of Israel's Southern Command, which is responsible for Gaza, told reporters the project would take about two years to complete. He said the barrier would stretch several meters (yards) above and below ground and be equipped with sophisticated sensors. It's being built entirely on the Israeli side of the border, to avoid friction with Hamas. Atai Shelach, a retired colonel and former commander of the Israeli military's "Yahalom" unit in charge of dismantling the militants' tunnels, said the new barrier would be a game-changer, but would not solve the problem on its own. "It is part of a cocktail, or a combination of many other solutions," he said. Neutralizing the tunnel threat will also require good intelligence and operational decisions by the army, he said. Otherwise, militants will eventually figure out how to get through. "That barrier can prevent war," he said, because it will be harder for Hamas and other militant groups to "create surprises" that frighten Israeli residents. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars since the Islamic militant group seized control of Gaza from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. While Hamas has largely respected a cease-fire that ended the last round of fighting in 2014, it is believed to be building new tunnels and re-arming in preparation for future conflict. Hamas seeks Israel's destruction. "All the measures by the occupation on the border will not provide security for them," said Hazem Qasem, a spokesman for the group. "As long as they occupy the Palestinian land and put a siege on our people in the Gaza Strip, the resistance will continue to possess all the means of force that enable it to defend the people against Israeli aggression," he said. Israeli residents expressed mixed feelings about the new structure. Miriam Diener, a resident of Kibbutz Nirim, a communal farm near the Gaza border, said Israel must seek peace with its neighbors, and not just build new barriers. "No fence will solve the problems," she said. "Only peace will bring the possibility of a good economy, good education, good hospitals, good health. That is what is needed." But Shimon Avraham, another kibbutz resident, said the project will put people at ease after the terrifying experience of tunnel attacks. "Now it makes things feel calmer," he said. By AFP ENIWA (JAPAN): Some 300 Japanese and US military personnel on Wednesday carried out live-fire artillery training in northern Japan, officials said, amid high regional tensions over North Korean missile threats. The drill, part of a 19-day exercise, came after a tense war of words between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang's threats to fire missiles towards the Pacific island of Guam. Troops from Japan's Ground Self-Defence Force (GSDF) and US Marines fired live ammunition from armed vehicles at a manoeuvre area on the northern island of Hokkaido. The two forces began the Northern Viper 2017 exercise on August 10, involving a total of 1,300 GSDF troops and 2,000 Marines. "It is the first joint exercise between the GSDF and US Marines in Hokkaido," a defence ministry spokesman said. The spokesman denied any link between the drill and recent regional tension over North Korea. "This is not conducted with a particular country or region in mind," he said. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said Tuesday he would hold off on a plan to fire four ballistic missiles towards Guam, a US Pacific island territory. The threat had come after US President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang of "fire and fury" over intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development. Japan has deployed the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile defence system in Shimane, Hiroshima and Kochi prefectures in western Japan, which North Korea had warned could be along its missiles' flight path. It also deployed the system in nearby Ehime prefecture. Meanwhile, the defence ministry said US Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft will join the Northern Viper drills starting on Friday despite growing concerns after a fatal crash off Australia earlier this month. The MV-22 - a hybrid helicopter-turboprop - has two engines positioned on fixed wingtips that allow it to land and take off vertically. The aircraft, which can travel much faster than a helicopter, has been involved in a series of deadly incidents, mostly in the United States. ENIWA (JAPAN): Some 300 Japanese and US military personnel on Wednesday carried out live-fire artillery training in northern Japan, officials said, amid high regional tensions over North Korean missile threats. The drill, part of a 19-day exercise, came after a tense war of words between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang's threats to fire missiles towards the Pacific island of Guam. Troops from Japan's Ground Self-Defence Force (GSDF) and US Marines fired live ammunition from armed vehicles at a manoeuvre area on the northern island of Hokkaido. The two forces began the Northern Viper 2017 exercise on August 10, involving a total of 1,300 GSDF troops and 2,000 Marines. "It is the first joint exercise between the GSDF and US Marines in Hokkaido," a defence ministry spokesman said. The spokesman denied any link between the drill and recent regional tension over North Korea. "This is not conducted with a particular country or region in mind," he said. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said Tuesday he would hold off on a plan to fire four ballistic missiles towards Guam, a US Pacific island territory. The threat had come after US President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang of "fire and fury" over intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) development. Japan has deployed the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile defence system in Shimane, Hiroshima and Kochi prefectures in western Japan, which North Korea had warned could be along its missiles' flight path. It also deployed the system in nearby Ehime prefecture. Meanwhile, the defence ministry said US Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft will join the Northern Viper drills starting on Friday despite growing concerns after a fatal crash off Australia earlier this month. The MV-22 - a hybrid helicopter-turboprop - has two engines positioned on fixed wingtips that allow it to land and take off vertically. The aircraft, which can travel much faster than a helicopter, has been involved in a series of deadly incidents, mostly in the United States. By PTI NEW YORK: The modern juicy, crisp apples originated in a mountainous region of Kazakhstan, according to a study which reveals a surprising two-way journey on the Silk Road for one of the world's most popular fruit. As travellers journeyed east and west along the Silk Road, trading their goods and ideas, they brought with them hitchhiking apple seeds, discarded from the choicest fruit they pulled from wild trees, researchers said. This early selection would eventually lead to the 7,500 varieties of apple that exist today, they said. Researchers, including those at Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) in the US, sequenced and compared the genomes of 117 diverse apple accessions, including M domestic and 23 wild species from North America, Europe, and East and central Asia. "We narrowed down the origin of domesticated apple from very broad central Asia to Kazakhstan area west of Tian Shan Mountain," said Zhangjun Fei, professor at BTI. Researchers discovered that the first domesticated apple had travelled to the East, hybridising with local wild apples along the way, yielding the ancestors of soft, dessert apples cultivated in China today. "We pointed out two major evolutionary routes, West and East, along the Silk Road, revealing fruit quality changes in every step along the way," Fei said. Researchers also found that as the apple travelled west along the Silk Road in the hands of travellers, trees grew from dropped seeds and crossed with other wild apple varieties, including the incredibly sour European crabapple. They found that M sylvestris has contributed so extensively to the apple's genome that the modern apple is actually more similar to the sour crabapple than to its Kazakhstan ancestor, M sieversii. "For the ancestral species, Malus sieversii, the fruits are generally much larger than other wild apples. They are also soft and have a very plain flavor that people do not like much," said Yang Bai from BTI. The hybridisation between ancient cultivated apples and M sylvestris, followed by extensive human selection, gave us new apples that are larger and fuller in flavor, and with a crispy firmness that gives them a longer shelf life, researchers said. "The modern domesticated apples have higher and well-balanced sugar and organic acid contents. That is how the apple started to become a popular and favoured fruit," Bai said. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications. NEW YORK: The modern juicy, crisp apples originated in a mountainous region of Kazakhstan, according to a study which reveals a surprising two-way journey on the Silk Road for one of the world's most popular fruit. As travellers journeyed east and west along the Silk Road, trading their goods and ideas, they brought with them hitchhiking apple seeds, discarded from the choicest fruit they pulled from wild trees, researchers said. This early selection would eventually lead to the 7,500 varieties of apple that exist today, they said. Researchers, including those at Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) in the US, sequenced and compared the genomes of 117 diverse apple accessions, including M domestic and 23 wild species from North America, Europe, and East and central Asia. "We narrowed down the origin of domesticated apple from very broad central Asia to Kazakhstan area west of Tian Shan Mountain," said Zhangjun Fei, professor at BTI. Researchers discovered that the first domesticated apple had travelled to the East, hybridising with local wild apples along the way, yielding the ancestors of soft, dessert apples cultivated in China today. "We pointed out two major evolutionary routes, West and East, along the Silk Road, revealing fruit quality changes in every step along the way," Fei said. Researchers also found that as the apple travelled west along the Silk Road in the hands of travellers, trees grew from dropped seeds and crossed with other wild apple varieties, including the incredibly sour European crabapple. They found that M sylvestris has contributed so extensively to the apple's genome that the modern apple is actually more similar to the sour crabapple than to its Kazakhstan ancestor, M sieversii. "For the ancestral species, Malus sieversii, the fruits are generally much larger than other wild apples. They are also soft and have a very plain flavor that people do not like much," said Yang Bai from BTI. The hybridisation between ancient cultivated apples and M sylvestris, followed by extensive human selection, gave us new apples that are larger and fuller in flavor, and with a crispy firmness that gives them a longer shelf life, researchers said. "The modern domesticated apples have higher and well-balanced sugar and organic acid contents. That is how the apple started to become a popular and favoured fruit," Bai said. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications. By Associated Press FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE: Fatmata Kamara had just stepped outside her house before dawn Monday when she saw the muddy hillside collapsing above her. The only thing she could do was run. She was one of the survivors, those who managed to escape the surging mudslides and floodwaters in and around Sierra Leone's capital that killed more than 300 people, many of them trapped as they slept. Another 600 people are missing, the Red Cross said Tuesday, and the death toll is expected to rise. Thousands lost their homes in the disaster, which was triggered by heavy rains. "I ran away from the house, leaving behind my family," a grieving Kamara told The Associated Press. "I am the only one that has survived, as my house and dozens of others were covered with mud and boulders." Rescuers dug with their bare hands through the thick, reddish mud to try to find any survivors in the debris of the homes. Heavy equipment was later brought in, said government spokesman Cornelius Deveaux. The military also was deployed to help. Late Tuesday, Deveaux said that 297 bodies have been recovered so far, including 109 males, 83 females and 105 children. Some bodies were swept into the sea off the coast of the West African nation and have begun washing back ashore. The mortuary of the Connaught Hospital in central Freetown was overwhelmed with the dead. More than 300 bodies of men, women and children were brought there, and many were laid out on the floor. Deveaux said an exact death toll was unknown, and many of the bodies were horribly mangled. President Ernest Bai Koroma said Sierra Leone was in a state of grief and mourning, with many survivors still in shock. He called for seven days of mourning starting on Wednesday. Radio journalist Gibril Sesay said he lost his entire family. "I am yet to grasp that I survived, and my family is gone," he said through sobs, unable to continue. Ahmed Sesay, caretaker of a two-story house near the Guma Valley Dam east of the capital, said he was sleeping around 6 a.m. when he felt a vibration. "It was like an earthquake. I ran out of my quarters to the gate of the compound," he said. "The ground shook and I had to stay outside the compound until daybreak." An estimated 9,000 people have been affected in some way by the disaster, said Abdul Nasir, program coordinator for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. "I have never seen anything like it," he said. "A river of mud came out of nowhere and swallowed entire communities, just wiped them away. We are racing against time, more flooding and the risk of disease to help these affected communities survive and cope with their loss." Charles Mambu, a civil society activist and resident of one affected area, Mount Sugar Loaf, said the magnitude of the destruction indicated that hundreds more people could be dead. In one sign of hope, two people were pulled alive from the debris Monday evening, Mambu said. The U.N. said it is providing emergency response assistance. Contingency plans are being put in place to try to stem the outbreak of diseases such as cholera, Deveaux told radio station FM 98.1. The bodies that have been recovered will begin to be buried in the next 48 hours, said Sulaiman Parker, environmental protection officer for the Freetown City Council. Many of the poor areas of Freetown are near sea level and have poor drainage systems, which makes flooding worse during the rainy season. The capital also is plagued by unregulated construction of large residential houses in hilltop areas. Thousands of makeshift settlements in and around the city were severely affected. "The government has been warning people not to construct houses in these areas. When they do this, there are risks," Nasir said. "People don't follow the standard construction rules, and that is another reason that many of these houses have been affected." Deforestation for firewood and charcoal is one of the leading contributors to the flooding and mudslides. FREETOWN, SIERRA LEONE: Fatmata Kamara had just stepped outside her house before dawn Monday when she saw the muddy hillside collapsing above her. The only thing she could do was run. She was one of the survivors, those who managed to escape the surging mudslides and floodwaters in and around Sierra Leone's capital that killed more than 300 people, many of them trapped as they slept. Another 600 people are missing, the Red Cross said Tuesday, and the death toll is expected to rise. Thousands lost their homes in the disaster, which was triggered by heavy rains. "I ran away from the house, leaving behind my family," a grieving Kamara told The Associated Press. "I am the only one that has survived, as my house and dozens of others were covered with mud and boulders." Rescuers dug with their bare hands through the thick, reddish mud to try to find any survivors in the debris of the homes. Heavy equipment was later brought in, said government spokesman Cornelius Deveaux. The military also was deployed to help. Late Tuesday, Deveaux said that 297 bodies have been recovered so far, including 109 males, 83 females and 105 children. Some bodies were swept into the sea off the coast of the West African nation and have begun washing back ashore. The mortuary of the Connaught Hospital in central Freetown was overwhelmed with the dead. More than 300 bodies of men, women and children were brought there, and many were laid out on the floor. Deveaux said an exact death toll was unknown, and many of the bodies were horribly mangled. President Ernest Bai Koroma said Sierra Leone was in a state of grief and mourning, with many survivors still in shock. He called for seven days of mourning starting on Wednesday. Radio journalist Gibril Sesay said he lost his entire family. "I am yet to grasp that I survived, and my family is gone," he said through sobs, unable to continue. Ahmed Sesay, caretaker of a two-story house near the Guma Valley Dam east of the capital, said he was sleeping around 6 a.m. when he felt a vibration. "It was like an earthquake. I ran out of my quarters to the gate of the compound," he said. "The ground shook and I had to stay outside the compound until daybreak." An estimated 9,000 people have been affected in some way by the disaster, said Abdul Nasir, program coordinator for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. "I have never seen anything like it," he said. "A river of mud came out of nowhere and swallowed entire communities, just wiped them away. We are racing against time, more flooding and the risk of disease to help these affected communities survive and cope with their loss." Charles Mambu, a civil society activist and resident of one affected area, Mount Sugar Loaf, said the magnitude of the destruction indicated that hundreds more people could be dead. In one sign of hope, two people were pulled alive from the debris Monday evening, Mambu said. The U.N. said it is providing emergency response assistance. Contingency plans are being put in place to try to stem the outbreak of diseases such as cholera, Deveaux told radio station FM 98.1. The bodies that have been recovered will begin to be buried in the next 48 hours, said Sulaiman Parker, environmental protection officer for the Freetown City Council. Many of the poor areas of Freetown are near sea level and have poor drainage systems, which makes flooding worse during the rainy season. The capital also is plagued by unregulated construction of large residential houses in hilltop areas. Thousands of makeshift settlements in and around the city were severely affected. "The government has been warning people not to construct houses in these areas. When they do this, there are risks," Nasir said. "People don't follow the standard construction rules, and that is another reason that many of these houses have been affected." Deforestation for firewood and charcoal is one of the leading contributors to the flooding and mudslides. By Associated Press LISBON: A 12-month-old baby and two foreign women were among the 13 people killed when a huge oak tree crashed down on an outdoor religious festival in Portugal's Madeira Islands, authorities said Wednesday. The foreigners killed in Tuesday's accident were a 42-year-old French woman and a 31-year-old Hungarian woman, Miguel Reis, a local health official, told a news conference. Their names weren't provided. Madeira, situated off northwest Africa, is a popular European vacation destination. Scores of people were gathered in a leafy square, listening to a Mass, when the tree on a slope above the square came crashing down as a choir sang. Local people told Portuguese media they had told officials that the tree was a danger, but the Funchal city council said it had received no warnings that a tree was unsafe. The public prosecutor's office opened an investigation. Seven people, including two children, remained hospitalized of the 49 who were injured in Tuesday's accident, which occurred on a public holiday. The children are a 2-year-old French child and a 14-year-old Portuguese, Reis told a news conference Wednesday in Funchal, Madeira's capital. He said officials hope to conclude autopsies by the end of the week. Eight women and five men were among the dead. The regional government decreed three days of mourning beginning Wednesday. Portuguese President Marecelo Rebelo de Sousa flew to Madeira to offer his condolences. LISBON: A 12-month-old baby and two foreign women were among the 13 people killed when a huge oak tree crashed down on an outdoor religious festival in Portugal's Madeira Islands, authorities said Wednesday. The foreigners killed in Tuesday's accident were a 42-year-old French woman and a 31-year-old Hungarian woman, Miguel Reis, a local health official, told a news conference. Their names weren't provided. Madeira, situated off northwest Africa, is a popular European vacation destination. Scores of people were gathered in a leafy square, listening to a Mass, when the tree on a slope above the square came crashing down as a choir sang. Local people told Portuguese media they had told officials that the tree was a danger, but the Funchal city council said it had received no warnings that a tree was unsafe. The public prosecutor's office opened an investigation. Seven people, including two children, remained hospitalized of the 49 who were injured in Tuesday's accident, which occurred on a public holiday. The children are a 2-year-old French child and a 14-year-old Portuguese, Reis told a news conference Wednesday in Funchal, Madeira's capital. He said officials hope to conclude autopsies by the end of the week. Eight women and five men were among the dead. The regional government decreed three days of mourning beginning Wednesday. Portuguese President Marecelo Rebelo de Sousa flew to Madeira to offer his condolences. By PTI WASHINGTON: Amid a political storm over his position that 'both sides' were at fault for the violence in Charlottesville, a combative President Donald Trump said that he has "no doubt" over his comments. The US President reverted yesterday to his initial position that both left and right-wing extremists became violent during a weekend rally by white nationalists in Virginia. He has blamed both sides including the "alt-left" for the deadly violence. Trump had come under fire from both Republicans and Democrats for his muted response to the violence unleashed by white supremacists during a rally in Charlottesville in which a woman was killed and 19 were injured when a car ploughed into a crowd of counter-protesters. "I think there's blame on both sides. If you look at both sides -- I think there's blame on both sides. I have no doubt about it, and you don't have any doubt about it either. And if you reported it accurately, you would say," Trump told reporters at an impromptu news conference at Trump Towers in New York. When a reporter challenged his observation by saying that this was started first by neo-Nazis groups, Trump said that both sides are to be blamed. "Excuse me, excuse me. They didn't put themselves -- and you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides. You had people in that group," he said. "You had a lot of bad people in the other group," he said, adding that a night before, the white supremacist groups took out a peaceful rally in Charlottesville. "There were people in that rally -- and I looked the night before -- if you look, there were people protesting very quietly the taking down of the statue of Robert E Lee. "I'm sure in that group there were some bad ones. The following day it looked like they had some rough, bad people -- neo-Nazis, white nationalists, whatever you want to call them," he said. "But you had a lot of people in that group that were there to innocently protest, and very legally protest -- because I don't know if you know, they had a permit. The other group didn't have a permit. So I only tell you this: There are two sides to a story. I thought what took place was a horrible moment for our country -- a horrible moment. But there are two sides to the country," Trump said. "What about the alt-left that came charging at -- excuse me, what about the alt-left that came charging at the, as you say, the alt-right? Do they have any semblance of guilt? Let me ask you this: What about the fact that they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs? Do they have any problem? I think they do. As far as I'm concerned, that was a horrible, horrible day," said the US President. Trump's impromptu press conference in New York resulted in immediate outrage among his political opponents. "The President's press conference today made plain that the statement he gave on Saturday is what he really believes. "The President's continued talk of blame 'on many sides' ignores the abhorrent evil of white supremacism, and continues a disturbing pattern of complacency around acts of hate from this President, his Administration and his campaign for the presidency," said Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives. "From the beginning, President Trump has sheltered and encouraged the forces of bigotry and discrimination. "We have seen the manifestation of this behaviour in the hiring of White House staff members, but also in the unmistakable conduct of his Administration toward immigrants, Muslims, and communities of colour," she alleged. "Great and good American presidents seek to unite not divide. Donald Trump's remarks clearly show he is not one of them," said Senator Charles Schumer, Senate Minority Leader. "By saying he is not taking sides, Donald Trump clearly is. When David Duke and white supremacists cheer your remarks, you're doing it very very wrong," he said. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley said Trump has "disgraced the office of the presidency" and "clearly lacks a moral compass". "A president who should be representing the party of Lincoln has instead chosen to stand with white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and domestic terrorists. It is beyond the pale," Crowley said. Senator Mark Warner said he is shocked and disappointed. "I'm shocked. I'm disappointed. I tried to give the president the benefit of the doubt on Monday. I was disappointed it took him more than 2 days to call out the vile actions of people who were racist, white supremacists, neo- Nazis, KKK members that descended on Charlottesville," he told CNN in an interview. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe contested Trump's statement. "Neo-Nazis, Klansmen and white supremacists came to Charlottesville heavily armed, spewing hatred and looking for a fight. "One of them murdered a young woman in an act of domestic terrorism, and two of our finest officers were killed in a tragic accident while serving to protect this community. This was not 'both sides'," he said. WASHINGTON: Amid a political storm over his position that 'both sides' were at fault for the violence in Charlottesville, a combative President Donald Trump said that he has "no doubt" over his comments. The US President reverted yesterday to his initial position that both left and right-wing extremists became violent during a weekend rally by white nationalists in Virginia. He has blamed both sides including the "alt-left" for the deadly violence. Trump had come under fire from both Republicans and Democrats for his muted response to the violence unleashed by white supremacists during a rally in Charlottesville in which a woman was killed and 19 were injured when a car ploughed into a crowd of counter-protesters. "I think there's blame on both sides. If you look at both sides -- I think there's blame on both sides. I have no doubt about it, and you don't have any doubt about it either. And if you reported it accurately, you would say," Trump told reporters at an impromptu news conference at Trump Towers in New York. When a reporter challenged his observation by saying that this was started first by neo-Nazis groups, Trump said that both sides are to be blamed. "Excuse me, excuse me. They didn't put themselves -- and you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides. You had people in that group," he said. "You had a lot of bad people in the other group," he said, adding that a night before, the white supremacist groups took out a peaceful rally in Charlottesville. "There were people in that rally -- and I looked the night before -- if you look, there were people protesting very quietly the taking down of the statue of Robert E Lee. "I'm sure in that group there were some bad ones. The following day it looked like they had some rough, bad people -- neo-Nazis, white nationalists, whatever you want to call them," he said. "But you had a lot of people in that group that were there to innocently protest, and very legally protest -- because I don't know if you know, they had a permit. The other group didn't have a permit. So I only tell you this: There are two sides to a story. I thought what took place was a horrible moment for our country -- a horrible moment. But there are two sides to the country," Trump said. "What about the alt-left that came charging at -- excuse me, what about the alt-left that came charging at the, as you say, the alt-right? Do they have any semblance of guilt? Let me ask you this: What about the fact that they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs? Do they have any problem? I think they do. As far as I'm concerned, that was a horrible, horrible day," said the US President. Trump's impromptu press conference in New York resulted in immediate outrage among his political opponents. "The President's press conference today made plain that the statement he gave on Saturday is what he really believes. "The President's continued talk of blame 'on many sides' ignores the abhorrent evil of white supremacism, and continues a disturbing pattern of complacency around acts of hate from this President, his Administration and his campaign for the presidency," said Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives. "From the beginning, President Trump has sheltered and encouraged the forces of bigotry and discrimination. "We have seen the manifestation of this behaviour in the hiring of White House staff members, but also in the unmistakable conduct of his Administration toward immigrants, Muslims, and communities of colour," she alleged. "Great and good American presidents seek to unite not divide. Donald Trump's remarks clearly show he is not one of them," said Senator Charles Schumer, Senate Minority Leader. "By saying he is not taking sides, Donald Trump clearly is. When David Duke and white supremacists cheer your remarks, you're doing it very very wrong," he said. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley said Trump has "disgraced the office of the presidency" and "clearly lacks a moral compass". "A president who should be representing the party of Lincoln has instead chosen to stand with white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and domestic terrorists. It is beyond the pale," Crowley said. Senator Mark Warner said he is shocked and disappointed. "I'm shocked. I'm disappointed. I tried to give the president the benefit of the doubt on Monday. I was disappointed it took him more than 2 days to call out the vile actions of people who were racist, white supremacists, neo- Nazis, KKK members that descended on Charlottesville," he told CNN in an interview. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe contested Trump's statement. "Neo-Nazis, Klansmen and white supremacists came to Charlottesville heavily armed, spewing hatred and looking for a fight. "One of them murdered a young woman in an act of domestic terrorism, and two of our finest officers were killed in a tragic accident while serving to protect this community. This was not 'both sides'," he said. By Associated Press LONDON: The British government has said repeatedly that it will end the free movement of people from the European Union when the U.K. leaves the bloc in 2019. On Wednesday it acknowledged that, in practice, it won't. Britain said there must be no border posts or electronic checks between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic after Brexit, and it committed itself to maintaining the longstanding, border-free Common Travel Area covering the U.K. and Ireland. "There should be no physical border infrastructure of any kind on either side of the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland," Prime Minister Theresa May said. That means free movement across the border for British, Irish and EU citizens. After Britain leaves the bloc, EU nationals will be able to move without checks from Ireland to Northern Ireland, and onto other parts of the U.K. Free movement among member states is a key EU principle, and has seen hundreds of thousands of people move to Britain since the bloc expanded into eastern Europe more than a decade ago. Many Britons who voted last year to leave the EU cited a desire to regain control of immigration as a key reason. In a paper outlining proposals for the Northern Ireland-Ireland border after Brexit, the British government insisted it will be able to control immigration, because "immigration controls are not, and never have been, solely about the ability to prevent and control entry at the U.K.'s physical border." It said control of access to the labor market and social welfare are also "an integral part" of the immigration system. Northern Ireland is an especially thorny issue in Brexit talks, because it has the UK's only land border with the EU, and because an open border has helped build economic prosperity that underpins the peace process. The Department for Exiting the European Union acknowledged "unprecedented" solutions are needed to maintain the benefits of an open border. It suggested a future "customs partnership" between Britain and the EU could eliminate the need for border checks on good crossing the border. The Northern Ireland proposals came in one in a series of papers covering aspects of Brexit negotiations, which are due to resume in Brussels at the end of this month. The Irish government welcomed Britain's commitment to "avoiding a hard border" and said it would examine the proposals. European Commission spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt said Britain's position papers which come after allegations from EU officials that the U.K. is underprepared for divorce negotiations are "a positive step." "The clock is ticking and this will allow us to make progress," she said. LONDON: The British government has said repeatedly that it will end the free movement of people from the European Union when the U.K. leaves the bloc in 2019. On Wednesday it acknowledged that, in practice, it won't. Britain said there must be no border posts or electronic checks between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic after Brexit, and it committed itself to maintaining the longstanding, border-free Common Travel Area covering the U.K. and Ireland. "There should be no physical border infrastructure of any kind on either side of the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland," Prime Minister Theresa May said. That means free movement across the border for British, Irish and EU citizens. After Britain leaves the bloc, EU nationals will be able to move without checks from Ireland to Northern Ireland, and onto other parts of the U.K. Free movement among member states is a key EU principle, and has seen hundreds of thousands of people move to Britain since the bloc expanded into eastern Europe more than a decade ago. Many Britons who voted last year to leave the EU cited a desire to regain control of immigration as a key reason. In a paper outlining proposals for the Northern Ireland-Ireland border after Brexit, the British government insisted it will be able to control immigration, because "immigration controls are not, and never have been, solely about the ability to prevent and control entry at the U.K.'s physical border." It said control of access to the labor market and social welfare are also "an integral part" of the immigration system. Northern Ireland is an especially thorny issue in Brexit talks, because it has the UK's only land border with the EU, and because an open border has helped build economic prosperity that underpins the peace process. The Department for Exiting the European Union acknowledged "unprecedented" solutions are needed to maintain the benefits of an open border. It suggested a future "customs partnership" between Britain and the EU could eliminate the need for border checks on good crossing the border. The Northern Ireland proposals came in one in a series of papers covering aspects of Brexit negotiations, which are due to resume in Brussels at the end of this month. The Irish government welcomed Britain's commitment to "avoiding a hard border" and said it would examine the proposals. European Commission spokeswoman Annika Breidthardt said Britain's position papers which come after allegations from EU officials that the U.K. is underprepared for divorce negotiations are "a positive step." "The clock is ticking and this will allow us to make progress," she said. By PTI MADRID: Spanish coast guards rescued nearly 600 people from 15 boats and a jet ski today in the waters between Morocco and Spain, a route increasingly used by migrants trying to reach Europe. A coastguard spokesman said 599 people had been rescued since the early hours today morning, a large number for just one day in Spain. At least 35 minors, including a baby, were among the flow of migrants crossing the Strait of Gibraltar and the Alboran Sea as they fled unrest or poverty in their countries, he said. "The high number of boats coming to the Spanish coast this summer is unusual," a spokeswoman for Spain's coastguards said earlier, adding that there were three times as many as in the same period last year. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 8,385 migrants had arrived in Spain this year by August 9. At least 121 drowned while attempting this route, compared with 128 deaths for the whole of 2016, as recorded by the IOM. The number still pales in comparison with the number of people hitting the shores of Italy, which saw close to 97,300 people arrive this year until August 13, with 2,242 deaths. In June, about 5,000 people were rescued in just one day in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya, Italian coastguards said. But Spain could overtake Greece this year in the number of migrants arriving by sea, the IOM said this month. And this does not take into account those crossing by land into Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish territories in northern Morocco. Both cities are the EU's only land borders with Africa. As a result, they are entry points for migrants who regularly try to climb high double border fences or force their way through them with wire cutters, or hide in vehicles crossing the frontier. MADRID: Spanish coast guards rescued nearly 600 people from 15 boats and a jet ski today in the waters between Morocco and Spain, a route increasingly used by migrants trying to reach Europe. A coastguard spokesman said 599 people had been rescued since the early hours today morning, a large number for just one day in Spain. At least 35 minors, including a baby, were among the flow of migrants crossing the Strait of Gibraltar and the Alboran Sea as they fled unrest or poverty in their countries, he said. "The high number of boats coming to the Spanish coast this summer is unusual," a spokeswoman for Spain's coastguards said earlier, adding that there were three times as many as in the same period last year. According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), 8,385 migrants had arrived in Spain this year by August 9. At least 121 drowned while attempting this route, compared with 128 deaths for the whole of 2016, as recorded by the IOM. The number still pales in comparison with the number of people hitting the shores of Italy, which saw close to 97,300 people arrive this year until August 13, with 2,242 deaths. In June, about 5,000 people were rescued in just one day in the Mediterranean Sea off Libya, Italian coastguards said. But Spain could overtake Greece this year in the number of migrants arriving by sea, the IOM said this month. And this does not take into account those crossing by land into Ceuta and Melilla, two Spanish territories in northern Morocco. Both cities are the EU's only land borders with Africa. As a result, they are entry points for migrants who regularly try to climb high double border fences or force their way through them with wire cutters, or hide in vehicles crossing the frontier. Newport Art Museum wraps up fall with variety of programs Though it hasnt always felt like fall these past few weeks, the museum is in high gear hosting fall events and planning for winter. On Tuesday night, Stephen Colbert's monologue needed to be re-written just before the show was going to film. Following President Donald Trump's press conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan (or, as Colbert stated, "in the seventh circle of hell), writer Ariel Dumas tweeted: "We rewrote the entire thing in 30 min after Trump's shitstorm," adding that, "whenever late-breaking news happens the ENTIRE BUILDING scrambles to essentially build a brand new show." The 12-minute monologue criticizes Trump for refusing to fully (and swiftly) condemn white supremacists following the fatal attack in Charlottesville over the weekend. At the press conference, Trumpfor a second time in recent daysstated that there was blame "on both sides," adding, "I have no doubt about it." Colbert declared, "The only thing Im doubting right now is whether youre still going to be president by Friday." Colbert also addressed that new "alt-left" term that Trump dropped on Tuesday, explaining: "The opposite of alt-right isn't alt-left, it's the Not Nazis." You can watch Colbert "dig into President Trump's off-script/off-the-rocker press conference" in full below: Hyundai Elec City. (Image: Hyundai) Hyundai Motor has unveiled an all-electric-powered bus, dubbed Elec City, that is no mere prototype the company intends to put it into mass production in 2018. Yeongduck Tak, Senior Vice President and Head of Commercial Vehicle R&D Division, revealed it was very much a part of Hyundais strategy moving forward when he described it as providing a glimpse into the future of public transportation.Scheduled for launch next year, Elec City has a range of up to 290 km (180 miles), while its 256 kWh lithium-ion polymer battery can be fully charged in just over an hour, making it more than ready to service a city bus route from morning through to night. It certainly opens up a new route on Hyundais environmental and intelligent roadmap, following in the footsteps of the hydrogen-powered ix35 Fuel Cell and the IONIQs hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and all-electric powertrains. But are electric buses really the future?They are already an established part of Chinas present. In 2015, over 98 percent of the worlds 173,000 electric buses were driven on Chinese roads. This huge take-up was attributed to a combination of urban air quality targets and government subsidies, as well as the availability of financing options for transport operators.As that statistic suggests, Europe has been much slower to adopt this new technology. However, according to a report by the EUs ZeEUS (Zero Emission Urban Bus System) project, by the end of 2016, the continent had over 1,300 electric buses in service or on order.The key driver of growth is, of course, the role that zero-emissions transportation will play in tackling public health, with the EU has set a goal of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80 percent by 2050. The huge reduction is borne of necessity: a European Environmental Agency report, Air Quality Europe, showed that in 2013 every major European city besides from Dublin in the Republic of Ireland exceeded the EUs NOx (nitrogen dioxide) target.Among those identified in the report was London, which suffered worse pollution than Beijing in January this year, leading mayor Sadiq Khan to warn that the city faced a serious air pollution crisis. As part of the response, six months later Kahn and Transport for London announced it would introduce three more electric-only bus routes bringing the total number of these routes in the capital to six and purchase a further 56 electric buses to bring the total number on Londons roads to over 170.With a 2016 study by UITP (Union International des Transports Public) showing that almost half of the EUs buses were still operating to Euro 3 emissions standard or older well below the Euro 6 standard that all buses sold post-January 2017 must meet public transport operators across the continent need to renew their fleets urgently. According to the ZeEUS report, 19 operators and authorities, covering about 25 European cities, have published a strategy for the introduction of electric buses by 2020. By then, they will have over 2,500 electric buses, representing 6 percent of their total fleet of 40,000.Another 13 public transport operators and authorities in a further 18 European cities have a strategy with a 2025 target date. By this time they aim to have more than 6,100 electric buses in service, representing 43 percent of their total fleet of 14,000.Beyond Europe and China, the rest of the world is gradually turning to zero-emission public transportation too. Last month, Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority unveiled plans to spend $138m on electric buses, with the goal of creating an emission-free fleet by 2030. July also saw Nitin Gadkari, Indias minister for road transport, urge a meeting of over 3,000 bus operators to opt for electric-powered vehicles over the standard diesel option.Looking at the bigger picture, a senior World Bank official has reasoned that with the global transport sector responsible for 23 percent of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, there will be no significant headway made on tackling climate change without greener, more sustainable mobility. Jose Luis Irigoyen, the banks Senior Director for the Transport and Information and Communications Technologies Global Practice, said that more than 70 percent of the Nationally Determined Contributions that countries proposed to implement as part of the 2015 Paris Agreement include transport commitments.Analysis international market research firm TechSci Research has suggested that the global market for electric buses is set to grow by 17 percent every year to 2021. If you havent caught a ride on one in your town or city to date, the signs are that it wont be long before they become hard to miss. Kolkata: The estimated Rs 5500 crore capital good leasing sector growing at 15-20 percent may get tapered due to high Goods and Services Tax (GST) along with few other issues. "The GST rate of 28 per cent is high for the leasing industry when compared to the earlier five to 15 per cent tax burden. Higher GST rates lead to the requirement of higher working capital at any point of time. This results in increasing the cost of leasing an equipment," Finance Industry Development Council director general Mahesh Thakkar told PTI. "The government should actively consider not bracketing the capital goods in the same GST bracket as luxury goods and sin goods. A lower GST rate will help increasing share of leasing in gross capital formation," he said. The share of leasing in gross domestic capital formation in India is less than two per cent whereas the global average is 10 per cent, he said. The same could also create hurdles for the foreign companies in India since they believe that leasing is the most preferred method of owing assets for operation, an NBFC official said. Apart from GST rates, there are other issues like input tax credit, penal interest/charges for delayed remittance of EMI and sale of repossessed assets which need to be corrected. "Till now there is no response from the government on our representation," he said. Both pointed out that the issue will have a severe impact on capital-starved SME players who will face major hardship due to this. Construction equipment, wagons, heavy machinery, car leasing among others are expected to face hurdles in new regime. Leasing in India is just three per cent of global volumes and if taxation issues are not addressed, this will effectively be a death blow to leasing even before it makes a comeback in India, an equipment company official said. On this day, 22 years ago (August 15, 1995), Indian public got their first access to the Internet. pic.twitter.com/RUEQn6wqc1 Soumyadip Choudhury (@soumyadip) August 15, 2017 Today in 1995: Internet services were launched in India by Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited. The rate chart pic.twitter.com/s0BsTnms7A Mumbai Heritage (@mumbaiheritage) August 15, 2017 VSNL was able to add 10,000 Internet users in 6 months after its launch in Aug 1995. Today thr r 450 million Internet subscribers in India Mumbai Heritage (@mumbaiheritage) August 16, 2017 On top of VSNL internet charge, you had to pay telephone charges for the duration of internet usage. https://t.co/u93palIO3J Shashikant Kore (@kshashi) August 16, 2017 Eeek! We got our first VSNL connection in June 1999 and the prices had definitely dropped by then https://t.co/wJmkvBdMkQ wastrelette (@wastrelette) August 16, 2017 The shell account. Still remember never ending vsnl dialup sound. https://t.co/aVobgkbL7a Dark Right (@Akkradian) August 16, 2017 Shoutout to those who had VSNL (BOM1, BOM2, BOM3 email IDs), Caltiger and Pacific Internet as their first ISPs https://t.co/1t1lsS7LA2 thewisecrab (@thewisecrab) August 15, 2017 In today's world, the Internet isn't just a source of information. It has created jobs that didn't exist half a decade ago. One would have given you a death stare if you told them you were a "Social media manager."But now, the Internet has moved from the bulky desktops in cyber cafes and arrived into the palms of people.Today you can find jobs, communicate, shop, pay your bills, order food, open business, work from home, earn and make a career out of your uploaded monetized videos and songs, from the comfort of your home.But things weren't this easy back in the day.As India celebrated its 70th Independence Day on Tuesday, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) completed its 22 years since its formal launch back in 1995 on the August 15th.The early history of the Internet in India , in fact, dates back to 1986 when it was launched in the form of Educational Research Network (ERNET) meant only for the use of educational and research communities. It was a joint undertaking of the Department of Electronics (DOE) of the Government of India, and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), which provides technical assistance to developing nations.There was also the NICNet that began in 1988, the network was operated by the National Informatics Centre with the purpose of improving communications between government institutions.Bringing the technology to India wasn't exactly a smooth process; rather marred by negative criticism and publicity when it was first launched as Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) Gateway Internet Access Service (GIAS).The Gateway Internet Access Service (GIAS) was launched on August 15, 1995, in Bombay (now Mumbai), Delhi, Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Madras (now Chennai).The initial launch of Internet services in India was with a rate of Rs 25,000 for a 250 hour TCP/IP account for commercial organisations at 9.6 kbps speed While the cost for leased lines went up to Rs. 30,00,000 for 128kbps speed.Just to give you a perspective, recently launched Jio fiber broadband plan is offering up to 100 Mbps speed for a data of 100 GB, "free" for the first three months.The massive push given by the central government to its ambitious Digital India program has led to a massive jump in Internet users in the country. We have over 400 million Internet subscribers as Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and the number anticipated by the government is 730 million by 2020.20 years down the line, our current broadband plans will look laughable. Such is technology. Sigh. [I] [II] One might get shot at if she ventures out night - Rehmat Bibi [III] CG Jora may look like a normal Indian village but this BSF manned settlement struggles to free itself from the shackles of constant scrutiny and dreams of a life beyond the shadow of cattle smugglers and not remain divided by a border fence. News18 travels deep within to unearth tales never heard before. This place has not given us anything - Birajuddin The government wants to relocate these dwellers to Panishala, an area 25 kms away from town which is surrounded by water bodies and forests. The flagship resettlement project is costing the government Rs 1,005 crore. Somehow we have gotten used to living here. How will we survive when we move? asks Shanti.Sapna says, When we were in Bangladesh, we used to live close to the river. Every flood season, we lost children to the feisty river. Why will we want to live near a river again? We are fine with our tin houses here. This is our home now.Its early in morning and Imran, a frail 14 years old, walks out of his tin house, donning a damp rugged shirt and brown trousers. He frantically searches his pocket for voter ID card. This is first thing I check after getting up. One can forget his pant, but not the document, he says with an animated smile.It takes about two hours to travel from Mekhligunj to Mashaldanga, another enclave settlement. Mashaldanga had been the focal point of enclave exchange in 2015. Imran and his friend agree to escort us till Chhoto Gorul Jora or CG Jora, the last Indian village on border.Cooch Behar town is dotted with enclave settlements and beyond these enclaves are a few villages, right at the border.The entry to CG Jora was an arduous task with Border Security Force (BSF) officers manning our movement. After spending hours at the BSF camp in Digaltari for permission to visit CG Jora, we were on a road both sides of which fell in Bangladesh.At first glance, CG Jora is like any other village in rural Bengal with huts that have thatched tiled roofs, banyan trees peeping from every corner and small fish ponds after every few houses. But beyond the usual flora and fauna, the barbed wire makes its presence felt.CG Jora, surrounded by Bangladesh on three sides, was fenced only a decade ago after the border fencing began in the mid-1980s. On the way to the village heads house, a group of men sitting at the corridor of the only primary school rue about how the village has got eerily accustomed to the BSF rules.Most of us work as contractual labourers in Bihar and Maharashtra. It is not possible to earn anything here. Most men have left the village and its only women, children and elderly who been left behind, says Rahat Hussain, who works in Gaya and is at home to meet his family.The entry and exit to the village are manned by the BSF and what irks the villagers the most is the strict control over timings and food supplies. Rehmat Bibi, an octogenarian sits nonchalantly at the verandah of her mud house which overlooks a heap of meshed iron wire fencing. Married at the age of nine, she has been living at CG Jora since then.Bibi had been an expert swimmer when she was in Patgram in Bangladesh and it did help her when she came to CG Jora. Previously there was no fencing. We could swim across to the other side or even take a boat. Fetching supplies for daily needs from Bangladesh was easier than sourcing them from Dinhata (India). But now things have changed. One might get shot at if she ventures out, she says.Barely a few houses from Bibis, we see children climbing up an old dilapidated building with protruding iron rods from the bare walls. This is the secondary school of the village with two teachers and 150 students. Just next to the school is Moinudin Akrams ration shop.Every morning Akram opens his shop along with three others in the village. But today he is a sad man. I need to travel to Dinhata to get the supplies. Now the BSF does not allow us to purchase more than the specified limit. How long can the shop run with 5 kg sugar and 2 kg washing powder? And god forbid if we are late beyond 8 pm, then we have to spend the night outside our own village, says Akram.BSF officials, however, say that such checks are necessary so that the essentials are not transported to Bangladesh.At Pradhans house we see a group of women waiting for the local physician, who doubles up as someone who can help people with government documents and approvals from the BSF. Birajuddin (name changed) looks quite unlike others from the village. Dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, the physician says the villagers are being deprived of a normal life.Whenever someone is sick, they have to travel to Nazirhat which is 8 km away. Village gates are not opened after the official timings, sometimes even during medical emergency, says Birajuddin.He points towards a barbed wire fence which cuts the village in two parts. Ironically, the territory on the other side is also in India but as per rules fencing is done 150 yards away from the international border. This means 80 Indian families stay on the other side of the fence.Several children, men and women often stick their heads out of the barbed fence to speak to their friends and relatives on this side. Razia Begum, who lives on the other side of the fence, usually comes on this side at permitted hours to work in her agricultural land.Many of us have agricultural lands on the other side, but such restricted entry does not allow us to take care of our crops. Often the cattle destroy it and we are only mute spectators. Although we are Indians, every time we cross this fencing, we are made to produce identity cards and it is hell if there is an emergency at night, says Razia.But for the BSF such restrictions are mandatory. When asked, BSF Commanding Officer Harish Kalja says often the jawans have to fight armed cattle smugglers at night. As we cannot use weapons, we only have non-lethal means to fight them. But they attack us in huge numbers with anything from axe to knives. We cant look the other way even for a minute, says Kalja.Smuggling or not, the villagers feel helpless. We hardly feel a part of India. If given a chance; we will happily relocate somewhere else. This place has not given us anything, laments Birajuddin. Its been 33 years and my son has lived in jail. Everyone knows this and yet nobody has done anything about it. - Pyari Devi If Jati Umra is an image of prosperity in Punjab, Amritsars Bedi Chhanna village, just two kilometres from the international border, is the opposite. Jati Umra has well-carpeted roads, pukka houses as well as constant supply of water and electricity. But the road disappears 5 kms before one reaches Bedi Chhanna. Since monsoon has been plenty in Punjab this year, the dirt track turns treacherous as we approach the house of Pyari Devi.Her son Nanak Singh was just seven years old in 1984, when he went wandering into the fields. This was a time before border fences and the child inadvertently crossed over into Pakistan. Pyari Devi has not seen her son since. Its been 33 years and my son has lived in jail. Everyone knows this and yet nobody has done anything about it. My son grew up without a mother. I dont want him to die without one.Pakistani authorities said back then that they would only release him if Indias Border Security Force (BSF) released a few Pakistani buffaloes that had strayed into India. Is that the value of my sons life? Less than a buffalo!In 1999, the family got a word that their son had been found in Lahores Kot Lakhpatrai jail. They were asked to come to Wagah border to pick him up. But Nanak, says his mother, was sent back from the border owing to a clerical mistake. Nanak Singh was spelled as Kakkar Singh. It broke Pyari Devis heart to come so close to seeing her son and then being told to go back.Keshav Kohlis house in Amritsars old town is a shrine to himself. The walls outside his house are plastered with posters declaring him as the candidate from Apna Punjab Party, a lesser known political outfit. He fought and lost the 2017 Punjab Assembly polls. Inside is a giant portrait of Bhagat Singh, his idol, although it is another matter that he confesses he hasnt read any of Bhagat Singhs writings. Kohli, who works as a physical education trainer in Amritsar city, set up the Independent Students Federation (ISF) to articulate the demands of the youth.As we walk through the village, a faint sound of news playing out from a television catches our attention. The voice of the female news anchor has this chaste Urdu tone to it. In 2015, he heard of Nanak Singhs case. I heard about the case and met the family. I decided to fight for their cause. First, we paid respect to Nawaz Sharifs ancestor by laying a holy sheet on his grave. We hoped that Sharif would help us get Nanak Singh back. But when Pakistan denied it, we went back to Jati Umra and removed the sheet. We burnt a Pakistani flag near the grave and chanted anti-Pakistan slogans, says Kohli.You wont believe the way locals reacted, he adds, It felt as if I was standing in Pakistan. They attacked us and chanted pro-Pakistan slogans.But Dilbag Singh, a resident of Jati Umra, says, Sons of my village have served in the Indian Army. If someone wants to defame us for political gain, we will reject the lies. Its not a crime to want good relations between India and Pakistan. We want Nanak Singh to come back home. But we will not let anybody ruin the harmony in our village.Gyan Singh says,(They had nothing. Look, today a boy from our village has become Prime Minister. I feel proud at this).Never mind that Nawaz Sharif was born and brought up in Lahore. But how does his disqualification as Pakistan PM over the Panama leaks sit with locals here? These are all siyasi gallan (political matters). What do we know about that? But we know that both Nawaz and his brother are honest men, says Hira Singh.Is this the end of Nawaz Sharifs topsy-turvy political journey? Not if Hira Singh is to be believed. There is an election in Pakistan in 2018. Our prayers are with him. If our prayers can help him evade the death penalty, they can definitely help him win again. Instead of tackling an estimated $10 billion rehabilitation plan for the grimy, packed Port Authority Bus Terminal, a major transit research organization has pitched a plan they say would more rapidly relieve commuter pressure: build a bus terminal in the basement of the Javits Center. The Regional Plan Association's idea is part of a larger proposal to address the booming commuter traffic by bus and rail between Manhattan and New Jersey even as the main rail artery between the states crumbles. "Javits would be an ideal place to move the intercity busses20 percent of gates in Port Authority now," President Tom Wright said on a conference call with reporters Wednesday. "You don't have to decide the longterm future of the Port Authority. Instead you relieve the pressure and buy some time." In addition to the the Javits Center terminal, the RPA's "holistic" plan includes the Gateway Tunnel project, an expansion of Penn Station one block to the south (which has Amtrak's approval), and new commuter train tunnels from Penn Station, under Manhattan and the East River, to Sunnyside in Queens. While Governor Andrew Cuomo has stressed the need for Gateway and an expanded Penn Station, his $3 billion vision for Penn does not include through-running tracks to Sunnyside, which planning groups say would be necessary to keep up with passenger demand in the long term and prevent awkward cross traffic on the rails within Penn Station. According to the RPA, a so-called "Gateway East" extension to Queens would increase capacity under the Hudson River by 138 percent. Crucial, as daily train trips under the Hudson nearly tripled between 1990 and 2015from 71,894 to 194,377and will continue to increase. "The easiest and most cost effective way to increase capacity under the Hudson is to extend the tunnels out to Queens," Wright said. RPA declined to provide exact figures for the cost of the bus terminal but said they predict the $3.5 billion set aside for Port Authority repairs in the Port Authority's latest capital plan could cover the cost of Javits Center renovations. Gateway East would be "in the ballpark" of $7 billion, they added. (via RPA) Jim Venturi, the principal designer at urban planning firm ReThink Studio, argues that through-running service could be achieved without Penn Station additions to the south: a point that he and the RPA have been squabbling about for months (our own Jake Offenhartz has detailed these differences exhaustively.) "Our proposal would optimize the station, widen the platforms, and allow all trains to be through-running for the same $7 billion set aside for Penn Station South," he predicted Wednesday. Meanwhile a new Javits Center terminal would "isolate all of those people on the far West side" and put undue pressure on car traffic, he added. The only accessible subway line to Javits Center is the 7 train. "We believe we're not going to send all of the bus people to Javits," said Jeff Zupan a senior transportation fellow with the Regional Plan Association. "We're talking about a sizable percentage. As we expand the rail, we'll ease pressure on the number 7 train, because people will be using buses less and trains more." The RPA plan would require considerable coordination between the Port Authority, which controls the bus terminal, and Amtrak, which controls Penn Station, not to mention the governors of New York and New Jersey, City Hall, and the Javits Center. "I think that the political leaders need to be working together on this," Wright conceded, adding that the current crisis in the subway has "opened political leaders' eyes to these ticking time bombs." "As we've said many times, it's important the Port Authority consider the bus terminal as part of a comprehensive trans-Hudson strategy," City Hall spokesman Austin Finan told Gothamist. The Port Authority declined to comment; the other agencies and government offices did not comment by press time. Crain's points out today that the Port Authority has shot down proposals to split the bus terminal in the past. Meanwhile, despite his campaign pledge to champion infrastructure, President Donald Trump has yet to fund half of the Gateway project, as promised last year. "We need President Trump to fulfill the federal commitment to make Gateway a reality," Governor Cuomo said at an Association for a Better New York event last month. "Remember the one trillion dollar infrastructure proposal that he spoke about?" Cuomo added. "One trillion dollars. Where is it? What happened to it? It was the single best idea that I heard come from his campaign and now it's disappeared." Reporters asked Wright on Wednesday why his group feels confident endorsing a costly and elaborate plan, including extending tracks to Sunnyside, considering Washington's silence. "I think it's inevitable that this happens," Wright replied. "The question is: do we plan ahead, or do we wait for a catastrophe to force our hands? One of those two things will happen." RPA's bus terminal and Penn Station proposals are part of a larger regional plan, the group's fourth, to be released November 30th. [Update 8/17]: Stephen Gardner, Amtrak Executive Vice President, stated Thursday that, "While additional tubes under the East River are not included in the Program currently, the plan does not preclude expansion to the east in the future." x The Town Uri is a picturesque town resting on the banks of river Jhelum, some 110 kilometers north of Srinagar. The town has villages all the way up to the LoC. View Photo Uri is a picturesque town resting on the banks of river Jhelum, some 110 kilometers north of Srinagar. The town has villages all the way up to the LoC. The graveyard in Uri, a mountain town buffeted by breathtaking greenery and the Jhelum, has more than 40 graves of foreign militants. A glimpse into the lives of those whose lives revolve around the market in Uri. I crossed the mountains and within hours I was in Pakistan. - Ghulam Muhammad It [gunfire] was coming from the other side, Mehboob recalls. I could see flashes of lights beaming from the mountain controlled by Pakistan.The lights which streamed with a projectile were phosphorus bullets that burn as they travel through the air so that one can see where he is shooting. The gunfire was targeted at the Indian army installations on the LoC, meters away from where Mehboob lives. The villagers, as part of their survival drill, shrunk themselves inside their rooms, hoping that a bullet or a shell doesnt find its way into their homes.Uri is a picturesque town resting on the banks of river Jhelum, some 110 kilometers north of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. Unlike the calm and steady waters of the river in Srinagar, Jhelum flows furiously here, managing its way through single-storey house sized boulders and narrow ravines.The road leading to Uri is garrisoned on both sides. Almost. Along the way, for more than a fifteen-kilometer stretch, military men stationed inside their bunkers and along the roadside shoulder their AK-47 rifles. Its a normal sight. One can imagine why the strict security installations, given the road directly leads to Muzaffarabad in Pak, often called Uris sister town.Uris terrain is beautiful with scattered houses dotting the mountainside with tall green paddy fields spreading across the landscape. The town with a population of approximately 60,000 also houses 480 MW NHPC power station commissioned in 1997; its electricity distributed in three states Delhi, Punjab and Haryana.If not the last town before the LoC, and the overwhelming military presence, Uri could have been a major tourist destination in Kashmir, says Bashir Ahmad, the driver of the car we travel in.Uri has villages all the way up to the LoC, and is the only major town in Jammu and Kashmir that is roughly 4 km from the nearest point on the border. With lives here marred by cross border shelling and infiltration in 90s, the town got its first Government Degree College in 2015. In recent times the town came in news on September 18, 2016, when four heavily armed militants managed to sneak into the 12 Infantry Brigade complexes and killed 18 Army personnel. The attack took Uri back to the horrible past they want to forget, and a harsh reality as well: their proximity to the LoC.Javed Budoo, a local resident who works for the sports department in the town, remembers the time when shells used to land in Uri anytime during the day or night. It has been little less than 14 years when the constant sound of shells falling on schools, houses, shops and other building ceased. But the scars remain.For Javed, in his late fifties now, the town has always bore the brunt of the hostilities between two countries. The border villages, says Javed, have gone through the worst.From 1999 to 2003, when the hostilities between the two countries were at its peak, Uri witnessed heavy exchange of fire from both the sides. Javed, then in his thirties, used to visit the affected areas and offer help to the victims of the shelling.Those times changed the town forever. More military installations began to crop up. Bofors tanks were set up around the town, and the psyche of the people changed forever. Now whenever we hear of cross border shelling our minds go back to the times shells rained on us, Javed says.However, since 2003, the town has seen itself grow. More buses have started to ply through its roads now. More shops have opened up and more people are now thronging its market.Some things, however, havent changed. Beyond the market, a normal identification paper passport, Aadhaar, or a voter ID doesnt work. What one needs is a special identity card, irrespective of the place you visit.Nazir Raja is a tall young man in his thirties with broad shoulders. I meet him inside the office of Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Uri. He has come to request for an identity card to visit his sister Ruksana who lives in one of the border villages.Nazir, who prefers to identify himself as Naz, a sobriquet taken from a character of a Pakistani soap opera, says the identity card is not just a piece of paper.Like other people of the town, he has to register his name, the name of the driver if he is travelling in a vehicle; its registration number, and the place of the visit.Its a constant reminder of how the people of the town arent able to move around in their own areas, Naz says.From Uri, the nearest border villages can be reached by crossing an iron bridge that connects more than thirty five other villages to the Tehsil headquarter in Uri. The bridge is named after Nand Singh, who defended it in the 1948 war when the tribals from Pakistan invaded Kashmir. The bridge also connects Kashmir to Muzaffarabad and was once under constant watch of the troops to prevent Pakistani shells from blowing up Army convoys that used to pass through it. The times have changed but the nearby Army bunkers are an indication how much importance the bridge holds for the troops. The bridge connects to a narrow crumbling mountain road, which leads to Balkote. A village of less than 100 families has paid for its proximity to the LoC. Gulam Rasool, a 70-year-old villager, recalls the times when the sky used to rain mortar shells. This place was once ravaged by war, he says. Until the ceasefire of November 2003, Rasool, rarely slept in his own bed. Laid out within sight of the spectacular snow clad peaks of Pakistans Haji Pir, the village used to turn into a ghost town during shelling. Most nights the villagers would shelter in few bunkers tucked away on the precipitous drop to the Haji Pir stream. As we walk through the village, a faint sound of news playing out from a television catches our attention. The voice of the female news anchor is distinct in chaste Urdu.A group of men are watching a bulletin on a TV screen inside a shop. The text written in Urdu flashes across the TV screen while a reporter talks about how the weather in Peshawar will be wet today. Its a news channel from Pakistan. Mohammad Yusuf, the shopkeeper, points at an old man sitting on a bench outside the shop. He likes to watch news coming from the other side [Pakistan], Yusuf says with a smile. The man he is referring is Ghulam Muhammad, his uncle. Muhammad, who is in his late eighties, has a penchant for Pakistani news and to fulfill his wish, Yusuf had to buy a huge satellite dish from a nearby village. You see this small dish, Yusuf points out to a Tata Sky dish mounted on the house of his balcony. These dishes dont beam TV channels from Pakistan. So I had to buy a bigger dish, the one that used to be used earlier, a satellite dish, so that my uncle could watch Pakistan news. Muhammads liking for news channels from Pakistan isnt new. He remains updated on what's hapening across the border. "This penchant for news from Pakistan," Muhammad says, "has continued for decades.When Muhammad was 10, he saw the Pakistani tribals run down the mountains shouldering their guns. He shudders even today at the vandals who rampaged through his village in 1948 that saw him go to the other side for years. Back then there were no fences. I ran as fast as I could. I crossed the mountains and within hours I was in Pakistan. I stayed there for the next ten years. It was in 1958 when I came back and since then have been living here, the octogenarian says.For years, before a fence was put on the LoC, Balkote was a mandatory night halt for all the travellers on the road to Rawalpindi or Islamabad in Pakistan. Every day horse-drawn carts filled with travellers, British and native, would turn up at the village and spend the night. Next morning they would leave for Rawalpindi and by the afternoon they would have lunch there. Not anymore, Muhamad says. The lines have been drawn now. Ahmedabad: The death toll in Gujarat rose to 201 on Wednesday after 11 more people died due to swine flu. More than 1,700 patients, infected with the H1N1 virus, have been admitted to various hospitals across the state, PTI reported. Of these, 640 have been cured, 913 are under treatment, and 201 have lost their lives, a government-issued health bulletin revealed. Today 11 persons infected with the virus died. While two deaths each were reported in Junagadh and Rajkot city, one death each was reported in Ahmedabad city, Vadodara city, and Gandhinagar, Surendranagar, Kutch, Rajkot and Ahmedabad districts, the bulletin said. It said 145 new cases of swine flu were registered on Wednesday in the state, including 51 in Ahmedabad city, 32 in Vadodara, nine each in Surat and Gandhinagar, five in Panchamahal district and four each in Bharuch, Anand and Bhavnagar districts. While three cases each were reported from Jamnagar city, and Mehsana and Surat districts, two cases each from Rajkot city, and Vadodara, Sabarkantha, Surendranagar and Banaskantha districts. One case each is reported from Kutch, Rajkot, Junagad, Ahmedabad, Amreli, Kheda, and Chhotaudepur districts, besides from Bhavnagar city. On Saturday, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani held a meeting with senior government officials to review the swine flu situation. The government announced that 17,000 teams had launched an intense door-to-door surveillance across the state with ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activists) and Anganwadi workers as well as with malarial surveillance squads. Around 40,000 Anganwadi workers, over 5,000 MBBS doctors, and 3,000 AYUSH doctors are part of these teams, an official release said. (With inputs from PTI) New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday appointed a supervisory body of two former-apex court judges to scrutinise the SIT decision to close 199 cases in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots matter. A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra also asked the body to examine the Special Investigation Team's decision to close additional 42 riots-related cases. The top court directed the supervisory body to examine the issue and submit a report within three months. The court has posted the matter for further hearing on November 28. The apex court had on March 24 asked the Centre to place before it the files pertaining to the 199 cases of the anti-Sikh riots which the special investigation team set up by the Home Ministry has decided to "close". The SIT is headed by Pramod Asthana, an IPS officer of 1986 batch, and has Rakesh Kapoor, a retired district and sessions judge, besides Kumar Gyanesh, an additional deputy commissioner of Delhi Police, as its members. Anti-Sikh riots that broke out after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had claimed 2,733 lives in Delhi alone. 24-yr-old boy killed after he lost control of his over-speeding bike&hit Lady Irwin College's wall. Case registered: BK Singh, DCP New Delhi pic.twitter.com/35QTbjZm1Y ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2017 A 24-year-old man died on Tuesday after his speeding superbike met with an accident near Mandi House in Delhi. The accident, which was caught on a camera mounted on another riders helmet, took place around 9 pm.The PCR received a call around 9 pm about the accident. By the time the police team arrived, the injured was shifted to LNJP Hospital, said New Delhi DCP BK Singh.Himanshu was riding his Benelli TNT 600i with his two friends Gazi and Lakshay when the incident took place near the footpath of Lady Irwin College Gate at Sikandra Road. The superbike costs around Rs 5 lakh.A camera was installed on Lakshays helmet. The footage shows, Gazi and Himanshu were riding ahead when an elderly person was crossing the road. Himanshus speeding bike could not stop in time, hit the person and then crashed into Lady Irwin Colleges wall, said DCP Singh.Passers-by helped the victims and sent them to the hospital.Delhi Police has registered a case under IPC section 279 (rash driving) and 304 (causing death by negligence). The cases were registered on the basis of DD entry as no eyewitnesses were present at the spot, claimed police.Himanshu, a resident of Vivek Vihar, was assisting his father in the family business. Kolkata: An air hostess, who was working with a private airlines and currently posted in Kolkata, was found dead under mysterious circumstances on Wednesday morning in Kestopur, North Kolkata. Preliminary inquiry revealed that the girl, identified as Clara Khongsit Bansha Rai, fell from the third floor of a residential building in Kestopor. It was not clear if the girl fell accidentally, committed suicide or was murdered. Clara was working as a lead cabin attendant for a private airlines. Her family members in Shillong were informed, and they were on the way to Kolkata. It was found that Clara had gone to attend a friend's birthday party in an apartment in Kestopur. Her body was found near the apartment with serious head injuries this morning. The local residents noticed her body lying in a pool of blood and alerted us. We have detained two of her friends in connection with this case. We have sent her body for post mortem, a senior police officer said. Based on the scientific investigation, we suspect foul play in the incident, but it is too early to comment on the matter, he added. Meanwhile, a team of officers from the Forensic Science Department collected finger print samples from the house and seized liquor bottles. She was very polite and helpful in nature. We noticed around 3 AM, two men coming out of the building and today morning we came to know that she was dead. We are shocked by the incident, Raju Saha, a local resident said. The investigation officers are going through her cell phone records looking for leads. New Delhi: With the Supreme Court on Wednesday ordering a probe in the Hadiya Case by National Investigative Agency, the spotlight is back on the cases of Love Jihad in India. News18 dissects the issue: WHAT IS LOVE JIHAD? Jihad essentially means struggle or battle in Islam for a religious cause. So Love Jihad essentially means when one causes the other to convert to Islam through a false hope of love and marriage. This practice is commonly seen as Muslim men pretending to be in love with non-Muslim women with an intention of converting them. While so far there is no proof of any such organized practice, many social and political organizations believe so. WHERE DOES LOVE JIHAD ORIGINATE FROM? In 2009, there were claims of forceful religious conversions in Kerala and Mangalore. In 2009, Justice KT Sankaran (Retd.), observed there were indications of forceful religious conversions in Kerala and that the government should mull over a law to prohibit such instances. Under the pretext of love, there cannot be any compulsive, deceptive conversion, the court said. WHAT ARE MOST FAMOUS CASES? One of the first cases where the term Love Jihad was used took place in 2009 when a girl was suspected to have converted to Islam under pressure from a Muslim boy who was willing to marry her. According to reports by special branch of police, fundamental outfits like National Democratic Front (NDF) and Campus Front had roots in college campuses in various cities and the plan was to trap upper caste Hindu and Christian girls from well-to-do families. In 2014, another such case from Meerut caught national attention. Kaleem and Shalu Tyagis love affair was projected as a case of Love Jihad by Hindutva outfits. Both the parties involved in the case had always stated that Love Jihad as a concept did not exist and was only used by political parties to polarize the atmosphere. But right-wing groups cited the case as a textbook example of Love Jihad. However, the two adults went ahead with the Nikah as planned. 2014 witnessed another famous case where a national-level shooter Tara Shahdeo walked out of her matrimonial home and said she was pressurized and tortured by her in-laws to accept Islam. She alleged that the person whom she thought to be a Hindu was actually a Muslim and she was now trapped. The CBI filed a chargesheet in the case this year against Ranjeet alias Raqibul, his mother Kaushal Rani, and Mushtaq Ahmed, the then Registrar (vigilance) of the Jharkhand High Court. This year, the Hadiya case has been the most famous alleged Love Jihad case. The Kerala High Court declared a marriage conducted by a qazi between a Muslim man and a Hindu woman null and void after the womans father alleged that his daughter has been recruited by Islamic State (IS) in Syria. After this, the aggrieved husband had moved the SC, seeking restoration of his marriage. On Wednesday, SC ordered a NIA probe into the matter when NIA stated that Love Jihad existed. WHAT ARE THE LAWS COVERING SUCH CASES? If the case involves a minor woman, and she being enticed to enter a sexual relationship, then there is a case of the man being a pedophile. The Acts covering this offence would be Protection of Child from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 and Child Marriage and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. If the court finds that there has been abduction followed by a forced marriage, then the court can punish the accused under Section 366 of the IPC which punishes abduction leading to forced marriage or sexual relationship against the womans will. The offence is punishable with up to 10 years. But the real problem lies in the nature of marriage. Muslims are married as per Shariah, while Hindus marry as per the Hindu Marriage Act. However, since Muslim marriage is a contract, there is a question of consent. Now the problem arises to determine whether the consent is informed or not. If the case is of informed consent, then the entire case fails although other legal provisions might help to bolster the case of the petitioners. New Delhi: As the nation celebrates the 70th year of Indias Independence, two Independence Day celebrations were restrained by the police stating that it could create a law and order problem. The first one was the event slated to be organized at Dargah Shah E Mardan on the eve of Independence Day. The event was to mark Indias Independence with a series of patriotic mushairas which would also have patriotic nazms (songs) and which was to be followed by a round of fireworks. However, on August 10, Delhi police visited the compound and told them that the event could not be held due to heavy law and order arrangements on the eve of Independence day. The police added that they feared anti-social elements may also join and disrupt the programme. The Dargah authorities were directed to follow the order or else face legal action. Bahadur Abbas Naqvi, the general secretary of Anjuman-e-Haideri, the body that manages the shrine, told News18 that such an order violated their basic right to celebrate the countrys freedom and such a directive only reeked of a communal bias. Why are they stopping us? We had informed the PM also about the event. A lot of people from Delhi were supposed to attend it. This order to prevent us from celebrating this day of joy shows how much are we kept away, added Naqvi. However, the accusation of communal bias may fall flat when one looks at another incident of not allowing Independence Day celebrations. The other event involved RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. Bhagwat sparked a controversy in Kerala by hoisting the national flag during Independence Day celebrations at a government-aided school, defying a restraining order by the district collector. Bhagwat raised the tricolour at the Karnaki Amman School in Palakkad district despite orders from the collector that only elected representatives or functionaries of the school are allowed to do so in aided schools. So can an Independence Day event be cancelled by the police citing law and order issues? Legal experts suggest that there are no explicit provisions to prevent organisers from holding such events and police often rely on Section 144 of the Indian Penal Code which prevents unlawful assembly, but even for that moving the court is extremely important, and that such directives are often based on the intimidating power of the police. The fact that police declines permission on the basis of fear that antisocial elements may create disturbance does not hold any water as it is extremely vague. Such a thing can also happen when the prime minister is addressing a gathering. So such directives can only find legal sanction under the IPC, but that too has to be read in a very restrictive manner and does not have a wide ambit. These orders often work on the basis of the intimidating power of the police and this need to change with police reforms, said Flavia Agnes, a Supreme Court lawyer and the director of Majlis Legal Centre. New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over figures quoted in his Independence Day speech on demonetisation, and asked him how he knew that Rs 3 lakh crore had come into the banking system when the RBI was still counting notes. Senior Congress spokesperson Ghulam Nabi Azad said the claim made by the Prime Minister on Tuesday of Rs 3 lakh crore getting into the banking system post-demonetisation, is in clear contrast to what the RBI has said. The Prime Minister said Rs 3 lakh crore, which were not in the banking system have come into it. We ask the Prime Minister, how much money has come in after demonetisation. We were told that the RBI is still counting...it may take decades to count, he said. When RBI is still counting then how has the Prime Minister come up with this Rs 3 lakh crore figure? Two contrary stands are being taken by the Prime Minister of India and the Reserve Bank of India," he told reporters. Azad, the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, said this is a big question as either the Prime Minister or the RBI is lying. Since the counting of money is in progress, how can the Prime Minister make this claim. Is he now befooling the people of India? If this information is with the prime minister, then why the reserve bank did not share this information in Parliament, he asked. He further said both the Prime Minister and the RBI have to answer as to who is lying. He also raised questions over the recovery of Rs 75,000 crore in black money, even as the RBI is still counting the money and is yet to come up with a substantive figure. If the RBI is yet to segregate between the fake money and the black money, post-demonetisation, then where did this figure come from? Azad asked. Chandigarh: Punjab and Haryana governments have sought central forces to deal with the situation if the verdict in a case against 'Dera Sacha Sauda' chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh goes against him, an official said. Meanwhile, a special CBI Court in Panchkula on Wednesday heard the matter pertaining to the sexual exploitation case against the 'Dera Sacha Sauda' chief. "The arguments in the (sexual exploitation) case from both sides took place today in the court and they will continue tomorrow as well," said Ram Rahim Singh's counsel S K Garg Narwana in Chandigarh. He informed that the court has now posted the matter for August 17. A case was registered against Dera chief Singh in 2002 by the CBI on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court after anonymous letters were circulated about alleged sexual exploitation of female followers. A chargesheet in the case was filed by the CBI in 2007. The Dera chief has denied these charges. Meanwhile, the chief secretaries and police chiefs of Punjab and Haryana met Union Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi in Delhi on Wednesday to discuss the security arrangements. Both states sought central forces to prevent any untoward incident in case the verdict goes against the Dera chief. "Chief secretaries and DGPs of Punjab and Haryana met the Union home secretary today at Delhi and discussed the matter pertaining to the ongoing Dera chief court case," Haryana DGP B S Sandhu said today. During the meeting, both Punjab and Haryana sought central forces from the Centre to deal with any kind of situation, the DGP said. Both the states have sought central forces to prevent any law and order situation which might arise in case of adverse verdict against the Dera chief, he said. Sandhu said that while Haryana sought a "sufficient" number of companies of central forces while Punjab sought 250 companies. "We are prepared to deal with any kind of situation and will not allow it to deteriorate," said the Haryana DGP. Sirsa-based Dera Sacha Sauda has a large number of supporters in Punjab and Haryana. The "stock of oxygen supply had completely run out" which may have led to the death of 63 children at the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur last week. This is what the Chief Medical Superintendent (CMS) of Nehru Memorial Hospital wrote to College Director Rajeev Mishra on August 11, after a meeting of senior doctors including the Head of Paediatrics.BRD Medical Colleges paediatric ward with the 100-bedded encephalitis and neonatal care wards is part of the Nehru Hospital.Click to enlargeAnother letter on August 9 addressed to the education minister, which is now in the possession of News18, informs him of the pending dues of Rs 68 lakh. The owner of the firm that supplies oxygen to this hospital has repeatedly expressed that the supply would have to be cut as they are unable to meet the expenses.Click to enlargeCMS Dr RS Shukla in his urgent missive informed that "the stock of liquid oxygen has totally dried up and a meeting of doctors including the paediatrics department head and others was held on the morning of August 11, in room number 12 of the paediatrics department, to review the situation.The letter further reads, You are therefore requested to ensure availability of oxygen at the earliest in order to save precious lives.Within a span of five days, 63 children died at the BRD Medical College, allegedly due to oxygen shortage at the hospital. While the Uttar Pradesh government has blamed the deaths on several reasons such as encephalitis and other ailments, they rejected the oxygen shortage theory as a reason.However, almost every family, who lost their children, reported that their babies were gasping for breath when the oxygen supply was cut from August 7. Over 32 children died between August 10 and 11.The letter also goes on to predict that there would be a large-scale crisis in the paediatrics department on night of August 10, thus giving weight to the possibility of deaths occurring due to lack of liquid oxygen.Now, these letters again indicate that criminal negligence or conspiracy was probably not just limited to the college principal, who has been sacked, but to levels higher up in the hierarchy.It has to be seen if the government will still stick to its claim that oxygen shortage was not the reason behind these deaths or accept that there was a lapse on the administrations part. A wealth manager at Goldman Sachs has accused the bank and a senior partner there of racial discrimination directed against her because she's black and Jewish, and has filed a lawsuit against the company because of it. Rebecca Allen, a wealth manager in the bank's Private Wealth Management Division, claims that a partner in Goldman's Investment Banking Division named Christina Minnis suddenly removed her from dealing with a potential client in November 2016. When Allen's supervisor, Corey Jassem, told Allen he would look into it, he came back and "told Ms. Allen that Ms. Minnis had made numerous racist comments, as well as anti-Semitic comments during his meeting with her, suggesting that Ms. Allen had been removed from the relationship because she is Black and Jewish" according to the suit. Despite telling Allen this, Allen claims that Jassem decided not to go to HR after saying he would, possibly because Minnis is a partner at the bank. Allen also alleges that when she confronted Jassem about not going to HR, he changed his story about the meeting with Minnis, telling Allen that Minnis "only made anti-Semitic comments and not the other 'racist' comments" he originally reported. When Allen reminded Jassem she was also Jewish, he allegedly told her that she was being "hypersensitive." Allen's suit claims she's been routinely asked questions "clearly designed" with the aim of determining "how Jewish" she really is, since she's also black. In the suit, Allen says getting removed from the account cost her $300,000 per year in compensation. The suit also claims that Goldman Sachs has a culture of racial discrimination, saying that there's only one black employee on Goldman's Management Committee, only one black Executive Officer and only one black person on the bank's Board of Directors. "It is inconceivable that Goldman Sachs holds itself out as being a diverse employer when its 32-person management team includes only one Black employee," Allen's attorneys, Michael Willemin and Douglas Wigdor of Wigdor L.L.P. said in a statement. Wigdor L.L.P. is the same law firm that's represented numerous employees in discrimination cases against Fox News. Willemin and Wigdor also predicted that other black employees will come forward and "expose what is really happening behind the closed doors with regard to the denial of opportunity for entrance and advancement for qualified Black individuals." In addition to monetary damages, the suit asks the court for an order to "place Ms. Allen in the position she would have occupied but for Defendants discriminatory and otherwise unlawful treatment of her." Willemin and Wigdor told Gothamist that specific request means "asking a jury to compel Goldman Sachs to treat Ms. Allen and all of the Banks black employees fairly. That means compensating black employees at the same level as white counterparts and permitting black employees to pursue business without putting up discriminatory barriers." Goldman is fighting the suit. "We believe this suit is without merit and we will vigorously contest it," a Goldman Sachs spokesperson told Gothamist. "Our success depends on our ability to maintain a diverse employee base and we are focused on recruiting, retaining and promoting diverse professionals at all levels." Gorakhpur: The panel appointed to probe the deaths of over 60 kids at the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur confirmed there was lack of oxygen and blamed financial irregularities at the hospital for the delay in payments to the supplier. The probe committee has asked for a full-scale investigation. The two-page report, accessed exclusively by CNN-News18, has made eight critical observations. It says that the funds to pay the vendor were credited to the hospitals account on August 5 and held at least six employees responsible for the delay in processing the amount. It further says that officers did not act despite reminders that defaulting on payment could have serious consequences. The damning report goes on to say that the job done by Principal Dr Rajeev Mishra, HOD anaesthesia Dr Satish, chief pharmacist Gajanan Agarwal was found to be unsatisfactory. It concludes that had Dr Mishra and Dr Satish paid attention to complaints made by likes of Dr Kafeel Ahmad and acted in time, the crises could have been avoided. The probe report has been signed by the chief medical officer, assistant District magistrate (city), additional director health and family welfare, additional commissioner (admin) and the city magistrate. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath had ordered the probe after coming under fire for the deaths in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) of the state-run hospital. Sixty three children have died at BRD Medical College Hospital since August 7, many for want of oxygen after supply was allegedly disrupted as bills were not paid to the supplier on time. At least 30 children were reported dead within a span of two days alone. Many of the victims were infants. The oxygen vendor had stopped supply to the hospital because it was owed Rs 64 lakh, but said it received no payments for months on end. But as soon as news broke of 30 children dying due to alleged oxygen shortage, the hospital released a payment of Rs 20.84 lakh, the company had told News18.com. The state government though has denied that an oxygen shortage was to blame for the deaths, and said that there was a provision for backup. The local administration in Gorakhpur, the Lok Sabha constituency of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, however, had admitted that oxygen supply was disrupted. Adityanath had promised stringent action against those found guilty and suspended the principal for dereliction of duty. Dr Kafeel Ahmad, the head of the encephalitis ward, was also removed from his post of nodal officer. New Delhi: Even as it handed over investigation into alleged cases of 'Love Jihad' to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), the Supreme Court made it clear that it will speak to the 25-year-old Hindu woman before deciding validity of her marriage to a Muslim man after her conversion to Islam. A bench led by Chief Justice of India J S Khehar asked the NIA to investigate under guidance of its former judge R V Raveendran after the lawyers for the Muslim man, whose marriage was annulled by the Kerala High Court, gave their consent to the probe. Senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Indira Jaising, representing the petitioner husband, gave their consent to the NIA probe after the Court said it will definitely interview the woman before taking a final call. The counsel for the petitioner (husband) has no objection to the NIA taking over the investigation subject to this Court interviewing the girlwe make it clear that before hearing the matter finally, we shall require the presence of the girl and we will speak to her before taking a final call, the bench, also comprising Justice D Y Chandrachud, recorded in its order. The order came after Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh, appearing for the NIA, favoured a probe into such cases. He contended that it was not an isolated case and there seemed to be a pattern. Materials collected by the state police give clear cut impression of a pattern. There are more cases of this kind. Entities and organisations involved in all such cases are common. Facts require investigation into the pattern. One charitable trust involved may have SIMI connections, he said. Appearing for the Kerala police which had been carrying out investigation following the order by the HC in May, senior lawyer V Giri, said, the state has no objection if NIA is directed by this Court to take over. Giri further informed that probe by the local police is still underway. Sibal first objected to the NIA probe. NIA has been making several U-turns in the recent past. It is one thing to say that NIA is an independent agency but I can say it that this may not be true. Let the state police conclude its probe and then this Court could consider its next step, he argued. Sibal also said that the bench must meet the girl and speak to her about her wishes before directing the NIA to investigate. He said that even a personal affidavit could be sought from her about her disposition. But the bench replied that it would not want to pre-judge the issue by speaking to the woman at this stage. A girl, who has completed her course in medicines, gives out three names when the High Court interviews her. Have you heard about this Blue Whale Challenge game? People are incited and convinced to do anything. So everything can happen. We are not assuming anything. We dont want to pre-judge the whole issue by meeting her or seeking her affidavit at this stage, replied the Court. It told Sibal that a former SC judge could be asked to supervise the NIA probe to ensure fairness. We want to give equal opportunity to all. If after the NIA report, we come to a conclusion that she has rightfully converted and married, that's the end of the matter. However, if we arrive at a conclusion that she has been wrongly dragged into this, there will be a different conspectus. So, we will talk to her but only after we have all the inputs, it added. As Sibal sought some time to respond to the suggestion regarding the NIA probe, the bench said the petitioner should not waste this opportunity if he was interested in a fair investigation. The Court then suggested former SC judge K S Radhakrishnans name but Sibal and Jaising objected. Finally, Justice R V Raveendran was entrusted with supervision of the NIA probe. The Court will take up the matter after the NIA submits its report. The issue reached the apex court as Kerala-native Shafin Jahan challenged the annulment of his marriage by the Kerala HC, which ordered the state police to probe such cases. Jahan, who married a Hindu woman last December, had moved the SC, saying that it was an insult to the independence of women in the country. On the other hand, Ashokan KM, the father of the woman, has alleged that there was a well-oiled systematic mechanism for conversion and Islamic radicalisation. The girl has been in custody of the parents after the HC order. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump have agreed to enhance peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region with a new two-by-two ministerial dialogue, the White House has said. In a rare gesture, Trump himself picked up the phone early on Tuesday to call Modi to congratulate the 1.2 billion citizens of India on Independence Day, PTI reported. During the phone call, Trump welcomed the first-ever shipment of American crude oil to India, which will begin this month from Texas. He pledged that the US would continue to be a reliable and long-term supplier of energy to India, the White House said in a readout of the phone call between the two leaders. "The leaders resolved to enhance peace and stability across the Indo-Pacific region by establishing a new two-by-two ministerial dialogue that will elevate their strategic consultations," the White House said, without giving details of the mechanism. As the leaders of two of the world's largest and fastest-growing major economies, Trump and Modi looked forward to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in India this November, the White House said, adding that Trump has asked his daughter and advisor Ivanka Trump to lead the US summit delegation. "Prime Minister Modi thanked President Trump for his strong leadership uniting the world against the North Korean menace," it added. Trump had recently warned North Korea that it would face "fire and fury" if it attacked the United States, while the North threatened to test-fire its missiles over Japan and towards the US Pacific island of Guam. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson telephoned External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and greeted her and people of India on the occasion of Independence Day, PTI reported. "The US is proud to stand with the people of India, the world's largest democracy, in the cause for freedom and prosperity around the globe," he said. "Prime Minister Modi's ambitious vision for the US-India relationship holds great promise for advancing our shared interests in the 21st century, and we look forward to the many years of friendship before us," Tillerson added. Tillerson and Swaraj "had good conversation", Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. They "discussed newly established" two-plus-two mechanism to harness synergy in foreign and defence engagements, the spokesperson said. (With PTI inputs) The text of the Independence Day speech by Tripura CM, Manik Sarkar: blacked out by DD & AIR after orders from Delhi. #UndeclaredEmergency pic.twitter.com/90ECzoqLMQ Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) August 16, 2017 Neither Modi's cronies at Prasar Bharti nor BJP or RSS, have any locus standi to decide on what an elected CM of a state speaks on August 15 Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) August 16, 2017 Great values of secularism have helped in keeping Indians together as a nation. But today, this spirit of secularism is under attack. Conspiracies and attempts are underway to create an undesirable complexity and divisions in our society; to invade our national consciousness in the name of religion, caste and community, by inciting passions to convert India into a particular religious country and in the name of protecting the cow.Was it passages like these in Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkars Independence Day speech that led to it being blocked by Doordarshan and All India Radio?Going by Sitaram Yechurys tweet, it would seem so. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary claimed that the speech was blacked out after orders from Delhi and attached the text of the speech with his tweet.The Left Front government engaged in a war of words with Prasar Bharti on Tuesday, when they refused to broadcast Sarkar's Independence Day speech on Doordarshan and All India Radio. The broadcasters instead asked the CM and his government to "reshape" the speech, which they refused.Because of all these, people of Minority and Dalit communities are under severe attack. Their sense of security is being shattered. Their life is under peril. These unholy tendencies cannot be harboured or tolerated. The followers of those who were not associated with the independence movement, rather sabotaged the freedom movement, were servile to the atrocious, plunderer and merciless British, aligned with the anti-national forces having decorated themselves today in different names and colours are striking at the root of unity and integrity of India. Yechury further tweeted that Chennai: The school run by superstar Rajinikanths wife Latha has once again run into trouble, this time due to an alleged default on payment of rent. The landlord of the premises has sealed the 'Ashram' and students would now have to shift to another campus. The landlord claimed that the school management hasn't paid rent to the tune of Rs 2 crore, but the management has called these allegations baseless. A source from the management claimed that the school has been shut because of a legal dispute and it had nothing to do with a rental default. In a statement, the management said that it will move the court against the landlord. "We have faced lot of harassment in the recent past due to the family disputes of our landlord. It is not just about the rent but it is also about their exploitation of situation and it is about asking for unfair, unreasonable and exorbitant increment in rentals for which we have been negotiating and speaking with them," the statement said. The statement also said that they have decided to vacate the premises. It further stated: Taking law into his own hands and without any information, once again, the landlord has created immense agony to the school, children, parents and management today. Latha Rajinikanths lawyer Ravichandran told media persons that the school had paid all the dues. "We have proof of the rent paid to the landlord. Students wont be affected as we will shift them to another location, he said. This is not the first time that the school has landed into trouble. In December last year, the staff had started a protest over non-payment of salaries. The management had blamed demonetisation and promised to pay the salaries soon. Srinagar: A top LeT commander was killed on Wednesday in a gunfight between security forces and militants in south Kashmir's Pulwama district. Police said security forces surrounded an orchard in Banderpora (Koil) village of Pulwama district following information about militants hiding there. "When the security forces tightened the cordon, they were fired at by hiding militants triggering an encounter. One militant, Ayub Lalhari, district commander of LeT has been killed, the encounter was going on," police said. New Delhi: Medical Superintendents (MS) in Delhi Government Hospitals will now have emergency purchase powers. This means that in the event of a crisis, the MS will have the power to purchase material worth Rs. 1 crore without a prior permission from the state government. This decision, taken during a review meeting on Wednesday chaired by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, aims to cut down the red tape during crises. Kejriwal had called a meeting of all Medical Superintendents in Delhi Government hospitals in the wake of the Gorakhpur tragedy earlier this month, which claimed the lives of over 60 children after a reported shortage of oxygen tanks. The Delhi Government also announced a helpline number for patients. Today, the CM chaired a review meeting of all Delhi Government hospitals. The Medical Superintendents were called. The availability of medicine in Delhi government hospitals is 90%-95% and we will meet the shortfall in a month or so. We will also launch a helpline for patients. We have given Medical Superintendents greater power to handle a crisis. Earlier, the MS of a small hospital had emergency purchase power of Rs. 10,000 and the MS of a big hospital had purchase power of Rs. 5 lakh. We have increased this to Rs. 1 crore. They can now buy equipment worth Rs. 1 crore without approval from the government, Satyendra Jain, Delhi health minister, who was part of the meeting, said. He added, The emergency wards of all hospitals are working fine. As far as payment to vendors is concerned, the stipulated time is that vendors be paid for their services within 45 days. The average time that most hospitals take is 30 days. However, we noticed that in some cases the payment has been delayed to as much as 60 days. The MSs have assured us that this will not happen again and all payments will be made within 30 days. When asked about the Gorakhpur tragedy, Jain said, We promise you that Gorakhpur will not be repeated in Delhi. We do continuous checks here and ensure that supply is well-stocked. Even non-payment to vendors, which was the case in Gorakhpur, is not an issue in Delhi. Amritsar: A "strange amnesia and loss and lack of memory" appear to be partly addressed by the Partition Museum, now formally open in Amritsar. Eighteen million lives were disrupted, people died, women were raped, plundered, displaced, and in many cases, dehumanised in the massively disruptive event that was the splitting of India and Pakistan in 1947. The trauma has diminished in memory for newer generations of Indians and Pakistanis even as it continues to be a life changing, nightmare inducing thought for those who lived through it. Five minutes from the Golden Temple, the Town Hall now houses the memories and history of the life and times that scarred two nations as they were born. August 17, 2017, is when the Museum begins its formal existence, for it is 70 years to the date that the process of partition was announced in 1947, rendering millions homeless and nationless overnight. The Town Hall building has been renovated and given a fresh lease of life as it chronicles the past and becomes its repository. Imagine waking up in the morning and realising that the country where you have woken up is no longer yours and then you start figuring out what to do next and scramble to leave. This is what happened and led to destruction for many, says Kishwar Desai, Chairperson of the Partition Museum. The terrible events following partition split families changed family dynamics and brought out the best and the worst of humanity. A banner prominently displayed at the Museum states - India estimates 33,000 abducted women need to be recovered from Pakistan while Pakistan estimates 21,000 abducted women need to be recovered from India. A photo of a woman holding her toddler daughter highlights in the text written next to it that the mother treasures the photo as it is her only memory of her daughter who was separated and lost forever thereafter. Worried for their honour, women jumped into wells or were killed by their own families. In one incident, recorded as oral history, 82 women jumped into a well at a location to keep their honour intact, as plundering mobs roamed and ransacked the landscape. The arbitrary manner in which the Radcliffe Award drew up the border led to confusion and chaos in determining what would be India and what would be Pakistan. The British deliberately decided to announce the details of the partition two days after independence because Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy did not want the British to bear the odium of having done this so the blame would fall either on the Indian or the Pakistani government, says Desai, referring to records available in the museum. The curators of the museum have now received such ample documents, artefacts, memorabilia and other items associated with the partition that they plan to have a phase 3 and 4 in the Museum in addition to the two phases that are now open to the public. No one who worked in the museum has been left untouched or unchanged by the reminders of the events they have helped collect and curate. It has changed me completely. I think I have become a much more humble person. These people lost everything and yet they had the courage to live on in silence, with no complaints, says Desai as she goes about meticulously collecting more memories to make sure the two countries do not forget the terrible pain and tragedy that followed their birth in the hope that this knowledge would bring positive change to the relations between the two nations. If every adult woman or man in India has to get legal sanction to get married, then it complicates matters a bit. Most parents complain if their children were to marry outside the caste or religion. The issue acquires a completely different hue in the backdrop of RSS's campaign against what they call Love Jihad, a completely imagined Islamic strategy in India of sending out young men to woo Hindu women so that they marry them and convert. This, according to the RSS, is a long-term strategy to reduce the 85% Hindu majority population in India. This imagined ploy of using Cupid as an ally for demographic change would have been laughed off in better times. But now it has required the intervention of the Supreme Court, which has the enviable task of deciding between an educated adult girl's romantic and religious conviction. Is the girls romantic conviction more credible than her conviction of adherence to Islam? Here no one looks at cases where Muslims have converted to Hinduism to get married. Inter-religious marriages in Kerala have to be looked at from the perspective of states's unique social structure. In Kerala, there are no minorities as Christians and Muslims, when combined, form more than half of the population. So none of the fear psychosis, which Muslims elsewhere in India are forced to live with, haunts them in Kerala. The Muslim League has shared power in Kerala for over 30 years, mostly handling the education and industries portfolio and this has resulted in nearly 100% literacy among Muslims. Compare this with some states in north India where not even half of the Muslim population is literate. Kerala Muslims are affluent, too. According to a survey, Kerala has 10 billionaires (11 by latest count) of which two are Muslims and two Christians. The second richest in the list, MA Yousuf Ali, is worth Rs 16,300 crore and has been part of the Prime Ministers delegation to every Islamic country. According to estimates, about a million people walk into his Lulu mall in Kochi every day. They also control many top educational institutions and hospitals, putting them in an enviable situation quite unlike the pathetic social status of their counterparts in a state which also houses the dismal district of Gorakhpur, where children dying by the dozens is considered routine. Now, considering their superior social status, the Muslims of Kerala have no need to go on any jihad, love or hate. Hindus, Muslims and Christians work in close proximity and camaraderie in Kerala. It is one of the few states where there are many businesses where Hindus and Muslims are partners. The Muslim self-confidence and pride in Kerala is unmatched anywhere else in India. So much so, in the tricky art of romance, too, Muslim boys often hold some sort of a sway because of their wealth and education. Also, the chance of a Kerala Muslim boy getting employment is very high because of the immense opportunities that open up for him in the Gulf as soon as he gets a technical degree, which is quite common in Kerala. Remember, this is a state which is far removed from UP and Gorakhpur in offering dignity of life to its citizens. So why this outrage if a Hindu woman prefers to marry a Muslim man? Romance is a private matter, but doesnt it make perfect economic sense? Why should the National Investigation Agency (NIA) see various imagined strategies here when an adult woman converted to Islam to marry? What is uncommon in this womans decision? It is, however, true that Wahhabism is sending down roots in Kerala, thanks to the influence of Saudi Arabia and some mullahs who owe allegiance to such strains of Islam. Kerala has various Christian and Islamic evangelists whose sway and wealth is frightening. When Kerala, with its fascination for airports, announced recently a plan for an airport who do you think the disputed land of 3000 acres has to be acquired from? A Christian evangelist. A freelance Sunni preacher Kantapuram Aboobaker four years ago laid siege to the Capital Trivandrum with half a million followers. This rise of freelance fundamental Christian and Muslim evangelists pose a danger to Keralas tightly woven social fabric. That fabric has ripped a bit like a models jeans, and terror links have also been detected. Students Islamic Movement of Indias (SIMI) crucial terror camp which laid the basis for many bomb blasts across the country was also held in the mountainous Vagamon in central Kerala about a decade back. But none of this can justify the national outcry over an interfaith marriage between two adults. It only shows the yawning distance between Kerala and India. It also shows how regressive forces are holding back Indias entry into modernity. Author is a senior journalist. Views expressed here are personal New Delhi: The one man judicial commission appointed by the central government to look into the circumstances around the death of University of Hyderabad scholar Rohit Vemula on Wednesday came out with a report stating that he had committed suicide due to personal reasons. The Commission under retired Allahabad high court judge A K Roopanwal also said that Vemula was not Dalit. Set up by the human resource development ministry, the commission report said, as quoted by PTI, "Vemula was a troubled individual and was unhappy for several reasons." The inquiry commission report, submitted to the HRD ministry last year, gave a clean chit to then HRD minister Smriti Irani and BJP leader Bandaru Dattatreya of any wrongdoing in the death. Academic scholar and Dalit rights activist Kancha Ilaiah alleged that the report has been written to present the government's version of the story. "What surprises me is that what the then HRD minister Smriti Irani had said about Vemula's death is what forms the content of the report. We would have taken it more seriously if Irani would have then said that 'look we do not know what happened and we are constituting an enquiry to know about it'," Ilaiah told PTI, adding, "What the minister wanted to say is all what has been written in the report." Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said he has been demanding a probe in the matter by a sitting Supreme Court judge for the truth to come out, asking "what can a retired judge say when the government has already made up its mind?" Congress' Rajeev Gowda also slammed the report saying it was a "sham". "It insults the memory of Vemula and the tragedy of his suicide. He was driven to death by mistreatment, harassment by varsity and intervention of central ministers into the issue," he told PTI. Vemula hanged himself in a hostel room on January 17 last year as he was allegedly upset over disciplinary action taken against him by the University of Hyderabad. His death had kicked up a controversy over the action against him that was alleged to have been prompted by complaints by BJP leaders. (With PTI inputs) The driver of a Honda Civic who was allegedly speeding when he collided with the driver of a Department of Transportation truck, which sent the truck flying into a parked taxi, has been charged with murder after the passenger in his car died from his injuries. A press release from the Manhattan District Attorney's office announced that Antonios Sikolas, a 25-year-old from Yonkers, was charged with murder today, almost one month after the early morning Murray Hill car crash, and about two weeks after his passenger, Ryota Funakoshi, died from his injures. Sikolas was already facing two DUI counts because his BAC after the crash was allegedly found to be .14, felony assault and reckless driving, and has now had second degree murder and manslaughter charges added on after Funakoshi's death. After the crash, Funakoshi had been in Bellevue after sustaining "severe head trauma, skull fractures, and major facial lacerations" according to the criminal complaint from the DA's office. "Getting behind the wheel after drinking alcohol isnt an accident; its a deliberate and dangerous choice, too often with deadly consequences," District Attorney Cy Vance said in a statement. The charges against Sikolas stem from a crash on the morning of July 19th, in which he allegedly ran a red light while speeding through an intersection at Third Avenue and East 34th Street and then crashed into a DOT truck. Witnesses said Sikolas was driving between 70 and 120 miles per hour. The driver of the truck, and the driver in a nearby taxi that the truck crashed into, were treated for minor injuries. As of press time, Sikolas's attorney was unavailable for a comment. Kolkata: The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected transfer of Akhil Bharatiya Gorkha League (ABGL) president Madan Tamangs murder case from Kolkata to Sikkim. The court, however, ordered that the proceedings can be conducted through video conferencing from Darjeeling. Madan Tamang, who led the anti-GJM Democratic Front in the Darjeeling Hills, was hacked to death at Laden La Road near the Planters Club in Darjeeling on May 21, 2010. At the time of incident he was busy with the preparations for a party rally when a group of alleged GJM activists hacked him to death with a khukri. A bench comprising Justices SA Bobde and L Nageswara Rao said that Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) general secretary Roshan Giri one of the accused in the case had moved the apex court seeking transfer of trial from Kolkata to Sikkim. Roshan Giri does not represent all the accused in the trial. Therefore we are not inclined to direct that the case be transferred out of Kolkata at the instance of the petitioner, the bench said. Roshan Giris counsel had earlier told the Supreme Court that - amid deadlock in Darjeeling - it is likely that a serious law and order issue will arise if Roshan were to face the trial in Kolkata. Giri has been charged with alleged "criminal conspiracy for murder", along with several other GJM leaders, in the murder case of Tamang. The others who are charged with murder case are: GJM Chief Bimal Gurung, his wife Asha Gurung, former party MLA Harka Bahadur Chettri (presently the founder of Jan Andolan Party) and 20 others. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) into a case where the marriage of a Hindu woman to a Muslim man after her conversion was annulled by the Kerala High Court as it amounted to Love Jihad. A bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar said the investigation into the matter will be supervised by former Supreme Court judge RV Raveendran. It directed the probe agency to furnish the report to it after completing the investigation. The SC said it will take a view after considering NIAs report, inputs from Kerala Police and after talking to the woman. The direction came after NIA told the apex court that love jihad is for real. There is a pattern to convert Hindu girls and get them married to Muslim men, NIA told SC. The Kerala government did not oppose an NIA investigation into the matter. On June 10, the SC had allowed NIA to access all records of the investigation into the case to get a whole picture. The issue reached the apex court as Kerala-native Shafin Jahan challenged the annulment of his marriage by the Kerala High Court which ordered the state police to probe such cases. Jahan, who had married a Hindu woman last December, had moved the SC after the Kerala High Court annulled his marriage, saying that it was an insult to the independence of women in the country. The SC had directed the Kerala DGP to share records of the probe conducted so far with the NIA so as to enable them be alive to the situation as present. The court noted it has asked the specialised agency to weigh in for a neutral and unbiased assistance in the matter and to get a view on investigation carried out by the Kerala police after the May order by the HC. If there are issues going beyond the purview of Kerala, they should be able to assist us. Is this a small pocket individual issue or is it an issue that has wider ramifications that should concerns us? We want them to help us in this determination, the bench told advocate Harris Beeran, who appeared for the Muslim husband. Ashokan KM, the father of the woman, had alleged that there was a well-oiled systematic mechanism for conversion and Islamic radicalisation. Questioning the need for an NIA probe, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said, Why is the NIA probing this? Then they should make it a national security issue. If someone wants to convert as per the Constitution, how is it love jihad? I am shocked at his development. I want to see how the PM reacts to this issue? Can (BJP leader) Subramanian Swamy define love jihad? Why dont we convert into a Hindu rashtra, he told CNN-News18. The NIA has recently conducted probe into some cases of love jihad in which women were allegedly being sent to Syria to join the ISIS. The Kerala HC, while declaring the marriage as null and void, had described the case as an instance of love jihad and ordered the state police to conduct probe into such cases. New Delhi/Srinagar: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday conducted searches at about a dozen locations in Jammu and Kashmir in connection with the terror funding case against separatists and others. Officials in the central probe agency said the searches are being carried out at 12 locations in Srinagar, Baramulla and Handwara. They said those being searched on Wednesday have alleged links to persons being investigated in this case. The NIA had arrested seven persons on July 24 in the case of alleged funding of terror and subversive activities in the Kashmir Valley to fuel unrest. The money was being raised to fund separatist and terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir, the NIA had alleged. The agency had claiming that the accused were waging war against the country and were involved in various offences punishable under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. It had also alleged that the accused were involved in creating unrest by way of anti-India demonstrations and bandhs. Thiruvananthapuram: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a National Investigation Agency-led (NIA) probe into a case in which the marriage of a Hindu woman to a Muslim man was annulled by the Kerala High Court. The High Court had called the marriage a sham, passing its order last May. Heres what the case is about: The Kerala High Court had earlier declared the marriage of Shafin Jahan and Hadiya (Akhila) as "null and void". The division bench of Justices K Surendran Mohan and K Abraham Mathew said the marriage was a sham and had no consequence in the eyes of the law. The High Court also said a 24-year-old girl is weak and vulnerable, capable of being exploited in many ways. Her marriage - being the most important decision of her life - can be taken only with the active involvement of her parents. The High Court, in its May 24, 2017, order, said that this is not a case of a girl falling in love with a boy of a different religion and wanting to get married. In such cases, the court has accepted the choice of the girl. The alleged marriage only a makes a belief intended to take her out of the reach of her parents and the court. Ashokan, the father of Akhila ( Hadiya), was granted the custody of his daughter. Ashokan, a resident of Kottayam, had approached the Kerala High court twice - first a habeas corpus and later, a writ petition was filed. Akhila was a student of BHMS in Tamil Nadu. Her father had filed a habeas corpus after she left his house. Ashokan told the court that she was influenced and persuaded to convert to Islam. He held her friend, and the friend's father responsible for this. Akhila alias Hadiya in her statement to the court said that she got attracted to Islam observing her roommates. She wanted to learn more about Islam. "I got attracted and started reading books and watching internet videos out of interest to learn more about Islam," her statement said. She also told the court that she was well within her rights to choose a religion of her choice. In January 2016, on the habeas corpus, the court found that she was not under any illegal confinement and allowed her to reside at the place of her own choice. She refuses to go with her parents and goes along with Sainaba, a social worker. She also said she will join the Satyasarani Institute in Malappuram to study Islam. Ashokan filed a writ petition again in August 2016 stating that there was a move to take his daughter out of the country. There was a background of 21 Kerala youth missing and suspected to have joined ISIS. The court moved her to a private hostel and told the police to ensure that she didn't travel out of the country. Akhila alias Hadiya told the court again that she had taken up Islam on her own free will and she wanted to continue to reside with Sainaba. She also informed the court that she didn't have a passport, so there was no question of her travelling to Syria, as alleged. Her father also apprised the court that she had not completed her house surgency. She filed an affidavit before the court that she was willing to complete the course and go back to her college. It was on December 21, 2016, when she was supposed to appear in court that she informed she has married. The father alleged that the marriage was only an eyewash; a way to take his daughter out of the country. The court said that the proceedings of the case were on. They did not inform the court about the marriage. In its order, the High Court had said that the "court was perturbed and concerned at the subterfuge practised and recorded dissatisfaction at the manner in which the entire exercise was done." The High Court also said that the secrecy and the hurried manner in which marriage was conducted creates suspicion. The court asked the Police to conduct a thorough investigation into all the allegations, the role of the organisation and to also see if there were any links with extremist organisations. The court said that according to the police report, Shafin Jahan, Hadiya's husband, is an accused in a criminal case, a member of SDPI party and is said to have radical views. The High Court had also asked about the source of income of the girl and Sainaba. The court sought to know who she was residing with. The court said: "They are not facing any paucity of funds. It points to the existence of an organisation set up behind the scenes." Jahan stated that the high court wasn't guarding the couple's constitutional rights while giving such an order. The court has also directed that the girl should be sent to her parents. Jahan had moved the supreme court after this decision. Shafin said that Hadiya and he married on December 19, 2016, after meeting in November through a matrimonial website. Hadiya converted to Islam in 2015. "She left her parents' house after they objected to her decision of converting to Islam. That's when her parents filed the first habeas corpus," Jahan said. New Delhi: The US State Department has declared the Hizbul Mujahideen as a "Specially Designated Global Terrorist" (SDGT) organisation. This comes as a major blow to Hiazbul after Yaseen Ittoo, one of its commanders, was killed in an encounter. "The Department of State has designated Hizbul Mujahideenalso known as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, also known as HMas a Foreign Terrorist Organization under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under section 1(b) of Executive Order (E.O.) 13224," a US State Department press release read. "These designations seek to deny HM the resources it needs to carry out terrorist attacks. Among other consequences, all of HMs property and interests in property subject to U.S. jurisdiction are blocked, and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group. Formed in 1989, HM is one of the largest and oldest militant groups operating in Kashmir. Hizbul Mujahideen is led by Specially Designated Global Terrorist Mohammad Yusuf Shah, also known as Syed Salahuddin. Hizbul Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for several attacks, including the April 2014, explosives attack in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which injured 17 people." After Ittoo was killed, HM named Mohammed Bin Qasim as its Kashmir chief. Shortly after that, Qasim released a video in which he denounced both Al Qaida and ISIS. This comes as a major diplomatic win for India since Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, along with its leader Hafiz Saeed, have also been declared as SDGTs by the US. This completes the triad of the three most active terror groups in Kashmir. This comes as a setback to Pakistan, which maintains that these groups are leading a "movement for Azadi". The challenges for Hizbul are increasing as Zakir Musa, who had replaced Burhan Wani, has been poaching Hizbul cadre. Several Hizbul commanders have been killed and its overground workers have been arrested, of late, but it still remains the most active terror group in the valley. Bhopal: On August 15, 1947, as Indians woke up to a free nation, people in Bhopal found it hard to even unfurl a national flag, let alone savouring the newfound freedom which was attained after decades of sacrifice and struggle. The last Nawab of Bhopal, Hamidullah Khan, did not accede to the Indian state or allow celebrations. Some of the elements backing Khan went on to unfurl Pakistans flag at several places leading to tension, say historians. However, undaunted freedom fighters, dodging the Nawabs orders, managed to hoist the tricolour at the historical Jumerati post office in old city, says Rasool Khan, a native of Jumerati area. Octogenarian Rameshwar Thakur, a resident of Bhopal Talkies area claims this was the only place in Bhopal, where a tricolour was hoisted on the India became a free country. The dilapidated structure of the postal department is still a proud existence here, while locals have no clue about the historical significance of this building. Pakistans support had left Khan a confused man and he was still undecided when India attained freedom on August 15. Jinnah invited him to Pakistan by offering him the post of Secretary General while Khan wanted his daughter Abida Sultan to take over as the administrator of Bhopal. But she declined. In March 1948, he announced that Bhopal would remain a free state and formed his cabinet with Chaturnarayan Malviya as the Prime Minister. However, a rebellion started within the state with the demand that they merge with India. Soon after Khan left for Haj in October 1948, an agitation began in December 1948. Meanwhile, then Home Minister Sardar Patel made it clear that Bhopal could not be an independent state within the territory of India and had to be merged with the rest of the country. With pressure mounting, the Nawab finally dissolved the cabinet and took the reins in his hands to deal with the protests. Following three months of unprecedented rebellion, Khan was forced to sign the Agreement of Accession on April 29, 1949. After an administrative process, Bhopal was officially merged with the Indian state on June 1, 1949. DocOnline, a virtual platform that provides access to doctor consulting services from anywhere, on Wednesday announced the launch of its services in Hyderabad. DocOnline is the first venture of Markus Moding, a Sweden-based entrepreneur and investor, for Indian market. Incorporated in December 2016 with an investment of $1 million through private venture funding, DocOnline will look to tap close to 50 corporates houses in Hyderabad in the next six months. With an additional investment, DocOnline will look to expand to other cities in the next 12 months. DocOnline will also launch its services for the B2C market in the next three-four months, Markus Moding, CEO and Co-Founder, DocOnline told reporters. He noted that the corporate world is reeling towards a non-avoidable phase of increased workload and shorter deadlines that contributes to a very demanding and stressful environment. "The first and easiest step to ensuring wellbeing of an employee is simply by arming them with easy access to a certified doctor at the GP level. General Practitioners are gatekeepers for all types of health conditions and a consultation at this level will help an employee to address his issue immediately and then seek the help of a specialist, if required." The reach of a doctor is being made possible within a time span of 15 minutes through DocOnline. This ease and convenience heavily aids employers as their assets (employees) are able to eliminate travel time and costs and get quick next-steps actions, he added. For the seventh year in a row, Melbourne has been named the world's most livable city, in a new list dominated by cities in Australia and Canada. Analysts at The Economist's Intelligence Unit released the 2017 edition of their Global Liveability Report, which ranks 140 cities based on their quality of life across five broad categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. Over the last seven years, the list of the top five cities has changed little, aside from a few percentage points narrowing or broadening the gap between the top performers. For example, this year, only a 0.1 percentage point separates Melbourne from its nearest rival, Vienna. After Vienna, Vancouver and Toronto are ranked third and fourth on the list, followed by Calgary and Adelaide, which share the fifth spot. This year's list saw 44 cities get bumped or promoted on the index, be it for falling crime rates, increased terror threats, instability, or increased tourist activity. Analysts point to an ongoing trend over the last few years in which several US cities have registered declines in their scores due to growing civil unrest related to the number of police-related deaths of black Americans, and the divisive policies of President Donald Trump. Sydney, too, has fallen from seventh to 11th place this year, falling out of the top 10 list mostly due to growing concerns of terror threats. Repeated terror attacks in France and the UK, the ongoing migration crisis, and Brexit have likewise lowered stability scores across Europe. The two European cities to buck this trend are Reykjavik and Amsterdam, which registered improvements thanks to their growing popularity among tourists and falling crime rates. Overall, analysts say that a closer look at the top-scoring cities reveals a few important commonalities: top performers tend to be mid-sized cities in wealthier countries with a relatively low population density. Lower population density is linked to lower levels of crime and better infrastructure. At the other end of the spectrum, Damascus in Syria, Lagos in Nigeria and Tripoli in Libya fall at the bottom of the list. Here are the top 10 most livable cities in 2017: 1. Melbourne, Australia 2. Vienna, Austria 3. Vancouver, Canada 4. Toronto, Canada 5. Tie: Adelaide, Australia and Calgary, Canada 7. Perth, Australia 8. Auckland, New Zealand 9. Helsinki, Finland 10. Hamburg, Germany New Delhi: Actor Akshaye Khanna says he doesn't look like his late father and actor Vinod Khanna. Asked if the Mom actor would like to essay his father's character in a biopic, Akshaye told IANS over phone from Mumbai: "To portray any real life character, you have to look like that person. I don't look anywhere close to my father... Not an option." Vinod Khanna died in April after a prolonged illness at the age of 70. The actor was admitted to Sir H.N. Reliance Foundation Hospital in the first week of April after reportedly suffering from severe dehydration. Asked if he wants a biopic to be made on his father, Akshaye said: "I haven't ever thought about it so I can't say. But I think biopics by nature, I suppose as accurate as they can be, the better for an actor. "It's very challenging as well as risky for an actor to portray a real life character because you are portraying some one who actually existed. So, it becomes really difficult." Akshaye, 42, feels that one must think "10 times before portraying a real life person". He will next be seen in "Ittefaq", a thriller film, directed by Abhay Chopra. It is an adaptation of the 1969 film by the same name. Acclaimed filmmaker Mostofa Sarwar Farookis film Doob: No Bed Of Roses, which made headlines after it was banned by the Bangladesh Censor Board will now fortunately be issued a censor certificate. The India-Bangladesh co-production drama film - written and directed by Farooki - features Nusrat Imrose Tisha, Rokeya Prachy and Parno Mittra in key roles, and revolves around two people from different families who fall for each other after the head of one of the families passes away. In an exclusive chat with News18.com, Farooki speaks about what it means to criticize religious beliefs in Bangladesh, and the fact that Doob isnt a biopic of Humayun Ahmed. Does the fact that you are referred to as one of the prominent figures to bring modernism/realism in Bangladeshi cinema add extra pressure on you as a filmmaker? You have to be extra cautious and more responsible? Well, I would be honest, I feel elated to hear good things about me. But I don't think it has any impact on how I think. We make films just because we can't do without making them. And we make films the way our subconscious guides us. I don't think anything, success or failure or praises or criticisms, influence the course of my future action. Your third feature Television mocked religious tenets even though in a humorous way. Was it done intentionally to put out a larger social message? Television deals with a sensitive subject. It makes strong critics on some people's belief system. To make this kind of critic, satire is a good tool. But Television is not entirely a satirical piece, I think. We may call it a mixed genre as in the later part it slowly takes an emotional shape. I unintentionally did this because probably the film is inspired from my argument with my parents over the issue. When I was writing the character, I was seeing my dad in the role. It helped me keep the balance, to try and understand reason behind the protagonist's inability to come to terms with new reality. That's why many people cried for the man in the last scene. I think this balance was important. It made the film look empathetic while making a strong critic that calls for a correction. In my childhood, my mom used to tell me "even if you want to make a strong criticism of someone, please make sure you don't lose love and respect for the individual. I believe this helps me in developing a character, in seeing them as human with both bright and dark sides. Is it difficult or almost impossible to criticize religious beliefs in Bangladesh? Not really. Television was a big example and people loved it. Even many religious leaders watched the film and cried in sympathy. I again say, artists need to portray characters with empathy. If you can do it, you can deal with any subject. Would it be correct to say that your projects find inspiration from your childhood spent in Dhaka? Yes, heavily. I think my personality and my way of telling stories, both are heavily indebted to my upbringing in Nakhalpara. It's middle class neighborhood in Dhaka. A great mine of stories. Your film Doob was banned by Bangladeshs Ministry of Information. What do you think was the reason? Thankfully, the film is cleared now. It has just been cleared a couple of days. I am not going to go into details but I want to thank censor board for being understanding, for not confusing fiction with facts. Your film is being referred to as a biopic of Humayun Ahmed... I have clearly said it's not a biopic. We haven't tried making a biopic and we haven't claimed it either. Having said that, the film might take influence from real lives. You can't make any story that won't have any resemblance to anyone's life. Stories are our foods for souls and we are the recipes of stories. Why did you rope in Irrfan Khan as the lead and co-producer for the film? First of all, I roped him in the lead role as I was seeing his eyes when I was writing the script. It wasn't easy though as he is too busy and I had no contact with him. Thanks to a filmmaker friend Anup Singh, I got in touch with him and worked. He is such an unpretentious actor, a true gem of world cinema. As for co-producing, he was kind enough and offered to be on board to help the project through. Indian filmmakers are often irked by Censor Boards directive, what according to you should be changed in Bangladesh Film Censor Board and the information ministry? Censorship is in general a problem for filmmakers worldwide. I think the states are taking artworks too seriously. We need to tell them, brothers and sisters, we don't change your political fate. It's your deeds that change your fate. How different is Doob from Television, Third Person Singular and Ant Story? If you follow my works, you will see, I always fail to follow the old path. Yes in all my films, you might see my signature, my way of thinking but you will also notice distinctive differences in styles. Doob is my first attempt to an intense but gentle family piece. I consider the film like Mount Fuji in winter. You look at it and it's so peaceful outside with snow all over it. But you think of what it's carrying within- a raging volcano. Thirty people became U.S. citizens on Tuesday afternoon at a naturalization ceremony held on the 102nd floor of One World Trade Center. Featuring a keynote speech from former U.S. attorney Preet Bharara (who is a naturalized citizen himself), the 11 a.m. ceremony was the first to be held inside the Manhattan skyscraper. How fortunate we are to have you here, contributing your hopes, your aspirations, your skills, your heritages, your music, your culture, your literature, your food to the tapestry of this nation, presiding judge Robert Katzmann told the soon-to-be citizens, according to the Times. The American story is your story. 19 nations were represented by the group of new Americans, including Sudan, Brazil, Argentina, and Bangladesh, the paper noted. We are bound together in ways that longstanding Americans dont always appreciate, Bharara said in his speech. Hani Ali, an accountant from Sudan, told the Times he was upset by President Donald Trump's anti-immigration measures, but said that Trump's positions didn't represent what his new country meant to him. After all, its not what the president thinks or says America is bigger than that, greater than that. New Delhi: The Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCCC) has directed Sony channel to shift the daily soap Pehredaar Piya Ki from the 9 pm slot to 10 pm and run it with a scroll saying it does not promote child marriage, an official said today. The serial, which began airing last month, revolves around the story of a nine-year-old boy, Ratan (Afaan Khan), and his marriage to 18-year-old Diya (Tejasswi Prakash). In the meeting held on Wednesday, the Council ordered the channel to shift the show to the 10 pm slot, the restrictive hour on the small screen. The Council has also ordered for a scroll to run saying that the show does not promote child marriage and is a work of fiction. The meeting was chaired by BCCC's new chief, Justice (retd) Vikramajit Sen. The show has been slammed on social media for its "regressive" content with many viewers also accusing it of promoting child marriage. The show currently airs in the 9 pm time slot. The TV ombudsman was flooded with complaints from viewers demanding action against the show for promoting child marriage, an official said. In fact, a petition was also started online asking the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to ban the show. The ministry then reportedly forwarded a complaint regarding the serial to BCCC. The petition had more than one lakh people as its supporters on change.org urging Smriti Irani to ban the show. The makers of the soap, however, deny that it is regressive. Tejaswi Prakash, who plays the protagonist was quoted as saying "I think it's really progressive. But again, a lot of people believe in judging a book by its cover... They love being judgmental and people have nothing better to do than judging somebody else's work. Then okay, what can I do?" "We have not received anything yet. As and when we receive it (instructions from the ministry), we will reply to it. We will explain our point of view," the show's producer, Sumeet Mittal, was quoted as saying. (With inputs from PTI) Damn saala A post shared by Riya Sen Dev Varma (@riyasendv) on Apr 25, 2017 at 8:55am PDT #prague #prague2017 #absinthe #futurenow #czechrepublic A post shared by Riya Sen Dev Varma (@riyasendv) on Jun 15, 2017 at 12:22pm PDT A post shared by Riya Sen Dev Varma (@riyasendv) on Actress Riya Sen will be tying the knot with long-time boyfriend Shivam Tewari later this month, a report in Mid-day states. Riya, 36, is currently busy filming Ekta Kapoor's web-series which is based on the Ragini MMS films.Riya, daughter of popular actress Moon Moon Sen and granddaughter of even more popular actress Suchitra Sen, is remembered for her films Jhankar Beats and Noukadubi.In her interview to TOI, Moon Moon Sen had said Times Of India that "good looks matter the most" to Riya. "Money is not important for them (Riya and her sister Raima Sen) as they don't realize its value. But both my girls are high-maintenance, so they need to find boys who are rich, if nothing else," she was quoted as saying by The Times Of India After she made her onscreen debut with Tamil film Taj Mahal in 1999, she was seen in Bollywood for the first time in Style, followed by her appearance in Jhankar Beats and Dil Vil Pyar Vyar. She was also seen in supporting roles in multiple films such as Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa, Apna Sapna Money Money and Shaadi No 1. Bhopal: Despite the violent farmers agitation against the state government, the Bharatiya Janata Party managed to edge out the Congress party in the civic body polls, which concluded in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday. Out of the 43 seats, the BJP won 26 civic bodies while Congress emerged victorious in 14 civic bodies whereas 3 civic bodies went to independents. The results come as a breather for the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government, which was battered by the farmers agitation that took the state by storm in June this year. The farmers were asking for better output for farm products, among other demands. Significantly, BJP managed to make inroads into bastions of two senior Congress leaders Kantilal Bhuria and Jyotiraditya Scindia. BJP state president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan dubbed the victory as a step towards a Congress-mukt Madhya Pradesh. Chauhan claimed that Shivrajs magic was seen and felt across the state. Senior Congress leader Raja Pateriya candidly accepted that BJPs workforce was way better in MP but alleged that the people were fed up of BJP fuelled anarchy and rampant corruption. We will go back to our mass mobilisation experts and focus on our Mission-2018, he claimed. CM Shivraj, alarmed by his image being dented by the farmer stir, had taken over the civic polls reins in his own hands. Meanwhile, Mandsaur, the epicentre of farmers stir, handed a crushing defeat to BJP in the polls. The Congress won the polls held for two Mandsaur wards in Shamgarh Nagar Panchayat and Garoth Nagar Panchayat. The results were satisfactory and at places, the party got unprecedented support. Take, for example, Mandsaur where all three Congress candidates won, said State Congress president Arun Yadav. Bengaluru: The photo is etched on the cement wall. Even if another party or a coalition of parties comes to power in the Assembly 2018 elections, the larger-than-life picture of Indira Gandhi on the walls of all the Indira canteens is likely here to stay. And Indira canteens launched by the Karnataka government became the new battleground for the Congress to trade barbs against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bengaluru on Wednesday, with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah both using the launch event for politics. The Indira canteens, run by the government to give food at affordable rates for the poor, were launched by the Gandhi scion with him cutting the ribbon and eating a meal at one of the canteens in south Bengaluru. Indira Gandhi used to talk of roti-kapda-makaan. Today, under the Siddaramaiah government, we want to ensure that the weakest person in Bengaluru does not go hungry. Our intention is to ensure quality and cleanliness, Gandhi said at the inauguration. In a comical slip of the tongue, he said hunger-free Karnataka, is the motto of the Amma errr... Indira canteens, forgetting for a moment that the canteens, modelled on the Amma canteens of neighbouring Tamil Nadu, are named after his grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Breakfast will be given at Rs 5, lunch and dinner at Rs 10 at the 101 canteens that were started on Wednesday. In a few weeks, there will be 198 canteens across the city one for each ward under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. Our aim is to ensure everyone gets at least two meals a day. Many from the Opposition have criticised this move but this is for the poor and the daily wagers. The people whose stomachs are full wont understand the problems of those who go to bed hungry every night, Siddaramaiah said, in an oblique reference to BJP leaders. He said this was the dream of many leaders like Basavanna to Indira, and the government would not delay any pro-poor project; instead, such projects would be taken up with a sense of urgency. The occasion was also used by him to reiterate that only the Congress is pro-poor, pro-Dalit and pro-minorities. Taunting Prime Minister Modi further, Siddaramaiah said, The PM keeps has been giving us mann-ki-baat for the last three years. We are now giving vaangi-bhaath (a rice-dish made of brinjal and spices), in an obvious reference to talk Vs action. Later, at a public meeting, he asked all Congress workers to pan out and spread the word among voters so that the Congress is able to win in all 28 Assembly constituencies in Bengaluru. This should be the gateway to anoint Rahul Gandhi the Prime Minister in the 2019 elections, he further said. The party, in fact, has been facing flak for not addressing infrastructure problems in the city over the last four years -- and is unsure of its own election prospects in the city, considering that the BJP has been able to make enough noise about civic issues in the metro and the government's failure in tackling them. BJP's general secretary CT Ravi tweeted about the rain havoc in the city over the last two days, asking Gandhi to not just visit Indira canteens but also the 'Siddarmaiah mess'; that the Congress is still fighting hunger and nutrition after ruling over the country for decades. The trading of barbs as also seen at the public rally after the canteen inauguration, where Siddarmaiah took pot-shots at BJP National President Amit Shahs allegations that the Karnataka Congress government is the most corrupt in the country. Who is saying this? A man who went to jail in Gujarat. Who is he standing next to, when he says all this? Yeddyurappa, Janardhan Reddy, Krishnaiah Setty, Katta Subramanya Naidu, the CM said, dramatically reeling out names of those who have been to jail on corruption allegations in the previous BJP government. Shah was in Bengaluru for three days just to pull up those leaders within his party who have been fighting with each other the Yeddyurappa-Shoba faction, the Ananth Kumar faction and the Eshwarappa faction, who have all been at loggerheads with each other, Siddaramaiah claimed. And I believe Shah is quite ignorant of State finances. He keeps saying the (Central) BJP government has given much more grants for Karnataka, and wants me to account for how we spent it. Does he not know this is not grant, this is our own share in the tax-money, that is given back to us? It is our Constitutional right, he thundered, adding he was not accountable to Shah but to the people and Legislature of the State. The poll-lines clearly drawn, he asked BJP MPs from the State to go and gherao Parliament so that the shortfall of Rs 10600 crores that were sanctioned but pending are released immediately. Calling the BJPs CM candidate Yeddyurappa a dongi (pretense) politician, he said the BJP leaders who used to visit Dalit homes everyday have now stopped about being pro-Dalit, ever since he (Siddarmaiah) told them to prove being pro-Dalit by allowing inter-marriage between their children with Dalit grooms and brides. Gandhi, who also used the public event to taunt the Modi government, said the PMs speech was high on rhetoric but did not speak about the Gorakhpur tragedy or unemployment or a messed-up foreign policy where we have antagonised all our neighbours. The work (of the previous UPA government) over ten years was undone in a month in Kashmir. We had brought in peace in Jammu and Kashmir, because that is what Pakistan is scared of. They want an environment of hatred here, as they can take advantage of it. That has happened today, Gandhi said. He said Modi was busy swinging on a jhula with the Chinese president, even as Chinese soldiers were advancing into our borders. New Delhi: Doordarshan on Wednesday said it had given "wide coverage" to Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar's Independence day programme but was silent on his complaint that his recorded speech was blacked out by both Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR). "On August 15, 2017, Doordarshan gave wide coverage to the chief minister's Independence day programme and telecast report running to 29 minutes and 45 seconds. Out of which, the chief minister's speech coverage was for 12 minutes," U K Sahoo, head of Doordarshan Kendra, said in a letter to the media. "The allegation that Doordarshan Kendra, Agartala blacked out the Chief Minister on Independence day is totally incorrect and is vehemently refuted," Sahoo said. Apart from this, he said Sarkar's speech and the Independence day programme in various districts of Tripura were given wide publicity in the Regional News Bulletin. However, the Doordarshan rebuttal did not specifically talk about Sarkar's complaint yesterday that the public broadcasters had refused to air his Independence Day address unless he "reshaped" it. Sarkar had also termed it as an "undemocratic, autocratic and intolerant step". A Tripura government press statement alleged that Doordarshan and AIR had recorded Sarkar's speech on August 12. However, the Chief Minister's office was informed through a letter that his speech would not be broadcast unless he "reshaped it", it added. The letter said, "The message of the Chief Minister was closely examined by competent authority. In view of the sanctity of the occasion, the broadcast code and responsibility of the public broadcaster it is not possible to telecast it in the present format." A senior official in the Agartala Doordarshan unit confirmed that the pre-recorded speech which was to be telecast on August 15 around 9am, after the Governor's address, was not aired. "Our directorate in New Delhi had conveyed to us that it can be telecast but the content has to be reshaped. We had, accordingly, approached the chief minister, but he wanted it to be telecast without any editing. We waited till 10 pm on August 14, but he maintained his stand that the speech has to be telecast as it is," he said. Sahoo also said over the past 25 years, since its inception, Tripura Doordarshan Kendra has always given wide publicity to the speeches of state chief ministers and extensively covered public programme and official activities. The Agartala Kendra has telecast the chief minister's message to the people of Tripura over these years, he said. New Delhi: Top opposition leaders, including Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Akhilesh Yadav and Sitaram Yechury, are attending a day-long convention in Delhi being organised by JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav and his supporters on Thursday. The 'sabha virasat bachao sammelan' in Delhi's Constitution Club is being seen as a show of strength by the Sharad Yadav-group in its fight against Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar to wrest control of the party. Yadav said apart from the Congress, the Left and the SP, representatives of other opposition parties, including the TMC, BSP and NCP, also attended the meeting. At a press conference in the national capital, Yadav did not take questions on his differences with Kumar and future political course. He claimed the event was not against anybody but in the interest of the country. Asserting that "composite culture" was the soul of the Constitution, which he alleged was being "tinkered with", Yadav said similar meetings would be held across the country. The former JD(U) chief said the decision to hold the event was taken weeks ago, when his party was still with the loose opposition group. He cited incidents such as the suicide of Rohith Vemula and the disappearance of JNU student Najeeb Ahmed, besides suicides of farmers across the country, to suggest that the situation was tough for underprivileged people. Differences between Yadav and Kumar came to the fore after Bihar CM quit Mahagathbandhan to join hands with the BJP last month. In a show of solidarity on the part of larger opposition front, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi attended the conclave called by Yadav. Rahul Gandhi was earlier slated to travel to Gorakhpur on Thursday to meet the family of children who passed away last week in the BRD Hospital. Sources added that meeting has been in the pipeline for some time now, and initially, had nothing to do with Nitishs move with BJP. Things have changed now. Thursdays sammelan will be a big boost to the opposition in India. Everyone will be there, a source told News18. Sharad Yadav's sammelan in Delhi comes just ahead of the party executive called by Nitish Kumar in Patna this week. It is being seen as a preemptive move by Yadav to claim ownership of the party. Yadav and his supporters have claimed support of two other RS MP's and 14 state units. In a statement, Yadav said Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ahmed Patel, besides former PM Singh and Gandhi from the Congress, Yechury of the CPI(M), Akhilesh Yadav, Ram Gopal Yadav and Naresh Aggarwal of the SP, Manoj Jha of the RJD, Farooq Abdullah of the National Congress and former Jharkhand chief minister Babu Lal Marandi had confirmed their participation. D Raja (CPI), Sukhendu S Roy (TMC), Ajit Singh (RLD), Tariq Anwar (NCP) and Veer Singh (BSP) also attended the meeting, apart from representatives of farmers, Dalits and other sections of society. The JD(U) has reportedly told Yadav not go ahead with the sammelan on Thursday. Yadav, however, remains defiant. JD(U) MP Bashishta Narayan Singh had recently claimed that Yadav would face disciplinary action for indulging in anti-party activities if he goes ahead with his sammelan. Oppo and Vivo reported a drop in sales for the first time as their sales declined around 30 percent in July. The drop in sales comes at a time when the overall smartphone market in the country grew by approximately 8 percent. Both the companies together comprised of 22 percent of the Indian smartphone market in around a year.The fact that other smartphone manufacturers like Xiaomi, who previously were Online exclusive, are now entering the offline market, may have contributed towards this decline in the sales of Oppo and Vivo. Xiaomi claims to have sold more than 5 Million units of the Redmi Note 4 smartphone till date, with high chances of disrupting the sales of its competitors in the segment. As per an ET report , the Oppo and Vivo owners have sent their Chinese expats along with Indian executives into the market to get to the depth of the situation by talking to the distributors. Samsung has been teasing about its upcoming flagship product the Galaxy Note 8. In a recent teaser video, the South Korean smartphone giant boasts of a bigger device to cater to those with bigger needs. The video, titled Do Bigger Things, does not really show the Galaxy Note 8.0 but teases at a bigger Samsung phablet than its previous devices. The video also shows S Pen right next to the phablet frame, indicating at it as an accessory to come with the Galaxy Note 8.Earlier reports had indicated a 6.2-inch Infinity display (just like the Galaxy S8 and S8+), Exynos 8895 processor or a Snapdragon 835 SoC and a 6GB/ 8GB RAM on the Galaxy Note 8. It is expected to draw its juice from a 3,300 mAh battery. Hints at a Dual-Camera setup on the flagship have suggested at an Apple iPhone 7 Plus-like camera setup with a wide-angle and a telephoto sensor and a highlighting feature of 3x optical zoom. The storage options will include 64GB and 128GB variants, with further expandable storage.Samsung has confirmed an August 23 date for the unveiling of the Galaxy Note 8. It is expected that the Galaxy Note 8 will be Samsung's most expensive Galaxy phone till date. After its predecessor's 'battery explosion' fiasco, it will be interesting to note how Samsung manages to gain back the market's trust for its next flagship. Researchers have developed a smartphone app to help middle-aged and older adults self-manage their mental illness and other chronic conditions suggests new research. First, the researchers determined the technical abilities and needs of middle-aged and older adults with serious mental illnesses using smartphones. The researchers then developed the content and modified an existing smartphone platform.The app takes patients through 10 sessions over a period of approximately three months, covering topics such as stress vulnerability and illness, medication adherence and strategies, and substance and medication abuse, according to the study published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. Physicians can remotely monitor app use, and intervene when problems are detected, facilitating telemedicine for less accessible populations.The researchers found that even patients with limited technical abilities could use this app successfully. "The use of mobile health interventions by adults with serious mental illness is a promising approach that has been shown to be highly feasible and acceptable," explained lead investigator Karen Fortuna of Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in the US."These technologies are associated with many advantages compared with traditional psychosocial interventions, including the potential for individually tailored, just-in-time delivery along with wide dissemination and high population impact," Fortuna said. "Nevertheless, the process of adapting an existing psychosocial intervention to a smartphone intervention requires adaptation for a high-risk group with limited health and technology literacy," Fortuna added. Sydney: Australia's opposition Labor Party on Wednesday rejected extraordinary claims from the country's top diplomat that it conspired with New Zealand leftists to try to topple the government. Labor's Penny Wong accused Foreign Minister Julie Bishop of "a Kiwis under-the-bed scare campaign" to divert attention from government woes, invoking anti-communist "Reds under the beds" fears of the Cold War. "This sort of behaviour, I don't think is particularly good for democracy," Wong told reporters. The international spat stems from Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce's revelation this week that he was a New Zealand citizen, meaning he may be forced to step down under rules barring dual nationals from sitting in Australia's parliament. That would be a disaster for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's conservative government, which only holds a one-seat majority. Officials in Wellington said Joyce's status came to light after queries from Australian journalists. However, New Zealand Labour MP Chris Hipkins also admitted asking questions about the issue last week after talks with an Australian acquaintance, since revealed as Wong's chief of staff Marcus Ganley. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Ganley's involvement showed "Penny Wong was up to her neck in it", along with Labor leader Bill Shorten. She stood by an allegation made Tuesday that the New Zealand and Australian opposition parties were trying to "undermine the government of Australia", even suggesting the plot could be global. "I'd like to know if Bill Shorten is directing his troops to ask these questions in other parliaments around the world?" she told Sky News. Wong conceded her staffer's actions were unwise but said they amounted to "a chat with a mate (Hipkins)" rather than a secretive attempt to bring down the government. "That Ms Bishop can seriously suggest that there is some act of treason here is ridiculous," she said. Wong said Bishop's "extraordinarily reckless and irresponsible" accusations risked straining relations with New Zealand, one of Australia's closest allies. Joyce, whose Kiwi citizenship sparked the row, backed Bishop for "calling out" clandestine schemers. "Obviously there's concern if you're sort of working in the background and trying to do something clandestine, that could affect our nation's government," he said. "If there's a suspicion of that, you've got to be called out on it, and that's exactly what Julie did." Australia-born Joyce renounced his New Zealand citizenship on Tuesday and has insisted he will stay on until the High Court determines his fate. He has said he knew nothing about his New Zealand citizenship, which he automatically acquired from his Dunedin-born father. We rely on your support to make local news available to all Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2022. Donate today Beijing: China is telling the United States and North Korea to "hit the brakes" on threatening words and actions and work toward a peaceful resolution of their dispute, in a sign of growing concern over the standoff on the part of Pyongyang's only major ally. Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, that the two countries should work together to contain tensions and permit no one to "stir up an incident on their doorstep," according to a statement posted on the Chinese foreign ministry's website. "The most important task at hand is for the US and North Korea to 'hit the brakes' on their mutual needling of each other with words and actions, to lower the temperature of the tense situation and prevent the emergence of an 'August crisis,'" Wang was quoted as saying in the Tuesday conversation. The ministry quoted Lavrov as saying tensions could rise again with the US and South Korea set to launch large-scale military exercises on Aug. 21. "A resolution of the North Korea nuclear issue by military force is completely unacceptable and the peninsula's nuclear issue must be peacefully resolved by political and diplomatic methods," Lavrov was quoted as saying. China is North Korea's main economic partner and political backer, although relations between Beijing and Pyongyang have deteriorated amid the North's continuing defiance of China's calls for restraint. In recent months, China has joined with Russia in calling for the US to suspend annual military exercises with South Korea in exchange for Pyongyang halting its missile and nuclear tests as a first step toward direct talks. On Wednesday, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, continued a visit to China following talks the day before with his Chinese counterpart that touched on North Korea. No details of the talks have been released. Dunford on Tuesday told Fang Fenghui, chief of the People's Liberation Army's joint staff department, that the sides had "many difficult issues" between them but were willing to deal with them through dialogue. On Monday, Dunford was in Seoul to meet with senior South Korean military and political officials and the local media, seeking to ease anxiety while showing his willingness to back President Donald Trump's warnings if need be. The US wants to peacefully resolve tensions with North Korea, but Washington is also ready to use the "full range" of its military capabilities, Dunford said. His visit to Asia, which also will include a stop in Japan, comes after Trump last week declared the US military "locked and loaded" and said he was ready to unleash "fire and fury" if North Korea continued to threaten the United States. North Korea's military on Tuesday presented leader Kim Jong Un with plans to launch missiles into waters near the US territory of Guam and "wring the windpipes of the Yankees," even as both Koreas and the United States signaled their willingness to avert a deepening crisis, with each suggesting a path toward negotiations. The tentative interest in diplomacy follows unusually combative threats between Trump and North Korea amid worries Pyongyang is nearing its long-sought goal of being able to send a nuclear missile to the US mainland. Next week's start of US-South Korean military exercises that enrage the North each year could make diplomacy even more difficult. During an inspection of the North Korean army's Strategic Forces, which handles the missile program, Kim praised the military for drawing up a "close and careful plan" and said he would watch the "foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees" a little more before deciding whether to order the missile test, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said. Kim appeared in photos sitting at a table with a large map marked by a straight line between what appeared to be northeastern North Korea and Guam, and passing over Japan apparently showing the missiles' flight route. The missile plans were previously announced. Kim said North Korea would conduct the launches if the "Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity," warning the United States to "think reasonably and judge properly" to avoid shaming itself, the news agency said. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters in Washington on Tuesday, "We continue to be interested in trying to find a way to get to dialogue, but that's up to (Kim)." Lobbing missiles toward Guam, a major US military hub in the Pacific, would be deeply provocative from the US perspective. A miscalculation on either side could lead to military confrontation. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, meanwhile, a liberal who favors diplomacy, urged North Korea to stop provocations and to commit to talks over its nuclear weapons program. Moon, in a televised speech Tuesday on the anniversary of World War II's end and the Korean Peninsula's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, said Seoul and Washington agree that the nuclear standoff should "absolutely be solved peacefully." He said no US military action on the Korean Peninsula could be taken without Seoul's consent. North Korea's military said last week that it would finalize the plan to fire four ballistic missiles near Guam, which is about 3,200 kilometers (2,000 miles) from Pyongyang. It would be a test of the Hwasong-12, a new missile the country flight-tested for the first time in May. The liquid-fuel missile is designed to be fired from road mobile launchers and has been described by North Korea as built for attacking Alaska and Hawaii. Washington: U.S. allies including Saudi Arabia and Bahrain did not uphold principles of religious freedom in 2016, while Islamic State has carried out "genocide" against religious minorities, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday. Tillerson made the comments at the State Department while introducing the agency's annual report on religious freedom, required by a 1998 act of Congress. The report is the first to be released during the Trump administration and covers 2016. Saudi Arabia, Tillerson said, ought to "embrace greater degrees of religious freedom for all of its citizens." He cited criminal penalties for apostasy, atheism, blasphemy, and insulting the Saudi state's interpretation of Islam, as well as attacks and discrimination targeting Shi'ite Muslims. The kingdom follows the strict Sunni Muslim Wahhabi school of Islam. The report said Saudi Arabia has used counter-terrorism laws to target atheists and Shi'ite Muslims. The United States and Saudi Arabia have long been close partners in counter-terrorism efforts and the kingdom was the first stop on U.S. President Donald Trump's maiden international visit. Tillerson singled out another Gulf Arab state, Bahrain, saying it "must stop discriminating against the Shia communities." Bahrain's foreign ministry said Tillerson's remarks were "inappropriate" and showed "a deep misunderstanding of the facts." It called on the State Department to discuss such matters directly with the kingdom before making statements. "The history of the Kingdom of Bahrain is characterized by coexistence and religious harmony," the ministry said in a statement. It said Bahrainis of different sects, including Shi'ites, served as government officials, judges, diplomats and other professions. Tillerson said that in Turkey, a NATO ally, "authorities continued to limit the human rights of members of some religious minority groups." American pastor Andrew Brunson has been jailed in Turkey since October on charges of being part of a terrorist organization, according to news reports. Tillerson said religious freedom is "under attack" in Pakistan, citing the marginalization of Ahmadiyya Muslims, a minority sect which Pakistan considers non-Muslim. Tillerson said Islamic State, the Sunni extremist group that has controlled parts of Iraq and Syria, "is clearly responsible for genocide against Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims in areas it controls or has controlled." Tillerson said Iran targeted religious minorities including Baha'is and Christians, and in 2016 executed 20 people on charges including "waging war against God." He also called out China and Sudan in his remarks. The Chinese government tortures and imprisons thousands for practicing their religious beliefs, Tillerson said, citing the targeting of Falun Gong members, Uighur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists. And in Sudan, the government arrests and intimidates clergy and blocks the construction of churches while tearing down existing ones, he said. Tillerson's decision to introduce the report contrasted with how he handled the State Department's annual human rights report in March. He declined to unveil it in person, breaking with precedent, and drew criticism he was not giving rights issues adequate attention. The report did not address Trump's attempt this year to temporarily suspend refugee admissions and his decision to impose a lower cap on the number of those admissions. The report states that resettlement is a "vital tool for providing refugees protection." Many refugees admitted to the United States in 2016 were fleeing religious intolerance and persecution, it said. Quetta: A roadside bomb killed eight soldiers in a remote district in Pakistan's southwestern province of Baluchistan, a government official said on Tuesday, the second attack within days in the troubled region. The blast late on Monday in Harnai district was some 160 km (100 miles) east of the provincial capital, Quetta, where a suicide bomber rammed his motorcycle into an army truck on Saturday, killing eight soldiers and seven civilians. The separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) group claimed responsibility for the bombing in phone calls made to media in Quetta. Islamic State said it carried out Saturday's bombing. Army chief General Qamar Bajwa said the attack was an attempt to mar celebrations on Monday as Pakistan celebrated 70 years since independence from British colonial rule. "Our resolve won't succumb to any challenge," Bajwa said in a statement the army media wing posted on Twitter. Separatist militants in Baluchistan have waged a campaign against the central government for decades, demanding a greater share of resources in the gas-rich province, which is a key part of a $57 billion Chinese economic corridor through Pakistan. The province, which shares border with Afghanistan and Iran, was rocked by a series of attacks late last year that raised concerns about a growing militant presence, including fighters affiliated with Islamic State. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacting with the children dressed as Lord Krishna after addressing the Nation from the ramparts of Red Fort in New Delhi on the occasion of 71st Independence Day on Tuesday. (Image: PTI) Mumbai: An Indian youth falls as youth form a human pyramid to break the Dahi handi," an earthen pot filled with curd hanging above them, as part of celebrations to mark the Janmashtami festival in Mumbai, India, Tuesday, Aug.15, 2017. (Image: AP) Five local school divisions improved on state Standards of Learning test results, and one experienced an overall one-point decline, according to Virginia Department of Education data released Tuesday. Lynchburg City Schools and school divisions in the counties of Amherst, Appomattox, Nelson and Campbell all saw an uptick in scores, while Bedford County slipped by one point overall. Though Lynchburg City Schools saw the lowest SOL scores in the region, the division did make incremental progress, as it has done the past two years. Students in Lynchburg City Schools earned a 69 in reading, 61 in writing, 79 in history and social sciences, 69 in mathematics and 72 in science. Though scores climbed by four points overall in these results, LCS Interim Superintendent Larry Massie noted since 2013-14, scores have increased by 15 points in math, nine points in reading, six points in science and four points in history. Writing has declined by five points in that time. One area where LCS and other area school divisions have struggled to improve is to reduce the achievement gap for minority students compared to their white peers, an issue Massie addressed. Black students in LCS earned a reading score of 55, 46 in writing, 67 in history and social sciences, 57 in math and 57 in science. Similarly, economically disadvantaged students earned a 57 in reading, 47 in writing, 69 in history and social sciences, 59 in math, and 60 in science. LCS has the largest minority population of local school divisions, with black students making up 49.5 percent of the student body, according to VDOE data. LCS also has the highest poverty rate of area school divisions. According to VDOE data, more than 70 percent of LCS students qualify for free or reduced lunch, a measure used by the Department of Education to determine poverty status. Only three LCS schools have free and reduced lunch rates below 50 percent: Bedford Hills and Paul Munro elementary schools at 44 percent and E.C. Glass High School at 45 percent. We have an achievement gap that we are facing up to; we are not denying that we have an achievement gap, we agree that we have a problem and we are addressing it, Massie said at a Tuesday news conference. He added progress has been made in recent years, but not enough. Massie described tackling the achievement gap as the right thing to do in order to put children on a path toward a successful future and a necessary obstacle to overcome to reach full accreditation. Massie emphasized a classroom-by-classroom approach with individual attention for each child. Massie added the central office will work closely with struggling schools and administrators there, and there is room for more collaboration with teachers and principals at high-achieving schools. I say to those folks, were going to put the attention where it merits, Massie said. April Bruce, LCS director of testing, noted in addition to a comprehensive plan for the division, each school has a data-driven plan to facilitate improvement for its student population. At the Aug. 7 LCS convocation, working off of preliminary Standards of Learning test results from the 2016-17 school year, Massie listed off the following schools as expected to be fully accredited when official results are released in the fall: E.C. Glass High School, T.C. Miller Elementary School for Innovation and Paul Munro, Bedford Hills, R.S. Payne, Sandusky and Sheffield elementary schools. He noted Perrymont Elementary School was expected to miss full accreditation by one point. The highest overall scores in the region were earned by Appomattox County Public Schools. ACPS earned an 81 in reading, 80 in writing, 86 in history and social sciences, 82 in mathematics and 86 in science. Appomattox County was the only local division to score 80 or higher in each subject area. Our scores are a constant work in progress, of course. It is hard work and we never take our successes for granted. Our most improved scores are the direct result of teachers focusing on the alignment of the written, taught, and tested curriculum, Appomattox County Director of Curriculum and Instruction Annette Bennett wrote in an email to The News & Advance. Despite slipping one point, Bedford County Public Schools was a top local performer, earning an 82 in reading, 78 in writing, 86 in history and social sciences, 80 in mathematics and 83 in science. BCPS has shown consistency in recent years, including a jump from having seven fully accredited schools at the beginning of the 2014-15 school year to 17 projected for full accreditation this year. First and foremost, it is the hard work of our students, parents, teachers, and principals that have caused Bedford County Public Schools to demonstrate the outstanding improvements in the area of School Accreditation, wrote Deputy Superintendent Cherie Whitehurst via email. She also attributed school improvement in recent years to: the collaboration of leadership, the individualization of the instructional program, and meaningful teacher feedback Campbell County Public Schools earned an 80 in reading, 77 in writing, 87 in history and social sciences, 80 in math and 80 in science, incremental increases in most subject areas since 2015-16. Campbell County Superintendent Robert Johnson and Assistant Superintendent Rob Arnold addressed the SOL data at Mondays school board meeting, working off of preliminary reports. Division officials anticipate 11 of 13 schools in Campbell County will be fully accredited, with two others expected to be partially accredited by the state. Though Rustburg and Altavista elementary schools are expected to fall short of full accreditation, Johnson said the schools would not be denied. Nelson County Public Schools earned a 74 in reading, 79 in writing, 86 in history and social sciences, 81 in mathematics and 82 in science, an improvement in most SOL subject areas over the prior year. Our students and teachers do a wonderful job of working together to build upon the previous years successes. We had a great 2016-2017 school year and will continue our focus on individual student need and preparing them for their future beyond high school. We value both family and community support as we continue to strive for improving student achievement again this year, Abby Thompson, Nelson County director of academic support and student accountability, wrote in an email to The News & Advance. Amherst County Public Schools saw scores of 79 in reading, 78 in writing, 84 in history and social sciences, 75 in mathematics and 80 for science. Dana Norman, ACPS director of academics, credited interventions in the early grade levels, particularly in reading, for the improvements. Norman said by identifying struggling students early, the division can help them catch up before so they arent left behind in higher grades. Though school divisions can make accreditation projections based on SOL scores released by VDOE on Tuesday, official results will not be released by the commonwealth until mid-September. The Lynchburg City School Board axed a recent policy change Tuesday night that allowed felons to volunteer within city schools. The board unanimously voted to return to the 2015 community resource persons and school volunteer policy, effectively reversing its April 18, 2017, vote. The reason for the spike is due to liability insurance cost issues, School Board Chairman Michael Nilles said. Nilles said Liberty Mutual was the insurance company the board dealt with on this issue, but he didnt have the costs differences on hand. As such, the school board leadership believes its prudent to remove the policy, he said. Board member James Coleman Jr. said he believed the word prudent was accurate in this case. Once the board becomes aware of particulars that impact that entire school division, we have to take a serious look at that, Coleman said. The policy is able to be reviewed within 90 days, though Nilles doesnt see the decision changing. Basically, its a business decision, he said. Were a $100 million dollar-a-year business, and you cant run a business without liability insurance. That would be reckless. Coleman said he didnt want to give false hope everything will be different in 90 days. But we desperately and definitely needed to look seriously at the realities of insurance and in 90 days will come back with this, and if theres nothing that will speak differently to what wisdom the board has come up with, then the policy will stay as it is, he said. No one has done anything behind the scenes, he said. I think that the community should respect and appreciate the diligence of the board to do what is in the best interest of our school division, he said. Coleman declined to comment further. We spent a lot of time with the volunteer policy, developing it I thought it was a pretty thorough policy, and here we are, Nilles said. However, he said the board probably will explore other insurance carriers. In addition, the board announced the search firm that will assist with the search for a new superintendent. After a half-hour closed meeting, Nilles declared the board is going to work with Ray and Associates Inc., an Iowa-based organization that specializes in school executive leadership searches, according to its website. The base fee for Ray And Associates Inc. is $16,000, Nilles said, which should cover all phases of the four- to five-month process. They come and do an interview with the board, see what we want, he said. There will be some stakeholder input sessions, forums for various groups [the company will] facilitate. Then they will take that input and then they basically compile a profile that the community wants [in a superintendent]. After this is complete, the search will commence. Having a third party present candidates to the board allows for a completely unbiased choice, Nilles said. This decision comes a little more than a month after Larry Massie was chosen as the interim superintendent after former Superintendent Scott Brabrand left in June. Previously the school board contracted the search firm of Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates, which matched the division with Brabrand. A half hour was designated for public comment, but only one person spoke. Karl Loos, president of the Lynchburg Education Association, a group that works to better public education across Virginia, called for pay increases for area educators. Although this school year is just getting started, I know preparations are already underway for the 2018-19 school year, he said. In June, I came before you and spoke about our organizations motto for this year: S.O.S., staff over stuff. Employee compensation needs to be the first thing on the boards agenda, Loos said, adding the divisions salaries are low in comparison to other divisions in Virginia and across the country. In convocation last week, a brilliant man stated the fact brilliantly and elegantly: You get what you pay for, Loos said, quoting Massie. President Mugabe has conferred national heroine status on Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs Senator Shuvai Ben Mahofa who died on Monday. She was 76. The announcement was made by Zanu-PF secretary for Administration Cde Ignatius Chombo yesterday. His Excellency and First Secretary of Zanu-PF Cde Mugabe has conferred a national heroine status on the late Cde Shuvai Ben Mahofa who died on 14 August, 2017 at Makurira Memorial Hospital in Masvingo. This decision came after the Politburo met this late (yesterday) afternoon and deliberated on the request by the Masvingo provincial leadership. The Politburo was unanimous that the work done by Sen Mahofa before independence and after independence merited that she be buried at the national shrine. Cde Chombo said the date of burial and other arrangements would be announced following consultations with the family. Sen Mahofa died at Makurira Hospital where she had been rushed after she collapsed at her Rhodene home in Masvingo early Sunday morning. During Heroes Day celebrations, President Mugabe said he had been saddened by the news of her death. Sen Mahofa had been unwell for some time and had to seek treatment in South Africa. A war collaborator during the liberation struggle, Cde Mahofa was a long-serving MP for Gutu South and held several party and Government positions, among them Deputy Minister of Women Affairs and Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs, a position she held to this day. She is survived by four children and 27 grandchildren. Meanwhile, condolences continued to pour in yesterday with people describing her as a cadre who demonstrated unquestionable loyalty to the party and Government. Sen Mahofa was a Zanu-PF Politburo and Central Committee member, while at the same time serving as national secretary for security in the Womens League. Three church services were held from morning yesterday with members of the ministers church, the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe, leading proceedings. Mourners described Sen Mahofa as a unifier and development-oriented leader. Chief Whip Cde Lovemore Matuke said Masvingo was poorer without Sen Mahofa. Zanu-PF Masvingo provincial chairman Cde Ezra Chadzamira, also mourned Sen Mahofa saying she had left indelible footprints on the provinces development landscape. Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development Deputy Minister Davis Marapira, also paid homage to Sen Mahofa. Zion Christian Church leader Bishop Nehemiah Mutendi paid tribute to Sen Mahofa and urged the ruling party to shun divisions. Mashonaland Central Minister of State Advocate Martin Dinha said: We are happy as Ministers of State for Provincial Affairs that one of us, who worked tirelessly and gallantly for the country has been accorded a befitting status, which is the highest honour that of the national heroine status. One of the late ministers daughters, Fungai, said the Mahofa family had been robbed of a pillar of strength and a unifier. We are moved by the support that we have received from the day our mother passed on. The whole family is distraught because we have lost our torch-bearer who was very respectful and pushed for family unit, she said. We want to pay special tribute to the party Zanu-PF and its leadership for standing with us during this difficult period. She said the family was shocked by Minister Mahofas death after she initially showed remarkable improvement following her illness that started in 2015. Sen Mahofa was born in 1941 in Chivi and attended Chibi Mission and Morgenster Mission schools. She enrolled for a nurse training course at Morgenster Mission where she attained a Diploma in Nursing between 1958 and 1960. A veteran politician, Sen Mahofa joined the National Democratic Party in 1960, before joining Zapu when the NDP was banned. She later moved to Zanu from 1979, and has been a ruling party cadre till her demise. In 1973 she enrolled for a Diploma in Community Development at Domboshava Training Centre and was active in early nationalist politics that saw her joining the United National Democratic Party before joining Zapu in 1960 and then the then Zanu in 1963. Sen Mahofa was a renowned war collaborator who worked with the likes of late national hero Dr Simon Mazorodze supplying clothes and medicines to freedom fighters. From 1980 to 1984 Sen Mahofa was Councillor for Ward 20 in Tirizi Gutu and at the same time served as the first woman council chairperson for Gutu District. Sen Mahofa was elected Gutu South Member of Parliament in 1985 and occupied the seat until 2008. She also served as the first Zanu PF Womens league provincial leader for Masvingo in the 1980s. Sen Mahofa served as Deputy Minister of Womens Affairs from 1987 to 1992 and Political Affairs Deputy Minister from 1992 to 1997. From 1998 to 2007 Sen Mahofa served as Deputy Minister of Gender and Youth Development. In 2013 she was elected Senator before her appointment as Masvingo Provincial Affairs Minister in February 2015, a post she occupied until she breathed her last. Meanwhile, the Zanu PF Masvingo provincial youth league yesterday dismissed as unfounded reports that they chased suspended ruling party provincial commissar and Bikita South legislator Cde Jappy Jaboon from Sen Mahofas funeral wake in Rhodene. Cde Jaboon on Tuesday claimed he had been hounded out from Sen Mahofas funeral by members of the provincial youth league. However, provincial youth league chair Cde Norbet Ndaarombe, dismissed Cde Jaboons claims describing them as frivolous. There is no truth at all in what Cde Jaboon is saying, we never chased him from Minister Mahofas funeral, she clashed with a female youth party activist and they had a harsh exchange of words and he left. We never intervened in their dispute and we challenge him to prove his claims anywhere,said Cde Ndaarombe. herald President Robert Mugabe has arrived in South Africa for the 37th SADC Summit. His wife, Grace is facing assault charges and has pleaded diplomatic immunity. The President was received on arrival at Watercloof Airbase by South African ICTs Minister, Siyabonga Cwele, Zimbabwean Ambassador to South Africa, Cde Isaac Moyo, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and Industry and Commerce Minister, Dr Mike Bimha who travelled ahead of him to take part in the council of ministers which ended this Wednesday (today) evening. A military guard was also at hand to welcome President Mugabe. He was immediately whisked away to Pretoria where the summit is taking place. The summit will be preceded by a summit of the SADC Troika comprising current chair King Mswati the 3rd, immediate past chairman, Seretse Ian Khama and incoming chair Cde Jacob Zuma. The 37th SADC Summit here in Pretoria will see Angolan president, Eduardo Dos Santos and Seretse Ian Khama present their farewell speeches as their terms are due to end this year. Get the news faster. Tap to install our app. Access Newser even faster. Click here to install our app on your desktop. The owners of a Subway in Utah are suing for more than $250,000 after police claimedfalsely, it turns outthat a restaurant employee had drugged an officer's lemonade, the Washington Post reports. The arrest of an 18-year-old in Layton made international headlines last August after police accused him of spiking the officer's drink with meth and THC. The officer felt ill, and police said tests on the lemonade showed the presence of drugs. According to Consumerist, a police spokesperson went on the local news that night to discuss the "terrifying" situation. But in a lawsuit filed against the city of Layton last week, Subway franchisees Kristin Myers and Dallas Buttars say police knew the claims were false by the time the story aired and didn't publicly correct the record for months. The lawsuit claims police were relying on an ion scanner, which is known for false positives, and that two urine tests hours before the story aired showed no drugs in the officer's system. The lawsuit claims surveillance footage and a search of the restaurant and employee's car also found no evidence of drugs or any tampering with the officer's drink. But that didn't stop police from going ahead with the story. What followed was what Myers calls "one of the worst years." She says business dropped 30%, six employees quit, and customers complained. "It's always going to be known as the store that drugged the cop," Myers tells Fox 13. Myers' former employee has already settled with the city of Layton for $50,000. (Read more Subway stories.) The parents of a Kansas child missing for nearly 30 years are suing authorities to release investigative records from the case, the AP reports. Harold and Alberta Leach filed the lawsuit Monday in Leavenworth County District Court, the Lawrence Journal-World reports. The Leaches' son, then-17-year-old Randy Leach, was last seen April 16, 1988, at a party in Leavenworth County. The case of his disappearance has never been solved, and his parents have sought the investigative records for years. The lawsuit, filed by Lawrence attorney Max Kautsch, argues the records should be released under a provision of the Kansas Open Records Act that allows for criminal investigation records to be made public when the records are in the public interest. The Leaches learned in 2014 that law enforcement officials had a suspect in the case in the 1990s. The suspect, Eric Montgomery, also had been a suspect in two 1990 homicides that occurred 7 miles from the Leaches' home. Montgomery died in prison in 2010. Law enforcement officials generally have broad latitude under the law to not release criminal investigation records, upon the premise that the release could interfere with future law enforcement actions. Kautsch argues that isn't an issue in this case. "The Leaches fail to see how records in a public agency's possession before 1993 has any bearing on any 'prospective law enforcement action' when no one has ever been charged in connection with Randy's disappearance and likely death," Kautsch said in a written statement. (Read more missing person stories.) Sen. Luther Strange and former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore are headed to a Republican primary runoff to fill the US Senate seat previously held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The two men, who represent different factions within the Alabama Republican Party, will face off in a Sept. 26 runoff, the AP reports. Strange was appointed to the Senate seat in February by the state's then governor. He was unable to escape a runoff despite being buoyed by an endorsement from President Trump. Moore, who was removed from his duties as chief justice for defying federal rulings on gay marriage, harnessed his support among evangelical voters to secure a spot in the runoff. In early returns, Moore had 41% of the vote to Strange's 32%, with Rep. Mo Brooks third with almost 20%. The runoff winner will face Democratic nominee Doug Jones in a Dec. 12 election. Jones was the victor in a crowded field in the Democratic primary. He is perhaps best known for leading the prosecution of two Klansmen for the 1963 bombing of a Birmingham church that killed four little girls. While Alabama has not been represented by a Democrat in the US Senate in 20 years, Jones has said Democrats must not concede the seat without a fight. He says Democrats can win if they can turn the conversation to "kitchen table issues" such as wages, health care, and jobs. (Read more Alabama stories.) A fugitive who escaped custody in Wyoming four years ago has been added to a list of US environmental crimes fugitives and is being sought by investigators for illegally dumping radioactive oilfield waste in North Dakota in incidents dating back to 2011, authorities say. James Kenneth Ward, 55, is considered violent and dangerous and should not be approached, the EPA's Criminal Investigation Division said in a statement. Prosecutors say Ward illegally disposed of hundreds of pieces of radioactive oil field waste known as filter socks, which are used to strain the sometimes-radioactive fluids produced during oil and gas exploration, the AP reports. A company had paid him to dispose of the waste properly. Instead of bringing the filter socks to a licensed landfill, prosecutors allege Ward dumped them inside an abandoned gas station just south of the Canada border in Noonan, ND, where they were discovered in March 2014. Authorities later discovered a second major illegal dumping site for the filters in the nearby small city of Crosby. Ward has not been seen since Sept. 2013, when he escaped from a private corrections company during a prison transport when the van he was in stopped at a rest area, according to the EPA. At the time, Ward was being brought from Arizona to Wyoming to face larceny charges for allegedly stealing more than $100,000 from a trucking company in 2010. (Read more radioactive waste stories.) They don't call it a hate group for nothing: The chief of a North Carolina Ku Klux Klan group says he's glad that 32-year-old Heather Heyer was killed when a car plowed into counter-protesters at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va. "I'm sorta glad that them people got hit and I'm glad that girl died," Justin Moore, "grand dragon" for the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, tells WBTV. "They were a bunch of communists out there protesting against somebody's freedom of speech, so it doesn't bother me that they got hurt at all." Moore and other members of his group were at the rally Saturday, and he predicts that there "will be more violence like this in the future to come." A recorded message played to callers to the group's headquarters praises attack suspect James Alex Fields Jr. as a "white patriot." Another North Carolina man, Allen Armentrout, was shouted at by an angry crowd Tuesday after he arrived at the controversial Gen. Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville wearing a Confederate uniform and carrying a rifle, the Daily Progress reports. He stood vigil at the monument until he accepted an offer from police to escort him back to his vehicle. Armentrout said he was ashamed of Saturday's violence and he was there to show that there are "non-racist pro-Confederate people." (Two sisters injured in Charlottesville are suing white nationalist groups.) A Wisconsin man who doctors say came perilously close to death after accidentally shooting a nail into his heart calmly drove himself to the hospital and even parked his pickup truck in the lot before walking into the emergency room, reports the AP. Doug Bergeson is ready to get back to work this week after surviving a June 25 ordeal that others might not have taken in such stride. Bergeson says he was working on framing in a fireplace at his house near Peshtigo when his nail gun accidentally fired, sending a nail ricocheting off some wood and into his chest. "I thought it just nicked me," he recalls. But as he tugged at his sweatshirt, Bergeson, 52, said he realized only about 1 inch of the 3-inch nail was sticking out of his chest. "I could see the nail moving with my heartbeat," he says. "It was kind of twitching with every heartbeat." He was more annoyed than worried and drove himself to the ER, adding that "common sense" told him not to pull the nail out. Dr. Alexander Roitstein confirmed the nail hit Bergeson's heart, saying it was also 1/16 of an inch from a major artery. He commended Bergeson for not pulling the nail out and letting doctors handle it. Bergeson spent two days in the hospital and has been recovering at home since the incident. He finally will be able to return to work this week at the Village of Lena waterworks plant. He also has a construction repair business. "I feel pretty good," he says. "I'm back to doing things carefully." (Read more strange stuff stories.) Two sisters injured in Saturday's violence in Charlottesville, Va., are suing suspect James Alex Fields Jr., rally organizer Jason Kessler, and more than 20 alt-right and neo-Nazi groups for $3 million. In their lawsuit, Micah and Tadrint Washington say they were injured when Fields plowed into a crowd of counter-protesters, Reuters reports. The sisters say they weren't involved in the demonstrations but were on their way home from visiting a friend when Fields' car slammed into theirs. They say some of his pedestrian victims were flipped onto their car, leaving it spattered with blood. Nineteen people were injured and Heather Heyer, 32, was killed. The sisters' lawsuit accuses Fields of trying to kill and maim as many people as possibleand accuses the rally organizers and attendees of inciting violence. Attorney Timothy Litzenburg tells the Washington Post that the "Unite the Right" organizers conspired to "inspire mayhem, homicide, and violence." "We want the people who incited this catastrophe to sit in a courtroom and face a jury of normal Charlottesville citizens," he says. "That jury can decide what it is that they owe to the citizens of this city." (A police officer is being investigated for joking about the incident.) The families of the 22 people killed in the bombing at Ariana Grande's concert in Manchester in May will each receive $321,000. The payments are made possible by the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund, which collected donations from the public following the terrorist attack, reports the Guardian. Some $2.6 million raised as part of Grande's benefit concert is also included. Each of the 57 people who spent at least seven nights in a hospital as a result of their injuries have already received approximately $77,000 each, while another 96 injured received $4,500 each. The fund is expected to total between $20.5 million and $22 million, with 5% going to cover the costs of administering it. Officials are still determining how the remaining funds will be spent once all payouts have been made, reports TMZ. Discussions include whether to set aside additional funds for those with mental health issues, people who suffered life-changing injuries, or those who were discharged from the hospital quickly but had to return for surgeries, the chair of the fund says. "There are some gray areas," she tells the Guardian. Additional payments to victims are expected to come from the government's Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme. A charity concert featuring Rick Astley, Noel Gallagher, and othersscheduled to take place when Manchester Arena reopens on Sept. 9will raise money for a memorial honoring the victims, reports the BBC. (Read more Manchester stories.) Police in China have arrested a well-known author who had already chosen the title for his next novel, reports the Guardian: The Beautiful Writer Who Killed. And that's what authorities allege Liu Yongbiao did more than 20 years ago. The Times of London reports Liu had been born into poverty in a rural area, and police say Liu and a second man allegedly came up with a way to get some money: rob guests staying in accommodations in the eastern city of Huzhou on the night of Nov. 29, 1995. A victim who tried to resist was bludgeoned to death, and in a bid to cover their tracks, police claim the men did the same to the guesthouse operators and their 13-year-old grandson. What makes the case especially eerie are the words found in the introduction to Liu's latest novel, The Guilty Secret, which Sixth Tone reports was published in 2010. In the intro, he reportedly tells readers about his planned follow-up, The Beautiful Writer Who Killed, and its plot: a number of people die at the hands of a female author ... who manages to sidestep authorities. It's not the only drama to flow from Liu, with the Guardian reporting the 53-year-old allegedly greeted the authorities who had come to collect him last Friday by saying, "I've been waiting for you here all this time." Police had few things to go on at the time of the murders: the guesthouse's two unknown guests that night had Anhui accents, used towels, and left shoe prints, reports China Daily. Fingerprints found at the scene went nowhere, but advancements in DNA testing recently moved the case forward; investigators reportedly took a sample of Liu's blood last month. (This children's book author may have given her killer an idea.) Daniel Craig has apparently had a change of heart. After once saying he'd rather die than reprise his role as 007, the actor told Stephen Colbert on Tuesday he will play James Bond on screen one final time. In fact, "I can't wait," Craig announced on the Late Show, per the Hollywood Reporter. He added he always wanted to return to the role but simply "needed a break." His earlier comments suggesting his Bond days were over came just two days after he wrapped 2015's Spectre. His fifth 007 film, currently untitled, is due out in 2019. Craig told Colbert he plans to "go out on a high note." (Read more James Bond stories.) Even those with more than a passing familiarity to Breitbart News might be hard pressed to name its editor. That is intentional, explains a New York Times Magazine feature on 31-year-old Alex Marlow. He has been Breitbart's editor for four years now and keeps a low profile, even among staffers. Before the Times article, for which he gave Wil S. Hylton multiple interviews, Marlow's main foray into the spotlight was an appearance on Bill Maher's show. (Video of that interview is here.) In fact, the appearance crystallizes Marlow's unusual situation, writes Hylton. Afterward, he was pilloried on the left because, during the "overtime" part of the show, a counterterrorism expert said a "fake" story about him at Breitbart led to death threats and demanded an apology. But Marlow also got pilloried on the right for telling Maher that Russia had indeed meddled in the election. The latter admission showed that Marlow "does not get basic narratives," in the damning words of one Breitbart writer who quit and called Marlow "TRAITOR IN CHIEF." The story explores how Marlow is trying to bring more credibility to the site as he navigates critics from the left and right, and it quotes a Harvard law professor who has been conducting a linguistic study of stories. "Breitbart is not the alt-right," says Yochai Benkler. Headlines may be extreme, but the stories themselves often are surprisingly neutral. He sees Breitbart, then, as a "bridge" of sorts, "in which extremist sites linked to Breitbart for validation, and those same fanatics could then gather in Breitbart's comment section to hurl invectives," writes Hylton. Click for the full profile, in which Marlow explains that the site's admitted bias "now comes in story selection." (Read more Breitbart.com stories.) Michael Moore led the audience of his Broadway play to Trump Tower on Tuesday to protest President Trump's comments about the deadly violence in Charlottesville. On Facebook, Moore urged people to join him at the tower following Tuesday night's performance of his one-man show The Terms of My Surrender to "nonviolently express our rage," per the AP. After the play, the 63-year-old liberal activist led a group of people on buses to the tower, where the president is staying for the first time since his inauguration. Moore was joined by actor Mark Ruffalo, who led a chant of "Heather Heyer," the name of the woman killed in Charlottesville. (See video of Ruffalo's speech.) Moore and Ruffalo held a candlelight vigil and urged the crowd to never forget Heyer and make sure she didn't "die in vain." (Read more Michael Moore stories.) "We have been through 10 years of war, then Ebola, and now this. Have mercy on Sierra Leone, Father," a bishop prayed Wednesday during a vigil in the country's capital of Freetown, where reports suggest 400 people are dead and another 600 are missing as a result of intense flooding and a mudslide. Officials are continuing to dig through the muck in an effort to find people buried when a mountainside collapsed Monday, bringing devastation to the Regent district built on hills, report Reuters and CNN. The chief coroner in Freetownwhich received 27 inches of rain, more than double the average, between July 1 and Aug. 13says nearly 400 bodies have arrived at morgues, but "we anticipate more than 500." The dead reportedly include at least 109 children. A reporter says he was "drenched in tears" while encountering the scene at Freetown's central morgue, where "hundreds" of bodies were lying on floors, per the BBC. Another witness tells BuzzFeed there are dead bodies "littering some of the streets." The AP reports bodies swept out to sea have also begun washing back ashore. Space is so limited at morgues that mass burials are being planned to make room. The national director of the World Vision charity describes the "sounds of wailing and mourning everywhere," per CNN. And still, the devastation might not be over. A Red Cross official warns of the possibility of further flooding and landslides, while a UN spokesman cites concerns about outbreaks of waterborne diseases including cholera and typhoid. (Read more Sierra Leone stories.) President Trump had nicer words than "fire and fury" for North Korea Wednesday morning, Politico reports. "Kim Jong Un of North Korea made a very wise and well reasoned decision. The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!" Trump tweeted, referring to the country's decision Tuesday to hold off on firing missiles toward Guam. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says the White House wants to have a dialogue with Pyongyang, but it needs to see a sign North Korea is similarly open to the idea. Talks will happen "when they show that they are serious ... about an effort to move toward denuclearization, and we have not seen that yet," says a State Department spokesperson, per CBS News. NBC News looks at the "cooler response" observers in Asia have had toward the US-North Korea tensions. "Those of us who've been here for a long time, we tend to think it's saber rattling," says one Seoul teacher. But CBS notes that others in Seoul protested Tuesday, demanding a peaceful resolution to the conflict. And the Hill talks to experts about why this particular standoff is different, including the fact that North Korea, by all accounts, has advanced its nuclear technology quite a bit. (Read more North Korea stories.) It's the best kind of revenge against robocallers: money in your pocket. The Miami Herald reports that people who got a call about a cruise may be due $300 to $900 thanks to a class-action lawsuit. To find out if you're eligible, you can plug in your phone number here. The settlement applies to people who got a call between July 2009 and March 2014 offering a free cruise from Carnival, Norwegian, or Royal Caribbean, reports WESH. The companies settled the suit, which alleged a violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, rather than go to trial. (Read more robocalls stories.) Two former Republican presidents are coming out strong against racism following the Charlottesville violence. "America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms," say George HW Bush and George W. Bush in a statement released Wednesday. "As we pray for Charlottesville, we are reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that city's most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence: We are all created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights. We know these truths to be everlasting because we have seen the decency and greatness of our country." As the Houston Chronicle notes, it's somewhat rare for former presidents to speak out on issues after their terms end; they typically prefer not to give any hint of attempting to undermine their successors. But in addition to the Bushes, the two most recent Democratic presidents have also spoken out on Charlottesville. "Even as we protect free speech and assembly, we must condemn hatred, violence and white supremacy," Bill Clinton tweeted, per the Atlantic. And Barack Obama responded with a series of tweets quoting Nelson Mandela, one of which is now the most popular tweet ever. (Read more Charlottesville, Va. stories.) "There are no good neo-Nazis," Sen. Mitch McConnell said Wednesday. We can have no tolerance for an ideology of racial hatred," the Hill quotes the Senate majority leader as saying. "Those who espouse their views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms." McConnell went on to say that all Americans "have a responsibility to stand against hate and violence, wherever it raises its evil head" and made it clear that the neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and KKK members behind the violence in Charlottesville are not welcome in his state of Kentucky or America. The groups behind the Unite the Right rally last weekend in Virginia had been planning an event in Lexington. USA Today notes McConnell failed to mention President Trump by name in his apparent condemnation of the president's comments on Charlottesville. It's possible McConnellwhose wife, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, was standing next to Trump during the president's Tuesday press conferencewas attempting to avoid antagonizing Trump supporters, according to the Los Angeles Times. But a source close to McConnell tells CNN the senatorwhile privately upset about Trump's commentsdidn't want to directly criticize the president because it might look like payback for Trump blasting him last week on the failure of health care. McConnell also still needs to work with Trump next month on a deal to fund the government. (Read more Mitch McConnell stories.) A federal appeals court panel ruled Wednesday that Arkansas can block Medicaid funding to Planned Parenthood, the AP reports. In a 2-1 ruling, an 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals panel vacated preliminary injunctions a federal judge issued preventing the state from suspending any Medicaid payments for services rendered to patients from Planned Parenthood. Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson ended the state's Medicaid contract with the organization in 2015. The court ruled the unnamed patients suing the state did not have the right to challenge the defunding decision. The panel did not directly address Arkansas' reason for terminating the contract. The decision could potentially lead to a showdown before the US Supreme Court over efforts by Arkansas and other states to defund Planned Parenthood that have been blocked by other courts. In a dissenting opinion to Wednesday's ruling, Judge Michael Melloy noted that several other federal courts have ruled the opposite way on defunding and said the patients have a right to challenge the end of Planned Parenthood's contract. Planned Parenthood said it's evaluating options for challenging the appeals court's decision. The ruling does not take effect until the court issues its mandate in about one to two weeks, and Planned Parenthood said it's still serving Medicaid patients in Arkansas. Republican lawmakers and governors around the country targeted the organization after several videos were released by an anti-abortion group, which claimed Planned Parenthood illegally sells fetal tissue for profit. A Texas grand jury that looked into the videos cleared Planned Parenthood of misusing fetal tissue (Read more Planned Parenthood stories.) Sorry! This content is not available in your region Fairbanks, AK (99707) Today Partly cloudy early, then some snow showers later in the day. High 27F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 50%.. Tonight Snow showers early, with a steadier snow developing late at night. Low around 20F. Winds light and variable. Chance of snow 70%. Snowfall around one inch. New Delhi: Aadhar card or unique identification number has become essential in the life of any Indian citizen. Aadhaar has become the basis to avail most of the government schemes, including income tax returns, government subsidies, scholarships and even mid-day meals at schools. The central governments move to make linking of the Aadhaar number to several government services mandatory this is aimed at curbing corruption and circulation of black money and most importantly increasing the reach of benefits to the right beneficiaries. The tax net in the country has widened and the government is checking strictly the status of those people who possess multiple Aadhaar and PAN cards. In fact, the government has recently deactivated close to 81 lakh Aadhaar cards and 11 lakh PAN numbers. The government agencies recently identified and deactivated 11,44,211 PAN numbers as in most cases multiple PANs were allotted to one person.The UIDAI deactivated close to 81 lakh Aadhaar numbers. The deactivation (suspension) of Aadhaar numbers was done as per the Aadhaar Life Cycle Management (ALCM) guideline.So now you need to check the status of your Aadhaar and PAN to know if they are still active. Here's how you can check Aadhar number: 1.Visit the official website of Unique Identification Authority of India's, uidai.gov.in. 2.Go to the 'Verify Aadhaar Number ' link on the website that is given on the right side of the homepage. 3.Enter the 12-digit Aadhaar number in the box to verify if your Aadhaar number is valid or not.In the second field, called 'Enter Security Code', fill in the code as displayed on the image and click 'Verify'. 4.If your number is valid, then a page will be shown, which will display a message confirming the status of the Aadhaar number entered. In the case of invalid Aadhaar number, the page says that the number does not exist. Steps to check Pan number: 1.Visit e-filing website of Income Tax Department i.e incometaxindiaefiling.gov.in.Click on the 'Know Your PAN' option. 2.On the next page, fill up your details such as name, status, date of birth and phone number. 3.After this click the 'Submit' button. 4.On the next page, enter the OTP password received on your registered mobile number and hit 'Validate'. 5.If the PAN number is not duplicated it will indicate 'Active' under the 'Remarks' column. Those whose Aadhaar is inactive on checking the status can visit the closest Aadhaar enrollment center. There you have to fill up the Aadhaar update form. Your Aadhaar card will be validated after bio-metrics are re-verified. The card will not be updated if your biometrics don't match with the previous record. You have to pay Rs 25 for the update. For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: A biker breathed his last on Monday after he lost his balance on hitting a pedestrian while crossing the road. The incident took place near Lady Irwin College at Barakhamba Road at 9 p.m. on August 14, Monday. The biker namely Himanshu Bansal (24) was accompanied by his fellow bikers Ghazi Khan and Lakshay Choudhary during the accident. While pedestrian suffered minor injuries, Himanshus friends escaped unhurt from the incident. Talking about the same DCP (New Delhi) B.K. Singh has said, "They were coming from Connaught Place and going towards east Delhi. It appears they were racing...An elderly man was crossing the road near Mandi House metro station when Himanshus bike hit him, lost balance and hit the college wall." Himanshu who was a resident of Vivek Vihar was taken to the hospital immediately. Passersby stopped an ambulance and managed to admit him to a hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. Delhi Police was also informed about the same. Also Read: Krishna Janmashtami: 2-year-old girl injured after gunfire in Delhi According to reports, a camera was installed in Lakshay Choudharys helmet and police procured the footage of the whole incident, captured in the camera. A case has already been filed. "24-yr-old boy killed after he lost control of his over-speeding bike&hit Lady Irwin College's wall. Case registered: BK Singh, DCP New Delhi," ANI tweeted a couple of minutes back. New Delhi: Yeh Hai Mohabbatein actress Divyanka Tripathi has taken to Twitter to express her anger over the incident of gang rape of a minor girl in Chandigarh on Independence Day. In a passionate tweet, she raised the issue of the safety and security of women in the country.A A 12-year old girl, who was returning home after attending an Independence Day programme at school, was allegedly gang raped at knife point in Chandigarh. The popular actress tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi in her post and asked him about aBeti Bachaoa campaign and how the campaign failed on the very same day India celebrated its 71st Independence Day. a Divyanka T Dahiya (@Divyanka_T) August 16, 2017 Divyanka, who is known by her screen name aIshita Bhallaa, posted a series of tweets and asked all the political parties to act fast and provide enough security to the women of the country. The aNach Baliye 8a winner said she was shocked by the hideous incident and even expressed her fear of having a baby girl. A a Divyanka T Dahiya (@Divyanka_T) August 16, 2017 a Divyanka T Dahiya (@Divyanka_T) August 16, 2017 Divyanka plays the character of a strong and inspiring wife and mother in her popular daily soap. She is indeed just like her reel life and doesn't hesitate to raise her voice on important issues. New Delhi: After much speculations over celebrity contestants for Bigg Boss 11, the show producers have finally zeroed in on their first participant for the popular reality show. Reportedly, television actress Niti Taylor has been confirmed as the first contestant of Bigg Boss 11 which will be hosted superstar Salman Khan. According to the media reports the diva, who was in talks with the makers of the Bigg Boss so far, has now finally signed the deal for the show. aThe actress has sealed the deal and will be a part of the show as she has even signed the contract,a says a report published in India Forums. Well, this is indeed a big news for Niti's fans who were a little disappointed after her last show 'Ghulaam' on Life OK went off air lately. Notably, the makers of Bigg Boss 11 are yet to make an official announcement in this regard. Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent reply. A post shared by Niti Taylor (@nititaylor) on Aug 10, 2017 at 5:33am PDT Live for the moments you can't put in words. Happy Friendship DayYYZS #happyfrienshipday A post shared by Niti Taylor (@nititaylor) on Aug 6, 2017 at 4:05am PDT Be a better you. For you. ai A post shared by Niti Taylor (@nititaylor) on Aug 2, 2017 at 12:29am PDT Have some fire. Be unstoppable Be a force of nature and don't give a dam what anyone thinks.Y Outfit- from my favorite store @vastrabymilonee I love you're collection. Y A post shared by Niti Taylor (@nititaylor) on Jul 19, 2017 at 4:24am PDT Interestingly, several other celebs have also been rumored to be a part of Salman Khan's show including Dhinchak Pooja, Pearl V Puri, Nia Sharma, Vikrant Singh etc. If the media reports are to be believed, the eleventh season of Bigg Boss will have a blend of commoners and celebrities fighting for the winners trophy. It is also stated that the commoners will be coming with a family member on the show and will not be paid any siging amount for their participation on Bigg Boss 11. According to the mdia reports, Salman Khan's Bigg Boss 11 will go on air on October 1 this year. New Delhi: On the 71st Independence Day, a Facebook post of an assistant teacher at an Assam school, his colleague and two students hoisting Indian flag in the flooded school premises in Dhubri district's Fakirganj has gone viral. The photograp has been uploaded A by Naskara LP School assistant teacher Mizanur Rahman where he has written, "We hoisted the tricolour and sang the national anthem as we are proud to observe the freedom of our nation," he said. His post also added, "No need to tell how we are right now, picture will tell all the stories... I did not expect this kind of support... thank you all for sharing this picture." This shows that flood did not deter people from taking part in the Independence Day celebrations. Despite water all over the place people took the risk and kept their spirit high and hoisted flag in the best way possible which cannot be ignored and go un-noticed. Assam: Various schools unfurled the tricolor in flood-hit Morigaon district #IndependenceDayIndia pic.twitter.com/S0RlgYja7g a ANI (@ANI) August 15, 2017 While there are also photos of students saluting the flags standing in boats doing rounds. On Monday, PMr Narendra Modi spoke to Chief Minister Sarbanand Sonowal for the second time and said all possible support is being provided to the state. The Prime Minister said the Central government has been closely and constantly monitoring the flood situation in Assam. "PM @narendramodi spoke to Assam CM @sarbanandsonwal on Sunday and Monday regarding the flood situation in the state," the PMO tweeted. "All possible support is being provided to Assam for overcoming the flood situation prevailing in parts of the state," Modi said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: For patients going to citys All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) blood tests, X-rays, ultrasound scans and other diagnostic procedures will be free in the near future. The countrys premier state-run institute, which treats patients from Delhi and across the country, also plans to discontinue with admission and out-patient registration charges. We realised that charges for several tests and procedures at AIIMS were minimal and generated nominal revenue. So, we have proposed to remove user charges for any test or procedure costing less than Rs 500, director Randeep Guleria told Hindustan Times on Tuesday. AIIMS has capped at Rs 500 the fee for several tests that are almost 10 times more expensive in private labs and hospitals. All such tests will become free once the decision is implemented, which is expected to be initiated within a few weeks. Around 10,000 people visit the out-patient department every day and at any moment, more than 2,000 patients are admitted to the hospital. The hospital earns Rs 101 crore per year from these charges which include registration charges, admission fee and diagnostics tests. The process of gathering these charges, which are highly subsidised, was more expensive than the than the revenue generated, officials in the AIIMSs finance department said. The cost of tests and treatment in AIIMS is also cheap which is one of the reasons there are a lot of patients visiting AIIMS for whom treatment at private hospitals is an expensive affair. To compensate for the loss, the hospital is planning to increase the private room charges, which is around Rs 2,000-Rs 3,000 per day. We will cross-subsidise the treatment of the poor patients by increasing the cost of the private wards minimally, may be by Rs 200 to Rs 500. In fact, this way the hospital will also generate more revenue, Guleria said. The hospital has 266 private rooms. Even if the charge goes up by only Rs 500, AIIMS will still be more inexpensive as compared to private hospitals where such a room can cost anywhere between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000. The tests too would be cheaper. In AIIMS an X-ray costs as little as Rs 30 and can go up to Rs 300, depending on the body part whereas Private labs and hospitals charge between Rs 300 and Rs 1,000 which are quite expensive. The move to remove the user charge will also make it easier for patients to get tests done. Usually patients have to queue up to pay for a procedure and then queue up for the actual procedure. This can be daunting for patients, especially those travelling from other parts of the country and coming to the hospital for the first time, Guleria said. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Supporters of community redevelopment, wildlife and public lands, energy efficiency and agriculture spoke out in Helena Tuesday against budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration. Clean Air Montana, a coalition of organizations pushing for conservation policy and climate action, held a press conference Tuesday morning as part of a three-city tour. Helena City Commissioner Andres Halladay, Dave Chadwick with Montana Wildlife Federation, Diego Rivas with Northwest Energy Coalition and Chris Christiaens with Montana Farmers Union, pointed to programs on the chopping block they say would jeopardize aspects of Montanas economy and quality of life. President Trump ran in part on a message of bolstering the U.S. economy by cutting regulations. His first six months have brought a host of executive orders aimed at fulfilling that promise, including repealing certain environmental regulations and reviewing national monuments. The presidents agenda has also included a proposed budget prioritizing defense spending and cuts to other agencies, including natural resource managers and environmental regulators. The moves have been applauded by champions of shrinking government but staunchly opposed by the conservation community. Halladays comments centered on the EPAs Brownfield program, which offers grants for industrial cleanup that the city has leveraged for redevelopment projects. Brownfield would be cut under the Trump budget. Revitalization efforts in Helena's Sixth Ward neighborhood, with demolition and cleanup of the Caird Industrial Works site, offered a prime example of the impact of that funding, he said. The site, located at the intersection of Montana and Helena avenues, required about $400,000 in environmental cleanup with about half coming from Brownfield. Purchase of the property by the Montana Business Assistance Connection was funded in part through the citys revolving loan program. The site was purchased by developer Alan Nicholson last year, who said at the time development could take years. Were banking on using that site as the cornerstone of economic development, Halladay said, emphasizing that additional cleanup is likely needed in the area. The city is working with Helena College and the Montana Department of Transportation on solving access issues to the site, which has been vacant for more than two years, he continued. The loss of Brownfield funding means more competition for other funding sources and losing a familiar program to the city. The Great Northern Town Center, another area of Helena that received Brownfield funding, is now the best-producing tax area of the city for its size, Halladay said. Chadwick called cuts to land management agencies and conservation funding a sad reality of the proposed budget. Cuts to Land and Water Conservation Fund, the National Park Service, EPA, Department of the Interior and Forest Service will have direct impacts on land management in Montana. Theres no other way around it, this (budget) is eviscerating natural resource management, Chadwick said. Even as Congress restores some funding and negotiations continue, cuts are still proposed, he added. That means a direct impact on Montanas recreation economy and environmental cleanup, but also less evident impacts from climate change. Chadwick does not believe the cuts are reflective of what voters wanted in light of support for outdoor recreation and a clean environment. Were setting up land and water agencies to fail, he said. Rivas works on energy efficiency programs including the Weatherization Assistance Program through the Department of Energy. The program slated for cuts offers weatherization to low income qualifiers, updating features such as windows, furnaces and hot water heaters. This impacts the most vulnerable in our communities, Rivas said, adding that rural Montana has seen major funding through the program. Even at current levels the program faces a backlog of up to eight years, meaning the demand is there. Weatherization saves individuals money, but also overall savings and reduced emissions, Rivas said. Another energy program proposed for cuts called the Low Income Energy Assistance Program helps low income qualifiers pay energy bills during periods of high energy usage, such as winter heating bills. Rivas characterized the double cuts to low income programs as cruel. Rivas defended the role of government in offering the assistance programs, saying the program ultimately benefits everyone involved and assists the vulnerable segments of society. The two topics of most importance in terms of agriculture is talk on the upcoming Farm Bill and climate change, Christiaens said. Clashes over proposed cuts to food stamps through SNAP, typically included in the Farm Bill, could also jeopardize the long-term viability of insurance and other programs for farmers if a bill does not pass. Without sustainable programs the industry will struggle to replace aging producers, he said. Farmers are also seeing weather extremes begin to become the norm, and with it concerns of cuts to climate research, Rivas said. We see these extremes across the state and climate change is here, absolutely. Its not the time to be cutting funding, he said. When asked about rectifying Trumps strong support in rural Montana with his organizations opposition of the presidents budget, Rivas said the cuts came unexpectedly to much of the agricultural community that supported many of Trump the candidate's stated policy positions. The goal and timing of Tuesdays press conference and events Monday in Butte and Missoula is to let Montanas congressional delegation know about the concerns while they are home on recess, said Adam Pimley, organizer of the Helena event. New Delhi: Clashes broke out between Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) and BJP-RSS activists on Tuesday during a DYFI rally in Kottapara, Kerala. At least 19 people from both sides were injured after a group of BJP-RSS workers allegedly started pelting stones when volunteers of the DYFI- youth wing of CPI(M), were returned from a rally at Kottapara. The police have registered cases under various IPC sections, including 147 (punishment for rioting) but no one has been arrested yet as the matter is being investigated. CPI(M) district secretary Satheesh Chandran claimed that eight DYFI activists were injured in the clash. Two of them, who were seriously injured, were taken to the Pariyaram Medical College in Kannur while the others were admitted to the Neeleswaram Co-operative Hospital, he claimed. On the other hand, BJP district president Sreekanth has also claimed that 11 workers of his party were injured in the "attack by DYFI activists" and they have been admitted to the Neeleswaram hospital. Also Read | Mohan Bhagwat prevented from hoisting tricolour in Kerala school on 71st Independence Day There has been a spike in clashes between cadres of the RSS and the CPI(M) lately, with each accusing the other of murdering their respective workers.Earlier on July 29, an RSS worker was murdered in Thiruvananthapuram. Defence Minister Arun Jaitley had also visited the state and accused the CPI(M) of using its workers to "eliminate" its political opponents and creating an environment of violence. The CPI(M) state Secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan hitting back at Jaitley had alleged that the violent clashes between RSS and CPI(M) workers in the state increased after BJP President Amit Shah's visit in June this year. (With PTI inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: In a move to prevent the nationwide bankers strike on August 22, the Indian Banks Association (IBA) and the Chief Labour Commissioner have called the United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) for talks on Wednesday, a top leader of All India Bank Employees Association said. The IBA has called the UFBU for a meeting in Mumbai on Aug 16 and the Chief Labour Commissioner has called us for a meeting in New Delhi on Aug 18, AIBEA General Secretary C.H. Venkatachalam told news agency IANS. The UFBU is an umbrella body of nine unions in the Indian banking sector. The UFBU has given notice of a nationwide strike on August 22 to protest reforms in the banking sector and other issues. We have an open mind to resolve the issues. The same has to be reciprocated by the IBA and the central government, Venkatachalam added. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: CRPF jawan of 181 battalion, Riyaz Ahmed, who was injured in Budgam grenade blast last week, succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday. "Head constable Riyaz Ahmed had serious splinter injuries, it had gone through his skull and affected his brain; great loss," said CRPF Director General Rajiv Rai Bhatnagar. "I salute my brave soldier, we are sure he will be an inspiration to all of us," said CRPF DG. Head constable was laid to rest in Srinagar. Earlier on Monday, four Security forces personnel injured in a grenade attack by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmirs Budgam. Terrorists hurled a grenade at a road opening party of CRPF and police at Batpora in Magam area, 20 kilometres from Srinagar. Three CRPF personnel and a local policeman were among injured in the attack. All the injured were taken to SKIMS Medical College hospital at Bemina for treatment. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: An encounter between security forces and terrorists broke out on Wednesday in Kakpora's Banderpora in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir. LeT commander Ayub Lelhari was killed in the encounter. "He (Ayub Lelhari) was one of the most wanted terrorists. It's a great success for the forces," said SP Vaid, DGP J&K. "LeT's Ayub Lelhari killed; was also involved in civilian killings, bank robbery. AK47 rifle, magazine, ammunition recovered," said Lt col Ashish Jhingan. Earlier on Sunday, at least three terrorists including chief operations commander of Hizbul Mujahideen Yaseen Itoo were killed in an encounter with security forces in Awneera village of Jammu and Kashmir's Shopian. Five soldiers were also injured in the encounter, two among them succumbed to injuries while two other terrorists escaped. The encounter broke out on Saturday evening and ended around noon on Sunday. LeT commander Ayub Lelhari killed in encounter with security forces in J&K 's Pulwama (visuals deferred) pic.twitter.com/1eG1x247NW a ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2017 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: At least two Govindas died and over 190 injured in Dahi-Handi related incidents while forming human pyramids on the eve of Janmashtami- a festival celebrated with fervour across Maharashtra. In Palghar, the 21-year-old Govinda died after he suffered an epileptic attack during the celebrations, while in Airoli, the 34-year-old victim died of electrocution. The deceased in Palghar was identified as Rohan Kini, police said adding, "He was a part of a human pyramid. He got down from the pyramid after breaking the Handi. But soon afterwards, he suffered an epileptic attack and he died while being taken to a hospital in Palghar around 6.30 pm." The victim in Airoli was identified as Jayesh Sarle, police said. "The incident took place at a Dahi Handi event organised at a school ground in Airoli around 6.30 pm. Jayesh, who was also a Govinda, was standing near the gate of the venue when he came in contact with a live wire," said a police official. Across Maharashtra, as many as 197 Govindas suffered injuries during the celebrations, 117 among them in were from Mumbai, civic officials said. A statement issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said, "By 9 pm, as many as 117 Govindas were reported to have received injuries while celebrating Dahi handi at different locations of the city." Across Maharashtra, 'Govinda' troupes compete to form multi-tier pyramids and break pitchers of curd and buttermilk tied high above the ground on this day. (With PTI Inputs) For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday handed over the alleged Kerala 'love jihad' case to National Investigation Agency (NIA). The probe will be supervised by retired Chief Justice RV Ravichandran. The apex court, however, made it clear that it will also talk to Hadiya alias Akhila before taking the final decision in the case. President of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen Asaduddin Owaisi reacting to the development asked, "If someone chooses to change their religion will they become a threat to national security?" If someone chooses to change their religion will they become a threat to national security?: A Owaisi on NIA a to probe 'Love Jihad' case pic.twitter.com/11a6NOcHJc ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2017 Earlier in the month, 26-year-old Muslim man Shafin Jahan had filed a petition in the Supreme Court for the production of his wife, whom his father-in-law took away after Kerala HC declared their wedding invalid. Jahan has sought a stay on the divorce order of Kerala high court which had ruled that he married Hadiya/Akhila after she was radicalized by elements associated with Islamic State and other terrorist organizations. Also Read | Ayesha Takias Husband Farhan Azmi receives death threats for indulging in Love Jihad But Jahan, in his petition to SC claimed that his wife Akhila alias Hadiya was 24-years-old at the time of marriage and she converted on her own and court cannot interfere in the matter. The Supreme Court had agreed to hear the plea filed by Shafin and sought a response from NIA and Kerala government. In response, NIA told the top court that it has not started the probe as Kerala Police was investigating the matter. The SC then ordered Kerala Police to share the probe details of the case with the National Investigation Agency. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Pakistan army violated ceasefire as it resorted to shelling on civilian areas and forward posts on Wednesday morning in the Poonch sector along LoC. The Indian army too gave a befitting response. "Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars from 0534 hours today in Poonch sector along the Line of Control (LoC)," a defence spokesman said. "Indian Army retaliating strongly and effectively", he added. There had been reports of firing and shelling in Mankotesub-sector of Poonch too. It may be recalled that Pakistan violated ceasefire 4times on August 13 by resorting to firing and shelling in Krishna Gati, Nowshera, Mankote and north Kashmir, resulting in injuries to three Jawans. On July 12, Pakistan troops had heavily fired on forward posts and civilian areas in Krishnagati and Poonch sectors in which a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and a woman were killed. ALSO READ: Ceasefire violation in J&K's Uri, Naushera sectors, 3 Jawans injured Pak army's shells exploded near a house killing40-year-old Raqia Bi of Gohlad Kalran on August 12. NaibSubedar Jagram Singh Tomar was also killed in Pak firing in Krishna Gati sector on August 12. On August 8, Pakistan troops resorted to firing and shelling in Krishnagati sector of Poonch district, in which Sepoy Pawan Singh Sugra was grievously injured and later succumbed to his injuries. #FLASH J&K: Ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Poonch sector along LoC. Indian army retaliating. ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2017 On August 7, an Army jawan was injured in a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC)in the Uri sector of Baramulla district. On August 6, the Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire by firing at Indian posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Baba Khori area of Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir. READ: Shopian encounter: 3 terrorists killed, 2 escaped; 2 soldiers slained Prior to that, on July 30, Pakistani forces had resorted to firing from light weapons and medium machine guns in the Baba Khori belt of Naushera sector. The year 2017 has also seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations at the LoC by Pakistan. Till August 1, there had been 285 such violations by the Pakistan Army while in 2016, the number was significantly less at 228 for the entire year, the figures said adding that last year, eight Army personnel were killed in the ceasefire violations. Eleven people including nine soldiers, were killed and 18injured in ceasefire violations by Pakistan army in the month of July. There were 83 ceasefire violations, one BAT attack and two infiltration bids from the Pakistani side in June in which4 people, including 3 jawans, were killed and 12 injured. In May, there were 79 ceasefire violations, according to officials. With PTI inputs For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Floods claimed more lives in Assam, Bihar and West Bengal, where over a crore people are still affected and train services are yet to be completely restored. In Uttarakhand, two more bodies were recovered from Dharchula area of Pithoragarh district, taking the death toll in the recent cloudbursts to eight as relief and rescue operations continued in search of the missing, DGP Anil Raturi said. It was a sunny day in the national capital with the maximum temperature settling at 36.4 degrees Celsius. The humidity level oscillated between 78 and 44 per cent. The flood situation in Assam continued to deteriorate with 11 more people losing their lives and 33.45 lakh people were affected across 24 districts in the state. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal left for Delhi during the day to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apprise him of preliminary damage of the third wave of flood. Currently, 2,970 villages were under water and 1.43lakh hectares of the crop were damaged, the report said. ASDMA said the authorities are running 304 relief camps and distribution centers in 21 districts, where 1,38,648people have taken shelter. Over 4,600 persons have been evacuated to safer places by the SDRF and NDRF personnel in many districts. The flood has damaged embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructures in several districts. Brahmaputra river is now flowing above the danger mark at Guwahati, Nimatighat in Jorhat, Tezpur in Sonitpur, Goalpara and Dhubri towns. The toll in the flood rose to 72 in Bihar, where 73.44 lakh people have been hit by inundation in 14 districts triggered by incecretary in the state disaster management department, Anirudh Kumar said 73.44 lakh people are in the grip of flood which has engulfed 110 blocks and 1,151 panchayats in 14 districts of the state, the latest being Gopalganj, which was submerged today. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was scheduled to conduct an aerial survey of Bettiah, Valmikinagar areas with DeputyChief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi during the day could not do so due to bad weather. He, however, monitored the flood situation from Patna through interactions with senior officials. Train services continued to be affected due to the calamity and rail movement is completely disrupted in many sections, a statement from East Central Railways chief public relations officer Rajesh Kumar said. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel helped a pregnant lady deliver her baby on its rescue boat in the state's flood-ravaged Madhubani district. In West Bengal, at least 32 people have died and over 14 lakh people affected so far due to floods in the six districts caused partly due to overflowing rivers of Bhutan, Bihar, and Jharkhand. "While 30 persons drowned, two died due to snake bites.Besides 104 domestic animals have died so far in the flood," an officer senior official in West Bengal's disaster management department said. Jalpaiguri received 30 mm rainfall in 24 hours till this morning, the highest recorded during the period in the region, the MeT department said. The IMD issued thunderstorm and lightning warning in 18 districts of Odisha. Meanwhile, Meteorological Centre here said, rainfalloccurred at a few places in Odisha with heavy rainfall at oneor two places in north coastal Odisha. In Uttarakhand, two more bodies were recovered fromDharchula area of Pithoragarh district, taking the death tollin the recent cloudbursts there to eight while relief andrescue operations continued in search of the missing, DGP AnilRaturi said. Damaged Trek route between Mangti and Malpa which were hit by cloudbursts has resulted in temporary suspension Kailas Mansarovar Yatra with 47 pilgrims of the 16th batch airlifted to Dharchula by helicopters and 23 members of the 13th returning batch airlifted to Pithoragarh from Gunji. In Himachal Pradesh, rescue operations by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), state police, home guards and other agencies to dig out bodies from the buses buried under debris following a massive landslide at Kotrupi in Mandi district continued for the fifth day but there was no success and the death toll remained at 46. 45 bodies have been identified so far with the help of forensic experts. Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kadam said there was no major threat of landslides and the people in four adjoining villages have been asked to move to safer places. Special Secretary and Director Management D D Sharma said that Rs 50 crore has been released to all deputy commissioners to pay relief and compensation to all the people affected by natural calamities. Hot and humid weather conditions prevailed in Punjab and Haryana. Union Territory Chandigarh recorded a maximum temperatureof 34.4 degrees Celsius. In Haryana, Ambala recorded a maximum of 35.1 degrees Celsius, the MeT department said. Parts of Bengaluru, which experienced heavy downpour overthe last two days, are slowly limping back to normalcy with aletup in the rains till evening.essant rains in Nepal and some districts inthe northern part of the state. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi launched Karnataka governments flagship program Indira Canteen in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Following the inauguration, Rahul will address Congress party workers at meeting on the National College Grounds at 12.30pm. As per reports, he will leave for New Delhi along with chief minister Siddaramaiah and other party leaders at 4 PM. Reports have claimed that breakfast will be served for Rs 5, lunch for Rs 10 and dinner for Rs 10 at Indira Canteen. The menu will consist of traditional cuisines, designed by leading chefs of five-star hotels. ALSO READ: Gorakhpur children deaths: Rahul says Congress stands with families There are 27 assembly constituencies and 198 wards in Bengaluru. There will be one Indira Canteen in each of the 198 wards. Moreover, there will be one kitchen in each of the 27 assembly constituencies. The flagship program of the Congress is aimed at reaching to the poor. Gandhi claimed that he was proud that the Congress government had conceptualized this canteen. Proud that it is a Congress govt that conceptualized this canteen; Breakfast to be served in Rs. 5, lunch/dinner in Rs 10: RG #IndiraCanteen pic.twitter.com/sdV3ac6syi ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2017 Karnataka: Hoarding placed outside the 'Indira Canteen' launched by Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi in Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/phi5gOAAlL ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2017 The assembly elections are less than a year away. READ: Gorakhpur children death: Rahul Gandhi holds UP govt responsible With this initiative, the Congress government aims to reach out to the marginalised sections of society apart from creating jobs. Karnataka: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi launches 'Indira Canteen' in Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/mCRdAY7JIh ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2017 Karnataka: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi launches 'Indira Canteen' in Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/awfyykPzZB ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2017 Karnataka: Congress VP Rahul Gandhi takes a meal at the newly inaugurated Indira Canteen in Bengaluru. pic.twitter.com/h0agD1V4o5 ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2017 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi while inaugurating the Indira Canteens in Bengaluru, during his speech referred the canteen name as Amma Canteen on Wednesday. The Congress vice-president confused Indira Canteens with the Amma Canteens of Tamil Nadu. Karnataka government has borrowed the idea from its neighbouring state Tamil Nadu. Launching of Amma Canteens in Tamil Nadu was the idea of state's former CM and former AIADMK head J Jayalalithaa. The canteen launched by the Karnataka government has been named after Indias only woman prime minister Indira Gandhi and the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi's grandmother. Rahul while addressing his speech during the inaugural function of Indira Canteens said, "In a matter of a few months, poor people across most cities in Karnataka will be able to eat in these Amma...er...Indira canteens. The Congress vice-president second time mentioned Aama while praising the the Karnataka government. He said, Every citizen of Karnataka, under the Siddaramaiah government should feel he wont go hungry. That is vision of the Amma Indira Canteens, he said. In the launching event, he not only faltered with the canteen name. There were several glitches in his speech. Instead of mentioning Karnataka he said, Every single poor person in every single city in Bangalore. Under the Indira Canteen scheme one will be able to avail breakfast for Rs 5 and lunch for Rs 10. The Karnataka government is coming up with total 101 Indira Canteens in the state. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. The Helena Public Schools Board of Trustees sent a policy allowing the use of drug dogs for random drug sweeps back to a committee for the third time after debating its efficacy and potential legal risks. A debate on whether random searches would remain legal in the state was sparked after a Ravalli County judge threw out a case last year. During a random search at Florence Carlton in December 2015, a drug dog alerted to a students car. The student consented to a vehicle search that revealed approximately five grams of marijuana and two pipes. Although precedent from the U.S. Supreme Court says students have a reduced expectation of privacy when theyre at school, Ravalli County Judge James Haynes said schools need to have information that a particular student is in possession of drugs or the school has to have a significant drug problem to warrant a search. Haynes ruled the school did not have sufficient evidence to believe either was true. The attorney generals office originally appealed the ruling, but withdrew it voluntarily. Instead, the office issued an advisory letter to Elizabeth Kaleva, an attorney representing several area school districts, saying every high school could have a significant drug problem. The letter cites a 2012 survey by the National Center of Addiction and Substance Abuse that says 44 percent of students know someone who sold drugs at their school. The Helena school board has already debated the policy two times, but mostly agreed to continue conducting random canine searches. The policy was slated to be approved on Tuesday, but was sent back for a third time to change some of the verbiage. "I really respect the ability of our administrators to say its an important tool, but we dont have data to support that. It seems like its kind of in this legal limbo," board member Luke Muszkiewicz said. It seems when something is used as a deterrent, its a hard thing to prove the efficacy of a deterrent, he added. In a recent interview with the Independent Record, assistant superintendent Greg Upham said use of marijuana had at least doubled since medical marijuana was first legalized in 2004. But data shows that students in Lewis and Clark County are less likely to use alcohol or marijuana in 2017 than they were in 2001. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which is self-reported by students, said 83 percent of students had tried alcohol in 2001, compared to 67 percent in 2017. In 2001, 41 percent of students had tried marijuana and 39 percent had tried it in 2017. Muszkiewicz acknowledged that bad behaviors tend to be under-reported, but said the data is still good in terms of showing trends. Were kind of basing it on the legitimacy of the AG report that cites a survey from 2012 that isnt specific at all to Lewis and Clark County or even Montana, he said. I just wonder if its worth doing. Board member Jeff Hindoien, an attorney, said the Montana Constitution in some cases awards more privacy to citizens than the U.S. Constitution. He said the policy could subject the district to a lawsuit at some point. It still could potentially expose the school district to a claim that students rights were violated, he said. Its ultimately like a lot of other policies where the legal landscape isnt clear and we have to make a decision. The board will consider canine searches for a third time on Sept. 1. New Delhi: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday addressed party workers at the four achievement function of Karnataka Govt in Bengaluru. Rahul launched scathing attacks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his speech. Rahul said that he was informed by Congress President Sonia Gandhi that PM Modis speech on Independence Day was very short. Rahul added that PM Modi has now nothing left to say. Speaking on the farm loan waiver by BJP in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, Rahul said that BJP was forced to take such action due to pressure from Congress party. Rahul accused PM Modi of not taking many burning issues in the Independence Day speech. "The PM did not tell you on Aug 15, that the rate of unemployment is highest in 8 years, he had promised 2 crore jobs yearly. The PM did not tell you that more than 90 babies died in Gorakhpur due to his healthcare policies," said Rahul. Rahul said that the NDA government had cut healthcare budget and that is why the hospital could not buy oxygen cylinders for the babies. Rahul also raked up the issue of standoff with China by saying that some time back Chinese president came to India, while our PM was hugging him, a thousand Chinese soldiers entered our territory. "Yesterday did anyone hear the PM say that the Chinese forces are still sitting inside Bhutan?," said Rahul. On the Kashmir issue, Rahul said that they worked hard in 10 years to bring peace to Jammu and Kashmir which was all destroyed in one month by Modi Govt. Speaking on the diplomacy, Rahul said that for the first time Russia is selling arms to Pakistan, in last 3 years Modi Govt has created problems with friendly nations. "All neighbours except Pakistan and China were our allies, but this has changed now. Nepal alienated, China building port in Sri Lanka," said Rahul. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Veteran leader Shankarsinh Vaghela on Wednesday resigned as a member of Gujarat legislative assembly. Vaghela had already revolted against Congress party earlier. He resigned from the Congress party on July 21. Two days after quitting the Congress, veteran leader and former Chief Minister of Gujarat Shankarsinh Vaghela resigned as the Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly. Vaghela send his resignation letter to party president Sonia Gandhi. Vaghela, in his resignation letter alleged that some party leaders were conspiring against him ahead of the Assembly polls and this forced him to take such a decision. The elections are expected to take place in the state in December. The former Chief Minister had quit the party at a public gathering of his supporters on his 77th birthday on July 21. He joined the Congress in 1998 and claimed that just like some party leaders conspired against him in 2009, when he lost Godhara (Panchmahal) Lok Sabha seat, similar attempts were made to oust him from the party in recent times. Vaghela had been at loggerheads with the Congress leadership for quite some time over his demand that he be projected as the chief ministerial face in the poll-bound state. He had been contending that if he was projected as the CM candidate in the polls, the party would be able to take on the BJP effectively in Prime Minister Narendra Modis home state. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Rebel JD (U) leader Sharad Yadav on Wednesday announced that around 17 parties will attend Sanjhi Virasat Bachao program to be held on Thursday. Sharad informed that Congress leaders Manmohan Singh and Rahul Gandhi will be present during the program. The Sanjhi Virasat Bachao program is being seen as Sharad's show of strength against his party chief Nitish Kumar's decision to join hands with the BJP. Top leaders of the Congress, the Left, Samajwadi Party, BSP, TMC and other parties are expected to attend the program. Asserting that "composite culture" was the soul of the Constitution, which Yadav alleged was being "tinkered with", he said similar meetings would be held across the country. While refusing to answer questions on his disapproval of Bihar Chief Minister Kumar's alliance with the BJP, the former JD(U) chief said the decision to hold tomorrow's event was taken weeks ago, when his party was with the loose opposition group. "The 'sajha virasat bachao sammelan' (save composite culture programme) is not against anybody but in the interest of the country. This is in the interest of 125 crore people of the country," he said. With PTI inputs For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Mumbai: In a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day address, the Shiv Sena on Wednesday dared the Centre to abolish the Article 370 of the Constitution so that people from across the nation can "visit Kashmir and embrace its people." PM Modi, in his Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort, said, "Na gaali se samasya sulajhne wali hai, na goli se, samasya suljhegi har Kashmiri ko gale lagane se (Kashmir problem cannot be resolved by either bullets or by abuses. It can be resolved by embracing Kashmiris)." Reacting to it in a sarcastic tone, an editorial in the Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana' on Wednesday said, "Why nobody got this great thought before is very surprising." "Now to bring this thought into practice, abolish Article 370 of the Constitution so that hordes of people from across the country can go there (Kashmir) and embrace its people," the editorial said. The Sena also said that violence in "the name of faith is prevalent in the country", which frightens not only Muslims but the Hindus as well. "Some segments of the Hindu community have become violent and extremists in the name of cow protection. Merely warning them will not be enough," said the party, which is part of the BJP-led alliance governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra. The Sena further questioned why the government was not as strict against those who refuse to sing 'Vande Mataram' as the way it implemented demonetisation and GST. The prime minister had promised to bring back black money from foreign banks and deposit Rs 15 lakh in each person's account, it said, adding, "We believe this will be done in the next two years." Also read: PM Modi warns Pakistan, China in Independence Day speech, says 'India strong enough to overcome' any outside threat 70 years of Independence: Bollywood celebs extend their wishes to fans For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The Chief Minister of Tripura Manik Sarkar on Tuesday alleged that state run Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) refused to broadcast his Independence Day address unless he reshaped it and termed it as an undemocratic, autocratic and intolerant step. There was no immediate reaction from the Prasar Bharati, which runs Doordarshan and All India Radio. A Tripura government press statement alleged that Doordarshan and AIR had recorded Sarkars speech on August 12. Yesterday at 7 pm, the Chief Ministers office was informed through a letter that his speech would not be broadcast unless he reshaped it. The letter purportedly said, The message of the Chief Minister was closely examined by competent authority. In view of the sanctity of the occasion, the broadcast code and responsibility of the public broadcaster it is not possible to telecast it in the present format. However, Doordarshan/Prasar Bharati will be happy if the chief minister agrees to reshape the content making it suitable to the solemnity of the occasion and sentiment of the people, it purportedly said. The CMO statement claimed, The chief minister clearly stated that he would not change a single word and described it as unprecedented, undemocratic, autocratic and intolerant step. Sarkars speech was supposed to be broadcast today by Doordarshan and AIR in Tripura. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said Doordarshan was not the private property of the BJP-RSS and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of instructing his cronies to black out voices of the opposition, including that of an elected chief minister. In a statement, the CPI-M Politburo said it strongly condemns the refusal by the Doordarshan and All India Radio to broadcast the customary Independence Day address of Sarkar. The Doordarshan and All India Radio had recorded his speech for the occasion. However, they subsequently informed him that the speech cannot be carried as it is and asked him to reshape it, it said. The party demanded action against those responsible for prohibiting the broadcast. This is a gross infringement on the right of a chief minister to address the people of his state on Independence Day. This act is reminiscent of the Emergency days and goes beyond as it seeks to gag the elected Chief Minister of a state. The central government is trampling upon the autonomy of Doordarshan/AIR and Prasar Bharati by such acts of censorship, the statement said. Doordarshan Refuses to Broadcast Tripura CM Manik Sarkars Speech. Is this the Cooperative Federalism that PM Modi Talks About? Shame! the CPI (M)s official Twitter handle said. Tagging the tweet, Yechury hit out at the central government saying the channels alleged refusal to air Sarkars speech was illegal. PM can pay homilies to cooperative federalism while instructing his cronies to black out voices of the Opposition, including an elected CM. If this isnt authoritarianism & undeclared Emergency, what is this will be fought back by the CPM, people of Tripura and all our citizens, the Marxist leader tweeted. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: In a surprise development, the Afghan Taliban on Tuesday released an "open letter" to US President Donald Trump, reiterating their call for the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan after 16 years of war and review the American strategy in Afghanistan. The 1,600-word letter, written in rather incoherent English, was sent to journalists by Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman. The Taliban said Trump has recognized the errors of his predecessors by seeking a review of the US Afghanistan policy. The Taliban also asked Trump to hold peaceful dialogue directly with Afghans instead of "corrupt" politicians. Mujahid said Trump should not hand control of the US Afghan policy to the military but rather announce the withdrawal of US forces - and not an increase in troops as the administration has planned. The letter urged the United States to interact with Afghans "generously" instead of imposing war. "It seems to be a historical mistake on the part of the previous administrations to have dispatched American youth for the slaughter of Afghans. However, as a responsible American president, you need to study the mistakes of your predecessors and prevent death and injury to American forces in Afghanistan," the letter said. "American youth are not born to be killed in the deserts and mountains of Afghanistan in order to establish the writ of thieves and corrupt officials and neither would their parents approve of them killing civilians in Afghanistan," the letter further said. "A number of warmongering congressmen and generals in Afghanistan are pressing you to protract the war in Afghanistan because they seek to preserve their military privileges, but instead you must act responsibly as the fate of many Americans and Afghans alike is tied to this issue." US Defense Secretary James Mattis has on Monday said all options for Afghanistan remained on the table, and a full withdrawal of troops is one of them. Trump is yet to announce a strategy for Afghanistan, but Mattis said one is "very, very close". If the war can't be won with "professional US and NATO troops ... you shall never be able to win it with mercenaries, notorious contractor firms, and immoral stooges", the letter said. Also read: Donald Trump will no longer tolerate Pakistan's support to militants Afghanistan blast: Taliban Suicide bomber kills NATO soldier, 6 personnel injured For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Former US President Barack Obama's anti-racism tweet following the Charlottesville violence that took place on August 12 has become the most liked tweet ever with over 2.9 million likes. Obama's tweet left behind Ariana Grande's tweet following the suicide bombing during her Manchester concert on May 22 which garnered 2.7 million likes. Obama had quoted South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela after the racist clashes took place at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. "No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or his background or his religion," Obama tweeted along with a picture of himself looking up to a window of children of different ethnicities and races. "This Tweet from @BarackObama just became the most Liked Tweet ever. It set the record at approximately 10:07 EST," news agency PTI quoted a Silicon Valley-based social media company as saying. Apart from 2.9 million likes, the tweet has been retweeted over 1.2 million times and has received over 47 thousand comments. "It is also currently the 5th most Retweeted Tweet ever," the company statement said. The record of most retweeted tweet is held by Carter Wilkerson who tweeted earlier this year, "Help me please, a man needs his nuggs". On Monday, Obama's tweet surpassed talk show host Ellen DeGeneres' 2014 Oscars selfie tweet, which stands at number 3 with 2.4 million likes. Obama's tweet, which quotes a line from Mandela's autobiography "Long Walk to Freedom", came after a 32-year-old woman was killed and 19 others were injured when a car rammed into a crowd of counter-protesters at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. Two police officers also died on Saturday when their helicopter monitoring the rally crashed. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: China on Wednesday denied having any information about the PLA soldiers entering Indian territory along the banks of the Pangong lake in Ladakh on Tuesday and maintained that it was committed to peace and tranquillity along the border. Indian troops on Tuesday foiled and incursion bid by Chinese soldiers in Ladakh near the banks of Pangong lake which was also followed by stone pelting that caused minor injuries to people on both sides. However, Chinese Foreign Ministry said it has no information about Tuesday's skirmish between PLA and Indian troops in Ladakh. "I am not aware of the information I can tell you that the Chinese border troops are always committed to maintain peace and tranquillity of the India-China border," news agency PTI quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hu Chunying as saying. "We always patrol in the Chinese side along the Line of Actual Control. We urge the Indian side to abide by the LAC (Line of Actual Control) and relevant conventions between the two sides," Chunying added. In the past too, whenever such incursions have taken place, China has always maintained that its troops were patrolling the Chinese side of the border. When asked about the current Doklam standoff in the Sikkim sector, Hu Chunying repeated China's stand that Indian forces have illegally entred in the Chinese territory and the should unconditionally withdraw. "This is pre-condition for any meaningful talks between the two sides," she said. However, China has been acknowledging that the talks are on through the diplomatic channels to discuss the issue. Of the 3,488-km-long India-China border from Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh, a 220-km section falls in Sikkim. (With PTI inputs) For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: At least 28 people were killed and 82 others injured after three women suicide bombers blew themselves up at the entrance to a camp for displaced people in northeast Nigeria, according to local sources. Baba Kura, a member of a vigilante force set up to fight jihadists said that the suicide bomb attack took place on Wednesday at Mandarari town, 25 kilometres from Maiduguri, the capital of restive Borno state. Three female bombers triggered their explosive outside of the IDP (internally displaced persons) camp... killing 28 people and wounding 82 others, he said. The first assailant blew herself up, triggering panic, he added. People were trying to close their shops when two other female bombers triggered their explosives, causing most of the casualties, he said. ALSO READ: 12 people shot dead at church in Nigeria More than 80 injured had been taken to Maiduguri hospital, Ibrahim Liman, the head of a local anti-jihadist militia force said. A huge number of patients had arrived, a hospital source said. Northeast Nigeria is a hotbed of activity by the Boko Haram jihadist group, involving shootings, bombings and kidnappings. It launched an insurgency in 2009 that has killed about 20,000 people and displaced around 2.6 million others. On Saturday, Boko Haram killed four people and torched homes in a night-time raid on the village of Amarwa, about 20 kilometres from Maiduguri, according to local sources. (With PTI inputs) ALSO READ | Niger: Nine killed, dozens kidnapped in suspected Boko Haram attack For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The US Department of State on Wednesday designated Hizbul Mujahideen as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation. The US had earlier declared the outfit's Pakistan-based chief Syed Salahuddin as a global terrorist. The designation, which slaps a series of American sanctions on the militant group, came against the backdrop of upsurge in its terror activities in Kashmir in recent months. These designations seek to deny Hizbul Mujahideen the resources it needs to carry out terrorist attacks, the State Department said in a statement. Among other consequences, all of Hizbul Mujahideens property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group. Earlier on June 26, the US State Department designated Syed Salahuddin, the head of Kashmiri militant group Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, as a specially designated global terrorist. The move came just hours before the first meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump at the White House. As a consequence of this designation, US persons were generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with Salahuddin and all of Salahuddin?s property and interests in property subject to the United States jurisdiction were blocked. With PTI inputs For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Montanas first Navy Week came to Helena Tuesday with Great Falls native Rear Adm. Michael Holland receiving flags from Secretary of State Cory Stapleton commemorating construction of the U.S.S. Montana submarine. Each year the Navy selects 15 inland locations for Navy Week, similar to Fleet Week for coastal states, when the Navy holds public events and talks about its role in national defense. Montanas first Navy Week includes events in Helena, Billings and Bozeman. Its really about building that understanding with the public about what the Navy is out there doing, Holland said. The No. 1 mission of the Navy and across all the military branches is strategic deterrence against aggression to keep things peaceful so you can all rest assured at night, he added. Helena events included a visit to the YMCA and city council on Monday, and a presentation to the Helena Area Chamber of Commerce and a meeting with Stapleton Tuesday at the Capitol. The Helena Rotary hosts a Navy speaker Wednesday at noon. Montana events will continue through the weekend in Billings. Holland and members of the U.S.S. Montana Committee met with Stapleton, himself a Navy veteran, to receive a pair of flags that flew above the state Capitol. The submarine is under construction with an anticipated commission date of 2020. One flag will fly over the construction site and the other will be presented to the future skipper. Holland and Stapleton, both Great Falls natives, happened to be stationed for a time at the same base in Rhode Island. Stapleton said that as a veteran, he is always curious to hear about how the Navy is dealing with evolving threats, and asking why it had taken so long for Montana to get its first Navy Week. Its not the best kept secret anymore, but so many people who serve in the military come to Montana, Stapleton told Holland and other members of the Navy in attendance. We have one of the highest veteran populations and its easy to understand why with the lifestyle and beauty, and everyone is so proud to see people in uniform. New Delhi: The United States has released its first World Religious Freedom report since President Donald Trump took office. The report highlights that religious freedom is under attack in Pakistan where minorities like Hindus, Sikhs and Christians live under the fear of forced conversions to Islam. Religious minorities said they remained concerned that government action to address coerced conversions of religious minorities to Islam was inadequate, the report said. The report questioned governments efforts to stop forced conversation of Hindus into Islam. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson while releasing the report said, The efforts made by Pakistan governments to stop forceful conversions of minorities are not enough. The report stated that Hindus, Christians and Sikhs of Pakistan live in a fear of forceful conversion. It also said that there is no freedom of religion in Pakistan and more than 10 people are either waiting for capital punishment or jailed for life for blasphemy. Religious freedom is under attack in Pakistan, where more than two dozen are on death row or serving a life imprisonment for blasphemy, Tillerson said in his speech as he released the 2016 International Religious Freedom report. It is my hope that the new prime minister (Shahid Khaqan Abbasi) and his government will promote interfaith harmony and protect the rights of religious minorities, Tillerson said. The report also highlighted claimed the Chinese government tortures and imprisons thousands for practising their religious beliefs. Falun Gong members, Uighur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists are targeted for practising their religion Tillerson said. He also hit out at Islamic State saying the Sunni extremist group "is clearly responsible for genocide against Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims in areas it controls or has controlled." For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. In telephone talks held Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed their cooperation to deal with a possible North Korean missile launch that might travel over Japan toward waters off Guam. In the about 30-minute telephone conference, the leaders of the two countries agreed to maintain their close cooperation - and their cooperation with South Korea - to strongly urge China and Russia to exercise their influence on North Korea to prevent Pyongyang from going ahead with a launch of ballistic missiles. After the telephone conversation, Abe told reporters at the Prime Minister's Office, "We've agreed it is most important to prevent North Korea from going through with launching missiles." Abe added: "To be prepared for every possible situation, we'll make utmost efforts to ensure the safety of the public by establishing advanced monitoring and missile defense systems under the solid Japan-U.S. alliance." Kumamoto Prefectural Police have arrested the 30-year-old male manager of a talent agency over the alleged sexual assault of an intoxicated teenage girl in Kumamoto City, reports Nippon News Network. At around 2 a.m. on Sunday, Shinya Tsukamoto is alleged to have sexually assault the girl, a 16-year-old high school student living in another prefecture, at a business hotel. The girl was reportedly intoxicated enough such that she could not withstand his advances. Tsukamoto, who has been accused of quasi-forced intercourse, was sent to prosecutors on Monday. He admitted to the allegations during questioning, telling police that he took advantage of the girl once she became inebriated but did not plan the act. Tsukamoto attended an event with the girl on Saturday evening, police said. After going to an izakaya restaurant, where the girl was forced to consume alcohol, he took her to the hotel. The matter emerged when the girl realized she was in a hotel room with Tsukamoto and sought help after leaving. A high-level Japanese government official denounced a Korean bus company Tuesday for putting "comfort woman" statues on its five buses running in Seoul, urging the Korean government to take "appropriate measures." "We are concerned this move could put a damper on efforts between Korea and Japan to develop a future-oriented relationship," Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide said at a press briefing, according to Kyodo News Agency. "We have conveyed Japan's stance through a diplomatic channel to Korea, requesting adequate measures to be taken," Japan's national broadcaster NHK reported Suga as saying. Suga is regarded as the Japanese government's spokesperson. A day earlier, Suga also made comments on the comfort woman statues on a TV program on satellite channel BS Fuji. "This cannot happen," he said. Dong-A Transit put a comfort woman statue on five of its number 151 buses, marking International Memorial Day for Comfort Women. The statues will remain on the buses until Sept. 30. The statues on the bus are among many statues recently created, symbolizing the plight of former sex slaves to the Japanese military during World War II. Criticism of the comfort woman statues also came from Park Yu-ha, a controversial scholar on the issue and author of the book "Comfort Women of the Empire." Aug 16 (ANNnewsCH) - aaaaaaaYeYaaaaaaeaeaaaaeZaaaaYaaeYaaaaaaaeaecsaaaaaaaeaeaaaaaaaaaaeeaaaaaaYaaa14aaaaaeaaeSaaeaaaaaaa The Japan Tourism Agency plans to urge "ryokan" Japanese-style inn operators to set separate fees for stays and meals, agency officials said Wednesday. The initiative is aimed at meeting demand from foreign travelers staying for long periods who want to make the most of Japanese food culture and at boosting room occupancy rates for ryokan. The agency also plans to call for local restaurants to join the initiative. It aims to designate model areas where room occupancy rates at ryokan will be surveyed before and after the introduction of the program. According to a survey by the agency, room occupancy rates in 2016 came to 78.7 pct at city center hotels, 74.4 pct at budget hotels and only 37.1 pct at ryokan. Subway was established in southwestern Connecticut more than 50 years ago by a teenager looking for a way to pay for his education to become a doctor. In 1965, Fred DeLuca received a loan of $1,000 from a family friend, Peter Buck, to start a submarine sandwich shop. Buck became DeLuca's partner, and they opened the first Pete's Super Submarine in Bridgeport. The shop's name later changed to Subway in 1968. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that there was plenty of blame shared for recent violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, which left one person dead and 19 injured. He also used a term that some right-wing websites, commentators and Fox News personalities have for months advanced of a violent wing of liberal activists - the alt-left. "What about the alt-left that came charging at, as you say, at the alt-right?" the president said from Trump Tower in New York, addressing Saturday's violence in Virginia. "I think there's blame on both sides. And I have no doubt about it," Trump said. The term alt-left or violent left has been used to describe anti-Trump protesters and Black Lives Matter activists but most often of "anti-fascist" groups, also known as antifa, that have mobilized to confront right-wing gatherings, sometimes escalating to violence. Trump used it as the flip side to the "alt-right," a term used to describe a white nationalist movement and proponents of anti-globalism. Antifa activists vandalized property and committed acts of violence on Inauguration Day in Washington and during protests at the University of California at Berkeley over a planned speech by then-Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos. Their actions have been relatively isolated, focused on disrupting white nationalist rallies. Some of the pro-Trump media have increasingly warned of the dangers of antifa since the Inauguration. Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association has shifted its mission and language to appear as a line of defense against what it calls "the violent left," spinning images of anarchists bringing peaceful democracy down. NRA President Wayne LaPierre has warned against a "gathering of forces that are willing to use violence against us." "If the violent left brings their terror to our communities, our neighborhoods, or into our homes, they will be met with the resolve and the strength and the full force of American freedom in the hands of the American people," he said in a Feb. 24 speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference. Fox News anchor Sean Hannity, a frequent Trump defender, has expanded the term in recent months to include members of the media. More News Trump defends rally organizers "The Alt Left Propaganda media will run with every leak to help distract from Obamas & Co's role in spying on @POTUS @realDonaldTrump," Hannity tweeted in March. Google searches for "alt-left" spiked in November, with the highest crest following Hannity's Nov. 22 discussion with reporter Rosie Gray on the use of the term "alt-right." Trump, who has insisted language matters when using the phrase "radical Islamic terror" to discuss campaigns against the Islamic State, suffered bipartisan wounds after he took two days to name white supremacists as a driver of violence in Charlottesville, and then only focusing the blame on "many sides." On Tuesday, he called James Alex Fields, Jr., the alleged driver of the car that killed counterprotester Heather Heyer, a "disgrace" to the country and his family. Fields was described by a former teacher as a Nazi sympathizer. That's where the distinctions between white supremacists and counterprotesters for Trump appeared to end. "You had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit and they were very, very violent," he said. - - - The Washington Post's David Weigel contributed to this report. Before the bottom fell out of the economy in 2008, Cincinnati businesswoman Anne Chambers had been running a successful test market for an edamame snack brand. It was an on-trend business idea, and she had distribution deals lined up with Kroger and other companies. But she needed money to scale up. Related: 50 Ways Women Entrepreneurs Can Fund Their Businesses Despite her solid business plan and the decades of experience and good market results Chambers offered, neither banks nor investors would give her capital. Her idea -- which has since made a fortune for others--died for lack of investment. Unfortunately, Chambers' story is not unique. In 2016, less than 5 percent of investor money went to women-led businesses, according to data from M&A. True, the tax code includes provisions to help owners raise capital for their burgeoning businesses. Yet those provisions are doing little to help women business owners, who now represent more than a third of all U.S. firms. This must change. And now there's an opportunity for that to happen: For the first time in 30 years, Congress is looking seriously at revamping the tax code, which means we have a once-in-a-generation chance to transform the code into a tool that empowers women entrepreneurs. The question is, will Congress seize this opportunity? A new report by Caroline Bruckner of American University's Kogod Tax Policy Center and the national advocacy organization Women Impacting Public Policy (WPP) that I lead found that women business owners can't take full advantage of more than $255 billion in tax incentives because of how they are legally organized and the industries they serve. For the report Billion Dollar Blind Spot: How the U.S. Tax Code's Small Business Expenditures Impact Women Business Owners, researchers surveyed 515 women business owners across the country to determine how they use key small-business tax provisions. In fact, fully 84 percent of these survey subjects operate businesses in service industries excluded from provisions designed to stimulate small business growth, access to capital and investment. Related: Why Women Entrepreneurs Have a Harder Time Finding Funding Other obstacles outlined in the report included: Only 12 percent of respondents organize their businesses as C-corporations; that means that 88 percent are excluded from significant small-business tax incentives. Only 0.6 percent of women surveyed reported being able to attract capital for their businesses from non-corporate investors by using a provision in the code that allows them to issue qualified small business stock. Some 53 percent of respondents said they didn't fully benefit from Section 179, a provision allowing businesses to deduct equipment purchased and placed into service. Possible reasons: They either don't know about the provision or don't buy the kind of equipment that qualifies under the provision. Some 86 percent of respondents said they'd never claimed a tax loss, under a provision that permits an ordinary loss on the sale or exchange of qualified business stock. What's more, the research found a complete lack of government analysis about the effects of tax expenditures on women-owned firms. This situation raises real questions about whether the tax code's small business tax expenditures are operating as Congress intended: Clearly, policymakers have a billion-dollar blind spot when it comes to understanding how effective such expenditures are with respect to women-owned firms. Correcting this inherent inequity carries the potential to dramatically impact the economy. The percentage of firms owned by women has skyrocketed from 4.6 percent in 1976 -- the first time the Census released a report on women's business ownership -- to 36 percent today. There are 10 million women-owned businesses, and they employ 9 million people and contribute an estimated $1.6 trillion to the economy. Clearly, women entrepreneurs' economic might is significant and growing. But they could accomplish even more if the tax code created stronger investment opportunities -- something WIPP member Anne Chambers knows first-hand. "How many more women would have gone into business for themselves rather than working for someone else?" she told us. She said that her query sprang from her question as to whether, if the tax code were to offer more opportunities for people to invest in women owners, even more women-owned businesses would exist today. "We'll never know how many more jobs could have been created by women who couldn't open businesses or expand them," Chambers said. Related: 3 Women Entrepreneurs Who Unleash Their Energy for the Greater Good There is much talk by this administration and Republican lawmakers about a revamping of the tax code. If that happens, Congress must use tax reform to harness the economic energy generated by women like Anne Chambers. Our workers, our communities and our country's economy will all be stronger for it. Related: Women Business Owners Are Missing Out on Billions -- How Congress Can Change That Crisis Mode: How to Be a Real-Life Wonder Woman in Times of Crisis This Entrepreneur is a Perfect Matchmaker between Transporters and Traders Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com The Montana State Parks and Recreation Board seems headed for changes, but what those might be is open to speculation. Gov. Steve Bullock's office asked that the board's meeting, scheduled for Wednesday in Billings, be postponed indefinitely. Chairman of the board Tom Towe said he was "told by the governor's staff on Friday to postpone the meeting" and given no reason. Pat Doyle, marketing and communications manager for Montana State Parks, wrote in an email to The Gazette that "the Governor's Office and (Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks) are reviewing the long-term goals of the Montana State Parks and Recreation Board, and we intend to share some new programmatic news to reinvigorate the focus of the board soon." When asked what "programmatic news" meant or when the meeting may be rescheduled, Doyle referred questions to the governor's office. Messages left for the FWP director and information bureau chief were not returned by deadline. "I am suspicious," Towe said. "I'm very suspicious, in fact." The governor's communications chief, Ronja Abel, wrote in an email that, "The Governor wants to make sure FWP has the resources, capacity and expertise to translate the 5-year strategic plan into an actionable agenda. That task requires a focused effort of a larger group that complements the membership, capacity and expertise of the Parks Board with additional leaders from across Montana." Abel went on to write that Bullock "has been in ongoing discussions with Martha Williams and members of the Parks Board about how to accomplish this. With that being the case, the three parties Governor's Office, FWP, and the Board felt it made the most sense to postpone the upcoming board meeting." Abel's statement seemed in contradiction to Towe's remarks that the decision had caught him off-guard and he wasn't sure the reasoning behind the act. A notice of the meeting's cancellation was posted on the park's website, but the agenda for the meeting had been removed. The agenda had included updates on parks enforcement, Hell Creek State Park, funding and budget matters. The parks board was formed in 2013 after the Montana Legislature passed a bill authorizing the creation of the group. The idea was to give state parks a larger voice rather than being relegated to the sidelines at Fish and Wildlife Commission meetings, where hunting and fishing issues often took precedence. The board's five members, representing different geographic regions of the state, were appointed by the governor. Not all has been smooth since the board's creation. Disagreements with past FWP director Jeff Hagener and the board boiled over at a meeting last year in Miles City. The board felt like it was being excluded from discussions about how to deal with West Shore State Park on Flathead Lake, which is encumbered by federal dollars used to purchase the land as wildlife habitat. As one of his last acts before retiring at the end of 2016, Hagener fired the state parks director, Chas VanGendren. No replacement has been hired, although Doyle said in an email that the state had stopped taking applications for the position and was weeding through applicants. He added that the board was to be updated about the process at the now-canceled meeting. In the past two legislative sessions, the idea has been floated to move Montana State Parks to the Department of Commerce or another agency that more closely aligns with its mission. Those attempts have been shot down. Sen. Duane Ankney, R-Colstrip, who was behind the push to set up a separate board for state parks said he was not aware of any changes in the works. "Why in the hell they can't figure out how a nice park to recreate in is important to Montana I don't know," Ankney said. "I know it's been a dysfunctional family, having parks partnered with fish and game," he said. "Parks have always been a red-headed stepchild." Montana State Parks receives no funding from FWP, instead collecting about one-third of its budget from a voluntary fee attached to automobile licenses. The other major sources of funding are visitor fees, motor boat and fuel taxes, the coal tax and accommodation taxes. Montana State Parks hadnt had its own board since 1953. In 1965, the Fish, Wildlife and Parks Commission began overseeing state parks management that had previously been guided by the state highways division. The board helps oversee management of the state's 52 parks. As members of the American Indian Caucus of the Montana Legislature, we extend our condolences to the family of Heather Heyer, who lost her life protesting hate and bigotry in Charlottesville, Virginia. Our hearts also go out to the families of Lt. H. Jay Cullen and Trooper Berke M.M. Bates of the Virginia State Police, who lost their lives while monitoring the rally. Our thoughts and prayers are with Charlottesville and those across this great country who have been hurt physically and emotionally by the despicable actions exhibited by white nationalists. White nationalists, neo-Nazis, alt-right, and any other groups that propagate hate, discrimination, violence and bigotry, have no place in our country. These groups dishonor the basic principles of equality on which this nation exists. Advocating hate through violence is terrorism and shouldnt be labeled as anything less. Generations of soldiers and civilians have given their lives fighting for equality. We are grateful to our veterans, our active military members, and those who lost their lives serving and defending our Constitution and country. Our ancestors fought and our family members still fight for our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Thousands of American Indian soldiers fought for the Union Army to end slavery, and thousands more fought fascism and genocide in World War II. American Indians will continue the fight against those who are misguided enough to perpetuate those beliefs. Today, we must recognize the fact that the Confederacy and its symbolism has stood for segregation, secession and slavery. The Confederate flag was even used by the Dixiecrats, a segregationist political party of the 1940s. The flag continues to serve as an emblem for racism and racial inequality for domestic terrorist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and other white nationalist organizations. That is why we call upon the Helena City Commission and all of our statewide officials to step up and remove the Confederate Memorial Fountain from Helena, Montana, our capital city. The fountain was commissioned by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, an organization that openly supported the white supremacist views and mission of the early Ku Klux Klan. This is the only Confederate monument in the northwestern United States. It is especially troubling that although the commission voted more than two years ago to add a sign explaining the history of the monument and its roots in a racist movement, city staff has not yet been able to complete this task. We ask that you all recognize the harmful message that this fountain sends to Indians, minorities and all Montanans of this great state. Please take a stand and recognize that this fountain is a divisive symbol in Montana and represents a history that our country and citizens have repeatedly fought against. Public property in Montana should not be used to promote Nazism, fascism, totalitarianism, separatism or racism. Please send a message that there is no hate in our state by removing this divisive memorabilia from the capital city. Rep. Shane Morigeau, D-Missoula, represents House District 95 in the Montana Legislature. This opinion is also signed by Sen. Jason Small, Rep. Jonathan Windy Boy, Rep. Bridget Smith, Rep. George Kipp III, Rep. Susan Webber, Rep. Sharon Stewart-Peregoy and Rep. Rae Peppers. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Courtesy of Connecticut State Police Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Courtesy of Connecticut State Police Show More Show Less 3 of 3 BETHANY >> Connecticut State Police are looking for the publics help in identifying a suspect they say used a credit card stolen in town last month. Police responded July 22 to the Country Corner Diner on Route 63 on a larceny complaint. A man told them he had mechanical trouble and had fallen asleep in his car while waiting for roadside assistance in the early-morning hours. His car was unlocked, and, when the man woke up, he noticed his credit card, debit card and cellphone were missing, according to police. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NEWTOWN Two families who say Newtowns negligence led to the Sandy Hook massacre want to inspect the emergency folders from classrooms where victims were slain to see if keys to lock the doors are in those folders. The request to inspect the folders, which are being held by State Police and cannot be seen without a court order, was made by the families attorneys Wednesday as part of their wrongful death lawsuit against the town and the school district. The families request touches on an important issue in the lawsuit about whether the school districts own safety protocol of locking doors during a shooting was followed the day a gunman forced his way into Sandy Hook School and murdered 20 first-graders and six educators. The families charge in the lawsuit that a substitute teacher on the day of the massacre had not been given a key to lock her door. That accusation has been refuted by the school district, which claims in court documents that a key to lock the class door was in a red folder in every classroom. The families argue that part of their negligence claim hinges on whether keys were indeed available in two classrooms the day teachers and their students were slain. Inspection of this evidence is necessary by the plaintiffs because the defendants have made claims that the keys to the respective classrooms were present in these folders; both for the substitute teacher in classroom 8, Ms. Rousseau, as well as the regular teacher in classroom 10, Ms. Soto, reads the families motion, filed in Superior Court in Danbury. The families are referring to Lauren Rousseau and Victoria Soto, both of whom were slain. Monte Frank, a lawyer representing the town and school district, declined to comment on the families motion on Wednesday, saying attorneys would respond to the request in court. Both sides were in court Wednesday for a conference in preparation for trial, which is scheduled for March. This is a search for truth for everyone, said one of the families attorneys, Devin Janosov, in court on Wednesday. The victims of this tragedy have a right to know whether a key was in that envelope. Judge Anthony Truglia gave lawyers for the town and school district until Tuesday to respond to the request. The lawsuit brought by the two families against the town and school district is not to be confused with a wrongful death lawsuit brought by 10 families against Remington the maker of the rifle used in the massacre. That lawsuit, which was thrown out of trial court in 2016, is being appealed in state Supreme Court. The lawsuit brought by the two families was in the news last month, when the town and school district asked the judge to throw out the case, arguing that it was a shooter - and not Newtown - that was responsible for the worst crime in Connecticut history. In 2016, the two families unsuccessfully offered to settle with Newtown for $5.5 million each. The families lead attorney, Donald Papcsy, said he had no evidence that the key was in the emergency envelope on the day of the shooting. We have a log of everything that was in that classroom and the key is not listed, Papcsy said. And we have a picture of the envelope that doesnt appear to have anything in it. rryser@newstimes.com; 203-731-3342 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate GREENWICH A Greenwich educator found that nursery rhymes are the universal language of childhood when she made her first venture teaching 25 Sri Lankan preschoolers English. Paula Brock, a Stanwich School kindergarten teacher, made her discovery in a colorful one-room schoolhouse in the rural village of Gannoruwa, Sri Lanka. When Brock started, the children knew not a word of English, and she, none of their language, Sinhalese. But through singing nursery rhymes, dancing and drawing pictures, the children learned English words for colors, feelings, opposites and small phrases. That really grabbed their attention, said Brock, who had never taught English as a second language before. They were listening. They were absorbing it. Brock spent two weeks in July and August volunteering at the Pubudu First Friends Preschool in Sri Lanka. She was Stanwich Schools 2017 recipient of the Humanitarian Grant, which funds faculty charity work abroad, and was the first teacher to receive the grant since 2013. The grant covers travel and expenses up to $5,000. From the outset in 1998, the Stanwich School founders conceived a program with a larger ethical core than other schools, said Charlie Sachs, Head of Stanwich School. As a result, Stanwich has attracted families and teachers who share that commitment to moral community building and personal sacrifice for others, he said. The humanitarian grant manifests the trustees financial contribution to stimulating and retaining educators who are exemplary in more than just the mastery of their subject matter. On July 15, Brock began her 21-hour journey two flights and a bus ride to Gannoruwa, a village near the city of Kandy, about three hours by Tuk Tuk from Colombo, Sri Lankas largest city. Her volunteer trip was organized by the company International Volunteer Headquarters, which helped her find lodging and a school to work in. Brock chose Sri Lanka because her mother loved the country while visiting there as a medical student. I think my mom put the seed in my head, Brock said. I had always dreamed of volunteering abroad and for some reason Sri Lanka was pulling toward it. While in Gannoruwa, Brock stayed with a Sri Lankan host family and six other volunteers from around the world. Within a day or so, she adapted to the 95 F temperatures, no air conditioning, spicy rice dishes for each meal and the lines of ants that marched around the bedroom she shared with three other volunteers. I think I definitely got the real experience, she said. The spirituality of the Buddhist Sri Lankans and their less-hurried way of life impressed Brock immediately. There is just a sense of calm, she said. Thats a big thing over there, just mindfulness, because they dont really worry so much about the past or the future. They are just very much in the moment. Each day, Brock taught English from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the preschool with the help of two Sri Lankan teachers. The preschools head teacher knew limited English and the assistant teacher none, so both women used Brocks lessons to expand their vocabularies as did the children. Later in the afternoon, Brock brought her English lessons to several local village children ages 5 to 13. They were just so eager and enthusiastic about learning as much as they could from me during the time I was there, said Brock. They didnt want me to leave. Brock will share her experiences with her kindergarten students and the Stanwich faculty when school resumes. I definitely want to share with my kids that something as simple as a pencil with an eraser can be so exciting for a child who doesnt have that, said Brock. Education is a gift and a lot of kids arent as lucky to have such a wonderful education just instilling that gratitude for the kids. Since the Stanwich humanitarian grant was started in the 2006-07 school year, the program has sent eight Stanwich teachers abroad to North Ireland, Thailand, Peru, Rwanda, Ghana and Sri Lanka. emunson@greenwichtime.com; Twitter: @emiliemunson The state Medical Examining Board disciplined four doctors on Tuesday, including reprimanding and fining a prominent Norwalk plastic surgeon $2,500 for failing to keep adequate medical records. The medical license of the plastic surgeon, Dr. Laurence Kirwan, was also placed on probation for four months completes a course in medical documentation, a consent order states. In 2015, the mother of a patient who had two chin procedures from Kirwan in 2014 filed a complaint with the state Department of Public Health, records show. A plastic surgery consultant found that Kirwans treatment records did not meet the standard of care. On his blog, Kirwan says he is a professor and an internationally recognized expert in plastic surgery who has practiced in Norwalk, Manhattan and London. He says he has treated many celebrities, with articles referencing his surgery on Swedish and British television star Ulrika Jonsson. He has also treated Croatian children with war injuries and hosted Botox parties that were covered by The New York Times. By signing the consent order with the board, Kirwan chose not to contest the allegations against him while admitting no wrongdoing. Danbury psychiatrist Dr. Anton Fry also was reprimanded in connection with false Medicare claims he made between 2009 and 2015, according to a consent order with Fry. The consent order said Fry knowingly submitted bills for Medicare reimbursement for non-reimbursable telephone counseling and paid $18,000 to the federal government to settle the U.S. Department of Justice case against him. DPH Staff Attorney David Tilles told the board this was not a case of fraud. In 2016, U.S. Attorney Deirdre M. Daly announced that Fry and his mental health practice, CPC Associates of Danbury, were paying a total of $36,704 to settle allegations that they violated the U.S. False Claims Act. While admitting no wrongdoing, Fry chose not to contest the charges against him when he agreed to the consent order. The board also reprimanded Dr. Dennis Sivak, a retired gynecologist from the Greens Farms section of Westport, for failing to review the results of a patients Pap smear in 2013 and failing to inform her that the results were abnormal, a consent order states. Sivak has been retired for three years but has renewed his medical license so the board is also requiring him to give 90 days notice to DPH before treating any patients, the consent order said. In an unrelated case in 2015, the board had fined Sivak $1,000 for letting an unlicensed medical assistant operate a laser device for hair removal at the Avery Center for Obstetrics and Gynecology in Westport. Other disciplined by the board included Dr. Brian Malone of Canton, who was fined $3,000, reprimanded and had his medical license placed on probation for two years. Board records show that in July 2016, he gave morphine and Ativan, a drug used to treat anxiety, to a patient four months after having surrendered his controlled substance registration to the state Department of Consumer Protection, board records show. To settle a court case, the board also accepted a stipulated agreement that Dr. Wilson Bernales of Fayetteville, Ark. be fined $5,000 and that he agrees not to renew his medical license in Connecticut for two years. In May, the board had revoked Bernales medical license for lying in 2014 when he applied for his Connecticut license and was asked if he had faced any termination from a training program, the boards May memorandum of decision states. Bernales had been fired from an internship in Rome, Georgia in 2002, the memorandum states. This story was reported under a partnership with the Connecticut Health I-Team (c-hit.org). By 1939 it was obvious that it was not safe for Jews to remain in Germany. Over 900 Jews scraped up enough cash to book a passage on the passenger ship called St. Louis headed for Cuba and the United States. They all applied for U.S. visas before doing so and all were granted landing certificates and transit visas from Cuba. The plan was to disembark at Havana and wait for their U.S. visas to be approved. After Kristallnacht the previous fall, every day longer in Germany was a serious threat to all Jews. By the time they got to Cuba, the transit visas for Cuba were withdrawn. Of the 937 passengers, only 28 had U.S. Visas; 908 did not. Without the necessary visas, Cuba refused to allow them to disembark. The ship headed on to the United States. They begged President Franklin Roosevelt to let them stay, but he did not reply even though it was a major news story in the U.S. After many days within sight of Florida, waiting for the government of the United States to act, the ship had no choice but to head back to Europe. To Great Britains credit, they agreed to take 288 of the passengers, all but one of whom survived the Holocaust. However, at least 254 Jews from the St. Louis ended up in Hitlers gas chambers. Some 278 survived, mostly because they were accepted as refugees by France, Holland and Belgium. But then they lost their freedom when Hitler invaded those countries; what these 278 endured over the next six years was obviously devastating. I suspect that most, if not all, Americans would now say that Roosevelt made a big mistake by not accepting these Jewish refugees all of whom were facing death if they were returned to Germany. In fact, most Americans would probably agree that the United States should have taken many more Jews if that could have saved them from the gas chambers. About that same time, Senator Robert Wagners bill to admit 20,000 Jewish children from Germany was allowed to die in committee. Great Britain, France, Holland and Belgium are certainly to be respected because of their willingness to step up to the plate and help. But no help was received from the United States. We now have another chance. Over 7 million refugees have succeeded in making it out of Syria where their lives were endangered as a result of the brutal civil war in their country. Another 500,000 refugees a year are coming from Africa where their lives are endangered because of drought, famine and civil unrest in Central Africa. We can help. But what has the U.S. government done? We have agreed to take 200,000 so long as they undergo a two-year vetting process. Thats only 2.5 percent of the immediate problem. For a country which has nearly one-fifth of the worlds gross product (i.e., worlds annual wealth production) more than all of Europe combined, isnt that an embarrassment once again? President Trump and his followers even want to shut off that number. They apparently dont want any refugees to come into this country. Virtually every religion in the world encourages its members to help other people in need. I would like to think that Christians are particularly supportive of this admonition. The people on the ship St. Louis in 1939 were certainly people in need. The same is true today of the Syrian and African refugees. It is a matter of morality, particularly Christian morality. Rejecting people for no good reason, people who otherwise are in serious fear of their lives, will reflect on the morality of the United States as a country. Where is the moral soul of the people of this great country? The lesson of the ship St. Louis in 1939 should not be ignored. If we claim to have any morality as a country, dont we have to pay attention to these genuinely needy refugees? DERBY >> A proposed zone change to allow student dormitories in residential neighborhoods met with mixed reviews Tuesday. About 20 people showed up for a public hearing held by the Planning and Zoning Commission on a proposed change the commission itself put forth. The commission took no action and continued the hearing until its next meeting Sept. 19 at City Hall. The commission is considering adding educational dormitory residence to existing regulations as a special exception in an R-3, or residential zone. Current regulations regarding whats allowed in residential zones and granted only by special exception include daycare centers, schools, libraries, churches and public housing. There currently is regulation that permits dormitories in a residential zone. Commission Chairman Ted Estwan said the commission proposed the change based on informal discussions with the founder of Apex International Education Partners, or AIEP, a global organization that hosts foreign exchange high school students and helps them learn English in preparation for them to attend American colleges and universities. Proposing the change itself gives the commission more control over it, Estwan said. AIEP Founder David Guerrera, of Watertown, wants to purchase the former Marshall Lane Manor nursing home at 101 Marshall Lane, and transform it into a learning center/residence. Guerrera has not yet submitted a formal application to the commission. Anthony Simonetti, owner of the property, confirmed he and Guerrera are in negotiations regarding a potential sale. Guerrera initially appeared before the commission in April, saying hed like to transform the former 120-bed nursing home, which closed in June 2015, into a dormitory/learning center for high school students from other countries. The commission had its planning consultant, Milone & MacBroom, draft language for the potential change, which in part defines what a dormitory is, places a cap on the number of dorms allowed per acre, sets buffering boundaries around the facility, limits size of a building to no more than one story, limits parking spaces to staff and prohibits students from having cars. Resident Maureen Kelleher expressed concerns about how many students would be allowed per dorm, which hasnt yet been clearly defined. She also suggested that residential advisers, or RAs, whom Guerrera said would provide 24/7 supervision and guidance, be at least 21 years old. Guerrera had said the students, assuming the project was approved, wouldnt be allowed to have cars or visitors and would be attending high schools out of town during the day, and primarily be housed at the facility in late afternoon and night. There would be a small staff for maintenance and to manage the cafeteria, along with adult RAs. Students would be transported to school by private bus or van. Alderwoman Barbara DeGenarro said the proposed language leaves the door open for other facilities, such as a juvenile detention center, to come in, and urged the language be better defined. Resident and former Building Inspector David Kopjanski said specific language on how many actual beds would be allowed, rather than number of dorms, would be wise to control how many students could live there. Simonetti believes Guerreras intentions for the property would be good for Derby. Ive met some of these students and they want nothing more than to learn and go to school, Simonetti said. This facility would not be using police, fire and ambulances like we did ... and this would not disturb the neighborhood. Simonetti believes such a facility could add upward of $90,000 in annual taxes to city coffers. I think youll find this could be a very good thing for the city, he said. Attorney Dominick Thomas, who is representing Guerrera, encouraged neighbors to call his office or email him with concerns. He also said hed like to host a neighborhood meeting at one of the city firehouses to have a free exchange between his client and concerned neighbors. The Gruber family wishes to extend their sincerest heartfelt thanks to everyone who participated in Private Bill Grubers homecoming at the Bozeman Airport, the memorial services for him at St. Helena Cathedral and the procession and the burial at St. Johns Evangelist church (August 5th). It was overwhelming for the family to see the huge turnout to honor Bill after 75 years away from home. The newspaper articles in the Helena Independent Record and Boulder Monitor were wonderful. Members of our family cried upon seeing the proud salutes offered during the procession by the Helena Police Department, the Boulder American Legion Post No.46, Montana City VFD, Clancy VFD and Jefferson City VFD and the many Montanans waving from the freeway overpasses. The American flags displayed along the procession route by the city of Boulder were a great honor to Bill, who died in the service of his country. To list everyone who contributed is not possible as there were so many. But we wish to highlight our thanks to: Jan Anderson of the Boulder Monitor who publicized our familys plight during our initial attempt to convince authorities to have Bills remains identified. The U.S. Army and DPAA for their identification of Bill. Senator Jon Tester, whose letter to the U.S. Army contributed to the Armys decision to have Bill identified. Monsignor Kevin ONeill and clergy for the inspirational memorial service at St. Helena Cathedral. Governor Steve Bullock, for honoring Bill with his presence during the memorial service. The U.S. Army color guard for the airport and cemetery ceremonies and salutes. The East Helena VFW and Boulder VFW for their ceremonies and salutes. The Montanan Highway Patrol and the Patriot Guard Riders of Montana for their escort during the 40 mile procession to Boulder. The Montana National Guard Army Air Reserve for the spectacular flyover. John Eakin and Rhonda Masters, of the Bataan Missing Association, for their support. John was the first to tell the family which grave Bills remains were found in. The Gruber family offers our sincerest apologies to those we have overlooked. Thank You Everyone. Montana truly is the land of Big Sky and its citizens of Big Hearts. The Montana turnout and the services for Bill prove our fallen loved ones have not been forgotten. Frank and Ken Gruber, on behalf of the Gruber family WEST HAVEN >> Five New Haven youths accused of stealing a Jeep and leading police on a high speed pursuit were arrested Wednesday morning after the vehicle crashed. All five juveniles, between the ages of 13 to 17, were charged with interfering with the police and third-degree larceny, while the operator of the vehicle was also charged with engaging police in a pursuit, reckless driving, evading the scene of an accident and reckless endangerment, police said. Move over AY COMEDIAN! My new movie 100 DAYS IN LONDON is set to break 30 Days in Atlantas record as Nigerias highest grossing movie of all time! Based on a true story, the movie features a hypocrite who on the 27th of April, 2016, banned government officials from going for medical tourism abroad at government expense yet ended up being the main culprit of a malaise he complained about. I have not yet decided who will play the lead role, but I am considering casting an anti corruption crusader who chose to higher 11 SANs rather than show his school leaving certificate or proof that he had one. Watch this space for further details! Reno Omokri has released a new movie dubbed 100 days in London !The SA to the former president of Nigeria, insinuates we should move over AYs Nigerias highest grossing movie 100 DAYS IN LONDON and expect his! Ijaw youths have decried the allotment of oil blocs to politicians and businessmen outside the Niger Delta region; and have also picked hole in the word Host Communities whereas the people do not derive any benefit from the black gold in their backyard, just as they reject the federal governments offer of two modular refineries per state.The Ijaw youths averred that two modular refineries were unacceptable; and that it was not capable of stopping oil theft in the region.The youths under the Ijaw Youth council (IYC) worldwide, also called for the relaxation of the preconditions for getting licences for operating the facilities, noting that the terms were capable of taking the establishment of the refineries beyond the reach Niger Delta people.President of the IYC, Mr. Oweilaemi Pereotubo, who briefed the press at the Ijaw House, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, insisted that two modular refineries per state were grossly inadequate and would not stop illegal oil bunkering.Flanked by other exco members, Pereotubo also argued that Acting President Yemi Osinbajos statement that the Niger Delta states would host the refineries was ambiguous.He explained that using the word host was synonymous with what currently obtained where oil blocs were given to all sorts of people outside the region, whereas the Niger Delta was only acting as hosts without benefits.I am not aware that we have up to two Ijaw sons with oil blocs, yet, we have oil. People who own them do not know the colour of crude oil.The federal government must give Niger Delta people oil blocs, the youth leader said.He declared that the federal government must ensure that modular refineries were owned, managed and operated by the Niger Delta people.The Acting President has said each state will host two modular refineries. The active word there is host. We do not know what the Acting President means by hosting.Does host mean ownership or control. We dont know. We want to own and operate modular refineries. What is hosting? It means you will give a licencse to somebody outside Niger Delta to have modular refineries in the Niger Delta, and we will simply host. Its ambiguous. He should expatiate.What two modular refineries is unacceptable and grossly inadequate, we will not take it, we will not allow it, he declared.The youths also issued a 90 days ultimatum to International Oil Companies operation in the Niger Delta to comply with federal government directive to relocate their headquarters to the region.While calling on Prof. Osinbajo to be stern in implementing the directive, the IYC said: We cannot continue to pay the price of having our land suffer from oil exploration activities while other states benefit from the taxes that are due us.The IYC also called for the remediation of the degradation of lands belonging to host communities, demilitarization of the Niger Delta, improvement in infrastructural development and a return to true federalism.The federal system practice in Nigeria is largely faulty, We call on the government, particularly the National Assembly to revisit the laws of resource ownership and the overall restructuring of the Nigerian state, the group said.You are all aware that not too long the Acting President, Yemi Osibanjo had asked all IOCs to relocate their headquarters to the area they producing the oil, but as we speak, the companies have no way to comply with the directive.The IYC President said, it is a ruse to say that the region is not the safe for business, pockets of criminal activities may occur as obtainable in other states, but we restates that our environment is safe and very conducive for business.The 90 days ultimatum started July 12 and in no distance time the 90days will elapse, so, we want immediate compliance with the federal government directive, the President stated.On infrastructural development, the IYC President decried the slow pace in the region and urged the federal government to expedite work on the completion of the East-west road, Trans-Atlantic road and rail-line, Bonny LNG train 7, Brass LNG project, Agge Deep Seaport, export processing zone at Ogidigbien, Deep Seaport, Gbaramatu among others, particularly ownership and the overall restructuring of the Nigerian state. Yemi Osinbajo The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christians Church of God, Pastor Adeboye and his wife, were consulted before Yemi Osinbajo accepted to be Nigeria's vice president. While speaking on Tuesday, the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, said that the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christians Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye and his wife, Dolapo, were the two persons he consulted before accepting to serve as the countrys Vice President in 2015. Osinbajo said he consultation, he disclosed tallied with that of the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, who also said that the highly revered man of God was among the three persons that were consulted before he accepted to join in the 1999 presidential election. The acting president in his perspective of the man Adeoye: His life and calling at the public presentation of a book: Pastor E.A Adeboye: His Life and Calling said that because he was not a politician when the opportunity came, only two persons were in his mind to get their consent. And those two were my wife and Daddy G.O. Over the years, Daddy had been instrumental factor to my spiritual growth. Just like Baba Obasanjo, I consulted Daddy and gave the go-ahead to accept the VP position, before then, I was not a politician, he said. The acting president noted that RCCG was the only Church that has been able to pull the largest gathering at a convention in the world, saying; Apart from Coca-cola, the Church is next in mileage across the world. And it all has to do with sincerity, dedication and humility of Daddy G.O, Osinbajo disclosed. Earlier, Obasanjo who was the chairman at the occasion, described Adeboye as a man who had touched more lives than the politicians in the country, adding that RCCG leaders spiritual prowess personally influenced his life. According to the former President, as a politician, "we are supposed to touch lives, but, for Pastor Adeboye, he has touched more lives than politicians. He has been a man of God with a difference, whom I benefited from personally when I was consulting to contest the 1999 election. Wife of Pastor Adeboye, Folu, said that the book being launched was produced without the knowledge of her husband, because it is part of the year of surprises we are going to be having. She acknowledged the role played by the 40 authors in ensuring that the publication was near perfect, because only God can be perfect, she said. Adeboye in his contribution said that he must have been kept away from the programme for a purpose and that God did not reveal anything to him on it, because if he was foretold, he would not have approved of it. "And the reason is simple, who should be celebrated? Me or the person who sent me on the message? Anyway, just like Baba (Obasanjo) had requested, I forgive you all, Adeboye said. Nigeria has started a $41 billion railway expansion to reduce dependence on oil and diversify its struggling economy by improving transport links to allow the movement of goods around the country and to ports. The plan we have now will go to every nook and corner, Transport Minister Rotimi Amaechi, 52, said in an interview in the capital, Abuja. Africas biggest oil producer is going through its worst economic slump in 25 years following a plunge in the price and output of oil, which accounts for more than 90 percent of foreign income and two-thirds of government revenue. President Muhammadu Buharis Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, presented in March, seeks to boost agriculture and manufacturing by developing the countrys transport network and power infrastructure. Key projects include building a second railway line connecting the nations two biggest cities, the commercial capital, Lagos, and Kano in the north. The 1,100-kilometer (680-mile) line will carry freight and passengers. The government also wants to construct a coastal railway that connects Lagos to the eastern city of Calabar. The two new railways are expected to cost $20 billion, with most of the funding coming from the ExportImport Bank of China, which has so far released $5.9 billion. Chinas Civil Engineering and Construction Co. is building the project and both railways should be ready by the end of 2019, Amaechi said in an interview last week. GE Concession General Electric Co. is leading a group thats rehabilitating Nigerias 3,505 kilometers of century-old, narrow-gauge railways linking the coastal cities of Port Harcourt and Lagos with the north. The group, including SinoHydro of China, South Africas Transnet SOC Ltd. and the Netherlands APM Terminals BV will fund, revamp and operate the railways for a period to be decided in negotiations with the government, the minister said. They won the concession in May. The group plans to invest $2.2 billion, Sabiu Zakari, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Transport, said at the time. Nigeria will then have two links between Lagos and Kano, with the new Chinese-built one allowing trains to travel twice as fast as they can on the existing link. The West African nation is opening up its rail system to private investors following decades of government control. Years of neglect while the nation was in political flux during military rule cut freight-rail capacity to 15,000 metric tons a year in 2005, from 3 million tons four decades earlier, according to the Transport Ministry. Most goods are now transported on worn-out and congested roads. By comparison, Transnet has the capacity to move more than 70 million tons of coal to one South African port annually. The rail in Nigeria was neglected for too long, said Oke Maduegbuna, managing partner at transportation and logistics consultancy Pete, Moss & Sam Ltd. Theres a new awareness among government officials of the economic benefits of a good rail network, the Abuja-based expert said by phone, adding that the new projects would succeed only if there is consistency in their planning and execution. Interstate Network Another $16 billion will be invested in additional rail routes to link up all the countrys state capitals and extend across the northern border into neighboring Nigers southern city of Maradi, according to the Transport Ministry. Amaechi said it was too early to share a timeline or funding details as the government is still talking to investors for this public-private project. The government is also trying to complete a $3 billion line from Abuja to the southern oil hub of Warri by 2018, the minister said. With rail links to the existing and planned deep-sea ports, Nigeria hopes to substantially reduce logistics costs and facilitate exports and imports. Theres no economic development or growth without logistics, and for logistics to be efficient, you have to deal with the issue of railways, said Amaechi. Director-General of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), Aliyu Abubakar Aziz said tripartite efforts of World Bank, the European Union and the commission are under way to issue all Nigerians with the identity card by 2022. The NIMC boss told BBC Hausa Radio that with 19 million already issued the identity number, the commission targets to reach 28 million by the end of 2017, as more registration opportunities are being provided. Aziz said the trio organisations want to provide all Nigerians with the card within the next 3 - 5 years. We register everybody and even children. Once a baby is born, the National Population Commission will register the baby and issue certificate. Then we also register the baby and issue the identity number. This identity number is like the Social Security Number in the United States. It is also like the BVN, Aziz said. He said there would be time when all dealings with government agencies would be tied with the provision of the identity number, which underline the need for all Nigerians to be enrolled. The Director-General said it has been made mandatory by law for all Nigerians to be registered and issued with the identity number, including foreigners legally staying in Nigeria. Foreigners who enter Nigeria legally and could stay for up to two years should get the identity number because going forward, all government offices would ask the number for any activity, he said. When asked about the registration of rural dwellers, he said We have offices in all the local governments, with about 500 of the offices equipped with necessary registration tools. We are also working hard to provide the tools to other local governments. Therefore, our rural communities should go to those offices and they would get their identity number. Dont forget we also have some special centres, like in the universities. He said Nigerians abroad could also register by going to embassies of the country and register. The law says all Nigerians, irrespective of where they are - overseas or here - shall get it. We are partnering with Nigerian Immigration for diaspora Nigerians to go to our embassies and register and their information sent to us. And we then issue the number to them from here, Aziz said. The South African police have arrested a man in connection with the murder of top actor, Dumi Masilela.According to Times Live, the man was arrested last week and is said to also be linked to various other crimes apart from the murder of Rythm City actor, Dumi Masilela.Dumi Masiela who has been buried was murdered on 2nd of August 2017. He was chatting alongside his friend on the side of the road where they parked when thugs in a black SUV approached them. He was shot in the torso and later died in the hospital after battling for his life. Following calls by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, for boycott of elections in Anambra State, a group of lawyers in the state hav... Following calls by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, for boycott of elections in Anambra State, a group of lawyers in the state have petitioned the United Nations, United States, Nigeria Police, the Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), among others. The lawyers, under the aegis of Anambra State Lawyers in Defence of Democracy (ASLAD), urged the AGF to ensure the commencement of a high-powered clinical investigation on the Nnamdi Kanu-led IPOB. They condemned comments by Nnamdi Kanu and IPOB concerning the election and urged the AGF to use instrument and powers of the Nigerian State under his office to deal with IPOB. Their petition reads: The IPOB have taken a position that they would boycott the forthcoming Anambra 2017 elections. We do not have any problem with them on this position. However, our challenge with IPOB is their seeming inability to appreciate the meaning of the word boycott as it relates to Anambra election. We are worried that their mode of propagating their No referendum, no election mantra suggests that the word boycott has another meaning assigned to it in their own dictionary which is disruption of all legitimate activities of government and electioneering activities calculated at striking terror in the minds of the citizens who have made up their mind to discharge their civic duty on the 18th day of November, 2017. Sir, the Nnamdi Kanu led IPOB are always quick to raise the green banner of non-violence and take refuge under its canopied ambience whereas their official dissemination channel, Radio Biafra, is a flowing river of hate-speeches, incitement to violence and war. Hate speech leads to war and war leads to deaths and, therefore, IPOB preaches violence. In the South-East (especially in Onitsha which is our commercial nerve centre), the IPOB miscreants extort money from traders after intimidating them. IPOB hoodlums illegally mount roadblocks to force other citizens to buy their Biafra flags and insignia not minding whether such citizens subscribe to their separatist ideology or whether such citizens have the money to pay for the said flags. They harass citizens and threaten them with violence. The lawyers said that IPOB members intimidate and close shops of marketers in Onitsha and that IPOB street urchins have on two remarkable occasions disrupted campaigns rallies and have most infamously invaded and desecrated St. Josephs Catholic Church, Ekwulobia in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State where the Governor was to worship [with their chants of no referendum, no election]. Indeed, they have a rich history of mischief. The groups petition was copied to the United Nations Mission in Nigeria, Ambassador of the United States to Nigeria, The British High Commissioner to Nigeria, The European Union Mission to Nigeria, National Human Rights Commission, The Inspector-General of Police, The Defence Headquarters. Others copied are The Director-General, Department of State Services, The Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, The Federal House of Representatives, South-East Governors Forum and Anambra Council of Traditional Rulers. The Federal High Court Sitting in Lagos has ruled that the fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by suspected billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, aka, Evans, can proceed.Justice Abdulaziz Anka dismissed the objections of Emmanuel Eze, the counsel for the third and fourth respondents, and agreed with counsel to Evans, Olukoya Ogungbeje, that service on the first and second respondents had been properly effected.The first and second respondents in the suit are the Inspector General of Police and the Nigeria Police Force.The other respondents are the Lagos State Police Commissioner and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad.In his ruling, Justice Anka also held that leave was not required for the matter to be heard during vacation, as Order 4 Rule 5 of the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules of 2009 enjoins the court to pursue speed and justice on issues of fundamental human rights.In the application, the suspected kidnapper, Evans, is challenging his continued detention since June 10 without arraignment.He claims that his parade on June 11 before journalists at the Lagos Police Command headquarters in Ikeja, without a court order, is unconstitutional and illegal.Evan wants the court to award him N300m as exemplary damages for his alleged illegal detention and the alleged harm caused by his media trial.He has also asked the court to order the police authorities to immediately arraign him before a law court, or release him from custody. In what could best be described as a turning point in the ongoing clearance operations in the North East, the Theatre Commander Operation LAFIYA DOLE, Major General Ibrahim Attahiru, launched three mobile strike teams (MST) at the Military Command and Control Centre, Maimalari Military Cantonment, Maiduguri, Borno State.The teams are designed to conduct long range patrols and ambushes deep into the hinterland. It is a mixed of professionally trained special forces mobile with variants of equipment on wheels.The Theatre Command Operation LAFIYA DOLE charged the teams to be discipline, confident, resolute, focused and determined in their task of clearing the remnants of the Boko Haram terrorists wherever they are found.It would be recalled that the MST were trained at Nigerian Army School of Special Forces (NASFS), Buni Yadi, Yobe State recently.Their task is to keep the main supply route and all rural settlements safe.The launch of the MSTs was attended by the Chief of Civil Military Affairs Army Headquarters, Major General Nuhu Angbazo, Component Commanders of Operation LAFIYA DOLE and the Acting General Officers Commanding of 7 Division and 8 Task Force Division respectively. JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. Missouri utility regulators have rejected a proposed high-voltage power line to carry wind power across the Midwest, including Illinois, to eastern states. The decision Wednesday by the Missouri Public Service Commission creates a significant hurdle for Clean Line Energy Partners, which wants to build one of the nation's longest transmission lines, the proposed Grain Belt Express. All the other states along its 780-mile route already have granted approval. The Grain Belt Express line would run from Kansas through Missouri and Illinois to Indiana, where it would connect with a power grid for eastern states. The line would cross 200 miles of Illinois, passing over Pike, Scott, Greene, Macoupin, Montgomery, Christian, Shelby Cumberland and Clark counties. Opponents in Illinois objected to the approval process, but the Illinois Commerce Commission rejected their claims in December 2015. Construction had been due to start this year. Missouri regulators initially rejected the project in 2015, while questioning its benefits and burden on landowners. This time, the regulatory commission cited a recent state appeals court ruling that said utilities must first get consent from affected counties before state approval can be granted. Clean Line lacks local approval from several counties in its path. The Nigerian army has inaugurated special mobile strike force in a renewed onslaught against Boko Haram insurgents in the north-east. The Nigerian army has inaugurated special mobile strike force in a renewed onslaught against Boko Haram insurgents in the north-east. Ibrahim Attahiru, theatre commander, operation Lafiya Dole, made the announcement on Tuesday at the inauguration of the force at Maimalari cantonment, Maiduguri. He said the special strike force was one of the new approaches evolved by the military to end insurgency and enhance security network in the region. The mobile strike force (MST) is launched to deny the insurgents freedom of action and finally decimate them, he said. This specially selected force with mixed equipment and platforms were deployed to achieve the conduct of long range patrols and ambush deep into the hinterlands. All these are in an effort to ensure the success of Operation Lafiya Dole and enhance our operational efficiency, he added. He urged them to be guided by their professional ethics to enable them win the war. Attahiru told the troops that successful campaign against the insurgents would have an indelible mark in the history of counter-insurgency campaign in the north-east. The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, yesterday assured Nigerians that the industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff U... The Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, yesterday assured Nigerians that the industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), may end in two days. In an interview with The Guardian, the Minister stated that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has a policy of engaging unions, including ASUU. I hope and believe that this would be a one or two days strike. We have a policy of engaging the unions, including ASUU and I think now we are very serious. This is the first time in two years that ASUU is declaring a strike, Adamu said. Adamu also held a closed-door meeting with the leader of the Federal Government Renegotiation Team, Dr. B. O Babalakin (SAN). Babalakin had in January, inaugurated the 16-member team to renegotiate the 2009 agreement. Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has condemned the attacks on the Resume or Resign, protesters, describing it as the height of dictatorship and demonstration of intolerance to opposing views by the All Progressives Congress (APC) government.The governor, who said he was particularly miffed by what he called orchestrated attack on the protesters at Wuse market, Abuja yesterday, added that; By arranging hoodlums to attack Nigerians who were exercising their fundamental rights to protest against the government, the APC government has shown that it has lost support and trust of Nigerians.Special Assistant to the governor on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said in a statement issued on Wednesday that Governor Fayose told journalists that any attempt to silence Nigerians, especially those opposed to the APC government will fail.He said it was now more obvious that the APC federal government do not have anything in stock other than destruction of the country.The governor, who maintained that demanding for the health status of the President was the right of Nigerians, said it was funny that armed policemen were available to protect those who protested in support of the APC government, but the same police attacked the Return or Resign protesters.He said; When PDP was in government, these same people in government now held series of protests against the government then. They held Occupy Nigeria to protest against fuel price hike and the Bring Back Our Girls protesters were everywhere then.Even President Muhammadu Buhari led protests in Abuja against PDP government. The President led protesters to the National Assembly to protest against the continued absence of the late President Umaru YarAdua from the country and went ahead to call for YarAduas impeachment.Then, no one was attacked by security men and hoodlums were not set after the protesters as was done in Abuja yesterday.It is therefore shameful that the same people who rode on the back of democratic principles to power are now standing against the rights of Nigerians to complain and the international community should pay special attention to the rule of brute force going on in the country. The #OurMumuDonDo movement has suspended their #ResumeOrResign protests following the Tuesday attack on them by hoodlums at the Wuse Market in Abuja.The group announced the suspension of further protests on Wednesday at the unity fountain, Maitama, saying they needed to restrategise.Members of the movement were attacked by a mob at the Wuse market when the co-convener of the protests led his group to the market to address traders.Read also: #OurMumuDonDo protesters, pro-Buhari group clash in AbujaCharly Boy was about addressing the people when some suspected hoodlums infiltrated the crowd, shouting Sai Baba and hurling stones at the group.Pandemonium broke out with everyone running for dear life.A number of people were injured including a journalist. Controversial entertainer, Charles Oputa (aka Charly Boy) survived an attack on his person yesterday when he attempted to take his Buha... Controversial entertainer, Charles Oputa (aka Charly Boy) survived an attack on his person yesterday when he attempted to take his Buhari must resign or resume campaign to the Wuse market in Abuja.Charly Boy, 66, has been leading a band of two dozens or less to sit out at the Unity Fountain in Abuja campaigning that the president should return home from his medical vacation or quit.He tried to mobilise traders at the market when some who obviously resented his campaign attacked himSome of the people with him and reporters were also manhandled. There was commotion as campaigners ran helter skelter, chased by stone throwing traders.Policemen were called in. Teargas canisters were fired before the musician and his men were rescued. Most of them were battered.A co-convener of the campaign group, Mr. Deji Adeyanju, in a statement, said they were attacked by known supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari while on a visit to Wuse Market.He said the attack was spearheaded by a member of the pro-Buhari support group, who had also been meeting at the Unity Fountain.He said: This attack was completely unprovoked. This is the third in a series of attacks carried out against us, using a combination of policemen and paid hoodlums.It is saddening that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari would rather commit scarce national resources to such underhand tactics than give full disclosure regarding the health of the President.We reiterate commitment to remain resolute in demanding full disclosure regarding the state of health of the President.An eyewitness, who recounted the incident, said: It is possibly a peep into a violent reaction that could erupt should anything happen to President Buhari.We were lucky to have left that place alive; we fled when things were getting rowdy and I doubt if anybody could really narrate how everything suddenly happened.I just looked and saw that nobody was with Charly boy who was running farther into the market; I shouted that he should change direction and run towards the gate.It was my media identity card that saved me but Charly Boy would have been killed because there were many determined people concentrating on stoning him.A trader, Abubakar Aliyu, said he saw Charly Boy being chased like a thief near his stall, adding:The man got what he deserved; how can any sane man come here and be wishing evil towards Buhari?The spokesman of the Federal Capital Territory Police, Anjuguri Manzah, said he could not speak on the incident until an official statement was ready.I cannot say anything, just wait for the official statement please, Manzah statedA former member of the House of Representatives Hon. Bamidele Faparusi, said the president needed prayers rather than the protest.He urged the agitators to pray for the president, saying the attack on them is a sign of the unpopularity of their protests.The All Progressives Congress (APC) chief in Ekiti State, said Buharis resignation as being demanded would not pay anybody.In a statement, the former lawmaker said there was no cause for alarm because from the picture of the president seen last week, he is okay and he is only waiting for his doctors to advise him on when to return.He added that the country had been running well under Acting President Yemi Osinbajo.Faparusi said admitted that Charly Boy and his men had a right to protest, said they did not have to force people to join them.Going by the constitution, Section 145 envisages that a President can be indisposed and unable to discharge his duties. This has been adequately taken care of by extant rules that such a president shall transmit a letter to both chambers of the National Assembly to empower the Vice President to discharge such duties in his absence.Faparusi added: I expect Nigerians to even commend President Buhari and APC for handling the matter meticulously, taking cognisance of what we experienced when a similar situation happened under the PDP regime of the late President Umaru YarAdua when no letter was transmitted to the National Assembly. The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, on Tuesday disclosed that ailing President Muhammadu B... The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, on Tuesday disclosed that ailing President Muhammadu Buhari recently turned back a government official from London where he is currently receiving medical attention for trying to undermine the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo.Shehu said this in an interview on Channels Televisions programme, Sunrise Daily.He gave the example to buttress his position that there was no truth in claims that some ministers were shunning Osinbajo and reporting to Buhari in London where he has been since May 7.He said the official, who he did not name, went to the President with some documents but he (Buhari) turned the official back.He said Buhari made it clear to the official that the man (Osinbajo) that was in charge of the country was in Abuja.It is not true that ministers are going to the United Kingdom and are reporting to the President. I am aware that a senior official had gone to President Buhari in the UK with some documents to treat and the President said no, I wont. The man responsible for the country is in Abuja, go back to him, he said.When told that there was the possibility for those appointed by the President to remain loyal to him, he said, Anybody who says their loyalty will remain with the President who appointed them does not understand the countrys constitution.Once the President has transferred power, if you are the Inspector-General of Police and the Acting President says go and do ABC, you are fined if you dont do it. So, nobody will joke with his job.Shehu said the government official was not fined since the President had made his position clear.That is to show you that this is a law and order President. If it is a President that wants power for his own sake, he could probably have been giving directives from there. But he said no, I cant give directives. I have handed over to the Acting President, he added.Shehu insisted that Buhari had not done anything wrong by not disclosing his health status.He said Nigerians could only hold him responsible if he had promised them earlier that he would make full disclosure of his health status in all circumstances.Shehu recalled that Buhari promised to declare his asset publicly and he did so despite advice from many lawyers that there was no basis for him to do so.Meanwhile, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Bamidele Faparusi, has advised those behind the resume or resign protest against President Buhari to shelve the agitation in the interest of the nation.According to him, Buhari remains a stabilising factor in Nigeria, urging the protesters to pray for his speedy recovery instead.Faparusi, a governorship aspirant in Ekiti State, said the protesters should not feign ignorance about the complex ethnic groups in the country, adding that Buharis resignation would cause animosity and create tension.In a statement in Ado Ekiti, Faparusi, who agreed that the protesters had their rights as permitted under democracy, argued that the President had not contravened the constitution by seeking medical attention in London after transmitting power to Osinbajo.As much as I was not oblivious of the rights of Nigerians to protest against their leaders, one should not also shy away from stating the fact that our lives as a people are being governed by the constitution and cultural values.What worries me most is that these people are in this country when economic saboteurs and corruption merchants are on rampage raping our economy and common wealth to death and yet no such protest takes place. Protest against Buhari to me is a misplaced priority. The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, created a scene at the Youth Centre of the Redemptio... The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, created a scene at the Youth Centre of the Redemption Camp, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, on Tuesday, when he kissed his wife, Folu Adeboye, on the stage during a book presentation in his honour.Adeboye, who expressed surprise at the occasion, said he would have stopped the project if he knew about it, adding that he was undeserving of the honour.Present on the occasion were Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo; former President Olusegun Obasanjo; Presiding Bishop of the Living Faith Church, Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo; and the General Overseer, Trinity House, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo.Folu told the audience that she hid information about the book from her husband for one year, adding that she planned it to coincide with his 75th birthday.While standing with Adeboye on the stage, together with their four children, she said her hubby was only informed about the event a day before.The Master of Ceremonies teased Folu to tell the audience the pet names she gave her husband, demanding an expression of love since the occasion also marked 50 years of their marriage.Pastor ID, why are you fast? This is just presentation of a book, not marriage anniversary. Whatever you want, I will do it, she replied, as she hugged the husband and went on to kiss him as the audience erupted in excitement.Adeboye, in his remark, expressed surprise at the book presentation, which was written by 40 people.He said, The event of today, without any doubt, has been a great surprise to me. This is because my wife hid it from me, and we dont normally hide anything from each other, because we have been married for 50 years and we are still on honeymoon.Why the event is a surprise to me is that God also hid it for me. I had no inkling at all from my Daddy that something like this is happening. If God hid it from me, it must mean that He approved of it. My wife knows that if I had any idea about what is happening today, it will never happen. I would have stopped it long ago because who am I without Jesus Christ? If there is anyone to be celebrated, it should be Him.People say I am humble, but people need to know where I am coming from. I cannot say I have any ability or wisdom. Everything has been the Lord Himself. When I was about 40 and I saw grey hairs on my head, I wondered why and God said I was carrying a burden that was not mine.God said, I am just using you as camouflage. People need to see someone. So, I am putting you forward so that I can do the work from behind. So, everything that is happening in RCCG, nothing is of Adeboye at all; it is all about God. So, for you to say you are writing a book about somebody that is nothing, someone who has almost zero beginning, from a poor family and passed through secondary school by Gods grace. For God to allow today to happen without telling me, it can only be that He wants to draw your attention to Himself that if you allow Him, He will do great things, using you as camouflage.Adeboye said it was a miracle he was at the occasion as he had slept one hour a night during the seven-day convention of the church which ended on Sunday.While appreciating people who wished he lived long, he said he would die when his assignment was over.All those who prayed for me to be 80, I said amen. Those who said 90, I said amen to them, but those who said I would be 100, I did not answer them. Then someone said I would live to 120 and I said what would God say I did wrong to keep me for another 50 years? I will go as soon as I finish my assignment, he added.The cleric lauded his wife for always standing by him, saying she was the greatest gift he had aside from the Holy Spirit.While recounting a year when they both fasted for 40 days three times over an issue, Adeboye said his wife refused to back out when he asked her to stop.If you can find a woman that can stand by you with 40 days of prayer and fasting, first, second, third time and willing to go with you as long as possible, then I will classify your wife as second to mine. Without my wife, I cannot be doing what I am doing today, he said.The cleric later presented his four children to the gathering, describing them as Gods gifts to his family.Earlier, former President Obasanjo had narrated how he consulted Adeboye before accepting to run for President in 1999.He said after meeting Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu in South Africa, who encouraged him to go ahead, he sought counsel from Adeboye.He said, For doing nothing, I was sent to prison. I came out of prison, and some people came running after me to contest to be President of Nigeria. I wondered that the one I did before, what did I get out of it? Prison! And now, you want me to do another one, that will be double prison.And when you are at crossroads, you need the direction of God to know which way to follow. I prayed and fasted and wasnt satisfied. I decided to go to South Africa to meet people I had high regard for: Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu. Mandela said I should follow my instinct. Tutu said I should not be tired of serving my people.I came back home to see pastor. And I told my story. We prayed and he said you can go, when God tells me what I should tell you, I will call for you. I was surprised that Mandela and Tutu gave me answers on the spot, but he said I should go. When will God tell him?A couple of weeks or thereabouts, I was sent for and he said God had said I should go ahead. If there was any doubt in my mind, all were gone.I picked my Bible to read while returning home and it was the Book of Esther that I opened. I saw where Esther was told that maybe it is because of this that God has brought you here.Obasanjo, who noted that politicians were supposed to influence the lives of the masses positively, said Pastor Adeboye had done more than politicians in this regard.He said, As politicians, we are supposed to touch lives, but, for Pastor Adeboye, he has touched more lives than politicians. He has been a man of God with a difference, whom I benefited from personally when I was consulting to contest the 1999 election.He added that it was the wife of the General Overseer that invited him, without the knowledge of the husband, asking that Adeboye should forgive them for this.Obasanjo said, I was told not to reveal my coming here by Mummy (Adeboyes wife). How can I come to you without calling you? But, that was the instruction. Until I am in this hall, I never see anything about this programme. That means we have committed sins by keeping this secret from you and we seek for forgiveness from you and I am sure we have been forgiven.While I was in prison, Abacha had said three of usmyself, Shehu YarAdua, MKO Abiola, none of us will come out alive. Two of them did not come out of prison alive, but I came out. Not because I was clever, good and upright. It was all because of the grace of God. Sir, I thank you for helping me to make the right decision at that crucial time of my life. He, who does not respect this man, does not respect God.The Acting President, Osinbajo, who was Adeboyes protocol officer, said he accepted to run as the Vice-President after the cleric asked him not to reject the nomination.Osinbajo, who also defended Adeboyes use of private jet because the RCCG was in more than 180 countries of the world, second to Coca-Cola with branches in 200 countries, cited three different instances when the pastor influenced his life positively.He said his passport had been stolen in South Africa for about three months when Adeboye prayed for him and the thief returned it when he had lost all hope.The Acting President said about a month later, his second daughter, who was ill and at the point of death was healed after a prayer by the cleric.Of course, many know that I am not a politician and I was not a politician when I was nominated to be the vice-president. What I told those who approached me was that I would speak with two people-my wife and daddy (Adeboye). People around me said he would say no. I was also quite certain that he would say Dont bother or let us just think about it. But I was surprised when he told me that if I was nominated, I must accept it. He was categorical about it, he added. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it has recovered N553.77million from corrupt politicians in the South East. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it has recovered N553.77million from corrupt politicians in the South East.The Zonal Head of Operations of the commission, Mr Johnson Babalola, made this disclosure at a news briefing on Tuesday in Enugu.Babalola said the news briefing was held to acquaint members of the public on the activities of the commission in the past seven months.He said that the recovered funds were part of the public funds the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) illegally appropriated to itself to prosecute the 2015 general elections in the zone.He said that the commission recovered N300 million, N82.5 million and N60 million from chieftains of the party in Ebonyi, Abia and Enugu States respectively.We have recovered N300 million out of N400 million in Ebonyi. In Abia, we recovered N82.5 million out of N450 million while we got N60 million in Enugu out of N450 million.However, we are facing some challenges in Anambra and Imo but the commission is working on them, he said.Babalola said that the commission had resolved to prosecute all staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Imo, Anambra and Enugu found culpable as soon as the courts resumed from vacation.Within the period, we received a total of 503 petitions from Nigerians out of which 333 were approved for investigation while others not under our the purview of the EFCC were referred to sister agencies.We charged 88 of such cases to court and have so far obtained five convictions, he said.Babalola said that the judiciary had been of immense help in line with its constitutional mandate in spite of the antics of the suspects.Some of them have sued us for fundamental rights violations and enforcement but the judiciary has been cooperating with us.We have not been found to have impugned on the rights of others, he said.He said that the then executive members of the PDP in Abia were under investigation for their alleged complicity in the 2015 campaign fund fraud.Recovering stolen funds from politically exposed persons is not easy. The people we are dealing with take painstaking efforts to perfect the fraud.Some of the money had left the shores of this country and we have written the foreign countries from here, he said.Babalola said that the stolen funds must be returned to the Federal Government coffers.We have discovered some of the bogus projects used by the corrupt politicians to corner the stolen funds and very soon we shall come out with our findings, Babalola said. (NAN) Matthew lduoriyekemwen, a founding member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Edo State and former governorship aspirant in the 2016 governorship election, has resigned his membership of the PDP.Iduoriyekemwen, who was a member of the Alhaji Ali-Modu Sheriff faction, before the Supreme Courts verdict which gave Ahmed Makarfi-led faction victory, announced his resignation from the party while addressing his supporters in Benin City on Tuesday.He disclosed that he had tendered his resignation letter to the leadership of the party, both at the State and national level, adding that his next line of action would soon be made public.This decision has not been easy, but I have decided that it will be in the best interest for my political career, business and family. It is with nostalgia that I came to this decision which I believe will suit my political interest and those of my numerous supporters across the length and breadth of Edo State and beyond.To resign from a party that I participated in its formation in 1998 and remained a steadfast and loyal member and leader till my exit this day, I believe that the PDP which we formed years ago is no longer the PDP we have today, after it was hijacked by persons who run the party as their personal estate, he said in his resignation letter.Iduoriyekemwen, who was a former Majority Leader of the State House of Assembly, later became the States representative in the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).Though he did not disclose his next political move, it is being rumoured that the former governorship hopeful and his supporters may soon join the All Progressives Congress (APC). A Nigerian working alone around Abuja has stirred a global hunt as he orchestrated numerous malware infection campaigns targeting more th... A Nigerian working alone around Abuja has stirred a global hunt as he orchestrated numerous malware infection campaigns targeting more than 4,000 organisations globally over the past four months, a cyber security company claimed. www.Securityweek.com quoting Check Point security researchers said the attacks targeted various companies in industries such as oil & gas, manufacturing, banking, and construction, in an attempt to steal data and commit fraud. Many of the companies are leading international names and some have had their defenses breached by the attacks, the security researchers reveal. According to Check Point, at least a dozen companies confirmed they have been infected during the campaign, including a marine and energy solutions company in Croatia, a transportation company in Abu Dhabi, a mining company in Egypt, a construction company in Dubai, an oil & gas firm in Kuwait, and a construction organization in Germany. Despite the large scale campaign, behind it is not an expert gang of cybercriminals or a nation state actor, but a relatively unskilled man in his mid-20s, operating from a location near the capital of Nigeria, Check Point discovered. Working on his own, the Nigerian uses fraudulent emails seemingly coming from oil and gas giant Saudi Aramco, the worlds second largest daily oil producer. The phishing messages target financial departments within companies in an attempt to trick employees into revealing company bank details or into opening a malware-infected attachment. The malware used in these attacks includes NetWire, a remote access Trojan that provides its operator with full control over infected machines, and Hawkeye, a software for logging key strokes (malware already associated with Nigerian cybercriminals). The attacks eventually resulted in a total of 14 successful infections. The cybercriminal ended up earning thousands of dollars in the process, the researchers said. Despite showing a low level of cyber-skills, using crude and unsophisticated fraudulent emails, with almost no research or social engineering involved in creating them, the attacker was successful in his attempts. The attacker used generic email titles, phrased as Dear Sir/Ms, sent the same email to numerous targets, all in blind carbon copy, urging victims to send back banking details, perhaps for future scams. He sent the emails from email addresses sale.cement_till_tw@yahoo.com, and cciticarinternational@yahoo.com. The fraudster used old, generic and readily available online malware, as well as freeware to scrape email addresses from corporate websites and used them as targets for his campaigns. The fact that the campaign was still effective, despite using only basic cyber-criminal techniques, highlights just how much of a problem these business email compromise (BEC) attacks have become, Check Point said. Since uncovering the campaign and establishing its origins, Check Points research team has notified law enforcement authorities in Nigeria and internationally and shared its findings with them. Checkpoint said the Nigerian in his 20s operates social media accounts, where you he uses the motto: get rich or die trying. His attack campaign uses fraudulent emails which appear to originate from oil and gas giant Saudi Aramco, the worlds second largest daily oil producer, targeting financial staff within companies to trick them into revealing company bank details, or open the emails malware-infected attachment. Last year, the FBI revealed that losses caused by BEC scams exceeded $3.1 billion. Victims are estimated to lose between $25,000 and $75,000 on average, per attack. However, its not only financial losses that victims should be concerned about, but also the fact that the malware used by the criminal to infect organizations gives remote control over infected machines, and can perform keylogging functions. This enables harvesting of a variety of information from infected machines, such as details on the companies operations, assets and intellectual property. Such details could be worth much more than the thousands of dollars obtained by fraud, Check Point says. Another alarming aspect was that some of the targets are energy and infrastructure companies, which the unsophisticated cybercriminal was able to easily breach. Not only was the attacker able to compromise the networks of several large organizations, but he also managed to distribute his malware globally and remain under the radar for a long while. This highlights the need for all organizations to improve their security to protect against phishing and business email compromise scams, and to educate their employees to be cautious about opening emails, even from companies or individuals that they recognize, Check Point said. DECATUR Dog Haus, a Pasadena-based restaurant chain, plans to open a new location in the former Ruby Tuesday building, located at 4405 E. U.S. Route 36. The news comes almost a year after American Development Partners, a restaurant development firm, purchased the building for $1 million in Oct. 2016. The firm is also opening Dog Haus restaurants in 19 other states, including Michigan and Ohio, according to a news release on Dog Haus' website. The 1.85-acre site was previously owned by Store Master Funding II, LLC, and has been vacant since Ruby Tuesday closed abruptly in July 2016. Information on when the new restaurant will open was not available Tuesday. A company spokesman referred questions to the local franchise owner, who could not immediately be reached for comment. Dog Haus' website said that the chain was founded in 2010, and specializes in serving hot dogs, hamburgers and ice cream. Details have emerged of how Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, convinced Nigerian striker, Olanrewaju Kayode, to snub a move to Newcastle United.Kayode arrived England for talks with the Magpies, after the club secured permission to hold talks with him from Austrian side, Austria Wien.However upon his arrival in England, words got to City about his availability and minutes later Guardiola was on speaking with him on the phone.The conversation didnt last beyond 30 minutes , Guardiola told him how he will integrate him into his team in the nearest future, and assured him he will get his chance with the team soon, a source told Owngoalnigeria.com.Guardiola made it known to him that he fits into his style of play, and the move to Spain where he will join Girona on loan is so because he isnt eligible for a work permit yet.I will say Newcastle United were too confident of their chances of landing him (Kayode), and manager Rafa Benitez didnt sound convincing as much as Guardiola when he spoke with Kayode. The former aide of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, has said thatif President Muhammadu Buhari and his Senior Special Assistant to the Garba Shehu are willing to learn the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, can arrange a course for them and tutor them on the subject-how to grow your economy to be the largest in Africa.Reno Omokri in a statement on Tuesday, refuting Shehus claim that there was no capital project completed under Jonathans PDP government said: It is quite sad that Garba Shehu does not know that oil constitutes only 15 per cent of Nigerias GDP and thus a fall in the price of oil should not lead to a collapse of the Nigerian economy as has been experienced under President Buhari.Omokri further said that the Federal University in President Buharis state, Katsina was built by the Jonathan administration in addition to 13 other universities and 165 Almajiri schools built all over Nigeria.For people who dont value education, I am not surprised that they see this as nothing to show!Below are excerpt of the statementIf Garba and his boss are willing to learn, the Jonathan Foundation and the Peoples Democratic Party can arrange a course for them to be tutored on the subject-how to grow your economy to be the largest in Africa. We make bold that we are experienced in that area.Obviously Garba Shehu has forgotten that when his boss was commissioning the Abuja-Kaduna 187KM fast railway that enables Nigerians work in Abuja and live in Kaduna, he was forced to admit that the project was conceived, built and completed by the Jonathan administration.At that event, President Muhammadu Buhari said about the $1.5 billion project and I quote This project was conceived by a previous administration, started by the last government. My question to Mr. Shehu is this-who is a liar between him and his boss?I also urge Garba Shehu to take note of the fact that the only Federal University in his bosss home state of Katsina was built by the Jonathan administration in addition to 13 other universities and 165 Almajiri schools built all over Nigeria. For people who dont value education, I am not surprised that they see this as nothing to show!No wonder they are against restructuring and want to throw the report of the 2014 National Conference into the dustbin, he said.Mr. Garba Shehu would do well to remember that his boss promised Nigerians 3 million jobs every year. Rather, according to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, 4.58 million jobs, created by the Jonathan led PDP administration, were lost in his bosss first year.How can a defeated Boko Haram now have the ability to kidnap policewomen and oil explorers? How can a defeated Boko Haram attack military formations? How can a defeated Boko Haram carry out more suicide bombings in the last eight months than at any other time in Nigerias history?Garba Shehu can continue living in his fools paradise but he should give Nigerians more credit than to issue the pathetic tissue of lies that he called a response to former President Jonathans comments at this past weekends non elective Congress of the PDP.The time for propaganda is long gone. Anybody who wants to differ should speak to those issues raised, and not boasts about accomplishments that are not visible. The succeeding administration has been on the saddle for more than half of its four-year tenure. A coalition of Niger Delta Youth groups today stormed Abuja where they held a solidarity rally for President Buhari. A coalition of Niger Delta Youth groups today stormed Abuja where they held a solidarity rally for President Buhari. The youth groups converged at the Unity fountain from where they proceeded to the gates of Aso Rock where they met with presidential media aides, Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu. The youths declared their full support for the Buhari-led administration. According to the leader of the youths, Johnny Michael, there is nothing wrong in President Buhari's absence from the country since he formally handed over power to acting president Yemi Osinbajo. The police authorities have asked a Federal High Court in Lagos to compel the counsel to suspected kidnap kingpin, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike alias Evans, Mr. Olukoya Ogungbeje to pay a punitive cost of N300,000 for alleged wrongful service of the court processes on parties in the suit.Evans, through Ogungbeje, had filed a N300 million fundamental enforcement rights suit against the Inspector-General of Police, IG, the Nigerian Police Force, NPF, Commissioner of Police, CP, Lagos State and the Lagos State Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, as second, alleging wrongful detention.The suit was stalled before Justice Abdulaziz Anka on July 20, following Ogungbejes failure to comply with a July 13 order to pay the police N20,000 as cost.However, at the hearing in the matter, yesterday, Ogungbeje informed Justice Anka that the cost was paid on August 10.He said that he had complied with the courts order to serve the respondents and that the matter was ripe for hearing.But counsel to the CP and SARS, Emmanuel Eze, opposed his submission, explaining that the absence of counsel to the IG and NPF, was due to the fact that Ogungbeje failed to serve them in Abuja as directed by the court.He said: It is not true that the matter is ripe for hearing. This is a fundamental rights enforcement suit brought by the applicant. He has not got the leave of court for the matter to be heard during vacation. That is the condition precedent to hearing any matter during vacation.Relying on Section 215 of the Constitution and Order 5 Rule 8 of the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules 2009, Eze added that the CP Lagos State and the IGP were distinct personalities.Ogungbeje, he stated, had only served the CP at Alagbon in Lagos but was yet to serve the IGP in Abuja, adding: Our submission is that he has not taken steps to clothe this court with jurisdiction to hear this case.Since Ogungbeje has refused to do the right thing, we are asking the court for costs of N300,000, Eze addedOgungbeje in reply, maintained that the IG and NPF were served on June 29 at the addresses contained on the originating motion and the proof of service was in the courts file. President Muhammadu Buharis Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said protesters should go and look for jobs, if ... President Muhammadu Buharis Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said protesters should go and look for jobs, if they have nothing to do. Shehu said this while reacting to the various protest over the continued stay of the President in London, who is treating an undisclosed ailment. Featuring on Channels television, Shehu said Buhari fulfilled all constitutional requirements before embarking on his medical vacation to London. He said, This is a democracy, and we respect the citizens rights to demonstrate. All of this is coming from a band of less than two dozen persons who have their antecedents that are known to us, and they will be dictating to the country what to do? Majority of Nigerians are on the same page, they have given the President enough trust, and I can assure you what is ahead is far better. The President did the right thing by following strictly the requirements of the constitution and handed over power to the vice-president. The government is running very well; we dont have any difficulties. Lets focus on the big issues, dealing with the mountains of corruption and the insecurity and the economy which is coming back now. Please dont upset the apple cart. They should go and find work if they dont have anything to do. The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the terror attack in Nigeria that left 30 people killed and over 80 injured.On Tuesday, three suicide attacks hit a refugee camp and a market in the village of Konduga near Maidguri.No organisation has claimed responsibility for the attack.We decisively condemn any manifestation of extremism and violence against civilians as well as consistently support the efforts of the Nigerian leadership to fight the terrorism threat, primarily with criminal activities of the Boko Haram group, the statement issued on Wednesday said.The ministry also expressed condolences to the victims relatives and friends.We express our sincere condolences to the relatives and friends of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured people, the statement said.The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that no Russian citizens were injured as a result of the terror attack.Boko Haram militants launched large-scale attacks in northeastern Nigeria in 2009 and bombed a UN office in Abuja in 2011, killing 21 people.They have also kidnapped thousands during the years of insurgency to fund their efforts aimed at introducing a strict Sharia law in the region.Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad are engaged in military operations to fight Boko Haram.NAN reports that authorities said no fewer than 45 of 82 victims of the suicide bomb attack have been transferred from the General Hospital, Konduga, to State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri.A doctor at the general hospital, who pleaded anonymity, told newsmen on Wednesday that 17 people were brought in dead to the facility.The doctor said three others died at a hospital in Maiduguri.Initially, 17 persons and three suicide bombers were killed at the scene of the attack, while three others, including a child, died at the hospital in Maiduguri.We are providing treatment to the victims admitted in the hospital while those with serious cases were referred to Maiduguri, the doctor said.Malam Abdullahi Danbatta, the Head of Rescue Team, State Emergency Management Agency, said the agencys team evacuated three bodies from the hospital in Maiduguri to Konduga.Danbatta added that the team evacuated more than 40 people with serious injuries to the Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri.The Commissioner of Police in Borno, Mr Damian Chukwu, had confirmed 16 dead and 82 injured in the attack.Chukwu said the police had visited and rendered the scene and vicinity of the attack safe and restored normalcy in the area.Tuesdays attack occurred two days after Boko Haram insurgents sacked a nearby village, Wanori-Amarwa, killed four persons and maimed two others.Konduga is one of the towns liberated by the military from the Boko Haram insurgents.Following the military action, thousands of displaced persons who took refuge at various camps returned to their homes in the area.The town is 25km from Maiduguri and has a population of more than 20, 000.Meanwhile, Mr Buana Makinta, a relation of one of the victims, expressed concern over the alleged lack of medications at the regional hospital.Makinta alleged that the patients were not provided medications many hours after they were admitted at the hospital.The medical personnel are handicapped; they only washed the blood and applied bondage to the wounds.None of the victims is provided medications due to lack of drugs at the hospital, Makinta alleged.He called on the government and donor agencies to provide drugs and a generator for the hospital to save lives. Activist cum social Engineer, Charly boy otherwise known as the the area father has reacted to Tuesday attack launched against his crew... Activist cum social Engineer, Charly boy otherwise known as the the area father has reacted to Tuesday attack launched against his crew at Wuse market abuja. The showbiz impresario, who alongside #ReturnorResign group has been protesting the continuous stay of President Muhammed Buhari in the UK, was yesterday attacked at the Wuse market, Abuja where one of his aides was terribly injured and his BMW car vandalized. Reacting to the incident, the AreaFada said he does not care if he dies today fighting for the course of the nation. Charlyboy who was particularly touched, lamented the deteriorating Nigerian system, saying I cry for Nigeria, I cry for the future of the young generation, I cry for our youths. I have done my own and I will continue to do my own. If I died yesterday at Wuse market, I would have gone to the creator fulfilled, he said. Narrating what transpired at the market, Charlyboy denied going to the market to protest, saying he only went there to pick up some items after they had concluded their Tuesday protest at the Unity Fountain. Like I said, I did not go to the market to protest, I went with a few of my guys to pick up an item and in the process, the same people who have been attacking us stormed the market in a bus, mobilized some thugs, particularly the almajiris to attack us. Narrating further, he said he would have been killed if not for the defence put up by one of his aides, who stopped one of the thugs from stabbing me with a dagger. I did not really care, I was just walking away and suddenly a man attacked me from behind with a dagger, in the process one of the guys came to my defense. When I was been taken away, they insisted on burning him alive. They had mobilized and gathered some tyres to set him ablaze before he took off from the scene, but before then, he had been brutalized. Even when he tried to run into a moving taxi, he was dragged out. He however held on, you really need to see his legs, he is currently in one of the hospitals. Speaking on the incident being a ploy by the Nigerian Government to frustrate the ongoing protest, CB said they can stop us from protesting on the street, they can attack us, but they wouldnt stop us from talking. As far as I am concerned, our protest will continue until Buhari returns or resigns. He told our reporter that even though his car had been damaged by the pro-Buhari protesters, it was worth the sacrifice for the survival of ones nation. HACKENSACK - When police pulled over a nervous Gerald Flores last June, they found seven bundles of cash wrapped tightly in plastic, tucked away in a hidden compartment in his SUV, authorities said. Gerald Flores (BCPO) When they counted the money, it totaled $324,000, authorities said. What's more, the money smelled like cocaine, the prosecutor said. "While counting the currency, it gave off a distinct odor of cocaine," Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal wrote in a civil forfeiture complaint filed this month. No drugs were found in the vehicle, but Flores, 46, of The Bronx, has been charged with transporting or possessing property believed to be derived from criminal activity, authorities said. Detectives with the prosecutor's office had received tips as far back as April that Flores was distributing narcotics along the East Coast, Grewal said. In May, they found out Flores was headed to New Jersey and detectives pulled him over in Hackensack for allegedly following another car too closely. Flores told them he was going to visit his daughter. "Flores appeared nervous and his hands began to tremble and he struggled to maintain eye contact," the prosecutor said in the complaint. When detectives asked if they could search the vehicle, Flores refused. So they called out a drug-sniffing police dog. "The K-9 provided a positive reaction to the odor of narcotics," according to the complaint. In addition to the cash that smelled like coke, the complaint states officers found a zippered bag containing another $3,000, another $1,040 in cash elsewhere in the car; three iPhones and an iPad with a keyboard, Grewal said. The prosecutor alleges the cash and property were used to commit drug crimes and filed the forfeiture suit against Flores on Aug. 7 in Bergen County Superior Court. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. TEANECK - The family of college student Weiqi Wang, who was killed by a car last year near Fairleigh Dickinson University, will receive a $900,000 settlement in her death, according to New Jersey Law Journal. Weiqi Wang (Facebook) Wang, 26, was a graduate student at the university when she died Nov. 26, 2016, about four hours after being struck by a 2004 Subaru Outback as she crossed River Road in Teaneck, according to police. The driver was identified by police as Carlos A. Poole, 49, of New Milford. He was issued motor-vehicle summonses for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, careless driving and obstructed view, police said. "The accident investigation determined that driver inattention was the main contributing factor in the accident," Teaneck police said in a statement shortly after Wang's death. Wang's family agreed earlier this summer to settle a claim with USAA, the insurance carrier for Poole, the family's attorney, Christopher DiGirolamo, told New Jersey Law Journal. DiGirolamo said he would have filed a lawsuit in Bergen County Superior Court had the claim not been settled, according to the report. Anthony G. Attrino may be reached at tattrino@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyAttrino. Find NJ.com on Facebook. CAMDEN -- A vengeful American Airlines flight attendant "viciously" ruined a woman's wedding dress with red wine as she flew to her wedding in Jamaica, the bride claims in a new lawsuit. Yewande Oteh and her family are suing the airline, arguing that it failed to prevent or investigate the 2015 incident. Oteh claims she watched as flight attendant Melanie Masters put something into the overhead bin where her dress was stored by itself shortly after they had a heated exchange about where her gown could be stored. The destruction of the dress a week before the wedding derailed the celebrations, made Oteh distraught and physically sick, and "has caused a lifetime of damage," the suit says. Oteh, a recent law school graduate, lived in Cherry Hill at the time. Oteh's mother and the attorney representing the family in the suit, Yvette Sterling, told The Courier-Post that Oteh now lives in Boston. Oteh, her husband, Chidi Oteh, and their 9-month-old son were flying from Philadelphia to Jamaica, where her grandparents live, for their wedding Aug. 14, 2015. The suit says that a ticket agent at the airport told Oteh that she should carry her dress onto the plane and hang it a closet. But Oteh claims that when she boarded, carrying her baby and the dress in a carrier bag, and asked Masters where she could hang the dress, Masters "became indignant and agitated, and began to talk to plaintiff in a hostile aggressive way, instructing her that the closet space was not for passengers." As instructed, Oteh instead found a space in an empty overhead bin in first class. The engaged couple took their seats and Oteh watched the overhead bin carefully, "fearful that flight attendant may take out the aggression on herself, her wedding gown, or her family," according to the suit. At one point, she claims she witnessed Masters "open the bin with her right hand, while something was occupying her left hand" that Oteh couldn't identify. Later in the flight, Masters and another flight attendant again opened the bin holding the dress, the suit says. When they landed, the couple was dismayed to find that the dress was soaked through with what they later determined was red wine, according to the suit. There was no bottle or other source of the wine in the compartment and they were sure that no one had accessed the overhead bin other than Masters. They sought out airport police, who they said stopped the plane as it was departing and questioned the flight staff. The suit does not say what became of that investigation. The lawsuit says Oteh was so stressed by the loss of the dress, which could not be cleaned before the wedding, if at all, that she was sick and missed some of the wedding activities that week. She said she also spent hours looking for a new dress in Jamaica before her sister flew back to Florida and bought several for her to choose from. "Plaintiff failed to enjoy the wedding as she was in a dress that was not the one she spent months looking for," Sterling wrote in the lawsuit. The family claims that American Airlines didn't properly investigate the complaints filed against Masters and denied wrongdoing. Asked to respond, a spokesperson for the airline said only that it was reviewing the lawsuit. The family is seeking damages as well as costs and fees, claiming the airline was negligent and intentionally inflicted emotional distress and caused Oteh "physical and mental injuries." The suit also names as a defendant US Airways Group, which merged with after the incident in 2015. Masters is not named as a defendant. Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook. DECATUR The court cases of the two men involved in the officer-involved shooting incident in Decatur continue to grind their way through the legal system. Donald L. Redmon, 33, who was shot in the back while police said he was armed and fleeing from a police traffic stop May 31, had his case reviewed Monday and is due back in Macon County Circuit Court on Sept. 18 for a status hearing. Redmon has pleaded not guilty to charges that include armed violence, possession of drugs with intent to deliver and being an armed habitual criminal. He has been in the Macon County Jail since recovering from his wounds. Redmon is also due to face a jury trial Sept. 18 on unrelated trespass charges. The officer who fired the shots, Detective Jeffrey Hockaday, was found to have acted justifiably by Macon County State's Attorney Jay Scott, who announced his decision Aug. 8. Scott reached his conclusion after reviewing an extensive investigation carried out by the Illinois State Police. Scott has said he could not answer questions about the shooting circumstances until the pending cases are resolved. Police said Dallas C. Vorties, 30, was driving the car Redmon was in. He has pleaded not guilty to an armed violence charge after police said he was armed and also ran from them the traffic stop. Vorties has also pleaded not guilty to possession of drugs with intent to deliver and possession of a weapon by a felon. His case came up for a pretrial hearing Tuesday and was then set for jury trial Oct. 24. Vorties is being held in the Macon County Jail. The Macon County Public Defender's Office will not comment about the pending cases and said it has a policy of not making comments to the media. This story was updated with comments from Reasoner's family. GLOUCESTER TWP. -- Police said that the father and his two children who were reported missing Monday have been found safe. Raymond Reasoner III, 40, his daughter Raegan, 1, and son Raymond IV, 3, were all reported missing from a home on Church Street in the Blackwood section of the township Monday afternoon. Authorities originally said they had concerns for their safety. Gloucester Township police said in a release Tuesday night that Reasoner and his children were out of the state when they were found. Police said the children were safe and no charges will be filed. Reasoner's niece, Samantha Reasoner, said Wednesday that Reasoner apparently decided to take a vacation with his children. But he failed to tell the people he lives with, his uncle and two nieces, so they were worried when he disappeared. "I am just grateful to know that my cousins and uncle are safe and for now that's all I can ask for," Samantha Reasoner said. She thanked everyone who shared their photos and worked on the investigation. "A serious, serious thank you to the Gloucester Township Police," she said. "They were very timely with all of their efforts in finding my family, and my family and I are forever grateful." Gloucester Township police said they worked with the U.S. Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force Camden Division, Federal Bureau of Investigations Field Offices of Philadelphia and Washington D.C., police in Washington, D.C., and the Camden County prosecutor's office. The National Center For Missing and Exploited Children and A Child Is Missing also assisted in getting the word out, police said. Rebecca Everett may be reached at reverett@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @rebeccajeverett. Find NJ.com on Facebook. TRENTON -- New Jersey's vocational-technical schools, including some of the state's top specialized high schools, are turning away students and need an influx of cash to upgrade and expand, top state lawmakers said Tuesday. Voters would be asked to approve a major bond issue -- perhaps as much as $300 million to $400 million -- to expand and equip the state's vo-tech schools, under a plan proposed by Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and state Sen. Bob Gordon (D-Bergen). "Expanding high-quality vocational-technical education is critical to our state's future economic growth and the prosperity of our workforce," Sweeney said at a press conference. "Our excellent county vocational-technical schools were forced to turn away 15,500 qualified applicants last year, even though our increasingly high-tech employers have job vacancies they cannot fill due to a shortage of middle-skilled workers." The bond question would appear on the November 2018 ballot, if approved by the state legislature and the governor. The goal is to use the money to train more students to work in manufacturing, bio-tech and other industry jobs, lawmakers said. Vo-tech schools, which traditionally trained students in welding, cosmetology and other fields, have expanded in recent decades to include more high-tech offerings. Many county vo-tech districts have started specialized high schools for top students, including High Technology High School in Monmouth County and Union County Magnet High School, that rank among the hardest-to-get-into in the state. Vo-tech school leaders said they would welcome an influx of money. "While the demand varies by county and by program, on a statewide average, there are almost 2.4 applicants for every available seat in our schools," said Judy Savage, executive director of the New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools. "The time is right for a major investment in high quality career and technical education programs, which are provided most cost-effectively at the county level, where students from all local schools can have access to the programs and specialized equipment." A newly-created, bi-partisan Legislative Manufacturing Caucus will meet in Paterson next month to come up with a package of legislation that will include the bond proposal, lawmakers said. The panel will recommend how much the state should propose borrowing for the vo-tech schools, though Sweeney estimated the bond question would ask taxpayers to approve between $300 million and $400 million. Staff writer Adam Clark contributed to this report. Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook. DECATUR Three Eisenhower High School students sat on a bench in front of Baum School on Tuesday debating the best messages to chalk onto the walks leading to the door. The principal (Tanya Young) gave us some ideas, said sophomore Kandrey Cogan. After further discussion, freshman Ethan Greene took an orange piece of chalk, because they didn't have a yellow one, and drew a large star. Inside, Kandrey wrote Be a star, then she and her sister, Hayleigh, also a freshman, drew multicolored streamers to make it look like a shooting star. On Tuesday, schools all over Decatur got the same treatment, as teachers, parents, students and community volunteers visited buildings to write encouraging messages on the walks for the kids who return to classes today. Organized on Facebook by Jennifer Panganiban, who taught at Decatur schools before moving on to Illinois State University, Chalk the Walks of Decatur Public Schools grew almost overnight from her original message into an event with people at every building stepping up to organize their own volunteers. We keep talking about making our community a better place so this is one chance for you to take action, Panganiban wrote on the Facebook page. Chalk the Walks is all about spreading joy, optimism and inspiration through the magical power of sidewalk chalk! At Thomas Jefferson Middle School, teacher Penny Jones marshaled her troops from the student council members and former students, like Kandrey, Hayleigh and Ethan, who planned to come to Thomas Jefferson to help get ready for today's first day anyway. I have kids who always come and help on teacher work day, Jones said. Those kids fanned out all over Thomas Jefferson's grounds and wrote messages such as Today is a good day to have a good day and Read like a champion, which is the school's theme this year, on the walkway between where buses unload and the student entrance. They didn't forget teachers, either, who have their own entrance. Written on that walk and the stoop in front of the door are messages like Don't forget to smile and Be patient, and Welcome back! The hope is that coming back to school and finding such messages on the walk, which should last a few days, will get the year off to a positive start and remind the students that people are rooting for their success. Many of the buildings didn't have a formally organized time for volunteers to write messages. People were encouraged to show up whenever they could and write a message. DCC Marketing employees chose Eisenhower, partly because their artistic director, E.J. Panganiban, is a 2000 graduate of the school, and Jennifer's husband. He created a stylized logo that reads EHS right in front of the student entrance. (The renovations) have been pretty exciting to see, knowing when I was here at the school and what is now offered to the students, E.J. Panganiban said. We thought we had a lot when I was in school, and now they're offering so much more. Especially with us being in marketing (Jennifer Panganiban) thought we would think of some pretty cool things, said Hannah Guske of DCC. We wanted to show some encouragement to the kids on the first day of school. School can be nerve-wracking, especially the first day and we wanted to come out and give back to our community because we love it so much. Almost the entire agency turned out for the event, Guske said. Perhaps the biggest surprise was reserved for French Academy's staff. Principal Julie Fane banned the entire staff from the all-purpose room because Life Foursquare Church was in there cooking up a surprise. Thanks to the Emerging Leadership Network students studying for ministry the congregation fulfilled a wish list from French's staff and even went beyond that to buying the school a washer and dryer. Valerie Pries, who oversees the internship program those students participate in, sent the students to French during the spring semester to work with kids at the school. The interns were so enamored of the school that they offered to continue during the summer months, which is where the wish list came in. I called Julie and asked her, how can we bless you? Pries said. Fane tricked her staff into telling her what they needed. When I sent the email out about what were some things that you'd like to have for your classroom, I know that you spend hundreds and even thousands out of your own pocket through the course of the year, Fane said. Teachers walked into the all-purpose room to find tables loaded down with school supplies and beaming members of the church who had come to deliver the things and chalk the sidewalks. Church members will also be on hand in the morning to help greet students on the first day. The Rev. Mark Cooper told the staff that the church is adopting French and plans to volunteer throughout the year, do what they can to fill kids' and teachers' needs and pray for students and staff. Thank you for what you're doing for our babies, and not just our babies, but our whole team, Fane said DECATUR Richland Community Colleges board of trustees approved a plan to issue bonds in the aggregate amount of $820,000 consolidate current claims. Vice President of Finance and Administration Greg Florian said this would allow the college to refinance alternate bonds that were issued earlier this year. With the claims now finalized, which include early retirement payments and technology upgrades and furniture in the Student Success Center, Florian said this cost-saving move made sense. Were essentially rolling several funding needs into one bond, said Florian, who noted the plan would not affect taxpayers. The board also voted unanimously to enter a partnership with the Illinois Law Enforcement and Training Standards Board for the operation of the new Macon County Law Enforcement Training Center, set to open in October. The two-structure five-acre site sits along U.S. 51 near Grove Road and includes a two-story dormitory, training building, and outside track. The training building contains multiple classrooms, scenario-based training rooms, a physical skills and exercise room, indoor firing range, administrative offices and a conference room. The academy will house 80 to 100 cadets year round, who will each attend 12- to 14-week sessions. It will be owned and managed by the training board, and operations and maintenance will be handled by Richland. Richland President Cris Valdez has said previously that the partnership is mutually beneficial and fits in with Richland's mission to meet the educational and training needs of the region. Unappetizing U.S. food fests, or why we love living in South Louisiana SPRINGFIELD Illinois schools continue to wait for funding after House lawmakers soundly rejected Gov. Bruce Rauner's plan for a new public-education funding method on Wednesday. The House voted 60-0 against legislation that encompasses the changes the Republican governor made in an amendatory veto. Rauner vetoed a school-funding model he said unfairly favors Chicago schools and hinders state funding flexibility. The Senate voted to override the veto on Sunday. An override is less certain in the House, so state Rep. Will Davis, D-Homewood put Rauner's veto language into a new bill to gauge support. Republicans called the vote a sham because of the lack of override support. There were 33 "present" votes. The defeat of the amended legislation still leaves the possibility of a House override. The deadline is Aug. 29. While all three Decatur-area representatives were present in the chamber, only state Rep. Bill Mitchell, R-Forsyth, voted. He joined 32 other representatives in voting "present," while Rep. Sue Scherer, D-Decatur, and Rep. Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville, were among the 25 who did not vote. Mitchell said Wednesday afternoon that the bill voted on was simply political theater by House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, to embarrass Rauner. Even with the action, Mitchell said he was still "relatively upbeat" that the leaders can reach a compromise in the coming week. "Madigan had his little fun today on Republican Day (at the Illinois State Fair)," Mitchell said. "So, 'ha ha', but now let's get to work." Halbrook pointed to the planned leader's meeting for Friday and continuing negotiations between the two parties. "I think the consensus of our group was not to derail that," he said. "I thought the no vote was the better choice in this situation." Scherer could not be immediately reached for a comment. Rauner has said he's determined to fight a "corrupt political machine in Chicago" and its "special deals" as he seeks a second term. Rauner spoke at a GOP breakfast Wednesday before heading to the Illinois State Fairgrounds for a campaign rally. Rauner used his veto authority to cut money for Chicago Public Schools. He said his changes provide more money to 98 percent of Illinois districts. Democrats said districts may get more money initially, but many will lose funding in a few years under Rauner's plan. Rauner's campaign released two new TV ads Wednesday that call the original legislation a "bailout" for CPS and blast Democratic leaders for "insider deals." The Decatur School District would run out of money in mid-November without state funding, said Superintendent Paul Fregeau. After that, he said they would consider borrowing and other alternatives. Cerro Gordo Superintendent Brett Robinson has said his district would run out of money by early January, while Warrensburg-Latham Superintendent Kristen Kendrick-Weikle previously said her district would run out of money by early next spring. Mount Zion Superintendent Travis Roundcount said the district has solid financial reserves, and added the districts administrators have not determined when their crisis point would be. Back at the statehouse, school superintendents told a House committee that the changes Rauner made to school-funding legislation will hurt their school districts. A House education appropriations committee heard testimony Wednesday on legislation that incorporates changes the Republican governor made in an amendatory veto of Senate Bill 1, which aims to get more money to neediest districts first. Rauner said it favors Chicago schools over others and limits state funding flexibility. His amendatory veto cuts $450 million from Chicago and redistributes it. Dan Cox said Rauner's changes are similar to a payday loan. The Staunton schools superintendent said his district would get more money now "at a higher cost later." Centralia School Superintendent Craig Clark said Senate Bill 1 before the veto "works for Chicago, Centralia and Cairo." Illinois has no mechanism for providing state aid with schools opening as early as today. At measured intervals along a stretch of sandy riverbank near the Chalmette Battlefield, three Loyola University scientists drop to their knee Community policing is the way to make New Orleans safer: Opinion The study looks at two smaller-scale projects that are in some ways predecessors to the Mid-Barataria Sediment Diversion, the $2 billion plan to slow land loss erasing Louisiana's coast. Construction on that project could begin as early as next year, while a similar one on the opposite side of the river known as the Mid-Breton Diversion could follow. Sunday morning, a Union Pacific passenger train surged forth out of Omaha once again. As the commemorative train pulled away from the Durham Museum, retiree F.J. Richter looked out the dome windows on the second level of the train car and broke into a grin. Ive really been looking forward to this, he said. Its like youre a kid, right? replied his wife, Sue. The black tops of a coal train streaked by in the opposite set of windows, a reminder that most trains in the U.S. these days are hauling cargo, not people. But this weekend, nearly 400 people hopped on the train as part of a fundraising event for the Union Pacific Railroad Museum in Council Bluffs. The ride from Omaha to Columbus, Nebraska, and back traced the start of the transcontinental railroad route. Union Pacific discontinued passenger service in 1971, but it occasionally conducts rides on its historical heritage fleet to benefit the museum. The last such ride was in 2010. The trips have been the museums largest fundraising effort, a spokeswoman said. The rides draw train enthusiasts from across the country, former Union Pacific employees and people looking to relive memories of the heyday of rail travel. The family of Iowan Ruth Roberts Heller marked her 100th birthday, which she celebrates today, by making the trip Sunday. Shes only wanted to ride a streamliner for almost 85 years, her son, Rollie Roberts said. We thought it was about time. Her last train ride was in 1936, as she headed off from her hometown of Dunlap to Iowa State University in Ames. She said Sunday she enjoyed the scenery streaming by the tracks. Its just lovely to see the country, all the tall corn, especially because were farm people, she said. Nigel Eacock of Cheltenham, England, said the idea of seeing more of the Midwest attracted him to this train ride as well. A retired government worker, he spent about 200 days last year taking train rides around the world. Ive actually found that small town America is much, much more interesting than the large cities, he said. A few cars up, a car was filled with students from Boys Town who had received tickets on behalf of the museum. For many in the group, it was their first train ride. Its pretty exciting, said 18-year-old Tanner Sayavong. Its slow, remarked 15-year-old Josh Reed from two seats away. A hiccup came as the train stopped for about an hour after the freight train in front of it halted to handle a breakdown. But the delay didnt dampen the enthusiasm of many of the riders. Back in the 1950s, Richard Ahrenholtz recalls thinking he should take the train while he could, and he rode by rail several times from his San Francisco naval base to Omaha, on his way home to Iowa. That was the way to travel, he said. Its very nostalgic, it really is. The children of a slain Pottawattamie County Sheriffs deputy stared down the man who murdered their father in a courtroom Tuesday. After pleading guilty to first-degree murder, Wesley Correa-Carmenaty, who killed Pottawattamie County Deputy Mark Burbridge, was sentenced to life in prison without parole plus 50 years. During a May 1 jailbreak, Correa-Carmenaty killed Burbridge, shot Deputy Pat Morgan and Council Bluffs man Jerry Brittain as well as kidnapped Amy Kanger of Glenwood. He was eventually caught by police in Omaha. Burbridges three children faced their fathers killer and called him the devil, saying Correa-Carmenaty did not deserve to live after what he did to their family and the community. Burbridges stepdaughter, Kelsey Brant, called Correa-Carmenaty a monster who tore our worlds apart. Youve taken two lives, injured two others physically and broken too many hearts to count, she said. She added that she felt Correa-Carmenaty had no remorse for his actions, which resulted in her stepfathers death. Youre lucky my dad didnt grab the gun first and put a bullet in you, said Brant. Burbridges son, Kaleb, and daughter, Karley, called Correa-Carmenaty a sociopath. Kaleb said Correa-Carmenaty did not deserve life in prison. He deserves no less than death but, unfortunately, thats not an option, Kaleb said. Correa-Carmenatys sentence will begin after he is finished serving 49 years for the death of Anthony Walker, which Correa-Carmenaty pled guilty to the morning before the attack. Sheriff Jeff Danker, along with Morgan, Brittains passenger that day and many friends and family were also in the courtroom Tuesday. Danker was seated closest to Correa-Carmenaty, and Morgan was only a few feet away from where the defendant sat. Correa-Carmenatys sentence was broken down into three parts, Wilber explained to the court. The first set of charges are from killing Burbridge and wounding Morgan, stealing their guns and destroying the jail door were the first group, which led to a life sentence for murder. The second group of charges are from when Correa-Carmenaty attacked Brittain, which added more time to his sentence, while the third group of charges, from carjacking and kidnapping Kanger, were added on to be served consecutively. Wilber said this was done to ensure Correa-Carmenaty will never breathe another breath of free air. After Correa-Carmenaty finishes his sentence for the death of Walker, he will begin serving his life sentence. If his life sentence is ever commuted by a future administration, which Wilber said he prays never happens, Correa-Carmenaty will begin to serve the remaining 50 years of his sentence. In court, Correa-Carmenaty mostly stayed looking forward, speaking in Spanish to an interpreter and occasionally nodding. Fourth District Court Judge James Heckerman said the reasoning for the structure of the sentence was to guarantee Correa-Carmenaty would spend his life in prison. Evidenced by his actions, he is an extreme threat to society with no chance of rehabilitation, Heckerman said. After pleading guilty, Correa-Carmenaty addressed the court, turning in his chair to speak to Burbridges family. He said he understood the pain the family was feeling as his children locked eyes with him. He said he did not intend to kill Burbridge, as he was one of two deputies he liked. In reality, I liked him. He would ask how the case was going, when are you going home. When you said you feel bad about the loss of that man, I feel very bad about it. I know that he was a police officer and I am a criminal, Correa-Carmenaty said. I have done very bad things in my life, and I feel very bad about killing that man. Correa-Carmenatys attorney Greg Jones, of Sioux City, said after the hearing the inmate told him he was remorseful for his actions. He said Correa-Carmenaty was willing to take responsibility for what happened, which explained his guilty plea to all charges. He felt bad about what he had done, Jones said. He told me a number of times he feels terrible about the shooting and wanted to plea. Correa-Carmenaty was transferred to the Iowa Medical and Classification Center at Oakdale Prison in Coralville. There, it will be determined which state penitentiary he will be transferred to in order to serve his sentence. An amount of $150,000 was awarded as restitution to Burbridges estate. A private conference for friends and family was held at the Pottawattamie Veterans Affairs office, where Wilber and other members of law enforcement spoke of the case they built against Correa-Carmenaty ito assure them that, had he pleaded not guilty, he would not have succeeded at a jury trial. In court, Brant said the guilty plea didnt mean Correa-Carmenaty deserved mercy. You have a special place in hell. Wesley Copkiller. I kill a cop and 5 mans. Those words were written by Wesley Correa-Carmenaty inside his Woodbury County Jail cell after he was charged with the murder of Pottawattamie County Sheriffs Deputy Mark Burbridge. In addition to the deputys death, he was also charged with the attempted murder of Deputy Pat Morgan and Council Bluffs man Jerry Brittain, as well as the kidnapping of Amy Kanger of Glenwood. After Correa-Carmenaty pleaded guilty to all charges Tuesday, Pottawattamie County Attorney Matt Wilber held a press conference at the Pottawattamie County Veterans Affairs office to show local media the strength of the states evidence against Correa-Carmenaty. The evidence included video from the Pottawattamie County Jail garage where Correa-Carmenaty shot Burbridge point blank in the head before turning the gun on Morgan and wounding him. The evidence we have did not come out in court, and we wanted to present what we were planning to put on trial. We wanted to give a sense of the case, Wilber said. Wilber gave thanks to numerous organizations for their aid in the investigation and prosecution, including the Council Bluffs Fire Department, Omaha Police, the Iowa Department of Criminal Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Douglas County Attorneys Office and the U.S. Attorneys Office. During the emotional afternoon, Wilber cleared his throat and began to recount what he called the worst day in his career. An officer whose job is to protect me was killed. The coward that did it will not breathe another breath of free air. I hope Marks spirit finds peace and rest, and I hope the community will find healing and closure, he said. Through the abundance of evidence, including the jail video, Wilber called it the most open-and-shut case in his life. The challenge was not to prove Correa-Carmenaty guilty, but to conduct a fair trial while keeping his office emotionally in check, he said. Pottawattamie County Chief Deputy Attorney Jon Jacobmeier led the presentation with a step-by-step review of the May 1 jailbreak. Security camera footage from inside the jail showed Correa-Carmenaty and an unidentified female inmate being loaded into the jail transport van to be taken to the courthouse. On that morning, Correa-Carmenaty pleaded guilty to the voluntary manslaughter of Anthony Walker, who died after a botched robbery in March 2016. He was sentenced to 49 years in prison. During the return trip to the jail, Correa-Carmenaty told the female inmate inside the van that he would be free soon. During the drive, Correa-Carmenaty used a handcuff key he obtained from another inmate to pick his locks and then armed himself with two shanks he had made out of sharpened toothbrushes, Wilber said. The key was hidden in his hair. Wilber said the investigation into how Correa-Carmenaty obtained the key is ongoing. His hair was so dense, they couldnt get a good picture of what was in his hair when they searched him at Woodbury, so they cut it off with boxcutters, Wilber said. The key was never found. Correa-Carmenaty later told authorities he lost it in his sock after he changed clothes in Douglas County Jail when he was apprehended by police. The video also shows the transport van pulling into the jail garage. Burbridge and Morgan removed their guns and placed them inside the van, as firearms arent allowed inside the jail facility, Jacobmeier said. Morgan told investigators he thought he locked the van before opening the back of the vehicle to take the female inmate through processing. As Morgan and the woman were across the garage, Burbridge opened Correa-Carmenatys door in the van. In the video, Correa-Carmenaty kicks the door open into Burbridge then springs upon him, proceeding to stab him in the face and neck with the shanks. Correa-Carmenaty later told authorities he knew he had to target Burbridge in those areas because of his bulletproof vest, so he could disable him and reach the front of the van. Correa-Carmenaty and Burbridge fought as Morgan turned around and went to the passenger side of the van. Burbridge was stabbed in the back of the neck. As Correa-Carmenaty made his way to the drivers side door and opened it, Morgan rounded the back of the van to grab Correa-Carmenaty. Burbridge opened the passenger side door. Jacobmeier said both men knew Correa-Carmenaty was going for their guns inside the van. The inmate reached Morgans gun and shot Burbridge in the head, killing him instantly. The video footage of Burbridges death shown at the conference was blurred out of respect for him, Jacobmeier said, but the damage was apparent. Correa-Carmenaty, keeping Morgan at legs-length, turned the gun toward him. Morgan began to raise his arms after seeing the gun pointed at him. Correa-Carmenaty shot Morgan in the torso, and the deputy fell to the ground. Correa-Carmenaty got out of the van and pointed the gun at Morgans head and pulled the trigger. The gun jammed. Pat is lucky, Jacobmeier said. Correa-Carmenaty stooped over, grabbed the keys to the van, a magazine of ammunition from Morgan and then started the van. He plowed through the jail garage door in an explosion of twisted metal, careening over the jail lawn and onto Big Lake Road. Morgan called out over police radio that shots had been fired and a deputy was down. The escaped inmate then drove the van to the intersection of Big Lake Road and 16th Street, spotting a truck driven by Brittain, who is a Douglas County Corrections officer. Brittain saw Correa-Carmenaty in his rearview mirror and knew he was about to get robbed, Jacobmeier said. Correa-Carmenaty knew he needed to ditch the jail van because it had GPS tracking, Jacobmeier added. Since Morgans gun was jammed, Correa-Carmenaty used Burbridges gun to attempt to carjack Brittain. However, as Correa-Carmenaty walked up to Brittains truck, he accidently hit the magazine release button on the pistol, dropping the ammunition to the ground. But a bullet was still in the chamber, and Correa-Carmenaty shot Brittain. The bullet hit him in the head and became lodged under his tongue, which is still there as of Tuesday, Jacobmeier said. Brittain floored it, driving into a ditch as his girlfriend, who was unharmed, screamed over the phone at 911 dispatchers. Correa-Carmenaty turned to see the jail van still in gear coasting toward him and got back in, driving away to 25th Street and Avenue I. He spotted Kanger, who had pulled over after seeing the heavily damaged van, thinking there had been an accident and wishing to offer help. Correa-Carmenaty approached Kanger and ordered her out of the car at gunpoint. Kanger got out of her car but when Correa-Carmenaty realized her vehicle was a manual transmission and he didnt know how to drive stick, he ordered her back into the car, driving him into north Omaha. He eventually dropped Kanger off at a liquor store, where she called police. Omaha officers soon found Correa-Carmenaty and began a high-speed pursuit, eventually ending after the inmate drove into a concrete wall at the Cuming Street entrance of Highway 75 South. Omaha police ordered Correa-Carmenaty out of the car at gunpoint. He crawled on his hands and knees toward police before he was apprehended. Sheriff Jeff Danker and Wilber both explained how security at the jail has since changed procedure after May 1. Inmates are now taken out of the van one person at a time with two officers guarding them. Wilber said this case is a reminder that one can never let their guard down in these situations. He added that evil will find a way and anticipating every possible danger is the challenge they deal with each day. The county attorney added that he was surprised when Correa-Carmenaty apologized in court for what happened. While in custody in Sioux City, Correa-Carmenaty stenciled grafitti on the wall of his jail cell that said Wesley Copkiller. I kill a cop and 5 mans, Jacobmeier said. You saw that graffiti. If hes truly remorseful, thats good, Wilber said. But thats between him and his God. OMAHA After years of heartache, the family of homicide victim Cari Farver now has most of the answers they had sought. Wed still like to know exactly what happened and where my daughter ended up so we could take care of her, said Farvers mother, Nancy Raney. Farvers killer, Shanna Golyar, was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without parole for the November 2012 murder of Farver, who was 37. For years after the murder, Golyar posed as Farver in fake emails and Facebook accounts to cover up her crime. She terrorized too many people, Raney said. She needs to be off the streets. She needs to have the sentence (life) that she gave everyone else. My grandson will never see his mother again. Golyar, 42, sat stone-faced throughout Tuesdays sentencing hearing and didnt address the court. She was convicted in May of first-degree murder and second-degree arson after 10 days of her trial. Douglas County District Judge Timothy Burns also sentenced Golyar to 18 to 20 years for the arson charge, which stemmed from a fire Golyar set in her own home in August 2013. Her attorney, Scott Sladek, an assistant public defender, unsuccessfully argued that the arson sentence should run at the same time as the life sentence. Prosecutors said Golyar killed Farver after Farver left the apartment of a man Golyar had dated. Both Farvers son, Max Farver, and Raney testified that they received messages from Golyar, who used Farvers phone and created a new fake Facebook profile under Farvers name. Raney also got a message from the fake profile on Mothers Day in 2014. The possibility that Farver was still alive tortured her family. What some people are capable of has always astounded and mystified this court, Judge Burns said Tuesday. When he delivered his verdict in May, Burns said Golyar had spun a twisted plot of lies, deceit and impersonations through digital messaging to keep Farver alive online and distract authorities. Cari Farver did not voluntarily disappear and drop off the face of the earth, Burns said then. Very sadly, she was murdered. Prosecutors relied heavily on circumstantial evidence, especially 13 graphic emails they say Golyar sent while posing as someone else. The emails offered detailed information about a slaying that only the killer would know a confession, the state argued. Authorities think the murder occurred on Nov. 13, 2012. Raney said she couldnt thank enough the authorities who made the case against Golyar. Detectives from Iowa and Nebraska pursued the case. Farver disappeared from Omaha but lived in Macedonia. Golyar moved to Council Bluffs, then Persia, after setting fire to her own Omaha home. Authorities think Farver was killed in Douglas County, where the case was tried. After Tuesdays sentencing, Chief Deputy Douglas County Attorney Brenda Beadle said, In my 20-plus years of doing this job, this is one of the most calculated and bizarre cases Ive ever seen. Even in Golyars pre-sentencing letter to the court, Beadle said, the defendant refused to take responsibility for her actions. She lacked empathy and she lacked remorse, Beadle said. She was still making excuses. Federal officials have announced they are abandoning plans that would have required sleep apnea screening for truck drivers and train engineers. The Federal Railroad Administration and Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced that they are no longer pursuing regulations that would require testing for the fatigue-inducing disorder thats been blamed for deadly rail crashes and several highway crashes. The agencies argue that it should be up to the companies to decide whether to test employees. Safety experts decried the decision, saying it puts millions of lives at risk. Those experts concern is not without merit. The decision to kill the sleep apnea regulation is the latest step in President Donald Trumps campaign to drastically slash federal regulations. The administration has withdrawn or delayed hundreds of proposed regulations since he took office in January moves the president has said will help bolster economic growth. The question is, at what cost? The Railroad Administration issued a safety advisory late last year that was meant as a stopgap measure urging railroads to begin sleep apnea testing while the rules made their way through the legislative process. Without a regulation mandating testing, which would have needed approval from Congress, regulators couldnt cite trucking companies or railroads if a truck or train crashed because the operator fell asleep at the helm. Its very hard to argue that people arent being put at risk, Sarah Feinberg, the former administrator of the Railroad Administration, who issued the safety advisory in December, told The Associated Press. The National Transportation Safety Board, which has long recommended sleep apnea testing for engineers, said it was disappointed the agencies decided to scrap the much-needed rulemaking. Obstructive sleep apnea has been in the probable cause of 10 highway and rail accidents investigated by the NTSB in the past 17 years, spokesman Christopher ONeil told the AP. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said he will push the federal agencies to reconsider withdrawing the proposed regulation. Repealing it will risk lives, he told the AP. Suggesting that repealing the call for sleep apnea testing will bolster economic growth is, in our view, extremely short-sighted penny wise and pound foolish. Medicaid cuts threatening vulnerable populations Safety net programs like Medicaid are on the chopping block and have explicitly been threatened in the current administrations budget. Cuts threaten the care of one of our most vulnerable populations seniors in nursing homes. The Black Hawk County Board of Supervisors was just forced to put up $500,000.00 to save one of its local nursing homes. Its financial woes were credited to the already low reimbursement for Medicaid patients. Pottawattamie County has faced the loss of one home in the recent past; no bailout was offered. As a physician, with experience in all of the nursing homes in our county, I commend each of these homes for the miracles of care they provide on a daily basis. That being said, it is difficult to witness the stripping away of a patients dignity due to Medicaid shortcomings. To see people who once lived independently in their own homes and now live with strangers as roommates, to enter residents rooms and pretend not to notice the smell of soiled undergarments because an aide was not available in time, to see a patient who cannot feed themselves sit in front of a tray of now-cold pureed meat it cracks even the hardest heart. For those who think they might avoid these realities because they are privately insured, they are in for a rude awakening. The inability to staff more aides and nurses affect all residents whether Medicaid or private pay. We must raise our voices against further cuts to these programs. Glenn Hurst, Minden Andy McGuire for governor Iowans are familiar with the adage that all politics is local. Even after caucus day, Iowans remain passionately active and engaged with our community and political representatives. In 2018, we have an opportunity to take action and elect a new leader for our state government. I believe that Andy McGuire is the right choice for governor. Andy has tremendous organizational abilities and a knack for building consensus among people with differing views. Even more important than these skills, however, is her commitment to the right priorities for Iowa. Iowans takes pride in our education system, but inadequate funding from the Branstad-Reynolds administration has impaired our schools ability to properly serve our students and state. Andy would work to restore sufficient funding that our students and educators deserve. As a physician, Andy knows the importance of health care and the doctor-patient relationship. Political gamesmanship at the federal level has threatened health care accessibility for Iowans and supported insurance companies over patients. A McGuire administration would hold affordable health care as a right, not a privilege, while ensuring everyone has a voice in helping craft solutions. Andy would also work to help restore the balance between corporations and employees. While recent administrations have attacked workers rights to collectively bargain and eliminated minimum wage increases, she knows that an empowered workforce will work for Iowa. I encourage you to remain passionate and engaged in 2018. Support a candidate who supports Iowa. Vote McGuire! Peter Nielsen, Council Bluffs Oil and gas are still good It is fantastic that as Iowans we have so many different energy resources available whether its natural gas, petroleum, wind or ethanol. The different options give us a lot of flexibility in our energy decisions. However, even with new developments, we still have to take a step back and look at whats working best. The fact is, petroleum and natural gas are still the backbone of our energy portfolio, fulfilling over 80 percent of the energy demand in the United States, according to the Energy Information Administration. While ethanol and wind get a lot of hype in Iowa, there are drawbacks. These resources are not as dependable as traditional sources. Wind energy is reliant on the weather to generate power, and if the conditions arent favorable, no energy is produced. The majority of our vehicles and small engines cannot run safely on any fuels with higher than 10 or 15 percent ethanol blended. In addition, why should energy sources like ethanol be forced on us by EPA mandates like the Renewable Fuel Standard? Im not against a balanced combination of energy resources, but Id rather it be decided by the free market and not Washington bureaucrats. If these standards went away, we could use our land to produce things Americans want. By all means, we should continue to develop new ways to meet energy demands, but just dont ignore the fact that our country will continue to rely on traditional resources to energize our cars, homes, and businesses well into the future. Andrew Bergstrom, Malvern DECATUR Fuyao Glass North America near Mount Zion is a recipient of an Economic Development in Illinois Award from the Illinois Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the Illinois Economic Development Association. Fuyao was recognized for its investment of over $200 million in the former PPG Industries plant, upgrading the existing glass production line and adding a second. Fuyao manufactures automobile glass for automotive production in the United States and Asia. The investment represents one of the largest foreign direct investment projects in the state. Using multiple local contractors during construction, Fuyaos project is expected to add as many as 200 employees as it ramps up to full production. The site will produce enough glass for 4 million vehicles per year. Locally, for every one job created at Fuyao, it supports 3.5 jobs in the community. There were a variety of impressive economic development projects submitted this year. The Illinois Chamber of Commerce congratulates the Edie Award project winners and thanks them for their commitment and investment in Illinois future, said Illinois Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Todd Maisch. The award is sponsored by Nicor Gas. Every year my office welcomes new interns, both in Nebraska and on Capitol Hill. Throughout my time in the Senate, the interns who have served in my office have proven to be invaluable. They are often the first person you meet when Nebraskans come to share their opinions with me. Their assistance helps me better serve our state. In Lincoln, Kearney, Scottsbluff and Omaha, our interns work with permanent staff to help find solutions to issues affecting Nebraskans. Eric Kros of Omaha, who interns in my Omaha office, for example, said that his internship was a good way to bridge my interest in politics with my desire to serve Nebraska. JB Davis, also from Omaha, agreed with Eric. He told me he enjoyed interning with and learning from many wonderful people dedicated to making sure the voice of Nebraska is heard in Washington. Our interns didnt just answer phones or grab coffees, they went out and did real work in our communities. Those experiences, Alex Kuszak from Lincoln told me, were unlike any other. He particularly enjoyed one of the most fun projects our office has done. He said his favorite part of the internship has been working with the Veterans History Project, interviewing veterans and helping tell their stories so that generations to come can look back and understand the sacrifices made by those who came before them. I recently had the honor of sharing Alexs work with the Library of Congress. His interviews with veterans will be archived so future generations can learn from Nebraskans who served in wars. In Washington, our interns are the ones who first answer your calls, lead tours of the Capitol and process requests for flags flown over the U.S. Capitol. Amanda Kowalewski from Gothenburg said interning in Washington gave her a chance to be in the trenches of our public policy debates, and Justus Hanson from Kearney explained, It has been so rewarding to know that the work we do here every day is being done to serve this nation and the great people of Nebraska. Along with Molly Abboud from Omaha, they agreed that interning gave them the opportunity to serve others. All of my interns have helped me better serve Nebraska. At our weekly Nebraska Breakfast, which occurs every Wednesday when both the House and Senate are in session, all of the Nebraska delegation used some of their time to personally thank their interns. Id like to use this space to thank them as well. They have worked tirelessly to assist the people of our state this summer. I hope they learned a lot from their experiences and trust they found serving the state of Nebraska to be as rewarding as I find it to be. Internships are available throughout the year in my Washington, D.C., and Nebraska offices. We are always looking for Nebraska college students who are interested in serving their community. I encourage all Nebraskans who are interested to apply for this opportunity to learn more about our government and the legislative process. Details about the application process can be found on my website. The media in Armenia should be asking what caused the fire now raging in the Khosrov Forest State Reserve. For me, thats the real story to be investigated here. It comes as no surprise that Armenia doesnt have the resources or technical know-how to battle such wildfires. (Its much more involved than getting tanker planes to fly over a few times and unload their water; especially given the high temps in the area). Hundreds, if not thousands, of acres of parkland and forest burn in the US every few years most started intentionally or by human negligence. To date, Ive read mostly about the number of firefighting equipment sent to the area, the valiant efforts of citizens to fight the blaze, and public confessions by state authorities that theyre woefully unprepared to extinguish the fire. Azatutyun.am, in an August 14 post, says that law enforcement suspects the blaze was caused by human negligence and that an investigation has been launched. If so, who are the culprits? Given that the Ministry of Nature Protection has been woefully inept when it comes to stemming illegal logging in Armenias protected forests I wont get into the issue as to whether the ministry is actually interested in doing so then its a given that it cannot, or will not, effectively monitor state reserves so vital in terms of eco-diversity and need I say, eco-tourism, a much-vaunted panacea for the countryside's depressed economy. Khosrov is registered as a Category la (Strict Nature Reserve) according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature; the highest category of protected areas recognized by the World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA). Allegedly, such areas are the most stringently protected of natural landscapes. Such reserves are generally established exclusively for scientific field work and the protection of biodiversity. Getting into such areas is supposed to be highly controlled. While Armenias Ministry of Nature Protection may boast that 150 of its employees are out there on the front line battling the blaze, why arent more questions being raised about frontline protection of Khosrov and other natural gems in the first place? Its great that reporters and activists are targeting the government for its lack of preparedness in battling the blaze, but theres a larger issue at play here the governments apparent unwillingness to protect and preserve Armenias ecological and cultural inheritance overall, and to work with activist groups on the ground as partners in this effort. Cynics would argue that the government has no such policy agenda and is more interested in squandering the countrys natural resources for short-term profits and personal enrichment. If human negligence indeed caused the Khosrov blaze, then how did those humans get into Khosrov and what were they up to? If the ministry is controlling access to Khosrov, as it should be, tracking down these careless culprits shouldnt be too difficult. Photo: Armenias Ministry of Emergency Situations This is not OK. And it has not been for a long time. President Trumps shortcomings in responding to the white-supremacy hatred on display in Charlottesville, Virginia, illustrate how far we have to go in dealing with racial bigotry. If our country intends to continue progress toward the promise of her founding, we must not only reject blatant racism like that we saw over the weekend, but race-based winks and nods must also find their deserved ends in historys landfill. The presidents initial reaction Saturday was a bland platitude: We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides. On many sides. Trumps Saturday comments were so equivocal that they were praised on the neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer. To be clear, in Charlottesville, there was only one side brandishing flags with white supremacy and Nazi insignia, marching with torches and shouting poison toward black and Jewish Americans. There were not many sides displaying hatred and bigotry; there were the white supremacists and those opposed to the white supremacists. Trumps failure to immediately and unambiguously denounce the evil racism of white supremacy, his inaccurately equating the actions of many sides, again raises the question of just how sincerely we Americans are committed to the concept that all people are created equal. We elected a president who for years questioned the nationality of our first black president. Trump announced his presidential campaign by labeling Mexicans crossing our nations southern border as rapists and drug smugglers. He proclaimed that all Muslims should be banned from entering the country. When his candidacy attracted the support of David Duke, former grand wizard of the KKK, Trump disingenuously feigned a lack of knowledge of Duke or white supremacy groups. During the campaign, Trump attacked the mother and father of a Muslim soldier who had given his life in service of this country, and he suggested that Indiana-born federal Judge Gonzalo Curiel could not fairly preside over Trump University litigation because of the judges Hispanic heritage. Trump ran a campaign that often appealed to the most shameful corners of our consciences, deceitfully holding out many scapegoats and boogeymen as sources of the countrys economic and security concerns, real and imagined. Trump was willing to appeal to race- and religious-based fear and hate, and we failed to reject his candidacy. Now he is a president of the United States of America whose policies are lauded by white supremacists. On Saturday in Charlottesville, David Duke said, We are going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. Thats what we believed in. Thats why we voted for Donald Trump, because he said hes going to take our country back. Those are the words of a past grand wizard of the KKK, perhaps the most prominent white supremacist in the U.S., exclaiming the support his brand of racial hatred takes from our president. Thankfully, many in positions of leadership denounced Trumps weak initial response. Senators, governors, Congress members and other prominent people across political divides spoke forcefully against the repugnant white supremacy ideology, called the president to task for the inadequacy of his Saturday statement, and likely prompted Trumps stronger but two-days-late statement on Monday. In word and in policy, our elected representatives cannot allow bigotry, racism or hate to impact this countrys promise of equal opportunity and hope. Just as importantly, each of us must thoughtfully and sincerely examine our own hearts and strive to rid them of racism; we must speak up against bigoted language and action. Snickering at a joke based on a racial stereotype or silently suffering the use of racially tinged language is the soil where the seeds of blatant racism can take root. Failing to tell someone using the N word in your presence that it is offensive perpetuates the impression that such language is OK. Allowing to go unchallenged an assertion that all people of a particular race or religion share an undesirable trait or present some danger implicates each of us in such ignorance. Whether it is as obvious as a hooded Klansman carrying a swastika flag or as subtle as an acquaintances racist joke, bigotry should find no shelter among us. So long as racist appeals are met with anything other than swift and unambiguous rejection, we have work to do. Friends, we have work to do. After blowing a 14-point half-time lead against the Cronulla Sharks in Round 11, the North Queensland Cowboys will be paying special attention to their visitors' dangerous forward pack when they host them this Saturday. It will be a test for the Cowboys to match it with Cronulla for the full 80 minutes and prevent their big men from stealing too much momentum at any part in the contest. With the likes of Andrew Fifita, Paul Gallen and Luke Lewis, the Sharks have the players to seize the momentum from anywhere if the Cowboys drop off with Fifita the man who broke the Cowboys' siege at Shark Park in Round 11. Match Draw Widget [2017] Telstra Premiership - Round 24: Cowboys vs Sharks North Queensland's own wrecking ball Jason Taumalolo insists the focus will need to be on all of the Sharks' forwards this week. "It's obviously one of those games in the calendar that we as a pack look forward to, and they've got heaps of big-name players, especially through the middle, and a bit of experience," Taumalolo said. "[Fifita] was just one of those boys that we couldn't contain we haven't been looking too much into him but he's definitely a player we want to contain." Possession and completion will go far towards preventing the Sharks from getting any steam up, and if the Cowboys can make them defend for as long as possible the likes of Michael Morgan, Te Maire Martin and Jake Granville will have an easier time getting the Cowboys' forwards onto the front foot. "There was that period [at the start of the year] where our last plays weren't good enough, we were turning over too much cheap ball," Granville said. "We've worked on that throughout the year and we'll have to nail that against this side along with our completions and finishing the end of our sets really well is something really important." If the Cowboys can get over the Sharks on Saturday night they'll bring themselves up to 30 competition points, placing them level with Cronulla and the Parramatta Eels who occupy fourth and fifth place respectively. Ponga and Mago to replace injured Cowboys Cowboys' injury toll climbing Titans fullback Jarryd Hayne won't face his former club on Thursday night, ruled out of the Round 24 clash with an ankle injury. Match Draw Widget [2017] Telstra Premiership - Round 24: Eels vs Titans While there has been plenty of speculation surrounding Hayne's future at the club this week the No.1 was always in doubt to face the Eels, seen leaving UOW Jubilee Oval in a moonboot last Saturday following his side's loss to the Dragons. CONFIRMED: Fullback Jarryd Hayne will miss the match tomorrow night due to an ankle injury #NRLEelsTitans Gold Coast Titans (@GCTitans) August 16, 2017 Tyrone Roberts is the man most likely to start at fullback for Hayne, with Kane Elgey likely to be promoted to the starting side after being named on the interchange on Tuesday afternoon. Both Gold Coast and Parramatta's squads will be cut to 19 players 24 hours prior to kick-off, with Hayne's replacement likely to be confirmed then. Eels v Titans: Schick Preview The case for keeping both Henry and Hayne Henry denies Hayne rift, wants to stay on The mistake Titans made in signing Hayne Annesley surprised by Henry-Hayne fallout Researchers are revealing that just four weeks of eating mixed tree nuts could have positive effects on mood, memory and overall thinking capability. This same study and... Read More A study conducted by OnePoll and Great Lakes Wellness shows that 75% of respondents want to spend less time fighting aging and more time doing things they... Read More Another longtime Region brand is poised to disappear, and a dozen stores will close in the process. CVS Pharmacy plans to buy the 45-year-old family-owned Fagen Pharmacy chain, which has 20 locations in Northwest Indiana and Chicago's south suburbs. The purchase price was not disclosed. Rhode Island-based CVS, one of the largest pharmacy chains in the country, will convert eight of the stores into CVS-branded pharmacies, and close 12 locations. Pharmacy files will be transferred to nearby CVS locations. Id like to thank all of our patients and employees for their loyalty and dedication over the past 45 years, Fagen Pharmacy Owner Gerald A. Fagen said. Im grateful to have been able to serve the pharmacy needs of our community and I am confident that CVS Pharmacy will provide the same top-notch customer service and pharmacy expertise we have provided at Fagen Pharmacy. CVS said it expects to hire "many Fagen employees" who work at the locations that will remain open, but did not respond to questions about how many will keep their jobs. It was not immediately clear how many Fagen employees will be laid off during the widespread job loss that will take place when 12 pharmacies are shuttered. Some Fagen sites closing CVS plans to keep open the Fagen locations at 10809 Randolph St. in Crown Point; 3400 N. Calumet Ave. in Valparaiso; 3612 Village Court in Gary; 2106 Broadway in East Chicago; 1301 119th St. in Whiting; 1350 Broadway in Gary; 710 Franklin St. in Michigan City, and 1195 E. Ridge Road in Griffith. These stores will be converted to CVS in September. Fagen Pharmacy locations will close at 325A N. Halleck St. in DeMotte; 3892 W. Ind. 10 in Wheatfield; 10064 N. 600 E in Roselawn; 65 E. Montgomery in Francesville; 156 Flynn Road in Westville; 390 U.S. 6, Ste. 1131 in South Haven; 7760 E. 37th Ave. in Hobart; 715 Dixie Highway in Beecher; 5500 Hohman Ave. in Hammond; 5001 E. U.S. 12 in Gary's Miller neighborhood; 7905 Calumet Ave. in Munster; and 1001 Sturdy Road, Ste. 201 in Valparaiso. CVS is referring patients to nearby pharmacies, which are a short walk away in the case of Munster or more than 18 miles away in some of the rural areas. "I haven't been to Fagen Pharmacy in a while, but I'm sad about this," Hobart resident Chuck Snitchler said. "It's a local business being taken over by another big corporation." Gary's Miller neighborhood, which is home to million-dollar lakefront homes, will be left without a pharmacy after Walgreens closed there in June. Miller Business Association President George Rogge said a group of community and political leaders will reach out to CVS about building a new pharmacy near the South Shore Line station that's going to be redeveloped as part of the double-tracking project. "This just hits us right in the face," Rogge said. "There will be nothing here. This is upsetting." Miller Spotlight community builder Jessica Renslow said it was frustrating that both Walgreens and Fagen would close at a time when the neighborhood was making so many positive steps, such as through the opening of new stores and the introduction of a bike-sharing program. "It means we officially have no pharmacy in a community of 16,600-some people," she said. "It's an odd situation with what's about to happen with the double-tracking and the development that should bring in. I'm still optimistic someone will see the benefit in being here." Looking back Fagen's departure is a blow toward making the community more senior-friendly, since it was known for delivering prescriptions to residents' homes. Gary native Gerald Fagen, who stocked shelves and cleaned up at Glen Park Pharmacy before going on to pharmacy school at Purdue University, founded Fagen Pharmacy in 1972 "on the premise that it could provide professional pharmaceutical services in a more friendly and helpful environment than what existed in the marketplace." The local chain has had slogans like "Your Family Has a Friend at Fagen's" and "Filling Your Family's Needs for 45 Years." It grew to as many as 21 locations, mostly in Northwest Indiana, and also served assisted living facilities, group homes, correctional facilities and hospice patients throughout the Region. Fagen maintained a robust presence in North Lake County, and recently rebuilt stores in Valparaiso and the Indiana Harbor neighborhood of East Chicago so they were more modern standalone stores with drive-thrus. It long maintained a presence in downtown Gary before relocating that pharmacy to Midtown a few years ago. Earlier this year, it was forced to close locations in Lansing and Chicago Heights, which were inside Ultra Foods stores, because of the bankruptcy of Ultra parent company Central Grocers. It sold the prescription files at both stores to CVS. CVS has more than 9,700 locations nationwide and offers automatic refills, immunizations and text alerts to let patients know when their prescriptions are ready. The chain said it will offer more health, beauty and personal care products at the former Fagen stores. CVS Pharmacy looks forward to bringing its innovative pharmacy care programs and services to Fagen Pharmacy patients in Indiana and Illinois, said Everett Moore, CVS Pharmacy vice president. We will continue to provide excellent care to patients and look forward to introducing our industry-leading offerings at these new locations. CVS plans to phase out sales of cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco at the former Fagen pharmacies after it ended the sale of tobacco products in its stores in 2014. Middle market firms are responsible for much of the economic growth we have experienced over the past several years, said Nalanda Matia, Dun & Bradstreet lead economist. These companies are clearly growth-oriented and are indicative of where the economy may outperform in the years ahead. Neighboring Illinois has the highest concentration of middle market firms in the U.S., with 1.55 percent of the companies doing business falling in that revenue range. Great Lakes steel production rose to 678,000 tons last week, a 2.4 percent increase. Steel mills in the Great Lakes region made 662,000 tons of metal the previous week, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Most of the steel made in the Great Lakes region is produced in Lake and Porter counties in Northwest Indiana. So far this year, U.S. steelmakers have produced 55.6 million tons of steel, about 2.9 percent more than they did during the same period in 2016. Steel mills have been running at a capacity of 74.6 percent so far this year, up from 72.2 percent through the same time last year. Domestic steelmakers used about 76.4 percent of their steelmaking capacity in the week that ended Aug. 12, up from 75.6 percent the previous week and from 70.8 percent at the same time a year earlier, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Some analysts say steelmaking capacity utilization of about 90 percent would be considered healthy for an industry that's been besieged by imports and mill idlings in recent years. Overall, U.S. national steel output shot up by 18,000 tons last week to 1.78 million tons, a 1 percent increase, according to the American Iron and Steel Institute. Production in the Southern District, nearly always the country's second-largest steel-producing region, which spans mini-mills across the South, increased to 650,000 tons last week, up from 642,000 tons the previous week. It is 10 p.m. Wednesday evening. Everyone has headed to bed except the girls and me. I forgot all about writing this column until after daughter Elizabeth, Timothy and Abigail left for home. They came over for a while after supper. We had so much fun with Abigail. I was helping her walk and let go of her hands and she stood by herself for quite a while until she noticed I had let go of her hands. She will be 11 months old tomorrow. Time sure goes way too fast. We are still busy cleaning for the church services we will host in two weeks from Sunday. The girls have been cleaning out drawers and kitchen cabinets. I am sorting through dishes that I hardly use. I am giving them to my daughters and what they dont need I will put in a garage sale. What doesnt sell I will put in our local free store. Its like they sayone persons junk is another persons treasure. Over the years things accumulate and I like to get rid of things that just sit around. Yesterday we washed off walls, ceiling and windows in Joes and my bedroom. We also have a bathroom beside our bedroom so that was cleaned from top to bottom. We cleaned furniture, curtains and the bedding was washed and put back on. Today I cleaned our closet. My mending is piling up though and I keep hoping to get it caught up before church. On Friday evening, neighbors, friends, and family will gather to help my sisters Verena and Susan move their furniture back to their house. It has been stored in our basement for over three months since their fire. The construction on their house is now done. It is a good thing that we can now clean our basement next week. My tomatoes are ready to start canning. I will start with tomato juice since I ran out. I have plenty of V-8 canned yet, but it is too spicy to put in soup alone. I sometimes mix it with tomato juice. I canned dill pickles for daughter Susan last Saturday. Moses mother sent dill and other pickles home with Mose and Susan Friday evening. Mose and Susan went to his grandmas sale of her personal belongings so I thought I would can the pickles for her. Son Kevin, 11, has been doing odds-and-ends jobs for us. He always has the dogs trailing after him. They just adore him. Daughter Verenas Yorkie puppy Ricky is almost six months old and is looking like a little fur ball. She took him to the vet for another round of shots. Kevin was burning trash out in the barnyard while we were washing clothes in the basement one day this week. Daughter Susan looked up and saw our whole herd of horses and ponies go flying past the window. They headed straight for neighbor Joes yard and galloped north. Our pony Stormy was in the lead like usual. Susan ran to get a scoop of grain so she could bribe the horses into coming back. Fortunately, my husband Joe and son-in-law Mose had an early day and had just come home from work. Im not sure if Stormy saw Susan shaking the scoop of grain but he decided to circle around the fence around our field and head back home. Once they were in our yard we corralled them back through the gate. I think Kevin wont forget to chain the gate next time he burns trash. The gate was shut but not chained and it seems those ponies know exactly when its open. Try this lettuce salad if you want to make a salad the day before serving it. Gods blessings to all! Layered Lettuce Salad 1 head lettuce, cut into bite-size pieces 1 cup celery, diced 4 eggs, hard cooked and diced 1 (10 ounce) package frozen peas, uncooked 1/2 cup green pepper, diced 1 sweet onion, thinly sliced 8 slices bacon, fried and diced 2 cups mayonnaise 2 tablespoons sugar 4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded DIRECTIONS: Layer the first seven ingredients in a 9x13-inch dish. Mix mayonnaise with sugar. Spread on top as if frosting. Top with cheese. Cover and refrigerate 8 to 12 hours. At serving time, garnish with additional bacon and parsley if desired. Lovina Eicher is an Old Order Amish writer, cook, wife and mother of eight. She is the co-author of three cookbooks; her new cookbook, The Essential Amish Kitchen, is available from 800-245-7894. Readers can write to Eicher at PO Box 1689, South Holland, IL 60473 (please include a self-addressed stamped envelope for a reply) or at LovinasAmishKitchen@MennoMedia.org. NOTES TO EDITORS: text = 722 words; end material = 57 words Gary's new emergency manager said the cost of patching roofs, repairing plumbing and cleaning buildings to get the Gary Community School Corp. ready for opening day Thursday is in excess of $500,000. Peggy Hinckley, of Schererville, leads a team of financial and academic experts from MGT Consulting Group to balance the Gary district's budget, reduce its more than $100 million debt burden and make improvements that attract more students. This is the first-ever state takeover of an entire school district in Indiana. Hinckley said Tuesday the buckets to catch rain from leaks in school buildings were a problem. "Some parents called it the 'bucket brigade.' We don't have any money to replace the roofs right now. We'll be asking DUAB (the state Distressed Unit Appeals Board) to pay for the expenses as part of a loan request," Hinckley said. Hinckley said a complete facilities assessment will be done after they review enrollment and determine the number of buildings needed. "We'll make decisions later, but early enough for next fall," she said. When she arrived two weeks ago, Hinckley said she wasn't sure if they could overcome all the obstacles, but she's now "proud to say that we've accomplished 90 percent of the goals we need to make sure that Operation Smooth Start is a success." She said school staff and contractors have been working 15 hours a day almost seven days a week. Hinckley said Gary school operations manager Ron Gordon, who was hired by Gary schools Superintendent Cheryl Pruitt a year ago, has been instrumental in assisting her. Gordon said there have been plumbers, cleaning companies, the custodial staff and roofing contractors in multiple schools. He said there had not been plumbers working in the school corporation to make repairs in nearly three years. "Our kids had gotten used to seeing the stalls or sinks covered by black trash bags because they were not operable," he said. Hinckley said she knows there are some things that are just going to take more time. "For example, we had a roof leak here at West Side (Leadership Academy high school), and we thought we fixed it but it continues to leak. We have to find the root cause before we can replace the ceiling tile and put down new flooring," she said. "We have not gotten any official money yet. I have advised them (DUAB) that the conditions here are deplorable and that we knew that at some point, we will need another loan until we get the finances in order. I expect this will be added to the amount of the loan," she said. Hinckley said there was about $45,000 that former state-appointed financial consultant Jack Martin had set aside. She said they've used the schools' current funds, and they will be replenished through a loan from DUAB. "In September, there are three payrolls. We can take care of two payrolls but three is a problem. I just said to them (DUAB), you will not find these conditions anywhere else in the state of Indiana and we should not have them here. We have to fix it. They have told me, whatever you need," Hinckley said. Hinckley already has begun partnering with local groups including the One Church, One School organization. Two representatives from that organization, Clinton Jackson, pastor at Wildwood Church of Christ, and Leon Walker, associate minister at Unity Baptist Church in Gary, joined her Tuesday, along with Urban League of Northwest Indiana President and CEO Vanessa Allen-McCloud. Hinckley attended her first Gary school board meeting Aug. 8. During that meeting, she introduced Paul Pastorek as her chief of staff and second in command, and Amy Marsh as her deputy chief of staff. CROWN POINT The jury has heard all the evidence that will be presented at trial for David Johnson IV, who is charged with three counts of murder in the shootings of two teenage brothers and a Gary man. The state and defense both rested Tuesday afternoon, which concluded the evidence portion of the weeklong trial. David Johnson IV is charged with murder in the shooting death on April 28, 2015, of Alfred Wiley in the 5900 block of East Third Avenue in Gary's Miller section. The defendant is also one of seven co-defendants charged with two counts each of murder and kidnapping in the execution-style shootings of Arreon Lackey, 18, and Antonio Lackey, 16. The state alleges the brothers were kidnapped June 26, 2015, from a hotel in Merrillville and murdered in a remote area of Hobart. The state claims the brothers were killed because Arreon Lackey stole the .38 caliber revolver David Johnson IV used to kill Wiley. Defense attorney Roseann Ivanovich concluded her case by calling the defendant's only witness, Rosa Johnson, the mother of David Johnson IV. Rosa Johnson told the jury her son had two medical conditions the defense suggested could have precluded him from committing the murders the defendant suffered debilitating seizures and was missing an eye. Rosa Johnson testified that her son's seizures would sometimes cause memory loss and erratic behavior. She recounted one such incident in June 2015 when her son tried to remove his clothing at Great America. She said her son's partial blindness resulted from a prior shooting. David Johnson V, the defendant's son and a co-defendant in the Lackey brothers' murders, testified last week that he believed Wiley was the one who shot his father, causing his partial blindness, and his father shot Wiley in retaliation. The defense attempted to admit as evidence the defendant's medical records, but the state objected, arguing they were irrelevant to the shootings. Judge Thomas Webber, a senior judge from Porter County filling in for Lake Criminal Court Judge Diane Boswell, said he believed a medical expert should testify about what was contained in the medical records. Ivanovich said the defense had no such witness, so Webber ruled the records would not be admitted. The defense then rested. The attorneys are expected to offer closing statements Wednesday. Weiss-Wolf, an attorney and vice president for development at New York University's Brennan Center for Justice, is at the forefront of a national movement to increase access to menstrual products. HAMMOND Defense lawyers for Lake County Sheriff John Buncich calls to the witness stand Tuesday included Gary Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson, a Carmelite nun and a tow truck owner who is a convicted felon. The seventh day of the sheriff's public corruption trial ended in verbal fireworks between Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip C. Benson and John "Lefty" Nauracy, of East Chicago, who is a convicted felon and owner of JAN towing. Nauracy left the courtroom after testifying and being called to the bench by U.S. District Court Judge James Moody. He later declined to comment on whether Moody ordered him to get out of the courtroom when he tried to stay. It was the first full day of defense witnesses for Buncich, who is pleading not guilty to six counts of wire fraud and bribery that allege he corruptly used his authority over towing contracts to enrich himself by soliciting and accepting cash and campaign contributions. His lawyers indicated they could rest their case as early as Thursday unless the sheriff takes the stand in his own defense, a decision they won't make until then. Freeman-Wilson testified Tuesday morning she and the sheriff agreed to have the sheriff deploy county police officers to assist the understaffed Gary Police Department in reducing crime in the city. She said that included county officers towing derelict vehicles that were contributing to blight and crime in the city. She said she contributed to Buncich's political campaigns but only wrote checks, never gave cash. On cross examination, Benson asked her if she ever retrieved campaign contributions from the driver's seat of a towing truck. She said she never did that. The question was in reference to testimony last week in which William "Willie" Szarmach, of Hobart, and former owner of CSA Towing in Lake Station, said he gave money to the sheriff, including $3,500 in two separate envelopes. He said he left the envelopes in the driver's seat of his new truck and invited the sheriff to look inside it. He said the sheriff grabbed the money. Szarmach is a witness for the prosecution. Susan Pelfrey, a former New Chicago town councilwoman, testified Tuesday to address allegations last week the sheriff used his influence with Pelfrey to get more towing work for Scott Jurgensen, a 20-year veteran of the Merrillville Police Department and owner of Samson's Towing in Merrillville, and an FBI confidential informant. FBI agent Nathan Holbrook testified last week the sheriff's influence won Jurgensen sole towing rights in the town. But New Chicago Police Chief James Richardson testified Tuesday he became dissatisfied with one of Jurgensen's competitors and removed that firm from the town's towing list a month before the sheriff called, and he added another towing firm to the list along with Samson's. The defense called two character witnesses. The first was Darryl Dean Robinson, a mental health counselor who works with jail inmates. Robinson, who stated he is blind, said he believes the sheriff has a reputation for truthfulness. "He never lied to me," Robinson said. The second character witness, Sister Maria Giuseppe, Carmelite Home administrator, also testified on behalf of the sheriff. "He has a very good reputation. He is a person of integrity," she said. Nauracy testified he didn't have to pay the sheriff to get on the county police towing list, but he said Timothy Downs and Dan Murchek, the sheriff's top administrators, came to his business one day and tried to sell him tickets. "I ripped up the tickets and threw them in their faces and told them to get off my property. I thought they were crooked cops," Nauracy said. Defense lawyers argue the sheriff did nothing wrong and Downs, who has pleaded guilty to collecting bribes for the sheriff and is cooperating with the government, kept the bribe money. Benson asked Nauracy on cross examination whether he tried to intimidate government informant Jurgensen shortly before the trial began, by driving to Jurgensen's towing business and his home and videotaping Jurgensen's daughter, who was in the front yard. Nauracy said he only drove to those locations at the request of Ricardo "Streetwise" Moreno, an East Chicago political activist, and Moreno either took photos or video with a cellphone. Nauracy denied the sheriff was involved. He said he only wanted to dispel rumors broadcast by listeners of a Hammond WJOB radio talk show that Nauracy was the confidential FBI informant referred to in Buncich's indictment as "Individual A." Benson said Jurgensen already had been identified as Individual A by The Times, which reported Jurgensen's role in the investigation five days after Buncich's indictment. Nauracy accused Benson, saying, "You asked Streetwise to do it." An incredulous Benson responded, "I did it? I did it?" Benson told Nauracy: "Nobody forced you to drive there." Nauracy said, "I've got my reasons. He was trying to get me out of the towing business," though Nauracy never identified who "he" was in his comment. Nauracy was sentenced to about four years in federal prison after pleading guilty in Chicago federal court to mail fraud. The benefit began in 1962 when some St. Mary School mothers held the first supper. The idea was to combine motherly love for their children with a homemade dinner to help the school. HAMMOND The Fire Department called in the Indiana state fire marshal's office to assist with an investigation into the cause of an explosion and fire that engulfed two boats early Tuesday at the Hammond Marina. "It's going to be a slow process," said Kevin Margraf, Hammond's deputy fire chief. Local, state and federal agencies continued working Wednesday to remove both boats from the water, officials said. The Fire Department requested the state fire marshal's assistance partly because of a large amount of losses, including both boats and costs associated with an environmental cleanup. The fire marshal's office also has greater access to investigative resources, Margraf said. "Hopefully, we can determine what happened," he said. Booms were placed in the water Tuesday to contain the spread of oil and gasoline spilled from the boats, said Lt. Terri Millefoglie, spokeswoman for Indiana Department of Natural Resources' law enforcement division. The cleanup appeared to be progressing Wednesday, and there were no closures at the marina or nearby beaches, she said. Multiple agencies responded about 3:50 a.m. Tuesday to the marina for a report of a fire. A preliminary investigation showed one docked boat caught fire before the blaze spread to another in the G dock section of the marina, near the main office, Millefoglie said. Both boats are considered total losses, and two others sustained some damage. Investigators think an explosion on the first boat triggered a fire on the second boat. No injuries were reported. HAMMOND A Gary man was sentenced Tuesday to more than 42 years in prison for the fatal robbery of a Hammond 7-Eleven in January 2016. Eric M. Dillon, 28, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 240 months for armed robbery and 270 month for using a firearm to cause the death of store clerk Roger Unton, 60, of Blue Island, Illinois. The sentences were to be served consecutively for a total of 510 months. Dillon pleaded guilty in April to the charges before U.S. District Court Judge Philip P. Simon. Hammond police said Dillon walked into the 7-Eleven store in the 6000 block of Hohman Avenue in Hammond about 4:30 a.m. Jan. 20, 2016, and demanded money from Unton. According to police, Unton pushed a panic alarm and Dillon became angry and shot him multiple times. Hammond police and FBI agents spent six weeks gathering evidence, including a crucial video recording of the crime by the store's surveillance camera that helped identify Dillon as the suspect. He was arrested two months later during a traffic stop. On Tuesday, a letter from the victim's family was read into the court's record and three of Unton's family members spoke to the judge. When Dillon's indictment was announced last year, Hammond Police Chief John Doughty remarked on the impact of the crime. "He was the primary provider for the family," Doughty said of Unton. "And he was taken for no reason at all." Dillon's attorneys had argued in a sentencing memorandum that a sentence of 20 years was more appropriate. They contended the shooting was not pre-meditated and Dillon had acted in panic rather than malice after Unton pushed the alarm. Cell Block Sale Day CROWN POINT A Fundraiser for the Old Sheriff's House Foundation with proceeds to help with the preservation of same, will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 16. There will be 30 vendors to purchase from with products including chocolate, jewelry, outdoor decor and more. The vendors will be inside the Old Sheriff's House and the old jail Crown Point Vigil for Unity tonight The clergy of several local churches will lead the community in a Vigil for Unity at 6:30 tonight at First United Methodist, 352 S.Main St. All members of the community are invited to join the vigil, It will begin with a short service in the sanctuary and then proceed to the churchyard for a candlelight prayer vigil. The event will focus on speaking out against hate and praying for unity and healing for our nation. The churches involved include First United Methodist, St. Mary's Catholic, First Presbyterian and Momentum. For more information, visit www.FUMCCP.org or www.Facebook.com/CP.FirstMethodist/ Basic handgun safety CHESTERTON The North Porter County Conservation Club, NPCCC, will be hosting a Basic Handgun Safety and Marksmanship/Victim Avoidance Class from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 26. Cost of the class is $30. All guns supplied. Call or text Bill Kucek at 219-309-6651 to sign up. Back-to-School Fun Fair A back-to-school fun fair will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Sept. 9 at Trinity Lutheran School, 891 S. Linda St. Join in the fun for face painting, cake walk, games, apple toss, craft and baked good sale and other fun activities. The family event is sponsored by the Lutheran Women's Missionary League. Tickets will be available at the door. For more information, call Trinity Lutheran Church office at 219-942-2589 or visit www.trinityhobart.org. Fall rummage sale HEBRON The Hebron United Methodist Women will hold its fall rummage sale from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sept. 15 and 8 to 10 a.m. Sept. 16, which is fill a bag for 50 cents. The church is at 202 W. Church St. Call 219-996-7161. MOMMS Mothers of Multiples DYER Mothers of Multiple Miracles will meet at 7 p.m. Aug. 28 at Franciscan Health Dyer. Call 708-351-3006. Music Heritage Series Concert CHESTERTON Enjoy a night of music and singing from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Aug. 18 at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Visitor Center. The Save the Tunes Council is a group of local musicians devoted to preserving and passing on folk songs in the traditional way, using a variety of traditional musical instruments including guitar, autoharp, dulcimer, banjo, harmonica, bagpipe, penny whistle, hurdy gurdy and other obscure instruments. Call 219-395-1882. Fall education series VALPARAISO St. Agnes Adult Day Service Center will kick off their fall education series on Sept. 6, 20 and Oct. 4. Topics each month cover everything adult children need to know but dont know who to ask. First in the series is Before a Parents Health Crisis: 10 important things to find. The first programs will be at 6 p.m. at St. Agnes Adult Day Service Center. Call 219-242-5758 Heart healthy day at RailCats GARY Methodist Hospitals will host their first community Healthy Heart Day at the RailCats stadium to increase awareness about heart and vascular disease. Free blood pressure screenings and heart and vascular risk assessments will be offered in addition to general educational information about heart disease. The event will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday on the concourse level of the stadium. VALPARAISO Porter County government employees will soon be required to clock in and out each workday if a funding request is approved Tuesday night by the County Council. The county's information technologies department will ask the council for $40,000 for the purchase of the necessary software from Right Stuff Software Corp., in addition to an ongoing monthly maintenance fee of $3,000, according to Porter County Auditor Vicki Urbanik. The council will have the option of implementing the system on a smaller scale at just the sheriff's and emergency 911 departments for a reduced cost of $20,000 for the software and $1,600 a month for maintenance, she said. For twice the money, the council could add more than 30 other departments. "It does make more sense to go countywide," Urbanik said. The council will also be presented with a request to purchase three time clocks at $2,000 apiece for use in the highway department, though there is talk of testing the equipment out on a trial basis, she said. The balance of county employees will clock in on computer equipment in their various offices, Urbanik said. The time clock proposal, which has been discussed for years and has been in the planning stages since 2016, has received the stamp of approval from the Board of Commissioners as a way of gaining better accountability and efficiency. Porter County Commissioner President Jeff Good, R-Center, has said the purchase of the system would complement efforts underway to rewrite the county government employee manual. The system would replace a hodgepodge of approaches around county government departments to track employee work hours. If the council agrees to fund the new time clock system, Urbanik said her office will undertake the detailed process of linking regular pay periods with earned-time-off periods. These periods are now a week apart and will take a few pay periods to sync up. Salaried and hourly pay will also be synced up, she said. The change would move the county's payday from Monday to Friday, Urbanik said. It will likely be November before the time clock system is up and running if the funding is approved next week, she said. President Donald Trump's condemnation of hate groups two days after his initially equivocal response to a deadly attack at a rally in Virginia disappointed and even angered some of the white nationalists, white supremacists and neo-Nazis who supported and felt emboldened by his presidential campaign. Trump initially blamed "many sides" after violent clashes in Charlottesville, where a participant in a white nationalist rally rammed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters on Saturday, killing a demonstrator and injuring dozens of others. Under immense bipartisan pressure to issue a stronger statement, Trump on Monday explicitly denounced the Ku Klux Klan, white supremacists and neo-Nazis as "repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans" and said "justice will be delivered" to those responsible. Reading from a prepared text, Trump said, "Those who spread violence in the name of bigotry strike at the very core of America." White nationalist Richard Spencer told reporters at a news conference Monday that he thought Trump should have criticized state and local authorities for their handling of security at the Charlottesville rally. "The statement sounds like we might want to all bring out an acoustic guitar and sing "Kum ba yah." It's just vapid nonsense," said Spencer, who popularized the term "alt-right" to describe the fringe movement mixing white supremacy, white nationalism, anti-Semitism and anti-immigration populism. Occidental Dissent, a white nationalist website, posted a statement saying whites had been "deserted by their president." "He has sided with a group of people who attack us on sight and attempt to kill us and for that the Alt-Right can no longer support him. What Donald Trump has done today is an unforgivable betrayal of his supporters," the message said. Trump was criticized during the presidential campaign for failing to immediately reject the endorsement of former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. On Monday, Duke posted a video mildly criticizing Trump's remarks. "President Trump, please, for God's sakes, don't feel like you've got to say these things. It's not going to do you any good," he said. Duke, who participated in the rally, reserved his bile for the "fake news media" covering the events in Charlottesville as he addressed Trump. "I understand that you're under a great amount of pressure," he said. "The problem is you're under siege. You know these people. They want your scalp. They want to crucify you." The publisher of The Daily Stormer, a neo-Nazi website, praised Trump's initial reaction to the Charlottesville violence. "Nothing specific against us," Andrew Anglin wrote. "No condemnation at all. When asked to condemn, he just walked out of the room. Really, really good. God bless him." Anglin dismissed Trump's second statement as "childish nonsense." "I'm not especially bothered by it," he said in an email to The Associated Press. "If he actually believed that nonsense, or was planning on implementing it as policy, he would have said it before being bullied into it by the international thought police." It has been more than a year since Mayor Anthony Copeland informed more than 1,000 West Calumet Housing Complex residents it was in their "best interest to temporarily relocate" because of contaminated soil. Do you have questions? What are some the most burning questions about the East Chicago lead crisis you want to see answered? Call or email reporters Lauren Cross at 219-933-3206 or lauren.cross@nwi.com, or Sarah Reese at 219-933-2251 or sarah.reese@nwi.com. The mayor's letter arrived in mailboxes amid other signs of a dire turn of events: Residents received letters from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency showing high lead and arsenic levels in their yards, the federal agency spread mulch over bare dirt, and signs popped up warning children not to play in the dirt. The mayor's letter immediately sparked an "extraordinary amount of anxiety and panic," thrusting the situation into the national spotlight, said Thomas Frank, an environmental activist who has fought pollution in the city for the last decade. By the numbers $40 million The city has estimated it could cost as much as $40 million to replace lead service lines and utilities at 5,300 residential properties in East Chicago, the estimated number of homes built before lead-based paint was banned in 1978. $35 million USS Lead Superfund site costs incurred so far by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. $4.85 million An engineering firm hired by the East Chicago Housing Authority estimated it will cost nearly $5 million to remove all West Calumet improvements during demolition. $3.9 million That same engineering firm offered an alternative, less expensive option for just under $4 million if all sidewalks, roadways, utilities, etc. remained intact. $2 million The Indiana Department of Housing and Community Development promised a $2 million grant to the East Chicago Housing Authoritys nonprofit arm to help with security and demolition of West Calumet. $1.9 million HUD issued $1.9 million in emergency relocation vouchers to West Calumet residents. $670K East Chicago Housing Authority expended $670,000 in capital funds for relocation of residents. $568K U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development relocating counseling contracts. $200K State grants for public health nursing staff at the East Chicago Health Department and to relocation the most vulnerable residents from West Calumet. $88K Cost incurred by FSSAs Division of Family Resources to replace 44 West Calumet households potentially contaminated furniture and household items. $77K Costs incurred by the East Chicago Housing Authority in the first half of 2017 in writing off delinquent West Calumet residents rent owed. In November, a civil rights agreement reached with the Shriver Center required the East Chicago Housing Authority to waive rent for impacted residents. "It seemed like an extreme response, because for years we came to hear these (environmental) threats over and over again in our city, and (officials) had neglected them. We hadn't heard anything prior to that from a public official sounding the alarm of an environmental threat, that people had to mass evacuate," Frank said. "At the same time, it really brought out the gravity of the problem. By recognizing this threat, and reacting the way he did, (Copeland) gave credit to these kinds of issues." By early August, about 200 people packed a meeting room to learn the East Chicago Housing Authority and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development wanted to tear down the complex and give residents vouchers to move. The city urged parents to have their children's blood tested for lead. The evacuation also left thousands of residents at more than 1,000 other properties in the Calumet and East Calumet neighborhoods all within the USS Lead Superfund site wondering why they weren't being told to relocate. Many of them own their homes and have watched during the past year as their property values declined. Superfund residents fear their myriad health problems may be caused by exposure to lead, arsenic and other legacy contaminants in a community that once billed itself as the country's "most industrialized city." Cost estimates eclipsed EPA was aware of possible contamination outside the USS Lead factory site in the 5300 block of Kennedy Avenue at least as early as 1985, records show. However, the agency addressed contamination on-site through its Resource Conservation and Recovery Act program before adding the factory site and residential areas dubbed zones 1, 2 and 3 to its Superfund list in 2009. EPA selected a cleanup plan in 2012 that was estimated to cost $28.9 million and require 21 months to complete, records show. Costs already have significantly exceeded that estimate. The agency began work under the plan in summer 2016 in zone 3, after securing $26 million under a 2014 consent decree with Atlantic Richfield Co. and E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. for cleanup of zones 1 and 3. As of late July, EPA had incurred about $35 million in costs at the USS Lead Superfund site and was seeking another consent decree to secure money for additional cleanups in zone 2, where work might not be completed until 2020, a spokeswoman said. The federal agency anticipates spending about $16 million for work this year in zone 2, but it has no projected total cost to complete the project across all three zones, the spokeswoman said. It remains unclear when removal of contaminated soil in zone 1 might be completed. EPA shelved zone 1 cleanup plans after the East Chicago Housing Authority and HUD announced plans to demolish all the 346 units at the complex. EPA began re-evaluating its cleanup options last year as part of an updated feasibility study. After the study is released, EPA again will begin the process of selecting a cleanup plan for zone 1. "EPA is still on track to complete the feasibility study by the end of the year," an EPA spokeswoman said. "After the study is completed, EPA will begin the process to amend the record of decision and to renegotiate the consent decree. Community input is an important part of both of these processes." The costs incurred so far have been paid through a combination of government funding and money from "potentially responsible parties," which are companies, or successors to companies, potentially responsible for the pollution. Those parties also have incurred costs unknown to EPA to dispose of contaminated soil, EPA said. According to a March memo, EPA estimated $43.25 million will be needed for "emergency removal actions" dating back to 2005 at the site, including outdoor excavation and indoor dust cleaning in zone 2. A $16 million settlement reached in March with Atlantic Richfield, du Pont, the Chemours Co. and U.S. Metals Refining Co. will fund some of those activities, EPA said. EPA Region 5 acting Administrator Robert Kaplan did not rule out additional cleanups if EPA lowers its residential standards for lead. The agency has been considering changes to a rule that sets the standard at 400 parts per million. EPA must conduct a five-year review after completing excavations. If the standard is lowered before the review, EPA could determine it's necessary to clean properties where lead concentrations were below 400 ppm but above a new standard, Kaplan said. Meanwhile, residents have been pushing since the fall for a say in court. They recently asked a U.S. District Court judge to reconsider a magistrate's decision that denied their motion to intervene in the 2014 consent decree. Residents have successfully urged EPA during the past year to test indoor dust and basements for contamination, but more accountability is needed, said Debbie Chizewer, an attorney at Northwestern University Pritzker Law Schools Environmental Law Clinic. "If this motion is granted, we would have the opportunity, as the consent decree evolved, to have input," said Chizewer, one of several attorneys working pro bono on behalf of residents. "We would become a party to the process and (ensure) EPA is living up to the consent decree." Future of West Calumet The West Calumet Housing Complex now stands empty, surrounded by a barbed-wire fence to prevent trespassers, as HUD considers the East Chicago Housing Authority's demolition plans. After demolition plans were announced, city, state and federal officials poured resources into the relocation of the 300-plus families. Sidestepping a process that typically takes months to years, HUD weeks later issued $1.9 million in emergency relocation vouchers to ECHA for the evacuation of residents without a formal, written plan in place. In all, HUD spent about $568,000 for relocation and mobility counseling technical assistance to ECHA, said James Cunningham, deputy administrator for HUD Region 5. City and housing officials were originally set on a Nov. 30, 2016, move-out deadline, but the last remaining families did not leave until June 16, state records show. A Chicago-based housing watchdog group quickly stepped in, arguing the chaotic, rushed process would be a nightmare for families that needed more guidance and financial moving assistance. After a complaint was filed with HUD headquarters, ECHA agreed to about $670,000 in capital funds to assist with moving costs, and the state awarded ECHA another $100,000 in grant dollars to aid the most vulnerable of West Calumet residents. Residents since have scattered. Many have found new homes in the Chicago area or Northwest Indiana. According to HUD, 62 households remained in East Chicago, 46 transferred to the Gary Housing Authority, 40 went to the Hammond Housing Authority and 25 moved to Chicago public housing. Another 70 found public housing elsewhere in Cook County, while 46 went to "other areas." Those numbers reflect the number of vouchers used by residents. Additionally, five families moved into traditional public housing, nine families moved to other, non-subsidized housing and 26 families were transferred to emergency ECHA housing units, says HUD. "At this point, nobody has been made whole," Frank said. The Community Strategy Group, of which Frank is a member, presented HUD Secretary Ben Carson with a list of demands during his recent visit to East Chicago. The group wants HUD to offer a "second move" option for families who moved out quickly, start a recovery fund to cover incidental costs not covered under the original move and provide contamination risk assessments at residents' new homes. Once demolition is complete, Copeland has said the city "will work with residents, businesses and other stakeholders to determine the future use. "The long-term use is undecided at this juncture, but once demolition and cleanup (are) complete, we will determine the best use. Once we are fully satisfied that the property is completely free of contamination to the best possible level (which is cleaning it to residential standards), the city will move forward with appropriate development. East Chicago continues to enjoy demand for development, even in spite of this unfortunate situation," the city said in an email. Copeland also spoke about the site's future at a news conference following Carson's Aug. 7 visit. "We have to take an injustice and right it," Copeland said. "And that right comes when we restore that property to residential standards. That is what the people have asked for. When we clean it to residential standards, then we will be able to develop it to any level; that would be commercial, that would be new housing, anything. So, this is what we are are waiting for for the EPA to give us the clean bill of health." Though the local housing authority owns the land, HUD and ECHA together have a declaration of trust that reflects HUDs interest in the land. That trust requires HUD approval for any use other than public housing, Cunningham said. "ECHA must obtain HUD approval to dispose of the property for a use other than public housing," Cunningham said. Any HUD project also would require federal approval. Dispute over demo plan East Chicago officials and EPA remain at odds about whether EPA could have safely cleaned up soil around the complex without creating unreasonable risks to residents' health. East Chicago officials said they do not believe EPA could have adequately protected West Calumet residents from dust stirred up by excavation of soil during cleanup activities. But EPA officials said they have years of experience in lead cleanups and would have put protective measures in place to prevent the spread of airborne toxins. The complex was built in the footprint of the former Anaconda lead smelter in the early 1970s and is the most heavily contaminated part of the Superfund site, EPA records show. Despite its public health concerns, the city in April dug up a playground at the complex while residents still lived there. The city removed the playground without notifying EPA, and EPA later covered the bare soil with mulch to prevent further lead exposure, an EPA official said at the time. In May, HUD issued a preliminary finding that demolition "is warranted to protect human health" and would have "no significant impact on the human environment." Because of its finding, HUD determined an environmental impact statement under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 was not required. Residents rejected the finding, arguing demolition plans include activities that would pose greater health risks to residents than EPA's initial plans. The groups fear disturbing soil at depths of up to 8 feet but not removing it, and exposing groundwater, could threaten the health of residents in zones 2 and 3 and people living downwind from the Superfund site. Residents want HUD to conduct a full environmental review under the 1969 law before allowing demolition to move forward. HUDs environmental review is separate from a review determining future land use, HUD said. EPA project manager Thomas Alcamo said at recent meetings that EPA has reviewed demolition plans and is awaiting more details. ECHA and HUD have been receptive to EPA's suggestions, and Alcamo expects that dialogue will continue as more details of the demolition plan are worked out, he said. EPA has offered input on demolition plans, but HUD ultimately will sign off. BROWNSBURG, Ind. Police say a man is facing preliminary attempted murder charges in the shooting of two people outside a suburban Indianapolis warehouse that prompted an Amber Alert while they searched for him and three young children. Brownsburg police Sgt. April Hyde says 25-year-old Cristhian Garcia was arrested about noon Wednesday after a downtown Indianapolis traffic stop. Hyde says the children ages 8, 5 and 2 were unharmed but didn't give details. Garcia is suspected of shooting 22-year-old Alicia Canizales and 25-year-old Jesus Huesca about 10 p.m. Tuesday as they arrived for work at a Home Goods distribution center in Brownsburg. Hyde says Huesca was hospitalized in critical condition, while Canizales was awake and alert. Hyde says Garcia was in a domestic relationship with Canizales, who is the children's mother. Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill is offering funds to help Gary adopt an Indianapolis model for fighting crime. Gary has the bad reputation for violent crime, but the murder rate recently was higher in Indianapolis than in Gary. Hill announced last week his office has up to $500,000 available to community and religious groups to apply the Indianapolis Ten Point Coalition model to deter violence in their cities. The Indianapolis group inserts its yellow-vested members between police and residents at the scenes of violent crimes to allow police to do their jobs while the coalition members offer comfort to friends and families of those injured or killed. The coalition members also regularly go on "faith patrols" to build relationships with individuals most likely to be involved in homicides or other violent crimes. While Hill acknowledges the Indianapolis model won't work everywhere, he also knows community involvement is the key to making neighborhoods safe again. "These communities, these neighborhoods, have to want it, they have to earn it, they have to work hard to establish the protocols and adhere to the protocols," Hill said. The grant Hill is offering is funded through settlements achieved through class-action lawsuits settled by his office. Building community support for law enforcement, as well as crime prevention, is vital for the city's efforts to attract new development and other investment in the city. Take up Hill on his offer, and develop a community-based crime prevention program that would work for Gary. Share your opinion on this topic by sending a letter to the editor to tctvoice@madison.com. Include your full name, hometown and phone number. Your name and town will be published. The phone number is for verification purposes only. Please keep your letter to 250 words or less. A U.S. solider killed in Iraq is remembered in Brooklyn community as a proud, respectful man. NY1's Clodagh McGowan filed the following report. On a quiet block in Canarsie, home to many veterans, a family is mourning the death of one of their own. Army Sergeant Roshaine Brooks, 30, was killed in Iraq on Sunday. The Army says an artillery unit was firing on an Islamic State position "when a mishap occurred," killing Brooks and another soldier. No other details were provided. "We are going through a lot. Because it's so close to home," said Joy Houston, Brooks' cousin. Houston says her family was incredibly proud of Brooks. He enlisted in June 2012, deployed to Afghanistan in 2014 and was assigned to the 82nd Airborne Division as a paratrooper last year. This was his first deployment to Iraq. "He was the coolest guy you could ever meet, anybody could ever meet," Houston said. "He was calm-spirited and he was very nice. That's the most I could say. He was never in any trouble, very respectful." Houston says Brooks was born in Jamaica and immigrated to the U.S. as a teenager. An Army spokesperson says Brooks was still a citizen of Jamaica when he died. There are programs to expedite the path to citizenship for immigrants who enlist in the Armed Forces. It's unclear if Brooks was seeking citizenship in such a program, but his cousin says there is no doubt he was proud of his adopted home. "He really loved his country and he wanted to serve," Houston said. "Every time I met him, he always had a smile on his face, he always said good things about his country. And he was so happy to be fighting for his country," said Mike Tepedino of the DSNY. Sergeant Allen Stigler Jr. 22, of Arlington, Texas was also killed. Both men were posthumously awarded the Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, a Meritorious Service Medal and the Combat Action Badge. Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered flags on all government buildings to fly at half staff in honor of Brooks, calling his death tragic and one that will be felt deeply by his entire New York family. Two plaques dedicated to Confederate General Robert E. Lee were removed from Saint John's Episcopal Church in Brooklyn on Wednesday. The tributes were taken down after a city council candidate called the local bishop following the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. Some said the plaques were part of history, but Bishop Lawrence Provenzano said they should be removed. "He knowingly supported the Confederacy's fight against the United States to preserve slavery," Provenzano said. "That's evil, there's no getting around that. It's a historic fact." "It's a part of history," said Bay Ridge resident Walter Sett. "Matter of fact, our children, my children, my grandchildren, they probably won't know about General Lee." The first plaque was installed in 1912 by the Daughters of the Confederacy to commemorate a tree planted by Lee in the 1840s while stationed nearby at Fort Hamilton. The second commemorates the tree's replacement in 1935. The Episcopal Diocese of Long Island owns the church, but the building is up for sale. Some residents denounced the plaques' removal. "I think things like this should be left alone," one man said outside the church. "If you don't like it, don't look at it." "Now all of a sudden after 100 years, it's derogatory?" another man said. "It's part of our history." But Wednesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a 90-day review of "symbols of hate on city property." He tweeted that a plaque honoring Philippe Petain in the Canyon of Heroes will be one of the first that the city will remove. Petain was a hero French general in World War One, but then became a Nazi collaborator. De Blasio also joined Brooklyn officials in demanding streets in Fort Hamilton that honor Lee and Stonewall Jackson, another Confederate general, be changed. The Army had already denied that request. Bronx Community College also announced that it was removing statues of Lee and General Jefferson Davis from the Hall of Fame for Great Americans on its campus. President Trump made it clear Tuesday where he stands on removing tributes to the Confederacy: "I wonder, is it George Washington next week, and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after?" Trump said at Trump Tower. "You know, you really do have to ask yourself, 'Where does it stop?'" The bishop said the Lee plaques will be stored in a private archive in Garden City on Long Island. An undocumented immigrant who testified in two Brooklyn homicide cases gets a second chance at citizenship. William Siguencia Hurtado came to the U.S. from Ecuador 15 years ago. He'd been slated for deportation after skipping out on a court hearing in 2005, and was detained at an annual check in back in June. But now thanks to the Brooklyn District Attorney's office, Hurtado will make bond later this week. "If you come forward and you work with law enforcement we will not turn our backs on you," said acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. "We are here to make sure that every person who resides in Brooklyn is treated with fairness and respect and dignity and that justice will be given an opportunity." Hurtado's testimony helped convict two gang members in the stabbing death of a man outside a nightclub. He also gave police information about three attackers who beat a man to death. The married father of two plans to head back to work as a cab driver while he tries to obtain permanent status. The violence in Charlottesville, Virginia and controversy over Confederate monuments have renewed concerns here at home over two Brooklyn streets named after Confederate generals. And as our Bobby Cuza reports, recent events have also prompted the removal of a separate tribute to Robert E. Lee that stands nearby. In North Carolina, protesters toppled a Confederate statue Monday. It was a similar story elsewhere from Tennessee to Florida to Brooklyn. Thats right, Brooklyn, where for more than 100 years, a plaque honoring Robert E. Lee has been affixed to this tree outside St. John's Episcopal Church, a tree Lee himself planted in the early 1840s, during his time stationed at the nearby Fort Hamilton Army base. But on Wednesday, the plaque is coming down, to be removed by custodial staff, according to Bishop Lawrence Provenzano of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island. The diocese owns the church, which hasnt been in active use since 2014 and is being sold. The plaque had gone mostly under the radar, until it was raised by Brooklyn pastor Khader El-Yateem. "We are demanding from our Army to rename these streets," El-Yateem said. El-Yateem, a candidate for City Council, was joined by a handful of protesters Tuesday, primarily concerned with the renaming of two streets inside the Fort Hamilton Army base: General Lee Avenue, the main road through the base, and Stonewall Jackson Drive. "On our Army base, right here in our own neighborhood, we have signs that honor people who fought to preserve slavery," El-Yateem said. "Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson committed treason in defense of slavery," said John Hagan, a local resident. Others have long made the same case. In June, Brooklyn Congresswoman Yvette Clarke and three of her colleagues also demanded a name change. The Army responded that any change would be controversial and divisive, and that the streets were originally named in a spirit of reconciliation. Theres little doubt where the White House stands-- "This week, it's Robert E. Lee. I noticed that Stonewall Jackson's coming down. I wonder, it is George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after?" Trump said. "You know, you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop?" As for the plaque, it was installed in 1912 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. But the tree itself isn't actually all that historic. The diocese says the original tree died and has been replaced twice. President Donald Trump is not backing down from his remarks following the deadly protests in Virginia, blaming both sides for the carnage. Josh Robin filed the following report. The president has a message for those who came to Virginia in the name of white Christian power and Confederate pride. "Very fine people, on both sides," he said. Speaking heatedly, and this time with no TelePrompTer, Trump charged that counter-protesters - the alt-left, he says - also had blood on their hands. He made no mention that a suspected white separatist activist is charged with ramming a car into a crowd, killing someone. "You had a group on one side that was bad and a group on the other side that was also very violent," Trump said. "And nobody wants to say that, but I'll say it right now. You had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit, and they were very, very violent." In all, it was a shocking 21st-century scene, poking anew the centuries-old wounds of race and religion in the United States. And it was further shocking that the president made the remarks in his hometown of New York City, long seen as a haven for the persecuted. Comments on Virginia also eclipsed other important developments from Tuesday. For one, the president is reversing Obama-era policies, allowing major federally funded projects in areas liable to flood in the era of rising seas. For another, Trump offered weak support for White House advisor Steve Bannon. And finally, the president criticized Senator John McCain. The Arizona Republican denied Trump a vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. That vote is seen as slowing momentum for other parts of Trump's agenda. But so, too, are Trump's own words and actions. And Tuesday may make it even worse. NEW YORK (AP) President Donald Trump returned insistently Tuesday to his assessment that "there is blame on both sides" after being roundly criticized for such comments following the deadly violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trump's remarks on his home turf at Trump Tower in New York City followed a more deliberate statement he made Monday in Washington. Reading from prepared remarks inside the White House, he said then that "racism is evil" and branded members of the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists who take part in violence as "criminals and thugs." That statement followed sharp and unrelenting criticism, including from many top Republican lawmakers, of his more general Saturday remarks bemoaning violence on "many sides." Yet during an impromptu press conference Tuesday, Trump seemed to undo what he said a day earlier. He praised his own controversial Saturday statement, even pulling it from his suit pocket to read it again. And he followed that recitation by angrily laying blame on liberal groups in addition to white supremacists for the Charlottesville violence. Some of those protesting the rally to save a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee were "also very violent," he said. "There are two sides to a story," he said. He added that some facts about the violence in Charlottesville still aren't known. Free e-newsletter Our daily newsletter is FREE and keeps you up to date with the world of mortgage. Please complete the form below and click on SIGN UP to receive daily e-newsletters from NZ Adviser. Only 11 percent of eligible Lee County voters participated in Tuesdays special election for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Jeff Sessions, Probate Judge Bill English said. The 3,913 Democrats who turned out to vote overwhelmingly chose Doug Jones as their candidate. He received 2,565 votes in Lee County 65.66 percent of his partys total votes here, according to unofficial results provided by election officials. The Republican primary was a little tighter among Lee County voters. With 2,904 votes, or 36.74 percent, Roy Moore edged out incumbent Luther Strange, who received 2,596 votes, or 32.84 percent of his partys ticket, in Lee County, according to unofficial results. Twenty-four of the county's 25 precincts reported after polls closed Tuesday night. The final precinct consists of provisional ballots and will be tallied next Tuesday, English said. The turnout hasnt been very good, Alabama Democratic Conference chairman Patsy Jones said as she campaigned for Jones outside Covington Community Center in Opelika. I dont know the reason, but Ive been in Opelika enough to know that when special elections come, you dont get a large turnout. Maybe theyre waiting for the runoffs and the general election. Voter Virginia Graham said she believes people were uninformed about the election, and that contributed to low turnout. I spoke with a lot of them earlier this morning, and they said they didnt know or had forgotten all about the election, she said. But I got on the phone and called as many people as I could and let them know how important this election is, and that they needed to go to the polls. Carlton Clifton of Opelika brought his wife and son to his polling place Tuesday afternoon. I vote because I am interested in what our politicians do, he said. I hope that we can choose the right ones, who do the right things. We havent been doing that too well in Alabama. Some voters shown as inactive English said hundreds of Lee County voters who showed up at their precincts Tuesday were told records showed they were inactive. Theyre showing up today and saying, What do you mean, inactive? I voted in November, he said. Earlier this year, Secretary of State John Merrill did a mass postcard mailout to every voter in Alabama. If a voter received the card and the address listed was correct, they did not have to take any further action to vote in Tuesdays election. If the address was incorrect and the postcard was returned to the sender, the secretarys office sent a second mailout, to be forwarded to the voters correct address. This second card contained a voter registration update form. Voters who completed and returned these forms could vote. If the second form was returned to sender rather than forwarded to the intended recipient, he or she was then considered inactive for the special election. If this doesnt get sent to them, were going to catch them at the polls, English said. And thats what happened today; hundreds of voters marked inactive, filled out a form and would vote like me and you. No harm, no foul. Tuesday afternoon, Merrill told journalists that the statewide voter turnout could be as low as 10 or 15 percent, in line with the 11 percent Lee County turnout. But the 11,821 Lee County residents who cast their ballots Tuesday did so with a purpose. We need to fill the vacancy in the Senate, voter Mark Weatherly said. I feel like voting is a right that we need to always adhere to. I try to vote every time theres an election. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The Opelika City Council voted Tuesday to enter into an agreement with Robins & Morton Group for the purpose of providing project management and construction consulting services in connection with the citys new police department headquarters project. The company will act as the general contractor for the project. It has worked on projects for the city of Opelika in the past that include the Opelika Sportsplex, Opelika Power Services facility and Opelika High School. They manage big projects, said Joey Motley, city administrator. We dont have large staffs to handle such projects. The company will be involved with selecting an architect and site preparation in the pre-construction phase of the project. The cost of the companys services during the pre-construction phase is not to exceed $70,000. It will be paid through the citys unassigned fund balance of the general fund. Once the project is complete, the old police department will be demolished and the new facility will take its place at 501 South 10th Street. The council also voted to authorize the mayor to sign a Byrne Justice Assistance Grant for the Opelika Police Department. The city applies for the grant every year. The administrator of the grant changes between the city of Opelika, the city of Auburn and the Lee County Sheriffs Department. Lee County is the administrator this year. This year, the amount of the grant is $26,826 with each of the three entities receiving $8,942. The Opelika Police Department plans to use its funds to purchase driver feedback signs that will be placed throughout the city. The sign shows the speed of a vehicle driving past it. Last year, 401 hotel rooms were added to the Madison-area hotel market. Get the Cap Times app for your smartphone Click here for the iPhone version Click here for the Android version On August 1, a combined force of heavily-armed police, the army and military police started deploying at Bukuya sub-county in Mubende district. In the midst of rising tensions, local security chiefs assured the residents that the armed forces were in the area to register Ugandans and non-Ugandans working in the gold mines at Kitumbi and Bukuya sub-counties. This was supported by a statement that Stephen Isabalija, the permanent secretary in the ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, issued the following day. In his statement, Isabalija said government wanted to register all the local artisanal miners in the area so that they can be organised in groups for proper regulation. The exercise, he stated, was anticipated to take three months with the support of the police, UPDF and Directorate of Citizenship and Immigration Control. However, by daybreak the following day, the armed forces had given two hours to whoever was in the mining area to leave. Some of the evicted miners leaving the mining area According to various documents seen by The Observer, the forceful eviction was a result of a series of meetings at State House Entebbe and at the ministry of Energy and Mineral Development headquarters at Amber House in Kampala. For instance, on July 13, Isabalija chaired a meeting at Amber house that was attended by the chief of defence forces (CDF) Gen David Muhoozi, Col Kaka Bagyenda (Internal Security Organisation), AIGP Asuman Mugenyi (Police) and 14 other government and security officials to plan for the eviction. This meeting followed an earlier meeting held on July 12 at Entebbe in which President Museveni directed Muhoozi to to immediately stop illegal mining in Mubende and pave way for mineral exploration. Muhoozi and Isabalija attended this particular meeting at State House. Museveni issued the directive after Isabalija informed him that there were approximately one million ounces of gold at Mubende which can fetch the country about Shs 5.6bn per month. According to the minutes of the meeting, Muhoozi reported that following the presidential directive, he had constituted an inter-agency team that visited the Mubende area and found about 40,000 people in the mining area. He, then, briefed Museveni on the status of the operations, to which Museveni instructed that all the artisanal miners must vacate the area to allow for exploration. This was after the facts on ground appeared to alarm Museveni, especially where gold exports were not reflecting the mining potential of the country. Prior to this, Museveni had on June 13 held another meeting at State House Entebbe, which was attended by state ministers Evelyn Anite (Investment), Peter Lokeris (Minerals), Kasirivu Atwooki (Economic Monitoring), Obiga Kania (Internal Affairs) and Benny Namugwanya (Kampala). Namugwanya was most probably called to the meeting in her capacity as the Mubende Woman MP. She was joined by Patrick Oshabe Nsamba, the Kassanda North MP. Also in attendance was Gertrude Njuba, a presidential aide in charge of Land matters, although for this particular meeting, she was representing Gemstone International, the company that acquired an exploration license over an area measuring 218 square kilometres and a mining license on a six square kilometre chunk of land. UNDERTAKING The meeting resolved that all people in the mining area leave within a week. This prompted the members of parliament from Mubende to write to Museveni asking for an extension of the time within which his directive had to be implemented. In their letter, the MPs reminded Museveni of the undertaking he took while he campaigned in the area ahead of last years general elections. During the campaigns, the president pledged to protect the interests of the locals. This, he repeated in his state-of-the-nation address last year. That is why we asked him in our letter to give them more time to move their investments, Bukuya MP Dr Michael Bukenya told The Observer on August 11. The MPs also requested that the locals be given three to five square kilometres out of the 218 square kilometres where Gemstone International holds an exploration license. Museveni wrote back to the MPs on June 28 telling them that as much as he agreed to their request of giving the artisans ample time, they ought not to keep their eyes away from the bigger issue, likening the mining area to a family banana plantation where the family head determines how many bunches of mature banana are cut, by who and when. The investor is there to help us know whether there is gold, and if so, how much of it. Why should anybody interfere with this? Those who invaded where the investor had made excavations must straight away get out, Museveni wrote. He further stated that the ample time can apply to miners in portions far away from where the investor had done the excavations. LEGAL BATTLE With support from a number of civil society organisations (CSOs) led by ActionAid and Chapter Four, the MPs and the local artisans are planning to challenge in court Gemstone Internationals mining and exploration licenses. They contend that in issuing the licenses, government contravened Section 30 (1) of the Mining Act 2003, which states: The holder of an exploration license may within three months, before the expiration of such license, apply for the renewal of the license in respect of an area of land which is not greater in extent than half of the exploration area as at the date of the grant or last renewal license. Gemstone has been operating in that area for the past 20 years but under different names like AUC Mining Company, Kamalenge Mining Company Ltd and now Gemstone International. This, they have been doing to avoid losing 50 per cent of the exploration area as per the law, Bukenya said. If the government considers the local artisans illegal miners, Gemstone International is also operating illegally, the soft-spoken MP added. NEW POLICE UNIT In what appeared to be a show of governments resolve to keep the local artisan miners away, the inspector general of police, (IGP) Gen Kale Kayihura, last week announced the creation of the police forces minerals protection unit. In a radio message sent out on August 7 to all police directors, Kayihura announced the appointment of SP Jesca Keigombe as the head of the new unit, which is to specifically implement plans, policies and strategies for effective security of minerals in the country. The new unit will also conduct inspections, surveillance and monitoring in order to detect and prevent illegal mining and develop human and non-human capacity to handle minerals protection in the country. sadabkk@observer.ug As scientists take the battle to prevent HIV/Aids to the next level, a new jab called Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) injection is set to be experimented in Uganda to about 500 people who are at risk of getting the deadly disease. This injection is an addition to the PrEP Truvada pills, which government approved in 2015. Dr FLAVIA MATOVU KIWEEWA, an epidemiologist at the Makerere University Johns Hopkins University Research Collaboration, talked to Zurah Nakabugo about the PrEP injection trial. Dr Flavia Matovu Kiweewa Which kind of people are at most risk of getting HIV/Aids? These are people who engage in unprotected sex with different partners and dont know their HIV status. They are mainly prostitutes. When is the study starting in Uganda and how long will it take? We are awaiting approval from National Council of Science and Technology plus the Joint Clinical Research Center. So, we hope to start within two months. The trial will take about four-and-a-half years studying people we have injected, since it takes different steps. Once its approved, how will the trial be conducted? We shall get volunteers who are willing to be part of the trial, sensitize them about the research and if they accept, we begin the study step by step. We divide the volunteers into two groups which include active and disabled and then compare them. But the volunteers cant know which group they are in, since the researchers test different medicines and can only confirm the genuine drugs, by comparing it with fake products. Is there a similar concept you have used in this study? Yes, this is the same concept we used in prevention of mother-to-child Transmission (PMCT) of HIV, where newborns take a drug before exposure to the infection and get security in their bodies and cannot get infected. Which drug are they going to use in PrEP injection trial? In this study, we are going to use two groups of people who have been tested and confirmed HIV-negative. In one of the groups, we shall give people the genuine PrEP injection containing Cabotegravir (CAB) drug. But another group, will be injected without any drug and then compare the two groups. Will the volunteers know the PrEP injection, they get, whether it contains drug or not? No, we shall not tell them, because we want them to move freely as we follow them. But after some time, we shall test them and confirm whether the drug works or not. How do you confirm that the drug works? If there is same number of people who got infected in both groups that received drugs and the other without drugs, it means the drug didnt work. But if the group which received genuine drug (CAB) has less number of people who got infected, it means the drug works. For how long will you be following them up? Monthly, until we complete the study for about four and a half years. We shall be testing them for HIV and see if they get infected or not. Has this study been done elsewhere in the world? Yes, in Kenya, Canada, United States, South Africa, Botswana and others. But in South Africa, the HIV infections are very many compared to Uganda. In South Africa, they get 1,800 HIV infections daily, while in Uganda, they get 400 infections daily. Where do you expect to get volunteers for this study? We shall go in different areas which have people who are at risk of HIV/Aids mainly between the age of 16 and 40 and sensitise them about this research. We shall go to fishing communities, bars, markets, churches, mosques and streets. Then those who pick interest in being part of the study, we tell them to stay behind, and talk to them one on one in detail. How many people will be tried with this injection? About 500 people and out of these, 250 will be conducted at MU-JHU, while the other 250 will be at Baylor Uganda. Then the overall study in Africa will be conducted on 3,200 people. And the study will only be conducted on people who are HIV-negative. Are there volunteers that come and you dont try the injection on them? Yes, like the pregnant mothers and people who are already infected with HIV plus people with infectious diseases. Who are the leading experts in this research? In Uganda, Dr Clemensia Nakabiito, the head obstetrician and gynecology at MU-JHU, will be the lead investigator in this research. And the protocol chair heading the research worldwide is Dr Sinead Delaney. Why is Uganda part of this study? Because the burden of HIV in Uganda is very high and they cant conduct this study in the US where very few people are infected because they wont get good results without testing enough people. Is it a must for them to disclose openly when they are HIV-positive? Yes, if you are infected, a health worker, gives you one week to tell your partner, if you fail, the health worker tells your partner to know your status. The organization you are working with, also knows your status since they put everything in their technology system. In Uganda, its confidential law on HIV status and parliament refused to pass the disclosure bill, which has increased the epidemic. In the US, if a celebrity is confirmed HIV-positive, they even announce him or her in the newspapers and social media and warn people against sleeping with him. Who are the people going to be tried on and where are these people? We shall focus on women only since the burden is high on women yet men have other preventive measures like circumcision. Why did the scientists come up with PrEP injection? We did a study in Uganda and found many women are not adhering to take Truvada pills as PrEP. So we came up with an alternative means of prevention of HIV like how its done in different family planning methods. Most people especially rape, defilement victims and sexual workers have been finding the burden of swallowing Truvada pills as PrEP for months. Which side effects are likely to occur with this injection? Before reaching this big study, we conduct small studies and we found that the injection was really safe apart from few people who reported some pain. Do you expect the research to be successful in Uganda? In science more researches fail than those that break through. If it fails, we try something else. But we still have Truvada pills which were approved as HIV prevention. When do we expect results after the trial? It takes time analysing the study and following volunteers. It might take about eight years. Then after getting the results, we wait until we get the approval. For PrEP Truvada pills, we got the results in 2012, other countries approved it in 2014, but in Uganda, we approved it in 2015. We are now going to be the third country in Africa to have PrEP Truvada pills. South Africa was first and Kenya second. Other countries are still in the process of approving PrEP Truvada pills. How much will this study cost? I dont know. But these studies are usually in the millions of dollars. The first study we did on PrEP Truvada pills and jelly was about $85m (Shs 306.8bn), which was conducted on 5,000 women worldwide. How cheap will this injection be? I dont know, but these researches are very expensive, and I think in government hospitals, it will be free. But it might be abit expensive in private hospitals. zurah@observer.ug A number of blue dogs have been spotted near Navi Mumbais Taloja industrial area, in India, and initial reports that untreated industrial waste dumped into the nearby Kasadi River may be to blame. Remember Huckleberry Hound, the adorable cartoon character created by Hanna/Barbera? He was a blue dog, but no one seem to find that weird. Then again, he was only a fictional cartoon character, whereas the blue dogs of Navi Mumbai are very real, which makes their unusual color a lot more disturbing. Photos and videos of several canines whose fur had turned bright blue went viral all around the world a couple of days ago, leaving people scratching their heads as to whether they had been doctored. Unfortunately, the Navi Mumbai Animal Protection Cell soon confirmed that blue dogs actually exist in Mumbai, and are the cause of excessive pollution. It was shocking to see how the dogs white fur had turned completely blue, said Arati Chauhan, who runs the Navi Mumbai Animal Protection Cell. We have spotted almost five such dogs here and have asked the pollution control board to act against such industries. Apparently, strays often wade into the Kasadi River for food, and come into contact with whatever pollutants are in the water. The Taloja area is home to approximately a thousand pharmaceutical, food and engineering factories, some of which dump all kinds of chemicals into the river. In this particular case, a company was using blue dye for multiple purposes, including making detergents, but according to the local pollution control board, it was doing in an area cordoned off from the public. The area is already cordoned off to the public and is in close proximity of the private company. However, five to six dogs entered the site looking for food and got the blue colour on them, Jayavant Hajare, sub-regional officer, MPCB Navi Mumbai, told Hindustan Times. We have warned the company owners to ensure no animals can enter again and such an incident should not be repeated. We have given the company seven days to clear the pollutants from the site. If it is not removed then we will issue a notice, Hajare added. We have only spotted blue dogs so far. We do not know if birds, reptiles and other creatures are affected or if they have even died owing to the dye discharged into the air, Arati Chauhan said, adding that his animal protection cell has already filed a complaint with the pollution control board. Believe it or not, this is not the first time blue dogs have been spotted in Mumbai. Back in 2013, blogger Chelsea Rudman also posted photos of a couple of dogs with blue fur, in Dharavi. A dye factory was to blame then, as well. Photo: Chelsea Rudman Crown shyness or canopy disengagement is a mysterious natural phenomenon in which the crowns of some tree species do not touch each other, but are separated by a gap clearly visible from ground level. The effect usually occurs between trees of the same species, but has also been observed between trees of different species. The Crown Shyness phenomenon was first documented in scientific literature during the 1920s, but researchers have since not been able to reach a consensus regarding its causes. There are many theories going around in scientific circles, most of which make sense, but no one has been able to prove without the shadow of a doubt why some trees avoid touching each other. But perhaps its this mystery, along with its striking appearance, that makes crown shyness such a fascinating phenomenon. Photo: Patrice78500 In his 1955 book Growth Habits of the Eucalypts, Australian forester M.R. Jacobs writes that the growing tips of the trees are sensitive to abrasion, which results in the canopy gaps known as crown shyness. In 1986, this theory was also supported by Dr Miguel Franco, who noticed that the branches of Picea sitchensis (Sitka spruce) and Larix kaempferi trees suffered physical damage during abrasion, which killed the leading branches. Some experiments have shown that if trees displaying crown shyness are artificially prevented from swaying in the wind and colliding with each other, they gradually fill up the gaps between them. Photo: Dag Peak But while the above theory is arguably the most widespread, its certainly not the only one. Some scientists have suggested that crown shyness is a mechanism to stop the spreading of leaf-eating insects. These pests have been known to work together and create structures that extend up to 10 cm off of tree branches, in order to reach other plants, so the gaps are the trees natural defense mechanism. Photo: Mikenorton Amusing Planet cites one Malaysian scholar who studied the Dryobalanops aromatica trees, but found no traces of abrasions, despite their clear crown shyness. Instead, he suggests that the growing tips of the trees were sensitive to light levels and stopped growing when they got too close to other trees. Science also supports this theory, as plants are able to sense how close they are to other plants by detecting a specific frequency of light called far-red light. This allows them to compete with their neighbors over light needed to keep growing. In a video I posted at the bottom of this article, a tour guide explains that according to the best scientific explanation so far the leaves of the Borneo camphor tree release ethanol to stop other trees from growing to close. The answer could be just one of the above, or a combination of more. One thing is for sure, plants are more intelligent than people give them credit for. via This Is Colossal. Agricultural News FAPC Center at Oklahoma State Univeristy Offers Parents Some Back-to-School Tips on Food Safety With the beginning of a new school year, parents and caregivers may be concerned about whether children are eating the food in their lunch boxes. The more important concern, though, is whether the food is safe to eat. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service, the most common foodborne illness is salmonella infections. Approximately 50 percent of the 42,000 annual infections occur in infants and school-age children. Without proper storage, perishable food is at risk for harmful bacteria after four hours, said Ravi Jadeja, food safety specialist for Oklahoma State University's Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center. "Bacteria that can cause foodborne illness or food poisoning grow rapidly at temperatures between 40 and 140 degrees (Fahrenheit)," Jadeja said. "These microorganisms can multiply to dangerous levels in just four hours, but packed lunches and snacks can be kept safe by following USDA's four steps to food safety: clean, separate, cook and chill." FAPC offers the following food safety tips for parents and caregivers to send their children to school with safe and satisfying lunches. Packing and storing food - Start by washing hands thoroughly and ensuring contact surfaces, utensils and dishes are clean to prevent contamination. - Use separate cutting boards and utensils for produce, meat and poultry to prevent cross-contamination. - Wash all fruits and vegetables and ensure canned goods are not expired. - Include at least two cold sources to keep perishable foods at a safe temperature. A frozen juice box or water bottle can be used along with a freezer pack. Place the cold sources on top and bottom of the perishable food. - Prepackaged meals often contain perishable food and should be refrigerated and packed with cold sources, too. - Store lunches in an insulated lunchbox or soft-sided bag. Paper bags may not keep perishable items safe. - Pack lunches the night before and store in the refrigerator to keep food colder longer. Eating and disposing leftovers - Include disposable wipes to clean hands before and after eating. - Discourage children from trading food during lunch since proper food safety protocols may not have been followed during preparation of other lunches. - Dispose of all remaining perishable food, packaging and paper bags when finished eating. Do not reuse packaging. Thoroughly clean storage containers and lunch bags between uses. FAPC, a part of OSU's Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, is celebrating its 20-year anniversary in 2017. Since its inception in January 1997, the center's research laboratories, pilot-processing facilities, educational programs and seminars have kept food and agricultural processors and entrepreneurs on the forefront of cutting-edge value-added processing and technology. Source - Oklahoma State University's Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center WebReadyTM Powered by WireReady NSI Top Agricultural News Utah residents who look forward to retiring in their state just got some good news in a report that names the state as the best in which to grow old. Those who hope to age gracefully in Wyoming, North Dakota, and New York may face more of a challenge. Those states are ranked as the three worst. All 50 states were ranked by the elder care resource site Caring.com on 13 categories including quality, cost and availability of health care for seniors. The calculations also incorporated a state-by-state well-being ranking for older Americans. Utah, No. 17 in well-being, had respectable scores across all the categories and was the only state to make it into the top 15 for both quality of life/health care (No. 7) and cost (No. 14). New York, No. 33 in the well-being ranking, was singled out by Caring.com for its extremes. The very high cost of the states health care doesnt produce results close to commensurate with that spending, according to the report. While New York ranked 46th in cost (the lower the rank, the higher the cost), its life/health care quality rank was 34 (the lower the rank, the worse the quality). Massachusetts had a similar pattern; it ranked 49th in cost and 18th in quality. Thats reflective of a larger trend in the U.S. high spending on health care isnt translating into longer lives. Higher costs show more of a payoff in Washington state and California. Washington is 38th for cost and is the top state for quality of life and health care. California has a cost ranking of 36 and quality ranking of 3 (its tied with Oregon for quality). The ranking, which drew on data from the U.S. Census, the insurer Genworth, AARP, the Commonwealth Fund, and Gallup-Healthways, among others, also factored in 150,000 consumer reviews from Caring.coms database of facilities and care providers for seniors. The availability, quality and cost of care for the elderly got greater attention in the report than some of the common measures used in retirement destination rankings. One reason we call this report the best states to grow old, versus best states to retire, is because its really important for people to plan out their 60s, 70s and 80s with as much care as they plan their retirement in their 30s, 40s and 50s, said Tim Sullivan, vice president at Caring.com. Your needs change as you age, and they are not always going to be driven by the sort of leisure or amenities or weather considerations that are what a lot of people think about retirement. Thats true, but since many Americans dont even have clear retirement plans, its also a tall order. In addition, quality and cost of health care can be wildly different for someone who lives in, say, New York City and someone who lives in Buffalo, New York. And older Americans living in Wyoming, North Dakota or New York arent going to make plans to pack up at 70 and move to Utah. The reports greatest utility is in sparking serious thought about how you want to grow old, and in helping you get a feel for how realistic that is given how and where youre living now. Rankings are just a starting point for more investigation, and an excuse for initiating conversations with loved ones and friends about the options theyre considering. State Debate: Wisconsin's wealth gap continues to grow; We need to separate hype from reality with Foxconn top topics today Nebraska author Jonis Agees The Bones of Paradise has been picked as the Omaha Public Librarys 2017 Omaha Reads selection. Each year the library announces a book for the community to read together. The library then purchases stacks of copies of the winner, hosting a series of events and discussions around the book throughout September. The finalists are determined by write-in suggestions from readers and the winner by a public vote. Agees 2016 book The Bones of Paradise beat out nominees 1984 by George Orwell, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald and The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. Agee, 74, lives in Omaha and teaches at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. A best-selling and New York Times Notable author of about a dozen books, Agee had been writing The Bones of Paradise for a long time. It was her first book in nearly a decade. A family saga, a period epic and a mystery, the book takes place in the Nebraska Sand Hills several years after 1890s massacre at Wounded Knee, when the 7th Cavalry killed more 200 Lakota men, women and children. The book begins with the murder of a white rancher and a young Sioux woman. Their deaths bring out their respective families, who have past ties and harbor long-held secrets. Rose, sister of the murdered Sioux woman, vows revenge. The killings appear to have ties to Wounded Knee. Its always a pleasure to feature a local author during Omaha Reads, Laura Marlane, the librarys executive director, said in a press release. The Bones of Paradise provides challenging topics for discussion, and also exposes historical insights into northwestern Nebraska at the turn of the century. Last years Omaha Reads book was All The Light We Cannot See, the New York Times best-selling novel set in World War II-era France. Past selections for the program include Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell, The Meaning of Names by Karen Gettert Shoemaker, In Cold Blood by Truman Capote and The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. Though Agee grew up in Omaha, she said that shes always had a strong connection to the Sand Hills. She and her sister used to own land there. They planned to build a house at one point, but it never happened. They ended up selling. But Agee returns when she can. Its her lonesome, mixed-grass muse. In a 2016 interview with The World-Herald, Agee said she got the idea for The Bones of Paradise while traveling through the Sand Hills up to the Pine Ridge and Rosebud Indian Reservations, where she learned more about the area and the massacre at Wounded Knee. I was so profoundly affected by it, she said. Omaha Reads readers can get involved with the program by checking out the book at your local branch and discussing the book with friends and neighbors. The library currently has more than 100 copies of the book (in various formats) available to place on hold at omahalibrary.org. Readers can also attend any of the following events: 7 p.m. Sept. 6, South Library, 2808 Q St.: Joe Starita, author and University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor, will give a presentation on his book, I Am a Man: Chief Standing Bears Journey for Justice, 7 p.m. Sept. 7, South Library: The Sitting Bull family story will be presented by Joyzelle Gingway Godfrey, a retired Lakota studies, English and writing professor from Sinte Gleska University in South Dakota. She will share history about the life of Sitting Bull, as well as the events that led to the massacre at Wounded Knee. 7 p.m. Sept. 14, Abrahams Library, 5111 N. 90th St.: Agee will speak about her book and sign copies following a Q&A session. Copies of the book will be available to buy at the event. 7 p.m. Sept. 18, Millard Library, 13214 Westwood Lane: Storytelling of the Dakota will be presented by Joyzelle Gingway Godfrey at Millard Branch. Godfrey will discuss the historic societal structure of the Dakota people. This! You guys want to know why you never get the pink plate anymore? This is why you never get the pink plate! Emilia and Grace stopped bickering and stared at me. It was one of those moments where I knew I was just talking to myself, handing my frustration over to the universe and frightening and confusing everyone in the process. This particular evening, our two older girls were arguing over who would get to sit on my lap while we read. Their disagreement began as a heated discussion but quickly devolved into manic ranting about who sat in my lap last night, three nights ago and one year ago last week. Im half surprised they didnt break out the yarn and newspaper clippings and diagram their lap-sitting theories on their bedroom wall. It was intense and slightly unhinged. Lately, the issue of fairness has taken up space as a major theme in our lives. It permeates everything and rears its head everywhere. Gifts. Portion sizes. Turns. Who goes first. Who goes last. Sometimes its logical, and other times the need to compete trumps decency and logic. Case in point: a recent throw down over who got to put a lint-covered fruit snack in the garbage. Theres probably some sort of developmental and anthropological explanation for the recent fairness boom. Emilia is trying to assert herself as the oldest, coolest, wisest, most privileged and deserving child among us, and Grace is grappling to find her place as the middle kid. Now shes old enough to understand how the world works. Now she wont settle for second best. Darn it. Sometimes Matt and I are prepared to tackle these arguments head on, and even reflect on some of our parenting decisions. When Grace cried not fair over Emilias new back-to-school dress, we talked about how Emilia is outgrowing her clothes clothes Gracie has long-admired and will soon inherit. And we realized that Grace was feeling more left out than shed let on, so we got her a back-to-school dress too. Sometimes Im able to head off the fairness fights at the pass. Oftentimes, we stay out of it, and they sort it out on their own. But other times, the constant squabbling over fairness feels totally exhausting and paralyzing. I find myself orchestrating our daily lives to avoid conflict. Case in point: the pink plate. We have a standard-issue set of kids Ikea plates, which come in a variety of colors. One of the plates is pink. The others are yellow (meh), green (gross), orange (barf) and blue (why is blue even a color?). For weeks, I listened to the girls debate over who deserved the pink plate as a backdrop for their breakfasts, lunches and dinners. I scolded them for arguing. I told them that a pink plate will not make their lukewarm chicken nuggets taste better (spoiler: nothing will). I tried my best to stick to the rigid "Pink Plate Alternating Schedule for Keeping the Peace." And then I simply took the pink plate out of circulation. Now it sits, dusty and alone at the bottom of the plate pile. The other day, I gave it to Phoebe and no one batted an eye. I dont have a solution to propose. This fairness stuff stinks, and Id like to think its just a stage. But its also sibling nature. And human nature. You can try to keep things as even and fair as possible, while stopping short of driving yourself completely insane. You can use it as a teachable moment because, as millions of wise people once said, sometimes life isnt fair. You can walk away and let them duke it out. Or you can go easy on yourself. The world will keep spinning. It will just be missing one pink plate to spin along with it. *** Catherine Kraemer writes twice a month for Momaha.com. She and her husband, Matt, are the parents of three young girls Emilia, 5, Grace, 3 and newborn Phoebe. Originally from St. Louis, Catherine lives in Omaha and works at a local advertising agency. Police responded to a call of a cutting in an apartment at 3550 Howard St. just before 12:45 a.m. They found Alejandro Sanchez-Rios, 32, with injuries that were not considered life-threatening. He was taken to the Nebraska Medical Center. A 50-year-old man was taken into custody at the scene and booked into the Douglas County Jail on suspicion of second-degree assault and use of weapon to commit a felony. Dustin Salisbury admitted to chasing down a man with his pickup truck a few hours before Jessi Domingo was found dead in a Ralston garage, a police officer testified on Wednesday. Ralston Deputy Chief Brian Hanson said during a preliminary hearing in Douglas County Court that Salisbury, 33, said that to a woman who lives across the street from his home near 79th and Seymour Streets. She said he told her that he was scared that he was going to jail, Hanson said. He said that a Mexican was talking gibberish in his yard and he loaded up his (fishing) equipment and chased him down. The investigation into the incident began when Ralston police officers went to 82nd and Seymour Streets at 4:38 a.m. on June 21 for a report of a personal injury accident. Salisbury called 911 to say he was trapped in his 2016 Honda Ridgeline, which was lying on its side. Accident investigators determined that Salisbury had driven through a fence and hit a utility box, a pole and a row of three connected garages at a high speed. Officers didnt find out until shortly after 11 a.m. the day of the crash that Domingo, 23, lay dead inside one of the badly damaged garages. The last time anyone heard from Domingo, Hanson said, was when Domingo placed a call to a cousin at 4:31 a.m. to say he was dying. The connection abruptly broke off and Domingo didnt answer his cousins frantic return calls. Judge Craig McDermott ruled that the prosecution had produced enough evidence to try Salisbury on charges of second-degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony. He is being held without bail. Defense attorney Michael Meckna argued that the crash appeared to be nothing more than an accident caused by Salisbury blacking out. Salisbury suffers from blackouts, he said, due to complications from post-traumatic stress disorder and chronic anxiety disorder. After the hearing, Meckna said he has been told that Salisburys medical problems were acquired during three tours of duty to war zones. Once all of the medical records are returned, they will show a history of mental ailments, Meckna said. Cody Miltenberger, a deputy prosecutor in the Douglas County Attorneys Office, said Salisbury didnt tell police about arguing with Domingo until he was questioned that night. Eight hours later, he tells police about the altercation and the person hes arguing with turns out to be Jessi Domingo, Miltenberger said. He also told someone about chasing him down. Sheriff Mike Robinson is taking his case for an increase in officers to the residents of Washington County. In an email Tuesday, Robinson said he is asking the Washington County Board to increase his budget by $87,000 to hire two additional deputies. The emails were sent to members of the E-Patrol, a neighborhood watch group that covers the entire county. The additional officers are needed, he said, to improve coverage and ease the strain that overtime is causing staff. Robinson said that the countys population has grown by 9 percent since 2000 and that felony arrests are up by 40 percent since 2011. To maintain our relatively low crime rate, we must add additional patrol deputies to meet what we have determined to be a minimum staffing requirement, Robinson wrote. We have done everything we can with the available manpower. Robinsons budget is $3.2 million per year. He is asking residents to attend the county budget meeting at 1 p.m. on Aug. 22 to voice their support for additional deputies or, if they cant attend, to write letters. Staffing changes already made, Robinson said, include going to a 12-hour schedule to put more deputies on the street at the same time. The addition of two deputies would allow him to put a minimum of four deputies on patrol Sunday through Thursday and five on Friday and Saturday. The increased calls for service and arrests means less time available to patrol, Robinson said. We must increase our patrol coverage to prevent an increase in crime. Robinson said the average number of deputies on patrol for eight similarly sized counties selected by the Washington County Board is 1.8 officers per thousand residents. The average number of deputies per thousand for Washington County is at 1.5. Adding two deputies would increase that average to 1.7, he said. We are averaging approximately 35 hours per week in overtime, Robinson wrote. The patrol deputies are getting tired. You can only work so many hours until fatigue sets in, at which time mistakes are made. The deputies need to have time off to be with their families or to just get away, Robinson said. I am very concerned about the welfare of the patrol deputies, he said. A 21-year-old man who fatally shot a man in a road rage incident was sentenced to 50 to 60 years in prison on Wednesday. Darwin Johnson had pleaded no contest to second-degree murder and weapon use in the October 2016 shooting of Cristian Pastrana-Marin. Johnson fired seven shots at the vehicle Pastrana-Marin was in. Johnson mistakenly thought he had been cut off while his girlfriend drove the two of them on U.S. Highway 75, said prosecutor Erin Hurley. Pastrana-Marin, 32, was struck twice once in the head and died seven days later. Two other passengers were uninjured. Johnson, then 20, was drinking and high on marijuana and acid when he fired shots, Hurley said. He told authorities that acid makes him hallucinate and he doesnt remember the shooting. But yet, he doesnt think drugs are a problem, Hurley said. Johnsons attorney, Scott Sladek, said Johnson has expressed remorse. Under state law, Johnson will serve at least 25 years and will be released in 30 years. He receives credit for 294 days in jail. He could have been sentenced to life in prison. Johnson declined to speak at the hearing, but as he was escorted from the courtroom, he told an older man, Love you, Pops. In the courthouse hallways, he made a face and grinned at a few friends or relatives. For friends of Pastrana-Marin, Johnsons behavior seemed like he was making fun of the tragedy. Its unfair that he can get out of jail and you dont know if hes going to do the same thing to someone elses family, said Guillermo Cortez, 37. Hubert Hernandez, 36, worked with Pastrana-Marin at a concrete company and said they were like brothers. All of Pastrana-Marins family lives in Mexico, friends said. Pastrana-Marin, he said, was friendly, humble and always smiling. He lost his life for nothing, Hernandez said. A 47-year-old bicyclist suffered a life-threatening head injury Tuesday night when he collided with a car in the Benson neighborhood, police said. Christopher T. Erickson of Omaha was riding south across Maple Street at 65th Avenue about 9 p.m. and collided with a 1995 Lexus LS400 that was driving east on Maple Street, police said. There is no crosswalk where Erickson tried to cross, and he was not wearing a helmet, Sgt. Chuck Casey said. Erickson was in critical condition Wednesday night at the Nebraska Medical Center. Richard M. Haynes of Omaha, 26, was driving the Lexus police said. Democrats, reveling in President Donald Trumps plummeting popularity and the Republican Partys civil wars, are looking forward to September. Except for one thing: the rollout of Hillary Clintons next book right after Labor Day. Clinton has promised to let my guard down in the book, What Happened, explaining her shocking loss to Trump in November. She has already offered up several explanations, blaming Russian interference, former FBI Director James Comey, and misogyny, while also acknowledging tactical errors by her campaign. Many Washington Democrats, though unwilling to criticize her in public, wish shed move on, as Minnesota Sen. Al Franken has put it. They fear that her complaints help Trump make his case that the controversies surrounding him flow from the Democrats bitterness about their 2016 loss. They prefer the approach taken by Al Gore after his equally controversial loss in 2000. Gore didnt really criticize the administration of President George W. Bush for almost two years even though he, like Clinton, won the popular vote while losing in the Electoral College. Gore went on to start a new career, winning a Nobel Prize and an Academy Award for his work on climate change. Associates hoped Clinton would also find a way to make a different contribution, perhaps as a university president or foundation head. Clinton could make a contribution speaking out selectively on important issues, drawing on her wealth of experience. But she remains haunted by her defeat. The gist of her message next month, based on her public statements and accounts of private conversations from people whove talked to her, will be: I accept the blame for what happened, but the bigger problems were Russian meddling, Comeys on-again, off-again handling of the Federal Bureau of Investigations probe of her private email server, the Democratic Party, and maybe even some of her own campaign staffers. The Clintons, associates say, are convinced that the election was stolen. They may be right; well find out soon enough whether theres proof that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia. If investigations by congressional committees and special counsel Robert Mueller turn up new facts, thatll provide a better basis for analyzing the impact. But Clinton is the wrong messenger. She just comes across as a sore loser. Or as Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer told the Washington Post: When you lose to somebody who has 40 percent popularity, you dont blame other things Comey, Russia you blame yourself. She could take a lesson from another prominent Democrat, one who has kept a relatively low profile since January. Thats former President Barack Obama, who has mostly resisted the temptation to strike back at repeated Trump cheap shots. Today, surveys of voters have found, hes the most popular American politician. Some Democrats want him to take on Trump a bit more, and are pleased hell be out campaigning for a few Democrats this fall. By contrast, Clinton has moved from being an admired former New York senator and secretary of state to becoming a divisive and unpopular figure. In last months Bloomberg national poll, 58 percent of respondents rated her unfavorably compared to 39 percent who gave her favorable marks. More than one in five people who voted for her in November now regard her unfavorably. That was even worse than Trumps standing in the same poll. Indeed, the only figure with higher negatives in the survey, which was conducted by the Iowa polling firm Selzer & Co., was her old nemesis, Russian President Vladimir Putin. Last year, a whopping 76 ballot measures appeared on state ballots across the country the highest number in a decade. Nebraska had one such measure: whether to repeal the Legislatures ban on the death penalty. Just over 60 percent of voters opted to restore the death penalty. This year, legislatures in two states moved to repeal voters 2016 ballot decisions, killing voter-approved campaign finance and lobbying restrictions in South Dakota and a new tax on high-income earners in Maine. All of which points to how the organizers of petition drives in Nebraska, as well as state officials, have important obligations when it comes to ballot measures. The right of the people to assert themselves directly on public issues has been part of the Nebraska Constitution since 1912. The provisions state that Nebraskans can propose and decide state statutes and constitutional amendments. Statewide votes of the people also can be used to overturn laws passed by the Legislature, with the 2016 death penalty vote being the most recent example. Thats a powerful tool in citizens hands, with the potential for enormous impact on the states future. Its important that such power be wielded responsibly. Sometimes proposed constitutional amendments have been put forward that are so detailed or rigid that theyre inappropriate as additions to the Nebraska Constitution, rather than being debated as needed in the Legislature and then decided on through changes in state statutes. Nebraskans also should be wary of going the way of California, which has shifted so many policy-making decisions onto statewide ballots, away from legislative or local government debate that can provide ongoing scrutiny and the flexibility to make practical changes. At the same time, the long-standing anchoring of the peoples ballot-measure power in the Nebraska Constitution means that in general, the state should be wary of overturning a ballot decision once it has been made. The last time Nebraska lawmakers overturned a statutory initiative was in 1992, when state senators passed into law a mandatory seat belt requirement that voters had repealed in 1986. Under traditional practice, lawmakers could carry out such a repeal through a simple majority. But that changed in 2004 with Nebraskans approval of Initiative 418, which requires a two-thirds majority of state senators to vote to overturn a ballot-measure decision. In any case, political disagreement could arise on occasion in the future if Nebraska lawmakers need to follow up a ballot initiative with statutes to fill in the details. The current situation in Florida is relevant. Voters last November approved the use of medical marijuana. Political arguments have arisen, though, as state lawmakers and the governor have banned the users from smoking it and barred doctors with a financial interest in marijuana growing or testing facilities from prescribing it. Nebraska provides its citizens with ample power through statewide ballot initiatives. Petition organizers and state officials should be mindful of their respective duties. Air fares soar in flood hit North Bengal India oi-Amitava Darjeeling, August 16, 2017: With railways and road connectivity severely damaged owing to the flood in North Bengal and bordering Bihar, the only option left is the airways. The onrush to avail flights has resulted in the skyrocketing of air fares. Incessant rains coupled with spate in the rivers mainly originating in the mountains have flooded North Bengal causing immense damages. The districts of Malda, North Dinajpur, South DInajpur, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar are badly affected in the flood. Trains from South Bengal and other parts are plying till Malda only. There is extensive damage in the tracks in the Malda - Dalkhola and Katihar- Kisangunj route. Tracks have been damaged along with railways bridges at 16 locations. In case the weather holds and repairs could be done on a war footing then some trains would resume after 5 days stated a Railway official. A railway bridge collapsed in Karandighi in North Dinajpur further cutting off links with many parts of the country. However a special train plied between Guwahati and Dalkhola ferrying stranded passengers on Wednesday. Hundreds of passengers are stranded in different stations waiting for services to resume. "My father is a patient and has to travel to Kolkata for treatment every 3 months. Somehow we managed to come down from Assam but have been stuck at NJP. We are staying on the platform as we are traveling on a strict budget. We hope that the water recedes and we are able to travel to Kolkata at the earliest" stated Anjana Das, Assam. The condition of roadways is equally bad. All the national Highways are affected with different areas submerged. 28 State Transport and private buses tried to ply from Kolkata to Siliguri but could not make it after Malda and Raigunj. Many bridges and culverts have also been damaged. There are reports of some buses taking long detours and trying out alternative roads."I have been waiting for the past two days. It seems that there is no hope" stated Pradeep Mukherjee from Bolpur who has got stranded in Siliguri. There are reports of overcharging too. "Some private buses are assuring passengers that they will drive them to Kolkata. They are overcharging. I have asked the district administration to keep a strict tab on the situation" stated West Bengal Tourism Minister Gautam Deb. The flood has left 32 persons dead in North Bengal. 1461453 have been affected by the flood.622 relief camps have been opened up. With rail and roadways inaccessible, Airways are witnessing an unprecedented rush. "For the past few days we are having around 3000 out bound passengers. All the flights are booked to capacity" stated Rakesh Sahay, Director, Bagdogra Airport. There are 19 out bound and 19 in bound flights from and to Bagdogra daily. "I work in Kolkata. I had come home to Cooch Behar and suddenly the floods struck. I have to join office and was compelled to buy a flight ticket for around Rs. 15000 to Kolkata. That too there is a mad rush to procure flight tickets" stated Madhav Saha of Cooch Behar. Usually, flight tickets to Kolkata from Bagdogra at this time of the year costs around Rs. 3500. Price of Kolkata bound flight tickets crossed the Rs. 25000 mark on Wednesday evening. "There are no tickets available. As air fares are dynamic they shoot up with demands increasing" stated Aditya Gupta, a ticketing agent. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Thursday, August 17, 2017, 0:45 [IST] Amit Shah to begin 3-day Madhya Pradesh visit from Thursday India pti-PTI Bhopal, Aug 16: BJP chief Amit Shah will be on a three-day visit to Bhopal starting Thursday, during which he is scheduled to hold meetings with party leaders and unveil a statue of Jan Sangh founder Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya in Bhopal. Talking to reporters on Wednesday, Madhya Pradesh BJP president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan said Shah will arrive in Bhopal tomorrow evening. "The BJP national president will be on a three-day visit to the state capital. He will arrive here tomorrow evening. During the visit, he will unveil the statue of Deendayal Upadhyaya at Lalghati square on August 18," he said. According to Chauhan, Shah's visit is aimed at strengthening the party. "During his three-day visit, he will interact with the party's core group members, office-bearers, frontal organisation leaders, members of the state cabinet, MPs and MLAs, among others," he said. Elections to the Madhya Pradesh legislative assembly will be held in 2018. Shah is also scheduled to address a meeting of intellectuals and release a book penned by senior BJP leader Kailash Narayan Sarang. The BJP chief will address meritorious students and also hold a press meet during his visit, for which the party has made elaborate arrangements, Chauhan said. PTI India's first Night Sky Sanctuary to be set up in Ladakh to boost Astro tourism in India Army officers of India,China hold border meet in Leh India pti-PTI New Delhi, Aug 16: A day after Indian border guards foiled an attempt by Chinese soldiers to enter Indian territory along the banks of Pangong lake in Ladakh, Army officers of India and China met on Wednesday in Leh's Chusul sector. Official sources said Tuesday's incident at Pangong and ways to maintain peace and tranquility along the Sino-India border in Ladakh were discussed at length at the border personnel meeting (BPM). Soldiers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) tried to enter the Indian side in two areas-- Finger Four and Finger Five-- twice between 6 am and 9 am on Tuesday. But on both the occasions their attempts were thwarted by alert Indian troops. After Chinese troopers found their path blocked by ITBP personnel who formed a human chain, they began hurling stones, prompting a swift retaliation by Indian border guards. Personnel from both sides received minor injuries and the situation was brought under control after the customary banner drill under which both sides hold banners before stepping back to their respective positions. The Chinese troops had managed to enter up to Finger Four area in the region from where they were sent back. This area has been a bone of contention between India and China as both claim it to be a part of their territory. When asked about yesterday's incident in Ladakh, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters, "This is not a subject on which the government makes a comment on." The sources said today's BPM was pre-scheduled and the issues discussed included strengthening of existing mechanism for maintaining peace and tranquility along the border. Brigadier ranked officers of both sides attended the meeting. Two thirds of the Pangong Lake are controlled by China while one third of it is controlled by India. The incidents in Ladakh took place amid a face off between Indian and Chinese armies in Dokalam in India-Bhutan- China trijunction which has entered the third month. Official sources said notwithstanding the standoff, sweets were exchanged between the Indian Army and PLA troops in multiple border locations including in Dokalam. Exchange of sweets on Independence Day and Republic Day has been a tradition for last several years. PTI Happy Independence Day to all Minazur Rehman wrote on his Facebook profile, "Happy independence day to all..... I m the asstt teacher at this school, school name...1185 No. Naskara LP school.. under Fakirganj Police station. Dhubri....no need to tell how we are right now, pic will tell all the stories...i did not expect this kind of support....thank you all for sharing this picture. The rains did not deter them Large parts of Assam have been inundated for weeks from heavy monsoon rains that also swelled rivers. The Naskara Lower Primary School, where the six gathered to celebrate Independence Day has been submerged in water. The six were the school's head teacher Tazem Sikder, his colleagues Nripen Rabha, Joydev Roy, and Mizanur Rahman, and Class 3 students Jiarul Ali Khan and Haidor Ali Khan. Early assembly Minazur Rehman said that this was the least they could do. We sang the National Anthem and Vande Mataram. We held the assembly and dispersed early as small children cannot stand in water for long he said. Lakhs affected At least 30 lakh people have been affected by the floods in the last few days. 3,000 villages have been Inundated in water. Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) officials said that 31,59,029 people have been affected by the floods in 3,192 villages in the affected districts. The floods have also submerged close to two lakh hectares of agriculture lands in different districts. The former PM was assassinated on October 31, 1984, when Rahul was just 14 years old. Thus there is no chance of pictures of Indira with a grown-up Rahul. But the Gandhi family album will definitely have some pictures of adolescent Rahul with his grandmother. Probably, the KPCC workers could have picked up one of those. Although the posters did not prove "politically" correct, they are definitely adorable. Immediately, after the inauguration of Kanakanapalya outlet of Indira canteen, 100 more such canteens started serving food to the people across the city. Rahul also enjoyed his lunch in the canteen after the inauguration. As a part of his Bengaluru visit, Rahul also addressed his party workers. The canteen is the flagship programme of the Congress government in the state to reach out to the poor. The canteen has borrowed its idea from Amma canteen-named after former Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, in Tamil Nadu, where food is provided at a discounted price to the disadvantage section of society. In the coming days, 97 more such canteens will open its door in various parts of the city. The opening of Indira canteens across the city clearly indicated the Congress' aim to attract the votes of poor ahead of assembly elections, scheduled next year. Rahul and his team members are hoping to repeat its win in the state. Rahul has been frequently visiting the state ahead of elections. Recently, BJP president Amit Shah made a three-day long trip to Karnataka. OneIndia News Cabinet approves new policy to regulate metro rail services across India India oi-PTI The Union Cabinet on Wednesday gave its nod for a new metro rail policy for expanding the metro network across various cities in the country, officials said. The new policy was approved by the Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to promote 'Make in India' initiative in metro rail projects. The metro policy will talk about standardising norms and developing a procurement mechanism for implementation of the projects. It will also talk about funding and financing, officials said. At present, metro projects with a total length of more than 350 km are operational in eight cities - Delhi, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Chennai, Kochi, Mumbai, Jaipur and Gurugram. Metro projects are also under way in Hyderabad, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Pune and Lucknow. Extends tax exemption for industry in NE, hilly states: Industries in the north eastern and Himalayan states will continue to get tax exemption till March 2027, albeit as refund, under the current GST regime which was rolled out on July 1, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today. "Within the framework of the GST Act each industry will be entitled to its own refund mechanism during this particular period (March 31, 2027)," he said after the Cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Industries in the north eastern and Himalayan states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand under the previous excise regime used to get 10-year exemption, he said. As per the scheme, industries which commenced operations during the period got excise tax holiday for 10 years, he said, adding that there is a separate residuary period for every industry because of commencement of production and their consequent entitlement of 10 year exemption. Under the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, there is no provision for exemption but there is one section under the Act which permits refunds. "Therefore, refund would be permitted through DBT. The sunset clause of these exemption has been extended to 2027. 4,284 industrial establishment will entitled to this benefit. Budgetary provision for this Rs 27,413 crore," he said. Measures taken against 'Blue Whale' game: Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said that tough measures have been taken against 'Blue Whale' game. He also said that clear instructions has been issued to tech platforms regarding this. Under Indian IT ecosystem no initiative will be permitted that provokes young boys to commit suicide; this is plainly unacceptable. PTI Current ministers, MLAs to be knocked off from Karnataka Congress' ticket list India oi-Anusha Non-performing MLAs and some current cabinet ministers, will not be given a ticket by the Congress in Karnataka to contest the 2018 assembly elections. By December, the Congress will decide on its candidates for the upcoming assembly elections and the party's eyes are set on bringing in new comers. The Siddaramaiah government is Karnataka does not face anti-incumbency largely in the state, however, MLAs and Ministers are facing public ire in their constituencies. In a bid to save seats in constituencies where people are disappointed with their legislators, the Congress has decided to knock them off its ticket list. "By November end the party, as well as the workers, will get a clear picture of who will be the candidates and who will not be given another chance. The party wants new faces and is keen on bringing on board workers who have sway in constituencies. Disappointment over one legislator's performance or public connect should not cost the party a seat," said a KPCC office bearer. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is expected to leave to New Delhi with Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday after the inauguration of Indira Canteen. According to party sources, several rounds of discussion on giving out tickets to current ministers and MLAs have already taken place. "This is an election year and there is no time to lose. There won't be early elections but preparations are already underway. Discussions are already taking place over ticket aspirants and repeating candidates. The Congress is hoping to make inroads into traditional BJP bastions, especially in North Karnataka. With the region in mind, the party created a new post, working president North Karnataka, to strengthen the party. However, secretaries appointed by KPCC chief Parameshwara are willing to travel to northern parts of Karnataka. "A list of functionaries have already been put out but most are refusing to travel and work for the party in North Karnataka. They do not want to leave Bengaluru and neighbouring districts. A new list will be put up soon," said a party source. With the BJP preparing to launch an all out attack against the Congress after being prodded by Amit Shah, the Congress is gearing up to double up its counter attack. Congress is making changes from within and is now willing to let go of MLAs and some ministers to make way for new comers and stop BJP and JD(S) from cashing in on anti-incumbency at the constituency level. OneIndia News A public hearing on Scott Walker's Foxconn bill was held Aug. 3 at the state Capitol. It has become clear that there are some fundamental flaws in the deal that Walker made with Foxconn. The power of the purse gives legislators the authority to check and balance Walkers deal making, and they have a responsibility to do just that. PHOTO BY SAIYNA BASHIR DD, AIR ban Tripura CMs I-Day speech, CPI (M) calls it autocratic move India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Agartala, August 16: A major controversy has erupted in the northeastern state of Tripura over the Independence Day speech of Chief Minister Manik Sarkar. Sarkar and his party, Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI (M)), have alleged that the Prasar Bharati, India's largest public broadcasting agency, refused to broadcast the CM's speech on the Doordarshan (DD) and the All India Radio (AIR). Both the DD and the AIR are run by the Prasar Bharati. Every year, as a custom, the DD and the AIR broadcast the speeches of all the CMs of the country in their respective states during the Independence Day. However, this time, the Prasar Bharati allegedly did not broadcast Sarkar's speech after he refused to "reshape" his speech recorded on August 12. Sarkar has termed the move as an "undemocratic, autocratic and intolerant step". However, the Prasar Bharati is yet to issue any statement in this regard. A Tripura government press statement alleged that the DD and the AIR had recorded Sarkar's speech on August 12. On August 14, the CM's office was informed through a letter that his speech would not be broadcast unless he "reshaped it". The letter purportedly said, "The message of the CM was closely examined by the competent authority. In view of the sanctity of the occasion, the broadcast code and responsibility of the public broadcaster it is not possible to telecast it in the present format." "However, the DD/Prasar Bharati will be happy if the CM agrees to reshape the content making it suitable to the solemnity of the occasion and sentiment of the people," it purportedly said. The CM's office statement claimed, "The CM clearly stated that he would not change a single word and described it as unprecedented, undemocratic, autocratic and intolerant step." Sarkar's speech was supposed to be broadcast on August 15 by the DD and the AIR in Tripura. CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the DD was "not the private property" of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "instructing his cronies to black out voices" of the opposition, including that of an elected CM. In a statement, the CPI-M Politburo said it "strongly condemns the refusal by the DD and the AIR to broadcast the customary Independence Day address of Sarkar". "The DD and the AIR had recorded his speech for the occasion. However, they subsequently informed him that the speech cannot be carried as it is and asked him to 'reshape' it," it said. The party demanded action against those responsible for "prohibiting" the broadcast. "This is a gross infringement on the right of a CM to address the people of his state on the Independence Day. This act is reminiscent of the Emergency days and goes beyond as it seeks to gag the elected CM of a state. The central government is trampling upon the autonomy of the DD/AIR and the Prasar Bharati by such acts of censorship," the statement said. "Doordarshan Refuses to Broadcast Tripura CM Manik Sarkar's Speech. Is this the Cooperative Federalism that PM Modi Talks About? Shame!" the CPI (M)'s official Twitter handle said. Tagging the tweet, Yechury hit out at the central government saying the channel's alleged refusal to air Sarkar's speech was "illegal". "PM can pay homilies to cooperative federalism while instructing his cronies to black out voices of the Opposition, including an elected CM. "If this isn't authoritarianism & undeclared Emergency, what is? This will be fought back by the CPM, people of Tripura and all our citizens," the Marxist leader tweeted. The controversy, which has already turned political, has come at a time when both the BJP and the CPI (M) are looking to win the upcoming Assembly elections, scheduled early next year. The CPI (M) has a strong hold over the state. However, the BJP is aiming to win its maiden Assembly elections in Tripura next year. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 16, 2017, 8:36 [IST] Central team roped in as dengue cases in Bihar rise to over 5000 Bihar's Gopalganj by-poll to see a tough fight between BJP and RJD Bihar: Over 200 students sick, claim they saw 'dead lizard' in mid-day meal Devastation due to floods in Bihar continues, death toll climbs to 72 India oi-Vikas By Vikas The flood situation in Bihar is worsening by the day as an embankment breached in Gopalkanj because of which 14,500 people had to be evacuated by the NDRF on Wednesday. The death due to the Bihar floods has now climbed to 72. "Embankment breach in Gopalkanj, water has entered Barauli. We have evacuated 14,500 ppl, including 13 pregnant ladies," Vijay Sinha, Commandant of NDRF's 9th batallion, told news agency ANI. "23 teams already working,4 more teams will join in soon and will be stationed in Motihari, Bettiah, Khagaria, Gopalganj," he added. Terming the Bihar flood crisis as the "worst in almost three decades", Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Wednesday took up the matter with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who assured him that the Centre was providing all possible help to the eastern state. On Monday, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh spoke to Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and discussed with him the flood situation in the state where nearly 320 NDRF personnel have been rushed. During the telephonic conversation, Kumar briefed Singh about the latest situation in the state. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 16, 2017, 23:15 [IST] Gorakhpur tragedy: Any death due to oxygen shortage, a heinous crime, says UP health minister India oi-PTI Lucknow, August 16: Uttar Pradesh health minister Siddharth Nath Singh on Wednesday told that loss of life due to such a reason was nothing less than heinous crime, amid allegations that shortage of oxygen cylinders at a Gorakhpur hospital led to the deaths of scores of children. He said that all aspects related to the deaths at the state-run BRD medical college hospital were being probed by a panel led by UP chief secretary and promised that those found guilty would be punished. "Any death due to oxygen shortage is a heinous rime...Any laxity on this front is also a crime," the UP health minister told reporters here. He said the team led by the state's chief secretary was probing the deaths in the Gorakhpur hospital. "All issues that are coming up about the exchange of money, demand of commission for not clearing the payment (to supplier) are also being probed ...besides a team of three specialist doctors from Delhi is also looking into the matter and if it is found that anything was wrong in oxygen supply, all those found guilty will be punished," Singh said. He said that "on the basis of the primary inquiry", action was taken against the principal of the college. To another question, he said that a report had been sought from all the medical colleges and hospitals on the availability of oxygen or payment issues and everything has been found in order. The minister said that hospitals and community health centres in the area are being provided all necessary facilities so that they are well equipped and patients do not have to run to BRD medical college. He further said that as many as 93 lakh children have been immunised in the districts affected by Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) and Japanese Encephalitis (JE) virus. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 16, 2017, 18:10 [IST] How WhatsApp is helping drug peddlers sell narcotics that look like toffee in Hyderabad India oi-Anusha Encryption on WhatsApp is making the mass messaging app the most preferred by drug peddlers in Hyderabad. The Hyderabad police recently bust yet another narcotics racket and arrested four people. What was observed prominently was how international numbers were being used by peddlers on WhatsApp for one purpose alone, buying and selling of narcotics. The Hyderabad police seized drugs that looked like toffee in their recent crackdown on narcotics. Four people were arrested out of which two were engineering dropouts while another was a close friend of Calvin Mascarenhas, the kingpin of Hyderabad's massive drug racket that involved school students and film stars. How WhatsApp aided peddling The police on Monday arrested one Nigerian national, Ajah Gabriel Ogbonna and three Indians for possessing narcotics worth Rs 10 lakh. Most of them were shaped like toffees and were meant to be shipped to a rave in Goa on Independence day. Those arrested were inter-state suppliers who handled narcotics and their transportation to Telangana and Goa. Navyanth who had fled to Goa after the first major drug haul was arrested this time around. Navyanth worked only on WhatsApp. The arrested accused used multiple international numbers but never made a single call using them. The purpose of the numbers was only WhatsApp usage. Orders for drugs, description, quantity were all discussed through the mass messaging app. Purchase and sale were also made through the platform. Once an order was placed, narcotics would be sent via post or courier to the client. Money would be paid via credit cards. The accused procured narcotics from foreign websites and would receive the consignment within 15 days. Narcotics like cocaine, amphetamine pills, heroin, MDMA, LSDs were sent via posts. Officials said that using the app ensured anonymity for the peddlers. The contacts worked in a chain arrangement. One client that the peddler knows would introduce another and so on. Despite being a closed community, the police was able to breach it thanks to an insider. Gabriel who was touted to be the kingpin of the racket had fled from the city after the first drug bust. He was arrested after police received information about him visiting his friend in the city. The police trapped the peddler using his friend. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 16, 2017, 18:00 [IST] Hurriyat terror funding: NIA set to corner separatist S A S Geelani India oi-Vicky By Vicky The National Investigation Agency probing the Hurriyat terror funding case says that maximum proof has been found against Hurriyat hawk, Syed Ali Shah Geelani. The NIA which questioned Geelani's two sons in connection with the case will summon the hawk himself next for questioning. During the questioning of Geelani's sons. Naeem and Naseem, the NIA sought details about the financial transactions. Several other Hurriyat leaders who have been questioned in connection with this case have given details about the funding. All evidence points towards a major role played allegedly by Geelani, the investigations have found. The case is being built up in a strong manner and we wanted solid evidence on hand before we could call in Geelani for questioning, an NIA officer said. NIA officials who have been questioning seven other separatists were told in detail about the funding. The funding runs into several crores of rupees and it has been found that a large part of it was also diverted for the pleasures of the separatists. A major chunk of the money was used to pay terrorists and the stone pelters who kept the Valley on the boil since July 2016. However the situation has come under control to a larger extent after the Army launched its Operation Clean Up. The Army has so far killed 131 terrorists and says that there are around 60 of them to go. The Army says that it will rid Kashmir of the menace by the turn of the winter. OneIndia News Indrani Mukerjea gets bail, SC says she has already spent 6.5 years in jail ED permitted to question Indrani Mukerjea in INX Media case India oi-Vicky By Vicky The Enforcement Directorate has been granted permission to question Indrani Mukerjea in the INX Media case. A Delhi court permitted the ED to conduct a custodial interrogation. The ED wants to examine the INX Media Director, Indrani over alleged manipulation of a tax probe against the media group that also involves Karti Chidambaram, son of former finance minister P Chidamabaram. Karti Chidambaram is accused of getting kickbacks through a company "indirectly controlled" by him, allegedly to scuttle a probe by the revenue department against INX Media, then controlled by Indrani and her husband Peter Mukerjea. Earlier this week, the Supreme Court had directed Karti to join the CBI probe. It had set aside a stay order of the Madras High Court which had put on hold a Look Out Circular against him. The court observed that Karti cannot travel abroad if he does not join the probe. OneIndia News Is it right for the Tripura CM to deliver a political message in his Independence Day speech? India oi-Vicky Nanjappa A news item speaking about the Independence Day speech of the Tripura Chief Minister being blocked by Doordarshan and All India Radio did the rounds this morning. Let us examine this issue in detail. There is a pre-recorded speech and the other is a public speech. It cannot be denied that the public speech was covered by the national broadcaster in detail. The issue is related to the Independence Day speech which is pre-recorded and later telecast by the national broadcaster. This is not meant to be a political speech. If one goes through the speech of the Tripura CM, Manik Sarkar, the speech leans more towards a political one. He says that today the spirit of securalism is under attack. Conspiracies and attempts are underway to create an undesirable complexity and divisions of society to invade our national consciousness in the name of religion, caste and community by inciting passions to covert India into a particular religious country and in the name of protecting the cow. Official Letter Censoring Speech of Tripura CM. Who is this Delhi Collective which dares to censor a CMs Speech? pic.twitter.com/LxNNeK6IRw CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) August 15, 2017 He goes on to speak about the need to counter destructive conspiracies and attacks. Making an indirect reference to the RSS, Sarkar says that the followers of those not associated with the Independence Movement, rather sabotaged the freedom movement were servile to the atrocious plunderer and merciless British, aligned with the anti-national forces have decorated themselves today in different names are striking at the root of unity and integrity of India. Going by these remarks one gets the picture that the speech is clearly political in nature and such content cannot be part of an Independence Day speech. This was the pre-recorded speech. He is clearly accusing the Government at the centre and says that it is indulging in discriminating against the people. Can a Chief Minister use an Independence Day speech to convey a political message? The fact of the matter is that when we checked with multiple sources, there was no black out of his speech as is being reported. In fact his public speech was covered extensively. The Hindustan Times in an article said, "DD's Agartala centre station director, Shankar Prasad Mondal, however, refuted the allegation and said the chief minister's programme was aired Tuesday evening at 6.15 pm." Text of Tripura CM's Speech which AIR & DD had the audacity to censor.This is an insult 2 People of Tripura &Constitutional Rights of States pic.twitter.com/bdYDd7JS99 CPI (M) (@cpimspeak) August 15, 2017 Prasar Bharti in fact sent out requests twice to not edit the speech, but to re-record the same with appropriate content. Both the local and central unit sought that the speech be edited. This request was not heeded to. It is the job of the Prasar Bharti to ensure that such forums are not used to drive across a political message. OneIndia News FM Nirmala Sitharaman hints at possibility of Centre considering restoration of state status to J&K J&K: Ceasefire violation by Pak in Poonch, India retaliates strongly India oi-Vicky By Vicky A ceasefire violation by Pakistan has been reported in Jammu and Kashmir. The incident occurred in the early hours of Wednesday. Officials say that the cease fire violation took place at the Poonch sector along the Line of Control. The Indian forces are retaliating strongly, reports state. No casualty has been reported so far. On Tuesday one woman was injured in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Baaz and Nambla areas of Uri sector in Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district. On Saturday, a 45-year-old lady had lost her life in a ceasefire violation by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir. The incident took place at the Medhar sector early on Saturday morning. There has been an increase in the number of cease fire violations by Pakistan as it is trying to help terrorists infiltrate into the Valley. Intelligence Bureau officials report that there is a major push being made to enhance infiltrations. With several terrorists being gunned down in the Valley, Pakistan wants to increase the presence of terrorists in the Valley. Attempts would also be made to push in as many terrorists as possible before the winter sets in. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 16, 2017, 6:58 [IST] J&K: Daughter of martyred CRPF officer hoists Tricolour at same place where her father laid down India oi-Vicky By Vicky In a touching gesture, the six year old daughter of CRPF Commandant Pramod Kumar who was martyred unfurled the Tricolour at the same spot where her father had hoisted the National Flag last year. The officer was martyred in a terror attack a few minutes after he had hoisted the flag last year. Kumar's wife Neha Tripathy and daughter Aarna performed the ceremonial unfurling and saluting the flag at the 49th battalion camp in the Karan Nagar area. Neha then performed the traditional drill of distributing sweets to the men of the battalion, once commanded by her husband. She also placed a wreath at the martyr's memorial built at the camp. Kumar (44) on Monday decorated by the government with the Kirti Chakra (posthumously), the third highest peacetime gallantry medal, for his dare devil action where he picked up his AK-47 rifle and rushed to the Nowhatta Chowk area after he was told his patrol party was under attack, during the last Independence Day. He suffered a fatal bullet shot in his head during the encounter at Nowhatta Chowk area and succumbed soon after. Kumar's wife had on Monday told PTI that she wanted her daughter to know what her father did for the country and hence decided to mark his first death anniversary at the same camp where he took his last salute. "I want my daughter to know what her father stood for and what he did. She should know that what is the importance of earning a Kirti Chakra. Hence, I made it a point to be on the same soil where my husband lost his life, to mark his first death anniversary. Recommended Video Kashmir : Pro India slogans raised by Kashmiri Pandits during I-Day, Watch Video | Oneindia News "As he unfurled the tricolour at the 49th battalion camp exactly a year before, we will be doing it tomorrow," she had said. On the last Independence Day, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) CO had hoisted the flag between 8:30-8:40am and in his speech remarked that with India clocking 70 years of its freedom, the responsibility on security forces has "increased" and they have to effectively tackle militants and incidents of stone pelting in Jammu and Kashmir. Just before he ended his speech, Kumar, in a recorded video of the event, is seen looking at his watch and saying "it is an important day", unaware of the fate that awaited him. Minutes later he was killed at the Nowhatta Chowk fighting militants. While Kumar and his men eliminated the two armed foreign militants, nine other personnel, including a state police official, were injured in the attack. The CO was posted to Srinagar in April 2014 and was promoted as a Commandant only a few days before the fateful day, on July 12. He hailed from Patna in Bihar but lived in neighbouring Jharkhand's Jamtara district. The officer had been thrice decorated with the CRPF Director General's commendation in 2015, 2014 and in 2011. OneIndia News Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah counters 'Mann ki Baat' with 'Vangibath' India oi-Anusha Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah took potshots at Prime minister Narendra Modi during the inauguration of Indira canteen. In a bid to drive home the point that the BJP only speaks but the Congress acts, Siddaramaiah drew parallels between PM Modi's Mann ki baat and Indira canteen. "For three years now, Prime Minister Modi has been making Mann ki baat, but we will now make Vangibath for the people," Siddaramaiah said in his inimitable style. Siddaramaiah was speaking at the inauguration of his government's ambitious Indira canteen, a scheme that ensures subsidised food for the urban poor. Despite the event being a government initiative, Congress flags were being waved. It took K J George to intervene and ask workers to stop waving the Congress flag. "The BJP has been accusing us of rushing into the project. What they do not understand is that the poor can't wait, neither can the hungry. For years the BJP government at the centre has kept mum about black money despite holding Mann ki Baat," Saiddaramaiah added. B'luru posters of 'baby' Rahul in Indira's lap once again prove 'immaturity' of Congress VP? While the event saw all prominent Congress leaders, no BJP leader, including MPs were seen. While no official statement from the BJP was issued in this regard, leaders from the party have been open about their opposition to the name 'Indira' for the scheme. The Karnataka Cheif Minister responded to the allegations as well and justified naming the scheme after Indira Gandhi. "Indira Gandhi worked to alleviate poverty across the country. She strived to achieve a hunger-free country. There is nothing wrong in naming the scheme after her," he said. While mocking the BJP, Siddaramaiah referred to Vangibath, a popular south Indian rice based dish with spiced brinjal. OneIndia News Kerala love Jihad case: SC orders NIA to investigate the matter India oi-Madhuri The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered the National Investigating Agency to probe on Hadiya's conversion and subsequent allegations of love jihad. The matter will be supervised by former Supreme Court judge R V Raveendran. Earlier, the apex court had asked the NIA to find out if this was an isolated case of love jihad or there was a trend in Kerala regarding the same. The NIA told court that it didn't appear to be an isolated case and a detailed investigation was necessary. Their marriage was annulled by the Kerala High Court on May 24. A 26-year-old Shefin had moved the plea challenging the Kerala High Court's verdict annulling his marriage with Akhila Ashokan alias Hadiya. He claims the police and Hadiya's parents dragged various theories, including the disappearance of 21 youth from the state, to get the verdict in their favour. He said Hadiya's father KM Ashokan, who is an ex-serviceman had given an affidavit before the court saying that Jahan was a member of a fundamentalist outfit and involved in three criminal cases. However the husband had opposed the same and said that the NIA should not probe into the matter. Jahan also claimed that he met Hadiya through a Muslim matrimony site in August last year and they married in December. Hadiya's father had contended that his only daughter was indoctrinated while pursuing her studies with the intention of sending her to Syria. Love jihad is a term used by right-wing Hindu groups to describe inter-faith marriages which they say is an Islamist conspiracy to convert Hindu women through marriage or coercion. OneIndia News "Let's make Rahul Gandhi PM in 2019," Siddaramaiah gives call India oi-Anusha Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday gave a call to make AICC Vice President Rahul Gandhi the next Prime Minister of India. Speaking in Bengaluru after the inauguration of Indira canteen, Siddaramaiah said that the work towards making Gandhi the next PM should begin from Karnataka. "Let us make Rahul Gandhi the Prime Minister in 2019. Let us begin working towards it from our Karnataka and let us start now," said Siddaramaiah. The statement comes at a time when political analysts, as well as leaders of parties, like the JD(U), have declared that there is no competition to the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In asking for work to begin from Karnataka, the Chief Minister was appealing for his party's victory in the upcoming assembly elections. Recommended Video Rahul Gandhi does blunder while inaugurating 'Indra Canteen' , Watch Video | Oneindia News Hitting back at BJP National President Amit Shah, Siddaramaiah said that he was not answerable to Shah. Shah during his visit to Bengaluru had asked what the Karnataka government had done with all the money that had been released by the centre. "Who is Amit Shah to ask question me? I am not answerable to Amit Shah on what the state has done with money allocated from the Centre. I am only answerable to the people," Siddaramaiah said. His push for Rahul Gandhi as Prime Minister came after the AICC vice president launched attacks on the BJP as well as Prime minister Narendra Modi over the Gorakhpur hospital deaths, India-China standoff and unemployment crisis in the country. Siddaramaiah will accompany Rahul Gandhi to New Delhi on Wednesday and meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi ahead of making key decisions for the upcoming assembly elections. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 16, 2017, 17:02 [IST] Bharat Jodo Yatra will proceed to Srinagar, come what may, says Rahul Gandhi as march enters Maharashtra If Cong is elected in HP, decision on 1 lakh govt jobs, pension scheme in 1st cabinet meet: Rahul Modi's Kashmir policy gave Pak a reason to misbehave: Rahul Gandhi India oi-Vicky By Vicky The Centre's Kashmir policy has given Pakistan an opportunity to misbehave, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said. His attack on the government at a party rally comes a day after Modi, in his Independence Day address, reached out to the Kashmiris, saying abuses and bullets would not resolve their problems but embracing them would. Recommended Video Rahul Gandhi attacks Modi over his independence day speech | Oneindia News "He (Modi) has created an environment in Jammu and Kashmir of hatred and anger, and the only people who benefit from violence and hatred are the Pakistanis," Rahul said. Claiming that he worked on the J&K issue with Manmohan Singh, who was the prime minister, and leaders like P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh silently without any "drama or tamasha", he said their effort of 10 years was "destroyed by Modi in one month". Gandhi said that the Congress-led coalition in 2004 inherited a government from Atal Bihari Vajpayee under which Kashmir was "burning", and one of the biggest successes of the Manmohan Singh government was creating an environment of peace in J&K. "We worked for 10 years to bring peace in Kashmir. We did panchayat elections, we did work on employment, we connected thousands of women there to banks. The reason was we wanted peace and harmony in Kashmir," he said. "We wanted to embrace the people of Jammu and Kashmir and we wanted them to embrace us. We wanted peace there, also because when there is peace, Pakistan can do nothing in Jammu and Kashmir... The space for Pakistan to do mischief there closes," he said. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge, state Congress in-charge KC Venugopal and PCC president G Parameshwara, among others, were present at the event. Stressing that a peaceful Jammu and Kashmir was the "worst thing" for Pakistan, Gandhi said what the UPA government did for ten years was "destroyed in one "I'm telling you this because Mr Narendra Modi's policy has created a space in Jammu and Kashmir for Pakistanis to misbehave," he added. Hitting out at the foreign policy of the Modi government, Rahul accused the PM of alienating India's neighbours and also Russia. "Narendra Modi has not stopped there. When we were in the government, all neighbouring countries, other than Pakistan and China, were favourable to us... One by one Narendra Modi has alienated them," he alleged. OneIndia News Nitish Kumar set to join NDA, resolution on August 19 India oi-Vicky By Vicky Nitish Kumar will be in New Delhi next week to discuss the modalities of joining the NDA government. Kumar, the Chief Minister of Bihar had walked out of the grand alliance and joined the BJP to form the government in the state. Last week, BJP's national chief, Amit Shah had invited the JD(U) to join the NDA. Sources say that the party will formally join the NDA after August 25. In the Cabinet reshuffle, the JD(U) is likely to get at least two berths. Kumar who will visit Delhi next week would also present before the centre a detailed report seeking funds for the state. A ministry wise report has already been prepared and the same will be presented to the Union Government during his visit next week. Prior to joining the NDA, the JD(U) will hold a convention on August 19. A resolution is likely to be passed about joining the NDA. However the convention is expected to be a stormy affair as the party is facing a rebellion from its senior leader Sharad Yadav. While Yadav is unlikely to take part in the meeting, his supporters are expected to create some problems. The JD(U) is however confident of passing the resolution. Kumar had repeatedly pointed out that Bihar is in dire need of funds from the state. In the interest of the state and its development it is important that the party be part of the Union Government, Kumar had also pointed out. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 16, 2017, 5:59 [IST] 'No silence zone in Maharashtra', Bombay High court told ahead of Ganapati festival India oi-Anusha By Anusha Ravi The Maharashtra government on Wednesday declared that there were no silence zones in the state. Days ahead of the Ganapati festival, the state government has demolished the single most powerful weapon of anti-noise pollution activists. In its affidavit to the Bombay High Court, the state government has said that the amendments made by the union government to noise rules now state that no zone is a silence zone unless notified as such by the state government. The amendment to the rule was made on Maharashtra's request ahead of the Ganapati festival. Every year, activists protest against noise pollution in silence zones. Days ahead of the festival that is celebrated with much fervour across the state, the Maharashtra government told the court that the new rules now do not deem any place including those near hospitals, courts, schools and religious institutions as 'silence zones'. The earlier rules deemed 100 mts around any hospital, school, court etc as silence zones. Now the state government has been given the authority to decide what constitutes a silence zone and what doesn't. In its affidavit to the Bombay High Court, the government attached the copy of the notification indicating the amendment to noise rules. The amendment has come into effect from August 10 and the state government has so far not declared any zone as silence zone. While the cap on noise pollution levels remains the same, this new rule will allow setting up of loud speakers indiscriminately. Further, the new rules now allow district authorities to decide on permissions for loudspeakers post 10 PM. The authority so far lays with the state government. NGOs like Awaz Foundation that fight against noise pollution were taken aback by the amendment and have sought time to read and understand the same before planning their next move. This is the second consecutive victory for the Maharashtra government that had successfully won a legal battle to remove the restriction on Dahi Handi heights. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 16, 2017, 19:45 [IST] Imran Khan discharged from hospital, to resume long march from same point where he was shot Pakistani woman to gift Saraswati idol to Hindu friend back home India oi-PTI Harda (Madhya Pradesh), August 16: A 21-year-old Muslim woman from Pakistan who is on a visit to Harda, will carry an idol of Goddess Saraswati as a gift for her Hindu friend in Karachi. The woman, a resident of Karachi in Pakistan, bought the idol of the goddess from a local market yesterday. "I had asked my Hindu friend, who is my colleague at a company in Karachi (where both of them work), about the gift she wanted from me. She told me to bring an idol of a devi (goddess) for her. I am taking this idol for her," the woman told PTI here. She said that not only are they both close friends, but their families also have good relations. "She had told me to bring the idol of devi. I chose Saraswati's idol after coming to know that she is worshipped here as the goddess of knowledge and wisdom. My friend is also very fond of acquiring knowledge. Hope she would be blessed after getting this idol," the woman said. She said her mother had also during her visit to Harda last year bought an idol of Lord Ganesha. "About a year back, my mother had visited Harda. She had taken the idol of Lord Ganesha with her. My friend was very happy to get that idol," she said. The woman's maternal uncle, who is a resident of Harda, said he felt happy when her niece expressed the desire to buy the idol of Goddess Saraswati. He said: "My niece told me to take her to the market to buy the idol for her friend. Such a gesture would encourage communal amity not only in India but also in Pakistan. I hope that relations between both the countries would improve. " PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 16, 2017, 19:20 [IST] Praising flag hoisting in submerged school is not enough. Flood-hit Assam needs help India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Guwahati, August 16: Sometimes a picture conveys more than what our leaders in their hours-long 'lectures' fail to achieve. At a time when everyone is giving sermons to others as to how to prove your patriotism and nationalism, four teachers and two students of a flooded school in Assam subtly told the nation on its 70th Independence Day on Tuesday that nothing matters if you truly love your nation, not even fighting waist-deep water to hoist the Tricolour and sing the national anthem--Jana Gana Mana. The images of a 'mini-class' of children and teachers standing in water that rose above their waists at the Naskara Lower Primary School in flood-hit Dhubri district of Assam truly portrayed what it means to be proud Indians, in spite of being stuck by a calamity. A couple of pictures where students and teachers were seen hoisting and saluting the Tricolour by bravely withstanding the floodwaters went viral on social media. The "rare" display of patriotism, which unfortunately has been taken over by rumbling and conflicting noises, has been described as the "defining" moment of the 70th Independence Day celebrations. The simplistic, yet courageous, expression of love for the nation, by these teachers and their pupils, will remain etched in the hearts and minds of Indians for a long time to come. The images tell many things at the same time. First of course, is one's love and duty towards the country. Second, nationalism is not the sole domain of a few who keep on hammering others about the importance of performance of patriotism, where all need to wear "love for one's nation on their sleeve". Recommended Video Bihar floods: Death toll rises to 56, NDRF teams rush to the state | Oneindia News Love and respect for the country can be showcased in simple yet powerful manners (as done by this Assam school), without any camera capturing it. Third and the most important fact is that, flood situation in Assam is really critical and the affected people need immediate relief. Unfortunately, in the noise of Independence Day celebrations, the sufferings of the flood-hit people in various parts of the country were totally ignored. Everyone thought that things are "fine" if one could wade through the "killer" floodwaters and climb on the dilapidated tin rooftop of the school building--as done by one teacher and two pupils--to unfurl the Tricolour. In their "resilience" everyone believed that things are perfectly all right in their lives, which is nothing but deliberately ignoring the "reality". The reality of Assam is that since June, floods have killed at least 115 people. After a few days of relief, floods have revisited the state with great ferocity in the last few days. The floods have affected 25 of Assam's 32 districts, displacing 33 lakh people. The Brahmaputra river and its tributaries are flowing over the danger level snapping surface communications across Assam, even as flood waters submerged railway tracks at many places in Katihar and Alipurduar divisions of Northeast Frontier Railway, disrupting rail traffic in the region. If these facts are not enough to cringe, then you should also know that thousands of displaced people, who have lost their homes and agricultural lands, are taking shelter in a hundreds of relief camps. There are also those who have failed to get access to a roof over their heads and are staying on roads. These people are also fighting for drinking water and food. In this catastrophic situation, the elected representatives--both at the Centre and in the state--have failed these poor and vulnerable flood-affected people of the state. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)--having its government both in the state and at the Centre--is maintaining that rescue and relief operations are reaching the people, but ground situation totally contradicts the tall claims. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited Assam on August 1, after receiving massive criticism for neglecting the plight of the people of flood-hit state, gave a package of Rs 2,000 crore for the entire Northeast region. The PM's package has not been received well by the state, as people feel it was too little and too late. The BJP, which formed its government for the first time in the state after the assembly elections last year, made tall election promises to mitigate the flood situation in Assam. It is understandable that natural calamities like floods are usually beyond human control. Moreover, years of neglect by previous Congress regime to improve infrastructure to tame the swelling Brahmaputra river and its tributaries, has added woes to the people's plight. However, the government has failed to showcase its urgency to distribute relief measures to the people (which it can definitely do, no matter what the previous governments did or not). Maybe, since elections are not scheduled in Assam in the near future, so the government is sitting comfortably without caring for the flood victims. Till then, Assam can take some solace over the "salute" it is receiving from across the country for the feat achieved by the flooded school by hoisting the Tricolour. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 16, 2017, 10:59 [IST] Puducherry MLAs boycott Lt Governor Kiran Bedi's Independence day tea party India oi-Oneindia By Oneindia Staff Writer Legislators from almost all political parties in Puducherry snubbed Lt Governor Kiran Bedi and boycotted a party hosted by her. The customary Independence Day high tea reception was attended only by Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, a BJP MLA nominated by Kiran Bedi and BJP local unit president V Swaminathan. All MLAs from Congress, DMK and opposition AIADMK including ministers in the Puducherry cabinet boycotted the traditional Independence Day party hosted by Governors and Lt Governor of all states and union territories across the country. The snub comes in the backdrop of Kiran Bedi locking horns with the government in Puducherry over various issues including the medical college seat distribution, nomination of BJP MLAs and NEET. The political class in Puducherry have been accusing Kiran Bedi of interfering in governance while the Lt Governor has refused to remain a rubber stamp. Bureaucrats and police officials were present in the reception which also hosted French Consul General in Puducherry Catherine Suard. The MLAs tried to justify their absence by stating that they had to travel far off for Independence day celebrations. With Agency inputs For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 16, 2017, 9:11 [IST] Rahul Gandhi inaugurates Indira canteen, breakfast for Rs 5 and meal for Rs 10 India oi-Anusha 101 Indira canteen units will serve dinner at Rs 10 starting today. AICC vice President Rahul Gandhi inaugurated one unit of Congress' ambitious yet controversial Indira Canteen in Bengaluru. 100 other units will start dishing out meals from Wednesday evening. Recommended Video Rahul Gandhi does blunder while inaugurating 'Indra Canteen' , Watch Video | Oneindia News Karnataka: Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi launches 'Indira Canteen' in Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/mCRdAY7JIh ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2017 "There can't be a single moment when a person in Bengaluru is hungry. None in this city should go hungry. I am proud that the Congress government has conceptualised this canteen. This program will be expanded to other cities," said Rahul Gandhi after inaugurating the unit. The AICC vice president addressed the canteen as Amma canteen initially but was quick to correct himself. Leaders of the BJP including union ministers Nirmala Sitaraman, Ananth Kumar and D V Sadananda Gowda gave the launch a miss. The BJP, while claiming to support the scheme had opposed to the name 'Indira'. During his budget speech, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had announced the scheme as 'Namma canteen' but changed it to 'Indira canteen', a move that the opposition parties rejected. Starting Thursday, all 101 units of the Congress' subsidised canteen program will serve breakfast at Rs 5, lunch and dinner at Rs 10. Rahul Gandhi was accompanied by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, BBMP officials and leaders of the Congress during the inaugural event. The scheme is aimed at achieving a 'hunger-free' Bengaluru. Indira canteens on 101 wards of Bengaluru will operate between 7.30 AM and 9.30 PM every day and provide food at subsidised prices. Designed on the lines of Tamil Nadu's Amma canteen, the scheme is the Congress' masterstroke for the urban poor in an election year. The government even launched Indira canteen app, a mobile application that allows a user to look up menus, prices and timings. Each unit of the canteen can be built within eight days with pre-cast technology. The BJP has slammed the Congress for rushing into the scheme to meet the deadline without consulting the public or opposition. Land acquisition for the canteen had turned into a controversy with opposition parties alleging that public parks, temple lands, heritage buildings and playgrounds were being encroached upon to build the units. Despite all criticisms, the Karnataka government successfully launched the canteens with Rahul Gandhi inaugurating one of the units.Rahul Gandhi who addressed a public gathering later in the day launched an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Taking potshots at the BJP government for refusing to waive off farm loans, Gandhi claimed that he had to go on a tour for 30 days to collect 2 lakh signatures to ensure a loan waiver from BJP government in Uttar Pradesh. "We are the protectors of the rights of farmers and we do not care what the BJP's policy is. Prime Minister spoke to the nation on August 15 and I was told it was the shortest speech. It was short because he has nothing to say. PM did not tell you about the job crisis in the country or about the death of children in Gorakhpur hospital," Rahul Gandhi said. OneIndia News They stay among you to kill you: Ansarul Bangla Team could be Indias biggest threat Remove 'Sindh' from National Anthem, then we will sing it says UP Madrasa India oi-Vicky By Vicky A Madrasa in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh has made a unique request. They want the word 'Sindh' taken off the National Anthem if they have to sing it. The renowned seminary Darul Uloom Nadwatul Ulema celebrated the Independence Day on Tuesday. The teachers and the students sang 'Saare Jahan se Accha Hindostan Hamara' followed by special prayers for the safety and prosperity of India. This has been a tradition since 1947 to offer special prayers and it was followed this year too. A cleric in the Madrasa Nadwa Maulana Khalid Ghazipuri Nadwi, a cleric however said that they did not sing the National Anthem. This is because it has the word 'Sindh' in it. Sindh is in Pakistan and we cannot pray for the prosperity of that country, the cleric also said. We will sing the National Anthem proudly if the government removes the word 'Sindh' from it, he also added. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 16, 2017, 8:56 [IST] La Crosse police identified career felon Roger Burzinski as the armed carjacker fatally shot by officers during a pursuit Sunday on the citys South Side. Burzinski, 54, of Green Bay, stole a Chevy Trailblazer from Houska Park about 5 p.m. after confronting a woman in the passenger seat at gunpoint. She was able remove her 3-year-old daughter from the backseat before Burzinski sped off with her 1-year-old daughter still inside. Police found the car minutes later at 10th and Green Bay streets. Burzinski led officers on a pursuit of speeds up to 47 mph from South Avenue to Eighth Street, where he drove through a road construction site at Johnson Street, went airborne and crashed into a parked car about 10 minutes later. Two officers, identified as Andrew Adey and Stephen Hughes, shot and killed Burzinski when he refused to comply with orders and they noticed he had a firearm, according to the department. The child was unharmed. No officers were injured. Adey and Hughes, with the agency for five and four years respectively, are on paid administrative leave per department policy pending the investigation by the state Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation. La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke will decide whether the shooting was justified. Burzinskis criminal record in Wisconsin stretches back to 1980 and includes convictions for possession of a firearm by a felon, second-degree sexual assault of a child, battery to police, second-degree recklessly endangering safety, fleeing police and armed robbery. He served six years in prison for robbing a La Crosse convenience store of $60 by claiming to have a firearm in 1985 and four years for sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl in 1994, according to the complaints filed in La Crosse County Circuit Court. Records from the other cases were not available Tuesday. Burzinski was released from prison in September after serving 11 years for armed robbery, fleeing police and felony drunken driving in two Brown County cases. The state Department of Corrections issued an apprehension request for Burzinski on March 24 when he absconded from extended supervision and failed to comply with the states sex offender registry. Sharad Yadav to host secular alliance meet, target JD(U) India oi-Deepika By Deepika Having rebelled against JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar's decision to swap "secular" alliance for BJP, Sharad Yadav has called a conclave on 'sanjhi virasat bachao' (save composite culture) at Constitution Club in New Delhi. The conclave, conceived as a protest against Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's decision to junk the "secular" alliance is set to be attended by leaders of several Opposition political parties, including Congress, Trinamool Congress, RJD and leaders of the Left parties. It is possible that Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Tariq Anwar also attends the conference. Will convene a 'Sajha Virasat Bachao Sammelan' on how to save our composite culture, to be held tomorrow : Sharad Yadav pic.twitter.com/SdOKq5MUhH ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2017 An invitation has been sent to 16 opposition parties. This will be the next big gathering of the opposition after it decided to launch a joint campaign against the ruling party. The conference comes days after Yadav held road shows in Bihar. Several leaders close to him are being targeted by the leadership with 21, including Dalit leader and former minister Ramai Ram, being suspended from the party on Monday for their participation in Yadav's road shows. The political dais to centrestage "secular values" would follow what is turning into a complete divorce between Nitish Kumar and Sharad Yadav. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 16, 2017, 13:28 [IST] Stung by NIA, top Kashmir separatists in desperate need of a good advocate India oi-Vicky By Vicky With the noose round the neck of the Kashmir separatists tightening, they are in desperate need of legal help. Several top separatists are running from pillar to post to find a good advocate to defend them in court. The NIA has built a water tight case in the Hurriyat terror funding investigation. The courts too have been careful in hearing bail applications and has taken cognisance of the fact that the case is a sensitive one. Any brash order at this time could derail the entire case and the efforts of the NIA could go down the drain. The biggest worry is for the top leaders such as Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq. One of their mates, Shabbir Shah is already in jail for a money laundering case. This has got the others worried. The NIA too has been gradually building up evidence. It has already questioned over 7 top Hurriyat leaders and is building up evidence against the likes of Geelani and Faqooq. Recommended Video Kashmir : Pro India slogans raised by Kashmiri Pandits during I-Day, Watch Video | Oneindia News There have been probes in the past as well, but these leaders have never taken it seriously. This time around the documents seized and the huge number of arrests carried out suggests that the NIA is going for the big guns next. NIA sources suggest that next in line could be Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq. The details against the two Hurriyat hawks is very strong in nature. Moreover these two separatists have been desperately looking for a good lawyer to defend them in court. The NIA says that it is confident that this case would be taken to the logical end. The cases of the past have not been as strong. In fact the NIA had to drop a 2016 case on the same issue. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 16, 2017, 10:00 [IST] To get China to budge, India brings in its best 3 When Chinese turned petty stone pelters and were shooed away by India at Ladakh India oi-Vicky By Vicky The Chinese who decided to give the ceremonial Independence Day programme with India a skip attempted an incursion at Ladakh amidst the Doklam standoff. The Chinese made two bids on Independence Day, which were foiled by the alert and brave Indian soldiers. Recommended Video Sikkim Standoff: China enters Ladakh in frustration, resorts to stone pelting | Oneindia News The attempts were made along the banks of famous Pangong lake in Ladakh. The Chinese resorted to stone pelting that caused minor injuries to people on both sides, officials said. Sources say that there was a scuffle between both sides. The Chinese resorted to stone pelting when the Indian side blocked two attempts made by the People's Liberation Army. The Chinese tried to enter Indian territory at the Finger-4 and Finger-5 areas early on Tuesday morning. The two attempts were made at 6 am and 9 am. The Indian soldiers formed a human chain while blocking the Chinese. The Chinese then began pelting stones at the Indian side. The Indian side then retaliated following which the Chinese were chased away from the area. Personnel from both sides received minor injuries and the situation was brought under control after the customary banner drill under which both sides hold banners before stepping back to their respective positions. Chinese troops had managed to enter upto Finger Four area in the region from where they were sent back. This area has been a bone of contention between India and China as both claim it to be a part of their territory. The situation along the banks of the lake has always remained volatile with Chinese troops being intercepted by Indian Army patrol several times after the three-week long stand-off in the Depsang plains of Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) in May 2013. When the Indian side staked claim to the area during negotiations in late 1990s, the Chinese army constructed a metal-top road and insisted it was part of Aksai Chin, which is under the latter's control, officials said. China had constructed a road up to Finger Four which falls under Siri Jap area and is five km deep into the LAC. Earlier, the Chinese patrols used to come frequently from the northern and southern banks of this lake, whose 45 km stretch is on the Indian side while 90 km is on the Chinese side. Indian forces are now armed with high-speed interceptor boats, bought from the US, which can accommodate nearly 15 soldiers and are equipped with radars, infra-red and GPS systems. These boats are said to be as good as Chinese vessels and are used to conduct reconnaissance and area domination patrols. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 16, 2017, 6:26 [IST] Why this Modi Sarkar ordered NIA probe against Kashmir separatists is the best India oi-Vicky By Vicky There have been many probes ordered by various governments against the Kashmir separatists in the past. All of them have turned out to damp squibs and have more often than not made it to the stock pile of pending cases. Even a probe ordered in 2016 had to be dropped for want of evidence. However the fresh probe ordered by the Modi government in 2017 is probably one of the best and most water-tight cases against the Kashmir seperatists. The very fact that there has been a drop in violence is an indicator that the funds have been choked and have dried up. The separatists have either run out of money are too scared to pull it out and fund the violence. There have been probes in the past as well, but these leaders have never taken it seriously. This time around the documents seized and the huge number of arrests carried out suggests that the NIA is going for the big guns next. NIA sources suggest that next in line could be Syed Ali Shah Geelani and Mirwaiz Umer Farooq. The details against the two Hurriyat hawks is very strong in nature. Moreover these two separatists have been desperately looking for a good lawyer to defend them in court. The NIA says that it is confident that this case would be taken to the logical end. The cases of the past have not been as strong. In fact the NIA had to drop a 2016 case on the same issue. Recommended Video Kashmir : Pro India slogans raised by Kashmiri Pandits during I-Day, Watch Video | Oneindia News Why is this probe different? The probe this time is different for a variety of reasons. First and foremost the NIA has been given a free hand to probe the cases and there is no political compulsion on the agency on who to arrest and who not to. The probe was carried out in multiple directions. Moreover if one looks at the manner in which Kashmir is being handled, it is text book Ajit Doval doctrine in which it says that the policy of non-appeasement must be shunned. The NIA began with the foreign funding which came in from Pakistan, Dubai, London and Saudi Arabia. The agency then studied thousands of documents relating to the cross border trade. It was suspected that this route through the Line of Control was used to pump in the funds. While these dimensions were already know, the NIA decided that it would actually act upon it and hence carried out the arrests. It was the arrests that became the turning point for the NIA. The questioning of these separatists and their associates only added weight to the evidence that the NIA had already sourced. The arrests and this hectic probe by the NIA had its ripple effects in Kashmir as well. The unrest is dying a slow death and the funds are gradually drying up. Earlier separatists used to dole out money at will to fund stone pelters and terrorists. However this time they are careful, watchful as they are fully aware that a full-fledged probe with all its seriousness and minus the appeasement is on. OneIndia News For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 16, 2017, 12:00 [IST] Engage in direct dialogue to defuse Doklam standoff: US tells India, China International oi-PTI The US State Department on Wednesday said India, China should hold direct dialogue to defuse the on going Doklam standoff. The remarks came a day after Indian border guards foiled an attempt by Chinese soldiers to enter Indian territory along the banks of famous Pangong lake in Ladakh. The latest skirmish comes at a time when India and China are locked in a face-off in the Doklam area of the Sikkim sector. The standoff has been ongoing for more than 50 days, after Indian troops stopped the Chinese Army from building a road in the area. Recommended Video Sikkim Standoff: Bhutan did not ask India to intervene in Doklam | Oneindia News "We are encouraging both parties to sit down and have a direct dialogue," State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters at a news conference. Nauert was responding to questions on the skirmish between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Ladakh and continued standoff in Doklam area. Earlier on August 11, the US had pressed for diplomatic talks between the two nations, adding that the stand-off is a situation that it has certainly followed closely. PTI At UNSC, US calls on world to tell Russia to stop its nuclear threats Head of main US labor union resigns over Trump's response to Charlottesville violence International oi-PTI Washington, August 16: The president of the main US labor union Richard Trumka resigned from Donald Trump's council on manufacturing. Trumka said the US president's response to violent white supremacists in Charlottesville meant he tolerated "bigotry and domestic terrorism." "We cannot sit on a council for a President who tolerates bigotry and domestic terrorism," AFL-CIO President Trumka said in a statement announcing his immediate resignation from the panel. "President Trump's remarks today repudiate his forced remarks yesterday about the KKK and neo-Nazis. We must resign on behalf of America's working people, who reject all notions of legitimacy of these bigoted groups." Earlier, Trump had angrily responded to questions over whether his reaction to the weekend's rally that ended in bloodshed had fallen short, to which he again said there was "blame on both sides." PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 16, 2017, 9:47 [IST] Not aware of scuffle between Indian, Chinese troops in Ladakh, says China International pti-PTI Beijing, Aug 16: China on Wednesday said that it was not aware of the reports of PLA soldiers entering Indian territory along the banks of the Pangong lake in Ladakh and said it is committed to peace and tranquillity along the border. Recommended Video Sikkim Standoff: China's Foreign Ministry unaware of PLA incursion in Ladakh | Oneindia News Indian border guards yesterday foiled an attempt by Chinese soldiers to enter Indian territory in Ladakh, resulting in stone pelting that caused minor injuries to people on both sides. Asked to comment on the incident,Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hu Chunying said, "I am not aware of the information." She said the People's Liberation Army (PLA) troops always patrol along the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). "The Chinese side is committed to peace and tranquillity of the China-India border," she said. "We urge the Indian side abide by the LAC and relevant conventions between the two sides," she said. The skirmish in Ladakh comes at a time when India and China are locked in a face-off in the Doklam area of the Sikkim sector. The standoff has been ongoing for more than 50 days, after Indian troops stopped the Chinese Army from constructing a road in the area. India has protested the construction of a road by the Chinese military in the area claimed by its ally Bhutan, fearing it would allow Beijing to cut off Indias access to its northeastern states. PTI Sierra Leone mudslides claim over 300 lives, 600 missing International oi-PTI Freetown (Sierra Leone), August 16: More than 300 people were killed and another 600 people are missing in mudslides in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital. The Red Cross said the death toll is expected to rise. Fatmata Kamara had just stepped outside her house before dawn yesterday when she saw the muddy hillside collapsing above her. The only thing she could do was run. She was one of the survivors, those who managed to escape the surging mudslides and floodwaters in and around Sierra Leone's capital that killed more than 300 people. Thousands lost their homes in the disaster, which was triggered by heavy rains. "I ran away from the house, leaving behind my family," a grieving Kamara told The Associated Press. "I am the only one that has survived, as my house and dozens of others were covered with mud and boulders." Rescuers dug with their bare hands through the thick, reddish mud to try to find any survivors in the debris of the homes. Heavy equipment was later brought in, said government spokesman Cornelius Deveaux. The military also was deployed to help. Some bodies were swept into the sea off the coast of the West African nation and have begun washing back ashore. The mortuary of the Connaught Hospital in central Freetown was overwhelmed with the dead. More than 300 bodies of men, women and children were brought there, and many were laid out on the floor. Deveaux said an exact death toll was unknown, and many of the bodies were horribly mangled. President Ernest Bai Koroma said Sierra Leone was in a state of grief and mourning, with many survivors still in shock. Radio journalist Gibril Sesay said he lost his entire family. "I am yet to grasp that I survived, and my family is gone," he said through sobs, unable to continue. Ahmed Sesay, caretaker of a two-story house near the Guma Valley Dam east of the capital, said he was sleeping around 6 a.m. when he felt a vibration. "It was like an earthquake. I ran out of my quarters to the gate of the compound," he said. "The ground shook and I had to stay outside the compound until daybreak." An estimated 9,000 people have been affected in some way by the disaster, said Abdul Nasir, program coordinator for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. "I have never seen anything like it," he said. "A river of mud came out of nowhere and swallowed entire communities, just wiped them away. We are racing against time, more flooding and the risk of disease to help these affected communities survive and cope with their loss." Charles Mambu, a civil society activist and resident of one affected area, Mount Sugar Loaf, said the magnitude of the destruction indicated that hundreds more people could be dead. In one sign of hope, two people were pulled alive from the debris yesterday evening, Mambu said. The U.N. said it is providing emergency response assistance. Contingency plans are being put in place to try to stem the outbreak of diseases such as cholera, Deveaux told radio station FM 98.1. The bodies that have been recovered will begin to be buried in the next 48 hours, said Sulaiman Parker, environmental protection officer for the Freetown City Council. Many of the poor areas of Freetown are near sea level and have poor drainage systems, which makes flooding worse during the rainy season. The capital also is plagued by the unregulated construction of large residential houses in hilltop areas. Thousands of makeshift settlements in and around the city were severely affected. "The government has been warning people not to construct houses in these areas. When they do this, there are risks," Nasir said. Deforestation for firewood and charcoal is one of the leading contributors to the flooding and mudslides. Another reason for the mudslides is people don't follow the standard construction rules. PTI For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications Story first published: Wednesday, August 16, 2017, 9:41 [IST] US says religious freedom under attack in Pakistan International pti-PTI Washington, Aug 16: Hoping that the new Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi would promote interfaith harmony in the country, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said the religious freedom is under attack in Pakistan. Releasing a Congressional-mandated 2016 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom on Tuesday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the Pakistan government marginalises Ahmadiyya Muslims, and refuses to recognise them as Muslim. "Religious freedom is under attack in Pakistan, where more than two dozen are on death row or serving a life imprisonment for blasphemy," he said. Tillerson hoped that new Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and his government will promote interfaith harmony and protect the rights of religious minorities in Pakistan. Abbasi, 58, was sworn-in as Pakistan's prime minister on August 1 after the Supreme Court disqualified the incumbent Nawaz Sharif for dishonesty following the Panama papers case. The US report said that in 2016 there continued to be violence and abuses committed by armed sectarian groups connected to organisations banned by the government, including Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, and Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, as well as abuses by individuals and groups designated as terrorist organisations by the US and other governments, such as ISIL-Khorasan. According to the State Department, members of religious minority communities said there continued to be inconsistent application of laws safeguarding minority rights and enforcement of protections of religious minorities at both the federal and provincial levels by the federal Ministry of Law, Justice, and Human Rights and its provincial counterparts. "Religious minorities said they remained concerned that government action to address coerced conversions of religious minorities to Islam was inadequate," the report said. Religious minority activists, however, said they believed the Sindh Assembly's new law criminalizing forced conversions, which passed in November but was under review by the Sindh Assembly at year's end, would be a step to restrict the practice and better protect minors belonging to religious minorities, it added. Religious minority community leaders said the government failed to take adequate action to protect minorities from bonded labor in the brick-making and agricultural sectors, an illegal practice in which victims were disproportionately Christians and Hindus, according to the report. According to Hindu and Sikh leaders, the legal uncertainty surrounding the process of registering marriages for their communities continued to create difficulties for Hindu and Sikh women in obtaining their inheritances, accessing health services, voting, obtaining a passport, and buying or selling property, the report added. PTI 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. Rumble 07 Feb 2022 As Viva Frei gets onto top of a Freedom Convoy 18 wheeler truck to video record live the mandate and restrictions of the Wuhan.. Mashable 12 Nov 2022 Once upon a time, Marvel had a villain problem, but those days may be far behind us. 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The company said in a statement, "Since Elliott initiated a public conversation on BHP's performance and opportunities to create value for all shareholders, BHP appears to have taken steps toward a smarter, more value-generative way of conducting business, and we support and encourage continued progress." It added that recent statements by the company give the hedge fund confidence that Chairman-elect Ken MacKenzie will heed shareholders' calls to take constructive steps to enhance value for BHP and its owners, including a full exit from U.S. shale and an in-depth, open and truly independent review of the petroleum business' place in BHP's portfolio. BHP management's comments and indications regarding BHP's oil and gas assets so far have been encouraging. "We and other shareholders look forward to hearing more from management on this subject, following the growing analyst and shareholder consensus that BHP should exit U.S. shale," Elliott said. The activist hedge fund also believes that MacKenzie would institute a new responsible approach and philosophy regarding capital allocation. "Such an approach will ensure that the s...................... To view our full article Click here Global Machine Condition Monitoring Market to Register a CAGR of 6.8% during 20172025 Machine Condition Monitoring https://www.progressivemarkets.com/industry-research/machine-condition-monitoring-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/enquiry-about-report/machine-condition-monitoring-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/get-discount/machine-condition-monitoring-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com Progressive Markets has published a recent report on the semiconductor and machine sector, titled, Global Machine Condition Monitoring Market- Size, Trend, Share, Opportunity Analysis & Forecast, 2014-2025. According to it, the global machine condition monitoring industry is anticipated to register a CAGR of 6.8% during the period, 20172025. It offers projection of the market and analyzes present industry trends and probable future market dynamics.The study describes the global machine condition monitoring market in reference to scope. It divides the industry into technology, geography, and industry vertical. It incorporates research methodology, such as Porters Five Forces Analysis (PFFA) to assess industry rivalry. It covers parameters which include power to bargain by suppliers & buyers and threat of new entrants & substitutes. In addition, it analyzes industry dynamics and its effect upon the market. The study also incorporates summary which includes recent advancement, market attractiveness, and trend analysis. Based on technology, it classifies the industry into lubricating oil analysis, corrosion monitoring, vibration analysis & diagnostics, infrared thermography, ultrasound emission testing, and motor current signature analysis (MCSA).Continue to Report Description and Full ToC:According to the report, industry vertical of the global machine condition monitoring market include oil and gas, chemical & petrochemical, steel and metal, automotive, and pharmaceutical. Geographically, it categorizes the industry into Latin America Middle East & Africa (LAMEA), Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America. Further, it analyzes market share of technology, industry vertical, and region for the period, 20142025. It assesses industry size of each industry vertical and technology by regions during the historic period as well as forecast period, 20142016 and 20172025, respectively. It also discusses top manufactures of the industry, such as Honeywell International Inc., Emerson Process Management, General Electric Company, Rockwell Automation, Inc., National Instruments Corporation, and others.The experts describe factors that are capable to drive the global machine condition monitoring market. These include decrease in cost of repair owing to the fact that the industry eliminates sudden downtime. They also discuss alternative factors that propel growth of the industry, such as better life and appropriate maintenance of machines. Apart from this, the research also explores aspects that hinder prosperity of the market. These include extra cost suffered owing to minor errors while monitoring machine condition. It discusses abovementioned firms based on norms set, such as recent advancements. It also explores finance and business segment of every manufacturer.Inquire About Report:The report depicts the abovementioned characteristics of the global machine condition monitoring market in the form of figures and tables. For instance, there are tables that show revenue generated by each segment of the industry. There are also tables that illustrate overview of top vendors under heading of snapshot.Table of Content for Machine Condition Monitoring Industry1. Executive summary1.1. Key Findings1.2. Market Attractiveness and Trend analysis1.3. Competitive Landscape and Recent Industry Development Analysis2. Introduction2.1. Report Description2.2. Scope and Definitions2.3. Research Methodology3. Market landscape3.1. Growth Drivers3.1.1. Impact Analysis3.2. Restrains and Challenges3.2.1. Impact Analysis3.3. Porters Analysis3.3.1. Bargaining Power of Buyers3.3.2. Bargaining Power of Suppliers3.3.3. Threat of Substitutes3.3.4. Industry Rivalry3.3.5. Threat of New Entrants3.4. Global Machine Condition Monitoring Market Shares Analysis, 2014-20253.4.1. Global machine condition monitoring market share by technology, 2014-2025ContinuedList of TablesContain 38 TablesList of FiguresContain 51 FiguresDiscount on Full Report:About ProgressiveThe company makes use of primary corporate research and secondary inputs from trusted sources to build its own reference base. It maintains consistency in quality as it keeps itself updated with changes in market dynamics and gauging its net effect on global business trends.Reach UsAntviews Global, Serve No. 721/1Flat No 404, Sudhanshu Society,Shastri Road, Near Kalavati Mandir,Fatak Baug, Pune 411 030Us: + 1-888-906-9222GMT: + 35-376-680-1176help@progressivemarkets.com Bare Metal Cloud Market would grow at a CAGR of 40.1% from 2017 to 2025 - Industrial Press Release Bare Metal Cloud Market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/industry-research/bare-metal-cloud-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/enquiry-about-report/bare-metal-cloud-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/get-discount/bare-metal-cloud-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com Progressive Markets has published a report, titled, Global Bare Metal Cloud Market - Size, Trend, Share, Opportunity Analysis & Forecast, 20142025. As per the report, the global bare metal cloud market is estimated to register of a CAGR of 40.1% from 2017 to 2025. The research outlines market dynamics along with their impact, discusses dominating segments, provides information on current developments, and explores opportunities for the future. This information would assist market players to gain maximum profitability and investors to determine investment suitability. The report is valuable to devise strategies to make an international mark and gain unwavering market presence.An executive summary of the global bare metal cloud industry is offered in the research to assist industry players, stakeholders, and investors gain an overall overview and save their time to determine opportunities for growth in coming years. Key findings outlined in the study help in determining winning strategies and key investment pockets. Current market trend is discussed in the study along with development trend of the market. Market landscape of the global industry is provided to assist market players gain understanding of competitive level and devise strategies to gain competitive advantage. Research methodology is offered in the research to offer detailed information on methods implemented to gather and validate data and statistics.Continue to Report Description and Full ToC:Market landscape of the global bare metal cloud industry is provided based on drivers and restraints. Necessity of non-locking compute and storage resources, advent of fabric virtualization, need for reliable load balancing of data-intensive and latency sensitive operations, and decommissioning of workloads after termination of service level agreements (SLAS) are factors that fuel growth in the market. Lightweight hypervisors and stringent cloud regulations limit growth in the global industry. Porters Five Forces model is provided in the research for development of business strategy for the future and level of competition across the globe. Bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, threat from substitutes, threat of new entrants, and industrial rivalry are parameters on which the model is analyzed.The report offers detailed segmentation of the global bare metal cloud market based on service type, size of the organization, vertical type, and geography. Based on service type, the market is classified into identity & access management services, compute services, database services, networking services, volume & object storage services, managed services and professional services. On the basis of size of the organization, the market is segmented into small, medium and large organizations. Vertical type segment is categorized into banking, financial services & insurance, government, healthcare, retail, manufacturing, IT & telecom, and others. Geographically, it is divided into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. Extensive analysis of market share of key segments is discussed for the historic period, 20142016 and the forecast period, 20172025. Data and statistics are offered in-depth using tables and figures. Furthermore, revenue generated by each key segment is offered in the study with the help of tabular and graphical representation.Inquire About Report:The study offers a detailed analysis of key market players active in the global bare metal cloud industry. An overview of business is provided in the study to assist investors to determine investment feasibility. Moreover, financial and business segments of each player are discussed along with current developments taking place worldwide. Key market players analyzed in the research include IBM Corporation, Oracle, CenturyLink, Rackspace US, INC., Internap, Packet, Media Temple, Limestone Networks, Inc., Datapipe, Inc., and Scaleway. This information is helpful to determine competition level of the market. Moreover, market players can devise strategies including agreements, partnerships, collaborations, mergers & acquisitions, and others to gain competitive advantage.Table of Content for Bare Metal Cloud Industry1. Executive summary1.1. Key Findings1.2. Market Attractiveness and Trend analysis1.3. Competitive Landscape and recent industry development analysis2. Introduction2.1. Report Description2.2. Scope and Definitions2.3. Research Methodology3. Market landscape3.1. Growth Drivers3.1.1. Impact Analysis3.2. Restraints and Challenges3.2.1. Impact Analysis3.3. Porters Analysis3.3.1. Bargaining power of buyers3.3.2. Bargaining power of suppliers3.3.3. Threat of substitutes3.3.4. Industry rivalry3.3.5. Threat of new entrants3.4. Global Bare Metal Cloud Market Shares Analysis, 2014-20253.4.1. Global Bare Metal Cloud Market by Service Type, 2014-2025ContinuedList of TablesContain 46 TablesList of FiguresContain 54 FiguresDiscount on Full Report:About ProgressiveThe company makes use of primary corporate research and secondary inputs from trusted sources to build its own reference base. It maintains consistency in quality as it keeps itself updated with changes in market dynamics and gauging its net effect on global business trends.Reach UsAntviews Global, Serve No. 721/1Flat No 404, Sudhanshu Society,Fatak Baug, Pune 411 030Us: + 1-888-906-9222GMT: + 35-376-680-1176help@progressivemarkets.com Cardiac Monitoring and Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Market to Register CAGR of 6.2% during 20172025 Cardiac Monitoring and Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/industry-research/cardiac-monitoring-and-cardiac-rhythm-management-devices-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/enquiry-about-report/cardiac-monitoring-and-cardiac-rhythm-management-devices-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/get-discount/cardiac-monitoring-and-cardiac-rhythm-management-devices-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com According to a recent report published by Progressive Markets on the healthcare sector, which titled, Global Cardiac Monitoring and Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Market- Size, Trend, Share, Opportunity Analysis & Forecast, 2014-2025, the industry is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of 6.2% during the period, 20172025. It is suitable for manufacturers and stakeholders owing to comprehensive analysis it offers of factors that increase or decrease growth of the market.The research gives a brief introduction of the global cardiac monitoring and cardiac rhythm management devices market in terms of its scope. It offers summary which includes significant findings, competitive landscape, market attractiveness, trend analysis, and recent developments. It incorporates research methodology, such as Porters Five Forces Analysis (PFFA) to understand rivalry in the industry. This also includes bargaining power of the supplier & buyer and threat from substitutes & new entrepreneurs. It divides the industry into product types, end-users, and geographies.Continue to Report Description and Full ToC:Based on type, the study divides the global cardiac monitoring and cardiac rhythm management devices market into electrocardiogram (ECG) devices, cardiac output monitoring (COM) devices, implantable loop recorders (ILR), event monitors, cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) devices, pacemakers, defibrillator, ventricular assist devices (VADs), right ventricular assist device (RVAD), left ventricular assist device (LVAD), and biventricular assist device (BIVAD). According to the research, the industry finds its end-users in hospitals and clinics, ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs), and home settings. Geographically, it segments the market into Europe, North America, Latin America Middle East & Africa (LAMEA), and Asia-Pacific.The report analyzes share of the global cardiac monitoring and cardiac rhythm management devices market by product types, end-users, and geographies during the period, 20142025. It assesses market size of each type and end-user by region for the historic period and forecast period, 20142016 and 20172025, respectively. In addition, it evaluates market size of all nations of the industry during the aforementioned period.Inquire About Report:The study discusses big market players of the global cardiac monitoring and cardiac rhythm management devices market, such as Abiomed Inc, Biotronik SE & Co. KG, Berlin Heart GmbH, Boston Scientific Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), Cardiac Science Corporation, Hill-Rom Holdings, Medtronic PLC, Inc., St. Jude Medical, Inc., and Nihon Kohden Corp. It offers brief introduction of every manufacturer. Further, it analyzes business and finance segment of each company. It also evaluates recent advancements made by every firm. The experts describe various factors that vendors adopt to evolve market trends. These include product development, acquisition, product approval, and collaboration. The report explores factors that accelerate growth of the industry which include technological advancement. It discusses alternate aspects that propel demand of the industry, such as rise in geriatric population and incidences of cardiovascular diseases.The experts describe features that cause slow progress of the global cardiac monitoring and cardiac rhythm management devices market, such as less trained personnel and uncertain reimbursement policies. They explain alternative aspect that impede growth of the industry which includes lack of awareness. Moreover, the study provides certain key takeaways of the industry, such as it provides great competitive edge to manufacturers, stakeholders, and new entrants. It provides comprehensive evaluation of aspects that have potential to restrict or drive the industry.The study on the global cardiac monitoring and cardiac rhythm management devices market offers manufacturers and producers to quickly identify opportunities present in the industry. It enables them to grab the future projects. It also encourages new entrepreneurs to participate in the market by providing the detailed information. The report helps to recognize the possible future investment pockets, thereby, promotes collaborations among vendors. It anticipates challenges and restraints of the industry which help producers and key stakeholders to take corrective steps during the forecast period.Table of Content for Cardiac Monitoring and Cardiac Rhythm Management Devices Industry1. Executive summary1.1. Key findings1.2. Market attractiveness and trend analysis1.3. Competitive landscape and recent industry development analysis2. Introduction2.1. Report description2.2. Scope and definitions2.3. Research methodology3. Market landscape3.1. Growth drivers3.1.1. Impact analysis3.2. Restrains and challenges3.2.1. Impact analysis3.3. Porters analysis3.3.1. Bargaining power of buyers3.3.2. Bargaining power of suppliers3.3.3. Threat of substitutes3.3.4. Industry rivalry3.3.5. Threat of new entrants3.4. Global cardiac monitoring and cardiac rhythm management devices market shares analysis, 2014-20253.4.1. global cardiac monitoring and cardiac rhythm management devices market share by product type, 2014-2025ContinuedList of TablesContain 80 TablesList of FiguresContain 79 FiguresDiscount on Full Report:About ProgressiveThe company makes use of primary corporate research and secondary inputs from trusted sources to build its own reference base. It maintains consistency in quality as it keeps itself updated with changes in market dynamics and gauging its net effect on global business trends.Reach UsAntviews Global, Serve No. 721/1Flat No 404, Sudhanshu Society,Fatak Baug, Pune 411 030Us: + 1-888-906-9222GMT: + 35-376-680-1176help@progressivemarkets.com China Is The Most Lucrative Market For Metalworking Fluids In The APEJ Region With A Projected CAGR Of 4.3% And A Market Attractiveness Index Of 5.0 During The Forecast Period http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1287906 http://www.researchmoz.us/metalworking-fluids-market.html http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1287906 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Metalworking Fluids Market: APEJ Regional Market Anticipated to Grow Above the Global Average During the Forecast Period: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2016-2026" to its huge collection of research reports.Our research indicates APEJ to be a region of high growth in the global metalworking fluids market over the forecast periodThe APEJ region was estimated to account for a little more than 30% market share of the global metalworking fluids market by 2016 end and is likely to gain more than 200 BPS in its market share by 2026 over 2016. The region is anticipated to register high Y-o-Y growth throughout the forecast period. In 2017, the APEJ region is projected to account for a major market share and is expected to reach a value of more than US$ 2,500 Mn. The region is likely to expand at the highest CAGR of 4.3% over the forecast period. APEJ dominated the global metalworking fluids market in revenue terms in 2015, and the trend is projected to continue throughout the predicted period. APEJ is anticipated to be the most prominent regional market in the global metalworking fluids market during the predicted period.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @China is the most lucrative market for metalworking fluids in the APEJ region with a projected compound annual growth rate of 4.3% and a market attractiveness index of 5.0 during the forecast period. India, on the other hand, is estimated to hold more than 30% market share in the APEJ metalworking fluids market and is projected to reach a value of more than US$ 1,000 Mn by 2026, recording a market attractiveness index of 4.2 during the forecast period.Modernisation and rising disposable income are the important factors fuelling the growth of the metalworking fluids market in the APEJ regionThe constant increase in rising disposable income and per capita spending has led to a boom in the automotive sector, especially in countries in the Asia Pacific region such as China, India and other South East Asian countries. Automotive companies have also invested heavily in new technology and vehicle concepts leading to the demand for more precise components and parts. Additionally, the increasing focus of consumers on fuel economy rather than performance has led auto manufacturers to develop better machining technology using high-quality lubricants and fluids. All these factors are creating a positive impact on the growth of the metalworking fluids market in the APEJ region.Increasing productivity while keeping costs low is a priority for manufacturers of industrial equipment in the APEJ region in order to remain competitive, and this involves using modern equipment to increase efficiency and reduce production loss due to plant downtime. Considering the need for high-performance equipment in most industrial manufacturing hubs in the APEJ region, the requirement of components used in machining such as metalworking or cutting fluids is likely to increase throughout the forecast period.Use of exotic metals such as titanium, platinum, palladium, gallium etc. in both engine and powertrain production in automobiles and other applications has also increased the demand for the use of cutting fluids, as demand for hybrid and electrical vehicles over traditional combustion engines and use of high-performance metals for niche applications has grown in the APEJ region. These factors are fuelling the demand and revenue growth of the APEJ metalworking fluids market.Transportation Equipment anticipated to be the major end use market for metalworking fluids in the APEJ regionThe Transportation Equipment end use segment in the APEJ metalworking fluids market is projected to exhibit the highest Y-O-Y growth during the forecast period and is also slated to be the most lucrative segment in the APEJ metalworking fluids market with a market attractiveness index of 5.0. The Machinery and Metal Use segments are the least lucrative segments by end use in the APEJ metalworking fluids market.Browse Detail Report With Full TOC @Table Of ContentSection 1 Executive SummarySection 2 Market IntroductionMarket TaxonomyMarket DefinitionSection 3 Metalworking Fluids Market AnalysisGlobal Supply Demand Scenario (2015)Metalworking Fluids Consuming Regions (2015)Metalworking Fluids Market Volume AnalysisMetalworking Fluids Pricing Analysis (US$/MT)Metalworking Fluids Market Value ForecastMetalworking Fluids Value ChainList of Global Regulating AgenciesMetalworking Fluids Regulations MatrixMajor Formulations Used in Metalworking FluidsRanking of the Largest Manufacturers of Industrial LubricantsTop-10 Lubricant Producing CountriesSection 4 Market DynamicsMetalworking Fluids Macro-economic FactorsMetalworking Fluids Demand-side DriversMetalworking Fluids Supply-side DriversMetalworking Fluids RestraintsMetalworking Fluids Market OpportunityForecast Factors Relevance and ImpactSection 5 Global Metalworking Fluids Market Analysis By Product TypeIntroductionGlobal Metalworking Fluids Market Share and BPS Analysis By Product TypeGlobal Metalworking Fluids Market: Y-o-Y Projections By Product TypeGlobal Metalworking Fluids Market Forecast By Product TypeGlobal Metalworking Fluids Market Absolute $ Opportunity Analysis By Product TypeGlobal Metalworking Fluids Market Attractiveness Analysis By Product TypeSection 6 Global Metalworking Fluids Market Analysis By CategoryIntroductionGlobal Metalworking Fluids Market Share and BPS Analysis By CategoryGlobal Metalworking Fluids Market: Y-o-Y Projections By CategoryGlobal Metalworking Fluids Market Forecast By CategoryGlobal Metalworking Fluids Market Absolute $ Opportunity Analysis By CategoryGlobal Metalworking Fluids Market Attractiveness Analysis By CategoryContinued...Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Global Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters: Power Injected Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters Product Type Segment to Dominate the Market Through 2024 | New Study http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1287942 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-market-study-on-peripherally-inserted-central-catheters-power-injected-peripherally-inserted-central-catheters-product-type-segment-to-dominate-the-market-through-2024-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1287942 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Market Study on Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters: Power Injected Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters Product Type Segment to Dominate the Market Through 2024" to its huge collection of research reports.This report by Persistence Market Research examines the global peripherally inserted central catheters market for the period 20162024. The primary objective of the report is to offer updates and information related to market opportunities in the global peripherally inserted central catheters market. This comprehensive market study demonstrates the various dynamics that are expected to influence the current environment and future status of the global peripherally inserted central catheters market over the forecast period.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Peripherally inserted central catheters are medical devices used to infuse fluids and medication directly into the veins of the human body or draw blood samples for testing purposes. Peripherally inserted central catheters are inserted into the patients body using a needle that can be removed once the catheter is in place. Thereafter, the tip of the peripherally inserted central catheter is allowed to rest at the large vein junction in close proximity to the heart with the help of radiological devices.This report covers the global peripherally inserted central catheters market performance in terms of revenue contribution. The report offers updates on trends, drivers, restraints, value forecasts, and opportunities influencing revenue growth of the global peripherally inserted central catheters market. Impact analysis of key growth drivers and restraints based on the weighted average model is included in this report to better equip clients with pertinent decision-making insights.The report begins with a market overview followed by key definitions and provides information on the market value share of the global peripherally inserted central catheters market. The subsequent sections analyze the global peripherally inserted central catheters market on the basis of product type, design, end user, and region and provide a comprehensive market forecast for the period 2016 2024. This study further discusses key regional trends contributing to the growth of the global peripherally inserted central catheters market and analyzes the degree to which drivers are influencing the market in each region.The final section of the report includes a competitive landscape with a dashboard view of key players operating in the global peripherally inserted central catheters market. Leading companies featured in the report include AngioDynamics Inc., C. R. Bard Inc., Teleflex Incorporated, B. Braun Melsungen AG, Medtronic plc, Vygon S.A, Cook Medical Inc., Argon Medical Devices Inc., Medical Component Inc., and Theragenics Corporation.Browse Detail Report With Full TOC @Research methodologyThe forecast presented in this report assesses the total revenue generated across the global peripherally inserted central catheters market. In order to offer an accurate forecast, the report begins by sizing up the current market, which forms the basis of how the global peripherally inserted central catheters market is likely to perform in future. The report takes into account extensive secondary research to determine top industry players and overall market size. Region wise and segment wise data has also been acquired through interviews with key stakeholders in the global peripherally inserted central catheters market. Data gathered through primary and secondary research is validated by the triangulation method and further scrutinized using advanced tools to obtain useful qualitative and quantitative insights. Given the ever-fluctuating nature of the global economy, the report not only takes into account forecasts conducted in terms of CAGR, but also analyzes the market on the basis of key parameters such as year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth to understand market predictability and to identify the right opportunities across the global peripherally inserted central catheters market.Another key feature of this report is the analysis of all key segments in terms of absolute dollar opportunity, traditionally overlooked while forecasting the market. Absolute dollar opportunity is critical in assessing the level of opportunity that a provider can look to achieve, as well as to identify potential resources from a sales and delivery perspective in the global peripherally inserted central catheters market. Further, to understand key market segments in terms of growth and performance, Persistence Market Research has developed the global peripherally inserted central catheters market attractiveness index to help providers identify real market opportunities across the global peripherally inserted central catheters market.Table Of Content1. Executive Summary2. Market Introduction2.1. Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters Market Definition2.2. Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters Market Taxonomy3. Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters Market Analysis Scenario3.1. Market Size (US$ Mn) and Forecast3.1.1. Market Size and Y-o-Y Growth3.1.2. Absolute $ Opportunity3.2. Market Overview3.2.1. Value Chain4. Market Dynamics4.1. Economic Factors4.2. Drivers4.2.1. Supply Side4.2.2. Demand Side4.3. Restraints4.4. Opportunity4.5. Regulations4.6. Reimbursement Scenario5. Global Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters Market Analysis and Forecast, By Product Type5.1. Introduction5.1.1. Basis Point Share (BPS) Analysis By Product Type5.1.2. Y-o-Y Growth Projections By Product Type5.2. Market Size (US$ Mn) Forecast By Product Type5.2.1. Power Injected Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter5.2.2. Conventional Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter5.3. Market Attractiveness Analysis By Product TypeContinued...Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Global Market Study on Train Seat Materials: Fabric Material Type Segment Anticipated to Remain Dominant Through 2024 - Researchmoz http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1287940 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-market-study-on-train-seat-materials-fabric-material-type-segment-anticipated-to-remain-dominant-through-2024-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1287940 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Market Study on Train Seat Materials: Fabric Material Type Segment Anticipated to Remain Dominant Through 2024" to its huge collection of research reports.Persistence Market Research offers an eight year forecast for the global train seat materials market between 2016 and 2024. The foremost objective of the report is to present insights on various advancements in train seats cover and train seats foam market. The train seats cover market and train seats foam market are combined in the train seat materials market report. The report provides updates on drivers, restraints, and trends in overall global train seat materials market. The study provides market dynamics that are expected to influence current global train seat materials sales and future status of the global train seat materials market over forecast period.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report starts with market overview and provides market definition and overview about the global train seat materials market. The section that follows presents the market dynamics which includes market drivers, restraints, and trends. Moreover, supply chain for associated market overview is also explained to present the distribution structures of processes involved in global train seat materials market. Overview of expected Y-o-Y growth and consumption forecast is explained in the segment.The next section of the report provides detailed market share analysis, y-o-y growth, market absolute $ opportunity, and market attractiveness analysis on the basis of segments such as material type, seat type, train type and regions for the train seats cover market. Moreover, the section that follows provides detailed market share analysis, y-o-y growth, market absolute $ opportunity, and market attractiveness analysis on the basis of foam types and regions for train seats foam market.Another section of the report highlights country-wise train seat covers and train seats foam demand. It provides market outlook for 20162024 and sets the forecast within the context of the report, including new product offerings for various material types in the train seat materials.In the final section of the report, a competitive landscape has been included to provide report audiences with a dashboard view. Detailed profiles of manufacturers are also included within the scope of the report to evaluate their long- and short-term strategies, key offerings and recent developments in the train seat materials market.Key players in global train seat materials market include Magna International Inc., Grammar AG, Freedman Seating CO, Franz Kiel GmbH, CompinFainsa, Fisa srl, Rojac Urethane Limited, Kustom Seating Unlimited, Inc., Rescroft Ltd., Fenix Group, LLC, FlexoFoam Pvt. Ltd, iFoam Ltd., Delimajaya Group, Transcal Company, USSC Group, Inc.Browse Detail Report With Full TOC @Key Segments CoveredTrain Seats Cover MarketBy Material TypeFabricVinylLeatherBy Train TypeHigh-speed TrainGeneral Passenger TrainLocal Passenger TrainBy Seat TypeRegularReclinerFoldingOthersBy RegionNorth AmericaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia Pacific (APAC)Middle East & Africa (MEA)Train Seats Foam MarketBy Foam TypePolyurethaneSiliconePolyesterOtherBy RegionNorth AmericaLatin AmericaEuropeAsia Pacific (APAC)Middle East & Africa (MEA)Research methodologyA detailed analysis has been provided for every segment in terms of market size analysis for global train seat materials market. In order to offer an accurate forecast, we started by sizing up the current market, which forms the basis of how the global train seat materials market is expected to develop in the future. Given the characteristics of the market, we triangulated the outcome of three different types of analysis based on supply side, downstream industry demand and the economic envelope.It is vital to note that in an ever-fluctuating global economy, we not only conduct forecast in terms of CAGR, but also analyze the same on the basis of key parameters such as, year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth to understand the predictability of the market and to identify the right opportunities for market players.Another key feature of this report is the analysis of all segments in terms of absolute dollar. This is usually overlooked while forecasting the market. However, absolute dollar opportunity is critical in assessing the level of opportunity that a provider can look to achieve, as well as identify potential resources from a sales and delivery perspective in the global train seat materials market. In addition to this, we have also provided strategic recommendations and key success factors for new entrants in the global train seat materials market report.Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Global IQF Vegetable Market: IQF Technology is the Next Big Disruption in the Frozen Vegetable Industry 2016-2026 - Researchmoz http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1287912 http://www.researchmoz.us/iqf-vegetable-market.html http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1287912 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "IQF Vegetable Market: IQF Technology is the Next Big Disruption in the Frozen Vegetable Industry: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2016-2026" to its huge collection of research reports.The inherent advantage of the IQF process makes it ideal for preserving vegetables and fruitsThe Individual Quick Freezing (IQF) technology involves vegetables being frozen as individual pieces, which is unlike other freezing processes. Due to this, increased convenience is offered to consumers and thus value of the product gets enhanced. The IQF process of freezing vegetables is far superior to the conventional process. The USP of this technique is that small ice crystals form within the product that help maintain the fresh quality of the product even after the shelf life of the same is extended. Most foods can be preserved for a longer period of time if they employ the IQF process and are kept at a low temperature till they are used. In the conventional way of slow, natural freezing, the food gets destroyed due to the low temperature drawing all the water from the small cells of the food, adversely affecting its colour and flavour. In contrast, in IQF method of freezing, the breakage of the cell walls of the food items is prevented as the freezing process is quick. Hence, due to the use of IQF method of freezing, most of the flavour, colour and the firmness of vegetables or fruits is retained.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @In terms of value, the global IQF vegetable market was valued at nearly US$ 1,300 Mn in 2016, and is expected to reach more than US$ 2,000 Mn by the end of the forecast period in 2026. In terms of value, the market is expected to register a CAGR of 4.5% during the forecast period. In terms of volume, the global IQF vegetable market is projected to register a CAGR of 4.2% during the forecast period.Increasing cases of bacteria in IQF vegetables is restraining the growth of the marketBacterial contamination in frozen fruits and vegetables is the main issue that is being faced by Japan and North American countries. Listeria monocytogenes bacteria has generated a lot of adverse publicity for frozen foods and IQF vegetables have been recalled from the market for the same reason. Due to the high pollution levels in countries such as U.S. and China, that are two of the three major producers of IQF vegetables, manufacturers are facing the problem of bacterial contamination of IQF frozen foods. In 2016, due to an outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes in the U.S., most of the manufacturers had to recall IQF vegetable products. To counter this negative perception of IQF vegetables, most of the American companies are taking proactive measures. Even then, a sense of dread is ingrained in consumers because of the negative perception created owing to the contaminated food items and this is restraining the growth of the global IQF vegetable market.Production of IQF vegetables in developing countries is expected to decrease their costIQF vegetables are produced predominantly in developed countries. However, even though the production volume of IQF vegetables is high in developed countries, the price of IQF vegetables remains high there due to the processing cost. This happens due to the high labour cost in the developed world, coupled with high raw vegetable prices and high cost of electricity. But, with the start of the production of IQF vegetables in developing countries which in turn are major producers of vegetables costs can be reduced as the labour cost in developing countries is comparatively low and electricity is cheap as well. This is especially true for countries like India and China, and this strategy can help reduce the price of the finished IQF vegetables and thereby increase the market size of IQF vegetables. To underscore this point, companies like Capricorn Food Products India Ltd. is trying to increase their output of IQF vegetables from their facilities located in India.Global IQF Vegetable Market Attractiveness Analysis by Vegetable TypeIQF Peas segment is expected to register the highest CAGR in terms of both value and volume over the forecast periodIQF peas segment is anticipated to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Increasing demand for convenience food coupled with an increasing vegan population is set to boost the demand for IQF peas in the North America and Western Europe regions. The IQF Potato segment accounted for a value share of more than 20% in the year 2016. However, despite a strong show at the beginning of the forecast period, this segment is expected to lose significant market share by the end of the forecast period due to increasing cases of presence of bacteria in IQF potatoes, which forced the FDA to come up with stringent regulations. The IQF Broccoli and Cauliflower segment is anticipated to register a CAGR of 5.1% in terms of value during the forecast period.The use of IQF vegetables in the fast food industry is an upcoming trendDue to the inherent advantages of the IQF process, fast food restaurants have started using IQF vegetables instead of frozen or fresh vegetables and this maintains the nutrition and quality of the vegetables along with a longer shelf life. Thus, the use of IQF vegetables in the fast food industry is gaining huge traction. For example, fast food companies like Dominos Pizza Inc. and Pizza Hut Inc. are using IQF vegetables for preparing pizza and other food items instead of using frozen vegetables. These two companies have launched various pilot projects in a number of countries such as U.S., Canada, U.K. and France and have completed the successful transition from frozen to IQF without compromising on taste and quality of their products.Browse Detail Report With Full TOC @Table Of Content1. Global IQF vegetable Market Executive Summary2. Global IQF vegetable Market Overview2.1. Introduction2.1.1. Global IQF vegetable Market Definition2.1.2. Global IQF vegetable Market Taxonomy2.2 Parent Market Overview2.3. Market Dynamics2.3.1. Drivers2.3.1.1. Economic Side Drivers2.3.1.2. Demand Side Drivers2.3.1.3. Supply Side Drivers2.3.2. Restraints2.3.3. Trends2.3.4. Opportunities2.4. PESTEL Analysis2.5. Porter's Five Force Model2.6. Policies and Regulatory Landscape2.6.1. U.S.2.6.2. Japan2.6.3. Germany2.6.4. France2.6.5. United Kingdom2.6.6. Belgium2.6.7. Italy2.6.8. South Korea2.6.9. Netherlands2.6.10. Spain2.6.11. Canada2.6.12. Australia2.6.13. China2.6.14. Russia2.6.15. GCC region2.6.16. Others (Italy, Austria etc.)2.7. Survey2.8. Global IQF Fruit and Vegetable Market Forecast 2015-20262.8.1. Pricing Analysis2.8.1.1. Pricing Analysis by Region2.8.1.2. Pricing Analysis by Product Type2.8.1.3. Key Takeaways2.8.2. Market Size & Forecast2.8.2.1. Market Scenario Forecast (Likely, Optimistic and Conservative Scenario)2.8.2.2. Absolute $ Opportunity2.8.3. Value Chain Analysis2.8.3.1. Value Chain Scenario2.8.3.2. Industry Margins Overview2.8.3.3. Industry Margins Overview by Region3. Global IQF vegetable Market, by Vegetable type3.1. Summary3.2. Snapshot3.3. Analysis & Forecast, by Vegetable type3.4. Market Share and Y-o-Y Growth Analysis, by Vegetable type3.5. Market Value Forecast by Vegetable type, 201620263.5.1. Beans3.5.2. Peas3.5.3. Corn and Baby Corn3.5.4. Broccoli and Cauliflower3.5.5. Potato3.5.6. Onion3.5.7. Tomato3.5.8. Carrot3.6. Market Attractiveness by Vegetable type4. Global IQF vegetable Market, by Application4.1. Summary4.2. Snapshot4.3. Analysis & Forecast, by Application4.4. Market Share and Y-o-Y Growth Analysis, by Product type4.5. Market Value Forecast by Application, 201620264.5.1. Food4.5.1.1. Bakery, Confectionary and Snack food4.5.1.2. Dairy and Dessert4.5.1.3. Cooked food4.5.1.4. Ready to eat food4.5.2. Beverage4.5.2.1. Juice4.5.2.2. Other Non-alcoholic beverages (Sherbet, etc.)4.5.3. Concentrate4.6. Market Attractiveness by Application5. Global IQF vegetable Analysis and Forecasts, by Region5.1. Summary5.2. Snapshot5.3. Analysis & Forecast, by Region5.4. Market Share and Y-o-Y Growth Analysis, by Product type5.5. Market Attractiveness by RegionContinued...Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Global Chemotherapy Induced Nausea & Vomiting Market Projections Are Made That The Market Would Rise Tremendously In The Next Four Years i.e. 2016-2020 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=841067 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-chemotherapy-induced-nausea-and-vomiting-cinv-market-size-trends-and-forecasts-2016-2020-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=841067 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Chemotherapy Induced Nausea & Vomiting (CINV) Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts (2016-2020)" to its huge collection of research reports.The report titled Global Chemotherapy Induced Nausea & Vomiting (CINV) Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts (2016-2020), provides and in-depth analysis of the global CINV market and respective drugs. The report gives an insight of the global CINV market by 5-HT3 and NK-1 drug receptor antagonists.The report also includes the analysis of North American CINV market. The report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the overall global CINV market has also been forecasted for the period 2016-2020, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The competition in global CINV market is fragmented as the specific treatment for CINV is still at a nascent stage with several drugs by multiple competitors already thriving the market and some are under formulation.The key players of the global CINV market, Heron Therapeutics, Inc., Merck & Co., Inc., Novartis AG and TESARO, Inc. are also profiled with their financial information and respective business strategiesCountry CoverageNorth AmericaCompany CoverageHeron Therapeutics, Inc.Merck & Co., Inc.Novartis AGTESARO, Inc.Executive SummaryChemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is the most dreaded side-effect of chemotherapy among the cancer patients. Therefore, sometimes patients either do not undergo the chemotherapy or discontinue in the prior year of treatment. CINV is also of various types such as acute, breakthrough, delayed, anticipatory and refractory. HEC and MEC regimens cause the CINV. Several treatments of CINV are on the verge of emergence such as 5-HT3 receptor antagonist, NK-1 blocker, corticosteroids, cannabinoids and dopamine antagonists. However, there are several unmet medical needs in the field of HEC regimen of delayed CINV.Global CINV market has increased at a significant CAGR during the years 2013-2015 and projections are made that the market would rise tremendously in the next four years i.e. 2016-2020. The CINV market is expected to increase due to growth in global cancer incidence, increasing health expenditure and the increasing outbreak of factors working towards causing cancer. Yet, the market faces some challenges such as discontinuation of chemotherapy treatment, several unmet medical needs, no drugs for the HEC regimen in the delayed CINV, etc.Browse Detail Report With Full TOC @Table Of Content1. Executive Summary2. Introduction2.1 Chemotherapy: An Overview2.1.1 Side-Effects of Chemotherapy2.1.2 Delivery Methods of Chemotherapy2.1.3 Types of Chemotherapy Drugs2.1.4 Pros & Cons of Chemotherapy2.2 CINV: An Overview2.2.1 Types of CINV2.2.2 CINV Mechanism2.2.3 Regimens Causing CINV2.2.4 Treatment/Prevention of CINV3. Global Market Analysis3.1 Global CINV Market: An Analysis3.1.1 Global CINV Market Opportunity3.1.2 Global CINV Market by Value3.2 Global NK-1 Drug Receptor Antagonist Market3.2.1 Global VARUBI Sales3.2.2 Global Emend (Injectable) Sales3.3 Global 5-HT3 Drug Receptor Antagonist Market3.3.1 Global Aloxi (Injectable) Sales3.3.2 Global Granisetron (Injectable) & Ondansetron (Injectable) Sales4. Regional Market Analysis4.1 North America CINV Market: An Analysis4.1.1 North America CINV Market by Value4.1.2 US CINV Market Opportunity4.1.3 US CINV Market by Drugs Prescription5. Market Dynamics5.1 Growth Driver5.1.1 Rising Global Incidence of Cancer5.1.2 Widening Causes of Cancer5.1.3 Rising Global Healthcare Expenditure5.2 Challenges5.2.1 No Drug for Delayed CINV- HEC Regimens5.2.2 Unmet Medical Needs5.2.3 Discontinuation of Chemotherapy Treatment5.2.4 Under-Utilized Antagonists5.3 Market Trends5.3.1 Breakthrough CINV5.3.2 Side-Effects of Chemotherapy5.3.3 Need for Inclusion of NK1 Blocker5.3.4 Availability of Generic ProductsMake an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Global Antifungal Market With Focus on Invasive Fungal Infections: 2016-2020 | Now Available at Researchmoz.us http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=841066 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-antifungal-market-with-focus-on-invasive-fungal-infections-2016-2020-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=841066 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Antifungal Market With Focus on Invasive Fungal Infections: 2016-2020" to its huge collection of research reports.The report titled Global Antifungal Market With Focus on Invasive Fungal Infections: 2016-2020 provides an in-depth analysis of the global antifungal market with detailed analysis of market size on the basis of value along with the comprehensive examination of each of the segments of the market, namely, Azole, Echinocandins and Polyene.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The report analysis the invasive fungal infection market extensively with the market size, in terms of value along with the market segments and the major products in the market. This section also provides information about the regional market share of the global invasive fungal infection market. The report provides detailed regional analysis of the United States, Europe and Latin America. The regional analysis of the antifungal market includes market size by value along with the geographic overview of the market in the concerned region.The report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the overall global antifungal market has also been forecasted for the period 2016-2020, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends. The competition in the global antifungal market is stiff and dominated by the big players like Pfizer. Further, key players of the market, Merck and Scynexis are also profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.Regional CoverageUnited StatesEuropeLatin AmericaCompany CoveragePfizer, Inc.Merck Co., Inc.Scynexis, Inc.Executive SummaryThe global antifungal market witnessed an upsurge at a significant CAGR during 2012-2015 and projections are made that the market would rise in the next five years i.e. 2016-2020 tremendously. The market is spread across the globe with the United States and Europe dominating the market, while Asia-Pacific and Latin America market are the fastest growing markets.Browse Detail Report With Full TOC @The antifungal market can be segmented on the basis of types of drugs into Polyene, Azole and Echinocandins. The Azole class of antifungals dominates the market followed, by Echinocandins and Polyene. Azoles are broadly categorized as Voricanazole, Imidazole, Triazole and Thiazoles. Of which, Voricanazole govern the market. Echinocandins antifungal class is subjugated by Caspofungin, while other antifungals include Micafungin, and Anidulafungin. The Polyene antifungal agents include Amphotericin B, Nystatin, and Natamycin. Though, Amphotericin B is the only widely used agent in the market.The fungal infections do not usually result in severe ailment, but in people with weak immune system, minor fungal infections can move in the bloodstreams and conquer critical organs leading to the damage, called as invasive fungal infection. The global market for the invasive fungal infection increased significantly during 2010-2015 and is expected to upsurge further.The major growth drivers for the global antifungal market are: the rise in the incidences of fungal infection, aging population and unhygienic conditions all over the world. Despite the market is governed by various growth drivers, there are certain challenges faced by the market such as: antifungal resistance, traditional treatments for fungal infection, side-effects of antifungal medication and antifungal development failures Some of the recent trends in the market include technological advancement, growth in resistant strains and generic competition.Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ US Drug Eluting Sinus Stent (DESS) Market Size And Growth, Penetration, Market Share And Economic Impact Of The Industry (2016-2021) http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=810264 http://www.researchmoz.us/us-drug-eluting-sinus-stent-dess-market-size-trends-and-forecasts-2016-2021-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=810264 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "US Drug Eluting Sinus Stent (DESS) Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts (2016-2021)" to its huge collection of research reports.The report entitled US Drug Eluting Sinus Stent (DESS) Market: Size, Trends & Forecasts (2016-2021), provides analysis of the US DESS market, with detailed analysis of market size and growth, penetration, market share and economic impact of the industry. The analysis includes the market by value (TAM), by volume and by utilization. The report also provides the analysis of the US sinus surgery market, including analysis of FESS market and BSD market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Furthermore, the report also assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the overall US DESS market has also been forecasted for the years 2016-2021, taking into consideration the growth pattern of sinus surgery market, the growth drivers and the current and future trends.Intersect is the only company manufacturing drug eluting sinus stents, but the competitive landscape of the market includes other indirect competitors, such as Medtronic, Entellus Medical and Acclarent (J&J), whose company profiling has been done in the report. In this segment of the report, business overview, financial overview and business strategies of the companies are provided.Company CoverageIntersect ENTMedtronic (Xomed)Entellus MedicalAcclarent (J&J).Browse Detail Report With Full TOC @Executive SummarySinuses are the hollow cavities located in the bones of the face and around the nose. There are four sinus cavities: frontal, maxillary, ethmoid, and sphenoid, each with different features. Under normal conditions, the secretion (mucous) flow through the nasal passages, but with the onset of sinusitis, the secretion gets blocked in the sinuses due to inflammation. Sinusitis disturbs the normal lifestyle of a person and sometimes become frustrating, as it affects the persons breathing, sleeping and eating.Sinusitis can be divided into Acute Sinusitis, Recurrent Acute Rhinosinusitis (RARS) and chronic Rhinosinusitis (CRS), on the basis of the duration of the episode of sinusitis and its severity. The treatment options for the sinusitis can be over-the-counter treatment, medical management and surgery. The OTC treatment includes decongestants, antihistamines, pain relievers and nasal irrigation. Medical management includes antibiotics and oral and nasal steroids. The sinus surgeries are mainly of two types: Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery (FESS) and Balloon Sinus Dilation (BSD).Intersect, is the only company that has developed drug releasing bio-absorbable implants (drug eluting sinus stents- DESS) that enable targeted and sustained release of therapeutic agents, increasing the effectiveness of the sinus surgery.The US DESS market is expected to increase at a significant growth rate during the forecasted period (2016-2021). The US DESS market is supported by various growth drivers, such as limitations of FESS treatment, benefits of DESS, increasing per capita healthcare expenditure, cost effectiveness of DESS, etc. Yet, the market faces certain challenges, such as, reimbursement issues, dependability on individual physicians experience, limited trials after BSD, etc.Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Wireline Services Market Global Industry Insights, Size, Share, Trends, Outlook, and Opportunity Analysis, 20172022 Wireline Services https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/960041-wireline-services-global-market-outlook-2016-2022 www.wiseguyreports.com https://www.wiseguyreports.com/conferences https://www.wiseguyreports.com/seminars The Global Wireline Services Market Research Report provides detailed analysis of the key regional market status of the Wireline Services Industry.According to Stratistics MRC, the Global Wireline Services market is accounted for $17.35 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach $34.06 billion by 2022 growing at a CAGR of 10.1%. There is constant growth in the oil & gas exploration and production activities for finding new unconventional resources, which massively supports the wireline services market growth. These wireline services are essential for exploration, completion, drilling, intervention, and stimulation in oil and gas industries. The key factors driving wireline services market include growing exploration and production activities, global demand for oil & gas, technological advancements, increased oil production, and exploration activities for shale gas. However, increasing focus on renewable energy, stringent environmental rules and regulations, and decrease in crude oil prices are limiting the market growth.In 2015, well completion segment held the largest share with more than 60% in total wireline services market. Electric line wireline type is the largest technology segment due to its usage in well logging services. The accomplished usage of wireline services together with the rising oil and gas production is the major driver for the market growth. North America has the largest market for wireline services and is expected to continue its growth during the forecast period due to rapidly increasing oil and gas production levels and logging services.Some of the key players in global market includeArcher Limited, Baker Hughes Incorporated, Basic Energy Services, Inc., C&J Energy Services Ltd., Casedhole Solutions, Expro International Group Holding Ltd., FMC Technologies, GE Oil & Gas, Halliburton Company, Nabors Industries Ltd., National Oilwell Varco, Inc., Oilserv, Pioneer Energy Services Corp., Schlumberger Limited, Superior Energy Services, Inc., Weatherford International PLC and Wireline Engineering Ltd.Sample Copy @Services Covered: Well Intervention Completion LoggingTechnologies Covered: Electric Line Slick LineApplications Covered: Offshore OnshoreHole Types Covered: Open Hole Cased HoleRegions Covered: North Americao USo Canadao Mexico Europeo Germanyo Franceo Italyo UKo Spaino Rest of Europe Asia Pacifico Japano Chinao Indiao Australiao New Zealando Rest of Asia Pacific Rest of the Worldo Middle Easto Brazilo Argentinao South Africao EgyptWhat our report offers:- Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments- Market share analysis of the top industry players- Strategic recommendations for the new entrants- Market forecasts for a minimum of 7 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets- Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations)- Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations- Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends- Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments- Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancementsTable Of Content1 Executive Summary2 Preface2.1 Abstract2.2 Stake Holders2.3 Research Scope2.4 Research Methodology2.4.1 Data Mining2.4.2 Data Analysis2.4.3 Data Validation2.4.4 Research Approach2.5 Research Sources2.5.1 Primary Research Sources2.5.2 Secondary Research Sources2.5.3 Assumptions3 Market Trend Analysis3.1 Introduction3.2 Drivers3.3 Restraints3.4 Opportunities3.5 Threats3.6 Technology Analysis3.7 Application Analysis3.8 Emerging Markets3.9 Futuristic Market Scenario4 Porters Five Force Analysis4.1 Bargaining power of suppliers4.2 Bargaining power of buyers4.3 Threat of substitutes4.4 Threat of new entrants4.5 Competitive rivalry5 Global Wireline Services Market, By Service Type5.1 Introduction5.2 Well Intervention5.3 Completion5.4 Logging11 Company Profiling11.1 Archer Limited11.2 Baker Hughes Incorporated11.3 Basic Energy Services, Inc.11.4 C&J Energy Services Ltd.11.5 Casedhole Solutions11.6 Expro International Group Holding Ltd.11.7 FMC Technologies11.8 GE Oil & Gas11.9 Halliburton Company11.10 Nabors Industries Ltd.11.11 National Oilwell Varco, Inc.11.12 Oilserv11.13 Pioneer Energy Services Corp.11.14 Schlumberger Limited11.15 Superior Energy Services, Inc.11.16 Weatherford International PLC.11.17 Wireline Engineering Ltd.CONTACT US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)For accessing accurate and deep understanding and to gain latest insights and key developments in the area of your interest, we also have a list of conferences in which you will be interested in, for more information, cordially check :For updating knowledge or for thoroughly understanding various terminologies, we also have vast list of seminars for your reference, for more information cordially check :Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Pune, India Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA) Market Trends And Opportunities in 2022 Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA) https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/827019-intelligent-virtual-assistant-iva-global-market-outlook-2016-2022 www.wiseguyreports.com https://www.wiseguyreports.com/conferences https://www.wiseguyreports.com/seminars The Global Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA) Market Research Report provides detailed analysis of the key regional market status of the Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA) Industry.According to Stratistics MRC, the Global Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA) market is expected to grow from $660.46 million in 2015 to reach $4,200.98 million by 2022 with a CAGR of 30.3%. Increasing innovative technological developments, growing adoption of IVA in mobile applications and websites are the major factors driving the market growth. Furthermore, growing internet penetration in emerging countries, growth of e- commerce business, and raising demand for regional language assistance are some of other factors propelling the market growth.By application, Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) segment is expected to be a fastest growing segment during the forecast period. This growth is owed to increasing financial activities through smartphones to access financial services, increasing adoption of IVA by financial institutions to give better customer service. North America commands the intelligent virtual assistant market with a higher CAGR due to availability of developed infrastructure, and higher acceptance of new technologies. Asia Pacific is expected to witness fastest growth, over the forecast period.Some of the key players in global intelligent virtual assistant (IVA) market includeAnboto Group., Apple Inc., Artificial Solutions Ltd., Clara Labs, CodeBaby Corp., Creative Virtual Ltd., Customer Inc., eGain Communications Corp., Google, IBM Corporation, Intel Corporation, IntelliResponse Systems Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Next IT Corporation, Nuance Communications Inc., Oracle Corporation, Speaktoit Inc., and Synthetix Ltd.Sample Copy @Services Covered: Marketing assistant Customer serviceTechnologies Covered: Text-to-Speech Speech Recognitiono Natural Language Processing (NLP)o Speaker Independent Systemso Speaker Dependent SystemsApplications Covered: Contact Centers Messenger Bots WebsitesEnd Users Covered: Education Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance (BFSI) Healthcare Automotive IT & Telecom Retail Other End UsersRegions Covered: North Americao USo Canadao Mexico Europeo Germanyo Franceo Italyo UKo Spaino Rest of Europe Asia Pacifico Japano Chinao Indiao Australiao New Zealando Rest of Asia Pacific Rest of the Worldo Middle Easto Brazilo Argentinao South Africao EgyptWhat our report offers:- Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments- Market share analysis of the top industry players- Strategic recommendations for the new entrants- Market forecasts for a minimum of 7 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets- Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations)- Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations- Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends- Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments- Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancementsTable Of Content1 Executive Summary2 Preface2.1 Abstract2.2 Stake Holders2.3 Research Scope2.4 Research Methodology2.4.1 Data Mining2.4.2 Data Analysis2.4.3 Data Validation2.4.4 Research Approach2.5 Research Sources2.5.1 Primary Research Sources2.5.2 Secondary Research Sources2.5.3 Assumptions3 Market Trend Analysis3.1 Introduction3.2 Drivers3.3 Restraints3.4 Opportunities3.5 Threats3.6 Technology Analysis3.7 Application Analysis3.8 End User Analysis3.9 Emerging Markets3.10 Futuristic Market Scenario4 Porters Five Force Analysis4.1 Bargaining power of suppliers4.2 Bargaining power of buyers4.3 Threat of substitutes4.4 Threat of new entrants4.5 Competitive rivalry5 Global Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA) Market, By Service5.1 Introduction5.2 Marketing assistant5.3 Customer service11 Company Profiling11.1 Anboto Group.11.2 Apple Inc.11.3 Artificial Solutions Ltd.11.4 Clara Labs11.5 CodeBaby Corp.11.6 Creative Virtual Ltd.11.7 Customer Inc.11.8 eGain Communications Corp.11.9 Google11.10 IBM Corporation11.11 Intel Corporation11.12 IntelliResponse Systems Inc.11.13 Microsoft Corporation11.14 Next IT Corporation11.15 Nuance Communications Inc.11.16 Oracle Corporation11.17 Speaktoit Inc.11.18 Synthetix Ltd.CONTACT US:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)For accessing accurate and deep understanding and to gain latest insights and key developments in the area of your interest, we also have a list of conferences in which you will be interested in, for more information, cordially check :For updating knowledge or for thoroughly understanding various terminologies, we also have vast list of seminars for your reference, for more information cordially check :Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Pune, India DIN Rail Terminal Blocks Market Share 2017-2022 Weidmuller, WAGO, ABB, Reliance DIN Rail Terminal Blocks http://bit.ly/2vFS5gI https://www.marketsresearch.biz/report/global-din-rail-terminal-blocks-market-2017-demand-104575/ Global DIN Rail Terminal Blocks Market Research ReportRecently published a detailed market study on the "DIN Rail Terminal Blocks Market" across the global, regional and country level. The report on the global DIN Rail Terminal Blocks market uses the top-down and bottom-up approaches to define, analyze, and describe the market trends for the next five years. The DIN Rail Terminal Blocks market report further provides production, capacity, DIN Rail Terminal Blocks market price per region, gross margin, production cost, for all major regions and countries listed in DIN Rail Terminal Blocks report.The Global DIN Rail Terminal Blocks Market 2017 report includes DIN Rail Terminal Blocks market Revenue, market Share, DIN Rail Terminal Blocks industry volume, market Trends, DIN Rail Terminal Blocks Growth aspects. The DIN Rail Terminal Blocks Market research report analyses and provides the historical data along with current performance of the global DIN Rail Terminal Blocks industry, and estimates the future trend of DIN Rail Terminal Blocks market on the basis of this detailed study. DIN Rail Terminal Blocks Market also focuses on the growth drivers and restraints for the key market players during the forecast period.Do Inquiry For Sample Report:Top key Playes In DIN Rail Terminal Blocks Market :1. Weidmuller2. WAGO3. ABB4. Reliance5. Dinkle6. UPUN7. Yaowa8. Omran9. CHNT10. Amphenol (FCI)11. Wieland12. Gonqi13. SUPU14. Sailing-on15. Leipole16. CNNT...The DIN Rail Terminal Blocks market is divided into five major geographical segments :1. DIN Rail Terminal Blocks North America.2. DIN Rail Terminal Blocks Europe.3. DIN Rail Terminal Blocks Asia Pacific.4. DIN Rail Terminal Blocks Middle East.5. DIN Rail Terminal Blocks Africa.6. DIN Rail Terminal Blocks Latin America.Browse Complete Report:The competitive landscape of the global market for DIN Rail Terminal Blocks is determined by assessing the major industry participants, production capacity, production capacity utilization rate, DIN Rail Terminal Blocks market's production chain, pricing by each manufacturer and the revenue generated by each manufacturer in the DIN Rail Terminal Blocks market globally.The DIN Rail Terminal Blocks Market report provides upstream and downstream analysis covering major raw material used in manufacturing of DIN Rail Terminal Blocks along with detailed manufacturing sources. The DIN Rail Terminal Blocks report also shares list of major raw material manufacturers along with their manufacturing locations. DIN Rail Terminal Blocks report Detailed raw material price trend analysis along with DIN Rail Terminal Blocks manufacturing cost analysis is also incorporated into the report.About Us:MarketsResearch.Biz is a single destination for all the industry, company and country reports. We have a leading market intelligence team which accredits and provides the reports of some of the top publishers in the field of the technology industry. We are as a firm expertise in making extensive reports that cover all the necessary details about the market assessments such as major technological improvement in the industry.Contact US:5001 Spring Valley Rd #400,Dallas,TX 75244, USAContact No. +1-214-661-1669Email: sales@marketsresearch.biz 2017-2022 Global Vertical Fan Coil Market Analysis : Carrier, Johnson Controls, Daikin, Trane, IEC Global Vertical Fan Coil Market http://bit.ly/2w8XPmk https://market.biz/report/global-vertical-fan-coil-sales-market-2017/53165/ https://market.biz/ http://firstnewshawk.com/ Worldwide Vertical Fan Coil Market 2017 presents a widespread and fundamental study of Vertical Fan Coil industry along with the analysis of subjective aspects which will provide key business insights to the readers. Global Vertical Fan Coil Market 2017 research report offers the analytical view of the industry by studying different factors like Vertical Fan Coil market growth, consumption volume, market trends and Vertical Fan Coil industry cost structures during the forecast period from 2017 to 2022.Vertical Fan Coil market studies the competitive landscape view of the industry. The Vertical Fan Coil report also includes development plans and policies along with manufacturing processes. The major regions involved in Vertical Fan Coil Market are (United States, EU, China, and Japan).For Sample Copy Of The Report Click Here:Leading Manufacturers Analysis in Global Vertical Fan Coil Market 2017:1 Carrier2 Johnson Controls3 Daikin4 Trane5 IEC6 Williams7 Zehnder8 Airtherm9 COIL CompanyVertical Fan Coil Market: Type Segment AnalysisSurface MountedConceal InstallVertical Fan Coil Market: Applications Segment AnalysisCommercialIndustrialOthersThe Vertical Fan Coil report does the thorough study of the key industry players to understand their business strategies, annual revenue, company profile and their contribution to the global Vertical Fan Coil market share. Diverse factors of the Vertical Fan Coil industry like the supply chain scenario, industry standards, import/export details are also mentioned in Global Vertical Fan Coil Market 2017 report.Key Highlights of the Vertical Fan Coil Market:A Clear understanding of the Vertical Fan Coil market based on growth, constraints, opportunities, feasibility study.Concise Vertical Fan Coil Market study based on major geographical regions.Analysis of evolving market segments as well as a complete study of existing Vertical Fan Coil market segments.Discover More About Report Here:Furthermore, distinct aspects of Vertical Fan Coil market like the technological development, economic factors, opportunities and threats to the growth of Vertical Fan Coil market are covered in depth in this report. The performance of Vertical Fan Coil market during 2017 to 2022 is being forecasted in this report.In conclusion, Global Vertical Fan Coil market 2017 report presents the descriptive analysis of the parent market based on elite players, present, past and futuristic data which will serve as a profitable guide for all the Vertical Fan Coil industry competitors.About Us:Market.Biz is designed to provide the best and most penetrating research required to all commercial, industrial and profit-making ventures in any sector of online business. We take pride in our ability to satisfy the market research needs of both domestic and international businesses.Contact Us:James JohnsonS no. 51/14 First Floor,Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade,Near Navale Lawns, PuneMaharashtra, India 411041Tel: +1(857)2390696Web:Email: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Latest News- 2017-2022 Global Vertical Lathes Market Analysis : Mazak, DMG MORI , EMAG, DANOBATGROUP, Romi Global Vertical Lathes Market http://bit.ly/2fK6DYL https://market.biz/report/global-vertical-lathes-market-2017/53166/ https://market.biz/ http://firstnewshawk.com/ Worldwide Vertical Lathes Market 2017 presents a widespread and fundamental study of Vertical Lathes industry along with the analysis of subjective aspects which will provide key business insights to the readers. Global Vertical Lathes Market 2017 research report offers the analytical view of the industry by studying different factors like Vertical Lathes market growth, consumption volume, market trends and Vertical Lathes industry cost structures during the forecast period from 2017 to 2022.Vertical Lathes market studies the competitive landscape view of the industry. The Vertical Lathes report also includes development plans and policies along with manufacturing processes. The major regions involved in Vertical Lathes Market are (United States, EU, China, and Japan).For Sample Copy Of The Report Click Here:Leading Manufacturers Analysis in Global Vertical Lathes Market 2017:1 Mazak2 DMG MORI3 EMAG4 DANOBATGROUP5 Romi6 OKUMA7 Vanguard Machinery International8 Yeong ChinThe Vertical Lathes report does the thorough study of the key industry players to understand their business strategies, annual revenue, company profile and their contribution to the global Vertical Lathes market share. Diverse factors of the Vertical Lathes industry like the supply chain scenario, industry standards, import/export details are also mentioned in Global Vertical Lathes Market 2017 report.Key Highlights of the Vertical Lathes Market:A Clear understanding of the Vertical Lathes market based on growth, constraints, opportunities, feasibility study.Concise Vertical Lathes Market study based on major geographical regions.Analysis of evolving market segments as well as a complete study of existing Vertical Lathes market segments.Discover More About Report Here:Furthermore, distinct aspects of Vertical Lathes market like the technological development, economic factors, opportunities and threats to the growth of Vertical Lathes market are covered in depth in this report. The performance of Vertical Lathes market during 2017 to 2022 is being forecasted in this report.In conclusion, Global Vertical Lathes market 2017 report presents the descriptive analysis of the parent market based on elite players, present, past and futuristic data which will serve as a profitable guide for all the Vertical Lathes industry competitors.About Us:Market.Biz is designed to provide the best and most penetrating research required to all commercial, industrial and profit-making ventures in any sector of online business. We take pride in our ability to satisfy the market research needs of both domestic and international businesses.Contact Us:James JohnsonS no. 51/14 First Floor,Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade,Near Navale Lawns, PuneMaharashtra, India 411041Tel: +1(857)2390696Web:Email: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Latest News- Increasing Trend of Automation in Energy Exploration Companies to Boost IoT Solutions Market 2025 IoT Solutions Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/iot-solutions-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=28148 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ http://marketresearchreports2017.blogspot.in With the increasing number of energy exploration enterprises are turning to automation, in an effort to lower the operation and maintenance costs as well as cope up the lack of skilled labor, they have to incur in the process, the global market for Internet of things (IoT) solutions for the oil and gas industry is witnessing a positive growth.An upward movement in the market can be observed with many energy firms shifting from their traditional practices to a more analytical performance-powered approach. The integration of IoT solutions in oil and gas exploration has reduced the risks of failures and delays. This, as a result, is reflecting greatly on the demand for IoT solutions from energy companies across the world, states an analyst at Transparency Market Research (TMR).Browse Market Research Report @In this blog post, researchers at TMR answer some of the queries about the global market for IoT for the oil and gas industry:What are the key factors that influences the global market for IoT solutions for oil and gas?The augmenting demand for natural gas is having a tremendous effect on the demand for IoT solutions in the oil and gas industry. The minimal environment polluting properties of natural gas has propelled its demand across the world, which is resulting in increased operations for the exploration of crude oil, leading to a remarkable rise in the application of IoT solution in oil and gas exploration operations. Apart from this, the escalating concerns over safety at operation sites is also fueling the adoption of IoT solutions in the oil and gas industry.What are the main application areas for IoT Solutions in the oil and gas industry?Majorly, IoT solutions find significant application in downstream solutions, midstream solutions, and midstream solutions. Upstream oil and gas companies are involved in the operations of crude oil exploration and production. With the augmenting demand for crude oil across the world, the need for IoT solutions in upstream companies is increasing at a much higher rate than midstream and downstream ones and the trend is expected to continue over the forthcoming years.Enter your information below to receive a sample copy of this report @Which of the regional markets for IoT solutions for oil and gas is likely to lead the global market in future?North America, among all, is dominating the global market for IoT solutions, thanks to the high production of crude oil. With the U.S. becoming a prominent exporter of fossil energy and the presence of advanced infrastructure for technological development, the regional market is anticipated to retain its position over the next few years. Amongst other, the Middle East and Africa market, with abundance of oil, is projected to report lucrative opportunity for the growth of the global market in the near future.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insights for decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, TMR employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us:-Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog: Need to Manage to Trigger Adoption of Ionic Exchange Based Liquid Nuclear Waste Treatment Market 2025 Ionic Exchange Based Liquid Nuclear Waste Treatment Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ionic-exchange-based-liquid-nuclear-waste-treatment-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=28082 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ http://marketresearchreports2017.blogspot.in Liquid nuclear waste created from atomic reactors needs serious treatment before it can be arranged into the earth. International Organizations, for instance, Department of Energy (DoE) USA, International Atomic Energy, and World Nuclear Organization have encircled stringent controls for the capacity and treatment of radioactive waste. Nuclear plants over the world are expanding in number to supplement petroleum derivatives sourced power to serve the developing power needs. Nuclear plants have the upside of creating shabby and economic energy that has high warm effectiveness and does not deliver toxins also.Along these lines, the development in atomic plants would require an extensive volume of liquid nuclear waste to be dealt with. Few factors are likely to pose a threat to the growth of the global market for ionic exchange based liquid nuclear waste treatment such as high funding requirements for the construction of waste treatment and nuclear power plants facilities and the growing popularity of wind and solar power for complementing fossil fuel energy.Browse Market Research Report @According to TMR, the global market for ionic exchange based liquid nuclear waste treatment is likely to witness a 12.1% CAGR from 2017 to 2025. The market is likely to rise to a valuation of US$2,276.9 mn by the end of 2025 from worth US$803.8 mn in 2016.How are regulations likely to benefit the market in the long run?There are a few elements driving the worldwide ionic based liquid nuclear waste treatment showcase. Worldwide institutions such as Department of Energy (DoE) USA, International Atomic Energy Association, and World Nuclear Organization have laid stringent guidelines for the treatment and capacity of radioactive waste. This is on account of there are various dangers that encompass nuclear waste stockpiling and transfer. The important one among them is the long half-existence of atomic parting items to maintain the radioactivity for a few thousand years, stockpiling of nuclear waste, and impact of atomic waste on animal and plant life.Enter your information below to receive a sample copy of this report @Recently, the clean-up of the 36 million gallons of nuclear liquid waste at the South Carolinas Savannah River Site has now accelerated. It was announced on Tuesday by the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.Which is likely to be the most attractive region?Region-wise, Europe is likely to emerge as a lucrative region in the global market for ion exchange based liquid nuclear waste treatment holding for a share of over 49% based on revenue. Nations such as Russia, the U.K., France, and Germany are mainly boosting the market for iconic exchange based liquid nuclear waste treatment in Europe. Asia Pacific is also expected to emerge as a core region in terms of contributing to the revenue of the market.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insights for decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, TMR employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact Us:-Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700, Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Blog: Global Laser Cutting Machines Market- Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2022 Laser Cutting Machines http://bit.ly/2x2JbJP http://bit.ly/2v0mZym http://bit.ly/2vCihul http://www.globalinforeports.com A trending newest report published by Global Info Reports titles, Global Laser Cutting Machines Market, estimates that the Laser Cutting Machines market size is predicted to mature at a substantial Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) during the forecast period, and this is credited to the increase in need for this product across the globe accompanied by new market inventions.Book Your Sample Copy of the Report here Why Purchase this Report you ask?Because, this market research report gives a thorough analysis of the global Laser Cutting Machines Market by product segmentation, application, geographic and end user market. The report includes the current market size of this industry. The future outlooks and existing overall market summary of this sector have been greatly analyzed in this report. Also, key market manufacturers of Laser Cutting Machines are assessed on several factors such as company overview, product portfolio, sales analysis and revenue generation during the forecast period. Additionally, the complete market potential is described in this report coupled with various countries across the globe.To Grab the Complete Report, Please Visit:Report Magnitude:This report centers on the Laser Cutting Machines Market, predominantly 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 based on key Manufacturers, this report covers the topmost manufacturers of Laser Cutting Machines : Mazak Amada Coherent Prima Power Mitsubishi Electric HG Laser Koike DMG MORI Tianqi Laser Unity Laser LVD Cincinnati Universal Laser Systems Tanaka Penta-Chutian IPG Photonics Lead Laser Epilog Laser Trotec GFEnquiry Before Buying@About Us:GIR Market Research is a company that simplifies how analysts and decision makers get industry data for their business. Our unique colossal technology has been developed to offer refined search capabilities designed to exploit the long tail of free market research whilst eliminating irrelevant results. GIR Market Research is the collection of market intelligence products and services on the Web. We offer reports and update our collection daily to provide you with instant online access to the worlds most complete and current database of expert insights on global industries, companies, products, and trends.Contact us:+1-888-376-9998 (US)Email- sales@globalinforeports.comWeb- Baking Ingredients Market : Key Growth Factors and Industry Analysis 2017-2025 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/baking-ingredients-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=1590 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Transparency Market Research, in a report has stated that the global baking ingredients market is highly competitive owing to the presence of numerous companies. These players are increasingly investing in product development to stay ahead in the competition, leading to more exacting competition. Prominent players in this market include Puratos, CSM Bakery Solutions, LFI (U.K.) Ltd., British Bakels, Muntons Plc., Taura Natural Ingredients Ltd., LALLEMAND Inc., DSM N.V., Cargill Incorporated, Associated British Foods Plc., Archer Daniels Midland Company, and Macphie of Glenbervie Ltd.This 163 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Baking Ingredients Market. Browse through to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market @In the report, Transparency Market Research (TMR) has estimated that in 2015, the market was valued at about US$11.7 bn, and by 2024 is expected to attain the market value of US$18.1 bn. The market is expected to expand with a healthy CAGR of 4.9% for the forecast period of 2016-2024.Being Major Ingredient of Baked Products, Flour Ingredient Segment Dominates the MarketThe color and flavor additives segment of this market has shown a significant growth due to their increasing use in baking in the recent past, and is expected to continue to rise at a CAGR of 5.6% during the forecast period. Furthermore, the demand for color and flavor additives is expected to grow due to its increasing use in exotic and luxury bakes. Among the various baking ingredients, flour is expected to dominate the market as flour is the main ingredient used in the baked products. Geographically, Europe contributed for a significant share in the global market in 2015, exhibiting steady consumption of baked goods. However, Asia Pacific is expected to demonstrate a higher CAGR of 5.3% during the reports forecast period.Increasing Purchasing Power of Youth across World Boosts Baking Ingredients MarketChanging eating habits of consumers across the globe is expected to boost the demand for baking products, which is likely to drive the global baking ingredients market in the coming years. The demand for baking ingredients such as color additives, flavor, fats, flour, sweeteners, baking soda, baking powder, and yeast are expected to be fuelled due to the growing consumption of bakery items across Europe and North America as a staple food. Furthermore, the improving purchasing power and rising disposable income of the youth across the world is expected to amplify the demand for baked food items such as biscuits, pizzas, and cakes. A rising preference for convenient snacks and ready to eat meals such as wraps, bread rolls, and pocket sandwiches over time-consuming food items is expected to drive this market in the coming future.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Baking Ingredients Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @Health-Conscious Consumers to Act as a Restraint for Market GrowthIn tandem with the growing number of consumers preferring baked products, the number of people who dont prefer baked products is increasing as well. The health related concerns are keeping fitness-conscious people away from baked food products. This growing awareness could restrain the markets growth. Nevertheless, adoption of western lifestyle is expected to play a key role in the growth of this market over the forecast period. The increasing consumption of convenience foods, functional foods, and baked goods are is the key drivers of this market. Furthermore, constantly evolving food habits and lifestyles and product innovation of baked products are expected to assist this market to grow in the future.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: A Madison man who tried to set up a raffle with the prize being sex with a 15-year-old girl has been sentenced to over 12 years in prison for possessing child pornography. Jacob Medina, 33, was sentenced in federal court by U.S. District Judge William Conley. The 12 year, 6 month sentence will be followed by 20 years of supervised release. Medina pleaded guilty in March. The conviction stems from an investigation that happened in April of 2016, when officers were talking to Medina as part of a related investigation. Medina gave his phone to police, and a Madison police detective found numerous images of a 15-year-old girl engaged in sexual activity. "The victim told police Medina was her 'pimp' and he gave her marijuana and alcohol," the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a release. Medina put the explicit images on the website Kik and offered more photos for sale, and also attempted to set up the raffle. In sentencing Medina, Conley said the defendant minimized his conduct, put the blame on the victim and was a danger to the community. Dairy & Soy Food Germany Market 2017 Share, Trend, Segmentation and Forecast to 2021 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1685758-country-profile-dairy-soy-food-sector-in-germany https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/1685758-country-profile-dairy-soy-food-sector-in-germany www.linkedin.com/company/4828928 https://twitter.com/WiseGuyReports https://www.facebook.com/Wiseguyreports-1009007869213183/?fref=ts Pune, India, 16thAugust 2017: WiseGuyReports announced addition of new report, titled Country Profile: Dairy & Soy Food Sector in Germany.SummaryThe Dairy & Soy Food sector in Germany is driven by increasing demand for dairy products with functional and natural ingredients in the country. Of the nine markets, Cheese is the largest in value terms, while the Soymilk & Soy Drinks market is forecast to register the fastest growth during 2016-2021. Hypermarkets & Supermarkets is the leading channel for the distribution of dairy and soy food products in the country. Rigid Plastics is the most commonly used packaging material in the sector and is also forecast to register the fastest growth during 2016-2021. Royal FrieslandCampina, Muller Group, and Ehrmann are the leading market players in the German Dairy & Soy Food sector.GET SAMPLE REPORT @Country Profile report on the Dairy & Soy Food sector in Germany provides insights on high growth markets to target, trends in the usage of packaging materials, category level distribution channel data and market share of brands.What else is contained?- Market data: Overall market value and volume data with growth analysis for 2011-2021. The overall market value and volume included in the report is split on the basis of On-trade and Off-trade- Category coverage: Value and growth analysis for Butter & Spreadable Fats, Cheese, Cream, Dairy-Based & Soy-Based Desserts, Drinkable Yogurt, Fromage Frais & Quark, Milk, Soymilk & Soy Drinks, and Yogurt with inputs on individual category share within each market and the change in their market share forecast for 2016-2021- Leading players: Market share of brands and private labels, including private label growth analysis from 2011-2016- Distribution data: Percentage of sales within each market through distribution channels such as On-trade, Cash & Carries and warehouse Clubs, Hypermarkets & Supermarkets, Convenience Stores, Food & Drinks Specialists, eRetailers and others- Packaging data: consumption breakdown for packaging materials and container types in each market, in terms of percentage share of number of units sold. Packaging material data for Glass, Flexible Packaging, Paper & Board, Rigid Plastics, and others; container data for: Carton, Film, Bag/Sachet, Tub, Wrapper, Bottle, and Tube.Scope- The Dairy & Soy Food sector in Germany is forecast to grow at 1.3% CAGR in value terms during 2016-2021- Per capita consumption in the Milk market is noticeably higher compared to other markets in Germany- Hypermarkets & Supermarkets is the largest distribution channel in the German Dairy & Soy Food sector- Kerrygold is the leading brand in value terms in the German Butter & Spreadable Fats market- Rigid Plastics is the most commonly used packaging material in the German Dairy & Soy Food sectorReasons to buy- Identify high potential categories and explore further market opportunities based on detailed value and volume analysis- Existing and new players can analyze key distribution channels to identify and evaluate trends and opportunities- Gain an understanding of the total competitive landscape based on detailed brand share analysis to plan effective market positioning- Manufacturers can identify the opportunities to position products with H&W attributes/benefits- Access the key and most influential consumer trends driving Dairy & Soy Food products consumption, and how they influence consumer behavior in the market which will help determine the best audiences to target- Our team of analysts have placed a significant emphasis on changes expected in the market that will provide a clear picture of the opportunities that can be tapped over the next five years, resulting in revenue expansion- The packaging analysis report helps manufacturers, in identifying the most commonly used packaging materials in the sector- Analysis on key macro-economic indicators such as GDP per capita, population (overall and breakdown by age), and consumer price index. It also covers a comparative analysis of political, economic, socio-demographic, and technological indicators (PEST) across 50 countries.Table of Content: Key Points1. Report Scope 12. Executive summary 33. Germany in the global and regional context 53.1. Germanys share in the Global and Western European Dairy & Soy Food sector 53.2. Germany compared to other leading countries in Western Europe 64. Market size analysis - Dairy & Soy Food sector 74.1. Value and volume analysis - Dairy & Soy Food sector in Germany 74.2. Per capita consumption - Germany compared to Western Europe and globally 84.3. Extent to which consumers are trading up/down-Off-trade 94.4. Extent to which consumers are trading up/down-On-trade 104.5. Value and volume analysis by markets in the Dairy & Soy Food sector 114.6. Growth analysis by markets 125. Market and category analysis 135.1. Per capita consumption analysis by markets 135.2. Market analysis: Butter & Spreadable Fats 145.3. Market analysis: Cheese 165.4. Market analysis: Cream 185.5. Market analysis: Dairy-Based and Soy-Based Desserts 215.6. Market analysis: Drinkable Yogurt 245.7. Market analysis: Fromage Frais & Quark 255.8. Market analysis: Milk 275.9. Market analysis: Soymilk & Soy Drinks 295.10. Market analysis: Yogurt 316. Distribution analysis 326.1. Distribution channel share analysis: Dairy & Soy Food sector 32ContinuedACCESS REPORT @Get in touch:LinkedIn:Twitter:Facebook:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.WISEGUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, India Education Technology and Smart Classroom market Set to Grow Exponentially During the Forecast 2015 - 2021 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/checkout/6352 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/6352 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/education-technology-smart-classroom-market.asp www.persistencemarketresearch.com In recent years, high growth in the education sector has been observed. Ongoing technological advancement in educational sector has given rise to education technology and smart classrooms that are replacing the traditional classroom teaching method. Educational institutes are focused towards adopting new advanced teaching methods that include white boards, projectors, and smart notebooks etc. Technology implementation in the classroom improves understanding of students and also appreciates student to learn new technology. Unlike traditional methods, education technology and smart classrooms methods is not bounded by number of hours, location and attendance. The education technology and smart classroom market is defined as the combination of educational products, learning modes and applications. This market is still at the nascent stage as only big institutions are receptive towards the latest technological change.Buy Now: You can now buy a single user license of the report @Global education technology and smart classroom market is classified into hardware, technology, end user and region. The global education technology and smart classroom market can be segmented on the basis of educational hardware, which includes the following segments i.e. projectors, interactive whiteboards, interactive displays, interactive tables, printers, audio systems and others. On the basis of technology the market can be segmented into educational gaming, educational analytics, educational enterprise resource planning, educational security and educational dashboards. The global education technology and smart classroom market can be segmented into end users such as kindergarten, secondary and higher education, college and other educational institutes. Region wise, global education technology and smart classroom market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ), and Middle East and Africa (MEA).A sample of this report is available upon request @The global education technology and smart classroom market is majorly driven by increasing number of mobile learning applications and growing inclination towards digital learning, which in turn is fueling growth of the education technology and smart classroom market across the globe. Education technology and smart classroom enable user to achieve quality standard complaining with regulatory, and helps in improving education quality and standard.Lack of awareness in educational sector especially in developing regions such as Asia-pacific, Latin America and Africa regarding advantages of education technology and smart classroom is hindering the growth of education technology and smart classroom market across the globe.Key players in the global education technology and smart classroom market are emphazise on introducing advanced solutions in order to gain first mover advantage. For example, Adobe Corporation introduced Adobe eLearning Suit 6.1 software which is an integrated toolbox for creating eLearning and HTML based mLearning content.Browse Complete Report @Some of the major players identified in the global education technology and smart classroom market are Blackboard Inc., Educomp Solutions Ltd., Adobe Corporation, Scholastic Corporation, Cisco System Inc., Smart Technologies Inc., NIIT Ltd., Saba Software Inc. and others.Persistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.Persistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Anthocyanins Market : Key Growth Factors and Industry Analysis 2017-2025 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/anthocyanin-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=2198 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The stronghold of several domestic players across regional pockets along with the presence of several large companies have rendered the global anthocyanins market a highly competitive growth dynamics, states Transparency Market Research in a recent report. The top four companies in the market, namely Sensient Technologies Corp, Archer Daniels Midlands Co., Symrise A.G., and CHR Hansen A/S, collectively accounted for over 50% of the overall market in 2015.This 74 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the Anthocyanins Market. Browse through to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market @To ensure sustainable returns amid such intense competition, leading players have adopted the course of strategies such as frequent mergers and acquisitions, product innovations, and geographical expansion. For instance, the company Archer Daniels Midlands Co. recently introduced a new line of extracts capable of delivering a concentrated dose of powerful anti-oxidants such as anthocyanins and beta carotene through several food and beverages.Transparency Market Research states that the global anthocyanins market will expand at a 4.4% CAGR over the period between 2015 and 2021, rising from a valuation of US$300 mn in 2015 to US$387.4 mn by 2021.In terms of application, the food and beverages industry is the leading consumer of anthocyanins, with the global anthocyanins market earning the dominant share in its revenues owing to sales across this industry in 2015. The trend is expected to remain strong over the forecast period as well. Geographically, the anthocyanins market in Europe led the global market in 2015 and is expected to remain the dominant contributor to the revenues of the global market throughout the period between 2015 and 2021.Rising Awareness regarding Health Benefits of Anthocyanins to Drive MarketStudies have shown that the consumption of anthocyanins has positive effects on human health. They act as an anti-oxidant, anti-allergic, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, and help improve microcirculation of the body. Anthocyanins are known to expedite the process of metabolism of cholesterols and blood sugar. Further, anthocyanins fight oxidative stress, a process known to play a crucial role in escalating heart diseases. Consumption of anthocyanins is also known to reduce the level of obesity in humans.The rising awareness regarding these factors in the past few years has led to a significant rise in the global consumption of anthocyanins and is expected to be a key driver of the market over the forecast period as well. Additionally, the global anthocyanins market is expected to be driven owing to the steady growth witnessed by the market across developing countries such as India, Brazil, China, Indonesia, and Argentina, in the past few years.Difficulty in Processing Natural Food Colors Acts as Key Constraint to GrowthAnthocyanins are natural colorants and, like most colorants extracted purely from natural sources, are particularly difficult to work with. The raw materials used for extracting anthocyanins are more expensive as compared to the raw materials used for extracting artificial colorants. Anthocyanins also lack color intensity commonly found in synthetic colors. Synthetic colors also compete well with anthocyanins when it comes to maintaining the vibrancy of color when subject to complex manufacturing and processing across a number of applications.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Anthocyanins Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market @Furthermore, the lack of a wide pallet of operational colors and the stringent guidelines pertaining to the use of food additives across several countries are posing challenge to the growth of the global anthocyanins market. These factors are expected to collectively impede the overall growth prospects of the market to a notable extent over the forecast period.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Hydro Turbine Market 2017 - Alstom, Toshiba, TUBA, Kirloskar Brothers Limited, Cornell Pump Company, Harbin Electric Machinery https://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/74112/request-sample https://goo.gl/WeAH4V www.fiormarkets.com www.swiftnary.com The report studies Hydro Turbine in Global market Professional Survey 2017 : Size, Share, Trends, Industry Growth, Opportunity, Application, Production, Segmentation, Cost Structure, Company Profile, Product Picture and Specifications during the Forecast period by 2022. Whats more, the Hydro Turbine industry development trends and marketing channels are analyzed. The industry analysis have also been done to examine the impact of various factors and understand the overall attractiveness of the industry.Download Sample Report @The report firstly introduced the Hydro Turbine basics: definitions, classifications, applications and industry chain overview; industry policies and plans; product specifications; manufacturing processes; cost structures and so on. Then it analyzed the world's main region market conditions, including the product price, profit, capacity, production, capacity utilization, supply, demand and industry growth rate etc. In the end, the report introduced new project SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.Scope of the report:Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global Hydro Turbine market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the new installations.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaFior Markets report, Global Hydro Turbine Market 2017-2022, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Top ManufacturersGilkesCornell Pump CompanyWiegert & B?hr StartAlstomWWS Wasserkraft GmbH & Co KGToshibaIremTUBAKirloskar Brothers LimitedCanadian Hydro Components (CHC)The James Leffel & CoHarbin Electric CorporationHarbin Electric MachineryGet Full Report With TOC @Key questions answered in this report What will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be? What are the key market trends? What is driving this market? What are the challenges to market growth? Who are the key vendors in this market space? What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Hydro Turbine Market Research Report Split by TypeReaction Turbines:Impulse TurbineHydro Turbine Market Research Report Split by ApplicationReaction Turbines:Impulse TurbineReasons To Buy- What was the size of the Global Hydro Turbine market by value in 2016?- What will be the size of the Global Hydro Turbine market in 2022?- What factors are affecting the strength of competition in the Global Hydro Turbine market?- How has the market performed over the last five years?- What are the main segments that make up the global's Hydro Turbine market?The report has put special emphasis on the market share and size of global industry, owing to their large scale share in the current and upcoming market of Hydro Turbine. The industry analysis have also been done to examine the impact of various factors and understand the overall attractiveness of the industry.If you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.ABOUT USFior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerOffice - 102, Sanskriti Aspirations,Near Post 91, Baner Road,Pune, MH, India - 411045Phone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog: Automotive Metal Wheel Market to Reach US$ 90 Bn by 2022 https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=S&rep_id=152 https://www.factmr.com/connectus/sample?flag=D&rep_id=152 https://www.factmr.com/report/152/automotive-metal-wheel-market https://www.factmr.com/ Surge in demand for high speed vehicles globally has led to a decline in demand for metal wheels among the automotive manufacturers. Changing weather conditions lead to corrosion and rusting of the automotive metal wheels, which is expected to impact growth of the global market negatively. Growing demand for heavy weight vehicles to prevent skidding in cold countries is expected to contribute towards growth of the global automotive metal wheel market.This Fact.MR report discusses key prospects for growth of global automotive metal wheel market during the forecast period, 2017-2022, offering pragmatic insights to lead market players towards devising & implementing informed strategies.ScopeThe scope of the report is to analyze the global automotive metal wheel market for the period 2017-2022 and give readers an accurate, unbiased analysis. Metal wheel manufacturers, suppliers, and stakeholders in the overall automotive market can benefit from the insights offered in this report. The comprehensive analysis offered in the report can also be of interest to leading automotive journals and trade magazines.SummaryThe report begins with a concise summary of the global automotive metal wheel market. This executive summary sets the tone for the rest of the report, giving users the scope of the report. The executive summary includes important facts and statistics on the global automotive metal wheel market.For More Details - A sample of this report is available upon request@OverviewThe next section is an overview of the global automotive metal wheel market. This includes the introduction to the market and a standard definition of the product automotive metal wheel. In this section, year-over-year growth and market value is offered to readers. Year-over-year growth gives readers a broader picture on growth patterns during the forecast period.The next section of the report offers a thorough description of the latest macroeconomic factors that have a bearing on the global automotive metal wheel market. Considering the interconnectedness of the metal wheel market to global automotive market and, in general, the global economy, readers will get valuable insights on how international developments impact this market.In a bid to keep readers up-to-date on the latest developments in the global automotive metal wheel market, the report offers readers a roundup of the latest trends impacting the market. As the automotive sector is ever-evolving, staying abreast with latest trends and developments is paramount to formulating key business strategies. Information on supply chain, cost structure, pricing analysis, raw material sourcing, and list of distributors are offered to readers in this section.Request For Discount:Considering the broad scope of global automotive metal wheel market, the report includes a segment-wise analysis and forecast. The global automotive metal wheel market is segmented into materials, sales channel, vehicle type, technology, and region. Through this section, the report offers an in-depth country-wise forecast on every parameter associated with automotive metal wheels.The concluding section of the report profiles companies operating in the global automotive metal wheel market. Companies of all sizes, including market leaders, established players, and market entrants are profiled in this section. The competitive intelligence offers information on company overview and other important parameters, such as product offerings and key financials.Research MethodologyFact.MR is committed to offer unbiased and independent market research solutions to its clients. Each market report of Fact.MR is compiled after months of exhaustive research. We bank on a mix of tried-and-tested and innovative research methodologies to offer the most comprehensive and accurate information. Our main sources of research include,Primary researchSecondary researchTrade researchFocused interviewsSocial media analysisBrowse Full Report:ABOUT US:Fact.MR is focused on offering transformative intelligence that inspires breakthroughs and innovation. We believe that the right decisions at the opportune time are integral to achieve extraordinary success. We are here to help you with your strategic decision making.CONTACT:Suite 988427 Upper Pembroke Street,Dublin 2, IrelandPhone: +353-1-6111-593Email: sales@factmr.comWebsite: Latin America Mining Equipments Market Intelligence Research Reports for Actionable Insights http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-la-68 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-la-68 www.futuremarketinsights.com The mining industry is expected to witness growth with a single digit CAGR over the next six years on account of the further expanding demand for metal and mineral commodities. Latin America accounted for about 8% of the global mining equipment demand in 2013 and its contribution towards global mining equipment sales was registered at 15% for the same year. The region serves as the prime destination for mining exploration and investment at a global level.The key reason which has accelerated the growth of the Latin American mining equipment market is the enhanced demand for the consumption of natural resources. Presently, the region produces about 45% of the global copper, 21% of the global zinc, 50% of the global silver and 26% of the global molybdenumproduction. In addition, foreign investment, especially from China, US, Canada and Australia, plays a significant role in the growth of the Latin American mining equipment market. Further, other operations such as the Panama Stock Operation (PSO), CSR activities, and introduction of next generation mining equipment such as Autonomous Haulage System (AHS) also serve as driving factors for the growth of the mining equipment market in Latin America. Among these, CSR activities primarily focus on rehabilitation and support programmes, promotion of healthy lifestyle and awareness programmes for the adoption of green technology. However, in the past few years, the mining industry and hence the mining equipment industry has been facing an economic crisis on account of the requirement for budget allocation in the maintenance of the mining industry and equipment, etc. Illegal mining operations at some locations and the risk associated with the mining industry serve as further constraints for the Latin American mining equipment industry.Surging demand and abundant availability of natural resources(including the worlds top three metal and mineral reserves of copper, zinc and silver rapid technological advancement, modernization of mining plants, stable legislations with a motivating legal environment, and the efficient budget allocation with aftermarket revenue generation will serve as opportunities for the development of the Latin America mining equipment market.Request Report Sample@Market segmentation of Latin American mining equipment can be done on the basis of equipment, application and countries. On the basis of equipment, the Latin American mining equipment market includes mineral processing equipment, surface mining equipment, underground mining equipment, mining drills and breakers, crushing and screening equipment, etc. On the basis of applications, the Latin American mining equipment market segmentation includes metal ore mining, coal mining and mineral mining. Chile, being the largest producer of copper, serves as a lucrative market for copper-based mining equipment. Colombia is an active exporter,and is the first Latin American coal-producing country alongwith the production of metals such as gold, silver and platinum and hence is the opportunistic market for the associated mining equipment market. On the basis of countries, the Latin American mining equipment market includes Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Panama, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia and Venezuela. Chile is known for the adoption and introduction of advanced technologies such as autonomous haulage system. Peru is the reserve of key minerals and has been witnessing a surging demand for copper and hence the expansion of the associated mining equipment market. Brazil has an integrated approach for the production and sale of mining equipment. Panama has an active stock operation (PSO) for the support of the mining industry. In line with the positive future of the Latin American mining equipment industry, Peru and Chile are expected to receive double digit foreign investment in $ Bn in the next six years.Visit For TOC@Some of the prominent players of the global mining equipment market include Sandvik AB, Hitachi Construction Machinery, Komatsu Limited, Atlas Copco Ab Joy Global Inc. Breaker Technology, Astec Industries, Bucyrus International, Caterpillar Incorporated, China Coal Energy Company Limited, Tecpalsa, Tecmap, Tiesa and Igaretta. Among these, Komatsu Limited in the whole of Latin America, Tecpalsa in Colombia, Tecmap and Tiesa in Panama and Igaretta in Argentina are active players in the Latin American mining equipment market.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Mobile Phone Gamepad Market to 2022 Analysis, Applications, Opportunities and Trends ReportsWeb http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001988192/sample http://www.reportsweb.com/global-mobile-phone-gamepad-market-professional-survey-report-2017 http://www.reportsweb.com/inquiry&RW0001988192/discount http://www.reportsweb.com/buy&RW0001988192/buy/3500 ReportsWeb.com has announced the addition of the Global Mobile Phone Gamepad Market Professional Survey Report 2017 The report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, product picture and specification.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringSonyRazer IncLogitechMad CatzMOGAanywhereNyko8BitdoIPEGAWamoAfterPadGametelBetopGamesirRequest a Sample atOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoBy Operating SystemiOSAndroidBy Connection TypeWirelessWiredBrowse Complete Report atBy Application, the market can be split intoChildrenAdultBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaGet discount on report purchase atKey Point from Table of Contents:1 Industry Overview of Mobile Phone Gamepad2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Mobile Phone Gamepad3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Mobile Phone Gamepad4 Global Mobile Phone Gamepad Overall Market Overview5 Mobile Phone Gamepad Regional Market Analysis6 Global 2012-2017E Mobile Phone Gamepad Segment Market Analysis-by Type)7 Global 2012-2017E Mobile Phone Gamepad Segment Market Analysis-by Application)8 Major Manufacturers Analysis of Mobile Phone Gamepad8.1 Sony8.1.1 Company Profile8.1.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.1.2.1 Product A8.1.2.2 Product B8.1.3 Sony 2016 Mobile Phone Gamepad Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.1.4 Sony 2016 Mobile Phone Gamepad Business Region Distribution Analysis8.2 Razer Inc8.2.1 Company Profile8.2.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.2.2.1 Product A8.2.2.2 Product B8.2.3 Razer Inc 2016 Mobile Phone Gamepad Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.2.4 Razer Inc 2016 Mobile Phone Gamepad Business Region Distribution Analysis8.3 Logitech8.3.1 Company Profile8.3.2 Product Picture and Specifications8.3.2.1 Product A8.3.2.2 Product B8.3.3 Logitech 2016 Mobile Phone Gamepad Sales, Ex-factory Price, Revenue, Gross Margin Analysis8.3.4 Logitech 2016 Mobile Phone Gamepad Business Region Distribution Analysis9 Development Trend of Analysis of Mobile Phone Gamepad Market10 Mobile Phone Gamepad Marketing Type Analysis11 Consumers Analysis of Mobile Phone Gamepad12 Conclusion of the Global Mobile Phone Gamepad Market Professional Survey Report 2017Purchase Complete Report atReportsWeb is a one stop shop of market research reports and solutions to various companies across the globe. We help our clients in their decision support system by helping them choose most relevant and cost effective research reports and solutions from various publishers.505, 6th floor, Amanora Township,Amanora Chambers, East Block,Kharadi Road, Hadapsar, Pune-411028 Global In-Situ Hybridization Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 : Agilent Technologies, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc., Merck KGaA http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1293888&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-in-situ-hybridization-market-size-status-and-forecast-2022.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1293888&type=D http://www.qyresearchreports.com Qyresearchreports include new market research report "Global In-Situ Hybridization Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022" to its huge collection of research reports.On the basis of the current and historical performance of the global In-Situ Hybridization market, this research report presents a detailed and unbiased analysis of this market to the readers. Using a number of parameters, such as the production volume, pricing of the products, sales dynamics, and the revenues, it attempts to provide a deep insight into this market.At the beginning, the research report presents the essential information about this market, starting from the definition of In-Situ Hybridization to application. The specification, classification, and industry chain structure of this market have been thoroughly explained here. The regional overview of this market, together with the development trends and an analysis of the policies and regulations implemented in each of the regions, has also been talked about in this market study.This report studies the global In-Situ Hybridization market, analyzes and researches the In-Situ Hybridization development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeAbbott Laboratories, Inc.F. Hoffmann-La Roche AGLeica Biosystems Nussloch GmbHAgilent TechnologiesThermo Fisher Scientific, Inc.Merck KGaAPerkinElmer, Inc.Exiqon A/SBioGenex Laboratories, Inc.Advanced Cell Diagnostics, Inc.Bio SB Inc.Order a copy of complete Research Report @Further, the research study focuses on the leading vendors of In-Situ Hybridization across the world. It provides a precise information on the capacity of every production plant, such as the commencement date of commercial production of In-Situ Hybridization, and also discussed the R&D status and the technology and raw material sources of every vendor.Researchers have considered the geographical segments, technologies, and applications of In-Situ Hybridization as the main parameters for the study of the sales of In-Situ Hybridization in this research report. The performance of each of the regional markets has been assessed on their production capacity and the profit margins. The dynamics of demand and supply, export, and import have also been identified as the main factors that impact the sales of In-Situ Hybridization in each of the regional markets in this report.Table of ContentsGlobal In-Situ Hybridization Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221 Industry Overview of In-Situ Hybridization1.1 In-Situ Hybridization Market Overview1.1.1 In-Situ Hybridization Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global In-Situ Hybridization Market Size and Analysis by Regions1.2.1 United States1.2.2 EU1.3 In-Situ Hybridization Market by Type1.3.1 Fluorescence In-Situ Hybridization (FISH)1.3.2 Chromogenic In-Situ Hybridization (CISH)1.4 In-Situ Hybridization Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 Molecular Diagnostic LaboratoriesBrowse Complete Report with TOC @2 Global In-Situ Hybridization Competition Analysis by Players2.1 In-Situ Hybridization Market Size (Value) by Players (2016 and 2017)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 Abbott Laboratories, Inc.3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 In-Situ Hybridization Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 In-Situ Hybridization Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.2.5 Recent Developments4 Global In-Situ Hybridization Market Size by Type and Application (2012-2017)4.1 Global In-Situ Hybridization Market Size by Type (2012-2017)4.2 Global In-Situ Hybridization Market Size by Application (2012-2017)4.3 Potential Application of In-Situ Hybridization in Future4.4 Top Consumer/End Users of In-Situ HybridizationPrebook The Report @List of Tables and FiguresFigure In-Situ Hybridization Product ScopeFigure Global In-Situ Hybridization Market Size (Million USD) (2012-2017)Table Global In-Situ Hybridization Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Global In-Situ Hybridization Market Share by Regions in 2016Figure United States In-Situ Hybridization Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure EU In-Situ Hybridization Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Japan In-Situ Hybridization Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure China In-Situ Hybridization Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure India In-Situ Hybridization Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Southeast Asia In-Situ Hybridization Market Size (Million USD) and Growth Rate by Regions (2012-2017)Figure Global In-Situ Hybridization Market Share by Type in 2016About UsQYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.Contact Us1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Fire Extinguisher Market Globally Expected to Drive Growth through 2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-572 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-572 www.futuremarketinsights.com Fire extinguishers are excellent tools for putting out fires and saving lives. The fire protection sector is poised for an upsurge due to rising demand for fire extinguishers. A fire extinguisher is a fire protection instrument used to extinguish or control fires, often in emergency situations. Every fire extinguisher consists of a hand-held cylindrical pressure vessel comprising an agent which can be discharged to put out fire. As people today are more concerned regarding safety, fire extinguishers have always been a requirement in every commercial and residential buildings. Fire extinguishers have been made mandatory in developed countries and similar norms are being adopted by developing countries around the world. Safety standards and norms adopted in almost every industries such as oil & gas, power and chemicals fuel the overall demand for global fire extinguishers market.Global Fire Extinguishers Market: Drivers & RestraintsThe factors that are contributing to the growth of the global fire extinguishers market are safety government and industrial norms. Increased fire safety expenditure from the industrial segment, and technological innovations in equipment and safety systems are other factors which drive the growth of global fire extinguishers market. Use of automatic and portable fire extinguisher is preferred due to its light weight and is in high demand from consumers end. Growth in infrastructure and construction industry are key drivers for global fire extinguishers market, as fire extinguishers are being made mandatory in every commercial and residential project. Rise in raw material prices and agents used in fire extinguishers is a challenge for global fire extinguishers market.Request Report Sample@Global Fire Extinguishers Market: SegmentationOn the basis of product type, the global fire extinguisher market is segmented into,Multi-Purpose Dry ChemicalRegular Dry ChemicalPortable Fire ExtinguishersAutomatic Fire ExtinguishersOthersOn the basis of fire type, the global fire extinguisher market is segmented into,SolidsFlammable LiquidsFlammable gassesElectrical EquipmentCombustible MetalsCookingOthersOn the basis of agents, the global fire extinguishers market is segmented intoMonoammonium PhosphateSodium BicarbonatePotassium BicarbonateCarbon DioxideAqueous Film Forming FoamsOthersOn the basis of application, the global fire extinguishers market is segmented intoResidentialCommercialWarehousesFactories and Food Processing PlantsManufacturing and Construction sitesOthersGlobal Fire Extinguisher Market: Region-wise OutlookIn terms of geography, the global fire extinguisher market has been divided in to seven key regions including North America, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Middle East & Africa and Japan.The global fire extinguisher market is expected to register healthy CAGR during the forecast period. Asia-Pacific is the dominant market for fire extinguishers followed by Europe and North America. With growth in infrastructure in regions like Europe and Asia Pacific, mainly in emerging economies such as China, Japan and India, global fire extinguisher market is expected to showcase steady growth over the forecast period. Support of the government and safety initiatives such as increasing fire protection expenditure is expected to fuel the demand for fire extinguishers in Asia-Pacific.Visit For TOC@Global Fire Extinguishers Market: Key PlayersSome of the market participants in the global fire extinguishers market are Amerex Corporation, BRK Electronics, Minimax GmbH & Co. KG and Nationwide Fire Extinguishers.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Global Barley Market valuation in excess of US$ 8000 Mn by 2026 : Industry Analysis & Opportunity Assessment http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1287881 http://www.researchmoz.us/barley-market.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG http://deep-research-report.blogspot.com/ ResearchMoz added Latest Research Report titled " Barley Market: Will Asia Pacific & Japan Beat Western Europe to Become the Leading Regional Market: Global Industry Analysis & Opportunity Assessment, 2016 - 2026 " to it's Large Report database.The global barley market is segmented by type, grade, and application. The Barley Malt product type segment is likely to emerge as the most popular segment within the assessment period. This segment dominated more than 30% share of the global barley market in 2016 and is projected to register a CAGR of 3.5% in terms of value during the forecast period. The Barley Malt segment is expected to witness a substantial growth in revenue share during the period of assessment.Western Europe expected to be the dominant market in terms of value and volume throughout the forecast periodThe Western Europe market led the global barley market in 2016 with more than 25% market share. This market is anticipated to reach a market valuation in excess of US$ 8000 Mn by 2026, recording a value CAGR of 3.7% during the forecast period. Besides Western Europe, the North America, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific and Japan barley markets are projected to witness good growth during the period of assessment. Rapid increase in the usage of barley in the food and beverages industry is expected to fuel market growth in these regions.Request for Sample PDF of Premium Research Report with TOC:Within the Latin America region, Argentina is anticipated to be the highest contributor to regional market growth in terms of revenue, registering a value CAGR of 3.1%. The Argentina barley market is estimated to record incremental value of more than US$ 225 Mn between 2016 and 2026. Mexico is also expected to witness significant growth in the coming decade. The Mexico barley market is estimated to represent incremental opportunity in excess of US$ 140 Mn between 2016 and 2026 and register a CAGR of 3.4% in terms of revenue during the forecast period. Growing awareness regarding the health benefits of barley coupled with an easy availability of grains is anticipated to boost revenue growth of the Mexico barley market. The Brazil barley market is expected to project exponential growth in terms of revenue during the forecast period. This market is estimated to register a value CAGR of 3.6% during the forecast period.Browse more details @Table Of Content1.Executive Summary2.Assumptions & Acronyms Used3.Research Methodology4.Market Overview4.1.Introduction4.1.1.Market Definition4.1.2.Market Taxonomy4.2.Product Overview4.3.Market Dynamics4.3.1.Drivers4.3.2.Restraints4.3.3.Opportunity4.3.4.Value Chain4.4.Global Market Forecast, 201620264.4.1.Market Size (Value) Forecast4.4.1.1.Y-o-Y Growth Projections4.4.1.2.Absolute $ Opportunity4.5.Global Barley Market Overview4.6.Global Barley Market Trends4.7.Global Market Snapshot (2015)4.7.1.Market Overview By Type4.7.2.Market Overview By Grade4.7.3.Market Overview By ApplicationAbout ResearchMozResearchMoz is the world's fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMoz's service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Contact Us:Mr. Nachiket Ghumare90 State Street, Albany NY, United States - 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074 / Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at:Follow me on Blogger at: A 21-year-old Chicago man shot himself in the groin early Wednesday morning, while on a commuter bus stopping on the UW-Madison campus en route from Minneapolis to Chicago. The bizarre shooting incident happened at about 5 a.m. on a Megabus that stopped at its normal bus stop on Langdon Street at Lake Street, Madison police said. The unidentified victim apparently had a loaded handgun in the waistband of his pants, and the gun fired, sending a bullet through his penis and one testicle, said police spokesman Howard Payne. Police didn't say if the bullet was recovered. "Nobody else was hurt," Payne said. "The victim suffered a non-life-threatening injury." Riders on the bus, many of whom were sleeping on the early morning route, told police a single gunshot was heard, followed immediately by a man getting up and running to the restroom at the back of the bus. "Once the subject exited the restroom, the driver made an impassioned plea for him to stay on the bus as he believed medical attention was warranted," Payne said. "The subject disregarded the plea and left the bus." Police officers and paramedics from the Madison Fire Department arrived at the bus stop, with the victim taken to a local hospital. Officers found the handgun in the toilet. The incident is under investigation, since police are pondering what charges could be brought against the man. Systweak releases Secret Photo Vault app for Android Users https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.systweak.photovault Systweak Software has released the Android version of one of its popular apps, Secret Photo Vault. Previously, it was available exclusively for iOS devices.Secret Photo Vault is a smart tool using which users can easily hide and protect their personal and secret photos from public view. It not only includes password and PIN protection but also lets users unlock their photos with fingerprint unlock.In addition to this, the app has many other features like: double layered password security, stealth mode, photo management, password recovery, setting up individual password for each album and much more.Double layered password security locks the app with a 4-digit pin and includes an option to lock individual photo albums using different passwords for each; adding an additional layer of security.Users can create various albums to hide pictures and videos, making it easy to sort and select multiple files at once. A built-in camera function helps to snap a picture directly through the app. There is also a slideshow and video player option that allows users to view media without needing to unhide them. Not only this, it also includes a fully functional image gallery and runs in stealth mode, which means it will never be shown in running apps list.Secret Photo Vault is a powerful tool; with its simple interface, you can easily hide almost all your photos and videos from prying eyes, said Mr. Shrishail Rana, CEO, Systweak. Easily lock videos and photos behind multiple layers of security. The user-friendly interface helps in quick navigation and photos can be added right from the phones gallery. Once photos and videos are sent to Secret Photo Vault, they can also be deleted from the phones photo gallery after users confirmation, however, you can still view them in Secret Photo Vault. This saves internal storage and frees up space. They can also be exported back to the photo gallery, if required.Secret Photo Vault app is smartly designed, keeping simplicity and ease of use in mind. It is secured by a 4-digit PIN, supports hiding all types of files and will never appear in the running apps list. Moreover, its not a cloud service and makes the possibility of data hacking almost nil. Create multiple albums and organize photos and videos as needed. In case the pin is forgotten or lost, it can be recovered by setting up a valid e-mail address, added Mr. Yuvraj Gautam, Product Manager.Systweak Software is a well-known name in the IT industry; you can rely on Secret Photo Vault to secure your photos. The free version of Secret Photo Vault can be downloaded from:Systweak Software has been developing and distributing Windows, Mac, iOS & Android apps since last 18 years to improve the average users digital experience. It has recently been featured in 100 Most Promising Microsoft Solution Providers list by the enterprise solutions magazine, CIO Review. Some of the companys flagship apps have been featured on Newswatch, the Discovery Channels tech news bulletin. Systweak Software has a large user-base in North America followed by several countries in Europe and Asia.572 & 573, G-1, Tower B-1 Evolve, IT/ITeS Mahindra World City, Village Kalwara, Taluka Sanganer, Jaipur- 302037, INDIA Phone: +91-141-2243030, 2243031 (5:00 AM to 5:00 PM G.M.T.) FAX: +91-141-2577982 Wound Closure Market by Product and Application - Global Industry Analysis and Forecast to 2025 Crystal Market Research https://www.crystalmarketresearch.com/report/wound-closure-market https://www.crystalmarketresearch.com/request-toc/upcoming/HC06136 https://www.crystalmarketresearch.com/send-an-enquiry/HC06136 https://blog.crystalmarketresearch.com http://www.crystalmarketresearch.com Wound Closure Market Overview:Chronic wounds are hard-to-heal wounds that proceed through the repair process without exhibiting a sustained and functional result. According to a 2016 study conducted by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), it is projected that 1 to 2% of the population in developed countries will experience a chronic wound in their lifetime. The study further states that around 6.5 million patients in the U.S. are affected with chronic wounds every year. Complications of chronic wounds include different infections such as infective venous eczema, cellulitis, gangrene, lower-extremity amputations, and hemorrhage. Chronic wounds significantly impact the health and the quality of life of the patients and their families due to the low base rate of complete healing. They can lead to pain, loss of mobility and function, distress and anxiety, depression, social isolation and embarrassment, prolonged hospital stays leading to financial burden and even death. According to California Podiatric Medical Association (CPMA), 15% of people diagnosed with diabetes tend to develop a foot ulcer and 14 to 24% patients affected by foot ulcers will require amputation during their lifetime. Diabetic foot ulcers and pressure ulcers are chronic wounds caused by increased pressure and low angiogenic response i.e. decreased formation of new blood vessels. Diabetic foot ulcers are characterized by unusual swelling and redness and odor from feet which are some of the early symptoms.Browse Full Report @Some of the major factors driving the growth of wound closure market are the rising prevalence of chronic diseases worldwide, rise in demand for minimal invasive procedures, and technological advancements in wound care products. According to NCBI, pressure ulcers occur in 30 to 85% of spinal cord injury patients in the first month of injury. Development of cost effective products targeted towards specific wounds will spearhead the future growth of the market. Thus, technological advancements and cost effectiveness along with pain and odor control are some of the key factors that will dictate the evolution of wound closure industry in the coming years.Moreover, increasing aging population vulnerable to chronic diseases such as diabetes leading to the heightened risk of chronic wounds will further contribute to the market growth. The global share of older people increased from 9.2% in 1990 to 11.7% in 2013 and will reach 21.1% by 2050 (Source: United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs). Further, it states that the number of older people is projected to reach 2 billion in 2050 from 841 million people in 2013. However, high cost of wound closure products and technical assistance for using these products will hamper the market growth.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Moreover, increased focus of key players on the development of innovative wound closure products to meet the unmet medical needs will further propel the market growth. For instance, in March 2017, Izun Pharmaceuticals Corporation obtained FDA approval for Curasite Wound Care Hydrogel for the treatment of leg ulcers and diabetic foot ulcers. Likewise, in March 2017 Ethicon and DePuy Synthes jointly introduced customized wound closure kits (including STRATAFIX Knotless Tissue Control Devices and DERMABOND PRINEO Skin Closure System) to improve outcomes in orthopedic surgery. Such product developments will enable the companies to strengthen their product portfolio to sustain their position in the market.Major players operating in this market are Baxter International Inc., Derma Sciences Inc., DeRoyal Industries Inc., Johnson and Johnson, Medtronic plc, Smith & Nephew plc, B. Braun Melsungen AG, 3M Company, and CryoLife Inc.Make an inquiry @About Crystal Market ResearchCrystal Market Research is a U.S. based market research and business intelligence company. Crystal offers one stop solution for market research, business intelligence, and consulting services to help clients make more informed decisions. It provides both syndicated as well as customized research studies for its customers spread across the globe. The company offers market intelligence reports across a broad range of industries including healthcare, chemicals & materials, technology, automotive, and energy.Contact:Judy304 South Jones Blvd, Suite 1896,Las Vegas NV 89107,United StatesToll Free: +1-888-213-4282Email: sales@crystalmarketresearch.comBlog:Website:Connect with us: LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook Adsorbents Market Intelligence Research Reports for Actionable Insights http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-145 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-145 www.futuremarketinsights.com Adsorption is a process in which ions, atoms or molecules from a liquid, dissolved liquid or gas adheres to a surface. In this process a thin film is created on the adsorbent by the adsorbate. Adsorption is a consequence of surface energy similar to surface tension. Adsorption exists in many natural, biological, chemical and physical systems that have applications in the industrial sector. Adsorbents are usually in the form of rods, spherical pellets and moldings that has 0.5 to 10mm diameter. Adsorbents that are regarded to be effective must have resistance to high abrasion, thermal stability with small pore diameters and must have a distinct pore structure which helps in speedy transport of gaseous vapours. Industrial adsorbents are classified as carbon based compounds that are non-polar and hydrophobic that includes materials such as graphite and activated carbon; oxygen containing compounds that are polar and hydrophilic including material such as zeolites and silica gel; polymer-based compounds which are non-polar or polar functional groups in a polymer matrix.The major applications of adsorbents include drying, air separation, water treatment and oil and gas refining among others. Adsorbents are the major materials are mainly used in industries such as water treatment, pharmaceutical, oil & gas, petrochemical and chemical. Advances in technology to bring in various kinds of adsorbents with new advancements in the market will lead to increase the demand for adsorbents globally. Owing to government and environmental regulations the applications such as air separation and drying in the pharmaceutical, healthcare and medical devices are expected to grow at a faster rate in comparison with other applications and industries.Request Report Sample@The key driver for adsorbents industry includes advancements and innovations to create new and advanced adsorbent materials. The industries require adsorbents for a wide range of applications with varied characteristic and requirements. To serve this purpose, major companies are now focused on technological innovations to create new adsorbent materials which will be applicable in varied industrial and commercial areas. The technological developments to manufacture cost effective adsorbents is the major solution to generate revenue in the adsorbent market globally. The current and future projections according to the industrial and economic outlook for adsorbent market are based on the material demand in terms of volume and value.The key segments for adsorbents market include North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and Rest of the World (RoW). North America is expected to capture huge share of the global market. Asia Pacific is anticipated to be the top market for adsorbents due to growing demand from China and India. China and Russia are expected to be the largest consumer of adsorbents among others. The developed economies therefore contribute to huge demand for adsorbents from the end user segment globally. Emerging economies are expected to be the potential markets for adsorbent industry with increasing production capacity.Visit For TOC@The major players that are included in the adsorbents industry include Axens, Arkema, BASF, Clariant, Calgon Carbon, Cabot, Meadwestvaco, Grace, Graver Technologies, UOP, Zeochem, Zeolyst International and Sorbead India among others. Many companies are now focusing on expansion with increase in production capacity and addition of new plants, to meet the growing demand and to achieve competitive advantage in the market. Axens which is molecular sieves manufacturer increased its presence through a new subsidiary in Malaysia for the adsorbents segment to meet the rising demand from the Asia Pacific region. Companies are now focusing on collaborations and joint ventures with the end user companies to increase its market share.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Forecast on Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Market for the Period (2014 - 2020) http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-152 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-152 www.futuremarketinsights.com Polyvinyl Chloride generally known as PVC is a polymer which is widely produced after polyethylene and polypropylene. It is said to be the third largest most widely produced polymer. PVC is preferred against traditional materials that include iron, copper or wood in a number of profile applications due to its operational efficiencies and benefits. Pure polyvinyl chloride is a brittle solid white in color and slightly soluble in tetrahydrofuran whereas insoluble in alcohol. It can be made flexible and soft by adding plasticizers and phthalates. In flexible and soft form, PVC is used in electrical cable insulation, plumbing and inflatable products and some applications which can replace rubber. PVC has high mechanical and hardness properties, which enhance along with molecular weight and gradually decrease with rising or increasing temperature. PVC decomposes at high temperature as its heat stability is very poor. It has good insulation properties but owing to its high polar nature, its electrical insulation property is less significant to non-polymers that include polypropylene and polyethylene.Polyvinyl Chloride can be produced from a wide range of hydrocarbons such as derivatives of plants including sugarcane and coal. Currently, PVC is produced from ethylene, which is a product of oil and gas industry. It is therefore known as a petrochemical product. Polyvinyl Chloride has a wide range of applications, which include electric cables, pipes, unplastisized polyvinyl chloride for construction, furniture and clothing, healthcare and plasticizers among others. It exists in a wide range of consumer products that include bottles, credit cards, cling films and packaging among others and construction materials such as window frames, pipes, cables, flooring and wallpaper among a range of products.Request Report Sample@The PVC production costs are based on types of production expenses that include raw materials such as chlorine, ethylene and acetylene. In Asia Pacific, the PVC costs are highly influenced by PVC prices in China, hence, in addition to ethylene prices; acetylene is widely used in the production of PVC and therefore has growing importance in this region.The construction industry is the major driver of global PVC market owing to a wide range of applications in the household, commercial and industrial sectors. Due to improving infrastructure and housing conditions in the developing economies are expected to maintain the demand for PVC. Long-term demand for PVC depends on the renaissance of the construction markets in the urbanized economies.Visit For TOC@The key segments for PVC market include the North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and Rest of the World (RoW). The demand for PVC remains moderate in Europe due to debt crisis along with depressed business climate and due to slow monetary recovery. Owing to huge manufacturing facilities in China, Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest and largest growing market for PVC. The collapse of the building and construction industry in North America was the major reason for stagnant demand for PVC in this region. In addition, sluggish growth in construction industry in the large economies such as Italy, Germany and U.K. lead to stagnant demand in Europe.The major companies profiled in the PVC market are: Aiscondel, Arkema, Chemplast Sanmar Limited, Chemson Group, Formosa Plastics Corporation, INEOS Group Ltd, LG Chem, Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Occidental Chemical Corporation, Solvay, Vinnolit GmbH & Co. KG, PolyOne Corporation and Georgia Gulf Corp among others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Machine Condition Monitoring Market Globally Expected to Drive Growth through 2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-662 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-662 www.futuremarketinsights.com Increase in need for reduced maintenance cost along with unexpected failure is anticipated to fuel the growth of global machine condition monitoring market. In order to find any failure in machine such as noise, vibration and temperature measurements, machine condition monitoring is required. Generally, machine condition monitoring techniques is used in rotating equipment, pumps, electric motors, internal combustion engines, presses. It is a major part of predictive maintenance. Machine condition monitoring allows maintenance to be scheduled and avoids its consequences. The demand for machine condition monitoring is rapidly increasing as they are widely used across various industries such as chemicals, aerospace & defence, automotive, metals and mining among many others. Its unique benefits increases the lifespan of the machines. Above of all, unexpected breakdown and focus on plant asset management is pushing the growth in the machine condition monitoring market.Machine Condition Monitoring Market: Drivers & RestraintsAdvancement in technology such as expansion of low-cost advanced machine condition monitoring, direct communication processes and rapid processing functions etc, is opening new doors to the growth of machine condition monitoring market. The drivers identified in the machine condition monitoring are machine reliability by effective prediction of their failures, maximizing part life by proper scheduling of maintenance programs, achieving reduction in frequency, severity of machine downtimes along with ensuring the safety of equipment and staff, among others. Fast growth in Asia-Pacific region along with increasing governmental regulation are the key factors driving the growth in the global machine condition monitoring. However, unpredictable maintenance periods and higher cost of the machine decreases the adoption rate and could act as a major restraint in the global market.Request Report Sample@Machine Condition Monitoring Market: SegmentationOn the basis of monitoring technology, the global machine condition monitoring market is segmented as:Vibration analysis and diagnosticsCorrosion MonitoringLubricating Oil AnalysisMotor Current Signature Analysis (MCSA)Ultrasound Emission TestingInfrared ThermographyOn the basis of applications the global machine condition monitoring market is segmented as:AutomotiveChemicalsAerospace & DefenceOthers (Oil & Gas, Power and Mining)Machine Condition Monitoring Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global machine condition monitoring market is expected to register a favourable growth for the forecast period, 2015?2025. The market growth in developed economies for these systems is expected between 7% and 10% whereas in developing regions the growth may even exceed 12% during coming five years. On the basis of region, North America is estimated to be the fastest growing market for Machine condition monitoring. Asia Pacific, and Latin America are expected to be the growth engines of machine condition market in the near future. The remaining regions are expected to grow at a steady rate over the forecast period.Visit For TOC@Machine Condition Monitoring Market: Key PlayersSome of the key players identified in the global Machine Condition Monitoring market are National Instruments, Parker Kittiwake, Rockwell Automation, Bruel & Kjaer Vibro GmbH, Emerson Process Management, Fluke Corp, Honeywell Process Solution, among many others.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Aidi School Volunteers Open New Music Hall for Dandelion Middle School http://www.aidi.edu.cn/ After months of hard work to fundraise, donate and construct, the Aidi Middle School children are proud to unveil the new Music Rehearsal Hall for the Dandelion Middle School. Together, the students have toiled to transform the barren room into a beauty.On the 4th of June, Beijing Aidi School held the ceremony for official opening of the Aidi Music Rehearsal Hall at the Dandelion Middle School celebrating Aidi Schools donation and marking the joint effort between the schools to work together in successfully repairing the music room. The school principals of Aidi School and Dandelion Middle School, Liu LI and Zheng Hong attended the moving ceremony together, as the audience was brimming with teachers and students from both schools to witness this memorable event.Dandelion Middle School is a school that truly benefits and develops from the time and affection that its community puts into it. Originally, the schools music classroom was a darkened room, with little life and excitement to show: the lights were dim, the walls were mottled and the furniture was outdated and incomplete. On one of the walls was assigned the name of Wish Wall, where the children confessed their dreams of performing on the big stage and being a musician through art, but these posters fell from the walls like leaves in Autumn. They desperately needed a new music classroom to be built, if their dreams were to ever be realised and Aidi School was eager to help.On April 23rd, after initial talks and preparations, the students from Aidi Schools 1590 voluntary association came bounding into Dandelion Middle School! The students were saddened by the environment that the Dandelion students had to cope with: crowded building, poor quality equipment which would lead to a difficult learning environment. This certainly didnt not dampen their spirits and goals for this school, nor did their different experience ever become an obstacle between the students of the two schools establishing close friendships. Together, they painted walls and furnished the rooms with eye-catching oil paintings, whilst Aidi School fundraised for the installation of lighting, equipment and chairs. By the 4th of June, their journey was complete and the Aidi Music Rehearsal Hall was finally created!The newly renovated Hall boasted warm and bright incandescent lighting to brighten not only the scene but everyones moods, and a magnificent mirror to make the hall look luxuriously spacious. The colourful paintings around the room, portrayed happy and positive imagery of music and friendship. The hall will be used throughout by the Dandelion Middle School children but will be used together with Aidi School to rehearse for their highly anticipated performance on the 12th of June at the Poly Theatre.President Liu Li, proud of what these two schools have achieved commented I hope this voluntary initiative from Aidi School can make the Dandelion School students feel the warmth of Aidis affection, but also show that Aidi school students are willing to dedicate time to participate in the Dandelion secondary school music classroom repair. We know that Aidi School students feel gratified for what they have done, and hope that other students can take this as an opportunity, to participate more in voluntary activitiesStudy In Aidi international SchoolAidi School Volunteers Open New Music Hall for Dandelion Middle SchoolAidi School Beijing Digital Utility Market Trends Global Industry Analysis, Top Manufacturers, Share, Growth, Statistics, Opportunities & Forecast up to 2022 Market Study Report has announced the addition of the Global Digital Utility Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 The report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, end users/applications, product and specification. This report studies the global Digital Utility market, analyzes and researches the Digital Utility development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, like as ABB Ltd., Accenture PLC, Capgemini SA, Cisco Systems Inc., Eaton Corporation PLC, General Electric Company, International Business Machine Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Oracle Corporation, SAP SE, Schneider Electric SE and Siemens AG. Request a Sample Copy of Global Digital Utility Market Research Report @ https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/528142//?utm_source=OPR-SP Market segment by Regions/Countries, Digital Utility Market report covers are United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. Market segment by Type, Digital Utility can be split into: Generation, Transmission & Distribution and Retail Market segment by Application, Digital Utility can be split into: Hardware and Integrated Solutions Request Discount for Global Digital Utility Market Research Report @ https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/528142//?utm_source=OPR-SP Major Points in Table of Contents: Global Digital Utility Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 Industry Overview of Digital Utility Market Global Digital Utility Market Competition Analysis by Players Global Digital Utility Market Company (Top Players) Profiles Global Digital Utility Market Size by Type and Application (2012-2017) United States Digital Utility Market Development Status and Outlook EU Digital Utility Market Development Status and Outlook Japan Digital Utility Market Development Status and Outlook China Digital Utility Market Development Status and Outlook India Digital Utility Market Development Status and Outlook Southeast Asia Digital Utility Market Development Status and Outlook Market Forecast by Regions, Type and Application (2017-2022) Digital Utility Market Dynamics Market Effect Factors Analysis Research Findings and Conclusion Related Reports: - World Cloud Computing Stack Layers Market Research Report 2022 (covering USA, Europe, China, Japan, India, South East Asia and etc) Cloud Computing Stack Layers market research report provides the newest industry data and industry future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability. The industry report lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market. https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/world-cloud-computing-stack-layers-market-research-report-2022-covering-usa-europe-china-japan-india-south-east-asia-and-etc//?utm_source=RR-SP Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management. Market Study Report The Green Suite #4594, Dover, DE 19901 United States Phone: 1-201-355-0868 US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150 Email: sales@marketstudyreport.com Website: https://www.marketstudyreport.com News: https://www.marketstudyreport.com/category/news-releases/ This release was published on openPR. Permanent link to this press release: Copy Please set a link in the press area of your homepage to this press release on openPR. openPR disclaims liability for any content contained in this release. Nanomaterials Market Globally Expected to Drive Growth through 2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-696 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-696 www.futuremarketinsights.com The science of nanomaterials has created a lot of expectation amongst various end user industries. With the increasing applications of nanomaterials, the demand for it is increasing at an increasing rate and is becoming a part of daily lives. Nanomaterials are important product under the nanotechnology. They embrace nanoparticles, smaller than 100 nanometres in at least one dimension. Nanomaterials are widely used in healthcare, electronics, cosmetics and other areas nowadays. Continuous improvement and innovation in the field is driving the growth of the global nanomaterials market.The extraordinary physical and chemicals properties of materials at the nanometre scale enable novel applications ranging from energy conservation and structural strength enhancement to antimicrobial properties and self-cleaning surfaces. The nanotechnology is being increasingly modernised by expending largely on R&D activities which is resulting in the advancement of existing technologies and innovations with reference to the new materials.Energy storage and construction market is providing a huge growth potential to these materials and driving the overall market for nanomaterials. The increasing electronics market is also providing opportunities to the global nanomaterials market due to the falling prices and improving materials property and efficiency.Request Report Sample@NanomaterialsMarket: Drivers & RestraintsThe market penetration of the already existing materials and ongoing development of new materials and applications is driving the global nanomaterials market. The unabated market for nanomaterials is being strongly supported by the governmental funding to support the potential growth. The increasing availability of several methods in the field of nanotechnology and new novel methods for fabricating the patterned nanostructures is offering opportunity for better modeling. Some of the other drivers for the growth of global nanomaterials market is partnerships & strategic alliances, increasing number of market players and newer material developments. One of the major factor restraining the growth of global nanomaterials market implies to the growing concerns over environmental impact and toxicity of nanomaterials.NanomaterialsMarket: SegmentationOn the basis of material type, the global nanomaterials market is segmented as follows:Metal Oxide (Silica, Aluminium Oxide/Hydroxide, Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Oxide, Iron Oxide, Other Metal Oxides)MetalsChemicals and Polymers (Nanopharmaceuticals, Liposomes, Other Chemicals & Polymers)NanotubesOthers (Conventional Materials and New Materials)On the basis of applications the global nanomaterials market is segmented as follows:ConstructionPackagingConsumer GoodsElectrical and ElectronicsEnergyHealth CareTransportationOthers.Nanomaterials Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global nanomaterials market is expected to register a favourable growth for the forecast period, 2015?2025. North America and Europe are the two prominent regions that are projected to endure the control on the global nanomaterials market. Decreasing prices due to the increasing mass production is responsible for the robust growth of the above mentioned markets. The demand for nanomaterials is also surging across Asian regions. The Asia-Pacific region is projected to witness remarkable growth rate owning to the greater demand of nanomaterials in the developing regions like India and China and their continuous research and developmental activities.Visit For TOC@Nanomaterials: Key PlayersThere are a lot of players in the nanomaterials industry of which some of the key market participants in global nanomaterials market are BASF, EMFUTUR Technologies, Evonik Industries, Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC, Bayer AG, SkySpring Nanomaterials, Altair Nanotechnologies Inc., and Nanomaterials Company and others.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Global Corporate Wellness Market Size, Status and Forecast 2022 http://globalqyresearch.com/download-sample/255828 http://globalqyresearch.com/checkout-form/0/255828 http://globalqyresearch.com/ This report studies the global Corporate Wellness market, analyzes and researches the Corporate Wellness development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeCentral Corporate WellnessComPsych CorporationOptum, IncJLT Australia (Recovre Group)Truworth WellnessSOL WellnessSodexoConneXions AsiaBupa Wellness Pty LtdMarket segment by Regions/Countries, this report coversUnited StatesEUJapanChinaIndiaSoutheast AsiaMarket segment by Type, Corporate Wellness can be split intoHealth Risk AssessmentFitnessSmoking CessationHealth ScreeningWeight ManagementNutritionDownload Sample Report Copy From Here:Market segment by Application, Corporate Wellness can be split intoBig-Size CompanySmall & Medium Sized CompaniesIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.Table of ContentsGlobal Corporate Wellness Market Size, Status and Forecast 20221 Industry Overview of Corporate Wellness1.1 Corporate Wellness Market Overview1.1.1 Corporate Wellness Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Corporate Wellness Market Size and Analysis by Regions1.2.1 United States1.2.2 EU1.2.3 Japan1.2.4 China1.2.5 India1.2.6 Southeast Asia1.3 Corporate Wellness Market by Type1.3.1 Health Risk Assessment1.3.2 Fitness1.3.3 Smoking Cessation1.3.4 Health Screening1.3.5 Weight Management1.3.6 Nutrition1.4 Corporate Wellness Market by End Users/Application1.4.1 Big-Size Company1.4.2 Small & Medium Sized Companies2 Global Corporate Wellness Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Corporate Wellness Market Size (Value) by Players (2016 and 2017)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 Central Corporate Wellness3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Corporate Wellness Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 ComPsych Corporation3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Corporate Wellness Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 Optum, Inc3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Corporate Wellness Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.3.5 Recent Developments3.4 JLT Australia (Recovre Group)3.4.1 Company Profile3.4.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.4.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.4.4 Corporate Wellness Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.4.5 Recent Developments3.5 Truworth Wellness3.5.1 Company Profile3.5.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.5.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.5.4 Corporate Wellness Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.5.5 Recent Developments3.6 SOL Wellness3.6.1 Company Profile3.6.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.6.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.6.4 Corporate Wellness Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.6.5 Recent Developments3.7 Sodexo3.7.1 Company Profile3.7.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.7.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.7.4 Corporate Wellness Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.7.5 Recent Developments3.8 ConneXions Asia3.8.1 Company Profile3.8.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.8.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.8.4 Corporate Wellness Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.8.5 Recent Developments3.9 Bupa Wellness Pty Ltd3.9.1 Company Profile3.9.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.9.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.9.4 Corporate Wellness Revenue (Value) (2012-2017)3.9.5 Recent Developments4 Global Corporate Wellness Market Size by Type and Application (2012-2017)4.1 Global Corporate Wellness Market Size by Type (2012-2017)4.2 Global Corporate Wellness Market Size by Application (2012-2017)4.3 Potential Application of Corporate Wellness in Future4.4 Top Consumer/End Users of Corporate Wellness5 United States Corporate Wellness Development Status and Outlook5.1 United States Corporate Wellness Market Size (2012-2017)5.2 United States Corporate Wellness Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)6 EU Corporate Wellness Development Status and Outlook6.1 EU Corporate Wellness Market Size (2012-2017)6.2 EU Corporate Wellness Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)7 Japan Corporate Wellness Development Status and Outlook7.1 Japan Corporate Wellness Market Size (2012-2017)7.2 Japan Corporate Wellness Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)8 China Corporate Wellness Development Status and Outlook8.1 China Corporate Wellness Market Size (2012-2017)8.2 China Corporate Wellness Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)9 India Corporate Wellness Development Status and Outlook9.1 India Corporate Wellness Market Size (2012-2017)9.2 India Corporate Wellness Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)10 Southeast Asia Corporate Wellness Development Status and Outlook10.1 Southeast Asia Corporate Wellness Market Size (2012-2017)10.2 Southeast Asia Corporate Wellness Market Size and Market Share by Players (2016 and 2017)11 Market Forecast by Regions, Type and Application (2017-2022)11.1 Global Corporate Wellness Market Size (Value) by Regions (2017-2022)11.1.1 United States Corporate Wellness Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)11.1.2 EU Corporate Wellness Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)11.1.3 Japan Corporate Wellness Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)11.1.4 China Corporate Wellness Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)11.1.5 India Corporate Wellness Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)11.1.6 Southeast Asia Corporate Wellness Revenue and Growth Rate (2017-2022)11.2 Global Corporate Wellness Market Size (Value) by Type (2017-2022)11.3 Global Corporate Wellness Market Size by Application (2017-2022)12 Corporate Wellness Market Dynamics12.1 Corporate Wellness Market Opportunities12.2 Corporate Wellness Challenge and Risk12.2.1 Competition from Opponents12.2.2 Downside Risks of Economy12.3 Corporate Wellness Market Constraints and Threat12.3.1 Threat from Substitute12.3.2 Government Policy12.3.3 Technology Risks12.4 Corporate Wellness Market Driving Force12.4.1 Growing Demand from Emerging Markets12.4.2 Potential Application13 Market Effect Factors Analysis13.1 Technology Progress/Risk13.1.1 Substitutes13.1.2 Technology Progress in Related Industry13.2 Consumer Needs Trend/Customer Preference13.3 External Environmental Change13.3.1 Economic Fluctuations13.3.2 Other Risk Factors14 Research Finding/Conclusion15 AppendixMethodologyAnalyst IntroductionData SourceBuy This Report Now:Global QYResearch() is the one spot destination for all your research needs. Global QYResearch holds the repository of quality research reports from numerous publishers across the globe. Our inventory of research reports caters to various industry verticals including Healthcare, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Technology and Media, Chemicals, Materials, Energy, Heavy Industry, etc. With the complete information about the publishers and the industries they cater to for developing market research reports, we help our clients in making purchase decision by understanding their requirements and suggesting best possible collection matching their needs.Cleveland Road Global Genomics Personalized Health Market: Growing Healthcare Expenditure Offers Lucrative Opportunities http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/personalized-genomics-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=12197 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The global market for genomics personalized health is set to create a remarkable incremental opportunity in the come years owing to rise in the biopharmaceutical and healthcare industry. The other drivers for global genomics personalized health the market are increase in prevalence of cancer, increase in geriatric population, increasing attentiveness towards health in emerging economies. Transparency Market Research estimates that the global genomics personalized health market will expand at a CAGR of 14.9% over the forecast period between 2017 and 2025. The global market is estimated to reach US$25,112.5 mn by the end of 2025 from US$7,243.0 mn in 2016.Obtain Report Details @Based on technology type the market is segmented as NGS platforms, RT-PCR, microarray, genetic analyzers, and others. In 2016, the NGS platform segment under technology type held a prominent market share of over 32.0% of the global genomics personalized health market. This segment is expected to propel with high growth rate during the forecast period as compared to other segments. Its growth will be associated with introduction of highly efficient technologies and instruments by leading companies such as F. Hoffmann- La Roche, Thermo Fisher Scientific and Illumina Inc. This segment consists of the most prominent best-selling and advance sequencing products used for various genetic analysis.Diagnostic Centers and Academic and Research Institutes Lead the Pack due to Growing Investments in R&DOn the basis of end users, the global genomics personalized health market is divided into academics and research institutes, diagnostic centers, and others. Diagnostic centers and academic and research institutes are the major shareholders in the genomics personalized health market with a combined share of around 88.0%, as was recorded in 2016. In April, 2017, the Institute of Medical Genetics and Pathology and Thermo Fisher Scientific at University Hospital Basel signed a strategic agreement for development and validation of next-generation sequencing (NGS)-based cancer diagnostics. Thus, the increasing research activities in the field of genomics along with increase in genetic disorders, increasing strategic alliance between market leaders, and research institutes is expected to drive these segments over the forecast period.Make an Enquiry @Asia Pacific to Offer Lucrative Opportunities due to Increasing Awareness about DiseasesThe global genomics personalized health market has been segregated into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa in terms of geography. The North America genomics personalized health market accounts for major share of the global market in 2016, followed by Europe. Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a faster rate due to advanced acceptance rate for innovative technology in the region. Latin America is anticipated to provide lucrative opportunities to the global manufacturers in the region due to increasing awareness and increase in healthcare expenditure, the industry will enhance the demand for genomics personalized health system in this region. Others reason for the market growth are expanding pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in Mexico and Brazil has provided lucrative growth prospects for the genomics personalized health market in the region. The MEA genomics personalized health market is expected to grow at a lower rate when compared to other regions in global genomics personalized health market.Leading players in the genomics personalized health market include are QIAGEN, Illumina, Inc. Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc., F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Lonza Group, INVITAE Corporation, Genetic Technologies Limited, Interleukin Genetics Inc., Eastern Biotech and Life Sciences, DNA Genotek Inc. (Subsidiary of OraSure Technologies, Inc.), uBiome, Inc., and XCode Life Sciences Private Limited.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Contact UsTransparency Market ResearchState Tower,90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Though still mired in the roar of construction, UW-Madisons Alumni Park will soon offer a stunning view of Lake Mendota on one end, and the social center of the campus on the other. The 1.3-acre park, which opens to the public in early October, will feature a wide walkway cutting between the universitys Memorial Union and Red Gym. The new greenspace will feature more than 50 museum-like exhibits honoring major campus alumni. The park will unite the lakefront and the two campus malls Library Mall and East Campus Mall in a continuous stream of activity. The area was formerly a parking lot. The last phase of construction, termed the Lakefront Gateway, has been in the works since summer 2015. The first phase of the project, the Goodspeed Family Pier, opened in 2013. The first germs of the idea for Alumni Park emerged in 2009, as the Wisconsin Alumni Association prepared for its 150th anniversary in 2011, said Mary Carbine, managing director of Alumni Park and an alumna of UW-Madison. Ongoing discussion yielded the concept of a gift from alumni to campus, she said. Roughly 4,000 donors contributed to the $8 million project, which is entirely funded by the donations. Carbine called the elevation of the park, which is now on even grading with the Union, an engineering marvel. The park is located on top of a loading dock which has an entrance now adjacent to the Red Gym instead of the union. The alumni association collaborated with Ralph Appelbaum Associates, a design company known for its work on the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., to best tell the story of the Wisconsin Idea, Carbine said. The result is a mosaic of the alumni experience, Carbine said. Ten different sections carry their own thematic emblems, such as the government and social policy area. Alumni quotes are cut into weathered steel, and slabs of granite await iconic bronze sculptures, which will represent the work of specific alumni. The park entrance, on Langdon Street, opens onto a large slab of a fountain. A set of steps leads to the central path, bordered by various planters, and ending in a platform termed Progress Point. The platform juts out over a grassy area, just short of the lake. A vacant circular panel on the platform awaits placement of the universitys Numen Lumen seal. Shade trees, just beginning to bloom, dot the area there are a total of 50 throughout the park. A rolling pathway veers from the main path, allowing access to a visitor information center in the alumni association building, which is tucked between the Red Gym and the lake. The brick pathway also circles an outdoor classroom, a two-tiered granite space meant for educational demonstrations, performances and social gatherings. The parks opening will allow it to feature its exhibitions in the Madison Museum of Contemporary Arts fall Gallery Night. A series of events from October to mid-November will highlight the parks opening by unveiling the parks exhibits, offering tours, and hosting Wisconsin Science Festival programs. Food Sorting Machines Market Globally Expected to Drive Growth through 2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-843 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-843 www.futuremarketinsights.com Automation is becoming more of a requirement than an option in the food processing industry. The rigorous quality and cost controls required in the food industry is making it more critical. Production of high grade food requires capable and efficient inspection and sorting systems, in the operations and production line. The food is sorted by color, size, shape, specific gravity prior to inspection and other criteria depending upon the raw material and application.Global interest is increasing towards the quality of food consumed along with the stringent legislations on product quality and operating procedures. In the food industry, the product specification is extremely important, and is one of those area where new developments are crossing the boundaries. The food industry is under immense pressure of meeting the demands of growing world population.Request Report Sample@The global population is becoming urbanized and there is heavy industrialization seen in the emerging economies. This leads to an upward trend towards convenience foods that are healthy, nutritious and easy to prepare. Food security is an emerging challenge for policy makers and companies in the food supply chain. Over the period food production will be under threat from climate change, competing land uses, erosion and diminishing supplies of clean water. One of the solutions to this dilemma is increased efficiency and waste reduction in the food supply chain. Food sorting machines offer increase in efficiency by selectively filtering out the undesired materials from the main food. The main purpose is separation of foreign seeds and bodies, such as unhealthy or spotted grains. The insertion of optical sorter into strategic positions of the milling process facilitates and optimizes the whole cleaning process. Worldwide the optical sorters are being used in the food industry. Its highly adopted in the processing of harvested foods such as fruits, potatoes, vegetables and nuts where it achieves non-destructive,100% inspection on full production volume. Since manual sorting is subjective and inconsistent, its not preferred. Optical sorting helps to improve the product quality, increase yields, maximize throughput while reducing labor costs. Since few years the trend is of integration of the traditional mechanical cleaning process with optical sorting machines.Food Sorting Machines Market: Drivers & RestraintsGrowing population, rising urbanization, growing technological awareness, industrialization of emerging economies and increasing per capita income are some of the key factors driving the growth of the food sorting machines market.Environmental Protection Agency regulations on disposal of food waste, changing consumption patterns and smaller households are few of the probable factors restraining the growth of the food sorting machines market.Food Sorting Machines Market: SegmentationThe global food sorting machines market is broadly classified on the basis of product type, technology and geographies.Based on product type, the global food sorting machines market is segmented into:Channel SortersFreefall SortersBelt SortersADR SystemsBased on technology, the global food sorting machines market is segmented into:LaserCameraLEDX-rayFood Sorting Machines Market: OverviewThough food sorting machines is a new technology for emerging economies like India, but in the developed economies like North America and Europe the same technology is in use for years.With growing global population and increasing pressure on food industry to meet the customer demands, the acceptance of food sorting machines is gaining popularity. The global food sorting machines market is expected to expand at a promising CAGR during the forecast period (2015-2025).Food Sorting Machines Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global food sorting machines market is expected to register a double-digit CAGR for the forecast period. Depending on geographic regions, global food sorting machines market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. As of 2015, North America dominated the global food sorting machines market in terms of market revenue followed by Europe. Asia Pacific & Japan are projected to expand at a substantial growth and will contribute to the global food sorting machines market value exhibiting a robust CAGR during the forecast period, 2015?2025.Visit For TOC@Food Sorting Machines Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market participants in global food sorting machines market are Tomra Systems ASA, Sesotec GmbH, Buhler AG, Key Technology, BarcoVision, Satake USA Inc.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Flexible Plastic Packaging Market Size, Analysis, and Forecast Report 2017-2027 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4174 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4174 www.futuremarketinsights.com Plastic packaging can be defined as a casing of any products by bags, pouches, plastic containers or jars which can be used for industrial goods, food & beverages, personal care products, and household products. PET (polyethylene terephthalate), HDPE (High-density polyethylene), LDPE (low-density polyethylene), PP (polypropylene), PVC (polyvinyl chloride) are largely used for plastic packaging. Plastics can be simply altered or molded in any shape as per required in packaging for goods. Flexible plastic packaging is the fastest growing segments of the packaging industry which combines the good qualities of plastic to deliver an extensive range of useful properties while using the minimum amount of material. Plastic packaging is largely used in industrial applications and in consumer products which help the product the products.Flexible plastic packaging is a type of packaging where plastics that are used is thin, light, and which are simply stretchable but yet retain the obstacle properties and tear and puncture resistant features that are why it is used for packaging products. Flexible plastic packaging is cheap, visually appealing and chemically inert which increases the brand demand of the products that are used in packing. Mostly Flexible plastic packaging are used for fast moving unit loads and to pack non-durable which has limited bulk industrial use with the exemption of FIBCs.Request Report Sample@Flexible packaging helps in reducing the waste of food as the shelf life of the food product is increased according to Industry Council for Research and Packaging on the Environment (INCPEN). Advanced packaging for milk pouches is helping the transportation easy and without nay refrigeration possible.Global Flexible Plastic Packaging Market: SegmentationBased on the pack type, Global Flexible Plastic Packaging Market can be segmented into:PouchesFlat PouchesStandup PouchesRetort PouchesBagsGusseted BagsWicketed BagsOthersSleeve LabelsBased on the material, Global Flexible Plastic Packaging Market can be segmented into:PlasticPoly PropylenePolyester FilmPoly EthyleneLow-Density Poly Ethylene (LDPE)High-Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE)Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC)Aluminum FoilPaperOthersBased on the application, Global Flexible Plastic Packaging Market can be segmented into:Food PackagingReady-to-eat foodsProcessed foodsBakery foodsPet FoodsFruits and VegetablesOthersBeverage PackagingWaterDrinksJuicesOthersCosmetics PackagingHealthcare Product PackagingBlood bagsSaline BottlesBased on the Printing Technology, Global Flexible Plastic Packaging Market can be segmented into:Digital PrintingFlexography PrintingOffset PrintingScreen PrintingRotogravure PrintingBased on the end-use industry, Global Flexible Plastic Packaging Market can be segmented into:Food and BeverageHealthcarePersonal and HomecareOthersGlobal Flexible Plastic Packaging Market: Regional OutlookOn the basis of the geographical market segment, Global Flexible Plastic Packaging Market is segmented into seven different regions: North America, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, Western Europe, and Asia-Pacific region, Japan and the Middle East and Africa.In regional segments, Asia-Pacific is the leading market for the global flexible plastic packaging market and is anticipated to continue its position during the forecast period. The expansion is mainly attributed to increasing of the packaging industry due to emerging markets in China and India followed by North America. Moreover, the flexible plastic packaging market in Europe is also rising during the forecast period as the application of flexible plastic packaging in food packaging industries is increasing.Global Flexible Plastic Packaging Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe global Flexible Plastic Packaging Market is expected to witness sustained growth over the forecast period. Flexible plastic packaging has made the life of the consumers easier due to its functionality and sustainability which is the major factor for the growth of flexible plastic packaging market growth across the globe. Nowadays, a variety of pouches can be easily found in the supermarket, grocery stores, and various other stores.Rising Demand of flexible plastic packaging market from Pharmaceuticals and Healthcare Industry is also boosting the flexible plastic packaging market.Visit For TOC@Furthermore, the fluctuating prices of raw materials are the major restraints in the growth for flexible plastic packaging manufacturers.Global Flexible Plastic Packaging Market: Key PlayersSome of the players operating in the Flexible Plastic Packaging Market includes Amcor, BASF S.E., AEP Industries, Amcor, Bemis Company, Constantia Flexibles, Berry Plastics, DS Smith, Sealed Air, Sonoco, Bischof + Klein SE & Co. KG and few other regional players. As the plastic Packaging is being accepted in most of the products. Manufacturers of flexible plastic packaging are improving their packaging to attract the consumers.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Electronic Medical Records (EMR) Market Expected to Grow at a CAGR of 5.6% During 20152025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-387 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-387 www.futuremarketinsights.com The global electronic medical record (EMR) market was estimated to be valued at US$ 11.41 Bn in 2015, and is expected to increase at 5.6% CAGR through 2025. These insights are according to the report, Electronic Medical Record Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2015 - 2025, by research and consulting firm Future Market Insights (FMI).Rising need for integrated healthcare facilities, combined with operational efficiency benefits are the key factors driving adoption of electronic medical records in end-use sectors, such as hospitals and ambulatory settings. Government support and advocacy for implementation of EMR is also driving adoption in key regions, such as the US and Europe. For example, in the US, adoption and meaningful use of health information technology through the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act is boosting adoption of EMR. In the U.K., over 4 Bn has been set aside for incorporating digital technology in healthcare; the countrys National Health Services (NHS) aims to go paperless by 2018.FMIs report offers market forecast on the basis of product, components, deployment, end-user, and region.On the basis of product, the EMR market has been segmented into hospital EMR and ambulatory EMR. According to FMIs analysis, the ambulatory EMS segment, worth US$ 3.74 Bn in 2015, is expected to increase at over 8% CAGR and surpass US$ 8 Bn by 2025.Fill the Form for an Exclusive Sample of this Report@Key end-use segments in the EMR market include hospitals, general physician clinics, specialised clinics, and ambulatory surgical centres. Among these, hospitals segment holds the highest revenue share and the status quo is expected to remain so during the forecast period as well. Adoption of EMR technology in clinics is growing at a robust pace by 2025, clinics segment is expected to hold over 27% revenue share of the global EMR market.On the basis of deployment type, FMIs report has segmented the market into cloud-based server setups, client server setups, and hybrid server setups. Among these, cloud-based server setups is anticipated to increase at the highest CAGR during the forecast period, owing to ease of installation and optimum cost.On the basis of component, the report offers 10-year market forecast on the segments software and services. The services segment accounted for over 60% revenue share of the global EMR market in 2015.North America and Western Europe are currently the two largest markets for EMR in terms of revenue. North Americas dominance of the global EMR market is expected to continue during the forecast period. Adoption of EMR technology in Asia Pacific is anticipated to witness a spike in the next decade -- the Asia Pacific EMR market is expected to increase at a CAGR of 6.2% through 2025.Send An Enquiry@Key players in the global EMR market include Epic Systems Corporation, McKesson Corporation, Cerner Corp, Medical Information Technology Inc., NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, LLC, Greenway Health, LLC, and GE Healthcare. An analysis on the current and future strategies of these key players has been provided in FMIs report.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite : Post-Consumer Recycled Plastic Packaging Market size and Key Trends in terms of volume and value 2017-2027 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3527 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3527 www.futuremarketinsights.com Packaging products made of eco-friendly material are gaining popularity as market players are adapting to sustainable packaging methods. Products and materials sold in the consumer markets, which have served their intended purpose or completed their life cycle are sent to material recovery facilities (MRFs). Packaging products made of plastic materials recovered from MRFs contribute to the category of post-consumer recycled plastic packaging. One of the prominent material which is being recycled is the PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic. PET plastic is the most widely used and accepted plastic, as it is quite easy to recycle and can be recycled more than once, thus promoting the post-consumer recycled plastic packaging market. Recycled products have many environmental benefits and are being preferred by the manufacturers adopting sustainable principles. The increased demand for packaging products produced using recycled content has also propelled the post-consumer recycled plastic packaging market.Post-Consumer Recycled Plastic Packaging Market- Market Dynamics:A major factor supporting the growth of post-consumer recycled plastic packaging market is the improved material sorting infrastructure across many significant regions like U.S., Canada and Western Europe. The global market for post-consumer recycled plastic packaging is witnessing the incorporation of new material processing technologies for manufacturing of post-consumer recycled products and materials. Light weight nature of recycled plastic is another factor fuelling the growth of post-consumer recycled plastic packaging market. The growth of post-consumer recycled plastic packaging market is propelled by certain properties of recycled plastic such as strength and crack-resistance. Another prominent factor promoting the growth of post-consumer recycled plastic packaging market is the environmental friendly property of the plastic. However, the shortfall in supply has restricted the growth prospects for post-consumer recycled plastic packaging market. FDA regulations applicable to packaging of food products across geographic regions are a matter of concern for market players operating in the global post-consumer recycled plastic packaging market.Request Report Sample@Manufacturers are identifying new infrastructure for segregating and collecting mixed plastics at the recovery facilities in order to implement appropriate sorting mechanism. Effectiveness of the selection process plays a vital role in the amount of materials recovered in these facilities.Post-Consumer Recycled Plastic Packaging Market- Market Segmentation:The post-consumer recycled plastic packaging market can be segmented on the basis of product type, material type, process type and end use. On the basis of product type, the post-consumer recycled plastic packaging market can be segmented into bottles, cups, containers (jars and tubs), bags, clamshells and blister packs. Mostly all the recycled plastic packaging products are thermoformed and the FDA approved products are even safe for direct food contact. On the basis of material type, the post-consumer recycled plastic packaging market can be segmented into PET (polyethylene terephthalate), HDPE (high density polyethylene) and PP (polypropylene). PET plastic is expected to be the major contributor due to its abundance availability and ease in processing technology. On the basis of process type, the post-consumer recycled plastic packaging market can be segmented into mechanical (melting and refining) process and chemical process. On the basis of end use, the post-consumer recycled plastic packaging market can be segmented into beverage (bottle and dairy products), electronics, home care, pharmaceuticals, and personal care.Post-Consumer Recycled Plastic Packaging Market- Regional Outlook:Geographically, the post-consumer recycled plastic packaging market is segmented into five key regions: North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and Middle East and Africa (MEA). North America is the leading manufacturer of post-consumer recycled plastic packaging market as U.S. and Canada have taken major steps to initiate material sorting infrastructures in the regions and is anticipated to witness a healthy growth. Asia-Pacific is expected to witness a significant growth over the forecast period driven by the developments in China and India.Visit For TOC@Post-Consumer Recycled Plastic Packaging Market- Key Players:Some of the key players of post-consumer recycled plastic packaging market are Placon Corporation Inc., Seventh Generation Inc., Amcor Rigid Plastics USA Inc., Genpak, LLC, Papier-Mettler, Inhaber Michael Mettler e.K., Tray-Pak Corporation, Alpha Packaging, Inc., and Eco-Products, Inc.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Road Aggregates Market Globally Expected to Drive Growth through 2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-872 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-872 www.futuremarketinsights.com Global Road Aggregates Market: OverviewAggregates are the major component that are used in road construction among all other materials. It is normally used as a base layer for road construction. Road Aggregates are the granular materials such as gravel, limestone, crushed rock that are used along with water, cement for their final application on roads. Road aggregates finds its application in construction of road over bridges, bypasses, flyover, stand-alone roads, tunnels, underpasses, and others. As there is surge for new road projects, the road aggregate market is expected to gear up in the coming years.Global Road Aggregates Market: SegmentationGlobal road aggregates market is segmented into type, application, and region. The global road aggregates market can be segmented on the basis of type which includes granite, sand, gravel, limestone, crushed rock, & others. On the basis of application the market can be segmented into new construction and repairs & maintenance. Region wise, global Road Aggregates market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Japan, Asia pacific (APEJ), and Middle East and Africa (MEA).Request Report Sample@Global Road Aggregates Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global road aggregates market is projected to witness a moderate growth from 2015 to 2025. According to FMI forecasts, the market in Asia-Pacific region is expected to grow at fastest CAGR in the coming years. Western Europe and North America are the matured market for global road aggregates market.Global Road Aggregates Market: DriversInvestments in new and improved roads is accelerating the growth of road aggregates market. Aggregates are consumed in large quantities to meet the repairs & maintenance as well as the new road construction projects and other infrastructure development activities. It also includes many different grades of sand and gravel which vary in their geologic origin and in their processing techniques such as crushing, screening and washing. The product type is manufactured as per the engineering specifications required for the road projects.Aggregate is not only used in the construction of new highways, but also in reconstruction, rehabilitation and widening already existing highways. Road standards are changing overtime, modifications in aggregate specifications have led to increased usage of percentages of stone, with greater amount of crushed particles. These changes have resulted in more aggregate being laid down on highways. All these factors together drive the road aggregates market during the forecast period.Global Road Aggregates Market: RestraintsThe restraints that are hindering the growth of global road aggregate market includes factors such as high cost of transport and environmental effects of the supply of aggregates.Global Road Aggregates Market: Competitive LandscapeKey players in the global road aggregates market focus on product innovation and introduction of new product grades in order to outperform competitors. Investment on research and development to provide high quality and different grades of road aggregates as per the changed aggregate specifications is also a major strategy that is followed by major players in the global road aggregates market.Visit For TOC@Global Road aggregates Market: Key PlayersSome of the major players identified in the global road aggregates market are LafargeHolcim Group, Wharehine, Aggregate Industries, Okanagan Aggregates Ltd., Rock Road Companies Inc., Kuari Pati Sdn Bhd, Hanlon Concrete, etc.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Polypropylene Random Copolymers Market Analysis, Segments, Growth and Value Chain 2015-2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-876 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-876 www.futuremarketinsights.com Global Polypropylene Random Copolymers Market: OverviewPolypropylene random copolymers are produced by modifying the fundamental structure of polypropylene by incorporating another monomer molecule. Ethylene being the most common monomer used. The ethylene molecules, in the polymer chain, are introduced randomly between the propylene molecules. The incorporation of ethylene causes change in the physical properties of polypropylene. Random copolymer polypropylene usually contains about 1 to 7 weight percent of ethylene molecules and around 93 to 99 weight percent of propylene molecules.As compared to polypropylene homopolymers, random copolymers shows better optical properties like increased clarity and decreased haze, increased flexibility, improved impact resistance, and a lowered melting point resulting in a reduced heat-sealing temperature. However, exhibiting more or less the same chemical resistance, organoleptic properties like low taste and odor contribution, and water vapor barrier properties as polypropylene homopolymers. Random copolymers are generally produced in the same process configuration as the homo polymers.Random copolymer polypropylenes finds use in blow molding, injection molding, and extrusion molding applications that require improved clarity and . They are used in medical packaging, food packaging, and consumer products.Request Report Sample@Global Polypropylene Random Copolymers Market: SegmentationGlobal polypropylene random copolymers market is segmented on the basis of applications, end-use, and regions. The global polypropylene random copolymer market is segmented on the basis of application into blown film, blow molding, injection molding, and extrusion molding. On the basis of end-use, global polypropylene market is segmented into medical packaging, food packaging, and consumer products, etc. Region wise, the global polypropylene random copolymer market is divided into North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific (APEJ), Japan, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, and Middle East and Africa (MEA).Global Polypropylene Random Copolymers Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global market share of Western European polypropylene random copolymers market is estimated to witness a drop from around 13.9% to about 11.4% in the forecast period. The fall is primarily due to a moderate increase in demand only in the largest national markets such as Germany, France, and Italy. Eastern Europe is expected to grow sharply, especially in the Russian packaging sector. The USA is reporting a recent increase in demand for polypropylene random copolymers. India and China continue to witness a huge increase of demand, owing to which Asia-Pacific is anticipated to account more than half of the total global demand by 2025.Global Polypropylene Random Copolymers Market: DriversThe introduction of newer application areas, development of bio-based polypropylene and substitution of various other materials continuously offers high potential for growth for the global polypropylene random copolymers market.Unconventional low feedstock prices are driving new capacity investment and thus rendering growth to the global polypropylene random copolymer market.Visit For TOC@Global Polypropylene Random Copolymers Market: Key PlayersSome of the major players identified in the global polypropylene random copolymer market are LyondellBasell Industries, Braskem, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), Total S.A., Entec Polymers, ExxonMobil, Sasol, Chevron Corporation, Royal Dutch Shell, ConocoPhillips, Borealis, Formosa Plastics Group, Reliance Industries, and SABIC etc.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Global Smart Grid Sensor Market Trend Analysis and Growth Forecast at 30.3% CAGR during 2017-2025 Smart Grid Sensor http://www.mrrse.com/sample/3208 http://www.mrrse.com/smart-grid-sensor-market http://www.mrrse.com/ Presently, advancement in measurement science and standards for smart grid technologies is causing an increase in expenditure on research and development. Hence, resulting in the development of the market for smart grid sensors. To study further, a new report has been added to the wide database of Market Research Report Search Engine (MRRSE). This research study is titled Smart Grid Sensor Market: Global Industry Trend Analysis 2012 to 2016 and Forecast 20172025, which encloses data related to the market status as well as forecast analysis for the period between 2017 and 2025. As per key research findings, the global smart grid sensor market is estimated to be valued at nearly US$ 174 Mn in 2017 and is likely to reach nearly US$ 1,450 Mn by 2025 end. At this pace, the revenue is anticipated to exhibit a CAGR of 30.3% during the above-stated forecast period.Request For Sample Report:A smart grid sensor is basically a small, lightweight node which serves as a detection station in a sensor network. These smart grid sensors allow the remote monitoring of equipment, such as power lines and transformers. The reports start with the executive summary and market introduction which includes, market definition, value chain analysis ad market taxonomy. This section also encloses details related to macro-economic factors and opportunity analysis to enlighten the readers.The next section includes information about the regional smart grid sensor market analysis and forecast along with market metrics such as the BPS analysis, absolute dollar opportunity, year-on-year growth rates and market attractiveness analysis. Further, the regional drivers, restraints, and trends are also provided to get familiar with factors which are aiding the growth and are hampering the growth of this concerned market across various assessed regions. The smart grid sensor market is segmented on the basis of geography which includes the prime regions such as North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Europe and Middle East & Africa. For each of the stated regions, the market size for the current as well as forecast period is analyzed quite carefully. Further, based on sensor type, the market is segregated into Voltage/Temperature Sensors, Outage Detection Sensors, Transformer Monitoring Sensors and Dynamic Line Rating Sensors.The last part of the report contains details about the competitive landscape of the smart grid sensor market. This section holds information on the key market players to educate the readers. This competition landscape offers a dashboard view of the key companies operating in the concerned market along with their important information and broad strategy adopted to stay in the lead.Browse Full Global Smart Grid Sensor Market Report with TOC :Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.State Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite: Web Conferencing Market Trends, Forecast, and Analysis by Future Market Insights http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-254 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-254 www.futuremarketinsights.com Globalization has brought many changes with it in the recent past. Currently, no business is restricted to one place. It is required collaboration with all the international and domestics players. Collaboration is new mantra adopted largely by all the enterprises. Which is found increasingly useful. Key challenge that companies were facing a combination of right collaboration toolsthat can help marketeers to exchange the idea and communicate to each other as effective as a face to face meeting. This has made the web conferencing a key differentiating medium due to requirement of communicating with clientele in the real time.Web conferencing market has seen an extensive growth due to its various features mentioned above, and it has become a generic platforms for the key application such as meetings, presentations, lectures, training events. Eventually web conferencing has become a key factor in business process and productive software suites. This will drive the web conferencing market in the near future.Request For Report Sample@Major participants in the global web conferencing market are Adobe Connect,PowWow365, Calliflower, Elluminate, Cisco WebEx, Epiphan Systems, GoToWebinar, Genesys Meeting Center, ACT Conferencing, IBM Sametime, VeriShow, eXo Platform with Weemo, BigBlueButton, Intercall, Oracle Beehive, Mikogo, Netviewer, Skype, RHUB Communications Inc., OmNovia Technologies, Starlight Networks Starlive, Teamviewer, TimeBridge VenueGen, and, Voxeet. The demand for web conferencing is growing rapidly and has represented 25 to 30% increase in uses from service providers.Owing to the stiff completion in the global webconferencing market, these companies offer remarkable services such as Citrix GO To Meeting, WEbEX MEetMe Now, IBM, Acrobat Connect Profeshional, and Micrsoft Office Live Meeting.Some of the end-use industries in the global web conferencing market include Banking and Financial Services, Education, Pharmaceutical/Healthcare, Manufacturing,Government, Information Technology, and others. Among all the aforementioned end-use segments, Information Technology (IT) segmented accounted for the largest market share with 24% of the total share in 2014. Others segment represented 21% share to the global web conferencing market in the same year. Furthermore, Banking and financial services, manufacturing, and healthcare segment accounted for 16%, 15%, and 14% each respectively in 2014. Government segment accounted for low market share of 4% in 2014. This government segment is still follow the traditional medium for business and is yet to adopt the technology innovation.According to the market research, the web conferencing market was value at US$ 1.80 Bn in 2012. The web conferencing market is expected to reach at US$ 2.88 Bn by 2017, exhibiting a CAGR of 9.8% between 2012 and 2017. Factors driving the web conferencing market include;GlobalizationSaving travel cost and ROIGrowing awareness and User-friendlyEnvironmental ImperativesNeed for enhancing productivityNeed for social networkingGrowth of Virtual EmployeeMigration to UCVisit For TOC@Furthermore, web conferencing has become a new trend for communication especially for commercial segment. The need for enhanced productivity from employees, and constant need of technology innovation are the key factors driving the web conferencing market over the next five years.The global web conferencing market highlights the key insights about the regions include North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World (RoW).ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Food Packaging Market - Global Industry Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast For 2023 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=7283 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/food-packaging-market.html Food Packaging Market: SnapshotFood packaging market is arguably the biggest application segment of the packaging sector and accounts for over one-third of the total global packaging market. From an international perspective, the market for food packaging is at an intriguing stage where the market has reached at a stagnant point the developed nations while evolving nations are fast catching up to the newer technologies and supply chain management.Good food packaging offers protection and can improve the shelf-life of products which consequently attracts more number of customers. The market for food packaging is expected to grow in the coming years as numerous production facilities are being set up to catch up with the latest trends coming up in the market. Also, world is experiencing rapid changes in lifestyle and food preferences that are coupled with growing population and economic growth of the respective region. All these factors have been influential in shaping up the global food packaging market. In addition to this, people are preferring processed food as result of shifting population dynamics from rural to urban areas.Download Research Brochure For More Information@With rising awareness about environmental pollution and global warming, more people are not preferring to use eco-friendly food packaging techniques. This has created a significant impact on the growth of the global food packaging market. Moreover, rising disposable incomes of the people around the world, growing demand for ready-to-eat food, and rising awareness about the packaged food among the customers complement the development of the global food packaging market.Food packaging market is by far the largest application segment of the packaging industry, accounting for more than one-third of the global packaging market. From a global perspective, the food packaging market is at a very interesting situation, where the market has almost reached a plateau in terms of technology in the more developed nations in North America and Europe, while the emerging countries of Asia Pacific region are playing catch up to the packaging technologies and food supply chain management. Different types of food products require varied packaging types according to their individual usage and perishability.The sea change in food habits and preference for processed food has propelled the food packaging market in the past. The market for packaged food has already reached a holistic level in North America and Western Europe, while rapid lifestyle changes and economic growth, coupled with rising population in Asia Pacific countries such as China and India, has spiked the growth rate of food packaging in the region. The growth rate in South America and the Middle East is also on the higher side compared to the developed economies. The main reason for increasing preference for processed food is the shifting population dynamics towards urban centers from rural areas. This has resulted in the advent of dual income urban families, who prefer processed food due to time constraints. Packaged food has evolved from super markets to neighborhood stores in countries such as China, India, Brazil and Thailand among others. The market dynamics in North America and Europe however, is governed by branding activities undertaken by food processing companies.Tremendous opportunity exist in the food packaging market in emerging economies as the food packaging technology is in its growth phase in this region. Antimicrobial packaging technique is of particular interest as it helps to improve the shelf life of perishable food products. The market is however, slightly restrained by the declining growth in North America and Europe.The food packaging market can be segmented into application segments such as convenience foods, confectionary items, dairy items, fruits and vegetables, meat and sauces and dressings. The popularity of the different food applications is different across the globe. For instance packaged meat is making foray into Asia Pacific region while it is mainstream in North America and Europe. Materials used to package food can also be segmented into plastic, paper & board, metal and glass. They may also be classified as rigid, semi-regid and flexible by type of packaging material. The preferences for different packaging materials also vary with regions due to the food habits specific to the regions. Flexible packaging accounts for the largest share of food packaging.Browse Report@North America is the largest food packaging market followed by Europe and Asia Pacific. However the growth rate exhibited by these regions has subsided considerably as the market is close to its peak. The growth parity is however, restored by the high growth regions of Asia Pacific and South America. China and India have exhibited exceptional growth potential and is expected to overtake the market leading position from North America in the near future.Some of the major players in the food packaging market are American Packaging Corporation, Anchor Packaging, Crown Holdings, Inc. and Bemis Company, Inc., among many others.About Us:-Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a next-generation provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact Us:-State Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com 2017-2022 Christmas Decoration Report on Global and United States Market, Status and Forecast, by Players, Types and Application http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1293648&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/2017-2022-christmas-decoration-report-on-global-and-united-states-market-status-and-forecast-by-players-types-and-application.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com This report studies the Christmas Decoration market status and outlook of global and United States, from angles of players, regions, product types and end industries; this report analyzes the top players in global and United States market, and splits the Christmas Decoration market by product type and applications/end industries.The global Christmas Decoration market is valued at XX million USD in 2016 and is expected to reach XX million USD by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.The Asia-Pacific will occupy for more market share in following years, especially in China, also fast growing India and Southeast Asia regions.North America, especially The United States, will still play an important role which cannot be ignored. Any changes from United States might affect the development trend of Christmas Decoration. United States plays an important role in global market, with market size of xx million USD in 2016 and will be xx million USD in 2022, with a CAGR of XX.To Get a Sample Copy of this Report Visit @Geographically, this report is segmented into several key regions, with sales, revenue, market share (%) and growth Rate (%) of Christmas Decoration in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesNorth AmericaEuropeAsia-PacificSouth AmericaMiddle East and AfricaThe major players in global and United States Christmas Decoration market, including Amscan, Balsam Brands, Barcana, Roman, Crab Pot Trees, Crystal Valley, Christmas Lights, Etc, Lasermation, Inc., Dickmann Manufacturing Company, Indiana Metal Craft, Inc., Fiberco, Inc., Tree Classics, Hilltop, Apex Plastic Industries, Inc., Promosha.The On the basis of product, the Christmas Decoration market is primarily split intoChristmas Trees (Real and Artificial)Christmas LightingsChristmas OrnamentsOthersOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report coversHome UseCommercial UseOthersTable of Contents1 Methodology and Data Source1.1 Methodology/Research Approach1.1.1 Research Programs/Design1.1.2 Market Size Estimation1.1.3 Market Breakdown and Data Triangulation1.2 Data Source2.1.1 Secondary Sources2.1.2 Primary Sources1.3 Disclaimer2 Christmas Decoration Market Overview2.1 Christmas Decoration Product Overview2.2 Christmas Decoration Market Segment by Type2.2.1 Christmas Trees (Real and Artificial)2.2.2 Christmas Lightings2.2.3 Christmas Ornaments2.2.4 Others2.3 Global Christmas Decoration Product Segment by Type2.3.1 Global Christmas Decoration Sales (K Units) and Growth (%) by Types (2012, 2016 and 2022)2.3.2 Global Christmas Decoration Sales (K Units) and Market Share (%) by Types (2012-2017)2.3.3 Global Christmas Decoration Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (%) by Types (2012-2017)2.3.4 Global Christmas Decoration Price (USD/Unit) by Type (2012-2017)2.4 United States Christmas Decoration Product Segment by Type2.4.1 United States Christmas Decoration Sales (K Units) and Growth by Types (2012, 2016 and 2022)2.4.2 United States Christmas Decoration Sales (K Units) and Market Share by Types (2012-2017)2.4.3 United States Christmas Decoration Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share by Types (2012-2017)2.4.4 United States Christmas Decoration Price (USD/Unit) by Type (2012-2017)3 Christmas Decoration Application/End Users3.1 Christmas Decoration Segment by Application/End UsersExplore Research Report with TOC @QYresearchreports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations.QYResearchReports1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Two of the states top Republicans on Wednesday did not denounce President Donald Trump by name for blaming both white supremacists and those protesting them for deadly violence in recent days. The refusal to directly address Trumps comments contrasts with a number of other high-profile Republicans nationally who in recent days have said publicly the leader of their party should not in any way defend white supremacists. Gov. Scott Walker told reporters that Trump can speak for himself when asked whether Trumps response to the violence was adequate and whether he thought Trump was racist. My comment on this is: I denounce the bigotry and hatred, and Ill let the president and his team speak for him, Walker told reporters Wednesday. Trump was broadly criticized for blaming many sides for the violence that broke out in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend after white supremacist groups convened to protest the proposed dismantling of a statue of Civil War Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. At one point, a man who identified as a neo-Nazi drove a car into a crowd of protesters, injuring more than a dozen and killing a 32-year-old woman. Trump on Tuesday said both the protesters and the white nationalist groups were to blame, but there were very fine people on both sides. Leaders of the white nationalist movement have thanked him in recent days for his courage. Walker and U.S. Sen Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh, at an event in Madison, did not directly condemn Trumps comments. I want to make it clear that I speak out against the hate and the bigotry exhibited by the white extremists, Walker said. Johnson, in separate comments, said he was not entirely comfortable with the presidents remarks. He said that elected officials should speak out about white nationalists to reduce the divisiveness. I find it just depressing that a young woman died pushing back on people that are flying under a flag of just a completely evil ideology, he said after speaking at an event hosted by Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce. When asked if he remains confident in Trumps leadership after his response to the events in Charlottesville, Walker responded by praising Trump administration policies. Would I occasionally like the president to do or say things slightly different than he does? Of course, Walker said. But I think when I look at the substance of what this administration is doing and the benefits it has for manufacturers, for farmers, for others in this state, Ive been overall very pleased. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Janesville, tweeted Tuesday that white supremacy is bigotry counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity, but did not address Trump by name. Democrats on Wednesday said state Republican leaders refusal to mention Trump by name and silence on the matter from other top Republicans in the state insults people of color. As an elected leader we need to do our job and that is to make sure not only do we hold ourselves accountable but we hold our colleagues and our counterparts accountable, too, and that means calling out those individuals that need to be called out when they are wrong, said Sen. LaTonya Johnson, D-Milwaukee, who is black. Its offensive to call out (both sides) because you have one entity that organized because of hatred and the only reason that they organized because of hatred is because of the color of somebodys skin or their religious beliefs. Trump revises his comments On Monday, Trump made a more muscular statement than his initial response, saying neo-Nazis, white supremacists and members of the KKK who take part in violence were criminals and thugs. But the next day he reiterated his initial comments and blamed both groups for the violence. Those comments prompted U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Green Bay, and Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, to issue the most forceful rebuke from Wisconsin Republicans of Trumps comments. White nationalism and racism are antithetical to our fundamental values, Gallagher said in a statement. The President needs to be crystal clear that hatred has no place in our society, but he is currently failing at it. Steineke said Wednesday in an interview he completely disagrees with his party leaders assertion that there are very fine people on both sides. I dont think its possible to be racist and a white nationalist and be a decent human being, Steineke said. There is no place for these kinds of racists in the Republican Party. In the face of criticism of the president, some Wisconsin Republicans have called on Democrats to denounce the leftist group Antifa, which also has used violence but did not organize the counter-rally over the weekend. Others have used the incident to recall Democratic views toward slavery during the Civil War. Steineke said this isnt the time for moral equivalency and would advise Trump to stop rationalizing. I think we need to denounce racism without qualification, he said. It doesnt matter what happened in the past in either party. At this point, were talking about today and moving forward. I think both parties are responsible they should be making sure it is clear that these people have no home in any legitimate political party in this country today. Meanwhile, some of the states top Democrats U.S. Reps. Gwen Moore, of Milwaukee, and Mark Pocan, of Black Earth have raised the idea of Trump being removed from office. Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, of Madison, on Wednesday in response to Trumps comments tweeted: The only sides here are right and wrong. Americans look to the President for moral clarity. @realDonaldTrump failed us miserably. Spokeswomen for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, did not respond to questions regarding Trumps comments and their implications for the Republican Party, nor did a spokesman for Senate President Roger Roth, R-Appleton. Vos issued a statement late Wednesday saying Assembly lawmakers on Thursday would take up a resolution condemning the ideology of racial hatred that was witnessed by the world in Charlottesville. Ginger Oil Market Industry Analysis, Trend and Growth, 2017-2027 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4492 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4492 www.futuremarketinsights.com Ginger is the underground stem or rhizome of a perennial herb, which is used as a spice, preservative, and as a medicine. Ginger oil is spicy, warm, and energizing oil, extracted from a pungent ginger root. It is used to treat upset stomach, nausea, respiratory conditions menstrual disorders, and inflammation. It is also used as aromatherapy, to bring on feelings of self-assurance and courageousness which is why its known as the oil of empowerment.Ginger oil works as laxative, an antiseptic, tonic and stimulant and hence used in various pharmaceutical products.It has been used as a medicine since ancient times.Market Segmentation:Ginger oil market is segmented on the basis of its applications in different industries as food and beverage industry, pharmaceutical, personal care industry and other applications. In food and beverage industry ginger oil is used for flavor and seasoning purpose, in confectionery beverages and bakery products .it is widely used as flavor for cake, cookies and biscuits, ginger snaps etc. In non-alcoholic beverages ginger oil market demand is high. Due to its medicinal properties ginger oil is being used in treatment of several disease conditions since long time. Looking at several applications of ginger oil in treatment of stomach problem such as nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, food poisoning, gastric ulcer, headache, asthma, migraine, inflammation and many more conditions, ginger oil is used in various pharmaceutical products. Ginger oil is essential in hair care for curing dandruff and used in personal care products.As ginger oil is stimulating and therefore relieves depression, mental stress, dizziness, exhaustion, restlessness and anxiety, thus used in aromatherapy and Ayurveda.Request Report Sample@Ginger oil market is further segmented on basis of extraction methods such as steam distillation and solvent extraction. Solvent extraction is used for the extraction of ginger oleoresin, and steam distillation is used to get ginger essential oil.Ginger oil market is further segmented on the basis of regions as North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific Excluding Japan, Japan, and Middle East and Africa.Market Regional Outlook:In regional markets Asia Pacific is the largest producer of the ginger and hence possess high production shares ginger oil market. India is the leading producer of ginger oil and dominates the ginger oil market with almost half shares out of total market. China is also known for ginger production and trade of ginger oil. Asia Pacific mainly exports ginger oil to North America and European markets.Market Drivers and Trends:Increasing number of health conscious consumers, and their demands for natural oils and extracts based products is the major factor driving growth for essential oils and in turn ginger oil market. Ginger is majorly used in spices and thus ginger oils and oleoresins are preferred to prepared dried spices as flavoring in food industry, because they are more stable, contamination free , cleaner, , and can be easily standardized by blending. Thus the growth of food industry and spices demand are another factors driving growth of ginger oil market. The growth of natural personal care products industry is another growth driver for ginger oil market.Ayurveda treatments and aromatherapy are new trends in the market. Changed and hectic life style is causing mental stress, anxiety and other health issues, where aromatherapy and Ayurveda are preferred solutions my consumers. Ginger oil is used in natural medicines as well as in aromatherapy with other essential oils, this is another factor driving market growth of ginger oil.Visit For TOC@Ginger oil Market Key Players:The ginger oil market is mainly driven by major plyers in essential oils. Key players in ginger oil market includes AOS Products Private Limited, Manohar Botanical extracts PVT.LTD, The Lebermuth Company, Synthite, suppliers includes Mother Herbs Pvt.Ltd, Kama Ayurveda, S.N.N Natural Products, Herbal Bio solutions, GR herbals, Aravali Essential Oils and Fragrances etc.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Organic Snack Food Market size and forecast, 2017-2027 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4493 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4493 www.futuremarketinsights.com Snacks are a part of food which are smaller as compared to a regular meal that is generally consumed in the midst of meals. Snacks are found in various forms such as packaged snack foods and other processed foods. Organic snacks are non-GMO and contains organic ingredients in the food products. Organic snacks are made from USDA-certified organic and non-GMO ingredients that are gluten-free and are healthy for snacking. Organic snack foods are the products which contain nutritious and healthy ingredients such as proteins, vitamins and minerals. The organic snack foods such as potato chips, tortilla chips, corn chips; bakery products such as pancakes, bagel, pretzels, cookies and confectionery such as candies, chocolates, raisins, etc. contains organic ingredients which are nutritious and gluten-free as compared with conventional snacks. The organic snack foods are typically designed to be portable, healthy, nutritious and satisfying by the taste. The organic snack foods market is rising rapidly due to the increase in the health awareness among the people in consumption of organic foods that are beneficial for the body.Global Organic Snack Foods: Market SegmentationThe global organic snack foods market is segmented on the basis of product type, distribution channels, flavors and region type. The organic snack market is segmented on the basis of product type in which it includes snacks such as potato chips, corn chips, tortilla chips, and bakery products such as bagel, biscuits, doughnuts, cheese snacks, nut bars, pretzels, crackers, pita chips, confectionery such as chocolates, candies, candy bars and other snacks. The global organic snack foods market is segmented on the basis of distribution channels such as supermarket/hypermarket, grocery stores, e-commerce, convenience stores and other retail formats. The global organic snack foods market is segmented on the basis of flavors such as chocolate, vanilla, strawberry and others. Hence, the global organic snack food market is expected to increase significant growth over the forecast period.Request Report Sample@Global Organic Snack Foods Market: Regional OutlookOn the geography basis, the global organic snack foods market can be segmented by major regions which includes Latin America, Western Europe and Eastern Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific region, Japan, Middle East and Africa. Europe is emerging as the most dominant region in global organic snack foods market. The Asia/Pacific region is seemed to have a healthy CAGR over the forecast period. Thus the rise in the retail sector, efficient distribution and innovative marketing strategies of organic snack foods companies are the vital factors driving the growth of organic snack foods in the region.Global Organic Snack Foods Market: Growth DriversThe factors driving the organic snack foods market are the increasing health consciousness and importance of consumption of organic foods by the people due to the harmful side effects of conventional snacks such as increasing obesity, increasing calorie content of the body and less nutritional benefits. The millennial and kids are the major consumers of the organic snack foods globally. The demand for organic snacks is increasing rapidly and gaining popularity all over the world as a result of presence of natural ingredients in the snacks. Increasing demand for healthy snacks due to growing health awareness is expected to drive the organic snack foods market over the forecast period. Increasing organic farming and practicing organic agriculture in various developed region is one of the key factor for the growth of organic snack food market. As a result of growing health awareness, consumers are inclining towards consumption of organic food products as they are healthier and more sustainable as compared with conventional food products, which is also another key factor for the growth of organic snack food market. Hence, strong impulse buying behavior towards organic snack foods among the young consumers is mostly driving the organic snack food market.Visit For TOC@Global Organic Snack Foods Market: PlayersSome of the key players identified across the value chain of the global organic snack foods market includePure Organic, PRANA, Made in Nature, Kadac Pty Ltd, Navitas Naturals, General Mills, Woodstock Farms Manufacturing, SunOpta, Simple Squares and Organic Food Bar. The companies are anticipated to expand their business by enhancing their product portfolio in organic snack foods market over the forecast period.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: 2017-2022 ISO Shipping Container Report on Global and United States Market, Status and Forecast, by Players, Types and Applications http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1293676&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/2017-2022-iso-shipping-container-report-on-global-and-united-states-market-status-and-forecast-by-players-types-and-applications.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com This report studies the ISO Shipping Container market status and outlook of global and United States, from angles of players, regions, product types and end industries; this report analyzes the top players in global and United States market, and splits the ISO Shipping Container market by product type and applications/end industries.The global ISO Shipping Container market is valued at XX million USD in 2016 and is expected to reach XX million USD by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.The Asia-Pacific will occupy for more market share in following years, especially in China, also fast growing India and Southeast Asia regions.North America, especially The United States, will still play an important role which cannot be ignored. Any changes from United States might affect the development trend of ISO Shipping Container. United States plays an important role in global market, with market size of xx million USD in 2016 and will be xx million USD in 2022, with a CAGR of XX.To Get a Sample Copy of this Report Visit @Geographically, this report is segmented into several key regions, with sales, revenue, market share (%) and growth Rate (%) of ISO Shipping Container in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesNorth AmericaEuropeAsia-PacificSouth AmericaMiddle East and AfricaThe major players in global and United States ISO Shipping Container market, including Fortune Container Trading Ltd, Qingdao Double-Friend Container Co., Ltd, J. U. H. Kohrs Elektrotechnik GmbH, Container Produtcs Ltd, CCB Scaffoding Supplies Ltd, CIMC, SINGAMAS, CXIC Group, Shanghai Universal Logistics Equipment, Maersk Container Industry, Charleston Marine Containers, Sea Box, Hoover Container SolutionsThe On the basis of product, the ISO Shipping Container market is primarily split into40 ftOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report coversConsumer GoodsIndustrial TransportOtherTable of Contents2017-2022 ISO Shipping Container Report on Global and United States Market, Status and Forecast, by Players, Types and Applications1 Methodology and Data Source1.1 Methodology/Research Approach1.1.1 Research Programs/Design1.1.2 Market Size Estimation1.1.3 Market Breakdown and Data Triangulation1.2 Data Source2.1.1 Secondary Sources2.1.2 Primary Sources1.3 Disclaimer2 ISO Shipping Container Market Overview2.1 ISO Shipping Container Product Overview2.2 ISO Shipping Container Market Segment by Type2.2.1 40 ft2.3 Global ISO Shipping Container Product Segment by Type2.3.1 Global ISO Shipping Container Sales (K Units) and Growth (%) by Types (2012, 2016 and 2022)2.3.2 Global ISO Shipping Container Sales (K Units) and Market Share (%) by Types (2012-2017)2.3.3 Global ISO Shipping Container Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (%) by Types (2012-2017)2.3.4 Global ISO Shipping Container Price (USD/Unit) by Type (2012-2017)2.4 United States ISO Shipping Container Product Segment by Type2.4.1 United States ISO Shipping Container Sales (K Units) and Growth by Types (2012, 2016 and 2022)2.4.2 United States ISO Shipping Container Sales (K Units) and Market Share by Types (2012-2017)2.4.3 United States ISO Shipping Container Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share by Types (2012-2017)2.4.4 United States ISO Shipping Container Price (USD/Unit) by Type (2012-2017)3 ISO Shipping Container Application/End Users3.1 ISO Shipping Container Segment by Application/End Users3.1.1 Consumer Goods3.1.2 Industrial Transport3.1.3 OtherExplore Research Report with TOC @QYresearchreports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations.QYResearchReports1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-618-1030Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com Europe Reverse Flame Steam Boiler Market to Display a CAGR of 4.85% during the Forecast Period of 2017 2025 MRRSE http://www.mrrse.com/sample/3087 http://www.mrrse.com/europe-reverse-flame-steam-boiler-market https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrrse https://twitter.com/MRRSEmrrse The market for reverse flame steam boilers in Europe has displayed a significant growth path over the past few years and these boilers continue to experience healthy demand across a number of industries across Europe. Better operational benefits offered by revenue flame steal boilers as compared to other varieties of fire-tube boilers and reduced carbon emissions due to the usage of reverse flame steam boilers are the major factors attracting investment in the reverse flame steam boilers in Europe. Considering this fact, a new research report with a title Reverse Flame Steam Boiler Market - Europe Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 2025 has been recently added to the vast online repository of Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE). This report on reverse flame steam boiler market analyzes the current as well as future prospects of the market across Europe.Request for Sample ReportThe reverse flame steam boiler market in Europe is expected to register a CAGR of 4.85% from 2017 to 2025. At this rate, this industry will reach a valuation of US$142.18 million by the end of 2025 from US$92.70 million in 2016. The report also includes key market dynamics such as drivers, restraints, risks and opportunities influencing the market. These are investigated in detail and explained in the report with supporting graphs and tables. The report also offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market with the help of the Porters Five Forces Analysis model, which aids in understanding the aspects which are affecting the profitability and structure of the market.The study provides a comprehensive view of the European reverse flame steam boilers market by segregating it into end-use, capacity and geographic region. Based on capacity, the reverse flame steam boilers market is divided into: up to 100 KW, 101 KW 1,000 KW, and 1,001 KW & more. On the basis of end-use, the reverse flame steam boilers market is segmented into refineries, food, power plants, chemical, primary metals, and others. Furthermore, geographic segments include key European countries such as Germany, the U.K., France, Spain, Italy, and Rest of Europe. These segments are analyzed based on past, present, and future trends, and the market has been estimated in terms of revenue (US$ Million) between 2017 and 2025.Browse Full Report with TOC:Some of key companies operating in the European reverse flame boiler market include ATTSU, BoilerTech Pty Ltd, Bosch Industriekessel GmbH, Atlantic Boilers, Byworth Boilers, ICI Caldaie S.p.A., and others. Company profiles include attributes such as financial overview, company overview, number of employees, key competitors, business overview, business strategies, brand overview, recent developments and acquisitions.About UsMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.ContactState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY 12207United States Telephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comFollow Us on LinkedIn-Follow Us On Twitter- Global Paints & Coatings Market Key Trends, Size, Growth, Shares And Forecast Industry Analysis & Outlook (2017-2021) - Researchmoz http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1294775 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-paints-coatings-market-industry-analysis-outlook-20172021-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1294775 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Paints & Coatings Market: Industry Analysis & Outlook (2017-2021)" to its huge collection of research reports.Paint, is a coloured ingredient which is spread over a surface and then dries to leave a thin decorative or protective coating. It is used to describe a number of substances that consist of a pigment suspended in a liquid or paste form such as oil or water. With a brush, a roller, or a spray gun, paint is applied in a thin coat to various surfaces such as wood, metal, or stone. Although, the primary purpose of a paint is to protect the surface to which it is applied, it also provides decoration. Today, paints are used for interior and exterior house painting, boats, automobiles, planes, appliances, furniture, and many other places where protection and appeal are desired.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @The market can be divided into three broad segments, namely architectural segment that depends heavily on the performance of the building & construction sector, industrial paints and coatings segment that is closely related to the automotive, major appliances and industrial equipment sectors and specialty paints and coatings which includes a wide array of divergent coatings such as automotive refinish coatings, industrial maintenance coatings, traffic marking paints and marine paints.The global paints and coatings market is set to experience favorable growth driven by factors such as increasing construction spending, rapid urbanization, increasing household consumption expenditure and accelerating economic growth. The major trends observed in this market include increasing preference for professional contractors, technological advancements and increasing consolidation of market players. However, the growth of this budding market is constrained by challenges such as increasing raw material prices and stringent environmental regulations.The report Global Paints & Coatings Market: Industry Analysis & Outlook (2017-2021) analyses the development of this market, with focus on North America and Asia Pacific markets. The major trends, growth drivers as well as issues being faced by the market are discussed in detail in this report. The four major players: PPG Industries Inc., Sherwin-Williams, AkzoNobel and Axalta Coating Systems are being profiled along with their key financials and strategies for growth. The report contains a comprehensive analysis of the global paints & coatings market along with the study of the regional markets.Browse Detail Report With Full TOC @Table of Content1. Overview1.1 Introduction1.2 Manufacturing Process1.3 Types2. Global Paints & Coatings Market2.1 Global Paints & Coatings Market Forecast by Value2.2 Global Paints & Coatings Market by Region2.3 Global Paints & Coatings Market Value by Segments2.4 Global Architectural Paints & Coatings Market Forecast by Value2.5 Global Architectural Paints & Coatings Market by Region2.6 Global Architectural Paints & Coatings Market by Segments2.7 Global Architectural Paints & Coatings Market by Customer Mix2.8 Global Industrial Paints & Coatings Market Forecast by Value2.9 Global Industrial Paints & Coatings Market by Region2.10 Global Special Purpose Paints & Coatings Market Forecast by Value3. Regional Market Analysis3.1 Asia Pacific3.1.1 Asia Pacific Paints & Coatings Market Forecast by Value3.1.2 Indian Paints & Coatings Market Forecast by Value3.1.3 Indian Paints & Coatings Market Value by Segments3.1.4 Indian Decorative Paints & Coatings Market Forecast by Value3.1.5 Indian Decorative Paints & Coatings Market by Segments3.1.6 Indian Industrial Paints & Coatings Market Forecast by Value3.1.7 Indian Industrial Paints & Coatings Market by Segments3.2 North America3.2.1 North America Paints & Coatings Market Forecast by Value3.2.2 The U.S. Paints & Coatings Market Forecast by Value3.2.3 The U.S. Paints & Coatings Market Value by Segments3.2.4 The U.S. Architectural Paints & Coatings Market Forecast by Value3.2.5 The U.S. Architectural Paints & Coatings Market by Segments3.2.6 The U.S. Industrial Paints & Coatings Market Forecast by Value3.2.7 The U.S. Special Purpose Paints & Coatings Market Forecast by Value3.2.8 The U.S. Paints & Coatings Market Forecast by Volume3.2.9 The U.S. Paints & Coatings Market Volume by Segments3.2.10 The U.S. Architectural Paints & Coatings Market Forecast by Volume3.2.11 The U.S. Industrial Paints & Coatings Market Forecast by Volume3.2.12 The U.S. Special Purpose Paints & Coatings Market Forecast by Volume4. Market Dynamics4.1 Growth Drivers4.1.1 Increasing Construction Spending4.1.2 Rapid Urbanization4.1.3 Rising Household Consumption Expenditure4.1.4 Accelerating Economic Growth4.2 Key Trends & Developments4.2.1 Increasing Preference for Professional Contractors4.2.2 Technological Advancements4.2.3 Increasing Consolidation of Market Players4.3 Challenges4.3.1 Increasing Raw Material Costs4.3.2 Stringent Environmental Regulations5. Competitive Landscape5.1 Global Market5.1.1 Revenue and Market Cap Comparison5.1.2 Global Paints & Coatings Market Share by Company5.1.3 Global Industrial Paints & Coatings Market Share by Company5.1.4 Asia Pacific Paints & Coatings Market Share by CompanyContinued...Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ ORIDOW Cements Its Position In The Market As Leading Aluminum Window And Door Provider http://www.oridow.com https://facebook.com/oridow https://twitter.com/oridow https://plus.google.com/+Oridow/ August 16, 2017: Oridow Industrial Limited is a renowned company based in China and their products can now be found in homes all around the world. They cater to every type of client including homeowners, professional designers, professional builders and retail outlets. They have been around for quite some time now and have used their massive experience and dedication to cement their position in the market as a leading aluminum window and door provider.However the underlining reason why they have become a success in such a short period of time is due to their high quality products and affordable prices!Oridow Industrial Limited boasts one of the most extensive collections of high quality aluminum products which include Aluminum Windows, Aluminum Casement Windows, Aluminum Tilt Turn Windows ,Aluminum Sliding Windows, Aluminum Bi Fold Windows and many more.They cater to markets all around the world as they have become the foremost choice for most of the renowned designers out there. The reason why most designers prefer their products is because they know that Oridow Industrial Limited will only provide the highest quality out there and their goal of satisfying each client is what really makes them so special.ORIDOW is not limited in any aspect; the company has personified the word versatility as they not only provide aluminum doors and windows, but also deal in other popular products such as UPVC windows and OPVC doors. Their extensive list of products is updated on a regular basis as this company makes sure that their products and services align with the current market trends.A representative from Oridow Industrial Limited recently stated We at ORIDOW understand that our services and products reflect who we are as a company, which is exactly why we only deal in the highest quality available in the market. We never compromise on quality and we believe that neither should our clients! We started small but we are now one of the most renowned companies in the industry and we owe all of our success to our loyal clients that are all around the world. I believe that the reason why our clients keep coming back is due to the transparency and affordable price tag our services entail.The representative also added, We know that the only way we can grow as a company is by making sure our clients are satisfied to the very last moment and this can only be achieved by producing high range products in a cost effective manner. We will keep growing but we will never forget our roots, we are a company made to help transform any type of interior and we will continue doing so with the support of our clients!Oridow Industrial Limited is the leading manufacturer of high quality uPVC Windows and Doors, Aluminum Windows and Doors, Stainless Steel Security Screens, Shutters and a wide range of other products. All products manufactured by the company are completely eco-friendly. Headquartered in China, the company manufactures and ships its products all over.Address: No 59 Qiwei Road, Cangshan District, Fuzhou, China.Phone: +86 188 6010 6121Website:Email: sales@oridow.comFacebook:Twitter:Google Plus: Global Information and Analysis with forecast growth Study on Natural and Organic Flavors: Rising Health Consciousness Among Consumers Expected to Boost Growth http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1287204 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-market-study-on-natural-and-organic-flavors-rising-health-consciousness-among-consumers-expected-to-boost-market-growth-report.html "Global Market Study on Natural and Organic Flavors: Rising Health Consciousness Among Consumers Expected to Boost Market Growth" The Report covers current Industries Trends, Worldwide Analysis, Global Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.Description-This Persistence Market Research (PMR) report analyzes the natural and organic flavors market at the global as well as regional levels. This study provides data for 2015 along with that for the forecast period (20162024). The main objective of the report is to identify opportunities in the market and provide recent updates and insights affecting various segments of the natural and organic flavors market. The report provides analysis of the natural and organic flavors market in terms of market value (US$ Mn) and volume (tons).Get Sample Report With TOC @The global natural and organic flavors market has been segmented on the basis of flavor type (natural, organic), product type (With Other Natural Flavors (WONF), From The Named Fruit (FTNF)), source (fruits and fruit juices, vegetables and vegetable juices, plants and botanicals, meat and seafood, dairy), application (food, beverage, nutraceutical), and by region (North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), Middle East & Africa (MEA)).The report begins with an overview of the global natural and organic flavors market, appraising the market performance in terms of revenue and volume, followed by PMRs analysis of key trends, drivers, and restraints witnessed in the global natural and organic flavors market. Impact analysis of key growth drivers and restraints based on the weighted average model are also included in the report to equip clients with crystal-clear decision-making insights.To deduce market size, the report considers various viewpoints based on secondary research. Furthermore, data points such as regional split and market split by application as well as qualitative inputs from primary respondents have been taken into consideration to arrive at suitable market estimates. The forecast presented in the report evaluates the actual revenue generated and expected revenue in the global natural and organic flavors market during the forecast period.In the final section of the report, the competitive landscape is included to provide a dashboard view of companies that manufacture natural and organic flavors. Key participants in the global natural and organic flavors market report include Givaudan S.A., International flavors & Fragrances Inc., Firmenich SA, Symrise AG, Takasago International Corporation, Sensient Technologies Corporation, Kerry Group Plc., Frutarom Industries Ltd., Robertet SA, Archer Daniels Midland Company, Dhler GmbH, Huabao International Holdings Limited, T. Hasegawa Co., Ltd, Koninklijke DSM NV, Axxence Aromatic GmbH, GOLD COAST INGREDIENTS, INC., Zymus International Ltd, Treatt Plc, Blue Specific Flavors, Inc., and UNIQUE FLAVORS AND FRAGRANCES LTD.Research methodologyPMR triangulates the data on the basis of various analysis based on both supply side and demand side, and dynamics of the natural and organic flavors market. However, quantifying the market across the aforementioned segments and regions is more a matter of quantifying expectations and identifying opportunities rather than rationalizing them at the end of the forecast period. It is imperative to note that in an ever-fluctuating market scenario, we not only conduct forecasts in terms of CAGR, but also analyze on the basis of key parameters such as Year-on-Year (Y-o-Y) growth to understand the predictability of the market and identify the right opportunities.Another key feature of this report is the analysis of the natural and organic flavors market on the basis of region, flavor type, source, product type, and application; and the corresponding revenue forecast in terms of absolute dollar opportunity. This is usually overlooked while forecasting the market. However, absolute dollar opportunity is critical in assessing the level of opportunity that a provider can look to achieve, as well as to identify potential resources from a sales perspective, in the global natural and organic flavors market. To understand key segments in terms of their growth and performance in the global natural and organic flavors market, PMR has developed a market attractiveness index. The resulting index would help providers identify existing market opportunities in the global natural and organic flavors market.Table of Content1. Executive Summary2. Assumptions & Acronyms Used3. Research Methodology4. Natural & Organic Flavors: Market Overview4.1. Introduction4.1.1. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Definition4.1.2. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Taxonomy4.2. Natural & Organic Flavors Market: Pricing Analysis4.2.1. Global Natural And Organic Flavors Pricing Analysis4.3. Natural & Organic Flavors Market: Supply Chain Analysis4.3.1. Natural and Organic Flavors Manufacturing Process4.3.2. Global Natural And Organic Flavors Market Supply Chain4.3.3. Global Natural And Organic Flavors Market Supply Chain Scenario4.3.4. Global Natural And Organic Flavors Market Supply Chain Process4.4. Global Natural And Organic Flavors Market Supply Chain Process4.5. Market Dynamics4.5.1. Market Drivers4.6. Market opportunities4.7. Market Restraints4.8. Market trends4.9. Cost Structure Analysis4.10. PEST Analysis5. Global Natural & Organic Flavors Market Overview5.1. Global Natural & Organic Flavors Market Forecast, 201620265.1.1. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Analysis and Forecast5.1.2. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Absolute $ And tonne Opportunity5.2. Market Snapshot5.2.1. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value, Volume & Forecast, By Region5.2.2. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value, Volume, & Forecast, By Flavors Type5.2.3. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value, Volume, & Forecast, By Source5.2.4. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value, Volume, & Forecast, By Product Type5.2.5. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value, Volume, & Forecast, By Application6. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Analysis By Flavors Type6.1. Introduction6.1.1. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market BPS Analysis And YoY Comparison, By Flavors Type6.2. Market Analysis and Forecast by Flavors Type6.2.1. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value & Volume Analysis By Natural Flavors6.2.2. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Absolute $ And Tonne Opportunity By Natural Flavors6.2.3. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value And Forecast By Natural Flavors, Region Wise6.2.4. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value & Volume Analysis By Organic Flavors6.2.5. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Absolute $ And Tonne Opportunity By Organic Flavors6.2.6. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value And Forecast By Organic, Region Wise6.3. Market Attractiveness Analysis, By Flavour Type6.4. Flavors Type: Prominent Trends7. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Analysis by Source7.1. Introduction7.1.1. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market BPS Analysis And YoY Comparison By Source7.2. Market Analysis and Forecast By Source7.2.1. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value & Volume Analysis By Fruits & Fruits Juices7.2.2. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Absolute $ And Tonne Opportunity By Fruits & Fruits Juices7.2.3. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value & Forecast By Fruits & Fruit Juices, Region-wise7.2.4. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value & Forecast By Fruits & Fruit Juices Sub- segments7.2.5. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value & Volume Analysis By Vegetables & Vegetable Juices7.2.6. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Absolute $ And Tonne Opportunity By Vegetables & Vegetable Juices7.2.7. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value & Forecast By Vegetables & Vegetable Juices, Region-wise7.2.8. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value & Volume Analysis By Plants & Botanicals7.2.9. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Absolute $ And Tonne Opportunity By Plants & Botanicals7.2.10. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value & Forecast By Plants and Botanicals, Region-wise7.2.11. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value & Forecast By Plants and Botanicals Sub-segments7.2.12. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value & Volume Analysis By Meat & Seafood7.2.13. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Absolute $ And Tonne Opportunity By Meat & Seafood7.2.14. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value & Forecast By Meat & Seafood, Region-wise7.2.15. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value & Forecast By Meat & Seafood Sub-segments7.2.16. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value & Volume Analysis By Dairy7.2.17. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Absolute $ And Tonne Opportunity By Dairy7.2.18. Global Natural and Organic Flavors Market Value & Forecast By Dairy, Region-wiseFull Report @ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074 Liquid Fertilizers Market Expected to Grow at CAGR of 2.9% from 2017 to 2023 Liquid Fertilizers Market https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/4026 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/liquid-fertilizers-market-4026 Market Overview:Market Research Future published a half cooked research report on the Global Liquid Fertilizers Market, which is estimated to grow at a CAGR 2.9 % during the forecast period 2017-2023.Fertilizers are a chemical or natural substance which is added to the soil or land so as to increase fertility. Liquid fertilizers are substances used, to boost the crop production as plants are easily able to absorb these and can offer faster outcomes. Liquid fertilizers is an active way of providing the essential nutrients to plants at the right time and in ideal concentration. They can be absorbed by plants through their leaf pores and roots. Liquid fertilizers are rich in growth hormones and micro nutrients. Due to depletion of soil quality, use of fertilizers is being propelled to help farmers to increase crop production, as well as the surge in crop acreage and requirement to increase crop production is encouraging farmers to use liquid fertilizers. Liquid fertilizers also help in getting increased production in humid, wet, or stormy weather. They have gained status globally, as they help in increasing the quantity as well as improve the quality produced. Increasing population, growing economy, support from the government to maximize the agriculture production to meet the food demands, are key drivers for the market.Receive a Sample Report upon Request @Market Forecast:The global liquid fertilizers market is growing due to increasing population as well as increasing demand for food. With the growing consumer awareness and support from government to maximize the agriculture production, the demand for liquid fertilizers has increased recently. In addition to the increasing population, the growing demand for food, rise in the crop production, increasing soil efficiency, growing economy, increasing demand for bio-fuels and high quality yield are expected to drive the liquid fertilizers market. Increased awareness about the liquid fertilizers has raised the bar for quality, which, in turn, increase the market share of liquid fertilizers globally. Mass market penetration is leading to the introduction of new products based out of the liquid fertilizers and their retail across various regions. The market players are responding to these new opportunities by expanding their service offerings/product lines, which has fueled up the share of liquid fertilizers in the global market. High nutritional benefits obtained from liquid fertilizers are also supporting the sale of liquid fertilizers globally. Additionally, the enhancement of the product development coupled with technological advancements is considered to be one of the significant reasons for the increasing growth of the liquid fertilizers market during the forecast period 2017-2023.Access Report Details @Downstream Market Analysis:Globalization and urbanization are major driving factors of this market. Furthermore, the popularity of liquid fertilizers and involvement of nutritional attributes as well as extra micronutrients are encouraging the growth of the liquid fertilizers market. The rising demand for food is expected to play a significant role in the growth of the global liquid fertilizers market during the forecast period. Additionally, the enhancement of the product development coupled with the technological advancements is considered to be one of the significant reasons that will increase the growth of the liquid fertilizers market over the review period of 2017-2023.Competitive Analysis:Some of the key players in the global liquid fertilizers market are Compo Expert GmbH (Germany) Kugler Company (U.S.) Yara International ASA (Norway) Agroliquid (U.S.) Agrium Inc. (Canada) Israel Chemical Ltd. (ICL) (Israel) Haifa Chemicals Ltd. (Israel)The demand for liquid fertilizers has pushed manufacturers to innovate and develop new product lines, which provide better quality and offers various health benefits.Regional Analysis:The global liquid fertilizers market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World (RoW). Among these, the Asia Pacific region accounts for major market share followed by North America. The growing demand for liquid fertilizers in Asia Pacific, due to increasing population, growing economy, support from the government to maximize the agriculture production to meet the food demands, will drive the growth of the market in this region during the forecasting period. In North America, there is significant share of liquid fertilizers as well as due to huge demand, will drive the growth of the market in this region. However, in Asia Pacific region, mainly emerging economies including China, and India, are estimated to witness a maximum growth in the global liquid fertilizers market over the forecast period 2017-2023.Market Segmentation:The Global Liquid Fertilizers Market is segmented by product type, crop, application, form, and region.About Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Kingsbridge launches new cyber product for insurance industry as umber of cyber attacks increases Kingsbridge Contractor Insurance www.kingsbridge.co.uk One of the key features of the new product for Kingsbridges clients is the inclusion of access to ReSecure, a 24-hour helpline and specialist cyber incident report service from professional services firm RPC. That support could prove invaluable in the event of an attack. ReSecure will help to determine the cause of the breach, assist in the recovery of any lost data and will help to restore any compromised systems to working order. It will also offer advice on any potential business ramifications that may arise as a result of a breach and will provide guidance on any regulatory or legal exposure policy holders may face.The Cyber protection also provides cover in a number of other areas. Customers will have 25,000 to defend themselves against cyber extortion and ransom costs, alongside another 25,000 to assist with regulatory defence and penalties. A further 100,000 is available to offset against system and data rectification cost and 25,000 allocated to cover any business interruption costs.The company celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, following investment by UK private equity house Dunedin in June of last year. Kingsbridge recently launched its specialist Media Insurance package, as well as a dedicated Legal Expenses solution, as the company looks to provide an even more comprehensive insurance solution for its 35,000 contractor and freelancer customers.Steve Wynne, CEO of Kingsbridge comments: We are living in a world where the constant threat of malicious cyber attacks is only increasing. As the recent incident involving the NHS has shown, we are vulnerable. With the growing reliance on digitalisation for contractors, freelancers and SMEs we felt that now was the right time to launch this relevant new product, designed specifically for freelancers and contractors.The Cyber product is underwritten by leading insurance specialists QBE Group, and is a timely addition to the Kingsbridge portfolio.Kingsbridge Group COO Dorian Zanker said: The days of relying solely on antivirus software are gone. The number of advanced persistent cyber threats is rapidly going up and, as the recent report from the ABI noted, three quarters of SMEs are reported to have suffered a security breach in the last 12 months alone.Our Cyber Liability cover is designed specifically for contractors, giving them peace of mind that, in the event of a breach, they will be protected and guided by a team of dedicated professionals.The product is available as an add-on to new customers purchasing the standard Kingsbridge insurance package, as well as for any customers due to renew their cover. The annual cost of the policy is 74.50 (excluding Insurance Premium Tax), an extremely competitive price given the costs of other similar policies on the market.Kingsbridge is headquartered in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, and has offices in Liverpool and London. It employs over 70 people and in the last 2 years has more than doubled its turnover.Founded by CEO Steve Wynne in 2007, Kingsbridge Contractor Insurance is the UKs market-leading provider of insurance services that are tailored to meet the needs of contractors, freelancers and independent professionals, as well as the compliance requirements of partners including recruiters and accountants. Working alongside its strong partner network, Kingsbridge covers the broadest range of industry sectors in its market, including aerospace, banking and finance, rail, automotive, nuclear, oil and gas and information technology.Kingsbridge9 Miller CourtTewkesburyGloucestershireGL20 8DNUKMedia contact: Ross PoundsPhone: +44(0)1242 808740Email: ross@kingsbridge.co.ukWeb: Global Rivaroxaban Market 2017- Bayer, Pipelinepharma, Johnson, Fangsheng, Yanssen https://goo.gl/tdgwWC http://qyresearch.us/report/global-rivaroxaban-market-2017/56295/ http://qyresearch.us/ http://xbox360asylum.ca/ http://askthereporter24.com/ Worldwide Rivaroxaban Market 2017 presents a widespread and fundamental study of Rivaroxaban industry along with the analysis of subjective aspects which will provide key business insights to the readers. Global Rivaroxaban Market 2017 research report offers the analytical view of the industry by studying different factors like Rivaroxaban market growth, consumption volume, market trends and Rivaroxaban industry cost structures during the forecast period from 2017 to 2022.Rivaroxaban market studies the competitive landscape view of the industry. The Rivaroxaban report also includes development plans and policies along with manufacturing processes. The major regions involved in Rivaroxaban Market are (United States, EU, China, and Japan).For Sample Copy Of The Report Click Here:Leading Manufacturers Analysis in Global Rivaroxaban Market 2017:1 Bayer2 Pipelinepharma3 Johnson4 Fangsheng5 YanssenRivaroxaban Market: Type Segment AnalysisMaterial Ethyl ChloroformateMaterial LvjiasuanjiaMaterial Benzyl ChloroformateRivaroxaban Market: Applications Segment AnalysisVenous ThrombosisPulmonary EmbolismThe Rivaroxaban report does the thorough study of the key industry players to understand their business strategies, annual revenue, company profile and their contribution to the global Rivaroxaban market share. Diverse factors of the Rivaroxaban industry like the supply chain scenario, industry standards, import/export details are also mentioned in Global Rivaroxaban Market 2017 report.Key Highlights of the Rivaroxaban Market:A Clear understanding of the Rivaroxaban market based on growth, constraints, opportunities, feasibility study.Concise Rivaroxaban Market study based on major geographical regions.Analysis of evolving market segments as well as a complete study of existing Rivaroxaban market segments.Discover More About Report Here:Furthermore, distinct aspects of Rivaroxaban market like the technological development, economic factors, opportunities and threats to the growth of Rivaroxaban market are covered in depth in this report. The performance of Rivaroxaban market during 2017 to 2022 is being forecasted in this report.In conclusion, Global Rivaroxaban market 2017 report presents the descriptive analysis of the parent market based on elite players, present, past and futuristic data which will serve as a profitable guide for all the Rivaroxaban industry competitors.QY Market Research is the terminal where all industrial, commercial and profitmaking venture will get the best research reports of the market in all sectors like automotive, electronics, pharmaceuticals and healthcare, food and beverages etc.We provide you the important and necessary information to identify and analyze the need of market and the market size.Read More-News Network:-S no. 51/14 First Floor, Office Number 4, Vishwa Arcade, Near Navale Lawns, Pune, Maharashtra, India 411041Telephone Numbers:+1(857)2390696+91 9130855334Email ID: inquiry@market.bizBrowse Latest Market News- Pipeline Landscape of Male Hypogonadism Covering Therapeutic Assessment and Drug Portfolio in 2017 Market Research HUB http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1265411 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/male-hypogonadism-pipeline-insight-2017-report.html http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1265411 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ The topic of Hypogonadism can be an embarrassing subject for an affected male. Nevertheless, it's important that any man battling the symptoms of Hypogonadism to get over his embarrassment and be taken care of by a medical professional. A new pipeline study, related to the therapeutics activities for male hypogonadism has been recently broadcasted to the wide repository of Market Research Hub (MRH), with the title of Male Hypogonadism-Pipeline Insight, 2017. The study highlights the pharmacological action of various therapeutics and their history of research and development activities.Request Free Sample Report:Male hypogonadism is defined as the failure of the testes to produce androgen, sperm or both. Although the disorder is extremely common, its exact prevalence is uncertain. It is a condition in which the body doesn't produce enough testosterone, the hormone that plays a key role in masculine growth and development during puberty. It may adversely affect multiple organ functions and quality of life. Signs and symptoms depend on when the condition develops. The research analyses its symptoms, which include fatigue, hot flashes, infertility, decrease in muscle mass and loss of bone mass (osteoporosis). When hormone levels decline, men can easily experience significant psychological and physical changes.Moreover, this study provides comprehensive information on the pipeline products with comparative analysis of the products at various stages of development. The coverage of pipeline products based on the numerous stages of development ranging from early development to approved or issued stage. In this subsequent section, details of foremost pipeline products which includes, product description, licensing and collaboration details and other developmental activities are also mentioned. This study has been built using proprietary databases along with latest updates and featured news & press releases from various university sites and industry-specific third party sources.Browse Full Report With TOC:Looking to the therapeutics overview, the research studies that the levels of testosterone in men start to fall after the age of 40. It has been estimated that 8.4% of men aged 5079 years have testosterone deficiency. Some types of male hypogonadism can be treated with testosterone replacement therapy. There is a lot of research in progress to find out more about the effects of testosterone in older men and also whether the use of testosterone replacement therapy would have any benefits.For a competitive analysis, the research has listed key companies operating in the market, focusing on their research and development efforts, adoption to changing trends and their efforts to discover new therapeutics for male hypogonadism. Also, the report covers dormant and discontinued pipeline projects related to the Male Hypogonadism. With this information, the new entrants in the market can modify the therapeutic portfolio by identifying inactive projects and understanding the factors that might have halted their progress.Enquire About this Report:About Market Research Hub:Market Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite:Read Industry News At: Global Silo Bags Market By Application Type, Manufacturers, Opportunity Assessment And Forecast 2016 - 2026 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1287934 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1287934/silo-bags-grain-storage-anticipated-market-research-reports.pdf https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/1287934 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Latest Research Report Silo Bags Market: North America Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 2016 - 2026 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"About Silo Bags MarketIncreasing demand for storage during harvest season coupled with growing consumer spending are the key growth drivers of the North America silo bags market over the forecast periodThe need for a cost-efficient solution for storage of grains and animal fodder has led to extensive preference for silo bags among farmers in the U.S. and Canada. The North America silo bags market is expected to witness healthy growth rate owing to small farmers demanding silo bags for short-term and affordable packaging and storage purposes. Silo bags, also known as harvest grain bags are used as an alternative storage system for grains such as wheat, corn, maize, sorghum, etc. in order to fulfil shortage of cattle fodder during dry seasons. The North America silo bags market is expected to create good opportunities for suppliers, distributors and manufacturers operating in the market.Revenue generated from the North America silo bags market is estimated to touch nearly US$ 34 Mn in 2017 and is forecast to reach nearly US$ 51 Mn in 2024, registering a CAGR of 4.8% during the forecast period. In terms of volume, the North America silo bags market is projected to register a CAGR of 4.4% to reach 62,700 units by 2026.Get Sample copy of this Report @Factors fuelling the demand for silo bags in the North America regionRising demand for convenience packaging among new generation farmers has compelled the manufacturers of silo bags to innovate in terms of optimum space requirements, storage efficiency, high performance and flexible plastic sheets. A growing trend among manufacturers and suppliers of silo bags in North America is to leverage the changing demographics of farmer size. Manufacturers are increasingly addressing the demand from small farmers who prefer silo bags over capital intensive silo systems for storage purposes. Farmers with very short-term storage requirements prefer renting or leasing silo bags as silo bags have good reusability and longer product life.The North America silo bags market is characterised by substantial consolidation among market players. In order to expand their market presence and strengthen order fulfilling capacity, large players are strategically acquiring smaller manufacturers to serve a broader customer base.Restraints limiting the growth of the North America silo bags marketStringent guidelines issued by regulating authorities concerning food and environment have consequential implications on the silo bags market in North America. Stringent FDA regulations regarding the use of harmful chemical substances, and also various regulations for specific thickness, length and breadth for manufacturing of silo bags has led to market preference for alternative environment friendly products.North America Silo Bags Market Forecast, by Application, 2016-2026View Sample PDF @Among all applications of silo bags, grains is predicted to be an attractive segment for investment during the forecast periodBy application, the North America silo bags market can be segmented into grains, forages, fertilisers, dried fruits and others. The demand for silo bags is prominently for storage of grains, which is estimated to constitute over 60% of the North America silo bags market.Grains storage is expected to be a highly attractive packaging type among silo bags manufacturers due to its wide usage by farmers. The Forages segment is likely to maintain its market share with a steady rise in CAGR over the forecast period.Increasing production of crops likely to lead to the adoption of silo bags in the North America regional marketThe silo bags market, which saw evolution and growth in the Latin America market, is now gaining substantial footprint in the North America market. With boom in crop production across the North America region, farmers in the U.S and Canada will invest in on-farm storage means, such as silo bags, for temporary and affordable storage of forage, grains and other produce. The North America market for silo bags will witness healthy growth of 1.6X owing to convenient packaging solutions demanded by small farmers as an alternative to large silo systems. The market will also witness additional growth prospects due to affordable silo bags being made available through lease and rentals.Table Of Content1. Executive Summary2. Assumptions and Acronyms Used3. Research Methodology4. North America Silo Bags Market Overview4.1. Silo Bags Market Definition4.2. North America Silo Bags Market Taxonomy4.3. North America Silo Bags Market Supply Chain5. North America Silo Bags Market Dynamics5.2. Drivers5.3. Restraints5.4. Opportunity5.5. Trends6. North America Silo Bags Market Analysis and Forecast, By Length Type6.1. Introduction6.1.1. Basis Point Share (BPS) Analysis By Length Type6.1.2. Y-o-Y Growth Projections By Length Type6.2. North America Silo Bags Market Size (US$ Mn) and Volume (000 Units) Forecast By Length Type6.2.1. 60 Meters6.2.2. 75 Meters6.2.3. 90 Meters6.3. North America Silo Bags Market Attractiveness Analysis By Length Type6.4. Prominent TrendsSend An Enquiry Request @7. North America Silo Bags Market Analysis and Forecast, By Material7.1. Introduction7.1.1. Basis Point Share (BPS) Analysis By Material7.1.2. Y-o-Y Growth Projections By Material7.1.3. Material Roadmap7.1.4. Comparative Analysis By Material7.2. North America Silo Bags Market Size (US$ Mn) and Volume (000 Units) Forecast By Material7.2.1. Polyethylene (PE)7.2.1.1 Linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE)7.2.1.2. High-density polyethylene (HDPE)7.2.2. Polypropylene (PP)7.3. North America Silo Bags Market Attractiveness Analysis By Material7.4. Prominent TrendsAbout usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA: Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Uveal Melanoma Market Deep Insights, Epidemiology Analysis and Market Forecast Showing Positive Growth by 2025 Market Research HUB http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1265939 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/uveal-melanoma-market-insights-epidemiology-and-market-forecast-2025-report.html http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1265939 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ Melanoma of the uveal tract (iris, ciliary body, and choroid), though rare, is the most common primary intraocular malignancy in adults. Market Research Hub (MRH) has recently added a research study titled as Uveal Melanoma-Market Insights, Epidemiology and Market Forecast-2025 to its vast report archive. The major objective of the study is to present detailed market insights and epidemiology study on Uveal melanoma covering seven major markets. It also allows understanding of the historical and projected epidemiological data for the identified prevalent cases of Uveal Melanoma across the world.Request Free Sample Report:Geographically, the report provides an overview of the disease and exhaustive research related to uveal melanoma disorder for seven major markets for the study period undertaken from 2015-2025. The 7 major markets analyzed in this study are United States, EU 5 (Germany, Spain, Italy, France and the United Kingdom) and Japan. In the initial section, the report provides an understanding of the patients affected, diagnosed patterns, treatment trends, unmet medical needs and current developments for Uveal Melanoma.The first section of the study highlights uveal melanoma overview along with its symptoms, staging, diagnosis and treatment. Intraocular melanoma is a disease in which malignant (cancer) cells form in the tissues of the eye. The middle layer, where intraocular melanoma forms, is known as uvea or uveal tract which has three main parts: Iris, Ciliary body and Choroid. Iris melanomas have the best prognosis, whereas melanomas of the ciliary body have the worst. Most of the uveal tract melanomas originate in the choroid; the ciliary body is less commonly a site of derivation, and the iris is the slightest. It is diagnosed in about 2,500 adults every year in the United States and occurs most often in lightly pigmented individuals with a median age of 55 years.Browse Full Report With TOC:According to analysts findings, the forecasted patient population of Uveal melanoma will grow at a rapid rate from 2015 to 2025. Also, the 7MM market size is estimated to reach a high value by the end of 2025. The report also analyzes that the main factors in shaping treatment for eye melanoma include the location and size of cancer, as well as the probability of saving vision in the eye. The primary goals of treating the eye tumor include preventing metastasis, sparing the eye and preserving vision.Moreover, the market outlook also provides understanding of country specific revenue and market share by evaluating performance of the current therapies and thorough potential uptake of new products. Additionally, the report highlights the frontrunners, the drivers and barriers for the Uveal Melanoma market, as well as treatment algorithm, current treatments & advancements are included. Additionally, the chapters including marketed products highlight the advantages and disadvantages associated with therapies associated with Uveal Melanoma.Enquire About this Report:About Market Research Hub:Market Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite:Read Industry News At: Cygnet Empowering businesses globally from historic city of Princeton, NJ Cygnet, a global technology company is now at Princeton, NJ http://www.cygnet-infotech.com/ Cygnet Infotech takes immense pride in announcing that we will be Empowering lives with Technology Solutions right from the Heart of the United States. Cygnet Infotechs fully operational US Office is in New Jersey at 125 Village Boulevard, Suite 315, Princeton, NJ 08540.The lavishing office interior reflects an energizing culture, modern outlook and solidarity. This initiative from Cygnet is in alliance with the pledge to Walk an Extra Mile to better serve and stay connected with you.You can also setup a meeting with our executive by contacting us at:Phone: +1-609-245-0972 / +1-609-533-8393Fax us at +1-201-642-1181Cygnet Infotech is a New Jersey based global technology company that provides innovative and personalized technology services which edge out low-cost makeshift solutions. With over 500 skilled developers, Cygnet Infotech LLC offers best-in-class Software Product Engineering and Mobile App development services. For over 17 years, they have invested heavily in perfecting a global delivery model to deliver faster, scalable and cost effective solutions.Our key services:Product EngineeringEnterprise MobilityMobile App DevelopmentTest AutomationCygnet Infotech LLC125 Village Boulevard, Suite 315, Princeton, NJ 08540 Need For Better Performing Vehicles on Road to Boost Global Automotive Advanced High Strength Steel Market https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1154102 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/category/230 Advanced high strength steels are increasingly demanded by the automotive industry as they improve the performance of vehicles on road. MarketResearchReports.biz has added a report, Global Automotive Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) Market Research Report 2017, which determines the market value of the global automotive advanced high strength steel for the year of 2016 and also estimates the market value that the market may reach by the end of 2022. This report also forecasts the CAGR of this market for the period of 2016-2022.Family of advanced high strength steel includes many types such as TRIP steel, boron steel, martensitic steel, and dual phase steel. In this report, the market is segmented into these types of steel and their growth rate, the market share, price, revenue, and production rates are specified. Furthermore, the market is segmented on the basis of their application into passenger cars and commercial vehicles.In this report, the market size by value and CAGR % are compared for key regions such as Europe, North America, India, Japan, China, and Southeast Asia. Factors affecting the markets growth across the aforementioned regions for the forecasted period of 2012-2022 are included in the report. The analysis is however intended to gauge the automotive advanced high strength steel markets trajectory in these regions. In addition, price, gross margin (2012-2017), revenue generated, capacity, and details about production for each of these regions are included.For Sample Copy, click here:The key players operating in the global AHSS market include AK Steel Holding Corporation, United Steel Corporation, ThyssenKrupp AG, SSAB AB, POSCO, Kobe Steel Ltd., Tata Steel Limited, ArcelorMittal SA, and Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. Ltd. To comprehensively understand this market, gaining insights into operations of these players is very crucial. This report consists the primitive information about these companies along with their sales area, manufacturing bases and details about their competitors. The key information of these players includes gross margins for the period of 2012-2017, revenues, productions, capacities, and manufacturing bases. Brief details about the products that these companies manufactures are elaborated and specifications of each product are included in this report.The global automotive advanced high strength steel market is growing because of the various applications these types of steels are finding in this industry. Also, marketing strategies that the distributors and traders are following are giving this industry impetus to grow. This research report also provides a detailed overview of various strategies implemented by the leading distributors and traders and the effect of the same on the overall market operations. Types of various marketing channels such as direct marketing and indirect marketing are elaborated and their impacts on the sales are formulated. Furthermore, target clients, brand strategies, pricing strategies, and the market positioning followed by these distributors and traders are mentioned to give complete understanding of role of marketing in the growth of global automotive advanced high strength steel market.Browse More Automotive Manufacturing Market Research Reports :A significant part of this report consists of analyzing various market factors, where economic/political environmental changes, customer preference changes, technology progress in related industries, substitute threats, and technology risks are encompassed so that the readers understand the hurdles and pitfalls this industry is currently facing and their influences on the future of this industry.MRRbiz supports your business intelligence needs with over 700,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Medical Carts Market: North America Industry Analysis, Opportunity Assessment And Forecast 2017-2027 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1287922 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1287922/medical-carts-powered-segment-anticipated-market-research-reports.pdf https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/1287922 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Latest Research Report Medical Carts Market: North America Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment 2017-2027 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"About Medical Carts MarketThe Non-powered (mechanical) energy source segment dominated the North America medical carts market in terms of revenue in 2017 and is likely to retain its dominance throughout the forecast period. The Non-powered (mechanical) segment is also the most attractive segment, with an attractiveness index of 1.2 over the forecast period. This segment is estimated to hold a little over 68% revenue share of the North America medical carts market in 2017; however, there is an anticipated drop to the tune of 432 basis points in market share by 2027. The Non-powered (mechanical) segment is expected to register a CAGR of 10.4% over the forecast period and be valued at a little more than US$ 1,100 Mn by 2027 end.On the other hand, revenue from the Powered segment by energy source is expected to grow 3.3x by 2027 end as compared to that in 2017. The Powered segment is expected to create absolute $ opportunity of slightly more than US$ 20 Mn in 2018 over 2017. By the end of 2027, the Powered segment is projected to reach more than US$ 600 Mn, growing at a CAGR of 12.6% over the forecast period. The Powered segment is expected to be the second most lucrative segment in the North America medical carts market by energy source, with an attractiveness index of 0.8 during the period of assessment.Get Sample copy of this Report @Key player focus on developing innovative products drives revenue growth in the North America medical carts marketKey players in the North America medical carts market are focussing on developing innovative application specific products to fulfil the various needs of hospitals and to enhance the important factor of patient safety. This need to increase hospital capacity and innovations in products are likely to boost the revenue and volume growth of the medical carts market. To strengthen the medical carts product portfolio, companies in this market are deploying a product line extension strategy by launching new products with unique features for specific purposes. For instance, companies such as Ergotron, Inc. and InterMetro Industries Corporation are introducing powered medical carts to simplify the work of nursing facility staff. These mobile medical carts are preferred by nurses as they are at a high risk of musculoskeletal disorders.Non-powered or mechanical medical carts are now slowly being replaced by innovative and enhanced technologies such as powered medical carts with battery systems and locking drawers with negative tilt to facilitate efficient medication stocking, and also feature automated medicine dispensing systems. For instance, Omnicell Inc. designs medication workstations to advance medication and supply automation management. On the other hand Ergotron Inc. offers a wide variety of powered medical carts with ergonomic and easy-to-manoeuvre features. This shift in technology to powered medical carts is trending the North America medical carts market.View Sample PDF @Hazards associated with powered medical carts could negatively impact segmental growth over the forecast periodThere have been past incidences of safety issues with battery powered mobile medical carts.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been receiving several complaints about incidents of hospital fires associated with batteries used in powered medical carts. In December 2016, the FDA issued a warning regarding the risks associated with battery powered medical carts to healthcare professionals and healthcare units. Medical carts are regulated by the FDA under section 201(h) of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. Commercially available battery powered medical carts include medication dispensing carts, emergency carts and others. Hazards associated with powered medical carts are likely to hamper the revenue growth of the Powered segment during the forecast period.Table Of Content1. Executive Summary2. Market Introduction2.1. Market Definition2.2. Market Taxonomy3. North America Medical Carts Market Analysis Scenario3.1. Market Size (US$ Mn) and Forecast3.1.1. Market Size and Y-o-Y Growth3.1.2. Absolute $ Opportunity3.2. Market Overview3.2.1. Value Chain4. Market Dynamics4.1. Macro-economic Factors4.2. Drivers4.2.1. Supply Side4.2.2. Demand Side4.3. Restraints4.4. Opportunity4.5. Forecast Factors Relevance and Impact5. North America Medical Carts Market Analysis and Forecasts, By Product5.1. Introduction5.2. Basis Point Share (BPS) Analysis By Product Type5.3. Y-o-Y Growth Projections By Product Type5.4. Market Value Forecast By Product, 201720275.4.1. Emergency Cart5.4.2. Procedure Cart5.4.3. Medical Computer Cart5.4.4. Anesthesia Cart5.4.5. Others5.5. Market Attractiveness By Product6. North America Medical Carts Market Analysis and Forecasts, By Material6.1. Introduction6.2. Basis Point Share (BPS) Analysis By Material6.3. Y-o-Y Growth Projections By Material6.4. Market Value Forecast By Material, 201720276.4.1. Metal6.4.2. Plastic6.4.3. Wood6.5. Market Attractiveness By MaterialSend An Enquiry Request @7. North America Medical Carts Market Analysis and Forecasts, By Energy Source7.1. Introduction7.2. Basis Point Share (BPS) Analysis By Energy Source7.3. Y-o-Y Growth Projections By Energy Source7.4. Market Value Forecast By Energy Source, 201720277.4.1. Powered7.4.2. Non-powered (Mechanical)7.5. Market Attractiveness By Energy SourceAbout usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA: Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz PET Blow Moulder Industry Report: Market Size, Opportunity Assessment, Growth and Forecast 2016-2026 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1287917 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1287917/pet-blow-moulder-u-s-market-research-reports.pdf https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/1287917 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Latest Research Report PET Blow Moulder Market: North America Industry Analysis & Opportunity Assessment, 2016-2026 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"About PET Blow Moulder MarketDynamic changes in the packaging industry and the increasing number of bottled consumer products are expected to drive the PET blow moulder market in the U.S.The U.S. accounted for a revenue share of a little more than 70% in the North America PET blow moulder market in 2016 and is expected to gain 110 basis points by 2026. The U.S. is likely to witness a rapid Y-o-Y growth rate of close to 4% over the period of assessment. The PET blow moulder market in the U.S. is estimated to be valued at more than US$ 25 Mn in 2017 and is likely to record a CAGR of 4.5% from 2016 to 2026 to reach a little more than US$ 40 Mn by 2026. In terms of value, the U.S market is expected to represent an incremental opportunity of more than US$ 15 Mn and grow 1.6X during the forecast period.Increasing taxation and stringent government policies for the ban of plastic bags is expected to hinder the growth of the PET blow moulder market in the U.S.Due to the rising demand for PET bottles, manufacturers are trying to get more output by investing less, which is ultimately affecting the quality of bottles. For instance, manufacturers have started using a lesser amount of raw material in the manufacturing process. However, this makes the bottles thinner, which causes the bottles to not be able to bear the force incurred during the quality checking process. Reducing the quality of bottles manufactured adversely affects the PET blow moulder market in the U.S.Along with generic bottles, the PET blow moulding industry also depends on customised bottles. In fact, customised bottle is a trend in the market, which is now flourishing with a number of brands. Most of these brands have adopted the trend of customising their own bottles. However, these customised bottles if dropped, can bend or even break due to acute stretch ratios. This factor is also likely to be a restraining factor in the growth of the PET blow moulder market in the U.S.Get Sample copy of this Report @PET moulding machines are made to manufacture a large number of bottles, i.e. a minimum of 30,000 bottles/hour. Because of the inherent quality, these machines are largely used by manufacturers who generally require large-scale output. However, if these machines are forced to be used for a smaller volume output then manufacturers would not be able to fetch the profit they expect. The small scale industries operating in rural regions cant consume such high volumes of the product thus forcing the market to produce machines that can handle smaller volumes in a single run with economic rates. Such economic machines with smaller volume are limited in the market, which is hampering the growth of the PET blow moulder market in the U.S.Unstable macro-economic and political conditions are the major challenges faced by the PET blow moulder market in the U.S.The PET blow moulder market in the U.S is affected by economic conditions and consumer spending trends. The high energy requirements of the manufacturing process lead to high costs, which eventually lead to increasing losses for companies. Similarly, unfavourable political, labour and tax conditions also lay a challenging road for PET blow moulder manufacturers in the U.S. Increasing demand for bio-based materials for packaging has significantly reduced the demand for PET bottles, thereby resulting in a challenge for PET blow moulder manufacturers. As consumers are getting more inclined towards sustainable raw materials for their packaging solutions, there is a tough road ahead for PET blow moulder manufacturers in the U.S to increase their profitability marginsView Sample PDF @Table Of Content1. Executive Summary2. North America PET Blow Molder Market Introduction2.1.Market Taxonomy3. North America PET Blow Molder Market Overview3.1.Introduction3.2.PET Blow Molder Market Value Chain Analysis3.2 .1.List of Active Participants3.2 .1 .1.Part Suppliers3.2 .1 .2.Manufacturers4. North America PET Blow Molder Market Analysis4.1.North America PET Blow Molder Market Volume(Units) Analysis4.1 .1.Installed Base By Country4.1 .2.Replacement Rate and Lifecycle Analysis4.2.Pricing Analysis4.2 .1.Pricing Assumption4.2 .2.Price Projections By Region4.3.North America PET Blow Molder Market Size(US$ Mn) and Forecast4.3 .1.North America PET Blow Molder Market Size and Y - o - Y Growth4.3 .2.Absolute $ Opportunity5. North America PET Blow Molder Market Dynamics5.1.Drivers5.2.Restraints5.3.Opportunity5.4.Trends5.5.ChallengesSend An Enquiry Request @6. North America PET Blow Molder Market Analysis and Forecast, By Technology6.1.Introduction6.1 .1.Market share and Basis Points(BPS) Analysis By Technology6.1 .2.Y - o - Y Growth Projections By Technology6.2.Market Size(US$ Mn) and Volume(Units) Forecast, By Technology6.2 .1.Extrusion Blow Machine6.2 .2.Injection Blow Molding Machine6.2 .3.Stretch Blow Molding Machine6.3.Market Attractiveness Analysis By TechnologyAbout usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA: Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz IndiCure helps a group of 6 from New Zealand get affordable Bariatric Surgery in India https://www.indicure.com https://www.indicure.com When six friends in New Zealand decided to undergo bariatric surgery, they were at a total loss about where to begin from. After meeting a few surgeons in New Zealand, there was no way they could afford the surgery in their country. The closest was Australia, but that too it was way beyond their budget.It was after one of them stumbled upon the word Medical Tourism, a new door opened for them. They had now plenty of options to choose from- many countries, many surgeons and many hospitals where they could afford to undergo their weight loss surgery.Although it seemed like an uphill task when they began; which place, which surgeon and which hospital to choose from; after all, it was a matter of their health and their lives, so no compromises could be made. And when they were choosing their surgery abroad, all due checks and precautions should be made.When India was decided as one of the possible destinations, Alex sent a query to IndiCure and that is the best thing they say which happened by chance. We just sent a random query to IndiCure on their website indicure.com like we sent to many others, but I these guys just stood out. They caught our attention from the very first email. It was not very difficult for all of them to agree that we shall choose IndiCure over all other companies.On probing what difference did they feel, Kim, one of the group member says, It is the personalized attention and their approach towards problem-solving and helping the clients and not just than signing us for the procedure that brought all of us to the consensus of choosing them.Initially being mocked at by their friends and peers of their decision of choosing a third world country as their treatment destination, people now look at them with great amaze.Our friends were really amazed when we told them of our experience of traveling to India and how things were so different from what we initially perceived. The hospital in India we went to was spotlessly clean, the nurses helpful and the doctor was quite knowledgeable. All our queries were answered and we didnt have a doubt ever that we made a wrong decision. We were received at the airport, taken straight to the hospital, pre-ops were done in a day and we were taken for the surgery from the next day. Every thing was perfectly planned and there was no waiting time quips Kim.This is one of the stories of millions of people who choose to come to India in search of affordable and quality medical treatment. People from Western countries now prefer India over other destinations because of the medical care and the value they get. Indian surgeons are well qualified, hospitals are accredited, the cost of treatment unbelievably low, language not a barrier and you get to visit a unique country. These factors bring more than 0.5 million plus patients to India every year, making it a 3 billion dollar industry.And when you have a reliable medical tourism company like IndiCure, there is nothing much to worry about, quips Martha.IndiCure is the most renowned medical tourism company based in India and US. IndiCure provides expert consultation and facilitation to patients seeking India as treatment destination.IndiCure Health Tours Pvt LtdMumbai Address109, Grow More Towers, Sector 2,Kharghar, Navi Mumbai-410210E-mail: info@indicure.comTel: +91-932-003-6777US Address295, Madison AveNew York-10017E-mail: info@indicure.comTel: +1-877-270-2448 Global Market Study on Pyrogen Testing: North America Estimated to Be the Dominant Regional Market https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1287939/global-study-on-pyrogen-testing-market-research-reports.pdf https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1287939 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/1287939 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Report Global Market Study on Pyrogen Testing: North America Estimated to Be the Dominant Regional Market provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"This report by Persistence Market Research (PMR) examines the Global Pyrogen Testing Market for the period 20162024. The primary objective of the report is to offer updates and information related to the market opportunities in the Global Pyrogen Testing Market.The global pyrogen testing market report begins with an exhaustive executive summary giving the report data overview and the market taxonomy of the segments covered in the report. It is followed by a market overview that details the dynamics of the global pyrogen testing market, which includes PMR analysis of key trends, drivers, restraints and opportunities that are influencing the growth of the global pyrogen testing market. Impact analysis of the key growth drivers and restraints based on a weighted average model have been included in the global pyrogen testing market report after detailed analysis of individual regions to better equip the readers with meaningful insights on ongoing developments in the market.View Sample PDF :Based on test type, the market has been segmented as recombinant factor C assay, monocyte activation assay (MAT), limulus amebocyte lysate test (LAL) and rabbit pyrogen test. A detailed analysis has been provided for these segments in terms of market size, Y-o-Y growth rate, absolute $ opportunity, and BPS analysis.Download Sample copy of this Report at :Based on application, the market is been categorized as injections, vaccines, tablets, medical devices and others. Further, based on end-user segmentation, the market is classified as pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology industry, medical devices industry and others.The next section of the report analyses pyrogen testing market by region and provides market outlook for 2016-2024. The report also analyses the impact of drivers and restraints in each region. Key regions assessed in this report include North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific (APAC), and Middle & Africa (MEA).The above sections by test type, application, end users, and region evaluate the present scenario and growth prospects of the global pyrogen testing market for 2016-2024. We have considered 2015 as the base year and provided data for the forecast period, i.e. 2016-2024.In the final section of the report on the global pyrogen testing market, a Competitive Landscape is included to provide report audiences with a dashboard view, based on categories of providers in the global pyrogen testing market product portfolio and key differentiators. Key categories of providers covered in the report are systems, kits and reagents manufacturers. This section is primarily designed to provide clients with an objective and detailed comparative assessment of key providers specific to a market segment in the pyrogen testing market value chain and the potential players for the same. Report audiences can gain segment-specific vendor insights to identify and evaluate key competitors based on in-depth assessment of capabilities and successes in the global pyrogen testing market.Detailed profiles of the providers are also included in the scope of the report to evaluate their long- and short-term strategies, key offerings, SWOT analysis, and recent developments in the global pyrogen testing market.Few of the competitors covered in terms of manufacturers include Charles River Laboratories International, Inc., Lonza Group, Ltd., Merck & Co., Associates of Cape Cod, Inc., ELLAS A/s, GenScript, Wako Chemicals and others.Research methodologyTo ascertain global pyrogen testing market size, we have also considered revenue generated by device manufacturers. The forecast presented here assesses the total revenue across the pyrogen testing market. In order to offer an accurate forecast, we started by sizing up the current market, which forms the basis of how the global pyrogen testing market is expected to develop in the future. Given the characteristics of the market, we triangulated the outcome of three different types of analysis based on supply side, downstream industry demand and the economic envelope. In addition, it is imperative to note that in an ever-fluctuating global economy, we not only conduct forecasts in terms of CAGR, but also analyse it based on key parameters such as year-on-year (Y-o-Y) growth rates to understand the predictability of the market, and to identify the right opportunities across the global pyrogen testing market.The global pyrogen testing market segments in terms of test type, application, end users, and regions are analysed in terms of Basis Point Share (BPS) to understand individual segments relative contributions to market growth. This detailed level of information is important for identifying various key trends in the global pyrogen testing market.Send An Enquiry Request :Another key feature of this report is the analysis of key segments in terms of absolute dollar opportunity. This is overlooked while forecasting the market. However, absolute dollar opportunity is critical for assessing the level of opportunity that a provider can look to achieve, as well as to identify potential resources from a sales and delivery perspective, in the global pyrogen testing market.To understand key growth segments in terms of growth and adoption for pyrogen testing globally, Persistence Market Research developed the global pyrogen testing market Attractiveness Index. The resulting index is expected to help providers identify real market opportunities.About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Global Mechanical Drive Market For Mining Industry Market Forcast To Grow At CAGR Of 2.99% Between 2017-2021 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1293315/global-mechanical-drive-for-mining-market-research-reports.pdf https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1293315 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/1293315 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Report Global Mechanical Drive Market for Mining Industry 2017-2021 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"Mining involves extraction of valuable minerals from the earths crust. These mineral products have an economic value as they are used in many industries to manufacture end-products. These industries include automobile, manufacturing, energy, and construction. Ores recovered by mining include coal, oil shale, metals, gemstones, rock salt, and clay. The life cycle of a mining process consists of key steps that include exploration, production, closure, and post-mining. The major parts of mining process are exploration, mining, and processing.Technavios analysts forecast the global mechanical drives market for mining industry to grow at a CAGR of 2.99% during the period 2017-2021.View Sample PDF :Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global mechanical drives market for mining industry for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the demand for mechanical drive products from the mining industry.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEADownload Sample copy of this Report at :Technavio's report, Global Mechanical Drives Market for Mining Industry 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsABBNidecSiemensSKFMarket driverGlobal urbanization and industrializationFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeDecline in mining-related investmentsFor a full, detailed list, view our reportSend An Enquiry Request :Market trendShifting of mining activities to emerging economiesFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?You can request one free hour of our analysts time when you purchase this market report. Details are provided within the report.Table of ContentsPART 01: Executive summaryPART 02: Scope of the reportPART 03: Research MethodologyPART 04: IntroductionKey market highlightsMining processMining equipment overviewPART 05: Market landscapeMarket size and forecastFive forces analysisPART 06: Market segmentation by productGlobal mechanical drive market for mining industry by productGear driveBelt driveAntifriction bearingChain driveCouplingPART 07: Geographical segmentationGlobal mechanical drive market for mining industry by geographyAPACAmericasEMEAPART 08: Decision frameworkPART 09: Drivers and challengesMarket driversImpact of drivers on key customer segmentsMarket challengesImpact of challenges on key customer segmentsPART 10: Market trendsShifting of mining activities to emerging economiesAdvances in belt drive technologyRapid industrialization in BRICSPART 11: Vendor landscapeCompetitive scenarioPART 12: Vendor analysisABBNidecSiemensSKFPART 13: AppendixList of abbreviationsList of ExhibitsExhibit 01: Types of mining equipmentExhibit 02: Global mechanical drive market for mining industry 2016-2021 ($ millions)Exhibit 03: Five forces analysisExhibit 04: Global mechanical drive market for mining industry by products 2016-2021 ($ millions)Exhibit 05: Global gear drive market for mining industry 2016-2021 ($ millions)Exhibit 06: Global belt drive market for mining industry 2016-2021 ($ millions)Exhibit 07: Application of belt drives in mining industryExhibit 08: Antifriction bearing market for mining industry 2016-2021 ($ millions)Exhibit 09: Global chain drive market for mining industry 2016-2021 ($ millions)About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz In both contests at the top of the ticket the races for governor and U.S. Senate tens of thousands of voters opted for one of the party's candidate but not the other. Global Meso-Erythritol Market 2017- Shandong Sanyuan Biotechnology, Baolingbao Biology, Mitsubishi Global Meso-Erythritol Market https://goo.gl/FJCuLP https://goo.gl/JEmHKB https://market.biz/ https://emarketresearch.us Global Meso-Erythritol Market 2017The Industry Study on Global Meso-Erythritol Market 2017 incorporates the entire aspects of the Meso-Erythritol market. This includes extensive analysis, recent industry statistics and upcoming flow of the Meso-Erythritol market. The report also describes the size of the Meso-Erythritol market, factors controlling Meso-Erythritol market growth, various challenges which affect market expansion and economic prominence of the Meso-Erythritol market globally.Global Meso-Erythritol Market report commences with the overview of the Meso-Erythritol Market. The report represents the Meso-Erythritol market data in a transparent and precise way. This study covers all the essential information regarding the global Meso-Erythritol market which helps a user to grasp the market thoroughly.Enquire before purchasing the report here:The first section of the report begins with Introduction and followed by product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force. The next section covers the top players of Meso-Erythritol, with sales, revenue, and price of Meso-Erythritol. After that, the competitive analysis among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share is described.After that, the Regional analysis of the Meso-Erythritol market is explained which helps in understanding the effective regions of the market. The region-wise segmentation also focused on the regions having more Meso-Erythritol market opportunities with sales, revenue and market share of Meso-Erythritol, for each region.Global Meso-Erythritol Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers: Meso-Erythritol Market in North America (USA, Canada and Mexico). Europe Meso-Erythritol Market(Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy). Meso-Erythritol Market in Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and South-east Asia). Latin America Meso-Erythritol Market, Middle and Africa.This study serves the Meso-Erythritol market segmentation consists of key manufacturers segment, types segment and applications segment. The data concerning these segments that are blooming in the Meso-Erythritol market is included.The well-known manufacturers of global Meso-Erythritol market are:CargillMitsubishiNikken-chemicalBaolingbao BiologyShandong Sanyuan BiotechnologyZhongshun Sci. &Tech.FutasteStudy of global Meso-Erythritol market according to various types:20-30 Mesh30-60 Mesh60-80 Mesh100 MeshStudy of global Meso-Erythritol market according to distinct applications:Food IndustryPharmaceuticals IndustryCosmetics IndustryRequest for Sample Report atThe Meso-Erythritol market type and application are discussed deeply with sales market share and growth rate. Meso-Erythritol market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue are integrated with this report.Lastly, comprehensive analysis of industry risks, challenges and growth opportunities, administrative trends, Meso-Erythritol market drivers are included in this study. Further in-depth study of Meso-Erythritol sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, appendix and data source is provided. So that overall report helps the new aspirants to inspect the forthcoming opportunities in the Meso-Erythritol market.About Us:Market.Biz is designed to provide the best and most penetrating research required to all commercial, industrial and profit-making ventures in any sector of online business. We take pride in our ability to satisfy the market research needs of both domestic and international businesses.Market.Biz has access to the worlds most comprehensive and up-to-date databases in your business sector, including countless market reports that can provide you with valuable data relating to your business. We understand the needs of our clients, and keep our reports updated as market requirement changes.Contact US:GlobeMetrixJames JohnsonS. no. 51/14 First Floor,Office No. 4, Vishwa Arcade,Near Navale Lawns, Pune.Tel: +1(857)2390696Email: inquiry@market.bizWebsite:Blog: Pump Market in China Size, Share, Growth, Analysis, Trends and Forecast 2017-2021 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1293312/pump-in-china-market-research-reports.pdf https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1293312 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/1293312 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Report Pump Market in China 2017-2021 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"Pumps are mechanical devices used to move fluids from one place to another. They are used in the circulation of fluids around different parts of a system to increase the operational performance of industrial plants. They are widely used in industries, such as wastewater, mining, chemical, power generation, pharmaceutical, pulp and paper, marine, agriculture, food and beverage, aerospace, shipbuilding, automotive, and construction.Technavios analysts forecast the pumps market in China to grow at a CAGR of 7.01% during the period 2017-2021.View Sample PDF :Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the pumps market in China for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the demand for pumps from different end-users.Technavio's report, Pumps Market in China 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Download Sample copy of this Report at :Key vendorsFengQiu GroupSHIMGE Pump Industry GroupShanghai East Pump GroupGrundfosKaiquan GroupOther prominent vendorsFlowserveSANILIANPUMPEBARA CORPORATIONITTKSBSulzerTianjin Rongheng GroupLianCheng GroupMarket driverIncreasing demand for powerFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeFluctuating raw material pricesFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendGrowth in electricity generation from solar PV and wind energyFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?You can request one free hour of our analysts time when you purchase this market report. Details are provided within the report.Send An Enquiry Request :Table of ContentsPART 01: Executive summaryPART 02: Scope of the reportPART 03: Research MethodologyPART 04: IntroductionKey market highlightsPART 05: Market landscapeMarket overviewMarket size and forecastFive forces analysisPART 06: Market segmentation by productMarket overviewCentrifugal pumpsSpecialty pumpsPositive displacement pumpsPART 07: Market segmentation by end-userMarket overviewMunicipal sectorChemical industryPower industryOil industryBuildings sectorPART 08: Drivers and challengesMarket driversImpact of drivers on key customer segmentsMarket challengesImpact of challenges on key customer segmentsPART 09: Market trendsPART 10: Vendor landscapeMarket overviewAbout usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.ContactMr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Dental Implant Abutment Systems Market Size Will Observe Substantial Growth by 2017 2025 www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/13666 www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/13666 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/dental-implant-abutment-systems-market.asp www.persistencemarketresearch.com Dental implants therapy continues to be one of the most promising therapy in replacing missed teeth. The American Academy of Implant Dentistry estimates thats, currently 3 million of Americans are implanted with dental implants and the number is growing by 500,000 a year. A dental abutment is a connector device which is comprised of a base that adapted to mount a dental implant to connect the implant with the replacement teeth. From there the crown is placed over the abutment. In case of two-piece dental implants the abutment is cemented on the crown while in case of a single or one piece implant the dental implant and abutment is fused together and comes as a single piece implant. Dental implants abutments are used to attach a crown, bridge, remove or removable denture to the implant fixtures. There are two classes of dental abutment systems, prefabricated and custom made. Prefabricated dental abutments are available in ranges of size and shapes and the one which is best fitted is selected during the patients surgery. Custom made dental implants abutment systems are made according to the patients fit and are fabricated at the dental laboratory with the help of the implants impression which is made with the adjacent teeth and gingiva. The dental implant abutment systems are made up of different materials such as titanium, gold alloy, surgical stainless steel, gold, and zirconia. However, currently available dental implants abutment systems are made from zirconia, a white ceramic dental implant abutment providing a highly desirable dental abutment option. These abutment systems are used to better compliment the aesthetics of the dental implant restoration. However, such abutments needs to be used with care as there compressive strength is somewhere around that of other metals including titanium and gold.Presently, a number of manufacturers are focusing on providing custom fit dental implant abutment systems according to the patients need. This is expected to reflect positive growth in the global dental implant abutment systems market. Furthermore, availability of wide range of options in prefabricated dental implants product category is expected to make easy for dental surgeons to choose the best fitted dental implant abutment system. This is expected to fuel the market revenue for prefabricated dental implants abutment systems over the forecast period. Increasing number of dental implants procedures worldwide is expected to create demand for abutment systems in dentistry. Advent of multifunctional dental abutment systems in the market will further increase the market revenue for dental implants abutment systems globally. Problems associated with the abutment fixation, screw loosening, rotational misfit, inadequate microbial sealing may result in poor dental implant fixation. High cost of two piece dental implant abutment system and limited prosthetic options available in case of single piece implant is expected to result in declining revenues in dental implants abutment systems market over the forecast period.A Sample of this Report is Available Upon Request @Increasing efforts by dental abutment manufacturers to deliver abutment systems with shape memory material called as Nitinol, a nickel titanium providing cement free and screw free dental abutment solutions is expected to create huge market revenue potential in the global dental implant abutment systems market.By product type, the global market for dental implant abutment systems has been classified into, stock/prefabricated abutment systems and custom abutment systems. Stock/prefabricated abutment systems product type segment is highly preferred product type segment owing to availability of wide range of abutment systems in this product type category.By type of connection, the global market for dental implant abutment systems has been classified into external hex connection and internal connection. Better esthetic, better joint strength and improved microbial seal is expected to create higher revenues for internal connection sub-segment in global dental implant abutment systems.On the basis of material type the global dental implant abutment systems market is segmented into, titanium, gold, stainless steel and zirconia. Zirconia material type sub segment is expected to be opportunistic in global dental implant abutment systems market.On the basis of end user the global dental implant abutment systems market is segmented into, hospital dental clinics and ambulatory surgical centers.On the basis of regional presence, global Dental Implant Abutment Systems market is segmented into five key regions viz. North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. North America followed by Europe will continue to dominate the global dental implant abutment systems market attributed to growing number of adult as well as pediatric population with dental problems such as, tooth decay and dental caries leading to more number of dental implant procedures. Furthermore, increasing rate of dental implants procedures among older group is also expected to result in higher demand for abutment systems globally over the forecast period. Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest growing region in global dental implant abutment systems market.Request to View Tables of Content @Some of the major players operating in global dental implant abutment systems market are FLA BioHorizons IPH, Inc., Nobel Biocare Services AG, DYNAMIC ABUTMENT SOLUTIONS, Institut Straumann AG, Ditron Dental, FRIADENT GmbH, Glidewell Laboratories. Companies are involved in collaboration agreements for R&D in order to exploit maximum potential.To Know About Latest Report Click Here:About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: RFmondial is launching DAB+ Monitoring Receiver and Logging Solution http://rfdab.rfmondial.com http://rfarchiver.rfmondial.com/login.php?autologin=rfa_user www.rfmondial.com Hannover, 15.08.2017 RFmondial presents a complete solution for DAB+ Monitoring and Logging for the broadcasting industry, including the DAB-Monitoring Receiver RF-DAB and the DAB-logging system RFarchiver. Both units will be presented at IBC in Amsterdam in September.RF-DAB is a professional DAB monitoring receiver for transmitter, content and field monitoring. It features parallel full ensemble decoding of complete multiplexes including access of all audio and data services, as well as single frequency network (SFN) synchronization monitoring. Its modular design enables flexible configuration for various specific applications, which we currently visualize via our publicly available Live-Demo () , states Jens Schroeder, Managing Director of RFmondial GmbH in Hannover.In addition, the RFarchiver is designed for enhanced audio and multimedia services for digital broadcasting. The server based system is able to directly store one or several service or multiplex streams (EDI), and enables easy access to archived content to the second for multiple web users. The concurrent logging of multiple DAB data streams at important measuring points in the signal chain via the RFarchiver fulfills not only the legal requirements for broadcasting archiving, it facilitates even more troubleshooting and debugging in case of failure, Gernot Link reports, system engineer working for Deutschlandradio. Deutschlandradio is using the complete DAB solution of RFmondial for its digital broadcasting. On this point too, RFmondial convinces with a Live-Demo ().The new radio-standard DAB+ is characteristic for excellent audio quality and a large variety of program-accompanying additional information. The population of terminal equipment grows continuously, and the transmitter network of the national digital broadcasting expands in a constant manner.RFmondial GmbH offers professional products and services for the digital broadcasting industry as well as other industries with the need for innovative hardware and software. Research, development and prototype implementation for transmitter, receiver, and monitoring technology as well as design services for various industries are part of the core business. With broad experience in various technological areas, world-wide markets are served, "Made in Germany".RFmondial GmbHJens SchroederAppelstr. 9a30167 Hannover+49 (511) 762 19704 Automotive Interior Leather Market By Type And Application, Forecast To 2022 https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/united-states-automotive-interior-leather-by-manufacturers-states-type-and-application-forecast-to-2022-market https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/request-sample/1443481 https://www.bigmarketresearch.com/request-for-discount/1443481 The material, leather, also include a wide range of resource. It is made by tanning of animal skin and rawhide. Leather also has a wide material resource, including cowhide, buffalo hide, hog skin, goat and sheep skin, dear skin, and other large amount origins of animal skins. The range of synthetic materials used in the leather goods industry is very wide.View Complete Report:Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Automotive Interior Leather in United States market, to split the market based on manufacturers, states, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversEagle OttawaGST AutoLeatherBader GmbHBoxmarkKyowa Leather ClothExco TechnologiesWollsdorfRequest For Sample Report:Market Segment by States, coveringCaliforniaTexasNew YorkFloridaIllinoisMarket Segment by Type, coversGenuine LeatherSynthetic LeatherMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoHeadlinersSeatsDoor TrimsConsolesOthersAsk for Discount on Report:There are 17 Chapters to deeply display the United States Automotive Interior Leather market.Chapter 1, to describe Automotive Interior Leather Introduction, product type and application, market overview, market analysis by States, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the manufacturers of Automotive Interior Leather, with profile, main business, news, sales, price, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the United States market by States, covering California, New York, Texas, Illinois and Florida, with sales, price, revenue and market share of Automotive Interior Leather, for each state, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5 and 6, to show the market by type and application, with sales, price, revenue, market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, to analyze the key States by Type and Application, covering California, New York, Texas, Illinois and Florida, with sales, revenue and market share by types and applications;Chapter 12, Automotive Interior Leather market forecast, by States, type and application, with sales, price, revenue and growth rate forecast, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, to analyze the manufacturing cost, key raw materials and manufacturing process etc.Chapter 14, to analyze the industrial chain, sourcing strategy and downstream end users (buyers);Chapter 15, to describe sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers etc.Chapter 16 and 17, to describe Automotive Interior Leather Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix, methodology and data source.With the arsenal of different search reports, we help you here to look and buy research reports that will be helpful to you and your organization. Our research reports have the capability and authenticity to support your organization for growth and consistency.With the window of opportunity getting open and shut at a speed of light, it has become very important to survive in the market and only the fittest and competent enough can do so. So, we try and provide with latest changes in the market that can suit your needs and help you take decision accordingly.5933 NE Win Sivers Drive,#205, Portland, OR 97220United States Global Grow Lights Market To Hit at CAGR of 12.60% Between 2017-2021 : Philips Lighting Holding, GENERAL ELECTRIC, OSRAM Licht, Gavita International, LumiGrow https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1293376/global-grow-lights-market-research-reports.pdf https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1293376 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/1293376 Recent market research report, industry analysis and insights on "Global Grow Lights Market 2017-2021"Browse Full Report :Lights that are used in a wide range of farming-related applications are called grow lights. This is because they help with the artificial growth of plants. Some of the advantages of using grow lights include high reliability, spectral intensity, and low power consumption. With rapid rise in vertical farming and greenhouse practices around the globe, the use of different grow lights is also simultaneously increasing. This is contributing to the overall growth of the market. The crops considered for the scope of the report include fruits, vegetables, flowers, and ornamental plants.Tthe global grow lights market to grow at a CAGR of 12.60% during the period 2017-2021.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global grow lights market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the value sales of grow lights.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEARequest To Get The Sample Copy Of This Report :Technavio's report, Global LED Agricultural Grow Lights Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsPhilips Lighting HoldingGENERAL ELECTRICOSRAM LichtGavita InternationalLumiGrowOther prominent vendorsHeliospectraSolarMAXPARsourceTranscend LightingEYE HORTILUXTwilight GroupLemnis OreonKessilMarket driverRise in indoor farming practicesFor a full, detailed list, view our reportSend An Enquiry :Market challengeDrawbacks associated with grow lightsFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendAdvent of urban farmingFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?MRRbiz supports your business intelligence needs with over 700,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Global Cyber Insurance Market 2017 - American International Group, Zurich Insurance Co, XL Group Ltd, Lockton Companies https://www.fiormarkets.com/report-detail/90116/request-sample https://goo.gl/cC82Xr www.fiormarkets.com www.enrollpress.com Cyber-insurance is an insurance product used to protect businesses and individual users from Internet-based risks, and more generally from risks relating to information technology infrastructure and activities. Risks of this nature are typically excluded from traditional commercial general liability policies or at least are not specifically defined in traditional insurance products. Coverage provided by cyber-insurance policies may include first-party coverage against losses such as data destruction, extortion, theft, hacking, and denial of service attacks; liability coverage indemnifying companies for losses to others caused, for example, by errors and omissions, failure to safeguard data, or defamation; and other benefits including regular security-audit, post-incident public relations and investigative expenses, and criminal reward funds.Request For Sample Report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Cyber Insurance 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 coversAmerican International GroupThe Chubb CorporationZurich Insurance CoXL Group LtdBerkshire HathawayAllianz Global Corporate & SpecialtyMunich Re GroupLloydsLockton CompaniesAON PLCMarket 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, coversSmall Medium EnterpriseLarge Medium EnterpriseAccess Full Report With TOC @Market Segment by Applications, can be divided intoHealthcareRetailFinancial ServicesInformation Technology and ServicesOthersThere are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Cyber Insurance market.Chapter 1, to describe Cyber Insurance Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Cyber Insurance, with sales, revenue, and price of Cyber Insurance, 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 Cyber Insurance, 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, Cyber Insurance market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Cyber Insurance sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.About Fior MarketsFior Markets is a leading market intelligence company that sells reports of top publishers in the technology industry.Our extensive research reports cover detailed market assessments that include major technological improvements in the industry. Fior Markets also specializes in analyzing hi-tech systems and current processing systems in its expertise.We have a team of experts that compile precise research reports and actively advise top companies to improve their existing processes. Our experts have extensive experience in the topics that they cover.Contact UsMark StoneSales ManagerPhone: (201) 465-4211Email: sales@fiormarkets.comWeb:Blog: Russia Viscosupplementation Market From 2016 - 2026: Three Injection Viscosupplementation Likely to be the Most Preferred Treatment Option for Osteoarthritis Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1287880 http://www.researchmoz.us/viscosupplementation-market.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG ResearchMoz presents this most up-to-date research on "Russia Viscosupplementation Market From 2016 - 2026: Three Injection Viscosupplementation Likely to be the Most Preferred Treatment Option for Osteoarthritis".Single injection viscosupplementation segment is anticipated to record the highest CAGR during the projected periodThe single injection viscosupplementation segment in the Russia viscosupplementation market is expected to expand at the fastest and highest CAGR of 6.0% over the forecast period, due to relatively less competition across the product type segments. The three injection viscosupplementation product type segment was estimated to account for more than 69.4% share of the Russia viscosupplementation market in 2016, which is projected to increase to over 68.8% by the end of 2026. In Russia, three injection viscosupplementation is likely to be the highly preferred treatment of choice for osteoarthritis over the projected period and this is the precise reason that by the end of 2026, the three injection viscosupplementation product type segment is estimated to reach a market valuation in excess of US$ 23.5Mn. The three injection viscosupplementation product type segment is projected to be the most attractive segment in the Russia viscosupplementation market.Rising obesity and ageing population expected to drive the growth of the three injection viscosupplementation segment in RussiaViscosupplemets are hyaluronic acid doses that are injected in the knee joints for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). The rising obesity rate, coupled with a rapidly increasing geriatric population in Russia is giving rise to an increasing number of cases of knee osteoarthritis. This factor is driving the growth of the single injection viscosupplementation segment in the Russia viscosupplementation market. Increasing ageing population is another factor that is creating robust development in the Russia viscosupplementation market. Prevalence of osteoarthritis in the adult population in Russia is approximately 13%. Knee osteoarthritis is causing disability in the ageing population in Russia and this is the precise reason for the rise in demand for three injection viscosupplementation. Three injection viscosupplementation is a cost-effective procedure that reduces the cost burden of knee osteoarthritis patients. Several drugs for three injection viscosupplementation are in the pipeline and this is further creating a positive impact on this segment. Better patient compliance and reduction in the number of hospital visits is expected to drive the market growth of the three injection viscosupplementation segment over the forecast period.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Non-consideration of reimbursement by insurance companies in Russia is likely to be a hindrance to the growth in demand for three injection viscosupplementationThe cost of single injection viscosupplementation is lesser than three injection viscosupplementation. Besides, these three injections are available through online portals or can be procured directly from the pharmacists as well. However, several insurance companies and authorities do not consider these in the reimbursement list of products. Physicians have noted that the formulation of updated treatment guidelines by Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) for knee osteoarthritis has been restricting the overall outlook on viscosupplementation prescription. This is expected to lead to increased insurance denials for three injection viscosupplementation. Three injection viscosupplementation is a lengthy procedure wherein patients suffering from osteoarthritis need to take three injections within the span of a certain time period. Owing to these restraints, single injections are expected to gain more popularity in Russia in the years to come.Market share of companies operating in the Russia viscosupplementation marketThe Russia viscosupplementation market is highly fragmented. Key players such as Hyaltech, Croma-Pharma GmbH and TRB Chemedica contribute around 65% of the market share. Hyaltech alone grabs more than 40% market share.Table Of Content1. Executive Summary2. Market Introduction2.1. Market Definition2.2. Market Taxonomy3. Global Russia Viscosupplementation Market Analysis Scenario3.1. Pricing Analysis and Projection3.2. Market Size (US$ Mn) and Forecast , 2015-20263.2.1. Market Size and Y-o-Y Growth3.2.2. Absolute $ Opportunity3.3. Market Overview3.3.1. Value Chain4. Market Dynamics4.1. Macro-economic Factors4.2. Drivers4.2.1. Supply Side4.2.2. Demand Side4.3. Restraints4.4. Opportunity4.5. Forecast Factors Relevance and Impact4.6. Key Regulations4.7. Pipeline Product Assessment4.8. Pricing and Reimbursement ScenarioBrowse More Details @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Medical Marijuana Market Forecasted Double-Digit Growth Rate Through, 2017 2025 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/13897 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/13897 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/medical-marijuana-market.asp www.persistencemarketresearch.com Medical marijuana is a type of pain management drug extracted from cannabis plant. Medical marijuana is mainly prescribe as analgesic in indications such as nausea and vomiting and muscle pain. The marijuana contains cannabinoids compounds such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). Though the other compounds are also found in the marijuana in small proportion having medical properties and health benefits such as cannabigerol (CBG) and cannabinol (CBN). THC compound usually gets users high due to its higher concentration in the marijuana. The cannabinoids interact with the bodys endocannabinoid system which works as a signaling network in the human or mammalian species.Globally, the number of diseases is increasing rapidly due to the factors such as changing lifestyle and aging which leads to various health and medical conditions such as stress disorders and chronic diseases. There are various advantages of marijuana in medical treatments such as nausea, helping in pain ease and loss of appetite in people who are suffering from cancer or HIV. Medical marijuana also helps to relieve seizures in people with epilepsy, muscle stiffness and spasms and frequent urination.View Sample Report @The global medical marijuana market is anticipated to register a moderate CAGR over a forecast period. The increasing demand of the medical marijuana from the medical industry for the treatment of various ailments or conditions such as pain, neurological problems, appetite of HIV patients and nausea, boost the growth of the global medical marijuana market. The increasing research and development activities for use of medical marijuana in the treatment of carcinogens and other diseases also propel the demand of medical marijuana and drives the global medical marijuana market. The availability of the medical marijuana in the various product forms such as edibles, oils and dermal patches which became the best alternative to the conventional vaporization method, also increases the demand of the medical marijuana and drives the market.However, the marijuana has short term and long term side effects such as changing mood and anxiety, sleepiness, hallucination and paranoia. The longer vaporization of marijuana can make breathing problems such as bronchitis which may hamper the demand of marijuana in medical treatment and restrain the growth of the global medical marijuana market. The fluctuating and stringent rules and regulations from region to region for the use marijuana as a medical treatment, may also impede the growth of the global medical marijuana market.Request Report TOC @On the basis of regional presence, the global medical marijuana market is segmented into five key regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Currently, North America is expected to capture the largest market share for medical marijuana due to high adoption rate and advanced healthcare facilities. Europe, is estimated to capture second largest market share in the medical marijuana market. The medical marijuana market in Asia Pacific and Middle East and Africa has become the most lucrative market and expected to register a high CAGR over the forecast period owing to increase in awareness about the advantages of medical marijuana in medical treatment as well as emerging medical technology companies in upcoming years. Overall, the global medical marijuana market is expected to show a significant growth over a forecast period.Some of the major market players in medical marijuana market globally include Medical Marijuana Inc., Abattis Bioceuticals Corp., Cresco Labs, LLC, ABcann Medicinals Inc., Agripharm Corp., Aurora Cannabis Enterprises Inc., Broken Coast Cannabis Ltd., Emerald Health Botanicals Inc., RedeCan Pharm, Tweed Inc. and Whistler Medical Marijuana Corp.Get access to full summary @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Anti-Infectives Market Key Trends & Industry Forecast 2017 2025 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/14116 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/14116 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/anti-infectives-market.asp www.persistencemarketresearch.com Anti-infectives consists of the drugs that are responsible for killing or inhibiting the growth of a micro-organism inside the body. Anti-infectives consists of antibacterials, antivirals, antifungals and others. Anti-infectives work by interfering with the biomolecular functioning of the microbes like cell wall formation, protein synthesis, replication and many more. The market for anti-infectives enormously increased in the recent decades by the rise in various pharmaceutical companies and growing number of infections worldwide. Without effective anti-infectives, success of chemotherapy and major surgery would be compromised.Anti-infectives market is an ever-going market and the pharmaceutical sector is having more profit margin than any other sector globally. The increase in the number of hospitals, primary care clinics are also contributing towards increase demand of anti-infectives. Nowadays, antimicrobial resistance is one of the major threat to the industry as according to WHO last year, 480,000 people develops multi-drug resistance against tuberculosis drugs each year. Similarly, Staphylococcus aureus also develops methicillin resistance in many parts of the world. This is the biggest concern of the anti-infectives market at this time.View Sample Report @Anti-Infectives Market: Drivers & RestraintsIncrease in demand by the rise in the number of patients and surge of microbes around the globe is major driver of the industry. Funding and assistance provided by governmental and non-governmental organizations like WHO are fuelling the market. New research activities in the direction and discovery of novel therapeutics with improved effectivity would be the cutting edge for global players. Growing reimbursement scenario in almost every country is also growing the market. Decrease in the trend of new antibiotics approvals is one of the restraint in the industry. Resistance gained my microorganisms in recent past is one of the main restraint which curbs the present market of anti-infectives to grow. Hence, improving the safety and efficacy of the drugs will keep the market growing. Great competition in the market due to the vast expansion of this sector is posing a restriction for new growth opportunities on the other hand, business strategies, new collaborations in this sector would provide the upper hand for the growth.Since the discovery of anti-infectives from the antibacterial Penicillin, there is a huge market for anti-infectives nowadays. In this highly competitive world, revenue of pharmaceutical companies depends on the brand value and the marketing strategies followed to attract the customers. Broad spectrum antibiotics such as quinolones and cephalosporins are major consumed anti-infectives worldwide generating higher revenue for the industry. The future market of anti-infectives would be driven by the novel therapeutics which will work against the current antibiotic resistant bacteria. In this regard, Pharmaceutical giants including GlaxoSmithKline and Merck are teaming up with other healthcare companies to accelerate the development of drugs for superbug infections that are resistant to existing antibiotic treatments.Request Report TOC @A geographic condition regarding the anti-infectives market, it has been segmented into five key regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East & Africa. Accordinng to scientific data from Princeton University, rising trend in consumption of anti-infectives has increased in BRICS nation. The consumption of antibiotics in the last years has greatly enlarged in Asian countries like India and China, some parts of Africa. Australia and New Zealand also showing rising trends in this market. High income countries still consume more antibiotics per capita such as North America followed by Europe. Due to the shifting trends of anti-infective consumption towards developing countries, investments in these countries would reap a good revenue in future.Major companies involved in the production and novel R&D activities for the development of anti-infectives involve Astra Zeneca plc, Johnson &Johnson, Glaxo SmithKline plc, Novartis AG, Pfizer Inc, Wockhardt ltd, Roche, Sanofi, Merck and many others.Get access to full summary @About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Like many Wisconsinites, I was thrilled when I first heard the news that Foxconn Technology Group, a supplier to Apple and other tech companies, chose our state to build a new facility that could potentially employ many of our people. Its more validation for what we already know: Wisconsin workers are the best in the world. For years, Ive worked to create and bring in more high-quality jobs to Wisconsin helping lead the renewal of downtown Eau Claire and working across party lines to help keep the Bucks in Milwaukee. But after reading the details of the Foxconn deal, Ive become appalled at what a bad deal it is for Wisconsin from the staggering price tag borne by taxpayers, much of it cold hard cash just given to the company, to lack of protections for workers, our water and air. Unless the Legislature dramatically improves this terrible deal, I will vote no in the state Assembly. Let me tell you why. First, there is absolutely no reason for such a rush to approve this deal. This artificial deadline created by the governor and Foxconns CEO feels like a way to avoid oversight and scrutiny. Nowhere in the private sector would they close a deal like this in less than a month. Its a major red flag. A deal of this size deserves more scrutiny, not less. Second, this is a terrible deal for Wisconsin taxpayers. As the Legislative Fiscal Bureau reported, the best-case scenario leaves taxpayers on the hook until 2043. And thats the best case. A young Wisconsinite about to start kindergarten this month will be nearly 30, or older, before this deal could have a chance to pay dividends for our state. And its worth wondering: Will there even be iPhones in 25 years? But heres the bigger problem. If you read the deal and I encourage everyone to there is no guarantee it will create even a single job. No guarantees. No clawbacks. No accountability. Just a huge, irresponsible blank check to a foreign corporation. Beyond that, this deal has no provisions to ensure workers are paid good wages and benefits. Any taxpayer-funded incentives must be good for workers, not just CEOs. Finally, as an avid outdoorsman, Im troubled by the provision to waive environmental standards and simply trust a foreign company to protect Wisconsin water, air and land. Foxconns track record in China is troubling, to say the least. And surely the next corporation to come knocking will want the same deal and that next time could impact your favorite fishing or hunting spot. To sum it up, I am all for smart incentives to bring in good jobs. But we do not need to bring Chinese-style economics to Wisconsin where workers are mistreated, where our air and water is polluted, and where the government supports corporations with reckless giveaways. This and every deal should live up to our Wisconsin values: 1. Protect Wisconsin taxpayers. 2. ensure any jobs supported by taxpayers are good-paying, family-supporting jobs. 3. Strike a reasonable balance between economic growth and our natural resources. Wisconsin has the greatest workers in the world, and theyre among many assets that are attractive to companies looking to grow. I support the use of tax incentives to attract new businesses. But they must be used responsibly to help Wisconsin taxpayers not just corporate interests. Lets also do more than just give away the store to big corporations. We should promote homegrown growth in our state. For three years in a row, Wisconsin has been dead last in new startup businesses. I believe we need to work with our small- and medium-sized businesses to help them grow and create more jobs here. Lets invest in our own people, not just give blank checks to foreign corporations. And lets invest in our infrastructure and our workforce of the future not rely on Hail Mary economics like this governor is doing. Rotogravure Printing Machine Market Volume Analysis, Segments, Value Share and Key Trends 2017-2027 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3582 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3582 www.futuremarketinsights.com Product information in terms of specifications, usage, cautionary notes, track and trace information, etc. is of prime significance to manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, retailers and end consumers. Printing equipment and machineries have brought essential value to the overall packaging market by enabling packaging manufacturers to supply packaging systems with print capabilities. Rotogravure printing machine is extensively used in the packaging industry for printing on packaging items like polythene packets, food pouches, confectionary wrappers, soap wrappers and many flexible packaging materials. Rotogravure printing machine is a high-speed printing machine which is used for printing consistently on films of different densities while maintaining consistency and accuracy. Rotogravure printing machine is highly efficient, and reduces the waste by unprecedented amount in order to minimize the cost of packaging. Rotogravure printing machine improve the overall margin for packaging manufacturers by providing efficiency in operations.Request Report Sample@Rotogravure Printing Machine Market: Market DynamicsThe growing consumption of food and beverage products particularly for consumer packed goods, has led to rise in demand for rotogravure printing machines, which in turn is boosting the rotogravure printing machine market. The growth in packaging equipment market affects the rotogravure printing machine market. The consumable packaging market is estimated to be US$ 700.0 billion, and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3% over the forecast period. Crucial factor supporting the rotogravure printing machine market is the efficiency in speed and cost of the rotogravure printing machine that provide high image quality on the packaging material. The rotogravure printing machine is easy to operate and has a low labor cost which is an important factor for the growth of the rotogravure printing machine market. However, the initial investment required for the installation of rotogravure printing machine may limit the scope of the rotogravure printing machine market. The presence of substitutes for rotogravure printing machine such as flexographic printing machinery is a key restraint for the growth of rotogravure printing machine market. Moreover, advancement in printing technology may make the rotogravure printing machine obsolete which may hamper the growth of the rotogravure printing machine market over the forecast period. However, the use of flexible packaging for food and consumer goods is extensive, so rotogravure printing machine market holds a good potential over the forecast period.Rotogravure Printing Machine Market: Market SegmentationRotogravure printing machine market is segmented by the type of material used for printing, by application and end-use industry.Based on the types of material used for printing, rotogravure printing machine market is segmented into:Polyester filmsOPP filmsNylon filmPE filmPaperCarton boardAluminum foilBased on the application, rotogravure printing machine market is segmented into:PublishingPackaging labelsSecurity PrintsDecorative printingBased on the end-use industry, rotogravure printing machine market is segmented into:Food and beverage industryPharmaceutical industryConsumer goods industryOther industriesRotogravure Printing Machine Market - Regional Outlook:North AmericaLatin AmericaEastern EuropeWestern EuropeAsia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ)Middle East & Africa (MEA)JapanVisit For TOC@In the backdrop of the rapid growth of manufacturing industries in APEJ region rotogravure printing machine market is expected to move vertically upward over the forecast period. North America is expected to follow the APEJ region in rotogravure printing machine market. The Eastern and Western Europe is expected to witness a steady growth for the rotogravure printing machine market, attributed to increasing consumer preference for printed packs of products. The increased consumer preference for procurement of products in smaller quantity may support the growth of rotogravure printing machine market in Japan over the forecasted period. Comparatively rotogravure printing machine market is growing at a lower rate in MEA region.Rotogravure Printing Machine Market - Key Players:Some key players for the rotogravure printing machine market are BOBST, Shaanxi Beiren Printing Machinery Co., Ltd, Wei Machine Industry Co., Ltd, J M Heaford Ltd, Toshiba Machine Co., Ltd, Windmoeller & Hoelscher Corporation, Queen's Machinery Co., Ltd, Comexi Group, DCM-ATN, Rotatek, KKA GmbH, and Gruppo Cerutti.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Banking Sector to Develop New Relationships with Its Customers through Artificial Intelligence https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1213946 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/pressrelease/5639/banking-sector-to-develop-new-relationships-with-its-customers-through-artificial-intelligence http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Report The Future of Artificial Intelligence in Banking provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"The requirements of customers in the banking sector have changed extensively in the recent years. Basnks are looking for ways to leverage the power of artificial intelligence in order to smoothen the internal process and to enhance the user experience along with it. An extensive report on the future of artificial intelligence in banking has been analyzed and put on sale by MarketResearchReports.biz. titled, The Future of Artificial Intelligence in Banking.Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to bring a dramatic change in the relationship between banks and its customers by improving its functionality and turnaround time. Its implementation is also likely to help in cost reduction. AI has the immense capacity to collect large amount of data to be processed. It would not only save time but would also work in the favor of the companies to detect fraudulence and prevent the data and funds from being shared. AI, with its latest technologies is expected to enhance the front-office and back-office processes. AI can also help in detecting the cases of money laundering and other cases of fraud through its algorithms.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @There are diverse applications of artificial intelligence in the banking sector such as robotic process automation (RPA), natural language processing NLP), advanced data analytics, image analytics, and machine learning and deep learning (MLDL). These applications are anticipated to change the entire interaction process between a bank and its customers. Customers will be able to manage their personal finance with ease, thus eliminating the need of standing in a long queue. This would further make the privacy and profit policies of the banks more flexible. This has been possible because of the complex and hard-to break algorithms used in the process. Chatbots are the AI providing automated chat systems that are widely used in the banking industry. Bank of America is planning to come up with a virtual assistant that would automatically answer the customer queries for improving their financial issues.View Press Release @MasterCard and WorldPay are currently leading the race among the top financial sectors, implementing artificial intelligence in their interaction process to add value to their customers. Bank of America, with its newly planned virtual assistant Erica is also emerging as the key player in the list of companies. Other names in the league are Capital One and PayPal that has made the usage of artificial intelligence possible. Not just these, but the old financial businesses are also trying to keep up with the new and innovative ones such as Lloyds Banking Group and Pindrop which has 147 features that traces the audio waves of the caller similar to the fingerprints.About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Sales Market Report 2017: Industry Estimated to Grow By its Immense Outsourcing Capability, Analyzed till 2022 Market Research HUB http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=enquiry&repid=1293956 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/report/global-exempt-solvents-for-coating-industry-sales-market-report-2017-report.html http://www.marketresearchhub.com/enquiry.php?type=enquiry&repid=1293956 http://www.marketresearchhub.com/ https://www.industrynewsanalysis.com/ A latest research report titled as Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Sales Market Report 2017 has been recently added to the vast portfolio of Market Research Hub (MRH) online research offerings. This report is a professional and in-depth analysis on the present state and future prospect for the global market. It provides valuable information to the industry insiders, potential entrants or investors. It includes an exhaustive enquiry with the reliability of logic and the comprehensiveness of contents.Request Free Sample Report:In this report, the global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry market is valued at USD XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach USD XX million by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Geographically, this report split global into several key Regions, with sales (K Units), revenue (Million USD), market share and growth rate of Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry for these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringUnited StatesChinaEuropeJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGlobal Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry market competition by top manufacturers/players, with Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry sales volume, Price (USD/Unit), revenue (Million USD) and market share for each manufacturer/player; the top players includingKowa India Pvt.Miami ChemicalThe Dow ChemicalDowd and GuildEastman ChemicalHubbard-HallPacific Coast ChemicalsStartex ChemicalTH Hilson CompanyUnivarParchem Fine & Specialty ChemicalsOn the basis of product, this report displays the sales volume (K Units), revenue (Million USD), product price (USD/Unit), market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoMethyl ChloroformMethyl ChlorideMethyl AcetateAcetoneParachlorobenzotrifluorideOtherOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, sales volume, market share and growth rate of Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry for each application, includingConstructionAutomotiveInfrastructureBrowse Full Report With TOC:Table of ContentsGlobal Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Sales Market Report 20171 Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry1.2 Classification of Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry by Product Category1.2.1 Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Market Size (Sales) Comparison by Type (2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Market Size (Sales) Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Methyl Chloroform1.2.4 Methyl Chloride1.2.5 Methyl Acetate1.2.6 Acetone1.2.7 Parachlorobenzotrifluoride1.2.8 Other1.3 Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Market by Application/End Users1.3.1 Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Sales (Volume) and Market Share Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Construction1.3.3 Automotive1.3.4 Infrastructure1.4 Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Market by Region1.4.1 Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Market Size (Value) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 United States Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 China Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 Europe Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value and Volume) of Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2022)2 Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Competition by Players/Suppliers, Type and Application2.1 Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Market Competition by Players/Suppliers2.1.1 Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Revenue and Share by Players/Suppliers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry (Volume and Value) by Type2.2.1 Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Sales and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.2.2 Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Revenue and Market Share by Type (2012-2017)2.3 Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry (Volume and Value) by Region2.3.1 Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Sales and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.3.2 Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Revenue and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)2.4 Global Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry (Volume) by Application3 United States Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry (Volume, Value and Sales Price)3.1 United States Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Sales and Value (2012-2017)3.1.1 United States Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Sales and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.2 United States Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Revenue and Growth Rate (2012-2017)3.1.3 United States Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Sales Price Trend (2012-2017)3.2 United States Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Sales Volume and Market Share by Players3.3 United States Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Sales Volume and Market Share by Type3.4 United States Exempt Solvents for Coating Industry Sales Volume and Market Share by ApplicationContinued..Enquire About this Report:About Market Research Hub:Market Research Hub (MRH) is a next-generation reseller of research reports and analysis. MRHs expansive collection of market research reports has been carefully curated to help key personnel and decision makers across industry verticals to clearly visualize their operating environment and take strategic steps.MRH functions as an integrated platform for the following products and services: Objective and sound market forecasts, qualitative and quantitative analysis, incisive insight into defining industry trends, and market share estimates. Our reputation lies in delivering value and world-class capabilities to our clients.Contact Us90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (US-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Email: press@marketresearchhub.comWebsite:Read Industry News At: Developing Healthcare Infrastructure in Developing Countries to Boost Global Active Implantable Medical Devices Market https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1048594 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/pressrelease/5625/developing-healthcare-infrastructure-in-developing-countries-to-boost-global-active-implantable-medical-devices-market http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Report Global Active Implantable Medical Devices Market Research Report 2017 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"Active implantable medical devices have to proceed through rigorous regulatory controls before they reach to the market. However, the increasing number of surgeries performed all over the world is expected to drive the global implantable medical devices in the future. MarketResearchReports.biz has added a new report, titled Global Active Implantable Medical Devices Market Research Report 2017, which gives an in-depth reports about this market.Favorable reimbursement scenario for ENT procedures in developed countries, expanded applications of neurostimulators, funds and investments to develop technologically advanced products, increasing prevalence of neurological and cardiovascular diseases, and growth in aging population are expected to drive the demand for active implantable medical devices in the future. This report provides the details about the trends that may affect the growth of this market in positive or negative manner over the forecast period.On the basis of product, the global market for active implantable medical devices can be segmented into implantable hearing devices, neurostimulators, insertable loop recorders/implantable heart monitors, ventricular assist devices, and implantable cardioverter defibrillators. In this report, the market shares for these applications, their growth trajectories over the forecast period, and their major vendors are included. This information is expected to give readers complete comprehension for various products. On the basis of end user applications, the market can be segmented into heart failure, tachycardia, and bradycardia. The medical devices used for these applications are formulated along with the market shares of these end user applications.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @Geographically, the market can be segmented into India, Southeast Asia, Japan, China, Europe, and North America. Due to the availability of advanced healthcare facilities, the market in North America holds a dominant share in the global market. Increasing population and developing healthcare infrastructure in countries such as China and the U.S. is likely to drive the market for active implantable medical devices in Asia Pacific and North America over the forecast period. This report is a complete guide to the regional reports of this market for these segments. Revenue by value, production, and capacity for each of these regions are included. Furthermore, the CAGR for these regions over the forecast period. Regional government policies, trends, and competitive reports are also included to give a 360-degree view into the regional market.View Press Release @The prominent players in this market include Nurotron Biotechnology, William Demant, Sonova, MED-EL, Cochlear Limited, LivaNova, BIOTRONIK, Boston Scientific Corporation, Abbott Laboratories, and Medtronic. Gross margin, product prices, revenue, production, and capacity for each of these players are included. Detailed reports of the products these companies provide, the categories under which these products fall, and applications and specifications of the products are included. The pitfalls these companies could come across and the hurdles for growth in this market are explained. Furthermore, the opportunities present in this market for these players and their strategies to stay competent are included.MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz North America Radiopharmaceuticals Market Expected to Register an Attractive Growth Rate (More than US$ 4,000 Mn) Throughout the Forecast Period 2016 - 2026 Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1287878 http://www.researchmoz.us/radiopharmaceuticals-market.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "North America Radiopharmaceuticals Market Expected to Register an Attractive Growth Rate (More than US$ 4,000 Mn) Throughout the Forecast Period 2016 - 2026" to its huge collection of research reports.North America is anticipated to be the most attractive regional market in the global radiopharmaceuticals marketNorth America accounted for more than 40% market share in the global radiopharmaceuticals market in 2016 and is expected to witness an increase of more than 100 BPS in its market share over the forecast period. In terms of Y-o-Y growth, North America dominated the global radiopharmaceuticals market and was valued at more than US$ 2,000 Mn in 2015. The market is expected to expand at 6.2% CAGR over the projected period to reach more than US$ 4,000 Mn by the end of 2026. The North America radiopharmaceuticals market is estimated to represent absolute $ opportunity of more than US$ 100 Mn in 2017 over 2016. The growth is stagnant and slow due to major reactors having been shut down in Canada and new reactors installed in place of old ones for better production of radioisotope. North America is expected to be the most lucrative market in the global radiopharmaceuticals market, recording an attractiveness index of 3.6.Significant growth in the number of cancer and cardiovascular diseases patients in North America is expected to boost the global radiopharmaceuticals marketWidespread availability of SPECT and PET scanning machines will result in a growing number of radio diagnostic and radio therapeutics events in North America. For instance, the number of PET scanning machines installed per head of population in North America are more compared to that installed in Europe, thus leading to increased usage of radiotracers in the region. This growth in North America is expected to continue along with continuous technological improvements in PET scanning devices. The high level of awareness and accessibility to these machines is expected to account for high revenue generation in North America. This factor is boosting the overall growth of the global radiopharmaceuticals market. The other factor impacting the global radiopharmaceuticals market is the rising prevalence of cancer in North America. This has significantly increased the number of nuclear medicine procedures performed in the region and this is the precise reason that the market for radiopharmaceuticals is steadily growing in North America. There has been a rising number of cardiovascular diseases among the people in North America due to aging population, unhealthy food habits and rising obesity. The increasing number of cardiovascular patients is expected to boost the sales of radiopharmaceuticals, which would eventually create growth in the global radiopharmaceuticals market.Gallium-68 and Lutetium 177 sub-segments of the radioisotope segment are likely to dominate the North America radiopharmaceuticals marketGallium-68 and Lutetium 177 are dominant sub-segments of the radioisotope segment in North America. Gallium-68 has gained immense popularity since the last one year in the field of nuclear medicine, especially in the diagnosis and evaluation of prostate cancer. This is in heavy reliance with incorporation of several technological leaps and entry of new radiotracer- 68Ga-PSMA-11, developed by the University of Heidelberg. Additionally, marketing authorisation of the first 68Ge/68Ga generator, manufactured by the German company Eckert & Ziegler, has also positively impacted the penetration of 68Ga-PSMA-11 tracer in the treatment of prostate cancer in North America. Despite a shorter half-life, Gallium-68 has an ideal profile as a PET imaging agent. Several manufacturers in North America are focussing on introducing cold kits for the 68Ga-labeling of tracers (ANMI, Belgium), thus opening the gateways for 68Ga in PET scanning. Iodine-131, a therapeutic radiotracer continues to be the ideal tracer for the treatment of not only thyroid cancer but also other therapeutic indications. However it is being slowly replaced by Lutetium-177 (Lu-177) in North America. Lu-177, low-energy -particle emitter is identified to be one of the emerging radiotracers for the treatment of metastatic castrate-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) and neuroendocrine tumors.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Market share of companies operating in the global radiopharmaceuticals marketThe global radiopharmaceuticals market is highly consolidated with a few companies that offer advanced technology systems and nuclear medicines for treating diseases. However, the global market is dominated by top five players accounting for over 89% share. Siemens Healthineers accounted for the largest share of around 41.2% of the global market in 2015. The company dominated the market owing to its diversified product portfolio, extensive geographical presence, and acquisition strategies. GE Healthcare accounted for the second largest share of around 30.1% and Mallinckrodt plc. accounted for the third largest share of around 9% in the global radiopharmaceuticals market.Table Of Content1. Executive Summary2. Market Introduction2.1. Market Definition2.2. Market Taxonomy3. Global Radiopharmaceuticals Market Analysis Scenario3.1. Market Size (US$ Mn) and Forecast3.1.1. Market Size and Y-o-Y Growth3.1.2. Absolute $ Opportunity3.2. Market Overview3.2.1. Value Chain4. Market Dynamics4.1. Macro-economic Factors4.2. Drivers4.2.1. Supply Side4.2.2. Demand Side4.3. Restraints4.4. Opportunity4.5.Forecast Factors Relevance and Impact4.6.Reimbursement Landscape4.7.Regulatory Environment4.8.Procedure Volume, By Therapeutic Area, by RegionBrowse More Details @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Development of Advanced Technologies to Trigger Growth in Automation Market in Textile Industry https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1267351 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1267351/global-automation-in-textile-industry-market-research-reports http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Report Global Automation Market in Textile industry 2017-2021 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"MarketResearchReports.biz has itemized the addition of a new market research report to its report repository. The research publication is titled, Global Automation Market in Textile industry 2017-2021. The market research study is a careful examination of the general market with masterminding to the objectives at work and the ones that are endeavored to have a basic impression, both beneficial and negative on the advancement of the market. The engraving of the issues can be both for the broad and petite term subordinate upon the likelihood of the said advance and the reasons, in fact. The incite point of the important promote players have in like way been well-thoroughly considered in the report with proposition to their things, publicizing and inducing procedures, and the level of conflict among them.The research investigation on the worldwide automation market in textile industry distinguishes that the accessibility of good government policies will be one of the central point that will positively affect the development of the market. Nations like India are the key income generators for the worldwide textile industry. Attributable to ideal government approaches, there are a few speculations and advancements in the industrial sector, which will positively affect automation market. These policies are gainful for the development of the industry and drive the automation of procedures, thus, triggering the demand for communication, control, and field devices.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @India is as of now permitting 100% FDI in the textile industry under the automatic route. Enterprises recorded under the automatic route require no endorsement from the Reserve Bank of India or the Government of India for any ventures. Such favorable arrangements will draw in interests in this division and create a favorable scenario for automation services and products in the textile industry. According to the research report, the global automation market in textile industry is anticipated to witness a 6% CAGR by the end of 2021.Based on components, the global automation market in textile industry is likely to be led by the segment of field devices until the end of 2021. It has also been projected that this segment will retain its dominance over the course of the forecast period. The other two segments under components are communication and control devices. On the basis of solution type, the market has been bifurcated into services and hardware and software. The segment of hardware and software is the probable leader of the market in the years ahead owing to the rising demand for hardware parts and high use of analytics in the industry of textile.View Report @The presence of numerous players in the market makes it highly competitive and fragmented. The leading vendors in the market comprise Siemens, Schneider Electric, Rockwell Automation, Festo, and ABB, among others.About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Favorable Government Initiatives Expected to Boost Global Hydropower Market Rise https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1054382 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1054382/hydropower-large-hydro-small-hydro-market-research-reports http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Report Hydropower (Large Hydro, Small Hydro and Pumped Storage) - Global Market Size, Segmentation, Investment Trends, Regulations and Key Country Analysis to 2025 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"The global hydropower market report has been recently added to the portfolio of MarketResearchReports.biz. Titled Hydropower (Large Hydro, Small Hydro and Pumped Storage) - Global Market Size, Segmentation, Investment Trends, Regulations and Key Country Analysis to 2025, the report brings forth a several aspects of the business, along with vital information regarding the hydropower market, and the key factors propelling it. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the market, along with the current scenario and the future forecast of the market up to the year 2025. Industry analysts have been consulted regarding the predilection of the market, and the report talks about the CAGR market is expected to exhibit during the forecast period. The report also provides data about hydropower plants under construction, opportunities in investments, contracts and tenders.The analysts have identified the significant growth and investment opportunities in the hydropower market. Being one of the mostly widely researched sources of power generation, the hydropower market is predicted to have ample growth opportunities in the coming years. The fundamental factor influencing the market could be the increasing number of government initiatives toward attaining complete dependence on renewable energy sources. The report provides a thorough examination of more key market drivers as well. It uses information and data from primary and secondary research on the subject, various industrial databases, and opinions from industry experts.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @On the basis of type, the report segments the global hydropower market into large, small and pumped storage plants. Hydropower plant capacities are generally between 100 KW to 30 MW, depending on their size and generation capacity. Small hydropower plants generally have capacities below 100 KW, while large are of the range between 100 KW and 30 MW. Pumped storage plants are part of large hydropower plants. Large hydropower plants are plagued with complications in reservoir construction, leading to rehabilitation and pollution. However, they are the most common operational plants globally. The report sheds light on further segmentation and important opportunities in the worldwide hydropower market. It additionally offers information on market share and growth rates of each segment by type during the forecast period.View Report @The geographical segmentation of the worldwide hydropower market is offered as well in the report. According to the report, the market witnesses lucrative opportunities in countries such as U.S., Canada, Russia, India, Norway, Turkey, Vietnam, Iran and Japan. Factors such as active and upcoming plants, major tenders and contracts, and investment trends by countries have been assessed for the same review period. The leading players of the market and their business strategies are also mentioned by the authors of the report. It also offers reports aimed at facilitating business decisions, identify development avenues, and position enterprises to position themselves so as to gain maximum advantage of the predicted market growth.MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Newcastle Disease Treatment Market Value Chain And Stakeholder Analysis By 2017 2025 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/16792 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/16792 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/newcastle-disease-treatment-market.asp www.persistencemarketresearch.com Newcastle Disease is a highly contagious disease of avian species especially poultry caused by avian Paramyxovirus type 1 (APMV-1). The virus survives for long periods at ambient temperature, especially in faeces and can persist in houses for up to 12 months. However it is quite sensitive to fumigants, disinfectants, and sunlight. It was first identified in 1926 in Newcastle-on-Tyne in England and later found in the United States in 1944. Newcastle Disease is more prevalent in birds imported from Southeast Asia and Central America. In 1972, infected birds in an exotic aviary spread the infection to chickens on neighboring farms. Affected species by Newcastle Disease include turkeys, chickens, pigeons and ducks. Newcastle Disease affects the respiratory, nervous, and digestive systems and symptoms are very variable depending on the strain of virus, species of bird, concurrent disease and preexisting immunity.The Newcastle disease has a significant economic impact on poultry production. According to some scholar, a study was conducted on Newcastle disease (DM) diagnosed in local chickens at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria between January 1978 and December 1997 Of the 280 cases, the incidence of ND was higher in the dry season with 183 cases (68.4%) than in the rainy season with 97 cases (34.6%). 100) this is expected to register a significant growth of the Newcastle Disease Treatment market over a forecast period.View Sample Report @External partnerships and strategic collaborations between companies and academia are expected to drive R&D and revenue growth of the Newcastle Disease Treatment market. Rebounding of economic prosperity in developed markets leading to increasing demand for processed healthy meat products, this fuels the demand for effective vaccination of livestock, especially in major animal farming and meat producing nations such as India, Brazil, U.S., and Australia which propel the growth of the Newcastle Disease Treatment market.Newcastle Disease Treatment Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe Newcastle Disease Treatment market is expected to register a significant CAGR over a forecast period. Advancements in biotechnology and veterinary science in developed economies which anticipated to boost the growth of the Newcastle Disease Treatment market. Increase in government funding to the global eradication of disease rinderpest and increase in foodborne and zoonotic diseases also expected to drives the Newcastle Disease Treatment market over a forecast period. On the contrary, large gaps in understanding the epidemiology pattern of Newcastle Disease due to variations in disease patterns for endemic countries and pitfalls in identifying and understanding antigen/ immunogenic structures may hamper the growth of the Newcastle Disease Treatment market.Request Report TOC @A geographic condition regarding for Newcastle Disease Treatment market, it has been segmented into five broad regions: North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, and the Middle East & Africa. The North America is dominating and contributed the leading shares to the global Newcastle Disease Treatment market in terms of revenue and expected to register a significant growth over a forecast period due to the increasing initiatives by government to ensure food security and awareness regarding mass vaccination programs that would create sustainable demand for vaccines for national stockpiles. The Europe has also contributed the moderate shares and registered a healthy growth rate to the Newcastle Disease Treatment market followed by North America. The APAC has become the lucrative market for Newcastle Disease Treatment and anticipated to register significant shares over the forecast period due to the increasing research and development activities and government initiatives to invest in veterinary vaccines for both livestock and companion animals. The Latin America and MEA are at a nascent stage to the Newcastle Disease Treatment market and expected to show a moderate growth over a forecast period owing to improve access to healthcare facilities.Newcastle Disease Treatment Market: Key Market ParticipantsMajor Key players in the Newcastle Disease Treatment market include: Indovax, Zoetis, Eli Lilly and Company, Merck & Co, and Ceva.To Know About Latest Report Click Here:About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: Botanical Flavors Market Value Share, Analysis and Segments 2017-2027 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4119 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-4119 www.futuremarketinsights.com Botanical flavors are extracts from fruits, leaves, flowers, seeds, barks, spices and from many other plant materials. Botanical flavors have wide application in food and beverage industry as it used to enhance the flavor, taste and richness of products including bakery, dairy, savory, confectionery, juices, drinks and alcoholic drinks. Increasing demand of health conscious consumers in the global level market regarding consumption of healthy and nature-based products are expected to drive the market growth of botanical flavors over the forecast period. Currently, the majority of demand for botanical flavors accounts to North American and European market.Botanical Flavors: Growth DriversSome of the key drivers which are influencing the demand for botanical flavors in the global level market are from the side of food and beverage manufacturers as they used these flavors as natural ingredients and functional ingredient in their food recipes. Botanical flavors have wide application in the beverage industry, companies are offering new beverages and using botanical flavors to make improvement in their existing products. Moreover, it has healthy attributes that help the companies to meet consumers demand related to healthy and organic food products. In the global level market, the beverage industry is facing tough competition due to innovation and formulation of nutritional beverages as companies are focusing on offering health benefit and flavored drinks.Request Report Sample@Usage of botanical flavors in food and beverage offers great taste and natural flavor and enriched the nutritional value of products. On the other side, the demand for botanical flavors is also increasing among the consumers who are seeking for enhanced health benefit and nature based products. Botanical flavors have nutritional value including protein, vitamin, and other minerals. Moreover, consumers are experiencing distinctive natural taste while eating and drinking.Botanical Flavors: Market SegmentationBotanical flavors market segment has been segmented on the basis of different segments. On the basis of extraction, the botanical flavor market is segmented by extraction which includes fruits, leaves, seeds, barks and others (herbs and roots). Among this segment, fruits and leaves segment are expected to show robust growth over the forecast period. Another segment is on the basis of form and it is segmented in form of solid, fluid and powdered form. The further botanical flavor market is also segmented on the basis of application which is segmented in food, beverage and personal care industry. On analyzing the demand for botanical flavor on graph, it shows that majority of the demand for botanical flavor is from food and beverage industry.Further market segment of the food industry is sub-segmented into the bakery, dairy, savory and confectionery products and beverages is sub-segmented into alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages as in beverage industry it is used in preparing juices, tea, energy drinks, wines, beer etc. Using of botanical flavors in food and beverages is one of the natural ways to enhance the flavor and taste of food recipes. Further in the personal care industry, botanical flavors have application in cosmetics, hair care, and skin care products. Currently, in cosmetics and personal care product market, the demand for products which includes natural ingredient and flavor has increased due to skin care problems. Adding botanical flavors in personal care products, makes the quality of product better and offer benefits such as healthier hair and softer skin.Botanical Flavors: Regional OutlookOn the basis of regional segment, market of botanical flavors is segmented in five different regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, japan and Middle East and Africa. It is expected that North America and Europe account to highest growth in terms of both volume and value over the forecast period.Visit For TOC@Botanical Flavors: Key PlayersSome of the key players that are operating in the botanical flavor market: Synergy Flavors, Bell Flavors & Fragrances GmbH, Parker Flavors, Inc., Archer Daniels Midland Company, Kanegrade Limited, Carrubba Incorporated and Sapphire Flavors & Fragrances.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Non-PVC IV Bags Market to Record Ascending Growth by 2017 2025 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/samples/16795 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/toc/16795 http://www.persistencemarketresearch.com/market-research/non-pvc-iv-bags-market.asp www.persistencemarketresearch.com The non-PVC IV bags play a major role in the operation theater and with the increasing number of patient flow in the healthcare settings the demand for such containers is expected to propel during the forecast period. Moreover, these bags have also overcome the shortcomings of the PVC bags which often faced the problems of drug and container interaction. Therefore alternatives such as polypropylene and ethylene vinyl acetate are developed. The availability of these bags in different designs is also contributing towards the growth of the non-PVC IV bags market.Non-PVC IV Bags Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe demand for non-PVC bags is increasing gradually owing to the increasing stringent regulations in relation to the hospital acquired disease, the inproper dose delivery and also the need for innovative IV containers. The traditional IV containers lead to the interaction of drug with the packaging material and was also difficult to transport especially glass vials. All these issues were minimized with the use of non-PVC IV bags. The major use of these bags is during the targeted drug delivery and chemotherapy. The plasticizers in these containers are susceptible to interact with the drug and hence now the industry players are developing such materials which can be used to develop IV bags without plasticizers.View Sample Report @According to the Health Care Without Harm there are around 80 hospitals in the U.S. who have taken step to eliminate the use of PVC. Moreover, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Sweden are countries with well-known environmental programs to cut own the use of PVC material. Moreover, with the increasing hospital acquired diseases the regulatory bodies have now focused their attention on the quality of care and hence the use of the non-PVC IV bags is also increasing.Non-PVC IV Bags Market: Region-wise OutlookIn terms of geography, non-PVC IV bags market has been divided into five regions including North- America, Asia- Pacific, Middle-East & Africa, Latin America and Europe. North America is the dominating region with the number of players initiating newer developments towards bringing in more efficient IV bags. Moreover, there are many academic universities receiving research grants to develop new product alternatives. Market players such as Fresenius Kabi deliver their product in non-PVC IV bag. The companys anti-infective Moxifloxacin Injection comes in in Freeflex bags.Request Report TOC @Non-PVC IV Bags Market: Key Market ParticipantsSome of the non-PVC IV bags market participants are Renolit, Kraton Corporation, Shanghai Solve Care Co., Ltd., Shanghai Xin Gen Eco-Technologies Co., Ltd, PolyCine GmbH, Jiangxi Sanxin Medtec Co., Ltd, Cryovac Inc. (Sealed Air), Angiplast Pvt. Ltd., Baxter, B.Braun,Kelun Group, Beijing Double Crane, Fresenius Group, Otsuka, Sartorius Stedim Biotech and Huaren Pharmaceutical.To Know About Latest Report Click Here:About UsPersistence Market Research (PMR) is a U.S.-based full-service market intelligence firm specializing in syndicated research, custom research, and consulting services. PMR boasts market research expertise across the Healthcare, Chemicals and Materials, Technology and Media, Energy and Mining, Food and Beverages, Semiconductor and Electronics, Consumer Goods, and Shipping and Transportation industries. The company draws from its multi-disciplinary capabilities and high-pedigree team of analysts to share data that precisely corresponds to clients business needs.PMR stands committed to bringing more accuracy and speed to clients business decisions. From ready-to-purchase market research reports to customized research solutions, PMRs engagement models are highly flexible without compromising on its deep-seated research values.ContactPersistence Market Research Pvt. Ltd305 Broadway7th Floor, New York City,NY 10007, United States,USA Canada Toll Free: 800-961-0353Email: sales@persistencemarketresearch.commedia@persistencemarketresearch.comWeb: President Franklin D. Roosevelt once said the presidency is preeminently a place of moral leadership. President Ronald Reagan once said, The truth is, politics and morality are inseparable. President Donald Trump once said nothing to denounce white nationalism the weekend it whipped America into a frenzy. One of the reasons America will always be great, has always been great, is that freedom of speech constitutionally extends to everyone, including venomous, villainous white nationalists, neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klan members such as those who gathered this past weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, by the hundreds. Of course, with that right comes the realization that the rest of us can shout them down, every time, because we also have the moral obligation as Americans to condemn hatred and bigotry and hurtfulness, especially when it leads to the heartbreaking tragedies that shook Charlottesville, injuring dozens and claiming the lives of two state troopers in a helicopter crash and a counter-protester in a vehicular murder on a city street. At troubled, tumultuous times such as these, the nation looks to its leaders for words of wisdom, for guidance, looks especially to the president of the United States, who should speak for us, serve as our moral compass. Should. The president failed miserably Saturday at this important mission, at this measure of a human. He failed for 48 hours. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry and violence, on many sides, he said on Saturday. On many sides. Its been going on for a long time in our country. Even before the president uttered the inexplicable phrase on many sides, and repeated it, former KKK grand wizard David Duke, whose support Trump famously avoided disavowing in a live televised interview during the campaign, said this in Charlottesville: This represents a turning point for the people of this country. We are determined to take our country back. We are going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. Thats what we believed in. Thats why we voted for Donald Trump because he said hes going to take our country back. Thats what were going to do. And after the president spoke, the neo-Nazi website, The Daily Stormer, posted this analysis of Trumps remarks: He didnt attack us. Nothing specific against us. He implied the antifa are haters. There was virtually no counter-signaling of us at all. He said he loves us all. Violence should not be condoned, not violence by white supremacists and not violence by the antifa, the anti-fascists who are increasingly protesting on American streets as well. Yet the president should have singled out one side Saturday. He should have castigated immediately those who displayed swastikas and shouted Nazi slogans and killed a woman whose last Facebook post was, If youre not outraged, youre not paying attention. On Monday, Trump finally delivered the forceful disavowal the nation needed two days earlier. He called the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans. He called racism ... evil, using two words he avoided on Saturday. Even as Attorney General Jeff Sessions denounced racial bigotry and hatred late Saturday and Trumps daughter, Ivanka, tweeted There should be no place in society for racism, white supremacy and neo-Nazis, on Sunday, and Vice President Mike Pence weighed in the same day to say, We have no tolerance for hate and violence from white supremacists, neo-Nazis or the KKK, ... Trump remained unspecifically, unusually silent. ... The president castigated no one with any specificity until Monday morning when he excoriated the African-American CEO of Merck, Kenneth Frazier, by name on Twitter after the executive resigned from the presidents manufacturing council. Trump wrote, he will have more time to LOWER RIPOFF DRUG PRICES! While numerous Democratic and Republican politicians categorically denounced white supremacists, the weekend came and went without a rebuke of white nationalism from the president of the United States. Nothing he can say now will change that and tweets like the one above only make it worse. This weekend is part of history, and history will be the presidents harshest critic. Automotive Electronics Industry Analysis, Growth and Research Report, 2016 - 2023: Global Market Insights Inc. https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/183 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/183 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/automotive-electronics-market https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/automotive-aftermarket Automotive Electronics Market size is predicted to reach $353 billion by 2023 and register a CAGR of 8.4% during forecast timeframe. Its growing use in end user applications is predicted to propel demand. Safety features like alcohol ignition interlocks, accident data recorder systems and emergency call systems are predicted to fuel the industry growth during forecast timeframe.Further, growing concerns among authorities on passenger safety are predicted to provide potential avenues for industry expansion. Integration of safety instruments like heads-up display, airbags and back up sensing system are predicted to fuel the automotive electronics industry trends during forecast period.Request for a sample of this research report @However, complexities like harsh operating conditions, tolerance stack-up and hardware & software can hinder the industry growth during forecast timeframe. Further, lack of awareness related to coordination issues and interplay of subsystems of OEMs can also hinder the industry demand.Automotive safety systems industry contributed more than $52.39 billion for 2015 and is predicted to gain about $100 billion by end of 2023 registering CAGR of about 8.4% during forecast period. The growth of automotive electronics industry can be attributed to rising government concerns about safety and security regulations all across globe.ADAS market size was evaluated more than $21 billion for 2015 and is predicted to register CAGR at 11% during forecast timeframe. The growth is due to mandatory installation of safety systems in vehicles as per government rules.APAC automotive electronics market size contributed more than 39% of overall revenue for 2015. It is predicted to register CAGR of 9% and touch $145 billion mark by end of forecast period. Factors like growing demand for customized vehicle, low priced vehicles and superior quality product have contributed to the growth of the industry in the region.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @North America automotive electronics industry size was evaluated at $40 billion for 2015 and is predicted to touch $80 billion by end of forecast period. Growing demand for comfort among customers and increasing security concerns are the factors contributing to the demand & growth of the industry in the region.Key industry players profiled in the report include Delphi Automotive PLC, Denso Corporation, Avago Technologies, Continental AG, ZF Friedrichshafen AG, Altera Corporation, Panasonic, Bosch Group, Hitachi Automotive Systems Limited, Dow Corning, Atmel Corporation, Audiovox Corporation.Delphi, an auto parts manufacturer & supplier, had agreed to acquire HellermannTyton Group, an electronic cable device manufacturer, for $1.7 billion in 2015. The transaction was projected to boost its business in Asia, where HellermannTyton had about 15% to 20% growth rate.ZF Friedrichshafen AG completely acquired TRW in 2015 where the latter was predicted to be included into ZF as a new division termed as Active & Passive Safety Technology. On 15th September, 2014, TRW and ZF had signed a merger deal for acquisition of TRW by ZF. The deal offered substantial benefits for stockowners, customers, employees and communities with greater focus on creating next generation of motion and safety solutions. Together both companies will benefit from key industry trends by building on their strengths, concentrating on present & future business requirements and creating value for customers.Read full market research report Automotive Electronics Market Size By Application (ADAS, Infotainment, Powertrain, Body Electronics, Safety Systems), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Application Potential, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016 2023, please click on the link below:Browse Related Reports:Automotive Aftermarket Size By Vehicle Part (Replacement Parts [Belt, Brake, Clutch, Lighting, Electrical, Engine & AC, Exhaust, Filters, Suspension, Transmission, Wiper], Accessories), By Sales Outlet (Professional [Garages & Service Stations, Automobile Dealerships, Government], DIY, OEM), By Region (U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, Russia, China, India, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Thailand, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, GCC), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook, Application Growth Potential, Price Trends & Forecast, 2016 2024Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.29L Atlantic Avenue, Suite L 105, Increasing Power Outages witness Worldwide Stoke Demand for Diesel Generators https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1267312 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/pressrelease/5631/increasing-power-outages-witness-worldwide-stoke-demand-for-diesel-generators http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ "The Report Global Diesel Generator Market for Industrial Applications 2017-2021 provides information on pricing, market analysis, shares, forecast, and company profiles for key industry participants. - MarketResearchReports.biz"This rising occurrences of power blackouts worldwide owing to natural disasters is one of the chief drivers of the global remote renewable management systems market. MarketResearchReports.biz has added a report, titled Global Diesel Generator Market for Industrial Applications 2017-2021, which covers the various factors supporting the global diesel generator market between 2017 and 2021. The report is intended to help stakeholders gain a holistic overview of the market. It includes recommendations for the market players to perform well and make decisions that would accelerate their pace of gains during the reports forecast period.The report covers various growth drivers and restrains influencing the market dynamics. It also highlights potential opportunities to help the market players plan their future course of action accordingly. Information thus included is substantiated using relevant graphs, infographs, and statistics. Crucial data is also obtained from the financial reports of some of the leading companies. Besides this, the report includes insights from some of the industry experts.Faults in electric networks and repeated power outages have fuelled the demand for supplementary power sources. Considering the need of power backups especially in emergency facilities such as communication services, emergency call centers, and hospitals, an increasing number of institutions are looking for uninterrupted power supply, which will provide them with seamless services during power cuts and critical situations. Furthermore, several an increasing number of consumers are relying on standby generators as their secondary source of power owing to power outages of high frequency.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @Furthermore, it is imperative for industries to get uninterrupted power supply for hindrance-free operations. It is important to note that, such disruptions can hamper the overall output and revenue of the industry significantly. The rising demand for power and the prevalence of unreliable power supply in most developing and underdeveloped nations will aid the markets expansion as well.In terms of portability, the global diesel generator market can be bifurcated into portable and stationary. Of these, holding majority of the market, the stationary segment emerged dominant in 2015. Stationary generators with lower capacity range are mostly installed in the residential sector, small-scale industries, and commercial spaces where the generator can operate for lesser time as the total load is not much high.View Press Release @Regionally, the global diesel generator market can be segmented into the Americas, EMEA, and APAC. Among these regions, the market has been witnessing lucrative prospects in APAC. The rising per capita income of consumers, coupled with increasing power consumption, and rapid industrialization witnessed in nations such as India, South Korea, China, and Thailand are projected to enable the market establish a strong foothold in Asia Pacific.Besides identifying the key segments within the global diesel generator market, the report also profiles some of the leading players operating therein. Some of the companies profiled in the report are Cummins, Kohler, Caterpillar, Generac, Broadcrown, APR Energy, Dresser-Rand, GE Energy, and Atlas Copco.About usMarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Micro-Hospitals Market Volume Analysis, Segments, Value Share and Key Trends 2017-2027 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3704 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3704 www.futuremarketinsights.com Micro-hospitals are small scale In-patient facility that offers a variety of emergency medical services. They mostly focused on treating low-acuity patients and provides ambulatory and emergency services. Micro-hospitals can bridge the gap in care delivery and quality of healthcare in underdeveloped areas. Due to its economic nature, intimate delivery model, micro-hospitals are ideal in rural areas. Micro-hospitals differs from traditional hospitals in the range of operations done. It is also gaining importance to improve healthcare system by reducing cost and patient compliance. Micro-hospitals are typically composed of five components, namely a) Emergency Department, b) Imaging and Diagnostics, c) Surgery and Procedure Centers, d) Inpatient Nursing Unit and e) Medical Office. Micro-hospitals designed for both operationally and functionally to deliver the right care, at the right time. Micro-hospitals subjected to same rules and regulations imposed on large scale hospitals in the place they are built. Telehealth facilities are offered for integration of care continuity with micro-hospitals. Micro-hospitals providers are mainly concentrated on the single access point for multiple levels of care and specialty. The primary focus is on industry-leading clinical quality and patient satisfaction.Request Report Sample@Micro-Hospitals Market: Drivers and RestraintsDecreasing admission rates of large-scale hospitals and rising importance of micro-hospitals due to increasing patient compliance are expected to boost the growth of the micro-hospital market. The micro-hospital market is gaining traction globally due to the comparatively lower construction cost and higher reimbursement for services that large hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers. Rising health care demand due to the need for more intensive service offerings locally that cannot be provided by traditional hospitals. This unmet need for large scale hospitals acts as a driver in the burgeoning growth of the micro-hospital market. Growing technology along with increasing expectation of patients on healthcare system becomes a significant threat to large-scale hospitals and give the opportunity to micro-hospitals. All these factors are fueling the growth of the micro-hospital market. Micro-hospitals are shifting the healthcare landscape, as they become an integral component of health care system.Slower penetration of micro-hospitals due to slower adoption rate results in the slow growth of the micro-hospital market.Micro-Hospitals Market: SegmentationSegmentation based on LocationTier-1 CitiesTier-2 CitiesTier-3 CitiesSegmentation based on End UserInternational TouristsCorporatesIndividualsMicro-Hospitals Market: Market OverviewGlobal Micro-Hospitals Market has witnessed a burgeoning growth due to increasing adaptation due to increased ease of use. Increasing government support for healthcare development is encouraging private organizations to participate in funding and partnership. Micro-hospital cost is comparatively less than large-scale hospitals and more than urgent care units which act as a driver in the growth of the micro-hospital. Micro-hospital enables fast treatment for emergency cases and also offers primary care services which are competitive advantage over ambulatory surgical centers. The future of Micro-Hospitals Market anticipated with double CAGR during forecasting period.Micro-Hospitals Market: Region-Wise OverviewGlobal Micro-Hospitals Market segmented into following regions North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific, Japan and the Middle East and Africa. North America is dominant in the Global Micro-Hospitals mainly due to the well-established health care system. In North America, USA is dominating because of increased of increased adoption of micro-hospitals. European region follows North America, growth fuelled by increased penetration of the micro-hospital market. Economic conditions in the APAC region are set to drive the Micro-Hospitals Market to new heights. APAC is fastest growing region due to increasing government support for healthcare system. Growth in the Middle East and African region is considerably less but still with significant growth.Visit For TOC@Micro-Hospitals Market: Key ParticipantsThe key participants in the Micro-Hospitals Market are Emerus Hospitals, SCL Health, Saint Lukes Health System, etc. The service providers are mainly focusing on the collaboration and partnership to increase the adaptation of Micro-Hospitals.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Smart Tag Packaging Market Growth, Trends, Absolute Opportunity and Value Chain 2017-2027 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3736 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3736 www.futuremarketinsights.com The expansion of online retail format and the increased use of the internet for tracking of logistics has created the need for linking online transactions and physical products. A smart tag is one such technology which has been widely providing the solutions to link this gap. Commonly used smart tags are QR code, Electronic article surveillance (EAS) and RFID tags. A smart tag has an advantage of having the wide range of application over traditional bar codes. QR codes are not need to be aligned in particular direction. Electronic article surveillance are used to prevent thefts from the stores whereas RFID tags have multiple application of giving the information about the product. The penetration of the smart phones has widened the customer base for the smart tag packaging market. A smart tag is playing an important role in supply chain management by enabling the manufacturers and suppliers to keep track of logistics and optimally maintain the inventory level. Smart tags being a responsive form of packaging can play a vital role in future by making the transactions more efficient and faster thus benefiting both customer and seller.Request Report Sample@Smart Tag Packaging Market: Market DynamicsThe smart tag packaging market is related to the responsive packaging market. Packaging market is estimated to be over US$ 800 Mn and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4% over the forecast period. With the increase in the geographic spread of customer base, companies are now using more shipping services and to keep a track and account of the goods smart tag is playing an important role. With the increasing penetration of the e-commerce market in the APEJ region, online transaction is expected to increase while positively influencing the smart tag packaging market. Changing consumer lifestyle and increasing installation of modern retail outlets have boosted the growth in smart tag packaging market. The current trend of consuming the products in smaller quantity has increased the number of goods being packed and is expected to propel smart tag market over the forecast period. However, the lack of industrial standards and mechanical susceptibilities can limit the growth of smart tag market. The cost associated with the Smart tag is another factor resisting the proliferation of smart tag market. The application of the smart tag to keep the track and optimally maintain the inventory level hence protecting the production process can provide new opportunities for the smart tag market.Smart Tag Packaging Market: Market SegmentationSmart tag packaging market can be segmented by the type of material used and by the end use sector.Based on the type of smart tags, the smart tag packaging market is segmented into:QR CodeElectronic Article Surveillance (EAS)RFIDBased on the end use sector, smart tag packaging market is segmented into:RetailManufacturingFMCG (fast moving consumer goods)MedicalAutomotiveOthersSmart Tag Packaging Market: Regional OutlookRegionally global smart tag packaging market is segmented intoNorth AmericaLatin AmericaEastern EuropeWestern EuropeAsia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ)Middle East & Africa (MEAJapanNorth America being the biggest organized region is expected to lead the smart tag packaging market over the forecast period. Eastern and Western Europe is expected to follow the North American market owing to its well-established retail sector in the region. Smart tag packaging market in APEJ region is expected to grow rapidly over the forecast period attributed to the changing lifestyle of the consumers in the region and presence of densely populated areas in the region. While Japan and MEA region are expected to witness moderate growth rate for smart tag packaging market.Visit For TOC@Smart Tag Packaging Market: Key Players:Some key players of Smart tag packaging market are Smart Label Solutions, LLC, Shenzhen Jianhe Smartcard Technology Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Zdcard Tech Co., Ltd., Shenzhen Top tags Technology Co., Ltd., Chengdu Mind Golden Card System Co., Ltd., Zhejiang Laxcen Information Technology Inc. Limited, Alien Technology, Inc. (U.S.), Muehlbauer Holding AG, Thin Film Electronics ASA, Zebra Technologies.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: North America Ventricular Assist Device Market During 2016 - 2024: High Incidence of Cardiovascular Disorders Ramps up Demand Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=893352 http://www.researchmoz.us/ventricular-assist-device-market-north-america-industry-analysis-size-share-growth-trends-and-forecast-2016-2024-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "North America Ventricular Assist Device Market During 2016 - 2024: High Incidence of Cardiovascular Disorders Ramps up Demand" to its huge collection of research reports.Advance Heart Failure is characterized as weakening of the heart caused due to failure of the left ventricle, due to which the heart is unable to pump blood to different parts of the body. According to the AHA (American Heart Association), 5.7 Mn people in the U.S suffer from heart failure and 300,000 die each year of heart failure. Moreover, the AHA predicts that advance heart failure will become the most common cause of death globally. However, these statistics have already materialized in the U.S. and Canada, where advance heart failure is currently said to be the leading cause of mortality. In Canada, the figures are rising day by day. In Canada nearly 600,000 of the total is affected by heart failure. A large proportion of these population can be saved with proper treatment and care. Thus, the existence of an unmet medical need is clearly evident and is anticipated to augment the ventricular assist device market.North America Ventricular Assist Device Market: Scope of the StudyThis report on the ventricular assist device market in the North America analyzes the current and future prospects of the market. The report comprises an elaborate executive summary, including a market snapshot that provides overall information of various segments and sub-segments. The research is a combination of primary and secondary research. Detailed qualitative analysis of factors responsible for driving and restraining market growth and opportunities has been provided in the market overview section. Market revenue in terms of US$ Mn for the period between 2014 and 2024 along with the compound annual growth rate (CAGR %) from 2014 to 2024 are provided for all the segments, considering 2015 as the base year. Market related factors such as technological developments, patent expiry, recent approvals, investment in clinical studies and acquisitions by leading players in the market, and historical year-on-year growth have been taken into consideration while estimating the market size. Growth rates for each segment within the North America ventricular assist device market have been determined after a thorough analysis of past trends, demographics, future trends, technological developments, drug development life cycle, and regulatory requirements. These factors would help the market players to take strategic decisions in order to strengthen their positions and expand their share in the ventricular assist device market in North America.North America Ventricular Assist Device Market: SegmentationBased on product type, the North America ventricular assist device market has been segmented into Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD), Right Ventricular Assist Device (RVAD), Biventricular Assist Device (Bi-VAD) and total artificial heart (TAH).Based on indication, the North America ventricular assist device market has been segmented into bridge to transplant (BTT), destination therapy (DT) and bridge to recovery (BTR). The American Heart Association reported that 2.6% of the total population is suffering from cardiovascular disease and heart failure is the leading cause of death in the U.S. and around 1.6% in Canada suffer from heart failure, and the number is rising each year. Therefore consequently driving the ventricular assist device market in North America during the forecast period.North America Ventricular Assist Device Market: Geographical OutlookGeographically, the North America ventricular assist device market has been segmented into two countries: the U.S. and Canada. These countries have been further segmented by indication and product type. The competition matrix section included in the report is likely to assist the existing players to increase their market shares and new companies to establish their presence in the ventricular assist device market in North America.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Companies Mentioned in the ReportThe report also profiles major players in the market based on various attributes such as company overview, financial overview, SWOT analysis, key business strategies, product portfolio, and recent developments. Key companies profiled in the report include ABIOMED, St. Jude Medical, HeartWare, SynCardia Systems LLC, Sunshine Heart, Inc., Berlin Heart GmbHThe North America ventricular assist device market has been segmented as follows:North America Ventricular Assist Device Market, by Product TypeLVAD (Left ventricular assist device)RVAD (Right ventricular assist device)Bi-VAD (Biventricular assist device)TAH( Total artificial heart)North America Ventricular Assist Device Market, by IndicationBTT (Bridge To Transplant)DT (Destination Therapy)BTR (Bridge To Recovery)Browse More Details @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Anti-Malarial drugs Market Segments, Opportunity, Growth and Forecast By End-use Industry 2017 2027 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3774 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3774 www.futuremarketinsights.com Anti-malarial drugs are the medicines used to prevent and treat malaria. The malaria is the disease caused due to the parasite known as Plasmodium, belongs to the organism group Protozoa. The malaria disease occurred in the tropical, subtropical and temperate regions of the world. Around 3.3 Billion people as half of the worlds population are at a risk of contracting malaria. Every year near about 250 million malaria cases leads to the death of 1 million globally. The anti-malarial drugs are work in the treatment of malaria in individuals, prevention of infection in individuals and conventional intermittent treatment in the specific group in most prevalence endemic regions. Generally, malaria is treated by the single drug therapy as a first line therapy, and sometimes the combination drug therapy is for the second line of infection. Anti-malarial drugs are available in the market in the form of tablet, injectables, and capsules.Malaria is considered as a most dreadful disease as it causes of death due to limited availability of the anti-malarial drugs which has become the opportunity for the growth of the anti-malarial drugs market over a forecast period.Request Report Sample@The global anti-malarial drugs market is segmented on the basis of product type, solution delivery type, solution type and end user.On the basis of malaria type, the global anti-malarial drugs market is segmented into:Plasmodium FalciparumPlasmodium VivaxPlasmodium MalariaePlasmodium OvaleOn the basis of drug type, the global anti-malarial drugs market is segmented into:QuinineChloroquineAmodiaquinePyrimethamineProguanilSulfonamideMefloquineAtovaquonePrimaquineArtemisinin and derivativesHalofantrineDoxycyclineClindamycinOn the basis of application, the global anti-malarial drugs market is segmented into:ResistancepreventionOn the basis of distribution channel, the global anti-malarial drugs market is segmented into:Hospital PharmacyRetail PharmacyE- CommerceOthersThe global anti-malarial drugs market is anticipated to register a significant CAGR over a forecast period. The increasing prevalence of the malarial disease globally is expected to boost the demand of the anti-malarial drugs and drives the global anti-malarial drugs market. The increasing research and development activities for the new drugs and new combinations of drugs due to resistance by the parasites to the currently available drugs, also anticipated to drives the global anti-malarial drugs market. The strong initiatives taken by the various state governments and regulatory bodies such as U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reduce the prevalence of malarial disease throughout the world, also expected to fuel the demand for the anti-malarial drugs and has become the one of the factor drives the global anti-malarial drugs market over a forecast period.However, the possible side effects of the anti-malarial drugs such as insomnia, vivid dreams, mental clouding, dizziness, and anxiety may hamper the demand for the anti-Malarial drug and restrain the growth of the global anti-malarial drugs market. The availability of pure quality of drugs in the Southeast Asia and Saharan African countries leads to the inadequate treatment, which may pose a threat to the demand of the anti-malarial drugs and restrain the growth of the global anti-malarial drugs market over a forecast period.Visit For TOC@On the basis of regional presence, the global anti-malarial drugs market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. Currently, North America is contributing the leading shares to the global anti-malarial drugs market in terms of value and anticipated to register a significant CAGR over a forecast period. The Europe is also contributing the moderate shares to the market due to the advanced medical facilities and availability of the anti-malarial drugs in the market. APAC is the most lucrative market for the anti-malarial drugs due to the highest prevalence of the malarial diseases in the region and expected to show a robust growth to the global anti-malarial drugs market. MEA is at a nascent stage to the global anti-malarial drugs market and anticipated to register a decent growth to the market over a forecast period. Overall, the global anti-malarial drugs market is expected to show significant growth over a forecast period.Market PlayersSome of the major market players in anti-malarial drugs market globally include Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline Plc., Ranbaxy Laboratories, Ipca Laboratories Ltd., Zydus Cadila, Merck KGaA, Novartis AG, Alvizia Health Care, Bayer AG and Roche Inc.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Micro Printing Market Assessment and Forecast Report by Future Market Insights http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-461 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-461 www.futuremarketinsights.com Micro Printing Market OverviewMicro printing is an anti-counterfeit technique of printing alphabetic letters and numbers on currency, stamps, bank checks and others item of value for security purposes. Micro print is generally invisible with our naked eyes and is generally placed at an unnoticeable area of the item. The computer scanner and photocopier machines cannot view the micro print and hence display it in the form of line or dots. The demand for micro printing has arisen due to focus on detecting and preventing fraudulent activities. The global micro printing market has witnessed tremendous growth due to its global adoption across different verticals, especially for driving licences and employee ID cards.Micro Printing Market DynamicsThe main factor that drives the growth of micro printing market is development and introduction of innovative products and services. Government and corporate organizations are increasingly adopting micro printing for identity cards and licences as a security tool to avoid misuse and fraud. This is another factor that has boosted the growth of global micro printing market. Currency and stamps are the prominent sectors for micro printing market.Request For Report Sample@The global micro printing market is quite mature and there is limited scope for new entrants to survive. The market is expected to show double-digit growth during the forecasted period.The US$ 100 bill has been released recently with micro printing along the quill of the note. Development of cost-effective micro printing technology has further enhanced its application range along different verticals. The different universities around the world are researching on micro printing to enhance its scope and fuel future opportunities.Researchers from Penn State University have recently discovered cost-effective artificial cells using micro printing technology, which can be used for drug and gene delivery devices.Micro Printing Market SegmentationThe global micro printing market is segmented on the basis of type, application and geography. On the basis of type, the global micro printing market is categorized into micro- embossing, special inks, magnetic inks, UV invisible inks, infrared ink marking and others. On the basis of application, global micro printing market is categorized into currency, stamps, bank cheques, labels, defence, packaging, ID cards, consumer electronics and others. On the basis of geography, global micro printing market is divided into North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Japan, Eastern Europe, Western Europe and Middle East & Africa.The micro printing technique is used as an additional security measure by the government and corporate companies for providing licence and employee identity card. The micro printing provide easy detection and prevents misuse of fraudulent or duplicity of the things of importance. Packaging and ID card are the segments which are expected to witness the highest growth during forecasted period. The micro printing has an increasing scope to be used in biomaterials and bio sensing applications. There are innovative products like microprint pen, patented by Google to create a unique mark. There is a need to understand the value chain for micro printing market that include product OEMs, contract manufacturers, service providers, component suppliers, system integrators, maintenance providers and others in order to understand and exploit current market dynamics.Visit For TOC@Micro Printing Market Key PlayersDiagramm Halbach GMBH (Germany), Saueressig GmbH Co KG (Germany), Team NiSCA (U.S.),Xerox Corporation (U.S.),Micro Format Inc. (U.S.), Hewlett-Packard Company (U.S.), Gallas Label & Decal (U.S.),Brady Inc. (U.S.), Printegra (U.S.), Huber Group (India) etc.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Karaya Gum Market Growth, Trends, Absolute Opportunity and Value Chain 2017-2027 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3832 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3832 www.futuremarketinsights.com Karaya gum is a sap-like material derived from a soft-wooded tree Sterculia urens which is native to India and Pakistan. It is used in the preparation of various pharmaceuticals, food and beverages, and cosmetics. It is majorly used as a laxative to reduce constipation and as an aphrodisiac to stimulate sexual desire. Karaya gum is known by several other chemical and native names including Sterculia villosa, Sterculia urens, Sterculia tragacantha, Sterculia Gum, Sterculia, Mucara, Kullo, Katila, Kadira, Kadaya, Indian Tragacanth, Gomme de Sterculia, Gomme Sterculia, Gomme Kuteera, Gomme Karaya, Goma Karaya, Bassora Tragacanth, etc. Karaya Gum is denoted by E416 number in some food products. It is also used in conditions such as high plasma lipid levels, adhesive for dental implants, adhesive plasters, sore throat, diabetes, and wounds & bed sores.Request Report Sample@Global Karaya Gum Market: DynamicsImproving industrial sector especially for food and pharmaceutical especially in Asia Pacific primary drives the global karaya gum market growth during the forecast period. Additionally, macroeconomic factors making a positive impact on the global karaya gum market include increasing employment rate, changing consumer lifestyle, increasing per capita income as well as population, and growing domestic income. The significant trending factor for global karaya gum market includes merger and acquisition of karaya gum suppliers with end-use industry such as food and pharmaceuticals. The company manufacturing karaya gum products has a substantial opportunity in regions such as North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, attributed to rapidly growing healthcare sector over the forecast period.Global Karaya Gum Market: SegmentationThe global karaya gum market is segmented by end-use industry, application, and by region. By end-use, the global karaya gum market is classified as food and beverages, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industry. Among the aforementioned segments, the food and beverages industry segment accounts for relatively high revenue share in the global karaya gum market over the forecast period followed by pharmaceutical industry, owing to rapidly growing food and pharmaceutical market across the globe.Based on the end-use Industry, the global karaya gum market is segmented into:Food and BeveragesPharmaceuticalCosmeticBased on the application, the global karaya gum market is segmented into:LaxativeEmulsifierThickening AgentAdhesiveStabilizerAphrodisiacGlobal Karaya Gum Market: Regional OverviewBy geographies, the global karaya gum market is segmented into seven regions -- North America, Western Europe, Asia-Pacific except Japan (APEJ), Eastern Europe, Latin America, the Middle East & Africa, and Japan. Among the regions, North America dominates the global karaya gum market in terms of value, owing to a significant revenue share of the region in the pharmaceutical market. Western Europe is followed by North America in the global karaya gum market, attributed to high demand for food products in the region. The APEJ is expected to account for relatively high volume share in the global karaya gum market, owing to rapidly growing food and pharmaceutical industry over the forecast period. Eastern Europe and Japan accounts for a moderate value share in the global karaya gum market. Latin America and Middle East Africa is expected to have a relatively low opportunity for the karaya gum market, owing to the moderately growing economy and industries in the regions.Visit For TOC@Global Karaya Gum Market: Key PlayersSome of the prominent karaya gum market players include Andina Ingredients Ltd, Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC, AEP Colloids, Parchem fine & specialty chemicals, AEP Colloids Inc., Spectrum Chemical Mfg Co, PPA Inc., Gum Technology Corporation, and Sarda Gums & Chemicals.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Specialty Fats and Oils Market Global Industry Insights, Trends, And Opportunity Analysis 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=1151 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=1151 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=D&rep_id=1151 Global Specialty Fats and Oils Market: SnapshotSpecialty fats and oils find a diverse array of niche applications across a number of fields, especially in the food and beverages industry. The properties of specialty fats and oil are quite different from the general fats and oils, the latter group including cream fats, pastry fats, margarine, shortening, and a number of other products. Some of the largest applications for specialized fats and oils come from the chocolate and confectionary makers. Specialized fats, for instance, are finding a growing scope of applications in chocolate products, especially ones that are molded, including chocolate bars.The demand for specialty fats and oils is also growing among the manufacturers of chocolate products, such as chocolate wafers and biscuits, fruits and nuts, and other similar applications. Specialty oils and fats are also being used in the confectionery industry. A lot of applications of specialized fats distinguish them largely as cocoa butter alternatives, more specifically, cocoa butter substitutes, cocoa butter replacements, and cocoa butter equivalents. There is a growing but currently niche segment of exotic fats, but nearly all specialized fats find most of their applications in the confectionery and bakery goods production. Other end users of specialized oil and butters include the personal care and cosmetics markets, the manufacturers of animal feed, and the manufacturers of dairy products or processed foods.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Specialty Fats and Oils Market: OverviewThe world specialty fats and oils market is prognosticated to grab a massive chuck of demand in the food and beverages industry with a number of products fetching indispensable applications. The global market is deemed to be a highly fertile ground for high-paying business opportunities. Specialty fats and oils are lavishly used in a multiple food applications and possess the capability to enhance sensory and physiochemical characteristics such as appealing flavors, creamy and rich texture, and smoothness. Most countries have already restricted the usage of trans fats that risk the consumers with fatal heart diseases. This could be a great opportunity for the manufacturers dealing with trans-free specialty fat and oil products to rake in handsome revenues.The report offered here considers the vital segmentation categories of the global specialty fats and oils market, viz. form, application, oil type, and fat type. With our customized approach, all of these segments can be comprehensively analyzed to determine the most lucrative market types and ensure a tangible business success.Request TOC of the Report @The tailor-made reports prepared at TMR Research, a market research hub, are a foolproof guideline to capitalize on the most promising and unrevealed opportunities. Buyers of this report can prepare their businesses to get aligned in just the right direction for securing a reliable growth in the international specialty fats and oils market.Global Specialty Fats and Oils Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe market for cocoa butter equivalents (CBEs) is anticipated to count its dominance on the application in compound coatings and chocolates. CBEs are extensively used in confectionery and bakery products. The flourishing rise of this specialty fats type segment could significantly raise the bar of growth for the world specialty fats and oils market. Since CBEs reduce the risk of heart disease by being free of trans fats and non-hydrogenated, the demand growth is expected to elevate even more in the global market. In addition to that, CBEs can be used to enrich the flavor of the ingredients used in various products. Besides CBEs, exotic fats, dairy fat replacers, cocoa butter improvers (CBIs), cocoa butter replacers (CBRs), and cocoa butter substitutes (CBSs) could fairly contribute to the market.The liquid form of specialty fats and oils is foreseen to hold the potential to register a higher CAGR against the dry form specialty fats and oils market because of its saturated fatty acid melting point properties. A large number of chocolate and confectionery items today are produced without trans fats. As a result, there has been an augmenting inclination toward trans-fat-free chocolate and confectionery products, which could intensify the demand in this segment. With respect to its exhaustive availability and usage in the making of different products such as confectionery fillings, palm oil is forecasted to gain traction over other specialty oils type markets.Get a discount @Global Specialty Fats and Oils Market: Regional OutlookThe Asia Pacific region is prophesied to emerge as a leading market for specialty fats and oils with a host of remunerative opportunities in store. The global specialty fats and oils market has recently witnessed the birth of a broad-ranging scope of applications in Asia Pacific, viz. animal feed, cosmetics, and personal care. This is envisaged to mark a rising rate of demand in the region. Palm oil and other specialty oils are consumed in vast amounts in India while China, Indonesia, and Malaysia are hailed as the authoritative makers of specialty oils and fats. In this regard, Asia Pacific could record an impressive CAGR against the background of other key regional markets such as North America. Such a dominance of the Asia Pacific market is expected to be in place with reference to both value and volume.Global Specialty Fats and Oils Market: Companies MentionedThe top companies making their mark in the international specialty fats and oils market could take advantage of the new geographies yet to be explored. Salient business strategies such as collaborations with key players, investments and agreements, joint ventures, and launch of novel offerings are predicted to be implemented by most firms operating in the global market. Some of the leading organizations anticipated to take charge are AAK AB, Wilmar International, IFFCO, Bunge Ltd., and Cargill.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth researh of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Global Artificial Intelligence Information and Analysis with forecast growth in the Industrial Sector 2017-2021 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=938636 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-artificial-intelligence-market-in-the-industrial-sector-2017-2021-report.html "Global Artificial Intelligence Market in the Industrial Sector 2017-2021" The Report covers current Industries Trends, Worldwide Analysis, Global Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.Description-About Artificial IntelligenceAI technologies are being developed to assist human beings in deliberating, deducing, analyzing, and inventing new technologies that can guarantee the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The availability and widespread adoption of graphical processing units due to innovation in technology, increased power capacity, and reduced costs have been an impetus for the adoption of AI technologies in sensor systems.Technavios analysts forecast the global artificial intelligence market in the industrial sector to grow at a CAGR of 52.65% during the period 2017-2021.Get Sample Report With TOC @Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global artificial intelligence market in the industrial sector for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report presents the vendor landscape and a corresponding detailed analysis of the top four vendors operating in the market.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEATechnavio's report, Global Artificial Intelligence Market in the Industrial Sector 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsAmazon Web ServicesIBMSiemensOmron Adept TechnologiesOther prominent vendorsAffectivaAIBrainAnkiAOLAyasdiCloudMindsDataRobotDigital ReasoningeBayEnefyiCarbonXMindMeldNICENokiaOracleSalesforceSentinent TechnologiesTwitterVicariousVivBellabeatCrowdFlowerDidi ChuxingEnliticFacebookGEGoogleGradberryGridspaceHumanoidIntelJiboKwikDeskLeap MotionMicrosoftNuance CommunicationsNvidiaQuantum SimulationsScaled InferenceWit.aiALEKSAppierBlackboardCogniiConverge Venture PartnerseDreams EdusoftIncredible LabsJenzabarMIND Research InstitutePandaWhalePearsonPixatelQuidRadiumOneRigetti ComputingTopicmarksMarket driverDevelopment of deep-learning technology.For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeTechnical difficulties in developing AI technologies.For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendAI technology for advanced robot programming.For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Full Report @ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074 Aerogel Market Forecast, Analysis and Supply Demand 2015-2025 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-927 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-927 www.futuremarketinsights.com The global aerogel market is on the rise due to increased applications of aerogel in industries such as oil & gas, marine, automotive, and aerospace. Aerogel is an extremely low density solid material, mainly composed of air, and is manufactured using conventional gel. Global aerogel market consists of material exhibiting numerous properties, making it suitable for the applications in aforementioned industries. These properties include thermal & acoustic damping, low density, high degree of porosity and other desired properties in various applications industries. In addition to the abundant uses of aerogel in industrial applications, one of the key reasons for increasing global aerogel market is due to the fact that the material is being witnessed as a good replacement for thermal insulation materials, since it is providing cost competitiveness to other high performance thermal insulating materials.Request Report Sample@Aerogel Market: Drivers & RestraintsThe increasing demand of aerogels by the end users such as oil & gas, automotive, marine & aerospace , etc. are driving the global aerogel market. Growing globalization leading to an increase in investments, new establishments for construction and properties of aerogel such as high insulation, being cheap and abundant availability of the raw material are some of the factors driving the growth of global aerogel market. High production cost is the major challenging factor for the growth of global aerogel market.Aerogel Market: SegmentationIn terms of application industry, the global aerogel market is segmented into key applications:Oil & gasMarine & aerospacePerformance coatingsLVHSDay-lightingAutomotiveConstructionWithin these applications, the oil & gas industry accounts for a leading share in the global aerogel market. Among other applications, wherein significant growth is likely to be witnessed is automotive and construction applications, wherein thermal insulation properties of aerogel material are being exploited.On the basis of product types, the global aerogel market is can be segmented into:SilicaPolymerCarbonThese different types of aerogel are being utilized in the global marketplace, wherein polymer type of aerogel is expected to witness the highest growth in coming years. In terms of market share, the global aerogel market has been dominated by silica type aerogel, which is likely to continue its dominance through the forecast period as well.On the basis of forms, the global aerogel market has been segmented into:MonolithBlanketArticlePanel formThe global aerogel market is dominated by blanket form of aerogel, which is widely used for thermal insulation applications across the industries. The global aerogel market is expected to witness the tremendous growth in particle form of aerogel, which is expected to contribute towards the growth in demand for aerogel in global aerogel market during the forecast period.On the basis of processing segment, the global aerogel market has also been segmented into:Virgin processedFabricatedIn terms of processing, within the global aerogel market, virgin aerogel is witnessed to be the dominating processing segment. This is due to the fact that virgin aerogel is free from composites and additives, which enables its applications in research & development activities. Further virgin aerogel is accompanied with high commercial availability in the global aerogel market.Aerogel Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global aerogel market has witnessed increased growth in North American region, which accounts for a leading share in the global aerogel market. Followed by North America, Asia-Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region accounts for the second leading regions in terms of aerogel consumption across the globe, which is due to high amount of consumption in China. However, the European market is likely to be the leading region, in terms of annual growth, in years to come.Visit For TOC@Aerogel Market: Key PlayersThe global aerogel market is dominated by major players such as Cabot Corporation, Aerogel Technologies LLC, Aspen Aerogels, Inc. and BASF SE, to name a few.About Us :Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Mobile Phone Cases And Covers Market - Evolving Product Type, Market, Players Griffin technology, Samsung Electronics, Moko & Regions- US Forecast to 2021 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/627019-mobile-phone-cases-and-covers-global-market-outlook https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=627019 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/request-discount/627019-mobile-phone-cases-and-covers-global-market-outlook https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/627019-mobile-phone-cases-and-covers-global-market-outlook A new research document with title 'Mobile Phone Cases And Covers - Global Market Outlook (2016-2022)' covering detailed analysis, Competitive landscape, forecast and strategies. The study covers geographic analysis that includes regions like North America, Mexico, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and important players/vendors such as Griffin technology, Samsung Electronics, Moko ................The report will help user gain market insights, future trends and growth prospects for forecast period of 2022Request a sample report @SummaryAccording to Research, the Global Mobile Phone Cases and Covers market is accounted for $XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach $XX million by 2022 growing at a CAGR of XX% during the forecast period 2016 to 2022. In the present scenario the consumers had improved and increased the value of their mobile phones through the sufficient use of mobile accessories. The rapid proliferation of mobile phones in the urban areas for the connectedness with the digital world is been one of the prominent driver for the market.North American market is estimated to sustain its prominence over the regional market on account of the vast usage of mobile phones with more digital connectedness present in this region. Asia Pacific market is estimated to follow the North American market due to rapid engulfment of technology across the people.Some of the key players of the Mobile Phone Cases and Covers market include Griffin technology, Samsung Electronics, Moko and Company, Amzer, Inc. and Otterbox Company.Distribution channels Covered: Single Brand Store Online Store Multi Brand Storeo Independent Storeo Organised StoreProduct Types Covered: Cases & Skins Pouches & Sleeves Flip Cases Tempered GlassMaterials Covered: Silicone Cases Plastic Leather Fabric Cases Hard CasesRegions Covered: North Americao USo Canadao Mexico Europeo Germanyo Franceo Italyo UKo Spaino Rest of Europe Asia Pacifico Japano Chinao Indiao Australiao New Zealando Rest of APAC Rest of the Worldo Middle Easto Brazilo Argentinao South Africao EgyptBuy this report @What our report offers:- Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments- Market share analysis of the top industry players- Strategic recommendations for the new entrants- Market forecasts for a minimum of 6 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets- Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations)- Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations- Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends- Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developments- Supply chain trends mapping the latest technological advancementsGet customization & check discount for report @1 Executive Summary2 Preface2.1 Abstract2.2 Stake Holders2.3 Research Scope2.4 Research Methodology2.4.1 Data Mining2.4.2 Data Analysis2.4.3 Data Validation2.4.4 Research Approach2.5 Research Sources2.5.1 Primary Research Sources2.5.2 Secondary Research Sources2.5.3 Assumptions3 Market Trend Analysis3.1 Introduction3.2 Drivers3.3 Restraints3.4 Opportunities3.5 Threats3.6 Product Analysis3.7 Emerging Markets3.8 Futuristic Market Scenario....ContinuedView Detailed Table of Content @Thanks for reading this article, you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact us :Nidhi Bhavsar (PR & Marketing Manager)HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA 08837sales@htfmarketreport.com+1 (206) 317 1218 Household Induction Cook-tops Market to Surpass US$10.5 bn by 2019, Modular Kitchens Trend to be Key Growth Enabler http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=987 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/hobs-market.html The household induction cook-tops market refers to the global market for cook-tops, also known as hobs, which operate on the concept of induction heating/cooking. These are considered as one of the advanced technological innovations in the field of cooking. This type of cooking not only has energy efficiency benefits, but also provides health and safety benefits to users. Induction cook-tops, which are relatively new to many regions in emerging Asia-Pacific economies, are already enjoying fast adoption across consumers in Europe. The induction cook-tops market is experiencing a moderate single digit growth rate, and is expected to see gradual rise towards end of the forecast period. This is due to growing awareness and rapid urbanization in Asia-Pacific and Eastern Europe regions.Download Research Brochure For More Information@There are many factors driving the market growth for induction cook-tops, and the key influencer is the growing awareness and rise in disposable income. Induction cook-tops, which are currently considered as high-end consumer products, are gradually finding growing acceptance among consumers. The impact of disposable income growth is further multiplied by various macro and micro economic factors, such as rising fuel cost for conventional cook-tops (gas, electricity, and others), growing trend of modular kitchens in new houses, preference for a comfortable work environment in the kitchen, improved heat control with induction cooking, advanced technologies and their benefits towards healthy cooking, and many more.Induction cook-tops are of two types, free-standing (portable) and integrated (built-in) cook-tops. Of these, the integrated cook-tops dominated the global household induction cook-tops market in 2012, and is expected to retain its leading position by 2019, growing at a CAGR of 5.3%. Demand for built-in hobs is largely contributed from regions such as Europe and Middle East, which have large houses (floor space and dedicated kitchen space). Even the trend of joint or large families in the region has positive impact on the built-in hobs demand.For the same reasons, geographically too, Europe is the biggest market for induction cook-tops, and accounted for more than one third of the global induction cook-tops market. However, the Asia-Pacific market is the fastest growing, and forecast to account for the highest growth share of the global market for induction cook-tops. This is because of growing acceptance of induction cooking as part of lifestyle standards. Moreover, with trend of modular kitchen being promoted by real estate developers for their projects, this demand is further expected to go up in the mid to long term.Browse Report@As a result, leading players from the white goods industry are quickly moving into the induction cook-tops market in the Asia-Pacific region. Factors, such as high competition from domestic manufacturers in Europe, which has healthy concentration of both domestic and global manufacturers, is also driving these global players to look for opportunities in the Asia-Pacific market.Renowned players in the European market are Miele & Cie. KG, Smeg, Sub-Zero Wolf, AB Electrolux, Stoves, and many more. The popular names in the Asia Pacific market are Philips Electronics, Panasonic, Whirlpool, and others. Product innovation is observed as the key strategy followed by industry leaders, who are introducing cook-tops with multiple hot surfaces, advanced auto cook features, and more trendy designs.About Us:-Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a next-generation provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact Us:-State Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.com Aluminum Slugs Market Volume Analysis, Segments, Value Share and Key Trends 2017-2027 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-3877 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-3877 www.futuremarketinsights.com The global packaging market has introduced an extensive collection of single-serve packaging systems into the market, inferable of the growing request from the working population. Aluminum slugs play a crucial role in the packaging industry with easier, faster, safer, efficient and effective way of impact extrusion of the slug. Aluminum slugs are also eco-friendly and recyclable which gives an advantage over other types of metal slugs. They come in different sizes and can be converted to any shape for the convenience of customers. Aluminum slugs are also rust resistance and lighter which have extended the scope for aluminum slugs market. Aluminum slugs market is expected to get demand from several application segments including food & beverages industries, healthcare, paint industries, pharmaceutical, etc. where slugs are being used.Request Report Sample@Global Aluminum Slugs- Market Dynamics:The aluminum slugs market is expected to witness a healthy growth over the forecast period due to the rising demand for smaller and convenient slugs for extrusion. Aluminum slugs market is anticipated to be exceptionally concentrated into personal care and beauty products as their end products. Fantastic properties of aluminum slugs, for example, have an extended shelf life and a safe approach to administering a wide assortment of items. In addition, the increase in the per capita disposable income for developing economies and shift in the mindset towards convenient packaging. Rapid industrialization in the field of paint, food & beverages, etc. have seen the increment in spending to offer items by using aluminum slugs. Recyclability properties of aluminum are few of the components to be specified which can drive the development of aluminum slugs market. The increment in power rates which will expand the cost of manufacturing for aluminum directly impact the cost for slugs is the restraint hampering the market for aluminum slugs. Instability in the raw material prices of aluminum combined with stringent norms from local government is also few of the challenges faced by aluminum slugs market.Global Aluminum Slugs- Market Segmentation:The aluminum slugs can be segmented by shape, by application, and by end use industry.On the basis of shape, the global aluminum slugs are segmented into:FlatRoundRectangularOn the basis of application, the global aluminum slugs are segmented into:Aerosol cansAluminum collapsible tubesAutomotive cansTechnical partsOthersOn the basis of end use industry, the global aluminum slugs are segmented into:Food & BeveragePharmaceuticalCosmetic & personal careAutomotiveElectrical & electronicsGlobal Aluminum Slugs- Regional Overview:The global aluminum slugs can be segmented on the basis of region such as:North AmericaLatin AmericaEastern EuropeWestern EuropeAPEJMiddle East & AfricaJapanThe aluminum slugs market in North America region is to remain dominant for the highest revenue growth as compared to markets in other regions. Aluminum slugs market in China and India are expected to have substantial growth in terms of revenue due to relatively large aluminum ore industry and technological advancements in these emerging economies. Furthermore, the growth of aluminum slugs market in Asia Pacific is also expected to be driven from the increasing in the spending power among consumers in the countries of these regions. Aluminum slugs market in Western Europe is expected to witness above average growth, with Germany, France, and the U.K. In Latin America, Brazil and Mexico saw a good presence for aluminum slugs market and is expected to grow at a significant rate. The aluminum slugs market in the Middle East & Africa region is expected to witness an augmentation in the revenue contribution from sales in South Africa and GCC.Visit For TOC@Global Aluminum Slugs Key players:Few of the key players in the aluminum slugs market are Ball Corp, Neuman Aluminium Austria GmbH, Impol, d.o.o., Aluminium-Werke Wutoschingen AG & Co.KG, Jindal Aluminium Limited, Haomei Aluminum Co., Ltd., Nansen Industry Co., Ltd., Alucon PCL, Rheinfelden Semis Gmbh & Co. Kg, Aluman Sa.About Us Future Market Insights is the premier provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in London, the global financial capital, and has delivery centers in the U.S. and India.CONTACT:616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Skin Lightening Products Market Research Report and Outlook by Future Market Insights http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-642 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-642 www.futuremarketinsights.com Skin lightening products help reduce the pigmentation of the skin and also hiding scars, acne, discoloration, age spots, and pimples. It increases the persons confidence and boost self-esteem by hiding their imperfection. They can hide their wrinkles, spots on the face by using skin lightening products. It can also make the person look more attractive and alluring.Melanin is a pigment which is responsible for our skin colour. It is produced by melanocytes, which are specialized cells. People with light skin have less melanin and people with dark skin have more melanin. Melanin quantity in ones body depends on a genetic makeup. Skin lightening products help in reducing this pigment on the skin. It equals the skin tone so that the skin looks radiant, brighter, smoother and glowing. The potential of this product is increasing due to challenging lifestyle of consumers.Request For Report Sample@Skin Lightening Products Market: Drivers & RestraintsSkin lightening products arent famous or limited to women, but also among men too. Personal grooming is gaining a lot of popularity and men arent ashamed to be called as Metrosexuals. The desire to look fair and have even skin toned are the most important driving factors for skin lightening products. Theres a sea change in consumer habits and companies are emphasizing more on social media and digital advertising to lure consumers. Increasing demand from emerging nations like Africa and India is most of skin lightening products.Though skin lightening products are desired and are lot in demand, but it has a lot of constraints too, which sometimes compels us not to use it because of its hazardous after effects. According to World Health Organisation (WHO), skin bleaching products can cause blood cancer such as leukemia, liver and kidney cancer and could also result in severe skin conditions. They have also reported that few companies use harmful toxins illegally such as mercury, metal that blocks the properties of melanin. Perhaps they are catering to the demand of consumers, but with a lot of risk.Skin Lightening Products Market: SegmentationSkin Lightening products are broadly classified on the basis of the following segments -By Product types:OrganicNaturalConventionalBy Sales Channel Type:RetailersWholesalerOnline PurchaseOthersSkin Lightening Products Market: OverviewThe skin lightening products market has grown substantially at a healthy CAGR due to increase per capita spending on beauty and wellness products, rising standard of living, strong desire among men and women to look fair. With rapid technological advancement and variety of options available in the market, skin lightening products market is expected to grow. Japan represents the largest market for this product category. Asia Pacific will emerge as the fastest growing region for skin lightening products.Skin Lightening Products Market: Region-wise OutlookThe skin lightening market is expected to register a double-digit CAGR for the forecast period. Depending on geographic regions, the skin lightening market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa. As of 2015, Asia Pacific dominated the global skin lightening products market in terms of market revenue. China and India are the fastest growing market. Theres a robust demand from the Middle East for skin lightening products. The skin lightening products market is small in Europe as compared to Japan and other Asian countries.Visit For TOC@Skin Lightening Products Market: Key PlayersSome of the key market players in skin lightening products market are Clarins SA, E.T. Browne Drug Company, CavinKare Pvt Ltd, Shiseido Company Limited, Beiersdorf AG, The Procter & Gamble Company.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Radiology Oncology Surgical Robots Information and Analysis with forecast growth Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2016 to 2022 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=507309 http://www.researchmoz.us/radiology-oncology-surgical-robots-market-shares-strategies-and-forecasts-worldwide-2016-to-2022-report.html "Radiology Oncology Surgical Robots Market Shares, Strategies, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2016 to 2022" The Report covers current Industries Trends, Worldwide Analysis, Global Forecast, Review, Share, Size, Growth, Effect.Description-The 2016 study has 557 pages, 82 tables and figures. Worldwide Radiology Oncology surgical robot markets are poised to achieve significant growth as next generation systems provide a way to improve traditional open surgery and use radiology for cancer surgery. New systems pinpoint the delivery of radiation precisely, eliminating the radiological overdosing that has been such a problem previously, limiting the quantity of radiation that can be delivered.Get Sample Report With TOC @Radiosurgery robots take cancer surgery far beyond what has been available, promising a cure for cancer. Radiology oncology surgical robots use mechanical mobility and continuous image guidance to remove tumors. The Accuray CyberKnife robotic system follows the oncology target throughout treatment, intelligently delivering sub-millimeter precision, sparing healthy tissue. A robotic manipulator and a compact, lightweight linear accelerator, can deliver beams from thousands of non-coplanar, isocentric or non-isocentric angles. Treatments have excellent tumor coverage, steep dose gradients, and tight dose conformality.The radiation oncology market is growing globally due to a number of factors centered around the aging of the population and the benefits accrued from new technology. The number of new cancer cases diagnosed annually is projected to increase from 14.9 million in 2015 to 20 million by 2025. The increase in new cases is due to a steadily aging population. Both developed and developing countries have aging populations.Technology advances improve the precision and applicability of radiotherapy and radiosurgery. Expanding uses of radiotherapy and radiosurgery equipment occur because the units are able to treat a broader range of cases. Advances in hardware and software are creating a market for replacing an aging installed base. New designs are able to deliver higher standards of care.The rise in cancer cases, together with the increase in sophistication of new treatment protocols, have created demand for more automated products. Automation depends on integration of several devices into clinically practical systems. Integrated systems make treatments rapid and cost effective.Technology advances lead to improvements in patient care. The availability of advanced, automated and efficient clinical tools in radiation therapy has brought more precise forms of radiotherapy treatment (IMRT, IGRT, VMAT, SRS, SBRT, brachytherapy and proton therapy). Technology includes the EDGE and Truebeam, and the Accuray TomoTherapy H Series and CyberKnife M6 platforms that enable treatments that reduce treatment times and increase patient throughput .International markets are under-equipped to address the growing cancer incidence. Patients in many foreign countries must frequently endure long waits for radiotherapy.9,000 additional treatment machines will be required by 2020 in developing countries. China, India and Brazil are estimated to require over 3,800, 1,200 and 400 additional machines. Demand in emerging markets, coupled with ever increasing incidences of cancer, represent additional drivers for continued growth.Radiology oncology surgical robot market driving forces relate to an opportunity to achieve change in medical practice regarding the treatment of cancer. Change would lead to utilization of stereotactic body radiosurgery more regularly as an alternative to surgery or other treatments. Radiosurgery is poised to revolutionize the treatment of cancer by eradicating tumors while not harming surrounding healthy tissue.The ability to use high doses of radiation to precisely eliminate a tumor while leaving healthy tissue unharmed is compelling. It means that high doses of radiation can be delivered without killing the person, that doses of radiation delivered can be enough to kill the cancer without killing the person, this represents a change in what has been possible previously.The Varian, Elekta, and Accuray radiology oncology surgical devices offer robust clinical treatment capabilities. Flexibility of the Accuray InCise Multileaf Collimator and robotic delivery permit treatment of tumors previously thought untreatable. With radiosurgery and SBRT cancer can be treated efficiently and effectively. The device offers accuracy.Existing open brain and abdominal cancer surgery can be replaced in large part during the forecast period by robotic radiological oncology surgery. Radiologic robotic surgical approaches complement existing open surgery techniques, but will replace them as more physicians and surgeons become skilled in manipulating the x-ray devices. Soon, all oncology surgery will be considered in the context of what part of the oncology procedure will be undertaken with at least some aspects of robotic radiologic surgery replacing or complementing open cancer surgery.The aging US population has supported demand for robotic Radiology Oncology surgery. Since the occurrence of health issues that require medical devices is higher in the elderly population the more astute baby boomers have been looking to understand what surgical alternatives are open to them. . Buoyed by strong demand and sales, industry profit margins have increased considerably during the past five years.Hospitals are adopting robotic surgical devices to improve their outcomes numbers. Hospitals are measured on outcomes, robots for surgery, when used by a trained physician are improving outcomes significantly. Hundreds of universities worldwide have research programs in robotics and many are awarding degrees in robotics. These roboticists are increasingly being hired by Global 2000 organizations to link mobile robots (mobile computers) into existing IT systems.Robot-assisted surgery gives the surgeon better control over the surgical instruments and a better view of the surgical site. Surgeons no longer have to stand throughout the surgery and do not tire as quickly. Hand tremors are filtered out by the robots computer software. The surgical robot can continuously be used by rotating surgery teams.Radiology Oncology surgical robot device markets at $4 billion in 2015 are anticipated to reach $7.3 billion by 2022 as next generation devices, systems, and instruments are introduced to manage cancer surgery through radiation excision that eliminates open cutting in the body. Patients tolerate the surgery well, walking out of the hospital after the procedure no longer bothered by healing or infection from an incision.The complete report provides a comprehensive analysis including procedure numbers, units sold, market value, forecasts, as well as a detailed competitive market shares and analysis of major players success, challenges, and strategies in each segment and sub-segment. The reports cover markets for Radiology Oncology robotic surgery medical specialties and sub-specialties.Companies ProfiledMarket LeadersVarianElektaAccurayMarket ParticipantsBest Theratronics, LtdBrainlab AGMitsubishi Heavy IndustriesViewRayFull Report @ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074 Lithotripsy Devices Market will be Massively Influenced by Macroeconomic Factors http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-648 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-648 www.futuremarketinsights.com Lithotripsy is a procedure that helps to break the process of urolithiasis. Urolithiasis is the process of forming stones in the kidney, bladder, and/or urethra. Kidney stones are a common cause of blood in the urine and pain in the abdomen, flank, or groin. Kidney stones occur in 1 in 20 people at some time in their life.Lithotripsy is a procedure that uses shock wave to break up stones in the kidney, bladder, or ureter. After the procedure, the tiny pieces of stones pass out of rom the body by the help of urine.Many parts of the world are now suffering from the stones disease which poses a major health hazard affecting 20% of the general population worldwide. In the U.S alone, up to 12% of men and 6% of women will develop urolithiasis at some point of life. In Thailand, the highest prevalence rate of 16.9% was reported in the Northeast provinces, while in Middle Eastern countries, the lifetime prevalence of kidney stone is even high.Request For Report Sample@Lithotripsy Devices Market: Drivers and RestraintsPresently, lithotripsy devices global market is driven by the aging population, technological advancement, increasing incidence of urolithiasis.Lithotripsy devices market is driven by geriatric population, technological advancement, increasing incidence of urolithiasis, and growing number of extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy procedures being performed. However, adverse effect of lithotripsy shock waves which can often result in hypertension, diabetes, and in some cases permanent loss of functional renal volume act as major barrier for this market.Lithotripsy Devices Market: SegmentationLithotripsy devices global market is segmented into following types:Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy SystemIntracorporeal Lithotripsy SystemLaser LithotripsyElectrohydraulic LithotripsyMechanical LithotripsyUltrasonic LithotripsyLithotripsy Devices Market: OverviewWith the rapid technological advancement and increasing incidence of urolithiasis, the lithotripsy devices global market is expected to have healthy growth rate in the forecast period (2012-2025).Lithotripsy Devices Market: Region-wise OutlookDepending on geographic region, global orthopedic power tools market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, South America, Eastern Europe, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Japan, and Middle East & Africa.The European region is estimated as the largest regional market in the world, whereas, Asia-Pacific market is estimated to be the fastest growing market during the forecast period. The growth of Asia-Pacific is likely to be supported by strong adoption potential for advanced technologies, due to rapidly growing awareness about technology and medical infrastructure, in this region.Visit For TOC@Lithotripsy Devices Market: Key playersSome of the key participating global players in this market are as Siemens AG, Medispec Inc., Olympus corp., Boston Scientific Corp., Direx Group and others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Comprehensive Industry Report Offers Forecast and Analysis on Music Market and Streaming Services Market http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-699 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/toc/rep-gb-699 www.futuremarketinsights.com Global Music market and streaming services are becoming more dynamic owing to increased inclination of consumers towards such services. The increasing up-gradation in the technology is anticipated to increase the demand of music streaming among the smartphone users over the forecasted period. Music market and streaming services market is expected to show significant growth due to the streaming of songs through audio and video platforms. However, market of physical album is expected to decline relatively. Global music market is consolidated market with various companies undergoing mergers and acquisitions, partnerships and strategic alliances in order to increase their market share.Music Market and Streaming Services SegmentationGlobal music market is segmented into digital downloads, physical, streaming, synchronization and ringtones. Digital download is the largest market segment in terms of revenue, followed by the streaming. Furthermore, streaming services are segmented into sound exchange distributions, on demand ad-supporting services and subscription services. Music market and streaming services are further segmented on the basis of region as North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East and Africa. In North America, U.S contributes the maximum revenue in terms of revenue contribution, Also, European region is expected to reflect a significant growth during the forecast period. However the global music market is expected to lose significant portion of its revenue due to the piracy in the near future. Accordingly government across various countries have taken several initiatives to curb piracy. For instance, U.S. possess copyright alert systems that keep check on piracy. In Europe service providers have blocked the access to the pirate bay.Request For Report Sample@Music Market and Streaming Services: Region-wise OutlookMusic market and streaming services market is expected to show tremendous growth in the coming years due to the rising number of high net worth individuals coupled with increasing number of consumers upgrading to smartphones. . Globally among all the regions, North America is expected to contribute the largest market share followed by European region in the forecast period. US is expected to be the dominant market for the music market and streaming services in the North American region. However, European region is expected to be the fastest growing market followed by Asia Pacific.Music market and streaming services: DriversIncreasing number of internet enabled mobile devices such as iPhone drives the growth of music market and streaming services. Rising disposable income leading to increasing purchase of smart phones and other devices, which offer specification support to music and streaming services are expected to fuel the music market and streaming services market growth. Other factors that fuel the growth of music market specifically includes increasing usage of subscription and streaming services by the consumers. Subscription streaming is the key driver for the streaming services market. In music streaming market there is increasing adoption of cloud services as it provides consumers to access music online and presently it is also being increasingly adopted by the various companies to increase the subscribed users to access the digital content stored in remote serversVisit For TOC@Music Market and Streaming Services: Key PlayersThe key international players operating in Music market and streaming services includes Google Inc., Rhapsody International Inc. Apple Inc., Pandora Media Inc. Various companies operating in streaming services market are continuously launching various music streaming servicesABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Solar Charge Controllers Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2017 Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1225818 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-solar-charge-controllers-market-professional-survey-report-2017-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Solar Charge Controllers Market: Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2017" to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies Solar Charge Controllers in Global market, especially in North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and India, with production, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions, from 2012 to 2016, and forecast to 2022.This report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringGenasunLuminous IndiaMICROTEKSchneider ElectricSu-Kam Power SystemsArise IndiaBEIJING EPSOLAR TECHNOLOGYDelta ElectronicsMorningstarPhocosSamlex AmericaShuori New EnergySteca ElektronikStuder InnotecSUNGROWVictron EnergyBy types, the market can be split into240V380VOtherBy Application, the market can be split intoHouseholdBuildingCommercial BuildingsOtherBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaTo Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Table of ContentsGlobal Solar Charge Controllers Market Professional Survey Report 20171 Industry Overview of Solar Charge Controllers1.1 Definition and Specifications of Solar Charge Controllers1.1.1 Definition of Solar Charge Controllers1.1.2 Specifications of Solar Charge Controllers1.2 Classification of Solar Charge Controllers1.2.1 240V1.2.2 380V1.2.3 Other1.3 Applications of Solar Charge Controllers1.3.1 Household1.3.2 Building1.3.3 Commercial Buildings1.3.4 Other1.4 Market Segment by Regions1.4.1 North America1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Southeast Asia1.4.5 Japan1.4.6 India2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Solar Charge Controllers2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Solar Charge Controllers2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Solar Charge Controllers2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Solar Charge ControllersBrowse More Details @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Renewable Energy Market Predicted to Witness Surge in the Near Future by 2022 http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/381915 http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/2017-market-research-report-on-global-renewable-energy-industry http://www.orbisresearch.com/contact/purchase/381915 https://www.linkedin.com/company/orbis-research https://twitter.com/orbisresearch https://www.facebook.com/pages/Orbis-Research/820969017982115 Latest Report Available at Orbis research Renewable Energy Market provides pin-point analysis for changing competitive dynamics and a forward looking perspective on different factors driving or restraining industry growth.Request sample copy of this report @In our aim to provide our erudite clients with the best research material with absolute in-depth information of the market, our new report on Global Renewable Energy Market is confident in meeting their needs and expectations. The 2017 market research report on Global Renewable Energy Market is an in-depth study and analysis of the market by our industry experts with unparalleled domain knowledge. The report will shed light on many critical points and trends of the industry which are useful for our esteemed clients. The report covers a vast expanse of information including an overview, comprehensive analysis, definitions and classifications, applications, and expert opinions, among others. With the extent of information filled in the report, the presentation and style of the Global Renewable Energy Market report is a noteworthy.The Global Renewable Energy Industry report provides key information about the industry, including invaluable facts and figures, expert opinions, and the latest developments across the globe. Not only does the report cover a holistic view of the industry from a global standpoint, but it also covers individual regions and their development. The Global Renewable Energy Industry market report showcases the latest trends in the global and regional markets on all critical parameters which include technology, supplies, capacity, production, profit, price, and competition. The key players covered in the report provide a detailed analysis of the competition and their developments in the Global Renewable Energy Industry. Accurate forecasts and expert opinion from credible sources, and the recent R&D development in the industry is also a mainstay of the Renewable Energy Market report.The report also focuses on the significance of industry chain analysis and all variables, both upstream and downstream. These include equipment and raw materials, client surveys, marketing channels, and industry trends and proposals. Other significant information covering consumption, key regions and distributors, and raw material suppliers are also a covered in this report.Finally, the Renewable Energy Market report ends with a detailed SWOT analysis of the market, investment feasibility and returns, and development trends and forecasts. As with every report on Orbis Research, the Renewable Energy Industry is the holy grail of information which serious knowledge seekers can benefit from. The report which is the result of ultimate dedication of pedigree professionals has a wealth of information which can benefit anyone, irrespective of their commercial or academic interest.Browse Complete Report @Some points from TOC:Chapter One: Renewable Energy Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Renewable Energy1.2 Renewable Energy Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Renewable Energy Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Renewable Energy Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Solar Energy1.2.4 Wind Energy1.2.5 Hydro Energy1.2.6 Biomass Energy1.2.7 Ocean Energy1.2.8 Geothermal Energy1.3 Global Renewable Energy Segment by Application1.3.1 Renewable Energy Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Residential1.3.3 Commercial1.3.4 Industrial1.3.5 Other1.4 Global Renewable Energy Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Renewable Energy Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Renewable Energy (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Renewable Energy Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Renewable Energy Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)Purchase a copy of Renewable Energy Market visit @For more information contact sales@orbisresearch.com .Chapter Two: Global Renewable Energy Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Renewable Energy Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Renewable Energy Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Renewable Energy Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Renewable Energy Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Renewable Energy Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Renewable Energy Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Renewable Energy Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Renewable Energy Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Renewable Energy Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, ExpansionChapter Three: Global Renewable Energy Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Renewable Energy Capacity and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Renewable Energy Production and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Renewable Energy Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Renewable Energy Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 North America Renewable Energy Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 Europe Renewable Energy Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.7 China Renewable Energy Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.8 Japan Renewable Energy Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.9 Southeast Asia Renewable Energy Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.10 India Renewable Energy Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)Chapter Four: Global Renewable Energy Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Region (2012-2017)4.1 Global Renewable Energy Consumption by Region (2012-2017)4.2 North America Renewable Energy Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.3 Europe Renewable Energy Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.4 China Renewable Energy Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.5 Japan Renewable Energy Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.6 Southeast Asia Renewable Energy Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)4.7 India Renewable Energy Production, Consumption, Export, Import (2012-2017)For any enquires before buying, connect with us @ enquiry@orbisresearch.comAbout Us:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Contact Information:Hector CostelloSenior Manager Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +9164101019Follow Us on LinkedIn:Follow us on Twitter:Like us on Facebook: Global Maritime Patrol Naval Vessels Market 2017 Latest Innovations, Drivers, Dynamics And Strategic Analysis, Challenges By 2021 http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/discount/372998 http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/global-maritime-patrol-naval-vessels-market-2017-2021 http://www.orbisresearch.com/contact/purchase/372998 Companies Mentioned: Austal, BAE Systems, Damen Shipyards, DCNS, and FINCANTIERI, Goa Shipyard, Fr. Lurssen Werft, Hyundai Heavy Industries, MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES, Navantia, and Saab..About Maritime Patrol Naval Vessels, The maritime naval force of a countrys defense sector commands and controls waterborne vessels that are deployed for surface water or underwater warfare. Such vessels are used to secure the ocean waters surrounding a countrys land from external interference. Ocean waters provide access to aquatic food and marine trade routes. They also hold access to resources like sea floor earth materials and underwater oil wells. Naval vessels are used to protect these resources from exploitation by foreign bodies as well as the facilities dedicated to exploring these resources. A countrys naval force also provides security and escort services to the commercial ships that tread through the tidal trade routes in proximity to the countrys coasts.Analysts forecast the Global Maritime Patrol Naval Vessels Market to Grow at a CAGR Of 3.13% During The Period 2017-2021.Limited Period Offer Get Instant $1000 Discount on this Report.Check for Discount on Maritime Patrol Naval Vessels Market Report@Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global maritime patrol naval vessels market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the new procurements and developments.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography: Americas APAC EMEAGlobal Maritime Patrol Naval Vessels Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Browse Full Report with TOC:Key vendors Austal BAE Systems Damen Shipyards DCNS FINCANTIERIOther prominent vendors Goa Shipyard Fr. Lurssen Werft Hyundai Heavy Industries MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES Navantia SaabPlace Purchase Order for this Report@Market driver Fortifying maritime securityMarket challenge Mid-life upgrade of older vessels delaying procurement of new vesselsMarket trend Development of multi-purpose patrol vesselKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?Table of ContentsPART 01: Executive summaryPART 02: Scope of the reportPART 03: Research MethodologyPART 04: IntroductionMarket outlinePART 05: Market landscapeMarket overviewMarket size and forecastFive forces analysisPART 06: Market segmentation by product typeGlobal manned maritime patrol vessels marketGlobal unmanned maritime patrol vessels marketPART 07: Geographical segmentationMarket overviewMaritime patrol naval vessels market in APACMaritime patrol naval vessels market in AmericasMaritime patrol naval vessels market in EMEAPART 08: Decision frameworkPART 09: Drivers and challengesMarket driversMarket challengesPART 10: Market trendsDevelopment of multi-purpose patrol vesselRequirement for ice-breaking patrol vesselsJoint shipbuilding programs with technology-transfer agreementsPART 11: Vendor landscapeCompetitive scenarioPART 12: Key vendor analysisAustalBAE SystemsDamen ShipyardsDCNSFINCANTIERIOther prominent vendorsPART 13: AppendixHector CostelloSenior Manager Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas - 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +912064101019Email ID: sales@orbisresearch.comOrbis Research is a single point aid for all your Market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customised reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialisation. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required Market research study for our clients. UV Cure Printing Inks Market : North America Industry Status, Size, Share, Trends and Application 2017 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=901385 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=901385 http://www.researchmoz.us/uv-cure-printing-inks-market-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG https://marketinfo247.wordpress.com/ Albany, New York, August 16, 2017 : Recent research and the current scenario as well as future market potential of "UV Cure Printing Inks Market - North America Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024" globally.Ultraviolet curing (UV curing) is a photochemical process wherein high intensity UV light is used to cure or dry inks, adhesives or coatings. UV cure inks speed up the printing process by reducing the drying time while facilitating superior bonding. UV cure inks do not employ the use of environmentally harmful solvents, additionally; they do not cause loss of coating thickness and volume loss in final prints.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @The report provides in-depth analysis and forecast of the UV Cure Printing Inks Market in North America. It includes forecast for the period from 2016 to 2024 in terms of volume (Kilo Tons) and revenue (US$ Mn). Quantitative data has been derived through extensive secondary research of the UV Cure Printing Inks Market in North America. Secondary sources typically include company websites, relevant magazines, government documents, and press releases. The top-down approach has been adopted to derive the revenue and volume figures for the UV Cure Printing Inks Market in North America.Furthermore, the bottom-up approach has been employed to derive data for various application segments based on demand for UV cure printing inks. A combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches helps validate the quantitative data. The data was further validated with the help of primary research with industry experts to ensure accuracy of derived numbers.North America UV Cure Printing Inks Market: Scope of the StudyDetailed analysis of various factors driving the UV Cure Printing Inks Market in North America has been included for astute decision making. Impact of these drivers has been analyzed with data to substantiate research findings. Furthermore, factors restraining market growth have been included for better understanding of the market. Impact of these restraints has been analyzed over the course of the forecast period. The report also comprises various opportunities available for market growth during the next eight years. Opportunities entail untapped or recently explored factors that are anticipated to drive the UV Cure Printing Inks Market in North America during the forecast period.The report includes value chain analysis to help understand the industry thoroughly. Value chain analysis comprises detailed evaluation of the roles of various entities involved in the printing inks industry, from raw material suppliers to end-users. Various processes employed in the manufacture of printing inks have been included in the value chain analysis. Porters Five Forces model has been employed to determine the degree of competition in the market during the forecast period.Company market share analysis has been included for better understanding of the competitive landscape. Company market share analysis comprises the market share of dominant players in 2015, based on their production capacities. Furthermore, market attractiveness analysis has been conducted to analyze product segments that are expected to be lucrative during the forecast period. This is based on various factors such as market size, growth rate, profitability, raw material procurement, and competition in each product segment.Make an Enquiry about TOC @North America UV Cure Printing Inks Market: SegmentationThe report comprises detailed analysis of all the segments in the UV Cure Printing Inks Market in North America and forecast based on current and future trends in the industry in terms of volume (tons) and revenue (US$ Mn). These inks can be classified into liquid and paste. Liquid inks are employed in gravure and flexographic printing processes, while paste inks are used in offset printing process. Pigments are extensively used in printing inks as colorants (except in flexographic printing process). Invisible or fluorescent printing dye stuff is used as colorants in flexographic printing process and some other special applications such as heat transfer printing.Based on application, the UV Cure Printing Inks Market in North America has been segmented into screen printing inks, flexographic printing inks, gravure printing inks, offset printing inks, digital printing inks, and specialty inks.In terms of end-user, the market has been segmented into publication & commercial printing, packaging, and others (textile, decorative inks, etc.). Demand for printing inks in each of its application segments has been analyzed and forecast for the period of eight years.Companies mentioned in this research reportThe report also comprises profiles of leading companies in the UV Cure Printing Inks Market in North America. These include Sun Chemical Corporation, Flint Group, Siegwerk Druckfarben AG & Co. KGaA, E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, Electronics For Imaging, Inc, FUJIFILM Corporation, Marabu North America, Huber Group, Toyo Ink America, LLC, INX International Ink Co, Nazdar, and Wikoff Color Corporation. Various attributes of these companies such as company overview, business strategies, and recent developments form the core of the company profiles section.This report segments the UV Cure Printing Inks Market in North America as follows:UV Cure Printing Inks Market Product AnalysisArc CuringLED CuringUV Cure Printing Inks Market Application AnalysisFlexographic Printing InksGravure Printing InksOffset Printing InksDigital Printing InksScreen Printing InksBrowse Report @UV Cure Printing Inks Market End-user AnalysisPublication & Commercial PrintingPackagingOthers (Textile, Decorative inks, etc.)ResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozMr. Nachiket Ghumare,90 State Street, Albany NY, United States - 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA-Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn @Follow me on : Global Market Study on Biopharmaceuticals: Asia to Witness Highest Growth by 2020 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/320624 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/320624/global-study-on-biopharmaceuticals-asia-market-research-reports https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/320624 Biopharmaceuticals are medicinal drugs which are produced through biotechnology methods such as recombinant DNA techniques, fermentation, hybridoma techniques, and purification processes. Biopharmaceutical production involves the usage of biological sources, either live organisms or their active components. They are made up of proteins and nucleic acids and target specific diseases and patients groups. Biopharmaceuticals are used in the treatment of various chronic diseases such as cardiovascular, metabolic, neurological, cancer, and other rare diseases for which there are no available treatments. Biopharmaceuticals have lead to enhancement in the quality of healthcare and has improved the quality of life of patients. Various biopharmaceuticals used for treating such diseases are monoclonal antibodies, erythropoietin, growth hormones, recombinant proteins, recombinant human insulin, purified proteins, interferon, vaccines and other biopharmaceuticals. However, high costs of biopharmaceuticals, entry of low-cost biosimilars, and risk of side-effects posed by biopharmaceuticals act as restraints for the biopharmaceuticals market.Get The Sample Copy Of This Report :In terms of value, North America dominates the biopharmaceuticals market. This is due to rising research and development investments and increasing technological advancements in biopharmaceuticals in the region. The market in Asia is expected to experience a high growth rate in the near future. This is due to improving the quality of healthcare and increasing adoption of biopharmaceuticals by physicians, drug wholesalers, pharmacies, and patients in the region.Various factors such as increasing chronic diseases, aging population, and technological advancements in biopharmaceuticals along with increasing investment in research and development by various companies has lead to the growth of the global biopharmaceuticals market. However, high costs of biopharmaceuticals, the risk of sideeffects, and availability of low-cost biosimilars are restraining the growth of the global market for biopharmaceuticals.Browse Full Report :This report provides in-depth analysis and estimation of the biopharmaceuticals market for the period 20142020, considering 2013 as the base year for the calculation. In addition, data pertaining to current market dynamics, including market drivers, restraints, trends, and strategic developments has been provided in the report. The biopharmaceuticals market is categorized on the basis of type, application, and geography. Based on type, the global biopharmaceuticals market can be classified as monoclonal antibodies, erythropoietin, granulocyte colony stimulating factor, purified proteins, recombinant proteins, recombinant human insulin, interferon, growth hormones, vaccines, and other biopharmaceuticals. Based on the therapeutic application, the global biopharmaceuticals can be classified as oncology, metabolic disorders, neurological disorders, cardiovascular diseases, inflammatory and infectious diseases, and other rare diseases.In the geographical analysis, the report identifies and analyses market size and forecast of North America, Europe, Asia, and Rest of the World (RoW). North America is further segmented into the U.S., and Canada; Europe into the U.K., Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Russia; Asia into China, Japan, and India; and RoW into Australia and Brazil.Send An Enquiry :Some of the major players in the Biopharmaceuticals market are Pfizer, Inc., F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc., Sanofi, Amgen Inc., AbbVie Inc., Merck & Co., Inc., Biogen Idec, Bayer AG, Eli Lilly and Company, Novartis AG GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, AstraZeneca PLC, and Abbott Laboratories. These key market players have been profiled on the basis of attributes such as company overview, recent developments, growth strategies, sustainability, and financial overview.MRRbiz supports your business intelligence needs with over 700,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Hermetic Packaging Market growing due to Importance of Asset Management in Industry https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=1136 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=1136 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=D&rep_id=1136 Global Hermetic Packaging Market: SnapshotThe global hermetic packaging market is predicted to witness strong opportunities emerging from the ascendency of ceramic-metal sealing (CERTM) demonstrating a higher growth rate and share in terms of type. There are some crucial factors that could propel the demand for CERTM in the market. The assurance of failure-free operation and passenger safety in the automotive sector is anticipated to fortify the growth of CERTM sealed sensors such as differential non-contacting, chassis level, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) sensors. The growth of the market could also gain a telling impetus on the back of an elevating demand for low-porosity and thermal shock-resistant hermetic packaging materials.Although military and defense could take a leading share in the global hermetic packaging market on the basis of application, healthcare, food and beverages, petrochemicals, and consumer electronics are also expected to be significant. The healthcare market is prognosticated to record an impressive demand while riding on major advancements in technology for medical implants and other critical fields. The need to protect food from dirt, yeasts, molds, and bacteria could intensify the demand for hermetic packaging in the food and beverages sector. Glass bottles and rigid metal cans employ hermetic packaging seals as per the standards set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).Request Sample Copy of the Report @Expansion and new product launch are envisaged to be some of the top strategies adopted to gain a strong foothold in the global hermetic packaging market. For instance, Amkor Technology expanded its China test factory and assembly in 2015 and Schott AG launched Puravis and autoclavable Solidur LED in 2017.Global Hermetic Packaging Market: OverviewExhibiting a positive CAGR between 2017 and 2025, the global hermetic packaging market is forecast to spawn into a multi-billion dollar industry by the end of the forecast period. The need to protect the sensitive electronic components used in sectors such as defense and military against invasion of moisture, oxygen, humidity, and any other forms of contaminant, which may result in system failure is the key factor spurring the demand for hermetic packaging. Besides this, with the growing use of hermetic packaging across end-use industries such as aeronautics and automobile electronics, experts see strong growth on cards for the market in the coming years.Request TOC of the Report @The report provides a holistic market overview, covering growth witnessed across end-use industries, key application segments, and major regions. The classifications under these segments are studied in detail. The study also includes an in-depth analysis of various drivers and restraints projected to impact the markets trajectory across the aforementioned segments. It therefore compiles exhaustive information regarding the market obtained via proven research methodologies. The market study also identifies the most lucrative segments in the market and gauges the investment feasibility for the new market players.Global Hermetic Packaging Market: Trends and OpportunitiesAmong major end users, the demand for hermetic packaging is considerably high in the military and defense sector. This segment is expected to gain from the high budget allocation in the defense sector in countries such as the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. Besides this, the high demand from the defense industries in India and China will boost the hermetic packaging market in Asia Pacific. In the coming years, the rising demand from the aeronautics and space industry will contribute to the markets growth as well.Among other segments helping the market gain pace, the contribution of the multilayer ceramic segment is worth mentioning. The market players are expected to witness considerably high opportunities in response to the increasing adoption of multilayer ceramic packages across high-frequency applications such as wireless communication, optical communication, and data communication. Multilayer ceramics allow a large volume of electrical feed-throughs, which is a key factor fueling its demand, subsequently gaining increased traction for the overall market.Get a discount @In the coming years, the use of hermetic packaging transistors is expected to increase at a robust pace. This growth will be stoked by the increasing uptake of hermetically sealed transistors for designing home appliances and telecommunication circuits. Spurred by the increasing applications across diverse segment, the global hermetic packaging market is forecast to report strong growth in the coming years.Global Hermetic Packaging Market: Regional OutlookRegionally, the leading manufacturers will find a lucrative market in Asia Pacific. The region exhibits increasing demand for energy, backed by growth in the rate of GDP across emerging nations such as India and China, which will create growth opportunities for hermetic packaged electronic component manufacturers. Besides this, India, Japan, and China are now allotting increased funds in space research. The growth in space-related activities such as exploration missions and satellite launches in these countries will give impetus to the Asia Pacific hermetic packaging market. Additionally, North America and Europe will continue offering attractive opportunities to the enterprises operating in the market.Global Hermetic Packaging Market: Vendor LandscapeTeledyne Microelectronics, AMETEK, Inc., SCHOTT AG, Texas Instruments Incorporated, Amkor Technology, Legacy Technologies Inc., Micross Components, Inc., Willow Technologies, KYOCERA Corporation, and Materion Corporation are among the established players in the global hermetic packaging market. Besides in-depth assessment of the companies profiled, the report also studies the impact of the strategies they adopt on the overall market.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth researh of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Analysis of Hepatitis E Diagnostic Tests Market in Global Industry : Insights, Development, Research and Forecast 2017-2024 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=896071 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=896071 http://www.researchmoz.us/hepatitis-e-diagnostic-tests-market-global-industry-analysis-size-share-volume-growth-trends-and-forecast-2016-2024-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG https://marketinfo247.wordpress.com/ Albany, New York, August 16, 2017 : Recent research and the current scenario as well as future market potential of "Hepatitis E Diagnostic Tests Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Volume, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024" globally.Hepatitis E is a liver disease that is enterically transmitted and is caused by hepatitis E virus (HEV). It is one of the five known human hepatitis viruses (A, B, C, D, and E). Hepatitis E spreads through fecal-oral transmission due to fecal contamination of drinking water. The other routes of transmission of hepatitis E virus include transfusion of infected blood products, vertical transmission from a pregnant woman to her fetus, and ingestion of undercooked meat or meat products derived from infected animals. Infections with hepatitis E virus are commonly observed in regions with poor sanitation, including the Middle East, Asia, Central America, and Africa. The epidemiology and serology of HEV differs in developing and developed countries. It is considered to be rare in the U.S. and other developed regions.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @Cases of hepatitis E are not clearly distinguishable from other types of viral hepatitis. Hence, diagnosis can be confirmed by testing the presence of RNA and antibodies against HEV. Testing for the presence of IgM and IgG is considered to be indirect tests and testing for the presence of HEV RNA is considered to be direct test. Presence of IgM is the primary test to identify acute infections in patients, which is confirmed by testing for the presence of RNA. Presence of IgG antibodies indicates that the patient has been exposed previously to hepatitis E virus.This research is a combination of primary and secondary research, conducted for understanding and arriving at trends, used to forecast the expected revenue of hepatitis E diagnostic kits in the near future. Primary research formed the bulk of our research efforts with information collected from in-depth interviews and discussions with a number of key industry experts and opinion leaders. Secondary research involved study of company websites, annual reports, press releases, investor presentations, analyst presentation and various international and national databases.Global Hepatitis E Diagnostic Tests Market: Scope of the StudyThe report provides estimated market size in terms of US$ Mn for each test type, end user, and geography for the period 2014 to 2024, considering the macro and micro environmental factors. The revenue generated from each test type was calculated by considering sero-prevalence rate of hepatitis E, average selling price of the kits, trends in industry, end user trend, and adoption rate across all the geographies.The market report comprises an elaborated executive summary, which includes market snapshot that provides information about various segments of the market. It also provides information and data analysis of the market with respect to market segments based on test type, end-user, and geography. The market overview section of the report analyzes market dynamics such as drivers, restraints and opportunities that influences the hepatitis E diagnostic tests market in the current and future scenario. The report also provides value chain analysis of the market that describes the sequence of activities involved from identification of the market need to their final reach to the end users.Make an Enquiry about TOC @Market share analysis among the market players is analyzed to signify the contribution of these players in the market in terms of percentage share. All these factors will help the market players to decide about the business strategies and plans to strengthen their positions in the global market. Based on geography, the market has been analyzed for major regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. The study also covers detailed country analysis contributing majorly in the hepatitis E diagnostic tests market.Companies Mentioned in this reportThe report also profiles the major players in the market and provides various attributes such as company overview, financial overview, product portfolio, business strategies, and recent developments. Major companies profiled in the hepatitis E diagnostic tests market report are altona Diagnostics GmbH, Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise Co., Ltd., Biokit S.A., Dia.Pro - Diagnostic Bioprobes s.r.l, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Fast-track diagnostics Ltd., Fortress Diagnostics Limited, Mikrogen GmBH, MP Biomedicals, LLC., and Primerdesign Ltd., among others.The Hepatitis E Diagnostic Tests Market has been segmented as follows:By Test TypeELISA HEV IgM Test kitsELISA HEV IgG Test kitsRT-PCR Test kitsOthersBy End UserHospitalsResearch CentersDiagnostic LaboratoriesPoint of CareBrowse Report @By GeographyNorth AmericaU.S.CanadaEuropeU.K.GermanySpainFranceItalyRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaAustraliaRest of Asia PacificLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoRest of Latin AmericaMiddle East and AfricaA.E.South AfricaRest of Middle East and AfricaResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozMr. Nachiket Ghumare,90 State Street, Albany NY, United States - 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA-Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn @Follow me on : Mercury (I) Sulphate Market Status and Forecast showcasing Progressive Growth including key players Shanghai Zhihua ChemTech Inc., Alfa Chemistry, Cfm Oskar Tropitzsch GmbH outlook-2022 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/627014-mercury-i-sulphate-global-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=627014 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/request-discount/627014-mercury-i-sulphate-global-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/627014-mercury-i-sulphate-global-market A new research document with title 'Mercury (I) Sulphate - Global Market Outlook (2016-2022)' covering detailed analysis, Competitive landscape, forecast and strategies. The study covers geographic analysis that includes regions like North America, Mexico, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and important players/vendors such as Shanghai Zhihua ChemTech Inc., Alfa Chemistry, Cfm Oskar Tropitzsch GmbH................The report will help user gain market insights, future trends and growth prospects for forecast period of 2022SummaryAccording to Research, the Global Mercury (I) Sulphate Market is accounted for $XX million in 2016 and is expected to reach $XX million by 2022 growing at a CAGR of XX% from 2016 to 2022. Mercury (I) Sulphate is an energy proficient solution, which can even work at high temperature. By end user, the significant growth of energy storing devices in consumer electronics and automotive segments promotes the mercury (I) sulphate market growth during the forecast period. However, stringent government regulations and lack of safety measures are some of factors limiting the market growth.Request a sample report @By geography, North American region commanded the largest market share due to strong growth rate in solar cell and medical devices. Moreover, Asia Pacific is witnessed to grow at faster rate due to quick industrialization in emerging countries such as China and India.Some of the key players in this market include Shanghai Zhihua ChemTech Inc., Alfa Chemistry, Cfm Oskar Tropitzsch GmbH, AK Scientific Inc, Chemical Technology Ltd and Yogi Dye Chem Industries.Applications Covered: Standard cell Solar cell Fuel cell Other ApplicationsEnd Users Covered: Telecom Industry Medical and health care industry Automotive industry Consumer electronicsRegions Covered: North Americao USo Canadao Mexico Europeo Germanyo Franceo Italyo UKo Spaino Rest of Europe Asia Pacifico Japano Chinao Indiao Australiao New Zealando Rest of Asia Pacific Rest of the Worldo Middle Easto Brazilo Argentinao South Africao EgyptBuy this report @What our report offers:- Market share assessments for the regional and country level segments- Market share analysis of the top industry players- Strategic recommendations for the new entrants- Market forecasts for a minimum of 6 years of all the mentioned segments, sub segments and the regional markets- Market Trends (Drivers, Constraints, Opportunities, Threats, Challenges, Investment Opportunities, and recommendations)- Strategic recommendations in key business segments based on the market estimations- Competitive landscaping mapping the key common trends- Company profiling with detailed strategies, financials, and recent developmentsGet customization & check discount for report @1 Executive Summary2 Preface2.1 Abstract2.2 Stake Holders2.3 Research Scope2.4 Research Methodology2.4.1 Data Mining2.4.2 Data Analysis2.4.3 Data Validation2.4.4 Research Approach2.5 Research Sources2.5.1 Primary Research Sources2.5.2 Secondary Research Sources2.5.3 Assumptions3 Market Trend Analysis3.1 Introduction3.2 Drivers3.3 Restraints3.4 Opportunities3.5 Threats3.6 Application Analysis3.7 End User Analysis3.8 Emerging Markets3.9 Futuristic Market Scenario....ContinuedView Detailed Table of Content @Thanks for reading this article, you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact us :Nidhi Bhavsar (PR & Marketing Manager)HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA 08837sales@htfmarketreport.com+1 (206) 317 1218 Smart Grid Technology Market Expects Indias Mammoth 100 Smart Cities Plan to Boost Future Revenue http://industryarc.com/analystcall.php?id=15814 http://industryarc.com/pdfdownload.php?id=15814 http://www.linkedin.com/company/industryarc http://goo.gl/Ga7fq7 The Smart Grid Technology Market is widely expected to serve as one of the key solutions to the rising demand for power. There is an expanding interest for dependable and persistent power supply, and this is particularly a region of worry in poor or developing economies of the world.The need to lessen transmission and dissemination inefficiency is yet another issue that needs to be sorted with the help of superior grid technology. Smart grid technology is equipped to solve the problems listed above and can basically revolutionize the current power grid. One of the central points driving the development of the Smart Grid Technology Market is the dramatic improvement in optimization as well as efficiency through the utilization of smart grid solutions.Scope & Regional Forecast of the Smart Grid Technology MarketGovernment initiatives which are favorable to the adoption of the smart grid system is yet another factor driving the development of the Smart Grid Technology Market. The R&D efforts undertaken by various smart grid technology companies help in reducing the emission of harmful gases and reducing the overall effect of climate change. Cutting-edge smart grid innovations like IoT devices and the embrace of the Smart City concept are have also opened up new opportunities for growth and expansion of the Smart Grid Technology Market.Request For Analyst Call @Factors like the exorbitant cost of entering the industry and a severe lack of regulations or guidelines are currently hindering the widespread embrace of smart grid solutions. From 2009 onwards, the U.S. has made a tremendous amount of investment on improving its power infrastructure and has currently assumed the leadership position in the Smart Grid Technology Market. This has given North America the main position in the worldwide market. But China is expected capture the largest share in market by the end of the forecast period.Segmentations & Key Players Involved in the Smart Grid Technology MarketAccording to IndustryARC findings, the Smart Grid Technology Market can be broken down into various segmentations on the basis of Technology: Advanced Metering Infrastructure (Meter Data Management System, Analytics, Advanced Metering Infrastructure Security), Distributed Automation, Software, Hardware (Sensors, Smart Meters, Others), Communication Technologies, Cyber security, Transmission Upgrades, Services and Consulting and Others.Service: Services and Consulting, Implementation and Deployment, Maintenance and Others.Geography: Americas, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World.Some of the key players involved in the Smart Grid Technology Market according to IndustryARC are as follows:Landis+GyrTendril Networks, Inc.GE Energy ManagementABB Ltd.Eaton CorporationRequest For Table Of Content @About IndustryARC:IndustryARC is a Research and consulting firm that publishes more than 500 Reports Annually in various industries, such as Agriculture, Automotive, Automation & Instrumentation, Chemicals and Materials, Energy and Power, Electronics, Food & Beverages, Information Technology, Life sciences & Healthcare.IndustryARC primarily focuses on Cutting Edge Technologies and Newer Applications of the Market. Our Custom Research Services are designed to provide insights on the constant flux in the global demand-supply gap of markets. Our strong analyst team enables us to meet the client research needs at a very quick speed with a variety of options for your business.We look forward to support the client to be able to better address customer needs; stay ahead in the market; become the top competitor and get real-time recommendations on business strategies and deals. Contact us to find out how we can help you today.Media ContactContact Person: Sanjay MatthewsEmail: sales@industryarc.comPhone: 1-614-588-8538 (Ext: 101)Company Name: IndustryARCTMConnect with us on LinkedIn @Get More Insights on Reports @IndustryARCPlot No. S-1, Serial No. 1043 & 1048,Phase -1 & 2, Opp. BSNL Office,KPHB, Kukatpally,Hyderabad, Telangana 500072Email: sales@industryarc.comTel: (+91) 040-64621234, +1-614-588-8538 Latest Research Report On Global Peripheral Vascular Stents Market: Top Manufacturers - Angioscore, Bard PV, Cook Medical & Cordis Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=843209 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-peripheral-vascular-stents-market-research-report-2016-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Latest Research Report On Global Peripheral Vascular Stents Market: Top Manufacturers - Angioscore, Bard PV, Cook Medical & Cordis" to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies Peripheral Vascular Stents in Global market, especially in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia and India, focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with Production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringAbbott LaboratoriesB. Braun MelsungenBoston ScientificIntact VascularAMGAngioscoreBard PVCook MedicalCordisMedtronicSt. Jude MedicalMarket Segment by Regions, this report splits Global into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue, market share and growth rate of Peripheral Vascular Stents in these regions, from 2011 to 2021 (forecast), likeNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaSplit by product type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided intoType IType IIType IIISplit by application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Peripheral Vascular Stents in each application, can be divided intoApplication 1Application 2Application 3To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Table of ContentsGlobal Peripheral Vascular Stents Market Research Report 20161 Peripheral Vascular Stents Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Peripheral Vascular Stents1.2 Peripheral Vascular Stents Segment by Type1.2.1 Global Production Market Share of Peripheral Vascular Stents by Type in 20151.2.2 Type I1.2.3 Type II1.2.4 Type III1.3 Peripheral Vascular Stents Segment by Application1.3.1 Peripheral Vascular Stents Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Application 11.3.3 Application 21.3.4 Application 31.4 Peripheral Vascular Stents Market by Region1.4.1 North America Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.2 Europe Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.3 China Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.4 Japan Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.5 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.4.6 India Status and Prospect (2011-2021)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Peripheral Vascular Stents (2011-2021)2 Global Peripheral Vascular Stents Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Peripheral Vascular Stents Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 Global Peripheral Vascular Stents Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 Global Peripheral Vascular Stents Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Peripheral Vascular Stents Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Peripheral Vascular Stents Market Competitive Situation and TrendsBrowse More Details @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Online Clothing Rental Market to Exceed Online Clothing Rental Market http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-1452 http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/askus/rep-gb-1452 www.futuremarketinsights.com Future Market Insights delivers key insights on the global online clothing rental market in a new report titled, Online Clothing Rental Market: Global Industry Analysis and Opportunity Assessment, 20162026. In terms of value, the global online clothing rental market is expected to register a CAGR of 9.8% during the forecast period owing to various factors, which are analysed in detail in this report.Growth of the global online clothing rental market is driven by increasing preference for fashion and brand consciousness among people across the globe along with rising internet penetration. Consumers are preferring online purchase of clothes due to availability of a large variety at a discounted price. This is fuelling the demand for online rented clothes globally. Changing consumer lifestyles and increasing demand for designer dresses, party wear, and dinner suits is expected to intensify the growth of the global online clothing rental market in the next 10 years. Increasing urbanisation along with rising personal disposable income in regions such as the Asia Pacific are driving the overall growth of the global online clothing rental market.High profitability margins, ease of resource availability, and rising economic opportunity in developing nations are some factors encouraging new players to venture into the global online clothing rental market. Established players in the global online clothing rental market are expanding their product portfolio and are focussing on product innovations and change in target segments, which is creating robust competition in the market.Request For Report Sample@Segmentation highlightsThe global online clothing rental market is segmented on the basis of Demography (Women, Men, Kids); Price Range (Premium, Mid, Low); Type (Western Wear, Ethnic Wear, Others); End User (B2C, B2B); and Business Model (Peer-to-Peer Model, Standalone Model, Hybrid Model).The Women demography segment is expected to register a CAGR of 9.5% during the forecast periodThe Peer-to-Peer business model segment was valued at US$ 656.4 Mn in 2015 and is expected to account for US$ 712.2 Mn by the end of 2016, witnessing a Y-o-Y growth rate of 8.5% over 20162020Regional projectionsThe global online clothing rental market is segmented into the seven key regions of North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, APEJ, Japan, and MEA. Markets in North America, Western Europe, and APEJ are expected to record high growth rates in terms of value between 2016 and 2026. Amongst all the regions, North America is estimated to account for a comparatively higher value share in 2016. Western Europe is another major market for online clothing rentals. The entry of online luxury fashion due to rising internet penetration is expected to drive market growth in this region. In the APEJ region, increasing personal disposable income is a key driver for sustained growth of the online clothing rental market, and the APEJ market is expected to register a CAGR of 10.1% during the period 2016-2026. The online clothing rental market is expected to witness significant growth over the forecast period in countries such as India, the ASEAN countries, Australia, and New Zealand.Send an Enquiry @Vendor insightsThis report covers detailed profiles of key players operating in the global online clothing rental market. The report presents key strategies, key developments, product offerings, and market performance of leading companies. Some of the top companies profiled in the global online clothing rental market report are Rent the Runway, Poshmark, Elanic Services Pvt Ltd., Dress & Go, GlamCorner Pvt Ltd., Envoged, Etashee, Secoo Holdings Ltd, and Secret Worldwide.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite: Conveyor Systems Market Trends Global Industry Analysis, Top Manufacturers, Share, Growth, Statistics, Opportunities & Forecast up to 2022 https://www.marketstudyreport.com/request-a-sample/528981//?utm_source=OPR-SP https://www.marketstudyreport.com/check-for-discount/528981//?utm_source=OPR-SP https://www.marketstudyreport.com/reports/world-conveyor-systems-market-by-product-type-market-players-and-regions-forecast-to-2021//?utm_source=RR-SP https://www.marketstudyreport.com https://www.marketstudyreport.com/category/news-releases/ Market Study Report has announced the addition of the Global Conveyor Systems Market by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2022 The report focuses on global major leading industry players with information such as company profiles, end users/applications, product and specification.Conveyor systems are mechanically-operated material handling equipment, which are used to transport material within premises. They provide a quick and effective transportation solution with a high degree of safety. Therefore, due to effectiveness of conveyance, a considerable amount of cycle time is reduced in the industrial process. The same factor helps in reducing the errors in handling manual material. Early commercialization of the conveyor system took place for transportation of heavy materials in the industrial sector.Request a Sample Copy of Global Conveyor Systems Market Research Report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Conveyor Systems 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, Global Conveyor Systems Market report covers such as Daifuku, Ssi Schaefer, Dematic Group, Bosch Rexroth, Caterpillar, Murata Machinery, Vanderlande, Mahindra Tsubaki Conveyor Systems, Fives Group, Taikisha, Swisslog, Hytrol, Buhler Group, Shuttleworth, Siemens, BEUMER Group, Eisenmann, Emerson, Flexlink, Interroll and Dorner Conveyors.Market Segment by Regions, regional analysis covers:North America (USA, Canada and Mexico)Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia etc.)Middle East and Africa (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria and South Africa).Global Conveyor Systems Market Segment by Type, covers as Roller Conveyors, Belt Conveyors, Overhead Conveyors, Pallet Conveyors and Other ConveyorsGlobal Conveyor Systems Market Segment by Applications, can be divided into: Automotive, Food & Beverages, Engineering Machinery, Retail and OthersRequest Discount for Global Conveyor Systems Market Research Report @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Conveyor Systems market.Chapter 1, to describe Conveyor Systems Market Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Conveyor Systems, with sales, revenue, and price of Conveyor Systems, 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 Conveyor Systems, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to Conveyor Systems Market analyze the key regions, with sales, revenue and market share by key countries in these regions;Chapter 10 and 11, to show the Conveyor Systems Market by type and application, with sales market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 12, Conveyor Systems market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Conveyor Systems Market sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data source.Major Points in Table of ContentsConveyor Systems Market OverviewConveyor Systems Market Manufacturers ProfilesGlobal Conveyor Systems Market Competition, by ManufacturerGlobal Conveyor Systems Market Analysis by RegionsNorth America Conveyor Systems by CountriesEurope Conveyor Systems by CountriesAsia-Pacific Conveyor Systems by CountriesSouth America Conveyor Systems by CountriesMiddle East and Africa Conveyor Systems by CountriesGlobal Conveyor Systems Market Segment by TypeGlobal Conveyor Systems Market Segment by ApplicationConveyor Systems Market Forecast (2017-2022)Sales Channel, Distributors, Traders and DealersResearch Findings and ConclusionRelated Reports: -World Conveyor Systems Market by Product Type, Market, Players and Regions-Forecast to 2021Conveyor Systems market research report provides the newest industry data and industry future trends, allowing you to identify the products and end users driving Revenue growth and profitability. The industry report lists the leading competitors and provides the insights strategic industry Analysis of the key factors influencing the market.Marketstudyreport.com allows you to manage and control all corporate research purchases to consolidate billing and vendor management. You can eliminate duplicate purchases and customize your content and license management.Market Study ReportThe Green Suite #4594,Dover, DE 19901United StatesPhone: 1-201-355-0868US Toll Free: 1-866-764-2150Email: sales@marketstudyreport.comWebsite:News: China Ureteral Stents Market: Top Players - Coloplast, Boston Scientific, Applied Medical & Allium Medical Market Research Report http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=838724 http://www.researchmoz.us/china-ureteral-stents-market-research-report-2016-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "China Ureteral Stents Market: Top Players - Coloplast, Boston Scientific, Applied Medical & Allium Medical" to its huge collection of research reports.This report studies Ureteral Stents in China market, focuses on the top players in China market, with capacity, production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringB. Braun Melsungen AGBard MedicalColoplastBoston ScientificApplied MedicalAllium MedicalAmecathGohar Shafa CoOlympusProSurgMedi-Globe GroupTeleflex IncorporatedSplit by product Type, with production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, can be divided into30cmSplit by Application, this report focuses on consumption, market share and growth rate of Ureteral Stents in each application, can be divided intoApplication 1Application 2Application 3To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @Table of ContentsChina Ureteral Stents Market Research Report 20161 Ureteral Stents Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Ureteral Stents1.2 Ureteral Stents Segment by Type1.2.1 China Production Market Share of Ureteral Stents Type in 20151.2.2 30cm1.3 Applications of Ureteral Stents1.3.1 Ureteral Stents Consumption Market Share by Application in 20151.3.2 Application 11.3.3 Application 21.3.4 Application 31.4 China Market Size (Value) of Ureteral Stents (2011-2021)1.5 China Ureteral StentsStatus and Outlook1.6 Government Policies2 China Ureteral Stents Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 China Ureteral Stents Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.2 China Ureteral Stents Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.3 China Ureteral Stents Average Price by Manufacturers (2015 and 2016)2.4 Manufacturers Ureteral Stents Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area, Product Type2.5 Ureteral Stents Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Ureteral Stents Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Ureteral Stents Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 ManufacturersBrowse More Details @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Ultra-mobile Devices (UMD) Market by Regional Analysis, Key Players and Forecast 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=1103 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=1103 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=D&rep_id=1103 Global Ultra-mobile Devices (UMD) Market: SnapshotUntil a couple of years from now, the future of the sleeker, smaller, and portable computing devices, now dubbed as ultra-mobile, looked bleak. The segment had few devices and the flagship devices failed to entice masses. But the scenario soon transformed and ultra-mobile devices charged in the burgeoning global computing devices market with immense force, a host of new products from some of the worlds most renowned brands and are witnessing massive sales.Analysts predict that ultra-mobile devices will soon supplant desktop computers in professional as well as public spaces. With the impressive rate of technological advancements that this segment of computing devices is achieving in a short span, this transition does not seem very far or difficult. Vast advances in battery, screen, processing, and material processing technologies are supplementing this change, making it technically very feasible to develop portable devices that can easily compete with the present-day ubiquitous, relatively bulkier, and mostly immobile workhorse personal computers.Request Sample Copy of the Report @The rapid influx of a number of technologically advanced and highly promising candidates in the global ultra-mobile devices arena is strengthening the position of the segment as the right candidate to claim a significant stake in the workplace computers replacement process that many organizations eagerly await. Conventional smartphones and tablets fail to be as productive and fast as desktop computers when it comes to fulfilling a number of requirements, a factor that makes the high demand for ultra-mobile devices more likely. This report gives a detailed overview of the global ultra-mobile devices market and its crucial segments.Global Ultra-mobile Devices (UMD) Market: OverviewUltra-mobile devices (UMD), also referred to as ultra-mobile personal computers (UMPC), the notebook computers with physical features such as screen and overall size scaled down to bring about a reduction in weight make the devise more compact, have emerged as one of the largest selling computing devices in the past few years. These portable and easy to carry computing devices, which majorly pack capabilities and functionalities similar to those of a traditional personal computer, are steadily outpacing the conventional personal computer models.Request TOC of the Report @The market for ultra-mobile computing devices is expected to expand at a promising pace in the next few years as the trend of mobility gathers further pace. This report on the global ultra-mobile devices market provides a thorough analytical overview of the market in the present times and several forward-looking statements predicting the growth prospects of the market and its segments for the period 20172025, wherein 2016 is considered the base year.The report covers a detailed analytical overview of all the key trends expected to play a key role in the overall development of the market over the said period. The study highlights factors such as drivers, restraints, regulations, and opportunities expected to impact the growth prospects of the market during the forecast period.Global Ultra-mobile Devices (UMD) Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe report states that of the key varieties of ultra-mobile devices available in the market, including basic UMD, utility UMD, and premium UMD, the segment of premium UMD accounted for the leading share in revenues in the global market. Operational capabilities equal or enhanced as compared to conventional personal computers, compact size, and high cost have made premium UMDs one of the most profitable UMD segments in the global market in the past few years.Get a discount @On the basis of operating system, the global UMD market can be segmented into Windows, Mac, Android, and open source. Presently, the Windows category accounts for the dominant share in the global market and is expected to retain dominance over the next few years as well.Global Ultra-mobile Devices (UMD) Market: Geographical and Competitive DynamicsFrom a geographical perspective, the report analyzes the UMD market across regions such as Asia Pacific, North America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. Of these, the North America market contributed to the leading share in the global markets revenue. The presence of an affluent consumer base and some of the worlds leading UMD manufacturers have helped the region take the top spot in the UMD market.Emerging economies across regions such as Asia Pacific and Latin America have become some of the worlds profitable destinations for the personal computers market owing to the rising population of affluent and digitally aware consumers and the burgeoning enterprise and education sectors. However, the high prices of UMDs could crop up as one of the key challenges for markets expansion in these regions, making people favor budget computing devices over UMDs. The consumer perception that UMDs lack in data processing or operating functionalities as compared to conventional personal computers could also be a factor limiting the overall demand for ultra-mobile devices to mostly business professionals and enterprise circles in these regions.The study also includes business profiles of some of the leading players operating in the global immersive simulator market with details such as recent developments, growth strategies, market share, market positioning, finances, and product portfolio. Some of the leading companies operating in the global UMD market are HTC Corporation, Google, Dell, Microsoft Corporation, Lenovo, ASUSTeK Computer Inc., Apple Inc., Sony, HP Development Company L.P., and Samsung.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth researh of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Rise In Demand : Security Information and Event Management Market Globally Grow at a CAGR of 12.03% by Revenue During the Period 2017-2021 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=938652 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=938652 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-security-information-and-event-management-market-2017-2021-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG https://marketinfo247.wordpress.com/ Albany, New York, August 16, 2017 : Recent research and the current scenario as well as future market potential of "Global Security Information and Event Management Market 2017-202" globally.SIEM includes solutions and services that help enterprises to analyze log (large volumes of computer generated data also known as audit records and audit trials) and event data in real time to identity potential threats and provide event correlation and incident response. The data is collected from security and network devices, systems, and applications. The data is collected in a central repository for interpretation of logs and trend analysis and provides automated reporting for compliance and centralized reporting. SIEM solutions provide quicker identification, analysis, and recovery of security events. The events are alerts generated by a network security device such as a firewall or intrusion detection system (IDS).Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @Technavios analysts forecast the global security information and event management to grow at a CAGR of 12.03% during the period 2017-2021.Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global security information and event management for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the revenue generated from the sales of SIEM solutions and services.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:APACEuropeNorth AmericaMEATechnavio's report, Global Security Information And Event Management 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendorsIBMHewlett PackardMcAfeeLogRhythmSplunkMake an Enquiry about TOC @Other prominent vendorsAlienVaultBlackStratusEventTrackerDell TechnologiesFortinetMicro FocusSolarWindsSymantecTenable Network SecurityTIBCO SoftwareTrustwaveZOHO CorpMarket driverNeed to comply with regulatory requirements.For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeSecurity risks associated with SaaS offerings.For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendGrowing popularity of managed security service providers.For a full, detailed list, view our reportBrowse Report @Key questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?ResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozMr. Nachiket Ghumare,90 State Street, Albany NY, United States - 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA-Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn @Follow me on : Mauritius: 4G/LTE Commercial Launches and Smart Mauritius Strategic Plan Will Spur Market Evolution http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=306548 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=306548 http://www.researchmoz.us/mauritius-4glte-commercial-launches-and-smart-mauritius-strategic-plan-will-spur-market-evolution-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG https://marketinfo247.wordpress.com/ Albany, New York, August 16, 2017 : Recent research and the current scenario as well as future market potential of "Mauritius: 4G/LTE Commercial Launches and Smart Mauritius Strategic Plan Will Spur Market Evolution" globally.Mauritius: 4G/LTE Commercial Launches and Smart Mauritius Strategic Plan Will Spur Market Evolution, a new Country Intelligence Report by Pyramid Research, offers a precise, incisive profile of Mauritiuss mobile and fixed telecommunications sectors based on comprehensive proprietary data and insights from our research on the Mauritian market. Published annually, this presentation-quality, executive-level report provides detailed analysis of the near-term opportunities, competitive dynamics and evolution of demand by service type and technology/platform across the fixed telephony, broadband and mobile sectors, as well as a review of key regulatory trends.Get PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @Key FindingsPyramid Research expects overall telecoms service revenue to grow at a CAGR of 3.5% over the forecast period.The Mauritian telecoms market has witnessed strong investment in the broadband segment over the last few years, especially with the fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) commercial launch by Orange (Mauritius Telecom) in 2013. Nevertheless, despite this investment Mauritius remains a mobile market at its core.Pyramid Research expects 3G subscriptions to reach 1.9m, or 84.4% of total mobile subscriptions, in 2020 from 1.0m, or 57.1% of total mobile subscriptions, in 2015. The early introduction of 3G services places Mauritius among the most advanced countries in term of 3G adoption in Africa.4G/LTE was introduced in Mauritius in May 2012 by Emtel, followed by Orange in June. MTML launched LTE in May 2015. By year-end 2020 the number of LTE subscriptions will reach 0.2m, or 10.6% of all mobile subscriptionsOver the next five years operators should seize opportunities related to bundled offerings and value-added services. Vendors should position themselves as strategic partners to support the governments Smart Mauritius strategic plan.SynopsisThis report provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in Mauritius today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2020. It delivers deep quantitative and qualitative insight into Mauritiuss telecoms market, analyzing key trends, evaluating near-term opportunities and assessing risk factors, based on proprietary data from Pyramid Researchs databases.Make an Enquiry about TOC @The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following:Regional context: telecom market size and trends in Mauritius compared with other countries in the region.Economic, demographic and political context in Mauritius.The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, number portability and more.A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue for fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice and mobile data.Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed and mobile sectors and between voice and data from 2015 to 2020.The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months.In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice and mobile data services. For mobile specifically, a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period is provided.Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in Mauritiuss telecommunications markets.Reasons To BuyThis Country Intelligence Report offers a thorough, forward-looking analysis of Mauritiuss telecommunications market, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format to help executives build proactive and profitable growth strategies.Accompanying Pyramid Researchs Forecast products, the report examines the assumptions and drivers behind ongoing and upcoming trends in Mauritiuss mobile communications, fixed telephony and broadband markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares for mobile.With more than 20 charts and tables, the report is designed for an executive-level audience, boasting presentation quality.The report provides an easily digestible market assessment for decision-makers built around in-depth information gathered from local market players, which enables executives to quickly get up to speed with the current and emerging trends in Mauritiuss telecommunications market.The broad perspective of the report coupled with comprehensive, actionable detail will help operators, equipment vendors and other telecom industry players succeed in the telecommunications market in Mauritius.Browse Report @Executive summaryMarket and competitor overviewRegional contextEconomic, demographic and political contextRegulatory environmentDemand profileService evolutionCompetitive landscapeMajor market playersSegment analysisMobile servicesFixed servicesIdentifying opportunitiesResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozMr. Nachiket Ghumare,90 State Street, Albany NY, United States - 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA-Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn @Follow me on : Engineering Plastics Market Forcasted for Accelerated Growth by 2024 https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/engineering-plastics-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/toc/engineering-plastics-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/engineering-plastics-market http://www.zionmarketresearch.com https://zionmarketresearch.wordpress.com Global Engineering Plastics Market: OverviewThe plastics, which possess improved thermal or mechanical properties and are used in the manufacturing of commodity plastics such as polyethylene, polystyrene, polypropylene, and PVC is known as engineering plastics. These materials exhibit special properties such as wear and fatigue resistance, higher impact strength, chemical resistance, temperature resistance, and high abrasion. The engineering plastics are thermoplastic materials which are expensive and are specially designed for unique purpose applications. Conventional plastic processing machinery is used to process these materials. Engineering plastics such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene is used in the production of lego bricks and dashboard trim while polycarbonates are used in the motorcycle helmets and polyamides for the production of skis and ski boots.Request Free Sample Report @Global Engineering Plastics Market: Growth FactorsThe growth and the development in the automotive industry are key factors that are driving the global engineering plastics market. Engineering plastics are replacing metal components in the industrial machinery and automotive, owing to light weight requirement. Engineering plastics possess similar properties of the metals and is lightweight in nature. Increasing demand for electrical and electronics appliances worldwide anticipates boosting the market. Engineering plastics are very costly in nature; this factor may restrain the market growth. Engineering plastics are extensively used in the aerospace industry for spaceship building which may open up new growth opportunities in the global engineering plastics market.Global Engineering Plastics Market: SegmentationThe global engineering plastics market is bifurcated based on the application, type, and region. The application segment is classified as electrical & electronics, consumer products, packaging, automotive, building & construction, and others. Based on the type the global market is fragmented into fluoropolymers, thermoplastic polyesters, polyamides, polyacetals, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polycarbonates, and others. Regionally, the engineering plastics market is diversified into North America, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East & Africa.Request Report TOC (Table of Contents) @Global Engineering Plastics Market: Regional AnalysisAsia-Pacific region is expected to grow at a faster pace in the near future owing to rise in income levels of the people, increase in the population, and rapid urbanization in the region. The presence of ample opportunities in the electronic products, manufacturing automobiles, machinery, consumer appliances, industrial, and medical devices positively influence the market growth. Asia-Pacific region is expected to gain significant growth due to high demand from the emerging countries such as China and India especially in electronics, automotive, and electrical industries. North America is another emerging potential market in the engineering plastics owing to the growth in the consumption of the engineering plastics in transportation and automotive industry. Western Europe is considered as a mature market. The Latin American region will also show a considerable growth in the near future.Global Engineering Plastics Market: Competitive PlayersThe key market players operating in the global engineering plastics market include Sabic Innovative Plastics US LLC., BASF SE, Ticona Engineering Polymers, Bayer Materialscience, Teijin Limited, and Chi Mei Corporation. Other prominent players in the market are Wintech Polymer Ltd., Eastman Chemical Company, Evonik Degussa GmbH., and Royal DSM NV.Browse detail report @Global Engineering Plastics Market: Regional Segment AnalysisNorth AmericaU.S.EuropeUKFranceGermanyAsia PacificChinaJapanIndiaLatin AmericaBrazilThe Middle East and AfricaAbout Us: Zion Market Research is an obligated company. We create futuristic, cutting edge, informative reports ranging from industry reports, company reports to country reports. We provide our clients not only with market statistics unveiled by avowed private publishers and public organizations but also with vogue and newest industry reports along with pre-eminent and niche company profiles. Our database of market research reports comprises a wide variety of reports from cardinal industries. Our database is been updated constantly in order to fulfill our clients with prompt and direct online access to our database. Keeping in mind the clients needs, we have included expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends in this database. Last but not the least, we make it our duty to ensure the success of clients connected to usafter allif you do well, a little of the light shines on us.Contact Us:Zion Market Research4283, Express Lane,Suite 634-143,Sarasota, Florida 34249, United StatesTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll-Free No.1-855-465-4651Email: sales@zionmarketresearch.comWebsite:Blog: Carnauba Wax Market Growth, Share, Demand and Analysis of Key Players to 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=1088 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=1088 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=D&rep_id=1088 Carnauba Wax Market: SnapshotThe global carnauba wax market, traditionally dominated by Brazil, has emerged as a major economic avenue in recent years thanks to the steady growth of the automotive and food and beverage sectors. The cosmetics sectors growth in developing countries has also been vital for the global carnauba wax market and is likely to remain a key driver due to the growing demand for a variety of anti-pollution and anti-aging products.The automotive industry has emerged as a leading consumer in the global carnauba wax market due to the growing secondhand car industry. Carnauba wax is a precious commodity in automotive maintenance due to the superior performance it provides in terms of polish. Thus, resold cars generally require a generous application of carnauba wax, while new cars are also often treated with carnauba wax to maximize their appeal to customers. The growing automotive industry in developing countries is thus likely to be vital for the global carnauba wax market, while developed regions are home to an affluent consumer demographic that has shown a steady interest in automobile maintenance and is likely to remain a key consumer in the global carnauba wax market.Request Sample Copy of the Report @The food and beverage industry has become a key consumer in the global carnauba wax market due to the rising demand for food glazing and the increasing consumption of confectionery items such as jelly and chewing gum. The rising demand for sweets in developing countries, where the products are still novel, is thus likely to be a vital contributor to the global carnauba wax market.Global Carnauba Wax Market: OverviewThe global carnauba wax market has witnessed tremendous growth over the past few years, due to its increasing application in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics sector. Brazil is the leading producer as well as exporter of carnauba wax across the globe. The manufacturing of this wax involves low setup cost, however, the labor intensive nature of extraction and processing leads to a high labor cost, thereby boosting the overall manufacturing cost. Moreover, the widespread adoption of primitive tools for extraction leads to an increase in the overall extraction time. This wax commonly finds its application in food, pharmaceutical, automotive, and cosmetics.Request TOC of the Report @The report serves as a reliable business tool providing information regarding important parameters of the global carnauba wax market. It is intended to update stakeholders about the ongoing trends of the market. It provides an immaculate understanding of the market through definitions, classifications, applications, and chain structure. It gives a detailed description of the factor influencing the market and analyzes the extent to which they impact the growth. It offers qualitative and quantitative insights into the competitive landscape of the market. It profiles key players in the market and takes into account their business strategies, latest development, investment outlook, financial overview, and market shares. For a coherent understanding, the report segments the global carnauba wax market on the basis of various criteria including geography and applications.Global Carnauba Wax Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe burgeoning consumption of confectionary products such as jellies and chewing gums, particularly in developing countries, is anticipated to stimulate the demand for carnauba wax in the forthcoming years. In addition, the rising demand for food glazing agent in the food and beverage industry is bolstering the growth of the market. The growth of the market is also backed by conducive regulations enforced by regulatory authorities such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Union. On the other hand, the rising attempts of market participants to increase their margins and revenues are resulting in an increase in price, which in turn is adversely affecting the growth of the market.Get a discount @Global Carnauba Wax Market: Geographical SegmentationBased on geography, the key segments meticulously studied in the report are Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and Rest of the World. Europe and North America will account for a substantial cumulative share in the market throughout the forecast period. The growing demand for waxes for the production and maintenance of automobiles is bolstering the growth of these regions. The robust growth of the automotive care industry, due to rising automobile sales coupled with the increasing sales of pre-used cars, is translating into the greater uptake of carnauba wax.Asia Pacific will rise at a noteworthy pace during the same period, owing to the growing demand for food glazing agents in the food and beverage industry. The rapid industrialization, which is leading to the flourishing growth of various end-user industries, is also impacting the growth of the region positively. Moreover, the rising disposable income of consumers is propelling the growth of the region.Global Carnauba Wax Market: Competitive LandscapeProminent players in the global carnauba wax market are paying strong attention to improving their distribution network to cater to the global demand. The majority of players are focusing towards product customization to serve better to the requirements of end users and stay relevant in the market. The strong foothold of key players, due to their market knowledge and acumen, makes the market a highly competitive arena. Some of the key companies operating in the global metal carnauba wax market are Brasil Ceras, Tropical Ceras do Brasil Ltda, FONCEPI Comercial Exportadora Ltda, Pontes Industria de Cera Ltda, and Carnauba do Brasil Ltda.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth researh of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact :Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Australia Diagnostic Imaging Market Outlook to 2020 - Categories like Angio Suites, C-Arms, Mammography Equipment, MRI Systems etc. http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=194845 http://www.researchmoz.us/australia-diagnostic-imaging-market-outlook-to-2020-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG http://healthcare-research-report.blogspot.in/ ResearchMoz added Latest Research Report titled " Australia Diagnostic Imaging Market Outlook to 2020 " to it's Large Report database."Australia Diagnostic Imaging Market Outlook to 2020", provides key market data on the Australia Diagnostic Imaging market. The report provides value, in millions of US dollars, and volume (in units) within market categories Angio Suites, Bone Densitometers, C-Arms, Computed Tomography Systems, Contrast Media Injectors, Mammography Equipment, MRI Systems, Nuclear Imaging Equipment, Ultrasound Systems and X-ray Systems.The report also provides company shares and distribution shares data for each of these market categories, and global corporate-level profiles of the key market participants, pipeline products, and news and deals related to the Diagnostic Imaging market wherever available.The data in the report is derived from dynamic market forecast models. GlobalData uses capital equipmentbased models to estimate and forecast the market size. The objective is to provide information that represents the most up-to-date data of the industry possible.Capital equipmentbased forecasting models are done based on the installed base, replacements and new sales of a specific device/equipment in healthcare facilities such as hospitals, clinics and diagnostic centers. Data for average number of units per facility is used to arrive at the installed base of the capital equipment. Sales for a particular year are arrived at by calculating the replacement units and new units (additional and first-time purchases).Request for Sample PDF of Premium Research Report with TOC:Extensive interviews are conducted with key opinion leaders (KOLs), physicians and industry experts to validate the market size, company share and distribution share data and analysis.ScopeMarket size for Diagnostic Imaging market categories Angio Suites, Bone Densitometers, C-Arms, Computed Tomography Systems, Contrast Media Injectors, Mammography Equipment, MRI Systems, Nuclear Imaging Equipment, Ultrasound Systems and X-ray Systems.Annualized market revenues (USD million) and volume (units) data for each of the market categories. Data is provided from 2005 to 2012 and forecast to 2020.2012 company shares and distribution shares data for the market category.Global corporate-level profiles of key companies operating within the Australia Diagnostic Imaging market.Key players covered include GE Healthcare, Philips Healthcare, Siemens Healthcare and Toshiba Medical Systems CorporationBrowse more details @Table of Content1Table of Contents2 Introduction 122.1 What Is This Report About? 122.2 Diagnostic Imaging Market Segmentation 122.3 Definitions of Markets Covered in the Report 143 Diagnostic Imaging Market, Australia 203.1 Diagnostic Imaging Market, Australia, Revenue ($m), 2005-2020 203.2 Diagnostic Imaging Market, Australia, Revenue Mix ($m), 2012 223.3 Diagnostic Imaging Market, Australia, Category Contribution by Revenue ($m), 2012 233.4 Diagnostic Imaging Market, Australia, Category Comparison by Revenue ($m), 2005-2020 253.5 Diagnostic Imaging Market, Australia, Revenue ($m), 2005-2012 273.6 Diagnostic Imaging Market, Australia, Revenue ($m), 2012-2020 293.7 Diagnostic Imaging Market, Australia, Volume (Units), 2005-2020 313.8 Diagnostic Imaging Market, Australia, Volume (Units), 2005-2012 333.9 Diagnostic Imaging Market, Australia, Volume (Units), 2012-2020 353.10 Diagnostic Imaging Market, Australia, Company Share by Revenue ($m), 2011-2012 374 Angio Suites Market, Australia 394.1 Angio Suites Market, Australia, Revenue ($m), 2005-2012 394.2 Angio Suites Market, Australia, Revenue ($m), 2012-2020 404.3 Angio Suites Market, Australia, Volume (Units), 2005-2012 414.4 Angio Suites Market, Australia, Volume (Units), 2012-2020 424.5 Angio Suites Market, Australia, Distribution Share, Revenue ($m), 2011-2012 434.6 Angio Suites Market, Australia, Company Share by Revenue ($m), 2011-2012 44About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the world's fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMoz's service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Contact Us:Mr. Nachiket Ghumare90 State Street, Albany NY, United States - 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074 / Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at:Follow me on Blogger at: Global Coffee Market: Trends and Opportunities 2016-2020, Featuring The J.M. Smucker Company, Mondelez International Inc. and Strauss Group http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=703135 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-coffee-market-trends-and-opportunities-2016-2020-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG http://deep-research-report.blogspot.com/ ResearchMoz added Latest Research Report titled " Global Coffee Market: Trends and Opportunities (2016-2020) " to it's Large Report database.Scope of the ReportThe report titled Global Coffee Market: Trends & Opportunities (2016-2020) provides an in-depth analysis of the global coffee market with detailed analysis of market sizing and growth, market share and economic impact of the industry. The report also provides the production and consumption analysis of the market. The report provides detailed market analysis of the global retail coffee market by value and volume along with the segments of the market.The report provides detailed regional analysis of Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, Asia Pacific, Latin America Middle East & Africa and Australasia for the coffee market. Regional analysis includes market sizing by value along with the production and consumption analysis. It also provides the retail sales value of each region.The report also includes the country analysis of Brazil, Vietnam, Indonesia, Ethiopia and India. It provides the production and consumption analysis along with the export-import trends in each of the above mentioned countries.Request for Sample PDF of Premium Research Report with TOC:Furthermore, the report assesses the key opportunities in the market and outlines the factors that are and will be driving the growth of the industry. Growth of the global retail coffee market has also been forecasted for the period 2016-2020, taking into consideration the previous growth patterns, the growth drivers and the current and future trends. The competition in global coffee market is stiff and dominated by the big players like Nestle. Further, key players of the coffee market The J.M. Smucker Company, Mondelez International Inc. and Strauss Group Ltd. are also profiled with their financial information and respective business strategies.Regional CoverageWestern EuropeEastern EuropeNorth AmericaAsia PacificLatin AmericaMiddle East and AfricaAustralasiaBrowse more details @Table of Content1. Executive Summary2. Introduction2.1 Classification of Coffee2.1.1 Classification of Coffee on the Basis of Types2.1.2 Classification of Coffee on the Basis of End-Product2.2 Coffee around the Word2.2.1 North America & Caribbean2.2.2 Central America2.2.3 South America2.2.4 East Africa2.2.5 West Africa2.2.6 The Arabian Peninsula2.2.7 Asia3. Global Coffee Market: An Analysis3.1 Global Coffee Market Growth by Volume3.2 Global Retail Coffee Market: Sizing and Growth3.2.1 Global Retail Coffee Market by Value: Actual and Forecast3.2.2 Global Retail Coffee Market by Volume: Actual and Forecast3.2.3 Global Retail Coffee Market by Segments3.3 Global Coffee Production Analysis3.3.1 Global Coffee Production by Volume: Actual and Forecast3.3.2 Global Coffee Production by TypesAbout ResearchMozResearchMoz is the world's fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMoz's service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Contact Us:Mr. Nachiket Ghumare90 State Street, Albany NY, United States - 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074 / Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn at:Follow me on Blogger at: Coffee Market Share, Outlook & Competitive Landscape (2017-2024) https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1898 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1898 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/curcumin-market https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/organic-ice-cream-market https://www.gminsights.com https://gminsights.wordpress.com Coffee Market size will witness a dynamic gain over the projected time period owing to growing in cafe culture among young generation along with increase in disposable income, urbanization, white collar demographic and food service outlets. Changing working culture in corporate world and improving standards of living will drive the product demand.The companies are revamping their service strategies with emergence of contemporary brands to increase customer satisfaction and gain loyalty. The demand for organic type has increased with awareness regarding its health benefits that is expected to propel product demand in forecast period. There has been launch of different varieties and various tastes including CCD, Barista and Starbucks that has given customers an enriching experience.Coffee is obtained from beans that are seeds of berries from its plant. Berries after getting ripe are processed, dried and roasted as per the desired flavour. It provides a stimulating effect due to presence of caffeine and is one of the most popular beverages. The major producers are Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, Indonesia and Ethiopia. Consumer preference has shifted from standard towards organic product as these are free from chemicals and pesticides.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @Lack of government support, aging trees, land clearing, climate change, increasing production costs are major restraining factors of the industry trend. In recent times, Brazil has faced political crisis that has affected product as they are largest producer. Its tree consumes around 140 litres to produce one cup of coffee and growing water shortage. Tea segment in beverage industry has witnessed growth and providing stiff competition. Health issues including nausea, insomnia, anxiety, nervousness and agitation can hamper its growth.It is one of the most traded commodities and has significant share in agricultural export segment. These are most sought after commodity after crude oil in the world and have witnessed decent growth in restaurant business. The commodity chain includes producers, exporters, importers, roasters, retailers and consumers.Make an inquiry for buying this report @Roasters have significant profit margin in commodity chain. The trade relationship between producer and importer has improved with fair trade policy launched by World Fair Trade Organization as it excludes middlemen.Based on product, coffee market is classified into arabica and robusta. Arabica is superior in flavour and considered as champagne of coffee. Robusta has higher caffeine but is bitter and has less flavour. Arabica is costlier than robusta, sensitive to hot & humid climate and require high altitudes for cultivation. Hence for preparation of end products these are blended as per the consumer requirement.On the basis of distribution coffee market, it is segmented into hyper and super market, convenience store, specialist retailers and independent retailers. Supermarket has substantial share as urban and semi urban population prefer these owing to ease in availability of product. Convenience and specialist retailers have moderate share and witnessing substantial growth with increase in local demand.Based on end use, global coffee market is segmented into roasted, soluble, ready to drink and speciality. Roasted and ground has significant share owing to growth of local roasters. It provides opportunity for consumers to blend as per their requirement. These can be further classified into american roast, french roast, italian roast, european roast, viennese roast.Latin America has significant share owing to presence of Brazil that is largest producer of coffee. Further, Mexico has grown in instant coffee market. It has become the powerhouse of coffee production.Asia Pacific has potential market share with presence of Vietnam as it is second largest producer. Further, increase in population, urbanization and influence from western culture will facilitate the product demand in this region. Europe has decent share with the presence of substantial number of prominent players including Cafedirect, Caffe Nero and Barcaffe. Additionally, it has major share in green coffee market.The key players of coffee market are Eight O Clock, J.M. Smucker, AMT, Lavazza, Dulce Cafe, Keurig Green Mountain, Tchibo, Trung Nguyen, Kraft Heinz and Starbucks to name a few. Companies are strengthening their distribution channels and launching new flavours to increase their market share. In July 2016, Starbucks has invested in Italian bakery to offer premium products.Browse Related Reports:Curcumin Market Size By Application (Food, Pharmaceutical, Cosmetics), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, Russia, Vietnam, China, India, Japan, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, South Korea, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, South Africa, UAE, Saudi Arabia), Growth Potential, Price Trend, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016 2024Organic Ice Cream Market Size By Product (Artisanal, Impulse, Take Home), By Ingredient (Whole Milk, Skimmed Milk, Cream, Sweetening & Flavoring Agent), By Flavor (Vanilla, Chocolate, Butter Pecan, Strawberry, Coffee, Black Raspberry, Mint Chocolate Chip), By Distribution Channel (On Trade, Hypermarket & Supermarket, Food & Drink Specialists, Convenience Stores), By Packaging (Paper & Board, Rigid Plastics, Flexible Packaging), Industry Outlook Report, Regional Analysis, Application Development Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2017 2024About Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog: Reinsurance in Cyprus 2017 Market Challenge, Driver, Trends & Forecast to 2020 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1762576-reinsurance-in-cyprus-key-trends-and-opportunities-to-2020 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/1762576-reinsurance-in-cyprus-key-trends-and-opportunities-to-2020 www.linkedin.com/company/4828928 https://twitter.com/WiseGuyReports https://www.facebook.com/Wiseguyreports-1009007869213183/?fref=ts Pune, India, 16th August 2017: WiseGuyReports announced addition of new report, titled Reinsurance in Cyprus, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020.Synopsis'Reinsurance in Cyprus, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides a detailed analysis of the trends, drivers and challenges in the Cypriot reinsurance segment. It provides values for key performance indicators such as written premium, reinsurance ceded and reinsurance accepted during the review (20112015) and forecast periods (20152020).The report also analyses information pertaining to the competitive landscape in the country, gives a comprehensive overview of the Cypriot economy and demographics, and provides a detailed analysis of natural hazards and their impact on the Cypriot insurance industry.GET SAMPLE REPORT @The report brings together research, modeling and analysis expertise to enable reinsurers to identify segment dynamics and competitive advantages, and access profiles of reinsurers operating in the country.Summary'Reinsurance in Cyprus, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides in-depth market analysis, information and insights into the Cypriot reinsurance segment, including: The segments growth prospects by reinsurance ceded from direct insurance A comprehensive overview of the Cypriot economy and demographics Detailed analysis of natural hazards and their impact on the Cypriot insurance industry The competitive landscape in the segmentScopeThis report provides a comprehensive analysis of the reinsurance segment in Cyprus: It provides historical values for the segment for the reports 20112015 review period, and projected figures for the 20152020 forecast period. It offers a detailed analysis of the key categories in the segment, and market forecasts to 2020. It provides a detailed analysis of the reinsurance ceded from various direct insurance segments in Cyprus, and the reinsurance segment's growth prospects.Reasons to Buy Make strategic business decisions using in-depth historic and forecast market data related to the Cypriot reinsurance segment, and each category within it. Understand the demand-side dynamics, key market trends and growth opportunities in the segment. Identify growth opportunities and market dynamics in key product categories. Gain insights into key regulations governing the Cypriot insurance industry, and their impact on companies and the industry's future.Key Highlights Solvency II came into force in Cyprus on January 1, 2016. It is based on three pillars: risk-based quantitative requirements; governance and supervision; and disclosure and transparency. In April 2015, the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) issued guidelines on the application of outwards reinsurance arrangements to the non-life catastrophe risk sub-module.Table of Content: Key Points1 Key Facts and Highlights2 Executive Summary3 Economy and Demographics4 Reinsurance outlook4.1 Reinsurance Segment Size, 201120204.1.1 Total reinsurance premium accepted4.2 Reinsurance Segment Size by Premium Ceded, 201120205 Competitive Landscape5.1 Company Profiles5.1.1 Trust International Insurance Co. (Cyprus) Ltd company overview5.1.2 R&Q Cyprus Ltd company overview5.1.3 Grawe Reinsurance Ltd company overview5.1.4 GasanMamo Insurance Ltd company overview5.1.5 Allianz Pojistovna AS company overview6 Natural and Man-Made Hazards6.1 Extreme Temperature6.2 Drought6.3 Storms6.4 Coastal Floods6.5 Earthquakes6.6 Wildfires6.7 Exposure7 Definition and Methodology7.1 Definitions7.2 MethodologyContinuedACCESS REPORT @Get in touch:LinkedIn:Twitter:Facebook:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.WISEGUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, India Innovative Change : Global Cardiac Septal Occluder Market Research Report 2017 - Gore Medical, Vascular Concepts Ltd, Cardia, Abbott & Comed BV http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=1268048 http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=1268048 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-cardiac-septal-occluder-market-research-report-2017-report.html http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG https://marketinfo247.wordpress.com/ Albany, New York, August 16, 2017 : Recent research and the current scenario as well as future market potential of " Shares of Cardiac Septal Occluder Market in Global Industry : Trends, Analysis, Growth and Status 2017 " globally.In this report, the Cardiac Septal Occluder market is valued and is expected to grow day by day at the end of 2022 .Geographically, this report is segmented into several key Regions, with production, consumption, revenue (million USD), market share and growth rate of Cardiac Septal Occluder in these regions, from 2012 to 2022 (forecast), coveringNorth AmericaEuropeChinaJapanSoutheast AsiaIndiaGet PDF for more Professional and Technical insights @Global Cardiac Septal Occluder market competition by top manufacturers, with production, price, revenue (value) and market share for each manufacturer; the top players includingSt. Jude MedicalGore MedicalVascular Concepts LtdCardiaAbbottComed BVBiodevicesLepu MedicalMedicare UnitechOn the basis of product, this report displays the production, revenue, price, market share and growth rate of each type, primarily split intoAtrial Septal Defect Occluderventricular Septal Defect OccluderPatent Ductus Arteriosus OccluderOn the basis on the end users/applications, this report focuses on the status and outlook for major applications/end users, consumption (sales), market share and growth rate of Cardiac Septal Occluder for each application, includingHospitalMedical CenterTable of Contents1 Cardiac Septal Occluder Market Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of Cardiac Septal Occluder1.2 Cardiac Septal Occluder Segment by Type (Product Category)1.2.1 Global Cardiac Septal Occluder Production and CAGR (%) Comparison by Type (Product Category)(2012-2022)1.2.2 Global Cardiac Septal Occluder Production Market Share by Type (Product Category) in 20161.2.3 Atrial Septal Defect Occluder1.2.4 ventricular Septal Defect Occluder1.2.5 Patent Ductus Arteriosus Occluder1.3 Global Cardiac Septal Occluder Segment by Application1.3.1 Cardiac Septal Occluder Consumption (Sales) Comparison by Application (2012-2022)1.3.2 Hospital1.3.3 Medical Center1.4 Global Cardiac Septal Occluder Market by Region (2012-2022)1.4.1 Global Cardiac Septal Occluder Market Size (Value) and CAGR (%) Comparison by Region (2012-2022)1.4.2 North America Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.3 Europe Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.4 China Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.5 Japan Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.6 Southeast Asia Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.4.7 India Status and Prospect (2012-2022)1.5 Global Market Size (Value) of Cardiac Septal Occluder (2012-2022)1.5.1 Global Cardiac Septal Occluder Revenue Status and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5.2 Global Cardiac Septal Occluder Capacity, Production Status and Outlook (2012-2022)Make an Enquiry about TOC @2 Global Cardiac Septal Occluder Market Competition by Manufacturers2.1 Global Cardiac Septal Occluder Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.1 Global Cardiac Septal Occluder Capacity and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Global Cardiac Septal Occluder Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2 Global Cardiac Septal Occluder Revenue and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.3 Global Cardiac Septal Occluder Average Price by Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.4 Manufacturers Cardiac Septal Occluder Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area and Product Type2.5 Cardiac Septal Occluder Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.5.1 Cardiac Septal Occluder Market Concentration Rate2.5.2 Cardiac Septal Occluder Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Manufacturers2.5.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, ExpansionBrowse Report @3 Global Cardiac Septal Occluder Capacity, Production, Revenue (Value) by Region (2012-2017)3.1 Global Cardiac Septal Occluder Capacity and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.2 Global Cardiac Septal Occluder Production and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.3 Global Cardiac Septal Occluder Revenue (Value) and Market Share by Region (2012-2017)3.4 Global Cardiac Septal Occluder Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.5 North America Cardiac Septal Occluder Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.6 Europe Cardiac Septal Occluder Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.7 China Cardiac Septal Occluder Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.8 Japan Cardiac Septal Occluder Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.9 Southeast Asia Cardiac Septal Occluder Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)3.10 India Cardiac Septal Occluder Capacity, Production, Revenue, Price and Gross Margin (2012-2017)ResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.ResearchMozMr. Nachiket Ghumare,90 State Street, Albany NY, United States - 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074USA-Canada Toll Free: 866-997-4948Email: sales@researchmoz.usFollow us on LinkedIn @Follow me on : Global Telecoms - Industry Transformation with M2M, Cloud Computing, Big Data, Wi-Fi and New Spectrum https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/171601/global-telecoms-industry-transformation-with-m2m-cloud-computing-big-data-wi-fi-and-new-spectrum-market-research-reports.pdf https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/171601 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/171601 Exciting developments for increasingly vital telecoms industryBrowse Full Report :There is no doubt that the next ten years will bring further exiting developments to the increasingly vital telecommunications industry. The foundations for change are already well in motion and the continuing deployment of high-speed broadband and 4G technology will provide the infrastructure to ignite the new innovations and revolutions of the future.There are a number of key trends which have emerged in recent years and will be real-game changers. Machine-to-Machine (M2M) also referred to as Internet of Things; is one such trend and it will transform every single sector of society and the economy. It will be out of this environment that new businesses and indeed new industries will be born.The large amounts of data generated by M2M developments as well as the increase in user generated communications via social networks and the like will also contribute to towards Big Data progress. Organisations are beginning to recognise the importance of storing and processing the growing amount of data they retain and also mining this data for commercial benefit. In turn, this is leading to a growth in data centres, due to the increasing data storage demands and pressure on companies to appear environmentally pro-active by consolidating and outsourcing their data management requirements.Get The Sample Copy Of This report :Cloud computing deployment and development is gaining momentum around the world as the true potential of this technology reveals itself. It has become one of the fastest growing areas for the IT sector and cloud computing solutions are being adopted by enterprises; government and consumers alike. BuddeComms general opinion in regards to Cloud Computing is that we acknowledge the enormous economic advantages that cloud computing has to offer - but at the same time recognise that there is a risk of losing control over data and IT systems.In 2013 it is increasingly clear that Wi-Fi will play a key role in the telecoms environment of the future. The use of Wi-Fi hotspots continues to rise due to increasing popularity from smart phone and mobile device users. The status of Wi-Fi technology is continuing to improve; creating a whole new range of opportunities in the Wi-Fi market. Smartphone users want faster, more ubiquitous and reliable connectivity, while operators are looking to squeeze every last bit of capacity out of their cellular networks. As a result, smarter Wi-Fi is needed so that it can take on a more strategic role as part of the overall mobile network infrastructure. Ultimately users simply want the fastest and most reliable wireless connection they can get.More spectrum is required too if we want to make the most of all the new opportunities that mobile and wireless broadband technology have to offer our society and our economy. With the voice market saturated, the telcos attention is focused on mobile broadband which requires additional spectrum. Governments around the world are beginning to view the sale of spectrum as a viable revenue raising opportunity in a fragile economy. In 2013 there is increased interest in the re-use of white spaces. It is important to remember that spectrum is nothing more than infrastructure and, as we have seen in the fixed network, if infrastructure becomes monopolised some serious issues arise regarding the use of it.Send An Enquiry :BuddeComms new report, Global Telecoms Industry Transformation with M2M, Cloud Computing, Big Data, Wi-Fi and New Spectrum, provides important insights into the wider telecoms industry and the key trends which will play an important role in the future. This unique report also includes the key global statistics for the core sectors which make up this diverse industry, including broadband, mobile broadband, Internet use, mobile communications and overall telecoms revenue; CAPEX and leading players. The report then explores some of the hot topics for the industry in 2013 and beyond, including the key role of WiFi, the changing landscape for data centres, Cloud Computing developments, M2M and Big Data trends and the issues surrounding Spectrum and White Spaces.Examples of key insights:The global telecoms market as a whole now boasts some impressive figures.Fixed Internet users continue to grow with around 2.7 billion.There are around 1.6 billion mobile broadband subscribers worldwide today, far more than the number of fixed broadband subscribers. Asia has the most mobile broadband connections.The global market share of consumers using smart phones sits at around 18-19%, the equivalent of around 1.3 billion users.Carriers are looking towards a future of mobile broadband services which will require increased capacity and LTE deployment and spectrum allocation is the key to positioning in these new markets.Spectrum management needs to include the role that Wi-Fi and other unlicensed technologies will have to play, as well as the role of optical fibre networks for the core and backhaul from the towers in the overall plan.Cloud computing was one of the key developments to emerge in the last couple of years. However cloud security and privacy are ongoing issues which require scrutiny and there are growing concerns about data ownership. If these concerns can be overcome, along with the right standardisations and infrastructure put in place - then we will really see this industry thrive.The reason M2M will be so important is that it is needed to more effectively address the many societal and economic problems that people are facing the environment, energy supply, traffic and people movement, healthcare and so on.In 2013 there is a growing awareness of the ongoing maintenance and energy costs to operate data centres.MRRbiz supports your business intelligence needs with over 700,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. Our document database is updated by the hour, which means that you always have access to fresh data spanning over 300 industries and their sub-segments.State Tower90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948(USA-Canada)Tel: +1-518-621-2074E: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Sutures Market by Types, Applications, Regions and etc 2024 Global Sutures Market Industry Trends and Forecast to 2024 http://databridgemarketresearch.com/toc/?dbmr=global-sutures-market http://databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-sutures-market/ http://databridgemarketresearch.com/request-a-sample/?dbmr=global-sutures-market http://databridgemarketresearch.com/inquire-before-buying/?dbmr=global-sutures-market http://databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-hemostats-market/ http://databridgemarketresearch.com/blog/ Global Sutures Market, By Product Type (Absorbable Sutures (Natural, Synthetic (Polyglactin 910 Sutures, Poliglecaprone 25 Sutures, Polydioxanone Sutures, Polyglycolic Acid Sutures, and Others), Non-Absorbable Sutures (Nylon, Polypropylene, Polyster, Silk), Automated Sutures (Disposable Automated Suturing Devices, Reusable Automated Suturing Devices)), By Application (Cardiovascular Surgeries, General Surgeries, Gynecological Surgeries, Orthopedic Surgeries, Ophthalmic Surgeries, Others), By End User (Hospitals, Clinics, Ambulatory Centers), By Geography (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Europe, South America, Middle East and Africa) Industry Trends and Forecast to 2024The sutures market accounted to USD 3.8 billion in 2016 growing at a CAGR of 5.3% during the forecast period of 2017 to 2024. The upcoming market report contains data for historic years 2015, the base year of calculation is 2016 and the forecast period is 2017 to 2024.Request for TOC@Sutures Market Market Segmentation:By product type the market for sutures market is segmented into absorbable sutures, non-absorbable sutures and automated sutures. The absorbable sutures segment is further sub-segmented into natural and synthetic and synthetic segment is sub-segmented into polyglactin 910 sutures, poliglecaprone 25 sutures, polydioxanone sutures, polyglycolic acid sutures, and others. The Non-absorbable sutures segment is sub-segmented into nylon, polypropylene, polyster, silk and automated suture segment is sub-segmented into disposable automated suturing devices, reusable automated suturing devices.On the basis of application the market is segmented into cardiovascular surgeries, general surgeries, gynecological surgeries, orthopedic surgeries, ophthalmic surgeries, others.On the basis of end-users the sutures market is segmented into hospitals, clinics, ambulatory centers.Browse Full Report with Details TOC @Based on geography, the market is segmented into five geographical regions:North AmericaEuropeAsia-PacificSouth AmericaMiddle East and AfricaThe geographical regions are further segmented into 29 major countries such as U.S. Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, U.K., Belgium, Switzerland, Belgium, Turkey, Japan, China, Singapore, Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa and others.Request For Sample:Some of the major players operating in this market areEthicon Inc.Braun Melsungen AMedtronic PLCSmith & NephewBoston Scientific CorporationPeters SurgicalDemetech CorporationInternacional Farmaceutica S.A. De C.V.Sutures India Pvt Ltd.Endoevolution LLCApollo Endosurgery IncSurgical Specialties CorporationMellon Medical B.V3MDemetech CorporationL. Gore & Associates, Inc.Inquiry before Buying @Related ReportGlobal Hemostats Market- Trends and Forecast to 2024Global Hemostats Market, By Product Type (Thrombin Based, Combination, Oxidized Regenerated Cellulose Based, Gelatin Based, Collagen Based Hemostat), By Indication (Wound Closure, Surgery), By End-User (Hospitals, Clinics, Ambulatory Centers, Community Healthcare, Others), By Geography (North America, South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Africa) Trends and Forecast to 2024About Data Bridge Market Research:Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Contact:Ankit SinghData Bridge Market ResearchTel: +1-888-387-2818Email: Sales@databridgemarketresearch.comInvestor: investors@databridgemarketresearch.comVisit BlogData Bridge is an organization lead by well versed forecasters, analysts and researchers who indulge in detailed and diligent research on different markets, trends and emerging opportunities in the successive direction to cater to your business needs. Data Bridge aims to make your organization well acquainted with profound knowledge of the global and local market statistics.Office Number 317,Amanora Chambers,Magarpatta Road, HadapsarPune 411028Maharashtra, India Crohns Disease Market Key Players analysis - Johnson & Johnson Services,Allergan, Inc,AbbVie Inc., UCB S.A,Perrigo Company plc. https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/sample_request/2344 https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/crohns-disease-market Market Synopsis of Global Crohns disease Market:Market Scenario:Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that affects any part of the gastrointestinal tract from mouth to anus. Increasing demand for biologics for treating or preventing bowel disorders such as ulcerative collates and crohn's disease is driving the overall growth of the crohn's disease market. High cost of treatment is the major factor that is restricting the market growth.Key Players of Global Crohns Disease Market: Allergan, Inc., AbbVie Inc., Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Bayer AG, UCB S.A., Perrigo Company plc, Pfizer Inc., Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc., Ferring B.V.Request a Sample Copy @Segments:Global Crohns Disease Market is segmentedSegmentation on the basis of procedures and drug type. Based on procedures, the market is segmented into colonoscopy, flexible sigmoidoscopy, computerized tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), capsule endoscopy, double-balloon endoscopy and small bowel imaging.Segmentation on the basis of drug type the market is classified into antibiotics, anti-diarrheal, immune system suppressors, pain relievers, and anti-inflammatory drugs.Taste the market data and market information presented through more than 50 market data tables and figures spread in 110 numbers of pages of the project report. Avail the in-depth table of content TOC & market synopsis on Global Crohns Disease Market Research Report - Forecast to 2022Intended Audience Global Crohns disease diagnostic device and drug manufacturers & suppliers Contract research organizations (CROs) Research and development (R&D) companies Government research laboratories Independent research laboratories Government and independent regulatory authorities Market research and consulting service providers Academic institutes and universitiesAccess Report Details @Table of Content1 Introduction1.1 Definition1.2 Scope Of Study1.2.1 Research Objective1.2.2 Assumptions & Limitations1.2.2.1 Assumptions1.2.2.2 Limitations1.3 Market Structure:2 Research Methodology2.1 Research Process:2.2 Primary Research2.3 Secondary Research3 Market Dynamics3.1 Drivers3.2 Restraints3.3 Opportunities3.4 Macroeconomic Indicators4 Market Factor Analysis4.1 Porters Five Forces Model4.2 Bargaining Power Of Suppliers4.3 Bargaining Power Of Buyers4.4 Threat Of New Entrants4.5 Threat Of Substitutes4.6 Intensity Of Rivalry5 Global Crohns Disease Market, By ProceduresContinue..List Of TablesTable 1 Global Crohns Disease Market, By Procedure, 2013-2022 (Usd Million)Table 2 Global Crohns Disease Market, By Drug Type, 2013-2022 (Usd Million)Table 3 Global Crohns Disease Market By Region 2013-2022 (Usd Million)Continue..List Of FiguresFigure 1 Research ProcessFigure 2 Porters Five Forces ModelFigure 3 Global Crohns Disease Market, By ProcedureFigure 4 Global Crohns Disease Market, By Drug TypeFigure 5 Global Crohns Disease Market, By RegionFigure 6 Global Crohns Disease Market: Company Share Analysis, 2015 (%)ContinueAbout Market Research Future:At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. Our market research studies by products, services, technologies, applications, end users, and market players for global, regional, and country level market segments, enable our clients to see more, know more, and do more, which help to answer all their most important questions.Contact:Akash Anand,Market Research FutureOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, Hadapsar,Pune - 411028Maharashtra, India+1 646 845 9312Email: akash.anand@marketresearchfuture.com Canopus outdo with another Google Digital Maps API utilization in the Mobile app solutions http://canopusinfosystems.com/mobile-development/ http://canopusinfosystems.com/ Canopus Infosystems come up with the applications based on GIS mapping and Google Map APIs with more transparency and certainty of the Mapping solutions. Canopus expert in developing full fledged applications for the smartphones integrated with the Google Maps and GIS mapping platforms to serve the users in the productive and profitable way to utilize the maps to meet their needs.Canopus Infosystems, an Indian company is one of the leading names in the mobile application and web development industry. They aim to create well-designed, interactive and dominant applications for businesses of any size globally. They are masters in providing data analytic consultation and give the best marketing technique to grow businesses from last more than six years.Read More:GIS Mapping and Google Maps has transformed the way to discover and enhance user mapping experience. Mapping based solution for the smartphones and the web include GIS mapping, Transport and Route planning, Telecom and Urban planning, Pre-Determined disaster management and planning, Surveying, Weather planning and forecasting and endless solutions are based on the Digital Maps. Canopus avails you with all the Google Map APIs integration to your apps in every manner to have a best out of to your solution to stand alone in the market.Canopus allows its users to experience the transparency of the maps integrated into the smartphone and web applications with the certainty and the optimize routes and also allows one to have a visual view of the data in the mapped way. Google Maps are the great cartographers to get mapping solutions as needed. The maps used are Google Maps and MapBox APIs with the OpenStreet Maps which are reliable to be integrated into the applications and Webservices as they are economical and most of them are free to use. These APIs are easily customizable according to one's need, accurate in results, various associated services for different business cases along with the Navigation and off site services.Canopus Infosystems is a specialist in providing services in the emerging technologies and focused on (Social, Mobility, Analytics, Cloud) stack. To know more about their services and extensive work they did globally visit their websiteor call +91 731-2551963, for any queries you can drop an e-mail at sales@canopusinfosystems.comCanopus Infosystems Pvt. Ltd. is an ISO 9001:2008 Certified Company that specializes in providing outsourced web & mobile development and testing services to clients worldwide. Canopus Infosystems Pvt. Ltd. provides the cross-platform for mobile development, web development and also provides end to end cloud solution.303-304, Airen Heights, PU 3Scheme 54, A. B. Road, Opp. OrbitMall,Indore M.P.INDIA 452010Phone: +91 731-2551963Email: sales@canopusinfosystems.com Global Solar Encapsulation Materials Market 2017 & Its Including Areas- Sveck, STR, MITSUI, Bridgestone http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1146684&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/global-solar-encapsulation-materials-market-report-2017.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=1146684&type=D http://www.qyresearchreports.com Qyresearchreports include new market research report Global Solar Encapsulation Materials Market Report 2017 to its huge collection of research reports.The report on the global Solar Encapsulation Materials market is collated by expert analysts, who have put down their experience in market researching skills to maximum use for the benefit of those wishing to invest in this market. The market for Solar Encapsulation Materials is very competitive and in order to stay ahead of rivals, it is essential to know which region will be most lucrative to invest in as well as which application domain will emerge most promising within the global Solar Encapsulation Materials market. The report aims for this, and does so, by making use of various charts, tables, graphs, and statistics, which helps in clearly presenting the data for novice readers. The report is useful not only to new entrants hoping to invest and make profits in the attractive Solar Encapsulation Materials market but also for those well established players who have been in the field from many years. The report identifies the various challenges which need to be tackled to make progress in the market as well as the various factors which will aid the growth of this market.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @An attractive feature of this report is the inclusion of the competitive landscape of top players. This comprises the strategies adopted by leading players to stay ahead of all competition. It also includes the expansion strategies adopted by players, such as information on their well thought and strategic collaborations, mergers, partnerships, and acquisitions. The recent developments by leading companies have also been included in the report, giving an idea to readers as to what is the latest development by players in the market.Table of Contents1 Solar Encapsulation Materials Market Overview11.1 Product Overview and Scope of Solar Encapsulation Materials11.2 Solar Encapsulation Materials Segment by Types (Product Category)21.2.1 Global Solar Encapsulation Materials Production (M Sq.m) and Growth Rate (%) Comparison by Types (2012-2017)31.2.2 Global Solar Encapsulation Materials Production Market Share (%) by Types in 201641.3 Global Solar Encapsulation Materials Segment by Applications51.4 Global Solar Encapsulation Materials Market by Regions (2012-2023)61.4.1 Global Solar Encapsulation Materials Market Size and Growth Rate (%) Comparison by Regions (2012-2023)61.4.2 United States Solar Encapsulation Materials Status and Prospect (2012-2023)71.4.3 China Solar Encapsulation Materials Status and Prospect (2012-2023)8Browse Complete Report with TOC @2 Global Solar Encapsulation Materials Market Competition by Manufacturers132.1 Global Solar Encapsulation Materials Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers (2012-2017)132.1.1 Global Solar Encapsulation Materials Capacity (M Sq.m) and Share (%) by Manufacturers (2012-2017)132.1.2 Global Solar Encapsulation Materials Production (M Sq.m) and Share (%) by Manufacturers (2012-2017)172.2 Global Solar Encapsulation Materials Revenue (Million USD) and Share (%) by Manufacturers (2012-2017)202.3 Global Solar Encapsulation Materials Average Price (USD/K Sq.m) by Manufacturers (2012-2017)232.4 Manufacturers Solar Encapsulation Materials Manufacturing Base Distribution and Sales Area252.5 Solar Encapsulation Materials Market Competitive Situation and Trends26Please click the link to avail discount on this report @3 Global Solar Encapsulation Materials Production by Regions (2012-2017)293.1 Global Solar Encapsulation Materials Capacity (M Sq.m) and Market Share (%) by Regions (2012-2017)293.2 Global Solar Encapsulation Materials Production (M Sq.m) and Market Share (%) by Regions (2012-2017)313.3 Global Solar Encapsulation Materials Revenue and Market Share (%) by Regions (2012-2017)333.4 Global Solar Encapsulation Materials Capacity, Production (M Sq.m), Revenue (Million USD), Price (USD/K Sq.m) and Gross Margin (%) (2012-2017)353.5 United States Solar Encapsulation Materials Production (2012-2017)36List of Tables and FiguresFigure Product Picture of Solar Encapsulation Materials1Table Classification of Solar Encapsulation Materials2Figure Solar Encapsulation Materials Structures2Table Performance Comparison of Different Solar Encapsulation Materials3Table Global Solar Encapsulation Materials Production (M Sq.m) and Growth Rate (%) Comparison by Types (2012-2017)3Figure Global Solar Encapsulation Materials Production Market Share (%) by Types in 20164Figure Photovoltaic Module Structure5QYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United StatesToll Free: 866-997-4948 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Web:Email: sales@qyresearchreports.com United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Heterogeneous Networks Market Size, Status and Forecast 2021 Market Research Reports http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=901556&type=E http://www.qyresearchreports.com/report/united-states-eu-japan-china-india-and-southeast-asia-heterogeneous-networks-market-size-status-and-forecast-2021.htm http://www.qyresearchreports.com/sample/sample.php?rep_id=901556&type=D Qyresearchreports include new market research report "United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Heterogeneous Networks Market Size, Status and Forecast 2021" to its huge collection of research reports.On the basis of the current and historical performance of the United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia Heterogeneous Networks market, this research report presents a detailed and unbiased analysis of this market to the readers. Using a number of parameters, such as the production volume, pricing of the products, sales dynamics, and the revenues, it attempts to provide a deep insight into this market.At the beginning, the research report presents the essential information about this market, starting from the definition of Heterogeneous Networks to application. The specification, classification, and industry chain structure of this market have been thoroughly explained here. The regional overview of this market, together with the development trends and an analysis of the policies and regulations implemented in each of the regions, has also been talked about in this market study.This report studies the global Heterogeneous Networks market, analyzes and researches the Heterogeneous Networks development status and forecast in United States, EU, Japan, China, India and Southeast Asia. This report focuses on the top players in global market, likeSamsungNokia NetworksQualcommEricssonAirhop Communications, Inc.Alcatel-LucentTexas InstrumentsNec CorporationRuckus WirelessIP AccessCeragon NetworksTE ConnectivityCommscopeGet Research Summary Of The Repot:Further, the research study focuses on the leading vendors of Heterogeneous Networks across the world. It provides a precise information on the capacity of every production plant, such as the commencement date of commercial production of Heterogeneous Networks, and also discussed the R&D status and the technology and raw material sources of every vendor.Researchers have considered the geographical segments, technologies, and applications of Heterogeneous Networks as the main parameters for the study of the sales of Heterogeneous Networks in this research report. The performance of each of the regional markets has been assessed on their production capacity and the profit margins. The dynamics of demand and supply, export, and import have also been identified as the main factors that impact the sales of Heterogeneous Networks in each of the regional markets in this report.To Browse a Full Report with TOC:Table of Contents1 Industry Overview of Heterogeneous Networks1.1 Heterogeneous Networks Market Overview1.1.1 Heterogeneous Networks Product Scope1.1.2 Market Status and Outlook1.2 Global Heterogeneous Networks Market Size and Analysis by Regions1.3 Heterogeneous Networks Market by Type1.4 Heterogeneous Networks Market by End Users/Application2 Global Heterogeneous Networks Competition Analysis by Players2.1 Heterogeneous Networks Market Size (Value) by Players (2015-2016)2.2 Competitive Status and Trend2.2.1 Market Concentration Rate2.2.2 Product/Service Differences2.2.3 New Entrants2.2.4 The Technology Trends in Future3 Company (Top Players) Profiles3.1 Samsung3.1.1 Company Profile3.1.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.1.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.1.4 Heterogeneous Networks Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.1.5 Recent Developments3.2 Nokia Networks3.2.1 Company Profile3.2.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.2.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.2.4 Heterogeneous Networks Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.2.5 Recent Developments3.3 Qualcomm3.3.1 Company Profile3.3.2 Main Business/Business Overview3.3.3 Products, Services and Solutions3.3.4 Heterogeneous Networks Revenue (Value) (2011-2016)3.3.5 Recent DevelopmentsCheck Discount @List of Tables and FiguresFigure Heterogeneous Networks Product ScopeFigure Global Heterogeneous Networks Market Size (2011-2016)Table Global Heterogeneous Networks Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure United States Heterogeneous Networks Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure EU Heterogeneous Networks Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure Japan Heterogeneous Networks Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure China Heterogeneous Networks Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure India Heterogeneous Networks Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)Figure Southeast Asia Heterogeneous Networks Market Size and Growth Rate by Regions (2011-2016)QYReseachReports.com delivers the latest strategic market intelligence to build a successful business footprint in China. Our syndicated and customized research reports provide companies with vital background information of the market and in-depth analysis on the Chinese trade and investment framework, which directly affects their business operations. Reports from QYReseachReports.com feature valuable recommendations on how to navigate in the extremely unpredictable yet highly attractive Chinese market.1820 AvenueM Suite #1047Brooklyn, NY 11230United States Construction in Nigeria Market Research Report 2017 Analysis and Forecast to 2021 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1762621-leisure-hospitality-buildings-construction-in-nigeria-market-analytics-by-category-cost https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/1762621-leisure-hospitality-buildings-construction-in-nigeria-market-analytics-by-category-cost www.linkedin.com/company/4828928 https://twitter.com/WiseGuyReports https://www.facebook.com/Wiseguyreports-1009007869213183/?fref=ts Pune, India, 16th August 2017: WiseGuyReports announced addition of new report, titled Leisure & Hospitality Buildings (Construction) in Nigeria: Market Analytics by Category & Cost Type to 2021.Synopsis"Leisure & Hospitality Buildings (Construction) in Nigeria: Market Analytics by Category & Cost Type to 2021" contains historic and forecast market data for the leisure & hospitality buildings category in Nigeria, it also provides detailed breakdown of the data by construction activity (new construction, repair and maintenance, refurbishment and demolition) and by cost type (construction materials, construction equipment and construction services).GET SAMPLE REPORT @SummaryLeisure & hospitality buildings covers the construction of buildings used for accommodation, foodservice and indoor leisure activities. This includes hotels, motels, casinos, restaurants, leisure centers, gyms, theatres, conference facilities, exhibition centers, stadium buildings and arenas, and cinemas.The Nigerian leisure & hospitality buildings construction category continued to increase in the review period with a value of NGNxxx million (US$xxx million) in 2016 and increased at a rate of x.xx% over 2015. The market recorded a CAGR of xx.xx% from 2012 through 2016."Leisure & Hospitality Buildings (Construction) in Nigeria: Market Analytics by Category & Cost Type to 2021"' provides a top-level overview and detailed insight into the operating environment of the leisure & hospitality buildings market in Nigeria. It is an essential tool for companies active across the Nigerian construction value chain and for new players considering to enter the market.Scope A top level overview of the leisure & hospitality buildings construction category in Nigeria. Historic data provided from 2012 through 2016 and forecast from 2017 through 2021. A detailed breakdown of the data by construction activity (new construction, repair and maintenance, refurbishment and demolition) and by cost type (construction materials, construction equipment & construction services) across the leisure & hospitality buildings market.Reasons to Buy Provides a top level understanding of the Leisure & Hospitality Buildings construction in Nigeria. Helps you understand the market performance by construction activity (new construction, repair and maintenance, refurbishment and demolition) and construction cost type (construction materials, construction equipment & construction services). Allows you to plan future business decisions using the forecast figures given. The broad but detailed perspective will help all the players in the construction activity to understand and succeed in the challenging construction market.Table of Content: Key Points1 Introduction1.1 What is this Report About?1.2 Definitions1.3 CAGR Definition and Calculation2 Overall Leisure & Hospitality Buildings construction: Market Analysis2.1 Overall Leisure & Hospitality Buildings construction Output Value, 2012 - 20162.2 Overall Leisure & Hospitality Buildings construction Output Value Forecast, 2017 - 20212.3 Overall Leisure & Hospitality Buildings construction Output, by Cost Type2.3.1 Overall Leisure & Hospitality Buildings construction Output, by Cost Type, 2012 - 20162.3.2 Overall Leisure & Hospitality Buildings construction Output Forecast, by Cost Type, 2017 - 20213 Leisure & Hospitality Buildings construction Output: Analysis by Category3.1 New Construction Output Value, 2012 - 20163.2 New Construction Output Value Forecast, 2017 - 20213.3 New Construction Output Value by Cost Type3.3.1 New Construction Output, by Cost type, 2012 - 20163.3.2 New Construction Output Forecast, by Cost Type, 2017 - 20213.4 Repair & Maintenance Output Value, 2012 - 20163.5 Repair & Maintenance Output value Forecast, 2017 - 20213.6 Repair & Maintenance Output, by Cost Type3.6.1 Repair & Maintenance Output, by Cost type, 2012 - 20163.6.2 Repair & Maintenance Output Forecast, by Cost Type, 2017 - 20213.7 Refurbishment Construction Output Value, 2012 - 20163.8 Refurbishment Construction Output Value Forecast, 2017 - 20213.9 Refurbishment Construction Output, by Cost Type3.9.1 Refurbishment Construction Output, by Cost type, 2012 - 20163.9.2 Refurbishment Construction Output Forecast, by Cost type, 2017 - 20213.1 Demolition Construction Output Value, 2012 - 20163.11 Demolition Construction Output Value Forecast, 2017 2021ContinuedACCESS REPORT @Get in touch:LinkedIn:Twitter:Facebook:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.WISEGUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, India Anti-Lock Braking System (ABS) Market will reach 44.5 billion by 2024 https://www.esticastresearch.com/market-reports/anti-lock-braking-system-market As per the report global Anti-lock braking system (ABS) market,by Component(Sensors,Electronic Control,Hydraulic Unit), by Vehicle Type (Two Wheelers,Passenger Cars,Commercial Vehicles), Industry Trends, Estimation & Forecast, 2016-2024, The global Anti-lock braking system (ABS) market was valued at $26 billion in 2016, and is projected to reach $44.5 billion by 2024, growing at a CAGR of 7.1% from 2017 to 2024. Passenger cars are anticipated to dominate the market throughout the analysis period. Region-wise, Asia-Pacific is expected to lead, accounting for approximately 30% share of the global ABS market in 2017, generating a revenue of 7.5 billion in 2016.Impending need of safety features for automobiles owing to increasing number of accidents is expected to boost the ABS market. Anti-lock braking system holds great potential to ensure the safety of automobiles at an event of braking in the wet & rough surface.To know more about the report, visit atHydraulic unit segment lead the ABS market holding more than 58% of the total market share in 2016By component, market is further bifurcated into sensors, electronic control unit (ECU), and hydraulic unit. As of 2016, hydraulic system accounted for the largest revenue owing to its high cost as compared to other components. Moreover, sensors segment is anticipated to witness the highest growth rate of 7.6% CAGR during the forecast period. This is mainly due to advancement in technology as leading ABS OEM are manufacturing advanced ABS which are equipped with a large number of sensors.Two wheeler ABS segment is anticipated to witness a lucrative growth during the forecast periodBy vehicle type, the market is further bifurcated into two wheeler, passenger cars, and commercial vehicle. In 2016, passenger car segment leads the global ABS market and is expected to maintain its dominant position throughout the forecast period. This is due to rise in a number of passenger car mostly in countries such as China, U.S., Germany, and India. Two wheeler ABS generate the least revenue among another vehicle type, however, this segment is expected to grow at the highest rate owing to stringent government rules & regulation regarding vehicle safety. In addition, the rise in a number of two wheelers mostly in developing countries such as China, India, Singapore boosts the market growth.Global ABS market revenue, by major countries ($Million), 2016Asia-Pacific accounted for the largest revenue in 2016 and is anticipated to maintain its dominance throughout the forecast period. This is due to increased adoption of safety features such as ABS, ECS, and TCS by leading automobile OEM. Moreover, laws and regulations enforced by the government regarding vehicle safety supplemented the market growth in Asia-Pacific.Key Insights of the ABS Market Asia Pacific is expected to have the fastest CAGR of 12.6% over the forecast period. The region generated the revenue of $ 14.17 Billion in 2016. Passenger cars segment is expected to maintain its dominant position throughout forecast period and grow at a CAGR of 6.2%. Two wheeler segment is anticipated to witness the highest CAGR of 15.5% As of 2016, hydraulic unit segment leads the overall automotive ABS market, generating a revenue of $15,101 million, and is expected to maintain its dominant position throughout the forecast period. Sensors segment is anticipated to witness the highest growth rate, growing with a CAGR of 7.7%The prominent players profiled in the report are Robert Bosch GmbH (Germany), Continental AG (Germany), Autoliv, Inc. (Sweden), Nissin Kogyo Co. Ltd. (Japan), WABCO (Belgium), ZF TRW (U.S.), Hyundai Mobis (South Korea), Denso Corporation (Japan), Hitachi Automotive Systems, Ltd. (U.S.), and ADVICS Co., Ltd (Japan).Esticast Research & Consulting Market Research is a research firm providing research reports on various industries with a unique combination of authenticity, extensive research, and infallibility. We provide syndicated market research reports, customization services, and consulting services to help businesses across the world in achieving their goals and overcoming complex challenges.410 State Route 57 East,#206,Washington, NJ 07882Tel: (908) 379-7709Fax: (908) 379-7710Email: help@esticastresearch.com Mauritius: Expansion of Data Networks and Smart Mauritius Strategic Plan to Drive Telecom Market Growth https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/754689 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/754689/mauritius-expansion-of-data-networks-market-research-reports.pdf https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/enquiry/754689 The telecommunications market in Mauritius will generate service revenue of $306.3m in 2016. Pyramid Research expects to see overall service revenue grow at a CAGR of 5.7 % over 2015-2020. Growth will be driven by the increasing consumption of mobile data, largely supported by the expansion of 4G and investments in fiber infrastructure. Additionally, operators will concentrate on seizing opportunities related to bundled offerings and mobile value-added services. Moreover, the Smart Mauritius strategic plan will create a myriad of opportunities for vendors and operators alike.Key FindingsThe overall telecom service revenue in Mauritius is expected to generate $306.3m in 2016 and is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 5.7% during 2015-2020, mainly driven by growth in data revenue.Request To Get The Sample Copy Of This Report :Contribution of the data segment to overall revenue will reach 51.1% in 2020, mainly driven by the growth in mobile 3G and 4G subscriptions.The Mauritius telecom market will be dominated by Orange as the leading mobile and fixed operator, followed by Emtel and MTML. Operators will continue to invest in LTE expansions to try and gain a competitive edge in the market.Browse Full Report :SynopsisMauritius: Expansion of Data Networks and Smart Mauritius Strategic Plan to Drive Telecom Market Growth provides an executive-level overview of the telecommunications market in Mauritius today, with detailed forecasts of key indicators up to 2020. It delivers deep quantitative and qualitative insight into Mauritius telecom market, analyzing key trends, evaluating near-term opportunities and assessing risk factors, based on proprietary data from Pyramid Researchs databases.The Country Intelligence Report provides in-depth analysis of the following:Regional context: Telecom market size and trends in Mauritius compared with other countries in Africa and Middle East region.Economic, demographic and political context in Mauritius.The regulatory environment and trends: a review of the regulatory setting and agenda for the next 18-24 months as well as relevant developments pertaining to spectrum licensing, national broadband plans, number portability and more.A demand profile: analysis as well as historical figures and forecasts of service revenue from the fixed telephony, fixed Internet, mobile voice and mobile data.Send An Enquiry :Service evolution: a look at changes in the breakdown of overall revenue between the fixed and mobile sectors and between voice, data and video from 2013 to 2020.The competitive landscape: an examination of key trends in competition and in the performance, revenue market shares and expected moves of service providers over the next 18-24 months.In-depth sector analysis of fixed telephony, broadband, mobile voice and mobile data services: a quantitative analysis of service adoption trends by network technology and by operator, as well as of average revenue per line/subscription and service revenue through the end of the forecast period.Main opportunities: this section details the near-term opportunities for operators, vendors and investors in Mauritiuss telecommunications market.ReasonsToBuyGain in-depth analysis of current strategies and future trends of the telecommunications market in Mauritius, service providers and key opportunities in a concise format, to build proactive and profitable growth strategies.Understand the factors behind ongoing and upcoming trends in Mauritius mobile communications, fixed telephony and broadband markets, including the evolution of service provider market shares, to align product offerings and strategies to meet customer demand.Leverage the graphical information (more than 20 charts and tables in the report based on the Pyramid Research forecast products), to gain an overview of the telecom market in Mauritius.Analysis of key telecom players in the markets and major business strategies being adopted by them, to identify the opportunities to improve the market share.Explore novel opportunities to align your product strategies and offerings to meet the requirements and succeed in the challenging telecommunications market in Mauritius.MRRbiz supports your business intelligence needs with over 700,000 market research reports, company profiles, data books, and regional market data sheets in its repository. 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Ltd.Mayur Vihar phase-1, New Delhi 110091Mr. Mrityunjay KumarCall: +91-888-200-1155 Document Shredder Market Status and Forecast showcasing Progressive Growth including key players Kobra, Intimus, Nakabayashi, Smpic outlook-2022 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/600420-global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-document-shredder-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=600420 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/request-discount/600420-global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-document-shredder-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/600420-global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-document-shredder-market A new research document with title 'Global (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa) Document Shredder Market 2017 Forecast to 2022' covering detailed analysis, Competitive landscape, forecast and strategies. The study covers geographic analysis that includes regions like North America, Mexico, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and important players/vendors such as Kobra, Intimus, Nakabayashi, Smpic, Royal ................The report will help user gain market insights, future trends and growth prospects for forecast period of 2022Request a sample report @SummaryA Document Shredder is a mechanical device used to cut paper into strips or fine particles. Government organizations, businesses, and private individuals use shredders to destroy private, confidential, or otherwise sensitive documents.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Document Shredder 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 coversFellowesACCOHSMIdealMeiko ShokaiKobraIntimusNakabayashiSmpicRoyalCometComixSunwoodDeliBonsailMarket 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, coversStrip-cut ShredderCross-cut ShredderOthersMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoOfficePersonalOthersBuy this report @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Document Shredder market.Chapter 1, to describe Document Shredder Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Document Shredder, with sales, revenue, and price of Document Shredder, 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 Document Shredder, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the market by countries, by type, by application and by manufacturers, 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, Document Shredder market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Document Shredder sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceGet customization & check discount for report @Table of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Document Shredder Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Strip-cut Shredder1.2.2 Cross-cut Shredder1.2.3 Others1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Office1.3.2 Personal1.3.3 Others1.4 Market Analysis by Regions1.4.1 North America (USA, Canada and Mexico)1.4.1.1 USA Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.1.2 Canada Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.1.3 Mexico Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2 Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)1.4.2.1 Germany Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.2 France Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.3 UK Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.4 Russia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.5 Italy Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)1.4.3.1 China Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.2 Japan Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.3 Korea Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.4 India Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.5 Southeast Asia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4 South America, Middle East and Africa1.4.4.1 Brazil Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.2 Egypt Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.3 Saudi Arabia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.4 South Africa Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.5 Nigeria Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5 Market Dynamics1.5.1 Market Opportunities1.5.2 Market Risk1.5.3 Market Driving Force....ContinuedView Detailed Table of Content @Thanks for reading this article, you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact us :Nidhi Bhavsar (PR & Marketing Manager)HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA 08837sales@htfmarketreport.com+1 (206) 317 1218 Increasing demand for High-pressure Processing (HPP) Equipment Market 2017-2021 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1293338 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1293338/global-high-pressure-processing-hpp-equipment-market-research-reports http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ About High-Pressure Processing (HPP) EquipmentHigh-pressure processing (HPP) is a form of cold pasteurization technology. It is used by various food processing companies to remove pathogenic bacteria and other microorganisms from ready-to-eat foods, meat products, avocado products, seafood, juices, fruits and vegetables, dairy, dips and salsas, and infant food products through the use of high pressure. The food products will be sealed in a flexible and water-resistant packaging and subjected to hydrostatic pressure. The pressure can go up to 87,000 pounds per square inch (psi) of the products. HPP also helps in preserving the nutrient and vitamin contents in food products and increasing shelf life. It also retains the organoleptic characteristics of the food products such as color, taste, and texture. HPP equipment are used for processing products such as fruits and vegetables, meat, seafood, dairy products, fruit juices, and other food products.Technavios analysts forecast the global high-pressure processing (HPP) equipment market to grow at a CAGR of 17.15% during the period 2017-2021.Get Sample Copy Of This Report @Covered in this reportThe report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global high-pressure processing (HPP) equipment market for 2017-2021. To calculate the market size, the report considers the two types of HPP equipment are considered based on their vessel orientation: horizontal HPP and vertical HPP equipment. HPP equipment are further classified based on their applications into the following segments: meat products, fruits and vegetables, juices and other beverages, seafood, and other products.The market is divided into the following segments based on geography:AmericasAPACEMEATechnavio's report, Global High-Pressure Processing (HPP) Equipment Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this marketView Report @Key vendorsHiperbaric,Avure Technologies,MULTIVAC,Kobe Steel,Bao Tou KeFA High Pressure TechnologyOther prominent vendorsAmerican Pasteurization CompanyEPSIEXDIN SolutionsFresherTechHarwood EngineeringNext HPPStansted Fluid PowerthyssenkruppUniversal PasteurizationWenzhou Binyi Machinery TechnolotyMarket driverFocus on increasing shelf life of natural products and improving nutritional valueFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challengeIncrease in HPP tolling servicesFor a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trendIncreasing demand for clean label productsFor a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this reportWhat will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?What are the key market trends?What is driving this market?What are the challenges to market growth?Who are the key vendors in this market space?What are the market opportunities and threats faced by the key vendors?What are the strengths and weaknesses of the key vendors?You can request one free hour of our analysts time when you purchase this market report. Details are provided within the report.MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Digital Panel Meter Market Status and Forecast showcasing Progressive Growth including key players Phoenix Contact, PR Electronics, Precision Digital, Taik Electric outlook-2022 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/600419-global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-digital-panel-meter-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=600419 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/request-discount/600419-global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-digital-panel-meter-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/600419-global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-digital-panel-meter-market A new research document with title 'Global (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa) Digital Panel Meter Market 2017 Forecast to 2022' covering detailed analysis, Competitive landscape, forecast and strategies. The study covers geographic analysis that includes regions like North America, Mexico, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and important players/vendors such as Phoenix Contact, PR Electronics, Precision Digital, Taik Electric................The report will help user gain market insights, future trends and growth prospects for forecast period of 2022Summary""Digital Panel Meter is an instrument that displays an input signal in digital form. Many digital panel meters also include alarm options as well as the ability to connect and transfer data to a computer. Digital panel meters are usually available with an Ethernet option which allows the digital panel meter reading to be accessed across a local area network (LAN) or even through the internet.""Request a sample report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Digital Panel Meter 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 coversMurata Power SolutionsRed Lion ControlsOMRONInnoVista SensorsSiemensDanaherZhejiang CHINTLascar ElectronicsCarlo GavazziPhoenix ContactPR ElectronicsPrecision DigitalTaik ElectricYokogawa Meters & InstrumentsTrumeterAutonicsJewell InstrumentsLaurel ElectronicsMarket 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, coversTemperature and Process Panel MetersTotalizersMulti-Input Indicators and ScannersMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoDisplay CurrentDisplay VoltageDisplays TemperatureOthersBuy this report @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Digital Panel Meter market.Chapter 1, to describe Digital Panel Meter Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Digital Panel Meter, with sales, revenue, and price of Digital Panel Meter, 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 Digital Panel Meter, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the market by countries, by type, by application and by manufacturers, 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, Digital Panel Meter market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Digital Panel Meter sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceGet customization & check discount for report @Table of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Digital Panel Meter Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Temperature and Process Panel Meters1.2.2 Totalizers1.2.3 Multi-Input Indicators and Scanners1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Display Current1.3.2 Display Voltage1.3.3 Displays Temperature1.3.4 Others1.4 Market Analysis by Regions1.4.1 North America (USA, Canada and Mexico)1.4.1.1 USA Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.1.2 Canada Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.1.3 Mexico Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2 Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)1.4.2.1 Germany Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.2 France Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.3 UK Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.4 Russia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.5 Italy Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)1.4.3.1 China Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.2 Japan Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.3 Korea Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.4 India Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.5 Southeast Asia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4 South America, Middle East and Africa1.4.4.1 Brazil Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.2 Egypt Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.3 Saudi Arabia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.4 South Africa Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.5 Nigeria Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5 Market Dynamics1.5.1 Market Opportunities1.5.2 Market Risk1.5.3 Market Driving Force....ContinuedView Detailed Table of Content @Thanks for reading this article, you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact us :Nidhi Bhavsar (PR & Marketing Manager)HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA 08837sales@htfmarketreport.com+1 (206) 317 1218 eDiscovery Market Set for Rapid Growth, To Reach around USD 18.49 Billion by 2021 https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/ediscovery-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/ediscovery-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/toc/ediscovery-market http://www.zionmarketresearch.com https://zionmarketresearch.wordpress.com Zion Market Research has published a new report titled eDiscovery Market (Software; On-Premise Software & Off-Premise Software and Services) for Government and Regulatory Agencies, Enterprises (Small, Mid and Large-Size Enterprises) and Law Firms - Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Segment, Trends and Forecast, 2015 2021. According to the report, the demand for the global eDiscovery market was valued at USD 7,827.25 million in 2015 and is expected to generate revenue of USD 18,496.60 million by end of 2021, growing at a CAGR of 15.69% between 2016 and 2021.Browse Detail Report @eDiscovery is defined as a set of processes for the identification, preservation, collection, processing, review, analysis and production of electronically stored information (ESI). eDiscovery is usually done in the condition of criminal litigation procedures and for government investigations. eDiscovery documents can be produced in the form of photos, video, databases, and other file types. ESI is stored across an extensive range of corporate sources which may encompass databases, websites, and file stores, in addition to individual devices such as computers, smartphone, and laptops.The eDiscovery market is mainly driven by the increasing age group ratio and volume of electronically stored information (ESI) per year. The increasing use of eDiscovery solutions in government and leading agencies for investigation process is also expected to positively impact market growth. Additionally, increasing acceptance of predictive coding, growing danger mitigation activities in organizations, increase in litigation, need for proactive solutions and growth of record management across various trades are some of the important factors driving the growth of the eDiscovery market. Apart from this robust growth in smartphones market and increasing use of social media networking sites such as LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook is also expected to fuel the growth of the eDiscovery market in the years to come. However, non favorable government policies and the high cost of eDiscovery is expected to limit the growth of this industry to some extent.Request for Free Sample Report @Global eDiscovery MarketThe eDiscovery market is segmented on the basis of components such as software and services. eDiscovery software market can be further classified as on-premise software & off-premise software. eDiscovery services were the leading segment of the eDiscovery market and accounted for 74.56% of the total revenue generated by the eDiscovery market in 2015. eDiscovery software segment was dominated by on-premise software in 2015. On-premise software segment held over 51.08% share of the global eDiscovery software market in 2015. However, the off-premise segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment during the forecast period. Growing demand for cloud computing and growing volume of digitally stored data are some of the key factors driving the off-premise software market segment.On the basis of end-users, the eDiscovery market is segmented as government and regulatory agencies, enterprises (small, mid and large-sized), law firms. Government and regulatory agencies dominated the global eDiscovery market in 2015 and accounted for around 50.54% share of the total revenue generated in 2015. However, enterprise segment is estimated to exhibit rapid growth during the forecast period owing to increasing adoption of eDiscovery solutions in small as well as large companies across the world.Request to view Report TOC (Table of Contents) @North America dominated the global eDiscovery market in 2015. It is expected to retain its dominance during the forecast period due to increasing use of eDiscovery solutions in civil litigations and need to improve information governance in corporations of all sizes. However, the Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness the rapid growth of the eDiscovery market in the years to come. The growth of the eDiscovery market in Asia Pacific will be mainly stemmed from China, India, South Korea and Japan.Some of the key players operating in the global eDiscovery market include HP Autonomy, IBM Corporation, Daegis Inc., EMC Corporation, Symantec Corporation, Guidance Software Inc., Xerox Corporation, Epiq Systems Inc., FTI Consulting Inc., Navigant Consulting Inc., Integreon Managed Solutions Inc., and Catalyst Repository Systems Inc.About Us :Zion Market Research is an obligated company. We create futuristic, cutting edge, informative reports ranging from industry reports, company reports to country reports. We provide our clients not only with market statistics unveiled by avowed private publishers and public organizations but also with vogue and newest industry reports along with pre-eminent and niche company profiles. Our database of market research reports comprises a wide variety of reports from cardinal industries. Our database is been updated constantly in order to fulfill our clients with prompt and direct online access to our database. Keeping in mind the clients needs, we have included expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends in this database. Last but not the least, we make it our duty to ensure the success of clients connected to usafter allif you do well, a little of the light shines on us.Contact Us :Zion Market Research4283, Express Lane,Suite 634-143,Sarasota, Florida 34249, United StatesTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-4651Email: sales@zionmarketresearch.comWebsite:Blog: Digital Transformation Market is Set for a Rapid Growth and is Expected to Reach USD 431.71 billion by 2021 https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/digital-transformation-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/digital-transformation-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/toc/digital-transformation-market http://www.zionmarketresearch.com https://zionmarketresearch.wordpress.com Zion Market Research has published a new report titled Digital Transformation Market (Cloud Computing, Big Data, Mobility, & Social Media) for Banking and Financial Services, Telecom and IT, Healthcare, Government, Automotive, Government, Manufacturing and Retails and Other application: Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis and Forecast, 2015-2021. According to the report, global digital transformation market was valued at around USD 150.50 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach approximately USD 431.71billion in 2021, growing at a CAGR of slightly above 19.2% between 2016 and 2021.Browse Detail Report @Digital revolution is transforming many aspects of business and even whole industries. Digital transformation is the use of digital technologies such as social media, mobility, analytics, and more. These technologies may use by enterprises to improve or add more features to their traditional business processes and also to maintain customer relationships. Digital transformation is the outcome of changes that occur with the application of advanced digital technologies.Enterprises such as Google, Apple, SAP AG are investing shares in research and development for increasing shares and the organic growth of their company. Therefore battle of gaining brand positioning and creation of strong brands has become a core factor to fuel the digital transformation market. These prominent enterprises providing digital transformation solutions are developing new products or enhancing their products and service offerings to satisfy the increasing customer demand. This strategy allows these companies to validate the technology and attract new customers and hold traditional customer.Request for Free Sample Report @Global Digital Transformation MarketIn the retail sector, rising internet usage and mobile application emerging the demand of digital transformation. Technological advancements in digital electronics coupled with their increasing application in various industries such as construction and automotive are expected to augment the market growth over the forecast period. Growing market for augmented reality devices such as heads-up displays, eyeglasses, and spatial augmented reality is anticipated to drive digital transformation market.North America dominated the global retail digital transformation market. Factors such as high Internet penetration and growing online payment options have played the significant role in growing the demand of digital transformation market for retail digital information in the region. Increasing service sector across Asia Pacific and rising demand from small sized companies are expected to fuel the growth of digital transformation market in Asia Pacific region.Request to view Report TOC (Table of Contents) @The major vendors in the digital transformation market are Apple, Oracle Corporation, IBM Corporation, EMC Corporation, SAP AG, CA Technologies, Adobe Systems, Microsoft Corporation, Hewlett-Packard (HP), and Google among others.About Us :Zion Market Research is an obligated company. We create futuristic, cutting edge, informative reports ranging from industry reports, company reports to country reports. We provide our clients not only with market statistics unveiled by avowed private publishers and public organizations but also with vogue and newest industry reports along with pre-eminent and niche company profiles. Our database of market research reports comprises a wide variety of reports from cardinal industries. Our database is been updated constantly in order to fulfill our clients with prompt and direct online access to our database. Keeping in mind the clients needs, we have included expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends in this database. Last but not the least, we make it our duty to ensure the success of clients connected to usafter allif you do well, a little of the light shines on us.Contact Us :Zion Market Research4283, Express Lane,Suite 634-143,Sarasota, Florida 34249, United StatesTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-4651Email: sales@zionmarketresearch.comWebsite:Blog: Extrusion Coating Market to Witness Robust Expansion Throughout the Forecast Period 2017 - 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=971 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=971 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=D&rep_id=971 Global Extrusion Coating Market: SnapshotThe global market for extrusion coating is gaining traction from a number factors, such as increasing use of extrusion coating in numerous packaging applications, prosperity of the food and beverages industry, growing demand from emerging economies in Asia Pacific and the Middle East and Africa, continuous merger and acquisition, and development of new products by diverse companies. On the other hand, although the demand is expected to continue flowing in throughout the forecast period of 2017 to 2025, substitutes such as bio-based polymers and increasing carbon footprint are posing considerable challenge to the development of the market for extrusion coating. The use of some of the common polymers such as EVA, LDPE, PET, and PP can generates harmful by-products.This report on the global extrusion coating market provides quantitative and qualitative analysis of all factors that may influence the demand in the near future, as well as catching some of the latest trends that may open new opportunities for the early birds. The report segments the market into smaller aspects to gauge their potential, highlights the most lucrative regions as well as countries, and profiles a number of leading companies in order to understand the existent competitive landscape of the global extrusion coating market. The report has been prepared using proven research methodologies and aspires to serve as a credible document to the targeted audiences such as extrusion coating manufacturers, traders and distributors of extrusion coating materials and products, end-use entities connected to the different segments and aspects of the market, government and research organization, environment support agencies, investment banks, and private equity firms.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Extrusion Coating Market: OverviewThe world market for extrusion coating is forecasted to gain impetus from the soaring count of packaging applications in a diverse scope of end-use sectors. On a global platform, liquid packaging is prophesied to be a larger extrusion coating segment in terms of application. It finds application in the packaging of goods such as household cleaning products, spirits and wines, and beverages and liquids. Out of the miscellaneous forms of liquid packaging available to this day, stand-up pouches, caps and closures, bottles, and bag-in-boxes are the most prominent.The eminent areas of segmentation of the global extrusion coating market include application and type of material. These critical segmentation areas are further segmented and analyzed while considering the volume and value forecasts.Request TOC of the Report @All the reports published by TMR Research can be tailor-made as per the demands of the buyers. Our analysts have procured the vital findings of the world extrusion coating market while taking into consideration a wide compass of target audiences, including manufacturers, distributors, and investment and equity firms. The report authors have assessed different elements to carefully draw the competitive landscape of the global market.Global Extrusion Coating Market: Trends and OpportunitiesWith a moderate CAGR, the international extrusion coating market is expected to reach an admirable figure in terms of both value and volume. A number of activities performed by different players in the industry in relation to new product development apart from their acquisitions and mergers are prognosticated to encourage a tangible growth in the global market. The packaging sphere is foreseen to significantly contribute for the dilation of the market growth. One of the reasons for this is the driving demand for the process of extrusion coating and their application in various packaging procedures.For the forecast period, low density polyethylene (LDPE) is anticipated to stand as a dominating segment by material type in the global extrusion coating market. LDPE finds vigorous applications in a gamut of packaging domains such as commercial, flexible, and liquid. Preferable sealability properties and excellent moisture barrier are some of the astounding characteristics of LDPE that have given it much importance in the packaging sector. LDPE is anticipated to help the world market reach great heights of success on the back of its elevating number of applications. These applications belong to a range of end-use sectors such as pharmaceutical and medical, construction and building, and automotive, not just packaging.Get Discount @Global Extrusion Coating Market: Regional OutlookUntil the end of the forecast period, the Asia Pacific region is foretold to demonstrate supremacy in the international extrusion coating market. The food and beverage sector of developing countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, India, and China is witnessing a strong growth in the packaging domain. This has resulted into the extensive usage of extrusion coating in Asia Pacific. Besides this, the aggravating strength of the Asia Pacific population and aggressive economic growth in the region have upgraded the maturation of the global market. For the forecast years, China is predicted to be a faster rising market in the developing region.Some of the regional markets associated with the global extrusion coating industry could suffer because of the pernicious by-products generated with the employment of certain polymer resins such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA), and LDPE. These polymers are mostly used during the process of extrusion coating. However, the towering growth opportunities birthed in emerging countries of the Middle East and Africa and Asia Pacific are envisaged to dilute the effect of the restraint. Moreover, the increasing number of applications in various innovative forms of packaging such as liquid packaging is envisioned to offer good opportunities in the long run.Global Extrusion Coating Market: Companies MentionedCompanies such as Bobst Group SA, Exxon Mobil Corporation, Mondi Plc., AkzoNobel N.V., and The Dow Chemical Company are profiled to possibly have taken to different strategies for securing their share in the global extrusion coating market. In this regard, new product launches, mergers, and expansions could be the go-to inorganic and organic schemes adopted by the top industry players for a substantial advancement.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Animal Healthcare Industry is Estimated to Grow at Forecast Period of 2017 up to 2022 http://www.orbisresearch.com/contacts/request-sample/384464 http://www.orbisresearch.com/reports/index/emea-europe-middle-east-and-africa-animal-healthcare-market-report-2017 http://www.orbisresearch.com/contact/purchase/384464 https://www.linkedin.com/company/orbis-research SummaryThis report helps to analyze competitive developments such as joint ventures, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, new product developments, and research and developments in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Animal Healthcare Market Report 2017DescriptionAccording to the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Animal Healthcare Market report, the (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Animal Healthcare Market is estimated to grow at a fast rate through the forecast period of 2017 up to 2022. The growing importance of EMEA owing to its strategic location along the trade route and the flourishing economies are expected to keep pushing the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Animal Healthcare Market.The EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Animal Healthcare Market report covers market from the inside out and contains key statistics and in-depth analysis allowing to customers to gain actionable insights and in-turn flourish. The detailed EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Animal Healthcare Market segmentation covers each segment and its performance along with their latest trends and impact on the market for the current year, as well as for the forecast period of 2017 -2022.Get a PDF Sample of Report at:Many important topics are covered in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Animal Healthcare Market report about the market as follows:Product OverviewProduct classificationMarket size in terms of sales and market share, compared by typeSegmentation of the market into:ProductsApplicationRegionTop players in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Animal Healthcare Market.The EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Animal Healthcare Market is segmented in terms of region into Europe, Middle East, and Africa as follows:Europe: UK, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and Benelux;Middle East: Iran, Israel, Saudi Arabia, and UAE;Africa: Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa.To Browse the Entire Report, Visit :The EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Animal Healthcare Market is segmented on the basis of products intoPharmaceuticalsFeed AdditivesVaccinesOn the basis of application, the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Animal Healthcare Market is segmented intoCompanion AnimalsProduction AnimalsEach segment and sub-segment of the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Animal Healthcare Market is covered on the basis of various parameters such as region, type, revenue, and production.The EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Animal Healthcare Market report has a detailed coverage of the competition in the market under top companies where the customer has access to the top players in the market and their company profiles. This allows the customer gain insights into the competitors activities, thus enabling them to create a better plan of action for expanding and gaining the maximum (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Animal Healthcare Market share.Top players in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Animal Healthcare Market includeBayer Animal HealthCeva Animal HealthcareElanco Animal HealthMerck Ltd.Merial (Animal Health division of Sanofi)Zoetis Animal HealthcarePfizerVetoquinol SASanofi-AventisBayer HealthCareThe EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Animal Healthcare Market report has the customary SWOT analysis along with tables and diagrams depicting the important statistics in the report making it easier for the customer to consume the information. Further,The EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Animal Healthcare Market report also covers the following:Chapter One: Animal Healthcare OverviewChapter Two: EMEA Animal Healthcare Competition by Manufacturers/Players/Suppliers, Region, Type and ApplicationChapter Three: Europe Animal Healthcare (Volume, Value and Sales Price), by Players, Countries, Type and ApplicationChapter Four: Middle East Animal Healthcare (Volume, Value and Sales Price), by Region, Type and ApplicationChapter Five: Africa Animal Healthcare (Volume, Value and Sales Price) by Players, Countries, Type and ApplicationChapter Six: EMEA Animal Healthcare Manufacturers/Players Profiles and Sales DataChapter Seven: Animal Healthcare Manufacturing Cost Analysis..No. of Report Pages: 114Place a Purchase Order for this Report at:The EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Animal Healthcare Market is definitely the best curated report available, compiled by the top research experts and subject experts to ensure that the customer at all times receives the most accurate information about the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) Animal Healthcare Market.About Us:Orbis Research (orbisresearch.com) is a single point aid for all your market research requirements. We have vast database of reports from the leading publishers and authors across the globe. We specialize in delivering customized reports as per the requirements of our clients. We have complete information about our publishers and hence are sure about the accuracy of the industries and verticals of their specialization. This helps our clients to map their needs and we produce the perfect required market research study for our clients.Contact Information:Hector CostelloSenior Manager Client Engagements4144N Central Expressway,Suite 600, Dallas,Texas 75204, U.S.A.Phone No.: +1 (214) 884-6817; +9164101019Follow Us on LinkedIn: Augmented Reality (AR) Market is Set for a Rapid Growth and is Expected to Reach USD 133.78 Billion by 2021 https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/augmented-reality-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/augmented-reality-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/toc/augmented-reality-market http://www.zionmarketresearch.com https://zionmarketresearch.wordpress.com Zion Market Research has published a new report titled Augmented Reality (AR) Market (Sensor, Display and Software) for Aerospace& Defense, Industrial, consumer, Commercial, E-Commerce, Retail and Other Applications: Global Industry Perspective, Comprehensive Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Segment, Trends and Forecast, 2015 2021. According to the report, global augmented reality market was valued at around USD 3.33 Billion in 2015 and is expected to reach approximately USD 133.78 Billion in 2021, growing at a CAGR of slightly above 85.2% between 2016 and 2021.Browse Detail Report @Augmented reality (AR) technology is one of the emerging technologies in the field of displays that would make a mark in the near future. Augmented reality technology is used in various fields such as aerospace & defense, commercial, retails and e-commerce. The gaming sector would be more engaging & interactive with the help of augmented reality technology.Emerging trends such as escalating convergence between wearable devices, AR, and GPS are anticipated to drive demand of augmented reality market. High penetration of smartphones and tablet is the major factor in prompting this market adoption. User Interface (UI) limitations may curtail the growth of this market. It also shows technical inefficiency in determining various physical obstructions due to lack of information in view management.Global-Augmented-Reality-(AR)-MarketAugmented reality (AR) market is segmented on the basis of the component, display, application, and region. Components involved in this technology are hardware (display, semiconductors, sensor) and software. The hardware components are estimated to grow robust CAGR over the forecast period. Companies such as Sony and Microsoft are expected to launch their augmented reality based devices by 2016, which is expected to intensify market competition over the forecast period. Further, several companies are working on enhancing the quality of sensors and processors which is used in AR devices. For instance, Google has collaborated with the chip manufacturers to build camera processors and components for Android smartphones.Request for Free Sample Report @On the basis of application the augmented reality (AR) market is segmented into aerospace and defense, commercial, industrial, retails and e-commerce. The commercial applications such as e-learning, tourism and e-commerce are predicted to exhibit substantial growth due to the penetration of smartphones, and tablet. Furthermore, by display type, head mounted display (HMD), head-up display (HUD), hand held display and spatial display is the major segments of the industry. In the naval space, HMDs are used in difficult terrain and also for low visibility areas for improving navigational and visual capabilities. By HMD soldiers can access strategic information including thermal imaging data while viewing the real environment, which has the force to increase demand of augmented reality (AR) market.With the largest share, Asia Pacific emerged as dominating the regional market for augmented reality (AR) in 2015 owing to high technology adoption rate. Mobile AR market in China is driven by the high production by its smartphone industry.Some of the key players in the augmented reality (AR) are Immersion, Magic Leap, Daqri LLC, Apple, Blippar, Sony, Wikitude, Microsoft, PTC, Google, Infinity Augmented Reality, CyberGlove Systems Inc., ODG, Eon Reality, Inc., and Samsung Electronics, among othersRequest to view Report TOC (Table of Contents) @About Us :Zion Market Research is an obligated company. We create futuristic, cutting edge, informative reports ranging from industry reports, company reports to country reports. We provide our clients not only with market statistics unveiled by avowed private publishers and public organizations but also with vogue and newest industry reports along with pre-eminent and niche company profiles. Our database of market research reports comprises a wide variety of reports from cardinal industries. Our database is been updated constantly in order to fulfill our clients with prompt and direct online access to our database. Keeping in mind the clients needs, we have included expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends in this database. Last but not the least, we make it our duty to ensure the success of clients connected to usafter allif you do well, a little of the light shines on us.Contact Us :Zion Market Research4283, Express Lane,Suite 634-143,Sarasota, Florida 34249, United StatesTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll Free No.1-855-465-4651Email: sales@zionmarketresearch.comWebsite:Blog: Dental Gypsum Market Status and Forecast showcasing Progressive Growth including key players SDMF, Kerr Dental, Nobilium, Dentona AG outlook-2022 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/600443-global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-dental-gypsum-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=600443 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/request-discount/600443-global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-dental-gypsum-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/600443-global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-dental-gypsum-market A new research document with title 'Global (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa) Dental Gypsum Market 2017 Forecast to 2022' covering detailed analysis, Competitive landscape, forecast and strategies. The study covers geographic analysis that includes regions like North America, Mexico, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and important players/vendors such as SDMF, Kerr Dental, Nobilium, Dentona AG................The report will help user gain market insights, future trends and growth prospects for forecast period of 2022Request a sample report @Summary""Many dental restorations and appliances are constructed outside the patients mouth using models and dies which should be accurate replicas of the patients hard and soft tissues.The term model is normally used when referring to a replica of several teeth and their associated soft tissues or, alternatively, to an edentulous arch. The term die is normally used when referring to a replica of a single tooth.""Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Dental Gypsum 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 coversUSGHeraeus KulzerWhip-MixYOSHINO GYPSUMFormula (Saint-Gobain)SDMFKerr DentalNobiliumDentona AGETI EMPIRE DIRECTGyprockGP Building ProductSaurabh MinechemMarket 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, coversDental PlasterModel Dental StoneDie Dental StoneMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoHospitalClinicOtherBuy this report @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Dental Gypsum market.Chapter 1, to describe Dental Gypsum Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Dental Gypsum, with sales, revenue, and price of Dental Gypsum, 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 Dental Gypsum, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the market by countries, by type, by application and by manufacturers, 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, Dental Gypsum market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Dental Gypsum sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceGet customization & check discount for report @Table of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Dental Gypsum Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Dental Plaster1.2.2 Model Dental Stone1.2.3 Die Dental Stone1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Hospital1.3.2 Clinic1.3.3 Other1.4 Market Analysis by Regions1.4.1 North America (USA, Canada and Mexico)1.4.1.1 USA Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.1.2 Canada Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.1.3 Mexico Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2 Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)1.4.2.1 Germany Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.2 France Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.3 UK Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.4 Russia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.5 Italy Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)1.4.3.1 China Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.2 Japan Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.3 Korea Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.4 India Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.5 Southeast Asia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4 South America, Middle East and Africa1.4.4.1 Brazil Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.2 Egypt Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.3 Saudi Arabia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.4 South Africa Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.5 Nigeria Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5 Market Dynamics1.5.1 Market Opportunities1.5.2 Market Risk1.5.3 Market Driving Force....ContinuedView Detailed Table of Content @Thanks for reading this article, you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact us :Nidhi Bhavsar (PR & Marketing Manager)HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA 08837sales@htfmarketreport.com+1 (206) 317 1218 Crown Moulding Market Status & Forecast showcasing Progressive Growth including key players Canamould, RowlCrown, Focal Point, Alexandria outlook-2022 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/600388-global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-crown-moulding-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=600388 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/request-discount/600388-global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-crown-moulding-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/600388-global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-crown-moulding-market A new research document with title 'Global (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa) Crown Moulding Market 2017 Forecast to 2022' covering detailed analysis, Competitive landscape, forecast and strategies. The study covers geographic analysis that includes regions like North America, Mexico, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and important players/vendors such as Canamould, RowlCrown, Focal Point, Alexandria................The report will help user gain market insights, future trends and growth prospects for forecast period of 2022SummaryCrown Moulding encapsulates a large family of moldings which are designed to gracefully flare out to a finished top edge. Crown molding is generally used for capping walls, pilasters, and cabinets, and is used extensively in the creation of interior and exterior cornice assemblies and door and window hoods.Request a sample report @Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Crown Moulding 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 coversMetrieEkena MillworkAlexandriaRapidFitAmerican Pro DecorCanamouldRowlCrownFocal PointHouse of FaraWoodgrain MillworkNMCOrnamental MouldingMarket 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, coversPolyurethaneUrethaneMDFWoodPolystyreneOthersMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoCeilingDoor & WindowGeneral PurposeBuy this report @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Crown Moulding market.Chapter 1, to describe Crown Moulding Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Crown Moulding, with sales, revenue, and price of Crown Moulding, 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 Crown Moulding, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the market by countries, by type, by application and by manufacturers, 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, Crown Moulding market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Crown Moulding sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceGet customization & check discount for report @Table of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Crown Moulding Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Polyurethane1.2.2 Urethane1.2.3 MDF1.2.4 Wood1.2.5 Polystyrene1.2.6 Others1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Ceiling1.3.2 Door & Window1.3.3 General Purpose1.4 Market Analysis by Regions1.4.1 North America (USA, Canada and Mexico)1.4.1.1 USA Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.1.2 Canada Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.1.3 Mexico Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2 Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)1.4.2.1 Germany Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.2 France Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.3 UK Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.4 Russia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.5 Italy Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)1.4.3.1 China Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.2 Japan Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.3 Korea Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.4 India Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.5 Southeast Asia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4 South America, Middle East and Africa1.4.4.1 Brazil Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.2 Egypt Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.3 Saudi Arabia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.4 South Africa Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.5 Nigeria Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5 Market Dynamics1.5.1 Market Opportunities1.5.2 Market Risk1.5.3 Market Driving Force....ContinuedView Detailed Table of Content @Thanks for reading this article, you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact us :Nidhi Bhavsar (PR & Marketing Manager)HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA 08837sales@htfmarketreport.com+1 (206) 317 1218 Non-destructive Testing (NDT) Services Market to Witness an Outstanding Growth by Forecast 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=992 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=992 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=D&rep_id=992 Global Non-destructive Testing Services Market: SnapshotPredictive maintenance is increasingly becoming a more prominent part of everyday operations and processes in a number of high-growth and lucrative industries such as aerospace and forensics. The trend has emerged as a highly promising growth opportunity for the global non-destructive testing (NDT) services market and has directed it towards a healthy growth path. By expanding access to a rising set of non-destructive testing methodologies, the market aims to enable companies in the maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) service sector to accomplish the evaluations of in-service safety of tools and operations in a number of industries more efficiently, while saving downtime and cutting costs.The aerospace industry, for instance, is becoming an avid user of a number of non-destructive testing services to enable safer and quicker decisions regarding instances such as in-service defect in aircraft parts. There are several benefits provided by the present-day technologically-advanced non-destructive testing services, such as the 3D scanning technique, which are difficult to gain from traditional methodsnamely lighting strike, hail damage, and bird impacts on the aircrafts wings and fuselage. When combined with advanced inspection tools, such testing solutions help reduce the operators impact on measurements, reduces the time to reach to the final report, and helps ease the process of decision-making.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Recently, Creaform, a world-leader in the field of portable 3D measurement solutions and engineering services, announced that it will extend its expertise in NDT services to the aerospace industry. To ensure that its solution reflects the needs of the aviation maintenance industry effectively, the company is collaborating with leading aircraft companies to undertake beta testing; the solution is projected to be marketed by October 2017. The company has already achieved considerable success in extending its services to the aerospace industry when it comes to its HandySCAN 3D metrology-grade laser scanner. The product has been added to the Technical Equipment Manual of Airbus.Global Non-destructive Testing (NDT) Services Market: SnapshotNon-destructive testing (NDT) is a broad group of evaluation techniques which are employed in the science and technology industry in order to analyze the properties of a system, component, or material without triggering damage. As non-destructive testing does not alter the article in inspection permanently, it is an extremely valuable technology that helps saving both time and money in terms of product research, troubleshooting, and evaluation. Basic NDT methods comprise low coherence interferometry, eddy-current testing, remote visual inspection, radiographic, liquid penetrant, magnetic-particle, and ultrasonic. NDT is generally employed in art, medicine, aeronautical engineering, systems engineering, civil engineering, electrical engineering, petroleum engineering, mechanical engineering, and forensic engineering. Innovations in the area of non-destructive testing have initiated reflective impression on medical imaging, comprising digital radiography, medical ultrasonography, and echocardiography.Request TOC of the Report @Evaluation and recording a non-destructive failure mode is likely to be accomplished employing a high speed camera which can record incessantly till the failure is noticed. Failure detection can be accomplished by the use of a stress gauge or a sound detector which releases a signal in order to activate the high-speed camera. After the fiasco, the camera will eventually stop recording and thus, the captured pictured can be played backwards in slow motion to exhibit the events after and before the non-destructive situation.The market intelligence report investigates into the conceivable growth prospects for the global NDT services market and the sequential growth of the market during the course of the forecast period. It also exclusively provisions the mandatory data related to aspects such as the dynamics manipulating the progress in all possible reflective manner. Numerous pervasive and non-pervasive trends have also been stated in the report. An outlook of extensive nature keeping in mind the Porters five forces analysis has been provided to make the vendor landscape transparent to the reader. The report further points out several activities related to R&D, mergers, acquisitions, and crucial conglomerates and corroborations. The companies in attention have been examined on the basis of market shares, prime products, and key marketing strategies.Get Discount @Global Non-destructive Testing (NDT) Services Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe numerous applications of non-destructive testing services include shipyards, oil refineries, nuclear power plants, construction sites, and manufacturing plants. In the last couple of years, the demand for non-destructive testing service has significantly gained momentum owing to the expansion of profit margins and propelled capital expenditure after the recovery of the U.S, from deep recession. In the near future, incessant technological innovation is expected to make non-destructive testing services more efficient and cost effective for the end-user industries, thus eventually bolstering the demand for it in the coming years. The demand for NDT services is expected to intensify over the coming years owing to the significant growth in the development of new infrastructure and the aging infrastructure. Furthermore, due to the shift towards advanced non-destructive testing techniques from conventional NDT techniques is expected to enhance the skills of the technicians. Thus, due to this the demand for NDT services is likely to gain momentum owing to the dearth in trained professionals.Global Non-destructive Testing (NDT) Services Market: Regional OverviewOwing to the large number of ongoing infrastructural projects and progressing manufacturing sector in countries such as China and India, Asia Pacific is expected to emerge as a prominent region favoring the growth of the market. North America is also anticipated to aid the growth of the market due to progress in aerospace and defense verticals, oil and gas sector, power transmission, and transportation.Global Non-destructive Testing (NDT) Services Market: Competitive LandscapeSome of the key participants in the market are TUV Rheinland AG, Yxlon international GMBH, Intertek Group, Zetec Inc., Mistras Group Inc., Ashtead Technology, and GE Oil & Gas Digital Solutions.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Poultry Feed Market would grow at a CAGR of 5.7% from 2017 to 2025 : Global Industry Press Release Poultry Feed Market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/industry-research/poultry-feed-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/enquiry-about-report/poultry-feed-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com/get-discount/poultry-feed-market https://www.progressivemarkets.com Progressive Markets has published a report, titled, Global Poultry Feed Market - Size, Trend, Share, Opportunity Analysis & Forecast, 20142025. As per the report, the global poultry feed market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.7% from 2017 to 2025. The research presents helpful information for market players, investors, stakeholders, VPs, and new entrants to determine growth strategies and expand into emerging countries. It also offers insights on changing market scenario, detailed segmentation, and market size. The research analyzes major market players operating in the industry. Detailed analysis of the historic period, 20142016 and the forecast period, 20172025 is provided in the research to assist market players gain detailed insights on the industry and take necessary steps to strengthen their position in the global industry.Key findings of the global poultry feed market are offered in the report along with current market scenario. Moreover, competitive scenario and recent developments in the global market are highlighted in the report. Research methodology used to gather data and statistics is elaborated. Primary and secondary research methods are implemented. Scope of the report is outlined and definitions of significant terminologies are provided in the research.Continue to Report Description and Full ToC:Market dynamics of the global poultry feed industry are provided in the study based on drivers and challenges. Rise in number of fast food restaurant chains in developing countries, increase in demand for quality poultry meat products, and the growth of meat, poultry, and egg industry drive growth in the industry. Moreover, increase in demand for animal protein and meat products supplement growth. However, increased costs of raw materials create challenges for growth in the market. Porters Five Forces Analysis (PFFA) is offered in the research to help market players to gain thorough understanding market conditions and adopt business strategies to experience growth in the future.The research offers detailed segmentation of the global poultry feed market based on type, additives, and geography. Type segment is classified into layers, boilers, and turkeys. Based on additives, the market is segmented into antibiotics, vitamins, antioxidants, amino acids, feed enzymes, and fed acidifiers.Geographically, the industry is divided into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA. Revenue generated by each segment is highlighted in the research with the help of tabular and graphical representation. Moreover, market share analysis is offered in the study for the historic period and the forecast period.Inquire About Report:Key market players operating in the global poultry feed market are analyzed in the research. The report provides a brief overview of each market player along with recent developments. Furthermore, financial and business segments of each market player are discussed in the report. Major industry players analyzed in the report are ADM (Archer Daniels Midland Company), Alltech Inc., BASF (Badishce Anilin und Soda Fabrik), ABF Plc (Associated British Food), Cargill Inc., Charoen Popkhand Foods, Evonik Industries AG, Novus International Inc., CHR.Hansen Holdings A/S, and Nutreco NV. These insights help in gaining information on competitive intensity and provide opportunities to other market players for mergers, collaborations, partnerships, and others with leading market players.Table of Content for Poultry Feed Industry1. Executive summary1.1. Key findings1.2. Market attractiveness and trend analysis1.3. Competitive landscape and recent industry development analysis2. Introduction2.1. Report description2.2. Scope and definitions2.3. Research methodology3. Market landscape3.1. Growth drivers3.1.1. Impact analysis3.2. Restrains and challenges3.2.1. Impact analysis3.3. Porters analysis3.3.1. Bargaining power of buyers3.3.2. Bargaining power of suppliers3.3.3. Threat of substitutes3.3.4. Industry rivalry3.3.5. Threat of new entrants3.4. Global poultry feed market shares analysis, 2014-20253.4.1. Global poultry feed market share by type, 2014-2025ContinuedList of TablesContain 34 TablesList of FiguresContain 47 FiguresDiscount on Full Report:About ProgressiveThe company makes use of primary corporate research and secondary inputs from trusted sources to build its own reference base. It maintains consistency in quality as it keeps itself updated with changes in market dynamics and gauging its net effect on global business trends.Reach UsAntviews Global, Serve No. 721/1Flat No 404, Sudhanshu Society,Fatak Baug, Pune 411 030Us: + 1-888-906-9222GMT: + 35-376-680-1176help@progressivemarkets.com Insurance in Cyprus Market Size, Share, Trends, Growth, Regional Outlook and Forecast 2020 Market Reports https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1762575-personal-accident-and-health-insurance-in-cyprus-key-trends-and-opportunities https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/1762575-personal-accident-and-health-insurance-in-cyprus-key-trends-and-opportunities www.linkedin.com/company/4828928 https://twitter.com/WiseGuyReports https://www.facebook.com/Wiseguyreports-1009007869213183/?fref=ts Pune, India, 16th August 2017: WiseGuyReports announced addition of new report, titled Personal Accident and Health Insurance in Cyprus, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020.Synopsis'Personal Accident and Health Insurance in Cyprus, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides a detailed analysis of the trends, drivers, challenges in the Cypriot personal accident and health insurance segment.It provides key performance indicators such as written premium, incurred loss, loss ratio, commissions and expenses, combined ratio, total assets, total investment income and retentions during the review (20112015) and forecast periods (20152020).GET SAMPLE REPORT @The report also analyzes distribution channels operating in the segment, gives a comprehensive overview of the Cypriot economy and demographics, and provides detailed information on the competitive landscape in the country.The report brings together research, modeling and analysis expertise, giving insurers access to information on segment dynamics and competitive advantages, and profiles of insurers operating in the country. The report also includes details of insurance regulations, and recent changes in the regulatory structure.Summary'Personal Accident and Health Insurance in Cyprus, Key Trends and Opportunities to 2020' report provides in-depth market analysis, information and insights into the Cypriot personal accident and health insurance segment, including: The segments growth prospects by insurance category Key trends, drivers and challenges for the segment A comprehensive overview of the Cypriot economy and demographics The various distribution channels in the segment Details of the competitive landscape in the segment Details of regulatory policy applicable to the Cypriot insurance industryScopeThis report provides a comprehensive analysis of the personal accident and health insurance segment in Cyprus: It provides historical values for the segment for the reports 20112015 review period, and projected figures for the 20152020 forecast period. It offers a detailed analysis of the key categories in the segment, and market forecasts to 2020. It profiles the top personal accident and health insurance companies in Cypriot and outlines the key regulations affecting them.Reasons to Buy Make strategic business decisions using in-depth historic and forecast market data related to the Cypriot personal accident and health insurance segment and each category within it. Understand the demand-side dynamics, key market trends and growth opportunities in the segment. Assess the competitive dynamics in the segment. Identify growth opportunities and market dynamics in key product categories. Gain insights into key regulations governing the Cypriot insurance industry, and their impact on companies and the industry's future.Key Highlights On June 16, 2017, the House Plenum approved the establishment of the National Health Scheme (NHS), a single payer health financing system that will unify both public and private healthcare facilities for availing health related services. Solvency II came into force in Cyprus on January 1, 2016. It is based on three pillars: risk-based quantitative requirements; governance and supervision; and disclosure and transparency.Table of Content: Key Points1 Key Facts and Highlights2 Executive Summary3 Economy and Demographics4 Segment Outlook4.1 Segment Indicators4.1.1 Gross written premium and penetration4.1.2 Policies sold4.1.3 Profitability4.1.4 Assets and investments5 Distribution Channel Outlook6 Competitive Landscape6.1 Company Profiles6.1.1 Universal Life Insurance company overview6.1.2 Metlife Insurance company overview6.1.3 Eurolife Insurance company overview6.1.4 CNP CypriaLife Insurance company overview6.1.5 Ethniki General Insurance company overview7 Governance, Risk and Compliance7.1 Legislation Overview and Historical Evolution7.2 Latest Changes in RegulationContinuedACCESS REPORT @Get in touch:LinkedIn:Twitter:Facebook:Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe.WISEGUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT LTDOffice No. 528, Amanora ChambersPune - 411028Maharashtra, India Global Room Thermostats for Air Conditioning Market 2017-2022: Industry development trends and strategic plan for positive Growth discuss in research report Room Thermostats for Air Conditioning Market http://www.mrsresearchgroup.com/market-analysis/global-room-thermostats-for-air-conditioning-market-2017.html http://bit.ly/2vVQjqS Global Room Thermostats for Air Conditioning Market 2017 includes Market Size, Share, Trends, Growth, Demand, Supply, Application, Segmentation, Opportunity, Market Development, production, capacity utilization, supply, Analysis and Forecast by 2022The Global Room Thermostats for Air Conditioning market 2017-2022 research report offers not only the essential information but also a statistically evaluated data about the global Room Thermostats for Air Conditioning market. The current research report provides a comprehensive study of the of the Room Thermostats for Air Conditioning market by focusing on the major areas such as future market scope, market growth dynamics, market growth manacle, and so on. In addition to all this, even the new opportunities and sophisticated technological amelioration are precisely mentioned in the report.Read Complete Report with TOC @The market research report provides the Room Thermostats for Air Conditioning market forecast trends along with the segmentation in detail. The report further mentions detailed data about the segmentation of the market based on introduction, regional analysis, market statistics, applications, as well as the supply and demand chain. Even the intricate information regarding the market share, product sales, and market size is provided in the report. These critical information help customers predict the future of the Room Thermostats for Air Conditioning industry in the global market. The dominating players mentioned in the report help understand the global market status of the Room Thermostats for Air Conditioning industry.The customers can evaluate the qualitative as well as quantitative data of the market based on the segmentation data of the Room Thermostats for Air Conditioning industry offered in the report in a precise and simpler format. The production scale, costing, profitability, and demand give a detailed analysis of the product, which in turn has a huge impact on the global market. The Room Thermostats for Air Conditioning market research report covers all the important information using the analytical tools including SWOT analysis, financial analyses, and viability study.Get Free Sample Copy of This Report @Global Room Thermostats for Air Conditioning Research Report Studies : Meticulous analysis of the parent market Imperative modification of the market dynamics Bifurcated data of the market Future, present, and past market research in terms of value and volume Evaluation of niche industrial growth and advancement Market share study Major stratagems of the dominating playersAbou Us: MRS Research Group provides a range of marketing and business research solutions designed for our clients specific needs based on our expert resources. The business scopes of Prof Research cover more than 30 industries including energy, new materials, transportation, daily consumer goods, chemicals, etc. We provide our clients with one-stop solution for all the research requirements.Joel John3422 SW 15 Street,Suit #8138Deerfield Beach,Florida 33442United StatesToll Free : +1-855-465-4651 (USA-CANADA)Tel: +1-386-310-3803Email: sales@mrsresearchgroup.com Kidney Cancer Drugs Market: Professional Survey Report 2020 Analysis, Size, Share, Growth http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/kidney-cancer-drugs-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=537 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ The global kidney cancer drugs market is dominated by a few global giants, namely F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Bayer AG, Novartis AG, GlaxoSmithKline plc, and Pfizer, Inc. This makes the competitive landscape highly consolidated in nature. Competition among the players is stiff too.Biopharmaceutical behemoth Pfizer, Inc., among them, led the global market for kidney cancer drugs with maximum share in 2013 on the back of Sunitinib and Axitinib, two of the main drugs used for treating kidney cancer. Other big names in the industry, such as Novartis and GSK too are adopting other strategies to increase their geographical outreach. They are focusing on bolstering their distribution networks in the relatively underserved markets in the emerging nations that are seeing an increasing prevalence of kidney cancer cases.This 82 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the kidney cancer drugs market. Browse through 05 data tables and 31 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market:A report by Transparency Market Research predicts the global market for kidney cancer drugs to expand at a 6.6% CAGR during the period between 2014 and 2020.North America Market Leads on the Back of Commercial Availability of Drugs from Prominent BrandsDepending upon the prominent brands of drugs, the global market for kidney cancer drugs can be segmented into Avastin (Bevacizumab), Afinitor (Everolimus), Inlyta (Axitinib), Torisel (Temsirolimus), Nexavar (Sorafenib), Sutent (Sunitinib), Proleukin (Aldesleukin/Interleukin-2), and Votrient (Pazopanib). Of them, Sutent, which is the marketed version of Sunitinib Pfizers drug in the global kidney cancer drugs market, raked in maximum revenue in 2013. This is because Sutent is mainly prescribed as the first-line of treatment against kidney cancer. Sutent is also among the most studied drugs in its class for multiple indications, as it targets multiple receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs).Geography-wise, the key segments of the global market for kidney cancer drugs are North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Rest of the World (RoW). North America, among them, accounts for maximum market share owing to most prominent brands of kidney cancer treatment drugs being commercially available. In addition, a substantial number of patients and a solid healthcare system tailor-made for the pharmaceutical industry is also majorly fuelling the market in the region. North America accounted for 45% of market share in 2013.Rising Population of Geriatrics Highly Susceptible to Kidney Cancer Driving MarketThe global market for kidney cancer drugs is predicted to clock steady growth in the upcoming years because of an increasing geriatric population and higher prevalence of kidney cancer. As per the American Cancer Society, those afflicted with kidney cancer are mostly in the higher age bracket. The average age of people diagnosed with the malady is 64. Kidney cancer is very uncommon in people under the age of 45. The organization also finds that kidney cancer is one of the 10 most common cancers in both men and women.Request a sample of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving kidney cancer drugs market during 2014 - 2020:Approval of novel drug molecules is also serving to catalyze growth in the global kidney cancer drugs market. Posing a challenge to the market, on the contrary, is the growing sales of generic drug variants on account of expensiveness of branded cancer drugs.A trend noticed in the global market for kidney cancer drugs is the manufacturers shifting their gaze towards developing economies to bring about sales growth.This review is based on the findings of a TMR report, titled, Kidney Cancer Drugs Market (Major Drugs: Afinitor (Everolimus), Avastin (Bevacizumab), Inlyta (Axitinib), Nexavar (Sorafenib), Proleukin (Aldesleukin), Sutent (Sunitinib), Torisel (Temsirolimus), Votrient (Pazopanib)) - Global Industry Analysis, Pipeline Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2014 - 2020.The report segments the global kidney cancer drugs market as follows:Kidney Cancer Drugs Market, by Major Branded DrugsSutent (Sunitinib)Nexavar (Sorafenib)Afinitor (Everolimus)Votrient (Pazopanib)Inlyta (Axitinib)Avastin (Bevacizumab)Torisel (Temsirolimus)Proleukin (Aldesleukin)Kidney Cancer Drugs Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificRest of the World (RoW)Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Nurse Call Systems Market: Detailed Analysis and Profiling of Additional Market Players http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/nurse-call-system-equipment-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=2173 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ The global nurse call systems market will witness industry participants concentrating on the need for better patient response time and also on reducing and eliminating nurse fatigue. Global players in the nurse call systems market are differentiating their products by integration of devices with different diagnostic technologies and solutions. Market players are also concentrating on offering customized services as per the requirements of the hospital by integration. Key players operating in the nurse call systems market worldwide include, Stanley Healthcare, Rauland-Borg Corporation, Hill-Rom Holdings, Inc., Ascom Holding AG, Tyco SimplexGrinnell, Cornell Communications, Inc., Jeron Electronic Systems, Azure Healthcare Limited, Inc., and Vigil Health Solutions, Inc., states a new report published by Transparency Market Research (TMR).This 95 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the nurse call systems market. Browse through 16 data tables and 31 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market:According to the TMR report, the global nurse call systems market will be worth US$1.6 bn by 2020. On the basis of equipment type, the nurse call mobile systems are projected to witness the maximum growth on account of the high demand for mobile solutions. By end use, the hospital segment is leading but the demand for effective communication systems and patient safety will drive the growth of the assisted living centers segment during the forecast period.Asia Pacific to Witness Rapid Growth in Nurse Call Systems MarketBy communication technology, the wireless nurse call communication segment will witness a rapid growth in the coming years, driven by the mobility and flexibility in communication offered by this wireless call technology. By geography, North America stood in a dominant position in the past. Europe is anticipated to witness a sluggish growth in the coming years. Asia Pacific is anticipated to emerge as the region witnessing fastest growth in the nurse call systems market.Growing Geriatric Population to Remain Key Driver for Rising Demand for Nurse Call SystemsThe growing geriatric population remains the primary growth driver for the global nurse call systems market. The elderly population base requires more efficient and responsive healthcare communication and thus, will be key driver for this market. The growing budget allocation for the healthcare of people, especially the geriatric population will encourage the growth of the nurse call systems market.Request a sample of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving nurse call systems market during 2014 - 2020:Government Regulations Regarding Distribution of Nurse Call Systems to Act as Barrier for Growth of MarketThe rising penetration of the Internet of Things (IoT) is yet another boon for the nurse call systems market, states a TMR analyst. The internet of things has become an important part of the healthcare system and this will fuel the growth of the nurse call systems market. However, the regulations regarding the distribution of nurse call systems by the government will pose a challenge for the market. Government regulations pertaining to the manufacturing of the nurse call systems will also hamper the growth of the global nurse call systems market in the coming years.This information is based on the findings of a report published by Transparency Market Research, titled, Nurse Call Systems Market ( Equipment Type - Nurse Call Buttons, Nurse Call Intercoms, Nurse Call Mobile Systems, and Nurse Call Integrated Communication Systems; Communication Technology - Wired Communication Equipment and Wireless Communication Equipment; and End-use - Hospitals, OPD Clinics, Assisted Living Centers, and Ambulatory Services) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020.The global nurse call systems market is categorized into the following segments:Nurse Call Systems Market, by Equipment TypeNurse Call ButtonsNurse Call IntercomsNurse Call Mobile SystemsNurse Call Integrated Communication SystemsNurse Call Systems Market, by Communication TechnologyWired Communication EquipmentWireless Communication EquipmentNurse Call Systems Market, by End-useHospitalsOPD ClinicsAssisted Living CentersAmbulatory ServicesNurse Call Systems Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificRest of the World (RoW)Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Hydrogen Peroxide Market By End-User (Paper & Pulp, Chemical, Waste Water Treatment, Mining) & Forecast by 2016 - 2024 U.S Hydrogen Peroxide Market size, by end-user, 2015 & 2024 (USD Million) https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/851 https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/851 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/hydrogen-peroxide-market https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/defoamers-market According to Global Market Insights, Inc. Hydrogen Peroxide Market size is estimated to witness a CAGR of 5% over the period of 2016-2024.Hydrogen Peroxide Market will exhibit an upward trend over the coming years, with the urge to maintain the environment sustainability and the rising pressure to minimize plastic wastes globally.Increasing awareness for eco-friendly packing process and recycled paper will stimulate the hydrogen peroxide market outlook notably. The packaging industry is focusing towards flexible packaging material than plastics to cater to the growing demand. Moreover, consumption of paper across the globe influencing the global paper & pulp industry has been a strong driving factor for the growth of the hydrogen peroxide market.Make an Inquiry before buying @Increasing adoption of (HPPO) hydrogen peroxide propylene oxide process will further fuel the demand for its key raw material i.e. hydrogen peroxide in the coming years. Companies such as Dow Chemicals, BASF SE, and Solvay have collaborated to use the HPPO technology. Furthermore, the use of electronic grade hydrogen peroxide in etching of semiconductors boards will have a dynamic impact on the hydrogen peroxide industry revenue trends. Companies such as Evonik and Solvay have commercialized the electronics grade variants and are investing intensively in the research and development.Asia Pacific dominated with 50% of the global hydrogen market in 2015 with a revenue of over USD 2,000 million and is predicted to substantially acquire the market share in the coming timeframe. APAC hydrogen peroxide market growth, lead by China will exhibit a 6% CAGR over 2016-2024, driven by indulgent government norms and cheap workforce.Request for a Sample Copy of this Report @Based on end-use, hydrogen peroxide industry finds extensive application across Paper & Pulp, Waste Water Treatment, Chemical, and Mining. Hydrogen peroxide market size in chemical sector is projected to surpass a revenue of USD 2,000 million by 2024. This sector will observe escalating gains over the coming years, owing to HPPO process and increase in usage of propylene oxide in commercial products like synthetic emollients, flame retardants, drilling chemicals for oil fields etc.Paper and pulp industry, dominating the global market share by 40% in 2015, is expected to record a CAGR of 5% over the period of 2016-2024, owing to its increasing demand for stationery and recycled paper. This lucrative sector may consume hydrogen peroxide worth USD 2500 million in the coming seven years.Another sector witnessing heavy gains in the hydrogen peroxide industry is the waste water treatment industry. This industry will observe escalating growth at a rate of 5.5% over the period of 2016-2024. Government regulations for waste water treatments in industry and environmental protection are the attributing factors for the industry growth.Browse key industry insights spread across 113 pages with 89 market data tables & 11 figures & charts from the report, Hydrogen Peroxide Market Size By End-User (Paper & Pulp, Chemical, Waste Water Treatment, Mining) Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Italy, China, India, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, GCC) Application Growth Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016 2024 in detail along with the table of contents:North America and Europe hydrogen peroxide market report are expected to cross USD 1,000 million by 2024. However, strict regulations by REACH, EPA, FDA and OSHA will shift the focus of the manufacturers to Asia Pacific regions.Notable hydrogen peroxide industry participants are AkzoNobel, Arkema, Gujarat Alkalies, Solvay S.A., Kemira Oyj, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, Gujarat Alkalies & Chemicals, and Evonik Industries.Related Report: Defoamers Market Size By Product (Water-Based, Oil-Based, Silicone-Based), By Application (Pulp & Paper, Food & Beverages, Paints & Coatings, Water Treatment), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Italy, China, India, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, GCC), Growth Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2016 2024About Global Market Insights, Inc.Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.29L Atlantic Avenue, Suite L 105Ocean View Delaware 19970 United StatesEmail: sales@gminsights.com Tuberculosis Testing Market - Emerging Trends and New Technologies Research 2014 - 2020 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/tuberculosis-testing-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=2267 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Key players in the global tuberculosis (TB) testing market, according to a report by Transparency Market Research, are Becton, Dickinson and Company, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., Hain Lifescience GmbH, Hologic Inc. QIAGEN, Abbott Laboratories, Alere Inc., Epistem plc, Cepheid, bioMerieux SA, Akonni Biosystems Inc., and Sanofi.Among them, the top players namely, Becton, Dickinson and Company, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Hain Lifescience GmbH are focusing hard to develop novel tuberculosis testing methodologies.A report by Transparency Market Research predicts the global tuberculosis testing market to expand at a CAGR of 4.3% between 2014 and 2020. Progressing at this pace, the global is expected to reach a valuation of US$2.6 bn by the end of 2020 from US$1.9 bn in 2013.This 109 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the tuberculosis testing market. Browse through 07 data tables and 31 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market:Culture-based TB Testing to Stay Significant in FutureCulture-based TB tests accounted for the leading share of the market in 2013. The segment contributed US$691.2 mn to the overall market in the same year. Culture-based TB tests are expected to display steadfast growth over the forecast period owing to their reliability and accuracy. On the other hand, other tests segment is anticipated to display the swiftest growth on the back of several advantages such as high accuracy, single visit requirement, and rapid result generation among others.By geography, North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World are the segments into which the global TB testing market is divided. In 2013, Asia Pacific accounted for the leading 35% share in the overall market. The presence of a large pool of TB patients due to high discharge of particulate matter and high air pollution in countries such as India and Malaysia are key factors behind the regions leading share in the market.Involvement of Leading Non-profit Organizations for Development of Novel Techniques Benefits MarketSome of the key growth drivers of the global tuberculosis testing market include increasing incidence of tuberculosis and the increasing adoption of novel and advanced molecular rapid culture diagnostic tests worldwide. The increasing involvement of some leading non-profit organizations for the development of novel TB diagnostic tests is having a profound impact on the growth of this market. The market is also receiving a boost due to the entry of new product developers with a robust pipeline of testing methodologies.As per a report from the World Health Organization, tuberculosis has been identified as one of the leading causes of death globally. In 2013, tuberculosis was the cause of 1.5 mn deaths worldwide, adds the report. This alarming number has led to the increased demand for TB testing techniques. In addition, a number of government as well as non-government bodies are involved in programs for awareness for TB and preventive care programs, leading to the increased demand for TB testing. For instance, the World Health Organization and the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics have been influential in spreading awareness regarding TB, need for early diagnosis, and treatment options, and are also spearheading preventive programs such as Stop TB.Furthermore, the immense potential for tuberculosis testing programs in developing economies will extend growth opportunities to the market.Request a sample of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving tuberculosis testing market during 2014 - 2020:Proving a hindrance to the growth of TB testing market is the soaring cost of a number of tuberculosis tests.The review presented is based on the findings of a report by Transparency Market Research, titled Tuberculosis Testing Market ( Test Type - Smear Microscopy, Culture Based Tests, Nucleic Acid Testing, Mantoux Test, Radiography, and Drug Susceptibility Testing ) - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020.The global tuberculosis testing market is segmented as follows:Tuberculosis Testing Market, by Test TypeSmear MicroscopyCulture Based TestsNucleic Acid TestingMantoux Test (Tuberculin Skin Test)Radiography (Chest X-Ray)Drug Susceptibility Testing (DST)Other Tests (Serological Tests, IGRA, ADA, etc.)Tuberculosis Testing Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaEuropeAsia-PacificRest of the World (RoW)Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Cell Culture Market Status & Forecast showcasing Progressive Growth including key players Lonza, BD, HiMedia, Takara, BBI outlook-2022 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/sample-report/600434-global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-cell-culture-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/buy-now?format=1&report=600434 https://www.htfmarketreport.com/request-discount/600434-global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-cell-culture-market https://www.htfmarketreport.com/reports/600434-global-north-america-europe-and-asia-pacific-south-america-middle-east-and-africa-cell-culture-market A new research document with title 'Global (North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East and Africa) Cell Culture Market 2017 Forecast to 2022' covering detailed analysis, Competitive landscape, forecast and strategies. The study covers geographic analysis that includes regions like North America, Mexico, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and important players/vendors such as Lonza, BD, HiMedia, Takara, BBI................The report will help user gain market insights, future trends and growth prospects for forecast period of 2022Request a sample report @SummaryCell culture is the process by which cells are grown under controlled conditions, generally outside of their natural environment. Cell culture is one of the major tools used in cellular and molecular biology, since it provides excellent model systems for studying the normal physiology and biochemistry of cells and the effects of drugs and toxic compounds on the cells. It is also used in the development of biological compounds.Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the Cell Culture 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 coversLife TechnologiesCorning (Cellgro)Sigma-AldrichThermo FisherMerck MilliporeGE HealthcareLonzaBDHiMediaTakaraBBIMarket 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, coversClassical Media & SaltsSerum-free MediaStem Cell MediaOtherMarket Segment by Applications, can be divided intoBiopharmaceutical ManufacturingTissue Culture & EngineeringOtherBuy this report @There are 15 Chapters to deeply display the global Cell Culture market.Chapter 1, to describe Cell Culture Introduction, product scope, market overview, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the top manufacturers of Cell Culture, with sales, revenue, and price of Cell Culture, 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 Cell Culture, for each region, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, to analyze the market by countries, by type, by application and by manufacturers, 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, Cell Culture market forecast, by regions, type and application, with sales and revenue, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, 14 and 15, to describe Cell Culture sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers, Research Findings and Conclusion, appendix and data sourceGet customization & check discount for report @Table of Contents1 Market Overview1.1 Cell Culture Introduction1.2 Market Analysis by Type1.2.1 Classical Media & Salts1.2.2 Serum-free Media1.2.3 Stem Cell Media1.2.4 Other1.3 Market Analysis by Applications1.3.1 Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing1.3.2 Tissue Culture & Engineering1.3.3 Other1.4 Market Analysis by Regions1.4.1 North America (USA, Canada and Mexico)1.4.1.1 USA Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.1.2 Canada Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.1.3 Mexico Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2 Europe (Germany, France, UK, Russia and Italy)1.4.2.1 Germany Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.2 France Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.3 UK Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.4 Russia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.2.5 Italy Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3 Asia-Pacific (China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia)1.4.3.1 China Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.2 Japan Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.3 Korea Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.4 India Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.3.5 Southeast Asia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4 South America, Middle East and Africa1.4.4.1 Brazil Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.2 Egypt Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.3 Saudi Arabia Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.4 South Africa Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.4.4.5 Nigeria Market States and Outlook (2012-2022)1.5 Market Dynamics1.5.1 Market Opportunities1.5.2 Market Risk1.5.3 Market Driving Force....ContinuedView Detailed Table of Content @Thanks for reading this article, you can also get individual chapter wise section or region wise report version like North America, Europe or Asia.HTF Market Report is a wholly owned brand of HTF market Intelligence Consulting Private Limited. HTF Market Report global research and market intelligence consulting organization is uniquely positioned to not only identify growth opportunities but to also empower and inspire you to create visionary growth strategies for futures, enabled by our extraordinary depth and breadth of thought leadership, research, tools, events and experience that assist you for making goals into a reality. Our understanding of the interplay between industry convergence, Mega Trends, technologies and market trends provides our clients with new business models and expansion opportunities. We are focused on identifying the Accurate Forecast in every industry we cover so our clients can reap the benefits of being early market entrants and can accomplish their Goals & Objectives.Contact us :Nidhi Bhavsar (PR & Marketing Manager)HTF Market Intelligence Consulting Private LimitedUnit No. 429, Parsonage Road Edison, NJNew Jersey USA 08837sales@htfmarketreport.com+1 (206) 317 1218 Global Digital Music Market with Focus on Live Streaming: Size, Trends and Forecasts (2016-2020) - Researchmoz http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=S&repid=810263 http://www.researchmoz.us/global-digital-music-market-with-focus-on-live-streaming-size-trends-and-forecasts-2016-2020-report.html http://www.researchmoz.us/enquiry.php?type=E&repid=810263 http://www.researchmoz.us/ http://bit.ly/1TBmnVG Researchmoz added Most up-to-date research on "Global Digital Music Market with Focus on Live Streaming: Size, Trends and Forecasts (2016-2020)" to its huge collection of research reports.The report entitled Global Digital Music Market with Focus on Live Streaming: Size, Trends and Forecasts (2016-2020) analyzes the global digital music market with detailed analysis of market sizing and growth. It analyzes market by value and market share by sources with focus on streaming music.To Get Sample Copy of Report visit @A detailed overview of streaming music market is also discussed in the report. Streaming music market analysis has been done on the basis of value, volume and market segment. The report also provides an analysis of consumer behavior on the basis of consumer preference, spending nature of consumer, consumer interest in streaming services, consumer listening hours and consumers respond towards top streaming music players.A brief regional analysis of the US and Germany digital music market is also being done in the report. The US is the largest market for digital music globally with the highest revenue. Germany is the largest digital music market within the European region and third largest in the world. The report provides detailed description of the US and Germany on the basis of value, volume and market share by segment.The report also assesses the key opportunities available and summarizes the driving forces that are and will be accountable for growth of the industry. Growth of digital music market has also been forecasted for the period 2016-2020, taking into consideration previous growth outlines, growth drivers and the existing and forthcoming trends.Furthermore, the report portrayed a competitive landscape of the digital music market with detailed comparison of top market players. Apple music is the market leader with highest revenue and number of paid subscribers in 2015.A brief company profiling of major market players namely Apple Inc., Spotify Limited, Deezer and Pandora Media Inc. has provided in the report on the basis of aspects like business overview, financial overview and business strategies adopted by these companies.Browse Detail Report With Full TOC @Country CoverageThe USGermanyCompany CoverageApple Inc.Spotify LimitedDeezerPandora Media Inc.Executive SummaryMusic market has two major segments: Physical and digital. Physical music market comprises of music in the form of CD or vinyl whereas digital music market composed of audio content that is distributed to the music lovers through internet. Digital sector includes downloads as well as on demand digital streaming. Digital streaming is either subscription based or ad-supported which is free of charge. In ad-supported music, advertiser is liable to pay for the music streaming on behalf of customers. Current music marketplace offers a wide variety of digital options like download, streaming, cloud, music videos and ringtones.The global digital music market is growing tremendously with astonishing growth rates over the past few years and is anticipated to grow further over the forecasted period (2016-2020). Major factors contributing in the growth of the market are rising smartphone penetration globally specially in developing economies, availability of cheap internet services, expansion of streaming format, technological advancements, change in consumer behavior and consumer desire to access latest music etc.In the forecasted period, market will be pushed by increasing number of on- demand consumers, collaboration between music providers with social media platform, rising number of catalog software and blending of streaming music with wearable technology. In spite of high growth, market is still facing certain challenges that are hampering the growth of the market. Challenges encountered by the market are lack of unique services, rampant piracy, legal complexity and intense competition.Make an Enquiry of this report @About ResearchMozResearchMoz is the one stop online destination to find and buy market research reports & Industry Analysis. We fulfill all your research needs spanning across industry verticals with our huge collection of market research reports. We provide our services to all sizes of organizations and across all industry verticals and markets. Our Research Coordinators have in-depth knowledge of reports as well as publishers and will assist you in making an informed decision by giving you unbiased and deep insights on which reports will satisfy your needs at the best price.Mr. NachiketState Tower,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY - 12207United StatesEmail: sales@researchmoz.usWebsite @Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free)Tel: +1-518-621-2074Follow us on LinkedIn @ Pancreatic Cancer Treatment Market share research by applications and regions for 2017-2024 Global Market Insights, Inc. https://www.gminsights.com/request-toc/upcoming/1941 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/pancreatic-cancer-treatment-market https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/1941 https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/cancer-profiling-market https://www.gminsights.com https://gminsights.wordpress.com The global Pancreatic Cancer Treatment Market share report provides numbers for applications and regional segments of the industry covering historical as well as forecast data for decision makers.Pancreatic cancer treatment market size should witness significant growth due to increasing healthcare expenditure, technological advancements and drug innovations coupled with huge number of unmet needs associated with the disease. Increased tobacco consumption, smoking, obesity and rising awareness levels regarding various treatment options should further drive the business size. Incidence rates of disease is mostly observed in the age group of 65 to 75 years. Therefore, rising geriatric population base are more prone to such disorder.Request for an in-depth table of contents for this report @The National Pancreatic Cancer Foundation provide support for patients and families fighting against the disease. The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), is a non-profile alliance of leading 27 cancer centers globally. The alliance provides books for patients on esophageal, lung, stomach and various other cancer types. Increased government initiatives to support and spread disease awareness should boost the therapy demand. High cost associated with the disease treatment, adverse side effects, and difficulty in diagnosis at initial stage are some of the factors restraining industry growth.Pancreatic cancer is divided into two major types known as exocrine and endocrine tumors. About 95% of cases are exocrine. Its most common type is pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma. The endocrine type is less prevalent, and still looking for effective treatment options. Hospitals should contribute for major revenue share over the forecast period. Increased disease treatment procedures in hospitals and growing number of patient visit should drive the segment growth.Browse key industry insights from the report Pancreatic Cancer Treatment Market in detail along with the table of contents:Targeted therapy should contribute for significant revenue share over the forecast period. The growth is attributed to the development of innovative biologic therapies and targeted drugs in order to decrease the adverse effects of the ongoing therapy, such as chemotherapy. Targeted therapy attacks specific pathway or proteins involved in the growth of tumor cells. Researchers are working to develop novel targeted therapies which will drive pancreatic cancer treatment market growth over the forecast period.In 2015, as per the National Center for Biotechnology Information, pancreatic cancer is one of the most severe malignancies and it is considered as the most common cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. The American Pancreatic Association (APA) is the association for doctors and researchers involved in exocrine pancreas disease. The aim of the association is to foster clinical and basic science research for the treatment of diseases. These factors should drive U.S. pancreatic cancer treatment market growth during the forecast timeframe.Make an inquiry for purchasing this report @In July 2015, Australasian Gastro?Intestinal Trials Group (AGITG) had organized Pancreatic Cancer Surgical Guidelines Workshop in collaboration with Avner Pancreatic Cancer Foundation. The Australian Pancreatic Cancer Genome Initiative (APGI) is the worldwide research initiative of more than 100 scientists, allied health professionals and clinicians engaged in research and care. Such associations should drive industry growth over the forecast period.Some of the industry players are Eli Lilly and Company, Celgene, F. Hoffmann-La Roche, Novartis, Clovis Oncology, Amgen, Merck, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, Pfizer and PharmaCyte Biotech. Partnerships, mergers and collaborations with established industry players are the major strategies adopted by the companies to gain revenue share.Browse Related Reports:Cancer Profiling Market Size, Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, France, Italy, UK, Spain, China, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, South Africa, Egypt), Application Development Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2017 2024Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb:Blog:About Global Market Insights:Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology. HD Map Market Professional Survey Capacity, Production and Share by Manufacturers 2017 Reports Monitor https://www.reportsmonitor.com/request-sample/?post=270749 www.reportsmonitor.com HD Map (High Definition Map) is one of the essential members of the safe driving core chain. High Definition means that the absolute coordinates are more accurate. Absolute coordinate accuracy refers to the accuracy of a target on a map and a real thing in the real world. The absolute accuracy of a HD Map is generally fine at the sub-meter level, and the relative accuracy of the landscape (eg, the relative position accuracy of the lane and lane, lane and lane) is often higher. On the other hand, HD Map contain more informative and detailed information on road traffic information. HD Map not only have high-precision coordinates, but also accurate road shape, and each lane slope, curvature, heading, elevation, roll data are also included.Browse Full Table of Contents and Report Description @ https://www.reportsmonitor.com/united-states-hd-map-market-by-manufacturers-states-type-and-application-forecast-to-2022-2/Scope of the Report:This report focuses on the HD Map in United States market, to split the market based on manufacturers, states, type and application.Market Segment by Manufacturers, this report coversHereTomTomGoogleAlibaba (AutoNavi)NavinfoMapmyindiaSandbornMarket Segment by States, coveringCaliforniaTexasNew YorkFloridaIllinoisMarket Segment by Type, coversType 1Type 2Market Segment by Applications, can be divided intoADASAutonomous VehiclesOthersFor Requesting a Sample Copy of This Report, Please Visit @There are 17 Chapters to deeply display the United States HD Map market.Chapter 1, to describe HD Map Introduction, product type and application, market overview, market analysis by States, market opportunities, market risk, market driving force;Chapter 2, to analyze the manufacturers of HD Map, with profile, main business, news, sales, price, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 3, to display the competitive situation among the top manufacturers, with sales, revenue and market share in 2016 and 2017;Chapter 4, to show the United States market by States, covering California, New York, Texas, Illinois and Florida, with sales, price, revenue and market share of HD Map, for each state, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 5 and 6, to show the market by type and application, with sales, price, revenue, market share and growth rate by type, application, from 2012 to 2017;Chapter 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11, to analyze the key States by Type and Application, covering California, New York, Texas, Illinois and Florida, with sales, revenue and market share by types and applications;Chapter 12, HD Map market forecast, by States, type and application, with sales, price, revenue and growth rate forecast, from 2017 to 2022;Chapter 13, to analyze the manufacturing cost, key raw materials and manufacturing process etc.Chapter 14, to analyze the industrial chain, sourcing strategy and downstream end users (buyers);Chapter 15, to describe sales channel, distributors, traders, dealers etc.Chapter 16 and 17, to describe HD Map Research Findings and Conclusion, Appendix, methodology and data source.About UsReports Monitor (ReportsMonitor.com) is a platform for companies looking to meet their market research and business intelligence requirements. Our aim is to change the dynamics of the Market Research industry by providing quality intelligence backed by data. Your requirement for market forecasting is fulfilled by our exclusive quantitative and analytics driven intelligence. We have a vast collection of reports, covering maximum industries worldwide. Our process is meticulously planned and executed in order to use maximum resources and explore the market for getting genuine insights. The prime focus is to get reliable data, Decision makers can now rely on our distinct data gathering methods to get factual market forecasting and detailed analysis.Contact UsJay MatthewsDirect: +1 513 549-5911Email: sales@reportsmonitor.comWebsite: APAC, LATAM, and ROW Veterinary Antiseptics Market to Propel due to growing number of pet owners http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=6448 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/veterinary-antiseptics-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ According to Transparency Market Research in its recent publication, Zoetis Inc., Merial, and Merck Animal Health the three leading players in the Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of the World veterinary antiseptics market had collectively taken up 46.3% of the market in 2014. Companies in this moderately consolidated market are expected to will pay more attention devising antiseptics for animals segment. Recent developments in cosmetic-based antiseptic products, including shampoos and skin lotions are expected to be strong game-changers for the veterinary antiseptics market and its players over the coming years.The TMR report states that the Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of the World veterinary antiseptics market was valued at US$243.0 mn in 2014. The market is expected to reach US$401.6 mn by the end of 2023, after expanding at a CAGR of 5.6% within a forecast period from 2015 to 2023. Asia Pacific is expected to take up a leading chunk of the overall demand volume in the market for the coming years, owing to swift healthcare industry evolution and a high urban population, in countries such as India and China. Based on products, iodophors and iodine are expected to continue enjoying a high demand volume over the coming years, despite the presence and development of substitutes.This 95 page report gives readers a comprehensive overview of the APAC, LATAM, and ROW Veterinary Antiseptics market. Browse through 10 data tables and 22 figures to unlock the hidden opportunities in this market:Growing Pet Adoptions and Meat Consumption Spurs Veterinary Antiseptics Demand"One of the key factors driving the demand in the market for veterinary antiseptics is the growing number of pet owners in urban areas. The adoption rate for of animals in emerging economies is expanding at a swift pace, creating an overall incremental demand for pet care and veterinary products. Pet ownership and rising disposable incomes have made their mark in the pet care markets as a growing number of pet owners are investing purchasing high quality animal care products, including antiseptics, states a TMR analyst.The rise in demand for meat, milk, eggs, and other animal and poultry products across Asia Pacific and Latin America is quite significant a factor to influence the demand for veterinary products and services in the animal husbandry industry of these regions. Rising disposable income is again a key driver for the veterinary antiseptics in the overall market as it allows for more consumers to purchase better quality meat and dairy products. The demand for veterinary antiseptics is bolstered further by the growing awareness among consumers regarding animal diseases and the need to buy products created from healthy animals. Thus, the rising expenditure on animal healthcare is creating a direct impact on the revenues of the Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of the World veterinary antiseptics market.Highly Dynamic Regional Regulatory Profiles Hamper Overall MarketCountry-specific regulatory guidelines, especially in countries such as Japan, have been hampering the growth of this market in the recent years. The long-drawn process of approval, despite the international approval of the product, has restrained the veterinary antiseptics market in these regions over the recent years. The overall market is also being hampered by the significant dip in the number of veterinarians across emerging economies. Poor career prospects for veterinarians in developing nations of India, China, and Brazil in the past few years is also anticipated to put a downward pressure on sales of veterinary antiseptics as the number of prescriptions will drop.Request a sample of this report to know what opportunities will emerge in the rapidly evolving APAC, LATAM, and ROW Veterinary Antiseptics market during 2015 - 2023:The information presented in this review is based on a Transparency Market Research report, titled, Veterinary Antiseptics Market (Product - Iodine and Iodophors, Chlorhexidine, Alcohol, and Hydrogen peroxide; and Species - Bovine, Porcine, Ovine, Equine, Canine, Feline, and Camelidae) - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2015 - 2023.Key segments of the APAC, LATAM, and ROW Veterinary Antiseptics MarketThe Veterinary Antiseptics Market in Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of the World, by ProductIodine and IodophorsChlorhexidineAlcoholHydrogen peroxideOthersThe Veterinary Antiseptics Market in Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of the World, by SpeciesBovinePorcineOvineEquineCanineFelineCamelidaeThe Veterinary Antiseptics Market in Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Rest of the World, by GeographyAsia PacificJapanChinaIndiaRest of Asia PacificLatin AmericaBrazilArgentinaMexicoRest of Latin AmericaTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Saudi Arabia Defibrillators Market: Hospitals Remain Significant Users of Defibrillators due to Large Pool of Trained Professionals http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/saudi-arabia-defibrillators-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=5867 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ The key players operating in the Saudi Arabia defibrillators market are HeartSine Technologies, Inc., Cardiac Science Corporation, Philips Healthcare, Physio-Control Inc., Schiller AG, and ZOLL Medical Corporation. These players are anticipated to focus on improving and assuring product quality to end users to build goodwill with products that are safer, observes Transparency Market Research in its latest research report. Companies will also endeavor to expand their market share by raising awareness about defibrillation through impactful promotional campaigns.With these collaborative efforts of market players, the Saudi Arabia defibrillators market is expected to be worth US$49.8 mn by 2020 steadily rising at a CAGR of 8.3% from US$28.6 mn in 2013. The market will be driven by the ALS defibrillators segment as the opportunity in this product segment is anticipated to reach US$36.5 mn by 2020. An increasing adoption of ALS defibrillators in the ever-expanding healthcare sector has created a remarkable opportunity for this product segment over the past few years. However, the affordability of AEDs is expected to propel this segment as well.Obtain Report Details:Hospitals Lead the Way with High Adoption of ALSAmongst the end users, hospitals held a dominant share in the overall market as ambulances are the first point of contact in case of sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) in out-of-hospital settings. Furthermore, hospitals, being the primary caregivers, have a high adoption rate of ALS defibrillators as they facilitate monitoring of various health parameters at the same time. During the forecast period, the hospitals segment in the Saudi Arabia defibrillators market will reach a valuation of US$37.6 mn, expanding at a CAGR of 7.5% between 2014 and 2020.Vernacular Medical Assistance Wins Hearts of End UsersTechnologically advanced defibrillators that provide audio and video medical assistance in Arabic languages have boosted the overall market in recent years. As these machines require highly-skilled persons to operate them safely, the integration of vernacular language has enabled less-skilled professionals to also use these machines in a non-hospital setup. Features such as voice assistance have further increased the uptake of defibrillators across Saudi Arabia.Initiatives taken by public and private medical organizations to safeguard human life have also worked in favor of this market. For instance, the installation of AEDs in aircraft and in religious places to resuscitate pilgrims in case of emergencies has given this market a substantial boost in the past few years.Poor Regulatory Framework Hampers Market GrowthThe lack of government interventions and supportive regulatory framework has hampered the sales of defibrillators across Saudi Arabia. The market is also being restrained by the poor collaboration between the public and private enterprises to raise awareness about defibrillators. Analysts predict that poor knowledge amongst overall population about sudden cardiac arrest and the importance of defibrillator and CPR has largely discouraged the overall market.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report:The expensive import duty that public hospitals, as well as private units, have to pay to own defibrillators has created a negative impact on the overall market. Furthermore, lack of interaction with the consumers and the poor branding and awareness campaigns are further dissuading the market growth.To stay ahead of the competition, players should focus on enhancing the quality of their products, suggest the lead author of this research report. Integrating features such as remote patient monitoring and telemedicine are anticipated to be game-changing strategies for the players operating in the Saudi Arabia defibrillators market in the coming years. Furthermore, these features might also help by facilitating a prompt or a right line of treatment that paramedics should take in case of an emergency.This review is based on Transparency Market Researchs report, titled Saudi Arabia Defibrillators Market Industry Analysis, Size, Volume, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 2020.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Paper Based Consumer Bags Market to Undertake Strapping Growth by 2024 Paper Based Consumer Bags Market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/paper-based-consumer-bags-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/toc/paper-based-consumer-bags-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/paper-based-consumer-bags-market http://www.zionmarketresearch.com https://zionmarketresearch.wordpress.com/ Global Paper Based Consumer Bags Market: OverviewThe paper based consumer bags are used widely than the plastic bags due to the negative effects of the plastic on the environment. The need to reduce the plastic waste from the environment, the manufacturers shifted their focus on paper based packaging. Paper bags are used in shopping, gifts, food outlets, and others.Global Paper Based Consumer Bags Market: SegmentationThe global market for the paper based consumer bags is fragmented into its type of material, product, and the end-use. On the basis of the material type, the global market is segregated into the white board, matte paper, and kraft paper. The kraft paper segmented is sub-segregated into non-bleached and bleached. On the basis of the product type, the market is categorized into laminated bags and nonlaminated bags. These segments are further sub-categorized into nonreinforced and reinforced. The nonreinforced type can be regular and multiwall. On the basis of the end user type, the market is divided into regular use bags, promotional bag, gift bag, shopping bag, wine bags, and others.Request Free Sample Report @Global Paper Based Consumer Bags Market: Growth FactorsThe key factor that is driving the paper based consumer bags market is the shift in the focus by the manufacturing industries from the plastic to paper in order to encourage the use of the biodegradable and eco-friendly materials is driving the growth of the market. The other major factor that is driving the paper based consumer bags market is the availability of the cost effective raw material. The papers can be recycled and can be reused thus reducing the carbon footprint and increasing the profit of the companies thus fueling the growth of the market. There are certain factors that will restrain the growth of the market such as the paper-based consumer bags cannot be used for packing materials such as liquid, heavy weight materials, and chemicals. The other restrictions on using paper based packing are they tear off easily thus only lighter goods can be packed. The other substitute that is plastic film has better strength and resistance, thus are preferred widely. All these factors are affecting the growth of the paper based consumer bags market negatively.Request Report TOC (Table of Contents) @Global Paper Based Consumer Bags Market: Regional AnalysisAccording to the regional study, the global market for the paper based consumer bags is diversified into Eastern Europe, North America, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. The regions that are leading the paper based consumer bags market are Western Europe and North America. The factor that supports the market growth in these regions includes the favorable policies of the government regarding the use of the paper bags. The regions of Asia Pacific and Latin America are expected to be the most productive market. The market growth in the regions such as the Middle East and Africa and in Eastern Europe will have sluggish growth.Browse detail report @Global Paper Based Consumer Bags Market: Competitive PlayersThe key market players that are involved in the paper based consumer bags market include International Paper, Inc., Smurfit Kappa Packaging, Llc., KapStone Paper and Packaging Corporation Company, Guangzhou SiWei Printing & Packaging Co., Ltd., Wenzhou Myway Arts & Crafts Co., Ltd., Global-Pak, Inc., Segezha Group, Ampac Holdings, Llc., Interconti Systems Inc., and Qingdao Maxfitlabel Co., Ltd.About Us: Zion Market Research is an obligated company. We create futuristically, cutting edge, informative reports ranging from industry reports, a company reports to country reports. We provide our clients not only with market statistics unveiled by avowed private publishers and public organizations but also with Vogue and newest industry reports along with pre-eminent and niche company profiles. Our database of market research reports comprises a wide variety of reports from Cardinal Industries. Our database is been updated constantly in order to fulfill our clients with prompt and direct online access to our database. Keeping in mind the clients needs, we have included expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends in this database. Last but not the least, we make it our duty to ensure the success of clients connected to usafter allif you do well, a little of the light shines on us.Contact Us:Zion Market Research4283, Express Lane,Suite 634-143,Sarasota, Florida 34249, United StatesTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll-Free No.1-855-465-4651Email: sales@zionmarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Our Blog: Microbiology Culture Market: Complex Media to Remain Most-preferred Culture Media http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/microbiology-culture-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=3232 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ The soaring demand for antibiotics, on account of the alarming rise in the prevalence of various infections and food-borne diseases, has provided a significant thrust to microbiology culture practices across the world over the last few years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the U.S. alone, a total of 23.6 million cases of infectious and parasitic diseases were reported in 2010. Since microbiology culture is an efficient diagnosis method to detect the cause of a number of infectious diseases, its application in the production of antibiotic drugs is witnessing a remarkable rise, worldwide.The consumption of antibiotics is also experiencing a sturdy growth in the BRICS nation. A 2014 report by Lancet Infectious Diseases Commission stated that the consumption of antibiotic drugs increased globally by 36% from 2000 to 2010, wherein BRICS countries accounted for a share of 76% of this growth. All these factors, together, point towards an opportunity-rich future for the worldwide market for microbiology culture over the coming years.Obtain Report Details:The global market is projected to witness an increase in its opportunity from US$4.5 bn in 2014 to US$7.5 bn in 2023, expanding at a CAGR of 5.90% during the period from 2015 to 2023. The advent of food microbiology, the rise in concerns over food safety, and the increase in the government funding in life science research are some of the other factors expected to drive the global microbiology culture market in the near future.North America to Retain Dominance in Terms of RevenueOn the basis of region, the global microbiology culture market is segmented into Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, Latin America, the Middle East, and the Rest of the World. North America emerged as the leading regional market in 2014 with a revenue of US$1.6 bn. The presence of a large pool of biopharmaceutical firms and research institutes played a significant role in driving the market for microbiology culture in North America.Analysts expect this region to retain its lead over the forecast period. However, Asia Pacific is likely to present the most promising opportunities and register the fastest CAGR of 6.80% from 2015 to 2023. The unmet medical needs of people, coupled with the growing prevalence of infectious diseases, the surge in the healthcare expenditure, the rising focus on food safety, and the increasing demand for antibiotics, are likely to provide an opportunity-rich market for participants in the near future.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report:Complex Media to Remain Most-preferred Culture MediaComplex media, special media, simple media, and synthetic media are the main culture media utilized in microbial culture. Among these, complex media emerged as the most preferred media for microbiology culture in 2014 and was closely followed by special media. As per estimations, complex media will remain the preferred culture media throughout the forecast period as it caters to a wide range of requirements important for the cultivation of nutritionally complex or kinds of unknown bacteria.The global market for microbiology culture is led by Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC, Merck Millipore, Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., and Becton, Dickinson and Co. In 2014, these four players collectively accounted for a share of more than 50% in the overall market. Some of the other prominent players are BioMerieux SA, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Hi-Media Laboratories Pvt. Ltd., Eiken Chemical Co. Ltd., Scharlab S.L., and Neogen Corp.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Quality Management Software Market : Key Growth Factors and Industry Analysis 2017-2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=1034 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=1034 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=D&rep_id=1034 Quality Management Software Market: OverviewThe global quality management software market is witnessing a substantial rise, thanks to the increasing uptake of quality management tools in enterprises due to their dynamic business models. The escalating adoption of quality management software by med-sized businesses is prime factor behind this tremendous growth of this market.Over the coming years, the worldwide market is projected to experience a tremendous rise in the demand for quality management software on the grounds of the rising trend of the globalization of the marketplaces. The augmenting emphasis on the compliance of standards and regulations is also expected to add to the growth of this market significantly in the near future.Although the market will gain greatly from the rising focus of the enterprises on meeting the demands of consumers and the improving the efficiency of businesses over the next few years, the security threats associated with the usage of cloud-based platforms may limit the adoption of this software in the years to come, reflecting negatively on this market.Strategic mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships are expected to surface as the most efficient methods of the leading players to gain an easy access to the developing markets as well as enhance their technological competence. Moreover, the product advancements and differentiation are anticipated to prove to be beneficial to companies functional in this market.Request Sample Copy of the Report @Global Quality Management Software Market: SummaryIn order to improve operational visibility and productivity of the quality assurance process, service and product driven organizations require quality management software. The quality management software offers a variety of functions such as document control, nonconformance, calibration, change management, and complaint handling, among others, making it an indispensable utility for an organizations overall quality control.On the basis of application, the market can be segmented into consumer goods and retail, IT and telecom, defense and aerospace, manufacturing, transportation and logistics, healthcare, and others. Cloud and on-premise are the segments based on deployment in the market. Based on solution, the market is can be further classified into non-conformances / corrective & preventative, audit management, supplier quality management, document control, calibration management, complaint handling, change management, employee training, and other.Request TOC of the Report @In the report, TMR Research presents a thorough analysis of drivers and restrictions in the global quality management software market. It also provides insight to the various segments and regions of the market.Global Quality Management Software Market: Trends and ProspectsGlobalization of marketplaces, the growing importance of standards and regulations compliance, increased concentration of organizations on meeting customer demands and improving the efficiency of businesses, and the growing demand for cloud-based QMS solutions due to implied accessibility and scalability are the major factors affecting the global quality management software market in a favorable way.The manufacturing and transportation and logistics segment account for a large market share, and is expected to lead the market in the coming years as well. The demand is always constant from these sectors due to the strong demand for quality management software owing to the stringent regulations as well as the complex processes and integrated business systems.Get Discount @Currently, the on-premise deployment segment is the key contributor to the market share, however, in the coming years the demand for cloud-based deployment is expected increase as more and more companies are moving to cloud.The non-conformance/ corrective & preventive and document control solution segment is expected to lead the market in the forecast period. Large organizations have to mandatory maintain quality adherence in these processes, thereby increasing the demand growth.Owing to the growing adoption of standard complaint handling processes and tools, the complaint handling segment is projected to further grow to become the market leader over the said period.Global Quality Management Software Market: Regional AnalysisThe global quality management software market can be geographically segmented into Europe, North America, Latin America, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa. North America and Europe are expected to be the key contributors to the market, and are projected to dominate the market over the forecast period. Early adoption of software and implementation of international standards by industries are the factors supplementing the growth of the market in this region.Asia Pacific is another promising region exhibiting lucrative opportunities for the quality management software market. The reasons for the fast development in this region include the growing awareness about standard compliance, availability of quality management software and presence of small and medium enterprises. Plus, emerging economies such as China and India are expected to fuel the growth of the market.Global Quality Management Software Market: Key PlayersThe report profiles key players operating in the global quality management software market based on various attributes such as financial overview, business strategies, company overview, and recent developments. Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Co., PSC Biotech Corp., Sparta Systems, Inc., SAP SE, Parasoft Corporation, MasterControl, Inc., Siemens AG, Aras Corporation, Autodesk Inc., Dassault Systemes SE, Arena Solutions Inc., Oracle Corporation, and Microsoft Corporation are some of the prominent players in the market.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Renewable Energy Policy FiT Market to Record Sturdy Growth by 2025 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=B&rep_id=1043 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=T&rep_id=1043 https://www.tmrresearch.com/sample/sample?flag=D&rep_id=1043 Global Renewable Energy Policy FiT Market: SnapshotThe global renewable energy policy feed-in-tariff (FiT) market is reporting a remarkable rise. With the increasing global focus on decreasing air pollution, controlling carbon emissions, and reducing the dependency on coal and various other fossil fuels, the adoption rate of renewable energy technologies has escalated across the world significantly, which, as a result, is reflecting positively on this market.Economies across the world are aiming to promote the adoption of renewable energy in an effort to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels. Consequently, a number of compulsory renewable energy targets are being deployed by the governments to compel the energy producers to generate the major part of the electricity from various renewable energy sources. This, along with the government-sponsored incentives and the relative rise in the cost competitiveness of these sources in comparison with other traditional power generation sources, is also fueling the uptake of renewable energy FiT policies.Request Sample Copy of the Report @In addition to these, the surge in the number of employments and the positive influence of FiT on the economic condition is likely to encourage its adoption, propelling the market noticeably in the near future. However, the high installation and initial costs associated with shifting to renewable energy may hinder the growth of this market in years to come.Global Renewable Energy Policy FiT Market: OverviewTo reduce the dependency on fossil fuel, emphasis is laid upon using renewable energy. In order to promote renewable energy, governments across the world are setting mandatory renewable energy targets. It has become compulsory for power producers to produce certain proportion of the total electricity from renewable energy sources. Over 150 countries around the world have adopted one or the other renewable energy targets. Feed-in tariff (FiT) is one such policy. This policy is a performance-based incentive that promotes rapid deployment of renewable energy technologies. Economic growth and job creations are expected to receive a major boost through well-designed feed-in tariff policies.Request TOC of the Report @In the report, TMR Research presents a thorough analysis of drivers and restrictions in the global renewable energy policy FiT market. It also offers insight to the various segments and regions of the market.Global Renewable Energy Policy FiT Market: Key TrendsThe adoption of renewable energy technology is receiving impetus from the growing need to decrease ones dependence on coal and other fossil fuels, concerns over global warming, and an increasing stress on the reduction of air pollution. In addition, conventional power generation sources are much dearer when compared with renewable energy sources, thereby aiding the demand for renewable energy technology. By encouraging the use of renewable energy sources, the importance given to renewable energy policy FiT has increased, thereby driving the overall market.In terms of renewable energy installation, wind energy is the chief contributor to the global market and is applied extensively. Solar, bio energy, and geothermal are the next most widely used renewable energy sources.Solar energy is considered to be a promising technology in the near future and is broadly being adopted worldwide. In 2015, China became the major installer of solar photovoltaics (PV), and in the following year, the U.S. and Brazil adopted a large additional capacity of geothermal and bio energy technology.Get Discount @Global Renewable Energy Policy FiT Market: Regional AnalysisGeographically, the global renewable energy policy FiT analysis market can be segmented into North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World. North America has held a significant market share and is expected to continue its positive trajectory in the forecast period as well. The renewable energy policy FiT market is considerably gaining momentum due to well-designed feed-in tariff policies, especially in regions such as North America and Europe. The U.S. and few major countries of the European Union, including Germany and France, have rigid mandates for renewable energy technology adoption. Currently, there are seven U.S. states such as California and Washington that mandate feed-in tariffs.Asia Pacific is also significantly contributing to the growth of the market. Developing economies such as China, India, and Japan are keen on meeting renewable energy targets. There is enough importance given to reduce carbon emissions and tax credit, incentives such as feed-in tariff, and net metering, among others are provided by governments to boost renewable energy technology adoption. This is likely to boost the APAC market.Global Renewable Energy Policy FiT Market: Key PlayersThe report profiles key players in the global renewable energy policy FiT market based on various attributes such as company overview, business strategies, recent development, and financial overview. Borea Construction ULC, First Solar, Inc, Hanwha Q Cells GmbH, Areva, Black & Veatch Holding, Gamesa Corporation, JUWI AG., M.A. Mortenson Company, Mannvit, Martifier Solar, Ormat Technologies Inc., Prenecon S.A., Sunedison Inc., AMEC Foster Wheeler PLC, and Suzlon Energy are some of the leading organizations operating in the global renewable energy policy FiT market.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:Rohit BhiseyHead - Internet MarketingTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.com Premade Pouch Packaging Market to Maintain Healthy CAGR in Coming Years, 2024 Premade Pouch Packaging Market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/sample/premade-pouch-packaging-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/toc/premade-pouch-packaging-market https://www.zionmarketresearch.com/report/premade-pouch-packaging-market http://www.zionmarketresearch.com https://zionmarketresearch.wordpress.com/ Global Premade Pouch Packaging Market: OverviewInnovative solutions are offered by the premade pouch packaging which is filled and closed by the utilization of the system of premade pouches, spouted caps, and filling lines. The premade pouch packaging offers reduced packaging weight when compared to traditional alternatives such as metal cans and the glass jars thus offering good consumer convenience. The premade pouch packaging solution has the benefit of maximum functionality.Global Premade Pouch Packaging Market: SegmentationThe global market for the premade pouch packaging is fragmented into end-use industry, specifications, design, and material. Based on the end-use industry, the global market is segregated into pharmaceuticals, personal care, pet-food, cosmetics, and household products and food. The food segment is sub-segregated into confectionary, frozen, and canned foods. Based on the specifications, the market is categorized into transparency, easy-spouts, high-barriers, and reclosable zippers. Based on the design industry, the market is divided into spout pouches, flat-based pouches, and plastic sides. Based on the material, the market is bifurcated into plastic and paper.Request Free Sample Report @Global Premade Pouch Packaging Market: Growth FactorsThe key factor that is driving the premade pouch packaging market is that they provide flexibility as a marketing tool as well as provides convenience to the consumers. Premade packaging pouches increase the opportunities of the market and is consumer-friendly; it provides the benefits of sustainability thus contributing to the market growth. The factors that augment in developing the market growth is the increasing demand for the 100-calorie packs, increasing popularity of the machinery of the premade pouches, and growing demand from the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry. Certain other factors that contribute to the growth of the market are the technological advancements that are made in this field, the growing number of applications, and the developing economic conditions. The factor that is limiting the growth of the market is that these pouches cannot be produced from recycled materials.Request Report TOC (Table of Contents) @Global Premade Pouch Packaging Market: Regional AnalysisAccording to the regional study, the global market for the premade pouch packaging is diversified into Eastern Europe, North America, Western Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. The region that is leading the premade pouch packaging market is North America. This is owing to the factor that the food industry is developing at a rapid phase and the food manufacturers are working constantly in order to meet the demands of the consumers. As the consumers have become more conscious about the environment it is driving the growth of the market in this region. The other regions such as Europe and Asia Pacific are also contributing a good share in the growth of the market.Browse detail report @Global Premade Pouch Packaging Market: Competitive PlayersThe key market players that are involved in the premade pouch packaging market include Accredo Packaging, Genpack Flexible, Viking Masek Global Packaging Technologies, Matrix Packaging Machinery, WeighPack Systems Inc., Bemis Company, Inc., Bossar Packaging, Tyler Packaging, General Packer Co., Ltd., and Karlville.About Us: Zion Market Research is an obligated company. We create futuristically, cutting edge, informative reports ranging from industry reports, a company reports to country reports. We provide our clients not only with market statistics unveiled by avowed private publishers and public organizations but also with Vogue and newest industry reports along with pre-eminent and niche company profiles. Our database of market research reports comprises a wide variety of reports from Cardinal Industries. Our database is been updated constantly in order to fulfill our clients with prompt and direct online access to our database. Keeping in mind the clients needs, we have included expert insights on global industries, products, and market trends in this database. Last but not the least, we make it our duty to ensure the success of clients connected to usafter allif you do well, a little of the light shines on us.Contact Us:Zion Market Research4283, Express Lane,Suite 634-143,Sarasota, Florida 34249, United StatesTel: +49-322 210 92714USA/Canada Toll-Free No.1-855-465-4651Email: sales@zionmarketresearch.comWebsite:Visit Our Blog: Entry of Genomic Medicines to Propel Global Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Therapeutics Market http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/hypertrophic-cardiomyopathy-therapeutics-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=7553 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ Global Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Therapeutics Market Key TrendsWith heart diseases emerging as one of the most common causes of mortality among men and women worldwide, Transparency Market Research (TMR) expects the demand for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) therapeutics to surge considerably. Furthermore, the market is expected to gain significant impetus from successful government interventions aimed at spreading awareness about hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.TMR projects the global HCM therapeutics market to expand at a moderate 1.4% CAGR between 2015 and 2023. Despite witnessing positive opportunities, the rising demand for advanced medical devices could threaten the markets growth to an extent. Nevertheless, since the majority of HCM drugs are yet to get approved, the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy therapeutics market is likely to gain momentum post their approval in the near future.Obtain Report Details:According to TMR, the global hypertrophic cardiomyopathy therapeutics market is expected to reach US$1.37 bn in 2023, from US$1.2 bn in 2015. The leading players in the market are likely to capitalize on the untapped opportunities in the healthcare sector of emerging economies to expand their footprint.Rising Use of Calcium Channel Blockers Being Witnessed in Obstructive HCM TreatmentAntiarrhythmic drugs, anti-coagulating agents, calcium channel blockers, and beta blockers are the most recommended therapies for the treatment of HCM. By drug class, the calcium channel blockers segment held the leading share of 37.4% in the HCM therapeutics market in 2014. This drug provides an effective alternative to beta-blocker therapy particularly used in obstructive HCM treatment. As per TMR, the calcium channel blockers segment is expected to rise at a CAGR of 1.8% from 2015 to 2023.The beta adrenergic blocking agents emerged as the second-largest segment in 2014. The most common beta adrenergic blocking agents preferred in HCM treatment include atenolol, metoprolol, propranolol, and sotalol.Due to the increasing sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy choices, experts project the incidence of heart disease to rise considerably in the forthcoming years. This will subsequently boost demand for HCM therapeutics through the forecast period.Rising Prevalence of Obesity to Fuel Demand for HCM Therapeutics in North AmericaNorth America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Rest of the World constitute the key markets by geography for HCM therapeutics. Among these regions, with a share of 31.1%, North America emerged as the leading contributor to the market in 2014, followed by Europe. Both these regions boast a sophisticated healthcare infrastructure, which augurs well for the HCM therapeutics market.Fill the form for an exclusive sample of this report:The increasing prevalence of obesity among the younger population in North America and their preference towards a sedentary lifestyle, are primary factors augmenting demand for HCM therapeutics from the region. The rising cases of cardiac arrests reported every year in North America will seal the regions dominance in the market through the forecast period. In North America, the U.S. reports the highest demand for HCM therapeutics.However, according to TMR, the market is expected to witness stronger growth across the emerging economies of Asia Pacific and Rest of the World. Asia Pacific is expected to report the fastest CAGR during the course of the forecast period. The development of modern healthcare facilities in the region, rising healthcare expenditure, and the increasing awareness about HCM, are primary factors fuelling demand for HCM therapeutics from Asia Pacific.Some of the leading companies in the global hypertrophic cardiomyopathy therapeutics market are Sanofi S.A., Merck & Co., Pfizer, Inc., Mylan N. V. Teva Pharmaceuticals Limited, Novartis AG, and Others.Transparency Market Research (TMR) is a U.S.-based provider of syndicated research, customized research, and consulting services. TMRs global and regional market intelligence coverage includes industries such as pharmaceutical, chemicals and materials, technology and media, food and beverages, and consumer goods, among others. Each TMR research report provides clients with a 360-degree view of the market with statistical forecasts, competitive landscape, detailed segmentation, key trends, and strategic recommendations.Contact us:Transparency Market Research90 State Street,Suite 700,AlbanyNY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Industrial Labels Market by Players, Regions, Product Types & Applications 2017-2022 https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/reports/1288630/global-industrial-labels-research-report-market-research-reports https://www.marketresearchreports.biz/sample/sample/1288630 http://www.marketresearchreports.biz/ The global Industrial Labels market is valued at XX million USD in 2016 and is expected to reach XX million USD by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.This report offers an overview of the market trends, drivers, and barriers with respect to the Industrial Labels market. It also provides a detailed overview of the market of different regions across United States, Europe, China, Japan, India, Southeast Asia and Others. The report categorizes Industrial Labels market by By Usage, By Material, By Printing Technology, By Machanism, and application. Detailed analysis of key players, along with key growth strategies adopted by them is also covered in this report on Industrial Labels market is valued at XX million USD in 2016 and is expected to reach XX million USD by the end of 2022, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Get Sample Copy of this Report @This report focuses Global market, it covers details as following:Key PlayersHP Inc. (U.S.)Cannon Inc. (U.S.)Xerox Corporation (U.S.)Cenveo, Inc. (U.S.)CCL Industries, Inc. (Canada)H.B. Fuller Co. (U.S.)Cenveo, Inc. (U.S.)Dunmore Corporation (U.S.)3M Company (U.S.)Brady Corporation (U.S.)Avery Dennison Corporation (U.S.)DuPont (U.S.)Henkel Ag & Company (Germany)Guangdong Zhongbao Color Plastic Industrial Co., Ltd. (China)Guangzhou Xprinter Electronic Industrial Ltd. (China)Key RegionsNorth AmericaUnited StatesCanadaLatin AmericaMexicoBrazilArgentinaOthersEuropeGermanyUnited KingdomFranceItalySpainRussiaNetherlandOthersAsia & PacificChinaJapanIndiaKoreaAustraliaSoutheast AsiaIndonesiaThailandPhilippinesVietnamSingaporeMalaysiaOthersAfrica & Middle EastSouth AfricaEgyptTurkeySaudi ArabiaIranOthersGet Sample Copy Of This Report @Main types of productsIndustrial Labels Market, by UsageWarning/security labelsBranding labelsWeatherproof labelsEquipment asset tagsOthersIndustrial Labels Market, by MaterialMetalPolymerIndustrial Labels Market, by Printing TechnologyDigital printingFlexographyLithographyScreen printingOthersIndustrial Labels Market, by MachanismPressure-sensitiveGlue-appliedHeat transferOthersIndustrial Labels Market, by Key ConsumerTransportation & LogisticsConstructionAutomotiveConsumer durablesOthersTable of ContentsGlobal Industrial Labels Market Research Report 2017-2022 by Players, Regions, Product Types & ApplicationsChapter One Methodology and Data Source1.1 Methodology/Research Approach1.1.1 Research Programs/Design1.1.2 Market Size Estimation1.1.3 Market Breakdown and Data Triangulation1.2 Data Source1.2.1 Secondary Sources1.2.2 Primary Sources1.3 DisclaimerChapter Two Industrial Labels Market Overview2.1 Market Coverage2.2 Global Industrial Labels Market Sales Volume Revenue and Price 2012-2017Chapter Three Industrial Labels by Key Players 2012-20173.1 Global Industrial Labels Sales Volume Market Share by Key Players 2012-20173.2 Global Industrial Labels Revenue Share by Key Players 2012-20173.3 Global Key Players Industrial Labels Key Product Model and Market Performance3.4 Global Key Players Industrial Labels Key Target Consumers and Market PerformanceChapter Four Industrial Labels by Regions 2012-20174.1 Global Industrial Labels Sales Market Share by Regions 2012-20174.2 Global Industrial Labels Revenue Market Share by Regions 2012-20174.3 Global Industrial Labels Price by Regions 2012-20174.4 North America4.4.1 United States4.4.2 Canada4.5 Latin America4.5.1 Mexico4.5.2 Brazil4.5.3 Argentina4.5.4 Others in Latin America4.6 Europe4.6.1 Germany4.6.2 United Kingdom4.6.3 France4.6.4 Italy4.6.5 Spain4.6.6 Russia4.6.7 Netherland4.6.8 Others in Europe4.7 Asia & Pacific4.7.1 China4.7.2 Japan4.7.3 India4.7.4 Korea4.7.5 Australia4.7.6 Southeast Asia4.7.6.1 Indonesia4.7.6.2 Thailand4.7.6.3 Philippines4.7.6.4 Vietnam4.7.6.5 Singapore4.7.6.6 Malaysia4.7.6.7 Others in Southeast Asia4.8 Africa & Middle East4.8.1 South Africa4.8.2 Egypt4.8.3 Turkey4.8.4 Saudi Arabia4.8.5 Iran4.8.6 Others in Africa & Middle EastChapter Five Industrial Labels Market by Product Types5.1 Industrial Labels, by Usage 2012-20175.1.1 Global Industrial Labels Sales Market Share by Usage 2012-20175.1.2 Global Industrial Labels Revenue Market Share by Usage 2012-20175.1.3 Global Industrial Labels Price by Usage 2012-20175.1.4 Warning/security labels5.1.5 Branding labels5.1.6 Weatherproof labels5.1.7 Equipment asset tags5.1.8 Others5.2 Industrial Labels, by Material 2012-20175.2.1 Global Industrial Labels Sales Market Share by Material 2012-20175.2.2 Global Industrial Labels Revenue Market Share by Material 2012-2017MarketResearchReports.biz is the most comprehensive collection of market research reports. MarketResearchReports.Biz services are specially designed to save time and money for our clients. We are a one stop solution for all your research needs, our main offerings are syndicated research reports, custom research, subscription access and consulting services. We serve all sizes and types of companies spanning across various industries.Mr. NachiketState Tower90 Sate Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-621-2074Website:Email: sales@marketresearchreports.biz Global Patient Monitoring Devices Market Will Grow at a CAGR of 5.8% by 2024 "Global Patient Monitoring Devices Market" ? Industry Trends and Forecast to 2024 http://databridgemarketresearch.com/request-a-sample/?dbmr=global-patient-monitoring-device-market#utm_source=openpr&utm_campaign=Varsha%20Chaudhari http://databridgemarketresearch.com/inquire-before-buying/?dbmr=global-patient-monitoring-device-market#utm_source=openpr&utm_campaign=Varsha%20Chaudhari http://databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-patient-monitoring-device-market/#utm_source=openpr&utm_campaign=Varsha%20Chaudhari http://databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/north-america-patient-monitoring-device-market/ http://databridgemarketresearch.com/blog/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/data-bridge-market-research The new industry report "Global Patient Monitoring Devices Market", By Product (Blood Glucose, EEG, ECG, Capnography, Spirometer, Sleep Apnea, Pulse Oximeter, Fetal Doppler, Ultiparameter, Remote, Weight, Temperature), End-User (Hospitals & Clinics, Home healthcare, Ambulatory Surgical Centers), by Geography (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Europe, South America, Middle East and Africa) Industry Trends and Forecast to 2024The patient monitoring devices market accounted to USD 20.2 billion in 2016 growing at a CAGR of 5.8% during the forecast period of 2017 to 2024. The upcoming market report contains data for historic years 2015, the base year of calculation is 2016 and the forecast period is 2017 to 2024.For a Free Sample Visit @Patient monitoring devices are the devices used for continuous/semi-continuous measurement of patients physiological parameters such as heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, core temperatures and pulse oximetry to accelerate and enhance the patient care decisions. These devices are of great significance in emergency and operating rooms, intensive and critical care units by reducing complications and risks in patient. They are widely used in hospitals, clinics, home healthcare, and ambulatory surgical centers.Major market drivers and restraints: Easy incorporation and increasing preference for home and remote monitoring Increase in prevalence of lifestyle diseases Rising disposable income and increasing healthcare expenditure Irregular reimbursement scenarioInquiry Before Buying Visit @Market Segmentation:By product, the market for patient monitoring devices market is segmented into blood glucose, EEG, ECG, capnography, spirometer, sleep apnea, pulse oximeter, fetal doppler, ultiparameter, remote, weight, temperature. On the basis of end-user, the patient monitoring devices market is segmented into hospitals & clinics, home healthcare, ambulatory surgical centers.On the basis of geography, patient monitoring devices market report covers data points for 28 countries across multiple geographies such as North America & South America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. Some of the major countries covered in this report are U.S., Canada, Germany, France, U.K., Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, China, India, South Korea, Japan, Australia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and Brazil among others. In 2017, North America is expected to dominate the market.Major Market Competitors:Some of the major players operating in patient monitoring devices market are Abbott (U.S.), F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd (Switzerland), Siemens Healthcare GmbH (Germany), GE Healthcare (U.S.), Medtronic PLC (Ireland), Koninklijke Philips N.V. (The Netherlands), LifeWatch AG (Switzerland), Nihon Kohden Corporation (Japan), OMRON Corporation (Japan), Honeywell International Inc. (U.S.), Biotronik SE & CO. KG (Germany), among others.Read more news about this report visit @Related ReportNorth America Patient Monitoring Device Market Industry Trends and Forecast to 2024North America Patient Monitoring Device Market By Product Type, End User, Country (U.S., Canada, Mexico)Industry Trends and Forecast to 2024Report Access:About Data Bridge Market Research:Data Bridge Market Research set forth itself as an unconventional and neoteric Market research and consulting firm with unparalleled level of resilience and integrated approaches. We are determined to unearth the best market opportunities and foster efficient information for your business to thrive in the market. Data Bridge endeavors to provide appropriate solutions to the complex business challenges and initiates an effortless decision-making process.Contact:Vishal DixitData Bridge Market ResearchTel: +1-888-387-2818Email: Sales@databridgemarketresearch.comInvestor: investors@databridgemarketresearch.comVisit Blog:Follow us on LinkedIn: Enigma Telematics Celebrates 25 Years of Success and Upgrades Leading Fleet Management Platform - Skyline www.enigmavehicle.co.uk 16th August, 2017- London, Enigma Telematics, the world leading telematics specialist and fleet management services provider, has seen increased demand for state-of-the-art platform, Skyline, after expanding its functionality with Access Control features and integration with ModBus.This year, the company also celebrates 25 years of supporting businesses in the construction, plant, agriculture, waste management and commercial vehicle markets.Simon Keam-George, CEO at Enigma Telematics comments:We always strive for our solutions to meet customers requirements and demands. By continuously innovating and putting our customers at the heart of our development strategy, many of our customers have been with us for almost a quarter of a century and will be enjoying the benefits of Enigmas platform and services for many more years to come.Also, with the Internet of Things advancing at light speed, Enigmas solutions offer a significant competitive edge and are extremely valuable to organisations expanding their capabilities in this area.Enigma Telematics Access Control allows plant hire or construction companies to control machinery usage at a granular level. This includes restrictions based on employee qualifications or restricted access requirements. The machinery or equipment is immobilised until either a registered ID card or fob is presented to a contact point which then releases it for use. Additionally, for powered access units (e.g. scissor lifts, boom lifts) Enigma partners with the International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) - this allows companies to access the IPAFs accreditation database and verify a users authorisation to use access units.The Access Control system enables plant hire and construction companies to: Improve health and safety compliance Restrict access based on hire periods Restrict unauthorised access Monitor access for usage and damage recoveryEnigmas ModBus integration applies to control panels on tower lights and generators. The integration allows Skyline to track and collect key data based on the usage of the equipment, improving servicing and maintenance scheduling and enabling exact billing based on usage. Furthermore, the integration provides remote access to the generator or tower light meaning that the equipment can be powered down or up depending on requirements or usage.The telematics market has evolved tremendously in the past decade and as interconnectivity becomes the norm, the security risks are increasing exponentially. Companies must up their game in protecting their fleets and equipment, especially with the recent rise in vehicle thefts. Protecting your fleet helps to reduce downtime and increase profitability.As of the end of 2016, Enigma Telematics solutions helped recover over 100 million worth of plant machinery and fleet vehicles. This shows how monitoring and tracking the company fleet is of paramount importance and can have a significant impact on business outcomes. Not only because it enables business leaders to prevent theft and recover stolen property, but it also empowers them to analyse, forecast and make informed strategic decisions regarding a critical business asset its vehicle and machinery fleet, adds Simon.About Enigma TelematicsSet up in 1992, Enigma Telematics is a specialist telematics and fleet management supplier for businesses in the construction, plant, waste management and commercial vehicle markets.The company is part of the Viasat Group, the largest independently-owned Italian telematics provider and one of the worlds top ten telematics companies.Enigma Telematics is certified to the International Management Standard ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001.Media Representative:Bamboo PR1 Portsoken StreetLondonE1 8BT Global Almond Market Outlook http://www.indexbox.co.uk/store/world-almonds-market-report-analysis-and-forecast-to-2020 http://www.indexbox.co.uk/store/world-almonds-market-report-analysis-and-forecast-to-2020 IndexBox has just published a new report "World: Almonds - Market Report. Analysis And Forecast To 2025" ().Global almond production amounted to 2,657 thousand tonnes in 2015, declining by -1.3% against the previous year level. Overall, the global almond output pursued a pronounced growth from 2007 to 2015. The trend pattern, however, indicated some noticable fluctuations throughout the analyzed period. The total output figures increased at an average annual rate of +2.1%. The growth pace was the most rapid in 2011, when the output figure increased by +16% from the previous year level. In that year, the global almond production attained its maximum volume of 3,008 thousand tonnes. From 2012 to 2015, the total almond output growth failed to regain its strength.Over the analyzed period, an increase in global almond production was primarily driven by disposable income growth, popularity of healthy eating, and population growth. Furthermore, these key drivers are expected to continue promoting the almond output in the immediate term. This general positive trend was largely conditioned by a measured expansion of the harvested area and solid gains of the yield figures.The country with the largest volume of the almond output in absolute volumes was the United States (1,535 thousand tonnes), accounting for 58% of global production. Moreover, almond output in the United States exceeded the figures recorded by the world's second largest producer, Australia (193 thousand tonnes), eightfold. The third position in this ranking was occupied by Spain with a share of 6%. From 2007 to 2015, an average annual growth rate of the United States's almond producton stood at +3.0%. The remaining producing countries recorded the following average annual growth rates: Australia (+15.0% per year) and Spain (-1.4% per year).The world almond harvested area amounted to 1,752 thousand ha in 2015, which was 1.3% more than the previous year figure. The harvested area indicated a slight increase over the period under review, representing a compound annual growth rate of +0.9% from 2007 to 2015. This trend pattern was relatively stable throughout the analyzed period. Over the period under review, the total almond harvested area peaked in 2015, and is likely to continue its expansion in the immediate term, following rising demand for almond globally.The global average almond yield amounted to 15 thousand hg/ha in 2015, falling by -2.6% from the previous year figure. The yield figures recorded an upward trend over the period under review, with a compound annual growth rate standing at +1.2% from 2007 to 2015. However, the yield levels displayed some little fluctuations over the recent years. The highest almond yields were recorded in 2011, when it peaked at 18 thousand hg/ha. Afterwards, it decreased slightly and then fluctuated around these levels throughout the analyzed period.Source:IndexBox is a leading market research publisher in the world. You can find more than 25,000 research reports in our web store, which cover global industries and regional markets. All the worldwide marketing data you need is at your fingertips.Company Name: IndexBoxContact Person: Kirill BezverhiEmail: kirill.bezverhi@indexbox.co.ukPhone: +44 20 3239 3063Adress: United Kingdom, 44 Main Street, Douglas, South Lanarkshire, Scotland, ML11 0QW Global Bioengineered Protein Drugs Market,Industry Analysis,Trends & Forecast 2017 - 2025 MRRSE http://www.mrrse.com/sample/3242 http://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/3242 http://www.mrrse.com/bioengineered-proteins-drugs-market https://plus.google.com/u/0/109558601025749677847/posts https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrrse https://twitter.com/MRRSEmrrse This report provides in-depth region wise and country wise analysis of the bioengineered protein drugs market. Stakeholders of this report include manufacturers of bioengineered protein drugs, raw material suppliers, research institutes involve in the research of bioengineered protein drugs and new players planning to enter the market.Request For Sample Report :The report provides qualitative and quantitative analysis of the global bioengineered protein drugs market. Qualitative analysis comprises market dynamics, trends, product overview, and country-level market information. Quantitative analysis includes major players with their reported revenue, market size, and forecast for the global bioengineered protein drugs market in major countries globally such as the U.S., Canada, Germany, Italy, France, United Kingdom, Spain, Japan, China, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and GCC countries. Market revenue is provided in terms of US$ Mn from 2015 to 2025 along with the compound annual growth rate (CAGR %) from 2017 to 2025 for all the segments, considering 2016 as the base year. The executive summary of the report provides a snapshot of the bioengineered protein drugs with information on leading segments, country wise market information with respect to the market size, growth rate (CAGR %), and growth factors.The market overview section comprises impact factors such as drivers, restraints, and opportunities for the global bioengineered protein drugs market. These factors would aid the stakeholders in establishing a strong foothold in the global bioengineered protein drugs market. Furthermore, the market overview section comprises key industry events, product overview, market attractiveness analysis and emerging trend in the bioengineered protein drugs market. The market attractiveness analysis provides a graphical view comparing the growth and market dynamics in various segments and country wise to identify the most attractive market.Global Bioengineered Protein Drugs Market: SegmentationThe bioengineered protein drugs market has been segmented as by drug type, by disease condition, by end-user and by geography. Based on drug type, the market has been segmented into monoclonal antibodies (Humira, Rituxan, Avastin, Herceptin, Remicade, Lucentis, Enbrel, Synazis, and Others) therapeutic proteins (hormones, cytokines, blood factor, enzyme therapy, thrombolytics, and others) vaccines. Based on disease condition, the market has been segmented into cancer, diabetes, autoimmune disorder, infectious disease, hematopoiesis, CVD, neurodegenerative, and others. Based on end-user, the market has been segmented into pharmaceutical & biotechnology companies, CROs, research institutes.Global Bioengineered Protein Drugs Market: Geographical AnalysisGeographically, the bioengineered protein drugs market has been categorized into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. Moreover, analysis for the major countries comprising U.S. Canada, Germany, Italy, France, U.K., Spain, Rest of Europe, Japan, China, India, Rest of APAC, Brazil, Mexico, Rest of LATAM, South Africa, GCC countries have also been provided in the report. A detailed qualitative analysis of the factors responsible for driving and restraining the growth of the bioengineered protein drugs market in various regions has been provided in this section.Send An Enquiry :This report also includes various ups and downs about particular country or geography that has impacted the overall market globally.Global Bioengineered Protein Drugs Market: Competitive AnalysisThe report provides a detailed outline/blueprint of the bioengineered protein drugs market globally that will assist new companies in establishing their presence and market players in expanding their market share in the market. The report concludes with the company profile section which includes company overview, financial overview, SWOT analysis, product portfolio, business strategies and recent developments for market players. The major players that are profiled in the report include Dr. Reddys Laboratories Ltd., Eli Lilly and Company, Merck & Co., Inc., Reliance Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd., Panacea Biotech, ProBioGen AG, GlaxoSmithKline plc., and F. Hoffmann-La Roche LtdThe global Bioengineered Protein Drugs market has been segmented into:Global Bioengineered Protein Drugs Market, by Drug TypeMonoclonal AntibodiesHumiraRituxanAvastinHerceptinRemicadeLucentisEnbrelSynazisOthersTherapeutic ProteinsHormonesCytokinesNeupogenNeulastaInterferon AlphaErythropoietin AlphaInterleukinOthersBlood FactorEnzyme TherapySystemic Enzyme TherapyDigestive Enzyme TherapyThrombolyticstPAStreptokinaseUrokinaseVaccinesGlobal Bioengineered Protein Drugs Market, by Disease ConditionCancerDiabetesAutoimmune DisorderInfectious DiseaseHematopoiesisCVDNeurodegenerativeOthersGlobal Bioengineered Protein Drugs Market, by End-userPharma and Biotech CompaniesCROsAcademicsGlobal Bioengineered Protein Drugs Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaS.CanadaEuropeGermanyFranceK.ItalySpainRest of EuropeAsia Pacific (APAC)JapanChinaIndiaAustraliaRest of APACLatin America (LATAM)BrazilMexicoRest of LATAMBrowse Full Report With TOC :Middle East & Africa (MEA)GCC CountriesSouth AfricaRest of MEAMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.State Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTelephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comGoogle+:Linked in:Twitter: QArea Recognized Among the Top IT Outsourcing Companies by Clutch https://qarea.com/ QArea, a software development outsourcing company, has once again confirmed the high quality of its service by being listed in top IT outsourcing companies rating by Clutch.August 16, 2017 QArea is proud of being included in the TOP IT Outsourcing Companies list released by a B2B research firm Clutch. It mentions the worlds best outsourcing companies in the industry, basing on the quality of IT consulting and outsourced development services and the ability to deliver on client expectations.One of the distinctive features of this rating is the practie of conducting interviews with the clients. It reveals the actual state of things in IT outsourcing literally firsthand. The clients are always the toughest critics - they rate not only technical aspect, but also the level of the service, timing and budgets, teamwork, and communication with the client team. Thus, QArea is proven to have clients loyalty.The ompany puts all efforts to make the cooperation with each and every client to be their best experience. QArea is not only working on developing already high-standard engineering, but also pays great attention to the client service and customer satisfaction regardless of ooperation with SMBs or large enterprises.QArea applies the latest technologies to meet the highest standards of software development. The Company has developed own software product, TimeGuard to control the quality of the code to track and improve the productivity of the development team. All these factors help QArea to occupy top positions in the Clutch ratings. Over the past few years, QArea holds top positions on the Clutch Rankings in the following nominations: Top Software Application Testing Firms, Top Drupal Developers, and Top WordPress Developers.The Company is grateful to all customers for highly appreciating its work.About QAreaQArea provides award-winning web & mobile development services that transform business ideas into software. For more than 17 years our inhouse team of 250+ specialists in development, testing, and design has successfully launched 800+ projects that leverage business for enterprises, SMEs, and startups. Giants as eBay, Microsoft, Skype, AOL, Huffington Post trust their code to QAreas experts to write and evaluate. For more information, visitAbout ClutchA B2B research firm in the heart of Washington, DC, Clutch connects you with agencies and solutions that can help enhance your business and meet your goals. Our methodology maps agencies and solutions based on client reviews, types of service offerings, and quality of work.QAreaAugust 23, 20AKharkivUkraine Global Smart Grid Security Market,Industry Analysis,Trends, and Forecast 2017 - 2025 MRRSE http://www.mrrse.com/sample/3241 http://www.mrrse.com/smart-grid-security-market http://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/3241 https://plus.google.com/u/0/109558601025749677847/posts https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrrse https://twitter.com/MRRSEmrrse The outcome of installation of smart grid security systems is data collection and use for perfect modeling of networks especially at LV (low voltage) level. Increasing installation of smart grid systems due to more active distribution, exploiting active and reactive control capabilities of distributed energy resources. This factor is acting as a driver of this market and is expected a significant growth during the forecast period.Request For Sample Report :Smart grid security is a very advanced energy distribution solution for their target consumers. It has the highest adoption rate in North America. In Europe, smart grid security is popular in the U.K., Germany and France among others. Japan holds the largest market for smart grid security in the Asia Pacific followed by China. There are opportunities in developing nations such as India and Africa. North America is the largest market for smart grid security at present. Asia Pacific is currently the fastest-growing market and is expected to become the largest market during the forecast period.The market of smart grid security is segmented into three categories: by deployment, by security type and by application. In terms of deployment the market of smart grid security is segmented by cloud and on-premises. By security type the market of smart grid is segmented by database security, network security, application security and endpoint security. In terms of application the market of smart grid security is segmented by smart meters, smart application, renewable energy resources and energy efficient resources.Global Smart Grid Security Market: Drivers and RestraintsAdditionally, technological developments are a major driver of the smart grid security market. The infrastructure is gradually shifting toward digitalization of grid systems, especially for commercial usage, which is anticipated to propel the market for smart grid security over the forecast period globally. This drives the global smart grid security market positivelyand is anticipated a robust growth during the forecast period. However, consumers lack of awareness about power supply is resulting in a declining growth rate of smart grid security industry. Therefore, before executing the smart grid concepts, the consumers need to be aware about this systems and its contribution towards low carbon economy and its benefits.Moreover, the developing nations such as India, Brazil and others are slow in adopting the smart grid security systems. Therefore there is medium impact of this restraint and is expected to decrease during the forecast period. Additionally the idea of a smart grid security rises up out of the combination of the power frameworks perspective of the power grid with its comparing data systems view. The consolidated view that uses the data system to upgrade the working of the power matrix is for the most part what is known as the smart grid security.Browse Full Report With TOC :Global Smart Grid Security Market: SegmentationIn terms of security type the market is segmented by database security, network security, application security and endpoint security Database security refers to the aggregate measures used to ensure and secure a database or database administration programming from ill-conceived use and malicious dangers and attacks. It is an expansive term that incorporates a large number of procedures, devices, and techniques that guarantee security inside a database situation. In addition, Network security comprises of the approaches and practices received to monitor and prevent unauthorized access, modification, misuse or denial of a network accessible resources and computer network.Global Smart Grid Security Market: Competitive AnalysisThe global market of smart grid security report provides company market share analysis of the various key participants. Key players have also been profiled on the basis of company overview. Global key participants of the smart grid security market include Intel Corporation (California, U.S.), Siemens AG (Munich, Germany), Symantec Corporation (California, U.S.), IBM Corporation (New York, U.S.), Cisco Systems, Inc (California, U.S.), Leidos Holdings, Inc. (Virginia, U.S.), Honeywell International Inc. (New Jersey, U.S.), BAE Systems Plc (Farnborough, United Kingdom), N-Dimension Solutions Inc. (Ontario, Canada) and AlertEnterprise Inc. (California, U.S.) among othersGlobal Smart Grid Security market can be segmented as follows;-Global Smart Grid Security Market, by DeploymentCloudOn-PremisesGlobal Smart Grid Security Market, by Security TypeDatabase SecurityNetwork SecurityApplication SecurityEndpoint SecurityGlobal Smart Grid Security Market, by ApplicationSmart MetersSmart ApplicationRenewable Energy ResourcesEnergy Efficient ResourcesGlobal Smart Grid Security Market, by Geography: The market is broadly segmented on the basis of geography into:Send An Enquiry :North AmericaS.Rest of North AmericaEuropeGermanyFranceItalyRest of EuropeAsia PacificChinaIndiaJapanRest of APACMiddle East and AfricaIsraleRest of Middle East & AfricaLatin AmericaBrazilRest of Latin AmericaMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.State Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTelephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comGoogle+:Linked in:Twitter: Global Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Testing Market: Prospects, Trends & Forecasted Growth at 7.6% CAGR during 2017 - 2025 MRRSE http://www.mrrse.com/sample/3221 http://www.mrrse.com/human-papillomavirus-testing-market http://www.mrrse.com/ Human papilloma virus (HPV) is a form of the virus which can cause cervix cell changes. Hence, the HPV test is important for the diagnosis of issues such as cervical cancer. To study briefly about the HPV testing market, a fresh report has been added to the wide online collection managed by Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE). The report titled Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Testing Market: Global Industry Analysis 20122016 and Forecast 2017 2025, offers exact details related to the current market status along with regional divergence all across the globe. Also, the report includes market analysis and forecast for the period between 2017 and 2025. As per research study findings, the market is expected to acquire a value of US$ 1,130 Mn by the end of 2025, portraying a CAGR of 7.6% over the stated forecast period.Request for sample report:HPV viruses are generally termed as papilloma viruses due to their tendencies to cause papilloma or warts. It is important to know that, few HPVs are even cancer causing viruses. Further, HPVs can be grouped as low-risk genital HPV types and high-risk genital HPV types. To understand in-depth, the research study is divided into four distinct sections. The initial portion talks about the market overview, PMR analysis, and market taxonomy. These aspects are necessary to make the readers familiar with the human papilloma virus testing market. This section also encloses the market opportunity analysis, which includes information about macro-economic factors.The following section offers a geographical segmentation considered various factors such as key regulations, market dynamic (drivers, restraints, and trends) and historical market size, 2012-2016. The prime market regions are North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific and Middle East & Africa. Readers also get to acquire knowledge about the papillomavirus (HPV) testing market analysis and forecast together with important market metrics such as year-on-year growth rates, BPS analysis, absolute dollar opportunity, and market attractiveness analysis. The report presents a market segmentation based on product type, namely, DNA-based test and RNA-based test. Presently, the end-user for HPV testing include hospitals, diagnosis centers, clinics and research institutes.The final section of the report is dedicated for the competitive landscape of the HPV testing market. Each of the leading companies is also profiled individually along with important information about the company such as company description, company details, and product portfolio. Also, key developments and strategic analysis are also available in this section.Browse Full Report with TOC :About UsMarket Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.ContactState Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTelephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comWebsite: High Brightness LED market to exceed revenue of USD 22 billion by 2023, at 4.9% CAGR Global Market Insights https://www.gminsights.com/request-sample/detail/401 https://www.gminsights.com/inquiry-before-buying/401 https://www.gminsights.com High brightness LED market has established its bearings significantly in todays world, with LEDs gaining precedence over CFLs. Depleting energy resources and increasing carbon emissions have directed the demand for energy conservation to top the priority lists in all sectors. The government and regulatory bodies across the globe are strictly implementing energy conservation norms, which in turn is triggering heavy deployment of energy saving lighting sources.An ordinary light bulb transforms 100 Joules of electric energy into 5 J of light energy and 95 J of heat energy, in which case, the latter is a complete waste. In comparison, the energy saving light bulb saves 50% to 70% of energy and increases the life span of the device, which is in the range of 50,000 hours to 100,000 hours, thus offering huge potential. The extended life cycle of these bulbs leads to lower replacement and maintenance costs, which in turn is driving high brightness LED market size. As per a report by Global Market Insights, Inc., High Brightness LED industry is set to witness a revenue of over USD 22 billion by 2023, at a y-o-y growth of 4.9% over the period 2016-2023.Request for a sample of this research report @These popular high brightness LED technologies are already commercially available in a range of new products in the automotive, backlight, mobile, and lighting applications. Increasing smartphone penetration and demand for related mobile devices have led the mobile segment in high brightness LED industry to snowball. The mobile segment is foreseen to exceed USD 3.60 billion by 2023, increasing at an annual growth rate of 5.1% over the period of 2016-2023.Rise in sales due to swift penetration of HB LEDs in downlights, replacement lamps, outdoor lights, commercial, and industrial products is likely to propel the lighting application market to register a CAGR of 6% between 2016-2023. High brightness LED industry from the lighting application is estimated to generate a revenue share of over USD 7.4 billion by 2023.Absence of infrared radiation in HB LEDs is resulting into its growing application for food and textile illumination, thereby showcasing a positive swing in global high brightness LED industry dynamics.Growing concerns regarding energy saving and rising number of initiatives toward increasing green construction are expected to provide ample growth prospects in the regional landscape of high brightness LED industry. Asia Pacific high brightness LED market is projected to register a CAGR of 5.5% over the period of 2016-2023. China and Japan are the prominent countries which are actively seeking a fundamental shift in their energy policies by encouraging improved LED manufacturing, attractive initiatives, and huge financial subsidies.Make an inquiry for buying this report @Europe high brightness LED market is poised to witness an exponential growth at a rate of 4.4% from 2016-2023, due to the vast presence of industries in the region.Analyzing the opportunistic growth in the global high brightness LED industry, number of players are entering in the marketplace. These players are likely to offer end-to-end solutions to gain competitive advantages. The existing players will be focusing on their brand value for strengthening the prominence overseas. Several other players are working on reforming their business models to achieve a gradual decline in the price trend, which will lead to a brighter future for this industry. Prominent high brightness LED industry players include Samsung Electronics, Cree, Broadcom, Moritex, and Seoul Semiconductor.About Global Market InsightsGlobal Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.Contact Us:Arun HegdeCorporate Sales, USAGlobal Market Insights, Inc.Phone: 1-302-846-7766Toll Free: 1-888-689-0688Email: sales@gminsights.comWeb: Global Geosynthetics Market,Industry Analysis,Trends, and Forecast 2017 - 2025 MRRSE http://www.mrrse.com/sample/3238 http://www.mrrse.com/global-geosynthetics-market http://www.mrrse.com/enquiry/3238 https://plus.google.com/u/0/109558601025749677847/posts https://www.linkedin.com/company/mrrse https://twitter.com/MRRSEmrrse The geosynthetics market in South Asia is estimated to be valued at more than US$ 800 Mn, pegged at 544.3 Mn meter square in terms of volume, by 2017 end. The South Asia geosynthetics market is expected to register a value CAGR of 12.7% over the forecast period (20172027) to reach over US$ 2,650 Mn by 2027 end. In volume terms, the market is expected to increase at a CAGR of 12.6% over the forecast period to account for 1,781.4 Mn meter square by 2027 end. ASEAN dominated the geosynthetics market in South Asia during 2016, accounting for 37% share in terms of volume.Request For Sample Report :Growing usage of geosynthetics in road and rail infrastructure development to drive the South Asia geosynthetics marketGeosynthetic materials are extensively used in road construction projects. They are mainly used for the purpose of subgrade separation and stabilisation, base reinforcement, filtration and drainage facility along with overlay stress absorption and reinforcement. Geosynthetics also has application in the construction of railway lines where it improves stress propagation and provides better stability. Governments in the South Asia region are planning to invest heavily in the development of road and rail infrastructure, which is bound to fuel the demand for geosynthetics in the South Asian market. A pertinent example of this could be of the Indian government that is expected to invest as much as US$ 14 Bn for road infrastructure development during 2016-2017. The construction of national highways to the tune of approximately 10,000 km is in the process of approval.The Indian government also plans to increase the existing road network from 96,000 km to 200,000 km over the coming years. In a similar trend, the ASEAN countries are expected to boost their investment in developing road infrastructure through significant investments made by the government or through FDI. The countries in this region are investing a huge sum of money to increase connectivity in the peninsular region. Brunei Darussalam is building one of the longest bridges (around 30 km) to connect Muara with Temburong. Various other projects, such as the construction of a 174 km highway in Cambodia and a 2,700 km Trans-Sumatra toll road in Indonesia are some of the billion dollar investment projects in the region, which are estimated to boost the demand for geosynthetics in the coming years.Increased cost of construction and a lack of skilled labour hampering the growth of the South Asia geosynthetics marketEven though geosynthetics offers several advantages in construction, contractors often hesitate to use geosynthetic materials as it increases the overall cost of construction. The construction of roads, canals, dams or any other project may require the application of several layers of different geosynthetics in order to serve the purpose. In addition, the application of geosynthetic materials requires high-cost specialised equipment and highly skilled personnel. The shortage of both discourages contractors to opt for geosynthetics in different construction projects. Moreover, there is a lack of awareness amongst the construction companies and contractors about the long-term benefits of geosynthetics and this further impedes their utilisation in different construction projects. These factors are expected to restrict the growth of the South Asia geosynthetics market during the forecast period. However, the future impact of these factors is expected to decrease as cost-effective production techniques are expected to replace the conventional methods of manufacturing geosynthetics over the coming years.Browse Full Report With TOC :South Asia Geosynthetics Market Attractiveness Analysis, by ApplicationAmong applications, the road (paved & unpaved) application segment is estimated to remain lucrative in terms of both value and volume during the forecast period. The road segment is estimated to be valued at over US$ 375 Mn in 2017 and is expected to register a CAGR of 14.0% to reach a value of over US$ 1,400 Mn by the end of 2027. In terms of volume, the road application segment is estimated to witness deployment of 258.7 Mn meter square of geosynthetics in 2017, which is expected to increase to 962.8 Mn meter square by the end of 2027. In terms of value, the landfills and erosion control application segment is estimated to be valued at more than US$ 100 Mn by 2017 end and is expected to register a CAGR of 12.9% to reach a market value of nearly US$ 340 Mn by the end of 2027. The application of geosynthetics in dams, riverbanks and waterworks is expected to grow significantly during the forecast period with a CAGR of 12.6% in terms of value.Providing high performance and innovative products at competitive costs to gain market share is a key strategy adopted by market playersThe geosynthetics market all over the world has witnessed a phenomenal growth over the last few years with the construction industry acting as a catalyst to this growth. The above average GDP growth in developing South Asian countries such as India, Vietnam, Indonesia, etc. is leading to a high growth of construction activities in the region, which in turn has been the key driving factor for an increasing demand for geosynthetics. The market, in sync with the overall economic growth of the region, has been significantly opportunistic and high demand for geosynthetics is expected to arise for their application in various type of construction projects.Send An Enquiry :Reaching out to end-customers with prime distributors/EPC companies can provide significant growth opportunities for manufacturers of geosynthetics to increase their revenue generation from various local and regional markets. However, due to the presence of a large number of manufacturers, the geosynthetics market is becoming highly competition intensive. Development of high performance products with new production technologies and making them available at competitive costs is expected to provide high growth opportunities to manufacturers in the long run.Market Research Reports Search Engine (MRRSE) is an industry-leading database of market intelligence reports. MRRSE is driven by a stellar team of research experts and advisors trained to offer objective advice. Our sophisticated search algorithm returns results based on the report title, geographical region, publisher, or other keywords.MRRSE partners exclusively with leading global publishers to provide clients single-point access to top-of-the-line market research. MRRSEs repository is updated every day to keep its clients ahead of the next new trend in market research, be it competitive intelligence, product or service trends or strategic consulting.State Tower90, State StreetSuite 700Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTelephone: +1-518-730-0559Email: sales@mrrse.comGoogle+:Linked in:Twitter: Lakeview Health will be opening a new facility just north of Houston, Texas Find Your True North www.lakeviewhealth.com/about-us/careers/ www.LakeviewHealth.com Jacksonville, FL, Aug. 10, 2017 Lakeview Health, a leader in the treatment of substance use disorders, has begun renovations on a new treatment center in The Woodlands, TX, which is located just north of Houston. This will be the organizations first Texas facility. Lakeview Health at The Woodlands will provide the same high-quality clinical care and welcoming ambiance as the primary facility in Jacksonville, FL.Opening a facility in Texas is the first step in providing excellent services to areas in need of access to care, said Brian Potts, operating partner of The Riverside Company, which acquired Lakeview Health in December 2016. Riverside was excited to partner with Lakeview last year because of the first-rate clinical program, facilities and staff. We are looking forward to expanding Lakeviews high level of care to additional markets.The greater Houston metropolitan area currently offers few treatment options for those who suffer from addiction and psychiatric disorders. Additionally, Houston has been identified as one of the fastest growing populations in the U.S. due in part to the number of Fortune 500 companies and larger organizations both established and entering the marketplace. The suburbs around Houston, such as Conroe, just a few miles north of Lakeview Healths new The Woodlands facility, grew 7.8% between 2015 and 2016.With a growing population and few addiction treatment options in Montgomery County and the surrounding area, this new location offers another option for individuals in need of intensive treatment, said Roy M. Serpa, CEO of Lakeview Health. With the addition of the Texas center, we can help patients change their lifes direction toward a life in recovery. As the prevalence of addiction continues to rise and the deficit of quality treatment centers remains, we recognize the need for expansion to provide treatment resources across the country.Lakeview Healths Texas facility will offer partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient mixed gender programs, with day and evening treatment options available. The center will be open seven days a week and will provide meals in their onsite dining room. In addition, they will provide transportation from sober living facilities in the area.Lakeview Healths new 10,727 square foot location is expected to be completed and fully operational in December of 2017. It will be staffed by some of the most highly regarded clinicians in the field of addiction treatment.We are excited to expand our services to those in need and partner with the Houston community, Serpa stated.A grand opening is being planned for January 2018. Lakeview is currently accepting applications for a variety of positions, which can be found atLakeview Health1900 Corporate Square Blvd.Jacksonville, FL 32216About Lakeview HealthLakeview Health, located in Jacksonville, FL, serves individuals with addiction and psychiatric disorders. Staff offer an integrative health approach that addresses the medical, psychological, physical and spiritual aspects of recovery. Their gender-responsive programs host unique treatment features that cater to women and men independently. They provide a continuum of care, allowing patients to move successfully toward a life in recovery. To learn more, visit Canada Home Healthcare Market Key Statistics Analysis 2020 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/canada-home-healthcare-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=4898 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The Canada home healthcare market is exhibiting a CAGR of 8.9% in the forecast period of 2014 to 2020. According to a research report released by Transparency Market Research, the Canada home healthcare market is expected to reach US$18.94 bn by the end of 2020, after being recorded at US$10.45 bn in 2013. The report is titled Canada Home Healthcare Market - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020, and is available on the company website now.Browse the full Canada Home Healthcare Market (By Device Types - Diagnostics and Monitoring Devices, Therapeutic Home Healthcare Devices, Mobility Assist Devices and Medical Supplies; By Services - Rehabilitation, Telehealth and Telemedicine, Respiratory Therapy, Infusion Therapy and Unskilled Home Healthcare Services) - Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2014 - 2020 report atAccording to the report, the Canada home healthcare market is primarily driven by the rising number of patients who suffer from ailments such as diabetes, arthritis, cancer, and multiple chronic diseases. This rising prevalence of diseases, coupled with a growing population of geriatric Canadian citizens, is boosting the Canada home healthcare market at a rapid rate.Other drivers of the Canada home healthcare market include technological advancements that allow for a more efficient healthcare service that can be delivered at an optimum time, and a growing awareness of citizens towards the Canada home healthcare market and its services.Between the different segments of the Canada home healthcare market according to type, the market is led by diagnostics and monitoring devices, a segment that held over 30% of the market in 2013. This segment is boosted by consistent government efforts taken to increase awareness among citizens regarding the existence of diagnostic and monitoring devices and their benefits.The home mobility segment earned the lowest revenue for the Canada home healthcare market in 2013. This is attributed to the low market cost of the instruments sold in the home mobility segment, such as walkers, crutches, cranes, and rollators.In terms of services, the Canada home healthcare market is led by the segment of telehealth and telemedicine. The segment is progressing at a CAGR of 11.0% by 2020. The telehealth and telemedicine segment generated 2% of the usual revenue recorded in the Canada home healthcare market in 2013. The Canada home healthcare market services are constantly driven by factors such as high cost-effectiveness, easier access to rural locations, and high quality care of patients.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Canada Home Healthcare Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.From a geographical perspective, the Canada home healthcare market was led by the province of Ontario in 2013. At the same time, the Canada home healthcare market in the Quebec is expected to rise at a rapid CAGR of 9.2%. The report cites increasing population of chronically ill people as the key reason for the high growth rate of the Canada home healthcare market in Quebec.Key players involved in the Canada home healthcare market are Home Care Ontario, The Canadian Home Caress, We Care Health Services, GM Healthcare, 3M Healthcare, Omron Healthcare, and Johnson & Johnson.Key segments of the Canada Home Healthcare MarketCanada Home Healthcare Market, by Device TypesDiagnostic and Monitoring DevicesBlood Glucose MonitorsBlood Pressure MonitorsHeart Rate MonitorsTemperature MonitorsSleep Apnea MonitorsCoagulation MonitorsPregnancy Test KitsPulse OximetersPedometersTherapeutic Home Healthcare DevicesInsulin Delivery DevicesNebulizersVentilator and Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) DevicesIntravenous (IV) EquipmentDialysis EquipmentHome Mobility Assist DevicesWheelchairsCranes and CrutchesOther Home Mobility Assist Devices (Walkers, Rollators and Mobility Scooters)Medical SuppliesCanada Home Healthcare Market, by ServicesRehabilitation ServicesTelehealth and Telemedicine ServicesInfusion Therapy ServicesRespiratory Therapy ServicesUnskilled Home Healthcare ServicesCanada Home Healthcare Market, by ProvincesOntarioQuebecAlbertaRest of CanadaAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.ContactMr.Sudip S90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Tissue Engineered Skin Substitute Market Demand is Increasing Rapidly In Forecast to 2023 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/tissue-engineered-skin-substitute.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=3854 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The global market for tissue engineered skin substitutes is mostly consolidated as four companies currently maintain a strong hold over revenue shares in market value. The top three players in 2014 were Acelity, Smith & Nephew, and Molnlycke. Their collective share in market value in 2014 was 51.4%. Most commonly, the key providers of tissue engineered skin substitutes offer a wide product profile, invest heavily in research and development to stay ahead of the pack, and possess strong marketing processes and distribution networks.As a result, although the collective share of regional tissue engineered skin substitute providers is quite large, the reach of key players coupled with the strict set of guidelines governing the release of any product in the market, have created only a moderate threat level from new entrants.View Report @The global market for tissue engineered skin substitutes is expected to generate revenue at a highly positive CAGR of 17.2% within a forecast period from 2015 to 2023. This market is expected to generate a revenue of US$1.2 bn by the end of 2016, and US$3.87 bn by 2023.Medical Tourism Creates Wide Revenue Stream for Tissue Engineered Skin Substitute ProvidersMedical tourism, as an industry, is already a multi-billion dollar one and is showing an annual growth rate in double digits, states a TMR analyst. The use of tissue engineered skin substitutes in developed nations is not only growing in numbers, but is also over-expensive and unaffordable for some without a feasible reimbursement policy. As a result, a large number of patients seeking tissue engineered skin substitute treatment are doing so through medical tourism.Nations such as Thailand, Malaysia, India, and Singapore are at the forefront of medical tourism and can offer state of the art technologies for tissue engineered skin substitute treatment at a much cheaper rate than that from North America or Europe.Additionally, medspas, or medical clinics that include a day spa, are a highly preferred place for treatment and healing by the elderly, especially for cases such as treatment of ulcers and venous diseases. Their higher number in developing economies is another factor driving the scope of medical tourism in the tissue engineered skin substitute market.Cost Effectiveness of Tissue Engineered Skin Substitutes Reduced by Intense CompetitionThe presence of a large number of local players adds a major layer of restraint to the globally prominent ones for the tissue engineered skin substitutes market. Local players can offer products at a much cheaper cost, thereby forcing key players to match their prices and reduce profit margins.The profits that can be channeled into research and development, therefore, decrease, slowing down the overall growth of the market for tissue engineered skin substitutes. This is more prevalent in developing economies, where the disparity in costs between local and global tissue engineered skin substitute players is quite high.Asia Pacific to Scale up Demand for Tissue Engineered Skin SubstitutesOwing to a growing population and a rapidly improving healthcare infrastructure in terms of quality and outreach, Asia Pacific is expected to show the fastest growth rate for tissue engineered skin substitutes. It is expected to progress at a CAGR of 18.3% within the forecast period from 2015 to 2023.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Tissue Engineered Skin Substitutes Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Acellular skin substitutes have not only been the dominant type of tissue engineered skin substitutes, but have registered promising growth. From 2015 to 2023, this segment is expected to progress at a CAGR of 17.8%. The leading application for tissue engineered skin substitutes is to treat ulcers. This application segment is expected to progress at a CAGR of 17.5% from 2015 to 2023.The information presented in this review is based on a Transparency Market Research report, titled, Tissue Engineered Skin Substitutes Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2015 - 2023.Key Takeaways:By 2023, acellular skin substitutes are expected to generate a revenue of US$2.29 bn.Ulcers expected to be a prominent application segment by 2023, estimated to generate revenue of US$2.15 bn.North America to continue leading demand and revenue for tissue engineered skin substitutes, expected to generate US$1.96 bn by 2023.Key segments of the Global Tissue Engineered Skin Substitutes MarketGlobal Tissue Engineered Skin Substitutes Market, by TypeAcellularCellular AllogeneicCellular AutologusOthersGlobal Tissue Engineered Skin Substitutes Market, by ApplicationBurnDiabetic Ulcers/Vascular ulcersOthersGlobal Tissue Engineered Skin Substitutes Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificLatin AmericaThe Middle East and AfricaAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Agricultural Sprayers | Industry Outlook, Growth Prospects and Key Opportunities http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/agricultural-sprayers-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=28115 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ A new research report by Transparency Market Research offers a comprehensive evaluation of the global Agricultural Sprayers Market. The study, titled Agricultural Sprayers Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025, is available for sale on the firms website.Global Agricultural Sprayers Market: SnapshotTechnological progress has been underpinning the global agricultural sprayers market. For example, drones are now used to spray apart from mapping and surveying. Improving agricultural drone technology is making it all possible. Such leveraging of technologies has been necessitated by pressing need for food resulting from a burgeoning world population. Modernization of agricultural equipment has served to increase crop yields.Browse Market Research Report @Agricultural sprayers can be used to spray herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, etc. They can be electric, fuel based, and handheld sprayers. Of them, the fuel-based agricultural sprayer is witnessing swift uptake on account of its increased efficiency. The electric sprayers are also seeing surging popularity on account of the growing number of innovations in sprayers to make them more useful. The different types of agricultural sprayers available in the market are foot/pedal sprayers, knapsack sprayers, traction pneumatic sprayers, aerial sprayers, and tractor-mounted sprayers. Of them, the segment of traction pneumatic sprayers is slated to dominate the market because of the high volumes of agrochemicals it can dispense.From a geographical standpoint, Europe contributes the most to the market for agricultural sprayers. The Netherlands is primarily driving the market in Europe by dint of being one of the major vegetable producers. Overall, the market in Europe is being driven by the need to better crop yield which requires the use of agricultural sprayers.The Middle East and Africa is another promising region on account of harsh climate and dearth of water for irrigation. This has necessitated the use of efficient sprayers to spray agrochemicals for a good crop yield.Agricultural Sprayers Market: OverviewAgricultural sprayers are used widely in the spraying of herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and fertilizers to crops for better yield and protection from crop-damaging microorganisms. These are one of the most important and essential equipment required for the growth of the crop, and also provide protection from pests, insects, and other organisms, thereby helping farmers gain good crop yield and capital. Agriculture sprayers is one of the oldest equipment used by the farmers in agricultural production.Agricultural Sprayers Market: Dynamics and TrendsShift from traditional farming techniques to advanced farming techniques is accelerating the need for agricultural sprayers, thereby driving the overall market growth. Increase in adoption of innovative agricultural equipment to save time and human effort is also contributing to the market growth. The agricultural sprayers market can be expanding significantly in Asia Pacific, due to the subsidies allotted by the governing bodies of developing economies in the region.Demand for agricultural sprayers has also been rising due to the development of new agrochemicals, which can be applied by sprayers. Agricultural sprayers lower the risk of chemical exposure and also provide better pesticide application technology.Agricultural Sprayers Market: SegmentationBased on type, the agricultural sprayers market can be segmented into electric, fuel based, and handheld sprayers. The fuel based segment is estimated to account for major share of the market, due to its higher efficiency. Electric is predicted to be an emerging segment, due to the increasing number of innovations in improvement of the yield of sprayers. Many rural areas in developing economies such as China and India are witnessing rapid developments in providing rural electricity. Hence, the outlook for the providers of electric agricultural sprayers appears positive in the near future in the Asia Pacific region.In terms of sprayer type, the agricultural sprayers market can be divided into knapsack sprayers, foot/pedal sprayers, traction pneumatic sprayers, tractor-mounted sprayers, and aerial sprayers. The traction pneumatic sprayers segment is estimated to hold key share of the market during the forecast period. Led by the capability of applying agrochemicals in high volumes, the traction pneumatic agricultural sprayers segment is projected to expand at a rapid pace during the forecast period.Based on the type of application, the agricultural sprayers market can be segregated into fungicide, herbicide, insecticides, and others. Among these, the fungicide segment is expected to account for significant share in the near future. Application of pesticides is mandatory for all kinds of crops, and these pesticides are also applied at regular time cycles.Agricultural Sprayers Market: Regional OverviewAgriculture is the primary source of food in many countries in Asia Pacific. Due to the increasing population, the demand for food is rising proportionally. This is driving the need of agricultural sprayers. Furthermore, crop yields have been increased due to the modernization of agricultural equipment.Europe also contributes significantly to the overall growth of the agricultural sprayers market. The Netherlands accounts for significant share of the agricultural sprayers market in Europe. The country is one of the major producers of vegetables in Europe. Rise in demand for the improvement of crop yield in Europe is primarily driving the need for efficient agricultural sprayers in the region.The need for aggressive farming techniques is increasing in the Middle East and Africa due to the harsh climatic conditions and paucity of water resources in the region. This type of agriculture requires more efficient sprayers for proper application of agrochemicals to obtain good crop yield. Thus, the Middle East and Africa region is anticipated to provide immense opportunities to the vendors of agricultural sprayers in the near future.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Agricultural Sprayers market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market@Agricultural Sprayers Market: Key PlayersProminent players operating in the global agricultural sprayers market include AGCO, Case IH, Ag Spray Equipment, Taizhou City Jiaojiang Jiangnan Agriculture Machinery Factory, Hardi International, Buhler Industries, Great Plains, Demco, Deere and Company, and Reddick Equipment Company of NC, LLC.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.The study is a source of reliable data on:Market segments and sub-segmentsMarket trends and dynamicsSupply and demandMarket sizeCurrent trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive landscapeTechnological breakthroughsValue chain and stakeholder analysisThe regional analysis covers:North America (U.S. and Canada)Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg)Eastern Europe (Poland and Russia)Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand)Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, and North Africa)About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Specialty Medical Chairs Market Scope and Revenue Outlook For Forecast to 2023 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/specialty-medical-chairs-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=2115 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com The emerging economies are on the cusp of revolutionizing their healthcare facilities, which is likely to create a positive impact on the specialty medical chairs market as well, observes Transparency Market Research. Companies must invest in Brazil, China, India, and countries of Latin America and Asia to reap benefits of the economic upheaval, says the lead author of this research report. Presently, the analysts have identified Fresenius SE & Co. KGaA, ACTIVEAID, Inc., DentalEZ, and A-dec, Inc., amongst others, as the leading players in the global specialty medical chairs market.View Report @Key players will also strive to expand their distribution network by striking strategic alliances with large multispecialty clinics, private clinics, and distributors. Broadening distribution networks will help companies to expand their geographical presence, thereby creating a foundation for higher sales in international markets in the near future.Customization Options Prompt Medical Facilities to Invest in Specialty Medical ChairsCustomization of chairs to serve the unique needs of patients and medical practitioners has propelled the global specialty medical chairs market. Several players are designing chairs to cater to the clinical needs of the patients such as pregnancy, obesity, cardiac issues, and others. Furthermore, the introduction of specialty medical chairs with newer technologies and better comfort is also propelling this market.The market is also witnessing an upbeat momentum due to the consistent rise in the geriatric population as they are far more susceptible to a range of chronic diseases and other physical disabilities in comparison to the younger population. The World Health Organization explains that the geriatric population will reach 1.5 billion by 2050 from 524 million in 2010, thus giving the market a big boost. Investments across emerging economies of the world to upgrade medical infrastructure is also expected to create several growth opportunities for the global specialty medical chairs market.High Cost of Modern Specialty Medical Chairs Retains MarketUnfortunately, the market will be stymied by the exponential cost of the modern specialty medical chairs. Thus the reluctance of medical facilities and governing boards to invest in top-of-the-line chairs is expected to restrain the market. Furthermore, the growing trend of refurbishing old medical chairs is also hampering the growth of the market.High Density of Medical Clinics in North America to Help GrowthAccording to the research report, the opportunity in the global specialty medical chairs market is expected to reach US$6.75 bn by 2023 as compared to US$3.80 bn in 2014, expanding at a CAGR of 6.5% from 2015 to 2023. The global market will be led by the rehabilitation chairs product segment as it will progress at a CAGR of 8.1% over the forecast period.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Specialty Medical Chairs Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market.Geographically, North America will hold the largest share in the market as the region will continue to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% between 2015 and 2023. A strong presence of ENT, dental, ophthalmic clinics in the region will be the primary growth driver for specialty medical chairs market in North America.This review is based on Transparency Market Researchs report, titled Specialty Medical Chairs Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2015 - 2023.Key Takeaways:Global specialty medical chairs market to reach a valuation of US$6.75 bn by 2023North America specialty medical chairs market to expand at a CAGR of 6.8% between 2015 and 2023Customized products being regarded as untapped opportunity in specialty medical chairs marketThe global specialty medical chairs market is segmented as follows:Global Specialty Medical Chairs Market, by Product TypesExamination ChairsBirthing ChairsCardiac ChairsBlood Drawing ChairsDialysis ChairsMammography ChairsTreatment ChairsOphthalmic ChairsENT ChairsDental ChairsOther Surgery ChairsRehabilitation ChairsPediatric ChairsBariatric ChairsGeriatric ChairsToilet ChairsGlobal Specialty Medical Chairs Market, by GeographyNorth AmericaUnited StatesCanadaEuropeUnited KingdomGermanyRest of EuropeAsia PacificIndiaChinaRest of APACLatin America (LATAM)BrazilMexicoRest of LATAMMiddle East and Africa (MENA)South AfricaRest of MEAAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector - such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Global Oven Control Panels 2017 Market key player, Segmentation Forecast Report to 2022. Oven Control Panels Analysis https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1752891-global-oven-control-panels-market-professional-survey-report-2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/reports/1752891-global-oven-control-panels-market-professional-survey-report-2017 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=1752891 www.wiseguyreports.com Description:This report studies Oven Control Panels in Global market, especially in North America, China, Europe, Southeast Asia, Japan and India, with production, revenue, consumption, import and export in these regions, from 2012 to 2016, and forecast to 2022.For Sample Report @Scope Of ReportThis report focuses on top manufacturers in global market, with production, price, revenue and market share for each manufacturer, coveringDuke Manufacturing Co. Inc. (US)United Enterprises (India)GE (US)Yog Electro Process Pvt. Ltd. (India)Koyka Electronics Pvt. Ltd. (India)By types, the market can be split intoMetalGlassOtherBy Application, the market can be split intoHousehold OvenIndustrial OvenBy Regions, this report covers (we can add the regions/countries as you want)North AmericaChinaEuropeSoutheast AsiaJapanIndiaIf you have any special requirements, please let us know and we will offer you the report as you want.For any Enquiry write us @Table of Contents1 Industry Overview of Oven Control Panels1.1 Definition and Specifications of Oven Control Panels1.1.1 Definition of Oven Control Panels1.1.2 Specifications of Oven Control Panels1.2 Classification of Oven Control Panels1.2.1 Metal1.2.2 Glass1.2.3 Other1.3 Applications of Oven Control Panels1.3.1 Household Oven1.3.2 Industrial Oven1.3.3 Application 31.4 Market Segment by Regions1.4.1 North America1.4.2 China1.4.3 Europe1.4.4 Southeast Asia1.4.5 Japan1.4.6 India2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Oven Control Panels2.1 Raw Material and Suppliers2.2 Manufacturing Cost Structure Analysis of Oven Control Panels2.3 Manufacturing Process Analysis of Oven Control Panels2.4 Industry Chain Structure of Oven Control Panels3 Technical Data and Manufacturing Plants Analysis of Oven Control Panels3.1 Capacity and Commercial Production Date of Global Oven Control Panels Major Manufacturers in 20163.2 Manufacturing Plants Distribution of Global Oven Control Panels Major Manufacturers in 20163.3 R&D Status and Technology Source of Global Oven Control Panels Major Manufacturers in 20163.4 Raw Materials Sources Analysis of Global Oven Control Panels Major Manufacturers in 20164 Global Oven Control Panels Overall Market Overview4.1 2012-2017E Overall Market Analysis4.2 Capacity Analysis4.2.1 2012-2017E Global Oven Control Panels Capacity and Growth Rate Analysis4.2.2 2016 Oven Control Panels Capacity Analysis (Company Segment)4.3 Sales Analysis4.3.1 2012-2017E Global Oven Control Panels Sales and Growth Rate Analysis4.3.2 2016 Oven Control Panels Sales Analysis (Company Segment)4.4 Sales Price Analysis4.4.1 2012-2017E Global Oven Control Panels Sales Price4.4.2 2016 Oven Control Panels Sales Price Analysis (Company Segment)5 Oven Control Panels Regional Market Analysis5.1 North America Oven Control Panels Market Analysis5.1.1 North America Oven Control Panels Market Overview5.1.2 North America 2012-2017E Oven Control Panels Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.1.3 North America 2012-2017E Oven Control Panels Sales Price Analysis5.1.4 North America 2016 Oven Control Panels Market Share Analysis5.2 China Oven Control Panels Market Analysis5.2.1 China Oven Control Panels Market Overview5.2.2 China 2012-2017E Oven Control Panels Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.2.3 China 2012-2017E Oven Control Panels Sales Price Analysis5.2.4 China 2016 Oven Control Panels Market Share Analysis5.3 Europe Oven Control Panels Market Analysis5.3.1 Europe Oven Control Panels Market Overview5.3.2 Europe 2012-2017E Oven Control Panels Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption Analysis5.3.3 Europe 2012-2017E Oven Control Panels Sales Price Analysis5.3.4 Europe 2016 Oven Control Panels Market Share Analysis5.4 Southeast Asia Oven Control Panels Market Analysis5.4.1 Southeast Asia Oven Control Panels Market Overview5.4.2 Southeast Asia 2012-2017E Oven Control Panels Local Supply, Import, Export, Local Consumption AnalysisContinuedBuy now@Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Company Name: Wiseguyreports.comContact Person: Norah TrentEmail: Sales@wiseguyreports.comPhone: +1 646 845 9349, +44 208 133 9349City: PuneState: MaharashtraCountry: IndiaWebsite: Glycerol Market Size, Share | Industry Trends Analysis Report, 2018 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/glycerol.market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=917 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com A new research report by Transparency Market Research offers a comprehensive evaluation of the global Butylated Hydroxytoluene Market. The study, titled Glycerol Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Trends, Growth And Forecast 2012 - 2018, is available for sale on the firms website.Glycerol is also known as glycerin when commercial material contains more than 95% of glycerol. Glycerol is a colorless polyol with a sweet taste and is highly soluble in water. Earlier glycerol was obtained as a by-product from the manufacturing of soaps or fatty acids by saponification of fats. These days it is mostly obtained as a by-product of biodiesel. Glycerol has wide industrial applications. Some of the areas of application include food industry, pharmaceuticals, personal care, storage, healthcare, etc.The growth of the global biodiesel industry in recent years has led to overproduction of glycerol globally. Glycerol is majorly obtained as a byproduct of biodiesel production via transesterification process.Browse Market Research Report @Executive summary chapter of this report includes global market volume (kilo tons) and revenue (USD million). This part of the report also provides market snapshot with segmentation into various products, application and geography. The report measures, estimates, analyze and forecasts the global market for glycerol from the demand perspective. The report provides the global demand for glycerol in terms of consumption volumes (Kilo Tons) and revenues from 2011 to 2018. For an insightful understanding of the market on the regional level, the demand has been forecast based on volume (kilo tons) and revenue (USD million). The report showcases various factors which are driving and restraining the global market and also include the opportunities which are expected to drive the market in the near future.The study estimates and forecasts the market for glycerol by its production from various sources both in terms of volumes (Kilo Tons) and revenues (USD Million) from 2011 to 2018. The report also estimates and forecasts various applications of glycerol from 2011 to 2018 and also includes a special chapter dedicated to the future potential applications for glycerol. The global market for glycerol has also been provided for four major geographic regions: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW). The market for each geographical region has been extensively analyzed based on the demand, economic development, presence and reach of key companies. The market size and forecast in terms of USD million for each application has been provided for the period 2011 to 2018, considering 2011 as the base year. The report also provides the compounded annual growth rate (% CAGR) for the forecast period 2012 to 2018 for each segment.The research study includes a value chain in order to provide a comprehensive view of various components prevailing across the glycerol value chain. In order to provide competitive analysis the report used Porters Five Forces Analysis for measuring the impact of bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, competition, threat from new entrants and threat of substitute products on the glycerol market. The reports covers company market share analysis and company profiles of the major companies operating in the global glycerol market. The company market share analysis has been done based on production capacities and the revenue share in the glycerol market. Furthermore, report provides market attractiveness analysis, where the applications are benchmarked based on their market size, growth rate and general attractiveness. This analysis provides the most lucrative application segment during the forecast period in the market.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Glycerol market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market@Some of the companies profiled in the report include P&G Chemicals, IOI Group, Emery Oleochemicals, Kuala Lumpur Berhad, Dial Corporation, Croda, Wilmar International among others. Company profiles include company overview, financial overview, business strategy, SWOT analysis and recent developments.To compile this report extensive primary and secondary research has been carried out. Primary research includes interviewing key opinion leaders and industry experts. Secondary research includes news articles, press releases, Biodiesel magazine, Biofuel Digest magazine, company websites, annual reports, investor presentations and SEC filings.The report segments the global glycerol market as:Glycerol Market, by Production Source:BiodieselFatty AcidsFatty AlcoholsSoap IndustryGlycerol Market, by Application:Personal Care and PharmaceuticalsAlkyd ResinsFoods and BeveragesPolyether PolyolsTobacco HumectantsOther (including explosives, textile, paper etc)Glycerol Market, by Geography:North AmericaEuropeAsia PacificRest of the World (RoW)About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) Films Industry: Global Survey, Trends, Outlook,Forecast by 2018 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/polyvinyl-alcohol-films.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=S&rep_id=998 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/ A new research report by Transparency Market Research offers a comprehensive evaluation of the global Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) Films Market. The study, titled Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) Films Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast, 2012 - 2018, is available for sale on the firms website.Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) films are manufactured from PVA resins along with vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) which is increasingly finding use in various water soluble applications such as detergents and agrochemical packaging. PVA films are also used for polarizer applications in LCD panels, sunglasses and optical filters. Increasing governmental initiatives to support green packaging owing to biodegradable nature of PVA films is one of the major factors driving the market growth. However, the volatility in vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) prices is acting as one of the major factors inhibiting the market growth. Companies are conducting extensive research in order to explore novel applications for PVA films especially, for food applications. Thus, is it expected to create new avenues to the players in the market.Browse Market Research Report @The report segments the application of PVA films into water soluble applications and polarizer applications and estimates each segment from 2011 to 2018 in terms of volumes and revenues. The report further segments PVA films used in water soluble packaging on the basis of various applications in terms of volumes (tons) and revenues (USD million) from 2011 to 2018. The major water soluble applications analyzed in the report are detergent packaging, agrochemical packaging, laundry bags, embroidery and others. The report also estimates and forecasts the PVA polarized films market based on its application in terms of volumes (million square meters) and revenues (USD million) from 2011 to 2018. Polarizer applications include LCD panels, optical filters, etc.The report analyzes the PVA water soluble films demand across various regions such as North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW) in terms of volumes (tons) and revenues (USD million) from 2011 to 2018. The report analyzes demand for each region based on various water soluble applications of PVA films. The demand for polarized PVA films is concentrated in the Asian region; hence the report also provides granular market data for key Asian countries including South Korea, Japan, Taiwan and China in terms of volumes (million square meters) and revenues (USD million) from 2011 to 2018.This research report estimates and forecasts the global market for polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) films, analyzing the market dynamics such as driving and restraining factors, the growth trends, and opportunities present in the market. In order to understand the supply chain of the PVA films market, the report includes value chain analysis which gives a comprehensive view of the overall market. The study uses analytical tools such as Porters Five Forces Model in order to gauge impact of buyers, suppliers, substitutes, new entrants and competition on overall PVA films market. It also includes market attractiveness analysis for water soluble applications in order to showcase lucrative application segments of water soluble PVA film. The end-use industries of PVA films are diverse hence company market share for water soluble and polarizer application is analyzed separately for the year 2012.The report also includes company profiles of the major companies operating in the global market, highlighting company overview, financial overview, business strategies, SWOT analysis and recent developments. Major companies covered in the report include Kuraray Co. Ltd., Sekisui Specialty Chemicals, Arrow Coated Products Ltd., Cortec Corporation, Jiangmen Proudly Water-Soluble Plastic Co., Ltd., AMC (UK) Ltd., Changzhou Water Soluble Co. Ltd, MonoSol, LLC, Nippon Gohsei and Aicello Chemical Co. Ltd.Get accurate market forecast and analysis on the Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) Films market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this market@In this report, top down approached was used to analyze and estimate the PVA film market by geography and bottom up approach for various applications. Extensive secondary research was conducted using sources such as Plastemart Magazine, ICIS, company annual reports, government databases, etc. Along with secondary research, primary interviews were conducted in order to validate the research findings. Primary interviews were conducted with key industry participants such as VPs, CEOs, marketing manager, sales manager, etc. This method has proven to arrive at accurate market data and helps in making strategic decisions in the global PVA films market.This report segments the global PVA films market as follows:PVA Films Market: Water Soluble Packaging Application AnalysisDetergent PackagingConsumer Detergent Packagingindustrial Detergent PackagingAgrochemical PackagingLaundry BagsEmbroideryOther (including pet waste bags and fish bait bags etc)PVA Films Market, by Polarizer ApplicationLCD PanelsOther (including sunglasses, optical filters etc)PVA Films (Water Soluble Packaging) Market: Regional AnalysisNorth AmericaEuropeAsia PacificRest of the WorldPVA Films (Polarizer Application) Market: Regional AnalysisSouth KoreaJapanTaiwanChinaAbout UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMR's experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Our data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts, so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With a broad research and analysis capability, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques in developing distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact UsTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: Application Security Testing Market to Grow at a Remarkable Pace in the Coming Years http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/application-security-testing-market.html http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/sample/sample.php?flag=B&rep_id=25142 http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com Application Security Testing Market: IntroductionThere are various methods via which an application security testing is carried out: static application security testing, dynamic application security testing, interactive application security testing and mobile application security testing. Static application security testing method analyzes an application's source and binary code for security vulnerabilities, typically at the programming or testing phases of the software lifecycle whereas a dynamic application security testing method analyzes applications while they're running. It simulates attacks against an application, analyzes the application's reactions to the attack, and then determines whether it's vulnerable or not. An interactive application security testing technology combines elements of static and dynamic application security testing simultaneously. It's typically implemented as an agent within the test runtime environment. A mobile application security testing method uses a combination of traditional static and dynamic application security testing, and behavioral analysis using static and dynamic techniques to discover malicious or potentially risky actions the app may be taking unbeknownst to the user.Each of the above mentioned testing methods have their own advantages and disadvantages, due to which multiple methods are applied to an application. The companies depending on their requirements whether they require a comprehensive testing to be carried out, or only a part of the application needs to be tested, make the decision of using one of the above mentioned methods of application security testing.Obtain Report Details @Application Security Testing Market: Drivers and ChallengesOne of the major driving factor of application security testing market is rise in number of security breaches across organizations which is pushing organizations to implement application security testing into their applications. Rising government compliance on data security, cloud adoption across several enterprises (both SMEs and large scale) and increasing number of sophisticated threats are other prominent driving factors of wide adoption of application security testing market. With evolution of next-generation threat intelligence solutions, rapid adoption of bring your own device (BYOD) model and integration of big data analytics with threat intelligence software are also encouraging to organizations; especially banking and financial services to implement application security testing into their applications.Application Security Testing Market: SegmentationSegmentation on the basis of deployment type:Software-as-a-ServiceOn-premiseSegmentation on the basis of type of testing:Static Application Security TestingDynamic Application Security TestingInteractive Application Security TestingMobile Application Security TestingSegmentation on the basis of enterprise:SMEsLarge scale EnterprisesSegmentation on the basis of vertical:BFSIIT & TelecommunicationsGovernment & DefenseTransportationHealthcareRetailEnergy & UtilitiesOthersGet accurate market forecast and analysis on the Application Security Testing Market. Request a sample to stay abreast on the key trends impacting this marketApplication Security Testing Market: Key Market PlayersFew of the companies in Application Security Testing market are: Hewlett Packard Enterprise, IBM Corporation, Veracode, WhiteHat Security, Acunetix, Cigital, Checkmarx Inc., Rapid7, Qualys, Inc. and PortSwigger. These companies are focused towards continually updating their existing software and services in order to increase their market share in application security testing market.Application Security Testing Market: Regional OverviewApplication security testing market is currently dominated by North America region owing to technological advancements and wide adoption of application security testing services with the enterprises existing applications. Europe application security testing market follows next as various end user industry verticals such as defense and government agencies are fast adopting application security testing. Asia Pacific application security testing market is growing at an exponential rate owing to enterprises realizing the importance of application security testing software.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite: We are gathering information for the 2022 general election. On desktop, click "election information" on the right side of this pag... Enterprise SDN Industry is expected to reach $5.4 billion by 2022 Enterprise SDN Industry https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1568662-enterprise-sdn-market-global-trends-forecast-upto-2022 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/1568662-enterprise-sdn-market-global-trends-forecast-upto-2022 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=1568662 Enterprise SDN Market Driven By Developing Convergence Systems and Rising Adoption of IoT TechnologyPune, India, 16 August 2017: WiseGuyReports announced addition of new report, titled Enterprise SDN Market - Global Trends & Forecast upto 2022Software Defined Networking (SDN) is a new avenue that eliminates the stable and complexity of traditional distributed network structures through the abstraction of high-level functionality. The main goal of the SDN is to allow administrators and network engineers to respond quickly to changing business needs. The SDN provides console interfaces, where professional physical devices (e.g., switches) can manage, provision and remove from administration without having to set up.At any given time, large businesses serving the majority of users need to support complex networks and infrastructure. Therefore, adopting SDN in such activities is expected to improve IT infrastructure. Due to increasing network difficulties and operational challenges, the technique of installing SDNs has been developed, which is expected to speed up the network, improve the automation and reduce the cost of network operations.For Sample Report@According to research and analysis, the Enterprise SDN market will observe a CAGR of 37.4% during the forecast period 20162022.Globally, deeper analysis of SDN hardware, software, and services and applications demand and security rates have been provided in various industries globally. "Enterprise SDN" market covers and analyzes the study. Opting out of the industry, the report aims to give the opportunity to key players to understand the latest trends, current market conditions, government initiatives and technology related to the market. In addition, entrepreneurs help the capitalists to understand companies and make informed decisions. What are the factors that drive the market. The report also forecasts market size and share in coming years. The report also high-light competitive Landscape such as mergers & acquisitions, partnerships, collaborations and vendor analysis."Enterprise SDN Market" studied and explain on basic "SWOT" analysis in the report.The market is divided into product type, enterprise type, workspace, and sections. Cloud technology's growth rates, developing convergence systems, increasing use of IOT technology and mobile applications are driving the market growth. The product section covers cover software, hardware and services and applications. Service and app segments are expected to have a market share of more than 50% by 2022.For any Enquiry write us @The manufacturing industry revenue is expected to reach $5.4 billion by 2022.The report covers the following region like the Americas, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Middle East & Africa. The America is dominating SDN Market across the globe. US SDN is the leading market for major shareholders and developing advanced technology areas, making changes in entrepreneurial investment and changing the demand of the customer has affected this sector in the Enterprise SNN market. Europe is the second leading region followed by Asia Pacific and MEA. The Americas market revenue is expected to reach $12.2 billion by 2022.The key players included in the report are VMware Inc., Cisco Systems Inc., HP, Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Big Switch Networks, Brocade Communication Systems, and Pluribus Networks.Buy now@Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028 Maharashtra, India Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Market has total capital expenditure of $5.15 billion by 2025 Remotely Operated Vehicle Industry https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1598206-global-remotely-operated-vehicle-rov-market-2017-2025-by-industry-vertical https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/1598206-global-remotely-operated-vehicle-rov-market-2017-2025-by-industry-vertical https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=1598206 New Technology Development In ROV Market Enables Oil & Gas, Military and Scientific Research Industry To Reach In DepthPune, India, 16 August 2017: WiseGuyReports announced addition of new report, titled Global Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Market 2017-2025 by Industry Vertical, Application, Hardware Component, Vehicle Type, Propulsion System and Region.The report "Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) cover ongoing competitive conditions and predictive production trends; and the world presents a profile with market leader leaders and important budding players, including ROV vendors. In particular, the potential risks associated with investment in the global rovers market are assessed and used by the evaluation mechanism. According to risk analysis and evaluation, Critical Health Factors (CSF) are generated as a guide to manage investor and stockholders and minimize risks, to develop an appropriate business model and to help in wise policy decisions and decisions.The report Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Market 2017-2025, based on extensive research of ROV market by analyzing the entire global market and all, through industry vertical, application, hardware contour, vehicle type, propulsion systems, and region. Its subdivisions are obtained through a comprehensive wide assortment of qualitative analysis and evaluation through primary and secondary information sources of premium.For Sample Report@As per research study and analysis Global total capital expenditure of ROVs in 2025 will advance to $5.15 billion.This underwater vehicle is controlled by the remote. It's a vehicle with cables so it is restricted to move freely. The navigation control by human above the sea in the ship. Its one kind of robot with similar function. The vehicle is cover with one camera, one video camera, and sensor. They come with some additional tool so they can use carry an object and some heavy element if the need for the study.There has been a great development in technology and now ROVs is important tool using offshore for petroleum development and drilling, military and science efforts as well as for underwater use.The report covers the following types of ROV which are,Light Work Class Vehicle: Light Vehicle class operated remotely mostly less than 50 HP and can support many manipulators. This ROV maximum operating depth is around 2000 meters.Heavy Work Class Vehicle: This vehicle less the 220 HP with two individual to operate remotely, and this ROV can go to a depth of 3500 meters.For any Enquiry write us @Medium Work Class Vehicle: This vehicle is about 5Hp or less than that, due to recent development in them they can go almost 1000 meter.Towed vehicles: This is huge and much heavier than any other, they are specially made for the deeper analysis and studies.The global ROV hardware market is divided and analyzed based on system component are Imaging System, Sensors and Automation Systems, Steering and Positioning, Navigation System, Energy and Propulsion and Others. Based on Industry Vertical, ROV marked is segmented by Oil & Gas Industry, Scientific Research and Military & Defense.The key regions covered in report are APAC (China, Malaysia, Australia, India, and Rest of APAC), Europe (Norway, UK, Rest of Europe), North America (U.S. and Canada), Latin America (Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Rest of Latin America), Africa (Nigeria, Angola) and Middle East.The leading players of ROV are Andrews Survey, C-Innovation, DOF Subsea AS, Forum Energy Technologies, Fugro Subsea Services Ltd, Hallin Marine Subsea International PLC, Helix Energy Solutions, i-Tech (Subsea 7), Kystdesign AS, and Oceaneering International, Inc.Buy now@Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028 Maharashtra, India Mobile Edge Computing Market - Global Industry Key Players, Development Status, Type and Application, Forecast 2017 to 2022 Mobile Edge Computing Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1757457-global-mobile-edge-computing-detailed-analysis-report-2017-2022 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/1757457-global-mobile-edge-computing-detailed-analysis-report-2017-2022 https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=1757457 www.wiseguyreports.com Global Mobile Edge Computing Market:WiseGuyReports.com adds Mobile Edge Computing Market 2017 Global Analysis, Growth, Trends and Opportunities Research Report Forecasting to 2022reports to its database.WiseGuyReports.Com Publish a New Market Research Report On Executive Summary:This report mainly introduces volume and value market share by players, by regions, by product type, by consumers and also their price change details. As a Detailed Analysis report, it covers all details inside analysis and opinion in Mobile Edge Computing industry.This report splits Mobile Edge Computing market By Component, By Organization, which covers the history data information from 2012 to 2016 and forecast from 2017 to 2022.This report focuses Global market, it covers details as following:Major CompaniesAdlink Technology Inc. (Taiwan)Advantech Co., Ltd. (Taiwan)Artesyn Embedded Technologies Inc. (California, US)Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (California, US)Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen, China)Juniper Networks, Inc. (California, US)Nokia Corporation (Espoo, Finland)Vapor IO, Inc. (Texas, US)Saguna Networks Ltd. (Israel)Vasona Networks, Inc. (California, US)Communication Service Providers (CSPs)Mobile Manufacturing Co (US)Request Sample Report Here @...Main RegionsNorth AmericaUnited StatesCanadaLatin AmericaMexicoBrazilArgentinaOthersEuropeGermanyUnited KingdomFranceItalySpainRussiaNetherlandOthersAsia & PacificChinaJapanIndiaKoreaAustraliaSoutheast AsiaIndonesiaThailandPhilippinesVietnamSingaporeMalaysiaOthersAfrica & Middle EastSouth AfricaEgyptTurkeySaudi ArabiaIranOthersMain Product TypeMobile Edge Computing Market, by ComponentHardwareSoftwareMobile Edge Computing Market, by OrganizationLarge EnterprisesSmall and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)Main ApplicationsLocation-based ServicesVideo SurveillanceUnified CommunicationOptimized Local Content DistributionData AnalyticsEnvironmental MonitoringEnquiry Before Buying @Some Major Points from Table of Content:Table of ContentsGlobal Mobile Edge Computing Detailed Analysis Report 2017-2022Chapter One Mobile Edge Computing Market Overview1.1 Global Mobile Edge Computing Market Sales Volume Revenue and Price 2012-20221.2 Mobile Edge Computing, By Component 2012-20221.2.1 Global Mobile Edge Computing Sales Market Share by Component 2012-20221.2.2 Global Mobile Edge Computing Revenue Market Share by Component 2012-20221.2.3 Global Mobile Edge Computing Price by Component 2012-20221.2.4 Hardware1.2.5 Software1.3 Mobile Edge Computing, by Organization 2012-20221.3.1 Global Mobile Edge Computing Sales Market Share by Organization 2012-20221.3.2 Global Mobile Edge Computing Revenue Market Share by Organization 2012-20221.3.3 Global Mobile Edge Computing Price by Organization 2012-20221.3.4 Large Enterprises1.3.5 Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)Chapter Two Mobile Edge Computing by Regions 2012-20172.1 Global Mobile Edge Computing Sales Market Share by Regions 2012-20172.2 Global Mobile Edge Computing Revenue Market Share by Regions 2012-20172.3 Global Mobile Edge Computing Price by Regions 2012-20172.4 North America2.4.1 United States2.4.2 Canada2.5 Latin America2.5.1 Mexico2.5.2 Brazil2.5.3 Argentina2.5.4 Others in Latin AmericaChapter Three Mobile Edge Computing by Players 2012-20173.1 Global Mobile Edge Computing Sales Volume Market Share by Players 2012-20173.2 Global Mobile Edge Computing Revenue Share by Players 2012-20173.3 Global Top Players Mobile Edge Computing Key Product Model and Market Performance3.4 Global Top Players Mobile Edge Computing Key Target Consumers and Market PerformanceChapter Four Mobile Edge Computing by Consumer 2012-20174.1 Global Mobile Edge Computing Sales Market Share by Consumer 2012-20174.2 Location-based Services4.3 Video Surveillance4.4 Unified Communication4.5 Optimized Local Content Distribution4.6 Data Analytics4.7 Environmental Monitoring4.8 Consuming Habit and PreferenceChapter Five Global Top Players Profile5.1 Adlink Technology Inc. (Taiwan)5.1.1 Adlink Technology Inc. (Taiwan) Company Details and Competitors5.1.2 Adlink Technology Inc. (Taiwan) Key Mobile Edge Computing Models and Performance5.1.3 Adlink Technology Inc. (Taiwan) Mobile Edge Computing Business SWOT Analysis and Forecast5.1.4 Adlink Technology Inc. (Taiwan) Mobile Edge Computing Sales Volume Revenue Price Cost and Gross Margin5.2 Advantech Co., Ltd. (Taiwan)5.2.1 Advantech Co., Ltd. (Taiwan) Company Details and Competitors5.2.2 Advantech Co., Ltd. (Taiwan) Key Mobile Edge Computing Models and Performance5.2.3 Advantech Co., Ltd. (Taiwan) Mobile Edge Computing Business SWOT Analysis and Forecast5.2.4 Advantech Co., Ltd. (Taiwan) Mobile Edge Computing Sales Volume Revenue Price Cost and Gross Margin5.3 Artesyn Embedded Technologies Inc. (California, US)5.3.1 Artesyn Embedded Technologies Inc. (California, US) Company Details and Competitors5.3.2 Artesyn Embedded Technologies Inc. (California, US) Key Mobile Edge Computing Models and Performance5.3.3 Artesyn Embedded Technologies Inc. (California, US) Mobile Edge Computing Business SWOT Analysis and Forecast5.3.4 Artesyn Embedded Technologies Inc. (California, US) Mobile Edge Computing Sales Volume Revenue Price Cost and Gross Margin5.4 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (California, US)5.4.1 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (California, US) Company Details and Competitors5.4.2 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (California, US) Key Mobile Edge Computing Models and Performance5.4.3 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (California, US) Mobile Edge Computing Business SWOT Analysis and Forecast5.4.4 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (California, US) Mobile Edge Computing Sales Volume Revenue Price Cost and Gross Margin5.5 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen, China)5.5.1 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen, China) Company Details and Competitors5.5.2 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen, China) Key Mobile Edge Computing Models and Performance5.5.3 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen, China) Mobile Edge Computing Business SWOT Analysis and Forecast5.5.4 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen, China) Mobile Edge Computing Sales Volume Revenue Price Cost and Gross MarginChapter Six Industry Chain and Supply Chain6.1 Mobile Edge Computing Industry Chain Structure6.1.1 R&D6.1.2 Raw Materials (Components)6.1.3 Manufacturing Plants6.1.4 Regional Trading (Import Export and Local Sales)6.1.5 Online Sales Channel6.1.6 Offline Channel6.1.7 End Users6.2 Mobile Edge Computing Manufacturing6.2.1 Key Components6.2.2 Assembly Manufacturing6.3 Consumer Preference6.4 Behavioral Habits6.5 Marketing EnvironmentCONTINUEDPurchase Report @More about WiseGuyReports:Contact Us:NORAH TRENTPartner Relations & Marketing Managersales@wiseguyreports.comPh: +1-646-845-9349 (US)Ph: +44 208 133 9349 (UK)Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.WISE GUY RESEARCH CONSULTANTS PVT. LTD.Office No. 528, Amanora ChambersMagarpatta Road, HadapsarPune 411028Maharashtra, India Global and Japan KVM over IP Market Market : key Vendors, Trends, Analysis, Segmentation, Forecast to 2017-2022 KVM over IP Market https://www.wiseguyreports.com/sample-request/1703545-2017-2022-global-and-japan-kvm-over-ip-market-analysis-report https://www.wiseguyreports.com/enquiry/1703545-2017-2022-global-and-japan-kvm-over-ip-market-analysis-report https://www.wiseguyreports.com/checkout?currency=one_user-USD&report_id=1703545 Press Release: Pune, India- August , 20172017-2022 Global and Japan KVM over IP Market Analysis ReportFor Sample Report@Description:The global KVM over IP market is valued at XX million USD in 2016 and is expected to reach XX million USD by the end of 2017, growing at a CAGR of XX% between 2016 and 2022.Japan plays an important role in global market, with market size of xx million USD in 2016 and will be xx million USD in 2017, with a CAGR of xx%.This report, with focus on top players in the global and Japan, studies the KVM over IP market's development status and future trend in the global and Japan. It splits KVM over IP market by type and by applications to fully and deeply research and reveal market profile and prospect.The major players includeEmerson (US)Aten (Taiwan)Raritan (US)Belkin (US)Adder (China)Rose (US)APC (US)Dell (US)Black-box (US)Raloy (US)Rextron (Taiwan)Hiklife (China)Lenovo (China)Datcent (China)KinAn (China)Switek (China)Hongtong (China)Inspur (China)Reton (China)Geographically, this report splits the Global market into the following regions:Asia PacificJapanTokyoYokohamaOsakaNagoyaOthersChinaKoreaIndiaOthersEuropeFranceGermanyUnited KingdomItalyRussiaOthersNorth AmericaUnited StatesCanadaLatin AmericaBrazilMexicoOthersSoutheast AsiaSingaporeMalaysiaVietnamMyanmarThailandIndonesiaPhilippinesOthersMiddle East & AfricaSaudi ArabiaIranUAETurkeyIsraelEgyptSouth AfricaOthersOn the basis of product, the KVM over IP market is primarily split intoBy TechnologyBasic IP KVMProfessional KVM over IPPremium KVM over IPBy End UserSOHO And Small-Size NetworkSmall And Medium-Sized Enterprise NetworkLarge-size NetworkKey ApplicationsIndustrisGovernment ManagementEnterpriseOtherFor any Enquiry write us @Table of Contents2017-2022 Global and Japan KVM over IP Market Analysis Report1 KVM over IP Overview1.1 Product Overview and Scope of KVM over IP1.2 Global and Japan KVM over IP Market by Applications/End Users1.2.1 Japan KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share Comparison by Applications (2012-2017)1.2.1.1 Japan KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share by Applications (2012-2017)1.2.1.2 Japan KVM over IP Sales Growth Rate (%) by Applications (2012-2017)1.2.1.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities1.2.2 Japan KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share Comparison by Applications (2012-2017)1.2.3 Global KVM over IP Sales by Application (2012-2017)1.2.3.1 Global KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share by Applications (2012-2017)1.2.3.2 Global KVM over IP Sales Growth Rate (%) by Applications (2012-2017)1.2.3.3 Market Drivers and Opportunities1.2.4 Global KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share Comparison by Applications (2012-2017)1.2.5 Industris1.2.6 Government Management1.2.7 Enterprise1.2.8 Other1.3 Global and Japan Market Size (Sales and Revenue) of KVM over IP (2012-2017)1.3.1 Japan Market Size (Sales and Revenue) of KVM over IP (2012-2017)1.3.1.1 Japan KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Growth Rate (%) (2012-2017)1.3.1.2 Japan KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2017)1.3.2 Global Market Size (Sales and Revenue) of KVM over IP (2012-2017)1.3.2.1 Global KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Growth Rate (%) (2012-2017)1.3.2.2 Global KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Growth Rate (2012-2017)1.4 Global and Japan Classification of KVM over IP by Technology1.4.1 Japan KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share by Technology (2012-2017)1.4.2 Global KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share by Technology (2012-2017)1.4.3 Japan KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share by Technology (2012-2017)1.4.4 Global KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share by Technology (2012-2017)1.4.5 Japan KVM over IP Price (USD/Unit) by Technology (2012-2017)1.4.6 Global KVM over IP Price (USD/Unit) by Technology (2012-2017)1.4.7 Japan KVM over IP Sales Growth Rate (%) by Technology (2012-2017)1.4.8 Global KVM over IP Sales Growth Rate (%) by Technology (2012-2017)1.4.9 Basic IP KVM1.4.10 Professional KVM over IP1.4.11 Premium KVM over IP1.5 Global and Japan Classification of KVM over IP by End User1.5.1 Japan KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share by End User (2012-2017)1.5.2 Global KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share by End User (2012-2017)1.5.3 Japan KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share by End User (2012-2017)1.5.4 Global KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share by End User (2012-2017)1.5.5 Japan KVM over IP Price (USD/Unit) by End User (2012-2017)1.5.6 Global KVM over IP Price (USD/Unit) by End User (2012-2017)1.5.7 Japan KVM over IP Sales Growth Rate (%) by End User (2012-2017)1.5.8 Global KVM over IP Sales Growth Rate (%) by End User (2012-2017)1.5.9 SOHO And Small-Size Network1.5.10 Small And Medium-Sized Enterprise Network1.5.11 Large-size Network2 Global and Japan KVM over IP Market Competition by Players/Manufacturers2.1 Japan KVM over IP Market Competition by Players/Manufacturers2.1.1 Japan KVM over IP Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.2 Japan KVM over IP Revenue and Share by Players/Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.3 Japan KVM over IP Average Price (USD/Unit) by Players/Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.1.4 Japan KVM over IP Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.1.4.1 Japan KVM over IP Market Concentration Rate2.1.4.2 Japan KVM over IP Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Players/Manufacturers2.1.4.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion in Japan Market2.1.5 Japan Players/Manufacturers KVM over IP Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area, Product Types2.2 Global KVM over IP Market Competition by Players/Manufacturers2.2.1 Global KVM over IP Sales and Market Share of Key Players/Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2.2 Global KVM over IP Revenue and Share by Players/Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2.3 Global KVM over IP Average Price (USD/Unit) by Players/Manufacturers (2012-2017)2.2.4 Global KVM over IP Market Competitive Situation and Trends2.2.4.1 Global KVM over IP Market Concentration Rate2.2.4.2 Global KVM over IP Market Share of Top 3 and Top 5 Players/Manufacturers2.2.4.3 Mergers & Acquisitions, Expansion in Global Market2.2.5 Global Players/Manufacturers KVM over IP Manufacturing Base Distribution, Sales Area, Product Types3 Global and Japan KVM over IP Sales and Revenue by Regions (2012-2017)3.1 Asia Pacific KVM over IP Sales and Revenue by Regions (2012-2017)3.1.1 Japan KVM over IP Sales and Revenue (2012-2017)3.1.1.1 Japan KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.1.1.2 Japan KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.1.1.3 Japan KVM over IP Price (USD/Unit)(2012-2017)3.1.2 China KVM over IP Sales and Revenue (2012-2017)3.1.2.1 China KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.1.2.2 China KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.1.2.3 China KVM over IP Price (USD/Unit)(2012-2017)3.1.3 Korea KVM over IP Sales and Revenue (2012-2017)3.1.3.1 Korea KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.1.3.2 Korea KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.1.3.3 Korea KVM over IP Price (USD/Unit)(2012-2017)3.1.4 India KVM over IP Sales and Revenue (2012-2017)3.1.4.1 India KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.1.4.2 India KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.1.4.3 India KVM over IP Price (USD/Unit)(2012-2017)3.1.5 Others KVM over IP Sales and Revenue (2012-2017)3.1.5.1 Others KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.1.5.2 Others KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.1.5.3 Others KVM over IP Price (USD/Unit)(2012-2017)3.2 Europe KVM over IP Sales and Revenue by Regions (2012-2017)3.2.1 France KVM over IP Sales and Revenue (2012-2017)3.2.1.1 France KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.2.1.2 France KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.2.1.3 France KVM over IP Price (USD/Unit)(2012-2017)3.2.2 Germany KVM over IP Sales and Revenue (2012-2017)3.2.2.1 Germany KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.2.2.2 Germany KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.2.2.3 Germany KVM over IP Price (USD/Unit)(2012-2017)3.2.3 United Kingdom KVM over IP Sales and Revenue (2012-2017)3.2.3.1 United Kingdom KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.2.3.2 United Kingdom KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.2.3.3 United Kingdom KVM over IP Price (USD/Unit)(2012-2017)3.2.4 Italy KVM over IP Sales and Revenue (2012-2017)3.2.4.1 Italy KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.2.4.2 Italy KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.2.4.3 Italy KVM over IP Price (USD/Unit)(2012-2017)3.2.5 Russia KVM over IP Sales and Revenue (2012-2017)3.2.5.1 Russia KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.2.5.2 Russia KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.2.5.3 Russia KVM over IP Price (USD/Unit)(2012-2017)3.2.6 Others KVM over IP Sales and Revenue (2012-2017)3.2.6.1 Others KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.2.6.2 Others KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.2.6.3 Others KVM over IP Price (USD/Unit)(2012-2017)3.3 North America KVM over IP Sales and Revenue by Regions (2012-2017)3.3.1 United States KVM over IP Sales and Revenue (2012-2017)3.3.1.1 United States KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.3.1.2 United States KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.3.1.3 United States KVM over IP Price (USD/Unit)(2012-2017)3.3.2 Canada KVM over IP Sales and Revenue (2012-2017)3.3.2.1 Canada KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.3.2.2 Canada KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.3.2.3 Canada KVM over IP Price (USD/Unit)(2012-2017)3.4 Latin America KVM over IP Sales and Revenue by Regions (2012-2017)3.4.1 Brazil KVM over IP Sales and Revenue (2012-2017)3.4.1.1 Brazil KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.4.1.2 Brazil KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.4.1.3 Brazil KVM over IP Price (USD/Unit)(2012-2017)3.4.2 Mexico KVM over IP Sales and Revenue (2012-2017)3.4.2.1 Mexico KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.4.2.2 Mexico KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.4.2.3 Mexico KVM over IP Price (USD/Unit)(2012-2017)3.4.3 Others KVM over IP Sales and Revenue (2012-2017)3.4.3.1 Others KVM over IP Sales (K Units) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.4.3.2 Others KVM over IP Revenue (Million USD) and Market Share (2012-2017)3.4.3.3 Others KVM over IP Price (USD/Unit)(2012-2017)3.5 Southeast Asia KVM over IP Sales and Revenue by Regions (2012-2017)ContinuedBuy now@Wise Guy Reports is part of the Wise Guy Consultants Pvt. Ltd. and offers premium progressive statistical surveying, market research reports, analysis & forecast data for industries and governments around the globe. Wise Guy Reports features an exhaustive list of market research reports from hundreds of publishers worldwide. We boast a database spanning virtually every market category and an even more comprehensive collection of market research reports under these categories and sub-categories.Office No. 528, Amanora Chambers Magarpatta Road, HadapsarPune - 411028 Maharashtra, India https://youtu.be/9g_imeDGi2Y https://www.h-its.org/en/press/journalist-in-residence-program/ https://www.h-its.org/en/research/ https://www.h-its.org/news/hits-journalist-in-residence-in-2018-2019/ Are you an experienced science journalist? Would you like a change of scenery and the chance to escape your daily routine? The Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies (HITS) Journalist in Residence program offers the possibility of spending three to six months among bright scientific minds, thereby allowing you to gain a deeper insight into computer-aided, data-driven research and to work without the pressures of everyday business. Acceptance into the program is compensated with 5,000 per month. The deadline for applications is November 15, 2017, and one position is open in 2018 as well as in 2019.---At HITS, a private, non-profit basic research institute, 120 scientists from 20 countries are currently working in 12 research groups. Their fields of research range from molecular biology to astrophysics, and HITS focuses on the processing, structuring, and analysis of large amounts of complex data and the development of computational methods and software. One aim of the institute is to raise public awareness of the importance of computer-aided, data-driven research in the natural sciences. The institute is located in Heidelberg, Germany, a city with a top-100 university (Shanghai ranking 2016) and many high-class research institutions.The Journalist in Residence program is geared towards freelance and staff science journalists with several years of experience and a focus on the natural sciences and technology. The program is open to all media (print, online, radio, TV), and one of its goals is to encourage dialogue between journalists and researchers. This daily contact enables the journalists to gain a better understanding of the way research works and how researchers think. We do not expect the journalists to publish anything related to HITS in return. Instead, the program supports free and independent journalism.A good command of spoken and written English is a prerequisite. More information on the program, the application requirements, and FAQ are available at .The Journalists in Residence for 2018 and 2019 will be chosen by a selection committee consisting of German science journalists Martin Schneider (president of the German science journalist association WPK), Dr. Carsten Konneker (Editor-in-Chief of Spektrum der Wissenschaft, Springer Nature), and Dr. Alexander Mader (free journalist), as well as of scientists from diverse universities, Max Planck Institutes, and HITS.The first Journalist in Residence was the award-winning German science journalist Volker Stollorz in 2012. While working together with HITS researchers during his stay, he conceived the OperationsExplorer, a data journalism project that provided the data basis for journalistic research and for a TV production on the spatial distribution of surgery treatments in German hospitals.To date, there have been six Journalists in Residence at HITS from Germany, the U.S., Spain, and India. These journalists were able to learn about new topics and utilize their stay to meet scientists and other journalists. For example, Dr. Michele Catanzaro from Barcelona, Spain (Journalist in Residence in 2014) gave a talk at the Wissenswerte conference, where he met colleagues with whom he later collaborated on the cross-border project hearing voices, enabling him to win the European Science Writer of the Year award in 2016.The most recent Journalist in Residence, T.V. Padma from Delhi, India, has just returned home from her stay at HITS. According to Padma, this program offers a rare opportunity. Life as a journalist is a mad rush for deadlines under high pressure. For five months, my focus was not on deadlines, but on learning new things. Back in India, Padma is working on data journalism projects that she initiated together with a HITS research group during her stay in Heidelberg.The deadline for applications is November 15, 2017. The program will be presented at the World Conference of Science Journalists (WCSJ) in San Francisco, USA, at the end of October. T.V. Padma and her predecessor, Cologne-based radio journalist Michael Stang, will speak at the conference.Further information on the program, application requirements, and FAQ can be found at .Please send your application by e-mail toPress contact:Dr. Peter SaueressigHITS, Heidelberg Institute for Theoretical Studies+49 (0)6221 533 245Weitere Informationen:video "HITS Journalist in Residence 2018/2019"Information on the program, application requirements, FAQHITS research fieldsHITS press releaseQuelle: idw https://www.pr.uni-freiburg.de/pm-en/2017/police-violence-depends-on-community-level-racial-bias?set_language=en The racial biases of whites in a community predicts police use of lethal force against black Americans---Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, and Philando Castiles these are just some of the names in the increasing number of news reports about black Americans being shot by police in the US in the last few years. Most of these cases involved men who were unarmed and had no criminal record or intent. This has resulted in widespread public outcry. Were these men the victims of the racism of white Americans? A new study shows a relationship between lethal police force and racial bias. Social cognition researcher Dr. Jimmy Calanchini, who is currently a visiting researcher at the University of Freiburg, and his colleagues have discovered the following: The racial biases of whites against blacks in a given region predicts how likely it is that black Americans are killed by police in that region. The research team used a big-data approach to create the first statistical model for using racial bias to predict lethal police force. They recently published the results of their research in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.Calanchini and his fellow cognitive scientists studied the so-called "implicit bias" of more than two million Americans all over the United States. Implicit bias refers to the more or less subconscious views people have about people they meet. Is a person friendly or stand-offish, good or bad, harmless or dangerous? In their work, the group chose a new approach: Instead of studying the implicit biases of individual police officers against different racial groups, they focused on the context in which police work normally takes place. The scientists combined data from police databases with demographic factors from different areas, along with the implicit and explicit biases of people living in those areas.We expected certain economic and demographic factors to play a role like standard of living, level of education, and crime levels in a given region, said Calanchini. But in fact it was the implicit biases of the residents and how strongly they associate certain social groups with threat that predicts how likely police will use violence. Black Americans are especially affected by this. Calanchini added, In areas where bias against them is strong, there is a greater likelihood that they will be killed by police. The researchers stressed, however, that this is not specifically a problem of the police. Calanchini said, Our research showed that regional context plays a role in how police make speedy life-or-death decisions.However, Calanchini cautioned against drawing strong conclusions about racism causing police behavior. One interpretation of our results might be that the racial biases of the community cause police to use more lethal force against black Americans. However, another interpretation might be that, in regions where Black Americans are killed by police for any variety of reasons, these cases may get covered in local news and, consequently, people in the community become more biased against black Americans. Based on these data, we cannot rule out either explanation at this time.Jimmy Calanchini earned his Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of California, Davis, in the US. He has been a visiting researcher in Social Psychology and Methodology at the Department of Psychology of the University of Freiburg since August 2016. He is a recipient of a two-year post-doc fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Calanchinis co-authors on this project are Eric Hehman, Ph.D, of Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada, and Jessica K. Flake of York University in Toronto, Canada.Original Publication:Eric Hehman, Jessica Flake, Jimmy Calanchini: Disproportionate use of lethal force in policing is associated with regional racial biases of residents. In: Social Psychological and Personality Science.Contact:Dr. Jimmy CalanchiniDepartment of PsychologyUniversity of FreiburgE-Mail:Weitere Informationen:Quelle: idw Bennett ends Quakers season in AA semifinals After allowing 460-yards and five touchdowns in their Sept. 24 matchup, Orchard Park head coach decided that if Bennett was... Quakers reach Sectional Finals vs Lancaster Orchard Park boys volleyball coach Rick Albano always wants his team to be playing their best volleyball at the end... Bertola leads harriers on record day at sectionals Orchard Park cross-country coach Steve Dillsworth went pretty far back into the history of Quakers cross-country, and he was unable... All-Bee Girls Soccer Majority of First Team are past honorees Many of the First Team selections on the 2022 All- Bee Girls Soccer Team are no strangers to the all-star... Wells Fargo, still struggling to move beyond its admission that it had opened millions of sham accounts for customers, announced Tuesday that it was shaking up its board of directors and replacing its chairman. Stephen W. Sanger, former chief executive of General Mills, will be replaced by Elizabeth "Betsy" Duke as board chair starting in 2018. Two other long-serving members of the board, Cynthia Milligan and Susan Swenson, also plan to retire at the end of the year, the bank said. Sanger has been a member of Wells Fargo's board since 2003 and Swenson and Milligan joined in the 1990s. "Betsy was the unanimous choice to lead the Board as it continues its focus on strengthening oversight and rebuilding the trust of shareholders, customers, and other stakeholders," Sanger said in a statement. The board hired Mary Jo White, former chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, to advise it on the process. The promotion of Duke, a former member of the board of governors of the Federal Reserve, is the latest move by the San Francisco megabank to satisfy its critics. While the changes are significant, they fall short of what has been called for by some of the bank's staunchest critics, particularly Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who has urged the ouster of the company's entire 13-member board. The board, critics say, failed to detect the problems and then was slow to respond. Wells Fargo has been engulfed in scandal since admitting last year that thousands of its employees had created millions of fake accounts, involving credit cards and banking, for customers without their knowledge to earn bonuses and meet sales goals. The revelations sparked multiple investigations and a strong backlash in Congress. Making matters worse, the bank said last month that there may be "significantly" more than the 2 million unauthorized accounts it initially estimated. The pressure facing Wells Fargo increased recently after it announced that it had charged about 570,000 of customers for auto insurance that they didn't need, leading to some loan defaults and auto reposessions. The San Francisco bank said it would start refunding about $80 million, or about $140 each, to customers this month. The company is struggling to put the scandals to rest. Its stock price lags those of its competitors and it has seen the number of customers opening new accounts plummet. Meanwhile, the resolve of Wells Fargo's critics in Congress is hardening, with some calling for new hearings on the bank's conduct on Capitol Hill. "As far as Wells Fargo workers are concerned, this is too little, too late," said Erin Mahoney, lead organizer of the Committee for Better Banks, a labor group that includes bank industry employees. She said it waited "a year to oust highly paid board members like Stephen Sanger who turned a blind eye to the crisis. We can only hope that new chairman Elizabeth Duke enacts real institutional reform that protects consumers and gives workers a voice on the job. Only then can Wells Fargo truly win back the public's trust." -- The Washington Post Cities and counties in central Oregon are expecting overloaded cellular networks on Aug. 21. In Salem and Marion County, officials are warning residents to do their regular shopping ahead of the weekend or else face bare shelves. And Lincoln City is studying the mass evacuation strategy it developed for The Big One. The total solar eclipse that's cutting through Oregon in less than one week is putting emergency management plans into play as agencies across the state expect up to 1 million people to flock to places where the moon will block out the sun for anywhere from 30 seconds to two minutes. For some, the influx of visitors will act as a stress test of sorts for emergency plans they've developed in anticipation of a powerful earthquake that's expected to hit the state. "A lot of that work is moving over to the eclipse planning," Lincoln City Marketing Manager Scott Humpert said. "We're looking at this as a state of emergency -- but we know when it's going to happen." Over the weekend leading up to the eclipse, Lincoln City and Lincoln County officials expect to observe how coastal roads deal with the added traffic, particularly on tsunami evacuation routes. Park rangers and police will also comb beaches for campers, which officials say could succumb to a "deceptively dangerous" low tide on Sunday evening. The relative lack of public restrooms has prompted Lincoln City officials to reserve portable toilets. "The city here has 40 to 60 (public restrooms) and that's probably going to scratch the surface on the potential need," Humpert said. The tricky thing in planning for all of this, Humpert said, is that city officials have only a vague idea of how many visitors to expect. In late June, he'd heard anywhere from 50,000 to 500,000 could descend on the Oregon coast. But even rudimentary headcounts can change in the coming days as weather forecasts predict cloud cover across the state for the big day. "It's hard to get an accurate number to drill down because we don't know," Humpert said. Just over the Coast Range in Salem, emergency management personnel are urging Marion County residents to do their shopping before eclipse chasers begin to arrive Thursday. "You may be disappointed if you plan on picking up your barbecue supplies on Sunday," Marion County Emergency Manager Ed Flick said. Flick said his agency is expecting most visitors to arrive in Salem on Thursday, urging area residents to visit stores for routine supplies before then. In order to manage traffic and visitors on area roadways, parks and other common spaces, Oregon State Police in Marion County have been approved for more than 100 hours of overtime, according to Sgt. Bob Charpentier. The Marion County Sheriff's Office is also providing similar levels of additional staffing, an agency official said during a media briefing last week. The Oregon Department of Transportation has warned that state highways are expected to be heavily congested and has asked motorists to keep from pulling over to watch the sky if they're stuck in traffic during the eclipse. That's because the shoulder may be the only viable path for emergency response vehicles if congestion is as bad as anticipated. ODOT also warns that hot undercarriages could ignite dry grass on roadsides as mid-August typically marks the peak of Oregon's dry season. Incidentally, the path of totality cuts through regions of Oregon most at-risk of succumbing to wildfires. Trails to Mount Jefferson and Jefferson State Park in the Willamette National Forest have already been closed by the Whitewater fire. And the Nena Springs fire has taken over more than 40,000 acres on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation, which also sits in the path of totality. Similar sites east of the Cascades, where morning clouds are least expected to obscure views of the eclipse, are some of the hottest real estate for the celestial event. Officials in Madras expect up to 100,000 visitors to descend on the town of 6,500. AT&T, Verizon and other wireless carriers have set up mobile cell towers to handle the extra network load. And during a Reddit AMA last month, emergency management officials stressed that pregnant women and people with medical conditions should make sure they're staying near a hospital in the event of an emergency. As officials statewide take the eclipse as an opportunity to test plans constructed in the event of major emergencies, some agencies are treating it as just another day. Portland General Electric spokesman Stan Sittser said there's no need to worry about overloading the grid, even as the moon blocks up to 99 percent of the sun across the state. "This happens for us once a day," he said, "every time the sun goes down." --Eder Campuzano | 503.221.4344 @edercampuzano ecampuzano@oregonian.com Next week's total eclipse will carve its darkened path across a swath of the Cascades and central Oregon where more than a thousand firefighters are battling to contain a rash of wildland blazes -- mere days before hordes of visitors are expected to descend on the area. Fire bosses are bracing for the uncertainty -- and danger -- that Oregon's peak fire season might bring to this once-in-a-lifetime event. Four fires that are burning in or near the eclipse's path of totality could bring smoky skies, sudden road closures and shuttered campsites to one of the biggest tourism events in Oregon's history. A lightning strike or human error could spark a new blaze among the bone-dry brush and parched pine forests. "A lot can happen with wildland fires in the week," said Carol Connolly, an information officer at the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, which tracks wildfires in the region. "We're planning for the what-if scenarios and hoping for the best." State officials estimate that up to 1 million eclipse seekers will travel to the 60-mile-wide path of totality to see the moon completely cover the sun. Up to 400,000 of them -- many from out of state and some with little or no experience in the outdoors -- could flock to prime viewing spots in and around central Oregon, where wildfire danger remains high. The sudden surge of eclipse tourists is sure to complicate the response to fire threats and other hazards, emergency personnel said. Nothing is being left to chance. Emergency service teams will have fire crews and resources staged strategically near the path of the eclipse. Extra forest rangers will patrol hiking trails and campgrounds that have shut down. And checkpoints and security teams will dot roads deemed too dangerous to drive on. "It's not like these are some pretend fires," said Kale Casey, a spokesman for Pacific Northwest Team 2 in charge of the fire response within the Willamette National Forest. "This forest can and will burn." Those who hoped to witness the cosmic spectacle unfold from the Mount Jefferson Wilderness area already have seen their plans go up in smoke. The Whitewater fire has scorched more than 6,500 acres east of the town of Detroit and prompted the U.S. Forest Service to shut down roads, trails and campgrounds surrounding the mountain, Casey said. Popular hiking destinations, including Jefferson Park, as well as roughly 30 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, will remain closed during the day of the eclipse. Firefighters are also battling a pair of smaller blazes near the town of Sisters and working to subdue a separate wildfire on the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. If all goes as planned, the Nena Springs fire on the reservation, which tore through 40,000 acres of juniper, grass and Ponderosa pine forests, could be contained by Wednesday, Connolly said. Yet weather and fire conditions are notoriously unpredictable. Officials encourage those traveling to view the eclipse to know the area or park they plan to visit in advance, and to check regularly for closure updates. Wildfires in eclipse path These sites will have up-to-date information on closings, smoke and whatever else you need to know: Willamette National Forest Website: Detroit Ranger District: 503-854-3366 Deschutes National Forest Website: Office Number: 541-383-5300 Central Oregon Fire Information Website: Oregon State Wildfire Incidents Website: Those who planned to camp overnight in areas now closed by wildfire conditions may have another option. Most national forests permit camping outside of designated campsites, as long as people pick a place away from roads and trails and keep it small. But a Forest Service spokesman told The Oregonian / OregonLive: "Visitors should be prepared, come early and expect crowds." As for state campgrounds? They've all been booked for months. Fire teams said they will monitor areas for lightning strikes in the coming days. But the larger worry remains the prospect of a fire started by someone smoking, lighting off fireworks or firing guns. They've already imposed campfire bans on state and federal land within the eclipse's path of totality. "We can't afford any human-caused fires on top of all the lightning fire we're dealing with," said Traci Weaver, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service. Fires sparked by cars is also a concern. A hot undercarriage or a tailpipe can easily ignite tall, dry grasses, Weaver said, not just at campgrounds but on the side of the road. The Oregon Department of Forestry's West Oregon District -- which includes Benton, Polk, Lincoln and Yamhill counties -- said that it may require visitors to carry a fire extinguisher or a shovel and a gallon of water in their cars as an extra precaution. A final word of advice, according to fire and safety supervisors: Have a little patience. "We can all agree that this will be a big challenge, a big group effort," Casey said. "And everybody is going to have to step up." -- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh skavanaugh@oregonian.com 503-294-7632 II @shanedkavanaugh . To do so, first type the original number into the text box. Then click on the "Scientific Notation" option located at the top of the floating window. Finally, click on the "Standard" button found beneath the text box to display your result. This program is useful for scientists and engineers working with decimal-based numbers. It provides easy access to those who need to convert those numbers into more compact forms without having to do heavy math calculations first. Scientific notation is a way to express very large or very small numbers. It is used in physics, chemistry and other fields where large numbers are common. Those numbers are written as a power of 10 followed by a number with an exponent. For example, 1,000,000 (one million) is written as 1 103. The exponent shows how many zeros are after the first digit. For example, 1,000,001 is written as 1 102. Scientific notation is a useful tool for making calculations easier. You can use it to write down very big or very small numbers in one step instead of writing out both the large and small numbers separately. You can also use it to express large or small numbers in terms of other units like centimeters or millimeters. Scientific notation solver is an online tool that can be used to convert any number into scientific notation. Simply enter any number to the left of the decimal point and it will automatically convert it into a scientific notation equivalent. This web tool can be very helpful when you need to convert a large number into scientific notation. However, please note that this online tool can only convert numbers that are in scientific format. For example, it cannot convert a non-scientific number like "1,085" into a scientific notation equivalent. It is also important to keep in mind that this web tool only works when converting numbers from one particular format to another. For example, if you want to change a non-scientific number like "1,085" into standard format, then you will have to use another online tool like NumberFormatting.com. The Associated Press Vaccinations: back to school guide With summer winding down, it's time to think about school vaccinations. Oregon requires that all students at elementary, middle and high schools be vaccinated, including those attending public, private, charter and alternative schools. Shots are also required for attendance at all preschools, certified child care facilities and at Head Start programs. Vaccines help protect the public against serious diseases. They also help limit the spread of disease through "herd immunity." The more people who are vaccinated, the less likely the disease will spread through the community. Parents need to provide schools with immunization records. The state also allows exemptions. Medical exemptions must be signed by physicians. Parents or guardians who want a nonmedical exemption must obtain a Vaccine Education Certificate by either viewing an education module online or seeing a health care practitioner. A list of the requirements, by grades, follows. Note that the vaccines are cumulative. Four doses of diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis are required for preschool, child care and Head Start. Only one more dose is required in kindergarten and grades 1 to 6 to meet the five-dose requirement. Don't Edit The Associated Press Preschool, child care, Head Start Children 18 months or older who are entering preschool, child care or Head Start need: 4 doses diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis (DTaP) 3 polio 1 varicella (chickenpox) 1 measles, mumps rubella vaccine (MMR) 3 hepatitis B 2 hepatitis A 3 or 4 Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b) Don't Edit Portland Public Schools Kindergarten, grades 1 to 6 By the time students enter kindergarten and grades 1 through 6 they have to show that they've received these vaccines: 5 doses diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis (DTaP) 4 polio 1 varicella (chickenpox) 2 measles, mumps rubella vaccine (MMR) or 2 measles, 1 mumps, 1 rubella 3 hepatitis B 2 hepatitis A Don't Edit TNS Grades 7 to 9 Students in grades 7 to 9 need: 5 doses diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis (DTaP) 1 Tdap (booster for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis) 4 polio 1 varicella (chickenpox) 2 measles, mumps rubella vaccine (MMR) or 2 measles, 1 mumps, 1 rubella 3 hepatitis B 2 hepatitis A Don't Edit The Associated Press Grades 10 to 12 Students in grades 7 to 9 need: 5 doses diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis (DTaP) 1 Tdap (booster for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis) 4 polio 1 varicella (chickenpox) 2 measles, mumps rubella vaccine (MMR) or 2 measles, 1 mumps, 1 rubella 3 hepatitis B Don't Edit Don't Edit The Associated Press College/university Vaccination requirements don't stop at high school graduation. Those born after Jan. 1, 1967, need to show they've been vaccinated against measles when enrolling as a full-time undergraduate or graduate student in a university or college. Colleges may have other requirements as well. Part-time students face various requirements depending on the institution. Students taking part in practicum experiences in various fields in community colleges must be vaccinated for measles. Other shots may be recommended, for example against meningitis. There have been several cases at the University of Oregon and Oregon State University. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends a meningitis vaccine for students under 25 years old. Don't Edit Photo courtesy Legacy Health HPV, other vaccinations Besides required vaccines, health officials recommend others to prevent serious illness. The vaccine against the human papillomavirus is one. The virus causes various cancers, including of the cervix, vulva, vagina, penis and anus. Health officials recommend that all children age 11 or 12 get two shots of the HPV vaccine six to 12 months apart. Adolescents who are vaccinated less than five months apart should get a third dose. The seasonal flu shot is also recommended. It's especially important for pregnant women, those with chronic health problems and older adults. Getting immunized helps keep the flu at bay and prevents serious symptoms. Every year, between 3,300 and 49,000 people die of the flu in the United States. Adults over 60 should also be immunized against shingles, and people over 65 should get a pneumococcal vaccine. Don't Edit The Oregonian/OregonLive/File Where to go Talk to your provider about getting vaccinated. Some doctor's offices stock vaccines, especially pediatricians and providers connected to a hospital health system. Common vaccines are also often available at many drug stores and clinics. That includes county health departments. Here are links to Portland area county clinics: Multnomah County Health Department Clackamas County Health Department Washington County Health Department BY MARYLOU NOBLE I was alarmed to read the Aug. 6 opinion piece by Billy J. Williams, the United States Attorney for the District of Oregon regarding the sanctuary status of Portland and Oregon. He notes that an individual without legal status was recently charged with assaulting two women in Portland. Obviously, all criminal actions should be addressed appropriately under existing laws. However, Williams appears distressed that this individual was not turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which most surely would have removed him to his country of origin. Williams also states that criminals who are in this country illegally are being released into communities throughout the state on a daily basis. This is difficult to believe in view of the fact that immigrants' rate of criminal activity is significantly lower than those of non-immigrants. Further, releasing individuals who have completed their sentences is surely appropriate. When ensnared in our legal system for a violation as simple as a minor traffic ticket, immigrants who are in the United States illegally have routinely been turned over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation. Thus, for commission of criminal activity -- significant or minor -- they are essentially sentenced to deportation. This includes those who have arrived in this country as young children and are unaware that they are living here illegally. Aside from arresting individuals who have engaged in criminal activity, immigration officials often seek law-abiding individuals living in the U.S. illegally through door-to-door searches in neighborhoods known to house immigrants. They demand identification from individuals gathered at locations where organizations are known to offer day labor opportunities to immigrants. They frequently gather outside of court rooms where they believe immigrants without legal status will be exiting. As a licensed professional counselor, I have, for the past 12 years, completed psychological evaluations for individuals fleeing persecution in their home countries or who have entered the U.S. seeking safe and supportive living conditions. These individuals are searching for the opportunity to support their spouses, parents and children in a manner impossible in the countries they have left behind. Many have entered our country illegally because visas to enter legally are frequently difficult to obtain. Others have entered with student or visitor visas and have not applied for permanent residency after they expire for fear they will be denied. I have also completed numerous evaluations for family members who would suffer substantial financial and emotional distress if the member of their family who is in the U.S. illegally were removed to that individual's home country. During my most recent interview, the 15-year-old daughter of the individual burst into tears as she spoke of the devastating effects she would experience if her father were deported. Sanctuary status in states, counties, cities, college campuses and other entities simply means that the governing bodies of these locales will not willingly offer assistance to immigration officers in locating immigrants without legal status. If a court order directs these entities to assist immigrations officials, they must comply with that order. Marylou Noble lives in Southwest Portland. Intel Chief Executive Brian Krzanich announced Monday he'd quit his post on President Trump's American Manufacturing Council, as reported by The Oregonian/OregonLive's Mike Rogoway. Krzanich wrote on an Intel blog that he'd resigned to "call attention to the serious harm our divided political climate is causing to critical issues," following Trump's vague response over the weekend to the racist violence that occurred in Charlottesville, Va. The CEO delivered carefully chosen and well-timed words that Trump has failed to find. "I have already made clear my abhorrence at the recent hate-spawned violence in Charlottesville," Krzanich wrote Monday, "and earlier today I called on all leaders to condemn the white supremacists and their ilk who marched and committed violence." It was a thoughtful move that sends two strong messages. The first, he alluded to directly - that politics, political agendas and tweet storms are distracting from work needed to rebuild America's manufacturing sector. That's important both for Oregon and the nation. More important is the message the CEO sent to his employees, including those 19,300 who work in Oregon and represent a diverse set of backgrounds, cultures and religions. Through his action, Krzanich told them he was a leader who stood up for equality and American values and made it clear that he expects that of others, too. -- The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board Hope abounds with the announcement of a new leader for an embattled organization. With last week's selections of a Portland Police chief and a Portland Public Schools superintendent, the community was given twice the reason to feel some optimism. There's plenty to like in the backgrounds, experience and reviews for both incoming Portland Police Chief Danielle Outlaw and Portland schools superintendent-to-be, Guadalupe Guerrero. And both come from the Bay Area, giving them some familiarity with the cultural and political currents that run through West Coast states. That said, Outlaw and Guerrero will need to draw on all their talents and more as they take over large bureaucracies whose abilities to fulfill their missions have been compromised by organizational dysfunction and deep suspicion from the public. Outlaw and Guerrero will cut their own paths. But they would do well to keep in mind a few Portland principles that have tripped up their predecessors at times and can derail the progress that these agencies so desperately need. Among them: Community engagement, as messy as it can get in Portland, is one of the city's greatest assets. Portlanders are big on process and public involvement and are unapologetically critical when either is short circuited. They are particularly so when it comes to police matters and school policies, considering both the police bureau and school district have checkered histories of listening to the community or adjusting practices to meet their concerns. But soliciting community opinion means more than issuing open-ended questions asking for feedback, as the Police Bureau did last year in working up a body-camera policy. Rather, community engagement requires putting forward specific proposals or policy changes for deep discussion and revision. While such intense outreach may seem to slow down the pace of change, it does the opposite. This community is deeply invested in their police and in their schools. For example, more than 80 percent of families with school-age children within the district boundaries enroll their children in PPS schools, a point of civic pride for Portlanders. Win their support, and you will have a formidable army of parents willing to evangelize on school boundary changes or marshal support for tax measures. Don't use critics' tactics as an excuse for ignoring criticisms. Former Portland Public Schools interim superintendent Bob McKean refused to sit down with one admittedly abrasive parent activist who repeatedly uncovered district policy violations and other shoddy practices. Rather than consider the legitimate issues she raised, McKean insisted that nothing productive would come of a meeting. He also decried criticisms posted on Facebook by others that detailed PPS shortcomings, brushing them off as personal attacks on his staff. Apparently in his mind, addressing critics' concerns equated to showing disloyalty to staff. Yes, people can be provocative, obnoxious and offensive at times. Yes, civic discourse has taken a sharp turn downwards. Yes, there are community members whose actions cross over into harassment - as some protesters have by confronting elected officials and their families at their homes. But as Mayor Ted Wheeler has shown in his deft management of outbursts at City Council meetings, acknowledging the content of criticisms and engaging on those points can defuse the frustration behind it - and even lead to better decisions, as shown by the Council's recent compromise on handling interviews of police officers in deadly force incidents. Demand professional, accountable behavior by your staff. Portland Police and the Portland Public Schools have their own sets of issues, but one problem underlies the cultures of both bureaucracies. Their leaders have too often let employees, managers and themselves off the hook at the expense of those they serve. Portlanders are tired of it. In one recent egregious example, former Mayor Charlie Hales and top command staff of Portland Police kept secret a criminal investigation into then-Portland Police Chief Larry O'Dea's shooting of a friend during a camping trip. No one launched an internal investigation as required. The incident was only disclosed after news media reported it, and forced Hales' hand to put O'Dea on administrative leave. But rather than accept blame for the culture of zero accountability, Hales attacked the media. Unfortunately, the community has seen that same mentality in the police bureau's handling of other incidents, which only compounds community suspicion over the rigor with which any officer is investigated. Similarly, Portland Public Schools has a long pattern of prioritizing employees' careers over the safety or educational needs of its students. Low-performing principals were routinely shuffled from one school to another. Supervisors in district headquarters declined to discipline employees even when their misconduct was confirmed. And high-level administrators ignored long-standing inequities in the classes offered by schools in rich neighborhoods versus poor ones rather than take action to correct the imbalance. Outlaw and Guerrero will have to show their mettle as leaders and prove their competence on many fronts. But to win over Portland, they should adopt Portland's values of engagement, accountability and facing criticism head on. - The Oregonian/OregonLive Editorial Board Editorial Agenda 2017 Boost student success Get Oregon's financial house in order Help our homeless Honor our diverse values Make Portland a city that works Expand access to public records ________________________ Read more about the editorial board's priorities for Oregon. 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 , or . If you have questions about the opinion section, contact Laura Gunderson, editorial and commentary editor, at 503-221-8378 or lgunderson@oregonian.com. A judge Wednesday revoked Oregon refuge occupier Darryl Thorn's release and sent him to jail immediately to undergo a mental health evaluation, concerned about repeated threats he made to his girlfriend that he was going to hang himself or commit "suicide by cop.'' Thorn, who was convicted of federal conspiracy, possession of a firearm in a federal facility, trespass and other charges at a trial this year, suffered an "emotional crisis'' after moving to the small eastern Oregon town of Monument, his defense lawyer said. Thorn, 32, moved there from Spokane in late June on the promise of a job and a residence, only to have both fall through, said Jay Nelson, Thorn's third defense lawyer in the case. He ended up living in an RV park and searching for odd jobs while his girlfriend often was away traveling for her job in road construction. Darryl W. Thorn, booked back into jail Wed., Aug. 16, 2017 "He began to feel very isolated,'' Nelson said. He never meant to harm himself or others. Thorn's threat of suicide "was a cry for help, directed privately to his girlfriend,'' his lawyer said. He urged the court to show compassion toward Thorn and place him in a halfway house while he can get a mental health assessment. Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Gabriel said Thorn's behavior wasn't an isolated incident. "It's part of a larger pattern,'' Gabriel told the judge. On Aug. 6, Thorn's girlfriend called 911 from Salem, concerned about him. She told a dispatcher that Thorn was at the Monument Motel and had threatened he was going "to hang himself on Facebook Live'' at midnight if she didn't return home. He was sending her text messages nonstop, demanding her return and telling her to quit her job, she told dispatch. "I want you and the Tahoe home (expletive) now!'' he texted her, while she was on the phone with an emergency dispatcher, according to the prosecutor. As police headed to Monument Motel, the girlfriend called 911 a second time. She alerted dispatch that Thorn was now talking about a suicide-by-cop scenario. "He just said, 'Death by cop will look good in the history books,''' she told dispatchers, according to the prosecutor. "He's blowing up my phone. I'm terrified,'' she continued, before her phone suddenly went quiet in an eerie end to the emergency call, according to Gabriel. Darryl Thorn, 2016 Other supporters monitoring Thorn's Facebook posts also called emergency responders, expressing their concerns, the prosecutor said. When police arrived at the motel, Thorn didn't come to the door of his room. Thorn had passed out, his lawyer told the court. The officers left and had no contact with Thorn that night. A week later, last Saturday, the girlfriend's sister called 911 seeking a welfare check on Thorn, concerned that her sister was in distress. When Oregon State Police responded, Thorn appeared very emotional and asked the officer to just arrest him so he could start serving his sentence in the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Gabriel said. Considering Thorn's prior criminal record, with multiple domestic violence-related convictions for fourth-degree assault and malicious mischief, Gabriel argued that Thorn represents a danger to himself, his girlfriend and the community. He urged the court to order Thorn's detention. Thorn is set to be sentenced in late November and is expected to face prison time. Earlier this year, the government offered Thorn a plea deal on a misdemeanor trespass charge in exchange for probation. He rejected the offer and went to trial instead. During the course of his pretrial release, he was ejected from a political rally, lost a job, was associating with militia members and "skirting the edge'' of compliance with his court-ordered conditions, Gabriel argued. A release officer said Thorn most recently had neglected to report that he had gotten a room at the Monument Motel, failed to verify he found work and neglected to report in by phone. Thorn's lawyer said his client went to the Monument Motel for air conditioning and its wifi connection and wasn't sleeping there. He initially moved to Monument hoping for a job clearing brush to assist Grant County firefighters but that fell through. He then started putting up a cattle fence but that job was cut short because of wildfires in the area, his lawyer said. Thorn, his head shaved, stood before U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown and said he was sorry. "Your honor,'' Thorn started, his head bent as he looked down at the defense table. "I apologize for my actions. I sincerely do. I know they look extremely egregious here in court. ... Literally life happened, and I sincerely apologize for the way I acted. ... If you give me a chance to show you who I can be, I will guarantee, I won't disappoint you.'' Brown pointed to Thorn's past criminal record, his felony and misdemeanor convictions this year in the refuge takeover case and a disturbing video presented in the case that featured Thorn. It showed Thorn, dressed in camouflage with the word "militia'' visible in block letters across the front of his jacket, sitting on a stool with several assault rifles between his legs. He and others were gathered at the bunkhouse, debating what to do next, on the night of Jan. 26, 2016, after the occupation leaders were arrested and occupation spokesman Robert "LaVoy" Finicum was shot and killed by state police. "We came here for one (expletive) reason, and that's to fight!'' Thorn said. "I'm here to fight. I'm not here to run.'' Brown told Thorn, "When you're under stress you can say and do things that can really escalate'' and not only put himself but others in harm's way. "I don't think this record allows me to let you go out the door,'' the judge said. She ordered Thorn to be taken into custody right away and recommended he undergo an expedited mental health evaluation while being held in jail. Thorn removed his camouflage cap and emptied his pockets before a deputy U.S. marshal took him into custody. The marshal handed over Thorn's belongings -- his cap, wallet, Bible -- to Thorn's girlfriend who came to his hearing Wednesday. Thorn will be held unless he can prove at a future hearing why he's not a risk of danger to the community. The judge tentatively set another hearing for next Tuesday. -- Maxine Bernstein mbernstein@oregonian.com 503-221-8212 @maxoregonian One of two inmates on the lam from a Washington fire work crew has been apprehended in Portland, police said. Tyray Hensley Munter Portland police said early Wednesday that 30-year-old Tyray Hensley Munter was in custody and that they were searching for Maksim Konstantin Petrovskiy, 22. The duo escaped from a Goldendale fire work crew early Tuesday, the Washington State Department of Corrections said in a news release. Police said someone called 911 around 5:50 a.m. to report an escapee sighting. Officers responded to Southeast 82nd Avenue and Powell Boulevard and talked on the phone with the caller, who directed them to Munter. Munter and his colleague had been seen in the area of 82nd Avenue and Holgate Boulevard on Tuesday, the corrections department said that evening. Munter was convicted of second-degree assault and theft and began serving his six-year sentence in June 2016, according to the department. Petrovskiy was convicted of taking a vehicle without permission and possession of a stolen vehicle, and he started serving a 33-month sentence in April, the corrections department said. They both committed their crimes in Washington's Snohomish County, the department said. Munter was booked into the Multnomah County Detention Center. Police said anyone who sees Petrovskiy should call 911. The Oregonian/OregonLive Update: Wednesday 4 p.m. While the investigation is still ongoing, Oregon State Police said Wednesday they do not suspect foul play in Crowder's death. Police are still asking people who have seen or spoken to Crowder since the end of July to call the Northern Command Center at 800-452-7888. A Grand Ronde woman was found dead Tuesday underneath an overpass on Oregon 18 in Polk County and Oregon State Police are seeking the public's help to find out what happened. State police responded to the exit 25 overpass around 2 p.m. and found the body of Dayleen Crowder, 52. Crowder's body was not directly under the overpass, but on the side of the highway, state police said in a statement. A spokesman said state police aren't sure if the death is a homicide and are asking for help. Crowder lived in Grand Ronde until the end of July, police said. They asked anyone who might have information or who saw Crowder after the end of July to call the Oregon State Police Northern Command Center at 800-452-7888 and refer to case number SP17-292529. Detective Ted Moisan is leading the investigation. --Olivia Dimmer 503-708-8630; @DimmerOlivia A suspected drunken driver in Springfield popped on over to a popular strip club after he allegedly plowed his car into city property and fled the scene, police said. Cops found a bloodied and impaired Noah Nelson Eiler, 29, inside the Brick House Gentleman's Club on Fourth and A streets shortly after the crash, Springfield police Lt. Scott McKee said. "I imagine he probably stood out a little," McKee told The Oregonian / OregonLive. "Just look for the bloody guy." Witnesses told police that Eiler was driving along the city's historic Main Street around 1:30 a.m. when he suddenly plowed through a fire hydrant and a pair of decorative light posts, totaling his 2007 Ford Edge and scattering the municipal property across the road. The suspect then allegedly abandoned his orange-colored wreck in the middle of Seventh and Main streets and bolted by foot to the Brick House just a few blocks away and directly across the street from the Springfield Police Department. It didn't' take long for cops to find Eiler. "We tend to catch the dumb ones first," McKee said. "He almost ran to our front door." McKee also said he believes that Springfield is the only city in the U.S. where the police department is located directly across the street from a strip club. "It's kind of a landmark spot," McKee said of the Brick House. Police lodged Eiler in the Springfield Municipal Jail and charged on suspicion of driving under the influence of intoxicants, reckless driving and hit and run. Eiler was previously charged with DUII in 2007, McKee said. -- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh skavanaugh@oregonian.com 503-294-7632 II @shanedkavanaugh A Multnomah County judge heard hours of what he said were "illuminating" arguments Tuesday for why new political campaign spending limits should be allowed or overturned. Multnomah voters overwhelmingly approved new limits on campaign contributions last year. But the Oregon Supreme Court, citing the state constitution's strong free speech protections, has largely said no, no, no. Oregon remains one of just six states with no limits on campaign donations and spending. State law also allows individuals and groups to pay for political ads without disclosing that they are the source. Debate over the voter-approved contribution caps and disclosure requirements has pitted the county and a group of activists against a slew of business groups -- the Portland Business Alliance, Taxpayer Association of Oregon, Portland Metropolitan Association of Realtors, and Oregon Business and Industry. Proponents of the limits argued Tuesday that money can corrupt elections and the limits voters approved aren't absolute. Opponents, however, said giving money to political campaigns is tightly intertwined with an individual's -- or a corporation's -- ability to engage in protected political speech. The measure passed last year restricts political giving to candidates for Multnomah County office by individuals and political action committees to $500 per year. Individuals and groups can still make so-called "independent expenditures" -- spending on ads not approved by the candidate or made in coordination with them -- of up to $5,000 and $10,000 respectively. The new law also requires political ads to display names of the top five donors that paid for the ad. Assistant County Attorney Katherine Thomas said the county's goal is to "uphold the will" of the voters, who approved the spending limits with an 89 percent "yes" vote. She acknowledged the "complex constitutional issues" at hand, but said courts have "shown tolerance for these types of restrictions" and asked Multnomah County District Judge Eric Bloch to uphold the contribution limits. "There's no overall limit on the amount of money that a candidate can receive," Thomas said in defense of the new law, noting that campaigns can line up many, many small donors. "And the contribution limit doesn't put any restriction on how that money can be spent." Attorney Owen Yeates, representing the Taypayer Association of Oregon, countered: "It doesn't matter if 89 or 99 percent of the voters agree to something if it tramples on the rights of voters and of speakers in the county," he said. "We have to protect the ability of people to make meaningful communications to the public. And here, that costs money," said Yeates, of the Center for Competitive Politics, a Virginia-based group that has argued against campaign finance limits. Bloch, the judge, promised to provide as a ruling "as quickly as I possibly can." That's expected to be before September 1, when the new campaign spending limits take effect. He said his decision will likely not be the final one, given that both sides have indicated their openness to appeals. "I understand that there may be some additional courts that weight in," Bloch said, "regardless of how I rule here." -- Gordon R. Friedman 503-221-8209; @GordonRFriedman Gunfire broke out at Alberta Park on Tuesday night during what was supposed to be a memorial, Portland police say. Officers responded to the park, located at 1905 NE Killingsworth St., around 6 p.m. when a witness said shots had been fired and an injured person was lying on the ground. After officers arrived, they found evidence of gunfire but no shooting victims. One person with minor injuries from an assault was found, but not taken to the hospital. Witnesses told police a fight broke out during a celebration of life for a person who recently died. During the fight, someone fired a gun, police said in a statement. Portland Police Bureau's Gang Violence Response Team is continuing the investigation. --Olivia Dimmer 503-708-8630; @DimmerOlivia Bishop James Dukes, pastor of Liberation Christian Center, wrote a letter to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Park District, demanding the statues be taken down and the parks renamed. CHICAGO - A Chicago pastor is calling for statutes of George Washington and Andrew Jackson to be removed from city parks named after them - because both American presidents owned slaves. I am feeling ambivalent that I would have to walk my child, attend a parade or enjoy a game of softball in a park that commemorates the memory of a slave owner, he wrote. Therefore, I call on the immediate removal of President George Washington and President Andrew Jackson names from the parks located on the southeast side of Chicago. They should not have the distinct honor of being held as heroes when they actively participated in the slave trade. When I see that, I see a person who fought for the liberties, and I see people that fought for the justice and freedom of white America, because at that moment, we were still chattel slavery, and was three-fifths of humans, the pastor said. Some people out here ask me, say Well, you know, he taught his slaves to read. Thats almost sad; the equivalent of someone who kidnaps you, that you gave them something to eat. As white supremacists and neo-Nazis marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, a Portland doctor tweeted about her own experience with racism here in Oregon. Dr. Esther Choo's Twitter thread about patient prejudice in the emergency room has been shared more than 22,000 times since Sunday and retweeted by Chelsea Clinton. "We've got a lot of white nationalists in Oregon," her series of 11 tweets began. "So a few times a year, a patient in the ER refuses treatment from me because of my race." Choo is an emergency medicine physician at Oregon Health & Science University with 12 years post-residency experience. She has a medical degree from Yale University, completed her residency at Boston Medical Center, and worked as an associate professor and attending physician at Brown University's Warren Alpert Medical School before coming to OHSU. She has an impressive resume and yet, occasionally, a patient will refuse her care and opt instead for an intern. A white intern, because Choo is Asian-American. Choo's posts about being refused by patients resonated with physicians of color who shared their own experiences with her in public and private messages. "I guess that shouldn't be surprising, but so much of medicine you're alone by yourself with patients, and it doesn't really occur to you that what you're experiencing is a universal experience," she said. "It's been pretty amazing and affirming for me to see that I'm not alone in these experiences, they happen pretty regularly." Some of these experiences are less overt expressions of prejudice: "Aren't you the nurse?" "Where's the real doctor?" "My, you speak English well." She should. She grew up in Cleveland. "That's kind of the experience being a physician of color," Choo said. "These constant little comments that make you wonder if you really belong there, that question your authority and competence to be there." But then some patients, she said, will directly say they want a white doctor. "Everyone, no matter what their viewpoints, no matter if I find them personally abhorrent, my outward face needs to be we treat anyone who comes to our doors," Choo said. "That message is so ingrained in me, especially as an emergency provider, that it doesn't feel intuitive to say that I'm also an employee and a human being and I want to feel safe and not harassed in my workplace." The Civil Rights Act addresses issues of workplace discrimination but, as a 2012 report in the UCLA Law Review notes, not as it relates to hospitals. And dealing with racism is not so simple in medicine, where patients have a right not to be touched without consent, and doctors have an obligation to provide care to anyone who needs it. "Many healthcare providers accommodate these requests in circumstances in which the patient has no option for care other than a hospital outpatient department and in situations in which a patient is in need of emergency services," the report stated. In a 2016 Bureau of Labor Statistics annual report, 19 percent of physicians and surgeons identified as Asian; 38 percent were women. But depending on when you arrive at the OHSU emergency room, a woman of Asian descent may be the sole attending physician on duty. We don't want doctors determining who is worthy of treatment, and so they are trained to acknowledge their feelings but to focus on the medical task at hand. "There are those wow moments, when you undress a trauma patient and there's Confederate tattoos or swastika tattoos, and you just kind of look at each other," Choo said, "and there has to be this very conscious decision to separate out your gut reaction to those things and how you're proceeding with that patient's clinical care. "Those moments just feel so familiar to me," she said. "What's remarkable to me is that these aren't remarkable. I was telling a story on Twitter that felt super familiar to me." It's important to note, Choo said, that some patients have a legitimate desire for a doctor of a different gender, for modesty issues or to address a problem of a sexual nature. A patient may request a Latino doctor in the hope they speak the same native language. But it should shock no one certainly not after the national events of the past 72 hours to hear that a patient requiring immediate care in the ER will still shun the most senior doctor over pure bigotry. Choo said she finds this reaction both fascinating and sad. "When you have extreme views like that, it is counterintuitive to survival," she said. "I think of these patients who come in, and they look around, and they make this assessment of me based on the most superficial of things ... and it doesn't let them accept the best care that's available." There are few professional relationships more intimate than that of a patient and doctor. That intimacy forced in often terrible and immediate circumstances in the emergency room led Choo to conclude her Twitter thread on a positive note. "You know what gives me hope?" she wrote. "A few get uncomfortable and apologize in the same breath they refuse to let me treat them. You see, it's a hell of a hard thing to maintain that level of hate face-to-face. I used to cycle through disbelief, shame, anger. Now I just show compassion and move on. I figure the best thing I can do is make sure their hate finds no purchase here." -- Samantha Swindler @editorswindler / 503-294-4031 sswindler@oregonian.com Crews working on the replacement of large steel wheels and tracks on the Broadway Bridge will close the Broadway Bridge to night traffic 11:30 p.m. Wednesday to 6 a.m. Thursday, Aug 16-17. All lanes will be closed while traffic barriers are installed on the bridge. Sidewalks remain open during the work. TriMet's #17 Broadway/Holgate bus route detours to the Steel Bridge. Vehicle traffic is urged to use the Fremont or Steel bridges. The two outside lanes of the Broadway Bridge will remain closed through the project which is scheduled to be complete later in 2017. OR 217 8:45 a.m.; Crash blocks the left lane OR 217 northbound near Scholls Ferry Road. *** SUNSET HIGHWAY 8:31 a.m.; Crash on U.S. 26 westbound near Cedar Hills Boulevard is in the left emergency lane. Watch for slowing. *** BANFIELD 8:20 a.m.; Two-car crash blocks the left lane I-84 westbound at 82nd Avenue. Update 9:02 a.m.; Cleared. *** Improvements to SR 500 in east Vancouver will close the southbound Interstate 205 off-ramp to SR 500 from 10 p.m.-5 a.m. Wednesday to Thursday, Aug. 16-17. Crews are working to improve merging and safety at the interchange and will be installing new signs and restriping the roadway. Watch for detour signs, expect delays and follow directions to the next available ramp. A section of Northwest 185thth Avenue, north of Springville Road is now closed for the Springville Road project. This roadway will be closed through Sept. 14. Traffic is being detoured to West Union, Cornelius Pass, Germantown and other local roads. Those traveling to Portland Community College's Rock Creek Campus should allow extra travel time and watch for detour signs. Daily traffic reports Check back throughout the morning for the latest commuting updates and follow us on Twitter: @trafficportland My view was and still is that sanctuary cities are umbrellas, created to protect illegal aliens from Immigration and Custom Enforcement (ICE) authorities to the point of not reporting crime data or even crimes to Federal authorities. This prevents the non-citizens that commit felonies from being placed in a national database, similar to the FBI, Homeland Security, and other Intelligence agencies that crosscheck and identify criminals. This then becomes a security issue to fellow Americans if criminals cannot be identified. An Urbana City Council Member, Eric Jakobsson from Ward 2, wrote an opposing viewpoint op-ed and both were published on the same day in the paper's Guest Commentary section. I wrote an op-ed in the Champaign-Urbana Gazette a few months ago (01/29/2017) about the dangers associated with cities that declare themselves "sanctuaries" in order to protect illegal aliens - people that have either overextended their work visas or just walked across the desert or Rio Grande to make their way to Urbana from other countries. Ray Tranchant's daughter was killed by a drunk driver who was in America illegally. He's warning fellow Illinoisans about the dangers of sanctuary cities as Governor Rauner contemplates how he will move on SB 31 - a bill making every public school, medical facility, DMV center in Illinois, as well as preschools and nursing homes, locations that protect criminals. Mr. Jakobsson voted with the other five councilmen to an opposing 2 about a week before New Years Day 2017 to maintain Urbanas sanctuary city status. He explained that the 1,300 undocumented immigrants in Urbana, in a certain sense, are nobody special. They work among us, live among us, send their children to our schools they are us. President Donald Trump with Ray Tranchant and his wife I warned that illegal crime factions flock to sanctuaries that will protect their status. Currently, only three sanctuaries are effect in Illinois and Urbana is one of them. Criminals hide under these umbrellas. The only problem with this logic is that Urbana cant guarantee that they will stay within the city's boundaries. Just like Urbana, Chicago is a sanctuary city. To top it off, the sanctuary Cook County has a real budget crisis. Mayor Rahm Emanuel is authorizing from two to four million dollars to issue exclusive Chicago ID cards for illegal aliens, that will be totally useless outside of Cook County. Somehow by issuing these IDs, the non-legals believe the card legitimizes their non-citizen status. Emanuel added as rhetoric that recipients of the cards would also include the homeless. Chicago hasnt cared as much about the homeless in past years, as they have about the 230,000 illegal immigrants living in the gerrymandered, headphone-shaped district. It amazes me that they can waste that amount of Illinois taxpayer dollars on the program. Five days after Mr. Jakobsson and five other councilmen voted to retain Urbanas sanctuary status, LaDonna "Jeannie" Brady was working the New Years Day shift at the American Legion in Champaign. She bartended there and was driving back home to Mahomet, Illinois - a very long day for her. She had taken the same exit on I-74 a hundred times before, and was greeted at the bottom of the interchange by two headlights. The rest of the details of the crash was not released to the public by the Illinois State Police until April 26. Jeannie died at the hospital, and the man who killed her was driving on the wrong side of I-74. He had four known names: Estaban Tomas Juarez, Estaban Juarez-Tomas, Estaban Juarez Tomas and Victor Ochoa. He had a blood-alcohol content three times the legal limit and was taken to the hospital. Estaban had been deported three previous times and had a Guatemalan passport on his person. However, he didnt use it to enter the country. This is the really sad news. The Illinois State Police did not place him on hold, or call ICE. Juarez walked out of the hospital and fled. Until he is incarcerated and brought back to Illinois, he will remain a free man. Bear in mind, he committed three felonies prior to the manslaughter of Jeannie Brady. ICE deported him back to his home country of Guatemala three times for committing felonies in the US. He had to break back in through the desert because ICE would have pulled him at the checkpoint crossings. He continued to come back to the sanctuary that Urbana provided for him. The Illinois State Police botched this case up so badly trying to be politically correct that they would not answer phone calls or requests for information until three months after the incident - plenty of time for this criminal to take a pleasure cruise to the far corners of the earth. Maybe they will learn from this and never let it happen again. Since that time, I have met and bonded with her husband, Eric, an IT specialist. He is still in shock, like I was when my daughter and her friend were killed by an illegal who moved from sanctuary to sanctuary. The good thing about my daughter Tessa Tranchant and her friend Ali Kunhardts killer is that he has just finished ten years of a 40 year sentence in Greenville, a maximum security prison in Virginia. He still cant speak English (obviously he had no intention of assimilating) after 10 years, but there is one thing that I do know. He is sober. So, Councilman Jakobsson, do you really still feel that guys like Juarez - as you so eloquently quoted and voted - are nobody special. They work among us, live among us, send their children to our schools they are us"? They sure are not me. My Mom was a real immigrant with a real green card, background check, medical exam, and before she finally took her citizenship test ten years after she arrived, Mom was proud to call herself an American. She didnt break into the country and did not live as an illegal alien under an umbrella created by cities who could exploit her for cheap and non-reported labor. She assimilated. Illegals here today rarely ever try to even learn English. Think about Eric Brady, a good guy and fellow Illinoisan and how this could have been prevented. More importantly, how easily it could have been YOU before you vote again, Urbana. With an address by Professor Jim Mann, Honorary Consul for Finland Featuring works for piano, strings and voice. Sibelius: Karelia Suite, op.28 for Piano 4-hands Busoni: Fantasy on Finnish Folk Themes for Piano 4-hands Sibelius and Bruch: works for violin & piano, cello & piano Glazunov: Finnish Sketches for piano 4-hands Sibelius: Finlandia Hymn for Male Voice Ensemble With Terence Dennis, Tom McGrath, pianists, Tessa Petersen, violin, Heleen Du Plessis, cello And voice performance students Date Sunday, 20 August 2017 Time 3:00pm - 4:30pm Audience Public,All University Event Category Music & Performance Event Type Concert Campus Dunedin Location Marama Hall Cost Adults $10 | Students $5 Contact Name Kelsey Minnig or Mary-Jane Campbell Contact Phone 64 3 479 8885 Contact Email mtpa@otago.ac.nz Save this event Wednesday 16 August 2017 12:35pm A Tasmanian penguin long thought extinct never even existed, University of Otago-led research has discovered. New science has debunked old science by showing the bones from the so-called Hunter Island penguin were actually from three different living penguin species, including two from New Zealand. Otago Department of Zoology PhD candidate Ms Tess Cole says the findings, using ancient DNA methods, were unexpected. The study, which also involved scientists from Landcare Research, the Museum of New Zealand-Te Papa Tongarewa and the CSIRO in Canberra, brings into question earlier claims of a penguin extinction in southern Australia during the Holocene epoch, which began about 11,700 years ago. Their results have just been published in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. The Hunter Island penguin (Tasidyptes hunteri) was described as an entirely new penguin genus in 1983, based on four bones that had been excavated from an archaeological midden site on Tasmanias Hunter Island. Ms Cole says the penguins authenticity had been questioned before, based on the fragmentary nature of the fossil bones, the stratigraphy in which they were found, and the similarity to other crested penguin species. However, until now, nobody had clarified what it was. In our study, we applied ancient DNA methods to genetically assess every bone that had ever been attributed to this mysterious penguin species a rare and remarkable opportunity. It was a fun and unexpected story because we show that Tasmanias extinct' penguin is not actually an extinct or unique penguin at all. Using a short DNA barcode region we showed that it was actually a jumbled mixture of three living penguin species, from two genera. Ms Cole says the bones were identified as belonging to the Fiordland crested penguin or Tawaki (Eudyptes pachyrhynchus) and the Snares crested penguin (Eudyptes robustus), both New Zealand endemics known to occasionally turn up in Tasmania, and the Australian little penguin or fairy penguin (Eudyptula novaehollandiae), a species that breeds in Tasmania. The presence of three species of penguins in Tasmanias archaeological record can be explained in light of what is now known about the distributions and movement patterns of these species within the Australasian region. This study shows how useful ancient DNA testing can be. Not only does it help us identify new but extinct species, but it can help us rule out previously postulated species which did not exist, as in this case. Eudyptula novaehollandiae remains the only penguin species known to have bred around mainland Australia during the Holocene. For more information, please contact: Tess Cole, PhD candidate Department of Zoology University of Otago Email: colet@landcareresearch.co.nz OR colth567@student.otago.ac.nz SPRINGFIELD The Illinois House has soundly rejected Gov. Bruce Rauner's plan for a new public-school funding method. The House voted 0-60 Wednesday on legislation that encompasses the changes the Republican governor made in a recent amendatory veto. Rauner vetoed a school-funding model he says unfairly favors Chicago schools and hinders state funding flexibility. The Senate voted to override the veto on Sunday. An override is less certain in the House. So Democratic Rep. Will Davis of Homewood put Rauner's veto language into a new bill to gauge support. Republicans called the vote a sham because of the lack of override support. There were 33 "present" votes. The defeat of the amended legislation still leaves the possibility of House override. The deadline is Aug. 29. The action gives Democrats time to gather votes necessary to follow the Senate's lead in overriding the veto, making the original plan law over the governor's opposition. Rauner used an amendatory veto earlier this month on Senate Bill 1 . The proposal would create a new school-funding formula. Rauner says it provides too much money for Chicago and limits state financing flexibility. Illinois has no mechanism for providing state aid with schools opening as early as Wednesday, including McLean County Unit 5 . Here's a look at how the issue reached this point: FAIR FUNDING The Democratic-controlled Legislature this year revamped the long-derided formula Illinois uses to pay for its public schools. The former model aimed state money at schools with the least local property wealth, but opponents said it was outdated and underfunded. The new "evidence-based" model generally aims to funnel new school funding to the neediest districts first, based on statistical factors like local property wealth and the number of students in poverty or with limited English proficiency. A key to the new plan was ensuring that no district would receive less money than it did last school year. Dubbed the "hold harmless" provision, the change would allow Chicago Public Schools to keep a $250 million-a-year grant that legislators put into law two decades ago to cover extra-educational expenses, such as bus transportation and special education. Another provision in the legislation would require the state to pick up the employer's portion of Chicago teacher pensions, like it does for every other school district. Chicago Public Schools is the nation's third-largest school district. NO 'BAILOUT' Rauner calls the legislation, known as Senate Bill 1 , a Chicago schools "bailout." He insists the annual grant was intended to make up for Chicago schools paying their own pension portion. Rauner used his amendatory veto power, available to only seven governors in the U.S., to rewrite the legislation. He stripped more than $450 million in funding for Chicago schools and redistributed it to other districts. He touted the changes as providing millions of dollars more for schools outside Chicago, which he claimed this week has been a patronage-hiring haven for decades. His rewrite ventured far into other areas as well. Rauner's action would limit the district-based "hold harmless" guarantee to three years, applying it thereafter to individual students meaning the money would follow students if they leave one school district for another. The governor also factored in the calculations of an individual school district's potential wealth. One example involves school districts in counties that imposed property tax caps, which limit the amount of tax dollars that can be collected even if property values increase. A district in such a county wouldn't fully benefit from the higher property values, but Rauner's veto would add that additional wealth to the local district's calculation and drive down state funding for the schools. SILENT SCHOOL BELLS? Democratic lawmakers have fought with Rauner over spending since the first-term governor took office in 2015. The state endured a two-year stalemate over a state budget, the longest of any state since at least the Great Depression, before the Legislature finally adopting one in July over Rauner's objections. That spending plan included a school-funding twist: No state aid could be distributed unless through an evidence-based model, which wasn't part of the budget legislation. It was later proposed in Senate Bill 1, spearheaded by Democratic Sen. Andy Manar of Bunker Hill, a central Illinois town about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of St. Louis. That pumped up pressure on Rauner to sign the bill but also delayed state money getting to schools, the first installment of which as due Aug. 10. No school district has reported being unable to open, but few have indicated they can go longer than a semester without state aid. THE NEXT VOLLEY The Senate endorsed Manar's school-funding bill in May with 35 votes, and the chamber put up 38 'yes' votes on Sunday to get a three-fifth majority needed to reverse Rauner's veto. An override is less certain in the House, where it would require 71 votes from a body with 67 Democrats. That's in part why House Democrats plan to offer new legislation with the Rauner veto language for a vote Wednesday. They want to gauge how some Republicans may vote. Defeat for the plan would open the door for a veto override. The House deadline for an override is Aug. 28. NORMAL Jordan Jones remembers those butterflies in his stomach from last year. At that time, the Chicago native was moving into his Watterson Towers dorm, anxious to start his freshman year at Illinois State University in Normal. A year ago, I was the freshman moving in, not knowing what to expect, he said. On Wednesday, Jones, now a sophomore, was volunteering with the ISU Curb Birds, students who assist with the residence hall move-in. I remember how the Curb Birds helped me out and now, I want to return the favor and it feels great, he said. Wednesday was the first of three move-in days for students at Hewett, Manchester, Watterson and the Tri-Towers at ISU. By Friday, more than 60 percent of the dorm residents will be in. Classes start on Monday. Its a day of very mixed emotions, said Pamela Martin of Chicago, who was moving her daughter, Alyssa, into Watterson Towers. I have a lot of pride right now, but I am going to miss her. For Alyssa, she was also feeling a sense of pride. I am the first girl in the family to attend college and that means a lot to me, she said. Freshman Matt Sudd of Naperville, was also feeling a mixture of emotions as he was waiting on an elevator to take him to his room. My first concern is just finding my room, he said. After that, it is meeting my roommate because I dont know who that is. There are a lot of things Im nervous about right now. His father, Rob, was also battling some nerves. I know he will be fine, but I just want to get this part of the process over with and let him get started, he said. Another father, Phil Savarino of Tinley Park, was moving his daughter, Emily, into Watterson Towers. You want them to do everything that they have to do and do it well, he said. You also dont want them to do some of the things you did in school, or at least, not as much of it. You have to love it when a day comes together like this, he said. We have beautiful weather and everyone is in a great mood. The operation here is so succinct. Its my second year of going through this and its just an outstanding process. Johnson said some changes have been made to the ISUs Preview program, a two-day summer orientation program required for all incoming freshmen. We believe this will set students on the right track as far as welcoming them and what it means to be a part of the Redbird family, he said. Both parents and students had a chance to learn more about what it means to be a part of this community and I dont know there has ever been a more important time to get that message across. Johnson had other reasons for high emotions on Wednesday. He has a son that was also beginning his college career at ISU. Yeah, I am really excited, he said. Its such a great day. Ce-Ce Brookins, an assistant director with University Housing Services, said the move-in was going smoothly on Wednesday, with sunny skies and a slight breeze to help keep the humidity at acceptable levels. Its a ball and things are going very smoothly, she said. Its just so much fun to meet so many new people in one day. Ann-Marie Kamps, a vice president with the Association of Residence Halls Advisors, said she also enjoy meeting new people on one of the biggest and most important days of their lives. People are overjoyed with being here at ISU, and even though moving is such a stressful process, I feel everyone is happy to be here and that is the best thing about it, she said. Ive seen a couple of parents cry, but its tears of joy because their babies are leaving them, but we reassure them that this is the place for them to be and they will still come back home for visits. BLOOMINGTON McLean County Republican Chairman Chuck Erickson was working hard Wednesday morning to defend comments he posted Tuesday on Facebook siding with President Donald Trump's remarks on the deadly confrontation over the weekend in Virginia. Erickson was responding to growing criticism from local Republicans and others who disagreed with his post that concurred with Trump's assertion that "alt-left bears some responsibility for violence in Charlottesville." In his post, Erickson called Trump's remarks "a common sense statement to most people, but not today's media, who only want to target the alt-right, and ignore any blame to the alt-left!" McLean County State's Attorney Jason Chambers was among 100 commenters who posted reactions to the 7 p.m. post by Erickson. Chambers said Wednesday that any statement that shifts the blame for Saturday's violence that killed a woman and injured more than a dozen others away from the KKK and Neo-Nazi protesters is unacceptable. Two Virginia state troopers also died after their helicopter crashed while monitoring the protest. "Condemn them and let's go about doing the work we need to do," said Chambers, who admitted he was at a loss for words to express his opposition to Erickson's remarks. On Wednesday, Erickson said he did not consider the Facebook posting as a statement on behalf of the Republican Party, but as a personal reaction to the president's remarks made at a news conference earlier that day. But he acknowledged that his words "can be construed the wrong way" by those who viewed it as the local party position. Calling Neo-Nazis, the KKK and similar groups "hateful and evil," Erickson said the confrontations between protesters on both sides must be "measured by the rule of law." In a new statement released Wednesday morning on behalf of the party, Erickson said the local GOP "condemns all anti-Semitism, racism, the KKK and the Nazi Party, and any other group which seeks to undermine or remove our constitutional republic form of government and/or seeks to eliminate a group of human beings." The party "also holds the view the President is not a racist, anti-Semite, or member of sympathizer of the KKK or Nazi Party," said the statement. "One should never encourage violence against another human being in an occurrence internal to the country, as in Charlottesville, for their evil philosophy, which Nazism or racism is, unless in self-defense," says the statement. "If anyone should act in a way which violates the law, we let law enforcement and due process of law handle the matter. We do not let leave the matter to individuals or groups to act in violence against others, regardless of the reason. We do not approve of brutal and illegal acts against others, no matter what their views, to enforce another's political principles." Bloomington may not be Mayberry, but tain't Noo Yowrk City, either. And if Mayor Tari Renner thinks he needs an official aide to help him with a part-time job he says takes full-time hours, well, Floyd and Goober have some opinions on that, yessirree. Renner pitched the idea of an aide to the City Council, which discussed it Monday night at a work session before the regular council meeting. "Given the strong executive team in the city manager's office, I am hard-pressed to understand why we would need this additional individual," Ward 6 Alderman Karen Schmidt told The Pantagraph last week. We agree. As do, it appears, several other aldermen, who Monday night expressed opposition to the proposal. Said Joni Painter, "I don't see why this is necessary. I understand where the mayor may need someone to follow them around and assist, but that can be done by other council members or staff." The day-to-day running of the city is left to the city manager, a professional whose hiring is vetted and approved by the council. The mayor's job is structured as part time and pays $12,000, an amount too low for anyone other than a retiree or tycoon could afford given the amount of time involved, says Renner, a full-time political science professor at Illinois Wesleyan University. Many of Illinois' lawmakers are in the same boat with second full-time jobs, but they represent much larger geographical areas than Bloomington. Renner's in his second term as mayor, so the job responsibilities are not new, nor have they changed significantly since he first took office in 2013. The proposed aide, structured as a political appointee paid between $40,000 and $53,000 a year (excluding benefits), would "pretty much go everywhere with the mayor, and help with constituency service, communication between the council and mayor, policy making and strategic scheduling of the mayor's time," Renner explained to the council. "It is quite common for communities the size of Bloomington, and even much smaller, to have dedicated staff available to assist the mayor and/or city council," said Illinois Municipal League Executive Director Brad Cole in a letter he sent Renner in July. Bloomington's city administration already has a deep well of talented and dedicated employees whose responsibilities could expand to helping Renner. There is no reason to add a position to the city's roster that is as described a political appointee of the mayor's choosing. The mayor disregarded pleas from some supporters who urged him to drop the idea. He should've listened. Bloomington has a lot on its plate. Under the city manager form of government, the mayor's job can be as much or as little as the mayor chooses to make it. Creating a mayoral squad is an unnecessary expense. As alderman David Sage put it Monday night, "Why bring this up if there is no support for it?" Again, we agree. 100 years ago Aug. 16, 1917: The two local draft boards anticipate that they wont meet their assigned quota of draftees. So 500 more eligible men will get notices to report. A lot of the men already called had qualified physically but werent taken for other reasons. 75 years ago Aug. 16, 1942: Authorities are probing the death of Alfred Wilson, 25, whose mangled body was found along the Nickel Plate tracks. He was apparently hit by a train near Morris Avenue. Wilson lived on Division Street. Its unknown why he was walking on the tracks on the west side. 50 years ago Aug. 16, 1967: Gov. Otto Kerner has signed a bill to plug loopholes in a 1957 law to make sure public bodies conduct the publics business in public. The new law is aimed at cutting off closed door and unannounced meetings where officials try to avoid public and media scrutiny. 25 years ago Aug. 16, 1992: Early Egyptian surveyors used a form of tape measure on the job as early as 2500 BC. Modern day surveyors Bud and Jim Davis, father and son, still use a tape measure, but have seen GPS (satellite-based) surveying come to town. Its used on the large jobs. In the immediate aftermath of the violence over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia that left Heather Hyer dead and at least 19 others injured, Donald Trump failed to take a clear and direct stance against the KKK, neo-Nazis, white nationalists and the doctrine of white supremacy that fuels those movements. Only after 48 hours of extreme public pressure, including four CEOS dropping out of his manufacturing council, Trump made a brief statement condemning those groups specifically. In a press conference from Trump Tower in New York City today, Trump undermined his previous statements by placing blame on "both sides" and conjuring up an "alt-left" comprised of anti-fascist protestors. "You had a group on one side who was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent, and nobody wants to say that, but I'll say it right now," he said. "You had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit, and they were very, very violent." He added, "Not all of those people were white supremacists, not all of those people were neo-Nazis." He then fervently defended people who were protesting the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee, equating the Confederate General with George Washington and asking reporters rhetorically, "Is it George Washington next, is it Thomas Jefferson?" He later said, "I'm not putting anybody on a moral plane. What I'm saying is this: You had a group on one side and you had a group on the other and they came at each other with clubs and it was vicious and it was horrible and it was a horrible thing to watch, but there is another side. There was a group on this side you can call them the left, you've just called them the left that came violently attacking the other group, so you can say what you want but that's the way it is." You can read the full transcript of the presser here, or watch the video below: Twitter is currently being flooded with responses to this conference from people on all sides. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan reiterated his stance against white supremacy shortly after Trump's remarks today: We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity. Paul Ryan (@SpeakerRyan) August 15, 2017 David Duke, meanwhile, had words of praise for the president: Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists in BLM/Antifa https://t.co/tTESdV4LP0 David Duke (@DrDavidDuke) August 15, 2017 One White House official has already told the press that the conference, which was supposed to be about American infrastructure, "wasn't our plan." Surprisingly, a conservative Fox News pundit may have summed up our feelings in the most succinct way possible: Fox News host @KatTimpf absolutely goes off on Trump's disgusting" presser: I'm wondering if it's actually real life what I just watched." pic.twitter.com/BS0xFwxk3o Andrew Kirell (@AndrewKirell) August 15, 2017 And in case anyone needed a reminder: YOU CAN'T BE BOTH A NAZI AND A PROUD AMERICAN. WE LITERALLY HAD A WAR ABOUT THIS. THE WHOLE WORLD WAS INVOLVED. DPO (@DaveOshry) May 27, 2017 PAPER put together a list of things we can all do to stay engaged with activism during this time, which you can read here. [h/t CNBC] Image via Getty Kordale Lewis and Kaleb Anthony first went viral in 2014 after posting a selfie while doing their daughters' hair. "Being fathers is getting our daughters up at 5:30am making breakfast getting them dressed for school and putting them on the bus by 6:30," they captioned the post. The Atlanta couple quickly amassed both a large following and a bigger family. Now Kordale, Kaleb and their children four children Desmiray (10), Maliyah (9), Kordale Junior (8), and Kaleb Junior (8 months) are the face of a new Acne Studios campaign. The Swedish brand originally DM-ed the couple about doing a photo shoot in New York City while they were headed down to Orlando for a family vacation. "I was telling [Kaleb] about the message that I had received and he was like, 'That would be an awesome opportunity,'" Kordale told i-D. "I don't think either of us knew how big the campaign was until we actually got to New York. The experience was breathtaking." See the photos from the campaign below, and read i-D's full interview with Kordale and Kaleb here. [h/t i-D] Last night Solange deleted her Twitter account, a move motivated by the Charlottesville violence over the weekend. Before she signed off, she asked her fans to rally on behalf of 22-year-old student Takiyah Thompson, the woman who was arrested in connection to the the toppling of a confederate statue in Durham, North Carolina. She was charged with felony offenses "participation in a riot with property damage in excess of $1,500" and "inciting others to riot where property damage exceeds $1,500," as well as several misdemeanors, including "damage to real property" and "disorderly conduct by injury to a statue." Solange then further clarified herself in a Notes-app screenshot posted to her Instagram story, in which she denounces white supremacists, nazis and "ugly ass fuck bois." See the full message below. Icons only. Go off, Solange. If you are feeling helpless in the aftermath of Charlottesville, see five things you can do to help here. [h/t The Fader] Image via Getty. After endless back-and-forth and a whole lot of uproar, good has prevailed Texan transgender people can use whichever gendered bathroom that they identify with. Praise be. The legislation was up for debate in a special session, which came to a close with the House deciding it would not be passed. The judgment, while welcome, comes as a surprise, especially considering the bill was backed by Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. Nonetheless, the gavel was brought down by House Speaker Joe Straus down and rules are rules. Republican representatives, however, were apparently very vocal about the results. Many were reportedly still yelling their objections as the session was concluded. "With 27 hours to go, they walked off the job," Lieutenant Governor Patrick said in the following press conference, claiming the bill would have avoided, "sexual predators who would follow women into bathrooms." It's worth noting Governor Abott could call for another session to discuss the bill, but Patrick claimed this is unlikely because the issue is not a "priority." The bill's passage would have allegedly have set a precedent for other Red states to follow suit and force trans people to use the bathroom according to the gender they were born something which would have no doubt exacerbated transphobia in these areas exponentially. "Finally, Texans can breathe a temporary sigh of relief," HRC official JoDee Winterhof told Reuters. "Texans don't want harmful, anti-transgender legislation." [h/t Jezebel] Image via Getty This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. The question to be answered by the Supreme Court regarding privacy is "Whether the warrantless seizure and search of historical cell phone records revealing the location and movements of a cell phone user over the course of 127 days is permitted by the Fourth Amendment." The petition was filed by groups like the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation on August 7, 2017. The case was filed is asking the court to reverse the judgement of the Sixth Circuit Court. You could review the full brief filed with the court here. According to a new report posted today, a 44-page amicus brief was filed and signed by more than a dozen prominent tech companies such as Apple, Verizon, Facebook, Google and others. The report further noted that "Cell phone location data has become increasingly important to investigations in recent years, as it can pinpoint a suspect's location by triangulating the signal among cell towers. Cell phone companies regularly get requests from police and other government agencies tied to investigations. The issue is central to the appeal filed by Timothy Carpenter, who was convicted in 2011 of a series of armed robberies in Ohio and Michigan with the help of past cell phone location data. Officers dug through 127 days' worth of data provided by MetroPCS and Sprint. From that, they pulled together about 12,898 different locations for Carpenter during the time of the robberies. Carpenter's conviction hinged on his cell phone location data, and he lost an appeal at the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals last April. In the appellate decision, the judges ruled that cell phone location data didn't merit Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and that the officers didn't need a warrant, as Carpenter's lawyers argued." At times I'm finding it very difficult to understand this left wing thinking that illegals should be protected over U.S. citizens in Sanctuary cities and States refusing to assist ICE in capturing criminals that should be deported. In the case noted above, criminals were captured due to being able to track their cell phone records for their location data. It served to throw criminals in jail and yet tech companies and the ACLU don't like that criminals could be caught. The only ones that would want this reversed are criminals. Regular citizens who don't break the law couldn't care less but would be glad that criminals be taken off the street by the government having the tools to do their job. I know that those on the left will scream this, that and the other thing about privacy, but giving criminals new rights is simply insane. I'm hoping that the Supreme court doesn't overturn a reasonable judgement of revealing a limited 127 days of location history to law enforcement. Source About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or negative behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus. When I was growing up in southern California, some eons back, the theory that Native Americans had arrived by traveling by foot across a now-lost Bering Straits land bridge was (so far as I could tell, anyway) universally accepted outside Mormon circles. Moreover, both non-Latter-day Saints and many Latter-day Saints shared the assumption that the competition between the Book of Mormon and the theory of a Bering Straits crossing was a zero-sum game. Either the one was true, or the other was true. They were completely incompatible. Ive long since concluded that, in fact, theyre not mutually incompatible. More on that, perhaps, at some later date. Suffice it to say here that, since I dont believe that either the Lehites or the Jaredites were alone in the New World or the first ones there the evidence for earlier inhabitants, incidentally, is abundant and incontrovertible Im not bothered in the slightest by general theories of Amerindian origins and dont care overly much where the first historic inhabitants of the Americas came from nor how they arrived. That is, its merely an interesting scientific subject. A field for research. It has nothing to do with my faith. That said, though, the Bering Straits theory is now being challenged in a way that I would never have predicted when I was a teenager: Most archaeologists think the first Americans arrived by boat. Now, theyre beginning to prove it The dates involved, of course, are much earlier than anything typically claimed for the Book of Mormon, and I dont claim that they support it in any direct way. Another accusation routinely leveled against Latter-day Saints and their faith is that, by giving certain groups an origin story derived from the Book of Mormon, the Mormons have stolen the heritage of those groups in an act of cultural imperialism and have replaced it with a foreign story imposed upon them by white men. But, of course, just to choose a random test case, the critics who level that accusation dont typically accept the Hopi claim that the Huruing Wuhti of the east, the ocean-dwelling deity of all hard substances, made the first man and woman out of clay. Nor do they credit the prevalent Hopi story that Spider Grandmother caused a hollow reed (or bamboo) to grow into the sky and that it emerged in the Fourth World at a sipapu, the opening in the floor of the kiva or underground ceremonial chamber, nor that the people then climbed up that reed into this world, emerging from a sipapu located in the Grand Canyon. Nor do those critics accept the alternate Hopi story told at Oraibi, which is actually fairly interesting from a Latter-day Saint standpoint: The sun spirit Tawa destroyed the Third World in a great flood, because of its wickedness. Before the destruction, however, Spider Grandmother sealed the more righteous people into hollow reeds which were used as boats. On arrival on a small piece of dry land, the people saw nothing around them but yet more water even after they planted a large bamboo shoot, climbed to the top, and looked about to the horizons. Spider Woman then told the people to make boats out of more reeds and, using islands as stepping-stones along their way, the people sailed east until they arrived on the mountainous coasts of the Fourth World. No, critics of the Mormons as cultural imperialists almost never accept either of those traditional Hopi stories. Instead, they have assigned to the Hopi a different origin story a story created almost entirely, if not entirely, by white men. And not every member of the Amerindian community is altogether pleased with the origin story that mostly white men have advocated for them over the entirety of my lifetime: Native Americans Call For Rethink of Bering Strait Theory The Death of the Bering Strait Theory: Bering Strait theory needs to go away once and for all I hadnt heard of such things when I was in high school. Finally, a few days ago I commented briefly on the rather surprising results of a large genetic study conducted in the United Kingdom. DNA, the Book of Mormon, Marines, Women, Names, and Smart Phones Now, responding to that blog post of mine, my friend Dr. Ugo Perego, a geneticist who specializes in the study of Amerindian DNA and who currently serves as a bishop in Rome, calls my attention to an article in the British newspaper The Guardian by Professor Jennifer A. Raff: If Mary Beard is right, whats happened to the DNA of Africans from Roman Britain? Dr. Perego describes Professor Raff as a respected population geneticist and comments, very correctly in my judgment, that her article sounds a lot like the Book of Mormon and DNA Studies essay on LDS.org: Book of Mormon and DNA Studies Today the lovely Episcopal Church commemorates as a feast in honor of a martyr, the life and death of Virginia Military Academy graduate and Episcopal seminarian Jonathan Myrick Daniels. It was 1965. He was twenty-six years old and a second year student at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when he joined those who answered the call of the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. to come to Selma. While there Jonathan worked to help desegregate the Episcopal congregations of the city. In July, after returning to Cambridge to take semester exams, he returned to Alabama, working tirelessly for civil rights. On this day in 1965 he and twenty-eight other protesters picketed white only stores in Fort Deposit. They were all arrested. On the 20th the prisoners were released from where they were being held, in Hayneville a town near to Fort Deposit. He along with a Catholic priest and two young black women walked to a store to purchase a soft drink. Tom Coleman a volunteer special deputy threatened the group and leveled a shotgun at seventeen year-old Ruby Sales. Jonathan pushed the girl out of the way as the deputy fired the gun, killing the seminarian instantly. An all white jury found Deputy Coleman not guilty of manslaughter. He faced no further prosecution, and died in 1997 at eighty-six. The girl, Ruby Sales, would grow up to become a Civil Rights icon. She attended Episcopal Divinity, although chose not to ordain. She has dedicated much of her work to the memory of Jonathan Daniels. No doubt their lives have forever been intertwined. Today Ms Sales is director of the SpiritHouse Project centered in Decatur, Georgia, where she continues to do the good work. Today I think of them both, & am so grateful for their lives President Rouhani: If US Continues Threats, Iran Could Quickly Jump Start Nuclear Program 08/15/17 Source: VOA Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday his country prefers abiding by the 2015 international agreement on its nuclear program, but that if the United States continues "threats and sanctions" then Iran could quickly revitalize its nuclear activity to an even higher level than before the deal went into effect. President Hassan Rouhani speaks at the Parliament in Tehran, August 15, 2017. (photo by Islamic Republic News Agency) Speaking to members of parliament in a televised address, Rouhani said the U.S. is not a "good partner." "Those who are trying to go back to the language of threats and sanctions are prisoners of their past hallucinations," Rouhani said. "They deprive themselves of the advantages of peace." Iran objects to new sanctions U.S. President Donald Trump signed earlier this month against people involved with Iran's ballistic missile program and its Revolutionary Guard, which came in response to Iranian ballistic missile tests. The two countries each say the other's actions violate the spirit of the nuclear agreement. The deal was struck after lengthy negotiations between Iran and a group that included the United States, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany. Iran won relief from prior sanctions that certain countries and the United Nations levied in response to Iran's nuclear activity amid allegations that Iran was working to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has repeatedly denied that was its mission, saying its nuclear program was strictly for peaceful purposes. The agreement requires Iran to limit its nuclear program with caps on the number of centrifuges it can use to enrich uranium, the level at which the uranium can be enriched and how large its enriched stockpiles can be. Indiana University analyst Hussein Banai told VOA that Rouhani's comments send the message that both Iranian hardliners and moderates are united behind the country's missile program. The U.S. has objected to the missile tests, but they are not mentioned in the nuclear deal text. A U.N. resolution endorsing the deal has a section that calls on Iran to avoid such tests without specifically banning them. "The missile program was not directly part of the nuclear deal, but it certainly inches very close to violating the spirit of the deal and in any event the sanctions, Iranians would argue, have done that already," Banai said. "So I think that language of spirit versus letter of the agreement can be set aside now, we just have to watch and hope that the actual terms of the agreement are not up for violation next." Iran's Top General Makes Rare Visit to Turkey 08/16/17 Source: VOA ISTANBUL - In a rare visit, the head of Iran's armed forces is in Turkey. The two neighbors have found themselves increasing rivals in Iraq and Syria, but both sides are trying to find common ground. The chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces, Major General Mohammad-Hossein Baqeri, arrived in Ankara, leading a high-ranking military and political delegation, for three days of talks. It is the first visit by Iran's chief of staff since the 1979 Iranian revolution. Regional rivalries Former Turkish ambassador to Iraq Unal Cevikoz now heads the Ankara Policy Forum. He says conflicts in Iraq and Syria have exacerbated regional rivalries. "Iran is becoming a very important actor in the region, particularly in Iraq and Syria," he said. "It seems Iran has certain intentions. And when we look at the Turkish Iranian relations pertaining to the situation in Iraq and Syria, it is obvious Turkey and Iran are not on the same page." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has positioned himself as an advocate of Sunni Muslim rights in the region and has been in the forefront of criticizing Tehran's policy in Iraq and Syria. Erdogan has strongly criticized the treatment of Sunnis by Iraqi militia backed by Tehran. Ankara is one of the main supporters of Syrian rebels fighting the Damascus government supported by Iran. The Iranian general's visit comes as Tehran, Ankara and Moscow are cooperating in what is called the Astana process to resolve the Syrian civil war. The conflict is expected to be discussed during the visit. Idlib enclave Political columnist Semih Idiz of the Al Monitor website says talks will include the Syrian enclave of Idlib, one of the last areas the rebel forces control. "Idlib is a potential hornets nest. There is infighting there between two radical Islamist groups," said Idiz. "One is considered nominally more moderate and supported by Turkey and the other one more close to ISIS in sentiment. It is not clear how that is going to play out in Idlib and [Syrian President] Assad is going to take advantage of that." Idlib borders Turkey, and there are growing concerns in Ankara that if it is overrun by Syrian government forces Turkey could experience a major refugee influx, which could include many radical jihadists. Last week Ankara closed its border crossing into Idlib due to security concerns. The aspirations of the region's Kurds is also expected to be on the Iranian general's agenda in Ankara, with both countries having large and restive Kurdish minorities. Next month's independence referendum by Iraqi Kurds will provide common ground, with Tehran and Ankara strongly opposing the vote. Persian carpets trump toxic anti-Iran hype in US 08/16/17 Source: Press TV The United States is now the largest importer of Iranian carpets, shipping in $196 million worth of highly prized Persian artistry last year, head of the Iran National Carpet Center Hamid Kargar says. Photo: Third Largest Persian Carpet Unveiled (October 2012) The US has long been a major market for Iran's hand-woven carpets but a stack of sanctions imposed in 2010 pulled the rug from under the Persian craftsmanship, allowing cheaper craft from Pakistan, India, Turkey and China to gain a foothold. "China, despite being a rival of Iran in the past, is now importing Iranian carpets and the United States is the largest importer of carpets from Iran," Kargar told a news conference ahead of a carpet exhibition in Tehran. For the first time, 14 American traders will be attending the 26th edition of Iran's handmade carpet expo in Tehran to be held for a week from Aug. 23, Tasnim news agency on Wednesday quoted Kargar as saying. Foreign tourists visiting Carpet Museum of Iran (file photo by Tasnim News Agency) Iranian caviar, pistachios, saffron and carpets and US commercial aircraft and their parts are among the items allowed for limited business with the US under a nuclear deal which went into effect in January 2016. Citing customs statistics, Kargar said $89 million of carpets were exported in the four months since March 20, which grew by 7 percent year-on-year. Last year, Iran's exports totaled $360 million compared with foreign sales of $635 million before the sanctions. Kargar, however, sees a potential for growth and even a leap in sales of Iranian carpets in the international markets. "After six years, the exports of handmade Iranian carpets to the United States have flourished, but in order to maintain our target market, we need to watch our rivals, such as India and Pakistan, because the taste of our modern customers is important in this market," he said. Traders hope the quality of Iranian carpets would trump rivals. Devotees of Iran's artistry value its premium quality, design and color. Iranian carpets are made of wool, silk or cotton, or a combination of the three. They are dyed with natural ingredients such as walnut skins, pomegranate and acorn cups. Carpet weaving has a history of 2,500 years in Iran, ingrained in the country's national identity. There are currently as many as 1 million weavers across the country, including 700,000 full-time artisans involved in the profession. The northwestern provinces of Ardabil and East Azerbaijan, Isfahan in central Iran and Kerman in the country's southeast are the major carpet-weaving zones, each having its own unique style. It is a family-run business, involving all age categories. Artisan products are churned out in local workshops where honed skills in design, weaving and dying make the difference. It is a painstaking vocation where some rugs take a decade or more to weave. A hand-woven piece depicting a family of carpet weavers in Iran In the United States, Persian rugs are sold for between $10,000 for a smaller rug and $100,000 or even twice as much for a fine, large rug. In China, some Iranian traders have carpet warehouses and in Shanghai Free-Trade Zone, Persian carpets occupy 500 meters of Iran's national pavilion, according to Kargar. Iranian carpets are currently exported to 80 countries. In recent years, rug dealers have switched to the Asian market, catering especially to the growing crave in China and the UAE. However, the US holds a special place among the traders. "The thirst and passion for carpet exports to the American market is highly strong and there is an expectation of a leap in sales to the country," Kargar said in 2015. U.S. Says Iran Trying To 'Hold World Hostage' By Threatening to Quit Nuclear Deal 08/16/17 Source: RFE/RL The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations has said Iran is trying to "hold the world hostage" by warning that it might abandon the 2015 nuclear agreement because of continued U.S. "sanctions and coercion." Ambassador Nikki Haley was responding to a warning from Iranian President Hassan Rohani earlier on August 15 that U.S. President Donald Trump, who has imposed several rounds of new sanctions on Iran, has shown he is "not a good partner" by repeatedly threatening to walk away from the agreement. Rohani said that could lead Iran to abandon its commitment to curb nuclear activities under the deal "within hours." Haley, in a statement at the UN in New York, said the sanctions imposed by Trump were unrelated to the nuclear deal, under which the United States and other world powers agreed to lift most economic sanctions on Iran. She said Tehran must be held responsible for "its missile launches, support for terrorism, disregard for human rights, and violations of UN Security Council resolutions." "Iran cannot be allowed to use the nuclear deal to hold the world hostage," Haley said."The nuclear deal must not become 'too big to fail'." Haley added that "Iran, under no circumstances, can ever be allowed to have nuclear weapons." #IranDeal: @barbaraslavin1 joins @MichelleMakori to discuss Tehran's threat to pull out should the US impose further sanctions pic.twitter.com/fAZUSmapzb i24NEWS English (@i24NEWS_EN) August 16, 2017 'Not A Good Partner' Rohani earlier in the day told lawmakers in Tehran that the Trump administration seemed to want to go back to the way it was before the nuclear agreement by repeatedly trying to force Iran to change through pressure tactics rather than negotiations. "The failed experience of sanctions and coercion brought their previous administrations to the negotiating table," he said in a televised speech. "If they want to go back to that experience, definitely in a short time -- not weeks or months, but in the scale of hours and days -- we will return to our previous situation very much more stronger," he said. Imagine! Trump is Lying? Trump says Iran is violating the nuclear deal. It isn't. https://t.co/kpLO9hH8Rb via @voxdotcom Stephen Walt (@stephenWalt) August 8, 2017 Rohani said Trump since taking office had shown the world he is "not a good partner," not only with respect to the landmark 2015 nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), but on other global treaties. "In recent months, the world has witnessed that the U.S., in addition to its constant and repetitive breaking of its promises in the JCPOA, has ignored several other global agreements and shown its allies that the U.S. is neither a good partner nor a reliable negotiating party," Rohani told parliament. U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert on August 15 did not address Rohani's comments directly, but insisted that Washington was in full compliance with its side of the nuclear agreement. Nauert also said Washington was reviewing its policy toward Iran and that it believes the nuclear deal didn't put an end to Tehran's other "destabilizing activities" in the region. Trump once again asserted earlier this month that Iran was not "living up to the spirit" of the nuclear deal, which he described as a "horrible agreement." The accord with world powers gave Iran relief from international sanctions in exchange for curbing its nuclear activities. U.S. and UN watchdogs monitoring compliance with the agreement have found Iran has adhered to the deal. PS: If Rouhani speech made you freak out about Tehran tearing up #IranDeal, read my @CatoInstitute report out today https://t.co/in9Im6R6x4 Ariane Tabatabai (@ArianeTabatabai) August 15, 2017 With reporting by AP, AFP, Reuters, and IRNA It has widely been agreed for some years now that in order to end the misery of Dumsor (power crises), Ghana must install the infrastructure to enable it to import Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to fuel its power plants. LNG will provide fuel security, displacing the extortionately priced LCO imports from Nigeria, and complement the nascent but ultimately insufficient indigenous gas to fully meet our domestic gas production. In contrast to the previous governments indecision on LNG, the new government initially appeared to make this a priority the Minister of Energy, Boakye Agyarko said in his Parliamentary inauguration. In an apparent prod to the government, ACEP, the widely respected think tank, just issued a very informative advisory paper titled LNG supply to Ghana: The Politics and the Reality, in which it analyses and compares the different options on the table. Three different proposals appear to be under consideration Quantum Power (QPR), West African Gas Limited (WAGL) - a subsidiary of Nigerias Sahara energy, and Blystad Energy Management (BEM). A fourth proposal seems to have been dropped as it was proposed for the Western Region, where the availability of domestic gas makes it pointless. Although the three proposals are all for the Tema region, where due to lack of domestic gas the energy shortage is most acute, and now all offer a 10 year term, they have a number of differences. In terms of location, QPRs facility siting is five km offshore, while both WAGL and BEM propose for their vessels to sit in the port. ACEP notes that it is questionable as to whether it is possible to situate such a facility in the Tema Port in particular. On one hand, a number of technical studies have shown that gas cannot be safely evacuated from the port because it is too heavily built-up, which seems to be confirmed by the denial recently of GE Early Powers request to construct a similar LPG pipeline from the port. On the other, significant very costly dredging and breakwater expansion work will be required, which will jeopardize the operations of the Port, which is major revenue basket for the state. The second important difference between the projects relates to how they will be priced. Each of the proposals requires a per unit fee to recover the investment cost of the infrastructure ($ 1.3 for QPR, $ 1.5 for WAGL and $ 1.38 for BEM), however, they differ markedly in how they handle the cost of the imported LNG. BEM and WAGL require that they supply the LNG as well (bundled deal), with prices linked via formula to the price of oil. At current levels this translates to $ 8.1 per unit for WAGL and $ 6.1 per unit for BEM but this could climb dramatically if the oil price goes up to the levels from just a few years ago. In contrast, QPR does not offer LNG supply. By providing the tolling infrastructure, QPR affords Ghana the exclusive right to itself directly procure LNG at the best price, including on Government to Government basis. ACEP notes that Ghana may in fact be able to secure much more advantageous prices than BEM and WAGLs if it negotiates directly recent prices identified by the government from a supplier were as low as $ 5.85 per unit. Furthermore, the indexation of gas price to Brent , as BEM and WAGL are proposing ,apparently does not reflect the global trend in the LNG market and it is not justifiable for the government to approve a locked-in Brent based LNG price for 10 years as this will deprive Ghana of the flexibility to take advantage of the falling global prices. In aggregate, for the 10- year contract period, ACEP calculates that with the bundled WAGL and BEM approach, the Government could have to pay as much as $ 8.8 billion and $ 6.8 billion while the fixed obligations to QPR would be only $ 1.2 billion. Despite these eye-watering numbers for all three projects, the figures are only a trifle in comparison to the cost of meeting those energy needs with LCO instead over the next decade, as the Energy Commission has remarked on numerous occasions. As to timing, BEM has indicated it is able to start deliveries in a years time (Q3 2018), while WAGL targets Q1 2019. However, ACEP notes that the timing of these in-port solutions looks conservative in light of the extensive dredging and construction work required and virtual total lack of detailed studies confirming design and work required. QPR, by comparison, have achieved all licences and permits, completed all necessary studies and are ready to start construction and deliver gas by 2018. Considering the massive costs involved and the critical importance to the broader economy, it is the governments responsibility to make known, without further delay, its decision and reasoning regarding the chosen developer, their credentials- financial and technical as well as produce assurances as to the viability of the design solution, all in a fully transparent manner, in order to ensure that the process does not fall prey to various interest groups, as in years past. Source: A GNA feature by Christian Akorlie 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 Children of school going age must be off the street come September, Madam Otiko Afisa Djaba, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) has said. She stressed: Come September, at least the children of school going age must be off the street, it is not only MoGCSP which is doing this, we are coordinating but the ownership must come from all of us including the parents. Madam Afisa Djaba said this at a stakeholder meeting on streetism dubbed: Operation Get Off the Street for a Better Life held by the MoGCSP in Accra on Tuesday. She said the current prevalence of street children in the country was extremely worrying and their increasing numbers is an indication of the weakened extended family values and governance systems which were increasingly unable to protect and provide for children and care for these very vulnerable people. As a Ministry we are focusing on the issue today because of the need to stop this harmful and hazardous practice that infringes on the right of the child to education, to play and to be protected from physical, mental and psychological abuse. Madam Afisa Djaba indicated that the MoGCSP understood that the dignity and full potential of any child, young person and person with disability was under threat for as long as they continued to live and operate on the streets adding that It is for this reason why we have developed a comprehensive document which will be the basis for the implementation of the programme we are calling Operation Street to Better Life, she said. She said the document was necessitated based on findings and on recommendations made in a mapping and analysis of the Child Protection System Report on strengthening Child Family Welfare System. According to the Sector minister, in 2011, the Social Welfare Department under the MoGCSP conducted a census on street children in the Greater Accra Region, where it was revealed that about 60,495 children lived and work on the street. In this number, there are 66 per cent migrant children and 18 per cent urban dwellers among other smaller groups. There was a particular concentration of street children in the Accra Metropolis with approximately 50,000 children, other areas of the region had significantly less children, she said. Madam Afisa Djaba noted that 1,757 children were found in the Ga East Municipal district, while 939 were in the Ga West Municipal with 5,768 representing Ashiaman and the remaining 2,031 coming from Nungua and Teshie respectively. She, therefore, explained that the project Operation Street to Better Life would address streetism and the document also outlines clear onset, challenges and prevention strategies to manage this severe societal problem which is a serious threat to national security and development. She added that the project which would work under short, medium and long term strategies would link the extremely poor to pro-poor interventions like LEAP, the LEAP 1000 and the planting for food and jobs initiatives of the Akufo-Addo government. We will conduct a mapping exercise to collect data on street children in identified areas where streetism is a major concern, once identified, our filed teams will conduct several operations to systematically rescue them. We will have to keep on with the interaction and argument that Ghana, 60 years on we cannot afford to have people living on the streets, begging and selling, she said. Mr Richard Adjetey, the Principal Director of Social Welfare, attributing the major cause of streetism to urbanization and called for adoption of a conceptual approach towards the addressing of the menace. Madam Heike Drechsel-Atta, the Project Leader Assistant of Kinder Paradise, called for the training and equipping of workers to the various districts where thorough education would be served on a larger scale. Participants called for the extensive education as well as sensitization of parents on streetism as having little knowledge on family planning was an overwhelming cause of the subject and propose for a dialogue for all beneficiaries of the project. They urged the media to remain a critical part of the awareness creation of the programme and the getting of vulnerable children off the streets. Source: Elsie Appiah-Osei, GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A group of Queen mothers from Volta Regional Queens Council yesterday paid a courtesy call on First Lady Mrs. Rebecca Akufo-Addo at her Ridge office to commend her on her various undertakings as first lady and seek her support in addressing some of the challenges faced by women and children in the region. The councils Vice President, Mama Dzitri who spoke on behalf of the group first urged the First lady to be an advocate of their campaign to create awareness and rid the region of teenage as it is currently a big concern for families in the region. She further noted that as queen mothers their primary responsibility is to seek the welfare of their people especially women and children and with Malaria being a major health concern for the region she urged the First Lady to solidly support their efforts at fighting Malaria. She also said that the association has plans to ensure every community in the region has a Nursery school with ultra-modern facilities to improve standards of preschool education therefore entreat the First lady to be a champion of this plan to ensure it becomes a reality. The councils President Mamaga Agbalisi IV of Kpando also took the opportunity to commend the First lady for helping construct a new mother and child unit at Komfo Anokye Teaching hospital. She urged the First Lady to help them secure incubators for the various hospitals in the region especially the Volta regional hospital. She also noted that the Ketu South Municipal Hospital Labour unit needed to be renovated and equipped therefore called on the First lady to use her influence to help them improve the unit. The First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo in responding to the queens first commended them for their various initiatives and urged them to persist in their quest to help improve the lives of their people. She noted that government is working relentlessly to improve the living conditions of all Ghanaians and will continue to do so until all citizens enjoy the benefits of good governance of the Akufo-Addo government. She urged the queen mothers to also support governments efforts at addressing challenges facing their region and the country as a whole. She further said that she would do all that she can to help address their concerns in due course therefore they should know that she will not disappoint them Accompanying the visiting queens was Hon. Elliot Edem Agbenorwu, MCE of Ketu South municipal Assembly. Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Luck has once again run out of Faith Mensah Tekpor; a confidence trickster, who was once married to the Foreign Minister, Shirley Ayorkor Botchway. He has been using good looks, false identities, sex, promise of marriage, among other tricks to dupe his victims. He is currently in the grips of the Ghana Police Service. The two, had their marriage ceremony at Sakumono and enplaned to South Africa for a honeymoon to see all the interesting sites in that country. The marriage, collapsed not too long after, leaving the 53-year old Member of Parliament (MP) for Anyaa-Sowutuom in the Greater Accra Region, till date it is not clear whether the marriage was officially dissolved. The good looking Faith Mensah Tekpors modus operandi, is to pose as a responsible member of the Ghanaian society, proposing intimate relationships to influential, wealthy businesswomen, who are either single or married. He ends up duping them in the process. For the single women, he takes advantage of their desperation to marry. The Heralds police sources, reveal over 35 women, have fallen victims to Faith Mensah Tekpors fraudulent schemes. He rent luxurious cars from private garages to look wealthy. He has often times, posed as a medical practitioner to defraud his women victims, huge sums of money. He has been apprehended by the Police in Accra many times, but often times the women out of embarrassment refuse to assist the police as prosecution witnesses to enable the court jail him. From 2011, 2012 and 2013, Faith Mensah Tekpor, spent time in both police custody and prison remand for defrauding some women. One influential married woman with whom he had been having sex with, out of shame, declined to help the police to nail him in court. He was, therefore, set free for want of prosecution. Last week, the Police, issued an official statement on him dated August 10, 2017, confirming how he approaches his victims as medical doctor with different names, just to conceal his true identity to defraud unsuspecting members of the public. He had, sometimes also posed as United Nations (UN) Consultant or the director of the Canadian Development Fund, which offers grants to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises. As at 2013, he had jumped bail on three occasions. He had used names such as Dr. Jeff Alvin Addow, Fiifi Terkpor, Dr. Alvin Owusu, Dr. Alvin Annan, Dr. Fiifi Owusu, Dr. Collins Amoah and Dr. Alvin Mensah to defraud people. The police say Tekpor, whose victims are mostly women from Sakumono, Tema and Accra is currently facing trial for defrauding by impersonating and also under investigations for similar fraud offences. According to the statement issued by the Service, this is not the first time Faith, is being arrested, but on these different occasions, he jumped court bail and so has been on the police wanted list after it received a bench warrant. The police confirmed he proposes love to his female victims with assurance to being with them forever. When he manages to sleep with them, he records them and then later, he uses the videos as means to fabricate stories to get moneys from them. The police continued that after gathering a significant amount of money, he starts blackmailing these unsuspecting victims because he has the videos of them. The statement said His modus includes posing as a medical practitioner, approaches and proposes to a woman and pursues her to keep as a girlfriend with the potential of a lasting relationship. He records his sexual encounters with the women, whether known to them or not. In the course of the relationship, he fabricates stories for the girlfriends to lend him money with the promise to refund. When the money lent to him has become quite substantial, he begins to blackmail his victims with the recording of their sexual encounters. The police, however, believe that a number of his victims have been blackmailed by Tekpor and have thus encouraged them to report to the nearest police station or call the following lines: 18555 (MTN or Vodafone) or 0244682740/020777001. Police intelligence shows that there are other victims of this fake Faith who have been blackmailed into silence by him. These victims are therefore encouraged to report their cases to the nearest Police station or call the aforementioned short code or mobile numbers to report. The police advised the public to be alert when dealing with strangers who promise paradise and to report suspicious activities and persons to them. Tekpor is believed to be from a town near Ho in the Volta Region. He is a product of Mawuli School. Former schoolmates have said he started his fraudulent activities while in school. He parents and other family members are said to have gotten tired of him hence dont show up anytime he is arrested by the police. Some even believe he is cursed. It is hoped that this time, some of the women will step out and help the police nail Faith Mensah Tekpor. Source: http://theheraldghana.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 Economic and Organised Crime Organisation (EOCO) has launched investigations into the breakdown of MRI and CT scan machines at five major government hospitals in the country. The Magnetic Resonance Imagining (MRI) and Computed Temography (CT) scan machines at the five major government hospitals have all broken down since their installation in 2013, bringing discomfort to patients and medical practitioners at the medical facilities. The Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu said in an interview on Citi FM Wednesday that EOCO has been invited to investigate the project that led to the installation of the machines by the erstwhile National Democratic Congress government. He said, They were all a package from a very big loan facility that was taken for installation of some of these things and several medical equipment in hospital. And that is what EOCO is investigating. The NDC government in 2012 acquired five new Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines to be installed in five regional hospitals. The beneficial hospitals included the Ho Government Hospital, the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, and the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, the Tamale Teaching Hospital and Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra. The Machines were installed by Toshiba Technologies. Source: Daily Graphic 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 NDCs Kofi Adams says Martin Amidu's style of politics in recent times is distasteful after the former Attorney General described him and his Deputy General Secretary, Koku Anyidoho as attack dogs. Mr. Amidu in his latest response to claims made against him after a recent article, have accused the National Executive members of the NDC of propagating falsehood which is their stock in trade. These two attack dogs engaging in the monotonous acts of character assassination to avoid the real issue, deliberately repeated similar unfounded accusations against me that I had creditably refuted with supporting facts and evidence, which the very media carrying the recycled accusations had published in previous years. Political office holders like the National Organizer and Deputy Secretary General of political parties are mandated by the spirit of the 1992 Constitution to exhibit ethical actions and conduct in their relationship with the public and their party members, he said. Speaking on NEAT FMs morning show dubbed Ghana Montie, the National Organizer of the opposition National Democratic Congress Kofi Adams noted that Martin Amidu will never stop insulting individuals in the party. That is his style. I will never waste my time to talk about someone like him. Nothing better will ever come out from him. He will be insulting everyone in the party, I can assure you that. His behavior compelled us to refer him to the Disciplinary Committee of the party, he said. Source: King Edward Ambrose Washman Addo/Peacefmonline.com/ Twitter: @Washman5/ Instagram: Washman007 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 Audio Attachment: Listen to Koku Anyidoho on Okay FM. Deputy General Secretary for the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) Koku Anyidoho has pooh-poohed Ghanas former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Victor Smith for asking party executives to summon former President Rawlings. Ghanas former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Victor Smith has said the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) must be even in trying to maintain discipline in the party. To him, it will be unfair to summon the former Attorney General, Martin Amidu before the NDC Disciplinary Committee and leave out ex-President Jerry John Rawlings, as many believe the utterances of these two stalwarts caused the NDC a lot of problems. Personally, I think it will be difficult that the party leadership will summon Martin Amidu over his utterances that bring the party into disrepute without calling ex-President Rawlings. You cant call one party stalwart and leave the other; that will be really bad. We need to look for a better way of dealing with this situation, he said. But Koku Anyidoho on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' Morning Show reminded him that lawyer Evans Amankwah and Abigail Elorm Mensah petitioned the party against the former Attorney-General Martin Amidu; thus, the NDC didnt just decide to call Martin Amidu to the Disciplinary Committee. ... so Victor Smith, if he is man enough and brave, he can petition the party against Rawlings at the headquarters. Victor Smith should not sit on the torch-line and behave like a useless man. If he is man enough, he should jump into the arena and join the fight and stop talking from the talking touch-line. I am not afraid of him; every time you sit on the torch-line and you want to indict the National Executives, he slammed. He again challenged Victor Smith to petition against Rawlings and the party hierarchy will look at it rather than being a coward on the touch-line. We are getting sick and tired of him; he is not an executive member of the party and he should stop disturbing our ears. He should petition against Rawlings and stop the useless fight he is propagating in the party, trying to indict the National Executives. He has said things but I have chosen to ignore him, Koku jabbed. Source: Daniel Adu Darko/Peacefmonline.com/[email protected] Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Minority in Parliament has asked the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta and the Governor of Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Kwamina Yedu Addison to brief Parliament on circumstances surrounding the takeover of UT Bank and Capital Bank. A press statement issued by the Bank of Ghana on Monday, August 14 announced that GCB Bank Ltd Takes Over UT Bank Ltd And Capital Bank Ltd According to the release, UT Bank and Capital Bank were deeply insolvent, meaning that their liabilities exceeded their assets, putting them in a position not to be able to meet their obligations as and when they fell due. Despite repeated agreements between the Bank of Ghana and UT Bank and Capital Bank to implement an action plan to address these significant shortfalls, the owners and managers of UT Bank and Capital Bank were unable to increase the capital of the banks to address the insolvency. Consequently, to protect customers, the BOG has decided to revoke the licenses of UT Bank and Capital Bank under a Purchase and Assumption transaction, Reacting to this at a press conference, Tuesday, 15th August, 2017, Cassiel Ato Forson who is the Minority spokesperson on Finance said there is the need for further investigation to be carried out to ascertain if managers of the two banks were culpable of any wrongdoing. He also urged the BoG to further strengthen its supervisory and monitoring responsibilities. MINORITY STATEMENT ON THE RECEIVERSHIP OF CAPITAL BANK AND UT BANK Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen of the press. 1) Thank you very much for honoring the invitation at a very short notice 2) We note that the BOG has approved a purchase and assumption (P&A) transaction between UT Bank, Capital Bank and GCB. This can be viewed as a relatively smooth takeover of the banks rather than the earlier speculation of a simple and forced liquidation which would have had a devastating effect on the economy. The P&A transaction follows other precedent approaches that had been used to deal with difficult banking situations in the country, for example, the setting up of the Non-Performing Assets Recovery Trust (NPART), and the winding down of the Bank for Credit and Commerce (BCC) , Bank for Housing and Construction (BHC)and Merchant Bank. 3) We also note that during the press conference on the P&A transaction, the Governor of the BOG, assured the nation that the approach has a distinct benefit where customers will suffer no losses. The acquiring bank (GCB) will increase its market share while the productive financial assets of UT Bank and Capital Bank will be maintained. 4) We take note the news and urge all depositors and customers of UT Bank and Capital Bank to exercise restraint while we patiently monitor the activities of the acquiring bank (GCB), BOG, and the receivers (PwC). 5) We strongly urge these three institutions,(BOG, GCB, and PwC), and the Ministry of Finance (MOF) that could assume any ultimate fiscal risks under the Banking laws, to ensure strict adherence to the distinct benefit of the purchase and assumption(P&A) transaction, so that no single depositor losses his or her investment. Needless to say, should this happen, it will result in an unforeseen burden on tax payers instead of the original owners of UT and Capital Banks. 6) Again, we urge BOG to ensure that the acquiring bank (GCB), which is the largest indigenous bank, with both public and private shareholders, is not overburdened unnecessarily with non-performing loans and impaired assets. We recall that the NDC Government, in recent past years, took a deliberate policy action to pay the TOR debt owed to GCB which helped to restore the Banks balance sheet to its current healthy status, an d also not to interfere in GCB's operations. It is our hope that past and future transactions involved in this indirect liquidation will not be clouded in another secrecy, on grounds of market sensitivity. 7) Ladies and gentlemen, it will be recalled that the NDC government introduced a number of structural measures that sought to strengthen the financial sector and to protect depositors. Notably among them is the Ghana Deposit Protection Act, 2016 (Act 931). This Act established the Deposit Protection Scheme (Insurance), the Deposit Protection Fund, and Deposit Protection Corporation. The Act seeks to protect depositors from potential losses resulting from the occurrence of an insured event. It is also to support the development of a safe, sound, efficient and stable banking system in Ghana. We urge the BOG to, as a matter of urgency, start implementing the provisions of this Act without further delay. 8) The NDC government also enacted the Specialized Deposit Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930) to facilitate the development of the financial sector, and provide an appropriate and robust legal framework to deal with emerging risk and vulnerabilities in the banking system. The Act addresses supervisory and regulatory gaps to enable the Bank of Ghana superintend over financial service providers in the micro-finance industry. The Act also ensures financial consumer protection, promotion of innovation, and financial inclusion. 9) CONCLUSION: Ladies and Gentlemen of the media, we wish to end with two observations. First, it is important for BoG to further strengthen its supervisory and monitoring responsibilities. It is unimaginable to think that these two (2) banks had won several enviable awards at recent high profile ceremonies. 10) The minority, as a matter of urgency, will be requesting, through the Rt. Hon. Speaker, that the Minister of Finance, and the Governor of Bank of Ghana be invited to brief Parliament about the development and to give assurance that the depositors will suffer no loss. 11) We also urge Bank of Ghana to conduct an investigation as to what occasioned this development. Thank you. Signed Cassiel Ato Forson Ranking Member, Finance Committee of Parliament 15th August, 2017 Source: Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video If you're an anime fan, you know about the Naruto Run. The ninja characters in the popular anime "Naruto" run with their torsos bent and arms out behind them. It's supposed to cut down on wind resistance, obviously. And it's iconic -- and something many an anime fan has tried (although there is some debate on whether or not it actually helps your run faster). You can give it a go yourself at the Naruto Run Down Locust Walk at 7 p.m. on Sept. 10. Fans and runners will gather at the Button on Locust Walk in University City before 7 p.m., and when the hour hits someone will yell "Dattebayo" and the running will begin. Cosplay is highly encouraged. If the event goes well, organizer Reginald Lamaute told Geekadelphia that he hopes to make it an annual event. Perhaps this will become the new companion to the annual Philadelphia Pillow Fight? For more information and to RSVP check out the event's Facebook page. So far 1.6 thousand people have said they'll be attending, with 6.4 thousand expressing interest in the event. With those numbers, it could end up looking like this epic Naruto beach run from 2016: Not sure how to run like Naruto? There is, believe it or not, a wikihow for that. It's just seven steps long, so that's a win. Want more stories about Philly? Click here for all our coverage of the City of Brotherly Love. You may also enjoy these stories of quirky Philadelphia-based events: It's a good time to be a Pennsylvania foodie. Palizzi Filippo Social Club in Philadelphia has been named one of the best new restaurants in the United States by Bon Appetit. It was the only Pennsylvania restaurants to make the top ten list (although the Philadelphia-based Res Ipsa was among the top 50 finalists). Palizzi has been garnering headlines for its secretive nature -- it's a member's only restaurant with a ban on social media and reviews. That ban is something they take seriously, as critic Jason Sheehan of Philadelphia Magazine found out (he had his membership revoked after posting a glowing review). Bon Appetit praised Palizzi for having "some of the best red-sauce Italian-American classics in the country"and highlighted its spaghetti with blue crab, stuffed artichokes with lemon and Caesar salad. The Negroni cocktail is one not to miss either. Trying these delights for yourself, however, can be tough, because it is members only. Memberships are available for $20 at the door -- but only ten are sold every night. Once you have a membership, you can take up to three guests with you. That being said, a membership doesn't guarantee entry immediately. Palizzi is a small restaurant with only 30 seats, so it can fill up quickly. On the brightside, pictures aren't allowed, or "excessive cell phone use," so you won't have to worry about someone taking longer to eat because they're looking for the perfect angle for their Insta. Palizzi is cash only and opens at 6 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays. No sneakers, flip flops or sweatpants are allowed. It's located at 1408 S. 12th St. in Bella Vista in Philadelphia. For more information visit palizzisocial.com. My favorite snack after school snack has always been popcorn. I have been a fan since before microwaves were invented. I would run home, make a batch and watch "Guiding Light," and then it was time for homework. I still prefer to make my popcorn in a pot, one with a copper bottom I have dedicated to popping. I start with medium-high heat, a few tablespoon of oil and 3 kernels of popping corn. When they pop, I add three small handfuls to the pot and shake and heat until the lid lifts off or I stop hearing the pops. Dawn Marron, Esq. Microwave style takes about the same amount of time, and often has extra chemicals, but I'm not against it if I get it for under 10 cents a bag. Unsupervised kiddos are safer with the microwave version, too. Decide your max price and wait for it. Even if that price is "free," I guarantee that deal will come around eventually. The variations of popcorn flavors are endless. At the adding stage, I can toss in a spice or sweet so the corn gets coated as it pops. I'm experimenting with different oil flavors right now, with garlic leading the taste test. I found a coconut oil coupon on CommonKindness.com, so that's next. I've tried different kernels too, and a perennial favorite is Jolly Time American's Best available at regular grocery stores. It rarely has a coupon, but the Jolly Time website currently has one for 35 cents off. I'll get extra when the sale price drops, or when I need a filler item to get to a "spend $25, get something else" deal. I'm a sucker for Amish popcorn, too. The craft batches are a fun splurge at a farmer's market. I'll add crab seasoning or a Callicutt Spice Blend to a finished batch instead of plain old salt. I like parmesan cheese sprinkled on. I've even dashed it with Tabasco (50 cents off coupon on CouponSherpa.com) or chipotle sauce (not too much or it wilts). Specialty butter like Kerrygold or Plugra ($1 off coupon available at Coupons.com) is a worthy finish for a small batch. Did you use your $1 off 3 Nabisco coupon to get those to-go cups of mini cookies last week? Add those, maybe some Wonderful Pistachios (50 cents off coupon available on their website and inserts) and a popcorn layer to make a yummy snack mix. Target pilot program over As you were shopping for back to school snacks and lunches, did you use the Target Cartwheel? If not, you missed some savings. For example, 5 percent off their store-brand school supplies, 20 percent off Bic gel pens, and 10 percent off music CDs to rock during carpool. You can combine these offers with manufacturer coupons. They have Market Pantry popcorn discounted 5 percent along with deals for BoomChicaPop and Annies organic pre-popped corn. I saw coupons for snack crackers, fruit gems and Kind bars, too. All tasty options. You load the digital coupons to your smartphone and show them at the barcode at the register. As long as the WiFi reception is good, and your phone is charged up, you save. Can you tell what my problem usually is by the time I get done shopping? I still recommend it. The company pilot tested a Cartwheel "Perks Program" in five cities to allow shoppers to accumulate points through regular purchases that could then be used for extra loyalty rewards like clothes, food and water bottles. The company has decided to cancel it. Users need to use up points by Sept. 27. The Cartwheel coupons will continue - just the Perks part was closed. We were not fortunate to be in the pilot test area, but I was watching to see if this fledgling idea was going to make it. Target is a major driver in coupon innovation, and other chains like Walmart or Kmart would take notice and probably create similar programs if it succeeded. Now, since the experiment failed, the tide will turn in a different direction. DAWN MARRON is a lawyer and self-proclaimed crazy couponer. Reach her at CouponerDawn@gmail.com Rock and roll legend Elvis Aaron Presley died on Aug. 16, 1977 - 40 years ago. The headline in The Patriot the next day said, "'Mr. Swivel Hips,' Presley, 42, dies." Presley never performed in the Harrisburg area but was scheduled to appear Sept. 25, 1977, at Hersheypark Arena. The story from the Associated Press: "Elvis Presley, the Mississippi boy whose rock 'n' roll guitar and gyrating hips changed American music styles, died yesterday afternoon of heart failure. He was 42. Dr. Jerry Francisco, medical examiner for Shelby County, said the cause of death was cardia arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat. He said, 'that's just another name for a form of heart attack.' Presley was declared dead at 3:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. EDT) at Baptist Hospital, where he had been taken by a fire department ambulance after being found unconscious at his Graceland mansion. Dr. George Nichopolous, Presley's personal physician, said Presley was last seen alive shortly after 9 a.m. Nichopolous said Presley had been taking a number of appetite depressants, but he said they did not contribute to his death. Presley's unconscious form was discovered at his white-columned mansion by Joe Esposito, his road manger. A girl friend, Ginger Alden, 20, was at the mansion, Nichopolous said." ... Presley had been a frequent patient at the hospital over the past few years. When he was rumored to be suffering from various incurable diseases, his physicians had attributed his hospitalization to eye trouble, a twisted colon and exhaustion. Earlier this year, he canceled several performances in Louisiana and returned to Memphis, where he was hospitalized for what his physicians said was exhaustion. He had rarely been seen in public recently and his weight was said to have ballooned. Nichopoulos'' wife said Presley was due to leave last night on an 11-day tour to begin today in Portland, Maine. ... Presley's gyrating hips were only mildly suggestive compared with the antics of most of today's rock performers. But when he appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show in the 1950s, fears about his sexuality apparently were so strong that he was shown only from the waist up." His 20 greatest hits as published in the newspaper the day after his death were: There are more than 1,700 statues on public land in Philadelphia. Not one of them pays homage to an African American individual, according to a story by Philly.com. The memorials and sculptures that do, including the statues of Joe Frazier and Wilt Chamberlain, are on private land. That will continue to be the case until September, when the statue honoring Octavius Catto is unveiled. Catto was an activist and a champion for civil rights, fighting for the desegregation of Philadelphia's horse-drawn street cars in 1867 and the right to vote. He was among those who campaigned for Pennsylvania to ratify the 15th amendment, which the state did in 1869. He was murdered on Oct. 10, 1871 by Frank Kelly, who was part of a group of armed men who sought to suppress black votes. It was Election Day. He was just 32. Learn more about Catto The statue to Catto will be placed on the apron of City Hall, the first to be placed there since "John Wanamaker, Citizen" in 1923. The Catto sculpture will be unveiled at 11 a.m. on Sept. 26. Catto's statue will be going up at a time when Philadelphia is discussing what is and what should be a monument. The Mural Arts Monument Lab project has seen the installation of temporary monuments in city parks and squares, each geared towards getting people talking about monuments. They range from a giant interactive boom box to a huge mirrored surface. The statue of former mayor and police commissioner Frank Rizzo at Thomas Paine Plaza is another monument under discussion, with City Councilwoman Helen Gym advocating for its removal once Council goes into session in September. All around the country, we're fighting to remove the monuments to slavery & racism. Philly, we have work to do. Take the Rizzo statue down. Helen Gym (@HelenGymAtLarge) August 14, 2017 Mayor Jim Kenney acknowledged that now was the time to discuss the Rizzo statue's future. Rizzo was the city's first Italian American mayor and was known for using hard tactics on homosexuals and African Americans. Want more stories about Philly? Click here for all our coverage of the City of Brotherly Love. The Trans Siberian Orchestra is gearing up for another tour of Christmas music across the United States, and several Pennsylvania cities are on the list. The TSO "Ghosts of Christmas Eve" tour begins in November, and pre-sale registration for tickets is now open. Tickets for most show will go on sale starting Sept. 15 at 10 a.m. at the local venues. The show will come to the following Pennsylvania venues: Erie Insurance Arena, Erie: Nov. 16 at 4 and 8 p.m. PPL Center, Allentown: Nov. 18 at 3 and 8 p.m. Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza, Wilkes Barre: Nov. 19 at 2:30 and 7 p.m. Giant Center, Hershey: Dec. 15 at 3:30 and 8 p.m. Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia: Dec. 17 at 3 and 7:30 p.m. PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh: Dec. 22 at 3 and 8 p.m. For more details about the shows or ticket pre-sale registration, visit the TSO website. NEW YORK -- President Donald Trump returned insistently Tuesday to his assessment that "there is blame on both sides" after being roundly criticized for such comments following the deadly violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trump's remarks on his home turf at Trump Tower in New York City . Reading from prepared remarks inside the White House, he said then that "racism is evil" and branded members of the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists who take part in violence as "criminals and thugs." That statement followed sharp and unrelenting criticism, including from many top Republican lawmakers, of his more general Saturday remarks bemoaning violence on "many sides." Yet during an impromptu press conference Tuesday, Trump seemed to undo what he said a day earlier. He praised his own controversial Saturday statement, even pulling it from his suit pocket to read it again. And he followed that recitation by angrily laying blame on liberal groups in addition to white supremacists for the Charlottesville violence. Some of those protesting the rally to save a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee were "also very violent," he said. "There are two sides to a story," he said. He added that some facts about the violence in Charlottesville still aren't known. A 21-year-old Mohnton man accused of causing a crash that killed two people last year in Lancaster County remains free on $250,000 unsecured bail after his arraignment Wednesday. Jeffrey Ralph Gable was driving a Ford Trust non-emergency transport ambulance at around 10 a.m. Oct. 7, 2016, when the ambulance slammed into a car heading in the opposite direction on Route 30 near Hoffmeier Road in Salisbury Township. Gable was driving 64 mph in a 45 mph zone when he stuck a Hyundai Sonata driven by Jason Oswald, 43, according to a news release from the Lancaster County district attorney's office. Oswald was killed, as was Gable's passenger, Doris Waltz, 60. Gable was taking Waltz, who was in a wheelchair in the rear passenger area of the ambulance, to a nursing home. The initial crash caused a box truck and another Hyundai to crash, officials said. The driver of the second Hyundai involved sustained serious injuries. Witnesses told police Gable was weaving in and out of traffic in east and westbound lanes prior to the crash, causing multiple vehicles to swerve to avoid a crash. Gable is charged with two felony counts of homicide by vehicle and aggravated assault by vehicle. He also faces misdemeanor counts of recklessly endangering another person, as well as summary offenses for failure to keep right, disregarding a traffic lane, exceeding the maximum speed limit by 19 mph and reckless driving. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 25 before District Judge Raymond Sheller. Pennsylvania has hired two new drinking water inspectors since federal regulators warned that its short staffing risked serious public health implications. That warning came in December after nearly a decade of budget cuts decimated the Department of Environmental Protection, the state agency tasked with ensuring drinking water quality at 8,500 utilities that serve 10 million residents. In February, the DEP had 43 fully trained inspectors on staff and another 11 trainees attending classes and working under close supervision. The agency told the Environmental Protection Agency last month that it has hired two new trainees, who take roughly two years to prepare for the job, and pledged to bring the total number of inspectors to 62. It's not clear, however, whether the pace of hiring is enough to satisfy the EPA, which threatened a federal takeover. Furthermore, even a staff of 62 would result in each inspector being responsible for 137 water systems--more than double the national average. "You can't hoodwink the EPA," said David Masur, executive director of the advocacy group PennEnvironment. "They knew this was coming -- they could have tried to fix it." The DEP, of course, struggles with an anemic budget handed down by successive governors and Legislatures. That resulted in serious deficiencies and staffing shortages across many of its programs. In 2009, for example, the state had 84 drinking water inspectors. The DEP cut 754 positions agency-wide in the last decade. As the Flint crisis showed, a small change in the chemistry of the water could have dire--and possibly indirect--consequences. And the most recent budget passed by the Legislature and allowed to lapse into law by Gov. Tom Wolf failed to include any increase in funding that would allow the DEP to hire drinking water inspectors. Without that, the agency has been left to find the money by searching its coffers for stray cash and proposing a $7.5 million fee increase that would likely be passed on to ratepayers. "Limited funds may be available in the Safe Drinking Water Fund, a restricted account within the General Fund that includes permit fees and penalties/fines to support several new staff until the fee package is in place," the DEP's letter to the EPA reads. Masur described the use of restricted funds--a tactic commonly deployed by the Legislature to balance the state's budget--as a "shell game." "The agency can't work that way anymore," he said. "You can't rob Peter to pay Paul." But with no comprehensive fix from the Legislature in sight, Masur said, there are few other options available. David Hess, a former DEP secretary who now works as an environmental lobbyist, said the EPA made it clear that the state needed to bring on drinking water inspectors more quickly. "I don't think the EPA was looking for ones and twos," he said. In addition to the hiring--however gradual--the DEP also launched two rounds of training for its existing staff of relative newcomers, one in April and another in June. According to the DEP letter, 38 staff members have less than five years of service. Of those, 22 have been on the job for less than a year. DEP spokesman Neil Shader said additional training sessions will be scheduled when the remaining vacancies are filled. "Both DEP and EPA are concerned about staffing levels and program performance - staffing levels are down by 25 percent since 2009/10," he said, in a written statement. "Ultimately, the proposed annual fees will be needed to ensure adequate funding and staffing levels." Hess said both the training and the new hiring--however gradual--are both positive signs. "They're steps in the right direction," he said. "It'll be up to the EPA and others to judge whether it's enough, soon enough to make a difference." There is, of course, yet another wildcard looming over the process. Presidents seldom actually get what they ask for in their budget proposals. If Donald Trump proved the exception, it would mean massive cuts to the federal funding that Pennsylvania and other states rely on to protect water quality. "If you get a 40 percent cut from moneys coming to Pennsylvania, that's going to mean layoffs," Hess said. "They have no alternative." Wallace McKelvey may be reached at wmckelvey@pennlive.com. Follow him on Twitter @wjmckelvey. Find PennLive on Facebook. There are more than 700 Confederate monuments in the United States, but just two in Pennsylvania (other than those located within Gettysburg National Military Park), according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Both are located in McConnellsburg, in Fulton County, near the Pennsylvania-Maryland border. One marks the site of the first Confederate soldiers to be killed on Pennsylvania soil, and the other marks the last Confederate camp north of the Mason-Dixon Line. The oldest, erected in 1929 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, pays homage to two Confederate soldiers killed in an engagement that took place just days before the Battle of Gettysburg. An image of the monument can be seen at this website. The marker reads: "W. B. Moore of VA. F. A. Shelton of N.C. Killed near here in first battle on Penn. soil, June 30, 1863" The second monument, a short distance away, was erected a year later also by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The inscription this monument reads: "General Bradley T. Johnson of the Confederate Army encamped 20 rods west of this marker at the Patterson home July 31, 1864 after the burning of Chambersburg. "This was the last Confederate bivouac north of the Mason and Dixon line." There also are more than 1,300 monuments, markers and plaques housed at the park to memorialize the historic battle, including a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee and a Confederate flag on display in the museum. Park officials said earlier this week that they've received no complaints about the monuments. The park maintains that the memorials are important to the cultural landscape and has no plans to remove any monuments or statues. The violence that resulted from a gathering of white supremacist groups in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend, spurred by debate over whether to remove a monument of Robert E. Lee, has sparked debate across the country over such monuments. In the middle of a blinding snowstorm, state Trooper Hilary Faust was called to the scene of a blossoming tragedy. It was the evening of Feb. 9, and Winter Storm Niko was pummeling the midstate. Faust answered a call for help at a home in Middle Paxton Township where she found a 43-year-old man in the throes of a heroin overdose. What Faust did next earned her one of the highest awards bestowed by the American Red Cross. She administered Narcan, an overdose antidote, to the stricken Dauphin County man, then essentially had to act as his EMT to save the victim's life, Faust said during an awards ceremony at State Police Troop H headquarters Wednesday morning. It was during that ceremony that Faust received the Red Cross Lifesaving Award from Jeri Sims, CEO of the agency's Central Pennsylvania Region. That award is given to those who save lives by using training they receive from the Red Cross. Faust was on her own because of the storm. Usually, medical personnel arrive soon after, or even before the police in such incidents, but Niko's fury delayed the arrival of an ambulance by at least 15 minutes, fellow Trooper Christopher Blackwell said. The overdose victim was in dire straits, Faust recalled. "He had very labored breathing. He wasn't conscious. I tried to shake him, wake him up. He wouldn't respond to me," she said. So after administrating Narcan, which is just a first step to treating an overdose, Faust used the skills learned through the Red Cross' Preparedness and Health Safety Course to keep the man alive until medical professionals arrived. She kept him from choking on his own vomit, did a "finger sweep" inside his mouth to remove any possible impediment to his airway. She monitored his breathing, kept checking his pulse until EMTs arrived. The use of Narcan by police has become almost common as an opioid abuse epidemic sweeps through Pennsylvania and the nation. Red Cross spokeswoman Kim Maiolo said Faust's incident is set apart by the extra medical aid her Red Cross training enabled her to provide. Faust, a Berks County native and three-year veteran of the state police, had to take a moment to revive herself as she recounted the February incident. She was helped from the podium by fellow troopers, who guided her to a chair and gave her a bottle of water. Blackwell explained that Faust, who is cool on duty, has a deep fear of public speaking. After a few minutes, Faust recovered and, speaking to Sims, gave a detailed report on how she saved the overdose victim's life. "I was doing my job," Faust said. "This was one of the good days for us," Sims said. Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer speaks to reporters during an end of session media availability on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, June 21, 2017. A spokesman for Scheer says his promise to yank federal funding from universities that fail to uphold free speech wouldn't apply to a decision by the University of Toronto to ban a nationalist rally from campus. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, talks to reporters on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Monday July 11, 2017. The federal government says it has reached a self-governance agreement with 23 Ontario First Nations, the largest such deal of its kind in Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Fred Chartrand FILE - This is a Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015 file photo of actor Daniel Craig poses for the media as he arrives for the German premiere of the James Bond movie 'Spectre' in Berlin, Germany. British actor Daniel Craig announced he returning to cars, cocktails and camera pens to play James Bond in the franchiseAos next film, due out in 2019. The 49-year old actor told Stephen Colbert on Tuesday nightAos AuLate ShowAu that it will likely be his last time playing 007, and that he hopes to Augo out on a high note.Au (AP Photo/Michael Sohn/File) The Aam Aadmi Party has silently begun building grassroots resources and revamping its online presence with the aim of emerging as a constructive opposition party in time for the 2019 general elections. AAP leaders claim they have received encouraging response in many of the BJP strongholds in several states. By Sweta dutta: With the Congress-led Opposition crumbling, the Aam Aadmi Party's hopes soar for the 2019 parliamentary polls. However in a marked departure from party supremo Arvind Kejriwal's combative stance towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi till earlier this year, the AAP is now feverishly engaged in silent spadework across states to build a robust organisation. Despite a severe fund crunch throttling its electoral ambitions, the party is doggedly spreading out its network of volunteers down to the booth level. advertisement "Contesting elections is not the only way of a party's expansion. The organisation has to be built to the grassroots and also there has to be adequate funds. If we are not contesting Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, the reason also is paucity of funds. It has become difficult to raise funds with our donors being hounded with legal and income tax notices," Saurabh Bhardwaj, MLA and official AAP spokesperson told Mail Today. "Though our resources have been really thin, the support on the ground has been phenomenal. The ongoing Kisan Nyaya Yatra launched by the party across states has received very encouraging responses. In Guntur, we had a rally on Saturday that was attended by several former MPs and MLAs from the state," said Somnath Bharti, MLA and incharge of five southern states and two Union Territories. "In states under my charge, our organisational base has expanded from the state, panchayat and block level down to the booths." In Odisha, the party since its first big rally last year has drawn in over 10,000 active volunteers. "We have received very encouraging response in BJP strongholds like Walangir, Naxal belts like Raigarha and adivasi areas. The party is running active campaigns, protesting against violations in land and forest conservation laws, against closure of five sugar mills that has lent much traction. In December Arvind Kejriwal is set to address a massive rally following which we will draw up a plan for fund raising and future plans," explained Khemchand Jagirdar, AAP observer for Odisha. As Kejriwal's relations strained with JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar following his alliance with the BJP, the emerging axis with Nitish, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee and Tripura CM Manik Sarkar crumbles too, leaving the AAP supremo a lone wolf in the run-up to 2019. "When it comes to alternative and honest politics, AAP does emerge as the only option. The SP, BSP, JD(U), NCP they are all clubbed together by people and no longer seen as a viable Opposition. Now, our equation with JD(U) is not the same and we condemn their stand," Bharti added. advertisement "We want to emerge as a constructive Opposition and are not here to just create hindrances for the ruling party unlike the BJP. In contrast to parties like JD(U) and NCP, the AAP does not have any baggage and hence cannot be blackmailed by the BJP. There are cases filed against AAP MLAs too but they are so flimsy that they do not stand in a court of law," maintained Bhardwaj. "Political strategy of any party is a dynamic process. As of now the AAP is working on its Information Technology strategy and as part of that we have revamped our official website, are holding at least one weekly Facebook live event that is more of an academic dialogue on issues. That apart the party is reworking its fund raising model." ALSO READ | AAP gives up on Rajasthan, will now contest Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh ALSO READ | New leaders, broader ideology: Reshuffle in AAP after Kejriwal's course correction promise ALSO WATCH | MCD election 2017 results: Is AAP's defeat due to anti-Kejriwal wave rather than pro-BJP? --- ENDS --- Susan Bro, the mother of Heather Heyer, holds a photo of Bro's mother and her daughter, Monday, Aug. 14, 2017, in Charlottesville, Va. Heyer was killed Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017, when police say a man plowed his car into a group of demonstrators protesting the white nationalist rally. Bro said that she is going to bare her soul to fight for the cause that her daughter died for. (AP Photo/Joshua Replogle) By Siraj Qureshi: Days after Yogi Adityanath's BJP government controversially obliged madrasas to film Independence Day festivities, over two dozen of celebrated seven decades of freedom from British Raj with the rest of the nation. But Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay's Vande Mataram couldn't be heard in any of them. A leading Barelvi cleric had on Sunday forbidden Muslims to sing the national anthem or the national song, but said they could sing 'Saare Jahan Se Accha,' the Hindustan Times reported. advertisement But 'Jana Gana Mana' was indeed sung yesterday, as was Muhammad Iqbal's song. 'BASELESS HYPE' Kari Mudassar Ali Khan Qadri, head of the madrasa in Nagla Mevati, told India Today that the hype over Vande Mataram was baseless and only served to create a dispute between Hindus and Muslims. Independence Day is a festival that celebrates independence, but the Hindu outfits are trying to curb the religious freedom of Muslims in the name of patriotism, he said. Singing Vande Mataram isn't mandatory and whoever wants to sing it is free to do so, but no devout Muslim will - as it's against the tenets of Islam, he explained. Exerting pressure on madrasas in this way isn't good, as they have a very important role to play in the cultural and intellectual development of a large section of Indian society, he added. 'UNNECESSARY RUCKUS' Bhartiya Muslim Vikas Parishad Chairman Sami Aghai said the Modi and Adityanath governments were creating an unnecessary ruckus over Vande Mataram. Muslims love their country and hold the country's welfare as their foremost patriotic duty, but they shouldn't be forced to do something that goes against their religion in the name of showing their patriotism towards India, he said. A lot of hardline Muslim organizations opposed the government's directives (to madrasas) to organise and film Independence Day celebrations, but madrasas still celebrated with a fervor that hasn't been seen in recent years, he added. 'FRIVOLOUS ISSUES' UP Sarvdaliy Muslim Action Committee President Syed Irfan Salim said the central and state governments should think about development, instead of wasting their energy and valuable time on frivolous issues like Vande Mataram. He said India offers complete religious freedom to all communities and this freedom is ingrained in the Constitution, so the government should be focusing on development and not on trying to meddle into religious issues like the singing of Vande Mataram and triple talaq, he explained. If the law-and-order situation of any state gets affected due to these frivolities, it will break the pace of development in that particular state, he said. advertisement Salim added that the city of Agra - an international tourism hub - propounded the concept of 'Sulh-e-Kul' (Peace among all communities) and if any communal incidents take place in Agra, they affect the entire country's image on the global stage. ALSO READ We're Muslims first, Indians later, says Samajwadi Party leader Maviya Ali UP's Yogi Adityanath wants madrasas in state to record August 15 celebrations on camera ALSO WATCH Madrasas across UP celebrate Independence Day --- ENDS --- Democrats seal control of Senate after Cortez Masto defeats Laxalt in Nevada Democrats will retain control of the U.S. Senate after incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto in Nevada defeated Republican Adam Laxalt. TTV Dinakaran maintained that it was Sasikala who appointed him and others, including Chief Minister Palanisamy, to their positions. By Pramod Madhav: Controversial AIADMK deputy general secretary TTV Dinakaran slammed Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edapadi K Palanisamy for not allowing MLAs to participate in MGR centenary celebrations at Melur. "The MLAs were threatened that if they attend the meeting, they will not get any help from the government for the development of their constituency," said Dinakaran, who faces ouster from the party. advertisement He alleged that Team EPS is rattled by the number of people who attended the MGR centenary year celebrations at Melur. TTV Dinakaran maintained that it was Sasikala who appointed him and others, including Chief Minister Palanisamy, to their positions. "Do you agree or not that it was Chinnamma who made EPS a CM?" he said. TTV Dinakaran also said he did not understand how everything changed within a week. "What was the need to remove Chinnamma's banners from the AIADMK headquarters when I was in Tihar jail? During my campaign all these ministers like Jayakumar and even EPS accompanied me. They wore the hat and campaigned for me. Within a week's period, they completely changed. How did they change? he asked rhetorically as though knowing the answer. He also said OPS was pretending to run the party with ten members. He sarcastically said it was better for him to ignore him. As for Forest Minister Dindigul Srinivasan who had commented earlier that Chinnamma had become Sasikala due to the political developments in the last six months, TTV Dinakarn openly warned him to watch what he spoke. "If I release the pictures of Srinivasan falling on Chinnamma's feet, imagine what would happen to him. Considering his age I'm not doing so and I suggest that he should watch what he speaks," he said. TTV Dinakaran also gave a piece of advice to Chief Minister EPS. "Running the government is like holding a glass vessel. You should be very careful about what you say, and can't blame us later," he exclaimed. TTV sounded as though he held the cards to topple EPS government anytime. Also Read: Sasikala is a sacrifice queen, says TTV Dinakaran in show of strength at 22,000-strong rally Can TTV derail AIADMK merger? Will expose EPS, thunders Dinarakan ahead of Melur rally Exclusive: BJP-EPS pact on the cards in Tamil Nadu to end political stalemate? AIADMK merger: Now, ex-Tamil Nadu CM O Panneerselvam knocks on PM Modi's door ALSO WATCH TTV Dinakaran to play spoilsport in AIADMK-BJP merger? --- ENDS --- Though chef/creator Joey Baldino contends that Palizzi Social Club is not a restaurant, it's nonetheless made Bon Appetit's list of best new restaurants in America. It was ranked fourth, behind Turkey and the Wolf in New Orleans, Elske in Chicago, and Mister Jiu's in San Francisco. Palizzi, tucked inside a rowhouse on 12th Street near Reed in South Philadelphia, is licensed as a private club and as such is open to members and their guests. The hard part is not obtaining a membership, which can be purchased for $20 at the speakeasy-style peephole at the door. The catch is the no-reservation policy. You have to wait your turn at this 35-seater, open for dinner Thursday to Sunday. The decor is South Philly Midcentury Rec Room, down to the (nonfunctional) cigarette machine, Formica bar, throw-back soundtrack, and wood paneling that screams Hechinger's. The food quality reflects Baldino's sterling pedigree, as he is chef/owner of Collingswood's Zeppoli. Inquirer critic Craig LaBan assiduously not writing a formal review about his Palizzi experience praised the "soulful resonance" that "goes beyond the familiar cliches of South Philly's remaining red-gravy restaurants." Plus, the cocktails are outstanding. "They just don't make restaurants like this anymore," the Bon Appetit-ers noted. Res Ipsa, the chic Italian on Walnut Street near 23rd Street, made this year's list of 50 finalists, as did the Stephen Starr-owned Le Coucou in New York City. In other best-of news: Michael Schulson's Monkitail at the Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, Fla., won USA Today's 10 Best reader poll as best hotel restaurant in America. Lacroix made the list at No. 7. Also: 18 Philadelphia-area restaurants won Wine Spectator mag awards. The last solar eclipse that cast a shadow across the United States didn't spark much interest from the nation's electric utilities. That was back in 1991, before the sun became a significant contributor to the power grid. But when the sky darkens during Monday's solar eclipse, operators of the nation's electric distribution systems will be watching closely for an expected fall-off in power production from solar panels. The blip will last about two hours. COMING MONDAY: Derrick Pitts, the Franklin Institute's chief astronomer, will take your solar eclipse questions live on Philly.com's Facebook page at 3 p.m., just after the eclipse's peak in Philadelphia. A total eclipse will be experienced only in a 70-mile-wide ribbon stretching from Oregon to South Carolina. Still, the sky will darken significantly in a broad band north and south of the eclipse path, blocking much of the sun's energy from reaching the earth. In the Philadelphia area, about 75 percent of the sunlight will be obscured. The North American Electric Reliability Corp., the regulatory agency that ensures the security of the nation's wholesale power supply, has been planning for this event for more than a year. So has PJM Interconnection Inc., the Valley Forge agency that manages the power grid in 13 states and the District of Columbia. "We do not expect a major impact, but we're really curious to see what does occur," said Ken Seiler, PJM's executive director of system operations. PJM is eager to see how the actual event measures up to its forecasts, he noted. Across the country, solar generators now account for more than 42,000 megawatts of power, up from 5 MW in 2000. Solar power still accounts for just a small percentage of total electric generation, but Monday's eclipse will serve as a reminder of the need for a diversity of energy sources, to fill in when intermittent power producers take a holiday. Unlike a storm or an unplanned power-plant outage, the arrival time of an eclipse is well-known one occurs when the moon is perfectly aligned to block out the sun and the effect can be reasonably forecast, depending on cloud conditions. So grid operators are confident they can manage the window when the sun will go into hiding and then reemerge. But they hope to glean other insights during the episode. Monday's event will be a dress rehearsal for April 8, 2024, when another eclipse will occur in a northeasterly band stretching from Texas to Maine, directly affecting PJM's territory, including northwestern Pennsylvania. "We would anticipate to have a lot more solar generation at that time, so our hope is to use this as a pilot for the 2024 event, which is only seven years off," said Seiler. PJM does not have a heavy concentration of solar generation outside of New Jersey and North Carolina, where the states have promoted solar with financial incentives. Duke Energy, which operates more than 30 solar farms in North Carolina, expects solar generation to drop from 2,500 MW to 200 in less than two hours. Officials at Atlantic City Electric, which serves about 550,000 customers in the southern end of New Jersey and will experience a greater loss of sunlight than points north, are shrugging off the eclipse as inconsequential. "We don't have any operational concerns," said Frank Tedesco, an Atlantic City Electric spokesman. "Our people equate it to a very cloudy day the eclipse will have about the same impact as a large storm moving through." If Monday is a sunny day, the regional grid will experience a decline of as much as 2,500 MW of power generation at the eclipse's midafternoon peak, PJM's planners say. At 3 p.m. on a typical August afternoon, PJM's load is about 130,000 MW, so the loss of 2,500 MW is less than 2 percent. Because PJM has more generation capacity available than it needs on a peak day, even if Aug. 21 is sweltering and air-conditioning systems are straining under the load, the system can manage the loss of the solar power, Seiler said. "We're capacity-rich in the amount of generation we have available to us, so we have plenty of reserves," he said. "If we ran into a situation, we could always lean on our neighbors and secure some help from them." Transmission-system operators say they have modeled their plans on an eclipse that occurred in 2015 in Europe, where there is a greater penetration of solar power than in the United States. Electricity demand for lighting increased during that eclipse not surprising, since there was less sunlight. But the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity also measured some suppression of demand because so many people went outdoors to watch the eclipse. The European grid operator said wind generation, too, dropped during the eclipse, by about 10 percent in Britain, demonstrating the sun's effect on winds. In advance of the 2015 eclipse, European grid operators disconnected some large solar farms to reduce the need to match up other power sources during the rapid fall-off in solar output. During this eclipse, however, not all U.S. grid solar operators plan to disconnect: Public Service Electric & Gas Co., which operates nine solar farms in New Jersey, says its facilities will chug away as if it's a cloudy day. "The August 21st eclipse could result in lower PSE&G solar generation that is similar to what we would experience during overcast weather conditions," said Todd Hranicka, the company's director of solar energy. "There will be no impact on grid reliability since any reduction in solar generation will be easily offset with traditional base generation." A big wild card in the projections is what happens to customers who have individual rooftop solar installations that are "behind the meter," which means the utility can't turn them on and off. But in PJM's territory, about 2,000 MW of the expected 2,500-MW impact will come from individual customers who are expected to demand more power from the grid when their rooftop systems take a nap. The eclipse's impact will be measured in the fairly rapid increase in demand for power from solar customers, followed by a comparable increase in power production as customers' solar panels reawaken. If Monday is overcast, the impact on the grid will be less dramatic because solar generation's contribution will already be substantially reduced. "Our hope frankly is that we have a sunny day and we can really see the obscurity level and how that correlates to what our studies have been, just to kind of marry that up," said Seiler. On any given day, PJM copes with the normal fluctuations in demand by dispatching power plants to ramp output up or down. It typically keeps as much reserve power ready to match the output of its largest power plant, should it shut down in an emergency. On Monday, PJM will keep a little more power on standby it's called "spinning reserve," which are power plants that are operating at less than maximum capacity. The reserve units include natural gas plants and run-of-river hydroelectric plants or pumped-storage hydroelectric facilities that can be ramped up or down in seconds. The Goldenberg Group and E-Z Park Inc. have teamed up in hopes of purchasing the city-run health-center building at Broad and Lombard Streets, an acquisition that would give them near-complete control of a full city block in one of Philadelphia's most active areas of real estate development. The Blue Bell-based developer and Philadelphia parking-lot operator plan to bid on the District Health Center No. 1 at 500 S. Broad St., an aged but some say historically significant building that the city is seeking to sell in a move to consolidate its medical-service functions. Goldenberg and E-Z Park are the first development team to confirm interest in the mid-20th-century glazed-brick building in a section of southern Center City that's seen a recent spate of hotel, residential and retail activity. Combining the medical center site with properties that they already own would give E-Z Park and Goldenberg a 2.5-acre development site comprising most of the block bounded by Broad and 15th Streets, between Lombard and South Streets. Goldenberg acquired the now-closed World Communications Charter School, just south of the health center building, last year. It also has under agreement the two-parcel property west of the charter building that recently housed the Loft Bar and Coco's Chicken and Waffles, according to current owner Frank Funaro. The bar and restaurant were destroyed in a fire in March, NBC10 reported at the time. E-Z Park and its affiliates, meanwhile, own the parking lot that occupies most of the rest of the block, along with three rowhouse properties between the lot and 15th Street. The block's only properties that would be missing from the companies' assemblage if it purchases the medical building are the strip of rowhouses facing Lombard Street along the block's northwest. "We are very excited about the things we'd be able to do with the combined parcel," Goldenberg chief operating officer Seth Shapiro said in an interview this week. He and E-Z Park co-owner Harvey Spear declined to share further details about plans for the site. The Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp., which is handling the sale of the health center on the city's behalf, said last month in a solicitation seeking developer interest that it would like to see "active uses at the ground-floor level, such as retail and restaurants. Upper stories of the building may include residential, hotel, or commercial space." Development at the site would build on projects recently completed and underway along a strip of Broad Street centered on the blocks south of City Hall known as Avenue of the Arts for its concentration of performing-arts venues, such as the Kimmel Center and the Academy of Music. At Broad and Chestnut Streets, Washington-based MRP Realty finished converting a dormitory building at Chestnut Street last year into the high-end Griffin apartments. A few blocks south, at Locust Street, Choice Hotels International Inc. is finishing work on a 14-story Cambria Hotels & Suites property that the Rockville, Md.-based company has characterized as a flagship for the brand. Plans are also being mulled to redevelop the Merriam Theater property, between Spruce and Locust Streets, to accommodate a tower of as many as 32 stories, most likely of apartments or condos. "The availability of this key site provides a rare opportunity to create a unique, new destination along one of Philadelphia's most prominent commercial cultural corridors," the PIDC said in its solicitation, which sets a Sept. 22 deadline for developers to apply for placement on a short list of potential purchasers. Current uses of the 500 S. Broad St. building include a medical lab and a clinic for sexually transmitted diseases. James Garrow, a spokesman for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, said in an email that those functions are being moved by the end of 2018 to place them in locations where the agency's units can "work more closely together." The department is seeking nearby new locations for the building's clinics to preserve neighborhood access, Garrow said. Whether the building itself is preserved, however, is another matter. Days after the PIDC posted solicitation seeking developers for the site, the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia nominated the building for protection as a historic asset, describing the 57-year-old structure as a "distinctive and intact example of Mid-Century Modern architectural design." Shapiro said that Goldenberg would be willing to consider designs that incorporate the building's facade or other elements if it is the winning bidder for the property. "If we are successful, we look forward to having a dialogue with the preservation community about the best way to handle the building," he said. On the left is a historical photo of KKK members. On the right is a photo of 20-year-old Peter Cvjetanovic shouting during the deadly rally in Charlottesville. Read more There's a lot to digest in the disturbing images of racist protesters who gathered in Charlottesville with tiki torches chanting phrases like "Jews will not replace us" and "White lives matter." But it was their faces that I just couldn't stop staring at: out and proud. These weren't a bunch of cowardly boobs hiding behind hoods. They weren't crusty old bigots with one foot in the grave. These were young men. Young white men. If it wasn't obvious before, it should be crystal clear now: We are not going to age out of racism. Of course, we should have always known that, but we were too busy deluding ourselves with talk of a post-racial America, of color-blind millennials who were more open-minded than their elders despite growing evidence otherwise: Dylann Roof, the then-21-year-old unrepentant white supremacist who in 2015 executed nine black parishioners who'd welcomed him into their Charleston, S.C., Bible study class. An increase in reports of racist and violent incidents after Trump's election, many of them on college campuses. And nope, I don't want to hear boo about there not being a connection between the White House and what's playing out on our streets when the president's "make America great again" hats topped the heads of these hipsters marching for white supremacy, when former Klan leader David Duke said the rally was about "fulfilling promises of President Trump," when even after Trump's embarrassingly belated condemnation of the violence, he doubled down in an epic tantrum, blaming both protesters and counterprotesters for the violence, adding that there were "some very fine people on both sides" of the issue. I got my first up-close-and-personal glimpse of some of these fine people at a Trump rally in Harrisburg last December when I found myself surrounded by young people chanting, "Build the wall!" How they laughed. One guy, in his 20s, said Trump was "hilarious." There was nothing to laugh at last week at the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville that ended with the death of Heather Heyer, who was killed after a car plowed into demonstrators protesting hate. Arrested was known white nationalist James Alex Fields Jr., a 20-year-old from Ohio. Also 20 years old was Peter Cvjetanovic, a University of Nevada student whose photo went viral in full-throated howl, torch in hand. Later, he claimed he was not the angry racist that people saw in the photo. "White nationalists aren't all hateful," he explained. "We just want to preserve what we have." Exactly. Nathan Damigo, founder of white nationalist group Identity Evropa, helped organize the white supremacist rally and claims he's recruited more than 500 members at colleges across the country. And while many question his numbers, one thing hate-group researchers increasingly agree upon is that white nationalism is taking root among young men. Jennifer Richeson, a Yale University social psychologist, predicted this in 2011. Along with colleague Maureen Craig, she worried in the journal Daedalus that as the county became minority-majority, white people would feel threatened and a swell of resistance would rise. And rise it has, in a generation sporting hate as openly as it rocks trendy haircuts. In 2016, Richeson broke it down in a tweet: "The myth that the 'children' or 'next generation' will solve this must end. There is no natural course that will eliminate racism." After Charlottesville, many responded by saying that the hate and bigotry did not reflect American values. That's denial. It not only reflects the American values of the past, but it reflects the values of the present and the future. White supremacists planned nine rallies nationwide for this weekend alone. What happened in Charlottesville only empowered them. After the deadly rally, Pearce Tefft, a Fargo, N.D., man, wrote an emotional letter to his son, Peter, a white nationalist who participated in the Virginia march: "We have been silent up until now, but now we see that this was a mistake. It was the silence of good people that allowed the Nazis to flourish the first time around, and it is the silence of good people that is allowing them to flourish now. "I pray my prodigal son will renounce his hateful beliefs and return home." By the looks of the faces in these pictures, he's not the only prodigal son who needs to be called back home. By India Today Web Desk: Gauahar Khan and Bani Judge have been friends for long and stood with each other through thick and thin. Gauahar was the reason Bani entered Bigg Boss 10, and the former supported her wholeheartedly while she was inside the house. Their bonding in BB 10 house was the proof that the two are not just friends, but are family. After coming out of the house, the two even headed to London for a vacation. advertisement So, recently when the two unfollowed each other on social media, it came as a surprise. Yes, you read that right, Bani and Gauahar are not following each on Twitter and Instagram any more. HOW IT STARTED Their rift started becoming visible when Bani did not root for Gauahar Khan during Begum Jaan promotions. Post that Bani took a break from social media and had deactivated her account for some time. After her comeback though, most of her posts are about beau Yuvraj Thakur. All this has made us wonder if everything is fine between Gauahar and Bani. We hope the two friends patch up soon. Also read: Bani Judge and Sapna Bhavnani's 'liplock' goes viral; see pic Also read: Bani Judge vacations with bestie Gauahar Khan in London; meets Rannvijay's newborn Also read: Has Bani Judge broken up with boyfriend Yuvraj Thakur? Also read: Bigg Boss 10: Bani Judge is a winner for bestie Gauahar Khan --- ENDS --- Campbell Soup CEO Denise Morrison at a meeting at the White House in February. Read more I applaud Campbell Soup Co. president and CEO Denise Morrison's better-late-than-never resignation Wednesday from a presidential advisory council. Morrison's departure, along with those of other titans of American industry, hastened the utter disintegration of the manufacturing-jobs panel they served on prior to President Trump's repellent reactions/retractions following Saturday's deadly events in Charlottesville, Va. "Racism and murder are unequivocally reprehensible and are not morally equivalent to anything else that happened in Charlottesville," Morrison said in a statement. "I believe the president should have been and still needs to be unambiguous on that point," she added. "Following [Tuesday's] remarks from the president, I cannot remain on the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative." By midafternoon Wednesday, Trump had abolished the initiative; members of a companion group focused on strategic policy voted to disband. Trump proceeded to abolish that group, too, perhaps because its members also publicly criticized his appalling assessment of a national tragedy; the president tried to assign blame equally to armored Nazi wannabes and generally peaceful counterdemonstrators, one of whom died after an allegedly Hitler-obsessed Ohio man drove into a crowd. On social media and elsewhere, some suggest Morrison bowed to pressure from the media, citing among other stories a column I wrote early Wednesday that called on her to resign from the council. "She [Morrison] listened!" one reader said. Others said Morrison acted only because a mass exodus from the council was imminent, and because she was concerned about public calls for a boycott of Campbell products. I would suggest that Morrison did not become the CEO of a global food company because of her eagerness to take advice from newspaper columnists, or because she follows the herd, or least of all because she ignores the desires of consumers. Alas, my requests for an interview with her have been to no avail; I would love to know what finally changed her mind. Late Tuesday afternoon, after the president's explosive news conference, the Campbell website continued to display her declaration that she would remain on the council because it was important to have "a voice at the table." On Wednesday, shortly after noon, she announced her decision to leave the table altogether. I believe Morrison chose to resign in part due to the jubilation among professional racists such as David Duke over Trump's prevarication about Charlottesville. Morrison, a Boston College graduate, may live in Princeton and inhabit what I imagine is the rather rarefied realm enjoyed by CEOs of vast enterprises. But she works in Camden, the city where her storied company was born in 1869, now a mostly black and Latino city whose struggles are hardly unknown to her, or to her company. For all its travails, Camden has been and continues to be good to Campbell, as the lush public subsidies and "incentives" the company secured (before Morrison's arrival in 2011) attest. And through its foundation, childhood nutrition programs, and other initiatives, Campbell has worked to make Camden a better place. Whatever the timing and whatever the final consideration of her resignation from Trump's manufacturing initiative, Denise Morrison did the right thing Wednesday. For that, she deserves respect. President Donald Trump points to members of the media as he answers questions in the lobby of Trump Tower, Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais) Read more I think Donald Trump is lying. When he says, "Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs, including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists and other hate groups that are repugnant to everything we hold dear as Americans," the words stand in stark contrast to the president's actions. Donald Trump's campaign, his presidency, and his business career have been marked by stark examples of racism. From a Justice Department lawsuit that accused Trump and his father of housing discrimination, to a years-long smear campaign to try to delegitimize the nation's first black president, to bringing the so-called alt-right into the White House in the person of Steve Bannon, Trump has repeatedly shown that he is comfortable with racism as long as it meets his ends. That's why Trump's repudiation of racism rang false, even in the wake of the horrific violence that left three dead in Charlottesville, Va., this weekend. Like all of us, the president saw hundreds of torch-bearing white supremacists descend on a tiny college town to protest the removal of Confederate symbols from a college campus. He saw anti-racism protester Heather Heyer lose her life. He saw the tepid response of police. But unlike the rest of us, Trump saw one thing more. He saw his supporters. And when he was forced to confront that awful truth, I believe he lied. Trump's decision to denounce racism is not the first untruth he's told during his unlikely rise to the presidency. But it has the potential to be the most damaging, because those who voted for him on the basis of racism are among his most ardent supporters. They heard exactly what I did when Trump spoke of Making America Great Again, and based on that message, they acted. But don't take my word for it. Take David Duke's. The infamous ex-Klansman spoke from the sight of the protests by white supremacists in Charlottesville. "We are determined to take our country back," Duke said in a video posted to social media by Mykal McEldowney of the Indianapolis Star. "We are going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That's what we believed in, that's why we voted for Donald Trump. Because he said he's going to take our country back. That's what we gotta do." Duke uttered those words because he believed, as I do, that Trump represents white supremacy. And why wouldn't he believe that? Trump's policies have aggressively attacked communities of color. Not only did Trump fight to ban people from majority Muslim countries in Africa and the Middle East from coming to America. Not only did he target Latinos through increased immigration enforcement. He has also attacked black and brown people who are citizens. Under Trump, the Justice Department has rapidly devolved into the Injustice Department. It has been especially hurtful to people of color. On police brutality, the Justice Department has put a hold on consent decrees that would have forced 14 police departments to change abusive policies and practices that the Obama administration found to be discriminatory. On education, a Trump executive order seemingly threatened to remove $20 million in funding from Historically Black Colleges and Universities. After an outcry from the black community, he said the whole thing was a misunderstanding. But black college education is still under attack under Trump. The administration is preparing to use the Justice Department's civil rights division to examine the possibility of suing universities over affirmative action admissions policies deemed to discriminate against white applicants, according to The New York Times. We'll see if that happens, especially since Trump's proposed budget cuts funding from the Justice Department's Civil Rights division, which typically fights discrimination against minorities. That's not all, though. Trump also is looking to attack black and brown businesses by cutting funding from the Minority Business Development Agency, which assists minority-owned businesses "with the capital, contracts, and markets they need to grow," according to its website. These proposals, along with the Justice Department's attacks on voting rights through its support of a Texas Voter ID law that was previously found to be discriminatory, are certainly troubling. But Trump's decision to bring the so-called alt right into the White House is even more disturbing. So long as White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon remains a part of the Trump administration, Trump's claims against racism will ring untrue. It was Bannon who told the world he provided a platform for the so-called alt right when Bannon chaired the right wing media organization Breitbart. It is Bannon who is viewed by white nationalists as one of their own. And since coming to the White House, Bannon provides racists a platform and a presence at the right hand of our president. If that doesn't change, I will never believe that Trump's repudiation of racism is genuine. Frankly, neither should you. Some people want to remove this statue of the late Philadelphia Mayor Frank Rizzo, who also served as the citys police commissioner, from outside the Municipal Services Building in Philadelphia. Read more Dispassionate conversation about Frank Rizzo is impossible. Anything positive said about him is denounced as "racist" by those who either weren't alive when he was in power (black activist Asa Khalif) or didn't live here when he was alive (City Council crank Helen Gym). Their knowledge of Rizzo is secondhand, coming mostly from liberal talking drums and those who despised him. Like the writer who described the Rizzo statue outside the Municipal Services Building as giving a fascist salute, as if that were remotely possible. Rizzo is actually waving. The same writer connected the famous Rizzo-in-tuxedo-with-nightstick photo with the infamous stripping of Black Panthers on a North Philly sidewalk. The tuxedo photo was shot by the late Daily News photographer Elwood P. Smith. The Black Panthers photo was shot by the late Daily News photographer Sam Psoras, who told me Rizzo was not present at the stripping and was disturbed that so many people thought he was. It hardly matters. The people who knew Rizzo are dying off, replaced by know-it-all progressives who find offense and racism in almost everything. Unlike most of his detractors, I knew Rizzo. I liked his bigger-than-life persona, even while being uncomfortable with some of what he said and did. He was a quote machine and hardly ever used the phrase "off the record." Let's say Rizzo was a racist because he used the N-word and because of some scattered actions. With racism, the accusation is enough, no proof required. Many hated Rizzo because he was law and order in a city that wanted law and order. Rizzo joked that his policing philosophy was spacco il capo, Italian for "break their heads." That was then. Now, we are about to elect a criminal defense lawyer as D.A. Yes, the city has changed. What his detractors don't say about horrible, racist Rizzo is that as mayor he entrusted his life to his two African American security men, Tony Fulwood and Jimmy Turner. He had black supporters, especially among antidrug and antigang activists, such as Novella Williams. These things get overlooked because of his actual problems with segments of the black community, often because of members of his police force. As a cop, Rizzo raided gay clubs because he and most Philadelphians then didn't understand gays. In 1975, Mayor Frank Rizzo pushed for legislation to protect gays, Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal reminds me. Today, we rightfully celebrate diversity and firsts for minorities. Rizzo was the first Italian American mayor of a city brimming with Italians, and he did it on the strength of his personality. He was elected mayor twice, and was in public service almost 40 years. When the critics say his legacy is only brutality and racism, they ignore projects he pushed: the Center City commuter tunnel, the Gallery, the Mummers Museum, and the African American Museum in Philadelphia. If the forces of nouveau reality are so determined to sweep our civic house clean of anyone with a bad reputation, let's start with the statue on top of City Hall, the well-known royal appendage and patriarch William Penn. I mean, who elected him? That statue has got to come down. The Ben Franklin Bridge and Parkway? The man who narcissistically named a stove after himself was a slaveholder. The final nail in his coffin? He was a toxic male womanizer. Outta here. While we're at it, let's rename Washington Avenue and tear down that statue in front of the Art Museum. George Washington was a slaveholder. Bye-bye, George. Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Station need new names. Tom was not only a slaveholder but carried on a sexual relationship with one of his slaves. That's worse than pay inequity. FDR Park, named for a president who jailed Japanese Americans? That cannot stand. Speaking of parks, the statue of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Kelly Drive and Fountain Green Drive in Fairmount Park honors an anti-Semite who later became president. During the Civil War, his infamous General Order No. 11 ordered the expulsion of all Jews from his military district, portions of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky. Tear that sucker down. See, everything in American history is ugly and shameful when you make the mistake of judging historical characters by today's morals rather than by their own. So, Social Justice Warriors, go ahead and tear down the Rizzo statue. Just understand, it won't stop there. Christopher Cantwell, one of the subjects of HBO's "Vice News Tonight" report, "Charlottesville: Race and Terror," in a scene from the vdeo, which went viral after its Monday debut Read more Maybe you saw it on your Twitter feed. Maybe friends shared it on Facebook. And maybe you'd never even heard of Vice News Tonight (7:30 p.m. weekdays, HBO) before this week, when its 22-minute segment, "Charlottesville: Race and Terror," went viral. A report by Vice correspondent Elle Reeve, who spent considerable time with leaders of the white supremacist movement, including a particularly glib one named Christopher Cantwell, it's riveting, and sometimes, repulsive. And that's even before we get to the video of the car that killed 32-year-old Heather Heyer on Saturday as an Ohio man drove it into a crowd of counterprotesters. Or to Cantwell's complaint that because the victims, whom he described as "stupid animals," "couldn't just get out of the way of the car some people got hurt." HBO's decision to put the entire report online immediately after Monday's show, outside the usual paywall, helped drive 27 million viewers to "Charlottesville: Race and Terror" by 3:30 p.m.Wednesday, according to an HBO spokesman, who said the number was still climbing. More than 24 million of those views had come through Facebook and more than 2.4 million through YouTube. Monday's was also the second-most-watched episode for Vice News Tonight in that 7:30 p.m. time slot, with 488,000 viewers, a number pushed higher that same night to a total of 540,000 by those watching on mobile platforms HBO Go and HBO Now, the spokesman said. In addition, Vice News' website has recorded 170,000 video views and 1.2 million page views for the story. About now, NBC News' Megyn Kelly may be wondering why she took such heat for giving Sandy Hook denier Alex Jones a platform on her Sunday night magazine show, especially as she'd pushed back harder against Jones than Vice's Reeve may appear at first to be doing against Cantwell. We see Reeve listen impassively to people like neo-Nazi Robert "Azzmador" Ray, a writer for the Daily Stormer website, as he talks about taking the movement from internet memes to the streets. She maintains a tone more conversational than confrontational as Cantwell explains that he's waiting for a leader, "someone like Donald Trump [but] who does not give his daughter to a Jew." "So Donald Trump, but, like, more racist," Reeve replies, just a tad sardonically. Vice News' style is very much at work here it targets millennials and aims to reach them where they are, which often isn't in front of a TV set. "Anchor-free, the show will abandon a set formula," read the statement when the HBO nightly show was announced last fall. Context is everything in a piece like this, and so is length. If you were to break the report into easily digestible soundbites assuming any of this can be digested, easily or otherwise Vice News Tonight might look as though it's handing a megaphone to people so they can spread their messages of hate further. Watch it all, though, and you will, I hope, stop laughing at, or discounting, the young men with their absurd tiki torches and start recognizing them for the hateful menace they represent. In a Facebook post on Saturday that has since been deleted, Chester County Sheriff Carolyn Bunny Welsh, a vocal supporter of President Trump, showed off her new purchase: a recently released book by right-wing provocateur and filmmaker Dinesh D'Souza called The Big Lie: Exposing the Nazi Roots of the American Left. The post came on the same day that white supremacists bearing tiki torches wended through Charlottesville, Va., chanting "blood and soil" and waving Nazi and Confederate flags. Skirmishes broke out in the streets as the marchers clashed with counterprotesters. One participant, James Alex Fields Jr., allegedly plowed his car into a gathering of the counterprotesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring 19 people. Fields' mother said later that she believed he was attending a Trump event, not a white supremacist march. In an interview at her West Chester office Tuesday, Welsh said that her post was not intended to deflect criticism of the white supremacists onto those who arrived to counter them. "It was poor timing," Welsh said. At the time of the post, she said, she had not yet read the book. "My intention was just to say that I had purchased the book," Welsh said. "It was not an endorsement of the book; it was not a recommendation of the book." As the day's events unfolded and steadily became more violent, however, Welsh said she decided to take down her post to avoid the appearance of insensitivity. "Later in the day, of course, was when the poor woman was killed in the riots," Welsh said. "In retrospect now, because people seemed to feel they were offended by the timing and I don't disagree I took the post down. Because I was getting a lot of negative comments; I won't even repeat what some of them were. And I felt, rather than seem insensitive, because I had purchased the book, I took the post down." On Monday, President Trump called the hate groups out by name, after a less-pointed statement he issued on Saturday that cast blame "on many sides" was met with criticism claiming his response was too broad. "Racism is evil and those who cause violence in its name are criminals and thugs," Trump said Monday, "including the KKK, neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and other hate groups that are repugnant to all that we hold dear as Americans." At a news conference Tuesday in the lobby of Trump Tower, however, Trump doubled back to his original comments, asking why the "alt-left" doesn't share some of the blame. "You had some very bad people in that group," Trump said. "You also had some very fine people on both sides," he said. Welsh, who was first elected to her post in 1999, traveled to Ohio last summer to fulfill her role as a delegate at the Republican National Convention, where she cast her vote in favor of the New York real estate magnate. As an executive committee member of the National Sheriffs' Association, Welsh paid a visit to the White House in early February with nine other sheriffs from across the country. "They seated me right next to the president," Welsh said. "It was wonderful." Just Monday, Welsh "liked" a Facebook post by Kevin Martin, an online political personality whom far-right radio talker Alex Jones has referred to as a "black conservative politician," that claimed the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis and white supremacists are not dangerous. "The reason why the KKK, Neo-Nazis, and white supremacists are so freely called out and condemned by politicians, while Black Lives Matter, and Antifa aren't, is because the KKK, Neo-Nazis and white supremacist pose no real imminent threat to property, and human life," Martin wrote. "Antifa (antifascists), and BLM, Do." Mayor Kenney announces a pilot program to put full-time social workers in 22 city schools. He was joined by David T. Jones (left), commissioner of Philadelphia's Department of Behavioral Health, and Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. of the School District. Read more At Southwark Elementary, there is one counselor for 800 students, many of whom have behavioral and emotional challenges. When principal Andrew Lukov got news that the school was getting a full-time social worker and eventually other professionals to address students' emotional needs he cheered. In 19 years as a Philadelphia School District employee, he's found that students' biggest obstacle to academic progress is often not about curriculum or supplies, but about things happening to them outside the classroom. "To have another team member to help triage, to support kids emotionally, to be proactive, that's huge," said Lukov. "We all know the correlation between students' feeling comfortable and supported, and academic success." The city will spend $1.2 million to put full-time social workers in Southwark and 21 other schools beginning this fall, Mayor Kenney announced Wednesday. The pilot program, which officials hope eventually will roll out to schools districtwide, will introduce behavioral consultants, case managers, and family peer specialists in later years. If the School Reform Commission signs off on the program at its Thursday meeting, as expected, the district will begin hiring the social workers, who would be district employees. The city said it hopes to receive some Medicaid reimbursement to pay the workers, but is committed to funding the program regardless. The 22 schools elementary, middle and high schools, 21 district schools and one charter were chosen based on student need. Eight of the city's community schools made the list, and seven schools in the West Philadelphia Promise Neighborhood zone also chosen. Drexel University will provide funds to support those schools. Kenney began monthly meetings with city principals soon after he was sworn in as mayor, and it became clear immediately what educators needed most in their buildings. "I heard over and over again that many of our children are struggling," Kenney said. Spending money to put social workers in schools now should lead to benefits down the road, the mayor said. "If we don't pay attention to this now, we'll deal with this in the end on State Road, in a drug treatment facility, or on Gurney Street," said Kenney, referring to the city's prisons and the Kensington street that had until recently been a notorious center of drug use. Superintendent William R. Hite Jr. said that keeping city children out of crisis "is the most important thing we can do." "You cannot educate a child who is in crisis or experiencing trauma," said Hite. School Reform Commission member Estelle Richman, a longtime public servant who spent much of her work life providing and overseeing behavioral services, began her career as a school psychologist in Cleveland. She joined Kenney and Hite to underscore the need for such services. "Too long, these were the forgotten children," said Richman. "Too long, these were the children who created chaos, and no one took the time to understand why." For years, educators inside city schools have coped with a needy student population and too few resources to help them. The district, which only restored full-time counselors inside every school last year, has one crisis response team responsible for each of its 220 schools. And, Tangela McClam, principal of Cassidy Elementary in West Philadelphia, noted, that's just to handle the most serious crises. "You can have a lot of children in crisis at once," said McClam. There's often a lag in response when the crisis team is called, principals said, and in the meantime, they sometimes have to call 911. "If you have a master's degree social worker on site, the outcome's going to be better," said Kenney. "We want to find the root of the trauma, and fix it." Kimlime Chek-Taylor, the principal of South Philadelphia High School, another school in line to receive a social worker in September, said she was hopeful the new resource would help her keep more students in class and on track to graduation. Southern, one of the city's large comprehensive high schools, often loses pupils with unmet behavioral and mental health needs. "There's a sense of relief that our students will have someone to help them immediately," said Chek-Taylor. "This will have an impact right away." The schools to receive full-time, city-paid social workers in the fall are: Cassidy Elementary Cramp Elementary* F.S. Edmonds Elementary* Elkin Elementary Frankford High School Gideon Elementary School* Locke Elementary* Logan Elementary* McMichael Elementary Meade Elementary Penrose Elementary Powel Elementary Science Leadership Academy Middle School Sheridan Elementary South Philadelphia High School* Southwark Elementary* Stearne Elementary Steel Elementary Tilden Middle School* Martha Washington Elementary West Philadelphia High Belmont Charter School Starred schools denote existing Community Schools as designated by the Mayor's Office of Education. Philadelphia Police stand watch around the Frank Rizzo statue outside of the Municipal Service Building on JFK Blvd in center city Philadelphia on Thursday, August 17, 2017. This statue was egged by vandals. Read more Philadelphia police arrested a 25-year-old Maplewood, N.J., man Wednesday after he was spotted throwing eggs at the Center City statue of former Mayor Frank L. Rizzo. The man, whose name was not immediately released, fled from the scene after egging the statue outside the Municipal Services Building. He was caught and charged with disorderly conduct and criminal mischief, police said. The vandalism was captured by 6abc cameras on the scene. Authorities did not cite a motive. In the wake of the deadly Charlottesville, Va., confrontation, the statue has drawn new scrutiny of the former mayor and defenses of his record. Egg was still on the statue at 11 a.m. as a few officers on bicycles milled about near it. A woman who would not give her name but said she worked in the Municipal Services Building said she was not there when the statue was egged, but addedm "I was around when [Rizzo] was mayor and I was protesting at City Hall for him to be impeached." Acting on a resource request from Philadelphia police, the Office of Emergency Management deployed security cameras around the statue on Wednesday afternoon, said Nicole Foizen, deputy director of public affairs for the office. On Wednesday evening, a "Philly is Charlottesville" march and rally was expected to conclude at a church across from the statue. The boy, identified as Chandrasekhar, was playing near a cattle shed at Ummadivaram village when he accidentally fell into borewell, police said. By India Today Web Desk: The 2-year-old boy, who fell into an open borewell near Vinukonda in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, was rescued by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) after a rigorous rescue operation. The boy, identified as Chandrasekhar, was playing near a cattle shed at Ummadivaram village when he accidentally fell into borewell, police said. His mother, who was tending cattle nearby, did not notice that the boy was playing precariously close to the defunct borewell which had been left uncovered. advertisement The boy was found trapped over 15 feet down in the borewell shaft, a police official said. A crater is being dug parallel to the borewell to rescue the boy, while oxygen tubes have been lowered inside. District Collector Kona Sasidhar had rushed to the village to oversee the rescue operation. Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister N China Rajappa spoke to the district authorities and asked them to spare no effort to rescue the trapped child, officials said. Health minister Kamineni Srinivas also spoke to the district medical and health officer, following which a medical team was rushed to the spot. #UPDATE Guntur (Andhra Pradesh): 2-year-old Chandrashekhar rescued after 12 hours; shifted to hospital. He fell into a borewell yesterday. pic.twitter.com/x9VIOMomb8 ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2017 ALSO READ| 2-year-old girl rescued from borewell, declared brought dead at hospital Karnataka: 6-year-old girl falls into 400-feet borewell, rescue operation underway With PTI inputs --- ENDS --- Weeks before violent protests in Charlottesville turned to tragedy, Brendan Novak wrote a column in the University of Virginia student newspaper arguing that the city "should let the alt-right rally occur." In the column, Novak, an opinion editor at the Cavalier Daily, defended the constitutional rights of the white supremacist groups to assemble and express their views. He wrote that the city and Black Lives Matter should allow the "alt-right" to protest openly, and "watch as the rotting ideological foundation collapses under its own weight." After all, he thought, how could a "universally loathed" group with "downright repulsive views" thrive in the face of an inclusive and tolerant society? But then, on Friday night, Novak, an incoming sophomore at U-Va., watched from his family's home in Arlington, Va., videos of white nationalists marching through his campus with flaming torches, shouting racist taunts. He realized in that moment that Saturday morning's rally was "a disaster waiting to happen." He stayed up late into the night, coming to terms with the scale and severity of the event, which would conclude with three people dead by the end of the weekend, a woman struck by a car that plowed through a crowd and two state police officers who died in a helicopter crash. "It was naive of me to not take their threats seriously," Novak told the Post. "You could see it coming . . . it wasn't hard to predict." On Monday, Novak decided to write a second column reversing his opinion. "I was wrong about the 'alt-right,'" the headline read. "It's safe to say that the words and actions of the agitators in town over the weekend have proven how foolish I was," Novak wrote. Novak wrote that the violence displayed by the white nationalist groups "no longer, and perhaps never did, qualify as protected speech." "The alt-right is a domestic terrorist organization," Novak wrote. "They have no interest in engaging in reasoned, mature discourse within the bounds of civil society, and would rather rely on brute force and terrorism to achieve their goals." Novak's reversal has attracted national attention and was published in the New York Times. He told the Post he hopes his piece will show students on campus, and readers beyond, that it's okay to allow new information and circumstances to shape or alter existing beliefs. Novak is one of thousands of U-Va. students trying to make sense of the weekend's events just as fall classes are about to begin. Meanwhile, his short-staffed student newspaper has been tasked with covering one of the biggest stories in America this week. "It's definitely going to feel different being in Charlottesville after this whole firestorm," Novak said. "There's going to be this shadow hanging over the grounds." The Cavalier Daily, founded in 1890, usually relies on a robust staff of more than 200 students to cover campus and regional news. But as white supremacists descended on Charlottesville Friday, the newspaper was essentially a staff of four, since the rest of the staff had not yet returned for the fall semester, the newspaper's editor in chief Mike Reingold told the Post. Three Cavalier Daily editors wove through the streets they knew better than many of the national reporters who had swooped in. They documented the protests led by local white nationalists, having already become accustomed to seeing them in town. Managing editor Tim Dodson choked on chemical irritants in the air as he tried to live-stream the scene. Meanwhile, Reingold was alone back in the newsroom, sharing updates, videos and photos from his team on social media. He recalled reflecting on the weekend with Dodson a couple of days later, thinking to himself, "Wow, this actually happened?" "People are still trying to understand why this happened in Charlottesville," Reingold, a senior, said. But this isn't the first time the Cavalier Daily has been faced with national news in its back yard. In fact, Reingold said, "almost every year at U-Va. there's some kind of national story." During Reingold's first year on campus, the disappearance of sophomore Hannah Graham captured national news. Her body was found five weeks later, and her death was ultimately ruled a homicide in November 2014. Around that time, a blistering account of rape allegations at U-Va. was published in a Rolling Stone magazine piece, which detailed a brutal gang rape hazing ritual. The allegations were ultimately debunked and led to multiple defamation lawsuits against the magazine. Reingold recalled how professors would pause lectures to discuss the magazine piece, and the issues surrounding it. The national news became ingrained in conversations in classrooms and across campus. "A lot of students are kind of tired that there's always this spotlight," Reingold said. Each time such news breaks, national reporters swarm the campus, placing the student body and newspaper under a microscope. And in the days that follow, the campus community is left picking up the pieces. The same will likely happen this time around, Dodson, the managing editor, said. "Because we live in Charlottesville, we have to live with the consequences of what happened this last weekend," Dodson said. The pressing question for the newspaper staff is, "will this happen again?" Reingold said. "What do we do next?" "I think it will," Reingold said. He recalled previous instances in which the white nationalist leaders from the weekend events have come into their newsroom seeking information. Charlottesville has already been the site of two Ku Klux Klan rallies this summer, and Reingold worries they will be faced with another gathering. "These people just don't stop," Reingold said. "I really do think they'll come back, perhaps in fuller force." But, he said, "I hope they don't." Tropical storm Gert before it became an Atlantic hurricane, the second of the season. Read more The National Weather Service is warning that there is a high risk of rip currents Wednesday along the Jersey Shore and Delaware Beaches as Hurricane Gert churns the waters far offshore. Rip currents have been blamed in five of the 10 drowning deaths reported at the Shore since Memorial Day. Swimmers are advised to not swim against a rip current, but to swim parallel to the shore to escape its pull. The high-risk categorization means dangerous and potentially life-threatening conditions exist for all people entering the surf. As far as the weather is concerned, morning fog will give way to mostly sunny skies with a high in the mid to upper 80s at the Shore. While Hurricane Gert roils the waters of the North Atlantic on its northeast path, forecasters are watching three tropical waves that have the potential to become named storms. A former supervisor for the company that manages the city's Criminal Justice Center says he warned his bosses about lax maintenance and "dummied up" inspection reports on the elevators there years before one car barreled 15 stories out of control to the top last summer, paralyzing a deputy sheriff. In a whistle-blower lawsuit, Duilio "Lou" Angelini says that not only did his warnings go unheeded, but that when he continued raising concerns after the 2016 crash, he was demoted and then fired from his longtime job with U.S. Facilities Inc. The allegations in Angelini's lawsuit offer one possible explanation for one of the more terrifying and still unanswered accidents in the city in recent years, in a building visited by thousands of people each day. On Aug. 4, 2016, an employee elevator at the criminal courthouse at 13th and Filbert Streets shot upward at more than twice its rated speed, crashed into the top of the shaft, and punched through the concrete floor of the elevator machinery room. The car's sole passenger, Paul Owens, then a sergeant for the Sheriff's Department, was severely injured and left paralyzed from the chest down. The cause of the crash remains unclear; that elevator and a second employee elevator have been out of service while an official investigation continues. Up to 4,000 people a day including court employees, judges, and staff cram the six public elevators remaining in service, which have been bolstered with new safety measures. Angelini, a 60-year-old from Sewell, Gloucester County, said his warnings came years before the accident. According to his lawsuit, filed July 26 in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, he joined U.S. Facilities in 2002 and by 2013 was the building manager for the justice center. Over four months in late 2013 and early 2014, he contends, he told company officials, including president James Dobrowolski and chief operating officer James Dorris, about the "lack of preventative maintenance and serious deficiencies" on the elevators. But his complaints were ignored, the lawsuit says. After the accident that paralyzed Owens, Angelini said, he again raised concerns about the elevators' maintenance and inspection. But in January, he was demoted. Then, on Feb. 3, his lawsuit says, he was fired from his $105,000-a-year position. His suit seeks unspecified monetary damages from his former employer. H. David Seidman, a lawyer for U.S. Facilities, said company officials "strongly dispute the claims in the lawsuit filed by Mr. Angelini. The allegations in the lawsuit are baseless and without merit, and we will vigorously defend ourselves against them. We place the highest priority on the safety of our employees and those entrusted to our care." Headquartered in Philadelphia, U.S. Facilities has managed government and commercial buildings and properties nationwide since 1967. Some of its principals have long-standing ties with city government. Founder and chairman Willie F. Johnson spent 18 years as a regional social services commissioner for the state and led the city's Employment and Training Office. Board member Thomas A. Leonard was city controller from 1979 to 1983. Angelini's lawyer, Mark D. Schwartz, said the suit "was filed after a good deal of thought and consultation with my client. It speaks for itself." His claims echo the allegations raised by Owens, 49, and his wife, Heather, 40. In a personal-injury lawsuit filed in January, they contend the crash occurred at least in part because complaints about elevator maintenance and inspections had been ignored. Their lawsuit didn't name Angelini or cite detailed proof but names as defendants not only U.S. Facilities but also the Philadelphia Municipal Authority, the agency that acts as landlord for city-owned buildings, and subcontractors Thyssenkrupp Elevator Corp., the German international conglomerate with U.S. headquarters in Troy, Mich. that took over elevator maintenance on July 1, 2016; and Schindler Elevator Corp., locally based in Moorestown, which previously had the elevator maintenance contract. "Based on our investigation to date and the number of court orders we've had to get against these defendants, I suspect they've known about problems with these elevators for some time before the unfortunate accident involving Mr. Owens," said Michael V. Tinari, the lawyer representing the Owenses. "Our lawsuit has always been about a failure to property maintain these elevators." According to Angelini's lawsuit, he started with U.S. Facilities in 2002, rose to become building manager for the Criminal Justice Center, and in February 2016 was promoted again to project manager for the justice center, the Municipal Services Building, and One Parkway Building of city offices. In his lawsuit, he contends that elevator maintenance at the criminal courthouse was deferred to focus more on the Municipal Services Building and One Parkway, that maintenance certificates for elevators there were "pencil whipped, dummied up," and that elevator inspection log books were not being updated. U.S. Facilities' "refusal to engage in preventative maintenance would make not only for equipment failure, such as one elevator at the CJC down almost one year, but additional profits," the lawsuit states. "Quite simply, it was additional profits which mattered to defendant, not maintenance, service or safety." Marchers walk down North Broad Street during the Philly Is Charlottesville march that was organized in response to weekend violence in Virginia. Read more About 2,000 people, chanting denunciations of racism, fascism, President Trump, and former Mayor Frank L. Rizzo, marched down North Broad Street on Wednesday night in a rally aimed at showing solidarity with victims of the weekend confrontation in Charlottesville, Va. The protesters also called for change at home. "White supremacy is not relegated to the southern states," the Rev. Mark Kelly Tyler of the interfaith clergy group POWER, which organized the event, said just before the marchers set off from Congregation Rodeph Shalom, 615 N. Broad. "We felt the need not just to show sympathy with Charlottesville, but also to really put on display the manifestations of white supremacy in Philadelphia," said the Rev. Gregory Holston, POWER's executive director and pastor at Janes Memorial United Methodist Church. Attendees spoke of educational inequality and school funding; wage inequality; the importance of self-care; and breaking silences. "Where have you been?" a speaker asked the white marchers in the crowd. "Did you not listen to the cries of my people for the last 400 years?" Attendees spoke of immigration and deportations, and of the death of David Jones, who was fatally shot in North Philadelphia by a Philadelphia police officer in June. Along their half-mile "Philly Is Charlottesville" march to Arch Street United Methodist Church, speakers and marchers connected the violence in Charlottesville to Philadelphia, with a rabbi referencing recent local acts of anti-Semitism, including the desecration of a cemetery and a man who was arrested for urinating on a synagogue's front door. After a woman was killed when a man allegedly drove a car into a group of counterprotesters at the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville and after Trump said he believed "both sides" were to blame for the violence there, organizers said they felt compelled to march. "It was disgusting, sad, upsetting, disturbing like living 100 years ago," said Meanda Hall, 34, a union leader and hotel housekeeper, of watching the events in Charlottesville unfold. One protester's sign read, "You're either not okay with Nazis or you're wrong." Another declared, "We must take sides! Never again!" "I'm supposed to be here, as a school teacher and a human being," said Shaun Pritchard, 39, of West Philadelphia. Marchers also chanted about removing the statue of the controversial former mayor and police commissioner that stands at Thomas Paine Plaza outside the Municipal Services Building. In recent days, others have called for the statue's removal, and a man from New Jersey egged the statue Wednesday morning. (Also, 15,000 people have signed an online petition to keep the statue in its place.) The statue was protected by three levels of fencing and a large police presence blocking access to the plaza. A smaller group of protesters remained by the statue after the rally at the church. At times they were loud and boisterous. "The statue is going down one way or another," said Asa Khalif of Pennsylvania's Black Lives Matter chapter. "It stands for generational hurt, oppression, injustice, homophobia, anti-blackness." He said protesters would not attempt to remove the statue during the march, though, as he didn't want to overshadow POWER's moment. Holston said he agreed with calls to bring down the statue. "In my view it should never have been put up in the first place," he said. "But we understand that the manifestation of white supremacy in our institutions has a much more devastating effect than whether a statue is there or not." The march began shortly after 7 p.m. with chants of "Whose streets? Our streets!" The mood was largely positive and upbeat, with only a brief confrontation with a lone counterprotester in a "feminism is cancer" shirt. Organizers had outlined three goals for the march: They would highlight disparities in Pennsylvania's school funding system, call on Mayor Kenney to end the Police Department's stop-and-frisk policies and "fully fund" an independent policy advisory board, Holston said, and demand that Council President Darrell L. Clarke push a $15 living wage for the city's contractors and subcontractors. Most of the city's impoverished, Holston said, are people of color: "Anything we can do to raise wages helps dismantle white supremacy." He added: "We're not saying any of these leaders practice white supremacy. But the institutions that they are the gatekeepers of practice it, and part of every politician's work has to be dismantling all the remnants of white supremacy." Lauren Hitt, a spokeswoman for Kenney, said the administration has increased the Police Advisory Commission's funding by nearly $150,000 and increased its paid staff by 50 percent. "We look forward to seating the 13 new commissioners and our new executive director soon," she said. Kenney, she said, "also agrees that no person should be stopped by police because of the color of their skin. [Police Commissioner Richard Ross] has implemented several new reforms specific to 'stop-and-frisk,' including progressive discipline for officers. The reforms led to a 72 percent decrease in stops last year." A heavy police presence, including Ross, was on hand. Larry Krasner, the Democratic candidate for district attorney, was among the marchers and advertised the rally on his campaign website. "We have a president telling our country that Nazis are good people," he said through a spokesperson. "Everybody should come out and march." Marchers said they, too, felt an obligation to come. "What other choice do we have as American citizens?" asked a woman who asked that she be quoted only by her first name, Carla. As a child, she said, she and her family had emigrated from Chile; she became an American citizen five years ago. "I feel it's my obligation to fight for the rights of others. It's time to rise up." White supremacist groups clashed with counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday. Read more You might think hate-fueled death, injuries, and violence in Charlottesville, Va., would move elected officials everywhere to reexamine public policy. As far-right neo-Nazi and white supremacist leaders promise future marches with the potential for more of what we witnessed last weekend, you might wonder where's the evidence of action against such hatred. Well, if you're looking for responses from the Pennsylvania legislature, don't expect much. As is true in so many areas that actually impact people's lives, the legislature, when it comes to hate crimes, is MIA. It's another instance of short-sighted governance, the only Northeastern state that does not extend protection based on sexual orientation, gender, or gender identity. Maybe you caught some of the explicit anti-LGBT chants in Virginia. And, yes, laws on the books don't stop bigotry. But they do define a society's belief in equality, and underscore unity over division. So State Rep. Dan Frankel of Allegheny County, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, is calling on Republican leaders who control the legislature to schedule a vote to strengthen the state hate-crimes law. "It's frustrating," he tells me. "We as legislators have limited capacity to do something other than speak out. But this is one thing we can do that has substance and is a good way to make a statement." Why are we regional outliers on this? Three reasons: mismanagement of past legislation, broad swaths of social conservatism, and spine-free political leadership. We had a tough hate-crimes law. It was enacted in 2002. But it was, as much legislation is, constitutionally sloppy. It was an amendment inserted into an agricultural bill. The evangelical Christian group Repent America sued on grounds it failed to meet a constitutionally mandated single-topic provision, a common occurrence rarely called out. State courts agreed. The law got tossed. In the years since, the legislature grew more conservative. And multiple efforts to resurrect the tougher law failed even after a high-profile 2014 hate-crime beating of a gay couple in Center City, after a 2016 neo-Nazi rally on the state Capitol steps, and after a 2017 KKK cross-burning in Lancaster County. Instead, there was year after year of inaction. And now, two bills sit ignored in House and Senate committees. I ask Rep. Kevin Boyle (D., Phila.), sponsor of the House bill, whether the events in Virginia could spur action on his legislation. He says, "Well, they should." He notes lawmakers passed such legislation more than a decade ago and asks, "Why not now, especially given the growth of the alt-right?" A matching Senate bill (both measures also extend protection based on ancestry and disabilities) is sponsored by Sen. Larry Farnese (D., Phila.). "When you look back at the history of hate-crime statutes, they were in response to KKK and Nazi groups 40 years ago," Farnese says. "That we're still dealing with this today? We should all be ashamed we can't get these bills to move." Frankel believes that if put up for votes, the bills would pass. But Farnese says GOP leaders are "scared to do the right thing for fear it will cost them political points." Boyle's bill is cosponsored by dozens of Democrats, but just two Republicans: Reps. Thomas Murt (R., Montgomery) and John Taylor (R., Phila.). Farnese's bill has nine cosponsors, all Democrats. I reached out to GOP leadership press aides about possible votes on these bills. A Senate aide said leaders there are willing to take a look. A House spokesman said the House bill's "on a list the Judiciary Committee wants to go through." This shouldn't be and isn't a partisan thing. It's basic. It's lending, at least, a voice against intolerance, against hate-based violence. It's also an affirmation of founding principles, of equality and shared rights. And it's way past time our elected officials embraced it. Philadelphia police officers will receive annual raises of about 3 percent for each of the next three years in a contract that will cost the city $245 million, it was announced Tuesday. The agreement marks a quick end to a short stalemate: The union's old contract had expired on June 30, though negotiations had continued in subsequent weeks with few public signs of discord between the city and union officials. Decided by a panel of three arbitrators, the deal's total cost exceeds by $45 million the amount the city had budgeted for this contract and two others currently being negotiated with major municipal unions deals that could cost hundreds of millions of dollars on their own. The city has 20 days to revise its five-year financial plan; officials said the Kenney administration was "examining its options." In the city's favor, members of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5 which represents the majority of the Police Department's 6,300 officers, as well as some in the Sheriff's Office will be asked to contribute more toward their pension plan. That change will pump $160 million more into the depleted pension fund over the next 13 years, according to Mayor Kenney's office. Still, the deal did not go as far as city officials had hoped. Initially, they proposed placing new employees in a "stacked" retirement plan, with a smaller pension plan alongside a 401(k). The FOP had long opposed that approach. Despite not achieving its preferred pension outcome, city officials touted the money that will be freed up for its pension fund, as well as a provision creating the ability to electronically notify officers of court appearances, and a rejection of the FOP request to change city residency requirements. The contract did not make significant changes to the grievance and arbitration process, which some criminal justice advocates have said is too forgiving for officers accused of misconduct. John McNesby, president of the local FOP, did not return a request for comment Tuesday. The deal, which runs through June 2020, calls for a 10.5 percent raise over the life of the contract, spread in near-equal annual increments. Police officers, on average, currently earn more than $75,000 a year, according to the city's annual pension report. The Kenney administration had wanted all new employees, unionized and not, to participate in a hybrid pension plan that would allow for a traditional defined contribution benefit of up to $50,000 annually. Above that, they could enroll in a 401(k) plan. The city would match half of the employee's contribution up to 1.5 percent of annual compensation. In addition, the administration wanted all labor unions to agree to the same increased pension contribution plan that AFSCME District Council 33 agreed to last year. Doing so, the city estimated, could have meant that the city's $11 billion pension liability would be more than 80 percent funded in 13 years. Currently, the fund has only 45 percent of the money it needs to meet its obligations. Kenney spokeswoman Lauren Hitt said that even though police balked at the city's preferred pension plan, the new contract, with its increased employee contribution, keeps the city on track to meet its enhanced pension fund goals. Still, the development could make it harder to persuade the firefighters and city's white collar workers' union to agree with the city's pension proposals. Leaders of both unions said earlier this year that they had issues with the options being presented. When voters went to the polls in last year's election, security and immigration were on their minds. According to a March Gallup poll, the worry over security and immigration remains. Fifty-nine percent of Americans worry a great deal or a fair amount about illegal immigration. Fixing our broken system is a worthy cause, as are efforts to locate and deport those here illegally who are involved in violent crime. But as we seek to address the problems that stem from a broken system, it is important that we do so driven by robust, open, and, most important, honest debate. Six months into President Trump's term, those topics are still front and center, but the politics of immigration has given way to dishonesty when it comes to how some characterize the threat to public safety posed by those who are here in an undocumented or unauthorized status. For example, in an effort to drive the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program out of business, 10 state attorneys general have sought to characterize DACA recipients as a threat to public safety, using a lawsuit. And that is simply untrue. DACA, initiated by President Barack Obama in June 2012, allows some who entered the United States as children to receive renewable two-year protection from deportation and a work permit. The attorneys general, all Republicans and led by Texas' Ken Paxton, are threatening to amend a current federal court filing challenging the DACA program unless the Trump administration phases it out. There are currently 750,000 DACA beneficiaries. Having spent more than 30 years working on law enforcement and homeland security issues at the federal, state, and local levels, I am confident those young people who currently are part of the DACA program do not represent a threat to the security of our nation or our communities. They go through a very rigorous screening to be accepted into the program. Get so much as a parking ticket, which most of us have gotten in our lifetimes, and DACA is no longer an option. These kids are U.S.-raised, fluent in English, and invested in their communities. They go about their business of attending school and working. The overwhelming majority of these kids (just like the majority of unauthorized or undocumented immigrants) contribute to their communities, will get jobs, and will pay taxes. Doing away with the DACA program will make these young people subject to enforcement action, including deportation and removal. As elected and appointed officials, and law enforcement, focus on real threats to our safety, many understand that Dreamers are not a security risk. It's why we saw former Homeland Security Secretary John F. Kelly decline to push forward with eliminating DACA. It's why we have seen the president say Dreamers "shouldn't be very worried," and describe the kids as "incredible." To secure the well-being of our nation, we must devote our time and energy to real threats. We should focus our limited law enforcement resources on securing our borders, preventing violent crime broadly, deporting violent criminal aliens, preventing cyber-attacks, and addressing a growing opioid crisis. These are examples of domestic security priorities demanding the attention of our elected officials. Targeting a group of young people seeking to better themselves through education so they can contribute socially and economically to the growth of our nation is not a good use of law enforcement resources. Let's not confuse security and safety with political theater. Prescreened DACA kids are not a danger to this country. Instead, find a way to make the United States safer and more secure through comprehensive decisions on immigration and by focusing our limited resources on actual threats. John D. Cohen is a distinguished professor of professional practice at Rutgers University. jc1855@crimjust.rutgers.edu In the last five days, at least hundreds of Indians have taken shelter in different houses of Durgapur union of Lalmonirhat Sadar under Moghalhat union and Aditmari upazila. By Sahidul Hasan Khokon: Around 600 flood affected victims from Coochbehar region of West Bengal in India have taken shelter in the Aditmari Upazila of Bangladesh's border district of Lalmonirhat. In the last five days, at least hundreds of Indians have taken shelter in different houses of Durgapur union of Lalmonirhat Sadar under Moghalhat union and Aditmari upazila. Habibur Rahman, chairman of Moghalhat Union, confirmed that around 600 people came to Mughalhat and Durgapur due to the flood. advertisement He said that local people informed that the members of the Moghulhat BGB Company barred the entry of Indians who came in search of shelter. Later, after requesting the commander of Lalmonirhat-15 BGB Battalion, they allowed to entry. Lt Colonel Golam Morshed, commander of Lalmonirhat-15 BGB Battalion, said that about 600 Indian women, children and men came to Bangladesh. Considering the humanitarian face to save them from the heavy floods of Dharla river, they were allowed to enter Bangladesh. "If boats were not allowed to enter in Bangladesh, several people would have drowned in the water of Dharala Ricer. We are grateful to the people here and will remember the BGB battalion," said Iqul Huq a citizen of India . Some people took shelter in the street. Among them, Arjina Khatun (35) is seven-and-a-half months pregnant. Khatun lives in Indian-held Dharla Char. The woman also brought along her poultry animals like birds and hens and ducks. The mother of one of her neighbors Meher Bani (23), mother of a child also came. Meher's husband, a sewing factory worker in Delhi. They said they did not have any problems in Bangladesh. However, these Indian people praised Bangladeshi BGB and local residents as they cooperated with the shelter seekers. Also Read: Indian national released after crossing illegally into Bangladesh --- ENDS --- Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Get the stories that matter to our community straight to your inbox with our Daily Newsletter A six-year old boy's dream is about to come true as chocolate bosses say they are doing everything they can to find him the special toy he has spent hundreds of pounds looking for. Jayden Lakey, who has autism and has been searching Britain and abroad for a shark toy in Kinder Eggs for the last eight months, has today heard the news he's been waiting for - he will be sent an egg with a shark inside. The adorable lad and parents Vicky and Richard had been buying the eggs purely in the hope a shark would finally fall out. But owners of Kinder Egg, Ferrero, had originally refused to send mum Vicky a Kinder Egg with her son's favourite sea creature inside - scuppering his dream. And after Vicky took to social media in a final bid to ask the nation for help, over 300 kind-hearted strangers shared the post - many of them offering to send eggs to Jayden from across the country. But now the company have turned Jayden's fortunes around and said they have found him a chocolate egg with the shark inside and are arranging its "safe passage" to his home in Plympton. A spokesperson for Ferrero said: "We are already in contact with Mrs Lakey and have been searching through our collection of surprises to find a Shark toy. "We are delighted that we have been able to find one for Jayden and are currently arranging its safe passage to Plymouth across land and sea." In recent months Jayden had lost interest in the chocolate treat and stopped eating it - offering it out to friends and family and using it to make crispy cakes. All he wanted was the toy inside. But despite this for autistic Jayden, who was diagnosed aged three, the importance of opening the egg himself and finding the surprise remained his main priority. Mum Vicky previously said: "Jayden's excitement to disappointment is just as heartbreaking all these months on. "People have been so lovely - but if he's just given the shark it won't provide him with that special Kinder experience - he needs to find it himself. "And he would know if we'd prized open the egg and placed one inside - he's not silly." She added: "But someone put a Kinder Egg through our letterbox yesterday - we don't even know who it was, which was so lovely. But sadly we got a frog." Jayden's obsession with finding the shark came after seeing a picture of the surprise gift on the display box of Kinder Eggs at the Marsh Mills Sainsburys store over Christmas. Last Easter Jayden received a Kinder Egg from every friend and family member but remained without a shark despite having a zoo-full of other species. Jayden who has difficulties resulting from his autism, carries an empty Kinder Egg box around with him clearly displaying the shark he hopes to call his own. The box had travelled with him on a family holiday to Spain and has not left his side since the desire began back in December. The family buy eggs in bulk whenever they see them and when Jayden manages to get his hands on one he shakes it and listens to see if it could potentially be a shark. Mum Vicky told of Jayden's life with autism: "It's been a difficult road but he's the happiest and most loving little boy and never lets his disability hold him back. "He's just shark mad - everyone that knows us understands how obsessed he is. "We go to the national aquarium here regularly and are also members of the Blue Reef Aquarium in Newquay. He's just had his room completely transformed into a shark themed room." Vicky said she thinks the reason behind the shark obsession comes from Jayden's desire to be in a calm atmosphere as he will often struggle with loud and busy surroundings. And in her search for the toy shark Vicky has also wanted to spread awareness of disabilities such as Jayden's which are invisible. She said: "There's not enough awareness of autism. Not all disabilities are visible. "But it's important to remember people with autism young and old have feelings and there are in fact things that Jayden can do that others can't." Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Get the stories that matter to our community straight to your inbox with our Daily Newsletter The UK's new 3bn aircraft carrier has docked in its home port. The 65,000-tonne ship has been undergoing sea trials since setting sail from Rosyth dockyard in Fife in June. The carrier cannot currently deploy planes but flying trials are set to begin next year Preparations for the arrival of the future flagship of the fleet, and its 700 crew, saw more than 20,000 items ranging from a human skull to sea mines dredged up from Portsmouth Harbour. Capt Jerry Kyd told the BBC he felt a "huge amount of pride" ahead of the vessel berthing in its home port. "It sends the right signals to our allies and indeed potentially to our enemies that we mean business," he said. "The armed forces are fundamentally an insurance policy for the country and you can't just, at the flick of a switch, decide that you need these capabilities." A total of 3.2 million cubic metres of sediment the equivalent of 12,800 Olympic swimming pools were removed during the dredging operation carried out to deepen the harbour mouth to enable the Queen Elizabeth to reach Portsmouth Naval Base. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Get Chris Errington's exclusive behind-the-scenes take on life at Argyle in his weekly Inside Home Park newsletter Judging by Tuesday nights attendance there were a number of loyal Plymouth Argyle supporters who missed Alex Fletchers full debut at Home Park. You can now watch his two goals in the video below. The 18-year-old struck first in the 88 minute when he showed awareness to follow up Ruben Lameirass initial shot on goal. When Jamie Cumming parried the Portugueses shot, Fletcher was on hand to jab the ball home at the back post. Even later in the match, in the 91 minute, Aaron Taylor-Sinclair nodded a cross down towards the penalty spot where Fletcher swivelled and struck a volley with power beyond Cumming. On a controversial night, with many supporters choosing to boycott the fixture, Fletchers brace was the undoubted highlight. Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will auto-play soon 8 Cancel Play now On another note, Jamie Ness also made his full debut for the Pilgrims after an injury-ravaged pre-season put back his start to the League One campaign. The Scot looked assured and composed in possession, showing a good range of passing when he had the chance before going off on the hour mark for Graham Carey. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Get the stories that matter to our community straight to your inbox with our Daily Newsletter Tens of thousands of people lined the walls of Portsmouth Harbour this morning to welcome the UKs 3 billion aircraft carrier, HMS Queen Elizabeth. But, as it stands, that sight will never be repeated in Plymouth, despite the city being home to mighty aircraft carriers in the past. The 919ft (280m), 65-000 tonne vessel the Royal Navys newest and biggest ship arrived at its home port for the first time today. The future flagship will be based in Portsmouth for its estimated 50-year lifespan. When the two ships were ordered, the second of which will be called HMS Prince of Wales, there were calls for one, or both, to be based in Plymouth. But one issue, experts observed, was that Fleet Headquarters is based in Portsmouth and that top ranking officers like to look out of the window and see their ships. Another, more acute point, was that the River Tamar simply isnt deep enough to accommodate a ship of that size. (Image: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire) HMS Queen Elizabeth has a draught (the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull) of 11 metres. Thats far bigger than the ships that currently navigate the river. HMS Ocean, which is based at Devonport, has a draught of 6.5 metres. Brittany Ferries Pont Aven has a draught of 6.8 metres. The problem lies on the approaches towards Drakes Island just inside the breakwater. At high tide, the depth of water ranges between 13.1 metres and 17 metres allowing access. The deepest channel for shipping is 13.6 metres. But at low tide, five metres could be taken off the water level. Military experts said considerable dredging work would have to be carried out in the river but that still might not be enough. One said: If we had to go to war on low water, and the carriers were based here, we would be in serious trouble. A Ministry of Defence spokesman previously told The Herald: As it stands, they (the aircraft carriers) would not be able to come alongside at Devonport because the water is too shallow. (Image: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire) They would have to be at anchor in Plymouth Sound with personnel shipped or flown ashore. With dredging work, it could be possible for them to come alongside. The carrier has been undergoing training and tests at sea after setting out from Scotlands Rosyth dockyard in June. Those on board and watching from the shore were treated to two separate flypasts of Royal Navy helicopters, the first featuring a Sea King, two MK2 Merlins and two MK3 Merlins, which were then joined by two Hawk jets for the second. First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Philip Jones said after the Navys largest and newest warship arrived in Portsmouth: We are gathered to witness another seminal moment in the long history of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth. In the golden years of the second Elizabethan age, a new era of British maritime power is beginning. And in 50 years time, people in Portsmouth will still talk about the day they saw this 65,000-tonne giant arrive for the first time. The admiral said the hardest part of the journey in developing the new carriers was now complete and added: Its not always been an easy path, but with a steady nerve and a deep resolve we saw it through. Its a triumph of national strategic ambition and a lesson for the future. (Image: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire) Sir Philip said that, following the Brexit vote, the carrier would play an important role in promoting the UK abroad. As we prepare to leave the European Union, I have no doubt that the Queen Elizabeth-class will help take our nations message of partnership and prosperity to the rising economies of the world, aided by the very best ambassadors we could wish for: the men and women of the armed forces, he said. HMS Queen Elizabeth is the nations future flagship; the embodiment of Britain in steel and spirit. In the years and decades to come, she and her sister ship will demonstrate the kind of nation we are not a diminished nation, withdrawing from the world, but a confident, outward-looking and ambitious nation, with a Royal Navy to match. So this is truly a proud moment for Portsmouth, for the Royal Navy and for the United Kingdom. Today, weve shown the world how to welcome a Queen. Hollywood portrayals of the dance world tend to be either campy love stories or dark, twisted melodramas. But a new French drama coming soon to American cinemas offers a more introspective (and authentic) perspective of one dancers search for artistic fulfillment. Polina, co-directed by French choreographer Angelin Preljocaj and his wife Valerie Muller, tells the story of a talented Russian ballet student who turns down a contract with the Bolshoi Ballet to pursue a contemporary dance career. Starring Anastasia Shevtsova (a Vaganova Academy graduate who has performed with the Mariinsky Ballet), former Paris Opera Ballet etoile Jeremie Belengard and Academy Award-winning actress Juliette Binoche (a beautiful mover in her own right), the almost two-hour film has no shortage of dancing. The movie, based on a graphic novel by Bastien Vives, follows Polinas rigorous Russian training, which her working-class parents struggle to pay for. Her future at the the Bolshoi seems set, but when a French contemporary company comes to town, shes so inspired by the performance that she follows her boyfriend to France to audition for its choreographer/director (played by Binoche). She works obsessively to change her technique, but ultimately ends up in Antwerp, auditioning endlessly and tending bar. It takes a chance meeting with Karl, a choreographer and improvisation instructor, to help open her eyes to new possibilities. Preljocaj and Muller direct Polina with a dancers sensitivity. Many of the rehearsals were shot at his companys studio in Aix en Provence, and scenes from his ballet Snow White are featured throughout. Yes, there are subtitles, but dont let that deter youPolina is relatable to any artist whos ever struggled to find his or her place in the dance world. The film opens August 25 in New York and September 1 in L.A., followed by a national roll-out. To find it at a theater near you, click here. Officer Kurt Allen Carlson was killed in an off-duty motorcycle crash (Photo: Mesa PD) A Mesa (AZ) Police Department officer was killed in a motorcycle accident in Washington state on Monday while off duty, officials said. Officer Kurt Allen Carlson, 42, was riding his motorcycle on a road near Twisp, WA, when he apparently lost control and left the roadway about 7 p.m., according to an Okanogan County (WA) Sheriff's Office report. Carlson and his motorcycle ended up in a river near the road, the report said. He was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the report. The 17-year veteran of the Mesa Police Department worked as a patrol officer, Mesa Family Advocacy Center detective, and since 2007 had been assigned to the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, reports the Arizona Republic. Carlson was married with two children. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) responded to Trumps defense of racists by calling the President an embarrassment to America. In a statement provided to PoliticusUSA, Sen. Sanders said, President Trump. You are embarrassing our country and the millions of Americans who fought and died to defeat Nazism. The violence in Charlottesville was not caused by the alt-left, (whatever that may be). It was caused by Neo-Nazis and white supremacists who are attempting to spread their hateful and racist ideology. Sanders was right. There is noalt-left. It is a term that was invented by the far right to justify the racist actions of Trumps supporters. Donald Trump was an embarrassment to America long before the press conference. Trumps defense of white supremacists and their violence was nothing more than more than a year of Trump behavior boiled down to an easily consumable few minutes for the entire country to see. There is no shock here. None of this was out of character. Trump began his presidential campaign by calling Mexicans murderers and rapists. What Trump said today is who he really is. Donald Trump is trying to help racists spread their hate and ideology. He is a disgrace to this country who should have never been elected president, and many argue wouldnt have been elected president without the help of Putin, who deserves to be sent back to his tacky Trump Tower to live out his days in exile. Real leaders denounce racists. They dont enable them. By India Today Web Desk: Broadcasting Content Complaints Council (BCC) has asked Sony TV to change Pehredaar Piya Ki's time slot from 8:30pm to 10pm. The independent self-regulatory body has also asked the channel to run the show with a scroll that says the show doesn't promote child marriage. In its meeting held today, the Council ordered the channel to shift the show to the 10 pm slot, the restrictive hour on the small screen. Today's meeting was the first chaired by BCCC's new chief, Justice (retd) Vikramajit Sen. advertisement The recently-launched show Pehredaar Piya Ki came under the scanner after an online petition on change.org addressed to I&B minister Smriti Irani was filed, demanding the ban of the soap that shows a 9-year-old getting married to an 18-year-old girl. More than one lakh people had signed the petition urging Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani to ban the show. The petition says, "a 10-year-old impressionable little kid ('piyaa') caresses and stalks a lady who is twice his age and applies sindoor in her maang, is being telecast at prime time." "We have not received anything yet. As and when we receive it (instructions from the ministry), we will reply to it. We will explain our point of view," the show's producer, Sumeet Mittal, was quoted as saying earlier. According to reports, the petition was forwarded to BCC by I&B ministry, asking for an immediate action. BCCC sources, however, said they took up the matter after receiving complaints about the show from different corners of the country. The matter was taken up for hearing on August 16 for a decision. BCCC is an independent self-regulatory body set-up by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation in 2011, in consultation with the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Produced by Shashi Sumeet Productions, the soap premiered on July 17, and stars Tejasswi Prakash as 18-year-old Diya and Afaan Khan as 9-year-old Ratan. (With inputs from PTI) Also read: Thoughts of an 8-year-old after watching Pehredaar Piya Ki Also read: Pehredaar Piya Ki makers say there is nothing objectionable about the show; people have judged the serial without watching it Also read: Pehredaar Piya Ki in trouble! Smriti Irani responds to petition to ban the show; writes to BCCC --- ENDS --- Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print The Commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Robert Neller, has spoken out against Trumps support for racists with a tweet stating that there is no place for racial hatred in the Marines. General Robert Neller tweeted: No place for racial hatred or extremism in @USMC. Our core values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment frame the way Marines live and act. Robert B. Neller (@GenRobertNeller) August 15, 2017 One gets the sense that Trumps press conference was a breaking point for the country. Trump has finally crossed a line that only his most diehard supporters will follow him on. The Marines are telling the Commander in Chief that there is no place in their organization for his racist beliefs. Trump has pushed and pushed and pushed. Finally, America is coming together to push back. If Trump wants to be a racist, he can resign from office, because the White House is no home for a person who holds such ugly views. Trump has gotten away with too much since he ran for president, but finally, America is coming together to fight back. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Biographer David Maraniss has a great idea. The author is urging all five living former presidents to issue a joint statement calling on racist Donald Trump to resign. Maraniss tweeted: The living former presidents Bushes, Carter, Clinton & Obama- should make a joint statement calling on the racist Trump to resign. david maraniss (@davidmaraniss) August 15, 2017 Trump would probably respond to such a statement by tweeting out insults at each of the former presidents, but it is a fantastic idea. America needs unity and leadership in the face of the Trump threat. There is no better way for every American who does not agree with Trump to come together around the living former presidents in a show of bipartisan unity and rejection of Trump. Since former presidents have an unspoken code to stay out of current politics, such a statement may never happen, but Trumps support for racists is beyond the realm of normal politics. Donald Trump is attacking American society and trying to rip it apart through bigotry and racial division. If there was ever a time for the former presidents to publicly take a stand together that time is now. These men have served their country with honor, and their nation needs them to come together for one more brave act. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Donald Trump was asked by reporters if the Charlottesville attack was terrorism, and the President refused to call the killing of one and wounding of 19 by a white supremacist terrorism. Trump was asked if this was terrorism. Video: He answered, The driver of the car is a disgrace to himself, his family, and his country, and that is. You can call it terrorism. You can call it murder. You call it whatever you want. I would just call it as the fastest one to come up with a good verdict. Thats what Id call it. Because there is a question, is it murder? Is it terrorism, and then you get into legal semantics. The driver of the car is a murderer, and what he did was a horrible, horrible, inexcusable thing. Trump made it clear that you can call it terrorism, but he isnt calling it terrorism. The fact that a white supremacist used the same method of attack that Trump labeled terrorism when Muslims in Europe did it has no bearing on the current situation. Donald Trump apparently believes that his white supporters dont commit acts of terror. The President refused to confirm what other members of his own administration have already stated. The attack in Charlottesville was an act of domestic terrorism. Trump confirmed that his view of who commits terrorism is guided by skin color. In less than 30 seconds, Donald Trump gave America a clear picture of his racist views. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print What little fragments were left of the Trump presidency were set ablaze by the President as he defended racists and blamed the left for the violence in Charlottesville. Video of Trump blaming the left: Trump said, I think there is blame on both sides. You had a group on one side that was bad and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent and nobody wants to say that but Ill say it right now. You had a group on the other side that came charging in without a permit. They were very violent. Trump claimed that he watched Charlottesville very closely and that people on the left were swinging clubs. The President said not all of the people there were neo-Nazis and white supremacists. Trump went on to equate Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson with George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. With one bonkers press conference that was a heartfelt defense of neo-Nazis and racists, Donald Trump destroyed what was left of the burning embers of his presidency. Trump made it clear who his base is and who he will be catering to. Anyone with eyes and ears understood who was responsible for the violence in Charlottesville. Trump was already the most unpopular president, but the press conference today gave the American people ample reason to run him out of the White House on a rail. Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print By Michael Nienaber and Andrea Shalal BERLIN (Reuters) Senior German politicians on Wednesday accused U.S. President Donald Trump of trivializing violence by white supremacists in Virginia and called for a clear rejection of their ideology. Governments could only win the fight against hatred, racism and anti-Semitism by rejecting such ideology and the willingness to use violence, said Martin Schulz, the center-left candidate for chancellor, adding that this applies to Germany and the United States. The trivialization of Nazi violence by the confused utterances of Donald Trump is highly dangerous, said Schulz, leader of the Social Democrats (SPD). We should not tolerate the monstrosities coming out of the presidents mouth, he told the RND newspaper group in an interview. Republican leaders criticized Trump for saying leftist counter-protesters were also to blame for violence last Saturday in Charlottesville that left one person dead and several injured. His comments won praise from white far-right groups. Schulz is the main challenger to Chancellor Angela Merkel at a Sept. 24 election. The SPD, junior partner in Merkels grand coalition, trails Merkels conservatives in polls. Schulzs comments were echoed by Justice Minister Heiko Maas, another senior member of the SPD. It is unbearable how Trump is now glossing over the violence of the right-wing hordes from Charlottesville, Maas said in a statement, reflecting concern across the German political spectrum about the Trump presidency. No one should trivialize anti-Semitism and racism by neo-Nazis, said Maas, senior member of the co-governing SPD. Schulz and Maas are the highest-ranking German politicians to criticize Trumps rhetoric about the violence. The country has tough laws against hate speech and any symbols linked to Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, who ruled from 1933 until their defeat in 1945. Merkel told broadcaster Phoenix on Monday that clear and forceful action was required to combat right-wing extremism, noting that Germans had also seen a rise in anti-Semitism and had quite a lot to do at home ourselves. Trump has come under increasing pressure over his stance on the violence, with many members of his own Republican party and U.S. business executives distancing themselves from him. Trump on Tuesday said his original reaction was based on facts he had at the time and said both sides were to blame. The violence erupted during a protest by white nationalists against plans to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee, commander of the pro-slavery Confederate army during the American Civil War. Protesters and counter-protesters clashed in scattered street brawls before a car ploughed into the rallys opponents, killing one woman and injuring 19 other people. (Reporting by Michael Nienaber and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Andrew Bolton and Matthew Mpoke Bigg) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print People carrying guns to provide security in the event of far-right protesters stand outside the memorial service for Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, Virginia More images, click through: Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Print Instead of attending the memorial service for Heather Heyer, Donald Trump did the bare minimum by tweeting about her once. Trump tweeted: Memorial service today for beautiful and incredible Heather Heyer, a truly special young woman. She will be long remembered by all! Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2017 It is worth remembering that President Obama attended the memorial service for the Charleston, South Carolina white supremacist terrorist attack and sang Amazing Grace: White House officials admitted why they wouldnt send Trump to Charlottesville, The official also conceded that it was unlikely that this president would be able to deliver rousing, healing oratory that is demanded in such a dire situation. Trump, the fear went, could potentially worsen matters by being there. Trump held a press conference to defend the racist beliefs that led to the murder of Heather Heyer, but he doesnt have the courage to show his face at her memorial service. An American died in an act of domestic terrorism, and all the President does is tweet. America needs a president, not a racist tweeter in chief. The State Ports Authority plans to buy about 46 acres of land on Daniel Island across the Wando River from its Wando Welch Terminal (above) as a disposal site for the agency's Charleston Harbor dredging project. Provided/State Ports Authority Watchdog and Public Service reporter Thad Moore is a reporter on The Post and Couriers Watchdog and Public Service team and a graduate of the University of South Carolina. To share tips securely, reach Moore via ProtonMail at thadmoore@protonmail.com or on Signal at 843-214-6576. Sugauli police station, 30 kms away from the district headquarters, finds itself completely inundated in flood water after the local Sikrana river breached the embankment flooding the police station. By Rohit Kumar Singh: Death toll in Motihari floods has now risen to four with four more people losing their lives in one of the worst floods to have hit the district in recent times. As the district grapples with the deluge like a dozen more districts in Bihar, a police station in Motihari is submerged in water waist deep for last three days. advertisement Sugauli police station, 30 kms away from the district headquarters, finds itself completely inundated in flood water after the local Sikrana river breached the embankment flooding the police station. The river was flowing above the danger level as neighboring Nepal continues to face incessant rains. "On August 13, water entered the police station premises and within a few hours the entire police station was submerged under water till waist level", said Sunil Kumar, SHO, Sugauli police station. Whether it's the police vehicles, a small temple, office of SHO or the lock up inside the police station, everything remained submerged under the water. The place is also witnessing unsolicited visitors like snakes making it difficult affair for a handful of cops present at the police station. Several official paper and files present have already been destroyed in the floods. Police officials on Tuesday, were seen trying hard to remove the computer, a UPS and a printer along with other important files and papers to a safer place. "We are trying hard to save whatever possible from the police station. Since the water level is continuing to rise, the situation is alarming. I don't think the situation will ease soon", said Sunil Kumar, SHO, Sugauli police station. ALSO READ 16 dead in Bettiah and Motihari after floods wreak havoc in Bihar Floods ravage east, northeast states, snap rail link; 41 die in Bihar Watch Video: Bihar: Flood situation worsens, CM Nitish Kumar conducts aerial survey --- ENDS --- Kalyn Oyer is a Charleston native who covers arts & entertainment and food & bev for The Post and Courier. She's a music festival & concert photographer and used to write about music for the Charleston City Paper, among other publications. Derryck Barentine had just turned 20 and was working as a welder apprentice through a contractor at Detyens Shipyards, a ship repair yard in North Charleston. In the sprawling industrial complex, deaths due to falls, crushing and electrocution have left coworkers like him men and women scarred by the tragedies they witnessed and the friends they lost. Read moreShipyard deaths take toll on workers left to grapple with trauma, friends lost People fly into the air as a vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. The nationalists were holding the rally to protest plans by the city of Charlottesville to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. There were several hundred protesters marching in a long line when the car drove into a group of them. (Ryan M. Kelly/The Daily Progress via AP) SC Attorney General Alan Wilson is challenging the CDC's recommendations on COVID vaccinations for kids. They have no force of law, so this is no different than the left trying to enforce its woke orthodoxy. Read moreEditorial: Alan Wilson should stick to the law, stop trying to silence opinions he dislikes LAS VEGAS Control of the U.S. Senate may come down to Nevada, where a slow ballot count entered its final act Saturday in the nail-biter contest between Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto and Republican challenger Adam Laxalt. Read moreSenate control may come down to Nevada as count nears end By PTI: Jammu, Aug 16 (PTI) A BJP MLA was injured when some angry persons pelted his cavalcade with stones in Jammu and Kashmirs Samba district when he went to take part in the cremation of two persons, who were among four who died in an accident today. "As the cavalcade of Samba MLA Devinder Kumar Manyal reached the cremation ground, some angry people resorted to stone-pelting," a senior police officer said. advertisement One of the stones hit him in the head resulting in injuries, he said. The MLA was immediately shifted by the police and others to the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital here. He is out of danger, the officer said. Later the MLAs supporters came out in Samba and blocked the highway to protest the stone-pelting. Four persons including two students were today killed and 18 others injured when a mini bus turned turtle on the Jammu- Pathankot national highway, triggering protests against "rash driving and overloading". The mini-bus was coming to Samba town from the border village of Chakwal and the accident took place near Rakha Ambpatti around 8.20 am, a police spokesman said. Three persons - Prem (45) and two students Jaanu (17) and Mehak (21) ? died on the spot. Later, one among the 19 injured, Ramesh Chandar (55), succumbed to injuries at the GMC hospital, an official said. PTI AB ADS --- ENDS --- Learn more about monarchs and their migration at All About Monarch Butterflies. Hosted by the Zumbro Valley Audubon Society, in partnership with Quarry Hill Nature Center, this annual event is a longtime family favorite. "Monarchs are pretty special even among butterflies, which are all pretty special," said Joel Dunnette, ZVAS member. "These monarchs, those you see flying around during the end of August and the beginning of September, are extra special as they are the ones that will make their way to and overwinter in Mexico." The evening is split into two programs. The first is geared toward families with young children and includes an up-close look at butterfly anatomy, butterfly crafts and the opportunity to release a tagged monarch butterfly. "Our first program is more hands-on," Dunnette said. "If you have kids that want to learn about monarchs, but don't want to sit through a long talk, this is the one for you. We want kids to have plenty of opportunities to interact, have fun, and see these beautiful creatures up close." The second program will begin with a short talk about butterflies in general and then it's on to monarchs and their migration, ending with a short tag and release opportunity. ADVERTISEMENT "The reason we separated the evening into two programs this year is because, historically, it's always been such a popular program," Dunnette said. "The second half of the evening is definitely more adult- and older youth-oriented, with sit and listen presentations. During this second program you'll still get to learn a lot about monarchs, but you'll also learn about some other butterflies, too some that overwinter right here in Minnesota. Because monarchs are great, but giant swallow tails are pretty neat, too." The program is free as is admission to Quarry Hill Nature Center. Held rain or shine, pre-registration is not necessary. ------ If you go What: All About Monarch Butterflies Where: Quarry Hill Nature Center, 701 Silver Creek Road NE When: 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Aug. 22 (families with young children), 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. (others) On the web: www.zumbrovalleyaudubon.org , www.qhnc.org ADVERTISEMENT More about ZVAS Can't make it to next Tuesday's program? ZVAS and Quarry Hill Nature Center will host two additional monarch events, Tagging Monarchs at Northern Hill Prairie, on Aug. 29 and Sept. 7, 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Family members of all ages are invited to catch, tag and release monarchs. No registration needed. Equipment provided. Details available on the ZVAS website. Interested in more than just butterflies? ZVAS hosts free monthly Bird Walks. Appropriate for family members of all ages, the walks are typically held the first Saturday of the month at Quarry Hill Nature Center and are beginner-birder friendly. Visit the ZVAS website for a list of upcoming Bird Walks. Want to learn more about a particular kind of bird? On Aug. 25, 7:45 p.m. to 9:15 p.m., at St. Pius X Catholic Church, ZVAS is hosting a Chimney Swift Sit. Open to all, the Sit is part of a larger Chimney Swifts count with the potential to see hundreds (maybe thousands) of the birds. No registration necessary at this drop in event. ----- Family calendar Finders keepers You never know what you'll find at Whitewater State Park's Intro to Geocaching, 1 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, 19041 Minnesota Highway 74, Altura. Families will meet in the park's nature center then head out with park staff to find a Call of the Wildflower geocache. State Park sticker required, $7 per day, $35 for the year. Bring your own GPS unit or borrow one. Call 507-312-2300 with questions. ADVERTISEMENT Need to know more?There are 81 Call of the Wildflowers caches hidden at Minnesota's 74 state parks and seven state trails. Each cache holds a different, collectible wildflower trading card that highlights fun facts about a Minnesota-native wildflower. Collect 10 or more cards and you'll earn a free pollinator card. Go to www.dnr.state.mn.us for more information. Puppet show Take a seat and enjoy the show at Rochester Public Library's Summer Fun at the Library, 10 a.m. Aug. 23. Free for family members of all ages, the Schiffelly Puppets will present Cinder-Freckle-Frog-Faced-Ella. Call 507-328-2303 for more information. What else?As summer wraps up, so does RPL's Summer Playlist program. Designed to get kids and adults reading and doing (make a new recipe, visit the RPL BookBike, perform a random act of kindness), participants log their reading and doing onto a Summer Playlist log sheet then turn the log into the library, by 1:30 p.m. Sept. 2, for prizes. Go to www.rochesterpubliclibrary.org to print out a Summer Playlist log sheet. Real-life heroes Say hello to a hometown hero when a member of the Rochester Police Department visits the Minnesota Children's Museum of Rochester, 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, 1643 N. Broadway. Kids of all ages can peek inside a police car and learn what it's like to be a police officer. Free with museum admission of $5.50 for ages 1 and older. Call 507-218-3100 for details. What's next?The Children's Museum offers free-with-admission, family-friendly programming every week, year round. Up next it's Family Time Yoga, 2 p.m. Aug. 27. Go to mcm.org/visit/rochester for a complete list of upcoming programming. Turtles, snakes, skinks Learn more about cold blooded critters at Chester Woods Reptiles Program, 7 p.m. Saturday, 8378 U.S. Highway 14 East, Eyota. Participants of all ages will meet in the park's Kisrow Classroom to learn more about Minnesota-native reptiles (Blanding's turtle, black rat snake, prairie skink) and meet a few in person. The program is free with a park pass, $5 per day, $25 for the year. Call 507-287-7050 with questions. What else?Chester Woods offers other family-friendly summertime fun, including: overnight camping, a swimming beach, watercraft rental (canoes, kayaks, paddle boards/boats), fishing and picnic spots. Visit www.co.olmsted.mn.us to find out more. RALEIGH, N.C. The Raleigh man behind the viral Twitter account @YesYoureRacist said on Monday that since publishing photos of torch-carrying white supremacist protesters Saturday in Charlottesville, he has received remarkable support but also death threats. Logan Smith, who works as the communications director for Progress NC Action, says the account had about 65,000 followers Saturday morning. On Monday afternoon, it had topped 307,000 and was climbing. "I have been receiving death threats for the past 20 hours or so," Smith, 30, said in a phone interview. "They have been threatening my family, too. The overall response of course has been 99 percent positive, but there's always that extremely small but extremely loud and extremely angry minority that bites back." Smith said the threats seem to come from followers of the white supremacist website Stormfront, from neo-Nazis and from alt-right groups. "They're mostly anonymous Twitter accounts with three followers that only tweet nonstop hate," he said. "But there's a lot of them and they are mad." ADVERTISEMENT In the past, Smith's account has mostly just retweeted people making statements Logan found to be racist. This weekend's events in Charlottesville mark the first time he said he has used photos to call out people. "I just started seeing all these photos from the torch march Friday night and the riots on Saturday and it was just so disturbing," he said. "These photos from the torch march it was exactly what you see in photos from 1930s Germany. But this is not happening in history books or some faraway country it's here, it's now. "And these people aren't afraid anymore. They're not hiding behind their hoods like they did before the civil rights era. They are out and proud. I think if they are so proud of their beliefs and proud to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with neo-Nazis and KKK members and white supremacists of all stripes, then I think their communities need to know who they are. They're not random faces in the crowd, they're your neighbors, they're your co-worker, they're the people you pass in the grocery store." The attention from @YesYoureRacist got one man disowned by his family and another man is no longer employed at a hot dog restaurant in California. "I'm not trying to get anybody fired," Smith said. "I'm not contacting anybody's employers. But you know, if someone goes to a white supremacists' rally and their employer sees them, then that's their prerogative and that's something they probably should have thought about." HOW IT STARTED Smith started the @YesYoureRacist Twitter account in October 2012, partly inspired by racism directed at then-President Barack Obama. But Smith said mostly he was inspired by Twitter searches he did for random phrases that he actually was hoping no one would be tweeting, like "who is Neil Armstrong" after the iconic astronaut died. It was when he searched for the phrase "I'm not racist but" that Smith said he was moved to act. ADVERTISEMENT "I was just overwhelmed by the amount of casual, obvious racism," Smith said. "People saying stuff like, 'I'm not racist but I don't think we should have a black president.' How could you not think that's racist? It was so astounding to me that I thought I just have to make a project on this." Smith, an East Tennessee native who attended the University of South Carolina, said he believes it's important for everyone to call out racism. "I'm a white man, and I think that, while you may not expect that to be the person behind an anti-racism Twitter account, I think everyone especially white people have a responsibility to stand up against bigotry wherever they encounter it. Otherwise, by remaining silent you are potentially complicit in that white supremacist system, which depends on silence in order to thrive." And even with the death threats, Smith said he is undaunted. "Nobody likes to get death threats, but intimidation is how these people work," he said. "It's how they've worked from the days of the KKK burning crosses in peoples' yards and in Nazi Germany. By giving in to their intimidation tactics, that's how they win. "I'm not going away." As a mariachi band erupted in an alley in Cartagena, Colombia, I basked in the first moment of peace the whole day. The bride's Colombian family gathering to celebrate my dad's upcoming wedding began pairing off to dance in the middle of the street. I conceded that I'd seen stranger events in the last couple of days, and leaned back to soak in the music. After hours of painful attempts to resurrect what little Spanish I accumulated in middle school, I'd achieved no communication with my exclusively Spanish-speaking company and managed to get a catchy Spanish alphabet song stuck in my head, which was both annoying and useless in actual conversation. From my tourist's sunburn to my Spanish-English dictionary I stuck out like a sore thumb. Yet, moments after my peaceful reverie began, it was shattered by a single word, and I can safely say that no other has put me into hysterics so effectively. "Dance?" If my soon-to-be uncle had spoken English, I probably would've come up with an elaborate medical reason to explain that if I danced I'd have an epileptic attack and most certainly die. Alas, communication was impossible, and no moving cars were in sight to jump in front of, so I was left with but one option; to dance. The couples danced expertly, likely due to their practice since childhood. Their style was entirely unpredictable and energetic, which starkly contrasted to my stiff prom technique of swaying relatively on beat and avoiding eye contact. I excused myself to the restroom at the earliest juncture and hid until the music faded. ADVERTISEMENT To my dismay, I found myself in an identical situation less than 24 hours later. This time I had the distinct advantage of accidentally seating myself at a table of soon-to-be cousins all my age, and fluent in English. They assured me that inevitably we would end up dancing but that, "we just get so happy when you dance, we don't care if you're good,". That night, my tango teacher was my step-grandmother, and my Spanish teachers were my cousins, who taught me essential insults and swear words, to which I returned the favor. A man with a white beard valiantly attempted to teach me how to dance with hip movements while I tried to dig my own grave. On the night of the wedding, dozens of relatives welcomed me to their family. Of course, tradition required we dance like there was no manana. As the video footage attests, my lack of coordination persisted through my final night in Colombia, but my conservative technique did not. By early morning, only the die-hard dancers and those directly related to the bride or groom were left on the dance floor, shoes strewn away, polished hairstyles abandoned, and enthusiastic smiles unwavering. My stepmother has never been anything but kind, welcoming, and open-hearted. I've considered her a part of my family far longer than she has been married to my dad. In fact, I have never known her to be anything less, yet I didn't have any idea what to expect from a family with vast cultural differences, including language; a family I hadn't even met. I never expected to feel thrilled in an otherwise terrifying situation. Even more so, I never expected to feel so completely, and unconditionally loved by such kind people. They say you should write what you know. I'll be honest; I don't know much about dancing, so I didn't write about it. However, I think I know a thing or two about language, which in fact, has very little to do with words. Aspiring entrepreneurs now have a new potential source for the essential fuel for any successful project money. The Rochester Area Economic Development Inc. rolled out its new Southeast Minnesota Capital Fund on Tuesday morning at Mayo Clinic Business Accelerator. After being conceived by the Journey to Growth's Entrepreneurship Committee in 2015, the fund has raised $875,000 for 26 investors. J2G is a five-year regional economic development initiative spearheaded by RAEDI, which was the first to back the project with a $50,000 investment. David Herbert, president and CEO of Rochester's 46 North LLC, introduced the fund as its new chair. "There is a tremendous opportunity to invest in startup companies in this area," he told a small crowd gathered for the announcement. "I'm excited to make money, but also to help companies grow in this area. It's a win-win." ADVERTISEMENT The goal of the fund is to support young, start-up companies with "angel" investment in exchange for equity in the project. Herbert said the fund is open to investing in any kind of company, though they expect to mostly focus on medical and/or technology firms. Al Berning, the CEO of Ambient Clinical Analytics in Rochester, said having worked with several startups that angel investment is the "lifeblood" for fledgling companies. "From a funding standpoint, every piece is important. Every piece you add is a building block that allows companies to have multiple funding sources," he said. "It's perfect time for this with DMC (Destination Medical Center) and Mayo Clinic Ventures working to get a lot of technology on the street." Berning, along with Mayo Clinic's Jim Rogers, helped conceive the idea, while working with J2G. Gary Smith and Xavier Frigola of RAEDI took the idea and turned it into a reality. Frigola says the goal is to invest about $50,000 in each company. The fund has already looked at two potential candidates, but they didn't fit in the end, Herbert said. The fund is still accepting new investors through the end of the year. However, additional investors must be accredited as defined federal securities rules. The investor must have an income of more than $200,000 or a net worth of more than $1 million. Herbert described the fund as working similar to a cooperative with the 26 investors all having a say. He was elected as chair by his fellow investors. Leigh Johnson, the founder of Custom Alarm, is serving as vice chair. The hope is to invest in about 15 companies in the next three to five years and then watch as seven to 10 of them gain traction to grow income and jobs in southeastern Minnesota, Herbert said. ADVERTISEMENT RED WING The Red Wing City Council voted 4-3 Monday to cancel a purchase agreement for the downtown property at 621 W. Fourth St. The property originally was considered for purchase to work with a local advocacy group affiliated with Hope Coalition for use as a homeless shelter. According to research by city staff, the property, which overlooks the downtown mall across from the bandshell in Central Park, encroaches on the neighboring property owned by United Lutheran Church, particularly a retaining wall that sits on the property line. The structure on the property also has a roof that sits as close as 7 inches from the adjoining Goodhue County property. City staff presented a report to the council that outlined two specific concerns about purchasing the property. First, while the church's board sent a proposal to the county and city to address both the encroachment and overlap issues, agreement with the county could not occur before the city's opt-out date Tuesday for the purchase agreement had passed. Second, the long-term maintenance of the retaining wall would be problematic because it lies on both sides of the property line. "It's our opinion that these are title interests that don't appear to be resolved in our interest," said Brian Peterson, special projects manager for the city. ADVERTISEMENT Several people spoke on the matter during Monday's meeting. Lucinda Beise said purchasing the property would not be a good example of frugality by the council. "When the council spends money, it should make a difference in our community," she said. Janet Johnson added to that, saying the city would get into a financial and property "quagmire" by purchasing the property. However, two individuals both affiliated with the city's Heritage Preservation Commission spoke in favor of the purchase. Ruth Nerhaugen said with the recent sale of the adjoining property to the county to build a parking lot, the city was losing its historic homes along the mall. The home, she said, had a storied history that went back 150 years. "As a preservationist, I believe the cost of not acquiring the property is too high." Sarah Hansen agreed, adding the property was one of the oldest houses still standing in Red Wing. "How will we explain to our children and grandchildren that we tore down what wasn't perfect?" she asked. Council member John Becker said he supported purchasing the building even if the city found another use for it. Its location across from Central Park and its history, he said, made it worth the money. "The thing about old buildings is, once they're gone, they're gone. They're not building new old buildings," he said. ADVERTISEMENT Becker cited the torn-down Irish Row Houses as a piece of Red Wing's history that will be lost forever. He also pointed out if Red Wing Shoe Co. had not stepped up to save the St. James Hotel four decades ago, the city would be without one of its iconic landmarks. Council member Evan Brown added if the city does not purchase the property, it is likely the county would, looking to expand its parking lot project for the nearby Goodhue County Health and Human Services building. "No matter what, taxpayer dollars are buying this piece of property," Brown said. "I don't like this deal, but it's the only deal that allows us (control)." Council member Dan Munson said he opposed the purchase because the city should not spend money on items it does not need. That opposition was reinforced by news of the title issues with the property. "I can't spend taxpayer dollars to purchase and bring up to a minimum city standard a building we have no use for," Munson said. "I don't feel the city should be in the business of buying properties." Council President Kim Beise said while he originally was in favor of the purchase, support for the homeless shelter idea seems to be waning, and that would leave the city with a property in need of major rehabilitation. "If the building is meant to be preserved, someone can step up and do that," he said, adding the city has several existing projects that likely will need more funding than originally thought. In the end, council members Munson, Beise, Dean Hove and Dustin Schulenberg voted to cancel the purchase agreement made last month. The same four voted against a proposal to re-enter negotiations with the seller with the stipulation that the encroachment issue first be cleared. ADVERTISEMENT We all play a part, and we all have a part to play. That, said the Rev. Katy Lee, was one of the key messages from Tuesday's Stand Against Racism event at Christ United Methodist Church in Rochester. Lee, associate pastor of youth and young adults, mission and justice at the church, helped organize the evening, designed to let people speak about racism and how to overcome it. "I think one of the big themes was connection," Lee said. "There was a big hope for a greater connection between people." How that connection occurs can take many forms, she said. It includes anything from looking up from your smartphones and smiling at one another to working against micro-aggressions and divisive language. ADVERTISEMENT Torres Hodges, director of community engagement at the Diversity Council, said he is working on a project to help make that connection, and he talked about it Tuesday night. "It's a community songwriting project for the region," he said. "It addresses the issue of disconnection to talk about people's personal experiences." After people share their experiences, songwriters and musicians will work together to eventually yield a song, he said. That song will be performed next April at the Rochester Symphony to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. "Its goal is to unite the community through song," Hodges said. "It's not the solution, but it's a solution." That, he said, was a key theme he also heard Tuesday. Everyone can work to overcome racism and hate in their own ways, but as long as everyone is working toward a common goal, progress is being made. Hodges sang Tuesday, a song called "Drowning," about growing up black in America. He then spoke to the crowd, telling people, "It's not just important to do your own thing, but make sure we're supporting each other and moving in sync." While Hodges said he would like to see the community come together for events like Stand Against Racism, he understands people get caught up in their lives. And, sometimes, it takes an event like the violence in Charlottesville, Va., last week to get people to take a stand for what is right. "People have less of a sense of urgency if they don't see things happening in the news," he said. "When we do see crises, people are more willing to go above and beyond those barriers." For Lee, the message is to keep working, even little by little. "It's like creating a marble statue. Everyone is chipping at different sides, but we do need to combat racism from different sides and angles." WISCOY TOWNSHIP Miranda Sieh notices it when she needs to shop at the feed store. That condescending look and tone when the woman who grows vegetables comes in with questions. A fairly new farmer, she's been growing fruits and berries on about five acres near Hampton for two years her neighbors plant row crops and raise livestock. So when she comes with questions about her orchard or vegetable and berry fields, she often feels like they dismiss her. That is what made the In Her Boots workshop such a breath of fresh country air. The workshop, held earlier this month at Blue Fruit Farms south of Winona, drew farmers from around the region and a little beyond. Most were women, though a few men joined the workshop centered around adding fruit to a farm's mix of business, organic certification and the organic movement, encouraging pollinators and developing a pest management strategy. But mostly, said Lisa Kivirist, founder of the Rural Women's Project of the Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service, the workshop represents a safe place for new farmers and female farmers to ask questions without worrying about how those questions will be perceived. ADVERTISEMENT "This kind of environment works well for women," Kivirist said, referring to the discussions held in the field. "It's in a circle, not a lecture hall. Farming can be a lonely business, especially for a woman." A third of the attendees were new farmers, another third had farmed from one to five years and the rest had farmed for five years or more. Many of those newer farmers, Kivirist said, were younger women, which is part of a growing trend she sees in farming. "Younger people are coming into agriculture today with a mission," she said. "It's a calling to feed the community." The event drew a few dozen farmers, of whom three were men. That, Kivirist said, is a lot for the In Her Boots workshops. Not that they want to keep men out, she said. Instead, the event is designed to make sure women feel welcome. Jess Bernstein, who farms fruits and vegetables as well as raising ducks, chickens and a few pigs near Mount Horeb, Wis., said she has been farming for about a year, and the workshop gave her great ideas on what to look for when it comes to issues with her crops. She said she loved some of the advice given by Joyce Ford, the experienced fruit farmer and owner of Blue Fruit Farm. "I took notes on how we harvest things and what crops are the easiest to market," Bernstein said. Ford led a discussion in the field ranging from a hands-on demonstration on how to measure soil pH to what organic solutions work on different pests. The key, she said, is understanding, from an organic perspective, there are always plenty of options, so don't get discouraged. While Bernstein said her farm has some similarities with Ford's, Bernstein said there are definite differences. But the workshop offered information and she felt comfortable asking questions to help her going forward. ADVERTISEMENT Sieh said her farm is planted mostly on badly eroded land that she is recovering, so while some things at Blue Fruit Farm were similar, like Bernstein, she knows her farm is different. But making new contacts at the workshop should help her build a network that can help tackle those problems going forward. "I think the networking is huge," she said, adding the event was one of a kind designed both for women and organic fruit farmers. That most of those peer farmers also are women is a bonus, she said, adding she hopes MOSES holds more events just like this. "Things change from year to year," she said. "I'd come back to get more training." The nefarious internet game that originated in 2013 in Russia has found presence in India. With three cases of suicide already being reported from different parts of India, the need to curb it is urgent. By India Today Web Desk: The news of Kerala teen killing himself, trying to complete the Blue Whale Challenge as per his mother, has triggered discussion and debate on the topic in the country right now. The infamous internet challenge that ends with the players killing themselves has allegedly taken over 150 lives in Russia and Europe. Last month, the suicide of a 14-year-old boy in Mumbai had brought the Blue Whale Challenge to limelight in India. One of the last photos on his phone India Today could access was captioned, "Soon the only thing you would be left with will be a picture of me". Sources close to the kid's family, however, denied any links to the Blue Whale Challenge and said that the family learned about its existence only after seeing media reports. advertisement The deadly game has since reportedly claimed three lives in India while a few other cases of teenagers being saved at the last moment were reported. What's common in all these cases? The teenagers were allegedly playing the Blue Whale Challenge. 1. Mumbai The fourteen-year-old boy committed suicide by jumping off a seven-storey building in Andheri, Mumbai. The Class 9 student's suicide was said to be linked to the Blue Whale Challenge. A neighbour spotted him walking on the edge of the terrace shooting what seemed like a selfie video before he jumped off and killed himself. The boy's suicide raised many questions. The issue was raised in the Maharashtra assembly and CM Fadnavis called it "worrisome". 2. Kolkata A 15-year-old boy killed himself by suffocating. Alarms were raised when the teenager went to take a bath but did not come out for a long time. When the family broke into the bathroom the boy was found lying on the floor, dead. His face was wrapped in a plastic sheet and he had a towel wrapped around his body. Although most media reports claimed that there were no other injuries (cuts) on his body, it is still contentious as there are no visuals of the body available and all details were based on accounts of the family members. His friends claimed that he told them about the Blue Whale Challenge but the family said that they did not notice anything unusual in his behaviour. 3. Kerala A 16-year-old, Class 11 student, hanged himself to death on July 26. Day before yesterday, Manoj's mother told police the she suspects that he son had taken up the Blue Whale Challenge and it could be the reason behind her son's death. In an interview, Manoj's mother said that he mentioned the Blue Whale challenge to her nine months ago. She laughed it off but was concerned when she got to know about the details of the challenge. She asked Manoj to give her a word that he won't take it up. His mother told a local channel that she had since seen changes in her son's behaviour. He never traveled alone but she got to know he went to the beach alone, that he stayed awake all night and slept only around 5 AM. advertisement Manoj also asked his mother if she would be sad if he died and if she would be able to recover from the loss. Manoj's Facebook profile also shows some signs (read posts) that hint he could have been suffering from depression. Apart from cases of suicides, there have been reports of teenagers being stopped from committing suicide. A Class 7 kid in Indore's Chameli Devi School was stopped from jumping off the school's third floor. On further questioning, the kid revealed that he had been playing the Blue Whale Challenge on his father's mobile. An activist told IndiaToday.in that the boy's body had cuts as well. A similar case was reported from Dehradun, the school on conditions of anonymity, told that a Class 5 student was stopped from committing suicide after noticing unusual behaviour. Class teacher, worried seeing the drastic change in the kid's demeanor -- from a playful kid to a gloomy kid -- informed the principal about it and the principal reached out to the child. The kid spoke to the principal about the Blue Whale Challenge. The school authorities immediately contacted his parents and took necessary actions to avoid any extreme step by the kid. advertisement A 14-year-old boy from Solapur, Pune was said to be reportedly playing the Blue Whale challenge. The boy had gone missing from his house on August 8. After his father lodged a complaint with the police, the force was alerted. He was found near Bhigwan area of Pune on August 9 by the police. WAY FORWARD With the Blue Whale Challenge making headlines over the last few weeks, Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan asked the Centre to ban the Blue Whale Challenge. Banning the challenge could prove a tough task because it is propagated via social media using hashtags but with the help of social media giants like Twitter and Facebook, and Google, the commonly used hashtags could be disabled. The Centre directed Facebook, Twitter and Google to remove all links related to the challenge from their platforms. Various steps have been taken by social media giants like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram to spread awareness about the Blue Whale Challenge. Typing hashtags commonly used by whales and curators will first land you on to a page with helpline links and numbers. There is also a provision to report a tweet or social media activity and help is offered to the users. --- ENDS --- advertisement ST. PAUL After a man used his car to mow down a group of counter-protesters at a white supremacist rally in Virginia, many are asking: What constitutes an act of terrorism? As it turns out, "terrorism" at least in reference to domestic acts is an ill-defined term. But it's still a powerful label, with symbolic heft. President Trump faced withering criticism for his initial response to the deadly car attack. While many Americans waited for him to come out with a stronger denunciation of white supremacists, his national security adviser was quick to call the incident a form of terrorism. "What terrorism is, is the use of violence to incite terror and fear," said Gen. H.R. McMaster on "Meet the Press" the morning after the attack. "And of course it was terrorism." Attorney General Jeff Sessions also denounced the Charlottesville attack as an "evil" act of domestic terrorism. ADVERTISEMENT But people who have studied terrorism say use of the word is politicized and subjective. "Terrorism really is an almost meaningless term," said Ruth DeFoster, a communications studies professor at St. Catherine University in St. Paul. The question of why some acts of violence are considered terrorism and others are not intrigued her so much that she wrote a book about it. DeFoster said there's no consensus on what terrorism is. "You'd be hard pressed to find any two law enforcement officials, law enforcement entities, any two policymakers, any two journalists who are going to define terrorism the same way," she said. "That's the problem." A native New Yorker, DeFoster was 16 at the time of the Sept. 11 attacks. Ever since then, she said, Americans have had a racially influenced idea of who terrorists are. And their biases are reflected in the media. "What I've found in my research, over and over, is that Muslim, Arab and Middle Eastern subjects are almost uniformly identified as terrorists," she said, "while subjects who are not Middle Eastern, Muslim or Arab are rarely identified as terrorists in media coverage." She said two recent mass shootings illustrate the inconsistencies. In 2015, Dylann Roof gunned down nine people at a black church in Charleston, S.C. One year later, Omar Mateen killed 49 in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla. Journalists depicted Mateen's act as a much graver threat to national security, DeFoster said. And that's peculiar, given how much he had in common with Roof. "They're both young men, they're both mentally ill, they both have a long history of substance addiction, they both self-radicalized online," she explained. "But overwhelmingly, Omar Mateen was described as a terrorist, and his crime was seen as being emblematic of this broader danger, while Dylann Roof was framed as a deranged lunatic, a one-off, someone who wasn't representative of anything broader than himself." ADVERTISEMENT But even when law enforcement officials call a violent act in this country a form of terrorism, it's largely symbolic. That's because while there are terrorism-related criminal statutes on the books, they apply to international terrorism. Domestic terrorism is not in itself a criminal offense that can be prosecuted. The federal Patriot Act defines domestic terrorism as an act "dangerous to human life" in violation of the law and is intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or influence government policy. But the U.S. State Department and Defense Department each has its own, separate definition of terrorism. So why does it matter what it's called? When someone set off a bomb at a Bloomington mosque earlier this month, many Somali-American worshipers absolutely called it terrorism. They wanted to hear the media, and law enforcement, say as much. Mike German, a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law and a former FBI agent, said that when law enforcement uses the term "terrorism" in some instances but not others, it creates a sense of a two-tiered system of justice. It leads minority communities to feel as though they're less protected, he said. "I think it's silly that the government isn't willing to use the word, like that word has some magic," German said. "This was intended to terrorize the Muslim community. A bombing at a mosque, of course, is going to do that. And even if the motive turns out to be less clear, the effect today is that the community is in fear." While he's critical of the rhetoric, German said he has faith in the investigation. FBI officials say they're exhausting numerous resources to get to the bottom of the mosque bombing no matter what they call it. is oppressive, patriarchal, and probably racist. At least it is in the increasingly numerous instances where it undermines the liberal narrative. So I hesitate to point out that the following two things both can be true: (1) neo-Nazis are despicable and must take blame for the violence in Charlottesville and (2) the antifa left-wingers share responsibility for some of the violence. President Trump has affirmed both propositions. Should he have affirmed the first one faster than he did? I think so. However, Im glad Trump is not letting go of the second proposition. Left-wing lawlessness is a growing problem in this country. It should not be swept under the rug. The fascists who are engaging in it need to be called out. Standing up to the braying asses in the media during his press conference yesterday was the right thing for the president to do. Im not a fan of Trump, and my view of his presidency is mixed. But I enjoyed watching (via replay) his performance. So we seem to be on our way to tearing down every statue related to the Democratic Partys largest achievement in American historythe Confederate States of America. Funny how the Confederate battle flag, and now statues, didnt start to come down until Republicans became ascendant in southern states. Democrats who had a monopoly grip on the South for decades had lots of time to take these steps, but didnt. Youd almost think they were opportunists. Rich Lowry pointed out that there is a statue in Baltimore of Roger Taney, and lo and behold it was taken down last night. Taney did more than perhaps any other figure to propel the nation into civil war with his reckless decision in Dred Scott that the negro has no rights which the white man is bound to respect, which by implication legalized slavery throughout the entire U.S. and prohibited Congress henceforth from stopping its spread in the territories. All that was needed, as Lincoln pointed out, was one more case extending the principle Taney laid out to make slavery legal throughout the North. Had not the war intervened, maybe we would have had Ubergefell as the sequel to Dred Scott. There may be a larger parallel between that time and today. I often like to share with students in class the summation of the defense lawyer in the case of Jacob Gruber, a Methodist minister who was put on trial in Frederick, Maryland, in 1818 on the charge of inciting a slave revolt. Gruber had spoken at a large outdoor meeting in Hagerstown about the nation sin of slavery, and as the large audience included several hundred slaves, Gruber was promptly arrested. Grubers was exactly the kind of abolitionist speech that Democrats in the 1850s like James Buchanan denounced as causing sectional rifts. Here is the climax of the closing argument to the jury that Grubers defense attorney offered: Any man has a right to publish his opinions on that subject [slavery] whenever he pleases. It is a subject of national concern, and may at all times be freely discussed. Mr. Gruber did quote the language of our great act of national independence, and insisted on the principles contained in that venerated instrument. He did rebuke those masters, who, in the exercise of power, are deaf to the calls of humanity; and he warned them of the evils they might bring upon themselves. He did speak with abhorrence of those reptiles, who live by trading in human flesh, and enrich themselves by tearing the husband from the wifethe infant from the bosom of the mother: and this I am instructed was the head and front of his offending. Shall I content myself with saying he had a right to say this? That there is no law to punish him? So far is he from being the object of punishment in any form of proceeding, that we are prepared to maintain the same principles, and to use, if necessary, the same language here in the temple of justice, and in the presence of those who are the ministers of the law. A hard necessity, indeed, compels us to endure the evil of slavery for a time. It was imposed upon us by another nation, while we were yet in a state of colonial vassalage. It cannot be easily, or suddenly removed. Yet while it continues it is a blot on our national character, and every real lover of freedom confidently hopes that it will be effectually, though it must be gradually, wiped away; and earnestly looks for the means, by which this necessary object may be best attained. And until it shall be accomplished: until the time shall come when we can point without a blush, to the language held in the Declaration of Independence, every friend of humanity will seek to lighten the galling chain of slavery, and better, to the utmost of his power, the wretched condition of the slave. Such was Mr. Grubers object in that part of his sermon, of which I am now speaking. Those who have complained of him, and reproached him, will not find it easy to answer him: unless complaints, reproaches and persecution shall be considered an answer. Students often assume that Grubers lawyer must have been Abraham Lincoln, as his argument sounds so much like Lincolns line of argument in the 1850s. Lincoln was precocious, to be sure, but since he was born in 1809, he would have been just nine years old at the time of the Gruber trial. No; instead, Grubers lawyer was. . . Roger Taney. Which leads to the next question: what the hell happened to Taney? Thats a long story, but can be summarized briefly by the proposition that Democrats ceased to believe that slavery was a national sinindeed they came to believe it was a positive good. (See Calhoun, Alexander Stephens, George Fitzhugh, etc.), and the first version of identity politics was born. In other words, Democrats arent that much different today than they were in the 1850s. To put it still one more way, when thinking about what the hell happened to Taney, you can begin to make out parallels to what the hell has happened to Democrats more recently. P.S. Gruber was acquitted. Quote: Update: 2 p.m. Lt. Col. Curtis Kellogg, spokesman for the 25th Infantry Division, said this afternoon that the Army has notified all the families of the five soldiers who are missing after the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter they were flying in Tuesday night crashed into the sea off Kaena Point. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the soldiers at this difficult time, he said at an afternoon press conference with spokesmen from other search agencies at the Haleiwa Harbor command center. He said the Army is keeping the families updated as the search-and-rescue operation continues with participation of the Army, Coast Guard, Honolulu firefighters and city Ocean Safety lifeguards. The helicopter had two pilots and three crewmen when it crashed. Kellogg praised the multi-agency team effort to find the missing soldiers. Everyone here is committed to this endeavor that you see before you, he said. He stressed that the operation remains a search-and-research mission. We are here to bring our soldiers home to their families, Kellogg said. Coast Guard Lt. Scott Carr said the search is concentrated in an area three-to-five miles off Kaena Point. HFD Capt. David Jenkins noted the water in the area is 500 to 600 feet deep. Results of the states leg of the NNPC yearly quiz competition conducted on July 22, 2017, in all the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been released. Fifteen of the winners came from public schools, while 22 were from private colleges, officials said. The data from the yearly competition which started exclusively for participants from the Niger Delta in 2000 but translated into a nationwide exercise in 2001, also indicated a gender mix among the winners, with eight and 29 female and male state-winners respectively. The Group Managing Director of NNPC, Maikanti Baru, says he is impressed with the innovation introduced in the conduct of the 2017 edition of the competition. Receiving briefs on the status of the 15th edition of the competition in Abuja, Mr. Baru said he was glad with the engagement of the West African Examination Council (WAEC), the Junior Engineering Technical Society (JETS) as well as Science Teachers Association of Nigeria (STAN) for the exercise, because it added integrity to the exercise. He described as catalytic, the one-off grant of N100,000 for state winners and the scholarship award of N300,000 per session for the overall winner at the grand finale, redeemable upon presentation of evidence of admission into tertiary institutions, saying it would enhance the competitiveness of the yearly event. As a corporate entity, we are passionate about impacting lives positively through our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) projects. The annual quiz competition is a flagship project for NNPC that was designed to encourage science and technology education among the youth for the purpose of lending a hand in building future manpower for the oil and gas industry, Mr Baru stated. On his part, NNPC Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs, Ndu Ughamadu, who spoke at the briefing, described the overall performance of the exercise as excellent. Explaining the details of the results, Mr Ughamadu said 19 winners scored 80 percent and above in the exercise, adding that 13 of them had scores that ranged between 60 percent and 79 percent, with the five others emerging with marks below 60 percent. The Group Public Affairs Division which coordinates the yearly event sent its personnel who are members of the quiz committee to observe the exercise in some selected states of the federation, including Kogi, Plateau, Enugu, Rivers, Oyo, Zamfara and the FCT. Designed mainly for students in the nations secondary schools, the competition has impacted positively on the intellectual attainment of young Nigerians. It has provided financial succour to successful contestants who have been placed on bursary throughout their university education. Many of the awardees have moved on to achieve academic laurels in tertiary institutions, locally and internationally, officials said. Fulfilling aspects of the competitions mission, records show many of the past awardees ended up studying Science and Technology related courses in the universities. In 2010, a past winner of the competition emerged second in a contest involving others from the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Member Countries, and Austria to commemorate the 50th anniversary of OPEC. Share this: Twitter Facebook Between August and December 2017, there will be 16 per cent fewer airline seats on domestic routes to and from Lagos, a study has revealed. An analysis of seat capacity for travel to the top ten international airports in Africa, produced by ForwardKeys, a research platform, reveals that the city would also record 9 per cent fewer airline seats on international routes within the same period. ForwardKeys predicts future travel patterns by analysing 17 million booking transactions a day. According to the analysis, Lagos is seeing substantial declines in both domestic and international capacity, mainly because Arik Air is cutting 53 per cent of its seats for the rest of 2017. Commenting on the data, Jon Howell, Managing Director of AviaDev, Africas leading airline route development conference, said one of the major reasons for falling arrivals by air to Nigeria, is the fact that many airlines could not repatriate funds after the currency crisis in 2016. Mr. Howell explained that as a result, Iberia and United Airlines have ceased operations to Nigeria, whilst Emirates and the other foreign carriers have scaled back services. The Nigerian airlines have suffered too and so this void has been filled by the ever-opportunistic Ethiopian Airlines, who began serving their fifth Nigerian destination, Kaduna on 1st August 2017 and are now the largest carrier in the Nigerian market, he said. Meanwhile, most of the other airports in Africas top ten are seeing a healthy growth in capacity, the analysis noted, which is more international than it is domestic. The study added that the most notable exception to this trend is Nairobi, which is seeing a 22 per cent boost in domestic capacity. The report revealed further that in the first seven months of the year, total international flight arrivals to Africa grew by 14.0 per cent over the same period in 2016. Most significantly, growth was stronger for travel to and from the continent than within the continent. Arrivals from Europe, which make up 46 per cent of the market, were up 13.2per cent. From the Americas, arrivals were up 17.6 per cent; from the Middle East, they were up 14.0 per cent and from Asia Pacific, they were up 18.4 per cent. By comparison, the report said intra-African air travel which makes up 26 per cent of the market, was up 12.6 per cent. Looking at Africas top ten destination countries, there have been stand-out performances from Tunisia and Egypt, which are recovering from notorious terrorist attacks two years ago, up 33.5 per cent and 24.8 per cent respectively. Morocco and Tunisia received a huge boost in arrivals from China, up 450 per cent and 250 per cent respectively, after they relaxed visa restrictions. The one disappointment is Nigeria, which has seen a 0.8 per cent drop, in the wake of recession in 2016, caused by a collapse in the oil price to a 13-year low, the report explained. Looking forward to the end of the calendar year, bookings for flights to Africa are currently 16.8 per cent ahead of where they were on July 31st, 2016. Bookings from Europe are currently 17.5 per cent ahead, from the Americas 26.6 per cent ahead, from Asia Pacific 11.5 per cent ahead, from the Middle East 8.2 per cent ahead and bookings for intra-African air travel are 11.0 per cent ahead. On an individual airport level, the most significant capacity increase in East Africa is at Kigali, with new routes to Brussels, London and Mumbai. Other notable new capacity includes Kilimanjaro to Dubai and Nairobi to Muscat and to Yemen. The CEO of ForwardKeys, Olivier Jager, said: The growth in air travel to Africa is impressive. However, it is notable that consumer demand and airline investment is greater in travel to African countries from outside the continent than it is between African countries. The new findings are part of a wider report on travel to Africa, produced by ForwardKeys. Share this: Twitter Facebook The Israeli Government said it would revoke the press credentials of a reporter for the Al Jazeera news network on Wednesday. This decision was taken after the reporter claimed his work was part of the resistance against Israel. The reporter, Elias Karram, 40, is a Palestinian citizen of Israel. In an interview with a separate TV station, Karram said, As a Palestinian journalist in an occupied area or in a conflict zone, media work is an integral part of the resistance and its educational political activity. Nitzan Chen, the director of the Government Press Office (GPO), said the statements disqualified him from accurately reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Whoever takes an active part in a political struggle should do so in the framework of the law, but without press credentials from the state of Israel, Chen said. Karrams credentials would be revoked pending a hearing. The latest move comes after Israels Communication Minister, Ayoub Kara, requested the GPO to rescind all the press cards of Al Jazeera journalists in Israel, accusing the network of inciting violence. Kara is also seeking to close the Qatari networks Jerusalem bureau. Israeli Arab lawmakers Ahmad Tibi and Osama Saadi of the Joint List party called the move a blatant step against freedom of speech and journalist work, claiming that the Israeli government was persecuting Israeli Arab journalists. Al Jazeera has been banned in several countries including Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Syria They have also been accused of being a mouthpiece for Islamist groups, a charge Al Jazeera has denied. (dpa/NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook "Prima facie everything appears to be fishy," Justice Gavai said. By Vidya : The Bombay High Court today ordered Maharashtra Home Minister Ranjit Patil to file his response to a PIL which alleges that he misused his powers and protected an unauthorised eatery in Mumbai's Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC). "Prima facie everything appears to be fishy," Justice Gavai said. Activist Pravin Wategaonkar's PIL accuses Patil of staying the demolition of illegal portions of a food court in BKC - even though the Maharashtra Regional Town Planning Act doesn't have provisions for granting such a stay. advertisement Wategaonkar says Patil misused his powers because the eatery is managed by the kin of a bureaucrat currently serving in the Maharashtra government. Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbakoni told the court Ranjit Patil would file his affidavit on the next date of hearing. The case will be heard three weeks from now. 'UNPALATABLE' The Bombay High Court also asked how the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) hadn't taken any steps to demolish the structure immediately. "In August 2016, the owner of the eatery gave an undertaking that he would remove the unauthorised structure himself. But he did not do so. We want to know what prevented the MMRDA from demolishing the structure? The structure was finally demolished in December 2016," Justice Gavai said. "This is somewhat unpalatable," he added. AMENDMENT Justice Gawai also ordered Wategaonkar to amend his petition and include a specific prayer seeking a inquiry against the concerned MMRDA officials. According to documents accessed by Wategaonkar, the MMRDA had leased the space in the BKC to a company - Spice and Grains - for a food court. The MMRDA later discovered that Spice and Grains had carried out unauthorised construction in the area. In May last year, it issued a demolition notice to the company. But in August 2016, Ranjit Patil was asked that the demolition order be stayed, and he granted the stay immediately, the plea says. ALSO READ No area in Maharashtra is a silence zone unless state government notifies it Bombay High Court puts up Sahara's Aamby Valley for auction --- ENDS --- Exactly 100 days since he left Nigeria on Sunday, May 7 for London to attend to his ailing health, controversy has continued to trail President Muhammadu Buharis continued absence from the country. Since Mr. Buharis travelled, the presidency has repeatedly tried to assure Nigerians he was getting better and would soon return to the country. Photos of the president meeting with different categories of public officials and politicians in London, where he is receiving treatment, have been circulated to calm concerned citizens. Also, officials who have met the president including Acting President Yemi Osinbajo and Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo have repeatedly said he was getting better and would soon return to the country. His aides have also said he would only return when his doctors so advice and that only Mr. Buhari could tell Nigerians the true nature of his illness or indeed his health status. However, while the latest trip is Mr. Buharis longest outside the country, it is not the first time the president would travel on health grounds. HISTORY OF HEALTH TRAVELS Since assuming office as Nigerias democratically elected President on May 29, 2015 Mr. Buhari has been away four times on similar vacations, while handing over power to his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo as acting President, in compliance with section 145 (1) of the 1999 constitution. During his first trip, eight months after assuming office, Mr. Buhari departed the country onFebruary 5, 2016 to return five days later according to a letter signed by his special assistant on media, Femi Adesina. Exactly four months later on June, 5 2016, the president embarked on a second journey to London, this time to attend to a problem with his ear, his aides said. The subject of Mr. Buharis health started dominating the national discuss, when during his third trip, on January 19, Mr. Buhari extended his medical vacation, after an initial announcement that his trip would last ten work days. In the letter regarding his travel, dated January 18 Mr. Buhari had indicated that he would be away for 10 days on a medical vacation to attend to his health. The leave was supposed to last between January 23 and February 6, according to the letter transmitted to both chambers of the National Assembly. However a day before the expiration of the vacation on February 5, the National Assembly received yet another letter from the president requesting the extension of his medical leave. This time, a date of return was not included in the statement, signed by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina. According to the statement, the extension was needed to complete and receive the results of a series of tests recommended by the Presidents doctors. The situation was further heightened by inconsistent information regarding the presidents health status as disclosed by his aides. On March 10, exactly 50 days after his departure, Mr. Buhari returned but was not able to adequately discharge his duties. About 58 days later, on May 7, the president embarked on another journey for his medical check-up, without any specific date for his return. Announcing the presidents departure on his twitter handle, his spokesperson, Femi Adesina, said the latest journey was for Mr. Buharismedical follow up, adding that the date of his (presidents) return would be determined by his doctors. DIVERGENT VIEWS Various individuals and groups have reacted to the presidents medical vacation, giving divergent opinions on the matter. In his comment regarding the issue, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Robert Clark said the section of the constitution that deals with the presidents handing over of power in the event of a vacation, is defective. That section 145 says that unless the president himself sends a contrary statement; you cannot do anything; that is the lacuna. Buhari can stay till the end of his tenure; nothing will happen, Mr. Clark said. Another lawyer, Liborous Oshoma, who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES on the matter listed five questions that he believes Nigerians should address about Mr. Buharis medical vacation. What is the status of the President health? Who is paying for his medical and or hospital bills? If we (Nigerians) are the ones paying, how much have we paid thus far? We read almost every day in the news that Mr. President is recovering fast and would soon return to his seat. Is he in any condition to continue when he returns? Or he will return and go back after a couple of weeks or months? Why is resignation not an option? the lawyer said. In another opinion, Razak Atunwa, a member of the House of Representatives from Kwara State, said the government is running smoothly because of Mr. Buharis respect for the rule of law. With all sense of patriotism and equanimity, it is important to bear in mind that we have a president who is in a situation that is by no fault of his own. Having met the constitutional provisions, the president shows he is a man of rule of law, Mr. Atunwa, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, said. Governance has not suffered and will not suffer for his being away, he added. About 90 days after Mr. Buharis departure, a group of Nigerians led by popular entertainer, Charles Oputa, also called Charly boy, began a protest to demand Mr. Buharis compulsory return or resignation with a hash tag #ResumeOrResign. Five days after the protesters began their call for Mr. Buharis compulsory return, a pro- Buhari group, led by Goodluck Obi, began a counter protest urging the president to rather focus on getting better before returning; a development which resulted in a clash between the two groups. On Tuesday, the #ResumeOrResign group took their protest to the Wuse Market, the largest market in the Nigerian capital Abuja, where they were attacked by suspected supporters of the president. The market was subsequently shut down due to the violence which took an ethnic dimension. THE CONTROVERSIAL LAW As the controversy surrounding the presidents absence continues, the relevant section of the Nigerian constitution relating to Mr. Buharis absence is Section 145 (1) which states that:Whenever the President transmits to the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration that he is proceeding on vacation or that he is otherwise unable to discharge the functions of his office, until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary such functions shall be discharged by the Vice-President as Acting President. As stated by Mr. Clark, the senior advocate, that section puts no time limit for which he can be outside the country. The Nigerian Senate also adopted a similar stance when it stated that Mr. Buhari did no wrong as he complied with that section before leaving the country. While the president remains outside the country, the controversy surrounding his health and fitness to continue in office lingers. For protesters demanding he returns immediately or resigns, they have vowed to continue their protest despite the Tuesday violence. We reiterate commitment to remain resolute in demanding full disclosure regarding the state of health of the President. It is the right of the Nigerian people to know the true state of health of the man they voted into power and for whose healthcare they are paying, one of the leaders of the protest, Deji Adeyanju, said in a statement on Tuesday. Share this: Twitter Facebook A member of the House of Representatives, Ibrahim Baba, has explained how the alleged plot by some members of the House to get a medical panel to visit President Muhammadu Buhari in the United Kingdom, was aborted. Mr. Buhari has been on medical leave in London, UK, since May 7. He had earlier in the year spent 59 days receiving treatment in the European country. The House leadership had reportedly come under pressure from some forces within and outside in the last two months to constitute up a medical panel on the health of the president, in line with Section 144 of the Nigerian Constitution. Section 144 (1) (a) says by a resolution by two-thirds majority of all the members of the executive council of the Federation it is declared that the President or Vice President is incapable of discharging the functions of his office; and (b) the declaration is verified, after such medical examination as may be necessary, by a medical panel established under subsection (4) of this section in its report to the President of the Senate or the Speaker of the House of Representatives, (2) Where the medical panel certifies in the report that in its opinion the President or Vice President is suffering from such infirmity of body or mind as renders him permanently incapable of discharging the functions of his office, a notice thereof signed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives shall be published in the Official Gazette of the Government of the Federation. The ultimate aim of the panel, which would have drawn each of its members from six geo-political zones, was allegedly to get a report stating that Mr. Buhari was incapacitated and should therefore resign honourably from office. Mr. Baba, a member of the All Progressives Congress, APC, who represents Katagum federal constituency of Bauchi State, said the plot was aborted, when lawmakers opposed to it argued that since Mr. Buhari transmitted a letter to the National Assembly informing it that he was ceding powers to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, there was no need to invoke the provisions of the constitution. I can confirm the demand made by some of our colleagues (to constitute a medical panel), the lawmaker told PREMIUM TIMES on Monday. This thing started about two months ago. I was one of those who kicked against it. The pressure was actually on the leadership but some of us got wind of it. We had argued that since the president legally transmitted a letter to us saying the vice president will act as president there was no need for any medical panel. We also argued that since the Acting President has been taking major decisions which ordinarily the president alone should take, we shouldnt bother to set up any medical team. Osinbajo has signed executive orders, signed the budget, swore in ministers and many other things and therefore there is no vacuum in governance. Mr. Baba said he and other lawmakers opposed to the setting up of a medical panel would have supported the demand if it was clear that the president was incapacitated. As you can see, President Buhari is not incapacitated. He is recuperating, and very fast. Some people, including party leaders and some governors have visited him and we saw him on television and on other media platforms. I assure you if the president had been incapacitated, we would have invoked the provisions of the constitution and maybe we would have used the Doctrine of Necessity. We were able to contain this thing for two months until it died down. We were putting pressure on the Speaker not to succumb because it will cause some instability in the system. The lawmaker alleged that majority of the lawmakers who canvassed the setting up of the panel were members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from the south-south and south-east geopolitical zones as well as a few lawmakers from the north. Efforts by PREMIUM TIMES to speak with the Minority Leader of the House, Leo Ogor, who is also the chairman of the PDP Caucus, were not successful. However, a member of the PDP, Nicholas Ossai, said he was not aware of the plot. I am not aware, said Mr. Ossai, who represents Ndokwa/Ukwuani federal constituency of Delta State. Hassan Turaki, media aide to the Speaker, did not respond to inquisition by this newspaper on Tuesday. He also did not respond to a text message sent to him as requested. Share this: Twitter Facebook Unidentified gunmen early on Wednesday struck at the office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, located at Wuse Zone 7, Abuja. The group of heavily armed men invaded the office at about 05.00 hours and shot into the premises, damaging vehicles parked in the premises, the commissions spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren, said. However, the attack was repelled by guards on duty. The hoodlums escaped in a getaway vehicle but not without leaving a message; a white envelope dropped by the fleeing attackers was found to contain a death threat addressed to Ishaku Sharu, a senior investigator with the Commission. Mr. Ishaku who heads the Foreign Exchange Malpractices Fraud Section is in charge of corruption investigation involving several politically exposed persons and retired military brass hats. The attack on the Zone 7 office which houses the Commissions AMCON Desk, Procurement Fraud and Foreign Exchange Malpractices Sections, is coming few weeks after another investigator, Austin Okwor, was shot and wounded by unknown assailants in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The latest incident has already been reported to the police for investigation, Mr. Uwujaren said. Share this: Twitter Facebook No fewer than 45 of 82 victims of Tuesdays market suicide bomb attack in Konduga, Borno State, have been transferred from General Hospital, Konduga, to State Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri, authorities said. A doctor at the general hospital, who pleaded anonymity, told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, on Wednesday that 17 people were brought in dead to the facility. The doctor said three others died at a hospital in Maiduguri. Initially, 17 persons and three suicide bombers were killed at the scene of the attack, while three others, including a child, died at the hospital in Maiduguri. We are providing treatment to the victims admitted in the hospital while those with serious cases were referred to Maiduguri, the doctor said. Abdullahi Danbatta, the Head of Rescue Team, State Emergency Management Agency, said the agencys team evacuated three bodies from the hospital in Maiduguri to Konduga. Mr. Danbatta added that the team evacuated more than 40 people with serious injuries to the Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri. The Commissioner of Police in Borno, Damian Chukwu, had confirmed 16 dead and 82 injured in the attack. Chukwu said the police had /visited and rendered the scene and vicinity of the attack safe and restored normalcy in the area. Tuesdays attack occurred two days after Boko Haram insurgents sacked a nearby village, Wanori-Amarwa, killed four persons and maimed two others. Konduga is one of the towns liberated by the military from the Boko Haram insurgents. Following the military action, thousands of displaced persons who took refuge at various camps returned to their homes in the area. The town is 25km from Maiduguri and has a population of more than 20, 000. Meanwhile, Buana Makinta, a relation of one of the victims, expressed concern over the alleged lack of medications at the regional hospital. Mr. Makinta alleged that the patients were not provided medications many hours after they were admitted at the hospital. The medical personnel are handicapped; they only washed the blood and applied bondage to the wounds. None of the victims is provided medications due to lack of drugs at the hospital, he alleged. He called on the government and donor agencies to provide drugs and a generator for the hospital to save lives. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook The Presidency on Wednesday reacted to the protests that rocked Wuse market in Abuja describing it as ethnicised and selfish. It also criticised the #ResumeOrResign group led by Charles Oputa, popularly called Charly Boy, for taking the protests to a sensitive spot like the Wuse market. The protesters were attacked by persons believed to be supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari leading to injury to some including police officers who tried to maintain peace. The market, the largest in Abuja, was subsequently shut down and was only reopened on Wednesday. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, addressed a pro-Buhari group from the Niger-Delta region which staged a separate rally in Abuja on Wednesday, to counter the #ResumeOrResign protesters. The #ResumeOrResign protesters are calling for the resumption or resignation of the president. Mr. Buhari has been in London for medical treatment of an undisclosed ailment for 100 days Dozens of pro-Buhari protesters gathered at the Unity Fountain at about 10 a.m. on Wednesday and concluded their rally with a solidarity march to the junction of Presidential Villa where they were received by the presidential media aide and his colleague, Garba Shehu. The protesters were chanting Sai Baba Sai Baba and were accompanied by security operatives down to the Presidential Villa where they demonstrated their support for Mr Buhari. An inscription on one of the placards the protesters carried read Buhari Was Only Sick Not Corrupt. Mr. Adesina, while addressing the protesters on behalf of the presidency, condemned the Wuse market protests. When quizzed on why Mr. Oputa was attacked on Tuesday, he said what happened was an attempt to ethnicise the protest. We are not for ethnic cleavages, we are for one Nigeria. Anybody that attempted to ethnicise protests failed. Because everyone has a right to protest and ethnicity is not something that should be introduced to protest. Taking a protest to the market in the first place was wrong, so whoever took the protest to the market place was the one that attempted to make it get out of hand, he added. Mr. Adesina added that the presidency noticed that some people have made efforts to create ethnic cleavages in the country but that what the people from the Niger Delta region did today has reinforced faith that Nigeria will remain one. He said the message of his audience would be conveyed to Mr. Buhari. Just over the weekend we were with him in London and he told us that he has been following events at home very keenly. We want to thank you very much and urge you to keep this spirit of patriotism. This is our country, we have no other one. Whatever we make of it is what we get, Mr. Adesina added. Johnny Michael, convener of the group, said they were fully in support of the president and wished him recovery. We the youth from the Niger Delta are coming to let every Nigerian know that the president has our total support and he has done well for us. Those people protesting for the resignation of the president are anti-party people, they are people that are being sponsored by the opposition party, Mr. Michael said. Share this: Twitter Facebook The police in Lagos have arrested a man found with a decomposing head of a woman at Imota, near Ikorodu, the News Agency of Nigeria reports. Sources at the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, Panti, told NAN in Lagos that the suspect, simply identified as Emmanuel, was arrested at the home of a native doctor who is now at large. NAN gathered that neighbours had reported to the police in Imota that a foul smell was emanating from the compound of the native doctor, identified as Jamiu. Policemen attached to the division invaded the place, combed the surrounding and discovered a human head. Jamiu, the native doctor, however, took to his heels when challenged but Emmanuel was arrested and he confessed that Jamiu helped him to get the human head for protection against Badoo cult group, a police source said. The police were on the trail of the native doctor while Emmanuel would be charged to court soon, the source told NAN. Also, the State CID has also arrested a man for killing another man by stabbing him on the chest during a fight at a bar in Egbeda area of Lagos. The suspect will be charged to court as soon as investigation is concluded, the source said. Confirming the arrests, the Lagos police spokesperson, Olarinde Famous-Cole, said that investigation was continuing into the matters. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook The Enugu State chapter of the Nigeria Police Widows Association, NPWA, has urged the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, to settle their late husbands entitlements to ameliorate their sufferings. Life has become unbearable for us since we lost our bread winners. It is becoming increasingly difficult for us to survive, its chairperson, Kelechukwu Kalu, said in Enugu on Wednesday. Ms. Kalu spoke at the launch of the associations 2017 calendar. She said that some members had nothing doing to sustain their families and were finding it difficult to feed and pay school fees. Mr. Kalu, who was represented by the Secretary of the association, Florence Ochigbo, said that some of the widows children had graduated from higher institutions but were yet to secure jobs. Those that have graduated are even lucky; many others got admission into secondary schools and universities but could not register because the mothers had no money, she said. She appealed to the NPF to pay their late husbands entitlements without further delay. Kalu also pleaded with governments at all levels to give employment to widows to enable them cater for their families. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook The academic staff of the University of Nigeria Nsukka, UNN, have joined the on-going nationwide strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, on Monday. Ifeanyichukwu Abada, the Chairman of ASUU-UNN, made this disclosure at a news briefing on Wednesday in Nsukka, shortly after the unions congress attended by members from Enugu and Nsukka campuses. The union leader said that members had unanimously agreed to join the nationwide strike declared by ASUU at the national level. He said the strike was to press home the unions demands, as contained in 2009 and 2013 agreement, signed by the federal government and the union, but which the government had yet to implement. Mr. Abada said the congress noted with concern and disappointment the non-payment of academic allowances and the non-release of operational licence. He also listed the unions demands to include, the non-implementation of the provision of 2014 Pension Reform Act with respect to retired professors and their salaries. Having exhausted all avenues to get the government to fully implement the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement and the 2013 MoU, ASUU resolved to embark on a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike, Mr. Abada said. He said members during the congress agreed that the strike would be total and comprehensive, as all forms of academic activities had been suspended. Members are advised to adhere strictly to the directive of ASUU, on the ongoing strike, as defaulting members will be brought to book, he said. He, however, called for the support of parents and students, saying that the strike was targeted at providing necessary infrastructure that would make universities in the country conducive for teaching and learning. Parents should know that we are fighting for them, as well as it is in the interest of students and we regret any inconvenience this strike may cause students and their parents, he said. Also, lecturers at the University of Abuja, on Wednesday, officially joined ASUU strike. The UniAbuja ASUU Chairman, Ben Ugheoke, told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, that the academic staff took the decision to join the strike after a meeting with its members on Wednesday. We have domesticated the total indefinite strike. The strike is on now, he said. NAN reports that the situation in and around the campus shows that academic staff had abandoned classes while students were seen roaming about. Some students, who spoke with NAN, said that the strike would affect the academic calendar, as their examination was just around the corner. A 300-level Political Science student, Ifeoma Anyanwu, said that the examination, which had been earlier scheduled to start next week, would no longer hold due to the strike. NAN recalls that ASUU on August 14, embarked on an indefinite strike to demand the implementation of an agreement signed between it and the Federal on conditions of service, funding, university autonomy and academic freedom. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook The Auditor-General of the Federation, Anthony Ayene, said his office is yet to audit the Treasury Single Account, TSA, two years after its commencement. Mr. Ayene made this known in Abuja on Wednesday during an interactive session with the House of Representatives Adhoc Committee set up to ascertain the status of TSA. He also said that his office could not carry out the audit because it was an ongoing policy. We are yet to do an audit of the TSA directly. What we have been doing is audit of the Consolidated Revenue Account of the Federation which is done in every 12 months. When I came in and discovered that, I discussed with my directors that we should be able to do an audit of TSA for transparency and accountability. So about three weeks ago, I asked the performance team to carry out a performance audit of TSA, he said. When a member of the committee, Aliyu Magaji Dau (APC, Jigawa), demanded the auditors-general opinion on the lack of audit of TSA, he said, I think there is an omission. It cant be said to be negligence because TSA is still an ongoing programme. I think it is not right that we are yet to audit TSA. He further said that it would take a maximum of six months for the performance audit to be completed. The Chairman of the Adhoc Committee, Abubakar Nuhu (Kano-APC) ruled that the auditor-general should submit the report of the audited TSA account to the committee in November. Also, a representative of the Accountant- General of the Federation, Alexander Adeyemi, told the lawmakers that the office got a presidential directive to use the TSA fund for treasury bill investment. Asked if all the funds that should accrue to the consolidated revenue account were channelled through TSA, Mr. Adeyemi said, On daily basis, we discover that funds are supposed to go into TSA, but they dont. But we do our best to ensure that such funds go into TSA. Mr. Adeyemi said that TSA was not affecting the commercial banks, but instead, making them to concentrate on their traditional roles. He said, The policy does not in any way affect the banks negatively, rather, it makes banks to concentrate on their traditional roles. The committee directed the Accountant-Generals office to submit documents on the interest generated through the treasury bill investment as well as details of the foreign component of TSA within 14 days. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has registered an additional party, the African Peoples Party, APP, bringing the number of registered parties in the country to 46. INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, made this known while swearing in nine new Resident Electoral Commissioners, RECs on Wednesday in Abuja. Mr. Yakubu said that the party was on Tuesday issued Certificate of Registration in compliance with a court order. The Commission yesterday issued Certificate of Registration to APP, which originally applied for registration as a political party in 2014. With this development, the number of political parties in Nigeria now stands at 46, he said. Mr. Yakubu also disclosed that the commission had so far registered 2,092,434 new registrants under the ongoing nationwide Continuous Voter Registration. At the end of the first quarter of the exercise, some 1,810,153 citizens were registered. The exercise is now in the second week of the second quarter and already some 282,281 citizens have been registered, making a total of 2,092,434 new registrants so far, he added. Mr. Yakubu congratulated the newly sworn-in RECs, five of which were reappointed for a second and final term, bringing the total number of RECs to 23. He said that their appointment came at an auspicious time, exactly 548 days to the 2019 General Elections, and after the conclusion of the Commissions Strategic Plan 2017-2021. Mr. Yakubu advised them to be fair to all, partisan to none, saying that as election managers, they would be responsible for the implementation of the plan. As election managers, you must maintain the required openness and consultation. At the same time, you must be very firm and courageous on the side of the law as well as our regulations and guidelines as required of you as unbiased umpire, be fair to all, partisan to none. Mr. Yakubu said that as new appointees, they would be immediately deployed to field orientation in the four elections to be conducted by the commission over the next few weeks. The elections according to him are: Dukku North State Constituency by-election in Gombe State, the Eti Osa I State Constituency, Lagos State and Kware/Wamakko Federal Constituency in Sokoto State and Anambra Governorship election scheduled for November 18. Mr. Yakubu also said that as part of the Commissions continuing improvement of the electoral process, it had introduced a new innovation in voter registration in Anambra. This will in due course be extended nationwide using our newly acquired Direct Data Capturing Machines (DDCMs). Data is now collected on Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) categorised by gender and type of disability. This will help us in planning access to polling units and such other support on Election Day. This is important as persons with special needs and advocates of more inclusiveness in our democracy have demanded of the Commission for some time. He assured Nigerians that INEC would continue to discharge its responsibilities conscientiously according to the law. Mike Igini, one of the newly sworn-in RECs, responding on behalf of others pledged that they would be guided by the mission and core values of INEC. We shall stand by the oath of office that we took today. We look forward to the commission to stand by us as gate keepers of the core values of this commission at the state level, Igini said. He added that the discharge of their duties would be guided by integrity and all other core values that guide their work at the states. The new RECs are Mr. Igini, Asman Maikudi, Sam Olumekun, Riskuwa Shehu, Kassim Geidam, Jubrin Zarewa, Abdulganiyu Raji, Sam Egwu, and Sudiq Musa. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook By India Today Web Desk: China today said it is not aware of the reports of People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers entering the Indian territory along the banks of the Pangong lake in Ladakh, as alleged by India. India has claimed that PLA soldiers entered India along the banks of the famous lake in Ladakh , resulting in stone-pelting and clashes that caused minor injuries to people on both sides. Asked to comment on the incident, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hu Chunying said, "I am not aware of the information." She said the PLA troops always patrol along the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). advertisement "The Chinese side is committed to peace and tranquillity of the China-India border," she said. "We urge the Indian side abide by the LAC and relevant conventions between the two sides." The Senate has appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, to call off its ongoing strike in the interest of the students and Nigerians in general. Jibrin Barau, Chairman, Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TETFUND, made the appeal while addressing journalists on Wednesday in Abuja. He said that while the Senate sympathised with the union, its members should call off the strike while negotiating with the federal government towards finding lasting solution to the problem. Mr. Barau said the Senate, in a letter sent to it by ASUU, learnt that part of the grievance was lack of confidence in the committee set up by the federal government to re-negotiate the 2009 agreement. The lawmaker recalled that when the union declared warning strike earlier this year, the Senate intervened and ensured that the problem did not linger. He said that ASUU did not report back to the Senate on the difficulties it had in the re-negotiation with the committee before embarking on the strike. He urged the union to re-consider its position and return to the re-negotiation to save the students, parents and the entire nation the negative effects that would result from the action. Mr. Barau assured that the committee would monitor the settlement process between ASUU and the committee set up by the federal government to ensure amicable resolution of the problem. He said: Let me say that we are very concerned about what is happening in our universities. The Senate and indeed, the National Assembly, has been in the forefront of making sure that we act swiftly whenever it is necessary to nip in the bud any problem that is rearing its head. I want to say that it was the reason why we decided to intervene immediately when the warning strike action was about to take place and we did all our best to bring the two teams together to negotiate. That was what led to the setting up of the Wale Babalakin committee. ASUU raised issues that had to do with their allowances and part of it was captured in the supplementary budget that we passed as of that time. In the subsequent budgets, some of these areas were also taken care of. Asked if the Senate would promulgate law to bar Nigerians from taking their children outside the country to study, Mr. Barau said that such law would not be in the best interest of Nigeria. It is something that we know will not be good for our country. We know that it is always good to mingle with people from other parts of the world when it comes to the issue of education. You cannot be an island to yourself; that you will remain here in Nigeria and say you would not want to interface with others. It is not something that has been done in any part of the world. You are aware that students from Cameroon, Niger and other parts of the world come here. We have exchanged students who come from even the European nations to this country. You must have that interaction. What we should say is this: we should make sure that we develop universities and educational institutions to the level of those that we send our children to. That is something that should be done. But saying that students should not go to other countries, that I think is not going to be good for us, he said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook The National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, NAHCON, said 37,388 out of the 65,271 intending Nigerian pilgrims for the 2017 hajj had been transported to Saudi Arabia as at August 16. NAHCONs Head Operations, Abudullahi Modibbo, disclosed this at a news conference on Wednesday in Abuja. Mr. Modibbo, who presented the statistics of carrier flight performance for this year exercise, said the 37,388 represents 58 per cent of the intending pilgrims. He said that the remaining 27,883 (42 per cent) would be transported before August 26 by four carriers NAHCON commissioned for the exercise. Mr. Modibbo said transportation intending pilgrims commenced in July 30, adding that the exercise would end on August 25 or 26. The Chairman of the commission, Abudullahi Mohammed, said that this year hajj had been a successful exercise, so far. Mr. Mohammed was represented by Yusuf Adebayo, NAHCON commissioner in charge of personnel, policy, management and finance. Mr. Mohammed further said that the commission was fully prepared for the exercise, in terms of medical treatment, transportation and accommodation of pilgrims in the Holy land, among other services. The arrangement for this year is made in a more conducive way, he said. The Head of Medical Team, Ibrahim Kana, said 450 medical personnel selected from all states were trained for this year hajj. The team of trained health personnel arrived the Holy land, ahead of the pilgrims to set up clinic to take care of them, Mr. Kana said. He stated that over 35,000 drugs had been sent for the pilgrims, adding that more drugs would soon be sent. He assured that the drugs would take care of all Nigerian pilgrims, adding that pilgrims from other countries could also benefit from the drugs. Mr. Kana, who is also the Chairman, Medical Team for the Hajj, identified malaria and body weakness as the major medical challenges facing pilgrims in the past five years. He, however, said that pilgrim would not walk far before accessing the 24-hour healthcare arranged by the commission. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook The General Court Martial, GCM, sitting at the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, Base in Makurdi has sentenced Aircraftman Bernard Kalu to death by hanging for shooting and killing his female colleague, late Aircraftwoman Sholape Oladipupo. Delivering the judgement on Tuesday, the President of the GCM, Elisha Bindul, found Mr. Kalu guilty of the charges of murder, house breaking, impersonation, failure to perform military duty, loss of service property and disobedience to standing orders. The verdict is, however, subject to confirmation by the Convening Authority. The defence counsel, however, expressed dissatisfaction with the verdict, adding that if the Convening Authority did not review the verdict, he would appeal to a higher court. The judgement brought to an end, months of the GCM trial of the unfortunate shooting incident involving the two NAF personnel. It would be recalled that Mr. Kalu shot and killed Ms. Sholape on March 12 at the NAF Base, Makurdi. The successful conclusion of the GCM is a validation of the NAFs earlier assurance to the general public that justice would be served to all concerned parties in the matter, Air Force spokesperson, Olatokunbo Adesanya, said in the statement. Share this: Twitter Facebook The Wuse market in Abuja which was closed after violent protests on Tuesday has been reopened. According to a trader who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES, the market was re-opened at 8 a.m., Wednesday, instead of the usual opening time of 7:30 a.m. with a lot of police officers on standby carrying out security checks. Before we were allowed to enter we had to identify ourselves as shop owners and our car booths were checked, he said. Another trader gave more details on the riot, which held at the market, Tuesday. He said Charles Oputa, also known as Charly boy, and other #ResumeOrResign protesters arrived the market on Tuesday morning to protest and were attacked by young boys known as barrow people. Most of the barrow people are Hausa people. Charly boy was lucky because he managed to escape untouched although they were stoning him, a man with him was badly injured. They tried to set their vehicles on fire but the police stopped them before they could. I also saw about five or six corps members who gathered themselves and approached the police who helped them out of the market. It was after this that the Hausas began attacking the Igbos and the riot escalated, he explained. Meanwhile, according to a statement sent to PREMIUM TIMES by the Police Public Relations Officer, FCT Police Command Abuja, Anjuguri Manzah, the police was not notified that any group would hold a protest at Wuse Market. The statement showed that prior to the incident, the group assembled at Unity Fountain in the Central Area and addressed the press at about 09:45 hours and security was provided by police operatives. While at Wuse Market, the group was attacked by a mob and in response to a distress call the Police moved in and rescued Charly-boy and his co-travellers. The Police was also able to prevent the angry mob from burning a Prado jeep and a BMW car belonging to Charly boy and his members. The vehicles which were towed by the Police to Wuse Division were later released to Charly boy and his team, the statement read. The spokesperson also said that many policemen were injured including a Divisional Police Officer in Utako, Jimoh Gbenle, in the process of protecting and securing Charly boy and his group members from the mob. Mr. Manzah also said the police deployed uniformed and plain-cloth police officers in all flash points to prevent any breach of public peace. He also said that normalcy has been restored to Wuse Market and all other parts of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT. The #ResumeorResign protesters demand the return of President Muhammadu Buhari to office or his resignation. The president has been in London for medical treatment for 100 days. Share this: Twitter Facebook The suspected billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike (popularly known as Evans), on Wednesday secured a rare victory against the police after a federal judge dismissed applications to stall his fundamental rights suit. Judge Abdulaziz Anka also berated the police counsel, Emmanuel Eze, for drinking Panadol for another mans headache after the lawyer attempted to speak for the Inspector-General of Police while appearing for the Commissioner of Police. The judge had adjourned, on Tuesday, to rule on whether it would proceed to hear the fundamental rights suit filed by Evans lawyer, Olukoya Ogungbeje, after it was opposed by the police. Mr. Eze, appearing for the police commissioner and the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, had argued that the applicant had not served the court processes to the IGP and the Nigeria Police Force. He also argued that the applicant did not seek the leave of the court to hear the suit during the courts vacation, which began last month. The police lawyer further argued that Mr. Ogungbeje ought to seek the permission of the court to enable him serve court processes to the IGP as well as the Police Force at their headquarters in Abuja. Delivering his ruling on Wednesday, the judge dismissed all the arguments of Mr. Eze, noting that the applicants lawyer need not travel to Abuja to serve court processes on the police since it had already been done at Alagbon, Lagos. Mr. Anka said since Mr. Eze had been in contact with the IGPs office in Abuja, it presupposes that they ought to know about the suit and file their response. Counsel to the third and fourth respondents cannot open his mouth and speak otherwise when there is proof of service before the court, the judge said. The court will proceed to hear the action as scheduled and all parties have right of appeal. The judge, however, turned down a request by Mr. Ogungbeje to award N100,000 against the police for stalling the hearing of the suit. But he ruled in the applicants favour after Mr. Eze requested for a short adjournment to enable the police prepare for the hearing. The judge pointed out that Tuesday was earlier scheduled for the hearing before the polices application. The applicant is still in detention as we speak. All the parties in the suit have been served, all processes are in, nothing to delay again, Mr. Ogungbeje had argued. The judge agreed with him. He said since the accuseds counsel filed his reply on points of law and served the police since July 20, the latter ought to have been prepared for the hearing. This case came up for mention on 30th June, 2017, its almost eight weeks of filing this action without any hearing, which ordinarily should be done within seven days, said the judge. Emmanuel Eze cannot now cry foul on the issue of fair hearing because ample time has been given to all parties. This application is refused and hearing will commence immediately. All parties have right of appeal. A CAPITAL OFFENCE In his argument for the enforcement of the fundamental rights of Evans, Mr. Ogungbeje said the police should charge him to court if they have any case against him. The facts of this case are clear and straightforward, Mr. Ogungbeje said. The substratum is that the continued detention of the applicant without trial is unconstitutional. The Constitution is clear as to what should be done when the police arrests a suspect, its unambiguous. Mr. Ogungbeje cited several judicial authorities, including a Court of Appeal decision that stated that the position of the law presupposes that while the police have a duty to detain a suspect, it must first investigate the crime. You cannot detain a Nigerian citizen without complying with the decision of the law, said Mr. Ogungbeje. The respondents have run foul of the law, especially the first and second respondents. When the material of the law is not challenged, it is deemed that they have accepted same, he said, regarding the IGP and Nigeria Police failure to file a response. They have not filed any response despite being served. The third and fourth respondent made a very spurious aversion that they dont need a court order to hold the applicant. Nigeria is a country governed by laws and the position of the law must be complied with. On the police denial of instigating a media trial against Evans, Mr. Ogungbeje said his client was in police custody when journalists were having a field day with him. My argument is you either charge or free him. If someone is accused of a crime, take him to court and tell the court why youll continue to hold him. Midway into the hearing, Henry Obasi, a police lawyer, announced appearance for the IGP and the Nigeria Police Force, and then argued that the applicants case had to do with murder, kidnapping and armed robbery. Section 35 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is not absolute, said Mr. Obasi while noting that the section stipulates two months from the date of arrest or detention in the case of a person who is in custody or is not entitled to bail. The applicant committed a capital offence so I urge your lordship to dismiss application. The DPP (Director of Public Prosecution) will soon charge him to court. He has not been detained for up to two months, Mr. Obasi said. The applicants application is unmeritorious and should be dismissed. If he is released on bail, he may go back to his profession. Evans was arrested by the police on June 10 and has been in detention ever since. Aligning his argument with that of Mr. Obasi, Mr. Eze said releasing Evans would place a lot of risk on Nigerians including judges and lawyers who had been victims of kidnapping in the past. Mr. Eze argued that the applicant was arrested by the Inspector General of Polices Intelligence Response Team and not the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, and as a result, the latter should not be involved in the matter. On the claims of trying Evans in the media, Mr. Eze said there was nothing before the court to show that he had been subjected to media trial. Which of the media? Who was the judge? How many years has he been sentenced? Mr. Eze insisted the police has a prima facie case against Evans and that the constitution was made to protect the rights of the society against the rights of one individual. It is not up to 90 days since he has been arrested, Mr. Eze said. There is an order of court for his remand. Assuming, not conceding that it does not exist, we are still within time. Also, the fourth respondent is not a legal person, he cannot sue or be sued particularly when he is not involved in this matter. Finally, all we have in this case is an affidavit of a man (Evans father) who does not know the facts of the case or even seen the applicant. I urge the court to dismiss the application with punitive cost so that it will serve as a deterrent to everyone. The police did not produce any remand order before the court. In his further response, Mr. Ogungbeje argued that no matter the brilliance of the first and second respondents arguments, they were invalid since they did not file any process to challenge the suit. The argument that they have power to arrest and detain without court order for capital offences is no longer current, said Mr. Ogungbeje, citing judicial authorities to back his claim. It is only when an accused has been charged to court and is only seeking for bail that Section 35(7) can come in. In this case, the applicant has not been arraigned. What they should have done is to arraign the applicant and to inform the court that theyll remand him in their custody since they have not finished investigation. If they want to charge they should charge him, the applicant is not saying they should not try him. The judge adjourned till August 29 for judgment. Share this: Twitter Facebook The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, on Wednesday condemned the indefinite strike embarked on by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, calling for restraint. He said most of their grievances were already being addressed by the government. Mr. Adamu who stated this while speaking with journalists after the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting in Abuja, said the government was displeased that ASUU went on this strike without following due process and giving good notice. He admitted that the government had not fulfilled its part of past negotiations but added that issues raised by the union were being looked into. He expressed hope that a scheduled meeting on Wednesday between both parties and another on Thursday would resolve the imbroglio. Commenting on the issue of earned allowances, which forms part of the unions protest, the minister said it would be implemented. He also commented on other demands. There is the issue of registration for Nigerian Universities Pension Commission. I think that is one issue that needs to be sorted out with the Nigerian Pension Commission. I believe there will be no problem with that, Mr. Adamu said. He said a court had given the union the verdict to go ahead with the initiation of their staff school project which is also a demand. They have also requested that they should be allowed to stay off Treasury Single Account, TSA. I think the government will not do (accept) this but there are some peculiar funds in the university system like endowment funds which will not be affected by the TSA. PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported the reasons for the current strike. Meanwhile, following the meeting between the union and the federal government yesterday, both parties have agreed to raise a forensic team to audit the N30 billion given to ASUU in 2010. The duo also agreed on monthly remittances to ASUU while the audit lasts Negotiations are scheduled to continue on Thursday in Abuja. ASUU began the indefinite strike on August 13. Share this: Twitter Facebook The Osun State Government on Tuesday urged its citizens to be vigilant and maintain high hygienic standards after a corpse which was brought from Lagos tested positive to Lassa. A number of cases of the disease had been reported in some Southwest states of Lagos and Ogun in recent times. A statement signed by the Media Adviser to the Governor, Sola Fasure, said there was currently no case of an outbreak of the fever in the state. The statement noted that the corpse brought from Lagos was subjected to laboratory test and was tested positive to the scourge. It stated that the corpse was buried before the official release of the autopsy report. According to the statement, the states Ministry Of Health promptly put the relatives of the corpse on a 21-day surveillance but none of them exhibited any symptoms or signs of the fever. It also said that the Osun government had put in place an effective surveillance across all the local governments in the state to ensure that the people were safe from the disease. It is to be clearly stated that currently there is no confirmed case of Lassa fever outbreak anywhere in the State of Osun, the statement said. However, a corpse was brought from Lagos for burial in Osun. The case is linked with the three doctors also confirmed positive in Lagos. As at the time the corpse was released for burial after autopsy had been carried out, the laboratory result was not out. The result however came out as Lassa fever positive, after the corpse was buried. Active surveillance is ongoing by the State and LGA team and all concerned. Share this: Twitter Facebook The police in Lagos have arrested a village head and three others at Oshoko in Ibeju-Lekki area of the state over the alleged murder of a police inspector. The state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, told journalists on Wednesday in Lagos that the homicide occurred in 2016. On Nov. 25, 2016, one Insp. Musa Sunday, attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), had disappeared in Ibeju-Lekki while performing his responsibility. During an anti-kidnapping patrol, Insp. Sunday and other members of his team were alerted to a fight between two families which they responded to. Getting to the crime scene, unfortunately and callously, one of the communities involved turned against the SARS team and at the end of the day, Insp. Sunday did not return. The next day, I led a detective team to the community to appeal to the religious leaders, traditional heads and members of the community to release the policeman but they denied having him in their custody. With the technical support of Intelligent Response Team (IRT) headed by DSP Philip and sustained detective activity, as we speak, Insp. Sundays body has been recovered with his AK-47 rifle which was buried somewhere along the waterway. Four suspects have been arrested, including the Baale of Oshoko village, Mr. Owoseni said. The police commissioner said that investigation revealed that the village head led other suspects, including two of his sons who are still at large, to take oath of secrecy at a shrine. He said that the arrest of the village head would send clear signal that nobody is above the law, adding that the police would carry out its statutory duty regardless of the personality involved. Mr. Owoseni said the suspects would soon be arraigned in court. The police chief also said 10 persons had been arrested in connection with the suspected ritual killing of a four-year-old girl at Iwaya, Lagos. He described the incident as sad, saying the girls throat was slit and the body was dumped behind her parents window. A sad incident happened this morning when the Divisional Police Officer at Iwaya was alerted after Mr Taiwo Sulaiman and his wife came with the dead body of a four-year-old girl. When questioned, they asserted that the child went with two of her siblings to pray at the mosque at 1:00 p.m. and since then, she had not been seen. After searching thoroughly for the girl, her dead body with a slit throat was found behind her parents window, close to an Ogun shrine in the compound. The corpse had been recovered with the knife used to commit the murder and 10 persons are presently in custody for interrogation, including the parents. Investigation, however, revealed elements of conspiracy in the matter. We will continue to update you as investigation continues. We have deployed heavily into the area which is densely populated to prevent any form of jungle justice, Mr. Owoseni said. The police boss, who condemned the act, said people have thrown away their moral values. He appealed to members of the public to provide information that would assist in the investigation, adding that residents living around the shrine could not claim ignorance of the rituals being carried out at the site. This is the essence of the warnings we had been giving the public. If you cover crime at one time or the other, the crime will come and consume you, Mr. Owoseni said. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ebenezer Babatope, on Wednesday beat the drum for the partys erstwhile National Vice-Chairman (South), Olabode George, as the national chairman. Mr. Babatope told a news conference in Lagos that Mr. George was the best man that could pilot the affairs of the party to a new and glorious beginning. The former Minister of Transport said Mr. George was a loyal, tested and a responsible party man and that he had the credentials to return the party to winning ways in 2019. He said although the position had not been zoned to a particular area of the country, it is only right and fair that the South-West to produce the chairman since it has not produced any since 1999. I stand here today in historic significance to testify to the truth and to affirm the righteous path. Our party, the PDP was in power for 16 years of unbroken democratic governance. In this particularisation, every zone had enjoyed the helsmanship of our party leadership except the South-West. This is troubling, this is not fair, this is unacceptable, Mr. Babatope said. Mr. Babatope said he was leading a mobilisation support team for Mr. George based on his conviction and other southwest leaders in the ability of the party chieftain to lead the PDP. Mr. Babatope, who described Mr. George as morally upright, noted that his conviction for corruption had been nullified by the Supreme Court which described his conviction as a frame up. He called on party members in the zone to bury their hatchet and support the aspiration of George. Former chairmen of the party in Ogun and Lagos State, Joju Folarin and Tunji Shelle, also spoke in support of Mr. George for the chairmanship race, saying he has the track record. In a related development, Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State on Wednesday said though the PDP was pursuing reconciliation among members, dissidents were not welcome. Mr. Fayose said this in Ado-Ekiti at the reconciliation meeting for members from the Oyo and Osun chapters of the party. The governor, who is the chairman of the reconciliation committee in the zone, said that the meeting was the outcome of the recently conducted non-elective national convention. The leaders have mandated us to bring on those who are ready to support our great party in the drive to chart a new way forward. In doing this, we wont give room for dissidents to frustrate us and our efforts. Some people are claiming to be members of our party and at the same time going to court to frustrate the party They tried unsuccessfully to stop the last convention using the court but they failed woefully. There is no room for anybody who is one leg in and one leg out. It is either you are here or there I am sure no judge would allow himself to be used as a spoiler by some filthy politicians Sanctions will be imposed on errant members and those who are loyal party members and are working for the progress of the party have nothing to fear, he said. Mr. Fayose said that the success of the partys non-elective convention was an indication that there was hope for a new Nigeria. The opposition, the governor said, must be organised for the sake of democracy in the country. For us to be organised, we need to shift ground where necessary. Whoever loses out today, may win tomorrow In my situation, after leaving office, God still brought me here as the governor of my state. If President Goodluck Jonathan had won a second term, I may not be relevant like I am today. My appeal to you is that dont allow anybody to use you for evil in our party, he said. NAN reports that those who spoke from the Oyo State delegation included Ayoade Adeseun and Bosede Adedibu. The delegates from Oyo State pledged to go back home and reconcile, saying leaders in the state were already working on this. The Zonal Publicity Secretary, Bunmi Jenyo, said he had no doubt that the committee would do a good job. He appealed to leaders of the party in Osun to work together like they did during the last senatorial election. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook The Ondo State Government says it has increased the level of health awareness campaign to prevent outbreak of Lassa fever in the state, tagged operation kill all rats, stay in hygienic environment. Olumide Akadiri, the Chief Medical Director, Ondo State Specialist Hospital, Okitipupa, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Okitipupa. Mr. Akadiri said the increased awareness and enlightenment campaign, followed the recent re-occurrence of the outbreak of Lassa fever in some parts of the country, hence, the launch of operation kill all rats, stay in hygienic environment. He said that the hospital medical team had mobilised other health officers at the Okitipupa council, to raise the level of awareness of the people in the locality to the recurrence of Lassa fever. Mr. Kadiri, who maintained that no case of Lassa fever had been reported in the state, explained that the awareness campaign was a proactive measure to prevent the disease through education of the people on the need to maintain a healthy environment and life style. Lassa fever is caused by Lassa virus found in infected rats with many breasts (multimate rat) named Mastonys Matalensis. He said: We heard about the re-occurrence of Lassa fever in some states but we have not recorded any case here. We launched an awareness team that goes to all communities in this council to declare total war on rats and ensure they live in hygienic environment at all times. I also implore residents to always cover their foodstuff very well and ensure they throw away leftovers which usually are baits to contact the disease. Mr. Akadiri list some signs and symptoms of Lassa fever to include fever, sore throat, difficulty in swallowing, bloody diarrhoea, cough, headache, abdominal pain and bleeding from the nose, mouth, ears and eyes. He advised residents with signs of malaria or any of the listed symptoms to report to the nearest general hospital for diagnosis and treatment. (NAN) Share this: Twitter Facebook By PTI: By Shirish B Pradhan Kathmandu, Aug 16 (PTI) Visiting Chinese Vice-Premier, Wang Yang, today pledged full support to Nepal for the development and promotion of Ayurvedic medical system in the Himalayan nation which is rich in medicinal plants and herbs. Yang, who visited the National Ayurveda Research and Training Center situated in Kirtipur near Kathmandu assured to cooperate with Nepal to carry out further research in the sector of Ayurveda. advertisement Health Secretary Kiran Regmi said the government was seeking to establish an Ayurveda Hospital in all seven provinces across the country in future, asking the Chinese side for help. "Though Nepal is rich in medicinal plants and herbs, lack of skills and knowledge about their proper use has deprived Nepalis of reaping maximum benefits," Regmi said, adding that the government was establishing herbs processing center equipped with high technology and a digital library for the promotion of Ayurveda. The government of China had constructed a building for the center at a cost of Rs 680 million in 2009 and handed it to the Nepal Government in 2011. Besides, the Chinese government also gifted medical equipments worth Rs 240 million. Surgery, gynaecology, maternity, cancer treatment, acupuncture, radiology and pathology services are available in the center. PTI SBP AMS AKJ AMS --- ENDS --- The Ogun State Police Command has discovered a church under which human parts were allegedly buried. The parts were allegedly buried at the churchs entrance and other locations within the premises. The Commissioner of Police, Ahmed Ilyasu, made this known on Wednesday after detectives stormed the church to arrest the pastor of the church. The church, Cherubim and Seraphim is located at Itedo Isinmi along Egan road in Iyana Iyesi area of Ota, in Ado-Odo/Ota local government of the state. Mr. Ilyasu while parading a 77-year-old prophet of the church, Samuel Babatunde, alongside other suspects, told journalists that the discovery followed the arrest, on Saturday, of a suspected serial kidnapper, Jeremiah Adeola. The police boss disclosed that Mr. Adeola (32), was known to specialise in the kidnapping of children for onward transmission to the prophet and had already confessed. He said another herbalist, Haruna Afolabi (43), was among the suspects. The floor of the church was dug as described by the first suspect, and parts suspected strongly to be human parts were dug out from there, the commissioner said. Mr. Ilyasu said the police command will conduct a forensic investigation to ascertain more details. The arrested cleric, while speaking with journalists, denied the allegation levelled against him saying that he buried a pig inside the church contrary to claims that human parts were used. He said he used the parts of the pig to attract good fortune to his church. He said he met the other suspect, Adeola at a prayer mountain in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, but never had any ritualistic dealings with him claiming he (Adeola) was mentally deranged. However, contrary to the clerics claim, Mr. Adeola insisted that the cleric was a client and recently paid him N50,000 each for the two children he supplied to him. He also said one Olaniyi, at large, introduced him to the business of kidnapping in 2013 in Ibadan. Share this: Twitter Facebook A former deputy governor of Ekiti State, Abiodun Aluko, has resigned his membership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, accusing Governor Ayo Fayose of turning the party into his personal estate. He also alleged that the governor was harassing prominent leaders in the state. Mr. Aluko served under mr. Fayose as deputy governor during his first tenure but was impeached from office in November 2005. Mr. Aluko, who was also until his resignation, a PDP governorship aspirant for next years guber polls, accused Mr. Fayose of intimidating other aspirants like the Senate Deputy Minority Whip, Abiodun Olujimi, and the partys national spokesperson, Dayo Adeyeye, to drop their governorship ambition. In his letter of resignation, Mr. Aluko said Mr. Fayose is vindictive and hostile and placed an illegal and unconstitutional age barrier forbidding anybody above the age of 60 from contesting any position including the governorship polls. The letter was addressed and submitted to the PDP Ward Chairman for Are/Araromi/Ayetoro ward in his native Ikere-Ekiti, Sulaiman Adeniyi. I have been having a running battle with Fayose for about one-and-half years now and he said those who disagree with him on principle should come back and prostrate to him before they can be granted amnesty, he said. Am I a criminal or a militant needing an amnesty? Fayose has said it loud and clear that there is no room for reconciliation in Ekiti that he would only work with those who are with him while those who are not with him should go to hell and with his new regulation on the ages of aspirants, I have been shut out. All leaders in the party are so scared that a killer squad could be sent after them. Recently, Senator Biodun Olujimi complained that some unknown people are trailing her around because the governor challenged her to drop her governorship ambition and she resisted. The same thing is happening to Dayo Adeyeye whose governorship ambition is being opposed to by the governor. The situation in PDP today is too bad that when the governor is the accuser, the complainant and the judge, who do you complain to? Mr. Aluko said he would soon reveal the party he would join to realise his governorship ambition as soon as he concludes consultations with his supporters. Responding to the allegations, the governors spokesperson, Lere Olayinka, denied the claims. He said his boss was not surprised by the development as the former deputy governor had in 2007 left the PDP for NDP when he wanted to contest the governorship election. In 2007, he left the PDP to NDP to contest the governorship election, was it Fayose that forced him out? he said. He added that Mr. Aluko was only looking for an excuse to leave the party for another party. Aluko is not one of the issues that are on our minds right now, Mr Olayinka said. Share this: Twitter Facebook The outgoing Chief Justice of India JS Khehar on Tuesday rejected allegations that nepotism is rampant within the judiciary and said that aspersions should not be cast on sons and daughters of existing judges who end up becoming judges themselves. By Harish V Nair: The simmering issue of nepotism in the judiciary, with allegations of judges pushing their children or kin to the bench through lobbying, suddenly bubbled up on Tuesday. This happened at a most unlikely venue: the Independence Day function at the Supreme Court. Chief Justice J S Khehar, who is set to retire in two weeks, rejected allegations that he had "misused his authority" to promote his Chandigarh-based son. advertisement He chose to do this in the presence of other judges of the court, law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, attorney general KK Venugopal and a large number of advocates when nobody had raised this specific issue on this occasion. Nepotism is a very sensitive subject within the judiciary. There have been several reports of the Supreme Court receiving lists for appointments to several high courts with dozens of judges whose sons, daughters and relatives are also judges. There are also complaints that some of them do not fulfill many of the eligibility conditions. BAR ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT QUESTIONS It all began when Supreme Court Bar Association president RS Suri while listing "issues of concern for the bar" said, "Why most of the judges who become HC judges are sons of acting or previous judges? Why is it that 80 per cent of panels are filled with sons and daughters of the judges? These things have to be explained logically so that we give some chance for other persons also to come up the ladder because they too are able and capable. We have excellent relationship with the judiciary but we have to be given our due." When his turn came, CJI Khehar termed Suri's comments as a "left-handed compliment" and said, "About a few months ago, I woke up one morning and read a newspaper which said, 'Chief Justice's son appointed on a panel of government.' I immediately called him up and asked, 'Son, are you on the government panel?' He said. 'No father. I am not on any government panel.' He said there is another Khehar on the panel and they assumed it is me. Then I asked, 'Did you get a letter from the government appointing you?' He said, 'No.' I asked him if he takes occasional briefs from the government, he said, no. So what appears as a misuse of authority may not be a misuse of authority, Mr President (looking at Suri)." The CJI then narrated an incident where he met a bright young lawyer who did not want to become a judge as he felt everybody would say he was a judge because of his father. "There was an international conference on arbitration I attended. There I met a young enthusiastic lawyer and I was told he practises in Delhi High Court. I was impressed with him and even judges of Delhi High Court there spoke highly of him. When I met him later I asked him why don't you become a judge. He said, 'No, sir. Everybody will say I am a judge because of my father.' So, Mr President, please do not say that," the CJI said again looking at Suri. advertisement By drawing attention to that meeting, the CJI said there are very bright children of judges too and if they have the calibre, there is nothing wrong in their becoming judges. No aspersions should be cast on them. "There are good, bright, able children. Whether they are children of judges or not, in independent India we stand together to achieve whatever we can achieve. Everybody should get a chance," he said. Was the Chief Justice angry after the SCBA president's comment as he left the venue without the customary tea with the members of the bar? "No, there is no chance," Suri told Mail Today. "He and I merely stated the facts. He left without having tea saying it was already getting late for him." ALSO READ | Modi at Allahabad High Court: More use of technology in judiciary crucial for new India ALSO READ | Justice Dipak Misra to be next Chief Justice of India advertisement ALSO WATCH | Executive vs Judiciary: When government shrinks, judiciary expands, says Harish Salve --- ENDS --- BUENA VISTA TOWNSHIP Buena Regional High School students will be able to enroll in AP Chemistry and European History for the 2017-18 school year after the school board Tuesday unanimously reversed a vote that did away with the classes due to low enrollment. Im really happy that the board decided to pass it, and it gives me so much more opportunity, said 16-year-old Bruno Romeo, an incoming junior. Romeo, of Landisville, an aspiring aerospace engineer, helped lead a fight in his community to have the classes restored. According to Board of Education President Lynda Gazzara, the school boards education committee met in early August and was able to come to an agreement to offer the classes with no additional stipend to the teachers. The decision comes after the school board could not garner enough votes last month to approve AP Chemistry and AP European History with enrollment under the threshold of 12 students. Six students had signed up for the chemistry class, and five had signed up for the history class. On Tuesday, the board was meeting with packed with concerned parents, students and alumni who hoped to see the classes saved. Buena Vista Township Committeeman John Williams thanked the board members for their vote to save the AP classes. We think theyre not only necessary, but theyre important to students future, Williams said. During the meeting, school board member Debra Bell asked that the board vote to exempt AP classes from a minimum student threshold, but interim Superintendent Mary Lou DeFrancisco said it was not a policy and asked the board to hold off. Earlier this year, the school board approved a course guide that included the 12-student threshold for all classes. DeFrancisco said the boards education committee will meet with administrators and other professionals in the near future to review the threshold and determine an appropriate path forward. I think everyone understands that we want to offer those courses, she said. DeFrancisco said the board would like to explore options such as online courses that allow the district to expand its curriculum and be cost-effective to taxpayers. Advanced Placement courses were created by the College Board, a nonprofit education organization that also administers the SAT. At the end of the course, the students can take the Advanced Placement test, which gives them a chance to earn credits for college, sometimes exempting them from certain classes. For the past three years the high school has offered six AP courses, with a 40 percent participation rate among 11th-and 12th-grade students in 2015-16. European history, English literature and composition, and chemistry have consistently had the lowest enrollment. BUENA VISTA TOWNSHIP Students, parents and alumni outraged by a recent school board decision to nix two Advanced Placement courses at Buena Regional High School are hoping to see a reversal at Tuesdays meeting. I feel that my rights to an education have been violated, said junior Bruno Romeo, of Landisville. Last month, the Buena Regional Board of Education could not garner enough votes to approve AP Chemistry and AP European History with enrollment under the threshold of 12 students. The vote was split, 4-4. Six students had signed up for the chemistry class, and five had signed up for the history class. Neither interim Superintendent Mary Lou DeFrancisco nor any member of the school board responded to a request for comment. Students said the threshold was changed to 12 at an April meeting, and that losing the classes will hurt their chances when applying to college. By these courses not running, in my case specifically the AP Chemistry course, the colleges I plan to apply to will overlook my application without these courses on my transcript, Romeo said. Advanced Placement courses were created by the College Board, a nonprofit education organization that also administers the SAT. At the end of the course, the students can take the Advanced Placement test, which gives them a chance to earn credits for college, sometimes exempting them from certain classes. Enrollment at Buena Regional High School has dropped steadily, from 813 in 2012-13 to 592 in 2016-17, state Department of Education data show. Romeo, who had signed up for AP Chemistry and plans on majoring in aerospace engineering, said with the districts shrinking enrollment and restrictions on which students are eligible to take certain AP classes, the 12-student threshold can never be met. Past practice in the district has been to allow AP courses to run regardless of the number of students in each class, Romeo said. For the past three years the high school has offered six AP courses, with a 40 percent participation rate among 11th and 12th grade students in 2015-16. European history, English literature and composition, and chemistry have consistently had the lowest enrollment. Access to AP classes has been an issue for rural communities, but the gap is narrowing, according to a new report published earlier this month from the Education Commission of the States and the College Board. Nationally, the percentage of rural high school seniors who took at least one AP exam during high school more than doubled, from 10 percent in 2001 to 23 percent in 2015. According to the report, much of the growth is due to more rural schools offering at least one AP course. We must no longer let economies of scale neglect rural America. All students with the potential to succeed in AP should be able to access those opportunities, Trevor Packer, head of the AP Program, said in response to the new report. In a letter to state DOE Commissioner Kimberley Harrington after last months school board meeting, Romeo asked for intervention. Meeting the needs of gifted students is not an extracurricular activity or club but a requirement for all New Jersey public schools, Romeo said. By the school board denying these classes to run for the upcoming school year, the NJ core curriculum standards are not being met for both my peers and myself. David Saenz, spokesman for the NJDOE, said the department has received letters but offering AP courses is a local school district decision. Several alumni, including past valedictorians, also urged the school board to reconsider in open letters. As the college admission process becomes increasingly competitive, the removal of these two AP courses will place Buena students at a disadvantage, said Robert Panco, the 2014 valedictorian who is currently enrolled in Rutgers Universitys aerospace engineering program. Many of the students in the engineering program come from schools that offer more than four times the amount of AP courses that Buena does. Nicole Curcio, a 2012 Buena graduate who ranked sixth in her class, said taking AP classes prepared her for college and helped get her accepted. Elizabethtown College offered me a merit-based scholarship based on my academics in high school. This scholarship paid for half of my tuition for my entire college career, Curcio said. ATLANTIC CITY Authorities recovered a strange and dangerous visitor early Tuesday at the pool of a resort motel. A 3-foot-long alligator was found swimming in the pool at the Bayview Inn & Suites after an early morning drug bust by authorities. Several people were arrested and drugs, weapons and other animals were recovered, Atlantic County Prosecutor Damon G. Tyner said. Detectives from the Prosecutors Office, along with local law enforcement, searched the 80 rooms of the Albany Avenue motel, Tyner said in a news release. Authorities arrested Jamal Campos, 25, of Egg Harbor Township, who was charged with strict liability homicide for a drug-induced death, first-degree leader of a narcotics ring, possession with intent to distribute 100 wax folds of heroin and possession of heroin. An investigation into the April 22, 2016, overdose death of 42-year-old Adam OGara led authorities to Campos, the Prosecutors Office said. Officials said cash, drugs and Airsoft guns were found during the search. Thirty-three people, including men, women and children, were removed from the property during the search, and seven people were arrested on unrelated warrants. Animal control officers pulled the reptile from the half-filled pool around 10 a.m. Officials said the alligator was transported to the Cape May County Zoo. Authorities said its not clear where the alligator came from, how it got in the pool or how long it had been there. But they noted the motel is a short distance from the Lakes Bay nature preserve. An animal control officer told The Press they had been summoned earlier to the same location to pick up multiple dogs. During Tuesdays search, seven dogs were recovered and one pit bull dog was fatally shot by an Atlantic City police officer after the animal made an aggressive move toward officers entering a room, officials said. Attempts to reach the property owner were unsuccessful. Every door of the motel, including the front office, had been kicked in and multiple windows were shattered. Staff Writer Lauren Carroll contributed to this report. An alligator that was pulled this week from a motel pool in Atlantic City after a drug raid is in good shape at the Cape May County Park & Zoo and may soon be on its way to a sanctuary in Florida, according to a zoo official. Meanwhile, more than two dozen adults and children who lived at the Bayview Inn and Suites on Albany Avenue were evicted after the Tuesday raid and the motel was shut down by the city. On Tuesday morning, police raided 80 rooms at the Bayview Inn and Suites and arrested Jamal Campos, 25, whom they identified as the leader of a drug-trafficking network. Campos was charged with first-degree strict liability homicide drug-induced death stemming from the overdose death of Adam OGara in April, according to a statement from the Atlantic County Prosecutors Office. Campos also was charged with first-degree leader of a narcotics-trafficking network, possession with intent to distribute 100 wax folds of heroin and possession of heroin. Six other people were also charged on outstanding warrants. The raid left 33 people without a home, including men, women and children. Kevin Wilson, who works in the Cape zoos reptile house, said the zoo has run a program for 10 years that takes in abandoned pet alligators and physically brings them to a sanctuary outside of Tampa Bay called Croc Encounters. We drive the gators down to Florida once a year, Wilson said. The first few years we had five or six a year, but this one is the only one Ive gotten in awhile. Pet gators are legal in Pennsylvania and New York, but not in New Jersey. Wilson said many times people buy a pet alligator on an impulse but then realize they dont make great pets or cant keep them in their homes in New Jersey. The zoo takes in the gators to avoid them being euthanized. Wilson said this particular gator looks to be in good shape with some muscle despite living in squalid conditions at the Bayview Inn and Suites in Atlantic City. It definitely wasnt underfed or anything like that, he said. An employee at the Bayview Inn and Suites, who asked not to be identified because of the nature of the case, said some of the people who have lost their homes had been living in a motel for more than five years. Some will now be housed in an Econo-Lodge in Atlantic City, the employee said. On Wednesday, the doors of the motel remained kicked in while several windows had been boarded up. The condition of the motel, which was open for reservations as recently as last month, had deteriorated considerably since being damaged during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Ceilings in at least two rooms had collapsed, while beds, walls and bathrooms in several rooms were covered in black mold. The electricity still worked, and one door remained closed and locked with a sign on it that read: Dont knock on my door. Have some respect at all times no one allowed in room. Julie Park, 22, walked across the stage in May to get her diploma from Rowan University, but she almost didnt live to reach that milestone. An ankle injury that caused prolonged periods of inactivity, combined with a nearly 18-hour flight each way for a vacation in Thailand, led the Egg Harbor Township resident to develop deep vein thrombosis, or blood clots in her leg veins, which turned into a deadly pulmonary embolism. Venous thromboembolism, or blood clots in veins, is the third major cause of cardiovascular death behind heart attacks and strokes, but few people have heard of deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism. Experts say there needs to be better education, as people of all ages are at risk. For the first couple days (in Thailand), we were walking a lot and I was limping the whole time, Park said. I noticed after that my leg was swelling, but I ignored it. I wound up Googling my symptoms, and WebMD told me it might be clots. Its not that I didnt believe it, but I figured it probably wasnt right. An estimated 100,000 people in the United States die each year from deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolisms, or clots that move from other parts of the body and into the lungs. Sudden death is the first symptom in about 25 percent of people with pulmonary embolism, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Risk factors for deep vein thrombosis include cancer, trauma, periods of inactivity, central venous catheters and a genetic disposition to blood clotting. Weaker risk factors include traveling for long periods, obesity, pregnancy, using birth control pills and varicose veins. We typically see it in patients older than 40, but it can really happen to anyone, said Dr. Deepak Sudheendra, assistant professor of clinical radiology and an expert in deep vein thrombosis at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. During her 10-day vacation in Thailand in January 2016, Park said, she also temporarily experienced back pain when she breathed deeply or laughed. Unbeknownst to her, a blood clot had formed deep in her leg and a piece broke off and traveled to her lungs. Some people do not experience symptoms, Sudheendra said. For others, symptoms may include swelling in one or both legs or arms, unusually warm or tender skin at the pain site, skin discoloration, bulging veins and sudden onset of chest pain or shortness of breath. Upon returning to New Jersey, doctors at Shore Medical Center found massive blood clots in Parks leg and lungs. She was immediately transferred to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where Sudheendra and a team of vascular interventional radiologists removed the clots. Even when they found the clots in my legs, I still didnt think Id have to stay at hospital, she said. I thought Id just take some medicine, but after they found the one in my lungs and told me I had to go to UPenn, I realized, Im not going back to school Tuesday. Treatment for blood clots includes anticoagulation, or blood thinning, and clot-busting medications. For people in immediate danger, doctors can remove the clot. Time plays a significant factor in how much damage a blood clot will do, similar to strokes and heart attacks. Sudheendra said the longer a clot blocks a vein, the more scarring occurs, which increases a survivors chance of developing long-term or lifelong complications. Between 25 and 60 percent of deep vein thrombosis patients develop post-thrombotic syndrome, which can include chronic swelling, pain and skin changes. Suheendra said he will likely oversee Parks vein care for the rest of her life in order to manage any complications that may develop later in life. The main thing is that people should know the symptoms, go to the ER and get evaluated as soon as possible, he said. Not a lot of things cause sudden death, but this is one of them, and by knowing the symptoms, it improves the chances of survival. PLEASANTVILLE A local woman has died of injuries after being struck struck by an NJ Transit bus last week. Elizabeth Anne McAllister, 52, was walking at the intersection of West Jersey Avenue and Main Street on Aug. 29 when the front rack of the bus struck McAllister in the road, knocking her to the ground and causing a severe head injury. She was taken by ambulance to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, City Campus, in Atlantic City. Pleasantville Fire and Rescue assisted at the scene with EMS and NJ Transit personnel. The crash is under investigation by the Police Departments Traffic Safety Unit and the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office, according to Capt. Matthew Hartman. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 609-641-6100. A viewing for McAllister will be held 10 a.m. Thursday, followed by 11 a.m. services, at Mikal's Funeral Parlor, 30 N. Pennsylvania Ave. in Atlantic City. Years before there was an opioid/heroin epidemic, which gets and deserves a lot of public attention, a diabetes epidemic started growing. Early on, South Jersey was identified as a region at special risk for the chronic disease, in which the body either doesnt make enough insulin or cant use it to move the sugar glucose out of the blood and into the cells for energy. The latest report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that, while the state overall has made some progress, the epidemic continues to worsen in South Jersey. The National Diabetes Statistics Report in late July showed 9.3 percent of Americans had diabetes in 2016, which can lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness, amputations and death. A quarter of those 65 and older have diabetes. In most New Jersey counties, the rate of diagnosed diabetes has stabilized or even fallen a bit over the past decade. But in South Jersey, the rate keeps increasing. In fact, the southernmost counties of Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, Salem, Gloucester and Ocean are the only ones in New Jersey with diabetes rates above 11 percent, according to the CDCs latest county data in the report, for 2013. Ten central and northern counties had already reduced their rates below this years national level, with several below 8 percent. More recent state-level CDC data showed a decrease in the New Jersey rate from 8.6 percent in 2014 to 7.9 percent in 2015. Hopefully, future reports will show the southern counties were part of this improvement, but meanwhile the region contributes to making the disease the sixth-leading cause of death in the state, compared to its national mortality ranking of seventh. New Jersey government deserves credit for aggressively fighting diabetes. Its one of several states to require that state-regulated health plans include diabetes coverage. It also has implemented a Diabetes Action Plan to improve reporting and encourage diabetes screenings, patient education and placements in prevention and treatment programs. Days after the CDC report, the Legislature and governor enacted a law to require Medicaid to cover education about diabetes and pre-diabetes. This is important since only 42 percent of New Jersey adults with diabetes have taken a class in managing the disease, compared with 54 percent nationwide. Almost half of overweight or obese adults are estimated to have pre-diabetes, and of those about a quarter are expected to develop diabetes within three to five years. Unsurprisingly, the southern counties also lead the state in obesity rates, but at least those rates are increasing more slowly than those for diabetes. Physical inactivity is another precursor to diabetes. While Cape May County has reduced its rate of inactive adults in the CDC report, in the other southern counties the rates were steady and the highest in the state. The major health systems in the region have done an admirable job of developing programs to manage and reduce diabetes. As improved monitoring technology becomes available, results are sure to improve. South Jersey residents can do much themselves to avoid becoming victims of the diabetes epidemic. While Type 1 (insufficient insulin production) cant be prevented, it accounts for only 5 percent of those with the disease. The much more common Type 2 can be prevented or delayed with healthy lifestyle changes, such as losing weight if youre overweight, healthy eating and getting regular physical activity. More than 1 in 10 South Jersey residents already have the disease, so the threat is quite real and makes it worthwhile to change eating and exercise habits. And as a bonus, the recommended changes also lead to better health overall and improved quality of life. Thats a lot in return for an effort that doesnt require much spending. Cochin Shipyard was incorporated in the year 1972 as the first green field shipyard of India. As on date Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) is the largest public sector shipyard in India in terms of dock capacity. (PTI Photo) By India Today Web Desk: In a landmark achievement, the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Cochin Shipyard under the Ministry of Shipping was oversubscribed by over 75 times within a week of its getting listed in Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and National Stock Exchange (NSE). The company was listed in BSE and NSE on August 11 and the IPO has raised Rs 1.11 lakh crore against the offer of Rs 1,442 crore. This has been a combination of fresh issue and offer for sale in the ratio of 2:1. advertisement The issue also saw a strong interest from retail segment with over 20 lakh applications, the highest in the last decade. The QIB portion was oversubscribed by over 63 times and the HNI portion was oversubscribed by 287 times. After listing the shares in the exchange, they opened at 20 per cent increase despite the markets being low. The company undertook very detailed roadshows in India, Far East, Europe and the US. A government claimed that overall there was very positive market sentiments towards the IPO. The proceeds of the fresh issue part of the IPO, totalling approximately Rs 961 crore will be used by CSL for part funding two expansion projects costing Rs 2,800 crore. The projects comprise a dry dock at the Cochin Shipyard premises to accommodate bigger ships for building and repair and a ship repair facility in the adjacent Cochin Port Trust premises by setting up of a ship lift and transfer system. Cochin Shipyard was incorporated in the year 1972 as the first green field shipyard of India. As on date Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) is the largest public sector shipyard in India in terms of dock capacity. CSL caters to clients engaged in the defence sector in India and clients engaged in the commercial sector worldwide for shipbuilding and ship repair. In addition to shipbuilding and ship repair, CSL also offers marine engineering training. The company has exported around 45 ships to overseas customers and has the pride of building the first indigenous aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy. The company's diversified business profile and presence in multi maritime segments have resulted in strong financial fundamentals. The company's turnover for FY 2017 was Rs 2,059 crore as against a turnover of Rs 1,404 crore for the FY 2012.The Profit After Tax for the FY 2017 was Rs 322 crore as against a PAT of Rs 172 crore for FY 2012. The net worth of the company as on March 2017 was Rs 2,031 crore as against Rs 1,051 crore at end of FY 2012. Also Read: 10 things you did not know about the Cochin Shipyard Cochin shipyard Ltd: Ship Shape --- ENDS --- advertisement By PTI: (Eds: Adding fresh quotes) New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) The Congress today questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over figures quoted in his Independence Day speech on demonetisation, and asked him how he knew that Rs three lakh crore had come into the banking system when the RBI was still counting notes. Senior Congress spokesperson Ghulam Nabi Azad said the claim made by the prime minister yesterday of Rs three lakh crore getting into the banking system post-demonetisation, is in clear contrast to what the RBI has said. advertisement "The prime minister said Rs 3 lakh crore which were not in the banking system have come into it. We ask the prime minister, how much money has come in after demonetisation. We were told that the RBI is still counting...it may take decades to count. "When RBI is still counting then how has the prime minister come up with this Rs 3 lakh crore figure...Two contrary stands are being taken by the prime minister of India and the Reserve Bank of India," he told reporters. Azad, the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, said this is a big question, as either the prime minister or the RBI is lying. "Since the counting of money is in progress, how can the prime minister make this claim. Is he now befooling the people of India? If this information is with the prime minister, then why the reserve bank did not share this information in Parliament," he asked. He further said both the prime minister and the RBI have to answer as to who is lying. He also raised questions over the recovery of Rs 75,000 crore in black money, even as the RBI is still counting the money and is yet to come up with a substantive figure. "If the RBI is yet to segregate between the fake money and the black money, post-demonetisation, then where did this figure come from?" Azad asked. On Kashmir, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha said while the country has seen the prime minister embracing everyone across the world, no one has ever seen him embracing Kashmiris. Attacking Modi for talking about uniting the country, Azad said the prime minister is calling to unite India which it already is, but "his own people like the RSS" are breaking India. "The prime minister is talking about uniting India, but India is already united and he should tell the Sangh people not to break India," he said. The Congress leader also slammed the Prime Minister and his government over recent incidents like the row surrounding broadcast of the Tripura chief ministers Independence Day speech and the Gorakhpur hospital tragedy in which 71 children died. advertisement Azad said Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkars address was not broadcast on Doordarshan and All India Radio as he does not speak about the BJP and its achievements, and claimed there was an "undeclared emergency" imposed on the media. "With each passing day, it has become very hard for the opposition parties to make their voice reach the people of the country. This type of censorship has been seen by no country in the world. This is shameful for this government. "Why dont they declare Emergency straightaway for the news censorship of the media, so that at least we will have some solace, we will have some sort of satisfaction that OK nothing can happen because there is Emergency," he said. Seeking to corner the Centre over Gorakhpur tragedy, Azad said the prime minister dubbed the "Gorakhpur incident a natural calamity but actually it was a man-made calamity". He said the truth will never come out if a probe will take place under Modis supervision because he would not issue a report against his chief minister, and thus called for a probe by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court. advertisement Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi also attacked the prime minister on his Independence Day speech cornering him on low employment rate in the country. "The PM did not mention yesterday that India today has the highest rate of unemployment it has had in the last eight years," he said. PTI SKC KUN --- ENDS --- By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) The Congress today questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi over figures quoted in his Independence Day speech on demonetisation, and asked him how he knew that Rs three lakh crore had come into the banking system when the RBI was still counting notes. Senior Congress spokesperson Ghulam Nabi Azad said the claim made by the prime minister yesterday of Rs three lakh crore getting into the banking system post-demonetisation, is in clear contrast to what the RBI has said. advertisement "The prime minister said Rs 3 lakh crore which were not in the banking system have come into it. We ask the prime minister, how much money has come in after demonetisation. We were told that the RBI is still counting...it may take decades to count. "When RBI is still counting then how has the prime minister come up with this Rs 3 lakh crore figure...Two contrary stands are being taken by the prime minister of India and the Reserve Bank of India," he told reporters. Azad, the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, said this is a big question as either the prime minister or the RBI is lying. "Since the counting of money is in progress, how can the prime minister make this claim. Is he now befooling the people of India? If this information is with the prime minister, then why the reserve bank did not share this information in Parliament," he asked. He further said both the prime minister and the RBI have to answer as to who is lying. He also raised questions over the recovery of Rs 75,000 crore in black money, even as the RBI is still counting the money and is yet to come up with a substantive figure. "If the RBI is yet to segregate between the fake money and the black money, post-demonetisation, then where did this figure come from?" Azad asked. PTI SKC KUN --- ENDS --- BURLINGTON, Massachusetts, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Decision Resources Group (DRG), the life sciences industry's most trusted provider of market intelligence and global data products and services, today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Context Matters, the innovative data technology start-up that developed a first-of-its-kind global market access integrated data platform. Previously the lead investor in a Series B funding round for the startup last fall, DRG's full acquisition and planned integration of Context Matters cements its position as the partner of choice for global market access data products, analytics, and strategic guidance. The acquisition of Context Matters reinforces DRG's commitment to providing a deep understanding of global market access landscapes which life sciences organizations can leverage to drive profitable asset management from development through commercialization. It will fortify DRG's global market access portfolio by combining the novel Context Matters data model, which links global regulatory and health technology assessment data to detailed clinical trial data, with DRG's existing suite of products and services. The addition of Context Matters will result in a full service global market access and drug value navigation partner to the life sciences industry, with the flexibility to deliver solutions scaled to client needs and timingfrom tactical target points to end-to-end enterprise strategy. "There is an ever-rising demand to optimize global access to treatments for patients in therapy areas that continue to have unmet need. In our increasingly complex and cost-benefit driven markets, it is imperative for healthcare companies to build robust, evidence-based approaches to plan and prepare their assets for successful global market access," says Peter Hempshall, Senior Vice President of DRG. "With the acquisition of Context Matters, DRG is pleased to welcome an experienced team of pioneering global market access experts. They have been at the forefront of compiling and connecting disparate forms of data to provide life sciences companies with the depth of data and direction needed to plan and implement successful access, reimbursement and asset valuation strategies for varied global markets." "Context Matters was created from the idea that data from market access and reimbursement can be used to inform clinical trial design," explained Yin Ho, M.D., M.B.A., the Founder and CEO of Context Matters. "It has been extremely gratifying to watch Context Matters become a force to change the thinking of the pharmaceutical industry around how to use data to position and honestly evaluate the value of customers' assets in a global marketplace," said Dr. Ho. "We have been leaders in the industry and our vision will continue to live on in our products, services, and customers as we move forward with DRG." About Context Matters, Inc. Context Matters modernizes and improves the process of valuing drug therapies, empowering life sciences organizations to achieve optimal reimbursement for their innovation. The Context Matters Market Access Platform (MAP) defines a new product category for global drug valuationa configurable technology platform linking drug development and market data through a sophisticated model making comparative analysis and contextual views possible to establish reimbursement and market access. The MAP is a disruptive innovation that provides pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies direct access to the insights they need to inform key product development decisions and gain optimal reimbursement value. Visit ContextMatters.com for more information. About Decision Resources Group Decision Resources Group, a subsidiary of Piramal Enterprises Ltd., is the premier source for global healthcare data and market intelligence. A trusted partner for over 20 years, DRG helps companies competing in the global healthcare industry make informed business decisions. Organizations committed to the development and delivery of life-changing therapies rely on DRG's in-house team of expert healthcare analysts, data scientists, and consultants for critical guidance. DRG products and services, built on extensive data assets and delivered by experts, empower organizations to succeed in complex healthcare markets. Please visit decisionresourcesgroup.com for more information. For press inquiries, please contact Tori Gillern at tgillern@teamdrg.com. Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/75057/decision_resources_group_logo.jpg Related Links http://www.decisionresourcesgroup.com SOURCE Decision Resources Group pentahotels, the neighbourhood lifestyle hotel group, is announcing the appointment of Zsolt Jakri as General Manager of pentahotel Inverness. Zsolt brings with him over 20 years of hospitality experience and an MBA in Hospitality Management. He has managed properties in some of Scotland's most prestigious locations, both for international brands and boutique establishments. Zsolt joins the team this month and will oversee Scotland's first pentahotel, leading the drive to establish pentahotel Inverness as the country's premier lifestyle hotel. (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/545739/TRAVEL_Pentahotels.jpg ) pentahotels Inverness is one of 28 pentahotels worldwide and the brand now spans across seven countries and two continents, with more exciting locations in the pipeline. VP operations Andrew Munt welcomed Zsolt to the team, saying; "Zsolt is a fantastic addition to the pentahotels brand and we look forward to him drawing on his expertise and passion for hospitality, to further bring the vision of pentahotels to life in Scotland." A Hungarian by birth and a Scot by heart, Zsolt can't wait to start work in the Highlands. Pentahotels represents a new generation of hotels offering modern-minded individual and business travellers comfort and style in a relaxed atmosphere. Known for its unique interior design and unique business attitude, the lifestyle brand stands for true innovation in the industry's four-star segment. With 28 hotels across seven countries over two continents, the hallmark of the hotel chain is the pentalounge - a combination of lounge, bar, cafe and reception - that stands out with its "living room" look and feel. For further information and bookings, please visit http://www.pentahotels.com. Follow us on facebook.com/pentahotels for our latest news. Media contacts: media consulta International Holding AG On behalf of pentahotels Aleksandar Musikic Phone: +49(0)30-65-000-388 E-mail: press.pentahotels@mcgroup.com pentahotels Global Marketing & Communications Department Max Siegers Phone: +49(0)69-256699-750 E-mail: communications@pentahotels.com SOURCE Pentahotels MOSCOW, August 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- China, for over six years, has been the largest trading partner of Russia and Russia is one of the main sources of import of energy resources for China. In 2016, Russia became the largest supplier of crude oil to China - accounting for almost 14% of the Chinese import. In the last year, the share of China in the structure of the Russian oil export achieved 20.6% which made it our key trading partner in this sphere. In 1Q 2017, the export of the Russian oil to PRC increased by another 12% relative to 1Q 2016. In last year, Rosneft supplied 34.5 mln. t of oil to PRC - two times more than three years ago. Now Rosneft delivers every tenth ton of crude imported by China. But energy resource trading is only a base of Rosneft and Chinese companies' cooperation. Its overall potential is much broader and took active efforts to deepen and develop it through joint work in the energy markets and creation of interstate vertically integrated chains, mutual investments, cooperation in technology, service sectors, delivery of equipment. An important example of the interstate vertical integration is a Rosneft joint Tianjin refinery project which implement in partnership with CNPC. Rosneft is ready to consider joint investment activities in all segments of the technology chain - upstream, infrastructure, downstream and midstream. There is a strong potential in implementation of joint projects in the petrochemical industry which is demonstrated by Rosneft interaction with Chinese national chemical company ChemChina in Far Eastern Petrochemical Co. (FEPCO) project. In the same area, Rosneft work hand in hand with Sinopec implementing our Boguchany project. They plan to build a high-tech multiproduct facility in Boguchany. Also Rosneft sees the growth of cooperation with Chinese companies in the sphere of high tech services and equipment. An important example of cooperation in this sphere is supply of equipment for Zvezda Shipyard in the area of Vladivostok. A contract for delivery of cranes for Zvezda Shipyard was signed with Chinese company China Heavy Industries Corporation Nantong. In June 2016 a contract for construction and delivery of a unique 40,000 load-out barge was signed with Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry Ltd. Development of cooperation between Russia and China in the gas business also has strong outlooks and Rosneft plans to take active part in this cooperation. Rosneft and Beijing Gas Group Company Limited ("Beijing Gas") closed the deal for sale and purchase of 20% shares in Verkhnechonskneftegaz (a Rosneft subsidiary). Entry of Beijing Gas in Verkhnechonskneftegaz opens broad opportunities for development of cooperation in the sphere of Rosneft natural gas export to China. Rosneft and Beijing Gas consider options of development of integrated cooperation in Eastern Siberia and Far East region implying exploration of hydrocarbons, development of fields, production and sale of gas. The parties also analyze opportunities for joint work for expansion of utilization of the gas motor fuel. SOURCE Rosneft WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA's newest astronaut candidates, a diverse dozen women and men, will participate in media interviews and a final news conference before training on Tuesday, Aug. 22, at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA Television will broadcast a conversation between the astronaut candidates and members of the Expedition 52 crew, who currently are working and living aboard the International Space Station, at 12:45 p.m. EDT Tuesday, followed immediately by the news conference. A limited number of five-minute interviews with individual astronaut candidates are available, in person or by phone. To request an interview or credentials to attend the news conference, U.S. media must contact Johnson's newsroom by 5 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 17. Media who wish to participate in the news conference by telephone must call Johnson's newsroom at 281-483-5111 no later than 12:30 p.m. Aug. 22. NASA's astronaut candidates are: Kayla Barron, Zena Cardman, Raja Chari, Matthew Dominick, Bob Hines, Warren "Woody" Hoburg, Dr. Jonny Kim, Robb Kulin, Jasmin Moghbeli, Loral O'Hara, Dr. Francisco "Frank" Rubio and Jessica Watkins. They will be joined in training and at the news conference by Canadian Space Agency astronaut candidates Joshua Kutryk and Jennifer Sidey. This is the last expected opportunity for interviews with the astronaut candidates until they complete two years of training. Their training will focus on International Space Station systems, spacewalking, robotic operations, T-38 jet operations, and the Russian language. In addition to these skills, the astronaut candidates perfect expeditionary skills such as leadership, followership, team care and communication through activities like survival training and geology treks. They also learn about NASA's work in other areas, including aeronautics and research. Follow NASA astronauts on Twitter at: https://www.twitter.com/NASA_Astronauts SOURCE NASA Related Links http://www.nasa.gov TEL AVIV, Israel, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- > Q2 Sales up 2.8% to $830 million; volumes up a robust 7.3% with strong momentum for differentiated products Half year sales increase to $1,673 million , driven by 5.5% growth in volumes > Q2 Gross profit up 10.9% to record high $300 million; gross margin up 2.7 percentage points to 36.2% Half year gross profit up 7.9% to record high $612 million , with an increase of 2.4 percentage points in gross margin to 36.5% , with an increase of 2.4 percentage points in gross margin to 36.5% Driven by continuing improvement in portfolio mix and cost reduction > Q2 Operating income up 16.6% to record high $115 million; operating margin up 1.7 percentage points to 13.9% Half year operating income up 10.4% to record high $252 million , with an increase of 1.3 percentage points in operating margin to 15.0% > Q2 Net income up 19.8% to $68 million; net income margin up 1.1 percentage points to 8.2% Half year net income up 15.6% to record high $183 million , with an increase of 1.4 percentage points in net income margin to 10.9% > Q2 EBITDA up 11.8% to record high $159 million; EBITDA margin up 1.6 percentage points to 19.2% Half year EBITDA up 7.8% to record high $339 million , with an increase of 1.4 percentage points in EBITDA margin to 20.3% > 66% increase in Q2 Free Cash Flow to record high $230 million 38% increase in Q2 Operating Cash Flow to $254 million Balance sheet working capital improved by $150 million over the year > Significant $310 million reduction in balance sheet net debt over the last 12 months to $768 million Net debt / EBITDA ratio of 1.4x vs. 2.2x in Q2 last year > Combination with Sanonda completed Returning to the public equity market Combined company to be renamed ADAMA and operate under its global leadership ADAMA Agricultural Solutions Ltd. today reported its financial results for the second quarter and first half of the year ended June 30, 2017. Adjusted, US$m Q2 2017 Q2 2016 % Change H1 2017 H1 2016 % Change Revenues 830 808 +2.8% 1,673 1,661 +0.7% Gross profit 300 271 +10.9% 612 567 +7.9% Gross margin 36.2% 33.5% 36.5% 34.1% Operating income (EBIT) 115 99 +16.6% 252 228 +10.4% EBIT margin 13.9% 12.2% 15.0% 13.7% Net income 68 57 +19.8% 183 158 +15.6% Net income margin 8.2% 7.1% 10.9% 9.5% EBITDA 159 143 +11.8% 339 315 +7.8% EBITDA margin 19.2% 17.6% 20.3% 18.9% Revenue growth in constant currencies in the second quarter was 2.2%, and 0.8% in the half-year. H1 2017 figures have been adjusted for the capital gain from the sale/transfer process related to certain products in connection with ChemChina's acquisition of Syngenta and tax expenses in the amount of approximately $3 million in respect of a tax event from 1985 against cancellation of a tax asset. H1 2016 figures have been adjusted for the value redeployment in the first quarter of 2016 of employee options granted in 2014. Commenting on the results, Yang Xingqiang, Chairman of Adama's Board of Directors, said, "These exceptional results, both over the quarter and in the year-to-date, stand out in an overall challenging agricultural market, and once again demonstrate the resilience of Adama's business as well as the dedication and determination of its people. With the combination of Adama and Sanonda now completed, we are looking forward to an enormously promising future for the combined group." Chen Lichtenstein, President and CEO of Adama, added, "In this quarter, our last before returning to the public equity market, we have delivered double-digit increases in all profit and profitability metrics, reaching record highs. Our profitable growth trajectory, driven by our increasingly differentiated portfolio, is resulting in strong cash flow generation and reduced leverage, allowing us to continue to invest in the development of our business globally. We are in a strong business and financial condition, ready to capitalize on the many growth opportunities that lie ahead." Financial Highlights Revenues grew by 2.8% in the quarter and by 0.7% in the half year period compared to the corresponding periods last year. This increase was driven by robust volume growth of 7.3% in the quarter and 5.5% in the half-year, with Adama's increasingly differentiated product portfolio driving strong business growth despite generally adverse agricultural market conditions. Especially strong performances were recorded in the India, Middle East and Africa region as well as in APAC. The strong volume growth was partially offset by the passing on to customers of a portion of the ongoing reduction in costs. Gross profit increased 10.9% in the quarter to a record high $300 million, with gross margin up by 2.7 percentage points to 36.2%, compared to the corresponding period last year. In the half-year, gross profit rose by 7.9% to a record high $612 million, with a 2.4 percentage point increase in gross margin to 36.5%. This strong increase in profitability was the result of a combination of the robust volume growth, further improvements in the portfolio mix towards a more differentiated offering, alongside continued reduction of costs, a portion of which was passed on to customers. Operating income increased 16.6% in the quarter to a record high $115 million, with an increase of 1.7 percentage points in operating margin to 13.9%, compared to the corresponding period last year. In the half-year, operating income rose by 10.4% to a record high $252 million, with an increase of 1.3 percentage points in operating margin to 15.0%. EBITDA increased 11.8% in the quarter to a record high $159 million, with an increase of 1.6 percentage points in EBITDA margin to 19.2%, compared to the corresponding period last year. In the half-year, EBITDA rose by 7.8% to a record high $339 million, with an increase of 1.4 percentage points in EBITDA margin to 20.3%. Net income in the quarter increased by a significant 19.8% to $68 million, with an increase of 1.1 percentage points in net income margin to 8.2%, compared to the corresponding period last year. In the half-year, net income grew by 15.6% to a record high $183 million, with an increase of 1.4 percentage points in net income margin to 10.9%. Working capital: Balance sheet working capital improved by $150 million compared to the corresponding period last year, driven by improvements in all working capital items. Cash Flow: Adama generated significant increases in operating and free cash flow, both in the second quarter and in the first half of the year, reflecting the significant increases in profit as well as the improvement in working capital levels. Operating cash flow reached $254 million in the quarter and $251 million in the half-year, compared with $184 million and $192 million in the corresponding periods last year, respectively. The Company saw robust free cash flow generation in the second quarter, reaching a record high $230 million in the quarter and to $188 million in the half-year, compared to $138 million and $114 million in the corresponding periods last year, respectively. Leverage: The strong cash generation has seen Adama reduce its debt levels substantially, with balance sheet net debt at the end of the second quarter of $768 million, an improvement of $310 million over the last 12 months. This puts the company's net debt/EBITDA ratio at around 1.4x, compared to 2.2x at the same time last year. Regional Sales Performance Q2 2017 $m Q2 2016 $m % Change CER % Change USD H1 2017 $m H1 2016 $m % Change CER % Change USD Europe 286 279 +4.4% +2.8% 684 704 +0.3% -2.8% North America 190 186 +2.1% +2.1% 359 340 +5.7% +5.7% Latin America 147 159 -10.8% -7.7% 262 272 -10.2% -4.0% India, Middle East & Africa 116 99 +13.2% +17.1% 190 176 +6.3% +7.8% Asia Pacific 91 85 +6.6% +7.2% 178 169 +4.6% +5.8% Total 830 808 +2.2% +2.8% 1,673 1,661 +0.8% +0.7% Europe: Sales increased by 4.4% in the quarter and by 0.3% in the half-year period in constant currency terms, compared with the corresponding periods last year. This increase was driven by strong volume growth of an increasingly differentiated portfolio, despite low disease and insect pressure as a result of the cold and wet conditions in the first part of the quarter, as well as the lingering high levels of inventory in the distribution channels, which have led to slower demand and a decrease in the overall European crop protection market. The volume growth was partially offset by the passing on to customers of a portion of the reduction in costs. Adama continues to capitalize on the increased sugar beet acreage across the continent, with its strong sugar beet product portfolio driving increased market share. The Company grew markedly in Romania, where its multiple farmer-centric initiatives, such as SimpliCultura field events showcasing its leading crop protection solutions, reach farmers directly. These efforts, complemented by a variety of digital and social media programs serving to raise brand-awareness, are delivering tangible business growth. In the Ukraine, strong demand for Adama's differentiated portfolio, including CUSTODIA, SUPREME and RACER for sunflower, as well as MAVRIK in oilseed rape, saw the Company record sharply increased sales. The focus on digital services providing farmers with support and decision-making tools, such as the Adama Lab, Adama iMeteo and Adama Fin apps, also contributed to sales growth. KANTIK, a unique mixture of three active ingredients for disease control in wheat and barley, was registered in France, and is expected to be launched later this year. In addition, Adama obtained a number of new registrations in Germany, including MERCURY, a differentiated mixture for fungal diseases in sugar beet, and CRAWLER, a unique oilseed rape herbicide for the control of a wide range of grasses. In US dollar terms, reflecting the weaker exchange rates in the quarter and half-year period, and the lower contribution of currency hedging compared with corresponding periods last year, sales increased by 2.8% in the quarter and were 2.8% lower in the half-year. North America: Sales increased by 2.1% in the quarter, and by 5.7% in the half-year period, both in constant currency and in US dollar terms, compared with the corresponding periods last year. This increase was a result of robust volume growth, partially offset by the passing on to customers of a portion of the reduction in costs. Adama's US crop protection business grew strongly in the quarter, with volume-led revenue expansion, as well as an improvement in portfolio mix and improved pricing driving markedly improved profitability. Adama continues to grow sales of key backward-integrated products sourced from Sanonda and ChemChina entities, building strategic positions in these key molecules. Leveraging its leading cotton portfolio and demand creation activities on increasing cotton acres in the US, the Company continues to grow its share in this crop. In Canada and in the Consumer and Professional Solutions business, Adama's continued shift towards more differentiated and higher-margin products drove improved profitability. Latin America: Sales were lower by 10.8% in the quarter and by 10.2% in the half-year period in constant currency terms, compared with the corresponding periods last year. This is a reflection of the ongoing challenging industry conditions in the region, causing lower volumes and prices in the quarter in Argentina and Brazil, which was offset by volume growth in other countries. Volumes over the half-year period were stable. Despite the overall decline in the Brazilian agrochemical market, Adama's sales in the country in the first half of the year remained stable, with volume growth complemented by an improved portfolio, a particularly noteworthy performance. Adama is working with its customers in Brazil to navigate through the tough market conditions. The Company has expanded the SOMAR program for distributors, including financial services, as well as SOMAR PESSOAS, its unique human capital development program. In recognition of these and other initiatives, Adama Brazil was ranked, for the second year in a row, as one of the top five innovative agribusiness companies in the country. Adama delivered strong results in Colombia and Mexico, driven by an improved portfolio mix, as well as pricing initiatives. These performances were supported by generally positive weather conditions. Notwithstanding the challenging conditions in many countries across the region, Adama continues to invest in the development of its differentiated portfolio, with the launch in Chile of the proprietary product BREVIS in apples as well as ACADIA BIO, a unique anti-stress fungicide formulation, launched in Argentina. In US dollar terms, sales in Latin America were lower by 7.7% in the quarter and by 4.0% in the half-year period compared with the corresponding periods last year, benefiting from the appreciation of local currencies, primarily the Brazilian Real, against the US dollar. India, Middle East & Africa: Sales increased by 13.2% in the quarter and by 6.3% in the half-year period in constant currency terms, compared with the corresponding periods last year, due to substantial volume growth, most notably in India, supported by favorable weather conditions. The outstanding performance in India was driven by significant volume growth of an increasingly differentiated portfolio, while benefiting from the early start of the monsoon season. Adama is establishing leading positions in products based on molecules sourced from Sanonda, such as ACEMAIN and TAPUZ, a differentiated mixture for insect control. In Turkey, its leading sugar beet portfolio continues to perform well. Sales in South Africa were negatively impacted by drought conditions. In US dollar terms, sales increased 17.1% in the quarter and 7.8% in the half-year period, compared to the corresponding periods last year, reflecting the strengthening of several currencies, including the South African Rand and the Indian Rupee. Asia-Pacific: Robust growth of 6.6% in the quarter and 4.6% in the half-year was recorded in this region in constant currency terms, compared with the corresponding periods last year. This increase was driven by significant volume growth, primarily in the Pacific and parts of South East Asia, supported by new product launches, improvement of portfolio mix and positive weather conditions. Adama continued the global rollout of its innovative nematicide NIMITZ, with the registration of NEMASHOT in Japan, and obtained a registration for PALMERO TX, a proprietary herbicide mixture for chickpea in Australia. CUSTODIA, a differentiated mixture for fungus control, was launched successfully in Thailand. The Company delivered a particularly noteworthy performance in South East Asia, with strong results in Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia, driven in part by increased sales of its rice portfolio. In China, Adama continued to expand its product portfolio, with launches of a number of new products, including LONGCHUANG and LIANGGONG, both insecticides for rice, as well as APROPO, a broad-spectrum systemic fungicide, and JICHU, a differentiated herbicide for wheat. In US dollar terms, sales increased by 7.2% in the quarter and by 5.8% in the half-year compared to the corresponding periods last year, benefiting from the appreciation of local currencies, primarily the Australian Dollar, against the US dollar. Further Information All financial and legal filings, together with a presentation of the key financial highlights of the period, can be accessed through the Company's website at www.adama.com. About Adama ADAMA Agricultural Solutions Ltd. is one of the world's leading crop protection companies. We strive to Create Simplicity in Agriculture offering farmers effective products and services that simplify their lives and help them grow. With one of the most comprehensive and diversified portfolios of differentiated, quality products, our 5,000-strong team reaches farmers in over 100 countries, providing them with solutions to control weeds, insects and disease, and improve their yields. For more information, visit us at www.adama.com and follow us on Twitter at @AdamaAgri. Contact Nina Zoukelman Corporate PR Manager [email protected] SOURCE ADAMA Agricultural Solutions Ltd. Related Links http://www.adama.com SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Historically Black Colleges & Universities have played a pivotal role in our nation's history. As higher education moves online, many HBCU's are offering online education opportunities for their students. In its mission to help students keep college reasonably priced, AffordableSchools.net has highlighted the most affordable online opportunities currently offered by HBCU institutions. You can view the full list here: http://affordableschools.net/most-affordable-online-bachelors-degree-hbcus/ Many students will choose the flexibility of online education as they balance an increasingly busy and complex life with the degree they are pursuing. With the growth of demand for online education, HBCUs are increasingly offering some of their programs online. We wanted to make a ranking of HBCUs that are committed both to keeping costs low, and offering the flexibility of online schooling. Here's a list of schools we recognize for being the most affordable Historically Black Colleges & Universities offering online programs: Oakwood University - Huntsville, Alabama Hampton University - Hampton, Virginia Claflin University - Orangeburg, South Carolina Howard University - Washington, District of Columbia Johnson C Smith University - Charlotte, North Carolina Paul Quinn College - Dallas, Texas Bethune-Cookman University - Daytona Beach, Florida Morgan State University - Baltimore, Maryland Wilberforce University - Wilberforce, Ohio Fort Valley State University - Fort Valley, Georgia Virginia University of Lynchburg - Lynchburg, Virginia Norfolk State University - Norfolk, Virginia Alabama A & M University - Normal, Alabama Delaware State University - Dover, Delaware Jackson State University - Jackson, Mississippi Talladega College - Talladega, Alabama Langston University - Langston, Oklahoma Albany State University - Albany, Georgia Southern University and A & M College - Baton Rouge, Louisiana Prairie View A & M University - Prairie View, Texas Lincoln University - Jefferson City, Missouri North Carolina Central University - Durham, North Carolina Tennessee State University - Nashville, Tennessee Coppin State University - Baltimore, Maryland Winston-Salem State University - Winston-Salem, North Carolina North Carolina A & T State University - Greensboro, North Carolina Bluefield State College - Bluefield, West Virginia Kentucky State University - Frankfort, Kentucky West Virginia State University - Charleston, WV Fayetteville State University - Fayetteville, North Carolina AffordableSchools.net developed this list as part of its overall committment to helping students find the most affordable and flexible solutions to higher education. Historically black colleges and universities are playing a vital part of that process. AffordableSchools.net (http://www.affordableschools.net) is an independent college search and rankings site with a focus on affordable colleges and programs within higher education. It publishes a number of rankings series, focusing on variety of categories, including affordable Bachelor's degrees (various subjects), affordable Bachelor's degree colleges by state, affordable online degree programs, niche rankings, resource lists, and much more. The site is designed to make your college search easier. Raj Kumar Dash Managing Editor Phone #: 310-929-7240 Contact form: http://affordableschools.net/contact/ SOURCE AffordableSchools.net Related Links http://www.affordableschools.net LONDON, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The future of farming; ultra precision farming; autonomous farming This report is focused on agricultural robots and drones. It analyses how robotic market and technology developments will change the business of agriculture, enabling ultra-precision farming and helping address the key global challenges. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5059951/ This report is focused on agricultural robots and drones. It analyses how robotic market and technology developments will change the business of agriculture, enabling ultra-precision farming and helping address key global challenges. It develops a detailed roadmap of how robotic technology will enter into different aspects of agriculture, how it will change the way farming is done and transform its value chain, how it becomes the future of agrochemicals business and how it will modify the way we design agricultural machinery. In particular, this report provides: - Market forecasts: Granular ten-year segmented market forecasts for 14 categories including static milking robotics, mobile dairy farm robots, autosteer tractors, autonomous tractors, unmanned spraying drones, autonomous data mapping drones, robotic implements for de-weeding, autonomous de-weeding mobile robots, robotic fresh fruit harvesting, robotic strawberry harvesting, manned and unmanned robotic lettuce/vegetable thinning/harvesting and so on. Our market forecasts are also segmented by territory. All our assumptions and data points are clearly explained. - Technology assessment: Detailed technology assessment covering all the key robotic/drone projects, prototypes and commercial products relevant to the agricultural sector. Detailed overview and assessment of key technological components such as vision sensors, LIDARs, novel end-effectors, and hyper/multi-spectral sensors. Technology roadmaps outlining how different equipment are increasingly becoming vision-enabled, intelligence and unmanned/autonomous. - Application assessment: Detailed application assessment covering dairy farms, fresh fruit harvesting, organic farming, crop protection, data mapping, seeding, nurseries, and so on. For each application/sector, a detailed overview of the existing industry is given, the needs for and the challenges facing the robotic technology are analysed, the addressable market size is estimated by territory, and granular ten-year market projections are given. - Company profiles: More than 20 interview-based full company profiles with detailed SWOT analysis, 40 company profiles without SWOT analysis, and the works of more than 76 companies/research groups listed and summarized. Robotics in dairy farms will reach $8bn by 2023 Robotic and drones have already started to quietly transform many aspects of agriculture. Already, thousands of robotic milking parlours have been installed worldwide, creating a $1.9bn industry that is projected to grow to $8bn by 2023. Mobile robots are also already penetrating dairy farms, helping automate tasks such as feed pushing or manure cleaning. Tractors become increasingly autonomous Tractor guidance and autosteer technologies are also going mainstream thanks to improvements and cost reductions in RTK GPS technology. Indeed, more than 300k tractors equipped with autosteer or tractor guidance were sold in 2016, rising to more than 660k units per year by 2027. Unmanned autonomous tractors have also been technologically demonstrated with large-scale market introduction largely delayed not by technical issues but by regulation, high sensor costs and the lack of farmers' trust. This will all change by 2022 when sales of unmanned or master-slave (e.g., follow me) tractors picks up. Drones bring in increased data analytics into farming Agriculture will be a major market for drones, reaching over $480m in 2027. Unmanned remote-controlled helicopters have already been spraying rice fields in Japan since early 1990s. Indeed, this is a maturing technology/sector with overall sales in Japan having plateaued. This market will benefit from a new injection of life as suppliers diversify into new territories and as low-cost light-weight sprayer drones enter the market. The progress of drones is by no means limited to spraying. Their core function is to provide detailed aerial maps of farms, enabling farmers to take data-driven site-specific action. These light-weight low-cost drones are often loaded with small multi-spectral sensors, measuring key indicators about plant health, yields, water stress levels, nitrogen deficiency and so on. This development will soon be entering into its growth years. This is because regulatory barriers for drone deployment are coming down and, more importantly, precision farming ecosystems is finally coming together meaning that farmers can act on what the data tells them. In time, the drone hardware will become commoditized and value will shift largely to data acquisition and analytics providers. Robotics is the future of agrochemicals Agricultural robotics is also rapidly progressing on the ground. Vision-enabled robotic implements have been in commercial use for some years in organic farming. These implements follow the crop rows, identify the weeds, and aid with mechanical hoeing. The next generation of these advanced robotic implements is also in its early phase of commercial deployment. Indeed, they are already thinning as much as 10% of California's lettuce fields. The end game however is to turn these implements into general-purpose autonomous weeding robots. This means that swarms of these small, light-weight robots will locate weeds and take site-specific precise action to eliminate them. This has already starting to occur with numerous companies and groups developing and deploying a variety of weeding robots. Indeed, whilst most products are in prototype or semi-commercial trail phase, the first notable sales have also taken place aimed at small multi-crop vegetable farmers. This has far reaching long-term consequences for the farming industry, particularly affecting suppliers of crop protection chemicals. This is because it changes the way we farm as farmers will no longer need to broadcast spray chemicals uniformly across the entire field. Instead, they will move even beyond variable-rate precision towards ultra-precision agriculture where the farm is managed on an individual plant basis and where each plant is given only the exact dose of chemicals that it requires. This is only a long term development at this stage but it will impact the total consumption of crop protection chemicals. It can convert volume commodity agrochemical business into speciality chemical operations, and can force suppliers to re-invent themselves as providers of crop protection, whatever its form, and not just chemical suppliers. Agricultural machinery transfigured? The advent of agricultural robots will herald a change in the way agricultural machinery is envisaged. Today, bigger is better because the productivity of the skilled driver/operator is improved. Mobile robots could change this by taking the driver out of the equation. Indeed, emerging mobile agricultural robots are likely to be slow, unmanned, light-weight and modular. Their slowness means that more attention is given to each plant, their lightness means no soil compaction, and their small size means potentially lower cost. The latter point is critical if such mobile robots are ever to leave the drawing board because slower and small machines are inherently less productive therefore need to be lower cost, in some cases by as much as 24 times. This cost requirement alone will prevent uptake in the medium-term. Today, most examples of such robots are only in the prototypes or early stage commercial trial phase but the direction of development is clear. The technological challenges will soon largely been solved and the industry will enter the phase of making and proving a commercial case, whether as an equipment or a service. Farmers' conservatism will however turn this potentially revolutionary change into an evolutionary, incremental one. Robotics finally succeed in fresh fruit harvesting? Despite non-fresh fruit harvesting being largely mechanized, fresh fruit picking has remained mostly out of the reach of machines or robots. Picking is currently done using manual labour with machines at most playing the part of an aid that speeds up the manual work. Progress here has been hampered by the stringent technical requirements. The vision system needs to detect fruits inside a complex canopy whilst the robotic arms needs to rapidly, economically and gently pick the fruit. The lack of CAD models has also prevented rapid iterations in product development. The absence of universal applicability has also put off large investments as each harvester is likely to work on a narrow segment. This is however beginning to change, albeit slowly. A limited number of fresh strawberry harvesters are already being commercially trialled. Some versions require the farm layout to be changed and the strawberry to be trained to help the vision system identify a commercially-acceptable percentage of strawberries. Others are developing a more universal solution compatible with all varieties of strawberry farms. Market adoption will start from 2020/2021 onwards. At the same time, fresh apple robotic harvesting has also reached the level of late stage prototyping. Here, novel low-cost end-effectors are being developed together with low-cost good enough robotic arms that will work in parallel. Market adoption will start from 2022/2023 onwards. Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5059951/ About Reportbuyer Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers http://www.reportbuyer.com For more information: Sarah Smith Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: [email protected] Tel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: www.reportbuyer.com SOURCE ReportBuyer Related Links http://www.reportbuyer.com Data with Mail Today shows a rise in crimes against women in the first eight months of this year compared to all 12 months of 2016. By Ajay Kumar: In the concrete jungles of Gurugram, women are often easy prey for predators on the prowl. Despite the government's widely promoted 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' campaign across the country, the Millennium City in Haryana has witnessed a spurt in sex crimes. According to data shared with Mail Today, Gurugram police registered 80 rape cases this year including some particularly heinous ones. One such incident took place in May when three drunken men abducted a woman, gang-raped her and killed her eight-month-old daughter in Manesar. advertisement There were five cases of women being abducted and raped in moving cars on the streets of Gurugram and Delhi. The numbers are alarming as Gurugram police registered 90 rape cases in the 12 months of 2016. Women's safety in the country fell under international spotlight following the 2012 fatal gang rape of a student on a bus in Delhi. The crime triggered massive protests and led to the tightening of laws. The Manesar victim was picked up from the busy NH-8 and she was taken to an eatery as well as the Kherkidaula toll plaza before being brutalised for three hours near the IMT Chowk. The accused also flung her infant daughter on a road divider leading to her death. A 22-year-old woman was abducted by three men from outside her house in Gurugram sector 17 in May. She was gang-raped in a moving car before being dumped at an isolated place in Delhi's Najafgarh area. On June 19, a native of Sikkim was kidnapped and raped by three men in a moving car in Gurugram and driven through several parts of Delhi before being dumped on a road in Greater Noida. Gurugram police is one of the first police departments to have set up a Northeast helpline apart from the emergency number for women, 1091, despite which sex crimes have not registered any significant dip. Many of the victims were originally from the Northeast, say sources. Numbers for molestation and "outraging modesty of women" are also alarming. While the figure last year was 129, in less than eight months this year it has reached 187. On May 25, two men molested a 35-year-old woman near the police commissioner's office in full public view. Cops have failed to identify the culprits so far. Ravinder Kumar, the spokesperson of Gurugram police, said, "We have witnessed incidents where relatives are the perpetrators of crimes against women. There is, of course, a criminal part in it, but moreover it is a social issue." ALSO READ | Why Chandigarh stalking is not a shocker: A look at crime against women in numbers ALSO READ | Be harsh in cases of crime against women on social media: Ravi Shankar Prasad to IPS officers advertisement ALSO WATCH | Our press reports every incident of rape so it becomes 'top of the mind': Maneka Gandhi --- ENDS --- NEW ORLEANS, Aug. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ClaimsFiler, a FREE shareholder information service, reminds investors that they have until August 29, 2017 to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Allergan, Inc. (NYSE: AGN), if they sold call options, purchased put options and/or sold equity forward contracts of the Company between February 25, 2014 and April 21, 2014, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Get Help Allergan investors should visit us at https://www.claimsfiler.com/cases/nyse-agn-2 or call to speak to our claim center toll-free at (844) 367-9658. About the Lawsuit Allergan and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws. The Complaint asserts claims under Sections 14(e), 20A and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 relating to the attempted acquisition of Allergan by Valeant and its affiliates in 2014 in which certain Defendants traded on material non-public information relating to the proposed acquisition, which caused investors to sell call options and equity forward contracts at artificially deflated prices and purchase put options at artificially inflated prices. About ClaimsFiler ClaimsFiler has a single mission: to serve as the information source to help retail investors recover their share of billions of dollars from securities class action settlements. ClaimsFiler's team of experts monitor the securities class action landscape and cull information from a variety of sources to ensure comprehensive coverage across a broad range of financial instruments. To learn more about ClaimsFiler, visit www.claimsfiler.com. SOURCE ClaimsFiler Related Links https://www.claimsfiler.com WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- America's Warrior Partnership has named former President George W. Bush as the recipient of the third-annual Leo K. Thorsness Leadership Award for his continuing support of veterans and their families. The award recognizes outstanding service to veteran communities and is named after Col. Leo K. Thorsness, a Medal of Honor recipient and one of the most highly decorated American airmen of the Vietnam War. America's Warrior Partnership "Leo was the embodiment of courage, service and leadership, and he brought those qualities to every aspect of the America's Warrior Partnership mission as a member of our Board of Directors before passing away earlier this year," said Jim Lorraine, president and CEO of America's Warrior Partnership. "We honor his legacy by recognizing others who are leading the charge in serving veterans, and we're proud to present this year's award to former President Bush for his ongoing support of our nation's warriors through projects such as Portraits Of Courage." Previous recipients of the award include Fox News anchor John Scott and Home Depot co-founder and philanthropist Bernie Marcus. Bush will receive this year's award during a luncheon at the Fourth Annual Warrior Community Integration Symposium on Thursday, September 7, at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. "I thank America's Warrior Partnership for helping our country leverage a national cadre of determined and experienced leaders who will serve in new ways and with renewed purpose for decades to come. That is the example that Colonel Leo Thorsness set for his fellow Americans," said President Bush. "It is an honor to be given an award named in memory of this remarkable man." More information about the Leo K. Thorsness Leadership Award and the Warrior Community Integration Symposium is available at http://americaswarriorpartnership.org/symposium/2017-symposium/. About America's Warrior Partnership America's Warrior Partnership is committed to empowering communities to empower veterans. We fill the gaps that exist between current veteran service organizations by helping nonprofits connect with the veterans, military members, and families in need: bolstering their efficacy, improving their results and empowering their initiatives. America's Warrior Partnership is a force multiplier for warrior community integration that enhances communities where great Americans choose to live and contribute. For more information on the organization and how to get involved, visit www.AmericasWarriorPartnership.org. Media Contacts: Joe Wolf, Dalton Agency 904.910.4454; [email protected] Anthony Popiel, Dalton Agency 404.876.1309; [email protected] Related Files Leo Thorsness Award press release.pdf Related Images image1.jpeg image2.jpg Related Links Website SOURCE America's Warrior Partnership RALEIGH, N.C., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ANEXIO, the leading "Desktop to Data Center" infrastructure-as-a-service company, today announced that Inc. magazine has honored ANEXIO by ranking it number 452 on the Inc. 500 of America's fastest-growing private companies. As an Inc. 500 honoree, ANEXIO now shares a pedigree with Oracle, Box, Microsoft, GoPro, Intuit, Under Armour and dozens of other Inc. 500 alumni that have gone on to become household names. The 2017 Inc. 5000 was unveiled online at Inc.com, and the top 500 companies, including ANEXIO, are featured in the September issue of Inc., which hit newsstands today. This year's compilation includes the most competitive crop in the list's history. The Inc. 5000's aggregate revenue is $206 billion, and the companies on the list collectively generated 619,500 jobs over the past three years. "ANEXIO is pleased to be named to the Inc. 500," said Tony Pompliano, president and CEO of ANEXIO. "The first thing you need to know about ANEXIO is that we live to serve our customers and this recognition by Inc. 500 is proof positive that ANEXIO is heading in the right direction. On behalf of all ANEXIO employees, we thank our customers for allowing us the opportunity to serve them and we will continue to work hard to help businesses around the world make a smooth transition from their legacy IT environment to a more efficient and secure Hybrid Cloud infrastructure." Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000. This is the second time ANEXIO has made the Inc 5000 list. In 2014, the company ranked 2638th on the prestigious list. "The Inc. 5000 is the most persuasive evidence I know that the American dream is still alive," said Eric Schurenberg, president and editor-in-chief of Inc. "The founders and CEOs of the Inc. 5000 tell us they think determination, risk-taking, and vision were the keys to their success, and I believe them." ABOUT ANEXIO ANEXIO is transforming the IT industry with Desktop to Data Center solutions designed specifically for customers seeking a smooth transition from legacy IT environments to a more efficient Hybrid Cloud infrastructure. The company's Mission Critical Infrastructure strategy is anchored by six Tier III SOC-2 certified data centers, an IT solutions center and a nationwide IP Network. ANEXIO's offerings include colocation, networking, Cloud services, storage, disaster recovery, Managed IT, and Managed VoIP. Every ANEXIO product and service is backed up by United States-based customer support. Visit www.anexio.com for more information. About Inc. Media: Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures, Inc. is the only major brand dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies, with the aim to deliver real solutions for today's innovative company builders. Winner of the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in both 2014 and 2012. Total monthly audience reach for the brand has grown significantly from 2,000,000 in 2010 to over 18,000,000 today. For more information, visit www.inc.com. The Inc. 5000 is a list of the fastest-growing private companies in the nation. Started in 1982, this prestigious list of the nation's most successful private companies has become the hallmark of entrepreneurial success. The Inc. 5000 Conference & Awards Ceremony is an annual event that celebrates their remarkable achievements. The event also offers informative workshops, celebrated keynote speakers, and evening functions. For more information on Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Conference, visit http://conference.inc.com/. Media Contact: Amy Laukka (919) 802-4304 [email protected] SOURCE ANEXIO Related Links http://www.anexio.com (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/542615/Arcusys_Logo.jpg ) (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/545756/Carahsoft_Technology_Corp_Logo.jpg ) Government entities will benefit from utilizing Valamis on Liferay to learn, develop and share information digitally. An open source learning solution, Valamis assists agencies in understanding and complying with large, comprehensive laws, regulations and security-related procedures, as well as employee competence management. "We are excited to expand our Arcusys and Liferay solutions portfolio with the addition of Valamis, and to make this integrated learning platform available to our government customers and reseller partners," said Natalie Gregory, Vice President of Carahsoft's Open Source Solutions team. "Arcusys has invested extensively in technology to streamline the user experience, enable compliance with a myriad of regulatory requirements, and automate the training/certification process for government agencies in a very cost-effective manner." Valamis empowers formal learning, social learning and informal learning that is independent of time, space and device. Additionally, the analytics produced by Valamis enable the customer to measure and analyze the efficiency and impact of the training programs, shorten the time to productivity, and find the best ways to train new skills "The partnership with Carahsoft is a significant step in entering highly competed US markets for us and will create new possibilities for both companies," said Mika Kuikka, President of Arcusys Inc. "Together with Liferay, we will prepare the public and private sector organizations for the digital transformation of learning." Arcusys' Valamis platform and Liferay are available immediately via Carahsoft's GSA Schedule No. GS-35F-0119Y. For more information, register for "Turning the Digital Transformation of Learning into an Agency's Competitive Advantage," a webinar hosted by Carahsoft and Arcusys at 10am ET on Wednesday, August 30, 2017; meet the Valamis team at the Liferay North American Symposium in Austin, TX on October 16 and 17, 2017; or contact the Arcusys team at Carahsoft at 703-230-7451. About Arcusys Arcusys is an internationally growing IT company specialized in the digitalization of learning. The company's customers are large organizations in both private and public sectors. Arcusys has eight offices globally and is headquartered in Finland, the education capital of the world. For more information, please visit http://www.arcusys.com. About Valamis - Learning Experience Platform Valamis is an award-winning open source learning experience platform developed since 2010 by Arcusys. Valamis provides organizations a solution for turning the digital transformation of learning into a competitive advantage. Valamis enables social and informal learning, content authoring and management tools, learning measurement tools and other user experience capabilities using the Liferay platform. Valamis gives user an access to in-depth analytics on their learning process by supporting the xAPI standard, and includes a built-in Learning Record Store (LRS). The platform brings organizations a cost effective and flexible way to grow and manage their learning. For more information, please visit valamis.arcusys.com. About Carahsoft Carahsoft Technology Corp. is the trusted government IT solutions provider. As a top-ranked GSA Schedule Contract holder, Carahsoft serves as the master government aggregator for many of its best-of-breed vendors, supporting an extensive ecosystem of manufacturers, resellers, and consulting partners committed to helping government agencies select and implement the best solution at the best possible value. The company's dedicated Solutions Divisions proactively market, sell and deliver a comprehensive suite of open source solutions as well as VMware, Symantec, EMC, Adobe, F5 Networks, HP, SAP, and Innovative and Intelligence products and services, among others. Carahsoft is consistently recognized by its partners as a top revenue producer, and is listed annually among the industry's fastest growing firms by CRN, Inc., Washington Technology, The Washington Post, Washington Business Journal, and SmartCEO. Contact information: Arcusys Inc. Mika Kuikka President [email protected] +1-(617)-959-7438 Nea Kolmonen, +358-400-254-410, [email protected] Carahsoft Mary Lange Vice President, PR [email protected] +1-(703)-431-8485 SOURCE Arcusys Ltd. OSLO, Norway, Aug 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Asetek reported revenue of $11.1 million in the second quarter of 2017, an increase of 33% from the second quarter of 2016 on higher desktop revenue driven by shipments in the DIY and Gaming Performance/ Desktop PC markets. Growth in the quarter also reflects an increase in shipment of data center products to OEMs. Revenue for the six months ending 30 June was $22.6 million, an increase of 21% from the same period of 2016. "Q2 was another good quarter for Asetek. The demand for our efficient liquid cooling solutions for data centers, servers and PCs continues to grow. For 2017, we expect a decent growth within our desktop segment, especially due to high-end gaming customers. And we expect significant growth within our data center segment on the back of continued progress with OEM partners and increasing end-user adoption with technology deployed to new high performance (HPC) installations. Our job now is to make sure the positive development continues," said Andre Sloth Eriksen, CEO and Founder. EBITDA adjusted for share based compensation expense was was $1.1 million in the second quarter of 2017, compared with EBITDA adjusted of $0.3 million in the second quarter of 2016. First-half 2017 EBITDA adjusted was $1.8 million, compared to $1.6 million for the first half of 2016. Desktop revenue was $10.1 million in the second quarter, an increase of 34% from the same period of 2016. Operating profit from the desktop segment was $2.8 million, an increase from $2.2 million in the same period last year due to an increase in DIY and Gaming Performance/Desktop PC sales. Data center revenue was $1.0 million, an increase from $0.8 million in the prior year due to an increase in shipments to OEM customers, partly offset by a decline in shipments under government contracts. Revenue variability is expected to continue while the Company secures new OEM partners and growth of end-user adoption through existing OEM partners. Asetek continued to invest in its data center business and the segment operating loss was $1.6 million for the second quarter, compared with $1.3 million in the same period of 2016. Expenditures relate to technology development, manufacturing, and sales development with data center partners and OEM customers. Through new and repeat orders received from data center OEM partners in the first half of 2017, Asetek is increasing its end-user adoption with technology deployed to new HPC installations. In the second quarter, this included orders of RackCDU D2C (Direct-to-Chip) liquid cooling from Fujitsu and Penguin Computing. Due to continued positive development within the desktop segment, Asetek increases its full year 2017 desktop revenue guidance from single digit growth to growth between 10% and 20% compared with 2016. The outlook for the data center business is reaffirmed, with significant revenue growth expected compared with 2016. Webcast and conference call at 8:30 AM CEST today 16 August 2017 Asetek will release its financial results for the second quarter 2017 on Wednesday, 16 August at 7:00 AM CEST. This is followed by a presentation by CEO Andre Sloth Eriksen and CFO Peter Dam Madsen at 8:30 AM CEST. Asetek invites investors, analysts and media to join the presentation. The presentation is expected to last one hour, including Q&A, and can be followed through live webcast or by conference call. Conference call audio only: Please dial in 5-10 minutes prior using the phone numbers and confirmation code below: Copenhagen, Denmark: +4532-71-16-59 Oslo, Norway: +472350-0486 Stockholm, Sweden: +46(0)8-5033-6538 Frankfurt, Germany: +49(0)69-2222-10629 London, United Kingdom: +44(0)20-3427-1916 Paris, France: +33(0)1-76-77-22-29 New York, United States of America: +1646-254-3362 Confirmation code: 5557928 Webcast audio and slide presentation: Please join the second quarter 2017 results webcast by clicking here. The Second Quarter 2017 Report and presentation will also be made available on www.asetek.com and www.newsweb.no, as well as through news agencies. A recorded version of the presentation will be made available on www.asetek.com approximately two hours after the broadcast has concluded. Asetek's press room is available on www.asetek.com/press-room/news/ For questions or further information, please contact: CEO and Founder Andre S. Eriksen, +45-2125-7076, email: [email protected] CFO Peter Dam Madsen, +45-2080-7200, email: [email protected] About Asetek: Asetek is the global leader in liquid cooling solutions for data centers, servers and PCs. Founded in 2000, Asetek is headquartered in Denmark and has operations in California, Texas, China and Taiwan. Asetek is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ASETEK.OL). This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com http://news.cision.com/asetek/r/asetek---q2-2017--revenue-growth-driven-by-gaming-pc-cooling-demand,c2326708 The following files are available for download: http://mb.cision.com/Main/6758/2326708/709958.pdf PDF http://mb.cision.com/Public/6758/2326708/9a35617f2579bdab.pdf Asetek Q22017 Report http://mb.cision.com/Public/6758/2326708/a4dbd262053fbe92.pdf 170815 Asetek Q2 17 Presentation SOURCE Asetek Related Links http://www.asetek.com Virtuoso travellers spend approximately three times more than the average visitors from the United States, between $9,000 and $15,000 per trip. Based on the latest figures from Statistics New Zealand, Auckland has welcomed more than 262,000 visitors from the US in the year ending June 2017 -- up 31.6 per cent on the previous year -- and who contributed $480 million to the regional economy. ATEED's Brett O'Riley says there has been consistent growth from the Virtuoso market since Auckland's inclusion as a destination in the network. "Data from Virtuoso group shows that Auckland transactions in 2016 were valued at more than USD 30.6 million, which was 5 per cent up on 2015, or the equivalent of USD 29.1 million," he says. "Virtuoso travellers want unique experiences in everything from food and wine, culture and nature, with a strong focus on sustainable tourism." "We've been working with the network to develop our Auckland offering and have introduced new products for itineraries to meet these needs. This has included creating an experience where visitors can name and release native birds on islands in the harbours." "We've also worked with Staples, a tenant from ATEED's AR/VR Garage to turn this into a virtual reality experience. This, along with an augmented reality experience wine tasting on Waiheke Island, is being shown for the first time at Virtuoso Travel Week." The annual Virtuoso Travel Week, attracts more than 4,700 of the world's top luxury travel advisors, travel providers and luxury and lifestyle media. This year Auckland was invited to be involved with the opening night of the world's largest luxury travel event, with supermodel Rachel Hunter talking to attendees about the merits of Auckland as a visitor destination. This was Rachel's first appearance in her new role as an international ambassador for Auckland, working in conjunction with ATEED, where she is lending her name and support to the place she calls home. "I'm a proud Kiwi. Auckland is where I was born and will always be home," she says. "It's a beautiful place. The immediate connection you can have with nature, the city and the diversity of the people makes me proud of who we are as New Zealanders, and this is something I want to share with the world." Attracting premium, high-value visitors from the likes of the US and China markets is a key strategic priority for ATEED in delivering on the aspirations of the Auckland Visitor Plan. "Air connections between Auckland and the US have never been better. We are in a prime position to keep boosting visitor numbers and drive more value. Our membership with Virtuoso has become a valuable platform for ATEED in attracting high-net worth visitors, investor migrants and business people to Auckland," says O'Riley. "We are excited to be working with Rachel Hunter to promote Auckland to our third largest visitor market. Rachel is well-known on the international stage for her long modelling career as well her passion for the environment, and from her Los Angeles base is in a prime position to influence the premium US visitor market. "Rachel's invitation to appear at Virtuoso Travel Week has provided us with an unparalleled opportunity to showcase Auckland to such an influential group which will then be followed up with networking and the business that takes place on the tradeshow floor throughout the week." Media Contact: Anika Forsman Acting Media Manager DDI +64 9 365 0523 | M +64 22 0261130 [email protected] SOURCE Auckland Tourism, Events & Economic Development (ATEED) SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Automation Anywhere, the global leader in enterprise Robotic Process Automation (RPA), today announced very strong customer, partner and employee growth during the first half of 2017. The company added 158 new customers, including The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc., KeyBank, Quion Groep B.V. and Suncorp along with 25 Fortune 500 organizations. These enterprise customers are leaders in their respective industries. The additions bring Automation Anywhere's total customer count to more than 695 worldwide enterprise customers using its Digital Workforce platform, cementing its position as the provider with the industry's largest customer base. During the January to June 2017 timeframe, Automation Anywhere had an impressive bookings expansion rate of 282 percent as well as an existing customer renewal rate of 99.5 percent, a compelling indicator of customer satisfaction as companies continue to invest heavily in Automation Anywhere products. "After record growth in 2016 and an exciting first half of this year, we're on track to set multiple new records in 2017," said Mihir Shukla, CEO and Co-Founder of Automation Anywhere. "Our first half metrics are unprecedented in the software industry and are validation of our position as the clear leader in the RPA category as the only true Digital Workforce provider, delivering all three Digital Workforce pillars RPA, cognitive and analytics." Employee and Partner Expansion During the first half of 2017, Automation Anywhere added 140 new employees. The company plans to hire 350 employees this year, with 120 completely dedicated to customer success and support, bringing total headcount to 700 by January 2018. Automation Anywhere recently opened an office in Singapore to support demand in APAC. The company plans to open an office in Tokyo on the heels of their recent Hitachi partnership announcement. The company also grew its partner network for even greater RPA expansion, adding 10 new partners to bring its total number of global partners to 38. Partner expansion was capped in mid-July with the announcement of a new strategic collaboration with IBM. This partnership clears the way for IBM to embed Automation Anywhere's RPA product into its digital process automation solutions to help companies drive new efficiencies by automating repetitive, labor-intensive tasks. The collaboration will make it easier for companies to improve processes across their enterprises and free employees to focus their time on more creative and customer-facing aspects of their jobs. "With this new partnership, IBM and Automation Anywhere will rededicate ourselves to fulfilling the promise of automating workflows to drive business performance with unprecedented speed and accuracy," added Shukla. "We will deliver this new digital imperative not at the speed of workflow but rather at the speed of our ambition." Product Leadership In the first half of 2017 the company also launched its biggest advancement in cognitive RPA capabilities with the next evolution of IQ Bot, software bots capable of learning from human behavior, for intelligent process automation. By combining cognitive abilities with practical, rule-based RPA capabilities, organizations can quickly scale and up level their Digital Workforces to fully automate processes end-to-end and run them independently, with minimal human intervention. Imagine: Industry's First User Conference to Include Both Humans and Bots During the first half of the year, Automation Anywhere hosted Imagine, the company's premier customer experience event that took place in New York, attended by 350 RPA customers and partners who brought and displayed more than 150 bots from around the globe. The next Imagine customer experience will be held in Bengaluru, India, on Sept. 6-7, with more than 800 human attendees expected along with more than 300 bots. Interact with Automation Anywhere Visit our website: www.automationanywhere.com Check out our monthly webinar series BotVisions: https://www.automationanywhere.com/company/webinars Follow us on Twitter: @AutomationAnywh Connect with us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/automation-anywhere About Automation Anywhere Automation Anywhere delivers the most comprehensive enterprise-grade RPA platform with built-in cognitive solutions and analytics. Over 695 of the world's largest brands use the platform to manage and scale their business processes faster, with near-zero error rates, while dramatically reducing operational costs. Based on the belief that people who have more time to create, think and discover build great companies, Automation Anywhere has provided the world's best RPA and cognitive technology to leading financial services, BPO, healthcare, technology and insurance companies across more than 90 countries for over a decade. For additional information visit www.automationanywhere.com. SOURCE Automation Anywhere Related Links http://www.automationanywhere.com LOS ANGELES, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Los Angeles is a city of dreamers, young men and women who are defined not by their race or religion, but by identities that have been formed by their instincts, their journeys, and the city they call home. Baxter California Campaign Images Baxter California Campaign Images Baxter California Campaign Images Baxter California Campaign Images Baxter California Campaign Images Baxter California Campaign Images Baxter California Campaign Images Baxter of California, a brand born in LA from its founder's independent spirit, sought to reimagine its position in men's grooming through provoking, real stories and cultural observations that connect with evolving trends, preferences, and lifestyles. The resulting brand campaign, "Life Lived True," is an honest depiction that grounds the brand in a modern California culture through a lens that is inclusive of all expressions of masculinitymodern masculinity. "The world is discovering now what Baxter of California has channeled since its birth in 1965. Modern masculinity is about more than just your physical appearanceit's an expression of self that is non-binary, gender-agnostic, and blind to race or religion; a way of living bravely, unafraid of stereotypes or judgments. Venturing beyond the ordinary is in the brand's DNA, where expertise, heritage and trends collide," Yasmin Dastmalchi, Baxter of California's Global Head of Marketing. The brand teamed up with agency of record Exposure America and photographer Ben Grieme to introduce "Life Lived True" in the city it has called home since 1965Los Angeles. The series of portraits, accompanied by scenic imagery, shine a light on the diverse subjects, cast from the streets of LAtrue to the spirit and culture of this city. From the brand's own female barber to a fencing pro, the raw photography showcases how the subjects live their lives true, fueled by passion inherent to who they are. Another subject, LA-native Todd Baron resigned from his mediocre desk job in pursuit of his passion; he packed up his stuff, left his 1-bedroom apartment in the Valley, and moved into a van parked at Venice Beach, with nothing but his surfboard and a bag of clothes. Todd took a leap of faithwith financial implicationsto become a surf instructor. Now, living his life true, Todd feels invigorated and free of societal pressuresa spirit that translates on camera through his confident stance and strong sense of self. Like Todd, Angelenos are bound together by their urge to push beyond social constructs and live their lives according to nobody's rules. To them, imperfection is perfection. They embrace individuality. It was important for the brand that this honest, authentic spirit of California culture was captured not only by the subjects' stories and their environments, but also through their unique styles and grooming habits. The brand enlisted the help of Baxter of California Lead Stylist, Whitney VerMeer, to get the job done. "I work with a lot of career models, but my favorite projects are the ones where I cast people from Instagram or someone I pass on the street who has an interesting or intriguing look - most don't have a modeling background in any capacity. There's something really beautiful about watching a person transform behind camera and see their confidence blossom throughout the process. It was easy to appreciate the fresh approach and styling of this Baxter of California shoot since it's very much in line with what I do," Whitney VerMeer, Baxter of California Lead Stylist and NAHA 2017 Men's Hairstylist of the Year. "Life Lived True is about being honest with yourself, embracing your imperfections, and not being afraid to showcase who you are as you experience life. This campaign aims to show our consumers that we will never be a brand that wants to dictate who they should be or how they should live their lives. Baxter of California wants to be a partner on your journey, empowering you to make your unique mark on the world by living freely and authentically," notes Baxter of California's Global General Manager, Yann Joffredo. Baxter of California. Grooming to Live Life True. Credits: Client: Baxter of California (@baxterofca) Agency: Exposure Creative Agency (@exposureamerica) Photographer: Ben Grieme (@bengrieme) Lead Groomer: Whitney VerMeer (@whiteneyvermeer) Supporting Groomer: Ananda Tuyes (@ananda_tuyes) ABOUT BAXTER OF CALIFORNIA Since 1965, Baxter of California has been a pioneer in understanding and meeting men's grooming needs. Founded by Baxter Finley amidst an era of freedom and self-expression, the brand continues to operate with the same individualistic mindset today, providing grooming essentials to men of all generations. Baxter of California's curated range of hair, shave, skin grooming essentials and lifestyle products are all tried and tested by Master Barbers at the award-winning Baxter Finley Barber & Shop in Los Angeles, for quality and versatility, to provide consumers with everything they need to confidently be who they are. We are here to fuel your best self and unleash what makes you, you. Baxter of California. Grooming to Live Life True. For the latest Baxter of California news and grooming tips, follow @baxterofca or visit www.baxterofcalifornia.com ABOUT EXPOSURE: Exposure is a creative agency working in New York, London and Tokyo to connect brands with culture. Driven by a belief in the intelligence of humanity, undefined by geography or demographic, Chief Creative Officer Tom Phillips creates brand content that engages audiences with honest and provoking visual stories and cultural observations. SOURCE Baxter of California Related Links http://www.baxterofcalifornia.com RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bayer and the Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF), a non-profit organization in Florida supporting citrus growers, have signed a research collaboration agreement to find solutions to Citrus Greening disease, which currently threatens the global citrus production and juice industry. Currently no effective treatment against the bacterium Candidatus liberibacter, the causal agent of Citrus Greening, is available. Under the long-term research agreement, Bayer will provide access to its Disease Control know-how and will coordinate public and private research to find novel solutions for Citrus Greening in Florida and beyond. CRDF is organizing the financing of this project, combining public funds with contributions from the citrus growers and the juice industry. The partnership is financially supported by PepsiCo and The Coca-Cola Company, two leaders in the juice industry. Citrus grower David Evans (left) inspects the damage to a grove in Florida together with Dr. Dennis Warkentin from Bayer The research activities will focus on a broad set of possible tools against Citrus Greening, mainly to identify biological disease control solutions or molecules that modulate the plants' innate immune defense system. The objective of this joint effort is to discover one or more solutions that would be available to Florida citrus growers as soon as possible. Any potential treatment resulting from this research project would be further developed and commercialized by Bayer. Florida is the second-largest producer of orange juice globally and is seeing rapid decline in production due to the disease. According to the Florida Department of Citrus, from 2015-2016, Florida produced just 81.5 million boxes of oranges, compared with 147 million boxes in 2005-2006, and 205 million boxes in 1995-1996. "Without advanced tools to control Citrus Greening, the citrus industry in Florida could be out of business within 10 to 15 years," said Adrian Percy, Head of Research & Development at the Crop Science division of Bayer. "This research project will address key elements of a holistic agronomic solution for citrus growers to help battle this devastating disease." Harold Browning, COO of CRDF, added: "Anti-bacterial solutions are considered to be crucial by the industry to preserve citrus in Florida until disease-tolerant citrus trees will be available. This agreement is an important step to ensure the survival and competitiveness of Floridas citrus growers through innovation." Citrus Greening, also known as Huanglongbing (HLB) or yellow dragon disease, is a bacterial plant disease that was first discovered in China in 1919. Citrus Greening induces dramatic decline of tree health and productivity within five years. It is spread by an insect called the Asian citrus psyllid. Psyllids are highly reproductive and difficult to control by means of classical pest control products. Meanwhile nearly 100 percent of commercial orchards in Florida are infected with the disease and are exhibiting varying stages of decline. The only mitigation strategy remaining for citrus growers in Florida is to replace infected trees to stay in business. Bayer is committed to bringing new technology and solutions for agriculture and non-agricultural uses. For questions concerning the availability and use of products, contact a local Bayer representative, or visit Crop Science, a division of Bayer, online at www.cropscience.bayer.us. Visit the Bayer Connect - Social Hub for social media, recent news, blog posts, videos and more from Crop Science, a division of Bayer. Bayer: Science For A Better Life Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the Life Science fields of health care and agriculture. Its products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen. In fiscal 2016, the Group employed around 115,200 people and had sales of EUR 46.8 billion. Capital expenditures amounted to EUR 2.6 billion, R&D expenses to EUR 4.7 billion. These figures include those for the high-tech polymers business, which was floated on the stock market as an independent company named Covestro on October 6, 2015. For more information, go to www.bayer.us. Citrus Research and Development Foundation The Citrus Research and Development Foundation (CRDF) is a non-profit corporation organized under Florida State laws as a Direct Service Organization of the University of Florida. The Mission of the Foundation is to "Advance disease and production research and product development activities to insure the survival and competitiveness of Florida's citrus growers through innovation". The organization is headed by a 13-member Board of Directors that includes individuals from industry, academia and government. The COO handles the day-to-day management of business affairs, and Program Managers oversee the research and commercial product delivery project portfolios. Find more information at www.cropscience.bayer.us. Forward-Looking Statements This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer's public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com . The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments. 2017 Bayer CropScience LP, 2 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. Always read and follow label instructions. Bayer and the Bayer Cross are registered trademarks of Bayer. For additional product information call toll-free 1-866-99-BAYER (1-866-992-2937) or visit our website at www.cropscience.bayer.us CR0817MULTI1C375V00R0 SOURCE Bayer Related Links http://www.bayer.us WESTFIELD, Mass. and GREENFIELD, Mass., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The registered nurses of Baystate Franklin Medical Center and Baystate Noble Hospital, who are represented by the Massachusetts Nurses Association, voted in recent days to reject management's "best and final" contract proposals that do not include fair agreements on safe nurse staffing levels to protect patient care and quality, affordable health insurance. Baystate Noble Hospital nurses also voted to authorize a one-day strike. No strike date has been scheduled. This vote gives the Noble MNA Bargaining Committee authorization to call a one-day strike if and when the nurses' bargaining committee deems it is necessary. If the committee issues its official notice to strike, there will be at least 10 days before nurses go out on strike for one day. "Noble Hospital nurses are standing up together for our patients and ourselves because it is clear Baystate executives do not want a fair compromise," said Paul Dubin, RN Co-Chair of the Noble MNA Bargaining Committee. "We have been trying to negotiate over nurse staffing and patient care conditions and quality health insurance for 14 months. Recently our local management team appeared to lose all power to negotiate. Instead Baystate executives are refusing to bargain in good faith over our key issues." Noble nurses voted to authorize a one-day strike and reject management's "best and final" offer on August 8. BFMC nurses voted to reject management's "best and final" offer on August 15. A "best and final" proposal is a term used in negotiations by employers to say that they are done bargaining and will entertain no further proposals. The MNA attempted to provide a comprehensive counter proposal to keep negotiations going on the same day. Management responded without considering the proposal by re-stating that they would not entertain new proposals except a proposal to accept management's "final" offer. The MNA filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board citing management's refusal to bargain over workload, patient care issues or healthcare as categories and on what the MNA considers to be their unlawfully moving backwards in their "Final" offer. Subsequent to the vote by Baystate Noble RNs, management agreed to return to bargaining. Baystate gave its "best and final" to BFMC nurses on July 21. That day BFMC nurses spent hours revising proposals, including on their key issue of improving nurse workload and staffing to protect patient care. A few minutes after providing management with their revised proposal, they flatly rejected it and gave nurses a pre-printed "best and final offer." "It is clear to us Baystate management did not come to actually negotiate on July 21," said Donna Stern, RN and Senior Co-Chair of the BFMC MNA Bargaining Committee. Our proposal was a significant movement toward a fair agreement from our previous proposal." "Baystate has been refusing to bargain over our core issues of safe nurse staffing, workload and health insurance," Stern said. "We are trying hard to negotiate a fair contract that protects patients and ensures quality of life and working conditions. Management at Baystate Franklin has no power to negotiate. Instead, executives from Baystate's corporate offices in Springfield are making decisions about our nurses, our patients and our hospital." Noble nurses joined Baystate Franklin Medical Center nurses and community supporters on August 7 at a picket in front of Baystate Health HQ in Springfield. Baystate MNA nurses are united for safe patient care and fair treatment of nurses. BFMC nurses held a one-day strike in June fighting for these key issues. Nurses at both hospitals have held informational pickets and rallies with community supporters. Noble nurses have been trying for more than a year and a half to negotiate a fair contract and BFMC nurses have been attempting the same for nearly 10 months. Noble nurses began bargaining in February 2016 and BFMC nurses in November 2016. A federal mediator is involved in both negotiations. The next Noble negotiation session is scheduled for August 24. No date has been set for the next BFMC session. MassNurses.org Facebook.com/MassNurses Twitter.com/MassNurses Founded in 1903, the Massachusetts Nurses Association is the largest union of registered nurses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its 23,000 members advance the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting the economic and general welfare of nurses in the workplace, projecting a positive and realistic view of nursing, and by lobbying the Legislature and regulatory agencies on health care issues affecting nurses and the public. SOURCE Massachusetts Nurses Association Related Links http://www.massnurses.org A survey by the Delhi Minorities Commission has found that at least 70 commercial and residential properties have come up on what once used to be graveyards. By Baishali Adak: Faced with a severe housing crunch, the Capital's growing population is making inroads into the dead zone. There are at least 70 residential colonies, office complexes and prominent buildings in Delhi sitting on what used to be graveyards. This is the conclusion the Delhi Minorities Commission (DMC) has reached after a year-long study of Muslim burial grounds in the national Capital. These realty spaces - of several acres and worth crores - mainly in south, southeast, east and outer Delhi have been encroached upon by people and even government agencies. advertisement The Delhi Wakf Board, which is the custodian of these valuable sites for the minority community, just looked on, says the commission. Several people had complained to the DMC, which looks after the affairs of Sikhs, Muslims, Christians and Buddhists, about the lack of entombment spaces for their dead. In the past few years, Muslims have had to "reuse" graveyards after saturation every two to three years. Several insensitive but last resort practices such as "advance booking" and "bids" from Rs 50,000 to Rs Rs 1 lakh were also being made for the two yards of burial space. DMC officers said a study is ongoing regarding Christian cemeteries also, space for which is fast shrinking. Mail Today had carried a report on how Delhi's dead can no more rest in peace due to urbanisation and population explosion in April 2016. "We commissioned a study on the phenomenon through a third party and the report was submitted to us recently. It compared various land records from even pre-1947 to the current situation on-ground. These included reports by British and Indian district commissioners and more recently, DDA files," Dr Zafarul Islam, chairman of DMC, told Mail Today. "We found that many graveyards had simply vanished. They were eaten up by colonies bit by bit. Now the community is having problems finding space to intern its dead." WAQF BOARD INACTION? He pointed out that since most of these kuccha colonies became semi or fully authorised, they simply refuse to vacate. "Litigation is a difficult option. The waqf board should have prevented this from happening," he said. Many Muslim-dominated areas such as Jamia Nagar, Batla House, Shaheen Bagh, colonies in Okhla, Shahzada Bagh in Inderlok and old Delhi face an acute shortage of space for burials. The report will now be submitted to the DDA, the National Commission for Minorities and the ministry of minority affairs for action, he said. "We will ask the DDA to compensate us with adequate amount of land in different parts of Delhi," senior officers in the DMC said. In 1971, Muslims in Delhi formed just 6.5 per cent of the population. But, according to the 2011 census, they were 12.86 per cent of the city's 1.67 crore population with the count at 21,58,684. Christians form 0.87 per cent of Delhi's population, at 1,46,093. advertisement According to the government gazette notification, 1970, at least 488 Muslim graveyards existed in Delhi post partition. But only 25 burial grounds are available now. Sufiyan, a caretaker at a graveyard near the Ghalib Academy in Nizamuddin Basti, said, "Our burial ground kept reducing in size and the houses kept approaching our borderline and into it. Finally, we put up iron gates and that stopped them." In Delhi's Welcome colony, Abdul Qayoom, whose forefathers bought a plot of land for burying only their family members, said, "Slowly and gradually, our Muslim neighbours started exerting pressure on us to allow them to use the burial ground as well. Since these are sensitive matters, we couldn't refuse. And now it is full. Not an inch is left for anyone." ALSO READ | Kerala's water bodies dying due to urbanisation, poor waste management ALSO READ | Protesters complain how Aarey transplantation area is turning into graveyard of Mumbai's trees advertisement ALSO WATCH | Debate: Is an all-India 2-child policy the need of the hour? --- ENDS --- SHREVEPORT, La., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bearing Services & Supply launches a new, completely restructured website (http://www.bearserco.com) with a modern design, better usability, and search engine friendliness. The new interface design builds a strong online presence and creates an improved user experience for prospective customers. This new website will also have an e-commerce piece added in the future that will allow anyone to buy from Bearing Service and Supply online without leaving their home or office. "Our new website offers our customers a user-friendly experience with easy navigation and allows them to view manufacturers and products we carry," says Scott Harkey, owner of Bearing Service & Supply. "We are especially excited about phase two of the website with the e-commerce capability. Service is our middle name and we love that we can serve our customers day and night." Bearing Service & Supply selected Visual App for the website design, search marketing and site management. "With the new website, Bearing Service & Supply now has a solid foundation for their online marketing initiatives," states Jeff Old, principal at Visual App. "The redesign of the website is a key element in building their online marketing strategy which will assist Bearing Service & Supply in reaching new customers online." About Bearing Service & Supply, Inc. Since 1972, Bearing Service & Supply, Inc. has been among the leading independent industrial distributors of bearings, power transmission equipment, and fluid power components in the U.S. Bearing Service and Supply represents the top MRO parts and supply manufacturers. All locations are also member sites of IDC-USA, an independent distributor cooperative. Learn more by visiting http://www.bearserco.com. About Visual App Visual App is an internet marketing and web design firm in Dallas, Texas that builds comprehensive online strategies that establish a strong web presence that increases business for its clients. Core services include search engine optimization, web design, local search marketing, and custom email marketing. To learn more visit http://www.visualapp.com. If you would like more information about this topic, please contact Tim McKenzie at 318-424-1447. Bearing Service & Supply 318-424-1447 [email protected] http://www.bearserco.com SOURCE Bearing Service & Supply, Inc. Related Links http://www.bearserco.com SPRING CITY, Pa., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- College ranking website BestCollegeReviews.org has released its ranking of the top master's degree programs in education. Programs were ranked according to affordability, quality of the educational program, and the flexibility of educational content and format. Specializations, concentrations, and course work in these top programs cover areas including special education, primary and secondary education, curriculum & educational technology, autism spectrum disorders, early childhood education, mathematics education, career and technical education, inclusion education, TESOL, and school counseling. Below is a listing of the colleges and universities whose programs are highlighted in the ranking. For further details, please visit the full article at http://www.bestcollegereviews.org/top/online-masters-in-education/. Ball State University Western Governor's University American College of Education Grand Canyon University Arizona State University Capella University Oregon State University University of New England Texas A&M North Carolina State University Post University University of San Diego Liberty University Concordia University Purdue University University of Cincinnati Regent University University of Southern California - Rossier North Central University University of Massachusetts Michigan State University Queen's University of Charlotte University of Florida Drexel University University of Maryland University College BestCollegeReviews.org reviews publicly available data and produces independent ranking assessments of various educational programs and college facilities. The mission of Best College Reviews is to be a vital resource for potential students making one of the most important decisions of their lives. Best College Reviews recognize that no ranking system is perfect, and recommends that their ratings be used only as a general guide for choosing a quality school. Contact: Julie McCaulley, Editor Phone: 518-496-0845 Email: http://www.bestcollegereviews.org/contact/ SOURCE BestCollegeReviews.org Related Links http://www.bestcollegereviews.org (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160303/792302 ) Browse 180 Market Data Tables and 42 Figures spread through 219 Pages and in-depth TOC on "Biopsy Devices Market" http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/biopsy-device-market-132886515.html Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report The Report analyzes and studies the major market drivers, restraints, and opportunities in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. Download PDF Brochure @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownload.asp?id=132886515 Factors such as rising prevalence of cancer, increasing preference for minimally invasive surgeries, and initiatives undertaken by governments & global health organizations are the major factors driving the growth of this market. By product, the needle-based biopsy instruments segment accounted for the largest share of the market On the basis of product, the needle-based biopsy instruments segment accounted for the largest share of the global biopsy devices market in 2016. This can be attributed to the preference of needle-based biopsies over open surgical biopsies and increasing preference for minimally invasive surgeries. The lung biopsy segment is expected to highest growth during the forecast period Based on application, the lung biopsy segment accounted for the largest share of the biopsy devices market. The growing prevalence of lung cancer will drive market growth. Additionally, the availability of funding for lung cancer research is contributing to the growth of this market segment. The ultrasound-guided biopsy segment dominated the market in 2016 Based on guidance technique, the ultrasound-guided biopsy segment accounted for the largest share of the biopsy devices market. This quick and simple procedure offers advantages, such as no ionizing radiation exposure, low complication rate, and lower cost as compared to other biopsy techniques. The hospitals segment held the highest CAGR during the forecast period Based on end user, the hospitals segment is expected to register the highest growth rate during the forecast period. The strong financial capabilities of hospitals and the presence of trained professionals are the major factors supporting the rising adoption of biopsy devices among hospitals. Speak to Analyst @ http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/speaktoanalyst.asp?id=132886515 North America dominated the market in 2016 North America accounted for the largest share of the biopsy devices market in 2016, followed by Europe. The rising prevalence of cancer, government initiatives to spread awareness about cancer, favorable reimbursement scenario for biopsy devices in the U.S., and the presence of key players in the region are the key factors driving the growth of the biopsy devices market in North America. The major players in the biopsy devices market are C. R. Bard, Inc. (U.S.), Becton, Dickinson and Company (U.S.), Cook Group Incorporated (U.S.), Devicor Medical Products, Inc., (Leica Biosystems) (Germany), Argon Medical Devices (U.S.), B. Braun Melsungen AG (Germany), Cardinal Health, Inc. (U.S.), Olympus Corporation (Japan), Boston Scientific Corporation (U.S.), FUJIFILM Holdings Corporation (Japan), INRAD, Inc. (U.S.), and Medtronic plc (Ireland). Browse Related Reports: Cancer Diagnostics Market by Technology (ELISA, ELFA, PCR, NGS, Immunohistochemistry, Microarray, Imaging (MRI, CT, PET, Ultrasound, Mammography), Biopsy), Application (Breast Cancer, Lung Cancer, Colorectal Cancer, Melanoma) - Forecast to 2020http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/cancer-diagnostics-market-186559121.html Breast Biopsy Market by Product (Table, Needle, Localization wire, Guidance System), Type (Open Biopsy- Excisional, Incisional, Needle- Core Needle Aspiration, Vacuum Assisted) & by Guidance system (Ultrasound, Stereotactic, MRI) - Forecast to 2020http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/biopsy-devices-breast-biopsy-market-189011805.html About MarketsandMarkets MarketsandMarkets provides quantified B2B research on 30,000 high growth niche opportunities/threats which will impact 70% to 80% of worldwide companies' revenues. Currently servicing 5000 customers worldwide including 80% of global Fortune 1000 companies as clients. Almost 75,000 top officers across eight industries worldwide approach MarketsandMarkets for their painpoints around revenues decisions. Our 850 fulltime analyst and SMEs at MarketsandMarkets are tracking global high growth markets following the "Growth Engagement Model - GEM". The GEM aims at proactive collaboration with the clients to identify new opportunities, identify most important customers, write "Attack, avoid and defend" strategies, identify sources of incremental revenues for both the company and its competitors. MarketsandMarkets now coming up with 1,500 MicroQuadrants (Positioning top players across leaders, emerging companies, innovators, strategic players) annually in high growth emerging segments. MarketsandMarkets is determined to benefit more than 10,000 companies this year for their revenue planning and help them take their innovations/disruptions early to the market by providing them research ahead of the curve. MarketsandMarkets's flagship competitive intelligence and market research platform, "RT" connects over 200,000 markets and entire value chains for deeper understanding of the unmet insights along with market sizing and forecasts of niche markets. Contact: Mr. Rohan MarketsandMarkets 701 Pike Street Suite 2175, Seattle, WA 98101, United States Tel: +1-888-600-6441 Email: [email protected] Connect with us on LinkedIn @ http://www.linkedin.com/company/marketsandmarkets SOURCE MarketsandMarkets ARLINGTON, Va. and NEW YORK, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Bloomberg Law and Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP (RK&O) today announced the publication of Hedge Fund Equity Investing: U.S. Legal Issues, a portfolio that focuses on issues related to federal securities law that may apply to hedge funds when buying, holding and selling U.S. equity securities. The Portfolio, which is available to Bloomberg Law subscribers, is written by RK&O Partner Scott C. Budlong. To download an excerpt of Hedge Fund Equity Investing: U.S. Legal Issues, visit http://on.bna.com/R5hj30eqe8d. The Portfolio discusses fund investing in U.S. publicly-traded securities but also details particular securities laws issues impacting the ability of hedge funds to invest in and resell restricted securities of public and private companies and securities issued in connection with reorganizations. It is structured into four areas that address recurring issues faced by in-house counsel, including SEC reporting, liquidity issues, other securities regulatory issues (including rules regarding shareholder communications, tender offer rules and prohibitions on market manipulation), and legal and issuer-specific limits on equity ownership. The Portfolio was authored to serve as a practical guide for hedge fund counsel, equipping them with a sound conceptual foothold in the subjects it addresses as well as providing answers to a variety of specific questions that counsel may encounter. "As hedge fund investments in equity securities continue to be critical components of fund portfolios and strategies, in-house counsel, and the law firms that advise them, must understand the complexities of the securities laws and how they impact hedge fund investments in public and private equity securities," said Alex Butler, Vice President & General Manager, Corporate, Tech & IP at Bloomberg Law. "We greatly appreciate Scott's contributions in authoring this Portfolio, which addresses a variety of recurring questions that hedge fund managers and their counsel need to be aware of when buying, holding or selling equity securities purchased in public and private markets." "I've designed this Portfolio as a practical resource for lawyers who work with hedge funds pursuing U.S. equity investment strategies," said Budlong. "It can serve both as an overview for lawyers who want an introduction or refresher in the space, and as a source of specific answers and illustrations for experienced counsel addressing targeted issues on behalf of their hedge fund clients. It has been a pleasure to produce this publication with the Bloomberg Law team." Bloomberg Law portfolios are written by expert practitioners and feature deep-dive analysis and practice tools, such as checklists, sample client letters, forms and other supporting material, on a wide range of key legal topics. For information on the full range of resources available on Bloomberg Law visit http://on.bna.com/xiz730eqeb3. About Bloomberg BNA Bloomberg BNA provides legal, tax, compliance, government affairs and government contracting professionals with critical information, practical guidance, and workflow solutions. We leverage leading technology and a global network of experts to deliver a unique combination of news and authoritative analysis, comprehensive research solutions, innovative practice tools, and proprietary business data and analytics. Bloomberg BNA is an affiliate of Bloomberg L.P., the global business, financial information and news leader. For more information, visit www.bna.com. About Bloomberg Law Bloomberg Law helps legal professionals provide world-class counsel with access to actionable legal intelligence in a business context. Bloomberg Law delivers a unique combination of practical guidance, comprehensive primary and secondary source material, trusted content from Bloomberg BNA, news, time-saving practice tools, market data and business intelligence. For more information, visit www.bna.com/bloomberglaw. About Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP is a boutique law firm with deep experience and relationships in the financial markets and the business community. RK&O conducts a highly collaborative practice through approximately 65 lawyers based in New York, Washington, D.C. and London. The firm routinely represents financial institutions and investment funds in high-value securities transactions, as well as related complex litigation matters. RK&O's key attribute is the ability to find thoughtful, creative solutions to the hardest legal problems, in a manner carefully tailored to its clients' objectives. For more information, please visit www.rkollp.com. SOURCE Bloomberg Law; Richards Kibbe & Orbe LLP Related Links http://www.bna.com/bloomberglaw BOWLING GREEN, Ky., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky has won this month's Noisy Dozen award from Noise Free America: A Coalition to Promote Quiet for building an obnoxiously loud race track within a few hundred feet of a neighborhood and not even bothering to do an acoustic study before construction. Neighbors hear noise levels as high as 90 decibels. Noise Free America: A Coalition to Promote Quiet The National Corvette Museum Motorsports Park was conceived in 2008 and fundraising began in 2009. Ignoring professional design experts, the project was overseen by National Corvette Museum executives, none of whom had ever been involved with building or operating a track. In fact, not a single subcontractor on the project had ever built a track, either. The original zoning hearing was held in March 2012, and there was a tremendous opposition by the neighborhood and surrounding property owners. The National Corvette Museum wanted no restrictions on hours of operation or noise. The Bowling Green/ Warren County planning commission denied their request and added language that there would be no significant increase in noise to the surrounding property owners. The National Corvette Museum fought the planning commission at every turn and refused to comply with the zoning ordinance, binding elements and conditions of approval. The most egregious violation was their failure to construct a noise abatement structure between the track and the adjacent neighborhood. They even failed to obtain a "certificate of occupancy" before opening the track in August 2014. Neighbor complaints began immediately, but the National Corvette Museum did nothing to resolve the problems. In June 2015, the city/county planning commission voted unanimously to issue a "certificate of violation" and ordered the track to cease operations. The National Corvette Museum refused to close and appealed the order to the Bowling Green/ Warren County Code Enforcement Board, which also voted unanimously to enforce the "cease and desist" order. At this hearing, Wendell Strode, executive director of the museum, conceded that "I would not want this track in my backyard." The neighbors just wanted the peaceful enjoyment of their property, which is exactly what the museum promised them in 2012. In March 2017, the National Corvette Museum presented an amended "detailed development plan" to the Bowling Green Warren County Planning Commission. It set forth the requirement for the track to install an online "community monitoring system," with agreed-upon sound limits in the adjacent neighborhood. The system was required to be in place by July 1, 2017. The system is not in compliance with the amended development plan and the noise is significantly higher than the agreed upon level. After five years, the National Corvette Museum has never been in compliance with either the original or amended development plan. Complaints are being made to the planning commission, and now enforcement action will start all over again. The health consequences that have been created by the noise are a human tragedy. Ms. Betty Crump, 81 years old, is the closest resident to the track. Wendell Strode, executive director of the museum, testified in November 2015 that a noise abatement wall would be constructed between the track and her home by March 2016. The wall was never built, and in the fall of 2016, she was diagnosed with Type II diabetes. Noise causes stress--and stress is linked to the onset of diabetes. Tom Blair, a supporter of Residents Against Motorsports Noise, stated that "the National Corvette Museum has asserted many times that they want to be a good neighbor, but their actions say more about what they want. They wanted to build a track with no restrictions and no oversight. They have done everything in their power to stall, appeal and litigate their noise problems with total disregard for the neighbors. They have used their community and political influence to put pressure on regulators to not enforce the zoning and development plan requirements." Blair concluded, "The residents of Clark Circle and Grimes Road are decent, hard-working peoplethe type of people who value community and are good neighbors. Many of them have lived in their homes for more than thirty years. There is a Baptist minister, a truck driver, a factory worker, a nurse, a social worker, a grocery store manager, a church volunteer, and many retirees. They do not own Corvettes or go on fancy vacations. They just want what we all want: to live in a quiet, peaceful environment. They want what they were promised in 2012and they deserve no less." Noise Free America: A Coalition to Promote Quiet is a national citizens' organization opposed to excessive noise. Past "winners" of the Noisy Dozen award include Louisville Harley-Davidson, and Bikers for Trump. Contact: Tom Blair [email protected] 270-796-7500 Ted Rueter 877-664-7366 [email protected] Related Files NFA Press Release 8.11.14.docx Related Images image1.png image2.png image3.jpg SOURCE Noise Free America: A Coalition to Promote Quiet FAIRFAX, Va., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Autovalet, the world's leading provider of automated uniform management systems, announced today that LewisGale Medical Center, a 506-bed hospital in Salem, Va., has implemented the company's CabiNet RFID Scrub Dispenser solution. The hospital is now using CabiNet to provide scrubs for over 350 employees. Autovalet Using RFID has made it easier and faster for employees to obtain scrubs and has provided the hospital with increased visibility into stocks and usage. CabiNet has enabled the hospital to offer a scrub service to hundreds of additional employees at a much lower cost than lockers or vended dispensers. "Our named locker program was costly and yet we wanted to provide scrubs to an additional 200 users," said Sean Paris, LewisGale's EVS Director. "With the CabiNet solution, we have been able to introduce bulk scrubs for all users, while at the same time, save a lot of money." LewisGale Medical Center is one of four LewisGale facilities operated by Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) in Virginia. The CabiNet system and DRESSCODE software are manufactured by Autovalet Systems and supplied by Handcraft Services, LewisGale's laundry vendor. Scrub management is a challenge at many hospitals. Open carts result in high levels of loss and over-purchasing of inventory, while vended systems are often too costly to provide a return on investment (ROI). CabiNet addresses this challenge by leveraging RFID technology and Autovalet's software to provide better inventory control at a fraction of the cost of competitive systems. The scrub dispensing cabinet (four feet wide and two feet deep) can fit in nearly any location and stores more than 300 pieces. Each scrub top and bottom is fitted with an RFID chip by Handcraft Services. The four-door issue cabinet and separate return unit use RFID scanners and a controller to detect when inventory is removed or deposited. The DRESSCODE portal uses this data to manage user credits, display current stocks and issue alerts when inventory falls below pre-determined levels. CabiNet tracks and controls usage by scanning the RFID chips. Users are given a credit limit that allows them to swipe their ID card and remove scrubs, provided they are up-to-date with returning used items. DRESSCODE can import employee details from most HR systems. The solution can also track scrub usage by specific employees to identify over- or under-utilization. "Automated, RFID-based garment tracking can deliver more accurate inventory data at a much lower cost than traditional systems," said Autovalet VP, John Varley. "Scrub loss is costly, but existing vended systems are excessively expensive. CabiNet has been designed to solve that dilemma by being both affordable and intelligent. Even hospitals with moderate scrub losses can achieve a positive ROI, while larger facilities that may already have automation can replace those expensive machines with an array of CabiNets that can be located closer to where people work." A video describing the CabiNet Scrub Dispenser is available for download at https://vimeo.com/223256999 A complete case study of the Autovalet CabiNet implementation at LewisGale Medical Center is available at www.autovaletsystems.com. About Autovalet Autovalet is the world's leading provider of automated uniform management systems. Working through an extensive network of strategic partners, Autovalet provides hospitals, hotels and casinos with a wide selection of automated tracking and distribution solutions, including its flagship DRESSCODE software, all operating with its own RFID reader technology. For more information on Autovalet visit www.autovaletsystems.com Media Contact North American Agency: Spectrum Marketing & Communications Bob Basmadjian [email protected] (864) 868-0202 SOURCE Autovalet Related Links http://www.autovaletsystems.com NEW YORK, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Via Spiga, the American footwear brand inspired by the main street of Milan's famous shopping district, is stepping into a new future with a full brand relaunch led by newly appointed Creative Director, Carla De Freitas. Under De Freitas' watchful eye, Via Spiga builds upon its legacy of superior craftsmanship by pushing boundaries with the latest design innovations and production techniques. The result is a modern collection of footwear with palpable brand energy, interesting texture and unique proportions. Adrinna $395 Agyness $395 De Freitas is the brand's first Creative Director solely devoted to every aspect of the line. She believes superior design is achieved by combining the highest standards of form, function and style. She also recognized Via Spiga's new journey would be best traveled with partners who understood its founding principles: the celebration of female empowerment through footwear that enables her to feel confident with who she is and what she wants. These guiding beliefs are what led De Freitas to move the majority of Via Spiga's manufacturing back to the original Italian factory used when the brand first launched in 1985. De Freitas' approach to recommitting the brand to its Italian roots is evident in the fall 2017 collection's elevated aesthetic. Premium materials like soft Italian leather, touch-worthy suedes and rich calf hair are featured across silhouettes ranging from heeled boots to flats and pumps to tailored sneakers. The color palette marries classic neutrals like white and saddle browns to warm red and navy hues for a seasonal expression that is feminine yet strong, timeless but modern. De Freitas' debut assortment offers luxurious and wearable shoes that will give multifaceted women the opportunity to perfect their looks for work or weekend and everything in between. "My design goal is to give women a collection that they can come to for all their needs. We want them to look and feel great. There is a concerted effort in everything that we do toward making each pair comfortable without compromising design and style. For me, this all begins with seeking out the finest materials and leveraging them in the most advanced design practices to date. This is indeed a new day for the brand," shared De Freitas. The fall 2017 collection, in the brand's video campaign, retails from $195 to $495 and is now available for purchase on Via Spiga's refreshed website, www.ViaSpiga.com, as well as select department stores and specialty boutiques. ABOUT VIA SPIGA Established in 1985, the brand is inspired by a main street in one of the most famed shopping districts in Milan. At the time, Milan was gaining prominence as a fashion capital in the global market, signifying a noticeable shift towards society and career in women's lives. Via Spiga set out to capture this moment in time by offering sophisticated, Italian-crafted footwear designs to a modern, on-the-go woman. Over thirty-five years later, these are still the driving principles today. ABOUT CARLA DE FREITAS Scottish-born and NY-based designer Carla De Freitas attended The Royal College of Art in London before launching her career at Top Shop in London. There she launched the first footwear collection for the brand as senior designer and manager for Footwear and Accessories. In 2010, she became footwear design director at Alexander Wang. De Freitas then collaborated with Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen to develop and present their premier collection of shoes for Elizabeth and James. In October 2011, De Freitas joined Caleres in New York to launch Vince footwear. After great commercial success, Caleres appointed De Freitas as creative director of Via Spiga. The fall, 2017 line for Via Spiga is her first collection for the brand. ABOUT CALERES Caleres is a diverse portfolio of global footwear brands. Our products are available virtually everywhere - in the over 1,200 retail stores we operate, in hundreds of major department and specialty stores, on our branded e-commerce sites, and on many additional third-party retail websites. Famous Footwear and Famous.com serve as our Family brands. Our Contemporary Fashion brands include Sam Edelman, Allen Edmonds, Franco Sarto, Vince, Via Spiga, George Brown Bilt, Diane von Furstenberg, Fergie Footwear and Carlos Santana. Naturalizer, Dr. Scholl's Shoes, LifeStride, Bzees and Ryka represent our Healthy Living brands. Combined, these brands help make Caleres a company with both a legacy and a mission. Our legacy is our more than 130-years of craftsmanship, our passion for fit and our business savvy, while our mission is to continue to inspire people to feel goodfeet first. Visit caleres.com to learn more about us. For more information, please contact: Krupp Group Dylan Fairchild | Account Manager [email protected] SOURCE Via Spiga Related Links http://www.ViaSpiga.com TULSA, Okla., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Casino Cash Trac (CCT) is once again honored to be among the nation's fastest-growing private companies. Today, Inc. magazine ranked Casino Cash Trac #247 on its 36th annual Inc. 500/5000 list. For the past two years, CCT has made the list, which is an exclusive ranking of the nation's fastest growing private companies. Casino Cash Trac moved up the ranking on the overall list coming in as #247 fastest growing company and ranked number #15 Software company in America. CCT made the list with a staggering 1,780% increase in revenues. Inc. 500 "We are honored to be included in the Inc. 500 list for the second year in a row, an achievement that truly puts us in a very unique category. What has helped our company over the years is investing in product strategy and user experience, and making value-based decisions that have long term upside rather than business decisions that are good short term but don't align with our company's cultures," says CCT's CRO Wanor Franca. Since its inception in 2012, Casino Cash Trac has been helping casinos across the US with its CAS solution for cage operations and revenue audit automation. It offers full integration with Casino Management systems, Food & Beverage systems, Hotel systems, Recyclers/Kiosks/ATMs/Cash Dispensers all on a single platform for superior auditing, management reporting, analytics and so much more. The Inc. 500 award underscores the value of CCT's offerings and validates their strategy of providing a cutting edge solution accompanied with world class customer service. "We believe we have the right team in place and the right offerings to continue our tradition of producing satisfied and successful clients," says CCT's CEO, Kurt Williams. "The past 12 months have been unbelievable and CCT made the list because of our talented teams. Our teams believe in delivering the best Casino Audit System (CAS) in the market, providing world class support, generating cost savings, improving efficiencies and streamlining our customers' operations." About Casino Cash Trac Casino Cash Trac has marketed its award-winning solution Casino Insight since 2012 with over 100 casinos utilizing our CAS solution. The company's leading product is a suite of software tools that manages casino operations, as well as providing operational reporting for casino operators worldwide. Casino Cash Trac's corporate offices are based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Contact: Wanor Franca 4058203967 [email protected] SOURCE Casino Cash Trac TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- One of Tampa Bay's most notable M&A deals in the tech industry closed on July 5, 2017, when CFO Alliance, a professional consulting and CFO outsourcing firm, assisted Tribridge with its sale to DXC Technology. The combination of Tribridge, a software, services and cloud company and one of the largest Microsoft Dynamics 365 partners, with DXC, the world's leading independent, end-to-end IT services company, will bring significant value to the existing DXC Eclipse business in the Americas, and will provide a unique opportunity for the Tribridge team to drive innovation for their clients. "Hiring CFO Alliance to help us complete this deal was a great decision," said Ken Bowles, Tribridge CFO. "Their ability to hit the ground running and build trust with our executive team to deliver on critical deal components was outstanding," added Tony DiBenedetto, Tribridge co-founder and CEO. Throughout this high velocity transaction process, CFO Alliance served as an extension of the Tribridge executive team, helping to manage due diligence activities across several business functions, producing financial diligence requests, and leading other imperative initiatives necessary for the sale to close. "Being an integral part of this high-performing transaction team and contributing to the strategic success of these two great companies was an extraordinary experience," said CFO Alliance's Founder and CEO Brooke Evans. "Being called upon and trusted to help companies like Tribridge prosper and begin their next chapter of growth is what we live for; it's why we exist." About CFO Alliance Based in Tampa, FL, CFO Alliance (http://www.cfoallianceinc.com) is a professional consulting and CFO outsourcing firm with a dedicated team of financial leaders who specialize in transformation through accounting, strategic finance, business process improvement, and mergers and acquisitions. SOURCE CFO Alliance Related Links http://www.cfoallianceinc.com MORRIS PLAINS, N.J., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Honeywell (NYSE: HON) announced today that TCL Corporation, one of China's largest manufacturers of appliances and electronics, is using Honeywell's Solstice Liquid Blowing Agent (LBA) in its refrigerator insulation to increase energy efficiency and further reduce climate impact. TCL manufactures approximately 2 million refrigerators annually at its world-class appliance industrial manufacturing park in Hefei. Chinese manufacturers produce 70 million refrigerators per year, which is more than half of all refrigerators produced globally. Many are insulated with foam made with high-global-warming-potential (high-GWP) chemicals such as hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) and hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Blowing agents are a critical ingredient in foam insulation used in appliances, allowing the foam to expand and enabling its excellent insulating performance, which in turn improves energy efficiency. Blowing agent blends made with HFCs and hydrocarbons can have GWPs of more than 150. Solstice LBA has a GWP of 1, which enables TCL to export its products to Europe and meet the region's stringent F-Gas regulations. By transitioning to Solstice LBA, which is based on next-generation hydrofluoro-olefin (HFO) technology, TCL joins more than a dozen appliance manufacturers worldwide that have chosen Honeywell's ultra-low-GWP blowing agent to improve insulation performance, reduce energy use and meet changing environmental regulations. "Solstice LBA's ultra-low-GWP provides a 4 percent improvement in energy efficiency, making it the obvious solution to meet our customers' expectations to continually reduce climate change impact," said Zhengming Cui, Chief Technology Officer, TCL. TCL began the transition to HFOs earlier this year when it converted from a hydrocarbon/HFC blend to a hydrocarbon/Solstice LBA blend for export refrigerator production at its Hefei, China facility. Solstice LBA is a highly efficient insulator. In addition to household appliances, it is used in a variety of rigid foam insulation applications such as shipping containers, spray foam insulation and insulated metal panels. It also is used in flexible foam applications such as those used in furniture, car seats and footwear. "Worldwide demand for Solstice LBA is growing at an unprecedented rate as industries seek to use environmentally preferable solutions to achieve energy efficiency, meet regulations and lower their carbon footprints," said Patrick Clifford, global business manager, Honeywell foam blowing agents. "TCL's adoption of Solstice LBA not only advances our next-generation blowing agent technology in China, but it also builds on the momentum that we are seeing globally for an alternative to high-GWP blowing agents. We are committed to helping appliance OEMs through this transition to low-GWP solutions such as Solstice LBA." Solstice LBA is nonflammable (ASTM E-681) and considered VOC-exempt per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It is registered under the European Union's REACH program. Honeywell's U.S.-based, world-scale capacity manufacturing plant for Solstice LBA started up in May 2014. For more information on Solstice LBA, visit www.honeywell-blowingagents.com. Honeywell (www.honeywell.com) is a Fortune 100 software-industrial company that delivers industry specific solutions that include aerospace and automotive products and services; control technologies for buildings, homes, and industry; and performance materials globally. Our technologies help everything from aircraft, cars, homes and buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable. For more news and information on Honeywell, please visit www.honeywell.com/newsroom. SOURCE Honeywell Related Links http://www.honeywell.com The Delhi Police is planning to buy body cameras for personnel to record movements in areas where they are deployed. Notably, the Delhi Commission for Women had recommending the use of body cameras to reduce cases of police misconduct. By Chayyanika Nigam: Due to shortage of CCTV cameras in the city, Delhi Police will soon get body cameras to record the movements in the area where they are deployed. Delhi Police have been planning to buy these body cameras since long and recently, the Delhi Commission for Women has also asked the Delhi Police to start using these cameras. A senior official told Mail Today that recently DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal wrote to Delhi Commissioner of Police Amulya Patnaik suggesting that officers on duty wear body cameras. The commission also said that the funds for this pilot project can be taken from the Nirbhaya Fund. advertisement According to sources, Delhi Police are planning to buy at least 1,000 body cameras and more will be ordered as per the need. These cameras can be attached to the uniform of the cop and it could record each movement till the time they are on duty. "After these cameras are bought, initially these cameras will be issued to the cops deployed at the outskirts of the national Capital. As per the crime analysis report, the movement of dreaded criminals is higher in the outskirts area. Also, the gangs active in the city has movements in the border areas," said a senior officer. These gadgets are going to be high-end cameras with night vision. The tentative cost of these cameras will be between USD $200 to $500 (approx. Rs 13,000-30,000) depending upon the resolution and operation. Another senior officer claimed that the motive behind using the body cameras is to keep a tight vigil in the sensitive areas and crime-prone areas. NEED FOR MONITORING The officer said the Delhi government has not installed adequate number of CCTV cameras in the city and there is an utter need of monitoring and recording the events for the security purposes. However, as per the women's commission, these body cameras must be used to reduce the cases of police misconduct. According to the sources, in the letter written by DCW, a reference of a study conducted in the US was given that says the use of body cameras significantly reduces the chances of police misconduct. Recording police-citizen encounters tends to significantly improve functioning of police officers as it increases accountability. Sources in the department also said these cameras will also be given to the policemen in the PCR vans and those dealing with matters related to crimes against women should be asked to use the body cameras. Delhi Police are also planning to purchase similar cameras mounted on cars and motorcycles to record violations on the move. Mail Today had earlier reported about the shortage of CCTV cameras in the city because of which the cops are planning to integrate over 1.8 lakhs CCTV cameras that are already installed by the residential welfare and market association with the local police stations. advertisement ALSO READ | Girl's body, steel trunk and woman's clothes: How Delhi Police solved a blind murder case ALSO READ | With Kejriwal failing to fulfil CCTV promise, cops pay Rs 2.5 crore to keep eye on Independence Day celebrations --- ENDS --- Ms. Daly brings more than 25 years of legal experience to the role and most recently served as Regional Managing Attorney for the New Jersey and Pennsylvania House Counsel Offices. She joined The Chubb Corporation in 2000 and has held positions of increasing responsibility in managerial House Counsel roles. Prior to joining Chubb, Ms. Daly was in private practice at two N.J. law firms and clerked for the Honorable Francine A. Schott, Superior Court of New Jersey, Essex County. Ms. Daly will report to Jeffrey Miller, Executive Vice President, Senior Claim Officer, North American Claims. Ms. Daly holds a Juris Doctor degree from Seton Hall School of Law, Newark, N.J., and a Bachelor of Arts in English (Cum Laude) from Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, N.J. "Liz has been instrumental in the development of the House Counsel and has played an integral part over the last 17 years at Chubb. She has the skills and expertise necessary to lead the business and understands the relevance of the House Counsel to the overall claims organization," said Frank Lattal, Senior Vice President and Chief Claims Officer, Chubb Group. Ms. Daly succeeds Patrick Hoey, who will retire from Chubb at the end of August 2017. Mr. Hoey has led the House Counsel in the United States and Canada for more than 21 years. "On behalf of the claims leadership team, I would like to express our deep gratitude to Pat for his immeasurable contributions to the House Counsel organization as well as the valuable influence and strength he provided the organization. We wish him success during his much deserved retirement," said Mr. Lattal. About Chubb Chubb is the world's largest publicly traded property and casualty insurance company. With operations in 54 countries, Chubb provides commercial and personal property and casualty insurance, personal accident and supplemental health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance to a diverse group of clients. As an underwriting company, we assess, assume and manage risk with insight and discipline. We service and pay our claims fairly and promptly. The company is also defined by its extensive product and service offerings, broad distribution capabilities, exceptional financial strength and local operations globally. Parent company Chubb Limited is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CB) and is a component of the S&P 500 index. Chubb maintains executive offices in Zurich, New York, London and other locations, and employs approximately 31,000 people worldwide. Additional information can be found at www.chubb.com. Chubb Insurance Company of Canada has offices in Toronto, Calgary, Montreal and Vancouver and provides its products and services through licensed insurance brokers across Canada. For additional information, visit: chubb.com/ca. SOURCE Chubb Related Links https://www2.chubb.com/us-en CLEVELAND, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- All six Partners at Spangenberg Shibley & Liber LLP, a nationally recognized trial practice based in Cleveland, have been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America for 2018. Selection to Best Lawyers is a prestigious honor that exemplifies an attorney's exceptional abilities, reputation, and record of success. This year's publication includes the following firm attorneys: Peter H. Weinberger Dennis R. Lansdowne Peter J. Broadhead William Hawal Nicholas A. DiCello Stuart E. Scott Spangenberg's partners were recognized for exceptional achievements in various areas of civil plaintiffs' law, including personal injury litigation, medical malpractice, and civil rights law. Additionally, Pete Weinberger was named Best Lawyers, Lawyer of the Year in Medical Malpractice, a distinction reserved for only one attorney per each specialty and location. Regarded as one of the nation's most trusted and objective attorney rating services, Best Lawyers is based solely on peer review and an impartial methodology that captures leading lawyers' opinions about the skills and accomplishments of their colleagues. Attorneys named to the final publication must be nominated by fellow lawyers, reviewed by a panel of their peers, evaluated based on feedback, and selected in accordance to overall feedback ratings. Because Best Lawyers' selection process is centered on evaluations provided by knowledgeable attorneys who practice in the same area of law or geographical area, final listings are intended to not only recognize top attorneys, but also serve as a resource to local residents searching for the most qualified and respected legal professionals to handle their cases. As the attorney selection process can make all the difference for plaintiffs, using a resource like Best Lawyers to vet candidates can prove invaluable to their cases. While having one attorney named to The Best Lawyers in America is a calling card for any law firm, having six recognized attorneys, all of whom are partners, speaks volumes about the level of service and representation provided by Spangenberg Shibley & Liber LLP. It is this depth of experience and talent that has enabled the firm to recover more than a billion dollars in compensation on behalf of the injured and the wronged. Spangenberg Shibley & Liber LLP is a Cleveland-Ohio based law firm that has earned national recognition for its work handling complex cases in and outside of the courtroom, including those involving personal injury, medical malpractice, defective products, civil rights, and more. Since 1946, the firm has leveraged its extensive experience to secure numerous successful results and over a billion dollars in verdicts and settlements for clients. More information about the firm and its legal team can be found at www.spanglaw.com. SOURCE Spangenberg Shibley & Liber LLP Related Links http://www.spanglaw.com EUGENE, Ore., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- College Choice, a leading authority in college and university rankings and resources, has published a ranking of the "Best Colleges in Washington for 2017." http://www.collegechoice.net/rankings/best-colleges-in-washington/ Washington State is known for its beauty, entrepreneurship, technology, and agriculture. The Evergreen State is large and Washington was ranked eighth among U.S. states in population growth according to an estimate for 2015 by the U.S. Census Bureau. Livability is also among the highest in the nation, a reason the Pacific Northwest is a place many people are moving to. The state also boasts some of the best institutions of higher learning in the country. The economic climate of the state where a student goes to college is important. In fact, with the cost of college so high, the job market and expected return is often among the top factors for choosing the right college. Washington's economic outlook is encouraging, especially given the bevy of successful corporations with offices there, such as Microsoft, Google, Starbucks, Amazon, and Alaska Airlines. "With more than 40 institutions of higher education, the state of Washington is a great place for in-state and out-of-state students," Christian Amondson, Managing Editor of College Choice, said of the ranking. "No matter your academic or professional interests, you'll be sure to find some amazing opportunities." College Choice developed its list by looking at three central factors: academic quality, student body diversity, and return on investment. Each factor is itself comprised of numerous data points such as test scores of entering freshmen and student-to-faculty ratio. Data was retrieved from IPEDs, courtesy of the National Center for Education Statistics, as well as U.S. News & World Report and Payscale. The ranking for the Best Colleges in Washington finds University of Washington in the top spot. Whitman College in Walla Walla is in second, and University of Washington-Bothell rounds out the top three. The entire ranking, listed in alphabetical order, is as follows: Central Washington University Eastern Washington University Gonzaga University Heritage University Northwest University Pacific Lutheran University Saint Martin's University Seattle Pacific University Seattle University The Evergreen State College University of Puget Sound University of Washington-Bothell Campus University of Washington University of Washington-Tacoma Campus Walla Walla University Washington State University Western Washington University Whitman College Whitworth University College Choice is an independent online publication dedicated to helping students and their families find the right college. The site publishes rankings and reviews that make finding the best colleges for different interests easier and more fun, as well as resources to help students get into, pay for, and thrive at the college of their choice. Contact: Christian Amondson, Managing Editor, College Choice Web: http://collegechoice.net Email: [email protected] Phone: (541) 255-3801 SOURCE College Choice Related Links http://www.collegechoice.net DENVER, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cologix, a leading network neutral interconnection and data center company, announced organizational changes that will position the Company for continued long-term growth. Brian Cox, who has served as Cologix's Chief Financial Officer since 2010, has been appointed the new Chief Operating Officer. Cologix also announced the appointment of Stephen Tucker as its new Chief Financial Officer to replace Mr. Cox. "Brian has distinguished himself over the course of the past 7 years at Cologix, including 10 acquisitions, multiple credit facility upsizes and scaling a startup business into an international data center platform," said Grant van Rooyen, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Cologix. "More importantly, Brian is a leader within Cologix and has deep operational intimacy with the instrumental drivers of our business. I am confident Brian is the right person in the COO role to move the Company forward into our next growth phase." Mr. Cox will replace Graham Williams as he steps down to be with his family. "Graham's departure is bittersweet as he has been part of the Cologix story from the very beginning and his impact has been positively felt throughout our company from day one," noted van Rooyen. "We are sad to see him go, but equally we are all exceedingly proud to have been his partner for 7 years. He has a special opportunity to spend this time with his family and we couldn't be happier for him." Mr. Tucker, who is taking on the role of CFO, is a seasoned executive with extensive experience overseeing finance organizations for high-growth companies, most recently serving as CFO for FTD Companies, Inc and prior to that, various financial leadership positions in the telecommunication and media industries. His start date with Cologix will be September 18, 2017. "Stephen brings expert skills and leadership to our finance and accounting teams from his extensive experience leading the financial strategy of high growth companies," explains van Rooyen. "We are delighted to have Stephen join our team and we are confident that we are well positioned to meet our growth goals moving forward." Cologix has grown into a market leader in the North American data center and interconnection landscape. It recently recapitalized with Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners who committed an additional $500M of equity for future growth activities. About Cologix Inc. Cologix provides reliable, secure, scalable data center and interconnection solutions from 24 prime interconnection locations across 9 strategic North American edge markets. Over 1,600 leading network, managed services, cloud, media, content, financial services and enterprise customers trust Cologix to support their business critical infrastructure and connect them to customers, vendors and partners. Our dedicated, experienced local teams and scalable solutions enable us to provide industry-leading customer service and the ability to successfully support customers at the Internet's new edge. For a tour of one of our data centers in Columbus, Dallas, Jacksonville, Lakeland, Minneapolis, Montreal, New Jersey, Toronto or Vancouver visit www.cologix.com or email [email protected]. Follow Cologix on LinkedIn and Twitter. SOURCE Cologix Inc. Related Links http://www.cologix.com VALLEY COTTAGE, New York, August 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- An exhaustive market evaluation put forth by Future Market Insights on the small molecule API market in a new research study titled "Small Molecule API Market: Global Industry Analysis 2012-2016 & Opportunity Assessment 2017-2027" focusses on the demand from in-house production as well as outsourced API production. The market research involves analyses on various grounds covering all the major geographies with an excellent forecast model that portrays the global market picture 10 years down the line. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20161020/430874LOGO ) Global Small Molecule API Market: Regional Insights The APEJ region shows a high growth to register a CAGR of 5.8% during the forecast period, followed by Japan, Western Europe, North America and Eastern Europe. The main reason for this growth in the APEJ region can be attributed to the outsourcing of APIs done on a large scale. Top contributors in the APEJ region are China and India, which exhibit the highest production of API. In India the local consumption is also high making it more essential to focus on higher manufacturing of APIs. China stands first in the line as far as growth is concerned, followed by India and rest of APEJ. Moreover, the easy availability of raw materials needed to manufacture APIs coupled with low labour cost fuel the growth of the small molecule API market in the APEJ region. Moreover, the distribution network of companies in China and India manufacturing APIs is strong in the overseas market, especially in South Africa, United States, and Europe. Request a Sample Report with Table of Contents and Figures: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-4591 Global Small Molecule API Market: Segment-wise Highlights The high potency API (HPAPI) segment by molecule is poised to show higher growth rate during the period of forecast as compared to the standard API. However, as of 2017, the standard API dominates the market in terms of revenue. The HPAPI (High Potency API) is anticipated to register a CAGR of 7.6% during the period of forecast is poised to show higher growth rate during the period of forecast as compared to the standard API. However, as of 2017, the standard API dominates the market in terms of revenue. The HPAPI (High Potency API) is anticipated to register a CAGR of 7.6% during the period of forecast The Oncology Segment by therapeutic area is expected to grow at a higher rate during the period of forecast. Neurology and urology segments reflect similar growth patterns and are poised to grow at an equal pace in the forecast period. However, the infectious diseases segment by therapeutic area will experience sluggish growth throughout the 2017-2027 period is expected to grow at a higher rate during the period of forecast. Neurology and urology segments reflect similar growth patterns and are poised to grow at an equal pace in the forecast period. However, the infectious diseases segment by therapeutic area will experience sluggish growth throughout the 2017-2027 period Outsourced segment by production will grow at a robust rate to reflect a 6.4% CAGR during the period of forecast. The Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) region is the main contributor for this segment to grow, as many companies in the developing countries of China and India manufacture APIs on a large scale and outsource them will grow at a robust rate to reflect a 6.4% CAGR during the period of forecast. The excluding (APEJ) region is the main contributor for this segment to grow, as many companies in the developing countries of and manufacture APIs on a large scale and outsource them In terms of application, the commercial segment will dominate in terms of value and register a CAGR of 5.0% during the forecast period Trends and Drivers Impacting the Overall Growth Rate of the Market The report covers all the drivers and trends that influence global market growth during the 2017-2027 period. Few of these are highlighted below. The high growth rate of HPAPI is a key driver fuelling the global market growth during the period of forecast Many pharmerging countries are being explored as alternative destinations for sourcing The increased sourcing of APIs from U.S based Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers Increase in investments thereby facilitating an increase in in-house production of APIs The current strong demand for CMO/CDMO services is driven by a number of factors, which include a robust industry pipeline, the ability to raise public and private financing, and successful market approvals Growing demand for Quality-by-Design (QBD) services Rapid increase in the Indian generics market will aid regional market growth Preview Analysis on Global Small Molecule API Market Segmentation Molecule - Standard API, High Potency API; Production - Captive/In-House, Outsourced; Application - Clinical, Commercial; Therapeutic Area - Cardiovascular Diseases, Respiratory Disorders, Infectious Diseases, Metabolic Disorders, Oncology, Immunology, Neurology, Urology, Dermatology, Ophthalmology, General Health, Others: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/small-molecule-api-market Competitive Landscape: Tier Companies and their Analysis The report on the global small molecule API market presents a detailed analysis of the leading companies involved in this market. Some of the top companies profiled in the report are Johnson Matthey, Siegfried Holding AG, Pfizer, Sanofi S.A, Novartis AG, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH, GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Albany Molecular Research Inc., Bachem Holding AG, PCAS, Patheon N.V, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Merck & Co. Inc., BASF SE, Catalent Inc., Teva Pharmaceuticals, F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd., Cambrex Corporation and Gilead Sciences Inc. More from FMI's Cutting-edge Intelligence: Medical Bionic Implants and Exoskeletons Market Taxonomy By Product - Bionic Forelimbs/Hand Bionics (Wrist Bionics, Bionic Elbow Braces, Bionic Limbs, Bionic Fingers), Bionic Legs/Lower Limbs (Bionic Knee Braces, Ankle Bionics, Bionic Foot Below Knee), Bionic Exoskeletons And Suits; By Mode - Prosthetic Bionics, External Bionics: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/medical-bionic-implants-and-exoskeletons-market Taxonomy By Product - Bionic Forelimbs/Hand Bionics (Wrist Bionics, Bionic Elbow Braces, Bionic Limbs, Bionic Fingers), Bionic Legs/Lower Limbs (Bionic Knee Braces, Ankle Bionics, Bionic Foot Below Knee), Bionic Exoskeletons And Suits; By Mode - Prosthetic Bionics, External Bionics: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/medical-bionic-implants-and-exoskeletons-market Orthopaedic Imaging Equipment Market Segmentation By Product Type - X-Ray System, CT-Scanner, MRI System, EOS Imaging Systems, Ultrasound, Nuclear Imaging Systems; By Indication - Acute injuries (Sports Injuries, Fracture, Bone Dislocation), Chronic Disorders (Osteoarthritis, Osteoporosis, Prolapsed Disc, Degenerative Joint Disease); By End User - Hospitals, Radiology Centres, Emergency Care Facility, Ambulatory Surgical Centres: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/orthopaedic-imaging-market Segmentation By Product Type - X-Ray System, CT-Scanner, MRI System, EOS Imaging Systems, Ultrasound, Nuclear Imaging Systems; By Indication - Acute injuries (Sports Injuries, Fracture, Bone Dislocation), Chronic Disorders (Osteoarthritis, Osteoporosis, Prolapsed Disc, Degenerative Joint Disease); By End User - Hospitals, Radiology Centres, Emergency Care Facility, Ambulatory Surgical Centres: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/orthopaedic-imaging-market Microfluidics Market Segmentation By Material Type - Polymer (Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Non-polyvinyl chloride), Glass, Silicon, Metal, Ceramics; By Application Type - Point of care testing, Clinical Diagnostics, Drug Delivery, Analytical Testing (Genomics, Proteomics, Cell Based Analysis); By Industry - Pharmaceuticals, In-vitro Diagnostics, Environmental Research, Life Science Research, Clinical Diagnostics: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/microfluidics-market About Us Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights and an aerial view of the competitive framework and future market trends. Browse More Healthcare, Pharmaceuticals and Medical devices Market Insights Contact Us 616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018, Valley Cottage, NY 10989, United States T: +1-347-918-3531 F: +1-845-579-5705 T (UK): +44(0)20-7692-8790 Sales: [email protected] Press Office: [email protected] FMI Blog: http://www.fmiblog.com/ Website: http://www.futuremarketinsights.com SOURCE Future Market Insights "This is an important addition to the firm, and great news for the clients we represent in fraud investigations, breach of contracts and other areas of litigation support," said Jeff Compton, shareholder at Compton & Wendler. "Lauren is a dedicated accountant who represents the best in the business, and we're grateful to have her level of expertise on our team." Ms. Walaszczyk graduated with honors from Florida State University and the University of Notre Dame. It was while working on her Master of Science in Accountancy at Notre Dame that Ms. Walaszczyk took an interest in forensic and litigation work. "One of my favorite professors at Notre Dame had done the same kind of work for the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board," Ms. Walaszczyk said. "It's an honor to be a part of the Compton & Wendler forensic accounting team. Their acumen and expertise is unmatched." In 2015, Ms. Walaszczyk scored among the top 10 on the Texas CPA exam. The Houston-area native is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants. Compton & Wendler, a peer-reviewed public accounting firm, provides extensive experience in all areas of forensic accounting and tax consulting to domestic and international clients. Based in Houston, Texas, the firm's scope of representation includes business valuations, fraud investigations and testifying as expert witnesses. The firm also has an active tax planning and compliance practice and frequently serves as a receiver or trustee. To learn more about Compton & Wendler's areas of expertise, visit: http://cw-cpa.com/Services. For more information, please contact Jason Sickles at 800-559-4534 or [email protected]. SOURCE Compton & Wendler, P.C. Related Links http://cw-cpa.com RESTON, Va., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- comScore today published its Top 10 Burning Issues in Digital report. Available to the public as a complimentary download, the report provides comScore's perspective on the most pressing topics, issues and trends that are changing the way media buyers and sellers evaluate digital in the context of the broader media ecosystem. To download a copy of the Top 10 Burning Issues in Digital report, please visit: http://www.comscore.com/Top10BurningIssuesInDigital Some of the key topics covered include: Bridging the divide between TV and digital to realize the value of cross-platform media planning and buying The shift in media planning beyond age and gender towards the use of advanced audience segments Addressing mobile measurement challenges to improve monetization and give digital media a bigger seat at the table The challenge in measuring unduplicated reach across platforms, including distributed content platforms, to help publishers better articulate their value to advertisers The value of moving beyond digital ad viewability to focusing on the metrics that matter like campaign reach and frequency, as well as attitudinal, behavioral and sales lift Advancements in sophisticated, multi-touch advertising attribution that better illuminate what's working so that marketers can allocate their budgets more efficiently About comScore comScore is a leading cross-platform measurement company that measures audiences, brands and consumer behavior everywhere. comScore completed its merger with Rentrak Corporation in January 2016, to create the new model for a dynamic, cross-platform world. Built on precision and innovation, comScore's data footprint combines proprietary digital, TV and movie intelligence with vast demographic details to quantify consumers' multiscreen behavior at massive scale. This approach helps media companies monetize their complete audiences and allows marketers to reach these audiences more effectively. With more than 3,200 clients and a global footprint in more than 75 countries, comScore is delivering the future of measurement. Shares of comScore stock are currently traded on the OTC Market (OTC:SCOR). For more information on comScore, please visit comscore.com. SOURCE comScore Related Links http://www.comscore.com WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Corporate Whistleblower Center says, "We are urging hospitalists or ER doctors to call us anytime at 866-714-6466 if their hospital is gouging Medicare with up-coded billing or unnecessary medical procedures. As we would like explain anytime, the whistleblower rewards for this type of information can be substantial. Recently a medical doctor with this exact type of information received an $11.4-million-dollar reward." http://CorporateWhistleblowerCenter.Com Medical Doctor In February of 2017, the US Department of Justice announced a $60 million settlement with a major U.S. hospital service provider. The government alleged the hospital service provider knowingly and systematically encouraged false billings by its hospitalists, who are medical professionals whose primary focus is the medical care of hospitalized patients. Specifically, the government alleged that the healthcare company encouraged its hospitalists to bill for a higher level of service than actually provided. This company's scheme to improperly maximize billings allegedly included corporate pressure on hospitalists and employee medical doctors with lower billing levels to "catch up" to their peers. According to the Corporate Whistleblower Center, "We have over a decade of working with medical doctors who saw something wrong and they stepped forward. Our number one goal is seeing to it that a whistleblower with proof Medicare or the federal government is being ripped off gets rewarded - provided the amount in question exceeds a million dollars. As we would like to discuss anytime at 866-714-6466, we are convinced there are numerous potential whistleblowers in every state who are probably sitting on a winning lotto ticket with respect to a potential whistleblower reward. Please don't sit on a potentially winning lotto ticket without ever knowing what it could be worth." http://CorporateWhistleblower.Com Simple rules for a whistleblower from the Corporate Whistleblower Center: Do not go to the government first if you are a major whistleblower. The Corporate Whistleblower Center says, "Major whistleblowers frequently go to the government thinking they will help. It's a huge mistake. Do not go to the news media with your whistleblower information. Public revelation of a whistleblower's information could destroy any prospect for a reward. Do not try to force a company or individual to come clean stark on anti-kickback laws or overbilling Medicare. Come to us first, tell us what type of information you have, and if we think it's sufficient, we will help find the right law firms to assist in advancing your information." The Corporate Whistleblower Center wants to emphasize there are high quality whistleblowers in every state including California, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Texas, Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, Rhode Island, Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, Nevada, Washington, or Alaska. The Corporate Whistleblower Center is the premier advocate for whistleblowers in the United States. Unlike any group in the US, they can assist potential whistleblowers with packaging their information and providing the whistleblower with access to the most accomplished whistleblower attorneys in the nation. For more information, potential whistleblowers can contact the Corporate Whistleblower Center at 866-714-6466 or visit http://CorporateWhistleblower.Com. For attribution please refer to the February 2017 Department of Justice press release on this matter.https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/healthcare-service-provider-pay-60-million-settle-medicare-and-medicaid-false-claims-act Media Contact: Thomas Martin [email protected] 866-714-6466 SOURCE Corporate Whistleblower Center Related Links http://CorporateWhistleblower.Com ALLENTOWN, Pa., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Creditsafe, the global business intelligence leader, today announced it had been selected by INC. Magazine as one of the fastest growing private companies in the United States. Specifically, the Company was ranked #982 out of 5,000 putting it in the top twenty percent of the annual index. "As one of only five thousand private companies to receive this distinguished honor, we are thrilled and humbled to be named to such an elite group," said Matthew Debbage, CEO of Creditsafe USA and Asia. "Over the past several years, we have focused incredibly hard on building our business and brand in the US. This recognition is a testimony of our success." Since establishing operations in the US in 2012, Creditsafe USA has expanded its market share and experienced strong revenue growth year over year, while achieving several significant milestones including: Establishing its US headquarters in Lehigh Valley, PA Expanding its global database to include data on over 242 million public and private companies from nearly 100 countries around the globe (including MENA and APAC regions) making it the world's single largest wholly owned repository of business intelligence Continuing to develop its domestic US business information database to offer the industry's most intuitive yet insightful & accurate business and credit data to over 14,000 US users including many Fortune 500 companies Each year for the the past 36 years, Inc. has recognized the fastest growing private companies in America. On average, companies named to this year's list, have grown sixfold since 2013. During this period, the US economy grew only 6.7%. ABOUT THE CREDITSAFE GROUP The Creditsafe Group is the world's most used supplier of company business intelligence, with ten Creditsafe Group reports downloaded every second. Privately owned and independently minded, Creditsafe is looking to change the way business information is used by providing high-quality data in an easy to use format that every-one in an organization can benefit from. Founded in Norway in 1997, Creditsafe has offices in countries all over the world including: the UK, Germany, France, Sweden, Ireland, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway and the United States. Globally, Creditsafe employs over 1,200 people and has more than 90,000 subscription customers. Four years ago, the Creditsafe Group opened offices in the U.S. under the name Creditsafe, Inc. Its U.S. operations are headquartered in Allentown, Pa. with another facility in Phoenix, AZ. For more information, please visit www.creditsafe.com. SOURCE Creditsafe Related Links http://www.creditsafe.com HOUSTON, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Discount Power Texas (Discount Power), a brand of Volterra Energy Holdings (VEH), today announced that the company has been named in the top 100 of the 2017 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies in the United States for the second consecutive year. The company ranks 52nd nationwide on the magazine's annual Inc. 5000 list, which Inc. disclosed today. Additionally, Discount Power ranked No. 1 in Houston and No.3 in Texas, and is the fastest-growing retail energy provider in the country for the second year in a row. The company was ranked 80th nationwide in last year's list. "We are thrilled at our significantly higher ranking on Inc.'s fastest-growing private company list," said Discount Power Chief Executive Officer Neville Ravji. "We are very excited about our 52nd ranking in this year's list. The company's industry-leading growth in the retail electricity space is a direct result of the team's commitment to providing great plans and top-tier service to our customers and is further validation of our business model." The Inc. 5000 list ranks companies on growth over a three-year period. Past honorees have included Zappos, Microsoft, GoPro, Patagonia and Oracle. "This recognition is a testament to our customer-focused business model and great team here at Discount Power," said Mohsin Hassan, Chief Operating Officer at Discount Power. "Our ranking as the fastest-growing retail energy provider in the country for the second year in a row is re-affirmation of our unique market segmentation and branding strategy, which no other competitor has been able to replicate." Currently, Discount Power has 42 employees and reported revenues of $98.1 million in 2016 and projects revenues of $150 million in 2017. The company plans to expand its service outside of Texas in 2018. Originally introduced as the Inc. 500 in 1982, the list was expanded to the Inc. 5000 in 2007. Today, the Inc. 5000 showcases the top-performing privately held companies in the nation based on overall revenue growth over the course of a three-year period. Additional information about the 2017 list of Inc. 5000 companies can be found at: www.inc.com/inc5000 About Discount Power Discount Power is a retail electric provider based in Houston, Texas. Discount Power comprises industry experts with more than 75 years of experience in the energy industry. The team at Discount Power has been involved in all of the business elements of the energy market since the beginning of retail deregulation in Texas and has collectively served hundreds of thousands of residential and commercial customers. The company was ranked in the top 100 of Inc. Magazine's "Fastest Growing Private Companies in America" in 2016 and 2017. It won the Pinnacle Award for 2017 from the Houston Better Business Bureau. For more information, visit www.discountpowertx.com. About Volterra Energy Holdings Volterra Energy Holdings LLC (VEH) is the parent company to multiple retail electricity brands. In a short period of just over three years, the company's brands have become leading brands in key market segments in Texas, including the South Asian market and other affinity markets. They serve both residential and commercial customers across the state. The brands specialize in identification of and focus on micro and macro market segments through unique marketing strategies. The company serves close to 200,000 residential customer equivalents in the state of Texas and has plans to launch its services in other states in 2018. For more information, visit www.volterraenergyholdings.com. For more information: Liz Breitschopf 832.680.5120 [email protected] SOURCE Discount Power Texas Related Links http://www.discountpowertx.com More than 70 kids died due to encephalitis at the BRD Medical College hospital in Gorakhpur over the past few days. Here is all you need to know about the deadly disease. By India Today Web Desk: More than 70 kids died due to encephalitis at the state-run BRD Medical College hospital in Gorakhpur in less than a week's time. The nation is still struggling to come to terms with the tragedy. People are displeased and social media platforms are flooded with posts against the hospital and the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh. advertisement Proclaiming 'those found guilty won't be spared', Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath suspended the principal of the BRD Medical College, Dr Rajiv Mishra, and sacked Dr Kafeel Khan, the Nodal Officer of BRD Medical College's Department of Pediatrics. Government records till September last year said 224 kids died at BRD Medical College hospital in 2016. This is out of 920 encephalitis patients admitted there. In 2017, 114 encephalitis deaths have been reported till now. A report by the Directorate of National Vector Borne Diseases Control Programme (NVBDCP) said 26,686 cases of encephalitis were reported in Uttar Pradesh between 2010 and August 2017. WHAT IS ENCEPHALITIS? Encephalitis, or Japanese encephalitis (JE), is a vector-borne viral infection that leads to acute inflammation (swelling) of the brain. If not spread through vectors, encephalitis could be a result of body's immune system attacking brain tissues. Initial symptoms of encephalitis are fever and headache. Patients may suffer from fits (seizures), drowsiness, loss of consciousness and may even slip into a coma. Encephalitis, if not treated properly, could prove fatal. If the patient's brain of spinal cord is infected, it is called primary encephalitis and infection that starts from others parts of the body and spread to the brain is called secondary encephalitis. WHAT CAUSES ENCEPHALITIS? Encephalitis could be a result of a direct brain infection -- by a virus, bacterium, or fungus -- or it could be a result of the body's immune system responding to an infection, attacking brain tissues by mistake. There are primarily three categories of encephalitis: - Common viruses, which includes HSV (herpes simplex virus) and EBV (Epstein-Barr virus) - Childhood viruses, which includes measles and mumps - Arboviruses, spread by mosquitoes, ticks, and other insects, which includes Japanese encephalitis, West Nile encephalitis, and tick-borne encephalitis - Secondary (post-infectious) encephalitis, which could be caused by a complication of a viral infection. - Despite much research, in more than 50 per cent of cases, the exact cause of encephalitis is not tracked down. - Encephalitis is also more likely to affect children, older people, people with weak immune systems, and those living in mosquito and tick affected areas. advertisement Also read: Gorakhpur has a history of children's deaths, 25,000 kids have lost lives to encephalitis --- ENDS --- SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- DoorDash, the technology company connecting consumers with the best local restaurants, and Noah's NY Bagels, the California-based bagel brand, today announced a new partnership to provide door-to-door delivery of bagels and shmear, coffee, breakfast and lunch sandwiches from 45 locations across the state. This partnership marks the first time Noah's NY Bagels will be available for on-demand delivery. Noah's began piloting its delivery partnership with DoorDash earlier this year, offering deliveries from 13 stores in the Bay Area. Since the initial pilot, the partnership has expanded to include delivery from Noah's NY Bagels stores across San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, San Jose and Sacramento. Throughout the process, the two companies have refined operations to ensure deliveries are fast, fresh and on-time. "DoorDash is known for its selection of the best restaurants, and we're proud to be expanding our menu by offering delivery from one of the most beloved California bagel brands," said Tony Xu, CEO and co-founder of DoorDash. "Our focus on service and innovative technology pairs well with their focus on fresh, quality ingredients." "At Noah's, we are committed to serving our guests wholesome and fresh-baked products because we know ingredient quality matters," said Tyler Ricks, President. "Our DoorDash partnership means our fresh-baked bagels, shmears and sandwiches are available to everyone with just a few clicks. There really is no better way to start your day than with a fresh-baked bagel." To celebrate the partnership DoorDash and Noah's NY Bagels are also announcing a social media contest where customers will enter for a chance to win a year's supply of Noah's NY Bagels delivered by DoorDash. More information here. To get started with Noah's delivery, visit www.doordash.com/noahs or download the DoorDash app for Android or iOS. SOURCE DoorDash With up to two years of ink in the box 1 , EcoTank all-in-one printers can help students dress their desk, room and more for success this back-to-school season: Print Hassle-Free: For the student whipping out essay after essay, lab reports or study guides, Epson EcoTank printers require less hassle than a cartridge printer with up to two years of ink in the box1. EcoTank's affordable, long-lasting ink solution means printing out the whole eBook you need for reference or that extra-long study guide in full color without guilt or the worry of running out of ink during a late night study session or workgroup project. Project Organization: Organizing your study space and creating a process to stay on track of deadlines can make or break a student. Clear off desk clutter and keep drawers, folders and binders organized with color-coded printing, create and distribute agendas for team meetings to stay on task and print a daily to-do list to track priority projects. Map Out Your Goals: According to a study from Dominican University , approximately one-third of people who write down their goals are more likely to achieve them than those who do not keep a written list2. Print your goals for the school year and tape them up by your desk to help you stay on track. As goals change and ambitions build, print monthly, weekly or daily goal-setting trackers. Decorate to Inspire: Keep the creative juices flowing and the morale high with fun prints, calendars, inspirational quotes as wall decor, photos of friends and family, and patterned designs for desk crafts such as pen holders and drawer linings. Epson EcoTank Supertank printers, like the Epson Expression ET-2650 EcoTank, offer enough ink to print up to 4,000 pages3, making decorating, organizing and printing at school both convenient and affordable. About EcoTank Printers Epson's EcoTank line of Supertank all-in-one printers features cartridge-free printing and revolutionary ink replacement technology. They offer an unbeatable combination of value1 and convenience, with super-high-capacity, easy-to-fill ink tanks. These all-in-one printers come with enough ink in the box to print for up to two years1, so you can print thousands of pages black/color4 before replacing ink. To learn more, visit www.epson.com/ecotank. About Epson Epson is a global technology leader dedicated to connecting people, things and information with its original efficient, compact and precision technologies. With a lineup that ranges from inkjet printers and digital printing systems to 3LCD projectors, smart glasses, sensing systems and industrial robots, the company is focused on driving innovations and exceeding customer expectations in inkjet, visual communications, wearables and robotics. Led by the Japan-based Seiko Epson Corporation, the Epson Group comprises more than 72,000 employees in 88 companies around the world, and is proud of its contributions to the communities in which it operates and its ongoing efforts to reduce environmental impacts. Epson America, Inc., based in Long Beach, Calif., is Epson's regional headquarters for the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. To learn more about Epson, please visit: epson.com. You may also connect with Epson America on Facebook (facebook.com/Epson), Twitter (twitter.com/EpsonAmerica), YouTube (youtube.com/EpsonAmerica), and Instagram (instagram.com/EpsonAmerica). EPSON and EcoTank are registered trademarks, and EPSON Exceed Your Vision is a registered logomark of Seiko Epson Corporation. All other product and brand names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Epson disclaims any and all rights in these marks. Copyright 2017 Epson America, Inc. 1 Based on average monthly print volumes of about 150 pages. 2 http://cdn.sidsavara.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/researchsummary2.pdf 3 Included ink bottle yields based on the ISO/IEC 24712 pattern with Epson's methodology. Actual ink yields will vary considerably for reasons including images printed, print settings, temperature and humidity. Yields may be lower when printing infrequently or predominantly with one ink color. All ink colors are used for printing and printer maintenance, and all colors must be available for printing. For more information, visit www.epson.com/inkinfo 4 ET-2500/2550/2600/2650/3600/4500/4550/16500 included ink bottle yields based on the ISO/IEC 24712 pattern with Epson's methodology. WF-R4640 included ink pack yields are estimated based on ISO/IEC 24711 test in Default Mode printing continuously. Actual ink yields will vary considerably for reasons including images printed, print settings, temperature and humidity. Yields may be lower when printing infrequently or predominantly with one ink color. All ink colors are used for printing and printer maintenance, and all colors must be available for printing. For more information, visit www.epson.com/inkinfo SOURCE Epson America, Inc. Related Links http://www.epson.com RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 100 cotton growers qualified for the inaugural class of the FiberMax Maximizer Club. To join the club, 121 growers qualified half-ton and higher yields with FiberMax varieties on dryland acres in 2016. The exclusive Maximizer Club was created for growers who take on the challenge of dryland cotton production. Yielding 1,000 lb/A on a dryland is an accomplishment worth celebrating. FiberMax grower Barry Street of Claytonville, Texas, won the sweepstakes drawing for a Polaris Ranger XP 1000 EPS. He and his wife, SuDe Street, received congratulations from Bayer Sales Representative Stan Warren (far left) and Southwest District Manager Dan Koch (far right). "The three legs of the stool that support dryland production are science, art and environment. Bayer provides consistently high-performing FiberMax varieties, growers add knowledge and experienced management skill, and we all cross our fingers that Mother Nature cooperates," says Jason Wistehuff, U.S. product manager for FiberMax cotton. "Yet, even when everything goes right, averaging 1,000 pounds or more per dryland acre is remarkable. Congratulations to our charter Maximizer Club members." The highest yield for those who qualified for the FiberMax Maximizer Club in 2016 1,553 pounds per acre was recorded on by Charlie Fisher of Sudan, Texas. Donald Houser Farms JV or Taft, Texas, came in with the highest loan value, garnering $0.0575. Kim and Kerry Garrison of Amarillo, Texas, qualified the most acres for the club, harvesting dryland yields averaging 1,000 lb/A or more on 589 acres. Claytonville, Texas, Grower Wins Polaris Ranger Barry Street of Claytonville, Texas, won the sweepstakes drawing for a Polaris Ranger XP 1000 EPS. Winning the Polaris was a surprise for Street who is continually amazed, but not surprised, by the high quality and yield FiberMax varieties consistently deliver. Street, who also owns Street Community Gin, can tell the difference between FiberMax and other varieties when the gin is running. "Every time we switch to another customer or another variety I come down and see how it's ginning and check the leaf trash, the color, just to see how it's ginning. By far you can always pick out the FiberMax varieties. They're easy to gin and just good quality," Street says. Please visit www.FiberMax.com/Maximizer for additional information on the FiberMax Maximizer Club. For more information on how FiberMax cotton seed offers the right variety for the right field, contact your regional agronomist, talk to your local Bayer representative, visit www.FiberMax.com, or call 1-866-99-BAYER (1-866-992-2937). Bayer is committed to bringing new technology and solutions for agriculture and non-agricultural uses. For questions concerning the availability and use of products, contact a local Bayer representative, or visit Crop Science, a division of Bayer, online at www.cropscience.bayer.us. Visit the Bayer Connect - Social Hub for social media, recent news, blog posts, videos and more from Crop Science, a division of Bayer. Bayer: Science For A Better Life Bayer is a global enterprise with core competencies in the Life Science fields of health care and agriculture. Its products and services are designed to benefit people and improve their quality of life. At the same time, the Group aims to create value through innovation, growth and high earning power. Bayer is committed to the principles of sustainable development and to its social and ethical responsibilities as a corporate citizen. In fiscal 2016, the Group employed around 115,200 people and had sales of EUR 46.8 billion. Capital expenditures amounted to EUR 2.6 billion, R&D expenses to EUR 4.7 billion. These figures include those for the high-tech polymers business, which was floated on the stock market as an independent company named Covestro on October 6, 2015. For more information, go to www.bayer.us. Find more information at www.cropscience.bayer.us. Forward-Looking Statements This release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer's public reports which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com . The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments. 2017 Bayer CropScience LP, 2 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709. Always read and follow label instructions. Bayer (reg'd), the Bayer Cross (reg'd), FiberMax and Maximizer Clubare trademarks of Bayer. For additional product information, call toll-free 1-866-99-BAYER (1-866-992-2937) or visit our website at BayerCropScience.us SOURCE Bayer Related Links http://www.bayerus.com MODESTO, Calif., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- E. & J. Gallo Winery (Gallo) announced today that it has purchased Germain-Robin, California's first luxury brandy. In 1981, Ansley J. Coale Jr. had a chance encounter along Highway 101 in Northern California with Hubert Germain-Robin of the Jules Robin family, Cognac producers since 1782. Hubert's desire at that time was to create a small distillery using traditional craft-method distillation techniques. In 1982, he and Ansley established Germain-Robin. The two men began making brandies from premium California wine grapes. By the late 1990s, when Germain-Robin's cellar had matured, their brandies gained attention as some of the world's finest spirits recognized for their elegant, complex and distinct taste. Ansley Coale and Hubert Germain-Robin were pioneers in the creation of critically-acclaimed world class California brandies, as well as innovatively blending Cognac traditions and techniques with California winemaking and premium grape varieties. Gallo's acquisition includes the Germain-Robin brand, the inventory of aged and aging brandies and all finished goods. These unique and irreplaceable aged inventories include brandy lots that are over 30 years old, crafted from a broad range of traditional Cognac and Armagnac grape varieties, as well as non-traditional varietals such as Pinot Noir and Zinfandel. "It is a privilege to be entrusted with the stewardship of Germain-Robin's California brandy legacy," said Ernest J. Gallo, General Manager of Gallo's Spirits Business. "We are fortunate to have Ansley Coale and Joseph Corley, Hubert's apprentice and current Germain-Robin distiller and cellarmaster, remain involved as part of the acquisition. We are pleased to continue delivering remarkable and unique California brandies that will appeal to whiskey and bourbon drinkers and other connoisseurs of brown spirits around the world." "For decades, Germain-Robin has struggled to place brandy distilled from California wine where it belongs: a category, long overlooked, in fact worthy of inclusion at all levels among the world's finest spirits," said founder Ansley Coale. "We hope indeed intend that our unique knowledge and capabilities, supported and augmented by, and carefully integrated into, Gallo's deep experience and powerful resources in both production and marketing, will help bring brandy from California wine the recognition it so richly deserves." International Wine Associates served as the exclusive financial advisor for Germain-Robin. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. About E. & J. Gallo Winery Founded by brothers Ernest and Julio Gallo in 1933 in Modesto, California, E. & J. Gallo Winery is a family-owned winery and the acclaimed producer of award-winning wines and spirits featured in more than 90 countries around the globe. A pioneer in the art of grape growing, winemaking, sustainable practices, marketing and worldwide distribution, Gallo crafts and imports wines and spirits to suit a diverse range of tastes and occasions, from everyday offerings to boutique, luxury bottlings. The Gallo portfolio is comprised of more than 80 unique brands, including Barefoot Cellars, Dark Horse, and Gallo Family Vineyards. Premium offerings include Apothic, Carnivor, Columbia Winery, Ecco Domani, Edna Valley Vineyard, J Vineyards & Winery, Louis M. Martini, MacMurray Estate Vineyards, Mirassou, Orin Swift, Chateau Souverain, Talbott Vineyards, and William Hill Estate, along with highly acclaimed imports, such as Alamos, Brancaia, La Marca, Las Rocas, Martin Codax, Whitehaven, and LUX Wines, importers of Allegrini, Argiano, Jermann, Pieropan and Renato Ratti. Gallo Spirits offers New Amsterdam Vodka and Gin and E&J Brandy, in addition to imported Scotch whiskies from Whyte & Mackay, including The Dalmore, Jura Single Malt, and John Barr. SOURCE E. & J. Gallo Winery Related Links http://www.gallo.com ATLANTA, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- For the third consecutive year, Equifax Inc. (NYSE: EFX), a global information solutions company, was named to Forbes Magazine's Top 100 List of the "World's Most Innovative Companies." "At Equifax being innovative is an important element of our culture. It is the culmination of strategy, clearly-defined processes, and a first-class team that consistently delivers," said Equifax Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard F. Smith. "Over the past decade, we have taken a deliberate approach to foster a culture of innovation within our company as our organic growth driver ensuring we deliver value to both our customers and consumers." Over the past 11 years, the 118-year-old company has transformed itself from a credit bureau to an insights leader, a strong data and analytics player who think more like an innovative start-up. At the core of this transformation are Equifax business units which consistently execute on strategic initiatives and leverage the company's competitive position on a global scale. Equifax technology embraces agile business that helps the company bring products and services to market faster to meet the expanding needs of its customers. Since 2012 Equifax has increased its patent filings by 100 percent with patents such as Neurodecision Technology, a service offering for use in evaluating risk predictors with credit data, and other data, on the Equifax high-performance analytics platform. Additionally, Equifax offers a flexible technology ecosystem which can be repurposed without the need to constantly rebuild and customize. An example of this is InterConnect, a cloud-based decisioning platform that helps to drive actionable insights for businesses. In 2016, the company's New Product Innovation (NPI) initiative introduced 53 products and saw NPI revenue increase 30 percent over 2015. NPI has proven to be a valuable and centralized discipline for product development and innovation on a global scale. This year, Equifax rolled out new offerings such as InstaTouch ID, a consumer identity and authentication service, and Equifax Ignite, a revolutionary portfolio of premier data and advanced analytics solutions powered by Cambrian, a proprietary Big Data and analytics environment. In 2017, Equifax focused on expanding The Work Number (TWN) its employment and income verification service in the United States internationally to Canada first and is currently exploring other geographies such as Australia and the U.K. Each year since 2015, Equifax has risen on the Forbes Top 100 list a clear indicator of the growth trajectory the company has embraced one fuelled by innovation, talent, and a decisive drive to power the world with knowledge. About Equifax Equifax is a global information solutions company that uses trusted unique data, innovative analytics, technology and industry expertise to power organizations and individuals around the world by transforming knowledge into insights that help make more informed business and personal decisions. The company organizes, assimilates and analyzes data on more than 820 million consumers and more than 91 million businesses worldwide, and its database includes employee data contributed from more than 7,100 employers. Headquartered in Atlanta, Ga., Equifax operates or has investments in 24 countries in North America, Central and South America, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. It is a member of Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 Index, and its common stock is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EFX. Equifax employs approximately 9,900 employees worldwide. Some noteworthy achievements for the company include: Named to the Top 100 American Banker FinTech Forward list (2015-2016); named a Top Technology Provider on the FinTech 100 list (2004-2016); named an InformationWeek Elite 100 Winner (2014-2015); named a Top Workplace by Atlanta Journal Constitution (2013-2017); named one of Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies (2011-2015); named one of Forbes' World's 100 Most Innovative Companies (2015-2017). For more information, visit www.equifax.com. FOR MORE INFORMATION 1550 Peachtree Street, NE Atlanta, Georgia 30309 Marisa Salcines Media Relations (770) 752-2574 [email protected] SOURCE Equifax Inc. Related Links http://www.equifax.com DENVER, Aug. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Just last week on Wednesday, August 9th, a Colorado federal court jury found software trading company Genesis Financial Technologies Inc. in breach of contract with futures and commodities trader Larry Williams and LnL Publishing, LLC (Mr. Williams' intellectual property licensee). The jury handed down a unanimous verdict for the 5-year case after approximately 3 hours of deliberation. The jury also unanimously denied all of Genesis' defenses and counter claims. Williams, the plaintiff, alleged that he and LnL Publishing, LLC did not receive royalties owed by Genesis Financial Technologies Inc. and its CEO and founder Glen Larson. The jury found that Larson breached an oral contract made with Williams and owes the trader $358,277. They also found that Genesis used an item of value belonging to LnL Publishing, LLC and Williams without paying for it, owing Williams an additional $400,000 and LnL Publishing, LLC $1.5 million. Case Number 14-cv-03353-MSK-STV, Jury's Verdict is Docket Number 113, redacted. Larry Williams is a best-selling author on investment topics, and renowned commodities, stocks and futures trader. LnL Publishing, LLC is a publisher and distributor of financial educational products. It is owned and operated by Louise Stapleton and holds all rights to Williams' body of work. Genesis Financial Technologies, Inc. offers Trade Navigator trading software for charting and technical analysis tools as well as market data. It is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. LnL Publishing, LLC will shortly determine if Genesis Financial Technologies, Inc will be fully precluded from being a distributor of any of Larry Williams' work in Trade Navigator software, find another software company and/or distributor, or determine if LnL Publishing, LLC will be the sole distributor of Williams' works to his clients. For more information, contact the Law Office of Kurt Hallock in San Diego, CA. Kurt Hallock Attorney Law Office of Kurt Hallock 619-787-3674 [email protected] This release was issued through WebWire(R). For more information, visit http://www.webwire.com. SOURCE LnL Publishing, LLC NEW YORK, August 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The black cloud over Big Tobacco has been swirling for decades, but few developments have cast a bigger shadow than the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's recent proposal to reduce nicotine levels in cigarettes to non-addictive levels. The new plan[1], originally unveiled on July 28, is expected to serve as a multi-year roadmap aimed at saving lives and significantly reducing the effects of tobacco-related diseases. The market effects of the nicotine push have proven to be colossal, with shares of two of the largest sellers of cigarettes in the United States suffering their largest single-day plunge since the recession following the announcement. Indeed, the FDA's sweeping efforts seem to strike a distinctly adversarial tone with the $130 billion U.S. tobacco industry[2], presenting an unprecedented opening for companies in position to cash in on the changing market. Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (CSE: LXX) (OTC: LXRP) (LXRP Profile), as the only cannabis biotech company that has exposure to nicotine, stands alongside industry mainstays such as Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE: MO), Philip Morris International, Inc. (NYSE: PM) and British American Tobacco plc. (NYSE: BTI), along with upstart 22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE: XXII), as the transformation of this global industry accelerates. The slow death of the once ubiquitous cigarette wasn't just uncovered with the FDA's ruling. In fact, Big Tobacco has had its sights set on the development of marketable alternatives to its combustible offerings for years. A quick visit to Philip Morris' website demonstrates these efforts, as the tagline 'Designing a Smoke-Free Future' is placed front-and-center for all to see. As a reminder, Philip Morris is the global cigarette giant behind Marlboro and six of the world's top 15 international brands, and its tobacco products are currently sold in over 180 countries outside the U.S. Though still in their relative infancy, smoke-free cigarette alternatives have already proven to be highly marketable as cigarettes and similar products have faced increasing regulations and slumping sales. As per a report[3] from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, roughly 9 million adult consumers, or 3.7 percent of American adults, used tobacco-free electronic cigarettes or vapor products on a regular basis in 2014. These products typically serve as a delivery method for nicotine, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse[4] reports that they are often used to lower nicotine cravings for those who are trying to quit smoking. However, as the Institute notes, there is currently no conclusive scientific evidence on the effectiveness of e-cigarettes for long-term smoking cessation, and, perhaps more importantly, the safety characteristics of these devices haven't been thoroughly evaluated in independent scientific studies. A dearth of safe alternatives and an increasingly regulated tobacco industry combine to create a large and rapidly expanding market for smoking cessation solutions. According to a 2016 report[5] by Grand View Research, Inc., the global smoking cessation and nicotine de-addiction market is expected to reach over $21.8 billion by 2024. As Grand View reports, "The launch of improved and innovative nicotine replacement therapy products is to serve as a high impact rendering driver for the growth of the smoking cessation and nicotine de-addiction market." Staring at a fertile market that's concentrated on driving innovation, Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (OTCQB: LXRP) (CSE:LXX.CN), with its patented lipid-delivery technology, could prove to be a long-term player offering vast positive community health benefits and considerable upside, particularly for early investors. Lexaria Bioscience's intellectual property portfolio features a collection of advancements focused on improving the delivery and absorption of targeted molecules - such as nicotine - to the human body. Notably, the company maintains a patented method by which it is able to infuse a cocktail of molecules that are otherwise difficult for the body to absorb within other ingredients at a molecular level. As Lexaria's website outlines, the company's platform allows for the infusion of beneficial hemp oil ingredients into easily-absorbed lipids, greatly increasing the efficiency of absorption. Currently implemented in the production of two distinct consumer product brands including ViPova and Lexaria Energy, this technology has proven to be a potential game changer in the cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals market, an industry that's on course to grow to $50 billion by 2029, per data aggregated by Statista[6]. An equally promising application of this technology relates to the delivery of nicotine, which is also referenced in Lexaria's lipid-based delivery patent. The company's proprietary platform allows for the infusion of nicotine molecules within a wide range of edible food ingredients or typical capsule formats, effectively opening the door for the creation of a new product category targeting the high-demand smoking cessation market. Edible or encapsulated forms of nicotine delivery have traditionally failed due to challenges that Lexaria's new technology may overcome. As the company notes, most of the adverse health outcomes associated with nicotine consumption are due to problematic delivery methods, such as cigarettes and other combustible products. As such, the development of nicotine-infused edible products that remove those dangerous side effects could greatly improve upon the safety profile of most currently-marketed options. Though promising, Lexaria's patented molecular delivery technology remains in its early stages. The company is currently investigating the best methods of maximizing on the platform's market potential. As part of these efforts, Lexaria is also examining the feasibility of in-vitro and in vivo laboratory tests of its technology in order to generate real data regarding the bioavailability of nicotine with and without its protective technology. Combined with potential market indications in the delivery of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) and vitamins, markets valued at $5.4 billion and $68 billion respectively, Lexaria's lipid-delivery technology makes the company an intriguing option for investors with a finger on the pulse of the evolving tobacco industry. While Lexaria focuses on the development of new delivery technologies for nicotine, much of Big Tobacco has already turned its attention toward the development of reduced-risk alternatives to combustible products. On its website, Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE: MO), parent company of Philip Morris USA and cigar-maker John Middleton Co., among others, notes that its goals are to develop lower-risk tobacco products for adult consumers, support programs that help reduce underage tobacco use and provide access to expert quitting information for those who have decided to quit. For Altria and many other tobacco industry leaders, much of the focus remains on electronic cigarettes and e-vapor products. This interest in the electronic cigarette market has seen a lot of early success, though, as noted in an April 2016 report[7] from the Royal College of Physicians, "[I]t is not possible to estimate the long-term health risk associated with e-cigarettes precisely." In 2015, sales of e-cigarettes totaled $2.88 billion, according to Statistic Brain[8], up from just $20 million in 2008. A former operating company of Altria Group, Philip Morris International, Inc. (NYSE: PM) was spun off in 2008 in an effort to better pursue sales growth in emerging markets. Philip Morris' most extensive project in the cigarette-alternative space is iQOS (I-Quit-Ordinary-Smoking), which it originally announced in 2014 and currently markets under the Marlboro and Parliament brands. Rather than burning tobacco, the iQOS employs heat to generate a tobacco-based aerosol containing nicotine. As of the end of 2016, Philip Morris' iQOS was available in over 20 countries, with the company teaming with Altria Group to bring the product to the U.S. in the coming months. Although iQOS and similar heat-not-burn tobacco products present some benefits over cigarettes, such as leaving less smell and odor on clothing, independent research is not currently available to support claims of lowered risk or health benefits, according to the World Health Organization. British American Tobacco plc. (NYSE: BTI) categorizes its efforts outside of the traditional tobacco space as "Next Generation Products," a classification that includes an assortment of alternative tobacco and nicotine products aimed at reducing the risks associated with smoking conventional cigarettes. Per its website, British American Tobacco, over the past five years, has invested more than $1 billion in building its Next Generation Products business. In 2013, it became the first international tobacco company to launch an e-cigarette product in the UK. Since launching its Vype product line, British American Tobacco has introduced products such as the Vype ePen, eTank and eBox, as well as iFuse and glo, two tobacco heating products similar to those offered by Philip Morris. As with many of its competitors, 22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE: XXII) is focused on reducing the harm caused by smoking, as is communicated through a tagline on its website. Unlike many of its competitors, however, 22nd Century's products are taking direct aim at the FDA's latest proposal. As noted in a recent Bloomberg article[9], this relatively obscure biotechnology company in western New York grows tobacco plants with just three percent of the nicotine found in typical tobacco plants. Using these plants, the company creates Very Low Nicotine cigarettes that are expected to go through the FDA-approval process as a prescription smoking cessation aid. This innovative approach which, like that of Lexaria Bioscience Corp., goes against the grain in an industry filled to the brim with e-cigarettes and vaping products, has already started to pay off for 22nd Century investors. While Big Tobacco stocks plunged following the FDA's nicotine announcement, 22nd Century's shares were up 70 percent for the week ended August 4, including a 25 percent increase on Friday that marked its biggest one-day spike since March 2015. Where there's smoke, there's fire, and Big Tobacco's industry-wide commitment to developing pioneering devices in the face of increasingly stringent FDA regulations is impossible to overlook. Still, electronic cigarette alternatives and heat-not-burn tobacco products could be half measures in a market that's primed for a major overhaul. Look for true innovators like Lexaria Bioscience Corp., with its patented lipid-based delivery technology, to develop a foothold as the next iteration of the global $600 billion tobacco industry begins to take shape. NNW Editorial Sources: FDA http://nnw.fm/2SUkk Bloomberg http://nnw.fm/qQZ00 CDC http://nnw.fm/7mXiJ NIDA http://nnw.fm/bM5vN Grandview Research http://nnw.fm/Ytnr1 Statista http://nnw.fm/D7L1i Royal College of Physicians http://nnw.fm/kfD16 Statistic Brain http://nnw.fm/j4JD4 Bloomberg http://nnw.fm/bvH0s For more information on Lexaria Bioscience please visit: Lexaria Bioscience Corp. 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The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and NNW and FNM undertake no obligation to update such statements. Media Contact FN Media Group, LLC E-mail: [email protected] Phone: (954)345-0611 NetworkNewsWire (NNW) New York, New York http://www.NetworkNewsWire.com 212-418-1217 Office [email protected] SOURCE NetworkNewsWire SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A new period-action epic Reign of Judges: Title of Liberty, written and created by Darin Southam, a filmmaker from Washington State, just launched a massive first ever Kickstarter for a major motion picture. The campaign aims to propel the blockbuster hopeful into theaters by 2018. Darin Southam and his Wife Michelle First Ever Book of Mormon War Epic Hits Kickstarter Reign of Judges: Title of Liberty is an epic like Braveheart, but set in the 73 BC pre-Columbian New World. The story follows a humble soldier who rises unexpectedly as the protector of a young republic. Moroni (pronounced Mo - Ro - Nigh), now Chief Captain of a war-weary nation, defends his country with revolutionary prowess, but his greatest struggle will be uniting a beleaguered people. It's been twenty-three years since Braveheart and Reign of Judges: Title of Liberty sounds compelling enough, but is there a market for a war film based on The Book of Mormon ? According to one source, a reputable studio in Beverly Hills, the answer is no. But Southam isn't convinced and he launched a Kickstarter to prove it. Southam has the full script written, but the campaign isn't for the full feature. It's for a blockbuster concept film short to create precedent for the full feature. "We are so thrilled to do this with Kickstarter. If successful, it will fund our concept short and prove our audience at the same time," says Southam. Reign of Judges: Title of Liberty went public July 4th 2014. After a three-year holding pattern, it could suggest a waning market. Southam, who currently administers the film's Facebook page with over 24,000 followers, says the fans paint a very different picture. The page's latest video update, for example, had over 100,000 combined views and over 1500 shares without any post boosting. Of course, even in Hollywood, delays are quite normal, especially for a controversial film. Marvel's Deadpool, for example, took nearly a decade to be green-lit; and even then, its star, Ryan Reynolds, attributed the green light "100 percent" to leaked concept footage that went viral. If successful, Southam plans to shoot his concept short this year and use it as a similar catalyst for his full feature. Southam, himself a Mormon, says the film isn't about promoting his faith but about an action-packed rivalry meant to inspire a worldwide Spirit of Freedom. "This film is a passionate ensign for freedom and liberty full of love, war, and triumph. Our Kickstarter," Southam continues, "is all or nothing it's a clarion call to people everywhere who want this inspiring story portrayed worldwide on the big screen." And if that doesn't sound interesting enough, Southam's confidence and gutsy funding campaign certainly promise a dramatic ending. Darin Southam Endeavor, Inc. was founded in 2004. Southam has appeared in 28 films as an actor. He has also written and directed over 30 commercials for companies such as Adobe and Harley Davidson. See Southam's credits here: http://www.imdb.me/darinsoutham. To contribute to Southam's Kickstarter or download an EPK, visit his Kickstarter page here: https://goo.gl/i6Q6Un. Media Contact : Darin Southam P: 323-389-5323 [email protected] www.facebook.com/reignofjudgesmovie SOURCE Darin Southam Endeavor, Inc. CHICAGO, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- kCura, developers of the e-discovery software Relativity, today announced that Foley & Lardner LLP, an international law firm with expertise in litigation, business and IP law and litigation, has signed on to use RelativityOne to conduct e-discovery in the cloud. Foley & Lardner was the first customer to use Relativity's original on-premises e-discovery solution. By licensing RelativityOne, Foley & Lardner will further enhance its ability to provide clients with the latest Relativity innovations, along with the flexibility and scalability of the cloud. "Relativity has helped us serve our clients for the past decade and now RelativityOne will be an important cornerstone in the future of our practice," said Mike Gay, chair of Foley & Lardner's Litigation Department. "With an end-to-end cloud platform, we can stay responsive to client needs. As more and more client data migrates to the cloud, RelativityOne will give our team better access to the data we need to more effectively represent our clients." With RelativityOne, Foley & Lardner can deploy the unique Relativity hybrid model which allows them to work with data however they need it in the cloud, on-premises or both within a unified experience. RelativityOne can also be customized and extended to offer the solutions that will be best to approach given matter. "Foley & Lardner was there at the beginning of the Relativity story and we're excited they have opened a new chapter by adopting RelativityOne," said Andrew Sieja, president and CEO of kCura. "With RelativityOne, Foley & Lardner will be able to take advantage of the ease and elasticity of the cloud to simplify and accelerate e-discovery on any of their cases." About kCura kCura are the developers of Relativity, an e-discovery platform used by more than 12,000 organizations to manage large volumes of data and quickly identify key issues during litigation, internal investigations, and compliance projects. Relativity has over 150,000 active users in 40+ countries from organizations including the U.S. Department of Justice, more than 70 Fortune 100 companies, and more than 195 of the Am Law 200. Corporations, law firms, and government agencies use Relativity on-premises, in the cloud, or as a hybrid platformwith hosted, on-demand solutions available through a global network of partners. As a platform, Relativity also allows developers to design, build, and integrate applications that extend its functionality. kCura has been named one of Chicago's Top Workplaces by the Chicago Tribune for six consecutive years and received the CityLIGHTS Lighthouse Award from the Illinois Technology Association in 2016. SOURCE kCura Related Links https://www.kcura.com By Pooja Shali: The Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh is facing the heat as anger escalates against the death of more than 60 children at the BRD Hospital in Gorakhpur allegedly due to suffocation caused by shortage of oxygen supply. In Delhi, Left-leaning student organisation Krantikari Yuva Sangathan (KYS) protested outside Uttar Pradesh Bhawan. Nearly 50 students beat the drums and raised slogans, demanding the resignation of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The group included students from Delhi University (DU), Jamia Millia Islamia and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). advertisement The protesters held the state government responsible for the Gorakhpur tragedy and alleged that the children died in the hospital due to callousness of the administration. "This government is solely responsible for the death of children. They died certainly due to lack of oxygen. The government is primarily giving excuses," alleged Sachin, a KYS volunteer. The protesters carried banners, both in English and Hindi, targeting the Uttar Pradesh chief minister. Delhi Police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel were deployed at the protest site. As a precautionary measure, the gates of the Uttar Pradesh Bhawan were blocked with barricades and water cannons. "The tragedy was avoidable. The administration must take responsibility. If the state government is unable to manage, the chief minister must resign from his position," said Sugandha, another protester outside UP Bhawan. Thirty children died at the BRD hospital in 48 hours last week, and the numbers went up to 63 over the next few days. While most parents allege the infants died due to lack of oxygen availability, the government maintains that encephalitis and poor hygiene were causes of death. A case of alleged corruption by the hospital administration is also being probed. The principal of the college has been suspended while another doctor, initially hailed as a hero, is now suspected to have stealthily transported oxygen cylinders to his private clinic, leading to a shortage in supply at the hospital. ALSO READ: Gorakhpur hospital tragedy: Dr Kafeel Khan no hero? Allegations of stealing oxygen cylinders for his private clinic abound Gorakhpur hospital horror: Panel formed to probe role of oxygen suppliers in children' deaths, says Adityanath 30 kids die in 48 hours at a hospital in Yogi Adityanath's hometown Gorakhpur ALSO WATCH: Gorakhpur tragedy: How private clinics are run from inside public hospitals --- ENDS --- CHICAGO, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ford City Mall is transforming the space next to Kids Foot Locker into a school bus and inviting shoppers to "Stuff the Bus" with much needed supplies for local kids in need. The "bus" will be in operation from Friday, August 25 through Sunday, September 10, 2017, from 12:00 noon to 6:00 p.m. daily. "Every year Ford City Mall does a backpack giveaway, but this year we wanted to do more," says general manager Tracy Munno. "We thought it would be great to get the community involved in helping students get the tools they need to succeed in school." Requested items include pens and pencils, crayons, markers, spiral notebooks, pocket folders, glue sticks, highlighters and erasers. The two-week school readiness program will include family-friendly events and incentives to encourage community participation. When shoppers drop off donations of school supplies in the "bus," they can enter to win an iPad Mini or a $50 store gift card, and take advantage of back-to-school themed photo opportunities. They'll also receive a voucher worth 20% off at select Ford City stores and eateries. "Back-to-school is always an exciting time at Ford City, and this year it's especially exciting with all the changes that have taken place at the mall," says Munno, referring to the first phase completion of the mall's extensive renovation, including new floors, paint, lighting, central corridor seating areas and more. For more information, please visit www.shopfordcitymall.com/events, or call 773-767-6400. Photos: Stuff the Bus event graphic: http://www.shopfordcitymall.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/stuff_the_bus.jpg Newly renovated Ford City Mall: http://www.shopfordcitymall.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Ford-City_9013-HI-RES.jpg About Ford City Mall Ford City Mall is located at 7601 South Cicero Avenue in Chicago. It features over 100 stores, restaurants and theatres, including Carson's, JCPenney (with a Sephora store inside), Ross Dress For Less, Chipotle, Bath & Body Works White Barn, The Children's Place, Footlocker, Zales, Marshalls, Old Navy, Victoria's Secret, PINK, Zemsky's, AMC Theatres 14 and others. It is managed by Chicago-based Mid-America Asset Management, Inc. For more information, contact Tracy Munno at (773) 526-4965. www.shopfordcitymall.com SOURCE Ford City Mall Related Links http://www.shopfordcitymall.com ATLANTA, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Georgia WWI Centennial Commission, as part of its mission to commemorate and honor the sacrifices of Georgians and their families during this centennial time, is assembling a comprehensive list of all identifiable Georgians who died in World War I. Thus far, more than 2,100 soldiers and sailors from Georgia have been included in this on-line database. The listing is searchable by name, rank, county, city, date and cause of death. It includes those killed in action, those that died of wounds, those that succumbed to infections, and those killed in accidents while serving in the military during the Great War. The database is available on the Georgia Commission's website: www.ww1cc.org/ga through the link "Georgia Memorial Database." "It is an essential aspect of honoring the sacrifices of those who died in service to their country to list their names so that all may read them and remember," said Dr. Billy Wells of the University of North Georgia (UNG), chairman of the Georgia WWI Centennial Commission. "This is the fundamental purpose of this Georgia Memorial Database." UNG is one of only six senior military colleges in the nation and is designated as The Military College of Georgia. As such, UNG has taken a leading role in supporting the work of the Georgia WWI Centennial Commission. The database builds upon those service personnel listed in the Georgia State Memorial Book published in 1921. The book provided biographic information and photographs of some 1,200 Georgians, but under the racial practices prevalent at the time, listed no African-American soldiers. Fortunately, other lists and sources do provide many of these missing African-American names, which in the current project are being consolidated into a single and comprehensive list of all who died in service. "One of the Commission's primary goals in its overall Centennial effort is to address this ignored and overlooked contribution of Black Georgians in this war," said Dr. Lamar Veatch, retired State Librarian and the Commission's coordinator for the project. Additional sources of casualty names include a list developed by the Georgia Department of Veterans Services that does include African-American service personnel and which now has been merged into the online database. Additionally, many local county and city memorials and monuments throughout Georgia are inscribed with names, including those of African-American personnel who were left out of the published lists. The work of collecting these names from local plaques and memorials and adding them to the database is ongoing and will be completed by the end of this WWI centennial period, Veatch said. SOURCE University of North Georgia Related Links http://www.ung.edu DUBLIN, August 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Global Start-Stop Technology Market Size, Share, Development, Growth and Demand Forecast to 2022" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering. The global start-stop technology market is expected to witness a CAGR of 18.8% during the forecast period to reach $7,058.0 million by 2022. The key drivers supporting the growth in the market include the growing demand for fuel efficient vehicles and stringent emission control norms. Based on product, the enhanced starter segment is expected to be the largest segment of the global start-stop technology market during the forecast period; however, the integrated starter generator is expected to witness the highest growth during the forecast period in terms of volume and value. Start-stop technology automatically shuts down and restarts the internal combustion engine of vehicles to cut down the amount of time the engine spends idling. Additionally, the technology helps in reducing fuel consumption and emissions. The growth in start-stop technology market is driven by continuous improvement in vehicle performance and fuel efficiency levels. Strict regulations regarding exhaust gases set by various government and legislative bodies are serving as an advantage to this market. Major suppliers of these systems and automotive manufacturers adopting these systems are in the Asia-Oceania and European regions, that enables these regions to become the largest markets for start-stop technology. The key factors supporting growth in the global start-stop technology market include increasing production of start-stop vehicles in North America. The start-stop systems is expected to be integrated in about 35% of vehicles sold in North America by 2020. In the U.S., automakers are integrating the start-stop technology to meet the target of 54.5 mpg corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) by the 2025. Trends The key trend observed in the global start-stop technology market is the adoption of clean energy across the globe. Start-stop technology is more efficient in reducing industrial and automotive emissions of toxic gases such as carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide as compared with other technologies. Growing demand for vehicles with better fuel efficiency and lower emission is expected to support further growth in start-stop technology on account of increasing enhancement in the fuel performance for petroleum products. There is an increasing demand for vehicles with better fuel efficiency and lower emission. In several countries, the government has imposed stringent emission control norms to reduce the greenhouse gases emission from the vehicles. In 2011, global CO2 emission stood at 31.6 gigatons, with 23% of these emissions coming from the transportation sector across the globe. As per the European government's CO2 emission regulation, the total CO2 emission from new passenger cars should be decreased from 130 grams (g) per kilometer (km) travel in 2013 to 95g per km travel by 2020. This, in turn, is expected to increase the demand for fuel-efficient vehicles and consequently, drive the growth of the start-stop technology market. Growth Drivers The factors driving the growth of the start-stop technology market are increasing need for fuel efficient vehicles and stringent emission control norms globally. In North America, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced emission standards for cars and light trucks. According to the target set by EPA, the permissible emission from a passenger car should not exceed 225 grams per mile (g/mi) in 2016. The planned permissible emission limits for passenger cars is 143 g/mi for 2025 in North America. Additionally, the permissible combined fuel economy for cars and trucks was 35.5 miles per gallon (mpg) for 2016, which is expected to increase up to 54.5 mpg by 2025 in North America. According to the government regulation in Europe, the average emission level from new cars reduced by 160 grams per kilometer (g/km) during 2006 - 2012. The regulation requires reducing the emission levels from new cars to 95 g/km by 2020. Such stringent regulations have resulted in increasing use of start-stop technology by automobile manufacturers. Competitive Landscape Some of the key players in the global market include Robert Bosch GmbH, Continental AG, Denso Corporation, Delphi Automotive PLC, Johnson Controls, Inc, Hitachi, Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, Valeo SA, and BorgWarner Inc. Key Topics Covered: 1. Research Scope And Methodology 1.1 Market Definition 1.2 Research Scope 1.2.1 Market Segmentation By Product 1.2.2 Market Segmentation By Geography 1.3 Research Methodology And Sources 2. Executive Summary 3. Market Outlook 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Trends In The Global Start-Stop Technology Market 3.2.1 Increasing Trend Towards Adoption Of Clean Energy 3.3 Opportunities In The Global Start-Stop Technology Market 3.3.1 Increasing Production Of Start-Stop Vehicles In North America 3.4 Factors Driving Growth Of The Market And Its Impact On Market Forecast 3.4.1 Increasing Need For Fuel Efficient Vehicles 3.4.2 Stringent Emission Control Norms 3.4.3 Increasing Adoption Of Hybrid Vehicles 3.4.4 Impact Analysis Of Drivers On Market Forecast 3.5 Factors Hindering Growth Of The Market And Its Impact On Market Forecast 3.5.1 High Cost Of Start-Stop Technology 3.5.2 Impact Analysis Of Restraints On Market Forecast 4. Global Start-Stop Technology Market Size And Forecast (2012-2022) 4.1 Global Start-Stop Technology Market, By Product 4.1.1 Enhanced Starter 4.1.2 Belt-Driven Alternator Starter (Bas) 4.1.3 Direct Starter 4.1.4 Integrated Starter Generator (Isg) 4.2 Global Start-Stop Technology Market, By Region 5. Global Start-Stop Technology Market, By Geography 6. Competitive Analysis 6.1 Porter's Five Forces Of Competitive Position Analysis 6.1.1 Bargaining Power Of Buyers 6.1.2 Bargaining Power Of Suppliers 6.1.3 Threat Of New Entrants 6.1.4 Intensity Of Rivalry 6.1.5 Threat Of Substitutes 6.2 Competitive Positioning Of Global Start-Stop Technology Market, By Product 7. Company Profiles And Strategic Development Aisin Seiki Co., Ltd. Continental Ag Robert Bosch Gmbh Denso Corporation Delphi Automotive Plc Hitachi, Ltd. Johnson Controls, Inc. Mitsubishi Electric Corporation Borgwarner Inc. Valeo Sa For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/vvfn7p/global_startstop Media Contact: Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com HOUSTON, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Group 1 Automotive, Inc. (NYSE: GPI), ("Group 1" or the "Company"), an international, Fortune 500 automotive retailer, today declared a cash dividend of $0.24 per share for the second quarter of 2017. The dividend will be payable on September 15, 2017, to stockholders of record on September 1, 2017. About Group 1 Automotive, Inc. Group 1 owns and operates 174 automotive dealerships, 228 franchises, and 47 collision centers in the United States, the United Kingdom and Brazil that offer 32 brands of automobiles. Through its dealerships, the Company sells new and used cars and light trucks; arranges related vehicle financing; sells service contracts; provides automotive maintenance and repair services; and sells vehicle parts. Investors please visit www.group1corp.com, www.group1auto.com, www.group1collision.com, www.facebook.com/group1auto, and www.twitter.com/group1auto, where Group 1 discloses additional information about the Company, its business, and its results of operations. Investor contacts: Sheila Roth Manager, Investor Relations Group 1 Automotive, Inc. 713-647-5741 | [email protected] Media contacts: Pete DeLongchamps V.P. Manufacturer Relations, Financial Services and Public Affairs Group 1 Automotive, Inc. 713-647-5770 | [email protected] or Clint Woods Pierpont Communications, Inc. 713-627-2223 | [email protected] SOURCE Group 1 Automotive, Inc. Related Links http://www.group1auto.com ANNAPOLIS, Md., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, Inc. ("Hannon Armstrong," or the "Company") (NYSE: HASI) announced today the pricing of its underwritten public offering of $135 million aggregate principal amount of its 4.125% convertible senior notes due 2022. The Company has granted to the underwriters a 30day over-allotment option to purchase up to an additional $15 million aggregate principal amount of the notes. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to repay outstanding borrowings under one or both of its senior secured revolving credit facility and its recourse credit facility, or for general corporate purposes. The notes will bear interest at a rate equal to 4.125% per year, payable semiannually in arrears on March 1 and September 1 of each year, beginning on March 1, 2018. The conversion rate will initially equal 36.7107 shares of common stock per $1,000 principal amount of notes, which is equivalent to a conversion price of $27.24 per share of common stock, representing a 20% conversion premium based on the closing price of the Company's common stock of $22.70 per share on August 16, 2017. The initial conversion rate is subject to adjustment upon the occurrence of certain events, but will not be adjusted for any accrued and unpaid interest. The notes will mature on September 1, 2022. The offering is expected to close on or about August 22, 2017, subject to customary closing conditions. Deutsche Bank Securities, BofA Merrill Lynch and J.P. Morgan are acting as joint book-running managers for the offering. Nomura and Oppenheimer & Co. are acting as co-managers. A registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and has become effective. The offering will be made by means of a prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus. A copy of the prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus related to the offering, when available, can be obtained by contacting Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., 60 Wall Street, New York, New York 10005, Attention: Prospectus Group, Email: [email protected]; BofA Merrill Lynch, NC1-004-03-43, 200 North College Street, 3rd floor, Charlotte NC 28255-0001, Attention: Prospectus Department, Email: [email protected] or J.P. Morgan Securities Inc., c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717, email: [email protected], 3rd Floor. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any of the Company's securities, nor shall there be any sale of such securities in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction. About Hannon Armstrong Hannon Armstrong (NYSE: HASI) invests in the sustainable infrastructure markets, including energy efficiency and renewable energy. The Company focuses on providing preferred or senior level capital to established sponsors and high credit quality obligors for assets that generate long-term, recurring and predictable cash flows. The Company is based in Annapolis, MD. Forward-Looking Statements Some of the information in this press release contains forward-looking statements and within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. When used in this press release, words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "plan," "continue," "intend," "should," "may," "target," or similar expressions, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Investors are cautioned against placing undue reliance on such statements. Actual results may differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements include those discussed under the caption "Risk Factors" included in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, which was filed with the SEC, as well as in other reports that the Company files with the SEC. Forward-looking statements are based on beliefs, assumptions and expectations as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any obligation to publicly release the results of any revisions to these forward-looking statements reflecting new estimates, events or circumstances after the date of this press release. Contact: Investor/Media Relations Phone: 410-571-6189 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Hannon Armstrong Sustainable Infrastructure Capital, Inc. Related Links http://www.hannonarmstrong.com MIAMI, August 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- HD View 360 Inc. ("HD View" or "HDVW"), (OTCQB: HDVW), announced today the launch of development of its proprietary Point of Sales (POS) Software through its wholly-owned subsidiary, HD View Technologies. Designed specifically with the franchise and multi-location retail segment in mind, the full-service IT company's POS solution will seamlessly integrate its client's businesses, products, customers, and payment systems into one easy-to-use platform. "While working closely with our franchise partners, we saw a void in their Point of Sale where the software wasn't customized to the business model. This made training longer and more expensive," said HD View 360 CEO Dennis Mancino. The next generation POS software will leverage both HD View 360's merchant processing service and its years of experience working with franchise brands to provide clients with a comprehensive and specialized retail solution. "We will customize our POS according to the type of business we're targeting-even down to the most detailed features like beautifully designed high-definition graphics and customized label tabs associated with the product or services the client is selling," said Mancino. The company plans to offer the POS on a SaaS licensing model that allows users to access the system from any computer with a secure internet connection for a fixed monthly rate. Together with HD View 360's merchant processing fees, the POS positions the company to acquire two streams of Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) while attracting new franchise clients and increased profit margins for its shareholders HD View Technologies has partnered with South Florida-based software developer pi2 Inc. to carry out programming of the POS. They project completion of the system by the end of 2017. About HD View 360, Inc. HD View 360 and its subsidiary companies are a complete B2B Information Technology solution that provide hardware installation, security monitoring systems, telephone services, merchant processing, POS software, and ongoing IT support to small and medium-sized businesses. Where some IT companies specialize in one specific area, HD View 360 has hands-on experience in almost every aspect of retail operations. In a few short years, the quality and value of HD View 360's services have been recognized by top franchise brands, including European Wax Center, Amazing Lash Studio, OrangeTheory Fitness, and Massage Envy. HD View 360's rapid growth, solidified business relationships, and smart acquisition strategy have positioned the company to deepen its services to include a more comprehensive geographic presence, while acquiring new franchise clients and increasing revenue streams and profit margins for the company and its shareholders. Please visit http://www.hdview360.com for more details. Safe Harbor This press release contains forward-looking statements, particularly as related to, among other things, the business plans of HDVW, statements relating to goals, plans and projections regarding the HDVW's' financial position and business strategy. The words or phrases "would be," "will allow," "intends to," "may result," "are expected to," "will continue," "anticipates," "expects," "estimate," "project," "indicate," "could," "potentially," "should," "believe," "think", "considers" or similar expressions are intended to identify "forward-looking statements." These forward-looking statements fall within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934 and are subject to the safe harbor created by these sections. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, involve known and unknown risks, a reliance on third parties for information, transactions or orders that may be cancelled, and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements, or developments in our industry, to differ materially from the anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from anticipated results include risks and uncertainties related to the fluctuation of global economic conditions, the performance of management and our employees, our ability to obtain financing, competition, general economic conditions and other factors that are detailed in our periodic reports and on documents we file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements made herein are as of the date of this press release and should not be relied upon as of any subsequent date. HDVW cautions readers not to place undue reliance on such statements. HDVW does not undertake, and HDVW specifically disclaims any obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect occurrences, developments, unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statement. Actual results may differ materially from HDVW's expectations and estimates. Press Contact: Dennis Mancino [email protected] +1-786-294-0559 http://www.hdview360.com SOURCE HD View 360 Inc. MIAMI and NEW YORK, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Inc. Magazine today announced that HealthCare.com has been recognized in the publication's annual Inc. 5000 ranking of the fastest-growing private companies in America. The company takes home #2 in the insurance category and stands at #148 overall, once again placing it in this year's smaller and more elusive cohort in the Inc. 500. This is the second consecutive year that HealthCare.com has ranked in both the Inc. 5000 and Inc. 500. HealthCare.com is a leading privately-owned, search-and-discovery platform that helped more than 2 million consumers find health insurance last year. In 2016, Inc. 5000 ranked the company #388 overall and #6 in the insurance category. Earlier this summer, the company launched its foray into online content with The CheckUp, an online publication that informs and educates American consumers through tips, analysis, and news on healthcare. The company has grown its staff from 35 to 42 since the beginning of 2017, with plans for additional expansion in the coming months. "We achieved over 3x revenue growth from 2015 to 2016, and we're seeing substantial growth through the first half of 2017," said Howard Yeh, cofounder and chief executive officer of HealthCare.com. "This growth has allowed us to scale our capabilities, and I'm excited by the caliber of the team we're assembling and our ability to tackle bigger and broader challenges. I'm particularly excited about extending our value to consumers while continuing to grow our core advertising business." HealthCare.com's rapid growth indicates that consumers remain proactive in researching and buying affordable healthcare options. About HealthCare.com HealthCare.com is a privately-owned search-and-compare health insurance shopping platform that connects consumers with its network of licensed insurance brokers and insurance carriers. The website's origins can be traced back to 2006, but launched as a new company in 2014 as a technology- and data-driven platform to help the American consumer efficiently compare health insurance costs and subsidies. HealthCare.com currently serves the individual health insurance market (including both ACA and non-ACA plans) and the senior market with Medigap and Medicare Advantage coverage options. In 2016, the company helped more than 2 million people find healthcare coverage. HealthCare.com completed a Series A round in October of 2014, raising $9.5 Million, led by PeopleFund and current and former executives of The Priceline Group. The company has offices in New York City, Miami, and Guatemala City. For more information, visit www.healthcare.com. SOURCE HealthCare.com Related Links http://www.healthcare.com HILLSDALE, Mich., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hillsdale College is proud to announce that the school was recently named a 2017-2018 College of Distinction. This award recognizes Hillsdale College as an institution exhibiting excellence in four key areas of good undergraduate education engaged students, great teaching, vibrant community and successful outcomes as determined by awarding organization Colleges of Distinction. "It's an honor to be recognized for the quality of education Hillsdale offers our students," said Doug Banbury vice president of admissions at Hillsdale College. "The award focuses on rigorous curriculum standards as well as class size and faculty-to-student ratios, and we are proud to be included." Hillsdale will be featured in the Colleges of Distinction guidebook that will be published in September. The organization's annual guidebook and website serve as a resource in the college search to more than 40,000 guidance counselors and thousands of parents and students. For more than 15 years Colleges of Distinction has worked to help students find "the right college" by identifying the unique strengths of exceptional teaching-centered institutions across the country. Unlike other ranking systems, schools are not evaluated by traditional measures like endowment size, selectivity or prestige. To receive the title "College of Distinction," an institution is assessed on quality core curriculum standards and extracurricular learning opportunities, as well as qualitative measures like class size and faculty-to-student ratios, among others. For more information about Colleges of Distinction, visit www.collegesofdistinction.com. About Hillsdale College Hillsdale College, founded in 1844, has built a national reputation through its classical liberal arts core curriculum and its principled refusal to accept federal or state taxpayer subsidies, even indirectly in the form of student grants or loans. It also conducts an outreach effort promoting civil and religious liberty, including a free monthly speech digest, Imprimis, with a circulation of more than 3.6 million. More information is available at hillsdale.edu. SOURCE Hillsdale College Related Links http://www.hillsdale.edu HARLEM, N.Y., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Rev. Frederick Shaw Jr., the National Director of Public Affairs for the mental health watchdog group, Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR), addressed Harlem community leaders on August 15th at the opening of an exhibition that includes a history of psychiatry and racism. He said that history has led to an over-representation today of African American children being placed in foster care and in special education where they are prescribed potent mind-altering drugs. Rev. Shaw praised two recent Resolutions that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) unanimously passed on this issue. History has led to an over-representation today of African American children being placed in foster care and in special education where they are prescribed potent mind-altering drugs. One of the NAACP Resolutions on the "Psychotropic Drugging of Children" says that "Persons of color are overrepresented in high poverty areas and an analysis of national Medicaid claims for foster youth found 49 percent were on antipsychotics and 48 percent were on antidepressants, despite a 'black box' warningthe Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) most serious drug labelingthat antidepressants may increase the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in children, adolescents, and young adults." The Resolution describes the indiscriminate use of psychotropic drugs on children as potential child endangerment and abuse, citing documented drug side effects that include stroke, diabetes, pancreatitis, cardiac issues, suicidal thoughts, and even death. The NAACP says it will work with advocates to "oppose the misdiagnosis and over-prescription of psychotropic drugs for children" and calls for Child, Family and Foster Care agencies and Juvenile detention and probation systems to implement safeguards against the potential physical abuse and injury these drugs may cause. Rev. Shaw, a former Los Angeles Sheriff's Deputy and currently a Vice President of the Inglewood/South Bay chapter, helped author the resolutions that were passed at the 108th Annual NAACP Convention held recently in Baltimore. He was in New York and Harlem to meet with community leaders to garner additional support for the Resolutions and to officially open CCHR's world-traveled Exhibition, "Psychiatry: An Industry of Death." The exhibit, which is free to the public, is open daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. until September 10, 2017 at 74 West 125th Street, Harlem New York. It includes a series of multi-award-winning documentaries. NAACP Resolution Calls for Ban on Electroshocking Children A second NAACP Resolution calls for a banning of electroshock treatment on children, youths and young adults up to the age of 21. Electroshock, also known as Electroconvulsive Therapy or ECT, involves up to 450 volts of electricity sent through the brain causing a massive convulsion to theoretically relieve, but not cure depression. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reports adverse effects from ECT that include cardiovascular (heart) complications; cognition and memory impairment; death; dental/oral trauma; device malfunction; manic symptoms; pain/discomfort; physical trauma; pulmonary (lung) complications; potential worsening of psychiatric symptoms and brain damage.[1] The FDA is currently reviewing whether the ECT device, which manufacturers have never been required to provide clinical studies to prove is safe or effective, should be reduced in its risk classification. If successful, this would broaden its use, including children whose developing brains are more likely to be more damaged by the shock. The NAACP Resolution says it "vehemently opposes any attempt by the FDA to reduce the risk classification of the ECT device." The Resolution points to four U.S. statesCalifornia, Colorado, Texas and Tennesseehaving banned the pediatric use of electroshock and a United Nations report on Torture that recommends "an absolute ban on all forced" electroshock. African Americans are more at risk of this potentially brain-damaging procedure as "psychiatrists now diagnose African American men in mental hospitals as having a serious mental disorder at a rate of up to 1,500 percent higher than white men," according to the Resolution.[2] CCHR was first to obtain state legislation banning the use of electroshock treatment (ECT) on children and adolescents in 1976 in California and also wants to see a nationwide ban on the practice of administering ECT for mental health or behavioral problems. The FDA's proposal to reduce the ECT risk classification has been opposed by thousands of individuals and a Citizens Petition was filed with the FDA Commissioner last year indicating this. An amendment to that Petition was provided to the FDA, dated July 29, 2017, which reinforced the treatment's risks, stating: "That ECT drastically shortens the lifespan of recipients has been well known for decades. For example, in a large retrospective study of 3,288 patients receiving ECT in Monroe County, NY , recipients were found to have a substantially increased death rate from all causes." The ECT device manufacturers have indicated that brain damage is a potential risk associated with ECT. Rev. Shaw said that minority children are over-represented in foster care and juvenile detention systems where they are at risk of being prescribed psychotropic drugs, especially antipsychotics. As of 2013, Black juveniles were nearly four times as likely to be committed to juvenile detention facilities as white juveniles. American Indian juveniles were nearly four times as likely, and Hispanic juveniles were 61 percent more likely.[3] These children and teens need greater protections, he said. For example, over a two-year period, the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice bought 326,081 tablets of antipsychotic drugs for use in state-operated jails and homes for children. That's enough to hand out 446 pills a day, seven days a week, for two years in a row, to kids in jails and programs that can hold no more than 2,300 boys and girls on a given day.[4] Research indicates that antipsychotics may shrink the brain and there is little data on how they affect brain development during the teen years when the brain grows more than at any other time but infancy. Indeed, youth are more vulnerable than any other group to the drugs' worst side effects, according to a TIME article in 2011.[5] Federal policies have also "allowed for the introduction of disproportionate behavioral-stimulant use with Black males as a mode of social control," reported researchers of the study, "Controlling the Black School-Age Male: Psychotropic Medications and the Circumvention of Public Law."[6] Rev. Shaw said that historically, African Americans' response to discrimination and oppression has been labeled as a mental disorder. Professors Herb Kutchins and Stuart Kirk also report: "Defenders of slavery, proponents of racial segregationhave consistently attempted to justify oppression by inventing new mental illnesses and by reporting higher rates of abnormality among African Americans or other minorities."[7] In the 1960s, psychiatrists claimed civil rights protests caused violent "schizophrenic" symptoms in African Americans, which they labeled as "protest psychosis." Jonathan M. Metzl, Professor of Sociology and Psychiatry, writing in his book The Protest Psychosis, said that Black men were said to have developed "hostile and aggressive feelings" and "delusional anti-whiteness" after listening to civil rights leaders.[8] Advertisements appeared in psychiatric journals using African symbols to convince people that African Americans had so-called violent traits requiring antipsychotics. Today, African American students are more than twice as likely to be labeled cognitively "deficient" than white American students. Although they comprise only 17% of the student population African Americans represent 33% of those enrolled in programs for the "mentally challenged."[9] "Special education" classes are just a new form of segregation, says Rev. Shaw. "This is literally a fight for kids' lives," he added. Rev. Shaw wants to see nationwide support for the NAACP Resolutions and said that while it is clear that children and youths can face serious problems in life, "we have to work to provide humane and workable social services for them. We need effective medicalnot mind-numbing psychiatrichelp; good nutrition; a healthy, safe environment and activities that promote confidence. Effective education will also do far more for a troubled person than drugging, shocks, and other damaging psychiatric practices," he says. As a non-profit, public benefit organization, CCHR has been responsible for helping obtain over 180 laws enacted, including the 2004 Federal Child Medication Safety Amendment that prohibits schools from forcing children to take psychotropic drugs as a requisite for their education. Click hereto support the "Fight for Kids" campaign. Contact: Rev. Fred Shaw (310) 714-5093 or [email protected] References: [1] Jonathon Emord, Esq., Constitutional Attorney, Citizens Petition filed with the FDA Commissioner, August 24, 2016, page 9,http://emord.com/blawg/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/1-ECT-Citizen-Petition.pdf [2] Dr. Gary Null, Ph.D., "The Pathologizing of the African American by Psychiatry," 15 April. 2010, http://gna.squarespace.com/home/2010/4/15/the-pathologizing-of-the-african-american-by-psychiatry.html [3] http://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/racial-disparities-in-youth-commitments-and-arrests/ [4] "Drugging the Vulnerable: Atypical Antipsychotics in Children and the Elderly," TIME, 26 May 2011, http://healthland.time.com/2011/05/26/why-children-and-the-elderly-are-so-drugged-up-on-antipsychotics/ [5] "Drugging the Vulnerable: Atypical Antipsychotics in Children and the Elderly," TIME, 26 May 2011, http://healthland.time.com/2011/05/26/why-children-and-the-elderly-are-so-drugged-up-on-antipsychotics/ [6] Terrence D. Fitzgerald, "Controlling the Black School-Age Male: Psychotropic Drugs and the Circumvention of Public Law," Urban Education, (SAGE Publications), v44 n2, 2009, p. 225-247, http://uex.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/44/2/225 [7] Herb Kutchins & Stuart A. Kirk, Making Us Crazy DSM: The Psychiatric Bible and the Creation of Mental Disorders, (The Free Press, New York, 1997), p. 200. [8] Jonathan M. Metzl, The Protest Psychosis, How Schizophrenia became a Black Disease, (Beacon Press, Boston, 2009), pp. xii, xiv, p. 101 [9] "Racism in schools is pushing more Black families to homeschool their children," The Washington Post, 10 Apr. 2015, https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/10/racism-in-schools-is-pushing-more-black-families-to-homeschool-their-children/ Related Files Traveling Exhibit Harlem.jpg SOURCE Citizens Commission on Human Rights International NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hyundai Hope On Wheels will today present Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt with a $50,000 Hyundai Impact Award. Vanderbilt is one of 25 recipients of this year's award, which is given to pediatric oncology departments at select children's hospitals nationwide. The grant funds will support the work of Dr. Adam Esbenshade. Dr. Esbenshade plans to use data to create a risk prediction model to predict blood stream infections in pediatric oncology patients with severe neutropenia. In 2017, Hope On Wheels will award $15 million toward pediatric cancer research and programs. This brings the organization's donation total to $130 million since Hyundai joined the fight against pediatric cancer in 1998. With this latest grant, Vanderbilt has received more than $1.1 million from Hope On Wheels. "Throughout the country, talented doctors are working tirelessly to help kids fight cancer by conducting research or providing bedside care," said Scott Fink, chairman, Hyundai Hope On Wheels Board of Directors. "Our goal at Hope On Wheels is to provide these doctors with the grant funds they need to perform their lifesaving work. Superheroes come in all forms, but for children and families battling cancer superheroes wear lab coats." The $50,000 Hyundai Impact Award will be officially presented to Vanderbilt today, August 16, 2017 at 10 a.m. During the event, Nashville-area children battling cancer will participate in the program's signature Handprint Ceremony, in which they'll dip their hands in paint and place their handprints on a white 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe. Their colorful handprints on the official Hope Vehicle represent their individual and collective journeys, hopes and dreams. "The Hyundai Hope On Wheels program provides important support for pediatric oncology research in an era where funding from federal sources is limited and the advances that can be in the pediatric cancer are enormous. This year's grant and Dr. Adam Esbenshade's research is a great example of this," said Debra Friedman, M.D., Director of Vanderbilt's Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology. "Dr. Esbenshade has developed a statistical prediction model for the likelihood of bacterial bloodstream infections in pediatric oncology patients. For many years, these children automatically got intravenous antibiotics for 1-2 days, and in the vast majority, there was no infection. Now, using the model, antibiotics are used only for those at highest risk of infection, saving the vast majority of children from unnecessary antibiotics. This reduces risks of complications, development of antibiotic-resistant germs, burden on families and health care costs." Doctors and researchers that receive a grant from Hope On Wheels are named Hyundai Scholars and are presented with a special lab coat. This year, Hope On Wheels will further recognize its Hyundai Scholars for their incredible efforts on behalf of children battling cancer through a campaign called "Superheroes Wear Lab Coats." The video series will showcase their lifesaving work. To learn more about the campaign, please visit HyundaiHopeOnWheels.org. For more information about Hyundai Hope On Wheels and to view a complete list of this year's grant winners, please visit HyundaiHopeOnWheels.org/research. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram at facebook.com/HyundaiHopeOnWheels, twitter.com/HopeOnWheels or instagram.com/HyundaiHopeOnWheels. HYUNDAI HOPE ON WHEELS Hyundai Hope On Wheels is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that is committed to finding a cure for childhood cancer. Launched in 1998, Hyundai Hope On Wheels provides grants to eligible institutions nationwide that are pursuing life-saving research and innovative treatments for the disease. HHOW is one of the largest non-profit funders of pediatric cancer research in the country, and primary funding for Hyundai Hope On Wheels comes from Hyundai Motor America and its more than 835 U.S. dealers. Since its inception, Hyundai Hope On Wheels has awarded more than $130 million towards childhood cancer research in pursuit of a cure. HYUNDAI MOTOR AMERICA Hyundai Motor America, headquartered in Fountain Valley, Calif., is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Company of Korea. Hyundai vehicles are distributed throughout the United States by Hyundai Motor America and are sold and serviced through 835 dealerships nationwide. All new Hyundai vehicles sold in the U.S. are covered by the Hyundai Assurance program, which includes a 5-year/60,000-mile fully-transferable new vehicle limited warranty, Hyundai's 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain limited warranty and five years of complimentary Roadside Assistance. For more details on Hyundai Assurance, please visit www.HyundaiAssurance.com Please visit our media website at www.hyundainews.com Hyundai Motor America on Twitter | YouTube | Facebook SOURCE Hyundai Hope On Wheels Related Links http://www.hyundaihopeonwheels.org Documents accessed by Mail Today reveal that Rajeev Mishra, the principal of the Hospital where at least 30 children died due to alleged non-availability of oxygen, flouted rules while awarded supply contracts. It is believed that if oxygen had been procured locally, many lives could have been saved. By Shivendra Srivastava: A number of revelations in the Gorakhpur case show how corruption at the BRD Hospital was responsible for more than 30 deaths. Documents with Mail Today reveal Rajeev Mishra, the BRD Hospital principal, flouted rules to favour supply companies. Permission for supplying medical gas to the hospital was approved on just a handwritten paper. The whole tender process was dumped to award contract to Imperial Gas Limited to supply oxygen to BRD Hospital. advertisement This contract was awarded on a trial basis. The company is situated around 350 kilometers away from Gorakhpur and authorities awaited cylinders to arrive from such a long distance when children were awaiting death. Oxygen cylinders were procured from Allahabad and Faizabad. Had oxygen been procured locally, the lives of 30 children could have been saved. Oxygen cylinders remained in transit as children died one after the other. The director general, medical health, has reached the hospital to enquire into the incident of gross leniency in controlling the situation on the day of the tragedy. An enquiry committee has also been formed by chief minister Yogi Adityanath to look investigate the matter. So far only BRD Medical College chief Rajeev Mishra and nodal officer and encephalitis ward in-charge Dr Kafeel Khan have been suspended for not performing duty during hours of crucial need and alleged corruption in procuring oxygen. Families of victims have started to lose their patience. They have started crying foul. The father of a deceased kid has filed a police complaint against UP's Health minister Sidhartha Nath Singh, Medical Education minister Ashutosh Tondon and Principal Secretary of Health in Gorakhpur's Guleria police station. The man named Rajbhar from Bihar's Gopalganj had admitted his child for treatment on August 10 at BRD Medical College. According to him, he lost his child as the oxygen supply was cut. Rajbhar's complaint has been lodged with the police, although no FIR has been registered so far. ALSO READ | Dr Kafeel Khan no hero? Allegations of stealing oxygen cylinders for his private clinic abound ALSO READ | People of India stand shoulder to shoulder with Gorakhpur hospital tragedy victims: PM Modi ALSO WATCH | Inside Gorakhpur's BRD hospital, the scene of a heartbreaking tragedy --- ENDS --- New American Funding was also recognized on Inc. 5000's Honor Roll, which is an elite group of companies who've made the fastest-growing list five times. This distinct milestone is an accomplishment that less than one-tenth of Inc. 5000 honorees achieve. "It's extremely rewarding to have Inc. 5000 repeatedly identify New American Funding for its rapid growth," said CEO Rick Arvielo. "We're thrilled by this achievement and are driven to continue working hard to stretch our limits each day. Our commitment is to remain innovative." New American Funding is owned by husband-and-wife duo, Rick and Patty Arvielo, who've expanded the company to include nearly 130 nationwide branches with a servicing portfolio of $20 billion. The couple have distinguished the company as an industry leader by: Notable Milestones: Streamlining operations and providing industry-leading loan close times Developing innovative technology including a suite of mobile apps for New American Funding Loan Originators, Real Estate Partners, and housing consumers - GoGo LO, GoGo Partner , GoGo Home including a suite of mobile apps for New American Funding Loan Originators, Real Estate Partners, and housing consumers - GoGo LO, , Building a 25,000 square foot state-of-the-art educational facility to train mortgage professionals Serving diverse communities through Latino Focus Committee and New American Dream Due to their progressive business approach, earlier this year the Arvielos won a gold Stevie with Rick claiming Executive of the Year and Patty winning Woman of the Year; each was also selected by Ernst & Young as a 2016 EY Entrepreneur of the Year for Orange County. About New American Funding New American Funding is a national mortgage banker licensed in 48 states with approximately 130 branches offering a variety of home loan options including: Conventional, FHA, Cash Out, Fixed Rate and Adjustable Rate Mortgages, VA, HARP 2.0, Jumbo, and Reverse Mortgages. The company is a Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae Direct Seller/Servicer, FHA Direct Endorsement, and VA Automatic mortgage lender. SOURCE New American Funding Related Links http://www.newamericanfunding.com SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Inc. magazine today ranked SiteLock number 760 on its 36th annual Inc. 5000, the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies within the American economy's most dynamic segment its independent small and midsized businesses. Companies such as Microsoft, Dell, Domino's Pizza, Pandora, Timberland, LinkedIn, Yelp, Zillow, and many other well-known names gained their first national exposure as honorees of the Inc. 5000. "We're honored to be included in this year's Inc. 5000 list," said Neill Feather, president of SiteLock. "It has been both motivating and humbling to watch the company grow from two team members to over 200 employees protecting more than 12 million websites worldwide. We're proud of our progress and eager to continue on our journey toward protecting every website on the internet." The 2017 Inc. 5000, unveiled online at Inc.com and with the top 500 companies featured in the September issue of Inc. (available on newsstands August 16) is the most competitive crop in the list's history. The average company on the list achieved a mind-boggling three-year average growth of 481%. The Inc. 5000's aggregate revenue is $206 billion, and the companies on the list collectively generated 619,500 jobs over the past three years. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/inc5000. "The Inc. 5000 is the most persuasive evidence I know that the American Dream is still alive," says Inc. President and Editor-In-Chief Eric Schurenberg. "The founders and CEOs of the Inc. 5000 tell us they think determination, risk taking, and vision were the keys to their success, and I believe them." The annual Inc. 5000 event honoring all the companies on the list will be held from October 10 through 12, 2017 at the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa in Palm Desert, CA. Speakers include some of the greatest entrepreneurs of this and past generations, such as former Ford president Alan Mullaly, FUBU CEO and founder and "Shark Tank" star Daymond John, Dollar Shave Club founder Michael Dubin, researcher and #1 New York Times bestseller Brene Brown, and Gravity Payments' founder and CEO Dan Price. About SiteLock SiteLock, the Global Leader in business website security solutions, is the only web security solution to offer complete, cloud-based website protection. Its 360-degree monitoring finds and fixes threats, prevents future attacks, accelerates website performance and meets PCI compliance standards for businesses of all sizes. Founded in 2008, the company protects over 12,000,000 websites worldwide. For more information, please visit sitelock.com. CONTACT: Katie Pesek 703-795-1928 [email protected] More about Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Methodology The 2017 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2013 to 2016. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2013. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2016. (Since then, a number of companies on the list have gone public or been acquired.) The minimum revenue required for 2013 is $100,000; the minimum for 2016 is $2 million. As always, Inc. reserves the right to decline applicants for subjective reasons. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.'s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. About Inc. Media: Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures, Inc. is the only major brand dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies, with the aim to deliver real solutions for today's innovative company builders. Winner of the National Magazine Award for General Excellence in both 2014 and 2012. Total monthly audience reach for the brand has grown significantly from 2,000,000 in 2010 to over 18,000,000 today. For more information, visit www.inc.com. The Inc. 5000 is a list of the fastest-growing private companies in the nation. Started in 1982, this prestigious list of the nation's most successful private companies has become the hallmark of entrepreneurial success. The Inc. 5000 Conference & Awards Ceremony is an annual event that celebrates their remarkable achievements. The event also offers informative workshops, celebrated keynote speakers, and evening functions. For more information on Inc. and the Inc. 5000 Conference, visit http://conference.inc.com/. For more information contact: Inc. Media Drew Kerr 212-849-8250 [email protected] SOURCE SiteLock Related Links http://www.sitelock.com MUMBAI, August 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Hexaware Technologies Ltd, the fastest growing automation-led, next-generation provider of IT, BPO and consulting services, today announced that it has been listed as a 'strong performer' in continuous testing by Forrester Research, in their report titled - "The Forrester Wave: Continuous Testing Service Providers, Q3 2017". (Logo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/530945/Hexaware_Rebranding_Logo.jpg ) The Forrester report has identified 11 most significant providers based on a 29-criteria evaluation of continuous testing (CT) service providers. Top CT providers were evaluated based on their current offering in terms of the scope of CT consulting services, test case design automation, automation engineering, and advanced testing-in-production capabilities, strategy in the context of modern Agile and DevOps application delivery and vendors' market presence. Hexaware tied for the highest score, 4.6 on a 5 point scale in the Continuous Testing Talent criterion. It was also among the highest scores of 4 in the Continuous Testing Service vision criterion. According to the report, Hexaware demonstrated a strong overall offering. The research states that Hexaware is forming a growing base of CT talent by leveraging its multiskilled development and testing workforce. It further states that Hexaware would be a good fit for clients that are trying to optimize test design and data management automation and are looking for multiskilled developer-tester (DTEST) resources. Hexaware has developed partnerships, to build connectors to link test design automation to test execution using Selenium. The company has also demonstrated capabilities in providing CT services over many years with enterprise clients. "This recognition comes at an opportune time for Hexaware with its positive response from clients, for its innovative platforms like iD2E (Integrated Design to Execution) automation, FAME (Framework for automated mobile testing), Usability Measurement Index model, automated Big data testing, service virtualizations," said Tony Mohanty, Global Head, Digital Assurance, Hexaware Technologies. He added," We consider this to be a strong testimony to Hexaware as a digital transformation partner to support clients with its CT services, in their Agile and DevOps initiatives." Hexaware's two-pronged strategy for growth focusses on identifying opportunities for growth while delivering 'Quality with Speed' and assuring quality for digital transformation programs by its leveraging Continuous Test Platform (CTP). This platform integrated multi-channel innovative accelerators, pre-build domain-centric test suites, service virtualization driven test environment and plug and play solutions. About Hexaware Visit http://www.hexaware.com. Safe Harbor Statement http://hexaware.com/investors/ Contact: Sreedatri Chatterjee [email protected] SOURCE Hexaware Technologies Ltd. SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- InfluxData, the modern open source platform built from the ground up for metrics and events, is excited to announce an update for InfluxCloud, the fully supported, managed and hosted version of the InfluxData platform to scale with your business. "We are focused on delivering rapid time to value for developers through building monitoring and control applications, and with the inclusion of Chronograf and Kapacitor into InfluxCloud, developers can experience more of the entire platform without having to setup and manage any infrastructure," said Tim Hall, VP Products, InfluxData. "This allows developers an easy onboarding experience and to quickly incorporate advanced features like alerting and anomaly detection into their applications. These new additions set the stage for future capabilities such as co-monitoring, portable backups, and more." InfluxCloud has been updated to version 1.3, and includes an enhanced visualization experience via Chronograf, the visualization and administrative user interface for the InfluxData platform. Other key updates include: Enhanced Access Control - Support for role-based access to restrict or allow users, or groups of users, from performing certain tasks. - Support for role-based access to restrict or allow users, or groups of users, from performing certain tasks. Integrated Anomaly Detection & Alerting - InfluxCloud now provides for the visual definition of anomaly detection and alert rules. Powered by the incorporation of Chronograf for the visual elements and Kapacitor for the execution of the defined rules, these new additions allow you to experience the full power of the InfluxData platform. - InfluxCloud now provides for the visual definition of anomaly detection and alert rules. Powered by the incorporation of Chronograf for the visual elements and Kapacitor for the execution of the defined rules, these new additions allow you to experience the full power of the InfluxData platform. Usage-based Storage - While every subscription comes with a pre-defined storage allocation, customers can now add more storage as they need it. The usage-based storage add-ons also include automated backups which provides peace of mind knowing that your data is always safe and protected. "InfluxCloud helps Qube gather metrics and events to visualize utility billing usage and charges for our customers," said John Burk, Senior Software Developer, PipelineFX. "As a managed service, it allows us to focus on our core competencies without having to dedicate the resources to manage another solution. InfluxCloud is fully managed by InfluxData to have the latest software, with fully optimized clusters, and is always available." About InfluxData InfluxData, the creators of InfluxDB, delivers a modern Open Source Platform built from the ground up for metrics and events (time series data). Whether the data comes from humans, sensors, or machines, InfluxData empowers developers to build next-generation monitoring, analytics, and IoT applications faster, easier, and to scale delivering real business value quickly. Based in San Francisco, InfluxData customers include Autodesk, Cisco, eBay, and SolarCity. Visit influxdata.com. Twitter: @influxdb. Editorial Contact Ruth Busbee, InfluxData 510-910-6732 | [email protected] SOURCE InfluxData Related Links http://www.influxdata.com PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, the premier provider of legal services to technology, life sciences, and growth enterprises worldwide, today announced that Jonathan M. Jacobson, a partner in the firm's antitrust practice who is based in the New York office, has been elected Chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Antitrust Law. Jacobson's one-year term officially began on August 13, and it follows his term as Chair-Elect of the Antitrust Section, which he's held since August 2016. The ABA Section of Antitrust Law is the leading professional organization for antitrust and competition law, trade regulation, consumer protection, and economics. Members include attorneys and non-lawyers from around the world working in private law firms, in-house counsel, non-profit organizations, consulting firms, federal, state, and international government agencies, as well as judges, professors, economists, and law students. "Companies and other entities continue to face formidable challenges as they address competition and consumer protection issues in our global marketplace," Jacobson said. "A key element of the Antitrust Section's mission is to ensure the organization's members remain well-informed as to the associated policy issues and prepared as practitioners, and that charge is now more important than ever." Considered one of the country's preeminent antitrust litigators, Jacobson has represented major corporate clients, including Coca-Cola, Google, American Express, Netflix, and Live Nation, in antitrust litigations, investigations, trials, and appeals. In 2016, he argued the closely watched Vitamin C appeal in what many consider to the largest-ever antitrust case involving Chinese companies, securing a Second Circuit decision reversing a previous $150 million judgment and dismissing the case on international comity grounds. Jacobson's work in the high-profile Vitamin C dispute earned him recognition as a "Competition MVP" from Law360 in 2016. Jacobson also is a frequent speaker on antitrust issues, and he has written or edited numerous articles and books on antitrust topics, including exclusionary practices, merger enforcement, government and other civil litigation matters, and cartel enforcement. In 2002, he was appointed by Congress to serve on the Antitrust Modernization Commission, where he was responsible for reviewing and recommending potential changes to the nation's antitrust laws. "In addition to distinguishing himself as a leading practitioner who has represented major corporate clients in high-stakes antitrust matters throughout the country, Jon has maintained a strong commitment to discussing substantive antitrust and competition issues," said Doug Clark, managing partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. "He is a tremendous asset to our firm and we're confident the members of the ABA's Antitrust Section will recognize Jon's commitment to fostering the professional development of practitioners throughout the antitrust bar." Jacobson has been an officer in the ABA Antitrust Section since 2010. He also served as a council member of the organization from 2007 to 2010. He has also been involved in Antitrust Section publications, serving as editorial chair of Antitrust Law Developments (Sixth) and editorial co-chair of the Annual Review of Antitrust Law Developments. For more information about the organization, its growth and thought leadership goals, and key upcoming events, please read Jonathan Jacobson's message from the chair. Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati's highly regarded antitrust practice advises clients with respect to mergers and acquisitions, criminal and civil investigations by government agencies, antitrust litigation, and issues involving intellectual property, consumer protection, and privacy. The internationally recognized practice has been involved in several of the most important antitrust matters of the past decade and has obtained favorable antitrust outcomes for clients as diverse as Mylan, Google, Twitter, Live Nation, Netflix, Trulia, Seagate, Nuance, Coca-Cola, Glencore, The McClatchy Company, Brocade, Pixar, Micron, and Autodesk. About Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati For more than 50 years, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has offered a broad range of services and legal disciplines focused on serving the principal challenges faced by the management and boards of directors of business enterprises. The firm is nationally recognized as a leader in the fields of corporate governance and finance, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, securities litigation, employment law, intellectual property, and antitrust, among many other areas of law. With deep roots in Silicon Valley, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati has offices in Austin; Beijing; Boston; Brussels; Hong Kong; Los Angeles; New York; Palo Alto; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; Shanghai; Washington, D.C.; and Wilmington, DE. For more information, please visit www.wsgr.com. SOURCE Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Related Links http://www.wsgr.com CHICAGO, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- JBT Corporation (NYSE: JBT), a leading global technology solutions provider to high-value segments of the food & beverage industry, today announced plans to expand its executive team. "Given JBT's strategic focus on our FoodTech business, and the progress we have enjoyed, I believe we can best promote growth and advance our operational improvement programs by increasing our executive leadership capacity," said Tom Giacomini, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "With the promising opportunities in front of JBT, I am creating two leadership positions reporting directly to me for Protein and Liquid Foods." Effective immediately, Carlos Fernandez is promoted to the position of EVP and President - Liquid Foods. "Carlos has 21 years of experience with JBT and has done an outstanding job building our global Liquid Foods franchise since 2014," continued Giacomini. "He is a welcome addition to our executive team." The Company also is announcing that Steve Smith will serve as EVP and President - Protein and will retire in the second quarter of 2018. Steve's successor will be named prior to his retirement. "Steve is highly committed to continuing his exceptional leadership and successfully transitioning his role," added Giacomini. "I am very much looking forward to the benefits this leadership structure will bring to JBT." JBT Corporation (NYSE: JBT) is a leading global technology solutions provider to high-value segments of the food & beverage industry with focus on proteins, liquid foods and automated system solutions. JBT designs, produces and services sophisticated products and systems for multi-national and regional customers through its FoodTech segment. JBT also sells critical equipment and services to domestic and international air transportation customers through its AeroTech segment. JBT Corporation employs approximately 5,700 people worldwide and operates sales, service, manufacturing and sourcing operations in more than 25 countries. For more information, please visit www.jbtc.com. This release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are information of a non-historical nature and are subject to risks and uncertainties that are beyond the Company's ability to control. These risks and uncertainties are described under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission that may be accessed on the Company's website. The Company cautions shareholders and prospective investors that actual results may differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements. Investors & Media: Jeff Scipta, +1 312 861 5930 SOURCE JBT Corporation Related Links http://www.jbtc.com IRVINE, Calif. and SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- JetSuiteX announced today that it will jet between private terminals at Burbank's Bob Hope Hollywood Airport and San Jose International Airport, with 12 flights a week starting September 12, 2017. Whether you're traveling to a Silicon Valley meeting or a Hollywood lunch, you'll get there faster aboard JetSuiteX. "We created JetSuiteX with people who fly this route in mind those time-starved travelers who want to get to and from meetings or events in Silicon Valley or Hollywood and still make it home in time for dinner," said Alex Wilcox, founder and CEO of JetSuiteX. "Our customers get to arrive refreshed when they skip things like arriving up to two hours before an hour-long flight, getting herded through lines or feeling the discomfort of boarding a plane with 100 other people." South San Francisco Bay and Silicon Valley natives and visitors now have a quick, easy and remarkably comfortable way to travel between San Jose and the LA area. Operating in and out of private hangars and terminals, JetSuiteX combines the benefits of the private ground experience arriving just 20-30 minutes before departure and avoiding lines, waiting, cattle calls and baggage carousels with the scheduled service, affordable price and by-the-seat booking of commercial air travel. JetSuiteX previously flew this route seasonally but has re-established the corridor with twice daily round-trips every day except Saturday. Weekday flights will depart Burbank at 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., and will leave San Jose at 8:40 a.m. and 6:40 p.m., most days; the afternoon flight is earlier on Fridays. Sunday flights will run northbound at 2:40 p.m. and return to Burbank at 5:40 p.m. Tickets start at $129 each way, including up to two pieces of baggage (up to 50lbs total weight), business class leg room and complimentary cocktails and snacks. About JetSuiteX JetSuiteX began offering public charter service in April 2016 with regular flights between select West Coast markets. JetSuiteX provides the speed and comfort associated with private jet travel but for the price of a traditional airline seat, including: Flight departures from private jet terminals so the experience is faster and more comfortable, with no airport terminal delays, security lines, waiting for gates or long walks through terminals; 30 seat regional jets, each with legroom comparable to domestic airlines' business class service; Free seat assignments; A spacious, soundproofed cabin interior covered in soft leather, and Free drinks and snacks. JetSuiteX's luxuriously appointed E-135 jets can also be chartered for group trips, corporate events or other travel. For a custom quote, contact JetSuiteX at 800-IFlyJSX. For information, please visit www.JetSuiteX.com. SOURCE JetSuiteX Related Links www.JetSuiteX.com CINCINNATI, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Johnson Investment Counsel announced today it has acquired Magis Wealth Planning, a Cleveland-based firm offering wealth planning services, tax planning, and investment counsel. The acquisition continues the firm's strategy of expanding throughout Ohio to better serve its growing client base. "This represents a significant milestone for our company," said Jason Jackman, President, Johnson Investment Counsel. "Expanding into the Cleveland market gives us a significant presence across Ohio and a solid base to serve clients across the country. We are excited to build on the great firm Tony and Joe have established." Magis founders Tony Kure and Joe Radigan are now employees of Johnson Investment Counsel and will continue to serve clients out of the firm's Brecksville office. Magis is a great fit for Johnson because the firms share a passion for personal, professional and dedicated client service. "We are excited to join one of the preeminent independent fee-only firms in the country. Our principles are aligned around a commitment to the highest level of integrity and service, and we believe that our clients will benefit from the added depth and breadth of resources," said Tony Kure. Johnson Investment Counsel was built on a vision of improving the quality of people's lives, which remains its guiding principle today, more than 50 years later. The company was ranked 1st in Ohio according to the "2017 Largest Fee Only RIAs" survey published by InvestmentNews.com.1 The firm was also ranked 12th on Barron's list of the top independent wealth advisory firms in the country in 2016.2 About Johnson Investment Counsel Headquartered in Cincinnati with offices across Ohio, Johnson Investment Counsel serves clients in 46 states. The firm manages more than $9 billion in assets. Through Johnson Private Client Group, Johnson Trust Company, and Johnson Institutional Management, the firm serves individuals, corporations, retirement plans, foundations, and endowments. Johnson Investment Counsel is a 100 percent employee-owned company with 32 shareholders among 114 employees. Its professionals are dedicated to developing genuine relationships with clients and delivering exceptional service. Johnson Investment Counsel is committed to remaining an independent firm acting in the best interest of clients and employees. Johnson Investment Counsel has five offices across Ohio with two in Cincinnati, and one in each city Cleveland, Columbus, and Dayton. For more information on locations and services, visit http://johnsoninv.com SOURCE Johnson Investment Counsel Related Links http://johnsoninv.com CLEVELAND, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- KeyBank today announced it formalized a National Advisory Council as part of its $16.5 billion National Community Benefits Plan. The council, which includes a diverse group of community leaders from across KeyBank's markets, will help oversee KeyBank's plans to provide transformational and meaningful community investment. Launched earlier this year, KeyBank's five-year National Community Benefits plan is focused on supporting people and neighborhoods by providing safe and decent affordable housing, small business and farm lending, mortgage lending to low-to-moderate income communities, and philanthropy. Detailed information about KeyBank's National Community Benefits Plan can be found at: https://www.key.com/about/promotions/cb-plan.jsp. The plan was developed in partnership with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) and included input from over 80 community organizations across the 15 states served by KeyBank. Several of these organizations and members of NCRC will be part of the National Advisory Council. "The National Community Benefits plan embodies and amplifies KeyBank's purpose to help clients and communities thrive," said Beth Mooney, Chairman and CEO, KeyCorp. "We believe in the power of partnership and accountability as we carry out this mission. The National Advisory Council will ensure that we have both as we move forward." "KeyBank's commitment raised the bar," said John Taylor, President & CEO of NCRC. "Leadership matters, and when it mattered most Beth Mooney and her team stepped up and delivered for communities. We look forward to a meaningful partnership of mutual accountability as we work together to build stronger communities." The National Advisory Council, whose members will serve in a voluntary capacity, will meet at least twice a year to: assess KeyBank's progress against the goals of the National Community Benefits Plan; provide insight and counsel on products and services; and, remain informed about KeyBank's strategies around community investment. The first meeting of the national council was held on August 3, 2017, in Cleveland, Ohio. Additionally, KeyBank has also formed regional advisory committees in: Buffalo, NY; Albany, NY; and the Great Lakes Region (including Ohio, Indiana and Michigan). The regional councils held their first meetings during the week of August 7. Members of the KeyBank National Advisory Council are: Laura Buxbaum SVP Coastal Enterprises Inc. Wiscasset, ME Daryl Carter President and CEO Avanath Capital Management Irvine, CA Mahnaz Eshetu Executive Director Refugee Women's Alliance Seattle, WA Presley Gillespie President Neighborhood Allies Pittsburgh, PA Peter Hainley Executive Director Community and Shelter Assistance Corp. Sherwood, OR Shannon Isom President & CEO YWCA of Dayton Dayton, Ohio Maurice Jones President & CEO Local Initiative Support Corporation New York, NY Thomas Keily Consumer Education & Data Coordinator Western New York Law Center Buffalo, NY Ray Leach CEO Jumpstart Cleveland, OH Monique Lovato CEO/Executive Director Mi Casa Resource Center Denver, CO Terri Ludwig President & CEO Enterprise Community Partners New York, NY Linda MacFarlane Executive Director Community Loan Fund of the Capital Region Albany, NY Ruhi Maker Senior Attorney Empire Justice Center Rochester, NY India Pierce Lee SVP Cleveland Foundation Cleveland, OH Michael Pires Interim Executive Director Neighborhood Housing Services of Greater Cleveland Cleveland, OH Felicia Tripp Deputy Director Portland Housing Center Portland, OR Hubert Van Tol Senior Director PathStone Rochester, NY Jesse Van Tol Chief Operating Officer National Community Reinvestment Coalition Washington, DC "We could not be more pleased that such an impressive group of community leaders will be part of our National Advisory Council," said Bruce Murphy, Head of Corporate Responsibility, KeyBank. "The depth of high-quality individuals committed to this effort speaks to the importance of community reinvestment in the banking industry. It also underscores how we approach our work in the right way, through community partnership and accountability." For more information about how KeyBank helps clients and communities thrive, please see the 2016 Corporate Responsibility Report at: https://www.key.com/about/community/2016-csr-report.jsp. About KeyCorp KeyCorp was organized more than 190 years ago and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. One of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, Key has assets of approximately $135.8 billion at June 30, 2017, 2017. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management and investment services to individuals and small businesses in 15 states under the name of KeyBank N.A. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC. SOURCE KeyCorp Related Links http://www.key.com The $25 million expansion at the Winchester plant is a part of Kingspan's growth strategy for the North American market. The new XPS insulation line doubles the plant's manufacturing capacity of its GreenGuard insulation product range, and will allow Kingspan Insulation to continue to service current customers and expand into new products and market segments. Kingspan Insulation also announced the purchase of an additional 7.3 acres of land adjacent to the current plant location, a $1.1 million investment. "We would like to recognize the commitment and support we have received from the State of Virginia, Governor McAuliffe and his team, the Frederick County Board of Supervisors and the Frederick County Economic Development Authority. With the support of the state and local governing authorities, this significant investment in Kingspan Insulation has created advancement opportunities for our current employees as well as new jobs," said Ryan Sullivan, Managing Director of Kingspan Insulation North America. "I would also like to thank our staff for their time, energy and dedication to making the new XPS manufacturing line a reality. You have made a significant contribution to the company and to your community." The Winchester plant was originally built in 1980, and has been through several expansions. In 2016, 74% of the total energy used in the Winchester plant came from renewable resources. In addition to economic and community development, Kingspan aims to be a sustainable business and announced earlier this year that its goal is to achieve net zero energy by 2020 in all its locations. For more information visit www.kingspaninsulation.us Kingspan Insulation LLC, headquartered in Atlanta, GA, is a leading manufacturer in energy efficiency and moisture management products, offering high-performance insulation, building wraps and pre-insulated HVAC ductwork. Kingspan Insulation LLC is part of the Kingspan Group plc., one of Europe's leading construction product manufacturers. The Kingspan Group was formed in the late 1960s and is a publicly traded group of companies headquartered in Kingscourt, County Cavan, Ireland. Kingspan Group has manufacturing, distribution and commercial operations throughout Europe, North America, Australasia, the Middle East and other locations across the globe. https://twitter.com/KingspanIns_US www.facebook.com/KingspanInsulationUS www.linkedin.com/company/kingspan-insulation-us SOURCE Kingspan Insulation LLC Related Links http://www.kingspaninsulation.us The Defence Ministry has told the Indian Air Force and the Indian Navy to complete installation of three-layer perimeter fences around their air bases before the deadline that was set by the forces. Air force and navy will be providing three-layer perimeter fencing security to around 29 air bases (Picture for representation) By Ajit Kumar Dubey: Seeking to prevent another Pathankot-type attack, the defence ministry has asked the navy and the air force to hasten and complete the three-layer perimeter fencing around their air bases before the timeframe set by them. In the aftermath of the January 1, 2016 attack on Pathankot air base, the defence ministry had cleared a proposal for the navy and the air force to immediately provide a three-layer security system around their bases housing high value assets such as fighter and transport aircraft. advertisement "During a recent presentation to the ministry, the navy had given a timeframe of 2019 but the ministry was of the view that the project should be completed at an earlier date to cut down the possibility of terrorists attempting any such attack in the future," government sources told Mail Today. Under the project, the air force and navy would be providing perimeter fencing security to around 29 of their air bases, including 23 of the IAF and remaining of the navy. The IAF is set to release the tender for the project by next month and expects to complete the work by the end of next year. To empower the services in completing their base security projects, the defence ministry has also delegated substantial financial powers to the armed forces for undertaking works for perimeter security of sensitive military installations. As per the decision taken by the ministry, each of the three services vice chiefs will be able to spend at least Rs 800 crore annually in strengthening perimeter security at the sensitive bases. A total of 3,000 sensitive bases, including 600 highly sensitive installations of the army, the navy and the air force were identified by the forces months after the daring attack on Pathankot air base last year. Among the military installations, air bases have been given priority in strengthening air base security which would be followed by the other sensitive bases of the three services. A security audit of defence bases was carried out on the recommendation of a committee headed by retired Lt Gen Philip Campose which was set up after the terror attack on the forward Pathankot air force base last year. ALSO READ | Indian Army moves 1,000 crore proposal for securing the bases to the government after Uri and Nagrota attack ALSO READ | Exclusive: Indian Air Force raising combat force to guard airbases ALSO WATCH | Sky Guardians Of Tomorrow: India Today flies the LCA Tejas --- ENDS --- AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Coffee truck powerhouse Lucky Lab Coffee Co. announces the soft opening of their first bricks & mortar in Austin, Texas. The cafe has opened up at 2421 San Antonio St., next door to their to the previous home of their coffee trailer in Urban Outfitters' concept space, Space 24 Twenty. The cafe boasts an inside seating bar, spacious patio seating, a walk-up ordering window, and a full kitchen where Lucky Lab will produce its full suite of from-scratch syrups, pastries, and grab-and-go food items. Lucky Lab Ethos Lucky Lab founders, Brian and Courtney Hutton It's a natural evolution of their three-year-old mobile coffee business that boasts a coffee truck, trailer, mobile bars, and a permanent location downtown in the newly renovated Perry Brooks Building. "We want to provide a superior coffee experience with a Southern twist," said Courtney Hutton, owner and co-founder of Lucky Lab Coffee Co. "We already serve one of the best cups of coffee in Austin," said owner and co-founder, Ron Lunan. "But our focus with the new space is to complete our vision to offer Austinites the best coffee experience in the country." The space is located on the Drag across the street from the University of Texas in Urban Outfitters' "Lifestyle Concept" space, along with Austin staple Frank, who will be opening their newest location in the space this summer. Media contact: Ron Lunan (509) 939-6066 SOURCE Lucky Lab Coffee Co. RENO, Nevada, August 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Magellan Gold Corporation (OTCQB: MAGE) ('Magellan' or 'the Company') is pleased to announce it has arranged $900,000 in irrevocable bridge loans in support of its option to purchase the SDA Mill located in the State of Nayarit, Mexico, from Rose Petroleum plc (AIM: ROSE) ('Rose'). The bridge loans are sufficient to complete the cash component of the purchase price and have the effect of extending the purchase option until closing of the transaction. As announced on August 1, 2017, in order to extend the option, the Company had the obligation to secure the bridge loans on or before August 15, 2017. Total consideration for the the purchase is US $1.5 million, consisting of $1.0 million in cash and $500,000 in Magellan stock, of which $100,000 in cash already has been paid. "We are very pleased to have arranged the $900,000 in bridge loans, which greatly enhances the probability of a successful closing", stated Pierce Carson, CEO. "Our strategy following closing will be to resume processing operations, build production and increase cash flow. "A key objective will be to secure high-grade feed sources," Carson continued. "The mill lies within the rich Sierra Madre Occidental mineralized belt, which historically has yielded millions of ounces of precious metals and offers multiple high-grade gold and silver epithermal vein opportunities." In order to extend the purchase option, Magellan also agreed to reimburse Rose for mill employee and maintenance costs of approximately $25,000 per month for August and September 2017. The August payment has been made, and the September payment is due by September 1, 2017. Closing of the transaction is subject to satisfaction of a number of conditions, the most important of which include legal restructuring of Mexican ownership of the SDA Mill, Rose's shareholder approval, and completion of the final definitive agreement. The parties are targeting closing to occur in October 2017, however there can be no assurance that the purchase of the mill will be completed. The SDA Mill is a fully operational flotation plant that also includes a precious metals leach circuit and associated assets, licenses and agreements. The mill has the capacity to process ore at a rate of up to 200 tons per day. The mill has a ten-year operating history. Its normal operation is based on sales of flotation concentrates to smelters, and payment for precious metals content. Milling activity currently is on hold pending the completion of the purchase transaction. About Magellan Gold Corporation Magellan Gold Corporation (OTCQB: MAGE) is a U.S. public enterprise focused on the exploration and development of precious metals. The Company has obtained an option to acquire the SDA flotation plant in the State of Nayarit, Mexico, and controls two precious metals exploration properties located in Arizona and in Peru. The 100% owned Silver District Property in southwest Arizona comprises over 2,000 acres covering the heart of the historic Silver District. The property contains a near-surface historical drilled resource of 16 million ounces of silver and exhibits exploration promise for significant expansion. The Ninobamba Silver-Gold Property in central Peru, on which the Company has the right to earn a 50% interest, covers 9,027 acres and demonstrates potential for a large, bulk tonnage, silver-gold deposit. To learn more about Magellan Gold Corporation, visit http://www.magellangoldcorp.com. Cautionary Statement The United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can legally extract or produce. Under SEC Industry Guide 7 standards, a "final" or "bankable" feasibility study is required to report reserves. Currently we have not delineated "reserves" on any of our properties. We cannot be certain that any deposits at our properties will ever be confirmed or converted into SEC Industry Guide 7 compliant "reserves." Investors are cautioned not to assume that all or any part of any "resource" estimates will ever be confirmed or converted into reserves or that they can be economically or legally extracted. Forward Looking Statements This release contains "forward-looking statements." Such statements are based on good faith assumptions that Magellan Gold Corporation believes are reasonable but which are subject to a wide range of uncertainties and business risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ from those anticipated are discussed in Magellan Gold Corporation's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Contacts: Magellan Gold Corporation Pierce Carson - (505)463-9223 John Power - (707)884-3766 SOURCE Magellan Gold Corporation TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dhanani Group, a major Burger King and Popeyes franchisee, has signed on with SiteZeus to take advantage of the most cutting-edge site selection and retail optimization tools the industry has to offer. Texas-based franchise operator The Dhanani Group owns over 500 Burger King and 170 Popeyes locations in Texas, New England, Chicago and Minneapolis. No stranger to restaurant success, the company is the latest of fast-food and QSR chains to look to SiteZeus for data management, analysis and insight for a safer, more confident expansion process. SiteZeus, the leading SaaS location intelligence platform, specializes in powerful data visualization and site selection technology. With an accessible cloud based subscription backed by a powerful and expansive data set, SiteZeus offers clients unparalleled confidence in tackling the risky location-based challenges restaurant owners and operators face constantly. "We have a lot to learn from The Dhanani Group as a best-in-class operator. During the last 25 years, they've built one of the largest independent franchise operations in the country and our team is looking forward to being part of their journey for the next 25 years of growth," Keenan Baldwin, Co-CEO and Co-Founder of SiteZeus said. "We are thrilled to be taking advantage of SiteZeus' cutting-edge platform. As a high-volume restaurant operator, it's important that we continue to look for the best tools and technologies on the market, and it's clear that SiteZeus is the leader when it comes to big data and location intelligence," Shoukat Dhanani, CEO of The Dhanani Group said. As the retail industry continues to evolve, operators are facing increasing pressure specific to location based decisions. More and more, retailers are turning to SiteZeus to facilitate and augment strategy and technology. For more information, visit https://sitezeus.com . About SiteZeus SiteZeus is the leading SaaS cloud-based location intelligence technology platform available, building higher intelligence around location based decisions by pioneering the use of first-hand machine learning and artificial intelligence. Combining your expertise, the power of big data, and a data agnostic database architecture, with a truly unique and interactive user experience, SiteZeus allows individuals and organizations to mitigate risk, discover efficiencies, and interpret actionable insight from technology that analyzes more data points than humanly possible. For more information, visit www.sitezeus.com . About Dhanani Group Since beginning in the gas and convenience store business in 1976, The Dhanani Group has grown to become one of the country's largest franchisees for Burger King Corp. and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc. Shoukat Dhanani, Founder and CEO, believes that a hands-on approach in operations is the key to growth and success. The group began franchising Burger King locations in 1994 and has continued to acquire more, now with over 800 locations of various restaurant chains. SOURCE SiteZeus Related Links http://www.sitezeus.com RAANANA, Israel and STAMFORD, Conn., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- MedAware, a provider of algorithm-rich solutions for the detection and elimination of prescription errors, today announced that the company has raised $8 million in Series A funding. Investors participating in the round included BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company), Gefen Capital, OurCrowd and Yingcheng City Fubon Technology Co. In addition, MedAware has received grants from Israel's Innovation Authority and the BIRD Foundation, as well as from the European Commission as part of its Horizon2020 program, bringing the company's total funding raised to date to $12 million. The capital will be used to advance the company's unique approach to identifying the most consequential medication mistakes, thus improving patient safety and saving lives. Nearly eight million people in the United States alone are exposed to serious and preventable prescription errors on an annual basis. MedAware is dedicated to eradicating such catastrophic errors by leveraging its patented software to perform a real-time evaluation of a prescribed drug against a specific and up-to-date patient profile. The company's advanced machine-learning algorithms mine data gathered from millions of EMRs to detect outliers in prescription behavior that could potentially be fatal and immediately flag them as life threatening. "OurCrowd is proud to be investing again in MedAware, a company whose product is changing the way that medicine is prescribed," said Jon Medved, CEO of OurCrowd. "The ability to ensure that prescriptions will heal rather than harm by utilizing machine learning and big data analysis, is about as good as it gets in impact investing. It gives me goosebumps to realize that by investing in this revolutionary company we will indeed save lives." "This collaboration with MedAware exemplifies BD's commitment of advancing the world of health by working towards a common goal of creating innovative solutions that may help clinicians deliver safer and more efficient care," said David Icke, vice president and general manager of Digital Health for BD. "By combining the MedAware solution into BD's portfolio of medication and surveillance solutions, we have the unique opportunity to identify and help prevent medication errors from prescription through administration." MedAware intends to use the Series A funding to enhance its offering, including developing additional machine learning-enabled decision support solutions as well as making ongoing product enhancements to cover more catastrophic types of errors. Further establishing the company's North American footprint as well as expanding its number of EMR integrations in the United States are also top corporate priorities for the remainder of 2017. "MedAware was purpose built around our commitment to patient safety," said Gidi Stein, CEO of MedAware. "Every catastrophic error we identify is a patient saved. Through this round of Series A funding we will be able to build on the successes we've achieved to date and scale our approach to protect physicians and their patients all over the world." The company has already demonstrated considerable success in the United States over the past year, opening its new North American headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut and earning validation for its solution from a recent Harvard Medical School research study. MedAware has also generated positive results from a live implementation at The Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, a 2,000-bed university-affiliated tertiary referral hospital in Israel. In addition, the company has numerous EMR integrations already underway. About MedAware Each year, hundreds of thousands of Americans are injured or fatally harmed by adverse drug events (ADEs) and erroneous prescriptions. MedAware's medication surveillance technology identifies ADEs and eradicates catastrophic medication errors by applying advanced machine-learning algorithms, and outlier detection mechanisms similar to fraud detection solutions in use by financial institutions worldwide. By continuously mining data gathered via millions of electronic health records, the software is able to accurately flag potentially life-threatening prescriptions that are in conflict with the profile of the patient, physician, or institution. In addition, MedAware actively monitors each patient to identify and warn of situations in which changes in a patient's diagnostic results renders one of his/her active medications a dangerous outlier. These difficult or nearly impossible to anticipate errors would otherwise go undetected by current rule-based solutions. The company's unique, real-time approach to identifying ADEs and preventing medication errors saves lives, improves patient safety and outcomes, and significantly reduces avoidable risks and costs. For more information, please visit www.medaware.com. Media Contact: Jessy Green 401-490-9700 [email protected] SOURCE MedAware Related Links http://www.medaware.com WILSONVILLE, Ore., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Mentor, a Siemens business, today announced its call for entries for its first annual FloTHERM Delta TJ Award for Excellence in Electronics Thermal Design. The FloTHERM solution has been, for over 30 years, the de facto computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tool for electronics cooling, used to predict airflow, temperature, and heat transfer in components, boards, and complete systems, including racks and data centers. Used by thousands of engineers across the globe, the FloTHERM product offers tight connectivity with both electronic design automation (EDA) and mechanical design automation (MDA) development process flows. Award entrants must demonstrate an application using the FloTHERM technology (which may include FloTHERM XT, FloTHERM PCB, and FloTHERM IC) to address a design problem. Deadline for submission is August 25, 2017. FloTHERM Delta TJ Award Criteria A panel of judges will evaluate all entries based on the following criteria: Work demonstrates clear application of FloTHERM products to a design problem. Work is in the public domain and disseminated to the public within 12 months of the nomination deadline. Pragmatic approach taken in the application. Work and return on investment (ROI) improvement due to quantifiable use of CFD technology. Entrant must have authority and/or permission from their organization to apply. Entries must be submitted in full and include all supporting materials: published papers, conference papers, PowerPoint presentations, website content, animations, videos etc. may be submitted as the entry. Deadline is August 25, 2017 via the registration portal: https://www.mentor.com/products/mechanical/awards-publications/flotherm-award The winners (first place and two runners up) of the inaugural FloTHERM Award will be announced in September and will receive an engraved trophy. The first place winner will also receive a $1,000 (USD) Amazon gift voucher, and the two runners up will each receive $500 Amazon gift vouchers. If the winners are unable to accept the Amazon gift vouchers, a donation of equal value to a charity of their choice will be made in their name. The award winners will also be mentioned in a press release and featured in Mentor presentations, Engineering Edge Magazine, and other industry publications. "Our award-winning FloTHERM products have been used by leading companies worldwide to address their electronics cooling challenges," said Roland Feldhinkel, general manager of the Mentor Mechanical Analysis Division. "This annual award will demonstrate and honor how our customers successfully apply the FloTHERM technology to develop advanced and innovative electronics products." Contact for journalists Larry Toda Phone: 503-685-1664; E-mail: [email protected] Mentor Graphics Corporation, a Siemens business, is a world leader in electronic hardware and software design solutions, providing products, consulting services, and award-winning support for the world's most successful electronic, semiconductor, and systems companies. Corporate headquarters are located at 8005 S.W. Boeckman Road, Wilsonville, Oregon 97070-7777. Web site: http://www.mentor.com. Mentor Graphics, Mentor and FloTHERM are registered trademarks of Mentor Graphics Corporation. All other company or product names are the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owner. SOURCE Mentor Graphics Related Links http://www.mentor.com NEW YORK, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Mesothelioma Compensation Center says, "We are one of the only groups in the nation that specializes in assisting electrical and public utility workers who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma. What we want is to see to it that these types of workers get the best possible financial compensation. Asbestos Warning Sign Electrical Worker-Utility "As we would like to discuss with an electrical worker or public utility worker who has been diagnosed with mesothelioma-a phone call to 800-714-0303 will help ensure the attorney you hire to assist with your mesothelioma compensation understands the inner workings of an electrical or public utility workplace." http://MesotheliomaCompensationCenter.Com The types of electrical workers or public utility workers with mesothelioma the Mesothelioma Compensation Center is focused on include: An outside lineman An electrician An inside wireman A cable jointer A water works maintenance crewman A boiler technician A wastewater treatment maintenance crewman A plumber A millwright A steamfitter A pipefitter An insulator "Before an electrical worker or a public utility worker with mesothelioma hires an attorney to assist with a mesothelioma compensation claim, please call us at 800-714-0303 for on-the-spot access to some of the nation's most skilled mesothelioma compensation attorneys. Don't waste your time with anything less than the most skilled attorneys if you value your once in a lifetime claim." http://MesotheliomaCompensationCenter.Com For a listing of all public utility districts in the United States please review the following website: http://www.utilityconnection.com/page2e.asp. The average age for a diagnosed victim of mesothelioma is 72 years old. This year between 2500 and 3000 US citizens will be diagnosed with mesothelioma. The Mesothelioma Compensation Center says, "Based on our experience frequently mesothelioma is initially misdiagnosed as pneumonia." The Mesothelioma Compensation Center specializes in assisting specific types of people who have been diagnosed with mesothelioma. These people include the US Navy Veterans, oil refinery workers, power plant workers, nuclear power plant workers, public utility workers, hydro-electric workers, chemical plant workers, plumbers, electricians, pipefitters, millwrights, welders, or oil and gas field workers. In most instances, these people were exposed to asbestos in the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, or 1980s. http://MesotheliomaCompensationCenter.Com According to the CDC, the states indicated with the highest incidence of mesothelioma include Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Louisiana, Washington, and Oregon. However, a public utility or electrical worker with mesothelioma could live in any state including California, New York, Florida, Texas, Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, Indiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, Georgia, Nebraska, North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, or Alaska. The Mesothelioma Compensation Center says, "If you call us at 800-714-0303, we will see to it that you have instant and direct access to the nation's most experienced, and skilled mesothelioma attorneys who typically obtain the best possible financial compensation settlements for their clients." http://MesotheliomaCompensationCenter.Com For more information about mesothelioma please refer to the National Institutes of Health's web site related to this rare form of cancer: https://www.cancer.gov/types/mesothelioma. Media Contact: Michael Thomas [email protected] 800-714-0303 SOURCE Mesothelioma Compensation Center Related Links http://MesotheliomaCompensationCenter.Com DURHAM, N.C., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- MGT Capital Investments, Inc. (OTC: MGTI) announced today a corporate restructuring designed to better compete and align resources in the fast-growing Cryptocurrency and Cybersecurity fields. In conjunction with this reorganization, the Company has appointed Stephen Schaeffer as President of MGT Crypto-Capital Strategies. Under Mr. Schaeffer's oversight, the Company has been operating an institutional bitcoin mining platform for the past year. MGT is currently in the process of deploying additional hashing power at facilities in Washington state to bring production to 18.0 PH/s. In addition to his time with MGT, he traces his knowledge and experience to the early days of bitcoin. Mr. Schaeffer stated, "It is abundantly clear from our results that, efficiently executed, Bitcoin mining is very profitable. Having established MGT as a pre-eminent miner in North America, I look forward to leading our team as we execute our expansion to the next level across the full spectrum of crypto assets." John McAfee, currently MGT's Executive Chairman and CEO, has been appointed Chief Cybersecurity Visionary of MGT. In his new role, Mr. McAfee will continue to maximize his value to the Company as an industry thought leader and spokesman. Additionally, he will oversee the design and engineering of current and future cybersecurity platforms. Mr. McAfee stated, "I am back where I belong: Out of the weeds and focusing on the biggest issues facing the industry and the world. The true test of any leader is his ability to put the best people in the right jobs, and as a very large stakeholder in MGT, I am very confident in Steve's abilities to make us all money." The board of directors has further determined that Robert Ladd, President of the Company, will reassume the role of Chief Executive Officer, and that H. Robert Holmes, a long time independent director, will reassume the position of Chairman of the Board. With Mr. McAfee's direction, Mr. Ladd will also oversee the rollout of the Company's Sentinel product as well as the continued development of its Privacy Phone. Separately, the Company has applied with OTC Markets to uplist to its OTCQB tier. About MGT Capital Investments, Inc. With facilities in WA state, MGT Capital Investments, Inc. (OTC: MGTI) ranks as one of the largest U.S. based Bitcoin miners. Further, the Company continues to focus on an expansion model to grow its crypto assets materially. The Company is also developing a portfolio of cyber security technologies, with industry pioneer John McAfee as its visionary leader, creating advanced protection technologies for mobile and personal tech devices, as well as corporate networks. The Company's first product, Sentinel, an enterprise class network intrusion detector, is currently in beta testing, with commercial released anticipated by the end of September 2017. The Company also has entered into a joint venture with Nordic IT to develop and market a mobile phone with extensive privacy and anti-hacking features. The Privacy Phone has a tentative release date of February 2018. For more information on the Company, please visit: http://ir.stockpr.com/mgtci Forwardlooking Statements This press release contains forwardlooking statements. The words or phrases "would be," "will allow," "intends to," "will likely result," "are expected to," "will continue," "is anticipated," "estimate," "project," or similar expressions are intended to identify "forwardlooking statements." All information set forth in this news release, except historical and factual information, represents forwardlooking statements. This includes all statements about the Company's plans, beliefs, estimates and expectations. These statements are based on current estimates and projections, which involve certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include issues related to: rapidly changing technology and evolving standards in the industries in which the Company and its subsidiaries operate; the ability to obtain sufficient funding to continue operations, maintain adequate cash flow, profitably exploit new business, license and sign new agreements; the unpredictable nature of consumer preferences; and other factors set forth in the Company's most recently filed annual report and registration statement. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forwardlooking statements, which reflect management's analysis only as of the date hereof. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forwardlooking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after the date hereof. Readers should carefully review the risks and uncertainties described in other documents that the Company files from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Investor and Media Contact Grace Livingston [email protected] 919.973.0954 SOURCE MGT Capital Investments, Inc. Related Links http://www.mgtci.com IRVINE, Calif., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Salus Homecare, a nationally accredited home care and home health agency, is constantly recruiting top-talent and growing their brand. Today, the company proudly welcomes Missie Ortiz to their team as Community Liaison for Salus Home Health Orange County. With more than 25 years of healthcare experience in Southern California, Missie has worked in various capacities including care management, home health aide, skilled nursing and sales and marketing. In her most recent role, she was responsible for building and retaining relationships within the community and creating open dialogue with professionals about the need for quality home health care. As a Community Liaison, Missie will implement successful marketing strategies that incorporate education and awareness campaigns. Her efforts will help professionals in the community better understand the benefits of working with a company that is at the forefront of providing coordinated home-based services for individuals returning home from the hospital or faced with chronic or acute medical diagnoses. "What attracted me to Salus Home Health was their family atmosphere," stated Ms Ortiz. "The company is focused on building relationships and takes pride in caring for both their employees and members of our community. I am honored to join this winning team and hope to use this opportunity to grow professionally and educate the community about the advantages of quality home health care. Further, my goal is to build relationships and impact change." Boad Swanson, President of Salus Homecare, said, "Missie Ortiz has long been an asset to the home health industry, and we are proud to bring her on board with Salus. Throughout her impressive career, she has worked across the continuum of elder care and health care services. This gives her great insight into the needs of some of the most vulnerable members of our community. In sharing this knowledge with others, she will not only help build our brand but provide us with information about how to rise to the challenges facing members of our community so we can best meet their needs." About Salus: Salus Homecare is a professional team of homecare and home health providers serving Southern California, Colorado and Utah. With the Gold Seal of Approval from the prestigious Joint Commission, Salus is committed to providing the highest quality care across the continuum. To discuss the needs of your family, contact them at 888-725-8742. Media Contact: Boad Swanson, [email protected] SOURCE Salus Homecare Related Links https://www.salushomecare.com "Getting set up to accept AnyWhereMobile at our Sunoco stations was extremely easy," said Suzanne Swanson, Controller at the Bukoski Agency. "We got all four of our stations set up on the same day with a simple configuration update to our Verifone Commander Site Controller. The AnyWhereMobile payment tender fit right into our existing POS system without needing to buy any additional hardware. Everything works seamlessly end to end allowing us to offer the convenience of mobile payments with the added benefit of lowering our cost of payment acceptance." According to Tim Ferrio, VP of eServices at Team One Credit Union, "The merchants in our community are excited to have a simple, cost-effective mobile payment option that is issued and marketed by a trusted local financial institution. With AnyWhereMobile as the payment rail, we're building a new end-to-end mobile payment ecosystem in our local communities that is flexible and interoperable with our Jack Henry Symitar Core Banking System, our ACH processor and our local merchants. We are excited to offer a mobile payment service that can easily be accepted by any of the local merchants in our community and provide a faster and safer payment experience at a much lower cost than the legacy payment networks." About mSHIFT mSHIFT has led innovation with a proven history of millions of secure financial transactions enabled by mSHIFT technology over the past 18 years, including the development and deployment of the first mobile banking platform in the United States. mSHIFT's most recent innovation is AnyWhereMobile, a patented real-time and open-loop mobile payment network with complete end-to-end interoperability with core banking systems, POS Systems, ACH networks and smartphone apps, which benefits customers, merchants and financial institutions while lowering the cost of P2P, payment acceptance for both brick and mortar and online commerce with no additional costs or chargebacks. AnyWhereMobile API's can be integrated into mobile banking applications, social media apps, merchants' online website and merchants' mobile apps. mshift.com | anywheremobile.com SOURCE mSHIFT, Inc. Related Links http://mshift.com ATLANTA, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today's obstetricians and gynecologists (OB/GYNs) face a challenge in gaining all the training and expertise they need in the area of infectious diseases, including sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Now, thanks to a grant from the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ABOG), there is a new fellowship that aims to help OB/GYN scientists become experts in STD/HIV prevention. The ABOG/CDC Larry Gilstrap MD Fellowship is a three-year program that will competitively select three OB/GYN physicians to work at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for one year. The fellowship program provides OB/GYNs with training opportunities in infectious and sexually transmitted diseases in women and in pregnancy. The fellow is assigned within CDC's Division of Sexually Transmitted Disease Prevention and collaborates with CDC's Division of Reproductive Health. "Working hand-in-hand with CDC over the course of a year, fellows will gain invaluable experience that ultimately will have a positive impact on their service to women and to the fields of public health and obstetrics and gynecology," said Dr. Judith Monroe, president and CEO of the CDC Foundation. "We are extremely grateful to ABOG for this innovative gift to advance expertise in infectious and sexually transmitted diseases." This fellowship honors Dr. Larry C. Gilstrap III's legacy as executive director of ABOG and recognizes his profound impact and influence on the health of women and children. The goal of the fellowship is to provide a unique public health training experience for OB/GYN scientists who, upon completion, can be appointed to universities, or federal, state or local public health agencies with a focus on maternal and child health and STD/HIV prevention programs. The first Larry Gilstrap fellow, Shivika Trivedi, MD, MSc, began her CDC assignment in July 2017. Dr. Trivedi holds an MD from the Emory University School of Medicine and an MSc in Physiology and Biophysics from Georgetown University. Dr. Trivedi has received numerous awards and honors, including Excellence in Obstetrics from the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine. She has held several leadership and teaching roles throughout her studies. "On behalf of ABOG, I'd like to congratulate Dr. Trivedi on being selected for this fellowship. Her list of achievements, including her teaching experience, global health activities, and numerous honors and awards make her an excellent choice for this opportunity. Given her high level of competency and acumen in our specialty, she will no doubt make an impactful contribution to CDC in the area of infectious diseases in women and in pregnancy," said Dr. George Wendel, executive director of ABOG. ABOG is an independent, nonprofit organization that certifies obstetricians and gynecologists in the United States. Founded in 1930, ABOG is one of 24 specialty Boards recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties. Based in Dallas, ABOG is the certifying body for 45,000 diplomates in the United States and Canada. About the CDC Foundation The CDC Foundation helps the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) save and improve lives by unleashing the power of collaboration between CDC, philanthropies, corporations, organizations and individuals to protect the health, safety and security of America and the world. The CDC Foundation is the sole entity authorized by Congress to mobilize philanthropic partners and private-sector resources to support CDC's critical health protection mission. Since 1995, the CDC Foundation has launched nearly 1,000 programs and raised over $700 million. The CDC Foundation manages over 250 CDC-led programs in the United States and in more than 100 countries. For more information, visit https://www.cdcfoundation.org. Follow the Foundation on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram. SOURCE CDC Foundation Related Links http://www.cdcfoundation.org By PTI: Faridabad Gurugram, Aug 16 (PTI) Haryanas first Integrated Solid Waste Management Project will be set up for Gurugram and Faridabad, a spokesperson said today. In order to generate energy from waste, a plant would be set up under this project, which would generate at least 100 MW of electricity daily, he said. It will be set up in collaboration with the Urban Local Bodies Department, municipal corporations of Gurugram, Faridabad, and Eco Green Energy Private Limited, to dispose of the solid waste in the two districts, the spokesperson said. advertisement He said the project, costing Rs 430 crore, would be one of the largest projects of its kind in India. It would aim at providing clean energy through scientific processing and disposal of solid waste in Gururgram and Faridabad, the spokesperson said. Under the project, segregation would be done for waste collected from houses at different points. The waste collected from houses and streets would be processed at the site in Bandhwari village, the spokesperson said. Besides, the project includes setting up of a modern compost processing unit, biogas and an RDF unit. It would be designed and developed in compliance with the Municipal Solid Waste Management Rule-2016 notified by the Ministry of Environment and Forests and other rules and instructions of the National Green Tribunal, he said. E-rickshaws would be used for door-to-door collection. Besides, a grievance redressal system would also be established, the spokesperson said. Every day, 1,400 tonnes of solid waste is produced in Gururgram and Faridabad. Under the project, door-to-door garbage collection would startwithin four monthsand the whole city would be covered in the next one month. Through the Swachh Bharat Mission a one-time grant of Rs 75 crore would be spent on setting up a plant to generate energy from waste, he said. For implementation of the project, the assistance of residents of Gururgram, Faridabad and Bandhwari, workers of solid waste management and non-government organizations would be sought, the spokesperson added. PTI CHS ANB --- ENDS --- NEW YORK, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- A compelling new report by the Tent Foundation and the Open Political Economy Network (OPEN) offers a toolkit for nations to unlock the enormous talent, motivation and potential of refugees by accelerating their entrance into the workforce. In "Step Up: How to Get Refugees Into Work Quickly," Tent and OPEN outline 16 key recommendations for governments, NGOs and businesses to improve existing integration efforts by allowing refugees the right to work, strengthening their skills, and providing job opportunities. With tools ranging from well-designed mentorship initiatives to digital job-matching mechanisms to effective language and training programs, these best practices will allow nations and communities around the world to reap the economic benefits that resettled, integrated and empowered refugees can bring. "We know that, over time, refugees make important economic contributions in the countries where they resettle. This report offers a menu of low-cost, common-sense investments that governments, NGOs, and the private sector can make to accelerate those economic dividends, and ensure that refugees become self-reliant, productive members of society," says Gideon Maltz, Executive Director of Tent. "Getting refugees into work is a top priority and this report highlights how much countries can learn from what works well elsewhere," says Philippe Legrain, founder of OPEN and author of the report. "Under the bold leadership of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Canada does best globally, while Europe is blazing a trail with apps and online platforms that help refugees to learn the local language, obtain training and find jobs. Businesses and organizations should seize the opportunities of recruiting hard-working and highly motivated refugees." Investing in refugees' economic integration can yield significant financial dividends. In fact, research by the Tent Foundation and OPEN from 2016 found that for every dollar or euro countries invest in welcoming refugees, their economies receive nearly twice that in economic benefits within five years. According to that study, refugees have the potential to drive economic growth, increase productivity and wages, and boost innovation, enterprise and international trade over time. Yet refugees face many challenges when settling in a new country and searching for work. The new report surveyed efforts in 22 countries with advanced economies and is an invaluable resource to all who are actively working to improve integration efforts and unlock the economic dividends of refugee communities. Highlights from the report's recommendations include: Assess skills and start job and language training as quickly as possible For refugees approved for resettlement, this could start in refugee camps, along with the cultural orientation classes that are often already provided. In Germany , the government has created an Ankommen (Arrival) app for newly arrived asylum seekers. Tailor language training to workplace needs Language training is crucial. In the EU, refugees with intermediate language skills are more than twice as likely to be employed than those at the beginner level or below. Pairing on-the-job language and skills training with part-time work, as Denmark does, is particularly effective. Create well-designed refugee mentorship programs These connect refugees with mentors who can broaden their networks, help them find jobs and establish personal goals, and navigate their way as they integrate into a new country. In the UK, employment among mentees in the Time Together program rose from 5% at the beginning to nearly 50% by its conclusion. Offer apprenticeships and internships that provide valuable training and local work experience Studies show that apprenticeships, which combine vocational learning with practical job experience, are particularly effective at getting young people into work. In Germany , Wir Zusammen (We Together), a coalition of more than 190 businesses, has provided internships for 3,500 refugees and apprenticeships for a further 800. Consider local job prospects when selecting domestic locations for resettling refugees This can significantly improve the ability of refugees to find employment quickly. In Sweden , refugees are placed in localities where jobs match their employment profile based on education level and work experience. Establish refugee recruitment programs among businesses There is a strong business case for hiring refugees, which can yield a very high return on investment, notably through increased productivity and lower staff turnover. A more diverse workforce also boosts creativity and innovation within a company, while also helping to tap markets internationally. Additionally, high-skilled refugees can help fill key roles where there are existing skills gaps. Make digital job-matching sites and platforms more widely available and accessible In several European countries, volunteers have set up online platforms that advertise job openings at companies and let refugees build employment profiles to apply easily. The report and the full list of recommendations can be found online. ABOUT TENT The Tent Foundation seeks to improve the lives and livelihoods of the 65 million people who have been forcibly displaced around the globe. We do this by funding direct assistance, investing in innovation, and promoting policies and partnerships to help the displaced realize their full potential. ABOUT OPEN Philippe Legrain is the founder of Open Political Economy Network (OPEN), a platform for progress a new kind of campaigning, networked international think-tank on openness issues. He is also a senior visiting fellow at the London School of Economics' European Institute and a columnist for Project Syndicate and Foreign Policy. Philippe is the author of four critically acclaimed books, notably Immigrants: Your Country Needs Them, which was shortlisted for the 2007 Financial Times Business Book of the Year award. His first study for Tent and OPEN, Refugees Work: A Humanitarian Investment That Yields Economic Dividends, was published in May 2016. Contact: Matthew Di Taranto (212) 819-4862 [email protected] SOURCE Tent Foundation Related Links http://www.tent.org DUBLIN, August 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The "Fire Apparatus Manufacturing Industry in North America: Aerial Ladders, Aerial Platforms, Pumpers, Tankers, Rescue Trucks, Wildland/Brush Trucks, ARFF Trucks" report has been added to Research and Markets' offering. This project provides a quantification and analysis of the business of fabricating fire apparatus in the United States and Canada-the largest market for firefighting equipment in the world. Despite significant differences in design, all types of fire apparatus are viewed together as an industry because of the commonality in application. This report provides 2016 unit and dollar production numbers for aerial ladder and aerial platform trucks, pumpers, tankers, rescue trucks, wildland/brush trucks, and aircraft rescue and firefighting (ARFF) vehicles. STN details not only production numbers and market shares for each category of equipment, but also includes hard-to-find breakouts of the fire apparatus market by chassis type (custom vs. commercial), by pump capacity and by tank size, as well as breakouts of other differentiating characteristics, as applicable. Seventy-five manufacturers have been identified in this industry. Leading manufacturers offer all types of fire apparatus, whereas some manufacturers (in the wildland/brush truck segment for example) offer only one type of firefighting truck. Others, such as tanker manufacturers, offer firefighting apparatus as part of their broader range of products. The look and structure of this industry has changed in recent years. Traditionally, the fire equipment manufacturing segment has been fairly fragmented, with several private, multi-generation, family-owned companies. However recent years have seen consolidation, and the industry has now been transformed into one where private equity/holding group entities have a strong presence. Industry opinion expects to see continued consolidation in this segment, driven primarily by two main factors-funding challenges experienced by family-owned companies, and expanded market shares and territories for the acquirer companies. The role of fire departments has also been changing over the years. Available data indicates that 64% of calls to fire departments are now for medical aid response; less than 5% are for fire incidents. Accordingly, as apparatus comes up for replacement, fire departments are reassessing their requirements, due to expectations that fire and EMS (emergency medical services) will continue to converge. As a result, combination, or multi-purpose, apparatus, are experiencing increasing demand. Key Topics Covered: 1 Scope 2 Product Types 2.1 Aerial Apparatus 2.2 Pumpers 2.3 Tankers 2.4 Rescue Trucks 2.5 Wildland/Brush Trucks 2.6 Aircraft Rescue & Firefighting Trucks 3 Market Size Estimates - Units & Dollars 2016 4 Market Shares: Competitive Analysis in Units & Dollars 4.1 Manufacturers by Type 4.2 Manufacturers' Product Mix 4.3 Market Shares: All Products 4.4 Market Shares: By Apparatus Type 4.5 Market Shares: by Chassis 5 Market Analysis 5.1 By Apparatus Type 5.1.1 Aerial Apparatus 5.1.2 Pumpers 5.1.3 Tankers 5.1.4 Rescue Trucks 5.2 Average Price 5.3 Distribution Channels 5.4 Company Niches & Strengths 6 Market Dynamics & Demand Factors 6.1 Mergers & Acquisitions 6.2 Fire & EMS Convergence 6.3 Combination/Multi-purpose Apparatus 6.4 Customization 6.5 Technology 7 Outlook 2017-2021 8 Production by Region 9 Key Manufacturer Data 10 Manufacturer Profiles [75 Manufacturers Profiled] For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/44j4kc/fire_apparatus Media Contact: Research and Markets Laura Wood, Senior Manager [email protected] For E.S.T Office Hours Call +1-917-300-0470 For U.S./CAN Toll Free Call +1-800-526-8630 For GMT Office Hours Call +353-1-416-8900 U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907 Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716 SOURCE Research and Markets Related Links http://www.researchandmarkets.com JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Inc. magazine ranked local startup, E-file.com, as the 79th fastest-growing private company in the country. The "Inc. 5,000" is published annually and developed by ranking companies based on their cumulative growth. E-file.com's growth rate since it launched in 2013 is 4,641.5 percent. This achievement puts E-file.com in rare company, joining an elite group of businessessuch as Microsoft, Domino's Pizza, LinkedIn and Zillowthat have been included in the list over the past 36 years. Co-founded by North Florida natives and UNF College of Business graduates Aaron Rosenthal and Robert Reynard, E-file.com offers income tax preparation software that provides an efficient online filing process with faster refunds and lower fees than the majority of tax preparers. "We are proud to be recognized with such a prestigious group of companies," said Aaron Rosenthal, co-founder and director of marketing for E-file.com. "It is not only wonderful recognition for E-file.com but it also helps demonstrate that North Florida is a great area for starting a business." The company's placement on the "Inc. 5,000" supports WalletHub's 2014 endorsement of the First Coast, which ranked Jacksonville as the no. 1 city in the country to start a business. E-file.com is one of two North Florida companies to crack the top 500 of Inc. magazine's list. This achievement continues an impressive trend for E-file.com, as it was recognized by the Jacksonville Business Journal as the area's fastest-growing company in 2016, then again making its list at no. 16 in 2017. Inc. magazine publishes the top 500 companies in its September print edition, which will include E-file.com. The companies outside the top 500 will be recognized in the digital edition that can be found online at www.Inc.com/inc5000. About E-file.com First launched in 2013, www.E-file.com offers affordable income tax preparation software that is up to 50 percent less expensive than what other online tax preparers charge. This includes providing free "no-strings attached" software to all filers who qualify to file using a federal 1040ez form. Media Contact TYLER HOLDER, Dalton Agency P 904.398.5222 C 321.289.1192 E [email protected] SOURCE E-file.com Related Links http://www.E-file.com HARRISBURG, Pa., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Education and outreach staff from the Department of Banking and Securities will be meeting with senior citizens, members of the military, and the general public across Pennsylvania during the month of September to promote financial capability as part of Governor Tom Wolf's Consumer Financial Protection Initiative. For Senior Citizens Department staff will be participating in several senior citizen expos sponsored by members of the General Assembly, including: Sen. Donald White , Rep. Donna Oberlander , and Rep. Jeff Pyle's Annual Senior Expo at Kittanning Township Volunteer Fire Department, 13128 US Route 422 in Kittanning ( Armstrong County ) on September 6 from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM , Rep. , and Rep. Annual Senior Expo at Volunteer Fire Department, 13128 US Route 422 in ( ) on from Sen. Gene Yaw and Rep. Garth Everett's Senior Expo at Pennsdale Civic Center, 261 Village Road in Muncy ( Lycoming County ) on September 12 from 9:30 AM to 10:00 PM and Rep. Senior Expo at Pennsdale Civic Center, 261 Village Road in ( ) on from Rep. Sue Helm's Senior Expo at East Hanover Municipal Building, 8848 Jonestown Road in Grantville ( Dauphin County ) on September 14 from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM Senior Expo at East Hanover Municipal Building, 8848 Jonestown Road in ( ) on from Sen. Robert Tomlinson's Annual Senior Expo at Fall Manor Catering and Special Events, 4010 New Falls Road in Bristol ( Bucks County ) on September 14 from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM Annual Senior Expo at Fall Manor Catering and Special Events, 4010 New Falls Road in ( ) on from Rep. Zach Mako's Senior Event at Bethany Wesleyan Church, 675 Blue Mountain Drive in Cherryville ( Northampton County ) on September 15 from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM Senior Event at Bethany Wesleyan Church, 675 Blue Mountain Drive in ( ) on from Sen. Elder Vogel, Jr.'s 2017 Senior Expo at Cascade Park New Castle, 1928 E. Washington Street in New Castle ( Lawrence County ) on September 15 from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM ( ) on from Rep. Mike Turzai's Senior Expo at Community College of Allegheny County North Campus, 8701 Perry Highway in Pittsburgh ( Allegheny County ) on September 22 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM Senior Expo at North Campus, 8701 Perry Highway in ( ) on from Rep. Dan Miller's Senior Expo at Salvation Army, 1060 McNeilly Road in Pittsburgh ( Allegheny County ) on September 28 from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM Senior Expo at Salvation Army, 1060 McNeilly Road in ( ) on from Sen. Tom Killion's Senior Expo at Penn State University Brandywine, 26 Yearsley Mill Road in Media ( Delaware County ) on September 28 from 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM Additionally, Rep. Rick Saccone will be hosting "Avoiding Scams and ID Theft" which helps consumers protect themselves from financial scams as well as informs victims of scams on how to get help at Bethel Park Community Center, 5151 Park Avenue in Bethel Park (Allegheny County) on September 7 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM. The presentation "Avoiding Scams and ID Theft" will also be offered at the following locations: Farrell Choice Homes at 411 Roemer Boulevard in Farrell ( Mercer County ) on September 8 from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM (Open to residents and guests ONLY) ( ) on from York Commons at 4003 Penn Avenue in Pittsburgh ( Allegheny County ) on September 28 from 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM (Open to residents and guests ONLY) at 4003 Penn Avenue in ( ) on from Poplar Lane Court at 110 New Salem Road in Uniontown ( Fayette County ) on September 29 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM (Open to residents and guests ONLY) at 110 New Salem Road in ( ) on from Beeson Court at 125 E. Main Street in Uniontown ( Fayette County ) on September 29 from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM (Open to residents and guests ONLY) Department staff will offer the presentation "CybersecurityStaying Safe on the Internet" covering key topics such as using secure websites, creating strong passwords, being aware of what you put on social media, and even tips for shopping online safely at Plymouth Country Club, 888 Plymouth Road in Plymouth (Montgomery County) on September 21 from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM. (Open to Montgomery County Chapter of PARSE members and their guests ONLY). For Military Department staff will be participating in the "Making $ense of Finance" event to educate participants on investment and retirement basics; budgeting; the federal Thrift Savings Plan; Credit Reports and Scores; and Avoiding Military-Focused Financial Scams at Letterkenny Army Depot at 3260 Georgia Avenue in Chambersburg (Franklin County) on September 16 from 9:00 AM to 2:30 PM. (Open to CAC card holders, Letterkenny employees, and their family members ONLY; Registration is required for this FREE event https://www.secure.dobs.pa.gov/?a=msof.msof). For Students Department staff will be presenting "Save & Invest PA!" a program designed to teach students to pursue financial goals and financial independence through an introduction to the basics of investing and avoiding investment fraud. This program will be presented at Lampeter-Strasburg High School in Lancaster (Lancaster County) on September 26. For General Audiences Department staff will be participating in an event that combines two presentations: "Preparing for Big Purchases" and "Responsible Homeownership" which discusses checking your credit report for accuracy, the importance of having a high credit score, planning and budgeting for a new home purchase, starting the loan process, and budgeting for surprise repairs and emergencies at the following location: Muhlenberg Community Library at 3612 Kutztown Road in Laureldale ( Berks County ) on September 12 from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM As part of an ongoing series with MontcoWorks and PA CareerLink in Montgomery County, department staff will present "Banking Basics" an overview of how banks and credit unions work, including differences among types of accounts, what to do if you have past banking issues, and questions you should ask before opening an account will be offered at the following location: Montgomery County CareerLink at 1430 Dekalb Street in Norristown ( Montgomery County ) on September 13 from 10:30 AM to 11:30 AM (Registration required for this free event. Space is limited. Call 610-278-2609 to register.) The Department of Banking and Securities offers educational presentations designed to help consumers of all ages learn to protect and grow their own money. The department's Calendar of Events can be found online: http://bit.ly/1KIscBZ. Consumers and community groups can call 1-800-PA-BANKS or email [email protected] for more information, or learn more online: http://bit.ly/2bjKrTa. Media contact: Ed Novak, 717-783-4721 SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities Related Links http://www.state.pa.us HARRISBURG, Pa., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- API Pennsylvania today released a new poll showing that the overwhelming majority of Pennsylvania voters would oppose legislation that would force consumers in the state to pay a special fee to bailout nuclear power companies. API Pennsylvania urged members of the Pennsylvania state legislature to reject any measure that could raise costs for consumers and hurt workers across the state. "Despite the fact that half of the voters across the state think electricity prices are too high, some are asking legislators in Harrisburg to force Pennsylvania consumers to pay a special fee to bail out nuclear power companies," said Executive Director Stephanie Catarino Wissman. "Picking winners and losers in the electricity markets by providing bailouts to nuclear power at the expense of Pennsylvania consumers would diminish the benefits that clean-burning natural gas has brought to Pennsylvania workers and consumers. Moving forward, the legislature should reject any measure that could raise costs for consumers and hurt workers across the state." Key poll results: 84 percent of voters agree that Pennsylvania consumers should not have to pay a special fee to bailout Exelon's nuclear power plants. consumers should not have to pay a special fee to bailout Exelon's nuclear power plants. 84 percent of voters oppose legislation charging consumers a special fee to fund Exelon's nuclear power plants. 77 percent of voters agree that the electricity market should be based on the marketplace, not special treatment for one corporation. 60 percent of voters believe that electricity prices are lower with competition, not government intervention. The poll results were released on a press conference call on Wednesday morning. The opening statement and results of the poll are available on API's website. API Pennsylvania is a division of API, which represents all segments of America's oil and natural gas industry. Its more than 625 members include large integrated companies, as well as exploration and production, refining, marketing, pipeline, and marine businesses, and service and supply firms. They provide most of the nation's energy and are backed by a growing grassroots movement of more than 40 million Americans. Methodology The study was conducted between July 26-30, 2017, by telephone by Harris Poll on behalf of the American Petroleum Institute among 800 Pennsylvania registered voters, with a sampling error of +/- 3.5 percent. A full methodology is available upon request. "What America is Thinking on Energy Issues" is a public opinion series provided by API, offering data to inform policy discussions and ensure policymakers and others know Americans' perspectives on key energy issues. SOURCE American Petroleum Institute Related Links http://www.api.org/ SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Each year, Inc. ranks the fastest-growing private companies in America. pMD, the innovation leader in health care technology, is delighted to be acknowledged on this prestigious list for the sixth consecutive year. pMD is also being recognized on the esteemed Honors List, which is comprised of companies that have made the Inc. 5000 list for 5 years in a row or more. Fewer than a tenth of honorees ever achieve this milestone. Thanks to a hard-working and passionate team, pMD is among the nation's most successful private companies. In order to qualify for the 2017 Inc. 5000 list, companies must be privately-owned, based in the U.S., independent, and must have met additional revenue requirements between 2013 and 2016. Companies will be honored at the Inc. 5000 Conference and Gala in Palm Desert on October 10-12, 2017. "We've been able to achieve such strong and steady growth over the past decade because of the team's unwavering dedication to our customers. This recognition reinforces the passion and vision we all have for this company," said Philippe d'Offay, CEO of pMD. pMD is transforming the medical industry by improving the physician experience and patient care through a revolutionary mobile platform. Of the 5,000 companies named to the list, 395 companies are in the health industry. View pMD's complete Inc. profile here. About pMD pMD gives doctors and staff powerful, intuitive mobile software that improves patient care. With pMD's mobile communication and data capture platform, health care teams finally have an elegant and simple technology to maximize efficiency and collaboration. pMD provides free interfaces with most major electronic medical records, hospital information and medical billing systems. The pMD team is committed to developing the best solution and providing superior customer service. For more information, contact pMD . SOURCE pMD Related Links http://www.pmd.com NEW YORK, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Below are experts from the ProfNet network who are available to discuss timely issues in your coverage area. You can also submit a query to the hundreds of thousands of experts in our network it's easy and free! Just fill out the query form to get started: http://prn.to/queryform EXPERT ALERTS U.S. Cyber Policy: Intersection of Private Sector and Government Intelligence Community Many Countries Lagging on Implementation of Support for Tobacco Cessation MEDIA JOBS Reporter Citywire USA (NY) (NY) U.S. Correspondent, Tech South China Morning Post (NY/CA) Reporter SparkSpread (NY/TX/ London ) OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES Don't Risk Your Day Job: 7 Tips to Make Your Side Hustle Work for You Blogger Events: Top Events to Attend in August Blog Profiles: Aquarium Blogs ------------------------------------------------------------------- EXPERT ALERTS: U.S. Cyber Policy: Intersection of Private Sector and Government Intelligence Community Ronald A. Marks Chair, Intelligence Program, Daniel Morgan Graduate School President, Intelligence Enterprises Marks is available to discuss the intersection of the private sector and the government intelligence community and the enhancement of the U.S.'s cyber capabilities: "As the Trump administration moves forward with its cyberspace policy, it is crucial to get these squabbling parties together and encourage relationships between the two, taking the best of both. The laissez-faire attitude of Silicon Valley has to bend somewhat to U.S. government guidance and protection, and the U.S. government simply has to stop overregulating with multiple agencies, providing confusing messages and contacts with the private sector." Based in Washington, D.C., Marks is currently president of Intelligence Enterprises, a national security-consulting firm composed of a network of former senior national security officials. He spent 16 years with the Central Intelligence Agency, during which time he occupied a number of increasingly senior positions ranging from clandestine spy to Senate liaison for five directors. These positions include special assistant to the ADCI for Military Support, U.S. State Department Program director for law enforcement issues in Russia and Eastern Europe, and a senior budget director at the National Reconnaissance Office. Since leaving government, Marks has been a senior defense contractor and a software executive. Website: https://dmgs.org Contact: Alex Lange, [email protected] Many Countries Lagging on Implementation of Support for Tobacco Cessation Martin Raw Director International Centre for Tobacco Cessation Article 14 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control recommends provision of evidence-based support for tobacco cessation, but many countries are lagging in implementation leading to gaps in helping patients quit tobacco. Raw was the lead author on an editorial, endorsed by more than 70 global leaders in tobacco cessation, that sets out actions countries can take to support tobacco dependence treatment, focusing on low-cost, broad-reach interventions. Says Raw: "Effective tobacco cessation support will help us reach the goal of reducing premature mortality from noncommunicable diseases, but countries worldwide are not adequately implementing treatment support. It's time to improve the support offered to tobacco users who want to stop." Contact: Breanne Van Nostrand, [email protected] **************** MEDIA JOBS: Following are links to job listings for staff and freelance writers, editors and producers. You can view these and more job listings on our Job Board: https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/community/jobs/ Reporter Citywire USA (NY) (NY) U.S. Correspondent, Tech South China Morning Post (NY/CA) Reporter SparkSpread (NY/TX/ London ) ***************** OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES: Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line. DON'T RISK YOUR DAY JOB: 7 TIPS TO MAKE YOUR SIDE HUSTLE WORK FOR YOU. It seems like everyone has a side hustle. The real-life numbers support this: In a recent study from Bankrate, 44 million Americans reported having a side gig. Earnings range in this avenue of entrepreneurship, but in some instances, it can be extremely lucrative. If the gig economy is calling your name, here are seven tips for managing a side hustle outside of a busy 9-to-5: http://prn.to/2uUCmbQ BLOGGER EVENTS: TOP EVENTS TO ATTEND IN AUGUST. Each month, the Audience Research team shares information of hot events for the blogging world. Here are some events you'll want to know about for August: http://prn.to/2uZyObq BLOG PROFILES: AQUARIUM BLOGS. Each week, PR Newswire's Audience Relations team selects an industry/subject and profiles a handful of sites that do a good job with promoting and contributing to the conversation. This week, they look at a few aquarium blogs:http://prn.to/2uVzPOw **************** PROFNET is an exclusive service of PR Newswire. To contact ProfNet: [email protected] or 800-776-3638, ext. 1 SOURCE ProfNet Related Links http://www.profnet.com TAMPA, Fla., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Quala, North America's leader in industrial container cleaning announced today its acquisition of Alpha Technical Services (ATS). Operating from a strategically located 23-acre facility in Pasadena, Texas, ATS offers container cleaning solutions for both hazardous and non-hazardous bulk containers, specializing in difficult to clean products in railcars, tank trailers and ISO containers. ATS complements its cleaning capabilities with full-service railcar maintenance and environmental service divisions. Mike Bauer, Quala CEO said: "By adding ATS and its experienced management team we have expanded our position in the railcar and specialty cleaning platforms. This acquisition will allow Quala to utilize and expand upon the current ATS tank trailer cleaning capabilities." Bauer continued by saying, "ATS is the perfect catalyst to support Quala in expanding our railcar service model, as we further our vision to become a more diversified container cleaning company, serving the Petrochemical industry." Alpha Technical Services, President Mike Howerton, said "It was important for us at ATS to partner with a group that shared our core values for their employees and customers. We knew from the beginning that the Quala management team was the right fit." Howerton added, "We are very excited about the growth opportunities this move will provide for the ATS team as we strive to enhance our employee and customer experiences." Howerton continued by saying, "With Quala's resources, ATS plans to expand and improve its facilities, processes and capabilities to better serve our customers. The ATS mission will remain unchanged as part of the Quala family of companies." Quala will operate the bulk tank trailer cleaning division formerly known as ATS Express Services under its nationally recognized Quala Sustainable Container Solutions brand. Under the Quala umbrella, ATS will continue to operate the Railcar Cleaning and Repair Divisions, Field Services and Specialty Container Services. Quala was advised by Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated and financing was provided by PSP Investments Credit USA LLC, Carlyle Private Credit, Antares Capital and Madison Capital Funding LLC. About Quala Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, Quala is North America's largest independent provider of industrial tank cleaning. Services include tank truck cleaning, railcar cleaning and maintenance, ISO container services, as well as, IBC cleaning, testing and reconditioning services. Quala's network of industrial cleaning and waste-water treatment facilities is comprised of over 70 locations in the U.S. and Canada. For more information, visit www.quala.us.com. SOURCE Quala Related Links http://www.quala.us.com MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Rasmussen College, a regionally accredited private college,1 today announced three newly redesigned technology career-focused degree programs: Network Systems Administration Associate's degree, Information Technology Associate's degree and the Information Technology Management Bachelor's degree-completion programs. These degree options are designed to prepare students to enter in-demand technology careers and help close the technical skills gap in rapidly transforming fields. "The pace of change is faster than ever in today's digital economy. It is imperative our students are prepared to navigate evolving network issues, configure and protect priceless information and are equipped for the unpredictable future," said Jennifer Ayotte, department dean for the School of Technology at Rasmussen College. "By redesigning these degree programs in our School of Technology, we are able to align with industry trends, focus on the importance of security and troubleshooting and better prepare students to succeed in a variety of industries requiring both business and technology skills." The newly redesigned Technology programs are also offered with Flex Choicea more flexible and affordable learning option that allows students to combine traditional courses and self-directed assessments. All three programs can also be completed in as few as 18 months.2 Enrollment is immediately available with courses beginning in October. Network Systems Administration Associate's Degree The Network Systems Administration Associate's degree program at Rasmussen College prepares students to troubleshoot and resolve network issues while employing resolution strategies and industry best practices. Students will gain necessary insights and skills to identify potential network risks and keep systems running smoothly. Students that complete the Network Systems Administration Associate's degree can apply their credits toward the Information Security Bachelor's degree program at Rasmussen College. Information Technology Associate's Degree The Information Technology Associate's degree program prepares students to regulate and resolve issues with desktops, laptops and mobile devices. The program combines business, communication, security and technology skills with hands-on virtual labs and simulations to prepare graduates to be valuable members of the IT team. Students looking to further advance their education may transfer their credits to the Rasmussen College Information Technology Management Bachelor's degree program. Information Technology Management Bachelor's Degree-completion Program The Information Technology Management Bachelor's Degree-completion program prepares graduates to apply and synthesize real-world information technology concepts and skills needed to be successful in numerous IT roles. Courses are project-based and mirror real-world experiences by incorporating relevant software applications, project management and hands-on labs. Graduates are prepared to enhance their resume by earning in-demand industry certifications, such as Six Sigma-Green Belt, CAPM-Certified Associate in Project Management and ITIL-Information Technology Infrastructure Library (Foundation Level). To learn more about the newly redesigned Technology degree options, visit http://www.rasmussen.edu/degrees/technology/. 1Accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. hlcommission.org | 800-621-7440 2Completion time is dependent on transfer credits accepted and the number of courses completed each term. ABOUT RASMUSSEN COLLEGE: Rasmussen College is a regionally accredited private college and Public Benefit Corporation that is dedicated to changing lives and the communities it serves through high-demand and flexible educational programs. Since 1900, the College has been committed to academic innovation and providing the highest standard of education while empowering students to pursue a college degree. Rasmussen College offers certificate and diploma programs through Associate's, Bachelor's and Master's degree programs online and across its 22 Midwest and Florida campuses. A pioneer in online education, the College is helping lead advancements in innovations such as competency-based education and comprehensive student support services that help working adults advance their careers. The College is also committed to providing a positive impact on society through public service and a variety of community-based initiatives. For more information about Rasmussen College, please visit www.rasmussen.edu. Contact: Molly Andersen Phone: 952-844-5647 Mobile: 903-920-4366 Email: [email protected] SOURCE Rasmussen College Related Links http://www.rasmussen.edu PHOENIX, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Re-Bath, America's premier bathroom remodeling franchise located in over 150 cities nationwide, is pleased to welcome two new locally owned and operated Re-Bath locations in New Haven and Hartford, Connecticut. Re-Bath offers customers complete bathroom remodels, tub and shower updates, as well as integrating aging and accessibility solutions into their customized designs. "We are excited to be able to offer the exceptional Re-Bath products and services for the residents of the New Haven and Hartford communities," shared Jeff Schiavi, operations manager for both locations. "We look forward to helping our customers achieve the bathroom of their dreams that is not only beautiful, but functional using the latest techniques in design and products." Both locations are owned by Jay Hershman. According to the Residential Remodeling Index, the home improvement industry is projected to grow at a rate of 4% in 2017. It is estimated that 10 million bathrooms out of 130 million homes in the U.S. will be remodeled over the next 12 months. "Re-Bath understands first-hand the growth potential within this market," shared Jeremy Wallace, VP of Franchise Development for Re-Bath. "We welcome Re-Bath in New Haven and Hartford to the Re-Bath franchise family and look forward to their great success!" Celebrating 38 years in the bathroom remodeling industry, Re-Bath understands the needs of their franchisees by providing exceptional resources to help attract and support customers in their respective markets. The company is actively looking for committed owners who can thrive in the Re-Bath franchise network. Visit www.rebathfranchise.com to review available markets and learn more about the company's franchise opportunity. Recently, Re-Bath launched their new website www.rebath.com detailing before and after projects, testimonials and a 56-page resource e-Magazine named "Effortless", http://www.rebath.com/online-magazine/ to help homeowners learn the latest trends, hottest colors, products and techniques that are being used today. Re-Bath encourages homeowners to take advantage of these free tools in addition to receiving a free in-home consultation with their local Re-Bath design consultant to help them with planning their next bathroom project. About Re-Bath: Founded in 1979, Re-Bath is the nation's largest bathroom remodeling company located in over 150 cities nationwide and is proud to be the world's largest bathroom remodeling franchise. The company offers complete bathroom remodels, tub and shower updates, plus accessibility and safety solutions. From simple bathtub replacements to full bathroom redesigns, Re-Bath makes bathroom remodeling effortless, convenient and affordable, all with professional, friendly installation by factory-trained installers. Re-Bath manufactures its own exclusive line of products in their headquarters located in Tempe, Ariz., along with offering the best national brands for their customers. Visit www.rebath.com for more information or www.rebathfranchise.com for franchise information. MEDIA CONTACT: Stacy Enslen VAN LEUVEN COMMUNICATIONS [email protected] 1-800-520-1834, ext. 2 SOURCE Re-Bath Related Links http://www.rebath.com The matter came to light during the hearing of a Civil Writ Petition filed by Dharam Pal Singh's wife, Pal Kaur. By Manjeet Sehgal: The Pakistan government hasn't responded to letters from the Indian High Commission seeking confirmation of the illegal detention of Havaldar Dharam Pal Singh, who his wife says is languishing in a Pakistani jail. India's External Affairs Ministry (MEA) on Wednesday told the Punjab and Haryana High Court in an affidavit that the Pakistan government had neither provided consular access to the prisoner of war, nor responded to its written requests for confirmation - sent on July 7 and 25 this year. advertisement The matter came to light during the hearing of a civil writ petition filed by Dharam Pal Singh's wife, Pal Kaur. She had approached the court to ask it to direct the Centre to file a case in the International Court of Justice for her husband's repatriation- on the basis of provisions contained in the Simla Pact. She has cited the Kulbhushan Jadhav case. "The Government of India, Ministry of External Affairs, has filed an affidavit of Shubham Singh, its Under Secretary, which states that there is no response from the Government of Pakistan so far to the letters written by High Commission of India in Islamabad, seeking confirmation about detention of Havaldar Dharam Pal Singh and to provide Consular access to him," H C Arora, the petitioner's counsel, told India Today. However, Additional Solicitor General Satya Pal Jain informed the High Court bench that the Centre was seriously perusing the matter with the Pakistan government, despite its poor response. Pal Kaur's counsel had referred to an affidavit filed by one Satish Kumar, who claimed that Dharam Pal Singh was alive and was incarcerated in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Rai Jail (Central Jail Lahore). Satish Kumar said he was an inmate of the same jail between 1974 and 1976. He has said he has more evidence to prove that Dharam Pal Singh was a prisoner of war, and has been asked to submit proof. The case will be heard on November 13. CAPTURED IN 1971 Havaldar Dharam Pal Singh served in the 4 Sikh Regiment (No. 3346846). Pal Kaur told the court in her Civil Writ Petition that her husband had fought in the 1971 war against Pakistan on the Bangladesh border, and had been captured by the Pakistan Army. However, the government and the Indian Army treated him as a martyr, as he was reported missing on December 5, 1971. Indira Gandhi, who was prime minister at the time, even expressed her condolences in a letter to Pal Kaur. But Dharam Pal Singh wasn't cremated, since his body wasn't recovered. Interestingly, his name wasn't in the list of missing soldiers. advertisement Pal Kaur also told the court that her husband's wasn't an isolated case, and that a number of missing soldiers had been declared martyrs during the 1971 war, but were alive in prisons in Pakistan. She cited the case of one Jasbir Kaur, whose husband - Major Kawaljit Singh (a Shaurya Chakra awardee) - was in a Pakistan jail. --- ENDS --- A distinguished clinician and prolific researcher, Dr. Jacobson's work has been instrumental in the global development of antiviral therapy for viral hepatitis . He has been involved in more than 100 trials of novel, direct-acting antiviral drugs for interferon-based and direct-acting antiviral therapy, including some of the field's most promising studies, such as ADVANCE (telaprevir), QUEST-1 (simeprevir), POSITRON (sofosbuvir), STARTVerso3 (faldaprevir), and POLARIS-2 (sofosbuvir/velpatasvir/voxilaprevir). He also was the national principal investigator for the WIN-R trial, which established the role of weight-based ribavirin dosing and yielded important insights into the treatment of hepatitis C infection in African Americans. Dr. Jacobson joins NYU Langone Health from Mount Sinai Beth Israel, where he held the position of chair of the Department of Medicine. Prior to that position, he served as chief of the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and medical director of the Center for the Study of Hepatitis C at Weill Cornell. "Dr. Jacobson's work has had a tremendous impact on the care of patients with hepatitis C, transforming this infection from a chronic disease to one that can be cured. His recruitment to NYU Langone greatly enhances our ability to treat patients, strengthens our understanding of liver disease through research and broadens our education of the next generation of physicians," says Mark B. Pochapin, MD, the Sholtz/Leeds Professor of Gastroenterology and director of the Division of Gastroenterology. "Having someone of Dr. Jacobson's caliber join our outstanding hepatology faculty elevates the entire division, allowing us to provide the best possible care to those we serve." At NYU Langone Health, Dr. Jacobson will maintain an active practice in hepatology, gastroenterology, and endoscopy while overseeing all of the division's hepatology service lines. He will work closely with NYU Langone's Transplant Institute to identify and treat patients in need of liver transplants. Additionally, he will build further upon the foundation of the already active clinical research program in liver diseases at NYU Langone and participate in the education of house staff and fellows. About Dr. Jacobson An alumnus of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. Jacobson completed his residency in internal medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and a fellowship in gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital. He then joined the faculty at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, where he worked for over three decades. A prolific researcher, Dr. Jacobson has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles in numerous top-tier publications including The New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, and Gastroenterology. He has edited two books on endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and a volume on hepatitis B for Clinics in Liver Disease. Additionally, he has served as an associate editor of the Journal of Hepatology, and on the editorial boards of Hepatology, Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics, and Digestive Diseases and Sciences. Dr. Jacobson also served on the examination committees of the American Board of Internal Medicine, for both gastroenterology and transplant hepatology, and is a past president of both the New York Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and the New York Gastroenterological Association. He has been co-chair of the annual Viral Hepatitis Congress in Frankfurt, Germany, for the past five years. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the American Gastroenterological Association, the American College of Gastroenterology, and the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, and was recently elected as a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in London. "I am honored to join a division and institution where the mission of excellence in patient care, education, and research are embodied in every member of the team," says Dr. Jacobson. "I look forward to working with the group of hepatologists, surgeons, and other specialists who have done so much to build the outstanding program in liver diseases at NYU Langone." Media Inquiries: Rob Magyar Phone: 212-404-3591 [email protected] SOURCE NYU Langone Health Related Links http://nyulangone.org FORT MYERS, Fla., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Riverchase Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery is pleased to announce that Martin Dermatology has joined the Riverchase Dermatology family of practices. As part of the new alignment, Riverchase welcomes board-certified dermatologist Sandy Martin, MD, FAAD to its team of practitioners. The office, located at 13641 Metropolis Avenue, Suite 102, in Fort Myers will continue to offer high quality dermatology services patients have come to know and trust from both Martin Dermatology and Riverchase Dermatology. Sandy Martin, MD, FAAD received his Medical Degree from the University of Miami School of Medicine in Miami, Florida. His post-doctoral training included an internal medicine internship followed by a residency in Dermatology at Baylor College of Medicine Affiliated Hospitals in Houston, Texas. He was Chief Resident of Dermatology at Baylor in 1980 and was one of the most published young dermatologists at the time. Dr. Martin has been recognized with various awards and honors including Alpha Omega Alpha and the medical honor society. He has also been awarded TOP DOCTOR status by Castle Connolly US News & World Report for the past five consecutive years. He is considered one of the foremost experts in diagnostic and therapeutic dermatology, working closely with each patient to develop an individualized plan of treatment to enhance the holistic approach. "We are thrilled to partner with the outstanding team at Riverchase Dermatology. This partnership will bring rise to key collegial relationships with experts across the field of dermatology. As healthcare demands rise, the additional support and resources that Riverchase provides will allow me to focus exclusively on what matters most: providing excellent dermatologic care to each of my patients," said Dr. Martin. "Dr. Sandy Martin has been providing exceptional medical care to patients for over thirty years while staying true to the same core values of Riverchase Dermatology: to treat every patient with the highest quality of care as if they were family. We are proud to partner with such a well-respected physician to ensure improved access to the best dermatologic care in the area," said Andrew T. Jaffe, MD, FAAD, Founder, CEO and Chief Medical Officer of Riverchase Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery. As part of their dedication to providing quality patient care in Florida, Riverchase Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery continues to expand to reach a greater number of those in need of dermatology services at a convenient location. With the addition of this new office location, Riverchase now offers a total of 31 convenient dermatology and cosmetic surgery locations with 66 providers throughout the state of Florida. Visit www.RiverchaseDermatology.com to learn more or to request an appointment. About Riverchase Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery Riverchase Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery is one of Florida's largest, fastest growing and most comprehensive skin centers. Founded in Naples, Florida in 2000 by Andrew T. Jaffe, MD, FAAD Riverchase has maintained its initial vision of providing the most comprehensive skin cancer, dermatology and cosmetic surgery services for over a decade. The caring and skilled providers at Riverchase use the latest techniques and equipment to diagnose and treat a wide range of skin disorders and cosmetic concerns. Riverchase has many convenient locations throughout Florida. For more information, visit www.RiverchaseDermatology.com. CONTACT Amanda Clemente Senior Marketing Manager Lee & Collier Counties (239) 738-7788 [email protected] SOURCE Riverchase Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery Related Links http://www.RiverchaseDermatology.com Embodying a new-age and arresting vision of luxury that is unprecedented in traditional hospitality advertisements, the campaign is comprised of powerful photography and five short films that feature "The Rosewood Regulars" at Rosewood's newest property in Paris, Hotel de Crillon. Shot by Pascal Dangin, CEO and chief creative officer at Studio Dangin, each photo and film depicts a striking story unfolding at the hotel, and is anchored by an adjective, evocative not only of the hotel but also of the brand revolutionnaire (revolutionary), iconique (iconic), audacieux (audacious), diplomatique (diplomatic), and radical. Olivier Rousteing, the creative director of Balmain, and his friends are featured as "The Rosewood Regulars", who are an eclectic and sophisticated group of musicians, fashionistas, families, and culture mavens, that represent the brand's most trusted clientele and today's modern traveler, who considers experiences to be their most precious commodity and whose wealth is measured in freedom. Rather than focusing on the unique characteristics of the property, the campaign reimagines Rosewood's A Sense of Place philosophy through a celebration of each guest's unique personality, showcasing how Rosewood enables guests to be who they want to be, and encourages them to embody their most authentic self. In each scene, hotel associates blend seamlessly into the narrative, yet simultaneously play essential supporting roles in empowering guests to discover their personal journey and identity. From handing a guitar to a group of musicians to holding a door open for a departing guest, the staff are inconspicuous, yet indispensable in moments of guest transformation and discovery. "The opening of Hotel de Crillon marks a milestone for the Rosewood Hotels & Resorts brand, and presented the perfect moment to launch this innovative advertising campaign," says Sonia Cheng, chief executive officer at Rosewood Hotel Group. "The campaign brings our Sense of Place philosophy to life in a new way, and is the perfect way to celebrate the next stage of this timeless Parisian landmark, as well as the Rosewood brand as we continue our thoughtful expansion around the globe." Launching in September 2017, the campaign encompasses print and digital advertisement placements in key global publications. "Although the rich history of the Hotel de Crillon is anchored in the 18th century, for me it has always represented a place of modernity," says Pascal Dangin, CEO and chief creative officer at Studio Dangin. "To celebrate its re-birth, Rosewood and I wanted the campaign to reflect this heritage with a very modern twist, inspired by the characters that have walked, and will walk through those storied doors. These characters are the embodiment of the #RosewoodRegular. The campaign and short films can be viewed here. About Rosewood Hotels & Resorts: Rosewood Hotels & Resorts manages 20 one-of-a-kind luxury properties in 12 countries, with 16 new hotels under development. Each Rosewood hotel embraces the brand's A Sense of Place philosophy to reflect the individual location's history, culture and sensibilities. The Rosewood collection includes some of the world's most legendary hotels and resorts, including The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel in New York, Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas and Hotel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel in Paris, as well as new classics such as Rosewood Beijing. Rosewood Hotels & Resorts targets to double its number of hotels in operation by 2020. For more information: rosewoodhotels.com Connect with us: Facebook Twitter Instagram : @rosewoodhotels SOURCE Rosewood Hotels & Resorts Related Links http://rosewoodhotels.com "Tina comes to our firm with a strong background in shaping cultures within large organizations. Her entrepreneurial background, as well as her experience advising senior executives on articulating and driving the diversity and inclusion agenda, position her as a uniquely qualified consultant and excellent addition to the firm," said Constantine Alexandrakis, leader of Russell Reynolds Associates' U.S. Region. Paikeday joins Russell Reynolds Associates from the Talent Advisory Board, the diversity management consulting and research firm she founded. She previously worked at the Corporate Executive Board and at McKinsey & Company. Early in her career, Paikeday founded zBox Company, which produced a technology-based delivery appliance that was acquired by Whirlpool Corporation. Paikeday has presented her research at a variety of forums, including the Minority Corporate Counsel Association, the California Minority Counsel Program and the Haas School of Business at the University of California. She has served on several boards and is currently a trustee of the UVA IDEA Fund. Paikeday holds a B.S. in commerce from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business. About Russell Reynolds Associates Russell Reynolds Associates is a global search and leadership advisory firm. Our 400+ consultants in 47 offices work with public, private and nonprofit organizations across all industries and regions. We help our clients build teams of transformational leaders who can meet today's challenges and anticipate the digital, economic and political trends that are reshaping the global business environment. From helping boards with their structure, culture and effectiveness to identifying, assessing and defining the best leadership for organizations our teams bring their decades of expertise to help clients solve their most complex leadership issues. www.russellreynolds.com Contact: Vijaya Singh Russell Reynolds Associates 212-351-1987 [email protected] SOURCE Russell Reynolds Associates Related Links http://www.russellreynolds.com ANDOVER, Mass., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management and automation, announced the appointment of Carlos Villa to Vice President, Industry Business, United States. Villa leads the organization within Schneider Electric that offers a comprehensive portfolio of hardware and software solutions and services for plant operators, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and machine users in manufacturing and other industrial environments. In his new role, Villa oversees the continued development of Schneider Electric's digitally-enabled solutions and network of distribution partners nationwide to support U.S. industrial customers. Villa will further Schneider Electric's approach to making industry more connected leveraging the company's newly launched EcoStruxure Machine and EcoStruxure Plant platforms on behalf of Industry. EcoStruxure is Schneider Electric's Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)-enabled, open and interoperable system architecture that delivers enhanced value around safety, reliability, efficiency, sustainability and connectivity. EcoStruxure leverages advancements in IoT, mobility, sensing, cloud, analytics and cybersecurity technologies to deliver Innovation At Every Level from Connected Products; Edge Control; and Apps, Analytics & Services. "Industrial operations today are challenged to improve operational insight and profitability, while transforming their businesses for a future built around IIoT," said Aamir Paul, Senior Vice President, U.S. Business Operations, Schneider Electric. "Carlos will drive Schneider Electric's industry leadership, delivering on its commitment to empowering manufacturing customers with solutions to optimize industrial operations, while making their operations safer, more reliable, efficient, profitable and sustainable." Villa joined Schneider Electric as Industry Vice President, Mexico, in December 2014. He brings more than 20 years of automation experience in sales management and global business management roles in Brazil, Mexico and the United States to the position and holds a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso. For more information about Schneider Electric's industrial solutions, please visit: http://www.schneider-electric.us/. About Schneider Electric Schneider Electric is the global specialist in energy management and automation. With revenues of $26 billion US dollars (25 billion euros) in FY2016, our 144,000 employees serve customers in over 100 countries, helping them to manage their energy and process in ways that are safe, reliable, efficient and sustainable. From the simplest of switches to complex operational systems, our technology, software and services improve the way our customers manage and automate their operations. Our connected technologies reshape industries, transform cities and enrich lives. At Schneider Electric, we call this Life Is On. www.schneider-electric.us Follow us on: https://twitter.com/SchneiderElec https://www.facebook.com/SchneiderElectricUS https://www.linkedin.com/company/schneider-electric https://plus.google.com/+schneiderelectric https://www.youtube.com/user/SchneiderCorporat http://tv.schneider-electric.com/site/schneidertv/index.cfm http://blog.schneider-electric.com/ Hashtags: #LifeisOn #Industry #EcoStruxure #InnovationAtEveryLevel #efficiency #reliability #sustainability SOURCE Schneider Electric Related Links http://www.schneider-electric.us BOCA RATON, Fla., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Seeman Holtz Property & Casualty, Inc. is pleased to announce the acquisition of Primera Capital, headquartered in Dallas, TX. Anthony Davis and team have been offering both Auto Insurance and Tax Services to the Dallas area for over 7 years. The addition of Primera Capital will add a solid book of quality client relationships to the Seeman Holtz portfolio throughout Texas. Seeman Holtz Property & Casualty, Inc. remains focused on targeting high-quality independent agencies for geographic expansion and continued growth. With the addition of Primera Capital, Seeman Holtz Property & Casualty, Inc. closed its 11th agency acquisition for 2017. SHPC looks to continue to reach new and current clients by helping them protect their most important valuables with not only the right insurance, but with the right service for each client. SHP&C offers: Private Client Homeowner's Policy Automobile Insurance Renter's Policy Umbrella Coverage Commercial and Employee Coverage Personal Liability Coverage Marshal Seeman, President of Seeman Holtz Property & Casualty stated, "With the acquisition of Primera Capital, we are happy to bring on board Anthony Davis who will be helping us build our Texas brand." Brett Williams, Vice President added, "Anthony has an excellent understanding of the particular challenges and opportunities within these markets." About Our Company: The Seeman Holtz family of companies provides comprehensive financial and insurance advice to clients across the country. Contact: Eric Holtz Seeman Holtz Property & Casualty 844.255.6639 [email protected] SOURCE Seeman Holtz Property & Casualty, Inc. The Launch Using countertop remnants lying around in the garage, co-founders, Ed and Kyle Carpenter, a father and son team, began, as a hobby, creating one-of-a-kind applications with solid surface. One such item was a guitar body in the style of a Fender Telecaster and another a sculpture portraying the loss of the World Trade Center towers on 9/11. They also began fashioning pieces into cutting boards and selling them on eBay. After realizing they could work smarter, not harder, by selling remnant pieces, they launched SolidSurfaceSurplus.com. In early 2007, they formed the parent company SurfaceNet LLC and, in May of 2007, acquired the URL "SolidSurface.com." They then started working directly with manufacturers and distributors to source overstock and premium grade material, continuing to build out their various product lines. SolidSurface.com Industry Rankings Despite their "in the garage" beginnings, it didn't take SolidSurface.com long to rise in rank and gain traction in the industry. In 2016 and 2017, SolidSurface.com was recognized by Internet Retailer and B2BeCommerceWorld.com as one of the top 300 B2B e-commerce companies. For the past four years, Internet Retailer magazine has recognized SolidSurface.com as a Top 1000 general e-commerce website, not just B2B. SolidSurface.com was also ranked 39th in the online Hardware/Home Improvement Industry. Back in 2007, SolidSurface.com was unique in offering customers color and size choices from more than one brand in one Internet marketplace. Never before in the solid surfacing industry has it been this easy for customers to search for virtually any brand, color, pattern, or size of material. Over 60,000 shoppers per month visit their site, ranging from DIYers to residential and commercial remodelers and fabricators to woodworkers. They purchase from several categories of products, learn about creating with solid surface material and sometimes order a custom Corian vanity top that can be ready to ship in 10 business days or less. Future Outlook Future plans for SurfaceNet LLC and SolidSurface.com include a new website launch planned within the next 12 months, expanding the vanity top program and custom fabrication services, adding Quartz and other alternative surfacing options, and building even stronger supplier relationships, all of which are intended to further enhance the customer's overall purchasing experience. Happy 10th Anniversary SolidSurface.com! About SolidSurface.com SolidSurface.com, a division of SurfaceNet LLC headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, supplies material and products from numerous warehouses throughout the country. The Tucson location is a stocking warehouse which is open to the public, by appointment, for both wholesale and retail sales. In addition to serving customers within the USA, they regularly ship to customers in Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central America. SolidSurface.com affiliations include ISFA, AWFS, NKBA and NAHB. It is also an approved government contractor through SAM.gov and Accredited A+ by the Better Business Bureau. 888-715-3007, [email protected], 4011 E Columbia St., Ste. 105, Tucson, AZ 85714 SOURCE SolidSurface.com Related Links http://solidsurface.com SAN DIEGO, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony Electronics Inc. today announced that Cheryl K. Goodman will become the Head of Corporate Communications effective August 21, 2017. In her new role, Goodman will be the media spokesperson for Sony Electronics, reporting directly to Mike Fasulo, President and Chief Operating Officer. Goodman will work closely with the entire Sony Electronics team, developing the strategy and execution of all internal and external communications to inform, excite and interpret the Sony brand to key stakeholders throughout Canada and the United States. Goodman will have direct oversight for media relations, editorial coverage, press releases, articles and executive and financial communications. She will also be responsible for the development and implementation of employee engagement activities that promote and enhance Sony's vision in various areas, including community relations. She will partner with the Sony Corporation Communications team and engage with industry associations, such as the CTA and DEG. With over 20 years in the communications industry, Goodman's experience spans a variety of sectors including media, technology and non-profit organizations. Most recently, Goodman was Executive Director of Athena San Diego, a professional association serving women in science and technology throughout southern California. Under Goodman's leadership, Athena launched the "Pinnacle Pitch" competition for female entrepreneurs in STEM startups, doubled its STEM partnerships and launched original research and content. Prior to Athena, Goodman founded several startup companies and led public relations, industry analyst relations and business development functions at Qualcomm, Linspire and MP3.com. Goodman began her media career as a broadcast journalist at KGTV and KFMB, ABC and CBS news affiliates in San Diego, California. She is an expert in creating interest in brands and products to actively drive news cycles, and has well-defined relationships with news editors and journalists at both national and international outlets. "Cheryl's unique combination of skills and experience will enhance Sony Electronics' ability to effectively communicate the strength of the Sony brand internally and externally to our valued customers, partners and media," said Fasulo. "Moreover, I'd like to offer congratulations to Cheryl for her work at Athena. Her appointment at Sony will only strengthen our efforts with this important organization. Sony has been a longtime supporter of Athena and its mission to advance and support women in technology. Sony is truly committed to future endeavors with Athena." "Cheryl's dynamic and impactful leadership at Athena will be missed by our staff, our members, the Athena Board of Directors, the Athena Foundation board, and our sponsors," said Constance Maples, Chair of Athena San Diego. "I am honored to join Sony Electronics at such an exciting time for the company, and for the consumer electronics industry at large," said Goodman. "I look forward to contributing to the company's future successes. I want to thank Mike for giving me the opportunity to work with the talented, innovative teams at Sony Electronics, Sony Corporation and its operating companies." Goodman has received many industry awards for her work including, PR Leader of the Year in 2010 by PR News at the National Press Club. SOURCE Sony Electronics Inc. Related Links http://www.sony.com The grants are a part of NFWF's Longleaf Stewardship Fund, a landmark public-private partnership that includes the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southern Company, International Paper's Forestland Stewards partnership, Altria Group, American Forest Foundation's Southern Woods for At-Risk Wildlife Initiative and Louis Bacon's Orton Foundation which is an affiliate of The Moore Charitable Foundation. Longleaf Stewardship Fund projects will restore more than 13,300 acres and enhance more than 270,000 additional acres of longleaf pine habitat across the historic longleaf range. The projects supported by Southern Company will impact more than 199,000 acres, of which 6,100 acres will be newly planted longleaf pine. "We're pleased to play a role in restoring a remarkably diverse ecosystem that is deeply connected to the culture and economic growth of our region," said Southern Company Environmental and System Planning Vice President Jeff Burleson. "Through the landscape-scale conservation approach of the Longleaf Stewardship Fund, a wide range of plants and wildlife that depend on this critical habitat will benefit." The Longleaf Stewardship Fund builds on the success of the Longleaf Legacy program, a partnership between Southern Company and NFWF, which for eight years invested more than $8.7 million in projects to restore more than 87,000 acres of longleaf pine forest and the native species that rely on the habitat. Another 20,000 acres were restored through the company's closely aligned Power of Flight program with NFWF. To date, the longleaf pine forest has increased from 3 million acres to a projected 4.7 million acres. "The longleaf pine is an iconic and beloved tree throughout most of the South, and the forests these trees anchor represent some of our nation's richest areas of biodiversity", said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO at NFWF. "Restoring these vital habitats at such a large scale could not be done without the cooperation and support of private landowners, federal agencies, military installations, private corporations like Southern Company, and a coalition of conservation organizations." The 2017 Longleaf Stewardship Fund projects supported by Southern Company include: The Fort Stewart-Altamaha Longleaf Partnership (Georgia) The Longleaf Alliance will coordinate with partners to establish 140 acres of longleaf pine, treat an additional 21,600 acres with prescribed fire, and build a network of public and private landowners focused on native groundcover restoration through prescribed burns, native seed collection and planting. This project will improve habitat for the gopher tortoise and other longleaf-dependent species on public and private lands within close proximity to Fort Stewart and Townsend Bombing Range. The Okefenokee Osceola Local Implementation Team (Georgia/Florida) The Nature Conservancy, Georgia will coordinate with partners to establish 2,574 acres of longleaf pine and improve management of an additional 27,880 acres of existing longleaf habitat on public and private lands. Project will continue training young people living below the poverty level to serve on longleaf restoration teams, build prescribed fire capacity, and educate private landowners through a prescribed fire manager certification session, two landowner workshops and a longleaf academy. Tall Timbers Research, Inc. (Georgia/Florida) and partners will install artificial nest cavities and translocate 25 red-cockaded woodpeckers (RCWs) on private lands in the Red Hills region of Florida and Georgia. Project will treat more than 38,000 acres of existing longleaf with prescribed fire to improve and maintain forage and nesting habitat for translocated RCWs. The Talladega Mountain Longleaf Conservation Partnership (Alabama/Georgia) The Nature Conservancy, Alabama will coordinate with partners to establish 447 acres of longleaf pine and improve 17,700 acres of existing longleaf habitat with prescribed fire on public and private lands with the support of a seasonal fire crew. Project will develop a conservation plan to prioritize and guide future restoration and conduct outreach to engage private landowners to restore longleaf pine. The Forest Landowners Association (Alabama/Florida/Georgia) will establish or enhance 2,000 acres of longleaf pine habitat and host Forest Forums and Timber Talks to bring together landowners, USFWS and other key stakeholders. Project will engage large working forest landowners and forest consultants in key longleaf pine priority areas to increase communication and identify specific actions for addressing barriers to longleaf restoration. The Appalachicola Regional Stewardship Alliance (Florida) The Nature Conservancy, Florida will coordinate with partners to establish 862 acres of longleaf pine and improve more than 25,000 acres of existing longleaf habitat through the use of prescribed fire and planting of native groundcover on public and private lands. Project will benefit Tyndall Air Force Base, improving habitat both on and off base for numerous wildlife species including the eastern indigo snake, a federally-threatened species, as well as the gopher tortoise and Bachman's sparrow. The Gulf Coastal Plain Ecosystem Partnership (Alabama/Florida) The Longleaf Alliance will coordinate with partners to establish 333 acres of longleaf pine and improve an additional 55,350 acres of existing longleaf habitat through prescribed fire and private landowner outreach and technical assistance. Project will translocate 140 gopher tortoises, a candidate species for possible listing under the Endangered Species Act, to high-quality, managed land and provide technical assistance and educational opportunities for private landowners, including a Longleaf Academy. The Longleaf Alliance, Inc. (Alabama/Florida/Georgia/Mississippi) and partners will translocate 60 red-cockaded woodpeckers (RCWs) to properties designated as recovery sites by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Project will manage and improve 6,000 acres of longleaf pine forest, providing high quality habitat for RCW nesting and foraging. The Alabama Wildlife Federation (Alabama) will provide technical assistance, outreach, and information to private landowners, contractors, and resource professionals to establish or enhance grassland habitat throughout Alabama. Project will increase awareness of the ecological value of native grassland habitat, foster a collaborative environment among project partners and restore 3,000 acres of grassland habitat for northern bobwhite quail and other grassland birds. The DeSoto-Camp Shelby Longleaf Implementation Team (Mississippi) The Nature Conservancy, Mississippi will coordinate with partners to establish more than 745 acres of longleaf pine and enhance an additional 2,500 acres of existing longleaf habitat with prescribed fire on private lands to benefit several rare species including the gopher tortoise, black pine snake and dusky gopher frog. Project will engage 850 private landowners through outreach and technical assistance and enroll 12 new landowners in stewardship programs. About Southern Company Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is America's premier energy company, with 46,000 megawatts of generating capacity and 1,500 billion cubic feet of combined natural gas consumption and throughput volume serving 9 million customers through its subsidiaries. The company provides clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy through electric operating companies in four states, natural gas distribution companies in seven states, a competitive generation company serving wholesale customers across America and a nationally recognized provider of customized energy solutions, as well as fiber optics and wireless communications. Southern Company brands are known for excellent customer service, high reliability and affordable prices that are below the national average. Through an industry-leading commitment to innovation, Southern Company and its subsidiaries are inventing America's energy future by developing the full portfolio of energy resources, including carbon-free nuclear, 21st century coal, natural gas, renewables and energy efficiency, and creating new products and services for the benefit of customers. Southern Company has been named by the U.S. Department of Defense and G.I. Jobs magazine as a top military employer, recognized among the Top 50 Companies for Diversity by DiversityInc, listed by Black Enterprise magazine as one of the 40 Best Companies for Diversity and designated a Top Employer for Hispanics by Hispanic Network. The company has earned a National Award of Nuclear Science and History from the National Atomic Museum Foundation for its leadership and commitment to nuclear development and is continually ranked among the top energy companies in Fortune's annual World's Most Admired Electric and Gas Utility rankings. Visit our website at www.southerncompany.com. SOURCE Southern Company Related Links http://www.southerncompany.com CHICAGO, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In a sign of growing acceptance for transgender children, a new survey conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of the American Osteopathic Association finds 53% of American adults would support their teenage child's request to transition to another gender. Early intervention and family support are shown to improve mental, physical and emotional outcomes for children with gender dysphoria, broadly defined as a conflict between a person's anatomy and the gender with which they identify. The importance of family "Parents have a significant role in raising transgender kids," says Laura Arrowsmith, DO, who practices at a transgender clinic in Oklahoma. "Once they get on boardoften after stages of denial, rejection, condemnation and griefthey become powerful advocates at school and with extended family. This is crucial to the child's well-being." Historically, transgender youth and adults experience higher rates of homelessness, substance abuse, HIV infection, depression, anxiety, self-harm and thoughts of suicide than the general population. Rejection by family and community are considered the main catalysts for these issues. "Watch your child for eating disorders, self-harm, substance abuse and suicidal tendencies," says Dr. Arrowsmith. "A mental health counselor who is familiar with transgender people and local support groups can make all the difference." Transgender and gender-expansive children do best when their family helps them cope with social pressure and bullying while affirming their journey. Simple actions can ensure a child feels safe and loved. In many cases, patience, support and careful listening are the best 'medicine'. What parents need to know "Trans children are living in a body that doesn't match how they view themselves," says Dr. Arrowsmith. "To address the dysphoria, some may wish to transition socially or to medically transition through gender-confirmation surgery and/or hormone treatment." For children who have not reached puberty, gender transition consists solely of social changes like name, pronoun and gender expression. The clinical protocol for children indicates that when a child who has socially transitioned is "consistently" and "persistently insisting" they are transgender, they can be placed on puberty-blocking medications to postpone physical traits. These medications prevent the child from developing the secondary sex characteristics of their birth gender, such as breasts for females or facial hair for males. Stopping the onset of puberty is reversible and makes medical treatment simpler if the patient decides to fully transition. On average, adolescents stay on the puberty-blocking medications from one to three years. "We know that if a child persists through puberty in identifying as the sex not assigned to them at birth, then it's pretty certain that they are transgender," says Dr. Arrowsmith. "Should they decide to change course and stop the puberty-blocking medications, they will simply go through a delayed puberty of their birth gender." What parents can do Parents should understand that early intervention eases transition. A young patient may choose to delay the onset of puberty through puberty blockers, which prevent biological changes and allow additional time to consider transitioningor not. Adolescents who initiate hormone therapy prior to puberty do not require the same level of medical care as a fully developed adult. Females transitioning to males take testosterone while males transitioning to females receive estrogen with an androgen inhibitor. Unlike social transitioning and puberty suppression, hormone therapy is only partially reversible after puberty. Parents first need to educate themselves on gender dysphoria, gender identity and the complexities of living transgender. Often, support groups are the turning point for families who are struggling with accepting their transgender children, says Dr. Arrowsmith. Once they meet other parents and see children who have transitioned, they are more likely to be supportive. Support is available to guide families and children through gender transition. Depending on the person's age and individual needs, the steps may include medical, social, surgical and legal changes. For more information, speak with your physician. Additional resources are available online, including the Human Rights Campaign's detailed reference guide Supporting & Caring for Transgender Children. Survey Methodology This survey was conducted online within the United States by Harris Poll on behalf of American Osteopathic Association from June 20-22, 2017 among 2,192 adults ages 18 and older. This online survey is not based on a probability sample and therefore no estimate of theoretical sampling error can be calculated. For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables, please contact Jessica Bardoulas. About the American Osteopathic Association The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) represents more than 129,000 osteopathic physicians (DOs) and osteopathic medical students; promotes public health; encourages scientific research; serves as the primary certifying body for DOs; and is the accrediting agency for osteopathic medical schools. Visit DoctorsThatDO.org to learn more. SOURCE American Osteopathic Association By PTI: framed Mumbai, Aug 16 (PTI) The Bombay High Court today restrained the Maharashtra government from granting permission for bullock cart races until the government frames rules to govern the same. A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice N M Jamdar said when the government has till date not framed rules, as envisaged in the amendment to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, it cannot grant permission. advertisement The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Pune resident Ajay Marathe, bringing to the courts notice a bullock cart race organised in his district tomorrow. The petition sought the court to stay the race. Government pleader Abhinandan Vagyani told the court today that the draft rules were ready and have been uploaded on the governments website for inviting suggestions and objections from persons concerned. The bench directed the government to file its affidavit within two weeks in response to the petition. The Maharashtra Assembly had in April this year passed a legislation for resumption of bullock cart races across the state, after Tamil Nadu enacted a law to regularise its rural sport Jallikattu. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Maharashtra Amendment) Bill would regularise the bullock race, a popular sport in rural Maharashtra which had been banned in 2014 on the ground that it caused pain and suffering to bullocks. State Animal Husbandry Minister Mahadev Jankar had then said the amendment was being made to the central act, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, in view of the vital role of the bullock cart race in preserving and promoting tradition and culture. After the Tamil Nadu government enacted the law to regulate Jallikattu (taming of the bull), there was a demand to revive bullock races in Maharashtra. PTI SP GK DV --- ENDS --- PRESTON, Wash., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Talking Rain Beverage Company, the maker of Sparkling Ice flavored sparkling waters, announces today a strategic alliance with Tata Global Beverages. The agreement will enhance the brand reach of Himalayan Natural Mineral Water under the Talking Rain Beverage Company umbrella, leveraging the Sparkling Ice distribution network to launch the mineral water in the U.S. This agreement will also signal the start of an alliance which will open doors for possible further expansion for Sparkling Ice into international markets. "We are proud to announce a strategic alliance between Talking Rain and Tata Global Beverages," stated Marcus Smith, President of Talking Rain Beverage Co. "Since 2012, we have worked diligently to create a strong and strategic direct-store-delivery distribution network, comprising more than 300 distributors covering every county in the United States. We are thrilled that the groundwork laid by the company and our distributor and retail partners has allowed the opportunity for a partnership of this kind, and we look forward to playing an instrumental role in the successful U.S. market entry for Himalayan Natural Mineral Water." Himalayan natural mineral water is a premium source water, from a pure and pristine underground moving stream aquifer, which is about 400 feet below the surface in the foothills of the Himalayas. Every drop travels through layers of rock, sand and silt for over 20 years. These layers act as natural filters and during this journey, allow the water to pick up essential minerals from which it acquires its unique composition and taste. Stephen Rice, Regional President Canada, America and Australia, Tata Global Beverages said 'We are delighted to be partnering with Talking Rain for the US market entry of Tata Global Beverages' Himalayan natural mineral water. With this entry, our product portfolio in the USA market will extend to the water category in addition to our existing coffee and tea portfolio. Himalayan is one of the first premium Indian FMCG brands to target the broader American audience and we look forward to working with Talking Rain to establish a strong market presence for Himalayan natural mineral water." About Talking Rain Beverage Company An iconic brand in the Seattle-area for 30 years, Talking Rain is a Washington-based beverage company situated in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains. This innovative company is outselling global brands in flavor-categories across the U.S., while beginning to find success internationally with the brand's bold-flavored, lightly carbonated sparkling water. A part of the Talking Rain product portfolio for over 20 years, Sparkling Ice beverages were often overlooked, until a major organizational shift in 2010 where the new leadership team refocused the company's efforts on this diamond in the rough. At that time, Talking Rain started to build a strong marketing, sales and manufacturing team to focus efforts on this flavored, zero-calorie carbonated beverage, which was quietly building a strong following in the Northwest since entering the marketplace. Since 2011, this strategic focus on Sparkling Ice has ignited the brand, resulting in 5900% sales growth from 2010-2015, and surpassing $650 million in retail sales that same year. About Tata Global Beverages Tata Global Beverages is a global beverage business; its brands have presence in over 40 countries. The Company has significant interests in tea, coffee and water and is the world's second largest tea company. 300 million servings of its brands are consumed everyday around the world. Tata Global Beverages Group has an annual turnover of approximately US$1.4bn including from its JV's and associates; it employs around 3,000 people across the world. The company focuses on natural beverages and has a stable of innovative regional and global beverage brands, including: Tata Tea, Tetley, Himalayan natural mineral water, Tata Water Plus and Tata Gluco+, Good Earth tea, Grand Coffee and Eight O'clock coffee. For more information please visit www.tataglobalbeverages.com SOURCE Talking Rain Beverage Company Related Links http://www.talkingrain.com AURORA, Ohio, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Technical Consumer Products, Inc. (TCP), a leading global manufacturer and distributor of energy-efficient lighting technologies, today announces the launch of www.tcpi.com, a brand-new website that features industry-first technology. "Whether you are a distributor, a lighting specifier, a project manager, or a resident who wants to understand their lighting options and technology better, our new user-friendly, easily searchable website helps you find what you need quickly," said Lesley Matt, Director of Marketing. TCP Launches New Website Featuring Industry-First Technology There are many new features on the website, including a color temperature slider. Users can see all of the products in the color temperature of their choosing simply by dragging the color bar. "Selecting the right lighting solution is one of the biggest challenges facing anyone working on a lighting project, and our goal is to make selection easier by making it highly visual," Matt said. Additional user-friendly features include application-based product selection, making it easier to find information quickly. The website also features two new blogs that cover commercial and residential lighting topics separately. The Amp presents the latest trends and opportunities for lighting a commercial, retail, or business space, while Light Roast is designed to make energy efficiency and lighting technology advances easy to understand. Also included in the website are cost calculators that highlight the savings available through high-performance, energy-efficient lighting solutions for commercial and residential lighting alike. Shifting technology, along with the wide assortment of options available often creates confusion in the lighting industry. TCP is focused on simplifying the selection process to make energy-efficient lighting more accessible to everyone. "The lighting industry is changing every day, and TCP is constantly working to make sure we are leading industry change," Matt said. "We are focused on innovating energy-efficient lights that companies, organizations, and residents need to meet the energy demands of a modern world." Founded in 1993 with its North American headquarters in Aurora, Ohio, Technical Consumer Products, Inc., a subsidiary of TCP International Holdings, Ltd. (OTC: TCPIF), is a leader in energy- efficient lighting innovations. TCP's extensive product offerings include LED and CFL lamps and fixtures, intelligent lighting control solutions, and other energy-efficient lighting products. TCP is a proud ENERGY STAR partner of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. For more information, visit www.tcpi.com. Contact Lesley Matt [email protected] 330.995.1040 SOURCE TCP Related Links http://www.tcpi.com STATE COLLEGE, Pa., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Teamsters at Pennsylvania State University voted to ratify their most recent contract by over 80 percent on Monday. The three-year agreement covers more than 2,600 workers in hospitality, maintenance, landscaping and various other support roles for the university. "This is a solid contract and we are all extremely pleased with what we have accomplished," said Jonathan Light, President of Local 8. "It sets a strong precedent that puts more money back into our members' pockets." After three months of negotiations, an agreement was reached that is retroactive to July 1. It includes wage increases across the board, but the most significant achievement is the preservation of the workers' health care plans. During collective bargaining, the university put forth a number of proposals that increased health care costs to the membership dramatically. Local 8 hired an actuary to analyze numbers that the university provided in negotiations, and they were able to talk down Penn State to an agreement where the workers would be able keep their current health care without paying significantly more for deductibles, premiums or coverage for dependents. "We heard from our members during our bargaining survey that health care was the important issue, and it was important that we negotiated an agreement that reflected that," Light said. Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and "like" us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters. Contact: Kara Deniz, (202) 624-6911 [email protected] SOURCE Teamsters Local 8 Related Links http://www.teamster.org Ameren Missouri and Saint Louis University are partners on an innovative weather forecasting system called Quantum Weather that provides detailed severe weather information to improve energy restoration for customers during storms. Kevin Anders, vice president of operations and technical services for Ameren Missouri, said the unique system will be put to good use during the solar eclipse. Ameren Missouri will continuously transmit data snapshots collected by 100 monitoring stations across Missouri and send them to Saint Louis University's Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. The data will allow scientists a rare opportunity to better understand the effects on temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind speed, wind direction and rainfall during an eclipse. "We're happy that this technology will be put to good use in Saint Louis University's nationwide experiment during the upcoming 2017 eclipse," Anders said. "Ameren Missouri's Quantum Weather system is the only state-wide weather monitoring system on the eclipse path that will provide rapid-real time measurements of atmospheric conditions during the solar eclipse." In addition to the Quantum Weather system data, Saint Louis University's Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences will be coordinating a nationwide study as part of the NASA and NSF-sponsored Eclipse Ballooning Project. Teams from 20 locations, including St. Louis and other parts of Ameren Missouri's service territory, will launch weather balloons into the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere during the eclipse. SLU is collaborating with a team at Jefferson College and with a team at Ameren Missouri's facility in Cape Girardeau to launch balloons that will monitor weather changes that happen when the sun disappears for more than two minutes. Each balloon will carry a radiosonde, an instrument that measures wind speed, humidity, barometric pressure and other conditions of the atmosphere. Robert Pasken, Ph.D., Saint Louis University meteorology professor and head of the launch team, says the event is rare and only lasts a short time. "There's a really large response on the part of the atmosphere when we lose sunlight and we are going to lose sunlight for two and a half minutes during the total solar eclipse," Pasken said. "This is a unique opportunity that will give scientists a rare opportunity for learning." About Ameren Ameren Missouri has been providing electric and gas service for more than 100 years, and the company's electric rates are among the lowest in the nation. Ameren Missouri's mission is to power the quality of life for its 1.2 million electric and 127,000 natural gas customers in central and eastern Missouri. The company's service area covers 64 counties and more than 500 communities, including the greater St. Louis area. For more information, visit Ameren.com/Missouri or follow us at @AmerenMissouri or Facebook.com/AmerenMissouri. About Saint Louis University Saint Louis University is a world-class Catholic, Jesuit institution educating nearly 13,000 students on two dynamic, urban campuses - in St. Louis, Missouri, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818, the University will soon celebrate its bicentennial. With a legacy of innovative academics and research, compassionate health care and faithful service, Saint Louis University attracts a diverse community of scholars who push intellectual boundaries in pursuit of creative, meaningful ways to impact the world, striving to serve a higher purpose and seek a greater good. SOURCE Ameren Missouri Related Links http://www.ameren.com/missouri LOS ANGELES, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Venders, (www.the-venders.com) an innovative vending, kiosk, and automated retailing designer, developer and manufacturer of customized vending systems featuring their own small footprint built in America Slimline product group, announced today an exclusive agreement with Life Support to build and introduce the Slimline VEN 300 Life Support branded vending machine to be placed in bars and night clubs throughout the US and Canada. Life Support is specially formulated to help prevent the effects of hangovers and improve overall well-being using a powerful mix of Japanese raisin tree fruit, vitamins, amino acids and antioxidants. Japanese raisin, which looks and tastes like a raisin, has been shown to counteract the effects of alcohol consumption. Life Support has exclusive rights on the most potent Japanese raisin tree fruit extract available, making the Life Support recovery shot the most powerful and efficient on the market. Brad McKean, President of Life Support says, "Our mission has always been to make our customer's lives better, easier and more productive. We believe in maintaining a healthy work/live balance when responsible and active lifestyle can coexist. Our Recovery Shot is meant to aid in establishing that comfortable balance so you can celebrate with confidence." Bryan Ross, President of The Venders stated, "We are excited about our relationship with Life Support and the opportunity to use our knowledge of the Automated Retail Market to build a custom vending machine to support Life Support distribution and sales to the more than 60,000 bars and night clubs in the US alone." The initial rollout of the Life Support vending machine will be in the Southern California area. Any establishment's having an interest in the placement of a Life Support machine can contact Robert Bienias, VP of Business Development for The Venders at 949-637-8828 CONTACT: Bob Bienias, 1-949-637-8828 SOURCE The Venders ANDOVER, Mass., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Weather Company, an IBM Business (NYSE: IBM) announced today that it is enhancing its global flight operations solution WSI Fusion, with live flight tracking data from FlightAware. WSI Fusion provides early insight into changing flight, airport and airspace conditions, enabling aviation providers to carefully plan and track flights, optimize operations and reduce the impacts of disruptive events. With the addition of FlightAware's data, including its private network of over 12,000 Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) ground stations in over 160 countries, WSI Fusion customers will have access to enhanced flight following capabilities worldwide. The Weather Company will fuse together flight tracking data from FlightAware with The Weather Company's real-time and forecast weather information, which was recently cited as the world's most accurate forecast, providing early insight and an actionable view that enables operations to make more informed decisions for their crew and passengers. By partnering with FlightAware, the leader in flight tracking data, The Weather Company will have access to a full complement of aircraft tracking data from across the globe. "At FlightAware, we provide partners with the most comprehensive data by fusing hundreds of sources of flight tracking information through our proprietary data processing and delivery platform," said Daniel Baker, chief executive officer of FlightAware. "Inputs from our ADS-B surveillance technology into The Weather Company's global flight operations platform will allow greater visibility into aircrafts' exact locations providing the end-user with improved situational awareness." ADSB is a surveillance technology in which an aircraft automatically determines its position and broadcasts it, enabling it to be tracked. The information can be received by air traffic control ground stations as a replacement for secondary radar, and it can also be received by other aircraft to provide situational awareness and allow self-separation. "The integration of FlightAware's world-class flight tracking data into WSI Fusion's powerful flight decision engine will help enhance operational decisions for our customers worldwide," said JP Gorsky, director of aviation solutions at The Weather Company. For more information on The Weather Company's aviation solutions, visit: https://business.weather.com/industry-solutions/aviation. For more information on FlightAware's intelligent data platform, visit: flightaware.com. The Weather Company, an IBM Business The Weather Company, an IBM Business, helps people make informed decisions and take action in the face of weather. The company offers the most accurate, personalized, and actionable weather data and insights to millions of consumers, as well as thousands of marketers and businesses via Weather's API, its business solutions division, and its own digital products from The Weather Channel (weather.com) and Weather Underground (wunderground.com). The company delivers tens of billions of forecasts daily. Its products include a top weather app on all major mobile platforms globally, a network of 250,000 personal weather stations, a top-20 U.S. website, one of the world's largest IoT data platforms, and industry-leading business solutions. Weather Means Business. The world's biggest brands in aviation, energy, insurance, media, and government rely on The Weather Company for data, technology platforms and services to help improve decision-making and respond to weather's impact on business. For more, visit theweathercompany.com. About FlightAware FlightAware is the world's largest flight tracking data company and provides over 10,000 aircraft operators and service companies as well as over 12,000,000 passengers with global flight tracking solutions. FlightAware leverages data from air traffic control systems in over 55 countries, from FlightAware's network of over 12,000 ADS-B ground stations in over 160 countries, Aireon space-based ADS-B and using global datalink. FlightAware is privately held with offices in Houston, New York and Singapore. SOURCE The Weather Company, an IBM Business NORWICH, England, August 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- One of the leading names in the UK's thriving fractional ownership industry, Travel & Leisure Group, has recently updated its website. The site is now undergoing a soft relaunch with the support of Omni Search UK, featuring a new design, UX and functionality in time for the company's 25th anniversary celebration. Sarah Bond, the Operations Manager of Travel & Leisure Group made the following statement about the new sites update: "We're thrilled about the re-launch of the Travel & Leisure Group website. We're looking forward to seeing an increase in business due to the improved user experience. Throughout the process, our focus has been on making it easier to use. This includes everything from vastly better navigation to a fresh, attractive look in line with current trends. Both new and existing clients can now enjoy a clean, user-friendly website from the same timeshare broker they know and trust." The original site was created in 2011 with a style and design that was reflective of the contemporary industry trends at the time. As a result, the overall look has been updated to evolve with the latest vogues to create an impressive visual statement for visiting web traffic. With the update taking in over 20,000 pages, this has been a challenging task for both the company and the web design company, yet a professional, fully operational site has been produced. Included in the update has been a range of new imagery to support the sales messages and a new page structure working as a front end to the database driven site. As the company has retained a consistent sales message there has been no requirement to update the copy, although the key conversion journey has been improved with forms and buttons. The site is fully navigable in 10 different languages making it accessible to a range of global sales channels. One of the most impressive features of the new site is a Google maps driven widget that displays all the fractional ownership properties available through Travel & Leisure Group. Visitors can use this functionality to quickly find a desirable purchase opportunity in the exact location of their choice. Backed up by over 25 years of experience Travel & Leisure Group sells and markets fractional ownership properties for private sellers seeking private buyers, whilst providing a strong brokerage service. This results in a comparatively cost effective service when contrasted with standard industry practice, which has been a key feature of the business's growth and success over the past two and half decades. Company Details: Travel & Leisure Group Talas House 100 East Street Sudbury Suffolk CO10 2TP England +44-1787-881111 https://www.travelandleisure.co.uk [email protected] Media Contact: Omni Search 8 Station Road Coltishall Norwich Norfolk NR12 7JL England +44-1603-560465 https://omnisearch.uk [email protected] SOURCE Travel & Leisure Group AVONDALE, Ariz., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Technical Institute (NYSE: UTI) announces the expansion of its new Welding Technology program to the UTI-Avondale campus in the Phoenix area. Student and employer interest in the program is high in anticipation of classes scheduled to begin in January 2018. "UTI-Avondale will be the second UTI campus to offer the Welding Technology program, and more will follow," said Michael Romano, UTI-Avondale campus president. "This is an expansion strategy that supports student enrollment growth, improves the utilization of our facilities and enables us to better meet the needs of employers. Skilled welders are in demand, so UTI is proud to provide yet another avenue for students to get the skills they need for a rewarding career." In July, UTI-Rancho Cucamonga (Calif.) became the first UTI campus to launch the new welding program. The first class was filled to capacity, illustrative of strong student interest. Welders are increasingly sought in industries ranging from automotive fabrication and motorsports to aerospace, energy and virtually every kind of manufacturing. Between 2014 and 2024, industry will need to fill more than 128,000 new and replacement positions.1 Welders are particularly in demand for major infrastructure projects that keep our nation moving, including: vehicles, bridges, highways, office buildings, schools, pipelines, power plants, refineries and even spacecraft. The UTI Welding Technology program prepares students for certification via the American Welding Society. The program includes hands-on training and instruction through a comprehensive curriculum developed in collaboration with Lincoln Electric, a global leader in the welding industry. "Lincoln Electric has a century-long commitment to educating welders," said Jason Scales, Manager of Educational Services at Lincoln Electric. "With the critical shortage of welders today, we accelerated our efforts to provide educators at every level with skills and knowledge that employers demand. We are excited to expand our products, services and expertise to help the UTI team develop an outstanding welding education program." The 36-week UTI Welding Technology program will train students as entry-level welders and equips them with the knowledge and skills to work in the transportation, construction, structural, pipe and fabrication industries. Courses include Principles of Welding, Gas Metal and Shielded Metal Arc Welding, Pipe Welding, Safety, and more. The program is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges (ACCSC) and complements UTI's core automotive, diesel, motorcycle, marine and collision repair programs across the nation. About Lincoln Electric Lincoln Electric is the world leader in the design, development and manufacture of arc welding products, robotic arc welding systems, plasma and oxy-fuel cutting equipment and has a leading global position in the brazing and soldering alloys market. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Lincoln has 48 manufacturing locations, including operations and joint ventures in 19 countries and a worldwide network of distributors and sales offices covering more than 160 countries. For more information about Lincoln Electric and its products and services, visit the Company's website at www.lincolnelectric.com. About Universal Technical Institute, Inc. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Universal Technical Institute, Inc. (NYSE: UTI) is the leading provider of postsecondary education for students seeking careers as professional automotive, diesel, collision repair, motorcycle and marine technicians. With more than 200,000 graduates in its 52-year history, UTI offers undergraduate degree and diploma programs at 12 campus locations across the United States as well as manufacturer-specific training programs at dedicated training centers. Through its campus-based school system, UTI provides specialized postsecondary education programs under the banner of several well-known brands, including Universal Technical Institute (UTI), Motorcycle Mechanics Institute and Marine Mechanics Institute (MMI) and NASCAR Technical Institute (NASCAR Tech). For more information, visit www.uti.edu/. Like UTI on www.facebook.com/UTI or follow UTI on Twitter @UTITweet, @MMITweet and @NASCARTechUTI. For information about our graduation rates, the median debt of students who completed the program and other important information, visit our website at www.uti.edu/disclosure. 1 Source: Based on data compiled from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, www.bls.gov, viewed in July 2017 Media Contacts: National: Jody Kent Vice President, Communications and Public Affairs 623-445-0872 [email protected] Arizona: Matthew Benson UTI-Avondale Media Liaison 602-570-7493 [email protected] SOURCE Universal Technical Institute, Inc. Related Links http://www.uti.edu PENSACOLA, Fla. and CABOT, Ark., Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of West Florida Center for Cybersecurity is partnering with Metova CyberCENTS to create the Florida Cyber Range from Metova's CENTS portfolio of cyber range simulators. The range will be used for hands-on cybersecurity education, training, operations and research. This partnership provides a platform for the UWF Center for Cybersecurity and Metova CyberCENTS to proactively explore knowledge, technologies and tools to further advance cybersecurity regionally, nationally and globally. The Florida Cyber Range will provide advanced training and testing solutions for academic, government, military and commercial organizations through various cybersecurity exercises and activities. The Florida Cyber Range will revolutionize cybersecurity education and operations within the state and position Florida to provide critical cybersecurity expertise for the nation. "We are honored to partner with Metova CyberCENTS to launch the Florida Cyber Range," said Dr. Eman El-Sheikh, director of the UWF Center for Cybersecurity. "The Florida Cyber Range provides a state-of-the-art environment to help cybersecurity students and professionals gain valuable practical skills to detect and defend against real world cyber-attacks. The range will help organizations differentiate themselves and prepare against emerging threats and attacks through innovative training experiences." The National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security designated UWF as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education and as the CAE Regional Resource Center for the Southeast US. In this role, the UWF Center for Cybersecurity provides leadership to advance cyber defense education among colleges and universities in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico, South Carolina and Tennessee. The Florida Cyber Range is designed to provide a Tier 1 Cybersecurity Hub capable of providing services to institutions looking to expand their cybersecurity offerings. "The Florida Cyber Range will complement expanding cybersecurity education, training and research initiatives by using real world situations to prepare against complex cyber-attacks," El-Sheikh said. "The UWF Center for Cybersecurity will develop resources and models for integrating Florida Cyber Range exercises into education and training programs and will disseminate these resources regionally and nationally." Metova is the owner and developer of the Cyberoperations Enhanced Network and Training Simulators product line, which is a portfolio of Cyber Simulator and Range solutions. CENTS solutions provide an integrated, Live-Virtual-Constructive cyber range environment for training, exercising and testing full-spectrum cyberspace capabilities. Metova's cyber range products have been in development and production for over a decade. Taking input directly from cyber operators, beginning with the U.S. Air Force conducting Computer Network Defense exercises in 2001, Metova's CENTS design has continued to evolve and progress from the first Department of Defense Cyber Range installation, the Joint Cyberspace Operations Range, to the premier cyber range platform currently used within the DoD. "We envision a future public-private enterprise that will encourage cyber innovation and training, all while being supportive of entrepreneurship," said Bill Dunn, president of Metova CyberCENTS. "Metova CyberCENTS is pleased to be joined by UWF in bringing the Florida Cyber Range to life, not only for the Cyber Coast, but for government, industry, universities and K-12 across Florida and the nation." For more information on the Florida Cyber Range, please visit floridacyberrange.org/. For more information on the UWF Center for Cybersecurity, visit uwf.edu/cybersecurity. For more information on Metova CyberCENTS, visit cybercents.com. About the University of West Florida Center for Cybersecurity The University of West Florida provides a unique, multidisciplinary approach to cybersecurity with a variety of undergraduate and graduate cybersecurity education and training programs and certificates. The UWF Center for Cybersecurity is the regional hub for cybersecurity education, research, outreach and partnerships. The center innovates cybersecurity solutions through its interdisciplinary approach which connects ideas and people to elevate cybersecurity and enhance workforce and economic development. About CENTS and SLAM-R Technology Using state-of-the-art training simulators much like those used by fighter pilots, CENTS was developed in 2006 to support cyber training and operations for the U.S. Air Force. Following a decade of success and continual refinement, today CENTS is the pre-eminent product portfolio for preparing cyber operators to detect and defend against malicious actors. CENTS provides a powerful, realistic, risk-free emulated environment for training, developing and testing response actions to routine, zero-day and catastrophic events. About Metova Metova is a privately held Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) and is a leading technology company creating world-class apps and technology services for customers ranging from government entities to Fortune 500 companies and startups. Metova provides solutions for organizations such as the Department of State, Department of Defense and hundreds of commercial entities. Metova provides services that include Cyber Defense, Technology Services, RFID and application development. SOURCE Metova CyberCENTS Related Links http://www.cybercents.com COPENHAGEN, Denmark, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Highlights Revenue reached tUSD 16,168 in the first half of 2017 representing an increase of 394% compared to the same period last year. U.S. revenue increased 168% to tUSD 6,418 EU revenue increased 69% to tUSD 1,470 RoW upfront revenues were tUSD 8,250 Signed outlicensing agreements for Envarsus XR with: Endo Ventures Limited for the Canadian market (to be registered and commercialized by Paladin Labs, Inc.) Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A. for China Taiba Healthcare for Middle East and North Africa region (MENA) 69% of U.S. transplant centers have utilized Envarsus XR since launch. Veloxis (OMX: VELO) reported a net loss of tUSD 4,247 for the first half of 2017 compared to a net loss of tUSD 16,407 for the same period in 2016. The reported operating net loss is in line with expectations. In connection with the financial report, Veloxis's CEO Craig Collard said: "I am very pleased with the continued strong sales growth of Envarsus and the execution of our RoW licensing efforts. We will continue to execute our commercial strategy in the second half of 2017." Outlook for 2017 Veloxis narrows its 2017 outlook of operating loss before the recognition of income from license agreements and before accounting for stock compensation from USD 5 15 million to be in the range of USD 10 15 million. Conference Call A conference call will be held tomorrow, 17 August, 2017 at 3:00 PM CEST (Denmark); 1:00 PM GMT (London), 9:00 AM EST (New York). To access the live conference call, please dial one of the following numbers: Confirmation Code: 1870839 UK: +44(0)20 3427 0503 U.S.: +1 212 444 0412 DK: +4532 71 16 59 A complete copy of Veloxis's Interim Report for the First Six Months of 2017 can be accessed in the Download Center on the Company's website: http://www.veloxis.com/downloadCenter.cfm. SOURCE Veloxis Pharmaceuticals Related Links http://www.veloxis.com The allowance is sanctioned if, in the opinion of a competent medical authority, a 100 per cent disabled retired employee needs the services of a constant attendant for at least three months. There is good news for retired government employees under 7th Pay Commission. Photo for representation. By PTI: The constant attendant allowance given to a retired employee has increased to Rs 6,750 per month from the existing Rs 4,500, states an official order issued recently. The allowance is sanctioned if, in the opinion of a competent medical authority, a 100 per cent disabled retired employee needs the services of a constant attendant for at least three months. advertisement The move to increase the allowance comes after the recommendation of the Seventh Central Pay Commission. Accordingly, the allowance has been hiked from Rs 4,500 to Rs 6,750 per month, said the order issued by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. The order will be applicable from July 1, 2017, it said. The constant attendant allowance is paid in addition to the disability pension. The Modi government approved the recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission on June 28 with 34 modifications. Besides the hike in constant attendant allowance, the government also increased fixed medical allowance for pensioners from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per month. The Seventh Pay Commission recommended revision of House Rent Allowance (HRA) when Dearness Allowance (DA) reaches 50 per cent and 100 per cent. The government decided to revise rates when DA crosses 25 per cent and 50 per cent respectively. Recently, the government reportedly rejected the demand of Central government employees for an increase in minimum pay. Employee unions have been demanding that the minimum pay be hiked to Rs 26,000 from Rs 18,000. ALSO READ: 7th Pay Commission: Government quashes pay hike demand, disappointment for central government employees 7th Pay Commission: 7 main takeaways from Cabinet decision on HRA, other allowances 7th Pay Commission: Central govt employees' salary for July to reflect revision in allowances ALSO WATCH: FM Jaitley announces 3 Cabinet approvals: Chakeri-Allahabad highway, 7th Pay Commission, Air India disinvestment --- ENDS --- "Volaero is excited about its agreement with Geodetics which now fully rounds out its imaging capabilities to also include LiDAR imagery," said Charles Zwebner, CEO of Volaero. "This was a missing piece that was required for some of our engineering clients with precision needs and we have now filled the gap. We are pleased that we have chosen Geodetics to be our supplier with their advanced Geo-MMS LiDAR and RGB mobile mapping products and great support team," added Zwebner. Dr. Lydia Bock, Geodetics President and CEO, said, "Sensor fusion utilizing LiDAR for mobile mapping is a breakthrough technology that will transform how drones can cost effectively perform many commercial mapping applications. As a team of high-tech payload development professionals, we are also excited to partner with Volaero who shares our commitment to bring new solutions to market, tailor our products for unique customer applications and simplify the overall user experience." Geodetics designs, develops and manufactures products and systems utilizing core competencies in advanced algorithms, data fusion and sensor integration. The company specializes in precision needs and we have now closed the gap in Aerospace & Defense programs and state of the art LiDAR mapping systems for commercial drone operations in both domestic and international markets. SOURCE Volaero Drones Related Links http://www.volaerodrones.com WASHINGTON, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Wall Street Fraud Watchdog says, "The more we learn about Chinese or European investors attempting to take advantage of the US EB-5 Visa program, the more concerned we are for individual investors. In the last few weeks we have talked to some regional center insiders who told us about some upcoming real estate investment disasters, and we also heard from investors trying to figure out how to get their money back-which by the way is almost impossible. EB-5 Visa Investment "Before you invest a dime in a EB-5 Visa Regional Center's too good to be true apartment rental property, hotel or business opportunity please call us anytime at 866-714-6466 and allow us to examine your proposed investment. If you do not want to lose all or a good portion of your EB-5 Visa investment money-please use our very affordable due diligence inspection service. Aside from fearing that most major US metro areas have a glut of luxury apartments, we do not see a huge upside in hotel or restaurant franchises that are poorly located, or that will never break even because the land to build was too expensive." http://WallStreetFraudWatchdog.Com Recently representatives of the Wall Street Fraud Watchdog visited a hotel property that was built with EB-5 Visa investor money and located in a neighborhood in major metro area in the US Southeast. In this example, the neighborhood was more like a war zone, and the hotel's parking lot was basically empty on weekend days and nights. In another example, a EB-5 Visa investor funded Southern California apartment building had about 10% occupancy in September of 2016 and 10 months later is only 10% occupied. The famous Academy Award winning movie star Paul Newman once said, "If you're playing a poker game and you look around the table and you can't tell who the sucker is, it's you." http://WallStreetFraudWatchdog.Com Recent EB-5 Visa News: Map: Sites of EB-5 Visa Fraud and Folly in the United States : https://cis.org/Map-Sites-EB5-Visa-Fraud-and-Folly-United-States : https://cis.org/Map-Sites-EB5-Visa-Fraud-and-Folly-United-States Victims of alleged U.S. visa fraud sue to get their money back: www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-visa-fraud-victims-20170520-story.html According to the SEC, "With this rise in investments, and corresponding rise in fraud, EB-5 investors should complete their own due diligence before investing in any EB-5 project or regional center." The Wall Street Fraud Watchdog is deeply concerned US based law firms with offices in China, Central America, the Middle East or in Europe could be more interested in legal fee generation for the law firm-than a high quality outcome for a EB-5 Visa applicant. At the same time law firms in some instances are representing a EB-5 Regional Center and an individual EB-5 investor at the same time. The group is also extremely concerned the regional center and the investment, the broker, and the developer are all one in the same especially for Chinese investors. Bottom line, the Wall Street Fraud Watchdog is not confident all EB-5 Visa Regional Centers have a make sense investment product for the EB-5 Visa applicant/investor. The Wall Street Fraud Watchdog's initiative is all about protecting the EB-5 Visa program applicant/investor and their money with their affordable investment due diligence and inspection services. For more information related to investment due diligence report for a potential EB-5 Visa investor, please contact the Wall Street Fraud Watchdog anytime at 866-714 6466. http://WallStreetFraudWatchdog.Com Media Contact: Thomas Martin [email protected] 866-714-6466 SOURCE Wall Street Fraud Watchdog Related Links http://WallStreetFraudWatchdog.Com DENVER, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Welltok, the leading consumer health enterprise Software as a Service company, is among the top 5 percent of the nation's fastest growing private companies on Inc. magazine's 36th annual list. The company ranked #278 in its third consecutive recognition on the prestigious Inc. 5000 list. Welltok also ranked 6th among Colorado companies and 19th among health companies. "It is a great honor to be ranked highly on the list three years in a row, and the ranking speaks to the importance of our mission of empowering and enabling individuals to become engaged health consumers," said Jeff Margolis, chairman and CEO for Welltok. "Our success is largely attributed to our innovative clients embracing the need for an enterprise-level platform that systematically connects consumers with the resources and tools that help them achieve optimal health." Welltok has generated national recognition and built an impressive client roster by developing the health industry's leading consumer enterprise platform. The company's health optimization platform organizes the growing spectrum of health-related programs and resources into a unified, highly personalized experience for consumers while also helping population health managers improve operational efficiencies, maximize revenue and drive greater healthcare value. Additionally, the company's technology-enabled service offerings effectively target and engage consumers to achieve client-specific business objectives ranging from closing gaps in care to acquiring new members. These services include Welltok Analytics Services, which leverage advanced analytics to provide actionable consumer insights in order to identify and target consumer needs and impactability; and Welltok Engagement Services, formerly Silverlink Communications, which develops and delivers engaging communications across all channels (text, email, IVR, mail and more) based on consumer preferences and goals. Company milestones contributing to its growth trajectory, include: Expansion and diversification of its client base to include health plans, government programs (Medicare and Medicaid), large employers, providers, health and wellness organizations and retail pharmacy Launch of several new product offerings including SMARTReach, which combines its unparalleled analytics and communications capabilities; and the Virtual Benefit Agent, powered by IBM Watson, which is an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot that provides on-demand and personalized answers to questions about benefits and healthcare costs Continued expansion of Welltok's proprietary consumer database to include 275 million Americans and 1,600 variables such as income, household composition, purchasing habits and voting records Strategic partnerships with TeleTech, HealthFitness and IBM Watson to create combined high- and low-touch solutions to seamlessly serve the needs of both population health managers and consumers Inc. 5000 is the most prestigious ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies and the 2017 honorees are being hailed as the "most competitive crop in the list's history." The list represents a unique look at the most successful companies in America. Welltok was ranked high thanks to an impressive three-year growth rate of 1,576%, compared to the list average of 481%. About Welltok Welltok, the leading consumer health enterprise Software as a Service company, is on a mission to empower consumers to achieve their optimal health. Its award-winning CafeWell Health Optimization Platform connects consumers with available and relevant benefits, resources and rewards by designing personalized action plans. Additionally, the company's technology-enabled services leverage both advanced analytics to derive meaningful consumer insights and multi-channel communications to reach consumers through the right channel with the right message. Welltok drives greater consumer engagement and healthcare value for customers across the healthcare continuum including payers, employers, government programs (Medicare and Medicaid) and providers. Follow Welltok on Twitter @Welltok. About Inc. 5000 The 2017 Inc. 5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2013 to 2016. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2013. They had to be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independentnot subsidiaries or divisions of other companiesas of December 31, 2016. The Inc. 5000 is a list of the fastest-growing private companies in the nation. Started in 1982, this prestigious list of the nation's most successful private companies has become the hallmark of entrepreneurial success. Companies on the Inc. 500 are featured in Inc.'s September issue. They represent the top tier of the Inc. 5000, which can be found at http://www.inc.com/inc5000. Contact: Erica Sniad Morgenstern [email protected] 720-390-6373 SOURCE Welltok Related Links https://www.welltok.com LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., Aug.16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc . (NYSE:BR) announced that Whitebox Advisors, a global, multi-strategy, multi-billion-dollar hedge fund, has chosen Broadridge's best-in-suite solution to transform Whitebox's technology platform to a new paradigm of fully integrated, hedge fund operations hosted by Broadridge. In particular, Broadridge will provide a comprehensive, fully hosted and integrated platform of trading, portfolio management, reference data, reconciliation and data warehouse solutions to manage Whitebox's front, middle and back-office operations. This move to Broadridge's hosted platform will enhance Whitebox's ability to quickly respond to new growth opportunities. Broadridge's fully integrated solution will enable Whitebox to streamline and automate workflow around a complex array of traded instruments. Broadridge will be hosting Advent's Geneva, thereby integrating Geneva with Broadridge's data warehouse, HTML 5-based reporting solution and state-of-the-art order management / portfolio management/ risk management system, which is backed by Broadridge's central security master and pricing solutions. Replacing the siloed solutions means no longer being tied to aligning the upgrade paths of multiple vendor solutions with all the of operational risks and costs related thereto. "Like many funds, we believed that our business was complex and required a very unique set of products and a large amount of customization," said Michael McCormick, COO, from Whitebox Advisors "What impressed us about the Broadridge product offering was the breadth of the capabilities and their ability to offer it as an integrated solution, freeing us up focus on generating alpha and work that is truly differentiating, by allowing us to simplify our operating environment and reduce our need to be a system/vendor integrator." "We are excited to be providing Whitebox an integrated solution to help support its platform based on best-of-breed components," said Eric Bernstein, President of Broadridge asset management solutions. "We have strategically built a unique integrated and hosted solution helping clients simplify their infrastructure, decrease operational risk and lower their total cost of ownership." About Broadridge Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:BR) a global fintech leader, provides investor communications and technology-driven solutions for broker-dealers, banks, mutual funds and corporate issuers globally. Broadridge's investor communications, securities processing and managed services solutions help clients reduce their capital investments in operations infrastructure, allowing them to increase their focus on core business activities. With over 50 years of experience, Broadridge's infrastructure underpins proxy voting services for over 90 percent of public companies and mutual funds in North America, and processes more than $5 trillion in fixed income and equity trades per day. Broadridge employs approximately 10,000 full-time associates in 16 countries. For more information about Broadridge, please visit www.broadridge.com. Media Contacts: Tina Wadhwa Corporate Communications +1 212-973-6164 [email protected] Brett Philbin Edelman +1 212-704-8263 [email protected] SOURCE Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. Related Links http://www.broadridge.com FRANKLIN, Tennessee, August 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- ZOOM International, a leader in workforce optimization and contact center software, today announced the ZOOM Omnichannel Search Engine. Available to ZOOM customers today, it is an industry-first for continuous contact center improvement in an omnichannel world. By placing a search engine at the core of the ZOOM product suite and architecture, the company is reinventing how contact centers-large and small-capture, analyze and improve customer and agent experiences as well as customer support processes and applications. (Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160119/323397LOGO ) Frost & Sullivan projects that by 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as a key brand differentiator. Forrester found that customer experience leaders grow revenue at a 17 percent compound annual growth rate, whereas laggards only grow 3 percent. An Aberdeen report entitled "Omni-Channel Customer Care" found that within the top-performers: 85 percent conduct regular training of customer care agents in the handling of omnichannel communications, compared with 66 percent among the other respondents 77 percent store customer contact data across multiple channels, compared with 48 percent 69 percent identify topics repeatedly addressed by customers across channels to find where communications need to be improved in specific channels, compared with 42 percent To achieve this level of performance, contact centers need WFO technology that makes continuous contact center improvement easier and more automated. Through connectors and APIs, search engines bring in all types of customer and agent experience meta-data, embracing omnichannel media capture for call audio meta-data, chat and email. With search-driven UI, saved searches and text-based highlighting, managers can easily find and quickly analyze omnichannel interactions in a few mouse clicks. ZOOM's search technology also prioritizes where quality improvements can and should be made. No other data-driven WFO application can deliver these benefits to contact centers in the same way. "We designed a cloud-native search engine for next-generation, data-driven contact centers and smarter WFO applications," said Brian Shore, chief executive officer at ZOOM International. "With ZOOM's search capabilities, contact centers can access more varieties and volumes of data with greater effectiveness and speed. At the end of the day, this technology improves the customer experience across channels and in turn delivers better business outcomes in contact center operations." ZOOM Omnichannel Search Engine provides a foundation for companies to address one of the most challenging and important contact center metrics-first contact resolution (FCR). FCR is challenging because siloed, time-based interaction data must be captured and integrated, then prioritized. Search engines are purpose-built to capture, correlate, analyze and prioritize a myriad of structured and unstructured data from any type of device or interaction over time-these capabilities play strongly towards the evolution of FCR. Traditional databases, data warehouses and CRM systems aren't designed to manage this type of data as effectively. In contrast, ZOOM Omnichannel Search Engine delivers from ten to 100 times more speed and scale on ten to 100 times more data versus traditional databases and data warehouses. In-house tests show that common queries on customer interaction data with a traditional database can take 5 or more minutes, but those exact same queries with ZOOM take just seconds. With omnichannel search technology, ZOOM's entire product suite captures, analyzes and improves customer interactions more effectively than any other vendor in ZOOM's industry and sector. ZOOM collects a wide spectrum of interactions-CRM, customer surveys, audio and video metadata, computer screens, email, chat and collaboration. There is a growing set of APIs to record SMS, social media, internet of things, IVRs, cloud integration services and more. About ZOOM International ZOOM International is a global workforce optimization (WFO) provider serving more than 1,600 customers and 350 partners in over 90 countries around the world. The company records calls and helps contact centers improve the customer and agent experience by capturing, analyzing, and improving the quality of all interactions, while addressing back office compliance and risk. ZOOM is the industry leader in customer satisfaction, earning a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of more than 80 for the last year. Customers range from sub-100 agent contact centers to some the world's largest companies, such as Finansbank, Cigna, Rostelecom, IBM, LEGO, and Saudi Aramco. More information can be found at http://www.zoomint.com or on Twitter @zoomint. SOURCE ZOOM International By PTI: Delhi govt New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) The Delhi government today decided that vendors associated with its hospitals would be paid within a month of the receipt of bill, and strongly vowed that it would "never allow" a Gorakhpur-like situation to occur in the national capital. The decision was taken during the review meet of city-run hospitals which was chaired by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. advertisement The high-level meeting comes close on the heels of the tragic incident at a government-run hospital in Gorakhpur where about 70 children, including infants, have died since August 7. Addressing reporters after the meet, Health Minister Satyendar Jain also announced that a new helpline would soon be launched for grievance redressal. "Medical superintendents of all the hospitals attended the review meet, during which we discussed about availability of medicines and preparedness of hospitals," he said. "Emergency services offered at our hospitals were also reviewed. We also decided that payment to our associate vendors would be made in 30 days. And, in case of any delay, the payment has to be made not beyond 45 days from the receipt of bill," he said. Jain said, earlier, in certain cases, if the payment would get delayed, it would be made, sometimes by 60 days. "We are all prepared, from regular to emergency services. We would never allow a Gorakhpur-like situation to occur in Delhi," he said. Many of the deaths at BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur were alleged to have been caused by shortage of oxygen, a claim dismissed by the Uttar Pradesh government. Asked about the proposed helpline, the minister said, it would be made operational "in few days and monitored by the CM himself". "Earlier, people, who wanted to lodge grievances related to health services, had the option of using a SMS-based platform. But, now, they would be able to reach out to a call centre, and get necessary details," Jain said. The minister also said that "90 per cent of the medicines" listed in the Delhi government inventory are available and "we are working to further improve the situation". "Besides, small and big category hospitals, which earlier had power to spend Rs 10 lakh and Rs 50 lakh respectively on buying medical equipment, would both would have power to spend Rs 1 crore for the purpose," he said. The city is battling rising cases of vector-borne diseases, but the health minister said the city government is "well-prepared" to face any situation and people should not panic. advertisement Over 130 fresh cases of dengue have been reported during the last week in Delhi, taking the total number of people affected by the vector-borne disease this season to nearly 500, according to the latest municipal report. The number of people affected by malaria this year till August 12, has climbed to 385 while the figure for chikungunya stands at 283. PTI KND/BUN AAR --- ENDS --- Every State has its own official language and our constitution recognises the primacy of that language, said Siddaramaiah during his Independence Day speech.. By Rohini Swamy: 'Imposition of any language other than the local language is unconstitutional', said Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Stressing his stand on what the State calls 'imposition of Hindi', Siddaramaiah made it very clear during his Independence Day speech that, "Every State has its own official language and our constitution recognises the primacy of that language. Hence, imposition of any other language in a State is unconstitutional and it is against the spirit of formation of States on linguistic basis." advertisement The pro-Kannada outfits have been demanding that Hindi signboards should be removed, and instead only English and Kannada be used. They have also demanded that the bank employees who have migrated to Karnataka or work, should learn Kannada within 6 months or they will be ousted. The pro-Kannada outfits also forced Namma Metro to change all signboards by removing Hindi signboards. Also Read: Bengaluru: Pro-Kannada group blacken Hindi sign boards at metro stations Bengaluru: Namma Metro services resume after staffers call off strike Also Watch: Rahul Gandhi to inaugurate Indira Canteen for a hunger-free Bengaluru --- ENDS --- Mumbai, Aug 11 : The State Bank of India (SBI) on Friday said its standalone net profit went down to Rs 2,005.53 crore during the first quarter of the 2017-18 fiscal. In a regulatory filing in BSE, the bank said it has posted a net profit of Rs 2,005.53 crore, down from Rs 2,520.96 crore on a standalone basis, for the quarter ended June 30. The bank in a statement said the net profit for the period under review zoomed by 436 per cent for the period under review from Rs 374 crore posted during the previous year corresponding period by aggregating the historical audited numbers of erstwhile associate banks, Bharatiya Mahila Bank and its own for comparison purposes. Going by the regulatory filing, SBI during the first quarter of the current fiscal, earned a total income of Rs 62,911.08 crore, up from Rs 48,928.60 crore during the same period in the 2016-17 fiscal. The bank's provisions against bad loans shot up to Rs 12,125.26 crore for the period under review, up from Rs 6,339.56 crore for the quarter ended June 30, 2016. This in effect has dragged down the bank's net profit to Rs 2,005.53 crore. The country's largest mortgage lender's gross non-performing assets (NPA) shot up to Rs 188,068.49 crore as of June 30, as against Rs 101,541.18 crore on June 30, 2016. The net NPA as on June 30, 2017 stood at Rs 107,759.66 crore up from Rs 57,420.98 crore as on June 30, 2016. On the progress of the merger Chairperson of SBI Arundhati Bhattacharya told reporters that during the quarter under review 594 branches have been merged till August 6, 2017 and the entire branch merger process is expected to be completed by September 2017. According to SBI, the total number of branches as on date including the merged banks stands at 23,423. She said 8,616 employees will be deployed on sales function on account of rationalisation of staff. The bank said 3,569 employees were paid a sum of Rs 473.4 crore under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) implemented to have a balanced age profile of employees. The VRS is expected to save the bank around Rs 400 crore per year, the bank said in an analyst presentation. She said rationalisation of branches would result in an annual saving of Rs 1,160 crore for the bank over a period of time. On the NPA slippages, Bhattacharya said that the slippage ratio was at 5.87 per cent in FY17 is down in first quarter. It is expect to come down to 3.3 per cent in FY18. According to her the operating expenses controlled well, up only by 3.72 per cent in Q1 year-on-year (YoY). The SBI's scrip came down to Rs 280.65 on BSE after touching an intra-day high of Rs 302.80. Baghdad, Aug 13 : Iraqi forces on Sunday killed 12 Islamic State militants in Iraq's province of Salahudin after fierce clashes, security sources said. The clashes erupted before dawn when dozens of IS militants attacked the military bases after heavy mortar barrage and machine gun fire in Zuwiyah area, about 250 km north of here, a source told Xinhua news agency. The troops fought back and foiled the attackers from storming their bases, but the militants managed to block the main road between Salahudin's province capital Tikrit and the city of Mosul in northern Iraq, the source said. In the morning, reinforcement troops and helicopter gunships reopened the main road after defeating the extremist militant, who withdrew to Makhoul mountain range in the northern part of Tikrit, the source added. After the withdrawal of the extremist militants, the troops found 12 of their bodies and two destroyed armoured vehicles, three trucks along with large amount of weapons and ammunition left in the battlefield, the source said. The clashes also resulted in the killing of three soldiers and the wounding of eight others, the source added. Iraqi security forces and allied paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units freed Tikrit and other key cities and towns in the predominately Sunni Arab province of Salahudin from the extremist IS group in June 2014. The incident came as Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared Mosul's liberation on July 10 after nearly nine months of fierce fighting to dislodge the extremist militants from their last major stronghold in Iraq. United Nations, Aug 15 : UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the weekend racist violence and bigotry in the US state of Virginia which left a woman dead. "We believe that there must be no place in our societies for the violent racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and discrimination that we've seen in Charlottesville, Virginia," Xinhua news agency quoted a spokesman as saying. The UN chief expressed his condolences to the families and loved ones of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to all those who were injured. A 32-year-old woman, Heather Heyer, from Charlottesville was killed and nearly a score injured on Saturday when a car, allegedly driven by a white supremacist, hit a crowd. The deceased was part of a group of people protesting violent demonstrations by neo-Nazis and white supremacists against the planned removal of a statue of Civil War Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, now associated with racism. The driver, identified as 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr, was being held without bail on murder charge. US President Donald Trump came under considerable bipartisan criticism for not specifically denouncing the Ku Klux Klan sympathizers, neo-Nazis, anti-Semitics and xenophobes for touching off the violence. He had denounced violence as "evil" and blamed "many sides" for the violence. On Monday, Kenneth Frazier, chief executive of the major pharmaceutical company Merck, quit a Presidential business council in protest to Trump failing to specifically call out the racists in Charlottesville. Less than an hour later, the New York Times reported, the US President criticised Frazier. Later, according to a White House transcript, Trump described the violence as "horrific" and said the Department of Justice has opened a civil rights investigation into the deadly car attack. Panaji, Aug 15 : Sarcastic songs, fashioned after RJ Malishka's now viral "Sonu song", appear to have taken centrestage in the Panaji by-poll campaign, where Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar is trying to book a passage to the state assembly. Parrikar, who was the country's Defence Minister for three years before returning to state politics in March after the elections, now has to deal with the "lyrically lethal" songs that target him for his poor policies, ignoring corruption, casino-lobby appeasement and political U-turns. The latest "Sonu song" to hit the campaign trail has been crafted by Sidhanath Buyao, a relative of Parrikar, who claims that the five-time Panaji legislator has lost the faith of the state capital's voters. His song, "Panaji, do you still trust bhai" (Parrikar is locally referred to as bhai) -- shot with the beached casino vessel Lucky 7 in the backdrop -- criticises Parrikar for his support of casinos, political compromise, horse-trading and the like. "This is an important message to the people of Goa, specially Panaji," says Buyao, who has been campaigning for Parrikar's chief rival, All India Congress Committee Secretary Girish Chodankar, for the August 23 by-poll. The song received more than 8,000 views on Facebook over the weekend. While RJ Maliksha's "Sonu song" criticises the Mumbai civic corporation for its poor quality of service, in Goa, a "Monu song" trips on the state's tallest politician, Parrikar. Coined by Sant Tuyekar and Chandan Narvekar, the song which leads with "Monu where are the students' laptops?", slams Parrikar's BJP-led coalition government for the delay in delivering laptops to Class XI and XII students under the controversial Cyber-age scheme. The song, which has gone viral on social media, also highlights misgovernance by the current regime. The first "Sonu song" rip-off in Goa can be credited to the Goa Suraksha Manch, a party mentored by Parrikar's arch-rival and former state chief of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Subhash Velingkar. The video "Mannu we do not trust you", which had gone viral last month, features workers of the Manch questioning "Mannu" -- a reference to Parrikar -- over his backing of the casino industry. Goa BJP general secretary Sadanand Shet Tanvade said that the songs are in poor taste. "These songs are attacking our Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar personally," Tanavde told IANS. He said that an election campaign can get heated, but the criticism has to be fair. "This is not the level one should stoop to," Tanavde added. But sarcasm does appear to the flavour of the Panaji by-poll campaign, with the pro-Parrikar camp releasing a sub-titled parody of a scene from the 2004 Adolf Hitler biopic "Downfall", a template which has been popularly used by humourists on social media. The video, the source of which is unclear, mocks the Congress campaign for the by-poll, ribbing "Giru" (Girish Chodankar) for fighting a losing battle against Parrikar and being poorly prepared. Thus, it could be a while before the political music comes to an end. (Mayabhushan Nagvenkar can be contacted at mayabhushan.n@ians.in) Islamabad, Aug 15 : Ousted Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday filed an appeal in the Supreme Court for review of the Panama Papers verdict that led to his disqualification. The landmark order had disqualified Sharif for hiding his assets and UAE's Iqama (work permit) on which he was to receive payment. Advocate Khuwaja Haris on behalf of Sharif filed three applications with the top court. In his application the ex-Prime Minister requested the Supreme Court to review its judgement. He submitted that he had not concealed the documents in his nomination papers for the 2013 polls - the reason for which the court had disqualified him, terming him dishonest and untrustworthy. In the application, Sharif said that under Article 188 of the Constitution, he cannot be disqualified without a trial. In the July 28 landmark verdict, the apex court's five-judge larger bench unanimously disqualified Sharif due to his failure to disclose his "un-withdrawn receivables, constituting assets" in his nomination papers filed ahead of the 2013 general elections. The bench had also directed the National Accountability Bureau to file cases against Sharif, his sons Hassan Nawaz, Hussain Nawaz, daughter Maryam Nawaz, son-in-law Muhammad Safdar and then Finance Minister Ishaq Dar. Kannada Development Authority chairman G Siddaramaiah said that such a move will help local engineers in Karnataka. By Rohini Swamy: After asking the Namma metro to remove the signboards in Hindi, and telling bank employees to learn Kannada in six months, the Kannada Development Authority (KDA) has now gone a step further. In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, the Kannada Development Authority has requested the American multinational technology company to use locally-developed Kannada fonts and keyboards, and said that such a move will help local engineers. advertisement Kannada Development Authority chairman G Siddaramaiah said that if locally-developed Kannada fonts are introduced in the Apple computers produced in India, it will help Kannadigas. The KDA has written the letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook at a time when the language war in Karnataka shows no signs of an end. "We have received several concerns from the Kannada computing community regarding the usability of Kannada in the Apple Inc systems. Several Kannadiga software engineers have analysed the problem thoroughly," said KDA chairman Siddaramaiah. Recently, Apple had introduced the option of Kannada keyboard on devices made in India in June this year, but the Kannada Development Authority now wants Apple to use locally-developed Kannada fonts for its systems. ALSO READ: Bengaluru: After Hindi signboards, KDA chief wants non-Kannadiga engineers removed from Namma Metro Pro-Kannada activists get their way, Namma Metro to remove all Hindi signboards Learn Kannada in 6 months or leave, bank employees in Karnataka told ALSO WATCH: Karnataka: Bank employees warned to learn Kannada in 6 months or lose job WATCH VIDEO | Karnataka Development Authority seeks locally-built Kannada fonts, keyboards in Apple products --- ENDS --- Baghdad, Aug 16 : Iraq's paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units foiled two suicide bomb attacks by Islamic State (IS) militants in Salahudin province, the media reported. The attack took place in the early morning on Tuesday when a suicide car bomb and a suicide bomber wearing explosive vest attacked the Hashd Shaabi base on the main road linking Salahudin's provincial capital Tikrit to the province of Kirkuk, the units said in a statement. The paramilitary members detonated the car bomb and killed the suicide bombers before they reached their targets in the military base, the statement said, adding that two of the Hashd Shaabi members were wounded by the blasts, Xinhua news agency reported. In Salahudin province, IS is still in control of Makhoul mountain range and the villages between the range and the Tigris River. Iraqi security forces and allied paramilitary Hashd Shaabi units have freed Tikrit, about 170 km north of Baghdad, and other key cities and towns in the predominately Sunni Arab province of Salahudin. In a separate incident during the day, a man, his wife and three children were killed when a roadside bomb struck their truck near the town of Qara-Tapa, about 175 km from here. Rabat, Aug 15 : Moroccan King Mohammed VI sent a message of congratulations to South Korean President Moon Jae-in on his countrys Liberation Day on Tuesday. South Korea celebrated the 72nd anniversary of Korean liberation from Japanese colonial rule. In the message, the Moroccan King wished the Korean people further progress and prosperity. "I should like Your Excellency to know... how satisfied I am with the relations rooted in close friendship, mutual esteem and fruitful cooperation between our countries," King Mohammed VI said. He further said that his country "looks forward to continuing working with South Korea to further develop ties between the two countries". Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi during the inauguration of "Indira Canteens" in Bengaluru on Aug 16, 2017. Image Source: IANS Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah during the inauguration of "Indira Canteens" in Bengaluru on Aug 16, 2017. Image Source: IANS Bengaluru, Aug 16 : Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday inaugurated Indira Canteens here for the poor, saying even the "poorest and the weakest in the city cannot go hungry". "Many people in Bengaluru live in huge houses, drive rich cars and for them food is not an issue. But millions of people here are construction workers, auto-rickshaw drivers and barbers who do not have enough money. The Indira Canteens will serve these people," Gandhi said while inaugurating the canteen at Jayanagar ward with an apparent eye on the assembly elections slated for early 2018. "We want the poorest and the weakest in the city to know that they cannot go hungry. Our intention is that the quality of food and hygiene at this canteen is the same as the most expensive restaurant in the city." The state government plans to take the canteens to every district in Karnataka to make sure that no person in the state remains hungry, the Congress leader said, committing the faux pas of referring to the canteen as 'Amma Canteen'. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had provided Rs 100 crore in the state budget for this fiscal (2017-18) to run the canteens in all the 198 civic wards on the lines of the popular Amma Unavagam in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, started by late J. Jayalalithaa, the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The subsidised food outlets had hugely popularised the former AIADMK leader among the masses in Tamil Nadu. Along with the Chief Minister, city Mayor G. Padmavathi, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President G. Parameshwara and other party leaders, Gandhi inspected the canteen named after his grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Besides the one in Jayanagar, 100 other canteens will be opened on Wednesday for dinner, which will be served free of cost to everyone on the first day, the Chief Minister said in a statement, calling the launch a "historic day" for Karnataka. In the initial phase of the launch, 101 canteens will daily serve vegetarian breakfast at Rs 5 per plate and lunch and dinner at Rs 10 each in 101 civic wards. "Today is a historic day for Karnataka in our fight against hunger and malnutrition with Indira Canteens getting launched across Bengaluru," Siddaramaiah said. "Indira Canteens will play a significant role in alleviating urban hunger, especially helping the working class and migrant labour," he said. More canteens will be opened in the remaining 97 wards from October 2 to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. New Delhi/Rabat, Aug 16 : The King of Morocco Mohammed VI has greeted Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of the country's 71st Independence Day and said he is keen to work with the Indian leadership to enhance the bilateral dialogue and partnership. In his message to Kovind, Mohammed VI expressed his warmest congratulations and best wishes of good health and happiness and wished the Indian people further progress and prosperity. The King also expressed his satisfaction at the progress in bilateral relations. "Given our peoples' longstanding friendship and mutual esteem, as well as the fruitful cooperation and cordial understanding between the Kingdom of Morocco and the Republic of India, I should like to take this opportunity to say how satisfied I am with all we have achieved through our bilateral relations," he said, according to a statement from Moroccan news agency MAP. King Mohammed VI said he is keen to work with the Indian leadership to make the most of the Moroccan-Indian partnership and enhance the dialogue and consultation on all regional and international issues of common concern, for the mutual benefit of our peoples, the statement said. In his message to Modi, the King expressed his determination to continue working closely with the Indian Prime Minister in order to consolidate the bilateral partnership and to strengthen coordination within the regional and international fora to contribute to the establishment of international cooperation to promote peace, security and shared development. Beijing, Aug 16 : As the standoff in Doklam entered the third month, China on Wednesday renewed its call for India to withdraw troops from the area. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said withdrawal of troops by India was a precondition for any dialogue between both sides. India is for simultaneous withdrawal of troops from Doklam in Sikkim sector - which is at the tri-junction of India-China-Bhutan. The crisis began on June 16 when the Indian Army prevented Chinese troops from building a road in Doklam. India says the area belongs to close neighbour Bhutan, but Beijing says the area belongs to it and has asked India to stay out of its boundary dispute with Bhutan. Lunglei (Mizoram), Aug 16 : Even two months after flash floods caused by heavy rainfall wreaked havoc in many villages at Tlabung here in this district, the local communities are struggling to return to normalcy. Cyclone Mora hit Bangladesh and parts of Northeast India destroying houses and lives in the region between June 13 and 15. Mizoram is one of the worst hit states, suffering from flash floods triggered by heavy rains, especially in the Tlabung subdivision along the Mizoram-Bangladesh border. While most parts of the main town has been able to recover slightly, it is in the villages located on the banks of the river that the worst effects of the flash flood are still visible. In Tablabagh village that has a population of about 1,500, the havoc is unprecedented and the relief is much too little. Most houses were submerged during the three days and while some survived after the flood, many have been washed away. Some families, like that of daily wager Swana Chakma, are still living with their relatives and have not been able to reconstruct their houses. "We are a family of three. When the water started rising around midnight, we had no idea that it was going to cover the entire village by the next day. Somehow we escaped with some of our belongings but the flood took our house along with it. I have not been able to return to work," Chakma told this visiting IANS correspondent. The scenario is replicated in another village, Serhuan, which is located across the river from Tlabung. The entire village was submerged during the flash floods and the villagers moved uphill and took refuge in temporary tents. When the floodwaters receded, most houses remained intact but quite a few were washed away. The major problem in the region is that the houses are located right next to the river bank and even slight increase in the water level is a threat to them. But why do they live so close to the river? "Because the land is very fertile and the river is the only mode of transport. They fear that If they stay uphill, people from across the border may steal their crops and also there will be nothing that they can do in case of an emergency because there is no motorable road. The river is everything," said Judu Ranjan Chakma, the president of the Young Chakma Association (YCA). The YCA and Young mizo Association (YMA) were the two local NGOs which were the first responders to the flood. Along with the BSF personnel, their volunteers evacuated people and helped them move to safer locations. It took almost 15 days for World Vision India, a Christian grassroots humanitarian organisation, to find sponsors and provide material like rice, dal, oil, salt, sanitary pads and silpaulin (a special type of tarpaulin) to those affected by the flood. The NGO reached out to a total of 833 families, across nine villages, and directly covered 3,536 family members, of whom 44 per cent were below 18. The NGO delivered relief material to the villages within 30 days of the flood but this level of assistance does not seem enough in what is being widely seen as the worst floods in the area in the last 50 years. "While it may take time for the communities to fully recover from the impact, but with collaboration of the community members along with the local government they will be able to rebuild their lives. With our experience in Human Emergency Response, World Vision India plans to provide support to all stakeholders in rebuilding and recovering from the impact," Kunal Kumar Shah, Director - Disaster Management, World Vision India, told IANS. Many houses have been completely destroyed, agricultural crops washed away and the local communities are thus expecting significant help from the Rs 2,000 crore (more than $310 million) package announced earlier this month by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the entire northeast for mitigating the impact of floods on a short- and long-term basis. This package, announced on August 1, along with another package of Rs 300 crore that was announced in June, is still to reach the affected people. (Saket Suman was in Mizoram at the invitation of World Vision India. He can be contacted at saket.s@ians.in) New Delhi, Aug 16 : Defence Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday refused to comment on reports of an attempt by Chinese troops to intrude into Indian territory in Ladakh sector. "This is not a subject on which the government normally makes a comment," he said at a media briefing after a cabinet meeting. Indian troops reportedly foiled two incursion bids by the Chinese near Pangong Lake in Ladakh area on Tuesday, during which stones were reportedly pelted, injuring soldiers. The Army had not commented officially on the issue. Islamabad, Aug 16 : Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chief Asif Ali Zardari said on Wednesday that he has no interest in establishing contact with ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, media reports said. Geo News reported that the former President made the comments during a meeting of the party's core leadership at Bilawal House. Zardari said the PPP also has no interest in becoming part of a "Grand National Dialogue" proposed recently by Nawaz Sharif. Sources quoted Zardari saying that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief has a different attitude when he is in power and a completely different tone when he is not. On Tuesday, Railways Minister Saad Rafique said that Zardari should advise his son and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who had earlier said that he would not receive a call from Sharif on his Grand National Dialogue initiative. "Bilawal said he will not receive our call, we have not called him. I do not understand who is advising Bilawal," said the PML-N leader. "Zardari is a sensible person, he should advise his son." Earlier, during his Grand Trunk Road rally, Sharif had hinted at initiating a "Grand National Dialogue" with other political parties following his ouster by the Supreme Court. -- With inputs from IANS Thiruvananthapuram, August 16 : Congress legislator V D Satheesan has alleged that chief minister Pinarayi Vijayans office (CMO) intervened in favour of the private medical college managements in the issue of fixing fee for medical courses in private colleges in the state. Moving notice for an adjournment motion in the assembly on Wednesday to discuss the issue, Satheesan alleged that the private secretary to the chief minister intervened in the issue of pegging fee for medical courses on behalf of the private managements, keeping the health minister in the dark. Satheesan said that the CMOs intervention helped the private managements fix exorbitant fees for medical courses, leaving the health minister and the health secretary helpless. Stating that the CMO made a mess of admissions to medical courses in self-financing colleges in the state, the opposition put the LDF government in the dock for the supreme court issuing an interim order pegging annual fee for medical courses in the private sector at Rs. 11 lakh. The government failed to state its case convincingly in the supreme court, thus allowing private managements to secure a verdict in their favour, Satheesan said. Responding to the notice for adjournment motion, health minister K K Shylaja told the assembly that there was no lapse on the part of the government in the issue. The government intended to fix lower fees for medical courses at private colleges, However, self-financing colleges that did not enter into an agreement with the government obtained a favourable order from the supreme court. Considering a petition filed by private medical college managements, the supreme court on Monday issued an interim order allowing private colleges that have not signed an agreement with the government to collect an annual fee of Rs. 11 lakh from students, as opposed to the Rs. 5 lakh annual fee fixed by the admission supervisory and fee regulatory committee led by Justice Rajendra Babu. The private managements had moved the SC challenging an interim order issued by the Kerala high court upholding the Rs. 5 lakh fee fixed by the Rajendra Babu committee. After their skirmish at Pangong Tso on Tuesday, Indian and Chinese troops today decided to strengthen the existing border mechanism to maintain peace along the Line of Actual Control. Indian and Chinese troops on Tuesday morning had a scuffle at the Pangong Tso Lake. By Sudhi Ranjan Sen: Indian and Chinese troops, who clashed on Tuesday at Pangong Tso, today decided to strengthen the existing border mechanism to maintain peace and tranquillity along the 3,488-km long disputed Line of Actual Control (LaC), sources told India Today. This was decided at a meeting between Indian and Chinese troops at Chusul in eastern Ladakh. advertisement Chusul is one of the five designated meeting points for troops on ground on either side to sort out local differences. Indian and Chinese troops on Tuesday morning had a scuffle at the Pangong Tso Lake and later even threw stones at each other. Scuffles are known to happen between troops along the border but throwing stones at each other is rare and unprecedented. In a different sector in Doklam in Bhutan, Indian and Chinese troops are engaged in a 9-week-long standoff. China wants to build a road through the Doklam Plateau which will threaten the crucial Siliguri corridor that connects mainland India to the seven northeastern states. Tuesday's scuffle at Pangong and stone throwing incident has been viewed seriously by both sides. Sources aware of the Border Personnel Meeting at Chusul said both sides also discussed to put behind the Ladakh clash incident. As per 2013 Border Defence Agreement between the two sides, patrols which come face to face with each other are supposed to hold up banners asking the other side to withdraw. Neither side is supposed to trail the patrol coming from the other side as well. Tuesday's stone throwing and scuffle is being viewed as a major violation of the established protocol and mechanism. ALSO READ | As Doklam standoff continues, Indian troops foil Chinese incursion bid in Ladakh India-China Ladakh lake skirmish unusual, possibly linked to Doklam standoff, intelligence report says Ladakh clash: China says not aware of PLA soldiers entering Indian territory ALSO WATCH | China says not aware of its soldiers entering Ladakh --- ENDS --- We are thrilled to bring PMAs valued experience to the Participants of IPAIT, along with supporting the continued contributions to the companys reputation as a reliable, professional financial organization. PMA Financial Network, Inc. and PMA Securities, Inc. (PMA) is pleased to announce that as of July 1, 2017, it has become the marketing services provider and the Fixed Term Automated (FTA) program provider for the Iowa Public Agency Investment Trust (IPAIT) Fund. "We are excited to be able to work with IPAIT and believe that our new relationship will result in exciting growth that will benefit Participants in the Fund," said Jim Davis, CEO. "We look forward to continued growth of LGIP relationships and the asset growth that benefits all of our clients, he added. PMA brings to IPAIT a team of experienced staff dedicated specifically to serving the FTA and marketing functions of the Fund. Along with being a registered broker dealer capable of offering a full suite of Iowa State Statue compliant investment vehicles such as U.S. Treasury and Government Agency securities, PMA also brings its 30+ years of financial institution relationship development experience. PMA has been working in tandem with other public entities in the state of Iowa for the last half-decade in cultivating relationships and programs with local banks and other financial institutions to bring the most competitive and innovative investment vehicles to its clients. PMA is excited for the opportunity to bring its unique set of relationships, expertise, experience and ingenuity to its new partnership with IPAIT. A team of experienced PMA professionals will service the Fund, with Paul Kruse, PMA Senior Vice President and Director Iowa, serving as primary marketer and contact for Participants, including for fixed term investments. Paul will serve as the liaison between IPAIT and the Funds Participants. We are thrilled to bring PMAs valued experience to the Participants of IPAIT, along with supporting the continued contributions to the companys reputation as a reliable, professional financial organization offering products and services to its public sector clients. PMA Financial Network, Inc., PMA Securities, Inc., and Prudent Man Advisors, Inc. (collectively, the PMA companies or PMA) are three PMA companies under common ownership that work to provide integrated financial solutions to public entities. With the addition of IPAIT, PMA now services a total of 11 LGIPs. Collectively, the PMA companies now serve over 2,400 public entities and are working with nearly $20 billion total investment assets under administration*. *Total assets under administration include both money market pool assets for which the PMA companies serve as fund administrator/accountant, marketer/distributor, fixed income program provider (brokerage services), and/or investment advisory, or separate institutional accounts. About IPAIT The Iowa Public Agency Investment Trust (IPAIT), started in 1987, provides one daily liquid portfolio; the Diversified Fund, as well as fixed rate investments through the IPAIT Fixed Term Automated (FTA) Program. IPAITs Diversified Fund portfolio is rated AAAm under S&P Global Ratings principal stability fund ratings. Even as IPAIT has grown to over 400 participants, the three investment objectives have remained constant: 1. Safety of Principal, 2. Liquidity, 3. Yield. About PMA PMA Financial Network, Inc., PMA Securities, Inc. and Prudent Man Advisors, Inc. (the PMA companies) are under common ownership. Prudent Man Advisors, Inc., an SEC registered investment adviser, provides investment advisory services to local government investment pools and separate accounts. Securities, public finance services and institutional brokerage services are offered through PMA Securities, Inc. PMA Securities, Inc. is a broker-dealer and municipal advisor registered with the SEC and MSRB, and is a member of FINRA and SIPC. All other products and services are provided by PMA Financial Network, Inc. With services ranging from investment advisory work with Prudent Man Advisors to public finance work with PMA Securities, among others, the PMA companies are focused on achieving long-term financial success for their clients. With billions of dollars invested annually, the PMA companies provide over 2,400 public entities with a diverse lineup of customized financial solutions through a team of experienced professionals and innovative technology. PMA has built a record of success stories by meeting the needs of public entities. Additional information is available at http://www.pmanetwork.com. Matthew Delaney, CEO of The Hawaii Group, Inc. (HiGroup), has been internationally recognized in CEO Monthly magazines 2017 Global CEO Excellence Awards. He was named Business Services CEO of the Year (Hawaii) and Best SME Administration & Support Provider (Hawaii) in the 2017 Global CEO Excellence Awards. The Hawaii Group has five subsidiary companies that provide consulting and outsourcing services to more than 1,000 client organizations. Subsidiaries include: HiEmployment, a comprehensive staffing and recruiting agency; HiAccounting, a bookkeeping, accounting, and tax firm; and HiHealthCare, a full-service healthcare staffing resource which owns both HiNursing and HiHomeCare. HiGroup is one of the Asia Pacific regions fastest growing companies. The company grew in 2016 to over $200 million in revenues, servicing over 1,000 clients, employing 150 internal employees and over 10,000 external employees. We couldnt have achieved this without our dedicated team, Delaney said. I recognize how much they do, and thats why HiGroup is a family-friendly environment. We welcome parents to bring their children to the office and offer flexible work hours. When employees thrive, the business thrives. Commenting on the awards program, Awards Coordinator Jordan Japel stated: CEOs drive innovation and success in any company, and as such it is my pleasure to congratulate The Hawaii Group. For a full listing of the award winners, visit ceo-monthly.com. About The Hawaii Group, Inc. (HiGroup) Founded in 2009 by Matthew Delaney, a proven leader with extensive experience in accounting, travel and tourism, and real estate development, The Hawaii Groups five subsidiary companies provide a full suite of consulting and outsourcing services. Holdings include: HiEmployment, a comprehensive staffing and recruiting agency; HiAccounting, a bookkeeping, accounting, and tax firm; and HiHealthCare, a full-service healthcare staffing resource which owns both HiNursing and HiHomeCare. HiGroup leverages the shared resources of its subsidiary companies to deliver multidisciplinary outsourcing solutions to organizations of all sizes. Whether working with one or many HiGroup companies, clients benefit from the broad insights, shared perspectives, and increased efficiency gained by the HiGroups team approach. It is among the 50 largest companies in the state of Hawaii. The Best Western Premier Detroit Southfield Hotel is a beautifully renovated property located in the heart of the Southfield business district and a great addition to the Premier brand, said Ron Pohl, SVP and Chief Operations Officer for Best Western. Best Western Hotels & Resorts today announced the addition of the Best Western Premier Detroit Southfield Hotel. The property located less than seven miles from the world-famous Detroit Zoo is a welcome addition to Best Westerns Premier brand and becomes the companys first Premier hotel in the Great Lake State. The hotels grand opening is planned for September 13. The Best Western Premier Detroit Southfield Hotel is a beautifully renovated property located in the heart of the Southfield business district and a great addition to the Premier brand, said Ron Pohl, Senior Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for Best Western Hotels & Resorts. Our Premier brand offers the upscale experience expected from todays business and leisure travelers and this hotel will exceed those expectations in Americas comeback city. Owned by Kiwi Hospitality, The Best Western Premier Detroit Southfield Hotel is conveniently located less than 25 miles from Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport and is close to Downtown Detroit and Heritage Park, offering business and leisure travelers an ideal place to stay. The property features 206 recently renovated guestrooms, that have been redesigned to ensure guests experience superior comfort and a luxurious stay. The top floor of the Best Western Premier Detroit Southfield Hotel offers eight penthouse suites and the 15th floor contains executive suites and superior rooms. All of the guestrooms provide a connectivity panel that accommodates HDMI, VGA and Audio/Video, USBs and international power sockets power sockets. The property also includes an on-site restaurant, the Nomad Grill operated by Detroit-based, The Epicurean Group which is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and offers a bar built from wood blocks, reclaimed metal panels and pipes. Menu items include locally sourced ingredients for entrees like Jambalaya Risotto and Wagyu Meatloaf. Additional amenities include a fitness center, business center, 20,000 square feet of conference and meeting space, and a hot tub and sauna for guests to unwind and relax. We are delighted to join the renowned Best Western hotel brand and to bring the companys Premier brand to the great state of Michigan, said J.C. Chaturvedi, President of Kiwi Hospitality. We look forward to capitalizing on the global reach that Best Westerns network provides, while maintaining our unique personal identity and showing visitors just how cultural and original the city of Detroit can be. We have grand plans for this property, and its going to be exciting to see our ideas develop as we move forward. Reservations at the Best Western Premier Detroit Southfield Hotel may be booked by calling the hotel directly at (248) 358-7600 or by calling Best Westerns 24-hour, toll-free reservations number (800)-WESTERN. Reservations are also available from Best Westerns website at BestWestern.com. About Best Western Hotels & Resorts: Best Western Hotels & Resorts headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, is a privately held hotel brand with a global network of 4,100* hotels in more than 100* countries and territories worldwide. Best Western offers 10 hotel brands to suit the needs of developers and guests in every market: Best Western, Best Western Plus, Best Western Premier, Vib, GLo, Executive Residency by Best Western, and BW Premier Collection; as well as its recently launched franchise offerings: SureStay, SureStay Plus and SureStay Signature Collection. Now celebrating more than 70 years of hospitality, Best Western provides its hoteliers with global operational, sales and marketing support, and award-winning online and mobile booking capabilities. Best Western continues to set industry records regarding awards and accolades, including 64 percent of the brands North American hotels earning a TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence award in 2017, Business Travel News ranking Best Western Plus and Best Western in the top three upper-mid-price and mid-price hotel brands for three years in a row, and Best Western receiving seven consecutive Dynatrace Best of the Web awards for its leading hotel website. Best Western has also won eight consecutive AAA/CAA Lodging Partner of the Year awards, recognizing the brands commitment to providing exceptional service and great value to AAAs 56 million members in the U.S. and Canada. Over 30 million travelers are members of the brands award-winning loyalty program Best Western Rewards, one of the few programs in which members earn points that never expire and can be redeemed at any Best Western hotel worldwide. Best Westerns partnerships with AAA/CAA and Harley-Davidson provide travelers with exciting ways to interact with the brand. Through its partnership with Google Street View, Best Western is the first major company of its size and scale to launch a virtual reality experience for customers, setting a new industry standard and reinventing how guests view hotels. Numbers are approximate, may fluctuate, and include hotels currently in the development pipeline. # # # Online communities are not just an afterthought or bolt-on solution; rather, they are the centerpiece for engaging a companys target audience and when approached in this manner, drive tremendous top- and bottom-line benefits 7Summits incorporates its solutions to deliver leading edge community experiences from its pre-built templates to custom communities expertly designed to achieve digital transformation for their clients businesses. They help craft the right blend of digital strategy, community technology solutions and targeted user experiences to deliver maximum results. Social technologies represent the next major evolution to drive business value for the enterprise, explains Paul Stillmank, Founder and CEO. Online communities are not just an afterthought or bolt-on solution; rather, they are the centerpiece for engaging a companys target audience and when approached in this manner, drive tremendous top- and bottom-line benefits. In the article, 7Summits shared their vision for community-led, multi-cloud solutions centered around those three audience groups: Customers Empowered: Customer communities focus on connecting advocates with prospects to improve conversion rates; enabling customer-to-customer support to deflect calls; creating exclusivity and personalization to improve customer retention; collaborating directly with the enterprise through always-on customer feedback to inform product/service innovation; and enabling proactive customer support models that improve overall customer satisfaction. Partners Enabled: Partner networks focus on streamlining education to speed partner on-boarding; finding experts and resources to improve win rates; enabling better lead matching to improve channel performance; and improving partner identity in the market to help expand market share. Employees Unleashed: Employee centric communities focus on providing an accessible and served knowledge base to increase productivity; enabling open communications to improve workforce alignment and engagement; better empowering sales teams resulting in improved win rates; and crowd-sourcing ideas to drive actionable innovation. With community solutions for customers, partner networks, and employees, as well as industry specific solutions, 7Summits has been recognized as a leader in delivering business value and innovative solutions. The Silicon Reviews 50 Best Companies to watch 2017 list identifies companies that provide innovative enterprise solutions by established solution providers and upcoming hot enterprises for technology decision makers. Read the full interview here. About 7Summits 7Summits Inc. is a leading online community solutions provider, guiding companies to engage their customers, partners and employees to grow their business and become more fully networked enterprises. 7Summits creates business solutions that deliver top line revenue growth and bottom-line productivity improvements. The company is a valued strategic partner of Fortune 500 companies and has received investment funding from both Sverica Capital Management and Salesforce Ventures. 7Summits is headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with an extended presence in Chicago, Atlanta, New York, Denver, Washington DC, California, Seattle, and Michigan and Ohio. For more information, visit 7SummitsInc.com About Silicon Review The Silicon Review is the worlds most trusted online and print community for business & technology professionals. Their community members include thought-provoking CEOs, CIOs, CTOs, IT VPs and managers, along with a diverse following of IT professionals. 7Summits is a registered trademark of 7Summits. All other trademarks, registered trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners. An assessment of Tuesday's skirmish between Indian and Chinese soldiers by intelligence sources says that the use of stones was unprecedented and that the confrontation could be linked to the Doklam standoff. Indian and Chinese soldiers on Tuesday confronted each other near Pangong Lake in Ladakh (India Today file photo) By India Today Web Desk: The Independence Day morning confrontation between soldiers of the Indian Army and Chinese People's Liberation Army near the Pangong Lake in Ladakh "appears to be [a] deliberate attempt to provoke and heighten tension without use of lethal weapons," an early assessment by intelligence sources reads. The note by intelligence agencies, accessed by India Today, further says that the Ladakh skirmish could be linked to the ongoing standoff between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Doklam near the Sikkim border, and that the Pangong Lake incident stands out because of the "unusual" use of force that "appears to be part of [a] considered design." advertisement The five-point intelligence assessment was made after Indian and Chinese troops confronted each other on the northern bank of Ladakh's Pangong Lake, which is claimed in parts by both India (around one-third of the total area) and China (two-thirds), and through which the Line of Actual Control passes. According to Indian sources, the brief skirmish was sparked after a Chinese patrol lost its way due to bad weather conditions and came across Indian soldiers on the Pangong Lake's northern bank near areas known as Finger Four and Finger Five. The situation descended into an ill-tempered skirmish that saw stone-pelting, resulting in injuries on both sides. The confrontation lasted around 30 minutes and was resolved after Indian and Chinese sides carried out banner drills and retreated to their respective positions. 'USE OF FORCE UNUSUAL' The intelligence sources note that "troops coming face to face in Pangong Tso (tso is a Tibetan word for lake) area [is] not at all unusual. [It] happens often due to non-delineation of border both on land and on lake surface. But use of force appears to be part of considered design." The note explicitly mentions that the use of stones is a first. "Use of stones unprecedented and unusual. Appears to be deliberate attempt to provoke and heighten tension without use of lethal weapons," the note reads. What was also unusual about the Ladakh incident was that the incident resulted in injuries, through minor, on both sides. The note says that the "worst that has happened earlier is a one-off slap from either side, or pushing as seen in recent videos. In this incident actual injuries have been sustained on both sides." With both India and China not having officially commented on the Ladakh incident, the implications on the Independence Day skirmish remain to be seen. The initial note from the source, however, is that the brawl threatens the current protocols used by India and China to peacefully resolve incidents of their respective troops coming face to face. advertisement LINKED TO DOKLAM? Another reason the Ladakh incident particularly stands out is because it came against the backdrop of the standoff in Doklam, where Indian and Chinese troops have been engaged in a high-stakes but non-violent faceoff for two months now. The Doklam plateau is contested between China and Bhutan and India sent its troops there to prevent Chinese soldiers from constructing a metal-top road near the India-China-Bhutan trijunction. New Delhi said that the Chinese construction activity threatened national security as it brought China close to the so-called Chicken's Neck that connects India to its Northeast. Beijing, on the other hand, accused India of illegally crossing into Chinese territory and has demanded an unconditional withdrawal of Indian troops. It is not possible to ignore that Tuesday's Ladakh skirmish could be linked to the Dolkam standoff, the assessment by intelligence agencies reads, adding that the Pangong Lake incident "could be part of larger effort to fulfil [sic] veiled threats by Chinese govt to heighten tensions on other fronts along LAC." The veiled threats part of the assessment seemingly refers to the rhetoric that has been maintained by Chinese state media over the Doklam standoff. Articles and commentary in Chinese publications have warned of dire consequences with some, especially those carried by the hawkish Global Times, even warning that the situation could result in a full-scale war. advertisement China has not - officially or unofficially - commented on the Ladakh confrontation. (With inputs from Shiv Aroor in New Delhi) An earlier version of story attributed part of the information to Military Intelligence instead of intelligence agencies. The error is regretted. ALSO READ | As India-China war of words continues, a look at how global media is reporting Doklam ALSO READ | Beyond Doklam: How China is winning over India's neighbours with money, arms ALSO READ | With Doklam stand-off, Beijing wants to turn India-Bhutan against each other WATCH | As Doklam crisis continues, India-China border stand-off at Ladakh's Pangong lake --- ENDS --- Vtiger addressed our requirements effectively while providing a very supportive and flexible team to accommodate all of our needs, said Shelley Oram, Program Manager at Lenovo. Lenovo has selected Vtiger Help Desk Professional to run its worldwide customer support for its NAS business. "During the past few months, we have had the privilege of working with Lenovos regional teams to understand their support process and the limitations of their current system", said Krishna Sanjeeviah, PM Head for Help Desk at Vtiger. The new implementation addresses 3 key drivers of support team efficiency: 1. Tracking of key metrics around RMA processes (including SLA targets) to identify and address bottlenecks. 2. Automation of case routing (and hand-offs) to level 1 support, RMA and advanced support groups based on country and language. 3. Optimization of views so that agents see only necessary information while minimizing the number of touches. "Vtiger addressed our requirements effectively while providing a very supportive and flexible team to accommodate all of our needs, said Shelley Oram, Program Manager at Lenovo. "We are glad to have Lenovo on board and look forward to working with their support teams to help them delight their customers," said Sreenivas Kanumuru, CEO, Vtiger. About Vtiger: Vtiger provides cloud based CRM and Help Desk software to help businesses excel in customer engagement across marketing, sales and support. We believe we have done a good job when our customers thrive on Vtiger. We take pride in offering outstanding customer support, consulting on best practices and implementation services to get customers off to a running start. While we have been doing research in the region for over ten years, having an operational platform in Nicaragua enhances our ability to not only help our global clients succeed in Latin markets, but also to empower local companies. Geo Strategy Partners, a leading market research and strategy firm, has opened an office in Managua, Nicaragua to expand the firms Business-to-Business (B2B)/Industrial market research and growth strategy capabilities and reach. "We are excited to be in Nicaragua," commented Geo Strategy Partners Managing Director Mark Towery. "Our talented Managua-based personnel extend our global capabilities with language skills and business knowhow to effectively support our clients marketing and strategy needs in Latin America. While we have been doing research in the region for over ten years, having an operational platform in Nicaragua enhances our ability to not only help our global clients succeed in Latin markets, but also to empower local companies." This is a win-win in so many ways, stated Insights Manager, Katherine Zapata. "Because we are also empowering local companies with tools and techniques to be more competitive on a global scale. They know they can no longer rely on 'gut instinct' or personal relationships. They must take a professional and data-driven approach to understanding customers and analyzing markets. As a firm that does both research and strategy, Towery added, our market analysis is highly actionable. We do not just deliver data; we help companies interpret that data and convert it to winning go-to-market strategies. In fact, if we do our job correctly, we make the market opportunity and competitive landscape so transparent the strategy reveals itself." Geo Strategy Partners credits Nicaraguas economic development agency for supporting its evaluation of the Central American country as an investment destination. Thanks to the assistance received from PRONicaragua and other partners, we identified a need in the market and stepped in to address it," said Towery. About Geo Strategy Partners Geo Strategy Partners is a management consulting firm focused on the market research and strategy needs of B2B and industrial clients. The firm excels at market analysis and modeling, voice of the customer, competitive intelligence, brand awareness and perception, concept testing, middle-market M&A support, and other market penetration and growth services. TSI Auto Solutions is pleased to announce that Geoff Helby has joined the TSI team as the Director of Dealer Solutions. Helby will manage TSIs Dealer Solutions division, the industry leader for financial composite analytics and forecasting. He will direct the strategic growth of TSIs dealer solutions business, sales and marketing of the TSI Echo dealer product, product training, client consulting and dealer relations. Helby comes aboard to continue TSIs successes in dealer information network technologies within the automotive sector, This Canadian company attracted me with its leading edge technology, strategic long-term vision, dedicated workforce, and customer-centric attitude said Helby. Through Helby, TSI further strengthens their industry experience with his 24 years of sales, marketing and strategic management expertise in the automotive industry. Prior to joining TSI, Helby led the Canadian arm of ALG Inc, where he provided strategic direction and delivery of ALGs residual value information and portfolio risk analysis tools to automotive manufacturers, financial institutions and fleet companies. Furthermore, Helby directed the Power Information Network, a division of J.D. Power and Associates, for over seven years providing transaction level data, solution models and consulting services to Canadian-based automotive manufacturers and retailers. In addition, Helby gained 10 years of experience with GMAC in the areas of sales, credit risk analysis, and customer service. These credentials add substantially to TSIs pool of auto sector expertise. About TSI Auto Solutions A leader in delivering state-of-the-art business management solutions, TSI is a Canadian data company that provides real-time financial and non-financial performance data analysis software services for the automobile industry. Its versatile suite of products encompass: data cleansing, dealership reporting, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and dealer group reporting, business and performance management, forecasting, in addition to a field and dealer contact management solution. TSI currently has 11 OEMs using their software in Canada and Australia. For more information about TSI, please visit: http://www.tsiautosolutions.com. Media Contact Seana Chadwick Executive Vice President TSI Auto Solutions 465 Main St Moncton NB E1C 1C2 1 866 724 6200 info(at)tsiautosolutions.com http://www.tsiautosolutions.com/news "ANGEL WATCH" was named by Mrs. Gailya Gatewood and the late Warren Temple Gatewood, Jr. when they purchased the property. Mrs. Gatewood informed the Auctioneers, "We felt the place was like heaven to us and whoever buys this property will absolutely feel the same tranquility we did." The property is being SOLD at Auction to settle the Estate. Located at 20206 THE TRAIL, Little Plymouth, Va. 23091 in King & Queen Courthouse area, is 40 miles E of Richmond, NE of Williamsburg, N of Gloucester/Mathews and the Peninsula. King & Queen County is a place for those looking to take advantage of a strong natural resource base and high quality of life while accessible to major areas. The custom built home with combined 4000 sq ft is the main house with a separate apartment connected via breezeway, both with separate entrances. The home is situated on 91 acres, 45 cleared, 45 timber, bass spring-fed pond, equestrian barn, dog kennel with grooming area, double garage with office area. The property fronts both on The Trail and Melrose Landing and is close by to the boat landing and pier on the Mattaponi River. View the VIDEO of the property at http://www.expressauction.com along with photos of the personal property and contents also to be auctioned on the 26th of August. Linda Makowski states, "This superior property has many unique custom features and quality construction hard to reproduce; bidders will have the opportunity to buy at the price they are willing to pay." Call the office at 805-695-1222 or Linda's cell phone 804-832-8471 for details, a bid package or access. Express Auctioneers, Brokers & Appraisers, with offices in Gloucester and Williamsburg in Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland, specialize in Real Estate, Estates, Vehicles, Antiques, Art, Jewelry and Equipment. Larry and Linda Makowski have combined Auctioneering Expertise of 70 years. Mackie Manning, one of the founding partners of Dority & Manning, P.A., passed away on Saturday, August 12, 2017. He was 81 years old. A chemical engineer by trade, Mannings keen interest in law led him to law school at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Manning supported his family while attending law school by working at the United States Patent and Trademark Office where he honed his legal skills and made friendships that lasted his entire career. Manning returned to South Carolina and, after a brief time working as a patent attorney for a large corporation, he started Dority & Manning with long-time friend Julian Dority in 1984. In a short time, Manning developed a reputation as a top intellectual property practitioner. He successfully tried numerous patent infringement cases for both patentees and for companies accused of infringement. He was also a recognized expert witness and mediator in intellectual property matters. Mannings influence helped Dority & Manning grow to become the Southeast's largest boutique IP law firm. Manning was tenacious, generous, and eternally optimistic, and brought all of those qualities to the practice of law. "I didn't like my work," he said not long ago. "I loved it." Respected and lauded in the field of intellectual property law, both locally and nationally, Manning received numerous awards and distinctions, including Clemson Universitys Distinguished Service Award, the highest honor bestowed upon an alumnus. But Manning preferred a vigorous debate about an interesting legal issue over any such accolades. Manning left an indelible mark on the firm he founded by guiding and mentoring every person with whom he worked. Although Mackie was an instrumental part of Dority & Mannings success, his impact outside of the firm was equally significant, said Stephen Bondura, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dority & Manning. Mackies unwavering faith led him to impact countless lives as part of the Kairos Prison Ministry that he participated in for so many years. All who knew Mackie will miss him dearly. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Shriner's Children's Hospital or to the Kairos Prison Ministry of South Carolina. ImageX is the Top Drupal Development Agency "We've been blown away not only by their expertise, but also their willingness to share it with us." - Tom Kezis - Sr. Account Manager, RESolutionTECH. ImageX is proud to announce three new client reviews on Clutch.co, maintaining a near flawless client satisfaction score of 4.9/5. After 22 reviews from clients across a variety of sectors, ImageX continues to hold the top spot on Clutch.co in the Drupal Development (Global), Web Design (Canada) and Web Development (Canada) categories. "I cant say enough about the team of professionals at ImageX, says Brent Wilker, EVP of ImageX. The feedback I hear most often from our clients is the responsiveness of our team is unparalleled; they feel like we are an extension of their organizations. I can think of no greater compliment for a services business. Recent client feedback on Clutch.co: University: The new site is more visually appealing and functionally reliable than its predecessor. Expert project management and communication skills let ImageX achieve what several other vendors believed impossible. High-Tech Firm: The launched site has evoked overwhelmingly positive user feedback, especially concerning the modern design and seamless UX. Convenient access to experienced developers and thoughtful project management make ImageX an ideal partner. International Non-Profit: ImageX is impressive because they delivered great quality on time, within our budget, and with no issues or defects at all. It was so easy to work with them. We truly feel like they are a partner. If we ran into an issue, they made it easy for me to trust them. Read more client feedback on Clutch.co. About ImageX Founded in 2001, ImageX is a technology & web agency with a global reach. We've help brands across the world such as Disney, Apple, YMCA, Samsung, Adidas, Adobe and Stanford University architect complex technical solutions and create meaningful digital experiences through user experience, content strategy, stunning visual design and ongoing digital strategy. With offices in Vancouver, Canada, Kyiv, Ukraine and team members throughout North America, ImageX offers 24-hour web support to brands both big and small. To learn more, please visit http://www.imagexmedia.com. About Clutch A B2B research firm in the heart of downtown Washington, DC, Clutch connects you with the agencies and software solutions that can help you enhance your business and meet your goals. Our methodology maps agencies and software solutions based on consumer reviews, the type of services offered, and quality of work. Modular Farms We wanted a strong technology partner that would meet our needs for a reliable, easy-to-use farm, and Growlink provides that. Growlink, a Denver-based technology company, announced today that it has formed a strategic partnership with Brampton, Ontario-based Modular Farms, to integrate its cloud-based grow controllers into their modular farm systems. Were excited for this partnership with Modular Farms, said Ted Tanner, CEO of Growlink. Modular Farms has the potential to lengthen growing seasons, reduce local food insecurity, and stabilize a farmers income stream. We share their goals of bringing smart, fresh, local food to communities worldwide. Modular Farms began selling its farm systems in November 2016. Instead of repurposing shipping containers, Modular Farm Systems are built from the ground up from composite, rust-resistant panels and are larger than traditional shipping containers at 40 x 10 x 10. The larger size allows for better spacing between plans and lights and greater airflow. Every unit comes with two intensive days of training and 24/7 support. After initially building the container farms using other control systems, Modular Farms soon realized they would not fit the needs of their customers. We were disappointed by the performance and limited functionality of other systems, said Eric Amyot, CEO of Modular Farms. We needed a new solution. After reviewing all of the options available, Modular Farms selected Growlink to be its technology partner. The Growlink modular platform uses a variety of sensors and switching modules to monitor and control the environment and nutrient system, which growers can access from their smartphones using the Modular Farms App. The App, available in the Apple App store and Google Play, connects to the Growlink Grow Controllers and allows users to monitor sensor data in real time, view real-time video, and control any connected devices. Users can set up rules including sensor triggers, timers, and schedules to automate the grow process. We wanted a strong technology partner that would meet our needs for a reliable, easy-to-use farm, and Growlink provides that, said Amyot. Our Modular Farms Systems ship with the Growlink technology fully installed, customized for our customers planting needs. About Growlink Growlinks mission is to deliver an elegant and affordable way to control and automate lighting, climate, fertigation and irrigation systems. The Denver-based company focuses on creating well-designed, tightly integrated hardware and software that allow users to see, monitor and control their farm from anywhere. Visit http://www.growlink.com for more information and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. About Modular Farms Launched in 2015, Modular Farms Co. is a Canadian agriculture company that provides first-of-its-kind engineered farming units designed for multiple terrains, weather conditions and a focus on plant health. Each Modular Farms unit is fully-manufactured in Brampton, Ontario and is capable of producing fresh, healthy produce virtually anywhere in the world and in any climate, exceeding the qualities and quantities of those grown in shipping containers. Current modules include Primary, Macro, and Vestibule, with Water, Storage, Energy and Sprout modules in development. The Modular Farms App allows users to monitor sensor data in real time, view real-time video and control any connected devices. Users can set up sensor triggers, timers, and schedules to automate the grow process directly from their smartphones. By partnering with world-leading experts in LED lighting, plant health sciences and indoor agriculture, Modular Farms brings unprecedented opportunity for expansion and growth in the agricultural industry. Visit http://www.modularfarms.co for more information and follow Modular Farms on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For media inquiries: Please contact press(at)growlink(dot)com. QualDerm Partners, a company that creates market-leading dermatology practice partnerships through affiliations and de novo development, today announced Cumberland Skin Surgery and Dermatology has joined the company as an affiliate practice. Cumberland Skin Surgery and Dermatology, with offices in both Hermitage and Lebanon, Tennessee, provides comprehensive general dermatology and skin cancer care as well as medical aesthetic services. The practice was founded by Julie Countess, M.D. and Joey Price, M.D. Both physicians are Board-certified dermatologists and Mohs surgeons. The practice has 7 additional clinical staff members, including a general dermatologist, 3 certified physician assistants, and 3 certified nurse practitioners. We chose to affiliate with QualDerm because of their dedication to patient-centric quality care, says Julie Countess, M.D. Being part of a larger, quality-driven organization will help us expand services and better position our practice to navigate changes within the healthcare industry. Cumberland Skin Surgery and Dermatology is the first Tennessee-based dermatology practice to affiliate with QualDerm. Under this partnership agreement, QualDerm will provide the management support, guidance, and capital to expand the practices services and geographical reach. QualDerm recently expanded into the Ohio market and has 12 affiliated practices in North Carolina and Virginia. The company has plans to partner with dermatology practices in other regions by year end. Cumberland Skin Surgery and Dermatology has a reputation for providing outstanding patient care, says Bill Southwick, Chief Executive Officer of QualDerm. Were honored to partner with Drs. Countess and Price and look forward to helping them grow their practice. About QualDerm Partners QualDerm Partners helps top-tier dermatologists position their practices for sustainable growth and profitability. The company creates market-leading practice partnerships through affiliations and de novo development. QualDerm provides the management support, capital, and guidance for growth. Under QualDerms True Partnership(SM) model, physicians are partners, not employees, and retain their own practice brand. This doctor-driven model is designed to maintain physicians clinical autonomy and ensure the highest-quality patient care. QualDerm offers physicians tailored partnership structures to meet their needs, as well as the option to sell their practices. For more information, visit http://www.QualDerm.com. About Cumberland Skin Surgery and Dermatology Cumberland Skin Surgery and Dermatology delivers high-quality dermatological care to patients of all ages. The Tennessee-based practice has offices in Hermitage and Lebanon. It has a staff of Board-certified general dermatologists, Mohs surgeons, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners. Cumberland Skin Surgery and Dermatology gives patients access to general dermatology and advanced skin cancer care, as well as a variety of aesthetician services. For more information, visit http://www.cumberlandskin.com. Contact: Andy Mitzen QualDerm Partners Chief Development Officer andy.mitzen(at)qualderm.com 615.250.6756 Media Contact: Nikki Cary 6 Columns Marketing Group nikki(at)6Columns.com 615.500.2924 Diversified Industries announced that it has completed a comprehensive training program, delivered by ManageAssist, Inc. in conjunction with a New Jersey state funded grant. The ten-month training program, which included Identifying and Eliminating Waste, Workplace Organization & 5S, Principles of Lean Manufacturing, Implementing Workplace Organization, Quick Changeover Practices, Quality at the Source, Frontline Supervisory and Lead Personnel skills, and Voice of the Customer has significantly upgraded the skills of companys employees in production, maintenance and customer service, enabling them to perform their duties more accurately and efficiently. Founded as a converter of flexible foam, Diversified Industries has become a global supplier to a wide range of markets automotive, industrial, flooring and construction. It offers customers innovative high performance solutions through material expertise, efficient processes, standardized procedures and lean manufacturing philosophies. http://www.diversifiedindustries.com ManageAssist, Inc. is a corporate training firm that offers a broad range of practical training programs. Since 2000 they have been offering both standard and customized training solutions that have been specifically designed to meet the ever growing needs of todays organizations. Please visit ManageAssist, Inc. at http://www.manageassist.com According to Ricardo Gonzales, Director of Operations, Our processes have been improved and streamlined. We have reduced waste in numbers of areas throughout the company. That has resulted in improved lead times, which means greater efficiency, improved quality of our products and a higher degree of customer satisfaction. One of Mr. Gonzalezs associates added, Diversified Industries strives to be the number one option for standard and custom flexible foam converting needs. We service many different type of industries, from building products to automotive products, which gives us a different approach than our competition. Our mix of customers and industries requires a staff focused on customer service in all the activities in our operation, warehousing, production and more. This training program improved the skills of our employees at all levels, because they now have the same mindset and are using the same techniques and procedures to get to the same goal, which is highest-quality products. When Mr. Gonzalez was asked why Diversified Industries selected ManageAssist, he said, We decided to choose ManageAssist due to the knowledge and experience of their staff on the courses that were going to be taught. Another reason was the support their staff provided to insure that we were able to obtain and fully utilize this training. ManageAssist stated, "We are delighted to know the training we provided Diversified Industries has been so helpful in improving the efficiency and productivity of its operations, with the obviously desirable benefit of greater customer satisfaction. We strive for these kinds of results every time we train, and it is always gratifying to hear success stories like this one. Sea World's 'Orca 360" VRTUL has set itself apart in the quality of its technology and production services for commercial projects. VRTUL has announced VR productions with several major studios and brands utilizing their custom underwater camera technology to produce premium underwater VR content and live programming. Most recent projects include SeaWorlds Orca 360 VR theater attraction, ABC Good Morning America's Live 360 Underwater Broadcast with Ginger Zee, Google Expeditions, and The New York Times Daily 360 Underwater Sculptures. Other underwater projects with RSA VR and Sharkwater VR are also currently in production for 2018. Leading the way in underwater VR camera technology, VRTUL develops the worlds premier underwater VR storytelling cameras. The VRTUL 1 (http://www.VRTUL1.com) and the VRTUL 2 are the only underwater VR solutions capable of recording in native stereoscopic 3D, ProRes, 12-bit DNG RAW, and 360 live streaming to Facebook for special events. VRTUL has set itself apart in the quality of its technology and production services for commercial projects. We develop purpose built camera solutions and post pipelines to take underwater immersive storytelling as far as it can possibly go. These are incredibly important tools from the travel industry to Hollywood, says Casey Sapp, CEO of VRTUL. VRTUL has a production quality which few can match. Their team, their technology, and their post-production are all at the very cutting edge of the medium. We consider them a great technical and creative partner in our VR journey, said Crystal OHea, Senior Director of Expedition X, SeaWorlds R&D team. About: VRTUL (pronounced Virtual) is a San Diego based VR production services company, supporting some of the best creatives in the world from concept through post. They are creators of the first 360 stereoscopic underwater camera and a leader in underwater VR storytelling. VRTUL has offices in both San Diego and Los Angeles, handling concurrent projects worldwide. The VRTUL 1 and VRTUL 2 are available for lease and rental based on availability. Website: http://www.VRTUL.co Corporate Contact: Casey Sapp CEO/Founder 407-718-9156 casey(at)vrtul.co Media Contact: Sandra Kay Helsel, Ph.D. SK Helsel & Associates 858-752-1212 skhelsel(at)skhelsel.com By Manjeet Negi: On August 15, when the nation was celebrating Independence Day, tragedy struck a small village in Arunachal Pradesh called Hunli. While returning back from the Independence Day celebration held at their school and crossing a small foot suspension bridge, the bridge collapsed and left the young school children seriously injured. The district administration immediately requested Gp Capt S J Pendse, station commander of Air Force Station Mohanbari, if a rescue mission could be launched. advertisement Despite the region having experienced incessant rainfall and prolonged marginal weather, the IAF quickly rose to the occasion and an MI-17 helicopter with Wg Cdr K Vinoy as captain was activated. Within an hour-and-a-half of receiving the distress message on cessation of heavy rains at Dibrugarh the helicopter got airborne for Hunli. Negotiating marginal weather and extremely difficult terrain the helicopter was able to enter the valley testing the crew to its limits all the while. The helicopter finally landed and waited at the helipad till all the available children along with their parents were evacuated. The return flight was equally challenging as the weather continued to deteriorate. Utilising the extensive flying experience in the sector, the air crew of 127 helicopter unit successfully completed the mission ensuring safe and timely evacuation of the school children. This definitely was one Independence Day that the children, aircrew and all associated with this successful mission will remember for a long time. Also read: PM Narendra Modi's I-Day speech: Violence in the name of faith is unacceptable Modi gave shortest Independence Day speech since he has nothing to talk: Rahul Gandhi --- ENDS --- Past Recipients include Atlanta Mayors Maynard Jackson and Kasim Reed, Senator Sam Nunn, Congressman John Lewis, Ambassador Andrew Young and Herman J. Russell. The Georgia Minority Supplier Development Council will honor Dr. William F. Pickard with the prestigious Blue Legend Award on Friday, August 25th at the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta. The Spirit of Alliance Awards gala is an annual celebration of excellence in supplier diversity, to recognize the achievements of the State of Georgias top corporations, small business owners and champions of inclusive procurement. The GMSDC is the state of Georgias leading small business development and supplier diversity organization, known for creating jobs and facilitating business opportunities in Georgia since 1975. Dr. Pickard will be inducted into an exclusive circle of distinguished past recipients of the Blue Legend Award, including Atlanta Mayors Maynard Jackson and Kasim Reed, Senator Sam Nunn, Congressman John Lewis, Ambassador Andrew Young and Herman J. Russell. The Blue Legend award is the top individual honor presented at the Spirit of Alliance gala each year. It is presented to a visionary leader who has demonstrated extraordinary courage in the face of challenging obstacles, and whose lifelong contributions have broken through barriers and created business opportunities for minority business owners in Georgia and elsewhere. The Blue Legend is unique among all of the awards presented at the Spirit of Alliance while the other awards recognize outstanding accomplishment for the previous year, the Blue Legend celebrates a lifetime of exemplary service to the minority small business community. A native of LaGrange, Georgia who grew up in Flint, Michigan, Dr. Pickard is the founder and Chief Executive of GAA Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management, the parent company of a number of diverse enterprises focused on manufacturing, transportation and logistics. His entrepreneurial career, which spans more than 45 years, began with a McDonalds franchise in Detroit. Today, his companies generate more than $5 billion in revenues annually, providing goods and services to many of the worlds best-known corporate brands. Dr. Pickard has served on the boards of directors of numerous corporations and non-profits, providing mentorship and strategic direction to thousands of entrepreneurs across the nation. He is the author of Millionaire Moves: Seven Proven Principles of Entrepreneurship, and a frequent speaker at colleges, universities and conferences. A renowned philanthropist with a passion for business development, Dr. Pickard is a tireless mentor who has donated millions of dollars to causes and organizations. The 2017 Spirit of Alliance Awards will take place at 6:00 pm on Friday, August 25th at the Marriott Marquis. Tickets are available at gmsdc.org. About the Spirit of Alliance Awards The Spirit of Alliance Awards gala began in 1982, to recognize groundbreaking achievement by the Minority Business Enterprise firms, corporations and individuals that comprise the supplier diversity community in Georgia. For more information, visit gmsdc.org. Armed Forces Insurance 'We are honored to become members of the esteemed Legion de Lafayette. We are constantly looking for opportunities to partner with organizations that support, educate and empower the military community,' said Lieutenant General Stanley Clarke III. Armed Forces Insurance (AFI) is pleased to announce their support of the National Guard Educational Foundation with a membership into the esteemed Legion de Lafayette. The Legion de Lafayette supports the National Guard Educational Foundation (NGEF) and its programs, which include: The National Guard Memorial Museum, Library and Archive, as well as the National Guard Monument overlooking Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, and finally, scholarship programs that we have for the children of fallen Guardsmen. Named after the Marquis de Lafayette, the Legion de Lafayette was established in 1987 to recognize patrons who significantly advance National Guard Education Foundations work. The names of these members are prominently displayed in the National Guard Museum. Membership into the Legion de Lafayette is an extension of AFIs core mission to protect those who protect our nation. We are honored to become members of the esteemed Legion de Lafayette. For 130 years, Armed Forces Insurance has pledged to serve our military families. As such, we are constantly looking for opportunities to partner with organizations that support, educate and empower the military community. The National Guard Educational Foundation has an admirable track record of caring for our National Guard families, said Lieutenant General Stanley Clarke III, U.S.A.F. (Ret.), Chairman of Armed Forces Insurance. Established in 1975, the National Guard Educational Foundations (NGEF) goal is to tell the Guards story and relies solely on charitable contributions to carry out its mission. The purpose of NGEF is to achieve an awareness of the rich heritage and continuing contributions of the National Guard of the United States through a rich programmatic portfolio. The National Guard Education Foundation has a partnership with the National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS). The National Guard Association of the United States is the nations oldest military association lobbying solely for the benefit of the National Guard of the United States and educating the public about the Guards role and history in the Armed Forces of the United States. It was formed by militia officers in 1878 to obtain better equipment and training by petitioning Congress for more resources. ABOUT Armed Forces Insurance (AFI): Armed Forces Insurance is the insurance company of choice for current and retired members of the uniformed services, their children, and Department of Defense civilians. Founded in 1887 by military leaders with a single mission: to protect the property of those who protect our nation, providing premium quality, competitively priced property and casualty insurance to military professionals throughout the Armed Forces. We know our members have unique circumstances and insurance needs, and we offer a level of personalized service that is unequaled in the industry-because OUR MISSION IS YOU - and your peace of mind. The company also furthers our strong commitment to give back to military and local communities through important programs and sponsorships, including the Great American Patriot Award presented at the Armed Forces Bowl, the Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year Award, the Vetrepreneur of the Year Award, the Gary Sinise Foundation, and the Military Warriors Support Foundation. In early 2015, AFI established the Armed Forces Insurance Foundation to assist in educating the military community on a wide array of key personal financial topics to help them succeed. For more information, visit the website at http://www.afi.org or call 1-800-495-8234, and follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For interviews or press information contact: BP Media Relations, LLC Barbara Pflughaupt, 212-707-8181 or Gabrielle Torello 917-312-2832 Consistently receiving this recognition, and in all of the areas measured, demonstrates that St. Josephs Health is not only a leader in Central New York, but a leader in the nation St. Josephs Health Hospital has been recognized for the third consecutive year as a Best Regional Hospital and ranked #9 in New York State by U.S. News & World Report (up from its #13 ranking last year). St. Josephs is the only hospital in our region to have achieved this recognition receiving the Best in Central New York designation. And St. Josephs is ranked as a high performing hospital in ALL NINE procedure areas that are measured, as well as a new specialty area added this year: 1. Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair 2. Aortic Valve Surgery 3. Colon Cancer Surgery 4. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) 5. Heart Bypass Surgery 6. Heart Failure 7. Hip Replacement Surgery 8. Knee Replacement Surgery 9. Lung Cancer Surgery 10. *NEW* this year: Orthopedics Consistently receiving this recognition, and in all of the areas measured, demonstrates that St. Josephs Health is not only a leader in Central New York, but a leader in the nation, said Leslie Paul Luke, President and CEO at St. Josephs Health. And I can tell you exactly how we do it: it is through our very specific commitment to our mission, properly utilizing the network of care that we offer, and listening to our patients and our employees. There are nearly 200 hospitals in New York, which means that St. Josephs has been ranked in the top 5% of all hospitals in the state. To help patients make smart, well-informed choices, U.S. News has published annual hospital rankings for more than 25 years. The U.S. News Best Regional Hospitals rankings are widely recognized by consumers and healthcare professionals as the gold standard mark of excellence. For more information, visit health.usnews.com. _ About St. Josephs Health: St. Josephs Health is a non-profit regional health care system based in Syracuse, N.Y., providing services to patients throughout Central New York and northern Pennsylvania. From primary to specialty to home care, to our Magnet-recognized hospital, and in collaboration with our community partners, St. Joseph's Health is advancing the health of the communities we serve through an expanding range of healthcare services to ensure our patients achieve optimum long-term health. Ranked by Consumer Reports among the top 15 heart surgery centers in the country, U.S. News Best Regional Hospital and a 15-time winner of the National Research Corporation Consumer Choice award, St. Josephs is widely recognized for quality, value and delivering the highest patient satisfaction. St. Josephs Health is affiliated with Franciscan Companies and St. Josephs Physicians and is a member of Trinity Health. Employees donate school supplies for the Broward Education Foundation We are proud to be able to support our teachers in the community and help fill their classrooms with supplies As Broward County schools return for another school year, a Broward-county based insurance company is working to ensure Broward county teachers have the supplies they need to provide a successful year ahead to their students. For the third year in a row, People's Trust Insurance is collecting copy paper, pens, glue sticks, calculators, and more for the 2017 Tools for Schools drive, which is a Broward Education Foundation campaign that provides Broward County teachers in low income schools the chance to shop for the free school supplies they need year round. We are proud to be able to support our teachers in the community and help fill their classrooms with supplies, said Amy Rosen, Chief Marketing & Communications Officer. Its very exciting to see our drive continue to grow each year. We know we are making a difference in the lives of tomorrows youth so they have the necessary tools to start the school year off right. In past years, Broward County teachers have had to reach into their own wallets to purchase much-needed school supplies, but Tools for Schools and its partners are working to change that. Many People's Trust employees have generously brought in supplies to donate. The foundation will provide free supplies to approximately 300,000 students and 15,000 teachers in Broward County. For more information about the Broward Education Foundation, visit http://www.browardedfoundation.org. # # # ABOUT PEOPLE'S TRUST INSURANCE Founded in 2008, People's Trust Insurance has emerged as one of Florida's top 10 home insurance companies, providing homeowners with affordable rates and benefits not available anywhere else. Honored with the Enterprise Florida Governor's Innovators in Business Award, People's Trust provides a "Better Way" for over 135,000 Floridians to insure their homes. With more than 500 employees in its family of companies and an affiliation with Florida's largest residential insurance restoration general contractor, People's Trust is Florida's best-prepared home insurance company and a full partner in our policyholders' recovery after loss. Magno International, LP, a Minority-, Disabled- and Veteran-Owned global integrated logistics solutions company, today announced the appointment of LeRoy O. Hughes, II as Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing effective immediately. Mr. Hughes will report directly to Chris Monica, Magno Internationals President. Mr. Hughes will be responsible for Magnos global business development, marketing and brand management strategies. Mr. Monica said, We are fortunate to have a leader like LeRoy join our executive management team. He has outstanding and unique experience spanning sales, marketing and management. Hes run small and large teams throughout North America and has lead corporate training initiatives for a fortune 500 transportation company. His most recent experience has been as a Business Development Executive with one of the worlds largest consulting firms; we are confident this is the kind of transformational skill-set that will differentiate Magno in a crowded supply chain market. Raul Pedraza, CEO and Founder of Magno added, More than anything, LeRoy brings to Magno a track record of success which were confident hell convert to innovative, sustainable and mutually rewarding solutions for our customers and all Magno stakeholders. Mr. Hughes has over 26 years of sales, marketing, and customer service experience. He is a skilled sales trainer and facilitator, and is proficient in various sales processes. Mr. Hughes was most recently with EY in Southern California. He began in their Cleveland office as the Business Development Operations Leader in 2006. He managed a team of 23 professionals that developed/executed the external marketing, events, marketing research, and proposals for EY in Eastern Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, and Western Pennsylvania. He joined EYs Southern California consulting practice as a Business Development Executive in 2009. Prior to joining EY, Mr. Hughes spent 15 years in the transportation industry with a Fortune 500 logistics provider in various sales, management, and marketing positions. Mr. Hughes was born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, CA and pursued his undergraduate studies at the University of San Diego (USD). He received his Bachelor of Business Administration from USD in 1990 and earned his Master of Business Administration from Case Western Reserve University in 2006. LeRoy is a member of several networking organizations and has served as an advisory board member for a LA-based not for profit organization, the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE). LeRoy will be domiciled in Magnos offices in Houston, TX. About Magno International, LP: Magno International is a NMSDC-certified Minority-, CVE-verified Veteran- (VOSB) and Self-certified Disabled-Owned Small Business offering integrated global Supply Chain solutions. The company offers a variety of integrated transportation and logistics services including local, national and global air and ocean freight forwarding, time-definite LTL, full truckload and customs brokerage. Magno also offers value added logistics solutions in warehousing, order management, fulfillment and returns management. They provide a highly personalized service and a flat organizational structure that allows them to deliver flexible and customized solutions quickly. More than anything, Magno is committed to its Mission of speed and accuracy and delivering the best, most efficient solution at the lowest delivered cost. Pivotel and GMN Both Pivotel and GMN have a reputation for being innovative companies with a strong track record in R&D, so we felt very comfortable about the cultural alignment and now look forward to joining the Pivotel family Past News Releases RSS GMN Launches New Satellite Phones,... GMN Offers Trade-In Credit for... GMN Launches Iridium Savings... Leading Australian telecommunications provider, Pivotel, has today announced the acquisition of North American satellite solutions company, Global Marine Networks (GMN) as part of an accelerated push into the satellite data communications market. GMN core products are focused on speeding up satellite data while also lowering usage costs. The acquisition offers greater access to the GMN product portfolio and its team of developers, including the GMN RedPort brand of satellite VoIP, data routers and services. The procurement of the Tennessee-based company facilitates greater levels of integration with Pivotels broad suite of satellite technologies and provides Pivotel with a foothold in the North American market through which Pivotel plans to expand the sales of existing Pivotel products. Pivotel CEO Peter Bolger said the acquisition was a natural fit with the GMN product suite providing solutions to the satellite industrys pain points of slower and more expensive data downloads. Satellite phone technology has come a long way in a few short years. Data downloads are comparatively slow, sometimes painfully slow, and are notoriously expensive on a satellite network, but we know our customers increasingly need to access the Internet and apps for both business and personal use, Mr. Bolger said. It makes sense then, for us to partner with a leading satellite solutions developer, to offer our customers with access to faster, more affordable content for an improved user experience. By bringing their expertise in-house we are also able to develop more tightly integrated solutions that leverage Pivotels network infrastructure. GMN and RedPort solutions provide turnkey access to all services including filtering and compressing data as well as blocking unnecessary content and software updates so users can upload and download data faster and more cost effectively, allowing satellite users to get the most out of their voice and data service. GMN CEO Dr. Luis Soltero agrees that the two companies are a good fit. We had spoken with a number of potential suitors but were won over by Pivotels commitment to the satellite data market and their desire to continue investing in new and improved solutions while also wanting to grow the international sales of the GMN RedPort product suite, Dr. Soltero said. Both Pivotel and GMN have a reputation for being innovative companies with a strong track record in R&D, so we felt very comfortable about the cultural alignment and now look forward to joining the Pivotel family. The transaction between Pivotel and GMN is expected to close on 1 September 2017. ABOUT PIVOTEL GROUP Pivotel Group is a leading Australian provider of satellite and mobile technology including satellite phones, satellite broadband, personal and asset trackers, docking kits, M2M connections and maritime communication. Its experienced network of engineers, application developers and account managers ensure Pivotel Group's licensed carrier network is directly interconnected with all of the major mobile satellite operators to provide the most extensive range of satellite voice, data, personal safety and asset monitoring solutions. Pivotel Groups 4G mobile network marketed as ecoSphereTM extends its carrier network to deliver complementary terrestrial wireless services to rural and remote Australians. ABOUT GLOBAL MARINE NETWORKS Global Marine Networks (GMN), the leader in advancing satellite data speeds and services, helps Fixed and Mobile Satellite Services providers and their customers by offering the industrys fastest, most reliable and easy-to-use email, web, and other hardware and software services to maritime, oil and gas, first responder and business continuity users. The companys products include XGate high-speed satellite email, web, and vessel tracking systems. Ship to shore marine satellite solutions are offered as branded or white-label solutions for the worlds premier satellite data service providers under the RedPort Global brand. ### The Gold Gods We feel street culture has become more and more affluent over the years, and the college student seems to sit at the epicenter of this movement The Gold Gods, the industry-leading street culture jewelry and accessories brand, is proud to announce its first ever College tour entitled Gold Gods On Campus. In partnership with select universities, Gold Gods On Campus features The Gold Gods brand visiting a variety of colleges and producing mini events for students consisting of unique games, exclusive giveaways, special offers, and a custom VR experience. Integrating with existing college campus activities, The Gold Gods is bringing a taste of urban streetwear culture to universities beginning on the west coast in August and September. Gold Gods On Campus schedule is as follows: Arizona State University / Aug 16, 6p-9p / Passport to ASU USC / Aug 19, 5p-8p / Welcome Back Concert UC Berkley / Aug 20-21, 10a-4p / Caltopia Days Cal State Fullerton / Aug 30 / 11a-2p / Discoverfest UC San Diego / Sept 24, 8a-12p / Fall YAll UC Irvine / Sept 25, 11a-4p / Club Day UCLA / Sept 26, 11a-3p / Enormous Act Fair We feel street culture has become more and more affluent over the years, and the college student seems to sit at the epicenter of this movement, says Cam Love, Creative Director and founder of The Gold Gods. Gold Golds On Campus gives us the opportunity to reach out to the college student, and personally connect with them as a brand, further building our community. For more information about The Gold Gods, or for more information about Gold Gods On Campus, please visit http://www.thegoldgods.com. About The Gold Gods The Gold Gods (http://www.thegoldgods.com) is a leading jewelry and accessories brand tailored towards the urban street culture lifestyle. Founded in 2013 in Kansas City, MO, the lifestyle brand combines unique designs with quality craftsmanship to deliver premium trendsetting products. The Gold Gods is the top retail-selling urban jewelry line in North America distributed in more than 800 stores, as well as online worldwide. The Gold Gods flagship retail store is located at 450 N. Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles, California. Well continue adding platforms as we continue to grow, said Martin. People want supplements only made from real ingredients and designed to support their healthand thats what we offer. Bioter Health, a brand specializing in nutritional and health products that is held by the South African-based CoMED Health, is capitalizing on opportunities to offer its products through major online retail sites. The companys large range of high-quality nutritional supplements and homeopathic medicines are available on sites like Jet.com, StackedNutrition.com, Amazon.com, RevNutrition.com and Go4ItNutrition.com. This represents part of a strategy to increase the companys brand presence in the United States. Bioter Health offers more than 200 health and wellness products targeted to support people of all ages in living a long and healthy life. We want our amazing products to be available wherever consumers are looking for natural supplements, said Greg Martin, head of marketing and sales for CoMED. Were growing our presence in the US market one day at time, creating relationships with key retail sites and increasing our marketing efforts. From supplements that improve your immune system to herbal supplements, we do it all. Natura Laboratories is a South African company founded in 1966. The company specializes in the development of various homeopathic medicines. One example is Gallen, a product designed to support the function of the hepato-biliary system while providing some much-needed assistance in the treatment of pre-diagnosed dysfunction in the liver, gall and bile. The medicine contains important nutrients such as Achillea millefolium D2, Berberis vulgaris D2, Fel tauri D2, Hemiaria glabra D2 and more CoMED Health owns various brands including Natura Laboratories which was founded in 1966. This brand specializes in the development of various homeopathic medicines. Another company brand, Bioter Health was founded later in 2002, and its leading product is its BrainChild childrens supplement, which was designed to help kids improve their focus, learning skills, memory and behavior while at school through the power of fish oil, a potent source of important omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. The company offers a variety of other products for people of all ages, including some geared toward heart health, digestive health, immune system support and more. Each product is only made to the highest standards, as the company emphasizes using high-quality ingredients. Well continue adding platforms as we continue to grow, said Martin. People want supplements only made from real ingredients and designed to support their healthand thats what we offer. For more information on the brand and CoMED Health, go to http://www.comedhealth.co.za. AIM, a leading global manufacturer of solder assembly materials for the electronics industry, is pleased to announce that its Juarez, Mexico facility successfully completed the recertification process for the Industria Limpia certification, bestowed by the Procuraduria Federal de Proteccion al Ambiente (PROFEPA). This certification is valid for two years. The Industria Limpia certificate is bestowed by PROFEPA, federal agency responsible for the enforcement of environmental laws, upon companies that comply with Mexican environmental laws and regulations and successfully complete the audit on proper environmental procedures. AIM has been a proud recipient of this certificate since 2011. Its participation in the National Program of Environmental Audits is one initiative that supports AIMs ongoing efforts of social responsibility. With this certification, AIM reaffirms its commitment to the Mexican community by ensuring the well-being of local residents and contributing to initiatives that facilitate environmental protection and conservation. About PROFEPA The Procuraduria Federal de Proteccion al Ambiente (PROFEPA) is the organism in charge of preserving the environment and enforcing laws and regulations for environmental conservation. PROFEPA is a decentralized body of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT). About AIM Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, AIM Solder is a leading global manufacturer of assembly materials for the electronics industry with manufacturing, distribution and support facilities located throughout the world. AIM produces advanced solder products such as solder paste, liquid flux, cored wire, bar solder, epoxies, lead-free and halogen-free solder products, preforms, and specialty alloys such as indium and gold for a broad range of industries. A recipient of many prestigious SMT industry awards, AIM is strongly committed to innovative research and development of product and process improvement as well as providing customers with superior technical support, service and training. For more information about AIM, visit http://www.aimsolder.com. Upcoming Events: August 24, 2017 Knowledge Sharing Session Queretaro 2017 Queretaro, Qro, Mexico September 17-21, 2017 SMTA International Rosemont, IL October 18-19, 2017 SMTA Guadalajara Guadalajara, Mexico October 18, 2017 SMTA Long Island Islandia, NY Blvd Suites named to winners list of Metropolitan Detroits Best and Brightest Companies to Work We have worked diligently to create a culture where our people are recognized for their efforts, the environment is a perfect blend of work hard and play hard, and there is a passionate devotion to having a work/life balance. Blvd Suites Corporate Housing has been named to the 2017 Winners list of Metropolitan Detroits Best and Brightest Companies to Work For. The Best and Brightest Companies to Work For recognition identifies and honors organizations that lead the way when it comes to establishing an outstanding workplace environment in terms of culture, recognition, training, leadership, inclusiveness, opportunity, perks, and compensation and benefits. Winners are chosen by anonymously surveying employees. We have worked diligently to create and foster a culture that is one where our people are recognized for their efforts, the environment is a perfect blend of work hard and play hard, and there is a passionate devotion to having a work/life balance. As founders of the company, we did this because we wanted to create the ideal environment of a company we would want to come to work for, and one that would do right by our people, says Founding Partner Mike Dunklee. The intangible benefit of our efforts is that it has allowed us to attract, recruit and retain some of the finest talent in our industry. We have assembled one of the strongest global corporate housing teams in the world because people are hearing great things about being on the Blvd Suites team, and they want to be a part of it, says Founding Partner Jeff Hurley. Blvd Suites team members are empowered to make decisions, and its manifesto of core philosophies promote blue skies thinking, creating an unsurpassed guest experience, and providing people a healthy work/life balance. In addition, the company has a tradition of providing gift cards in recognition of team members birthdays, those of their significant others and children, work anniversaries and wedding anniversaries. One of the most significant team member benefits however is upon achieving 10 years of service, team members receive $1,000 and a paid 30-day sabbatical over and above their regular vacation time. About Blvd Suites Corporate Housing Blvd Suites is an award-winning global provider of fully furnished temporary housing. The company supports its customers with regional locations across the United States, and services global placements from its London service center in the United Kingdom. The company was named Company Member of the Year by the Corporate Housing Providers Association in 2009, and has been a finalist for the award in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2015. Blvd Suites received the associations award for Most Creative Marketing in 2015. In 2016 and 2017, the company was named a finalist for the Expatriate Management & Mobility Award (EMMA) in the category of Corporate Housing Provider of the Year, presented by the Forum for Expatriate Management. Blvd Suites was selected as Runner-Up in the category in 2016, and second runner-up in 2017. The company was named Most Trusted Corporate Housing Specialist USA in Acquisition International magazines 2017 Global Mobility Immigration & International HR Awards. And in 2017, Blvd Suites was named the #2 Best Place to Work among small businesses in the Denver area by the Denver Business Journal, and named to the Metropolitan Detroits Best and Brightest Companies to Work For winners list. Blvd Suites can be found online at http://www.BlvdSuites.com. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram @BlvdSuites, receive news and updates at Facebook.com/BlvdSuites. Find out What Makes Us Suite and experience our serviced apartments virtually on YouTube at http://www.bit.ly/BlvdSuites_YouTube. Rahul said he is "proud" of the fact that the Indira Canteen will provide breakfast for Rs 5 and meals at Rs 10. By India Today Web Desk: Launching the Indira Canteen in Bengaluru, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today said the idea is aimed at "the poorest and the weakest" in the city. "Many people in Bengaluru live in huge houses, drive rich cars and for them food is not an issue. But millions of people here are construction workers, auto rickshaw drivers and barbers who do not have enough money. The Indira Canteens will serve these people," Gandhi said while inaugurating the canteen at Jayanagar ward in the city. advertisement "We want the poorest and the weakest in the city to know that they cannot go hungry," he said after inaugurating the canteen. He was accompanied by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, city Mayor G Padmavathi, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President G Parameshwara and other party leaders. Rahul said he is "proud" of the fact that the canteen will provide breakfast for Rs 5 and meals at Rs 10. "Nobody in Bengaluru should go hungry," he said. "I am proud that it is a Congress government that conceptualized this canteen," Rahul added. Rahul later bought his breakfast from the canteen, for which he borrowed Rs 10 from Karnataka Home Minister G Parameswara. CANTEEN POLITICS The 46-year-old leader said the ruling Congress is planning to open more Indira Canteens - named after his grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi - across Karnataka, where the Assembly elections are due next year. Besides the one in Jayanagar, 100 other canteens will be opened on Wednesday for dinner, which will be served free of cost to all on the first day, the Chief Minister said in a statement, calling the launch a "historic day" for Karnataka. The Congress is not the first party to think of a canteen dedicated to the poor. That was started by late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa by her chain of Amma canteens across Tamil Nadu. Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party has also launched a series of subsidised Aam Aadmi Canteens across the national capital. Karnataka: Congress VP Rahul Gandhi takes a meal at the newly inaugurated Indira Canteen in Bengaluru. pic.twitter.com/h0agD1V4o5 ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2017 WATCH: Want the poorest in Bengaluru to know they can't go hungry: Rahul after launching Indira Canteen --- ENDS --- M-Files Corporation, the intelligent information management company, today announced the immediate availability of M-Files HR, a new offering that can be deployed on-premises or as a cloud-based service that enables organizations to simplify and automate the management of employee-related documents and records associated common HR processes throughout the employee lifecycle, such as onboarding, training and performance reviews. M-Files HR includes simple and secure integrated records management supporting retention and eventual disposition of employee and HR-related records, and is backed with a complete version history and audit log to support compliance with government regulations and corporate governance policies. Many companies still manage HR documents and processes, such as onboarding, training, performance reviews, etc., in an inefficient and error-prone manual manner, exposing them to legal and compliance risks. Email is often the de facto workflow management tool, and a lot of time and energy is wasted by HR staff and supervisors trying to get documents reviewed and approved and ensuring tasks have been completed by the right people. M-Files HR is targeted at helping businesses simplify and automate this common need with a system that is easy to implement and use. M-Files HR is easy to use because it puts information in readily understood context, in this case, in the context of the employee, supervisor, manager, executive, etc. M-Files HR intelligently understands these common business roles and the relationships between them, allowing employee-related documents and records to be dynamically secured, organized and processed in an intuitive and personalized manner. Without duplication or complex hierarchical folder structures, HR documents, such as resumes, offer letters, government required employment documents, performance reviews, training certificates, etc., are intelligently organized, accessed and processed in context, by role and individual. For instance, a supervisor sees and interacts with only the information related to themselves and their direct reports, or an employee or manager may only be able to view certain documents and information, while an HR manager can modify it or remove access to it. In addition, certain documents are formal records that cannot be modified and must be retained for a certain period. "Numerous companies we speak with have limited visibility into employee information because HR records are often scattered among hard drives, filing cabinets, enterprise applications and unmanaged file sharing systems," said Mika Javanainen, vice president of product management at M-Files. "Record keeping is essential to HR responsibilities, and in order to avoid administrative, legal and compliance problems, HR personnel must follow proper employee record keeping protocols, which means they must know which records to keep, who must review and approve them, how to store them and for how long. M-Files HR is an easy to use solution that empowers human resources staff, managers and other authorized individuals to gain greater visibility and control over HR documentation while also streamlining core HR processes." HR Document Templates and Automated Workflows Streamline Manual Processes M-Files HR includes templates and other features that simplify employee records management. A variety of out of the box templates are provided to simplify the creation and management of HR records and files. Templates can be modified or new templates created based on company needs or preferences. Consistently completing important yet common documents, such as a performance review, is as easy as clicking on the template and then filling in the necessary information. Documents can also be pre-generated by managers or HR, and then workflows initiated with an assignment to employees or other managers to complete. HR process automation is a core component of M-Files HR with the ability for HR staff to enforce and automate common HR workflows. This ensures that common processes associated with onboarding and that ongoing employment and career development are executed in a consistent and timely fashion in such a manner that also directly supports compliance with government regulations and corporate governance policies. Integration with Other HR Systems M-Files HR can be integrated with and complement existing HRMS and HRIS solutions, enterprise content management (ECM) platforms and other systems that store HR records and employee information. M-Files intelligently links content and context when connected to other existing HR and business systems to provide a 360 degree view of information so the user always finds what they need regardless of the system they are using, without duplication of information or content. For more information about M-Files HR, click here. About M-Files Corporation M-Files provides a next generation intelligent information management platform that improves business performance by helping people find and use information more effectively. Unlike traditional enterprise content management (ECM) systems or content services platforms, M-Files unifies systems, data and content across the organization without disturbing existing systems and processes or requiring data migration. M-Files breaks down silos by delivering an in-context experience for accessing and leveraging information that resides in any system and repository, including network folders, SharePoint, file sharing services, ECM systems, CRM, ERP and other business systems and repositories. Thousands of organizations in over 100 countries use M-Files for managing their business information and processes, including SAS, Elekta and NBC Universal. For more information, visit http://www.m-files.com. M-Files is a registered trademark of M-Files Corporation. All other registered trademarks belong to their respective owners. 3Pillar team members from around the world during a recent photo shoot for the 3Pillar Careers website This recognition is because of and belongs to our 800-plus team members around the world who push each other - and our clients - to build better digital products every day. 3Pillar Global, a leading developer of innovative technology solutions, was named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies in the US. This is the seventh time in eight years 3Pillar has made the Inc. 5000. In recent years, the Inc. 5000 has become the hallmark of companies that have translated entrepreneurial success into rapid, consistent growth. Among the innovative companies to have been named to the list in years past are Zipcar, Zappos.com, and many other companies that are household names. "We're thrilled to be back on the Inc. 5000 this year, said 3Pillar CEO David DeWolf. Everyone at 3Pillar is excited that we are continuing to see market-leading growth in the digital services sector. This recognition is because of and belongs to our 800-plus team members around the world who push each other - and our clients - to build better digital products every day." From 2013 to 2016, the period over which companies were measured for the Inc. 5000, 3Pillar saw substantial growth in terms of both revenue and headcount. Annual revenue increased from $26.2 million in 2013 to $40 million in 2016. The company added more than 130 employees over the same time period, growing from 595 employees in 2013 to 727 in 2016. 3Pillars rapid growth has continued in 2017. A third 3Pillar delivery center in Romania opened its doors in Iasi in August 2017. 3Pillar's India delivery center in Noida also moved into a state-of-the-art new space in April 2017 that will allow ample room for growth. These additions have coincided with a hiring boom to help 3Pillar meet demand for its services. The company crossed the 800 employee threshold earlier this year. About 3Pillar Global 3Pillar Global builds innovative, revenue-generating software products, enabling businesses to quickly turn ideas into value. 3Pillar balances business-minded thinking with engineering expertise in disruptive technologies, such as mobile, cloud and big data, to develop products that meet real business needs. To date, 3Pillars products have driven over $1 billion in revenue for industry leaders like CARFAX, PBS, Equinox, and numerous others. Over the course of a decade spent helping clients build industry-leading solutions, 3Pillar clients have been acquired for more than $7 billion combined. For more information on the company, please visit http://www.3PillarGlobal.com. For job opportunities, please visit http://careers.3PillarGlobal.com. About the Inc. 5000 The Inc. 5000 list is a distinguished editorial award, a celebration of innovation, a network of entrepreneurial leaders, and an effective public relations showcase. The list is determined by a companys overall revenue growth in a three-year period. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found on the Inc. website at http://www.inc.com/inc5000/index.html. Vadalex-Agro SRL Chisinau received the award during a special ceremony at the Hotel DuPont in Wilmington, DE, (USA) Thursday July 20, 2017. DuPont is pleased to congratulate the winners of the 2017 Environmental Respect Awards and applauds their accomplishment in environmental stewardship, said Tim Glenn, president, DuPont Crop Protection. These leaders are helping to advance environmental safety as well as the safe use of agricultural products. We hope they will inspire others who share our passion and commitment to elevate environmental stewardship around the world. With every passing year, says Vitalie Tiganu, Director of Vadalex-Agro SRL, environmental respect becomes more and more obvious for all of us. We live in a beautiful small country in the heart of Europe, and we build our business based on European values. Everyone wants to leave a clean and healthy country to the next generation, and our responsible approach to environmental problems is shared by our customers and partners. We see how the attitude of people is changing and a more responsible business approach is considered a must-have practice. Agriculture is a legacy in Moldova, and the need to cherish and uphold this legacy is always at the forefront of Tiganus business. The Environmental Respect Awards, sponsored by DuPont Crop Protection, CropLife magazine and AgriBusiness GlobalTM magazine, honor outstanding environmental stewardship among those who supply farmers with inputs that are critical to safe and effective crop production globally. The winners exemplify environmental care in areas including security, risk management, product handling and use, worker safety, and education and outreach to their communities. 2017 marks the programs 27th year honoring the stewardship, sustainability, safety, and community outreach efforts of the worlds leading agricultural retailers and distributors. In all, 15 companies were honored with regional awards for their outstanding commitment to environmental stewardship. Ambassadors received special honors as the best of the best in their respective regions. For 17 years, Paul Schrimpf, Executive Editor of CropLife and AgriBusiness GlobalTM magazines, has led the programs judging process and development. He has been both impressed and inspired by the continuous improvement displayed over his nearly two decades of involvement. The deliberate and conscientious efforts of these ag businesses toward improving environmental stewardship and safety at their facilities helps to ensure employees, communities, and the environment at large are protected, and that their businesses are sustainable and thriving, Schrimpf said. Were delighted to recognize their excellence. Find more information on the Environmental Respect Awards at http://www.EnvironmentalRespect.com. # # # For 27 years, the Environmental Respect Awards have been the foremost distinction in stewardship among agricultural retailers and distributors worldwide. Since its inception in 1991, more than 6,500 businesses in the U.S. and Canada have shared their stories of environmental stewardship, sustainability, product safety standards, and customer and community outreach. Approximately 700 have earned state/provincial awards. Over the past 12 years, the international extension of the Environmental Respect Awards has seen participation from more than 550 businesses in 33 countries. ERA 2017 marks the continuation of a fully integrated global selection and recognition process. The program is sponsored by DuPont Crop Protection and is managed and conducted by CropLife magazine and AgriBusiness GlobalTM magazine, Meister Media Worldwide publications. While art and science are often thought of as two completely separate modes of thought, they are much more closely connected than one might think. A Mesh Is Also a Snare, a group exhibition presented by the Philadelphia-based artist collective Grizzly Grizzly, will open at the University City Science Centers Esther Klein Gallery (EKG) on August 17 and run through September 30. An opening reception will be held at EKG, located at 3600 Market Street in Philadelphia, on Thursday, September 7th from 5:00 7:30 p.m. The title, A Mesh Is Also a Snare, is derived from an ecological concept that all forms of life are connected in a vast entangling mesh. No construct exists independently from the entanglement, nor does human or nature exist as a separate hierarchical entity; they are interdependent. The exhibit explores the myriad ways in which technology connects art and science, to illustrate how neither field precedes the other but instead acts upon each other to form new cultural and political ideologies. Grizzly Grizzlys practicing artists curate exhibitions and other artistic programming, to create a dialogue around innovative work without the constraints of institutional agendas or commercial interests. Grizzly Grizzly's ongoing mission is to blur organizational lines, promote community, and take risks by building a mesh of artists, curators and the greater community, in Philadelphia and beyond. Grizzly Grizzly has invited fellow practitioners to pursue the elusive and complex nexus between art and science through collaboration. Exhibiting artists include Talia Greene, Amy Hicks, Michael Konrad + Jason Varone, Kristin Lucas, Susan Robb, Ephraim Russell, Sarah Steinwachs, Cindy Stockton-Moore + Rachel Wetzel + Sarah Pulver, and Josh Weiss. About the Science Center Located in the heart of uCity Square, the Science Center is a mission-driven nonprofit organization that catalyzes and connects innovation to entrepreneurship and technology commercialization. For 50+ years, the Science Center has supported startups, research, and economic development in the life sciences, healthcare, physical sciences, and emerging technology sectors. As a result, graduate firms and current residents of the Science Centers incubator support one out of every 100 jobs in the Greater Philadelphia region and drive $13 billion in economic activity in the region annually. By providing resources and programming for any stage of a businesss lifecycle, the Science Center helps scientists, entrepreneurs and innovators take their concepts from idea to IPO and beyond. For more information about the Science Center, go to http://www.sciencecenter.org Auction of Central Grocers Trucking Fleet This is an extremely well-maintained fleet; bidders will be very pleased with the selection available. HYPERAMS, LLC, in partnership with Tiger Group, is conducting the first of two online auctions of the assets of Central Grocers, a retailer-owned cooperative that operated as a wholesaler for approximately 400 independent grocery stores in the Midwest. The online auction features over 180 well-maintained, late-model dry and refrigerated trailers ranging in size from 35 feet up to 53 feet in length. Brands include Wabash, Great Dane, Trailmobile, and Utility. This is a fantastic opportunity to purchase late-model dry and refrigerated trailers at auction, said HYPERAMS Director of Auction Services Burdette Wilber. This is an extremely well-maintained fleet; bidders will be very pleased with the selection available. Wilber noted that although this auction includes the trailer assets of Central Grocers only, the second auction, which is anticipated to be held in a few months, will have additional equipment. Bidders interested in expanding their distribution facilities should note that the second auction will include additional trailers, as well as facility racking, forklifts, and more, he said. The online auction for the trailer assets is currently ongoing on Bidspotter.com. Lots will begin to close August 23, 2017 at 10:00 AM CST. An inspection day has been scheduled for August 22, 2017 from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM CST at the Companys distribution center located at 2600 W Haven Avenue, Joliet, Illinois 60433. As mentioned, due to the expansive asset list and anticipated high auction participation, a second online auction will be scheduled for certain of the companys distribution and warehouse equipment. For more details on the assets and how to register for this highly-anticipated auction, please visit http://www.HYPERAMS.com or contact Director of Auction Services Burdette Wilber at bwilber(at)hyperams.com. Central Grocers Inc. filed for voluntary bankruptcy on May 4, 2017. Please reference U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Illinois (Case Number 1:17-bk-13886) for more information. About HYPERAMS, LLC HYPERAMS is a full-service auction, appraisal, retail advisory and liquidation, and reverse logistics firm. The Company specializes in assisting both distressed and healthy companies manage surplus assets by providing clients with a complete asset disposition strategy. The Asset Disposition division focuses on investing in excess assets and conducting live and webcast auctions. The Appraisal division provides valuations of machinery, equipment, and inventory in most industry verticals. Since its inception, HYPERAMS has performed hundreds of appraisals, auctions, and store closings on behalf of financial institutions, restructuring/turnaround professionals, private equity firms, as well as business owners. Girls in Tech, a global organization focused on the empowerment, entrepreneurship, engagement, and education of women in technology, is proud to announce applications are open for the sixth annual AMPLIFY, still the worlds largest half-day pitch competition for early-stage technology startups for female entrepreneurs. AMPLIFY Womens Pitch Competition brings together over 500 innovative women serial entrepreneurs, engineers, angel investors, VCs, journalists, executives, product developers and designers from around the world for an exhilarating half-day of innovative startup pitches and cutting-edge keynotes from the industrys most forward-looking leaders. The competition will take place in San Francisco on Wednesday, October 18, 2017, at Zendesk. Since 2012, the percentage of women-led venture-backed companies has plateaued at 17 percent, with a zero percent growth in the last 5 years. Whats more, these companies only raise 17 percent of seed funding. The problem could have origins in the pitch process itself, with some studies finding that gender may color how investors see the individuals who pitch them. Enter AMPLIFY Pitch Competition, which seeks to empower women founders with the support network that they require to fund innovative solutions. During the competition, women entrepreneurs will have 10 minutes to pitch their early-stage technology startup onstage to a panel of seasoned tech industry professionals and investors to be judged based on the innovativeness and viability of the product or service. All ten competition finalists will receive the opportunity for mentoring and winners will receive a cash prize along with additional resources such as office space, laptops or equipment to move their startup forward. We at Girls in Tech wanted to use this opportunity to call on the industry to empower women entrepreneurs, said Adriana Gascoigne, CEO of Girls in Tech. We hope that this takes us one step closer address the challenges that women face during the search for funding. The event also features three inspiring keynote speeches by some of the most successful female startup founders and high-tech executives, as well as leaders in the tech industry who are allies in the women in tech movement. Speakers and judges include: Dheeraj Pandey, CEO & Chairman of Nutanix Priya Rajan, Director of Early Stage Banking at Silicon Valley Bank Jason Calacanis, serial entrepreneur and blogger Kim Milosevich, Partner, Andreesen Horowitz Jeremy King, CTO, WalMart Labs Kristina Shen, Vice President at Bessemer And more Sponsors include: Silicon Valley Bank Nutanix Cisco Zuora Filter Digital Vodafone Americas Automattic WordPress.com GoDaddy Comcast NBC Universal LoopUp DLA Piper Global Law Firm Pitch applications are due by Friday, September 15, 2017. For eligibility and other key dates to enter, please click here: http://amplify.girlsintech.org/ Tickets to attend are also open, and can be purchased at: http://amplify.girlsintech.org/apply/ For questions or media inquiries, please email Girls In Tech at: ann.murray(at)girlsintech.org About Girls in Tech Girls in Tech (GIT) is a global non-profit focused on the engagement, education and empowerment of girls and women who are passionate about technology. Adriana Gascoigne founded GIT in 2007 to create a support framework to help women advance their careers in STEM fields. GIT aims to accelerate the growth of innovative women entering into the high-tech industry and building startups. GIT achieves this through the creation of proprietary, innovative programming and strategic global partnerships. With headquarters in San Francisco and more than 60,000 members located around the globe, GIT relies on volunteer efforts to lead each of the 60 local chapters. Programming and events vary by chapter based on local interests and needs. GIT is not just for professional women. It exists for anyone with an interest in technology, startups and providing women with a platform for growth. But GIT operates with the spirit of the girl within all of usfearless, lively and determined. For the latest updates, read GITs blog or follow them on Facebook or Twitter. Paul Vitenas, MD, FACS, is honored to announce that he has been named as a Castle Connolly 2017 Top Doctor. The annual list identifies the nations top physicians, in a variety of specialties. This marks the fourth year in a row that Dr. Vitenas has made it to the top of Castle Connollys coveted ranking. Castle Connolly is the nations trusted provider of information on the most elite doctors, offering detailed profiles of more than 50,000 outstanding physicians across the United States, spanning a range of medical specialties. Founded in 1991, Castle Connolly is the leading digital and print provider of information about top doctors, working with more than 50 city and regional magazines, newspapers, digital health companies and employers. Every year, hundreds of thousands of nominations for the Castle Connolly Top Doc title are submitted online by physicians, identifying other doctors whom they believe to be clinically outstanding. Castle Connollys physician-led Research Department then conducts a rigorous review of all nominated doctors, examining education, training, hospital affiliations, professional accomplishments and experience, before selecting the most qualified physicians as Castle Connollys Top Doctors. Physicians cannot and do not pay to be selected in this process. As the founder of Vitenas Cosmetic Surgery, Dr. Vitenas has been awarded a myriad of illustrious awards over his 30-year carrier. Most recently he was named the Top Board Certified Doctor by Modern Luxury Magazine, received the City Beat News Spectrum Award for Excellence and earned a place as one of the RealSelf 100 Top Cosmetic Surgeons. Along with Dr. Vitenas team of aesthetic professionals, Vitenas Cosmetic Surgery has also been ranked as a Top Clinic by the Top Choice Awards. Dr. Vitenas four years of consecutive inclusion as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor reflects a dedicated career in plastic surgery. He explains, I have spent my entire career delivering natural results to patients who have wanted to have aesthetic surgery. Dr. Vitenas then continues, That softness, that proportionality, that innate beauty all human beings possess is what I try to bring out (of my patients) and let the rest of the world see. Board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, Dr. Vitenas is an alumnus of Tulane University Medical School in New Orleans. Since opening Vitenas Cosmetic Surgery in 1991, Dr. Vitenas has grown his private practice into one of the most trusted aesthetic offices in the Houston-area. A respected author and speaker, Dr. Vitenas routinely presents on his innovative techniques at cosmetic surgery meetings across the U.S. and abroad. More information on Dr. Paul Vitenas can be found by contacting Vitenas Cosmetic Surgery at 281.484.0088, or fill out the Contact Us form. Conveniently located in the heart of Houston, Dr. Vitenas offers complimentary, in-person and online consultations. To get additional information on the 2017 list of Castle Connolly Top Doctors, go to http://www.castleconnolly.com. First Choice Emergency Room First Choice Emergency Room, the largest network of independent freestanding emergency rooms in the United States, named Dr. Douglas J. Harrison, as the new Medical Director of its Sienna Plantation facility. We are pleased to announce Dr. Harrison will be the new facility Medical Director of our Sienna Plantation location, said Dr. Michael (Derek) Caraway, Area Medical Director of First Choice Emergency Room North Houston. Dr. Harrison received his undergraduate degree from The University of Texas at El Paso and his medical degree from The University of North Texas Health Science Center College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed his residency in emergency medicine at Michigan State University. Prior to joining First Choice Emergency Room, Dr. Harrison served as the Emergency Department Medical Director at Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital in Houston Texas. Dr. Harrison is board-certified in Emergency Medicine and has over 10 years of experience practicing emergency medicine. He also currently serves as the Facility Medical Director of First Choice Emergency Room- Missouri City Lakes. First Choice Emergency Room Sienna Plantation is as an outpatient department of First Texas Hospital and accepts all insurance, including Medicare, Medicaid, and Tricare. For a list of all First Choice Emergency Rooms in the greater Houston area that accept all insurance, please visit https://firsttexashospitalcyfair.com/locations. All First Choice Emergency Room facilities are open 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. The facilities are staffed exclusively with board-certified physicians and emergency trained registered nurses. First Choice Emergency Room facilities are equipped with a full radiology suite, including CT scanner, Digital X-ray, Ultrasound, as well as on-site laboratories certified by the Clinical Laboratory Improvements Amendments (CLIA) and accredited by the Commission on Office Laboratories Accreditation (COLA). The Sienna Plantation facility is located at 8927 Hwy., Missouri City, Texas 77429. For more information, visit https://fcer.com/locations/houston-map/sienna-plantation/. About First Choice Emergency Room First Choice Emergency Room (FCER.com) is the nations leading network of independent freestanding emergency rooms; it is both the largest and the oldest. First Choice Emergency Room is revolutionizing the delivery of emergency medical services for adult and pediatric emergencies by offering patients convenient, neighborhood access to emergency medical care. First Choice Emergency Room facilities are innovative, freestanding, and fully equipped emergency rooms with a complete radiology suite of diagnostic technology (CT scanner, Ultrasound, and Digital X-ray) and on-site laboratory. All First Choice Emergency Room locations are staffed with board-certified physicians and emergency trained registered nurses. First Choice Emergency Room has facilities in Austin, Houston, and San Antonio. According to patient feedback collected by Press Ganey Associates Inc., First Choice Emergency Room provides the highest quality emergency medical care and received the 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 Press Ganey Guardian of Excellence Award for exceeding the 95th percentile in patient satisfaction nationwide. First Choice Emergency Room is an Adeptus Health company. About First Texas Hospital First Texas Hospital is a full service general hospital in Houston, TX. First Texas Hospital is equipped with 50 inpatient beds, three Operating Rooms, an emergency department, onsite laboratories and pharmacy, and an imaging department equipped with the latest in imaging equipment. The new hospital is capable of inpatient and outpatient surgical procedures and is providing the community 24/7 access to emergency medical care. For more information visit https://firsttexashospitalcyfair.com Pacific Union Financial, LLC., recently announced to its 1600+ employees that its current President and CEO, Rick Skogg, will retire effective 12/31/17. After 33 years in the industry he has cited his desire to spend more time with his family as his sole reason for this decision. Mr. Skogg was appointed CEO in 2012, and under his leadership, Pacific Union has surpassed many milestones, including regularly exceeding $1 billion monthly funded volume since early 2015, the addition of in-house servicing, a Distributed Retail channel, and being recognized as one of the top 25 independent mortgage companies in the U.S. His experience and wisdom have been of invaluable service to the organization. Effective January 1, 2018, Pacific Unions owner and founder Evan Stone will return to the position of President and CEO, which he held from 2004 - 2012. Current President and CEO, Rick Skogg, will be transitioning to Vice Chairman at the end of 2017 to spend more well-deserved time with his family. After much deliberation and internal debate, I have made the difficult decision to retire as President and CEO of Pacific Union Financial, at the end of the year. I will continue to stay very involved with the company in my new role as Vice Chairman and look forward to supporting Evan and the company in this new capacity. I feel very good about where Pacific Union is positioned and I am very confident that with Evans leadership and the executive team currently in place, Evan can take the company in new directions and to new heights. Rick Skogg. Founder and chairman, Evan Stone added, over the last five plus years, Rick has provided critical leadership to Pacific Union and built a highly organized, compliant platform. I return to the CEO role excited and energized given the myriad of opportunities that exist in residential mortgage banking for well positioned lenders. Rick and the executive management team deserve full credit for optimally positioning Pacific Union to execute against special and unique industry opportunities, and I'm thrilled to lead the company in its vision going forward. As part of this new chapter in Pacific Unions success, Andy Peach, Madison Simm and Brandon Story have all been promoted to Managing Director positions that will report directly to Mr. Stone. About Pacific Union Financial Pacific Union Financial, LLC is a full-service mortgage company located in Irving, Texas, with fulfillment centers in Texas, California, and North Carolina and over 50 branches across the country. We originate and purchase residential mortgage loans through Retail, Wholesale, and Correspondent channels in addition to servicing a $23 Billion portfolio. Pacific Union Financial offers white glove service for borrowers with best to bruised credit. Visit http://www.PacificUnionFinancial.com today to see how we work hard to make mortgage easy. Dr. Spiro will play a critical role in developing and expanding BHI's innovative solutions that help to improve the cost and quality of healthcare. Blue Health Intelligence (BHI) announced today that Dr. Alan Spiro joined the leadership team as Senior Vice President, Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Spiro brings over 30 years of clinical, healthcare IT, value-based care, and change management experience to BHI where he will provide strategic leadership for BHIs cutting-edge analytics solutions. I am thrilled to welcome Dr. Spiro to BHI, said Swati Abbott, CEO of Blue Health Intelligence. He will play a critical role in developing and expanding our innovative solutions that help to improve the cost and quality of healthcare. Prior to joining BHI, Dr. Spiro was Chief Medical Officer at Medica, a health services company, providing healthcare coverage in the employer, individual, Medicaid, and Medicare markets. He was also co-founder of Accolade, Inc., an on-demand healthcare concierge for employers, health plans, and health systems. At Accolade, Dr. Spiro served as Chief Medical Officer where he spearheaded the development of health advocacy programs that significantly improved health outcomes, resulting in substantial cost savings. Additionally, Dr. Spiro served as Vice President, Chief Medical Officer National Accounts at Anthem, Inc. Dr. Spiro holds a Doctor of Medicine degree from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and a Masters of Business Administration degree from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He is currently on the Board of Directors for the Institute for Practice and Provider Performance Improvement. Dr. Spiro is also a frequent speaker at national healthcare conferences. About Blue Health Intelligence Blue Health Intelligence (BHI) is the nations premier resource for data-driven insights about healthcare trends and best practices, promoting healthier lives and more affordable access to safe and effective care. BHI leverages a team of analytics experts and advanced technology, coupled with access to the greatest number of healthcare claims172 million livesgathered over 10 years in a safe, HIPAA-compliant, secure database. The resulting conformed, reliable data set has the broadest, deepest pool of integrated medical and pharmacy claims, reflecting medical utilization in every ZIP code. Blue Health Intelligence (BHI) is an Independent Licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. BHI is a trade name of Health Intelligence Company, LLC. http://www.bluehealthintelligence.com. Here are a few things to know about Karnataka Congress government's Indira Canteen that was inaugurated today in Bengaluru. By India Today Web Desk: Fashioned in the mold of Jayalalithaa's Amma Canteen, the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government in Karnataka launched the Indira Canteen in Bengaluru today. Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi flew down to Karnataka for the second time this month to inaugurate the ambitious project. "Millions of people here [in Bengaluru] are construction workers, auto rickshaw drivers and barbers who do not have enough money. The Indira Canteens will serve these people," said Gandhi while one of the canteens in Jayanagar. Rahul Gandhi taking a meal at Indira Canteen. Source: @SaurabhRai_INC/ Twitter advertisement As the Indira Canteens open up across Bengaluru to provide meals at affordable rates to poor people, here are a few things you should know about them: 1. Congress is pushing the Indira Canteen to people with the slogan, Hunger Mukht Bengaluru. Indira Canteen. Source: @ashokgehlot51/Twitter 2. Reports say the Karnataka government allotted Rs 100 crore for the Indira Canteen project. 3. There are expected to be some 100 outlets of Indira Canteens across Bengaluru. Menu on the app of Indira Canteen. Source: @shaikhismail82/Twitter Menu on the app of Indira Canteen. Source: @shaikhismail82/Twitter 4. With poor people as their target audience, food will be served at a very low rate here, with breakfast at the rate of Rs 5, lunch for Rs 10 and dinner for Rs 10. 5. The canteens will serve local Karnataka cuisine, and stick to a routine menu for each day of the week. The menu looks something like this: Indira Canteen poster. Source: @CMofKarnataka/Twitter 6. The Karnataka government attracted negative reviews earlier when news came out that Bengaluru civic authorities were bulldozing the wall of a 300-year-old temple in Chamrajpet to make room for an Indira Canteen. 7. CM Siddaramaiah quickly came to defense, announcing on Twitter that he has "instructed" the BBMP commissioner to not build any Indira Canteen on parks and playgrounds. Nonetheless, he added that "the poor also have a right over open spaces,". Have instructed @BBMPCOMM1 to not build #IndiraCanteen on parks & playgrounds. The poor also have a right over open spaces. @DeccanHerald pic.twitter.com/7IReETkYqy- CM of Karnataka (@CMofKarnataka) August 5, 2017 8. Rahul Gandhi, whose one job today was to promote the Indira Canteen and, in turn, the Congress party, ended up erring...again. During his speech at the inauguration, Gandhi mistakenly ended a self-promoting line taking 'Amma' Canteen's name instead of Indira Canteen. While it is human to err, social media is not where Alexander Pope's ideology flourishes, which is why he soon became a target of troll...again! --- ENDS --- Chinh H. Pham, co-leader of Greenberg Traurigs Emerging Technology Group and co-chair of the firms Intellectual Property(IP) Group in Boston, has been elected to serve as Secretary of the Boston Bar Association (BBA) Council. Pham begins a one-year term on Sept. 1, 2017, and will work with the Council to set policy, advance excellence for the profession, facilitate access to justice, provide crucial oversight, and serve the community at large on behalf of BBA members. Pham is actively involved in the Boston business and legal communities. At the BBA, he is a member of the Council, the Executive Committee, the Strategic Planning Committee, and serves as co-chair of the Life Sciences Conference Steering Committee. Pham has also served as a member of the Nominating Committee, as co-chair of the International Intellectual Property Committee, and as a member of the Education Committee and the Future of the Legal Profession Implementation Working Group. He is also a member of the Boston Bar Foundation Society of Fellows. Beyond the BBA, Chinh serves as vice chair of the Board of Overseers of the Museum of Science, as an Advisory Board Member of Nanotechnology Law & Business Journal, and as a company mentor at local technology incubators and universities. About Greenberg Traurigs Boston Office Established in 1999, Greenberg Traurigs Boston office is home to nearly 70 attorneys practicing in the areas of corporate, emerging technology, governmental affairs, intellectual property, labor and employment, life sciences and medical technology, litigation, public finance, and real estate. An important contributor to the firm's international platform, the Boston office includes a team of nationally recognized attorneys with both public and private sector experience. The team offers clients the value of decades of legal experience and hands-on knowledge of the local business community, supported by the firm's vast network of global resources. About Greenberg Traurig, LLP Greenberg Traurig, LLP (GTLaw) has more than 2,000 attorneys in 38 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East and is celebrating its 50th anniversary. One firm worldwide, GTLaw has been recognized for its philanthropic giving, was named the largest firm in the U.S. by Law360 in 2017, and among the Top 20 on the 2016 Am Law Global 100. Web: http://www.gtlaw.com Twitter: @GT_Law. Top Criminal Defense Attorneys in San Diego (619) 234-2300 The Law Offices of Kerry L. Armstrong have over forty years of combined experience helping individuals with criminal defense needs in San Diego! The Law Offices of Kerry L. Armstrong, APLC, has moved to a new, larger office in San Diego. The new office allows for additional client services and convenient parking. The phone number has stayed the same at (619) 234-2300. The San Diego criminal defense attorneys at the firm include Kerry L. Armstrong, Dan F. Greene and Stefano L. Molea. Amazingly, the attorneys have a combined forty years of experience in criminal defense. This includes work in sex crimes, domestic violence, white collar crimes, DUI, assault/battery, drug crimes, juvenile crimes, and more. For instance, The Law Offices of Kerry L. Armstrong, APLC, have defended clients in over 150 courtroom trials, including eight murder trials by Kerry Armstrong himself. Mr. Armstrong has appeared on all major news networks along with a Law & Order series. He is frequently interviewed due to his expertise in San Diego criminal defense. Both state and federal cases are handled, along with adult and juvenile. The firm's website now has a full video series with the criminal defense attorneys discussing various types of cases and how they handle them. This includes assault and battery cases, domestic violence, white collar defense, sex crimes, and San Diego DUI attorney options as well. The new address for the firm is at 2214 Second Avenue, San Diego, CA, 92101. Neighborhood parking is available, and the firm offers a free consultation for individuals who need to discuss potential representation. Simply call (619) 234-2300 for more information and scheduling. Through standardization, we can deliver a robust solution quickly, at a lower cost, and up [our client's] game all at the same time. We are thrilled to be working with the experts in this space, said Plexcitys CTO, John Drago. Gravitate Solutions announced today an exclusive agreement with Plexcity, a leading association management company, to be the sole implementation and development partner for all of Plexcitys association management system (AMS) clients. Gravitate Solutions will work with their clients to deliver streamlined implementations of Abilas netFORUM Enterprise, a top association management system for the non-profit marketplace. Gravitate will also perform a complete suite of other services, including integrations, custom development, and upgrade support. Gravitate Solutions COO Meg Ward said, We are excited to work with Plexcitys clients to implement their new association management systems in an effort to help them further their organizations missions and modernize their operations. We look forward to teaming with Plexcity from kick-off, to go-live and for many years to come. Our partnership with Gravitate further extends our collaborative model of serving our clients needs. Through standardization, we can deliver a robust solution quickly, at a lower cost, and up their game all at the same time. We are thrilled to be working with the experts in this space, said Plexcitys CTO, John Drago. For more information, please contact Lindsey Swanson at lswanson(at)gravitatesolutions.com. About Gravitate Solutions Gravitate Solutions is a leading provider of technology solutions and custom development for associations, member-based organizations, and non-profits. Since 2007, Gravitate Solutions has delivered innovative solutions that address the business challenges unique to its clients. The company is headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia and has offices in Springfield, MO and Chicago, IL. For more information, please visit http://www.gravitatesolutions.com. About Plexcity Plexcity provides unparalleled strategic advantages through shared collaboration, allowing association clients to improve efficiency, cut costs, and deliver unsurpassed value with their core back-office support solutions. With this shared service environment, core competencies can be optimized, as clients benefit from shared expertise that is often out-of-reach to a stand-alone organization. To learn more, visit http://www.plexcity.org. ITG Networks completes turnkey technology solution ITGs turnkey approach saved us a great deal of time and money. The fact that they had a single point of contact to work with prevented a great deal of back and forth which helped us stay on track with the hotel opening. Microtel Inn and Suites by Wyndham Clarion announced that it has awarded a multi-product, turnkey technology solution project to ITG Networks of Cranberry Township, PA for the new sixty-eight-room Microtel Inn & Suites located on I-80 at Exit 62, 121 North Point Drive, Clarion, PA 16214 inside Trinity Point at Monroe. The new hotel, which is part of the gateway to the Pennsylvania Wilds, Cook Forest State Park, and the Allegheny National Forest, will support its guests with a robust, state-of-the-art technological network that features Hospitality PBX, Intelligent Guest Wifi (HSIA) and top of the line 24/7 Support System. ITG was tasked with designing a complete technology solution that met the needs of a demanding clientele as well as the requirements of property management, reservations, and administration. In addition, Microtel desired a solution that was prepared to scale with as well as accommodate future technologies as they emerge. ITGs scope of work included Wired and Wireless Guest Internet, Hospitality PBX, CCTV, Sound System, and Low Voltage Cabling. Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham Clarion now enjoys a technology infrastructure that features a cost-effective and custom-developed network to benefit the administration and its guests. As part of the installation, ITG Networks maintained an efficient, on-time installation with its experienced project managers that worked within the hotels deployment timeline needs from blueprint to hotel opening. Says Timothy Reddinger, General Partner, who managed the hotel construction: ITGs turnkey approach saved us a great deal of time and money. The fact that they had a single point of contact to work with prevented a great deal of back and forth which helped us stay on track with the hotel opening. They responded well with other vendors we have working on site. The fact that they did CCTV, Telephone, Internet, and cabling really saved us a lot of headaches. As the project comes to a close, ITG has implemented guest wi-fi across 68 guest rooms and through the administrative areas and common rooms. ITG is also responsible for enhancing security through the design and placement of CCTV technology throughout the property and its structures. Said William Beldham, Vice President and CTO at ITG, We realize that this isn't just about technology deployment. This is a very critical part of the entire guest experience. Every technology touchpoint, from the phone system to the speed and connectivity quality of Wi-Fi is critical to the Microtel brand positioning. As a new property, these first impressions will be especially critical for increasing their long-term ROI. Finally, with their commitment to meeting guest expectations, ITG was responsible for providing Microtel staff with front desk training to ensure that guests receive fast and responsive support. This focus on Microtel Inn & Suites guest satisfaction is one of many reasons why ITGs service level agreement (SLA) is highly regarded. About ITG Networks: ITG Networks provides turn-key network solution installations by combining 24/7 end-user support with scalable network solutions. They deliver comprehensive and individualized solutions that provide Wifi with ROI, an application rich ecosystem based on robust, intelligent WiFi, coupled with a variety of applications enhancing the experience of the end user. These applications range from smartphone apps to wireless statistics for business analytics, location-based services, network user identity and single sign-on. ITG has over 50 years of collective telecommunication industry experience helping customers with rapid development and deployment of WiFi networks. Property owners, managers, developers, and hospitality companies rely on ITG for enhanced digital services for guest units, meeting rooms and public areas. Their Whatever it takes! motto and personal attention to service have earned ITG a reputation for providing efficient solutions that meet evolving customer demands. Headquartered in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, ITG Networks supports clients throughout the continental United States, including Alaska. Learn more at http://www.ITGNetworks.com About Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham Clarion: Wyndham Hotel Group is the worlds largest hotel company based on a number of hotels, encompassing nearly 8,000 hotels and approximately 679,100 rooms in 73 countries. Part of Wyndham Hotel Group, the Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham brand is an award-winning chain of more than 330 economy hotels located throughout North America and the Philippines. Designed to provide guests with a better hotel stay, each hotel is newly constructed and offers an array of complimentary amenities including free Wi-Fi. This new sixty-eight-room hotel offers guests ten singles, forty-six doubles and twelve suites. Learn more at http://www.microtelinnandsuites.com/hotel/49818 The Microtel Inn & Suites, Clarion was developed by Pinnacle Resource Management. The project was spearheaded by the President of Pinnacle Resource Management, Mr. Timothy Reddinger, who has more than 15 years of experience in real estate development, consulting, and project management. Additionally, Mr. Reddinger is the General Partner of NPD Enterprise-1 LP, the company that owns Microtel Inn Suites, Clarion PA. The theme for Hacker Halted 2017 is The Art of Cyber War: Lessons from Sun Tzu. Improving the diversity of the cybersecurity workforce is essential to overcoming the growing threats and challenges facing the industry - and supporting growth opportunities for women in this field is a critical part of that equation. Today EC-Council and IBM announced a scholarship program for women to attend EC-Councils Hacker Halted security conference free of charge. Funded by IBM Security, the scholarship is designed to help address the underrepresentation of women in cybersecurity and help women further their skills and expertise in this high-demand field. The cybersecurity industry is facing a talent shortage that is anticipated to reach 1.8 million open and unfilled information security jobs within the next several years. With women representing only 11 percent of the information security workforce1, creating more opportunities for women in security is a critical part of improving the talent pool in the fight against cybercrime. Hacker Halted will take place October 9-10, 2017 in Atlanta, Georgia and is hosted by EC-Council, creators of the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification. IBM has sponsored the Hacker Halted conference and Global Cyberlympics for the past 3 years. This year, for the first time, IBM will fund a scholarship that allows all women who are interested in attending the show to do so without cost. "Improving the diversity of the cybersecurity workforce is essential to overcoming the growing threats and challenges facing the industry - and supporting growth opportunities for women in this field is a critical part of that equation," said Diane Delaney, Worldwide Talent Manager at IBM Security. By providing scholarships at conferences like this, IBM hopes that more women will be encouraged to attend the event and stay up to speed on the latest trends and techniques which will help them become even more successful in the field." The theme for Hacker Halted 2017 is the The Art of Cyberwar: Lessons from Sun Tzu. 2,500 years ago, Sun Tzu wrote 13 chapters on military strategy. Fast forward to today and we are still learning from those chapters and applying them in our newfound digital age. In an age where war is waged over cables and microchips instead of battlefields, one challenge is defining what war is and when war should be declared. The conference presentations will address cyber security issues from the perspective that like it or not, our global society is engaged in a constant and ever growing cyber war. Hacker Halteds agenda showcases several prominent women of cyber including Georgia Weidman, Shevirah founder and CTO; Dr. Catherine J. Ullman, Senior Information Security Analyst, University at Buffalo; and Laura Samso Pericon, Executive Vice President, Centurion Technologies Consulting LLC. Women who wish to register for Hacker Halted under the IBM scholarship should visit https://www.hackerhalted.com/registration/ and use registration code HH17IBM for free entry. About EC-Council EC-Council has been the worlds leading information security certification body since the launch of their flagship program, Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), which created the ethical hacking industry in 2002. Since the launch of CEH, EC-Council has added industry-leading programs to their portfolio to cover all aspects of information security including EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA), Computer Hacking Forensics Investigator (CHFI), Certified Chief Information Security Officer (CCISO), among others. EC-Council Foundation, the non-profit branch of EC-Council, created Global CyberLympics, the worlds first global hacking competition. EC-Council Foundation also hosts a suite of conferences across the US and around the world including Hacker Halted, Global CISO Forum, TakeDownCon, and CISO Summit. For more information about EC-Council, please see http://www.eccouncil.org. Mark Maio Joins KEH to lead Corporate Ambassador and Philanthropic Division KEH Announces New Position to Support the Photographic Community KEH, an Atlanta-based photographic recommerce company announced that Mark Maio has been appointed to lead the Corporate Ambassador and Philanthropic Division. In this newly-created role, Mark will lead the effort to deepen KEHs commitment to supporting the photographic community of both new and established photographers. Mr. Maio has over 45 years of experience in the field of photography, and has taught photography at Emory University, Rochester Institute of Technology and the State University of New York at Buffalo. Mark continues to support the photography discipline by conducting fine art photography workshops across the U.S. and abroad. His highly-acclaimed work includes a 12- print portfolio that is included in the permanent collection of the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography. We created this role to demonstrate our commitment to the photography community and searched for the person we thought would best represent their passion and interests. comments Joe Castiglione, KEH CEO. Mark is a true professional, with not only decades of photography experience, he has the artistic talent and passion characteristic of this community. In this role, Mark will expand KEH reach and impact as the companys brand ambassador and philanthropic leader. KEH shares my passion for photography and commitment to the community, says Mark. The company culture, values and goals for supporting and advancing the interests of the worldwide photographic community is a great fit for me, says Mark. KEH is an established company with a stellar reputation, which makes it easy for me to attach my own name and reputation. Mark will support the KEHs community involvement and engagement, working directly with professional photographers and organizations to identify ways to add greater value and benefit. KEH is excited about this partnership, explains Castiglione. Weve invested heavily in back of the house technology, operations and support services, but this position underscores our companys commitment to our customers and photography community. This role is an expression of our desire to create more value and to give back in a significant and purposeful way, and Mark is the perfect person to lead it. About KEH KEH is a photographic equipment recommerce company based in Atlanta, Georgia and has empowered more than 1.5 million photographers to capture their unique point of view. Since 1979, KEH offers an industry leading selection of near new and collectable cameras backed by a world-class inspection process and 180-day guarantee. For more information, visit http://www.KEH.com. Music in Common participants Our work to cultivate understanding and empower youth of diverse faiths and cultures through creative collaboration is vital - because more peace and understanding yields less extremism and violence. This is why I founded Music in Common" - Todd Mack A FEDERAL GRANT AWARDED THEN TAKEN AWAY. This past January, Music in Common was awarded a $159,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Securitys Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) program. The grant was to support Music in Commons work empowering young people of diverse faiths and cultures to overcome divides and discover common ground through collaborative songwriting and multimedia. Then, on June 26th, the department now under the Trump administration rescinded the grant. OUTREACH WORKS. HERE IS PROOF. Music in Commons work which has engaged and served diverse populations across the US and around the world is vital. Research proves repeatedly that increased mutual understanding yields less extremism and less violence. In fact: First-hand encounters deepen understanding of other peoples subgroups (race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc.) and reduce stereotyping. Collaborative projects increase mutual respect for others and their subgroups Promotion of conflict resolution and storytelling among communities of different backgrounds fortifies young peoples abilities to address and mitigate hatred. Music with positive messages of co-existence and inclusion helps prevent disaffection and reconnects individuals and groups at risk of extremist recruitment. >90% of MIC program participants report new learning about different faiths and cultures and resolve to reject stereotyping and increase respect for others, going forward. FOUNDED IN RESPONSE TO VIOLENT EXTREMISM. In 2002 Wall Street Journal reporter and musician Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and brutally murdered by extremists in Pakistan. In response, Pearls friend and bandmate, Todd Mack, was inspired to honor the life of his friend while repudiating the terrorism that killed him. Mack recognized the ability of music to bridge differences and overcome divisiveness. He founded Music in Common to take action against hate, making a positive difference for hundreds of youth and their communities worldwide. THE CVE GRANT REALLOCATION STORY MUST BE TOLD. Eleven organizations and more than four million dollars in promised grants are being impacted by the Trump administrations reallocation. For Music in Common, the loss of promised funding will have a devastating effect on its programs and the youth they serve. The grant was to cover immediate programming, already underway. Now, essential operational funds are gone. People can respond to MICs urgent crowdfunding campaign at http://www.musicincommon.org/urgencyfundraiser.html Music in Common Founder and Executive Director, Todd Mack, is available for interview, commentary and subject matter expertise. Follow Music in Common at http://www.facebook.com/musicincommon --------------------------------------------------------------------- FACT SOURCES Allport, G. W., The Nature of Prejudice, Cambridge, MA: Perseus Books. Aronson, E. (n.d.). "Jigsaw Basics," The Jigsaw Classroom (http://www.jigsaw.org), The Scocial Psychology Network, 2000. Weine, Stevan, and Osman Ahmed. Building Resilience to VE Among SomaliAmericans in MinneapolisSt. Paul, Final Report to Human Factors/Behavioral Sciences Division, Science and Technology Directorate, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. College Park, MD: START, 2012. Lemieux A. "The Role and Impact of Music in Promoting (and Countering) Violent Extremism" in White Paper in support of counter-terrorism and counter-WMD, Air Force Research Lab & US State Dept, 2011. Music in Common participant surveys, 2014 2017. NewFoundry is ranked number 1347 on the 2017 Inc. 5000 list The Inc. 5000 nod is the latest in a series of honors bestowed on the firm since its founding in 2012. NewFoundry today announced that it has been ranked in the top third of the 2017 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in America, coming in at number 1347. The honor comes as NewFoundry prepares to celebrate five years of fusing strategy, design, engineering, and user experience expertise to create next-generation market opportunities, products, and services. The firm conceptualizes, designs, and engineers custom handheld and tablet mobile applications, cloud-based platforms, web applications, automotive interfaces, and branded digital business tools. Notable NewFoundry clients include Club Car/Ingersoll Rand, Renesas Electronics Corporation, ROUSH Performance, Sea Ray/Brunswick, and the University of Michigan. The Inc. 5000 nod is the latest in a series of honors bestowed on the firm since its founding in 2012. Michigan Celebrates Small Business named NewFoundry one of 50 Companies to Watch in 2015. In 2016, NewFoundry was awarded The Best of MichBusiness in the Technology Gurus category. And earlier this year, NewFoundry CEO Richard Chang was selected for the prestigious Goldman Sachs "10,000 Small Businesses" program, which invests in a select group of 10,000 entrepreneurs over the lifetime of the program by providing access to education, capital, and business support services. "We're tremendously honored to have joined the ranks of the Inc. 5000 list," said Chang. "When we reflect on the fact that some of the most successful companies in the world have been on this list, it's quite humbling. It would have been impossible to reach this point without the dedication of many important people the hard work of our team, the partnership and trust of our clients, and the inspiration and mentorship from organizations that have recognized and supported us over the years." Inc. Magazine President and Editor-in-Chief Eric Schurenberg congratulated NewFoundry in his notification letter, stating "this achievement puts you in rarefied company. The elite group you've now joined has, over the years, included companies such as Microsoft, Timberland, Vizio, Intuit, Chobani, Oracle, and Zappos.com." Looking ahead to the next five years, NewFoundry's strategy is to continue its trajectory of growth by doing what it has always done best deliver ground-breaking solutions that are often different than what the client first imagined, but always more than they expected. About NewFoundry NewFoundry fuses strategy, design, engineering, and user experience expertise to create next-generation market opportunities, products, and services. Founded in 2012, our clients are organizations of all sizes and across major industries who seek a trusted partner to deliver engineered solutions and marketplace experiences that are brand building, beautiful, and smart. Learn more at newfoundry.com. ### 50-Word Release NewFoundry has been ranked number 1347 on the 2017 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing private companies in America. Founded in 2012, the Ann Arbor, Michigan-based company conceptualizes, designs, and engineers mobile and web applications, cloud-based platforms, automotive interfaces, and digital business tools for valued clients of all sizes. 25-Word Release Ann Arbor-based software development company NewFoundry has been ranked number 1347 on the 2017 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing private companies in America. For Facebook Ann Arbor-based software design and development company NewFoundry has been ranked number 1347 on the 2017 Inc. 5000 list of the fastest growing private companies in America. http://thenewfoundry.com/news For Twitter #NewFoundry ranked no. 1347 on the 2017 #Inc5000 list of fastest growing private companies in America. http://thenewfoundry.com/news Being a small agency, it is especially exciting for Vincodo to be nominated in The Optimizer of the Year category, because it confirms that our campaign optimization strategies deliver better results than the much larger agencies we compete against. Vincodo, a top digital marketing and advertising agency, was recently named a finalist in the 2017 Bing Agency Awards by Microsoft Advertising. Microsofts key agency partner, the Philadelphia-based firm was recognized for delivering outstanding results to its clients through superior use of Bing search advertising and optimization strategies. The 2017 Bing Agency Awards finalists were selected across 15 different categories celebrating teams, individuals and specific agency talents. Chosen from more than 130 eligible participants across the Americas, Vincodo was one of just eight finalists in the Optimizer of the Year category. All finalists were selected based on their performance and achievements in each category. We are honored to be recognized as a finalist for such a highly prestigious award, said Vincodo CEO Tim Daly. "Being a small agency, it is especially exciting for Vincodo to be nominated in The Optimizer of the Year category, because it confirms that our campaign optimization strategies deliver better results than the much larger agencies we compete against for clientele. Our agility and extensive knowledge of Bing and Google search engines allows us to tailor campaigns to our clients specific goals, which translates into more customers, sales, and faster business growth. Speaking of what enabled Vincodo to achieve such results, Daly noted: Most digital marketers spend 90 percent of their paid search budgets on Google, which dominates global mobile search market. Some digital marketers dont have Bing campaign running at all. By encouraging our clients to invest more in Bing campaigns, and putting the necessary effort into proper optimization, Vincodo is typically able to gain a media mix allocation for Bing in the 20% to 25% range of its clients paid search budget. This is all the more valuable given Bing search traffic provides a much better return on investment due to lower Cost Per Clicks and less competition. Vincodo will be formally honored on September 14, 2017 during a black-tie award ceremony hosted by Trevor Noah, the host of Comedy Centrals Emmy and Peabody Award-winning The Daily Show. For more information about the Bing Agency Awards and to see a complete list of finalists, please visit: https://bingagencyawards.secure-platform.com/a/page/finalists To learn more about Vincodo, visit: http://www.vincodo.com/ About Vincodo Vincodo is a boutique digital marketing strategy agency specializing in search engine marketing and optimization, lead generation & conversion (online and offline), programmatic display advertising, social media advertising, e-commerce and merchandise sales, and more. At Vincodo, senior-level experts work hands-on with businesses to develop customized plans that ensure marketing dollars are spent as effectively as possible for optimal return on investment. Vincodo is based in Philadelphia, but serves clients nationwide. Learn more at http://www.vincodo.com/. During hearing of the much hyped Tamil Nadu's jalikattu case, Maharashtra government had brought about the amendment to the Prevention of Cruelty Act so the bullock cart racing could be undertaken in the State By Vidya : Maharashtra government today told the division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice Nitin Jamdar that it would not grant permissions to bullock cart racing in the State, until and unless the rules as envisaged in the amendment to Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act is done. During hearing of the much hyped Tamil Nadu's jalikattu case, Maharashtra government had brought about the amendment to the Prevention of Cruelty Act so the bullock cart racing could be undertaken in the State. However to implement the amendment the rules have to be formulated by the government, but it has not been done yet. advertisement The chief justice questioned the granting of permission to bullock cart race in absence of rules. The public pleader told the court that the draft rules are ready and they have been put on the website of Maharashtra government for inviting objections. However, inspite of the rules not being in place, bullock cart racing was organised in Pune, on August 17, without permission. Ajay Marathe, a Pune resident had approached court stating that the bullocks are 'naturally' not meant for racing like horses. He also claims that getting bullocks to race involves inflicting severe punishment on them. He sought a ban on such races on the grounds of cruelty meted out to the bulls before the race. He had also cited judgement of the Supreme Court in the landmark Jallikattu sport, wherein the apex court had held that bull-taming cannot be justified just because the said sport was centuries old. Justice Chellur too looked through the Supreme Court ruling and said "it is clear from the reading of apex court's judgement that the bulls cannot be viewed as performing animals, since they are not anatomically designed for that purpose." The court has noted that the amended act says that anyone who is found to be inflicting cruelty on animals would be subjected to a maximum fine of Rs 5 lakhs or 3-year jail term. However, "as of today, the State government is not in a position to place on record what procedure is contemplated to overcome pain and suffering likely to be caused while conducting the Bullock cart race." With this the court asked the State government to say what mechanism it was going to put in place which would foresee that the bullocks are not subjected to pain. Also Read: Janmashtami in Maharashtra's Thane: More than 20,000 take part in Dahi Handi festival 45 persons injured during Dahi Handi celebrations in Mumbai Also Watch: Mumbai gripped by Janmashtami fervour --- ENDS --- The slain LeT commander has been identified as Ayub Lehlari. By India Today Web Desk: An Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander was killed by security forces in Pulwama of Jammu and Kashmir today. The fierce encounter took place at Kakpora in Banderpora of Pulwama in south Kashmir. The operation began after it was found that few militants were holed up at the spot. A firefight ensued after the discovery. The slain LeT commander has been identified as Ayub Lehlari. Sources said that one of the security personnel was injured in the gunbattle. advertisement Also Read: Hizbul commander Mehmood Ghaznavi killed by security forces in encounter in Kashmir Hizbul Mujahideen operations commander Yasin Itoo among 3 killed in Shopian encounter --- ENDS --- In a series of tweets, he also invited people "who are brave enough" to take a vow for a new freedom struggle, apparently against corruption. By PTI: Actor Kamal Haasan fired a fresh salvo at the ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu virtually calling for Chief Minister E Palaniswami's resignation over alleged corruption. In a series of tweets, he also invited people "who are brave enough" to take a vow for a new freedom struggle, apparently against corruption. "If one state's CM should resign for a mishap & corruption under his govt. How come no party calls for resignation in TN. Enough crimes done," Haasan said without naming anyone. advertisement He was apparently referring to the demands by the Congress for the resignation of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the death of more than 60 children in a government-run hospital in the northern state. The national award winning actor-director has been critical of the AIADMK of late, alleging corruption in its government, drawing the ire of ministers. Palaniswami and his cabinet colleagues had hit out at the actor for his remarks and dared him to substantiate his charges following which he had asked his fans to lodge complaints about corruption through social media. While Palaniswami had asked Haasan to join politics to elicit response from the government, several of his ministerial colleagues had hit out at the actor asking among other things what his contribution was to the society. Haasan also said unless there was independence from corruption "we are all slaves". "Those who are brave enough to take a vow for a new freedom struggle, come we will win," he said. The "Vishwaroopam" star said his aim was for a better Tamil Nadu and described both DMK, AIADMK and parties as tools, saying other options should be found if such tools become blunt. "My aim is a better Tamil Nadu. Who dares to strengthen my voice? DMK AIADMK & parties R tools to help. If those tools R blunt find others," he said. Haasan had recently shared the dais with DMK Working President M K Stalin at a party-organised function. ALSO READ Kamal Haasan backs Panneerselvam, says Sasikala should back off. An India Today exclusive WATCH VIDEO | Kamal Haasan calls for CM Palaniswami's resignation over corruption allegations --- ENDS --- Cookies What are cookies ? How do we use cookies? How to control cookies? 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You can delete all cookies that are already on your computer and you can set most browsers to prevent them from being placed.Most browsers allow you to:If you chose to delete cookies, you should be aware that any preferences will be lost. Also, if you block cookies completely many websites (including ours) will not work properly and webcasts will not work at all. For these reasons, we do not recommend turning cookies off when using our webcasting services. Personal Capital also runs a financial advice business, for a much smaller, and overall richer, slice of the population. That unit charges users a flat fee to get access to Personal Capital's advisors. To get a dedicated financial advisors, users are charged a fixed fee and need at least $200,000 in investable assets. The more millions one has to invest, the lower the fees. Shah declined to say how many of the company's estimated 1.5 million free users convert to paying for financial advice from the free platform. The company recently raised an additional $40 million in a Series E funding round and plans to invest in more marketing, technology and financial planning for customers. Personal Capital is a fiduciary, meaning its advisors are legally required to put their clients' best interests ahead of their own. That setup is not standard throughout the US' financial advice model. The Obama Administration had pushed through the so-called fiduciary rule, which was to reduce conflicts of interests for advisors overseeing Americans' retirement accounts. President Trump has vowed to roll this rule back. Earlier this month, the Labor Department, which oversees the rule, announced that it would push back the rule's implementation date until next year. Business Insider caught up with CEO Jay Shah to get a sense of where the company is headed. Responses have been edited and condensed for length and clarity. "It all starts off with the free dashboard. All of our users will come into the dashboard and link their financial accounts. Our typical affluent or high-net-worth individual, they have 15 or 20 different accounts, so it's a lot of stuff. The dashboard lets them see not just their investment portfolio but their spending, their savings and most importantly, it lets them see their cash flows, which is very important to how we might design a solution for them. "We have a segment of our free user base that will just continue to use our free software and that's just fine, we're doing something that we think is slightly philanthropic and trying to help people see and understand their financial lives. "When it comes to people that have complexity and substantial assets, we have found that when they engage and when they look at what we offer as a solution, they find value there. To be clear, when we win new clients, about half of those come from advised relationships where our software allows us to go take a close look and say, 'Are these assets being strategically managed? Are they well diversified? Is there an effective fee structure?'" "We're about $4.9 billion in assets under management in managing these US households' money. And increasingly, these are more and more affluent and getting into the high-net-worth range for our customers. About 40% of our assets now are in portfolios that are greater than a million dollars. "Increasingly, it's folks with complexity and not a lot of time to control it and manage it themselves. "The sweet spot are these accumulators in their 30s, 40s, 50s. "Our average client is having us manage about $385,000 in their wealth. Now we're not managing all of it, they might have active 401(k) accounts that we don't manage." "We see a lot of mutual funds and active fund management and it just doesn't make sense for the everyday investor, so they'll switch over to us because it's a much better answer. And importantly, they get an adviser. These are complex individuals. Our typical customer is a household and many times it's a couple, many times they have children, and they have a ton of complexity. "So it's easy to say, 'OK, this dashboard shows me everything, I'll go manage it myself.' But we go deep into what we do in portfolio construction and tax optimization. "One thing that I think of is it's much like the inflection point for a consumer when you start working a job when you have a single pay stub and have to pay a tax bill. It's fine, you can do it, but when you start, you know, getting into multiple accounts, 15 to 20 accounts across a household and you're needing to do tax prep, stock options, retirement accounts, and, "Oh goodness, I've got AMT' and things that require a professional assistant, then people hire a CPA." "I don't think I'll get into specific things that we're considering and building. "That being said, there are many things we could do. I would think about mass affluent, high net worth, what are the topics that are important to them. They want to do trust and estate planning, taxes are important to them, what other solutions might be form fitting for them? So insurance is a heavy topic for our customer set. I'm talking about the broader range of viable topics." "We actually believe the solution we have is one of the safest environments where these users can operate. "Once your information is together in a single destination, it allows you to see everything that's going on and whether or not there's anything happening in your accounts. We also have features that users can set up I use this myself, every single day, I get a full manuscript of every single transaction in every one of my accounts. It's a great canary in the coal mine. The international research organisation surveyed 18,055 adults from 25 countries. It asked them which nations and international organisations (including the EU and UN) they perceived as having the most positive influence on the world, and the results are eye-opening. Respondents saw Canada as having the most positive influence on world affairs, with 81% of them putting it at the top of their list. "Canada enjoyed a positive image around the world even before the arrival of Justin Trudeau," Michael Clemence, Research Manager at Ipsos MORI told Business Insider. "So we would have expected to see it sitting at the top of the list of positive global influencers." However, perhaps more surprising is the US's poor performance in the report. The country's score plummeted 24% more than any other over the past year. It now ranks behind China and only one place ahead of Russia. Clemence said: "Even a few years ago it would have seemed highly unlikely that wed see China ranking above the US as a positive global influence. "Data from Pew Research Center, among others, suggests that the arrival of Donald Trump and his 'America First' focus in the White House has been an important factor in a fairly dramatic shift in the USs external image." Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House, backed up Rubio's statement. "We must be clear," Ryan tweeted. "White supremacy is repulsive. This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity." House GOP Majority Leader Kevin McCarthysaid in his own statement: "" McCarthy said the violence in Charlottesville does not reflect the principles "enshrined in our Constitution that treats and respects every American equally." "Orrin Hatch, the longest-serving Republican in the Senate, said. " At one point, Trump shifted the blame to the "alt-left," an apparent reference to counter-protesters who clashed with the white nationalists. "What about the 'alt-left' that came charging at the, as you say, the 'alt-right'? Do they have any semblance of guilt? Trump said. "What about the fact they came charging that they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs? Do they have any problem? I think they do." In invoking the "alt-left," Trump branded those fighting racism and anti-Semitism as equivalent to those perpetrating them. And by using the phrase, he delighted white nationalists by bringing their terminology to the mainstream. Unlike the alt-right a far-right movement that promotes racism, anti-Semitism, anti-feminism, and xenophobia the "alt-left" doesn't refer to any political faction in particular. The term was coined "to create a false equivalence between the far-right and 'anything vaguely left-seeming that they didnt like,'" Anti-Defamation League analyst Mark Pitcavage told The New York Times. "It did not arise organically, and it refers to no actual group or movement or network," he told The Times. Judging by Google search data, the term seems to have emerged onto the lexical scene shortly after Trump's election in November. It has been used both by members of the alt-right to demonize leftists, and more centrist Democrats trying to distance themselves from their party's progressive wing. Among the alt-right, the label usually points to activists who oppose them, including members of fringe anti-fascist groups. But they've branded mainstream politicians such as Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren with the label as well. The term has also become a staple in the lexicons of conservative pundits and commentators to describe any and all things perceived as anti-Trump. Fox News host Sean Hannity, for example, blasted the "alt-left propaganda media" several times this year, and in February the network cited anti-Trump graffiti as evidence of "the emerging alt-left." Trump himself has even made use of the term at least once before. In September, after his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton gave a speech denouncing the alt-right, Trump told CNN, "Frankly, there's no alt-right or alt-left. All I'm embracing is common sense." "I need the facts. I don't want to rush into a statement," he said at a press conference at Trump Tower in New York. But in reality, Trump has a long history of speculating on incidents both domestic and abroad before the facts have fully emerged. The following five moments show that when it comes to commenting on tragedy, Trump doesn't always wait for the evidence. Philippines attack In June, Trump immediately labeled a deadly incident in the Philippines a "terrorist attack," only to be proven wrong minutes later. Initial reports stated that an attacker set fire to Resorts World Manila casino, killing 37 people. "It However, officials in the Philippines quickly rejected terrorism as the reason for the attack, declaring it a suspected robbery. They eventually confirmed the attack was financially motivated. Shooting in Paris In April, after a gunman in Paris killed a police officer and wounded two others and a German tourist, Trump labeled the shooting a terrorist attack, even though French officials said it was too early to declare the suspect's motive. Chelsea bombing In September 2016, after an explosion in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood injured 31 people, Trump commented publicly on the matter before local law-enforcement had released any conclusions on it. Speaking at a campaign rally in Colorado, Trump declared the explosion was caused by a bomb an assertion he gloated to Fox News for making before news outlets. But Trump's claim to accuracy on the subject soon fell apart when he linked the bombing to ISIS and speculated it had "many foreign connections." In reality, the bombing was committed by an Afghan-American who was not part of a terrorist group, but was believed to be influenced by Al-Qaeda. Pulse nightclub shooting In June 2016, a day after the deadly shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Trump gave a press conference in which he declared that the gunman was born in Afghanistan. Trump ad-libbed the line in an otherwise scripted speech, and he missed the mark the gunman was born in New York City. EgyptAir Flight 804 This was revealed by the Auditor-General's report for 2015 which is currently before the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament. According to the report, Addison who forged Bank of Ghanas pay-in slips admitted to stealing the said amount. He said he used the money to build a garage, one living room and one store room. He added that he used some of the money to construct a wall around his property in the Western Region and also to buy personal items. He was charged by the Police but is still walking free. This is not the first time a government employee has squandered public funds for their personal gains. The Auditor-Generals report always mentions such issues. In April 2017 an auctioneer, Alex Smart, admitted to PAC that he earned a commission for no work done after the auctioning of 24 state vehicles in a manner the Auditor-General describes as irregular. READ ALSO: UT Bank bosses fired However, these persons have not been sanctioned. For 25 years, persons indicted by the Auditor-General have generally escaped prosecution. PAC only questions the offenders and after the two main political parties point fingers at each other nothing is done to punish the offending officials. But a Supreme Court order last June has charged the Auditor-General to surcharge indicted persons. Speaking on Adom TV the MP said he dislikes the towing levy government wants to impose on the citizens in the country. Seriously, I hate this towing levy that government wants to impose on innocent citizens. I am totally against it. How can you tell me to go buy my vehicle and when it breaks down, instead of calling for it to be checked by the insurance company, you expect me to go get it towed with a levy. What kind of useless thinking is this? he asked. READ ALSO: Former CEO predicted the collapse of Capital Bank in 2014 Agyapong said in his opinion the existing road safety laws must be enforced which will subsequently lead to much safer roads in the country. He stressed that it was high time the state accepted responsibility for failing to apply the needed resources in dealing with the actual causes of road accidents. He called on Ghanaians to oppose the yet-to-be imposed levy as well as what he describes as other lackadaisical solutions in solving problems in this country. The towing levy, which was supposed to commence in June, has received widespread criticism from commercial drivers and the public. The programme will be executed by Road Safety Management Limited (RSML), a subsidiary of the Jospong Group of Companies owned by business mogul, Joseph Siaw Agyapong. Government yet to decide on levy The Transport Ministry issued a statement saying the cabinet is yet to take a decision on the towing levy. The case involves the marriage of a Muslim man Shafin Jahan, 27, to a Hindu woman, Hadiya, 24, a union later annulled by the Kerala High Court, which termed it a case of "love jihad". By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: The Supreme Court today asked the National Investigation Agency (NIA) to probe the marriage of a Muslim man to a Hindu woman converted to Islam - now referred to as the Kerala 'love jihad' case - and find out if there is an Islamic State (ISIS) angle to it. "Everyone wants a fair probe. We can appoint a retired Supreme Court judge. There are some serious remarks by the High Court that need to be looked into," the Supreme Court's division bench of Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justice DY Chandrachud said. advertisement Ordering the probe to be conducted under the supervision of retired Supreme Court judge Justice RV Ravindran, the court said that before taking a final call in the matter, it "shall require the presence of the girl". The case involves the marriage of a Muslim man Shafin Jahan, 27, to a Hindu woman, Hadiya, 24, a union later annulled by the Kerala High Court, which termed it a case of "love jihad". A dedicated team of NIA headed by an IG Alok Mittal spent the weekend in Kochi scrutinising nearly 2500 page documents handed out by Kerala police. This after the court had last week asked the Kerala police to hand over the case files to NIA for a preliminary examination. The agency finally submitted a 22 page report in a sealed envelope to the Supreme Court. It is learnt that NIA told the apex court that love jihad is for "real". "There is a systematic pattern to convert Hindu girls and get them married to Muslim men which appears to be a larger conspiracy of conversion" NIA told the Supreme Court. It is also learnt that NIA gave a reference of Athira's forced conversion case of 2016 in which NIA had launched a preliminary enquiry in July 2016, and submitted a report to the Kerela HC a month later in August. The conclusion drawn by the agency was the same- Love Jihad was being done systematically, and a criminal case was made. Sources in the agency however say that Shafin is a member of Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), allegedly a faction of Popular Front of India (PFI). The PFI is an Islamic fundamentalist organisation with a rising graph in Kerela. It has been under the MHA and NIA scanner for the past few years for alleged anti-national activities. Incidentally, NIA has three cases where PFI cadre members are accused. NIA has conviction against PFI in two cases, including the famous professor hand chopping case in which 13 people were convicted in 2015. The NIA had taken over the probe from Kerala Police in 2011 and 21 were convicted in 2016. Both PFI and SDPI activists had organised an arms training camp at Narath in Kannur on April 23, 2013. The police had raided the training camp and taken into custody 21 PFI activists at Narath. The agency is ready with its chargesheet in connection with the murder of RSS activist Rudresh in October, 2016. The main accused in the case is Bangalore district head of PFI Azim Sheriff. advertisement Senior counsel Kapil Sibal, appearing for petitioner Jahan, opposed the demand for NIA probe saying the crime branch investigation was still not complete. Sibal also raised questions on the NIA's credibility. "NIA has made many U-turns in the past. How reliable is a probe by the NIA?," he said in the court. However, the apex court observed that the case was not simple and the court needs to look if there are national security interests involved and investigate if there is a systematic campaign of conversions and ISIS recruitment. What's shocking about the case is the fact that Hadiya had told the Kerala High Court that she consented to the marriage, and that there was no forceful conversion. But the court wasn't convinced. When Jahan later moved the Supreme Court, even the top court expressed its skepticism. advertisement Senior counsel Indira Jaising told the bench that it was an inter-religious matter and the court must be careful. Last week, despite objections by Jahan, the Supreme Court ordered the Kerala Police to share with the NIA the probe details of the case. "We want the whole picture. Let the whole picture come before us. Why should anybody doubt the NIA? Are you doubting the NIA? It's a government agency. We asked them to assist us," the Supreme Court said. The bench said it gathered the "impression that the petitioner (husband) does not desire the correct and independent view of the controversy" to be brought before the apex court. "We wanted to see whether it is an isolated case or a larger issue is involved," the bench said. WHAT IS THE CASE ABOUT On May 25, the Kerala High Court had declared as "null and void" the marriage of 24-year-old Hindu woman, who converted to Islam to marry a Muslim man in December 2016, terming it a "sham" and ordered Hadiya, as she is now known, be placed in her parents' protective custody. Hadiya, earlier known as Akhila, was a homeopathy student in Kerala when she converted to Islam and changed her name. Her husband Shafin Jahan had met her with his family in August 2016 in response to her posting on a marriage website and they got married last December. Jahan, 27, challenged the High Court order in the top court, saying the order was an "an insult to the independence of women in India". Approaching the Supreme Court with a request to order Hadiya's father to produce her in court, he had claimed she had converted to Islam of her own volition two years prior to their marriage. Hadiya's father, however, had said that she was a "helpless victim" trapped by a "well-oiled racket" which used "psychological measures" to indoctrinate people and convert them to Islam. Hadiya's father had alleged that Jahan is a criminal and that his daughter was trapped by a network with connections to Popular Front of India and even the Islamic State. Love jihad is a term used by right-wing Hindu groups to describe inter-faith marriages which they say is an Islamist conspiracy to convert Hindu women through marriage or coercion. --- ENDS --- In a memo dated August 11, 2014, the then CEO of First Capital Plus Bank which later was rebranded and called Capital Bank said they could not meet their obligations to their clients. I write to reiterate my earlier concerns and request for the Board to act with expedition and take drastic and urgent steps to resolve the seemingly intractable problems that have bedevilled and continue to dog the growth and our efforts to stand the bank on its feet till date. The memorandum was addressed to the Board of the Bank. It also mentioned a number of cases where funds have been mismanaged. Read the full memo below BOARD MEMO FROM: CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER TO: CHAIRMAN AND MEMBERS, BOARD OF DIRECTORS DATE: AUGUST 11, 2014 URGENT ACTION TO SALVAGE THE REPUTATION AND FORTUNES OF FIRST CAPITAL PLUS BANK I write to reiterate my earlier concerns and request for the Board to act with expedition and take drastic and urgent steps to resolve the seemingly intractable problems that have bedeviled and continue to dog the growth and our efforts to stand the bank on its feet till date. We have discussed these Issues at length, but we do not seem to have made any significant progress as exemplified by the fact, among others, that a recent 3 man committee we set up to come up with some solutions appear to have been still born. We also appear to be perfecting the art of crafting long -winding resolutions which are not backed by any serious follow-up action." I perceive that we are very conversant with and know very well the problems that confront, but lack the critical boldness and courage to tackle the bull by the horns. With respect, we all appear to be guilty of fiddling while Rome burns. As the CEO, coupled with my interests as a shareholder of the Bank, I wish to set the ball rolling by shaking myself out of the self-imposed slumber that we all find ourselves. I think that I cannot do less than be in the forefront and spearhead the efforts to grow the Bank and move it to the next level to the path of joining the ranks of the foremost financial institutions in the country. The clarion call has assumed some urgency due in part to the attempt by the Government/Bank of Ghana to pass into law the Depositors Protection Bill and the Deposit Taking Institutions Bill which would, among others, oblige every Director of a Bank to report to the Bank of Ghana if he has reason to believe that a Bank of which he is a director cannot meet its future obligations on pain of criminal sanctions. In short, transparency, candour and diligence in prosecuting a bank's object of incorporation is no longer a matter of personal ethics, but have been raised to an obligatory statutory duty with sanctions to boot. We can therefore not have the luxury of going on with our duties as 'business-as usual'. On the contrary, we are being compelled to move forward. READ ALSO: Celebrities react to collapse of UT and Capital Banks From my perspective, the issues that require urgent action appear to be: 1.0 Our inability to establish offshore counterparty relationships due to issues with shareholder's credibility. 2.0 On top of this issue is our continuing inability to establish offshore counterparty relationships with other banks and financial institutions. As we are all undoubtedly aware, this problem has arisen and persists as a direct consequence of outstanding and unresolved issues hovering around shareholders of the bank. The Deutsche Bank and others have, after conducting due diligence on the bank, rejected our request for business relationship with them. We all know and agree that this type of business relationship constitute one of the essential life lines for the Bank. As long as this problem persists, we cannot reasonably expect to grow outside the boundaries of this country. This will undoubtedly lead to stunted growth and spell doom for the bank in the long run. Unfortunately as the issue is, I am sorry to state that we have dithered for far too long on this matter and require to act forthwith. 3.0 Unresolved TPF and capitalization issues. 3.1 This is a long standing issue and needs no further clarification. 4.0 Increasing interest expense and general costs of doing business 4.1 This has been the bane of the bank for some time now, that while management is embarking on a desperate and aggressive deposit mobilization to shore up liquidity to cover holes in the balance sheet, it is resulting in increased interest expense and general costs to us. This is detrimental to our profitability drive and the same is unsustainable. 5.0 Potential TPF and Related Costs Decisions on some emerging liabilities which are potential TPF remain outstanding READ ALSO: Here is how to support your distressed relation affected by UT and Capital Bank takeover 6.0 For the above and other reasons, I hereby outline the following as urgent steps that the Board ought to ensure to save the Bank from any further casualties. i. On the first issue above, I see the solution as a simple one: The shareholders must accept to have their shares held in trust for them. The only other option, as far as I can see, is that they remain and we get stuck in the tunnel, with the inevitable consequence that this may explode in our faces sooner than later. ii. Proper capitalization of the Bank since deposits with other Banks is not backed by actual liquidity. iii. Acceptance of debt liability created through non-conventional practices and a delivery of a re-imbursement plan that will not create any further liquidity strain for the Bank. iv. Full disclosure of any and all potential liability created by any shareholder to avoid further surprises as has been the case lately. v. Concrete steps to salvage the reputation of the Bank and prevent any further market and reputational risks. vi. Decisions Board must be implemented without further delay. 7.0 I regret to mention that unless we act ourselves and so with all the promptitude that it deserves, things may go out of hand, including the possibility that the Bank of Ghana may step in, by which time it will be too late for us to make excuses, with all of us risking sanctions (though I fervently hope that we act with expedition and seriousness to avoid that possibility). 8.0Accordingly, I think that we are all sitting on a time bomb and cannot afford to spend too much time in drawing a road map based on the proposals outlined here. I would think that we should be able to accomplish this assignment within three weeks from now. 9.0 Of course, the Boards acceptance or otherwise of my proposals would go a long way to assist my interpretation of the Boards willingness to share in my vision for the Bank and its customers at large. I will certainly interpret that as a vote of no confidence in my ability to steer the bank to its destination with your respective backing and cooperation. This was contained in a statement issued by the HFC Bank. He added that a new Managing Director would be appointed and subsequently announced soon in order to ensure a smooth transition. READ ALSO: Celebrities react to collapse of UT and Capital Banks Zwennes said the bank has been successful under the leadership of Le Hunte. Key among them is the recent achievement of bringing the Bank back to profitability with a historic half year performance. The Bank is very pleased with Le Huntes initiatives of re-tooling the Bank and the enthusiasm he brought to bear. We have no doubt about Mr Le Huntes future successes and we stand hopeful and excited for the next chapter of HFC Bank. Le Hunte was appointed as the Managing Director of HFC Bank in July 2015. Before his appointment as MD, he was the Executive Director responsible for Risk Management of the Bank. READ ALSO: HFC bank to be rebranded Le Hunte also served as an Executive Director of Republic Financial Holdings Limited which is the parent-company of HFC Bank (Ghana) Limited. He also served Republic Bank in several key positions over the years. Achievements of HFC Bank under Robert Le Hunte HFC Bank has made notable progress in Culture Revitalization, ICT Infrastructure, Service Excellence, CSR Engagements and managing Non-Performing Loans. It was during his tenure, the Bank made a historic first half year performance in 2017 by posting a profit of GHC26 million with an impressive cover ratio of over 65% provision to non-performing loans. The Bank was recognized early in 2017 by the Institute of Human Resource Management Practitioners (IHRMP) as having undertaken the Most Successful Change Management Program in 2016. HFC Bank was also named as the Most Telephone Efficient Bank in the Financial Institution survey conducted by Walsbridge Market Research. According to NAGRAT, teacher trainees license exams is an avenue for people to make money. Newly trained teachers are to be charged GH150 whiles those in the service will pay GH200 for licensing exam. The move is to enforce discipline and eliminate non-performing teachers from the system, in accordance with the new Teachers Licensing Policy under the Education Act 778 (2008). Rev. Jonathan Bettey, Public Relations Officer of the Ghana Education Service (GES) said the move is part of the sectors professional development and it applies to both trainee teachers graduating from public and private teacher training colleges. The new regime is expected to be introduced next year. National Vice President of NAGRAT, Angel Carbonu speaking on the latest development said it will not make sense for the GES to mandate the schools to produce professional after the graduation of trainee teachers. He said discussions on the policy has not been concluded. READ ALSO: Teacher trainees to write license exams He noted: "The fact that a teacher rights and passes a licentiate exam doesnt mean he/she is going to be a good teacher when the person gets on the field. I think this issue; some people want to take advantage and make money. The Central Government should take the cost of the licentiate exams, because Nana Akufo-Addo even promised that he had some plans for teachers when he recent went to Winneba. We need to discuss the nature of license, the modalities of licensing, the implication of the license to job security, all these things must be discussed and agreed upon, none of these have been done. Authorities have confirmed that Mrs Mugabe had to hand herself into police custody over the alleged incident but failed to do so adding that her whereabouts were unknown. Ms Engels laid charges of assault against a Mrs Mugabe late on Monday, South African police said in a statement The investigation into this case had reached an advanced stage. In an interview with the South African media, Ms Engels alleged that Mrs Mugabe flew into a rage while her sons fled the hotel room in Sandton, an affluent district of Johannesburg. The Magnetic Resonance Imagining (MRI) and Computed Tomography (CT) scan machines have all broken down since their installation in 2013. The situation has negatively affected patients and health workers at the various hospitals. Many are, therefore, forced to go to private hospitals for such services where the fees are usually expensive. READ ALSO: Over 500 nurses employed after overnight protests In an interview with Accra-based Citi FM, the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyemang-Manu said: EOCO is investigating the project that installed the MRIs in the hospitals that are not working. They have not completed their investigations so we havent gotten any report from them yet. They were all a package from a very big loan facility that was taken for installation of some of these things and several medical equipment in hospital. And that is what EOCO is investigating, he added. The Mahama-led administration in 2012 acquired five new Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines to be installed in five regional hospitals. The Machines were installed by Toshiba Technologies. His plight in 'ward 100', where the death of so many children has sparked outrage, is emblematic of a healthcare crisis where doctors are stretched to breaking point and hospitals run out of oxygen due to unpaid bills. Authorities have launched an inquiry into the causes of the oxygen disruption at the now-notorious Baba RaghavDas Medical College in Gorakhpur, which Indian media has linked to the deaths of 30 infants last Thursday and Friday. Local officials have blamed an outbreak of encephalitis for the deaths and denied a lack of oxygen was responsible. But doctors and medical experts point to woeful underfunding in public health in eastern Uttar Pradesh, one of India's poorest regions, where just a handful of specialists are available to treat millions. "This (deaths) won't change soon, as it isn't a simple oxygen issue. The rot is deep and the system needs to be overhauled," a senior hospital official told AFP in Gorakhpur, speaking on condition of anonymity. India was spending just 1.4 percent of its GDP on public health in 2014 -- far below the global average of six percent. In Gorakhpur, there are just 529 primary health care clinics -- less than half the number needed to cater for nearly 4.5 million people living in the district, July data from Brookings India shows. There are just five paediatricians and 22 encephalitis treatment centres, despite the mosquito-borne illness wreaking havoc in low-lying areas of the state every year during the monsoon. India's most populous states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are ravaged by encephalitis every year. The disease, which affects mainly malnourished children, causes brain inflammation and can result in headaches, seizures, fever and even brain damage. Professor K.P Kushwaha, who headed Baba Raghav Das Medical College until mid-2015, said the hospital could not cope with the volume of patients. "The government now needs to make at least five such hospitals across the region to tackle this load and get better results," he told AFP. Life and death Prasad, a poor farmer from Uttar Pradesh, travelled roughly 65 kilometres (40 miles) with his wife and two-year-old daughter after the infant suddenly ran a high fever. He arrived at Baba Raghav Das Medical College just hours after hospital authorities declared that another 25 infants had died over the weekend. Prasad's daughter was found a bed in the overcrowded ward, where many parents were forced to squat on the floor in nearby corridors. It was worse in the neo-natal unit, where three to four infants crowded a single bed. "We take turns to go out in the corridor and hall to rest, while the other one stands here," Prasad told AFP, gesturing to his wife and ill daughter. "She probably has pneumonia, I don't know, the doctors haven't told me anything." Just days earlier, panicked parents used manual pumps to help their stricken children as the supply of oxygen fizzled out. Professor K.P Kushwaha's successor was stood down over the oxygen debacle, which allegedly stemmed from nearly $100,000 in overdue bills, some dating back to November. His replacement, P.K Singh, promised conditions at the hospital would improve "whatever the shortcomings". "I understand that the hygiene situation here is very bad and there is a risk of infection," Singh told AFP. But the district's chief medical officer Ravindra Kumar told AFP nothing could change as long as encephalitis plagued the poor eastern region. "So far we have only been shooting in the dark without much idea about its causes, prevention or the cure," he told AFP. A lack of primary health centres meant illnesses were not detected early and by the time patients arrived at hospitals it was too late, said a local government official, gesturing to beds full of sickly children. The attack -- the latest in a string of assaults in the troubled region -- took place in the town of Mandarari, 25 kilometres (15 miles) from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, said Baba Kura, a member of a vigilante force set up to fight jihadists. "Three female bombers triggered their explosive outside of the IDP (internally displaced persons) camp... killing 28 people and wounding 82 others," Kura said. The first assailant blew herself up, triggering panic, Kura said. "People were trying to close their shops when two other female bombers triggered their explosives, causing most of the casualties," he said. Ibrahim Liman, the head of a local anti-jihadist militia force, confirmed the details of the attack, and said that more than 80 injured had been taken to Maiduguri hospital. A source at the hospital said a "huge number" of patients had arrived. Northeast Nigeria is a hotbed of activity by the Boko Haram jihadist group, involving shootings, bombings and kidnappings. It launched an insurgency in 2009 that has killed about 20,000 people and displaced around 2.6 million others, creating one of the world's biggest humanitarian crises. Nearly two million are suffering from acute malnutrition, according to UN figures. After being elected to power in 2015, Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari made tackling the insurgency a priority, winning back swathes of territory and declaring that Boko Haram is "technically defeated". But this year has seen a surge in attacks, including an audacious assault on an oil exploration team that killed 69 people in Borno in July, raising fears that Boko Haram is regaining strength. That attack prompted Vice President Yemi Osinbajo -- standing in for President Muhammadu Buhari who is on indefinite sick leave -- to tell the millitary to step up its response. Osinbajo issued "fresh directives... to immediately scale-up their efforts and activities in Borno state... to maintain a strong, effective control of the situation", his spokesman Laolu Akandehe said. People who witnessed the incident which led to the stabbing said they heard the two lovers in one of their usual fights. The eyewitnesses said they later found the man lying in a pool of blood at their doorstep. Upon arrival at the hospital, the deceased Francis Dzodogbe who is believed to be in his early 40s was pronounced dead. READ ALSO: Armed robber shot dead Residents in the vicinity where the incident happened said the suspect, Precious Doku was found of carrying sharp objects during fights. The incident occurred in a house at the Mawuli Gate suburb of Ho where they both live. She was said to have inflicted knife wounds on the deceased a month ago. READ ALSO: UT Bank bosses fired The Police are currently investigating the matter. The L-G has also objected to the breaking of protocol and disrespect to the National Anthem shown by those officials who attended the programme. She has sought to discipline them by cautioning them to be more careful from the next time. By Kumar Shakti Shekhar: Puducherry Lieutenant-Governor (L-G) Kiran Bedi has taken a strong exception to bureaucrats skipping the 'At Home' function held in Raj Nivas yesterday on Independence Day and has threatened them of suitable action. Quoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's slogan of building a 'New India', Kiran Bedi said it cannot be possible without 'New Public Servants'. The L-G has also objected to the breaking of protocol and disrespect to the National Anthem shown by those officials who attended the programme. She has sought to discipline them by cautioning them to be more careful from the next time. advertisement Kiran Bedi has directed her office to issue letters to all those bureaucrats, including secretaries, heads of departments (HODs) and directors, who had stayed away from the 'At Home' function without prior intimation. "Yesterday Independence Day 'At Home' at Raj Nivas was a State function. You were invited. All public officials of GOP (Government of Puducherry) who were invited but did not attend are hereby called to explain why they did not, without due intimation and permission to be exempted. The explanation should reach Secretary to L-G within three days," states Kiran Bedi's letter. The letter states that unsatisfactory explanation by these absentee officials would lead to placing a written displeasure in concerned officials' personal file. The L-G is already locked in a long battle with Puducherry Chief Minister V Narayanasamy over the rights of the two top constitutional posts. Kiran Bedi said attending government invited function was not only part of the official duty of the bureaucrats but also an expression of respect to the occasion. It helped creating a bonding with fellow colleagues which was vital to good administration, she said, and hoped that in future they would respect the sanctity of the official invitations. The L-G has directed a standing order to be issued to this effect. Kiran Bedi said 'New India' cannot be so without public servants being part of patriotic fervour. Being part of bonding and celebration at least on certain days when the whole nation comes together, she said. "India needs a 'New Public Servant' who treats his service as service to the nation and not another job when such occasions be treated as any other weekend," she said. The L-G's office is identifying all secretaries, HODs and directors who did not attend. "The message is clear that discipline shall not be compromised. In fact such occasions are to even celebrate it in their respective offices. I wonder if any of them did so, or amongst people in their respective areas, villages and other places. Sad that we have lost connect of joy in celebrations," she lamented. advertisement On disrespect shown to the National Anthem, Kiran Bedi said courtesy and protocol on such occasions demand officials to either take permission to leave earlier from the dignitary or the host or they must stay on till the closure national anthem is played. "Several officers left even before the closure anthem was played. Such officers too need to know it is not correct. They must set the right example. These officers who were noticed to have left before the anthem was played shall also be cautioned to be careful in future," she warned. Kiran Bedi said she observed that many officials came late. They needed to be present in time before the inaugural national anthem was played. Citing her case, she said, "I regularly attend the 'At Home' of Delhi Police where the President comes. All of us are present before (the function starts). And none of us leave till the President leaves. It is the practice. And respect for the dignitary and the occasion." Kiran Bedi further said this too must be understood by all who attended that they should come in time and stay on till the National Anthem is played and the L-G exits. "This is the sanctity of the occasion," she said. --- ENDS --- advertisement The suspect was shot during a gunfire exchange with residents of the area on Tuesday (August 15, 2017) night. The Northern Regional Police Crime Officer DSP John Anane narrated that the deceased together with one other mounted a roadblock at Bilando village. READ ALSO: NDC MP robbed by gunmen He told Daily Graphic that they attacked two other men who were returning from Sanguli to Pakpasa on a motorbike. The two men managed to escape and informed members of their community. The members of the community attacked the robbers. There was gunfire exchange which led to the death of one of the robbers. DSP Anane said the deceased armed robber who was shot by the residents also had cutlass wounds on his body. READ ALSO: This is the second time residents of the Tatale-Sanguli district have engaged in a gunfire exchange with suspected armed robbers. They said they are disappointed in the Brong Ahafo Parliamentary caucus of the party for their inability to retrieve their locked up funds. READ MORE: DKM customers threaten to invoke curses on Nana Addo The Bank of Ghana (BoG) shut down the company in May 2015, after it reportedly failed to comply with the terms and conditions required in its licence and also for purportedly possessing assets deemed too insufficient to meet its liabilities to investors. Devastated depositors across the country have blamed the BoG for alleged failure to ascertain the capabilities of the company from the onset before granting it licence to operate. Nana Akufo-Addo prior to the 2016 elections said he will launch an investigation into circumstances surrounding the Diamond Microfinance Company (DKM) scandal if voted to office. READ ALSO: Aggrieved customers call for the arrest of DKM CEO He said it was clear that the erstwhile administration [NDC-led government] have failed to adequately deal with the matter leading to thousands of Ghanaians losing their monies. The aggrieved customers said Nana Addo has been in office for seven months but nothing has been done to retrieve their monies. "The President came to convince us that he could retrieve our monies for us so we voted massively for him and his Members of Parliament. It is history that only the NPP has twenty seats in the Brong Ahafo region but we did it because we thought they will collect our monies for us. READ MORE: Agitated customers of DKM threaten to sue DKM But the NDC executive said the musician is only being ungrateful to the NDC and its leadership, asking that, Is he [Jewel Ackah] trying to say he would have been catered for if he was an NPP member? He was shot during a gun-fire exchange with the residents on Tuesday evening. The deceased and his two other accomplices had attacked two residents of the area who were returning to their village at Pakpasa on a motorbike. READ ALSO: NDC MP robbed by gunmen The two residents, however, managed to escape and subsequently informed other residents of the area of what had happened. The Northern Regional Police Crime Officer, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mr. John Anane said that the residents then mobilised and attacked the robbers resulting in the death of one of them. This was after studying the petitions for the creation of new regions which were forwarded to the Council. The Council of State in a statement after a meeting with the President Tuesday said they have gone through the proposal for the regions submitted to them by the sector minister, Dan Botwe and are convinced that is it in the right direction. Your Excellency, in the latter part of June, the Council received a communication under your hand, seeking the Councils advice on the creation of new regions. Enclosed in the communication were copies of the petitions from the Chiefs and people of the Western, Northern, Brong-Ahafo and Volta Regions from where the demands from the creation of new regions had been the most vociferous. Mr. President, the Council has meticulously gone through these petitions which numbered some 312 pages with accompanying maps and statistical data, the statement said. It continued: The Council was also briefed by the Hon. Minister for Regional Reorganization and Development Hon. Dan Kwaku Botwe, on his interactions with the Chiefs and peoples of the four regions. The Hon. Minister did impress the Council with the elaborate home work he has done on this exercise including the extensive literature review on Ghanas geo-political structure. Mr. President, the Council of State has the honour to inform you that, having studied the petitions submitted and the detailed briefing by the Hon. Minister for Regional Reorganization and Development, it is of the unanimous opinion that there is a SUBSTANTIAL DEMAND for the creation of new regions. The Council therefore advises that Your Excellency appoint a Commission of Enquiry to inquire into the need and to make recommendations on all the factors involved in the creation of the new regions. You dont need a budget to clean your environment or paint your offices, because the amount of money required is so small and that there is no office which does not have money to paint it. You dont need money to make sure that people come to work on time or they are punctual. These days you go to an office, and they have a television at the reception and people will be watching, I get so angry, people are watching these South African films translated into English and other things, those ones are definitely marks of incompetence and the leaders or managers must be held accountable. If you are Christian read your Bible before you come to work. According to Rawlings, the former deputy chief of staff is a person without integrity and should, therefore, be ignored. Valerie Sawyerr recently released an ntomtom or nwansena statement, where she called the former president Rawlings a hypocrite over his continuous attacks on the National Democratic Party and his predecessors. But in a response, Rawlings said such attacks on him could only come from people without integrity. NDC is at a crossroads between those with integrity and those without. Those who lack it feel threatened by those of us who have the influence of integrity and that is what is frightening them. "None of all these calls against us will hold. I mean its false, they know it but they have to propagate it, the former president said at the sidelines of the 2nd edition of Accra Dialogue. The NDC lost the 2016 general elections to the New Patriotic Party despite the 'massive' infrastructural works that Mahama campaigned on. Whiles many in the party still wonder if the results of the elections would have been any different, some say the difficulties that had been created in the economy by a 3-year power crisis, were too significant to expect any more than what the party got in the general elections. Then candidate Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo polled 5,716,609, representing 53.84% of the votes cast to secure victory over then President Mahama, who despite incumbency advantage only managed 4,713,277 votes, representing 44.40%. The NDCs lost after the elections have been characterised by some grievances and chaos in the party. Pulse.com.gh takes a critical look at happenings of John Mahama since he lost to Nana Addo. Blaming Mahama for NDC loss The first thing to look at is the accusations and counter-accusations levelled at John Mahama for causing the defeat of the NDC. Some top party hierarchy are blaming some Mahamas appointees for their defeat. Launch of his book Mahama resumed his book tour for his highly talked about autobiography, My First Coup Detat: Memories from the Lost Decades of Africa, across Africa. In 2012, ex-president Mahama published his book, My First Coup Detat and concluded a four-city launch programme in the United States of America. The main launch of the book took place at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, New York on Tuesday, 10th July, 2012. He later launched the book in Nairobi, Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria after losing to the NPP. Mahama meets former Ambassadors, High Commissioners He has held a meeting with former non-career High Commissioners and Ambassadors who served under his administration. John Mahama had previously met with ministers in his administration where he told them to hold their shoulders high because they delivered to the best of their ability in spite of the fact that they lost the 2016 elections. Mahama leads Commonwealth Observer Mission for Kenya's elections He has been assigned to lead a 15-member Commonwealth Observer Group to monitor and report on the August 8, 2017 general elections in Kenya. This was the 5th Election in the East African country since 1991 when it ended its one-party state rule. The biggest show on British television will be back on August 29 at 8 p.m. (BST). And it will have a new home. Reviews of the first episode have been largely positive. Here's Business Insider's take on the new-look show. After a high-profile wrangle over the baking programme last year, it will broadcast on Channel 4 rather than BBC1, which first launched the show in 2010. It's not the only change you can expect. Presenters Sue Perkins and Mel Giedroyc have left the "Bake Off" tent, as well as judge Mary Berry. They have been replaced by a new hosting team, comprised of British comedians Sandi Toksvig and Noel Fielding. Restaurateur Prue Leith will replace Mary Berry. The show will also run for 75 minutes, instead of an hour. This is to ensure that adverts do not eat into the programme. Otherwise, Channel 4 and producers Love Productions will keep "Bake Off's" other ingredients in place. Channel 4 kicked off its "Bake Off" marketing campaign this month. Watch the trailer here: President Trump said on Tuesday that "there is blame on both sides" after a woman was killed and 19 other injured when a car was driven deliberately into people protesting against a far-right demonstration in Charlottesville. Speaking on Wednesday, May said it is "important for all those in positions of responsibility to condemn far right views" but failed to specifically condemn President Trump's remarks. The prime minister said: "I see no equivalence between those who propound fascist views and those who oppose them. I think it is important for all those in positions of responsibility to condemn far right views wherever we hear them," but refused to condemn Trump's actions. On Tuesday the US President defended his original comments on the protests, saying that it was a "fine statement." Trump also defended some protesters in Charlottesville, saying: "Not all of those people were neo-Nazis, believe me. Not all of those people were white supremacists." May has been criticised for not condemning Trump's remarks, with her spokesperson saying on Monday: "What the president says is a matter for him but what we are very clear that from very early on after this tragedy is that we condemn racism, hatred and violence." Green Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley accused May of being a coward for not standing up to the US president. He said: "Theresa Mays failure to condemn Donald Trumps abhorrent response to the violence in Charlottesville is not only embarrassing but dangerous. We cannot allow fascism to go unchecked. "Now is not the time for hand-holding. Theresa May must stop being cowardly and show zero tolerance for bigotry. Her silence makes her complicit." There have also been calls for Trump's state visit to be cancelled because of his response to the protests, with Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable calling it "completely wrong." Cable said: "The fact he remains highly dependent on White House advisors from the extreme-right shows he is firmly anchored in this detestable worldview. It would be completely wrong to have this man visit the UK on a State Visit." "The government should be following the far more prudent example to relations with the US President set by Angela Merkel in Germany." Other Conservatives have called out Trump over his comments, with Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson tweeting: The distribution of these energy efficient appliances will be conducted in a phased manner across these select outlets. By India Today Web Desk: In a bid to offer easy access to LED bulbs, LED tubelights and energy efficient fans, the government has decided to distribute them from select petroleum retail outlets across the country. The distribution of these energy efficient appliances will be conducted in a phased manner across these select outlets. In the first phase, distribution will commence from the states of Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. advertisement Consumers can purchase high quality 9W LED bulbs for Rs 70, 20W LED tubelight for Rs 220 and five-star rated ceiling fan for Rs 1,200. Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), under the Ministry of Power, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) under the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG) for distribution of energy efficient appliances under the flagship Unnat Jeevan by Affordable LEDs and appliances for All (UJALA) scheme. According to a government release, currently over 25.5 crore LED bulbs, over 30.6 lakh LED tubelights and around 11.5 lakh energy efficient fans have been distributed in the country under the UJALA scheme. This is leading to an annual energy savings of over 3,340 crore kWh and resulting in avoidance of over 6,725 MW of peak demand. DISTRIBUTION IN A PHASED MANNER Through the scheme the estimated cumulative cost reduction in bills of consumers annually is over Rs 13,346 crore and is leading to reduction of approximately 2.7 crore tonnes of CO2 every year. As per the agreement, Oil Marketing Companies- IOCL, BPCL and HPCL will take up the distribution of the energy efficient appliances in a phased manner. The MoUs were signed with Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) in the presence of Minister of State for Power, Coal, New and Renewable Energy and Mines Piyush Goyaland Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan. As part of the MoUs with the OMCs, EESL will make the entire upfront investment for ensuring availability of the products at the outlets and no upfront capital cost will be borne by the OMCs barring manpower and space. On the occasion, Piyush Goyal said, "It is worth noting that two important ministries of the Central Government have come together to realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of every citizen having access to energy efficient appliances. The marketing network of the three oil marketing companies is unparalleled and this tie-up will only accelerate and scale up the distribution of energy efficient appliances across the length and breadth of the country." advertisement REDUCE IMPORT OF ENERGY In his speech, Dharmendra Pradhan said, "It is the vision of the Centre to reduce our dependence on import of energy by up to 10 per cent. The petrol pumps owned by the three oil marketing companies can boast of a very high footfall. It is a great opportunity for the two departments to come together and utilise this network for ensuring LED bulbs and tubelights reach every corner of our country." Pradhan further said the ecosystem of non-fuel retail business around the retail outlets will not only help drive the non-fuel business but will also lead to customer convenience in their own vicinity. The three Public Sector Oil Marketing Companies, Indian Oil, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat Petroleum together have a vast network of over 54,500 petroleum retail outlets throughout the length and breadth of the country. These outlets not only meet the growing fuelling needs of the country but also offer a bouquet of allied services like ATMs, service stations, convenience stores and PUC facilities to enhance value and convenience to customers across the urban, highway and rural markets. advertisement The unmatched network of these mega petroleum companies will significantly boost the distribution and marketing reach of EESL and extend the availability of energy efficient products to all corners of India. Also Read: India Today expose: How the petrol pump mafia cheats you with a chip Petrol pump owners threaten strike over daily price change, to meet oil industry today Thane crime branch busts racket involved in petrol theft, 11 pumps sealed WATCH | BPCL terminates licence of Tej Pratap Yadav's petrol pump --- ENDS --- "No place for racial hatred or extremism in @USMC," Gen. Robert Neller, the Marine Corps commandant, tweeted Tuesday, referencing former Marine recruiter Dillon Ulysses, who is believed to have been tied to the white supremacist group, Vanguard America, multiplenews outletsreported on Wednesday. "Our core values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment frame the way Marines live and act," Neller said. Separately, the official Twitter account for the 82nd Airborne Division, one of the US Army's renowned infantry units, addressed an unrelated image of a man who wore a hat bearing the division's emblem while rendering what appeared to be a KKK salute. The man's identity was not immediately known. The image has been retweeted about 30,000 times since Saturday, and it circulated across military groups in social-media channels. "Respectfully, anyone who thinks this man represents our culture and values has never worn the maroon beret...and never will," the 82nd Airborne Division tweeted, referring to the image. The account added: "Our WWII Airborne forefathers jumped into Europe to defeat Nazism. We know who we are. We know our legacy." "Anyone can purchase that hat. Valor is earned," it said. White nationalists and neo-Nazis descended on Charlottesville over the weekend to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. A rally Saturday quickly descended into brawls between white supremacists and counterprotesters, and one woman was killed when a driver plowed through a crowd of those opposing the rally. Two police officers who were monitoring the situation died in a helicopter crash. After choosing in a statement Saturday not to specifically call out white supremacists for their responsibility in the weekend's events, Trump did so in a televised address Monday. But during a freewheeling press conference on Tuesday, Trump returned to his original position, labeling multiple parties as complicit in the Charlottesville unrest and seeming to defend some of those seeking to protest the Confederate statue's removal. That move has prompted fierce rebukes from Republicans and Democrats, who have condemned Trump and the white nationalists who praised his Tuesday remarks. Trump has lauded the US military throughout his campaign and early presidency, and he polled favorably among service members during the beginning of his first term. But his support from the military appeared to wane in recent months. Trump's overall approval hit a new low of 34% on Tuesday, according to a Gallup daily tracking poll. The engineers made the comments anonymously during a forum discussion for Y Combinator's "Ask a Female Engineer" blog series. One of the women said she worked at Google. Damore, who was fired from Google last week after he wrote a 10-page document titled "Google's Ideological Echo Chamber," has consistently presented himself in subsequent interviews as a man of science and someone who was fired for "the truth." He posts under the Twitter handle @Fired4Truth. In his memo, he argued that the gender gap in tech could at least in part be explained by biological differences between men and women. One engineer, writing under the name Edith, said it wasn't just the content of the memo that was objectionable. It was the intent and framing too, and that's why she said Google was right to fire Damore. "Social skills are part of a professional skillset," she wrote. "It is important to learn how to handle difficult subjects in a workplace we all have to do it. There are consequences for doing it in a way that causes problems for your employer, and I think in this case the consequences were appropriate." She added: "He was not fired for speaking truth to power, he was fired for mishandling a complex subject in a way that caused harm to his employer (and many of his colleagues)." Damore has never acknowledged this point in his interviews, and he has not apologised for any harm he may have caused. He did say he regretted referring to the "neuroticism" of women, though. The Y Combinator discussion is nuanced and wide-ranging and, importantly, dominated by women. While there have been lots of "takes" on Damore's memo, female voices from Google have been in the minority. Business Insider spoke with a female Google employee earlier this week about the memo. During the discussion, the anonymous Googler sympathised with Damore at various points and said the firm should have tried to change his mind about diversity before firing him. She wrote: "I think that variations on his opinion are held by people in the industry far more frequently than some (or many) people think, and it's not productive to hide from that reality or shout down every expression of those opinions." But she also disagreed with Damore's supporters, who complain his critics don't address the scientific substance of Damore's memo. 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! ALSO READ: Police should apologise to Charly Boy While speaking, the 'Our Mumu Don Do' leader said the group's agitation is important to encourage the youths of the country to participate more in its politics. While disclosing that the members of the group had gotten death threats for their action, he remained defiant that the group will continue to agitate for better governance in the country. He said, "The country is a country of intolerance. I've been to that Wuse Market severally to do my advocacy work, it's not the first time. But what happened yesterday showed the ugliness of our country. I urge everybody to please remain peaceful and calm." This comes after the group was attacked on Tuesday, August 15, while protesting at the popular WuseMarket in Abuja. Protesters were stoned and Charly Boy was almost lynched by hoodlums before security operatives restored order. He said the group's agitation will not end with the termination of the protests, as the group is still very interested in what happens to the future of the country. The group started staging the protests at the Unity Fountain on Monday August 7, demanding that the president should either return to the country he left over three months ago, or resign from his position. On Tuesday, August 8, the group was attacked by the police at Unity Fountain with tear gas cannisters and water cannons, in a move that was roundly criticised by the Nigerian public. On Thursday, August 10, pro-Buhari groups, like the Coalition for Good Governance and Change Initiative,marched the streets of Abuja in support of the president who has been out of the country for 101 days. 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! 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! Themed 'From Passion To Profit', top influencers including Eku Edewor, Ezinne Chinkata, George Okoro, Kelechi Amadi Obi, Ink Eze, Omoyemi Akerele, Tsemaye Binitie, Yummie Ogbebor, and Zara Odu all shared personal experiences on how to make fashion a sustainable business. The talks hosted in Enugu, Abuja, Port Harcourt and Lagos kicks off the 7th edition of the Heineken Lagos Fashion and Design Week set to hold in October. The Fashion Talk "was geared towards opening the minds of aspiring creatives in the fashion industry and those alike, whilst creating a space to network with like minds and influencers", a rep for LFDW shares. Speaking on how to build a business beyond creativity in Enugu, Omoyemi Akerele, Founder #HLFDW, emphasised the importance of being deliberate and intentional as part of a strategy for building a visible, desirable and profitable business. Top celebrity stylist and fashion consultant Ezinne Chinkata expressed the need for constant training in order to attain excellence. In Abuja and Portharcourt, there was an underlining sub-theme of vision and identity where panelists spoke on how to be successful in business through authenticity and passion. Whether you have a business or a 9-5 job, work hard to stand out" Ink Eze, Founder AsoEbi Bella stated at the Lagos edition. Attendees from this year's edition were thrilled to gain more insight into alternative ways of making their passion more profitable to them. They expressed sincere gratitude to have been part of the talks and are already looking forward to the next edition. Ada of Adaz fabrics, who attended the talk in Enugu stated The talks were indeed well curated as it gave us tools and pointers as creatives in the fashion industry. We talked about identity gaps/voids to fill, challenges in the creative industry and how to overcome them. I was so grateful to be part of it. This time around, the First Class traditional ruler was seen celebrating the annual goddess of Love and Sweet Waters in Ile-Ife, Osun State, without his wife, lending credence that all is not well with the 17 months old marriage. It was learned that this was the first time the Ooni would be seen at a function without the Queen when he led worshippers to pay tributes to the goddess on Wednesday, August 15, 2017, making people to further read meanings into the marital crisis even though he had come out to debunk the rumours. The festival which is a symbolic celebration of love, has always been celebrated by any Ooni alongside his Oloris but this is the first time such an epoch event will be marked without an Olori beside the Ooni. Rumours have been rife in the past few days that the high profile marriage between the Ooni and the Edo State-born Olori Wuraola conducted on March 12, 2016, had collapsed due to irreconcilable differences bordering on infidelity, lack of respect and other acts unbecoming of a Queen of her status. According to stories making the rounds, the Olori had been running from pillar to post, including begging former President Olusegun Obasanjo, to intervene in the crisis rocking the marriage, to no avail. ALSO READ: Ooni of Ife debunks marriage crash rumour The BJP gloated over the 25 municipal bodies it won and Congress celebrated the winning of 15 of these bodies. By Rahul Noronha: Both the ruling BJP and Opposition Congress 'celebrated' their 'victories' today after results of polls in 43 urban local self government bodies were declared. While the BJP gloated over the 25 municipal bodies it won, the Congress celebrated the winning of 15 of these bodies. Independents won 3 seats in the final tally. Elections to posts of 43 urban local self government bodies were held in Bhopal on August 11, counting for which was held today. Most of these bodies were located in tribal areas and were reserved for the community. Most of the bodies that went to the polls were Nagar Palika Parishads that constitute the third part of the three-tier urban local self government institutions. There were a few second tier bodies called Nagar Palikas but no municipal corporations. advertisement The 15 bodies that the Congress won include Jhabua, Alirajpur, Maheshwar, Junnardeo, Damua, Saunser, Mohgaon, Niwas, Shahpur, Sanawad, Mandla, Sailana, Baihar, Gadarwara and Shamshabad. The 25 bodies that the BJP won include Jaitwara, Athner, Harai, Keolaras, Kotma, Ranapur, Dindori, Bhikangaon, Mandleshwar, Thandla, Petlawad, Bhabhra, Dabra, Nepanagar, Chicholi, Nainpur, Pali, Bamhni Banjar, Bichhia, Jobat, Chanera, Budhar, Jai Singh Nagar, Bijuri and Shahdol. While going to polls, the BJP held 28 of the 43 seats, while the Congress had 9 and independents had 6. After the polls, the BJP tally went down to 25, the Congress tally increased to 15 and independents were reduced to 3. BJP state president Nandkumar Singh Chauhan claimed that the victory was an endorsement of PM Narendra Modi and CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan's policies. When asked at a press conference that the BJP tally had, in fact, decreased and that the party slogan of 'Congress mukt Pradesh' had not been achieved, Chauhan downplayed the statement thanking party workers for the 'success'. The Congress, meanwhile, projected the increase in its seats from 9 to 15 as a positive sign of change in the coming months, especially at the Vidhan Sabha elections to be held in 2018. State Congress president Arun Yadav said the Congress increased its tally against all odds and misuse of government machinery by BJP candidates. He also said that the CM had campaigned at 27 urban bodies of which 15 went to the Congress. The BJP has a majority as far as the total number of urban local self government bodies in Madhya Pradesh is concerned. ALSO READ | Local body polls on ballot paper in UP? State Election Commission demands new EVMs Bhopal prison stamps minors' faces when they visit their jailed father West Bengal civic body elections: Bombs hurled at polling booth in South 24 Parganas --- ENDS --- The Director of Public Health Services, Dr Okechukwu Ossai, made this disclosure to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu. Ossai said that 86 disease surveillance officers had just concluded a simulation (mock) intervention and case definition training on Lassa fever. He stated that some community health informants also attended the training. Ossai noted that the ministry was on top of its game, thus leaving no stone unturned to ensure optimal preparedness to tackle the disease. Our 86 disease surveillance officers and some community health informants had gone through the intervention simulation as well as the case definition training two weeks ago. They went home with a case definition chart meant to be pasted in their various offices in the council areas, secondary and tertiary hospitals as well as other strategic places. The case definition chart will help to remind them all they have learnt in the training and help to define symptoms properly, he said. According to him, the ministry is already on air at the grassroots, reminding people on the need to ensure environmental and personal hygiene. We are meeting with traditional rulers and community leaders routinely on the need to report any strange sickness to the nearest health facility, he said. Ossai noted that the ministry had been getting all the support it needed on disease surveillance and control from the State Government. We cannot afford to rest on our oars in order to ensure that the state is protected, he said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting held on Tuesday at the Ministers Conference Room, Ministry of Labour, Abuja, took significant steps toward the resolution of the issues raised by ASUU. According to the Deputy Director, Press, Ministry of Labour, Mr Samuel Olowookere, the meeting agreed on the forensic audit of the sum of N30 billion earlier given to the ASUU in 2010. He said the meeting further agreed on monthly remittances to ASUU, while the audit last. The minister assured members of ASUU and Nigerians that government is already at work to resolve all outstanding issues in line with the present administrations commitment to prevent disruption of academic calendar in universities. ALSO READ: Saraki sacks 98 aides Led by veteran entertainer, Charles Oputa -- also known as Charly Boy the group began a daily sit-out at the Unity Fountain Abuja to demand President Muhammadu Buharis immediate return or resignation. Recall that President Buhari departed Nigeria for London on May 7, 2017, to treat an undisclosed ailment. Against its earlier decision to continue the demand for President Buharis return, the group announced the indefinite end of the protest. In a statement signed by Charly Boy and Deji Adeyanju, the group noted that the suspension became necessary due to attacks by hoodlums and officers of the Nigerian Police. The suspension, according to the group, is to re-strategize on better ways of pressing home their demands. The group disclosed plans to institute a legal suit asking for President Buharis removal if he fails to return in 21-days. The statement reads: Following the spate of violent attacks by officers of the Nigerian Police Force and then by paid hoodlums on our #ResumeOrResign daily sit-outs and peaceful processions in various parts of Abuja, it has become necessary to announce a suspension of our daily activities in the city. ALSO READ: Police should hide its face in shame This temporary suspension is to enable us restrategize on ways to make our processions less open to such violent attacks and to better ensure the safety of all our members and other participants at our sit-outs and peaceful processions in future. This is also to make known our good intention and unreserved commitment to promote peace and unity in our beloved country. We believe this decision will help in dousing the unnecessary ethnic tension being stoked by the cabal holding Nigeria to a ransom. Whereas our daily sit-out will be suspended temporarily in Abuja, Sit-Out will continue to hold at the Gani Fawehinmi Park, Ojota, Lagos, between 0900hrs 1000hrs daily; New York (Front of the Nigerian consulate, 828 Second Avenue); and vigil will also be held in front of the Abuja House in London on Friday August 18th, 2017 by 1700hrs. Finally, we hereby demand that President Buhari returns to the country and resume duty as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria within 21 days from today, or that he resigns completely from office to enable him return to Daura to take care of his ill health. Should the president be unable to comply with any of the aforementioned demands within 21 days, we will approach a court seeking an order of mandamus to compel the Federal Executive Council to set up a committee in line with section 144 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), to appraise the health of President Buhari and subsequently determine whether or not he can continue to discharge his presidential functions as enshrined in the constitution. The Union had on Monday, August 14, commenced an indefinite strike over the government's failure to honour the agreement. But Adamu blamed ASUU for not following due process before embarking on the industrial action. Speaking with State House correspondents on Wednesday, after the weekly meeting of the Federal Executive Council, Adamu said the union should have given FG adequate notice before going on strike. The minister said the government has realised that it made some promises to the union which it has yet to fulfill. ALSO READ: FG begs union to call off industrial action He said he would hold a meeting with the union leaders on Wednesday evening or on Thursday, August 17. Adamu said, "It is very sad that I am here and ASUU is on strike. Late last year, we had a meeting because ASUU gave one week notice of strike and we were able to work out some agreement. "I must confess that government has not fulfilled its part of the bargain. Though we are unhappy that ASUU went on this strike without following due process and giving us good notice, we realised that we promised something and we didnt fulfill it. "I hope I will be meeting them later today (Wednesday) or tomorrow (Thursday) and I am sure we will be able to reach some agreement so that the strike will be called off as soon as possible. "I am sure you are aware of the issues we agreed on. There is the issue of re-negotiation which is the only one they agreed government has done what it promised because we set up the re-negotiation team and negotiation is already ongoing. "There is the issue of Earned Allowances and I think because of some miscommunications, what we promised could not be done, but am I assuring ASUU and the whole nation that this is going to be done. "There is the issue of registration for Nigerian Universities Pension Commission. I think on that one, there are a few issues that need to be sorted out with the Nigerian Pension Commission. I believe there will be no problem with that. "On the issue of their staff school, I think the court has given them verdict to go ahead with it. They have requested that they should be allowed to stay off TSA and I think the government will not do this. "But there are some peculiar funds in the university like endowment which are monies kept and all the interest they generate, prices and so on are given. This was disclosed by the anti-graft agency's spokesperson, Wilson Uwajaren, hours after the failed attack. According to him, the gunmen attacked in the early hours of Wednesday and started shooting in the air before guards on the premises were able to scare them away. However, they left a threatening death note before they escaped in a getaway vehicle. According to Uwajuren, the death threat was targeted at Ishaku Sharu, a senior investigator who heads the foreign exchange malpractices fraud section for the agency. He said, "A major security breach was recorded at the headquarters of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in the early hours of Wednesday, August 16, 2017, as unknown gunmen attacked the office located at Wuse Zone 7, Abuja. "The group of heavily armed bandits invaded the office at about 05:00 hours and began shooting into the premises, damaging vehicles parked in the premises in the process. However, the attack was repelled by guards on duty. "The hoodlums escaped in a getaway vehicle but not without leaving a message; a white envelope dropped by the fleeing attackers was found to contain a death threat addressed to Ishaku Sharu, a senior investigator with the commission. "Ishaku who heads the foreign exchange malpractices fraud section is in charge of corruption investigation involving several politically exposed persons and retired military brass hats." The office houses the anti-graft agency's AMCON Desk, Procurement Fraud and Foreign Exchange Malpractices Sections. The Our mumu don do group overseen by Charles Oputa (also known as Charly Boy) has been calling for President Muhammadu Buhari to return to his work desk or tender his resignation, for well over a week now. Medical vacation The Nigerian president has been away in London for a medical vacation--past the 100-day mark this week. The constitution only empowers the federal cabinet and the legislature to take action in circumstances where a president has been away on a medical trip for longer than necessary. The constitution is silent on the number of days a sitting president is allowed to spend out of his country while tending to his health. Different official delegations to London have said the Nigerian leader is recuperating nicely and will return home once his Doctors grant him the permission to do so. Wuse market attack Bored of kicking off their protests from the Unity Fountain in Abuja, Charly Boy and co-convener of the resume or resign demonstrators, Deji Adeyanju, had a brain wave that took them to the Wuse marketa trading outpost populated by northern Muslims who still swear by Buhari. The Charly Boy led group drove to the Wuse market last Tuesday in a convoy flanked by two power bikes. Charly Boy alighted from his BMW convertible coupe and made for the market gates; his cast following closely, the our mumu don do chorus on their lips. They should have been warned. Out of nowhere appeared a motley crowd of counter-protesters chanting the Sai Buhari, Sai Baba slogans. Worse, a few of the pro-Buhari demonstrators were wielding stones and cudgels. The Guardian reports that moment this way: A young northern man, clearly Hausa-speaking, forced his way into the crowd to face Charly Boy directly with an aggressive and continuous chant of Sai Baba! Sai Baba!. The tide turned with a sudden chorus of the same chant which overwhelmed the rally. Suddenly, a large number of Hausa-speaking youths dominated the scene. Charly Boys attempt to calm the instigator only made him violent as he started throwing punches at Oputa. "What followed, almost instantly, was a rain of stones on everyone, forcing the crowd, including the pro-Buhari supporters to disperse. In the process, The Guardian reporter and some other journalists were hit while trying to flee the scene. Charly Boy could easily have been killed in the stampede that ensued as protesters and counter-protesters made for each other with all of Wuse market fleeing in different directions. The Guardian reporter while still being chased and dripping with blood from the wound on his face, attempted to navigate the market maze only to collide with Charly Boy who was also trying to find his way out. The attackers seemed positioned at every turn in the market maze to engage their targets violently. Several of Charly Boys followers were caught and wounded with stones. Charly Boy was finally able to find one of his bikers and zoomed off seated at the back while still being attacked with stones. The Guardian reporter, in his final attempt to escape from the scene, stopped and faced his attackers, shouting: I am a journalist, check my I.D. card! "One of the hoodlums, appearing well dressed and educated, said: Let me see the I. D. card! He looked at the card very closely, looked at the reporters face, and then waved to his colleagues to move on. According to the Guardian reporter: Charly Boy, who was lucky to have escaped from the market alive, would have probably been beaten and stoned to death if he had fallen while running. Many people sustained injuries during the attack. ALSO READ: Protesters clash in Abuja over absent President Godwin Onyekwere who runs a shop at the Wuse market said: Charly Boy came to this market with some cameramen doing his protest here. I was standing in front of my shop when I saw him running for his dear life, being chased by those youths. They nearly lynched him, because those youths almost overpowered the policemen near him. Charly Boy had his car windshield smashed as the demonstrators bayed for blood. It took the intervention of the police and a shutdown of the market to prevent a complete breakdown of law and order. It is the second time the Charly Boy group has come under attack since it commenced its sit-outs on Monday, August 7. On Tuesday, August 8, riot police fired teargas canisters and water cannons at the group; a barrage of fumes that led to Charly Boy collapsing on the floor in a heap. Speaking on the Wuse market attack, co-convener Adeyanju said: About 25 of them attacked us, but before we got to Charly Boys car, they had vandalised it. A journalist was also injured. Charly Boy was just going round, greeting the people in the market when the boys came. First, they wanted to engage us, but we said no and tried to leave, but they attacked us. They attacked us with policemen last Tuesday. They tried to attack us at Unity Fountain with their government sponsored thugs. Today is Wuse Market. Charly Boys car was damaged by thugs. This is a senseless government. #ResumeOrResign. There are note wrappers all over Unity Fountain shared by Pro-Buhari protesters. The government says its fighting corruption. Protest suspended A day after the Wuse market attack, Charly Boy announced that his group has resolved to suspend the protest. He was standing at the Unity Fountain, surrounded by members of the group. Only 10 people came out today, Charly Boy lamented. I see that this country is a country of intolerance. I have been to that Wuse market severally to do my business. What happened yesterday, shows the ugliness of our country. Weve made our point. Let Nigerians judge. Weve come to the end of this particular sit-out. We need to go back, re-strategise, because theres a lot that is wrong with our country. Theres a lot well take on, full blast. But we still insist that our president returns or resigns". Igbokwedisclosed this on Sunrise Daily, a programme on Channels TV, while he was in an argument with Deji Adeyanju, the co-convener of the protests that started on Monday, August 7, 2017. When asked for his opinion on the protests, Igbokwe said, "You're allowed to express your thoughts or to feel like you're in a democracy; freedom of speech, freedom of thought. We know where we are coming from. Deji, I think is the Acting Publicity Secretary of the PDP. "When I saw Charly Boy sitting very close to him, I said this is just a PDP affair. He still speaks for the PDP. He has a right to protest, but you have to be very sensitive. "What did the law say? The president was going out for medical treatment and he transmitted power, wrote to the National Assembly. That's what the law says, and he moved on . "The Vice President stepped in as the Acting President, so where's the vacumm? None. Except for people who are looking for something. "They don't have any business to go and protest. It's even against the law to protest that the president must resume or resign when the needful has been done." When challenged on Nigerians' human rights of freedoms of association, movement and expression, he said, "You have to know what you're saying. They went to protest, and I just saw about six people. When they were not getting the number they required, they started going to the market. What is their business going to the market? "Anybody can be sick. You can provoke people by what you say. If you go to line up on the streets and begin to say the president must resume or resign when he had done the needful, then you're not getting it." Igbokwe's comments come only a day after the protesters were attacked while protesting at the popular WuseMarket in Abuja on Tuesday, August 15. They were pelted with stones, and Charly Boy (Charles Oputa), another co-convener of the protest, was almost lynched by hoodlums at the market before security operatives restored order. On Tuesday, August 8, the group was also attacked by the police at Unity Fountain with tear gas cannisters and water cannons, in a move that was roundly criticised by the Nigerian public. The group has been staging the protests at the Unity Fountain since Monday August 7, demanding that the president should either return to the country he left over three months ago, or resign from his position. On Thursday, August 10, pro-Buhari groups, like the Coalition for Good Governance and Change Initiative,marched the streets of Abuja in support of the president who has been out of the country for 101 days. On Friday, August 11, both groups met at Unity Fountain, and trouble almost broke out before it was promptly contained by the police. President Buhari left the country on May 7 to resume treatment for an undisclosed illness in London, leaving Acting President Yemi Osinbajo in charge of the country's affairs. By PTI: Mumbai, Aug 16 (PTI) Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has postponed his scheduled tour to South Korea, as the government of that country has sought more time to study the projects in Maharashtra where they would invest on a large scale. As per his itinerary, Fadnavis was supposed to visit South Korea between August 18 to 24. However, the tour has now been rescheduled between September 10 to 15. advertisement "South Korea has informed us that it needs more time to study the projects in which they would be investing because the money involved is huge," an official from the Chief Ministers Office (CMO) said today. The Korean Land and Housing Corporation (KLHC), an undertaking of the South Korean government that specialises in land development, town planning and creation of housing stock, had signed an MOU with the Centre to invest 10 billion USD in India in October last year. The KLHC will invest in development of 24 smart cities (Navnagar) along the proposed 710-km Nagpur-Mumbai Samruddhi Corridor, redevelopment of the government employees colony located in suburban Bandra on 93-acre land and in the affordable housing scheme in Mumbai, the official said. Another reason to put off the tour was the prevailing tensions between North Korea and Japan, and its indirect impact on South Korea, according to the official. "The South Korean government is concerned about the safety and security of the chief minister. Japan has warned North Korea of using nuclear and developing inter-continental ballistic missiles against it. As a neighbouring nation, South Korea did not take any risks during the high profile foreign delegations visit," he said. The prevailing drought-like condition in Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of the state was also on Fadnvis mind. PTI MM NSK --- ENDS --- President Buharis return to Nigeria would be determined by his doctors in the United Kingdom, presidential aides have chorused since his departure. The President's prolonged stay in London has continued to generate mixed reactions from Nigerians. Against this background, some Niger Delta Youths on Wednesday, August 16, 2017, took to the streets of Abuja to declare their total support for President Buhari. The entire Niger Delta supports President Buhari, PDP stop anti-Buhari protest, Benin youths support President Buhari, read inscriptions on their placards. Leader of the group, Young Preye told that the protest for President Buharis resignation was being sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Nigerians should stop politicizing President Buharis illness because anybody can fall ill. The president has done the needful by handing over to his vice, . All he needs now is our support and prayers not this PDP sponsored protest for his resumption or resignation, he said. Meanwhile, the movement led by veteran entertainer, Charly Boy, today, suspended their daily sit-out to re-strategise. When he was asked if it was ideal that the president has been out of the country for over a hundred days, Igbokwe said, "What did the law say? The president was going out for medical treatment and he transmitted power, wrote to the National Assembly. That's what the law says, and he moved on . "He has not done anything wrong. He has transmitted power to the Acting President. "We have presidents that have died in office in America. One was incapacitated, he was on a wheelchair and he served for 12 years. It's a private thing. "You don't need to know. Doctors don't disclose what their patients are suffering from. "Online, in the social media they'll post 'The president has died'. Some even posted his obituary online. "You can say so many things but once a picture is out, it can speak volumes. "Last week, the live picture of the president came out, that settles all this talk about incapacitation. Why can't people go and find something to do. "Has his absence disturbed governance? We have a professor as Acting President. "The president is sick and he has told Nigerians to allow him to get back his health. The needful has been done." President Buhari left the country on May 7 to resume treatment for an undisclosed illness in London, leaving Acting President Yemi Osinbajo in charge of the country's affairs. The House issued this statement in response to Obasanjos comment saying that allocating funds for constituency project is a form of corruption. According to the House Committee Chairman on Media and Public Affairs, Abdulrazak Namdas, the former President has made attacking the National Assembly his hobby. Namdas also told newsmen that the National Assembly will not take time to respond to the former Presidents comments again. He said We wont respond to any corruption allegations by Obasanjo against us anymore. We have replied him enough and our position remains what we said earlier. It has not changed. I refer you to our comprehensive position on Obasanjo in 2016. That is still our position. Ocheni will be the new Minister of State for Labour and Employment while Hassan has been appointed as Minister of State for Power, Works and Housing. Hassan was expected to take the place of Amina Mohammed who resigned as Minister of Environment to take up the job of Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. However, his new appointment makes him the second Minister of State in the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing alongside Mustapha Baba Shauri, while the spot for the Minister of Environment remains vacant. Ocheni and Hassan were sworn in by Osinbajo on Wednesday, July 26, months after they were confirmed by the Senate as far back as May 3. The presidency's reluctance to promptly inaugurate them fueled talks of a cabinet reshuffle for when President Muhammadu Buhari returned to the country. The president left the country on May 7 to resume treatment for an undisclosed illness in London, leaving Osinbajo in charge of the country's affairs. The termination of the protest was announced by co-covener of the protest, Charles Oputa, popularly known as Charly Boy, at Unity Fountain where the group has been staging the protest. While speaking, the 'Our Mumu Don Do' leader said the group's agitation is important to encourage the youths of the country to participate more in its politics. He said, "The youths cannot continue to stay in the corridor waiting for handout. They must be in the room discussing their future." While disclosing that the members of the group had gotten death threats for their action, he remained defiant that the group will continue to agitate for better governance in the country. He said, "The country is a country of intolerance. I've been to that Wuse Market severally to do my advocacy work, it's not the first time. But what happened yesterday showed the ugliness of our country. I urge everybody to please remain peaceful and calm." He was referring to the incident that happened on Tuesday, August 15, when the group was attacked while protesting at the popular WuseMarket in Abuja. Protesters were pelted with stones, and Charly Boy was almost lynched by hoodlums before security operatives restored order. He said the group's agitation will not end with the termination of the protests, as the group is still very interested in what happens to the future of the country. He said, "We're here to say that the Nigeria of our dream is not what we're seeing. We deserve a better country, a better future. If not for us, for our children, for the unborn. "To my fellow comrades, we've made our point. Let Nigerians do the right thing. "We've come to the end of this sit-out. We need to go restrategise because there are a lot of things wrong with our country. There are a lot of topics we want to take on, full blast. "But we are still insisting and will always insist that either Mr. President returns or resigns." The group started staging the protests at the Unity Fountain on Monday August 7, demanding that the president should either return to the country he left over three months ago, or resign from his position. On Tuesday, August 8, the group was attacked by the police at Unity Fountain with tear gas cannisters and water cannons, in a move that was roundly criticised by the Nigerian public. On Thursday, August 10, pro-Buhari groups, like the Coalition for Good Governance and Change Initiative,marched the streets of Abuja in support of the president who has been out of the country for 101 days. On Friday, August 11, both groups met at Unity Fountain, and trouble almost broke out before it was promptly contained by the police. President Buhari left the country on May 7 to resume treatment for an undisclosed illness in London, leaving Acting President Yemi Osinbajo in charge of the country's affairs. The unnecessary use of aerial shots seem to be the trend in the Nigerian film industry, and while there's absolutely nothing wrong with advancing with technology, it becomes a problem when the obsession to deliver a beautiful picture overcomes quality storytelling. Recently, Nollywood veteran Ego Boyo and Tope Oshin repeated a known fact; the Nigerian film industry is currently paying more attention to technology than quality and original storytelling. I recently saw a movie with lots of unnecessary aerial shots. These shots were distracting and difficult to miss. At the end of the movie, I remembered more about the 'wow' shots than the plot or characters. A beautiful shot will remain just a 'beautiful shot' until it is put into right context and translates into something the audience can relate with. Technology is good, but it can never take the place of a great story. Also, its beauty is lost when viewers get caught in the visuals and forget the story. Paying overly attention to picture quality over storytelling would lead to a surplus of big budget movies with increasingly advanced technology, but bad stories. The quality of the storytelling started to decline as technology started to advance. It became acceptable for movies to be just superficially attractive and entertaining but intellectually undemanding. These days, it's now a case of technology over substance, as movies are now defined as great based on its use of technology. This is not to say that there are no cases where the story is as strong as the visuals. . We have had lots of them, just as there are a good number of movies that tell original stories. But, the reason why the quality of storytelling would always be a conversation in Nollywood is because the bad movies outnumber the good ones. A higher percentage of Nigerians are more familiar with the bad quality movies. In the 90s and early 2000s, sophisticated technology wasn't in existence, so little attention was paid to visual illusions and large emphasis was placed on the stories. "Living in Bondage,""Scores to Settle," "Abused," "Amadas," "High Way to the Grave" didn't have out of the world shots, but they had original stories. Stories that are unforgettable. Stories that made it easy to forget how cringy some of those special effects were. What happens if as a viewer, you stripped recent Nollywood films of their compelling pictures, what will you be left with? A watchable film? An average film? Or an outrightly horrible film? Those affected are a former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, Chief Chudi Ofodile, the National Treasurer of the party, Mr Flint Obiekwe and Chief Nwabueze Anyichie, its Deputy National Secretary. Chidoka and Ofodile are governorship aspirants in the Ananmbra governorship election scheduled for Nov. 8. The Publicity Secretary of the party in the state, Chief Uche Amaku, said the four were suspended for allegedly indulging in acts aimed at undermining the authority of the state executive of the party. Amaku said the partys Disciplinary Committee would decide the fate of the affected persons. Meanwhile, Dr Sylvester Igwilo, the Chairman of the party in the state, said Chidoka and Ofodile did not show documentary evidence of their resignation from PDP as required by Article 7 paragraph B of UPP Constitution. He also said both aspirants introduced money politics in the party and induced members to gain advantage. They have introduced money politics of inducing members with cash donation which tends to bring the image of the party to ridicule. Both aspirants were found to have deposited five million naira into the account of the party without the consent and approval of state executive committee. They had also appeared for a purported screening without the approval and authority of the state executive committee outside the provision in the partys constitution. All these tantamount to anti-party activities to undermine the state executive authority of the party, he said. Igwilo said the two members of the National Executive Committee from Anambra, Obiekwe and Anyichie were suspended for their role in attempts to undermine the leadership of UPP in Anambra.Reacting to the development, Chidoka told NAN that he was unaware of his suspension as he had not been informed by the party. The former minister said he had not contravened any provision of the party constitution. He said he was busy meeting stakeholders and consulting ahead of the partys primary election and how to build a stronger and more resilient UPP in Anambra and Nigeria. On his part, Ofodile described his suspension as surprising. He said he would react after he was served by the party. Also reacting, the National Chairman of UPP, Chief Chekwas Okorie said the development was a handiwork of enemies of party. Over the weekend, the former president made history with his powerful reactions to the tragedy (he responded with three tweets). These earned him THE most-liked tweet in Twitter history. The first record-breaking tweet in the series of three was a condemnation of the attack. He quoted the late South African president Nelson Mandela, writing, No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion This was posted on Monday, August 13, 2017. By the next day, it had gained over 2 million likes, making it the second most liked tweet of all time. Mashable reports that this was confirmed by a Twitter spokesperson on Wednesday. That Tuesday night, Obamas tweet was liked 2,705,809 times at approximately 10:07 p.m. ET. This pushed him to the top and set a new all-time record. Obamas powerful tweet was accompanied by quotes from Mandelas autobiographical Long Walk to Freedom. The second tweet read: People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love." For love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite, was the third. These two garnered over a million likes each! Meanwhile, Obamas tweet has pushed Ariana Grandes 2017 response to the deadly Manchester bombing attack at her concert to the second place. Grandes tweet received 2,703,448 likes, while Ellen DeGeneres famous 2014 Oscars selfie with 2,418,912 likes holds the third most-liked tweet spot. ALSO READ: 10 MOST memorable tweets on Twitter However, a Twitter spokesman has revealed that Obamas tweet may be the most liked, but it is certainly not the most retweeted. The first place for this title goes to Ariana Grande, then Louis Tomlinson, Ellen DeGeneres, and the viral plea for Wendys chicken nuggets. By Vidya : The Bombay High Court was today informed that the Centre has finally made the amendment in noise rules as requested by the Maharashtra government. The new rules stipulate that no area will be deemed as silence zones and that includes even courts, hospitals, educational and religious institutions. If any area has to be made a silence zone then the state government will have to pass a notification to that effect. advertisement The rules earlier envisaged that an area of 100 meters is to be marked as silence zone from any hospital, court or educational and religious institutions. It meant that even if there was a dental surgeon's clinic on a road then the area was deemed to be a silence zone. However with the new rule just about every place is not going to be a silence zone until and unless there is a notification to that effect. The state was of the view that due to the rules there was not an inch of space left in Mumbai which could not be a silence zone. The notification along with an affidavit was presented before the division bench headed by justice Abhay Oka and the affidavit states that the amendment has come into force with effect from August 10 itself after which the state government has so far not declared any area as a silent zone. Maharashtra's Advocate General Ashutosh Kumbhakoni told the court that as of today "no zone is a silence zone" in state. The other thing which has been changed in this amendment is that until now the state government used to decide the 15 days in a year where grace time would be given for use of loudspeakers till midnight instead of the mandatory 10 PM. Now instead of the state government the district authorities will decide on the same. Awaz Foundation convenor Sumeira Abdulali seemed upset with the amendment. However the lawyers told the court that they needed time to study the amendment. Meanwhile apart from the silence zone, the court asked the state government to say what it had done to see to it that noise rules are not violated during Tuesday's 'Dahi handi' festivities and the forthcoming Ganpati festival. The urban development department has also been asked to say if municipal corporations have acted on the issue Ganpati pandals breaching roads and affecting traffic. Awaz Foundation pointed to a few violations of noise rules during 'Dahi Handi' on Tuesday with one violation of a noise level exceeding above 110 decibel right in front of Bandra police station. The court asked state government to say what it has done about these violations. The court has asked all these reports to be submitted by August 22. advertisement --- ENDS --- When British bride, Devon Bickerton somehow missed her pre-wedding pictures, the photographer, Chris Preach and groom, Alistair Yeo found an alternative in the best man, and the resulting photos are a mix of weird and ridiculous. Apparently, the bride had no idea that the photographer had plans for them on the day. "[Devon] didnt realise that I like to take some pre-wedding photographs to get an idea of the venue and how the groom and bride react to being photographed." ALSO READ:7 most bizarre wedding stories of the year 2016 "As she was unavailable I asked the groomsman, Adam Green, to step in as a joke, to which they both loved," explains the photographer. The groom and his best man have been friends since high school and saw it as one of the inside jokes they've built over the years. "We have all been friends since high school so we thought it was just a joke, we had no idea people on Reddit and the rest of the Internet would like the pictures so much!" he adds. Even the bride was just as amused as everyone else when she saw the photo "When I got home and showed Devon she just burst out laughing and weve have had a right giggle about them since." "There's a big pool of young people who will pursue the people's war even if it takes us a hundred or more years," 70-year-old Padilla, one of the Philippines' most-wanted men, said at a rare news conference for a small group of reporters. Padilla, who joined the New People's Army a few years after the insurgency began in the late 1960s, insisted the rebels were not concerned by President Rodrigo Duterte's threats to end peace talks. A self-proclaimed socialist, Duterte swiftly launched negotiations with the Maoists after winning presidential elections last year and there were high hopes he could end the rebellion, which the military estimates has claimed 30,000 lives. But last month Duterte angrily declared there would be no more talks because the NPA continued to extort money from businesses and ambush security forces. Padilla, a slight, bespectacled ex-farmer who goes by the alias "Ka (Comrade) Diego", heads the Melito Glor Command, one of the most important units of the NPA, the communists' 3,800-member armed wing, military commanders told AFP. The unit operates across the south of the main island of Luzon, the country's industrial heartland that lies next to the capital of Manila, typically attacking isolated security outposts and taking guns from slain police and soldiers. It also collects "revolutionary taxes" from businesses, ranging from big power plants and even small pig farms, as well as local politicians, Padilla said. Hammer and sickle The guerrillas sleep in hammocks near streams and rural hamlets, help farmers harvest crops, and melt into nearby forests to evade any approaching large military forces. They choose only to fight smaller units, according to Padilla. His press conference was held on a hilltop ringed with wild banana plants, about two hours' hike from a poor, coconut-growing hamlet. The 50 or so gunmen escorting him wore olive military-style uniforms inspired by Chinese revolutionary leader Mao Zedong, the movement's ideological godfather. Most also had on thick red makeup, many decorated with the hammer-and-sickle communist logo rendered in yellow, to conceal their identities. While their numbers are relatively small, there continue to be frequent reports of communists killing security forces across the Philippines. Last month the rebels killed six policemen and a civilian in an ambush on the central island of Negros, according to the police, and wounded five of Duterte's military bodyguards in another encounter in the southern Philippines. Padilla said the rebels wanted the talks, held in Europe, to continue. But they stood ready to fight. "We've been fighting for 50 years. What does it matter if it takes another 50 years," said Padilla, who gave a slide presentation by lamplight with the help of a young female guerrilla. Padilla defended the continuing NPA attacks, calling them a form of "self-defence" against military operations in areas where their shadow government was in place. Extortion He also insisted it was legitimate to demand the equivalent of two percent of any business project in revolutionary taxes, but admitted companies that refused to pay were punished "harshly", with their equipment usually burnt. The payments are vital to the communists' survival. They net the rebels up to two billion pesos each year, Philippine military spokesman Brigadier-General Restituto Padilla, no relation to the rebel leader, told AFP, branding the practice plain "extortion". "This paralyses the local economies, keeps people poor and makes it easier to recruit them. It's a vicious cycle," the general said. Another key reason that the Philippines continues to host a communist rebellion when Marxism has dissolved almost everywhere else around the world is an economic system that has created huge wealth but left tens of millions in deep poverty. The Philippines has one of the fastest growing economies in Asia and has grown by more than six percent for much of the past decade. But 22 million, or one in five Filipinos, continue to earn a dollar or less each day, according to government data. Padilla, the NPA leader, said millions more young Filipino adults fared little better working in low-paying contractual jobs after completing their schooling. This made the NPA a viable option even for fresh graduates of the country's top universities, he added. jpegMpeg4-1280x720One of them, a 25-year-old from a middle-class family who called herself Ka Kathryn, told AFP she joined the NPA five years ago after her father, an engineer, was fired for organising a union at an energy company. "We are facing an enemy who has committed atrocities against the people," said Kathryn, who had studied to become a television presenter but now carries an M-16 rifle. "With the laying down of arms ... the conflict is truly over and a new phase begins in the life of our nation," Santos said at a ceremony in Pondores, a remote area in the northern Guajira department. "This is truly a historic moment for the country," he said. "We have been a republic for 198 years. Never had we had such a long conflict and today is indeed the last breath of that conflict." The leftist rebel force has said it will officially transform into a political party on September 1, a major step in reintegrating into civilian life as part of a historic peace deal signed last year. "Soon we will be holding a founding congress for the new political party that will be called the Alternative Revolutionary Force of Colombia," said one of the FARC's senior leaders, Ivan Marquez, at Tuesday's ceremony. "We do not want to break with our past. We were and will continue to be a revolutionary force," said Marquez. The FARC arose in May 1964 from a peasants' revolt, and its ranks were made up mostly of country-dwellers who rallied behind the group's Marxist-Leninist ideology, with land reform its key demand. As well as a quarter of a million dead, about 60,000 Colombians remain unaccounted for and seven million have been displaced in the conflict. A small rebel group called the National Liberation Army is now in peace talks with the government. And 450 renegade FARC members are refusing to embrace the idea of peace. For now, former FARC rebels will live in 26 demobilization camps. On Tuesday the group also brought out 24 minors who were child soldiers still under the protection of the FARC. They joined another 88 who were already turned over to the government, the International Committee of the Red Cross said. Uncertain future So far, 88 such minors have been turned over to the authorities. Amid the sense of exhausted relief that many Colombians feel after so much war, the road ahead is fraught with challenges. One issue is how to ensure the physical safety of former rebel fighters, who many Colombians feel are getting off too easy. Marquez said two former rebels have been murdered in recent days. Another, even bigger problem is how the former fighters will make a living. "The guerrillas do not know what is going to happen to them the day after tomorrow," said Ariel Avila, director of a foundation that is monitoring the peace accord. Then there is there is the issue of justice for atrocities committed during the war. The government "has asked for the activation of the European civil protection mechanism for air support ... because of the danger posed by the fires," fire service spokeswoman Stavroula Malliri told a press conference. She said Greece was asking for four CL-415-type water bombers, which are built for aerial firefighting and can fly up to 322 kilometres per hour (200 miles per hour) and scoop up 1,620 gallons (6,000 litres) of water in about 12 seconds. Malliri said Cyprus had already offered 60 firefighters, while France said it could not contribute any manpower or air support because it is battling its own fires in the south and Corsica. French authorities said a blaze in the southern town of Luceram, near Nice, had finally been brought under control Tuesday after burning for 48 hours. Greece called in the army to assist firefighters around Kalamos, 45 kilometres (30 miles) east of Athens, where a fire has been burning since Sunday. Nearly 300 firefighters, 100 soldiers, five air bombers and seven helicopters had been mobilised in the Attiki region, home to Athens, where fires are smouldering in a zone of forest and scrubland dotted with vacation homes. At least five properties were destroyed and three others evacuated, authorities said, as smoke from the blaze clouded the skies over the capital on Tuesday morning. Firefighters were also battling flames near the town of Amaliada in the western Peloponnese and on the tourist island of Zakynthos, where several fires were raging -- some thought to have been started deliberately. Authorities have ordered the evacuation of vulnerable people, children and the elderly. "Such a situation is unheard of," regional fire chief Vassili Matteopoulos told local media on Monday. "We had 22 fires on Zakynthos just in the last 24 hours." Political backlash Efforts to control the blazes were complicated by winds reaching speeds of 40-50 kilometres per hour, according to the fire service. The blazes also sparked controversy between the opposition and the cash-strapped government, which was accused of negligence, with local officials decrying a lack of air support. "In this crucial hour, the priority" is to battle the fires, the office of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said. "The time for review will come later." Soaring temperatures and tinder-dry forest floors across southern Europe have led to a rash of devastating wildfires, notably in Portugal, where 64 people died in a massive inferno in June. On Tuesday some 1,450 Portuguese firefighters were battling at least four blazes in the central Santarem and Castelo Branco regions, emergency services said. And there were fresh fires in Albania, according to the interior ministry, where more than 5,000 hectares (12,000 acres) of Albanian forest have been torched since July. French authorities said the fire in Luceram had resulted in no evacuations or property damage, but had burned 150 hectares (370 acres) of forest. The 52-year-old wife of President Robert Mugabe is accused of attacking model Gabriella Engels, 20, on Sunday evening at a Johannesburg hotel where her two sons were staying. Engels has registered a case with the police alleging assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, saying she suffered deep cuts to her forehead and the back of her head. "We know where the suspect is," South Africa's police spokesman Vishnu Naidoo told AFP. "We are still continuing with the investigations. No warrant of arrest has been issued," he added after some reports suggested Grace Mugabe had hurriedly returned to Harare late Tuesday. The alleged attack threatened to spark a diplomatic tiff between the two neighbouring countries, which have strong political and economic ties. Zimbabwean government officials have made no comment on the case. Grace Mugabe allegedly arrived at the Capital 20 West Hotel with bodyguards and accused Engels of partying with her sons Robert and Chatunga, who are both in their 20s and live in Johannesburg. 'Kept beating me' Pictures on social media appeared to show Engels bleeding from her head after the alleged assault at the hotel in the upmarket business district of Sandton. Engels said she had been attacked with an electrical extension cord. "She flipped and just kept beating me with the plug. Over and over. I had no idea what was going on. I was surprised... I needed to crawl out of the room before I could run away," she told the News 24 website. Zimbabwe's president is expected to fly to South Africa later this week for a regional SADC summit which opens in Pretoria on Saturday. Grace Mugabe is 41 years younger than her 93-year-old husband and the couple has two sons and a daughter. She regularly speaks at rallies and is seen as one possible contender to take over from her increasingly frail husband, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from British colonial rule in 1980. Last month she urged him to name his chosen successor, reviving speculation about the race to take over from the world's oldest national leader. The succession battle is expected to pit Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa against a group called "Generation 40" or "G40" because its members are generally younger, and which reportedly has Grace's backing. While Grace Mugabe has in the past denied harbouring ambitions to take over from her husband, at other times she has said she would be prepared to serve in any political position. She has taken on a larger public role in recent years, drumming up support for her husband and heading the women's league of the ruling ZANU-PF party. In speeches this year the president has often slurred his words, mumbled and paused for lengthy periods. His reign has been marked by brutal repression of dissent, mass emigration, vote-rigging and a sharp economic decline since land reforms in 2000. Grace Mugabe appears to not have diplomatic immunity status as she was not in South Africa on official business. South African Police Minister Fikile Mbalula told reporters on Tuesday that "in terms of foreign citizens, they must understand they have responsibilities, especially those who hold diplomatic passports." "The worst has been avoided," Tsipras said after flying over the disaster zone northeast of Athens by helicopter, adding that about 3,700 acres (1,500 hectares) of forest and scrubland had been ravaged. "Fortunately there are no victims... the damage was limited through your superhuman efforts," Tsipras told firefighters. Authorities said they had finally placed under control a huge wildfire in Kapandriti and Kalamos that had broken out on Monday in an area dotted with vacation homes. At least five properties were destroyed, authorities said. "The situation is better this morning," a fire department source told AFP. As a result, fire service spokeswoman Stavroula Malliri said Greece had cancelled a request for European assistance. "International assistance was deemed unnecessary. The dispatch of firefighters from Cyprus and fire-fighting aircraft has been cancelled," she said. But Malliri said active fronts remained on the island of Zakynthos and in the western Peloponnese, though the situation was improving there as well. Greek officials say many of the fires were thought to have been started deliberately. "The Hungarian firm supplied catering units exclusively," Nebih said, adding that all of the suppliers' clients have been informed of the withdrawal order. The move followed a notification by Germany to the EU's food safety alert system that traces of fipronil had been found in the products of the exporter, Nebih said in a statement posted on its website. The insecticide has now been discovered in eggs in 17 European countries since the scandal came to light at the start of August and was even found as far away as Hong Kong. Millions of eggs have been pulled from supermarket shelves and dozens of poultry farms closed, with the European Commission due to hold a crisis meeting in September. Fipronil, an insecticide, is commonly used to get rid of fleas, lice and ticks from animals but is banned in the European Union from use in the food industry. Belgium became the first country to officially notify the EU's food safety alert system of the presence of tainted eggs on July 20, followed by the Netherlands and Germany. However, the news did not go public until August 1. Keita is current chairman of the so-called G5 Sahel group -- a coalition of five western-backed Saharan countries that have pledged to fight terror. "The G5 Sahel is united in the face of terrorism," Keita said in a statement to the press at the presidential palace in the capital Ouagadougou, alongside Burkinabe President Roch Marc Christian Kabore. "We will not give up, they won't scare us," Keita said. "They will not succeed in making us cower in our homes." On Sunday, 18 people including at least eight foreigners were shot dead in a Turkish restaurant in Ouagadougou in the latest attack in West Africa to target a spot popular with expatriates. There has been no claim of responsibility for the assault. The restaurant is just 200 metres (yards) from a hotel and cafe targeted in an assault in January 2016 that left 30 people dead and 71 wounded, many of them foreigners. That attack was claimed by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). On Monday, gunmen attacked two United Nations bases in Mali, killing a peacekeeper, a contractor and seven Malians. A gun attack in the early morning at a base in Douentza, in the central region of Mopti, was followed within hours by a gun-and-grenade assault a camp in Timbuktu in the northwest. The "G5 Sahel" coalition gathers Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger -- countries that have been badly hit by jihadist attacks but whose military resources are thin. Duterte has waged an unprecedented crackdown on drugs during his 14 months in power that has seen police and suspected vigilantes kill thousands of people, leading to warnings by rights groups that he may be overseeing a crime against humanity. In one of the deadliest operations of the war, police reported killing 32 people in a series of raids Monday on suspected drug traffickers across Bulacan province, which neighbours the capital of Manila. "We wanted to shock and awe these drug personalities," Romeo Caramat, the Bulacan police chief, told reporters in Manila on Wednesday, adding 109 suspects had also been arrested. "Other drug personalities will think twice before continuing with their drug trade." Caramat insisted the police had only killed the suspects in self defence, and highlighted in the press conference that pistols and grenades had been seized in the raids. "We know we have done nothing wrong," Caramat said. He later told AFP that no police had been killed or wounded. When asked how it was possible there had been no police wounded if the raiding officers had been acting in self defence when killing 32 people, Caramat said: "Don't ask me to explain". Duterte easily won last year's presidential election largely on a vow to kill tens of thousands of drug traffickers and addicts, which he said was necessary to stop the country's slide to narco-state status. Duterte promised during the campaign he would win his drug war in three to six months, a vow that resonated with voters fed up with high crime rates and corrupt politicians. Duterte then as president railed against critics who said it was impossible to quickly end the drugs problem by killing traffickers and addicts. But Duterte, who is limited by the constitution to serving a single term of six years, conceded last week that he may be unable to deliver on his campaign pledge. "Look, these shabu (meth) and drugs, et cetera, cannot be solved by one man, for a president for one term. It has bogged nations (down)," he said in his southern home city of Davao on Friday. But in another speech last week, at national police headquarters, Duterte also signalled there would be no change in tactics. The United Nations said Tuesday it was evaluating humanitarian needs in Sierra Leone, while the first Israeli aid packages were sent and Britain pledged its support. With morgues overwhelmed with bodies, burials began on Tuesday for some of the bodies too mutilated to identify. President Ernest Bai Koroma fought back tears on Tuesday as he visited the devastated hilltop community of Regent, saying the scale of the challenge ahead was "overwhelming us". "Entire communities have been wiped out," Koroma said. "We need urgent support now." The government of Sierra Leone, one of the poorest countries in the world, has promised relief to more than 3,000 people left homeless, opening an emergency response centre in Regent and registration centres to count those left on the streets. UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in New York the UN country team was "supporting national authorities in rescue operations, helping evacuate residents, providing medical assistance to the injured, registering survivors, and providing food rations, water and dignity kits to those affected." The Red Cross says 600 people are still missing, while more than 300 are already confirmed dead. From shock to anger Adele Fox, national health coordinator for Sierra Leone for the charity Concern Worldwide, told AFP that the search for bodies continued but the survivors were facing difficult conditions. "There is basic need for food, water, sanitation equipment and medical assistance. Since it is still rainy season, further flooding is also a possibility," she warned. The sentiment among those in the disaster areas had shifted from shock and grief to anger at what is an annual problem in Freetown, though never before on this scale. "There is some frustration over the regularity of flooding and destruction during the rainy season and its effects," she said. 'Wake-up call' Society 4 Climate Change Communication (S4CCC), a local environment group, has called the tragedy a "wake-up call". Deforestation, a lack of urban planning and vulnerability to climate change had all played a part, it said. The UN said contingency plans were being put into place in case of any potential outbreak of waterborne diseases such as cholera, typhoid and diarrhoea, as dirty water stagnates. Sulaiman Zaino Parker, an official with Freetown's city council, said 150 burials took place on Tuesday evening and that many would be laid to rest in graves alongside victims of the country's last humanitarian disaster, the Ebola crisis, in nearby Waterloo. "We have started burying some of the mutilated and decomposed bodies. All the corpses will be given a dignified burial with Muslim and Christian prayers," Parker said. The graves would be specially marked for future identification, he added. Three days of torrential rain culminated on Monday in the Regent mudslide and massive flooding elsewhere in the city, one of the world's wettest urban areas. jpegMpeg4-1280x720Freetown is hit each year by flooding during several months of rain, and in 2015 bad weather killed 10 people and left thousands homeless. Mamta Kulkarni has been accused of running an international drug cartel with her husband Vicky Goswami. By Divyesh Singh: Former Bollywood actress Mamta Kulkarni, who has been accused of running an international drug cartel with her husband Vicky Goswami, will soon be on Interpol's wanted list. Thane police have completed all procedures. All that remains to be done is the attachment of her properties. After that, details will be shared with the CBI, and the process of issuing Red Corner Notices against Kulkarni and Goswami will be initiated. advertisement "There is a lot of evidence against Kulkarni and Goswami in the case. Some of the accused have recorded their confession(s) where they have admitted to have met Kulkarni and Goswami while discussing drug deals worth crores. She was to be made director of the company named Avon Lifesciences which was one of the units used to manufacture ephedrine," Special Public Prosecutor Shishir Hiray said. Kulkarni's properties in Mumbai's Versova have been sealed, and the process of attaching them has almost been completed. Kulkarni and Goswami were declared proclaimed offenders earlier this year, and a non bailable warrant was issued against them. Goswami was arrested by the US Drug Enforcement Authority in February RAID ON SOLAPUR FACTORY The Thane police had nabbed a African national who was into drug peddling. During the interrogation, he revealed there was a factory in Solapur where ephedrine was manufactured. A raid was then conducted on the factory, and a huge quantity of ephedrine and acteyle anhydride worth Rs 2,000 crores was recovered. Ephedrine is used to manufacture methamphetamine-based party drugs, which have a huge market in the US and European nations. The ephedrine seized was to be smuggled to Kenya, where Kulkarni and her husband Goswami - along with their aides - would manufacture the party drug and then smuggle it to the US. WHERE IS MAMTA KULKARNI? Goswami has already been arrested with his partners, including one Ghulam Hussein - a Pakistani drug lord. They were extradited from Kenya to the US in an old drug smuggling case registered in the States. Kulkarni then fled from Kenya, and reportedly went to the UAE - where she stayed for some time. She moved once again, and authorities are yet to zero in on her exact location. ALSO READ Mamta Kulkarni's husband arrested in drug haul case EXCLUSIVE: Mamta Kulkarni breaks silence in drug racket row, says leave my husband alone --- ENDS --- The 34 miners were gunned down after police were deployed to break up a wildcat strike that had turned violent at the Lonmin-owned Marikana platinum mine, northwest of Johannesburg. It was the worst police violence in South Africa since the end of apartheid in 1994. "It is a disgrace. Not a single cent has been paid to our people five years later,"Dali Mpofu, lawyer for some of the victims' families, said, dismissing government claims that 1.17 billion rand ($88 million) had been offered in compensation. "Our government is continuing to torture our people. The truth is still to come. The truth will come out," he added. The rocky hill where the shooting took place has become a monument to those who died in the massacre, which was captured on camera and beamed across the world in scenes reminiscent of apartheid-era police killings. An official inquiry established by President Jacob Zuma put much of the blame for the deaths on police tactics used to disperse the 3,000 strikers, but no prosecutions have been brought. In the days leading up to the attack, 10 others had been killed in violence related to the strike -- including non-striking miners, security guards and two police officers who were hacked to death. But the commission found a police operation to forcefully remove the miners, a few of whom were armed, should not have been carried out. 'No justice' "These guys died like flies," said Morris Siyimba, a miner sitting on the hill during the commemoration events on Wednesday. "That day I was lucky not to be shot. It is too painful (to recall)," he said. "The government has not done anything. There has not been any justice." The families of the victims have accused the police of acting to avenge the two officers killed during the strike and have long demanded that senior police officials must be held accountable. "The tragedy of the Marikana killings is compounded by the shocking fact that no one responsible for the bloodshed has yet been held accountable," said Shenilla Mohamed, director of Amnesty International South Africa. She added that the government "needs to ensure that the wheels of justice start turning far faster than they have done over the past five years". The Pretoria-based Institute of Security Studies (ISS) think-tank issued a new report into accountability for the massacre, in which 70 others were injured alongside the 34 dead. The only person to be penalised over the deaths has been the then national police commissioner Riah Phiyega, who was suspended on full pay in 2015. The ISS called for fair compensation for those affected, prosecution of police officers who acted unlawfully and reforms to police recruitment and training. "Government must demonstrate to South Africans and the world that the senseless loss of life at Marikana has resulted in lessons learned and will never occur again," said ISS justice specialist Gareth Newham. Politicians from opposition parties spoke at the event, calling for action on prosecutions and compensation, as well as better housing and pay. He said progress had been made since the joint force was formally constituted in early July but Mali called "on all friendly countries and partner international organizations to help us to complete the budget." The 5,000-strong force is to be made up of troops from Niger, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Burkina Faso. It has an annual budget of about $496 million (423 million euros) a year but so far only about $127 million (108 million euros) has been pledged. A Malian diplomat said equipment was needed for the force's five battalions. Also required is a communications systems linking them to headquarters and an emergency medical evacuation unit. Plans call for deploying the first units in October and for the battalions to be operational by March, with priority placed on cross-border military operations. Speaking at a UN Security Council debate on security in Africa, France's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations Anne Gueguen stressed the need for an "urgent response" to armed jihadist groups destabilizing the Sahel region, the semi-arid region in north central Africa that extends from Senegal to Sudan. "The security situation in the Sahel is directly linked to the situation in Mali," she said. Her American counterpart, Michele Sison, insisted that deeper cooperation between the five participating countries could help improve regional security and compliment the work of an existing UN peacekeeping force in Mali. "Toward that end, the United States will continue its longstanding bilateral support to develop and build the capacity of G5 members security forces," she said. Konfourou and Niger's Ambassador Abdallah Wafy said after the Security Council meeting that the United States had not refused to contribute financially to the force -- even though unlike the European Union and France it has not announced a pledge of financial support. Speaking at the weekend, Odinga promised to advise supporters Tuesday of "the next course of action" but his eagerly awaited appearance failed to transpire. "We regret that the consultations are taking longer than anticipated and NASA will therefore not address Kenyans as projected today," said a statement signed by Musalia Mudavadi, one of the leaders of the National Super Alliance (NASA) opposition coalition. "NASA will issue a comprehensive statement to the nation tomorrow (Wednesday)," he said, adding "our consultations are ongoing and progressing well." Odinga, 72, insists he is the rightful winner of a "stolen" election which took place on August 8 and handed victory to the incumbent, Uhuru Kenyatta. Duterte's incendiary comments came as he acknowledged major problems in his drug war, which has claimed thousands of lives, admitting he could not win it as quickly as promised and lamenting a corrupt police force. In one of the deadliest operations of the war, police reported killing 32 people in raids on Monday on suspected drug traffickers in Bulacan province, which neighbours the capital of Manila. "The ones who died recently in Bulacan, 32, in a massive raid, that was good," Duterte said in a speech to an anti-crime organisation that has backed the drug war. "If we could kill another 32 everyday, then maybe we can reduce what ails this country." Earlier in the day Bulacan police chief Romeo Caramat held a press conference in Manila to publicise the raids, in which 109 suspects were also arrested. "We wanted to shock and awe these drug personalities," Caramat said. "Other drug personalities will think twice before continuing with their drug trade." Caramat insisted the police had killed the suspects in self defence, adding that pistols and grenades had been seized in the raids. "We know we have done nothing wrong," Caramat said. He later told AFP that no police had been killed or wounded. When asked how it was possible there had been no police wounded if the raiding officers had been acting in self defence, Caramat said: "Don't ask me to explain". Police have killed 3,450 people in similar drug raids since Duterte came to office in the middle of last year, according to government data. More than 2,000 other people have been killed in drug-related crimes and thousands more murdered in unexplained circumstances, according to police data. 'Happy to slaughter' Rights groups accuse police and state-sanctioned vigilantes of carrying out mass murder as they follow Duterte's orders to eradicate drug traffickers and addicts. Duterte said last year he would be "happy to slaughter" three million addicts. Rights groups say such statements are incitements to kill, and Duterte may be orchestrating a crime against humanity. Duterte easily won last year's presidential election largely on a vow to kill tens of thousands of drug traffickers and addicts, which he said was necessary to stop the country's slide to narco-state status. He also promised during the campaign he would win his drug war in three to six months, a vow that resonated with voters fed up with high crime rates and corrupt politicians. However Duterte, who is limited by the constitution to serving a single term of six years, has conceded in a series of speeches over the past week that he will not be able to eradicate the drug trade quickly as promised. "These shabu (methamphetamine) and drugs, etcetera, cannot be solved by one man, for a president, for one term," he said in his southern home city of Davao on Friday. On Wednesday Duterte repeated that there were no quick solutions to the drug war, as he claimed not to have known before becoming president the extent of corruption in institutions such as the police force and customs. "Little did I know that the police who are suppose to be on my side, they were on the other side," Duterte said. "And little did I realise that the very agency that I was relying on to protect us from the smuggling of drugs from abroad, was the one importing the drugs." Duterte, 72, is a career politician who served in the national congress and spent more than two decades as mayor of Davao fashioning himself as a ruthless anti-drug crusader. The woman, identified only as Robin, told a news conference in Los Angeles she was "sexually victimized" by the legendary French-Polish film director when she was just 16, in 1973. "The day after it happened, I did tell one friend that Mr Polanski had done that to me," she said, reading from a prepared statement. "The reason, with this exception, that I kept it to myself is that I didn't want my father to do something that might cause him to go to prison for the rest of his life." Robin said she was prompted to come forward after the victim at the center of a rape case against the famed director recently urged authorities to put the case to rest. Lawyer Gloria Allred, who is representing the latest alleged victim, said the incident happened in southern California but added that her client would not be going into any further detail. Although the statute of limitations has expired on her case, she could be called to testify in a future trial, the lawyer said. The director of "Rosemary's Baby" and "Chinatown," who turns 84 on Friday, was accused of drugging Samantha Geimer when she was 13 before raping her at Jack Nicholson's house in Los Angeles in 1977 while the film star was away. Polanski admitted statutory rape after a number of more serious charges were dropped, and spent 48 days in custody to undergo psychiatric evaluation before being released. According to court documents filed by his lawyer Harland Braun, Polanski was promised by the judge overseeing the case that the seven weeks he spent in custody would be the only time he would serve. 'Infuriated' But in 1978, convinced the judge was going to scrap his plea deal and send him to prison -- possibly for decades -- he left for France. The director -- who is married to French actress Emmanuelle Seigner, with whom he has two children -- has since refused to return without assurances that he would not serve additional time in prison. Robin said she was "infuriated" when Geimer appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court in June to buttress the filmmaker's case that he had served his time and that the matter should be settled once and for all. "I'm speaking out now so that Samantha and the world will know that she is not the only minor Roman Polanski victimized," Robin said. "I'm not over it and I certainly believe that Roman Polanski should be held accountable for his criminal conduct with Samantha Geimer." Allred said Polanski was free to withdraw his guilty plea in the Geimer case and seek a new trial for the charges on which he was originally indicted. Robin will not be filing a civil complaint but is willing to testify under oath if there were ever a criminal trial, according to Allred. Polanski's film career has continued to flourish since he fled to France, where many consider him an icon. He has eight Cesars -- the French equivalent of the Oscars -- and a best director Academy Award for Holocaust drama "The Pianist." While living in the United States, he was married to the actress Sharon Tate, who was murdered in 1969 by members of the Charles Manson family when she was eight months pregnant. "The pilot is in our hands. He is injured and being treated," Munjed said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitor, confirmed the rebel faction had shot down the plane and captured its wounded pilot. According to Munjed, the area where the aircraft was downed is outside a ceasefire zone negotiated last month by the United States, Russia and Jordan. Parts of Daraa, Quneitra, and Sweida provinces are included in the agreement, which has brought relative quiet to the zone though some violence has been reported. Days after the deal went into effect, the Ahmad al-Abdo Forces hit a Syrian government jet but it landed safely in regime-controlled territory. Munjed said his group had used a "23 millimetre anti-aircraft gun" to down the warplane on Tuesday. "We will take care to treat the captured pilot in accordance with international law," he told AFP. The rebel group's leadership was still debating what would happen to the pilot after his treatment, he said. More than 330,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict began in March 2011 with anti-government protests. Trump has faced days of criticism from across the political spectrum over his reaction to Saturday's unrest in the Virginia college town, where a rally by neo-Nazis and white supremacists over the removal of a Confederate statue erupted in clashes with counter-demonstrators. The violent fracas ended in bloodshed when a 20-year-old suspected Nazi sympathizer, James Fields, plowed his car into a crowd of anti-racism protesters, leaving one woman dead and 19 others injured. In a rowdy exchange with journalists at Trump Tower in New York, Trump made clear on Tuesday that he was fed up with continued questioning about the issue. "I think there is blame on both sides," Trump said. As he spoke, his new White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, a former Marine general, appeared displeased during the president's long tirade, standing rigidly. "You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent. And nobody wants to say that, but I'll say it right now," Trump continued. "What about the alt-left that came charging... at the, as you say, the alt-right? Do they have any semblance of guilt? (...) There are two sides to a story." 'No words' Trump's comments were immediately welcomed by David Duke, a former "grand wizard" of the Ku Klux Klan and a key figure at Saturday's rally. "Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth about #Charlottesville & condemn the leftist terrorists," Duke tweeted. But on the political left, the president's words were met with indignation. "Charlottesville violence was fueled by one side: white supremacists spreading racism, intolerance & intimidation. Those are the facts," said Tim Kaine, a former Democratic vice presidential candidate and senator from Virginia. The state's other Democratic senator, Mark Warner, tweeted: "No words." Trump's fellow Republicans also didn't mince words. "We must be clear. White supremacy is repulsive," Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan wrote on Twitter. "This bigotry is counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity." And the condemnations also spilled beyond the political realm. NBA superstar LeBron James tweeted: "Hate has always existed in America. Yes we know that but Donald Trump just made it fashionable again!" After the contentious press conference, the head of the main US labor union, the AFL-CIO, joined several high-powered executives in stepping down from Trump's manufacturing advisory panel. "President Trump's remarks today repudiate his forced remarks yesterday about the KKK and neo-Nazis," union leader Richard Trumka said in a statement. "We must resign on behalf of America's working people, who reject all notions of legitimacy of these bigoted groups." Outside Trump Tower where the president spoke, hundreds of people protested to denounce racism. They were surrounded by police officers to prevent clashes with a handful of Trump supporters nearby. Protesters chanted: "We are here to stay, we are here to fight!" "I would not have come here if I had not seen him say that on TV 20 minutes ago," said actor Jason David, 23. 'Is it George Washington next week?' When asked why he waited until Monday to explicitly condemn hate groups present in Charlottesville, Trump said he wanted to be careful not to make a "quick statement" on Saturday without all the facts. "I wanted to make sure, unlike most politicians, that what I said was correct," Trump insisted. Trump called Fields, who has been charged with second-degree murder, a "disgrace to himself, his family and this country." But he also said that while there were troublemakers at the rally, there were also many people there "to innocently protest and very legally protest" the removal of a "very important statue" of Confederate general Robert E Lee. "I wonder, is it George Washington next week? And is it Thomas Jefferson the week after?" he said angrily. "Are we going to take down statues to George Washington? How about Thomas Jefferson?" Launching the first report since President Donald Trump took office, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson took swipes at Bahrain, China, Iran, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Turkey. The report does not look into policy in the United States, where Trump won office on a pledge to ban all Muslim immigration and is now battling US courts for the right to ban arrivals from eight mainly-Muslim states. But Tillerson -- who gave a brief address to launch the report -- insisted the administration will continue to promote religious freedom around the world as a "moral imperative" and a universal human right. "Religious persecution and intolerance remains far too prevalent," he said. "Almost 80 percent of the global population live with restrictions on or hostilities to limit their freedom of religion. "Where religious freedom is not protected, we know that instability, human rights abuses, and violent extremism have a greater opportunity to take root," he warned, in a brief speech at the State Department. The 2016 report itself, which US diplomats have been mandated by Congress to prepare, is not much changed from that of the year before; a dry but detailed breakdown of the state of play across the world. But Tillerson used his remarks and a preface to the report to draw attention to some particular offenders. As expected, he repeated last year's denunciation of the Islamic State group's "genocide" against the Yazidi, Christian and Shiite minorities in areas it holds or until recently held in Iraq and Syria. He again took the opportunity to criticize perennial US foe Iran, noting that the Islamic republic has used "vague apostasy laws" to execute 20 members of religious minorities over the past year. But he also complained about the behavior of some US friends, such as NATO ally Turkey, where he said non-Sunni Muslims such as the Alevi are not protected by the state from "discrimination and violence." And he demanded Turkey release a US citizen, evangelical pastor Andrew Brunson, who has been "wrongfully imprisoned" since last year on charges he belongs to the banned movement of exiled cleric Fethullah Gulen. America's allies in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, were also in the firing line, despite Trump's recent triumphant visit to Riyadh to salute their support in the battle against Iran and violent extremism. "We urge Saudi Arabia to embrace greater degrees of religious freedom for all of its citizens," he said. Saudi Arabia bans non-Muslims from practicing religion in public and discriminates against Shiites. Pakistan, which does not even recognize the Ahmadi community as Muslim and imposes death sentences for blasphemy and apostasy, was also cited, as was China's persecution of Falun Gong members and Tibetan Buddhists. Terror charges But Russia, while it has a critical chapter in the report itself, did not come up by name in Tillerson's speech. The United States Commission on International Freedom -- an independent federal government body that advises the State Department -- has urged that Russia be designated a "country of particular concern." In April, the panel said Russia has "effectively criminalized all private religious speech not sanctioned by the state" while seeking to ban Jehovah's Witnesses and framing innocent Muslims on terror charges. Russia is not one of the ten countries currently of "particular concern" and US officials said Tillerson is not due to review these designations until another 90 days after Tuesday's report was made public. The 2016 report itself -- while required under the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act -- does not bind the US administration to act. But Ambassador Michael Kozak of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor told reporters that its data would inform policymakers as they make decisions on diplomatic outreach and refugee admissions. Countries listed separately as being "of particular concern" in terms of religious freedoms can face sanctions, but Tillerson can also issue a waiver if he thinks it is in US interests to give them a pass. Her ordeal ended early this month, when she was put on another airline, but only after nights spent in a hotel hearing the clashes of protesters and security forces in demonstrations that have left nearly 130 people dead in the past four months. "We want to sue Air France (which provided the Paris-Caracas leg) and Avianca, because they knew very well what was going to happen once we were here," Costes told AFP. The pullout of foreign airlines began in 2014, when Venezuela's economy began to slide in tandem with declining prices for oil -- the country's all-important export. Since then, the country has seen a drought of US dollars, hard currency which the government has been monopolizing since 2003 with currency controls. As a result, the airlines have a massive pile of $3.8 billion owed to them but stuck in Venezuela, according to the International Air Transport Association. With no way of repatriating their income, most airlines last year stopped accepting Venezuela's currency, the bolivar, for ticket purchases, demanding only dollars, an industry source said. 'Not profitable' Others have simply left. Between 2014 and 2015, Air Canada, Aeromexico, Alitalia, LAN from Chile, Brazil's TAM and Gol, and Tiara from Aruba ceased services. Last year, Dynamic from the US and Germany's Lufthansa followed suit. This year has seen Avianca, Delta and United abandon Venezuela. Aerolineas Argentinas' flights became sporadic from August 9, when the airline started deciding week-to-week whether to fly to Caracas. Many of the airlines pulled out or pulled back "because the route isn't profitable enough to justify the risks," Humberto Figuera, president of the Venezuelan Airlines Association, told AFP. A source in the sector said it was possible Avianca left because Venezuela-Colombia political ties had deteriorated after Bogota accused Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro of establishing a "dictatorship." A dozen foreign airlines are still operating in the country, but some have reduced their services, like American Airlines, TAP from Portugal, Air France and Spain's Iberia. Pilots with Spain's Air Europa have asked their airline to stop putting them up overnight in Caracas because of safety issues. Iberia is already parking crews overnight in the Dominican Republic for the same reason, Figuera said. The brazen August 8 shooting death of a Venezuelan who was checking in at Caracas's airport underlined the dangers in the country, which has one of the highest homicide rates in the world. In 2016, an Egyptian was murdered by muggers in front of the terminal. 'Grim' situation The developments mean the number of available seats out of Venezuela have fallen by a third since 2013, and are now very pricey to buy -- more than double the cost of comparable ones in nearby countries. Panamanian company Copa remains the main airline carrying on almost as usual. Its outward flights from Caracas are overbooked weeks in advance, in all classes, but its inbound ones are half-empty. Figuera said that, despite the industry wariness, no problems had been reported with Venezuela's air control, runway conditions or aircraft fuel supplies. However, tariffs for using the country's airports or flying through its airspace were significantly higher than in other countries in the region, he said. "The current situation is grim, and may become worse unless there is a change in Venezuelas leadership," said Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst heading the Atmosphere Research Group. "Venezuela is an unstable country right now. No airline CEO will put her or his colleagues' lives at risk, or risk having aircraft worth tens, possibly hundreds, of millions of dollars caught up in a country that could possibly collapse." Andrew Charlton, of the Swiss-based Aviation Advocacy consulting firm, stressed that "airlines like stability and safety" and the situation in Venezuela "is not good." Yet for Costes, the stranded French passenger, the troubles she faced did little to lessen her desire to get to know Venezuela. Ulyukayev was arrested in November while still a minister, allegedly caught red-handed after demanding a $2-million (1.7-million-euro) bribe in return for greenlighting state oil giant Rosneft's acquisition of a stake in another oil company Bashneft. The 61-year-old denies the charge of massive official bribe-taking, for which he could face up to 15 years in prison. In court he angrily defended himself, saying he was seized in a sting operation organised by the FSB, the successor to the KGB, in "a provocation organised from on high on the basis of a false accusation." Ulyukayev said the security services set up the sting on the basis of "fabricated" accusations, "based solely on Sechin's claims." He said he was lured to the Rosneft offices by Sechin. It was there that a case containing the bribe money was handed over. Ulyukayev was arrested as he tried to drive away with the money in the boot of his car. Ulyukayev said he went to the meeting after "Sechin called me personally... and persuaded me to come to Rosneft." The prosecution concurs that Sechin set up the meeting and handed over the money, but said he did this in cooperation with the security forces after Ulyukayev demanded the money at a summit in India in return for approving the high-profile Bashneft deal. Ulyukayev had originally opposed the sale of the stake in Bashneft to Rosneft but later endorsed it after Putin said it could help fill state coffers. Rosneft's spokesman Mikhail Leontyev told RIA Novosti state news agency: "The fact remains: Ulyukayev himself demanded unlawful reward for carrying out his official duties, he came to collect it himself and himself left the meeting place with the money. What else can you add?" The prosecution has asked for Sechin to be summoned as a witness at the trial. A courtroom showdown between such senior figures would be highly unusual and it is unclear whether Sechin will attend in person. Sechin, 56, formerly served as deputy prime minister and as Putin's deputy chief of staff and advisor and is a close confidant of the Kremlin strongman. Since taking charge of Rosneft in 2012, he has built it up into the world's largest publicly traded oil company. A fluent Portuguese speaker, he worked as a military interpreter in Mozambique and Angola and unconfirmed rumours swirl that he was a KGB spy. He worked with Putin in Saint Petersburg in the 1990s and moved with him to Moscow to take up posts in the Kremlin. He is seen as a key figure in the clan of powerful security figures known as the "siloviki." Reading Chekhov's 'Murder' Wearing a striped blue polo shirt, Ulyukayev sat at a table in the packed courtroom in Moscow's Zamoskvoretsky district court. He is being held under house arrest, not in jail, and told journalists before the hearing that he has been reading a short story by Anton Chekhov called "Murder". "Chekhov writes a lot about courts and investigators. Nothing has changed in 150 years," he said. Ulyukayev's arrest last year sent shock waves through Russia's elite. Recognised as a member of the government's liberal wing, Ulyukayev had worked with Yegor Gaidar, a former liberal prime minister who masterminded the "shock therapy" economic reforms of the early 1990s blamed by Russians for wiping out their savings. He had called for reforms including lifting the age of retirement and liberalising the labour market. jpegMpeg4-1280x720Putin sacked him as economy minister -- a job he had held since 2013 -- in the wake of his detention. Police have arrested two people in connection with the murder of RSS worker Sharath Madiwala. By Rohini Swamy: The Dakshina Kannada police have finally managed a breakthrough in the murder of RSS worker Sharath Madiwala, nearly two months after the incident. Two members of the Popular Front of India (PFI) have been arrested for providing shelter to the assailants. Abdul Shari alias Shari, from indiranagar in Mangaluru, and Khaleelullah, Chamrajanagar PFI president, have been arrested. IGP Harishekharan, told reporters, "The case has finally been cracked and will give more leads to hunt down the assailants who attacked Sharath." advertisement The police arrested the duo after questioning more than 30 people. The accused provided shelter to the assailants and also helped them escape, said Harishekharan. Also Read: Flag war in Kerala: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat unfurls tricolour in Palakkad Kerala CPM using social boycott as tool to target RSS in Left strongholds Kerala: How cult of political violence became new normal in God's own country Also Watch: Left vs Right in Kerala: RSS chief Bhagwat unfurls tricolour in Palakkad school --- ENDS --- GENESEO -- For the fourth consecutive year, Hammond-Henry Hospital has been named one of the nations Most Wired hospitals by Hospitals and Health Networks, an American Hospital Association (AHA) publication. The survey honors organizations transforming care delivery, embracing emerging technologies and ensuring patient information is kept and exchanged within a secure environment. "Over the past year, HHH has made significant investments in IT technology," said Jodie Criswell, vice president of fiscal services at Hammond-Henry. "These updates have allowed new tools to assist patients in becoming more actively involved in their care and maintaining their health. The hospital continues to implement measures to ensure that the security of patient information is maximized and the risks of exposure are limited, she said. Staff has been working though the transition to a hosted solution over the past six months. These new systems have enhanced our IT security plan as well as provided optimal disaster recovery services. Ms. Criswell said the project has been significant for the staff, especially those within the IT department, but everyone has accommodated the required workflow changes. Hammond-Henry Hospital has increased its use of sophisticated IT monitoring systems to detect patient privacy breaches; monitor for malicious activities or policy violations; and produce real-time analysis of security alerts. SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) Illinois school superintendents hostile to Gov. Bruce Rauner's changes on a school-funding plan told lawmakers on Wednesday that the Republican's proposal would hamstring their school districts. The House Education Appropriations Committee is weighing legislation that incorporates the alterations Rauner made this month in an amendatory veto of Senate Bill 1 . The veto essentially rewrote the legislation, which revamped Illinois' funding formula for public schools. Rauner has repeatedly said the original Democrat-backed bill unfairly favored Chicago public schools at the expense of the rest of the state. He echoed that theme Wednesday, by excoriating the "corrupt political machine in Chicago" during a political event in Springfield. Rauner's veto cut $450 million from Chicago Public Schools, the nation's third-largest school district, and slated the money for redistribution to other Illinois school districts. But school chiefs in some of those districts were not impressed. "I liken it to a payday loan," Staunton Schools Superintendent Dan Cox told the House committee Wednesday. "We get more money now some of us at a higher cost later. We need to stop ZIP code politics." Opponents of Rauner's plan say the immediate influxes of money would be offset by long-term changes. They note districts that lose enrollment would be penalized because state money would follow students transferring to other schools. Critics also said communities with limited property taxes, which often fund local schools, would lose state money because of how Rauner wants to tie funding to property value. The committee is considering a new bill, Senate Bill 1947, that Democrats drafted to gauge how Republicans will vote on a potential override of Rauner's veto. The Senate overrode the veto last weekend, but the House has 67 Democrats four votes shy of the three-fifths majority needed to override. School funding remains unresolved because Democrats inserted a provision in the recently approved state budget that requires school funding to be distributed only through the model outlined in Senate Bill 1. With that bill vetoed and an override stalled, the state has no way to distribute money to schools. The first payment was due Aug. 10. Chicago schools don't open until after Labor Day, but most other districts are gearing up or have already opened. No district has said it can't open, but few districts can last longer than one semester without state aid. House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat, put Rauner's changes to the test Wednesday by introducing Senate Bill 1947 , which includes the language of the governor's veto. Democrats planned a floor vote later in the day, but the bill is unlikely to pass which would open the door for a House override vote, which must be done by Aug. 29. Ahead of a campaign rally at the State Fair on Wednesday, Rauner blamed Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan his chief rival in Springfield and other Chicago Democrats for blocking his changes. Rauner said their self-interest has only brought Chicago high taxes, unemployment, violence and "terrible schools." "They don't run the political operation to benefit the people in Chicago, and I can sure as heck tell you they don't run the government for the benefit of the people of central Illinois, or southern Illinois or northwest Illinois or the suburbs of Chicago either," Rauner said. Rauner, who will seek a second term in 2018, said this week that educators and others have told him they support his school-finance veto. But superintendents at the Capitol dismissed his anti-Chicago message as "pitting school district against school district," in the words of Taylorville schools chief Greggory Fuerstenau. "Senate Bill 1 is, and always has been, about kids," added Centralia schools Superintendent Craig Clark said. "It's about equal opportunity for every to shine. Senate Bill 1 works for Chicago, Centralia and Cairo." By PTI: Lucknow, Aug 16 (PTI) BSP president Mayawati today attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his remarks on the death of children in Gorakhpur and asked people to understand the "distorted thinking" of BJP leaders. The BSP chief also termed as shocking BJP chief Amit Shahs statement at a press conference in Bengaluru that "this is not the first time such an incident has taken place in this large country of ours". advertisement "It is both surprising and sad that Prime Minister Modi went a step ahead of his party president Amit Shah and described the death of children in Gorakhpur, caused by criminal, official negligence, as a natural calamity...people of the county should now understand the distorted and wrong thinking of BJP leaders," Mayawati said in a statement here. In his Independence Day speech yesterday, Modi had said, "Sometimes, natural calamities become a very big challenge. Good rains contribute hugely to the prosperity of a nation. But due to climate change, sometimes, these natural calamities bring distress." "A few days back, in many parts of the country, natural disasters took place. A few days back, at a hospital, our innocent children died," Modi had said. Mayawati said everyone is aware that the tragedy is an outcome of rampant corruption at every level still the prime minister "has tried to save his party government by terming it as natural calamity when his own party MP and the RSS have condemned it". "Instead of taking action against their ministers and others, both Modi and Shah are showing ego and behaving in an authoritarian manner and BSP condemns it in the strongest words," she charged. Shah had recently rejected the demand for UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanaths ouster over the Gorakhpur tragedy, saying such incidents had also happened in states governed by the Congress. "It is natural for Congress to ask for Yogijis resignation. This is not the first time such an incident has taken place in this large country of ours. Such incidents have taken place during Congress rule in many states," he had said. The BSP president claimed that the BJP wanted to hold Lok Sabha elections by the end of next year along with Assembly polls in some BJP-ruled Hindi-speaking states and asked the safforn party to at least now work honestly for the welfare of people. Terming the Modi governments claims of fighting official corruption as hollow, she said the Centre has not set up the Lokpal in the past over three years and its governments in the states are "desisting from acting against corrupt ministers and others". PTI SAB SMI DV --- ENDS --- advertisement This was reported by Mr Dino Antunes Dias Batista, secretary of development and partnerships of Brazils Ministry of Transport, Ports and Civil Aviation, during a recent hearing at the Infrastructure Services Commission of Brazils Federal Senate. According to the basic technical viability study, the total length of the Bi-oceanic Railway will be 4900km, of which 3300km would be in Brazil and 1600km Peru. The railway would start in Campinorte in the Brazilian state of Goias, and pass through Mato Grosso, Rondonia and Acre states to reach the Peruvian border where it would turn south to reach Porto Ilo on the Pacific Coast. According to Batista, Peru wants the railway to pass through an Andean region which is a politically important for the country but which is 4000m above sea level. Adopting this route would cost Reais 20bn ($US 6.3bn) more than a route preferred by the Brazilian government which passes through a region which is 2700m above sea level. The total cost in this case would be Reais 50bn. Another problem is the different track gauges in Brazil, where the new railway will be 1600mm gauge, and Peru which uses standard gauge. This could require transhipment of freight at the border, making the railway less attractive to shippers. Since the Peruvian election last year, the dialogue has been difficult, Batista admits, but he says the Brazilian government has been working hard to resume dialogue on the project. The Bi-oceanic Railway is a strategic project to create an alternative outlet for Brazil to the Pacific Ocean and better access to Asian markets. Another important feature of the railway is its integration with the North-South Railway (FNS) in Campinorte, which would facilitate access for farmers to the existing rail network and Brazilian ports. MOSCOW, August 16 (RAPSI) The Zamoskvorestky District Court of Moscow will resemble hearings in the criminal case against former Russia's Economy Minister Alexey Ulyukayev, who stands charged with extorting a $2 million bribe, on September 1, RAPSI correspondent reports from the courtroom on Wednesday. Earlier today, the court held the first hearing in the case. After prosecutor read the indictment, Ulyukayev claimed he is not guilty and stated that he believes the case to be fabricated. The defendant noted that there was a provocation, orchestrated by the Federal Security Service (FSB) and that there is no sound evidence in the case, aside from testimony of Russian oil giant Rosnefts head Igor Sechin. During the hearing, Ulyukayevs lawyers asked the court to return the case to prosecutors because indictment read by prosecutor was not consistent with the case documents. This motion was dismissed. Ulyukayev was arrested while receiving an alleged bribe in mid-November 2016. He allegedly demanded Russian state-controlled oil giant Rosnefts representative to pay him $2 million for lawfully providing a positive review and evaluation of a deal that allowed Rosneft to acquire governments share in mid-sized producer Bashneft. According to the Investigative Committee, the former minister threatened to create obtrusions for Rosneft with the use of his position. On November 15, 2016, the ex-minister was put under house arrest. Later in the evening, President Vladimir Putin relieved Ulyukayev of his post because of loss of trust. The Basmanny District Court has seized Ulyukayevs property valued at over 564 million rubles (about $9.5 million). Businessman charged with taking hostages in bank admits guilt in part MOSCOW, August 16 (RAPSI) Businessman Aram Petrosyan, charged with taking hostages in Citibank and terrorism, has pleaded guilty in part, RAPSI correspondent reports from the Moscow District Military Court on Wednesday. On Wednesday, the court began hearings in the case. The defendant asked the court to permit former investigators of this case, Maksim Kichigin, to join the trial as a lawyer. The motion was dismissed. Medical examination has found that Petrosyan is suffering from psychological disorder not requiring compulsory treatment, but affecting his ability to take independent decisions, his lawyer Stanislav Maltsev told RAPSI earlier. According to investigators, on the evening of August 24, 2016, Petrosyan entered a branch of Citibank at Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street in central Moscow, where he took four people hostages. He threatened to trigger explosion of an object resembling a bomb. After several hours, he released all hostages and surrendered. The bomb that he threatened to explode turned out to be a hoax. The Investigative Committee stated that Petrosyan wanted to bring attention to his problem and did not want to kill anyone. Before capture of hostages, a video has been released on the Internet, featuring a man resembling the one who took hostages. Video message was published under the name of Aram Petrosyan. In particular, he said that on August 24 he is going to commit "violation of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation". He said that he intends to commit a crime because of bankruptcy, which, according to him, turned into epidemic in Russia. He demanded Russian authorities to create a body that would deal with the issue of bankruptcy. Switzerland refuses to cooperate with Russia in case of fugitive banker report MOSCOW, August 16 (RAPSI) Swiss authorities have denied a request filed by Russia seeking legal aid in a criminal case against former president of the Bank of Moscow charged with embezzlement, Andrey Borodin, SRF media company reported on Wednesday. Swiss authorities believe that Russia cant guarantee fair trial in this case, SRF reported citing Official representative of Switzerlands Federal Office of Justice Folko Galli. A representative of the Swiss Office of the Attorney General, said, in turn, that Russias request was denied because of failure to follow rules of procedure stated in the European Convention on Human Rights. He noted that 300 million franks stored on two bank accounts of Borodin, were unfrozen this spring. In 2011, a criminal case was opened against Borodin and his former first deputy Dmitry Akulinin on charges of large-scale fraud involving funds from the Moscow city budget. They were accused of lending 12.7 billion rubles ($214.5 million at current rate) to a shell company Premier Estate via Bank of Moscow. According to the Kommersant newspaper, now damages allegedly caused by Borodin and his accomplices exceed 62 billion rubles (about $1 billion). Borodin, whose Bank of Moscow functioned as the capital's chief investment vehicle under its then-mayor Yury Luzhkov, fled to the UK in 2011. In November 2011, the Russian Interpol bureau put Borodin and Akulinin on the international wanted list. In March 2013, Borodin was granted political asylum in the UK. According to investigators, the real estate, for which Borodin paid 140 million, was purchased at the expense of the funds illicitly transferred from the Bank of Moscow. The transaction was carried out in 2011. Investigators believe that the purchase of expensive property might constitute a money laundering scheme. In 2016, Moscows Meshchansky District Court sentenced former top managers of the bank Konstantin Salnikov and Alla Averina to 4.5 and 4 years in prison respectively for embezzling over 1 billion rubles (about $15.6 mln) from the bank. Later, the Moscow City Court reduced prison term for Salnikov to 4 years as well. By PTI: New York, Aug 16 (PTI) The modern juicy, crisp apples originated in a mountainous region of Kazakhstan, according to a study which reveals a surprising two-way journey on the Silk Road for one of the worlds most popular fruit. As travellers journeyed east and west along the Silk Road, trading their goods and ideas, they brought with them hitchhiking apple seeds, discarded from the choicest fruit they pulled from wild trees, researchers said. advertisement This early selection would eventually lead to the 7,500 varieties of apple that exist today, they said. Researchers, including those at Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) in the US, sequenced and compared the genomes of 117 diverse apple accessions, including M domestic and 23 wild species from North America, Europe, and East and central Asia. "We narrowed down the origin of domesticated apple from very broad central Asia to Kazakhstan area west of Tian Shan Mountain," said Zhangjun Fei, professor at BTI. Researchers discovered that the first domesticated apple had travelled to the east, hybridising with local wild apples along the way, yielding the ancestors of soft, dessert apples cultivated in China today. "We pointed out two major evolutionary routes, west and east, along the Silk Road, revealing fruit quality changes in every step along the way," Fei said. Researchers also found that as the apple travelled west along the Silk Road in the hands of travellers, trees grew from dropped seeds and crossed with other wild apple varieties, including the incredibly sour European crabapple. They found that M sylvestris has contributed so extensively to the apples genome that the modern apple is actually more similar to the sour crabapple than to its Kazakhstan ancestor, M sieversii. "For the ancestral species, Malus sieversii, the fruits are generally much larger than other wild apples. They are also soft and have a very plain flavor that people do not like much," said Yang Bai from BTI. The hybridisation between ancient cultivated apples and M sylvestris, followed by extensive human selection, gave us new apples that are larger and fuller in flavor, and with a crispy firmness that gives them a longer shelf life, researchers said. "The modern domesticated apples have higher and well- balanced sugar and organic acid contents. That is how the apple started to become a popular and favoured fruit," Bai said. The study was published in the journal Nature Communications. PTI APA SAR SAR --- ENDS --- Russian lawyers propose to tighten penalties for banking market abuse MOSCOW, August 16 (RAPSI, Oleg Sivozhelezov) - The Federal Chamber of Lawyers has proposed to toughen punishment for banking market abuse, the organizations press office told RAPSI on Wednesday. Lawyers are ready to draft bills aimed in particular at combating banking market manipulation and insider information abuse, the statement reads. According to the Chambers President Yury Pilipenko, fines for these violations are to be increased, and application of such type of punishment as disqualification (ban on engaging in certain kind of activity) is to be extended. Proposals to amend current law were voiced in relation to events involving managing company Alfa Capital. The companys manager sent a letter to the clients warning about problems in several top 15 Russian banks and about the risk of investment. A manager was reportedly summoned to the Central Bank of Russia for offering explanations. Such fake news must be regarded as unfair competition. Banking system is based on confidence of investors and clients; it is especially sensitive to distribution of false information damaging banks business reputation, Pilipenko said. Russian lawyers are concerned about the fact that final victims in such cases are individual depositors and small and medium business, he added. The Federal Chamber of Lawyers was founded in 2003. The organization is engaged in coordination of regional bar associations, control of high level of legal assistance, and representing lawyers in Russias government agencies. We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience on the website. The purposes of using cookies are defined in the Privacy Policy of RAPSI If you agree to continue using cookies, please click the "Confirm" button. If you do not agree, you can change your browser settings. Embezzlement case against ex-Deputy Culture Minister forwarded to prosecutors MOSCOW, August 16 (RAPSI, Lyudmila Klenko) A criminal case against former Deputy Culture Minister Grigory Pirumov, who stands charged with embezzling 100 million rubles ($1.7 million) of public funds allocated for restoration of cultural heritage objects, has been sent to the Prosecutor Generals Office, lawyer Fyodor Kupriyanov told RAPSI on Wednesday. Prosecutors will decide on the indictment in the case. Pirumov, who was relieved of his post in December, is currently in jail. His detention term is to expire on September 15. In March 2016, Pirumov, head of the Center of restoration Oleg Ivanov and director of the Ministrys department of property management and investment policy Boris Mazo as well as head of BaltStroy Dmitry Sergeyev and the companys manager Alexander Kochenov, businessman Nikita Kolesnikov, head of a state-owned Directorate for construction, reconstruction and restoration Boris Tsagarayev and project manager of companies Stroykomplekt and Baltstroy Vladimir Svanbek have been arrested and put in detention in the so-called case of restorers. Kolesnikov was later put under house arrest while Kochenov was released on a 10-million-ruble bail (about $170,000 at the current exchange rate). Investigation has presumably started basing on a report by the Auditing Chamber on restoration of the Izborsk Fortress in the Pskov region presented yet in 2013; however, it may also involve such cultural heritage sites as the State Hermitage in St. Petersburg and the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow, as well as works carried out at the Ivanovsky Convent in Moscow, and a theater in Pskov. The defendants have already paid all damages valued at about 163 million rubles ($2.7 million), the Moscow City Court told RAPSI in June. A criminal case against Kolesnikov was considered separately because he had pleaded guilty. The Dorogomilovsky District Court of Moscow has delivered a 5-year suspended sentence to the businessman. Additionally, he was fined 800,000 rubles ($13,500). The legislation on Russian sanctions that the U.S. Congress passed and President Donald Trump grudgingly signed this month was shortsighted. The bill reassured Americans, but it angered Europeans -- and in the end, it may have little impact on Russians. This bill imposes additional sanctions on Moscow for its continued actions in Ukraine and for its involvement in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, while restricting the presidents ability to ease any sanctions on Russia without congressional approval. The sanctions bill was certainly a domestic win for Congress. It passed with bipartisan support shortly after Republicans in the Senate failed to unify over a health care bill. Outside of Capitol Hill, the sanctions are also a comfort to Americans who are concerned about Russian interference in the U.S. democratic process and who worry that Trump will be soft in his response to Russian aggression. The 2017 Chicago Council on Global Affairs survey found that Americans increasingly view Russia as a threat. A meager 18 percent view Russian President Vladimir Putin favorably. Most importantly, a majority of Americans now prefer actively limiting Russias power (53 percent) to friendly cooperation and engagement with Russia (43 percent). This reverses the opinions registered in 2016, when 58 percent favored engagement and 43 percent favored containment. But Congress wasnt only responding to the wishes of the American public with this bill. The main aim of the sanctions is to coerce Russia to alter its behavior. But it is not clear that the Russian government feels much domestic pressure to meet the conditions set by the sanctions. Moreover, these restrictions should be implemented in a way that shields our allies from any negative consequences. Because this most recent bill was decided unilaterally -- and not jointly with our European allies -- its measures could harm our friends in Europe. Alienating Russia - and Europe too? The sanctions bill is intended to compel Russia to return Crimea to Ukraine; cease incitement in Eastern Ukraine; and end interference in Western democratic elections. The bill is unlikely to achieve this. Theres little reason to believe the Russian government will face backlash from its public in response to the new sanctions. A recent Atlantic Council report suggests that sanctions took their greatest toll when the price of oil plunged in 2014, and the Russian public proved willing to weather them. At the same time, public opinion surveys in Russia after the first round of sanctions took effect indicated a rally-around-the-flag effect. Shortly after the first round of sanctions were placed, a Levada poll found that 69 percent of Russians thought Russia should ignore them, and as of this writing, that number remains roughly unchanged at 70 percent. Additionally, 74 percent of Russians believe the sanctions were meant to "weaken" Russia rather than to stop its actions in Ukraine. Furthermore, annexing Crimea and aiding ethnic Russians fighting in Eastern Ukraine are both popular among Russians. Last spring, a Pew Research Center poll found that 52 percent of Russians think their government should intervene in defense of ethnic Russians living abroad, while 60 percent believe that parts of neighboring countries belong to Russia. The belief that parts of neighboring countries really belong to Russia is not new, nor is it a reflection of state media in the aftermath of the Crimean annexation. Sixty-four percent of Russians surveyed felt this way as early as 2002. Clearly more pressure needs to be put on Russia to effect change, but the United States needs its allies to exert that pressure. The sanctions bill not only fails to shield European allies from collateral damage, but it cuts its teeth by targeting our friends. The bill specifies that any non-U.S. corporations that assist Russias energy export development can be penalized if they do not comply with U.S. sanctions. This threatens the Nord Stream 2 project, a new Russia-Germany pipeline from Europe's top oil supplier, Russia, which is being built to transport another 55 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year. As a result, the European Union, France, and Germany have all expressed their disapproval of the specifics in the sanctions bill; the president of the European Commission even threatened retaliatory measures. A New York Times op-ed reported that Sen. Ben Cardin intended the sanctions bill to allow for waivers for projects such as Nord Stream 2. Such waivers would be a step in the right direction, but only if they help open up the possibility for the Trump administration and European leaders to negotiate an even tougher deal. Historically, secondary sanctions such as these have not worked. Washington tried to apply similar sanctions to Iran in 1996, targeting firms that invested in Iranian energy. Much like today, Europe questioned the legality of the sanctions and in the end forced the United States to issue a number of waivers to European companies which lessened the impact of the sanctions. It was not until Iran lived under international sanctions for seven years, and with the weight of the U.N. Security Council behind the measures, that Tehran was finally willing to negotiate. While the congressional bill implementing increased sanctions on Russia was successful in addressing the concerns of the American public, it will probably be nowhere nearly so successful in getting Russia to comply. Even worse, the way the sanctions bill was designed may drain support from our European allies. Recently the Economist reported that Germans are already losing interest in maintaining sanctions against Russia, and public opinion polling has backed up this assertion. A late July Forsa survey found that 83 percent of Germans oppose the new U.S. sanctions. This is unsurprising: Germany will lose the most if Washington goes after corporations working on Nord Stream 2. Transatlantic unity should not be made a casualty of U.S.-Russia tensions. Instead, the United States should be working to find ways of strengthening sanctions with Europe. The sanctions placed against Russia in 2014 drew their power from transatlantic unity. Now, Europe and the United States should jointly decide how best to target Russias energy sector. Europe, too, has been a target of Russian election meddling, and it suffers far more from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. It makes little sense for the United States to alienate it. Last Wednesday, a driver deliberately barreled his car into a French military patrol in the wealthy Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret. Labeled a terrorist act, the attack injured six soldiers and ignited a grim sense of deja vu. For the sixth time since 2015, a terrorist had targeted French soldiers serving on French soil; for the sixth time, the event has spurred a national debate over the reasoning behind the military operation in which these soldiers were participating. In January 2015, with a nation still reeling from the terrorist attacks on Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket, the Socialist government launched Plan Vigipirate. Under the plan, completed in 1991, the Interior Ministry was tasked with the mobilization and management of the panoply of French police forces in the case of a terrorist threat or attack. Only in the documents fine print is a place made for the use of military forces. As Elie Tenenbaum, a researcher at the Institut francais des relations internationales, suggests in a sharp and sobering paper, Frances long memory played a pivotal role. The uses and abuses of the French Army during the Algerian War of Independence, when armed forces became a tool of repression and torture, made the Fifth Republic reluctant to employ them again as a domestic security force. Until 2015, that is. A week after the terrorist attacks in Paris, the Socialist government under President Francois Hollande carved a new set of lines and arrows onto the Vigipirate flowchart, all of them passing through the Ministry of Defense. Called Operation Sentinelle, the updated plan detailed the mobilization of as many as 10,000 soldiers to assist police forces in warding off immediate terrorist threats. When the plan was first announced, public relief was palpable. The vast majority of soldiers were assigned to the most vulnerable and visible targets for radical jihadi groups: newspaper offices, Jewish centers, and synagogues. By the end of the year, their mission had metastasized: Along with police and gendarmes, soldiers were patrolling nearly 12,000 sites, including 10,000 in the greater Paris region. The government presented a two-fold rationale for Operation Sentinelle: to deter terrorists and reassure citizens. Tragically, the first goal might as well have been code-named Operation Impossible. Specialists who had voiced doubts about the armys deterrence capacity were proved prescient with the Nov. 13, 2015, terrorist attacks in Paris. Despite the stationing of 7,000 soldiers across France -- most of them concentrated in or near Paris -- they failed to prevent three groups of terrorists armed with assault rifles and explosive vests from killing 130 civilians and wounding more than 400 in the heart of Paris. Nevertheless, the government responded as if the problem had been an insufficient number of soldiers rather than an inadequate grasp of strategy. In the hours following the attack, 3,000 more soldiers were deployed. It doesnt require an advanced degree in cynicism to conclude that Hollandes decision -- one maintained by his successor, Emmanuel Macron -- was not driven by security imperatives. In Le Monde, terrorism specialist Jacques Raillane (who blogs under the name Aboud Jaffar) dismissed the logic behind this plan. As he drily noted, the number of potential targets tends toward the infinite, while the number of potential terrorists spills into the thousands. From the very start, he declared, Sentinelle has suffered from a crying absence of serious reflection and means. To be dissuasive, hundreds of thousands of soldiers would have to be deployed EVERYWHEREa goal that is clearly impossible and completely stupid, besides. Since there is no strategic logic, Raillane concludes that politics alone are behind Sentinelle. Whether its due to sheer panic or mere anxiety, the authorities will not risk demobilizing the soldiers only to be blamed for the next attack. For this reason, the government is reluctant to acknowledge the mounting costs. Like a sinkhole discovered directly below the Hotel de Brienne (the 18th century pile that houses the Army Ministry), Sentinelle is swallowing limited manpower and resources. France has approximately 10,000 soldiers assigned to overseas operations; most notably, Operations Serval and Barkhane in Mali have proved crucial in parrying the threat of radical jihadi forces. Sentinelle threatens to weaken these real and abiding strategic responsibilities. Not only are there longer service rotations for soldiers, but the ministrys budget must now cover unanticipated items like housing for active soldiers in Paris and elsewhere in France. Most disturbingly, it may well be that the soldiers deployed under Sentinelle are not shields against terrorism, but instead targets. During the operations first year in fact they were stationary targets, assigned to static positions at various points. Disparaged as a 21st century Maginot Line, stationary guards have since given way to mobile units that move among various sites. As Raillane argues, there is absolutely no evidence that soldiers, whether on the move or standing in place, have succeeded in foiling a single terrorist attack. In fact, the only attacks soldiers have responded to have been those aimed at them. Were it not for the presence of these soldiers, would any of the terrorists since 2015 have instead attacked French civilians? It is difficult if not impossible to say. At the same time, it is difficult, but essential for the government to come clean about Sentinelles evolving function from a reassuring presence to a convenient bulls eye. As historian Benedicte Charon warns, we can no longer avoid facing the fact that we have distributed targets across France. Will they be effective insofar as terrorists will attack them rather than civilians? If so, say so: Sentinelle is meant to be a lighting rod. And if this is a political choice, we cannot close our eyes to it. Property details: Welcome to Southern California's Playground of the Rich and Famous Big Bear Lake NO MINIMUM / NO RESERVE HIGH BID OWNS LOT For almost one hundred years, the Big Bear Lake area has been the primary mountain resort in Southern California. The 782 acre Alpine Lake, nestled at an altitude of 5108', is often described as the jewel of Southern California. The fresh mountain air and four-season climate is unmatched in Southern California. Part of the San Bernadino National Forest, the lot for auction i... Price: $ 320 Seller State of Residence: Florida Property Address: Avenue " I " State/Province: California Type: Homesite, Lot Zoning: Residential Location: , Big Bear Lake, California You will be redirected to eBay Nearby Residential Property details: Cantil, CA - 2.54 Acres, Mobile Homes Allowed This property is 2.54 acres in Cantil, California in Kern County. It's a dirt road off Munsey Road, which runs east-west through Cantil. The zoning allows for homes or mobile homes. The land is close to two automotive test facilities: the Honda Proving Center of California (which Honda has invested an additional $25 million in) and the Hyundai/Kia Proving Grounds test facility. With no time limit to build, rising values in the county, and extremely l... Price: $ 99 Seller State of Residence: Maryland City: Cantil State/Province: California Property Address: Dirt road off Munsey Road Zip/Postal Code: 93519 Zoning: Residential Location: 935**, Cantil, California You will be redirected to eBay Nearby Residential Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale Buy real estate. Find a great selection of commercial real estate, manufactured homes, timeshares and more for Sale in US and Canada. Search Real Estate By PTI: Rahul (Eds: With fresh quotes) Bengaluru, Aug 16 (PTI) In a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi governments Jammu and Kashmir policy, Rahul Gandhi today alleged that it has created a space in the troubled state for Pakistan to misbehave. His tirade at a Congress rally here comes a day after Modi, in his Independence Day address, reached out to Kashmiris, saying abuses and bullets would not resolve their problems but embracing them would. advertisement "He (Modi) has created an environment in Jammu and Kashmir of hatred and anger, and the only people who benefit from violence and hatred are the Pakistanis," Gandhi said. Claiming that he had worked on the J-K issue with Manmohan Singh, who was the prime minister, and leaders like P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh silently without any "drama or tamasha", he said their effort of 10 years had been "destroyed by Modi in one month". "Im telling you this because Narendra Modis policy has created a space in Jammu and Kashmir for Pakistanis to misbehave," the Congress vice president added. Gandhi was here to inaugurate Indira Canteen, the Karnataka governments subsidised food outlets that will provide breakfast at Rs 5 and lunch and dinner at Rs 10 per plate. He said during the UPA rule at the Centre, the government had done enough to build peace in J&K. When (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee came to power, the state was burning, but "we worked for ten years to bring peace to Kashmir. We held panchayati elections..., we created jobs...," he said. Criticising the Modi government on the foreign policy front, Gandhi accused it of alienating friendly countries, including Nepal and Russia. "When we were in government, all the neighbouring countries other than Pakistan and China, were favourable to us. One by one Narendra Modiji has alienated them. For the first time in history, Russia is selling weapons to Pakistan," he said. "He has alienated every single neighbouring country including Nepal. He has allowed China to enter India and alienated Russia. That is the reality of what is going on today," Gandhi said. On the Doklam standoff with China, Gandhi said Bhutan has been a good friend of India which has given a commitment to the Himalayan nation to protect its people. "Bhutan is a very good friend of India. Bhutan has stood for India from the days we got our Independence. India has signed a treaty with Bhutan. We have promised that we will protect Bhutan. This is the commitment of the people of India to people of Bhutan," he said. advertisement Flaying the Independence Day address of Modi, he said the the prime minister was silent on his promise of creating two crore jobs for young people every year. Gandhi also hit out at Modi over the Gorakhpur incident where over 70 children have died at the BRD Medical College since August 7. "The prime minister did not tell you that more than 90 new born babies died in Gorakhpur (in Uttar Pradesh) because of negligence by the health department. He did not tell you that a delay in approving the health budget prevented purchase of oxygen cylinders," he said. Gandhi alleged Modi wanted an India where the poor were left to die in government hospitals. He claimed the prime minister was running out of ideas and hence, his Independence Day speeches were becoming shorter every year. "Last year, he gave the longest speech. This year (he gave a speech for) 45 minutes. Next year, (it will be) 15 minutes. In the coming years, it will reduce to five minutes because he is running out of what things to say," he added. PTI BDN KSU RA VS TVS SC --- ENDS --- advertisement Bella Hadid says she was "so honored" to appear on the cover of "Vogue Arabia." ADVERTISEMENT The 20-year-old model paid tribute to her Palestinian heritage in an Instagram post Tuesday after landing the cover of the magazine's first-ever September issue. "Wow.. Thank you...September Issue of @voguearabia Shot by Mr. Incredible, Karl Lagerfeld," Hadid captioned a photo of her cover, which features her in a black leather jacket and a pillbox hat with a veil. "I am so honored and proud to be on this cover of Vogue Arabia, not only to be shot by the one and only Karl ... but specifically to represent and cherish my half-Palestinian blood from my father and his strong, loving, wonderful Arab side of my family," she wrote. "This cover is in honor of my teta Khair Hadid, my family, and my Arab/Muslim friends out there," the star added. "Thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of the newest international Vogue and thank you Vogue Arabia for continuing to celebrate and accept all different cultures and customs the way we all should." "Vogue Arabia" editor-in-chief Manuel Arnaut told the New York Times Hadid was "the perfect fit" for the issue. The model's sister, Gigi Hadid, was accused of cultural appropriation this year after covering "Vogue Arabia's" inaugural March issue in a hijab. FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! Bella Hadid is one of the most celebrated models of the time, plus she has a link with the region, being half-Palestinian but also a Muslim," Arnaut said of Hadid. "The Arab world is not a ghetto. It is a highly informed, international and cultured region where global stars like the Hadids have a cult following," he added. "We champion what goes on inside our borders, but our mission as a magazine is to cover what goes on outside them as well. That is real diversity." By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 08/16/2017 ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. , We're sorry, this article is not currently available By PTI: (Eds: With additional information) New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) Floods claimed more lives in Assam, Bihar and West Bengal, where over a crore people are still affected and train services are yet to be completely restored. Bengaluru was battered by 12.8 cm rains in five hours between Monday night and Tuesday morning, which is the highest in a day in August since 1890. advertisement Parts of Bengaluru, which experienced heavy downpour over the last two days, are slowly limping back to normalcy with a letup in the rains till evening. In Uttarakhand, two more bodies were recovered from Dharchula area of Pithoragarh district, taking the death toll in the recent cloudbursts to eight as relief and rescue operations continued in search of the missing, DGP Anil Raturi said. It was a sunny day in the national capital with the maximum temperature settling at 36.4 degrees Celsius. The humidity level oscillated between 78 and 44 per cent. The flood situation in Assam continued to deteriorate with 11 more people losing their lives and 33.45 lakh people being affected across 24 districts in the state. Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal left for Delhi during the day to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apprise him of preliminary damage of the third wave of flood. Currently, 2,970 villages were under water and 1.43 lakh hectares of crop were damaged, the report said. ASDMA said the authorities are running 304 relief camps and distribution centres in 21 districts, where 1,38,648 people have taken shelter. Over 4,600 persons have been evacuated to safer places by the SDRF and NDRF personnel in many districts. The flood has damaged embankments, roads, bridges and other infrastructures in several districts. Brahmaputra river is now flowing above the danger marks at Guwahati, Nimatighat in Jorhat, Tezpur in Sonitpur, Goalpara and Dhubri towns. The toll in the flood rose to 72 in Bihar, where 73.44 lakh people have been hit by inundation in 14 districts triggered by incessant rains in Nepal and some districts in the northern part of the state. Special secretary in the state disaster management department, Anirudh Kumar said 73.44 lakh people are in the grip of flood which has engulfed 110 blocks and 1,151 panchayats in 14 districts of the state, the latest being Gopalganj, which was submerged today. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was scheduled to conduct an aerial survey of Bettiah, Valmikinagar areas with Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi during the day could not do so due to bad weather. advertisement He, however, monitored the flood situation from Patna through interactions with senior officials. Train services continued to be affected due to the calamity and rail movement is completely disrupted in many sections, a statement from East Central Railways chief public relations officer Rajesh Kumar said. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel helped a pregnant lady deliver her baby on its rescue boat in the states flood-ravaged Madhubani district. In West Bengal, at least 32 people have died and over 14 lakh people affected so far due to floods in the six districts caused partly due to overflowing rivers of Bhutan, Bihar and Jharkhand. "While 30 persons drowned, two died due to snake bites. Besides, 104 domestic animals have died so far in the flood," a officer senior official in West Bengals disaster Management Department said. Jalpaiguri received 30 mm rainfall in 24 hours till this morning, the highest recorded during the period in the region, the MeT department said. The IMD issued thunderstorm and lightning warning in 18 districts of Odisha. Meanwhile, Meteorological Centre here said, rainfall occurred at a few places in Odisha with heavy rainfall at one or two places in north coastal Odisha. advertisement In Uttarakhand, two more bodies were recovered from Dharchula area of Pithoragarh district, taking the death toll in the recent cloudbursts there to eight while relief and rescue operations continued in search of the missing, DGP Anil Raturi said. Damaged trek route between Mangti and Malpa which were hit by cloudbursts has resulted in temporary suspension of Kailas Mansarovar Yatra with 47 pilgrims of the 16th batch airlifted to Dharchula by helicopters and 23 members of the 13th returning batch airlifted to Pithoragarh from Gunji. In Himachal Pradesh, rescue operations by the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), state police, homeguards and other agencies to dig out bodies from the buses buried under debris following a massive landslide at Kotrupi in Mandi district continued for the fifth day but there was no success and the death toll remained at 46. 45 bodies have been identified so far with the help of forensic experts. Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Kadam said there was no major threat of landslides and the people in four adjoining villages have been asked to move to safer places. Special Secretary and Director Management D D Sharma said that Rs 50 crore has been released to all deputy commissioners to pay relief and compensation to all the people affected by natural calamities. advertisement Hot and humid weather conditions prevailed in Punjab and Haryana. Union Territory Chandigarh recorded a maximum temperature of 34.4 degrees Celsius. In Haryana, Ambala recorded a maximum of 35.1 degrees Celsius, the MeT department said. PTI TEAM IKA --- ENDS --- Between Aug. 13 and 19 a door mat and parking meter were stolen, and a driver was arrested for drug possession. For freshman, there are a plethora of delicious and inexpensive restaurants to try that are iconic to Athens, including the Grit, Cali N Tito's and the Grill. On July 28, the inaugural University of Georgia Summer Launch Program will reach completion. The Summer Launch Program is an eight-week idea accelerator, and will culminate with student-led teams presenting their product pitches and the announcement of the winner of a $5,000 prize. Shivpal said that he is working hard to bring back the core Samajwadi Party workers who still hold an affinity to their leader Mulayam Singh Yadav. By Siraj Qureshi: Samajwadi Party (SP) founder Mulayam Singh Yadav's brother Shivpal Singh Yadav today announced the formation of a new 'morcha' under the former's leadership soon. Talking to India Today in Agra, Shivpal said that he is working hard to bring back the core Samajwadi Party workers who still hold an affinity to their leader Mulayam Singh Yadav. Asked if Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav will have any role in the new morcha, the leader said, "Akhilesh will not be involved in the morcha and continue to do what he is doing. However, if Akhilesh desires to join the morcha, he is most welcome. He will be the morcha's candidate for the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. advertisement While on a tour of the Braj in the state, Shivpal met many old SP workers and leaders in Agra. Most of the old party workers assured him that if Mulayam Singh Yadav asks them to join the morcha, they will do that without hesitation. However, the young party workers did not show any inclination towards Mulayam Singh and continued to pledge their support for Akhilesh. Commenting on the Yogi Adityanath government in UP, Shivpal said that breaking of law has become a child's play in the state these days. Law is broken in the state every day and the government is watching helplessly. "In Gorakhpur, 50-60 children died due to lack of oxygen but instead of prosecuting the culprits, the government is busy covering up on this fracas," he said. "UP health minister Siddharth Nath Singh should have resigned from his post immediately as his grandfather Lal Bahadur Shastri had done when he was the railway minister of India. Instead, the minister is saving his skin by claiming that such deaths of children in the month of August are common in Gorakhpur," said Shivpal. Shivpal said that the people of UP are silent as they are aware of the power vacuum in the state. "However, the new morcha will fill that vacuum and when the time comes, give a fitting reply to Yogi Adityanath and his ministers for their callousness," he added. ALSO READ | Gorakhpur tragedy: Hospital principal flouted rules while awarding oxygen supply contract Mulayam Singh asks Akhilesh Yadav to step down as Samajwadi Party president President election divides father Mulayam Singh, son Akhilesh Yadav once again Gorakhpur hospital tragedy: Dr Kafeel Khan no hero? Allegations of stealing oxygen cylinders for his private clinic abound ALSO WATCH | Akhilesh Yadav's shocking remark: Have there been any martyrs from Gujarat? --- ENDS --- The failed deals could be the much-needed wake-up call for the M&A space. Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com It has not been a great year for big-ticket deals. Some have been stuck in negotiations for months, some have been called off and some were called off after being stuck for months. Let us look at a couple of big deals, the news flow around this, who gained and who lost. In early June 2016, the share price of Max Financial Services was hovering around Rs 350. This is the parent company of Max Life Insurance. Soon after Max Life and its larger rival, HDFC Life Insurance, said on June 17, 2016, that they were exploring a possible merger, the share prices of Max Financial started climbing. They hit Rs 500 by June 20 and Rs 550 the next week. By early September, the shares touched Rs 600, before cooling to settle around Rs 550. In May, they had hit a high of Rs 675. Some investors have been smart. On February 21, GS Mace Holdings, a shareholder which had reportedly supported the promoters in a resolution to approve a Rs 850-crore (Rs 8.5 billion) no-compete fee in the deal, sold a chunk of its holdings. GS Mace and a vehicle acting in concert, Xenok, have sold further shares, the latest shareholding pattern reveals. At the time the deal was announced, GS Mace and Xenok together held some 15.46 per cent in Max Financial. As of June 30, 2017, Xenok's stake was down to 4.14 per cent. GS Mace did not figure in the list of public shareholders holding over one per cent. The holding structure of these funds and their ultimate beneficiaries are not clear. Though concerns about the deal structure were expressed by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) as early as November, speculation about alternative structures lingered until Max Financial officially called off the deal last week. In another long-running deal story of fund raising in Fortis Healthcare, Business Standard recently reported how the promoters' stake had fallen by close to 25 per cent in six months, much of it through open market sales, when newspapers have been reporting about various people being in "a race" to invest in the company. These non-deals and the real exits that coincided with these make us wonder if the quality of public disclosures is good enough. It also raises questions on anonymous sourcing in reporting of deals in the financial media, forward-looking analysis based on such reports and their impact on share prices. In an interview to The Hindu last month, Matthew Winkler, co-founder and editor-in-chief emeritus, Bloomberg News, explained how anonymously sourced reports pushed German car maker Daimler into acquiring Chrysler in 1998. This eventually turned out to be a disaster for the former's shareholders. These reports had projected the deal as one among equals and as an example of "one of the great deal of our times". "Had the reporting of it at the time been transparent, if people who did not have a vested interest had been able to talk about that deal, the initial reporting would have been very different from what it was. "It was a giant commercial, if you will, for the investment bankers doing the deal, who got paid a lot of money for the deal," Winkler said. Investment bankers apart, anonymous sources quoted by media could be people close to the promoters, company executives, funds or even public relations people. It is difficult to tell what their motives are. The failed deals could be the much-needed wake-up call. 'Even though an India-China military conflict scenario seems unlikely, its possibility gets enhanced if our capabilities are seen to be inadequate by the adversary,' warns Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd). 'We will fight with whatever we have' is a statement famously attributed to then then chief of our army, General V P Malik, at the time of the Kargil War. Nearly two decades later, including three years under the present government, it is not certain if the picture has changed much. According to the most recent reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the current army chief, General Bipin Rawat, may well have to make the same lament, should military conflict be forced upon India anytime soon. Why the situation should have not improved in all these years is one question; how this fits in with the army's publicly articulated position that it has to be ready to fight a 'two-and-a-half-front war' warrants even closer analysis. The Chinese media is not known to go rabid on its own without government direction or acquiescence. So we should not treat its harsh rhetoric on the Doklam face-off lightly. The possibility of the confrontation resulting in some kind of military skirmish at a place of its choosing cannot be ruled out, given the presently intractable demand that Indian troops must unilaterally withdraw from what the Chinese claim is their territory. And since we are not going to do that, it would be wise to be prepared for any eventuality. The Indian military of today is, no doubt, very different from what it was in 1962 and equations are actually quite balanced in the air, given our ability to operate from lower-altitude airfields. At sea, in the Indian Ocean Region, we have advantages in being able to interdict Chinese energy supply lines. This might not be critical in a short duration war which is the probable scenario, but will certainly impact China's image globally. So, even though an India-China military conflict scenario seems unlikely, as emphasised by our foreign minister, its possibility gets enhanced if our capabilities are seen to be inadequate by the adversary. This is the background in which our preparedness, or lack of it, must be seen. This brings me to Pakistan. There is a tendency to view its military capabilities rather simplistically and mostly in terms of ability to aid and abet terrorism, principally in the Kashmir valley. This assessment is naive. The Pakistan army is in every way a professional force on a par with our own. The fact that it has exercised political power for decades and dictated India-related policies by civilian dispensations should not lull us into believing that its effectiveness as a fighting force has dissipated. It may number less than 400,000 men compared to our own 1.3 million, but is entirely dedicated to face one enemy while our own must cater to two. Their air force is also a high-quality entity. It is only their naval element which is decidedly weaker, but in a short-term war that disadvantage is not critical. So, here too we need to be watchful. Pakistan, and especially its military, can never forget 1971, when it was cut into half by India's armed forces; sooner or later some vengeful action is inevitable. For the present, it sees terrorism as a low-cost strategy, but this cannot continue forever. At some time, Pakistan is certain to engage in actions more seriously harmful to us than mere support of militancy in the Kashmir valley; unlike earlier, our forces may also have to cope with a hostile local population. Even tacit support from China will aggravate the situation further. The inadequacies highlighted in our military preparedness by the CAG must be seen in this overall context. Sadly, our system of decision-making, regardless of who is in power, is pathetically weak. For example, the proposal to build Project 75I submarines to replace obsolete ones goes back 10 years and it has taken us this long even to project a Request for Information to half a dozen vendors. It will take a minimum of three years from here on to finalise a contract and another five to six years before the first vessel gets delivered. There are also other shortages in critical armaments. Our system, in which the decision facilitator (the civil bureaucracy) is not accountable, and the party accountable (the armed forces) have little say in decision-making, is tailor-made for this state of affairs. In almost all major countries, the two functions are combined in cohesive mechanisms such as the Pentagon in the United States or the integrated ministries of defence in the United Kingdom and France, but we just seem incapable of rebuilding our system to become more responsive. The issue of appointing a Chief of Defence Staff has remained undecided for two decades. We have yet to identify the private sector companies that will be strategic partners for building four major platforms in India through technology transfer. Shortages such as those highlighted by the CAG are routinely attributed to the poor performance of the Defence Research and Development Organisation, public sector undertakings and ordnance factories, but without identifying the basic cause, which lies in lethargic decision-making. To top it all, we have had no defence minister in place for months, and the contributions of the previous incumbent are not much to talk about. How this state of affairs is conducive to dealing with the stressed security scenarios facing us is a question that must be asked of those in charge of the nation's security. The unhappy truth is that even if military conflict in the near term is avoided, its possibility in times ahead cannot be ruled out. Our capabilities may have been enhanced since 1962, but the quality and structure of higher management required to cope with the developing security environment are little different from what the country had in that time and age. That war was lost more by failures in its higher direction, political and otherwise, than through actual fighting on the ground. Unfortunately, we are unable to rectify fundamental weaknesses despite the availability of advice from experts conversant with every one of them, as also other models. There is a need to move quickly before we are challenged. Vice Admiral Premvir Das (retd) was a member of the task force constituted by the previous National Democratic Alliance government to review higher defence management. He later served as member of the National Security Advisory Board. Photograph: Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters He was deliberately reducing Ansari to his Muslim identity by linking his career as a diplomat in the Arab world and educationist and his reflections on intolerance with his religion, says Aakar Patel. One of the more unusual things about India is that what is said is often less important than who says it. This is true to some extent for most parts of the world, of course. But in our country the primary motivation ascribed to something controversial being said is the identity of the person holding the view. And so, if I speak in favour of Patidar reservations, it is because I am a Patel and pushing my own community. Or if one is against the use of shotguns on protesters, it is because she or he is Kashmiri and backing their own community over the greater good. The most vulnerable such people are India's Muslims who are casually accused of parochialism and narrowness. This happens without an examination of what they are saying. This phenomenon I am describing is visible to us in our everyday lives and on television news, so I do not need to describe it further. All readers will know what I mean. However I think that we have not yet seen this phenomenon entering our high politics, which is full of politeness and decorum. I believe that tradition has been broken with the comments of the prime minister on the vice president of India. They followed an interview on Rajya Sabha TV with Karan Thapar in which this question was asked: '...the Muslim community is apprehensive, it's feeling insecure. Is that a correct assessment of how Indian Muslims feel or is it an exaggerated one?' Hamid Ansari replied: 'Yes, it is a correct assessment, from all I hear from different quarters, the country; I hear the same thing in Bangalore, I have heard from other parts of the country, I hear more about in North India, there is a feeling of unease, a sense of insecurity is creeping in.' This line was grabbed and made the front pages. The interview has to be seen or read in full to gauge how measured and controlled Ansari is. He has said absolutely nothing wrong. He is reporting his assessment of what he is hearing and seeing. He doesn't even blame the government. But the response from the BJP was quite vicious and aggressively communal. I was disturbed and saddened by the words of Modi, who mocked Ansari on his last day in office. Readers will remember that Ansari was vulnerable from the beginning to the BJP. Ram Madhav, the party's general secretary, made some ignorant observations about Ansari's conduct, which he later deleted from his twitter account after it turned out that what Madhav said was wrong. I will not repeat what happened because it was distasteful. Ansari remained the picture of decorum and decency while all this was happening. On his last day, Modi said to his face the following. That he (Modi) got to know the 'real meaning of career diplomats only after he became prime minister as it was difficult to immediately interpret the meaning of a diplomat's handshake or smile.' Modi said Ansari's family had a long association with the Congress and the Khilafat movement. He said that as a diplomat his work was focussed on the Middle East and Ansari had associated with the 'same sort of atmosphere, same kind of ideology and same kind of people.' Even after his retirement, Modi went on, Ansari had mostly worked with the Minority Commission and Aligarh Muslim University. Modi ended with this barb: 'There may have been some struggle within you (in the 10 years that Ansari was vice president) but from now onwards, you won't have to face this dilemma. You will have a feeling of freedom and you will get an opportunity to work, think and talk according to your ideology.' What ideology, according to the prime minister, does Ansari hold? Modi did not say that. He did not need to. It is impossible not to miss the intent of Modi's thrust. He was deliberately reducing Ansari to his Muslim identity by linking his career as a diplomat in the Arab world and educationist and his reflections on intolerance with his religion. Modi's supporters on twitter and the television channels took his cue and hammered Ansari in the most vulgar fashion. Ansari himself began his speech with the couplet: Mujhpe ilzaam itne lagaaye gaye, begunahi ke andaaz jaate rahe. Meaning that he had been accused unfairly so often that now proving innocence was impossible. Should not all Indians worry that an exiting vice president says these words? We probably will not give it much thought. Or, if we do, most of us will dismiss his warning. Are Indian Muslims feeling insecure in this atmosphere? It doesn't matter. If India's vice president says they are, then he's saying it only because he's also a Muslim. IMAGE: Hamid Ansari exchanges greetings with Prime Minister Narendra Damodardas Modi as incoming Vice President Muppavarapu Venkaiah Naidu, Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and Ghulam Nabi Azad, the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, look on. Photograph: Shahbaz Khan/PTI Photo Aakar Patel is Executive Director, Amnesty International India. The views expressed here are his own. IMAGE: Rahul Gandhi at the India Gandhi canteeen in Bengaluru where breakfast will be provided at Rs 5 while lunch and dinner will be given at Rs 10. Photograph: @OfficeofRG/Twitter Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday launched the Karnataka government's subsidised food canteens 'Indira Canteen' in Bengaluru that would provide breakfast at Rs 5 and lunch and dinner at a cost of Rs 10. Apparently taking the cue from the popular 'Amma canteens' in Tamil Nadu, introduced by former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa, the Siddaramaiah government had announced setting up of the canteens in the state budget for 2017-2018. Initially referred to as 'Namma Canteen', the name was later changed to 'Indira Canteen' as Congress legislators sought to give a political touch to the populist announcement ahead of the assembly polls early next year by naming it after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. An amount of Rs 100 crore was provided in the budget to set up the canteens in 198 wards of Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike. Congratulating the state government for the canteen programme, Gandhi said it is designed to make sure that not a single person in Bengaluru goes hungry. Calling the world an "unfair place", the Congress vice-president, who also had a lunch at the canteen, said it is targeted at the working class like construction workers and auto rickshaw drivers. "There are many people in this city who live in huge houses and have plenty of food, who drive in big cars and for them food is not a big issue..but there are millions of people in Bengaluru like construction workers, those who own small shops, autorickshaw or taxi drivers, barbers and people who don't get that much money, and it is those people at whom this Indira Canteen is targeted," he said. "We want the people from poorest and weakest sections in Bengaluru to feel that they will no have to stay hungry in this city. There cannot be a single minute where a poor person in Bengaluru is hungry. We want every single person to know and understand that," he added. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Congress General Secretary in-charge of the state K C Venugopal, the party's state unit chief G Parameshwara and Bengaluru in-charge Minister K J George, among others were present at the event. IMAGE: Gandhi with Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah at the canteen. Around 101 canteens were launched on Wednesday. Photograph: IncIndia/Twitter Taking pride over the Congress government conceptualising such a canteen, Gandhi said the intention was that the quality of food and cleanliness in it be the same as the most expensive restaurants in Bengaluru. "I would like the government to pay special attention to this fact that the canteen should have excellent quality food, excellent hygiene and people walking out of this canteen must feel that they not only had safe food, but tasty food. I think we owe this to every single citizen," he said. He said that the chief minister had informed him about extending the programme to other cities of the state. In the first phase, 101 canteens were launched on Wednesday and the remaining 97 will start functioning from October 2, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike officials said. Though it was initially proposed to have 198 canteens launched by the Independence Day, the number was later brought down to 125 owing to constrains related in getting land for construction of canteens in all the wards. A total of 27 kitchens will be set up across the city to cater to these canteens, of which 14 are ready and six are currently in working condition. According to officials, the canteens as of now will serve 500 plates of food, keeping in mind the budgetary allocation, and this is likely to be increased in the future. Claiming that the BBMP had ensured that project take shape to this level within 60 days after getting the order on June 12, officials said construction of canteens is being undertaken by KEF Infra Ltd, while Rewards, and Cheftalk Food and Hospitality Services have given the catering contract for the canteens. Five more encephalitis-related child deaths were reported from the Baba Raghav Das Medical College hospital since Tuesday, taking the death toll to 71 since August 7, officials said on Wednesday. As many as 14 fresh cases of encephalitis were admitted on August 15 and August 16. At present, there are 64 patients undergoing treatment in the hospital, the office of the additional director health said giving details. With the five deaths reported since Tuesday, the toll since August 7 in the state-run hospital has risen to 71, according to officials. Overall, since January 1, as many as 144 encephalitis-related deaths have taken place in the hospital, they said. In Lucknow, amid allegations that shortage of oxygen cylinders at the hospital had led to the deaths, Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh said that loss of life due to such a reason was nothing less than a heinous crime. He, however, added that all aspects related to the deaths at the state-run BRD medical college hospital were being probed by a panel led by the UP chief secretary. Those found guilty would be punished, Singh promised. Any death due to oxygen shortage is a heinous rime... Any laxity on this front is also a crime, the UP health minister told reporters. Singh said that on the basis of a primary inquiry, action was taken against the principal of the college. The deaths also led to a war of words between Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress. The Congress accused the Yogi Adityanath government of not accepting its responsibility on the issue. UP Congress chief Raj Babbar said that his party will fight till the victims get justice. The BJP hit back accusing the Congress of playing politics over deaths. The Congress is trying to exploit childrens death for politics. This is ridiculous and shameless, BJP spokesman Rakesh Tripathi told reporters. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati also targeted the government over the incident. Meanwhile, UP Health Minister Singh said that a report had been sought from all the medical colleges and hospitals on the availability of oxygen or payment issues and added that everything had been found in order. The minister said that hospitals and community health centres in the area were being provided all necessary facilities so that they are well equipped and patients do not have to run to the BRD medical college. Image: Children receive treatments at the Baba Raghav Das Medical College Hospital in Gorakhpur district. Photograph: PTI Photo Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday flayed the Jammu and Kashmir policy of the Narendra Modi government, alleging that it has created a space in the troubled state for Pakistan to misbehave. His attack on the government at a Congress rally comes a day after Modi, in his Independence Day address, reached out Kashmiris, saying abuses and bullets would not resolve their problems but embracing them would. He (Modi) has created an environment in Jammu and Kashmir of hatred and anger, and the only people who benefit from violence and hatred are the Pakistanis, he said. Claiming that he worked on the issue with Manmohan Singh, who was the prime minister, and leaders like P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh silently without any drama or tamasha, he said their effort of 10 years was destroyed by Modi in one month. Gandhi said that the Congress-led coalition in 2004 inherited a government from Atal Bihari Vajpayee under which Kashmir was burning, and one of the biggest successes of the Manmohan Singh government was creating an environment of peace in J-K. We worked for 10 years to bring peace in Kashmir. We did panchayat elections, we did work on employment, we connected thousands of women there to banks. The reason was we wanted peace and harmony in Kashmir, he said. We wanted to embrace the people of Jammu and Kashmir and we wanted them to embrace us. We wanted peace there, also because when there is peace, Pakistan can do nothing in Jammu and Kashmir... The space for Pakistan to do mischief there closes, he said. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge, state Congress in-charge K C Venugopal and PCC president G Parameshwara, among others, were present at the event. Stressing that a peaceful Jammu and Kashmir was a worst thing for Pakistan, Gandhi said what the United Progressive Alliance government did for ten years was destroyed in one month by Modi. Im telling you this because Mr Narendra Modis policy has created a space in Jammu and Kashmir for Pakistanis to misbehave, he added. Hitting out at the Modi governments foreign policy, Gandhi accused the prime minister of alienating Indias neighbours and also Russia. Narendra Modi has not stopped there. When we were in the government, all neighbouring countries, other than Pakistan and China, were favourable to us... One by one Narendra Modi has alienated them, he alleged. For the first time in our history, Russia is selling weapons to Pakistan, he said. The death toll due to floods in Bihar on Wednesday mounted to 72, as 73.44 lakh people across 14 districts have been hit by inundation which was triggered by incessant rains in Nepal and northern part of the state. IMAGE: Army personnel rescue flood victims from villages in Katihar district, Bihar on Wednesday. Photograph: PTI Photo The death toll on Tuesday stood at 56. Araria accounted for 20 flood deaths, followed by Sitamarhi (11), West Champaran (9), Kisanganj (8), Madhubani and Purnea (5 each), Madhepura and Darbhanga (4 each), East Champaran (3), Sheohar (2) and Supual (1), said Anirudh Kumar, special secretary in the state disaster management department. He said 73.44 lakh people are in the grip of flood which has engulfed 110 blocks and 1,151 panchayats spanning 14 districts, with Gopalganj also getting submerged on Wednesday. The special secretary said 2.74 lakh people have been evacuated and taken to safer places. Out of them, 1.16 lakh have been put up in 504 relief camps in different places. Community kitchens have been started for victims in marooned areas and available line hotels, aganwadi kendras and railway stations in Katihar district are being used for running community kitchen, the principal secretary to the disaster management department, Pratyay Amrit said. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was scheduled to conduct an aerial survey of Bettiah, Valmikinagar areas with Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi during the day could not do so due to bad weather. He, however, monitored the flood situation from Patna through interactions with senior officials. Pratyay Amrit held a meeting through video conferencing on Wednesday evening with districts officials and gave them directions on helping the flood victims. IMAGE: Community kitchens have been started for victims in marooned areas. Photograph: Anuwar Hazarika/Reuters Train services continued to be affected due to the calamity and rail movement is completely disrupted in many sections, a statement from East Central Railways chief public relations officer Rajesh Kumar said. These included the Motihari-Valmikinagar Road section of Samastipur division as water is flowing over the rail tracks in Narkatiaganj yard, besides Chamua-Narkatiaganj, Narkatiaganj-Sathi sections and Semra yard. Rail service was hit in Sitamarhi-Raxaul section of Samastipur division due to flooding of tracks between Chaura Dano-Adapur stations and Kundwa Chainpur-Bairagnia stations. The Sugauli-Raxaul section of the saw flood waters submerging Sugauli and Raxaul yards and inundate area between Raxaul-Ramgarhwa stations. In Darbhanga-Sitamarhi section of Samastipur division the flood water is flowing over rail tracks between Janakpur Road-Bajpatti stations and Kamtaul-Jogiara stations. As a result several trains passing through these sections have been cancelled, diverted, short terminated and short originated, he said. The trains cancelled on Wednesday include Indore-Guwahati Express commencing Thursday, Sealdah-Saharsa Hatey Bazare Express on Wednesday and the corresponding Saharsa-Sealdah Hatey Bazare Express commencing on August 17. The Rajendra Nagar(Patna)-New Jalpaiguri Express will short terminate at Katihar till further advice starting from Wednesday, the CPRO said. Bihar Bharatiya Janata Party President Nityanand Rai contributed Rs 11 lakh on behalf of the party to the chief ministers relief fund. Soaked in patriotism, hundreds of Indians abroad on Tuesday marked the country's 71st Independence Day with the tricolour fluttering high and the national anthem reverberating at Indian missions across the world. IMAGE: The Empire State Building in New York lit up with Indian tricolor during the celebrations of 71st Independence Day of India. Photograph: @IndianEmbassyUS/Twitter Indians in countries like the United States, China, Australia, Japan, Singapore, Egypt, Israel and South Africa celebrated the day with hoisting of the national flag and singing of patriotic songs. A large number of Indian expats attended the Independence Day celebrations at the embassy in Beijing with Indian envoy Vijay Gokhale reading the address of President Ram Nath Kovind. He met the Indian diaspora at a reception held in the embassy. In Shanghai, Indian Consul General Prakash Gupta hoisted the national flag. A large number of Indian expats, besides Tarun Vijay, President of the India China Parliamentary Group, who is on a visit attended the celebrations. In Guangzhou, Indian Consul General Y K Sailas Thangal hoisted the tricolour. Over 150 Indian professionals and businessmen settled in the southern Chinese city attended the reception held on the occasion at the Consulate. In Australia, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull extended his wishes by calling it a day that commemorates "the achievement of sovereignty and freedom for the world's largest democracy" as the Indian diaspora celebrated the special occasion by attending flag hoisting ceremonies held at Indian high commission and consulates across the country. Turnbull said it is an occasion to take pride in India's progress over seven decades of independence, and to share in hopes for its future. IMAGE: Indian mission in Washington DC also lit up in Tiranga. Photograph: @IndianEmbassyUS/Twitter He said the ties between the two countries have become stronger and that the governments are working closely to support shared interests in a stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific region. "The Indian community in Australia is an important part of our strong and enduring ties, helping to build even closer bonds between our nations,' he said adding that two-way trade exceeded 20 billion dollars in 2016, and shows great potential for further growth," he said. "With these thoughts in mind, I hope the Indian community in Australia enjoys wonderful Independence Day celebrations, and finds their sense of affection and esteem for India renewed," he said. Canberra based Indian high commission as well as consulates in Melbourne, Sydney and other cities also held flag hoisting ceremonies attended by a several members of Indian communities. Several Indian community organisations are also holding dinners and special events to acknowledge the occasion. On Saturday, Bollywood actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, who was a special guest of the Indian Film festival of Melbourne this year, unfurled the tricolour to celebrate the day. Indians in Japan also celebrated the 71st Independence Day with great enthusiasm. A large gathering of about 600 people, including the growing Indian community in Tokyo, celebrated the day. Indian Ambassador to Japan Sujan R Chinoy unfurled the national flag, which was followed by the singing of the National Anthem. The envoy also addressed the gathering and read out the Kovind's address. Students of Indian International School in Japan, Tokyo and Global Indian International School sang patriotic songs. The programme was followed by refreshments. IMAGE: Brisbane's Victoria Bridge lit up in tricolour. Photograph: @HCICanberra/Twitter Three local newspapers, Japan Times, Japan News and Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun carried the message of Ambassador Chinoy on the occasion along with congratulatory messages from Japanese dignitaries. An 'Incredible India' photo contest organised by the Indian embassy in Japan in association with India Tourism Office and Air India was launched to mark the celebrations. In Singapore, Indian High Commissioner to Singapore Jawed Ashraf along with 700 Indians celebrated the Independence Day. Students from Indian schools in Singapore sang patriotic songs and performed cultural dances at the high commission. In the United Kingdom, hundreds of members of the Indian diaspora took part in the first-ever Freedom Run to mark the Independence Day with the one-mile journey beginning from the historic Parliament Square here. In Egypt, India's Ambassador to Egypt Sanjay Bhattacharyya hoisted the country's flag to mark day at the India House in Zamalek. The celebration was attended by members of Indian community in Egypt as well some Egyptian friends of India and students of language the The Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture. After hoisting the flag, and the attendees sang the national anthem, Bhattacharyya also read out the message of Kovind. In Israel, around 250 Indians from all over the country assembled in this northern coastal town to celebrate Independence Day in a year when the 25th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries has seen a flurry of activities. Ambassador Pavan Kapoor hoisted the national flag with some of the enthusiastic participants from the Indian Jewish community raising slogans of "Bharat Mata ki Jai". IMAGE: India's Ambassador to the United Nations Syed Akbaruddin hoists the national flag at the United Nations in New York. Photograph: @AkbaruddinIndia/Twitter Kapoor thanked the Indian community for joining the celebrations and also expressed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's deep appreciation for their participation in large numbers in the July 5th event last month when the Indian Premier addressed them during his three day visit to Israel. Noah Massil, a founder member and former President of Central Organisation of Indian Jews in Israel, said that Modi's visit has "instilled a fresh sense of pride" among the Indian Jewish community. "We are now going to launch the World Organisation of Indian Jews in Mumbai at an event on January 14th next year with participation of members of the community from all over the world", Massil said. "Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi has won the hearts of all of us by announcing that Indian Jews who have done mandatory army service only are entitled to OCI and also his initiative to set up an Indian cultural centre in Israel", he added. Women members of the Indian mission staff sang Vande Matram during the event. India's Independence Day was celebrated across South Africa with gatherings in all major cities. Large numbers of expatriates and locals of all communities watched the hoisting of the flag at the Indian missions in Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg before hearing the message from President Kovind. In his maiden address to the nation on the eve of 71st Independence Day, Kovind remembered the role of leaders of Independence struggle, including Jawaharlal Nehru. Kovind pitched for a partnership between citizens and the government to create a new India by 2022 that is a "compassionate society" and includes the "humanist component integral to the nation's DNA". The special relationship between South Africa and India was highlighted by an unprecedented lighting up of several Gandhian heritage sites in the colours of the Indian flag on the eve of the Independence Day. IMAGE: United Nations building lights up to celebrate India's Independence Day. Photograph: @AkbaruddinIndia/Twitter "In compliance with a request from the Indian government, we approached the owners of some historic sites to do this and they welcomed it enthusiastically," Consul General in Johannesburg Dr K J Srinivasa said. The three sites that attracted hundreds of onlookers overnight were Constitutional Hill and Satyagraha House in Johannesburg; and the Pietermaritzburg Railway Station, where Gandhi started his path as a champion of anti-discrimination after being thrown off a train because he was in a compartment reserved for whites only. Consul General in Durban Dr Shashank Vikram said the government authorities in Pietermaritzburg were just as excited about the project. Constitutional Hill, home to the Constitutional Court, South Africa's highest judiciary body, was built on the site of the Old Fort prison where Mahatma Gandhi was imprisoned during his tenure in Johanensburg at the turn of the last century. In the UAE, hundreds of Indian expats gathered at their country's missions to celebrate, Gulf News reported. Indians chanted slogans praising their motherland before the Indian flag was hoisted at the premises of the Indian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the Indian Consulate in Dubai. IMAGE: Akbaruddin posted this photo saying, "Everything has a 1st time. India's flag being hoisted for 1st time @UN on 15 August, 1947 at Lake Success (temporary home of @UN),New York." Photograph: @AkbaruddinIndia/Twitter In the US, Indian-Americans celebrated the event by unfurling the national flag and holding cultural extravaganza. Americans joined Indians and people of Indian-origin in various cities by rendering India's national anthem, cultural performances and short speeches on India-US relationship. Despite heavy downpour, a large number of Indian-Americans turned up for the traditional flag-hoisting ceremony at the official residence of India's Ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna who unfurled the tricolour. Thereafter Sarna addressed the guests and read out President Ram Nath Kovind's address to the nation. A brief cultural programme involving rendition of patriotic songs by school children in the US was also organised to mark the occasion. Several US lawmakers joined Indian-Americans in celebrating the Independence Day. "Celebrated the 70th Independence Day of India in Henderson over the weekend!" tweeted Congresswoman Jacky Rosen from Las Vegas, Nevada. "Happy Independence Day to our ally and partner, India. Congratulations to the largest democracy from the oldest democracy," said Congressman Ted Poe. IMAGE: UAE Mission to UN posted this image. Photograph: @UAEMissionToUN/Twitter Congressman Billy Long retweeted the tweet of Israeli Prime Minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) in which he greeted Modi on the occasion of Independence Day. "Today we celebrate 70 years of independence for India! Happy," tweeted Congressman Pete Olson. "Beautiful celebration of India's Independence at Sate House. Delicious food and great music. So lucky to live in state that values diversity!" tweeted Congressman David Cicilline from Rhode Island along with pictures after he attended an Independence Day event with Indian-Americans at the State House. "Big crowd for India Day Parade in Edison and Woodbridge," tweeted Congressman Frank Pallone after he attended the India Day parade in New Jersey which was attended by hundreds of Indian-Americans. Congressman Ruben J Kihuen said he had wonderful time celebrating India's Independence Day with friends of India. "Our Indian neighbours have contributed so much to Nevada Congressional District Four," he tweeted along with pictures. "Celebrating Indian Independence Day with" Indian- American Coalition of Texas, said Congressman Lloyd Doggett. IMAGE: India's flag with National Anthem being played on the world's largest HD video screen (556 Sqmt) at Suntec Convention Centre in Singapore. Photograph: @IndiainSingapor/Twitter "US and India show that diversity is a strength, not detriment, to vibrant democracies," he added. Congresswoman Grace Meng wrote it was great to march in the India Day parade down Hillside Avenue in Queens, New York. Hundreds of Indian-Americans converged at the Consulate General of India in Houston where Consul General Dr Anupam Ray unfurled the tricolour and read President of India Ram Nath Kovind's address to the nation. As part of Texas-wide celebrations, Deputy Consul General Surendra Adhana led a colourful parade in Dallas. Amid a political storm over his position that both sides were at fault for the violence in Charlottesville, a combative United States President Donald Trump said that he has no doubt over his comments. IMAGE: Protesters wave anti-racism signs during protests in front of Trump Tower in New York City, New York. Photograph: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters The US President reverted on Tuesday to his initial position that both left and right-wing extremists became violent during a weekend rally by white nationalists in Virginia. He has blamed both sides including the alt-left for the deadly violence. Trump had come under fire from both Republicans and Democrats for his muted response to the violence unleashed by white supremacists during a rally in Charlottesville in which a woman was killed and 19 were injured when a car ploughed into a crowd of counter-protesters. I think theres blame on both sides. If you look at both sides -- I think theres blame on both sides. I have no doubt about it, and you dont have any doubt about it either. And if you reported it accurately, you would say, Trump told reporters at an impromptu news conference at Trump Towers in New York. When a reporter challenged his observation by saying that this was started first by neo-Nazis groups, Trump said that both sides are to be blamed. IMAGE: US President Donald Trump addresses a press conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in Manhattan, New York. Photograph: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters Excuse me, excuse me. They didnt put themselves and you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides. You had people in that group, he said. You had a lot of bad people in the other group, he said, adding that a night before, the white supremacist groups took out a peaceful rally in Charlottesville. There were people in that rally -- and I looked the night before -- if you look, there were people protesting very quietly the taking down of the statue of Robert E Lee. Im sure in that group there were some bad ones. The following day it looked like they had some rough, bad people -- neo-Nazis, white nationalists, whatever you want to call them, he said. But you had a lot of people in that group that were there to innocently protest, and very legally protest -- because I dont know if you know, they had a permit. The other group didnt have a permit. So I only tell you this: There are two sides to a story. I thought what took place was a horrible moment for our country -- a horrible moment. But there are two sides to the country, Trump said. IMAGE: People gather for a vigil in response to the death of a counter-demonstrator at the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, outside the White House in Washington. Photograph: Johnathan Ernst/Reuters What about the alt-left that came charging at -- excuse me, what about the alt-left that came charging at the, as you say, the alt-right? Do they have any semblance of guilt? Let me ask you this: What about the fact that they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs? Do they have any problem? I think they do. As far as Im concerned, that was a horrible, horrible day, said the US president. Trumps impromptu press conference in New York resulted in immediate outrage among his political opponents. The Presidents press conference made plain that the statement he gave on Saturday is what he really believes. The Presidents continued talk of blame on many sides ignores the abhorrent evil of white supremacism, and continues a disturbing pattern of complacency around acts of hate from this President, his Administration and his campaign for the presidency, said Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives. From the beginning, President Trump has sheltered and encouraged the forces of bigotry and discrimination. We have seen the manifestation of this behaviour in the hiring of White House staff members, but also in the unmistakable conduct of his Administration toward immigrants, Muslims, and communities of colour, she alleged. Great and good American presidents seek to unite not divide. Donald Trumps remarks clearly show he is not one of them, said Senator Charles Schumer, Senate Minority Leader. IMAGE: Democrats and Republicans have slammed Trump for his statements which came after the violence in Charlotesville. Photograph: Johnathan Ernst/Reuters By saying he is not taking sides, Donald Trump clearly is. When David Duke and white supremacists cheer your remarks, youre doing it very, very wrong, he said. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley said Trump has disgraced the office of the presidency and clearly lacks a moral compass. A president who should be representing the party of Lincoln has instead chosen to stand with white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and domestic terrorists. It is beyond the pale, Crowley said. Senator Mark Warner said he is shocked and disappointed. Im shocked. Im disappointed. I tried to give the president the benefit of the doubt on Monday. I was disappointed it took him more than 2 days to call out the vile actions of people who were racist, white supremacists, neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members that descended on Charlottesville, he told CNN in an interview. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe contested Trumps statement. Neo-Nazis, Klansmen and white supremacists came to Charlottesville heavily armed, spewing hatred and looking for a fight. One of them murdered a young woman in an act of domestic terrorism, and two of our finest officers were killed in a tragic accident while serving to protect this community. This was not both sides, he said. A 54-year-old man kept Mumbai Police fraught for weeks after he stole 900 kg tomatoes from Dahisar Market in Mumbai. Lock your tomatoes safely somewhere, courtesy present times. By Saurabh Vaktania: "Ek chutki sindoor ki keemat tum kya jaano Ramesh babu," well now this can be very much used for people who have bought tomatoes in the last couple of months. Tomato gravies seem to be tasting bland ever since the price of the vegetable shot up to about 700 per cent costlier over the past three months. And, since desperate times call for desperate measures, a man has been accused of stealing 900 kg tomatoes worth around Rs 57,000. advertisement After almost a month of investigation, Mumbai Police has finally managed to crack the case of the stolen 900 kg tomatoes from Dahisar Market. However, when Mumbai Police nabbed the accused, he had already sold the tomatoes in the famous Tomato Market of Kurla. The cops said more people will be arrested in connection with the case as they suspect involvement of several others. The complainant in the case Jagat Shrivastav is a retailer and wholesaler at Dahisar Market. He purchases tomatoes from Navi Mumbai Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) Market, which is also the biggest wholesale market in the area. On July 18, Shrivastav brought 30 crates of tomatoes from APMC Market. Each crate has about 3 kg tomatoes. And Shivastav bought a total of 900 kg tomatoes. He purchased the tomatoes at a rate of Rs 100 per kg. A police officer said, "There are rats in the shop owned by Shrivastav, therefore he kept the crates outside his shop." Next morning, a worker informed Shrivastav that the crates were missing. After searching for long, he filed an FIR at the Dahisar Police station. FIR was registered under section 379 of IPC. There was no CCTV in the market which made it hard to zero down on the identity of the accused. Taking help of ground intelligence, the police came to know that the accused escaped in a tempo. The cops had deployed staff in plain clothes in the market where they found the tempo and the 54-year-old accused - Chandrasekhar Radheshyam Gupta. However, the cops could not recover the tomatoes as every piece of it was sold. Also Read || Red alert: Tomatoes have become new onions, prices soar upto 700 per cent || Also Read || Monsoon puts tomatoes on fire, likely to remain pricey for another 2 weeks || --- ENDS --- Modi spoke for nearly 54 minutes, which was the shortest since his first Independence Day address in 2014. By India Today Web Desk: Day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered his fourth - and the shortest - Independence Day speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi hit back, saying he has nothing to talk about now. "The Congress president (Rahul's mother Sonia Gandhi) went to PM's speech at Red Fort on August 15. She told me later that it was a very short speech. Mr Modi is reducing the duration of his speeches as now he has nothing to talk about," Rahul said in a public meeting in Karnataka. advertisement On Tuesday, Modi spoke for nearly 54 minutes, which was the shortest since he first addressed in 2014. He spoke for over 65 minutes in 2014, 86 minutes in 2015, and 94 minutes in 2016. Rahul then listed out the omissions from Modi's speech. "The PM did not tell you that more than 90 babies have died in Gorakhpur due to his healthcare policies. His government has cut healthcare budget, and the hospital could not buy the oxygen cylinders for the babies," he said. "The PM did not tell you on August 15 that the rate of unemployment is the highest in eight years. He had promised two crore jobs yearly," Rahul went on. Referring to the tension with China, the Congress leader also questioned Modi's silence in his August 15 speech. "Some time back, the Chinese president came to India. While our PM was hugging him, a thousand Chinese soldiers entered our territory. Yesterday, did anyone hear the PM say that the Chinese forces are still sitting inside Bhutan?" Rahul asked. Rahul blamed Modi for alienating countries traditionally closer to India. "For the first time, Russia is selling arms to Pakistan. In the last three years, the Modi government has created problems with friendly nations. All the neighbours except Pakistan and China were our allies, but this has changed now. Nepal is alienated. China is building port in Sri Lanka," he said. On Kashmir, Rahul said, "We worked hard in 10 years to bring peace to Jammu and Kashmir. It was all destroyed in one month by the Modi government." ALSO READ | PM Narendra Modi's fourth Independence Day speech: What he said on Gorakhpur, Kashmir and other issues PM Narendra Modi's I-Day speech: Violence in the name of faith is unacceptable Rahul Gandhi to launch state govt's flagship programme 'Indira Canteen' in Bengaluru on Aug 16 ALSO WATCH | Prime Minister Modi's Independence Day speech from Red Fort --- ENDS --- Patra ni Macchi and Irani Falooda are two dishes that will make the Parsi new year even more enjoyable. By Shreya Goswami: The Parsi community in India is well-known for its love for all things delicious, from farcha to salli mutton. Parsi bhonu or food is all about old Persian flavours, which the 60,000-strong Parsi community has preserved for centuries. Mumbai is a hub of Parsis in India. Picture courtesy: Instagram/sbowindia On Navroz, or the Parsi new year's day, a celebratory feast that includes all the favourites from this vibrant cuisine is a must. Parsi bhonu is all about old Persian flavours. Picture courtesy: Instagram/sbowindia advertisement For this Navroz, we have a very special treat for you: Two recipes--Patra ni Macchi and Irani Falooda--shared by Anahita Dhondy, the Chef Manager at SodaBottleOpenerWala. Chef Anahita Dhondy, with Chef Pratap at SodaBottleOpenerWala. Picture courtesy: Instagram/sbowindia Patra ni Macchi is an aromatic, steamed fish dish that delivers all the subtle flavours of Parsi cuisine. There are two key items that make this dish special--the coconut, coriander and mint chutney, and the banana leaf wrap. Patra ni Macchi. Photo: India Today Online Also Read: What do Parsis eat at weddings? This indulgent affair Ask any chef, and they'll tell you just how much better fish tastes when steamed in banana leaves. This age-old Indian technique is also popular in Bengal, but it's the coconut flavour--and the other Parsi secret ingredient, sugar--that makes Patra ni Macchi special. The aroma of this dish is so enticing that it can make your mouth water from miles away! Here's the full recipe: Everybody in India is familiar with falooda, and just what a joy it is to indulge in this drink-dessert during summers. What makes the Irani Falooda more festive than every other falooda you might have ever tasted, are the rose water, saffron and strawberry extract. Irani Falooda. Picture courtesy: Instagram/sbowindia Also Read: SodaBottleOpenerWala's chef manager says we have to fight to pave a way for female chefs This Persian-origin drink-dessert gets an added dose of oomph with basil seeds, making it a scented glass full of deliciousness that you just shouldn't miss. Here's the full recipe: With Dhondy guiding us through the recipes, you'll find this Parsi new year feast so easy to rustle up. So what are you waiting for? Just put on your aprons, enter the kitchen, and rustle up these two dishes to celebrate Navroz. --- ENDS --- By PTI: (Eds: Adds Nepals One China policy, quotes) By Shirish B Pradhan Kathmandu, Aug 15 (PTI) Nepal and China today signed three pacts to further boost their ties in power and energy sectors and undertake a feasibility study to excavate natural gas and petroleum in the Himalayan country, including in the southern Terai plains. The pacts were signed after visiting Chinese vice premier Wang Yang held discussions with Nepals deputy prime ministers Bijaya Kumar Gachhadar and Krishna Bahadur Mahara. advertisement Gachhadar reiterated Nepals commitment to the One China policy, "including the principled position of not allowing its territory to be used against neighbours." Both sides held discussions on enhancing cooperation in tourism, infrastructure development, energy, cross-border connectivity and people-to-people relations, he said. The agreements signed today cover economic and technological cooperation, oil and gas resources exploration, and promotion of investment, according to Nepals foreign ministry. The pacts include a feasibility study for excavating natural gas and petroleum in mountain areas and plains of the Terai region, Nepals state-run National News Agency reported. The two countries also agreed to establish hydropower projects and transmission lines and take steps for economic and technological development in Nepal, which suffers from acute shortage of electricity. Finance Secretary Shanta Raj Subedi told the agency that China responded positively on Nepal governments request to immediately reopen the 114-kilometre Araniko highway - an old route connecting the two countries. The highway was damaged and subsequently closed following the massive earthquake in Nepal in 2015. China has agreed in principle to upgrade the highway, the report said. The two countries, however, could not reach a concrete decision on developing other infrastructure projects such as constructing the Kerung-Kathmandu-Lumbini railway track and a bridge in Timure of Rasuwa district in northern Nepal. "The Chinese side is positive over the matter, but extensive talks and discussions are essential as a single round of talks is not enough to finalise all issues. They are positive towards our priorities of national development," said Subedi. Earlier today, the Chinese vice premier announced a USD 1 million assistance to Nepal, where more than 100 people have died in flooding and landslides. Chinas vice premier Yang led the Chinese delegation while Deputy Prime Minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara led the Nepalese delegation during the talks. Yang arrived in Kathmandu yesterday from Pakistan after attending the countrys Independence Day celebrations as a "special guest". PTI SBP ABH AKJ ABH --- ENDS --- Body cameras for the Mooresville Police Department have arrived. Find out when they will be used. By PTI: (Eds: Updates toll) By Shirish B Pradhan Kathmandu, Aug 15 (PTI) The death toll from widespread flooding and landslides in Nepal today climbed to 120 with nearly 35 people still unaccounted for and over six million affected by incessant rainfall across the Himalayan country. Most of the displaced, living in temporary shelters for the past three days, were yet to receive relief supplies in the flood-hit interior areas, the Kathmandu Post reported. advertisement More than 2,800 houses have been completely destroyed. Normal life in parts of Nepal has been hit and a large number of people have been displaced due to flooding and landslides. Authorities recovered seven bodies from the "no mans land" near the flood-hit Biratnagar?Jogbani border with India today and the death toll has hit 120, Home Ministry sources said. "A committee has been formed under Home Minister Janardan Sharma to ascertain the extent of the loss. The chief secretary and secretaries of 12 ministries are members of the committee," home ministry spokesman Ram Krishna Subedi said. The ministry said the Nepal government has accelerated rescue and relief operations. It said nearly 27,000 security personnel have been engaged in post-disaster operation and a search for those missing was underway. Thirteen helicopters, including seven from the Nepal Army, motorboats, rubber boats and other equipment are being used for search, rescue and to supply relief materials. Subedi said tarps, cooking pots, dry foods, salt, vegetable oil and other relief supplies have been distributed in the affected districts. Heavy rainfall has lashed Nepal for the past five days. The Rapti river, which flows through a large part of Nepal towards the southern plains, has flooded human settlements and hotels popular with tourists in the central Chitwan Valley. Many people, including foreigners, had been stranded in Sauraha, a part of the Chitwan National Park. The 35 Indians stranded there have been rescued, the Indian embassy said. Some reports had previously said that 200 Indian tourists were among the 700 people stranded in Sauraha, but the Indian embassy officials said only 35 of them were Indian nationals. The flood triggered by the monsoon rains, a yearly feature, has affected 27 districts across Nepal. PTI UZM/SBP ABH CPS --- ENDS --- Choung Choungy has practiced law for more than a decade in Cambodia, where civil society groups routinely accuse the court system of lacking independence from the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party government. He regularly defends opposition politicians, activists, and campaigners whose views oppose the government in cases widely seen as politically motivated. The lawyers most recent client is social commentator Kim Sok, who last week was sentenced to 18 months in prison on charges of defamation and incitement to cause social disorder after Prime Minister Hun Sen accused him of implying that the CPP had orchestrated the July 2016 murder of popular political pundit Kem Ley. While Choung Choungy rarely wins cases the cases he takes on behalf of those targeted by the government, the lawyer says he feels an obligation to seek justice for his clients and provide them with equal rights before the law. He recently spoke to Neang Ieng of RFAs Khmer Service about his work, and about the pressure he feels since being sentenced to prison in absentia after representing victims of a land dispute in Kandal province in 2011: My clients are activists who advocate and seek justice for society. As a result, powerful individuals try to make trouble for them. I am of the opinion that all of these activists are entitled to a good defense, but most lawyers dare not defend such cases. For me, the meaning of my life is the extent to which I can contribute to seeking justice in society. That is my wish. As for my own financial needs, it is merely a secondary issue. The Kandal Provincial Court sentenced me in absentia to two years in jail and 3 million riels (U.S. $730) in fines. I have filed an appeal but so far, the court has yet to rehear it, so I am under the courts pressure. This makes it feel difficult for me to carry out my work to the fullest of my ability. If I pursue a case actively or I am outspoken, such pressure will haunt me. I rarely win most politically motivated cases, but I feel they are spiritual wins My view of winning is based on the judgment of the public. When the public believes I defended a case well, it means I have won the hearts of the public. Therefore, when I do a good deed or strive to carry out my work, the public will see that I have performed well. That means Im winning the case. If your lifetime goal is simply enriching yourself, you shouldnt be a lawyer and you should choose a different career. Those who want to be lawyers must set their goals clearly to contribute to the legal sector As a lawyer, the most important thing is willing to be clean. This means that in our profession, we must never be corrupted or do anything deemed dishonest against our clients. This work is entirely based on honesty. Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Chinese authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang have sentenced an ethnic Kazakh man to 12 years' imprisonment after detaining him amid an ongoing crackdown on ethnic minority groups who study or seek to emigrate overseas, sources told RFA. Chinese authorities have lately issued orders for ethnic Kazakh Chinese nationals to hand in their passports and Kazakh green cards in some parts of Xinjiang, although sources said some local governments have since returned the documents to their owners following recent news coverage. Police in Arishan (in Chinese, Wenquan) county of Xinjiang's Bortala Mongol Autonomous Prefecture recently detained an unknown number of local people including farmers, herders, students and government officials, who had relatives living across the border in Kazakhstan, and were detained for the alleged offense of "discussion of how to emigrate to Kazakhstan on group chat." Among them was an official from Arishan's county town, Nurdalit Ebrey, who was detained on to an unknown location by police, with no documentation. Former student Taghirsyz Dawutkhan was also detained in mid-May after repeatedly visiting friends and relatives in Kazakhstan, and has now been sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment with no access to a lawyer, his friend told RFA. "The police have been torturing this person, to the extent that he required emergency medical treatment in hospital," his friend said in a recent interview. "As soon as he got out of hospital, he was sentenced." The friend said the torture was carried out so as to secure a "confession." "The police beat him to sort him out because of he was just carrying out some normal work on behalf of all the people here who want to emigrate to Kazakhstan," he said. "The lawyer tried to get involved, but wasn't allowed. He said it was because of various political factors." Seven ethnic minority Kazakhs who hold Chinese passports fled to Turkey after their political asylum applications were rejected by Kazakhstan, with two others now incommunicado after being repatriated to China from Egypt. China-directed crackdown in Cairo The Kazakhs were among some 200 ethnic minorities with Chinese passports targeted last month by Egypt's secret police in an operation activists said was requested by Beijing. The 200 students, many of them religious students at Cairos Al-Azhar Islamic University, were detained since , rounded up in restaurants or at their homes, with others seized at airports as they tried to flee to safer countries, sources told RFAs Uyghur Service at the time. A Kazakh living in Xinjiang's Altay prefecture said the wider crackdown is continuing, targeting ethnic minority groups including the Turkic-speaking Uyghurs and Kazakhs, who have sons and daughters studying overseas, or who try to emigrate to live elsewhere. "The Xinjiang authorities are deliberately targeting families with relatives or children studying or working in Kazakhstan, or those who have obtained Kazazhstan citizenship," the Kazakh resident said. "The police and government officials keep visiting their homes the whole time and disturbing them, threatening them and carrying out 'ideological work' with them," he said. "If they have kids studying overseas, they demand that they call them back home, and make them study in China instead." A second Kazakh source said older parents of grown children are often very distressed by such harassment. "[I know of one] couple who live in Xijiang but whose [grown child] already has a Kazakh passport, and the Xinjiang authorities won't stop harassing them the parents, questioning them about where exactly their kid is, their address, and whether they are a Muslim to the extent that they attend prayers five times a day," the source said. "They demand that the elderly parents supply them with photographs of their son, his wife and their son, their house in Kazakhstan, their address and so on," he said. Passport confiscation Meanwhile, a source close to the overseas Chinese affairs office under the State Council said the bureau had recently sent its deputy director Tan Tianxing on a fact finding mission to Kazakhstan following a large number of news reports about the treatment of Chinese nationals with links overseas. "The main problem is the confiscation of Kazakhstan passports belonging to Kazakhs in Xinjiang, as well as study visas for Kazakhstan," the source said. "There is also the detention of Kazakhs and the imam." A Kazakh source in Kazakhstan spoke of a "wave" of ethnic Kazakh Chinese nationals wanting to study in Kazakhstan. "There is a huge wave of young Kazakhs in Xinjiang wanting to study in Kazakhstan, but they can't come now, because of all of the restrictions imposed by the authorities back in Xinjiang," the source said. Ethnic minority groups in Xinjiang face additional requirements if they wish to leave China, compared with the Han Chinese. An official who answered the phone at Altay's Qinghe county No. 1 Village committee confirmed that ethnic minority groups need to obtain their approval if they wish to leave the country. "They need to go to the neighborhood and village committees in the place that they live and get a stamp, as well as a stamp from the police station and the civil affairs bureau of the local government. They need to get four or five stamps." "It takes at least six weeks," she said. Application forms for an exit permit recently issued by the Altay county police department and the minority and religious affairs bureau indicate that "ethnic minorities wishing to leave the country must obtain approval from a number of departments, and provide a signature from a guarantor." Official figures show that there are around 1.5 million Kazakhs in China, mostly concentrated in and around the Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. China has previously welcomed Kazakhs who wished to relocate from Kazakhstan, but now many Kazakhs with Chinese nationality are heading back in the other direction, with their numbers peaking at nearly 38,000 in 2006. Reported by Qiao Long for RFA's Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Student activist Joshua Wong said on Wednesday he expects to go to jail, as a court in the former British colony prepares to consider an appeal by the government for stiffer sentences for Wong and two other protesters in connection with their actions during the 2014 pro-democracy movement. The government wants harsher sentences for Wong, now general secretary of the political party Demosisto, former student leader Alex Chow, and ousted lawmaker Nathan Law, for storming a cordoned-off area at government headquarters during the Occupy Central campaign for universal suffrage. Hong Kong's Court of Appeal is expected to announce its verdict in the case, which initially saw the trio sentenced with community service and suspended jail terms for charges relating to "illegal assembly." Wong said that the jailing on Tuesday of 13 environmental activists who had already served their community service sentences made him believe that similar treatment will be meted out to the Civic Square protesters. "Our lawyers have warned us to make mental preparation for immediate imprisonment, because yesterday's sentence review ... was far harsher than anyone thought it would be," Wong said. "Cases of illegal assembly have previously only resulted in sentences of three months at the most." "Our case is also about protest actions, and it is the same three judges sitting, so I am at least mentally prepared ...I expect to face immediate imprisonment tomorrow," Wong told reporters. "However, I still hope you will encourage Hong Kong people to continue to fight for democracy." 'Never give up' Rallying his supporters to keep fighting for greater democracy in the city, which was once promised a "high degree of autonomy" by Beijing, Wong later told his followers on Twitter: "In this authoritarian era, we may be worried, anxious, scared; but I hope that you will persist and never give up." "When those of us who face jail time have yet to give up, how can the rest of you give up?" Wong added, promising to keep up with his studies if imprisoned. "It is the darkest era of the Hong Kong democratic movement," he wrote. Last month, Hong Kong's High Court issued a ruling stripping four pan-democratic lawmakers of their seats in the city's Legislative Council (LegCo), paring back an all-important veto power for pro-democratic voices in the chamber and sparking street protests in the former British colony. The government had asked the High Court to disqualify former democracy protest leader Nathan Law of the Demosisto party, rights activist Leung Kwok-hung, Lau Siu-lai from Democracy Groundwork and Edward Yiu, who represents the surveying profession, from their seats in the Legislative Council (LegCo). The decisions have fueled concerns that the city's judicial independence, promised as part of the 1997 handover agreement, now lies in tatters. Hundreds protest Meanwhile, several hundred protesters gathered outside government headquarters in support of the 13 jailed activists, slamming the Department of Justice for using oppressive measures against peaceful protesters and weakening the city's formerly independent judiciary at the behest of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. "They didn't commit any crime," former lawmaker and rights activist Leung Kwok-hung told the rally. "They stood up for the oppressed people of the northeastern New Territories, so don't blame them." Lawmaker and former journalist Raymond Chan called on the government to "truly listen" to the voices of local residents opposing the Northeastern New Territories Development Plan, which, if implemented, will demolish several villages and a large chunk of Hong Kong's remaining farmland. "I hope people will do everything they can to resist this unjust plan and its incomplete information," Chan said. "People are forced to protest and demonstrate because [the government] isn't listening to them." "If they paid attention to a letter or a phone call, then why would they need to demonstrate?" A strong signal Starry Lee, who heads Hong Kong's largest pro-Beijing party, welcomed the jail terms handed down to 13 activists, rejecting criticism from pan-democratic politicians that the sentences were tantamount to political persecution. "The court decision sends a strong signal that they have to pay a high price for breaching social order," Lee was quoted as saying by government broadcaster RTHK. In Taiwan, a former leader of the 2014 Sunflower Movement meanwhile defended the growing solidarity between the island's youth movement and the pro-democracy movement in Hong Kong. "It's definitely not about Taiwan independence activists colluding with Hong Kong independence activists, but naturally Beijing has an agenda here," Lin Feifan told journalists. "They want to turn these two groups into a simplified 'public enemy' ... because then they can pander to nationalists at home and overseas." Reported by Lam Kwok-lap for RFA's Cantonese Service, and by Hwa Chun-mei for the Mandarin Service. Translated and edited by Luisetta Mudie. Gangsters operating at a major local market in North Koreas Chongjin city are extorting money from truck drivers and local merchants, charging them large fees for permission to transport their goods, sources in the sanctions-hit country say. The gangsters target trucks that leave early in the morning to carry bulk goods from Chongjins Sunam market to other parts of the country, a source in North Hamgyong province told RFAs Korean Service. They do not allow trucks to approach certain areas near the market, and only the trucks that pay them money are allowed to drive up to the market to load the goods they need to deliver, RFAs source said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The gangsters, many of them former convicts, demand payment ranging from 1,000 to 5,000 Chinese yuan (U.S. $149 to $224), and give 40 percent of what they take to police officers working at the market, the source said. Truck drivers traveling to Chongjin from cities such as Musan, Hoeryong, and Kyongsong are also hit, he said, as they usually stop at the Sunam market to fill up with local goods to avoid driving back with an empty truck. Merchants traveling long distances on business are meanwhile blocked from using service vans by men demanding pay, a second source from North Hamgyong said. These thugs make secret arrangements with the police officers and extort money from merchants and truck drivers who are in a hurry, the source said, also speaking on condition he not be named. Merchants and truck drivers are becoming increasingly resentful of this situation, he said. Running a market stand in Sunam market in ChongjinNorth Koreas third-largest citycan generate profits as high as those earned by foreign-currency generating organizations, one source from North Hamgyong told RFA in an earlier report. To take advantage of the prospect of high profits, officials in North Koreas ruling Korean Workers Party ignore regulations that prohibit them from entering business in local market stalls and illegally rent stands out to the public at high rates, the source said. Reported by Jieun Kim for RFAs Korean Service. Translated by Leejin Jun. Written in English by Lillian Andemicael. Myanmars government on Wednesday denied reports that it would train and arm ethnic Rakhine Buddhists in the countrys troubled Rakhine state, where residents have demanded the establishment of local militias following a string of deadly attacks in the region. Earlier on Wednesday, local media quoted San Shwe Kyaw, ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) chairman for Rakhines Sittwe township, as saying on Aug. 15 that the government would launch a large-scale military operation in northern Rakhines Maungdaw township and that Peoples Militias would be formed to fight against ethnic Rohingya Muslim insurgents. The people asked the government to establish armed groups in the form of Peoples Militias, Mizzima News quoted him as saying, referring to public demonstrations staged in 15 townships in Rakhine on Aug. 13 calling for paramilitaries to combat terrorism. The government is planning to provide military training to local people soon and they will be armed in the form of Peoples Militias with the concept of military training for all, he said, adding that we are very much pleased with this plan. Following the reports, director general of the Presidents Office Zaw Htay delivered a message to reporters in the capital Naypyidaw denying plans to establish militias in northern Rakhine. He acknowledged that the military leadership is in discussions with Myanmars state counselor and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi to conduct an operation in the Mayu mountain range in the Maungdaw-Buthidaung area, where villagers and patrolmen have discovered camps thought to be used by Muslim terrorists in recent weeks. But he reiterated an earlier statement by the NLD government after taking office in 2016 that it has no plan in place to form civilian militia groups in Rakhine, adding that doing so would be out of line with the policies of both the central and Rakhine state governments. We are focusing on combatting terrorism and maintaining the security of area residents, he said. But as far as forming Peoples Militias, I want to make it clear that it is not the policy of the government. The Irrawaddy online journal quoted Sittwe district NLD chairman Thinn Kha Kyaw on Wednesday as saying that San Shwe Kyaws statement did not represent the party. San Shwe Kyaw is not a spokesperson [for the NLD in Rakhine state], he told the Irrawaddy. We only knew about [his statement] after the media reported it. It is just his personal view. San Shwe Kyaw on Wednesday denied that he had said militia groups would be established in the region. What I said is that I would be happy as a citizen if militia groups are formed in Rakhine stateI didnt say it would be formed, he told RFAs Myanmar Service. People are demanding the formation of militia groups in Rakhine state, and I agreed, as I am one of these people. Volatile region Rakhines Maungdaw, Buthidaung, and Rathedaung townships have been in a state of upheaval since security forces unleashed a crackdown following deadly attacks on three border guard stations on Oct. 9, which were blamed on a group of Rohingya Muslim militants calling themselves the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army. Ethnic Rakhine residents and several ethnic Rakhine political parties have regularly called for the establishment of local militias following the Oct. 9 attacks. Though the crackdown ended in February, security forces continue to patrol the tri-township area where disappearances, murders, attacks on patrolmen, and periodic killings by troops continue to occur. Seven farmers from the Myo minority, a sub-ethnic group of the states ethnic Rakhine people, were reportedly murdered by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army in Maungdaws Kinegyi village in late July, prompting many ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Myo to flee their homes. The military said last week that it had sent hundreds of soldiers to the region following the discovery of the farmers, who had been hacked to death. Myanmar considers the Rohingya illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh and has denied them citizenship and access to basic services, even though many have lived in the country for generations. About 120,000 other Rohingya live in internally displaced persons camps in Rakhine where they were placed following deadly communal violence with Rakhine Buddhists in 2012. An estimated 90,000 Rohingya fled the area during the October-February crackdown, some of whom claimed to be the victims of atrocities committed by security forces. Reported by Waiyan Moe Myint. Translated by Khet Mar. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. By PTI: Washington, Aug 16 (PTI) Scientists have developed a smartphone app to help middle-aged and older adults self- manage their mental illness and other chronic conditions. The app takes patients through 10 sessions over a period of about three months, covering topics such as stress vulnerability and illness, medication adherence and strategies, and substance and medication abuse. Physicians can remotely monitor app use, and intervene when problems are detected, facilitating telemedicine for less accessible populations. advertisement Researchers at Dartmouth College in the US tested the apps usability. They found that 10 participants (mean age of 55.3 years) with serious mental illness and other chronic health conditions reported a high level of usability and satisfaction with the smartphone application. They found that even patients with limited technical abilities could use the app successfully. "The use of mobile health interventions by adults with serious mental illness is a promising approach that has been shown to be highly feasible and acceptable," said Karen Fortuna from Dartmouth College. These technologies are associated with many advantages compared with traditional psychosocial interventions, including the potential for individually tailored, just-in- time delivery along with wide dissemination and high population impact, researchers said. The process of adapting an existing psychosocial intervention to a smartphone intervention requires adaptation for a high-risk group with limited health and technology literacy, they said. "Smartphone applications also potentially facilitate patient engagement in participatory, personalised, and preventative care," Fortuna said. "As the healthcare industry increasingly embraces prevention and illness self-management, it is important for physicians and patients to be actively involved in designing and developing new technologies supporting these approaches," Fortuna added. The study was published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. PTI APA SAR SAR --- ENDS --- POWHATAN A 3-year-old Powhatan boy injured in a riding lawn mower accident last month is slowly recovering and showing glimpses of his former bubbly personality, but he still faces a long, hard road ahead. Roan Sullivan, the son of Melissa and Sean Sullivan of Powhatan, was injured on Monday, July 24 when he wandered outside of his home in the Butterwood Creek subdivision into his yard and a relative, not knowing he was there, reversed the machine and hit him, critically wounding him. Roans injuries were extensive and life-altering, with most of the damage on his right side, she said. His toes and part of his right foot had to be amputated, so he will eventually require a prosthetic and need physical therapy to walk, and he lost a large part of his right forearm from elbow to wrist. Several of the surgeries have focused on skin grafts to close the wounds. The weeks since have been hard on the entire family, said family friend Elizabeth Compson, who started a GoFundMe page for the Sullivans to help with medical expenses and has been posting regular updates from Sean Sullivan about Roans progress. On Friday, Aug. 11, Roan had his seven surgery in the roughly three and a half weeks since his injury, with another that was scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 15, which occurred after press time, Compson said. His treatment has transitioned from trying to save his life and then his right arm and leg to now working to repair as much of the damage to his little body as possible and give him as much function as possible in his limbs, she said. In the beginning, Roan was being sedated most of the time to keep him from moving around following his surgeries. Now, the family is working hard to keep his spirits up during his long hospital stay, Compson said. I think that the family is definitely in better spirits. Roan is having more good days, she said. Roans parents have been with him almost nonstop since they rushed him to a hospital after the accident and now as he goes through multiple reconstructive surgeries and heals in the Pediatric Acute Care Center at the Childrens Hospital of Richmond at VCU, Compson said. Family members have been helping take care of Roans siblings, Colin, 6, and Liv, who is almost 1. Adding to the stress of the situation was the fact that Melissa Sullivan was pregnant with the couples fourth child, a healthy baby boy she gave birth to on July 30 and they named Adam. Compson regularly posts Sean Sullivans updates, photos and videos about Roans recovery on the GoFundMe page, https://www.gofundme.com/TeamRoan. The campaign had raised $59,047 out of a goal of $100,000 as of Aug. 14. In the posts, Sullivan describes the progress of both Roans physical and emotional well-being. Physically, the little boy had his most extensive surgery to-date on Aug. 8, although it was not his latest. Originally, the surgeons were planning to complete all skin grafts, as well as suturing his arm to his stomach in order to give surgeons the flap of skin they can use to access the tendons and muscles in his arm during future surgeries, according to one of the updates. However, that plan changed the day before when an antibiotic-resistant bacteria was found in the wound. This isnt surprising but it is of concern. His arm is not infected but the worrisome bacterium remains, Sullivan wrote. Because of this, the surgical team decided to postpone the suturing of Roans arm to his stomach for a later date. They do not want to risk contaminating his stomach/arm procedure if they dont have to. Instead, they will postpone the connecting of his stomach and arm to a future date, after his skin grafts have healed. In a post on Aug. 9, Sullivan said the surgery went well and that it was a special day because from this point forward, he wont have any more open wounds. Hes whole. He has many, many more surgeries to go, significant, serious operations, but hes healing. The plastic surgeon did an amazing job. We knew he would. He placed skin grafts over his open wound on his right thigh and covered all of the open wounds on his arm, Sullivan said in the post. He was able to pull all of the skin from Roans healthy left leg. His left leg will be scared going forward, but everything is above the knee. Everything went as expected. In a post from Aug. 11, Sullivan said both legs and his right arm are totally immobilized in casts. His only remaining uninjured extremity is his left arm, which is wrapped in gauze to protect his many IV lines threaded through his tiny body. He has a feeding tube still providing his only nourishment. He has been stuck in his bed now for 17 days and only gets the shortest of trips outside when he is comfortable enough to make it. Hes in so much pain that is subdued by so much medication. Hes being examined. Hes being tested constantly. All of this effort and struggle, just to give him the best functioning body that he deserves. The entire process has taken a toll on Roan, who was withdrawn even with some of his favorite people in the weeks following the accident, his dad wrote. However, in more recent posts, he has reported more instances of Roans old personality making an appearance for awhile. In one post, he described a visit by Colin to the hospital to see Roan and try to cheer him up. Colin coaxed a full hour of fun from little Roan. Colin would get really close to Roans face, Roan would swat him away and fake fall onto a chair behind him. Roan loved it. He even had a piece of pizza, the first solid food hes eaten since hes been here, Sullivan wrote on Aug. 7. Sullivan added that it has taken a while but Roan is getting used to the hospital, doctors and nurses. Hes still very combative about everything. Even taking a temperature underneath his arm was a bridge too far. Now he sits (contentedly), warily watching their every move. I think hes learned though that for the most part, his visitors come in peace, he said. Sullivan also expressed his and his wifes gratitude to the people who have supported their family through prayer and donations. He mentioned a yard sale some of the children in his neighborhood held on Aug. 5 to support his son and getting to stop by and thank them while he was on his first visit home since the accident. It is and forever will be so special and memorable to us, just how much love and compassion everyone has shown for Roan and our family. Weve been told of prayer circles. A woman in New York had a garage sale just for Roan, Sullivan said. All of this, Melissa and I, we dont know how to begin to say thank you. It will take a lifetime of gratitude and paying it forward to start. It is so humbling to see how powerful love is. City leaders may not be able to defer the question of what to do to about Richmond Public Schools deteriorating facilities for much longer. A Richmond Circuit Court judge on Tuesday ordered that a proposed change to the city charter appear on the Nov. 7 ballot for city voters. If passed, the proposal would require Mayor Levar Stoney to present the Richmond City Council with a fully funded plan to modernize Richmonds school facilities without relying on a tax increase. It stipulates that Stoney must do so within six months of the change taking effect, or else inform the council that his administration cannot do so. You dont get a lot of people to sign a petition like this unless theres a strong public feeling that this is something they want their city to do, said Paul Goldman, a longtime Democratic strategist who led the grass-roots campaign to gather signatures. Goldman, who authored the citys current charter and worked in L. Douglas Wilders mayoral administration, said voters could now signal en masse to elected officials that the school systems deteriorating facilities are unacceptable. Goldman filed the petition with the Richmond Circuit Court in April. Between June 13 and early August, he and others collected more than 15,000 signatures for the effort. The Richmond General Registrars office verified that about 10,400 of the signatures belonged to registered voters in the city, enough to cross the threshold to trigger a referendum. If endorsed by voters, the charter change would also need approval from the Virginia General Assembly. Stoney has not taken a position on the proposed charter change. In June, his spokesman, Jim Nolan, said the mayors proposed education compact was the vehicle he wanted to advance improvements to school facilities. A special joint meeting with the administration, the council and School Board members will be held Monday to discuss the compact. The mayor is committed to working with the School Board, City Council and the community to make long-term investments and necessary improvements for the entire Richmond Public School system, Nolan stated in an email sent Tuesday. The mayor believes this must be done in a fiscally responsible and sustainable manner. Officials have said the citys debt capacity is maxed out through at least 2021, limiting its ability to pay to renovate aging school facilities or build new ones. Many of the citys 44 school buildings are decrepit because of decades of deferred maintenance, school leaders have said. Studies dating to 2002, 2007 and 2012 did not result in sustained action or a long-term plan to address the divisions ailing portfolio. In 2015, the former School Board endorsed a plan, known as Option 5, that called for closing schools, combining others and building new ones at a cost of $563 million. The council did not fund the plan in either of the past two budget cycles. New School Board members have signaled they want to chart their own course. Last week, the board asked Interim Superintendent Tommy Kranzs administration to re-examine Option 5 and present an updated version in October. Dawn Page, the boards chairwoman and 8th District representative, on Tuesday called the November referendum good news. She said she supports the proposal because if passed, it could help the school division. The School Board does not have taxing authority, so we depend on the city for funding, Page said. Hopefully, it gets the votes necessary in November. India Today's investigative team has exposed the dark side of nikah halala and found out how religious scholars are charging money for one-night stands with divorced Muslim women. By Sushant Pathak, Jamshed Adil Khan : As awful as that may sound, a number of religious scholars are offering themselves up for one-night stands with divorced Muslim women trying to save their marriages under a disputable Islamic law, an India Today investigation has found. They charge anywhere between Rs 20,000 and Rs 1.5 lakh to participate in nikah halala, a controversial practice that requires a woman to marry someone else, sleep with him and get a divorce again in order to be able to remarry her first husband under personal laws, the probe discovered. advertisement India Today's investigative team has blown the lid off the taboo tradition that has remained largely unnoticed amid intense debates over triple talaq on the media and in the country's top court. The probe found many Islamic scholars putting themselves up on sale for women desperate to restore their broken marriages. At a restaurant in Ghaziabad, the undercover team first met Mohammed Nadeem, an imam at Madina Masjid in Moradabad's Lal Bagh neighbourhood. MARRIED CLERICS READY FOR ONE-NIGHT STAND The cleric, the investigation found, was already married. Still, he negotiated his role-play as a husband for a night with India Today's reporters posing as relatives of a divorced Muslim woman. "Will your wife object to it?" asked India Today's reporter. "No, no. She won't have any objection," imam Nadeem replied. "Have you spoken with her?" prodded the reporter. "No, I haven't spoken with her. I haven't told her. What's the need to tell her?" Nadeem shot back. The Moradabad imam admitted he had officiated several nikah halala marriages before. This time, he proposed a package deal for the entire service, including sex. "It's Rs 1 lakh," he demanded. Imam Nadeem guaranteed issuing divorce after spending a night with the bride for her to become eligible to go back to her first husband in accordance with the personal law. The business of one-night grooms is widespread, the India Today investigation observed. DELHI At Delhi's Jamia Nagar, the team met Zubair Qasmi, a qualified maulana married with two wives. He nominated himself up for a third at the prospect of nikah halala, in exchange for money. "I spend many nights out. It's much easier to manage this with two (wives). One would think I am with the second. And the second would think I am with the other. It's not at all difficult with two (wives)," he bragged. Zubair Qasim based his fee on mehr - money or gift the groom pledges to his bride during Islamic marriages. "Don't worry about anything. I'll make every arrangement. If Rs 30,000 is set as mehr, it will be either 40,000 or 50,000 (in return for participation in nikah halala). No problem in it," Qasim said. advertisement The rot runs deep. Next, India Today's investigative journalists visited Mohammad Mustaquim of Delhi's Darul Uloom Mahmoodia Madrasa. Educated in Islamic studies, he was keen to do what he had done several times before -- sleeping with divorced women to consummate nikah halala. "There was a woman in the room. I went there and had sex. Before leaving at 2-3 am, I divorced her," he confessed. NO FORMAL MARRIAGE NEEDED? Mohammad Mustaquim performed nikah halala even without formal marriage. "So you have taken part in three nikah halala. You actually married on one occasion, right? The other two nikha halala were without marriage," the reporter asked. "Without marriage," he admitted. "After sleeping with her, I left at 1 am." Mustaquim's fee for this service included donation for his madrasa. "You'll have to pay Rs 20,000 for the madrasa. I am ready to do it for whatever amount. I have done it several times before," he said. As India awaits the Supreme Court's judgement over triple talaq, the dangerous trapdoor of nikah halala remains wide open for divorced Muslim women, the probe noted. advertisement THE ROLE OF CLERICS In some cases, potential deals were found to be brokered by clerics themselves. At Bulandshahr's Til Gaon, imam Zahir-ul-lah of Mewatian Masjid introduced India Today's undercover reporters with a prospective groom for nikah halala. Arif, the groom-to-be, was quick to boast about his masculinity despite his old age. "My programme is all set, today, tomorrow or the day after. I am always fit 24x7, mashallah!" he remarked. His price: Rs 25,000 for a night. In western UP's Hapur district, the team next met Mohammed Zahid, who runs a madrasa at Sikheda village. He marketed his services for nikah halala as a professional. "We'll see to it. We have the men. It will be done through them. If you don't trust them, I am always available for it," he said. "How much money in total would you like us to organise for you?" asked the reporter. "Between 1 lakh and 1.5 lakh," he answered. "Not above Rs 1.5 lakh and not less than Rs 1 lakh." HINDU, MUSLIM LEADERS REACT SHARPLY AFTER EXPOSE Rising above their political differences, Hindu and Muslim leaders called nikah halala a criminal act after India Today broadcast its investigation. advertisement They demanded that the perpetrators should be prosecuted for rape. "This is lust. It's not permissible in Islam. This is a criminal offence committed in the name of religion," said Maulana Maqsood-ul-Hasan Qasmi, the head of the Imam Council of India. "These people should be thrown out of the mosques. They should be booked." Zafar Sareshwala, chancellor of the Maulana Azad National Urdu university, blamed personal laws for certain regressive practices in Islam. "These people should be put in jail and charged with rape," he said, demanding strong action against men participating in nikah halala for one-night stands. "I think the genesis of the problem lies in the Shariat Act of 1937," he insisted. Authors of the personal laws, he added, had been "millions of miles away" from the teachings of Islam. Maulana Ansar Raza of the Gharib Nawaz Foundation called for immediate ex-communication of religious scholars offering themselves for nikah halala. "They should be beaten with shoes and thrown out of mosques. They should be charged with rape. Nikah halala is a regressive un-Islamic practice," he said. "I salute India Today for this story." In his comments, BJP spokesman Gaurav Bhatia, himself a lawyer, underscored the need for abolishing nikah halala like the sati practice in Hinduism. "Nikah halala and polygamy, as triple talaq are regressive. Sati is abolished. So should be these practices," he said. "India Today's expose will help the civilised society to come forward for human rights and dignity." Also read: Triple talaq: How it affects lives of India's 90 million Muslim women PM Narendra Modi commends Muslim women fighting triple talaq Can women have the right to decline instant triple talaq, Supreme Court asks AIMPLB Watch: Islamic clerics put themselves on sale for one-night stands with divorced Muslim women --- ENDS --- By PTI: Chandigarh, Aug 16 (PTI) Opposition parties in Punjab are gearing up for the upcoming Gurdaspur Lok Sabha bypoll, with the SAD and BJP holding a joint meeting while AAP leaders also met volunteers today. The Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat fell vacant after BJP MP and actor Vinod Khanna died of cancer in April this year. A joint meeting of senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leaders and those of its ally, the BJP, took place here today in which both parties discussed preparations for the bypoll. advertisement The discussion centered around the Gurdapur Lok Sabha bypoll, SAD spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema said. The meeting was attended by SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal, Punjab BJP chief Vijay Sampla, former minister and BJP leader Madan Mohan Mittal and several others. During the meeting, it was decided that the Akalis will also appoint poll incharges for the nine assembly segments falling in the Gurdaspur parliamentary seat, a source said. The BJP has already appointed poll incharges for these assembly segments. It was also decided that SAD chief Badal and Punjab BJP chief Vijay Sampla would together visit these assembly segments next week. "We are confident of winning the bypoll," said Cheema while accusing Congress led government of having failed on all fronts. BJP national secretary Tarun Chugh also accused the Amarinder Singh led Punjab government of failing to fulfil even one of the poll promises made by the Congress despite being in power for five months now. "Farmers are committing suicide and the state government has not done anything to implement the promised debt waiver," alleged Chugh. Moreover, there is no word from Punjab government on giving jobs to youths and the promised smart phones, he said. Meanwhile, volunteers of the principal opposition party, the AAP, also held a meeting as part of their preparations for the upcoming bypoll. The meeting was attended by Aam Aadmi Partys Punjab unit chief Bhagwant Mann, co-president Aman Arora and Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly Sukhpal Khaira. "We met volunteers of all the assembly segments of Gurdaspur Lok Sabha seat. After the notification of the bypoll, the party will look for a suitable candidate," said Mann. PTI CHS VSD ADS --- ENDS --- By PTI: (Eds: Adding inputs of jawans death) Jammu, Aug 16 (PTI) Pakistan today violated the ceasefire by shelling forward posts and civilian areas along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch district, even as an Army jawan wounded in an earlier incident in Uri sector succumbed to injuries. This is the fifth consecutive day that Pakistani troops have violated the ceasefire along the LoC. advertisement "One Havaldar Narendra Singh, who was injured in ceasefire violation by Pakistani army on August 7, died today," an Army officer said. The 43-year-old jawan, who belongs to Haripur village of Uttarakhand, is survived by his wife Asha Devu and two daughters. There have been nine ceasefire violations in past five days starting from August 12 wherein two jawans and a woman were killed. Five persons, including four jawans, were injured in the attacks. "Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars from 0534 hours in Poonch sector along the Line of Control (LoC) today," a defence spokesman said. "Indian Army is retaliating strongly and effectively", he added. According to reports, firing and shelling were reported at six places in Mankote, Basuni, Mendhar, Malipur, Dharna, Patri of Poonch district. Pakistan violated the ceasefire four times on August 13 by firing and shelling in Krishnagati, Nowshera and Mankote, resulting in injuries to three jawans. On August 12, Pakistani troops heavily fired on forward posts and civilian areas in Krishnagati and Poonch sectors in which a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and a woman were killed. A Pakistani Army shell exploded near a house killing 40-year-old Raqia Bi of Gohlad Kalran on August 12. Naib Subedar Jagram Singh Tomar was also killed in Pakistani firing in Krishnagati sector. On August 8, Pakistani troops shelled Krishnagati sector of Poonch district, in which Sepoy Pawan Singh Sugra was grievously injured and later succumbed to injuries. On August 7, an Army jawan was injured in a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the LoC in Uri sector of Baramulla district. On August 6, Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire by firing at Indian posts along the LoC in Baba Khori area of Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir. 2017 has seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations by Pakistan. PTI AB ARK DV SRY --- ENDS --- The Federal Bureau of Investigations has established a hotline and webpage to help deal with the high volume of tips regarding possible criminal activity during Saturday's white nationalist rally in Charlottesville. A news release from the Richmond division of the FBI said many people have contacted law enforcement with information, photos and video of possible criminal activity. Because of the high volume of these tips the agency set up an 1-800 number and webpage where people can submit information. People are encouraged to call 1-800-CALL-FBI and select the option for "recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia," or visit www.fbi.gov/charlottesville. On Saturday night, officials of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Virginia and the Richmond field office of the FBI announced they had opened a civil rights investigation into the circumstances of the deadly car attack that took place amid clashes of white nationalists and counter-demonstrators. In a statement, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said U.S. Attorney Rick Mountcastle has begun the investigation and would have the full support of the Justice Department. The man charged with second-degree murder following Saturdays fatal car attack will now be represented by Albemarle Countys former head prosecutor. James Alex Fields Jr., 20, appeared in Charlottesville General District Court via video link on Wednesday morning, just two days after a judge assigned local attorney Charles Weber to his case. In court Wednesday, a judge explained to Fields that Weber had a conflict of interest in the case, and that he would now be represented by former Albemarle County Commonwealths Attorney Denise Lunsford, who opened her own downtown law practice in September 2016. As The Daily Progress first reported on Monday, Weber is one of 13 plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the city over its decision to remove the statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee from the park that once bore his name. The park was renamed Emancipation Park earlier this year. The park also was the site of Saturdays Unite the Right rally, which was billed as a gathering of pro-white, white nationalist and the so-called alt-right in the face of the citys controversial decision. As captured by local and national news media, the rally quickly devolved into violence between predominantly white nationalist groups and anti-racist protesters. The violence took a fatal turn on Saturday afternoon when a grey Dodge Challenger plowed into a crowd of protesters on Fourth Street on the Downtown Mall, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer and injuring 19 others. Fields, the driver of the car, was quickly captured after the incident and faces a charge of second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and one count of hit-and-run. He, along with rally organizers Jason Kessler and Richard Spencer, is also one of more than two dozen defendants in a $3 million lawsuit filed by two people who were in a vehicle that was hit during Saturdays attack. The 20-year-old Maumee, Ohio man made no statements to the judge during Wednesdays hearing, other than acknowledgements of the new arrangements being made in his case. Fields said during Mondays hearing that he could not afford his own lawyer, as he makes only $1,300 a month as a security guard. He also said he did not have ties to the Charlottesville area. This is not the first election for Virginia governor defined by ugly racial tension, menacing displays of force and laments over disputed declarations by politicians. But it could be the second time in 60 years that such events align to cost the Republican nominee the election. In 1957, Ted Daltons ambitions for governor were vanquished in late September of that year, when President Dwight Eisenhower dispatched 1,000 paratroops of the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock, Ark., to restore order after rioting in response to the court-imposed desegregation of Central High School. Eisenhower would be criticized for not doing enough to protect the civil rights of African-Americans and for going too far in asserting federal power over the states. The latter was the reaction in Virginia, where conservative Democrats stoked segregationist fervor by vowing resistance to blacks and whites in the same classrooms. Dalton, no champion of desegregation but a critic of defiance as legally dubious, was helpless against Democratic opponent Lindsay Almonds emotional appeals. The election became more than a contest between a Democrat and a Republican. It was a chance for Virginians in a pique of self-delusion to convey to the outside world that their northernmost Southern state, one in which political power was largely the prerogative of whites, was not a bigoted rural backwater but a bulwark of limited government. That didnt work out. In 2017, Ed Gillespies ambitions for governor were threatened by animus for Donald Trump even before the violent melee in Charlottesville during which three died a counterprotester allegedly mowed down by a car driven by a white nationalist, and two state police pilots in the crash of their helicopter while monitoring the chaos. The Virginia election had always been viewed as a mini-referendum on Trump in a Hillary Clinton-carried state. But post-Charlottesville, the election could become a measure, too, of Virginias identity how a multi-hued, suburban state with a knowledge-based economy and a population dominated by non-natives sees itself and wants to be seen. Its definitely a signal election, said Mike Henry, chief of staff to U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., Clintons vice-presidential running mate. And one possibly on the magnitude of the 1989 campaign in which Virginia, if only symbolically, seemed to shake off its preoccupation with race that doomed Dalton 32 years earlier to install L. Douglas Wilder, the grandson of slaves, as the nations first elective African-American governor. For Gillespie facing Democrat Ralph Northam, whom pre-Charlottesville polls showed leading by about 5 percentage points this past weekends events complicate the already-complicated arithmetic of his candidacy. His near-loss in the June primary for the Republican nomination to Corey Stewart, a Trump-soundalike, spotlighted Gillespies narrow path to the governorship one that may now be even narrower. Gillespie must assemble an unlikely coalition from the dwindling number of Main Street Republicans, independents and the GOPs ascendant neo-Confederates and nativists an element he sharply criticized after the turmoil in Charlottesville a clear gamble for swing voters rattled by the disturbing images out of the leafy university town. They dont like this kind of stuff in Virginia, said Ken Klinge, a veteran Republican operative. Whats that old expression? Its not the Virginia way. That the situation in Charlottesville rapidly went from bad to worse to horrible has the Gillespie and Northam organizations pondering how it might ripple through the campaign. Until last Friday and Saturday, health care, the economy, taxes, and jobs were the candidates focus. Indeed, Northam had only recently resumed television advertising with a largely biographical commercial pairing his career as a physician with a commitment to preserving health care as governor. But with Charlottesville, Northam has been unsparing in blaming hateful interlopers for the violence. Also, Northam traveled to the city to publicly stand with Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Attorney General Mark Herring, fellow Democrats, in an endorsement of the states response to the crisis. Gillespie was in Smyth County, in Southwest Virginia, when he learned Saturday of the clashes in Charlottesville. In an initial tweet, he despaired over the events but within two hours was lamenting the tragic effect of vile neo-Nazi and white supremacist actions. On Sunday, Gillespie and his wife, Cathy, attended church in Charlottesville. While Trump required three days to condemn neo-Nazis, Klansmen and white nationalists who openly supported his candidacy before returning Tuesday to his original claim that both sides are to blame Gillespie has kept up his criticism of these fringe elements. He told a Richmond radio show Tuesday they reflect a twisted mindset thats rooted in hating and oppressing certain others. Denunciations notwithstanding, Gillespie may be faulted by Democrats with empowering the far right in his past roles as a strategist, chairman of the Republican National Committee, presidential adviser, and leader of the push for GOP legislative and congressional majorities through gerrymandering that gives narrow bands of conservative voters disproportionate influence. Quentin Kidd, political analyst at Christopher Newport University, said that having helped create the contemporary Republican coalition, Gillespie will be closely scrutinized for any wink or nod that might align him with individuals or organizations defined by their intolerance. This is why Stewart, Republican operatives said privately, is a nagging problem for Gillespie. Stewart, who has refused to formally endorse Gillespie, is a conduit to Trump voters whom the nominee will need against Northam but who may conclude that they are being taken for granted. Thats another reason Gillespie, who will campaign Saturday in Richmond with Vice President Mike Pence, presumably wants to move on from Charlottesville as quickly as possible, returning to themes that his handlers believe have kept him competitive, including a proposal to cut the income tax that Democrats deride as a budget-buster. As Ted Dalton learned 60 years ago, events could dictate otherwise. Vice President Mike Pence has canceled his weekend events, including a scheduled trip to Richmond, in order to focus on White House strategy in Asia. Pence was set to attend a fundraiser in Richmond with Ed Gillespie, the Republican nominee for governor, and to keynote an Americans for Prosperity volunteer summit at the Richmond Marriott, where Gillespie also is scheduled to speak. Pence is cutting a Latin America trip short in order to attend a Camp David meeting Friday with President Donald Trump that reportedly will focus on strategy in Afghanistan. In wrapping up his tour in Latin America, Pence sought to ratchet up pressure on North Korea. Speaking Wednesday in a news conference with Chiles president, Michelle Bachelet, he said he hopes Chile, Brazil, Mexico and Peru will break ties with North Korea in a joint effort to pressure the regime to give up nuclear weapons. Jarrod Agen, Pences deputy chief of staff, told reporters traveling with the vice president that Pence is leaving Panama on Thursday night instead of Friday morning to attend Trumps Friday meeting at Camp David, according to a pool report by Louise Radnofsky of The Wall Street Journal. Agen said all of the vice presidents other weekend plans have been canceled in order to be flexible for the president should any follow-up be needed beyond the Friday meeting. As of 1 p.m. Wednesday, Americans for Prosperity had still expected Pence to appear, tweeting a link that said, The 11th annual Defending the American Dream summit this weekend will include keynote speakers Mike Pence, Ed Gillespie and Steve Forbes. AFP spokesman Levi Russell said in a telephone interview later Wednesday that the show goes on Saturday at the Marriott with the other lineup of speakers. Americans for Prosperity is a national conservative policy advocacy organization backed by billionaires Charles and David Koch. AFP has spent over $288,000 in Virginia this year in an effort to defeat Lt. Gov. Ralph S. Northam, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan tracker of money in state politics. The money has paid for items such as mailers and door hangers, according to VPAP. Pences move comes days after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville turned deadly. Trump has received criticism from Republicans as well as Democrats for blaming both sides at the rally. By PTI: By M Zulqernain Lahore, Aug 16 (PTI) Pakistans top anti-graft organisation has summoned ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his two sons in money laundering and corruption cases on Friday on the order of the Supreme Court. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has issued summons to Nawaz Sharif and his sons -- Hussain and Hasan -- to interrogate them in its Lahore office in connection with their offshore properties revealed by the Panama Papers case. advertisement On July 28, the five-member bench of the Supreme Court had disqualified Sharif for possessing a work permit in the firm of his son in the UAE. The apex court had also directed the NAB to investigate money laundering and other corruption charges against Sharif and his children, son-in-law Safdar and relative federal finance minister Ishaq Dar in light of the report of the Joint Investigation Team. The NAB confirmed that Sharif and his sons have been directed to appear before NABs Lahore office on August 18. The NAB said that it will take up the reference against Ishaq Dar on August 23 and summons has been issued to him in its respect. Sharif, however, has not yet decided to appear before the NAB. "Nawaz Sharif is considering boycotting the NAB proceedings because he thinks it is very much likely that like the Panama Papers case he may not get justice in its case as well," a PML-N senior leader told PTI. He said Sharif has already expressed his concern over a Supreme Court judge who is supervising the NABs investigation against him, fearing that he (judge) will ensure adverse verdict against him in the accountability court. "Sharif will discuss the NAB summons with his confidants on Thursday before making a final decision about his appearance in NAB," he added. PTI MZ CPS --- ENDS --- University of Virginia President Teresa A. Sullivan addressed lingering concerns following the torchlit rally Friday night at the university, saying in a statement that she and university officials were aware a rally would happen, but did not anticipate the scale of the march. The statement, released Tuesday one week before the first day of classes details what Sullivan and other officials knew about what lead to hundreds of people marching on UVa grounds, which ended in violence and police declaring an unlawful assembly. Sullivans statement comes the same day that President Donald Trump said at a press conference that there were very fine people on both sides Saturday at the Unite the Right rally, and that people at UVa on Friday were protesting very quietly the taking down of the statue of Robert E. Lee. During their march across grounds, ralliers chanted slogans such as end immigration, and blood and soil, and declared that Charlottesville was now their city. Sullivan also called for the cancellation of this weekends Wertland Block Party, an annual off-grounds event held the weekend before classes start. Remarks from Sullivans statement mirror a narrative first reported in The Chronicle of Higher Education on Sunday, which detailed that she and other university officials had been made aware of the groups plans to hold some sort of rally at UVa the day before Unite the Right. The event on Saturday lead to violent clashes before the official rally started, and the death of Heather D. Heyer later that afternoon, when a car plowed into a group of people. Sullivan said in her statement that UVa is a public university, and that gives the general public the right to use outdoor spaces, such as Nameless Field where the march began. Permits are not required to reserve public spaces, and the university generally doesnt prohibit open flames in outdoor spaces. The university was closely monitoring the situation with local and state law enforcement ahead of the Unite the Right rally, Sullivan said. Law enforcement was aware of the possibility of people gathering at the Rotunda on Friday evening after seeing social media posts that afternoon. Officials received contradictory information about the location, routes and timing of the march, which lead to University Police reaching out to organizers of the rally for clarification. University officials were told the group would gather at Nameless Field, march along University Avenue and gather on the north side of the Rotunda. Instead, the rally moved down McCormick Road and onto the Lawn, according to the statement. At the end of the rally, the protesters surrounded a much smaller group of counter-protesters at the Thomas Jefferson statue, which was followed by clashes between the groups. Police then declared an unlawful assembly and the crowd was ordered to disperse. University police arrested one person who was charged with assault and disorderly conduct. Several minor injuries were reported, including one to a university police officer, but nobody was taken to the hospital. In both the interview with the Chronicle and UVa Today, Sullivan said Dean of Students Allen Groves was one of the injured. Groves was hit in the arm with a torch, Sullivan said. Larry J. Sabato, director of the University of Virginias Center for Politics, lives on grounds and witnessed the torchlit rally. He called it one of the worst weekends in UVa history. I hope people will put it into context and understand that we had no control over the individuals organizing it, nor the people who showed up, he said. What we can control is our personal and institutional reaction to it. What I saw was pure evil. An alert was not sent out to faculty, students and staff, due to the short duration of the physical altercation and the law enforcement response to mitigate the threat. There was a compelling interest in not attracting more protestors and heightened violence, Sullivan said in the statement. Most people around Grounds found out about the march through social media and news reports. Danyelle Honore, a third-year student, found out when a friend called her on the phone frantically detailing what had happened. Honore said she thinks an alert or notification should have been sent out to the university community Friday night. Were made aware of every other incident and we should have been made aware of that as well, especially if they had some details prior to and they knew that something was going to occur, she said. Honore said she thinks students are afraid to come to the university, and incoming freshman are probably nervous. I think that there needs to be more action, she said. Statements are nice; we get it, statements are nice, we thank you for your statements because I think words do matter. We need to feel comforted by your words, but we also need to see action. At the end of her statement, Sullivan called on the cancellation of the Wertland Block Party for safety concerns, given the stress first responders have over the previous week. The block party is a private event held off Grounds, so Sullivan has no power to cancel it. This gathering of students and the public has as its single purpose pursuing risky and harmful behavior including but not limited to consuming dangerous amounts of alcohol, she said. This event threatens the general health of participants. It also places a tremendous strain on local law enforcement and health officials, all of whom have only begun recovering from the violence of this past weekend. Fall orientation and Welcome Week at the university start this weekend, which will see 4,000 new students, faculty, staff and their families come to the university Sullivan said. UVa Black Alumni published an open letter to the incoming class of 2021 Sunday, addressing new concerns and anxiety students may have about coming to Charlottesville. Its important to note that while these events are egregious in nature they are not completely unprecedented, the letter reads. While attending a public university in the south, each of us as Black Alumni has experienced or witnessed racism and prejudice. We were able to triumph over each situation through the help of the University, alumni and most importantly, through our relationships with one another in a community filled with love and support. They added that the magnitude of the events this weekend are uncommon and requires immediate attention. Racism, prejudice and discrimination are not values honored by the University of Virginia nor are they accepted by its students, faculty, staff or alumni, the letter reads. Even though you are just beginning your time at the University, you are in fact entering that same community of love and support we once inhabited. Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney has taken a commendably measured approach regarding the fate of the citys Confederate monuments. But the ground beneath him is shifting rapidly. Stoney has suggested adding context to the monuments, and has appointed a commission to consider the best way of doing so. The commission recently held a public hearing that turned raucous, if not caustic. All that was before the conflagration in Charlottesville, when white supremacists used Confederate monuments as a hook on which to hang their rancid banner. Whatever their intent might have been, the effect has been dramatic. Baltimore took down Confederate monuments within days. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has declared that his states monuments should come down as well. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan supports removing a statue of Roger B. Taney, the Supreme Court chief justice who wrote the notorious Dred Scott decision. (Frankly, were surprised it wasnt taken down long ago.) Officials in Texas, Tennessee, and other states are proposing steps that could lead to the removal of Confederate statuary as well. There is sentiment in Richmond for removing this citys Confederate monuments, too. While removal was not part of the original scope of the commissions deliberations, it ought to be added. The option needs to be considered even if it ultimately is rejected if only so that the city can say it left no alternatives unstudied. If the city takes the monuments down, it needs a good rationale for doing so. And if it leaves them up, it needs a good rationale for that as well. Talk of removing monuments inevitably invites retorts about the Taliban and ISIS, which have destroyed precious religious iconography. But other comparisons are more appropriate. When communism fell in the Soviet Union, statues of Lenin came toppling down. When Saddam Hussein was thrown from power in Iraq, monuments to him were destroyed too. We would venture to guess that few defenders of Confederate statuary would attribute either of those cases to political correctness. Parents have starring role in students success Editor, Times-Dispatch: I confess: I am a public school teacher. I love what I do and look forward to each new school year. Yet by mid-August, as I gather my curriculum and my courage, I am reminded of a question I once posed to the honorable educators at John Marshall High School in 1994: Who is most to blame for the deficiencies in public education: Students? Parents? Teachers? Communities? Legislators? Most of my interviewees quickly cited parents as the biggest contributor or detriment to a students formative education. I would have to agree. I teach all levels, and across the board a strong sense of parental involvement seems to be the key to student success. Dedicated parents are not always the ones with the most money, time, or education, but they do excel in one virtue: support at home. They show up to school functions, they connect through email or phone calls, they inquire about homework and even supervise its completion. They practice being good role models. I joke with my students all the time about the possibility of not completing work. That is not an option at my house, many tell me. When they consider misbehaving in class I ask them whose consequences they fear more, school or home. Their answer is almost always the latter, similar to my own upbringing. My parents did everything in their power to send the message that school is important, and education is vital. Thank you for that, Mom and Dad. So as all educators in the Richmond area assemble for the start of a new school year, I would like to thank those role models who best contribute to our students educational success: our parents. Craig Nixon, By PTI: Digvijaya Dhar (MP), Aug 16 (PTI) Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh today voiced support to Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was looking at reaping "political benefits" from the Sardar Sarovar Dam (SSD) in Gujarat getting filled to its capacity. After meeting Patkar at the Dhar district jail here, he said Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan should talk to the people of the state, who would face displacement due to the filling of the dam and make arrangements for their rehabilitation. advertisement "Chouhan and the state BJP are scared of Modi, who wants the dam to be filled, which would help him reap electoral gains in the Gujarat Assembly polls," alleged Singh. The Gujarat Assembly election is due later this year. Patkar, who was on an indefinite fast demanding a proper rehabilitation of the dam oustees, was arrested on August 9 under section 144, CrPC (prohibitory order). "I support Medhaji," the Congress general secretary said, alleging that the state government was "suppressing the voice of the dam oustees to please the prime minister". The Centre, in June, gave its nod for the closing of gates of the dam on the Narmada river. According to Narmada Bachao Andolan activists, around 40,000 families living in the catchment areas of the dam in Alirajpur, Barwani, Dhar and Khargone districts of Madhya Pradesh would face displacement once the reservoir was filled as their houses would be submerged. PTI CORR LAL MAS KRK RC --- ENDS --- A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. Q: I am a white male, 70 years old, over 6 feet tall and weigh 140 pounds. I am healthy except for lymphocytic colitis, which is under control with Imodium. My physical last year included a complete blood count and an automated differential. Everything was good except the RDW. It was 18.7 percent, with a standard range of 11.5 to 14.2 percent. The MCV was 96, and I had no anemia. My primary physician said to not worry about it. I recently had a pre-op visit for some surgery, and the RDW was 21.1 percent. I asked the surgeon if this was a concern, and he said he did not know and that I should contact my primary again for further analysis. Per the internet (Mayo Clinic, for example), this can be an indication of chronic liver disease or anemia. Should I contact my primary doctor, a specialist or just not worry about it? A: The RDW is the red cell distribution width. Its a measurement of how similar the cells are in size to each other. A large RDW indicates that there are an unusually large number of cells that are bigger and smaller than the average (which is the MCV, mean corpuscular volume thats just the red cell again). In people who have vitamin B-12 deficiency, for example, the red cells are abnormally large; in people with low iron, the cells are abnormally small. Someone with both iron deficiency and B-12 deficiency might have a normal MCV but a large RDW. My experience is that the RDW by itself is not particularly helpful, which is why I suspect your primary doctor isnt worried about it. With a history of colitis, I would want to be sure you dont have iron deficiency (iron deficiency can happen before any anemia shows up). Its scary to read about the many causes of a finding in your labs, but its wise to not get too worried about conditions that you are unlikely to have. Its not necessary for a physician to chase down every possibility, but they must stay alert for early signs of conditions. Finding that balance is one of the hardest jobs for a clinician. Q: Over a decade ago, I had a heart attack for which I had a stent put in. I was prescribed Lipitor. I had a bad reaction to Lipitor and was subsequently given Vytorin, which works well. Now I am being changed to rosuvastatin. Will this new drug work as well as the Vytorin? Most important, though, will I have the same side effects as I did with Lipitor memory problems and soreness? A: People with blockages in the arteries of the heart, with or without a history of heart attack, surgery or stent, benefit from statin drugs, which reduce the risk of recurrent heart attack and death. Atorvastatin (Lipitor) and rosuvastatin (Crestor) are two of the most potent statin drugs. Vytorin is a combination of simvastatin (Zocor) and a non-statin drug, ezetimibe. All statin drugs can have side effects. Muscle aches or soreness and memory issues are reported side effects; however, sometimes people get these side effects from one statin but not another. There is no predicting whether the rosuvastatin will cause any problems for you. I dont understand why you are switching from a treatment that is working well; I suspect its an insurance problem. If so, you may be able to get back on Vytorin if the rosuvastatin doesnt work. I have had to write similar letters to get medications approved for my own patients. Dr. Keith Roachs column runs in Wednesdays Extra. NATURAL BRIDGE As U.S. 11 traffic passed about 200 feet over their heads, members of a survey crew used laser technology Wednesday to examine a geological formation that carries the highway across a deep gorge. The tests of Natural Bridge were conducted by the Virginia Department of Transportation as it tries to determine whether vibrations and weight from traffic might be causing long-term damage to the landmark. Our goal is to maintain the bridge, not only for current generations but future generations, and to do that we need to know the health of the structure, VDOT spokeswoman Sandy Myers said. VDOT plans more tests as it works with the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, which began managing Natural Bridge and its surrounding property when it became a state park in September. Ground penetrating radar already has shown the location of an original roadbed that existed before the current U.S. 11 was built across the 215-foot limestone arch in the 1930s. The transportation agency was back Wednesday to conduct LIDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging tests, that will be used to build a three-dimensional model of the bridges surface on a computer program. At the end of the day, we will have a map that we can look at that will show every bump and every crevice on the surface, Myers said. In a step beyond the tests that were confirmed in July, VDOT says it is consulting with geologists about additional studies, including finding a way to study the inside of the rock formation. Experts at Radford University and the Virginia Transportation Research Council are assisting with the work. Later, state officials will create an advisory committee of prominent geologists in the United States and Canada to review the test results and issue a report. To date, there is no indication that Natural Bridge is unsafe for vehicular traffic or structurally deficient, Myers said. About 2,000 cars and trucks a day travel a portion of U.S. 11 that crosses the bridge. VDOT does not regularly inspect the formation the way it would a man-made bridge, and for years the unusual situation of having a state highway run on top of a unique natural resource went largely unquestioned. That changed when the bridge and about 1,500 acres of land around it became a state park last year. After the Department of Conservation took over management from the propertys owner, a nonprofit conservation group, an advisory committee was created to develop a long-term plan for the park. It wasnt long before the committee began to question the wisdom of having a highway run across the parks main attraction, which has been called one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World and described by one of its former owners, Thomas Jefferson, as the most sublime of natures works. At a June meeting, discussion of a master plan for the park prompted the idea of closing the bridge to traffic and building a U.S. 11 bypass that would divert traffic to the north. That concept is still a long way off. But tests of the bridges structural integrity will help us establish some good science to make future decisions in terms of the planning of Natural Bridge State Park, said Craig Seaver, state parks director. Theres not a definitive position at this time, Seaver said of DCRs stand on whether U.S. 11 should be detoured off the bridge. Thats why were here gathering facts. Officials believe the last tests of the bridges soundness were conducted in 2000, after a falling rock killed a tourist who was standing below the arch. Those tests did not document a clear problem, although a report at the time recommended additional research. Seaver watched Wednesday as a VDOT survey crew used a laser scanning device mounted on a tripod to conduct a survey of the bridge. From positions along Cedar Creek at the bottom of the rock formation and U.S. 11 at its top, the crew took measurements so precise that every one-eighth square inch of the bridge will be recorded and loaded into the program. As Stacey Provence-Roosa, VDOTs laser coordinator, operated the device, she gazed up at the towering rock walls joined by an arch at the top. This is when my office has the best view, she said. Last month, the authorities ordered nearly 200,000 shell companies to be shut down, and the aide said the government is examining hundreds of thousands more. By Reuters: When India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi banned high-denomination currency bills in a surprise move late last year, authorities noticed a surge in shell companies depositing cash in banks, seemingly in a bid to hide who owned that wealth. The moment, said a top aide to Modi, was an eye-opener for the government, which had not realized just how much shell companies were being used to hide assets and launder money. advertisement Modi's office has formed a team of top law enforcement and revenue officials to go after such companies, according to the aide and a government memo. Last month, the authorities ordered nearly 200,000 shell companies to be shut down, and the aide said the government is examining hundreds of thousands more. The systematic crackdown on shell companies - which have no active business operations or assets - is perhaps one of the most tangible outcomes of demonetization, which aimed to hit tax evasion and move India toward cashless, digital transactions that leave a paper trail. "We are very much at war against black money. The impact of this (crackdown) will be huge on shell companies," the aide, who cannot be named in line with government rules, told Reuters. In his Independence Day address on Tuesday, Modi claimed credit for going after these companies, and warned that "looters of the nation's wealth will have to answer." Modi took office in 2014, vowing to fight corruption and bring back billions of dollars stashed away overseas as well as in real estate, stock markets and front companies through a web of fictitious names. While the move to withdraw 85 percent of bank notes shook the economy and was widely criticised, the fight against unaccounted wealth carries overwhelming support from ordinary Indians who often have to pay bribes for government services. LALBAZAR STREET, KOLKATA A high-level task force leading the investigation has found hundreds of shell companies are registered in a few buildings in the eastern city of Kolkata, according to the government note reviewed by Reuters. More than 400 companies listed their address in a dimly-lit colonial-era building at 9/12 Lalbazar Street. In its warren of offices were firms offering services such as earthmoving equipment, infrastructure financing, information technology consultants and many others which had office space the size of cubicles. Many were locked, with their padlocks coated in dust. Others were grimy residential quarters with laundry hanging from the windows. Data separately provided by Tofler, a company information database service, identified nearly 3,000 companies in two offices in the building. Some were named after flowers. A tax inspector said the Kolkata firms were a virtual money laundering industry and drew a parallel to the Panama legal firm Mossack Fonseca that emerged from obscurity last year after the leak of millions of documents from its offices that illustrated how the wealthy use offshore corporations to avoid taxes. advertisement "The Kolkata industry does the work of obfuscating money trails. Kolkata companies are a huge network that take your money from one end and bring it out the other," said the inspector, who didn't want to be identified as he's not authorised to talk to the media. FRAUD AND EMBEZZLEMENT The shell companies support much of the fraud and embezzlement in India, tax authorities say. The owners of these companies create elaborate smokescreens, including naming personal servants and chauffeurs as board directors, the tax inspector said, adding they are used to obscure the ultimate beneficiaries, conceal political investment, route money to evade tax, commit fraud or manipulate tenders. Last week, the Securities Exchange Board of India imposed trading restrictions on 162 listed entities as shell companies as part of its broader crackdown on illegal offshore transfers and tax evasion. Several firms identified in the list of front companies have challenged the decision, saying they were engaged in legitimate business. advertisement The Serious Fraud Investigation Office is creating a database of shell companies, and has so far identified 114,269 as front firms. The database contains details of those involved in the shell company 'eco-system', from those who set up the companies to the beneficiaries of laundered money and the professional mediators who bring the operators and beneficiaries together, the government note said. More than 370 front companies were listed at 23A Netaji Subhash Road, another site in Kolkata, according to the note. Sujit Kumar Mukherjee, the secretary of the 23A Tenants' Association, said he was not in a position to say if there were front firms operating from the building. "It is very difficult to say who is doing what behind the front door," he said. Also Read: Enforcement Directorate raids over 100 locations in 16 states, uncovers 2300 shell companies Zakir Naik's properties worth Rs 100 crore under ED's scanner, attachment begins WATCH | Massive Enforcement Directorate crackdown: Raids over 2300 shell companies in 100 locations --- ENDS --- An Aurangabad lawyer has filed a plea questioning the contents of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech, claiming it has violated constitutional provisions. By Indo-Asian News Service: A city lawyer has filed a plea questioning the contents of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Independence Day speech, claiming it has violated constitutional provisions. In her complaint addressed to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and lodged with MIDC Police Station, advocate Rama Vitthalrao Kale has contended Modi referred to India and Bharat as "Hindustan", several times in his 55-minute long speech from the Red Fort on Tuesday. advertisement "As per the Article 1 of the Constitution, India or Bharat are mentioned. Nowhere in the constitution there is a mention of 'Hindustan' which signifies the religious name of the country," Kale told IANS here on Wednesday. She claimed that the "disrespectful" reference to India as "Hindustan" before an audience of 125 crore Indians and many more people around the world, has hurt the sentiments of all patriotic countrymen. 'HINDUSTAN REFERENCE A DISRESPECT OF CONSTITUTION' "As the PM of India, making such an irresponsible and wrong reference (as 'Hindustan') which finds no place in the Constitution is a clear disrespect to the Constitution and violation of the Article 1," Kale pointed out. Accordingly, she urged Fadnavis -- who also holds the Home portfolio -- to take cognisance and register a case of "treason" and other relevant sections against Modi. She said as the Prime Minister, it is his duty to uphold and protect the Constitution and by his utterances in the Independence Day speech, he has failed to do so. Kale will meet the Aurangabad Police Commissioner Yashasvi Yadav on Wednesday afternoon and seek action in the matter. ALSO READ | New India by 2022 will be free of corruption, terror: PM Modi in I-Day speech As Modi vows to build New India by 2022, here's what people think People of India stand shoulder to shoulder with Gorakhpur hospital tragedy victims: PM Modi ALSO WATCH VIDEO | Prime Minister Modi's Independence Day speech from Red Fort --- ENDS --- DANVILLE Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, walked among the aisles of snacks, fresh produce and frozen foods of the recently reopened Save-A-Lot grocery Wednesday with a crew of store owners, investors and community members in tow. Warner spent the day in Danville celebrating the reopening of the store, as well as drawing attention to what he called a major issue in Virginia and the United States: food deserts. This is a problem we can solve, Warner said. A food desert is any urban community where part of the population lives more than one mile from a supermarket or large grocery store, according to information from the U. S. Department of Agriculture. For rural areas, anyone who lives more than 10 miles from a grocery qualifies. Warner said in Danville, almost 14,000 people live in a food desert, as well as almost 19,000 Pittsylvania County residents. He said the reopening of Save-A-Lot is a great start, but that government can do more to address the problem. Thats why, Warner said, he introduced legislation that will both expand the definition of food banks and set up a series of tax credits and grants for businesses and nonprofits that serve low-income and low-access areas. Warner also praised the work of Save-A-Lots new owners: Honor Capital. Matt Frederick, vice president overseeing Honor Capitals Impact Program, described the company as a group of eight veterans who have opened the grocery stores in underserved areas across the country. The Danville location is the companys first Virginia store. Frederick said he hoped the legislation would help to create even more grocers in food deserts across Virginia. I think the legislation is going to help stimulate and encourage and provide the resources needed to go to some of these underserved communities, Frederick said. In order to provide equitable access to fresh and healthy foods, often times the capital requirements to open up a grocery store is a barrier toward development. Warner said he also hoped the legislation would have the additional effect of driving down health care costs because of the health benefits of community members eating healthier food. Were going to make sure that we bring down the cost of health care. If we are going to deal with chronic diseases like hypertension and diabetes, weve got to make sure Virginians and Americans have access to good quality, healthy food, Warner said. The arrests come after the Baloch freedom fighters carried out a blast near Quetta on August 14, which claimed lives of over 10 Pakistani soldiers. The arrests were made after a fatal attack in Quetta on August 14. By Mayank Pratap Singh: Pakistani forces have arrested at least 18 people including women and children after raiding different areas in Shahrag near Harnai in Balochistan. The arrests come after the Baloch freedom fighters carried out a blast near Quetta on August 14, which claimed lives of more than 10 Pakistani soldiers. According to details, Pakistani forces raided houses belonging to Yar Jan Marri and relatives late Tuesday night. The forces arrested 18 people including at least 7 women in the raid. The arrested Baloch men, women and children were taken to undisclosed locations. advertisement Raids were also carried out at Mouzo Marri's house and his wife and three children were taken away by the Pakistani forces. The raids and arrests follow fatal attack on Pakistani forces, which killed at least 8 personnel. Sources confirmed that targeting women and children after such attacks have become a common norm now. Scores of people including women and children have been abducted in the past from Bolan, Margat, Pir Ismail and Harnai in Balochistan. "Many of the abducted are tortured, murdered and their bodies are dumped to spread terror in the area," a source revealed. A social media campaign last year also raised the same issue. ALSO READ | Pakistan: 62 killed, 100 injured in multiple attacks on eve of Eid Pakistan: 2 bomb disposal officials killed in Quetta blast --- ENDS --- By India Today Web Desk: Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi while inaugurating the first Indira canteen in Bengaluru today mistakenly referred to it as Amma canteen once. He said the canteen will serve the "poorest" and the "weakest" in Bengaluru and assured that the services will be comparable to any good restaurant in the city. Rahul Gandhi's "Amma canteen" slip-of-tongue shows just how popular Amma canteens are. Launched in 2013 by then Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa, Amma canteens, or Amma Unavagam, are synonymous with good and affordable food. advertisement At an Amma canteen, idlis cost a Re 1 each, while sambar rice or curry leaf rice costs Rs 5. A day after Jayalalithaa's death in December last year when entire Chennai was shut, Amma canteens continued to serve people. In May 2014, a delegation from Egypt praised Amma canteens and expressed a desire to replicate the model back home. The Amma canteen by then had become a huge hit in Tamil Nadu, and consolidated Brand Amma. Along with other social welfare initiatives such as Amma vegetable outlets, Amma water, Amma cinemas and Amma pharmacies, Jayalalithaa ensured she reached out to the electorate. The popularity of schemes such as Amma canteens manifested in a win for the AIADMK in 2016 Assembly election in Tamil Nadu. OTHERS STATES COME UP WITH CANTEENS The success of Amma canteen prompted other states to launch similar initiatives. In Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated Anna NTR Canteen in June last year. Daily-wage workers and poor are provided subsidised meals at these canteens. In 2015, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that Aam Aadmi Canteens would replaced the Jan Ahaar project of the previous Sheila Dikshit-led Congress government. After much delay, Delhi finally got its first Aam Aadmi Canteen in January this year. The first such canteen was opened at the Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan Hospital on a pilot basis where the meals cost Rs 10. LITMUS TEST FOR CONGRESS IN KARNATAKA Now, ahead of the Karnataka Assembly election, likely to be take place next year, the Congress government under Siddaramaiah has launched Indira canteens. The election is a litmus test for the Congress after dismal performance in the 2017 Assembly elections in five states. Against an aggressive campaign by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and some of the old Congress hands, including S M Krishna, joining the party, the Indira canteen may help the Congress reach out to more people. By emulating the Amma canteen, the Congress perhaps is also expecting to emulate the electoral success of former Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa. Amma canteen, errr... Indira canteen may just help it do that. advertisement ALSO READ: Chennai is all shut, but Amma canteens continue to serve food to people Indira Canteen so that nobody in Bengaluru goes hungry: Rahul Gandhi Brand Amma: How Jayalalithaa's rice, kapda and TV schemes won her popularity ALSO WATCH: Faux pas: At Indira Canteen launch, Rahul calls hunger-free Bengaluru a vision of Amma canteen --- ENDS --- By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) Home Minister Rajnath Singh today termed Prime Minister Narendra Modi?s outreach to Kashmiris as ?heartwarming? and said the NDA government believes that common people in the state want to be active stakeholders in the peace process. In an article, ?Decoding PM?s Speech?, the home minister said it was ?heartwarming? to see Modi make his governments stand clear that the Kashmir problem cannot be resolved by use of "gaali" (abusive language) or "goli" (bullets). advertisement ?On the contrary, it could only be resolved by embracing the common Kashmiri. The Centre has been consistent in its belief that the common Kashmiri wants to be an active stakeholder in the peace process,? he said in the piece circulated to media houses. Singh said the Kashmiris have been made victim by certain vested interests who do not want peace in the valley. ?The prime minister in his speech appealed to those who take recourse to violence and exhorted them to abjure violence and adopt democratic means to voice their concerns and grievances,? he said. The home minister said prime minister Modi appealed to people to shun violence of every hue and shade, be it communal, casteist, or even a simple case of road rage. ?He also expressed solidarity with the women who are fighting a spirited battle against the malpractice of triple Talaq. The PM admired the courage of those women who stood up for their rights. It is a big shift from the 1980s when the governments and the prime ministers were unwilling to discuss the plight of women and their fight for rights,? he said. Singh said Modi empathised with those affected by the Gorakhpur tragedy and the recent natural calamities like floods and landslides which have affected many parts of the country. ?This was a reassuring statement to the victims to make from the ramparts of the Red Fort that even in its celebratory moments the nation is sensitive enough to not forget those suffering and unable to celebrate,? he said. Giving reasons for writing the piece, the home minister said as a colleague he felt the need to appreciate certain "remarkable and distinct" patterns emerging from his address, which reflect in his entire concept of governance almost like mantras. PTI ACB SK --- ENDS --- Apprentice Paul Butler STEELMAKER Liberty House has signed a deal to hire 50 new apprentices. The owner of three Rotherham steel mills will work with Sheffield College to train 50 new recruits for its plants in the town and at Stocksbridge. Under the agreement, Liberty Speciality Steels will also turn its in-house apprentice training facilities at Stocksbridge steelworks into an industry-based campus for the college to deliver both practical and theoretical learning. The recruitment of apprentices comes just three months after Liberty acquired the 1,700-worker business from Tata Steel UK. It is part of an expansion plan which the company said would involve a total of 300 new jobs. Liberty House, parent company of Liberty Speciality Steels, is now one of the largest industrial employers in the UK with over 5,000 staff, and it has stated that it aims to play a key role in encouraging a new generation of young people in Britain to pursue careers in engineering and manufacturing. The company's latest batch of 50 apprentices range in age from 16 35. The new starters are aged 16 to 20 and will begin a level 3 apprenticeship standard, while the older group will undertake a higher apprenticeship in engineering. Tony Goddard, training delivery manager at Liberty Speciality Steel, said: Since the last recession, there has been a gradual grow back within the engineering and manufacturing industries which has created a demand for highly skilled people. To ensure that our business can continue to grow we have committed to apprenticeship programmes which we believe can deliver individuals with the right skills and knowledge at the right times to ensure that the company can move forward. Andrew Hartley, business development director at Sheffield College, said: We are delighted to launch this new partnership with Liberty Speciality Steels at such an exciting time for the company. Apprenticeships offer employers a fantastic opportunity to attract and mould new talent as well as develop existing staff so that businesses have the skills they need to raise productivity, boost growth and increase levels of innovation. Electrical engineering apprentice Paul Butler said: My experience in the Liberty Speciality Steels training centre has been really positive. Its a great mix of classroom-based learning, so we understand the theory, and practical hands-on learning. A MAN wanted in connection with several robberies has been found and arrested. Jack Holland (20), of Park View, failed to appear at Sheffield Crown Court, charged with robbery. Police issued an appeal yesterday for help finding him. The force confirmed on Facebook this afternoon that he had been arrested. By PTI: By Lalit K Jha Washington, Aug 16 (PTI) The religious freedom is under attack in Pakistan, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said and hoped that the new prime minister would promote interfaith harmony in the country. Releasing a Congressional-mandated 2016 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom yesterday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the Pakistan government marginalises Ahmadiyya Muslims, and refuses to recognise them as Muslim. advertisement "Religious freedom is under attack in Pakistan, where more than two dozen are on death row or serving a life imprisonment for blasphemy," he said. Tillerson hoped that new Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and his government will promote interfaith harmony and protect the rights of religious minorities in Pakistan. Abbasi, 58, was sworn-in as Pakistans prime minister on August 1 after the Supreme Court disqualified the incumbent Nawaz Sharif for dishonesty following the Panama papers case. The US report said that in 2016 there continued to be violence and abuses committed by armed sectarian groups connected to organisations banned by the government, including Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, and Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, as well as abuses by individuals and groups designated as terrorist organisations by the US and other governments, such as ISIL-Khorasan. According to the State Department, members of religious minority communities said there continued to be inconsistent application of laws safeguarding minority rights and enforcement of protections of religious minorities at both the federal and provincial levels by the federal Ministry of Law, Justice, and Human Rights and its provincial counterparts. "Religious minorities said they remained concerned that government action to address coerced conversions of religious minorities to Islam was inadequate," the report said. Religious minority activists, however, said they believed the Sindh Assemblys new law criminalizing forced conversions, which passed in November but was under review by the Sindh Assembly at year?s end, would be a step to restrict the practice and better protect minors belonging to religious minorities, it added. Religious minority community leaders said the government failed to take adequate action to protect minorities from bonded labor in the brick-making and agricultural sectors, an illegal practice in which victims were disproportionately Christians and Hindus, according to the report. According to Hindu and Sikh leaders, the legal uncertainty surrounding the process of registering marriages for their communities continued to create difficulties for Hindu and Sikh women in obtaining their inheritances, accessing health services, voting, obtaining a passport, and buying or selling property, the report added. PTI LKJ CPS ZH --- ENDS --- advertisement ALROSA will assess the safety of underground works at all its mines 16 august 2017 News The President of ALROSA, Sergey Ivanov signed an order providing for a comprehensive safety assessment of all the companys underground mines before September 1, 2017, the press service of ALROSA said. An ad hoc expert group is to assess the possible impact of water bodies on mine workings and measures taken to prevent water breakthroughs from abandoned quarries. The expert group includes independent experts, as well as the chief engineer of ALROSA, the chief geotechnician, chief hydrogeologist, head of the underground mining department, deputy chief surveyor and chief engineer of the Yakutniproalmaz Institute. As indicated in the order, by September 1, the expert group will carry out an assessment of the mining operations compliance with the mines project designs in terms of observing the boundaries of the hazardous mining zones near water bodies; the condition of the safety fenders; the functioning of the main dewatering complex; the state of the mine workings located near the safety fenders, as well as the presence of uncontrolled water manifestations. "The final and complete analysis of the causes of the accident at the Mir Mine is to be prepared by a commission of the Federal Environmental, Industrial and Nuclear Supervision Service of Russia. Nevertheless, we plan to conduct our own assessment of the situation at all the other mines of the company without waiting for the conclusions of the commission, and in case of identifying shortcomings, to take prompt measures to eliminate them," Sergey Ivanov said. He also said that since May this year the company has been carrying out a comprehensive audit of its industrial safety system. The corresponding decision was made in May by the Supervisory Board of ALROSA. In addition to the Mir Mine, ALROSA carries out underground diamond mining at the Internatsionalny, Aikhal and Udachny mines. Meanwhile, the rescue works at the Mir Mine continue, and in the past day, six paramilitary mine rescue units of Russias EMERCOM (39 people) were sent to the mine, where they removed the debris on the mines level of -210 meters. The company says, the work is complicated by the presence of oversized pieces of rock, metal structures and pipes of different diameters ranging from 159 mm to 325 mm, which have to be cut using cut-off saws and gasoline cutters. The approach workings in the mine are flooded and filled up with rock mass and metal structures. Over the past day, the rescuers extracted 979 cubic meters of rock mass. The instrumental measurements say the water level in Mir's quarry is at -171.8 m, the estimated water volume in the quarry is 9,800 m3. The water level in the cage shaft is at -306.83 m. Water is entering the mine at 1000-1200 m3 per hour. The mine is ventilated in normal mode and the rescue operation is continuing. Stellar Diamonds has signed an extension of the exclusivity period to 31 August 2017 with BDG Capital (BDG) to complete the due diligence process of the disposal of its Guinea assets. The exclusivity period may be further extended, if required, in order to complete the sale process. Due diligence is largely complete save for completion of the audit of one of Stellars Guinean subsidiary companies and tax filings being completed for all three Guinea subsidiary companies being disposed of, it said. Meanwhile, Stellar said it was expecting to receive a further $250,000 from BDG taking the total exclusivity fee for the sale to $500,000. Stellar was focused on the 4.5 million carat high-grade and high value Tongo-Tonguma kimberlite diamond project in Sierra Leone. An independently generated mine plan, based on over 66,000m of drilling that had been completed to date, forecasts the production of over 4 million carats, generating gross revenues of more than $1.2 billion, over a 21-year life of mine. Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished Titan, Indias largest maker of branded jewellery by market value, expects sales from its Tanishq stores to increase about 30 per cent this fiscal year as the countrys biggest tax overhaul in decades helps to attract more customers and the company expands its network. We are going to get more aggressive as the new measures to boost financial transparency favour the company, said Sandeep Kulhalli, the senior vice president for retail and marketing at the jewellery arm of Tata Group. The company plans to add 25 to 30 franchisee stores a year in India, and it is also exploring setting up shops in Dubai and Singapore, he said. Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished The Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) said it will comply with the High Court order barring it from mining in the Marange diamond fields until it has been granted an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) certificate. Company chief executive Moris Mpofu was quoted by The Source as saying that they were, however, yet to receive the court order. A High Court judge ordered ZCDC last Tuesday to seize mining pending approval of an EIA certificate by the Environmental Management Agency (EMA). This is the High Court which has indicated that we should stop mining. We will comply with (the order) as soon as we receive it but at the moment we have not yet received it. We are not above the law, we comply with any directive that is given by the High Court, he said. A local community lobby group, Marange Development Trust, backed by Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association approached the court earlier this year arguing ZCDC broke the law by mining without a license from the Environmental Management Agency (EMA). ZCDC, which was established last year following the eviction of all diamond mining firms in Marange, had argued that it should be allowed to continue operations until EMA approved its license application. Under Zimbabwean law, a mining company can only start operating after carrying out an environmental impact assessment of its project, which should be approved by EMA. ZCDC plans to produce 2.5 million carats of diamonds this year. Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished Wang Ning has been elected as the Chairman of the Shenzhen Rough Diamond Exchange (SRDE), announces the organisation. Ning will serve a renewable two-year term at the SRDE, a trading platform for diamonds, jade and gemstones. The organization made the decision during a summit earlier this month in Shenzhen, at which it also chose its first governing council. SRDE has 63 corporate members representing the diamond, colored-gemstone, jewellery and service sectors that include public companies, suppliers and retail chains. Around 300 members of the trade attended the gathering, which the SRDE hosted along with the Gems & Jewelry Trade Association of Guangdong Province and the Shenzhen Gold & Jewelry Association. Aruna Gaitonde, Editor-in-Chief of Asian Bureau, Rough & Polished Macys jewelry sales grew by a double-digit percentage in the second quarter, following a decision to raise the quality of its products, the retailer said. The strategy resulted in higher revenue across both its jewelry and watch businesses, the department-store chain reported last week. The sector was a pocket of growth in overall group sales, which declined 5.4% to $5.55 billion for the quarter. Macys launched a US-wide initiative nearly two years ago to offer better-quality jewelry and improve the skills of its selling staff. It has now extended the strategy to the last of the 350 stores the policy had targeted, Macys chief financial officer Karen Hoguet said Thursday in an investor call transcribed by Seeking Alpha. While Macys noted strong contributions from jewelry and womens shoes, last years decision to close 100 stores due to market conditions hit overall performance, the company said. Asian stocks ended mixed on Wednesday as underlying sentiment turned cautious in the wake of expectations for a December rate hike from the Federal Reserve and the IMF's warning that China's credit growth is on a "dangerous trajectory". China's Shanghai Composite index dropped 4.81 points or 0.15 percent to 3,246.55 after central bank data showed China's new yuan loans fell sharply in July and broad money supply growth slowed. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund revised upward its growth forecast for China, but warned the country's debt is on dangerous trajectory. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was up 234 points or 0.86 percent at 27,409 in late trade. Japanese shares ended slightly lower, dragged down by automakers on uncertainty about the fate of Mexico ahead of the first round of NAFTA negotiations. The Nikkei average slid 24.03 points or 0.12 percent to 19,729.28 while the broader Topix index ended little changed at 1,616. Toyota Motor shed 1.3 percent and Mazda Motor eased 0.3 percent. Japan Airlines advanced 1.6 percent after Nomura Securities raised its rating on the stock. Australian shares rose even as iron ore futures retreated, CSL's earnings disappointed investors and Commonwealth Bank shares traded ex-dividend. Traders ignored weak wage and consumer confidence data as well. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 rose 27.60 points or 0.48 percent to 5,785.10 while the broader All Ordinaries index gained 26.80 points or 0.46 percent to finish at 5,830.80. Commonwealth dropped 1.7 percent on going ex-dividend. Biotech firm CSL fell 1.5 percent as its full-year profit missed analyst expectations. Broadcaster Seven West Media lost 2.5 percent after it posted a full-year loss of $744.3 million on the back of large write-downs. On the positive side, oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum rallied 2.6 percent after reporting a 49 percent increase in first-half profit. Retail giant Westfield Corp added 1.9 percent on encouraging half-year results. New Zealand shares hit a record high on optimism over the earnings season. The benchmark S&P/NZX50 index rose 39.60 points or 0.51 percent to 7,853.34, with ANZ and Fletcher Building leading the surge. South Korea's Kospi average closed 0.6 percent higher at 2,348.26 as traders returned to their desks after a public holiday on Tuesday. Tech shares led the surge, with heavyweight Samsung Electronics rising 2.7 percent and chipmaker SK Hynix gaining 1.5 percent. Malaysian shares were marginally higher, India's Sensex was rising 0.7 percent and Indonesia's Jakarta Composite index was up 0.6 percent while Singapore's Straits Times index was declining 0.7 percent and the Taiwan Weighted eased 0.2 percent. U.S. stocks ended narrowly mixed overnight to halt a two-day advance as a slew of earnings reports disappointed investors and upbeat retail sales data put a Fed rate hike back on the agenda. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Market Analysis Shares of Quarto Group, Inc. (QRT.L) plunged around 24 percent in the morning trading in London after the illustrated book publishing and distribution company said Wednesday that it has terminated discussions with the potential acquirer by mutual agreement. The company said its Board remains confident of its prospects as an independent company and reconfirmed its earlier given outlook. It was on August 8 that Quarto Board said it had received a takeover approach from an unnamed bidder at a price which it considered attractive and reflective of the inherent value of the , and hence worthy of due consideration. The company noted that since the initial approach, about five weeks ago, it has been engaged in discussions with the potential acquirer for a formal offer on the terms indicated to the Board. Unfortunately, these discussions were not progressing to the satisfaction of the Board, the company noted. According to the firm, the regulatory approvals required by the bidder to complete the proposed acquisition were increasingly less likely to be granted on the timeline first indicated. "Recognising the importance of delivering a strong finish to the year and after carefully considering the interests of all shareholders, the Board was not prepared to prolong discussions further to avoid distraction to management at such a critical time of year for the business," the company said in its statement. In London, Quarto shares were trading at 118.20 pence, down 24.23 percent. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News U.K. shares rose on Wednesday as higher commodity prices lifted mining and energy stocks and official data showed the country's jobless rate fell to 4.4 percent in the second quarter, the lowest since 1975, from 4.9 percent a year ago. The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 42 points or 0.57 percent at 7,425 in late opening deals after rising 0.4 percent on Tuesday. The pound firmed up after the release of jobs figures. Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore all rose over 2 percent while oil major Tullow Oil jumped as much as 4 percent. BHP Billiton advanced 1.6 percent after hedge fund Elliott Management increased its stake in the mining giant to 5 percent. Aviva shares gained 1 percent. The insurer and China Resources Power Holdings Co. are among companies considering bids for Statkraft AS's stakes in its offshore U.K. wind farms, the Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Builder Balfour Beatty soared 7.5 percent on posting turnaround results for the six months to June 30. Airline Easyjet climbed 1.5 percent after Air Berlin filed for insolvency. On the flip side, car insurer Admiral slumped 6 percent on posting muted growth in first-half profits. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Buzz is that Riya Sen is set to get hitched by the end of the month. By India Today Web Desk: After making everyone fall in love with her sultry photos, Riya Sen is all set to break some hearts. The actor will tie the knot with long-time boyfriend Shivam Tewari, if a report in Mid-Day is to be believed. The wedding is set to take place later this month. Shivam and Riya are a frequent feature on each other's Instagram posts. They often post pictures from their getaways. advertisement Riya's mother Moon Moon Sen had earlier told The Times Of India that "good looks matter the most to Riya" and that money was not so important. She also joked that being high-maintenance, Riya should find herself a rich husband. The actor is currently busy shooting for Ragini MMS 2.2, which is expected to start streaming soon. She was last seen in the short film, Lonely Girl, which also released on the internet. Riya had said at the time that digital content was becoming increasingly popular with the youth and she wanted to tap into its potential. ALSO SEE: Riya Sen's seductive topless photo is taking the internet by storm ALSO SEE: Hottie Riya Sen caught kissing a girl! ALSO WATCH: Biggest celebrity weddings of 2016 --- ENDS --- Subsequent to the bankruptcy filing of German no frills airline Air Berlin (AIBEF.PK), Lufthansa airline is strongly pursuing to acquire Air Berlin. Meanwhile, Ryanair, its Irish rival, accused conspiracy in the deal and said that the acquisition move will breach the existing competition rules in Germany in general and EU in particular. Air Berlin had to choose the bankruptcy route as its businesses deteriorated in a fast pace. The airline's financial supporter and minority shareholder Etithad of Abu Dhabi has stopped its funding as Germany's second largest airline failed to record profits. Air Berlin has recorded loss of 782 million euros last year. The German Federal Government has offered a bridge loan, secured by a federal guarantee, to maintain flight operations. The airline has been carrying around 80 thousand passengers on a daily basis. The funding to the tune of 150 million euros from the government will help continue the services. The filing at the local district court of Berlin-Charlottenburg is a petition for the opening of debtor-in-possession insolvency proceedings. In addition, a similar petition has been filed with the local district court of Berlin-Charlottenburg. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News AMC Theatres has threatened to file lawsuit against MoviePass, the subscription-based movie service, after the company announced that it has dropped its subscription price to less than $10 a month, according to Variety. MoviePass subscribers can now watch one movie a day, excluding Imax and 3D screens, for just $9.95 a month. MoviePass will pay theaters the full price of the ticket. The company claims it covers nearly 91 percent of all theatres in the US. The new MoviePass subscription makes it profitable for cine goers as it is just a dollar over the price of average movie ticket in the US. The service previously cost between $15 to $21 per month for only two movies a month. "It is not yet known how to turn lead into gold. In AMC's view, that price level is unsustainable and only sets up consumers for ultimate disappointment down the road if or when the product can no longer be fulfilled," AMC said in a statement. MoviePass also announced that it sold a 51 percent stake in the company to Helios and Matheson Analytics. MoviePass will use the fund from the sale to finance the new pricing model venture. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has warned Chicago over its sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax that took effect in the metropolitan area on August 2. According to the agency, the law violates the federal Food and Nutrition Act, which puts the state of Illinois at risk of losing its food-stamp funds. Federal law restricts states from collecting taxes on any SNAP-eligible grocery items. However, Cook County, Illinois, has recently began taxing $0.01 per ounce tax on most sweetened beverages. "It is FNS's strict interpretation that retailers may not charge the tax to SNAP recipients at any time," Illinois Secretary for Human Services James Dimas wrote in a memo to the Cook County Board of Commissioners. "Providing an immediate subsequent refund at a customer service desk does not cure the problem or the violation of the law." The Cook County has allowed some retailers to automatically remove the soda tax on SNAP beverages, however, some of the stores are not allowed this privilege. They have to charge the soda tax and then offer SNAP customers an instant refund in the store. For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com Business News President marks 1st anniversary of Yemen's peaceful transfer of power SANAA, Aug 16 (Saba) - President Saleh al-Sammad on Tuesday evening marked the 1st anniversary of peaceful transfer of power from the Supreme Revolutionary Committee to the Supreme Political Council. The event took place in a big ceremony held at the Presidential Palace in the capital Sanaa, in which senior state officials attended. In the ceremony, the president delivered a speech to the nation, saying that "the historical political agreement between the Ansarullah movement and the General People's Congress one year ago to run the country came at the demand, aspiration and desire of the Yemeni people." "Our fellow Yemeni people have provided the most precious and greatest sacrifices for the sake of the nation's dignity and freedom, and we must be at the level of our people's sacrifices to achieve the independence from the foreign guardianship and meet the demands of our people," said the president. "We also continue to extend the hand of peace to those who seek a just peace from all parties," Mr. president said. The president welcomed any regional and international peace initiative that leads to a comprehensive political solution to end the Saudi-led aggression coalition war and lift the all-out siege imposed on the Yemeni people. The president stressed on the keenness of the Yemeni political leadership to positively deal with any understandings with the forces of aggression states, in which that understandings lead to preserve the respect, dignity, independence, sovereignty and freedom of the Yemeni people. AA/zak Saba Facebook Facebook Twitter Twitter Whatsapp Whatsapp Telegram Telegram Email Email Print Print [16/August/2017] The report also found that, the evidence on record shows that Radhika Vemula, Rohith's mother, belongs to Vaddera community and therefore, the Scheduled Caste certificate issued to Rohith cannot be called genuine." By Ashish Pandey: The one-man judicial commission, set up by the Ministry of Human Resource Development to probe the circumstances leading to Rohith Vemula's suicide at the Hyderabad Central University (HCU) in January last year, has said that the 26-year-old research scholar was not "Dalit". Former Allahabad High Court judge A K Roopanwal, who was appointed by the then HRD Minister Smriti Irani, who had submitted his report to the University Grants Commission (UGC) in the first week of August 2016 and found that the young research Scholar was a troubled individual and was unhappy for several reasons. advertisement The report in possession with India today also dismissed the that Rohith Vemula and his batch mates from the hostel was suspended by university administration under political pressure. On the intervention by local BJP MLC Ramachandra Rao and Cabinet ministers Bandaru Dattatreya and Smriti Irani, Roopanwal report says "I feel none of the above (in any way influenced the university authorities and they were just discharging their functions as the representatives of the public." The committee also rejected claim that Rohith Vemula's suicide was related to any activities of the university administration or the above political leaders including the Vice-Chancellor Professor Appa Rao Podiel. "It was solely a decision of his own, he was not happy with the activities going around him." said Justice Roopanwal in the report. The report also found that, the evidence on record shows that Radhika Vemula, Rohith's mother, belongs to Vaddera community and therefore, the Scheduled Caste certificate issued to Rohith cannot be called genuine." In November 2015, the university's executive council had expelled five students, all said to be Dalits, from the hostel and barred their access to public places on campus after a scuffle with ABVP leders in the campus. However, all the suspended students were allowed to attend lectures and pursue their research, but later in January Rohith committed suicide which triggered a political debate and protest across the country. Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, Aam Admi Party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and several other political leaders had visited the HCU campus demanding justice to Vemula. The HRD Ministry had announced a judicial commission on January 28, 2016 after a protest erupted in Hyderabad University post the suicide and now the report has been made public. Also Read: New Dalit movement to begin before 2019 elections, says former BSP leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui Agra's Dalits unfazed by Mayawati's departure from Rajya Sabha Also Watch: Dalit leader Ram Nath Kovind outruns big faces in Presidential Elections --- ENDS --- By PTI: Haj: Naqvi New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) Saudi Arabias ambassador to India, Saud Mohammed Alsati has responded positively to the central governments plan of reviving sea routes to transport Indian Haj pilgrims to the Arabian nation, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said today. The Minister of State for Minority Affairs made the announcement after Alsati called on him at the Antyodaya Bhawan here. advertisement He also reiterated that the government will come out with its new Haj policy 2018 later this month, which is aimed at smoothening the process involving the pilgrimage. "We are trying to revive the option of sending pilgrims via sea route from next year. We will need the Saudi Arabian governments assurance in this regard and they have responded positively," he told reporters after the nearly 45-minute meeting between the two leaders. The BJP leader said he will visit the Arabian nation to discuss the matter with the government of that country. He informed the media that Union Road Transport, Shipping and Ports Minister Nitin Gadkari has called a meeting to discuss the revival of sea routes for Haj pilgrimage later this month. Naqvi also thanked the Saudi Arabian government for facilitating this years pilgrimage and increasing Indias quota by 35,000 pilgrims. PTI ENM SRY --- ENDS --- By Shivani Chhabra: The Nawab of Bollywood, Saif Ali Khan turns 47 today, and more than the birthday boy, it's his darling daughter who has been ruffling our hearts of late. Even without making an official Bollywood debut, this lovely 23-year-old has managed to create a fan-base for herself, thanks to her flawless beauty and brilliant style-sense. While she has managed to get us hooked on to her public appearances by a grand display of the fashionista in her, on more than one occasions, Sara is an emerging fashion-icon of the industry. advertisement Also Read: Jhanvi Kapoor should learn a thing or two about donning velvet from Kendall Jenner Last night, the Pataudis celebrated Saif's birthday in a private family affair, and Sara stole the limelight yet again. The gorgeous lady looked ultra-hot in a white, one-shoulder top teamed with a pair of matching shorts, but it was her spiffy choice of shoes that made all the difference. Picture courtesy: Instagram/kareenakapoorteam Sara teamed her simple-yet-chic outfit with a pair of denim, thigh-high boots that looked just so hot on her well-toned legs. While she was busy setting the world on fire in her casual look, we were thrown back to the time when Hollywood celebrity Kim Kardashian first sported denim boots. Picture courtesy: Instagram/saraaalikhan Also Read: Lakme Fashion Week '17: Showstopper Disha Patani looks like a sensual swan Known for being the progenitor of quirky fashion trends, the American model had worn a pair of distressed, open-toe, heeled boots by Gianvito Ross with a sweater-dress earlier last year. As expected, denim boots turned into a massively followed fashion trend in the international fashion arena. Photo: Pinterest/fashionbombdaily.com Photo: Yogen Shah While our tinsel-town celebs have stayed away from this much-loved shoe-trend, actress Kriti Sanon donned a similar pair in the track Main Tera Boyfriend for her film, Raabta. When the newbie, Kriti could only take up this trend for a dance number, Sara Ali was seen sporting it casually like a total boss. Kriti Sanon wearing denim boots in the song Main Tera Boyfriend. Photo: Youtube It is appreciable to see Sara taking a step forward (pun intended), and successfully trying to step into Kim's shoes (pun intended, again). Photo: Yogen Shah Do we have a fashion-forward star-kid on the block already? --- ENDS --- McMinnville Man Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison for Causing Death of Motorcyclist Duck will not be eligible for earned "good time" to reduce the sentence. Brenden James Duck was sentenced to 12 years for the death of a motorcyclist in April. Photo: Polk County Sheriff (DALLAS, Ore.) - Brenden James Duck was sentenced today to serve 12 years in prison by Polk County Circuit Judge Monte Campbell for causing the death of James Osredkar on April 14, 2017. 19-year old Brenden Duck of McMinnville,pled guilty to manslaughter in the second degree, failure to perform the duties of a driver to injured persons, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, criminal mischief in the first degree, and unlawful possession of methamphetamine. Per the court's judgment, Duck will not be eligible for earned time of other programs that would reduce his sentence. Duck admitted to driving a stolen vehicle on Highway 22 near Kings Valley Highway when he drove into the oncoming lane, striking 43-year old James Rudolph Osredkar from Sheridan. Osredkar who was riding his motorcycle after leaving work. The vehicle was subsequently located, engulfed in flames, on Ford Street in the nearby town of Rickreall. Today's sentencing was attended by the victim's family who addressed the court. Also in attendance were members of the Oregon State Police that investigated the incident. The case was prosecuted by the Polk County District Attorney's Office, and investigated by the Oregon State Police, the Polk County Sheriff's Office, the McMinnville Police, and the Yamhill County Interagency Narcotics Team. Source: Polk County DA _________________________________________ A Samoan meteorology expert for the Secretariat of the Pacific Environment Programme (S.P.R.E.P) says meteorological services are under-appreciated in the Pacific. Fata Sunny Seuseu is the Climate Predictions Services Coordinator for S.P.R.E.P in Samoa. He presented a paper on the roles of Meteorology (Met) offices in the Pacific during a training with various journalists from the region in preparation for the Pacific Meteorological Council on August 14 - 18. Fata says Met offices in the region face a common problem with communication and the media is the solution. What we need the most is communication, to be able to reach out. This is why we need to work together with the media to reach the public, he said. Fata agrees that for the most part, Meteorological offices are not credited for their contribution to some of the most important parts of their countries. Some of these responsibilities lie with aviation and agriculture. Without the Met offices constant data collection, parts of the Pacific population who depend on agriculture for income would face hardships. Tongas Met service Director Ofa Faanunu says building capacity for the Pacific in Met services is crucial in keeping up with the responsibilities they are dealt with everyday. Tomorrow, Faanunu will be presenting on Cost Recovery for Aviation services and its ties to Met services. The focus in that presentation will be on how much support Met Services need from their government to meet standards demanded by global aviation guidelines. We need to train real meteorologists to take on the tasks of weather management for flights. There is no gray area when it comes to aviation and met services together. Its black and white, its either you meet the standard or you dont, he said. Faanunu also said the number of lives that depend on having properly trained meteorologists is why they have to meet the standards. The safety of people who travel by plane depends on the accuracy of the weather predictions so you cant just put anyone to do those predictions, it has to be someone qualified, he added. For Fata, the problem is that people are not fully educated on how important the role of the Met office is in their countries. Everything in the region is growing for the Met services. We have new equipment and constant developments in the tools we use every day, but the people are lagging behind, he said. The reason behind them being behind is that we lack good communication with the people. It is crucial in terms of getting information out, hence why we rely so much on the media. Whats the point of paying for the governments water if its unreliable? Ula Solomona, of Etena Fou Mulifanua, raised this question yesterday. The 75-year-old opened up about the water situation in his village during an interview with the Village Voice team. The only problem we have right now is water, he said. Its funny because we have water tanks and we even have access to the governments water unlike other people, but the problem is when our water system gets shut down, it usually takes about a month until it comes on again. This creates multiple problems, he said. So what is the use of having water tanks if it doesnt have any source of water except for the rain? I means if it doesnt rain, then there is no water and the governments water only runs about two to three days a week. If a year goes by without any rain, then were basically living in a desert where there is no water. Ula said they have been asking for help for so long. We have been in this situation for as long as I could remember, he said. The Red Cross Society lend a hand by donating water tanks for every family, which was a good thing, but the only bad thing about it is that these water tanks depend on water from the rain in order to get filled up. And even with the government, they said to pay and now we have paid, but the water access is so unreliable, so what exactly are we paying for? Ula said that when they are stuck with nowhere else to fetch water, their church minister then requests water from the Samoa Fire and Emergency Services. So, what they do is they use their fire hoses to fill our gallons and pots with water. This is a call for help -- for our village because we deserve to have access to water as this is life for everyone. The village of Moataa is standing by its decision to ban a Chinese man from operating a store in their village. Village paramount chief, Asi Semisi Blakelock, said they will not change their village foundation which prohibits outsiders from running shops there. What do you think? Lizzy Hunt had a chance to interview a few people for todays Street Talk and this is what they said. Tai Faapito, Manono I dont think there is anything wrong with the Chinese businesses as they are bringing us help especially that their goods are cheap. With the decision made by the Moataa village to ban Asian businesses from setting up in their village, its good but they should consider that our Samoan people need cheap goods. Pulaau Faamuina, 24, Gagaifo Lefaga I agree that foreign businesses should be banned from being set up in our villages. I have seen and love how our people have so much love and knowledge about what our country owns. I support Moataas decision in banning the Asian stores. These are our lands and our homes and we have the right to protect what is ours. Valeli Esekia, 23, Sinamoga I think its a good idea because the Chinese will end up running all the stores. They open up their businesses and lower the prices until they dominate the market in later years. On the other hand, I also like that the Chinese have opened up a market and stirred up competition. Their shops has created good competition for Samoan business owners. So I agree and disagree. Frank Sua, 22, Gagaifo Lefaga I dont agree with Moataas decision. We need businesses in Samoa so that our country will develop. I know those store are keeping the prices of goods down. How are we going to afford anything to survive? We are complaining about the cost of living being so expensive yet we are not allowing these people to make things easier for us. Tuaefu Toufi, 31, Tuaefu I support foreign businesses because they bring us help. These Chinese businesses make things affordable for people but I do not support them setting up their businesses in local villages. I think they should concentrate in the town area but leave the village shops alone to small business people to run. I think its in that regard that I support Moataas decision. Tapuai Titi, 77, Vailele I see the need for foreign businesses especially these Chinese stores. They are very good when it comes to cheap goods. But I also support Moataas decision of banning them from setting up stores in their village. They should set up their businesses in the town area but not in the villages because thats where our people are living. We Samoans must be smart, we always give our money in buying things from the foreign businesses which makes their businesses grow, yet when it comes to buying something from our own Samoans businesses, we dont. We only buy on credit and that drives them out of business. But with the Chinese, there is no such thing. No cash, no product. Thats why their shops grow. Thirteen-year-old Sean Golding says it was just good timing and his Boy Scout training that allowed him to carry a girl having an epileptic seizure out of the ocean to safety last month at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas. But to Doug Marko, the father of 10-year-old Jacinda JC Marko, there were other forces at work. Sean was an angel. Absolutely, said Marko. He was there in the right place at the right time and with the right training to recognize what was happening and take action. He saved her life, no doubt about it. Advertisement This afternoon, Seans heroics will be honored by the Escondido City Council, when Mayor Sam Abed presents the Escondido eighth-grader with a certificate of recognition at the beginning of its 4:30 p.m. Wednesday meeting. Paperwork has also been filed with the Boy Scouts organization to have Sean considered for a meritorious action medal. Larry Giles, a marine safety captain with Encinitas Lifeguard Division, said theres no doubt that Golding deserves recognition. The department sees about a half-dozen such cases each year and most dont end as happily as this one. In situations like this, even on crowded beaches, people often drown or can suffer serious health complications after just 90 seconds without oxygen. Thanks to his situational awareness, he immediately recognized she was in distress and he picked her up, brought her to an adult and got help. He did everything right, Giles said. On Sunday at Moonlight Beach, Sean and JC met for the first time since the day of the rescue, July 10. She was nervous about returning to the beach and very shy, but she shook Seans hand and quietly thanked him. She doesnt remember anything from that day except waking up in the ambulance on her way to an overnight stay in the intensive care unit at Rady Childrens Hospital. But for her family, its a day theyll never forget. Sean had come to the beach that day with family and friends and was Boogie-Boarding in the surf near the beachs north lifeguard tower. JC, who lives with her mother in Murrieta, had come with her family for her sisters birthday celebration. She has a drug-resistent form of epilepsy and has seizures about three to four times a year. Only once before has she ever suffered a seizure in the water, but a family member was nearby to pull her to safety, said her dad, who lives in Mira Mesa. On that Monday afternoon, Giles said the beach had 4,000 to 5,000 people on the sand and in the water. Even with three lifeguard towers along that stretch of beach, its difficult to spot a swimmer in distress in water that congested, he said. Sean said he was riding a wave back toward the beach when he spotted JC, who seemed to be floundering in water that was only thigh-deep. Immediately, he said, his Boy Scout training kicked in. When he earned his lifesaving and first aid merit badges in Scout Troop 649, he learned to always be aware of the situation around him and to act quickly if he saw someone in trouble. I saw she was struggling to stay afloat so I went over to see if she was OK and she couldnt walk, he said. I thought shed been stung by a jellyfish and seemed kind of out of it, so I carried her out of the water, and put her down on the sand. A lady ran over, and I asked if she could watch the girl while I ran to the lifeguard tower for help. In the meantime, JCs family had begun a frantic search for her. After some confusion an undertow had carried JC a few hundred yards north of where shed gone wading they were tearfully reunited. In all the chaos, Sean slipped away, and JCs family never had a chance to meet or thank him. After learning about what happened later in the day, Doug Marko said he was determined to track down the anonymous Boy Scout. At the same time, Seans parents, Jeff and Michelle Golding, were trying to find out what happened to the rescued girl, who was last seen rolling away in an ambulance. After two days of phone calls, they finally tracked each other down, and Doug and Jeff spoke by phone. Marko insisted on giving Sean a reward, but the Goldings declined. It wasnt about getting a new bike or anything, Jeff Golding said. It was about paying it forward. Maybe someone out there will read about this and theyll be inspired to save another life. Marko and Giles said its helpful for the public to recognize the paralyzing symptoms of a seizure, especially when it occurs in the water and the person can quickly and silently slip below the waves. Marko recommends visiting the Epilepsy Foundation of San Diegos website (epilepsysandiego.org) where child-friendly cartoons depict the symptoms, which include a blank stare, shaking, fumbling, chewing, wandering and confused speech. Sean said hes happy that he knew what to do in the situation and that things turned out so well. He also hopes that the news coverage encourages others to take a first aid class and to act in a crisis. I think the most important thing is that if you see someone around you who needs help, you need to do something, he said. Jacinda JC" Marko, 10, talks with her father Doug Marko during the visit with Boy Scout Sean Golding, 13, left, at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas on Sunday. (Bill Wechter / San Diego Union-Tribune) pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com The school teacher has been identified as Shrawan Kumar, who taught history to the victim, a class 12 student who in her complaint to the police said that the teacher had called her to his home on August 7. By Manjeet Sehgal: In a shocking incident, a government school teacher posted in a Sundarnagar, Mandi, Himachal Pradesh school allegedly tried to molest a student. Police sources told India Today that the accused teacher is absconding ever since the incident. The school teacher has been identified as Shrawan Kumar, who taught history to the victim, a class 12 student who in her complaint to the police said that the accused teacher had called her at his home on August 7 and tried to molest her. advertisement Shrawan Kumar also threatened the girl not to speak about it and had even offered her Rs 3,000 besides and a mobile phone. The student however, managed to escape and narrated the incident to the school Principal Parmanand in the presence of a classmate. Her complaint fell on deaf ears as the school Principal rather than taking any action against the accused teacher tried to snub the victim. The victim finally told her parents who later lodged a police complaint. Acting on the victim's complaint, the Sundarnagar Police booked the accused teacher under section 354A of the Indian Penal Code. "We have registered a case against the accused Shrawan Kumar , who is a resident of Khatarwadi,Chambi area. He is absconding after the incident. The investigation is on and he will be arrested soon," DSP, Sundarnagar, Taranjeet Singh said. Meanwhile, the Deputy Director Education, Mandi Ashok Sharma has placed the teacher under suspension and the school principal has been summoned to give an explanation .The family members have also demanded action against the school principal who did not report the matter to the police despite having received complaint from the victim. This is a second case within last 20 days when a government school teacher tried to outrage the modesty of his student in Himachal Pradesh. Earlier on July 26, a science teacher posted at Government High School Tissa, Chamba was arrested on charges of molesting a student and threatening her. Also Read: Chandigarh shocker: 12-year-old raped while returning from school after I-Day event, case filed Delhi: Man tries raping 20-year-old, throws her off 4th floor when she resists --- ENDS --- A Friends of the Poor Walk is slated for Sept. 9 in Valley Center to raise money for the communitys food pantry run by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. The 10th annual event is part of the nationwide program, which helps local St. Vincent de Paul organizations that give assistance to families or individuals in their community. The walk is the only fundraiser for the food pantry, which is open to needy residents of any faith living in Valley Center or Pauma Valley. Advertisement The food pantry typically receives some food from Federal Emergency Management Agency, but most of the food is purchased by St. Vincent de Paul. Last year, more than $24,000 was spent to purchase items such as beans, rice, soup, canned fruit and vegetables, pasta, tuna, cereal, diapers and soap. About 50 to 80 families come for food each Saturday. The walk will be along the Heritage Trail, a tree-lined pathway between Woods Valley and Cole Grade roads, bordered by wooden post-and-rail fencing. Participants can walk 1 mile or complete the 5 miles round-trip. The walk starts at 7:30 a.m near the elementary school at 28751 Cole Grade Road in Valley Center. Free T-shirts are available to the first 100 walkers who register. Water and restroom facilities will be provided along the trail. Upon returning to the starting point, walkers can partake in free, homemade breakfast burritos, oranges and fellowship. The St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry is at St. Stephens Roman Catholic Church, 31020 Cole Grade Road, Valley Center, and is open from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. each Saturday. For more information, call (760) 749-1883 or email camillemartineau47@gmail.com. Visit fopwalk.org Chula Vista attorneys are expected to head back to court at the end of this month for a trial in a lawsuit filed by a city firefighter in 2014. In his claim, city firefighter/engineer John Hess says he was passed over for advancement opportunities because of his actions as then president of the local fire union. Specifically the lawsuit alleges wrongful retaliation and discrimination, including violation of individual civil rights and liberties for free expression and participation in labor, union and political activities. Advertisement Hess says former Fire Chief Dave Hanneman, with the help of then city manager Jim Sandoval, denied promoting Hess due to complaints he made against the department while serving as its unions leader. In December 2012 Hess was elected president of the Chula Vista Fire Fighters Association, the bargaining unit that represents firefighters, engineers captains and battalion chiefs. His responsibility in that role included speaking to the City Council at public meetings about safety-related issues, and overall advocating for the protection of member rights. Hess alleges he was denied a promotion to captain, improperly removed from the promotional process and eligibility list and subsequently was made to suffer harassment, retaliation and discrimination. The claim states the defendants are liable for up to $25,000 for each violation, the cost of reasonable attorneys fees and actual damages. Hess also seeks the promotion to captain he believes he should already have, according to the complaint. Ed Zappia, attorney for the city and its employees named in the lawsuit, said that in nearly every promotional process, just one qualified applicant is promoted. In John Hess case, other applicants promoted to fire captain positions instead of Mr. Hess were well qualified, and determined to be better prepared and suited for the open positions, Zappia said. Zappia said Hess remains eligible to seek a promotion to captain as the opportunity arises. The pending trial follows a July settlement by the city for $2.1 million in a discrimination lawsuit with former Chula Vista Deputy Fire Chief Jim Garcia. The trial is scheduled for Aug. 28. Green Flash Brewing Co. is expanding into the Midwest with a 10,000 square-foot production facility, tasting room and restaurant in Lincoln, Nebraska, slated to open later this year. We hope to become a local favorite in our new Nebraska home, co-founder Mike Hinkley said in a statement. And were excited to be closer to our fans across the Midwest. Well be sending them fresher Green Flash beer, and hope they will visit us in Lincoln. Established in 2002, Green Flash is headquartered in San Diego. The craft brewer, known for its West Coast IPA, also runs a Virginia Beach, Virginia, brewery, which opened last year. Advertisement The Nebraska location, within walking distance of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will include a full restaurant a first for Green Flash. The eatery is expected to span 2,000 square feet and seat around 100 people. It will feature a menu of simple dishes composed of seasonal ingredients, with food and beer pairing suggestions, the company said. The Midwest venue is designed to help Green Flash become a more nationally recognized brand. The company said it expects to establish regional footholds in key cities across the U.S. Green Flashs San Diego-based Brewmaster, Erik Jensen, will supervise the companys Nebraska production facility as well. The facility will brew both Green Flash and Alpine beers. Green Flash purchased Alpine Beer in 2014. The Nebraska venture closely trails San Diego-based Ballast Points announced entry into the Midwest market. In July, the Constellation Brands-owned brand revealed plans to open a Chicago pilot brewery, restaurant and rooftop bar by early 2018. Business jennifer.vangrove@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1840 Twitter: @jbruin Since North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appears to have backed away from his threat to fire missiles toward the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, the international crisis building on the Korean peninsula has eased a bit -- for now. All the same, American intelligence agencies still believe North Korea now has the ability to miniaturize nuclear weapons to fit on a ballistic missile, and will have a missile ready to reach the U.S. mainland within a year. Its an ugly reminder that North Koreas missile and nuclear programs are not only the most urgent threat to peace the world faces today, but that the timeline for dealing with them grows steadily shorter. Advertisement Fortunately, theres an alternative to either preemptive military action such as air strikes, which could plunge the region into a catastrophic war, or resigning ourselves to a North Korea armed with ballistic nuclear missiles. A Hudson Institute conference held in San Diego last month proposed a new approach backed by existing technology, one that can halt Kims missiles almost as soon as they leave the launching pad. GUEST VOICES: Authoritative views on the military and veterans issues The first step would be for the United States to create a no-launch zone over North Korea. It would declare that any and all missile launches from North Korean territory will be deemed an immediate threat to regional peace and security, and will be shot down before the missile leaves North Korean air space. The second step is to implement a program that intercepts Kims missiles in their initial boost phase. Every large, multistage rocket needs high-thrust booster engines to get out of the atmosphere, boosters that drop away as the missile achieves orbit. Killing a missile at this early boost phase has all kinds of advantages. Since its the red-hottest stage of a ballistic missile launch, its the easiest for long-range infrared sensors to detect and identify. Its also the slowest phase of the launch. A missile in later phases of the launch, such as the terminal phase, gains speed as it closes on its target. Existing terminal-phase missile interceptors -- such as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, the so-called THAAD missile shield being employed in South Korea, and the Aegis detection system on U.S. Navy ships -- cant do boost-phase interception, because they cant detect the launch soon enough. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency is working on a boost-phase intercept system using high-energy lasers, but it admits itll take years to implement. Congress is pushing for a boost-phase intercept system based in space, but that will take even longer and be even more costly. A more efficient solution is at hand using unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones. A rotating drone patrol off the North Korean coast would provide a vital frontline layer of security against missile attack. There are already American-built unmanned vehicles capable of detecting a North Korean missile in boost phase and destroying it with up to four interceptor missiles carried aboard the drone. The unmanned aircraft could accomplish that while being stationed hundreds of miles off the North Korean coast, in international air space at an altitude of 45,000 to 55,000 feet. Conventional fighter aircraft have successfully done boost-phase intercept tests using missiles of this type. Putting those missiles on a rotating drone patrol off the North Korean coast would provide a vital frontline layer of security against missile attack -- while also ensuring that any debris from an intercepted missile falls onto North Korean territory, or into the Sea of Japan. First proposed by Leonard Caveny, former science and technology director of the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, the idea of high-altitude, long-endurance boost-phase interception was the subject of Julys Hudson Institute conference in San Diego. The conference was held at General Atomics Aeronautical, a San Diego-based company that produces unmanned aerial vehicles that could be used in this defense scenario. (Full disclosure: Linden Blue, General Atomics Aeronautical chief executive, is on the Hudson Institute board.) Keynote speakers were the former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, retired U.S. Rep. Duncan L. Hunter, and former Japanese Defense Minister Itsunoru Onodera, who was reappointed to that post less than a week later. The conference brought together Japanese and American engineers and executives and experts to examine the data and consider the options. Their verdict was unanimous: high-altitude, long-endurance boost-phase interception using conventional missiles was not only technically feasible it is the best short-to-midterm solution to stopping North Korean missile launches. Moreover, the intercept missiles 3.5 to 3.7 kilometer-per-second velocity would give the systems on-the-ground operators nearly a minute to decide whether to intercept -- plenty of time to initiate the kill chain. Since all the technology involved has already been tested, Cavenys original timeline for a working prototype was two years. However, with the U.S. and Japan working together on a fast-track development and deployment schedule, that timeline could shrink to a year or less -- and at a cost thats a fraction of THAADs $800 million to $1 billion price tag. No ballistic missile system is ever foolproof. Thats why THAAD and Aegis are still necessary to protect regional allies like Japan and South Korea -- and why development of a laser boost-phase intercept system should still press ahead. But boost-phase interception from drones will add a vital and timely layer of protection both for U.S. and for Japan. And, a no-launch policy serves notice on Pyongyang and its patron, Beijing: America and its allies will never permit nuclear blackmail, and are ready to deploy the technology needed to stop that threat cold. Arthur Herman is a Pulitzer Prize-finalist historian and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington D.C. His most recent book is Douglas MacArthur: American Warrior. He can be reached on Twitter @ArthurLHerman. Guest Voices is always open to new points of view. If you have an opinion to put forth in a column, email us at jen.steele@sduniontribune.com. By 2025, the U.S. Navy will add 20 more warships and 15,000 sailors plus their families to a San Diego region already reeling from high home prices and rents, forcing the community to work together to find solutions, the Navy Mayor said Wednesday. Speaking before the San Diego Military Advisory Councils monthly breakfast session at Naval Base Point Loma, Rear Adm. Yancy Lurch Lindsey, the commander of Navy Region Southwest, urged political, economic and uniformed leaders to forge creative solutions to accommodate a rise in military staffing as defense strategists pivot their focus to the Pacific Rim. There are a lot of challenges that come with that, and thats only part of the growth, Lindsey said. Advertisement The number of vessels and sailors arriving here could grow even higher. Currently the Navy homeports 52 ships in San Diego and Coronado. Lindseys projections are based on previous plans to build a 305-ship Navy. Both President Donald Trump and lawmakers have pushed for a 350-ship force to be deployed over the next three decades. San Diego doesnt have a lot of affordable housing, he said. So how do I dump 15,000 more sailors in this area and expect them to figure it out? I cant. Were doing a lot of figuring out. A lot of planning, looking for creative, innovative ideas to get at this challenge we have, which is: how do we accommodate this growth and how do we minimize the impact on the community we live in? In early March, an analysis by MarketPointe Realty Advisors found that the average monthly rent in San Diego County had risen to $1,748, 8 percent above the 2016 price. The median home price reached $543,500 in June, a nearly 10 percent increase over the 2016 price tag, according to Irvine-based CoreLogic. It was the third record-breaking month in a row. In a 2015 study, the Legislative Analysts Office pointed to a statewide problem with escalating rents and mortgages. The average California home sold for $440,000, about 2 times the national average, and monthly rent went for about $1,240 50 percent higher than the rest of the country, the nonpartisan analysis wing of the California legislature determined. The analysts office blamed community opposition to new housing, environmental regulations, limited land available for development and the lack of incentives for local governments to greenlight housing as the biggest hurdles to slashing property prices. Headquartered near the Broadway Pier, Lindseys command owns a lot of property. It covers 1.4 million acres in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico. Because his staff handles housing, security, port services and medical care for retirees, 83,000 active-duty sailors and their families, Lindsey is nicknamed the Navy Mayor. The influx of thousands of sailors to San Diego isnt his hizzoners only headache. Housing costs are poised to rise at Nevadas Naval Air Station Fallon, one of the globes top air-to-air training ranges. The Navy has pointed to the construction of Teslas Gigafactory 1, a lithium-ion battery maker, for pushing up property prices in rural stretches east of Reno. Lindsey also faces infrastructure problems. The typical Navy building was built in the 1960s. While the Pentagon laid a $1 billion golden egg to erect a coastal campus for Naval Special Warfare commandos in Imperial Beach, he doubts few federal funds to build new bases. Lindsey thinks creative private-public partnerships might help him revamp firehouses and expand childcare facilities, much like Washington, D.C. got a new fire station by selling the property rights to build a hotel. He hopes to break ground over the next eight months on a long-planned development across 14 acres of Navy property near the USS Midway Museum. His command is expected to get a new headquarters building in the deal. In a pitch to area corporations to seize military market share, Lindseys command also now sells advertising space on Navy properties and in publications. For $350, a company can buy a small black and white ad in a movie theater schedule brochure. For $12,000 per year, his staff will lease the right to wrap an ad across a Navy Morale, Welfare and Recreation bus. We were making about $20,000 when we first started doing this and now we make several hundred thousands of dollars off of this, Lindsey said. Its not rocket science. Its just thinking about different ways to get around the challenges and generate resources when we otherwise cant find them. To Lindsey, the Navy must continue to chase champagne on a beer budget, experimenting with private sector innovations to fund military operations. 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 Robert E. Lee Elementary School is officially history in San Diego. The San Diego school board voted unanimously Tuesday night to rebrand the Paradise Hills campus amid a national movement to strip public venues of their Confederate monuments. Pacific View Leadership Elementary School will replace the Civil War general on the marque of the 57-year-old campus. Advertisement The new and somewhat generic name was selected by students and supported by teachers and parents after a San Diego Unified School District committee rejected their first choices, including one to condense the original to its surname: Lee Elementary, African-American abolitionist Frederick Douglass and Archie Buggs, a slain African-American San Diego police officer. Fiftgh grader Stephanie Broussard helped make the case for the new name at the meeting. From our playground we have a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean pacific means peaceful and our school is very peaceful and calm, she said. It represents who we are. Some Lee alums had lobbied to preserve the school name for nostalgic reasons. Others wanted to keep the Lee name out of resentment over a perceived intrusion. Like other school districts, cities and states, San Diego Unified re-examined the modern-day use of Confederate figures and symbols in light of last years mass shooting at a black church in Charleston, S.C. The suspect, who has been pictured with Confederate flags, is awaiting trial on murder and federal hate crime charges. Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, approached the district before the shooting about renaming Lee on behalf of constituents. Gonzalez pushed for neighborhood meetings and co-authored legislation that would have required such name changes across the state. Although Gov. Jerry Brown called the movement long overdue, he vetoed the bill, saying such issues should be decided at the local level. Gonzalez did not attend Tuesday nights meeting but an aide read a statement from her. After more than a year working on this issue, I am thrilled the school district is finally addressing what should have probably never happened: The naming of one of our schools after a figure whose legacy is having led an army against the United States to preserve slavery, she said. The schools new and largely geographic name is a safe selection, one that comes without any political or personal baggage. Still, the choice bothered some community members who volunteered to participate in an exhaustive process that was ultimately scrapped. San Diego Unifieds school names committee met in February and rejected the three final suggestions from the community that followed heated meetings. The committee agreed to recommend that the school change its name, but directed the campus to reconsider new names that didnt include Lee. Rules for naming and renaming schools are now up review by the district, as are scores of other dated school board bylaws, said spokeswoman Linda Zintz. Lee Principal Sylvia Martinez used the whole situation as a teachable moment by developing a curriculum and student-led democratic process for the task. Lee has gone through a real-world learning experience, she said. Gonzalez supported renaming the school for Buggs, who grew up in Paradise Hills and was fatally shot during a 1978 traffic stop. However, she is satisfied with Pacific View Leadership since it was the product of student discussion about history, legacy and role models. She said she applauds the student-centered process that brought us to this point to celebrate another step forward in creating learning environments that are inclusive of all students. Trustee Richard Barrera praised the students for navigating a contentious issue with grace and vision. Lee Elementary School opened in 1959, nearly a century after the Civil War and amid national strife over the desegregation of public schools. Officers of the Stonewall Jackson Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy attended the schools dedication, bringing a portrait and biography of Lee as gifts to a then-mostly white student body. Generations of Lee students living in around the school have been largely unmotivated to change the name in part because of their sentimental connection to it. Some seemed to resent that a politician was pushing for a new name. Still others only knew the school as Lee Elementary and were unaware of its ties to the Confederate general. A district poll conducted in November asked students, families, employees and the community if they supported an effort to rebrand the campus. The results showed opposition from all groups except students. Daniel Smiechowski, who attended all of he meetings about the Lee name, lashed out at the district for ignoring the survey results which he said reflected the will of the community. The majority of citizens of San Diego oppose this name change. I know it. You know it. Everyone knows it, said Smiechowski, who launched a campaign for school board but dropped it before getting on the ballot. Last nights meeting lacked the contentiousness of the other sessions on this issues. Fifth-grader Fabiola Tejada noted all the media attention her schools name has attracted in the past year. I was really surprised it was such a big deal, she said. Our community got so divided. We hope to be reconnected. Pacific View Leadership Elementary School will become the official name Aug. 1 Folks in Southern California may someday be able to ride the Coaster or Pacific Surfliner trains through a tunnel under the Westfield UTC a project that could shorten travel times and include an underground transit station at the mall. Under a court settlement between Caltrans and a small but influential local conservation group, a previously shelved plan to tunnel under University Towne Center in order to bypass the slowest section of the coastal rail corridor between Los Angeles and San Diego is being reconsidered. A legal agreement to explore the idea was quietly inked in January as the culmination of a lawsuit filed by the Cleveland National Forest Foundation that sought to block the widening of Interstate 5. Advertisement Its a big deal, said Duncan McFetridge, leader and co-founder of the foundation. It advances a project that is critical to the state of the art functioning of the (rail) corridor. While the tunnel project has been included in previous Caltrans planning documents going back more than a decade, officials have yet to act on the idea that has been estimated in the past to cost roughly half a billion dollars and instead have put resources elsewhere. The foundations law suit, filed in 2013, alleged that Caltrans $6.5 billion, 30-year North Coast Corridor Program failed to analyze whether projected greenhouse gas emissions from the highway widening project would be in line with Californias targets to fight climate change. The plan spans 27 miles from La Jolla to Oceanside, including improvements to highway, rail, bike lanes and coastal access. The signature element is the $3.5 billion widening of I-5 that includes four new express lanes, two in each direction to serve carpools, buses, motorcycles and electric cars and toll customers. While the court settlement is a public document, the arrangement called for holding off on issuing a news release until the tunnel project cleared several key hurdles, including a feasibility study and a financing plan. Under the settlement, the foundation agreed to dismiss the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot file another legal challenge on the same grounds. Caltrans also agreed to pay the nonprofits attorney fees in the amount of $220,000. The proposed rail project would tunnel for roughly 5.6 miles under Miramar Hill to bypass the slow and winding nine-mile section of track that loops away from I-5, through Rose Canyon east of Interstate 805 and north of state Route 52. The foundation argues the tunnel and a station at UTC would greatly increase transit use in the areas, especially because it could create a transfer point with the 11-mile Mid-Coast Trolley extension thats expected by 2021 to connect downtown San Diego to the sprawling job center that is University City. This is an opportunity for change, and I think Caltrans sees it as an opportunity for change as well, said Jana Clark, board member for foundation, who has worked closely on the agreement. Our hope is that if the tunnel goes in then there would no longer be a need for freeway widening in the corridor. Under the settlement, the tunnel and the underground transit station are contingent on a feasibility study that would look at whether the project is physically and financially viable. To get a green light, modeling would also have to show the project would attract a significant number of riders who would have otherwise driven to their destination. As part of the Cleveland National Forest Foundation lawsuit resolution, Caltrans has agreed to perform a preliminary feasibility study of the tunnel concept, said Cathryne Bruce-Johnson, spokeswoman for Caltrans. The study is in the procurement phase and analysis has not yet begun. An initial report on the project was originally slated to be completed this fall, but Caltrans officials said this key document for determining whether to move forward with the tunnel has been delayed and wouldnt be completed until late 2018. The agency didnt provide further details. We hope to get it started by the end of the year, and we expect it to take a year to complete, Bruce-Johnson said. Caltrans and the countys regional planning agency, the San Diego Association of Governments, have looked broadly at the option of decreasing travel times by tunneling under Miramar Hill, either along I-5 or under UTC, but so far, the idea has garnered little support, said Linda Culp, a principle planner with SANDAG. A tunnel is very expensive, she said. It comes to trade-offs. Our board made a decision to invest in double tracking so we could add more stations, add more trains, in lieu of, say, tunnels. SANDAG is now looking for financing to complete double tracking on the loop, which faces delays along a section of the track where only one train can pass at a time. Twitter: @jemersmith Phone: (619) 293-2234 Email: joshua.smith@sduniontribune.com San Diegos relentless hepatitis A outbreak is showing no signs of slowing down, according to the latest set of numbers from the countys public health department. Posted Tuesday by the county Health and Human Services Agency, the weekly case update bumps the outbreaks death total to 11, three more than were reported on July 28. The number of local hepatitis A cases confirmed so far this year also jumped, reaching 333 from a total of 275 reported 18 days ago. Its a stratospheric total for a disease that averaged only 28 cases per year in San Diego from 2012 to 2016, according to county records. Advertisement Confirmed cases are not the only tally on the rise. Hepatitis A has now hospitalized 232 people this year, up from 38 from the 194 hospitalizations reported in late July. Hepatitis A counts have continued to tick upward at a steady pace this summer, surpassing all totals recorded in the last 20 years, despite increasingly-aggressive public health countermeasures including free vaccination clinics, public education campaigns and increased sanitation efforts among the regions homeless population where infections have spread the widest. Dr. Wilma Wooten, the countys public health officer, said Tuesday afternoon that investigators continue to look for clues that might shed more light on what is driving an outbreak that started in late 2016. The outbreak is still an enigma. We have not been able to identify a particular food, beverage or any other product as being the source of the outbreak, Wooten said. Hepatitis A infections spread through contaminated food, drink, drugs, sex or other contact. Contamination most often occurs, experts say, due to inadequate bathroom sanitation which is doubly difficult for those who are living on city streets. Bob McElroy, president and chief executive of the Alpha Project, a downtown San Diego nonprofit that works closely with the citys homeless population, said the climbing death total underlines the urgency of approving a current proposal, brought forward by local business leaders, to provide temporary tent-based housing for the estimated 5,621 people that were counted as living outside earlier this year. Doing so, McElroy said, would not just put canvass roofs over heads but would also allow for coordinated sanitation and vaccination efforts which are much more difficult to execute when this population is spread throughout the region. Im afraid that this number of deaths may be just the tip of the iceberg unless we get some type of central intake facility going soon so that we can centralize the response, McElroy said. Wooten said 70 percent of those who have been infected are either homeless or use illicit drugs though the county has not provided details on which specific drugs have been most common. Citing privacy concerns, public health officers have also withheld some details on the people who have died during the outbreak. Wooten said that the majority have been men who range in age from 47 to 62 years old. Five of the deaths were among homeless residents who did not use drugs, two more were homeless and used drugs and another was a drug user but not homeless. For the remaining three, Wooten said, no information on residence or drug use was available by the time public health investigators got involved. The median age of all who have become infected is 44. Hepatitis A symptoms include jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes), fever, fatigue, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and dark urine. Because the vaccine for hepatitis A was not added to the childhood vaccination schedule until the mid-1990s, many adults were not vaccinated as children. The county recommends that anyone working with homeless San Diegans get vaccinated, and free doses are available at county health centers for anyone without health insurance. Call 2-1-1 to find the closest clinic or visit sdiz.org for a list of facilities. Health Playlist On Now Video: Why aren't Americans getting flu shots? 0:37 On Now Video: Leaders urge public to help extinguish hepatitis outbreak On Now San Diego starts cleansing sidewalks, streets to combat hepatitis A On Now Video: Scripps to shutter its hospice service On Now Video: Scripps La Jolla hospitals nab top local spot in annual hospital rankings On Now Video: Does a parent's Alzheimer's doom their children? On Now Video: Vaccine can prevent human papillomavirus, which can cause cancer 0:31 On Now 23 local doctors have already faced state discipline in 2017 0:48 On Now EpiPen recall expands On Now Kids can add years to your life paul.sisson@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1850 Twitter: @paulsisson Some members of San Diegos Kurdish community will be able to vote in an upcoming referendum that could eventually make Kurdistan a separate country from Iraq. Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, who represents the Kurdistan Regional Government in the U.S., explained to a full room in an El Cajon community center on Monday night why she believes it is important for the Kurdish diaspora to vote.She fielded questions in English, Kurdish and even one in Arabic. Many in the crowd of more than 130 nodded and cheered their approval, and some said afterwards that she erased any doubts they might have had. We have the democratic right to have self-determination, Abdul Rahman said. No one can deny us that right. Advertisement The referendum will not make a new country overnight, Abdul Rahman said. It will give negotiating power to Kurdish leaders who hope to make a peaceful break from Baghdad. Once leaders from both sides come to an agreement, they will have to take it to the United Nations for a vote, she said. Dilkhwaz Ahmed, CEO of License to Freedom, a nonprofit that supports domestic violence survivors in San Diego County, said that if Kurdistan becomes a country, she would consider moving there once her children finish school. I never was able to say, Im proud of my country, Ahmed said, because its not a country. Country borders for Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey extend through areas that the Kurds call home. Abdul Rahman said that since those borders were drawn about 100 years ago, Kurds have faced persecution and hardship at the hands of dictatorships. Our language was denied. Our history was denied. Our culture was denied, Abdul Rahman said. Weve suffered genocide. Weve suffered chemical bombardment. It hasnt been a happy experience to be part of Iraq. She said that Iraqi Kurds were hopeful that their situation would improve after the U.S. got rid of Saddam Hussein and Iraq wrote a new constitution. Key parts of the constitution have not been implemented, she said. Septembers referendum will vote only on Kurdish territory inside Iraq, Abdul Rahman said. Neighboring countries are nervous that they, too, might lose land to a new Kurdistan if it is successful. U.S. officials have asked Kurdish leaders to postpone the vote until after the Islamic State is defeated. Members of Congress, Abdul Rahman said, are mixed on the issue, but she does not judge the ones who are against the vote. Friends can have disagreements, she said. Abdul Rahman said that because of the turmoil in Iraqs history, she does not believe waiting for a conflict-free time makes sense. The people of Kurdistan have wanted an independent state their entire lives, Abdul Rahman said. So many people have died. So many people were trapped by Saddams dictatorship. So many people have given their lives fighting ISIS, and in their honor, we want to give our voice in this referendum. Peshmerga, or Kurdish military forces, have been heavily involved in the fight against the Islamic State. Iraqi Kurdistan, Abdul Rahman said, has become a haven for groups like the Yazidis who fled ISIS. Many Kurds have themselves fled as refugees over the years to other parts of the world. Abdul Rahman, who took refuge with her parents in United Kingdom when Saddam Hussein called for their executions, estimated that there are between 3,000 and 5,000 Kurds in San Diego County. Hunar Bekhtyar, who attended the meeting with his mother, Sabiha Bekhtyar, came to the U.S. as a refugee in 1976 and has lived in El Cajon since 1989. Even before he heard Abdul Rahman speak, Bekhtyar was convinced that it is time for Kurdistans independence. I would say it is now or never, Bekhtyar said. At least get the idea of the people, see what they want. If they want to live peacefully, they can divorce from Iraq. There is nothing wrong with that. Kurds wishing to vote in the referendum can register electronically between Sept. 1 and Sept. 7 and must submit two forms of Iraqi identification. They will be able to vote online during the Sept. 25 referendum. Immigration Videos On Now New developments in family separation case 9:53 On Now A San Diego woman volunteered as a medic in Texas helping migrant families 2:35 On Now Immigration policy protests in Carlsbad nearly cancelled after permit issue 1:38 On Now When children are separated from their parents at the border, here is where they go next On Now Prospects of a deal for 'Dreamers' may hinge on separating Trump from hard-liners on his staff On Now What is DACA? On Now Border wall prototype contractors selected On Now Video: Ukrainian boxer wins asylum in U.S. On Now 30 apprehended after Border Patrol agents discover tunnel On Now Video: Kurdish diaspora prepare to vote on independence Follow me on Facebook for live updates about immigration news kate.morrissey@sduniontribune.com, @bgirledukate on Twitter The Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday it plans to shut down a program that offered some children and young adults from three Central Amercian countries a chance to lawfully immigrate to the U.S. to join their parents. The decision will close down a portion of the Central American Minors program, established in 2014 under President Obama as a way to slow the stream of minors from strife-torn Central American countries. The program allows unmarried youths under 21 years old from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala who had one parent who had lawful status in the U.S. to apply for refugee status, from their home country. Advertisement If the refugee status was denied. they could still be allowed into the U.S. under humanitarian parole, a way to legally be in the country that is not permanent but must be renewed periodically. In an announcement to be published in the Federal Register today DHS said that it was terminating the humanitarian parole part of the CAM program. Children and young adults can still seek refugee status , but if that is denied the parole option will no longer be available. No reason was given for the change to the program, though the administration of President Donald Trump has made both choking off the flow of youths and families from Central America and tightening the legal immigration avenues a priority as part of its overall crackdown on immigration. A Jan. 25 executive order on border security signed by Trump specifically singled out the abuse of parole and asylum provisions in the nations complex immigration schemes. One section said the parole provisions should be used sparingly and only when an individual demonstrates urgent humanitarian reasons or a significant public benefit derived from such parole. The program began in 2014, and in late 2016 it was expanded to allow additional family members to apply. But that expansion came late in the Obama presidency and because of the length of time it takes to review, investigate and approve an application no one has been admitted under the expanded rules. Earlier this year the State Department said 11,000 people had applied to the program and 2,400 had been admitted. Another 2,700 individuals had been granted conditional parole but had not yet traveled to the U.S., according to Lisa Frydman with the Kids In Need Of Defense, an advocacy group in San Francisco. The announcement said that those conditional approvals are now rescinded. Frydman and others said such a move will likely drive some to make the hazardous journey from Central America to the southwest border and try to enter illegally the exact outcome the program was meant to attempt to curtail. Were talking about children who were found to be in danger, or to fear for their lives, she said. This program was launched really as a way to provide a safe and orderly path for Central American children in danger to arrive in the U.S.as an alternative for the dangerous migration journey. She said the closing the program down will impact thousands of families. This administration has totally slammed the door on them she said. While the program was narrowly targeted on three countries it was still valuable, said Vanessa Cecena, Department Director of Immigrant Services for Catholic Charities in San Diego. The organization has currently one CAM case, invloving a father who is a legal permanent resident from Guatemala who is attempting to get refugee status for three of his children in his native country. Even though this program was limited, many families could benefit from it because of the humanitarian parole part of it, she said. This leaves people without that option. they go back to square one. Twitter: @gregmoran greg.moran@sduniontribune.com By PTI: (Eds: Adding pilot union reaction, fresh details) New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) Senior pilots will now have to serve a 12-month notice period before joining another airline, with aviation regulator DGCA today coming out with new rules notwithstanding opposition from the pilots community. Currently, both senior and junior pilots are required to serve a six-month notice period. advertisement With the new rules coming into effect immediately, Jet Airways pilots union has voiced strong opposition to the DGCA decision while there were no immediate comments from airlines. "It has been decided that pilots working in an air transport undertaking shall give a notice period of at least one year in respect of commanders, and six months in respect of co-pilots to the employer indicating his intention to leave the job," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said. The notice period, however, may be reduced if the air transport undertaking provides a no-objection certificate to a pilot and accepts his resignation earlier than the period stipulated in the amended rules, as per the amended Civil Aviation Requirement (CAR). Provision of this CAR would be subject to the outcome of writ petition pending before the Delhi High Court, the regulator said. Sometime back, a petition was filed against the DGCA proposal to increase the notice period for pilots and it is pending before the court. "During the notice period, neither the pilot shall refuse to undertake the flight duties assigned to him nor shall the employer deprive the pilot of his legitimate rights and privileges with respect to the assignment of his duties," the watchdog said. Jet Airways pilots union said it remains opposed to increasing the notice period. "We seriously object to this new rule. We were opposed to it and we remain opposed to it. We will strongly protest this move along with all pilots from all airlines," National Aviators Guild (NAG) President D Balaraman told PTI. NAG claims to have more than 1,000 Jet Airways pilots as its members. While alleging that the DGCA is favouring private airlines, Balaraman said pilots would go on a mass protest. Two pilots unions at Air India -- ICPA and IPG -- did not offer any comment on the DGCA decision. ICPA (Indian Commercial Pilots Association), a recognised union, has around 600 members, while IPG (Indian Pilots Guild) -- which is derecognised -- has about 900 members. advertisement The DGCA had mooted the proposal in May after various domestic airlines, under the banner of Federation of Indian Airlines (FIA), urged it to increase the notice period for pilots to one year arguing that they put in a lot of time and effort on training them. Various domestic pilots bodies had, however, opposed the proposal on the ground that it is "exploitative" as longer notice period would mean airlines can be "vindictive" to those quitting. When the draft CAR was put up for stakeholder consultations, majority of the respondents had opposed the proposal. Out of the 281 comments on the draft CAR, as many as 278 were against the proposal, a senior government official had said last week. A pilots body had also written to the DGCA on the matter asking it to shun its plan on the grounds that "a notice period is an administrative and HR function" and, therefore, it was a matter between a pilot and his or her airline. The Federation of Indian Pilots, which calls itself a body of like-minded pilots cutting across airlines, had said the existing notice period of six months was itself against international standards of three-month notice. advertisement A global pilots grouping, the International Federation of Air Line Pilots Associations (IFALPA), too had written to the regulator saying the new rule could seriously impact aviation safety. The Canada-based body represents more than 1,00,000 pilots across the world, as per its website. PTI IAS JC RAM ABM --- ENDS --- Once again, a plaque honoring Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy, has been removed from the park at Horton Plaza. The sudden move Wednesday morning by the city of San Diego came nearly 71 years after it was taken down the first time shortly after the plaque was installed amid considerable civic controversy. Back then, the impetus came from a group of Union Army veterans who, backed by a series of front-page newspaper articles, petitioned the City Council to get rid of the monument in the heart of downtown San Diego. Advertisement This time, it was another petition drive and a flurry of social media activity, texts from a state assemblywoman and a quick order by the mayor. It was over and done before most people knew what happened. Without any fanfare, a city works crew removed the plaque from the ground in the downtown park at about 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday. This morning I ordered the immediate removal of a plaque honoring the Confederacy at Horton Plaza Park, Mayor Kevin Faulconer said Wednesday. San Diegans stand together against Confederate symbols of division. The move was similar to hurried actions around the nation, where cities took down Confederate statues in the wake of the violent, white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., on Saturday. The San Diego plaque was once on a large obelisk, but was reduced in size and stature decades ago. It specifically honored Jefferson Davis Highway, a planned transcontinental road that was to extend from Virginia to California. The first time a Jefferson Davis plaque was removed from the plaza was in 1926 after a group of Union Army Civil War veterans protested that it was improper to honor the Confederate president. It had been in the plaza for less than a year. According to the text on the plaque, it was first presented to San Diego on May 12, 1926 by a state chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (California sided with the Union). The plaque was replaced 30 years later. This week another petition was launched on Change.org, but before it took hold, the city acted. When I heard about the plaque, I texted Councilman (Chris) Ward and the mayor and it was removed within a few hours. Glad its done, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, D-San Diego, said on Wednesday. In 2016, Gonzalez Fletcher pushed for Robert E. Lee Elementary School in Paradise Hills to be renamed to no longer honor the Confederate Army general. It is now known as Pacific View Leadership Academy. City Councilman Ward, whose district includes downtown, also praised the Wednesday removal of the Horton Plaza plaque. Monuments to bigotry have no place in San Diego. Thank you to the citizens of San Diego who highlighted this, and to City staff for their quick response to remove this symbol of hate, Ward said on Facebook. Ward added in a later statement: This is a small but critically important step to ensure San Diego remains a safe and inclusive place, and we will continue to confront the symbols and ideology of white supremacy and Neo-Nazism that threaten the values that make our city and country great. Outrage over the white supremacists rally on Saturday in Charlottesville, which turned deadly when a man rammed into counter-protesters with his car, reverberated nationwide. People had initially assembled in Virginia because they were upset about the removal of a statue Lee. President Donald Trump said that both the protesters in Charlottesville a group of neo-Nazis, Ku Klux Klan members, anti-Semites, and other white supremacists as well as the coutner-protesters, were to blame for the violence. His view has been denounced for days by politicians across the political spectrum. On Wednesday, members of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff issued statements condemning racial bigotry and extremism. Some cities across the country had been removing Confederate statues, memorials and symbols or debating whether to do so in recent years. But the process seemed to accelerate after Charlottesville, with the removal of statues in various jurisdictions. Many, like San Diego, did so with little, if any, advance notification, in order to avoid chaos like in Virginia. Clearly officials wanted to avoid any demonstrations similar to what happened in Charlottesville. While it took just a few hours to remove the plaque at Horton Plaza, some efforts in other cities were more elaborate. Tuesday night, Baltimore removed metal statues that were so large that heavy equipment was needed. That citys politicians voted to remove the statues after a public vote and debate days earlier. At 3 a.m. in Los Angeles, workers used a backhoe to remove a 6-foot monument to Confederate veterans from the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. A catalog of Confederate place names and symbols in public spaces by the Southern Poverty Law Center, a civil rights organization that tracks hate groups, has 1,503 entries including 718 monuments and statues and 109 schools named after Confederates mostly in the South. The centers list is not exhaustive. It did not, for example, include the Davis plaque in Horton Plaza. There were two waves where construction and dedication of monuments, schools and other honors for Confederates surged, the center said. The first was around 1900 to about 1920 when Jim Crow laws were enacted. The second was in the 1950s and 1960s during the Civil Rights movement when advocated pushed governments and courts to repeal laws that discriminated and harmed people based on race. The law center takes issue with the argument that memorializing Confederate figures represents nothing more than history. Rather, it ignores the near-universal heritage of African Americans whose ancestors were enslaved by the millions in the South, the center said. It trivializes their pain, their history and their concerns about racism whether its the racism of the past or that of today. The groups research also found that there have been at least 100 attempts to remove or alter symbols of the Confederacy. The San Diego plaque has been controversial since it first appeared. There were no Civil War battles in San Diego, but the city, its harbor, and proximity to Mexico, had strategic value to both sides. Southern California also had a reputation as a hotbed for Confederate sympathizers, so to keep the harbor in the Republics control, San Diego was reinforced with supplemental Union troops and artillery. The United Daughters of the Confederacy supported memorials to denote Jefferson Davis Highway in cities along the route across the country, but in 1926 in San Diego, the situation had another twist that became a local dispute. One of the movers and shakers in the town was attorney W. Jefferson Davis, a distant relative of the Confederate president. The attorney Davis underwrote the granite block that held the original plaque. San Diegos Davis also happened to be a champion of highway infrastructure, and the plaque commemorating the highway once mentioned him by name and his rank in the U.S. Army, in which he served around World War I. It annoyed some politicians who felt he was unworthy of such an honor. One city councilman, Don Stewart, was among them. I offer $1000 for the privilege of erecting a monument to myself in the plaza, bid Councilman Stewart, with mingled humor and irony, according to a front-page article in The San Diego Union on July 13, 1926. Stewart also called the plaza, which had similar memorials, a tombstone for living dead. The Grand Army of the Republic, a group for veterans of the Union Army, also wanted the plaque removed for bearing President Davis name. On July 20, 1926 they passed a resolution that requests the honorable city council and the park commission of the city of San Diego to order the removal from the plaza of the obnoxious obstruction. The text of their resolution appeared, in part, in the July 21 edition of The San Diego Union. Apparently the Union veterans got their wish. Months later, the plaque was removed and the Daughters of the Confederacy and the Jefferson Davis Highway Committee protested. Mr. Davis has no knowledge of the wording of any tablet on the monument. The marker itself was a gift from him to our organization, as he expressed it, in memory of his mother, the greater part of whose life had been devoted to work in connection with local and state organizations of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the group said in a statement printed in a November, 1926 Union article. Its unclear why the memorial to Jefferson Davis Highway was rededicated 30 years later, but when it returned, it made no reference to attorney Davis. The timing coincides with the second wave of memorials to Confederate figures noted by the Southern Poverty Law Center. (The plaque was temporarily removed in 2014 when renovations began on the park, and was returned when it opened last year.) A spokesman for the mayor said there were 10 hearing on the park renovation but no controversy over the plaque. The city will try and return it to the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the plaques original benefactors. Staff writer Roger Showley contributed to this report. Twitter: @jptstewart joshua.stewart@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1841 Davette Gaunt and Christopher McDonald were in the midst of a hot custody battle over their 2-year-old daughter when Gaunt vanished from their home near Vista. That was in 1992. No one reported her missing. In mid-1993, an acquaintance of the couple mentioned to law enforcement that Gaunt hadnt been seen in more than a year and likely had been murdered. On Monday, San Diego County sheriffs homicide investigators tracked McDonald to the small town of Safford, Ariz., where he has lived for years and once played with a popular local rock band. The 64-year-old is now in jail on suspicion of murdering his girlfriend 25 years ago. Advertisement Gaunts body has not been found. She was 32 when she disappeared. We believe the murder occurred in their house and that she was the victim of domestic violence, sheriffs homicide unit Lt. Kenn Nelson said. Its a circumstantial case. We presented it to the DAs office and got a warrant for McDonalds arrest. He said Gaunts mother, reached at her Delaware home on Monday, was beside herself with joy, and thankful that an arrest had been made. Gaunt and McDonald had lived together on Anza Avenue just outside the Vista city limits. They apparently wanted to split up and were fighting over custody of their daughter, who now is 27, Nelson said. Investigators now figure that Gaunt was killed on Jan. 1, 1992. Nelson isnt saying how it was done. He said there is evidence that shows her body was disposed of in North County or possibly Riverside County. In the summer of 1992, a new woman in McDonalds life moved into the Vista house with him, bringing her three daughters. She raised her daughters and his side-by-side. She lived with McDonald until she passed away in 2011. It was well into 1993 that a witness in an unrelated crime case reported to law enforcement that Gaunt was missing and feared dead. Nelson said investigators worked the case, but their scant leads ran thin. Gaunts parents knew their daughter had lived in Vista but hadnt heard from her in more than a year. A homicide cold-case team took a new look at the missing persons case in 2011. They re-interviewed old witnesses, which led them to new witnesses. Witnesses sometimes withhold information initially, Nelson said. Separated by time and distance some are more willing to tell what they know. The further they get from the homicide, they seem to get more chatty. Over the past six years, investigators collected enough evidence against McDonald to get their warrant on Monday and arrest him the same day. Homicide detectives, members of the San Diego Regional Fugitive Task Force, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Graham County, Ariz. Sheriffs Office took McDonald into custody at his home. He was booked into the local county jail and is awaiting extradition to San Diego County to face the murder charge. Leaders of San Diegos Jewish community on Tuesday night condemned white supremacists and hatred in response to the deadly violence that broke out during a rally by neo-Nazis and other extremist groups in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend. Speaking in front of hundreds of people during a forum at the Lawrence Family Jewish Community Center, local rabbis and others evoked the horrors of the Holocaust to underscore the importance of speaking out against hate. I personally know what it is like to be discriminated against, Holocaust survivor Franny Lebovits told the crowd. But to remember is not enough, the 94-year-old Lebovits said. Advertisement She and other Holocaust survivors in attendance were welcomed with a standing ovation. Were sad that theyre here under these circumstances, but were honored that theyre here with us, said Tammy Gillies, director of the local chapter of the Anti-Defamation League. Rabbi Yael Ridberg of Congregation Dor Hadash said her message was one that was simultaneously ancient and urgent. We must not be tolerant of intolerance, she said. We cannot turn a blind eye to what is in plain sight. We, Jews, we remember the cost of silence. Rep. Scott Peters, D-San Diego, also addressed the crowd, echoing statements he made Sunday evening at a unity vigil in front of the County Administration Center. The Greatest Generation did not fight Nazis so Nazis could walk around empowered, he said to applause. And yet, the violence in Charlottesville is a reminder that hatred exits and Americas democracy is under attack, Peters said. Dont lose heart, he told the crowd. The struggle is not over, but were making progress, and were going to win. Rabbi Nadav Caine of Ner Tamid Synagogue led a prayer in honor of Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old woman killed when a car mowed down a group of counter protesters in Charlottesville on Saturday. The suspected driver, James Alex Fields, 20, has been charged with second-degree murder in Heyers death. The event at the Jewish center in University City was organized by the Anti-Defamation League, the San Diego Rabbinic Association and the Leichtag Foundation, an Encinitas-based Jewish organization. Breaking News Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com Phone: (619) 293-1876 Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez A man reportedly disguised in an auburn wig robbed a video game store at gunpoint in San Carlos Tuesday, San Diego police said. The robber pointed a gun at two GameStop employees about 5:30 p.m. and claimed a companion was acting as a lookout outside the store on Navajo Road just west of state Route 125, police said. When one of the employees handed over some cash, the gunman asked for both of their wallets. They told him their wallets were in a backroom, and the thief walked with them to the back, police said. Advertisement The door to the backroom shut behind the employees and locked, keeping the robber out. He left the store when a customer walked in. No one was hurt. Police Lt. Jeffrey Jordon said officers were told the thief was wearing a wig and makeup, but that police had not yet been able to confirm those details. Were going through the (surveillance) video of the store right now, he told San Diego News Video shortly after the robbery. Breaking News Email: david.hernandez@sduniontribune.com Phone: (619) 293-1876 Twitter: @D4VIDHernandez An animal rights group has asked federal regulators to fine the Salk Institute in La Jolla for accidentally killing a marmoset while it was performing neurological research on the monkey. The Ohio-based Stop Animal Exploitation Now (SAEN) this week accused the Salk of negligence in a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which enforces the Animal Welfare Act. The incident occurred on Feb. 13, during a surgical procedure on the marmosets brain. The monkeys temperature spiked to more than 107 degrees while the animal was under general anesthesia, the Salk told the National Institutes of Health in a compliance letter. Advertisement The NIH also helps to oversee the humane care and use of laboratory animals, and it partially funded the experiment that killed the monkey. An investigation concluded that the anesthetic death resulted from a combination of overheating, defective equipment and failure of the research team to monitor the animals temperature per (standard operating procedure) and to seek support from the veterinarians in a timely manner, according to a letter sent to the NIH by Salk chief scientific officer Martin Hetzer. The Salk issued a statement to the Union-Tribune Wednesday that says, in part, The Institute takes such matters very seriously, and promptly conducted an internal investigation into the situation that led to further enhancements to training and monitoring to help ensure we are doing everything possible to prevent a future incident. Like many science centers, the Salk regularly performs research on non-human primates, which are used as a proxy for humans. Such research is particularly common when it comes to exploring the brain, and has been used in the development of therapeutic drugs. Experiments on primates have been condemned by many animal rights groups, including SAEN. The groups executive director, Michael A. Budkie, said in a letter to the USDA: Since Salk Institute negligence has now caused a death, I must insist that you take the most severe action allowable under the Animal Welfare Act and immediately begin the process of issuing the maximum fine allowable at the completion of your investigation $10,000 per infraction/per animal. There are numerous species of marmosets, including the common marmoset, which can live up to 20 years. They are small monkeys that typically weigh 10 to 18 ounces. Science Playlist On Now In a first, scientists rid human embryos of a potentially fatal gene mutation by editing their DNA On Now Space station flyovers visible from San Diego this week 0:55 On Now UCSD's 'ghost drivers' begin testing people's reaction seemingly empty cars 1:29 On Now 10 interesting facts about Mars On Now Kids can add years to your life On Now LA 90: SpaceX launches recycled rocket On Now Big passions, big giving: Malin Burnham 2:30 On Now Big passions, big giving: Darlene Shiley 2:40 On Now Big passions, big giving: Joan and Irwin Jacobs 2:45 On Now Ocean temperatures warming at rapid rate, study finds Twitter: @grobbins gary.robbins@sduniontribune.com The North Korean crisis appears to have de-escalated in recent days, thanks to Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillersons steady, stern response to the rogue nations provocations. Pyongyangs decision to drop a plan to shoot ballistic missiles near Guam, a U.S. territory, was a relief after last weeks global nuclear anxieties. But on Tuesday, the Donald Trump crisis escalated. The president hates the intense criticism that hes faced over failing to immediately denounce the white nationalists and Nazi sympathizers who engaged in violent protests in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday that led to the deaths of three people. His response was to use a news conference to angrily defend his initial claim that both nationalists and counter-protesters were to blame. He also defended the quiet members of a Friday night demonstration in which people chanted Jews will not replace us. Even for Trump, this feels unfathomable. The result could well be more administration advisers following the lead of the CEOs of Merck, Intel and Under Armour, who resigned Monday from Trumps American Manufacturing Council. But on behalf of the American public and the world, The San Diego Union-Tribune Editorial Board implores Mattis, Tillerson, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster to stay. The Trump on display Tuesday so convinced of his infallibility, so comfortable supporting people who march alongside racists needs aides able to rein him in. We need Trumps national security team to protect us from Trump. Advertisement Twitter: @sdutIdeas Facebook: San Diego Union-Tribune Ideas & Opinion A rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, over the weekend organized by white nationalists intending to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee quickly turned into a violent clash with counterprotesters that left one woman dead and 19 others injured when one man sped a car into a crowd. Now Confederate statues and monuments across the South are in the spotlight, including one in Durham, North Carolina, that was yanked down by protesters Monday evening. After Charlottesville, protesters racist and anti-Semitic chants reverberated around the country as photos and videos of men with Confederate flags ricocheted across the national news and social media. RELATED: After Charlottesville, Texas A&M cancels 'white lives matter' rally on campus In the aftermath, Attorney General Jeff Sessions called for a federal investigation, and other cities with Confederate-era statues across the South were thrust into the spotlight again. Heres what you need to know. Whats the story behind the statue in Charlottesville? Police stand watch near the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in the center of Emancipation Park the day after the Unite the Right rally devolved into violence August 13, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) The Charlottesville City council voted 3-2 in February to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The statue erected in 1924 is still in place after a judge blocked its removal while a lawsuit that was filed by a group of city residents who want the statue to remain proceeds. Our focus steadily remains on the preservation of this historically and artistically significant monument of Virginian Robert E. Lee, the Save the Robert E. Lee Statue group said on Facebook last week. This matter will be resolved through the proper channel the judicial system and not in the streets of Charlottesville. A similar protest was held at the statue in May with nationalists holding torches. This event involving torches at night in Lee Park was either profoundly ignorant or was designed to instill fear in our minority populations in a way that hearkens back to the days of the KKK, Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer said at the time. I want everyone to know this: We reject this intimidation. On Friday night, a group gathered again with torches in the dark surrounding the statue ahead of its planned rally Saturday. Have other cities removed statues? n this Friday, May 19, 2017, file photo, workers prepare to take down the statue of former Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which stands over 100 feet tall, in Lee Circle in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert, File) Many city leaders in the South began reassessing Confederate-era monuments in 2015. Critics say such monuments represent an era of racial injustice while supporters say theyre important parts of history. At least 60 publicly funded symbols have been removed or renamed since a mass shooting in Charleston, South Carolina when a white supremacist shot and killed nine African-Americans inside a church. On Monday, crews were working to remove a statue in downtown Gainesville, Florida, as part of a plan that has been in place to remove it. Among other such examples, in San Diego, a decision was made last year to rename Robert E. Lee Elementary School. It is now known as Pacific View Leadership Elementary School. Whats going on with remaining monuments? The events in Charlottesville over the weekend inspired several moves across the South. On Saturday, Lexington, Kentucky mayor Jim Gray announced plans to move Confederate monuments in the city. Sunday, the mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, announced a panel would review the citys public art and make a list of any pieces considered to represent bigotry, racism or slavery. Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh made a similar announcement on Monday saying she wants to remove all of the citys Confederate-era monuments. She hopes to move them to cemeteries in Maryland where Confederate soldiers are buried. Also in Maryland, House Speaker Michael E. Busch announced on Monday that its time to remove a Confederate statue from the grounds of the statehouse. It's the appropriate time to remove it, he said. Leaving it in place after white supremacists openly rallied would send a message that we condone what took place, that slavery is alright. The City Council president of Jacksonville, Florida, on Monday called for the city to begin a process to remove Confederate monuments from public property. I intend to propose legislation to remove Confederate monuments, memorials and markers from public property to museums and educational institutions where they can be respectfully preserved and historically contextualized, Anna Lopez Brosche said. South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster on Monday condemned the violence in Charlottesville but said he doesnt think any Confederate monuments in the state will come down. "We have been over these issues over the years," McMaster said, according to the The Post and Courier. "I think our people are different." South Carolinas state legislature voted to remove a Confederate flag from its statehouse grounds one month after the deadly, racist attack on Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina in 2015. Photos of the shooter posing with the Confederate flag symbol emerged shortly afterward. In Atlanta, Georgia, Lexington, Kentucky and elsewhere, Confederate statues were found to be vandalized over the past weekend. Take a look. Municipal workers attempt to remove paint from a monument dedicated to Confederate soldier John B. Castleman, that was vandalized late Saturday night in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., August 14, 2017. (REUTERS/Bryan Woolston) A statue depicting a Confederate soldier in Piedmont Park in Atlanta is vandalized with spray paint Monday, Aug. 14, 2017, from protesters who marched through the city last night to protest the weekend violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. (AP Photo/David Goldman) A counter protest was held at a Confederate statue in Washington, D.C. on Sunday. Demonstrators hold signs while standing in front of the statue of Confederate General Albert Pike on August 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. (ZACH GIBSON/AFP/Getty Images) The battle continues from city councils to state legislatures. A few examples: A state law kept the city of Memphis from moving a statue of a Confederate lieutenant last year. Alabama passed the Memorial Preservation Act this year prohibiting making changes to standing monuments including those related to the Confederacy. A group supporting the preservation of Confederate monuments applied for a permit to hold an event at another monument of Robert E. Lee, this one in Richmond Virginia, on Sept. 16. This Tuesday June 27, 2017, photo shows the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that stands in the middle of a traffic circle on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va. (AP Photo/Steve Helber) Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @abbyhamblin By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) Leaders from opposition parties, including the Congress and the Left, are expected to attend an event tomorrow, hosted by rebel JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, that seeks to save the "composite culture" of the country. Top leaders of the Congress, the Left, Samajwadi Party, BSP, TMC and other parties opposed to the BJP have been invited to the programme which is being seen as Yadavs show of strength against his party chief Nitish Kumars decision to ally with the BJP. advertisement Asked who would attend the meeting, he told reporters, "There would be hardly anybody from the opposition who will not come". Asserting that "composite culture" was the soul of the Constitution, which Yadav alleged was being "tinkered with", he said similar meetings would be held across the country. While refusing to answer questions on his disapproval of Bihar Chief Minister Kumars alliance with the BJP, the former JD(U) chief said the decision to hold tomorrows event was taken weeks ago, when his party was with the loose opposition group. "The sajha virasat bachao sammelan (save composite culture programme) is not against anybody but in the interest of the country. This is in the interest of 125 crore people of the country," he said. He cited incidents such as the suicide of Rohith Vemula and the disappearance of JNU student Najeeb Ahmed, besides suicides of farmers across the country, to suggest that the situation was tough for underprivileged people. While supporting Prime Minister Narendra Modis comments against violence in the name of faith, Yadav said it was not reflected on the ground and Modi needed to tell his partys governments to follow his dictum. Sources close to him said invites had been sent to Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, Ahmed Patel and Ghulam Nabi Azad among others in the Congress, Sitaram Yechury of the CPI(M), Lalu Prasad of the RJD, Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, besides others. The JD(U), which has asked Yadav not to hold the event, removed him as its parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha when he continued with his campaign against the alliance with the BJP. Yadav was accompanied by Ali Anwar Ansari, a Rajya Sabha member suspended from the parliamentary party by the JD(U), and Arun Shrivastava, recently sacked from the post of general secretary. PTI KR BDS --- ENDS --- After three days of top U.S. executives resigning from a manufacturing council set up to advise the White House, President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he was ending it and another advisory council. Thank you all, he wrote in a tweet. But the story behind the departures couldnt fit in 140 characters. Here is the sad, short history of Trump's two business advisory councils. What are the two councils? The 16-member Strategic and Policy Forum was established in December when Trump was president-elect. A press release announcing its creation stated, Members of the forum will be charged with providing their individual views to the president informed by their unique vantage points in the private sector on how government policy impacts economic growth, job creation and productivity. The forum is designed to provide direct input to the President from many of the best and brightest in the business world in a frank, non-bureaucratic and non-partisan manner. The group included CEOs like Bob Iger of The Walt Disney Company, Toby Cosgrove of the Cleveland Clinic and Jack Welch of General Electric. See the full list of members here. Trump established the American Manufacturing Council a month later when he announced an initiative to boost manufacturing jobs. Trump planned to meet with the worlds most successful and creative business leaders and learn from their experiences. The overall goal was to discuss how best to promote job growth and get Americans back to work again. The group included 28 CEOs from companies like Dell Technologies, Whirlpool, Ford and Johnson & Johnson. See the full list of members here. What did the councils do? Not much, to be honest. Both had introductory meetings with the president like the one in this video with the manufacturing council on Feb. 23. Were going to find out how we bring more jobs back, Trump told the business leaders that day. The White House Read Trump's full remarks from the meeting here. The Strategic and Policy Forum met on Feb. 3 and then again on April, 11 which you can see in the video below. Washington, DC Steve Schwarzman, the CEO of Blackstone who was chairman of the group, said at its first meeting that it wasnt meant for mere discussion but to get things done. We have a full agenda, unlike a lot of other meetings that happen of this general type, he told the group then. Were going to cover some of the immigration things. Were going to cover regulatory, I believe. Were going to cover tax and trade, women in the workplace, infrastructure and education. And in each of those areas, we'll get suggestions, ways to make things happen, happen faster to improve the country. When did the first people leave? Back in June when Trump announced his decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement, Disney CEO Robert Iger and Tesla CEO Elon Musk both announced decisions of their own to resign from the presidents advisory councils. Musk was on both councils, Iger was on the Strategic and Policy Forum. How did the councils disband? After a violent and deadly clash between white supremacist groups and counter protesters in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday, one member of Trumps manufacturing council, Kenneth Frazier of Merck, responded to the presidents response blaming both sides for the violence by resigning. In a statement issued on Monday, Frazier suggested the presidents statement was insufficient. Other CEOs from the manufacturing group followed his lead, including Kevin Plank of Under Armour and Brian Krzanich of Intel. The next day, Trump rebuked his former councilors. But the resignations continued after Trump doubled down on his initial statements on Tuesday, saying that there were very fine people on both sides of the chaos in Charlottesville. I cannot sit on a council for a president that tolerates bigotry and domestic terrorism, tweeted AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka after the presidents third public statement in four days on the Virginia violence. The president should have been and still needs to be unambiguous in denouncing white supremacists, chief executive of Campbell Soup Denise Morrison said in explaining her departure. When the president tweeted he was ending the councils on Wednesday morning, the Schwarzman-led Strategy and Policy group had already held a 45-minute conference call that morning in which its members had decided to disband the group. They told Trump, according to The Associated Press, and he tweeted he was ending the groups before they could make their announcement. Intolerance, racism and violence have absolutely no place in this country and are an affront to core American values, said the statement released by the council. We believe the debate over forum participation has become a distraction from our well-intentioned and sincere desire to aid vital policy discussions on how to improve the lives of everyday Americans. As such, the president and we are disbanding the forum. The New York Times reported that the manufacturing council was expected to have a similar call Wednesday afternoon, but that it was no longer necessary. Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @abbyhamblin While President Donald Trump offered three vastly different public statements over four days on the violence triggered by a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, his four predecessors were far more succinct. The presidents most recent statement in Trump Tower on Tuesday was described afterward as contentious, combative and even a remarkable show of defiance. Both his demeanor and his words were the source of widespread reaction across social media for the rest of the day and into Wednesday, even as a funeral for the woman killed by a moving car at the rally in Charlottesville captured the nations attention. People zeroed in on Trumps defense of individuals who arrived in Charlottesville to protest the planned removal of a statue of Confederate era Gen. Robert E. Lee despite the groups anti-semetic and racist messaging. You also had people that were very fine people on both sides, Trump said. In response, former presidents George W. Bush and George H. W. Bush released a rare joint statement Wednesday morning saying America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms. Other former presidents responded to the scene unfolding in Charlottesville on Saturday. President Bill Clinton said the nation must condemn hatred, violence and white supremacy. But it was a message from President Barack Obama that in some ways overshadowed Trumps widely seen press conference on Charlottesville. The first in a series of three tweets from Obama on Saturday, which included a quote from former South African president Nelson Mandela , became the most liked tweet of all time on Twitter and was, according to Axios, among its top five most retweeted as of Wednesday morning. Even some of Trumps Republican opponents from the 2016 presidential primaries jumped on Twitter to try to point to difference conclusions. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who also ran for president against Trump, directed tweets at the president calling on him to unite the country. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida made it clear he thinks 100 percent of the blame for violence in Charlottesville belongs to adherents of an evil ideology. Ohio Gov. John Kasich did a full interview with NBCs Today Show about it. Its terrible, Kasich said. This is terrible. The president of the United States needs to condemn these kind of hate groups. Watch the presidents full press conference here. Email: abby.hamblin@sduniontribune.com Twitter: @abbyhamblin By India Today Web Desk: Ever since they made their debut together with Karan Johar's Student Of The Year in 2012, Sidharth Malhotra and Alia Bhatt have been linked together. They may go blue in the face denying that they are more than just 'good friends', but they also fan the flames of romance rumors with their frequent dates and getaways. advertisement There were reports doing the rounds that Sidharth and Alia's fairytale romance had come to an end and the two had decided to call it quits. However, when the Ek Villain actor was asked about it at the launch of the song Bandook Meri Laila from his upcoming release, A Gentleman, he had a different story to tell. "Me and Alia break-up? For what? We broke some tables and chairs? Aap toh kuch bhi likh sakte hai, there's no point saying anything," Sidharth told the media. On the work front, Sidharth and Alia will come together for Mohit Suri's Aashiqui 3. Speculation was rife that Alia was unhappy with the film and had only given it her nod for "sentimental reasons". However, she took to Twitter to clarify that she "never ever said anything about not wanting to do Aashiqui 3". ALSO READ: Alia wants to settle down early. What does Sidharth have to say? ALSO READ: Sidharth says his relationship with Alia is too serious to be discussed in public ALSO WATCH: Sidharth Malhotra opens up on his relationship with Alia Bhatt --- ENDS --- RSS and ABVP workers allegedly shouted slogans against the principal Mohammed Yakeen asking him to remove his shoes during the flag hoisting. By Ashish Pandey: In a shocking incident the principal of a government college in Telangana's Nizamabad was heckled allegedly by ABVP and RSS workers during flag hoisting on Independence Day on Tuesday. RSS and ABVP workers allegedly shouted slogans against the principal Mohammed Yakeen asking him to remove his shoes during the flag hoisting. After Yakeen refused to do so, he was allegedly heckled and thrashed after the Independence Day event. advertisement Meanwhile, the college authorities have written to the chief minister, seeking arrest of the attackers. The incident has shocked many and lodging a strong protest Majlis Bachao Tehreek (MBT) demanded immediate action against all those involved in the incident. The entire incident as shot on a mobile camera. The video shows several people hurling abuses and chanting slogans and pushing Mohammad Yakeen, while he was calmly trying to address them. Meanwhile, the Nizamabad police has booked a case under 290 (Punishment for public nuisance), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty), 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language) and others against unknown people and investing. Also Read: Two ABVP members out of party for 'indiscipline' Mangaluru: Two arrested for murder of RSS worker Watch: Telangana college principal heckled by RSS, ABVP workers in Nizamabad during flag hoisting --- ENDS --- This 1959 article depicts Berlin after half the city was under oppressive Soviet control, but before the wall dividing the city had been built. Weekly Newsletter The best of The Saturday Evening Post in your inbox! Join In 1961, the U.S. was both surprised and not surprised when East Germany put up the wall that divided Berlin surprised because it was such a provocative move; not surprised because it was the culmination of years of Soviet strategies to isolate democratic West Berlin. In 1945, the western allies Britain, France, and the U.S. had watched with dismay as, one by one, the European nations closest to the Soviet Union fell under communist control. Then, the USSR closed the borders of each of these nations to keep their workforce from fleeing to the west. The single exception was Berlin, nestled in the heart of East Germany. Following the defeat of Germany in World War II, the city had been divided into four sectors, each under the governance of an occupying army. For years, Berliners could cross between these sectors with little problem. Subscribe and get unlimited access to our online magazine archive. Subscribe Today But then the Soviets began exerting pressure on the other armies to leave. If they could chase out the western allied troops, they could absorb West Berlin into Soviet-controlled East Germany without armed opposition. In June of 1948, the Soviet Union cut off all access to the city from the west. Since West Berlin was a democratic island in the middle of communist-controlled East Germany, the Soviets were able to close access to West Berlin by road, rail, and canal. Determined not to let West Berlin fall under communist rule, the three western allies began airlifting food and supplies into the city. For more than a year, airplanes delivered as much as 8,000 tons of supplies and fuel to the city every day. But the Soviets didnt stop their efforts to isolate West Berlin. In 1952, East Germans, under the control of the Soviets, erected a barbed wire fence between West Berlin and surrounding lands in East Germany. By 1956, East Germany had ended virtually all travel from East to West Berlin. By 1959, when The Squeeze Is on Berlin was published, East German police were detaining commuters on the subway for spot checks. Even more restrictive were the East German guards at the checkpoints between East and West Berlin. In June of 1961, East Germany began building a 91-mile wall between East and West Berlin. By August 13, the border was closed. The Berlin Wall became a focal point for the global struggle between communism and democratic rule. For 28 years, until its fall in 1989, it stood as a monument to rigidity, and a vain effort to prop up a bad idea with concrete blocks. Featured image: Shutterstock Weekly Newsletter The best of The Saturday Evening Post in your inbox! Join For more about Gay Haubners life in the North Country, read the other chapters in her serialized memoir. The Post will publish a new segment each week. Every Duluth organization met over a breakfast or lunch (if not at the clubhouse bar), as parents and kids were expected to dine en famille. If it wasnt Friday, dinner at the Haubners had a large meat component, along with a starch and at least two veg. Gravy arrived at the table often and in a barge. Even though I was a picky eater, I had my favorites: Beef tomato, which my mom had learned to make at a Chinese cooking class she took in Hawaii, and which resembled no Chinese dish ever. It was tinned tomatoes, strips of steak, and green peppers that had to be prepared in an electric skillet for authenticity. It made a brownish soy sauce gravy and was served over huge lovely beds of overcooked Uncle Bens Converted Rice. Chicken and dumplings boiled away for hours on the stove; it made a bland white gravy often served with egg noodles for extra starchiness. There were a few non-gravy menus. Mom rubbed the outside of immense pork roasts with a mixture of spices that made eating the salty crispy fat bits the best part. I failed the see the charms of the boiled dinner ham or corned beef simmered with potato, cabbage, and onions into a uniformly grey mess, but I adored the required accompaniment of brown bread that came in a can bread in a can! thickly sliced and thickly covered with butter. In summer there were hamburgers, hot dogs, and steaks on the barbeque, overseen manfully by my dad (until he moved out and I was assigned to the grill); ketchup was the only condiment although there was usually a jar of sandwich pickles somewhere. Subscribe and get unlimited access to our online magazine archive. Subscribe Today There were homemade chocolate chip cookies and banana bread and a crisp and flaky apple pan dowdy that was made with a pound of lard. I tried not to think about what exactly lard was even as my heart rose every time I saw that blue box peeking out of the brown paper grocery bag. Baked goods were washed down with milk from glass bottles, which appeared a few times a week in the silver Springhill Dairy box on the side of the house, a box adorned with a drawing of a cow who looked very contented. Dinner was eaten in the dining room at 411 Lakeview (the banquette table in the remodeled kitchen was for breakfast, lunch, and the rare occasions my dad brought home take-out Chinese food). Memorable events at that long, highly polished mahogany table include my projectile vomiting as a result of my dad forcing me to eat a boiled brussels sprout (it took years for me to try one again, and even today I prefer them burnt to a crisp). Then there was the dinner party when our long-legged neighbor, Joe Kraft, who habitually teetered on the hind legs of his dining room chair, pushed his balancing act so far that he cracked the legs off the chair. He went sprawling to the floor and my mom flew into such a rage that I fled upstairs to my room. Dinner parties were regular occurrences; Duluthians were great socializers. My mother held weekly bridge parties, setting up card tables in the living room, fixing a special dessert, and arranging tempting tiny nut cups at each place filled with cashews or waxy chocolate Brachs Bridge Mix (Dont touch anything!). My parents, those madcaps, had learned the Twist so they could show off at a dance party they threw in our basement after it had been de-ratted. My parents went out almost every Saturday, leaving Lani and me in the hands of a bored teenager who spent all evening on the phone. Only on those nights were Lani and I allowed to eat in front of the TV, dining on actual TV dinners. I loved the turkey one, even though when you took it out of the oven the cinnamon-y stewed apples were so hot they singed your tongue, while the so-called stuffing nestled under the paper-thin slices of white and dark meat remained ice cold. The upper right compartment of the tin foil tray contained whipped potatoes with absolutely no taste at all, so they were mixed with an equal amount of butter. The sitter reappeared at 10 to pick up the half eaten trays and shoo us to bed, where I lay awake, convinced that Id never see my parents again. When Lani passed the stage where she was enjoyed throwing fits so rabid that she sent everyone around her into fits as well, our parents started taking us out to dinner. There was the Fifth Avenue, with spindly tables and pink and black wallpaper depicting people carrying baguettes, riding bikes, and wearing berets. Every meal there began with a basket of popovers right from the oven, steam rising above the white cloth, so hot that butter melted immediately on them; a burnt tongue was a small price to pay for such loveliness. There was the Flame restaurant, down by the harbor, where they announced the names of ships that were crossing under Duluths famous aerial bridge. The Flame had a short man in a bellhop uniform stationed at the door and an immense and frightening lobster tank. There was the Pickwick, long and dark and medieval, with stained glass windows on the side and a view of Lake Superior from the back. I loved their chicken, with its salty blackened skin, ignoring my mothers You can get grilled chicken at home stink eye. Starting about two months before Christmas, the Pickwick bar offered Tom and Jerrys. A drink named after a cartoon! A Tom and Jerry was warm, heavily spiced eggnog fortified with brandy or rum. I was allowed small swigs; it was the nectar of the gods. The swankiest restaurant was the London House, with cut glass dishes of celery and carrot sticks and black olives, tri-part stainless steel salad dressing servers with Blue Cheese, Thousand Island, and French (I used French by the teaspoon as it was the only one that didnt make me puke to look at it), and baked potatoes the size of cantaloupes, that came with their own servers holding sour cream, bacon bits, grated Cheddar, and diced onions. Everyone got steak or prime rib or lamb chops or fried shrimp. We ate ensconced in huge red leather booths; my parents knew everyone who passed by our table. We girls were supposed to order something not too expensive, eat all of it, and shut the hell up. Every once in a while a tinkle of piano and song would drift up from Tin Pan Alley, a mysterious basement piano bar where children were strictly forbidden. This joint was the favorite destination of my mothers pals Karin Luster and Gloria Hovland, who imagined themselves glamourous chanteuses making a pit stop in Duluth on their way to stardom. Gloria also wrote songs, which she sent out to agents, hoping one of them would catch the ear of Tony Bennett or Perry Como. She was convinced that the music publishers were stealing her melodies and would cock her head like a robin anytime she her a few bars of Muzak. In Duluths bustling downtown there was The Chinese Lantern, which had huge portions of blandly delicious Cantonese food and the best prime rib. There was also the dreaded Jolly Fisher, permeated with a nauseating smell of fish, which made me so ill that I couldnt swallow as much as a french fry. Not wanting to repeat the brussels sprout episode, my parents stopped taking Lani and me along when they ate there, leaving us at home to enjoy our TV dinners. I think our favorite meals were the ones we ate when my dad wasnt home. Pretty much everything tasted good in Duluth in the 1960s: there werent a lot of artificial flavors or preservatives, no microwaves, and the only sweetener was cane sugar. At drive-ins (it wasnt fast food then as it wasnt especially fast) everything was prepared fresh right when you ordered it. Wed sit and wait for our Kentucky Fried Chicken (we would have been mystified by the initials KFC): watching the fry cook in the little paper hat take the pieces of chicken we ordered (Lani and I liked drumsticks), dredge them in batter, and sink them in the Fryolater. We took the waxy bucket home, almost too hot to hold, perfuming the car interior with eleven different herbs and spices. The mashed were real potatoes, the pallid gravy slightly floury, the biscuits were buttery, light, and fluffy, the cole slaw uneaten. I have no idea when everything went so terribly wrong. For my mom to buy Kentucky Fried Chicken we needed ready cash, which was always in short supply at our home. But if we went through all our coat pockets, the couch seats, and the bottom of my moms purse, we could come up with enough change to go to the London Inn and get 15 cent hamburgers, fries, and onion rings. The London Inns parking lot was always filled with cars and teenagers and blasting radio music, all tuned to the same station, WEBC. The onion rings were even better and the burgers grilled over an open flame at Nicks, but Nicks was in the West End and my mother was loathe to drive the 20 minutes. If the London Inn counter was eight deep in teenagers, we would head to the A&W, where a brown-and-white costumed carhop took our orders and returned with a heaping tray of food and once in a great while, root beer floats, which she perched precariously on the half-opened car window. More than once, my mother got splattered with root beer, melted ice cream, and ketchup when she upset the delicate balance created by three heavy glass mugs. The A&Ws floats were good, but there was really only one destination for ice cream: Bridgemans. A dime bought a single scoop cone. A Tin Roof Sundae, with chocolate sauce and roasted peanuts, was eighty cents. Bridgemans had fresh peach ice cream, studded with pale pink chunks of frozen fruit, but only in August. The shakes and malts came straight from the blender in a tall, heavy glass and topped with whipped cream, along with some extra in the silver blender jar to make sure you achieved maximum ice cream freeze head. An evil second cousin had showed me how if you dipped the end of your paper straw end into the malt, you could shoot it up to the ceiling and it would stick. (This was the same distant relation who also gave me a lit firecracker to hold.) I would not have dared to so sully the pristine white and stainless steel interior of Bridgemans. By India Today Web Desk: In an incident chillingly reminiscent of the Malayalam actress assault case, a Telugu actress has filed a police complaint against director Tammareddy Chalapathi Rao and actor Srujan Lokesh for allegedly attempting to rape her in a car, The News Minute reports. A complaint has been lodged at the Patamala police station in Vijayawada. The actress accused the director and actor of trying to force themselves on her inside a car on the way to Bheemavaram in Andhra Pradesh, where they were going for a film shoot. "We were supposed to reach Bheemavaram from Hyderabad on August 13, and I was planning to catch a train. However, the director and the hero insisted that we travel in my car. As we approached Vijayawada, they tried to misbehave with me. When I protested, they assaulted me," she told reporters. advertisement Talking about the assault, she said, "They threw me in the backseat. To ensure that I don't jump out of the car, they drove fast, but ended up smashing my vehicle against a lorry. That same night, I shared my location with some friends, who rushed here immediately. Following that, I have come to the police station to file a complaint." Chalapathi and Srujan first pleaded with the actress not to complain, and then resorted to threats, she claimed. Even though she was threatened that her "career will be spoiled", she decided to be brave and come forward with her story, much like the Malayalam actress. "They said what they did was wrong, and apologised. Then, they said that if I talk about this, it is my career that will be spoiled. They blackmailed me, and said that if I go to the police station and the media, I will not get another film in my career," the Telugu actress said, adding that she hoped that Chalapathi and Srujan were punished by the law. "I want justice and hope that such people are punished by the law," she added. Following her complaint, the police has taken Chalapathi into custody, while Srujan is reportedly absconding. ALSO READ | Malayalam actress pens letter to CM after being victim-shamed: Should I have committed suicide? ALSO READ | How Dileep was arrested in Malayalam actress abduction case ALSO WATCH | Seven detained in Malayalam actress molestation case, rape charges filed --- ENDS --- KINGSTREE, S.C. Williamsburg County Council members promised Tuesday that they will continue to fight the efforts of a company seeking to start a limestone quarry in the county. The council also voted to close county offices early at 1 p.m. on Aug. 21 because of the solar eclipse that day. County Supervisor Stanley Pasley said the early closing is for public safety and to allow employees to experience the eclipse, expected to bring crowds to various South Carolina cities, including Kingstree. About 120 people from the county attended the meeting, many in red shirts with the words Stop the Quarry. Council member Jonathan Miller, who represents the Earles community in the county, where RDA LLC is seeking to put a mining quarry, has said he wants to support the opinion of the people he represents in the affected area. If they dont want the quarry, he will work to see that it doesnt come. Previously, the council voted to seek the counsel of attorneys who better understand environmental law, Pasley said. At Tuesdays meeting Council member Sam Floyd, also an attorney and who had been tasked with seeking proper counsel, said he has reached out to other attorneys, but that no retainer has been made in the countys efforts to stop the business from locating on the land it has purchased. Council members Miller, W.B. Wilson, and Floyd were selected to serve on the committee regarding the quarry and to bring back recommendations to the council. County attorney Billy Jenkinson recused himself and his practice from offering guidance on the quarry matter because a member of his law firm worked on the land purchase deal, he explained to those gathered. Miller thanked the residents for coming to the meeting, and for their efforts of going church to church. Residents have been voicing their opposition to the quarry in recent meetings in the county. In other business, on the recommendation of the finance committee, the council approved paying overtime, the hiring of a heavy equipment truck driver, and the moving of money from two departments into the sheriffs budget, in order to purchase new patrol vehicles. Council member Eddie Woods asked Jenkinson to research and get back to the council regarding the placement of a referendum on the ballot of an upcoming election. Specifically, Woods said he is interested in having the countys voters revisit the matter of county leadership. According to the South Carolina Association of Counties website, counties in the state operate under four forms of government. Six counties have a council form of government, four have a council and supervisor, 34 have a council and administrator, and two have a council and manager. Berkeley, Chester, Union and Williamsburg counties have an elected supervisor and elected council members. Under the council form, council has responsibility for policymaking and administration. Under the council-supervisor form, administrative responsibility resides in an elected supervisor who serves as chair of council, but only votes in case of a tie. In both the council-administrator and council-manager forms, administrative responsibility rests with a professional administrator or manager who reports to the council, the web site said. In recent years the change in the countys style of government has been upheld by voters in a referendum. Woods is seeking to have voters revisit the leadership issue, if the timing is right, he said. Jenkinson said he would have something to council members about the matter by Friday. The council agreed to allow AA meetings that have been taking place in the Lighthouse on Main Street in Hemingway to move into the Chavis One-Stop Center while the Lighthouse undergoes renovations. Council member Andy McKnight asked the Supervisor to look into getting the air conditioning replaced in the Central Community Center in the Central Fire Department on Guerry Road. FLORENCE, S.C. The number of American patriots who fought in World War II is swiftly dwindling, but those still around have stories that can describe gut-wrenching conditions of life during the war. On Tuesday, 17 World War II vets gathered at the Florence County Veterans Affairs building for a luncheon celebrating their service. David C. Phillips served on an LCS that carried Sherman tanks up to beachheads during invasions in the European Theater. As soon as the tread on those tanks hit sand, the gun on top started talkin, he said. That was my duty, to get those tanks to the beach. Phillips said that after a tour of duty in Europe, he was called back to the United States for immediate redeployment to the Pacific theatre. I came into the New York harbor at 7:10 in the morning on July 4, 1945. It was an amazing sight for a 24-year-old kid, he said. I was sent from there to New Orleans and by the time I go there, they had dropped the big bombs on Japan. It was over. William Mouchette was also a Navy man, serving on the battleship USS Idaho in the Pacific. He was docked in Tokyo Bay after the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, just before Japan surrendered. We were so much happier that we were in Tokyo Bay two days before the Missouri pulled in, he said. The captain came over the speaker that morning and said Men, raise anchor. Were going home. That was a happy voice. Eddie Graff is a Navy vet too. He served a tour in the European Theater, finding combat in North Africa, Italy and France. Graff spoke about current affairs said war is not a normal thing. He said humanity should be beyond a point where peaceful solutions are off the table. Back in those days we fought with guns, not any of the fancy warfare we have nowadays. If we went today it would be catastrophic, he said. I dont believe in war. Weve accomplished so many feats, why cant we iron our problems out? Why take lives? By India Today Web Desk: After a gap of five years, Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif are reunitng on the big screen for Ali Abbas Zafar's Tiger Zinda Hai, and their fans are excited AF. It's not every day that you get to see rumoured ex-lovers on screen, but Zafar managed to pull this off when he decided to cast them together in the sequel to the 2012 film Ek Tha Tiger. advertisement When Bollywood's most eligible bachelor romances one of the most beautiful heroines, fireworks are expected to happen. And that is exactly what happened in the 2012 film Ek Tha Tiger, and the same is expected from Tiger Zinda Hai. Katrina, who is busy shooting for the film with Salman in Abu Dhabi, shared a new still from the film on Instagram. And we can't keep calm. The picture shows Salman from the back with Katrina snuggling to him. It's been five years since Ek Tha Tiger released, and Katrina couldn't contain her excitement and shared this new still from their upcoming film. #mashallah #tigerzindahai #5yearsofekthatiger A post shared by Katrina Kaif (@katrinakaif) on Aug 15, 2017 at 11:12am PDT And with this new picture, we are finding it hard to wait any longer for Zafar's film. Tiger Zinda Hai is set to hit the screens this December. ALSO READ: Salman Khan-Katrina Kaif's Tiger Zinda Hai goes to Morocco ALSO READ: Iulia Vantur to join Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif in Abu Dhabi? ALSO WATCH: Salman will always remain an important part of my life, says Katrina Kaif --- ENDS --- MARION, S.C. Organizers Laura Campbell and Adaya Sturkey welcomed dozens of girls to the Flourish Mentoring Program Inc. third annual Power Session & Conversation for Young Women on Aug. 4 at the Marion County Opera House. The free event featured school supplies, mini workshops, power sessions, breakfast and lunch. More than 70 girls attended the event. This serves as our back-to-school event, Campbell said. We have monthly meetings during the year that cover a range of topics. Campbell said the program serves students in sixth grade through their senior year in high school. Sturkey called it a really good feeling to give back. It was programs like this and mentors who made the difference, she said. We want to help provide opportunities. This is year three, and I think the dedication to keeping it going is whats keeping it going. Campbell and Sturkey are flourishing on their own, in regard to academics. Sturkey recently returned from her study at Oxford University and is on track to graduate from Hampton University, while Campbell is a graduate of Howard University with plans to attend to the Medical University of South Carolina. Campbell said the programs intent is to help girls find their purpose. Girls that know who they are and know where theyre going, she said. Sturkey said priorities make the difference, and Flourish is second on the list. We have other mentors who work with us and advisors who are willing to push and make this work as much as we are, she said. More than eight mentors help with the program that includes more than 50 girls. Visit flourishmp.org for more information or visit the programs Facebook page. JOHNSONVILLE, S.C. Approximately 30 girls ages 6 to 18 attended the Girls Empowerment Day Camp on Aug. 4 in Johnsonville. The camp was held at Bethlehem AME Church and included workshops, creating vision boards, question-and-answer time with a professional panel and a special speaker. Courtney Washington organized and directed the event that helped teach girls about their ability to learn and succeed. This was something I wanted to do for the community," Washington said. "I want young girls to know they can be anything they want to be if they are willing to work hard. The focus was to enhance participants self-esteem, grow their character and teach them to always seek God for their lives. Each participant wore a T-shirt that said, Black girls are LIT, meaning Leaders in Training. Workshops emphasized individual learning and empowerment. The professional panel included a nurse, an attorney, a financial loan underwriter and an entrepreneur. The panel encouraged the girls to go after a good education, secure a good job and seek after promotions. They were encouraged to keep their grades up now and in the future to be accepted to a good college or university. One panel member told them to stay in their own lane and not party, compare themselves to others, or be distracted but instead create the life they want. The girls learned that it takes hard work to have the life they want, to always seek after God and to surround themselves with positive people. They were told that they would need to be willing to separate themselves from negative people who might hold them back and keep pressing forward to accomplish their goals. The Rev. Ernestine Blow, a Williamsburg County educator, was the special closing speaker. She taught the girls about the light they carry inside them and how valuable it is and then led them in singing This little light of mine, Im gonna let it shine. The girls echoed her words: I am a leader in training. I am who God says I am. I can do what God says I can do. To see the girls retain the knowledge shared and be empowered by what the presenters offered, showed me that the event was a big success, Washington said. If I was able to touch just one girl, then I see it as a job well done. Washington plans for the Girls Empowerment Day Camp to be an annual event and is looking for a larger venue for next year in hopes of bringing together more girls in the community. Thanks to the Morning News, I once again have an opportunity and privilege to express concerns about an issue that strikes at the foundation of the public school system in the United States of America: the impact of the family and community. Consistent with our nations bicentennial celebration of our Constitution, the November 1976 celebration of American Education Week focused on the theme We the People: Building Schools Together. Although all ethnic groups and women were noticeably absent from the room in which our Constitution was written, it is significant to note that the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Nineteenth and other subsequent Amendments made the We of substance to all Americans. We in education includes all parents, guardians, educators, students, businesses, industries, the faith-based community and other community members in general not yall, they and them. A perspective of the concern Educational research has documented positive school climate, the instructional leadership of the principal, high expectations, an emphasis on academics, frequent monitoring of student progress and positive home/school relationships as the six indicators of effective schools. In addition to the six indicators, equity (the practice of being fair and just to all) must saturate the entire fabric of our public school systems. Yet, of all the indicators of an effective school, I am concerned about home-school relationships as another school year begins. Those of us who, in any capacity, work with young people in education, at home or church see a broad range of successes and failures. The causes of success or failure too often lie in the value systems and habits of those in the environment. Too often students experience problems such as these, which adversely affect their performance before, during and after school: >> Socio-economic pressures of single-parent families. >> Neighbors who do the best they can to establish the right values in their children, only to become harassed and threatened by others who lack self-discipline and/or a sense of respect and common decency. >> An absence of positive adult role models. >> An absence of the will to learn. >> Confusing the pursuit of happiness with the pursuit of pleasure. >> Conflicts between parental expectations and responsibilities and those of the children. >> Disrespect for rules, regulations, persons and property. >> Conflicts between school standards and those standards or absence of standards at home. Despite the rhetoric of what makes an effective school, the reality is that we need to change some habits in our communities in order to get the best results from students. Some parents and other adults need to quit trying to run a guilt trip and embarrass those who not only have goals for success in life but work to achieve them. Being present for work, punctual, congenial, smart, well-mannered, neat in appearance, articulate and any other similar BE-attitudes has nothing to do with race, culture, religious or national origin. Doing that which is honest and decent like the truth will survive anywhere with anyone who chooses it as a thing of value. Students must be taught and led by positive examples. Being a man or woman who chooses to be respectable has more to do with ones character than physical attractiveness. Positive home-school relationships necessitate common goals and expectations. The drive to excel (doing ones best at all times) is an inside job. Students must come to school with healthy bodies, good manners and a commitment to pay attention and learn before teachers can begin their attempts at being effective. The secret of achievers is really no secret. Basically parents take charge of their homes by using their faith and all available resources, including the use of the board of education on the seat of knowledge when necessary, to lead ordinary children to distinction. (This is accomplished in the absence of the physical abuse of any child.) Living in a certain neighborhood does not restrict ones level of ultimate achievement. However, ones attitude and work habits will determine ones success. Do your homework if no one else does their work. Do not worry about being accepted by the crowd. Always remember that doing that which is right deals with truth and ones conscience doing that which is popular pertains to crowd pleasing. The two will often move in opposite directions. The necessity for somebody-ness As parents, guardians, educators, students, businesses, industries, faith-based groups and other community members, we the people must cultivate environments of high self-esteem. Homes and schools have different roles in the lives of children, yet they have a common agenda in which to mold positive images. Do not attempt to fool yourself. How one dresses, acts, communicates and uses that which he or she has been blessed does make a difference. Our does-ness determines our is-ness. However, our is-ness needs to be measured by the moral compass of ought-ness. The feeling of being OK versus not OK, attractive or unattractive, successful or a failure, positive or negative is within ones self, not in any label or name. Our real work lies within our habits in our homes and community. Disrespectfulness, trying to make right out of wrong, not studying all are not smart, regardless of who does it. Doing ones best, wanting to be somebody honest, decent and intelligent is outstanding, regardless of who values the character traits. As long as negative work habits and immoral character traits are the order of the day in homes and neighborhoods, home-school relationships will reap what is sown, despite the quality educational staff and curriculum of a school. Nevertheless, when homes and schools have parents, teachers, administrators, support staff, students and the other members of ones community working together for the good of a strong philosophy and positive objectives for all, negatives will not work their magic on anyones child, at home or school. Several years ago my two sons and I were driving to one of the Santee Cooper Lakes for a day of boating. I noticed a billboard on the side of the road and read it to my boys. It said, Alfred Kelly sells the lake. I told my young boys we may as well turn around because the lake was sold. I still remember their question in disbelief, He cant sell it, can he, Daddy? By now I am sure most South Carolinians have heard about the financial and construction problems affecting the nuclear project in Fairfield County. The SCE&G and Santee Cooper are partners in the project that ceased when Westinghouse, the contractor, declared bankruptcy. In 2007 SCE&G lawyers drafted proposed legislation allowing power companies to recover the cost of new generation facilities before they were finished. Traditionally, power companies could not ask the Public Service Commission for rate increases until the plant was working. The cost to build a new generator is added into the rate you pay for electricity. The lobbyists said consumers would save money in the long run because they would not have to pay for the cost of bonds. Nearly the entire General Assembly voted for the legislation, now known as the Base Load Review Act. As a freshman legislator, I share some blame since I voted for it. I should have asked the lobbyists what the repercussions were if the project was not completed. What I have learned is the act also shifted the risk to the consumer. The shift not only let shareholders off the hook, it rewarded cost overruns by increasing the book value of the company. Had the nuclear plant been completed on budget, this legislation would have saved ratepayers hundreds of millions of dollars in interest payments. As we now know, the plant is not on budget and may never get finished. The legislature must add language to protect ratepayers against project failures. You should not have to pay for something you will never get benefit from. Affected ratepayers are justifiably angry and are demanding to know what happened. Most of the blame, I suspect, will fall on the contractor, Westinghouse, for failing to support the project during construction. Westinghouse will pay only a pittance through bankruptcy proceedings. SCE&G and Santee Cooper management should have exercised more scrutiny before paying for the increased cost associated with construction delays and cost overruns. The project was plagued by work stoppages, burdensome regulations, inconsistent quality, increased cost of labor and materials and cost of debt. SCE&G shareholders must be held responsible for the failed project. No new nuclear units have been completed in the United States in 35 years. This means that the two incomplete units are a pivotal point for future development of nuclear energy in the United States. The failed projects may potentially cause the federal government to abandon nuclear energy as a carbon-free source of energy. A diversified energy portfolio is necessary for energy independence and for national security. Santee Cooper owned 45 percent of the nuclear project with the SCE&G. It is important to understand Santee did not need the 2007 Base Load Review Act to raise rates. The Santee Cooper board has the unilateral right to set rates for the state-owned utility. Because Santee Cooper does not have shareholders, it presents a whole different set of problems caused by the failure and will require a different approach to solutions. At a minimum, Santee Coopers rates should be reviewed and approved by the South Carolina Public Service Commission (SCPSC). This politically appointed commission is staffed by career professionals with the skills and experience necessary to ensure rates are fair and reasonable. To ensure public confidence, the SCPSCs handling of the recent nuclear rate requests should be reviewed to ensure that the commissions own internal policies were strictly followed and its decisions were not influenced from the outside. This review should also determine if the commission has the tools and staff necessary to provide ongoing reviews of active projects. This state agency should be an active and integral part of preventing a reoccurrence of the existing problems. Reviewing Santee Coopers rate requests does not address the current situation. Being a nonprofit, state-owned agency, Santee Cooper does not have shareholders to provide financial relief like the SCE&G does. The state is responsible for outstanding bonds. It is an uncomfortable reality that South Carolina must seriously consider selling Santee Cooper, a once valuable tool of economic development. Even with Santee Coopers tax-free and nonprofit status, the rates have lost their competitive edge. However, selling Santee Cooper outright does not make the problem go away. There is a very real chance that the net value of Santee Cooper is under water, pun intended. This means the state may have to kick in additional money just to take it off our hands. We must ensure that rates do not rise with any proposal. It is likely that selling the individual pieces of Santee Coopers assets will yield the most value. The major assets are its distribution system and customer base, its mostly coal-based generation system, its share of the transmission grid and its property holdings. This last piece concerns me most. Santee Cooper owns and manages Lake Marion and Moultrie. The five counties surrounding the two lakes generate more than $500 million annually in economic impact for South Carolina. Conversely, the hydroelectric generation from the lakes makes up only 2 percent of Santee Coopers total energy. This means the lakes are worth far more to South Carolina than the just hydroelectric generation. The recreational activities and bountiful natural resources of Lake Marion and Moultrie are what make South Carolina a great place to live. Even with Santee Coopers financial problems, we should not be so shortsighted as to allow these economically and environmentally valuable assets to be sold to the highest bidder. These resources must be owned and managed by the state. Getting back to my boys on the boating trip, I dont want South Carolinians to look at me one day and ask in disbelief, Why did they sell the lake? Our lakes should not be for sale. Manik Sarkar, a senior politburo member of the CPI(M), said the present Narendra Modi government was only trying to muzzle the voice of the people. By Indrajit Kundu: Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has called Prasar Bharati's alleged refusal to air his Independence Day speech an "expression of intolerance." "It is thoroughly undemocratic, authoritarian and also (an) expression of intolerance. Ours is a federal country. While our Prime Minister was addressing the people from the Red Fort, Chief Ministers have the same right to address people in their own states on the same occasion," the four-time Tripura CM told India Today. advertisement "This is the experience of our federal structure and people of this state have voted the government in power. So why should it be muzzled?" Sarkar asked. Manik Sarkar, a senior politburo member of the CPI(M), said the present Narendra Modi government was only trying to muzzle the voice of the people. "This is nothing but to muzzle the voice of the people in this country. Which means everyone has to follow one person. We will have to repeat what they say. If you don't repeat, you'll be taken otherwise. Civil right is under attack," he said. Doordarshan has refuted allegations that Manik Sarkar's speech was blacked out. Photo courtesy: ANI Photo courtesy: ANI 'RESHAPE THE CONTENT' According to Sarkar's office, his speech was recorded by Doordarshan's crew in advance, and was scheduled to be aired on Independence Day. However, a letter asking for changes in the speech was received by the Chief Minister's office on the eve of I-day. The letter read, "CEO, Prasar Bharati was also consulted and the collective decision taken at Delhi advises that the broadcast may not go with its existing content." It went on to say that the speech could be aired only if Manik Sarkar agreed to "reshape the content making it suitable to the solemnity of the occasion and sentiments of the people of India at large." Sarkar pointed out that chief ministers' speeches weren't censored even during the Emergency. "You can check the content of the speech. If these issues are not talked about on the occasion of the Independence day, what other issues shall we raise?" he asked. (With inputs from ANI) ALSO READ Tripura CM Manik Sarkar alleges DD, AIR refused to broadcast his Independence Day speech New India by 2022 will be free of corruption, terror: PM Narendra Modi in Independence Day speech ALSO WATCH CPM slams Doordarshan for refusing to broadcast Tripura CM Manik Sarkar's I-Day speech --- ENDS --- By PTI: By Shirish B Pradhan Kathmandu, Aug 16 (PTI) The UN and the EU today signed an agreement with Nepal for an additional USD 1.87 million grant as part of electoral assistance to the Himalayan nation. The grant will be used to provide needful electoral aid to the Election Commission of Nepal (ECN) through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)-managed Electoral Support Project (ESP), the European Union (EU) office here said. advertisement Rensje Teerink, EU Ambassador to Nepal and Renaud Meyer, the Country Director of UNDP in Nepal signed the agreement. "The European Union has already provided financial assistance of 8.4 million euro (USD 9.8 million) for this project in 2012," the EU office said in a statement. This new contribution is part of the basket fund of USD 27.8 million, created to support the Election Commission through ESP. Other development partners of the fund are Denmark, Norway, UK Aid and UNDP, it said. The ESP is dedicated to institutional strengthening and professional development of the Election Commission following the electoral cycle approach, which includes pre-, during- and post-election support. PTI SBP CPS --- ENDS --- By PTI: diseases Lucknow, Aug 16 (PTI) Teams of medical professionals will be deployed in the flood-hit areas of Uttar Pradesh to check outbreak and spread of diseases, once the water recedes, state health minister Siddharth Nath Singh said today. Gonda, Bahraich, Barabanki are among districts that have been witnessing a flood-like situation since the past few days due to heavy rains. advertisement "Orders have been issued to deploy doctors and well equipped medical teams in all the flood outposts set up by the administration in the affected areas of the state," Singh told newspersons here. The minister through a video conference with the chief medical officers, chief medical superintendents and other officials of his department took stock of the situation in the flood-hit areas today. He directed that special vigil be maintained keeping in mind the risk of outbreak of diseases in the flood-hit areas. Singh said that appropriate funds will be provided for the purchase of medicines and other necessary equipment in hospitals. He also told officials that no laxity will be tolerated. The health minister also said that his department will launch a week-long cleanliness drive in coordination with other departments from tomorrow. PTI SAB ADS --- ENDS --- A 21-year-old girl lost an arm in a road accident and is now an "arms dealer" on Tinder. Not really, she is just too funny and everybody wants to date her, marriage proposals are pouring in already. By India Today Web Desk: A year ago, 21-year-old Lauren lost her arm in a two-wheeler accident. The accident indeed desecrated her one arm but her humour seems to bear no scars at all. Lauren is on the dating app Tinder, and her quick bio on Tinder is Jim Carrey high on laughing gas. The 21-year-old in the photo is wearing a pink dress. Well, that's not where things get jocular. advertisement A riot of laughter lies in her job description and bio. And she goes on to mention about her lost arm like nobody else ever can. Twitter: meme god/@MEMESG0D The 'arms dealer' from San Diego, US, is using Tinder to take a look on the other side and honour her body. She called herself "the best catch on Tinder" and we can't help but agree. The girl became a legitimate supernova, a star on Twitter as several handles shared the screenshots of Lauren's Tinder profile. A Twitter user wrote, "I can already tell she has the best personality by her job title." Screenshot: Twitter Screenshot: Twitter In an interview with BuzzFeed, Lauren candidly spoke about her sense of humour and how it helped her to come to terms with losing her arm in a moped accident. "I was going pretty fast on a moped and lost control of it, and I hit the median in the road," she said. "For a while, I wasn't OK with the jokes. But then I started telling the jokes, and it's kind of helped." FYI || Tinder, Ek Prem Katha: This short film about Tinder beautifully captures love, humour and drama || FYI || This woman ignored Olympic gold medalist on Tinder and it's her 'greatest failure' || --- ENDS --- The Wildlife Trust of India launched an elephant roadshow that will go through 12 ranges with the aim of protecting the animal's walking corridors. Environment minister Harsh Vardhan, brand ambassador Dia Mirza and WTI founder Vivek Menon at the launch event in New Delhi on Saturday. By Radhika Bhalla/Mail Today: In a bid to protect wild elephants and their walking corridors across the length and breadth of the country, Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) on Saturday launched 'Gaj Yatra' in the Capital to commemorate World Elephant Day. The elephant yatra is organised by WTI in partnership with the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW). In accordance with the plan, a roadshow will take place through 12 elephant-range states over the next 15 months, wherein local artists will create elephant-size artworks, and Gaj Mahotsavs will be held at various venues featuring concerts, parades, street plays and activities for children. advertisement This year's event was hosted at Teen Murti Bhavan, and the campaign was launched by Dr Harsh Vardhan, Union minister for Environment, Forest & Climate Change, Vivek Menon, WTI executive director & CEO, and Dia Mirza, actor, filmmaker, humanitarian and WTI Brand Ambassador. Chief guest Dr Harsh Vardhan released the 'All India Elephant Census, 2017 Report' along with the 'Right of Passage', which is a publication on India's 101 identified and mapped elephant corridors, prepared by WTI and the UK-based charity, Elephant Family in consultation with all elephant range state forest departments in the country. 200 children from 10 schools across the NCR attended the show, and accompanied the minister on a short walk. Speaking with MAIL TODAY, Menon said, "Space is the biggest problem for wild elephants currently. Very simply, urbanisation is stopping elephants from moving. In at least more than a quarter of the corridors there is some linear infrastructure - either a road, railway line or a dam. In the olden days when roads were built on elephant paths they had other directions to go, but now all directions are getting stopped and that will create a lot of havoc because elephants will kill - they kill 400 people a year and we kill 100, so they are winning the war." Dia said: "Rather than infesting in fixed deposits, we should be investing in our forests because that is where we get our water and resources from, and without it we are nothing. Small changes in our lifestyles - like not using plastic bottles, segregating waste and using animal-friendly lifestyle products can make a big difference." ALSO READ | Elephants being killed in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh for trunk meat ALSO READ | International Tiger Day: These up-close photos of the big cats will roar you into a good mood --- ENDS --- The 14th edition of the event oragnised by UBM comes at a time of high expectations that the local maritime market will heat up again in the near future The upcoming oil and gas round bidding sees a local maritime sector that is confident of an increase in industry-wide business will be forthcoming. Although major ship orders for local yard may be difficult to come by because of the relaxed local content policy being put in place, Brazilian shipyards are excited about the increased demand in maintenance and repair expected from offshore vessels, oil rigs, FPSOs and cargo ships. Marintec SA is being held at the Sul America Convention Center in downtown Rio de Janeiro and attended by major local and international maritime executives, naval commanders and government agency directors. The first presentation of the Marintec SA 2017 was given by Laira Goncalves, director of the merchant marine department of the Transport, Port and Civil Aviation Ministry, who outlined the objectives and results of the investments in the development of the local OSV fleet, port support vessels, cabotage and inland waterway navigation, along with the rest of the maritime industry, by the Merchant Marine Fund (FMM). Laira highlighted that 739 newbuilds of various types were financed by the FMM between 2009 and 2016. The director also explained to the audience how the procurement of local financing is managed and what steps local and foreign companies need to take in order to secure financing from a range of local banks. Another important presentation was made by Jose de Oliva president of the Port of Santos, the largest and busiest port in Latin America. With 16 km of usable quay and 23 km of navigable channels, the Port of Santos is truly impressive. Oliva highlighted the strategic importance of the port to Brazils economy, with as massive 28.8% of Brazils commercial balance, to the tune of $92.2bn in goods, transiting through the port. Oliva also emphasised the developments being made in port logistics and transportation, in order to decrease the time ships need to wait offshore before berthing and more efficient loading and unloading operations. In addition he highlighted efficient truck and rail operations within and outside the port, along with the introduction of expanded use of river barges and more efficient dredging operations, which he hopes will bring the ports operational depth to 16 meters, allowing larger ships to berth. The negative results will be accounted in the transport and logistics business of the group, with the vast majority of the impact in Maersk Line. The container shipping business, however, has continued to project a full year underlying profit in excess of $1bn despite the cyber-attack impact. The 2017 underlying profit for AP Moller-Maersk is also expected to be higher than the $711m recorded in 2016. On 27 June this year, AP Moller-Maersk was hit by a malware known as NotPetya, distributed through a Ukrainian accounting software called MeDoc, used for filing tax returns in Ukraine. The malware had impacted the container related businesses of AP Moller-Maersk including Maersk Line, APM Terminals and Damco. The systems shutdowns at these divisions led to significant business interruption during the period, with limited financial impact in the second quarter, while the impact in the third quarter will be larger due to temporary lost revenue in July. The cyber-attack was swiftly contained on 28 June, while operations for Maersk Line, Damco and APM Terminals started to normalised during the week of 3-9 July. For the first half ended 30 June 2017, AP Moller-Maersk slipped into a loss of $11m, dragged down by impairments and poor performances mainly at the tanker shipping and terminal business units. The loss was due primarily to post-tax impairments of $732m for Maersk Tankers by $464m and APM Terminals by $250m. First six months revenue improved by 6.7% year-on-year to $18.57bn, predominantly due to higher average container freight rates and higher volumes and a 30% higher average oil price, partly offset by lower earnings in the offshore sector. The biggest setback for the group was Maersk Tankers, which reported a six-month loss of $473m as against the gain of $76m in the year-ago period. On the other hand, the largest revenue generator for the group, Maersk Line, returned to the black with a profit of $273m as against the loss of $114m in the year-ago period. Looking ahead, AP Moller-Maersks expectation of an underlying profit above the $711m of 2016 is unchanged despite expected negative impact from the June cyber-attack. By PTI: New Delhi, Aug 16 (PTI) Cadila Healthcare today said its group firm Zydus Cadila has received final approval from the US health regulator to market blood pressure drug, Tiadylt ER. The approval by the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) for diltiazem hydrochloride (Tiadylt ER) extended release capsules is for multiple strengths of 120mg, 180mg, 240mg, 300mg and 420mg, Cadila Healthcare said in a BSE filing. advertisement "The drug will be manufactured at the groups formulations manufacturing facility at pharma SEZ in Ahmedabad," it added. Besides blood pressure, diltiazem hydrochloride is also prescribed for angina and certain heart rhythm disorders, it added. Cadila Healthcare further said the group has also received final approval from the USFDA to market azelastine hydrochloride 137 mcg nasal pray, which is used in treatment of runny nose, sneezing and post nasal drip caused by allergies. The spray will be produced at the groups formulations manufacturing unit at Moraiya, Ahmedabad. With the latest approvals from the USFDA, the group now has more than 140 approvals and has so far filed over 300 abbreviated new drug applications. Shares of Zydus Cadila were trading at Rs 477.90 apiece during the afternoon trade, down 1.48 per cent from the previous close on BSE. PTI RKL BAL --- ENDS --- Bennett Youngbull eyes the winning cake from the Huckleberry Festival baking competition while eating his huckleberry cone. The Swan Lake festival celebrated the native fruit in a multitude of forms. SWAN LAKE - Montana does not have a designated state fruit, but if it did, no one would question the nomination of the huckleberry. From border to border, in gift stores and truck stops, restaurants and ice cream shops, huckleberries can be found mixed into just about everything: milkshakes, lip balm, soap and jam. This weekend played host to several festivals celebrating the small tart berries. On the banks of Swan Lake, hundreds of people ignored the smoky air and showed up to the 36th annual Swan Lake Huckleberry Festival. Its just a great gathering of camaraderie, said Chamber President Diana Kautzman. Its an awesome event for people driving though, and we have at least 20 families that plan their vacations so that they dont miss the Swan Lake Huckleberry Festival. Its awesome. The Swan Lake Chamber organizes the Huckleberry Festival as their only big fundraiser for the year. The funds help the community club and volunteer fire department among others. The Festival kicked off with a huckleberry pancake breakfast. According to Kautzman, an estimated 2,500 pancakes were served, along with roughly 81 pounds of sausage and 25 pounds of ham. Strolling past the griddles over the course of the morning, one could watch the gallon-sized bags of fresh huckleberries slowly empty as more and more flapjacks were flipped. More than 50 vendors ranging from food trucks to photographers were also scattered around the shore of Swan Lake. Huckleberry lip balm, candles and cotton candy were all for sale. One of the most exciting things for me was we have 17 new vendors this year, said organizer Lesly Olsen. To know that we had 17 new inquires about that, that speaks volumes about our publicity gal that tells me the word is getting out. One of the highlights of the Festival was the annual Huckleberry Baking Contest. Sylvia Eliason has organized the contest for the last few years, and this was only the second time she had a kids category. When all the entrants were in, a lucky selection of judges were on hand to sample each dessert and hand out prizes. Its great, its always great, said Eliason. And then we give it all to the fire department and they use it for their fundraisingso thats good. Festival goers had the opportunity to sample the winning desserts afterward. The first place cake, a quadruple layer huckleberry mousse work of art by Heidi Van Diest, went quickly at five dollars a slice. One lucky woman who works as a nurse in Eureka got through half of her piece before she had to save the rest in a cooler for later. I was eyeing it for a while, she said between bites. Then I decided to go for it. Its so rich! The Ashley Creek Ramblers featuring Roy Wilhelm played music for several hours, and after the pancake breakfast was over, the Laughing Horse Cafe took over with street tacos and helpings of huckleberry peach pie. One reason huckleberries are cherished as purple gold is because they are not commonly grown domestically. The berry includes several species (notably Vaccinium globulare and Vaccinium membranaceum) that range from reddish in color to dark purple-black. Most modern day Huckleberry Finn-ders care less about the taxonomy, and more about finding the perfect patch to pick from. Huckleberries are notoriously fickle about where they growthey are native to the northwest, but only thrive between elevations of 3,500 and around 7,000 feet. The berries ripen in July and August which paves the way for late-summer celebrations. In 36 years, the Swan Lake Festival has come a long way from its original form of a pig roast to help the fire department. After three decades it continues to grow in both attendees and community support. Micah Drew, Pathfinder Dean and Connie Grenz dance lakeside. Truly, the best part is the volunteers we work with, said Olsen. Were very, very grateful for all the volunteers we have. Its been a great tradition. Swan Lake Huckleberry Festival Baking Contest Winners 10 & Under: 1. Ani Pena, 9, Lemon cake with huckleberry sauce 2. Cooper Laslouich, 8, Huckleberry muffins 3. Jackson OConnell, 2, Huckleberry cobbler Overall: Heidi Van Diest, Chocolate huckleberry mousse cake Wendi Waite, Chocolate huckleberry pie Isabelle Webb, Cookies a la huckleberry Montana Shakespeare in the Parks presents "Macbeth" Aug. 24 at 6 p.m. at the Double Arrow Lodge Grounds in Seeley Lake. SEELEY LAKE - Montana Shakespeare in the Parks will be performing Macbeth on the Double Arrow Lodge Grounds in Seeley Lake at 6 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 24. The New York Times has said of MSIP, "It is live theater done Montana style. Not in the round but on top of the world." The ten professional actors that will tour with the company were chosen out of a highly competitive pool of about 500 applicants and auditioners in Bozeman, Chicago and Minneapolis. Winslow Studio and Galleries Nate Cheeseman and Aila Peck in "Macbeth." Montana Shakespeare in the Parks is the premiere outreach program of Montana State University's College of Arts and Architecture. Grants, corporate sponsorships and hundreds of individual donors support the free performance. This year, vital funding from the National Endowment from the Arts and one of its flow-through organizations, the Montana Arts Council is under threat. All audience members are encouraged to support the performance in whatever way they can. Major sponsors include: The Gilhousen Family Foundation, The Gianforte Family Foundation, Pheasant Farms, Spectec: Thunderbird International Corporation, Montana Arts Council, Barnard Construction, NorthWestern Energy, D.A. Davidson and Company, KBZK, ERA Landmark, Yellowstone Public Radio, Stillwater Mining and the Spanish Peaks Foundation. For more information on the play and an up-to-date tour schedule, visit MSIP's website at shakespeareintheparks.org. The traveling hippie couple whose camper was towed after they let more than 20 San Francisco parking tickets pile up bailed their vehicle out of city storage Tuesday, with the aid of donors who put up nearly $6,000 after hearing of their plight. Now they say theyre heading back home to the South with their 8-month-old baby and fond memories of the city that helped them out when they were stranded. I love this city. People have been so nice, and I think weve learned a few things out of this experience, Marielle Lowes, 24, said at the towing office while she filled out paperwork to get her recreational vehicle back. For one, Im going to pay tickets as soon as they come in, and for another, maybe work harder not to get them. Lowes, her fiance and their son are bound for New Orleans, where they will stay with relatives at first. Then they hope to rent an apartment or house after they land jobs, bringing an end to their days of wandering the West and following whats left of the Grateful Dead. Lowes and her fiance, Paul Wassell, 28, had been traveling for several years, dropping into Rainbow Family gatherings and gemstone shows Wassell makes jewelry when their journey hit a snag in San Francisco on July 27. Thats the day the city towed the RV from the Sunset District after the couple racked up 27 parking tickets and penalties totaling $2,095. Lowes and the baby, Donovan Wassell, were left on the sidewalk. Wassell was away during the tow but soon rejoined them, and they all found themselves homeless. Theyve been staying on the couches of acquaintances since then. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 2 1 of 2 Amy Osborne / Photos by Amy Osborne / Special to The Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of 2 Amy Osborne / Amy Osborne / Special To The Chronicle Show More Show Less More than 50 people emailed or called homeless advocate Paul Boden, who was helping the family, after The Chronicle wrote about their plight Friday. Soon he had enough donations to pay the fees and fines to get the RV freed. The total tab: $5,878, including the towing and storage costs. People also donated $2,400 to a crowdfunding YouCaring page. Lowes said the family will use it for gas, traveling and resettlement expenses as they make their way home. Mayor Ed Lee, city parking officials and city homeless services director Jeff Kositsky also have spent days trying to help the family out of its jam. The family was cleared to visit their vehicle, Kositsky connected them to homeless counselors and Lee pushed his staff to keep in contact. We are a compassionate city, and we are trying to help, the mayor said. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The outpouring of aid shows that individuals really do care about people, Boden said. They saw something in all of this, it touched their hearts, and they acted. Lowes said she plans to stop first in Houston to visit her mother and get medical care. She is being treated for Crohns disease, a painful inflammation of the digestive tract. I was so shocked at how many people wanted to help us, she said. Everyone was really empathetic; they really cared. Lowes said her hippie traveling days are over now, and she wants to settle down and have a more predictable, stable life for her child. Living off the grid was nice for a little while, but you miss the luxury of living a normal life in an actual house, with the privacy of a yard, Lowes said. Living in the RV and traveling around started to get harder, and felt more like work than being free. Kevin Fagan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kfagan@sfchronicle.com An undercover operation in the San Leandro Marina area nabbed two people stealing items from a vehicle, an arrest that law enforcement hopes will send a message to car burglars. San Leandro police officials said that a few months ago they started noticing an uptick in car break-ins at the marina and increased patrols and public education efforts. A security guard at the Burlington Coat Factory shot a man Tuesday at the entrance to the San Francisco store, police said. Two witnesses, one inside the store and one outside, said they heard four shots, with at least one hitting the 32-year-old man. President Donald Trump's reluctance to issue a direct, full-throated condemnation of the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, continues to be scrutinized for clues to Trump's personal sympathies (his racism and white nationalism) and to his political imperatives (his need to avoid alienating hard-core elements of his base at a time when scandals are closing in and his unpopularity has driven him into the danger zone). But that reluctance should also be looked at against the backdrop of a broader pattern that has taken shape, one that could have serious policy consequences for the country. Trump has been dramatically inflating certain types of threats (those posed by immigrants and migrants from majority-Muslim countries) while playing down or failing to acknowledge the seriousness of other ones (those posed by domestic right-wing extremists and potential Russian sabotage of upcoming elections). Two new pieces make this pattern starkly clear: First, Trump continually exaggerates the threat posed by immigration. The Post's Michelle Ye Hee Lee reports on a new Freedom of Information Act lawsuit that has been filed against Trump's Justice Department. To summarize, the lawsuit seeks to establish whether Trump lied in a speech to Congress this year when he claimed that according to administration data, "the vast majority of individuals convicted of terrorism-related offenses since 9/11 came here from outside of our country." Those remarks were part of a broader campaign in which Trump was pushing for his travel ban, which has now been partly held up by the courts. Trump attributed that assertion to "data provided by the Department of Justice." The lawsuit, which was filed by Lawfare Blog founder Benjamin Wittes, seeks to determine whether that data exists - and by extension, whether Trump invented its existence to justify the claim. Wittes first submitted a FOIA request asking for any communications between the White House and DOJ showing that this data was provided. He hasn't received a reply, so he filed the FOIA lawsuit. We will find out soon enough whether that DOJ data exists. But right now, the claim looks like complete nonsense. Lee, who is a Post fact-checker, did an extensive dive into various data sources that we do know exist and found that they don't come close to supporting Trump's claim. More to the point, however, Lee also shows that this is part of a pattern, in which the threat of terrorism from foreigners has been exaggerated by Trump on multiple occasions. The travel ban itself represents such an exaggeration: It is premised on the idea that refugees and immigrants from the designated majority-Muslim countries represent a major national security threat without more extreme vetting, yet this whole rationale has been undercut by two analyses from Trump's own Homeland Security Department. The still-larger pattern here: As part of his recent embrace of a plan to slash legal immigration in half, Trump has made inflated claims about the impact that low-skilled immigration has on American workers and about the degree to which immigrants drain welfare benefits. If the lawsuit described above does show that Trump invented DOJ data, it will be a powerful illustration of the deep rot of bad faith that infests this administration when it comes to the blithe disregard of empirical information in making policy, particularly on (but not limited to) immigration. Second, Trump appears to be reluctant to confront the far-right fringe threat - and the Russian threat to future elections. NBC News's Benjy Sarlin talked to multiple experts who have concluded that Trump needs to more aggressively confront white supremacist groups who, they believe, have been energized by his rise. They are demanding that his administration roll out a comprehensive plan to try to contain this trend. Meanwhile, a memo from the FBI and DHS that was obtained by Foreign Policy warned this spring that white supremacist groups carried out more attacks than any other domestic extremist group in recent years and "will continue to pose a threat of lethal violence over the next year." To be fair, it's hard to know what Trump's rhetoric tells us about the reality of what is going on in terms of security policy at the agencies. But Trump's rhetorical emphasis matters, too - and in more ways than one. As those experts told NBC's Sarlin, Trump's rhetoric about immigrants and Muslims itself appears to be playing a role in emboldening white supremacists to play a more vocal role - even as his muted response to the latest outbreak of white supremacy, initially at least, also emboldened those groups. And so, the exaggeration of one threat and the reluctance to call out the other one are intertwined with one another. In the background of all this, Trump has a well-documented history of dismissing concerns about Russian undermining of the 2016 election as a hoax. This has forward-looking significance: Our intelligence services have warned that Russia will try again. By constantly dismissing claims of Russian sabotage as a hoax - not just the idea of Trump campaign collusion in it but also the sabotage itself - Trump signals he isn't taking seriously this future threat to our elections. The bigger story here is that this developing pattern is not just significant for what it tells us about Trump's personal views and desire to appeal to certain elements in his base. It also speaks to Trump's policy priorities when it comes to defending the country. -- SOME REPUBLICANS ARE FINE WITH TRUMP'S CHARLOTTESVILLE RESPONSE: McClatchy has a striking report telling us that many Republicans see no problem with Trump's reluctance to call out white supremacy by name: "The Republican base is fiercely defending Donald Trump's response to a white nationalist rally, arguing that the president's dayslong refusal to explicitly condemn white supremacists and neo-Nazis is a matter of splitting hairs . . . interviews with GOP strategists and local officials from across the country reveal that many Republicans outside of Washington think Trump addressed the situation adequately." The article quotes some Republicans saying that, because Trump condemned bigotry "on many sides," that was good enough. -- TRUMP WAS RELUCTANT TO ADMIT A MISTAKE ON CHARLOTTESVILLE: Under withering pressure, Trump issued a statement Monday calling out white supremacy by name. But the Associated Press reports that he didn't want to do it: "Loath to appear to be admitting a mistake, Trump was reluctant to adjust his remarks. The president had indicated to advisers before his initial statement Saturday that he wanted to stress a need for law and order, which he did. He later expressed anger to those close to him about what he perceived as the media's unfair assessment of his remarks, believing he had effectively denounced all forms of bigotry, according to outside advisers and White House officials." Have we mentioned that a big part of the story here is that Trump is incapable of grasping that he might have any kind of obligation to the public at this important national moment? -- TRUMP CHAFED AT 'POLITICAL CORRECTNESS': The Post adds this nugget of reporting on Trump's state of mind, post-Charlottesville: "Senior aides said Trump has long chafed at expectations to bow to political correctness, but they acknowledged that he was frustrated by how he was being characterized by the media." Yep, it's all about him. Always. -- AFTER CHARLOTTESVILLE, FAR RIGHT IS EMBOLDENED: The New York Times reports that white nationalist and other far-right groups are feeling pretty good about where things are headed, and are planning to escalate the activity: "Some were making arrangements to appear at future marches. Some were planning to run for public office. Others, taking a cue from the Charlottesville event - a protest, nominally, of the removal of a Confederate-era statue - were organizing efforts to preserve white heritage symbols in their home regions." Meanwhile, the Atlantic reports that alt-right groups have scheduled more rallies for this Saturday, which will provide a key test of whether the movement is gaining strength in the Trump era. -- A BIG TEST FOR TRUMP AND JEFF SESSIONS: Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which shields "dreamers" from deportation, turned five years old Tuesday. CNN reports that its supporters think it's in real trouble, and here's why: "Ten state attorneys general, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, have issued an ultimatum to the Trump administration - sunset DACA by September 5, or we'll challenge it in court. . . . If the court allows arguments against DACA, the Justice Department would be forced to decide whether it will defend the program . . . The White House offered a cryptic statement on the program's future, expressing only concern with illegal immigration." And so, Attorney General Jeff Sessions will soon have to say whether he'll defend DACA in court, and Trump will eventually have to say whether he favors ending the program. -- STEPHEN BANNON'S FATE HANGS IN THE BALANCE: The Times reports that Trump has been considering ousting chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon for months and that Bannon is in trouble with new chief of staff John F. Kelly: "Mr. Trump has sent Mr. Bannon to a kind of internal exile, and has not met face-to-face for more than a week with a man who was once a fixture in the Oval Office, according to aides and friends of the president. . . . Mr. Kelly has told Mr. Trump's top staff that he will not tolerate Mr. Bannon's shadowland machinations, according to a dozen current and former Trump aides and associates with knowledge of the situation." Special bonus tidbit: The Times also reports that Bannon has argued against criticizing far-right groups too severely, which will shock exactly no one who has been paying attention. -- AND TRUMP IS ALWAYS QUICK TO CONDEMN. EXCEPT THIS TIME: CNN has a good piece looking at all of the times that Trump was very quick to condemn violent extremism by name and contrasting them with his reluctance to call out the domestic terrorism in Charlottesville: "Patience has never been a marker of Trump's response to terror - confirmed or not. . . . Trump has never been overly cautious or shy about denouncing or naming those who carry out terror attacks, often using passionate, angry language to make his point." But in this case, CNN notes, his initial response contained "no mention of neo-Nazis or white supremacists" and "no condemnation of their hateful ideology." What could explain the difference? --- Video: Using dozens of clips from President Trump's speeches, The Post Editorial Board reimagines his disastrous Aug. 12 address. (Gillian Brockell/The Washington Post) URL http://wapo.st/2hZcWIL Embed code This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SACRAMENTO Five state Assembly Democrats who are undecided on a bill to create a statewide sanctuary policy are seeing their faces on full-page newspaper ads that call them out for their reluctance to take a stand on the Trump administrations cruel and out-of-control deportation machine. The ads are part of a campaign by the American Civil Liberties Union of Sacramento, Planned Parenthood of California, immigrant rights groups and other supporters that are pressuring lawmakers to vote for the bill to bar law enforcement across the state from cooperating with federal immigration authorities. SB54 passed the Senate in April on a strictly partisan vote with all 27 Democrats voting in favor of the bill. But there are no guarantees the bill will get the majority vote it needs to pass in the more moderate Assembly. It passed two Assembly committees and now faces a third before it could head for a floor vote in the coming weeks. The Democrats targeted in newspaper ads that ran over the weekend include one from the Bay Area: Tim Grayson of Concord. The others are Bakersfields Rudy Salas, Jacqui Irwin of Thousand Oaks (Ventura County), Sabrina Cervantes of Corona (Riverside County) and Al Muratsuchi of Torrance (Los Angeles County). The members either are considered moderate Democrats or represent districts with large Republican bases. There are a lot of people who care about this bill, said Natasha Minsker, director of the ACLU Sacramento office, which helped coordinate the campaign targeting undecided Democrats. We are pushing lawmakers to make a commitment to voting yes. The ads speak directly to each of the five lawmakers, saying Californians are counting on them to stand up to those who target our communities, while giving a brief overview of the bill, which is called the California Values Act. Spokesmen for Cervantes and Salas said the Assembly members had not taken a position on the bill yet. Efforts to reach Grayson, Irwin and Muratsuchi were unsuccessful. SB54, by Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, D-Los Angeles, would prohibit law enforcement officers from carrying out federal immigration laws, such as helping Immigration Customs and Enforcement agents with arresting, detaining or investigating a person for entering the country illegally. Such protections would not be extended to people living in the country illegally who have been convicted of serious or violent crimes, but law enforcement groups say that exemption still leaves out many offenses. Gov. Jerry Brown, who usually does not comment on pending legislation, told moderator Chuck Todd on NBCs Meet the Press this month that further changes to the bill are needed, and that we're having discussions with the author. The bill expands on policies already in place in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland and hundreds of other jurisdictions across the country where local governments have said they want to protect the public by ensuring their undocumented communities do not fear deportation when reporting crimes. De Leon introduced the bill in response to the Trump administration hardening the countrys policies on illegal immigration, which includes beefing up border security and immigration enforcement. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has threatened to withhold public safety grants from sanctuary cities unless they agree to give federal immigration officials access to their local jails to interrogate suspects and provide 48 hours notice before releasing people wanted for questioning. On Monday, the state and the city of San Francisco announced lawsuits against the U.S. Department of Justice over the federal governments plans to withhold the public safety grants. The administrations xenophobic immigration policies are built on the cynical and false premise that immigrants are primarily criminals. The opposite is true, de Leon said during an Assembly Judiciary Committee hearing last month. Sanctuary counties are in fact safer and better off economically than nonsanctuary counties. Republican lawmakers have uniformly opposed the bill so far, saying Democrats are putting Californians in danger by allowing criminals to remain in the state, while putting the state at risk of losing billions in federal funding. The bill has support from some law enforcement officials, but some statewide associations, including the California Police Chiefs Association and the California State Sheriffs Association, oppose it. We believe this bill provides sanctuary to criminals and it endangers the public, Santa Barbara County Sheriff Bill Brown, the president of the California State Sheriffs Association, told lawmakers last month. Lawmakers return from summer recess on Monday and have until Sept. 15 to pass bills before the end of session. Melody Gutierrez is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mgutierrez@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @MelodyGutierrez This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Maria Mendoza-Sanchez spent her last day in the United States before deportation tending to matters both routine and strange. She drove her 16-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, to the first day of her sophomore year in high school. She packed. She ate meals with loved ones. And she signed paperwork granting power of attorney over her familys affairs to the other two daughters she planned to leave behind, 23-year-old Vianney and 21-year-old Melin. At 8 p.m. Wednesday, the family the mom, husband and son who were leaving, and the daughters who were staying gathered for a last photo together in their Oakland home. Then they formed a circle in the living room, along with three of Mendoza-Sanchezs nursing colleagues at Highland Hospital, to hold hands and pray. Lord God right now I lift this family up to you! proclaimed one of the nurses. Lord God put your hand of protection on these girls! When the circle broke, Maria gathered her daughters into her arms, and said, firmly, You promise you be strong. You behave yourselves. You do the right thing. We will be together again! I promise you. Her husband stood a few feet away, wiping tears from his eyes, shaking his head at the scene as Vianney repeated, over and over, Itll be OK, itll be OK. Hours later, Mendoza-Sanchez and her husband, Eusebio Sanchez, caught a red-eye flight from San Francisco International Airport to their native Mexico, after federal immigration officials denied efforts by them and Sen. Dianne Feinstein to delay their deportation. They brought along their 12-year-old son, Jesus, while leaving behind their three older daughters, who will take care of one another. The circumstances of the case, which offer a window into the Trump administrations immigration crackdown, fueled outrage from Feinstein, other local politicians and leaders at Highland Hospital. The couple lived in the U.S. for more than two decades, raised children who each have legal status, own their home in Oakland, do not have criminal records, and were granted earlier delays of deportation. The family had pushed back the flight one day in hopes of winning a late reprieve from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, known as ICE. But the agency on Tuesday turned down their request for a stay of deportation. An agency spokeswoman defended the deportation action last week, saying the familys case had gone through a lengthy review in immigration courts and neither of these individuals has a legal basis to remain in the U.S. And so, on Wednesday afternoon, Mendoza-Sanchez sat in her dim living room staring at suitcases and backpacks that lined the floor, exhausted after months of fighting. Her neighbor Yolanda Delahoussaye suddenly burst through the front door. Im praying for you, she said, embracing Mendoza-Sanchez. Referring to the governments expanded immigration enforcement, she said, You guys are the best people! I thought they were getting rid of all of the evil people? Delahoussaye recalled that the family had been the only one in the neighborhood to make a point of telling her theyd be there if she ever needed anything. Melin, who was born in the U.S. and is about to begin her senior year at UC Santa Cruz, stood in the corner, sobbing. Theyre not evil! Delahoussaye exclaimed. It was Sen. Feinstein who told Mendoza-Sanchez that the late legal push had fallen short. On Wednesday, the California Democrat, who visited the family last week after reading a front-page Chronicle story about the case, said the Trump administrations decision to deny a delay in the deportation was utterly devoid of humanity. This is a travesty, plain and simple, and evidence that Donald Trumps immigration policy is nothing more than a hateful deportation program targeting law-abiding families, Feinstein said. She said she would introduce a private bill in September to help the family gain permanent residence. However, such bills are rarely signed into law. Mendoza-Sanchez, her husband and Jesus, who is an American citizen by birth, planned to land Thursday morning in Mexico City, and then continue on to a rural town where Mendoza-Sanchez has three sisters and a brother. She hadnt seen them in years, but had long been their financial bedrock, sending money when her father, who died five years ago, was sick, and when her mother also fell ill. An attorney for the couple, Carl Shusterman, said their path back to the U.S. was essentially blocked. Because they had been present in the country unlawfully for more than a year, they cannot return for at least a decade, even if their daughters or Highland Hospital seeks to sponsor them. I think its very sad that people who are model immigrants are not given consideration, Shusterman said Wednesday. It is a one-size-fits-all deportation policy. The three daughters will remain in the Oakland home. Vianney, a UC Santa Cruz graduate who is protected by the governments Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, will become the primary guardian of Elizabeth. When the teenager returned from school Wednesday, her mother asked, How was your day? and then motioned for her to sit next to her and tell her everything that happened. They knew such future conversations would happen only in phone calls. The daughters knew as well that they were losing a strong-willed parent who volunteered in their classes, hired tutors to help them and presided over the home, all the while working 12-hour hospital shifts. Mendoza-Sanchez often told her daughters, If you have a will, I will find a way. They were also losing a father who, when he wasnt driving trucks, took them to movies, amusement parks and dinners at their favorite Mexican restaurant. Amid the grief of the week, there were still light moments, like Vianney staying up Tuesday night with Jesus watching Netflix Cheers reruns and the movie Iron Giant while she filled out paperwork. On Wednesday afternoon, Mendoza-Sanchez held court, recounting for her children how she and their father started as friends in their tiny Mexican town and became an item years later. They all laughed as Mendoza-Sanchez described a period of long-distance love, kindled by phone calls and letters, before they moved in together. I still have the letters! she said. And before they left for the airport, Eusebio sat at his kitchen table and devoured an In-N-Out cheeseburger no onions with fries. I dont know the next time Ill get one of these, he said. When it finally came, the ride to the airport was quiet. In the terminal, the family, joined by three nursing colleagues one in scrubs because she came straight from work pushed carts packed with luggage amid a phalanx of television crews. At one point, they crossed through the arrivals area, where other families were reuniting with balloons and flowers. Just before 10:30 p.m., at the security checkpoint, Mendoza-Sanchez and her husband held each of their children one final time. Mendoza-Sanchez wiped away her daughters tears, lifting stray hairs from their damp faces. Before she walked away, she traced a cross on each of them and whispered in their ears. Promise me you will take care of them and be patient with them, she told Vianney. We will see each other very soon. The couple walked away, but then the father turned back and grabbed his daughters, saying, Dont cry. Be strong. Be strong. You guys are here for each other. You guys can do it. Amid the anguish, Vianney slipped two letters in her mothers purse one in English for her, the other in Spanish for her father. Im grateful for all your sacrifices, Mom. That is why Im going to look after my little sisters, she wrote. I will work hard so we can see each other soon. This is not a goodbye, this is a see you later. Hamed Aleaziz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @haleaziz This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate In the wake of last weekends violent protests in Charlottesville, Va., a coordinated wave of anti-Google demonstrations planned around the country for Saturday has been postponed because of threats the group allegedly received, according to the organizer. The March on Google, organized by Jack Posobiec, a controversial online personality with a large far-right following, was to take place in nine cities, including Mountain View, the companys headquarters. In one instance, Posobiec claimed, an Alt Left terrorist group threatened to drive an automobile into Saturdays march an echo of a fatal incident in Charlottesville. Officials from seven cities, including Mountain View, Washington and Pittsburgh, said they were unaware of any such threats. The Mountain View Police Department said that out of an abundance of caution, it will provide more security around Charleston Park next to Google headquarters, where a rally was scheduled, as well as at City Hall, the site of a planned counterprotest. Plans for the march were made last week in response to the firing of Google software engineer James Damore, who wrote a memo suggesting that men are more biologically suited to pursue careers in coding than women. Google executives said that his memo may have violated company policies and the law. Even before the cancellation, the event appeared to have little support among its intended audience. As of Wednesday afternoon, only about 40 people had indicated on Facebook that they intended to participate a paltry number compared with the droves of people that participated in the Unite the Right rally and counterprotests in Charlottesville. According to officials in eight of the nine cities where protests were planned, including Mountain View, organizers did not apply for a permit. Permits are often required for demonstrations that are expected to attract a significant number of people. Still, some residents of the Peninsula city feared that the march could result in a tense confrontation, with people driving from as far away as the Central Valley to express opposition to Googles diversity policies. Critics of the march argued that that stance could bleed over into the white-supremacist views supported by participants in the Charlottesville protest, which began Friday night in opposition to the Virginia citys decision to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and escalated Saturday into a bloody clash. Heather Heyer, 32, died after she was hit by a car that plowed into a crowd of those rallying against the extreme-right march. The driver, James Alex Fields Jr., 20, has been charged with second-degree murder. While the March on Google was planned before the Charlottesville demonstrations, it was clearly difficult for Posobiec to distance this movement from white supremacists, despite his attempts to do so. On Monday, Posobiec wrote that messages that are designed to incite anger, hate, or violence would not be tolerated at the march. Posobiec is a well known right-wing media figure with a significant audience on social media. He has been known to push conspiracy theories such as Pizzagate a false theory that top Democrats were involved in a child sex-trafficking ring in Washington and worked for the Rebel, a conservative website. Posobiec said he was in the process of applying for the permits but that after the Charlottesville demonstrations, he decided to change course. Mountain View Vice Mayor Lenny Siegel was skeptical about the March on Googles intent. I see this protest as an opportunistic way to build the right wing under the guise of promoting free speech, Siegel said. Siegel has been helping to organize an alternative event to the anti-Google demonstration, held at the same time at Civic Center Plaza in Mountain View, about 3 miles from the Google campus. Siegel said his event, which will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday despite the March on Googles postponement, is under the auspices of Mountain View Voices for Peace and Justice, and is not an official city event. Organizers have applied for a city permit and plan to offer an open microphone. The reason to hold the event is to reject the emergence of these far-right-wing people coming out of their shells, and rejecting their message, said Siegel. Wendy Lee and Trisha Thadani are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: wlee@sfchronicle.com, tthadani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @thewendylee, @trishathadani Wells Fargo says Elizabeth Duke will become its chairwoman next year, making her the first woman to hold the position at a major Wall Street bank. The bank said Tuesday that Duke will replace Stephen Sanger on Jan. 1. Sanger took over as independent chairman late last year after John Stumpf, Wells Fargos then CEO and chairman, abruptly resigned in the aftermath of the banks sales practices scandal. While Sanger was applauded for the sales-scandal investigation, investors said he and the board shared some responsibility for how Wells Fargo operated in the years before the scandal broke. The San Francisco bank said that retired PricewaterhouseCooper executive Juan Pujadas will join the board. Cynthia Milligan and Susan Swenson will retire from the board at the end of this year and the bank will add three independent directors. Airlines Air Berlin files for bankruptcy Germanys second-largest carrier, Air Berlin, is filing for bankruptcy protection after its main shareholder, Abu Dhabi-based Etihad of Abu Dhabi, said it would make no more financing available. The airline said Tuesday that after Etihad pulled funding, it came to the conclusion that there was no further positive way ahead for Air Berlin. To allay travelers fears that they could be stranded on summer holiday, the German government immediately said it would provide a loan of $177 million so the airline it can continue flights for the time being. Were in a time when many tens of thousands of travelers and vacationers are in multiple international holiday spots, the Economy and Transport ministries said. The return flights of these travelers back to Germany with Air Berlin would not have been otherwise possible. Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries told reporters the money was expected to last for three months. The union representing workers called it a severe blow for the more-than 7,000 employees of Air Berlin. Air Berlin has been posting losses for years. It has been restructuring and has been kept aloft by Etihad, which holds a 29.2 percent stake. Retail Costco must pay Tiffany A federal judge has ordered Costco to pay Tiffany more than $19 million for selling generic diamond rings that were marketed using Tiffanys name. Judge Laura Taylor Swain ruled this week that Tiffany is entitled to $11.1 million for trademark infringement, plus interest, and $8.25 million in punitive damages, which was awarded by a jury in October. Swain also permanently prohibited Costco from using the term Tiffany to market its products. The 2013 lawsuit said Tiffany has never sold nor would it ever sell its fine jewelry through an off-price warehouse retailer like Costco. Chronicle News Services State regulators have issued $200,000 in penalties against the health insurer Health Net for violating antidiscrimination laws by denying coverage to several patients who sought gender reassignment surgery. It is the first time the California Department of Managed Health Care, which regulates HMO plans in the state, has issued an enforcement action against an insurer for violating the Insurance Gender Nondiscrimination Act, a department spokesman said. The state law, which took effect in 2012, prohibits health plans from discriminating against people based on gender identity or expression. The agency in late July found that Health Net and its medical groups denied attempts by seven people who sought medical services related to gender reassignment surgery between 2013 and 2015, according to a letter of agreement signed by a Health Net executive and the agencys office of enforcement. Those services included testosterone injections, gender reassignment surgery, bilateral mastectomy and facial feminization surgery. In three of the seven cases, Health Net denied coverage because it considered the services cosmetic in nature. In at least three of the cases, the insurer based its denial on exclusions or limitations in the patients plan based on their transgender status, the agency said. California is one of 15 states that have laws or regulations prohibiting health insurers from excluding transition-related care from coverage, according to the Transgender Law Center, the Oakland civil rights organization. In 2013, the Department of Managed Health Care ordered health plans to remove exclusions of coverage and limitations related to gender transition. Health Net has agreed to take corrective actions by Sept. 30, including submitting written confirmation that its health plans comply with state antidiscrimination laws. It will also evaluate whether to reimburse the out-of-pocket expenses that the seven affected patients incurred as a result of the procedures not being covered by insurance. The Department of Managed Health Care declined to identify the seven individuals, citing patient confidentiality. A Health Net spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday. The Department of Managed Health Care has taken three previous enforcement actions against health plans over their handling of diagnoses and services for individuals with gender dysphoria, in which people feel emotionally and psychologically different from their biological sex. The American Medical Association does not take a position on specific treatment options for gender dysphoria, such as hormone therapy or surgery, but has indicated that insurers should cover treatment as long as the patient and his or her physician have determined it is the most appropriate option. Catherine Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Cat_Ho California law makes it a crime to record someones conversation secretly, with a few exceptions and one of them, a state appeals court says, allows a parent to use a hidden cell phone to record her childs talks with a babysitter suspected of abuse. A mothers recording led to the conviction of a 12-year-old babysitter for molesting his 4-year-old cousin. The defense lawyer argued that the recording was illegal because neither of the speakers had consented. But the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Fresno said Monday that a parent who reasonably fears harm to her child, particularly a young child, can consent to a secret recording on the childs behalf. State law normally requires the consent of both parties to a conversation, but allows consent by one person who reasonably suspects the other of a serious crime. Lawmakers could not have intended to deem a parent a criminal for eavesdropping on his or her childs conversation under conditions like these, Justice M. Bruce Smith said in the 3-0 ruling, the first on the issue by a California court. The case dates from June 2015, when the 12-year-old was asked to look after his younger cousin in the childs home, a trailer in Merced, while his mother was at work. After the first day of babysitting, according to the mothers testimony, as quoted by the court, the child begged his mother not to leave him with his cousin again, because the older boy told him he would leave him all alone. Concerned the cousin might abandon the child or was being mean to him, the mother said she decided to allow a second babysitting session the next day, but hid her cell phone in a cupboard with the recorder turned on to pick up their conversation. The court said the recording revealed repeated acts of molestation, ordered by the older boy despite the childs complaints of pain. A juvenile court judge found the boy guilty of forcible sex crimes and sentenced him to custody and treatment in the state Division of Juvenile Justice. California has one of the nations strictest laws against electronic eavesdropping, requiring consent from both participants to record a confidential conversation. But the law allows one participant to make a secret recording based on a reasonable belief that it will contain evidence related to a violent crime or one of several other specified crimes, such as extortion or bribery. If the recording is judged to be legal, the evidence can be presented in court. In cases like this one, the court said Monday, a parent can give such consent for a child who lacks the capacity to do so. It might be different, Smith said, if a youth was 17 and wanted the information concealed from the parent. But he said recording of a conversation related to a serious crime is allowed if, in light of the childs age and other circumstances, the parent has a good-faith, objectionably reasonable belief that the recording is in the best interest of the child. A lawyer for the babysitter could not be reached for comment. Bob Egelko is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: begelko@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @egelko This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The San Francisco district attorneys office did not object when a judge using a faulty risk-assessment report released a man with a serious criminal record a man who days later allegedly murdered a stranger on Twin Peaks, according to a court transcript released Tuesday. The defendant, 19-year-old Lamonte Mims of Patterson (Stanislaus County), appeared in court July 11 after being charged with being a convicted felon in possession of guns. He was already on probation for burglary in San Francisco, and city prosecutors asked for that probation to be revoked. But San Francisco judges have for more than a year been provided advice on whether to release a defendant before trial based on a computer algorithm that seeks to quantify their risk of committing further crimes or fleeing. In this case, officials said, the public safety assessment score was miscalculated, and Mims was wrongly recommended for release. Five days after his release from jail, Mims and an accomplice, 20-year-old Fantasy Decuir of San Francisco, allegedly killed photographer and film scout Edward French in a robbery on Twin Peaks. Both stand accused of murder. The transcript of the July 11 hearing shows that Assistant District Attorney Ryan King knew of Mims criminal record and requested a future hearing to revoke his probation, but did not object to the recommendation that Mims be released into a pretrial diversion program. King asked for a high level of supervision. Mr. King, what is your position with regard to Mr. Mims custody status? Superior Court Judge Sharon Reardon asked. Your Honor, Ive reviewed the public safety assessment, King replied. It appears to take into consideration all the materials in my file as well as the motion to revoke. That being said, I believe that in the event that Mr. Mims is released that he should have to report at least initially four times per week until we can establish some sort of pattern of behavior. Reardon then granted Mims release, without requiring bail, and referred him to what is known as assertive case management. The victims sister, Lorrie French of San Francisco, reviewed the court transcript Tuesday and said she was dismayed that the prosecutor had not argued against the recommendation for release. She said she was shocked at what she called a series of missteps in the case the miscalculation, the prosecutors decision not to challenge it and the judges decision to abide by it. I am so sick of this city and all its screw-ups, Lorrie French said. I understand there are people who really dont belong in jail. But a convicted felon, found in a car with two guns, who has violated his probation not once, but twice? King and the defense attorney had access to Mims record, which included convictions in San Francisco and San Mateo counties for burglary, identity theft and receiving stolen property. But they apparently did not realize that Mims public safety assessment score, or PSA score, had been mistakenly low, understating the risk of releasing him. The score is calculated by a city-funded nonprofit group, the Pretrial Diversion Project, which uses a complex computer program created by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation of Texas. The idea of the algorithm is to improve on the traditional bail system, in which bail amounts are based primarily on a defendants charges, regardless of the persons ability to pay. A spokesman for the district attorneys office, Max Szabo, said Tuesday that the Pretrial Diversion Project made a miscalculation that several entities relied upon, and we are working with our partners to ensure these scores are properly calculated going forward. When a PSA score is properly calculated, unlike money bail, it can provide a statistically significant prediction of pretrial failure. Nancy Rubin, interim director of the Pretrial Diversion Project, wrote in a letter to the court Tuesday that a staff member had mistakenly omitted the fact that Mims had been incarcerated in the past. As a result, Mims received a score of 4 rather than 5 on a 6-point scale that quantified his risk of committing a crime if released. That was the difference between a recommendation of release with routine check-ins and a recommendation of no release. Rubin said she would retrain her staff and that the group was committed to its work. District Attorney George Gascon was among many city criminal justice leaders who advocated for bringing the risk-assessment tool to San Francisco, though his prosecutors have sometimes disagreed with the recommendations. Gascon has said pretrial release should be determined by whether a defendant is a public safety or flight risk, not according to ability to afford bail. Mims pleaded no contest to felony car burglary and misdemeanor identity theft in July 2016 in San Mateo County, and he was placed on felony probation. He was then arrested in November in connection to three car break-ins in the Twin Peaks parking lot and was ultimately placed on misdemeanor probation in San Francisco after pleading guilty to burglary and receiving stolen property. His November arrest was considered a violation of his San Mateo County probation, and he was sentenced to six months in jail. He served three months, with three months credit for good behavior. He remained free until July 4, when San Francisco police said they found him in a car with another man and two guns. After being released and allegedly killing French on July 16, Mims joined Decuir in robbing a man and woman at gunpoint near St. Marys Cathedral on Gough Street on July 28, authorities said. Prosecutors say they have surveillance video of Decuir pulling the trigger on Twin Peaks, and that Mims implicated himself in the killing as well, making statements to police indicating he was involved in robbing French. Lorrie French said Mims should have been behind bars at the time. My brother is gone, she said. I cant bring him back. But there have to be some repercussions. Someone has to be held accountable. Vivian Ho is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: vho@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @VivianHo This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate This story originally appeared on Hoodline. Legendary coffeehouse Caffe Trieste has been serving North Beach since 1956, but after 60 years, the son of the late founder has filed a lawsuit that could force the business to close permanently. According to documents filed on June 22, 2017 with San Francisco Superior Court, Fabio G. Giotta is suing shareholder and manager Ida Zoubi, his niece; shareholder and trustee Adrienne Giotta, his brothers widow; Caffe Trieste Superb Coffees (CTSC), Inc.; and its parent company, Caffe Trieste, Incorporated (CTI). Fabios sister, Sonia Pantaleo, is also named in the suit, as are several Doe defendants, who may be named later. In his suit, Giotta demands that that the Caffe Trieste business and brand be involuntarily and permanently dissolved. He's also seeking damages from the plaintiffs for alleged infractions on his role in the family business. Giotta's suit is represented by attorney John Scarpino. Since the death of founder Giovanni Papa Gianni Giotta, the plaintiff claims that "it is no longer possible for the current shareholders to work amicably toward a mutually beneficial goal. This follows a number of recent structural changes, including the expansion of the board to include more family members; a change in officers; and naming manager Ida Zoubi as President of CTI and Vice-President of CTSC. Zoubi has worked at the caffe since 1994, when she was in high school. In 2000, she became General Manager, and has been a shareholder/owner since 2015. The suit states that Adrienne Giotta tried to force the company's dissolution in 2005, but notes that the action was dismissed for lack of evidence the following year. San Francisco Weekly published a 2008 story describing the struggle between not only Fabio and Ida, but also between Fabio and his father regarding some of Fabios business decisions, such as installing surveillance cameras, and requiring employee uniforms. According to SF Weekly, Fabio also tried to fire Ida in 2007, but that decision was reversed by Papa Gianni, who promised, "I love my Ida and nobody is going to change nothing. Nothing! Not as long as I am alive." Last year, Caffe Trieste celebrated its 60th anniversary and was awarded Legacy Business status, a coveted protection awarded to essential and historical independent businesses. It also saw the passing of patriarch Papa Gianni, the pillar of the family business. While Hoodline reached out to parties on both sides of the litigation, Ida Zoubi and Adrienne Giotta declined comment pending resolution. Fabio Giotta has not returned multiple requests for comment. We did attend a recent Saturday concert, a tradition held at Trieste since at least the early 70s, that celebrates Italian family and friendship through music. The concerts are also cited in the lawsuit as another of Zoubis alleged wrongdoings, since she resumed them in 2016 without Fabio Giottas permission, after he had been in charge of them since 2000. All members of the CTI Board except Fabio were present, as well as his mother, Mama Ida, who sang with her daughter Sonia. There, in lieu of commentary from the litigants, longtime friends of the businessmany community leaders in their own rightwere more than willing to reflect on the ramifications of The Trieste disappearing. This is obviously a tragic family feud, said District 3 Supervisor Aaron Peskin. Its an unnecessary turn of events for the caffe Ive been a regular at for three decades. I loved the founder and all of his descendants," he said. "Ida is the mother of the neighborhood. Former San Francisco Poet Laureate Jack Hirschman agreed, describing the restaurant as "a cultural center." "When I arrived in 1972, (Papa Giannis sister) Iolanda fed me for about 6 months because I had no money," Hirschman recalled. "Much later, before the official celebration at Koret Auditorium for my becoming Poet Laureate, Ida and The Trieste held a party for me first. Augustino Crotti, owner of nearby Tomassos Italian Restaurant, remembered how Gianfranco gave him his big break by hiring him as a barista, leading to the neighborhood networking that allowed him to buy his own business in the early 1970s. He treated me royally, and his wife Adrienne will always be family to me. Daniel Macchiarini of Macchiarini Designs said he's known Ida and her family since he was just starting out. Shes turned it into a landmark, a lynchpin, a gatewayI serve with her on the North Beach Business Association board, and shes a woman of outstanding integrity and community. Many in the community see The Trieste as the quintessence of North Beach. "Since the 1980s, what made the place special has been pushed back farther and farther until now there are only small islands of it left, said Mark Bittner, author of The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. "I think of Caffe Trieste as one of the last strongholdsactually the true center of what made this neighborhood so fabulous. For the Trieste to go under would be the final blow," he said. Some regulars who aren't parties in the case speculated on a link between the lawsuit and the controversial Piazza St. Francis / The Poets Plaza, a project promoted chiefly by Angela Alioto and Lawrence Ferlinghetti and contested by many neighbors as well as the current caffe management. Local journalist and author Tony Long said the loss of Caffe Trieste "would be a blow, not only to the regulars in the neighborhood who consider it their living room, but to the overall image of North Beach." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Perhaps it's an oversimplification to say it's a racist monument. It was, after all, the words and actions of those it celebrates that were truly racist. Or perhaps the actions of those who "fought" to erect the monument, sitting proudly along Interstate 5 north of Vancouver in southwest Washington. And "racist" is probably too simple a word for what the monument stands for, if we're going down this road. The Southern "cause" hinged on slavery, and the subjugation of humans goes a bit beyond anything the term "racist" can capture. In any case, for the last 10 years, the Jefferson Davis Park has been adorned with two stone markers honoring Davis, the Confederacy's one and only president, and two flags. One of those flags is the 1865 variation of the Confederate flag, known as the "blood stained banner." The other was at one time an American flag but at least in Google Street View photos from last year, it was changed out for the early "stars and bars" Confederate flag. And there's a fence and some grass. It was such Confederate iconography that led to last Saturday's deadly rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. White supremacists and neo-Nazis gathered there at least in part to protest the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate Army during most of the Civil War. Counter-protesters also turned out and the clash eventually left one woman, 32-year-old Heather Heyer, dead and 19 people injured after a car plowed into counter-protesters in the street. Two Virginia State Patrol Troopers also died in a helicopter crash while trying to assist in the situation. RELATED: Inside a day of violence, terror in Charlottesville No such events are planned for the Jefferson Davis Park near Ridgefield, but that doesn't mean the oddly-placed monument is without opposition. "The city of Ridgefield does not support or condone the racist symbolism of the marker, and would love if it wasn't anywhere near Ridgefield," city manager Steve Stuart said by email Tuesday. Clark County Commission Chair Marc Boldt told Seattle PI that he would rather the marker weren't there, too, and he has heard as much from constituents in recent days. He counted eight or nine emails and a few phone calls from people asking that the marker be taken down, he said. The thing is, the "park" isn't the property of or even in the city of Ridgefield, nor is it on Clark County land. It's on private property, erected there in 2007 by local chapters of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Confederate Veterans. What's more, the commander of the Pacific Northwest SCV chapter, Jay D. Willis, told Seattle PI that such monuments have nothing to do with racism; they're only put up to honor the dead. "That's propaganda," Willis, also a real estate agent in Vancouver, said. "The things about the racism are lies. These are monuments to Confederate dead." Willis said the Sons of Confederate Veterans -- a "nonpolitical" group, according to him -- wants no part in any white supremacy or Nazi groups, and noted that members are strictly forbidden from associating with such groups. RELATED: Confederate monuments removed overnight in Baltimore Willis, who is also the registered agent for the nonprofit that operates the park and owns the land, retold some of the history of the monument. The two stone markers at the park were once placed on either end of Old Highway 99 in Washington, one at Blaine and once in Vancouver. The highway was part of the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway, a transcontinental route that was by 1939 extended along the Pacific Coast to include Washington state, according to the Federal Highway Administration. As Sons of Confederate Veterans and Willis puts it, the highway was so designated to celebrate Davis' role in building highways and other contributions in Washington. As it happens, the state never adopted the designation and, after some urging from state Rep. Hans Dunshee in 2002, the markers were removed, according to some past Crosscut reportage. Around the same time, the Sons of Confederate Veterans embarked on a mission to get a public monument for the markers, a mission that eventually failed and led the group to purchase (for $20,000) the piece of land next to I-5 where the markers now stand. The Sons of Confederate Veterans Northwest Division proclaimed its pride in the park on its website. "Today, Jefferson Davis Park is the Northwest's shining tribute to President Davis," the post about the park read. "It now houses both the Vancouver and Blaine, Washington, Hwy 99 Markers, safely preserving them for future generations." What the markers are preserving, however, is a history rife with racism and white supremacy, a "cause" that the SCV still seems to believe was righteous. On the Northwest Division's "about" page, the chapter spells out its purpose quite clearly: "Our purpose is to Honor and Defend the Confederate Soldier, promote the Southern Cause of Liberty and make sure that the true History of the South is preserved and presented to future generations! Our ancestors fought against a Tyrannical government, that invaded our lands, killed hundreds of thousands of Southern Soldiers and Civilians. The Confederate Cause was and still is a just cause, the true cause of American Liberty!" Only 152 years after the Confederacy surrendered to the Union, these people think the war rages on, apparently. "The Southern cause, which is still a problem today, is the right to be self-governed," Willis said. Willis, however, also firmly believes the Civil War wasn't fought over slavery, and that such history is revisionist, pushed by "leftists" who are out to erase history. "We're really saddened by these controversies," Willis said. "And these crazed leftists, when they get done destroying the Confederate monuments, they'll start on the Vietnam monuments ... That's what leftists do, they destroy things." One might also argue that slavery -- even if white southerners didn't invent it -- destroyed the lives of millions of Africans and African Americans. And that bit about the Civil War not being about slavery is its own version of revisionist history. The Civil War Trust analyzed documents produced by Georgia, Texas, Mississippi and South Carolina on why they chose to secede and found that slavery was a major theme, matched only partly by states' rights. But such analysis is unnecessary, the documents are clear that slavery is a their central issue. Slavery, after all, was the backbone of the booming Southern economy, and its removal (and the need to pay labor costs afterward) would have a tremendous impact on profits throughout the slave-holding states. Back to the marker along I-5, since it is on private property, there's no certain way to have it removed, Clark County Council Chair Boldt said. The marker perhaps could have been stopped before it went up as it did require a permit to install. Someone would have had to catch it and appeal it before approval, though, Boldt said. The permit did list "Jefferson Davis Park" as the project name, but then it listed the permit as for the "installation of memorial highway marker and flags (state and national)." Perhaps if it had spelled it out more clearly that the intention was to install as one of those a Confederate flag, someone might have seen it and said something. But more likely not in unincorporated Clark County. For now, the monument, such that it is, will remain along I-5. Back in Seattle, a Confederate monument stands in Lakeview Cemetery, erected there in 1926 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. Surrounded by dead Confederate soldiers, the monument itself is not above any dead, and bears only the name of the chapter of the UDC -- the Robert E. Lee Chapter. There's no indication it's going anywhere anytime soon either. Daniel DeMay covers Seattle culture, city hall, and transportation for seattlepi.com. He can be reached at 206-448-8362 or danieldemay@seattlepi.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Daniel_DeMay. The first day of school is just around the corner for many Bay Area kids, and some parents are dreading switching over from a more relaxed summer routine to a rushed and rigid schedule that involves setting alarm clocks, packing lunches, getting homework done and arriving to school on time. Tackling all of this doesn't have to be marked by chaos and tears. SFGATE reached out to some parents for their proven tips that help ease the stress out of the school year and make mornings go more smoothly. Preparing the night before school "Lay clothes out the night before and have a special spot for them so it's not just more clothes lying around." El Cerrito dad Brandon Mercer, who works for SFGATE "I get their breakfast requests in the night before. That way I can make it while I am getting ready for work and they are motivated because they are looking forward to breakfast." Maren Nymo, a San Francisco mom "I do as much as I can the night before. Backpacks are ready by the door, lunch boxes are started, and clothes/uniforms are laid on a chair so in the morning everything's easier. I even choose my own clothes the night before so I don't waste time figuring out what to wear." Jeanette Kaplun, mom Getting out the door smoothly and to school on time "Make getting up on time and being ready on time the child's responsibility. It's better for them to learn this from an early age, and it really simplifies things for the parent." Burlingame mom Holly Herndon "Beat the summer/school time jet lag. Switch from the summer bedtime/wake-up schedule the day or two before school actually starts to get them used to it." Bay Area dad Larry Wong "My oldest is starting kindergarten and will have an early bus pickup so we put together a morning chart for him to follow to keep things going smoothly. When he finishes his chart he can play until the bus comes, which will hopefully be enough motivation to get it done." mom of three Sabrina Garibian "Get up early enough to get out of the house on time without stress and yelling. It's terrible to drop your kids off and feel like all you did was yell at them all morning. Giving yourself and them more time takes off the pressure. For a 7:50 a.m. start time, I got up at 6:10 a.m. and woke the kids up at 6:15 a.m. that way they could dilly-dally and it wasn't too big a deal." S.F. mom Spring Utting Making breakfast and packing lunches "Kids have to be fully dressed before they sit down to breakfast." S. Utting "Don't ask the open-ended breakfast question, 'What do you want for breakfast?' Instead it's always an either-or choice with things that are easy and fast but protein-packed. Scrambled eggs and toast or a toasted peanut butter and honey sandwich. Never more than two choices but these can change day to day." Lafayette mom Aimee Grove "Teach kids to make their own breakfast then you never have to. Props if you get them to make YOU breakfast too. My 13-year-old can make a full breakfast for the family. My 11-year-old can make eggs in the microwave and hash browns and muffins. My 9-year-old makes cereal and yogurt and cuts her own fruit. And I think most 4 year olds can do the same. Post recipes on the fridge to encourage them, like 'BREAKFAST IDEAS: Yogurt with granola // Microwave egg with bacon bits, put on toast.'" B. Mercer "When I do my grocery shopping, I think through what I can pack in their lunches and if any dinners will give me good leftovers." S. Utting "I have Best Lunchbox Ever by Katie Morford and her breakfast cookbook Rise and Shine...I give them to the kids with post-its and ask them to mark things that look good to them." S. Utting Keeping school drama to a minimum "On the first day of middle school for my twin sons, I established a motto for them: 'Watch the idiots, don't be the idiots.' They are now 18 years old going to college and they both said they will never forgot that "motto" and how it helped them identify who were acting like idiots." Peninsula mom Michelle Droz Developing good habits "I'm okay if they don't do their homework and face the consequences. I think it should be their responsibility and not about me. Hopefully they learn a lesson at a young age when the consequences are minor and understand that it's up to them to manage their school work. I prefer to take myself out of that dynamic. I'm happy to help, but don't want to be in charge." S. Utting "My daughter practices piano before school, that's one less thing to do after school when homework starts piling up." S. Utting Staying sane and building family bonds "In kindergarten I made sure to have a snack when I picked up my daughter at school. She was exhausted and hungry after the end of an exciting new day." S. Utting "Instead of asking, 'How was school?'. . . I ask, 'On a scale of 1 to 10, how was school?" that helps give me a better idea of how the day went and a jumping off point to get into a discussion." S. Utting "Try not to plan too many activities. Especially with the little kids, maybe start with one after school activity they love and consider adding more after winter break if they can handle more." S. Utting "To this day we still have this tradition even though my daughter is 21 and living in Arizona... at the dinner table we each share the best part of our day. Sure beats the standard answers you get when asking 'How was your day?'" Livermore mom Marni Angelo "I try to run occasionally when I am doing the morning drop off. Even a twenty minute run in between drop off and work feels like a gift." M. Nymo MONTGOMERY, Ala. Alabamas Ten Commandments judge, Roy Moore, has forced a Senate primary runoff against Sen. Luther Strange, who was backed by President Trump. The outcome sets up a September showdown between the Republican Partys cultural conservatives and those now running Congress. In another key race, the mayor of Provo, Utah, won the contest for the Republican nomination Tuesday to fill the seat vacated by retired Rep. Jason Chaffetz against a pair of GOP rivals who portrayed themselves as more ardently conservative. John Curtis is now well positioned in Utahs conservative Third Congressional District ahead of the Nov. 7 general election, where he will face a Democrat and several third-party candidates. Curtis faced hundreds of thousands of dollars in negative super PAC ads that sought to portray him as insufficiently committed to lowering taxes and cutting government spending. Many of them highlighted his 2000 run as a Democrat for a state legislative seat. But Curtis has won plaudits since taking office as mayor in 2010. In Alabama, evangelical voters cherish Moore as a culture-war icon after he was twice stripped of his chief justice duties, for refusing to remove a biblical monument he installed in a state judiciary building and for resisting federal gay marriage rulings. On Tuesday, the firebrand jurist rode a tide of antiestablishment sentiment to secure more votes than Strange for the seat previously held by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Despite millions of dollars in advertising by a super political action committee tied to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Strange trailed Moore by about six percentage points, according to unofficial returns. This is a great victory. The attempt by the silk-stocking Washington elitists to control the vote of the people of Alabama has failed, Moore said at his victory party in downtown Montgomery, where a copy of the Ten Commandments was among the decorations. The winner of the Sept. 26 runoff between Moore and Strange will face Democratic nominee Doug Jones in a December election. While President Trump endorsed Strange, Moore tried to present himself as the better carrier of Trumps outsider appeal. The takeaway is that Washington is very unpopular, said Greg Strimple, a Republican pollster for a political action committee aligned with House Speaker Paul Ryan. Voters still want change, Strimple said, and Trump cannot simply transfer his brand to candidates who fail to establish their own outsider credentials. The Washington Post contributed to this report. Kim Chandler is an Associated Press writer. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. The mother of the young woman mowed down while protesting a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville urged mourners at a memorial service Wednesday to make my daughters death worthwhile by confronting injustice the way she did. They tried to kill my child to shut her up. Well, guess what? You just magnified her, said Susan Bro, receiving a standing ovation from the hundreds who packed a downtown theater to remember 32-year-old Heather Heyer. Hours later, hundreds of people gathered on the University of Virginia campus for a candlelight vigil against hate and violence. Marchers peacefully assembled in the same place where hundreds of torch-carrying white nationalists had marched Friday. Heyers death Saturday and President Trumps insistence that both sides bear responsibility for the violence continued to reverberate across the country, triggering fury among many Americans and soul-searching about the state of race relations in the U.S. The uproar has accelerated efforts in many cities to remove symbols of the Confederacy. Heyer was eulogized as a woman with a powerful sense of fairness. The mourners, many of them wearing purple, her favorite color, applauded as her mother urged them to channel their anger not into violence but into righteous action. State troopers were stationed on the surrounding streets, but the white nationalists who had vowed to show up were nowhere to be seen among the residents, clergy and tourists outside the Paramount Theater, just blocks from where Heyer died. Heyer, a white legal assistant from Charlottesville, was killed and 19 others were injured Saturday when a car plowed into counterprotesters who had taken to the streets to decry what was believed to be the countrys biggest gathering of white nationalists in at least a decade. The hundreds of white nationalists including neo-Nazis, skinheads and Ku Klux Klan members had descended on Charlottesville after the city decided to remove a monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. The driver of the car, James Alex Fields Jr., a 20-year-old Ohio man described as an admirer of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, was arrested and charged with murder and other offenses. On Wednesday, Trump tweeted for the first time about Heyer, calling her beautiful and incredible and a truly special young woman. The White House did not respond to questions about whether the president had contacted Heyers family. Brian Witte and Sarah Rankin are Associated Press writers. WASHINGTON As FBI director, James Comey had widespread support from his agents, according to internal survey data released Wednesday that contradict President Trumps claim that he fired Comey in part because agents had lost confidence in him. Comeys firing is among many topics now under investigation by the Justice Department special counsel, Robert Mueller. Trump and his aides have offered changing explanations for why he fired Comey, who was overseeing the investigation into Trumps associates and possible links to Russias election interference. Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press WASHINGTON Negotiations to revise the North American Free Trade Agreement began Wednesday on shaky ground, as President Trumps top trade official insisted that there are fundamental problems with the 23-year-old pact while Canadian and Mexican officials lauded NAFTAs substantial benefits to the region and emphasized the importance of protecting those gains. The contrasting opening statements from the U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and his counterparts from Canada and Mexico portend the tough bargaining ahead as the three parties, in Washington, began the first of what are expected to be several rounds of talks to renegotiate the landmark free-trade agreement. 1 Bombing case: Jurors can hear about New Jersey bombs at the October trial of a man charged in a 2016 New York bombing that injured 30 people, but they will not be told that he was arrested after a shootout with police, a judge ruled Tuesday. A U.S. district judge in Manhattan identified evidence that can be offered at Ahmad Khan Rahimis trial. He said various terrorism-related videotapes, a book, a bloodstained journal with a bullet hole in it and two 2012 emails found during the investigation can be included because they might show motive, intentions, preparation and knowledge of the Sept. 17 bombings. Also allowed was evidence of a pipe bomb detonated near a charity run in Seaside Park, N.J., and a bomb left in an Elizabeth, N.J., trash can. 2 Terror plot: A Maryland man has pleaded guilty to conspiring to provide material support to the Islamic State. The U.S. attorneys office says in a news release that 32-year-old Mohamed Elshinawy entered the plea Tuesday in federal court in Baltimore. According to his plea deal, Elshinawy pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and received $8,700 to carry out an attack in the United States. Prosecutors say Elshinawy conspired with others to provide material support and resources, including personnel, communication and financial services, to the Islamic State. Elshinawy faces a maximum of 20 years in prison. A sentencing date has not been set. LOS ANGELES After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, the era of nuclear nightmares of the atomic arms race, of backyard bomb shelters, of schoolchildren diving under desks to practice their survival skills in the event of an attack seemed to finally, thankfully, fade into history. Until now. For some Baby Boomers, North Koreas nuclear advances and President Donald Trumps bellicose response have prompted flashbacks to a time when they were young, and when they prayed each night that they might awaken the next morning. For their children, the North Korean crisis was a taste of what the Cold War was like. Im not concerned to where I cant sleep at night. But it certainly raises alarms for Guam or even Hawaii, where it might be a real threat, said 24-year-old banker Christian Zwicky of San Bernardino. People of his parents generation were taught to duck and cover when the bombs came. Maybe those types of drills should come back, Zwicky said. He isnt old enough to remember the popular 1950s public service announcement in which a cartoon character named Bert the Turtle teaches kids how to dive under their desks for safety. But Zwicky did see it often enough in high school history classes that he can hum the catchy tune that plays at the beginning. Thats when Bert avoids disaster by ducking into his shell, then goes on to explain to schoolchildren what they should do. I do remember that, says 65-year-old retiree Scott Paul of Los Angeles. And also the drop drills that we had in elementary school, which was a pretty regular thing then. Even as a 10-year-old, Paul said, he wondered how much good ducking under a desk could do if a bomb powerful enough to destroy a city fell nearby. No good at all, his teacher acknowledged. Then there were backyard bomb shelters, which briefly became the rage during the missile crisis of 1962, when it was learned the Soviets had slipped nuclear-tipped missiles into Cuba and pointed them at the United States. After a tense, two-week standoff between President John F. Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev that some believe brought the world the closest its ever come to nuclear war, the missiles were removed and the shelters faded from public interest. Now they, too, seem to be having a revival. When Trump took office, it doubled our sales, and then when he started making crazy statements we got a lot more orders, says Walton McCarthy of Norad Shelter Systems LLC of Garland, Texas. Between now and a year ago, weve quadrupled our sales. His competitor, California-based Atlas Survival Shelters, says it sold 30 shelters in three days last week. During its first year in business in 2011 it sold only 10. Bill Miller, a 74-year-old retired film director living in Sherborn, Mass., thinks these days are more nerve-racking than the standoff in October 1962. I think its much, much crazier, scarier times, he said. I think the people who were in charge in the Kennedy administration had much more of a handle on it. Nathan Guerrero, a 22-year-old political science major from Fullerton (Orange County), agrees, saying he learned in history class that the shining example of a way to resolve such a conflict was how Kennedys brother and attorney general, Robert Kennedy, brokered the tense negotiations. But knowing the way the current administration has sort of been carrying itself, it doesnt look like they are keen to solving things diplomatically, he said. As a young person, honestly, its pretty unsettling, he continued. Had he given any thought to building a backyard bomb shelter? Id be lying if I said such crazy things havent crossed my mind, he said, laughing nervously. But in reality it doesnt strike me as Id be ready to go shopping for bunkers yet. Instead, he studies for law school and tries not to think too much about it. Other Americans are more sanguine about the possibility of nuclear war. Rob Stapleton has lived in Anchorage, Alaska, since 1975, and he is aware that Alaska has been considered a possible target because it is within reach of North Korean missiles. Theres been some discussion about it around the beer barrel, and Im sure the United States is taking it seriously, but were not too concerned around here, he said. Alaska is so vast and spread out, said Stapleton, that he and his friends cant imagine why North Korea would waste its time attacking the Last Frontier. I mean sure youd be making a statement, but youd not really be doing any damage. John Rogers is an Associated Press writer. SEOUL In an effort to jump-start diplomacy, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said Thursday he would consider sending a special envoy to North Korea for talks if the North stops its missile and nuclear tests. He also declared, amid fears in South Korea that threats from President Trump to unleash fire and fury on Pyongyang could lead to real fighting, that there would be no second war on the Korean Peninsula. During the 11 a.m. Sunday service at the House Modesto, Pastor Glen Berteau was performing a baby dedication when he felt compelled to address the white nationalist rally that took place Friday and Saturday in Charlottesville. "You're gonna use the word of God to hate somebody of a different color. You gotta be the dumbest person that's on this Earth to go ahead and say something like that," Berteau said in his speech, which was later posted on Facebook. "There's a bunch of stupid white people, Im just telling you." The Facebook video was posted Monday and was viewed more than 1.5 million times by Tuesday. The pastor has received thousands of comments, thanking him for what he said. "Could I have chosen a better word? Possibly," Berteau told KCRA 3 on Tuesday. "What I said was very honest and I think it was something that needed to be shouted," he added. Berteau said he is frustrated with the hate in America. Hate that was captured in photos and videos from Charlottesville. Photos showed people marching Friday night with lit torches in the shadow of a Confederate soldier's statue on the University of Virginia campus. The following day, video and photos showed a man who was part of the white nationalist rally drive into a crowd of counter protesters, killing a woman and injuring about 19 others. "I think that's what I was frustrated with," he said about his speech in the viral video. "America, have we not gone far? Have we not progressed at all?" Scenes like those from Virginia have many people across the country calling for more voices like those of Berteau. "I really would love to see unity established and us to lay down our hate," Berteau added. Bohlouli is the second minor offender to be transferred for execution in two weeks. Last week, Alireza Tajiki was hanged as a result of his conviction for male rape, which was based on a confession elicited under torture when the young man was only 15 years old. Tajiki was the fourth known instance of a minor offender being executed in Iran this year. In an urgent call to action preceding that execution, Amnesty International pointed out that there were nearly 90 other minor offenders who were already on death row awaiting the implementation of their sentences. Naturally, the execution of Bohlouli just one week later could raise the question of whether the judiciary is increasing the pace of these executions. As well as having the highest per-capita rate of executions in the world, the Islamic Republic also has a reputation for carrying out hangings en masse. At the beginning of this month, it was reported that at least 102 executions had been carried out in July alone. This equaled nearly half of the number that had been carried out over the previous six month period. Since then, reports have continued to emerge of the persistence of Irans various internationally condemned activities with regard to the death penalty. For instance, Iran Human Rights finds that on Thursday, August 10, at least 12 inmates were hanged, with 11 of these executions taking place in the same prison, following a series of transfers. Other reports have detailed public hangings and the lack of fair trials. All of these well-established human rights issues have opened Iran to active criticism from international activists. The trend of mass executions dates back to the start of the Islamic Republic in the 1980s, which saw its single most egregious example. In the summer of 1988, an estimated 30,000 political prisoners were hanged, some of them dozens at a time. Most of these victims were members or affiliates of the leading opposition group, the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran, and their families and colleagues have maintained a campaign to uncover more details of the killings and of mass burial sites, and to ultimately bring major perpetrators before an international court. Last year, the political prisoner Maryam Akbari-Monfared wrote a letter to Iranian officials demanding answers about the 1988 massacre, which claimed the lives of four of her siblings. This week, she returned to the news when the Center for Human Rights in Iran reported that she had written another open letter, this one complaining about a tour that had recently been held for foreign diplomats at Tehrans notorious Evin Prison, where she is being held alongside numerous other political prisoners. The tour was limited to specific areas of the facility and carefully avoided contact between political detainees and the selected diplomats. Human rights activists quickly dismissed the publicity stunt as part of an effort to dispel foreign criticism of Irans human rights record at a time when awareness of abuses appears to be increasing both domestically and globally. Last year saw the release of audio recording made about the 1988 massacre by Hossein Ali Montazeri, who was at the time next in line to be the Islamic Republics supreme leader. The revelations by Montazeris son led to unprecedented levels of public dialogue about an incident that had once been subject to a conspiracy of silence imposed by the regime. At the same time that this dialogue is ongoing, the regime is reasserting its commitment to established practices that go against human rights standards. Some of these efforts may be tied to efforts by hardliners to disavow the notion of cooperation with Western powers following the 2015 nuclear agreement. In any event, the persistence of those practices is deeply at odds with the regimes apparent desire to avoid harsher criticism. And this seems to leave Tehran with little recourse but to suppress public dialogue, either through deception as in the case of the Evin Prison tour or through crackdowns on those promoting such dialogue. It has been widely acknowledged that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Ministry of Intelligence have both been engaged in a widespread domestic crackdown since before nuclear negotiations with the US and five other world powers were concluded. And on Tuesday another report by the CHRI cited the political analyst Sadegh Zibakalam as one of the latest persons to be caught up in this crackdown. The report notes that Zibakalam has been arrested and charged with spreading propaganda and disturbing public opinion solely on the basis of comments he made in foreign media about the politicization of the Iranian judiciary, which is supposedly an independent body but has lately appeared to be increasingly loyal to the IRGC. Apart from simply opening the Islamic Republic up to further criticisms from both foreign and domestic sources, Zibakalams comments may also hint at a reason for the judiciarys conspicuously hardline activity on matters like the execution of minor offenders. That is to say, insofar as the IRGC is leading the crackdown on persons with supposedly pro-Western viewpoints, the hardline paramilitary may also be using the judiciary to reinforce the perception of independence from international norms in matters of law and human rights. The 2015 nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, provided Iran with tens of billions of dollars worth of relief from sanctions specifically levied against the nuclear program that many foreign powers feared would lead to the development of an Iranian nuclear weapon. To earn these, the Islamic Republic committed to a reduction in the number of uranium enrichment centrifuges it was allowed to operate, as well as the quantities and levels of enrichment that it was permitted to keep stockpiled. Despite minor or temporary violations of these limits, the International Atomic Energy Agency has judged Iran to be generally in compliance with the agreement, and Mr. Trump has signed off on this certification as he is required to do every 90 days. But Trump has also said that if not for the intervention of his foreign policy team, he would have declared Iran out of compliance at the first opportunity, owing to its violation of the spirit of the agreement. These remarks seem to have primarily referred to Iranian ballistic missile tests, of which there have been several since the JCPOA was negotiated by Trumps predecessor, along with five other world powers and Iran. Although the types of ballistic missiles that Tehran and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps have been testing are capable of carrying nuclear weapons, they are not mentioned in the formal text of the JCPOA. However, a separate United Nations Security Council resolution that was passed at the time of the nuclear deals implementation called upon the Islamic Republic to avoid further work on such weapons. Tehrans outright denial of this provision has been cited by critics of the deal as evidence that Iran still has long-term designs on the development of a nuclear weapon. And although President Rouhani was instrumental in bringing the negotiations to a successful conclusion during his first term in office, he has repeatedly contributed to the regimes dismissal of the Security Councils imposition regarding military development. Rouhanis latest remarks regarding nuclear enrichment can be regarded as an extension of the same rhetoric, but the new commentary is sure to be seen as an even more serious indictment of his intentions for long-term cooperation with the international community. In an address to Iranian lawmakers regarding US policies and new sanctions, Rouhani said that nuclear enrichment and research could quickly be restarted at a much more advanced stage within hours or days. It is difficult to imagine how such rapid advancement could be possible if Iran had not been continuing undisclosed nuclear activities in secret. In a statement responding to them, the National Council of Resistance of Iran issued a statement describing Rouhanis comments as acknowledgement of the fact that the regime is maintaining facilities to make nuclear bombs. The NCRI noted, as did various media outlets, that while these particular boasts may have been new to Rouhani himself, they were by no means unprecedented. Last week, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran declared that if Iran decided to break the nuclear agreement over the issue of American sanctions, it could very quickly reach enrichment levels exceeding 20 percent. Both men, along with other figures in the Iranian regime, continue to justify these sorts of threats by saying that Iran would be justified in breaking the terms of the JCPOA after the US violated its spirit. But contrary to Iran, the US has not been seriously accused of material violations in even the side deals associated with the nuclear agreement, such as Security Council Resolution 2231. When Iranian officials refer to the spirit of the deal, they are generally highlighting sanctions that have been imposed since the deal was implemented. But the JCPOA does not affect human rights and terrorism-related sanctions, and the US is not barred from imposing more of the same. Even if Tehran succeeds in convincing the international community that the Islamic Republic is justified in breaking the agreement after the latest American actions, this will not account for why Iran is supposedly capable of higher-level nuclear activity than it should have been if it was abiding by the deals terms up to this point. Furthermore, convincing the world of the first point may be difficult, even if many stakeholders in the agreement are somewhat critical of the Trump administrations handling of the JCPOA. This is to say that recent threats about higher-level nuclear enrichment are not the only examples of provocative rhetoric directed against the US and its allies. Other such threats and provocations precede Mr. Trumps inauguration and even the implementation of the nuclear deal. Ballistic missile tests fit into this category, and so do threatening maneuvers made by the Revolutionary Guards against American ships and aircraft in the Persian Gulf. The Associated Press notes that the US Navy has recorded 14 such incidents around its vessels so far this year. Last year, the total figure was 35, and this represents a dramatic increase over the number of similar incidents in years before the nuclear agreement and the Rouhani presidency. These figures appeared in the context of a report about a new encounter on Sunday, in which an Iranian drone shadowed an American aircraft carrier and flew within 1,000 feet of two F-18s, creating significant danger of mid-air collision. These sorts of IRGC-led activities have frequently been characterized as hardline efforts to push back against Rouhanis outreach to the international community, as characterized by the JCPOA. But Rouhanis recent remarks may cast doubt upon that interpretation, as well as upon the sincerity of Rouhanis outreach. Furthermore, these remarks come after it was already reported that Rouhani appeared to be quickly distancing himself from his moderate and reformist electoral base in the wake of winning a second term as president on May 19. Rouhanis reelection campaign included the reiteration of promises made in his first campaign four years earlier, regarding such matters as the detention of political prisoners and restrictions on the internet and free speech. But in the subsequent three months, he has repeatedly disappointed reformists, as when he said that the release of the Green Movement leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi would depend in large part upon other elements of the regime, including the hardline judiciary. Rouhanis reelection was also viewed by some commentators as a referendum on the nuclear deal and the prospect for further interaction with the Western world. But both before and after his reelection, Rouhani failed to challenge the IRGC and other hardline figures over foreign policy in the midst of their provocations. The Iranian president has little power over such matters, which are largely guided by the IRGC and the supreme leader, but reformists have argued that Rouhani could at least exert significant influence over the domestic sphere. But in this area also, he has failed to take action, sometimes directly violating campaign promises including his assurance that Iranian expatriates could return to their home country without fear of repercussions. Not only has this proven false, but it has exposed significant overlap between Irans foreign and domestic policies, since various individuals have been arrested under the Rouhani presidency for either holding dual citizenship or having alleged connections to Irans enemies. This overlap and Rouhanis telling silence about it were put on display on Tuesday when The Guardian reported that Iranian employees and former contributors of the British Broadcasting Corporation had recently been subject to their largest targeted crackdown by the Iranian government. The BBC runs a Persian service that is banned by the clerical regime but nonetheless reportedly reaches 13 million viewers in Iran, thanks to the popularity of illegal satellite receivers and other workarounds for the regimes restrictions on media. A new court order identifies 150 current and former employees and contributors for BBC Persian and bars them from financial transactions. The Guardian notes that these new measures come in addition to a longstanding campaign of harassment against the Iranian families of foreign-based employees of the network. The five-year sentence given to the Iranian-British charity worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is possibly connected to her former affiliation with the BBC. In any event, both that arrest and the broader crackdown are notably indicative of the unchallenged hardline attitudes toward Western powers and the citizens of Western countries. Insofar as Rouhanis nuclear-related threats can be connected to this more general antagonism, it may provide further fuel for the Trump administrations arguments about Iranian non-compliance with the JCPOA, as well as complicating the Rouhani administrations effort to garner sympathy from US allies that are less eager to bring an end to the nuclear deal. He highlighted the power of the people saying that they cannot be underestimated, basically predicting another uprising and revolution in the country. He strongly criticised Supreme Leader Khamenei and his family and the role they play in ruling the country and influencing the Iranian government. His comments were made during a recording that was partly released on his Twitter account. He promised that the full recording would be released in the very near future. Ahmedinejad said: No one is more important than the people. Positions of power in any government are not inherited by a special group. We did not rise in a revolution against a family to replace it with another family. Relations between the Supreme Leader and the former president turned bad during the most recent election campaign. Ahmedinejad who wanted to run for presidency was told to stand down by the Supreme Leader. The reason he gave was that he did not want the country to become polarised. The Guardian Council, basically a panel of jurists that decide whatever the Supreme Leader wants them to decide, disqualified Ahmedinejad. Also disqualified was his ally Hamid Baghaei. The reason behind the disqualifications was their ineligibility to run for presidency in these elections. The Guardian Council has a large role in getting rid of any candidates that the Supreme Leader does not want to succeed in the elections. As part of this conflict between the two parties, Hamid Baghaei was arrested by authorities last month. He was held for several days before being released again. Ahmadinejads former media adviser, Abdelraza Daouri, was also arrested on the charge of offensive remarks found on his Facebook page (written by other people). He was sentenced to three years in prison. He is not the first person to comment on an escalation of dissident activity in the country. At the annual Free Iran rally, organised by the main opposition the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) in Paris last month, the numerous prominent political figures from across the world commented on how the increasing dissent in Iran was going to bring imminent regime change to the country. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) A security guard who shot a man Tuesday during a confrontation over an alleged shoplifting incident in San Francisco has been arrested, police said today. The shooting occurred shortly after 2:30 p.m. in the area of Fifth and Howard streets at a Burlington Coat Factory store where the guard, a 42-year-old man, confronted a suspected shoplifter, according to Officer Robert Rueca. A struggle ensued that moved outside of the store, and the guard shot the 33-year-old man in the leg, Rueca said. The victim was taken to a hospital with injuries that are not considered life-threatening. The guard, whose identity has not yet been released, was arrested on suspicion of assault with a firearm and shooting at an inhabited dwelling. So, Iran got what it wanted and the non-nuclear issues were left out of the deal. However, it has shot itself in the foot by insisting on this because the United States has been left with no choice now but to address the non-nuclear issues and has imposed numerous economic sanctions. The Iranian regime cannot dispute these sanctions because they are outside the scope of the nuclear deal. The Iran lobby said that these additional sanctions were threatening the essence of the nuclear deal and warned that it could push Iran closer to nuclear weapons if the deal was dismantled. Trita Parsi, one such lobbyist from the National Iranian American Council, said that President Trump would be responsible for the collapse of the deal because his administration is taking steps to undermine Iran. He said that Iran will not hesitate to pull out. However, how can arguments like this be taken seriously when it is the Iranian regime that is seriously jeopardising the deal by launching ballistic missiles, destabilising numerous countries in the Middle East and spreading fundamentalism and terrorism? This has nothing to do with the Trump administration because it all started long before Trump took office. Parsi indicated that the Iranian regime has now decided to increase its spending on its ballistic missile program as a response to the sanctions imposed on Iran. However, he forgets to mention that Iran has been working on it for more than ten years. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani also threatened that the deal could fall apart, but he gave away some damning information when he said that his country could build nuclear weapons quickly. He said: In an hour and a day, Iran could return to a more advanced (nuclear) level than at the beginning of the negotiations. This goes to show that the aim of the deal to push back on the breakout period has not been met. The deal has been a failure. North Korea is being condemned by all angles for using the nuclear threat. Why is nobody doing the same with Iran? [August 16, 2017] CyberLink U Webinar Reinvents the Art of Online Presenting CyberLink Corp. (5203.TW), today announced the official launch of U Webinar, an innovative broadcasting solution that transforms the art of preparing and delivering online presentations, making them a lot more engaging and interactive for both presenters and participants. U Webinar's full Microsoft (News - Alert) PowerPoint integration-not just screen sharing-lets users effortlessly mix and arrange materials from several PowerPoint decks and other media sources both ahead of a presentation and in real-time, allowing for an uncommonly rich integration of contents in live seminars, virtual training courses and online workshops. "U Webinar takes a unique flexible approach that empowers presenters to deliver interactive, non-linear presentations and decide in real time to change slides' order or skip back and forth, without interrupting the flow, ensuring a highly professional result. It leads to a more engaging and enjoyable experience for audiences," said Dr. Jau Huang, CEO of CyberLink. "The experience is further upgraded by an intuitive user interface so anyone can learn to use and adopt the U experience without any hassle." U Webinar's lag-free presenter-to-viewer communication performance removes the annoying delays in both video and chat that are commonly found in other services. Options to record presentations offline, edit recorded decks on a slide-by-slide basis, and make broadcasts available for on-demand viewing, help presenters craft polished, error-free presentations prior to live broadcasting. U Webinar is also a great tool to record, edit and share content such as training and how-to videos. Key Features Full Microsoft PowerPoint integration (not just screen sharing) Mix and arrange content from several PowerPoint decks and other sources effortlessly Jump through slides in any order to adjust presentations on-the-fly, and add live annotations Engage both in-room and remote audiences simultaneously with lag-free chat Record a presentation during a live broadcast or offline Edit recordings on a modular (slide-by-slide) basis Schedule a pre-recorded session to play at a dedicated URL at a specific time Click and instantly join a webinar with Chrome browser - no plugin required PerfectCam - the world's first live makeup plugin for conferencing systems - is offered free to U Webinar subscribers. Users can apply real-time virtual makeup to adopt a commanding look and confidently deliver their online presentations. U Webinar Availability U Webinar is available today from the U website in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Japanese and Korean. U Webinar Pricing U Webinar provides different subscription plans tailored to particular webinar requirements. Plans are available according to the number of participants and session duration needed, and a free version of U Webinar offers webinars for up to 25 participants for a maximum of 60 minutes. About CyberLink CyberLink (5203.TW) is a world leader in multimedia software design. Since 1996, CyberLink has transformed how people enjoy and create media on PCs, mobile devices and in the Cloud. The company's award-winning products are sold to all major PC manufacturers as well as millions of customers worldwide. Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, CyberLink also runs regional operations through offices in the US, Japan, Europe and Asia-Pacific territories. Further information about CyberLink can be found at cyberlink.com. All companies and product names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and are the sole property of their respective owners. Copyright 2017 CyberLink Corp. All rights reserved. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170816005047/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] LISBON, Portugal A huge tree crashed down on a popular religious festival on the Portuguese island of Madeira on Tuesday, killing 13 people and injuring 49 others, officials said. The tree fell while a large crowd was gathered near the islands capital of Funchal as part of the Nossa Senhora do Monte festival. Its Madeiras biggest annual festivity and was being held Monday and Tuesday, drawing large crowds to a church on Funchals outskirts. Local media reports described the tree as an oak more than 200 years old. Regional authorities say they are investigating what caused it to come crashing down. Regional health chief Pedro Ramos said seven people had serious injuries. Ramos said that of the 12 fatalities, 10 people died at the site of the accident. A child died en route to a local hospital, where a woman later died. RTP public television showed images of emergency workers gathered under a group of tall trees on the Atlantic island. Ambulances were shown pulling away from the site while workers wielding chain saws cut away limbs from an enormous tree on the ground. More televised images showed some people attending to the injured. Others appeared visibly shaken. Miguel Albuquerque, the head of the regional government of Madeira, declared three days of mourning for the victims. Prime Minister Antonio Costa shared his condolences for the victims on his Twitter account. I express my condolences for the victims of the accident in Madeira, Costa said. My thoughts are with the family and friends of the victims. Costa said that the central government made contact with local authorities on the island to offer its support. The government has provided medical support given the high number of victims, he said. Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said he would travel to the island. I will go to Funchal today to learn more about what has happened, and, of course, to bring words of encouragement and comfort to those who have lost their loved ones, he said in a message posted on the presidents official website. The tragedy comes as the small Southern European nation is trying to cope with more than 150 wildfires raging across the country. Around 3,000 firefighters were struggling to put out more the blazes Tuesday, as persistent hot and dry weather stoked the flames, officials said. In one case, around 800 firefighters supported by air units were needed to finally bring under control a blaze that had burned for three days near the central town of Vila dei Rei. RTP television showed images of towering flames illuminating the night which by morning had left large swathes of scorched forest near the town, where authorities evacuated 112 people Monday. Another 300 firefighters were focused on combatting a second large fire also in the interior of the country. Portugal has been especially hard hit by wildfires this year because of a widespread drought. The worst outbreak killed 64 people in June, with many dying on a road as they fled the rampant flames in their cars. KIEV, Ukraine The hacker, known only by his online alias Profexer, kept a low profile. He wrote computer code alone in an apartment and quietly sold his handiwork on the anonymous portion of the Internet known as the dark Web. Last winter, he suddenly went dark entirely. Profexers posts, already accessible only to a small band of fellow hackers and cybercriminals looking for software tips, blinked out in January just days after U.S. intelligence agencies publicly identified a program he had written as one tool used in the hacking of the Democratic National Committee. But while Profexers online persona vanished, a flesh-and-blood person has emerged: a fearful man who Ukrainian police said turned himself in early this year and has now become a witness for the FBI. I dont know what will happen, he wrote in one of his last messages posted on a restricted-access website before going to the police. It wont be pleasant. But Im still alive. It is the first known instance of a living witness emerging from the arid mass of technical detail that has so far shaped the investigation into the DNC hack and the heated debate it has stirred. Ukrainian police declined to divulge the mans name or other details, other than that he is living in Ukraine and has not been arrested. There is no evidence that Profexer worked, at least knowingly, for Russias intelligence services, but his malware apparently did. That a hacking operation that Washington is convinced was orchestrated by Moscow would obtain malware from a source in Ukraine perhaps the Kremlins most bitter enemy sheds considerable light on the Russian security services modus operandi in what Western intelligence agencies say is their clandestine cyberwar against the U.S. and Europe. It does not suggest a compact team of government employees who write all their own code and carry out attacks during office hours in Moscow or St. Petersburg, but rather a far looser enterprise that draws on talent and hacking tools wherever they can be found. Also emerging from Ukraine is a sharper picture of what the U.S. believes is a Russian government hacking group known as Advanced Persistent Threat 28 or Fancy Bear. Rather than training, arming and deploying hackers to carry out a specific mission like just another military unit, Fancy Bear and its twin Cozy Bear have operated more as centers for organization and financing; much of the hard work like coding is outsourced to private and often crime-tainted vendors. Andrew E. Kramer and Andrew Higgins are New York Times writers. 1 Nigeria attack: Suicide bombers attacked a camp for internally displaced people and a nearby market in a northeastern Nigeria village Tuesday, killing at least 20 people, a local official said Tuesday. Village chief Lawan Kalli said Tuesday that at least three suicide bombers entered Mandararis market around 5 p.m. posing as buyers. Then an undetermined number went to the nearby camp for people displaced by Nigerias conflict while at least one stayed at the market. They all detonated explosives almost simultaneously, he said. Our village is right at the entrance into Konduga town, and that is where both the camp and the makeshift market are situated, which made us an instant target point of the insurgents, Kalli said. At least 80 people were injured and were taken to the hospital in Maiduguri, a town about 18 miles away, Kalli said. Boko Harams eight-year insurgency has displaced millions in Nigeria and neighboring countries and has killed more than 20,000 people. 2 Rebels disarm: U.N. observers on Tuesday removed the last of more than 8,000 guns once carried by the guerrillas of Colombias largest rebel army and collected at 26 demobilization sites around the South American nation under a historic peace deal. Rebels agreed to disarm as part of the pact reached with the government last year, and some of the weapons will be smelted and transformed into statues commemorating the end to Latin Americas longest-running armed conflict. This puts the country on the path to a new future, Jean Arnault, head of the United Nations mission in Colombia, said at a ceremony where President Juan Manuel Santos put a lock on the final container as leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, looked on. Former FARC rebels finished turning over their individual weapons in late June, and since then the guns have been locked up and guarded by U.N. observers. Vice President Mike Pence is cutting short his trip to Latin America so he can join President Trump at a meeting about North Korea. The White House announced Wednesday that Pence would return to the U.S. a day early and travel to Camp David with the president on Friday to meet with the White House national security team to discuss South Asia strategy. The vice president, whose trip is designed to build ties with the region and speak out against the growing crisis in Venezuela, called on Chile to break all diplomatic and commercial ties to North Korea. He said he made the request to Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, and is making the same request of Peru, Mexico and Brazil. North Korea has no diplomatic offices or banking institutions in Chile, but the two countries do have a trade relationship. Pence said we are beginning to see progress when it comes to North Korea, but says that much more must still be done. The Trump administration has been trying to pressure Pyongyang to halt its nuclear and ballistic missile program. The United States and North Korea are in a tense standoff sparked by Pyongyangs recent missile tests and threats to fire them toward Guam. Trump last week declared the U.S. military locked and loaded and said he was ready to unleash fire and fury if North Korea continued to threaten the United States. On Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that tensions on the Korean peninsula are at their highest level in decades and said its important to dial down the rhetoric and to dial up diplomacy. The U.N. chief told reporters the world needs to heed the lessons of history and not repeat the mistakes that led to the Korean War, which started 67 years ago and killed more than 3 million people. Roslyn Weiss, a transplant from Boulder who is building a farmstead in Las Trampas, created a Hipcamp profile at hipcamp.com the day her mother told her about the site in March. "We are just getting settled here with the intention of doing sustainable food production on the land, and part of our financial model in kind of bootstrapping this operation is offering stays on the farm," she says. "It's just part of our dream of making this land happen." So far, she's had just one "hipcamper," but sees lots of potential, and recently purchased a circus-esque canvas tent with plans to add "glamping." It's an example of Hipcamp doing what it does best: connecting private landowners with would-be campers looking for somewhere unique to pitch a tent. Website founder and CEO Alyssa Ravasio has seen the endeavor support other sustainable farming operations, and even bridge the urban-rural divide. It's big growth from an idea that started around a failure to plan, after Ravasio once found herself short-changed out of a beach camping experience because she did not book a campsite far enough in advance. The website began in California four years ago as a resource guide for campsite information so people could be smart about picking a site and as a way of searching for nearby available sites if a chosen campground was booked. The private landowners component came two years ago. They're targeting New Mexico for growth, identifying landowners who might be a good fit, reaching out, and walking them through a process that includes creating a listing, sending over a professional photographer and signing up for insurance. Already, local offerings include a cabin on the Pecos River and space for trailers or tents on 7.5 acres along the San Antonio River in the Jemez Mountains. "The number one reason why people love going on Hipcamp isn't just because there's nowhere else to go," Ravasio says. "It's a really unique experience. It's a chance to go somewhere that is generally going to be really private. You're going to have a situation where you have 100 acres all to yourself." It's a chance to book a place with friends or family and not worry about keeping the neighbors up at night. While the private land listings look promising, there are some, shall we say, gaps in the resource guide when it comes to camping on nearby public lands. The listing for the Big Tesuque Campgroundthe grassy hillside in the aspens along the road to Ski Santa Feappears with a photo of the pink sandstone of the Gilman Tunnels. Big T is in the eastern half of the Santa Fe National Forest, in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains; Gilman Tunnels in the west, in the Jemez. The Aspen Basin Campground in the ski area parking lot gets treated to a scenic photo of an alpine lake that would be visible only after hiking miles up the ski hill. "If the community hasn't uploaded a photo yet for the campground, we just default to a photo from the national forest, so it's definitely not ideal," Ravasio says. "In areas where we've been around for a bit longer, we've seen really great community involvement." Written descriptions were intended to provide details to help fill in those gaps. But again, at Aspen Basin Campground, the area is described as "relatively undeveloped"which is true, just as long as you're facing away from the ski lodge. The writer continues, "The entire area is ultra scenic, so it can get popular during the summer an fall aspen viewing seasons." It is, and it does, but would the truly uninitiated show up for an "undeveloped" experience and be turned off by so much asphalt? Activities should also be double-checked. The writer recommends the hiking, biking, and camping near the Panchuela Campground in the Pecos Wilderness, but biking on trails would violate federal law banning bikes there. Hipcamp lists sites in the Santa Fe National Forest as walk-ups, but the federally run recreation.gov allows booking some of them in advance. That website is working on an overhaul now to add one of the components from Hipcamp: browsing by a real-time feed of available sites. In addition to aggregating campsites and cabins available through all federal land agencies, that data has been released to other websites developers for reuse. "We just feel that being able to provide this data allows for creativity and innovationlike a Hipcampto just simply expand the ways in which people can access this information," Smith says. "We want to meet people where they are, if it's in a website or another social network, so that they can access this information from wherever they are." Right now, for people in Santa Fe, Ravasio says, connecting with sites on private land is probably the more useful component of hipcamp.com. Or, if you're still searching out somewhere to catch the Aug. 21 solar eclipse, there's a one-click link for last-minute bookings in the path of the totality. Santa Fe Reporter The Labour Party's proposal to tax water used for irrigation will fail because lakes and rivers most in need of freshwater clean-ups have low levels of irrigation, says Irrigation New Zealand. The lobby group's chair, Nicky Hyslop, and chief executive Andrew Curtis met Labour water spokesman David Parker at Parliament today to argue Labour's plan to funnel funds raised from water levies back to the regions where the water came from simply would not work. "They say the tax collected in the region would be used in that region," said Curtis. "That means about $1 million for Northland", which had some of the most polluted rivers but very little irrigation. "It (the water tax revenue) is not correlated to the size of the issue, so will it achieve anything? We need to get back to polluter pays, bringing towns and other land users into the mix." Labour's plan is to hold a national conference on becoming government to establish a new regime for freshwater allocation, including settling Maori claims and imposing a royalty at around 2 cents per cubic metre of water used for industrial and farming purposes, unless it's taken from a town supply. Based on an annual 5 billion litres of water used for irrigation, that would cost farmers around $100 million a year. Hyslop said the levy would add around $22,500 to the annual running costs of her family farm and that those funds would be better applied to improved farming methods. Irrigation NZ produced graphs that compared Ministry for the Environment statistics for dirty rivers with its own figures showing most of the country's irrigation takes place. The graphs show the most heavily irrigated parts of the country - Canterbury, Otago and Marlborough - were amongst the least likely to have rivers graded as 'poor' quality for swimming. Relatively lightly irrigated areas such as Auckland, Waikato and Northland had high levels of contaminated rivers unfit for swimming. "This tax doesn't bring in all the other influences and other users," said Hyslop. "Irrigators represent 6 percent of farmed land in New Zealand. They are targeting a very small group of farmers to fix a widespread problem." (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: The Warehouse Group FY23 First Quarter Sales Update PEB - Interim Financial Results to be Announced 24 November 2022 EROAD H1 FY23 Results and Conference Call Details MFB - Appointment of Chief Executive Officer HFL - Annual report for the year ended 31 August 2022 November 11th Morning Report GMT - Customer demand supports strong first-half operating result EVO - Embark Education announces Special Dividend BLT - Strategy reset and revenue growth Mainfreight Half Year Financial Results 30 September 2022 Former Treaty of Waitangi claims negotiator Ngatata Love will be released on parole in October, having served less than half of his jail term for taking a secret payment of $1.5 million while chairman of the Wellington Tenths Trust. Love was sentenced to two years and six months imprisonment last October for the fraud. The guilty verdict followed an investigation into a $1.5 million payment from a land developer into a trust controlled by Love's partner, Lorraine Skiffington, which was then used to repay a property loan on a Plimmerton house he and Skiffington co-owned. The Court of Appeal rejected his bid to have the sentence quashed in June, with Love's lawyers arguing there had been a miscarriage of justice in declaring him fit to stand trial because of his dementia and the subsequent sentence was unduly harsh. The appeal court judges found the two-and-a-half year jail term was "well within range, if not merciful, and could not possibly be criticised as excessive". After a parole board hearing yesterday, Love will be "released in early October with a number of parole conditions", a spokesperson for the Department of Corrections said in an emailed statement. Skiffington, who was granted a permanent stay as she was declared medically unfit to stand trial, recently had her assets frozen as the Tenths Trust pursues reparations. The trust was established to administer 81 hectares of Maori Reserve lands, largely in urban Wellington, on behalf of its beneficial owners, the descendants of hapu of Te Atiawa, Ngati Tama, Taranaki, and Ngati Ruanui tupuna who were living within the rohe in 1839. It held assets of $55.6 million as at March 31, 2014. There are currently 6,133 registered beneficial owners. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: The Warehouse Group FY23 First Quarter Sales Update PEB - Interim Financial Results to be Announced 24 November 2022 EROAD H1 FY23 Results and Conference Call Details MFB - Appointment of Chief Executive Officer HFL - Annual report for the year ended 31 August 2022 November 11th Morning Report GMT - Customer demand supports strong first-half operating result EVO - Embark Education announces Special Dividend BLT - Strategy reset and revenue growth Mainfreight Half Year Financial Results 30 September 2022 Fairfax Media Group chief executive Greg Hywood is optimistic about the outlook for the New Zealand division as the now-profitable hyper-local Neighbourly website breaks ground with a growing number of real estate listings. The New Zealand division posted a 7.7 percent decline in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to $55.5 million in the 12 months ended June 30 as shrinking advertising drove a 7 percent decline in revenue to $325.9 million. However, digital revenue jumped 29 percent and the Neighbourly website controlled by Fairfax generated positive ebitda in the second half of the financial year and was breaking new ground in the hotly contested real estate listings space. Hywood told analysts in a briefing today that the New Zealand business was "very, very interesting" with the stuff.co.nz website the fourth most popular site with a monthly audience of 2.1 million people behind Google, Facebook and Youtube, and is a "tremendous digital growth platform". That's helped drive the success of the Neighbourly website, which has attracted 470,000 members and is reaching a monthly audience of 810,000. Fairfax lifted its stake in Neighbourly to 70 percent in December, resulting in a fair value gain of A$2.7 million for the Australian media company. A key strategy for the wider Australian group has been to carve out its Domain online real estate company into a separately listed entity, retaining a 60 percent and distributing the remaining 40 percent to its own shareholders. Hywood said they decided against launching Domain in New Zealand where it would be a third-ranked player behind "two significant market leaders", but said Neighbourly has made ground in that space with 6,000 real estate listings. "Given the size of growth in Neighbourly members, driven by Stuff, we have seen real possibilities in that space," he said. "We believe there's a real opportunity the future of that business." New Zealand's booming property market has provided a boon for publishers, particularly in Auckland where an expanding population and shortage of housing drove up prices beyond the realm of first-home buyers in recent years. That activity has tapered off in recent months as stricter lending criteria and Reserve Bank-imposed mortgage restrictions excluded riskier buyers. Online auction site Trade Me, which used to be owned by Fairfax, currently has 29,221 residential property listings on its website, while realestate.co.nz, part-owned by the industry lobby Real Estate Institute of New Zealand, has 32,593 listings. Rival Kiwi media group NZME is scheduled to report its first-half earnings next week, and Forsyth Barr's Matt Henry predicts it will post a 3 percent fall in profit to $10.1 million on a 3 percent decline in revenue to $191.8 million. Trade Me will report annual earnings the same day, and Forsyth Barr's James Bascand predicts it will post a 9 percent gain in profit to $92.2 million on an 8.1 percent lift in revenue to $235.7 million. Fairfax tried to merge its New Zealand business with NZME but was turned down by the Commerce Commission which deemed the aggregation of soft power and dwindling number of voices in the media landscape was too great a cost for the economic gains a united entity would enjoy. The companies are appealing the commission's decision, which is scheduled to be heard in the High Court in October, and Fairfax chairman Nick Falloon today said the regulator's decision "failed to grasp the commercial realities of modern media and the opportunity of allowing two local media companies to gain the scale and resources necessary to aggressively compete against market-dominating global search and social giants, now and into the future." Still, Fairfax has a back-up plan for the New Zealand business, using the Stuff website to drive new products such as the Stuff Fibre internet service. Chief financial officer David Housego told analysts the company was investing in the New Zealand business to support that digital growth, and that any cost-cutting measures would be on the publishing side of the business. Fairfax cut operating costs 6.4 percent in the latest year to $270.4 million, while increasing its local headcount with 1,205 full-time employees compared to 1,197 a year earlier, and 107 part-timers and casuals, up from 88. The media company's New Zealand print advertising revenue fell 11 percent in the year, with overall ad sales down 9.1 percent to $203.9 million, while circulation shrank 4.8 percent to $102.2 million. Other New Zealand revenue rose 6 percent to $19.8 million. Hywood said the company has started rationalising regional newspaper titles by reducing the frequency of publication. Fairfax has cut the Marlborough Express's daily publication to three days a week from May 1, and is considering a similar move at the Nelson Mail. (BusinessDesk) Comments from our readers No comments yet Add your comment: Your name: Your email: Not displayed to the public Comment: Comments to Sharechat go through an approval process. Comments which are defamatory, abusive or in some way deemed inappropriate will not be approved. It is allowable to use some form of non-de-plume for your name, however we recommend real email addresses are used. Comments from free email addresses such as Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc may not be approved. Anti-spam verification: Type the text you see in the image into the field below. You are asked to do this in order to verify that this enquiry is not being performed by an automated process. Related News: The Warehouse Group FY23 First Quarter Sales Update PEB - Interim Financial Results to be Announced 24 November 2022 EROAD H1 FY23 Results and Conference Call Details MFB - Appointment of Chief Executive Officer HFL - Annual report for the year ended 31 August 2022 November 11th Morning Report GMT - Customer demand supports strong first-half operating result EVO - Embark Education announces Special Dividend BLT - Strategy reset and revenue growth Mainfreight Half Year Financial Results 30 September 2022 SPRINGFIELD -- The Illinois State Fair is well underway and the Illinois Department of Agriculture, along with BRANDT, is excited to once again offer fairgoers the chance to learn more about agriculture on the daily Ag Tours. These interactive tours give fairgoers the opportunity to take a behind the scenes look at Illinois agriculture on the Illinois State Fairgrounds. "Ag Tours provide a wonderful opportunity for those not directly connected to the agriculture industry to learn more about our state's number one industry," says Ag Director Raymond Poe. "At each stop you learn something new from those who live, eat, breathe and sleep Illinois agriculture. These folks are passionate and full of information: from how long it takes for milk to travel from the farm to the grocery store, to how long it takes to train a champion race horse." This twice daily tour departs from the Illinois Department of Agriculture tent. Each tour takes fairgoers on a guided tram ride throughout the fairgrounds. The guides are members of Illinois FFA and have received high praise for their knowledge and excitement. Tour participants learn about the Illinois agriculture industry, including beef, dairy, swine, horse racing, goats, rabbits, corn, soybeans and pollinators. Each Ag Tour participant receives a goodie bag full of items from the various commodity groups, including some coupons. Tours begin at 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. each day through Aug. 19. URBANA -- The USDAs August Crop Production report contained larger-than-expected forecasts for the 2017 U.S. corn and soybean crops. At 169.5 bushels per acre and 49.4 bushels per acre respectively, the corn and soybean yields came in above trade expectations, says a University of Illinois agricultural economist. The corn crop is 298 million bushels larger than the average trade guess at 14.153 billion bushels. Similarly, the soybean crop forecast of 4.381 billion bushels is 169 million bushels larger than the average trade guess. The larger-than-expected production levels for both crops sent harvest futures prices to lows not seen since late in June, says Todd Hubbs. For corn, the USDA made no changes to the 83.496 million harvested acres from the June Acreage report. The U.S. average corn yield forecast of 169.5 was 3.3 bushels larger than trade expectations. One of the larger surprises for forecasted yield came from Indiana. Despite poor crop condition ratings, Indiana corn yield came in at 173 bushels per acre, which is no change from last year, Hubbs says. Iowa and Illinois corn yield forecasts were down 15 and 9 bushels per acre from last year respectively. As expected, corn yield forecasts for North Dakota and South Dakota are down 37 and 21 bushels per acre. The poor crop condition reports and significant weather issues in many areas lead many market observers to conclude the yield to be too high, Hubbs explains. One should keep in mind that USDA August corn yield forecasts have been within a bushel of the final corn yield estimate in the last two years. As we move through the rest of the crop year, an expectation of any adjustment to national corn yield should consider a movement lower than the current estimate. Old crop year-ending stocks estimates came in at 2.37 billion bushels, which is unchanged from the July estimate. USDA forecasts for corn consumption categories during the 2016-17 marketing year reported no change from July. "Corn exports continue to show stronger-than-expected levels and may be around 20 million bushels larger than the current 2.225 billion bushel projection, Hubbs says. If corn exports exceed the current projections, ending stocks would be lower but the carryout into the 2017-18 marketing year would still be around 2.35 billion bushels. For the 2017-18 marketing year, the USDA lowered corn feed and residual use and exports by 25 million bushels each. Projection of corn used for ethanol remained at 5.5 billion bushels. Stocks on Sept. 1, 2018 are projected at 2.273 billion bushels and the average farm price for the year ahead is forecast in a range of $2.90 to $3.70, the same as the July report. Given the current yield forecast, an expectation of increased feed and residual use and export levels are reasonable for the 2017-18 marketing year, Hubbs says. Despite continued strength in ethanol production, the potential for slightly lower corn use in ethanol exists due to weakening ethanol exports in 2017-18. Overall, the potential for greater consumption of corn than the current 14.3 billion bushel forecast in 2017-18 exists. A realization of higher consumption levels would place prices at the higher end of the current USDA price range. The USDA made no changes to the 88.731 million harvested acres from the June Acreage report for soybeans. The U.S. average soybean yield forecast of 49.4 was 1.9 bushels larger than trade expectations. Yield forecasts in the Northern Plains and many states in the Corn Belt reflected the poor crop condition ratings. Soybean yield forecasts in North Dakota and South Dakota are down 8.5 bushels per acre from last year. Iowa and Illinois yield forecasts are down 4.5 and 1 bushels per acre from last year respectively. Southern states recorded soybean yield increases from last year with Mississippi and Kentucky both reporting record yields of 52 bushels per acre. Since 2011, the USDA August yield forecast has been lower than the final national soybean yield. While it is tempting to discount the current yield forecast, the USDA has not produced an August soybean yield forecast greater than one bushel above the final soybean yield since 2003, Hubbs says. For old crop soybeans, the USDA lowered the soybean crush projection by 10 million bushels to 1.89 billion bushels and increased exports by 50 million bushels to 2.15 billion bushels. The pace of domestic crush and exports currently suggests these projections will hold for this marketing year. The projection of ending stocks for the 2016-17 marketing year decreased to 370 million bushels from the 410 million bushels projected in July and continued the decline in soybean ending stock forecasts that began in June at 450 million bushels. Forecasts for the 2017-18 U.S. marketing year increased ending stocks by 15 million bushels to 475 million bushels on the larger-than-expected production levels and lower crush and higher export projections from July. The forecast for domestic soybean crush decreased 10 million bushels to 1.94 billion bushels. Soybean export forecasts increased 75 million bushels on larger supply. The forecast of the 2017-18 marketing-year average price increased the lower range by 5 cents and decreased the upper range by 25 cents from July to a range of $8.45 - $10.15. The potential for lower soybean consumption than current USDA forecasts for 2017-18 is dependent on continued weakness in soybean crush numbers and lower exports, Hubbs says. Soybean exports will depend on continued growth in Chinese soybean imports and a competitive pricing position relative to South American exporters. Under the current production scenario, ending stocks for soybeans will continue to build in the 2017-18 marketing year and places average farm prices at the lower end of the current USDA price range. The USDA corn and soybean production forecasts will be updated on Sept. 12. There appears to be a possibility of U.S. average corn and soybean yield forecasts to decrease. For soybeans, in particular, August weather will be a deciding factor. Prices will reflect crop production potential as we move through the harvest period, Hubbs says. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A bicycle bandit who targeted the St. George Ferry Terminal five times this summer was arrested with tools in hand, authorities allege. Raymond Almodovar, 54, of Blackford Avenue in Port Richmond, faces charges of petit larceny, criminal possession of stolen property and possession of burglar's tools. Surveillance footage viewed by police showed Almodovar remove five bicycles on different dates, at times ranging from rush hour to 11 p.m., from June 29 to Aug. 13, according to the criminal complaint. Police arrested Almodovar at the same location the thefts were reported and seized a bag of tools that included bolt cutters, a flashlight, a bike chain, a leatherman, a wheel wrench and a bow cutter, police said. Almodovar was arraigned on Aug. 15 in Criminal Court in St. George, where a judge set bail at $2,500. An additional $1,000 bond was added due to an ongoing case out of Bronx Criminal Court, according to public records. He's due back in Richmond County Criminal Court on Aug. 18. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is considering a proposal to cease surgical procedures at its Brooklyn hospital campus and refer patients to Manhattan, a move that Staten Island and Brooklyn elected officials argue would be a heavy burden for ill and elderly veterans. New York Harbor Healthcare System runs the Brooklyn facility and says reclassifying it as an "Ambulatory Advanced" facility, down from its current "Complex" classification, would improve services for veterans, who would have to travel to the Manhattan campus. Inpatient surgeries like open heart procedures, joint reconstructions, coronary artery bypass grafts and appendectomies would have to be done at the facility 12 miles away. They argue that with only 450 inpatient surgeries at the Brooklyn campus, as compared to more than 1,000 in Manhattan from October 2015 to September 2016, it makes sense to consolidate them all under one roof -- and would allow them to provide better services. But the elected officials representing the veterans on Staten Island and in Brooklyn who get treatment at the facility argue that traveling to Manhattan would be too inconvenient. In a letter to Secretary of Veterans Affairs David J. Shulkin, Rep. Daniel Donovan, along with Borough President James Oddo, state Sens. Andrew Lanza and Diane Savino; Assembly members Michael Cusick, Nicole Malliotakis, and Ron Castorina Jr.; Councilmembers Steven Matteo, Joe Borelli and Debi Rose, ask the VA to deny the proposal. They were also joined in their plea by Brooklyn electeds: Borough President Eric Adams; state Sen. Marty Golden; and Assembly members Felix W. Ortiz, Steven Cymbrowitz and Peter Abbate. Besides the inconvenience of traveling to Manhattan from Staten Island and Brooklyn, the letter argued the facility may be needed during natural disasters. "Following Hurricane Sandy, the Manhattan VAMC was severely damaged and closed for several months. During this time, veterans relied on the Brooklyn VAMC for all services. Modifying the Brooklyn facility's capabilities would negatively impact the VA's ability to properly serve thousands of veterans following another high intensity storm," the politicians argued. "From post-traumatic stress, to rehabilitation, to diseases caused by exposure to explosives or a common cold - whatever the issue might be - every veteran deserves to know that they have access to the VA doctors, nurses, and medical treatments they need. We urge you to fully consider the negative impact this proposal would have on veterans from across New York City and ask for the decision to be reversed." Representatives from several veteran advocacy organizations called on the VA to reject the proposal. Kristen Rouse, U.S. Army veteran and founding director of NYC Veterans Alliance said, "Any reduction in services offered by the Brooklyn VA Hospital will make it more difficult for veterans to access the care they've earned. Many of us still remember the months and years of problems at the Manhattan VA caused by Hurricane Sandy, and are alarmed that services in Brooklyn seem to be vanishing before our eyes. The Department of Veterans Affairs must ensure veterans in Brooklyn and Staten Island can access high quality care. The NYC Veterans Alliance joins Rep. Donovan in calling on the VA to reverse the reduction of services at the Brooklyn VA Hospital." Donovan had opposed the VA's decision to close a 25-bed unit in the Brooklyn hospital in 2015. He said Wednesday, "Our nation's veterans risked life and limb to defend and protect our nation and way of life. Now these brave men and women count on us to ensure that they have access to benefits and services they earned. Our veterans have sacrificed enough, and it's unacceptable for any past or present service member to lose access or go through increased hurdles to get the medical services they rely on. I will continue fighting on behalf of all New York City veterans to ensure that this proposal is defeated." STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The reports of his injuries and how it happened are chilling. A motorcyclist waiting at a red light is slammed from the rear. The rider is very badly hurt, the bike and car extensively damaged and the driver flees the scene, leaving him writhing in pain. Even more shocking is the surveillance video that actually shows the car heading right at the cyclist without even slowing down. It ends just as the potentially fatal collision occurs. That driver, now with a badly damaged car, is said to be a female in her 30s and either took her car out of state to be fixed or has it hidden in a garage somewhere. Was she texting? Under the influence of booze or drugs? Uninsured? Unlicensed? What ever the reason, now that we have more to go on, let's hope cops make an arrest soon in this case -- and some of the others in the disturbing surge of hit-and-run cases. This one leaves the victim on a long, painful road to recovery. The 49-year-old motorcycle rider was so badly injured, he will likely need to learn how to walk again, his family told the Advance. It happened on Aug. 6 at 8:24 p.m. Frank Morse, 49, of Westerleigh, was on his Honda bike and stopped at a red light when he was rear-ended by a silver four-door sedan near Victory Boulevard and Little Clove Road in Sunnyside. The victim was conscious and in pain when he was transported to Richmond University Medical Center in West Brighton. Morse's sister, Julianne Siciliano, said he was catapulted off the bike and suffered an "open book" pelvic injury. She said he snapped and tore ligaments in his pelvic area -- hence, the pelvis opens like a book -- and also had a dislocated shoulder. Morse, a city Sanitation worker who appeared in the department's 2016 calendar, underwent a nine-hour emergency surgery to insert screws and plates at St. Joseph's Hospital in New Jersey, where he is still recovering, the family told the Advance. "He's still in excruciating pain," Siciliano said. "The doctors said he's going to be in a wheelchair for three to six months and then they'll have to train him to walk again." The car that fled the scene had front-hood damage and it's possible the air bags were deployed, said an NYPD spokeswoman. "We're looking for the person who did this," Siciliano said. It's just a matter of time and chances are pretty good that the driver is reading all of the news reports. So read this: You will eventually be caught, and -- if convicted -- let's hope the D.A. inisists on jail time. Given the damage you've done to this dedicated civil servant and his family, you deserve that -- and more. CHARLESTON -- The Coles County Extension Foundation hosted the 2017 4-H Livestock Auction on Thursday, Aug. 3 at the Coles County Fairgrounds. Nora and Lilly Gannaway, daughters of Nathan and Stephanie Gannaway, opened the auction by singing The Star Spangled Banner. A total of 80 head of livestock were sold, with proceeds paid to the 4-H members by the many auction buyers who came from far and near to support our local Coles County 4-H livestock exhibitors. In addition to 4-H animals, four watermelons donated by First Mid-Illinois Bank & Trust were sold for a total of $1,875, along with six potted plants donated by Coles County Farm Bureau Young Leaders bringing in $1,925. Honey donated by Andrew Fearn sold for $300. Proceeds from the sales of the watermelons and potted plants go to the Extension Foundation in support of 4-H and other local Extension programs. As in the past, six parking spaces (donated by the Coles County Fair Association) were auctioned off for the upcoming 2018 Coles County Fair. The winning bids for the 2018 parking spaces were: Metzger Family Farms, Uphoff Farms, Heather Metzger and Crew, Madison Avenue Candles/Nathan and Stephanie Gannaway, Melissa Hurst Circuit Clerk, and Hurst Farms, Inc. A total of $3,300 was raised from the parking spaces to support Coles Extension Foundation. Raffle results were are follows: Grand Prize winner of the Exmark Quest lawnmower with 42-inch deck or $2,500 cash was Jeff Shrader. Jeff graciously donated the $2,500 to the Coles County Young Leaders. The second place winner of $150 Rural King gift card was Eric Montgomery, third place winner of $100 Lambos BP gas card was Brandon Gurley, fourth place winner of $50 DeBuhrs Seed & Feed gift card was Mallory Otto and fifth place winner of five tickets to the 2018 4-H BBQ was Rick Veach. A special thank-you is given to the generous business owners and community groups who support the project work of the 4-H members year after year. The Coles County Extension Foundation, the 4-H members and University of Illinois Extension staff appreciate the volunteer services from the auctioneers, clerks, ring men, 4-H livestock superintendents and Farm Credit Illinois during this annual event. CHARLESTON -- People from around the state are expected to gather again on Saturday to pay tribute to the Illinois military men and women who have given their lives in the war on terror. The eighth annual Run/Walk for the Fallen of Illinois will be from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at Charleston High Schools Trojan Hill. The names of all the fallen from Illinois will be read over the track public address system. Organizers said the names of almost 260 military men and women from the state who have died during the global war on terrorism will be read. The names of approximately 50 service members will be read per hour for five hours. A special ceremony will be held about 9 a.m. New this year will be a cannon salute by the Eastern Illinois University ROTC. The ceremony also will feature a Charleston High School choral group singing the National Anthem, the Charleston VFW Post 1592 color guard and Mattoon High Schools Junior ROTC drill team The Gladiators. Run for the Fallen-Illinois asks each person who comes out to walk/run one mile for a fallen soldier from the state of Illinois who was killed in the war on terror. Five more names have been added to the list in the past year. People can walk/run for a fallen soldier that they knew, or a soldier will be assigned to them. Participants will receive information about their soldier at the event. Participants will walk/run a mile on the Charleston High School track located just to the west of Charleston Middle School at 920 Smith Drive. To pre-register, go to www.charlestonillinois.org and click on the Run for the Fallen link to print off a registration form. Complete the form and mail or deliver to the Charleston Parks and Recreation Department at 520 Jackson Ave., Charleston. Registration is accepted the day of the event. However, anyone walking/running for a specific soldier who would like to have a card and photo for that person, should submit the registration form listing the soldiers name by Thursday. There is no fee to participate. Water is available to all participants. Water has been donated by State Sen. Dale Righter and by Home Depot. Any donations received will go to the Coles County Veteran Support Coalition. For more information, contact Vivian Bales at 217-549-0117, Carolyn Cloyd at 217-235-4984, or Bill Lair at 217-218-2549. By clicking Agree, you consent to Slates Terms of Service and Privacy Policy and the use of technologies such as cookies by Slate and our partners to deliver relevant advertising on our iOS app to personalize content and perform site analytics. Please see our Privacy Policy for more information about our use of data, your rights, and how to withdraw consent. Agree Weekdays -- Wellness screenings, immunizations, flu vaccines and all recommended vaccinations, STD testing, blood work (cholesterol, hemoglobin, etc), Coles County Health Department, 825 18th St., Charleston. Call to make an appointment at 217-348-0530. -- Living with Diabetes, 2:30-3:30 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday in METS at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center. For more information, call 217-238-4808 or 217-258-2199. -- Pulmonary Rehab, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11 a.m., 12:30 p.m. or 1:30 p.m. in METS at Sarah Bush Lincoln. For more information, call 217-238-4973. -- Walk-in Flu Immunization Clinics, 8-11:30 a.m., 1-3:30 p.m., Shelby County Health Department, 1700 W.S. Third St., Shelbyville. Call 217-774-9555. -- Heart Health Screenings, $95, or $190 for screens to detect peripheral vascular disease. To make an appointment, call 217-258-2238. Thursday -- Healthy Directions, 6 p.m. every Thursday in the Lumpkin Family Center for Health Education at Sarah Bush Lincoln. A six-month community weight-management program, which is supported in part by WomenConnected, a giving circle within Sarah Bush Lincoln. For more information, call 217-258-2199. -- Hopeful Horizons, 1-2:30 p.m., Lincolnland Hospice, A support group open to anyone who has lost a loved one. For more information, contact Lincolnland Hospice at 1-800-454-4055. -- Effingham Elks Free Children's Orthopedic Clinic, 8 a.m., Bonutti Orthopedic Clinic, 1303 West Evergreen Avenue, in Effingham; by appointment only; To make an appointment call the Illinois Elks Childrens Care office at 1-800-272-0074 between the hours of 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday through Friday. There are no charges for any services at this clinic. -- Basic Life Support Healthcare Provider Class, HSHS St. Anthonys Memorial Hospital. Pre-registration is required. Please contact Kristi Smith, Clinical Educator, at 217-347-1283 for class times and availability. There is a nominal fee for the completion card. -- Blood drive, 2-6 p.m., United Methodist Church, 13 East Washington, Oakland. Friday -- Blood drive, 2-6 p.m., The Salvation Army, 1300 Richmond Ave., Mattoon. Saturday -- 2017 "Oh, Baby Express" childbirth class, 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Lumpkin Family Center for Health Education; Fee is $30 per mom and birth partner; this includes all course materials. $15 discounted rate for women on WIC or the Illinois Medical Card. Pre-registration required. For more information, contact Allison Masse, RN at amasse@sblhs.org or 217-258-2229. Monday -- Weight Loss Information Sessions, 5:30 p.m., SBL Tuscola Clinic, free of charge; For more information, contact Kristina Adams at kadams@sblhs.org or at 217-238-4774. -- Balance Clinic, HSHS St. Anthony Memorial Hospital Physical Rehabilitation Department; A physical therapist will provide a simple 15-20 minute balance screening and fall risk assessment free of charge. A physicians order is not required for the screening and patients do not have to register with the hospital. However, screenings are being conducted by appointment only. Appointment times are available between 911 a.m. Call 217-347-1243 to schedule an appointment. -- Adult Grief Support Group, 6 p.m., St. Anthonys Memorial Hospital Education Center, Effingham. To find out more about this program or to pre-register, please contact the Community Relations department at 217-347-1529 or visit the hospitals web site at www.stanthonyshospital.org. -- Blood drive, 2-6 p.m., Charleston Rehabilitation and Health Care Center, 716 18th Street, Charleston. Tuesday -- Having A Baby series, 6:30 p.m., Tuesday, August 22 and Thursday, August 24; HSHS St. Anthonys Memorial Hospital auditorium; a three-part educational series which provides a comprehensive journey through the process of birth and infant care. For more information contact Community Programs, at 217-347-1529 or visit www.stanthonyshospital.org. Aug. 23 -- Safe and Snug Car Seat Class, 7-9 p.m., Lumpkin Family Center for Health Education; Car seat safety information will be provided by Mattoon police officers who are also certified car seat technicians. A discussion and question and answer period will be included. Bring your car seat installed in your vehicle (if possible) and the car seat techs will assess it, insuring that it is properly installed, and that it is the right seat for your baby. Free of charge; Pre-registration is required. For more information call 217-258-2229 (BABY). -- Blood drive, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., HSHS Good Shepherd Hospital, 200 South Cedar, Shelbyville. MATTOON -- No matter what happens with the motion to override Governor Bruce Rauners veto on the public school funding formula, local school officials indicated they would be able to survive without state aid, but not for a lengthy amount of time. Since the state budget was passed after a two-year impasse, the public school funding formula has become the next big battle for state lawmakers and the governor, which has held up funding to these schools. Both are at odds where the money will be funneled. Sunday, the Illinois Senate overturned the governors amendatory veto of legislation containing a new evidence-based funding model, and that motion has moved to the House, which convenes today. Until a formula is locked down, funding to these schools has halted. Regardless, local leaders from Charleston and Mattoon school districts said they would be able to keep their doors open for some months before tapping out of funds to use. The Mattoon district would be able to keep its doors open for most of the first semester, Larry Lilly, Mattoon Superintendent, said. The school could survive off property taxes that roll in until the state funding situation is squared away. There was no clear date on how long the district could endure, but Lilly was confident the district would continue off of those taxes throughout the fall. If this holdup is drawn out further, preliminary discussions will have to take place on what to do moving forward, Lilly said. Currently, the district is waiting to see how the negotiations between lawmakers and the governor play out, Lilly noted. Charleston is in a similar boat. The Charleston school district has enough money to open the year and continue for some months, but not for the entire school year, Charleston Superintendent Todd Vilardo said. If there's no resolution at the state level on the school funding bill, the district would have to borrow money at some point to complete the year, he said. Vilardo said Assistant Superintendent Chad Burgett, who handles the district's finances, is tracking the situation on a monthly basis in order to make reports during the Charleston school board's meetings. The figures fluctuate but can show trends and give an idea of when the district might have to borrow money and how much might be needed, Vilardo explained. Other school districts in the area are in a better position. Oakland school district Superintendent Lance Landeck has been following the debate in Springfield over proposed legislation to fund public education, but he said his district will be able to hold classes throughout 2017-18 regardless of whichever legislation is finally approved. Landeck said the Illinois State Board of Education has determined that Oakland has enough "cash on hand" to operate for 306 days, more than enough to get through the new school year. He said Oakland has a good local property tax base, so it is not as dependent on state funding as some school districts in other regions of Illinois. "We are in a better situation than a lot of other schools you hear about," Landeck said. He added that "The (Oakland school) board does a really good job of trying to be fiscally responsible." Outside of general state aid payments, the state has been less prompt in funding state-mandated categorical payments for these local schools. Lilly said the Mattoon district only received three of the four payments of roughly $500,000 in categoricals. Landeck said that although the state fully funded annual state aid to Oakland and other Illinois school districts for 2016-17, the state has not yet fully funded money for special education, transportation and other school categories not covered by state aid. Landeck said he is not sure about how much categorical funding will be allocated in 2017-18. The Oakland superintendent said he is confident that state legislators will approve public education funding legislation soon, otherwise, they will have a tough time winning re-election if their local school districts start to suffer without funding. Lilly is hopeful that cooler heads will prevail. The Illinois House plans to gauge support for changes Rauner made with an amendatory veto of school funding legislation, according to the Associated Press. APs report states that there will be no immediate vote on overriding the veto when the House convenes. Instead, Democrats will consider a new bill that incorporates the Republican governor's changes. But its chances in the House are slim. Under the Democratic plan, no school district would get less money next year than it received this year. Additional money would be funneled to the neediest districts first, according to AP. Rauner's amendatory veto significantly changed that plan. If the House doesn't approve the new compromise bill, it will have until Aug. 29 to override Rauner's veto, the report continued. Thank you for visiting the Daily Journal. Please purchase an Enhanced Subscription to continue reading. To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account. We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription. A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means youre helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much! System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28: 29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948 /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f028cbc8)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f016a0d8)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f028cbc8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f016a0d8)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f025d7a0)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f016a0d8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f016a0d8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e8e98920)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f03a0ef0)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f03a0ef0)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28:
29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948 /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f0277210)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f02c45b8)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f0277210)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f02c45b8)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612f015c508)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f02c45b8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612f02c45b8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e8e99740)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f03395f8)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612f03395f8)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 MATTOON -- The Mattoon school superintendent addressed the incident in Charlottesville, Va., that ended in a woman's death at the school district board meeting Tuesday. "Over the weekend, I watched television with a sense of horror and disgust as neo-Nazis and the (Ku Klux Klan) took to the streets of Charlottesville, " Larry Lilly said in a statement during the meeting. He added that "our responsibility as educators is crystal clear. We must call out hate and intolerance. We must teach our children to accept one another." Larry Lilly said he was compelled to mention his thoughts on the matter thinking about his father who fought in the war and his Hispanic son. "As the son of Marine who fought in World War II to rid the of hate and oppression, I can only imagine how appalled my dad would be to see a display of Nazi symbolism," he said in his statement. Also at the meeting, a Kansas man that is part of local project One Nation Under God handed out posters to the board, some of which he asked to be hand out to teachers in the school district stressing Christian heritage in the U.S. and U.S. government. The poster contains over 100 quotes from Americas founding fathers, founding documents, supreme court cases, politicians, and industrialists clearly establishing and denoting Americas Christian history, Fred Kubicek said. This is not establishing anything, He said in his presentation. What we are doing is bringing back to the collective memory of this country a significant portion of Americas Christian history, which has been deleted from the public sector for quite a few years. This is a Christian nation with Christian foundations, he said addressing a Supreme Court decision. Kubicek said he hopes it can be used as a tool or reference point in the classroom. Lilly said the posters will be handed out to the principals and the social studies teachers as Kubicek asked. It will be up to the teachers if they feel it fits within their curriculum. Teachers have many items that come through, Lilly said. We ask teachers to use their professional judgment as to what best fits into their curriculum and how it would enhance their lessons. Also in Tuesdays meeting, board members okd an agreement between Mattoon and Okaw Valley to return funds mistakenly given to them. The agreement that was up for a board vote stipulates that the Mattoon district will return roughly $65,000 over the next 5 years, which rounds out to approximately $13,000 a year, Lilly said. As previously reported, the Mattoon district mistakenly received property tax money for several years from Shelby County that should have gone to Okaw Valley, and the county and the two districts have devised a plan to remedy that. Lilly elaborated that the Mattoon received word some time ago that the district had been getting more than it should have from Shelby County. He said the county officials discovered the mistake in their office and proceeded to notify both districts. System error error: Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. context: ... 21: 22: 23: % foreach my $c (@categories) { 24: <%perl> 25: my $category_id = $c->get_id(); 26: my @stories = Bric::Biz::Asset::Business::Story->list ( { element_type_id=>1148, category_id=>$category_id , Order=> 'cover_date', publish_status => 't' , OrderDirection=> 'DESC' , Limit=>10 } ); 27: 28:
29: ... code stack: /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html:25 /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm:948 /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj:17 /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html:149 Can't call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25. Trace begun at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Exceptions.pm line 125 HTML::Mason::Exceptions::rethrow_exception('Can\'t call method "get_id" on an undefined value at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25.^J') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/dhandler.html line 25 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 157 HTML::Mason::Component::run_dynamic_sub('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612efbbbe18)', 'main') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 948 HTML::Mason::Request::call_dynamic('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e8e99980)', 'main') called at /var/cache/mason/obj/2011159162/main/smetimes/dhandler.html.obj line 17 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612efbbbe18)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1302 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 955 HTML::Mason::Request::call_next('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e8e99980)') called at /usr/local/bricolage/data/burn/stage/oc_1027/smetimes/autohandler_template.html line 149 HTML::Mason::Commands::__ANON__ at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Component.pm line 135 HTML::Mason::Component::run('HTML::Mason::Component::FileBased=HASH(0x5612efe582a8)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1300 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 1292 HTML::Mason::Request::comp(undef, undef, undef) called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 481 eval {...} at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/Request.pm line 433 HTML::Mason::Request::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e8e99980)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 165 HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler::exec('HTML::Mason::Request::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e8e99980)') called at /usr/share/perl5/HTML/Mason/ApacheHandler.pm line 831 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handle_request('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler=HASH(0x5612e8e98f30)', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612e8e9a8d8)') called at (eval 592) line 8 HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler::handler('HTML::Mason::ApacheHandler', 'Apache2::RequestRec=SCALAR(0x5612e8e9a8d8)') called at -e line 0 eval {...} at -e line 0 Chief Minister Andrew Barr says he will actively campaign for a "yes" vote in the postal survey on same-sex marriage, and will provide extra support for the gay community during the debate. Mr Barr will bring a debate to the ACT parliament on Thursday, saying the postal survey planned by the federal government is already proving hurtful and divisive, forcing LGBTIQ Australians to "endure an unnecessary debate about the validity of their relationships and families". Chief Minister Andrew Barr and his partner Anthony Toms in 2014. Mr Barr says he will actviely campaign for a "yes" vote in the same-sex postal vote. Credit:Jamila Toderas The vote had been designed by people who did not want same-sex marriage to be legalised, and was a waste of $122 million, he said. "To LGBTIQ Canberrans, I say this - you are not alone in the fight ahead," he said. Panels on the facade of Canberra's Centenary Hospital must be replaced after they were found to contain the same combustible polyethylene core as those on Grenfell Tower. The women's and children's hospital is the first found to have the deadly cladding, after the Grenfell fire sparked an ACT government audit of territory-owned buildings. The Centenary Hospital for Women and Children. Credit:Jeffrey Chan More than 80 people died in the 24-storey block in West London on June 14, after fire broke out in a fridge-freezer on the fourth floor. The fire is believed to have rapidly spread because of the exterior cladding, made of aluminum and polyethylene. Federal politicians are getting an increase in taxpayer-funded allowances for travelling to Canberra, while ACT-based MPs will be paid more in daily expenses to get to Parliament House. As the government pursues widespread changes to MPs expenses prompted by rorts from former speaker Bronwyn Bishop and former health minister Sussan Ley, the independent Commonwealth Remuneration Tribunal on Wednesday moved to increase travelling allowances for MPs to better reflect rising costs in the national capital. Cashed up: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Credit:Andrew Meares The daily travel allowance for Canberra during sitting weeks will increase slightly to $285, up from $276. The tribunal also increased the daily expense allowance for ACT MPs and those from adjoining electorates who live within 30 kilometres of Parliament House. ANZ Stadium may not have hosted its last AFL game, with the league in talks with venue officials about staging a potential all-Sydney final there next month. And Fairfax Media can reveal the ground is also in the frame to host a Greater Western Sydney "home" final should the Giants face a big Victorian club. Leading the charge: Sydney Swan Kieren Jack and GWS Giant Callan Ward at ANZ Stadium. Credit:James Brickwood The AFL is keeping all options open with its Sydney finals venues, including the possibility of forking out $500,000 to have ANZ Stadium ready in the event of another Swans-Giants September derby. It would be a massive outlay for a game that may not happen but one the AFL is prepared to make if it avoided having to turn away up to 40,000 fans in a "foreign" market. It would appease the Giants, who are strongly opposed to staging a "home" final at the Swans' SCG fortress. Policy changes on 457s and tax incentives can create uncertainty for business, CSL chief executive Paul Perreault says, and has urged the Turnbull government not to keep tinkering with tax settings. Mr Perreault was speaking to Fairfax Media after the Melbourne-based biotech giant, which specialises in leading blood products and vaccines used in treatments for diseases, on Wednesday lifted its full-year net profit by 7.6 per cent to $US1.34 billion ($A1.7 billion), boosted by strong sales of its products. Paul Perreault, CEO of CSL, doesn't want the government to further tinker with tax settings. Credit:Jesse Marlow CSL's sales revenue for the year lifted 12 per cent to $US6.6 billion, and the company declared an unfranked final dividend of US72 cents a share, up four cents on last year. The $58 billion company expects FY18 net profit in constant currency terms will be higher, in the range of $US1.48 billion to $US1.55 billion, which market analyst Citi said was "softer than the market expects". CSL's share price dropped 1.5 per cent to $125.27 on Wednesday. The company said it will not be buying back any shares this year for the first time since 2008. Online job-search company Seek has lifted revenue and underlying profit as long-term investments in its Australian and New Zealand arm begin to show promise. Underlying profit, which excludes one-off significant items, grew 11 per cent to $220.8 million in the 12 months to June 30, while total revenue from ordinary activities rose nine per cent to $1.06 billion, the Melbourne-based company reported on Thursday. Seek's Andrew Bassat says the company's investments are starting to pay off. Credit:Darrian Traynor But the company's net profit fell 5 per cent to $340 million, below some market expectations, after the prior year's result had been boosted by the gain from the sale of its IDP Education business. The company's shares slumped 3.2 per cent to $17.26 on Wednesday. Mining company Adani has been accused of financial fraud in India, sparking calls for an almost $1 billion taxpayer-funded loan for its proposed Australian mine to be ruled out. Indian customs allege Adani Group siphoned 15 billion rupees or AU$290 million into overseas tax havens, but the claims were denied by the company, The Guardian has reported. Allegations of financial fraud against Adani has led to calls for the NAIF loan not to be awarded to the Carmichael mine project. Credit:Glenn Hunt Adani is vying for a $900 million concessional loan from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility to build a rail line for its Galilee Basin Carmichael mine to the Abbot Point coal terminal. An Indian Directorate of Revenue Intelligence file from 2014 alleged a money trail from India to a company in Mauritius that was controlled by Vinod Shantilal Adani, the brother of Adani Group chief executive Gautam Adani. Stockland chief executive Mark Steinert has described the diversified group as being in a "sweet spot" across all its businesses, after reporting a statutory profit of $1.2 billion, up 34.4 per cent on the prior year. Mr Steinert said while earnings were boosted by the retirement and residential divisions, the rising cost of electricity would weigh on future earnings, although the group said it had contracts locked in until 2019. It is also the largest user of rooftop solar panels in the southern hemisphere. The Residences Cardinal Freeman by Stockland, Sydney. Funds from operations, the more accurate measure for real estate investment trusts, was $802 million, up 8.5 per cent on the 2016 year. A distribution per security of 25.5 will be paid on August 31. Mr Steinert said he expected the 2018 financial year FFO growth to be slightly lower than 2017, primarily due to non-Sydney office let-up assumptions, higher commercial property outgoings, particularly electricity prices, and lower retirement living development profits reflecting project timing. Child production and rearing has always been a core aspect of marriage. It doesn't need to be explicitly stated in law because heterosexual unions naturally produce children. This is different to homosexual unions where children are a voluntary addition. The debate being about whether children are a core part of marriage means if same-sex marriage supporters have any interest in changing their 'opponents' view, they need to engage in the actual debate. The easiest way for same-sex marriage supporters to neuter any opposition would be to agree marriage involves children and include a positive statement as such in the Marriage Act's vows. There is not space here but counter arguments such as "gay people already have children!" and "but not all heterosexual people want or can have children!" are readily dispensed with. Christopher Budd, Turner Resist the troglodytes When the absurd postal vote "plebiscite" was announced, my first reaction was that it should be boycotted. Parliament was abrogating its responsibility to govern and why should some Australians need specific permission from a paternalistic government to marry while others do not? Cooperating with this farce meant going along with the cowardly religious extremists and the usual political suspects who hate social change of any kind. But, I've changed my mind. We can be certain that the "straighteners" and "life deniers", as Manning Clark expressed it, will be out in force to inflict their narrow-minded cruelty on those who believe that marriage is about love and personal commitment. I urge all who believe in justice and fairness to vote "Yes" and push the troglodytes back into their dark caves. Steve Ellis, Hackett Thanks Barnaby Barnaby Joyce's predicament might have done the nation a favour in driving home to politicians of all persuasions the need to promote a referendum to rid ourselves of a provision of the Constitution that fails to reflect the modern reality of multicultural Australia. Section 44(i) disqualifies for membership of the Parliament anyone who is a subject or a citizen of a foreign power or who is entitled to the rights and privileges of such a citizen. When, some 36 years ago, the Senate Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs recommended the repeal of section 44(i), the Committee said that it was highly desirable that Australian citizens with unsought dual nationality should be free to participate in the highest levels of political life in the Australian democratic system. Members said that to deny them this right on the basis of a determination by a foreign system of law would be iniquitous. In 1988 the Constitutional Commission, whose five distinguished members included both Gough Whitlam and Dick Hamer, likewise recommended that the provision be repealed. The commission drew attention to the fact that the consequence of the citizenship laws of many countries of the world was that many Australians were unknowingly dual nationals. Despite the many intervening years, no Commonwealth government has taken up the recommendations for amendment of the section. Denis O'Brien, Farrer A Kiwi offloaded It has long been clear that Barnaby Joyce was the wild card in the pack but not why. Now we know. He is a Kiwi, a New Zealander. It says a lot about New Zealand's respect for the Anzac tradition that they can offload Barnaby on Australia. And we thought we were friends. Warwick Davis, Isaacs Joyce unfathomable Dubliners are proud to note that as well as bequeathing the world the unfathomable Finnegans Wake, James Joyce has given us the baffling Barnaby. Blair Noonan, Dublin, Ireland Good news for revenue, but charges are speeding past us So ACT stamp duty revenue is up 15 per cent to $316 million ("Barr delivers balanced budget", August 15) when it is supposed to be phased out to compensate for continuing ACT Rates revenue increases. The ACT government initially claimed its change in policy direction was always going to be revenue neutral (chew on that comment for a while) so it must have just got jolly well lucky. However, just because it got lucky in no way infers it would financially gouge you with huge rate increases. Just because they enjoy it, because deep down they have feelings for you and do not merely see you as a cash cow waiting to be "spudded". Just because both rates and stamp duty returns and other charges all go up faster than a speeding bullet it is better understood as revenue neutral in intention mixed with a bit of jolly bad luck for you and better luck for the old government. To better understand what revenue neutral means and how it relates to ACT government policy direction the following guidelines may be helpful: We know there are known knowns and there are charges we know we know. We also know there are known unknown charges but there are also unknown unknowns the ones we don't know we don't know. So to know the unknowns is to er .... $@# yeah well.. you know. Wayne Grant, Swinger Hill More than research Amy Corderoy ("Brainwashed by dogma", August 15, p. 16) claims it was "almost impossible" for her to find evidence-based advice on breastfeeding. A quick search of PubMed database brings up over 47,451 hits dating back to 1912's "Prevention of infant mortality by breastfeeding" in the American Journal of Public Health. I can only ask, where did Amy look for her evidence? There is also the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) which has been supporting mothers for many years. A common problem is anxiety about not having enough milk, and ABA practical advice on this has worked over and over. I'm not saying everyone can breastfeed, in fact, I emphasise that some mothers cannot, for one reason or another. On the other hand, I know how much I, for one, had to learn with my first child, and there is certainly more to it than research or a few minutes of guidance from a nurse. Jennifer Hobson, Spence Persisting unchecked Thank God for the Royal Commission into child abuse in religious (and state) institutions in Australia. While Australia, Ireland, the US and the UK have now substantially cleaned up their act in this regard, I can't help pondering what's still going on in much of Europe, South America, Africa and Asia. The power and unaccountability enjoyed by the Catholic Church in many of the countries concerned suggest that at least seven per cent (as identified in Australia) of their priests and brothers continue to engage in pederasty with immunity. One can only wonder at how thinking Catholics in Australia can continue to submit to the authority of the Church of Rome while such a cancer persists unchecked within its fold. D. N. Callaghan, Kingston Divert the funds The charity Rare Cancers Australia is calling for $100 million for research. The research would aim to establish evidence as to which rare cancers could be treated with the same drugs as are currently used for common cancers and are on the PBS. For example, an existing PBS subsidised drug used for breast cancer treatment could probably be used to treat pancreatic cancer, a rare cancer. However, the treatment is not available on the PBS to sufferers of pancreatic cancer. Half of all cancer deaths are due to rare cancers. Hence, funding for research could have significant benefits. A vote in Parliament instead of a survey on same sex marriage would save $122 million. Researchers on rare cancers could make very good use of those funds. Digby Habel, Cook Missing the bus On a cold Canberra afternoon the last thing you want is for the bus to leave early. ACTION apologised and said it appeared the bus left six minutes early. How early do you need to get to the bus stop? Ten minutes just to be sure? This has happened several times in the past, it's not just a one-off occurrence. This is just another reason why people can't depend upon ACTION buses. I understand when buses are running late, as it could be due to any number of traffic/customer related reason but I don't consider there is any reason for a bus to leave the stop earlier than scheduled, especially when it was a bus "timing stop" where the time is supposed to be "guaranteed". Maureen O'Connor, Macgregor Water saving ideas It was very interesting to hear that the ACT government has balanced its budget on the very same day that I received my first water bill since they abolished the pensioner rebate. Last August I used 10KL water, and my bill was $76. I wasted an extra KL this quarter, and my bill is $113.43 higher. They kindly included a booklet outlining ways to manage my use, to save, and importantly "to pay your bill". I've done the maths, and if I only shower every 2 days, and keep them short, I may be able to cut my usage by 60-70 per cent, and cut my bill by nearly $20 down to $170! Only $100 more than last year. Multiply that by all the pensioners in the ACT and surplus is just around the corner. Margaret Lee, Hawker The modest Monash Trevor Lipscomb and Michael Headbury (Letters, August 12) reiterate their adulation of John Monash, whom they claim has been "forgotten", even as the AWM commissions a statue of him and he remains better known than any other Great War Australian soldier. Lipscomb invokes Monash's (unknown) attitude towards commemoration, but as his own headstone read simply "John Monash", we might infer that their sycophancy outrages his modesty. Monash is well remembered, and for good reason, but enough with the exaggerated claims. Prof. Peter Stanley, UNSW Canberra TO THE POINT NOT ABOVE THE LAW The proposal to criminalise priests who fail to report child sexual abuse, while welcome, doesn't go nearly far enough it should extend to all criminal activity. Archbishop Denis Hart's statement that confession "is an absolute sacrosanct communication of a higher order" puts religious beliefs above the law, something that no Australian should ever countenance. Fred Pilcher, Kaleen DEPORT BARNABY So now we know it is feasible to deport Barnaby to New Zealand. Wonderful. Don Burns, Mawson DOESN'T HOLD WATER Re: "Water hit for Households", August12, pg1. So those who use the least water, including most (or all) single-person households with the least capacity to absorb extra costs will pay more for their water and everyone else gets a deduction? Did I miss something? Please explain. E.Nelson, Wright REASONS TO VOTE YES Three reasons to vote yes for marriage equality: Tony Abbott, Peter Dutton and Eric Abetz. Bruce Taggart, Aranda DUTY OF CARE Australia has a duty of care for the poor sods on Manus Island. They were arrested at sea by our navy and have been incarcerated for four years now, as long as our POWs in WWII. Your reports of their being attacked by locals at Lorengau are disturbing. Gerry Jacobson, Yarralumla PARLIAMENT PRISON The new security fence at Parliament House looks a lot like prison bars. Is it to keep the bastards in or to keep the bastards out? Jack Wiles, Gilmore TIME TO DUMP TRUMP Given Mr Trump's performance, it's time for America to dump Trump. It would be a very, very, very great day for America. Very great. Mike Quirk, Wanniassa LOAD OF NONSENSE Congratulations, Julie Bishop, for conclusively demonstrating there is no such thing as unutterable nonsense. Thos Puckett, Ashgrove, Qld FLIGHT OF FANCY So the Singapore Airlines Canberra/NZ flight arrangement is all a ruse. Simply a way of getting Barnaby home for the weekend without arousing suspicion. Linus Cole, Palmerston CHARLESTON -- A different company is getting Charleston students to and from school this year but company and district officials both say they expect a good transition. The start of student attendance for the year on Wednesday also marks the start of service from Illinois Central School Bus, which got the job by submitting a lower bid than that of the long-used former provider. In nearly all cases, route pickup and drop-off locations and times, bus drivers and bus aides will all be the same as before, according to the manager of Illinois Central's local facility. "Not a whole lot is going to change," said LeAnn Jones, manager of the Charleston garage. Illinois Central is operating at 1355 N. Fifth St., Charleston, the location formerly used by First Student Transportation. While employees are mostly the same as before, a fleet of buses that's largely new is now in use. The Charleston school district employed First Student, and before that a company it purchased, for more than 30 years until the district sought new bids for bus transportation earlier this year. Charleston school board then selected Illinois Central's bid over First Student's, the only two the district received, because of the cost difference. Illinois Central's bid was about $150,000 less over the three years of the contract. The school district has received assurances from Illinois Central that there will be "minimal changes" with the transition, Superintendent Todd Vilardo said. Some delays "as in the past" are possible with the start of a new school year and the time it takes drivers to become reacquainted with their routes, Vilardo added. Parents were notified of changes through the Skyward program, which the districts for registration, student records and other information, he also said. Jones also said every family has access to their students' bus route information and more with the Skyward program, which is updated daily. Illinois Central's contract began July 1 but the company started working on the transition before that, company manager Jeff Wood said. "We were talking to people before the school year ended," he said. "That was easier for everybody involved." The company made an investment to upgrade its bus fleet and many of the ones in use in Charleston are new models, Wood said. Some of the buses were moved from the company's former facility in Manteno when that school district began operating its own bus service, he said. The company is based in Joliet and has been operating for about 15 years, Wood also said. It has also dealt with transitions taking over from other companies before, including three times in 2011, he added. They were once dubbed "penmanship for illiterates" but emojis the little symbols used to punctuate digital communications have become so mainstream that 92 per cent of the world's 3.2 billion internet users admit to using them. Emojis have even been cited successfully in courtrooms from Israel to France as evidence of intent. These icons range from the expressive yellow cartoonish faces crying with laughter, looking angry, happy, sad and so on to the figurative a dancing lady in a red dress; hands clasped in prayer; an avocado; a pizza slice to the scatological see the smiling pile of excrement emoji for further elucidation. Now numbering more than 2600, they have become an essential part of modern discourse. Their use is even spilling over into the workplace since they were loaded on to Apple users' desktops in 2011. One American study found that 76 per cent of respondents had sent the symbols to a colleague in a work email. Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Israel said this week that work users should proceed with caution, however, as "smileys ... decrease perceptions of competence". Not so, says the world's first "emoji translator". Keith Broni, 27, was appointed by London consultancy firm Today Translations to iron out businesses' use of Unicode's pictorial language. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce during question time on Tuesday. Credit:Andrew Meares "It's quite clear under section 44. You can't be a member of Parliament and have dual citizenship. It's black and white," he told the ABC. "You just have got to do your homework and make sure you're not a citizen of two countries when you stand for Parliament." 2. Inconsistency Again, you can't expect total consistency from politicians. They are humans, not a McDonalds' drive-thru, so sometimes the shape of the nuggets varies. But you need to be able to follow the logic at the same time. Last month, Nationals MP Matt Cavanan stepped aside from his cabinet post while his Italian citizenry (and possible ineligibility for Parliament) is investigated by the High Court. Just weeks later, his colleague, Joyce, is staying in cabinet and keeping his deputy prime ministerial gig while his New Zealand citizenship (and possible ineligibility for Parliament) is investigated by the High Court. Huh? It's hard to see how the two cases differ. Other than the argument that maybe Joyce's situation is more serious than Canavan's, given he was a New Zealand citizen from birth (rather than an Italian citizen from his 20s), sits in the lower house and is the second most senior person in the government. 3. Stupidity How have so many MPs stood for election not being aware of their citizenship status? Or not sought the proper legal advice to clear things up? How can you be a 50 year-old man and not know you were a dual citizen for your entire life? How hard can it be? 4. Head burying As uncertainty builds like a cumulus cloud about the status of MPs (each day brings new doubts), both major parties continue to act like they don't have to do anything about their own patches. Labor has developed a penchant for issuing blanket statements about how its vetting processes are excellent and so its MPs don't need to release documentation to prove the single citizenship of its MPs. The government is studiously avoiding any sort of leadership here. Such as setting up an independent inquiry into all MPs to settle the question properly. Or initiating a change to the nomination process with the Australian Electoral Commission. Or standing Joyce aside until his situation is clear up. Maybe if they pretend it's not happening it will all go away. 5. Arrogance The issues at play here the very legitimacy of MPs and the government don't get any bigger. By not taking significant action (other than to attack the other side), both major parties are treating voters with huge disdain. Yes, it's easy to see why they don't want public scrutiny of their paperwork. But voters deserve so much more. 6. Recklessness At a time when the government might be looking to calm things down, Julie Bishop has pushed the "diplomatic crisis" button. In a press conference on Tuesday, the usually uber careful Foreign Minister said she would "find it very hard to build trust" with a New Zealand Labour government (if one were elected), in the wake of claims an Australian Labor figure was in contact with NZ Labour over the Joyce issue. Amazingly, Bishop's started her press conference with a (token) serious message about North Korea and possible world annihilation. But clearly, starting a fight with our closest bro deserved more of her energy. 7. Confusion The end result is no one knows what's going on. The High Court might not decide on Joyce's situation until October, meaning we have several months worth of mucking around and instability. Should the Deputy Prime Minister be able to vote in the lower house? Is the government for real? Is any of it for real? If you're prepared to hit people you love, you can't be fully trusted to act with honour and discipline on the battlefield. That was the stark message from Chief of Army, Lieutenant-General Angus Campbell, to his troops on Wednesday as promoted a campaign within the force to reduce domestic violence. Lieutenant General Angus Campbell at the National Press Club on Wednesday. Credit:Andrew Meares In a speech to the National Press Club in Canberra, General Campbell said the campaign had already encouraged victims to report abuse. Painting a picture of the personal qualities needed for battle, General Campbell said that "when you're scared, exhausted, confused and your mates are dead, our weapons won't discriminate the innocent from the enemy combatant you will". Around Tamworth wags are saying they knew Barnaby Joyce had a dual personality but everybody knew his father Jim was a Kiwi and locals heard he had checked it out. None can believe that amid all his customary bluster and blather he would be dumb enough to have dual citizenship. Now the voters of the NSW electorate of new England may hold the fate of Malcolm Turnbull's government in their ballot boxes but they are bemused and slightly annoyed that their boy is being traduced. And out on the farm where he grew up, the Deputy Prime Minister's mum and dad Marie and Jim are sick and tired of the subject of New Zealand. They live in a federation brick homestead with a green roof in the rolling New England hills a 20-minute drive from the nearest town of Woolbrook, where their only son attended primary school but isolation has been no protection. Former Prime Minister Bob Hawke has declared there is not an outstanding leader in the world today and blamed media intrusion for deterring potential politicians from running for office. In a 30-minute conversation alongside former Liberal prime minister John Howard with the ABC's Annabel Crabb at Old Parliament House in Canberra, Mr Hawke said the world had never needed an outstanding leader more than it did at this time. "Let's remember that nowhere in the world's democracies today is there an outstanding world leader, This is the first time since the end of the Second World War so we're not talking some peculiarly Australian factors, this is a more global thing," Mr Hawke told the audience in Canberra. "This is at a time when we have never, ever needed more outstanding leaders," he said. Labor is planning a dramatic counter-attack against Coalition MPs if the Turnbull government "goes nuclear" and starts unilaterally referring opposition MPs to the High Court over citizenship doubts. Fairfax Media understands the ALP has a hit list of eight Coalition MPs - in the Senate and the House of Representatives - that it believes still have unanswered questions about possible dual citizenship. Following the shock revelations about Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, the government has been contemplating using its numbers to refer at least four Labor MPs - Justine Keay, Susan Lamb, Maria Vamvakinou and Tony Zappia - to the court to have their eligibility tested. Such a move would set a dangerous precedent of partisan referrals, setting the stage for a damaging free-for-all. MPs from across the political divide have called for an independent inquiry into whether dealing with the Department of Veterans Affairs is worsening some veterans' mental health and even increasing their risk of suicide. The cross-party Senate committee has also called for a separate Productivity Commission review into the notoriously complex legislation and administration of veterans payments, finding that it is "complex and confusing and contributes to the frustration felt by veterans and ex-service personnel in dealing with the [Department of Veterans Affairs]". A Senate inquiry has been examining the issue of veteran suicides. Credit:Robert Nyffenegger "The committee was very concerned by accounts of negative interactions with DVA," the report by the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee states. While it noted that satisfied veterans were less likely to have made submissions to the inquiry, it concluded that "the committee believes a key contention by many witnesses that the claims process is a key stressor and contributing factor to suicide by some veterans should be looked at closely". Rank-and-file officials at the Australian Bureau of Statistics have "grave doubts" that the same-sex marriage postal vote can be done properly in the time-frame ordered by the Turnbull government, the public servants' union says. Some ABS workers fear the postal survey will be a "rush job" that risks repeating last year's Census debacle, while others are worried it will not deliver an accurate picture of Australians' opinions of same sex marriage, according to the Community and Public Sector Union. Even the bureau's boss has conceded to his staff that doing the job by November 15 is "challenging" although Chief Statistician David Kalisch insists the ABS is up to the task. One of his deputies, Jonathan Palmer , was dismissive in a statement on Wednesday about the union's survey, saying it represented only about 5 per cent of the bureau's workforce. The Turnbull government is optimistic it can strike a shock deal with the Senate crossbench and pass the $7.8 billion Medicare levy, one of the centrepiece measures of the 2017 budget. In a move that defies predictions the 0.5 per cent levy rise would stall in the Senate - and possibly be put on ice until after the next federal election - Treasurer Scott Morrison will on Thursday bring the bill to the Parliament. The 0.5 per cent levy rise is supposed to start from July 1, 2019 and is designed to help fill the 10-year, $55.7 billion funding shortfall for the National Disability Insurance Scheme. Mr Morrison has led behind the scenes negotiations with the Greens and members of the Senate crossbench in recent weeks and senior government sources said those meetings had been very "constructive" and the prospect of a deal was a "live option". Two young boys have been left orphaned after their father killed himself as police searched the family home in connection with the suspected murder of their mother. Sheep farmer Michael Burdon, 41, died by suicide while police and the boys, aged one and three, were inside the house near Manna Hill, South Australia, close to the NSW border. The death follows the disappearance of the farmer's wife, Tanja Ebert, 23, who disappeared nine days ago and is believed to have been murdered. Officers went to the remote sheep station on Wednesday to conduct an investigation into Ms Ebert's fate, police said in a statement. Wednesday, August 16, 2017 Campaign Trail Dust: Not So Fast On GOP Lt. Gov. Nod; Race Developing, Latest Perceptions On Dem Guv Chase And Our Continuing Crime Wave Coverage Sen. Mark Moores Hold on Republican insiders say Zunie will not be crowned in a solo race and that a handful of other Rs are mulling over a bid. They include ABQ State Senator Mark Moores, Roswell area State Senator Cliff Pirtle and former State Senator Ted Barela of Estancia. A GOP alligator familiar with the positioning of that trio is hopeful only one of them will take the dive, improving the chances of keeping Zunie at bay. She would be the first Native American to capture the GOP lieutenant governor nomination. So enjoy your party today, Kelly, but watch your back. The long knives are being sharpened. . . As for John Sanchez, the current GOP lieutenant governor, he is still on the fence when it comes to his political future. A run for Governor became impossible when Gov. Martinez's popularity plummeted and a run for the ABQ congressional seat looks doubtful as the district being vacated by Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham is seen as solidly blue. That would leave a tough battle for the US Senate against Dem Martin Heinrich in an election cycle that is not favoring the R's. A source close to the Lt. Governor says: "You'll be hearing from him on his decision sooner rather than later." Well, right now what Republicans are hearing from Raton to Roswell is the loud sound of John gnashing his teeth. . . We mentioned Apodaca has made at least a slight dent in the perception that the Dem gubernatorial nomination is a foregone conclusion, with Rep. Lujan Grisham the obvious pick. That's due in part to the news broken here--and confirmed by Apodaca--that he has raised in the vicinity of $700,000 in the early going. That's not pocket change and combined with an aggressive early start it is keeping the Guv door open for him. State Senator Joe Cervantes is also in the race. His friends say he is willing to put $1 million of personal funds into the contest. If so, like Apodaca, he will have at least a foot in the door. WHERE ARE THEY? Who are the Republican candidates for attorney general, state auditor, secretary of state and state treasurer? None, so far. And that means some work ahead for GOP Chairman Ryan Cangiolosi. NEW MEXIODUS Longtime NM radio personality Larry Ahrens writes on our Facebook page about the city's crime crisis: Joe, you mentioned that "everyone who wanted to move has left already." Anecdotal info here. But the conversations I'm having with many people indicate there may be another wave of folks preparing to depart NM for greener and safer pastures elsewhere. The rampant crime is driving this. Decisions are being made right now to get out. The exodus is far from over in my opinion. THAT'S ALL? Over in Dallas, they are bemoaning Records show that Dallas has spent almost $11 million in the past five years settling more than 20 lawsuits against police, a huge increase compared to the previous five years. The city spent less than $400,000 to settle less than 10 cases from 2006 to 2011, KDFW-TV reported . Dallas also currently has almost 40 unresolved liability claims against local police officers. Heck, they don't know how good they have it. ABQ has paid out a startling $62 million in lawsuit payments over APD since 2010. When New Mexico does anything bigger than Texas, that's a problem. FREE DINNER, PLEASE And the mayoral forums continue to flow in. Readers have the info: Thursday, August 17, 5:00 8:00 PM Fatpipe Mayoral Forum. Fatpipe ABQ Coworking Space, 200 Broadway Blvd NE. . . Joe, this one is sponsored by the local chapter of NAWBO, National Association of Women Business Owners. It happens Wednesday, August 16, 5:30 PM to 8 PM at Tanoan Country Club. It is a dinner and attendees have to buy a ticket. You mean we have to buy a dinner ticket to see the wannabe mayors? How about we get contender Brian Colon to pick up the tab for all of us? He This is the home of New Mexico politics. Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here. ( c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2017 Hold on Kelly Zunie . Even if Rep. Steve Pearce, the presumptive '18 GOP gubernatorial nominee, appears to be in your corner as you announce your candidacy for the 2018 lieutenant governor nomination Thursday, there is trouble brewing for you behind the scenes.Republican insiders say Zunie will not be crowned in a solo race and that a handful of other Rs are mulling over a bid. They include ABQ State Senator Mark Moores, Roswell area State Senator Cliff Pirtle and former State Senator Ted Barela of Estancia.A GOP alligator familiar with the positioning of that trio is hopeful only one of them will take the dive, improving the chances of keeping Zunie at bay. She would be the first Native American to capture the GOP lieutenant governor nomination.So enjoy your party today, Kelly, but watch your back. The long knives are being sharpened. . .As for John Sanchez, the current GOP lieutenant governor, he is still on the fence when it comes to his political future. A run for Governor became impossible when Gov. Martinez's popularity plummeted and a run for the ABQ congressional seat looks doubtful as the district being vacated by Rep. Michelle Lujan Grisham is seen as solidly blue. That would leave a tough battle for the US Senate against Dem Martin Heinrich in an election cycle that is not favoring the R's. A source close to the Lt. Governor says: "You'll be hearing from him on his decision sooner rather than later."Well, right now what Republicans are hearing from Raton to Roswell is the loud sound of John gnashing his teeth. . .We mentioned a social media video on education that Dem Guv candidate Jeff Apodaca has produced but in doing so we made it seem as though the video noted his support for a constitutional amendment that would support very early childhood programs by allowing funding for them from the $16 billion Land Grant Permanent School Fund. The video does not mention the amendment, but Apodaca is on the record as supporting the amendment.Apodaca has made at least a slight dent in the perception that the Dem gubernatorial nomination is a foregone conclusion, with Rep. Lujan Grisham the obvious pick. That's due in part to the news broken here--and confirmed by Apodaca--that he has raised in the vicinity of $700,000 in the early going. That's not pocket change and combined with an aggressive early start it is keeping the Guv door open for him. State Senator Joe Cervantes is also in the race. His friends say he is willing to put $1 million of personal funds into the contest. If so, like Apodaca, he will have at least a foot in the door.Who are the Republican candidates for attorney general, state auditor, secretary of state and state treasurer? None, so far. And that means some work ahead for GOP Chairman Ryan Cangiolosi.Longtime NM radio personality Larry Ahrens writes on our Facebook page about the city's crime crisis: Over in Dallas, they are bemoaning the increase in payouts for lawsuits involving their police department.Heck, they don't know how good they have it. ABQ has paid out a startling $62 million in lawsuit payments over APD since 2010. When New Mexico does anything bigger than Texas, that's a problem.And the mayoral forums continue to flow in. Readers have the info:You mean we have to buy a dinner ticket to see the wannabe mayors? How about we get contender Brian Colon to pick up the tab for all of us? He just reported he has $535,000 in cash on hand for the final six weeks of the campaign. Surely he could afford a few taco plates for the crowd wanting in? Oops, the event is at Tanoan. Okay, Brian, make that rib-eyes.This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) Links HOME E-MAIL ME About Joe Google News Real Clear Politics Huffington Post Drudge Report The Politico New Mexico newspapers NM TV stations Gov. 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1/30/22 1/30/22 - 2/6/22 2/6/22 - 2/13/22 2/13/22 - 2/20/22 2/20/22 - 2/27/22 2/27/22 - 3/6/22 3/6/22 - 3/13/22 3/13/22 - 3/20/22 3/20/22 - 3/27/22 3/27/22 - 4/3/22 4/3/22 - 4/10/22 4/10/22 - 4/17/22 4/17/22 - 4/24/22 4/24/22 - 5/1/22 5/1/22 - 5/8/22 5/8/22 - 5/15/22 5/15/22 - 5/22/22 5/22/22 - 5/29/22 5/29/22 - 6/5/22 6/5/22 - 6/12/22 6/12/22 - 6/19/22 6/19/22 - 6/26/22 6/26/22 - 7/3/22 7/10/22 - 7/17/22 7/17/22 - 7/24/22 7/24/22 - 7/31/22 7/31/22 - 8/7/22 8/7/22 - 8/14/22 8/14/22 - 8/21/22 8/21/22 - 8/28/22 8/28/22 - 9/4/22 9/4/22 - 9/11/22 9/11/22 - 9/18/22 9/18/22 - 9/25/22 9/25/22 - 10/2/22 10/2/22 - 10/9/22 10/9/22 - 10/16/22 10/16/22 - 10/23/22 10/23/22 - 10/30/22 10/30/22 - 11/6/22 11/6/22 - 11/13/22 website design by website design by limwebdesign The new boss of the agency leading the public service's tech upgrades welcomes Labor's push for a Senate probe into the government's troubled $10 billion IT spend. Making his first public speech to government officials after three months in the job on Wednesday, Digital Transformation Agency head Gavin Slater also revealed senior departmental chiefs had to assure him they considered the agency "essential" before he took the helm. New boss of the Digital Transformation Agency Gavin Slater said he had to rebuild relationships when starting the job. Credit:Arsineh Houspian While the Coalition pushed back against Labor's planned inquiry into the government's tech wrecks, saying it had improved oversight of digital projects, Mr Slater told Fairfax Media the DTA would support the probe as a chance to be transparent and explain how it would lead IT upgrades. "It's important. We will support whatever inquiry there is," he said. A Chinese "self-healing promoter" has been extradited to Australia over the death of a six-year-old boy from Sydney. A year 1 student collapsed and died in April 2015 after allegedly being denied insulin during Hongchi Xiao's $1800 week-long course in Hurstville. Detectives from St George Local Area Command escorting Mr Xiao on flights from London to Sydney, landing early on Thursday morning. Mr Xiao, who tells patients with serious diseases to stop taking medication, was taken to Kogarah police station and charged with manslaughter. She had been studying a translation course in Sydney and living with her aunt and cousin in Campsie. Michelle Leng (), 24, a Chinese international student who studied at UTS, has been identified as the Snapper Point victim. Credit:Instagram Her brother and mother, who live in China, were grappling with the news, Chief Inspector Jubelin said. "I don't think 'devastated' properly describes it. It's very difficult and even more traumatic for her family that they are so far away at this time." Police released CCTV footage on Friday showing Ms Leng walking along Pitt Street about 3pm last Thursday. She then caught a train from St James railway station, arriving at Campsie station about 4.30pm. But she never returned to her Campsie home. Her phone and social media accounts have not been active since late Thursday night. "We know she was communicating with friends up until the late hours of Thursday evening," Detective Inspector Jubelin said. "So obviously it's from that period to the discovery of her body that's the time period we are interested in." Computer image released On Wednesday morning, the NSW Homicide Squad released a computer generated image of a young Asian woman whose body, three days earlier, had been found naked, floating face down in the blowhole. She had no jewellery, no personal items and no tattoos, and remained unidentified for three days. The image and accompanying description - an Asian woman, aged 20-35, about 170 centimetres tall, with a medium build and shoulder-length dark hair - bore an unnerving resemblance to that of Ms Leng. Savvy social media users seized upon the two separate reports, joining the dots across the English language and Chinese language internet spheres. By Thursday afternoon, NSW Police had all but confirmed the connection and were awaiting final DNA results. On Thursday morning, Ms Leng's family revealed that detectives had begun gathering evidence for a DNA comparison. "Yesterday, New South Wales Police took away her toothbrush, collected hair and other personal items to do DNA comparison. Today the police took away Michelle's computer to find more effective clues," her family told an Australia-based Chinese-language news site. The quote has been translated. Final moments mapped With one element of the mystery now resolved, homicide detectives have turned their focus to how Ms Leng's body came to be dumped more than 100 kilometres from Sydney's CBD. Chief Inspector Jubelin said detectives had thoroughly canvassed the area, including gathering CCTV footage from the surrounding Lake Munmorah State Conservation Area and were "mapping out her final moments". Police divers had recovered "certain items from the water" near where her body was found, but police would not publicly divulge what they were, or whether the murder weapon was recovered. He said there was "no clear or concise motive at this stage" and would not comment on speculation that Ms Leng had been communicating with a boyfriend or partner before she died. The blowhole is about five kilometres from the entrance of the Lake Munmorah national park, which has a camping ground, and is accessible by a number of dirt roadways which are open between 5.30am and 6pm each day. "The post-mortem has come back with some results. We're working on a number of theories. Certainly by the condition of her body, we don't anticipate her body was in the water very long," Chief Inspector Jubelin said. When she failed to make contact over the Anzac Day long weekend, her family filed a missing persons report with the NSW Police on Monday. They told detectives her disappearance was very out of character. "From all the information we've gathered in relation to the young lady, she was very responsible, would always stay in contact with her family, let them know where she was going, so there were concerns when she disappeared," Chief Inspector Jubelin said. Ms Leng's friends left messages on her Instagram page, imploring her to make contact and return safely. By Thursday afternoon, pre-empting the inevitable confirmation of her death by police, the messages changed from concern to grief. Passenger demand for trains in Sydney has risen by almost 20 per cent on some lines in just a year, new figures show, underscoring the strain on the city's rail network. The number of trips taken on the T7 Olympic Park Line surged by 19.6 per cent to almost 180,000 in July, compared with the same month a year earlier, reflecting the pace of growth in residential development in and around the former Olympic precinct. Patronage on the city's busiest line the T1, which includes western, north shore and northern services, rose by 10 per cent over the year, government figures based on Opal card usage shows. Across the rail network, trips increased by more than 11 per cent, or 3.1 million, to 30.7 million in July, compared with the prior period. Police are investigating after shots were fired into a home in Sydney's eastern suburbs early on Thursday morning. The house on Milroy Avenue, Kensington was peppered with bullets about 2:30am. Police are investigating after shots were fired into a home on Milroy Avenue in Kensington. Credit:Nick Moir There were two men and a woman in the home at the time but not one was injured. A NSW Police spokesman said the motivation for the shooting was unclear but a crime scene has been established and forensic officers are investigating. Police have found a loaded semi-automatic handgun in the western Sydney home of John Ibrahim's mother during a search on Wednesday. The search at the Merrylands home of Wahiba Ibrahim was part of a planned police operation, and follows a raid last week in which a semi-automatic rifle was allegedly seized at the property. The search warrant related to ongoing investigations by Strike Force Kelmscott, established by Firearms Squad detectives in 2016 to investigate the supply of guns and drugs in south-west Sydney. "As part of their inquiries, strike force investigators, with the assistance of Australian Border Force officers and police attached to North West Metropolitan Region Enforcement Squad, executed a search warrant at a home at Merrylands about 11am today," a police statement said. Sydney commuters will get the chance to book shuttle buses from or near their homes to a local transport hub within the next few months as part of a state government trial of on-demand public transport. Pricing for a standard trip will range from $2.60 to $5.60, and customers will be able to book online, by phone or via an app on their smart device. The eight trials of on-demand services starting as early as October will be carried out in Sydney's north west, south west and west, the eastern suburbs, northern beaches, Sutherland Shire and the Central Coast. Ride-sharing legislation that passed early last year deregulated the booking market for buses of 12 seats or less. The latest trials will be run by private operators such as Keolis Downer, Transdev and Transit Systems. It must be among the shortest Court of Appeal hearings in history. On Wednesday a team of lawyers assembled in a portrait-lined courtroom on level 12 of the Supreme Court building in Sydney as Salim Mehajer sought to challenge a ruling that administrators were validly appointed to two of his companies. Within minutes of the 10.15 am starting time, the colourful property developer's appeal had been dismissed following a blunt question from the bench. "What are we doing here?" Justice Anthony Meagher said. A tradesman has died and another remained in a critical condition on Wednesday afternoon after brick walls collapsed on them in separate incidents at building sites in Sydney's north-west. Wild winds wreaked havoc across the city on Wednesday with walls collapsing in Carlingford and Kellyville and power lines coming down in other suburbs. Emergency services were called to a building site in Talinga Street, Carlingford, just before 10am following reports people were trapped under rubble. Construction workers managed to pull a man, aged 30, from the rubble yet he had gone into cardiac arrest. Brisbanites taking advantage of the Ekka people's day public holiday have created major traffic delays on the Pacific Motorway. While traffic between Loganholme and Helensvale had eased by 2pm, all southbound lanes of the Pacific Motorway from Robina to Palm Beach were still affected by heavy traffic. No crashes, but Pacific Motorway traffic was heavy on Wednesday because of the public holiday. Credit:7 News Earlier, traffic was banked up from Loganholme down to Helensvale, and then from Robina to Palm Beach as people headed to the beach, the Australian Traffic Network's Adam Smith said. "Between Springwood and Helensvale, there are few spots there where it is quite thick, which is very unusual for this time of the afternoon," Mr Smith said. Gov. Pete Ricketts lashed back at ACLU of Nebraska Wednesday after it filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of inmates against the state Department of Correctional Services and its director. Ricketts issued a statement saying all three branches of state government have made justice reinvestment and prison reform a top priority, and have invested millions of taxpayer dollars to protect public safety and expand state prisons. "This litigation from the ACLU threatens public safety by seeking the early release of dangerous criminals and could endanger our Corrections officers by further limiting the tools they have to manage the inmate population, Ricketts said in an email. He said he wouldn't comment further until state attorneys had a chance to review the lawsuit details. ACLU of Nebraska filed what Executive Director Danielle Conrad called historic litigation in U.S. District Court to correct a decades-old and growing problem with crowded prisons. State prisons have reached at least 160 percent of capacity, with some individual prisons nearing 200 percent and one at 300 percent. On April 7, according to a report from the inspector general for Corrections, prison population had reached 163 percent of capacity, with 5,327 inmates. At this point, the lawsuit contends, the lives and health of both prisoners and staff are threatened daily. Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus, a former member of two Department of Corrections special investigative committees, said Wednesday a federal lawsuit is probably the only way the state will realize it must address the problems. Otherwise, prison conditions will worsen and the needed money will not be spent. Up until now, the state has been trying to delay the expenses and find somebody else to blame, he said. "We're not talking millions. We're talking probably in terms of hundreds of millions that have to be (spent) to get Corrections back on a proper track," he said. Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers, who has served in the Legislature 43 years and been a longtime advocate for prison reform, said the lawsuit was needed to let the governor, Corrections director and others know action can be taken by people and groups outside the Legislature. "I do look for some action that will be corrective," he said. He still believes Corrections Director Scott Frakes should be gone since he's made none of the changes that ought to be made. Under his watch, Chambers said, solitary confinement has been overused; an inmate put into an isolation cell with a convicted killer was murdered; Nikko Jenkins repeatedly obtained and used contraband to harm himself; two men escaped a Lincoln prison; and staff and inmate morale is at an all-time low. Lincoln Sen. Mike Hilgers, a freshman senator on the newest Corrections oversight committee, has been taking prison tours, doing research and getting up to speed this summer on the prisons. "I think there's good progress that's been made. I think the question is, can enough progress be made by when it needs to be made to avoid ... a judicially mandated outcome," he said. The staff is excellent, and doing an incredibly hard job very well, he said. But there are things the Legislature could do to help, he said. Lincoln Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks, who serves on the Legislature's Judiciary Committee and has served on a previous Corrections investigative committee, said the lawsuit is as unfortunate as it is unsurprising. "This lawsuit should have, and could have been avoided," she said. The Board of Parole and the department have been asked to present a plan by Sept. 15 to reduce the prison population to 140 percent. That plan should include sentencing reforms, diversion programs for offenders, better medical and mental health treatment access and support for people leaving prison, she said. It would take a serious commitment of resources, but money would be saved in the long term, she said. Omaha Sen. Bob Krist, who also served on the special investigative committees, said Ricketts should declare an emergency to reduce the numbers of inmates. "We have to get the prison population down, and we're not taking the action to do that, and that is causing a lot of these other personal rights and freedoms to be violated," he said. A declaration of emergency would give senators a sense of urgency to put pressure on the governor to fund prison programs correctly, he said. The lawsuit is not the silver bullet, he said, it is the energizer bunny that moves this all forward and gets the state to refocus. If the lawsuit is successful, the court could require inmates to be released. By 2020, state law will require a declaration of an emergency if the population is 140 percent of capacity or higher. For those reasons, said Inspector General for Corrections Doug Koebernick, the Department of Corrections needs to work with the Board of Parole and parole administration to figure out details on who would be released, how it would be carried out, and who would make those decisions. "That's over 700 inmates right now that you'd have to release," Koebernick said. He and the Legislature's last special investigative committee recommended the department develop a plan, but as far as he knows, he said, no such plan has been made. A man has been stabbed and another punched in the mouth in a brawl outside a Fortitude Valley hotel early on Thursday morning. Up to 20 men, many unknown to each other, were outside the Woolly Mammoth Alehouse on Ann Street when they began arguing just after 2am. A man was stabbed in the stomach outside a Brisbane bar early on Thursday. Credit:Amy Mitchell-Whittington During the fight, a 19-year-old man was stabbed in the abdomen and another man aged in his 30s was punched in the mouth, which reports his lip was split and teeth were knocked loose. The pair were treated and transported to Royal Brisbane Hospital. It's not easy standing out in the smartphone game. Apple and Samsung Electronics pretty much have the market locked up with high-performance phones that look pretty and work well. The response from Turing Robotic Industries (TRI) a $2000 phone linked to a high-end "concierge" service overseen by a digital assistant named Sir Alan. The Appassionato, which means "enthusiast" in Italian, is the latest effort from Turing. The phone was designed in Finland, manufactured in China and at present is available only in the US. The company says the gadget is constructed of liquid metal, features a 5.5-inch OLED screen and will run a custom version of Android. The Appassionato also has a bird feather design on the back that changes colour depending on lighting conditions. The phone is sleek, but Turing chief executive officer Syl Chao sees the concierge service as the main attraction. In an interview, Chao said Sir Alan is adept at booking travel, making dinner reservations and procuring concert tickets. Let's say your kid wants a penguin for his birthday party tomorrow. Sir Alan can make that happen, Chao said. In a test, the digital knight booked a one-way charter flight on a Boeing 767 from San Francisco to Honolulu (for $486,000). Apple has an assistant; TRI has a concierge. Chao said Sir Alan eventually will use artificial intelligence to predict what you want and when you want it. He says buyers willing to pay about $1200 for a two-year subscription to the service get the Appassionato for free. Turing is just the latest company to try selling a luxury smartphone. Vertu, founded by Nokia in 1998, was best known for blingy devices with leather backs and diamond-encrusted edges. Like the Appassionato, one of the Vertu's main selling points was its concierge service. Last month, the company shut down amid paltry sales. TRI's goal of selling one million units of the Appassionato, while minuscule next to the hundreds of millions of phones sold each year by Apple and Samsung, will be a heavy lift for a company with little brand recognition and a less-than-stellar track record. Turing's previous effort didn't go well. The rollout of the Turing Phone was delayed for months, and when it finally arrived last year, it ran not on Android, as promised, but a lesser known operating system called Sailfish. Turing touted the phone's enhanced security and durability, but reviewers panned its mediocre performance, weak battery and sub-par camera. Flags flying over Richmond Town Hall, where Yarra Council took its controversial vote. Credit:Paul Jeffers Premier Daniel Andrews said the decision by Yarra Council was unnecessary: "I think we get the balance right [on Australia Day]. We respect the traditional owners of our land, but we then get on in a really unified way," he told the ABC. Victorian opposition leader Matthew Guy said the council wasn't focused on its real job. If Yarra Council didn't "pull its head in", he said, then they should be sacked. Former prime minister Tony Abbott joined in, describing the vote as an outrageous attack on Australia Day by a "mad lefty council". However, the move in Yarra may only embolden other councils to follow suit and join the campaign to change the date. Three other councils have debated similar motions or will soon. Two of the councils Moreland and Darebin form part of Melbourne's inner suburbs, where the Greens have made inroads at all levels of government. A third, Hepburn, covers Daylesford and Kyneton, an area some call "north Northcote". Moreland deputy mayor Samantha Ratnam, a Green, said the council (which governs Brunswick and Coburg) would be watching what happens in Yarra closely. A recent Moreland motion to no longer hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day was voted down narrowly by one vote. Cr Ratnam said while the Yarra motion went further than what was proposed in Moreland, it may provide a model for a future push. "The conversation has really shifted, people are starting to acknowledge how much pain and suffering celebrating Australia Day causes to our Indigenous community," she said. In Darebin, which takes in a strip of Melbourne's north stretching from Northcote up to Reservoir, locals are reportedly being surveyed on their views about Australia Day ceremonies. Earlier this year, Hepburn passed a motion to review whether January 26 was appropriate for celebrating Australia Day. All eyes will now be on Yarra and whether they stick with their decision. The City of Fremantle backed down from its push to cancel Australia Day ceremonies this year after being warned they would be hit with the same sanction. Prospective citizens inside Yarra boundaries will now be sent to ceremonies held by neighbouring councils, or hosted by the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Alex Hawke has repeatedly said he would not tolerate "Greens-dominated councils" using citizenship ceremonies to campaign for changing the date of Australia Day. Yarra mayor Amanda Stone said she had not expected the federal government would follow through on its threat to ban the council from holding citizenship ceremonies. She said she would have preferred that the minister pick up the phone. "It's unnecessary and an overreaction," she said. "We asked for a discussion but he's chosen to act instead. It's a shame." However, she stood by the decision, saying that there had been a lot of support. "People feel it's a very brave move, it's overdue," she said. Ngarra Murrary, who began the Change the Date of Australia Day Facebook page in 2015, urged other councils to follow suit. Her family has strong ties to the City of Yarra area. Her grandfather, prominent Aboriginal activist Sir Doug Nicholls, played football with Fitzroy in the 1930s and went on to open the first Aboriginal church in Gore Street. A man is dead after a shooting at a house in Melbourne's south-east. Emergency services were called to the house in Kurrajong Road, Narre Warren about 7.40pm on Wednesday evening after reports of gunfire. A man was found with a suspected gunshot wound. Paramedics tried to revive the victim but he died at the scene. Narre Warren resident Tamara Sykes,18, who lives directly behind the house where the shooting occurred, was inside her home when she heard a series of loud bangs. Flamboyant Labor councillor and aspiring MP Intaj Khan has been charged with nine criminal offences over his alleged failure to properly disclose his vast property and commercial interests in Melbourne's west. The charges follow a Fairfax Media investigation last year of the Wyndham councillor's business and property empire and of allegations of Labor branch-stacking. Wyndham councillor Intaj Khan Labor's so-called "King of Bling". Credit:Jason South Fairfax detailed how Cr Khan, believed to be Victoria's richest councillor, allegedly repeatedly failed to disclose interests, as required by the Local Government Act, including farmland in his own council patch on the city's western fringe, part of a property portfolio he claims is worth $40 million. Ownership of developable land is particularly fraught in growth areas such as Wyndham where councillors have input into decisions that deliver massive windfalls to landowners. London: Britain wants to avoid putting border posts back between Northern Ireland and its southern neighbour, it says in a new 'position paper' released on Wednesday ahead of the next round of Brexit talks. There have been fears that a return to a physical border in Ireland would be a catalyst for a return to sectarian violence. A sign by a group against Brexit is seen on an Northern Island road. Credit:Nick Miller But there has also been speculation that the UK's determination to set its own trade rules would require customs checks at the border with the EU. Despite its reaffirming, in another position paper on Tuesday, that it intends to leave Europe's customs union and strike new trade deals with the rest of the world, the UK government believes it is possible to maintain a "seamless and frictionless" border in Ireland. In a rage-filled press conference Donald Trump has confirmed two bleak facts about his character and presidency. Firstly, that he does not signal to the so-called alt-right with his incendiary statements and his regurgitation of online conspiracy theories, he is in fact an alt-right president. Secondly, that he is utterly uncontrollable by the senior staff who rapidly cycle through his increasingly chaotic White House. Trump appeared ostensibly to talk about plans to revitalise infrastructure, then offered to take questions. This was, you might remember, the third time Trump addressed the deadly violence that accompanied a rally organised by and for white supremacists to protest against the removal of Confederate monuments on Saturday. That day, before one of their number drove into a crowd of peaceful counter protesters, injuring 19 and killing a 32-year-old woman, Heather Heyer, the far right crowd was filmed beating people and chanting slogans such as "Jews will not replace us," "Blood and soil," and "heil Trump". Washington: US President Donald Trump has praised North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for a "wise" decision not to fire missiles towards the US Pacific territory of Guam, which has eased escalating tension between the two countries. Reclusive North Korea has made no secret of its plan to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the US to counter what it perceives as constant US threats of invasion. Wise: US President Donald Trump has praised North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Credit:AP Trump warned North Korea last week it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the US, prompting North Korea to say it was considering plans to fire missiles towards Guam. But North Korean media reported on Tuesday that Kim had delayed the decision while he waited to see what the US did next. Bangkok: Australians are likely to be soon banned from supporting orphanages in countries like Cambodia. A parliamentary committee sitting in Canberra has been flooded with reports of mistreatment of institutionalised children that some MPs believe amounts to human trafficking and modern slavery. Sinet Chan, left, was rescued from a Cambodian orphanage by Australian Tara Winkler, right. Sinet Chan has given harrowing testimony to a parliamentary inquiry in Canberra. The committee is considering recommending a world-first clause in a Modern Slavery act that would aim to cut the supply of Australian money to the institutions and redirect it to help reintegrate children into their home communities. MPs are also considering making it a criminal offence to organise trips for Australians to visit orphanages across the world where an estimated eight million children are living. Bangkok: When Rodrigo Duterte was elected president of the Philippines last year, he vowed to wipe out his country's drugs trade in six months. He said fish in Manila Bay would grow fat from the bodies of drugs suspects. Now after the greatest loss of civilian lives in the hands of authorities in south-east Asia since the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia in the 1970s on Tuesday, Mr Duterte says the illegal drug problem is so enormous that it will take a lot longer and harsher action to solve. Masked protesters display placards as as they call on the Philippine government to end extra-judicial killings of accused drug users and dealers last year. Credit:AP "Look, this shabu [ice] and drugs problem cannot be solved by one man or a president for one term," he said. "America is under siege because of drugs and they are far worse than us." A federal judge in Lincoln on Wednesday sentenced a Chicago couple busted last year in Lancaster County's largest drug cash seizure, saying he may have given the man substantially more if his hands hadn't been tied by a plea deal. The case involved $2,457,452 seized from an RV during a traffic stop along Interstate 80 here, plus another $606,770 and 10 pounds of marijuana seized in Chicago. Michael Melchior, 66, got five years in federal prison, plus five years of supervised release; and Peggy Brennan, 64, got three years of probation. Both pleaded guilty; Melchior to conspiracy to distribute marijuana, and Brennan to misprision of a felony for failing to report her knowledge of what he was doing. "I don't know how else to put this but bluntly," Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf told the prosecutor. "Why didn't the government squeeze this guy? He knows a lot." Assistant U.S. Attorney William Mickle said Kopf was exactly right, the government believes Melchior was involved in a lot more than what he was "tagged with," and an investigation is ongoing. But, he said, Melchior has steadfastly declined to provide information. "It's not what we may know or believe or suspect. It's what we can prove," Mickle said. Kopf said in this case he believed the federal sentencing guidelines were too low and may have varied from them to give Melchior more than the five-year mandatory minimum if the government hadn't reached a plea agreement. Shortly before, Federal Public Defender John Vanderslice argued that Kopf should give Brennan less than the year in prison Mickle was seeking, which would cause her to lose her job. Mickle said Brennan lived with Melchior and knew he was transporting a large amount of cash on Feb. 18, the day a Lancaster County Sheriff's deputy stopped them near Lincoln. After a drug dog indicated suspected drugs inside, deputies found the cash in heat-sealed bags inside luggage in the back of the RV. It smelled of raw marijuana, according to court records. Mickle said there was no evidence Brennan was receiving any of the booty, but she had benefited by living with him rent free. He argued that giving her a prison sentence could deter others in a similar position. Kopf said he was thinking about unwarranted sentencing disparity, and how Melchior was far more culpable than Brennan. He agreed to vary from the guidelines based on her character and Melchior's deal. "This has been a nightmare," Brennan said. "I've lost my home and pretty much everything. I'm sorry this happened." Then, Kopf told her he doesn't lecture people but, "I can tell you with that much money involved and with that much dope involved, someone down the line was in real danger." And he gave her probation. Mickle said the more than $3 million seized has been forfeited to the government, which also will seek the forfeiture of Melchior's home in Chicago. Mary Barra of General Motors wanted to stay close to the White House. Indra Nooyi of Pepsico was pressured to walk away. Kevin Plank of Under Armour got pushback when he did just that. Doug McMillon of Wal-Mart Stores took heat for rebuking President Donald Trump - and for not severing ties with him as three more members of a presidential advisory council resigned. That was all just on Tuesday. On Wednesday, 3M Co. chief executive officer Inge Thulin stepped down from the White House's manufacturing council, adding to the corporate exodus. Thulin, who didn't address Trump by name in the statement, said 3M, widely known for office supplies such as Post-it notes, "will continue to champion an environment that supports sustainability, diversity and inclusion." Rarely have business leaders had to tread as carefully as they suddenly are now, with the nation sharply divided under a combative president. Since Monday, they've been riding a wild cycle of expectations and disillusionment, banal statements and searing rebuttals. It began when Merck & Co.'s Kenneth Frazier took a public stand against Trump for his failure to quickly condemn white supremacists for deadly violence in Virginia, and it pushed many chief executive officers into strange new territory. PHILIPSBURG:--- St. Maarten Lions Club president, A. Busby and Lion members Gumbs, Boirard and Johnson recently held discussions with the President of Parliament Sarah Wescot-Williams, regarding Lions Club focus on the youth for this lionistic year. Central to this theme are the topics of drug and alcohol use and abuse and cyber bullying. Bringing the permit ordinance that regards the sale of alcohol to minors in synch with the legal age of 18 was again a topic of discussion as was the need for a broad discussion on (cyber) bullying. It was explained by the President of Parliament that tabling the initiative law to amend the permit ordinance as presented by the Minister of ECYS in her former capacity of MP, was still possible, but needs to be done by the NA faction in Parliament. On the topic of bullying, the President of Parliament expressed her opinion that Parliament would gladly collaborate through hearings etc. to bring about awareness regarding (cyber) bullying. PHILIPSBURG:--- On Sunday, August 13th, a patrol was directed to Dutch Quarter for a dispute between a man and a woman. The brother of the man was trying to mediate between parties which turned physical. The situation got out of hand at which time one of the brothers took a knife and stabbed the other. He victim needed medical attention and was brought to the Police Head Quarters where he gave First Aid by the Paramedics. The suspect M.M.L. was arrested on the scene and brought to the police station for further investigation and remains in police custody. KPSM Press Release WILLEMSTAD:--- The U.S. Consulate General together with Curacaos Analytic Diagnostic Center (ADC) is working on bringing better health and well-being to the children of St. Elisabeth Hospital (SEHOS) by distributing 30 king size mosquito nets for Sehos maternity ward, Anna Paviljoen. On Tuesday, August 15, U.S. Consul General Margaret Hawthorne and Acting ADC Director Liane Virginia-Cova donated the nets to CFO Elvis Thode and staff of the SEHOS. While on Curacao, mosquito bites are mainly an annoyance; some mosquitos may carry serious blood-borne diseases, such as dengue, chikungunya, zika, malaria, and yellow fever. One can use DEET applied to skin and permethrin applied to clothing, but mosquito nets are more effective since there is no vaccine or medicine for Zika. The nets will be of good use to the hospital, even in our air-conditioned rooms, Mr. Thode said. As part of a regional U.S. Government Zika outreach program, the U.S. Consulate invited four specialists from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for a September 13-15 visit. These specialists will visit schools, give a presentation for the general public, and a separate presentation for healthcare professionals, medical university students, and Instituto pa Formashon den Enfermeria (IFE) students. Furthermore, the specialists will be available for media interviews. If you are interested in attending the events, please contact the U.S. Consulate General or Civianny Axson at ADC via email (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) or by phone 434 5100. CDC is the leading national public health institute of the U.S. Its main goal is to protect public health and safety through the control and prevention of disease, injury, and disability in the U.S. and internationally. The CDC focuses national attention on developing and applying disease control and prevention. It especially focuses its attention on infectious disease, food borne pathogens, environmental health, occupational safety and health, health promotion, injury prevention and educational activities designed to improve the health of U.S. citizens. PHILIPSBURG:--- Prime Minister William Marlin has once again called on the French authorities, especially those in France to respect the status quo agreement until the Oyster Pond border issue is regulated. Marlin at the weekly press briefings made the plea after he was informed by Captain Olivers business operators that they are being harassed by the French authorities that have led to court cases. Marlin said the business operators that are operating at Oyster Pond Marina are legitimate business people and as such the French should not be harassing those people. The Prime Minister said he even discussed this matter with the outgoing Minister of Interior Affairs Ronald Plasterk who paid a farewell visit to the Council of Ministers on Tuesday. Marlin said that while there is no problem with the local French residents he made clear that when the elephant fights the grass is trampled upon. Therefore he is calling on the French authorities to respect the signed agreements until the Oyster Pond border issues are regulated. For all the planning and work that goes into construction of a 240,000-square-foot building, the devil is in the details as well as the deadlines. The University of Nebraska College of Business opened to faculty and staff this week, even as those tiny details are being managed ahead of the Monday deadline marking the first day of fall classes. All that construction dust that settled in nooks and crannies needs cleaned, and the semi-truck delivering the final pieces of furniture will eventually rumble off campus. And, yes, someone remembered to forward the mail from the college's old address of 1240 R St. to 730 N. 14th St. and switch over the utilities. The ribbon will be cut at the new College of Business address Howard L. Hawks Hall on Friday, during a ceremony scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. as part of the annual back-to-school bash for students. The NU Board of Regents named the building for Hawks, a graduate of the UNL business college who now leads power plant developer Tenaska from its Omaha headquarters. Hawks, a member of the Board of Regents since 2002, gave an undisclosed lead gift to help get the ball rolling on the privately funded, $84 million project. His photo and story will be the centerpiece inside the northwest entrance, directly east of Memorial Stadium, while four other major donors will be featured prominently in the main lobby. The names of the remaining 2,500 donors who gave to the project will scroll on a wall-mounted screen. The commitment to alumni, faculty and current students at the business college will be a driving theme throughout the building, according to Rik Barrera, the associate dean for business and chief operating officer. "We want to highlight alumni who have gone on and started something in business," Barrera said. A giant photo of Hudl co-founders David Graff, John Wirtz and Brian Kaiser all UNL grads will greet students as they come in the north entrance. Photos of five Husker student-athletes enrolled in various business college paths grace the walls of the cafe that will be open to students and the public on the south side of the building. Just outside an auditorium on the lower level will be the new home to the Nebraska Business Hall of Fame, converted from the original rows of plaques into a digital yearbook accessible by touch screen. On an adjacent wall, the stories and work of faculty educators and researchers will be displayed. When it opens for classes Monday, students will walk into state-of-the-art classrooms designed through an extensive feedback process, Barrera said. Two dozen classrooms built in various arrangements traditional spaces, U-shaped auditoriums modeled on the Harvard School of Business, and cluster classrooms promoting group work can seat between 50 and 80 students. A pair of larger auditoriums, one built with 385 permanent seats and another with 150 movable chairs, will be used for classes, as well as conferences hosted at the college. Other building features will be among the first of their kind in the nation, including a Trading Room that connects students to the stock market through Bloomberg terminals. Elsewhere, Big Red merchandise is already hanging on racks and the walls of a student-run Huskers Shop that will be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the week and for extended hours on the weekend. Run in concert with Fanatics, business college students have been driving the marketing plan, social media advertising, design and other facets of the store. At the heart of the building is the Great Hall, which features an atrium extending to the fifth floor and 4,200 square feet of naturally lit space for events too large to be held anywhere else. Barrera said Hawks Hall will handle growing enrollment within the College of Business, which has grown 29 percent since 2012 to nearly 4,200 students. "This new space is going to provide us a greater capacity to have ongoing collaboration between students and businesses," he said. "It is essential because it is creating a modern business environment that simply was not possible in our old building." A Lincoln judge Tuesday declared a mistrial in the case of an Omaha man on trial on allegations he delivered marijuana to an inmate during visiting hours at the Nebraska State Penitentiary. Robert Trelles' jury trial had started Monday. In opening statements, the state said the exchange June 5, 2015, had been caught on video; the defense said it was just a condiment package passed while they ate sandwiches from a vending machine. On Tuesday morning, Trelles' attorney, Justin Cook, sought a mistrial, arguing the prosecutor hadn't disclosed information to him that came out later during testimony about prison staff being alerted Trelles needed to be watched during the visit. He argued it was hearsay and shouldn't have been allowed to go in front of the jury. But Cook didn't immediately object to the testimony because he had been caught off-guard by it. When a second prison staff member testified about the same thing, Cook did object; and Lancaster County District Judge Andrew Jacobsen allowed it to come in. The next day, Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Eric Miller argued the information only had been offered to show why prison staff had trained cameras on Trelles in the visitors' room that day, and that Cook's motion for a mistrial was too late. Jacobsen said he didn't believe it was a violation for the information not to be disclosed to Cook before trial, but he believed he had made a "grave mistake" by allowing it. "I believe it's a bell that can't be unrung," the judge said. He sent jurors home and set the case to be retried in October. Everything you need to know about No. 20 Notre Dame's game vs. Navy Saturday in Baltimore Lincoln has long had a feral cat problem. An area nonprofit has taken a big step toward solving it. The group Joining Forces Saving Lives recently received a $5,000 grant from a national animal rescue organization to start a community cat program in Lincoln, said Melissa (Mitsi) Money-Beecher, who started the local nonprofit several years ago. The program involves the targeted trap, neuter and release of feral cats. The idea is to spay and neuter all the cats in an area and release them back to that area to reduce the amount of unwanted litters, which in turn reduces the number taken to the shelter and reduces nuisance behaviors like roaming and fighting, Money-Beecher said. The local organization is working with the Capital Humane Society to put the program into place in Lincoln. The grant money will be used to pay the humane society along with several local vets a reduced price to spay and neuter cats captured in traps set in designated areas. The cats will then be released in the area in which they were captured with the goal of reducing outdoor cat populations. Money-Beechers nonprofit has been promoting trap, neuter, release programs since 2012, but receiving the grant from Maddies Fund will move the program forward in a huge way, she said. Maddies Fund is a national organization with a goal of promoting pet rescue. Joining Forces ... Saving Lives has been implementing the program in the Capitol Beach area of Lincoln and near a local business near 27th Street and Leighton Avenue. It will be looking at a rural area of Lancaster County, where the humane society has been receiving a lot of cat surrenders, she said. The organization is willing to work in any areas where people report a large outdoor unaltered cat population. Similar programs have been very successful in other cities. Some cities have even reported running out of kittens at their local shelters due to trap, neuter and release programs, Money-Beecher said. To be successful, it is important to trap at least 90 percent of a feral cat colony, she said. Kittens trapped between ages 3 weeks and 9 weeks generally can be saved from becoming feral and adopted into families. Otherwise, releasing the feral cats is best because they are happiest in the areas in which they are used to living, she said. A similar program has been in operation on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus. Husker Cats is a group of volunteers of UNL students and staff who work to stabilize the population of feral cat colonies. In operation since 2008, it has reduced the number of feral cats to a manageable number, according to the organizations website. The goal of Joining Forces ... Saving Lives is to start a spay and neuter program for all feral and domestic cats in all of Lincoln, she said. Chris Dutton and Kelly Turek hope to have the sun, the moon and the stars for their Aug. 21 wedding. The duo will wed at the Kaminski House during the solar eclipse. Georgetown, SC (29440) Today Sunshine and clouds mixed. Much cooler. Morning high of 65F with temps falling to near 50. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.. Tonight Clear skies. Low 38F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement The raging political argument over President Donald Trump's response to the violence that erupted at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville began Wednesday to seep into Nebraska's upcoming 2018 congressional races. While Rep. Jeff Fortenberry condemned in particular "the vile, racist protests and murder perpetrated by the despicable KKK, Nazis and other white nationalist groups," Democratic challenger Dennis Crawford criticized the Lincoln congressman on Facebook for his late response. Although Rep. Don Bacon said he "hate(s) all racism and find(s) Nazis, white nationalists and all bigots repugnant," former Democratic Rep. Brad Ashford of Omaha said the congressman failed to "tell the president that you are wrong" in suggesting a moral equivalency between the demonstrators and protesters on opposite sides of the Charlottesville event. "There are specific times when one must make a stand and tell the president that you are wrong," Ashford said. Crawford had leveled his criticism at Fortenberry before the congressman responded to the event, suggesting that "Mr. Fortenberry is a moral coward." "As your representative in Congress, I can guarantee you that I would stand up to and speak out against racism, anti-Semitism, white nationalism and hate," Crawford said. After directing his criticism specifically at the Ku Klux Klan, Nazis and white nationalists, Fortenberry added: "While the most heinous forms of speech and assembly are protected by the First Amendment, these rights must always be balanced with obligations. "Violence is never acceptable," the congressman said. Bacon said he "despise(s) the violence that is so rampant in our society," not only the racist violence that killed Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, but also the political violence that resulted in the shooting of Republican Rep. Steve Scalise in suburban Washington. "Eradicating racism and bigotry shouldn't be a divisive political issue, but one we all should get behind and support," Bacon said. The Big Business of Refugees If their fates could be determined before they left Libya, it would provide Italy with significant relief. And the EU would also be spared the thankless and often insoluble task of deporting the migrants back to their homelands. That, though, isn't likely to happen any time soon. Nor is a refugee deal with Libya of the kind the EU established with Turkey imminent, despite repeated demands from German conservatives for such an agreement. After all, despite its name, Libya's Government of National Accord under Prime Minister Fayez Sarraj has virtually no power in large parts of the country, even though it is propped up by both Italy and the EU. And that's not the only difficulty. The situation for migrants in Libya is extremely dangerous. "Migrants are big business in Libya," a representative of Doctors without Borders warned in testimony before the European Parliament in April. "Pumping more money into the system is going to make it worse." The confidential EU report confirms this assessment. Libyans interviewed by the EU diplomats said that some migrants are detained in unofficial camps until they pay ransom. "Migrants were indeed sometimes sold between centers," the report from mid-April noted. Libya says that the EU naval mission Sophia is primarily to blame for the climbing migrant numbers. The principal task of the EU vessels is that of combatting migrant smugglers, but they also save many of those who are in danger of drowning on the high seas. Doing so, however, unintentionally aids the migrant smugglers' business model, since most of the refugees are picked up just four hours after they set out to sea. 'Ill-Considered Babble' Italy would like to see Libya intercept the refugees in coastal waters and bring them back to land. In early August, the Italian parliament approved the dispatch of warships to the port of Tripoli. Italian Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti said that the vessels were to support Libyan efforts in fighting migrant smugglers in the country's coastal waters "in close cooperation" with Libyan officials. Italy feels as though the EU has left it in the lurch -- and the country is furious with the French, especially given that President Emmanuel Macron recently demanded the establishment of asylum centers on Libyan territory. Even if the Elysee Palace has since backed away from the proposal, Italian Foreign Minister Angelino Alfano nevertheless continues to blast the "ill-considered babble" from Paris. Economic interests are likewise at stake in the conflict. Italy's Eni corporation is in competition with the French company Multi Total for the natural gas and oil reserves in Libya. The Italians, like Brussels, are seeking to rely on Sarraj's Government of National Accord. The French, meanwhile, have maintained their access to General Khalifa Haftar, who has control of Libya's most important port for crude oil. Because the situation in Libya is so convoluted, an idea is currently under discussion that was proposed to the European Commission in mid-May by German Interior Minister de Maiziere and his Italian counterpart. Instead of interning the refugees in Libya, which is crippled by civil war, the two ministers believe it would be better to prevent them from arriving in the country in the first place. De Maiziere would like to see an EU mission to protect Libya's southern border. Incalculable Consequences The idea of a preemptive strike has repeatedly been raised, through which the United States could eliminate North Korea's nuclear weapons. But even if such an attack were unexpectedly able to neutralize the country's entire nuclear arsenal, retaliation would be an almost certainty. Strategists fear that Pyongyang would react with an artillery strike against the South Korean capital Seoul. This could lead to the deaths of millions of people, China could be drawn into the war and the consequences would be incalculable. Trump's advisers know this. For months, Trump has been using Twitter to call upon the Chinese leadership to resolve the conflict. But that's wishful thinking. Although Beijing is displeased with Kim, China is even more worried that the North Korean regime will collapse, leading to the north's reunification with U.S. ally South Korea. The Chinese have recently increased pressure on Pyongyang, but they could certainly do more, including as an intermediary. But even if they wanted to, they could not take away Kim's nuclear weapons. It follows the results of a survey where 70 per cent of UK adults say they object to the use of fake farm brands and only want real place names or farm names to be used on packaging and branding. Says FARMA chairman Milly Stokes, Our members have been increasingly concerned at the way supermarkets are marketing their fresh produce under labels of non-existent farms and locations. It only serves to confuse shoppers, who our own research says are increasingly concerned about the provenance of their food. FARMA member farm shops and farmers markets offer customers the ability to buy with confidence, safe in the knowledge that our members are offering locally sourced meat, fruit and vegetables, often grown on the farm where it is being sold. Thursday 10th August 2017 saw Rare Breeds Survival Trusts (RBST) Business Development Manager Helen Breakwell, Chef Director of Andersons Bar and Grill Dan Anderson and Graham Beck of Becks Butchers come together for the cutting of the first pedigree Ayrshire cull cow carcass for Andersons restaurant. The native breed Ayrshire cow dates back to the 1870s, originating from South West Scotland. The pedigree Ayrshire is a distinctive animal, it can be any shade of brown or red with white and each animal has a unique pattern of patches. Horns used to be a defining feature of the breed but due to their impracticability within modern farming they are often dehorned as calves. The Ayrshire, primarily a dairy cow, is a strong animal with a long lifespan and is a very effective grazer. Cull cows are those which have come to the end of their economic life in the dairy herd, and would normally have a low economic value. By finishing them for the restaurant, value and great flavours are added. Andersons Bar and Grill have worked tirelessly over the last 12 months, and with the help of RBST have now been able to source native breeds direct from farm. This particular carcass has come from the Duchy Home Farm within the Duchy of Cornwall, travelling to the local abattoir in Gloucester, butchered in Becks Butchers in Leamington Spa and then onto its final destination at Andersons Bar and Grill. The distance from field to fork totals only 113 miles, signalling a successful first pilot project. Comexposium, the new owner of the Cereals Event, is determined to respond to the constructive feedback we received this year and make substantial changes for next year, says event director Jon Day. One part of that is to work closely with exhibitors and farmers, ensuring that they too are on the journey with us. We are now part of a portfolio of world leading shows and Comexposium is well positioned to push the show to the next level. The board will comprise exhibitors, sponsors and farmers, and from this years feedback will develop new ideas for next year. In addition, there will be a larger feedback group, enabling all stakeholders to comment on and influence the shape of the event. We are keen to adopt a more open and collaborative approach with the industry, so there will be plenty of opportunities to provide feedback and input going forward, adds Mr Day. It is a tried and tested way of working and how Comexposium which runs the SIMA event in Paris - develops its other events." Cereals 2018 will return to Duxford, Cambridgeshire, on 13-14 June 2018. The development of these two groups marks a step-change in the event's development, taking Cereals forward in a new direction that focuses on technology and depth of technical content, says Mr Day. Innovation, insight and information will be the pillars of the event and will underpin the changes. The cattle judges are Welsh cattle breeder Chris Pennie and livestock farmer Sarah Wareham. Lincolnshire wholesale butcher and farmer, Chris Wright, will judge the main sheep classes and the Mule Gimmer lamb class will be judged by Northumberland farmer Martyn Archer. Attracting over 900 livestock entries across the sheep and cattle classes, and thousands of visitors, last year marked the 10th anniversary of what has now become the UKs leading autumn livestock show. Taking place at Borderway Mart, Carlisle, on Friday 3rd November and with a total prize fund of over 17,000 this years event is expected to once again attract the creme de la creme of livestock entries from the length and breadth of the UK. On announcing details of the judges, David Pritchard, Harrison & Hetheringtons Operations Director and Event Organiser said: Each year the quality of livestock being shown at Borderway Agri-Expo astounds us all, and as such selecting judges is of the upmost importance and is integral to the event. Judging is a huge commitment and there is absolutely no doubt that that this years judges are exceptionally well qualified for the job; it will be a privilege to welcome them to Carlisle in November. Judging the main cattle classes this year is cattle and sheep breeder, Chris Pennie, from Gwern Yr Ychain, Montgomery in Wales. Farming alongside his father Glynn and brother Nigel, Chris runs a herd of approximately 200 suckler cows, some pedigree Limousins, a small herd of Charolais and the remainder British Blue cross Limousins, as well as 1000 breeding ewes. Well renowned on the circuit, his judging highlights include the Balmoral Show, Tullamore Show and Royal Highland Show, as well as the Carlisle Limousin bull sale. Commenting ahead of his first judging role at Borderway Agri-Expo, Chris said: I am thrilled to have been invited to judge the cattle classes at Borderway Agri-Expo this year. The calibre of entries is always outstanding and I feel I will have to make some difficult decisions on the day. I will be looking for animals with style and show presence, as well as natural width and excellent conformation throughout; the perfect beast ideally! Judging the baby beef and showmanship classes is Sarah Wareham of Little Tottingworth Farm, near Heathfield in East Sussex. Born and brought up on a family livestock farm, Sarah has a lifetime of experience in farming, and as well as judging she is also a regular face in the show ring exhibiting her own cattle. Sarah has been a very regular exhibitor at Borderway-Agri Expo since its inception Being offered the opportunity to judge at Agri-Expo really is an honour as it is now one of the best shows in the UK, says Sarah. In judging the Baby Beef classes, Sarah will be looking for a stylish animal with plenty potential. It also of course has to have real show quality and appeal. ACLU drew a line in the sand for Nebraska prisons. They've crossed it. Crowded prisons and a shortage of corrections officers and mental health workers have created a humanitarian crisis, ACLU of Nebraska officials say. They describe prisoners sleeping in hallways, or double-bunked in cells the size of a parking space, deprived of needed health care or of basic accommodations for deafness or blindness or other disabilities. They report inmates suffering and dying from treatable medical conditions, and injuries and deaths in violence that erupts within the prisons. The organization, working in conjunction with local and national attorneys, made good Wednesday on a long-term promise to force prison improvements by way of the courts, if it couldn't get them for their clients in any other way. "We view it as historic litigation," said ACLU of Nebraska Executive Director Danielle Conrad. "We view it ... as laying down a marker in Nebraska state history, saying: 'No more. This is where the trajectory changes and we come together and take a fresh look at policy reform.'" The ACLU filed the class action lawsuit on behalf of Nebraska inmates early Wednesday in U.S. District Court, saying the prisons have reached a state of chaos that daily endangers the health, safety and lives of prisoners and staff. The Journal Star was given an early copy of the lawsuit. A news conference is scheduled at the Capitol at 10 a.m. Wednesday. Remedies could include a prisoner release order to bring down crowding that has hovered around 160 percent of prison capacity for at least two years, building over recent years despite attempts at relief by the Legislature. There is no longer the luxury of addressing the issues in a discreet fashion, Conrad said. "Our criminal justice system is so broken and so unwieldy that we must utilize all strategies ... to peel back the system of mass incarceration which has ensnared far too many Nebraskans," she said. For the work, ACLU of Nebraska has assembled a local and national team that includes Nebraska Appleseed, ACLU National Prison Project, the National Association of the Deaf, DLA Piper Global Law, a multinational law firm, and attorney Michael Bien, who helped lead a successful trial that imposed a population cap on the California prison system in August 2009. Lawsuit has been in the works a long time Amy Miller, the ACLU's legal director, said the organization has been considering the lawsuit since 2014 because of persistent crowding and serious understaffing, but tried first to work within the system, through the Legislature and the Department of Correctional Services and with outside help from the Council of State Governments. Protective services staff vacancies systemwide have ranged from 150 to 200 over the past few years. The turnover rate has reached 31 percent. While some legislative efforts have started to take hold, the political will to go the next important steps is just not there, she said. And nothing the Legislature has done, including sentencing reform and special investigations, has helped to solve the problems of what is happening now to men and women behind the walls of Nebraska's 10 prisons. "Although we have tried vigilantly to sound the alarm for the last year or two, it has become clear to us that people are being hurt. People are being killed," Miller said. Without changes, the vast majority of inmates -- the average prison stay is 22 months -- will return to their communities, but not better off than when they were accused, arrested, sentenced and locked up. "We can't torture them, deprive them of basic medical and mental health care and expect that there's going to be a success for them or society as a whole," Miller said. Failed policies contributed to 'perpetual crisis' For more than 20 years, Nebraska state prisons have been crowded, under-resourced and understaffed, the ACLU's federal complaint says. "The result is a dangerous system in perpetual crisis." Twenty years goes back to the leadership of Gov. Ben Nelson, followed by Mike Johanns, Dave Heineman and Pete Ricketts. Heineman had the longest term during that period, of 10 years. Ricketts inherited the prison problems in 2015. Failed policies such as the "war on drugs" that started in the 1970s and the "tough on crime" political cry that began in the 1980s contributed to growing prison populations, Conrad said. The lawsuit lists five defendants, including the Nebraska Department of Corrections, Director Scott Frakes, Director of Health Services Harbans Deol, the Nebraska Board of Parole and its administrator Julie Micek. The ACLU has used 11 plaintiffs to represent the prison population: three women and eight men, ages 17 to 62, housed at five prisons. All have medical conditions, mental illnesses or disabilities that have gone untreated or without competent care. The complaint says prisoners have been left to suffer with untreated or undiagnosed medical conditions, many of them serious. Like Michael Gunther, 62, who became blind in one eye since entering prison because, it said, of mismanagement of his diabetes. Others with mental illnesses, like Dylan Cardeilhac, 19, have been kept long periods of time in isolation or in five-point restraints which have been deemed dangerous because of prisoner deaths caused by asphyxiation, strangulation or heart attacks. Prisoners with disabilities, like James Curtright, 52, who is deaf, have been denied access to basic accommodations to allow them to live and move around safely. And then there are the suicides, like the 2014 death of Patrick Howley, 42, who died in 2014 in isolation after he had begged for help, which the complaint said went unheeded, until he used a plastic biohazard bag in his cell to cover his head and suffocate himself. Suicides are a horrific example and reminder of how broken the prison system is, Conrad said. Nebraska's suicide rate is more than 30 percent above the national average for state prisons, and more than double the rate for federal prisons. From 2001 to 2014, the rate was 21 per 100,000 prisoners. "Staff ignore prisoners suicide attempts as 'attention seeking' and place prisoners with psychiatric disabilities in isolation as a punishment for self-mutilation, where the prisoners condition only further deteriorates," the complaint said. There's nothing normal about what is happening in Nebraska prisons, Miller said. Suicide rates, use of segregation, riots and attacks are higher here. Fourth most-crowded prison system The prison population increased 19 percent between 2004 and 2017, the seventh largest increase of any state. Nebraska is the fourth most-crowded state prison system. "There is a serious failure here," Miller said. The ACLU continues to hope for a resolution to be worked out with the state, Conrad said, but it doesn't sound likely. In April, when it offered one more chance for the state to make immediate changes, for Ricketts to declare an emergency and find a safe way to reduce the prison population, Frakes answered that prison reform is difficult and dangerous work, and it takes time for strategies to work. So, the lawsuit asks for a host of remedies, some of which may have a hefty price tag. They include a prison release order that could be worked out with the department, keeping in mind public safety, to relieve crowding and pressure on the system. "We're talking about alternatives to incarceration. We're talking about a more robust parole and probation," Conrad said. "It's happened in other jurisdictions. It's happened without a threat to public safety, and is really a very thoughtful, very careful process." The requested solutions also include increasing the numbers of trained staff, screening for medical, mental and dental conditions that require treatment, providing timely and competent access to acute and chronic health care and emergency care and ensuring sanitary conditions. The ACLU is also asking to prohibit isolation of prisoners that put them at substantial risk of physical and mental harm, and to provide accommodations for those with disabilities. Conrad and Miller said they are confident the lawsuit will succeed. "But it's not a silver bullet," Conrad said. The Legislature still must continue to work on sentencing reform, including ridding the system of mandatory minimum sentencing and three-strikes laws, and to divert more people who are sick or who committed nonviolent crimes, Conrad said. And to keep infusing resources into facilities, programs, services and staffing. "We have so much to do," she said. Hosted in association with the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), the conference, entitled Antibiotic Resistance Facing up to the AMR challenge is set to include the latest official antibiotic sales data for farm animals, as well as revealing the farming industrys new sector-specific targets for antibiotic use. The conference proceedings will open with an address from Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Rural Affairs and Biosecurity Lord Gardiner, followed by an update on the new 2016 antibiotic sales data for farm animals, presented by VMDs head of the Antimicrobial Resistance team Dr Kitty Healey. Responding to Dr Healeys presentation will be Professor Christianne Glossop, Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) for Wales, and Professor Paul Cosford, Director for Health Protection at Public Health. Professor Glossop, on behalf of all four of the UKs CVOs, will examine the link between antibiotic use and animal welfare, and Professor Cosford will provide perspectives from a human health angle. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Want Stoke-on-Trent news emailed to you direct from our journalists? Sign up to our newsletter Sue Bennetts impressive medal haul grew at the weekend as she claimed two gold and two silver medals at the British Transplant Games in Lanarkshire. Having claimed a gold and a silver at last years event in Liverpool, Ranton star Bennett, centre, took silver in the 50m freestyle and the 3k road race. But she went one better in the 1,500 and 800m track events, claiming gold and PBs for both. I am over the moon and looking forward to meeting with my donors mum to present her with my gold, said Bennett. Sue is now targetting the next British Games in Birmingham next year, while the World Transplant Games of 2019 will be hosted by Great Britain in Gateshead. A record number of billionaires under the age of 40 appeared on last year's billionaire's list. From tech guys to trust-fund babies, the top billionaires around the world are getting younger. The youngest billionaire in the world for the second-year running is 20-year-old Alexandra Andresen. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 1 of 5 Jason Rearick / Jason Rearick Show More Show Less 2 of 5 Justin Papp / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 3 of 5 4 of 5 Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 5 of 5 The local religious community including the Interfaith Council of Southwestern Connecticut will hold a vigil at 12:15 p.m. Wednesday to stand against the violence that occurred last weekend in Charlottesville,Va. as part of the white nationalist demonstration held there. The vigil at 888 Washington Blvd is being held by The Jewish Community Relations Council of the United Jewish Federation of Greater Stamford, New Canaan and Darien in conjunction with the Interfaith Council. PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) A new study has found that Connecticut ranks third among the six New England states for community and four-year college tuition. The average in-state tuition was $4,618 at two-year colleges and $10,988 at four-year colleges during the 2016-17 school year. There were 104,550 undergraduate students enrolled at public colleges across Connecticut in fall 2016, according to data from the state's Office of Higher Education. The report from the New England Board of Education said that enrollment, however, has dropped over the past five years. MOUNT PLEASANT Despite what several people called a much better site plan, a proposed Burger King next to a salon on Washington Avenue was killed by the Mount Pleasant Plan Commission Wednesday. After more than an hour of questions, answers and discussion, the commission shot down developer/landlord Lee Jaramillos attempt to bring in a Burger King to replace the closed Dickeys Barbecue Pit at 6012 Washington Ave. Burger King would have come to the westernmost storefront of three at the retail center which includes Polished Beauty Bar in the center and Firehouse Subs in the eastern spot. Last month the commission had tabled the matter after Polished owner-operator Erricka Stark strenuously objected to having a Burger King, with a drive-thru, next door. She feared the loss of parking because of the drive-thru, possible traffic problems on site and potential fast-food smells wafting into her salon. So Jaramillo and his potential Burger King operator, Chicago-based Cave Enterprises, revised the site plan, moving the drive-thru from the west side to the rear of the building. They also took steps to keep restaurant smells from getting into the salon, including agreeing to install an odor-reducing system with a catalytic converter. The village staff concluded Burger King exhaust would have minimal impact on other businesses and called the new layout the best possible one for the site, albeit still creating a tight site. Also, at the suggestion of Commissioner John Kis, Jaramillo agreed that Stark could have three front parking spots designated only for her customers. Parking concerns dominate Despite the changes, parking remained a large concern for commissioners and for Stark. Although I think its a huge improvement, we are losing some parking spaces, she said. The site would have 47 parking spaces, which Jaramillo said meets the zoning requirements based on the building size. Combined, the three businesses would have about 26 employees working at the same time, which greatly concerned commissioners. A Cave Enterprises representative said most Burger King customers would use the drive-thru or do carry-out, leaving only 20 to 25 percent of customers parking and eating there. But concerns remained. Iram Cruz, owner-operator of Firehouse Subs, wholeheartedly endorsed having a Burger King to help draw people to the site. Im for it, absolutely, he said. But most commissioners remained dubious. Joe Maier offered a motion to deny the business application, saying there were unworkable parking/drive-thru issues. The application failed on a 4-1 vote, with only Commissioner John Hewitt voting against the motion to deny, and John Kis abstaining. Afterward, Stark said, I hope we can find a tenant that suits the building better, and the clients. A clearly unhappy Jaramillo commented, They appealed to her desire not to have a Burger King. I think its sad, because she and I have been working together a long time. If its a Panera (Bread), Jaramillo added, its a shoo-in. FRANKLIN Krones Inc. has announced it will build a new training and technology center in Franklin after considering other sites throughout the country. The announcement was made to employees at an annual employee appreciation event on Aug. 11, held adjacent to the future site of the center across the street from its U.S. headquarters in the Franklin Industrial Park, located west of 27th Street and south of Ryan Road (Highway 100). Krones designs and manufactures packaging systems, primarily for the food and beverage industry. To help secure the project in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. is providing the company with up to $300,000 in performance-based business development tax credits. The actual amount of credits awarded will be contingent upon the number of jobs created and the level of capital investment during that time. Still early in the planning and development stages, the company expects to add at least 25 new, high-skilled positions as a result of the investment in the new 40,000-square-foot center, the WEDC reported. Construction is expected to begin in spring of 2018.With more than 600 employees based at its U.S. headquarters in Franklin, Krones is a major employer in suburban Milwaukee County and were thrilled that the company has decided to grow here after looking at options elsewhere, said Tricia Braun, deputy secretary and chief operating officer of the WEDC, the states lead economic development agency. In addition to the jobs being created by this investment, the company also is positioning itself for future growth by providing additional training to its employees and customers, which is good news for southeastern Wisconsin and the entire state. Established in 1966, Krones Inc. is the United States subsidiary of Krones AG, Neutraubling, Germany. Krones is an industry leader in the planning, design, service and manufacture of systems for filling and packaging operations. Today, every fourth beverage bottle in the world runs through a Krones machine, the WEDC reports. The company employs 600 employees at its U.S. headquarters in Franklin. The company is receiving a warm welcome from city and regional leaders. Krones is one of the first businesses in the Franklin Industrial Park and has grown considerably since their original investment in 1966. Krones is already the largest employer among our business parks and has shown itself to be an outstanding community partner, said Franklin Mayor Steve Olson. KIMBALL Peter Sarpy visited the Kimball Public Library on Sunday, Aug. 6 as part of the Nebraska Writers Guilds Six Corners of Nebraska celebrating Nebraskas 150th anniversary to tell Nebraskans how Nebraska became a state. Darrel Draper, who dresses in period costume and speaks with Sarpys native French accent, discussed Nebraskas history from French territory to becoming a state. His one-act play uses humor and audience participation to tell Nebraskas story. At the time Sarpy came to Nebraska, the current United States was split. England claimed the land east of the Mississippi River. The French claimed the land from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River. The Spanish claimed the land between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Sarpy was born in Louisiana and was a Frenchman. In the new United States, Thomas Jefferson sent his friend, James Monroe, to speak to Napoleon. Monroe was to offer $10 million to France to use the Mississippi River to transport American goods. Napoleon thought about it. Napoleon offered to sell the entire Louisiana Territory to America for $15 million. At first, Jefferson was angry Monroe spent more money than he was supposed to. Jefferson was good at arithmetic, Draper said. Thats only three pennies per acre. Thats a great deal. Jefferson didnt realize how big the land was, so he sent Louis and Clark to travel through the area, make a map and see if there was a way to go from St. Louis to the Pacific. On their travels, they told the American Indians about the kinds of goods the white man had wool blankets, steel pans, glass beads. Many men learned they could prosper as fur traders. A beavers pelt was worth up to $5. A fur trader could trade up to 500 beaver pelts in one winter, the equivalent of 14 years pay in one winter. There was also deer and bison. At the time, there were an estimated 40-60 million bison from Canada to Mexico, Missouri to the Rocky Mountains. One hundred years later, there were 1,000 left in all of North American, he said. Trade with American Indians led to trading posts being established. In 1823, Sarpy came to Nebraska to work at the American Fur Companys trading post near Bellevue. He married Ni-co-mi, an Omaha Indian. She taught him the Otoe and Omaha languages. One day, he came home and he saw Ni-co-mi handing cloth over the counter to her American Indian friends. Upset, Sarpy asked why she was doing it. Ni-co-mi responded they were her friends. They needed it. So, she gave it to them. I told her, This is no giving post. This is a trading post, he said. You must give something in return. Ni-co-mi cried, then took all the cloth in the trading post and dumped it in the Missouri River. Sarpy asked her if her mind had walked away from her body. She said, Is this the river that came up the river? If you dont let me give it to the Indians, I give it back to Missouri, he said. Sarpy soon worked out a liberal credit program with the American Indians. Sarpy also took advantage of the fact pioneers needed to cross the Missouri River. He charged $5 for each wagon to cross. In one year, he made $5,000. Though Sarpy enjoyed making money, a group of pioneers, known as Mormons, arrived at the river. They were sick and hungry. Sarpy saw a sick baby and a grandma who was wrapped in a blanket. They had no time to bury grandma. He watched 200-300 children so hungry, they pulled up grass to eat. A man named Brigham Young introduced himself and said because of their religion, they were persecuted. They were traveling to Utah and looking for a way to cross the river. I said, Are you crazy? Theyre too sick, he said. This is June. To travel west along the Platte River, you must travel in March or April. Sarpy told Young there would be no grass for their animals to eat and they would starve. Young said they had no place else to go. Sarpy went to Chief Big Elk for help. Big Elk said the Omaha Indians had been treated nicely by the white man and offered to help the Mormons find food and shelter. When they were stronger, they could continue their trek. But they still needed to cross the river. Sarpy was about to make a fortune. I looked at the woman with the sick baby. It is limp, silent, dead, he said. I looked at the hungry barefoot children. These people were not like others on the Oregon Trail. They were refugees. They were the old and the sick. Sarpy allowed the group to cross the river on his ferry for free. One year later, Sarpy was profiting from the gold rush. He even sold maps to the gold fields in California despite never setting foot in California. After Nebraska joined the Union as a free state, disagreements over where the capital would be erupted. Living in Bellevue, Sarpy tried to get the capital moved there. He wrote to Francis Burt, the first governor of the Nebraska territory, who was traveling from South Carolina and thought he had Burt convinced. Eight days after he arrived, he could stand up and be sworn in as governor, he said. Two days later, he became the first dead governor of Nebraska. Thomas B. Cuming became governor, but his friends didnt like Bellevue, they liked Omaha. His friends said if Omaha became the capital, theyd give him some money once they became rich in Omaha. He agreed, but two-thirds of the people lived south of the Platte River. They wanted a town south and west of Omaha. Cuming offered Lancaster, a town with no roads, no railroad and no river. Lancasters name was changed to Lincoln. At this time, when people hear the name Lincoln, they spit on the ground, he said. Lincoln caused 600,000 Americans to kill each other. The capital was going to be moved to Omaha, but then shots were fired in a theater. Lincoln was assassinated. All the people across the country were weeping, saying he was killed on Good Friday, he just saved the country, made it free and democratic, he said. Nebraska became the first state admitted after Lincolns death. Sarpy died three months before Lincoln. Sarpy County is named after him. Sarpy had two granddaughters who were influential in helping American Indians. Susette LaFlesche Tibbles attended and reported on Standing Bear v. Crook (1879), a landmark civil rights case in which American Indians were recognized as people and citizens of the United States. She testified in front of Congress about the Ponca removal and spent her journalism career writing about the treatment of the American Indians. She is the only American Indian to have a statue in the Nebraska Hall of Fame. Susan La Flesche Picotte was the first American Indian to become a doctor in the United States. It is common to hear elected officials refer to the Rule of Law or affirm that we are a nation of laws. But what does that really mean, and why is it important? The United States Constitution is the foundation for our form of government. It sets forth the purposes and powers of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of our federal government. The Constitution creates a system of checks and balances that has sustained our nation for more than 200 years. When I took office on Jan. 8, 2015, I pledged an oath to uphold the Constitution. Since taking that oath, there have been several occasions where Nebraska has successfully led or joined other states in lawsuits against federal overreach. Recently, I joined nine other state attorneys general in a letter requesting the phase out of the current Deferred Action Childhood Arrival program (DACA). The letter did not call for immediate removal of any DACA affected persons. The letter was prompted by a December 2014 lawsuit where Nebraska joined several other states challenging the legality of both the expanded DACA program and the new Deferred Action for Parental Accountability (DAPA). President Obama issued these new immigration policies in November 2014 via executive order. Our legal challenge was successful. The United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit held that these programs were unlawful both procedurally and substantively. However, the original DACA executive order signed by President Obama in 2012 is still in effect. The successful legal arguments that struck down the 2014 executive order have the same application to the 2012 executive order. The Constitution provides that Congress has the exclusive authority to establish uniform rules regarding immigration policy. Congress has done that by passing the Immigration Nationality Act (INA), establishing the framework for granting legal status to foreigners wishing to stay in the United States. Although the executive branch has responsibility and authority for implementing the Act, it cannot unilaterally expand or change the plain language of the law. The topic of immigration, particularly the DACA program, evokes strong feelings on both sides of the issue. Persons of goodwill may disagree on the direction of immigration policy. The Constitution provides, however, that the appropriate venue for determining policy direction lies with the legislative branch and not the president acting via executive order. Our Constitution prohibits not only legislating from the bench but also from the Oval Office. The constitutional system of checks and balances and separation of powers is essential to governmental stability. To make an exception allowing the president to expand any law beyond the meaning intended by Congress would violate this most important constitutional principle. YORKVILLE The Town of Yorkville could become a village in order to fend off possible Foxconn-related annexation. Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn has announced plans to build a $10 billion manufacturing campus in southeastern Wisconsin, with indications it could choose Mount Pleasant and/or Sturtevant. The development would create about 3,000 jobs initially and up to 13,000 eventually, according to plans. On Monday, the Yorkville Town Board unanimously voted to temporarily change law firms with an eye toward incorporating to become a village. In order to avoid the potential conflict of interest of sharing Mount Pleasants legal representative, Pruitt, Ekes & Geary, the board voted to temporarily use the law firm Godfrey & Kahn. Town Chairman Peter Hansen said the use of Godfrey & Kahn would last just until the state Legislature would adopt the Foxconn incentives bill. Hansen said the action was taken amid rumors that Yorkville could lose property for Foxconn-related reasons. State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, explained the concern is that if Foxconn were to locate here but desire to expand across the interstate into Yorkville, Mount Pleasant should not be deciding on an annexation of Yorkville territory. Under state law, cities and villages can annex land from towns when property owners request annexation. I dont think its right that they (Yorkville) dont get a say, Vos said. Rather, Yorkville should be able to negotiate with Foxconn about any potential expansion into its territory, he said. Special amendment Vos explained that now, by law, an urban town can incorporate to become a village if it meets certain criteria. But Yorkville does not qualify, according to Vos spokeswoman Kit Beyer. So Vos added an amendment to the pending $3 billion Foxconn incentives bill. The amendment would give Yorkville and the Town of Paris in Kenosha County the ability to incorporate by referendum. The towns would apply to the state, thus freezing their borders, and then hold a referendum vote on incorporation. On Monday, the Assembly Jobs and Economy Committee adopted the incentives bill containing that amendment and other minor changes, Vos said, on a partisan vote. This is the first time the Yorkville Town Board has talked about possible incorporation, Hansen said. Were just preparing ourselves, not knowing whats coming, he said. By MARK EVANS mevans@stegenherald.com Westover and Smith roads, on the far western edge of the county, will get paving priority for 2023. Country commissioners and Scott Schmieder, county road and bridge foreman, decided at last Thursdays commission meeting to go ahead and seal up that corner of the county. That way, graders will not have Justice Minister Tudorel Toader decided on Wednesday, after talks with Attorney General Augustin Lazar, to refer to the Judiciary Inspectorate to the provision of documents on the 2009 presidential election inquiry, sources with the Justice Ministry told Agerpres on Wednesday. On Wednesday morning, Toader stated that it is not the case for Augustin Lazar to ask the Supreme Council of Magistrates (CSM) whether or not he provide the parliamentary committee inquiring into the presidential ballot with these documents of the Public Prosecution Service. "I am convinced that the attorney general knows his duties and I am convinced that the attorney general knows how to perform these duties and I do not think it is appropriate for him to ask the CSM whether or not to provide those documents," Toader said at the main offices of the Ministry of Justice, before meeting AG Lazar. Director of the Bucharest Blood Transfusion Centre Doina Gosa told Agerpres on Wednesday that as a result of last week's campaign, the city's blood stock was replenished, but she called on the Bucharesters to keep donating in order to avoid relapsing to a crisis. Because of the heatwave, the number of donors was lower, the blood stock dropped and only the emergency could be ensured, which is why the Bucharest City Hall started the campaign "A Drop of Blood can save a life!" "As a result of last week's campaign, when I sent the population the message that blood stock levels had dropped, people responded in great numbers, and I thank them for that. They came on August 14 as well, when we filled 190 blood bags, which is a very good day for a short public holiday, and today I have had a large number of donors. But my message is that we need people to donate every day because the patients need blood every day. We were able to meet the demand, we had no problems during the short holiday, and we provided the local hospitals with blood. It is also true that most of the doctors were on vacation and postponed their surgeries (...) We should take in 350-400 bags of blood a day, but on good days we harvest 250. Last week, as a result of the campaign, we harvested even 300 blood bags per day, which was good. (...) We managed to replenish the city's blood stock, but donors are still invited to please keep on donating so as to avoid relapsing to a crisis," Gosa said. In addition to the current incentives, blood donors could receive meal vouchers worth 150 lei each, Bucharest General Mayor Gabriela Firea announced last week. The Romanian Patriarchate last week called on the clergy and believers of the Romanian Christian Orthodox Church (BOR) for blood donation, responding to a signal from several medical facilities and transfusion centres in the country about decreasing numbers of donors during this period. RACINE Harry Fumich, the 50-year-old Racine man whose reportedly difficult childhood culminated in his strangulation of a neighbor with an electrical cord, will spend the rest of his life in prison. Fumich, who pleaded guilty to first-degree intentional homicide for murdering Kim Cantwell and dumping her body in a trash bin, was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison with no chance of ever applying for release on extended supervision. He declined to speak and sat stoically throughout his sentencing hearing. Fumich confessed to strangling Cantwell, 50, with an electrical cord on Oct. 4 and first stuffing her body into his refrigerator. Later, with help, he dropped her body into a trash bin behind Sunshine Supermarket, 1559 Taylor Ave. Cantwells body was discovered by police in a garbage truck the next day after police were tipped off. In addition to the homicide charge, Fumich faced a charge of hiding a corpse and felony theft from a person or corpse, but both charges were dismissed as a part of a plea deal with prosecutors. After his plea, Fumichs life sentence was preordained. Racine County Circuit Court Judge Emily Muellers only decision was whether to grant him a chance to someday apply for release with extended supervision. Deputy District Attorney Maureen Martinez described a cold-blooded, premeditated killing of Cantwell by Fumich, who believed Cantwell owed him money and had called the police on him in the past. He planned to kill her, Martinez said. He cut that fan cord and put in his pocket and lured her into his apartment and then put the cord around her neck. Fumich told authorities that Cantwell asked him what he was going to do, And he replied, You gotta go, Martinez said. He said he tried to lure her into the kitchen but she would not go in all the way, and so he told her he wanted to beat the (expletive) out of her. What he did to Kim Cantwell who had problems of her own was cold, it was calculating; he absolutely planned what he was going to do to her, she didnt stand a chance, Martinez said. And he portrays himself as absolutely dangerous, Martinez added. After hed strangled Cantwell, Fumich rolled her body into a bedspread and stuffed it in the refrigerator, and later got a friend to throw Cantwells body into a Dumpster, Martinez said. If that person hadnt come forward, she said, Cantwell would have disappeared. (Fumich) almost got away with it, she said. Troubled childhood Fumichs public defender, Mindy Nolan, described a troubled upbringing for Fumich. She said he was sexually abused by his brothers through most of his childhood, and led an adult life of drugs and petty crimes. He has spent more time behind bars than out, Nolan and Martinez said. And he has no contact with any family members, Nolan added. She called Fumich truly remorseful. Nolan said a lack of family stability while growing up and that underlying trauma led to his longtime crack cocaine addiction, starting when he was 27. The drug abuse, and in his words the depth of his abuse really led up to this offense in October 2016, Nolan said. Your honor, theres a long history here that brings us to today, that brings us to this offense, a long history of pain and of abuse and of addiction that all leads up to this crime, Nolan said. She asked that Fumich be given the chance to petition for his release on extended supervision after 30 years, when he would be 80. Even if that request were to be granted, Nolan said that hes likely not going to get out in 30 years. But I think what that gives Harry is a sense of hope. It gives him a sense to get out of bed in the morning. A sense to engage in some sort of programming in the institution. And a sense of hope to be able to live. Chilling crime This was really a chilling crime, said Mueller while imposing the maximum penalty. Reading from Fumichs interview with the presentence investigator, he said Cantwell asked Fumich if he was going to kill her. He responded, What do you think? After putting Cantwells body in the refrigerator, he went to a friends house and used crack cocaine, the judge said. This presentence investigation presents a really sad and disturbing picture of both your childhood and, frankly, your adult life, Mueller said. You didnt have much of a chance, the way your childhood started. And I understand that. But unfortunately, everything that has happened has led to your committing this really heinous crime because you were irritated with Miss Cantwell. RACINE A second Racine man has been arrested and charged in the shooting death of Dashaun Jordan, who died Aug. 6 in the alley near the 1600 block of Phillips Avenue. Twenty-three-year-old Jonathan W. Bell, also known as Jon-Jon, of the 2200 block of Washington Avenue was allegedly behind the wheel of the getaway car when Jordan, 20, was killed. Bell was charged Wednesday in Racine County Circuit Court with first-degree intentional homicide and three counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide. The alleged trigger man, 17-year-old Rytrell Earl, of the 1000 block of North Memorial Drive was charged last week with first-degree intentional homicide as a party to a crime and four counts of attempted first-degree intentional homicide as a party to a crime. According to the criminal complaint, a third man reportedly told police they parked Earls car in the alley to sit and wait for members of a rival gang to come by. When a group of men walked down the alley, Jordan was shot and killed, and another man was injured. All three men suspected of being involved drove away with Bell driving. Thats when police said Bell allegedly saw the body of Jordan lying in the alley. Police say Jordan was not a member of a gang. If convicted on the most-serious charge, Bell could face life in prison. Bell has been incarcerated before and has a history of convictions dating back to 2011 including theft, disorderly conduct and recklessly endangering safety. Bell is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in Racine County Circuit Court at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 23. He remained in custody as of Wednesday afternoon, according to online jail records. A bitterly divided U.S. solar power industry descended on Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to testify before a government panel that has been asked to impose steep tariffs on imported solar panels. Suniva filed a petition seeking the tariffs with the International Trade Commission in April, nine days after the company sought Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Suniva, which has been majority owned by Hong Kong-based Shunfeng International Clean Energy since 2015, makes panels in Georgia and Michigan. The company contends that a glut of panels manufactured abroad has depressed prices and made it difficult for American producers to compete. The petition has drawn support from an Oregon-based subsidiary of Germany's SolarWorld AG. Much of the industry, including the powerful Solar Energy Industries Association trade group, has said tariffs on overseas panels would drive up the price of solar power just as it has become competitive with electricity generated by fossil fuels such as natural gas and coal. SEIA organized 200 solar workers to attend the hearing, wearing bright yellow shirts and pins that read "Save America's Solar Jobs No New Solar Tariffs." The hearing was part of the ITC's process to determine whether imports have indeed harmed domestic producers. If it finds serious injury by a Sept. 22 deadline, the commission by Nov. 13 will recommend remedies to President Donald Trump. He does not have to take the commission's recommendation. At the hearing, SolarWorld Americas Chief Executive Juergen Stein testified that an oversupply of cheap Chinese-made panels has prevented U.S. manufacturers from profiting from the boom in solar energy over the last five years, noting that his company laid off 360 workers last month. "These job losses should not be happening in an industry where demand is so strong," Stein said. A number of businesses and government officials testified in opposition to the trade case. SunPower Corp. Chief Executive Tom Werner said that solar power, despite robust government support during its rapid growth, was now "on a glide path to being a fully self-sustaining industry." ST. LOUIS A federal jury on Wednesday found in favor of a Texas doctor in a class-action lawsuit here over more than 3 million robocalls that went out to promote a movie in 2012. Texas doctor and businessman James R. Leininger, who sank $10 million into the marketing of the Last Ounce of Courage movie, was the only remaining defendant in the suit. On Monday, U.S. District Judge E. Richard Webber ruled that Gabriel Joseph III, of Virginia, and his affiliated companies had violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Violations are punishable by fines of up to $500 per call, but no damage amount has yet been determined. Ron and Dorit Golan, of St. Louis County, filed the lawsuit in 2012 and represented call recipients. The Golans, who received two calls that went to voicemail, are on the Do Not Call registry and did not consent to receiving any calls. Some of Leiningers money went to fund the robocall campaign, but his attorneys argued that he did not have the necessary control over that campaign to be held responsible for it. Leininger attorney Brian Schwalb told jurors in closing arguments Tuesday that the plaintiffs and their attorneys were trying to blame his client for what others did. The movie featured the voice of former presidential candidate and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. He testified Friday, telling jurors that he did not talk to Leininger about the robocall campaign. He was once a named plaintiff but had been dismissed before his testimony. The movie, about faith, family and freedom, opened Sept. 14, 2012, but flopped. An armed robber shot and critically wounded a man working at the Exxon Gas Station in Collinsville Tuesday night, police said. A search for the suspect was underway early Wednesday, according to a statement from the Collinsville Police Department. The robbery happened about 10:30 p.m. at the station in the 800 block of S. Morrison Avenue. The suspect fled with an unknown amount of cash and left a 36-year-old male employee wounded. He was conscious when he was taken to a St. Louis area hospital, police said. The man was listed in critical but stable condition. Remember those annoying robo-calls that would pop up on your cell or land line for years? The calls, which were made from July 2009 until March 2014, claimed people had won a free cruise, and violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. A lawsuit, Charvat vs. Carnival et al, said that Carnival, Norwegian Cruise Line and Royal Caribbean all used Resort Marketing Group to make the robo-calls offering a supposed free cruise. A proposed settlement could mean up to $900, per telephone number, for people who got the calls. And you don't have to have a claim number to collect. There's a website for the proposed class action settlement that gives step-by-step instructions for how you can qualify. It even gives instructions for putting in for the money online or via snail mail. Claim forms must be filled out by Nov. 3, 2017. After a final hearing - set for April 4, 2018 - payments will be processed after that hearing and any potential appeals. How easy is it to do? It took me less than 5 minutes to fill out my claim form Wednesday morning for the land line we no longer have. The process tells you whether your telephone number was among those that received the calls. The value of each call is capped at $300, and the most someone can receive per telephone number is $900. And if you have questions, there's a toll-free number to call: 855-636-6134. WATERFORD Village President Jim Schneider, who was elected to the villages top elected position in April, turned in his resignation Monday just as the village is dealing with two other openings on the Village Board. During the past week, my personal health has had some dramatic and negative changes, Schneider wrote in a letter to the board dated Aug. 14. After considerable conversation with my family, I am resigning, effective immediately. Schneider told The Journal Times on Tuesday he enjoyed serving the citizens of Waterford, but he is focused on enjoying life with his family now. Its really a busy, challenging job. Its more than people would imagine, Schneider said. (With) my personality, I want to do things perfectly. But at the same time there is a limit on how much you can do and where you can go. Now is a good time to step away. State law allows the board to decide whether to leave the post vacant, call a special election or appoint a replacement to fill out his two-year term. At Monday nights board meeting, the board voted to appoint Trustee Don Houston as acting president until a special spring election is held for a permanent replacement. Schneiders two-year term started in April. Trustee openings The news comes as Waterford is already dealing with two other board openings. A Nov. 7 special election has already been called to select a replacement for Schneiders trustee seat, which he vacated after he defeated longtime incumbent Thomas Roanhouse in the April 4 election for village president. Then, in June, newly elected Trustee Jerry Filut resigned, citing personal reasons. Troy McReynolds, the son of former county executive and sheriff William McReynolds, was appointed on July 24 to fill Filuts position and he took his oath of office at Mondays Village Board meeting. Trustee Andrew Ewert was the lone dissenting vote on both McReynolds and Houstons appointments. The people, not the trustees, should choose their leaders, Ewert said. I have strong feelings that we serve the citizens and if a citizen wants to come forward and show us their talents and apply they should have that right. We need to have time for the citizens to get engaged. But Ewert said that despite his objections to the selection process, he would support McReynolds and Houston in their roles. The board is filled with very talented people, very committed people. Well be able to handle it until (the April election), Ewert said. ST. LOUIS A St. Louis jury has found a Berkeley man not guilty of murdering and robbing a Spanish Lake teen in January 2016. The jury ended a two-day trial Tuesday evening by finding Montrell Jeffery, 19, of the 8000 block of Frost Avenue, not guilty of second-degree murder, attempted robbery and two counts of armed criminal action. Jeffery, then 17, was accused of fatally shooting Trevon D. Chapple, 17, in the 9000 block of Goodfellow Boulevard from inside an SUV. Chapple was shot in the back as he ran from a 2004 Mitsubishi Endeavor about 1 p.m. Jan. 30, stumbled out of the car, ran across a Bank of America parking lot and collapsed dead on the sidewalk. Authorities believe Jeffery tried to rob Chapple of a handgun and then shot him; Chapple still had a gun on him when his body was found. Another man in the SUV, Roland Coleman, testified at trial that Jeffery shot Chapple, who lived in the 11500 block of Herefordshire Drive, in the Spanish Lake area. Other evidence included a video posted to Facebook a few hours before the shooting that showed the three men together singing and rapping in the SUV. Jefferys attorney Erika Wurst argued to jurors that the Facebook video and Colemans claim that Jeffery killed Chapple failed to prove Jefferys guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. She said in an interview that the states case was weak, relying on one witness who had a credibility problem. Jefferson County prosecutor Forrest Wegge tried the case because of a conflict of interest with the St. Louis circuit attorneys office: Jeffery was previously represented by former public defender Annette Llewellyn, who was hired in January as a top assistant to Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner. The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes before returning its verdicts. Obviously, Im disappointed that we were unable to bring some closure to Trevons family, but I certainly respect the decision of the jury, Wegge said in an interview. The jury did not hear about a pending felony case against Jeffery in which he was accused of running from the scene of a crash in Kinloch and leaving a teenage girl to die. In that case, prosecutors said Jeffery drove a sedan that crashed in Kinloch late on the night of Nov. 28, 2015. His teenage passenger, Torri Ivy, was fatally injured in the crash at Courtney and Witt avenues. Ashley Jost Ashley Jost is the higher education reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Follow Ashley Jost Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today ST. LOUIS The University of Missouri-Columbia is partnering with one of the largest auditing and tax firms in the country to offer a new masters degree. Students who participate will have tuition covered and more than likely have job offers at the sponsoring company, KPMG LLP, after graduation. Mizzou is one of nine schools to offer the new KPMG Master of Accounting with Data and Analytics program. Other university participants include Arizona State University, Baylor University, the University of Georgia and the University of Southern California. The program includes two semesters of classes and an internship at KPMG. Ten Mizzou students can enroll at Mizzou annually, and about 135 students are expected to enroll at all nine participating schools. "Data analytics is the business influencer/catalyst of the information age," Mizzou business school dean Ajay Vinze said in a statement. "This initiative will afford the participating students, KPMG and Mizzou a new and vibrant set of opportunities." KPMG has offices in downtown St. Louis and Kansas City. Since white supremacists and counterprotesters clashed in the streets of Charlottesville, Va., last weekend, leaving one counterprotester dead, politicians of both parties have taken to Twitter, email and news conferences to agree on how much they oppose hatred and violence. But thats where the agreement ends. After President Donald Trumps explosive news conference Tuesday in which he attempted to spread the blame to both right-wing activists including self-identified neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klansmen and those opposing them, reaction from elected officials in Missouri and Illinois has fallen into several categories. Democrats, almost to a person, have insisted on calling out the right-wing hate groups by name, assigning them full blame and highlighting the fact that the Republican president has been reluctant to do that. This shouldnt be hard, Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., tweeted after Trumps press conference: Condemn hate. Condemn neo-Nazis and white supremacists. Condemn domestic terrorism. Period. Some Republicans similarly called out the hate groups by name, but without directly admonishing Trump. Look, I dont want to get into kind of the political back-and-forth in Washington, D.C., Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens said Tuesday, when asked whether Trump had handled the issue properly, but I do think that when you see white supremacism, when you see racism, when you see neo-Nazis, when you see anti-Semitism, it is important ... to stand up firmly and to denounce this. Other Republicans have been more generic in their condemnation. The hate and violence in Charlottesville have no place in America, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said in a Twitter statement Saturday. More rare for major party politicos was the Missouri Republican Partys unflinching support of Trumps controversial handling of the issue. America also has a President who isnt afraid to take on the hypocrisy and intimidation tactics of #fakenews, the state party tweeted Tuesday, in response to Trumps press conference. Way to go, @realDonaldTrump. The violence in Charlottesville broke out Saturday after a mix of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and other far-right extremists converged on the college town to protest the citys planned removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. They were met by counterprotesters. One of them, Heather Heyer, 32, was killed when James Alex Fields Jr., 20, who had been rallying with the white supremacists, allegedly drove his car into a crowd of counterprotesters. He faces a murder charge. In initial comments Saturday, Trump vaguely blamed many sides for the violence. That set off two days of denunciations and a more scripted speech on Monday in which Trump declared: Racism is evil. But on Tuesday, during an unrelated event that wasnt supposed to include reporters questions, Trump started taking them, and he angrily doubled down on his original theme of dual responsibility for the violence. I think there is blame on both sides, Trump told reporters at the event at Trump Tower in Manhattan. A new round of condemnation swiftly followed, including from many prominent national Republicans. Meanwhile, David Duke, former leader of the KKK, gushed: Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth. Among comments from Missouri and Illinois elected officials: U.S. Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Ballwin, on Facebook Sunday: The American dream should also include an environment of robust debate and civil discourse, but should never foster or tolerate hatred, bigotry, or intolerance as witnessed yesterday in Charlottesville. And leaders must call out Neo-Nazis, white supremacists and fascists by name. U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer. R-St. Elizabeth, Mo., in a statement: I firmly believe racism and bigotry have no place in our nation and cannot be tolerated. We must come together as Americans to denounce senseless acts of hate and violence like those that happened over the weekend. U.S. Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis, in a statement: President Trumps complete moral failure regarding the violence in Charlottesville by white supremacists and the Ku Klux Klan is shameful and shocking. When it comes to pure, un-American evil, both sides are not to blame, there are no very fine people among Neo-Nazis. The choice is clear, but not to the President. Missouri Attorney General Josh Hawley, a Republican who could run to unseat McCaskill next year, tweeted Saturday: Violence, lawlessness & bigotry in Charlottesville assault the ideals that make us Americans. We are nation of liberty & justice for all. Missouri Treasurer Eric Schmitt, a Republican, in a statement: White supremacy and neo-Nazism are evil ideologies that ought to be condemned in all circumstances. Its important to call these groups out for what they are: extremist, hateful and despicable. Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, in a statement: I believe we are all created by God and therefore every human life is sacred. Any sort of ideology that denies this basic truth, such as white supremacy or Nazism, should be condemned by all. U.S. Rep. John Shimkus, R-Collinsville, in a statement: Whether it is the KKK, neo-Nazis or the lone progressive gunman who shot my roommate Steve Scalise, I will continue to promote that loving God and our neighbors is a better way. Scalise, Republican congressman from Louisiana, was injured June 14 by left-wing activist James Hodgkinson of Belleville, who attacked members of Congress as they practiced for a charity baseball game near Washington. The Missouri GOPs tweet in full defense of Trump drew scores of responses, many of them angry. Wrote one: Good to know the Missouri GOP is racist also! I will never think twice about my vote again! Austin Stukins, executive director of the Missouri GOP, responded: Any assertion that the tweet or our Party is racist is completely baseless and ludicrous. ... (W)e vehemently condemn the morally repugnant acts of violence and hatred that took place in Charlottesville. Chuck Raasch of the Post-Dispatch and The Associated Press contributed to this report. This post has been updated to correct a typographical error in Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft's name. JEFFERSON CITY Its been more than a month since Gov. Eric Greitens slashed $251 million in state spending, but it remains unclear how tens of millions of that will be cut. At the Missouri Department of Social Services, top officials acknowledged Tuesday that they have not formally identified how they plan to withhold $30 million in spending in order to comply with Greitens June 30 order. That is something we are still working on, said Valerie Huhn, acting deputy director of finance for the agency. Were doing a lot of different internal looks. That lack of detail rankled Sen. Rob Schaaf, a St. Joseph Republican who has been a frequent critic of Greitens. Im quite concerned, Schaaf said Tuesday. I would like it to be when the governor decides to withhold $30 million that he knows exactly where that money is coming from. The senators remarks came at a meeting of the Mo HealthNet Oversight Committee, which monitors the states Medicaid and managed care health insurance programs. On June 30, Greitens announced that lagging state tax revenues would require him to withhold $251 million in spending in the states $27.6 billion budget. While much of the spending he targeted was for specific programs or projects, he said the reduction to the Department of Social Services would come from officials finding efficiencies in the department. Although agency officials said they could not provide a list of those "efficiencies," they told the panel that there are good signs on the fiscal horizon that could ease the pressure to cut. Jennifer Tidball, the acting director of the states Medicaid program, said prescription drug costs arent growing as quickly as expected after years of skyrocketing growth. We are seeing no increase whatsoever in pharmacy, Tidball said. In addition, there are fewer people enrolled in the states managed care program. On July 1, the state expanded its managed care program to cover the entire state and projected 750,000 children and families would enroll. But, as of Aug. 11, total enrollment was at 728,814. Were actually seeing a decline in our caseload, Tidball said. It is not clear why fewer than expected are using the managed care program. Tidball said it is too early to begin assessing data on enrollment. But, Tidball added, officials are collecting information to help decide how to reduce spending to meet Greitens' directive. Ive got a really long list right now, so its not like people arent working on it, Tidball said. We want to be cautious as we proceed. WASHINGTON President Donald Trump signed on Wednesday legislation making it easier for a Missouri World War II veteran and others of his generation to receive benefits to treat conditions from secret mustard gas experiments they were subjected to more than 60 years ago. The amendment to a broader veterans bill signed by Trump was pushed through Congress by Sen Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and others. It essentially shifts the burden of proof from the veterans to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Every once in a while, Congress gets it right, McCaskill said. The legislation was co-sponsored by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo. McCaskill said the legislation did not get its final boost for approval until Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Georgia, who chairs the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, got behind it. The bill also has the support of David Shulkin, the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs, who said this summer of Missouri veteran Arla Wayne Harrell, whose claims of injury from mustard gas have repeatedly been denied: We believe him. Previous VA administrators had not gone nearly that far in saying they believed the veterans claims, and VA case workers had repeatedly denied claims Harrell, of Macon, Mo., despite mounting evidence proving vets were exposed at Camp Crowder in Missouri during the war. Mr. Harrell has waited a long time, Shulkin said, adding that this is a great day for Mr. Harrell and his family, as well. We are deeply appreciative of the 400 or so veterans that we believe have been waiting for too long to be recognized for what they deserve, he said, adding that the bill allows the VA to move forward and do the right thing. Harrells family has said that their father has had over a quarter century of denied claims and that he has been dismayed by the thought that his government did not believe him. Harrell had kept secret his exposure to mustard gas for almost a half century. As an 18-year-old, they said, he had been threatened with military prison if he talked about the experiments. McCaskill said she would now press the VA to put the cases like Harrells at the head of the VA claims line. The bill includes about $1 million in funding over 10 years to cover the 300-400 World War II veterans that are still alive and have had mustard gas claims denied. The government has estimated that as many as 60,000 American World War II veterans were exposed to chemical experiments during the war. Beverly Howe, one of Harrells daughters, is a nurse trained in chemical and biological weapons. The family is waiting for the VAs response to their latest appeal. If that fails, then the Harrells can refile, and the bill signed by Trump now puts the burden of proof on the VA to disprove Harrells claims. Howe said she and her sisters were not permitted to wear perfume when they lived at home because of her fathers lung problems, which she said doctors were never able to properly treat. My dad was not like other fathers, she said. He was not able to play out in the yard with us, he was not able to cut the grass. He was able to go to work, but when he came home from work all he could do was sit down. My mother would sometimes bring his food to him because he was so tired, so exhausted and, frankly, so short of breath. It was more effort than he could make to go up and sit at the table. Howe said her mother had to sell the family home near Macon in order to keep Arla in a nursing home. He is unable to speak but can communicate with nods and expressions, Beverly said. She said her father, and the family, did not have resentment toward those who subjected him to the tests. They are, however, frustrated at dealing with the government in trying to get help from the VA to treat the condition. They filed the first claim in 1991 and have lost repeated appeals since then. Times were different when we were in World War II, she said. I have no ill feelings toward the Army of that era, it is not the same era that it is today. We know a lot more about those kinds of things than we did then. Where I hold the moral ground, Howe continued, is the fact that when these men were released from these vows of secrecy, our county didnt stand up at that point and say, We got it, we got your back, we are going to make sure that you are taken care of in the way you should have been taken care of 50 years ago. RACINE In a display of solidarity with the counter-protester killed Saturday at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., dozens of diverse Racinians held a rally of their own on Tuesday afternoon at Monument Square. Something had to be done, said Horlick High School teacher Al Levie, who organized the event. I felt like we had to make a statement I felt like I needed to make a statement that hate is not OK. Its just not OK. I knew that other people in Racine felt the same way. Heather D. Heyer, 32, of Charlottesville, was killed after a white nationalist demonstrator drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters. The suspected killer, James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Maumee, Ohio, faces multiple charges including second-degree murder. Black, Hispanic, white, young and old Racine residents joined hands at Monument Square and sang songs between rallying cries from speakers ranging from a Sikh Temple member to Randy Bryce, who is seeking the Democratic nomination to challenge House Speaker Paul Ryan in the 2018 race for 1st Congressional District representative. I didnt want to stop (at the Racine rally) as a campaign stop, Bryce said to the crowd. Im here because its the right thing to do. Before manning the megaphone, Bryce told The Journal Times that he felt the American community at large needs to stand up and demand that the white supremacists who rallied in Charlottesville be held accountable for the result of their march, which left at least 34 people wounded in its wake. Bryce also said President Donald Trumps apparent hesitation to condemn white supremacists should not be tolerated. After the killing, Trump blamed both sides the white supremacist demonstrators as well as the alt-left, as he called it Tuesday for stoking the fire. There was only one side that had someone die, Bryce said. Unity through music Six members of the Horlick High School choir joined the Rev. Tony Larsen of Olympia Brown Unitarian Universalist Church to sing songs of peace and acceptance, including Bill Witherss Lean on Me and Diana Ross Reach Out and Touch (Somebodys Hand). One speaker urged everyone in the crowd hug someone of a different race to foster acceptance. Gretta Mau, a sophomore at Park High School, said she attended Tuesdays rally to support minorities and anyone else who has been historically oppressed by white supremacists. She carried a sign that read: No masters, no master race. If we dont speak up, who will? Mau said. Dion Giolito has made a splash over the past few years with bold yet balanced smokes marketed with a flare for the mysterious and sometimes conspiratorial. Unlike his earlier Illusione and Cruzado lines, the Epernay blend takes its inspiration from a more traditional source: the Epernay region of France known around the world for the Champagne it produces. Epernay debuted in 2008 as the ECCJ 15th limited release (in honor of the 15th anniversary of the European Cigar Cult Journal). It was eventually rolled out in 2009 as a full line with four sizes. For this review I tasted the panatela-sized Le Elegance (5.75 x 40). According to Illusiones website, this Nicaraguan puro features a combination of criollo and corojo tobaccos[and] is finished with a superior-grade cafe rosado coverleaf. Its well constructed with a Cuban-style triple cap and framed by a white and gold band. Pre-light, the panatela draws with sweet cedar notes. I find a mild, creamy smoke after lighting with a single wooden match. Despite its distinctly mild to medium body, the cigar has an intense mix of apple, roast nuts, and cedar. In the final third, a very subtle hint of cedar spiciness emerges along with delicate floral notes. Construction is excellent, which is particularly impressive considering the small ring gauge. The ash holds for over half an inch and the draw provides no resistance. It is said that the Epernay is blended to be paired with champagne, but Ill admit I had my doubts. With a healthy skepticism, I lit my last one up paired with a fine Cava (which, for my money, is as good as a champagne three times the price), and I found that the crisp, lively bubbly was an excellent accompaniment. Ive written before in appreciation of fine mild smokes, and this cigar hits all the characteristics of such a cigar. Delicate and subtle, Le Elegance is tasty and without a bit of the bitterness that tarnishes so many otherwise excellent mild cigars. Ultimately, at $7.70, this Epernay lives up to its name: elegant. Because of that, the Illusione Epernay Le Elegance earns the rating of four and a half stogies out of five. [To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.] Patrick S photo credit: Stogie Guys Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Want Stoke-on-Trent news emailed to you direct from our journalists? Sign up to our newsletter Controversial plans to build nearly 100 homes in a village have been thrown out following concerns the impact the estate would have on a wildlife site. And the 'raised peat bog' on part of the proposed site off Meadow Way in Baldwins Gate is said to be one of two left in Staffordshire with wildlife experts claiming such assets need to be protected. Villagers had previously launched a campaign urging planners at Newcastle Borough Council to throw out the scheme after claiming the area's infrastructure couldn't cope with an influx of new homes. On Tuesday members of the authority's planning committee turned down the scheme - which had been put forward by Bellway Homes West Midlands - for 97 houses and two bungalows. Councillor Barry Panter was concerned the local road network could not cope with the construction traffic for as well as the impact on the wildlife site. The Loggerheads and Whitmore ward councillor said: The roads around the development are not big enough or strong enough to take the construction traffic and we only have one small shop that could not cope. There has also been a lot of concern about the raised peat bog. Staffordshire Wildlife Trust had objected to the application after claiming the raised bogs at the Chorlton Moss Local Wildlife Site, which is based on part of the land, are an 'irreplaceable habitat'. The charity also claimed a smaller application that avoided impacting the site would be an 'ideal solution'. Councillor Silvia Burgess said: My main concern is the environmental impact of the application. The land it was going to be built on is already waterlogged and I believe the Department for Environment, Good and Rural Affairs and Staffordshire Wildlife Trust have also objected. "From what I understand there has been no objection from highways but I am absolutely amazed by that because of the amount of traffic that would come from the site. Councillor Andrew Fear believed the highways department was living in a fantasy land if it had no objections to the impact on the local road infrastructure. He added: We are told the road layout is sort of alright for certain trips! I am not surprised by the attitude of the highways department but I am disappointed." Councillor Paul Northcott, who represents Loggerheads and Whitmore, was also worried the application had not considered the impact of HS2 in the area. Council officers had recommended the application for approval subject to a management agreement for the long-term maintenance of open space. Officers also said that enhancements to the bog, which would have been part of the management, would be extremely unlikely to be achieved without the financial contributions from Bellway Homes. But councillors unanimously voted to reject the application and said the environmental impact outweighed the benefits the development would bring to the area. David Harrison, of the Baldwins Gate Action Group, welcomed the decision but feared the applicant could appeal the result. He said: We are delighted - and getting a unanimous refusal from the committee is a strong endorsement for our concerns. We knew we had a strong case because of national planning legislation. This was a victory for the many and not the few with the money. And while weve won the first round it might not be over because the developer could appeal. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Want Stoke-on-Trent news emailed to you direct from our journalists? Sign up to our newsletter The Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce say transport connectivity in the county has been forgotten by politicians in Westminster - after it was revealed a number of railway stations were losing their direct service to London. Last week the Department of Transport announced the West Midlands railway network would be taken over by West Midlands Trains Ltd (a joint venture between Abellio, East Japan Railway Company and Mitsui & Co Ltd). Although the service will receive a 1bn cash injection, a number of smaller stations in North Staffordshire and South Cheshire will lose their direct train service to London - which will be replaced by a service to Wolverhampton and Birmingham. Under the current London Midland brand, trains call at Alsager, Kidsgrove, Stoke-on-Trent and Stone on their way to London's Euston station. However passengers wishing to use this service will now have to change at Stafford or Crewe to get to the capital - although those getting on in Stoke-on-Trent still have the option of taking Virgin Trains direct to the capital. Video Loading Video Unavailable Click to play Tap to play The video will auto-play soon 8 Cancel Play now The change, which comes into force in December this year, is due to the length of the platforms at Alsager, Kidsgrove and Stone - which means the 12-carriage long trains which will run on the service are unable to stop there. Staffordshire Chambers of Commerce is working hard to ensure that Staffordshire businesses can access the best rail services possible. Chief Executive Sara Williams said: Once again transport connectivity in Staffordshire has been forgotten by Westminster. "Despite an extra 1billion investment in the rail network, businesses need a reliable and consistent rail network which offers cheaper and fairer rail fares to help businesses remain profitable and competitive. Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Want Stoke-on-Trent news emailed to you direct from our journalists? Sign up to our newsletter The Chief Constable of Staffordshire Police has urged a driver to get in touch with police - after a mother and baby were injured in a hit and run. The woman, aged 17, and her one-year-old daughter, were taken to hospital after the accident on Waterloo Road in Cobridge yesterday evening with what police said were 'life-threatening' injuries. The driver of the silver car involved in the collision drove away in the direction of Hanley following the accident. Speaking on Twitter chief constable Gareth Morgan asked for the public's help finding the driver - and urged the motorist to contact police. He said: We need your help to identify the driver involved in this hit & run of a mum and her little girl - did you see anything? The driver involved needs to hand themselves in to Staffordshire Police - it's only a matter of time till they're identified. A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: On arrival, ambulance crews found a 17-year-old woman and her one-year-old daughter with serious injuries. Police told ambulance staff that following the collision, the vehicle had made off from the scene. Ambulance crews worked with the doctors to stabilise the conditions of both patients before they were both taken on blue lights to Royal Stoke University Hospital. "A doctor travelled with each patient. As well as the driver of the silver car, police also want to speak to the driver of a black Audi who may have witnessed the incident. Anyone with information about the accident should call Staffordshire Police on 101 quoting incident number 780 of August 15. The video will auto-play soon 8 Cancel We have more newsletters Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Want Stoke-on-Trent news emailed to you direct from our journalists? Sign up to our newsletter A mother and her two-year-old daughter have been taken to hospital with life threatening injuries following an accident on a major road in Stoke-on-Trent. The accident took place on Waterloo Road in Cobridge at around 8.25pm on Tuesday night after a car collided with the pair. The mother, aged 17, and the toddler were both taken to Royal Stoke University Hospital where they remain. The silver car left the scene heading towards Hanley. A Staffordshire Police spokesman confirmed they were investigating and asked any witnesses to contact them. He said: "Officers were called to reports of a traffic collision on Waterloo Road in Cobridge. "The collision happened at approximately 8.25pm on Waterloo Road near the junction of Hawthorn Street. "A silver vehicle travelling along Waterloo Road towards Burslem was in collision with a 17-year-old female and her two-year-old daughter. "The silver vehicle left the collision in the Hanley direction. "The two casualties were taken to Royal Stoke University Hospital with life threatening injuries, where they remain at this time." Waterloo Road was closed for around four hours after the accident, before reopening at around 00.30am this morning. As well as the driver of the silver car, police also want to speak to the occupants of a Black Audi who may have witnessed the incident. Anyone with information about the collision should call Staffordshire Police on 101 quoting incident number 780 of August 15. We have more newsletters Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Want Stoke-on-Trent news emailed to you direct from our journalists? Sign up to our newsletter A man has been taken to hospital after collapsing in a town park. Police officers on a routine patrol came across the medical emergency in Victoria Park, in Stafford, at around 1pm. The officers, alongside a number of PCSOs, partially cordoned off the park near the rail station, while crews from the West Midlands Ambulance Service treated the 26-year-old, who had stopped breathing. A WMAS spokesman said: "We were called at 12.52pm to Victoria Park, Stafford. Two ambulances were sent to the scene. (Image: Kelly Dio) "We transported a 26-year-old man to County Hospital in Stafford. The man was in respiratory arrest when we arrived so advanced life-support was provided." The condition of the man is currently unknown. The cordon in Victoria Park was lifted shortly before 3pm. A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: "Officers on a routine patrol came across a collapsed male just after 1pm. The ambulance service were in attendance following the medical emergency and took the man to County Hospital." The video will auto-play soon 8 Cancel We have more newsletters Something went wrong, please try again later. Invalid email Something went wrong, please try again later. Want Stoke-on-Trent news emailed to you direct from our journalists? Sign up to our newsletter A one-year-old girl suffered a head injury in a hit-and-run incident in the city centre last night. Emergency services were called to Waterloo Road, in Cobridge, just before 8.30pm after a collision between a car and a 17-year-old mother and her daughter. The car, which police said was silver, was travelling towards Burslem when the accident took place, and left the scene heading towards Hanley. Both the mother and daughter were taken to hospital with what police described as 'life-threatening' injuries. A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokeswoman said they had sent two ambulances, two basics doctors and a paramedic support officer. She said: "We were called just before 8.30pm to Waterloo Road. "We had two patients, a mother and a baby. The baby suffered a suspected head injury. "We took both patients to Royal University Hospital and a doctor travelled with each patient." A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: "We are appealing for witnesses after a serious road traffic collision in Stoke-on-Trent last night "A silver vehicle travelling along Waterloo Road towards Burslem was in collision with a 17-year-old female and her one-year-old daughter. "Following the collision, the vehicle made off from the location in the Hanley direction. "Officers also want to trace the driver of a black Audi who may be a witness to the incident." The road was closed for several hours following the accident. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact Staffordshire Police on 101 quoting incident 780 of August 15. One of Wisconsin's top Republicans forcefully denounced President Donald Trump's blaming of both white supremacists and those protesting them for violence that occurred in Virginia over the weekend that left one woman dead. Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke, R-Kaukauna, said he also "completely" disagrees with his party leader's assertion that there are "very fine people on both sides." "I dont think it's possible to be racist and a white nationalist and be a decent human being," Steineke said Wednesday. "There is no place for these kinds of racists in the Republican Party." Trump in recent days has faced enormous backlash from Democrats and Republicans over comments he made following the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia that erupted after white supremacist groups convened to protest the proposed dismantling of Civil War Confederate General Robert E. Lee. At one point, a man who identified as a neo-Nazi drove a car into a crowd of protesters, injuring more than a dozen and killing a 32-year-old woman. Trump was heavily criticized for not condemning hate groups who convened the rally by name on Saturday after the deadly clashes, instead, saying the violence came from "many sides," which drew pressure from Republicans and Democrats to call out the groups that incited the violence. On Monday, the president said neo-Nazis, white supremacists and members of the KKK who take part in violence were "criminals and thugs." But on Tuesday, the president doubled down on his initial comments and blamed both sides for the violence and said there were fine people on both sides of the weekend protests. In the face of criticism of the President, some Wisconsin Republicans have called on Democrats to denounce the leftist group Antifa which also protests using violence, but did not organize the rally over the weekend. While others have used the incident to recall Democratic views toward slavery during the Civil War. Steineke said "this isn't the time for moral equivalency" and would advise Trump to "stop rationalizing." "I think we need to denounce racism without qualification," he said. "It doesn't matter what happened in the past in either party. At this point we're talking about today and moving forward. I think both parties are responsible -- they should be making sure it is clear that these people have no home in any legitimate political party in this country today." Walker's spokesman Tom Evenson also said Wednesday that Walker "believes hate should have no place in America." "Well I made it implicitly clear on Saturday that I denounce all hate," Walker also told reporters in Green Bay. "I think any of the white supremacists groups or other groups just need to be unilaterally dismissed and denounced." And U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson told reporters "all political officials" need to speak out "to reduce the divisiveness." "I find it just depressing that a young woman died pushing back on people that are flying under a flag of just a completely evil ideology," he said after speaking at an event hosted by the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. "And so all political officials really need to speak out about that, and do everything we can to reduce the divisiveness." Johnson said he was "not entirely" comfortable with Trump's comments. Meanwhile, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell went further, saying there are "no good neo-nazis, and those who espouse their views are not supporters of American ideals and freedoms." Some Democrats have criticized Gov. Scott Walker and other state Republicans on being silent on Trump's approach to the white nationalist movement, leaders of which have thanked him in recent days for his "courage." And U.S. Congresswoman Gwen Moore on Tuesday called for Trump to be impeached. Walker hasnt directly commented on Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan tweeted Tuesday that white supremacy is bigotry "counter to all this country stands for. There can be no moral ambiguity" but did not address Trump by name. "I am saddened and angry with Governor Walker and Republican leaders who have failed to speak out directly against the white supremacists who caused the pain and violence in Charlottesville and against a President who defends them," Rep. Jimmy Anderson, D-Fitchburg, said. "To remain silent after the President gave rhetorical cover to murderous white supremacists is morally bankrupt." Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin on Wednesday in response to Trump's comments tweeted "The only sides here are right and wrong. Americans look to the President for moral clarity. @realDonaldTrump failed us miserably." A spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan pointed out Pocan was one of the first members of congress to suggest impeachment of Trump and said he is considering "if we need to address this issue as a way to move the country forward." Spokeswomen for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, and Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R-Rochester, did not immediately respond to questions regarding Trump's comments and their implications for the Republican Party, nor did a spokesman for Senate President Roger Roth, R-Appleton. Reporter Mark Sommerhauser contributed to this report. JPH Autos which used to trade from Stratford Road, Wootton Wawen. A WOOTTON Wawen car dealer has been prosecuted after selling an unroadworthy vehicle. Warwickshire County Councils Trading Standards Service said it carried out the undercover purchase of a Ford StreetKA from JPH Autos on Stratford Road after receiving a steady stream of complaints despite the business already having had contact with its officers. They bought the car they had seen advertised on the website of JPH Autos, which until recently was trading on Stratford Road, and instructed an expert vehicle examiner to check its condition. He found a number of issues which made the vehicle unroadworthy, including heavy corrosion to the chassis, badly corroded coil springs and a deteriorating exhaust system. The steering was over sensitive, even at low speeds, and the rear fog light did not work. A Trading Standards officer was also told when she bought the car that there was an additional 75 payable, making the purchase price 1,325. This was also an offence. And at Nuneaton Magistrates Court on Tuesday, 4th July, John Paul Hunt, who ran JPH Motors until it closed suddenly earlier this year, pleaded guilty to charges under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, Companies Act 2006 and the Road Traffic Act 1988. Mr Hunt, aged 73, of Lady Lane, Shirley in Solihull, represented himself. In mitigation he stated that it was not him that had carried out the sale but an employee. He went on to say that he had now ceased trading as JPH Autos. He was fined 120 with a 30 victim surcharge, and was ordered to pay costs to the sum of 300, which totalled 450. Cllr Howard Roberts, Warwickshire County Councils portfolio holder for community safety, said: When we buy a used car, whatever its price, we should have confidence that the vehicle we are purchasing is roadworthy and safe to drive. Unroadworthy vehicles put the lives of all road users at risk, and Warwickshire Trading Standards Service will continue to take action to prevent the sale of potentially dangerous and unroadworthy vehicles. FAW Motors, the Chinese state-owned automotive manufacturing company, has announced the launch of FAW V2 in Pakistan. According to sources, this will be the first Chinese passenger car to be assembled completely in Pakistan. The official announcement came at an event, which was held by companys Managing Director Bilal Afridi. The event was attended by automobile dealers and vendors from all over Pakistan as well. During his speech, Bilal said that an initial investment of 2.5 billion rupees has been raised to set up the company and a further investment of 1.3 billion rupees for an improved local assembly setup, and ED Paint technology in their cars. Our vehicles bring another category in the market where we provide luxury features of a car at affordable prices. We are now being recognized for quality, economy and technological brilliance. Our products ranging from heavy vehicles to light vehicles cater every need of our commercial and domestic sector and we are rapidly gaining peoples trust. As a result of good response and with the encouragement of our customers, we have further invested rupees 1.3 billion in new assembling process and ED paint technology to improve our V2 with local assembly right here in Pakistan, he added. A locally assembled V2 would likely mean lower prices compared to the CBU, while a lower displacement engine would also ease out buyers in taxation and registration costs. The Chinese company is hoping for a positive response as it aims to increase its production to 15,000 units per annum by the end of 2020. Moreover, FAW is also keen on introducing new models in Pakistan at a cheaper price. PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique on Tuesday said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan does not realise that he has made a historical mistake. "Imran Khan does not realise but he has made a historic mistake," said Rafique. He added that the day is not far when Imran will want to hold discussions with the PML-N. The PML-N minister also questioned what Imran had achieved after Nawaz's disqualification. "What did Imran achieve? We still have the government, Nawaz Sharif's ministers and workers are still running the government and now we are holding rallies bigger than his rallies." Referring to his party's recent activities, he said the PML-N will continue their activities to mobilise the people and the youth will also be absorbed into the party after witnessing the passion of youngsters during PML-N's recent GT Road rally. "Nawaz Sharif will hold more rallies and political gatherings." Rafique further said that the election campaign has started in NA-120 and the party's local leadership and cadre have been mobilised to make it successful and support PML-N candidate Kulsoom Nawaz Schools across Wisconsin are starting a new year without knowing exactly whats coming from the state as lawmakers continue to put off passing a new two-year state budget. For many school officials, the delay isnt worrying them much at this point. But for some, spending on staff, new course materials and training is on hold. And if a new budget isnt in place soon, payments to schools in rural areas could be delayed and school officials there may turn to borrowing to fill the gap. With the state budget not being settled, theres a lot of uncertainty across all superintendents and people managing the finances of school districts across the state of Wisconsin, said Brad Saron, superintendent of the Sun Prairie School District. And what that means is really everything is on hold. Most schools in Milwaukee and in the states voucher programs have already started their 2017-18 school, and schools in the rest of the state will have their first day on Sept. 5. But lawmakers are more than a month late in passing a new two-year spending plan that includes funding for public and private-voucher schools and determines how much money districts can raise in property taxes. Republicans in the Senate and Assembly have failed so far to find consensus on transportation funding, prompting the budget delay, and have now turned most of their attention to legislation providing $3 billion in subsidies for Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn to build a massive campus to create LCD panels in southeastern Wisconsin. Legislators keep saying it looks like the budget is baked, its soup but its not, said state Superintendent Tony Evers, who is considering running against Gov. Scott Walker in 2018. Evers said school officials are worried funding increases they have been told for months are coming could be diminished as lawmakers work on funding an incentive package for Foxconn. I think there is a fair amount of concern (from school district officials) that were not sure were going to get this money, Evers said. So until a budget is finalized I think there will be ongoing concerns. The leaders of the state Senate have said lawmakers on the states budget-writing committee could resume work on the budget Aug. 23. But if a budget is not in place eight days later, schools in rural areas will miss state payments they usually get in September to subsidize school operations, according to a memo from the Department of Public Instruction sent to budget-writing committee members this month. (The delay) may cause some districts to have to short-term borrow to cover this deficit, said Kim Kaukl, executive director of the Wisconsin Rural Schools Alliance. The majority of our districts are already working with very tight budgets and any aid delay in payments can have a serious impact. DPI spokesman Tom McCarthy said the department could push back the rural school payment deadline if lawmakers gave DPI a clear signal that the budget was going to be passed quickly. Walker has proposed $649 million in new spending for schools, including increasing the amount of money schools get per student by $200 in the 2017-18 school year and by another $204 in the 2018-19 school year. The current level is $250 per student. But Republican lawmakers in the Senate and Assembly have each proposed separate education spending plans. Kaukl said a number of rural school districts have delayed hiring and purchasing until they know what is included in the state budget for them this school year. This may mean classes may begin with substitute teachers covering a class, classrooms being overloaded or worse case, courses being dropped, Kaukl said. Stanford Professor Releases Misleading Research On Concealed Carry And the NRA Calls Him Out By Jessie Johnson. August 10th, 2017 Stanford professor John J. Donohue released a research paper claiming that Right to Carry legislation is increasing violent crime. Oregon is a shall issue ("right-to-carry") state and the CPRC shows that the percentage of Oregon "permit holders who were convicted of any type of felony, violent or nonviolent" in 2016 was .0074 percent. Moreover, the CPRC stresses that "these cases are unlikely to involve firearms." Additionally, Oklahoma is a shall-issue state and the percentage of permit holders convicted of a felony in 2016 was .0071 percent, in 2015 it was .0062 percent, in 2014 it was .0069 percent and in 2013 it was .0078 percent. Minnesota is also a shall-issue state, and the percentage of concealed permit holders convicted of assault in 2016 was .000 percent, the percentage convicted in 2015 was .000 percent and the percentage in 2014 was .000 percent. And the list goes on. The point is simply that the information on "right-to-carry permit holders" is extant and available (CPRC found it). And without it, a study on the dangers of "right-to-carry" laws seems to be a bridge too far. As CPRC's John Lott commented: ....... It is and has been all too easy for the gun-hating left to label legal permit holders (no permit should even be necessary) as a major cause of increasing 'gun violence'. In fact there is more than enough evidence to support the fact that quite the opposite is true.... to the extent that the expression "guns save lives" is more than valid. "You don't have to be Jewish to fight by our side." 2017 JPFO All rights reserved. jpfo@jpfo.org 1-800-869-1884 Jews for the Preservation of Firearms Ownership 12500 NE 10th Pl. Bellevue, WA 98005 USA "America's most aggressive defender of civil rights" We make the NRA look like moderates Join JPFO Back to Top Theyre talented, tuned up and ready to perform in towns from Auckland to Dunedin - 14 Bay of Plenty bands will battle it out at the Rockshop Bandquest Bay of Plenty, this Saturday at Otumoetai College. The Bay of Plenty event is a part of a nationwide music contest for intermediate and primary students and this year has a lineup of 177 young school bands. The Rockshop Bandquest in its seventh year as the younger sibling of Smokefreerockquest, and the level of talent just keeps on rising. Founder and director Glenn Common says Rockshop Bandquest is a vehicle to develop this talent, with 12 live events this year, as well as an online contest for bands from outlying regions. He says for most entrants Rockshop Bandquest is the first experience on a fully set up stage, with a light show and professionally mixed sound. Theyre performing to their peers and families, which puts them under a little bit of pressure, but in a supportive environment, he said. With six years of these young bands feeding into Smokefreerockquest we can see how this encouragement helps students to progress musically, with all the benefits that brings in high school, both socially and academically. Rockshop Bandquest is for bands of three to ten members, up to and including Year 8, who play one or two songs. There is an award for the best original song to encourage bands to write their own material, but the focus is on performance skills. Rockshop donates prize vouchers to the winners schools, and spokesman, Hamish Jackson, says supporting young bands and giving them the opportunity to perform live makes Rockshop Bandquest a perfect match for the nationwide chain. The bands who have entered Rockshop Bandquest in Bay of Plenty are: Acoustic Band (Otumoetai Intermediate) Blak Axadent (Pyes Pa School) Dead End (Otumoetai Intermediate) E Tu (Tauranga Intermediate School) Frequencies (Mount Maunganui Intermediate) Fuel (Hilltop School) GreVouS (Greerton Village School) Infared (Tauranga Intermediate School) KEJJ-D.C. (Tauranga Intermediate School) Mixed Band (Otumoetai Intermediate) Revival (ACG Tauranga) Revolution Radio (Mount Maunganui Intermediate) Reverb(Mokoia Intermediate, Rotorua) Unknown Vibes (Mount Maunganui Intermediate) Tickets cost $10 and are available at the door. The manhunt for Rollie Heke, who is accused of firing at police officers in Morrinsville early Sunday morning, has gone national. A national operation to locate Heke is being managed out of Police National Headquarters in Wellington, while investigators in the Waikato district will focus on the events of August 13. Detective Superintendent Chris Page says this will allow the best use of the considerable expertise police have available to be utilised, and ensure the effective coordination across all police districts. Police have the sense Heke is no longer in the Morrinsville area and is being assisted by associates to avoid police, says Chris. For this reason we are coordinating the search for him on a national basis. Heke is well-known in criminal circles right across the North Island and police will be actively visiting and questioning people associated to him. We remind these people that they could find themselves facing charges if there is evidence they are assisting Heke to avoid police. As you now know, Heke is considered extremely dangerous and should not be approached. He is also known to commit acts of violence against associates, so those who may be assisting him should consider not only the police attention focused on them, but also their own safety. Chris urges Heke to listen to his family and make contact with us. Police are dedicating significant resources to apprehend Heke with a large team of police working across the North Island. Police are in the process of setting up a dedicated hotline number for the public to call with information. In the meantime the public can call 111 or their local police station. He says the information will be treated in the strictest confidence. We know information and assistance from the public is the key to locating and apprehending Heke. We encourage anyone with any information on his whereabouts, no matter how small, to come forward. A woman is shocked after being involved in a verbal conflict with a teller at a Whakatane bank earlier this week. Ripeka Lessels entered the Credit Union Central Kopeopeo branch to withdraw money, writing her withdrawal slip in Maori. A conflict between Ripeka and the teller then occurred, after she was asked to rewrite the slip in English. The teller insisted I write it in English, which I declined to do as Maori is an official language, says Ripeka. The manager of the branch was contacted shortly after the incident occurred, and a video of the argument was posted to Facebook where it became viral. I was shocked that in this day and age, and in a community that has the highest population for native Maori speakers alive, that this blatant discrimination occurred where an official language of New Zealand was not allowed. She says the incident highlights a need for all banks in New Zealand to review their current standards and ensure they recognize all official languages. Credit Union Central operations manager Matthew Heke says he is disappointed in the incident. It is not something that would normally be said and unfortunately its highlighted the need for our staff to be upskilled on our official languages and Treaty obligations. We are currently dealing with the situation itself and making contact with Ripeka, bringing her on to upskilling our own staff on being more sensitive and responsible on our official languages, the Treaty obligations and how best to move forward. Matthew says there is no current policy within Credit Union Central which rejects the use of any of New Zealands official languages in the bank. Its the law, its used in Parliament, its used in the Courts, its up to us to provide appropriate training or translators if need be. 12-yr-old raped and murdered in Dhanusa A 12-year-old girl was raped and murdered by a tenant living in her home here in Dhanusha on Tuesday. Chilhowie native Chrystle Gates had thought about a career in speech pathology when she started college, but her skills working with youth got attention and she was encouraged to switch to education. Twenty-two years later she is enjoying her work as a music teacher for Smyth County elementary schools and has been named Smyth County Teacher of the Year for 2017-18. I dont just teach music, Gates said. I connect music to math, history, language arts, social studies and science to show that this wonderful subject can tap into so many areas. A 1991 graduate of Chilhowie High School, and current resident of the Friendship community with her husband, Michael, and their 9-year-old daughter Abigail, Gates started college at Appalachian State University in Boone, N.C., with the idea of becoming a speech pathologist. She had always volunteered with youth programs and greatly enjoyed working with kids. People seemed to think I was a natural leading kids and working with them, she said, noting that she had received encouragement in that direction since high school. So she changed her career goal to education. Gates found her gift for teaching early as a student volunteer with the Summer Enrichment Program in Smyth spending many summers assisting teachers and coordinators with various activities. She enjoyed being able to help meet the physical and emotional needs of children and nurturing their love for exploration and learning. It created a love of learning in herself and a drive to share that with others. Through college Gates continued working with youth through programs such as the Southwest Virginia 4-H Educational Center, where she assisted with archery instruction, performing arts and recreational activities, and at college she participated through her service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega volunteering in local schools and community organizations. After graduating from college, with a major in music and elementary education from ASU and a masters in curriculum and instruction from Virginia Tech, Gates taught fifth grade at Mabel Elementary School in Zionville, N.C. While there, she received a training opportunity through the New York Metropolitan Operas education department and along with two colleagues implemented a summer arts camp called Creating Original Opera with An Appalachian Summer Festival in Boone. Through this she gained the skills to bring the program into her classroom creating an interdisciplinary approach to teaching that infused music and art with language arts, math, science and social studies. Years later, I find teaching in the music classroom allows me the opportunity to implement my core belief that students need to make meaningful connections throughout their learning, Gates said. She brings stories and poems to life through instrumentation and creative movement, helps students discover patterns in sound and the correlation between rhythmic values and fractions, brings history to life with songs and music that accompanied historic events and times, and promotes the exploration of the science of sound developing awareness and competence in sound wave production and frequencies. Most importantly, she said, I find it necessary for students to write by creating and composing rhythms, melodies and lyrics for their own original compositions. Gates is also not just a teacher but a musician herself. She has played piano since she was six years old. At 14 she took voice lessons. She plays the hammered dulcimer and Appalachian dulcimer, and she is learning guitar. In high school, she played bells and xylophone as well as trombone in the band. She learned how to sing harmony in her church choir. Her mother played piano and sang in the church choir and her father took her to many bluegrass music events. I was steeped in church gospel and bluegrass and trained in classical music, she said. Today, she sings and plays with a group called Stolen Apples, an acoustic trio of old-time, folk and sacred music, and is on the praise and worship team of Rosedale Baptist Church in Abingdon. Music was my emotional outlet as a child, Gates said, and she wants to convey such a positive coping method for her students as well. I want them to engage in music, not just hear it in the background. As an elementary school teacher I want to create a spark with my students so when they go on to middle and high school they remember. I want to get them excited about music and build on that excitement. I am passionate about teaching through music, Gates said. More than just the academic benefits of allowing an interdisciplinary approach, music connects people of all races, generations and cultures, and develops empathy and compassion, creating a human connection for our students to the world around them. I love my job, she said. I look forward to waking up in the morning. As Marion continues to celebrate the Spirit of 45, the recognition is spreading across the state thanks to a General Assembly resolution introduced by Del. Israel OQuinn in January. OQuinn and fellow delegate Jeff Campbell read the resolution to the crowd gathered Sunday afternoon at the courthouse in Marion to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II. It is a tough life for all who serve, said OQuinn, and World War II veterans not only served their country but changed the course of events. They stopped Hitler and the Nazis from spreading their influence over more of the world. The Germans didnt count on the young men and even underage boys who snuck in to serve, to help win the war, he said. OQuinn said one of the reasons the World War II generation is called the greatest generation is because everyone picked up the slack and sacrificed without complaint. That level of patriotism would be really hard to match today, he said. Americans have tremendous freedoms, OQuinn said, and every veteran to thank for that. The resolution OQuinn and Campbell read designates the second Sunday in August as Spirit of 45 Day in Virginia for 2017 and every year after in perpetuity. They presented copies to the town of Marion and VFW Post 4667. As the celebration began, Post Commander Don Edwards pointed to WWII vets seated under a tent and said, Long before the Nike corporation had coined the phrase Just Do It, these men had already done it. Help us not to forget. Mayor David Helms welcomed everyone to the celebration, saying he wasnt sure how many other communities were having such a program. Im so proud of the patriotic town we live in, Helms said. Those gathered at the courthouse included the Francis Marion VFW Post 4667 Honor Guard, the U.S. Army Reserves 760th Engineer Co., the 1st Virginia Battalion U.S. Naval Sea Cadet Corps, and Rolling Thunder Tennessee Chapter 4 out of Johnson City, Tenn. Music was provided by Sharon Buchanan who performed the national anthem and enjoyed including the veterans in her performance of songs from the WWII era. Bharatpur, Narayangadh declared no-horn zone Chitwan Traffic Police has decided to implement no-horn zone in the district. A "Tiffany" ring at Costco. Manhattan, NY -- Popular warehouse chain Costco must pay $19 million to a luxury jeweler after selling knock-off "Tiffany" rings, a federal judge in New York City has ruled. Costco had been selling the "Tiffany" rings since 2007. A lawsuit was filed after a shopper saw the advertisements for the rings in 2012, the New York Law Journal reported. A jury found Costco guilty of trademark infringement against the nearly 180-year-old Tiffany & Co., based in New York City. U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain ordered Costco to pay $19 million -- $5 million more than the jury's award -- after determining that Costco's huge profits could cover the bigger award. Swain therefore tripled the $3.7 million that Costco owed Tiffany in profits over the knock-off rings. Costco also owes $8.25 million as punishment for trademark infringement. Costco argued in court that its salespeople used "Tiffany" as a generic term for the type of ring. One ring with the "Tiffany" sign was selling for $3,199.99 at Costco, according to a court exhibit. Costco said it plans to appeal. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The Syracuse lawyer accused of calling in a bomb threat to the federal courthouse daycare center is facing jail time and a steep fine. Jacqueline Jones, 47, phoned in a bomb threat to the daycare center inside the Hanley Federal Building to avoid a contentious court appearance, according to court papers. According to the filings, Jones has agreed to plead guilty on Friday to third-degree falsely reporting an incident, a misdemeanor. She's also expected to be sentenced at that time. The government is asking a judge to sentence Jones to jail time and an exceptionally large fine, while Jones' lawyer argues that her actions were an "aberration," invoking compliments from her former employers and even the mayor of Syracuse. Jones is accused of making the bomb threat when she was scheduled to argue against a judge sanctioning her in civil case. According to prosecutors, Jones called the Children's Beginnings Day Care Center from a public telephone at the Regional Transportation Center on Feb. 20, 2015. Prosecutors said the bomb threat sent the federal building into chaos as 600 people were ordered to stay in place and 70 pre-schoolers were retrieved by their parents. The government asked a judge to sentence Jones to one year of probation, 60 days in jail and a $15,000 fine -- more than the maximum recommended under sentencing guidelines. Her lawyer Edward Menkin argued in court papers that Jones, a mother, is in a financially precarious situation. She is not employed, having lost her job at MacKenzie Hughes law firm. Her spouse was recently forced to close his business, he wrote. Menkin urged the judge not to fine Jones more than the $5,000 recommended in sentencing guidelines. He argued Jones' intent in calling in the bomb threat should be separated from the consequences of the phone call. According to Menkin, Jones only wanted to get out of her court appearance, not to recklessly create distress and fear. He pointed to comments from former employers, including at MacKenzie Hughes, who said her actions were "completely out of character," and that she's a "good person, who was never spiteful but always professionally responsible." Menkin even cited Mayor Stephanie Miner as having described Jones as a "good lawyer and a good role model." Federal court guidelines allow the judge to sentence Jones to up to a year in jail. Prosecutors asked for 60 days in jail because Jones has accepted responsibility for her actions and lacks a criminal history. Prosecutors, however, pushed for a larger fine because, they said, Jones' crime is "offensive in the extreme." The U.S. Attorney's Office hammered Jones for choosing to threaten a daycare center, terrifying children and staff. Prosecutors suggested Jones could have forced an evacuation by calling any of at least five federal agencies located in the building. "Instead she chose a private daycare provider with the obvious intent to sow the maximum fear and response ..." prosecutors wrote. Prosecutors were critical that Jones covered up her actions by writing a letter to the judge with false information about her failure to appear in court. They called her argument that she was under stress an excuse, saying her problems are routine for lawyers. If anything, the prosecution argued, her training as a lawyer made the offense more egregious. Magistrate Judge Therse Wiley Dancks is expected to sentence Jones at the hearing Friday. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Oswego County plans to conduct aerial mosquito spraying after finding more evidence of Eastern Equine Encephalitis near the Toad Harbor Swamp near Constantia. Meanwhile in Onondaga County, more evidence of West Nile Virus has been found in mosquitoes taken from traps in DeWitt, Salina and Cicero. The Oswego County Health Department said it will spray 10,000 acres around the swamp. The county has asked the state health department to declare Eastern Equine Encephalitis, EEE for short, an imminent threat to public health in Oswego. The health department said it will announce the date and time of spraying once plans are final. The spray area will be in the towns of Hastings, West Monroe and Constantia. Onondaga County has not announced plans to do aerial spraying. Public health officials said people should use mosquito repellent and take other precautions when outdoors to avoid mosquito bites. When transmitted by mosquitoes, EEE and West Nile Virus can cause serious illness and death. Central New York is a hot spot for EEE. That's because EEE is spread by mosquitoes that become infected by feeding on infected birds. Freshwater swamps such as the Cicero Swamp in Onondaga County and Toad Harbor in Oswego are prime breeding grounds for mosquitoes carrying EEE. There are large numbers of people who live near those swamps. EEE-infected mosquitoes can travel up to five miles. Contact James T. Mulder anytime: Email | Twitter | 315-470-2245 star 1.JPG The solar eclipse shadow over southern Turkey, northern Cyprus and the Mediterranean Sea as seen from the ISS on March 29, 2006. Image from NASA. (Special to Syracuse.com) Syracuse, N.Y. -- Clouds should stay at bay in Upstate New York for Monday afternoon's solar eclipse, meteorologists say. "It's looking pretty good," said Jordan Root, a meteorologist with Accuweather. "It looks like high pressure is going to be setting up along the mid-Atlantic Coast, and what that should do is keep the area dry and also mostly cloud-free. There's a 20 percent chance of clouds throughout the day Monday in Syracuse. The red arrow denotes the approximate time of the maximum solar eclipse. "That should provide for good conditions," he said. The National Weather Service's hourly forecast chart says there's a 20 percent chance of clouds throughout the day Monday. "This far out it's hard to say exactly how much cloud cover there will be, but were definitely not talking about rain," said Joanne LaBounty, a meteorologist with the weather service's Binghamton office. "Right now it looks like it should be a pretty good day." The eclipse begins in Syracuse at 1:17 p.m. and ends at at 3:53 p.m. The maximum eclipse comes at 2:38 p.m., when the moon covers about 75 percent of the sun. It won't get dark, though. The weather in Upstate New York will actually be better than the nearest place to see the total eclipse, in northern Tennessee. "There's a slightly higher chance for clouds there," Root said. "Even down there, though, there's a fair chance of at least seeing some of the solar eclipse, if not most of it." . UTICA, N.Y. -- An orthopedic surgeon is facing several felony charges after an investigation revealed he defrauded the worker's compensation system of more than $14,000, according to a state inspector general. Investigators searched the Utica offices of Gregory B. Shankman, 69, of Clinton, on a warrant after an ongoing investigation and arrested him Tuesday, Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott's office stated. On several occasions, Shankman certified he was present during worker's compensation medical examinations at his Genesee Street office when he was actually traveling in different parts of the state, out of state, or out of the country, officials said. In some instances, Shankman was performing worker's compensation examinations in western New York while billing for similar examinations provided simultaneously in Utica, they said. Shankman would have his physician's assistant meet with and examine his Utica worker's compensation patients while he was out of office, according to the inspector general. However, the physician's assistant was not authorized to do so without Shankman's direct supervision, the office stated. This happened on nearly 100 different occasions between March 2015 and March 2017, leading to more than $14,000 worth of false insurance billings on behalf of the worker's compensation system, according to Scott. "The charges allege an ongoing scheme by a physician who shamelessly stole payments meant for honest practitioners, and who pocketed ill-gotten earnings while traveling abroad," Scott said in a news release. Shankman was charged with first-degree scheme to defraud, two counts of third-degree grand larceny and two counts workers' compensation crime of fraudulent practices, all felonies. He was also charged with petit larceny, a misdemeanor. Shankman was arraigned in the City of Utica Court and ordered to give up his passport. He was released until his next court appearance. SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- The three Democrats jockeying for the party's nomination for Syracuse mayor will make their cases to voters tonight in the first of two televised debates. Marty Masterpole, Joe Nicoletti and Juanita Perez Williams will take part in a primary debate hosted by Spectrum News. The debate was recorded live this afternoon. The debate will air at 7 p.m. tonight on Spectrum News, which is channels 1, 10 or 200 in Central New York. That station is available only to Spectrum customers or over analog airwaves. It will be available to subscribers on the Spectrum website afterward and will air again several times. Capital Tonight host Liz Benjamin will moderate with Spectrum News reporter Iris St. Meran and Syracuse.com / The Post-Standard reporter Chris Baker as panelists. Check back immediately following the debate for coverage from Syracuse.com / The Post-Standard. Boot, EPCF modalities recommended for Nijgadh airport project Two financial modalities for the construction of an international airport in Nijgadh have been recommendedbuild, own, operate and transfer (Boot) and engineering, procurement, construction and finance (EPCF). China wants to take Nepal along on the development path: Wang Visiting Chinese Vice-premier Wang Yang said that China will always stand in favour of political stability and development in Nepal. He said so during a meeting with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba on Wednesday. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. Chinese vice premier pays courtesy call on President Bhandari Chinese Vice-premier of the State Council Wang Yang paid a courtesy call on President Bidhya Devi Bhandari in the Capital on Wednesday. The Asus ZenFone 4 Selfie is expected to be the the first handset by the brand to sport a Dual Camera module in front Either way, this set-up will certainly put Asus shoulder-to-shoulder with other top players in the Selfie smartphone game. , which is reminiscent of what we currently find on popular mid-level releases byandThis is more or less confirmed by leaked press photos of this model that were first posted online by former Engadget Senior Editor and Twitter personality,According to insiders, the Asus ZenFone 4 Selfie's Dual Camera set-up will be comprised of a 20 MegaPixel shooter plus an 8 MegaPixel lens. Currently, we can only speculate on what this module can do but based on what we've seen so far from competing brands, it can either be for zoom-out groufie shots or for bokeh effect, where the background of the subject is beautifully blurred.As for technical specifications, various sources claim that this model will have a 5.5-inch HD IPS display panel, a 16 MegaPixel PDAF camera at the back, Full HD 30fps video recorder, Dual SIM Dual Standby capability, 4G LTE connectivity support, and a non-removable 3,000 mAh battery pack. Inside, it is believed that the phone will run its Zen-UI-skinned Android 7.0 Nougat operating system with a 64-Bit Octa-Core 1.4 GHz ARM Cortex-A53 and Adreno 505 GPU based Qualcomm MSM8937 Snapdragon 430 chipset that's complemented by 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage that's easily expandable using a dedicated microSD card slot.]In terms of design and build, looking at these images, it appears that the handset will have an anodized aluminum shell at the back and a 2.5D Curved Glass face that will make it look and feel both durable and elegant. The Fingerprint Scanner is located in front, lining the home button and flanked by two capacitive buttons, most likely for Back and Multitasking Panel.For the color options, so far, we're seeing Black, Gold, and Red.Now, as for the price and release, I'm guessing that Asus ZenFone 4 Selfie will don an official SRP of Php 16,990 in the Philippines - based on the leaked 9,990 Taiwan Dollar price tag of the model - when it gets released within this month, August 2017. The National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration finally released its annual international report on the state of the climate, and the compiled report shows that 2016 beat 2015 as the warmest year on record. What's worse is it seems the rise in temperatures will continue. Similar trends for key climate change indicators have also been recorded and most, if not all, of them reflect the planet's continued warming, and have broken previously set records in their own categories. With peer-reviewed contributions from 468 scientists from 64 countries, "State of the Climate in 2016" is a pretty grim evidence of global warming and climate change. Record Highs And Lows According to the international report released on Aug. 10, the year 2016 has set the newest record for highest air temperature, highest sea surface temperature, highest rise in sea levels, highest concentration of carbon emissions, and most extensive drought worldwide. The only record 2016 placed second on is the category on retreating sea ice, but records still show that the Arctic land temperature was 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degree Celsius) higher than the 1981 to 2010 average. Below are some highlights [PDF] from the publication released by NOAA. Air Temperature According to the report, the planet increased in temperature by 0.81 to 1.01 degrees Fahrenheit in 2016 and was, in part, due to the El Nino phenomenon that occurred earlier in the year. This is true for air temperatures over both land and sea all over the world. #StateOfClimate2016 Annual global surface temperature was record high for third consecutive year: https://t.co/zSh5kjghvR pic.twitter.com/m7F0s0GY2f NOAA NCEI Climate (@NOAANCEIclimate) Aug. 10, 2017 Sea And Ice Since the air temperature over the sea is at an all-time high in 2016, it only follows that the seas would get affected as well. Data sets and reports from scientists studying the climate's effect on the sea plotted a 0.65 to 0.74 degrees Fahrenheit increase in sea surface temperature, which is actually higher by 0.02 to 0.05 degrees Fahrenheit from 2015 records. #StateOfClimate2016 Global average sea level was about 3.25 inches (82 mm) higher than the 1993 average: https://t.co/zSh5kjghvR pic.twitter.com/kiwgtYrSG2 NOAA NCEI Climate (@NOAANCEIclimate) Aug. 10, 2017 Records from satellite data show that 2016 plotted the second lowest glacial cover on the planet. In relation to that, global sea levels saw a 3.25-inch rise when compared with 1993 records, which was when sea level recording began. Greenhouse Gases One of the biggest concerns with climate change is curbing global carbon emissions but the NOAA publication shows that global greenhouse gas emissions including carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane already surpassed 2015 levels. Carbon dioxide, for instance, saw a 3.5 parts per million increase, plotting 402.9 ppm in 2016. 2016 also recorded 328.9 ppb of nitrous oxide while methane emissions reached 1843.4 ppb. One can only wonder how to slow down or stop this trend after the United States pulled out of the Paris climate change agreement. Drought And Extreme Weather Of course, the warming land, sea, and air have a huge effect on the environment, and one of the most noticeable effects is the rise in extreme weather. According to the report, about a third of global land was affected by severe drought and heat waves, which contributed to wild fires. There were also other extreme weather disturbances such as very active and stronger-than-average tropical cyclones. There were 93 tropical cyclones recorded in 2016 11 more than the 1981 to 2010 average of 82 cyclones per year including the category 5 hurricane Matthew which dealt approximately 600 fatalities. Extremes Are Not Surprising With Climate Change The condition of the Earth in 2016 is already proof that climate change is not a hoax and, while extreme climate patterns are worrisome, they are not really unexpected anymore. "With climate change, this is the kind of thing we would expect to see. And without climate change, we really would not expect to see it," Pennsylvania State University climate change scientist and lead author Michael Mann said. 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Donation starts pouring in for Kamalu Sada's family Donations started pouring in for the family of an eight-year-old Kamalu Sada, who was taken ill due to the flood and died for want of treatment in Koiladi, Saptari on Monday. On November 11, the EU announced the renewal, until November 14, 2023, of the sanctions against officials linked to the Administration of Nicolas Maduro. | Read More Dr KC breaks his fast, vows to continue fight Dr Govinda KC decided to call off his 11th fast-unto-death on Tuesday after 23 days in view of the ongoing crisis due to floods and landslides in different parts of the country. Flood-hit people trying to return to normal life Residents of Baijanapur in Rapti Sonari Rural Municipality, Banke district, have been trying to return to normal life after the floods receded. Himalaya offers direct Ktm-Dammam flights Privately-owned Nepali carrier Himalaya Airlines has announced the launch of its first direct flight from Kathmandu to the Saudi Arabia city of Dammam from September 1. The Kathmandu-Dammam airfare will start from Rs23,800 for one-way and Rs38,000 for a round trip, exclusive of taxes, the airline said. As Michigan grapples with a never-before-seen invasion of red swamp "crayfish" threatening cities' infrastructures and ecosystems, mudbug experts from Lafayette have organized a Cajun culture lesson delivered in the way only Louisianians know how a party. The event, organized by Lafayette Travel and set for Saturday afternoon in Vicksburg, Michigan, is intended to introduce Michiganders to Lafayette and its beloved delicacy. A five-person team of travel agency employees and chefs was set to depart Thursday in a rental SUV teeming with crawfish trap equipment and fake crawfish, coloring sheets and, most importantly, mounds of frozen crawfish tails. Can't see the video below? Click here. Hosted in tandem with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the event will feature informational sessions on setting traps for the crustaceans, a panel discussion on whether the creature is a "friend or foe" and live music by Sel de Terre, an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Cajun band. Lauren "Lunch Lady" Liner and Sean Suire, co-owners of Cajun Table, a Lafayette-based seafood restaurant, will prepare crawfish etouffee using 15 pounds of crawfish tails, as importing live crawfish into Michigan is illegal. Liner said both the novelty of Cajun cuisine and a free festival in the northern state will make her and Suire's "little taste of home" an experiment on both sides of the pot. "Whether they're freaked out or grossed out or what, it's going to be really educational," she said. Although a treat that commonly replaces traditional holiday fare on Louisiana dinner tables, the red swamp crawfish is a more prolific breeder than the other nine crawfish species found in Michigan, said Nick Popoff, the DNR's aquatic species and regulatory affairs manager. The large amounts of red swamp crayfish they are encountering pose a threat to both the environment and structures such as dams, irrigation systems and levees. Saturday's event, set alongside one of the lakes where the crawfish invaded, will include a screening of the documentary "King Crawfish," as well as readings from the children's book series "Clovis the Crawfish." Jesse Guidry, vice president of communications for the Lafayette tourism agency, said the event will also connect local officials with crawfishermen and researchers to find solutions to what has proven to be a serious problem in Michigan and to come up with expedited harvesting solutions in a lake setting. While there, Guidry, his two co-workers from Lafayette Travel and Cajun Table will promote Festivals Acadiens et Creoles, Festival International and the Louisiana Crawfish festival. Above all, he said, the Lafayette team is "going to try to bring as close as a Louisiana crawfish festival" as they can manage to the small village in southern Michigan. Popoff said he hopes the event will educate locals on Louisiana traditions and how Michigan residents can set out traps of their own all the while serving as a public service announcement that dissuades residents from illegally importing live crawfish into the state. Although an exact cause for the species' sudden appearance is unknown, a news release from Michigan's Department of Natural Resources states that the crawfish may have been introduced by people using the crustacean as bait, boiling them live for dinner or keeping them as pets. News of the new crayfish species' entry into the Great Lakes State broke in late July when the dark-red delicacy infested Sunset Lake in Vickburg, Michigan, and a retention pond in Novi, Michigan. The state is home to nine other crawfish species. The rusty crayfish is the only other crayfish species the state has deemed invasive. Popoff said his department has trapped 15-20 crayfish per day in Vickburg and as many as 2,500 in the smaller Novi location. "That speaks to the density that could be achieved by these critters," he said. Online commenters from Louisiana had their own solutions in mind. Guidry recalled viewing comments such as "Mais, cook 'em" or "I'm going up to Michigan to get me some crawfish" infiltrated forums after Southerners caught wind of the event. Guidry said Lafayette Travel paid close attention to how the event was coordinated to avoid making light of a sensitive situation. We dont want to go up there and make fun of this," he said. "We want to partner with people and we want to have a good taste in their mouth so they remember Lafayette, Louisiana and crawfish." Get ready for some heat. After a summer of slightly lower temperatures, much of south Louisiana is about to get a blast of real heat starting Thursday. Due to a high pressure system leading to fewer storms and less cloud cover, the National Weather Service is predicting temperatures in the 90s, which combined with dewpoints in the mid-70s will make it feel like 108 to 110 degrees Fahreinheit in much of southeast Louisiana. Heat advisory issued today for Baton Rouge area A heat advisory is in effect from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday for southeast Louisiana, includi That's a big difference from the past few weeks, when summer temperatures across south Louisiana this year came in a bit lower than those last summer, said Alek Krautmann, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service's New Orleans/Baton Rouge office. Last year, Baton Rouge's average temperature for July was 84.4 degrees Fahrenheit the fifth-hottest on record, which for the Capital City means since 1894, Krautmann said. This year, the average temperature for July in Baton Rouge was 83 degrees. It's not a big dip from last year, but as anyone with a struggling air-conditioner knows, a degree or two can make a difference. Monthly averages are the average of the daily highs and lows across a particular month, Krautmann said. There have been less completely scorching days this summer, as well, he said. From June 1 to Aug. 15, Baton Rouge has had only four days of temperatures 95 degrees or higher. In that same period last summer, residents suffered through 26 such days. So far this summer, New Orleans has had five of those 95-degrees-or-higher days. Last year, the city endured 27 of those. "We always have our humidity, so it (still) feels like a typical southern summer," Krautman added. Heavy rainfall this summer may be key to the slightly cooler temperatures. Krautman said June in New Orleans was its third-wettest June since 1947, with 15.48 inches of rain. Baton Rouge in June was its 10th wettest June since 1894, with 9.56 inches of rain. State climatologist Barry Keim, who's also a professor and graduate director with LSU's Department of Geography and Anthropology, gives a rundown for the average temperatures from June 1 through Aug. 15 for this summer, compared to last summer, in the region: Baton Rouge: 81 degrees in 2017; 83.2 degrees in 2016. New Orleans: 82 degrees in 2017; 85.6 degrees in 2016. Lafayette: 82 degrees in 2017; 84 degrees in 2016. Keim said the public can follow information on rainfall and temperatures at the website of the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program, a collaborative effort of a number of research centers, including LSU at southernclimate.org. Click on "data tools," then "climograph tool" to search by city or weather station, by name, to pull up user-friendly graphics. Purchases made via links on our site may earn us an affiliate commission Bidders for Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center say three Louisiana firms have been named as finalists to run the center's medical marijuana business. Two companies are from Lafayette: Advanced Biomedics and Med Louisiana. One is from Baton Rouge, Southern Roots Therapeutics. The information was confirmed by people associated with two of the bidders. Southern University officials did not respond for comment Wednesday, but put out a press release Thursday confirming the finalists. The release also said that during the upcoming week, closed interviews will be conducted by the Medical Marijuana Review Committee to complete the evaluation process. The final selection of a cultivator will be submitted to the Southern University Board of Supervisors for approval before contract negotiations are held. +2 Southern University Ag Center receives applications for medical marijuana cultivation The Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center says seven vendors have s Med Louisiana's registered agent is listed as Charles M. Rush and the listed officer is Ashley A. Hohorst, according to Louisiana Secretary of State records. Advanced Biomedics lists Neighbors Pharmacy owner Chad Bodin as its manager and Robin Sylvester as agent. Southern Roots' managers are Jacob Irving and Leah Simon. Southern Roots was among the companies that applied to run LSU's medical marijuana business. Southern's other applicants were AquaPharm, Citiva Louisiana, Columbia Care and United States Hemp Corp., according to Southern University. However, United States Hemp has repeatedly said it is not an applicant, only a consultant to an applicant, which it did not name. Southern's Agricultural Research and Extension Center and the LSU AgCenter hold the only Louisiana licenses for medical marijuana under authorization approved by the state Legislature in 2015. LSU recently picked Las Vegas-based GB Sciences Inc. to operate its medical marijuana program, estimated to have a five-year operating cost of more than $11 million. The Southern University contract, which covers five years, makes the companies responsible for all of the expenses involved in running its business. Southern has estimated the initial investment will range from $5 million to $7 million. Southern had originally planned to name the finalists on June 30, but the proposed schedule has since changed. Under the original timeline, oral presentations and interviews would have begun 10 days after the finalists were announced. The university had set aside a week for that task, with the winning vendor announced three days after the interviews and presentations being completed. State law requires the medicine to be in a liquid, such as an oil or spray; capsules or pills; edible dosages; topical applications; trans-dermal patches; or suppositories. The law limits the number of illnesses that can be treated with medical marijuana, including cancer, HIV and AIDS, cachexia or wasting syndrome, seizure disorders, epilepsy, spasticity, Crohn's disease, muscular dystrophy and multiple sclerosis. EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was updated Aug. 17, 2017, with information from a press release issued by Southern University confirming the finalists and announcing closed interviews with applicants. LDC graduation a milestone, not a goal Acknowledging the special socio-economic and developmental needs of certain countries, the Committee for Development Policy (CDP), a subsidiary advisory body of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), After a nearly four-hour closed door meeting, state Superintendent of Education John White won a positive job review Wednesday from Louisiana's top school board. Also, White's contract will remain a month-to-month agreement despite earlier talk that the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education would discuss the contract publicly. No public debate took place on the issue, which has sparked arguments in education circles off and on for months, and which always heats up during job evaluation. White said afterwards he was generally pleased with the review. The superintendent said his score was 3.0 out of 4. That means he is considered effective/proficient, which is the second highest level on the state measuring stick also used to rate public school teachers. Last year his score was 3.166 out of 4. White said later on Twitter that strengths on his evaluation included literacy gains; improvements on a test of college readiness called ACT and progress on the high school graduation rate. He said a "significant weakness" on the review was academic progress by English learners, a criticism raised previously. Last year BESE spent 38 minutes behind closed doors before giving White a positive review. This time the agenda included discussion of personnel matters relating to the superintendent, which was seen as a way for BESE members to air issues surrounding his contract. White, who is paid $275,000 per year, has been on a monthly contract for the past 18 months because the state board has been unable to agree on a new one. But much of the private gathering focused on details of this year's evaluation and plans for the 2018 review, according to those in the meeting. After the closed meeting, BESE President Gary Jones told the small audience that White got a satisfactory rating. Jones said later, "The board members were very frank and free in their changes. No animosity from any of the parties involved. It was an honest discussion of the issues at hand." Asked if he is content with White's contract Jones said, "I am content that that is the reality of the situation at the moment." BESE approved White's evaluation without dissent. Earlier BESE member Kathy Edmonston, who lives in Gonzales, said she wanted the board to vote on White's contract. Education Superintendent John White's job expected to spark debate at BESE meeting in August A member of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education said Monday she wants the Edmonston said Wednesday night the discussion confirmed that BESE was on solid legal ground in using a monthly contract. She said the issue needed addressing. Edmonston has said that, while she works well with the superintendent, her BESE constituents do not back him. White has also clashed with Gov. John Bel Edwards on a wide range of public school issues. However, even with the governor's three appointees on BESE the superintendent generally enjoys the support of 7 of BESE's 11 members. White is generally aligned with advocates of major changes in public education, including charter schools and vouchers. The governor is usually on the side of traditional public school groups, including the Louisiana School Boards Association, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers and the Louisiana Association of Educators. Edwards' office did not respond to a request for comment. White has gotten favorable reviews in his four previous job assessments by BESE. He has been superintendent since 2012. BESE sets policies for about 700,000 public school students statewide, and White is in charge of carrying out those policies. Education Superintendent John White's job expected to spark debate at BESE meeting in August A member of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education said Monday she wants the Critics contend the superintendent should face a new round of confirmation hearings in the state Senate since a new board took office in 2016. A lawsuit to force White's removal was tossed out, but the governor's office is considering a legal challenge of its own. If the name of Fort Rucker, Alabama, is to be changed, it would be fitting to call it Fort Hugh Thompson, to honor the longtime Lafayette resi In the chaotic days of David Duke's meteoric political rise in Louisiana, President George H.W. Bush got conflicting advice. Sure, the said-to-be former Klansman was in a runoff for governor of Louisiana as a Republican, damaging the party, but the White House ought to stay out of a local race, in part because Duke's opponent was the reprehensible Edwin W. Edwards. The Texan president knew Edwards well, and understood just what a bad choice Louisiana faced. But others, including William Bennett, one of the GOP's intellectual lights, urged the president in 1991 that there was nothing to be done except speak for the nation as well as for the future of the Republican Party, in a rapidly changing America. The president made the right call, urging his friends in Louisiana to back Edwards. Today, maybe, that would be more difficult: Party lines are more calcified. But the moral lines are as clear as ever to the elderly ex-president. With his son, former President George W. Bush, he issued a statement in response to the Charlottesville, Virginia tragedy that "America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism and hatred in all forms." From Louisiana, thanks again, Mr. President. (Not seeing the video below? Click here.) In The Advocate on Friday, Adam Knapp, with the Baton Rouge Area Chamber, played an old Louisiana game called What Would Texas Do. But that game has one basic rule you have to be honest about what it is that Texas does. If you get that part wrong, youll mislead people. Last year, Gov. John Bel Edwards signed an executive order bringing decision-making authority over local corporate exemptions back to the local level. Thats how its done in every other state. Knapps column offered the Chambers advice about how local governments should use their new authority: We have looked to our neighboring state of Texas, which has a similar local approval process. However, in Texas, one governmental body is often set up to consider abatements for a county, rather than four bodies. We think creating a single, public review body makes sense in Louisiana, too. To find out if this was true, Together Baton Rouge called the Texas Comptrollers Office of Economic Development. We asked, How common is it in Texas for different taxing bodies to set up a single committee to review or approve abatements? It's not, we were told. Thats not allowed in statute. Local governments themselves make the decision of whether they want to participate in an abatement. Texas, it turns out, is far stricter than Louisiana on corporate exemptions. Texas prohibits school districts from granting abatements, requires that each taxing body set formal criteria beforehand by which exemption applications will be evaluated and requires that every exemption get a public hearing and record vote by each local entity. (Google Texas Chapter 312 to check this out for yourself.) Knapps misinformation about the Texas process that he gave to this paper was also presented to the School Board and Metropolitan Council last month when BRAC lobbied for the creation of a review committee to streamline approval of exemptions. There, BRAC went a step further, recommending BRAC itself conduct economic impact analyses for each exemption on behalf of this review committee. What an eye-opening conflict of interest. Over the last twenty years, just four BRAC members ExxonMobil, Georgia-Pacific, Formosa Plastics and Honeywell received exemptions costing local public schools and other local taxing bodies $883 million in lost revenue. Together Baton Rouge would suggest that policy should prohibit any entity with a financial interest in an exemption from conducting a governments analysis of the projects return on investment. So theres no real mystery why BRAC got their information wrong about Texas or why they are advocating for a streamlined process on corporate exemptions that departs from the norms of any other state. BRAC is seeking to minimize public scrutiny over exemptions in order to maximize taxpayer subsidies to a handful of its own members, which are also its largest funders. Thats understandable. But its not the stuff of public policy. DIANNE HANLEY executive committee, Together Baton Rouge Baton Rouge The states top school board is planning a closed-door discussion on the contract of state Education Superintendent John White. At the end of that meeting, the members ought to do what they should have done all along, which is offer a standard contract to White for the remainder of the term of the current board. This has been put off for political reasons. White has the general support of a majority in fact, all but one of the elected members of the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. But democracy only goes so far: Gov. John Bel Edwards, who has policy disagreements with White, appoints three members. With a 7-4 pro-White split on the board, the members have not acted as they should and offer White a second permanent contract; for the past 18 months, he has worked month-to-month. Maybe there is no harm in that, as his job is obviously secure. No one doubts his authority, although some legislators have grumbled. The governor has questioned Whites qualifications, but over the past 18 months his concerns should have gone away: The state department and Louisiana public schools are doing better in many metrics of performance. John White is a success. A regular contract probably doesnt matter, but if BESE members want to be consistent in their treatment of their appointee, dragging of the heels of one elected member and three appointed members against seven who were elected, after all politicizes what is really an administrative decision. Yet the politics of teacher unions, who supported Edwards and tend to be very critical of White, stands in the way of consensus. The latest nonsense is that the state Senate, which originally confirmed White in his post, should vote again on the month-to-month contract. We think this is ridiculous. Senate confirmation is required when someone is appointed, not when the confirmed official continues in his or her post. Once again, an orderly process would be subjected to new political strains. Edwards, in particular, ought to be against this, given all the other problems the state has. One does not have to agree with White in everything to understand that the purpose of a BESE contract is not to approve of all his policies, but simply to have a regular order: The people of Louisiana moved from a superintendent elected statewide to this appointed model, and it has largely worked. His contract is not going to make a big difference, but it would be a statement from BESE that however great the policy differences, the system set up in the Louisiana Constitution will work. Members ought to agree on a White contract and put to rest the pointless agitation for a second, unnecessary confirmation vote in the Senate. Donald Trump loves Twitter. Obviously. It helped fuel his improbable rise from conspiracy-peddling reality show host to president. It allows him to say just what he thinks, without the interference of pesky policy experts who might worry about what messages he's inadvertently sending, or communications professionals who might want to sanitize his words. But does Twitter love Trump? This week, at least, not as much as it loves the target of Trump's race-baiting birther campaign and the man whose legacy he's now bent on undoing: Barack Obama. As Trump visibly resisted pleas that he unambiguously condemn the white nationalist, Nazi-sympathizing thugs who marched on Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend a demonstration that led to three deaths, multiple injuries and a flood of criticism over the president's divisive, tone-deaf response from Republicans and Democrats alike a very different message was trending. Saturday, shortly after the violent rally, Obama tweeted out a message of tolerance, a photo of himself greeting children of different races with a quotation from Nelson Mandela. No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion," it said. "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..." pic.twitter.com/InZ58zkoAm Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017 And by Tuesday night, with the nation still reeling from Trump's off-the-rails press conference in which he insisted that there were "very fine people" in the crowd of protesters waving Confederate flags and spouting Nazi slogans, Obama's message had become the most "liked" tweet of all time. It took 2.7 million clicks on the thumbs-up icon to break the record. By mid-day Wednesday, the sentiment had earned nearly 3.5 million approving clicks. Consider that a rolling referendum on Trump's abhorrent reaction to the weekend's events and yet another popular vote in which he came up short. NA soldier killed by fellow rank A Nepal Army lance corporal was shot dead by a fellow soldier in Pokhara on early Tuesday morning. Comedian Tom Gleeson said the title of his currently touring show, Cheer Up, came from a comment he frequently heard on the street because of his deadpan expression. But, as he said, it wasn't an inappropriate title for a comedy show. Comedian Tom Gleeson is performing two shows in Canberra on Saturday. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong "I'd never call one of my shows Feel Worse Than When You Went In." Gleeson began the national tour with an early version of Cheer Up at the Uni Pub in January and will be in Canberra on Saturday for two performances at the Playhouse. They will be his first theatre shows in the national capital. "Hi, I'm the paedophile hunter." With those words, a Canberra teenager began his "ambush" of the unsuspecting man his younger brother had lured using a fake profile on the over-18s gay dating app Grindr. "So you have come here to see my little brother, he is only 15," he said, according to court documents. His words revealed the planned hook-up at Mawson playing fields the night of January 7 as a scam and began a string of threats to post photos and social media chats between the man and his brother. "We can sort this out, you don't have to ruin your life," he had told the man as he tried to leave. DIY super funds and other investors will soon be able to invest in start-ups and small companies through "crowd-sourced" equity funding platforms. These are the minnow unlisted companies of which some, at least, if only they had access to capital, could go on to great things. Smaller companies can do very well for investors, but are hard to find. Credit:Greg Newington From September 29, this year, crowd-sourced platforms will be able to apply for a licence that will enable small investors to invest up to $10,000 per company per year through the platforms. These platforms must perform some basic checks on companies and their directors, as well as on offer documents. After holding back dividends for a second year running, Origin Energy has given shareholders clearer guidance on when they might again expect a payout. The energy giant announced a $2.23 billion headline loss on Wednesday after factoring in writedowns worth $3.1 billion mostly on its new LNG export project.. Its underlying pre-tax profit for the last financial year jumped 49 per cent to $2.53 billion, an increase of $834 million which was slightly ahead of expectations but was not enough to produce a payout for shareholders. "Given our primary focus on reducing debt, we have determined not to pay a dividend for the second half of 2017," Origin chairman Gordon Cairns said. Canberra's aspiration to be recognised as a national centre of educational excellence is a step closer to fruition with this week's announcement talks are underway to establish a new University of NSW campus that could accommodate up to 10,000 students. Both the UNSW and the ACT Government deserve pats on the back for quietly getting on with scoping out the possibilities for the redevelopment of underutilised land at the Canberra Institute of Technology in Reid over recent months. While the new campus, proposed for a 10 to 12 hectare site currently used for car parking, seems unlikely to be up and running before the end of the decade, a memorandum of understanding between the ACT Government and the university should be finalised by the end of the year. Further details are expected to be released in 2018. Sister Ruth Pfau, who has died aged 87, was a Roman Catholic nun who, after a childhood spent in Nazi Germany, became known as "the Mother Teresa of Pakistan" for her work in combating the spread of leprosy. The fourth of five daughters of Protestant parents, Ruth Katharina Martha Pfau was born on September 9, 1929, in Leipzig, where her father was a manager in a publishing company. The Nazis came to power in Germany when she was four and she recalled as a child seeing "men flaunting the Swastika on their arms" and a Jewish classmate who mysteriously disappeared. Dr Ruth Pfau at the Karachi centre. Credit:Jacky Ghosein After the war, with Germany divided, her father settled in Wiesbaden in western Germany and called her to join him from Soviet-occupied Leipzig. Carrying her teddy bear and a few personal belongings, she walked for two days and nights, "hiding behind barns, near small villages at night" and eventually crossing the border. She was admitted to Mainz University to study medicine, but her life was changed by a chance encounter with an elderly Dutch Christian woman, a concentration camp survivor, who had dedicated her life to "preaching love and forgiveness". Inspired by her example, after moving to Marburg to complete her clinical training, she became a Roman Catholic and eventually joined the Daughters of the Heart of Mary, an order founded in Paris during the French Revolution. It was another hot August night for Sydney residents with the temperature warmer at midnight than it was at midday on Tuesday. Sydney residents awoke on Wednesday to temperatures that were up to 20 degrees above average for this time of year in some parts of the greater metropolitan region. But the run of warm, sunny days is set to finish with wild winds blowing across the city, causing havoc and bringing cooler temperatures. Data from the Bureau of Meteorology shows the temperature at Observatory Hill barely dipped below 20 degrees overnight, topping 22 degrees at sunrise. After days of silence, Justice Minister Michael Keenan has taken to social media to say he renounced his British citizenship, which he inherited from his father, before entering Parliament in 2004. Mr Keenan was the third Turnbull minister to come under the dual citizenship spotlight. Despite two days of repeated questioning by Fairfax Media, Mr Keenan's office had refused to say when he had renounced his British citizenship, only maintaining that the minister is an "Australian citizen and does not hold citizenship of any other country". Experts had warned that Mr Keenan could be a "citizen by descent" of Britain, unless he or or his father went through the formal renunciation process. Nepal, China sign three pacts Nepal and China on Tuesday signed three agreements related to economic and technical cooperation, promotion of Chinese investment and economic cooperation, and oil and gas exploration in Nepal. The Trump administration has listed Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party as a threat to religious freedom in a new report released in Washington. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson released the annual assessment of religious persecution and intolerance on Wednesday, using a chapter on Australia to highlight Senator Hanson's 2016 maiden speech to the Senate in which she claimed the country was "in danger of being swamped by Muslims". One Nation has repeatedly praised Mr Trump's policies on trade and immigration, with Senator Hanson and Queensland colleague Malcolm Roberts drinking champagne to celebrate his win over Democrat Hillary Clinton outside Parliament House after last year's presidential election. The report says the party's four senators were elected on the back of a "platform which included ceasing Muslim immigration, holding a royal commission on Islam, halting construction of mosques, installing surveillance cameras in mosques, banning wearing of the burqa and niqab in public places, and prohibiting members of parliament from being sworn in under the Quran. The government's defence of Barnaby Joyce has been a farrago of distraction designed to set up and then demolish claims that he was not a dinky-di Aussie and to create the impression he's the victim of a shady trans-national conspiracy. The facts are more prosaic. Joyce didn't do his paperwork when nominating for the Senate way back in 2004 nor at any election since. Did not comply with a constitutional requirement to be a sole citizen. Diligence was due. It was not forthcoming. That is why the House of Representatives unanimously referred his case to the High Court. But while this misdirection has been costly, needlessly tarnishing Julie Bishop and straining trans-Tasman relations, it has not been completely ineffective. Beijing: Gladys Berejiklian will make her first overseas visit as NSW premier, to Japan and South Korea, seeking to drum up interest in NSW's infrastructure-building program. Japan is NSW's largest export market, and also Australia's second-biggest source of foreign direct investment. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian is heading to Japan and South Korea on her first overseas trip as Premier. Credit:AAP UNSW business school's Tim Harcourt said state governments were interested in developing trade relationships with Japan primarily to attract more Japanese investment. "Japan is still a pretty closed economy. It is more about investment coming this way," he said. More than $800,000 worth of cannabis has been seized from a rental property in Brisbane's south-west. A tip-off from the public led police to search of a Heathwood address on Tuesday afternoon where they discovered an "active and sophisticated" cannabis hydroponic house with more than 170 mature cannabis plants. The power meter had been bypassed at the two-storey unoccupied rental, with electricity stolen to help grow about $850,000 worth of cannabis plants, a police spokeswoman said. Police were yet to identify those responsible for the grow house, who had paid cash to rent directly from the property owner. The mother of a murdered Queensland man whose body has never been found says she feels like a "political pawn" after it was revealed the corrective services minister knew one of his killers had been granted conditional parole. Leanne Pullen and her husband Gary campaigned for the Labor government's "no body, no parole" legislation and travelled to Brisbane last week to watch as it passed the Parliament. Leanne Pullen (centre) expressed anger over the parole decision. Credit:Stuart Layt Their son Tim was murdered in the Mackay area in 2012 and his body has never been found. But the parents have been left reeling following news one of the men convicted of his manslaughter, Benjamin Oakely, had been approved for release on July 31. The Palaszczuk government is considering a moratorium on new landfills in south-east Queensland, Environment Minister Steven Miles has confirmed. "It is one of the issues being considered now," Dr Miles said. Environment Minister Dr Steven Miles said his department was considering a moratorium on new landfills in Southeast Queensland. Credit:Glenn Hunt "I have asked for advice from my department on having an interim moratorium and a longer-term moratorium." Ipswich was "renamed" Australia's dump capital after the extent of household waste being driven and railed from New South Wales and dumped, primarily in Ipswich, to save money. "That was huge," Bajarin said. "They already knew how a PC works, and in a lot of their cases they had PCs in their homes because their parents had PCs in their homes; whereas the generation before them, the production of digital technology was more of a product in the toy category." Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg is the face of the 1981-1984 generation. Credit:Bloomberg The gender gap persists However, the PC wasn't marketed to everyone across the board. In 2014, NPR used data from the National Science Foundation, American Bar Association, and American Association of Medical Colleges to show that computing companies stopped marketing their machines to girls around 1984. It's had dramatic effects on female representation in computer science fields to this day. Women earn 57% of all undergraduate degrees but only 18% of all computer and information science degrees. Brian Chesky, chief executive officer and co-founder of Airbnb. Credit:Michael Nagle Underrepresentation is only the start, though. Sexism and sexual harassment scandals have plagued the industry for decades. Women also have a much harder time earning venture capital money. One study found that even if there was just one woman on a company's executive team, the company tended to receive less funding. A recent manifesto written by a now ex-Google staffer that criticised the company's emphasis on diversity is only the latest example of how women can be dissuaded from staying in the tech world. There was a similar phenomenon earlier with other tech luminaries Steve Jobs and Bill Gates born in the same year (1955). Credit:AP The factors come together It wasn't all boys who used the first PCs rather, those from predominantly affluent areas. In 1981, the average PC cost $US1,565, or about $US4,100 in 2016 dollars. And if you wanted to buy the first Macintosh when it came out in 1984, you had to fork over $US2,495, or nearly $US5,700 today. Sam Altman, the 32-year-old president of Y Combinator, Silicon Valley's largest startup accelerator, said growing up in St. Louis he had a Mac LC II at home, but most of his hacking took place on his elementary school's Mac IIGS. He would spend hours writing simple programs a luxury kids living in poorer areas, with poorer schools, wouldn't necessarily have. "You could write a program to print all the prime numbers, and come back to school the next morning and the computer's run all night, and it's gotten to like to prime number a million-something," he told Business Insider. "And you think it's so cool." When the dot-com bubble formed in the late 1990s, the kids writing these simple programs were now in their late teens. And since the internet's transformation was on display for all to see, through news media and the internet itself, these teens had a front-row seat, says Paul Saffo, a Stanford consulting professor and technology forecaster. This visibility, Saffo claims, is ultimately what separated the new tech generation from the old. "During the dot-com bubble, when so many people are starting companies, you say to yourself, 'Well, that's not an aberration,'" which is how many viewed Gates' and Jobs' rise to prominence, he told Business Insider. Instead people said, "That's a career track." That mixture years of preparation as a kid combined with a budding tech landscape on the verge of tectonic change ended up sending a slew of young tech geeks into a field that would write history books. "The mobile explosion was starting to take off," Tim Bajarin said. "And the opportunity was very large." The next big thing Not all of today's most prominent tech founders are in their 30s. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is 46. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is 53. Likewise, a number of younger founders born after that early 1980s wave are rising to the top. Evan Spiegel and Bobby Murphy, the cofounders of Snap, are 27 and 29, respectively. Nor did every founder between 33 and 36 launch their company at the same time. Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook in his college dorm in 2004, for example, while John Zimmer didn't cofound Lyft until 2012. More important are the experiences they had growing up, and the relationships they formed to technology at the time. Altman says he grew to have such a fascination with computer programming specifically because he could write simple code that would print out strings of prime numbers. It didn't matter he wasn't creating super-smart apps the seeds of inspiration were getting planted at the right time, with tech that was sufficiently hackable. "If you give a kid an iPad today, they will have a great time," Altman said. "But if you want to go make an app for an iPad it's a lot of work. A 7-year-old is not going to figure that out for him- or herself." According to Saffo, the same wave Gates and Jobs rode and which resurfaced for Zuckerberg and many others is poised to happen a third time in the field of genomics. He said technologies like CRISPR, a gene editing tool, are ripe for innovation in the coming decade. Loading Altman, however, said to look at whatever the smartest kids in the best universities are talking about, and ignore the hype. "Because everybody says that," he said, "I expect that it's wrong." NRB board on the path to wreck the institution The board of directors of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank, is mulling over taking a decision that is expected to be detrimental not only to the institution but other state-owned commercial banks operating in the country as well. "To change the date of Australia Day would be to turn our back on Australian values, on the great achievement of 24 million Australians here in the greatest, most successful multicultural society in the world." The federal government issued its ban under the Australian Citizenship Act on Wednesday afternoon, meaning Yarra councillors could no longer receive a pledge of commitment at a citizenship ceremony. The council had been warned that any push to cancel ceremonies on Australia Day would be seen as a significant breach of the citizenship protocol, Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Alex Hawke said. Prospective citizens will be sent to ceremonies held by neighbouring councils. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection will also step in to hold ceremonies within Yarra's boundaries if needed, including on Australia Day next year. Mr Hawke also said he had written to the Minister for Local Government and Territories, asking for an examination of funding provided to Yarra Council for citizenship ceremonies. He said the federal government would not tolerate councils using citizenship ceremonies to campaign against Australia Day being celebrated on January 26. "I am surprised and disappointed that the City of Yarra has chosen to pursue this divisive approach," he said. Yarra mayor Amanda Stone said she had not expected the federal government would follow through on its threat to ban the council from holding citizenship ceremonies. She said she would have preferred that the minister pick up the phone. "It's unnecessary and an overreaction," she said. "We asked for a discussion but he's chosen to act instead. It's a shame." Not being able to host citizenship ceremonies in Yarra was disappointing, Cr Stone said, as the council was proud of its diverse community. The area is home to a strong Vietnamese population. However, she stood by the decision, saying that there had been a lot of support. "People feel it's a very brave move, it's overdue," she said. "I think the bottom line is you have to listen to your community. "It's not unanimous, very little is, but there's a growing movement around [changing] the date. These are conversations we've had for a long time with our Aboriginal community, we just haven't acted on them." The council has held citizenship ceremonies throughout the year, the first of which takes place on January 26, according to its website. Opposition leader Bill Shorten was also against the move, saying that reconciliation was "more about changing hearts and minds" than moving a public holiday. "It is a day of citizenship ceremonies, of looking to the future, of celebrating all our cultures and faiths and traditions," he said. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the move from the council was unnecessary. "You can celebrate what modern Australia is and citizenship ceremonies are a big part of that it's truly a magical thing," he told the ABC. "I don't think anybody should be trying to diminish that. "I think we get the balance right [on Australia Day]. We respect the traditional owners of our land, but we then get on in a really unified way." Victorian opposition leader Matthew Guy said the decision was symbolic of a local government that wasn't focused on its real job. He said if Yarra Council didn't "pull its head in" then they should be sacked by the state government. "Australia Day is a day of celebration and inclusion and these councillors are using it to drive a wedge through our community," he said. Preparations underway to bring back rhinos swept to India during floods Preparations are underway to bring back the endangered one-horn rhinos that were swept away or dislocated to various places in the country and bordering India by the recent floods. Chandan Kumar Mandal is the environment and migration reporter for The Kathmandu Post, covering labour migration and governance, as well as climate change, natural disasters, and wildlife. Recent dry conditions led the Brazos County Commissioners Court to authorize an immediate 90-day burn ban on Tuesday. No outdoor burning is allowed for the 90 days the ban is in effect. A document released by the county Tuesday afternoon states that an officer or the fire chief responding to a scene of a violation can inform responsible parties of the ban and record that discretionary warning. After that order, future or flagrant violations could be prosecuted according to the statutes, which Precinct 3 Justice of the Peace Rick Hill said is a Class C misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500. Hill said the fine for the illegal burning charge varies from county to county, but in Brazos County it comes out to $252. The ban, which went into effect Tuesday morning, expires Nov. 12. Brazos County Sheriff Chris Kirk said that the dry and windy weather conditions at this time of year are a dangerous combination that could put county residents at risk. "Any errant spark could get out of hand," he said of the potential for a fire. Outdoor cooking and open-flame devices are prohibited during the ban's duration. Cooking devices that utilize propane or natural gas and have a complete and full enclosure are exempted from the ban. Wood or charcoal cooking devices that have an enclosure also are exempt, provided the surrounding area is clear of vegetation and combustible materials. Welding may be allowed if a spotter is provided for each welder, cutter or grinder, as well as for any activity that could cause a spark. A minimum radius of 25 feet or three times the height of the welding, whichever is greater, must be maintained; at least 100 gallons of water must be kept on site; and a minimum of one water-pressure fire extinguisher per spotter must be maintained. Welding is not allowed if winds are greater than 20 miles per hour or relative humidity is less than 30 percent. Welders must give notice to the Brazos County risk manager or Brazos County Emergency Services by calling 979-361-3888. "We haven't had to do this in a really, really long time," Michele Meade, Brazos County emergency management coordinator, told the commissioners before recommending the ban. Meade estimated that there hasn't been a burn ban in the county for more than a year. Meade said her office found that soil drought numbers increased for the surrounding counties despite recent rainfall, and that without significant rain, moisture levels have been dropping. According to a Fire Danger Report released from the Brazos County Department of Emergency Management, numbers from the Keetch-Byram Drought Index -- used to determine forest fire potential -- were listed at an average of 597 in Brazos County. Leon County had the highest KBDI average in the Brazos Valley, at 614. As of today, there are 80 counties in the state enforcing burn bans, including Robertson, Waller and Limestone counties, according to the Texas A&M Forest Service. Most of these counties are located in West or Central Texas. The Texas Interagency Coordination Center lists the forecast and observed fire danger for Bryan-College Station as moderate. Hill said he thinks most residents are mindful of the ban and wary of the possibility of fire during hot, dry and windy Texas months. "You're putting yourself and your property in danger," he said. Experts say you won't want to miss Monday's solar eclipse -- but take precautions when watching the historic celestial event. "Eclipses happen twice a year," wrote Jennifer Marshall of Texas A&M's physics and astronomy department in an email to The Eagle, "but they can only be viewed from a small region on Earth, so they seem like rare events. The last time a total solar eclipse was visible by the entire U.S. was in 1918." When the sun goes dark: 5 questions answered about the solar eclipse How do we know when an eclipse is going to happen? How do we know in advance where it will be visible? Monday's event, in which occurs the moon will pass in front of the sun -- will be visible from coast to coast. Locally, about 70 percent of the sun will be obscured, starting in late morning. The peak of the eclipse in Bryan-College Station is expected to be around 1:11 p.m. Monday Nicholas Suntzeff, distinguished professor within the Texas A&M department of physics and astronomy, warns curious observers to be wary that a direct look at even a small portion of the sun is harmful to the human eye. "When the moon actually blocks the sun out, we call that a total eclipse, and that's the only time it's safe to directly look at the eclipse," Suntzeff said. "... Most kids have used a magnifying glass to burn a piece of paper or something like that. That light [can be] the same temperature as the sun, and it's the same situation when considering the lens in your eye. Looking at the sun will burn your retinas." To combat this problem, goggles and special lenses are available that allow the human eye to safely view the bright light of the sun. Not all viewing apparatus are created equal or correctly advertised, Suntzeff noted, and he suggested visiting the American Astronomical Society's website at http://bit.ly/eclipseAAS or NASA's official website at http://bit.ly/eclipsehelp to ensure that eye protection being purchased is safe. He also said those not wishing to order items online can visit a welding supply store and purchase welding glasses with a lens shade index of 12 or higher. The Texas A&M department of physics and astronomy is hosting an eclipse-watching party on campus for both students and members of the general public, where telescopes with protective lenses will be available for close looks at the eclipse. The party will be at the Rudder Plaza fountain area on campus from 11:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Monday. Astronomy faculty members and students will be on hand to assist and answer any questions. The City of Bryan also welcomes everyone to view the eclipse by picking up safety glasses at the Clara B. Mounce Public Library. The library has 1,000 pairs of glasses available to give out, and glasses are free to take so long as the recipient sits through a short safety presentation. Glasses pickup and safety presentations will be at the library at 3 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. Monday. Also Monday, the library will have Texas A&M Astronomy Club volunteers available at the library's south lawn to help the public properly view the eclipse at 11:30 a.m. How eclipses were regarded as omens in the ancient world On Monday, August 21, people living in the continental United States will be able to see a total solar eclipse. While glancing at the eclipse may sound simple enough, Suntzeff said viewing such a disturbance of natural normalcy will feel nothing short of astounding. Shadows of objects will shift, the sun's image will be visible in some shadows, and nocturnal animals will behave strangely because of the change in light. "It's an experience that is indescribable," he said. "You feel like you're a part of some larger thing in the universe. ... Eclipses are such majestic events, most cultures have different explanations of what's going on in the sky." Marshall gave a similar statement about the bizarre effects of the eclipse. Eclipsing the occult in early America: Benjamin Franklin and his almanacs By the time he was 20 years old, colonial American Benjamin Franklin had already spent two years working as a printer in London. He returned t "The sky will look somewhat darker during the eclipse," she wrote to The Eagle. "The most notable thing in my experience is that the shadows cast on the ground look strange. I remember watching a partial solar eclipse as a child and noticed that the shadow of the spaces between my fingers had eclipse-shaped bumps on them. You'll have to check it out for yourself... Astronomy student technician Doyeon Kim, who will be organizing the campus viewing party, said she can remember hearing Eastern tales and fables about solar eclipses. "In the East, people thought the sun was sacred, so they thought solar eclipses were bad signs for the country," she said. "Some countries believed that a dragon was eating the sun during the solar eclipse. Koreans believed that the solar eclipse was caused by the anger of a god. They thought the god was mad at the king and government because they ruled the country poorly. Thus, the king had to pray till the solar eclipse was over." For more information on the eclipse and the party hosted on campus, visit astronomy.tamu.edu. For more information on receiving glasses from the Bryan + College Station Public Library System, visit www.bcslibrary.org/solar-eclipse/. A 22-year-old College Station man was arrested on child pornography charges Monday after an investigation that originated in Missouri led police to the him. According to College Station police, officers were contacted in November by police in Harrisonville, Missouri. The Missouri officers said they were investigating a case in which a 13-year-old girl in their city had exchanged nude photos with several adult men via the smartphone app KIK. The investigation showed one of the men may live in College Station. Authorities tracked down Jesse Wayne Godfrey III, 22, at a home in College Station. Godfrey's phone was seized and a search was conducted. Though a connection to the Missouri teen was not found, police say they did find graphic images of an underaged girl saved on the phone. Godfrey is charged with two counts of possession of child pornography, a third-degree felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $10,000 in fines. Godfrey was released from the Brazos County Jail on $16,000 bond. President Donald Trump is slated to raise money in Texas next month. Trump will headline a fundraiser Sept. 27 in Dallas, according to an invitation obtained by The Texas Tribune. The fundraiser will benefit Trump Victory, a joint fundraising committee that goes toward Trump's campaign and the Republican National Committee. Tickets to the event range from $2,700 per person to $100,000 per couple. Hosts of the event include senior RNC officials as well as some Texas donors and bundlers who supported Trump in his 2016 campaign. They include Dallas businessman Doug Deason, oil tycoon Harold Hamm, Laredo banker Dennis Nixon, Jeanne Phillips, a former U.S. Ambassador under President George W. Bush and oil and gas attorney Gaylord Hughey, a top GOP bundler in East Texas. Reporter Abby Livingston contributed to this report. It would be better to talk with North Korea than to fight The concept of "face" is extremely important in Korean culture. The past two North Korean Leaders have asked for an audience with the president of the United States and have been denied. If one asks for something and they are "rebuked," they have lost face. Based on this I would suggest that the current North Korean president may feel that he has "lost face". One of the worst experiences a Korean can have is to "loose face." In order to regain "face" in the eyes of the North Korean citizens, the leader must act as if he can deal with the United States. It seems to me that it is better to talk with North Korea than to fight. What is wrong with our president talking to Kim Jung Un? Why not just say "let's talk" instead of "let's fight"? L.G. CRUM College Station Let's get ready to take down Mount Rushmore's presidents Why stop the cleansing of our history efforts with the unceremonious removal of statues and monuments depicting the likenesses of men such as Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis? If we truly are serious about becoming the enlightened society that we all should be striving to be, we'll need to remove all vestiges of American historical figures who owned (or condoned the ownership of) slaves and perhaps, too, those men who employed indentured servants. The removal of such reminders of our evil past must include depictions of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of men such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, U.S. Grant, Andrew Jackson, James Madison and, yes, our own Sam Houston. (Incidentally, of the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention, 27 were slave owners.) Additionally, in order to cleanse our history, we must exclude from text books all references to leaders and institutions of our Southern states that were a part of the Confederacy during the Civil War and prior to April 9, 1865. This revisionist effort will not be easy. For example, demolishing the likenesses of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson from Mount Rushmore, alone, will be a monumental task (pun intended). But hey, we're Americans and by working together, we can wipe out anything that we make up our minds to destroy. Go team! LYLE D STOCKMOE College Station Understanding that there are times when opioids are needed I can't believe Philip Treadwell has this kind of mindset! If he could spend a day in my body, then say he never will take another Narcan shot or opioid ever again... . If he can live the next 10 years without any kind of pain relief. I lost my leg 10 years ago. I have had all the opioids available. I still take some because my pain level is so high every day. I still work full time, even though the pain is so bad at times it is hard to function. Without the opioids, I could not. Yes, 10 years, knowing the drugs are taking precious years off my life. I use them as needed for pain. That's why doctors prescribe them. In order to get them refilled, you must pass a drug screen each time. I'm now in my 60s, so for the past 10 years, I've been facing this head on, not running away from it! I've had more than 20 procedures: surgeries, injections, ablations, a major revision removing another three inches of my leg -- trying to get rid of my pain so I can get off opioids! Hopefully he never has a traumatic accident as I did, since he obviously as not as strong. I've never reached for a "rusty chainsaw" to get more. This was not my choice, believe me. I would much rather still have my leg and no pain. Obviously God has a plan. I'm still alive as a part of that plan. May God bless Philip Treadwell if he ever does need true pain relief! GLENN HIGHFILL Bryan Extreme inefficiency and illogicality And the domination of electricity in the America suburbs, enforced by the monopoly power of General Electric, which helped kill off the established solar electricity generation industry of the early 20th century. This isnt just history it feeds into the debates of today. Knowing that the choice to run down public transport in the interests of the individual motor car actually raised transport costs and journey times is a useful fact. The authors make the powerful point that in a real democracy, its unlikely that the roads would have been given over to the domination of cars something some cities are just starting to repair. Bonneuil and Fressoz recount many excellent examples of the extreme inefficiency and illogicality of the choices made: maize production used to produce 10 calories of food for each calorie input - but now, in the age of industrial farming, were down to three for one. And they highlight how these were not the choices of ignorance. Even in the 1770s in Normandy, fishermen understood the importance of wrack (seaweed) as spawning beds for their catch, demonstrating that complex understanding in a letter to the Academy of Sciences to protest the weed beds destruction for industrial production of glass. A truly global perspective Some of the examples youll likely have encountered before, such as the automobile interests in the US doing for the street cars. But many of them you wont: one advantage of getting out of the Anglophile world is visiting new stories and new angles. And this is a truly global perspective, setting out evidence for the way in which the driving phenomenon of the Great Acceleration embarked on from 1945-73 was the tremendous ecological indebtedness of the Western industrial countries. Lots of the facts you learned at school will be challenged. The Shock is particularly good on explaining how the Industrial Revolution was built on innovations in traditional, non-fossil fuel technologies such as animal breeding - American draught horses getting 50 percent more powerful in three decades to the 1890s. This is an important book, an informative and interesting book, and anyone thinking about where we go from here should read it. It wears its erudition and intellectual depth relatively lightly unlike some texts Ive read translated from the French. This isnt quite a popular book, but it is accessible to anyone with an interest in the future of our planet and the human race. And crucially, it is an optimistic book. In an age when many are wrestling with despair, its conclusion is uplifting: To strive for decent lives in the Anthropocene means freeing ourselves from repressive institutions, from alienating dominations and imaginaries. It can be an extraordinary emancipatory experience. Or in the terms I use, we can stop trashing the planet and create a decent life for all at the same time. This Author Natalie Bennett is the Green Party candidate for Sheffield Central and was leader of the party until 2016. She tweets at @natalieben. Making a return to our two favourite summer locations, Mount Maunganui and Nelson in early January 2023, we've got whiff of the first release lineup and me oh my, yes boy On Friday, the Franklin County Sheriffs Office graduated attendees of its second annual day camp for young people called Virginia Rules. The camp is designed to introduce local youth to laws and legal practice. During Virginia Rules Camp 2017, young participants had the opportunity to build positive relationships with law enforcement. The camp actually helped us be closer to the police department, camper Elizabeth Montgomery said. It also helped us learn about working with a team. The day camp was held Monday through Friday of last week at the W.E. Skelton 4-H Center. In order to make the experience possible, the Franklin County Sheriffs Office received a $5,000 grant from the Office of Attorney General Mark Herring. On the last day of camp, there was a graduation ceremony held at Benjamin Franklin Middle School for the young people and their parents. One camper, Libby Jeans, stated the week-long camp taught her how to work well as a team member. Another camper, Ryder Wooldridge, agreed with Jeans and said it was really fun. During the ceremony, Sheriff Bill Overton discussed a few of the reasons for having the camp and how the community benefits from it. He also thanked the campers and their parents for their participation. Thank you for the hard work that you all did, Overton said. We look forward to working with you even more. We always want to make sure that we are doing things that are productive and the parents think are important. Overton ended his speech by congratulating everyone and encouraging them to take what they have learned throughout the week and apply that knowledge. Im so grateful and thankful that you all took on this challenge and I hope youll use what you learned when you go on to school, Overton said. Finding a balance between profit and social impact has long been an issue for entrepreneurs. It's also spawned a debate: On one side (profit), the argument leans toward the golden rule of business: Increase shareholder value. An investment that cannot be demonstrated as making a measurable impact on company value should not be made in the first place. Related: 4 Ways Employers are Using Corporate Social Responsibility To Recruit Millennials On the other side (social impact), the argument says that the community the business serves is also a shareholder and so deserves consideration as well. By complying with this view, companies oblige themselves to protect the shareholders of the "community." They do this by developing and implementing a strategy of corporate social responsibility (CSR). En route, there is clearly a balance to be struck. But regardless of which side you lean toward, there are entrepreneurs leading the way in social impact, people like Joshua Schukman, founder of Social Change Nation, an organization focused on bringing together entrepreneurs from around the world who are making an impact while still making a profit. Before founding Social Change Nation, Schukman spent a decade working with companies to develop cause-driven brands such as AmeriCorps, Habitat for Humanity and World Relief. Through his work with numerous social entrepreneurs,, Schukman developed a "blueprint" for other companies to balance profit with social impact. Here are several companies pursuing that aim, as outlined in their website quotes: David Smith, Cotaxi "Make your followers part of something larger than themselves." A company pursuing an important social cause has an advantage. By empowering its supporters through the company's social mission, it can create a strong and loyal following who share similar values. Cotopaxi produces and sells innovative outdoor products and experiences. Smith has said he created it in order to "fund sustainable poverty alleviation and move people to go good." The company strives for this goal by, among other actions, providing targeted grants to nonprofits, having employees volunteer at local farms and helping to install irrigation pumps in Myanmar. Related: Corporate Social Responsibility Can Give Entrepreneurs an Edge By regularly engaging with its customers and communicating its social cause, Cotaxi strengthens its bond with its fans. Vincent Ko, Panda "Creating movements that spark conversations." To create a social movement, you need to get people talking about -- and willing to accept -- the need for change. Ko founded Panda, a fashion brand that prides itself on being "fashion with a purpose," because fashion and the fashion industry rely heavily on branding and conversations with consumers. By leveraging a strong fashion brand, Panda can better communicate its emphasis on the importance of producing products from "sustainable materials that are kind to the environment and [promote giving] back to the community." Bridget Hilton, LSTN "Wear your heart on your sleeve." Social entrepreneurs should not be shy about -- and indeed need to be -- promoting their cause as a means of building their personal brand and following. Hilton founded LSTN with the goal of "changing lives through the power of music." Proceeds from the sale of all LSTN music products go to providing hearing aids to people with hearing problems in underdeveloped parts of the world. Hilton is not bashful about leveraging her cause to promote her brand, which through her advocacy and public persona has helped raise the visibility of her company and her cause. Tyler Merrick, Project 7 "Make your product or service the star of the show and your cause the supporting actor." A social cause is a great objective, but without a real company producing a quality product behind it, the cause will never be realized. Merrick founded Project 7 with the mission of producing and selling a line of specialty gum and mint chewables "dedicated to bringing great flavor back into your day while at the same time giving back to seven areas of need." Merrick understands that the snack food industry is crowded and highly competitive, which is why his mission focuses first on great flavor and second on giving back. If his products don't resonate with his customers, he has no business -- and therefore no cause. Zac Holzapfel, Mission Belt Company "Don't be afraid to sell yourself. Remember, where there's no margin, there can be no mission." Entrepreneurs on a social mission sometimes fail to recognize the most important part of business -- it needs to make a profit. A strong business model and profit strategy is just as important as the social mission. Holzapfel's company, Mission Belt Company, which produces "no-holes" belts, is aiming to disrupt the fashion accessory industry with its unique and innovative design. The company's number one focus is making a profit -- reducing costs and increasing sales (a goal which included an appearance on ABC's Shark Tank). Holzapfel understands that in order to fulfill the company's social mission -- providing microloans to entrepreneurs in the developing world -- it needs to make money first. Hayley Besheer, Madi Apparel "Nurture your impact partnerships. They will be the key to your success." Like any business, success in social entrepreneurship depends greatly on the partnerships it creates while pursuing its mission. Besheer's company, Madi ("Make a Difference Intimate") Apparel is a lingerie brand that aims to "make a difference in all areas of the underwear industry" by producing garments from sustainable bamboo. The company has fostered relationships with U.S. and international domestic violence shelters and donates one pair of underwear for every pair sold, to support victims of domestic violence. Kyle Parsons, Indosole "Build a community of customers." Great companies attract customers who become advocates and promoters for the brand. At a company with tighter margins, leveraging this support becomes even more important for social entrepreneurs. Parsons' company, Indosole, which produces and sells a line of sandals and shoes made entirely of repurposed old tires, has achieved a great deal of visibility thanks in large part to its community of customers, who support and advocate the company's quest to save one million tires from landfills. Brittain Kovac, Hostel KC "Use your raw materials." For startup entrepreneurs, "bootstrapping" is a regular part of the daily lexicon. For social entrepreneurs, bootstrapping is a way of life. Kovac did not originally start Hostel KC because she wanted to offer accommodations. Instead, she had a desire to start a business and make an impact in under-developed areas of the Caribbean where she had experience. At the start, after a great deal of consideration, she realized she had access to a 900-square-foot warehouse, which she quickly fixed up and made into a five-bed hostel. Today, the modest hostel is on a mission: "For every 300 beds booked, Hostel KC will build a home for a family in need in the Caribbean." Related: 3 Tips for Making Social Responsibility a Priority at Your Startup These are just a few of the many entrepreneurs straddling the line of profitable company and social impact. What other companies do you know about? Related: Lessons in Social Entrepreneurship from the People Making a Real Impact 10 Ways Small Businesses Can Give Back Without Breaking the Bank The Best Way to Move Your Excess Inventory Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NORWALK A convicted felon was found with a handgun and fentanyl-laced heroin packaged for sale during a search warrant execution by narcotics officers, police said. Police said narcotics officers received information that Terrence Voss, 27, was selling heroin in Norwalk. Officer Owen Lee of the departments Special Services Division investigated the allegations against Voss and obtained a search warrant for Voss residence. On Tuesday at 6:30 a.m. police executed the search warrant at the mans West Cedar Street home. Police said they found 23 bags of heroin mixed with fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid that has caused numerous overdose deaths in the area. Officers also found a 9 mm Hi-Point handgun in the living room, police said. Police said that two children, ages 2 and 8, live at the residence and that the heroin and the gun were easily accessible to them. According to court records, Voss was convicted in 2008 of first-degree robbery with a firearm. He was sentenced then to four years in prison followed by four years of special parole. As a convicted felon, Voss is not permitted to possess a gun. Voss was charged Tuesday with criminal possession of a pistol or revolver, possession of narcotics, possession of narcotics with intent to sell, possession of narcotics within 1,500 feet of a school, possession of narcotics with intent to sell within 1,500 feet of a school, and risk of injury to a minor. His bond was set at $50,000 and he was given a court date of Aug. 24. Court records show that Voss also has charges pending from a February 2017 arrest in Norwalk. He was charged then with possession of a controlled substance, possession of narcotics with intent to sell, interfering with an officer, possession of narcotics within 1,500 feet of a school, possession of narcotics with intent to sell within 1,500 feet of a school. His bond was set at $50,000 for those charges, and he was released from custody after posting bond. llake@hearstmediact.com Youve likely heard a bit about Googles splash into the deep end of the job search pool. As the recognized authority in search, Google is a natural to impact the way people find jobs. And Google CEO Sundar Pichai has long noted the company wants to use its deep experience in machine learning to make an immediate impact on people's lives. But, it will also transform the hiring practices of companies everywhere, especially small ones. As countless industry pundits have stated, its a game changer for job boards. While the Chicken Littles of the recruitment world have worried its a job board killer, it will actually make job boards and career sites much more effective. And since thats how the majority of small companies hire their employees, it stands to reason it will seriously impact for the better those hiring -- you! Related: Having Trouble Hiring the Right Employees? Maybe It's Your Tech's Fault. It will expose you to more (relevant) talent. Nexxt surveyed professionals and only 14 percent of them said they were actively searching for a new job. Those people tended to search and apply to jobs weekly, or even daily. Nexxt's VP of marketing, Joe Weinlick, wrote, That means employers who rely entirely on job board advertising are not engaging with 86 percent of potential candidates. And yet, 58 percent of professionals are open to offers." "At Nexxt ... we know our traffic spikes on Mondays," he added. "People come to work on Monday, tired and frustrated, and they decide to look at some jobs. And when those jobseekers start searching, what search engine are they most likely to use? Google, of course. More than 77 percent of search traffic belongs to Google -- so most job searches already start on Google. Google for Jobs is designed with an intuitive interface to capture the specific requirements of job seekers through filters. Google analyzed millions of searches to apply machine learning to solve problems like mismatch, says Jeff Dickey-Chasins, more commonly known as The Job Board Doctor -- "for example, a job seeker types in server jobs Chicago. Are they looking for jobs working in a server farm -- or front-of-house jobs in a restaurant? Related: 8 Reasons You're Losing the Best Talent to Your Competition Lets face it, everyone knows how to Google, but most candidates arent familiar enough with Boolean logic to refine searches properly. Now, in addition to avoiding mismatch when they search for positions, job searchers will be able to filter by location or area and even commute time. Further filters will be possible based on aspects such as job level; job experience; job title; nature of work such as full-time, part-time or remote; industry and job timeline. With unusual benefits and locations (as compared to enterprise hiring managers), smaller companies may be able to come up in searches based on these filters, much like lesser known airlines come up in a Google Flights search. It will make the job boards and your career pages you use more effective. Google designed the search engine to work with, instead of competing against, other platforms. This will considerably streamline the job-hunting process for both jobseeker and hiring professionals. There are two parts to Google for Jobs. There is a schema to use for marking up your jobs and submitting them to Google and the Google for Jobs Cloud API. Related: Your Company Can Compete With Companies Like Facebook for Top Talent. Here's How. Both are available to both employers and job sites, meaning you can optimize your own jobs and if you use job boards to promote your jobs (and they choose to use Google for Jobs schema or API, which many are likely to do as early results show much more relevant matching), jobs will appear much faster and relevant. Google provides detailed instructions and lists the benefits: Prominent place in search results: Your postings are eligible to be displayed in the dedicated Job Search UI, featuring your logo, reviews, ratings and job details. More motivated applicants: The new user experience enables job seekers to filter by various criteria like location or job title, meaning youre more likely to attract applicants who are looking exactly for that job. Increased chances of discovery and conversion: Job seekers will have a new avenue to interact with your postings and click through to your site. Related: 3 Ways to Eliminate Hiring Roadblocks and Improve Workforce Planning It will give you matching and tracking capabilities. In small companies, theres usually not a huge budget to dedicate to recruiting and hiring. In fact, one out of three small to mid-sized companies do not currently have an Applicant Tracking System (ATS) in place. Many predict adding more sophisticated search to job listings is an avenue for Google to compete on a corporate level, and expose more companies to Google Hire (the companys ATS product). While the job postings will make it easier for candidates to find your jobs (and make their search results more relevant) it will also reduce the mismatched applicants many recruiters have to sort through. With a complementary ATS, the machine learning component could morph into predictive analytics in the very near future. According to Pichai, Google is determined to crack the code on matching available jobs with the right candidates. Bottom line is the majority of jobseekers go to Google when they want to search for anything, including jobs. Just as the search giant understands consumer search, its going to use that knowledge to transform the way hiring is done. Related: Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved This article originally appeared on entrepreneur.com Gov. Pete Ricketts was on hand Tuesday to help celebrate the opening of Hendrix Genetics new hatchery in Grand Island. The $18.5 million facility at 2325 W. Schimmer Drive covers 20 acres in the northeast section of Grand Islands Platte Valley Industrial Park-East. Along with Ricketts, representatives of Hendrix Genetics from Europe and North America were in attendance. The new hatchery operation will serve 10 percent of the U.S. market demand. It is a fantastic state-of-the-art facility for this hatchery, said Ricketts, who toured the facility with Nebraska Department of Agriculture Director Greg Ibach. The governor called the plant a great example of value-added agriculture and how we are going to grow Nebraska. It is not only a $20 million investment here that will create between 40 to 50 jobs, but it is going to allow area farmers to put up these barns for the eggs that will supply this hatchery and a diversified revenue stream for those farmers who are participating, Ricketts said. The farmers who are putting up the barns to raise the eggs for Hendrix Genetics will be feeding their layers feed thats coming from out state, he said. It is an example of how we take a commodity and add value to them in order to grow our state and grow our economy, Ricketts said. By continuing to focus on value-added agriculture, like with the Hendrix Genetics facility, he said, jobs will be created that will allow the next generation of Nebraskans to remain in the state. Attending the ceremony was Antoon van den Berg, chief executive officer of Hendrix Genetics. This is a showcase for the company, van den Berg said. He said having the facility in Nebraska is important. It is a big important and high-value market, van den Berg said. Currently, Hendrix Genetics has 25 percent of the U.S. market. We needed the facility here to grow markets, van den Berg said. After searching throughout the U.S. for a location for a new hatchery, he said, the company found that the Grand Island location fitted its goal to expand its market share because of the communitys central location in the U.S. and the fact that it isnt located in a densely populated area for biosecurity. I think Nebraska has done an excellent job to motivate us to build here, van den Berg said. Dave Taylor, president of the Grand Island Area Economic Development Corp., said the Hendrix Genetics plant will add 43 jobs and represents a more than $40 million infusion to the area economy. Taylor said the facility will not only have an economic impact on Grand Island, but Central Nebraska as a whole. In addition to the main hatchery in Grand Island, 11 outlying barns to support the facility are planned for development within 100 miles of the facility, with eight already in progress or complete. The barns are located in Buffalo, Fillmore, Franklin, Nuckolls, Merrick, York, Clay and Gosper counties. It is a very exciting time for us and for our ag economy with the addition of poultry, Taylor said. The Grand Island Area Economic Development Corp. played a large role in recruiting Hendrix Genetics to Grand Island. Just being able to hire 43 new people to the area is really exciting, Taylor said. Serve Hermans, Hendricks Genetics managing director for layers, said the company is pleased to be opening our state-of-the-art layer hatchery in Grand Island. The city and state offered a number of benefits for our operations, including proximity to our customers and feed sources, strong partnership with local representatives and community incentives, Hermans said. The opening is just the next step in building a long and positive relationship with the Grand Island people and establishing our production hub here in Nebraska to serve the U.S. market with high-quality products. Hermans said the Grand Island plant will produce enough chickens to produce 10 billion eggs or about 25 eggs per person in the U.S. In 2016, the U.S. consumption was estimated at 268.4 eggs per person. Hendrix has two other hatcheries in the U.S. We feel extremely proud here today in this new building so we can contribute to feeding the world, Hermans said. Hendrix Genetics is a privately held, international multi-species breeding company with activities in layer, turkey, swine, traditional poultry and aquaculture breeding. The layer business unit of Hendrix Genetics breeds pure line layers in seven R&D centers, located in Canada, France and the Netherlands, and produces parent stock of day-old chicks in five main production centers, located in Canada, Brazil, Netherlands, France and Indonesia. Hendrix Genetics is headquartered in Boxmeer, the Netherlands. The company has more than 2,800 employees and leads the world in turkey, layer and trout breeding. It also has a growing share in swine, salmon and guinea fowl breeding worldwide. Also attending the ceremony was Doug Metzler, general manager for layers for Hendrix, and Peter Mumm, Hendrix director of business development. This is a huge development for us, said Metzler. It is a wonderful opportunity. It signals a growing business that is exciting and a great opportunity to be involved in distribution in a new area of the country for us. He said the Grand Island facility will produce layer hens that will be sold to Hendrix customers to produce table eggs and eggs for the food product industry. The fertile eggs will come from the 11 area farmers that Hendrix has contracted with as soon as they are hatched. Hendrix provides the producers with the breeding stock. Once the freshly laid eggs come to the plant, theyre incubated for 21 days in the facility. When the baby chicks are hatched, they are distributed to Hendrix customers for their own operations to produce eggs for the industry. To learn more about Hendrix Genetics, visit www.hendrix-genetics.com Christopher Chris Marcello of Grand Island has been selected to serve as the grand marshal for the Nebraska State Fair Celebration Parade with a Salute to Our Veterans on Labor Day, Sept. 4. Marcello will be a guest of the Nebraska State Fair that day. As grand marshal, he will receive 10 complimentary passes for family and friends, lead the daily parade at 4 p.m. and will attend a reception in his honor. Marcello joined the Nebraska National Guard on March 5, 1997. He was deployed to Bosnia (SFOR13) in 2003, then deployed to Ar Ramadi, Iraq, from 2005 to 2006. He was also part of mobilized hurricane relief for Hurricanes Gustov and Ike. He was later deployed to Kabul, Afghanistan, from 2010 through 2011. Marcello lives in Grand Island with his wife and four children. He works as a Grand Island police officer. The Nebraska State Fair is in its eighth year in Grand Island and runs from Friday, Aug. 25, through Monday, Sept. 4. It's not over. Thousands of uncounted ballots remain in Bucks, Montco Bucks County officials do not anticipate all ballots cast Tuesday will be counted - or not - until next week. Leaving House key races in limbo Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Benny Teh Cheng Guan (The Jakarta Post) Penang Wed, August 16, 2017 14:45 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acd1a54 3 Opinion ASEAN,#ASEAN,ASEAN-community,#ASEANCommunity Free While more and more individuals have become aware of ASEANs existence, few understand what it does and perhaps even fewer identify themselves with it. This begs the question of what good ASEAN is if its citizens fail to appreciate its existence. ASEAN leaders who celebrated its 50 years agreed in 2015 under Malaysias chairmanship to adopt a declaration to make ASEAN a people-oriented and people-centered organization. This declaration is in a way an acknowledgment of the organizations shortcomings in spite of its achievements. One of ASEANs biggest achievements is its ability to cultivate a culture of dialogue and consultations that have encouraged member countries to exchange ideas and deal with their differences, and in so doing build confidence and overcome distrust. Southeast Asia has been able to remain peaceful and ASEANs diplomatic and economic standings have increased over time for which its people should appreciate. Yet gratitude comes more from a direct than an indirect relationship. A people-centered ASEAN is not merely about explaining to the wider population what ASEAN is. New spaces must be opened up for people to experience ASEAN and be part of the process. One area that ASEAN has shown efforts is in the youth sector where various programs are being implemented to promote ASEAN awareness and provide youths with the opportunities to contribute to its development. Inclusivity is the key to generating appreciation for ASEAN. Selective inclusivity, i.e. supporting participation of those willing to subscribe to ASEANs ideals while reluctant to engage those who criticize, however will unlikely produce the desired results. Since 2005, the ASEAN Peoples Forum or the ASEAN Civil Society Conference (ACSC) that represents civil society organizations (CSOs) critical on issues such as human rights, discrimination and inequality, justice, democratic process and good governance, has not been able to meaningfully engage ASEAN. Their 2016 statement read, ASEAN civil society remain extremely concerned about ASEANs prevailing silence and lack of attention and response to the observations and recommendations raised in all previous ACSC/APF Statements. After 12 years the Forum and many of its members remain outside of the listed Entities associated with ASEAN. They have also criticized a number of ASEAN mechanisms to support the people-centered notion including the ASEAN Charter and the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). They even wanted to create their own ASEAN Peoples Charter. Therein lies the contention and disconnect between an elite-driven ASEAN and cause-driven CSOs like the Peoples Forum. ASEAN produces statements that show the organizations forward thinking but are short in delivery. ASEANs test of its resolve in transforming itself into a people-centered body representing a community of 625 million people cannot only be measured by the number of people-to-people exchanges across the region or how cheaply goods and services from reduced tariffs have benefitted the public. More imperatively its resolve to become people-centered must be measured by its ability to listen attentively and work with CSOs to genuinely overcome human security threats such as the displacement of persons, kidnapping and disappearance of individuals, corruption, land grabbing, exploited and trafficked migrants, impunity, environmental degradation, sexual discrimination, extrajudicial killing and more. A classic example is the failure of the organization to address the alleged atrocities against the Rohingyas and their displacement. How can ASEAN become people-centered when the Rohingya issue could be kept out of their agenda in the name of non-interference, while it was actively discussed in the UN Human Rights Council, of which Indonesia and the Philippines are current members? The unimproved situation of the Rohingyas and their land confiscation were among issues highlighted by Yanghee Lee, UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, after her latest visit to Myanmar in July 2017. Lee even appealed to ASEAN to take a non-indifference stance on Myanmar. ASEANs silence has indeed been deafening. Worse, reports indicate a growing threat from Islamic State (IS) supporters willing to get involved in support of the Muslim Rohingyas in Myanmar as IS expands to Southeast Asia. ASEAN keeps mum over allegations of human rights violations and its human rights arm the AICHR has no jurisdiction to protect victims despite its purpose to promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms of the peoples of ASEAN. What CSOs consider as issues fit for discussion at the regional level are at times viewed by the ASEAN elites as sensitive and under the purview of individual member states. This disjuncture must be bridged if ASEAN is to positively transform itself. And one way to bridge the division is to develop rigorous spaces for consultations at differing levels between ASEAN officials and civil society movements. Genuine rather than superficial engagement is of utmost importance to develop mutual trust and to bring people-focused issues to the fore. A people-centered ASEAN enforces effective regional governance by working with multiple levels of non-state actors regardless of their political orientations to address threats to peoples wellbeing. For this purpose ASEAN should establish robust mechanisms to not only protect its citizens but also uphold their right to live in dignity. *** The writer is an associate professor at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia and is currently an associate fellow at the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute, Singapore. --------------- We are looking for information, opinions, and in-depth analysis from experts or scholars in a variety of fields. We choose articles based on facts or opinions about general news, as well as quality analysis and commentary about Indonesia or international events. Send your piece to academia@jakpost.com. Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin EDITORIAL (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 16, 2017 07:51 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acb89ee 4 Editorial #Editorial,Independence-Day,#IndependenceDay,democracy,UnityInDiversity,#UnityInDiversity,Pancasila,#Pancasila Free At 72, Indonesia is behaving more like a restless 17-year-old in search of an identity than an old grandpa. And so it should. As a nation, Indonesia should never become like a feeble septuagenarian. We have come a long way since that morning of Aug. 17, 1945, when Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta proclaimed Indonesias independence. Yet, like a budding teenager, this nation still has so many things to look forward to in life. This year sees the nation engaging once more in a debate, at times fiercely, about our identity. Some people may insist that the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI), national motto Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) and state ideology Pancasila have long defined Indonesias identity, and that they are final and binding. But our founding fathers, who came up with these parameters, never intended them to be static concepts. They are, and always will be, open to discussion, certainly for constant reinterpretation and refinement in ever-changing times. The nation went through tumultuous times in the 1950s fighting over the format of the republic, with a series of bloody armed rebellions launched by those fighting against Jakartas over-centralization of the government. Constant ideological battles culminated with the 1965 double-tragedy: the nation may have been spared from communism, but it also marked the beginning of a dark period when all discussion about the states format was virtually banned for more than three decades. Today, as Indonesia becomes a more open and democratic nation, the same concepts regarding the state are once again being scrutinized. Some of these discussions are reenactments of what our founding fathers went through. But we are not beating a dead horse by having the same arguments about issues that our political elite settled 72 years ago. These debates are not necessarily more advanced for no one can match those visionary leaders who bravely decided to proclaim independence, fought tooth-and-nail to defend it and began the nation-building process. The debate today takes place in a completely different context with far greater participation. The progress Indonesia has made in terms of education and economic prosperity and now the internet has brought more people into the conversation. What we lack in terms of intellectualism, we make up for in numbers that no one back then could ever have envisaged. Those who argue that Indonesia is squandering time and resources by debating these old issues are showing their age. Move aside and let the young discuss and determine what they want to do with this nation. This is their time. The duty of the government is to keep the conversation going, ensuring democracy, free speech and credible law enforcement, and to stop any one side from imposing its will on the rest. Our post-independence history shows that trouble begins when people give up conversing and resort to the use of power, oppression and violence. Pray that this conversation never ends. We have come a long way since 1945 and we still have some ways to go. May Indonesia as a nation stay forever young. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Carla Bianpoen (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 16, 2017 09:51 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acbcf2c 4 Art & Culture budi-ubrux,contemporary-art,exhibition,artist,#artist,poverty Free Budi Haryono, better known as Ubrux, rose to fame when he created his iconic language made with newspaper headlines, which he finely hand-copied covering the entirety of his images on canvas to express poignant thoughts and comments. Utterly creepy and profoundly unsettling, the haunting images likening the mummy world, warn and criticize, initially repression and corruption, and later news media that tend to increasingly overwhelm and manipulate real facts, ultimately causing human intellect to malfunction. Extending this language to foreign newspaper language and not limiting himself to canvas, his iconic language also put an accent on sculptures, furniture and installations. Born in 1968 in Bantul, Yogyakarta, the dropout art school initially worked making banners. After a two-year stint in Switzerland as a billboard painter, he held a solo show in Baden, Switzerland. Back in Indonesia, his painting Immacologi won the prestigious Philip Morris Art Award prize ( 2000 ). It featured newspaper wrapped heads as a metaphor of image-making desires. Believe (JP/Carla Bianpoen) Finely hand painted headlines and brief contents of newspapers wrap around his images that make faceless mummified figures, and the original disappearing under the overwhelming news. In fact, Ubruxs concern about manipulating newspapers also relates to photographs and the image-making society, whose real character is hidden behind nice and pleasant images or speeches. But unable to speak fluently himself, he took to wrapping his images with newspapers whose headings express his thoughts. It is not a physical wrapping though, as he finely hand-paints the precise text on his images. Read also: Budi Ubrux: Art imitating life in cowsheds Budi acknowledges the role of newspapers as witnesses to what is happening and he points to De Locomotief, the first newspaper that he considers to have evoked the notion of a national sense. His first solo exhibition in Singapore was held at iPreciation gallery that also published the book Behind the Lines, a comprehensive narrative about the artist. Ubrux explained that his imagination with newspapers was evoked by women jamu (traditional herbal medicine) sellers who were intelligently talking about issues regarding politics and social and everyday affairs. They are like a newspaper, he thought. Being introverted and uncomfortable speaking his mind vocally, the idea of using newspapers to wrap his images on canvas took shape. Ultimately, the newspaper became his artistic instrument to make himself heard. He has taken part in numerous group exhibitions, while having eight solo exhibitions, the most recent being Indonesia at the National Gallery in Jakarta, coinciding with the 72nd anniversary of Indonesias Independence Day. Make a choice: Nasi Bungkus (rice meal wrapped in banana leaf) is part of a display of artworks in a room titled Makar-1. (JP/Carla Bianpoen) This exhibition displays the essence of his personal and conceptual thoughts, the breath of the nation that has held him in an enduring grip. Adding to newspaper wrappings is the nasi bungkus (rice meal wrapped in banana leaf) sculpture as a metaphor for the poor. Filling an entire wall in this exhibition, they appear as a powerful force, equal to the powers filling another wall representing elite figures, such as lawmakers. This accentuates his concern with political foci tending to drift away from the focus on the people. Nasi bungkus is a symbol of solidarity and equality. We are all equal as Indonesian citizens, he says. The trigger: A giant AK4 rifle points at images of wrapped faces on the wall. (JP/Carla Bianpoen) A row of AK4 weapons pointing at the faces on the wall is telling of the artists critique. Up there, they eat nutritious food, while the people have to do with nasi bungkus, he explains. While the newspaper wrapping attest to newspapers as witnesses of Indonesias past and current history, the wraps around faces and figures also indicate Ubruxs sharp critique about newspapers. Atas Nama Rakyat dan Angkringan (On Behalf of the People and Food Stalls) (JP/Carla Bianpoen) Among his strong feelings of positive and negative forces, a peoples food stall titled Angkringan is positioned as a place where everyday workers use to have lunch and sip coffee. The food stall carries newspaper pictures of the ruling elite and actual issues and gossip on the nasi bungkus on offer. In the first row are nasi bungkus with pictures of presidents and figures deemed important such as Sukarno, Abdurrahman Wahid, Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti and Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, while all other personalities are placed in the second and third rows. As one enters the exhibition space at Galeri Nasional, a set of chairs around a table might appear as inviting to sit down and enjoy nasi bungkus. But dont be fooled, it is part of his ongoing exhibition. The entire installation made of wood and titled Mereka Yang Terhormat is meant to inform of the early budding of streams and movements (including in the arts) directed to the birth of a nation. Featuring finely painted text and newspaper headlines as part of newspapers hint at De Locomotief, the first newspaper in colonized Indonesia, and other names linked to the national struggle. This set of furniture installation was handed to national gallery director Andre Sukmana as a gift to augment the gallerys permanent collection. But while newspapers are meant to testify as witnesses to what is happening, today our knowledge about newsmakers is often purely from what we read the real stories often obscured by the sensational headlines and sometimes juicy reporting. In this sense, things are wrapped in paper newspapers today often run untruthful coverage with facts reduced to nothing, he said. His oeuvre testify to an enduring sense of nationalism, a never failing concern for the less fortunate in society and a keen innovation of artistic expression. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (Agence France-Presse) London Wed, August 16, 2017 15:36 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acd31d8 2 Environment Game-of-Thrones,husky,TV-series,#GameofThrones Free Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage on Tuesday urged fans of the series to stop buying huskies because of their similarity to fearsome "direwolves", as many were being quickly abandoned. "To all Game of Thrones' many wonderful fans, we understand that due to the direwolves' huge popularity, many folks are going out and buying huskies," the US actor, who plays Tyrion Lannister, said in a statement issued by the animal rights group PETA. "Shelters are... reporting that many of the huskies are being abandoned -- as often happens when dogs are bought on impulse, without understanding their needs," he said, urging people to adopt other dogs instead. Read also: 'A Dog's Purpose' opens to $18.4 million amid controversy PETA said that since the hugely successful HBO series started in 2011, animal rescue centres in Britain had seen a 700-percent increase in abandoned huskies from around 10 a year to 81 last year. Two rescue groups in Northern California in the United States had also seen their numbers of huskies double over the last two years, it added. PETA said the huskies were being dumped when the "novelty wears off" and their new owners realised the work and commitment required to care for them. The campaign group said the films "101 Dalmatians", "Beverly Hills Chihuahua", "Legally Blonde" and "Men in Black" had caused similar spikes in sales and subsequent abandonment of the featured dog breeds. A number of students with paint-stained clothes, hands and feet were busy decorating the walls of Santo Albertus Catholic senior high school in Dempo, Malang. The students were taking part in a mural competition on Aug. 1. The main theme for the competition was Diversity in Indonesia and was part of a simultaneous celebration of the schools 81st anniversary and Indonesias 72nd Independence Day, which falls on Aug. 17. Nur Kristian from the Intra School Students Organization (OSIS) said that to mark both events, the school students were assigned to paint murals on their schools walls measuring 3 meters wide and 2 meters high each. The mural painting exercise aimed to promote mutual assistance and creativity. Winning the contest was a second priority for the students. What was most important to them was the feeling of togetherness, cohesion and mutual assistance. The students will also share their mural works on social media so they can show the beauty of Diversity in Indonesia to their peers, Nur said. There were 33 murals in total, accentuating different cultures, religions and the importance of tolerance. The students worked on them from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. The school, which was established in 1936, has also embraced diversity by accepting students with different religious beliefs other than Catholicism. This policy has managed to embed a sense of tolerance and appreciation of diversity among students. Adinda Sukma, a second-year Muslim student for example, said that by being a minority, she learned how to carry herself as part of the majority when she was not in school. To enhance the sense of pluralism and tolerance among students, our school has organized this mural contest. We have worked together through self-help to buy wall paint and brushes, she said. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 16, 2017 14:07 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97accff0b 1 City Tidung-Island,festival,Independence-Day,#IndependenceDay Free The Thousand Islands Tourism Agency will host the Tidung Island Festival on Aug. 19-20, during which activities such as a ship decorating competition will take place. Agency head Fajar Haridjaja says the ship decorating competition aims to set a new Indonesian Museum of Records (MURI) record, with at least 30 ships to be decorated simultaneously. The participants of the ship decorating competition will be fishermen from Tidung Island. Around 30 ships will be decorated simultaneously in the competition, and it will be recorded in the Indonesian Museum of Records, Fajar said on Wednesday as quoted by kompas.com. In addition to the ship decorating competition, there will be a mural competition and cultural and art performances during the festival, starting from 9 a.m. People can witness the competitions and performances for free. (vny) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 16, 2017 09:30 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acbc8f4 1 City Independence-Day,City-Hall,activities Free The Jakarta administration plans to celebrate Indonesias 72nd Independence Day by showcasing arts and culture activities at City Hall. The administration will present, among other events, the Keroncong Tugu orchestra, gambus Arabian music, a marawis percussion ensemble, Lenong Betawi comedy theater, a national song performance and a shadow puppet show. The performances will be held from Aug.16 to 19. Gratitude can be expressed through this showcase of creativity, arts and culture. All types of the nations culture will be presented here, Jakarta Governor Djarot Saiful Hidayat said on Tuesday, as quoted by tempo.co. On Wednesday night, City Hall will hold a performance of national songs and the next day, all civil servants must join the Independence Day ceremony at the National Monument (Monas), followed by a gambus performance from various cities and regencies. On Friday, the administration will hold an arts and cultural appreciation night for young people. (wnd) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 16, 2017 07:30 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acb82eb 1 Business contract,Freeport-Indonesia,2041,Luhut-Binsar-Pandjaitan Free Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has said that the contract of gold and copper miner PT Freeport Indonesia will be extended to 2041 as the company agreed to divest 51 percent of its shares to Indonesias entities. Our law says the contract can be extended by 10 years, but because the company has agreed to divest 51 percent of its shares and to construct smelters, a 20-year contract extension is no problem, Luhut said as reported by kontan.co.id on Tuesday. Representatives of PT Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of United States-based mining giant Freeport-McMoRan, have been negotiating with government officials about the conversion of its Contract of Work (CoW), signed in 1991, into a Special Mining License (IUPK). Without a contract extension, Freeports contract is set to expire in 2021. Luhut said the share value of the company would be calculated based on market prices, without taking into consideration the gold and copper reserves in the Papua mining site. We know how to calculate the value of shares, which is in accordance with the universal standard. We cannot calculate the amounts of reserves, which are still inside the earth, said the minister. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 16 2017 State-owned oil and gas company Pertamina replaced its processing and megaproject director, Rachmad Hardadi, on Tuesday. State-Owned Enterprises Ministry announced that Rachmad was honorably discharged and replaced by Ardhy N. Mokobombang, who previously held the position of senior vice president of refining operations at Pertamina. The processing and megaproject director is in charge of six large-scale refinery development and upgrading projects, which Pertamina hopes will decrease Indonesias need to import refined fuels. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 16, 2017 10:56 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acbfb93 1 Business gross-split-scheme,taxation,Regulations,ArcandraTahar Free Energy and Mineral Resources Deputy Minister Arcandra Tahar has said the government has not finished drafting a tax regulation on the gas and oil sector because of differences between the government and oil and gas investors on the gross split scheme. Initially, the government planned to issue the regulation in July, he told reporters during a factory visit in Serang, Banten on Tuesday. Oil and gas investors represented by the Indonesian Petroleum Association (IPA) want the government to maintain the ruling as stipulated in Government Regulation No.79/2010 in which the government will reimburse exploitation and exploration costs, said Arcandra. The idea is to set one flat rate for the producers. We will give them a tax holiday as their production starts. When their production rates go up and they begin earning profit, we will then tax them, he said. He said the idea of the Energy and Mining Resources Ministry was supported by the Finance Ministry. IPA, on the other hand, prefers to take all costs into account before establishing the tax rate, he added. The ministry was still looking for middle ground to solve the disagreement, Arcandra said. (dea/bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 16 2017 The Bogor Police in West Java arrested six alleged online pimps at a hotel in Sentul, Bogor regency, on Monday. The polices spokesperson, Adj. Comr. Ita Puspitalena, said that two suspects, identified only as JS, 46, and OR, 27, were the main players in the business. The other four perpetrators transported [prostitutes] and found customers through WhatsApp [messaging service], Ita said as reported by tribunnews.com. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 16, 2017 16:30 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acd6bb0 1 City Green-Pramuka-City,Dispute Free The management of the Green Pramuka City apartment complex has officially withdrawn its report against comedian Muhadkly, aka Acho, on Wednesday at the Jakarta Police headquarters in South Jakarta. We promise that today we will continue the mediation process between the management of Green Pramuka City and Acho, the lawyer of the management group, Rizal Siregar, said as quoted by kompas.com. He added that the mediation process was facilitated by the Jakarta Police. The report has been withdrawn from the police, while plans are in place to withdraw the case dossier at the Central Jakarta Prosecutor's Office. The Green Pramuka City apartment management in Central Jakarta filed a report against Acho to the Jakarta Police for alleged defamation following his blog post in 2015 that lambasted the service and management of the apartment. Despite having handed the case dossiers over to the prosecutor's office, investigators invited both parties to meet amid growing public outcry against Green Pramuka. The two parties settled their dispute in the second meeting initiated by the Jakarta Police last week. Achos lawyer, Nawawi, said the decision to withdraw the reports was made after the two parties agreed on several things. Acho, for example, is reportedly willing to apologize to the management of the apartment complex. The apartment management, meanwhile, admitted there were shortcomings in its facilities. (vny) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Aman Rochman (The Jakarta Post) Malang, East Java Wed, August 16 2017 A number of students with paint-stained clothes, hands and feet were busy decorating the walls of Santo Albertus Catholic senior high school in Dempo, Malang. The students were taking part in a mural competition on Aug. 1. to Read Full Story SUBSCRIBE NOW Starting from IDR 55,500/month Unlimited access to our web and app content e-Post daily digital newspaper No advertisements, no interruptions Privileged access to our events and programs Subscription to our newsletters We accept Register to read 3 premium articles for free Already subscribed? login Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Srinagar, India Wed, August 16, 2017 12:03 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acc6e1d 2 World India,China,border,Dispute,clash,military Free Indian and Chinese troops clashed briefly on a disputed area of land in the Himalayas, officials said Wednesday, exacerbating tensions during a months-long stand-off between the two armies. Chinese troops threw stones at Indian soldiers near Pangong Lake, a major tourist attraction in the picturesque mountain region of Ladakh on Tuesday, an Indian defence official said. He said Chinese soldiers had twice tried to enter the Indian territory but had been pushed back. "There was a minor incident. There was some stone pelting from the Chinese side but the situation was quickly brought under control," he told AFP on condition of anonymity. The brief confrontation was resolved after Indian and Chinese sides retreated to their respective positions, he added. Police in the north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, where Ladakh is located, said clashes were relatively common along the de facto border known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC). "These things happen every summer but this one was slightly prolonged and more serious but no weapons were used," a police source in Srinagar told AFP. The Pangong lake area lies over 4,000 metres (13,000 feet) high on the Tibetan plateau. The latest incident comes amid an ongoing dispute between the two sides over a strategic Himalayan plateau thousands of kilometres away where hundreds of Indian and Chinese soldiers have been facing off against each other for more than two months. Topics : India China border Dispute clash military Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Arya Dipa (The Jakarta Post) Bandung, West Java Wed, August 16, 2017 19:07 1914 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acdd409 1 Business N219-airplane,flight-test,PTDI-aircraft-industry,bandung Free The Indonesian-made N219 aircraft successfully landed at Husein Sastranegara International Airport in Bandung after a 30-minute test flight on Wednesday. During the test, the plane was piloted by the chief test pilot of state-owned aircraft company PT Dirgantara Indonesia (DI), Captain Esther Gayatri Saleh, and Captain Adi Budi Atmoko. Hundreds of engineers and technicians welcomed the 19-seat aircraft during its smooth landing. It was an emotional moment for some of them, including the chief engineer of PT DI's N219, Palmana Bhanandhi, who was in tears. Read also: Video: N-219: Propelling Indonesias aerospace industry Twenty-two years ago, a N250 twin-engine aircraft with a capacity of 50 passengers, also produced by PT DI, succeeded in its test flight. The difference is that at that time, high ranking officials attended the event, while the employees watched the landing from a distance, said PT DI aircraft development staff expert Andi Alisjahbana. PT DI president director Budi Santoso explained that the plane was the third of four N219 planes being developed by the company. Two planes, he said, would undergo test runs while two were prototypes. We need 300 hours of flight. Today's test was only 30 minutes. We hope that the airplanes will be able to connect people in remote areas, Budi said, adding that the plane was a gift for Indonesias 72nd Independence Day on Thursday. The project, he said, cost US$62 million. We still need additional funds of Rp 200 billion ($14.95 million) to put the plane into production. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 16, 2017 13:58 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97accf98a 1 National #state-address,State-address,#state-of-nation-address,State-of-nation-address,#Jokowi,Jokowi,setya-novanto,#SetyaNovanto,#corruption Free President Joko Jokowi Widodo declared war on corruption and called on everyone to support the campaign, in his annual state address on Wednesday in front hundreds of politicians, some of whom have been implicated in graft cases. We will become a developed nation that can compete with other countries in the world if we have competitiveness. One of the factors derogating our competitiveness is corruption. This is our common enemy," Jokowi said. "Therefore, I call on members of this respected forum and all people in Indonesia to fight corruption." Jokowi's remark seemed to surprise House of Representatives Speaker Setya Novanto, who is a suspect in the e-ID graft case that also implicates dozens of politicians. An ongoing Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigation into the botched e-ID procurement project has prompted the House to launch an inquiry into the antigraft body. The statement also comes following Jokowi's decision not to assign Setya to read out the sacred proclamation text at the State Palace on Independence Day. Jokowi has instead given the honor to People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Zulkifli Hasan, which is in line with calls from antigraft activists to not give the honor to Setya on account of his status in the graft case. (ipa) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Haeril Halim (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 16, 2017 16:00 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acd350b 1 National Jokowi,State-of-nation-address,DrugOffenses,dealers Free The war on drugs was one of the focal points of President Joko Jokowi Widodo's state of the nation address on Wednesday. Jokowi reiterated his commitment despite the recent criticism he has received after it was revealed that law enforcement officers had shot dead a total of 60 alleged drug dealers they argued had been resisting arrest. We stand firm in our war against drug dealers. Narcotics are destroying our youth. Jokowi said. According to data from Amnesty International, at least 60 suspected drug dealers were killed by the police and the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) between January and August, a sharp increase from 18, last year. In July, Jokowi ordered law enforcers to be firm and merciless, especially with foreign drug dealers who enter the country and to shoot them if they resisted arrest. Around 10 drug dealers have been shot dead onsite after Jokowi made the order. Last year, the international community also lambasted Jokowi after Indonesia executed four drug dealers, most of them foreigners. Authorities have sent 18 drug dealers before firing squad since 2015. Jokowi said he would also remain firm in his decisions to protect the countrys sovereignty. We also have to be brave to fight against illegal fishing to protect our natural resources and fishermen. We have shown we are brave by dissolving Petral, Jokowi said referring to the now-defunct oil and gas trading company Pertamina Energy Trading. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 16, 2017 11:19 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acc0c93 1 Politics Jokowi,DPR,legislative-body,Lawmakers,Performance,MPR Free President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo gave a glowing review on Wednesday of the performance of the House of Representatives for passing key legislation, despite criticism that lawmakers have failed to achieve their own targets. In his speech delivered before a special session of the People Consultative Assembly (MPR), Jokowi said that lawmakers had passed laws that would be crucial in helping to propel the government's key development programs for 2017. Jokowi said that some of the 14 laws passed by the House this year could boost exports and also the cut red-tape that had hampered foreign investment. The President also praised the House for jumpstarting internal reforms within the legislative body. "The House has continued carrying out internal reform and has become a modern and trusted representative body," Jokowi said in his address. Watchdog groups have blasted the current batch of lawmakers for failing to meet their own legislative agenda. For 2017, the House planned to endorse 50 priority bills, but as of July this year, it has managed to pass only four bills or eight percent of the total target. Since being inaugurated in 2014, the House has enacted only 15 priority laws, which is a new low for the institution. The 2009-2014 batch of lawmakers endorsed 40 laws in its third year. Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 16, 2017 10:55 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acbf03a 1 National #Jokowi,Jokowi,#nation-address,Nation-address Free President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo took traditional clothes to new heights as he dressed in Bugis attire while delivering the annual state of the nation address on Wednesday. Wearing black attire with red-yellow sarong and a golden-black peci (traditional cap) which originates from Makassar, South Sulawesi, Jokowi delivered his first of three speeches at the House of Representatives complex, where the event was held. Makassar is the hometown of Vice President Jusuf Kalla, who wore Javanese attire of black beskap, which represents the region where Jokowi was born. " I think he looks like a handsome Bugis man," said People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Zulkifli Hasan during his opening speech in the annual meeting. In previous years, the President wore formal suits when addressing the country at the annual event. "Wearing the beskap, Kalla would be a Javanese man walking the fastest," Zulkifli added. Wednesday saw Jokowi make his third state of the nation address since taking office as the countrys seventh president in 2014. Jokowi is set to deliver a total of three speeches in the Wednesday event, including one on the state budget. The year ahead is projected to be arduous for Jokowi as his approval rating, according some surveys, for example, one released by Saiful Mujani Research and Consulting (SMRC) and Kompas research and development unit, remains flat. (ipa) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 16, 2017 15:15 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acd244c 1 City low-cost-apartment,Tambora Free Residents of a rusunawa (low-cost apartment) in Tambora, West Jakarta, were in abuzz asking for explanations about the sealing of their residential units on Monday. After receiving the sealing letters, the residents came to us asking for clarification, Tambora low-cost apartment management (UPRS) officer Iin Indrawati said on Tuesday. Iin said that one of the residents, Santi, objected to the sealing letter issued by the management, which stated she had not paid rent for 20 months. She claimed that she had deposited Rp 550,000 (US$41) into her account at the city-owned Bank DKI. Rusunawa residents are obliged to deposit their rent at Bank DKI. The first time we debited with Bank DKI was in February 2015. There has been 31 payment dates for Santis residential unit rent between February 2015 and August 2017, Iin explained. She added that the payment report for Santis bank account had not been regular every month and that paying only Rp 550,000 did not mean Santi was not in arrears. Iin said the Rp 101,000 monthly rental rate was very low and that the residents were expected to be compliant in fulfilling their responsibility to pay the rent. On Monday, the UPRS Tambora management sealed 105 residential units whose residents had not paid rent for six months. UPRS Tambora head Sarjoko said 261 were supposed to be sealed after a verification process showed that the residents had not paid rent more than three months. (dra) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Heather Scott (Agence France-Presse) Washington, United States Wed, August 16, 2017 10:11 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acbe32d 2 Business Trade,agreement,negotiation,US,Mexico,Canada,trump Free Negotiators from Canada, Mexico and the United States open the first round of talks Wednesday to revamp the 23-year-old regional free trade agreement some see as a demon and others as a savior. Between those extremes, there are high expectations but vastly different views on how to remake the North American Free Trade Agreement into a deal that pleases all sides, and fulfills President Donald Trump's repeated campaign promises to help US workers. Trump famously denounced NAFTA as "the worst trade deal maybe ever signed anywhere," and promised to pull out of the agreement he said has destroyed US jobs, but succumbed to pressure to renegotiate instead. Given recent criticism over his handling of North Korea, Venezuela and the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, Trump will need to have something he can call a victory out of the talks. However, he recently warned again that he will "terminate NAFTA" if "we don't get the deal we want." While some view statements like this from Trump as bombast, Fred Bergsten, director emeritus of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, warned, "Failure is an option." "We don't like to say that, we don't like to think about it, but it's true," he said, warning of serious consequences to the US economy. Even with that threat hanging over the talks, negotiators are going into the first of several rounds of negotiations optimistic about updating the pact that was signed before the internet was a force, and covers a market of nearly 500 million people. Large negotiating teams from Canada, Mexico and the United States will meet through Sunday to develop the new text of the pact. They are due to reconvene September 5 in Mexico City. The timeline for the talks is expected to be aggressive, given elections in Mexico in July 2018, as well as the US legislative calendar. A USTR official confirmed plans to add a chapter on digital trade, as well as incorporating side agreements added after the fact on environmental and labor standards. Canada also has stressed the need for stronger labor and environmental rules in the agreement. Topics : Trade agreement negotiation US Mexico Canada trump Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 16, 2017 11:57 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acc30de 1 Business Nissan-Indonesia,hybrid-hatchback,GIIAS Free Nissan Motor Indonesia (NMI introduced on Tuesday its Note e-Power hybrid hatchback at the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show (GIIAS). The Note e-Power is equipped with e-Power technology developed by the automaker. The technology allows the hatchback to fully operate by electric motors, with a 1.2-liter engine intermittently providing electrical charges to the battery, which has a 1.5-kilowatt hour capacity. NMI president director Eiichi Koito said the technology offered an innovative solution in a growing market like Indonesia. E-Power [technology] is one example of a possible solution for a growing market like Indonesia to become a bridge toward vehicles that are fully operated by electricity, he said. Masayuki Ohsugi, NMIs general manager of research and development, said the hatchback could travel up to 40 kilometers in a single battery charge and during a test in Japan up to 1,300-km with a full tank and battery charge. Koito did not provide details on its price or when the hatchback would be available in Indonesia. (mrc/bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 16, 2017 19:51 1914 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acde294 1 City odd-even-license-traffic-policy,cikampek,toll-road Free An odd-even license plate policy at the Cikampek toll road connecting Jakarta with Bekasi in West Java will be applied in the morning, from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m., during a trial run next week, Greater Jakarta Transportation Body (BPTJ) head Bambang Prihartono said as quoted by kompas.com on Wednesday. The policy, to be applied from the West Bekasi toll road to the Semanggi toll road, was made to reduce heavy traffic congestion along the toll road. It stipulates that only vehicles with license plates ending in odd digits are permitted to use the road on odd dates, while plates ending in even digits can only use the road on even dates. Meanwhile, in an effort to reduce traffic, state-owned toll road operator PT Jasa Marga plans to limit the operational time of logistics trucks taking the toll road. Jasa Marga is currently formulating the plan, which will be handed over to the government, Jasa Marga spokesperson Dwimawan Heru Santoso said in a statement. (vny) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 16, 2017 11:39 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acc2346 1 City cikampek,toll-road,odd-even-license-traffic-policy Free An odd-even license plate policy will be applied to the Cikampek toll road that connects Jakarta with Bekasi, West Java starting next week, owing to heavy congestion along the toll road. The policy, which has been applied to Jakarta's main roads, stipulates that only vehicles with license plates ending in odd digits are allowed to use the roads on odd dates and vice versa. "The policy will be applied from the West Bekasi toll road to the Semanggi toll road," said Bambang Prihartono, head of the Greater Jakarta Transportation Body (BPTJ), said as quoted by kompas.com on Wednesday. He further said the plan aimed at pushing commuters to switch from private vehicles to public transportation. The policy implementation follows the Jakarta administration's move to apply the rule during morning and afternoon rush hour. Previously, Transportation Minister Budi Karya said the plan was initiated after receiving suggestions from commuters. (agn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 16, 2017 08:30 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acb9caf 1 City Rusun,low-cost-apartment,rentals Free The low-cost apartment management (UPRS) in Tambora in West Jakarta sealed 105 residential units on Monday as the residents had not paid the rent for more than six months. UPRS Tambora head Sarjoko said a total of 261 residential units would be sealed after the management verified that the residents had not paid rent for more than three months. However, today we will just seal those residential units that are in arrears of more than six months, amounting to 105 units, Sarjoko said. Sarjoko said the management had twice issued warning letters before sealing the units. The procedure is we issued first and second warning letters and then conducted the sealing up. If the residents do not settle the rent payments within seven days, we will issue a notice to quit, he said. Sarjoko added that the residents would have to pay up in full with an additional 2 percent fine. Meanwhile, Agustino Darmawan, Jakarta Public Housing and Public Buildings Agency head, said the city administration would ask residents who had not paid their rent for three successive months to leave their units. The regulation would not apply to residents who had been subject to evictions from land cleared by the city administration, he said. (dra) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Severianus Endi (The Jakarta Post) Pontianak Wed, August 16, 2017 17:02 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acda076 1 National human-trafficking,West-Kalimantan,NTT Free The West Kalimantan Police have foiled an alleged attempt to traffic 16 people 14 men and two women from East Nusa Tenggara to Sarawak, Malaysia. West Kalimantan Police general crime director Sr. Corm. Asep Safrudin said in Pontianak on Wednesday that the police had arrested a suspect, identified only as MW, who was accused of illegally recruiting 16 people to be employed at a plantation in Malaysia. The 16 people have been sent to their hometown, he said. There are many ways to smuggle people to Malaysia from West Kalimantan. People can go by bus or pass through many alternatives routes along the border area, said Asep, adding that MW was charged under Law No. 39/2004 on the recruitment and protection of Indonesian workers, with a maximum punishment of 15 years' imprisonment. The police presented evidence in the form of handphones, passports and other documents and announced MW as a suspect during a press conference on Wednesday. Asep said that, previously, the police received information about the arrival of the 16 people at Supadio Airport in Pontianak on Aug. 8 before arresting MW on the Trans Kalimantan road in Kubu Raya regency. MW was allegedly on the way to pick up the people from the airport. MW allegedly charged the victims between Rp 3.7 million (US$276.59) and Rp 5 million for transportation fees and passport arrangements. The police have seized nine passports. MW reportedly told the police that he had been recruiting illegal workers for about five years. (bbn) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 16, 2017 12:00 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acc6316 1 National #state-address,State-address,#state-of-nation-address,Jokowi,SBY,#SBY,#Megawati,megawati-soekarnoputri,Yudhoyono,#yudhoyono Free Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was the only living former president not to show up at the House of Representatives on Wednesday as President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo addressed the nation. Former country leaders Megawati Soekarnoputri and BJ Habibie attended the annual meeting, while late president Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid was represented by his wife Sinta Nuriyah. Ever since Yudhoyono handed the office to Jokowi in 2014, after 10 years in power, he has not attended the annual state of the nation address. The House secretariat general claimed to have already invited all former leaders, including Yudhoyono who is a patron of the opposition Democratic Party. Democratic Party lawmakers attending the event refused to comment on Yudhoyono's absence. Last year, Yudhoyono preferred to spend his time in his hometown in Pacitan, East Java, instead of attending the state of the nation address. Yudhoyono is known to have avoided sharing the same stage in public with Megawati, who is also the chairwoman of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), after ties between the two went sour after Yudhoyono decided to resign as one of her ministers to run in the 2004 presidential race, in which he defeated Megawati. On Tuesday, Yudhoyono and Megawati were scheduled to speak at a discussion held by the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), however he arrived right after Megawati had already left. (ipa) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta Wed, August 16, 2017 13:42 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acce511 1 City South-Jakarta,police-interrogation,teenagers Free Pesanggrahan Police interrogated a junior high school student for taking pictures of their precinct in South Jakarta on Tuesday morning. The police had suspected the 17-year-old was part of a radical group targeting the police. South Jakarta Police spokesperson Comr. Purwanta Prawiro Widodo said the teenager took pictures of the police precinct from across the street without permission. The student apologized and explained the photos were to be used for a school project. However, the police have asked him to delete all the pictures taken. "This is in line with standard procedures. Officers are always on alert for any suspicious activity," Purwanta said on Tuesday as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com. (hol) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Yang Feiyue (China Daily/Asia News Network) Wed, August 16, 2017 10:05 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acbd60f 2 News Guiyang,tourism,travel,China,destination,#China Free Contracts to develop a total of nine tourism projects worth 6 billion yuan ($893 million) in Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province, were announced at a tourism promotion conference in Beijing on Aug. 4. They include a geological tourism town, a self-drive camping site and a "red tourism" zone. The projects are part of the city's efforts to become a tourism destination that offers diverse experiences, says Yuan Yunlong, director of the city's Tourism Industry Development Commission. Guiyang is known as a summer getaway for its year-round cool weather and lush mountainous landscape. The average temperature is between 17 and 28 C all year round. The city is expected to have 1,000 ecological parks by 2020. New travel routes for visitors were also announced at the Beijing conference, and they will integrate the city's waterfalls, mountain parks, historical sites, ethnic culture and outdoor programs. Read also: Made-in-China jet takes maiden flight Guiyang's scenic spots usually see more visitors during the summer, the local tourism authority reports. Approximately 30 million people visited Guiyang in the first six months of this year, up 18 percent year-on-year, and income from tourism was 85 billion yuan, up 33 percent year-on-year. Last year, the city received 111 million visits from home and abroad, up 31 percent over the previous year, and the local government expects the number to cross 195 million by 2020. Guiyang is going all out to attract travelers, and discounts are being offered to travelers from Chongqing, Nanchang in Jiangxi province, and Fujian province's Xiamen. Separately, a total of 4 billion yuan will be used to upgrade or develop 23 scenic spots in the city this year. As for new attractions, the Quanhu park, the Nanshan post, the Wanxiang Hot Springs and Nanshan water park have just opened to the public. Read also: China is building a Disney World for wine More flights and trains are also being introduced to make things easier for travelers. The third phase of Guiyang airport will be completed by 2019, giving it a capacity to handle 35 million visitors per year. And the high-speed rail system is also being expanded. Currently, it takes eight hours by train to reach Guiyang from Beijing, but travel time is expected to be cut to five hours soon, according to Wang Yuxiang, the deputy mayor of Guiyang. Rail connectivity to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, is expected to be launched by the end of next year, and a rail line to Nanning in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region is now under construction. Topics : This article appeared on the China Daily newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin (Pesona Indonesia) Jakarta Wed, August 16, 2017 13:03 1915 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97accc9d2 2 News Tourism-Ministry-Pesona-Indonesia,tourism-ministry-wonderful-Indonesia,Independence-Day,#IndependenceDay,cooking,Competition,fish-consumption Free Top 10 finalists of the first Archipelago Fish Cooking Competition (LMIN) 2017 cooked for the president at the Presidential Palace on August 15. President Joko Widodo and First Lady Iriana Jokowi attended the event to taste the dishes that were presented. Several ministers were also present including health minister Nila Djuwita Moeloek, minister of maritime affairs and fisheries Susi Pudjiastuti and minister for foreign affairs Retno Marsudi. These are all delicious, President Jokowi commented on the dishes. The event was initiated by the state secretariat, health ministry, maritime affairs and fisheries ministry, the presidential staff office, tourism ministry, masaktv and primaras a.co.id. Read also: Independence Days recipe: Raffles Jakarta's sayur asem Our oceans are huge and have plenty of underwater resources including fishes. Fishes have a high nutritional value that is needed for children and families. We need to increase fish consumption significantly, Jokowi added. Susi Pudjiastuti said that culinary can also help in promoting Indonesian tourism. The more famous our food is, the more it will be remembered by tourists, said Susi. Apart from the competition, finalists also attended workshops on topics such as Safety Procedure for Presidents Food, Presidential Reception Etiquette, How to Cook in a Professional Kitchen and Food Hygiene. Out of the 10 finalists, three were selected as winners. The first winner was Abdul Kadir from Pontianak who cooked Botok Ikan Masak Putih, the second winner was Ruben Jeremia from Jakarta who cooked Gabus Pucung Sambal Pete and the third winner was Narti Buo from Gorontalo who cooked Ikan Santan Goroho. (asw) Share this article Whatsapp Facebook Twitter Linkedin Yoon Min-sik (The Korea Herald/Asia News Network) Wed, August 16, 2017 19:08 1914 4065a5a8898c7cc661d4adf97acdd6d0 2 Tips North-Korea,travel,travel-advice Free While the US has only recently issued a ban on travel to North Korea, travel to the hermit kingdom has always been extremely risky. The oppressive and authoritarian regime does not tolerate any challenges by visitors, and tales of foreigners being detained for minor mistakes have frequently come up in the media. Chinese travel agencies have distributed a list of things to be aware of when traveling in North Korea, and here are some that have been reported via Korean and Chinese media. Be careful when referring to South Korea or North Korea Just as South Korea states that the entire Korean Peninsula is its territory -- meaning it does not officially recognize Pyongyang as a legitimate government -- North Korea does not recognize the South, instead referring to it as Nam-Joseon (South Joseon). Therefore, some tour companies caution against referring to South Korea as Hangguk (Korea). While not technically taboo, they say using the name can raise some eyebrows. In the same vein, using the word North Korea is also not advisable. Instead, use its official name Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea. Do not comment about North Koreas social, political, economic situation, or its current or previous leaders As previously mentioned, North Korea does not like foreigners questioning its state system. It is also touchy about someone mentioning that North Korea is one of the poorest countries in the world. Commenting about its dictatorial leaders in any way is not wise, at least within earshot of a North Korean. Read also: Guiyang set to become major tourist draw A group of tourists bow before statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il-Sung (L) and Kim Jong-Il (R), on Mansu hill in Pyongyang on July 23, 2017. (AFP/Ed Jones) Retain a respectful attitude in front of Kim Il-sungs statue Kim Il-sung, the founder of North Korea and grandfather of current leader Kim Jong-un, is the most revered figure in the country. This is apparent in the fact that none of the succeeding leaders resumed the post of president after his death, leaving the presidency eternally to Kim Il-sung. Tourists are advised to remain solemn when paying respect to Kim Il-sungs statue or taking a picture in front of it. Mimicking the statues pose is taboo. Never fly solo Not following the instructions of the designated tour guide is one of the fastest ways to provoke North Koreans, many of whom have no sense of humor when dealing with foreigners they think are running amok. Unscheduled and unauthorized visits to North Korean homes, or friends and families of the said tourist is strictly forbidden, as is taking pictures without consent or even talking to workers. In 1999, a South Korean housewife was detained for days for a 10 minute chat with a North Korean employee during her tour of Geumgangsan. Unlike in the movie The Interview, strolling around Pyongyang alone can also get you arrested, although being a personal guest of the supreme leader himself may let you off the hook. Topics : This article appeared on The Korea Herald newspaper website, which is a member of Asia News Network and a media partner of The Jakarta Post The opening of Art and Peace: An Exhibition of Chinese Contemporary Art at Mall Galleries was attended by several big names in the art world, the deputy mayor of Westminster, members of the House of Lords, and the Chinese ambassador to the United Kingdom. Image screenshot from press invite The exhibition promotes Chinese culture to British audiences as part of a cultural exchange that will help build diplomatic ties between the two nations. All of the images displayed have been part of The Beijing International Art Biennial and the art has previously visited Finland and Italy. The art on display is stunning. Chinese art is distinctive to Western art, as argued by several speakers at the event. Western art tends to focus more on colour , but Chinese focuses on lines. Chinese artists also produce visceral images of nature. China is a nation steeped in tradition and these traditions come alive on canvas and in the sculptures on display. Globalisation has caused artistic styles to mix but these pieces are distinctively Chinese in style. There are pieces that are rebellious in their tradition, such as a McDonald's logo that has been covered like a traditional piece of Chinese pottery. China is also a melting pot of 56 different ethnicities and this is clearly reflected in the images; these include the Tajiks and the Tibetans, wearing traditional clothing as they go about daily activities. All of these images help paint an image of China, it's art and, by extension, its people. The artwork is amazing and, more so than any other art exhibit I've seen, it stimulated my imagination - a small canvas can say so much, make you think so much, and give you a unique message. The images show nature, people, animals: the real backbone of China. As Ambassador Liu Xiaoming pointed out, China and its people ultimately want peace and this can be achieved through cultural understanding. Art plays a big part in that - so much can be conveyed by so little. It's little things like this that can help us understand the Chinese and, by understanding them, we can build a stronger diplomatic relationship. This strong relationship can help both parties move forward and learn, helping us to make changes for the better. It's also vital in a post-Brexit world to have strong relationships with countries outside of Europe, as this can open up new opportunities, new pathways to explore and learn. The exhibit may be small, but it's free to attend, and the artwork that is there is amazing to see. It is no surprise that the Mall "unanimously", according to board member and art critic Anthony Lester, approved it to feature. It truly is a must see event. A recent study has warned of a lack of 'ethnic mixing' in UK universities. The research, f Institute for Policy Research rom theat the University of Bath, found out that ethnic segregation in neighbourhoods across the UK is reflected in university intakes. Indeed, half of the students from the most ethnically diverse backgrounds tend to attend the most diverse universities, while only 12.3% of white British students attend the same institutions. However, this does not mean that a university represents the local area; universities specialising in arts and music have higher percentages of white students than their local area. The least diverse universities were found to be located in Scotland and Northern Ireland. There also appears to be only 20 universities in the UK where the majority of undergraduates are from ethnic minorities, excluding overseas students. The study highlighted that academic subjects could be seen to be more segregated than universities as a whole. Indeed, only 25 black Caribbean students entered in medicine that year, and just over 50 students from non-white backgrounds entered veterinary science. Other subjects included dentistry, history, philosophy and language-related subjects. Law, business studies, computer science and engineering are the most diverse subjects. The research suggested that the basis for this segregation was that students from multicultural parts of London were worried about facing racism if they chose a less diverse university, while white students were avoiding some universities. The study further argues that while student recruitment services should be careful of creating a meaningfully diverse culture, the core change needs to come from the transformation of the culture and structure of higher education. Beauty and the Beasts Belle couldnt wait to escape her provincial life, but today, Provence lures visitors from far and wide with its breath-taking landscapes, luxurious cities and welcoming people. Bookended by the cities Marseille and Monaco, Provence is a region that covers much of the coveted South of France. Other coastal towns include Cannes, home of the prestigious film festival, and Saint-Tropez, made famous by Brigitte Bardot. Head north away from the golden, expansive beaches and youll find small villages with tight-knit communities nestled besides fields of green, purple and yellow set against a backdrop of the Alps of neighbouring Italy and Switzerland. Provence is truly a dreamscape. Vibrant colours in the countryside are met by vibrant atmospheres in the towns. Monaco is the worlds second-smallest country, but this should not deter you from visiting. Occupying the easterly edge of Provence, Monaco acts as a buffer between France and Italy. A magnet for money, Monaco squeezes countless casinos in a mere 200 hectares and supercars owned by the elite dominate the roads. There is also a blend of the old and the new as high rises sit comfortably amongst centuries old detailed architecture, showing Monacos continuous evolution. A short journey west from Monaco is Nice. Nice suffered at the hands of terror in 2015 and 2016, but the resilience of the people is clear to see. Despite being Frances fifth most populous city, Nice feels spacious and roomy. Red and orange roofs define the city, with a scattering of commanding churches and other religious buildings. Whilst Nice can easily be characterised as restful and tranquil, the city comes to life for festivals and celebrations such as the two-week long Nice Carnival that starts towards the end of February. Just between Nice and Saint-Tropez, and a stones-throw away from the stunning Ligurian Sea is Saint-Paul-de-Vence, one of the oldest medieval towns on the French Riviera. Frequented by the famous, Saint-Paul-de-Vence is eminent in its own right. Getting lost in the narrow streets is all part of the experience and exploring the alleyways feels like wandering into the past. From the top of this elevated walled town, you can even see the sparkling waters edge not too far in the distance. Its not all just culture and relaxation in Provence though; the region truly offers something for everyone. Head further west to Avignon for swathes of hiking trails and mountain faces perfect for rock climbing. On the way there, youll also find picturesque vineyards that characterise this region of France. Also at this end of Provence is Marseilles, a city which has turned itself around in recent years. Pigeonholed as Provences seedy underbelly because of high crime rates and decaying buildings, today Marseilles is a must-see. Rich with over a thousand years of history, Marseilles has embraced its maritime heritage as a port city. And whilst its not as refined as the likes of neighbouring Saint Tropez, with a population of nearly one million, Marseilles is both bustling and dynamic and a welcome tonic to the slow pace of the rest of Provence. Marseilles and Nice are both home to international airports that are perfect to fly into to experience Provence. Budget airlines fly to both which is important for the student traveller, and you might also consider flying into nearby Montpellier or Lyon and travelling via bus to one of Provences key cities. Buses also run frequently from the French capital, Paris. Though its certainly a pricy region to visit, try not to let this deter you. There is nowhere else in Europe as beautiful and unique as Provence, with so many different villages and cities to visit to gain a taste of Riviera life. Unfortunately, The Content Is Not Here You have arrived at this page because the page or post you were looking for no longer exists. Please check our main navigation pages for other content: Home Page What would it have been like to win a Greek poetry contest at age 11, in front of the Emperor? While this question may never be fully answered, Kathleen Coleman, James Loeb Professor of the Classics at Harvard University, presented her work on reconstructing a biography of exactly that 11-year-old boy. Coleman has worked to put together what life would have been like for Q. Sulpicius Maximus of Rome based on his funerary altar. Also, in her career, she has consulted on some interesting jobs. Let me say one thing about Gladiator first. Im proud of the fact that I got one stage direction off the script, and it said enter female gladiators with razor blades attached to nipples, so I said, this is a glaring inaccuracy, Coleman said during her lecture on Thursday evening. The McKibben Lecture is an annual event in memory of Bill and Betty McKibben, two former classics professors. Their endowed fund was set up by contributions from friends, colleagues and former students to bring high-profile lecturers like Coleman to Grinnell. In her work, Coleman has explored a funerary altar built for Q. Sulpicius Maximus to question the motives behind the design and how they reflect Roman life. Im most excited for her to meet the students, because shes excited to meet the students. Shes enthusiastic about teaching even intermediate Latin tomorrow. My students are nervous, but shes ready, said Professor Angelo Mercado, classics, who organized the event. We try to go through all the sub-disciplines, the ones we dont cover here. So this time around a specialist in later Rome and later Latin is coming. None of us [current faculty] work in that period. In her lecture, Coleman explored the reasons the young boys parents would have had for covering his tomb in his own poetry, as well as an especially long epitaph claiming that but always far more powerful than gold and shining/ silver-gilt/ Will be the writing that you left behind. Maximus won a poetry contest after improvising a poem in front of the Emperor Domitian, a fact that is prominently displayed on the oversized altar. Through analysis of physical archaeological details and patterns within the writing, McKibben has been able to predict the kind of schooling the boy received, that his parents were most likely freed Greek slaves and the exact competition he took part in. While presenting the wealth of information she has gleaned from this one artifact, Professor Coleman continually returned to the impossibility of fully understanding the Roman world. Im going to talk to you today about how to construct a biography of a completely unimportant person. Thats the value of this, Coleman said. We know about Julius Caesar, we know about Livia, we know about Alexander the Great and so on, but we dont know about people like me or, dare I say it, people like you. Much of Colemans work is centered on the idea of what the Romans wanted to record. She points out that, while Maximus parents wanted to mention his victorious poetry, they were not concerned with the preciseness of details. To Coleman, the imperfections on the altar, including uneven lines and some that dont fit, are something only a 21st century audience would notice. The true value lies in reminding a contemporary audience of what the reality of life was in the first century. Who knows what Maximus would have accomplished if hed survived? He did pretty well at the age of eleven, Coleman said. Above all else, we can see how fragile life was in antiquity. So few children would live to adulthood. But he got beyond the critical stage, he got beyond seven. Who knows what Maximus would have accomplished if hed survived, he did pretty well at the age of eleven, Coleman said. Above all else, we can see how fragile life was in antiquity. So few children would live to adulthood. But he got beyond the critical stage, he got beyond seven. Last week, the Student Government Association Senate voted to pass the American Anti-Corruption Act Resolution, which was written and brought to campus council by Evan Feldberg-Bannatyne 20. This resolution affirms that SGA and the greater community of Grinnell College support legislation that upholds principles related to the productivity and efficiency of the U.S. government while curbing corruption. The American Anti-Corruption Act (AACA), a piece of model legislation which acts as a guide for future laws, limits monetary contributions to politicians in order to reduce corruption. Feldberg-Bannatyne had been involved in anti-corruption work before coming to the College. Usually, what the goal is, is to be able to petition your community and get this measure on a ballot and do a ballot initiative and people can vote to support it, said Feldberg-Bannatyne. These laws will be legally enacted locally. Iowa, specifically Poweshiek County, is set up where it does not have ballot initiatives available to the people so this [resolution] is kind of the next best thing. Feldberg-Bannatyne adapted the AACA into a resolution for SGA which details Grinnells support for the banning of lobbying, closing the revolving door and political fundraising during congressional hours. The resolution asks for transparent fundraising and voting commission and supports single open primaries. The result of this resolution will not affect Grinnells student government directly as SGA is a student organization funded through the College and does not accept any kind of financial contributions. Feldberg-Bannatyne hopes that when U.S. politicians come to campus, the resolution will inspire students to have conversations with them, on the record, surrounding corruption on legislation such as the American Anti-Corruption Act. You get to have a conversation about specific policies and to get to understand their stance on these issues, and thats great because it gets them on the record about some things they might not be inclined to talk about, and then whenever they go on their careers and they do things, either in line with the Anti-Corruption Act or against it, you now have this base, that you can send out to media outlets and hold them accountable for what they say, Feldberg-Bannatyne said. During a discussion at campus council, students raised questions about the ultimate goals of this initiative and why it is relevant to SGA and to student government. Im wondering what the relevance really is. This is covering one specific act from my understanding and theres going to be many different acts that as a student body we should support and politicians were voting for should support. What was your reasoning behind writing this one specific resolution about this one particular thing? asked SGA Senator Takshil Sachdev 19. Feldberg-Bannatyne responded, speaking on the function of government and how it was set up for democracy, including examples about issues such as health care and climate change. This is really important to me, just because I see the studies about where moneys spent, lobbyists and everything, and I feel like in this day and age a lot of decisions and regulations not giving the teeth to enforce what theyre supposed to enforce, that our US government is susceptible to outside sources from both sides, Feldberg-Bannatyne said. If theres one issue that you care about, its going to be really hard to make progress on that issue if your representative is holding to special interests. Other students had concerns about the legislation itself. SGA Senator Pranjal Drall 20 disagrees with the idea of campus council endorsing specific legislation as well as the implications of banning lobbying. I think this is a massive overreach because imagine a labor union that wants political say, [such as] Planned Parenthood, or a small group of people, Drall said after the discussion. People think this will prevent the auto industry from cutting the EPA, but outside of that, it will stop peoples ability to have minor, local change happening. In that sense, its not a solution, it just completely takes away one of the most fundamental rights of people in democracy. Im fine with this campaign finance reform, or having more transparency and some of those things in the bill, but this massive-lobbyists-arent-allowed portion is questionable and I think it affects way more people than [students] may realize. To Feldberg-Bannatyne, the principles behind this bill are important to reach for, whether they are immediately attainable or not. I think the spirit of this is anti-corruption, but I feel like its really in the sense of trying to make American democracy healthy again, let it thrive. It talks about all sorts of broader tactics that would help politicians govern their representatives more effectively, because it would ensure that theyre only listening to what the [constituents] have to say and it just holds people more accountable and encourages participation in democracy, Feldberg-Bannatyne said. When the discussion came to a vote, the resolution passed with five approvals, one rejection and eight abstentions. After the vote, some senators expressed disapproval of the outcome, and a there was a motion to strike SGAs support from the resolution. In that vote, six senators voted to continue supporting the resolution with two against and six abstentions. In some issues, abstentions are used as a no-board. People think, if Im abstaining Im showing my disagreement with the vote but not explicitly against it, Drall said. Abstaining is shirking your responsibility because youre supposed to represent your constituents views. Feldberg-Bannatyne said that he would have liked to have had a more engaging conversation with senators so that they would feel comfortable in their understanding of the resolution. However, he feels its passing is definitely positive. This is very nonpartisan stuff. In the real world where people have been implementing this at the local level, its typically been tea-partiers and democratic socialists teaming up, putting politics aside, to pass this, he said. They both want to the government to work more efficiently and Id hope that all senators here want the government to work better. Forty nine-year Aruna Devi sat in gloom in her house in Marura village (Shahtalai) in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh, unmoved by the patriotic fervour across the country on Independence Day. Widow of martyr Subedar Baldev Kumar Sharma of 29 Assam Rifles, who was killed in Manipur in May, 2016, had no reason to celebrate. What for? My husband served the paramilitary force for over 35 years, living away from his family all through. He died for the cause of the nation and we are proud of it. But none has bothered to look back at the plight of the family of the martyr?said Aruna Devi. Her grudge is that state government, especially Sainik Welfare minister, Dhani Ram Shandil, who visited the family in 2016, promised Rs five lakh relief and job for her educated 26-year-old son Vivek on compassionate grounds, but that turned out to be mere lip sympathy. Five soldiers, including Subedar Baldev Kumar Sharma, were killed when an Assam Rifles convoy was attacked by militants in Joupi Hengshi area of Chandel in Manipur on 22 May, 2016. Subedar Baldev Sharma, 56, father of two, was the only bread earner in the family, which is now dependent on family pension. The family has so far received Rs 1.5 lakh against Rs five lakh promise. The state government did not name the Senior Secondary School in the area in the name of martyr as announced. That is not the issue of concern. We are not for money as it wont secure familys future. Our priority is livelihood, said Vivek. He has done Master of Commerce as well as Business Administration and has been continuously struggling for a job since his fathers death. He even appeared in the test for a clerical job in Assam Rifles in Shillong, but was ousted in ground test and was allegedly not given preference despite being in the category-I (dependents of martyrs). I have been running from pillar to post in the state governments corridors for over one year. I even met the chief minister. Everyone just gave me re-assurance, said Vivek. After several requests, what really came a shock for family, however, was the letter from the Sainik Welfare Office, Bilaspur, which said that there is no provision for providing employment to dependants of paramilitary personnel in HP government. A martyr is a martyrhe may be in the Army or in paramilitary forces. Why this discrimination? he said, adding that his mother had written to the Prime Minister over the discriminatory rules. Sainik Welfare minister, HP, Dhani Ram Shandil, when contacted, said it was a genuine case. He, however, blamed it on the Centre and said the paramilitary forces dont get equal benefits. The state government is taking a view on this, Shandil said. Haryana government has once again raised the demand for separate High Court (HC) for the state. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday said that a separate HC for Haryana should be set up in the Punjab and Haryana High Court building, dividing the area in the ratio of 60 and 40. He said that the ratio of judges should be 50:50 until the issue of a court for Chandigarh Administration is settled. Stating this in Gurugram, Khattar said that Haryana had more cases in the HC and he had written to the Supreme Court (SC) to increase the number of judges. A letter has also been written to the Chief Justice of the SC to set up a separate bench of the HC in southern Haryana, he added. A few months back, the Haryana State Legislative Assembly had also passed a resolution seeking separate HC for the state. During a one-day special session called on 4 May, 2017 to pass the Good and Service Tax Bill (GST), the resolution for separate HC was moved by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ram Bilas Sharma and it was passed unaimously by all parties. The resolution has been passed requesting the Parliament to effect an appropriate amendment in the Punjab re-organisation Act, 1966 to provide for the creation of a separate HC for Haryana within Chandigarh. According to the resolution, even after completion of Haryanas 50 years of existence as a separate state, a separate HC was not provided, while the people of Haryana had suffered in manifold ways, including through delays in the disposal of their cases due to heavy workload in the common HC. CM during his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 22 April, 2017 in Delhi, had also urged the latter to accord top priority to setting up of a separate HC for Haryana during the ongoing Swaran Jayanti Year of the state. Haryana has been demanding a separate HC for itself, stating that even smaller north-eastern states have their own HCs. Haryana, which shares its HC with Punjab (the Punjab and Haryana HC), has been seeking a separate HC for itself in Chandigarh. It wants the present joint HC of the two states to be bifurcated and a separate Haryana HC to be set up. To create awareness regarding sanitation issues, Haryana government has decided to arrange special screening of recently released Bollywood film Toilet Ek Prem Katha for its Sarpanches (elected village heads ) of all Gram Panchayats in the state. An official communication in this regard has been issued by the states Development and Panchayats Department to all the District Development and Panchayat Officers (DDPOs). According to the Department, all the DDPOs have been asked to arrange special screening inviting all the Sarpanches and officials from district administration including the Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and Additional DCs for the screening to the film that has focused on improving of the sanitation conditions, with an emphasis on the eradication of open defecation, especially in rural areas. Haryana Development and Panchayats Minister OP Dhankar told The Statesman that as the state government has already declared its rural area open defecation free (ODP), the decision has been taken to further sensitize the representatives of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) towards cleanliness. Tough, we have declared the rural Haryana as ODF free but it needs maintenance of the status and for that kind of sustainability, people need to be aware continuously times and again. Hence the it has been planned that special screening of the movie would be organised for the Panchayats heads, he added. The minister further stated that he himself had watched the movie that has raised a numbers of useful issues promoting cleanliness and it would also inspire the rural governance to towards the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. Interestingly, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also praised the trailer of the film Toilet Ek Prem Katha starring actor Akshay Kumar. Last month, the Haryana government has declared all the rural areas in the state ODF. According to official information, all Gram Panchayats in the state have been declared ODF while an ODF+ campaign has also been prepared for sustenance of the ODF status through effective solid and liquid waste disposal management. Haryana has become the fourth state after Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Kerala, to declare all the rural areas as ODF. As per a survey conducted in 2012, of the total 30.24 lakh rural households in the state, 7.3 lakh households were without toilets. However, later on, more than 7.51 lakh toilets were constructed and 100 per cent coverage of toilets in rural areas was been achieved. Sohum Shah who rose to fame with the critically acclaimed film Ship of Theseus is quietly leaving a mark in Bollywood. The actor is very well known for his power packed performance in critically acclaimed films like Ship of Theseus and Talvar. Sohum Shah has time and again treated the audiences with his hard hitting and realistic characters as he believes in opting for author backed roles instead of portraying larger than life characters on screen. The actor is now all set to deliver yet another memorable performance in his upcoming film Simran alongside Kangana Ranaut. Sohum is one of the finest actors in Bollywood who easily imbibes his onscreen character and is known to be a b performance driven actor. The actor has not only impressed the critics but has charmed his female fan with his acting skills. With Simran, Sohum is promising yet another remarkable performance as he will be seen playing Simra aka Kangana Ranaut love interest in the film. Sohum Shah is a profound actor whose body of work involves roles which are close to reality, the actor is known for his phenomenal performances. Bareilly Ki Barfi is undoubtedly one of the most awaited films of the year. The refreshing and pleasing storyline has got everyone hooked to witness the drama that unfolds in this small town set film. What has got everyone intrigued is the lead character of the film, Bitti. As we learned from the trailer, Bitti is a rebel. The bold, vibrant, chirpy girl is often termed as outspoken too. The small town girl with big dreams is not the ordinary Bareilly girl. Bitti does break dance, smokes cigarettes and sometimes even drinks alcohol. The BTS video of Bareilly Ki Barfi showcases how Kriti Sanon owns the character of Bitti. It also gives us more insights into the life of the small town girl Bitti. From the video, we learn that Bitti works at the electricity department. Kriti Sanon expressed her views on Bitti saying, I completely love Bitti, she a little chhurrat, bindass, bratty. Director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari talked about how she got the Bitti out in Kriti Sanon, I told her one thing, just be yourself, and just be as you are at home. How you stay, how you live, how you eat, the little things. She further added how she got Bitti to be a simple girl, We hardly made her hair. We told her if you have to go out and you just have to tie a pony tail, how would you do it. She showed how I said thats exactly what you need to do in the film as well. Talking about the character, Kriti Sanon further added, The only problem in Bittis life is, she isnt getting married. Thats not her problem, thats her mothers problem. She (Bitti) doesnt want to just get married to anybody. She wants that one person who loves her the way she is. Revealing what exactly Bareilly Ki Barfi is, the book, as well as the character, the actress, said, While shes reading that book, that author is talking about a girl who is exactly like her. But hes talking in a very good manner, in a very positive manner so she feels theres at least somebody who feels that how ever she is, she is good and thats how the chase starts and the story unfolds. The film also stars Ayushmann Khurrana and Rajkummar Rao. Ayushmanns character Chirag Dubey owns a printing press and Rajkummar as Pritam Vidrohi is a saree vendor. Bareilly Ki Barfi is a slice of life film with an unusual love triangle. The content of the film looks promising with its intriguing plot and appealing presentation. The trailer of the film has got everyone hooked and the music of the film is winning hearts. The songs Sweety Tera Drama, Nazm Nazm and Twist Kamariya are ruling charts. Bareilly Ki Barfi is the collaborative effort between Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, creative producer Juno Chopra and writer Nitesh Tiwari of Dangal fame and Shreyas Jain. Nitesh Tiwari and Shreyas Jain contributed to a power packed script to Juno Chopras sphere headed execution while Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari captured perfect frames. Bareilly Ki Barfi brings to celluloid for the first time the team of Kriti Sanon, Ayushmann Khurrana, and Rajkummar Rao. The film is Ashwiny Iyer Tiwaris second film as a director. Bareilly Ki Barfi is produced by Junglee Pictures and BR Studios. The film is scheduled to release on 18th August 2017. Actor Peter Dinklage has urged Game of Thrones fans to stop buying huskies just because they look like direwolves. Dinklage, who plays Tyrion Lannister in the hit HBO series, teamed up with animal rights organisation People for Ethical Treatment of Animals to address an alarming trend among fans who have been adopting huskies due to their resemblance to direwolves, only to abandon the canines once the novelty wears off, reports nydailynews.com. He said: Please, to all of Game of Thrones many wonderful fans, we understand that due to the direwolves huge popularity, many folks are going out and buying huskies. Not only does this hurt all the deserving homeless dogs waiting for a chance at a good home in shelters, but shelters are also reporting that many of these huskies are being abandoned as often happens when dogs are bought on impulse, without understanding their needs. Please, please, if youre going to bring a dog into your family, make sure that youre prepared for such a tremendous responsibility and remember to always, always, adopt from a shelter. Direwolves are well regarded by Game of Thrones fans due to their connection to House Stark, the series main protagonist family. In the shows series premiere, the Stark family finds a litter of direwolf pups and adopts them, with each Stark child training and raising a wolf. The loyal animals act as guardians and protectors to their owners throughout the course of the series, which is aired in India on Star World and Star World HD. Dinklage is a longtime vegetarian and animal rights activist, who has previously worked with PETA on the Face Your Food campaign. The Supreme Court on Wednesday appointed a panel headed by two of its former judges to examine the justification for closure of 241 anti-Sikh riot cases probed by the Special Investigation Team. A bench of Justice Dipak Misra, Justice Amitava Roy and Justice A.M. Khanwilkar gave three months time to the Supervisory Committee to examine the 1984 riot cases and submit its report. The apex court order came after the Centre on Wednesday left it to the court to take a final call on the matter. The court was told that of the 250 cases that were investigated by the SIT, the closure report was filed in 241 cases. Two cases are being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation. A day after Indian and Chinese troops clashed along the northern bank of Pangong Lake in Ladakh, a flag meeting was requested by the Chinese side, sources said on Wednesday. A scuffle took place on Tuesday when troops of Chinas PLA tried to cross the Line of Actual Control near Pangong Lake in Ladakh. The standoff continued for more than an hour, during which soldiers on both sides were involved in stone pelting, which led to injury to troops on both sides, sources said. This is a one of its kind incident where troops were involved in a skirmish, though no weapons were used. Later, a standard drill in which banners are shown asking the other side to go back to the agreed point was held, and the Chinese troops retreated. Army officials in Delhi have refused to comment on the incident, but have not denied it either. The development in Ladakh comes as troops of both sides are locked in a tense standoff in Doklam, in Sikkim sector, that entered the third month on Wednesday. Following the first ever incident of stone-pelting between troops of China and India on Tuesday near the Pangong lake in the Eastern Ladakh, the officers of both sides met at Chushul on Wednesday in the afternoon to sort out the matter. A top military source said that the pre-scheduled Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) was in progress since afternoon on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) at Chushul. He said that the yesterdays incident of the Chinese troops entering the Indian territory on the banks of the lake and pelting stones at the Indian troops were being discussed. Steps to strengthen the existing mechanism for maintaining peace and tranquility were being discussed, he added. Meanwhile, the situation in the Eastern Ladakh of Jammu and Kashmir continued to be tense on Wednesday as the troops were put on High Alert following the firstever incident of Chinese soldiers indulging in stone pelting at the Indian troops on Tuesdayafter crossing into the Indian territory along the disputed Pangong lake. The Indian soldiers reportedly retaliated when the Chinese continued to pelt stones at them. Sources said that the High Alert for the troops will continue for few days. Such skirmish of exchange of stones between the Indian and Chinese soldiers was never seen before at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and any dispute was resolved peacefully by showing banners. The incident has come following the long-stretched standoff between India and china at Doklam. Reports said that soldiers of both sides were injured in the stone pelting and the Chinese troops were also carrying iron rods. The Chinese troops returned to their side after a standoff of about 2 hours. The Indian troops sought a flag meeting on the issue but it did not materialize even till Wednesday afternoon. As a result of tense situation the customary Border Personnel Meeting held between India and China every Independence Day was not held at the two points in Ladakh at Chushul and Daulat-Beig-Oldie for the first time in the past 12 years. The Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) of China reportedly did not respond to the communications of the Indian Army for the meeting in which sweets are served to officers of the visiting Army. Reports said that the unsavory incident occurred when patrols of both sides came face to face North of the 135 kms Pangong lake that is claimed by both sides. Soldiers of the PLA had crossed the LAC deep into the Indian territory. 45 kms stretch of the 4350 meters high glacial-melt lake is under the control of India, while China occupies 90 kms length of the lake. The stone pelting incident by the Chinese occurred twice near the finger 4 of the lake early in the morning when the Indian troops made a human chain to prevent advancement of the PLA. More than 50 trucks of the PLA were seen near the road along the lake. However, only about 15 PLA soldiers stuck there and refused to retract from the Indian soil on the banks of the lake and indulged in stone pelting to which the Indian troops reportedly retaliated. Chinese soldiers had in the past few years tried to stall building of roads and other development works in the Indian villages of Ladakh. The spurs of mountains forming the Northern bank of the lake are identified by the military as fingers. India claims the lakeside territory up to the finger 8, but physically controls the area till finger 4. The Indian troops patrol the lake area in high-speed interceptor boats that can carry 15 soldiers at a time. The incident has come within a few days of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti accusing China of meddling in the affairs of J&K. Former Union law minister Ashwani Kumar on Wednesday hailed the Indo-Japan relationship, saying it had assumed a very sharp, strategic dimension and become an engagement for peace and stability not only in Asia but in the entire world. We have seen what is happening in Doklam. We have seen what is happening in Pakistan. We are seeing who the friends of Pakistan are. We have seen what is happening in South China. We have seen the open defiance of the international legal regime by some countriesIndia and Japan seek harmony and friendship with all our neighbours, with all the countries, he said. The former law minister was speaking at an interactive session at the PHD Chamber of Commerce here. India and Japans engagement is an example of a special, strategic and global relationship in all its dimensions, Kumar said. The Malabar Exercise in the Indian Ocean was intended to secure the sea links, which were the lifeline for not only for the economy of the entire Indian Ocean region, but also a guarantee for peace, stability and security in the world, he said. We also know that the road to peace is through power not through weakness. And it is for that peace the India and Japan relationship have also assumed a very sharp, strategic dimension so that this engagement have become an engagement for prosperity, peace and stability not only in Asia but in the rest of the world, he said. Japanese Ambassador to India Kenji Hiramatsu said Japanese companies would further accelerate their pace of investments in Indias manufacturing, services and retail sector since the strategic alliance between the two is deepening with transformational tendencies surfacing in ease of doing business in India in the last five years. With the Japanese prime minister coming to India in very near future, another comprehensive package is likely to be announced to strengthen Indo-Japan trade ties, as the two countries are preparing for better security, defence cooperation including better exchanges between the armed, naval and air force of the two nations. Economic trade in 2015 was USD 2.6 billion which rose to USD 4.7 billion in 2016, he said. To a question, the ambassador said the dedicated freight corridor project would be completed by 2019 whereas the real construction on Mumbai-Ahmedabad train project would commence in 2018, to be completed by 2023. In the wake of cloudburst incidents in Uttarakhand, the External Affairs Ministry on Tuesday said that all Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims are safe and secure and Uttarakhand government is in constant touch with them. MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said Uttarakhand government and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) are taking steps to ensure a safe journey to Kailash Mansarovar by pilgrims. Incident of cloud burst in #Uttarakhand. All yatris safe and secure. Constant watch & contact with Uttarakhand Govt and @ITBP_official Yatris given option to continue yatra keeping weather in mind. Uttarakhand Govt and @ITBP_official ensuring safe & smooth conduct of yatra, he said in a series of tweets. Kumar said in another tweet, Batch 16 moved back from Sirkha to Dharchula due to weather conditions while batch 12 return to Delhi tonight. Batch 13 arrived in Gunji. Will take helicopter to Dharchula tomorrow on their return journey while Batch 14 completing Kailash parikrama, he said. Batch 15 in Taklakot, Tibet after completing Kailash parikrama. Will cross into India tomorrow, he added. Two cloudbursts hit Uttarakhands Pithoragarh district yesterday. The first cloudburst had occurred near Tawaghat, sending a rivulet, the Mangti Nullah, into a spate and its swirling waters swept away a few shops and three Army tents. The second cloudburst also occurred at around the same time at Malpa and swept away six persons. Rescue teams recovered four bodies from the area while two were still missing. Pakistan on Wednesday resorted to firing and shelling on forward posts and civilian areas along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmirs Poonch district, prompting the Indian army to give a befitting response. Pakistan Army initiated unprovoked and indiscriminate firing of small arms, automatics and mortars from 0534 hours today in Poonch sector along the Line of Control (LoC), a defence spokesman said. Indian Army retaliating strongly and effectively, he added. There had been reports of firing and shelling in Mankote sub-sector of Poonch too. It may be recalled that Pakistan violated ceasefire 4 times on August 13 by resorting to firing and shelling in Krishnagati, Nowshera, Mankote and north Kashmir, resulting in injuries to three Jawans. On July 12, Pakistan troops had heavily fired on forward posts and civilian areas in Krishnagati and Poonch sectors in which a Junior Commissioned Officer (JCO) and a woman were killed. Pak armys shells exploded near a house killing 40-year-old Raqia Bi of Gohlad Kalran on August 12. Naib Subedar Jagram Singh Tomar was also killed in Pak firing in Krishnagati sector on August 12. On August 8, Pakistan troops resorted to firing and shelling in Krishnagati sector of Poonch district, in which Sepoy Pawan Singh Sugra was grievously injured and later succumbed to his injuries. On August 7, an Army jawan was injured in a ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Uri sector of Baramulla district. On August 6, the Pakistani troops violated the ceasefire by firing at Indian posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Baba Khori area of Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir. Prior to that, on July 30, Pakistani forces had resorted to firing from light weapons and medium machine guns in the Baba Khori belt of Naushera sector. 2017 has also seen a sharp increase in ceasefire violations at the LoC by Pakistan. Till August 1, there had been 285 such violations by the Pakistan Army while in 2016, the number was significantly less at 228 for the entire year, the figures said adding that last year, eight Army personnel were killed in the ceasefire violations. Eleven people including nine soldiers, were killed and 18 injured in ceasefire violations by Pakistan army in the month of July. There were 83 ceasefire violations, one BAT attack and two infiltration bids from the Pakistani side in June in which 4 people, including 3 jawans, were killed and 12 injured. In May, there were 79 ceasefire violations, according to officials. Looking good is an endless effort. Styling the hair, applying makeup, caring for your skin, buying and wearing the right accessories, clothes that suit your body shape, shoes that match with your clothes and bags and doing all the things to look good take a lot of time and energy. And, there are endless beauty tips and ways to make you look good. Some may not care how good or bad they look, but they look good anyway. They are blessed with the perfect prettiness and loveliness. Some make all the efforts to look real good and spend a hefty amount of money in the effort to look their best, yet struggle. Some splurge on branded and designer clothes, accessories and beauty products and spend hours in beauty salons. Some go for a complete makeover with different hairdos, makeup, styles and even go under the knife to look prettier or more beautiful. The world of beauty and fashion is growing rapidly with the ever-expanding beauty business. Should you care or not. Stars and celebrities set the trends, and some remain beauty inspirations. Heres what some of the celebrated stars have to say about beauty and fashion and what they do as quoted by different sources. In a move that would inspire many, model-turned-actress Cara Delevingne, recently, sent out a message to women that they can feel beautiful even without their hair. The 24-year-old underwent a bold makeover and shaved off her hair. So many people are cutting their hair off. I love that; the more the merrier. I wanted to highlight the fact you dont need hair to be feminine or beautiful, Delevingne was quoted by Stylist magazine And, what legendary actress and fashion icon Audrey Hepburn said remains a great beauty inspiration for many: The beauty of a woman must be seen from in her eyes, because that is the doorway to her heart, the place where love resides. Close to it, actress and beauty icon Sophia Loren too believes beauty is not something physical. Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes. It is not something physical, the Italian actress was once quoted as saying. While the world is still obsessed with perfect beauty tips and beautiful looks, beauty icon Marilyn Monroe, whose perfect gorgeous looks is being tried upon by many still, once said, Imperfection is beauty. Actress Reese Witherspoon has something different to say. Fashion is all about storytelling, she said. Im a storyteller, and fashion is storytelling, too. This has put me in a new sphere of influence. Im very motivated to tell stories which havent been told, the actress was quoted as saying in Glamour magazine. Then, a year ago, Star Trek beyond actor Chris Pine said people should spend some time to look good. In California, fashion tends to be very casual probably because everybody is stuck in their cars and no one cares. Itd be nice if people spent some time trying to look good. I do the same Keeping Up With The Kardashians star Khloe Kardashian reveals she refuses to go anywhere without sunscreen. For me, anti-aging is really all about hydration. Drinking lots of water is a must. I also wear sunscreen every day, especially on my hands. Hands are always out in the sun, so they age the most. I keep extra sunscreen in the glove boxes of all of my cars in case I forget. When the sun hits my hands while Im driving, it reminds me to slather more on! (sic) she wrote on her website. US Ambassador Nikki Haley says Iran should not be allowed to use the nuclear deal to hold the world hostage. Haley commented on Wednesday after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned that the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement with the US and five other world powers could fall apart. Rouhani said Tehran could quickly ramp up and advance its nuclear program if the US continues threats and sanctions against Iran. Haley warned that the nuclear deal must not become too big to fail.' She added that Iran, under no circumstances, can ever be allowed to have nuclear weapons. Haley said Iran must be held responsible for launching missiles, supporting terrorism, disregarding human rights and violating UN Security Council resolutions. She plans to visit the UN nuclear agency in Vienna next week. At least 32 suspected drug dealers were killed in shootouts across one province in the Philippines in a bloody 24 hours for the countrys war on drugs, the police said. Police officers arrested 107 people in a large scale operation carried out between Monday and Tuesday in Bulacan province, BBC reported on Wednesday. Police Senior Superintendent Romeo Caramat said police conducted 66 simultaneous raids in the province. He said the Bulacan operations had so far yielded the largest number of casualties. We have conducted several one-time, big time operations in the past but so far this is the highest number of killed perhaps during our operations, he said. Caramat said during the operations, the police seized several kg of illicit drugs of methamphetamine and marijuana, and 34 firearms. Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte lauded the police for killing 32 drug suspects in a massive raid. Thats nice. If only we could kill 32 every day then maybe we can reduce the what ails this country, Duterte said in a speech at the Malacanang Presidential Palace, referring to the illicit drug menace facing the country. Thousands have been killed since Duterte launched his controversial war on drugs in 2016. Rights groups have accused Philippines police of planning extrajudicial killings and in some cases profiting from them. Police maintains that the suspects are killed when they offer armed resistance to police, a claim that has been highly disputed. Duterte suspended the campaign in January promising to clean up the police, and re-organise the anti-drug units. The campaign resumed in March. Warning that military action to deal with North Korean nuclear and missile threats will be too horrific to contemplate, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called upon nations to dial-down rhetoric and dial-up diplomacy. Speaking to reporters, he said that all countries should strictly enforce the recent Security Council resolution imposing a stringent embargo on North Korea, but simultaneously also work towards a meaningful dialogue. His comments on dangers of military action appeared to be aimed at United States President Donald Trump who has warned Pyongyang of a rain of fire and fury like the world has never seen before if it continued with its threats to the US. North Koreas hereditary dictator Kim Jong-un, who oversaw the test of ballistic missiles that experts say could reach major US cities, had threatened to fire missiles near Guam, a US territory in the Pacific. However, in the face of Trumps stern warnings he has since backed off, saying he would wait to see the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees. Guterres also conceded the role of North Korea in precipitating the crisis, saying that it started with Pyongyang building up its nuclear and missile programmes. Even as the US and North Korea appear to have pulled back from the brink, Guterres recalled that more than 3 million people had died in the Korean conflict of the early 1950s and warned that the world needs to heed the lessons of history. He said the channels of communication between North Korea and the other parties should be opened, either bilaterally or through the resumption of the six-party talks of the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States. He also said that the two Koreas should hold a dialogue on de-nuclearising their peninsula. Answering a reporters question, he said that Trump or anyone else was not going to force him not speak his mind. He said that his statements on Wednesday were proof that he would say what needs to be said whether they were not to the liking of Trump or any other leader. On another issue involving Trump, who has accused Venezuelan Nicolas Maduro of being a repressive dictator and threatened military intervention against him, Guterres said that Latin America had successfully gotten rid of both authoritarianism and foreign dictatorship and cold deal with situation. In Korea meanwhile, Trumps threats and brinkmanship appear to have paid off for the time being despite some international criticism and opposition by Democrats in the United States. Pyongyangs patron, Beijing, has begun enforcing more vigorously the latest round of Security Council sanctions and forced it to back down from its threats to hurl missiles near Guam. Trumps counter-threats could have endangered Chinas own economy and standing for now. Montreal, CA (H4T1V6) Today Becoming partly cloudy after some morning light rain. High 42F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%.. Tonight A few clouds. Low 28F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph. The last days of the Newfie Pride There were many nights he didnt sleep. The numbers and scenarios turned over and over in his mind, making rest impossible. Id get up two, three oclock in the morning, night after night, come out to the kitchen table and work the numbers every ... Several witnesses saw an oval-shaped object that put forth considerable light with bright flashes, moving parallel with the horizon. By Inexplicata 8-2-17 [Translation (c) 2017 S. Corrales, IHU with thanks to Guillermo Gimenez, Planeta UFO and Jose Manuel Garcia Bautista] * Source: PLANETA UFO and Jose Manuel Garcia Bautista El Correo Web [Translation (c) 2017 S. Corrales, IHU with thanks to Guillermo Gimenez, Planeta UFO and Jose Manuel Garcia Bautista] The summer of 2017 has been particularly active as regards aerial mysteries and unknown phenomena. The UFOs of yesterday remain as current as ever and materialize yet again to fill us with wonder and disbelief.This is precisely how the protagonist of a UFO encounter in the locality of Brenes felt on the morning of August 2nd. It was something so incredible and unknown that she could hardly credit what he was seeing. Her name is Sandra and she witnessed something astonishing at 8:30 a.m.: "I was on my way to work and took my daughter over to my mother. It was then when I saw a light-emitting source in the sky. I can almost tell you that it was oval; issuing bright flashes even though it was daylight. The light was irregular and was in view for nearly a minute. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I watched it carefully and saw how its size decreased and became smaller until it disappeared."Sandra, visibly excited, recalls every second of this sighting. "I'm not easily shocked. My partner and I love these subjects, and a while ago, we spent some time in Gibraltar and saw three lights that left our jaws hanging. But this morning's event has been truly impressive." The witness called another person - Jesus, a worker at a nearby bar, who jokingly said: "They're here!" but when he saw the luminous form, realized they were both looking at a truly extraordinary phenomenon.Fernando Romero, driving from Tocina to Seville around the same time, also saw the mysterious object: "It was a large luminous form, a point of light that stood out in the sky, having the apparent size of a large marble. The object, or whatever it was, flew parallel to the horizon, slowly. I thought it was an airplane approaching Seville with its lights on, but when I looked more closely, I saw this wasn't the case. The light grew and shrank intermittently and stopped. It was very odd. Then, some thirty seconds later, it disappeared and left me stunned. I don't believe in this UFO and alien stuff, but I can tell you that was something very strange."Confirmation of the nature of the sighting was sought with Seville Flight Control, which confirmed having no air traffic matching what was seen by the witnesses. The same happened with military flight controllers. No astronomical phenomenon matches the nature of this UFO sighting. Nor is the passage of International Space Station (ISS) a valid explanation. By strict definition, these witnesses saw a UFO.The astronomical phenomena for the month of August will be the traditional "Lagrimas de San Lorenzo" (St. Lawrence's Tears) around the 12th (Perseids), also bearing in mind the partial lunar eclipse on the 7th of this month. The UFO phenomenon remains present in the heavens over Seville. It is a timeless phenomenon that appears before witnesses at any time of day and which can shatter preconceived notions about "things seen in the sky whose real nature we do not know". The Brenes UFO almost surely marks the start of other sightings in Seville. But the tribe has a long way to go In what appears to be a direct fall out of the Doklam crisis between India and China, the border guarding forces ITBP and China's People's Liberation Army, engaged in a face off in the Ladakh sector Tuesday morning. The Indian troops were alert as they were expecting trouble, largely on its Ladakh border in the run-up to the Independence Day celebrations. Earlier this week, Indian security experts had told THE WEEK that the Chinese build-up in the Doklam sector in the tri-junction of India-Bhutan and China last week could be a red herring. The dragon could strike at more unsuspecting locations along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) where it has a greater advantage. Most vulnerable among them could be the Ladakh sector and what the Army calls the Rest of Arunachal Pradesh (RALP), east of Tawang, they had said. There is a possibility that China could open a new front to strike if it wants to. When it does that, it will choose the most vulnerable stretch. The RALP or Ladakh sector could be an option for them and we need to be prepared," former Northern Army Commander Lt Gen D.S. Hooda had told THE WEEK. On Tuesday , the area chosen by the PLA was one of the vulnerable spots where Chinese incursions take place regularly as Beijing claims it as part of their territory. The face off happened at places called Finger 4 and Finger 5 after Chinese troops entered Indian territory along the banks of the famous Pangong lake in Ladakh between 6 and 9 am on Tuesday morning. Alert Indian border guarding forces tried to stop them but reports coming to the ITBP say that stones were thrown from Chinese side promoting Indian troops to respond. The face off resulted in minor injuries on both sides. The face off ended by 9 am, and both sides returned to their positions. It was resolved at the level of the troops, home ministry sources said. However, one thing has become clear: tension between the two neighbouring countries is mounting. This time there has also not been any exchange of sweets at Nathu La, which had been a customary practice during Independence Day celebrations here. There used to be sweet and greetings exchanged on August 15 every year at Nathu La, but this time no one came from the Chinese side, said an official who refused to be named. Hooda said he has never heard of such strong official statements coming from the Chinese side in several years. It is one thing for the Chinese media to write about war and so on. But for the official spokesperson and senior officials in Beijing to talk about it so often is something I have not heard in the past. By doing so, Beijing is also pushing itself into a corner. One wrong step here or there could create a war-like situation, he said. If India continues to go down the wrong path, we have the right to use any action under the international law to protect the lives of our troops. New Delhi should stop sending signals that everything is under control, Wang Wenli, a Chinese diplomat in the department of boundary and oceanic affairs had reportedly told a visiting Indian media delegation last week. 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 After a scuffle broke out between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Ladakh on August 15, Union minister of state for defence Subhash Bhamre said that the situation on the Chinese border was being closely monitored. Said Bhamre to THE WEEK, We will leave it to the Army. I dont want to say anything more on it now. Around 15 Chinese soldiers crossed into the Indian territory on Tuesday and threw stones at the Indian troopers. The Chinese border in Ladakh is jointly patrolled by the Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police. Six soldiers from the ITBP suffered injuries. Chinese military officials, today, sought a flag meeting with Indian officials. China, on its part, has denied reports of its soldiers entering Indian territory along the banks of the Pangong Lake in Ladakh. 60 per cent of the length of the lake lies in China. The Line of Actual Control passes through the lake. Said Hu Chunying, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, We are not aware of the information. The Chinese side is committed to peace and tranquility of the China-India border. The fight in Ladakh comes at a time when India and China are engaged in a bitter confrontation in Doklam, the India-Bhutan-Tibet tri-junction. The standoff has been continuing for more than 50 days, after Indian troops stopped the Chinese army from constructing a road in the area, as it could allow China to block Indias access to its northeastern states. Indian and Chinese troops did not exchange pleasantries on the occasion of Independence Day, as has been the standard since 2005, following an agreement signed between Indian and Chinese officials for important occasions. Apparently, there was no exchange of greetings on August 1, which is the founding day of the Chinese army. Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday flayed the Jammu and Kashmir policy of the Narendra Modi government, alleging that it has created a space in the troubled state for Pakistan to "misbehave". His attack on the government at a Congress rally here comes a day after Modi, in his Independence Day address, reached out Kashmiris, saying abuses and bullets would not resolve their problems but embracing them would. "He (Modi) has created an environment in Jammu and Kashmir ofhatred and anger, and the only people who benefit from violence and hatred are the Pakistanis," he said. Claiming that he worked on the J-K issue with Manmohan Singh, who was the prime minister, and leaders like P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh silently without any "drama or tamasha", he said their effort of 10 years was "destroyed by Modi in one month". Gandhi said that the Congress-led coalition in 2004 inherited a government from Atal Bihari Vajpayee under which Kashmir was "burning", and one of the biggest successes of the Manmohan Singh government was creating an environment of peace in J&K. "We worked for 10 years to bring peace in Kashmir. We did panchayat elections, we did work on employment, we connected thousands of women there to banks. The reason was we wanted peace and harmony in Kashmir," he said. "We wanted to embrace the people of Jammu and Kashmir and we wanted them to embrace us. We wanted peace there, also because when there is peace, Pakistan can do nothing in Jammu and Kashmir... The space for Pakistan to do mischief there closes," he said. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjuna Kharge, state Congress in-charge K.C. Venugopal and PCC president G Parameshwara, among others, werepresent at the event. Stressing that a peaceful Jammu and Kashmir was a "worst thing" for Pakistan, Gandhi said what the UPA government did for ten years was "destroyed in one month by Modi". "I'm telling you this because Mr Narendra Modi's policy has created a space in Jammu and Kashmir for Pakistanis to misbehave," he added. Hitting out at the Modi government's foreign policy, Gandhi accused the prime minister of alienating India's neighbours and also Russia. "Narendra Modi has not stopped there. When we were in the government, all neighbouring countries, other than Pakistan and China, were favourable to us... One by one Narendra Modi has alienated them," he alleged. "For the first time in our history, Russia is selling weapons to Pakistan," he said. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have agreed to enhance peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region by establishing a new two-by-two ministerial dialogue, which would elevate their strategic consultations, the White House said on Tuesday. Trump spoke with Modi last night to greet him on the eve of India's Independence Day. In a rare gesture, Trump himself picked up the phone to call Modi to congratulate the 1.2 billion citizens of India. During the phone call, Trump welcomed the first-ever shipment of American crude oil to India, which will begin this month from Texas. He pledged that the US would continue to be a reliable and long-term supplier of energy to India, the White House said in a readout of the phone call between the two leaders. "The leaders resolved to enhance peace and stability across the Indo-Pacific region by establishing a new two-by-two ministerial dialogue that will elevate their strategic consultations," the White House said, without giving details of the mechanism. As the leaders of two of the world's largest and fastest-growing major economies, Trump and Modi looked forward to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in India this November, the White House said, adding that Trump has asked his daughter and adviser Ivanka Trump to lead the US summit delegation. "Prime Minister Modi thanked President Trump for his strong leadership uniting the world against the North Korean menace," it added. Trump had recently warned North Korea that it would face "fire and fury" if it attacked the United States, while the North threatened to test-fire its missiles over Japan and towards the US Pacific island of Guam. Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson telephoned External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and greeted her and people of India on the occasion of Independence Day. He extended his best wishes to the people of India on the country's Independence Day. "The US is proud to stand with the people of India, the world's largest democracy, in the cause for freedom and prosperity around the globe," he said. "Prime Minister Modi's ambitious vision for the US-India relationship holds great promise for advancing our shared interests in the 21st century, and we look forward to the many years of friendship before us," Tillerson added. Tillerson and Swaraj "had good conversation," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said. They "discussed newly established" two-plus-two mechanism to harness synergy in foreign and defence engagements, the spokesperson said. State governments who want metros in their cities will have to earn them with a lot of ground work and clear commitments on a range of issues. The new metro rail policy approved by the Union cabinet on Wednesday requires state governments seeking a metro rail system to set up, within a year, an urban metropolitian transport authority which will prepare comprehensive mobility plants to integrate different transport systems for optimal capacity utilisation. The state governments are expected to take charge of urban development along 500 metres on either side of the metro corridor, by way of transit-oriented development. They have to adopt innovative funding mechanisms like value capturing, by which they have to mobilise resources through these valuable assets. A betterment levy was one example given. The state governments will also be required to commit with regard to passenger security, law and order, and last mile connectivity. Briefing the media after the cabinet meeting, Finance Minister Arun Jaitely pointed out that since metro was a costly venture, state governments have to ensure all the clearancesfrom environment to land to forests. Describing the decision as building an ecosystem, the minister said the idea was to ensure that there was nothing adhoc about granting cities a metro rail. He said seven cities had 370 kilometres of metro in operation. In a dozen cities, 537 kms of metro rail is under construction. The government is considering proposals for metro rail totaling 600 kms. In the National Capital Region of Delhi, 381 kms of regional rapid rail was under consideration, he announced. The NCR spans parts of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The new policy expects the states to undertake analysis of alternate modes of transport like bus rapid transport system, light rail, mono rail, tram rail etc. The three models of funding mentioned are the viability gap funding (in practice now), a state government funding with the Centre chipping in 10 per cent by way of grant and a 50-50 model. It also mentions indigenisation of components under the Make in India plan, permits issuance of bonds, increases the cost benefit to go up to 14 per cent by way of economic internal rate of return. Currently, this stands at 8 per cent. Jaitley said many states were are seeking metros to ease the congestion in their cities, necessitating this policy. Irrigation 106 irrigation projects worth Rs 62,000 crores, stuck from the mid-90s, will be completed by 2019, following a cabinet decision to give them top priority and financial allocation. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said while 18 of them had already been completed, 33 would be completed by March 2018, and the remaining the next year. These will irrigate 14 lakh hectares, 18 lakh hectares and 76 lakh hectares respectively. With the completeion of these projects, 3000 additional hectares will be irrigated daily. NABARD will raise bonds worth Rs 920 crores to partially fund the projects, Jaitley said. The minister said many states have done innovative work to get the schemes going. In many places, pani panchayats were monitoring the schemes. Tax holidays to continue The GST regime provides no exemption, but the Modi government has found a way out to ensure that the 10-year tax holidays provided to new industrial units in the northeast and Himalayan states continue. Finance Minister Arun Jaitely explained that the GST has provisions for refund, and so the cabinet had approved the proposal for these units to pay the tax under the GST, and get the refunds. This, however, will come to an end when each of the 4,284 industrial establishemnts have hit the 10-year period, and by March 31, 2027. The tax holidays will give these units a benefit of Rs 27,313 crores. In 2005, when Tushar Arun Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, re-enacted the Dandi March, a Bapu look-alike joined him from Sabarmati Ashram near Ahmedabad, Gujarat. He used to irritate me initially as he used to dress-up like Bapu, recalls Tushar. But some incidents during the 26-day-long journey involving the look-alike not only changed Tushar's opinion about him but also prodded him to restore the original Dandi track taken by Bapu. Once we were crossing a highway and a car crossed us. After a few minutes a car stopped and the family travelling in it came out to meet us. Their daughter-in-law was carrying a newborn baby. Teary-eyed, she put the baby on Bapu's look-alike's feet for blessings, he recounts. Tushar adds that the caste system is very strong in Gujarat but whichever village they crossed, people came out of their homes to see 'Bapu'. In fact, they were so moved that they had tears rolling down their eyes. They garlanded him and touched his feet. Besides, this person was equally dedicated. Almost everyday while Tushar complained about the hardships of the journey and thought he won't be able to finish the 241 mile walk. He covered the distance barefoot without any complaints. On March 12, 1930, Mahatma Gandhi and his 80 handpicked supporters started from Sabarmati Ashram on a nearly 400km march across Gujarat to the coastal city of Dandi. The march was against the heavy tax levied by the British rulers on salt. Dandi March was a symbol of protest against the British rule. It also sparked off the Civil Disobedience Movement in the country. Tushar was so moved by all this that he resolved to restore the original Dandi track as form of commitment towards the future generation. The journey made me realise that a lot of original route had got lost because politicians took the convenient route and villages had changed over time. If we don't conserve our history how are we going to inspire people. So, he approached the then prime minister Manmohan Singh, who promised to help. He also joined hands with Sudarshan Iyenger, the vice chancellor of Gujarat Vidyapith, a university established by Mahatma Gandhi, did research and revisited the route thrice between 2009 to 2014 to mark the real places crossed by Bapu. Those days, Google maps was gaining popularity in India. So I thought why not put some markers, which can be picked up by the satellite and get highlighted on the map. I approached them but they suggested I do it myself. It was tough but the hardwork paid off and Tushar succeeded in tracing 80 per cent of the original route. The rest 20 per cent is guess work based on information we got from books and photo archives of Sabarmati Ashram. Later, realising the importance of the historical route and Tushar's mammoth effort, Google Earth joined hands with him and now the story of the Dandi Kooch, the Epic Salt March is now on Google Earth. One can download the new product by clicking on Voyager and see route (currently first on the Editor's choice segment) that is flagged with all the halts marked and the see story of the march being unfolded. It is one more feather in my cap as I initiated the project and provided all the information and the history, Tushar says. In 1974, a 25-year-old engineering graduate was chosen by anti-corruption crusader Jayaprakash Narayan (JP) to contest as peoples candidate from Jabalpur Lok Sabha seat. The bye-election was being held after the death of veteran Congress leader Seth Govind Das who had held the seat since the first general elections 1952. A political novice then, Sharad Yadav managed to defeat his Congress rival by over 1.10 lakhs votes, stunning even JP. Now, at 70, Yadav is fighting another battleagainst a fellow socialist Nitish Kumar for maintaining his political relevance. Yadav, who often lands in controversies with his blunt remarks, has claimed that he is the real Janata Dal (United) and would not leave the party. After conducting a tour of Bihar to garner public opinion against Nitish Kumar dumping the grand alliance in favour of the BJP, Yadav will hold a 'save composite culture' conclave in Delhi on Thursday. He has invited all the opposition leaders to be part of it. The attendance at the conclave will show if Yadav can bring opposition leaders together. He has announced that he would hold similar conferences across the country bringing dalits, people belonging to backward classes, marginalised, farmers and students together. Yadav is trying to cobble up public opinion against the BJP's aggressive nationalism. Significantly, how he plays his card in seeking control over the JD(U) would be interesting to watch. Bihar JD(U), which owes allegiance to Nitish Kumar, had already sacked 21 party leaders on Monday for anti-party activities. It was an attempt to contain any rebellion and to purge the party of Sharad loyalists. All eyes are on him if he would announce a new party or try to seek control over the JD(U) by going through the election commission route. He has claimed the support of 14 party units in different states. Currently, almost all the Bihar MLAs and MPs are with Nitish Kumar. Barring Rajya Sabha MP Ali Anwar and Kerala JD(U) president M. P. Veerendra Kumar, no one had opposed Nitish Kumar. As the Bihar CM is with the BJP which has its hold over nearly 70 per cent of country's geography, leaders in JD(U) would not like to risk their career by leaving Kumar's side. It will be tough for Sharad to lay claim over name and symbol of the party. Nitish Kumar is holding JD(U)'s convention on August 19 in Patna where the call would be taken on joining the NDA at the Centre. That party meet would put a stamp on Kumar's new alliance. As the differences between Yadav and Kumar have grown beyond reconciliation, the Bihar CM could seek Yadav's ouster from the party so that Rajya Sabha seat could be filled by a new member. Yadav has been Lok Sabha MP seven terms but his clout has been diminishing. Last two times when he won Lok Sabha elections in 1999 and 2009, his party was in alliance with the BJP. He had lost elections in 2014 after JDU had broken ties with the NDA. The RJD supremo had extended an invitation to Sharad Yadav to join hands with him to counter BJP. The opposition is desperately trying to find a narrative which could counter BJP's aggressive stance. Will Sharad, Lalu, Sitaram Yechury and Mamata Banerjee together provide any challenge to the saffron camp? Perhaps many are waiting for this. President Donald Trump ripped into business leaders who resigned from his White House jobs panel, the latest sign that corporate America's romance with Trump is faltering after his equivocal response to violence by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia. "They're not taking their job seriously as it pertains to this country," the president said yesterday at an impromptu news conference at Trump Tower in New York City. After his remarks, a fifth member of his manufacturing panel resigned: AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka, who said in a statement, "We cannot sit on a council for a president who tolerates bigotry and domestic terrorism." The president denied that his original statement about the violence in Virginia on Saturday saying "many" sides were to blame, rather than hate groups, was the cause of the departures. "Some of the folks that will leave, they're leaving out of embarrassment because they make their products outside the United States, he said, as he seemed to double down on his earlier comments. Trump also assailed the CEOs who left on Twitter as "grandstanders" and said he had plenty of executives available to take their place. The president added that he believes economic growth in the US will heal its racial divide. But the parade of departing leaders from the informal panel seems closely linked to how the president responded to events that led to the death of a counter-protester that opposed the white supremacists. Among those who've left are the chief executives for Merck, Under Armour and Intel and the president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing. Alliance president Scott Paul, in a tweet, said simply, "I'm resigning from the Manufacturing Jobs Initiative because it's the right thing for me to do." Within minutes of the tweet yesterday, calls to Paul's phone were being sent to voicemail. Wal-Mart CEO Doug McMillon joined the chorus, saying in a note on Monday to employees, "(We) too felt that he missed a critical opportunity to help bring our country together by unequivocally rejecting the appalling actions of white supremacists." But McMillon, whose business has customers on all sides of the political spectrum, plans to stay on a separate Trump advisory panel and said that the president's follow-up remarks on Monday that named white supremacists were a step in the right direction. Corporate leaders have been willing to work with Trump on taxes, trade and reducing regulations, but they've increasingly found themselves grappling with cultural and social tensions amid his lightning rod-style of leadership. The CEOs who left the council quickly faced his wrath, while those who have stayed have said it's important to speak with the president on economic issues. Like several other corporate leaders, Alex Gorsky, chairman and CEO of Johnson & Johnson, said that intolerance and racism have no place in US society but that he intended to stay on the manufacturing council. "We must engage if we hope to change the world and those who lead it," he said in a statement. A White House official downplayed the importance of the manufacturing council and a separate policy and strategy forum featuring corporate leaders. The official, who insisted on anonymity to discuss private conversations, said the panels were informal rather than a set body of advisers. The departures, the official said, were unlikely to hurt the administration's plans to overhaul taxes and regulations. No one really knows where all the wealth has gone. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam of Hyderabad (1911-1967), was considered the richest man in the world with a fortune of $2 billion. The Time magazine put him on the cover of its February 22, 1937 issue. For long his family wanted to know where all the money had gone. Now they are fighting for what is left. The fight is between two grandsons of the Nizam, Prince Mukarram Jah, the crown heir, and his brother Prince Muffakham and the rest of the family, said Nawab Najaf Ali Khan, one of the grandsons of Mir Osman Ali Khan. He is also the president of the Nizam Family Welfare Association. The family has nominated him to take care of the legal aspects of the dispute. I look after the untouched issues, which are pending in the form of assets and money, he said. I have been given absolute mandate from the 120 or so whom I am representing in the UK High Court, claiming the Nizam's money, which has been deposited with North Westminster Bank, now called Royal Bank of Scotland. This wealth is also being claimed by the two grandsons and the governments of Pakistan and India. Moin Nawaz Jung, who was Mir Osman Ali Khan's finance minister, transferred one million pounds to North Westminster Bank a day before Operation Polo, the military action that annexed Hyderabad to the Indian Union in September 1948. Currently the amount has grown to 36 million pounds. It has been in litigation since 1956, said Nawab Najaf. In 2013, the Pakistan High Commissioner went to court claiming that the money belonged to his country, but the bank said the matter was in dispute. India has also staked claim for the amount. We hope for an amicable solution, said Nawab Najaf. But, considering the adamant stance of the parties concerned, it would be difficult, he conceded. Monumental gain: The Falaknuma Palace in Hyderabad is now a flagship hotel of the Taj Group | R. Sai Sumanth Mir Osman Ali Khan was known as a miserly person. But he was never stingy when it came to people's welfare. The Nizam Charitable Trust helps the poor with monthly pensions and scholarships. He started many schools and educational institutions. In 1917, he founded Osmania University. The Nizam had 18 sons and 16 daughters. Today, only one son and one daughter are alive, said Nawab Najaf. There are 120 grandchildren. The richest of them are the two eldest grandsons, Mukkaram and Muffakham, because all the assets were in their control after the demise of my grandfather in 1967. The current generation is more focused to getting good education. We have many doctors, engineers, chartered accountants and fashion designers. They are spread all over the world, said Nawab Najaf. In 1951, Mir Osman Ali Khan formed a trust called The Nizam Jewellery Trust for his vast collection of jewellery and precious stones. The government purchased it for Rs 206 crore in 1995, after 20 years of litigation. The family was not allowed to sell the jewellery outside India, said Nawab Najaf. It could have fetched Rs 2,500 crore at that time. Faraway prince: Mukkaram Jah currently lives in Turkey | PTI A document called Blue Book has information on all of Nizam's properties. It says the state was 2,14,184 sqkm, and it had five provinces and 17 districts. The Nizam VII carried most of the wealth from his forefathers. And his rule was considered the golden period of the Asaf Jahi dynasty, during which Hyderabad progressed and prospered remarkably. He was equally popular among his non-Muslim subjects as an unbiased and secular minded king, said Nawab Najaf. Though the Nizam resisted joining the Indian Union, he relented once the army intervened to annexe the princely state. In 1965, prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri set up the National Defence Fund to deal with the threat from some neighbouring countries. The government appealed to the kings for monetary help, but the response was lukewarm. The Nizam, however, was generoushe gave five tonnes of gold. Prince Mukarram Jah was crowned the eighth Nizam of Hyderabad in 1967 following the death of Mir Osman Ali Khan. When the government abolished princely titles, privileges and privy purses, he decided to settle in Australia and become a farmer. He rarely visits Hyderabad, and currently lives in Turkey. After the coronation he famously told an American reporter that the only pleasure he got from going to Hyderabad was tinkering with the broken-down cars in his grandfathers garage. I inherited a scrapyard, he said. I have a lifetimes work before me. Mukarram left the management of his inheritance in the hands of people he thought he could trust. It was a mistake. Priceless antiques were pillaged or sold off at a fraction of their worth. Jewels landed up at international auction houses. Palace lands were encroached on. Jah had just inherited what was probably the largest fortune in the world, wrote John Zubrzycki, author of The Last Nizam: The Rise and Fall of Indias Greatest Princely State. The vast estate included a treasury that was said to contain more jewels than those of all the other princely states put together, a list of properties including palaces, forts and havelis more than 50 pages long and 14,718 staff and dependents that his grandfather still maintained two decades after Hyderabad had lost its independence. Since 2007, however, there has been a turnaround of sorts. Under the stewardship of Princess Esra, Mukarram's first wife, the Chowmahalla Palace has been restored and its collections documented and put on display. The palace has been turned into a museum. The Falaknuma Palace, which was a crumbling heap in the 1990s, is now a flagship hotel of the Taj group. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi used to say that if the Congress were to lose 25 of 26 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat, the only seat to come its way would be that of his confidant Ahmed Patel. The belief rang true on the night of August 8 when, amid high drama, Patel retained his Rajya Sabha seat by the skin of his teeth. He was aided by disqualification of two votes that had gone against him. A textile merchants son, Patel had risen up the ranks and was elected to the Lok Sabha three times from Bharuch in Gujarat. But, as hindutva became a political wave, Patel lost Bharuch in 1989 and 1991, and retreated from the heat and dust of the hustings. He, however, thrived in the power corridors of Delhi, became the most powerful person in the Congress after party president Sonia Gandhi, and returned to Parliament by winning a Rajya Sabha seat in 1996. Yet, in the election this August, this influential backroom strategist had to mop up votes of his own party MLAs. It was a measure of hard times faced by the Congress. It was while contesting a Lok Sabha seat in 1977 that Patel caught Sanjay Gandhis eye. Patel had then insisted that Indira Gandhi, who had become unpopular because of the Emergency, should address a rally in his constituency. He later became close to Rajiv, partly because of his roots in Bharuch, the ancestral hometown of Rajivs father, Feroze Gandhi. Rajiv made Patel party general secretary as well as his parliamentary secretary. Patel also won Sonias unwavering trust, and he was among those who exhorted her to enter politics. A big secret of Patels success is his obsession with anonymity. Soft-spoken and always trying to blend in, Patels personality belies the power he wields. His Lutyens Delhi bungalow23, Mother Teresa Crescentdoes not bear his nameplate. Kadir Pirzada, his longtime friend and former mayor of Surat, said a Congress leader once wanted to bring out a book on Patel. Patel said no. He said he did not want any publicity, said Pirzada. Patel asked him to write a book on Gujarat instead. Patel is a workaholic who goes to bed at 2am and wakes up at 6am. Mornings are spent reading newspapers, especially Hindi papers, but when time permits, he listens to old Hindi film songs. He is a religious man who prefers simple home-cooked food; khichdi or dal and rotis. Patel is reputed to have built alliances that helped the Congress rule India for ten years. It was his idea to reach out to the Samajwadi Party for its support regarding the no-trust vote on the Indo-US nuclear deal in 2008. Sanjaya Baru, Manmohan Singhs media adviser, says in his book The Accidental Prime Minister that Patel was the carrier of Sonias word to the prime ministers office. Baru says Patel once came to the PMO just when the prime minister was about to send a letter to the president listing the names of ministers to be sworn in. Patel had a fresh list of nominees. When told there was no time to draft a new letter, Patel took the letter that was ready and blanked out some names with a whitener. The new names were added and the letter was dispatched. Baru also writes about Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi calling on Manmohan Singh on his birthday. After the meeting was over, Patel handed Baru a note to be released to the press. The note claimed that Rahul had urged the prime minister to extend the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to all rural districts of the country. Besides being a political strategist, Patel has been a key fundraiser for the party and has very strong links with the corporate world. When he was party treasurer, the Congress never faced a financial crisis, even when it was out of power. Though he is known as a leader without mass support, his friends say he is not at all disconnected from ground reality. He rose from the grassroots, from the panchayat level. He has earned every post, said Gujarat Congress leader Arjun Modhwadia. It is said Patel promoted loyalists and sidelined leaders with mass support so that Sonias supremacy went unchallenged. But he has himself been sidelined over the past three years, be it in the selection of candidates or on making changes in the organisation. In the Rahul era of the party, Patel is not as influential as he used to be. The reticent man recently made a rare speech in the Rajya Sabha, when he was accused of involvement in the AgustaWestland chopper scam. He has of late been fairly active on social media, tweeting about the Modi governments failures and Priyanka Vadras role in stitching together the Congress partys alliance with the Samajwadi Party for the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. Patel entered politics at 26, and has now expressed regret that he could not spend enough time with his family. His wife, Memoona, son, Faisal, and daughter, Mumtaz, have stayed away from the limelight. Patel was extremely disturbed when his daughter-in-law Zainab, a cousin of National Conference leader Omar Abdullah, died because of a heart complication a year ago. Patel clearly has not outlived his utility for the Congress. He was the unsung hero behind the mahagathbandhan in Bihar. He also organised the partys protests against the demonetisation. If BJP president Amit Shah went all out to ensure his defeat in the Rajya Sabha elections, it was as much for the extreme personal rivalry between them as for the symbolic value his defeat would have in the run-up to the Gujarat assembly election, due in December. Shah holds Patel responsible for his exile from Gujarat in connection with the fake encounter cases against him. A defeat for Patel would have had huge implications for the assembly elections as well as the Lok Sabha polls in 2019. It is important for the BJP to win not one seat fewer than when Modi was chief minister, said political analyst Devendra Patel. Ahmed Patel and his party can now heave a sigh of relief. However, it is an uphill task for the Congress to build on the hard-won victory and get its house in order, in Gujarat and elsewhere. On the final day of campaigning in Alabama, U.S. Sen. Luther Strange on Monday touted his backing from President Donald Trump while his GOP rivals continued to batter him as the candidate of the so-called Washington establishment because of his bankrolling from Senate leadership. Alabama voters go to the polls on Tuesday for party primaries in the race to fill Attorney General Jeff Sessions Senate seat. Despite Trumps endorsement and the backing of millions of dollars in advertising by a super political action committee tied to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Strange has found himself a tight primary against firebrand challengers, including former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, a member of the House Freedom Caucus. Trump recorded a message urging Alabama Republicans to vote for Strange, who was appointed earlier this year to temporarily fill Sessions seat. Trumps message was sent out as an automatic call to more than 150,000 households on the eve of the primary. In the call, Trump says his administration is accomplishing many of his promises but I need Luther to help us out. The call came after Trump twice spoke of his support for Strange via Twitter. I feel like the momentum is on our side with the Presidents tweet and robocall today. I think everything is looking great, Strange said as he worked telephones at his campaign office. Brooks on Monday said the race was an opportunity to send a huge message to the Senate leadership about the dysfunction in the U.S. Senate. It would send chills down the spine of McConnell, Brooks said, for the race to end up in a runoff between himself and Moore. Brooks spent the last two-weeks crisscrossing the state on a bus nicknamed the Drain the Swamp Express that also had a Ditch Mitch sign secured to it. In a campaign stop Monday, Brooks said he is the candidate with the strongest voting record for Trumps agenda. Brooks said he, unlike Strange, supports Trumps request to change Senate filibuster rules that make it easier for Democrats to defeat legislation. Moore is often considered a contender in the race because of the fame he has gained as an icon of the culture wars. Moore was twice removed from his duties over stances for the public display of the Ten Commandments and against gay marriage Its a critical stage for our country. This is a prelude to the 2018 senatorial races. I think the Washington crowd is watching this race because its kind of a bellwether, Moore said. The Senate Leadership Fund, which has ties to McConnell, has saturated state airwaves with ads on behalf of Strange, with commercials aimed at keeping down support for both Moore and Brooks. The crowded GOP field increases the odds that the race will end up in a September runoff between Tuesdays top two finishers. Other Republicans in the race include Sen. Trip Pittman and Christian Coalition leader Randy Brinson. The rollicking primary began with Stranges appointment in February by then-Gov. Robert Bentley, who later resigned in the cloud of a scandal. Challengers have taken swipes at Strange for seeking an appointment from the governor when Strange, as attorney general, was in charge of an investigation. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, immediately after taking office, announced the election would occur this year instead of 2018 as Bentley planned triggering a four-month demolition derby among contenders. The Democratic side of Tuesdays election is also crowded. Doug Jones, a former U.S. attorney under the Clinton administration, is perhaps the best-known statewide in the field vying for the nomination and is backed by some national party figures such as former Vice President Joe Biden. Other candidates include Michael Hansen, the head of an environmental organization who has urged Democrats to fully embrace progressive stances. Robert Kennedy, Jr., a Navy veteran who is unrelated to the famed Massachusetts political dynasty, has urged Democrats to build bridges with Republicans and independents. While Alabama has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in more than 20 years, some Democrats hope that a December special election particularly if Republicans end up with a polarizing nominee could give them at least a chance in the matchup between the winning Republican and Democrat. (AP) Vodafone has added a sneaky 1-a-month charge to more than one million customers' mobile phone contracts, we can reveal. The new fee which will net the telecoms giant millions of pounds a year has been added to every new monthly contract taken out since February. Vodafone says the service offers customers extra protection against any harmful websites users may visit while surfing the internet. The so-called 'Secure Net' software is included on monthly contracts and is advertised as a 'free three-month trial' in Vodafone's promotional material. Grab: Vodafone is charging customers 1-a-month for software to protect against any harmful websites users may visit while surfing the internet But customers claim they are not told they have been opted in and will be charged 12 a year when the free trial ends. It is impossible to remove the extra software at the time of purchase and it cannot be cancelled until at least 24 hours later. Money Mail has discovered that the cost is not included in its pricing small print if you take out the contract online. Even if you sign up in store, it is not always mentioned by staff and is glossed over on the agreement you sign. Instead, customers are notified by text after signing their contract and it is then up to the customer to remember to cancel the add-on if they want to avoid the fee. Last night the telecoms watchdog Ofcom said it would look into whether Vodafone was making the fees clear enough. And Vodafone responded by saying it would give staff extra training and review the wording on its website. Martyn James, of complaints website Resolver, says: 'Automatically opting people in to services that cost money is an unethical and misleading practice. Industries from car hire companies to airlines have all had their knuckles rapped over automatically opting people in to things such as insurance. 'And given that none of the Vodafone customers we've spoken to were aware of this charge, it's likely that a large number of people are going to be very angry that they've been hit with such a sneaky charge.' Money Mail receives a regular stream of complaints from customers of all mobile phone companies who have been signed up to monthly subscriptions without realising. Many then struggle to cancel and get a refund. Vodafone insists staff are supposed to tell in-store customers about the fee when they take out a contract. But when a reporter asked a London branch for a pay monthly deal it was not mentioned. When we raised the add-on after signing the contract, a sales assistant said they were not instructed to tell people about the charge. The service is mentioned only in passing on the agreement in a line which reads: 'The monthly charge for your extras: 4G 0.00, Vodafone Secure Net 1.00, Vodafone Global Roaming 0.00.' Vodafone, which has 18 million UK customers, said around one million customers now have the extra Secure Net software and that 70 per cent 'decide to retain Secure Net after the free trial' If you buy your contract via the website, the 1 charge is not mentioned in the main pricing details or in its in-depth 'full list of prices'. Instead, when you click on the deal you want, you are told your offer includes a 'three-month free trial of Secure Net'. To learn about the add-on charge you would then have to scroll down and seek out more details of Secure Net by clicking on a link about the software. Vodafone says it sends a text message to customers one day after taking out the contract, offering the opportunity to opt out, and a further four during the trial. But angry customers say they were not aware of these 'hidden' charges. One wrote on a forum: 'This is pretty cynical on the part of Vodafone. By all means enhance security, but if it's not going to be free after a trial they opted you in to, you should not need to have to cancel yourself.' Others have expressed confusion after the charges appeared on their bill. Vodafone customers say they are not warned that they will be charged when the trial ends One Twitter user wrote: 'What's this 1.00 Vodafone Secure Net charge showing on my bill?' Financial adviser Al Rush, of Rutland, tweeted: 'Anyone else mysteriously being charged for Secure Net without giving Vodafone UK your express permission?' Another customer named Dan, an analyst from Sheffield, tweeted: 'What is Vodafone Secure Net? Why do I have it without asking? How do I get rid of it?' When Money Mail contacted Vodafone's customer services department about the unwanted add-on, staff revealed the firm immediately refunds customers who claim they were not told about the monthly fee. He said: 'I am sorry it was not informed to you. If it gets charged without knowledge of the customer, we remove the charges.' He insisted customers were usually notified by text about the charges when their three-month trial expired and it was 'very rare' to neither be told about it in store nor alerted via text. Vodafone, which has 18 million UK customers, said around one million customers now have the extra Secure Net software and that 70 per cent 'decide to retain Secure Net after the free trial'. Secure Net offers extra protection against viruses, malware and phishing sites, Vodafone says, to stop customers' phones becoming infected. 'If any online threats are detected they'll be stopped before they get anywhere near your device and Secure Net will send you a text message to let you know,' it says. A Vodafone spokesman says: 'Secure Net is listed where included in a plan and a [web] link provided for additional information. We will review this to see if there are ways we can improve the customer experience. 'As with any new service, we will continue to look to make improvements to the sales process and to the service itself.' Vodafone says its 'Secure Net' service offers customers protection against harmful websites He added: 'Stores have been trained to inform customers of the trial and the subsequent charge. 'We will provide them with a refresher to ensure that this happens in all cases.' Vodafone says that employees in branches are expected to explain that the three-month trial is included. Rival firms O2, Three and EE said they did not apply any automatic charges for additional security features or software. A spokesman for Ofcom says: 'We expect customers to be treated fairly, and any additional charges to be made clear at the point of sale whether in store or online. We're discussing this process with Vodafone. 'If a customer was not made aware of the terms of the Secure Net trial at point of sale, or they did not receive the information in their Welcome Pack and text, they should complain directly to Vodafone.' l.eccles@dailymail.co.uk More than a million energy customers have been overcharged a total of 102million over the last year because of billing errors, new research has revealed. Nearly 1.3million households were forced to pay an average of 79 more than they owed, and some are still waiting for a refund, according to a study by price comparison website uSwitch. Around one in three of customers affected said they were charged for an amount that did not match their meter readings, while a quarter said their energy bills did not add up correctly. More than a million energy customers have been overcharged a total of 102 million over the last year because of billing errors, new research has revealed Other billing blunders include suppliers getting direct debit amounts wrong, applying incorrect fees, getting tariff or product details wrong and mixing up one bill with someone else's. On average, it took 35 days for the overcharged customers to receive a refund, but more than a third of those out of pocket had to wait for over two months, and seven per cent are either still waiting or have given up on getting their money back. The cost of billing errors may be even higher than the total of 102million, since more than a quarter of consumers admit they don't read their energy bills properly. Some say they never check fees. Highlighting the problem, sister title Money Mail was inundated with complaints from former Extra Energy customers, after revealing the supplier was using debt collectors to chase households for money they didn't owe. It has been under investigation by the energy watchdog for more than a year over bill blunders and complaints handling. Enraged customers included Rebecca Baker, 43, a compliance officer from Stoke-on-Trent, left Extra Energy last November and was sent a final bill for 149, when she owed only 78. About one in three of customers affected said they were charged for an amount that did not match their meter readings, while a quarter said their energy bills did not add up correctly The firm agreed to correct this, but in July, she started getting chased by a debt agency, which claimed she owed 932. Others also aired their grievances over misbilling. Claire Osborne, energy expert at uSwitch, said: 'Customers having to pay the price for suppliers' mistakes is unacceptable. 'Households are already feeling the pinch from recent energy price rises, and having to chase for an average of 35 days to get their money back simply adds insult to injury.' HOW TO GET YOUR MONEY BACK FROM YOUR ENERGY PROVIDER If you realise you are in credit to your energy supplier, you have the right to ask for this money back. Often this will happen during the summer months if you pay by direct debit as you will be using less energy. Energy companies will often tell you that as your bills will be higher in the winter it's worth keeping the money in the account, but if you want to use if for something else, and you know you will still be able to meet the higher bills in the colder months, you need to call up and ask for a refund. If it refuses, you can make an official complaint and then escalate the complaint to the Ombudsman if necessary. The same applies if you've switched suppliers and you were in credit at the time. Your old supplier should automatically refund you the money but it's always worth checking as sometimes this isn't the case. The findings come just weeks after British Gas became the latest Big Six energy supplier to hike prices. It is ramping up the cost of electricity by 12.5 per cent for 3.1million customers, despite falling wholesale prices. Uswitch is calling for market regulator Ofgem and suppliers to dramatically reduce billing errors, reimburse customers within a month and issue bills that are easier to understand - one in five who do not read their bills say it is because they are too complicated. Ms Osborne added: 'We want to see companies do much more to make life easier for their customers. 'Accurate bills are the bare minimum they should expect from their energy suppliers.' Suggested improvements to help consumers spot mistakes include explanations on how the bill has been calculated, whether it was based on an actual meter reading, if the account is in credit and reminders customers could save by switching tariff or supplier. An Ofgem spokesman said: 'We have taken strong action to address billing failures by suppliers, with suppliers paying out over 40million as a result of our investigations into these and related customer service issues in the last two years, and we continue to monitor the market. 'Suppliers are required by Ofgem to treat their customers fairly - if a customer thinks that their supplier has made a billing mistake, they should contact them. 'We are working with suppliers to make bills easier to understand and Ofgem's rules already require suppliers to make clear on bills whether they are based on a customer's actual or estimated energy usage. 'Smart meters will address the issue of estimated readings as these consumers will be billed based on their actual energy usage.' UK jobs: Akzo Nobel has around 3,000 Dulux staff in Britain A truce has been called between the owner of Dulux and an activist investor following a long-running battle over the way the paint maker is run. Akzo Nobel, which has around 3,000 Dulux staff in Britain, has been at war with aggressive hedge fund Elliott for months. But the pair have now called off hostilities for now. The row stems from Akzos rejection of a 23billion takeover bid from US rival PPG this year a move that infuriated Elliott which pushed for the deal. Elliott, which has a 9.5 per cent stake in Dutch firm Akzo, went to court to remove Akzo chairman Antony Burgmans, who has since said he will step down. Now, the two sides have agreed a standstill agreement, meaning a suspension of ongoing litigation for at least three months. Elliott will back Thierry Vanlancker, who is set to replace Ton Buchner as chief executive, after Buchner resigned for health reasons. And it will back three new supervisory board members and plans to split off its chemicals sector. PRU SALE Financial services giant Prudential has sold its network of US broker-dealers for an initial 252.4million, which could increase to as much as 357.9million, and will complete early next year. CLEANING CONTRACT British facilities company ABM UK has won a five-year contract to clean Transport for Londons underground stations and trains, bus depots, office buildings and the London Transport Museum. ROBOT RISE Factory workers and drivers are most likely to be the first casualties of a robots jobs revolution, according to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, whose spokesman, Dr Antonio Espingardeiro, yesterday said more than 1.4million robots would be working in global factories by 2019. BURLINGTON RETIRES Bruce Burlington will retire as a non-executive director on pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca this month. The 69-year-old American joined the board in 2010 and is a member of its audit, nomination, and governance committees as well as chairman of its science committee. METALCRAFT DEAL Engineering equipment maker Avingtrans announced that its subsidiary, Metalcraft, has secured a 3.6million contract with diesel and alternative fuel engine maker Cummins. PROFITS RISE Georgia-focused investment platform BGEO groups profits are up 13.1 per cent over the latest quarter to 41million, boosted by the growing Georgian economy. GREKA WIN AIM-listed oil and gas driller Greka Drilling has won two contracts with PetroChina, meaning it now has three coalbed methane contracts with the Chinese state-owned company. WINDFARM BACKING Businesses backing the Neart na Gaoithe wind farm to be built off the coast of Fife, Scotland, are calling on the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to drop its opposition to the project. MINORITY DEFICIT Nearly six in ten FTSE 100 boards have no ethnic minority members, according to consultant Green Park. It also found there had been an 18 per cent fall in the number of minority chairmen, chief executives and chief financial officers. However, the firm said that 5 per cent of top managers just below board level were from minorities the highest level in four years. Sir Philip Green, pictured with wife Tina, has hired a new creative director for Topshop Retail tycoon Sir Philip Green is masterminding an overhaul of Topshop while he parties on his yacht in the Mediterranean. Green spotted spraying champagne around in an exclusive island restaurant earlier this month has continued a clear-out of big names at the High Street chain in a bid to reverse flagging sales. Last night it was revealed he had appointed David Hagglund, a former art director at fashion magazine Vogue Paris, as creative director of Topman and Topshop. Hagglund will replace Topshop's creative director Kate Phelan, who has worked at the firm since 2011, and Gordon Richardson, who has held the top creative role at Topman for the past 17 years. Green hopes to revamp the ailing brand after profits at parent group Arcadia slipped 16 per cent to 211million last year. Industry experts view Hagglund's appointment as a major step towards revamping the chain's tired range as it faces losing ground on Britain's cut-throat High Street. Independent retail analyst Richard Hyman said the business's US expansion brought it into contact with an older and less fashion-conscious audience, meaning bosses had taken their eye off the ball. The chain has ten American stores, as well as concessions in department store Nordstrom. Hyman said: 'The American business has encouraged it to dumb down its fashion edge to a degree. Nordstrom stores in particular attract a much more varied, much more diverse, older and less fashionable footfall. 'It's hard to be very fashion-focused when you're also trying to appeal to a wider audience.' Hagglund is the third new hire in less than a month. He was previously head of his own creative agency in Stockholm, Sweden. Last month, Apprentice star Karren Brady was named as chairman of Green's holding company, Taveta Investments, after long-time Green confidant Lord Grabiner said he would stand down. It was announced days later that Burberry's chief merchandising officer Paul Price would jump ship to be chief executive of Topman and Topshop. He would take over from Mary Homer, who had worked for Green for 30 years and is quitting to run homewares business The White Company. It comes as 65-year-old Green faces a battle to restore his own reputation following the collapse of department chain BHS, which failed little more than a year after he sold it to three-times bankrupt Dominic Chappell for 1. It left 19,000 former workers facing severe pension shortfalls and triggered a public outcry over how Green extracted profits from BHS and then tossed it aside. The billionaire dubbed 'Sir Shifty' as MPs called for him to lose his knighthood, agreed to pay 363million into the pension fund and has since avoided the limelight unlike his 26-year-old daughter Chloe who has dated Jeremy Meeks, a violent US criminal banned from entering Britain. However, Green resurfaced earlier this week on the Greek island of Mykonos, at Nammos beach bar, which offers 110 bottles of 'spraying Champagne'. The tycoon was seen firing fizz around at a party where drenched and scantily clad women danced on tables stacked with empty Veuve Clicquot bottles. Budget airline Ryanair has accused Germany's government and airline Lufthansa of being in cahoots following a state rescue of rival Air Berlin. Ryanair called Germany's 150million (137million) loan to Air Berlin immediately after its insolvency request on Tuesday an 'obvious conspiracy' to allow Lufthansa to acquire the firm's assets. Air Berlin filed for insolvency after main shareholder, Abu Dhabi-based airline Etihad, withdrew financial support. Ryanair called Germany's 150m loan to Air Berlin an 'obvious conspiracy' to allow Lufthansa to acquire the firm's assets but none of its debt It made a loss almost every year since 2008, including a record 714million in 2016. The German government made the loan to allow it keep its aircraft in flight for the next three months and to secure the jobs of 7,200 staff while talks about its long-term future continue. This prompted a Ryanair complaint to the German regulator and the European Commission. It said: 'The German government is supporting this Lufthansa-led monopoly with 150million of state aid so Lufthansa can acquire Air Berlin and drive fares in Germany even higher.' Almost half of the landlords in one east London borough have been outed for failing to declare their rental properties with thousands of pounds in taxes left unpaid. Newham Council said up to 13,000 out of 26,254 landlords had not registered for tax self-assessments, which are required for those receiving at least 2,500 a year from tenants. The revelations have prompted estimates that, if this trend applies to the rest of the capital, the taxpayer is losing out on up to 200million in unpaid revenue. Almost half of the landlords in one east London borough have been outed for failing to declare their rental properties with thousands of pounds in taxes left unpaid This figure could skyrocket when the same formula is applied to the rest of the country. In Newham, east London, more than 40 per cent of housing is privately rented and since 2013 the council has required every landlord to obtain a licence. Since then, Newham Council has banned more than 25 landlords and has pursued prosecutions against almost 500, with the highest fine being 30,000. Continuing with its crackdown, it has now shared its register with HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in a bid to expose tax dodging landlords. In a letter sent to chancellor Philip Hammond, Sir Robin Wales, mayor of Newham, wrote: 'It is our understanding that, to date, up to 13,000 Newham landlords are of interest to HMRC, where there are discrepancies between declared income and our records, with potentially significant financial implication for the exchequer. 'Our core grant funding has halved since 2010-11, thats less money for our schools, less money for social care, and less money for housing.' Newham Council said up to 13,000 out of 26,254 renters had not registered for tax self-assessments, which are required for those receiving at least 2,500 a year from tenants At the end of his letter, Sir Wales urged chancellor Hammond to take action and assist the exchequer to address tax evasion by landlords. Many landlords have rallied against licencing, branding it as a is a revenue-generating ploy. Permits can vary from 500 to 1,000 for a five-year permission. In a bid to keep tabs on things, David Smith, a policy director at the Residential Landlords Association suggested that tenants should have to give details of their landlord when they register for council tax, which would identify all landlords and enable the enforcement of regulations. Richard Morley, a partner at the Tax Dispute Resolution team of BDO, revealed what the next steps will be following Newham Council's findings. He said: 'In the most serious cases, landlords who have shown intent to defraud the taxpayer can be liable to criminal investigation, which could ultimately lead to prosecution. 'The important aspect for HMRC to establish is the patterns of behaviour from the individuals. 'In circumstances whereby a landlord has made a careless error, HMRC may look into their financial affairs for up to six years, possibly adding penalties. 'However, if a landlord is believed to have deliberately not declared full rental income, HMRC will likely investigate going back up to 20 years and could add interest and penalties for the full duration.' Mr Morley advises landlords who are worried about their position to take a quick review, as HMRC may widen its investigation. He adds: 'In an event whereby non-compliance has occurred, landlords should voluntarily disclose via HMRC's "Let Property Campaign" to avoid the most severe penalties".' MBABANE Sekumele sentenjani (What shall we do)? This was asked by female job seekers who stormed the site of the ongoing construction of the International Convention Centre (ICC), demanding jobs on Monday. The job seekers, including males and females of the Lobamba Constituency, arrived at the construction site at around 7am in the company of their committee identified as the Aspiring Workers Committee. They assembled outside the gate where they sang and chanted political slogans. After some time, their representatives sought audience with the Human Resource Manager, Linda Matimba, after which they delivered a petition. Also present during the short meeting was Lobamba Constituency Headman Abraham Bhembe and the chief liaising officer (CLO). In their petition, the job seekers were against the CLO being in charge of hiring people for the ongoing construction, allegedly for biasness. The aspiring workers demanded the removal of the CLO. They also demanded gender balance in the hiring of people at the different construction companies contracted to the main company, KISS Joint Venture. Most females registered their desire to lay blocks and do the steal fixing just like what the men were doing. You sell chicken dust next to the road, the inner council takes you to task. You go to the roadside with your body at night, you find yourself in trouble with the police. What shall we do then? asked one of the females after delivering the petition. The aspiring worker, who was speaking out of anger, asked if spending their time at drinking spots and committing crimes would be a solution for them. As she made her utterances, one employee shouted: You sex worker shut up. Little did the employee know that he was inviting trouble? The frustrated job seeker was involved in a heated argument with the employee who was shouting from the company premises. She was later accompanied by some of the job seekers to confront the employee. Noted was that the Lobamba Constituency Headman, Bhembe, was among those who confronted the employee inside the premises. What is a prostitute? Did I ever offer you sex? Do not take advantage of our situation just because your father fetched you from bed and brought you here, she said. MBABANe In an atypical incident, an alleged serial rapist has been charged for allegedly having sex with a lifeless body. The accused, Julius Mjuluko Dlamini of Ngololweni, has been charged with necrophilia. Necrophilia, also called thanatophilia is a sexual attraction or sexual act involving corpses. Dlamini is alleged to have first raped Futhi Mndzebele before murdering her. He allegedly tied her with a red rope and later stabbed her all over the body. Thereafter, he is alleged to have proceeded to have sexual intercourse with her lifeless body. The spine-chilling incident is said to have occurred at Mhlane in the Manzini Region last year. He was arrested recently and has been indicted in the High Court. According to the charge sheet presented by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Dlamini allegedly intentionally and unlawfully committed a sexual act with Mndzebele, who was already dead and in the process committed the offence of necrophilia. The accused is facing a total five counts which include rape, murder, necrophilia, attempted murder and attempted rape. In the charge of necrophilia, one of the witnesses narrated to the court how they found Mndzebele lying in a pool of blood with her pants down. Zandile Mngomezulu told the court that she was about to leave home for Siphofaneni when she was approached by Mndzebeles friend, Samu Motsa. According to the witness, Motsa had come to visit Mndzebele. The duo is said to have repeatedly knocked at her room, which was locked, and the key was not in the door handle. They allegedly then peeped through the window and saw her lying on the bed but there was no response. In the summary of evidence, it is stated that the two were later joined by a certain Thandeka who opened the window using a fork and was later heard screaming loudly. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Naeisha Rose Community Board 12 Chairwoman Adrienne Adams is runnng for the City Council seat to be vacated by Ruben Wills, who was convicted of corruption last month. As a possible council member in District 28, she wants to make a difference in the southeast Queens locality with the legislative power the office affords. The former councilman will automatically lose his seat after being found guilty of grand larceny for stealing over $30,000 in taxpayers money for personal use when he is sentenced this week. He is facing up to seven years in prison. Hours before rushing off to a DOT Town Hall July 28, Adams entered the race as a Democrat to represent Rochdale Village, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park and South Ozone Park. Adams is the chairwoman of the second largest community board in Queens, which covers downtown Jamaica, and wants to bring her five years of experience as a public representative to District 28. For Adams, speaking on behalf of her constituents on the parliamentary level is a personal endeavor. Im running because I have a tremendous love for my community, Adams said. Ive lived in the district for almost 28 years now. As a longtime resident of the area, she knows what plagues it and wants to have the opportunity to solve those issues. I have watched the progression of the district some of it good and some of it not so good, Adams said. Ive been chairperson of Community Board 12 since 2012, and Ive worked hand-in-hand with city agencies and with our elected officials. I have a birds eye view of the City Council and other aspects of the political arena. If elected, one of her main priorities would be getting guns off the street. As of late, we have seen shootings coming out of nowhere, really across the entire city, and we need to take a closer look at getting the guns off the street, Adams said. We have to crack the code of getting guns off the street and giving our youth a viable alternative to the things that they are doing. Another concern is the overdevelopment of homeless shelters in downtown Jamaica and the lack of community inclusion in budgetary funds. Our district hosts an overwhelming percentage of the homeless shelters in the entire borough of Queens. That is a problem and we need to have more affordable housing. As the only candidate for the Council from Jamaica NOW, an economic development group, she would pressure developers to build inexpensive homes in Jamaica, but she doesnt want to stop there. She wants to assist the community in getting a say in how money is allocated there. Participatory budgeting is something that the community takes a part in, and District 28 has not had the benefit of inclusion like other districts, Adams said.Community participation helps to make sure the money goes where the need lies, like schools and certain healthcare facilities. This includes the community in the legislative process. She wants to tackle the unlawful parking of trucks and illegal dumping of garbage near residents properties. The chairwoman also wants better transportation for the region. There is a need to help the NYPD getting illegally parked trucks off the street, Adams said. These 18-wheelers are taking up three and four parking spaces on any given block. There is a lack of resources when it comes to tow trucks. We also have an illegal dumping problem and I think that surveillance cameras will be a great thing to get these repeat offenders and penalize them with proof. As chairwoman she has partnered with Councilman I. Daneek Miller (D-St. Albans) on a lot of problems in the area. The term transportation desert is a true expression, she said. We truly have limited resources. Transportation will be among one of my first priorities. If elected as a councilwoman, she would have the authority to create laws to solve those issues, which is something she could not do on the community board. Legislation is the key to making our community better, Adams said. There are several other candidates in the race whose status will be clarified later this week. Sign up for our amNY Sports email newsletter to get insights and game coverage for your favorite teams By Mark Hallum City Councilman Paul Vallone (D-Bayside) raked in more endorsements from the Korean community Tuesday as about 15 leaders from various immigrant organizations stood in his re-election office off Bell Boulevard and gave him their personal stamp of approval. Many of the endorsees were associated with non-profit and community organizations, which are prohibited from endorsing political candidates, but gave their verbal support on a personal level apart from the groups they lead. I think the people in this room, if they werent with me from Day One, I would not have been able to say lets re-elect this year. Four years ago, we stood together and we said were going to work to make this the best council office ever and especially for a community that never had focus or representation before, Vallone said, explaining that he had worked with Korean leaders throughout his first term to be the person they turn to address issues. Minsun Kim of the Korean American Association of Greater New York endorsed Vallone for the support he has offered to schools within his district through city funds and aimed at specific programs. Im an educator, Kim said, explaining some of the funding issues schools in the district experienced prior to Vallones time. Paul brought $15 million from the city budget to our community to make everything happen. All of us have to appreciate the value of Paul Vallones achievement. Vallone was elected in 2013 and since then has been a supporter of schools with a significant amount of city funds being allocated toward educational programs in his district, which has been a city leader in participatory budgeting. Districts 25 and 26 are the highest performing school districts in the city. Vallone recently declared a victory in arranging the purchase of land owned by Cord Meyer and Bay Terrace co-op owners. The incumbent is facing another challenge from fellow Democrat Paul Graziano, a northeast Queens native, land use expert and civic activist, who is known for fighting against over-development by working with elected officials such as state Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) to adjust zoning laws. Graziano is also responsible for having the Broadway Flushing neighborhood 1,330 buildings in total added to the National Register of Historic Places. Graziano went up against Vallone in 2013 during a five-way primary with no incumbent after Dan Halloran decided against running for re-election due to a corruption indictment. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has delayed a decision on firing missiles toward Guam while he waits to see what the United States does, the North\s state media reported on Tuesday as the United States said any dialogue was up to Kim. The United States and South Korea have prepared for more joint military drills, which has infuriated the North, and experts warned Pyongyang could still go ahead with a provocative plan. In his first public appearance in about two weeks, Kim inspected the command of the North\s army on Monday, examining a plan to fire four missiles aimed at landing near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, the official KCNA news agency reported. "He said that if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity, testing the self-restraint of the DPRK, the latter will make an important decision as it already declared," KCNA said. The DPRK stands for North Korea\s official name, the Democratic People\s Republic of Korea. Pyongyang\s plans to fire missiles near Guam prompted a surge in tensions in the region last week, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying the U.S. military was "locked and loaded" if North Korea acted unwisely. But U.S. officials have taken a gentler tone in recent days. Asked by reporters on Tuesday about the North Korean delay, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said it was up to Kim to decide if he wants to talk to the United States. We continue to be interested in finding a way to get to dialogue but thats up to him, Tillerson told reporters. In photos released with the KCNA report, Kim was seen holding a baton and pointing at a map showing a flight path for the missiles appearing to start from North Korea\s east coast, flying over Japan toward Guam. North Korea has often threatened to attack the United States and its bases and released similar photos in the past but never followed through. South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday his government would prevent war by all means. "Military action on the Korean peninsula can only be decided by South Korea and no one else can decide to take military action without the consent of South Korea," Moon said in a speech to commemorate the anniversary of the nation\s liberation from Japanese military rule in 1945. "The government, putting everything on the line, will block war by all means," Moon said. The Liberation Day holiday, celebrated by both North and South, will be followed next week by joint U.S.-South Korean military drills. Asian shares rose for a second day on Tuesday after Kim\s comments. The U.S. dollar and Treasury yields climbed after solid U.S. retail data and the easing in U.S.-North Korean rhetoric. North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear and missile programs to ward off perceived U.S. hostility, in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions and sanctions. A new study by a London-based think tank and an article in the New York Times that cited it said North Korea had obtained rocket engines probably from a Ukrainian factory via illicit networks. But U.S. intelligence officials said on Tuesday that North Korea has the ability to produce its own missile engines and intelligence suggests the country does not need to rely on imports. Japan will seek further reassurance from Washington in meetings between Japan\s defense chief and foreign minister and their U.S. counterparts on Thursday. "The strategic environment is becoming harsher and we need to discuss how we will respond to that," a Japanese foreign ministry official said in a briefing in Tokyo. "We will look for the U.S. to reaffirm its defense commitment, including the nuclear deterrent." China, North Korea\s main ally and trading partner, has repeatedly urged Pyongyang to halt its weapons program and at the same time urged South Korea and the United States to stop military drills to lower tensions. Kim Dong-yub, a professor and military expert at Kyungnam University\s Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Seoul, urged caution in assuming North Korea was bluffing with its missile threats. "There is no stepping back for North Korea. Those who don\t know the North very well fall into this trap every time (thinking they are easing threats) but we\ve seen this before." The United States and South Korea remain technically at war with North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce, not a peace treaty. North Korea is currently holding three U.S. citizens it accuses of espionage or hostile acts, but now is not the right time to discuss them, KCNA reported, citing a foreign ministry spokesman. Pyongyang has used detainees to extract concessions, including high-profile visitors from the United States, which has no formal diplomatic relations with North Korea. SOURCE: REUTERS This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate ALBANY You can't fire me I quit! That's essentially what General Electric Co. Chairman Jeff Immelt said Wednesday afternoon just around the time that President Donald Trump disbanded his beleaguered council on American manufacturing. Immelt and other business leaders had remained on Trump's panel in the wake of his controversial Saturday remarks on the Charlottesville, Va., white nationalist rallies. But they had come under increasing pressure to resign after the president, who on Monday seemed to back off from his earlier contention that both sides were to blame for the violence, doubled down on his more incendiary sentiments Tuesday afternoon. More for you Two of Trump's industry groups are disbanded GE, which was founded in Schenectady and employs more than 6,000 people locally, on Monday issued a statement condemning the white nationalists but noting that Immelt would remain on the president's council. Early Wednesday afternoon, Trump appeared to give Immelt and others an out when he announced on Twitter that he was scrapping the manufacturing council and his Strategic and Policy Forum, another panel devoted to business policy. "Rather than putting pressure on the businesspeople of the Manufacturing Council & Strategy & Policy Forum, I am ending both. Thank you all!" Trump tweeted early Wednesday afternoon. Various media outlets, however, reported that members of the Strategy and Policy Forum had decided to disband after meeting via conference call Wednesday morning, and had shared their decision with the White House. In a statement issued to the Times Union just after Trump's tweet, Immelt said he had actually resigned from the manufacturing council Wednesday morning. "The president's statements yesterday were deeply troubling," Immelt said. "There would be no GE without people of all races, religions, genders, and sexual orientations. GE has no tolerance for hate, bigotry, racism, and the white supremacist extremism that the country witnessed in Charlottesville last weekend. "I joined the president's committee on manufacturing because engagement with government on economic policy is very important for GE, our employees, and partners," Immelt continued. " ... The committee I joined had the intention to foster policies that promote American manufacturing and growth. However, given the ongoing tone of the discussion, I no longer feel that this council can accomplish these goals." Several members of the panel had resigned in recent days after the president's much-criticized initial Saturday response to white nationalist rallies, which resulted in numerous injuries and the death of a counter-protester when an alleged neo-Nazi sympathizer rammed his car into a crowd. While the tumult appeared to subside after Trump made a more forceful denunciation of the white supremacist groups on Monday, the president on Tuesday returned to his more ambiguous stance in an impromptu press conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan. He repeated his contention that both sides bore responsibility for the violence that erupted at the rallies, and argued that many who took part were merely there to protest the removal of Confederate statues. Before making his controversial remarks Tuesday, Trump had tweeted, "For every CEO that drops out of the Manufacturing Council, I have many to take their place. Grandstanders should not have gone on. JOBS!" The chairman of the board of Regeneron, which employs thousands in East Greenbush, has become one of the first corporate leaders to publicly support Kenneth Frazier, the African-American CEO at Merck & Co. who stepped down from President Donald Trump's manufacturing council. Frazier was the first, but not the only corporate executive to step down from Trump's manufacturing council after the president appeared to waffle on condemning racist rallies and violence in Charlottesville, Va. over the weekend that resulted in the death of a protester. TROY A video taken in the aftermath of Tuesday's police shooting of a 22-year-old city man shows him writhing on the ground and begging for help as officers try to keep him on the pavement. "Why'd you all shoot me? Why'd you all shoot me?" Dahmeek McDonald can be heard asking police repeatedly. "I'm about to die," McDonald says at another point. "They shot me in the head." McDonald, who is shown handcuffed and held on his stomach for much of the video, can been seen looking around and trying to move. Blood covers his face. Bystanders implore the police to get him help. "Freaky, Freaky, just keep talking to me," a woman calls to him as her cellphone camera records the scene. Later, she screams, "Get him to the hospital." McDonald, who was wanted for an alleged parole violation, was shot twice by a Troy police officer during a 6:40 p.m. traffic stop on Eighth Street. He was taken to the hospital and is expected to recover. In a Wednesday-morning press conference, Troy Police Chief John Tedesco said he could not say whether McDonald was armed with a weapon. "That portion of the investigation is ongoing," Tedesco told reporters. Later Wednesday, police searched the scene and the car McDonald was traveling in for a weapon but did not announce any findings. No police or city cameras captured the shooting, Tedesco said. He urged members of the public to come forward with any eyewitness accounts or video that could provide details. At noon Wednesday, dozens of protesters marched from the scene of the shooting to Troy's City Hall, escorted by police. When they arrived, protesters chanted for Tedesco's removal and listened to McDonald's uncle, James "Messiah" Cooper, speak. "Before we die on our knees, we will fight on our feet," Co0per said, just before he and other family members were shepherded inside to meet with Mayor Patrick Madden. The group reemerged about an hour later. "We have to give them time," Cooper told an angry crowd, adding he and his family felt confident the mayor would hold the officer "accountable if need be." Cooper also called for the city to reopen community centers and pools where young people can safely gather, and for residents of color to apply for police exams. "We need policing," Cooper said. "We can't have chaos. But we have to have proper policing." Tedesco said his department and Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove will investigate the shooting. The state Attorney General's office is currently investigating Abelove's controversial handling of a case in which a Troy police officer was cleared in the April 2016 shooting death of a drunk-driving suspect. "All officers are not bad, but everyone needs to be accountable for their actions," said McDonald's great-uncle Alphonso Brown. Brown said he was a block away Tuesday night when saw a police vehicle turn onto Eighth Street; moments later, he heard five gunshots. Brown said he was disturbed by how quickly the incident unfolded and how little police would have known before drawing their weapons. "The only thing you have him on record for is the parole (violation)," Brown said of McDonald. "That don't constitute you running up and shooting that man." McDonald was shot in the shoulder and a bullet grazed his head, Tedesco said. The chief initially told reporters Tuesday that the man had been shot in the torso, but he clarified where he was hit during Wednesday's news conference. Tedesco also briefly mentioned initial news reports that indicated the McDonald had died. One of those reports appeared on the Times Union website for about a half hour Tuesday night before being corrected. Police initiated the traffic stop after being notified by state parole officers that a car linked to McDonald was in their vicinity. McDonald was wanted for cutting off an ankle monitor several months ago, the chief said. The man was imprisoned last year after pleading guilty to narcotics possession. Brittany Hughes, who recorded the video taken immediately after the shooting, said she was talking to McDonald through his parked car window on Eighth Street on Tuesday night when she noticed two police vehicles round the corner. McDonald put the car in drive and turned the wheel as the squad cars parked diagonally in front and behind him, Hughes recalled. "I literally stepped two steps back and pow, pow, pow," she said. Hughes said she saw the officer draw his weapon before getting out of the squad car, "so you have all the intentions of coming to shoot somebody." McDonald was inside the car when he was shot, police said. At least one other person was inside the car but not injured. Hughes' grandfather, Ed Williams, said he and his wife were inside their home on Eighth Avenue when she heard someone outside yell, "Drop the weapon, drop the weapon," before a gun was fired. Williams said he ran outside after the shots to find McDonald bleeding on the ground and screaming. Police were trying to get him into handcuffs "rough-like, like he wasn't even shot," Williams said. Tedesco said Officer Jarrod Iler, a five-year veteran of the force, fired his weapon. His partner, Officer Martin Furciniti, and the two other city officers who responded as backup did not shoot. None have been interviewed yet, the chief said. They are on administrative leave and will be evaluated after three days to determine if they can come back to work, he said. Tedesco said Iler had an exemplary record. Hughes said that, after McDonald was shot, he got out of the car with his hands on his head and his face covered with blood. The vehicle, still in drive, swerved away from police and hit a fence, she said. Police have not said why Iler fired his weapon. Tedesco said a number of questions remain unanswered about the case; he would not discuss whether or not McDonald was armed. This is the third shooting involving Troy police in the past two years. In August 2015, Officers Joshua Comitale and Chad Klein exchanged gunfire with Thaddeus Faison on 112th Street in Lansingburgh. The officers were seriously wounded. Faison died as a result of his injuries. A grand jury cleared the officers of any wrongdoing. In April 2016, Edson Thevenin of Watervliet was fatally shot near the Collar City Bridge by Sgt. Randall French after allegedly fleeing a traffic stop. Five days after the death, a grand jury declined to indict French. The state Attorney General's office is investigating that shooting to determine if the case was properly handled by Abelove. Tedesco said Wednesday that he does not expect the attorney general's office to probe Tuesday's shooting, given that McDonald survived. A 2015 executive order from Gov. Andrew Cuomo empowered the attorney general's office to investigate the deaths of unarmed civilians due to police actions, but the order does not cover non-fatal injuries. Hughes said episodes like Tuesday's gunfire make residents hesitant to call the police when they need help. "At the end of the day, nobody trusts the police," Hughes said. "If me and my boyfriend get into an altercation and I call to ask you to get him out of the house, how do I know you won't shoot him?" SARATOGA SPRINGS - Yaddo's 39-acre expanse of wooded grounds along the city's tony Union Avenue is up for rent, and thus development. Cushman & Wakefield and Pyramid Companies are sending out promotional material touting the property, next to the Oklahoma track, as "an extremely rare opportunity to develop land along Saratoga Springs' front door." But don't expect a gas station or mini-mall. Chris Toth, a senior associate with the Washington DC-based real estate firm Jones Lang Lasalle who is consulting with Yaddo,, said the artists' retreat is seeking a lease partner to develop the land in a way that complements Yaddo's mission. "It has to meet zoning codes, it falls in the Greenbelt trail and be a neighbor that Yaddo would want. They didn't want an eyesore," Toth said. "There are a lot of boxes to check." He said Yaddo would welcome an equine facility, for training or a veterinarian purposes, or a tech company. But whoever builds there must maintain the tall stand of trees along Union Avenue and Henning Road where the property sits as it is part of the city's planned Greenbelt trail, which will eventually circle the city. Toth said his company was hired by Yaddo to evaluate all of its property and help it find ways to maximize its value. While Yaddo's board was loathe to sell any of its 400 acres, it was open to leasing the lot across the street. Money for the lease, Toth said, will go toward the perpetual upkeep of Yaddo. "They have a lot of upkeep and every year they have to raise money to keep things status quo," Toth said. "They hope that the lease will give them a cushion that they can fall back on. But Yaddo has no magic number it is trying to reach. Renting to the highest bidder is not likely going to get Yaddo an investor it would want. " It's no secret that the 124-year-old stone mansion at the famed artist's retreat needs restoration. As of the end of 2016, the not for profit had raised $6.2 million for the mansion stabilization and construction of new studios to accommodate the 225 artists, filmmakers, composers, writers and others that it hosts annually. Work on the mansion, according to its 2016 annual report, was slated to begin in 2017 and be complete by next year. The Saratogian reported earlier this that Yaddo was seeking $10 million in its capital campaign, $7 million for the mansion alone. The property for lease, the promotional booklet reads, is across the street from the entrance to Yaddo and consists of about 20 acres of leveled and cleared land with the remainder being wooded wetlands. It is zoned for educational and institutional uses. The property, the bookley reads, "offers many opportunities for successful development," mainly because it is adjacent to the Saratoga Race Course, plus it boasts regional proximity to New York City, Boston and Montreal. For years, the property was the site of Saratoga Springs Horse Show, formerly the St. Clement's Horse Show. Since 2012, Saratoga Springs Horse Show, a charity event, paid $1,000 to rent the property for three weekends. It's last horse show was hosted there in May. Capital Fund Chief Executive Officer Tom Fueston, who runs the show, said he was disappointed that the show could not longer be presented there, but is happy that he's found a new home not far away: The Saratoga Casino Hotel, the site of the harness track. "We wanted to keep the show in town," Fueston said. "People love coming to town and staying here. There is a lot to offer in Saratoga." Washington Of all the trade deals he lambasted on the campaign trail as threats to American workers, President Donald Trump reserved particular scorn for one: The North American Free Trade Agreement. The NAFTA agreement with Mexico and Canada was "the worst trade deal in history," candidate Trump declared. He accused NAFTA of having swollen America's trade deficit with Mexico, pulled factories south of the border and killed jobs across the United States. Trump promised to renegotiate the 23-year-old deal or walk away from it. Now the time has come. Five days of talks aimed at overhauling NAFTA begin Wednesday in Washington, with negotiations to follow in Mexico and Canada. The U.S. has never before tried to overhaul a major trade agreement. Analysts aren't sure what will emerge from the talks. But it's clear that delivering on Trump's campaign promises will be difficult. A new version of NAFTA would require approval from a divided Congress. And even an improved NAFTA might not deliver the payoff Trump and his supporters are hoping for: Restoration of millions of lost manufacturing jobs. Economists and trade analysts do see opportunities to improve NAFTA, which eliminated most barriers on trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico. If nothing else, the pact could be updated to reflect the growth of the digital economy. But a technocratic rewrite is unlikely to satisfy Trump supporters and NAFTA critics who want a revamped agreement to shrink America's trade deficit and return jobs to the U.S. A more aggressive approach risks imperiling some benefits that Americans think the trade deal provided to them. American farmers, for example, fear losing easy access to the Mexican market. Manufacturing companies have built supply chains that crisscross NAFTA borders; they worry about having investments jeopardized. And Canada and Mexico are sure to respond to any harsh American demands with their own. Plus, the clock is ticking. Next year brings a presidential election in Mexico and congressional elections in the U.S. Forging a complex agreement will be even tougher if the political temperature is running hot. Last month, the Trump administration listed its objectives for the renegotiation. Some of them will meet fierce resistance from Canadian and Mexican negotiators. The administration has riled Canada, for example, by saying it wants to eliminate a dispute-resolution process established under NAFTA. That process lets Mexico and Canada appeal unfavorable rulings by U.S. courts and agencies in trade cases. They can appeal to five-person NAFTA panels, composed of two members from each country in the dispute and a fifth that usually alternates between them. The panels' rulings are binding. But the panels have a reputation for overturning U.S. trade decisions. That is especially so in cases involving Canadian softwood timber imports to the U.S. America complains that Canada subsidizes its loggers, allowing them to dump cheap timber in the United States. "We lose lots of sales," says Jason Brochu, co-president of Pleasant River Lumber in Dover-Foxcroft, Maine. "It's not fair to have subsidized lumber come in unchecked." The ruling panels, he says, lack "a proper dispute-resolution process." He'd like to see them eliminated. That idea causes heartburn in Ottawa. Before they could rely on the panels, Canadians "felt they were not getting a fair shake" in U.S. courts and administrative proceedings, says Daniel Ujczo, a trade lawyer with Dickson Wright in Columbus, Ohio. "They see (the panels) as something they earned." The U.S. also wants more leeway to slap tariffs on imports that are found to hurt American industry. For now, NAFTA limits America's ability to use that power in cases involving Canada and Mexico. The Trump administration also wants tougher rules requiring that goods that qualify for NAFTA benefits are made mostly inside the three-country free-trade bloc. It's often men who dominate the FBI's most wanted fugitives, but these women have definitely earned a spot on the dubious list. From allegedly torturing and killing people to forcing others into prostitution, the women being sought by the FBI have allegedly committed very heinous crimes. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate H. Tim Smith of Clifton Park won the third, and last, quarterfinal in the Table Hopping/timesunion.com Home Rangers cooking competition, held last Thursday night at Saratoga Performing Arts Center. His opponent, Ryan Moore of Saratoga Springs, who won the 5-year-old competition last summer, nearly repeated his victory, but, in the end, a split decision by the judges awarded the honor to Smith for his two-course meal, prepared over an hour on a BlueStar outdoor range provided by co-sponsor Adirondack Appliance: flatbread with blistered-cherry-tomato compote and, as his entree, mojo-marinated grilled flank steak with red wine-shallot pan sauce and baby arugula salad. Moore made pretzel-crusted crabcake with edamame and corn, a salad of wilted endive, radicchio and frisee, and sriracha sauce; his main dish was miso- and brown-sugar-marinated sea bass, glass noodles with peppers, butter-roasted mushrooms and a sauce of white wine, mirin and tamari. The judges were Debbie Thibeault of Adirondack Appliance, SPAC publicist Lisa Hill and Steve Barnes of the Times Union. On Thursday, Smith will take on the winners of the two previous quarterfinals, Craig Couture of Clifton Park, the Aug. 3 top finisher, and, from July 13's cook-off, Mo'Nique McCoy of Albany. They will cook prior to a performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra, with Yannick Nezet-Seguin conducting a French program that includes Saint-Saens' Cello Concerto No. 1 and Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique." The victor in the semifinal will be invited back to the big finish, being held Sept. 9 during SPAC's annual Saratoga Wine & Food Festival, where he or she will throw down against the BlueStar celebrity chef, Melissa Doney of Brown's Brewing Co. in Troy. If he or she can beat Doney in the wine fest battle, the grand prize is a 30-inch BlueStar RCS Series range. The gas range, with an infrared broiler and more, has a retail value starting at more than $3,600. Regardless of the outcome of the finale, the winning home cook will receive a prime prize package from SPAC: Four all-access VIP passes ($1,000 combined value) to the 2018 food and wine festival, and VIP parking and 20 amphitheater tickets apiece for the 2018 residencies of both the New York City Ballet and the Philadelphia Orchestra ($2,800 value). Home Rangers is part of a larger promotion called BlueStarry Nights at SPAC, which offers food and drink samples from area restaurants and beverage suppliers (free with admission to the performance), as well as the opportunity to watch the cooks compete. sbarnes@timesunion.com 518-454-5489 @Tablehopping http://facebook.com/SteveBarnesFoodCritic WATERFORD - In an effort to save time and money, the town has eliminated its police dispatchers and opted to do what many towns in Saratoga County are already doing having the county Sheriff's Office handle all of its emergency calls. This move, which took effect on Aug. 1, means that all police, fire and EMS emergency calls made in Waterford will be answered by the county. The change completes the town's gradual shift toward county dispatch, which began last year when all three of its fire stations opted for the county's emergency dispatch. The last holdouts, the village police, are now part of a consolidated emergency response. Supervisor John Lawler said the move to one central dispatcher makes sense. "Prior to the consolidation, the Sheriff's office would receive the 911 call, and once having been identified as a Waterford emergency, the county dispatcher would transfer the call to the Waterford dispatcher who would then dispatch the appropriate emergency services in response to the call," Lawler said. "Obviously this extends the time of the call and the time in which it takes to dispatch the responding emergency services. This was not a very efficient system." Lawler said that the county also has access to the most up-to-date 911 technologies. For Waterford to match technologies with the county, it would have to invest "tens of thousands of dollars." And, he added, taxpayers are already paying for county dispatching services. "The consolidation eliminated the need for that level of future spending by Waterford's taxpayers, because there are always changes in technology," Lawler said. He expects the town will save about $200,000 per year in labor and equipment costs by eliminating its three full-time and several part-time dispatchers. He also said all three of the full-time employees were transferred to other government jobs, one is remaining with the police department as an assistant to the commissioner, one moved to the work as a town court clerk and the third one found a job with the county. Some of the savings brought by the change, about $80,000, will go toward salary increases for Waterford police. Steve Gordon, director of emergency communications for the Sheriff's Office, said residents shouldn't be concerned as there has been no disruption in services. Waterford police, fire and EMS are still there and dispatched to where they are needed. "The only difference is if people dial the seven-digit number for the police station, they will be diverted here," Gordon said. And for those who are used to the police station being opened for 24-hours-a-day, seven days a week, the police installed a call box outside of its door. Those in distress need only to push a button and the county dispatcher will be notified. Lawler said that the shift to the county is something most towns have already done. Mechanicville and Saratoga Springs are the only county communities that still have local dispatchers. Mechanicville's 911 callers go to the county because, like Waterford, the city does not have the 911 capabilities. In Saratoga Springs, all 911 calls on a cell phone go to the county. Calls made on a landline are dispatched within the city. "We are a little late to the party," said Lawler who is confident, the town made the right decision."The transition is completely seamless, with absolutely no impact in the quality of the emergency services response to Waterford's residents," he said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate ALBANY Immigrants and refugees arriving to Albany should have an easier time getting their kids vaccinated and healthy for school thanks to an expanding partnership between the city school district and Whitney Young Health. The health center announced Wednesday that its mobile health unit quite literally, a doctor's office on wheels will start making monthly visits to North Albany Academy, which is home to an elementary school and, starting this fall, a new program for students who are new to the country and the English language. "Many of our refugee students have chronic and acute health issues," said Kaweeda Adams, who started her job as superintendent Monday. "This service that Whitney Young provides can help us with the vaccinations, so that we can be proactive with many of those health care concerns our students arrive with." The mobile health unit, dubbed Whitney on Wheels, is staffed with a driver and doctor who are licensed to provide care that school nurses cannot, including administering shots and writing prescriptions. To better serve its rapidly growing population of immigrants and refugees, the school district is launching a program this fall at the North Albany school for 6-12 graders who are new to the English language. Many of these students arrive to the country without the proper immunizations, and in some cases, with wartime injuries and other health concerns caused by long stays in refugee camps. Bringing care directly to the students and their families should help cut down on the number of school days missed for doctor's appointments, Adams said. "It may not be obvious to everyone, but health and school success are closely related," she said. "Sick children tend to miss school more often than children who are healthy. And missing school often means children run the risk of failing or dropping out." The city school district first teamed up with Whitney Young Health 10 years ago to open a health clinic in one of its elementary schools. Today, the center runs clinics at three elementary schools in the city and offers mobile services to students and families at Myers Middle School. Whitney Young began offering mobile services in the community about three years ago, in part because efforts to bring health services directly to school sites often encounter regulatory roadblocks. In-school health clinics have minimum staffing requirements, which can strain budgets, and are not allowed to serve anyone who is not enrolled as a student, including siblings, parents and school staff. The mobile doctor's office is a cheaper and more flexible alternative. As part of the expanded partnership announced Wednesday, the mobile unit will also start visiting Myers more often about two times a week. "The concern I've always had over the years with the school clinics is we can treat a 6-year-old for strep throat, but not their 3-year-old sibling who you can bet two days from now is going to wind up with the same strep throat," said David Shippee, president and CEO of Whitney Young Health. "We don't have that problem with the mobile unit." Students and family members without insurance can pay for their visit on a sliding fee scale based on family income, he said. The mobile services are open to any student or staff member at North Albany Academy, and their family members. Whitney Young Health provides translators for more than 40 languages. Library of Congress NEW YORK (AP) Leaders of a New York Episcopal diocese say they'll remove two plaques honoring Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a church property in Brooklyn. Bishop Lawrence Provenzano, leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island, told Newsday the two plaques outside St. John's Episcopal Church are being removed Wednesday. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate TROY - A city man described what he and his wife heard and saw during and after the shooting of a man by police on Tuesday night. Ed Williams said he and his wife were inside their home when she heard someone outside yell, "Drop the weapon, drop the weapon," before guns were fired. Williams said he ran outside after the shots to find Dahmeek McDonald, who he knows, bleeding on the ground and screaming, "They're going to kill me." Williams said McDonald, 22, was lying on street surrounded by police, who were trying to get him in cuffs "rough-like, like he wasn't even shot." Police said McDonald was shot twice in the torso at 6:40 p.m. Tuesday at outside Williams' 408 Eighth St. home. Police Chief John Tedesco told reporters Tuesday night that McDonald was expected to survive. Police have not said whether McDonald was armed or detailed why he was shot. Tedesco said police stopped the 22-year-old city man's car because he was wanted for a parole violation. Four officers responded to the traffic stop, Tedesco said, but he did not say who shot McDonald, for whom a warrant had been issued. Police remained at the scene Wednesday morning and city officials planned to hold a news conference later in the morning. This is the third shooting involving Troy police in the last two years. In August 2015, Officers Joshua Comitale and Chad Klein exchanged gunfire with Thaddeus Faison on 112th Street in Lansingburgh. The officers were seriously wounded. Faison died as a result of his injuries. A grand jury cleared the officers of any wrongdoing. In April 2016, Edson Thevenin of Watervliet was fatally shot by Sgt. Randall French after authorities said Thevenin fled a traffic stop on the Collar City Bridge. A grand jury declined to indict French but the state Attorney General's office is investigating that shooting to determine if the case was properly handled by the District Attorney Joel Abelove. The grand jury rendered its decision within five days of the gunfire and before an investigation was complete. Williams said he did not see a weapon in the aftermath of Tuesday's gunfire. "I don't see no reason to have to shoot the kid but of course I wasn't out here when they fired the shots," he said. In March 2016, McDonald led police on a car chase from Troy and jumped off the Dunn Memorial Bridge. Police pursued the car with McDonald and two companions going the wrong way on Interstate 787 and through residential areas of Albany before the car crashed into a guardrail on the bridge over the Hudson River. McDonald jumped off a railing and was injured. Police said he was carrying crack cocaine. He pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance and was sentenced to four years in state prison. ALBANY The now-suspended top dentist for New Yorks youth prisons has pleaded guilty to official misconduct stemming charges that he claimed to be working on state time while actually treating patients at his private practices in Amsterdam and Saratoga Springs. Neil Schachter, 61, of Saratoga Springs pleaded guilty in Rensselaer City Court to a charge of official misconduct, according to a statement Wednesday from state Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott and Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove. Schachter had already made full restitution of $68,000 and agreed to cooperate on another matter. He had initially been charged with grand larceny, a felony. Official misconduct is a misdemeanor. He remains suspended from his job without pay as director of dentistry at the state Office of Children and Family Services Division of Juvenile Justice and Opportunities, which runs centers for youngsters convicted of crimes. This defendant exploited taxpayers with the theft of public funds that he used to supplement a six-figure salary he was already earning in private practice, said Leahy Scott. Her office concluded Schachter had between September 2013 and early 2016 charged the state for periods in which he had been working at private dental clinics. Schachter in December 2014 also created a fraudulent letter purportedly from his former supervisor that falsely authorized an arrangement in which he could collect the two salaries at the same time. In a prepared statement, his attorney, Scott Iseman said: "Dr. Schachter took responsibility for his official misconduct today. He admitted that on one occasion he billed for 4 hours of time when he should have billed leave or vacation time and has made complete restitution. All allegations that Dr. Schachter stole money or committed other crimes have been entirely discredited and dismissed." For the past year, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has told New Yorkers that we need to subsidize three nuclear power plants over the next 12 years, in order for the state to achieve his goal of reducing carbon emissions 40 percent by 2030. The pricetag for this massive, ratepayer-funded subsidy plan is an estimated $7.6 billion. Many in the environmental movement, including myself, had their doubts about his claims, given the rapidly growing strength of the renewable energy industry. Equally troubling, when pressed to show what alternatives were considered to avoid the costly subsidies, the Public Service Commission and the administration were silent. Now, new independent analysis from one of the world's most respected energy experts shows our suspicions were well-founded. Amory B. Lovins, a physicist and the founder of the prestigious Rocky Mountain Institute, found that ratepayer subsidy programs like the ones approved in New York and Illinois are not the best way to reduce carbon emissions. Rather, Lovins found the subsidies could be avoided entirely, if policymakers would simply let the plants close and then reinvested their operating costs into energy efficiency, like better insulation, appliances and windows. More Information David Borton, a retired solar energy engineering professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, is currently the president of Sustainable Energy Systems Inc. in Troy. See More Collapse Since we have been paying the plant operating costs as part of our utility bills for years, ratepayers would be off the hook for the $7.6 billion. In addition, carbon emissions would drop, because the efficiency measures would reduce the overall demand for energy. In other words, energy efficiency is so inexpensive, we could replace the power generated by the nuclear plants and displace power generated by gas or coal. Lovins also found another likely unintended consequence to Cuomo's subsidy plan. In his analysis, the longtime renewable energy advocate concluded that nuclear subsidy plans "crowd out competitors, discourage new entrants, destroy competitive price discovery, reduce transparency, reward undue influence, introduce bias, pick winners and invite corruption." The fact that Cuomo and the PSC are giving a leg up, intentionally or unintentionally, to the nuclear power industry is an infuriating deviation from what he promised this state in his clean energy plan, which he called "Reforming the Energy Vision." In that plan, he pledged to promote clean energy jobs and protect the environment. That was just over three years ago. Now, we have him making an end run around the market which has clearly shown that costly nuclear power no longer works by interfering on the behalf of Chicago-based corporation Exelon, the Fortune 100 company that owns the three upstate plants. We want to give the governor the benefit of the doubt. He's stood up for the environment in many instances, including just this year when President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement. Cuomo quickly pledged for New York to honor the principles of that agreement. Sign up for the Observation Deck newsletter Read the latest Times Union opinion, perspective and letters to the editor on Mondays by signing up for our Observation Deck newsletter. Like many people, he likely envisions renewables and efficiency as the types of power that will one day be ready to serve the bulk of our needs, but not now. It's understandable. We have been powered by fossil fuels and nuclear for 100 and 50 years, respectively. What many people including apparently Cuomo don't understand is that this green dream they're thinking of is here already. Renewables have scaled up rapidly in recent years, and energy efficiency is a cost-effective, practical way to cut carbon emissions, lower electricity bills and create jobs. Cuomo needs to reverse course and end this subsidy plan. It's too expensive, doesn't help us achieve our climate goals, and could dramatically hurt the market for green energy sources. Tomorrow is here, and we don't have time to waste. Gardai are investigating a number of serious crimes and incidents in the northern end of the county over the past number of days. Among those being investigated is an allegation of rape in Roscrea. It is believed that the victim was a young male who made a complaint to the Gardai last Sunday, August 13. A Garda spokesperson told the Tipperary Star that they were unable to release any information on the alleged incident as the matter was still under investigation. Meanwhile an estimated 10,000 worth of equipment was stolen from the site at Tippo at Kilkeary, where builders are reconstructing the furniture factory which burned down last October. The theft occured over the August Bank Holiday weekend when a number of intruders stole tools, pumps and other items. They also attempted to move teleporter machines at the construction site. The Gardai are following a definite line of inquiry into the incident. Newport Gardai assisted Limerick officers in an operation that led to the seizure of around 2,000 worth of cannabis at Kilmacanogue on Tuesday of last week. Meanwhile, cannabis was also found in Nenagh and Roscrea. An individual was arrested in possession of five bags of cannabis in Nenagh town last Friday, while three bags of cannabis were seized in Roscrea on Thursday. Files are being prepared for the DPP in both cases. A serious assault at Yewston in Nenagh in which a male was reportedly knocked down by a van and set upon by a number of people is being investigated. The victim, a young local man was hospitalised with multiple injuries, but has since been discharged from hospital. In a separate incident, a female was arrested after Gardai responded to a number of reports of a disturbance at Coille Bheithe, Nenagh, last Friday night. Gardai are also investigating a reported domestic dispute in Borrisokane on Sunday evening in which a woman was taken to hospital. In the Thurles area, John Healy lawmowers was broken into last Sunday by three men driving a maroon coloured Ford Galaxy who stole a number of Honda push mowers. The men were wearing high-vis jackets. Some of the best quality food and drink that Limerick has to offer will be promoted at this years Cappamore Show, which takes place this Saturday, August 19. The Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Limerick and Limerick City and County Council has invited more than 20 food and drink producers to the Limerick Food Experience marquee at the Cappamore Show this weekend, to showcase their products. With an annual attendance of more than 6,000 visitors, the Limerick Food Experience will be an ideal location for producers to promote their goods. The Cappamore Show is celebrating its 63rd anniversary and promises to be a great day out for those attending from near and far. There over 60 trade stalls, showjumping, cattle and horse competitions, cookery craft and art competitions and numerous side shows - there is something for all the family at Cappamore Show. In addition to the Limerick Food Experience marquee there will be two cookery demonstrations, from Tom Flavin Executive Chef, Limerick Strand Hotel and celebrity chef Edward Hayden. Eamon Ryan, Head of Enterprise with LEO Limerick said: We are delighted to be able to provide food and drink providers with an outlet to showcase their products at the Cappamore Show. Food and drink being produced here in Limerick is to an incredibly high standard and LEO Limerick and Limerick City and County Council are delighted to work with the Cappamore Show committee to provide such a platform. As part of the Limerick Food Strategy its hoped that this Limerick Food Experience will be the first of many such events. Noel Gleeson, Vice President of the Cappamore Show Committee said: This years Cappamore show is moving to a new location and were delighted to welcome the Limerick Food Experience to join all the other stalls at the Show. Were confident the Limerick Food Experience will tempt even more people to attend the show. Ireland South MEP Deirdre Clune has called for more targeted funding which focuses on the expansion of apprenticeships, the profiling of jobseekers and the National Skills Strategy. Speaking as students around the country collected their leaving cert results, the member of the EU Employment Committee wished them well and said its not all about University, The Expert Group on Future Skills Needs indicates that up to 5,000 chefs are needed annually between now and 2020 to keep up to pace with demand. But currently only about 1,800 people qualify each year from certified culinary training programmes. That is indicative of a weakness in the system. We need to be matching young people with their appropriate skill sets to ensure they have good employment prospects. We focus too much on going to University here in Ireland, which is not the best course of action for all young people. Upper Bavaria in Germany has a youth unemployment rate of just 3.4% largely due to an increasing focus on vocational education and an apprenticeship model. Compare this to Irelands Youth Unemployment rate which was 12.3% in July of this year. At the heart of German success is a learn-on-the-job apprenticeship system that has its roots in the Middle Ages but is thriving today in Germany's modern, export-oriented economy. EU employment Commissioner Marianne Thyssen has recently proposed to increase budget resources for the EU Youth Employment Initiative until 2020. EU Member States have already committed to give every young EU citizen a good-quality offer of employment, continued education, an apprenticeship or a traineeship within a period of four months of becoming unemployed or leaving formal education. In July Meaghan Perdue set out on an experience of a lifetime to Nansana, Uganda. Nansana is a small area just outside of Ugandas capital of Kampala where Nurture Africa has set up their headquarters. Nurture Africa is an Irish founded NGO and Volunteer Sending Agency focused on empowering vulnerable children and their families in the East African nation. For three weeks, the volunteers were split into groups due to their profession/training such as teachers, nurses, and general skills. Based on this, the morning activities were assigned. Meaghan is currently going into her final year at Mary Immaculate College and so in the mornings, she and the other volunteer teachers taught in St.Stevens and Kassengejje primary schools. The children at the schools were amazingly positive and eager to learn despite class sizes ranging from low 70s to around 140 pupils. Kassengejje school is also the pilot school for a project supported by Nurture Africa called Bia le Beatha. This initiative involves schools in becoming self-sustaining by growing the necessary crops to provide break and lunch to every child at school. The volunteers got to witness this project in action while over in Uganda. Meaghan and the volunteers also took part in various afternoon activities such as first aid workshops, home visits and library visits thus visiting and interacting with many of the community members in the area. The experience was enlightening, and thought provoking. A once in a lifetime opportunity which she would recommend to anyone. Meaghan would like to thank everyone who helped in her fundraising for Uganda. Titusville City Council tonight will vote on approving a request from Giant Eagle to transfer a liquor license into the city for beer and wine History major Juliet Hilburn kneels beside the newly cleaned tombstone of Benjamin C. Aikin, who died Dec. 18, 1867, at age 50 years, 3 months, and 18 days. The marker is Hilburns favorite out of the entire cemetery due to the interesting history behind its owner, who perished in the Angola Horror, one of the worst train crashes in history. Forty-nine people were killed in the crash, many of them burning to death due to a spilled kerosene lamp. The crash is said to have resulted in the advent of rail safety regulations. [August 16, 2017] WeWork Brazil and WeWork Argentina Select IDT/Net2Phone as Their Preferred Hosted Voice Communications Provider SAO PAULO and BUENOS AIRES, Argentina, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- WeWork Brazil and WeWork Argentina today named IDT/net2phone as their preferred partner for voice communications. "We are delighted to have been selected by WeWork Brazil and WeWork Argentina as their preferred provider for voice communications," said Daniel Londynski, Managing Director of IDT Latin America. "Our hosted PBX service will provide WeWork with the key features and flexibility of enterprise communications systems at a fraction of the cost. It's an ideal solution for creative businesses that depend on collaboration and innovation." net2phone, a leading cloud based telephony provider, offers a full suite of voice over IP solutions to businesses and other organizations in Brazil, Argentina and over 160 other countries around the world. net2phone is a subsidiary of IDT Corporation, a global provider of communications and payment services. "We are happy to work with IDT/net2phone to make its hosted PBX solution available to WeWork members in Brazil and Argentina. We are confident that anyone within our network who signs up with IDT/net2phone will get the best services provided by a dedicated support staff," said Lucas Mendes, General Manager of WeWork Brazil. WeWork is a platform for creators, providing more than 130,000 members around the world with space, community, and services through both physical and digital offerings. The company currently has 163+ physical locations in more than 52 cities and 16 countries around the world. WeWork's innovative shared office spaces landed in Brazil last month, with the opening of WeWork Paulista in Sao Paulo, and in May this year in Argentina with span >Torre Bellini. Before the end of 2017, WeWork will have four buildings in Sao Paulo, two in Rio de Janeiro, and two locations in Buenos Aires. For more information, visit www.wework.com. "Net2Phone looks forward to enhancing collaboration among WeWork's clients, suppliers, partners and members with releases including a full suite of unified communication services such as messaging, collaboration, WebRTC, SMS, CRM integration, and more," said Jonah Fink, President of net2phone. "WeWork Argentina and WeWork Brazil are leading the way to create more innovative work spaces and communities in their respective countries. We are proud that net2phone's innovative communications services will be part of the WeWork experience." For more information on IDT/net2phone Brazil's Hosted PBX offerings, visit: www.idtpabx.com.br. For more information on IDT/net2phone Argentina's Hosted PBX offerings, visit: www.net2phoneunlimited.com.ar. About WeWork: WeWork is the platform for creators. We provide beautiful workspace, an inspiring community, and meaningful business services to hundreds of thousands of members around the world. From startups and freelancers to small businesses and large corporations, our community is united by a desire for our members to create meaningful work and lead meaningful livesto be a part of something greater than ourselves. Co-founded by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey in New York City in 2010, WeWork is a privately held company with over 2000 employees. About net2phone: net2phone, a leading cloud based telephony provider, offers a full suite of UCaaS solutions in over 160 countries. net2phone routes millions of minutes daily over data networks, offering high quality voice services and saving consumers and businesses up to 90% off international calling rates. For more information about net2phone's products and services, please visit www.net2phone.com. net2phone is a subsidiary of IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT). All statements above that are not purely about historical facts, including, but not limited to, those in which we use the words "believe," "anticipate," "expect," "plan," "intend," "estimate," "target" and similar expressions, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While these forward-looking statements represent our current judgment of what may happen in the future, actual results may differ materially from the results expressed or implied by these statements due to numerous important factors. Our filings with the SEC provide detailed information on such statements and risks, and should be consulted along with this release. To the extent permitted under applicable law, IDT assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wework-brazil-and-wework-argentina-select-idtnet2phone-as-their-preferred-hosted-voice-communications-provider-300505087.html SOURCE IDT Corporation [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 15, 2017] Experienced Corporate Attorney Robert Hale Joins Dorsey in Dallas International law firm Dorsey & Whitney L.L.P. announced today that Robert B. Hale has joined the Firm's Corporate Group in Dallas as a Partner. This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170815006166/en/ Dorsey & Whitney announced today that Robert B. Hale has joined the Firm's Corporate Group in Dallas as a Partner. (Photo: Dorsey & Whitney L.L.P.) Mr. Hale has a broad range of experience in corporate and securities matters, including representing public and private companies and private equity concerns in mergers and acquisitions, investment transactions, and general corporate matters. Before joining Dorsey, Mr. Hale was most recently a partner in the Dallas office of Norton Rose Fulbright US L.L.P., formerly Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Pror to joining Fulbright & Jaworski, Mr. Hale was a partner with Hughes (News - Alert) & Luce, L.L.P. in Dallas. "We are very pleased that Rob has joined Dorsey," noted Ken Cutler, Managing Partner of Dorsey & Whitney. "He brings a wealth of experience that will help us build a very strong corporate and securities law presence in Dallas." Mr. Hale holds a B.B.A. in Accounting from the University of Texas at Austin, and a J.D. from Baylor University School of Law, where he served as Lead Articles Editor for the Baylor Law Review and was a member of the Baylor Order of Barristers. He has been recognized as a Best Lawyer by The Best Lawyers in America and as a Texas Top Rated Lawyer by LexisNexis (News - Alert) Martindale-Hubbell. Prior to entering law school, Mr. Hale worked as an accountant on the financial audit staff of KPMG from 1985 to 1990. He was licensed in Texas as a Certified Public Accountant from 1987 until 1992. "Adding Rob to our Firm demonstrates our continued commitment to serve our existing clients' needs and to grow our client base both in Texas and nationally," says Larry Makel, Finance & Restructuring partner of the Dallas office. "We are excited to be able to continue to build a strong corporate and securities law presence in Dallas that will complement Dorsey's Firm-wide M&A, Capital Markets, Corporate Governance & Compliance and Emerging Companies practices." "I am delighted to join Dorsey and its talented Firm-wide team of corporate and securities lawyers," added Mr. Hale. "I look forward to serving Dorsey's exceptional client base in Texas and around the globe." About Dorsey & Whitney L.L.P. Clients have relied on Dorsey since 1912 as a valued business partner. With locations across the United States and in Canada, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, Dorsey provides an integrated, proactive approach to its clients' legal and business needs. Dorsey represents a number of the world's most successful companies from a wide range of industries, including leaders in the banking, energy, food and agribusiness, health care, mining and natural resources, and public-private project development sectors, as well as major non-profit and government entities. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170815006166/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 15, 2017] Arcos Dorados Reinforces Commitment to Youth Employment for International Youth Day As part of International Youth Day celebrations, Arcos Dorados, the world's largest McDonald's franchisee operating in 20 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, reinforces its commitment to be a catalyst for social mobility by bringing career opportunities and training to young people. "The incorporation of young people in the labor market is a fundamental issue for organizations and society. As Latin America's largest generator of first time jobs, we believe in young people because we trust their entrepreneurial spirit, work ethic and enthusiasm as they welcome the millions of customers who visit McDonald's restaurants every day," said Diego Benenzon, VP of Human Resources at Arcos Dorados. In 2016, the World Bank developed a research report on the so-called "ni-nis": young people who neither study nor work. The report showed that one in five young people in Latin America, who represent more than 20 million people aged between 15 and 24, live this reality due to rising social inequality. Against this backdrop, Arcos Dorados carried out a survey with Trendsity consulting to better understand the barriers young people face when seeking formal employment. The conclusions highlight that 91% of 1,800 Latin American youths surveyed believe it is necessary that society trusts their capabilities and talents, however only a third of respondents believe that society actually trusts their capabilities and talents. Arcos Dorados is uniquely positioned to make a positive impact on the lives of the region's youth by bringing career opportunities and training to young people. At resent, it employs over 82,000 people in Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 73,000 of which are between the ages of 16 and 25. These young people learn, work, study and then continue their professional careers both within the Company and at subsequent employers. Arcos Dorados gives them a first job opportunity that enables them to learn the norms and methodologies of teamwork in a highly demanding operation, and acquire relevant experience to advance their professional lives. Arcos Dorados invests significantly in training, which the Company considers to be a key part of youth development. In this regard, the Company provide flexible schedules to enable young people to continue academic studies that will boost their professional prospects. Young people are the future, and as a part of the community, Arcos Dorados is proud to take a leadership role in collaborating to eliminate barriers that young people face in finding their first job. Please see the Arcos Dorados 2016 Social and Environmental Impact Report for more information on the Company's commitment to youth employment: http://www.arcosdorados.com/img/editorial/comunidad/AD_informe_eng.zip About Arcos Dorados Arcos Dorados is the world's largest McDonald's franchisee in terms of systemwide sales and number of restaurants, operating the largest quick service restaurant chain in Latin America and the Caribbean. It has the exclusive right to own, operate and grant franchises of McDonald's restaurants in 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries and territories, including Argentina, Aruba, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curacao, Ecuador, French Guyana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, St. Thomas, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela. The Company operates or franchises over 2,100 McDonald's-branded restaurants with over 90,000 employees and is recognized as one of the best companies to work for in Latin America. Arcos Dorados is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: ARCO). To learn more about the Company, please visit the Investors section of our website: www.arcosdorados.com/ir View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170815006190/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 15, 2017] Australia's Chief of Air Force Completes First Flight in the AIR 5428 PC-21 EAST SALE, Australia, Aug. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In a recent ceremony that marked a significant milestone for the AIR 5428 Pilot Training System, Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) celebrated the Chief of Air Force first flight of the in-service PC-21 aircraft. The occasion was celebrated at a media event hosted by Australian Minister for Defence Senator the Hon Marise Payne, in East Sale, Australia. Also in attendance was the Hon Darren Chester MP, Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, highlighting the significance of the program to the Australian Government. Vince Di Pietro, chief executive for Lockheed Martin Australia attended the event along with AIR 5428 partners Pilatus Aircraft and Hawker Pacific. "We are excited to celebrate this momentous occasion with the CAF and recognise this marks the beginning of training for Australia's fifth-generation air capability," said Vince Di Pietro. "This milestone is a great achievement to all involved and we celebrate the Australian Defence Force's first flight in service and acceptance of the first six of 49 PC-21 aircraft, as the mainstay trainer for Australia's pilot training program for decades to come." "Combining the PC-21 turboprop training aircraft with state-of-the-art training simulations and an electronic learning environment, Australia's new Pilot Training System will prepare Australia's next-generation pilots for mission success." The AR 5428 Pilot Training System is an integrated solution tailored for all future pilots of the Royal Australian Air Force, Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. "Lockheed Martin Australia leads the delivery of integrated solutions for all future pilots of the Australian Defence Force," said Amy Gowder, vice president of Training and Logistics Solutions for Lockheed Martin's Rotary and Mission Systems business. "This milestone is an important achievement, and confirms the Lockheed Martin-led team is on track to deliver a world-class pilot training solution to the Australian Defence Force." Under the AIR 5428 contract, Lockheed Martin is providing overall project management for the pilot training system and delivering a family of integrated ground-based training technologies. Pilatus Aircraft is providing 49 PC-21 turboprop training aircraft and through-life engineering and airworthiness support, while Hawker Pacific is providing maintenance services and fleet support, and leveraging its established supply chain in Australia. Signed in December 2015, the initial seven-year AIR 5428 Pilot Training System is valued at AU$1.2 billion, with performance-based options to extend the value and length of the contract for up to 25 years. For additional information, visit our website: www.lockheedmartin.com/AIR5428 About Lockheed Martin Australia: Headquartered in Canberra, Lockheed Martin Australia is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation. Lockheed Martin Australia and its related entities employ more than 1000 people in Australia and New Zealand working on a wide range of major programs spanning the aerospace, defence, maritime civil sector. About Pilatus: Established in 1939, Pilatus Aircraft Ltd is the world's leading manufacturer of single-engine turboprop aircraft. Headquartered in Stans, Switzerland, Pilatus is a privately held company employing close to 2000 people. Pilatus provides aircraft and aviation services worldwide for the general aviation, commercial, training, utility, and special mission markets. The company, through Pilatus Australia Pty Ltd, currently supports over 140 Australian based military and civil aircraft. Hawker Pacific Pty Ltd was formed in 1978 with its corporate headquarters in Sydney NSW, employs over 400 people across Australia and has significant aviation sales and support capabilities across the Asia Pacific and the Middle East. Hawker Pacific's Government Business unit is the prime contractor to the ADF delivering the B300 aircraft capability to 32 and 38 Squadrons at RAAF Bases East Sale and Townsville, holding AMO and AEO accreditation. At RAAF Base Pearce, Hawker Pacific has successfully provided maintenance support to the Singapore Air Force PC-21 aircraft training capability in synergy with Lockheed Martin and Pilatus since 2007. For additional information, visit our websites: http://www.lockheedmartin.com.au -- www.pilatus-aircraft.com www.hawkerpacific.com.au View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/australias-chief-of-air-force-completes-first-flight-in-the-air-5428-pc-21-300504877.html SOURCE Lockheed Martin [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 15, 2017] Pollard Banknote Announces Successful Completion of Offer for INNOVA Gaming Group WINNIPEG and LOS ANGELES, Aug. 15, 2017 /CNW/ Pollard Banknote Limited (TSX:PBL) ("Pollard Banknote") and INNOVA Gaming Group Inc. (TSX: IGG) ("INNOVA") today announced that an additional 1,167,946 common shares of INNOVA ("Common Shares") have been validly deposited pursuant to Pollard Banknote's offer to acquire all of the outstanding Common Shares for $2.50 in cash per Common Share (the "Offer") as of the expiry of the extended deposit period for the Offer at 5:00 p.m. (Toronto time) on August 15, 2017. All conditions of the Offer have been satisfied and the Offer has now expired. 10188557 Canada Inc. (the "Offeror"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pollard Banknote, has taken up all of the deposited Common Shares and payment for the deposited Common Shares will be made within 3 business days. After taking up the additional Common Shares deposited, Pollard Banknote, through the Offeror, will own 19,096,967 Common Shares representing approximately 95.13% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares. As the Offer was accepted by holders of more than 90% of the outstanding Common Shares, Pollard Banknote will acquire through the Offeror all of the remaining Common Shares not deposited under the Offer pursuant to the compulsory acquisition provisions of the Canada Business Corporations Act, as described in its take-over bid circular. Pollard Banknote will mail a notice of compulsory acquisition to all remaining holders of Common Shares shortly. Pollard Banknote intends to causethe Common Shares to be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange and cause INNOVA to cease to be a reporting issuer under applicable securities laws as soon as possible. About Pollard Banknote Pollard Banknote is a leading lottery partner to more than 60 lotteries worldwide, providing high quality instant ticket products, licensed games, and strategic marketing and management services for both traditional instant games and the emerging iLottery space of web, mobile and social channels. The company is a proven innovator and has decades of experience helping lotteries to maximize player engagement, sales and proceeds for good causes. Pollard Banknote also plays a major role in the charitable pull-tab and bingo markets in North America. Established in 1907, Pollard Banknote is owned approximately 73.5% by the Pollard family and 26.5% by public shareholders and is publicly traded on the TSX (PBL). For more information, please visit our website at www.pollardbanknote.com. About INNOVA INNOVA develops unique games and products for the global gaming industry, with particular focus on state and provincial lotteries. Through INNOVA's wholly-owned subsidiary, Diamond Game Enterprises, INNOVA focuses on enhancing the revenues of government-sponsored lotteries and other regulated operators by offering its unique "extended play" products in traditional and non-traditional gaming venues. INNOVA's primary product is its third generation Lucky Tab machine, an instant ticket vending machine that dispenses tickets while simultaneously displaying the results of each ticket on a video monitor in an entertaining fashion. For more information, please visit www.innovagaminggroup.com. Forward-looking Statements Certain statements made and information included in this press release may constitute "forward looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the management and the board of directors of each of Pollard Banknote and INNOVA at this time, are inherently subject to significant business, economic, regulatory and competitive uncertainties, contingencies and risks that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained herein reflect Pollard Banknote and INNOVA's current views with respect to future events, and except as required by law, Pollard Banknote and INNOVA do not intend, and undertake no obligation, to update any forward-looking statements to reflect, in particular, new information or future events, or otherwise. SOURCE Pollard Banknote Limited [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 15, 2017] Your Special Education Rights: What Parents Don't Know Can Hurt Them The definitive guide for parents of children with disabilities is out - and just in time for the start of the new school year. The book - Your Special Education Rights: What Your School District Isn't Telling You - is authored by two special education experts and draws on decades of experience from the front lines of special education advocacy. The authors, Jennifer Laviano and Julie Swanson, detail a strong, practical, and results oriented perspective that helps parents cut through the fog of special education to get the services their children deserve. "Our bottom line is parents are often ineffective at advocating for their child because they don't know their rights," said Jennifer Laviano, co-author and special education attorney. "We see it time and again: The child doesn't get what he or she needs because the parents don't know what they don't know. This book looks to change that," Laviano added. Your Special Education Rights demystifies the federal laws related to public school children with disabilities and explains how school districts often ignore or circumvent the law. "We're passionate to pull the curtain back on the realities of special education - and tell parents the truths that school districts don't always disclose," said Julie Swanson, co-author and special education advocate, who's also the mother of a child with a disability. "Our message to parents is - pain and simple: Know your rights or run the risk of being taken advantage of," Swanson added. Your Special Education Rights provides parents with vital information and specific guidance to address key challenges - including: How to respond to special education "urban legends" like your child is "too smart" for services; how to avoid "toothless" language in a special education plan; and overcoming discrimination and low expectations. The book also explains why now, more than ever before, parents must be vigilant to protect children's rights - and how recent Supreme Court case law and changes at the federal level impact children with disabilities. Though Your Special Education Rights is for parents primarily, educators and administrators can also learn how difficult it can be for parents to understand the special education system, which hopefully helps schools and parents work more closely. Your Special Education Rights is published by Skyhorse Publishing, Inc and is widely available from booksellers on August 15th. Learn more here. About the Authors Jennifer Laviano is a special education attorney in private practice in Connecticut. Her firm's representation of children with special needs encompasses the full spectrum of advocacy under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and Section 504, from attendance at IEP team meetings and mediation to litigation in due process hearings and federal court. She is a regular presenter about the special legal rights of children with disabilities and their entitlement to receive a free and appropriate education and to be free from disability-based discrimination. Julie Swanson is a special education advocate whose practice grew out of her efforts to help her son. As an advocate, she helps parents navigate the special education process, including attending IEP and Section 504 meetings. She speaks frequently on special education matters and has a long-standing history of service on special education-related state boards, task forces, and legislative appointments to state councils. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170815006216/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 15, 2017] Hassle to buy insurance for older cars in Singapore, says expert of Budget Direct Insurance Singapore SINGAPORE, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Buying insurance for older cars can still be difficult despite record numbers of COE renewals, according to Simon Birch, CEO of Budget Direct Insurance. This is his view as an industry expert that the majority of insurance companies do not sell policies for older vehicles online. Instead many customers of cars older than 10 years are assessed on a case by case basis and have to endure lengthier quote processing times. Birch said: "Owners of older vehicles have sometimes struggled to buy insurance online. It has been particularly difficult to get Comprehensive cover. Insurers need to stay up to date with Singapore motoring trends and that includes catering more to those with older vehicles and making it easier for them to buy." Birch believes that Budget Direct Insurance is one of the few that is making it easier for this ector of the motoring community. He said: "At Budget Direct Insurance, motorists, including those who own older vehicles, can get a quick quote online within 30 seconds. We are one of the few insurers who is able to give an online quote, especially for older cars." Frustrated customers have been turning to Budget Direct Insurance for help. One such motorist is Yap Boon Fong Yvonne. Her current insurer was unable to provide comprehensive insurance once her vehicle had reached more than 10 years old. She said: "I have been with them (my current insurer) for more than 10 years and they are not covering comprehensive for me. Thanks to Budget Direct I have what I want." The matter was highlighted following the release of LTA figures showing that more than 14,000 car certificates were revalidated in the first five months of 2017. The figures also revealed that more owners were choosing to extend by 10 years instead of five. Birch says this upward trend of motorists holding onto their cars for longer makes much better economic sense. He added: "A good car will last years. Renewing your COE is a great way to keep costs down. Paying less for your insurance is another way to save too. At the end of the day it makes for smarter motoring." Visit www.budgetdirect.com.sg for a quote today. For further information, please contact Geoffrey Dickman on +65 9451 5116 or [email protected] About Budget Direct Insurance Budget Direct Insurance is the trading name of Auto & General Insurance (Singapore) Pte. Limited, which is licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and bound by the regulations and requirements for insurers. Budget Direct Insurance was built as a digital start-up here in Singapore, and it is part of BHL Holdings Limited ("BHL Group"), a privately owned, global group of companies whose principle businesses are engaged in insurance underwriting, direct insurance distribution, broking and related services, online comparison and property development. The BHL Group provides insurance solutions to millions of policyholders across several countries. The BHL Group includes one of the largest direct personal lines insurers in South Africa, one of the largest personal lines intermediaries in the United Kingdom and the Budget Direct brand in Australia. Photo - https://photos.prnasia.com/prnh/20170815/1920480-1 SOURCE Budget Direct Insurance Singapore [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 15, 2017] Resona Bank Ltd. Adopts Charles River IMS as Multi-Asset Enterprise Solution Resona Bank Ltd., a subsidiary of Resona Holdings, Inc., has begun implementation of the Charles River Investment Management Solution (Charles River IMS) for its front and middle office operations. The Charles River IMS provides Resona Bank with a single enterprise platform for managing its equity, fixed income, FX and derivatives investments. Charles River provides all support services out of its Tokyo office, including technical support, SaaS (News - Alert) operations and project management. Resona Bank's deployment is one of Charles River's major Japanese SaaS implementations in 2017. "Charles River has demonstrated its long term commitment to the Japanese market with local resources and capabilities supporting our most sophisticated trading processes," said Yoshiaki Izuka, Chief Manager of Asset Management Business Planning Division, Resona Bank. "Additionally, because Charles River IMS is a SaaS platform with strong support for all asset classes, we are able to reduce costs by consolidating end user computing tools and standardizing our workflows." More than 100 Resona Bank portfolio managers, traders, compliance and operations staff will ultimately use the Charles River IMS throughout the investment lifecycle. Portfolio managers will have multi-dimensional views of their portfolios with integrated performance measurement, attribution, risk analytics and scenario analysis. In addition, the Charles Rive IMS provides the bank with multi-asset order and execution management (OEMS) and trade compliance monitoring as well as automated transaction cost analysis (TCA) and post-trade matching & settlement instruction. Charles River IMS's Investment Book of Record (IBOR) will reduce reliance on back office systems in managing position and reconciliation functions, with seamless API-based integration to Resona's accounting system. Data and FIX connectivity are also provided and managed by Charles River. "Charles River has invested heavily to develop a strong local presence in Japan including support, operations, and implementation teams in response to the continued growth in our domestic Japanese client base, and the increasing demand for our SaaS based solution," said Cameron Field, Managing Director-APAC, Charles River. "We are working actively with Resona and other major Japanese firms who have made the strategic decision to adopt our SaaS solution, to ensure the platform stays up to date, simplify their operations, and reduce costs." About Resona Bank, Ltd Resona Bank, Ltd. is a core subsidiary of Resona Group, one of the largest financial institutions in Japan. Resona Bank offers banking services to individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises. The company also provides real estate, inheritance, and other trust services as offering sophisticated solutions related to pension plans and securities investment trusts. About Charles River Charles River enables sound and efficient investing across all asset classes. Over 350 firms worldwide use Charles River IMS to manage more than US$25 Trillion (News - Alert) in assets in the institutional investment, wealth management and hedge fund industries. Our SaaS-based solution automates and simplifies investment management on a single platform - from portfolio decision support and risk management through trading and post-trade settlement, with integrated risk and compliance throughout. Headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, we support clients globally with over 750 employees in 11 regional offices. For more information, please visit www.crd.com. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170815006067/en/ [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 16, 2017] Asetek - Q2 2017: Revenue Growth Driven by Gaming PC Cooling Demand OSLO, Norway, Aug 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Asetek reported revenue of $11.1 million in the second quarter of 2017, an increase of 33% from the second quarter of 2016 on higher desktop revenue driven by shipments in the DIY and Gaming Performance/ Desktop PC markets. Growth in the quarter also reflects an increase in shipment of data center products to OEMs. Revenue for the six months ending 30 June was $22.6 million, an increase of 21% from the same period of 2016. "Q2 was another good quarter for Asetek. The demand for our efficient liquid cooling solutions for data centers, servers and PCs continues to grow. For 2017, we expect a decent growth within our desktop segment, especially due to high-end gaming customers. And we expect significant growth within our data center segment on the back of continued progress with OEM partners and increasing end-user adoption with technology deployed to new high performance (HPC) installations. Our job now is to make sure the positive development continues," said Andre Sloth Eriksen, CEO and Founder. EBITDA adjusted for share based compensation expense was was $1.1 million in the second quarter of 2017, compared with EBITDA adjusted of $0.3 million in the second quarter of 2016. First-half 2017 EBITDA adjusted was $1.8 million, compared to $1.6 million for the first half of 2016. Desktop revenue was $10.1 million in the second quarter, an increase of 34% from the same period of 2016. Operating profit from the desktop segment was $2.8 million, an increase from $2.2 million in the same period last year due to an increase in DIY and Gaming Performance/Desktop PC sales. Data center revenue was $1.0 million, an increase from $0.8 million in the prior year due to an increase in shipments to OEM customers, partly offset by a decline in shipments under government contracts. Revenue variability is expected to continue while the Company secures new OEM partners and growth of end-user adoption through existing OEM partners. Asetek continued to invest in its data center business and the segment operating loss was $1.6 million for the second quarter, compared with $1.3 million in the same period of 2016. Expenditures relate to technology development, manufacturing, and sales development with data center partners and OEM customers. Through new and repeat orders received from data center OEM partners in the first half of 2017, Asetek is increasing its end-user adoption with technology deployed to new HPC installations. In the second quarter, this included orders of RackCDU D2C (Direct-to-Chip) liquid cooling from Fujitsu and Penguin Computing. Due to continued positive development within the desktop segment, Asetek increases its full year 2017 desktop revenue guidance from single digit growth to growth between 10% and 20% compared with 2016. The outlook for the data center business is reaffirmed, with significant revenue growth expected compared with 2016. Webcast and conference call at 8:30 AM CEST today 16 August 2017 Asetek will release its financial results for the second quarter 2017 on Wednesday, 16 August at 7:00 AM CEST. This is followed by a presentation by CEO Andre Sloth Eriksen and CFO Peter Dam Madsen at 8:30 AM CEST. Asetek invites investors, analysts and media to join the presentation. The presentation is expected to last one hour, including Q&A, and can be followed through live webcast or by conference call. Conference call audio only: Please dial in 5-10 minutes prior using the phone numbers and confirmation code below: Copenhagen, Denmark: +4532-71-16-59 Oslo, Norway: +472350-0486 Stockholm, Sweden: +46(0)8-5033-6538 Frankfurt, Germany: +49(0)69-2222-10629 London, United Kingdom: +44(0)20-3427-1916 Paris, France: +33(0)1-76-77-22-29 New York, United States of America: +1646-254-3362 Confirmation code: 5557928 Webcast audio and slide presentation: Please join the second quarter 2017 results webcast by clicking here. The Second Quarter 2017 Report and presentation will also be made available on www.asetek.com and www.newsweb.no, as well as through news agencies. A recorded version of the presentation will be made available on www.asetek.com approximately two hours after the broadcast has concluded. Asetek's press room is available on www.asetek.com/press-room/news/ For questions or further information, please contact: CEO and Founder Andre S. Eriksen, +45-2125-7076, email: [email protected] CFO Peter Dam Madsen, +45-2080-7200, email: [email protected] About Asetek: Asetek is the global leader in liquid cooling solutions for data centers, servers and PCs. Founded in 2000, Asetek is headquartered in Denmark and has operations in California, Texas, China and Taiwan. Asetek is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ASETEK.OL). This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com http://news.cision.com/asetek/r/asetek---q2-2017--revenue-growth-driven-by-gaming-pc-cooling-demand,c2326708 The following files are available for download: http://mb.cision.com/Main/6758/2326708/709958.pdf PDF http://mb.cision.com/Public/6758/2326708/9a35617f2579bdab.pdf Asetek Q22017 Report http://mb.cision.com/Public/6758/2326708/a4dbd262053fbe92.pdf 170815 Asetek Q2 17 Presentation View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/asetek--q2-2017-revenue-growth-driven-by-gaming-pc-cooling-demand-300505094.html SOURCE Asetek [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 16, 2017] Wirecard Supports Singtel's Roll out of First Virtual Visa Card in Singapore ASCHHEIM, Germany, August 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- International technology group Wirecard has partnered with Singtel to support the recent roll out of Singapore's first Visa virtual card for Singtel's mobile wallet Dash. Singtel Dash is currently Singapore's most widely accepted all-in-one digital wallet. The mobile payments platform, which allows customers to shop, pay transport fares and remit money, is part of Singtel's strategy to transform Southeast Asia's biggest phone carrier into a leading communications technology company by investing into digital and cyber security businesses. "We are very proud to be a partner for Singapore's leading digital wallet," says Grigoriy Kuznetsov, Executive Vice President, Global Financial Services at Wirecard. "Singtel can now process mobile virtual Visa payments with Wirecard as a Bank Identification Number (BIN) sponsor. This further reinforces our position as a leading global prepaid issuer and BIN sponsor. It also demonstrates our state-of-the-art card processing capabilities." Since the launch of the Visa virtual account last month, Singtel Dash's over 500,000 customers have been using their mobile phones to make payments in over 50,000 PayWave-enabled merchants across Singapore/span> and use the payment platform to shop at Singapore-based e-commerce stores. "Singtel Dash has gained more traction as a payment option of choice. With the adoption of Wirecard's card processing solution, our customers can now make hassle-free mobile virtual Visa payments," says Mr Gilbert Chuah, Head of mCommerce, Consumer Singapore at Singtel. Transaction volumes for Singtel Dash have more than doubled in the past year and Singtel plans to expand the reach of the mobile platform to schools or even hawker centers. About Wirecard: Wirecard AG is a global technology group that supports companies in accepting electronic payments from all sales channels. As a leading independent supplier, the Wirecard Group offers outsourcing and white label solutions for electronic payments. A global platform bundles international payment acceptances and methods with supplementary fraud prevention solutions. With regard to issuing own payment instruments in the form of cards or mobile payment solutions, the Wirecard Group provides companies with an end-to-end infrastructure, including the requisite licences for card and account products. Wirecard AG is listed on the Frankfurt Securities Exchange (TecDAX, ISIN DE0007472060, WDI). For further information about Wirecard, please visit http://www.wirecard.com or follow us on twitter @wirecard. About Singtel: Singtel is Asia's leading communications group providing a portfolio of services including voice and data solutions over fixed, wireless and Internet platforms as well as infocomm technology and pay TV. The Group is present in Asia, Australia and Africa with over 500 million mobile customers in 25 countries, including Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand. It also has a vast network of offices throughout Asia Pacific, Europe and the United States. More information can be found at http://www.singtel.com. Media Contact: Wirecard AG Jana Tilz Tel.: +49(0)89-4424-1363 E-Mail: [email protected] [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 16, 2017] Smart City Makes First Corporate Donation for Steve Lieber Innovator Scholarship CHICAGO, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Smart City Networks, America's leading telecommunications provider for the convention industry, has donated $15,000 to the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Foundation in what is the first corporate donation for a new scholarship in honor of the society's President and CEO Steve Lieber. The donation, which Smart City CEO Martin Rubin presented, will fund the new Steve Lieber Innovator Scholarship. The scholarship will honor Lieber's contributions to the health information technology industry during his 17-year tenure as CEO. Lieber is expected to retire at the end of 2017. "Smart City Networks and Steve Lieber share a passion for innovation," Rubin said. "Knowing the positive impact that Steve has made throughout his career, Smart City Networks couldn't think of a better way to honor Steve than this scholarship program to fuel the next generation of leaders in health care." Smart City has had a longstanding relationship with HIMSSand has provided technology and internet services to the society's annual conference for ten years. The 2017 HIMSS Conference was held February 19 through 23 at the Orange County Convention Center, and Smart City serviced 280 booths at the conference. "Our organizations are very closely aligned," Rubin said. "We share very similar core values, and we wanted to recognize Steve's impact on healthcare and health IT and his leadership during these years of tremendous change in these arenas." The Steve Lieber Innovator Scholarship will be awarded to a student who embraces the use of digital health or technology-enabled workflow innovation in support of the HIMSS mission of better health through information technology. The scholarship is open to any student pursuing a degree from an accredited collegiate undergraduate, graduate, or doctoral academic program. Interested students can apply through Monday, September 25, 2017. Recipients will be notified of awards in December. About Smart City Networks: Founded over 30 years ago, Smart City Networks is the nation's largest provider of event telecommunications and technology in the convention industry and the 19th largest employer in central Florida. Smart City Networks can provide wired and wireless Internet services, phone services and digital signage solutions at convention centers and meeting facilities of any size. Smart City Networks designs, installs and maintains data, voice, electrical and utility platforms, coupled with voice, video and data network engineering, security and monitoring. Providing technology services to over 3,000 conventions and meetings annually, Smart City Networks currently serves more than 39 convention and meeting facilities across the U.S., totaling over 17 million square feet of exhibit space. For more information about Smart City Networks, call 702-943-6000 or visit www.smartcitynetworks.com. View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/smart-city-makes-first-corporate-donation-for-steve-lieber-innovator-scholarship-300505526.html SOURCE Smart City Networks [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 16, 2017] ProfNet Experts Available on U.S. Cyber Policy, Tobacco-Cessation Policies NEW YORK, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Below are experts from the ProfNet network who are available to discuss timely issues in your coverage area. You can also submit a query to the hundreds of thousands of experts in our network it's easy and free! Just fill out the query form to get started: http://prn.to/queryform EXPERT ALERTS U.S. Cyber Policy: Intersection of Private Sector and Government Intelligence Community Many Countries Lagging on Implementation of Support for Tobacco Cessation MEDIA JOBS Reporter Citywire USA (NY) (NY) U.S. Correspondent, Tech South China Morning Post (NY/CA) Reporter SparkSpread (NY/TX/ London ) OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES Don't Risk Your Day Job: 7 Tips to Make Your Side Hustle Work for You Blogger Events: Top Events to Attend in August Blog Profiles: Aquarium Blogs ------------------------------------------------------------------- EXPERT ALERTS: U.S. Cyber Policy: Intersection of Private Sector and Government Intelligence Community Ronald A. Marks Chair, Intelligence Program, Daniel Morgan Graduate School President, Intelligence Enterprises Marks is available to discuss the intersection of the private sector and the government intelligence community and the enhancement of the U.S.'s cyber capabilities: "As the Trump administration moves forward with its cyberspace policy, it is crucial to get these squabbling parties together and encourage relationships between the two, taking the best of both. The laissez-faire attitude of Silicon Valley has to bend somewhat to U.S. government guidance and protection, and the U.S. government simply has to stop overregulating with multiple agencies, providing confusing messages and contacts with the private sector." Based in , Marks is currently president of Intelligence Enterprises, a national security-consulting firm composed of a network of former senior national security officials. He spent 16 years with the Central Intelligence Agency, during which time he occupied a number of increasingly senior positions ranging from clandestine spy to Senate liaison for five directors. These positions include special assistant to the ADCI for Military Support, U.S. State Department Program director for law enforcement issues in Russia and Eastern Europe, and a senior budget director at the National Reconnaissance Office. Since leaving government, Marks has been a senior defense contractor and a software executive. https://dmgs.org Contact: Alex Lange, [email protected] Many Countries Lagging on Implementation of Support for Tobacco Cessation Martin Raw Director International Centre for Tobacco Cessation Article 14 of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control recommends provision of evidence-based support for tobacco cessation, but many countries are lagging in implementation leading to gaps in helping patients quit tobacco. Raw was the lead author on an editorial, endorsed by more than 70 global leaders in tobacco cessation, that sets out actions countries can take to support tobacco dependence treatment, focusing on low-cost, broad-reach interventions. Says Raw: "Effective tobacco cessation support will help us reach the goal of reducing premature mortality from noncommunicable diseases, but countries worldwide are not adequately implementing treatment support. It's time to improve the support offered to tobacco users who want to stop." Contact: Breanne Van Nostrand, [email protected] **************** MEDIA JOBS: Following are links to job listings for staff and freelance writers, editors and producers. You can view these and more job listings on our Job Board: https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/community/jobs/ Reporter Citywire USA (NY) (NY) U.S. Correspondent, Tech South China Morning Post (NY/CA) Reporter SparkSpread (NY/TX/ London ) ***************** OTHER NEWS & RESOURCES: Following are links to other news and resources we think you might find useful. If you have an item you think other reporters would be interested in and would like us to include in a future alert, please drop us a line. DON'T RISK YOUR DAY JOB: 7 TIPS TO MAKE YOUR SIDE HUSTLE WORK FOR YOU. It seems like everyone has a side hustle. The real-life numbers support this: In a recent study from Bankrate, 44 million Americans reported having a side gig. Earnings range in this avenue of entrepreneurship, but in some instances, it can be extremely lucrative. If the gig economy is calling your name, here are seven tips for managing a side hustle outside of a busy 9-to-5: http://prn.to/2uUCmbQ BLOGGER EVENTS: TOP EVENTS TO ATTEND IN AUGUST. Each month, the Audience Research team shares information of hot events for the blogging world. Here are some events you'll want to know about for August: http://prn.to/2uZyObq BLOG PROFILES: AQUARIUM BLOGS. Each week, PR Newswire's Audience Relations team selects an industry/subject and profiles a handful of sites that do a good job with promoting and contributing to the conversation. This week, they look at a few aquarium blogs:http://prn.to/2uVzPOw **************** PROFNET is an exclusive service of PR Newswire. To contact ProfNet: [email protected] or 800-776-3638, ext. 1 View original content with multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/profnet-experts-available-on-us-cyber-policy-tobacco-cessation-policies-300505533.html SOURCE ProfNet [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] [August 16, 2017] Cetera Financial Group Announces Affiliation of Girard's Advisors with Cetera Advisor Networks as Independent Financial Advisor Team LOS ANGELES, Aug. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cetera Financial Group ("Cetera" or "the Company")*, a leading network of independent firms empowering the delivery of professional financial advice to individuals, families and company retirement plans, and Cetera Advisor Networks, one of its member firms, today announced that Cetera member firm Girard Securities has invited its advisors to affiliate with Cetera Advisor Networks as an independent advisor group operating under the Girard brand, founder-operated culture and leadership team. With 200 independent advisors supporting $7.7 billion in client assets, the Girard Region is expected to comprise one of the largest independent advisor groups affiliated with Cetera Advisor Networks, which focuses exclusively on supporting autonomous teams of like-minded advisors referred to as Regions. Tom Taylor, President of Cetera Advisor Networks, said, "We're delighted to welcome the Girard organization to Cetera Advisor Networks as one of our largest independent advisor groups. This step by Girard reflects our widely recognized track record of success for supporting the growth of independent advisor teams that want access to breakthrough technologies and tools, while preserving their own leadership team, culture and brand. The fiduciary era that our industry is entering has translated into a rising demand among advisors and end clients for a truly advice-centric experience, in direct contrast to the sales or product-centric approach utilized by many in this space. Our history of delivering a unique combination of large firm resources with the autonomy that independent advisor teams need to thrive under the advice-centric experience model of the future makes this transition a win-win for Girard and Cetera." Cetera expects this move to more seamlessly and rapidly provide access for the Girard Region's advisors to Cetera's Advice Architect Ecosystem of integrated platforms and tools designed to support the creation of an Advice-Centric Experience for advisors and end clients. This will include access to the My Advice Architect investment solutions offering as well as Cetera's revolutionary DecipherTM emotional analysis software. The Girard Region will also benefit from tighter integration with Cetera's broader advisor technology platform and more streamlined access to its various flexible service models. Girard Securities CEO Susie Woltman Tietjen will serve as Regional Director of the Girard team going forward, ensuring continued strong relationships with the Girard advisor community. The Girard Region's leadership team will operate from Girard Securities' current eadquarters location in San Diego for the foreseeable future. Susie Woltman Tietjen said, "Our transition to becoming an independent team affiliated with Cetera Advisor Networks marks the beginning of a new chapter of growth for our team, enabling us to leverage the full strength of Cetera's scale and resources to support the success of our advisors and the success of their clients. With the growing regulatory and operating burdens associated with running our own independent broker-dealer removed, the entire Girard organization will be able to devote our full attention to the mission of helping our advisors build the businesses they want. Just as importantly, our new structure positions us to maintain the close-knit, family-operated culture that has always formed the backbone of our organization." The addition of the Girard advisors operating as an independent advisor team under its own brand, leadership and culture, follows closely on the affiliation in June this year of the advisors previously associated with HBW, formerly an independent broker-dealer, with Cetera Advisor Networks as an autonomous Region supporting 55 independent advisors and $820 million in client assets under the HBW brand and management. Mr. Taylor concluded, "The transition of both Girard as well as HBW from broker-dealers to Regions affiliated with Cetera Advisor Networks is a trend that we're confident will continue. Our firm is extremely well-positioned for continued success in recruiting, as smaller and mid-sized firms increasingly seek ways to remain together as autonomous entities, but without the administrative and regulatory burdens of being a broker-dealer in a post-DOL environment." The Girard Securities broker-dealer wind-down is expected to start in early November, subject to FINRA approval. About Cetera Advisor Networks Cetera Advisor Networks LLC is an independent broker-dealer and registered investment adviser firm that utilizes a unique regional director model to support financial advisors through the entire life cycle of their business. As part of Cetera Financial Group, a leading network of independent retail broker-dealers, Cetera Advisor Networks is able to build and support regional teams through local service, regional offices and a national home office, facilitating the success of financial professionals. Cetera Advisor Networks is a member of the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). For more information, see ceteraadvisornetworks.com. About Cetera Financial Group Cetera Financial Group ("Cetera") is a leading network of independent firms empowering the delivery of professional financial advice to individuals, families and company retirement plans across the country through trusted financial advisors and financial institutions. Cetera is the second-largest independent financial advisor network in the nation by number of advisors, as well as a leading provider of retail services to the investment programs of banks and credit unions. Through its multiple distinct firms, Cetera offers independent and institutions-based advisors the benefits of a large, established broker-dealer and registered investment adviser, while serving advisors and institutions in a way that is customized to their needs and aspirations. Advisor support resources offered through Cetera include award-winning wealth management and advisory platforms, comprehensive broker-dealer and registered investment adviser services, practice management support and innovative technology. For more information, visit cetera.com . * "Cetera Financial Group" refers to the network of independent retail firms encompassing, among others, Cetera Advisors, Cetera Advisor Networks, Cetera Investment Services (marketed as Cetera Financial Institutions), Cetera Financial Specialists, First Allied Securities, Girard Securities, and Summit Brokerage Services. All firms are members FINRA/SIPC. Media Contacts: Matthew Griffes Haven Tower Group 424.652.6520 ext. 103 [email protected] Chris Clemens Haven Tower Group 424 652 6520 ext. 102 [email protected] View original content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cetera-financial-group-announces-affiliation-of-girards-advisors-with-cetera-advisor-networks-as-independent-financial-advisor-team-300504340.html SOURCE Cetera Financial Group [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ] Purdue becomes bowl eligible by knocking off No. 21 Illinois Negotiating the one terminal plan for Kansas City International Airport has hit a speed bump, with the airport selection committee asking for more financial information. AECOM, the nation's largest airport developer, submitted numbers by the deadline last week that its top executives say make it the obvious choice for the project. High Hopes For KC Top Cop New police chiefs sets goal to get KC off violent crime top ten list KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The 45th chief of police for Kansas City was sworn in Tuesday. Major Rick Smith is a 29-year veteran with the police department and was sworn in at police headquarters at 9:30 a.m. Smith has been with the force for 29 years. Kansas City Royals Legacy Mike Moustakas Will Probably Beat The Royals' Home Run Record, But Another Still Stands Kansas City Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas is on the verge of breaking the team's home run record. Former slugger Steve "Bye Bye" Balboni's record of 36 home runs in one season has stood since 1985. But if you consider the Kansas City A's era, the record is further away - but still within reach. Kansas City Denizen Hero Cowtown Weather Today Kansas City's Most Accurate Forecast KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For a full list of weather alerts, click here. Weather Forecast Headlines: Periods of rain and thunderstorms around mid-morning today and this evening Slight risk for strong to severe storms late tonight from 6pm-11pm; Wind and hail are the biggest threats The flooding risk is a bit lower with this set up, but we still have to monitor it closely Less humid Thursday into Friday HERE IS KANSAS CITY'S MOST ACCURATE FORECAST: High: Wednesday: Periods of showers and thunderstorms today. Sound Of Kansas City Legend Endures Charlie Parker Celebration opens 12-day run this week Kansas City hottest jazz event of the summer begins on Thursday in Downtown KC, as the city celebrates the life and legacy of its native son, Charlie "Yardbird" Parker. and just a few Kansas City links as we get ready to start our morning . . .is the song of the day and this is thefor right now . . . "TKC, take a look at this Federal lawsuit against state of Kansas for allegedly denying Tamika her civil rights for convicting her . . . Or something like that . . ." Midweek followup on a tragic case that included youngsters run-over by a car amid a tense but pointless WyCo Commish contest . . .The word from the best and brightest of our blog community in the aftermath of an involuntary manslaughter conviction . . . You decide . . . Oman's Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MoAF) will build a new fish market in Ibri, a city in the northwest of the sultanate. The market will be constructed on an area of 3,000 sq m, with a building area of 1,800 sq m, said an Oman News Agency report. It will include fish display tables for sellers, fish cutting tables, a table for wholesale display, a five-tonnes-per day ice production unit, market staff offices, stores, parking lots for fish transport, and other services, it said. Huawei, a leading global ICT solutions provider, revealed that its third cycle of the global CSR programme for top Saudi students, Seeds of the Future, has recently culminated in China. Launched in collaboration with the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC), Huawei Tech Investment Saudi Arabias initiative aims to cultivate the Saudi ICT future leaders that will carry on the responsibility of the anticipated digital transformation, a key pillar of the Saudi vision, said a statement. During the two-week educational trip, the students visited facilities throughout Beijing, and received extensive training courses at Huaweis state-of-the-art laboratory in Shenzhen, where they learned about intelligent networks, cloud technology and the design behind some of Huaweis most successful and innovative devices, it said. Dr Abdulaziz Bin Salem Al Ruwais, governor of CITC, said: The kingdom is continuing to invest in its citizens in order to achieve our Vision 2030 goals and establish a vibrant, tech-savvy citizenry and knowledge-based economy. The CITC is very proud of the work we do with Huawei, and are happy that yet another round of students has been exposed to technology and knowledge that will assist them in securing a bright future for both themselves and their nation, he said. While in China, the students were received by Saudi Arabias Ambassador to China, Turki bin Abdullah Al Madhi, said: So far, 34 of Saudi Arabias top students have benefited from this world class programme. When I met them, they beamed with excitement, having been exposed to and trained on technologies and concepts that will serve them well as they enter the workforce and being the path to becoming the Kingdoms future ICT leaders and innovators, he said. At the end of the trip Huawei held a closing ceremony in Shenzhen, which was attended by the Consulate General of the Royal Consulate of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Guangzhou, Mohammed Bin Abdullah Alburaithin. Alburaithin said: It was an honour to attend the closing ceremony, and I extend my thanks to Huawei for working with local Saudi partners such as CITC to continue to offer such extraordinary opportunities for our students. We are actively and passionately working to build a knowledge economy in the kingdom, and Huawei has been contributing to this goal whole-heartedly with Seeds for the Future, as well as a variety of other initiatives, it said. Dennis Zhang, CEO of Huawei Tech Investment Saudi Arabia, said: We are very happy to be completing yet another successful itineration of the Seeds for the Future programme. It has been fantastic to continue our strong partnership with CITC in the kingdom through the guidance and nurturing of some of Saudi Arabias finest young ICT minds. Moreover, we are pleased to be able to contribute to the goals set forth in the Kingdoms Vision 2030, he asaid. Advancements in the ICT industry and ICT education are integral to socioeconomic development of different countries. The program has acted as a crucial platform for sharing the latest ICT technologies and enriching students' work experience, helping to prepare them to work efficiently in ICT and mobile communications companies, he added. The returning students came from 17 universities across Saudi Arabia. As part of its commitment to the 2030 Vision, Huawei launched the Seeds for the Future program in the Kingdom in 2015. The flagship global CSR program is aimed at cultivating local ICT talent, promoting knowledge transfer, improving people's interest in and understanding of the ICT industry, and encouraging countries and regions to participate in the building of digital communities. As an ICT leader, Huawei is committed to promoting the ICT industry development in the countries it operates, and aims to drive long term economic, social and environmental sustainability. The programme represents Huawei desire to nurture the promising young professionals in every country the company operates. Over the course of the programme Huawei shares its ICT expertise, and experience in managing a multinational with young ICT professionals, and help fuel the development of local ICT industries. By implementing the program in local markets, Huawei seeks to close the gap between knowledge learned in the classroom and the skills required by the industry todays workspace. The initiative aims to develop ICT talent among Emirati students who will become tomorrows leaders of innovation, it stated. TradeArabia News Service Melbournes reign as the worlds most liveable city has been extended for an unprecedented seventh year by the prestigious Economist Intelligence Units (EIU) annual Liveability Index. The Index surveys 140 of the worlds cities and Melbourne has come out on top again. Vienna (Austria), Vancouver, Toronto, and Calgary (Canada) rounded off the top five most livable cities. The list also covered cities considered to be the least livable and included Kiev (Ukraine), Douala (Cameroon), Harare (Zimbabwe), Karachi (Pakistan) and Algiers (Algeria) as the top five. Since the index began in 2006, Melbourne has consistently come in the top three of the index. So what is it that keeps Melbourne at the top of the list? Melbourne ticks all the Liveability Index boxes and many others. The city is the acknowledged cultural and sporting capital of Australia hosting major events including the Australian Open, the Formula One Australian Grand Prix and the Spring Racing Carnival. It is home to universities that consistently rank among the worlds best, producing the highest number of technical graduates in the country and voted as one of the world's top five student cities. The State Government of Victoria is continuously investing in Melbournes infrastructure, including road tunnels and new roads to improve transport links, new trams and trains to enhance public transport, and its world-class convention centre which is undergoing an expansion to host the ever-growing number of conventions and exhibitions the city hosts. Fuelled by its unrivalled lifestyle, Melbourne is growing rapidly with Australias highest rates of domestic and international migration. In fact Melbourne is now Australias fastest growing city, and is projected to overtake Sydney as Australia's biggest city by 2030. This is backed up by the announcement that Melbourne has also been awarded fDi magazines Asia-Pacific Cities of the Future winner in the category of Human Capital and Lifestyle. The city also ranked in the top five in mid-sized cities for Economic Potential and in the top ten overall for FDI Strategy in the same report. And in a week of major announcements, Savills World Researchs Tech Cities 2017 report included Melbourne as one of the cities across the world at the forefront of the global tech industry. As the top ranked tech city in Australia, Melbourne offers the infrastructure, business environment, talent pool and lifestyle to place it at the top of global shopping lists for tech companies looking for space in which to locate. Commissioner for Victoria to the Middle East, Africa and Turkey, Mr John Butler welcomed the announcements. Melbourne and the state of Victoria has strong and well established links with this region through trade, tourism, investment, sport and culture, said Butler. We are proud to see Melbourne consistently win this coveted accolade, and can only see the connection between the region and Victoria strengthening further on the back of two-way synergies and a mutually beneficial relationship. - TradeArabia News Service AviaAM Financial Leasing China, a joint venture between AviaAM Leasing and Henan Civil Aviation Development and Investment Company (HNCA), has delivered its sixth Airbus A320 family aircraft. On August 15, Airbus A321-211SL (MSN 7801) was handed over to Russian state airline Aeroflot at Hamburg International Airport, Germany. Under the operating lease contract, the flag carrier will operate the aircraft with 16 business and 167 economy seat configuration aircraft for the next 12 years. The brand-new aircraft was delivered as a part of a previously signed Memorandum of Understanding between AviaAM Financial Leasing China and Aeroflot. It is the second Airbus A321 type aircraft of the project covering the sale and lease back of total eight ex-factory Airbus A320/A321 aircraft. The project with Aeroflot is progressively moving forward. Under the contract, we have already delivered six aircraft to our trusted client. Two more Airbus aircraft as a part of the project are expected to be delivered within the next months, said Tadas Goberis, chairman of the Board and CEO of AviaAM Leasing. Currently, Aeroflot operates a fleet consisting of almost 300 aircraft. The newly acquired aircraft will complement air carriers activities on more than 130 international routes across 50 countries. AviaAM Leasing, a Warsaw Stock Exchange listed aircraft leasing company, is ranked amongst worlds TOP50 leasing enterprises according to AirFinance Journal. - TradeArabia News Service FlexTrade Launches Best Execution Platform Website FlexTrade (@FlexTrade) announced the launch of a Best Execution Platform website to showcase the companys new, comprehensive approach to ensuring Best Execution is planned, monitored and proven during the full trading life cycle. Andy Mahoney, Head of Sales at FlexTrade UK Ltd. in London, commented: Our FlexTRADER EMS is built for Best Execution. With MiFID II approaching, we have tied together our 3rd party integration program, expanded into fixed income, and added enhancements to our TCA application, FlexTCA, to provide our view on Best Execution across the asset classes. The site showcases FlexTrades existing framework for trading, which provides clients with a customised workflow to help them to achieve Best Execution. This workflow provides traders with data from both transactional and market sources along with market intelligence from integrated third parties, all whilst capturing the complete trade in real-time to later provide data for analysis. In addition, the site provides relevant news and content regarding MiFID II legislation, including FlexTrades customised MiFID II compliance solution, answers to commonly asked questions regarding inducements and informative blog post updates. Visit FlexTrades Best Execution Platform website at bestexecution.flextrade.com For more information on related topics, visit the following channels: Senator Warner Worries About Market CyberHack Is the stock market ripe for a cyber-attack? And what exactly is the action or reporting protocol if such an attack were to happen? These are the issues that keep U.S. Senator Mark Warner (D-Va) up at night. And as he lay awake, Warner penned a letter voicing his concerns to the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a report on Business Insider. The letter, sent August 1, focused on Reg SCI, which requires certain trading venues to notify the SEC when there has been an intrusion. Warners letter detailed how he wants there to be more transparency about which firms are subject to the rule, and for investment advisers and broker-dealers to factor in compliance to Reg SCI when deciding where to trade stocks. "Reg SCI was intended to strengthen the technology infrastructure of the US securities markets by reducing the occurrence of systems issues, particularly following several high-profile outages that had the potential to cause considerable harm to investor confidence," he said. Under Reg SCI, certain trading venues "must notify the SEC when system problems do occur, including compliance issues, system disruptions and system intrusions." The entities subject to the rule include all exchanges, clearinghouses, Securities Information Processors (SIPs), and those Alternative Trading Systems (ATS) that exceed certain thresholds. Business Insider reported that in his letter, Warner wrote the SEC has not publicly disclosed which market centers have become subject to Reg SCI, and as a result "investors are unable to determine whether their orders are being routed to market centers which are being held to the requirement of having a strong, audited cybersecurity program." "This includes any broker-dealer operated ATS's, single-dealer internalizers, and wholesalers which handle a significant percentage of retail investor order flow and a high percentage of overall US average daily volume, Warners letter said. If compromised, these market centers could destabilize markets by not having the protections in place that the SEC has outlined in Reg SCI to strengthen the integrity of our markets." Warner has also written Jay Clayton on the topic of market rebates. In a missive dated July 14th, he called for the end of rebates or payment for order flow. Warner sits on the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, the Committee on Finance and the Select Committee on Intelligence. For more information on related topics, visit the following channels: By Jos Schaap, CEO and Founder of StayNTouch (TRAVPR.COM) UNITED STATES - August 15th, 2017 - It is not very often that I write a self-serving article but I think it is important to note that, as a hotel technology company, service excellence is a key element within our DNA. It helps us deliver great technology to our hotel clients and the industry at large. Technology, at its foundation, is developed either to make ones life easier or to enable people to communicate more effectively. The problem with developing technology for technologys sake is that companies become too highly focused on the development of the technology, forgetting to understand its full impact on their end users and audience. There can also be a huge void between the development of technology for specific industry vertical if the founders and developers do not have a thorough understanding and knowledge of the targeted industry. The hotel industry in incredibly unique. There is a myriad of different styles of hotels with diverse priorities. There are the smaller properties or those more transactional in nature and on the other end of the spectrum, there are large properties that offer every type of service and amenity available. When we look at todays guest, they are far more complex than they were twenty years ago. There are those looking for that transactional environment while others crave being fawned over. Some are traveling on business, and others are on vacation. Mix the guest requirements or expectations with the different type of property, and now you have an extremely intricate industry. Fairmont Hotels Heritage Place even has a page on its website to educate the traveler on how it differentiates their brand versus others. Service has always been the glue that holds the hospitality industry together. The service experience starts at the beginning of the guests journey. They start looking at locations and their associated hotels. Their immediate reaction can be based upon the visual and textural content to help them make a decision. Conversely, if they place a call to a reservations center, they have now connected with a person who must exude service at the initial contact phase. When arriving at the property, the service element is heightened. First step is checking in at the front desk and here, they are met again, with someone who must focus on developing a relationship with the guest and providing exemplary service. The guest may wish to forgo the formalities of checking in at a front desk, so the hotel must offer the self-serve options for the guest to go directly to their room. This is an example of a fundamental use of technology as a service. The service element and technology requirement continues as the guest dines at the property restaurant, lounges by the pool or orders room service. It is always there and always expected. When hotels and hoteliers are under such scrutiny related to ensuring that they deliver the service that todays demanding guest expects, they should not have to worry about the technology that supports their operations. The technology provider needs to recognize the hotel landscape and how it has changed over the years - along with guest expectations. The technology partner must have some of the same priorities and objectives as the hotelier and what is needed to optimize efficiently and profitably. The technology partner actually needs to serve as a technological extension of the hotel itself. The relationship is truly a bond. When your technology partner has effectively the same DNA within their team as the hotelier has within their operations, the service element is at the forefront. A hotelier needs to feel confident that their tech partner has got their back at all times - whether there is an issue with the platform or there is a front desk person who just needs a little help. If the technology partner has a knowledgeable support team with the same passion for service that hoteliers have for their brand promise to their guest, then this is truly a win-win scenario. When deciding on a new technology platform a large number of hoteliers will look at features, functions and how well the platform will integrate with their other systems. These are all very valid areas of concern that need to be addressed to determine the right fit, however hoteliers need to spend more time reviewing the support and service that they will be receiving from their technology partner. A good place to start is asking for references, talking to their peers and researching the support operations center performance. If the level of service is not there, then the implementation will not be a success, and there will likely be long term negative consequences. Service excellence and the hotel industry DNA need to infiltrate every department within your technology partners business. If it isnt there, maybe you need to take a look somewhere else. About the Author: Jos Schaap, CEO Founder of StayNTouch Jos has a 20+ year track record in hotel software technology. He began StayNTouch with the vision of re-inventing the hotel PMS technology; making it simple, mobile and transitioning the software to the cloud. Prior to StayNTouch, Jos spent 17 years at MICROS Systems Inc. (Now Oracle Hospitality), as a Senior Vice President in charge of global product development and strategy for the Lodging and eCommerce divisions. During his tenure, MICROS hospitality products became the global market leader growing the companys revenues from less than $300 million to $1.1 billion. Jos was responsible for introducing a number of new products enabling MICROS to enter all hospitality segments from limited to full-service hotels. Connect with Jos on linkedin.com/in/josschaap. About StayNTouch StayNTouch is a Software as a Service hotel property management systems (PMS) company focused on developing solutions that help hotels raise service levels, drive revenues, reduce costs, and ultimately change the way hotels can captivate their guests. Developed with mobility in mind, the pioneering platform enables hotels to create long lasting relationships with their guests by delivering personalized service levels that todays guests require. StayNTouch operates on tablets and smartphones, empowering hotel employees to go above and beyond in exceeding guest expectations at every touch point. Powering over 75,000 rooms globally, our game-changing solution frees hotels from the constraints of legacy or premise systems, dramatically streamlines operations, increases margins, and revolutionizes how front-line staff connect with guests. StayNTouch is a trusted partner to many of the most forward thinking hotels, resorts, casinos and chains in the industry, including Yotel, Zoku Amsterdam, Valencia Hotels, The Freehand Hotels, Modus hotels and the Fontainebleau Miami Beach. ### Search News Archive : Fast Travel News Promotion Via Search, Social Media + Email Follow Us On : LA RESIDENCE HUE'S LE SPA LAUDED AS VIETNAM BEST LUXURY BOUTIQUE SPA 2017 Industry: Travel Awards The spa of the most luxurious hotel in Hue is one of this year's most remarkable spas (TRAVPR.COM) VIETNAM - August 16th, 2017 - HUE, VIETNAM - La Residence Hue Hotel & Spa keeps on adding to its distinctive portfolio of accolades with Le Spa taking the coveted trophy of Vietnam Best Luxury Spa at the 2017 World Luxury Spa Awards. The hotel's General Manager Phan Trong Minh took great honor and pride on the stage of the glamorous World Luxury Spa Awards Gala ceremony to receive the award on the 22 July 2017. The ceremony was hosted by JW Marriott Hotel Hanoi with the attendance of distinguished members in wellness and hospitality industry worldwide. "We are thrilled to have been accredited with Vietnam's Best Luxury Boutique Spa, honoring our high-end facilities and luxurious treatments', said Minh. "Le Spa secured this title by a month-long process of nomination and judging." Just a few steps away from the banks of the fabled Perfume River, Le Spa spreads over 380 square metres and offers a steam room, a herbal sauna, a jacuzzi, and seven inspired treatment rooms decorated with 1930s Art Deco style. It boasts a wide selection of treatments incorporating Vietnam and Asia's traditional techniques with European massage skills. Its guests' all-time favorite therapies include Vietnamese Imperial cupping, aromatic body touch, foot acupressure, hot stone therapies, Vietnamese four hands therapy, Vietnamese brandy ginger bath, body scrub, and body mud wrap. Le Spa was nominated to Conde Nast's Spa Hot List 2007. In 2013, it won the World Luxury Spa Award for Vietnam Best Luxury Boutique Spa. Additionally, it owns a collection of Excellence Certificates from The Guide Awards of The Guide Magazine, one of the leading travel publications in Vietnam. To book a treatment, contact resa@la-residence-hue.com or (84-234) 383 7475. Visit the hotel's website www.la-residence-hue.com for further information. ABOUT LA RESIDENCE HUE HOTEL & SPA Set on a two-hectare site with 200 meters of frontage on the fabled Perfume River, La Residence celebrated its grand opening in December 2005 after a painstaking restoration of the 1930-built mansion. The hotel's distinctive bowed facade, its long horizontal lines and nautical flourishes are hallmarks of the streamline moderne school of art deco architecture. The hotel's 122 rooms and suites, restaurants, lounges, bars and conference room are tricked out in complementary art-deco furnishings and decor that evoke both the 1920s and 1950s. The hotel's fine-dining venue, Le Parfum, serves Mediterranean and French cuisine, as well as dishes from an expansive Vietnamese menu. ### Please contact the person or company listed above for information regarding the content of this press release. TravPR.com are not the issuers of this press release and are not responsible for the accuracy of the content. Share Release : CONTACT INFORMATION Name: Ms. Tran Thi Hoang Yen Company: La Residence Hue Hotel & Spa Phone: (84-234) 383 7475 Email: sm@la-residence-hue.com Web: PRESS RELEASE TAGS Chandigarh: Bangladesh-based furniture brand Hatil has opened its first store in India at Zirakpur (Punjab). The company plans to expand its operations in tier-II cities on a franchise model. It has appointed Kratos Furnishers the master franchise. It intends to open two outlets in Chandigarh and one each in Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Bhatinda and Patiala this fiscal. Selim H Rahman, Chairman and MD, Hatil Complex, Bangladesh, said, We are planning to set up 25-30 stores in the country in three years. TNS Tribune News Service Chandigarh, August 16 Air India on Wednesday announced its Chandigarh-Bangkok flight from October 6. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) The flight from Bangkok, known for ornate shrines and vibrant street life, will arrive in Chandigarh at 9.30 am. The flight to the Thailand capital will take off from the local airport at 1.30 pm. Mohali Industries Association had filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against the non-operation of the Chandigarh international airport. In its statement filed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Air India state manager GS Tomar had said: Air India proposes to commence operations on the Chandigarh-Bangkok route from October 29, 2017, with the new A-320 Neo aircraft on four-flights-a-week basis. Taking note of the assertion, the Bench of Justice SS Saron and Justice Avneesh Jhingan asked the airline to plan its flight schedule in a manner that would prevent limited watch hours at the airport from posing a problem. The Bench was also informed that the airline was awaiting clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs for launching of hub and spoke flights for other international destinations from Chandigarh. At the same time, Air India said the airline had no immediate plan to launch an Amritsar-Toronto flight. The assertion came almost 10 months after the Chandigarh-Bangkok flight by Air India was first announced. The flight was to start in April, but was deferred. The Division Bench headed by Justice SS Saron had also asked Air India to submit its status report on restarting the Amritsar-Birmingham flight by July 18. Tribune News Service Panchkula, August 16 Manisha, who cannot stand on her feet and go to school, is greeted with surprise on Wednesday. Kalam Express, a special bus being run by district administration, with two educators for special children and a physiotherapist has come just for her. While Vivek Rai and Kavita Devi helps her in lessons, Dr Kritika Joshi provided her much needed physiotherapy. This special bus will visit homes of all the 57 physically challenged students, who cannot come to school over a period of month. Though there are a total of 750 special children in the district who have been enrolled in schools. Manisha suffered from tuberculosis. She took treatment but later developed weakness and now her condition is deteriorating. Her lower part is not functioning properly. She is not able to walk, says Dr Joshi who helps her with physiotherapy exercises as the Kalam Express is equipped with stationary cycle, shoulder ladder, shoulder wheel, elevated platform. A ramp has also been provided in the AC bus for children to enter. We have teaching learning material-laptops, books, puzzles, toys-to help children, says Rai, who is an expert in teaching hearing impaired children at a government school in Sector 20. Manisha studies in Class VI and her father works as labourer. We are happy that a bus has come for just 1 child, says Subhavati, mother of Manisha. She also discussed medical history of Manisha with the doctor and took advice about treatment in future. We are also enrolling out of schoolchildren wherever we are finding them, says Kavita Devi, who teaches mentally challenged children in a government school. The file about this project was the first one which I wanted to clear when I joined as the DC in Panchkula. The idea took birth in Jind when my husband Ajit Balaji Joshi and I started a similar initiative. It received a good response there, says Panchkula DC Gauri Parashar Joshi. Her husband Ajit Balali Joshi, who is presently the DC of Chandigarh, launched the special bus in Chandigarh too. Launched on August 15, Kalam Express has been attending three to four children every day. Soon, it is going to have a speech therapist too. London, August 16 An Indian-origin businessman was on Wednesday cleared of causing the death of his wife and son during an accident involving a car he was driving in Leicester city last year. Rashminder Singh Gill was found not guilty of causing the deaths of his wife, 36-year-old Amrit Gill, and 14-year-old son Taran, by driving carelessly by a jury at Leicester Crown Court. Gill's daughter, then aged 10, was also in the car at the time of the accident and was injured but survived the crash. "Finally, I'm glad it's over. I finally feel I can grieve properly about my losses. Last year, and half of this, has been a nightmare. I can't even begin to explain," Gill told 'Leicester Mercury' after the verdict. "I've had no sleep and couldn't think straight at times. I've been trying to bring up my 11-year-old daughter and make sure she's been okay it's not been easy. I run my own business and have staff to consider. My work and my daughter are the only things that have kept me sane and busy. I feel so relieved by the verdicts," he said. The collision had occurred on the night of January 29 last year and the jury was told that the road surface was hazardous. A blocked drain was unable to cope with the deluge and caused a trail of water to traverse both lanes on the unlit dual carriageway leading back to the Gills' home in Leicester. Gill was driving back with his family in the torrential rain from a meal out and the prosecution claimed his speed was too much given the weather conditions. His Mercedes went out of control before colliding with an oncoming Audi. A pregnant passenger in the Audi suffered multiple fractures and lost the near full-term baby she was expecting. Her husband and their two-year-old daughter were not seriously hurt. The court heard that it was not possible to calculate the speed Gill was travelling, although he was not said to have been exceeding the 50mph speed limit, which has since been reduced to 40mph. Gill, who breath-tested negative for alcohol, had no recollection of the collision afterwards. He said to a police officer at the scene that his wife, in the front passenger seat, had grabbed his shoulder or the steering wheel as the car started to skid. The defence argued that the jury could not be sure that had not, in fact, caused the loss of control and collision. PTI Sumedha sharma Tribune News Service Gurugram, August 16 Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar declared the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) functional here on Monday. Anand Mohan Sharan, Principal Secretary, Urban Local Bodies, would head the authority set up to provide integrated and coordinated planning for infrastructure development. He also announced 24X7 power supply to Gurugram district from today. As many as 1,140 villages in the state would get round the clock power supply, he added. The announcements were among many the Chief Minister made during a press conference on Independence Day. Several long pending issues of residents and also of vital importance to the state are being addressed. We dont publicise much but our outcomes will speak, said Khattar. He added it was for the first time in Haryanas history that an annual outlay of Rs 1.02 lakh crore was made. Earlier the expenses were more than the income of the state, accounting for 102 per cent, but now the expenses have reduced to 89.9 per cent. Khattar said 550 doctors had been recruited and they would join duty soon. Those who wanted to serve without an advertisement would also be engaged, according to their qualifications. We need 27,000 doctors while we have 12,000 doctors. To generate more medically trained hands, we are opening medical colleges, including one in Gurugram, he added. Pitches for separate HC in present building Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said a separate High Court for Haryana should be established in the present building in 60 and 40 ratio. The ratio of judges should be 50:50 till the matter of Chandigarh is settled. Haryana has more pending cases and I have written a letter to the Chief Justice of India for increasing the number of judges and setting up a separate bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in southern Haryana, he added.TNS Tribune News Service Panchkula, August 16 Governor Kaptan Singh Solanki yesterday cautioned the people against the threat of terrorism and tension on the border, which he said call for united efforts by every citizen to defeat the ill designs of anti-national forces. The Governor was speaking after hoisting the National Flag at the state-level Independence Day function here. People in the country celebrate various festivals in their own way, but Independence Day is such a festival which is celebrated in the entire country without any discrimination of religion, caste, creed and language, he said. He recalled the supreme sacrifices made by freedom fighters, martyrs and brave soldiers and said: It is our duty to give due respect and honour to their families. The Governor said it was a matter of pride that public awareness campaign through Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao, Swachh Bharat, Make in India, Skill India, Digital India etc was going on to enable the country to face new challenges. He called upon the people to contribute to make India a superpower of 21st century by making an active participation in this campaign. He said Haryana had received the award at the national level in e-Governance and Digital India. Our Correspondent Kangra, August 16 The Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee is organising a workers meeting tomorrow at Gandhi Ground, Nagrota Bagwan, which will be addressed by former Union Minister and state Congress in-charge Sushil Kumar Shinde. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh will not attend the meeting. Transport and Technical Education Minister GS Bali said this at a press conference here. Bali said Shinde would be received at Nagrota Bagwan Assembly constituency by party workers and would go in a procession to Gandhi Ground. He said the Congress workers on 500 motorcycles would lead the procession before it reached the venue. He said after the public meeting, Shinde would meet party office-bearers. Once a close associate of Virbhdra Singh, Surinder Kaku, a former MLA, was also present at the press conference of Bali. The meeting at Nagrota Bagwan is aimed at showing the political strength of Bali. Bali said HPCC chief Sukhwinder Suku and Virbhdra Singh were invited to attend the meeting at 11am. Virbhdra was scheduled to attend a passing out parade tomorrow at 2.30 pm at the Police Training College at Droh. This evening, hurriedly the Chief Ministers programme was rescheduled and the passing out parade programme was advanced and fixed at 11am. Tribune News Service Dharamsala, August 16 Led by former minister and senior BJP leader Kishan Kapoor, Gaddis today held a protest here against the statement of the Chief Minister allegedly demeaning their community. The protest of the Gaddis coincided with the visit of the Congress general secretary Sushil Kumar Shinde today. The Gaddis initially gathered at Jodha Mal inn in depot bazaar in the morning. Wearing black batches they moved to Kachehri crossing carrying placards displaying messages against the Chief Minister. They carried out their protest at the Kachehri crossing while the cavalcade of the CM passed to the Circuit House from an alternative road. BJP vice-president, ST Morcha, Trilok Kapoor said he had moved national commission for STs against the Chief Ministers statement. We have sought that a case should be registered against the CM for hurting the sentiments of the community, he said. Addressing the gathering, Kishan Kapoor alleged that the community would protest and show black flags to the Chief Minister wherever he went till he tenders an apology for his comments. During his visit to Una last week, the Chief Minister, while taking a jibe at BJP state president Satpal Satti, had said that even Gaddis have presidents. Later, the Chief Minister tried to clarify that he had said that our Gaddi leaders have more following than the state BJP president. The clarification, however, did not have much impact and the Gaddis led by BJP leaders are still protesting. The president of Punjab and Himachal Gorkha association RS Rana also addressed the gathering of Gaddis. Lalit Mohan Tribune News Service Dharamsala, August 16 Factionalism again came to the fore during the visit of Congress general secretary Sushil Kumar Shinde to Dharamsala today. Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh warned black and white crows in the party while addressing the party workers at SAI indoor stadium here today. The Chief Minister said that everybody knew who the white and black crows in the state Congress were. The HPCC president Sukhwinder Sukhu had a grim face while the Chief Minister was emphasising on his newly framed phrase. The party is more threatened from backstabbers rather than the Opposition. The party needs to defeat them in the party and they should not have any place in the party, Virbhadra said mincing no words. Earlier the term black sheep in the Congress made headlines with party MLA Neeraj Bharti using it several times. The Chief Minister had reached Dharamsala yesterday itself for the event and personally supervised the arrangements for todays event. With the Chief Minister touching the issue of factionalism in the party, Shinde also spoke on the issue. After the Chief Ministers remarks, Shinde, who was sitting on stage with other Congress leaders of Kangra and Chamba districts, said that infighting in Congress not a new thing. This is not the first time that I am party in charge of Himachal. In 1992 also I did the same job. Sukh Ram and Virbahdra Singh were known for the rift with each other, he said. He further added that at that time the condition was even worse. When we were in meeting in room, there used to be a huge rush of people outside. They kept predicting a sure brawl inside, he said. But people at that time still brought Congress to power, he added. He urged the leaders to put a united face of the sake of the party. Now we are all moving in one direction. There are no disagreements between us, he said. HPCC president Sukhwinder Sukhu, however, avoided talking about factionalism. He concentrated his speech on the issue of development carried out by the present Congress government. The Chief Ministers group in Kangra put up its show of strength. The posters displayed at the venue and other places in Dharamsala carried the photographs of all MLAs of others. The photographs of G S Bali, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies, Transport and Technical Education were missing from the posters. Bali has organized a separate program in Nagrota Bagwan for Shinde tomorrow. Congress MP from Bihar, Ranjeeta Ranjan, the co-convener of Congress in state, while addressing those gathered at the function, flayed the policies of the present NDA government and said that the poor were suffering under this dispensation. Congress ministers and MLAs, including Sujjan Singh Pathania, Thakur Singh Bharmouri, Sudhir Sharma, Jagjivan Pal, Ajay Mahajan, Sanjay Rattan, Kishori Lal, Yadwinder Goma and independent MLA Pawan Kajal, were present. Earlier Shinde was welcomed at Gaggal airport by Virbhadra Singh and other Congress ministers. Ehsan Fazili Tribune News Service Srinagar, August 16 Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has expressed confidence that the Supreme Court would take the right decision on the plea regarding the possible abrogation of Article 35A that grants special rights to the permanent residents of J&K. We have full faith in the Supreme Court. It has always taken the right decision whenever some people have tried to raise their finger against the state of J&K, she said while addressing the Independence Day function at Bakshi Stadium here yesterday. The Chief Minister asserted that J&K had a distinct identity among all states in the country. The function at Bakshi Stadium was held under tight security arrangements amid a bandh call by the separatists. Senior PDP leaders, ministers, legislators, chairman of the state Legislative Council Haji Anayat Ali, former Chief Minister and working president of National Conference Omar Abdullah along with his party legislators were among those present on the occasion. Various contingents of the police, CRPF and schoolchildren participated in the march past. The Chief Minister said the people of J&K under the leadership of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah had decided to be a part of this country and showed the light as people of all faiths live in the state. In view of the circumstances, Mehbooba said Parliament had decided to grant a special position to the state in the Constitution. However, she lamented that mistakes were committed by both the governments in Delhi and state, which led to some differences. Referring to the Indo-Pak confrontations over the Kashmir issue, the Chief Minister said it had led to the sufferings of the people in J&K during the past 30 years. Mehbooba welcomed Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj statement that dialogue was the only way ahead in resolving border disputes with China. She hoped that Pakistan would also understand the need for peaceful engagement with India and the Central government would also undertake a broad-based outreach treating the issues within the ambit of humanity as initiated by former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Mehbooba said all issues could be solved through a dialogue process and that was the only way for the restoration of peace in the region. Terming dialogue as the only way ahead to sort out issues, the Chief Minister said if peaceful negotiations could resolve all other issues in the country why couldnt these help in redressing issues in J&K. Mehbooba said good neighbourly relations between India and Pakistan were crucial for the people of the state who bear the brunt of any bitterness between the two countries. Lamenting that the youth who should be holding pen in their hands were wielding guns, she sought an end to end this menace for peace, progress and development in the state. She said J&K was witnessing a retarded growth despite being rich in natural resources. CM apprised of industry problems post GST Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) president Rakesh Gupta called on Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday and apprised her of the problems being faced by the trade and industry after the implementation of the GST. The CCI president told the Chief Minister that the notification for incentives to the industry was much delayed and should not be delayed further. Tribune News Service Srinagar, August 16 District commander of Lashkar-e-Toiba Ayoub Lilhari was killed in a gunfight with security forces in Banderpora, Pulwama, in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Earlier, reports said the encounter broke out after it was learnt that two Lashkar militants were trapped. The operation is still underway. J&K DGP SP Vaid said, He (Ayub Lelhari) was one of the most wanted terrorists. It's a great success for the forces. He (Ayub Lelhari) was one of the most wanted terrorists. It's a great success for the forces: SP Vaid, DGP J&K pic.twitter.com/NMocQoEl5b ANI (@ANI) August 16, 2017 On Saturday, Hizbul Mujahideen's operational commander Yasin Yatoo was among three militants killed in an encounter in Shopian. Last week, a Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist was arrested from Soppore district of the state. Ishfaq Ahmad Kanna, a resident of Jamia-Qadeem in Sopore, was arrested after an operation was carried out by the Central Reserve Police Force when it was conducting a security check. With agency inputs Nonika Singh Politically correct or an epitome of sobriety, acclaimed poet Rahat Indori wont join the chorus of rabble-rousers. Others may lament that India is fast becoming the land of intolerance, but he insists there is so much love in this country that winds of hatred can only blow fleetingly. Rather he throws in a couplet Tum pyar ki saugat liye ghar se toh niklo, raste mein tumhe koi bhi dushman na milega to cement his feelings. A poet and lyricist par extraordinaire, though he began writing poetry rather early in life, he doesnt believe poets are born and that poetry comes like a flash of its own volition. Back in time, he recalls his first meeting as a school kid of 12 with the indomitable poet Jan Nisar Akhtar (father of Javed Akhtar). Akhtars sagacious advice remains with Indori as he continues to feel, The first condition for writing well lies in reading, not just in the language you intend to write in, but you need to browse world literature. Indeed, inspiration too plays a part but only when there is a rich vocabulary at the back of ones mind. Creating a dialogue Not that he writes to impress, but in simple lucid manner to strike a conversation and a dialogue with the listener. Ghazal, to begin with, he defines as a conversation with women about women. But today it is a dialogue with life, with society, its people and its vicissitudes. The beauty of Urdu in India, he shares, lies in the fact that over the years it has changed, adapted itself to changing times and borrowed from other Indian dialects. Without a doubt he feels that Urdu, high on Arabic and Persian touches, that is spoken in Pakistan is so very different from ours. But, he doesnt agree with those who lament the death of the language in our country. Those eager to write the epitaph of Urdu are the very people who have gained so much from the language. Filmy lanes Cinema, with which he has been closely associated, too has ensured that the Urdu language, as spoken and understood, remains alive. He owes his long innings with tinsel town I never thought I was cut out for films to late producer Gulshan Kumar and later to Mahesh Bhatt. Having written songs for over 40 films, including Munna Bhai MBBS, Mission Kashmir and the most recent being Vidya Balan-starrer Begum Jaan, however, he does lament the death of shabad (word) in Hindi film music, The beauty of language, once the backbone of music in Bollywood, has been overtaken by nonsensical syllables such as dinka, dinka. Nonetheless, he owes a debt of gratitude to the film industry. It gave me money and fame at a point when all of it was sorely needed. Shot at eternity Today the globe-trotting poet prefers to put his pen to poetic wisdom, and makes his words come alive at musharias and delighted listeners in Chandigarh, only the other day. Having taken to stage at the age of 20, the disappointment (traditional centres of mushairas like Aligarh, Bhopal and Agra are no longer active), he finds recompense in the happy realisation that these have been replaced by new nucleuses and that too across the seven shores. Heartened by the enthusiasm of Asian community in foreign lands such as Germany, Norway, UK, et al, he quips, The yearning to connect with their roots is unbelievably strong, as woh tarse hue log hain. Talking of his own wish-list, well, people might swear by the deep wisdom in his poetry, he thinks he is yet to write that couplet which will earn him a shot at eternity. Till then, find a world of meaning in his, Poochte kya ho ke rumaal ke peeche kya hai, Phir kisi roz yeh sailab dikhayenge. nonikasingh@tribunemail.com Beant Singh IN June 1984, when the Army laid siege to the Golden Temple in particular and Punjab in general, I was appearing in the last semester examination for MA (English) at the Institute of Advanced Studies on the Meerut University campus. Though outwardly things were normal there, the Army operation in Amritsar created ripples in my mind, as I was the only turbaned Sikh on the campus. Uneasiness and disquiet were palpable on my face, for the sanctity of Darbar Sahib had been defiled. Every Sikh is emotionally attached to it, and so was I. Being a Sikh, that too from the countryside of Punjab, I was often taken as a representative of my community on the campus. Prior to the Army action, I would be wittingly or unwittingly engaged by fellow students and research scholars in debates and discussions on what had rocked Punjab in the early 80s. For every act of commission and omission that hogged headlines in newspapers, I would be asked to explain, as if I were a great politician. Sometimes, I would incur the ire of some of them for no fault of mine. At that time, I was too young to understand the contours of Punjab politics and its complexity, but whatever little I was familiar with, I shared with them. I tried to explain that certain genuine demands put forward by the regional party for the welfare of Punjab, under the banner of Dharma Yudh Morcha, and the subsequent dilly-dallying approach of the Centre had allowed the situation to drift, which turned volatile with each passing day. My anguish was as acute following the Army action as when a person from the Hindu community was killed in Punjab during that dark period. These discussions would take place in a friendly ambience, with no malice toward anyone, and in no way did those deliberations affect my relations with fellow students. However, within me a sort of turmoil was eating into my soul and body. I was ashamed to face students and felt that humiliation and ignominy had been heaped upon me. All justification that raged in my mind with regard to the storming of the Golden Temple would not go down well with me. For a couple of days, I avoided talking to my friends, and felt as if I were all alone. One morning, a group of students, including senior research scholars, walked into my hostel room, and to my utter surprise, expressed their heart-felt concern over the occurrences in Amritsar. One of them placed his hand on my shoulder, soothing my frayed nerves, saying that the Army action was a national stigma and unnecessary under all circumstances. The realisation dawned upon me that come what may, the bonding among fellow Indians would remain strong. We empathise with our countrymen when an occasion arises, and this is what keeps India going strong. Shubhadeep Choudhury Tribune News Service Kolkata, August 15 The CPI (M) Polit Bureau, partys highest decision making body, has expressed outrage at the refusal by Doordarshan and All India Radio to broadcast Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkars Independence Day speech. The Polit Bureau said that action must initiated against those responsible for prohibiting the broadcast. In a statement today, the Polit Bureau said Sarkars speech was recorded by both DD and AIR but he was later told that the speech could not be carried by them it its original form. Sarkar was asked by them to reshape his speech. This is a gross infringement on the right of a chief minister to address the people of his state on the occasion of Independence Day, the Polit Bureau said. Calling it an act of censorship and trampling upon the autonomy of Prasar Bharati, Doordarshan and AIR, CPI (M) said the step was reminiscent of the Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi. This act is reminiscent of the Emergency days and goes beyond as it seeks to gag the elected chief minister of a state, the statement said. The Polit Bureau said the Narendra Modi government must stop treating the Prasar Bharati like a department under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Shahira Naim Tribune News Service Lucknow, August 16 Forty-two fresh deaths have been reported within four days at Gorakhpurs Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College from August 12 to August 15. From August 7-11, nearly 60 children had died at the hospital. Holding the state health minister, medical education minister and principal secretary responsible for the disruption of oxygen supply to the hospital, the father of one of the 23 children who died on August 10 filed a police complaint. Rajbhar, a resident of Gopalganj in Bihar, had travelled 125 km for his sons treatment. He had filed his complaint on August 14, but no FIR has been registered so far. In his complaint, he has blamed Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh, Medical Education Minister Ashutoh Tandon and Health Principal Secretary Prashant Trivedi for the death of his son. He also alleged that no post-mortem was done after his childs death. PIL seeks judicial probe Two petitions have been filed in the Allahabad High Court on the Gorakhpur deaths. Demanding a judicial inquiry into the deaths, one petition has alleged that the children died due to shortage of medicines and negligence in treatment. Filed by Kamlesh Singh and Sunita Sharma, it has made the central and state governments, UP chief secretary, Principal Secretary Health, CMO BRD Medical College as well as the Director of National Vector Borne Disease Control programme as party. It will come up for hearing on August 18. Another PIL claimed that the state government and its agencies had been trying to defend the incidence by negating the facts. Rameswaram, August 16 A seven-member delegation from Tamil Nadu, led by the Fisheries Departments Additional Director, will leave for Sri Lanka on Thursday to inspect the 42 boats released by the island nations authorities. The team would inspect the condition of the boats, released recently by the Lankan authorities. Sri Lanka had on July 29 announced the release of 75 fishermen from the state and 42 boats, seized by their Navy. Subsequently, the fishermen arrived here on August 4. The Departments Additional Director GS Sameeran would head the team, which also includes senior Fisheries department official Manikandan, Rameswaram Fishermen Association president P Sesuraja and members from the associations in Pudukottai and Nagapattinam. Fisheries Department Deputy Director P Isaac Jayakumar said the team would inspect the condition of the boats and see if they could be brought back to Tamil Nadu. He said the Lankan Navy had stepped up vigil on the maritime border and fishermen from Rameswaram had been putting out to the sea only in small boats in recent times. PTI Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 16 Retracing the seven-decade-old ties, Belgium on Wednesday released a logo to mark the establishment of diplomatic ties five months before India achieved freedom from the British. Belgium was among the first European countries to have bilateral relations with India. The logo is a Peacock and the national flags of the two countries are on either side of the countrys national bird. Presenting the logo to the public, Belgium Ambassador to India Jan Luykx said it symbolises the great friendship between India and Belgium. The Embassy will be using this logo throughout the year. The decision to establish diplomatic relations between India and Belgium was taken in January of 1947 when Jawaharlal Nehru sent V K Krishna Menon to Brussels for talks with the Belgian authorities. In Brussels he met with Belgian Foreign Minister, Paul Henry Spaak. In March 1947 5 months before Independence the Belgian government officially informed Nehru that it decided to establish diplomatic relations with India and to open an Embassy in Delhi and in May 1947, a charge daffaires was appointed. The first ambassador, Eugene Prince de Ligne, arrived in Delhi in September 1947. India is Belgiums second largest export destination and third largest trade partner outside the EU (for the period of January-August 2016). Gems and jewellery sector dominates the bilateral trade. The bilateral trade during January-December 2015 stood at 11.95 billion (approx Rs 88 billion), of this, Indias export to Belgium was 4.13 billion and import was 7.82 billion. New Delhi, August 16 A special court on Wednesday sought the presence of jailed INX media director Indrani Mukerjea before it next month in a money laundering case against her and others including Karti Chidambaram, son of former minister P Chidambaram. Special judge Sunil Rana allowed the plea of Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking issuance of production warrant against her and directed her to be produced on September 9. Mukerjea is currently facing trial in Mumbai and is lodged in a jail there in connection with the murder of her daughter Sheena Bora. EDs advocate Nitesh Rana termed the case as serious and said that her custodial interrogation was required since the investigation was not moving forward. The CBI has already issued lookout circular against another accused Karti Chidambaram in the case. Her custodial interrogation is required since she is not going to cooperate with us ... she is in judicial custody, he told the court. The ED has registered the case against Karti Chidambaram, INX media and its directors, Peter and Indrani, and others, after taking cognisance of a recent CBI FIR against them. The Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), EDs equivalent of a police FIR, was registered under provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The accused have denied all the charges against them. The CBI had filed an FIR against Karti and the Mukerjeas on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, receiving illegal gratification, influencing public servants and criminal misconduct. It is alleged that Karti had received money from INX Media for using his influence to manipulate a tax probe against it in a case of violation of Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) conditions to receive investment from Mauritius. The CBI had also recovered vouchers of Rs 10 lakh which were allegedly paid for the services. These vouchers were issued in favour of Advantage Strategic Consulting (P) Limited, a firm indirectly owned by Karti, the CBI had alleged. The senior Chidambaram, after the CBI searches on May 16, had issued a strong statement in response to the raids saying the government was using the CBI and other agencies to target his son. FIPB approval was granted in hundreds of cases, the senior Congress leader and former finance minister had said. The CBI FIR was made out against Karti, his company Chess Management Services, the Mukerjeas (currently in jail on charges of murder their daughter Sheena Bora), INX Media, Advantage Strategic Consulting Services and its director Padma Vishwanathan. PTI Bengaluru, August 16 Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi today flayed the Jammu and Kashmir policy of the Narendra Modi government, alleging that it has created a space in the state for Pakistan to misbehave. His attack on the government at a Congress rally here comes a day after Modi, in his Independence Day address, reached out to Kashmiris. He (Modi) has created an environment in Jammu and Kashmir of hatred and anger, and the only people who benefit from violence and hatred are Pakistanis, he said. Claiming that he worked on the J-K issue with former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and leaders like P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh silently without any drama or tamasha, he said their effort of 10 years was destroyed by Modi in one month. Meanwhile, seven Janata Dal (Secular) lawmakers from Karnataka are all set to join Congress and will meet Rahul tomorrow to formalise their entry. PTI & TNS New Delhi, August 16 Sacked Delhi Water Minister Kapil Mishra on Wednesday posted a video on Youtube and shared it on twitter, in which he mocks Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal by singing AK teri kursi gol. Kejriwal who turned 49 today, was mocked by the disgruntled AAP leader who posted Birthday surprise for you @arvindkejriwal ... Soon all Delhi will sing this for you ..Enjoy!!! (sic), on twitter. Birthday surprise for you @arvindkejriwal ... Soon all Delhi will sing this for you ..Enjoy!!! #AKhttps://t.co/XEZZE2KKzB Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishraAAP) August 16, 2017 The song is another parody version of the popular Marathi folk song Sonu tula mazyawar bharosa naay ka (Sonu, dont you trust me) which went viral after RJ Malishka of Mumbai sang one mocking the BMC. Kapil Mishra also put up banners on different flyovers across the national capital, calling Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal corrupt and urging people to join his campaign against the AAP leader. Hundred days of surgical strike against Kejriwals corruption. Now its clear that Kejriwal is corrupt, read the banners, hanging down the flyovers for passersby to read. The banners had India Against Corruption written on the left corner and a contact number at the bottom. To join give miss call on 78630 37300. We have completed 100 days of surgical strike against corrupt Kejriwal. Today, India Against Corruption is doing a banner campaign across the city, Mishra said on Wednesday. The sacked minister said the banners were put up at major flyovers, including Azadpur, ITO, Wazirabad, Peeragarhi and Dwaraka. Mishra took to Twitter to post photos of the banners in different parts of the city. Mishra was on May 6 sacked by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a minister in the Delhi government, citing poor performance. A day later, the sacked AAP leader made allegations of corruption against Kejriwal and Delhi Minister Satyendar Jain. Mishra was suspended from the party on May 8. Mishra has since been protesting and levelling allegations of corruption against Kejriwal and Jain. Agencies Bengaluru, August 16 In a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi governments Jammu and Kashmir policy, Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that it has created a space in the troubled state for Pakistan to misbehave. His tirade at a Congress rally here comes a day after Modi, in his Independence Day address, reached out to Kashmiris, saying abuses and bullets would not resolve their problems but embracing them would. He (Modi) has created an environment in Jammu and Kashmir of hatred and anger, and the only people who benefit from violence and hatred are the Pakistanis, Gandhi said. Claiming that he had worked on the J-K issue with Manmohan Singh, who was the prime minister, and leaders like P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh silently without any drama or tamasha, he said their effort of 10 years had been destroyed by Modi in one month. Im telling you this because Narendra Modis policy has created a space in Jammu and Kashmir for Pakistanis to misbehave, the Congress vice-president added. Gandhi was here to inaugurate Indira Canteen, the Karnataka Governments subsidised food outlets that will provide breakfast at Rs 5 and lunch and dinner at Rs 10 per plate. He said during the UPA rule at the Centre, the government had done enough to build peace in J&K. When (Atal Bihari) Vajpayee came to power, the state was burning, but we worked for ten years to bring peace to Kashmir. We held panchayat elections..., we created jobs..., he said. Criticising the Modi government on the foreign policy front, Gandhi accused it of alienating friendly countries, including Nepal and Russia. When we were in government, all the neighbouring countries other than Pakistan and China, were favourable to us. One by one Narendra Modiji has alienated them. For the first time in history, Russia is selling weapons to Pakistan, he said. He has alienated every single neighbouring country including Nepal. He has allowed China to enter India and alienated Russia. That is the reality of what is going on today, Gandhi said. On the Doklam standoff with China, Gandhi said Bhutan has been a good friend of India which has given a commitment to the Himalayan nation to protect its people. Bhutan is a very good friend of India. Bhutan has stood for India from the days we got our Independence. India has signed a treaty with Bhutan. We have promised that we will protect Bhutan. This is the commitment of the people of India to people of Bhutan, he said. Flaying the Independence Day address of Modi, he said the prime minister was silent on his promise of creating two crore jobs for young people every year. Gandhi also hit out at Modi over the Gorakhpur incident where over 70 children have died at the BRD Medical College since August 7. The prime minister did not tell you that more than 90 newborn babies died in Gorakhpur (in Uttar Pradesh) because of negligence by the health department. He did not tell you that a delay in approving the health budget prevented purchase of oxygen cylinders, he said. Gandhi alleged Modi wanted an India where the poor were left to die in government hospitals. He claimed the prime minister was running out of ideas and hence, his Independence Day speeches were becoming shorter every year. Last year, he gave the longest speech. This year (he gave a speech for) 45 minutes. Next year, (it will be) 15 minutes. In the coming years, it will reduce to five minutes because he is running out of what things to say, he added. PTI Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 16 The Central team deputed to look into the recent child deaths in Gorakhpur is learnt to have ruled out stoppage of liquid oxygen supply to ill children as the cause of death. Dr Harish Chellani, paediatrician at Safdarjung Hospital and one of the members of the team, today said the lack of oxygen did not cause the deaths. He did not elaborate on what led to the death of children. The team also comprised Dr NK Agarwal, Deputy Commissioner, Immunisation, Health Ministry, and Dr Sushma Nangya of Lady Hardinge College. They were tight-lipped about the determinants of tragic deaths of several children at Gorakhpurs BRD Hospital amid possibilities of hospital overload to have been noted as the reason for deaths. The Central team is said to have looked at number of children per one emergency bed in the hospital besides other causative factors linked to deaths, including unclean surroundings. Earlier, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also ruled out the lack of oxygen as the reason for fatalities. Former health minister and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, meanwhile, asked today as to why the UP government changed the contractor supplying oxygen cylinders to the hospital recently. The contractor was changed from someone in Gorakhpur to someone in Allahabad. Why? Azad asked. CONG TO DONATE 10 AMBULANCES Bengaluru, August 16 Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday inaugurated Indira Canteens here for the poor, saying even the poorest and the weakest in the city cannot go hungry. Many people in Bengaluru live in huge houses, drive rich cars and for them food is not an issue. But millions of people here are construction workers, auto-rickshaw drivers and barbers who do not have enough money. The Indira Canteens will serve these people, Gandhi said while inaugurating the canteen at Jayanagar ward with an apparent eye on the assembly elections slated for early 2018. We want the poorest and the weakest in the city to know that they cannot go hungry. Our intention is that the quality of food and hygiene at this canteen is the same as the most expensive restaurant in the city. The state government plans to take the canteens to every district in Karnataka to make sure that no person in the state remains hungry, the Congress leader said, committing the faux pas of referring to the canteen as Amma Canteen. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had provided Rs 100 crore in the state budget for this fiscal (2017-18) to run the canteens in all 198 civic wards on the lines of the popular Amma Unavagam in neighbouring Tamil Nadu, started by late J Jayalalithaa, the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu. The subsidised food outlets had hugely popularised the former AIADMK leader among the masses in Tamil Nadu. Along with the Chief Minister, city Mayor G Padmavathi, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President G Parameshwara and other party leaders, Gandhi inspected the canteen named after his grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi. Besides the one in Jayanagar, 100 other canteens would be opened on Wednesday for dinner, which would be served free of cost to everyone on the first day, the Chief Minister said in a statement, calling the launch a historic day for Karnataka. In the initial phase of the launch, 101 canteens will daily serve vegetarian breakfast at Rs 5 per plate and lunch and dinner at Rs 10 each in 101 civic wards. Today is a historic day for Karnataka in our fight against hunger and malnutrition with Indira Canteens getting launched across Bengaluru, Siddaramaiah said. Indira Canteens will play a significant role in alleviating urban hunger, especially helping the working class and migrant labour, he said. More canteens will be opened in the remaining 97 wards from October 2 to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. IANS Ananya Panda Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 16 The administration of Dyal Singh College (morning) and its truncated governing body (GB) chairperson Amitabh Sinha are at odds over a recent appointment to an ad hoc post in the commerce department. The appointment has been put on hold following an order from Sinha, who been accused of favouritism and nepotism. The senior BJP leader has, however, rubbished the charge. Sinha had last week objected to the unanimous decision of the departments selection committee of choosing a candidate over another for an ad hoc position under the OBC category desiring the selection be reversed. The candidate for whom Sinha is batting has been retained as guest faculty by the panel. Communicating his displeasure, the BJP leader said an individual who served in the capacity of a guest teacher in the last academic session be preferred for the contentious post instead of the other qualifying candidate against the vacancy due to the formers previous association with the college. Sinha had issued a circular to Dyal Singh College (morning) principal Dr Inderjeet S Bakshi stating no appointments of teaching and non-teaching staff be done by the college henceforth without his approval. The college principal has communicated the same to the teacher in charges of all departments on August 10. The directive has been condemned both by the college teachers association and the Delhi University Teachers Association, which have accused the GB chairperson of pick and choose, saying the order is not in sync with DUs selection norms. Hajipur, August 16 Armed men looted Rs 12 lakh from a petrol pump in Bihars Vaishali district, police said on Wednesday. Rs 10,000 was later found under a heap of sand near the petrol pump. The five armed criminals looted Rs 12 lakh from the employees of the petrol pump on Mahua road at gunpoint on Tuesday night, officer in-charge of Jandaha police station Om Prakash said. A search for the criminals is on. Possibility of the connivance of petrol pump employees is being probed, he said. PTI Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 16 The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered an NIA investigation into conversion of a Hindu girl to Islam and her subsequent marriage to a Muslim man in Kerala after the central agency hinted that those involved in these conversions and marriages had links with SIMI, a banned organisation. Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh, who submitted the NIAs preliminary report to the top court, said it did not appear to be an isolated case and required further investigation. A Bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar which said the NIA probe would be monitored by retired Supreme Court judge RV Raveendran referred to the Blue Whale Challenge, an online game that has driven many teens to commit suicide. Like in the Blue Whale game, nowadays you can persuade people to do anything, the Bench, which also included Justice DY Chandrachud, said. The top court is seized of a petition filed by Shafin Jahan (27) whose marriage to Akhila alias Hadiya was annulled by the Kerala High Court, which handed over her custody to her father. The High Courts order had come on a petition filed by the girls father KM Ashokan who alleged that it was a fraudulent conversion. Shafin has challenged the high courts order before the top court. Akhila had converted to Islam and then married Shafin. When the Bench on August 10 asked the Kerala Police Crime Branch to hand over the case files to NIA for a preliminary assessment, Shafin opposed it, leaving the court to wonder why he was so opposed to the agency examining the case. On Wednesday, as the ASG said it did not appear to be an isolated case, the CJI noted, the (Kerala) High Court order also mentions so. Referring to the NIA report, the ASG said: Role of one woman is under investigation. Prima facie it has been found that entities are common in these cases. This is the second case. There is a pattern. The girls first get converted and then they refuse to stay with their family members and subsequently their marriage is done. This matter requires further investigation. He said: The two outfits involved in this case perhaps were having links with SIMI. The Kerala Government told the top court that it had no objection to the NIA probe. Not isolated case, theres a pattern It doesnt appear to be an isolated case Prima facie it has been found that entities are common in these cases. This is the second case. There is a pattern. The girls first get converted and then they refuse to stay with their family members and subsequently their marriage is done. This matter requires further investigation. Maninder Singh, additional solicitor general New Delhi, August 16 Industries in the north eastern and Himalayan states will continue to get tax exemption till March 2027, albeit as refund, under the current GST regime which was rolled out on July 1, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Within the framework of the GST Act each industry will be entitled to its own refund mechanism during this particular period (March 31, 2027)," he said after the Cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Industries in the north eastern and Himalayan states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand under the previous excise regime used to get 10-year exemption, he said. As per the scheme, industries which commenced operations during the period got excise tax holiday for 10 years, he said, adding that there is a separate residuary period for every industry because of commencement of production and their consequent entitlement of 10 year exemption. Under the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, there is no provision for exemption but there is one section under the Act which permits refunds. "Therefore, refund would be permitted through DBT. The sunset clause of these exemptions has been extended to 2027. A total of 4,284 industrial establishment will entitled to this benefit. Budgetary provision for this is Rs 27,413 crore," he said. PTI Beijing, August 16 China on Wednesday said it was not aware of the reports of PLA soldiers entering Indian territory along the banks of the Pangong lake in Ladakh and said it is committed to peace and tranquillity along the border. Indian border guards on Tuesday foiled an attempt by Chinese soldiers to enter Indian territory in Ladakh, resulting in stone-pelting that caused minor injuries to people on both sides. Asked to comment on the incident, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hu Chunying said, I am not aware of the information. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) She said the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) troops always patrolled along the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The Chinese side is committed to peace and tranquillity of the China-India border, she said. We urge the Indian side to abide by the LAC and relevant conventions between the two sides, she said. The skirmish in Ladakh comes at a time when India and China are locked in a face-off in the Doklam area of the Sikkim sector. The standoff has been ongoing for more than 50 days, after Indian troops stopped the Chinese Army from constructing a road in the area. India has protested against the construction of a road by the Chinese military in the area claimed by its ally Bhutan, fearing it would allow Beijing to cut off Indias access to its northeastern states. PTI Washington, August 16 The US on Wednesday designated Kashmiri militant outfit Hizbul Mujahideen as a "foreign terrorist organisation", nearly two months after declaring the group's Pakistan-based chief Syed Salahuddin as a global terrorist. The designation, which slaps a series of US sanctions on the outfit, came against the backdrop of upsurge in the terror activities of the militant group in Kashmir in recent months. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) "These designations seek to deny Hizbul Mujahideen the resources it needs to carry out terrorist attacks," the State Department said in a statement. Among other consequences, all of Hizbul Mujahideen's property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are blocked, and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group. The US decision marks a severe blow to Pakistan which has been projecting the militant group as a voice of Kashmiri people. Pakistan's powerful Army chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif have repeatedly praised the militant group's slain commander Burhan Wani who was killed in July last year in an encounter in Kashmir. Formed in 1989, Hizbul Mujahideen is one of the largest and oldest militant groups operating in Kashmir. Hizbul Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. The State Department said terrorism designations expose and isolate organisations and individuals, and deny them access to the US financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of US agencies and other governments, it said. PTI Washington, August 16 The US on Tuesday said it wanted India and China to sit down and have a direct dialogue to resolve their issues. The US remarks came a day after Indian border guards foiled an attempt by Chinese soldiers to enter Indian territory along the banks of famous Pangong lake in Ladakh. The latest skirmish comes at a time when India and China are locked in a face-off in the Doklam area of the Sikkim sector. The standoff has been going on for more than 50 days, after Indian troops stopped the Chinese Army from building a road in the area. We are encouraging both parties to sit down and have a direct dialogue, State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters at a news conference. Nauert was responding to questions on the skirmish between Indian and Chinese soldiers in Ladakh and the continued standoff in Doklam area. PTI New Delhi, August 16 The Supreme Court instituted a supervisory body of two former judges to review a Special Investigation Teams decision to close 199 anti-Sikh riots cases of 1984. A Bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra also asked the panel to examine the additional 42 cases that SIT had recommended should be closed. The court has given the panel three months to submit a report and will now hear the case on November 28. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) In March, the court had asked the central government for files of the 199 cases. The Home Minister had instituted the SIT under Pramod Asthana, an IPC officer of the 1986 batch, to reinvestigate cases pertaining to the riots that broke out soon after former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi died. The riots killed 2,733 people in Delhi alone. READ The others on the team were Rakesh Kapoor, a retired sessions judge, and Kumar Gyanesh, an additional deputy commissioner of Delhi Police. PTI Satya Prakash Tribune News Service New Delhi, August 16 The Supreme Court on Wednesday set up a supervisory panel of two retired judges to scrutinise 241 cases relating to 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi closed by a Special Investigation Team formed by the NDA government for re-investigation. A three-judge Bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra asked the panel to supervisory panel to give its report in three months and fixed November 28 for further hearing. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) Justice Misra, who did not disclose the names of two former Supreme Court judges to be on the panel, said he would add their names to the former order. The Bench also issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on another petition filed by victims of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots from Kanpur demanding an SIT probe into the murders of more than 125 people. It asked petitioner's counsel Prasoon Kumar to hand over a copy of the petition to Uttar Pradesh Additional Advocate General Aishwarya Bhati and posted the matter for hearing on September 21. Two years after the Narendra Modi government set up an SIT to re-investigate serious anti -Sikh riots cases of 1984 that had been closed, the SIT has managed to file chargesheets only in very small number of cases taken up for further probe. Almost 3,000 people were killed, most of them in Delhi, in the anti-Sikh riots that broke out following the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31, 1984. Senior counsel Arvind Datar and HS Phoolka, who represented petitioner Gurnad Singh, told the Bench that only nine cases were going on. They demanded that the trial in these cases should be conducted on a day-to-day basis. The Bench asked them to show its earlier order in this regard to the trial court. The order came after Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta gave an update on the cases being re-investigated by SIT. Earlier, the top court had summoned the files of the cases closed by the SIT. The Centre had submitted photo copies of the files of these cases in a sealed cover. On Wednesday, the Bench asked its Registry to hand over the files to the supervisory panel to start its work. It also asked the government to provide secretarial support to the panel. Our Correspondent Tarn Taran, August 16 Hundreds of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) workers, led by Lok Sabha member Ranjit Singh Brahmpura, who were staging a dharna in front of the police station in Chohla Sahib on Independence Day, locked up civil and police officials for hours inside the police station. The action of SAD workers forced the administration to free 13 party workers, including six women activists, who were arrested for attacking the police station on August 14 night. These workers, led by Devinder Singh who is SAD former sarpanch of Warian Purane village, had gone to the police station to protest the arrest of three residents of their village in connection with the killing of a villager, Bachan Singh, last year. The residents were stressing that the arrested persons were innocent. The residents had a heated exchange with the policemen on duty, after which as many as 50 residents were booked under Sections 307 (attempt to murder), 186 (interrupting in official duty) of the IPC among others, and 13 of them were arrested. When Brahmpura staged a dharna in front of the police station on Tuesday, the administration sent DSP Piara Singh to talk to him, but to no avail. Later, a deputation of officials led by Additional Deputy Commissioner Sandeep Rishi, SP (Investigation) Tilak Raj, SDM Amandeep Kaur and others went to talk to him. At that time, SAD workers locked the doors of the police station, detaining the officials sitting inside. After hours of deadlock, the administration called party leaders and released the workers. SP Tilak Raj said 13 party workers had been freed but three accused who were arrested in connection with the murder of Bachan Singh had not been released. He, however, denied that officials were locked up by SAD workers. Anirudh Gupta Ferozepur, August 16 An alleged scam worth crores of rupees during the acquisition of land for the construction of national highway (NH-54) from Amritsar to Bathinda in Zira sub-division has come to the fore. Sources said a notification regarding land acquisition for the construction of NH-15 (now NH-54) was issued on August 11, 2014, as per the provisions of the National Highway Act, 1956, following which the process to acquire land for the 62-km-long stretch passing through more than 20 villages in Zira was initiated. Around Rs 200 crore was disbursed. The Rs 2,200-crore project was to be completed by September, but a lot of work is still pending. The sources said several discrepancies like payment to the deceased land owners, erroneous calculations, change in type of land from agriculture to commercial, variation in payment to owners with same share in landholding, besides fake transactions allegedly took place in the entire process. They said in at least three cases in Khadoor village, the land owners Boor Singh, Fhuman Singh and Ghuman Singh had died long before the compensation was awarded, but the money was allegedly shown deposited in their accounts and later withdrawn. In the same village, Sadha Singh and Dalsher Singh, who had 50 per cent share in notified land were paid Rs 4.69 lakh whereas Sukhchain Singh who had one-fourth share was also paid the same amount. Uttam Singh, who owned the rest of the one-fourth share, was paid Rs 30.22 lakh. In another case, Inderjit Singh was paid Rs 6.56 lakh for one-third share of land whereas Gurbachan Singh was paid Rs 22.82 lakh for his one-tenth share. At serial no. 10/11 of the A roll prepared by CALA, both owners had same share. At serial no. 15, Harbans Singh, who owned 11 canal, was paid Rs 71.47 lakh for a portion of his land which actually cost Rs 58.47 lakh. At serial no. 20, the khewat had 30 marlas land costing Rs 7.98 lakh, but the payment of Rs 17.20 lakh was made. Malkit Singh, member, panchayat Khadoor village, who got the information through RTI, said these discrepancies had taken place in his village, but if an inquiry is conducted in all areas where the land was acquired, the scam would be much bigger than expected. Ramvir, Deputy Commissioner, said ADC (G) Vineet Kumar would conduct investigations into the charges. He said Kumar had been told to verify all facts regarding land acquisition. Our Correspondent Fazilka, August 16 Thousands of people thronged the Joint Check Post (JCP), Sadiqi, in Fazilka sector from different parts of Punjab, Rajasthan and Haryana to have a glimpse of their segregated relatives and to witness the Retreat (flag lowering) ceremony on Independence Day. About 65,000 residents visited Sadiqi from morning to evening on the International border, said a BSF official. Though physical contact is not allowed to people standing on both sides of the Radcliff Line due to security reasons, they express their feelings by waiving hands or shouting from a distance. I have come to meet my aunt (my fathers sister) Mumtaz from Sialkot district of Pakistan. We had fixed the meeting on phone, said Imtiaz Ali of Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan, who had come with eight members of his family. They could only see each other from a distance due to a huge crowd on the border on both sides. The BSF officials hard time managing the crowd. Meanwhile, BSF officials led by Deputy Inspector General Madhusudan Sharma and Commandant MP Singh handed over sweets to the Pakistani Rangers on Independence Day. The officials went few metres inside the Pakistani territory to the JCP, Sulemanki, on the Pakistani side and greeted them there. New York, August 16 Pro-Khalistan groups have held a demonstration outside the UN headquarters here calling on the world body to support a referendum for self-determination. A delegation of Sikh activists also submitted to UN officials a report A Case For Punjab Referendum 2020Sikhs Right to Self-Determination--Why and How?. The report by advocacy group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), addressed to Secretary General Antonio Guterres, urged the UN to support the demand of Sikhs for holding a referendum in Punjab for realisation of their right to self-determination. Members of Sikh rights groups and North American Gurdwara committees urged the United Nations to support the Punjab Independence Referendum for a separate Sikh homeland of Khalistan. PTI Washington, August 16 An anti-racism tweet by former US President Barack Obama after the Charlottesville violence in which he quoted iconic South African anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela has become the most liked tweet ever, garnering more than 2.8 million likes. No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin or his background or his religion, the tweet read. "No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin or his background or his religion..." pic.twitter.com/InZ58zkoAm Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 13, 2017 It was posted on Saturday along with a photo of 56-year-old Obama looking up to a window of children of different ethnicities and races. (Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd) This Tweet from @BarackObama just became the most Liked Tweet ever. It set the record at approximately 10:07 EST, a Silicon Valley-based social media company said in a statement. The tweet has been endorsed by more than 2.8 million social media users and has also been retweeted by over 1.2 million times. It is also currently the 5th most Retweeted Tweet ever, the company statement said. The record of most retweeted tweet is by Carter Wilkerson who tweeted earlier this year, Help me please, a man needs his nuggs. On Monday, Obamas tweet surpassed talk show host Ellen DeGeneres 2014 Oscars selfie tweet, which stands at number 3 with 2.4 million likes. The Obama tweet became the most liked ever, taking the top spot from pop star Ariana Grandes tweet which has 2.7 million likes. Her heartfelt tweet had come in response to a terrorist bombing that killed 22 people after she performed a concert in Manchester, England, in May. Obamas tweet, which quotes a line from Mandelas autobiography Long Walk to Freedom came after a 32-year-old woman was killed and 19 others were injured when a car rammed into a crowd of counter-protesters at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. Two police officers also died on Saturday when their helicopter monitoring the rally crashed. PTI The Tulsa Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is proud to announce its involvement in National Clear the Shelters Day from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. The Tulsa SPCA will adopt dogs and cats on a name your price system in the hopes of clearing the shelter, according to a news release. The growth weve seen in Clear the Shelters since we brought it to Tulsa in 2015 has been incredible to witness, said Mindy Tiner, Tulsa SPCA executive director. Knowing a number of participating shelters found homes for every adoptable dog and many cats makes all the hard work worthwhile. Rescue animals are usually no different from animals youd get from any other source with the exception of, with every animal rescued you save two lives, the one you rescue and the one shelters can then take in as a result. National Clear the Shelters Day started in 2014 by a group of North Texas animal shelters. In its first year, 38 North Texas shelters helped 2,273 animals find homes. Last year, more than 400 animals across Green Country found a forever home, marking it the largest adoption day this area has ever seen. Fifty-eight of those pets were adopted from the Tulsa SPCA. Although donations have been down this year, we have not seen a slowdown in the number of animals needing assistance, said Tiner in the release. An estimated 4,000 dogs and cats are euthanized every day in the United States. Since our primary concern is preventing that and finding permanent homes for every adoptable animal, we hope Tulsa and the surrounding communities will open their hearts and homes to animals in need on Aug. 19. For a complete list of organizations participating in Clear the Shelters Day, visit tulsaspca.org/clear-the-shelter or contact the Tulsa SPCA at 918-428-7722. OKLAHOMA CITY Lawmakers must return in special session to deal with the $215 million shortfall caused when the states high court struck down a smoking cessation fee, Gov. Mary Fallin said Wednesday. The Oklahoma Supreme Court determined that lawmakers failed to follow the law in passing the measure, Senate Bill 845, and struck it down as unconstitutional. Tobacco companies were among those who challenged the $1.50-a-pack fee as an unconstitutional tax. The smoking cessation fee would have generated about $215 million for the fiscal year 2018 budget, which began July 1. The courts action leaves the state short on projected revenue with no way to supplement the affected agencies without a special session. No money can be spent from any state fund unless the Legislature specifically appropriates it, Fallin said. Office of Management and Enterprise Services Director Preston Doerflinger does not have the authority to transfer monies to the affected agencies from different sources without legislation directing him to do so, Fallin said. The Oklahoma Constitution says no money shall be paid out of the state treasury, except through an appropriation by law. Fallin said state law allows the Doerflinger to borrow money from treasury funds to satisfy monthly allocations of appropriations made from the General Revenue Fund, but the appropriation has to be made by the Legislature. The three agencies that received the bulk of the money from the proposed smoking cessation fee are: the Department of Human Services, $69 million or 10 percent of its appropriation; the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, $75 million or about 23 percent of its appropriation; and the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, $70 million or about 7 percent of its appropriation. Without legislative intervention, DMHSAS said it would run out of state appropriations in November, according to Fallins office. The OHCA said it would run out of state funds in January, while the DHS said it would out of state funds in May, Fallins office said. Two other lawsuits challenging revenue-raising measures are pending before the state Supreme Court. Both challenge a 1.25 percent sales tax added to the purchase of vehicles by eliminating an exemption. Fallin said Wednesday in Tulsa that no special session will be called until the court rules on those lawsuits. She said she and her staff have been discussing options with legislative leaders of both parties. A special session is the best option, the governor said. Failure to meet in special session would mean $215 million would be cut mostly from these three state agencies. These agencies and the people they serve cannot sustain the kind of cuts that will occur if we do not find a solution. Senate President Pro Tem Mike Schulz, R-Altus, said if the governor calls a special session, the Senate will abide by her call. While a special session seems inevitable, there are still court cases pending. Just as important as addressing this quickly, we must address this correctly and completely, he said. House Minority Leader Scott Inman, D-Del City, agreed a special session is needed. We agree special session is absolutely necessary in order to find recurring and constitutional revenue to help balance the budget and avoid devastating cuts to core services in Oklahoma, he said. Likewise, we agree the OMES director doesnt have the authority to move money around willy-nilly like House Republicans would like him to do. First District Congressman Jim Bridenstine will be named administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration within a few weeks, according to a blogger with ties to the agency. NASA Watch, run by former NASA employee Keith Cowing, said Bridenstine will be paired with Aerojet Rocketdyne executive and former NASA Chief of Staff John Schumacher, who will serve as deputy administrator. Bridenstines views seem to resonate well with a lot of what seems to be buzzing around inside the heads of TrumpSpace people, Cowing says in a blog posted Tuesday. Cowing said his sources indicate an official announcement is expected after Labor Day. Schumacher has a long resume in senior positions at NASA so hell give Bridenstine a lot of managerial support. Bridenstine has a lot of interest in emerging space commerce opportunities while Schumacher has a solid aerospace background another way that their skillsets complement one another, Cowing said in the post. A representative for Bridenstine said the congressmans office had no comment. In his two-plus terms in Congress, Bridenstine has developed into one of the space programs most vocal congressional supporters. He introduced legislation this year proposing broad changes in the way NASA approaches space, both commercially and scientifically. Bridenstine has been known for some time to be one of the top two or three candidates for the NASA job. He had limited himself to three terms when elected in 2012 and maintained he would not seek re-election through his time in Congress. He is an aviator with the Oklahoma Air National Guard and formerly served in the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Naval Reserve. Prior to his election to Congress, Bridenstine was executive director of the Tulsa Air and Space Museum. Its possible to go through life and have little or no knowledge about some of the lurking diseases that can cause havoc and pain. They are quiet. They are not on the front page. They are usually not discussed at family gatherings. They just seem to incubate and when least expecting, a pain occurs. Tiredness happens. The body is colder than usual. And as all these symptoms gather within the body, we finally realize that medical attention is needed. And for many of us, this is when we discover that the sickle cell disease has found our location. Our lives change. Dreams become short-lived. And many times the unexpected changes lead to terminal illness. Sickle cell disease strikes multiple families, but African American families more than others. It was not until our daughter, Anne, was born that we were made aware that my wife and I carried the sickle cell trait. Growing up, we had no knowledge that we carried such traits or that they existed. Unfortunately, our traits combined and our daughter was born with the disease. Because our knowledge was limited at best, we assumed that her life would be normal and when something would happen, she could see her primary care doctor and all would be well. It would not be that way for us. At the age of 7, Anne suffered multiple strokes brought on by the disease and within months her life had ended. Over the course of years, through Supporters of Families with Sickle Cell Inc., we continue to learn more about this disease and the devastation it can cause and also the education and research still needed. Sickle cell has been the quiet family disrupter far too long. Sickle cell disease and its inherited disorders (thalassemia, cc diseases) is a genetic condition of the blood. Sickle cell disease is catastrophic to patients and families. Patients experience many co-morbidities, including but not limited to; strokes, blindness, organ damage and failure and even death. Supporters of Families with Sickle Cell Inc. is committed to Oklahoma families who are facing this disease on a daily basis and to those who have yet to discover its impact. What does that look like? It looks like reaching out to Oklahomas congressional delegation to ensure that this disease is at the top of their mind when health and medical decisions are being made. It looks like working with the broader Tulsa community to educate and encourage financial and volunteer participation in supporters programs. It looks like a consistent commitment to educating care providers and locking arms with the medical community to make sure that their knowledge is widely distributed and that families are aware of their need to be tested. Through my younger adult life, I had never heard of the need to be tested or what could be expected as a trait carrier. It was indeed a quiet disease, but now we know it as a major family disrupter. There is no community sickle cell testing in Oklahoma currently. Even though research continues, sickle cell disease still occurs among about 1 out of every 365 African American births. This disease occurs in among about 1 out of every 16,300 Hispanic American births. Although the numbers are relatively low, sickle cell disease also occurs within Native American families and among Caucasians families as well. As of now, sickle cell disease has no universal cure and affects millions of people throughout the world. For our Oklahoma community, increased access to comprehensive medical team care is needed if we are to extend the life expectancy for those affected, which is three decades shorter than the average life expectancy. Together we can change the narrative of this disease. Clifton L. Taulbert is a Tulsa writer. Supporters of Families with Sickle Cell Disease Inc. will host the 4th Annual statewide Sickle Cell Walk, Jog, Run Together for a Cure, Saturday, Sept. 9 in the Greenwood District. Funds raised will help families that live with sickle cell disease. Register at bit.ly/sicklecell5k2017. For more information or to become a sponsor, contact Jeremiah Watts (918) 619-6174. Tomorrow night SBS VICELAND will screen Charlottesville: Race And Terror, in place of Full Frontal With Samantha Bee. The VICE Media-produced special was rushed into schedule last night, but will now be replayed at 8pm Thursday August 17. On Saturday, hundreds of white nationalists, alt-righters and neo-Nazis travelled to Charlottesville, Virginia to participate in the Unite the Right rally. By Saturday evening, three people were dead one protester, and two police officers and many more injured. From the neo-Nazi protests at Emancipation Park to Cantwells hideaway outside Virginia, VICE News provides viewers with exclusive, up close and personal access inside the unrest. In terms of reflecting diversity and showing black and Asian characters, yes, we absolutely need to do more of it, producer Kate Oates told Radio Times. And we need more black and Asian writers, to bring out the truth of those voices. Its important to keep the show strong and relevant, so that its running long after everyones forgotten who I am. The first Muslim family on Coronation Street was introduced as late as 2014, while scriptwriter Jonathan Harvey called for more diversity on the show last December. Soap historian Andrew Mercado told TV Tonight,If you compare it to EastEnders, which is set in a very multicultural part of London, and even Hollyoaks which is set in Chester, Corrie is definitely lacking in diversity and they are doing the right thing in addressing it. Multi-cultural differences can certainly throw a spanner into any romance and scriptwriters should welcome any opportunity to explore extra dilemmas! Coronation Street screens in Australia on UKTV. Former Richmond player Jake King claims he has been dumped from NITVs Marngrook Footy Show after being charged over an alleged Crown casino run-in with a Melbourne restaurateur. He is now fighting the move in the FairWork Commission hoping to be reinstated to the $800-a-show gig. King, who has made regular appearances since 2015, says he was unfairly dismissed from the program just days after being charged with serious criminal offences last month. In a submission to the FairWork Commission, Kings lawyers say their client was told during a conversation on July 18 with the programs producer, Jay Estorninho, that he was no longer required to appear on the show. But Estorninho emphatically denied the claim, telling Fairfax Media, Im shocked, Im really upset about this. I like Jake and weve never had any problem with him. On July 5, King was charged with extortion, making threats to kill, two counts of threats to inflict serious injury and two counts of using a carriage service to harass. Last year he told News Corp he got a job on the Marngrook Footy Show because producers thought he was indigenous. But King has no Aboriginal bloodlines. The dispute will go to mediation with the FairWork Commission on September 1. King is due to appear in court on extortion charges on November 15. Nine / 9GEM coverage of the Netball Quad Series and Constellation Cup 2017 begins on Saturday August 26th from Brisbane. Across the tournament Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa will face off. Commentary team will include Liz Ellis, Laura Geitz, Cath Cox and Sue Gaudion, and host Clint Stanaway. Nines Head of Netball, Keeley Devery, said: International netball is coming to Nine and what better way to do it than the Quad Series and Constellation Cup, where viewers will be treated to the best players in the world. The stars of the recent Suncorp Super Netball series will now step it up in their national teams and we cant wait to showcase these amazing athletes on Nine. Former Australian captain and Nine netball commentator, Liz Ellis, said: Four of the best teams in the world will square off in a host of international grudge matches. The Aussies love nothing more than beating New Zealand and they will have the chance to do it both home and away. The Quad Series and Constellation Cup will feature a real mate-versus-mate vibe when the stars of Super Netball get the chance to settle old scores. Plenty of pride is on the line and some tough netball is going to be played. Im excited to see it all coming to life on Nine. Netball Quad Series 3.00pm Sat 26 Aug Samsung Diamonds v England Roses NINE Brisbane, AUS 5.00pm Sat 26 Aug New Zealand Silver Ferns v South Africa Spar Proteas 9GEM Brisbane, AUS 5.30pm Wed 30 Aug New Zealand Silver Ferns v England Roses 9GEM Auckland, NZL 7.30pm Wed 30 Aug Samsung Diamonds v South Africa Spar Proteas 9GEM Canberra, AUS 12.00pm Sun 3 Sep England Roses v South Africa Spar Proteas 9GEM Invercargill, NZL 2.00pm Sun 3 Sep New Zealand Silver Ferns v Samsung Diamonds NINE/9GEM Invercargill, NZL ** Please check local guides for details. Constellation Cup 5.30pm Thurs 5 Oct New Zealand Silver Ferns v Samsung Diamonds 9GEM Auckland, NZL 12.00pm Sun 8 Oct New Zealand Silver Ferns v Samsung Diamonds NINE Christchurch, NZL 7.30pm Wed 11 Oct Samsung Diamonds v New Zealand Silver Ferns 9GEM Adelaide, AUS 3.00pm Sat 14 Oct Samsung Diamonds v New Zealand Silver Ferns NINE Sydney, AUS Screenwest Chief Executive, Ian Booth will leave the organisation at the end of the year, after a decade in the role. Chair Janelle Marr said Booth had achieved much during his tenure and would be greatly missed. During his time as CEO, Ian has given an immense commitment and contribution to Screenwest and the screen industry. He has guided the agency and the Western Australian screen industry through a period of significant achievement and growth, she said. We see the timing of Ians departure as positive. By December Screenwest would have delivered on the structural transition to an independent organisation, and the timelines enable a smooth recruitment and hand over process to a new CEO. Ms Marr mentioned Screenwests move to a not for profit structure, with more independence from Government, provides the Board of Directors and CEO with new opportunities to connect and partner with the business community, Federal departments, not-for-profit, philanthropic organisations and industry sectors. Screen Producers Australia CEO Matt Deaner said, Ian Booths vision for the Western Australian screen sector over the last ten years has yielded impressive results for the industry as a whole and has set a benchmark in growth and innovation for the sector. We at Screen Producers Australia thank Ian for his outstanding work in accelerating the development of the industry. His leadership has resulted in driving production values in Western Australian from $22 million to $69 million. We have also seen many of our member production companies grow and become successful under Ians tenure. Ian also needs to be applauded for his support for the emerging sector. The Screenwest CEO position will be advertised in coming weeks. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi visits refugees from South Sudan at Al Nami East Darfur, Sudan. UNHCR/Petterik Wiggers AL-NAMIR, East Darfur, Sudan As worsening violence in South Sudan drives ever more men, women and children to run for their lives, the UN Refugee Chief is calling on warring parties, regional states and the international community to look for urgent ways to find peace. UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi made the call during a visit to Al-Nimir refugee camp in East Darfur, Sudan, where he met South Sudanese refugees and their local hosts. My coming here has one reason just as I did in Uganda, Ethiopia and from Juba itself, to appeal to the leadership of South Sudan, to the opposition of South Sudan, to the States in the region and to the international community at large, to inject some sense of urgency in the quest of peace in South Sudan itself, Grandi said during the visit this week. His call comes as conflict and drought have displaced nearly four million South Sudanese both inside the country and beyond its borders since violence erupted there in 2013. Efforts to restore peace have so far proven unsuccessful. The victims of this failure, so far, are the civilians. The civilians that we see around here." The victims of this failure, so far, are the civilians. The civilians that we see around here. People that have left everything behind. Often women and children, without their men, to embark on an uncertain life because they are too afraid to stay back home in their villages which are affected by war, Grandi said. During his visit to Sudan, the UN Refugee Chief also highlighted the country's key role in hosting hundreds of thousands of South Sudanese refugees. Al-Nimir camp hosts more than 5,000 refugees over 90 per cent of them women and children. I want to say to the world that Sudan is keeping its doors open at a time when so many countries are closing doors, Grandi said, The High Commissioner also appealed for more help for Sudan. Often, we forget that Sudan continues to be a very key host country not just for South Sudanese but for Eritreans, Syrians and many other refugees, he said. UN Refugee Chief visits South Sudanese Refugees in Sudan Grandi praised the model of cooperation and coexistence between refugees and the local communities in Sudan. Throughout the world, we are experimenting with new ways to promote livelihoods, to promote new sources of energy and other forms of sustainable development for refugees and for the communities hosting them. I think that Sudan qualifies very much for this model of development. During his visit to the camp, Grandi met Sadia Mohammed Wali, a 42 year-old refugee mother. Sadia fled South Sudan with her seven children when fighting erupted in her home town back in June this year. "We came with our children and we had nothing to feed them." We were very scared, she said giving details of her month-long trip to reach safety in Sudan. The journey was so difficult for us, because we came with our children and we had nothing to feed them. We were moving in huge groups, she said. Those who carried some small foods would share and we gave them to the children. She expressed her desire for her children to get a good education and get some help herself to support her small business, selling roasted peanuts, dumplings and sweets. Sudan hosts some 416,000 refugees from South Sudan since 2013 including some 170,000 new arrivals so far this year. South Sudan became the worlds youngest country when it gained independence from Sudan in 2011.. Hundreds of thousands of other refugees who stayed in Sudan following the partition are also in need of humanitarian assistance. On Wednesday, the UN Refugee Chief concluded his visit by meeting with Sudans leaders and authorities in Khartoum. The first cohort of Undergraduate Research Assistant, Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program scholars and the University of Texas System-sponsored Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation, or LSAMP, scholars made one-minute presentations of their research conclusions to UTAs Vice President for Research and their mentors. Peter Zotor studies biochemistry at UTA and plans to attend medical school. One of the first cohort of 21 undergraduates who received $3,000 to pursue undergraduate research over the summer, he described the new UTA-sponsored Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program as a transformative experience. The program transformed my thinking, my mindset, Zotor said. It taught me time management, how to meet certain deadlines and put me in a different place. Zotor did his research under the mentorship of Junha Jeon, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry. His classmate Wahib Muhammad, who is studying finance and was mentored by UTA associate professor of finance David Rakowski, concurred that the program had changed his views and professional aims. Before the program, I was thinking of pursing an MBA and now I want to go for doctoral studies, Muhammad said. The program prepared me for what is coming ahead. Peter Zotor studies biochemistry at UTA and plans to attend medical school. Mentors also found that the program helped them achieve their own research goals. This is an all-around positive, said Ankur Jain, assistant professor in the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering and mentor to three of the undergraduates. It is good for the students as it allows them to explore the research, and great for the mentors as it brings in new students, new ideas, and a different energy. As well as committing to 25 hours of research a week under the supervision of their mentor, all students were expected to maintain a daily research log and submit a two-page research essay, a one-slide PowerPoint, a 250-word abstract and develop a research poster, to help develop key communications skills. The first cohort of Undergraduate Research Assistant, Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program scholars and the University of Texas System-sponsored Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation, or LSAMP, scholars also made one-minute presentations of their research conclusions to UTAs Vice President for Research and their mentors. Jesse Hernandez, an LSAMP scholar and mechanical engineering student This program allowed me to take what I learned in the classroom and apply it to real programs, which made the research so much more alive to me, said Jesse Hernandez, an LSAMP scholar and mechanical engineering student who was mentored by Jain. I learned a lot of technical skills and how to apply the theory. LSAMP students will be attending workshops about graduate school and presenting their projects again this September at a conference at The University of Texas at El Paso. UTA also plans to expand the sponsorship of programs during the fall and is gearing up for an Undergraduate Research Showcase Week in October, which will promote more undergraduate research on campus. We are so excited about the diversity of research on campus, said Mahera Mimi Philobos, UTA assistant vice president for research. We want explore how finance can do research, how history can do research, as well as the more traditional areas of science and engineering. The Undergraduate Research Assistant Program is also gearing up for the fall. Positions are currently posted on the SNAP on-campus student job website that allow students to use their federal work-study hours to work as undergraduate research assistants, developing valuable skills that will enhance their education and workforce readiness. These programs offer a real alternative to typical student jobs in the service sector while preparing students for their career, said Alisa Johnson, director of educational research. They also provide opportunities for students to develop strong relationships with faculty and graduate students who can also give advice and recommendations going forward. See http://www.uta.edu/research/vpr/research-opportunities/undergraduate/Programs/index.php for more information on the programs. Internationally recognized breast cancer specialist Dr. Carlos L. Arteaga to head UT Southwesterns Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center Dr. Carlos L. Arteaga will be the new Director of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at UT Southwestern. DALLAS Aug. 16, 2017 Dr. Carlos L. Arteaga, internationally recognized for his work in laboratory-based translational research and advancing the care of breast cancer patients, has been selected as Director of the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center at UT Southwestern Medical Center, after an extensive nationwide search. His appointment begins September 1. UT Southwesterns Simmons Cancer Center one of 49 in the country designated a Comprehensive Cancer Center by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the only such designated center in North Texas includes more than 275 faculty members, doctors, nurses, scientists, and other professionals in more than 30 departments and centers, ranging from basic science to clinical care. The Center focuses on more than a dozen major cancer programs that provide innovative treatments for complex care and receives more than $100 million annually for cancer research from the NCI and other NIH and peer-reviewed funding agencies, as well as the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). Dr. Arteaga brings a wealth of experience to this leadership role that will help further integrate UT Southwesterns advances in multidisciplinary cancer care and clinical/translational investigation across departmental boundaries, said Dr. J. Gregory Fitz, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and Dean of the UT Southwestern Medical School. Such integration is fundamental to our commitment to our patients to advance the treatment and prevention of cancer through innovative therapies, leading-edge clinical trials, and the latest technology. Dr. Arteaga, a medical oncologist, also will serve as Associate Dean for the Oncology Program at UT Southwestern Medical School and will hold the Lisa K. Simmons Distinguished Chair in Comprehensive Oncology at UT Southwestern. Dr. Arteagas recruitment to UT Southwestern was facilitated by a $6 million grant from CPRIT. I was attracted by the large cancer community served by UT Southwestern, the commitment of the institution to the growth of cancer medicine, as well as the superb quality of research at the institution, which has been a basic science powerhouse for decades, said Dr. Arteaga. My vision is for UT Southwestern to become one of the top institutions for conducting translational cancer medicine in the country, as well as to ease the burden of cancer at UT Southwesterns Simmons catchment area through exceptional patient care, transdisciplinary research, discovery, education, partnership, and collaboration. Dr. Arteaga becomes the second Director of the Simmons Cancer Center. The Simmons Cancer Center serves a racially, ethnically, geographically, and socioeconomically diverse population of nearly 7 million people in 12 North Texas counties, with lung, hepatocellular, kidney, and breast cancers constituting major challenges in the region. Wealth of Experience Dr. Arteaga comes to UT Southwestern from the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, the only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Tennessee, where he has been on faculty since 1989 and serves as Director of the Center for Cancer Targeted Therapies and the Breast Cancer Program, Associate Director for Translational & Clinical Research, and Professor of Medicine (Oncology) and Cancer Biology. He also holds the Donna S. Hall Chair in Breast Cancer. There, Dr. Arteaga led a robust research program that included a long-standing NCI Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) award in breast cancer research, along with research into drug-resistance in breast cancer and genotype-driven trials in cancer care. My research focuses on the role of oncogenes in breast cancer and using that information to develop therapeutic strategies, as well as the mechanism of resistance to targeted therapies and the generation of clinical trials that use that information, he said. In addition to having authored over 300 scientific publications, Dr. Arteagas honors include the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Richard and Hinda Rosenthal Memorial Award, a 2007-2017 ACS Clinical Research Professor Award, the 2009 Gianni Bonadonna Breast Cancer Award from the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the 2011 Brinker Award for Scientific Distinction from the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation, and the 2015 Prize for Scientific Excellence in Medicine from the American-Italian Cancer Foundation. He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (1998) and the Association of American Physicians (2005) and was elected as a Fellow of the AACR Academy in 2015. Dr. Arteaga earned his medical degree at Facultad de Ciencias Medicas at the Universidad de Guayaquil, in his home country of Ecuador, and completed his residency at Emory University in Atlanta and a fellowship in medical oncology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. Distinctive cancer care and research In addition to being one of the nations 69 NCI Cancer Centers, the Simmons Cancer Center is One of 15 sites included in the NCI Early Drug Development Opportunity Program (EDDOP), which allows access to NCI early phase clinical trials; One of 30 sites named by the NCI as a National Clinical Trials Network Lead Academic Participating Site, with more than 250 actively enrolling clinical trials, including trials focusing on breast cancer, leukemia, lung cancer, lymphoma, melanoma, sarcoma, gastrointestinal cancer, prostate and kidney cancer, neuro-oncology, and radiation-oncology. Home to two NCI Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) awards in kidney cancer and lung cancer the latter being the worlds largest thoracic oncology effort in the U.S., including the worlds largest collection of lung cancer cell lines totaling about 300. The Simmons Cancer Center supports 10 disease-oriented teams, each of which focuses on a major cancer type and provides a comprehensive approach to the care of cancer patients for breast cancer, GI cancers, prostate cancer, gynecologic malignancies, head and neck cancers, hematologic malignancies, stem cell transplantation, lung cancer, melanoma/sarcoma, neurological cancers, and pediatric cancers. On the research front, Simmons Cancer Center includes scientific programs that serve as vehicles for discovery, including programs focused on cancer cell networks, chemistry and cancer, a childhood cancer research program, development and cancer, experimental therapeutics of cancer, kidney cancer, and population science and cancer control. A formal research affiliation with the UT School of Public Health Dallas Regional Campus enhances the Simmons Cancer Centers expertise in conducting public health research. Associated facilities include the Annette Simmons Stereotactic Treatment Center; the Radiation Oncology Center, a 63,000-square-foot facility with seven treatment rooms that is the largest radiation facility in North Texas; and the UT Southwestern Moncrief Cancer Institute, a 60,000-square-foot facility located in the Fort Worth Medical District that provides early cancer detection and survivorship services in Tarrant and surrounding rural counties. Moncrief also houses the 20,000-plus-square-foot UT Southwestern Simmons Cancer Center Fort Worth, which provides services including chemotherapy, cancer imaging, and access to clinical trials. About UT Southwestern Medical Center UT Southwestern, one of the premier academic medical centers in the nation, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institutions faculty has received six Nobel Prizes, and includes 22 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 18 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 14 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. The faculty of more than 2,700 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide care in about 80 specialties to more than 100,000 hospitalized patients, 600,000 emergency room cases, and oversee approximately 2.2 million outpatient visits a year. ### Media Contact: Cathy Frisinger 214-648-3404 cathy.frisinger@utsouthwestern.edu To automatically receive news releases from UT Southwestern via email, subscribe at www.utsouthwestern.edu/receivenews. Breakthrough 307 Co-Founder is e2e Wyoming Speaker in Laramie Sept. 13 Jared Stack, the co-founder of Breakthrough 307, will be the guest speaker at e2e Wyomings meeting in Laramie Sept. 13. Here, he is pictured when he was CEO of Firehole Composites. (UW Photo) The co-founder of Breakthrough 307, a company that looks to fill funding gaps for startup companies, will be the next e2e Wyoming speaker in Laramie Wednesday, Sept. 13. Jared Stack, a University of Wyoming graduate, will present Access to Capital in Wyoming: How to Bridge the Valley of Death from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Marian H. Rochelle Gateway Center, 222 S. 22nd St. Stack will talk about early-stage venture funding in Wyoming. The vision of Breakthrough 307 is to provide early-stage seed capital to high-growth companies in Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain West while producing a positive return for investors. Specifically, access to capital during the early stages of development is a unique challenge and known to many as the Valley of Death. Before co-founding Breakthrough 307, Stack was the CEO of Firehole Composites, a Wyoming Technology Business Center (WTBC) graduate company. A fifth-generation Wyomingite and a native of Casper, Stack oversaw the growth of Firehole from a small team of engineers to a thriving company that was acquired by Autodesk. E2e is an educational networking program with chapters in Laramie, Casper, Gillette and Sheridan. It is designed to improve the climate for the startup and growth of entrepreneurial companies. Each e2e chapter meets bimonthly for 45 minutes of networking, followed by a 45-minute program. The programs feature successful entrepreneurs telling their stories, panel discussion on relevant topics and advice from experts in specific businesses. Administered by the UW Office of Research and Economic Development, the WTBC is a not-for-profit business incubator that provides entrepreneurs with the expertise, networks and tools necessary for success. To register, call Fred Schmechel at (307) 766-6395, or email him at fschmech@uwyo.edu. Theresa Caputo, from TLCs hit show Long Island Medium, will appear live at Park Theater at Monte Carlo Resort and Casino Saturday, Oct. 14 at 8 p.m. Caputo will share personal stories about her life and explain how her gift works. She also will deliver healing messages to audience members while providing her fans comfort in knowing that their loved ones who passed are still with them, only in a different way. The Experience brings Caputo face-to-face with her fans, as she lets Spirit guide her through the audience. A video display ensures everyone in the venue has an up-close, hands-on experience regardless of seat location. The experience isnt about believing in mediums. Its about witnessing something life-changing says Caputo. Its like Long Island Medium live, witnessing first-hand spirit communication. The highly rated show Long Island Medium follows Caputos life as a typical Long Island wife and mom with one very big difference she can communicate with the dead. Since she cannot turn off this gift, messages from departed loved ones can come through at any time, which lead to spontaneous readings with those she encounters. A new season of Long Island Medium debuted in February 2017 on TLC. In addition to her television show, Caputo has appeared on such programs as The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Steve Harvey Morning Show, Live with Kelly and Michael, Dr. Oz and The Today Show. Her new book Good Grief: Heal Your Soul, Honor Your Loved Ones, and Learn to Live Again was released in March 2017. With her energetic, positive and encouraging tone, Caputo uses the lessons from Spirit to guide the reader through grief toward a place of solace and healing. Her second book titled You Cant Make This Stuff Up was released in September 2014 and debuted at No. 9 on the New York Times Best Seller List. Her first book titled Theres More to Life Than This was released in Fall 2013. Learn more about Caputo at theresacaputo.com. Coveted designer Sarah Jessica Parker has debuted her first West Coast standalone SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker boutique at Bellagio Resort & Casino, making it one of only two locations in the country to offer her chic labels full collection of shoes, handbags and accessories (Photo credit: Jerry Metellus). To mark the occasion, Parker has introduced a new color line - Bellagio Blue - exclusively available at the Las Vegas boutique.Were thrilled to be in Las Vegas. I dont think we ever imagined this early on in our relatively new business we would have, not only a first, but a second home with the MGM family, said Parker. And its particularly exciting to be at Bellagio. I dont think we even realized how suitable a home it would be for us. This idea of a party for your foot really makes sense in Vegas. Celebrating Parkers belief that color is the new neutral, shoe-lovers have the opportunity to select from all the vibrant shades of her signature Fawn heel, along with a bevy of chic flats, sexy sandals and stylish pumps. The Las Vegas locations stunning Bellagio Blue hue is featured in select styles, including Tartt, Serpentine, Rampling, Carrie and Minnie silhouettes. American-made SJP LBD, the brands little black dress, is available in-store along with handbags, accessories and scented candles. Randy Morton, president and COO of Bellagio, said, Building this partnership with Ms. Parker has been an incredible experience and further elevates Bellagios luxury retail offerings. Weve worked closely to create a boutique that reflects her brands style, sophistication and panache. This is sure to be a cant-miss destination for our guests. Metro Diner, a restaurant offering classic comfort food with flair, will open its third Southern Nevada location, at 249 North Stephanie in Henderson in September (Pictured: The Bold City Burger). Peter Stacy, the new locations managing partner, is hiring more than 100 people to work as servers, hosts, cooks and kitchen staff. He seeks people with excellent communication skills, a passion for hospitality and a willingness to go above and beyond to please guests. Metro Diner serves made-from-scratch twists on old classics, including fried chicken and waffles topped with house-made strawberry butter and Charleston shrimp and grits. The restaurant offers a fun, fast-paced team atmosphere with long-term career growth opportunities and competitive compensation. Metro Diners goal is to achieve 100 percent customer satisfaction and become where the locals eat. Barbra Coffee, director, economic development & tourism for the City of Henderson, said, We are thrilled that Metro Diner chose Henderson for its next location in the Valley. We anticipate Metros commitment to hiring locally and providing quality jobs with good benefits to our citizens. An Introduction to Doing Business in Vietnam 2018-19 will provide readers with an overview of the fundamentals of investing and conducting business in Vietnam.... By: Chet Scheltema Regional Director, Dezan Shira & Associates South East Asia continues to attract foreign investors seeking to draw from its ever-more-skilled, abundant and still relatively inexpensive labor resources. However, historic sensitivity to abusive labor practices, and in some cases combined with the influence of litigious jurisprudence, has led to an environment where foreign investors are advised to tread cautiously and lay a solid foundation for human resources management, lest they run afoul of local labor laws or trigger costly labor disputes. One pillar of this firm foundation is typically a well-crafted employment contract. Certain South East Asian countries, including Vietnam and Indonesia and Malaysia distinguish themselves by mandating a formal, written labor contract signed by the parties. Rather than viewing it an additional administrative burden, foreign investors should consider this as an opportunity to establish a firm foundation for human resources management in Vietnam. Written contract Where a worker is hired in Vietnam for more than several months, a labor contract is required, both in the Vietnamese language and in the native language of the employee. The contact should lay out the key terms of the employment relationship, including the location of work, scope of work, work and rest hours, length of the employment term, salary, and details of social insurance provided, and matters relevant to preserving health and safety. If such a contract is not signed, then a penalty may apply in the amount of a minimum of VND 500,000 (US$20) up to a maximum of VND 20,000,000 (US$800) per infraction. Additional fines and penalties may apply and outstanding taxes and/or social insurance would be due and owing. Employment term The term of the labor contract should normally range from twelve to thirty-six months, although it could be an indefinite term contract, and in some cases a seasonal employment relationship of less than a year is permitted. It should be noted that a fixed term employment contract twice renewed becomes an open term employment contract, with ramifications when terminating the relationship and calculating severance. If termination is unlawful, then reinstatement may be required or additional severance. Probation may not exceed thirty days, sixty days in instances where the work is highly technical. Probation contracts are treated as a distinct contract from a standard contract. During the term of probation contacts, both the employer and the employee may cancel the agreement without prior notice if the position or performance fails to live up to the terms agreed to. Once the probation contract reaches its end, the employer may decide if it would like to engage the employee under a standard labor contract. Special provisions: confidentiality, intellectual property, and non-compete clauses Although employees are bound by a statutory duty of confidentiality and while intellectually property in theory belongs to the employer, investors are advised to clearly set the tone of the relationship in the labor contract with strong confidentiality and intellectual property protection terms and to address special circumstances. For instance, if the employee works non-traditional hours, then where will the line be drawn between work time and personal, thus helping to avoid confusion about who owns any intellectual property developed. As for non-competition, an employer may attempt to include provisions restricting the future activities of an employee post-employment, although such clauses will generally be treated as unenforceable. Terminating or amending an employment contract A labor contract may only be amended by mutual agreement of the parties in writing, except of course in instances of promotion or salary increase, in which case a notice should be sent to the employee. Either the employer or employee may unilaterally terminate employment by 30 days prior notice, or by 45 days prior notice under an indefinite term contract. An employee may be immediately dismissed in unusual cases where an act of severe or gross misconduct has occurred, including in such instances as theft or repeated violation of company rules. However, the employer must follow a number of steps, including conducting a formal hearing, and should formally document that it has done so. In such an instance, severance may not be required. Vietnamese labor law also allows an employer to terminate the employment relationship where an act of god has occurred (force majeure), although specific steps and procedures must be followed. Employee(s) would be entitled to statutory severance. Severance Employees completing twelve (12) months of employment are entitled to severance within seven (7) days in the amount of half a month of salary for each year of work completed (determined by the average of last six months). A full month of salary is required when terminated for reason of structural or technological change, economical restructuring, or because of merger or consolidation. Dispute resolution Dispute resolution in Vietnam is managed in a way consistent with a cultural preference for resolving disputes through mediation and settlement. Employers must establish a labor conciliation council within the company to serve as the first recourse to resolve disputes. A public district conciliation panel may become involved to address intractable disputes. In some unusual cases, the dispute may be brought directly to the courts. Personal income tax and social insurance Although not specifically addressed in the labor contract itself, the employer is under a statutory requirement to withhold and pay personal income tax at the rates specified below. For any additional tax due, the employee would become responsible and file and contribute at the year end. Social insurance allowances must be withheld and contributed by the employer as follows, if the term of the contract is greater than three months. The specific allowances withheld are for sick leave, maternity, work-related accidence and occupational illness, pension, and mortality. For employees working less than three months in duration, the contribution is included in the salary, and the employees then becomes responsible to make payment. RELATED: Social Security in Vietnam: Understanding Your Obligations Conclusion Establishing a firm foundation to human resources management in Vietnam starts with preparing and signing well-considered employment contracts. Far from being an administrative nuisance imposed under Vietnamese law, when handled deliberately with guidance from experienced counsel, they should be regarded as the first step in establishing robust human resources for a company by cultivating stability in the workforce and limiting disputes and disruption. Dezan Shira & Associates Brochure Dezan Shira & Associates is a pan-Asia, multi-disciplinary professional services firm, providing legal, tax and operational advisory to international corporate investors. Operational throughout China, ASEAN and India, our mission is to guide foreign companies through Asias complex regulatory environment and assist them with all aspects of establishing, maintaining and growing their business operations in the region. This brochure provides an overview of the services and expertise Dezan Shira & Associates can provide. An Introduction to Doing Business in Vietnam 2017 An Introduction to Doing Business in Vietnam 2017 will provide readers with an overview of the fundamentals of investing and conducting business in Vietnam. Compiled by Dezan Shira & Associates, a specialist foreign direct investment practice, this guide explains the basics of company establishment, annual compliance, taxation, human resources, payroll, and social insurance in this dynamic country. Managing Contracts and Severance in Vietnam In this issue of Vietnam Briefing, we discuss the prevailing state of labor pools in Vietnam and outline key considerations for those seeking to staff and retain workers in the country. We highlight the increasing demand for skilled labor, provide in depth coverage of existing contract options, and showcase severance liabilities that may arise if workers or employers choose to terminate their contracts. A handout picture released by the Egyptian Antiquities Ministry on Aug 15, 2017 shows a sarcophagus which was in one of three tombs that were discovered at cemetery dating back about 2,000 years in the al-Kamin al-Sahrawi area in Minya province, south of Cairo. (Photo: HO/Egyptian Antiquities Ministry/AFP) A handout picture released by the Egyptian Antiquities Ministry on Aug 15, 2017 shows a sarcophagus which was in one of three tombs that were discovered at cemetery dating back about 2,000 years in the al-Kamin al-Sahrawi area in Minya province, south of Cairo. (Photo: HO/Egyptian Antiquities Ministry/AFP) The tombs excavated in the Al-Kamin al-Sahrawi area in Minya province south of Cairo were in burial grounds constructed some time between the 27th Dynasty and the Greco-Roman period, the ministry said in a statement. The team found "a collection of sarcophagi of different shapes and sizes, as well as clay fragments," the statement quoted Ayman Ashmawy, head of the ministry's Ancient Egyptian Antiquities Sector, as saying. One of the tombs, which was reached through a shaft carved in rock, contained four sarcophagi each sculpted to depict a human face Another tomb held the remains of two sarcophagi and six burial holes, including one for "the burial of a small child". Clay fragments found at the site "date the tombs between the 27th Dynasty (founded in 525 BC) and the Greco-Roman era (between 332 BC and the fourth century)," the statement said. The discovery "suggests that the area was a great cemetery for a long span of time," it quoted Ashmawy as saying. Greece is asking Europe for four CL-415-type water bombers to help tackle its forest fires. (AFP/ARIS MESSINIS) In total 146 fires have broken out across Greece since Sunday, and while most have been brought under control, authorities are worried about three on the coast near Athens, in the western Peloponnese and on the island of Zakynthos. The government "has asked for the activation of the European civil protection mechanism for air support ... because of the danger posed by the fires," fire service spokeswoman Stavroula Malliri told a press conference. She said Greece was asking for four CL-415-type water bombers, which are built for aerial firefighting and can fly up to 322 kilometres per hour and scoop up 6,000 litres of water in about 12 seconds. Malliri said Cyprus had already offered 60 firefighters, while France said it could not contribute any manpower or air support because it is battling its own fires in the south and Corsica. French authorities said a blaze in the southern town of Luceram, near Nice, had finally been brought under control on Tuesday after burning for 48 hours. Greece called in the army to assist firefighters around Kalamos, 45 kilometres east of Athens, where a fire has been burning since Sunday. Nearly 300 firefighters, 100 soldiers, five air bombers and seven helicopters had been mobilised in the Attiki region, home to Athens, where fires are smouldering in a zone of forest and scrubland dotted with vacation homes. At least five properties were destroyed and three others evacuated, authorities said, as smoke from the blaze clouded the skies over the capital on Tuesday morning. Firefighters were also battling flames near the town of Amaliada in the western Peloponnese and on the tourist island of Zakynthos, where several fires were raging - some thought to have been started deliberately. Authorities have ordered the evacuation of vulnerable people, children and the elderly. "Such a situation is unheard of," regional fire chief Vassili Matteopoulos told local media on Monday. "We had 22 fires on Zakynthos just in the last 24 hours." POLITICAL BACKLASH Efforts to control the blazes were complicated by winds reaching speeds of 40-50 kilometres per hour, according to the fire service. The blazes also sparked controversy between the opposition and the cash-strapped government, which was accused of negligence, with local officials decrying a lack of air support. "In this crucial hour, the priority" is to battle the fires, the office of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said. "The time for review will come later." Soaring temperatures and tinder-dry forest floors across southern Europe have led to a rash of devastating wildfires, notably in Portugal, where 64 people died in a massive inferno in June. On Tuesday some 1,450 Portuguese firefighters were battling at least four blazes in the central Santarem and Castelo Branco regions, emergency services said. And there were fresh fires in Albania, according to the interior ministry, where more than 5,000 hectares of Albanian forest have been torched since July. French authorities said the fire in Luceram had resulted in no evacuations or property damage, but had burned 150 hectares of forest. At least 300 firefighters had worked to tackle the blaze, the biggest of several to hit the Alpes-Maritimes region of France this summer. At an August 15 reception for the companys President Michiaki Hirose in Hanoi, PM Phuc called on Tokyo Gas to run long-term business in Vietnam, saying the Vietnamese Government always pays attention to and protects legitimate rights of foreign investors. The Vietnamese Government is keen on developing the gas industry comprehensively and effectively by maximizing domestic resources and intensifying international cooperation, Phuc told Michiaki Hirose. He spoke highly of Tokyo Gass opening of its representative office in Vietnam and congratulated the company and PetroVietnam Gas Joint Stock Corporation (PV Gas) on the establishment of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) joint venture in Vietnam. Regarding the great demand for environmentally friendly LNG in Vietnam and many other countries, PM Phuc expressed his belief that with good partners and favourable business environment, Tokyo Gas operations will be successful in Vietnam. He said Tokyo Gas have working sessions with PV Gas and the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade if the company faces any difficulty while investing in LNG, especially the Thi Vai LNG warehouse project in Cai Mep Industrial Zone in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau. Michiaki Hirose, in turn said both Vietnam and Japan have conditions to develop the LNG market. Vietnam is an important partner of Japan, covering the field of LNG, he said, adding that Tokyo Gas will step up cooperation with PV Gas in the time ahead. Michiaki Hirose said he believes that Thi Vai LNG warehouse will become the most modern facility in this sector in Vietnam, adding that Tokyo Gas desiress to receive more support from the Vietnamese Government, particularly in mechanisms and policies, during its operation in the LNG market in the country. The simple beauty of the village and its pottery products dating back to the 15th century contributes to the charm and attractiveness of Hoi An as a tourist destination. Arriving at Thanh Ha pottery village, visitors are first impressed by the villages brick-paved roads and houses roofed with tiles made by local potters. Shops huddled close together display all kinds of Thanh Ha pottery from fine art pieces to items meant for daily use. The village is always crowded with visitors to explore the traditional craft. Tho Ha village in Bac Giang province makes pottery from green clay. Hanois Bat Trang village makes pottery from white clay. And Phu Lang village in Bac Ninh province makes pottery from yellow clay. In Thanh Ha village potters use a brown clay of high viscidity and adhesion taken from the Thu Bon River. The soil is mixed and kneaded until it is as soft and smooth as cake flour. The special techniques that are used to process, shape, and polish the clay make Thanh Ha pottery products extremely durable and shiny. And Thanh Ha pottery is notably lighter than other brands. Nguyen Thi Bich Tuyen of the Le Duc Tuan pottery workshop, says processing the clay is the most time-consuming part of making a pottery product of any size. It takes all day to soften a barrow of clay. The next day it is divided into small pieces and thrashed again and again until its smooth. This phase takes 2 or 3 days. Its necessary to soak the clay. It is then put into a bucket to make it loose using a special machine and then its filtered through a net to remove the gravel, Tuyen said. Today Thanh Ha potters still use traditional methods. They use their foot to spin the potters wheel when shaping a lump of clay. Nguyen Van Ngu, a senior potter, says most Thanh Ha villagers know how to make pottery but it takes many years to become a master. Ngu recalled When I was little, I used to watch my grandparents make pottery and learned each step by heart. When I grew up, I could do the work because I had studied the techniques. The traditional method of spinning the wheel by foot is still being used. One person spins the wheel while another shapes the item. The two must coordinate with each other smoothly. After being shaped, the product is dried in direct sunlight before undergoing the furnacing process. Depending on the product, furnacing can take 1 to 3 days. According to Ngu, Each kiln accommodates about 500 pieces, which are baked for 15 hours. To produce beautiful products, the temperature must be properly adjusted. As a veteran potter, I know whether or not the flame is hot enough. As they shape the clay and polish the final product, the potters inject their soul into their work. Le Thi Hien Tran, one of Thanh Ha villages junior potters, said We are proud of the diversity of eye-catching products produced by our traditional craft. Ive made many different kinds of products, including the traditional Vietnamese childrens toys called to he and animals based on famous cartoons. My mom shapes the products and I decorate them. We manage to find ways to make our products attractive to customers. Uber has faced a number of setbacks in Asia including a two month ban in Taiwan this year. (Photo: AFP/Nicolas Maeterlinck) Uber has faced a number of setbacks in Asia including a two month ban in Taiwan this year. (Photo: AFP/Nicolas Maeterlinck) Philippine authorities announced on Monday that they would suspend Uber for one month for failing to have the proper permits to license its drivers, and threatened to fine and impound the vehicles of those who defied the ruling. Uber initially obeyed the order and shut down its app on Tuesday morning, triggering anger from commuters who lashed out at the government for taking away what had become a trusted alternative to notoriously bad public transport. But on Tuesday afternoon Uber relaunched the app, telling commuters via Twitter that it was mounting a legal appeal and would continue operations until the dispute was settled. In its motion for reconsideration to the transport authority, it said the suspension was a "blatant violation of USI's (Uber's) right to due process". The government warned the suspension remained in force and said Uber drivers who defied it would be fined 120,000 pesos (US$2,350) and have their vehicles impounded for three months. "What is being done here is irregular conduct, irregular acts by Uber," Aileen Lizada, spokeswoman of the transport authority told AFP. "It may not be a popular decision (but) we will continue to do what is legal and right," she added. Uber officially launched in Manila in 2014 and the service was later rolled out to a few provincial cities. The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) requires Uber to get permits for its drivers and vehicles, in the same way taxi companies must. But Uber insists the drivers are independent contractors and thus do not have to get the same type of permits. Lizada said that during a recent hearing, Uber officials had admitted having 68,000 drivers in the Philippines and handling 150,000 rides a day. 'CRUEL AND ABSURD' The dispute is Uber's latest hurdle in Asia, where it also faced a two-month hiatus in Taiwan this year. It has operated illegally in Thailand since 2014, though law enforcement has been patchy, with roughly 1.5 million people downloading the app. The firm is currently lobbying for a tweak to the decades-old Thai motor law to allow ride-sharing apps. The Philippine suspension enraged many local commuters who prefer ride hailing companies to traditional taxi services, whereby drivers often demand higher fares than what is on their metres, decline to pick up customers and have shoddy vehicles. "To the LTFRB, quit being scumbags and open your eyes to what people need," Twitter user @sodachar said in reference to the transport authority. Politicians also weighed in. "The decision of the LTFRB to suspend Uber is both cruel and absurd," said Senator Grace Poe, who heads the upper chamber's transport committee. Bur Uber driver Rodwin Agripa, 51, said he and many of his colleagues were staying off the road for now. "There are so many passengers out there but it looks like there aren't too many Uber drivers who are going out. I think they are scared. It would be really hard for us if we get caught," Agripa told AFP. The government order left many Manila commuters queueing for rides on overcrowded buses and trains, an ordeal that often takes several hours a day. President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesman on Tuesday defended the transport authority's decision. "We affirm the positive and beneficial service offered by the transport network companies. However as per LTFRB, Uber Systems unduly challenged its rules and instructions," Ernesto Abella said told reporters. Britain's membership of the EU customs union precludes it from striking its own trade deals. (Photo: AFP/Daniel Leal-Olivas) Britain's membership of the EU customs union precludes it from striking its own trade deals. (Photo: AFP/Daniel Leal-Olivas) The government proposed to continue for around two years the kind of tariff-free arrangements that apply now to EU-UK trade in goods, to give businesses more time to adapt to new post-Brexit systems. But unlike under the current customs union, London said it wanted to be able to negotiate free trade agreements with non-EU countries during the interim period, which would then be implemented afterwards. Brexit minister David Davis told BBC radio it was "sensible" to have a "shortish period in which we maintain the current arrangements", lasting "something like two years". The proposal was welcomed by the Confederation of British Industry, Britain's big business lobby group, but critics dismissed it as "fantasy". Britain has said it will leave the EU customs union and single market - its largest trading partner - when it leaves the bloc in March 2019, but wants trade to continue as smoothly as possible. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, said on Tuesday that it would "take note" of the proposals, but warned: "'Frictionless trade' is not possible outside the single market and customs union." 'RED TAPE BOMBSHELL' Experts have said it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to negotiate a new EU-UK trade agreement before Britain leaves the bloc, raising fears of a damaging "cliff edge". "One possible approach would be a temporary customs union between the UK and the EU," the Brexit ministry said in a statement, as it published a policy paper on future trading relations. The CBI's deputy director Josh Hardie said the proposal was "encouraging", adding: "The clock is ticking and what matters now is giving companies the confidence to continue investing as quickly as possible." The policy paper set out Britain's first proposals for the future customs arrangements with the EU, including one option to streamline and simplify administrative processes for the movement of goods. This could be similar to an arrangement between Australia and New Zealand, though the paper admitted this would see "an increase in administration compared with being inside the EU customs union". An "innovative and untested" alternative could be a new customs partnership in which Britain adopts the EU's external customs border to allow for free EU-UK trade, but applies its own tariffs for goods from third countries destined only for Britain. "One of the options is basically deep cooperation, and the other seems to me like continuing within the customs union but without calling it the customs union," said Professor Alan Winters, director of the UK Trade Policy Observatory at the University of Sussex. He described the proposals as "vague and aspirational" - a view echoed by John Springford, director of research at the Centre for European Reform think tank, who accused the government of "constructive ambiguity". Opposition Labour lawmaker Chuka Umunna, a prominent pro-European, said the government's plan was "a fantasy" - a position echoed by Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's outspoken Brexit negotiator. "They might promise frictionless trade, but they are offering a red tape bombshell for British business," Umunna said in a statement. UNACCEPTABLE TO BREXIT VOTERS A third round of Brexit negotiations is due to begin at the end of August, focused on Britain's financial settlement, expatriate rights, and the border between British-controlled Northern Ireland and Ireland. London argues that customs arrangements are crucial to resolving the Irish border issue, but Brussels insists that trade talks cannot begin until there is broad agreement on the other issues. "The quicker UK & EU 27 agree on citizens, settling accounts and Ireland, the quicker we can discuss customs and future relationship," EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said on Twitter on Tuesday. Leading Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage warned the proposal of the transitional deal was effectively a continuation of Britain's EU membership. He predicted it would see continued free migration, jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and British payments into the bloc. "None of those three things are acceptable to Brexit voters in any way at all," he told the BBC. Vietnamese women entrepreneurs are better represented than almost anywhere in the Asia-Pacific According to newswire TechCrunch, Vietnamese women entrepreneurs are doing exceedingly well, even in the global contextthe country is hands down in the Top 2 in the Asia-Pacific, following Australia, in terms of the representation of women in business, be it small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) or the boards of directors of the countrys leading corporations. A Mekong Business Initiative (MBI) study shows that Vietnams enterprising women own 25 per cent of the countrys SMEsa far cry from gender equality, but overtaking the Middle East, North Africe, and Sub-Saharan Africa, not to mention South Asia, where the average percentage is only 8 per cent. 98.8 per cent of these women-owned enterprises are micro- and small-sized, and 61.4 per cent of them operate in the services sector, which MBI claims is very similar to other countries, based on an IFC study from 2014. By MBIs evaluation, women-owned enterprises are somewhat more equitable and socially responsible than enterprises run by men. They employ a higher percentage of female workers (43.4 per cent against the 36 per cent of menterprises), contribute more to the national budget in taxes per worker (VND24.9 million against VND24.2 million) and spend slightly more on social insurance (36 against 35 per cent). In addition, the majority of women-owned enterprises operate in the services sector, which is considered a more environmentally friendly economic area. On the other hand, women-owned enterprises spend less per individual worker on wages (VND1.2 against VND1.7 billion). However, despite there being significant government consensus on supporting women-owned SMEs in Vietnam, there has yet to be an official definition of what can actually be construed as one, making supporting policies ineffective due to difficulties in identifying eligibility for support. Although Decree No.56/2009/ND-CP on SME Development Support and the National Gender Equality Strategy for 2011-2020 explicitly mention women-owned enterprises as an area to receive support, neither has seen actual implementation, partly because of the sore lack of legal definition, partly because responsible agencies perceive SMEs owned by men or women as essentially one category: as there are policies to support SMEs, regardless of the owners gender, no special policies has been put forward to facilitate women in business. Another issue women entrepreneurs commonly identify is a lack of knowledge, market information, trade promotion, resources, and opportunities to network for business development. According to a 2016 IFC study, 55 per cent of women business owners admitted to needing training and other forms of support to develop their knowledge. A 2014 GSO study showed that 33.8 per cent of women owners of SMEs have college education or less. Paired with the difficulties of balancing traditional gender roles deeply integrated into Vietnamese society, such as running the household, raising children, and taking care of the family, it is easily understandable why women entrepreneurs would need something more than the one-hat policy implemented by responsible authorities. On a lighter note, notwithstanding lacking supporting policies and strict gender roles, Vietnam has an exceptional record of high-level women executives. According to the Women in the Boardroom global study of Deloitte, women hold 17.6 per cent of board seats in Vietnam, taking over any other country in the Asia-Pacific, except for Australias 20.1 per cent. With this, Vietnam outperformed the global average of 15 per cent, submitting almost double the figures in Singapore (9.4 per cent) and China (9.2 per cent). Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, founder and CEO of Vietjet In addition, some of Vietnams largest and most iconic companies have women executives at the helm. For instance, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, founder and CEO of Vietjet, is now Southeast Asias first female billionaire. High-level women executives are present across diverse industries, from retail to agriculture as well as the startup circuit. One sector, however, where women are woefully underrepresented is the tech sector. Here, women workers and entrepreneurs face strong gender discrimination and are said to lack the necessary qualifications. To this end, a number of educational organisations are working to provide STEM training (an interdisciplinary approach to teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Gender discrimination and sexual harassment TechCrunch reported the outrageous experience of Huong Tran, founder of beauty retail startup Epomi, during her pitch to a group of Vietnamese investors. They told me that women are too emotional to run a business and they dont like investing in them, she said. This was one of the leading international venture capital (VC) firms in VietnamI didnt expect this. At the time, Epomi already posted rapid sales growth, a large and loyal customer base, as well as contracts with top suppliers and a clean plan to rise to the top of the fast growing beauty retail market. Huong Tran, founder of beauty retail startup Epomi (Source: TechCrunch.com) Huong graduated from Duke with an MBA and has a decade of leadership experience at top multinational corporations like Samsung and GSK, and after her long years of accomplished work experience, the rebuttal stemming simply out of her gender must have been a shockespecially as it came from the one of the leading international VC firms. Sadly, Huongs humiliation is by no means uncommon. Gender discrimination, even sexual harassment, is a universal challenge, especially in the men-dominated tech industry and areas where women can appear in the role of the supplicant, especially startup fund-raising. In essence, when it comes to capital mobilisation, where startup owners have to stand before investors and make a pitch for money, power dynamics are essentially set: there is a side that asks and one that gives. The setup, by its very nature, is tilted towards investors, it gives them more bargaining chips and puts them in the dominant role to abuse at will. Funeral Announcements A daily list of current funeral annoucements as heard on KXRA 1490 AM/100.3 FM News Updates The daily news, sports, and events delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Sports Update This current sports headlines delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Upcoming Events This email is the events of the area delivered daily from Voice of Alexandria. Breaking News The big news. Sent only as it happens. During a press conference held on 16 August 2017 in Damascus, Syrias Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Faical Mekdad, has revealed that both toxic and chemical substances were discovered in bunkers built by the jihadists. Thus he stated: All the unusual material retrieved consists of hand grenades and pieces of grenades launchers of toxic substances, CS and CN (). The company Federal Laboratories manufactured the chemical ammunition on US territory, whereas the companies Cherming Defence UK (UK) and NonLethal Technologies (US) manufactured the toxic substances. These three companies specialize in manufacturing gas used by the police for law enforcement. Federal Laboratories works mainly with the Israeli army. Under article 5 of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, using these gases assuming that it is in fact gas that police normally use for law enforcement is prohibited in conflict zones. On 14 September 2013, the Syrian Arab Republic ratified this treaty (a treaty that Israel still has not signed). Syrias entire stock of chemical weapons was dismantled under the joint control of the United States and Russia. Since then, Damascus declares that it has and is scrupulously respecting this Treaty; yet Washington despite its declaration that it had watched over the destruction of Syrias entire arsenal is accusing Syria of using prohibited weapons. For the past five years, Washington, London and Tel-Aviv have been running Operation Timber Sycamore, the biggest operation for arms trafficking in History [1] Bachelor in Paradise Episode 2 Season 4 Episode 2 Editors Rating 1 star * Previous Next Previous Episode Next Episode Photo: ABC I was fully prepared to sit down and watch this episode and write a recap like I usually do. I was ready to snark about Carly and Evans wedding and I was ready to admit that it got me. What can I say? Im a crier. I weep at everything remotely wedding- or baby-related. But then, halfway through the episode, Chris Harrison sat the cast down for a discussion about the allegations of sexual assault during production. Im not joking when I say this: It was one of, if not the most, egregious and irresponsible discussions about sexual assault I have ever seen. As a black woman who has lived through sexual harassment and an abusive relationship, it was physically uncomfortable to watch. I paused it several times to scream, THIS IS BAD! This was bad. This was very, very, very bad. This was tone-deaf and dangerous. It was naive to think that I could cover this season of Bachelor in Paradise like I always do with snark and flippant remarks and questions about Robbys hair. We all have our blind spots when it comes to problematic media. Apparently, this was mine. Bachelor in Paradise has always been my favorite. It usually dispenses with all the trappings of true love and just gives us bonkers drunk people on a beach. Unfortunately for me, the show tends to focus more on reaching that engagement. Unfortunately for society, its evidently susceptible to creating a dangerous environment that it simply isnt equipped to handle. And now, everyone involved is completely ill-equipped to handle this conversation. The conversation starts out with Chris Harrison asking the cast if they trust the findings of an independent team who were hired by Warner Bros. to investigate the sexual-assault claims. (The investigation found no evidence of misconduct.) The response from the cast is We all knew that nothing happened and it was blown out of proportion. YIKES. The cast also seems pretty hell-bent on insisting that the producers dont force them to do anything and that any decision they make is 100 percent their own. Derek claims that they order every drink theyre given, but honestly, thats not the part of the equation thats a problem. Weve all seen someone on these shows get too drunk. So drunk that theyd be cut off at a bar in the real world. So drunk that they fell asleep or passed out. So drunk that they started a fight. The producers giving out every drink without question is the problem. Taylor follows up by saying, Were responsible for how much we drink, who we kiss, all of it. Im just holding my head in my hands now and it gets so much worse. Taylor also gets self-righteous about not drinking on the show and how the crew never forces her to drink. My response to that: So? If the show allows contestants who do drink to drink to a dangerous point, it doesnt matter that they never offered you a margarita. Also, did anyone else have the suspicion that all of that was purely for the benefit of the producers to get back into the audiences good graces? The next topic of conversation is how unfair it is to DeMario that all of this happened. The undercurrent in this conversation is that being accused of sexual assault is just as bad as being the survivor of sexual assault. Chris Harrison keeps asking Raven for her take, as if shes the moral compass of this group. Raven says that its unfair that everything bad is going to be associated with DeMario. Iggy says that it was hard to see DeMario typecast by the media and forced to bear all the responsibility for what happened. Then Diggy says that hes concerned about the long-term effects of DeMario being labeled as someone who could commit sexual assault, especially as a black man whos been implicated in this scandal with a white woman. Chris asks the group if race has anything to do with it and everyone immediately gets uncomfortable. Then Raven chimes in again by saying shes from the South and theres still a stigma about seeing a black man with a white woman and we need to get rid of the stigma that interracial relationships are wrong. WAIT. WHAT? IS THIS WHAT WERE MAKING IT ABOUT NOW? That is not what this is about. There certainly is a long history of white womens chastity and purity being used as justification for the violence against and destruction of black men, whether those black men had any contact with white women or not. The relationship or contact was often imagined or insinuated to justify violence. Meanwhile, black women were and continue to be subject to violence, physical and oftentimes emotional, to protect that same purity of white women. That was never about normalizing or accepting interracial relationships. It was about controlling, dominating, and attempting to wipe out black people from this country with harassment, intimidation, and violence. To invoke that is pretty damn classless. Also, for the record: Saying that white men arent as scrutinized when it comes to sexual-assault charges isnt a demand to treat black sexual abusers like we treat white abusers. ITS A DEMAND TO TAKE SEXUAL ASSAULT MORE SERIOUSLY AND BELIEVE THE MEN AND WOMEN THAT ARE ABUSED AND ASSAULTED. The next part of the conversation is simply dangerous and straight out of the rape-culture handbook. Chris Harrison refers to Corinnes statement that she and her lawyer put out after the show. He says, Corinne referred to herself as a victim. Danielle M. adds, She wanted to try to save face. Thats what I took from it. Then Raven reveals that she was in an abusive relationship and she was sexually assaulted in that relationship, so she takes this issue personally. Raven says, I hope this doesnt deter actual victims from coming forward and really speaking their truth and getting help. [Emphasis mine.] OH MY GOD FRIENDS! FRIENDS? This is truly, very, supremely bad. This is textbook mens-rights-activist bullshit about rape accusations. Open up any corner of the internet where pitiful, misogynistic dung beetles lurk and you can find language just like this: That rape accusations are hurled by women who have drunken sex and regret it. That rape accusations are nothing more than a way for women to keep their number down because a sexual encounter doesnt matter. That rape accusations are a way for women to hurt men they dont like. All of that? Thats what really deters men and women from coming forward when theyre assaulted. That if they were drinking, they wont be believed. That if they dress too revealingly or too modestly, they wont be believed. That if they had sex with that person before, they wont be believed. That if they do anything other than appear to be the perfect victim, they wont be believed. Not a single person on that couch said they believed Corinne, or that they even believed she felt uncomfortable about what happened with DeMario. Not one woman said she believed Corinne. Why? Because it didnt look like real assault to them. They may not have used those exact words, but thats what they meant. Jasmine even said, He wasnt aggressive toward any of us. Raise your hand if youve ever heard someone say the man who harassed you was nice to them. All of these women sold Corinne out and praised DeMario and all of their praise only exists to justify DeMarios return to the show. A lot of the people who watch these shows are young women, some even as young as middle school. I used to do a kids show and a group of 10- to 12-year-old girls told us that The Bachelor was their favorite show. Imagine being a young woman watching this show and seeing how it treats women who come forward with accusations of sexual assault. They may not consciously realize what theyre being indoctrinated to believe, but they might find themselves repeating, He wasnt aggressive with me or She was just trying to save face later in their lives. Or they might find themselves believing they deserve to hear it. Even when this episode offers some perfunctory conversations about consent, it looks like the contestants are reading cue cards held just off camera. Diggy even suggests, You can consent when youre drunk. ARE WE REALLY? Theres a lot of complicated legality to consider in that idea, but is Bachelor in Paradise the place to have this conversation? Or even to dispense that kind of information? Just teach affirmative, enthusiastic, and informed consent. Why even open the door to anything else? Finally, Host Chris asks each contestant if they want to return to Paradise. Everyone says yes. And I turned my TV off. If you would like to speak to a trained staff member from a sexual-assault service provider in your area, call 800-656-HOPE, or visit www.rainn.org. Photo-Illustration: Maya Robinson/Vulture This story was originally published in 2018 but has been updated to reflect Soderberghs latest films. Perhaps the most fascinating thing about Steven Soderberghs 30-year-plus film career is that hes a genius without a masterpiece. Hes made some fantastic movies, and hes never made anything dull, but hes also always so concerned with reinvention and experimentation that hes never made the sort of go-for-broke, career-defining work youd expect from such an ambitious filmmaker. Hes a director who never makes anything terrible he could shoot a coffee table for two hours and make it interesting but always seems to hold a little bit of himself in remove. Hes brilliant, but contained. Hes still one of the most fascinating filmmakers on the planet, and every new movie is an instant must-watch. Even though we never really believed he was retired, were elated that hes back in full force. With the release of Kimi on HBO Max, we took a look back at all of his feature-length releases and, of course, ranked them. we took a look back at all of his feature-length releases and, of course, ranked them. But ranking Soderbergh movies is particularly difficult. Not only are they wildly different they even vary in terms of Soderberghs intent. Some of them are big studio tentpoles; some of them are micro-budget doodles; some of them seem to alienate on purpose. But every single one of them is fascinating. Wed watch all of these again, even the bad ones. 33. The Good German (2006) You want proof of Soderberghs commercial clout around the time of the Oceans sequels? He was able to get Warner Bros. to make this knowingly old-fashioned World War II drama, which didnt just ape film noir and Casablanca, but also utilized some of the same tools of the era. (The film was shot in the periods boxier aspect ratio, and incorporated boom mics and other 1940s-appropriate technology, including intentionally cheesy rear projection.) But the ideas behind the design of The Good German end up being a lot more satisfying than the story, which follows American journalist Jake Geismer (Clooney) as he enters postwar Berlin to cover a conference hosted by the victorious Allied leaders. But once Tobey Maguires scheming soldier Tully is murdered, Jake uncovers a plan that involves high-tech weapons and a stormy prostitute (Cate Blanchett) whose husband may or may not be dead. As former lovers still hung up on one another, Clooney and Blanchett exhibit some chemistry, but The Good German feels like it should be called Studio System War Drama: The Movie everything about it is meant to reference back to an earlier, better film. As such, its a waxworks, failing to generate much passion beyond a mild intellectual engagement in Soderberghs subversion of the earlier cinematic periods tamer attitudes toward sex, violence, and cursing. People complain the mans work is chilly but this film is practically embalmed. 32. Full Frontal (2002) True to form, Soderbergh followed up the hottest stretch of his career (Out of Sight/The Limey/Erin Brockovich/Traffic/Oceans Eleven) with a self-sabotaging, almost purposeful misfire. A narrative-free screw-around thats loosely about Hollywood but is really about Soderbergh pulling the rug out from under himself to make sure he doesnt become One Of Them, Full Frontal is oftentimes unwatchable; Soderbergh is too busy doodling around to remember to entertain anyone other than himself. We will give points to Nicky Katt for being the funniest Hitler since Chaplin, though. 31. The Underneath (1995) Its just totally sleepy This thing is just dead-on-arrival I cant say that I would recommend it to anyone. Never let it be said that Soderbergh is deluded about the quality of his misfires: Those quotes were all comments he made about The Underneath, his deeply meh exercise in modern film noir. Peter Gallagher plays a gambling addict who comes home, only to fall back in love with his ex-wife (Alison Elliott) whos now involved with a dangerous club owner (William Fichtner). Based on the Burt Lancaster thriller Criss Cross, The Underneath is the training-wheels version of a modern Soderbergh picture: We get the dynamic use of color, the innovative jumble of chronology, and the impish tinkering with genre tenets. But the mans harsh assessment of the finished product is accurate. The Underneath may be, as Soderbergh puts it, where he hit rock bottom, but it also inspired him to reinvent his aesthetic, which would soon lead to his most fecund period. Soderbergh reunited with The Informant! and Contagion screenwriter Scott Z. Burns in this supposed inside story of the Panama Papers, and really about insurance fraud and financial malfeasance. The movie actually feels a little more like Traffic, though, with multiple stories occasionally intersecting (with the connective tissue of two money laundering narrators played by Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas) in service of a larger point about well, about Something Bad In Society. But where Traffic was focused and urgent, The Laundromat feels jokey and scattershot and not particularly invested. The Big Short showed how such an approach could work, but that movie was infused with righteous anger; The Laundromat seems to only have one foot in the game. 29. Kafka (1991) Soderberghs follow-up to Sex, Lies, and Videotape is, in retrospect, predictably challenging and difficult and doomed from the get-go, probably on purpose. Forever quixotic, Soderbergh decided to do a movie about Franz Kafka that turns Kafka himself (a miscast Jeremy Irons) into a character in a story that seems like it would be written by Kafka but more feels like its written by someone trying to be self-consciously Kafka-esque. The result is a frustrating art project thats intentionally off-putting. All that said: The movie is not without its charms it looks great, it has Soderberghs famously cracked sense of humor and it is never, ever dull and it certainly has value for the Soderbergh completist, particularly for those fascinated by his early, enfant terrible period. Good luck finding it, though: The film was never released on DVD in the United States and the rights themselves have reverted back to Soderbergh, who vows hell someday recut and re-release it. For now, though: The best you can do are old grainy YouTube videos. Even at the time, no one really bought Soderberghs insistence that he would retire from filmmaking after Side Effects. Nevertheless, this twisty thriller certainly suggested a director who needed to recharge his batteries. Theres no questioning his confidence behind the camera as he tells the story (we think) of a dangerously depressed Manhattan wife (Rooney Mara) a setup that soon gets thrown out the window after a violent act recalibrates what genre of film were watching. Side Effects brazenly pushes plausibility to its breaking point, making room for lesbian subplots and characters who are so diabolically ruthless that they barely seem human. A game ensemble, including Channing Tatum, Jude Law, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, is clearly up for anything Soderbergh dishes out. But ultimately, Side Effects feels a bit too mechanical, a bit too amused with its own intrigue, to feel like the proper sendoff. Thank goodness it wasnt. It is bizarre that Soderberghs two films with Meryl Streep famously one of the most focused, devoted actresses in the history of the medium both feel a little slapdash and half-hearted. Maybe thats why Streep wanted to work with Soderbergh in the first place? To chill out a little bit? This, the story of a famous novelist (Streep) who takes a cruise to accept an award in England with her two college best friends (Dianne Weist and Candice Bergen) and her nephew (Lucas Hedges), is the better of their two collaborations, but its still awkward and fumbling. The movie was reportedly improvised heavily, and the scenes where the actors just relax with each other and banter are charming and compelling. Unfortunately, every time the plot comes in especially during an out-of-nowhere last-act twist the movie grinds to a halt. A documentary of Streep, her co-stars, and Soderbergh just hanging out on a boat might have been more absorbing, and probably would have had more forward momentum. This is mostly an odd trifle that, frankly, both of Streep and Soderbergh are better than. 26. Solaris (2002) To those who accuse Soderbergh of just being a cold-hearted technician, his remake of Solaris stands as a strong rebuke. Outwardly glassy but mournful on the inside, the film is a fairly overt expression of grief one thats even more acute coming out just a year after 9/11. Based on the Stanislaw Lem novel that also inspired Andrei Tarkovskys towering 1972 film, this new Solaris starred George Clooney as Chris Kelvin, a psychiatrist who travels to a remote space station orbiting the planet Solaris. Once he arrives, however, hes greeted by Rheya (Natascha McElhone), his dead wife who suddenly seems very much alive. Those familiar with the source material or Tarkovskys film know where Soderberghs reinterpretation is going. Still, the directors focus on Kelvins emotional struggle how can he let go of a woman who killed herself when she literally wont leave him alone? gives the film a haunting elegance. A commercial dud thats ripe for reappraisal Moonlight filmmaker Barry Jenkins is a big fan Solaris remains an interesting digression in the Soderbergh oeuvre thats worth a second look, even if its trapped in the shadow of Tarkovskys grander, greater film. 25. Bubble (2006) Another of Soderberghs experiments you admire and respect more than you actually enjoy watching, Bubble drew most of its headlines for its insane-for-2006 release strategy, opening in theaters and on DVD and on-demand simultaneously. A decade away from that, its a moderately interesting exercise that word again that gives Soderbergh a chance to cobble together a story about the working class and the rage that lurks beneath, using non-professional actors and mostly improvised dialogue. There are some standout moments, and Soderbergh, curiously, shoots the movie in as straightforward and linear a fashion as hes ever shot anything. But for all the authenticity the non-actor cast brings, they (and the dialogue) are so stilted that it cant help but leave you on the outside looking in. Still, Soderberghs inherent empathy with his characters, and this setting, sticks with you, even if this still ranks as yet another Soderbergh doodle. 24. Schizopolis (1996) Soderberghs big reset the whacked-out, crazy-ass indie that he made so weird and self-referential that it seemed to make sense only to him Schizopolis is still pleasantly incomprehensible today, the gonzo button Soderbergh needed to push to get himself back on track after his struggles following the Sex, Lies, and Videotape breakthrough. Soderbergh himself plays a man named Fletcher Munson, while his then-wife Betsy Brantley plays his wife. They appear to be going through a protracted breakup on screen through empty, flat dialogue and relentless monotony. The film is so strange that its sort of irresistible, if impenetrable. If Soderbergh needed to make it to get on with his life, good for him, and good for us. Plus: If Soderbergh ever decides to retire again, he definitely has a career in Funny Mirror Faces. 23. Grays Anatomy (1996) The final Spalding Gray monologue film is the most visually interesting of any of them Soderbergh seems to have a mindmeld with Gray, and Soderbergh would later work on another documentary about him after he died but, unfortunately, its perhaps the least interesting of all of Grays works. Its still smart and funny and sad in the way that Gray was, but it feels more peripheral: An entertaining work, but a minor one. This was still Soderbergh in Schizopolis mode, trying out a bunch of strange things and seeing how they turn out. In a way, he brought his A-game more than Gray did. Traffic for the Outbreak crowd, Contagion is uniquely suited to Soderberghs sober, meticulous approach. A straightforward study of how a killer virus would eradicate the human race, the movie has little of the hysteria or cheesy emotional moments of other disaster films. Instead, Contagion is a fascinating examination of process how health officials try to combat the disease and how civilization starts to implode once it becomes clear that all hope is lost. Goosed along by Cliff Martinezs ghostly electronic score, Soderbergh taps into our collective inner hypochondriac, making every characters sniffle or rubbed eye bristle with potential danger. What keeps the film from placing higher on our list, however, is that for all its queasy atmosphere, Contagion suffers when it tries to flesh out its characters. Jude Laws truther journalist is a drip, and Matt Damons uber-decent family man doesnt have enough dimension to be the emotional center of this globe-trotting ensemble thriller. Soderberghs second post-retirement film is, like Logan Lucky, a fun little exercise made by a guy who hasnt just said goodbye to the studio system but also the demands of living up to anyones lofty expectations of him being a revered, world-class auteur. With its nods to Shock Corridor and One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, Unsane is a punkish thriller about a young woman named Sawyer (Claire Foy) held against her will in a mental institution, confronting the fact that her stalker (a wonderfully creepy Joshua Leonard) may or may not be one of the nurses. Soderbergh nods to the #MeToo movement Sawyer just wants to be believed, but no one will listen to her while underlining the claustrophobic dread by shooting on an iPhone 7 Plus, which gives the images a sickly distortion. The movie may be a bit cavalier in its expert execution and pulpy plot twists, but Unsanes brazen disreputability ends up being a feature, not a bug. Like Sawyer, were never quite sure whats coming at us next. 20. Behind the Candelabra (2013) Soderbergh hasnt made a lot of love stories, which is one reason why this HBO film it got a theatrical release outside the U.S. is so noteworthy. Based on Scott Thorsons memoir of his time as Liberaces boyfriend, Behind the Candelabra is also one of the infamously cerebral filmmakers warmest movies, showing how the aspiring veterinarian (Matt Damon) came into the orbit of the famously flamboyant performer (Michael Douglas). On its face, this could easily be a campy hoot, but Soderbergh and his two stars invest real feeling into this relationship in particular, what drew Thorson to this much-older man. (Damon brings such sincerity and sweetness to the role that its a perfect counterbalance to his duplicitous turn in another Soderbergh effort, The Informant!) For a director who relishes the quirky and the peculiar, Soderbergh is refreshingly kind in Behind the Candelabra, understanding that these mismatched lovers probably wont find their happy ending. But just as Douglas gives us a nuanced Liberace, so too does Soderbergh pinpoint the insecurity, loneliness and vivid affection that bonded the pianist and his paramour. 19. No Sudden Move (2021) This crime film is a lot less fun than what youd expect from Soderbergh. It doesnt have the kicky pleasure of the Oceans flicks or the serene, sexy flair of Out of Sight. But this more muted tone is appropriate for a grim, gripping story of desperate crooks just trying to get by and a plot in which the deck is ultimately stacked against our antiheroes. Don Cheadle and Benicio del Toro are both quite good as part of a team thats tasked with stealing a secret document, setting the stage for a drama involving gangsters, faithless lovers, and white-collar crooks. No Sudden Move is set in Detroit in 1954, and Soderbergh invites you to savor every bit of period detail all so he can hit you with some social commentary about racism and plutocracy. This movie feels destined to be underrated in the mans canon: Its not as distinctive as his absolute best films, but its got its share of cool little digressions and stylistic quirks. 18. High Flying Bird (2019) Shot in down-and-dirty Soderbergh fashion, this time entirely with an iPhone, High Flying Bird is basketball film with no actual basketball in it: It follows an NBA agent (Andre Holland) navigating a lockout while he both tries both to get his star rookie point guard paid and to change the entire financial structure of the sport. At its best, it feels like a sneaky Soderbergh heist film: Theres a great moment when we realize, in flashback, what our hero was up to all along. The movie gets a little bogged down in its plot the agents backstory is a bit labored, and as great as she is, Zazie Beetzs character isnt given enough to do but there is something radical and revolutionary about what Soderbergh and screenwriter Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight) are up to here. This is the only youll see in which the big reveal concerns an obscure civil rights book thats more than 50 years old. Everyones least favorite Oceans movie is better than its given credit for, and it might just be the most Soderbergh-playful: The scene where Bruce Willis thinks the character Julia Roberts is playing is actually Julia Roberts is straight out of the Soderbergh meta playbook. (Not surprisingly, Soderbergh considers this his favorite Oceans film.) The plots a little too twisty, though, particularly with a final act turn that sort of makes the rest of the movie pointless. Still: These movies, all three of them, remain compulsively watchable. Soderbergh squeezes out one last ounce of fun from the series in this finale, which drops Julia Roberts but adds a gloriously sleazy Al Pacino as a Steve Wynn-type who might actually be the best villain of the entire series. (Inevitably, Andy Garcias Terry Benedict is now on their side.) The movie is tighter, and a little less meta than the last film, to its credit, as if Soderbergh heard the criticisms and decided to just go pure popcorn. The Ellen Barkin/Rusty Ryan story still doesnt work, but its a fitting, pleasant conclusion. 15. And Everything Is Going Fine (2010) Soderberghs posthumous tribute to Spalding Gray, made six years after his death, is another Soderbergh experiment, a documentary that has no narration or interviews. Instead, Soderbergh just worked with existing footage Grays footage to try and cobble together the life story of one of his heroes. The whole thing works magnificently, allowing Gray to essentially be his own eulogist. In a way, it feels like more of a Spalding Gray movie than the Spalding Gray movie Soderbergh actually made. 14. Kimi (2022) It was inevitable that a filmmaker as nimble and fly-by-night as Soderbergh would want to do a pandemic movie: yet another fun challenge he can experiment with. This story about an agoraphobe (a smart, focused Zoe Kravitz) who, while working as an audio consultant for an Amazon-like tech firm, may have stumbled across evidence of a murder is light on its feet and clever; the pivot in its second half into more of a straightforward action movie/thriller is done ably and with considerable wit. (Chekov never had a nail gun in one of his plays, but if he had, this is how he would have done it.) Soderbergh can dash off these relatively minor straight-to-streaming one-offs with relative ease these days, but dont confuse that ease with a lack of quality: Everythings done better, and sharper, than just about anyone else would do it. And kudos to yet another superb Cliff Martinez score. A movie about a seemingly unstoppable government operative, Haywire was actually born out of defeat. Soderbergh had just parted ways with Sony over its adaptation of Moneyball, and in the midst of his funk, the dejected director happened to catch MMA fighter Gina Carano on TV. She had just lost her last [most recent] fight, he later explained, so it seemed like a good time for the two of us to get into a room, me having been fired and her having been beaten. Out of that came a delightfully intense, stripped-down action-thriller in which Caranos Mallory Kane gets double-crossed in Dublin, barely makes it out alive, and then spends the rest of the movie finding out who betrayed her. Haywire is quintessential Soderbergh during his Wouldnt it be fun if I tried this? period, picking a non-professional as his lead Carano did her own stunts and bringing his considered, brainy tone to the action genre. The result is a movie that goes off like a firecracker and has as little lasting impact. But, cmon, the plot and emotional oomph dont much matter: Its the sheer thrill of expertly choreographed up-close-and-personal fight scenes that goose the viewer along from sequence to sequence. 12. King of the Hill (1993) At the time, this Depression-era coming-of-age tale, based on A. E. Hotchners memoir, was greeted with acclaim but, also, a huge sigh of relief. After the promise of Sex, Lies, and Videotape and the subsequent debacle of Kafka Soderbergh fans were just grateful that their faith hadnt been misplaced and that he wasnt a one-hit wonder. Fairly conventional by his standards, King of the Hill is nonetheless a very affecting look at a young St. Louis boy (newcomer Jesse Bradford) whos on his own after his mother is sent to the hospital for tuberculosis, his brother is shipped off to live with his aunt, and his father takes a job as a traveling salesman. Soderbergh and cinematographer Elliot Davis give this period drama a nostalgic glow, but thats a bit of a feint: King of the Hill may look warm and wistful, but its story is actually rather unsentimental about the ways that the adult world can look positively frightening to kids especially when its thrust upon them way too early in their lives. The movie was also a launching pad for Adrien Brody as our heros older buddy, and the cast includes future stars like Amber Benson, Katherine Heigl, and Lauryn Hill. King of the Hill was the first and only time Soderbergh would base a narrative around a childs perspective but its far too intelligent and nuanced to be thought of as just a kids movie. 11. Logan Lucky (2017) Soderberghs first film since his retirement feels like an old ballplayer stepping into the batting cage just to take a few practice swings, then proceeding to knock every pitch out of the park. A newscast in this film refers to Logan Luckys heist as Oceans 7-11, and while you smile at the meta joke, the film earns the comparison. Soderbergh has fun with his West Virginia redneck characters, but the joke is never on them: Theyre all smarter and more on top of everything than anyone including, at times, the audience might give them credit for. Soderbergh has said he no longer wants to make prestige pictures, and instead just wants as many people to see and enjoy his movies as possible. If thats the next step in his career, he is off to a fantastic start. 10. Che (2008) The movie that drove Soderbergh crazy he still talks today about how much the film burned him out turned out to be worth all the trouble. Shown often in two parts, but shown gloriously as a piece in festival screenings, Che features Benicio Del Toros most lived in, deeply felt, gimmick-free performance as the rebel who is neither lionized nor demonized by Soderbergh. The first half is maybe a little stronger than the second, but the whole thing holds up well. Soderbergh, for his own mental health, may never make another movie like it, but this is Soderbergh working on a vaster canvas with equal mastery. 9. The Limey (1999) Soderbergh is in pure gritty crime mode with this almost-too-hip-for-any-room thriller about an English father (Terence Stamp) coming to America to track down the people who murdered his daughter. Soderbergh raises the level of difficulty here by having flashback sequences feature a young Stamp from the 1967 film Poor Cow, but the real star is 1999 Stamp, who is all snarl and righteous menace as the former hitman bent on revenge. The movie is more style than substance, but heavens, what style. In a career of left turns, Soderberghs interest in telling a fictionalized version of Channing Tatums pre-Hollywood life as a male stripper stands among his oddest digressions. And yet, Magic Mike is pure pleasure albeit pleasure flecked with melancholy recognition that its aging main character cant keep doing this forever. Tatum is Mike, the top draw at the Xquisite, a strip club run by the grandiose Dallas (Matthew McConaughey). Mike likes the attention he gets from the ladies and he especially likes the money but he dreams of walking away from the business and doing something respectable, like selling custom-made furniture. Magic Mike has the intoxicating rush of a Scorsese film as Mike and his cohorts live it up as the kings of Tampa but like in a Scorsese film eventually drugs, egos and money ruin everything. Soderbergh is amused by this quirky little subculture, but theres also a lot of compassion for Mike, a hunky Peter Pan on the cusp of growing up. McConaughey has never been better, while Tatum demonstrated that he had the sex appeal, depth, and understated comic timing to be more than just the Step Up heartthrob. As an added bonus, Magic Mike ended up being one of Soderberghs biggest hits maybe not as slick as the Oceans movies, but certainly more touching. 7. The Girlfriend Experience (2009) A film shot during the build-up to the 2008 presidential election not to mention the global financial meltdown Soderberghs character study received a lot of attention initially because of its supposedly gimmicky casting of adult film star Sasha Grey as a high-class Manhattan escort. Seen now, though, The Girlfriend Experience is a perfect encapsulation of what life felt like as the fate of the worlds economy hung in the balance. The movie is all about transactions mostly between Greys chilly Christine and her rich clients and both the audience and the characters are keenly aware of how money impacts every decision, whether its in a romantic relationship or regarding career choices. Grey may be a limited dramatic actress, but she ably conveys a character who has learned to turn herself into an emptied-out plaything for her customers its an apt metaphor for a culture in which everyone is either a buyer or a seller. 6. Erin Brockovich (2000) The most rousing, most conventional crowd-pleaser Soderbergh will ever make. But its striking how much this still feels like a Soderbergh film. It has his smart, confident touch, its rousing without lapsing into sentimentality and, showing off perhaps Soderberghs most underrated trait, it points a camera at a movie star and lets them movie star their ass off. Youve seen this sort of movie a thousand times, but Soderbergh makes it all seem new. And when it doubt, he just puts Julia Roberts and Albert Finney in a room and lets them take over. For such an independently minded director, Soderbergh is sometimes at his best when he is in pure Hollywood mode. 5. The Informant! (2009) For as much as Soderbergh has been credited with helping to elevate George Clooneys film career creating the right platform for his suave, slightly smirking silver-screen persona not enough has been said about the rapport hes had with Clooneys Oceans costar. Matt Damon has done some of his funniest, most exciting work in Soderberghs films lets take a moment to recall how great he is as the kept man in Behind the Candelabra but the apex of their partnership has to be The Informant! Lots of Soderbergh films involve cons, but the most intricate happens here: The true-life story of Central Illinois executive Mark Whitacre (Damon) is nothing less than the tale of a man whose entire life is an artful lie hes constructing for the world and for you, the audience. Brilliantly playing with the concept of the unreliable narrator, The Informant! could be Soderberghs The King of Comedy, as Marks friendly voiceover slowly starts to reveal the depth of the mans mental deterioration its an entire movie dedicated to probing the agony behind a liars peppy smile. Between its faux-cheery Marvin Hamlisch score and Soderberghs seemingly counterintuitive use of stand-up comics in serious supporting roles, The Informant! constantly flaunts its phoniness, which ends up being a perfect way to critique the storys theme of the lengths ordinary people will go to construct new, better versions of themselves. 4. Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989) Its no insult to say that, in the years since Sex, Lies, and Videotape first hit theaters, Soderbergh has rarely topped it even as his style has evolved and his technique only grown more dazzling and inventive. In truth, his debut is the very model of the Stunning First Feature, a groundbreaking planting of the flag that instantly cements a filmmakers name. The story behind Sex, Lies creation is now legend: A then-twentysomething unknown, Soderbergh wrote the script in eight days, inspired by the ugly end of a relationship. I cut myself in quarters, he would later say, meaning that the films four principal characters contained different parts of him. As such, Sex, Lies is an exquisite study of a married couple (Peter Gallagher and Andie MacDowell) whose sex life is on the blink. Hes having an affair with his wifes sister (Laura San Giacomo) when his old college chum (James Spader) comes to town, advocating a belief that talking about sex is actually more satisfying than the physical act. Famously winning the Palme dOr at Cannes over Spike Lees equally skilled Do the Right Thing, Soderberghs film now plays as a warning for a narcissistic society that soon would become more fascinated in documenting itself than in experiencing real life. In retrospect, Sex, Lies is one of the most straightforward things hes ever done and still one of the most insightful about peoples need to deceive and be deceived. 3. Oceans Eleven (2001) Before he began production on his remake of the forgotten, Rat Pack-infused tale of some swingin Vegas crooks, Soderbergh referred to the project as a wind-up toy. Theres no more fitting description of this ace piece of star-powered studio moviemaking. No one had any right to expect much of this new Oceans Eleven, which on paper looked like a smug cavalcade of Hollywood royalty slumming their way through an ultra-stylish crime caper. And yet, the film stands as Soderberghs peak as a super-confident, give-em-a-show director. The man doesnt entirely put away his auteurist idiosyncrasies, but here he allows his formidable skill with suspense, misdirection, and clockwork storytelling to take the lead. You dont need a plot recap the damn movies probably on cable right now but lets take a moment to remember how impossibly fun the whole enterprise was. Clooney finally wearing the Cary Grant comparisons as comfortably as he fills out that tux. Brad Pitt tapping into the goofball antics of his early career to play a cool guy whos also a bit of a lovable dope. Matt Damon happily serving the Ringo Starr/younger brother role alongside his older costars. Andy Garcia at last getting the elegant villain role hes always deserved. Revered icons Carl Reiner and Elliott Gould having an absolute ball. As for newcomer Julia Roberts, she shows a lot of promise mark our words, shes got star written all over her. 2. Traffic (2000) Screenwriter Stephen Gaghan, a former addict, wanted to tell a story about the War on Drugs, but he was stuck after months of research and interviews. Then, he met Soderbergh, who was also interested in making something about the War on Drugs, suggesting the writer take a look at a British series called Traffik. From there came Traffic, which demonstrated the directors talent for multi-pronged narratives that are both thrilling and thematically rich. This award-winning drama doesnt pretend to have any answers, but its an exceedingly sober and intelligent look into how this unwinnable, maddening conflict ensnares so many lives and cuts across class and cultural barriers. Benicio Del Toro took home the Oscar for his role as a smart, savvy Mexican cop, but the film is the high-water mark for several of its actors, including Don Cheadle as a blase DEA agent, Catherine Zeta-Jones as a kingpins wife suddenly thrust into a power position, and Michael Douglas as a judge who quickly learns how little he knows about Americas drug problem. The opposite of a message movie, Traffic is shot through with Soderberghs trademark detachment, which makes its chronicling of wasted lives and the endless hamster wheel of inefficient law enforcement all the more despairing. 1. Out of Sight (1999) The film that announced Soderbergh as a top-shelf director of off-kilter-but-still-mainstream talent, and, notably, the first film that unlocked the cinematic charm of George Clooney (remember The Peacemaker?), Out of Sight manages to feel like a 70s crime flick, a hip citizen of Tarantino-land and a classic 50s dames-and-fellas fedora thriller all at once. Soderbergh minces and matches genre here, but does it effortlessly so effortlessly youll never notice. And the hotel room scene remains a standard for movie sensuality still today. Hed swing bigger both before and after this movie, but this remains the one he got exactly right. Grierson & Leitch write about the movies regularly and host a podcast on film. Follow them on Twitter or visit their site. Ruffalo leading a protest last January. Photo: D Dipasupil/Getty Images Mark Ruffalo and Michael Moore teamed up on Tuesday night in New York to co-host a vigil for Heather Heyer, the woman who was killed by a car during a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville last weekend. The event brought crowds of protestors to the steps of Trump Tower, Donald Trumps Manhattan residence where he is currently staying, to remember Heyers life and to decry the presidents response to the violence. Were here today to commemorate a life of an American that was killed by a Nazi on American soil, Ruffalo said during his opening statement. Lets say her name so Donald Trump can hear whats happened here. Moore brought many of the protestors on a charter bus straight from his Broadway solo show/pep rally The Terms of My Surrender, and encouraged other audience members to walk the few blocks from the Belasco Theatre to the skyscraper. According to Variety, Ruffalo had been a special guest performer during the evenings performance. Ruffalo also responded to Trumps assertion that there was violence on many sides of the Charlottesville protest. Theres two sides to this: People who fight Nazis and Nazis, Ruffalo said. Thats it. We cant allow Nazis to be a normal part of our society. We have to fight. Gallagher. Photo: Kieran Frost/Redferns Four months after a terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena left 22 people dead, the venue is set to reopen next month. Manchester Arena will be back for business on September 9 starting with a benefit concert headlined by hometown fave Noel Gallagher, whose Oasis song Dont Look Back in Anger became an anthem for the city following the attack. (His brother, Liam, put on a local benefit of his own in the wake of the attack, and later berated Noel for not performing with him at Grandes benefit show.) Noel will perform with his High Flying Birds band and will be joined by British bands the Courteeners and Blossoms, poet Tony Walsh (who did a reading of his poem This Is the Place at the vigil), and none other than the Rick Astley, with more guests to be announced. The show is titled We Are Manchester and all proceeds will go toward building a permanent memorial to the victims of the attack. On Tuesday, it was announced that the families of the victims will each receive $324,000 from the money raised by Grandes benefit concert. The McLennan County Republican Club will meet at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at Knox Hall in the Texas Ranger Museum, 100 Texas Ranger Trail. State Sen. Brian Birdwell and state Reps. Doc Anderson and Kyle Kacal will give legislative updates. Cost is $12. Rapoport parents session Rapoport Academy Public School, 1020 Elm Ave., will have an informal session for parents and prospective students at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. For more information, call 218-9367. 4-H enrollment Enrollment for 4-H is open in McLennan County. For more information, contact the McLennan County AgriLife Extension office at 757-5180. Grief Share Grief Share, a support group for adults grieving the death of a loved one, starts its next 13-week program Wednesday. Meetings will continue from 1 to 3 p.m. on Wednesdays through Nov. 8 at Fellowship Bible Church, 5200 Speegleville Road, off Highway 84. Each session has a video seminar and support group activities. The Workbook for Grief Share costs $15. For questions, call 848-7200 and ask for a Grief Share facilitator to call back. Flat Rock Road closure Flat Rock Road will be closed to through traffic from China Spring Highway to Pioneer Parkway through Tuesday to allow for the road to be rebuilt. Private property owners will be able to access their property, and China Spring Highway will remain open. Voter registration Voter registration will be held at the East Waco Library, 901 Elm Ave., from 10:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday. Registrants must be U.S. citizens and at least 17 years, 10 months old at the time of registration. For more information, call 644-3267. A former member of the Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets filed a federal Title IX lawsuit Tuesday against the university, alleging A&M officials violated his due-process rights by showing a male gender bias. The former student, identified in the 47-page petition as John Doe, is seeking unspecified damages from the university and nine university officials named as defendants. The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in Houston by Waco attorney Michelle Tuegel and New York attorney Andrew Miltenberg, who both have represented scores of male students accused of sexual wrongdoing on college campuses. The suit claims that the student, a native of Akron, Ohio, who grew up in Richmond, Virginia, was wrongfully accused of sexual misconduct by a female member of the Corps of Cadets and that the Title IX investigative process took place while Doe was hospitalized for treatment of depression without giving him an adequate chance to defend himself. A university spokesman declined comment Tuesday, saying university officials had not seen the lawsuit and generally do not comment on pending litigation. After he was falsely accused of sexual misconduct, this young man suffered severe depression and anxiety resulting in his hospitalization and subsequent admittance to a mental facility, Miltenberg said in a statement. Yet, the administrators at TAMU showing callous disregard for his well-being and rights to due process moved forward with a biased hearing and presumption of guilt, providing him with no opportunity to defend himself from these false claims. The lawsuit includes references to the sexual-assault scandal at Baylor University, saying that controversy, which has resulted in six Title IX lawsuits against Baylor involving 16 plaintiffs, created a chilling effect among other universities, particularly nearby schools. Three of the Title IX lawsuits against Baylor have been settled, and three sexual assault victims settled claims with Baylor before lawsuits were filed. TAMU, therefore, was reasonably aware that the situation at Baylor had shined a light on other schools for their handling of sexual assault cases and had the potential to produce negative publicity for TAMU, the lawsuit states. In response to pressure from OCR (Office for Civil Rights), DOJ (Department of Justice) and the Obama Administration, educational institutions, like defendant TAMU, which also faced negative publicity in the wake of the Baylor investigation, have limited the procedural protections afforded to male students, like John Doe, in sexual misconduct cases. According to the complaint, Does accuser, identified as Jane Doe, had been accused before of sexual misconduct by a male student. However, while John Doe was removed from campus housing and extracurricular activities during the disciplinary process, she was able to remain in her dorm and activities while claims against her were being investigated. The lawsuit contends the sexual contact between John Doe and Jane Doe was initiated by Jane Doe and was consensual. John Doe knew nothing about a complaint until he received a letter ordering him to stay away from her. John Doe was suspended from A&M for more than a year and dismissed from the Corp of Cadets after being found responsible for all four charges, including sexual contact, sexual abuse, dating violence and conduct unbecoming a cadet. By contrast, TAMU assigned Jane Doe and her accuser 50/50 responsibility, and Jane Doe received no sanctions, the lawsuit alleges. The suit claims the university came to its conclusions against John Doe without a basis, rationale, evidentiary support, or the opportunity to defend himself. The stark difference in the procedures and sanctions implemented in the investigations of John Doe and Jane Doe point to a blatant male gender bias at TAMU, Tuegel said. The anti-male discriminatory bias in the TAMU process is a clear violation of Title IX and the 14th Amendment requirement for procedural due process. McLennan County, state and federal authorities are investigating a former nurse from McGregor, who authorities say wrote threatening letters to two judges and his former attorneys. Scott Eldred Coalwell, 45, who is serving a six-year prison sentence for stalking a man in San Antonio, was transferred to the McLennan County Jail recently after state prison officials intercepted letters from Coalwell that they say threatened 19th State District Judge Ralph Strother and Waco attorney Darren Obenoskey. Strother placed Coalwell on deferred probation in 2015 after Coalwell pleaded guilty to online solicitation of a minor. Obenoskey was his attorney. Since the threatening letters were intercepted, McLennan County prosecutors filed a motion in July to adjudicate Coalwells guilty plea or to essentially revoke his probation in the online solicitation case. Included in the motion to adjudicate guilt are the allegations of the threatening letters and charges that Coalwell failed to pay a variety of court-related fees, fines and other costs. A hearing on the motion is set for Sept. 11. Strother has recused himself from hearing the case because of the threatening letters. The judge declined comment on the matter. In a letter to Strother, Coalwell says the judge never so much as had the common decency to reply to other letters he wrote him shortly after he was placed on probation. He said a federal marshal explained to him that Strother probably never saw the letters, but his staff receives them. So it was not supposed that you ignore me on purpose, but your court does. Its all the same to you, but with me it makes me count you and your staff as my enemy, the letter states. Its not easy for me to put someone on my enemy list. You have to be pretty offensive before I even think that way. He said he wanted Strother to know of his new status on his enemy list, which he said goes back 25 years. Nothing will happen to my enemies until I dont care about anything, Coalwell wrote. Then it will get messy and personal. It doesnt get more personal then. I am making plans on seeing you again, as soon as I am able. Because I have learned one thing. Nobody will do anything about my charge unless I violate the terms of my probation, the letter states. The letter continues, predicting that Coalwells case will be dismissed. He said he will then tally up the judges debt and estimates he will owe him for at least three years plus damages. Dont worry. I wont try to drag you back into your arena. I will see you in my arena, the letter says. Obenoskey said San Antonio officials, including the U.S. Marshals Service, also are investigating Coalwell after a judge and Coalwells attorney in San Antonio also received threatening letters from Coalwell while he was in prison. Coalwell was sentenced to six years in prison in 2016 after he sent multiple threatening text messages to a man in San Antonio who Coalwell thought stole household items from him. Obenoskey said Coalwell made arrangements to work as a contract nurse in Afghanistan and gave many of his belongings away to the man in San Antonio. The job fell through and Coalwell demanded the man return the items, but the man refused, Obenoskey said. That conflict produced the stalking conviction. Obenoskey said he made Coalwells enemies list because Coalwell thinks Obenoskey should have gotten his case dismissed, despite Coalwells decision to plead guilty to the charge. Coalwells letters wouldnt have concerned Obenoskey that much, he said, until the most-recent letter in April mentioned the attorneys family. I know he is not out right now, so I am not too concerned, Obenoskey said. If he was out, I might be more concerned. Waco ISD dropped from seven campuses on the states improvement-required list last year, to six this year. All six campuses remaining on the list have failed standards for at least three years in a row, and the districts new Superintendent A. Marcus Nelson said he plans to change that for the better. Overall, Waco ISD met state standards for all four indexes student achievement, student progress, closing performance gaps and post-secondary readiness, according to preliminary State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness accountability reports released Tuesday morning by the Texas Education Agency. Thats an improvement from last year, when the district didnt meet student achievement standards. The scores were released the same day as the districts annual convocation ceremony at the Waco Convention Center to kick off the start of the new school year. Classes start Thursday. Though there wasnt much improvement from last year, the timing for the ratings release couldnt have been better for the districts efforts to start changing perceptions, Nelson said. He started in June and told more than 2,300 employees during his convocation speech that the 2017-2018 school year will be Waco ISDs finest hour. He came from Laredo ISD, a larger district that also has a higher percentage of students who are economically disadvantaged than Waco ISD. In his last year with Laredo ISD, none of the campuses were on the improvement required list. Im coming in with a lot of new innovation, things that are just in my tool box, Nelson said. But I also wanted to really celebrate the staff thats been here and show that its not some silver bullet, its not some pill. Its the same people, were just using them differently. Youve got to stay steadfast in your message, no matter how rocky the waves get. When you get a headline that says, 6 IR campuses, you still have to say were improving. And if you really look at our data, you see pockets of excellence where we clearly have improved. Were trying to celebrate that and highlight our positives because its easy to see our negatives. This will be the sixth consecutive year on the improvement-required list for J.H. Hines Elementary School and Brook Avenue Elementary School; the fifth consecutive year for Alta Vista Elementary School, G.W. Carver Middle School and Indian Spring Middle School; and the third consecutive year for Crestview Elementary School, according to TEA documents. The six campuses have turnaround plans in place, which are likely to be updated to address continued deficiencies, TEA spokesperson DeEtta Culbertson said Tuesday afternoon. The state will send the district more information on the improvement-required campuses in the coming weeks, Culbertson said. Brazos High School, an alternative credit-recovery campus, landed on the improvement required list for the first time last year. It ranked as met alternative standard this year, according to TEA reports. Nelson said he is already making major changes to how the district handles school improvement and standardized testing. In the last 30 days, he has restructured his central administration leaders and divided curriculum responsibilities, previously handled by one person, between three employees. We have way too many campuses that are improvement required. A community this size should have zero improvement required campuses, Nelson said after convocation. We have a lot of work to do, and make no mistake about it, that will be difficult. But weve set the stage to give better effort, to plan better and really make this an issue of us doing what we need to do for our kids. The curriculum responsibilities will be divided between an administrator overseeing elementary curriculum, one overseeing secondary curriculum and one overseeing improvement-required campuses, Nelson said. Yolanda Williams, who served as the districts elementary education assistant superintendent last year, will fill the role of assistant superintendent of school improvement this year. Were working closely with the principals and the campus leadership teams in order to provide support for the teachers to ensure we give good, quality instruction, and those classrooms to provide any additional resources they need to ensure they are successful, Williams said. Waco ISD earned 13 academic distinction designations this year, compared to 22 last year, according to the results released Tuesday. Though the number of distinctions has fallen, Nelson said its still a reason to be proud. Tennyson Middle School got a distinction in just about everything you can get. That says something about whats happening at that school, Nelson said. And for the record, most of our improvement-required schools showed improvement, and theyre close. If we can go from six to zero in one year, then I think thats special, and thats where were headed. Connally ISD is the only other district in McLennan County with a campus on the improvement-required list. Nearby, in Falls County, Marlin ISD once again failed districtwide accountability ratings, with just one campus meeting standards. The Waco SWAT officer who was severely injured in a confrontation that led to the shooting death of a drug suspect earlier this month is returning home after two weeks of recovery in the hospital, police officials announced Wednesday. Waco police Officer William Graeber, who has been with the department eight years, released a statement with the Waco Police Department saying he and his family appreciate the ongoing support they have received. He suffered broken ribs, a broken pelvis, a broken collarbone, a collapsed lung, burns and a concussion. "We wanted to share with everyone that we are home from the hospital and are beginning the process of outpatient recovery," Graeber wrote in the press release. "We will never be able to properly give our thanks to everyone who supported us through this difficult time. We are proud to call this community home, and I look forward to serving it for the rest of my career." Graeber was pinned under a GMC Yukon on Aug. 1 after officers stopped Kerry Bradley, 37, outside his residence, where they planned to serve search warrants in a drug investigation, officials said. Police said Bradley intentionally struck Graeber in an attempt to escape and pinned the officer under the vehicle before police shot and killed Bradley near the intersection of 23rd Street and Olive Avenue. Bradley's family has called for an independent investigation and claimed to have evidence police shot Bradley before Graeber was hit. The family said police fired 37 shots, striking Bradley 22 times. Family members and supporters also demonstrated during Tuesday night's Waco City Council meeting. Waco police Sgt. W. Patrick Swanton said an internal police investigation remains ongoing alongside a Texas Rangers investigation. Family wants answers in fatal police shooting The family of a Waco man who was shot and killed by Waco police last week as they tried to s VIDEO: Protesters disrupt Waco council meeting over deadly police encounter A crowd protesting the Aug. 1 police shooting of Kerry Demars Bradley shut down the Waco Cit Consuelo Romero Cantu, age 95, was surrounded by her family when she went to her heavenly home to be with her Lord on Saturday, August 12, 2017, in San Antonio, Texas. Funeral service will be at 10:00 a.m., Friday. August 18, at Connally Compton. Interment follows at Oakwood Cemetery. Family will receive friends from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., Thursday, August 17, at Connally Compton Funeral Directors. While President Trump played it safe in how he condemned Saturdays violence at a Charlottesville rally of white supremacists protesting removal of a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee, commander of rebel forces in the Civil War, Sen. Ted Cruz didnt spare the rod. The Texas Republican blasted certain elements of the melee for what they are: a clear affront to American values. The Nazis, the KKK and white supremacists are repulsive and evil and all of us have a moral obligation to speak out against the lies, bigotry, anti-Semitism and hatred that they propagate, Cruz said in a statement. Having watched the horrifying video of the car deliberately crashing into a crowd of protesters, I urge the Department of Justice to immediately investigate and prosecute this grotesque act of domestic terrorism. These bigots want to tear our country apart, but they will fail. America is far better than this. Our nation was built on fundamental truths, none more central than the proposition that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Given that Cruz and fellow Republicans have been slyly baiting these bigots for electoral gain for decades and with renewed vigor after the nation elected its first black president Cruzs statement is reassuring, thoroughly presidential in tone and utterly astonishing. More surprising: the backlash this staunchly conservative lawmakers statement prompted on his own Facebook page from scores and scores of Unite the Right sympathizers, including one who branded Cruz just a raging liberal. Some comments are typical of the alt-right in the Age of Trump, including alternative facts such as the claim Lee owned no slaves (easily disproved) and how the driver of the car that mowed down liberal protesters was actually a crazy liberal and Democrat Party member. Other comments included the old chestnut that the Confederacy fought for liberty and states rights rather than to keep black people enslaved for generations more for the good of the Southern economy. Yet others went after Black Lives Matter. A sampling of this outcry, lightly edited: We are saddened and disappointed every time another historical monument to our nations history is removed from sight! Does that matter to you, Ted Cruz? I, of course, would never condone violence, but how about a stop to the wiping out of any historical references that Americans fought for and died for? Obama divided us and it will take violence to overthrow the fascist left. Sad, but it is apparent that there is much more of this to come. I will be glad to see Antifa [liberal anti-fascists] and its ilk gone from the vestiges of history, only a sad footnote of hatred. Both groups are Dems. The Nazis were called National Socialist Workers Party of Germany. The right are not socialists and the anarchists definitely are, so it was two Dem groups facing off with each other. We will not surrender. What our ancestors fought for was what made us a nation. People could determine if and when a government stopped working for them. Then [Abraham] Lincoln through a facade raised an army and waged war on Americans. Anyone who thinks these statues ought to come down has very extremely lost all my confidence. That includes you, Ted. Dont make me withdraw my support of you now. We need to take up arms in defense of our heritage. Heed my words: THE SOUTH WILL RISE AGAIN! Unite the Right organizers deny any responsibility for the violence that left one counterprotester dead, 19 others hurt. Maybe. Justice certainly demands a thorough investigation of all parties. Then again, many of us also deny any responsibility for our nations reaching this sorry state: the Republicans who merrily embraced a presidential candidate who repeatedly and falsely claimed our first black president was foreign-born and thus constitutionally illegitimate; the congress that looked the other way after the Supreme Court declared race no longer the problem it once was in elections, crippling the 1965 Voting Rights Act; and state legislators (including our three) who this past session couldnt even pass a decent sanctuary cities bill without adding a toxic provision that opens up brown-skinned people in Texas to racial profiling and hinders local police chiefs from preventing it. And we cheer these leaders from safe conclaves where everybody looks alike and then deny complicity when the consequences explode. Sure, the left wants to make this all about Trump, but its far more complicated than that. He may well be pulling the strings these days, but we the puppets created the dynamics for much of the ongoing hate and anarchy tearing our country apart. They may call themselves white nationalists, but the adjective nullifies the noun. In Charlottesville, Virginia, few of them hoisted American flags. They marched under banners the United States took up arms to fight. Their stated cause was preserving a statue of a man who committed treason against our country: Robert E. Lee. Confederate flags, statuary and memorials have defenders who wish to have nothing to do with neo-Nazis or white supremacists. They say that they mean to honor the valor of Confederate soldiers rather than the cause for which they bled. Or they say that we should have visible and uncensored reminders of our history. If Lee statues go, they ask, will Monticello be next? Mount Vernon? Our national mythos has come to celebrate Thomas Jefferson less than it once did: His reputation has suffered, as it should have, as we have reckoned with slavery. We remember Jefferson the slave master; but we also remember the Declaration of Independence, the University of Virginia, a role in our national history that is not reducible to his slaveholding. Jefferson Davis, on the other hand, to this day has a highway with his name on it in Virginia because, and only because, he tried to found a nation with slavery as its cornerstone. It was not necessary to have a vicious character to fight for the Confederacy in 1861, though one is required to root for it today. Good people otherwise good people did. The time and place mitigates their guilt. But only somewhat. Ulysses Grant acknowledged that Lee had fought long and valiantly but in the same breath noted that he had suffered so much for a cause, though that cause was, I believe, one of the worst for which a people ever fought, and one for which there was the least excuse. To judge such choices with mercy is not to honor those choices. Those who defend Lee statues and worse often say they are motivated by heritage, not hate. There is no reason to doubt them. But the meaning of a public symbol is not a private possession. They may tell themselves that the statue should stay to honor Lees (allegedly) conciliatory behavior after the war. Can they really tell black people who interpret it differently who look at that statue, erected in the same period as The Birth of a Nation and the second Ku Klux Klan, and see a public display of contempt for their dignity and rights that their reaction is absurd? The marching racists were vile and stupid. But they werent crazy to treat the statue as a vestige of white supremacy. There are, as always, prudential considerations. Removing memorials will cost city governments money. The Charlottesville experience could be read either to suggest that Confederate statues must be taken down to keep white supremacists from having a rallying point or that trying to take them down gives them one. But our deliberations should not dwell too long on these cretins. The South has and deserves its pride, but it ought not center it on the most shameful moment in its history. The statues and the flags should come down. They will come down, as Southerners of all races come to see that this cause, too, is better off lost. In the Texas Legislatures summertime march to crush local governance, state Sen. Brandon Creightons bill to block removal of Confederate statues appears belly-up as the special session now seems to have ended prematurely. Filed midway through the session, it obviously sought to play to far-right passions of those who champion what others see as a treasonous rebellion bent on keeping black people in chains for generations to come. And if Creightons bill shows up again in the next legislative session either another costly special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott or the regular session of 2019 it will serve as a strong indication our state legislators have learned nothing from the deadly conflict that erupted in Charlottesville, Virginia, this past weekend. In a press statement, Sen. Creighton, a Conroe Republican reportedly troubled by discussion about removing the Sam Houston statue from Houstons Hermann Park, claimed Senate Bill 112 would protect Texas heritage and history. The legislation prevents any historical monument or statue that has existed on public grounds for more than 40 years from being removed, altered or renamed. Creighton said these statues and monuments are important to Texans: Texas should not erase history we should learn from it. We agree with Creighton but only up to a point. Monuments even those honoring men who broke their oaths and rebelled against their country to protect the institution of slavery can offer teachable moments if enlightened communities recognize their value in chronicling the broader history of our great nation, warts and all. Some communities do so. By the same token, decisions on whether such monuments should remain in communities should be left to those communities and their locally elected leaders not short-sighted legislators in far-off Austin. Can one really argue that a monument to the Confederacy should endure in, say, a predominantly African-American community whose very liberty ultimately depended on the defeat of those glorified figures? This newspaper condemns lawless actions such as the mob destruction of a statue of a Confederate soldier in North Carolina Monday. We believe communities can better address such matters through insightful, nuanced leadership sparking meaningful discussions with constituents, including thoughtful examination of Americas tortuous search for liberty and justice for all. In that sense, and only in that sense, do such Confederate monuments rate careful consideration of preservation. To our knowledge, Waco lacks any significant Confederate statues beyond historic Oakwood Cemetery and those stand over the graves of dead who served the Confederacy, then went on to other endeavors, such as Gov. Richard Coke (and his statue has suffered serious vandalism). These should be protected. Of the rest thats the province of folks who live in neighborhoods with such memorials and the individuals they elect. Incidentally, the silly campaign to remove slave-holder Sam Houston from Hermann Park turned out to be, as the Houston Chronicle noted, a farce perpetrated by an alt-right group that had borrowed [its] name from the anti-fascist group, Houston Antifa. Talk about your fake news. WAHOO Nebraska Ash Co. of Lincoln recently purchased 40 acres of land and a 44,500 square foot building just east of Wahoo with intentions to start utilizing the building by the fall. Nebraska Ash Co. President Dale Kisling said the building, built in 2008 as part of the Wahoo Ethanol project, will primarily be used for the storage of fly ash. Fly ash is a byproduct from coal-fired generator stations and will be stacked just like grain in the building, Kisling said. The fly ash stored near Wahoo will be a byproduct from coal-fired generators in Fremont and Grand Island, he added. Its a good location for our market, Kisling said. The building near the corner of county roads L and 15 will store several thousand tons of fly ash beginning this fall. Kisling said the impact on the area will be minimal, as he anticipates fewer than 10 trucks a day to haul the product in and out. Fly ash is used for concrete and soil stabilization, Kisling said. The fly ash will be moved in for storage this fall, but will move back out during the summer for construction, he said. The fly ash will be transported in enclosed tankers and they will do all the emptying and loading inside the building, Kisling said. Wahoo Zoning Administrator Travis Beavers said the area is zoned Industrial-2 and Nebraska Ashs business fits within the citys code for approved uses in that zoning district. Beavers said Nebraska Ash might be looking at a lot split and some utility work in the future. But they havent asked for anything yet, he said. The building the company will occupy was built during the first construction phases of the ethanol project. However, that company pulled out of the project and construction halted before completion. Nebraska Ash only purchased a portion of the prop- erty targeted for Wahoo Ethanol operation. A man charged over a car explosion that damaged the Australian Christian Lobby offices in Canberra's south told police he was "sorry about the mess", court documents said. The Kambah man, 36, will fight charges of arson and property damage on mental health grounds after he allegedly blew up a car packed with gas cylinders and seriously injured himself in December 2016. The Australian Christian Lobby headquarters in Deakin was gutted in the December incident. Credit:Clare Sibthorpe The man suffered serious burns in the late-night explosion. He was flown to Sydney for treatment a day after police said he had walked five kilometres to Canberra Hospital after the incident. The ACT Policing investigation was delayed while the man was treated for serious burns and a mental health condition. He was charged in April. There are still some loose ends to the Essendon supplements saga and we could see some key figures from the Bombers and the AFL back in court after a meeting on September 1. That's the whisper in this week's episode of The Age Real Footy Podcast, but we have plenty more on the agenda as well. Sam McClure is joined by Caroline Wilson and Greg Baum to talk impending changes to the AFL judiciary system, Graeme Allan's future, and the situation at Carlton as Neil Craig announces his departure. We hear about the "money men" who are dreading a grand final match-up between Adelaide and GWS, anticipate the huge Friday night clash between attacking Adelaide and suffocating Sydney and take a moment to applaud Geelong ahead of their clash with the Pies. What's the old saying about the only certainties in life are death and taxes? But this being Australia, ASX-listed funeral service provider, Invocare, thought a side bet on real estate ought to be a winner, and boy has it paid off. Invocare owns White Lady and Simplicity funerals. Credit:Rohan Thomson Costs were down, revenues up, and reported profits rocketed more than 50 per cent for the first half to $41.7 million. For once, the surprise performance boost did not come from full coffins filling the company coffers. Quite the opposite. The Barnaby Joyce citizenship crisis has sparked a diplomatic brawl between Australia and New Zealand, with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop declaring she would find it hard to trust a NZ Labour government if it had any role in trying to bring down the Turnbull government. While New Zealand's Minister of Internal Affairs Peter Dunne has confirmed it was Fairfax Media's investigation that led to the discovery of Mr Joyce's dual citizenship and the subsequent political crisis, the Turnbull government has seized on claims that an Australian Labor figure made contact with a NZ Labour MP on the issue. NZ Labour leader Jacinda Ardern confirmed on Tuesday that her frontbencher Chris Hipkins was involved. "Yes, someone from the ALP put some legal question to him around citizenship. No mention was made of anyone's name, no rationale for any particular case being pursued was ever raised," Ms Ardern said. "He asked the questions without knowing how that might be used and has made it very clear, in hindsight, had he known how it would be used, he would not have asked the questions." Below is an edited transcript of a press conference held by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop at Parliament House, Canberra on August 16. JULIE BISHOP: Good morning. On the issue of citizenship, there has been a dramatic development this morning. The New Zealand Labour Leader, Jacinda Ardern has revealed that Bill Shorten sought to use the New Zealand Parliament to undermine the Australian government. Bill Shorten has sought to use a foreign political party to raise serious allegations in a foreign Parliament designed to undermine confidence in the Australian government. Bill Shorten has serious questions to answer. This is highly unethical, at least, but more importantly, puts at risk the relationship between the Australian government and the New Zealand government. Bill Shorten must reveal who he put up to this dirty task and the details of the urging of a foreign political party to be involved in efforts to undermine the Australian government. We're used to these dodgy backroom deals from Bill Shorten when he was leader of the union movement. He's now brought that into not only Australian politics but into our international relationships, and Bill Shorten should be called to account for this appalling behaviour. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop during the press conference. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen REPORTER: Minister, the New Zealand Minister, the relevant minister Dunne, has said today that it's utter nonsense to suggest that the Labour Party's question played any role and that it was actually media enquiries and not the Labour Party's question. What do you say to that? JULIE BISHOP: I don't accept that. The New Zealand Labour Leader has confirmed that a Labour member of Parliament was contacted by an unnamed Labor member here in Australia. Bill Shorten must reveal the name of that member. Of course fast-fashion retailers don't use that term; they call it "trending now". As in, the Gucci track pant/Balenciaga sock boot/Vetements floral dress is trending now, so we're offering a very similar look for a fraction of the price. According to Refinery 29 , "juicy bits" of the story include explaining how "Zara was founded on creating knockoffs". The internet is excited about an upcoming German doco on Zara's Spanish founder Amancio Ortega, aka the second-richest man in the world. Most bigger brands seem content to shrug their shoulders at copying culture because it's so entrenched. Pre-portable cameras, sneaky thieves posing as buyers used to surreptitiously sketch the outfits shown at the Paris couture shows; Christian Dior was always turfing them out apparently. Every generation has its knockoff scandals. In the 1940s it was sniped that Mr Dior himself had nicked some of his silhouettes from Cristobal Balenciaga. In the 1950s and '60s, Australian and American designers routinely copied Paris clothes, and when I first arrived in Sydney from London in the 1990s, little had changed. Designers here "referenced" the European catwalks constantly some of them still do. Big names are not immune. I remember in the early 2000s when Nicolas Ghesquiere, then at Balenciaga, admitted copying a patchwork vest by an obscure 1970s San Franscisco-based designer called Kaisik Wong. The noughties were also rife with downmarket rip-offs as logo mania reached its peak. But in 2017, homage culture has stepped up a notch, exacerbated by our impatience who wants to wait months for a runway collection to reach the stores? and enabled by social media. Contemporary culture has become one giant Pinterest board, and designers at all ends of the market shamelessly pinch ideas from one another. . It's getting harder to tell what's wry postmodern pick 'n' mix and what's simply lazy pilfering. Balenciaga's recent ode to IKEA's blue Frakta shopping bag? How about current Gucci referencing the work of Dapper Dan, who built his career in 1990s Harlem referencing Louis Vuitton? Gucci's creative director Alessandro Michele ain't apologising he calls it an "exploration of faux-real culture". A Perth man has been found guilty of murdering his on-and-off partner of 10 years after they argued about the quality of methamphetamine they had taken. Damien Couzens went on trial in the Supreme Court of WA, charged with murdering 42-year-old Jody Websdale, who was found with ligature marks around her neck in the courtyard of her Midland unit in March last year. A Perth man strangled a woman in a fight over ice. GW - back page / quiz, may 9 Credit:Chris Howey The court heard the pair had both taken meth, while she had also taken other drugs including cannabis and benzodiazepenes, and he had also drunk alcohol. A visitor who heard them shouting about the quality of the meth later looked outside to the courtyard to check on them and saw Couzens standing over Ms Websdale holding a broom or a pole as she lay face down, saying "get up" and trying to wake her by nudging her with his foot. Statues dedicated to Confederate heroes were swiftly removed across Baltimore in the small hours of Wednesday morning, just days after violence broke out over the removal of a similar monument in neighbouring Virginia. Beginning soon after midnight on Wednesday local time, a crew, which included a large crane and a contingent of police officers, began making rounds of the city's parks and public squares, tearing the monuments from their pedestals and carting them out of town. Small crowds gathered at each of the monuments and the mood was "celebratory," said Baynard Woods, the editor at large of The Baltimore City Paper, who documented the removals on Twitter. "The police are being cheerful and encouraging people to take photos and selfies," Mr. Woods said in an interview. President Donald Trump on Tuesday insisted that he did nothing wrong on Saturday when he declined to specifically condemn Nazi and white supremacist groups, asserting that "before I make a statement, I like to know the facts." In a long, combative exchange with reporters at Trump Tower, the president repeatedly rejected a torrent of bipartisan criticism for waiting several days before naming the right-wing groups and placing blame on "many sides" for the violence that ended with the deaths of a young woman after a car crashed into a crowd. Trump repeated that assertion on Tuesday, criticising "alt-left" groups that he claimed were "very, very violent" when they sought to confront the nationalist and Nazi groups that had gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia to protest the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee from a park. He said there is "blame on both sides." Two of the people who were injured when James Alex Fields Jr. allegedly plowed his car into a crowd of protesters on Fourth and Water Streets in Charlottesville have now filed a lawsuit. The plaintiffs are Tadrint Washington and Micah Washington, who say they were physically injured when the attack, which Attorney General Jeff Sessions said meets the requirements for domestic terrorism, took place near the intersection following Saturday's Unite the Right rally violence. They are asking for $3 million in compensation. The suit names James Fields, Jr., the driver who is accused of second-degree murder among other charges for the crash; Jason Kessler, who organized the Unite the Right rally at Emancipation Park; Richard Spencer; David Duke; and several other groups that attended the rally. The lawsuit claims the rally's organizers were inciting a riot and that Kessler was negligent by not ensuring the rally would be peaceful. Heather Heyer was killed and 19 people were sent to the hospital for injuries sustained in the crash. Fields was denied bond on Monday and is being held at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail. To read the full lawsuit, you can If you have an event you'd like to list on the site, submit it now! Submit Advertisement By West Kentucky Star Staff Aug. 16, 2017 | PADUCAH, KY By West Kentucky Star Staff Aug. 16, 2017 | 03:43 PM | PADUCAH, KY The City of Paducah's Board of Commissioners has released a statement condemning racial hatred following the outbreak of violence during a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, VA that claimed the life of a woman. In a press release, commissioners said they "stand against racial hatred and violence in all its forms." Heather Heyer was killed Saturday, and 19 others were injured when a man drove his car into a crowd of counter-protestors at the rally. Two Virginia State Troopers also lost their lives in a helicopter crash. Here is the City Commission's statement in its entirety: "The recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia, have left people across the country - and in our own city - heartbroken, angry, and fearful. The Paducah City Commission stands against racial hatred and violence in all its forms. Hate and bigotry have no place in Paducah, and we owe a sacred duty to protect the rights of every citizen, no matter the color of their skin. We want to add our voices to our elected representatives at every level including our own United States Senator Mitch McConnell. Our belief is that the strongest nation is a unified nation, and that democracy works best when we are united. In Paducah, we will be proactive and do the uncomfortable work of having honest dialogue about our own history, biases, and challenges." By West Kentucky Star Staff Aug. 16, 2017 | 12:38 PM | PADUCAH, KY A local group of citizens has created an online petition to remove all Confederate monuments from public land in the city of Paducah, and to rename Paducah Tilghman High School.The group, known as 'Paducah Residents', currently has more than 1200 signatures on their Change.org petition for "The removal and replacement of Confederate Monuments in Paducah". The petition says the monuments are "a representation slavery and racial oppression that serve only to remind the citizens of Paducah of a time when such things were not only prevalent in society, but sanctioned by the State."Petitioners are calling for the removal of the statue of General Lloyd Tilghman from Fountain Square, and for the renaming of Paducah Tilghman High School. PTHS is named after General Tilghman's wife, Augusta. The petition is also calling for the "the immediate removal of any dedication to the Confederate cause on publicly funded land".The petition continues, "It is our assertion that these statues serve as a glorification to a bygone era that promoted and legitimized the oppression and slavery of Black Americans. They help to gloss over the historic violence that these individuals and systems produced, promote an acceptance and retelling of history that allows slave owners and bigots to be seen as heroes, and continues to embolden and empower racist and white nationalist even today. Our children should not have to enter a school named in honor of a confederate general, and tax payer money shouldn't be used to maintain any of these statues or dedications."The petition will be delivered to Mayor Brandi Harless and Paducah City Commissioners. Click the link below to view the full petition. On the Net: By Jeremy Rose, CFSB Aug. 15, 2017 | 08:14 PM | MARSHALL COUNTY, KY Community Financial Services Bank welcomes Dana Howard to its Marketing team. As CFSBs Marketing Communications Administrator, her responsibilities at CFSB include internal/external communications, graphic design and social media administration. Howard graduated from Carterville High School in Carterville, Illinois, a member of the Class of 2001. She attained a Bachelor of Science Public Relations in 2005 and a Masters in Telecommunications Systems Management in 2009, both from Murray State University. She began his career in 2006 as the Public Relations/Marketing Specialist in the Center for Telecommunications Systems Management at Murray State University. In 2010, moved to the Communications and Special Events for Alumni Affairs at MSU. Howard became the Social Media Marketing Manager in University Communications, currently known as Branding Marketing Communications at Murray State University. Dana and her husband Kenneth live in Murray, Kentucky. The Howards have two children, Kamden and Brinlee. They attend Memorial Baptist Church in Murray. By West Kentucky Star Staff Aug. 15, 2017 | 08:06 PM | MAYFIELD, KY Mayfield High School has been awarded a $675,000 grant for after-school programming through the 21st Century Community Learning Center Program.This federally funded program began serving Kentucky students approximately 20 year ago. The goal of this program is to encourage the Mayfield community to provide support for their youth both academically and socially.All 21st Century Community Learning Centers are required to provide academic support, enrichment activities and parent support and training. The grant will be unique in its involvement with the Purchase Area Development District, the Mayfield-Graves County Chamber of Commerce, and the West Kentucky Community and Technical College Skilled Training Center. A major objective is to familiarize our students with career and training options in our city, explained Carolyn Downing, Grant Coordinator. We plan to get our students out into the community to see what wonderful opportunities our community has to offer. The program will be under the direction of Stephanie Mapes, the Student Services Coordinator and Colleen Blackwell, the programs Community Outreach/Data Coordinator. Alec Baldwin sues to 'clear his name' in movie set death By West Kentucky Star Staff Aug. 16, 2017 | 02:24 PM | MAYFIELD, KY A Graves County woman was arrested Tuesday on drug and alcohol charges. According to the Mayfield Police Department, officers were dispatched to the parking lot of Hibbett Sports in reference to an intoxicated woman sitting in a car. Upon arrival, police found 54-year-old Stephanie Carter of Wingo, behind the wheel of a car, passed out, with the engine running. Standardized field sobriety tests were administered and Carter was placed under arrest for driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. When officers searched Carter, they reportedly found a small tin can, which appeared to have evidence of drug use inside of it. According to police, a field test of the residue was conducted, resulting in a presumptive positive for methamphetamine. Carter was lodged in the Graves County Jail on charges of DUI second offense, operating a vehicle on an expired license, possession of drug paraphernalia and failure to produce an insurance card. Welcome to The Independent Herald E-Edition! Check back each week on Tuesday to see our[Read More] Residents, community leaders and medical professionals came together Tuesday to discuss whats working and whats lacking in local health care. Winona Healths Community Table event at Holzinger Lodge brought together about 30 people from all kinds of backgrounds and with all kinds of concerns and ideas. Deb McClellan of Live Well Winona said health care providers and nonprofits must do a better job informing residents about the services they offer. Jill Johnson of Winona County Community Health Services praised Winonas police and fire departments for helping keep residents safe. And Lori Paulson of the Winona Friendship Center said a weak public transit system too often prevents elders from making appointments and getting around town. What transportation? she said when the conversation shifted to public transit. Theres definitely a need for it. Some attendees focused on emotional and inward issues. They suggested that, when solving problems, Winona should focus on peoples strengths instead of their weaknesses. They also emphasized the importance of optimism, and the effectiveness of support groups for people trying to make positive changes in their lives. Community is so important, said Bernie Merchlewitz of Winona Catholic Charities. Its how we treat people. We all are dealing with the same problems, so why cant we be nice to one another? Joan Greshik, a retired teacher, said technology too often gets in the way of face-to-face interactions. She told the women at her table that she recently started taking away her grandchildrens smart phones when they come to visit her. Its in their eyes; its in their face, she said of smart phones. Some adults are just as bad. I feel like saying: Stop. I want to talk to you. Joette Gillett of Home and Community Options said shes even changed her driving routes to avoid spots where pedestrians frequently use their phones. I avoid Huff and Main, she said. A lot of people just walk out, assuming youre going to stop for them. Other concerns included scams directed at elders, the cost of health care, the need for additional resources to prevent and treat substance abuse and the struggle that newcomers and people of different cultures experience in finding health care. To simplify the equation, one person suggested the creation of a health care truck, which would operate like a food truck, bringing medical assistance directly to the community. Tuesdays event was the second in a series of conversations about health care hosted by Winona Health. More gatherings will be announced in the future. We all sit around the table with something to offer, said Marti Bollman, Winona Healths vice president of primary care clinics and wellness. We all have a lot of the same desires for our community. It is hardly surprising that there is a segment of society in the United States that embraces prejudice. It is dispiriting, but not completely unexpected, that after decades of civil rights battles, and more than 70 years after American soldiers fought the Nazis in Europe, we see displays of support for the views of white supremacists on U.S. soil. But what is truly stunning, what is utterly unacceptable, is that president of the United States finds it so difficult to clearly and unequivocally reject that ideology. President Trump appeared before the cameras on Saturday as Americans were sickened by images on their televisions showing white supremacists carrying Nazi flags, chanting racist and anti-Semitic epithets, and clashing with protesters who were incensed by that display of hatred. Trump had a crucial job as leader of the country. His task was important, but not particularly difficult: There were a million ways to say that the United States rejects white supremacists; that Americans gave their lives to protect the very freedoms that these groups want to roll back. Incredibly, Trump did not do that. Instead, he tried to finesse what is known as a dog whistle. Even more incredibly, he failed at that, too. A dog whistle in political communications is a message containing elements that are recognizable to one segment of the audience, while the majority cannot hear it. But Trumps dog whistle malfunctioned. Everyone heard it. Trump started with a few of the right words. We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence thats on many sides. Then he paused, looked up, and repeated, on many sides. In a battle between fascists and their opponents, Trump condemned all sides. That was the first whistle, the first message hinting that when he talked about displays of hatred, he included the people fighting the neo-Nazis. He repeatedly called for law and order, a phrase that resonates with a special meaning in some circles. He was on target when he said, Were all Americans first regardless of color, religion, or political party, but his call to cherish our history no doubt had a different meaning for white supremacists protesting the removal of a confederate statue than it did for the rest of the people listening to Trump. The statement, not surprisingly, was a big hit with American neo-Nazis. In the Daily Stormer, a U.S. Nazi website, editors approved. Trumps comments were good implied that there was hate on both sides! They noted, There was virtually no counter-signaling of us at all. When asked to condemn, he just walked out of the room. Really, really good, they concluded, God bless him. But if the message came though clearly to people listening on what was supposed to be a different ideological frequency, the rest of us heard pretty much the same thing. Trumps failure to condemn white supremacists did not go unnoticed in a country that passionately rejects that kind of prejudice. Its not a Republican vs. Democratic position, its an overwhelmingly American position. From left to right, prominent figures found Trumps statements grossly inadequate. Mike Huckabee, a deeply conservative Trump supporter, tweeted White supremacy crap is worst kind of racism its EVIL. Jeb Bush tweeted, The white supremacists and their bigotry do not represent our great country. All Americans should condemn this vile hatred. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, like many others, not-so-subtly urged Trump to change his tone, tweeting We reject racism and violence of white nationalists. Everyone in leadership must speak out. The pressure eventually got to the president, and he grudgingly said the right words on Monday. But through the weekend he kept his even handedness. When we learned that a neo-Nazi had rammed his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing 32-year-old Heather Heyer, Trumps tweeted his phony moral equivalence: Condolences to the family of the young woman killed today, and best regards to all those injured in Charlottesville, Virginia. So sad! The trite best regards, and the insipid So sad pale in their inappropriateness in contrast to Trumps failure to highlight the circumstances of the killing, and his placing of all the victims those fighting for white supremacy and those fighting against it on the same moral plane. Prejudice is as old as humanity, and may be with us until the end of time. The good news is that those who embrace it in the United States make up a small part of society. But when the president of the United States cannot genuinely condemn them, whether for political reasons or because of his own beliefs, the country has a far, far more serious problem to confront. A Wisconsin Department of Justice spokesman confirmed Tuesday that the agency has begun its own investigation into allegations against former Sauk County Highway Commissioner Steve Muchow. In a June 16 letter to Sauk County Administrative Coordinator Alene Kleczek Bolin, Sauk County Sheriff Chip Meister stated the department had determined a criminal investigation into allegations against the former highway czar was not warranted. The News Republic reported the decision Aug. 7 and disclosed that Meister met monthly with the former county official for breakfast as part of a social group. The following day, Meister asked the DOJ to independently review the case. DOJ Director of Communications Johnny Koremenos stated in an email to the News Republic the department had begun an investigation into the matter. In April, county administrative officials opened a personnel investigation into allegations against Muchow. Highway department staff alleged he misrepresented financial information, manipulated bids, used county resources for personal reasons, misused county business relationships, falsified timecards and mistreated employees. The 25-year highway commissioner gave notice in late April that he would retire, prompting officials to drop the personnel probe. Muchow has denied any wrongdoing. On June 12, Sauk County Administrative Coordinator Alene Kleczek Bolin asked the sheriff to review the allegations for potential criminality. Four days later, Meister concluded there should be no law enforcement investigation. Donald R. Smith, Ret. Lt. Col. USAF, 95, of Westfield, died at Divine Savior Hospital in Portage following a car accident on Aug. 13, 2017. Donald was born on Jan. 20, 1922, to Robert and Lydia Smith. He grew up on a farm in rural Oxford and learned the value of hard work. He attended a one-room schoolhouse and graduated from the Oxford High School. One day while doing farm chores he spotted an airplane on the horizon and dreamt that he would fly a plane someday. Donalds first job was in the bridge maintenance department with the Soo Line Railroad in Stevens Point. Donald met his second wife, Mary Barbara Borden, a nurse from New Milford, Connecticut, while stationed in Puerto Rico. They were married in 1969. During WWII, Donald volunteered for the United States Armed Forces. He was commissioned an officer, obtained his dream of flying planes and earned his aviator wings. His aeronautical career started in smaller single-occupant aircrafts, and then progressed onto the B-17 bombers, cargo and troop carrier aircrafts, C-54s, C-124s, and C-130s. He was the maintenance-in-charge officer for the C-5s, Americas largest cargo jet aircraft. He attended specialized flight training schools and became a pilot in a Flying Fortress B-17 bomber crew and was sent to Molesworth, England. In June 1944, he joined the 8th Air Force, in the 427th Squadron, part of the famed 303rd Bombard Group (H), the outfits nickname was the Hells Angels. He flew 34 combat missions over Nazi-held territory and received the Bronze Star, Air Force Commendation, Air Force Air Medal with six oak leaf clusters and the Meritorious Service Metal with one oak leaf cluster during his military career. During the Korean Conflict, Donald returned to active duty, flying C-54s in support and re-supplying missions thoughout Asia. He flew C-124s during peacetime all over the world to include stateside bases, Europe, polar sites in Alaska and far northern Canada along Americas outer radar perimeter, the DEW line (Defense Early Warning) network. He also participated in large military exercises in conjunction with the U.S. Army by flying and transporting soldiers, paratroopers and their equipment during the Bright Star/Pine Cone No. 1 and No. 2 maneuvers. In the C-130s he flew with the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, the Hurricane Hunters. He gained additional duties and responsibilities as an aircraft maintenance officer and spent tours of duty at Donaldson AFB, Greenville, South Carolina; Hunter AFB, Savannah, Georgia; Ramey AFB, Puerto Rico; Scott AFB, Belleville, Illinois; and Phang Rang AFB, South Vietnam. His last assignment was maintenance-in-charge officer of the C-5s at Dover AFB, Delaware. He retired from the Air Force after 32 years of service with the rank of lieutenant colonel as a veteran of three wars (WWII, Korea and Vietnam). He was the 2012 military honoree at the 71st Black Hills Motor Cycle Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. After his retirement, Donald and Barbara moved into the Woodland Hills subdivision in Black Hawk, South Dakota. They held annual neighborhood picnics and get-togethers in their front yard under the giant Ponderosa pine trees. In his civilian life, Donald became heavily involved in community affairs or events and he was often the driving force behind getting projects accomplished. He served on the subdivisions water board and attended several committee meetings with county officials, with like-minded homeowners and sympathetic supervisors of Meade County, to help persuade them to blacktop the only entrance to their subdivision. He was also a member of the Meade County HUD elder care. South Dakota Gov. Bill Janklow presented him with the Jefferson Award for meritorious service to his community. Donald had a knack for construction and for doing improvement projects. He built six houses in Woodland Hills and a warehouse that became the Old Glory Fireworks Co., and more recently the Ranch Restaurant. He helped with the fabrication of the stone portal pillars at the Piedmont Cemetery. Donald was also instrumental in the planning, building and completion of Our Lady of the Black Hills Catholic Church. He was very busy and supported all church fundraising activities and served in leadership positions on many committees. Donalds hobbies included being a second-generation beekeeper and he was named the Delaware state bee inspector. He gave away jars of honey to his neighbors and friends. He was known as Sundown at the regular Thursday night poker gatherings. He always enjoyed the banter and brinkmanship required in a spirited game of cards. He dabbled in the stock market and was an astute investor in real estate. He volunteered his time driving friends and veterans to and from their medical appointments and he dispensed medications at Ellsworth AFB in Rapid City, South Dakota. Donald was truly a one-of-a-kind person who made a big difference in this world through his good works and deeds and his can do positive attitude. He will be greatly missed by all who shared time with him. Donald is survived by sons, Darrell of Baraboo and Steven (Sherry) of Erin; two grandchildren, Michelle Smith Lipenski of Hartford and Jennifer (Joseph) Rodriguez of Waukesha; four great-grandchildren, Madison, Mason, Austin and Able; brothers, Durwin of Westfield and John (Carol) of Oxford; a cousin, Dorothy Wohlfert of Oxford; and other relatives. Donald was preceded in death by his parents, Robert and Lydia Smith; the mother of his children, Marion Ginther; second wife of 45 years, Mary Barbara Borden; daughter, Susan of Wauwatosa; daughter-in-law, Virginia Murray-Smith; a sister, Lona (Donald) Drew; and other relatives. A memorial visitation for Donald will be held from 9 to 10:45 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 19, 2017, at Steinhaus-Holly Funeral Home, Westfield. A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial for Donald will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Aug.19, 2017, at Good Shepherd Catholic Church, Westfield with Father Paulraj Sellam officiating. Full military honors will be presented by Westfield Area Veterans following mass at the church on Saturday. Join the family at a celebration of life luncheon following the ceremonies in the lower level of the church. A memorial service will also be held at a later date in South Dakota and inurnment will be next to his wife, Barbara, in the Black Hills National Cemetery near Sturgis, South Dakota. In lieu of flowers, consider making donations to the American Heart Association, Marquette County EMS Association, Shriners Hospitals for Children or a favorite charity. Steinhaus-Holly Funeral Home and Cremation Service of Westfield is serving the family. For online obituaries and condolences, visit www.steinhaushollyfuneralhome.com. Town of Necedah officials heard complaints about residents shooting rifles for long, extended periods of time and late at night during the town board meeting Aug. 14. Meeting at town/village hall, residents voiced concerns about loud shots ringing out close to their properties. Town Board Chairman Terry Taft said hes also heard shooting late at night (after 10 p.m.) but said there is not much town officials can do about it since the town is under Juneau Countys jurisdiction and patrolled by the sheriffs office. Town resident Jeff Ritchart claimed a neighbor shot about 1,000 rounds one afternoon two weeks ago. He said the noise lasted throughout the day, prompting him to pay the neighbor a visit. The resident, who owns less than two acres of land, was allegedly shooting at a pile of rocks. I said, Thats dangerous, but he said Oh, its not going anywhere, Ritchart said. We got to have some type of ordinance. People are shooting all the time now. Some towns have ordinances where you have to have at least three acres to shoot rifles on your property. Ritchart said a state law mandates a shooter must be further than 100 yards from an occupied dwelling to fire a rifle. These guys are doing it in a subdivision with an acre and a half of land, Ritchart said. Somebody is going to get hurt, eventually. Constable Jack Jasinski Sr. said he would like to see a shooting range developed within the town. Jasinski Sr. said a few acres of property could be utilized as a destination for rifle enthusiasts. He believes volunteers from clubs such as Ducks Unlimited and Whitetails Unlimited, of which Ritchart is president, could volunteer to manage the shooting range. Taft wondered if some of the areas public hunting land could be used for a rifle range. Taft, however, said the cost of liability insurance for a range would be high. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) would also have to approve a permit. We have people who are literally shooting and I dont know what theyre shooting at, but its at 10, 11 p.m. or later, Ritchart said. And its just not one or two shots, its hours of shooting. People have to go to work the next day. I would think as a town we could come up with something to regulate this. Taft said Jasinski Sr. has been looking into various shooting complaints. Bezemek resigns Carl Bezemek, who served on the county board for four months, resigned on Aug. 14. Taft said Bezemek submitted a letter of resignation to the chairman, which was accepted by town officials. Taft didnt discuss the resignation during open minutes, but said after the meeting he was surprised by Bezemeks decision. Taft said Bezemek didnt provide a clear reason why he was stepping down. Bezemek was elected in April and replaced former supervisor Ginny Hodal. Taft said the board will make plans to fill the seat at its next board meeting Sept. 7. Speed limit questioned A few town residents asked the board if anything could be done to fine motorists who speed along town roads. Taft said the posted speed limit is 55 miles per hour along town roads, but knows people push it well past 55 at times. One resident said the town of Germantown has a 45-mile-per-hour speed limit. I had at least three people complain to me last week about speeding, Taft said. Since the town is patrolled by county deputies, Taft said it would take more law enforcement presence to issue speeding violations. He said to hire more people to enforce radar would cost a lot more money. Necedah schools open house Tanya Kotlowski, the new superintendent of Necedah Area Schools, said the superintendent transition team is hosting a school district planning session Aug. 23. The session will take place at Necedah Community Siegler Memorial Library from 5 9 p.m. All school community members are welcome, Kotlowski said. We would love to have your participation. The public will have a chance to meet Kotlowski and the session will take in feedback and ideas about improving Necedah schools. Juneau County is hoping to sell a nearly one-acre parcel of land to be used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The land, .885 acres, is located in the city of Mauston and was seized in a foreclosure from Eleventh Hour, LLC in 2014. According to county documents, the business owed the county almost $60,000 in back taxes. The parcel is known as Grays Addition in downtown Mauston. During the Aug. 15 county board meeting in Mauston, board chairman Alan Peterson said the county had received a bid of $50,000 from D.E.S. Enterprises, LLC from Cottage Grove, a few miles east of Madison, but the company decided to withdraw its bid late last week. Peterson said the USDA may look to move its regional office to Baraboo if the sale isnt approved. It would be nice for the Farm Service Agency to be here so people who want to use it dont have to go way over to Baraboo, Peterson said. Board member Jerry Niles agreed saying the USDA might not come back to Mauston if they have invested in Baraboo land. Well find out Aug. 23 if they want this building or not, Peterson said. Were not going to spend any money on it to fix it up until we know theyre interested and can get rent from them. I would hate to see the USDA and the Soil Conservation Agency move out of Juneau County. Board member John Wenum said it would make sense for the agency to stay in Juneau County because it would be serving its constituents. The board voted down the original resolution to sell the parcel to D.E.S. and it remains in the countys possession. County officials will know after the Aug. 23 meeting with the USDA if the agency is still interested in the site. Positions approved The county board approved three positions at the Aug. 16 meeting: deputy sheriff (patrol/jail) for the sheriffs office; parks technician II for the Parks and Forestry Department and a general laborer for the countys public works department. The sheriffs office position and parks position was left vacant from resignations, while the general laborer job came open from a recent retirement. Plan for Hillsboro State Trail The county passed a memorandum of understanding with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and other local municipalities to maintain the Hillsboro State Trail. Juneau County joins the City of Hillsboro and Vernon County in a pact to keep the state trail attractive to hikers, walkers and bikers. All four entities have held the agreement since 1988. Brian Loyd, director of the countys forestry and parks department, said the first step is maintaining the bike trail and a public forum could be held in the future to develop a master plan. The trail, an offshoot of the 400 State Trail, runs south of Highway 33 in Union Center and west into Hillsboro. The trail doesnt need a lot of maintenance, Loyd said. Through the years weve applied for grants to improve the bridges and all four of them have been redone. Like this summer, with the flooding weve had near Union Center, some of the limestone has been washed away. But we try to take care of that with snowmobile grant money to take care of maintaining some of the bridges. Loyd said the state (DNR) collects a small user fee at the trail heads. He said the popularity of All-Terrain Vehicles could change the way the trail is used in coming years. Star-Times official newspaper County officials approved the Star-Times as the countys official newspaper at the meeting. In the agreement, county legal notices will be published in the Star-Times for at least the next four years. Peterson said the countys executive committee received bids from both the Juneau County Messenger and the Star-Times, with the Star-Times offering a lower bid. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that increasing the number of jobs in the United States, like those promised for Wisconsin by Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn, could have a tremendous impact on race relations in the country. The car companies coming in, with you know, Foxconn, if we continue to create jobs at levels that I am creating jobs, I think thats going to have a tremendous impact a positive impact on race relations, Trump told reporters at Trump Tower in New York City. Because people are going to be working, theyre going to be making a lot of money much more money than they ever thought possible. Trumps comments came days after he received backlash for not condemning hate groups by name on Saturday after deadly clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, during a protest by white supremacist groups over the dismantling of a statue of Robert E. Lee. Trump, instead, criticized violence on many sides, which drew pressure from Republicans and Democrats to call out the groups that incited the violence. On Monday, the president said neo-Nazis, white supremacists and members of the KKK who take part in violence were criminals and thugs. At Tuesdays press conference, Trump said he did not immediately call out the groups because he needed more information. Foxconn and Gov. Scott Walker have signed an agreement that would bring up to 13,000 jobs to Wisconsin through the creation of a 20 million-square-foot plant that creates LCD panels. Foxconn chairman Terry Gou has said he wants to invest $10 billion in the campus, and Walker has proposed giving the company $3 billion in incentives to build it. Ed Legge is known around the Dells from his work as a reporter for the Wisconsin Dells Events, but not as an artist or musician. Legge is both an artist and musician as well as a journalist. His work, which combines both music and art, is on display this month at the Kilbourn Public Library on the art wall. A reception for Legge will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 22. He will also share his talent on Saturday, Aug. 26 with a craft day special event at 10 a.m. for any age. He will show how to do paper mashup techniques or as it is also called decoupage. Attendees will be able to make their own artwork. Supplies will be provided Decoupage as defined by Wikipedia is the art of decorating an object by gluing colored paper cutouts onto it in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf and other decorative elements. Commonly, an object like a small box or an item of furniture is covered by cutouts from magazines or from purpose-manufactured papers. Since Legge is a rock music fan and has been a drummer for years, his art includes album covers and photos of rock stars. He decorates guitars with photos and other rock memorabilia. That work won him invitations to do guitars for the street art Waukesha put on in its celebration as the Gibson Guitar Art Town and to honor Les Paul. Les Paul was born Lester William Polsfuss in 1915 in Waukesha. He is also buried there. A jazz and country musician, he was also an inventor. In 1941, he invented the solid body electric guitar but it was not marketed until 1952. His Les Paul Gibson guitar became one of the most popular and bestselling on the market. It is played by such legends as Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones; Paul McCartney of the Beatles and Eric Clapton. Legge, living in Milwaukee in 2011, entered the contest Waukesha had to design and make street and in-store art. He was accepted to do one of 20 small guitars to be placed in a store window. It was in the Main Stream Bar in Waukesha. The next year, he entered again and this time was asked to do one of the 10 giant guitars to be put on the street. As the first step in decorating the giant guitar, Legge rented a van to pick it up to bring it to his garage, and Legge said I had to buy a dolly to move it into the garage. It was in his garage in Dell Prairie for two months while he decorated it with scenes from Les Pauls career. The decoupage or paper mashup, Legge said combines storytelling like he does a journalist with graphic design. People like it, Legge said. They connect with it. To get the giant guitar back to Waukesha, Legges son borrowed a truck from his uncle. It was bought by a company in Waukesha. The giant guitar earned him a commission from a guitar and music gallery owner in Waukesha and a show in the spring of 2013. While that brought in some money, Legge said it was not enough for a steady job, so he turned back to journalism. Legge started in art when he returned to school to receive a degree in graphic design from the University of Wisconsin-Stout at Menomonie. He said he was interested in graphic design because of how computers were invading journalism. However he didnt stay with graphic design but changed to fine arts in metalsmithing. His class was taught by a gunsmith from Elk Mound. He said fine arts was a passion and I knew I could make a living at something. He said he had an interest in the arts before his interest in music. He said he was always interested in visually creating a scene. Art and music are not hobbies, Legge said. They are more like pursuits. After earning his degree in fine arts, he happened to buy a little ukulele kit. He used an old cigar box to complete the project and in a visit to the Hard Rock Cafe, he bought a little wooden guitar, that he painted a design on. Both items are on view at the library. He also won a guitar in a raffle and found he could actually play it. His teacher at Stout had a passion for the art of decorating guns and that influenced Legge to decorate the guitar. It is also on display at the library. He continues to use albums, photos and various music artifacts in decorating other objects besides guitars. A trunk that has been in the family for generations received an interior decoration with art from Epiphone guitar poster and box. Paul McCartney also played an Epiphone guitar and Epiphone makes a Les Paul Epiphone guitar. A map of the Mississippi delta can be seen inside through the sound hole of acoustic guitar Legge covered with some of the blues players who influenced rock and roll such as John Lee Hooker, Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, Bo Didley and Hubert Sumlin. A guitar player for Howlin Wolf, Sumlin was an influence on the Rolling Stones, Legge said, and he retired to Milwaukee. When he died, the Rolling Stones paid for his funeral. Legge also did a bowling bag with Rolling Stones art, a small table, a closet and other items with record album covers, posters and other music art. His work is not exactly art, but more graphic design, he said. The difference between graphic design and art is that art is for an audience of one, while the best graphic design is for millions, Legge said. Its two extremes, he said. Keeping Witsies posted Dentist, stamp collector and videographer Les Glassman talks about representing Wits in Israel Volunteering as a Wits alumni convenor opens doors, says Les Glassman (BSc 1979, BDS 1984), our representative in Israel. But thats not why he does it. I really feel it is such an honour and privilege to represent Wits. And Ive met amazing people. Les organises events for Wits alumni in Israel with the support of his wife Lucy (BA 1985, PDE 1986), local organisations and networks like Telfed, and the Alumni Relations office in Johannesburg. Together, they keep contact details updated, relationships strong and information flowing both ways. Les doesnt have to handle any financial administration. Being a convenor also gives him the opportunity to do something he enjoys: interviewing interesting people and recording their life stories on video. (You can watch them on YouTube.) The fact that people work on Sundays in Israel makes it harder to organise events, but Witsies are keen to make the effort to attend, he says. Most of the expatriates in Israel enjoy being connected with each other and with South Africa and their alma mater. They remain informed and engaged, and Les says most of them have only positive things to say. People feel honoured to have had the opportunity to get the education they got at Wits, he says. They had to work hard; qualifying at Wits didnt involve compromises. And these graduates have made their mark in Israel, where Wits has a good name. A highlight for Les as convenor was helping to publicise and record the 60th reunion of the Class of 1955 medical students. About 10 alumni in their mid-80s got together in 2015, to celebrate a lifetime of connection, mutual assistance and achievement at the top of their fields. They didnt have easy lives, says Les. But they were so full of life and positive, and close. It was magnificent; a privilege to be there. I made a video which meant their families all over the world could be part of the event too. Other events Les has organised in Israel include gatherings to honour Nelson Mandela, with participants such as former Rand Daily Mail journalist Benjamin Pogrund, Liliesleaf Trust founder Nicholas Wolpe, former South African Jewish Board of Deputies president Marlene Bethlehem, art gallerist Natalie Knight and the Israeli and South African ambassadors. Meeting and filming Witsies like accountant-turned-pilot Harold Smoky Simon, aged 97, and radiologist Professor Joshua Levy, aged 94, was an honour, says Les. Prof Levys mother, Amelia Hersch, was one of the first students at Wits, in 1922, and got the first of her Wits degrees in 1927. She was a translator of Yiddish, Hebrew and German poetry and an editor of Common Sense and Jewish Affairs. Most people are interested in other cultures, says Les. One avenue for exploring this interest and making friends is stamp collecting, which has been his hobby since he was six years old. He now represents Israel as Commissioner at international stamp exhibitions, and has recently been to Indonesia for a stamp show where the theme was Peace Through Stamps. Les and Lucy have been living in Israel since 1994, where they have family roots, but regularly visit South Africa, where other family and friends remain. Once a South African, always a South African, he says. Getting into Wits dental school (in 1978) and passing every year took very hard work, says Les. But the students got on well together and helped each other. It was a unique place. The professors were fair and gave us a high standard of education. We had lectures from world authorities. A highlight was a two-week trip to a remote area of the Transkei in his fourth year, to provide free treatment to people who didnt have access to dentistry. He remembers a dental chair falling out of the van on the bad roads. The students also served at clinics in Soweto and Riverlea. Fun times included musical events and interesting talks. Les and Lucy got engaged in his final year and his marks actually improved! Im so grateful for the time I spent there, he says. Witsies in Israel can look forward to a talk later in this year by multiple Wits graduate and extraordinary linguist Nathi Gamedze, originally from Swaziland, now a rabbi. To contact Les Glassman, phone +972 525522438 or email Lesglassman@gmail.com. If youd like to be a Wits alumni convenor in your region, please contact Purvi Purohit on +27 11 717 1093 or purvi.purohit@wits.ac.za. China News on Women Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home page SONGS settlement should stand, state regulator told 16 August 2017 Share Southern California Edison (SCE) has notified the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) that the parties in the San Onofre nuclear plant closure settlement were unable to reach agreement on possible changes the CPUC had unanimously approved in 2014. SCE has urged the commission to "affirm the existing settlement of issues related to the premature retirement of San Onofre in 2013 and bring closure to this protracted proceeding". San Onofre (Image: SCE) SCE retired the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station - also known as SONGS - in June 2013 after a contractor provided faulty steam generators. The plant is now undergoing decommissioning, with major dismantlement work expected to begin next year. Located on the Pacific coast of California, in the northwestern corner of San Diego County, the plant is owned by Edison International, parent of SCE, with 78.2%, San Diego Gas & Electric Company, 20%, and the City of Riverside Utilities Department, 1.8%. An international arbitration panel in March ordered Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to pay the owners of SONGS $125 million for defective steam generators supplied to the plant in 2009 and 2010. The four replacement steam generators Mitsubishi supplied for units 2 and 3 of the plant were intended to enable the pressurised water reactors to continue operating until 2022, but were found to be suffering from excessive wear after less than one year in service. Both reactors were taken offline in early 2012 only to be closed permanently in June 2013 when SCE decided not to continue a protracted regulatory process to show that lower power operation would be safe. SCE's filing yesterday was in response to an order last December by a commissioner and commission administrative law judge that the settlement parties and other parties to the San Onofre proceeding meet and consider changes to the agreement. The company said the parties had met three times directly and then four times with a mediator, and additionally talked by telephone "multiple times", but were unable to agree on changes to the settlement that allocated San Onofre closure costs between utility investors and customers. SCE president Ron Nichols said the closure settlement was appropriate and should stand. "It ensured our customers do not pay for the faulty steam generators from the time they failed and the plant was no longer providing power," he added. The settlement also significantly reduced the portion SCE customers are paying in their monthly bills for past investments to build and maintain SONGS over the 30 years the plant was in operation. "Based on our new economic analysis, customers are paying about $760 million less in their bills than they would have if San Onofre continued to operate through the end of its licence in 2022," Nichols said. The analysis reflects the "dramatic and sustained" drop in energy market prices over the past four years that has affected the economics of many US nuclear reactors, SCE said. SCE and San Diego Gas & Electric, have already returned more than $2 billion to customers under the 2014 settlement, SCE said. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics SCE&G withdraws petition to scrap Summer project 16 August 2017 Share South Carolina Electric & Gas (SCG&E) has decided to withdraw its petition seeking permission from state regulators to abandon construction of two AP1000 reactors at its VC Summer plant. The move, the company said, would allow government officials to complete reviews of the project. The construction site of the two AP1000 units at Summer, pictured in January (Image: SCE&G) On 31 July, Scana Corporation subsidiary SCG&E announced its decision to cease construction of two units. The announcement followed co-owner Santee Cooper's decision to suspend construction because of projected completion delays and cost overruns. Scana filed a petition with the South Carolina Public Service Commission (PSC) the following day seeking approval of its abandonment plan. In accordance with the Base Load Review Act, Scana is seeking an amortisation of the project costs and a return at the weighted average cost of capital on the unamortised balance until fully recovered. It plans to use the anticipated proceeds from the Toshiba settlement and benefits derived from tax deductions to mitigate rate increases and lessen the impact on its customers for several years. SCE&G announced yesterday that it has decided to "voluntarily withdraw" its abandonment petition. In a statement, the company said: "Over the past two weeks, SCE&G management has met with various stakeholders and members of the South Carolina General Assembly, including legislative leaders, to discuss the abandonment of the new nuclear project and to hear their concerns." SCE&G said its decision to withdraw the abandonment petition was "in response to those concerns, and to allow for adequate time for governmental officials to conduct their reviews." Scana chairman and CEO Kevin Marsh said, "The purpose of these ongoing meetings is to discuss their concerns and to explain the path that led us to the abandonment decision." However, he stressed, "In our discussions with the legislature, we have not changed our position on abandonment." He said both bodies of the General Assembly have formed committees to review the project, including the impacts on SCE&G and Santee Cooper customers, as well as the regulatory oversight provided throughout the process. "While ceasing construction was always our least desired option, based on the impact of the bankruptcy of Westinghouse on our fixed price construction contract, the results of our evaluation of the cost and time to complete the project, and Santee Cooper's decision to suspend construction, abandonment was the prudent decision," Marsh said. During a press conference today, Marsh said the withdrawal of the petition is seen as temporary and that it will be refiled with the PSC "at an appropriate time" once the reviews are complete. "We recognise that this process creates some uncertainty regarding the timing and impact of our abandonment decision," he noted. Regarding the possibility of restarting the project, Marsh said, "For us to restart the project, number one we will have to have a willing partner ... We would have to start with drafting a new partnership agreement to determine who would own what percentage of the project going forward." He said the partners would have to determine whether just one or both of the units will be completed. "At that point we would have to negotiate a construction contract with the contractor, whether that be Fluor or someone else. We would also have to re-engage Westinghouse in a services agreement because the plant is their design and we would need their design engineering support if we were to go forward. "Once all that was accomplished, we would have to go back to the Public Service Commission and have them review the project and agree to the reconstitution of a plan to go forward." He said this whole process could take about a year. "It's not something that would happen overnight. There would be significant negotiations to pull a project team back together. And once you've done that, you would then have assemble the construction team and oversight team back on site." Marsh said the question of whether the new units would still qualify for production tax credits would still need to be addressed, but noted "that continues to be pursued at the legislative level and in Washington". Construction began on the first of four AP1000 reactors in the USA - Summer unit 2 and Vogtle unit 3 in Georgia - in March 2013, with work beginning on Summer 3 and Vogtle 4 in November of that year. Toshiba Corporation agreed on 27 July to pay a maximum of $2.168 billion to SCE&G and Santee Cooper under its guarantee obligations for the two AP1000 reactors under construction at Summer. Of this amount, $1.192 billion will go to SCE&G for its 55% ownership of the project, with $976 million to Santee Cooper, which owns 45%. The Japanese company's obligations as the former parent company of Westinghouse are payable regardless of whether or not either or both units are completed, or the project is abandoned. The parental guarantee obligation was put in place by Toshiba and Summer's owners in 2008, when the engineering, procurement and construction contract for the two AP1000 units was placed with Westinghouse. Westinghouse filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March of this year. In June, Toshiba reached a similar agreement with the owners of the two AP1000s under construction at Vogtle in Georgia, with a cap of $3.68 billion for that project. Researched and written by World Nuclear News Related topics Hinduism is considered a minority religion in the United States. American Hindus account for an estimated 0.7% of the total US population. A majority of American Hindus are immigrants from the South Asian countries of India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan, and Bhutan. Other American Hindu immigrants hail from Indonesia, the Caribbean, Fiji, as well as Southern and Eastern Africa. According to the PEW Research Center, 91% of those who identify as Hindus also identify as Asian. New Jersey has the highest percentage of Hindus at 3% of the state's population followed by California and Delaware both at 2%. The remaining states have Hindu population accounting for 1% or less of the state's total population. Hinduism in New Jersey New Jersey has the largest Hindu population by percentage of any US state. The Hindu population accounts for 3% of New Jersey's total population. New Jersey is home to the worlds largest Hindu Temple, the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Temple located in Robbinsville. The spiritual leader and President of the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir Temple holds the Guinness World Record for creating and consecrating the most temples. His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj has consecrated over 700 temples between 1971 and 2007. The temple is astonishingly large at 133 ft in length, 87 ft in width, and 42 ft in height and covering 162 acres. Demographics of American Hindus The Hindu population in the US is categorized as being the 8th largest in the world. According to the PEW Research Center, American Hindus have the highest rates of household income among all religions in the US. 36% of Hindus in the US reported a household income of $100,000 or more. This can be attributed to the favorable immigration policies accorded to educated Hindus. Hindus are the most educated religious group in the US with 77% having attained a college degree while 48% of the Hindu population has acquired a post-graduate degree. A pidgin language arises when two or more communities which do not share a common language adopt a simplified method of communicating. A pidgin language typically features a mix of simplified languages or on the other hand a simplified primary language consisting of other languages' elements. A pidgin language is adopted as a secondary tongue by the groups involved to enable them to engage with each other. Etymology The history of the term pidgin is traced back to 1850 when it came to print. One theory stipulates that the word was pronounced by the Chinese to mean business. Another etymology links the word to the English term pigeon which denotes a bird used to transport messages before the advent of modern communication. Terminology The term initially referred to Chinese Pidgin English until it was generalized to classify any Pidgin. In some areas, Pidgin is the particular name for local creoles or pidgins. The speakers of Hawaiian Creole English, as well as those of Tok Pisin commonly, call their respective languages Pidgin. The word jargon is sometimes used to denote Pidgin, and it has been included in the names of several pidgins including Chinook Jargon. The development of a pidgin language can be intended to simplify trade as in the case of Tok Pisin. These languages can subsequently develop as a complete language different from those languages they initially developed. An example of such a language is Swahili. Trade pidgins and languages have been shown to influence the vernacular of an established language. Development Of The Pidgin The development of a pidgin is facilitated by consistent and constant interactions between societies with unrelated language. There should also be a need requiring the communities to communicate such as trade. A popular and accessible interlanguage should also be missing for a pidgin to develop. Linguists such as Keith Whinnom have proposed that a pidgin required three languages to develop where one dominates over the rest. A pidgin can grow into a creole complete with a developed grammar as well as a vocabulary. A generation of children in pidgin-speaking communities can adopt the pidgin as a first language and in doing so make the creole the native language. Such situations have been observed in the case of the Krio spoken in Sierra Leone and the Tok Pisin dominant in Papua New Guinea. A pidgin does not always develop to a creole because some die out. A section of scholars has suggested that pidgins and creoles develop independently of each another. Pidgins share some similarities between them such as the inclusion of basic vowels. The languages bear no tones, and there is a notable absence of morphophonemic variation. The languages further include simplified clausal structure and separate words to denote tense. Pidgins reduce consonant clusters and syllable codas and use reduplication in representing superlative and plurals and any other parts of speech which indicate the concept of being added. Examples Of Pidgin The Hawaiian Pidgin English has a community of 600,000 speakers based in Hawaii and the US. The language developed from several pidgins used as common tongues by the ethnic groups of Hawaii. The language is popularly used in everyday life by the inhabitants of Hawaii. The Fanagalo language is recognized as a pidgin influenced by Zulu and English and to a smaller extent by Afrikaans. The language is unique since it developed from a native language rather than from a colonizer's language. The Maldives: Location and Interesting Facts Officially known as the Republic of Maldives, the tropical nation is made up of a chain of about 1,192 coral islands in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is located southwest of Sri Lanka and has a population of nearly 3.6 million. The country is famous for its white sand beaches, pristine lagoons, crystal clear water, and extensive coral reefs. The capital, Male, is characterized by busy fish markets, restaurants, and tourist hotels. Here are interesting facts about the Maldives. Underwater Cabinet Meeting As a result of climate change, sea levels are rising, which pose serious threats to many island countries such as the Maldives. To draw attention to the effects of global warming and climate change, the Maldive's President Mohamed Nasheed held his countrys cabinet meeting under water in October 2009. The president, along with his cabinet, adorned diving gear and held a meeting under water in order to increase awareness about the threats chain of islands are facing as a result of rising sea levels. The event also raised awareness about sustainable projects that the president planned to introduce as a means of reducing the countrys carbon footprint. These projects included sustainable tourism, as well as eco-friendly resorts and clean energy. History For generations, the Maldives has been of great economic significance due to its strategic placement along important trade routes. The first inhabitants of the island came from India around 270 BC. It is believed that the first real form of governance was established in Maldives by Sri Soorudasaruna Adeettiya, a prince from an Indian kingdom. Legends claim that the king was so angry at his son that he deported him to the Maldives, which was then referred to as Dheeva Maari. Upon settling, the prince established the Adeetta Dynasty or the Solar Dynasty in the Maldives. It is reported that this dynasty came to an end when its princess married a prince from the Lunar Dynasty of Kalinga. The Maldives Is 99 Percent Water The Maldives includes more than 1,190 coral islands, which make up 26 atolls. Of these, only 200 are inhabited. The Archipelago enjoys beautiful location along the main Indian Ocean sea routes. The 26 Maldives atolls are part of a larger structure referred to as the Laccadives-Chagos Ridge, which stretches over 2,000 km. Lowest Flat Nation in the World The average ground level of the Maldives is 4 feet, or 1.5 meters above sea level. The highest point is in the Villingili Island at 7.5 feet. In the wake of climate change and the rising sea level, there are concerns the Maldives will flood and sink. Worlds Smallest Muslim Country Besides being the smallest country in Asia, the Maldives is also the worlds smallest Muslim country. It is also one of the most religious intolerant countries in the world. The Maldives constitution, which was written in 1997, requires all citizens to be Muslim, and outrightly forbids Maldivians from following any other religion. TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - An elevator company is being fined nearly $40,000 after a man died while working on an elevator at Tallahassee Memorial Hospital. According to reports filed by the U.S. Department of Labor, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a citation to the OTIS Elevator Company. This comes after 60-year-old Robert Myers, an elevator technician, was accidentally killed in February when he was called to fix a broken elevator. The proposed penalties total to $38,025. According to the reports, OTIS has contested the citations and they must now be before the independent OSHA Review Commission. OTIS released this statement regarding the citations: Our deepest sympathies remain with the family of Bob Myers, a valued and respected Otis employee. There is nothing more important to us than the safety of our employees and the people who rely on our products and services every day. Otis will be contesting the citations. Otis safety policies, practices and training are designed to comply with OSHA standards and Otis believes this will be borne out during the review process. You are the owner of this article. The annual Essentials for Potential summer clothing and basic toiletries drive to help at-risk youth in the Yakima Valley continues through April. GORDON KING/Yakima Herald-Republic Otis Harlan waits as he's introduced at a Monday afternoon press conference at which he announced he is buying the Yakima Sun Kings. 4 x 46.92 yakima sun kings/otis harlan yakima create 2/15/99 run 2/16/99 YAKIMA, Wash. Following complaints from residents who say theres not enough parking downtown, the Yakima City Council will look at how more Submit An Obituary Funeral homes often submit obituaries as a service to the families they are assisting. However, we will be happy to accept obituaries from family members pending proper verification of the death. Go to form The IDF, in cooperation with the Border Police and the Civil Administration, demolished the house of the terrorist who carried out the stabbing attack in Halamish, in which the three Salomon family members were murdered. A suspicious object was found at the train station in Rehovot. The police were hailed to secure the area while a bomb squad investigates the object. The area was evacuated from civilians, and the train station was temporarily closed. Passengers travelling from the direction of Tel Aviv to Ashkelon and Ashdod can use the western line of the train. Meanwhile, Israel Railways has ordered buses to serve passengers to Ashdod, Rehovot, Lod and Yavneh stations. The IDF, together with the Border Police and the Civil Administration, demolished overnight Tuesday the West Bank home of the Palestinian who stabbed three Israelis to death in their home at the nearby Jewish settlement of Halamish last month. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The terrorist, Omar al-Abed, 19, was shot and neutralized by an off-duty soldier at the scene of the July 21 attack. He was later arrested. IDF demolishing the home of al-Abed (Credit: IDF) ( '') X As the army started demolishing the house, located in the Palestinian village of Kobar, clashes broke out between Palestinian residents of the village and security forces, during which a Palestinian journalist suffered a head injury. Thanks to a donation by the villagers, the al-Abed family received a replacement land on which they could build their new home. IDF demolishing the home of al-Abed (Photo: IDF) Michal Salomon, whose husband Elad was killed in the attack, commented Wednesday on the destruction of al-Abed's home. "Their home can be rebuilt, but my home has been destroyed forever," she said. "The death penalty is needed so these terrorists will not be able to build a new home. If not the death penalty, then the conditions of their imprisonment must be drastically worsened, and anything that is not the bare minimum, such as television or the possibility of education, should be taken from them. They murdered, and they have to be punished, they do not deserve (to stay at) an inn at our expense." Al-Abed, neutralized after the attack Police said they will charge five members of al-Abed's familyhis mother, father, two brother and unclefor failing to stop him from carrying out the stabbing. The five were arrested and face prosecution for failing to prevent a crime. According to the police, the family members revealed in questioning they knew the terrorist's intentions shortly before he set out to carry out the attack, but did not act to prevent it and did not report it to either Israeli or Palestinian authorities. Photo: IDF Wednesday's demolitions follow similar demolitions of homes of Palestinians who carry out attacks on Israelis. They are meant as a deterrent. A legal battle over ownership of drafts of Israel's Declaration of Independence ended earlier this week when the Jerusalem District Court ruled against the State of Israel, opening the door for the children of the drafts' author to sell them. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Weeks before David Ben-Gurion declared the independence of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, Pinchas Rosen, Israel's first justice minister, tasked a young lawyer named Mordechai Beham with drafting the declaration. Beham's family kept the drafts he wrote throughout the years. David Ben Gurion declares the independence of the State of Israel. A year and a half ago, after learning Beham's sons Daniel and Refael planned to put the drafts up for auction, the State of Israel decided to sue them for the rights to hold the drafts in perpetuity. While the starting bid for the auction set at NIS 1 million, it is estimated the drafts could go for $1 million too. The state first learned of the Beham sons' intention to sell the drafts when the Kedem Auction House published its November 2015 catalog, in which documents dubbed as drafts of the Declaration of Independence authored by Mordechai Beham were offered on sale. The state sued, claiming the documents were penned by Beham as part of his work for the state. Therefore, the state claimed, his sons cannot offer them up for sale and must therefore entrust the drafts to the State Archives for safekeeping. The state further claimed the documents had significant historical value. One of the drafts The Beham sons, meanwhile, claimed the documents were the private property of their late father, who volunteered his services, and that he only started working in the service of the state after the documents were edited. They further argued the statute of limitations applies to the case. The sons also said they would set conditions to the sale, namely that the documents cannot be taken out of Israel regularly and cannot be sold to a private individual, but rather only to a public institution such as a museum. The state waited too long In her ruling, Justice Tamar Bazak-Rappaport noted the family's possession of the documents was not kept in secret, and that senior government officials knew of their existence. The Beham sons presented a letter their father wrote in 1968 to the trade minister at the time, in which he said, "To mark the 20th Independence Day, I've taken out of my safe documents I've been keeping from the period that preceded the Declaration of Independence, including the first draft of the declaration, which I prepared at the time. "In regard to that, I remembered our conversation from a few years ago, in which I promised to get you a copy of this draft, and I am now happy to keep my promise." In addition, one of Beham's sons said he was invited by the Knesset speaker to a ceremony uncovering the original Declaration of Independence at the Knesset in 1996. At this opportunity, he mentioned to the Knesset speaker's bureau chief that the family was in possession of the drafts. Another one of the drafts The court determined the statute of limitations does not apply to the case, but rejected the lawsuit itself because the state waited decades before making its claim to the documents. "The state neglected its claimed rights for such a long period of time, all the while state officials knew of the documents Beham had in his possession," the judge wrote. The judge ruled, therefore, that "the documents will not be entrusted to the State of Israel, though they will also not be denied from the public, in accordance with the respondents' commitments. In the spirit of the values of the Declaration of Independence, the aforementioned documents, which the state failed to prove ownership over, will remain in the possession of the respondents." The state was also ordered to pay NIS 50,000 in court costs. Daniel Beham, Mordechai Beham, Heli Beham, and Refael Beham Ronen Ketzef, one of the lawyers representing the Beham family, said in response to the verdict that "Justice has been done to the memory of the drafts' author, the late attorney Mordechai Beham. This was a young lawyer who realized the enormity of the moment, volunteered his time as a private lawyer to the 'state-in-the-making,' and never askedand certainly never receivedany payment in return for his work. He merely sat at home in front of a blank page and started writing, until completing the drafts the state tried to claim ownership over. The state's attempt to rob the deceased's work documents was inappropriate, and it's a good thing the court set things right and defended (the family's) rights." Ketezf noted the family kept the drafts safe for 67 years and committed of its own initative to only sell them to whoever commits to preserve them in the appropriate manner, display them at a public institution, such as a museum or a gallery, and not remove them from the country. Refael Beham, the drafts' author's son, welcomed the ruling. "We're feeling great happiness. Justice has been served. The family recognizes the fact these are historical documents and should be on display to the public. We will honor our commitment and find the right way to do so. We're proud of the work our late father has done, of his love for the State of Israel and its institutions, and of his unique contribution in wording the first draft to the Declaration of Independence." Turkey has asked Germany to extradite a theology lecturer suspected of playing a major role in last year's failed coup, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Wednesday. Turkey sent a diplomatic note requesting the extradition of Adil Oksuz, who the government says was the "imam" of air force personnel who last year bombed parliament as part of the attempt to topple the government. Authorities say Oksuz was detained near an Ankara air base hours after the coup attempt, only to be released by a judge two days later and has been on the run since. Turkish media have reported that he has been spotted in Frankfurt and Ulm and given a temporary residence permit by Germany's Baden-Wurttemberg state. "We sent a diplomatic note to Germany after the news regarding the presence in Germany of the FETO suspect Adil Oksuz, who is currently at large," Cavusoglu told broadcaster TRT Haber in an interview. FETO is the government's label for supporters of the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen who authorities say was behind the coup attempt. Rare footage broadcast on Al Mayadeen on Wednesday showed troops from Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in close quarters combat with fighters from the Islamic State (ISIS) during the battles in Hamimah on the outskirts of Homs. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter The IRGC's symbol can be clearly seen on the uniforms of the fighters, who are seen charging while shooting at one of the buildings, which was apparently under ISIS control The video also shows rockets and missiles being fired at ISIS targets. X According to reports in Lebanon, the IRGC launched a revenge campaign against the Sunni terror organization after ISIS executed IRGC commander Muhsin Hajaji last week on the Syria-Iraq border. The execution shocked the Iranians, with Qasem Soleimani, commander of the IRGC's elite Quds Force, promising revenge for Hajaji's death. "Iran's brave sons will take revenge for this barbaric act," said Soleimani, who promised to "uproot the filthy tree of Wahhabism and terror from the Islamic world. These crimes only increase our determination to cleanse Islamic lands of their filthy presence." The rare footage broadcast by the Lebanese TV network, which is affiliated with Hezbollah and the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, is unique as it shows IRGC soldiers fighting themselves, rather than merely advising others or instructing militiamen. This further shows Iran's growing influence in Syria. The board of directors of Israel Aerospace Industries has chosen attorney Harel Locker as chairman of the board. The appointment will be approved by the appointments committee of the Government Companies Authority and signed by Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon. Locker, who used to be the director general of the Prime Minister's Office, said after the election: "I thank the company's board of directors and the defense and finance ministers for their trust in me, and I am happy and proud that I will serve as chairman of Israel's largest defense company." Udi Neta, the former deputy mayor of Tel Aviv, was arrested on Tuesday as part of a graft investigation against billionaire Benny Steinmetz . The Rishon Lezion Magistrate's Court on Wednesday extended his remand until Friday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Steinmetz and four other businessmen were arrested earlier this week on suspicion of bribery, money laundering, document forgery, false registration of corporate documents, fraud, breach of trust and obstruction of justice. The FBI and Swiss Police were also involved in the investigation. Police are investigating the possibility that all the suspects worked in concert to systematically produce fictitious contracts and transactionseven involving real estate in several foreign countriesin order to transfer and launder millions in several different currencies. Benny Steinmetz The Rishon Lezion Magistrate Court on Monday extended the remand of Steinmetz and his business consultant Tal Zilberstein. Judge Menachem Mizrahi said that after being presented with a "dramatic" piece of evidence, he believes "there is reasonable concern that releasing the suspects could obstruct the investigation. Suspect 1 (Steinmetz) has allegedly already taken action that could obstruct the investigation. Suspect 2 (Zilberstein) did not take any action that could obstruct, but in light of the existence of the aforementioned evidence, there is reasonable suspicion he might." During the stormy hearing on Monday, Steinmetz lashed out at the government of Israel, accusing it of behaving like a "totalitarian state" and a "dictatorship." Steinmetz also slammed Hungarian billionaire George Soros, accusing him of being behind the whole affair. "There is someone here who targeted me. This is political. George Soros targeted me. We haven't done anything. There is nothing here, but there was nothing," he said. Steinmetz has blamed Soros in the past, accusing him of plotting to oust him from an iron mine in Guinea. In 2014, Steinmetz sued Soros after the rights to the iron mine were denied. US President Donald Trump on Wednesday praised North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un for a "wise" decision not to fire missiles towards the US territory of Guam, which has eased escalating tension between the two countries. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Reclusive North Korea has made no secret of its plan to develop a missile capable of firing a nuclear warhead at the United States to counter what it perceives as constant US threats of invasion. Kim Jong Un (Photo: AP) Trump warned North Korea last week it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States, prompting North Korea to say it was considering plans to fire missiles towards the Pacific island of Guam. But North Korean media reported on Tuesday Kim had delayed the decision while he waited to see what the United States did next. "Kim Jong Un of North Korea made a very wise and well reasoned decision," Trump wrote on Twitter. "The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!" North Korea's threat to fire towards Guam had prompted Trump to say earlier that the US military was "locked and loaded" if North Korea acted unwisely. North Korea has long ignored warnings from the West and from its lone major ally, China, to halt its nuclear and missile tests, which it conducts in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions. The United States has been hoping China can press North Korea to rein in its weapons programs. The top US general reiterated that in talks in Beijing this week. President Trump (Photo: AP) Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford told Fang Fenghui, chief of the Joint Staff Department of the People's Liberation Army, in Beijing that North Korea's weapons programs threatened the entire international community, including China. "He emphasized that the US and China have the same goala denuclearized Korean peninsula achieved through peaceful means ... North Korean actions threaten the economic and military security of China," a US military spokesman said in a statement. "In the interest of regional stability, he said the US views with growing urgency the need for China to increase pressure on the North Korean regime," the spokesman said. "Should preferred diplomatic and economic peaceful options fail, General Dunford reiterated America's resolve to use the full range of military capabilities to defend our allies in the Republic of Korea and Japan, as well as the US homeland." 'Solidarity and Resolve' China has repeatedly called for all sides to exercise restraint and remain calm, and while it has signed up for tough UN sanctions on North Korea, it says the key to a resolution lies in Washington and Pyongyang talking to each other, rather than expecting China to do all the work. German Chancellor Angela Merkel echoed that viewpoint on Wednesday. "I am totally against the rhetorical armament that is being used by all sides ... There is no military solution for this conflict, it must be worked out via negotiations," Merkel said in response to a question on North Korea in a YouTube interview. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said while everyone was concerned about the situation, Chinese pressure on North Korea had made him more upbeat. North Korean missiles (Photo: AP) "Since yesterday we are a bit more optimistic; I think that above all Chinese pressure contributed to the statements from North Korea about definitely putting aside these ideas of firing a missile," Gabriel said. Japan conducted air maneuvers with US bombers southwest of the Korean peninsula on Wednesday involving two US Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flying from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam and two Japanese F-15 jet fighters, Japan's Air Self Defense Force said in a news release. "These training flights with Japan demonstrate the solidarity and resolve we share with our allies to preserve peace and security in the Indo-Asia-Pacific," the US Air Force said. The US aircraft have flown several sorties in East Asia over recent weeks. In addition to air drills with Japanese fighters, the bombers have also exercised with South Korean aircraft. North Korea regards the US exercises with South Korea and Japan as preparations for invasion. The exercises also upset China, which says they do nothing to ease tension. 'Reckless Actions' In his first public appearance in about two weeks, Kim on Monday inspected the command of North Korea's army, examining the plan to fire four missiles aimed at landing near Guam, the official KCNA news agency reported. "He said that if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity, testing the self-restraint of the DPRK, the latter will make an important decision as it already declared," KCNA said. Photo: AP DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name. Wednesday's air exercise took place close to Japanese-controlled islets in the East China Sea which are also claimed by China. The uninhabited territory is known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. While the United States has declined to take sides in the dispute over the tiny islands, it nonetheless has said it would defend them from attack under its security alliance with Japan. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in a telephone conversation with Sigmar Gabriel, Germany's minister for foreign affairs, said tension on the Korean peninsula was showing some signs of easing but had not passed. The parties involved should "make a correct judgment and wise choice by taking a responsible attitude toward history and people", Wang said, according to a statement on his ministry's website. DUBAI -- An Iranian opposition leader who has been under house arrest since 2011 has begun a hunger strike over his detention. A website associated with Mahdi Karroubi announced Wednesday that the 79-year-old cleric has stopped eating and is only taking heart medication. The website quoted his wife, Fatemah Karroubi, as saying he wants a public trial and for security forces to vacate his home. Karroubi suffers from heart disease and has been hospitalized previously while detained. Six months after taking over as Hamas leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar sent a threatening message to Israel during a press briefing on Tuesday, saying that while Hamas is not looking to start a war, it will "pummel" Israel if necessary.. "Hamas is not seeking a confrontation, but if such a confrontation should arise, Hamas will pummel Israel," said Sinwar. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Sinwar, whose voice has not been heard many times since his appointment as Ismail Haniya's replacement last February, warned Israel against "taking stupid steps against the Gaza Strip" and claimed that "the Palestinian resistance has the ability to respond to that." Sinwar (Photo: AP) Sinwar also made it clear that Hamas was prepared for a confrontation and claimed that the organization's strength was greater than it was during Operation Protective Edge. "Israel is not launching a new war against Gaza, which stresses its fear of the unknown that awaits it in Gaza." During the main part of his speech, Sinwar referred to the dismantling of the Gaza Strip's administrative committee, which serves as a kind of shadow government opposing the ruling of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is looking to dismantle it. Sinwar said that dismantling the committee was the easiest decision Hamas could make, but that his organization is convinced that this will bring them back to the power vacuum that existed before. Hamas militants procession (Photo: AP) At present, Abbas is exerting severe sanctions on Gaza's leadership and civilian population, in an effort to have it turn over control to the Palestinian Authority. Speaking to journalists, Sinwar stated that Hamas leadership would be willing to its dissolve the administrative committee if Abbas would genuinely move toward a reconciliation. Referring to the Palestinian desire to declare their independence, Sinwar mentioned to his organization's contacts with deposed senior Palestinian figure Mohammad Dahlanwho, like Abbas, is also from the Fatah partysaying that there joint efforts of both sides to promote the "national project." Photo: AFP As for relations with Egypt, Sinwar said that the Egyptian government had committed itself to opening the Rafah crossing for goods and passengers after the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. He noted that relations with Egypt were great and that Hamas had managed to achieve many breakthroughs in talks with its neighbor to the south. He also mentioned "there is talk about improving the electricity situation" in Gaza, which under Abbas's sanctions receives only 3 4 hours a day. The most senior figure to be released in 2011 as part of the Gilad Shalit deal, Sinwar was the liaison between Hamas's military wing and political wing before his appointment to be Hamas's leader in Gaza. History was made on Wedenesday, when a the High Court of Justice ruled that a woman can serve as the director of Rabbinical Courts administration. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Recently-retired Justice Elyakim Rubinstein, who returned to the bench to rule on a case that began before he left the court, wrote in his decision that there is a great value in opening the rabbinical courts for women to serve in administrative roles, not only for women but it also serves to strengthen the publics faith in the (rabbinical ed) courts, which is an essential element to the courts functioning. Courtesy of Kahana Dror (The courts services are used by) women and men, Orthodox and secular alike. Expanding the variety of people serving in key roles will create a framework that is more responsive and equitable. That will benefit the entire country, said MK Aliza Lavie (Yesh Atid), a prominent voice for Orthodox feminism and the author of the 2005 book A Jewish Womans Prayer Book. The decision noted the director of Rabbinical Courts administration must meet certain criteria: be a resident of Israel; hold a rabbinical advocate license, or be a lawyer with a graduate degree in Hebrew law or Talmud (with preference to an attorney who is also a rabbinical advocate); has at least seven years of experience appearing at rabbinical courts; is worthy of serving as the director of Rabbinical Courts based on character and lifestyle. Batya Kahana-Dror, who heads the Mavoi Satum organization which helps women whose husbands refuse to grant them a religious divorce, submitted the original petition after the rabbinical court refused to even discuss her application. She added that the ruling would be a landmark moment in the fight for Jewish and democratic values in Israel, and for Israeli women, who suffer discrimination at the Rabbinical Courts. She agreed with Lavie, who said the Rabbinical Courts administration is run, almost in its entirety, by men, for men, and said the decision would serve as a first crack towards breaking that monopoly. Mavoi Satum is an organization that helps women whose husbands refuse to grant them a religious divorce, This is the first time that gender-discrimination in an area that is ruled by the religious establishment has been defined as a blow to the basic rights of equality. I hope that this decision will in future become a guiding principle in all areas regarding religion in the State of Israel, Kahana-Dror said. It would have been great if this issue had been resolved amicably between the sides rather than by the court, Lavie said. But now that the court has ruled, I praise it and call on (Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked) to implement the decision with clear guidelines. Haredi parties, however, were quick to criticize the decision, and said they would resist implementing it. MK Uri Maklev (United Torah Judaism), chairman of the Knesset Science and Technology Committee, said the lawsuit had nothing to do with fighting discrimination against women, but was rather about harming the standing of the Rabbinical Courts. The job of a director of the Rabbinical Courts is not merely an administrative position, Maklev said. It is a job that requires a broad knowledge of Jewish law (halacha) the move doesnt stem from a desire for equality, but rather out of hatred and a desire to weaken the Rabbinical Courts. It is inconceivable that we would approve someone for such a sensitive position who lacked a depth of halachic knowledge or who is hostile towards religion, towards the rabbinical establishment or towards Jewish law as it has always been practiced." Responding to MK Maklevs threat not to implement the ruling, Rabbi Uri Regev, the founder of Hiddush, a non-denominational group dedicated to promoting religious freedom and diversity and a former president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism welcomed the ruling but also warned against over-celebrating the decision. Certainly, the ultra-Orthodox political kingmakers will not welcome this verdict, Regev said. It is likely to become part of the endless and tireless political campaign to castrate Israels independent supreme judicial authority, which is being waged by the ultra-Orthodox political parties and extremist political groups. US President Trump's comments that "both sides are to blame" for the violent clashes in Virginia last weekend continues to resonate throughout the world. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Various Jewish groups throughout the United States strongly condemned Trump's "anti-American" behavior and they were not alone. Even Republican officials have joined the chorus, declaring that the president needs to come down against one partythe extreme right. President Trump (Photo: Reuters) Jonathan Greenblatt, National Director and CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said in a series of Tweets that he was "stunned" by President Trump's statements. Greenblatt claimed that Trump's comments are "un-American" and that there are no "two sides to this story." Greenblatt Tweeted, "There are no 2 sides to this story. There are no "fine people" in the ranks of Nazis. Legal permits do not bestow moral permission. "When our President is defending the "side" that includes #AltRight #KKK #NeoNazis and promotes hate, something is profoundly, deeply wrong." In an interview with The Atlantic, Greenblatt said, "This is an agenda about celebrating the enslavement of Africans and their descendants, and celebrating those that then fought to preserve that terrible machine of white supremacy and human enslavement. And yet, somehow, theyre all wearing shirts that talk about Adolf Hitler. Photo: YouTube Liberal, nonprofit advocacy group J Street also issued a harsh condemnation of Trump's press conference, saying, "President Trump today made unequivocally clear that he lacks the basic decency and moral understanding that should be required of any public official, let alone the President of the United States. There are simply no excuses for his comments and his conduct in this matter." 'As a Jew and an Americanhe is not my president' In the Democratic Party, many people were quick to condemn the president's remarks, but the comments also riled up the Republican Party. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida stated that Trump needs to describe the events "for what they are, a terror attack by white supremacists." Speaker of the House Paul Ryan also lashed out, Tweeting, "The views fueling the spectacle in Charlottesville are repugnant. Let it only serve to unite Americans against this kind of vile bigotry." Sen. John McCain issued a statement, saying, "White supremacists and neo-Nazis are, by definition, opposed to American patriotism and the ideals that define us as a people and make our nation special. "Very fine people" at the Charlottesville rally "As we mourn the tragedy that has occurred in Charlottesville, American patriots of all colors and creeds must come together to defy those who raise the flag of hatred and bigotry." Democratic Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii took a more vocal tone in a series of Tweets, saying, "As a Jew, as an American, as a human, words cannot express my disgust and disappointment. This is not my President." In addition to American political figures, many international leaders joined the chorus of condemnation. British Prime Minister Theresa May said, "I see no equivalence between those who propound fascist views and those who oppose them. I think it is important for all those in positions of responsibility to condemn far-right views wherever we hear them. German chancellor Angela Merkels spokesman, Steffen Seibert, said on Monday the scene at the Unite the Right march was absolutely repulsive, with outrageous racism, anti-Semitism and hate in its most despicable form on display. UNITED NATIONS -- U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says tensions on the Korean peninsula are at their highest level in decades and it's important "to dial down the rhetoric and to dial up diplomacy." The U.N. chief told reporters Wednesday that the world needs to heed the lessons of history and not repeat the mistakes that led to the Korean War, which started 67 years ago and killed more than 3 million people. Guterres said that on Tuesday he told representatives of the countries in the stalled six-party talks -- North Korea, South Korea, the U.S., Russia, China and Japan -- that his "good offices are always available." He said the international community must send a clear message to North Korea's leadership to comply with its international obligations, reopen communications and deescalate the situation. This week, it was announced that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is angling to change the law so that so that the Security Cabinet, and not the entire government, will decide whether to go to war. Some rushed to attack the prime minister over this move. Some claim that this initiative is supposed to divert the discussion from his various corruption affairs, and some even claim that in this act, Netanyahu is trying to grant himself more and more power. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter My opinion is different. Prime ministers and ministers are more interested in authority when it comes to controlling budgets, regulations forcing appointments. About 20 years ago, when I was a special operations officer, then Defense Minister Itzik Mordechai sent me to present a specific operation to the prime minister, who was happened to be Netanyahu. Though the operation was under the authority of the defense minister, he wanted to include Netanyahu in the decision due to the sensitivity of that particular operation. Upon arriving at the Prime Minister's Office, however, I was blocked by military secretary, who told me that if the minister feels he wants to share responsibility, he should request a formal cabinet meeting, and that the prime minister has not personal interest in being a partner in this decision. In other words, prime ministers do not want to hold excessive powers in the field of security. Regardless of the specific timing here, the initiative to transfer authority from the government to the Security Cabinet is a legitimate one. One reason stems from the change in the nature of wars: in the past, we experienced wars of an engrossing nature that took place every decade on average. It made sense for the decision to launch the Six-Day War would be taken by the entire government. Today's reality is different: we find ourselves in small-scale wars every few years, with the potential to be drawn into such confrontations every few months. Any attack in Syria by convoys carrying weapons to Hezbollah could lead to a military response by the other side. Decisions are therefore needed more often and with greater pressure. It is not always possible to convene the entire government in real-time while managing to keep it a secret. The Security Cabinet (Photo: Kobi Gideon/GPO) A second reason is the size of the decision-making forum. There are about twenty ministers in the government. If we add another ten military and security personnel, we arrive at a forum that does not allow for an effective discussion. The forum that makes up the cabinet is also a bit large, but one that can still facilitate a deliberation. It also should be noted that sometimes discussions on war or a large military operation must be effective and end at a given time, which cannot be guaranteed if the number of participants is too large. A third reason is representation: the Security Cabinet includes the heads of all the factions that make up the coalition, as well as its important ministers. This is a forum that, by definition, is the core of the government. A fourth reason is the need to be knowledgeable. One of the weaknesses that has characterized the Israeli governments over the years was the ministers' insufficient familiarity with the military-related matters. It is better for those leading the Social Welfare or Health ministries to devote their time to the affairs concerning their own ministries instead of requiring them to spend their time and attention on an area in which their contribution to the discussion will be very little. Photo: Kobi Gideon Instead of spreading sensitive security information between more ministers, it is better to consolidate them. The forum deciding on such matters should be as limited as possible, but as in-depth as possible. Most of the important discussions should not take place during war, but rather on quiet days. Take, for example, Lebanon and Gaza. Regarding Lebanon, there is debate over whether the right strategy is to fight against Hezbollah or wait until "the Third Lebanon War," during which Israel will to define the Lebanon as an enemy state. This debate is right to be held calmly now and not as rockets are falling. The same goes for Gaza: is Israel's current policy of adhering to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's sanctions the correct one, or should Israel acknowledge that Hamas is the legitimate authority in Gaza and therefore act in coordination with it to rehabilitate the Gaza Strip and prevent the next confrontation? In conclusion: it is better to hold in-depth discussions in a small forum than to have superficial discussions in a large forum. Former US presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush said in a joint statement on Wednesday that "America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism and hatred in all forms." Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Their comments come a day after current US President Donald Trump gave weight to the complaints of white nationalists by once again declaring at a press conference that counterprotesters shared the blame for the violence that erupted last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. Trump during press conference (: ) X Referring to Thomas Jefferson, the Bushesboth of them Republicansaid that as they pray for Charlottesville, they're reminded of "that city's most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence: We are all created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights." George H.W. Bush (L) and George W. Bush (Photo: AFP) Heather Heyer, the young woman who lost her life over the weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, after a car rammed into a crowd of people protesting the white nationalist rally, allegedly driven by James Alex Fields, Jr. Trump says the 32-year-old Heyer was "beautiful and incredible" and a "truly special young woman." He says "she will be long remembered by all!" A memorial service is taking place Wednesday in Charlottesville for Heyer, who was killed Saturday during violent clashes between white supremacists and counterdemonstrators. Heyer had aligned with those protesting the white supremacists. Trump told reporters Tuesday that he planned to reach out to Heyer's family. The White House did not respond to questions Wednesday about whether Trump has contacted Heyer's family. Trump told Fox News in an interview earlier this week that he may pardon Joe Arpaio, the former Phoenix-area sheriff who recently was convicted in federal court of racially profiling Latinos. Critics say a pardon would amount to an endorsement of racism. President Rivlin reaches out to US Jewish leadership President Reuven Rivlin issued a public letter to Executive Vice Chairperson of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations Malcolm I. Hoenlein on Wednesday, in light of the weekend's violent and deadly clashes led by US neo-Nazis and white supremacists. "At this difficult time, I want to express my support and solidarity, and that of all the Israeli people with you and your communities, and ask that you kindly convey this message on my behalf to the Jewish communities across the US," wrote Rivlin. Rivlin (Photo: Motti Kimchi) "The very idea that in our time we would see a Nazi flagperhaps the most vicious symbol of anti-Semitismparaded in the streets of the world's greatest democracy, and Israel's most cherished and greatest ally is almost beyond belief. "We have seen manifestations of anti-Semitism again and again arise across the world; in Europe and the Middle East. In the face of such evil, we stand now as we did then. With faith. With faith in humanity, with faith in democracy, and with faith in justice. I know that the great nation of the United States of America and its leaders will know how to face this difficult challenge, and prove to the world the robustness and strength of democracy and freedom." Rivlin concluded his letter by writing, "As we say Chazak, Chazak, veNitchazek. Be strong, be strong, and we will be strong." Trump doubles down in defending white nationalists Combative and insistent, President Trump declared anew Tuesday "there is blame on both sides" for the deadly violence last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia, appearing to once again equate the actions of white supremacist groups and those protesting them. He showed sympathy for the fringe groups' efforts to preserve Confederate monuments. The president's comments effectively wiped away the more conventional statement he delivered at the White House a day earlier when he branded members of the KKK, neo-Nazis and white supremacists who take part in violence as "criminals and thugs." Trump (Photo: Reuters) Trump's advisers had hoped those remarks might quell a crush of criticism from Republicans, Democrats and business leaders. But the president's retorts Tuesday suggested he had been a reluctant participant in that cleanup effort and renewed questions about why he seems to struggle to unequivocally condemn white nationalists. The blowback was swift, including from fellow Republicans. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida said Trump should not allow white supremacists "to share only part of the blame." House Speaker Paul Ryan declared in a tweet that "white supremacy is repulsive" and there should be "no moral ambiguity," though he did not specifically address the president. Trump's remarks were welcomed by former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, who tweeted, "Thank you President Trump for your honesty & courage to tell the truth.". Trump spoke Tuesday in New York and showed sympathy for the fringe groups' efforts to preserve Confederate monuments. His words amounted to a rejection of the Republicans, business leaders and White House advisers who'd pushed the president to more forcefully and specifically condemn the KKK members, neo-Nazis and white supremacists who took to the streets of Charlottesville. The Government Press Office (GPO) intends to cancel an Al Jazeera journalist's press accreditation on the grounds that he is biased towards the Palestinians, said GPO director Nitzan Chen on Wednesday. Follow Ynetnews on Facebook and Twitter Chen said Al Jazeera correspondent Elias Karram's press card would be revoked, pending a hearing, because he told television station Dar al-Iman last year that he was actively siding with the Palestinians in his work as a reporter. Al Jazeera Jerusalem (Photo: Reuters) Karram is an Israeli Arab citizen from Nazareth, Chen's office said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said last month he would work to close down Qatar-based Al Jazeera, accusing it of inciting violence in Jerusalem. "These remarks call into question the ability of Karram, the representative of a foreign network, to coveras a professional journalistthe Israeli-Palestinian conflict in which, according to his own words, he is taking an active part," Chen wrote in a statement. Walid al-Omary, Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Jerusalem, declined to comment. A clip from the interview Karram gave to the little-known TV station shows him saying, "A Palestinian journalist working in occupied territory ... is no different to a politician or a teacher (resisting Israel's occupation). "The journalist is doing his part ... with the pen, radio, voice or camera. You are part of this nation and you resist in your own way." Al Jazeera has been repeatedly criticized for presenting a slanted, overtly biased perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In one such instance, shown in the picture below, the site reported on the deadly terrorist attack that took the life of Border Police officer Hadas Malka by mentioning the three Palestinian terrorists' deaths alone. Al Jazeera reporting on the twin terror attacks in Jerusalem's Old City Earlier this month, Communications Minister Ayoub Kara said plans were afoot to revoke the media credentials of Al Jazeera's journalists, close its Jerusalem bureau and remove the station's broadcasts from local cable and satellite providers' bouquets. Such a closure does not appear imminent, however, and an Israeli official said a legal process was still required to implement most of the proposed steps. The move adds further pressure on Qatar, which has been involved in a dispute with a number of Arab countries over alleged support for Islamist militant groups, which it denies. Al Jazeera said in July that Israel was aligning itself with the four Arab statesSaudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt and Bahrainthat have severed diplomatic and commercial ties with Qatar. After Kara's announcement, the Foreign Press Association in Israel criticized the planned moves. Al Jazeera correspondent Elias Karram "Changing the law in order to shut down a media organization for political reasons is a slippery slope," association executive secretary Glenys Sugarman said. Al Jazeera has also faced government censure in Egypt. In 2014, Egypt jailed three of the network's staffers for seven years and closed its offices. Two staffers have been released but a third remains imprisoned. Police have arrested a man suspected of smuggling organs from Cyrpus to Israel. Suspect is the third to be arrested in ongoing investigation that was initially made public in December 2016. According to suspicions, all thee suspects found kidney donors for patients in need of transplants and offered to conduct the required medical procedure abroad in return for payment. YORK Christopher Johnson, an attorney with the Svehla Law Offices in York, has been named the new York County Attorney. The York County Commissioners approved his appointment Tuesday morning. Johnson will fulfill the position through the end of 2018, which was the position formerly held by York County Candace Bottorf who recently resigned to take a lead position with the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. Johnson earned his bachelors degree in political science, in the honors program, from the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2011. He graduated from the University of Nebraska College of Law in 2013. He has practiced in the areas of criminal, juvenile and family law, civil litigation and as a guardian ad litem. York County Commissioner Kurt Bulgrin said he and Commissioner Chairman Jack Sikes conducted a number of interviews before bringing forward the recommendation to appoint Johnson. Bulgrin read Johnsons acceptance letter into the record, because Johnson was unable to attend the meeting as he was representing clients in court proceedings. It was recognized that Johnson has been working in the area of criminal defense and would now be transitioning into the position as prosecutor. After consultation with the Nebraska Counsel for Discipline and the partners at my current employer, I anticipate that my first day as York County Attorney shall commence on Aug. 21, which provides for an amount of time to ensure that my clients receive notice and an amount of time for me to ethically transition offices. It has been my distinct honor to work for Svehla Law Offices and I look forward to serving the citizens of York County as their county attorney. I was very impressed with him, Bulgrin said. He has court room experience. He has also worked well with the county attorneys office and with Benjamin Dennis, our deputy county attorney who has been the acting county attorney for the past few months, Sikes said. He also has worked with both judges. Hes straight forward and very knowledgeable. The only possible downside would be conflict issues with the people hes already defended, said Commissioner Randy Obermier. Dennis said that will be considered on a case-by-case basis and I think we have a pretty good handle on potential future conflicts. We will protect the county and do the right thing. Remedies for conflicts could be using other attorneys as special prosecutors, which are already done when conflicts arise. We will do whats right by the county, Dennis said. Conflicts are also an issue as we are part of the community and regarding the people we work with. We started discussing the transition and we are excited to start working together next Monday. We need to thank Benjamin for stepping up during the interim, Bulgrin said. You have done a really good job, Sikes said to Dennis. I appreciate that and I appreciate the opportunity to work for York County, Dennis said. The commissioners also agreed to pay Dennis the county attorneys salary for the time he has served as lead attorney during the interim. Dennis will continue to be the countys deputy attorney and the zoning administrator. Johnson will be sworn in on Monday, Aug. 21. The time of the ceremony has not yet been determined. York Police Department Monday at 9:51 a.m., report of a medical emergency on S. Lincoln Ave. Monday at 9:54 a.m., report that someone was suicidal on N. Burlington Ave. Monday at 10:33 a.m., report of an accident at Sixth Street and N. Nebraska Ave. Monday at 11:43 a.m., report of a medical emergency on Lincoln Ave. Monday at 2:58 p.m., report of disorderly conduct on S. Lincoln Ave. Monday at 3:08 p.m., report of a theft on E. David Drive. Monday at 3:34 p.m., report of a parking complaint on E. 10th St. Monday at 4:40 p.m., report of a theft on E. Nobes Road. Monday at 4:50 p.m., report of criminal mischief on S. Kingsley Ave. Monday at 7:23 p.m., assisted an outside agency. Tuesday at 12:42 a.m., report that someone was disturbing the peace on S. Hutchins Ave. York County Sheriffs Department Monday, report of an accident in the York area. Monday, report of a code violation in the Waco area. Monday, report of a medical emergency in the York area. Monday, assisted a motorist in the York area. Monday, report of traffic offenses in the York and Henderson areas. Monday, report of a disturbance in McCool. Monday, report of suspicious activity in McCool. Ave. York Fire Department Monday at 3:30 a.m., responded to a medical emergency on E. 12th St. Tuesday at 9:22 a.m., provided lift assistance on N. Lincoln Ave. Tuesday at 11:15 a.m., responded to a medical emergency on York Ave. Tuesday at 4:49 p.m., responded to a medical emergency at the westbound off-ramp at the interchange. Tuesday at 7:28 p.m., transferred at patient from York to Lincoln. Tuesday at 11:47 p.m., responded to a medical emergency on N. Lincoln Ave. Wednesday at 7:50 a.m., responded to a medical emergency on S. Lincoln Ave. Wednesday at 3:50 p.m., responded to a medical emergency on S. Hutchins Ave. Thursday at 9:40 a.m., transferred a patient from York to Lincoln. Thursday at 12:49 p.m., responded to an automatic alarm on N. Lincoln Ave. Thursday at 1:23 p.m., responded to a medical emergency on East Ave. Thursday at 6:16 p.m., responded to a medical emergency on N. Lincoln Ave. Thursday at 7:03 p.m., provided lift assistance on N. Lincoln Ave. Thursday at 7:55 p.m., responded to a medical emergency at the Hearthstone. Johannesburg: South African police confirmed on Wednesday that Zimbabwean first lady Grace Mugabe remained in the country and had applied for diplomatic immunity after being accused of assaulting a 20-year-old model in an upmarket Johannesburg hotel. They also confirmed that Mugabe, the 52-year-old wife of veteran Zimbabwean leader Robert, had failed to appear at a court hearing on Tuesday relating to the allegations that she attacked Gabriella Engels with an electric extension chord. Hinting at a potentially serious diplomatic rift between the southern African neighbours, the police statement said Harare had asked that Mugabe be granted diplomatic immunity but made clear she would be "processed through the legal system". Mugabe, a potential successor to her 93-year-old husband, was in South Africa to receive treatment to an injured foot. A Zimbabwean intelligence source told Reuters the she was not travelling on a diplomatic passport. Amid confusion over the case and investigation, the police statement said Tuesday`s abortive court hearing was meant to obtain a statement from Mugabe, along with her version of the events. However, Mugabe failed to appear as agreed. "By end of business yesterday, she had failed to present herself as arranged," the statement said. There has been no official comment from Harare, and Reuters has been unable to identify Mugabe`s lawyers in Johannesburg. Earlier, Isaac Moyo, Zimbabwe`s ambassador to Pretoria, said he "knew nothing". "I have to go to my office to get briefed," he said. South African police spokesman Vish Naidoo did comment on the specifics of the case, other than to say it related to assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Engels` mother Debbie told Reuters that her daughter had received 14 stitches from the Sunday assault, eight on her forehead and six on the back of her head. Washington: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday praised North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for appearing to back down on his threat to launch missiles towards the US territory of Guam. In an early morning tweet, Trump said: "Kim Jong-un of North Korea made a very wise and well-reasoned decision. The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!" Trump appeared to be referring to the North Korean leader`s decision to put a hold on launching four missiles into the waters around the Pacific island of Guam, as Pyongyang had previously threatened, CNN reported. Earlier this week, Kim praised the North Korean military for creating a "close and careful plan" to launch missiles towards Guam. However, he said he would watch the "foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees" before deciding whether to order the test in a move that was seen as leaving the door open to diplomatic efforts. The North Korean state media reported on Tuesday that Kim had reviewed the previously announced plan, but had decided not to go ahead with the proposal for now. The report came after US Defence Secretary James Mattis warned that if North Korea fired on US territory it would be "game on". Speaking at the Pentagon on Monday, Mattis told reporters: "You don`t shoot at people in this world unless you want to bear the consequences." Washington: Annual employee surveys released by the FBI on Wednesday show former Director James Comey was highly regarded, contradicting President Donald Trump`s claim when he fired Comey this year that he had lost the confidence of the agency`s workers. The voluntary survey conducted in 2017 showed Comey received top marks on all but two of more than 90 questions. He scored high marks for expressing a compelling vision for the Federal Bureau of Investigation and helping morale, with respondents strongly agreeing that they would choose to work with him again. The findings contradict statements made by Trump and White House officials at the time of Comey`s firing on May 9. Trump insisted he fired Comey because of job performance and told a news conference the FBI chief "was very unpopular with most people." Trump portrayed the FBI under Comey as being a mess. Comey told a Senate panel that White House claims the FBI was in disarray and poorly led were "lies, plain and simple." Other senior FBI officials praised Comey and said they were proud to have worked with him, but the workplace surveys were the first broad measure of employee sentiment toward him. Trump`s reasons for firing Comey shifted over time, and he told one interviewer the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. presidential election was on his mind when he made the decision. Comey told lawmakers he thought he was fired because of the Russia investigation. His firing is now part of special counsel Robert Mueller`s probe into ties between Russian officials and Trump`s political campaign. Lahore:The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has begun fresh investigations to prepare four references against ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif`s family in accordance with the July 28 Supreme Court verdict for his disqualification. The National Accountability Bureau, the country`s apex anti-corruption organisation has been given six- week deadline to finalise Nawaz Sharif, his children Hassan, Hussain and Maryam Nawaz corruption cases. But it may take longer time to submit admissible evidence before the court along with the prosecution witnesses to prove the cases in addition to relying on the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) report in the Panama Papers case. A NAB official said that if the bureau did not rely on the JIT report and went for fresh investigations, it might not use some evidence brought by the team before the Supreme Court in its 60-day proceedings, the Dawn reported. According to him, the JIT, because of a time constraint, had collected certain documents, about the `money trail` and foreign companies owned by the Sharif family, directly and through experts and they had been accorded weight by the Supreme Court. The NAB Executive Board approved in its meeting on July 31 the filing of the references related to the apartments in London and steel mills in Saudi Arabia of the Sharif family, companies owned by the children of the former premier and possession by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar of assets beyond his known sources of income. The sources said that NAB`s Lahore directorate was working on a reference about flats 16, 16-A, 17 and 17-A at Avenfield House, Park Lane, London, that would be filed against Sharif, his daughter Maryam and sons Hassan and Hussain Nawaz and son-in-law retired Capt Mohammad Safdar, the Dawn reported. The court had observed that they had failed to prove themselves innocent before the JIT with regard to the ownership of offshore companies and assets which allegedly were disproportionate to their declared sources of income. The bureau`s Lahore directorate will also hold investigations against Hussain, Hassan and Maryam Nawaz with regard to the setting up of the companies mentioned in Paragraph 9 of the court`s judgement - Flagship Investments, Hartstone Properties, Que Holdings, Quint Eaton Place 2, Quint Saloane (formerly Quint Eaton Place Limited), Quaint Limited, Flagship Securities, Quint Gloucester Place, Quint Paddington (formerly Rivates Estates Limited), Flagship Developments, Alanna Services in British Virgin Islands, Lankin SA (BVI), Chadron Inc, Ansbacher, Coomber and Capital Free Zone Establishment (Dubai). The Rawalpindi directorate will file a reference regarding the setting up of Azizia Steel Company and Hill Metal Establishment against Mr Sharif and his sons. The same directorate may prepare the reference against Mr Dar for possessing assets beyond his known sources of income. Quetta: A roadside bomb killed eight soldiers in a remote district in Pakistan`s southwestern province of Baluchistan, a government official said on Tuesday, the second attack within days in the troubled region. The blast late on Monday in Harnai district was some 160 km (100 miles) east of the provincial capital, Quetta, where a suicide bomber rammed his motorcycle into an army truck on Saturday, killing eight soldiers and seven civilians. The separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) group claimed responsibility for the bombing in phone calls made to media in Quetta. Islamic State said it carried out Saturday`s bombing. Army chief General Qamar Bajwa said the attack was an attempt to mar celebrations on Monday as Pakistan celebrated 70 years since independence from British colonial rule. "Our resolve won`t succumb to any challenge," Bajwa said in a statement the army media wing posted on Twitter. Separatist militants in Baluchistan have waged a campaign against the central government for decades, demanding a greater share of resources in the gas-rich province, which is a key part of a $57 billion Chinese economic corridor through Pakistan. The province, which shares border with Afghanistan and Iran, was rocked by a series of attacks late last year that raised concerns about a growing militant presence, including fighters affiliated with Islamic State. Patna: The flood situation in Bihar continues to remain grim where 69.81 lakh people have been hit by inundation in 13 districts and 56 people have lost their lives. The devastating flood has washed away thousands of huts, badly damaged buildings, roads, bridges and standing crops worth crores. The 56 deaths have been reported from Araria, West Champaran, Kisanganj, Sitamarhi, Madhepura, East Champaran, Darbhanga, Madhubani and Sheohar. In total 13 districts have been hit by inundation, with Muzaffarpur being the latest addition. To take stock of the ground situation, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar made his second aerial survey of flood-hit areas on Tuesday. Kumar said he had told officials to speed up rescue and relief work. He also requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to provide all possible aid. Both have assured him of help. The government has launched massive relief and rescue operations with help from the Army, Air Force as well as National Disaster Response Force and Bihar State Disaster Response Force teams. East Central Railway (ECR) chief public relations officer Rajesh Kumar said that no train is going beyond Katihar towards the north east as flood waters have inundated the railway tracks. A report from Katihar said that railway bridge number 133 in Barsoi-Kisanganj section of Katihar division of North East Frontier Railway has been badly damaged in flood. Patna: Days after he was removed as the Janata Dal (United) leader in the Rajya Sabha, Sharad Yadav on Wednesday challenged Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to sack him from the party, said .GoNews The former JD(U) president has called a meeting of opposition parties, including the Congress and the Left, on Thursday where he will decide the future course of action. Top leaders of the Congress, the Left, Samajwadi Party, BSP, TMC and other parties opposed to the BJP have been invited to the programme which is being seen as Sharad's show of strength against his party chief Nitish Kumar's decision to ally with the BJP. Asked who would attend the meeting, Sharad says, "There would be hardly anybody from the opposition who will not come". When asked if Nitish Kumar would also participate in the conference, Yadav said, "he has invited everyone to the programme". However, he refused to answer questions on his disapproval of Nitish's alliance with the BJP, and said the decision to hold tomorrow's event was taken weeks ago, when his party was with the loose opposition group. "The Sajha Virasat Bachao Sammelan is not against anybody but in the interest of the country. This is in the interest of 125 crore people of the country," the former JD(U) said. He cited incidents such as the suicide of Rohith Vemula and the disappearance of JNU student Najeeb Ahmed, besides suicides of farmers across the country, to suggest that the situation was tough for underprivileged people. The JD(U), which has asked Yadav not to hold the event, removed him as its parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha when he continued with his campaign against the alliance with the BJP. Yadav was accompanied by Ali Anwar Ansari, a Rajya Sabha member suspended from the parliamentary party by the JD(U), and Arun Shrivastava, recently sacked from the post of general secretary. Patna: The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Wednesday suffered yet another blow when party spokesperson Pragati Mehta joined its rival faction in the state assembly - the Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)). This comes in the wake of the heated political environment in the state brought in culmination due to Chief Minister Nitish Kumar undoing the 'mahagathbandhan', thereby, severing all ties with the Lalu Prasad Yadav-led RJD, over corruption charges levied on the latter and his son and former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav. In the aftermath of the corruption charges, Nitish Kumar stepped down as the state head and joined the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in no time, thereby, swearing-in as the chief minister for the sixth time - this time in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies. Senior JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav didn't seem too happy with Nitish resorting to changing his stance on the saffron party and held a Jan Samwad Yatra wherein he interacted with the people of the state to gauge the public sentiment regarding the snapping of the Grand Alliance. This led to rumours that Sharad Yadav would be removed from the party, but he was only replaced as the Rajya Sabha leader. Also, Ali Anwar, who on Sharad Yadav's insistence, attended an Opposition party meeting called on by Sonia Gandhi, was removed from the JD(U) parliamentary party. More recently, Deputy Chief Minister and BJP Sushil Modi blamed the RJD workers for the attack on his cavalcade in Vaishali. Chennai: The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) on Wednesday declared that their nationwide strike call for August 22 stands as the talks with the Indian Banks` Association (IBA) in Mumbai have failed. The Forum is an umbrella body of nine unions in the Indian banking sector. The UFBU has given notice of a nationwide strike on August 22 to protest against reforms in the banking sector and other issues. "Since nothing positive emerged (at the talks) on the issues raised by us, our call for strike on August 22 stands," C.H. Venkatachalam, General Secretary, All India Bank Employees` Association (AIBEA), told IANS. "The IBA requested to withdraw strike without any concrete solution to the demands. Hence the strike call stands," D. Thomas Franco Rajendra Dev, General Secretary of the All India Bank Officers Confederation (AIBOC) said. The Chief Labour Commissioner has called the Forum for a conciliatory meeting in New Delhi on August 18. New Delhi: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday said that the the north easter and Himalayan states will contiunue to receive tax exemption on industries till March 2027, inform of refund, under the current GST regime which was rolled out on July 1. "Within the framework of the GST Act each industry will be entitled to its own refund mechanism during this particular period (March 31, 2027)," he said after the Cabinet meeting headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Industries in the north eastern and Himalayan states of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand under the previous excise regime used to get 10-year exemption, he said. As per the scheme, industries which commenced operations during the period got excise tax holiday for 10 years, he said, adding that there is a separate residuary period for every industry because of commencement of production and their consequent entitlement of 10 year exemption. Under the new Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime, there is no provision for exemption but there is one section under the Act which permits refunds. With PTI Inputs Mumbai: Most professionals in India (91 percent) like hearing about new opportunities and mostly higher compensation lures them into switching to new job, according to a LinkedIn report. "Ninety-one percent of Indian professionals are interested in hearing about job opportunities. This trend continues from last year wherein 90 percent Indian professionals expressed that they are interested in hearing about new jobs," LinkedIn's report - 'Inside the Mind of Today?s Candidates' has revealed. This LinkedIn report analyses responses from a survey conducted among 539 respondents in India in April 2017. The report also revealed that 46 percent respondents feel flattered when they hear from recruiters. It said, higher compensation (45 percent) remained the top reason why people are likely to change their jobs, it added. Additionally, it said, 37 percent showed interest in knowing the salary range during the interview process. Better skills and interest fit (40 percent) and better growth opportunities (32 percent) also featured as reasons that will make professionals switch jobs, it added. The report found that 55 percent of Indian professionals are motivated to pursue opportunities that match both their personal and professional interests. Further, 52 percent are interested in learning about the perks and benefits that come with the role and 45 percent want to work for a company they have always admired. While preparing for an interview, the report said, 49 percent of candidates visit company websites, 47 percent use search engines and 35 percent use professional networks to learn about the company and its employees and the position being offered. Social media is used by 63 percent of professionals to follow companies and stay aware of jobs, it added. It also said candidates want to have more dialogue with companies as 45 percent of the professionals believed that a conversation with the organisation's leadership team during the interview process led to a positive experience. The respondents also showed a preference for a visit to the workplace for the interview (54 percent) and conversations with the company's present employees (41 percent) to get a 'feel' of the company culture, it said. "Personalised service in the way they are treated, insight into the company's purpose and better value in the form of salary and career growth are important considerations when making a job switch. Employers need to ensure that they are authentic in building their employer brand and are amplifying their story on their social and digital channels," LinkedIn India and South Asia Director ? Talent Solutions and Learning Solutions - Irfan Abdulla said. It further said the top three reasons for professionals to continue working with a company were opportunities for challenge and upskill (62 percent), good work-life balance (42 percent) and an optimistic future for the company (37 percent). New Delhi: The US-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) on Wednesday announced that eggs of nine critically endangered Siamese crocodiles have been hatched in Cambodia. Listed on International Union for Conservation of Nature`s (IUCN) red list as critically endangered, the global population of Siamese crocodiles is declining at an alarming rate. These species live only in Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. The total population is around 410 wild adults, of which 100-300 live in Cambodia, making it the most important country for the conservation of these species. "I am so excited to see these hatchlings. It is the first time I have taken care of them since arriving at the center," an official statement quoting Tun Sarorn, caretaker at the Koh Kong Reptile Conservation Center, said. On June 28, a nest containing 19 Siamese crocodile eggs was found in the Sre Ambel district of Koh Kong Province. At that time, conservationists from Cambodia`s Fisheries Administration, WCS and local communities were searching for signs of wild crocodiles in the area. The nest was collected when discovered so it could not be poached or predated. Ultimately, the eggs were moved to the Koh Kong Reptile Conservation Center where they were protected for six weeks. "Finding the first nest in over 10 years on the Sre Ambel is encouraging as it indicates they are still there and reproducing," Lonnie McCaskill, global crocodile expert and WCS`s Assistant Director of Prospect Park Zoo, said. The Koh Kong Reptile Conservation Center is a new purpose-built reptile breeding and conservation center in Mondul Seima district of Koh Kong Province. The hatchlings will be kept at the Koh Kong Reptile Conservation Center for the next few years until they are large enough to survive in the wild. At that time, they will be released. The Siamese crocodile faces many threats to their survival. In Cambodia, threats include illegal hunting of adults and hatchlings, and collecting of eggs to supply crocodile farms in Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand especially during the last two decades. Other threats are habitat degradation, decrease of natural food supply and weak law enforcement. Moscow: Former Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev told his bribery trial on Wednesday that he had been framed by a close lieutenant of President Vladimir Putin into accepting a payment of $2 million. The accusation against Igor Sechin, head of Russia`s biggest oil company, thrust into the open simmering tensions between rival Kremlin clans - a spectacle rarely seen in public in the 17 years since Putin first became president. Ulyukayev was detained on Nov. 14 last year, moments after Sechin personally handed him the cash in a late-night meeting that, according to prosecutors, was a sting to catch the minister in the act of accepting a bribe. The case is politically charged because Sechin represents a powerful faction in the Kremlin who favour greater state control over the economy. They have clashed with economic liberals in the government, a group that included Ulyukayev. A spokesman for Rosneft, the state oil company headed by Sechin, said on Wednesday there was exhaustive evidence to show that Ulyukayev had taken a bribe. Speaking in court at the beginning of his trial, Ulyukayev said Sechin had made false allegations to the Federal Security Service, or FSB, that he was extorting a bribe, and then tricked him into coming to the meeting at Rosneft`s headquarters on the banks of the Moskva river. "There is no objective evidence against me. The charges were fabricated," Ulyukayev said. "In the absence of any objective evidence, an allegation was fabricated against me, based exclusively on Sechin`s testimony, that I supposedly extorted a bribe from him," the ex-minister, dressed in a blue and white striped polo-shirt, told the court. "The handing to me of the money was planned in advance by FSB officers who, based on Sechin`s false testimony, were waiting (for me) to make an illegal demand for a bribe." When no such demand was made, Ulyukayev said, "Sechin called me himself and on the pretext of discussing important issues regarding the company`s activities, and wanting to show me the company, persuaded me to come." "Simple common sense is enough to understand the absurdity of the allegation," Ulyukayev said. He did not dispute that he took the cash, or give an explanation of why he took the money. ROSNEFT DEAL The prosecutor in the case, Boris Neporozhny, told the court Ulyukayev had told Sechin in October last year he expected to be paid a bribe in exchange for approving a deal which Rosneft was working on. He threatened to block the deal if he was not paid, the prosecutor said. That deal was for Rosneft to acquire a controlling stake in mid-sized oil company Bashneft, which was being sold by the Russian state. Rosneft acquired the stake last year. The prosecutor said that Sechin, after the initial conversation, reported Ulyukayev to the FSB, who then set up the sting operation. Ulyukayev was detained outside the Rosneft offices as he put the money in the trunk of his official car, Neporozhny said. Mikhail Leontyev, a spokesman for Rosneft, did not comment directly on the allegations that Sechin framed Ulyukayev, saying only that the ex-minister had chosen that tactic in his defence "given his difficult position." But Leontyev said the court had been presented with exhaustive evidence that a crime was committed. "We would note three things: (there was) an acknowledgement that a crime was committed; the fact is that Ulyukayev himself demanded an illegal reward for carrying out his direct duties; he came himself to the meeting and left the meeting venue with money." Tensions have been simmering for years between Kremlin clans, according to people with direct knowledge of the rivalries, but it is highly unusual for them to spill out in such a public and dramatic fashion. Sechin is one of Putin`s closest lieutenants and the two men have known each other for decades. He has been instrumental in increasing the power and wealth of state companies, often by winning Kremlin backing to take over the assets of private firms. That has been resisted by economic liberals, who include several figures in the government and others with influence over Putin. They argue that state firms are suffocating the private enterprise Russian needs to nurture in order to grow its economy. Kremlin observers said that Ulyukayev`s arrest last year had weakened the hand of the economic liberals. NEW DELHI/SRINAGAR: Indian and Chinese soldiers were allegedly involved in an altercation in the western Himalayas on Tuesday, said sources in the government. Indian soldiers reportedly foiled an infiltration bid by Chinese People's Liberation Army to enter Ladakh, near the Pangong lake. The incident took place on the morning of Indian Independence Day, August 15. "There was an altercation near the Pangong lake," said a police officer in Srinagar, the capital of India`s Jammu and Kashmir state, under which the area falls. An army source in Srinagar also spoke of an altercation following what he called a Chinese army "incursion in Pangong lake area". A source in New Delhi told Reuters, Chinese soldiers carried iron rods and stones. Both sides suffered from minor injuries. The scuffle reportedly lasted for 30 minutes. Another report suggests that the confrontation occurred after a Chinese patrol lost its way due to bad weather conditions, coming across Indian soldiers at Pangong Lake's northern bank near areas known as Finger Four and Finger Five, sources told India Today. Indian and Chinese authorities have not responded to the situation yet. Indian government is likely to raise the issue with its Chinese counterparts in a flag meeting on August 16. These developments have further escalated the ongoing tensions between the two countries which are already locked in a two-month standoff over Dokalam. The two armies are engaged in a standoff in the Doklam plateau further east, in another part of their 3,500 km (2,175 mile) unmarked mountain border. With Reuters & PTI Input New Delhi: Army officers of India and China are holding a meeting on Wednesday in Chushul area of Leh, a day after Indian border guards foiled an attempt by Chinese soldiers to enter Indian territory along the banks of Pangong lake in Ladakh. Official sources said the meeting is expected to deliberate on maintaining peace and tranquility along the Sino -India border in Ladakh. Soldiers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) tried to enter the Indian side in two areas-- Finger Four and Finger Five-- twice between 6 am and 9 am yesterday. But on both the occasions their attempts were thwarted by alert Indian troops. Chinese troops had managed to enter up to Finger Four area in the region from where they were sent back. This area has been a bone of contention between India and China as both claim it to be a part of their territory. There was stone pelting also that caused minor injuries to people on both sides. When asked about yesterday's incident in Ladakh, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley told reporters, "This is not a subject on which the government makes a comment on." Two thirds of the Pangong Lake are controlled by China while one third of it is controlled by India. The incidents in Ladakh took place amid a face off between Indian and Chinese armies in Dokalam in India-Bhutan- China trijunction which has entered the third month. Official sources said notwithstanding the standoff, sweets were exchanged between the Indian Army and PLA troops in multiple border locations including in Dokalam. Exchange of sweets on Independence Day and Republic Day has been a tradition for last several years. Beijing: China said on Wednesday that it hopes that India and the US can develop ties which are "conducive" to regional peace and development. The Chinese reaction came a day after the two countries agreed to enhance peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region by establishing a new two-by-two ministerial dialogue. President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have agreed to enhance peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region by establishing a new two-by-two ministerial dialogue, which would elevate their strategic consultations, according to the White House. Trump spoke with the PM on Monday to greet him on the eve of India's Independence Day. PM Modi had tweeted about it saying: Appreciate the warm felicitations from @POTUS, who called this evening to convey Independence Day greetings. Thank you @realDonaldTrump. Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 14, 2017 During the phone call, Trump had also welcomed the first-ever shipment of American crude oil to India, which will begin this month from Texas. He pledged that the US would continue to be a reliable and long-term supplier of energy to India, the White House had said in a readout of the phone call between the two leaders. Asked about the decision by the US and India to establish two-by-two ministerial dialogue, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said, "We noticed relevant report. We hope India and US can develop relations which are conducive to regional peace and development." The decision to set up the new two-by-two ministerial dialogue comes amid China's growing assertiveness in the Asia Pacific region. Trump had recently warned North Korea that it would face "fire and fury" if it attacked the United States, while the North threatened to test-fire its missiles over Japan and towards the US Pacific island of Guam. (With PTI inputs) New Delhi: Narendra Modi-led government has reportedly cleared a five-year action plan for the Coast Guard, costing Rs 31,748 crore. The approval was made keeping in mind the 26/11 Mumbai terror strike in 2008. Cleared by defence secretary Sanjay Mitra in August, the action programme plans to improve the force-levels of Coast Guard with 175 ships (including patrol vessels, boats) and 110 aircrafts by 2022 to bridge critical operational gaps. The programme also plans to undertake anti-piracy, anti-smuggling, oil-spill and pollution-control operations. At present, the Coast Guard has 130 "surface units'' including 60 ships (offshore patrol vessels, fast patrol vessels and pollution-control vessels), 18 hovercrafts, and 52 smaller interceptor boats/crafts. The "air units", in turn, are limited to 39 Dornier maritime surveillance aircraft, 19 Chetak choppers and four Dhruv advanced light helicopters, reported the Times of India. Authorities have placed an order for 16 indigenous Dhruv choppers and the procurement of 14 twin-engine EC-725 tactical choppers is in the final stages of approval now. The force will also get five more air stations/enclaves. The existing 42 stations (20 were sanctioned after 26/11), under the five regional headquarters at Gandhinagar, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Port Blair, will also be fully-developed and made smart with better infrastructure, a source said. Beijing: China on Wednesday said it was not aware of a skirmish between its troops and Indian soldiers in the Ladakh region. Beijing's reaction came after reports on Wednesday claimed that Indian and Chinese soldiers were involved in an altercation near Pangong Lake in Ladakh, exacerbating tensions during a months-long stand-off between the two armies. When asked to comment on the reported incident, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hu Chunying said, "I am not aware of the information." "I am not aware of them. The Chinese border troops are always committed to maintaining peace and tranquility along the border," Chunying said at a briefing. Earlier today, reports stated that Indian border guards foiled an attempt by Chinese soldiers to enter Indian territory. Reports said that some of the Chinese soldiers carried iron rods and stones, and in the melee there were minor injuries on both sides, a source told Reuters. While speaking to news agency AFP, an Indian defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity said, There was a minor incident. There was some stone pelting from the Chinese side but the situation was quickly brought under control." Police in the north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, where Ladakh is located, said clashes were relatively common along the de facto border known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC). "These things happen every summer but this one was slightly prolonged and more serious but no weapons were used," a police source in Srinagar told AFP. Beijing remains defiant, asks India to withdraw troops from Doklam Amid the ongoing stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops at the Doklam area, Beijing on Wednesday reiterated that New Delhi should withdraw troops from the area. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said withdrawal of troops by India was a precondition for any dialogue between both sides. Customary India-China border meet not held this I-Day Amid the ongoing border row, customary Border Personnel Meetings held between India and China every Independence Day were not held this time. According to informed sources, the meetings could not be held as the PLA officials did not respond to communications from the Indian Army. These meetings are held at five points -- Daulat Beg Oldie in northern Ladakh, Kibithoo in Arunachal Pradesh, Chushul in Ladakh, Bum-La near Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh and Nathu-La in Sikkim. The meetings are held on the national days of both countries. Doklam standoff New Delhi and Beijing have been engaged in the standoff in the Doklam area near the Bhutan tri-junction since June 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 the 'Dragon' 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. Washington: Amid the ongoing stand-off between Indian and Chinese troops at the Doklam area, the United States has called on the Asian giants to sit down and have a direct dialogue to resolve their issues. US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said, "Just that we are encouraging both parties to sit down and have direct dialogue, when asked to spell out US' stand on 'another round of skirmish and tension from India and China.' The US' remarks came a day after Indian border guards foiled an attempt by Chinese soldiers to enter Indian territory along the banks of famous Pangong lake in Ladakh. New Delhi and Beijing have been engaged in the standoff in the Doklam area near the Bhutan tri-junction since June 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 the 'Dragon' 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. 'India, China soldiers involved in border altercation' Indian and Chinese soldiers were involved in an altercation on Tuesday when the Chinese troops tried to enter Indian territory in Ladakh, near the Pangong lake, a Reuters report said. A source in New Delhi, who had been briefed on the military situation on the border, said soldiers foiled a bid by a group of Chinese troops to enter Indian territory in Ladakh. Some of the Chinese soldiers carried iron rods and stones, and in the melee there were minor injuries on both sides, the source said. New Delhi: A day after a skirmish between Indian and Chinese forces in Ladakh, both sides held a Border Personnel Meeting on Wednesday. According to sources in the Army, a 'pre-scheduled' BPM was held in Chusul today afternoon. The meeting discussed incidents and issues to ensure "strengthening of existing mechanisms for maintaining peace and tranquility", as per IANS. Indian troops foil China's incursion bid in Ladakh Yesterday, Indian border guards had frustrated an attempt by Chinese soldiers to enter Indian territory along the banks of famous Pangong lake in Ladakh resulting in stone pelting that had caused minor injuries to people on both sides. Soldiers of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) had tried to enter the Indian side in two areas - Finger Four and Finger Five - twice between 6 am and 9 am. But on both the occasions their attempts were thwarted by alert Indian troops, officials had said, as per PTI. After Chinese troopers found their path blocked by Indian soldiers who formed a human chain, they began hurling stones, prompting a swift retaliation by Indian border guards. Personnel from both sides had received minor injuries and the situation was brought under control after the customary banner drill under which both sides hold banners before stepping back to their respective positions. The development in Ladakh comes as troops of both sides are locked in a standoff in Doklam in Sikkim sector. Doklam standoff enters third month, China asks India to withdraw Meanwhile, China today again told India to pull back its troops from Doklam where the standoff entered the third month. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying reiterated Beijing's stance, asking India to withdraw troops from Doklam. On June 16, the Indian Army stopped the Chinese PLA from building a road in Doklam, leading to the face-off. Doklam, in the tri-junction of India, China and Bhutan, is claimed by Beijing and Thimphu. "As for the trespass of Indian troops in Doklam area, China's position is firm and consistent - that is Indian border troops must be withdrawn unconditionally and this is a precondition for any meaningful talks between the two sides," Hua said. India has said it is ready to pull back troops if China does so too, an offer Beijing has outright rejected. This is the longest military standoff between India and China after 1987 when both sides faced-off in Somordong Chu valley in Arunachal Pradesh. (With Agency inputs) Wellington: An Indian man was seriously assaulted in New Zealand and police are seeking the public`s help to identify the man. The incident happened in Takanini, South Auckland on Tuesday. "The man was left severely beaten on the footpath at approximately 10.20 p.m. on Great South Road, Takanini," police was quoted as saying by the Indian Weekender community portal. Police said the man is between 20 to 30 years in age and is of Indian descent. He was wearing a grey colour shirt, blue jeans and black sneakers with white soles, according to the report. Police were seeking to talk to anyone who witnessed the assault or had any information about the man. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered a National Investigation Agency (NIA) probe into the plea of a Muslim man whose marriage with a Hindu woman (Hadiya) was annulled by the Kerala High Court, which had termed it a "love jihad". A bench of Chief Justice of India Jagdish Singh Khehar and justice DY Chandrachud ordered NIA to launch a probe into the conversion and marriage of the Kerala Hindu girl, who was known as Akhila but allegedly converted to Islam and changed her name to Hadiya, to a Muslim man, Shafin Jahan. The marriage had taken place in 2016. Justice RV Ravindran, a retired judge of the apex court, will supervise the investigation. The Kerala HC on May 25 had declared as "null and void," the marriage of 24-year-old Hadiya who was allegedly forced to convert to Islam after being abducted and wrongfully confined in Kerala's Malappuraman district. It had described the case as an instance of 'love jihad' and ordered the state police to conduct probe into such cases. In its earlier hearing, the apex court had termed the case as "serious" and "sensitive". The bench had asked the NIA and father of the woman to give all the materials in their possession to the court. "These are very sensitive issues.. It's a serious matter... You give us all the materials you have," the apex court had told them. "Issue notice. Madhvi Divan, advocate... on behalf of respondent number one (father) seeks a week's time, so as to enable her to place material on the record of this case. Prayer is allowed. Needful be done within one week from today," the bench said. The woman's husband, Shafin Jahan, has filed a plea challenging the HC order saying it was an "an insult to the independence of woman in India". Advocate Madhvi Divan, appearing for Hadiya's father, said she was a "helpless victim" trapped by a "well-oiled racket" which used "psychological measures" to indoctrinate people and convert them to Islam. Jahan is a criminal and his daughter was trapped by a network with connections to Popular Front of India and even the Islamic State, said the lawyer. The woman, a Hindu, had converted to Islam and later married Jahan. It was alleged that the woman was recruited by Islamic State's mission in Syria and Jahan was only a stooge. Hadiya was a homeopathy student in Kerala when she converted to Islam and changed her name. Jahan had met her with his family in August 2016 in response to her posting on a marriage website and they got married in December 2016. But in August 2016 itself, her father had approached high court with a habeas corpus petition, alleging his daughter had been radicalised by some organisations and they had also influenced her to marry a Muslim man so that she is out of the parents' custody forever. He had also apprehended that there could be a plan to send her to Syria to work with extremist organisations such as IS since the man she married had been working in the Gulf. New Delhi: Opposition parties and activists on Wednesday slammed a probe panel report that said Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula, who allegedly committed suicide last year, did not kill himself due to university action against him. The report of the one-man judicial commission under former Allahabad high court judge Justice A K Roopanwal, set up by the human resource development ministry, said "Vemula was a troubled individual and was unhappy for several reasons". The enquiry commission report submitted to the HRD ministry last year, also said that Vemula was not a Dalit by caste, besides giving a clean chit to then HRD minister Smriti Irani and BJP leader Bandaru Dattatreya. Academic scholar and Dalit rights activist Kancha Ilaiah alleged that the report has been written to present the government's version of the story. "What surprises me is that what the then HRD minister Smriti Irani had said about Vemula's death is what forms the content of the report. "We would have taken it more seriously if Irani would have then said that 'look we do not know what happened and we are constituting an enquiry to know about it'," Ilaiah told reporters, adding "What the minister wanted to say is all what has been written in the report". Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said he has been demanding a probe in the matter by a sitting Supreme Court judge for the truth to come out, asking "what can a retired judge say when the government has already made up its mind" Congress' Rajeev Gowda also slammed the report saying it was a "sham". "It insults the memory of Vemula and the tragedy of his suicide. He was driven to death by mistreatment, harassment by varsity and intervention of central ministers into the issue," he claimed. Vemula hanged himself in a hostel room on January 17 last year as he was allegedly upset over disciplinary action taken against him by the University of Hyderabad. His death had kicked up a controversy over the action against him that was alleged to have been prompted by complaints by BJP leaders. Hyderabad: The Justice (retd) AK Roopanwal Commission has said that Hyderabad Central University (HCU) research scholar Rohith Vemula, who allegedly committed in January 2016, was a troubled individual and didnt end his life over the varsity action. The Commission was constituted by the HRD Ministry to look into the circumstances leading to the death of Rohith Vemula. "His suicide note is on the record which shows that Rohith Vemula had his own problems and was not happy with worldly affairs," reported Times of India, quoting the report of Justice A K Roopanwal. "He was frustrated for the reasons best known to him...He also wrote that he was all alone from childhood and was an unappreciated man. This also indicates his frustration. He did not blame anybody for his suicide," the report said. After he committed suicide, Vemula's family members, friends besides political parties alleged that he was a victim of caste discrimination. Vemulas suicide had triggered a huge political furore with the then HRD minister Smriti Irani coming under attack along with labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya for having written a letter related to the matter. In 2016, it was reported that the Justice Roopanwal Commission had stated that material on record did not establish that Vemula was a Dalit and attributed his suicide to personal reasons The report also gave a clean chit to Union ministers Smriti Irani and Bandaru Dattatreya besides absolving HCU authorities of any blame for Vemula's death The Commission was learnt to have raised questions about Vemula's caste status as a Dalit saying that there is no proof that his mother V Radhika belonged to "Mala" community. Accra: Describing terrorism as the "gravest threat the world has faced since World War Two", Indian Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar has blamed the UN for the growth of international terrorism because of its inability to agree on its definition for the last two decades. Speaking at a function here to mark India`s 71st Independence Day on Tuesday, Akbar said: "It would be naive to think that terrorists do not have political objectives, that they seek chaos through random attacks. They have concrete political objectives. They are challenging the concept of the nation state, which has been the central to the architecture of stability in the modern world." He said, another threat that terrorists cause to peace is the threat to harmony in plural societies. "They inject fear through the random use of violence, and seek to create walls of suspicion and dread, with significant consequence upon communities, which have lived in harmony for centuries. "There are countries which sup with devil and use terrorism as an instrument of state policy. No cause can justify the violence and destruction orchestrated through terrorism," Akbar said. He added that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has placed a 10-point agenda to counter terrorism at the recently concluded G-20 summit in Hamburg and sought Ghana`s cooperation in combating "this global evil creating a stronger global framework for security". He said the celebration of India`s 71st Independence Day is not just a celebration of an event that took place in 1947, but a "seminal moment" that marked the collapse of colonialism and imperialism across Asia and Africa, as well as the remembering the extraordinary generation of leaders who made their people`s dream of freedom. Akbar said that the anniversary was also a moment to celebrate the bridges that those leaders built between India and Africa, adding that, these relationships have "remain pathways of continued friendship, rising mutual prosperity and enhance security against the menace of our age, terrorism". He lamented over how Ghana and other parts of Africa were turned into "gateway to hell" from the forts and castles that Europeans built as the "barbaric trade in slavery became big business in the West". "The dark dungeons of Elmina Castle resonate with the unspeakable pains of your ancestors; the shackles and other instruments of torture lodged in their museums are evidence of a terrible moral degradation, physical violence and collective tyranny," Akbar added. Africa has a special place in the Indian history and in the Indian heart, Akbar said, adding that "the old world, which had complacently believed that colonialism would last for centuries, watched in astonishment as the mightiest empire in history crumbled before the fearless power of non-violence". He said India`s developmental partnership with Ghana has already crossed $500 million and thanked the people and successive governments of the country for ensuring the safety and security of the Indian community in Ghana. Ghana`s Minister of Transport, Kwaku Ofori Asiamah, said Indian investors should help the country`s private sector to grow bilateral trade to $5 billion by 2020. Delhi: The US Department of State on Wednesday designated Hizbul Mujahideen as a foreign terrorist organisation slapping a series of sanctions on the outfit. The order was passed under section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act and as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) under section 1(b) of Executive Order (EO) 13224. .@StateDeptCT has designated Hizbul Mujahideen - also known as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen & HM - as a Foreign Terrorist Org. https://t.co/Z9eL3kEGpt Department of State (@StateDept) August 16, 2017 The media note by the department reads as follows: The Department of State has designated Hizbul Mujahideen - also known as Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, also known as HM - as a Foreign Terrorist Organisation. These designations seek to deny HM the resources it needs to carry out terrorist attacks. Among other consequences, all of HMs property and interests in property subject to US jurisdiction are blocked and US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in any transactions with the group. Formed in 1989, HM is one of the largest and oldest militant groups operating in Kashmir. Hizbul Mujahideen is led by Specially Designated Global Terrorist Mohammad Yusuf Shah, also known as Syed Salahuddin. Hizbul Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for several attacks, including the April 2014, explosives attack in the state of Jammu and Kashmir, which injured 17 people. Todays action notifies the US public and the international community that HM is a terrorist organisation. Terrorism designations expose and isolate organizations and individuals, and deny them access to the U.S. financial system. Moreover, designations can assist the law enforcement activities of US agencies and other governments. Earlier, on June 26 this year, the US had declared the group's Pakistan-based chief Syed Salahuddin, 71, as a global terrorist. The announcement had come just hours before the much-awaited meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump at the White House. In a notification, the State Department had said at that time that Salahuddin "has committed or poses a significant risk of committing, acts of terrorism." He is also the head of 'United Jihad Council', a conglomerate of several terror outfits like LeT and JeM. Salahuddin hails from a small village of Soibug in the Budgam district of central Kashmir. He left the village and the state 30 years ago, when he crossed over to Pakistan. HM is banned under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act for carrying out terrorist activities in India and receiving funds from Pakistan and the Gulf. Pakistan's Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and ousted PM Nawaz Sharif have repeatedly praised the militant group's slain 'commander' Burhan Wani who was killed in July last year in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir. Hizbul has claimed responsibility for several attacks in the state. New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin has greeted India on its Independence Day and expressed readiness to strengthen the "special privileged partnership" in the interest of peoples of the two countries and to ensure international stability and security. Responding to the message, Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "I thank President Putin for his greetings on India's Independence Day." In his message, Putin praised India's economic, social and other achievements, and "noted that the country has earned the respect it deserved on the international stage", according to a statement issued by Kremlin, the Russian President's office. It quoted Putin as saying that Russia-India ties have always been based on friendship and mutual respect. "The two countries have a long track record of fruitful bilateral cooperation in all areas, and coordinating efforts in resolving important matters on the regional and global agendas," the Russian President said. "Vladimir Putin confirmed Russia's readiness to continue joint efforts to strengthen the special privileged partnership between Russia and India in the interests of the friendly peoples of the two countries, and with a view to ensuring international stability and security," the statement added. Maldivian President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom also extended the greetings on India's Independence Day. PM Modi thanked him for the greetings. New Delhi: Vodafone India has announced a special offering for its prepaid customers in Rajasthan, with the launch of Vodafone 348 Prepaid Recharge Offer, facilitating 01 GB data daily with unlimited voice calls (Local and National) for 28 days. Vodafone 348 Prepaid Recharge Offer is available at all the Vodafone Stores, Mini stores and multi brand retail outlets across the state. Customers can also avail this recharge through MyVodafone App. Extending Independence Day greetings to the residents of Rajasthan, Amit Bedi, Business Head Rajasthan, Vodafone India, said Vodafone has always taken the lead in coming up with innovative products and services that also offer the finest value to our customers. With Vodafone 348 Prepaid Recharge Offer users can explore internet elements like video, music, live TV, chats, with 1 GB data each day for 28 days. Additionally, our customers can also enjoy unlimited conversations with their loved ones anywhere in the country. These benefits can be accessed by our customers on 4G/3G or 2G handsets. Now always be in touch with your near and dear ones with Vodafone 348 Prepaid Recharge Offer. Srinagar: The Pakistani Army on Wednesday violated the ceasefire by firing at Indian posts along the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district if Jammu and Kashmir. The Pakistani forces resorted to shelling and firing in forward areas along the LoC. Undeterred with the unprovoked firing from the other side, the Indian forces retaliated with full vigour. Pakistani troops violated ceasefire on Independence Day on Tuesday by firing at two places along the LoC in Uri sector of Jammu and Kashmir, injuring a woman. Bengaluru: Taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday that his speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort on the occasion of Independence Day was the shortest out of all as PM had nothing to talk about now. Rahul said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi was there and she had told him later that "it was a very short speech." "Mr Modi is lessoning the duration of his speeches as now he has nothing to talk about," he said in Bengaluru. PM Modi's 56-minute speech yesterday was the shortest of the four times he has addressed the nation. He further said that the PM did not tell the people that more than 90 children had died in Gorakhpur due to NDA government's healthcare policies. "I was in Gorakhpur some time ago and I asked the PM to support the hospitals there. He did not respond," he said. "The PM did not mention yesterday that India today has the highest rate of unemployment it has had in the last eight years," Rahul added. At the same time, Rahul blamed PM Modi for alienating countries closer to India. "When we were in power, all neighboring countries barring Pakistan and China, were favourable towards India. PM has alienated them one by one. And for the first time in history, Russia is selling weapons to Pakistan," he maintained. "PM is dividing the country. He allows his party people to beat up Dalits, kill minorities and does not condemn it," the Congress VP alleged. Rahul today launched the Karnataka government's subsidised food canteens 'Indira Canteen' in Bengaluru that would provide breakfast at Rs five and lunch and dinner at a cost of Rs 10. Mumbai: In a bizarre incident, the Mumbai Police on Wednesday arrested a person on charges of allegedly stealing tomatoes worth Rs 57,000. According to an ANI report, the accused has been sent to police custody till August 18 by a local court. Radheshyam Gupta (54) allegedly stole 900 kg of the vegetable from a shop on the night of July 18, transporting away the loot in a tempo, police said. Police examined CCTV footage of the area, questioned several vegetables suppliers and zeroed in on Gupta, who was arrested from his house in Kurla yesterday evening. While Gupta is a habitual offender, some other people too could be involved in the theft, said a police officer. Gupta was booked under section 379 (theft) of IPC, and a court today remanded him in police custody till August 18. Prices of tomato had soared last month, touching Rs 100 per kg in some parts of the country. Approximately 300 kilograms of tomatoes were stolen from a vegetable market in Mumbai's Dahisar on July 18. The tomatoes were estimated to be worth around Rs 57,000. As per reports, the police have registered a case in this regard and have launched an investigation into the matter. Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday restrained the Maharashtra government from granting permission for bullock cart races until the government frames rules to govern the same. A division bench of Chief Justice Manjula Chellur and Justice NM Jamdar said when the government has till date not framed rules, as envisaged in the amendment to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, it cannot grant permission. The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Pune resident Ajay Marathe, bringing to the court's notice a bullock cart race organised in his district tomorrow. The petition sought the court to stay the race. Government pleader Abhinandan Vagyani told the court today that the draft rules were ready and have been uploaded on the government's website for inviting suggestions and objections from persons concerned. The bench directed the government to file its affidavit within two weeks in response to the petition. The Maharashtra Assembly had in April this year passed a legislation for resumption of bullock cart races across the state, after Tamil Nadu enacted a law to regularise its rural sport Jallikattu. The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Maharashtra Amendment) Bill would regularise the bullock race, a popular sport in rural Maharashtra which had been banned in 2014 on the ground that it caused pain and suffering to bullocks. State Animal Husbandry Minister Mahadev Jankar had then said the amendment was being made to the central act, the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, in view of the vital role of the bullock cart race in preserving and promoting tradition and culture. After the Tamil Nadu government enacted the law to regulate Jallikattu (taming of the bull), there was a demand to revive bullock races in Maharashtra. Mumbai: Five members of a family fell ill on Wednesday after they consumed a meal in which a dead lizard was found. The incident took place in Mumbai. After the incident, all the five members were admitted at city's Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital. Their conditions are said to be stable. The family had palak paneer for lunch when they found the dead lizard in their food. They all are residents of Poisar, Kandivli East. The victims include a 59-year-old and two children, aged 4 and 1. One of the victims was quoted by Midday saying, "Our father passed away on August 7, and all the relatives were present at our home today. My sister Surekha and sister-in-law Asmita cooked lunch. My mother (Khondobai), Surekha and my cousin brother Dilip sat to eat first, along with my son Samayak and nephew Vivan." 27-year-old Surekha was among the first to notice the dead reptile in the plate and raised an alarm. Soonafter, "all five of them started vomiting," recalled another victim. "The children were hungry, so we made palak paneer. I had finished half a chapati when I saw the lizard," she told Midday. However, it remains unclear how the lizard managed to find its way to the food. As for now, all the five victims are admitted in the hospital and are under observation. Mumbai: Four persons were killed and seven others injured when their autorickshaw collided with a truck on Mumbai-Nagpur highway in Maharashtra's Buldhana district, police said on Wednesday. The autorickshaw was going to Balapur village in the district in Vidarbha region when it collided with the truck in Khamgaon city at around 11.30 pm yesterday, a police official said. Upon getting information about the mishap, the police rushed to the spot and took the passengers to a nearby hospital where four of them were declared dead, he said. The deceased were identified as Shaikh Asif shaikh Rashid (30), Samadhan Jhine (35), Bhagaji Kamble (36) and Sagarsingh Chittodia (25), the official said. The six injured persons were undergoing treatment in the hospital, he said. The truck driver was arrested by the Khamgaon police, he said. Mumbai: Two people died and at least 197 injured due in Dahi Handi-related incidents across Mumbai. The incidents occurred while forming human pyramids on Janamashtami. The first incident took place in Palghar around 6.30 pm when 21-year-old Rohan Gopinath Kini, the 'Govinda', died after falling during human pyramid formation in Dhansar Kashipada. The second case was reported from Mumbai's Airoli where 34-year-old Nagesh Sainath Parle died of electrocution, reported ANI. In last five years, nearly 1,171 govindas have been injured and five lost their lives while attempting to break the dahi handis. The Supreme Court had earlier banned youth below the age of 18 to participate in Dahi Handi rituals and restricted the height of the human pyramid to 20 feet. New Delhi: The government has asked all smartphone companies, majority of them Chinese manufacturers, to outline the procedures and processes adopted by them to ensure security and privacy of users' data. The directive comes amid standoff between India and China over Doklam, as also rising concerns over imports of Chinese IT and telecom products. "The ministry has given time till August 28 to all companies to furnish their responses," a senior IT Ministry official said. The official pointed to international and domestic reports about data leaks from mobile phones and said that in the first phase, devices and preloaded software and apps will be under scrutiny. Based on the response of the companies, the ministry will initiate verification and audit of devices where required. It has also warned of penalties under provisions of IT Act 43 (A) in case stipulated processes are not being followed. The official said the objective of the exercise is to ensure that required data security measures are being taken with regard to hardware and software in mobile phones. In all, the IT ministry has written to 21 smartphones makers and majority of these companies are Chinese device manufacturers, the official said. "Any device sold in the country should be compliant with global security standards. If companies fail to comply, further action will be taken," said the official who did not wish to be identified. IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had called a meeting of senior officials in the department, and representatives of Cert-In and others on August 14 to take stock of the situation, the official added. The official added that the issue was critical given surge in e-commerce transactions and digital payments. Guwahati: Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Wednesday urged his Mizoram counterpart to take measures to protect the businesses of traders from Assam from being allegedly vandalized in a Mizoram district. Sonowal called Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla to discuss the alleged harassment faced by the traders from Assam in Lunglei district of the neighbouring state. The Assam chief minister urged him to take measures for the safety and security of the traders from the state and protect their businesses from being vandalized, an official release said here. The Mizoram chief minister assured Sonowal of all possible help. There were reports that some members of a local organisation had forcibly shut down several shops being run by non-Mizos at Lunglei. The affected traders were mainly from Assam and other states who were doing business there since long. New York: Daniel Craig, the British actor who famously complained he`d rather slash his wrists than play James Bond a fifth time, has finally confirmed he`s returning as 007 after all... one last time. The New York Times first reported last month that the 49-year-old`s return to the big screen in 2019 was a "done deal" for the 25th movie in a franchise that has thrilled generations of cinemagoers. But the actor had previously stopped short of confirming the reports. "I`ve been quite cagey about it," he admitted Tuesday to US television host Stephen Colbert on CBS`s "The Late Show." "I`ve been doing interviews all day and people have been asking me and think I`ve been rather coy, but I kind of felt like if I was going to speak the truth, I should speak the truth to you," he said. Asked if he was returning as Bond, Craig replied: "Yes" before standing up and shaking Colbert`s hand with a grin. "I couldn`t be happier," he added. But the star said it would be his last outing as the fictional British secret agent: "I think this is it. This is it. I just want to go out on a high note." Craig`s return had been subject to furious speculation for years. In 2015, he told Time Out magazine: "I`d rather break this glass and slash my wrists... We`re done. All I want to do is move on." He has since distanced himself from those remarks, attributing them to being tired straight after a grueling shoot for the 2015 Bond movie "Spectre." "Instead of saying something with style and grace, I gave a really stupid answer," he told Colbert. Asked how long he had known he would be back for a fifth Bond, Craig said it had "been a couple of months." "I always wanted to, I needed a break." Bond is set return to US cinemas on November 8, 2019 with an earlier release in Britain and worldwide, says Eon Productions, which oversees everything Bond, and Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, which holds rights to the franchise. Craig is the seventh actor to play Bond, following Sean Connery, Roger Moore, David Niven, George Lazenby, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan. Mumbai: Bollywood actor Manoj Bajpayee, who has his roots in Bihar, on Wednesday appealed to the state's Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to look into the flood-affected areas there. "I appeal to our Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to look into this natural calamity and send help to affected areas. Hope and pray that help will reach soon," Manoj tweeted. "Devastating flood situation in West Champaran, Bihar. our village is badly affected. People are running short of daily supply of food," he added. Bihar has been affected by floods. The worst affected areas were Kishanganj, Araria, Purnea and Katihar of Seemanchal region and Supaul, Madhepura and Saharsa of Koshi region. The flood situation has also worsened in East and West Champaran with the Gandak river breaching embankments in Bagaha, an official said. People living in low lying areas have been advised to move to higher places as heavy rain continued. Major rivers including the Koshi, Mahananda, Gandak, Bagmati and Ganga are in spate and some rivers have breached their banks and embankments, officials said. The government has launched massive relief and rescue operations with help from the Army, Air Force as well as the National Disaster Response Force and Bihar State Disaster Response Force teams. An official said over 69.41 lakh people in 1,070 panchayats under 98 blocks in 133 districts have been affected by the floods in Bihar. Mumbai: Filmmaker Subhash Ghai says he will not return to directing movies unless he is "totally thrilled" with a story. Ghai last directed "Kaanchi: The Unbreakable", which released in 2014. "I shall not direct a movie till I am totally thrilled with a story which is new to me and has a meaningful issue like `Iqbal`. God has blessed me more than I could have asked for in life," he said in a statement. Known for films like "Karz", "Karma", "Saudagar" and "Taal", he is now enjoying his role as a producer. "Let the new generation take over and make movies for Mukta Arts. I`m happy as a producer as well as to be in the educational space," said the founder of the production house Mukta Arts Limited. He also founded Whistling Woods International, which is a film, communication and media arts institute. New Delhi: The gorgeous Riya Sen is all set to tie the knot by the end of this month with her boyfriend Shivam Tewari reportedly. The actress has been missing from the film scene for some time now but this news will surely make her fans happy. Veteran actress Suchitra Sen's granddaughter and the gorgeous Bengali beauty Moon Moon Sen's daughter, Riya made her Bollywood debut with 'Style' in 2001. According to a Pinkvilla, the intelligence quotient of a guy has always attracted Riya as she has been quoted as saying, He should be intelligent and smart in making decisions and can be from outside Bollywood. The actress has shared some adorable pictures of herself with her beau on Instagram. Here are the pictures: A post shared by Riya Sen Dev Varma (@riyasendv) on Jul 24, 2017 at 12:08am PDT A post shared by Riya Sen Dev Varma (@riyasendv) on Jun 15, 2017 at 12:22pm PDT A post shared by Riya Sen Dev Varma (@riyasendv) on May 17, 2017 at 9:50pm PDT New Delhi: Ace comedian turned actor Kapil Sharma is a headline maker and 'The Kapil Sharma Show' too manages to stay in news. Well, this time it's not a good one though. There are reports hinting at a tiff between Kapil and Navjot Singh Sidhu. Yes! As shocking as it may sound, the buzz is that all not well between the two. Accordign to BollywoodLife.com, recently, Sidhu could not shoot for an episode of the show due to ill health so Kapil roped in Archana Puran Singh in place of him. The report has it that this gesture irked Sidhu and he clarified with Kapil over his replacement for an episode. The 'Firangi' actor, it is said tried to make him understand that he needs to have someone on the chair but turns out it backfired as Sidhu gave him an ultimatum. Therefore, finally Archana was not called for the next episode shoot. BollywoodLife.com originally attributes the report to SpotBoye.com. Earlier, Kapil had an ugly spat with fellow actor and friend Sunil Grover followed by which the latter left his show midway. Gorakhpur: Five more encephalitis- related child deaths were reported from the Baba Raghav Das Medical College hospital since yesterday, taking to 71, the number of persons who have died here of the disease since August 7, officials said on Wednesday. "As many as 14 fresh cases of encephalitis were admitted on August 15 and August 16. At present, there are 64 patients undergoing treatment in the hospital," the office of the additional director health said giving details. With the five deaths reported since yesterday, the toll since August 7 in the state-run hospital has risen to 71, according to officials. Overall, since January 1, as many as 144 encephalitis- related deaths have taken place in the hospital, they said. In Lucknow, amid allegations that shortage of oxygen cylinders at the hospital had led to the deaths, UP Health Minister Siddharth Nath Singh said that loss of life due to such a reason was nothing less than a "heinous crime". He, however, added that all aspects related to the deaths at the state-run BRD medical college hospital were being probed by a panel led by the UP chief secretary. Those found guilty would be punished, Singh promised. "Any death due to oxygen shortage is a heinous rime...Any laxity on this front is also a crime," the UP health minister told reporters. Singh said that "on the basis of a primary inquiry", action was taken against the principal of the college. The deaths also led to a war of words between BJP and the Congress. The Congress accused the Yogi Adityanath government of not accepting its responsibility on the issue. UP Congress chief Raj Babbar said that his party will fight till the victims get justice. The BJP hit back accusing the Congress of playing politics over deaths. "The Congress is trying to exploit children's death for politics. This is ridiculous and shameless," BJP spokesman Rakesh Tripathi told reporters. BSP chief Mayawati also targeted the government over the incident. Meanwhile, UP Health Minister Singh said that a report had been sought from all the medical colleges and hospitals on the availability of oxygen or payment issues and added that everything had been found in order. The minister said that hospitals and community health centres in the area were being provided all necessary facilities so that they are well equipped and patients do not have to run to the BRD medical college. Kolkata: A newly built statue of great freedom fighter Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose was partly vandalised and smeared with coal tar in West Bengals Birbhum district on Tuesday. The statue was supposed to be unveiled on the Independence Day. The Netaji statue was to be installed in the Panchra village panchayat office compound. Police confirmed that the statue was smeared with coal tar and face was partly damaged. In a reply to a Right To Information (RTI) query, the government had earlier said that Netaji died in a plane crash on August, 18 1945. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) admitted of Netaji dying in the plane crash while replying to a RTI query filed by Sayak Sen in May 2017. However, a MHA spokesperson had later said, "There was a conclusion in 2006 that Netaji was dead. The RTI reply was based on that conclusion. However, the issue is not closed. Any new fact, if it comes up, will be examined by the government on merit and appropriate decision taken." In October 2015, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met the family members of Netaji and announced that the government would declassify the files relating to the leader whose disappearance 70 years ago remains a mystery. Last year, on Netaji's 119th birth anniversary on January 23, as many as 100 secret files were made public by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While two commissions of inquiry had concluded that Netaji had died in a plane crash in Taipei on August 18, 1945, a third probe panel, headed by Justice M K Mukherjee, had contested it and suggested that Bose was alive. Washington: Amid a political storm over his position that 'both sides' were at fault for the violence in Charlottesville, a combative President Donald Trump said that he has "no doubt" over his comments. The US President reverted yesterday to his initial position that both left and right-wing extremists became violent during a weekend rally by white nationalists in Virginia. He has blamed both sides including the "alt-left" for the deadly violence. Trump had come under fire from both Republicans and Democrats for his muted response to the violence unleashed by white supremacists during a rally in Charlottesville in which a woman was killed and 19 were injured when a car ploughed into a crowd of counter-protesters. "I think there's blame on both sides. If you look at both sides -- I think there's blame on both sides. I have no doubt about it, and you don't have any doubt about it either. And if you reported it accurately, you would say," Trump told reporters at an impromptu news conference at Trump Towers in New York. When a reporter challenged his observation by saying that this was started first by neo-Nazis groups, Trump said that both sides are to be blamed. "Excuse me, excuse me. They didn't put themselves -- and you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides. You had people in that group," he said. "You had a lot of bad people in the other group," he said, adding that a night before, the white supremacist groups took out a peaceful rally in Charlottesville. "There were people in that rally -- and I looked the night before -- if you look, there were people protesting very quietly the taking down of the statue of Robert E Lee. "I'm sure in that group there were some bad ones. The following day it looked like they had some rough, bad people -- neo-Nazis, white nationalists, whatever you want to call them," he said. "But you had a lot of people in that group that were there to innocently protest, and very legally protest -- because I don't know if you know, they had a permit. The other group didn't have a permit. So I only tell you this:? There are two sides to a story. I thought what took place was a horrible moment for our country -- a horrible moment. But there are two sides to the country," Trump said. "What about the alt-left that came charging at -- excuse me, what about the alt-left that came charging at the, as you say, the alt-right?? Do they have any semblance of guilt? Let me ask you this: What about the fact that they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs? Do they have any problem? I think they do. As far as I'm concerned, that was a horrible, horrible day," said the US President. Trump's impromptu press conference in New York resulted in immediate outrage among his political opponents. "The President's press conference today made plain that the statement he gave on Saturday is what he really believes. "The President's continued talk of blame 'on many sides' ignores the abhorrent evil of white supremacism, and continues a disturbing pattern of complacency around acts of hate from this President, his Administration and his campaign for the presidency," said Nancy Pelosi, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives. "From the beginning, President Trump has sheltered and encouraged the forces of bigotry and discrimination. "We have seen the manifestation of this behaviour in the hiring of White House staff members, but also in the unmistakable conduct of his Administration toward immigrants, Muslims, and communities of colour," she alleged. "Great and good American presidents seek to unite not divide. Donald Trump's remarks clearly show he is not one of them," said Senator Charles Schumer, Senate Minority Leader. "By saying he is not taking sides, Donald Trump clearly is. When David Duke and white supremacists cheer your remarks, you're doing it very very wrong," he said. House Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley said Trump has "disgraced the office of the presidency" and "clearly lacks a moral compass". "A president who should be representing the party of Lincoln has instead chosen to stand with white nationalists, neo-Nazis, and domestic terrorists. It is beyond the pale," Crowley said. Senator Mark Warner said he is shocked and disappointed. "I'm shocked. I'm disappointed. I tried to give the president the benefit of the doubt on Monday. I was disappointed it took him more than 2 days to call out the vile actions of people who were racist, white supremacists, neo- Nazis, KKK members that descended on Charlottesville," he told CNN in an interview. Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe contested Trump's statement. "Neo-Nazis, Klansmen and white supremacists came to Charlottesville heavily armed, spewing hatred and looking for a fight. "One of them murdered a young woman in an act of domestic terrorism, and two of our finest officers were killed in a tragic accident while serving to protect this community. This was not 'both sides'," he said. Columbia: Former US leaders George HW Bush and George W Bush on Wednesday issued a tough joint statement condemning racial bigotry and anti-Semitism, in a veiled rebuke of President Donald Trump. Trump sparked a political firestorm on Tuesday when he said counter-protesters appeared to be equally to blame for violence over the weekend at a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. In a statement issued from Kennebunkport, Maine, where they have a family home, the father-son former presidents said "America must always reject racial bigotry, anti-Semitism, and hatred in all forms." They made reference to Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence whose main home, Monticello, is in Charlottesville. "As we pray for Charlottesville, we are reminded of the fundamental truths recorded by that city`s most prominent citizen in the Declaration of Independence: we are all created equal and endowed by our Creator with unalienable rights," they said. "We know these truths to be everlasting because we have seen the decency and greatness of our country." The joint statement did not mention Trump by name. A woman was killed and 19 other people injured in Charlottesville on Saturday when a suspected white supremacist drove his car into a group of counter-protesters. Trump, in his remarks on Tuesday, appeared to put the white nationalists and counter-demonstrators on equal moral ground. "I think there is blame on both sides," Trump said. "You had a group on one side that was bad, and you had a group on the other side that was also very violent." His remarks have drawn widespread criticism including from members of his Republican Party. United Nations, Aug 16 (AP) US Ambassador Nikki Haley says Iran should not be allowed "to use the nuclear deal to hold the world hostage." Haley commented yesterday after Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned that the landmark 2015 nuclear agreement with the US and five other world powers could fall apart. Rouhani said Tehran could quickly ramp up and advance its nuclear program if the US continues "threats and sanctions" against Iran. Haley warned that "the nuclear deal must not become 'too big to fail.'" She added that "Iran, under no circumstances, can ever be allowed to have nuclear weapons." Haley said Iran must be held responsible for launching missiles, supporting terrorism, disregarding human rights and violating UN Security Council resolutions. She plans to visit the UN nuclear agency in Vienna next week. Washington: U.S. allies including Saudi Arabia and Bahrain did not uphold principles of religious freedom in 2016, while Islamic State has carried out "genocide" against religious minorities, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Tuesday. Tillerson made the comments at the State Department while introducing the agency`s annual report on religious freedom, required by a 1998 act of Congress. The report is the first to be released during the Trump administration and covers 2016. Saudi Arabia, Tillerson said, ought to "embrace greater degrees of religious freedom for all of its citizens." He cited criminal penalties for apostasy, atheism, blasphemy, and insulting the Saudi state`s interpretation of Islam, as well as attacks and discrimination targeting Shi`ite Muslims. The kingdom follows the strict Sunni Muslim Wahhabi school of Islam. The report said Saudi Arabia has used counter-terrorism laws to target atheists and Shi`ite Muslims. The United States and Saudi Arabia have long been close partners in counter-terrorism efforts and the kingdom was the first stop on U.S. President Donald Trump`s maiden international visit. Tillerson singled out another Gulf Arab state, Bahrain, saying it "must stop discriminating against the Shia communities." Bahrain`s foreign ministry said Tillerson`s remarks were "inappropriate" and showed "a deep misunderstanding of the facts." It called on the State Department to discuss such matters directly with the kingdom before making statements. "The history of the Kingdom of Bahrain is characterized by coexistence and religious harmony," the ministry said in a statement. It said Bahrainis of different sects, including Shi`ites, served as government officials, judges, diplomats and other professions. Tillerson said that in Turkey, a NATO ally, "authorities continued to limit the human rights of members of some religious minority groups." American pastor Andrew Brunson has been jailed in Turkey since October on charges of being part of a terrorist organization, according to news reports. Tillerson said religious freedom is "under attack" in Pakistan, citing the marginalization of Ahmadiyya Muslims, a minority sect which Pakistan considers non-Muslim. Tillerson said Islamic State, the Sunni extremist group that has controlled parts of Iraq and Syria, "is clearly responsible for genocide against Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims in areas it controls or has controlled." Tillerson said Iran targeted religious minorities including Baha`is and Christians, and in 2016 executed 20 people on charges including "waging war against God." He also called out China and Sudan in his remarks. The Chinese government tortures and imprisons thousands for practicing their religious beliefs, Tillerson said, citing the targeting of Falun Gong members, Uighur Muslims and Tibetan Buddhists. And in Sudan, the government arrests and intimidates clergy and blocks the construction of churches while tearing down existing ones, he said. Tillerson`s decision to introduce the report contrasted with how he handled the State Department`s annual human rights report in March. He declined to unveil it in person, breaking with precedent, and drew criticism he was not giving rights issues adequate attention. The report did not address Trump`s attempt this year to temporarily suspend refugee admissions and his decision to impose a lower cap on the number of those admissions. The report states that resettlement is a "vital tool for providing refugees protection." Many refugees admitted to the United States in 2016 were fleeing religious intolerance and persecution, it said. Dublin: Britain will consider replacing some European Union funding for peace projects in Northern Ireland after it leaves the bloc in 2019, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday. The European Union has provided billions of euros of aid for the province since a 1998 peace deal ended three decades of violence between Irish nationalists and British unionists in which 3,600 people died. "We ... want the EU funding that has helped victims of the Troubles and cross-community groups to continue at least until the current programme finishes," May said in an article in the Irish News newspaper. "We then want to go further, and explore a potential future programme of peace funding after we leave the EU," May said. The British government had earlier committed to guaranteeing funding under the EU`s Peace initiative until the current round of funding ends in 2020. United Nations: Warning that military action to deal with North Korean nuclear and missile threats will be "too horrific to contemplate", UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called upon nations to "dial-down rhetoric and dial-up diplomacy". Speaking to reporters, he said that all countries should strictly enforce the recent Security Council resolution imposing a stringent embargo on North Korea, but simultaneously also work towards a "meaningful dialogue". His comments on dangers of military action appeared to be aimed at United States President Donald Trump who has warned Pyongyang of a rain of "fire and fury like the world has never seen before" if it continued with its threats to the US. North Korea's hereditary dictator Kim Jong-un, who oversaw the test of ballistic missiles that experts say could reach major US cities, had threatened to fire missiles near Guam, a US territory in the Pacific. However, in the face of Trump's stern warnings he has since backed off, saying he would wait to see the "foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees". Guterres also conceded the role of North Korea in precipitating the crisis, saying that it started with Pyongyang building up its nuclear and missile programmes. Even as the US and North Korea appear to have pulled back from the brink, Guterres recalled that more than 3 million people had died in the Korean conflict of the early 1950s and warned that the world needs to heed the lessons of history. He said the channels of communication between North Korea and the other parties should be opened, either bilaterally or through the resumption of the six-party talks of the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States. He also said that the two Koreas should hold a dialogue on de-nuclearising their peninsula. Answering a reporter's question, he said that Trump or anyone else was not going to force him not speak his mind. He said that his statements on Wednesday were proof that he would say "what needs to be said" whether they were not to the liking of Trump or any other leader. On another issue involving Trump, who has accused Venezuelan Nicolas Maduro of being a repressive dictator and threatened military intervention against him, Guterres said that Latin America had successfully gotten rid of both authoritarianism and foreign dictatorship and cold deal with situation. In Korea meanwhile, Trump's threats and brinkmanship appear to have paid off for the time being despite some international criticism and opposition by Democrats in the United States. Pyongyang's patron, Beijing, has begun enforcing more vigorously the latest round of Security Council sanctions and forced it to back down from its threats to hurl missiles near Guam. Trump's counter-threats could have endangered China's own economy and standing for now. YEREVAN, AUGUST 14, ARMENPRESS. The Russian Il-76 aircraft will arrive in Armenia at 16:00 to take part in firefighting works in the Khosrov Forest state reserve, minister of emergency situations Davit Tonoyan said, reports Armenpress. One aircraft will arrive in Armenia which will be enough to organize the firefighting works, the minister said. Works are being carried out to bring the aircraft to Armenia and provide it with proper water supply. The aircraft crew is prepared to work in difficult situations and has great experience in extinguishing forest fires. YEREVAN, AUGUST 14, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Emergency Situations of Armenia Davit Tonoyan denies the information spread by the media that allegedly thousands of hectares of forests have burned as a result of the fire that broke down at Khosrov Forest State Reserve on August 12, Armenpress reports the Minister told the reporters. This kind of information does not correspond to reality, Tonoyan said. The Minister also denied the information that allegedly the wild animals of the forest have fled to the nearby villages as a result of the fire. Davit Tonoyan also added that the Russian airplane that arrived in Yerevan today will participate in the firefighting activities on August 15. YEREVAN, AUGUST 16, ARMENPRESS. Armenia takes steps to create favorable conditions to increase the volume of domestic production, as well as for producers. Vazgen Safaryan chairman of the union of domestic commodity producers, gave an interview to Armenpress on this topic. -Mr. Safaryan, how many percent of the domestic commodity products are in the Armenian market? -Its difficult to mention concrete number, however, year by year the volume of our product types is increasing. In particular, more than 80% of textile and agricultural products are domestic products. Exotic fruits imported from other countries comprise less percent that are not produced in Armenia. The local wheat ensures nearly 50% of the demand, and the remaining part is being imported from abroad. -In which spheres there is a potential to develop domestic production? -There is a great potential in chemistry field. The government takes steps to re-launch the Nairit plant. We also have great potential in jewelry industry, in the production of jewelry from precious metals. -To what countries are the Armenian products exported? -25% of the trade turnover our products is with Russia, 26% is with the EU states. The EUs main partners are Germany, Bulgaria, Belgium and Netherlands. Basically we sell cooper concentrate in those countries. We can also export jewelry products. And we sell the agricultural products in Russia. Interview by Anna Grigoryan Full interview available in Armenian YEREVAN, AUGUST 16, ARMENPRESS. US will take part in a joint military exercise with Egypt called Bright Star for the first time over the past 8 years, CNN reports. This time the military exercise will be attended by over 200 US troops. This will be the first US-Egypt joint military exercise since 2009. During that period over 1300 US troops took part. By Shamim Nateebwa: The Minister of Health is this morning expected to receive the Cobalt 60 Radiotherapy machine. According to the ministry spokesperson Vivian Serwanja, the long awaited cancer machine will be handed over at the Radiotherapy Department in Mulago. The machine arrived in the country last week after almost two years of waiting. The Uganda Cancer Institute director, Dr Jackson Orem revealed earlier in an exclusive interview with Sunday Monitor that installation is expected to last at least one month. The Radio Therapy machine was shipped from Czech Republic through Mombasa port with guidance of the International Atomic Energy Agency, a United Nations body that regulates use of nuclear and atomic energy. Purchased at Euros 642,000 by both government and IAEA, the machine replaces the old cobalt 60 radiotherapy machine donated to Uganda by China in 1995 which broke down beyond repair in March last year leaving about 2,000 patients without proper treatment, with some hundreds dying from the disease. STEPANAKERT, AUGUST 16, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of the Republic of Artsakh Arayik Harutyunyan on August 15 in Shahumyan region welcomed Prime Minister of Armenia Karen Karapetyan who is in Artsakh on non-official visit, press service of the Artsakh government told Armenpress. Thereafter, the two officials got acquainted with a number of economic projects in the region. Firstly, they got acquainted with the Vardenis-Martakert highway construction works by attaching importance to this highway both from strategic and socio-economic development perspectives. Then they attended the groundbreaking ceremony of water factory to be built near Karvachar town. This is a historical moment since we lay the foundation of an unprecedented size factory for the Shahumyan region. This project is being carried out by foreign investment aimed at exporting Karvachars water with high volumes. It will significantly affect the regions socio-economic development since initially the factory will provide with over 50 jobs by boosting the infrastructure development of the adjacent regions. Thus, the government is ready to assist the implementation of the project, the Artsakh PM said. They also visited Jermajur hydropower plants and got acquainted with the production capacities. YEREVAN, AUGUST 16, ARMENPRESS. US continues working on the peaceful settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict, OSCE Minsk Group American Co-Chair Richard Hoagland told Trend news agency, reports Armenpress. According to him, issues relating to clarification of the Nagorno Karabakhs status, non-use of force and other issues are considered as key elements of comprehensive settlement which the sides need to discuss. Thats why we the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, continue making efforts to organize the meeting of the Armenian and Azerbaijani Presidents as soon as possible for holding talks aimed at moving forward the conflict settlement process. I would like to remind that the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs are mediators. We cannot force the sides to make a final decision. Only the heads of the sides can decide when the time will come to make a historical decision which will ensure peace and prosperity in the whole region, he said. Richard Hoagland said after intensification of diplomatic activity, the Co-Chairs will issue several statements in the upcoming weeks and months for ensuring high level talks. YEREVAN, AUGUST 16, ARMENPRESS. On August 16 President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan sent a congratulatory message to President of the Republic of Korea Moon Jae-in on Liberation Day, the national holiday of the Republic of Korea, press service of the Presidents Office told Armenpress. YEREVAN, AUGUST 16, ARMENPRESS. At Mountain View Elementary School in Tujunga about three-fourths of the population is of Armenian heritage, The Los Angeles Times reports. Parents have been looking for years for a way to pass on the language and culture to their children. Some left for the neighboring Glendale Unified School District, which has had an Armenian dual-immersion program for years. Last year, Mountain View launched a pilot program with two kindergarten classes. Students spent half their time in a classroom in which their teacher spoke only Armenian to them and half their time in an English-speaking classroom. About 80 students are in the program. YEREVAN, AUGUST 16, ARMENPRESS. The report prepared by the US State Department 2016 Report on International Religious Freedom published annually for the last 19 years has also referred to the elections of Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul, Armenpress reports Istanbul-based Agos Armenian periodical informs. The report was published on August 15. Apart from a range of criticism against Turkey, the report also refers to the fact of the interference of the Turkish government to the elections of the Armenian Patriarch. The Turkish Government interferes in the election process of the Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul, reads the report. The majority of non-Muslims reside in Istanbul and other major cities. We have no precise numbers, but according to the data of the local communities there are nearly 90 thousand orthodox Armenians in Turkey 60 thousand of which are citizens of Turkey while the 30 thousand live without citizenship, the report says. YEREVAN, 16 AUGUST, ARMENPRESS. The Central Bank of Armenia informs Armenpress that today, 16 August, USD exchange rate is down by 0.06 drams to 478.51 drams. EUR exchange rate is down by 1.27 drams to 560.91 drams. Russian Ruble exchange rate is up by 0.05 drams to 8.03 drams. GBP exchange rate is down by 0.94 drams to 616.42 drams. The Central Bank has set the following prices for precious metals. Gold price is down by 187.09 drams to 19542.87 drams. Silver price is down by 1.27 drams to 259.84 drams. Platinum price is down by 248.02 drams to 14646 drams. YEREVAN, AUGUST 16, ARMENPRESS. August 16 was marked as the day of Armenia at Astana Expo 2017. Armenpress reports events dedicated to the day of Armenia were widely covered also by Kazakh media. Khabar 24 TV emphasized the fact that Armenia, like their country, is actively engaged in studying and applying alternative energy sources. In this regard solar energy, hydropower and geothermal energy are viewed as the directions with the greatest perspective. Armenia presented itself at the expo also as an attractive touristic direction. A footage telling about Armenia and information necessary for tourists were presented. Armenian representatives also gave a concert. The Astana Expo kicked off on June 10 and will continue until September 10. 115 countries and 18 international organizations participate in the expo. The event organizers hope the participating states will present the best energy saving technologies, the latest developments on the use of alternative energy sources. It is expected that 2 million tourists will visit the exhibition, and the total number of visits will be about 5 million. It is planned that 85% of the total number of visitors will be citizens of Kazakhstan, and 15% - foreign nationals, most of which will come from the CIS countries and China. A significant number of tourists is also expected to arrive from Europe, Turkey and the United States. The Expo-2017 specialized exhibition initiated by the President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev has been declared one of the priority projects of the country by the leadership of the country. In 2011 Kazakhstan had officially applied for organizing the exhibition. MONTREAL, Quebec Coming Out, starring Brandon Wilde in an erotic tale of sex, lies and self-discovery, is the latest release from Mile High Medias gay erotica studio Icon Male. Written and directed by Nica Noelle, Coming Out is now available on DVD. Noelle weaves an erotic story of lust and angst in Coming Out, with top-rated performances by Brandon Wilde, Vadim Black, Billie Ramos and Nick Sterling. To view box art and product information for Coming Out, click here. This timely story has all the erotic and dramatic elements that will strike a chord with viewers, said Mile High Media Vice President Jon Blitt. Brandon does an amazing job in his lead role, while his fellow cast members help amp up the tension and passion to new heights. Coming Out tells the story of baby-faced bottom Brandon Wilde who comes out of the closet while his hot, straight best friend (Vadim Black) was away in the army. Upon Vadim's return, Brandon confesses his true sexuality and homophobic Vadim doesn't take it well. Meanwhile, Brandon's mom's boyfriend (Nick Sterling) is secretly hooking up with his assistant (Billie Ramos). But when Nick takes a liking to Brandon, the complicated web of secrets and lies spins out of control. The latest Icon Male trailers can be seen on IconMale.com. For Icon Male sales and distribution contact [email protected]. For the latest news and BTS previews follow Icon Male on Twitter. For production stills and content, log on to Mile High Medias Press Access site. LOS ANGELESIn what might be a remarkable coincidence, two lawsuits involving Flava Works, Inc., were filed on Tuesday, August 15. Flava Works, the gay adult studio and owner of several gay-centered websites, filed a lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois against one Marc Juris, whom Flava Works believes "resides in New York, NY," for illegally downloading Flava Works-owned content and then illegally redistributing that material on torrent sites in violation of the user agreement which he entered into with the company. On that same day, however, one "John Doe" filed a lawsuit against Flava Works in the Central District of California, accusing Flava Works and "Roes 1-10" of attempting to extort money from him for "illegally sharing content on the internetwithout regard to whether such accusation is true" and then "threaten[ing] to file a public lawsuit unless the victim pays a 'settlement.'" But according to Phillip Bleicher, CEO of Flava Works, Marc Juris and "John Doe" are the same person, though Doe states in his suit that "At all times relevant to this action, Plaintiff John Doe was a resident of Los Angeles County, California," and claims that the California federal courts have jurisdiction because "a substantial part of the events giving rise to Plaintiffs claims occurred in the Central District of California as Defendants: (a) are or claim to be authorized to conduct business in this District and have intentionally availed themselves to the laws within this District; (b) currently do substantial business in this District; and (c) are subject to personal jurisdiction in this District." Those are particularly interesting claims, especially in light of the fact that Bleicher has provided screen shots of one Marc Juris' membership, as "skyridernyc," in Papicock.com, a Flava Works site, and also in Gay-Torrents.org, a file-sharing site, under that same screen name. (Bleicher provided a URL allegedly confirming that membership, but that particular screen could not be accessed without becoming a member of the torrent site, which AVN was loath to do.) It would certainly be a coincidence if there were two Marc Jurises, one living in L.A. and the other in NYC, both of whom subscribed to gay porn sites. But assuming for a moment that the "John Doe" of the California lawsuit is the Marc Juris who subscribed to the Flava Works site"Doe" had requested a court order requiring that any counterclaim against him use the Doe pseudonym, but that appears not yet to have been grantedhe claims in his suit that Bleicher, who is not personally named as a defendant, had extorted him, as a "former subscriber," by threatening "to file a public lawsuit unless the victim [Doe] pays a 'settlement.'" "In early June, Plaintiff was shocked to receive a letter from Phillip Bleicher, Defendants CEO, falsely claiming that 'Flava Works is aware that you have been "pirating" the content from its website(s) for your own personal financial benefit'," Doe's complaint reads. "Aware that Plaintiff is a prominent public figure, Bleicher explained that Plaintiff could avoid a public lawsuit only by paying $97,000, an amount that would increase to $525,000 if not surrendered quickly. Bleicher was not subtle about the purpose of the payment being to avoid public humiliation, explaining that '[I]f you act promptly you will avoid being named as a Defendant in a lawsuit.'" Doe goes on to claim that Flava Works has "for more than a decade engaged in a pattern of extortion against subscribers of Flava Works websites. ... Public court records reveal that Defendant has filed a number of such boilerplate lawsuits (including lawsuits against hundreds of Doe defendants at one time)," and that such "pattern" is similar to one that's been making news countrywide: porn trolling, such as led to a guilty plea from at least one of the principals of the Prenda Law organization, and several court orders requiring the return of funds obtained from defendants who paid Prenda not to sue them. "Defendant asserts, without foundation or basis, that Plaintiff has uploaded Defendants copyrighted videos to various BitTorrent websites, and webforums, thereby allowing other internet users to freely download Defendants videos. That accusation is false," Doe's lawsuit states. "Along with his demand letter, Bleicher sent Plaintiff 85 pages of materials that Defendant claims prove the alleged infringement. But they do no such thing. The materials do not reveal or expose infringement of any sort. Defendants real purpose in sending this 'proof' was to demonstrate just how humiliating it would be to defend against Flava Works scurrilous charges. Defendants materials consist largely of screenshots of extremely graphic images of pornography, which Defendant implies that Plaintiff has viewedbut which are completely irrelevant given that they are not Flava Works content. Nevertheless, Bleicher assured Plaintiff that these materials would all be included in a publicly filed lawsuit if he refused to accede to Defendants payment demands." Doe is seeking a "judicial declaration that Plaintiff has not infringed Defendants copyrights," as well as attorney fees and whatever "further relief" the Court sees as just." But as far as Bleicher is concerned, Doe's lawsuit is pure crap. "They [Doe] filed their judicial declaration the same day we filed our lawsuit against Marc Juris (John Doe) in the Northern District of Illinois (where he expressly agreed to jurisdiction when he agreed several times to our terms and conditions)," Bleicher wrote in an email to AVN. "Furthermore, Juris is a member of several illegal gay adult torrent file sharing websites and he has been uploading and downloading Flava Works' videos on these sites without Flava Works' permission," Bleicher charged. "We have ample evidence to prove that its him (from matching emails, IP, logs and usernames) and he continued to share our copyrighted works. We reached out to Juris to demand that he cease and desist and settle out of court. He refused. Now we are suing him for $1,200,000." Specifically, Flava Works' lawsuit charges Juris with "direct copyright infringement," "contributory copyright infringement," "vicarious copyright infringement" and "inducement of copyright infringement," that last apparently as a result of Juris' alleged reposting of Flava Works content on torrent sites. The suit also seeks to restrain Juris from "distributing, reproducing, using, copying, streaming, making available for download, or otherwise exploiting Flava Works Intellectual Property" on any website or elsewhere, and seeks to recoup any money Juris has made from the alleged infringement. Since the filings on Tuesday, no further action has been taken by either party, though the John Doe complaint was the subject of an article on Courthouse News. Samworth Brothers-owned malt loaf maker Soreen is to extend its Lunchbox range with an apple variant following the runaway success of the format. The new flavour will join the existing original and banana line-up when it debuts in Tesco stores next month, and was developed after the Lunchbox Loaves collection recorded year-on-year growth of more than 35%, the firm said. Sold in multipacks of five (rsp: 1.35), each loaf will be individually wrapped, making them convenient for packed lunches, explained Bethan Brown, marketing director at Soreen. The best bit is that they provide your little ones with a tasty and healthy treat, packed with energy to keep them fuelled through the school day, she added. In May, Soreen launched a new creative campaign across UK cinemas to promote its malt loaf bars and Lunchbox ranges. The animated adverts featured the tagline Are you a squidgy bit Soreen, and highlighted the nutritional value of the products. The malt loaf maker also linked up with WHSmith in June as part of a new distribution partnership of its Malt Loaf bar, which is being sold across 71 WHSmith Travel stores, including Manchester airport, Heathrow airport, and Londons Euston and Kings Cross train station. By Shamim Nateebwa The ministry of health permanent secretary Dr. Dianna Atwine has blamed the delayed installation of a new Cobalt-60 radiotherapy machine on a payment dispute. An event organised for the Health minister to unveil the long-awaited machine was this morning cancelled at the last minute without explanation. Dr Jackson Orem the Executive Director of the Uganda Cancer Institute later said the transporter declined to release the radiotherapy machine because the Czech supplier had not paid him. But in an interesting turn of events, Christine Namulindwa, the spokesperson of the Uganda Cancer Institute has told KFM this evening that the machine has finally been released and moved to the Institute following resolution of payment requirements with Uganda Revenue Authority. Initial reports suggested that URA had held onto the machine over unpaid tax, but Ian Rumanyika, the tax bodys corporate affairs manager says they granted a tax waiver but UCI failed to pick it for unknown reasons. UCI says unlike previously when cancer patients were treated at no cost, the Institute is this time considering to introduce a fee as part of the cost-sharing and eliminate under-the-table pay allegedly sought by its staff. When its starts operations, the machine that works 24 hours for seven days a week , is expected to handle between 30 to 70 patients a day. The Democrat leadership has made constant, profound and incredible pronouncements that one's supportive vote for Republicans is tantamount to surrendering Democracy forever. Understanding their sincere thinking in their extreme position: How will you still vote on this election day? Democrat; because the continuance of this Democracy from the existential threat of extreme Republicans is paramount. Republican; the process of having a choice is the democratic method within what so called "Democracy" does exists. During the heyday of the Standing Rock demonstrations, Republican state lawmakers across America introduced laws that would legalize murdering protesters with your car; now that a white supremacist terrorist has murdered an anti-Nazi protester with his car, these lawmakers are letting it be known that they won't back down from their proposals. They are backed in this by police unions, who also want to ensure that people who murder protesters will be shielded from liability. North Carolina's version of the immunity bill, HB 330, passed the lower chamber of the legislature in April. The text of the bill says that a "person driving an automobile who is exercising due care and injures another person who is participating in a protest or demonstration and is blocking traffic in a public right-of-way is immune from civil liability for the injury." The definition of "due care," of course, would be highly debatable. On Monday morning, the bill's co-sponsors, state Reps. Justin Burr and Chris Millis, released a joint statement defending their legislation and claiming it would not apply in the context of Charlottesville. BACKED BY POLICE UNIONS, LEGISLATORS STAND BY LAWS TO PROTECT DRIVERS WHO KILL PROTESTERS [Zaid Jilani and Lee Fang/The Intercept] Tammy Chen first breezed into Tania Muller's restaurant in the bustling capital of Burkina Faso two years ago, just wanting a meal. Instead, she made a friend. Chen's visits became a daily occurrence in Muller's restaurant she was all smiles, "always in a good mood," Muller recalled. The restaurateur, now in France, learned about the death of Chen and her husband in the news. The two were killed on Sunday night, in a shooting at a Turkish cafe that left 18 dead. The scene wasn't far from Muller's restaurant, where the two would often chat about Chen's upcoming wedding or Muller's young son. Muller says the fear of terrorist attacks, while not unknown in Ouagadougou, didn't faze her during the two years she and Chen spent time together. "I think you have more chance of dying in a car accident," she said in a phone interview from France. But attacks did happen in the city from time to time, including one last year at Cappuccino Restaurant, which killed 30 people. Those reminders always forced Muller to consider which restaurant might be next. Muller says the obvious targets sell alcohol, serve pork, or attract large groups of tourists. But at this time of year, the sleepy rainy season, she says Chen likely wasn't concerned about violent extremism. "I think she thought she was safe," Muller said, her voice quavering. Chen first fell in love with Burkina Faso as a master's student at Queen's University, when she travelled there with a student group for international development work, says Rebecca Luce-Kapler. 'She learned to love the country' Luce-Kapler, the dean of education at Queen's, had been her thesis adviser. She watched the young woman grow from an enthusiastic adventurer keen on changing the world, to a wise educator keen on teaching others how to change it for themselves. "It was transformative for her," she said. "She learned to love the country." Story continues In her first three months, Luce-Kapler recalls, Chen began volunteering at a school that sheltered and taught homeless young people. She eventually founded a radio station. Chen returned to Burkina Faso after that initial excursion to complete her thesis in education. She had given her students disposable cameras, employing a technique called "photo elicitation" where she asked those students to explain their lives through imagery. Luce-Kapler added that Chen empowered the intrepid photographers to control their own narratives. Founded charity for women Chen admitted herself "how naive she was, you know, 'I'm going to change the world,'" Luce-Kapler said. "But she developed a real nuance on the challenges of development work ... she became very committed to how important it was to work alongside people." Her time in the country led Chen to found Brighter Futures for Burkina Faso, a charity that lends money to women who want to invest in their families by starting small businesses and put their children through school. Although Muller had only known her friend for two years, she says Chen made an impact, the way the educator and steadfast friend did with everyone else whose path she crossed. "I was so touched by her," she said, also noting her fondness for Chen's husband, Mehsen Fenaiche. "They should be honoured as heroes." A North Carolina woman who confronted a man flying a Nazi flag outside his home says she felt the need to stand up to his show of hate in the wake of violence that erupted during a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend. We need to call it out, Page Braswell told the Charlotte Observer on Monday. If we dont, its just going to get worse. Braswell said she had heard about the flag display being near her Gaston County home and went looking for it. In a video posted to Facebook on Sunday, Braswell is seen driving her car when she spots the flag, pulls into the mans driveway, gets out and asks, Hey, whats up with the Nazi flag? Whats it to you? says the man, who identified himself as Joe Love. Do you make the payments on this f***ing house? No, I dont, Braswell replies. OK dont f***ing worry about it, Love says. A North Carolina woman confronted a man over his Nazi flag display. (Image: Page Braswell/Facebook) Braswell tells Love she is troubled by the display because this is America, not Nazi Germany. Love insists he is not a Nazi, but that this is Nazi f***ing America, and tells her to leave. Where do you live? What kind of flag do you fly? he says. I fly a rainbow flag, Braswell replied, prompting Love to call her queer and a lesbian. As she pulls away, Braswell rolls down her window and says: I know where you work. Braswell posted the video to her Facebook page, along with Loves home and work addresses. We need to ALL stand against Nazis, she wrote. Share far and wide; lets run this Nazi out of town. For real. Braswell told the newspaper that she likely would not have posted the video or Loves personal information had their conversation been civil. She also said that shes not a lesbian and doesnt own a rainbow flag but was simply expressing her solidarity with the LGBTQ community. Theyve got to be brave every day, Braswell said. Theres no reason I cant be brave for two minutes. Love told the Gaston Gazette that he decided to display the Nazi symbol after three Confederate flags were stolen. Story continues I put this one up nobody wants it, he said. Read more from Yahoo News: FILE PHOTO: People line up for taxi across the street from the New York Times head office in New York, February 7, 2013. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri (Reuters) By Jonathan Stempel (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Tuesday said the New York Times Co must face a defamation lawsuit by a Louisiana economics professor who said it quoted him out of context by saying he described slavery as "not so bad." The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals revived claims by Walter Block, who teaches at Loyola University, over a January 26, 2014, front page article about libertarianism and a potential presidential candidacy of Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican who later ran for the White House. "We are disappointed in the court's ruling but remain convinced that our story was accurate," Danielle Rhoades Ha, a spokeswoman for the newspaper, said in an email. "We will proceed to prove our case before the district court." Block and his lawyers had no immediate comment. The article, "Rand Paul's Mixed Inheritance," also quoted Block as saying the retailer Woolworth's had a right to exclude blacks from its lunch counters because "no one is compelled to associate with people against their will." According to court papers, Block, a self-described libertarian, said that while he used the words attributed to him, the reporters Sam Tanenhaus and Jim Rutenberg distorted their meaning by omitting necessary context. Block said this made him appear racist, despite his having always been a "bitter opponent" of slavery. A lower court judge dismissed the case, but the three-judge appeals court panel found a "genuine issue of material fact" as to whether the article was false and had a defamatory meaning. "If, as Block has pleaded, he stated during the interview that slavery was 'not so bad' except for its involuntariness, a reasonable jury could determine that the NYT's decontextualized quotation falsely portrayed him as communicating that chattel slavery itself was not problematic - exactly the opposite of the point that he says he was making," the panel said. Story continues The court also found it premature to dismiss Block's claim that the Times acted with actual malice. Tuesday's decision was unsigned. The judges on the appeals court panel were appointed by Republican presidents. Tanenhaus and Rutenberg are also defendants in the case, which the appeals court returned to U.S. District Judge Ivan Lemelle in New Orleans. The case is Block v Tanenhaus et al, 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 16-30966. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Marguerita Choy) ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish police have launched operations to track down 33 former staff of a national scientific research agency who are alleged to have been involved in last year's failed coup attempt, the state-run Anadolu news agency said on Tuesday. Anadolu said the suspects were alleged to have used ByLock, an encrypted messaging app which the government says was used by the network of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom it accuses of orchestrating the abortive putsch in July 2016. Gulen has denied involvement in the coup attempt. Anadolu said police carried out operations in six provinces to find the 33 suspects from Turkey's scientific research council TUBITAK. Since the coup attempt some 150,000 people have been sacked or suspended from jobs in the civil service and private sector and more than 50,000 have been detained for alleged links to the putsch. The crackdown has alarmed rights groups and some of Turkey's Western allies, who fear the government is using the coup as a pretext to quash dissent. Security sources also said 30 people suspected of being linked to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were arrested on Tuesday in operations in the southeastern province of Sirnak. The PKK, designated a terrorist organization by Turkey, the European Union, and United States, has waged a three-decade insurgency against the Turkish state, and the government has ramped up operations targeting the militants since the collapse of a ceasefire in 2015. (Reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Richard Balmforth) By Scovin Iceta Residents of Abaya village in Moyo district along the Uganda-South Sudan border have killed an unidentified soldier of Sudan Peoples Liberation Army in Opposition. One of the residents who preferred anonymity says the armed soldier was attacked after he reportedly attempted to cause insecurity in the area. He adds that the angry residents picked up his gun and handed it over to the UPDF officers operating along the border. Lt. Ahmad Hassan Kato, the UPDF public relations officer West Nile region has confirmed the incident, saying the intelligence team is yet to establish the facts on the ground. He has appealed to the residents not to take the law in their hands and promised to continue conducting internal borderline operations and patrols to ensure safety of the people living in the border area. By Manolo Serapio Jr MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines' transport regulator on Tuesday denied an appeal by Uber Technologies Inc [UBER.UL] against its order suspending the ride-hailing firm's services for a month in the Southeast Asian nation. The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board late on Monday halted the service over what it said was Uber's violation of a directive to cease accepting new driver applications. Uber appealed the order on Tuesday, and restarted its operations after briefly suspending it. But the company later said in a Facebook posting that it will comply with the regulator's suspension order after its appeal was denied. The Philippines suspension is the latest setback this year to Uber, one of the most valuable startups in the world with a valuation upwards of $60 billion, which is struggling to recover from a series of scandals and is hiring a new leader. Uber is already facing regulatory scrutiny in several Asian markets, including in South Korea and Japan. The firm said last month it is suspending its services in the Chinese-ruled territory of Macau from July 22. Any Uber-registered cars that defies the suspension order will be fined and impounded, lawyer Aileen Lizada, a member of the transportation board, told Reuters in a text message. "All these cases involving Uber and for that matter anyone involved in public transportation system has to understand that we need to be in some level of regulation," board Chairman Martin Delgra told reporters at a briefing on Tuesday. Uber is hugely popular in the Philippines and is regarded by its users as more reliable and competitive than the country's outdated public transport services. The suspension led to an outpouring of anger by Filipinos on social media. Uber issued an email to users informing them of the suspension, entitled "we'll be serving you again soon". 'IRRESPONSIBLE' The Philippines was the first Southeast Asian nation to regulate app-based car-hailing operations after drawing up rules in 2015. Last year the regulator suspended the acceptance and processing of applications for all ride-sharing services, including Uber, to study further how to regulate the industry. Uber said it continued to accept new applications for drivers amid strong demand for the service, but did not process them. A five-page suspension order of the regulator made available on Tuesday said it was due to the "irresponsible" behavior of Uber in "unduly challenging the limit of fair regulation" by continuing to accept driver applications. The regulator stood by its argument in denying Uber's appeal in a separate order. At a congressional hearing this month, Uber told lawmakers there were nearly 67,000 drivers registered with Uber in the Philippines. Grace Poe, a senator and prominent advocate for improving the Philippines' notoriously shoddy transport services, said the regulator's order was "cruel and absurd". In a statement, she said stopping Uber "further exacerbates the problem of having an utter lack of safe, reliable and convenient transportation options for our people." But President Rodrigo Duterte's spokesman Ernesto Abella said a balance must be struck "between innovation and laws and regulations that the (regulator) has to implement as part of its administrative function". (Additional reporting by Martin Petty; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Susan Thomas) The Rock-A-Feller Vintage Nicaragua Maduro is a line produced by Vintage Rockefeller Cigar Group. This company has been around for several years ands connections to the famed Rockefeller family. Earlier this year, Vintage Rockefeller Cigar Group was acquired by Kevin Schweitzer, a Wall Street trader who has been a cigar enthusiast for 25 years. Schweitzer became the companys sole owner and President and set his sights on taking the company to the next level. Vintage Rockefeller Cigar Group produces cigars in both the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. This year, Schweitzer is expanding his companys footprint, and as a part of this effort, the Vintage Nicaragua line has been put into widespread release. Recently, Ive smoked the Vintage Nicaragua Maduro in the Churchill size. Overall, I found this to be both an impressive maduro and an excellent Churchill offering. The Vintage Nicaraguan line originally was a private line offered by Rock-A-Feller Cigars. Shortly after acquiring Vintage Rockefeller Cigar Group, Schweitzer discovered the blend and felt he had something special. He commented on this project shortly after acquiring the company. In my first few weeks with the company, I met with our Master Blenders in both Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. In Nicaragua, I rediscovered my love of boutique cigars when I first lit up a blend that had been shelved years ago and laid down to age. This was a blend that had been made years ago in the early days of the company, a private blend released to a select few. At that moment I knew that it needed to be shared with the rest of the world. At that moment I knew what needed to be done. There are three blends in the Vintage Nicaraguan line. In addition to the Vintage Nicaraguan Maduro, there is also a Vintage Nicaraguan Habano offering, and a Vintage Nicaraguan Connecticut offering.Lets take a closer look at the Vintage Nicaraguan Maduro Churchill and see what this cigar brings to the table: Lets take a closer look at the Vintage Nicaraguan Maduro Churchill and see what this cigar brings to the table: Blend Profile The Vintage Nicaraguan Maduro line is a three-country multi-national blend highlighted by a Mexican San Andres wrapper. Wrapper: San Andres Mexican Maduro Binder: Ecuadorian Filler: Nicaraguan Country of Origin: Nicaragua Vitolas Available The Vintage Nicaragua Maduro line is available in six sizes each packaged in 20-count boxes. Robusto: 5 x 52 Toro: 6 x 52 BP Toro: 6 x 52 Toro Gordo: 6 x 60 Torpedo: 6 1/8 x 52 Churchill: 7 x 48 Appearance The Rock-A-Feller Vintage Nicaraguan Maduro Churchill had a classic chocolate brown color maduro wrapper. There was a light coating of oil on the surface of the wrapper. While there were some thin visible veins and thin visible wrapper seams, the wrapper was skewed toward the smoother side. The band of the Rock-A-Feller Vintage Nicaraguan Maduro has a red, black, and gold color scheme. At the center of the band is a gold-colored R with black shadows sitting on a red circular background. Surrounding that background is a black colored ring with a gold Pegasus on each side The upper part of the ring has the text ROCK-A-FELLER in gold on it, while the lower part has the text CIGARS in gold. The upper left and right of the band has a black background with various gold adornments on it. The text 2010 is on the far right. The lower part of the band is red, creating a pseudo secondary band effect. On that area is the text MADURO in gold font. Preparation for the Cigar Experience Prior to lighting up the Rock-A-Feller Vintage Nicaraguan Maduro Churchill, I used a straight cut to remove the cap. There was quite a bit going on with the cold draw, as I detected notes of leather, wood, earth, and chocolate. Overall I found this to be an excellent pre-light draw. At this point, I was ready to light up Rock-A-Feller Vintage Nicaraguan Maduro Churchill and see what the smoking experience would have in store. Flavor Profile The start of the cigar delivered notes of leather, earth, cedar, and a slight citrus note. The leather and cedar primary notes became primary early on. The citrus and cedar became secondary notes. These background notes were quickly joined by notes of earth and a slight mixed pepper note. The retro-hale delivered notes of cedar, red, and black pepper. This retro-hale delivered a gentle and not overpowering layer of spice. Later in the first third, some dark chocolate entered the background. The earth and chocolate combination increased. By the second third, this combination became the primary flavor. There was also a creamy undertone present during this stage of the smoking experience. The cedar became a slight secondary note and the leather notes dissipated. Meanwhile, I still detected notes of pepper and citrus in the background. The last third of the Rock-A-Feller Vintage Nicaraguan Maduro Churchill saw the cedar re-emerge and displace the chocolate and earth in the background. I also still detected some notes of pepper and citrus. This is the way the cigar experience came to a close. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature. Burn and Draw When it came to the burn, I found the Rock-A-Feller Vintage Nicaraguan Maduro Churchill scored nicely. It had no problems maintaining a straight burn path. This cigar also maintained a relatively straight burn line. The resulting ash was light gray was some darker spots mixed in. While it wasnt the firmest ash, this wasnt a loose, flaky ash either. As for the burn rate and burn temperature, both were ideal. I also found the draw to the Rock-A-Feller Vintage Nicaraguan Maduro Churchill to be equally impressive. This cigar had a slight bit of resistance to it which is something that I like. This made it an enjoyable cigar to puff on. Strength and Body In terms of strength and body of the Vintage Nicaraguan Maduro Churchill, I found both attributes to have a sweet spot in terms of how it meshed with the flavor profile. The strength started out medium. Toward the last third, there was a slight uptick and it provided just enough boost to push this into medium to full territory. The body followed a similar path starting out medium to full-bodied, and with a slight kick at the end that put this cigar into all full territory. In terms of strength versus body, I gave the edge to the body throughout the smoking experience. Final Thoughts Before Schweitzer acquired Vintage Rockefeller Cigar Group, I had smoked some of the Dominican blends and had enjoyed them. I was quite happy to see Schweitzer take over the company as I thought the brand needed a boost. The expanded distribution of the Vintage Nicaraguan cigars was a nice added bonus. The Vintage Nicaraguan Maduro Churchill delivers an enjoyable flavor profile that can keep both classic and contemporary cigar enthusiasts happy. This is a cigar I would recommend to an experienced cigar enthusiast, but its one I would not discourage a novice from trying. Summary Key Flavors: Chocolate, Earth, Cedar, Pepper, Citrus, Leather Burn: Excellent Draw: Excellent Complexity: Medium+ Strength: Medium (1st 2/3), Medium to Full (Last Third) Body: Medium to Full (1st 2/3), Full (Last Third) Finish: Very Good Rating Assessment: 3.5-Box Split Score: 91 References News: Wall Street Veteran Kevin Schweitzer Acquires Vintage Rockefeller Cigar Group Price: $9.00 Source: Vintage Rockefeller Cigar Group Brand Reference: Rock-A-Feller Photo Credits: Cigar Coop WEDNESDAY, Aug. 16, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- If you enjoy expensive wines, keep the findings of new brain research in mind: Your pleasure may have more to do with the price of the vino than its quality. "The reward and motivation system is activated more significantly with higher prices, and apparently increases the taste experience in this way," said researcher Bernd Weber. Weber is acting director of the University of Bonn's Center for Economics and Neuroscience in Germany. He and his team had 30 study participants -- average age 30 -- sample wine while lying down in an MRI scanner. Their brain reactions were monitored as they sipped wine they were told was either expensive, moderately priced or inexpensive. The wines were actually identical. Previous research has shown that people's higher expectations about high-priced food affect how the brain processes taste. "However, it has so far been unclear how the price information ultimately causes more expensive wine to also be perceived as having a better taste in the brain," Weber said in a university news release. For this study, the participants were given an average- to good-quality red wine with a retail bottle price of about $14. But they were told it cost either $3.50, $7 or $21. The study participants reported that the "higher-priced" wine tasted better than an apparently cheaper one. Ultimately, said researcher and post-doctoral fellow Liane Schmidt, "the reward and motivation system plays a trick on us." This is known as the "marketing placebo effect," explained the researchers, referring to health benefits people often feel when they're given a "placebo," or dummy, medication. The measurements of brain activity in the MRI scanner confirmed this effect. Now, Weber said, "the exciting question is whether it is possible to train the reward system to make it less receptive to such placebo marketing effects." The study was published online Aug. 14 in Scientific Reports. More information For more about brain reward pathways, see the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The court's majority said Asay had not shown that the introduction of the drug etomidate into the execution process put him at risk of suffering, in violation of the U.S. Constitution. Corrections officials plan to use etomidate as a substitute for a previous drug, midazolam, as the 1st drug in a 3-step process. It would be the 1st time etomidate, a sedative, has been used in an execution. In its decision, the Supreme Court upheld a ruling by a Duval County circuit judge who held a hearing on the lethal-injection drug issue. "Based on the testimony heard during the evidentiary hearing and the record before this (Supreme) Court, Asay has not demonstrated that he is at substantial risk of serious harm," the majority opinion said. "Indeed, the record before this court demonstrates that Asay is at a small risk of mild to moderate pain." The majority opinion by Chief Justice Jorge Labarga and justices Peggy Quince, Ricky Polston and Alan Lawson, also said Asay had not "identified a known and available alternative method of execution that entails a significantly less severe risk of pain." Justices R. Fred Lewis and Charles Canady concurred with the majority opinion but did not fully sign on to it. Justice Barbara Pariente dissented on a series of grounds, including that Asay was wrongly denied access to documents about the new lethal-injection process. Pariente said the Florida Department of Corrections delayed providing information and has not provided some details, such as the reasons for adopting the new process and the identity of the manufacturer of etomidate. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! : News Service of Florida, August 16, 2017 President Rodrigo Duterte (left) and President Joko Widodo Indonesia's President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo is again urging an increase in efforts to fight illegal drugs in the country. Jokowi said police should shoot foreign drug dealers who "resist arrest." He added that the country is in a "narcotics emergency position." Jokowi made his comments at a political event in late July. Days before the speech, police shot and killed a Taiwanese man for resisting arrest. Police say he and several others were trying to smuggle 1,000 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine into Indonesia. Recently, Jakarta Police Chief General Adham Azis said he would "not think twice" about dismissing police officers who were not fighting drug trafficking enough. In addition, the Ministry of Law and Human Rights recently announced a plan to place all people currently jailed for drug offenses into 4 prisons. The prisons in West Java, North Sumatra, Central Java and Central Kalimantan would get increased security, news reports say. Human rights groups raise concerns The New York-based rights group Human Rights Watch has criticized Indonesia's campaign against drug trafficking. In a statement, the group said, "President Joko Widodo should send a clear and public message to the police that efforts to address the complex problems of drugs and criminality require the security forces to respect everyone's basic rights, not demolish them." The aim of Indonesia's campaign is to stop the flow of the low-cost drug crystal methamphetamine. It is similar to the effort of President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines. He has been criticized for his violent campaign against drug crimes. Thousands of drug dealers and users have been killed. Last month, Indonesian officials seized the largest amount of crystal methamphetamine in the history of the country. The head of Indonesia's narcotics agency, General Budi Waseso, called for a war on drugs -- similar to the one in the Philippines -- last September. He told Australia's ABC news agency, "The market that existed in the Philippines is moving to Indonesia, the impact of President Duterte's actions is an exodus to Indonesia." Severe punishments for drug crimes Drug trafficking can carry a death sentence in Indonesia which considers the offense as serious as murder or terrorism. People found guilty of low-level drug crimes are estimated to make up 70 % of Indonesia's prison population. Erasmus Napitupulu is with the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform in Jakarta. He said there are many question about President Jokowi's drug policy. He criticized the death sentence as putting a big burden on Indonesia's justice system. "The death penalty targets small drug couriers, which in many cases leads to unfair trials. Indonesian law has not been able to bear the burden of fair trial(s)," he said. Southeast Asian countries have resisted lightening punishments for drug users or traffickers. Besides Indonesia and the Philippines, other countries in the area, including Singapore, want to continue with harsh punishments for drug crimes. Last year, however, Thailand considered changing the criminalization of methamphetamine because prisons were becoming overcrowded. But there are no similar signs in Indonesia. In 2015, Jokowi led an anti-drug campaign that resulted in the execution of 14 people for drug offenses. But, critics say that the severe punishments have not reduced the number of crimes. Claudia Stoicescu is a researcher at the University of Oxford. She wrote, "Far from having a deterrent effect, the number of drug-related crimes in Indonesia increased in the months after the executions were carried out in January and April 2015." Other critics say increased resources used for drug-related arrests have taken money away from rehabilitation efforts. Some say those resources could be better used to help an estimated 1 million Indonesians addicted to methamphetamines. Erasmus says Indonesia should learn from the experience of the United States. The U.S. has reduced the number of arrests over small drug crimes and moved to legalize small amounts of the drug marijuana. "If Indonesia retains capital punishment as the main solution for drug issues, then I believe it is a political decision to preserve (politicians') image(s), not to protect actual narcotics victims," he said. Foreign drug trafficking duo nabbed, face potential death penalty 2 foreign nationals are being investigated for drug trafficking after they were arrested with over 50 grammes of Syabu on Monday afternoon. District police chief Supt Zailanni Amit said the Indonesian nationals, aged 21 and 23, were caught at a business outlet in Jalan Abang Galau here around 3pm. "During an inspection, they were found in possession of approximately 53 grammes of crystalline substance, believed to be Syabu. "We are investigating the case under Section 39B of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, which carries the mandatory death sentence if convicted," he said when contacted yesterday. Zailanni added the 2 suspects were found to have been staying here for about year. "Both of them confessed of their involvement in distributing Syabu around the old Bintulu town. According to him, the drugs are delivered here by bus and left at a pre-arranged area for the suspects to collect. "They employ the same tactic for their buyers. After receiving payment, they will drop off the drugs at an agreed location for their buyers to collect," he added. Meanwhile, in an unrelated case, 5 Indonesian women were rescued by police while a fellow countrywoman was arrested for human trafficking offences on Monday. Acting on a tip-off, police raided a premises at Jalan Tanjung Kidurong around 11pm and rescued the 5, aged between 21 and 30. The enforcement team also arrested a 29-year-old Indonesian woman under Section 12 of the Anti-Trafficking in Persons and Anti-Smuggling of Migrants Act 2007. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! : VOA News, Krithika Varagur, Mario Ritter, August 16, 2017: Borneo Post, August 16, 2017 Nusakam Bangan prison island, Indonesia Waves of executions are part of Indonesian President Joko Widodo's hard line on drug convicts. Australians best remember those of Bali Nine leaders Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan, shot by firing squad in 2015 despite all efforts to save them. With more than 200 people on death row, why do anti-death penalty activists now see a ray of hope? IN A SMALL Christian prayer room at Cilacap jail, on central Javas south coast, a death-row prisoner talks diffidently about her wedding dress. The Indonesian migrant worker and convicted drug dealer was once married to an abusive husband but separated long ago after he shunted her off to work in Taiwan. Merri Utami had planned to wear her new white dress, not to second nuptials, but to her execution by firing squad last year. She had been preparing to meet Jesus. According to Indonesian protocol, she would be tied to a stake in a remote jungle clearing on Nusakambangan penal island off the port town of Cilacap, blindfolded and shot dead in the early hours under darkness. Sentenced to death in 2003 for carrying 1.1 kilograms of heroin through Jakartas Soekarno Hatta airport, the grandmother of two claimed she was duped into becoming a drug mule. Utami, 48, would be the only female in Indonesias third round of executions following a four-year moratorium on capital punishment. Fate had a different plan. Or, as Utami says, at the 11th hour, divine intervention saved her skin. From Cilacap Harbour, the maximum security, seven-prison complex housing drug convicts, terrorists, murderers and graft inmates on the islands east is mostly obscured by thick jungle drenched in dark foreboding the spectre of twin shooting fields constant companions. An execution clearing can be glimpsed by boat about 1km from the port entry. Further right, the sealed white Batu prison, where four inmates from the last round were incarcerated, gleams in the blinding sun. From her cell across the strait, Utami feels the chill wind of Nusakambangan where she was briefly held. A big woman, she is meticulously groomed, her hair tied back with a pretty ribbon. Wearing crimson lipstick, she smiles often, perhaps nervously, revealing perfect white teeth. She recalls Batu prison officials forbidding her from wearing the wedding dress. A white tunic, on which the prison doctor - albeit bound by the Hippocratic oath - placed a black mark over her heart for the target, was obligatory attire. Not until after her execution, when she lay in her coffin, would she be allowed to wear her dress. Nor was Utamis 24-year-old daughter permitted to apply make-up to her mothers face or do her hair nicely. I wanted to look beautiful when my daughter saw me in the coffin, confides Utami. Ever resourceful, she applied makeup herself using a sliver of reflective glass. One of 14 drug convicts facing execution on July 29 last year, Utami endured excruciating hours praying in her isolation cell with her Catholic priest, to be told at 6am she was one of 10 spared. That was despite an official announcement following four executions about 2am. All 10 remain on death row eight on Nusakambangan and one in Jakarta. I was shivering. I prayed for a miracle. I asked Jesus to show me a sign, says Utami, a Christian convert. I say to Jesus, if I go home bring me to heaven with you, but if you give me another chance I will live better. I say, please God, give me mercy. After midnight, she heard shackled drug convicts shuffling past her cell. She couldnt hear crying or protests but it was the final exit of one Indonesian and three Nigerians. I was sweating, I was very nervous, waiting for them to get me, says Utami. A third wave was swiftly, methodically erased to try to bypass the international uproar and diplomatic reverberations that marked the 2015 executions. It was, according to the government, another nail in the coffin of the nations drug scourge. The reason for the reprieves was unclear. Attorney-General Muhammad Prasetyo spoke of ongoing judicial procedures but some prisoners went to their deaths mid-appeal in contravention of the law. On the night, so violent were the lightning and thunderstorms lashing Nusakambangan as the four faced the firing squad that the electricity box exploded. And that, according to Cilacaps Irish Catholic priest and spiritual counsellor to death-row inmates, Father Charlie Burrows, was why the shootings stopped. They had to do it in the dark with flashlights. It was chaos, he says, shuddering. Utami is less prosaic. As far as she is concerned, Jesus saved her. The thunder was unequivocally the signal. Her circumstances are similar to those of migrant worker and human trafficking victim Filipina mother Mary Jane Veloso, an alleged heroin smuggler who was spared - perhaps temporarily - at the last minute in 2015 when her recruiter surrendered to police. The 2016 executions were the first since reformed Bali Nine leaders Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan faced the firing squad with five other foreigners and one Indonesian in 2015. The Australians were sentenced to death for attempting to smuggle 8.3kg of heroin from Bali to Australia in 2005. Death-row cells on Nusakam Bangan penal island Mutterings of more executions have reignited ominous speculation. In February, Attorney-General Muhammad Prasetyo asserted he wanted to expedite a fourth wave of 25 death row drug convicts this year but would first consider their legal rights. In May, local news outlet Tempo quoted Prasetyo saying he had a list of names. The names are there, but instead we see whether all the rights have been given or not, he said. Prasetyo did not answer phone calls and the Deputy Attorney-General Noor Rachmad declined to reply to written questions. Many factor in the current Islamic hardline climate which saw the Christian, ethnic-Chinese governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama, jailed in May for blasphemy amid a surge of intolerance, religious conservatism and a yen to return to Suharto-era economic stability. A moratorium on the death penalty would be incompatible and unlikely in the Muslim-majority country, says Charles Honoris, a member of Widodos ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle. A moratorium would be seen as a sign of weakness by the president. If Jokowi is elected for a second term in 2019, it could be implemented. Malaysias announcement last week to abolish the mandatory death penalty for drug crimes, doubtless saving the life of alleged Australian trafficker Maria Elvira Pinto Exposto, has heartened human rights activists. But during last years round, public sentiment specified drugs as haram forbidden by Islamic law advocating executions for drug dealers, says Rahimah Abdulrahim executive director of the democracy-promoting Habibie Center, founded by former president BJ Habibie. Her concern over the prospect of a weakened nascent democracy comes as Widodo bans groups opposing Pancasila, the embodying national ideology promoting pluralism and tolerance, in a move targeting Islamic extremists. Utilising the hardliners is the flavour of the year for whatever ends they want. I would not be surprised if they (politicians) used the hardliners this time to convince the public executions are the way to go. I think they might keep this one a lot quieter; they might not announce it for fear of activists screaming again. It has to be beyond a reasonable doubt that that the person is guilty, says Abdulrahim. You cannot in all reason and logic say our rule of law prevails. Do we have enough confidence in the process that we can without any doubt know if that person is getting a fair trial? Indonesias bid to secure a seat as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council next year has served as a restraint, but for those facing the firing squad uncertainty reigns. Convicted British cocaine smuggler Lindsay Sandiford is one suspecting shes living on borrowed time after receiving the death sentence in 2013. Widodos December 2014 edict and his rejection of clemency to 64 drug convicts while claiming a drug emergency that there would be no compromise for condemned drug traffickers remains a deadly portent. Eighteen executions for drug crimes have been racked up in two and a half years compared with 27 between 1999 and 2014. President Rodrigo Duterte (left) and President Joko Widodo In a further hardening, Widodo on July 21 declared an extreme narcotics emergency situation and instructed police to shoot alleged drug traffickers, especially foreigners. Three foreigners and one Indonesian, purportedly resisting arrest, were shot dead last month. If they resist arrest, just gun them down, show no mercy, Widodo said, drawing comparisons with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, whose bloody drug war has left over 7000 drug suspects dead amid extrajudicial killings. Analysis released last week by a senior lecturer from the Asia Institute at Melbourne University, Dave McRae, shows 57 drug suspects have been shot dead in Indonesia in the first seven months of this year. While McRae cites just 14 deaths last year, Imparsial, the Indonesian Human Rights Monitor, told SBS police had killed many more up to 40 drug suspects reportedly resisting arrest, noting an increase since Duterte came to power. Duterte has also cemented record-high approval ratings and is seeking to impose capital punishment for drug crimes. The comparisons are unsurprising, says Ricky Gunawan, director of the Community Legal Aid Institute. Both are populist leaders tough on drugs, so its no surprise if they are copying each other. In Indonesia, fatal shootings provide a middle way. Widodo could still exploit the drugs issue while avoiding international opprobrium on executions, Gunawan says. They still treat drugs as a populist issue, not just to maintain popularity but also to show that Jokowi can maintain law and order. The shootings are a middle way while Jokowi is less likely to receive international pressure because the numbers are much lower if compared to Duterte, and they have not been widely reported. But coverage and fears of uncontrolled, summary shootings have increased. Imparsial spokeswoman Evitarossi Budiawan is concerned police, in the permissive climate, will go beyond its remit and violate regulations, such as failing to give suspects fair warning. Jokowis statement is very dangerous because it justifies site shootings. It is intended to deter drug suspects while seeming to cast aside the presumption of innocence. Indonesia is a state of law. Suspects have the right to due process. A ray of hope has emerged in Indonesias new draft criminal code. Offering the prospect for reduced life and death sentences, it is before the parliament. If approved, a new legal framework would facilitate well-behaved prisoners showing rehabilitation and repentance to be granted a 10-year probationary period after 10 years in jail, with no execution. A life sentence or 20 years would be considered in the revision, regarded by rights advocates as the Bali Nine legacy, in deference to Sukumaran and Chans transformation. There is cautious optimism.Its not abolition but its progress, says Haris Azhar, former coordinator of KontraS, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence. The current appetite for executions is small, he thinks, but reform is incremental and there are vested political interests. They (the government) can push the button and start again. I cannot smell anything that they will stop, legally or by moratorium, (it is) just idle. The death penalty is a useful political weapon. Its a way to increase government popularity. According to Andreas Harsono, an Indonesia researcher for Human Rights Watch, that was the turning point. It is very difficult to make a U-turn.Eighteen executions for drug crimes have been racked up in two and a half years compared with 27 between 1999 and 2014.In a further hardening, Widodo on July 21 declared an extreme narcotics emergency situation and instructed police to shoot alleged drug traffickers, especially foreigners. Three foreigners and one Indonesian, purportedly resisting arrest, were shot dead last month.If they resist arrest, just gun them down, show no mercy, Widodo said, drawing comparisons with Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, whose bloody drug war has left over 7000 drug suspects dead amid extrajudicial killings.Analysis released last week by a senior lecturer from the Asia Institute at Melbourne University, Dave McRae, shows 57 drug suspects have been shot dead in Indonesia in the first seven months of this year.While McRae cites just 14 deaths last year, Imparsial, the Indonesian Human Rights Monitor, told SBS police had killed many more up to 40 drug suspects reportedly resisting arrest, noting an increase since Duterte came to power.Duterte has also cemented record-high approval ratings and is seeking to impose capital punishment for drug crimes.The comparisons are unsurprising, says Ricky Gunawan, director of the Community Legal Aid Institute. Both are populist leaders tough on drugs, so its no surprise if they are copying each other.In Indonesia, fatal shootings provide a middle way. Widodo could still exploit the drugs issue while avoiding international opprobrium on executions, Gunawan says.They still treat drugs as a populist issue, not just to maintain popularity but also to show that Jokowi can maintain law and order. The shootings are a middle way while Jokowi is less likely to receive international pressure because the numbers are much lower if compared to Duterte, and they have not been widely reported.But coverage and fears of uncontrolled, summary shootings have increased. Imparsial spokeswoman Evitarossi Budiawan is concerned police, in the permissive climate, will go beyond its remit and violate regulations, such as failing to give suspects fair warning.Jokowis statement is very dangerous because it justifies site shootings. It is intended to deter drug suspects while seeming to cast aside the presumption of innocence. Indonesia is a state of law. Suspects have the right to due process.A ray of hope has emerged in Indonesias new draft criminal code. Offering the prospect for reduced life and death sentences, it is before the parliament. If approved, a new legal framework would facilitate well-behaved prisoners showing rehabilitation and repentance to be granted a 10-year probationary period after 10 years in jail, with no execution. A life sentence or 20 years would be considered in the revision, regarded by rights advocates as the Bali Nine legacy, in deference to Sukumaran and Chans transformation.There is cautious optimism.Its not abolition but its progress, says Haris Azhar, former coordinator of KontraS, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence. The current appetite for executions is small, he thinks, but reform is incremental and there are vested political interests.They (the government) can push the button and start again. I cannot smell anything that they will stop, legally or by moratorium, (it is) just idle. The death penalty is a useful political weapon. Its a way to increase government popularity. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! : sbs.com.au, Deborah Cassrels, August 15, 2017 A prisoner was reportedly hanged at Shirvan Prison on murder charges. 2 prisoners were reportedly hanged at Zanjan Central Prison on drug related charges. According to close sources, the executions in Zanjan were carried out on the morning of Tuesday August 8, and the prisoners have been identified as: Hamza Rahimpour and Abbas Sooghi. "Hamza Rahimpour was arrested and sentenced to death in 2014 on the charge of producing and selling 6 kilograms of crystal meth. Abbas Sooghi was arrested and sentenced to death in 2015 on the charge of four kilograms of opium and heroin," an informed source tells Iran Human Rights. Iran Human Rights had reported on the imminent execution of these prisoners and urged the international community to take action. An official Iranian source announced on Monday August 7 the execution of a prisoner at Zanjan Central Prison on murder charges. This brings the total number of prisoners who were reported as executed in Zanjan Prison last week to three. There are reports of a prisoner who was executed at Shirvan Prison (South Khorasan province) on murder charges. According to close sources, the prisoner's name is Tohid Haghmoradi, 38, imprisoned for 5 years before he was executed. Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the state-run media, have not announced the 2 executions at Zanjan Prison and execution at Shirvan Prison. Man Executed on Murder Charges On the morning of Tuesday August 15, a prisoner was reportedly hanged at Urmia's central prison on murder charges. According to close sources, the prisoner's name is Khaled Amini and he was imprisoned for 5 years before his execution. Khaled and his brother Fattah Amini were arrested together 5 years ago on murder charges. Fattah was reportedly executed at Mahabad Prison on Tuesday July 25. Iranian official sources, including the Judiciary and the state-run media, have not announced these 2 executions. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! : Iran Human Rights, August 16, 2017 Marcellus Williams The Missouri Supreme Court will not stop next week's scheduled execution of Marcellus Williams, it said Tuesday. The court said it will not review the new evidence that Marcellus Williams' attorney submitted Monday, but gave no explanation why. Kent Gipson had argued that said a new test proved Williams' DNA was not found on the knife that was used in the 1998 killing of former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Felicia Gayle in University City. Gipson said he plans to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and will ask Gov. Eric Greitens to intervene, too. He also said he was surprised with the speed in which the high court denied the stay. "Certainly something involving a claim of innocence that is this substantial, you would think they would at least write an opinion or at least a short opinion giving the reasons why they denied it, because that makes it more difficult to take it up to a higher court because they don't know exactly on what basis the ruling was made," Gipson said. Attorney General Josh Hawley's spokeswoman told The Associated Press that his office was confident Williams is guilty based on other evidence. Gov. Eric Greitens spokesman Parker Briden said in a statement that the governor is "in the process of reviewing the case with our legal team." Williams' 1st execution was postponed in January 2015. The 48-year-old is scheduled to be executed on Aug. 22. Department of Corrections spokesman David Owen recently said in an email that the agency is "prepared to carry out the ... execution in accordance to the lethal injection protocol established in 2013." The state uses one drug, the sedative pentobarbital, in executions, and has refused to disclose the supplier. | Report an error, an omission, a typo; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; submit a piece, a comment; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! : stlpublicradio.org, August 16, 2017 By Ivan Ssenabulya Farmers have been urged to take on smart farming if they are to effectively tackle the growing challenges of climate change. Addressing a news conference at the Monitor Publications Limited (MPL)office, ahead of the 7th Seeds of Gold Farm Clinic on Wednesday afternoon, the MPL Managing Director Mr.Tony Glencross has underscored the need for smart farming in Uganda today. He has also re-sounded a call to farmers to always seek technical knowledge on modern farming techniques. The 7th Seeds of Gold Farm Clinic slated for 26th of August at Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute Kabanyoro is organized by MPL in partnership with Heifer International, Uganda Coffee Development Authority, aBi Trust and Post Bank Uganda. The Congressional Budget Office has issued a new report on the projected effects of terminating cost-sharing reduction subsidy payments under the Affordable Care Act, as President Trump has repeatedly threatened to do. These findings are counterintuitive and surprising. CBO found that cutting off these payments would on balance tend to benefit low-income people (especially those nearing retirement age), albeit at considerable cost to taxpayers. Without agreeing or disagreeing with CBOs projections, let me try to explain what it found. First, the background: under the ACA, the federal government provides cost-sharing reduction (CSR) subsidies to sponsors of so-called silver insurance plans, based on the numbers of people enrolled in those plans with incomes between 100 percent and 250 percent of the federal poverty line. People in these income ranges get a higher share of their medical expenses paid by the insurer than the 70 percent average actuarial value received by other silver plan participants. In short, CSRs make silver plan coverage a substantially better value for people in this low-income range. President Obama and the Republican Congress had a protracted tug of war over federal CSR subsidy payments. The ACA authorized them but Congress refused to appropriate funds for them. President Obamas administration argued that the payments were lawful regardless of Congresss refusal to appropriate funds, and the issue is still tied up in the courts. It has been conventional wisdom that these silver plans would be destabilized if insurers were denied CSR subsidies. Although the Trump administration has not acted to stop them, the implication that they could be cut off has been understood to be the means by which the president might fulfill threats to let the ACA implode. Yesterdays CBO report projected the results of terminating CSR subsidy payments. Some parts of their analysis are unlikely to surprise many observers. Other parts might be surprising. The unsurprising part is CBOs expectation that if CSR subsidies are withdrawn, sponsors of silver plans will hike premiums substantially. The surprising part is that CBO found that not only would this generally not hurt low-income participants, it would on balance benefit them especially older Americans below 400 percent of the poverty line. The primary losers, under CBOs analysis, would be federal taxpayers. Add it all up, and terminating the CSR subsidies would paradoxically lead to a substantial increase in progressive income redistribution. The essential reason for this is that rising premiums in silver plans would trigger an increase in tax credits for low-income individuals whose premium-paying responsibilities are limited by the ACA. CBO sees some individuals being made nearly whole by the larger tax credits, with others coming out substantially ahead. It is difficult to explain all this without using specific examples, so some are provided below. All of these are taken directly from the CBO report. The examples here are for 64-year-olds, for whom the financial implications are greater relative to younger individuals. The illustrations provided by CBO are for 2026. CSRs enable Robert to receive higher actuarial value (94 percent) from a silver plan than a gold (80 percent) plan. Roberts tax credit maxes out at $14,850, which leaves him with a net premium cost of $450 for a silver plan but $4,800 for a gold. If the CSR subsidies are cut off, the gross premium costs for a silver plan would rise but his tax credit would rise nearly in tandem with it. As a result, his net premium for a silver plan would rise by only about $4 a month (from $450 to $500), while he would now have the option of making no net premium payments at all for a gold plan that previously would have cost him $4,800. The situation is similar for Jenny, at 175 percent of the poverty line. CBO foresees a gold plan becoming substantially less expensive for this individual than either the silver or gold plan would be under current law. One could argue whether Jenny would be better or worse off. She would have to pay more to stick with her current plan, but she would also have the option of substantially lowering her premium costs while still participating in a strong gold plan. Theres no question but that CBO sees David in the next example as being made substantially better off by a CSR subsidy termination. David would thereafter have the option of paying a lower net price ($2,750) while moving into a plan offering greater actuarial value (up to 80 percent from 73 percent). Thats a clear win for David from multiple angles. Katherine would also come out ahead. Under CBOs projections, she would now have the option of enrolling in a gold plan for a net premium of $6,800, far less than the $11,100 charged under current law, and nearly the same as she would pay under current law for a silver plan of substantially lesser actuarial value. If Robert, Jenny, David, and Katherine would benefit from terminating CSR subsidies, who would be the losers? Under CBO estimates, the answer is straightforward: federal taxpayers. CBO finds that terminating CSR subsidies would add $194 billion to federal deficits over the next ten years. Also of interest is CBOs assessment that, contrary to widespread belief, cutting off CSR subsidy payments would not precipitate a marketplace death spiral. CBO anticipates some disruptions arising from market uncertainty over the next couple of years, but beyond that it says the nongroup insurance market would. . . continue to be stable in most parts of the country. Perhaps the most interesting finding of all is that CBO expects total insurance coverage to somewhat increase over the long term if CSR subsidies are terminated. Specifically, CBO projects that the number of people uninsured will be slightly lower starting in 2020. In sum, CBO expects that cutting off CSR subsidies would have directional effects consistent with the ACA itself that is, increasing total subsidy payments, total federal costs, income redistribution from rich to poor, and the numbers of individuals carrying insurance. These budgetary effects are opposite those of the recently-considered Senate and House bills, which would have reduced federal costs as well as coverage enrollment projections. Partisans who hysterically charged that repealing the ACA equated to sentencing people to death would logically have to say the same thing about continuing CSR subsidies, crazy though that is. I have no idea whether CBO is right. It is interesting, precisely because it is so counterintuitive, that CBO has projected that terminating CSR subsidies would actually lead to the federal government spending more money, providing low-income people with more affordable insurance coverage options, and even increasing insurance enrollment. Charles Blahous is a senior research fellow for the Mercatus Center, a research fellow for the Hoover Institution, and a contributor to e21. He recently served as a public trustee for Social Security and Medicare. Interested in real economic insights? Want to stay ahead of the competition? Each weekday morning, e21 delivers a short email that includes e21 exclusive commentaries and the latest market news and updates from Washington. Sign up for the e21 Morning eBrief. This article was originally published on U.S. News & World Report. President Donald Trump has asked the U.S trade representative to explore whether China has stolen American intellectual property. It's about time that China was taken to task, not just for intellectual property violations, but for making it difficult for American companies to operate within China. America has a competitive advantage and consistently outperforms the world in intellectual property. People seek to imitate America in many ways, including music, software, pharmaceuticals and technology. But in many countries American intellectual property is routinely stolen. Each year, the trade representative publishes a report on global intellectual property theft. In last April's report, Algeria, Argentina, Chile, China, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine and Venezuela were listed as egregious violators and placed on the "Priority Watch List." These same countries were listed in the 2016 report. Another 23 countries are on a "watch list." American intellectual property is stolen in many ways. As well as software piracy, American corporate employees are thrown in prison or harassed in a government shake-down. Companies are hauled into foreign courts and accused of stealing their own patents. Pharmaceuticals are copied without license. Millions of Americans earn their livelihood from creating, protecting and promoting intellectual property. When American intellectual property is stolen, Americans lose. American businesses expect theft in countries around the world, and take it for granted that our government does nothing in response. This emboldens those who steal our property, leading them to increase their piracy. Trump's actions should be a warning to China and other offending nations to obey the rules. In addition to intellectual property theft, China makes business difficult for foreigners in other ways. It blocks the development of American business in China at the same time that it seeks to expand in America. In 2016, Chinese investment in the United States was over $55 billion, according to the China Global Investment Tracker. Major Chinese tech companies such as Alibaba have centers in California and benefit from U.S. capital markets, even as their American counterparts are blocked in China. Fuyao, a Chinese auto glass company, opened a plant in Ohio. But when American companies want to open plants in China, they face obstacles. American automobile companies are required to partner with state-owned Chinese automobile firms in joint ventures in order to produce vehicles in China. Joint ventures in China are further restricted by limiting the maximum percent of ownership to foreign companies to 50, known as the 50:50 rule, as well as requiring foreign companies to share their technology, resulting in intellectual property theft. U.S. credit card companies, such as Visa and American Express, have been trying to enter the Chinese marketplace for approximately 10 years. In 2012, the World Trade Organization ruled in favor of U.S. credit card companies, but China failed to open the credit card market until 2015. Five years after the WTO ruling, U.S. companies have guidelines to receive licenses, but the process will likely take at least two years to complete. New Balance has been tangled up in lawsuits because it translated "New Balance" into a similar word in Chinese, Xin Bai Lun, which was awarded to someone else in the 1990s. Despite having the name New Balance in America since the 1960s, it continues to lose court battles for having used the term "Xin Bai Lun" in a few advertisements. Apple, Michael Jordan and Tesla, have also run into trademark battles in China. American companies are afraid to stand up for themselves because they fear being blocked completely from the lucrative Chinese market. Finally, with Trump's announcement, our government is starting to fight back. Diana Furchtgott-Roth (@FurchtgottRoth) is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and an adjunct professor of economics at George Washington University. Interested in real economic insights? Want to stay ahead of the competition? Each weekday morning, e21 delivers a short email that includes e21 exclusive commentaries and the latest market news and updates from Washington. Sign up for the e21 Morning Ebrief. It seems that President Bashar al-Assads voracious prison network has swallowed and silenced another individual whose peaceful views were an affront to the Syrian regime. Noura Ghazi Safadi,the wife of one of Syrias most renowned advocates for democracy and free expression, Bassel Khartabil Safadi, announced August 1 that she had been informed that her husband was executed in October 2015 days after he was taken to an unknown location from Adra prison. This is a loss for Syria. This is a loss for Palestine. This is my loss, Noura Ghazi Safadi wrote in a Facebook post. Thirty-four years old at the time of his death, Mr. Khartabil was of Syrian and Palestinian descent. A vocal advocate for freedom of expression and access to the internet, Mr. Khartabil was the founder of Aiki Lab in Damascus in 2010, an on-line community of open-source information and programs that brought together engineers and democracy campaigners, and helped make the internet accessible to the Syrian people. After peaceful pro-democratic protests broke out in 2011, initiating the Syrian revolution, Mr. Khartabils work helped keep activists informed and connected. He was arrested in 2012. After his arrest and amid credible rumors of his being tortured, many international human rights monitors, as well as the United Nations, condemned his detention and called for his immediate release. The United States labelled him a prisoner of conscience. But the Assad regime would not release Bassel Khartabil Safadi, any more than the tens of thousands of other innocent civilians they have imprisoned since the uprising began, an imprisonment characterized, as U.S. State Department officials have noted, by suffocating overcrowding, beatings, electrocutions, rapes and, as in his own case, secret executions. In a statement, State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert said the U.S. deplored his execution and extended heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, and loved ones. The United States is outraged, she said, over the repeated acts of brutality, including torture, and extra-judicial executions conducted by the Syrian regime. The Assad regime bears responsibility for the widespread suffering, death and destruction it has inflicted on its own citizens. Every day, courageous individuals work to recover from the devastation the Syrian regime has wrought, and the United States will continue to stand with them as Syrians work towards a negotiated political settlement that brings an end to the conflict. North Korea's bellicose actions have escalated tensions between North Korea and the United States in recent months to levels not experienced since the Korean War. In response, the Trump administration, with the support of the international community, is applying diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and a dismantling of the regimes ballistic-missile programs. "We are replacing the failed policy of 'strategic patience,' which expedited the North Korean threat, with a new policy of strategic accountability," said U.S. Secretary of Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis in a recent opinion editorial. "Our diplomatic approach is shared by many nations supporting our goals, including China, which has dominant economic leverage over Pyongyang," wrote Secretaries Tillerson and Mattis. "If China wishes to play a more active role in securing regional peace and stability. . .it must make the decision to exercise its decisive diplomatic and economic leverage over North Korea," said Tillerson and Mattis. The United States urges all nations to honor their commitments to enforce U.N. Security Council sanctions against North Korea and to increase diplomatic, economic and political pressure on the regime, specifically through the abandonment of trade, which finances the development of ballistic missile and nuclear weapons. While diplomacy is the preferred means of changing North Koreas course of action, it is backed by military options. Any attack will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons will be met with an effective and overwhelming response, wrote Tillerson and Mattis. In the meantime, South Koreas new government is moving forward with the deployment of U.S. Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense against the threat a move the U.S. commends. Chinas Security Council vote was a step in the right direction. But the region and world need and expect China to do more, said Secretaries Tillerson and Mattis. The U.S. is willing to negotiate with Pyongyang. But only if it immediately ceases its provocative threats, nuclear tests, missile launches and other weapons tests. North Korea now faces a choice. Take a new path toward peace, prosperity and international acceptance, or continue further down the dead alley of belligerence, poverty and isolation. The U.S. will aspire and work for the former, and will remain vigilant against the latter. Beachgoers hold the dolphin stranded at Mojacar last week. A dolphin calf stranded on a beach in Mojacar, Almeria, last weekend, died after holidaymakers manhandled it and took photos. The infant mammal was still nursing and was unable to withstand the trauma of being handled by dozens of people, according to Equinac, an NGO for beached sea turtles and cetaceans in the area. The young female had become stranded on a crowded stretch of sand, attracting a mass of fatal attention. The lifeguard was unable to cope as he watched hundreds of people descend on the animal, said Equinacs post on Facebook. One guy was eventually able to get through the crowd and reach the creature, but by then it was too late. We might not have been able to save her, but we would have tried. It seems some people cannot empathize with a creature that is alone and frightened PACMA spokesman Equinac criticized the beachgoers, saying they were obsessed with touching and photographing an animal that is highly vulnerable to stress. It seems a lot of people are incapable of empathizing with a creature that has found itself alone and frightened, is dying from hunger and missing hits mother. Selfishly, the only thing they want to do is touch it and take photos, despite the animals suffering. According to Spains Party Against Animal Abuse (PACMA), cetaceans are particularly susceptible to stress and will soon die if exposed to it, adding that when they become beached it is due to a problem that has prevented them from swimming and they are, in effect, asking not to be returned to the water. By taking photos and touching them, these animals can enter a state of shock, says a PACMA spokesman. English version by Heather Galloway. Taxi drivers in Malaga are awaiting the outcome of a meeting this Wednesday with Felipe Lopez, the head of the public works department in the regional government of Andalusia, to decide whether to continue the strike they began on Sunday, during the city's annual festivities, in protest against the presence of unlicensed vehicles picking up fares. Screen capture from the video showing the attack on Eduardo Martin. atlas The conflict has turned violent, with attacks on drivers and cars operating under passenger transport vehicle (VTC) licenses, which are used by services like Cabify as an alternative to more expensive official taxi licenses. Video footage also captured an attack on Monday against Eduardo Martin, president of Unauto VTC, the largest organization representing VTC drivers in Spain. In a statement yesterday, Martin said he was punched and kicked in the face and that some of the attackers even pursued him to the hospital he went to for treatment. In the statement, he alleged that the taxi drivers tried to silence him by force, and he called the situation of VTC drivers unsustainable in light of the spread of attacks and aggression throughout Spain. He further asserted that the taxi drivers are no longer a minority group, but instead a radical faction that is gaining more and more followers. One Cabify driver alleges that a group of taxi drivers insulted him, threatened to kill him and egged his car The attack on Martin follows others against three Cabify drivers and 15 vehicles in the city, which the company denounced on Sunday. In a report seen by EL PAIS, a Cabify driver alleged that he was pursued by four taxis occupied by several people who insulted and threatened to kill him and then threw eggs at him. To get away, he said he had to run traffic lights and drive onto the sidewalk. By his account, when he was finally forced to stop, his attackers, who he described as senseless, pounded his car and punctured one of his tires. The general director of Cabify in Spain, Mariano Silveyra, insisted on Tuesday that the company will not be leaving Malaga. Demands by taxi drivers at Wednesdays meeting will include a lower ratio of VTC cars to taxis But local taxi drivers accuse Cabify of unfair competition and demanded that it withdraw the 35 additional cars it sent to the city from Madrid to reinforce its operations during the annual summer fair. Awaiting the meeting today, the Unified Association of Taxi Drivers in Malaga (Aumat) decided to continue the strike through Tuesday. Depending on the outcome of that meeting, things may change, Jose Royon, president of Aumat, said. Royon listed some of the demands he will be making at the meeting, which include a ratio of one VTC driver for every 30 taxis, rather than the one for every five as we have now in Malaga. He also wants companies that buy VTC licenses to start using them immediately, rather than sitting on them and speculating, as many currently do. In late 2014, a Spanish court ordered Uber to stop operations in the country after a complaint from a taxi association that came in the wake of numerous protests from the sector. However in mid-2015, the firm returned to Barcelona operating as a food-delivery service known as Uber Eats. In March 2016, Uber made a comeback in the Spanish capital in the form of UberX, which sees users put in touch with professional drivers holding passenger transport vehicle (VTC) licenses, which fall under different regulations from the taxi sector. In May of this year, taxi drivers went on strike again to protest the growing presence of VTC drivers and the use of what they claimed were unfair practices. English version by Henry Hahn. Staff at Barcelona airport direct passengers this week. Quique Garcia (EFE) Spains labor unions have called for 25 days of strikes among members of AENA, the Spanish airports authority, to begin September 15. The announcement comes as security staff at Barcelonas El Prat airport continue their dispute over pay and conditions, while workers at two airports in northwestern Spain have threatened to stage partial stoppages. The countrys three main labor unions, the Workers Commissions, UGT, and USO earlier this week that they would call industrial action by today if AENA did not respond to its demands. AENAs 8,200 employees are calling for pay rises of around 8%, as well as the hiring of around 700 people. Wednesdays move by the labor unions involves first presenting a request for arbitration. If no agreement has been reached within seven days, then labor unions will officially convene a strike with the Labor Ministry. This approach should leave room to reach a solution. Otherwise, 24-hour stoppages will take place on the following dates in September: 15, 17, 22, 24 and 29, with follow ups in October: 1, 6, 11, 15, 27, 30, and 31. There would be stoppages in November: 3 and 5, with further action in December: 1,4,5,7, 8, 10, 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30. The strikes would affect all essential services for the operation of the affected airports. Civil Guard officers have taken over security at Barcelona airport since staff there launched indefinite strike action. Partial walkouts and flight delays in recent weeks have already disrupted holiday travel. English version by Nick Lyne. Baku, Azerbaijan, August 16 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: The United States remains committed to working with the parties of the Armenia-Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh conflict toward a peaceful settlement of the conflict, the OSCE Minsk Group co-chair from the US, Ambassador Richard Hoagland told Trend Aug.16. He noted that the issues relating to the return of territories, return of Azerbaijani refugees and IDPs to their lands, non-use of force and status for Nagorno-Karabakh are all important elements of a comprehensive settlement the parties need to discuss. This is precisely why my fellow co-chairs and I continue to encourage the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia to meet at the earliest possible opportunity and engage in good-faith negotiations on a way forward, he said. I would like to remind that the OSCE co-chairs are mediators and facilitators. We cannot force a final decision; only the leaders of the sides can decide when it is finally time to make an historic decision that will guarantee peace and lead to eventual prosperity for the entire region. During the increased diplomatic activity in the coming weeks and months, the co-chairs will be making a number of statements to reinforce policy and encourage highest-level negotiations, added Hoagland. 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, Aug. 16 Trend: Azerbaijans President Ilham Aliyev has signed an order to award a group of officers and civilian workers of the State Border Service. According to the order, one officer was awarded the Order for Services to the Motherland of the second degree, 11 people received the Medal for Motherland, four persons received the Medal for Bravery, 24 persons were awarded the Medal for Military Services and one person received Taraggi medal. In addition to this, one person was awarded an honorary title of Honoured Teacher, two people were awarded an honorary title of Honoured Doctor, one person received an honorary title of Honoured Civil Servant, one person received an honorary title of Honoured journalist and one person was awarded an honorary title of Honoured Medical Worker. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 16 By Azad Hasanli Trend: Association of Persimmon Producers and Exporters has been created in Azerbaijan, the countrys Economy Ministry said, Aug. 16. According to the ministry, the Association has been created at the initiative of entrepreneurs and with the support of the Economy Ministry. Increasing the production of competitive and export-oriented products, as well as expanding exports are our priority areas. From this point of view, the presidential decree, dated October 5, 2016, for promoting the Made in Azerbaijan brand is playing a special role, said Yusif Abdullayev, vice president of the Azerbaijan Export and Investment Promotion Foundation (AZPROMO). He made the remarks at the event dedicated to the Associations establishment in Goychay district of Azerbaijan. The event, organized with the support of the Economy Ministry, AZPROMO and Executive Power of Goychay district, was attended by almost 50 entrepreneurs involved in the production and export of persimmon. BY SOLOMON ARINAITWE: President Museveni is today expected to defend the controversial Constitutional Amendment Bill 2017 that the government has failed to defend and is now stalled before Parliaments Legal Committee. The NRM Caucus Vice-Chairperson Solomon Silwany confirms that the president has summoned NRM MPs to discuss the controversial bill. Last month government tabled the bill that seeks to amend Article 26 of the Constitution to allow forceful acquisition of private land for infrastructure development but the proposal triggered a backlash from MPs and various stakeholders. Government argues that the proposed law will be the definitive solution to infrastructural projects delayed by wrangling over compensation but MPs, the Uganda Law Society, religious leaders and Buganda Kingdom have warned that it could be a ploy to grab private land. With the Bill facing opposition from even NRM MPs, President Museveni is today expected to make a spirited defence as to why the government should be allowed to take possession of property like land upon depositing the compensation awarded with court in cases of compensation disputes. Baku, Azerbaijan, August 16 By Leman Zeynalova Trend: Currently, ICGB AD, the company engaged in the implementation of the Interconnector Greece-Bulgaria (IGB) project, has an approved grant for co-financing the project in the amount of up to 45 million euros, under the European Energy Program for Recovery, Teodora Georgieva, executive officer at ICGB AD joint venture company, told Trend. "Further, the Project Company is in an ongoing process of application for Structural Funds financing in Bulgaria and Greece, as the targeted additional grant financing to be obtained by both countries respectively is in the amount up to 39 million euros and 12 million euros," said the executive officer. The award of the additional grant financing from the Structural Funds in Bulgaria and Greece is subject to evaluation by the European Commission and the final decision is expected in the first quarter of 2018, she added. Georgieva noted that besides the approved grant financing and the open application for additional grant financing, Bulgarian government has approved, in the adopted budget for 2017, a state guarantee of up to 110 million euros in negotiated borrowing for the ICGB project. She recalled that a state guarantee for the project was first approved in the 2015 state budget in the amount of up to 80 million euros and then in 2016 state budget the amount was increased up to 110 million euros. "Total investment cost of the project is estimated at approximately 240 million euros (excluding the value-added tax) out of which 220 million euros account for capital expenditures. The funds for the project are to be provided by a grant financing, shareholder loan / equity and external loan financing," added Georgieva. IGB is a gas pipeline, which will allow Bulgaria to receive Azerbaijani gas, in particular, the gas produced from Azerbaijan's Shah Deniz 2 gas and condensate field. IGB is expected to be connected to the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) via which gas from the Shah Deniz field will be delivered to the European markets. The initial capacity of IGB will be 3 billion cubic meters of gas. The projects cost is estimated at around 240 million euros. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @Lyaman_Zeyn Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Aug. 16 By Demir Azizov Trend: Uzbekistans Ministry of Foreign Affairs delegation, headed by the Deputy Minister Saidikram Niyazkhodjaev, held talks in Astana with the Kazakh Deputy Foreign Minister Galymzhan Koyshybaev and the Foreign Ministrys Executive Secretary Anarbek Karashev, the Uzbek ministrys press service said, Aug. 16. The sides discussed topical issues related to the development of bilateral cooperation, including the implementation of agreements between the two countries leaders, reached on the results of Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyevs state visit to Kazakhstan in March 2017, said the press service. Meanwhile, the parties discussed the issues related to the construction of Uzbekistans embassy in Astana, as well as the opening of the countrys Consulate General in the current building of the diplomatic mission in Almaty. During the visit, Uzbek delegation toured the international specialized exhibition EXPO-2017 in Kazakhstans capital and became acquainted with Uzbekistans exposition. Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Aug. 16 By Demir Azizov Trend: Uzbekistans President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has signed a decree, according to which biometric passports will be introduced to Uzbek citizens traveling abroad starting from January 1, 2019. Meanwhile, the registration of an authorization sticker for traveling abroad will be canceled on the same date. The decree On the basic measures to improve the procedure for citizens traveling abroad was posted on the website of the Uzbek president, Aug. 16. Currently, citizens of Uzbekistan need to get permission (sticker) for traveling abroad, which is issued every two years. According to the decree, Uzbek citizens (2011 type) current biometric passport is a document proving the identity and citizenship of its owner and is used on the territory of Uzbekistan. Uzbek citizens may travel from the country to the territory of other states, entry to which, according to international agreements, does not require an entry visa, using the biometric passport of 2011 type until January of 2021. To enter countries with a visa regime, Uzbek citizens can use their valid biometric passport before the expiration date of the sticker that permits foreign travel. A new version of regulations on the passport system and the Uzbek citizens traveling abroad procedure will be presented for approval by January 1, 2018. The government is instructed to approve the state standard for Uzbek citizens biometric travel passports of until December 1, 2017. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 15 By Farhad Daneshvar Trend: The US is very unlikely to withdraw from the nuclear deal, but its pressure may deprive Iran from benefits of the accord, a Northeastern University professor says amid a growing war of words between Tehran and Washington. While the two sides continue accusing each other of violating the spirit of Irans nuclear accord, President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday warned that he could walk out of the agreement with world powers within hours if the US keeps on imposing new sanctions. "Most likely, the United States would not withdraw from the agreement, because it is a multilateral agreement and one participant cannot change it," Professor Kamran Dadkhah from Northeastern University, Boston told Trend. "But the Trump administration will try to put as much pressure as it can on Iran. The EU companies will continue to expand trade with Iran and participate in investment in oil fields, car production, etc. But in all these they will be very conservative and Iran would not reach the potential benefits as were foreseen at the time of concluding the agreement," he forecast. Saying that obstacles in the way of the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA, aka nuclear deal) are quite complicated, Dadkhah added the future course of events depends on the interaction of international players, including Russia and China, as the accord is seen from different angels by different participants. The Iranian economy has many untapped potentials and Europeans hope to benefit from joint activities. Some American companies also share the same view. Hence, many business delegations have traveled to Iran and some have reached agreements with the Iranian government. The professor believes that a view held by some in the US, Saudi Arabia, and Israel and announced by President Donald Trump stands in the way of such smooth transition. "According to this view, the Rouhani government is playing the same game that North Korea played during [Bill] Clinton administration. They pretend that due to sanctions Iran has given up its nuclear ambitions for economic benefits. But then why a country that spent billions of dollars on its atomic project is just tossing it away? Why is Iran building missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons?" The US has imposed sanctions on the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) and its subsidiary companies in a bid to counter the alleged Iranian strategy. "Such sanctions scare European and American companies because a violation would result in heavy fines," the expert suggests. "The future trend in the behavior of the EU and European companies depends on which of the two arguments and actions gain more force. That to a great extent depends on the behavior of the Iranian government," Dadkhah concluded. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 16 By Farhad Daneshvar Trend: While Iran and the United States continue to accuse each other of violating the spirit of the 2015 nuclear deal, a UK-based researcher suggests that Washington attempts to change the accords terms in its favor. Responding to President Donald Trumps recent remarks accusing Iran of failing to live up to the spirit of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA aka nuclear deal), his Iranian counterpart, Hassan Rouhani, on Tuesday, has warned that Tehran could walk out of the agreement with world powers within hours, if the White House continues to impose new sanctions. JCPOA is not a mutually agreed deal between Tehran and Washington, which Mr. Trump can dismantle. It is a multilateral agreement within the framework of the UN Security Council resolutions, Ali Pishro, doctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham, told Trend. The United States knows that it does not have the possibility of converging with its allies, but the US is making efforts to change the terms of the JCPOA agreement in its favor by increasing pressure on Iran, he added. The new administration of the United States must comply with its obligations under the JCPOA, the researcher suggested. Responding to the question of likelihood on adaptation of new resolutions against the Islamic Republic over its missiles program by the UN Security Council, Pishro said that there is no chance of reaching a consensus in the Security Council against Tehran due to the lack of coordination, as well as existing conflict of interests between the P5 +1 members. Russia has opposed the United Nations Security Council meeting on Iran's missile program, announcing that Iran's missile program is not related to the use of nuclear weapons. Russian officials believe Iran's missile tests do not violate the UN resolution, he said. The resolution 2231 states that, the United Nations Security Council requests Iran to refrain from activity related to nuclear-capable missiles. From the legal point of view, this is not obligatory literature and has a deliberative tone, Pishro believes so. Earlier on July 27, the Iranian state media reported that the country successfully tested a rocket that could deliver satellites to the Earths orbit. Following the rocket launch, the US claimed that the test was a breach of the UN Security Council resolution because of its potential use in ballistic missile development. The world, and especially the United States, is not prepared for a new war, and Iran is striving to gain more concessions under these conditions, he concluded. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 16 By Farhad Daneshvar Trend: Chief of Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Major General Mohammad Baqeri has met with the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara, IRNA news agency reported. According to the report, the Wednesday meetings agenda included discussion of the latest regional developments, terrorism as well as cooperation between the two countries regarding the border issues. Earlier during the day, Major General Mohammad Baqeri had conferred with the Turkish Defence Minister Nurettin Canikli. Report further added that, Baqeri is also expected to visit Istanbul on August 17. Major General Mohammad Baqeri arrived in Turkey on August 15, for a three-day official visit, in the frame of which meetings with the countrys high-ranking officials were planned. Tehran, Iran, Aug 16 By Mehdi Sepahvand - Trend: Saudi Arabias recent conciliatory approach to Iran is not expected to bring much real change to the existing situation between the two countries, a political commentator told Trend, Aug 16. Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salmans close ties with Tel Aviv, as well as the current plight brought on by the Trump administration, exhaust the hopes that his recent push toward Iran will be much effective, Mahdi Motehhernyaa said. Recently, Iraqi Interior Minister Qasim al-Araji visiting Iran said that bin Salman had officially asked him to mediate between Tehran and Riyadh. One day earlier, Iranian media outlets reported on the reopening of the Hajj Office of Ayatollah Khamenei, the leader of the Islamic Revolution, in Saudi Arabia, which was considered as a move by Riyadh to bury hatchets with Tehran. Furthermore, Irans Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and his Saudi counterpart Adel al-Jubeir shook hands on Aug 2 in Istanbul, at the extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) dedicated to the recent tensions in the occupied city of al-Quds. That handshake, on the background of nonexistent diplomatic relations between the two regional powers for a couple of years, rapidly went viral. Political expert noted, however, that President Hassan Rouhanis pragmatic-realistic approach to the foreign policy, free of ideological preferences of his predecessors, is giving Iran a better chance of global acceptance. He went on to note, nonetheless, that Iran and Saudi Arabia, as significant regional powers, would greatly benefit from the adoption of a detente (the easing of strained relations) policy toward each other, especially regarding the fact that their disagreements and rivalries find much deeper meanings and consequences, negatively affecting regions geopolitical equations. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 16 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Holding a referendum on independence in Iraqs Kurdish Autonomous Region threatens the country with a split, which can lead to disastrous consequences in the region, Cahit Tuz, vice-president of the Sarkiyat research center in Turkey, told Trend, Aug. 16. He noted that today, not only Iraq, but also some other countries of the region are facing the threat of secession. The countries of the region should decide what their priorities are, and the preservation of sovereignty should be such priority, Cahit Tuz said. According to the expert, holding the independence referendum is an erroneous decision. This referendum is also a threat to stability in the region, he said. It should be noted that the referendum on independence will be held on September 25. Earlier, Masoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, had said that opposition to the referendum would be met with a bloody war. Preparations for the referendum have been completed, he noted. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that the Kurdish administration of Iraq will regretful of holding an independence referendum. Iraqs integrity is a priority for Turkey, noted Erdogan, adding that a referendum on independence of the Kurdish autonomy means the beginning of Iraqs disintegration. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 16 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: A referendum on the independence of Iraqs Kurdish Autonomous Region will lead to a chaos there, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said, the countrys media reported Aug. 16. Al-Abadi noted that a referendum means changing the state border of Iraq, and this is inadmissible for the country. A referendum on the independence of Erbil cannot be held unilaterally, he said. Iraqs Kurdish Autonomous Region will hold an independence referendum on September 25. Earlier, Masoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in northern Iraq, had warned that opposition to the referendum would be met with a bloody war. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had said that the Kurdish administration of Iraq will regret if it holds an independence referendum. Iraqs integrity is a priority for Turkey, noted Erdogan, adding that a referendum on independence of the Kurdish autonomy means the beginning of Iraqs disintegration. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday called for confronting racism and xenophobia after the weekend violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, Sputnik reported. On Tuesday, UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan Haq said that the United Nations condemned racism and discrimination in connection with the violence in Charlottesville. "Racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism & Islamophobia are poisoning our societies. We must stand up against them. Every time. Everywhere," Guterres said on Twitter. On Saturday, white nationalists held a "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia to protest authorities' plans to remove a monument of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a city park. The rally subsequently led to clashes and culminated in the car ramming attack that killed one person and injured 19 others. In addition, two police officers died en route to the scene of the violence when their helicopter crashed. US President Donald Trump condemned Saturday the violence at the Charlottesville rally, stating that the events were a "display of hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides." Two days later, Trump directly condemned neo-Nazis and white supremacists for the outbreak of violence. At least five people were killed and 10 others missing in a landslide triggered by cloudburst in northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, officials said Tuesday, Xinhua reported. The landslide hit Malpa and Mangti areas in Pithoragarh district, 473 km east of Dehradun, the capital city of Uttarakhand. According to officials, the landslide hit the area Monday and smothered an army base camp. "Five bodies including a woman have been recovered from the debris and 10 other people are reported missing," an official said. "The missing include six Indian army troopers including a junior commissioned officer (JCO) and four locals." Reports said five persons including one JCO and three troopers, besides a local, were rescued in injured condition. India's official broadcaster All India Radio (AIR) Tuesday said flash floods perished 24 mules and 16 goats and washed away four shops and two army vehicles. The local government deployed a helicopter and rescuers to carry out work in the affected area. On Sunday rescue workers retrieved 46 bodies from the debris of landslide which buried two buses, two cars and a motorbike, besides caving in part of Pathankot-Mandi road in Himachal Pradesh. Landslides are often triggered from India's mountains areas during frequent rains. The United States is requesting key nations in South America to join an international effort to isolate North Korea in an attempt to halt the nation's development of nuclear-tipped missiles, Pence said in a speech following a meeting with Chile President Michelle Bachalet on Wednesday, Sputnik reported. "The United States places great importance on the ongoing isolation of the Kim [Jong Un] regime and we strongly urged Chile today, and we urge Brazil, Mexico and Peru to break all diplomatic and commercial ties to North Korea," Pence said in the Chilean capital of Santiago. The tensions between Washington and Pyongyang got to the critical point after UN Security Council had passed new sanctions against North Korea, the harshest to the date. The sanctions could cut the nations annual export revenue by $1 billion, or an estimated one-third of its annual foreign exchange earnings. US President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang earlier in July of "fire and fury" if it doesn't stop its provocations. North Korea then said it was considering a missile attack near the US Pacific territory of Guam. However, after weeks of posturing, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has pulled back on his threat to test fire ballistic missiles off the coast of Guam. The situation on the Korean Peninsula has become aggravated in recent months due to a series of missile launches and nuclear tests conducted by Pyongyang, all of which are claimed to be in violation of UN Security Council resolutions. Turkey shares the grief of the Sierra Leonean people and is prepared to provide extensive support to the victims of a devastating mudslide, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Tuesday. "At this difficult time, we reiterate our strong solidarity with the friendly and brotherly people of Sierra Leone," Cavusoglu said in a statement, Anadolu reported. "Turkey is ready to provide support with all possible means to Sierra Leone." Hundreds of victims were killed Monday and many remained trapped in their homes after the mudslide in the capital, Freetown, according to health and relief agency officials. A hillside in the Regent area collapsed following heavy rains, leaving many houses completely covered in mud. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 16 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Chief of General Staff of Irans Armed Forces Maj. Gen. Mohammad Hossein Bagheri will discuss the settlement of the Syrian crisis, Turkish media reported Aug. 16. The meeting between Erdogan and Bagheri will be held at the presidential palace in Ankara. Bagheri arrived in Ankara on Aug. 15 at the invitation of Chief of the General Staff of Turkish Armed Forces Hulusi Akar. He had a meeting with Akar, and they discussed the settlement of the Syrian conflict and the fight against terrorism. Syria has been suffering from an armed conflict since March 2011, which, according to the United Nations, has claimed more than 500,000 lives. Militants from various armed groups are confronting the Syrian government troops. The Islamic State, the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) and the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) are the most active terrorist groups in Syria. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 16 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Turkey has sent a note of protest to Germany, Turkish media report Aug. 16. According to the report, the reason for the protest is that Germany is providing an asylum to Adil Oksuz who is considered the main coordinator of the last years military coup attempt in Turkey. Oksuz is also one of the members of Fethullah Gulens terrorist organization. Ankara also demanded that the authorities of Germany immediately extradite Oksuz to Turkey. The Turkish authorities accuse Fethullah Gulen of being involved in the military coup attempt of July 15, 2016. On July 15, 2016, Turkish authorities said a military coup attempt took place in the country as a group of servicemen announced about transition of power to them. However, the rebelling servicemen started to surrender July 16 and Turkish authorities said the coup attempt failed. More than 200 people were killed during the attempted coup. Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 16 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: The European Union should decide on Turkeys membership in this organization, said the countrys Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in his interview with the TRT Haber news channel. If the EU wants to stop negotiations with Turkey on its accession to the European Union, then let it state this openly, noted Cavusoglu. Turkey has always stated that negotiations with the EU are one of the priorities for Ankara, but the EU applies double standards regarding Ankara, added the minister. An association agreement between the EU and Turkey was signed in 1963. Ankara filed an application for the EU membership in 1987, but the negotiations on Ankaras accession to the EU started only in 2005. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 16 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: There is an active anti-Turkish propaganda going on in Germany, Turkeys Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in an interview with the TRT Haber news channel. He expressed regret that Islamophobia is also actively promoted in Germany. Cavusoglu said Germany should change its hostile attitude towards Turkey, adding that his country sees no sense in spoiling relations with Germany. If there are any problems in the relations, Germany should sit at the negotiating table and discuss the issue with Turkey, he added. The Turkish FM has earlier said that certain members of Bundestag national parliament of Germany actively support the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Some Bundestag members are trying to remove the PKK from the list of terrorist organizations, the FM noted, adding that their support of the PKK is unacceptable. The conflict between Turkey and PKK, in which the latter demands the creation of an independent Kurdish state, has continued for more than 30 years and has claimed more than 40,000 lives. United Nations and European Union both list PKK as a terrorist organization. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 16 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov will visit Turkey to discuss the Syrian crisis, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu told the TRT Haber news channel on Aug. 16. He did not specify the exact date of Gerasimovs visit. Turkey and Russia actively cooperate on the crisis settlement, according to Cavusoglu. The FM pointed out that, unlike the US, Russia is not arming the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) and the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD). Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has repeatedly stated that in case of a YPG threat to the country's national security, Turkey may start a new military operation in Syria in co-op with the Free Syrian Army. Turkey has been deploying military equipment to the border with Syria since June 21. Military equipment is in Turkeys south-central province of Kilis, which borders Syrian territories controlled by the YPG and PYD. It was earlier reported that Turkey had informed Russia on the possibility of starting a new military operation in Syria. The General Staffs of Turkey and Russia had talks related to the new military operation in Syria. They agreed that if the Turkish Armed Forces start a new military operation in the Syrian city of Afrin, Russian military contingent will have to redeploy to another city. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu Baku, Azerbaijan, Aug. 16 By Rufiz Hafizoglu Trend: Five members of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group were detained in Turkeys northern province of Samsun, the Turkish media reported Aug. 16. According to the report, all detainees are citizens of Turkey and they were planning a terrorist attack in Istanbul. Explosives and firearms were found during searches in the apartments of the detained IS members. The detainees took part in the fights in Syria in the ranks of the IS. Syria has been suffering from an armed conflict since March 2011, which, according to the UN, has claimed more than 500,000 lives. Militants from various armed groups are confronting the Syrian government troops. The Islamic State, the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) and the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) are the most active terrorist groups in Syria. --- Follow the author on Twitter: @rhafizoglu KYODO NEWS - Aug 16, 2017 - 22:23 | Feature, All, Japan A missing giant tortoise nicknamed Aboo was returned to its home on Wednesday, proving a good catch for a boy and his father who profited when a western Japan zoo shelled out a 500,000 yen ($4,500) reward. After being on the run since Aug. 1, the 55-kilogram, 1-meter-long female tortoise was discovered in woods near the Shibukawa Animal Park in Okayama Prefecture. The father and son duo, who live in the city of Okayama, went in search of the runaway reptile after hearing that the zoo was offering cash for its return. Seiichi Tonai, 39, and his 15-year-old son, Akira, started their hunt for Aboo on Wednesday afternoon on a hill just 150 meters from the park. Just 15 minutes into their quest, Seiichi discovered the tortoise and his son quickly informed the zoo. The elder Tonai said he first spotted the tortoise's shell through the undergrowth before noticing it was slowly inching forward. He said he was "glad to see it in good health." Seiichi said he wants to put part of his reward towards feed for Aboo and he will put the rest of the money into his savings. On return to the zoo, the tortoise was found to be unharmed and it proved it by immediately eating a pear and banana. The zoo said the tortoise, estimated to be 30 years old, can survive without food for about a month. The park, which permits some creatures to roam within its confines during opening hours, said it has security camera footage showing the tortoise making a break for freedom through the entrance gate on the morning of Aug. 1. Akira said he cannot believe they found the turtle. "It will be a good memory for me from this summer break," he said. Zoo staff said they did search the area where Tonai and his son found Aboo, but did not find any trace of the refugee. The same tortoise also went missing on July 21 and was later caught on a nearby road. Yoshimi Yamane, a 47-year-old zoo official, pledged the park will now "be stricter in managing its animals." KYODO NEWS - Aug 16, 2017 - 02:06 | World, All Iranian President Hassan Rouhani threatened Tuesday to abandon a landmark nuclear accord with world powers and restart the country's nuclear program if the United States continues to impose new sanctions. "Those who are trying to return back to the language of sanction and threatening are imprisoned in their own past illusions," he said in a speech to parliament. "If they are willing to get back to those experiences, Iran will definitely return to a much more advanced state of the pre-negotiations era in a short time -- it is just (a) matter of hours or days," he said. In July 2015, Iran and six major powers -- Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States -- struck a deal formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action in which Iran pledged to curb activities such as uranium enrichment. However, the U.S. administration of President Donald Trump has been tightening sanctions on Iran, citing the country's ballistic missile program. Rouhani said Washington turned out to be "not a good partner" after ignoring international agreements ranging from the JCPOA to the Paris Agreement on climate change to the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade deal. KYODO NEWS - Aug 15, 2017 - 22:34 | World, All Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday said it is imperative for North Korea and the United States to "put the brakes" on mutually upsetting words and actions, in a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. Wang also said he will "not allow anyone to stir up trouble on China and Russia's doorsteps," according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. They agreed that a peaceful settlement of the North Korean issue must be sought through diplomatic means, according to the ministry. Lavrov was quoted as saying that it is "completely unacceptable to solve (the North Korean) nuclear issue by military means." Their conversation took place as the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea have been exchanging increasingly aggressive rhetoric in recent days. North Korea last week said it is preparing to fire four intermediate-range ballistic missiles over Japan to land in waters in the vicinity of the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. Since the threat to target the island, home to about 7,000 U.S. troops and 160,000 people, was announced, Trump has issued a slew of warnings to North Korea that U.S. armed forces will take action as needed. KYODO NEWS - Aug 16, 2017 - 11:27 | All, World Between Aug. 13 and 17, North Korea held a series of events intended to celebrate the lives and rule of the Kim family. Praise was heaped on the current leader, Kim Jong Un, and the former leaders, his father Kim Jong Il and grandfather Kim Il Sung. The capital, Pyongyang, was decorated to mark the event, and rallies and gatherings were held in the city and elsewhere. The events were advertised with flags and posters around the capital, Pyongyang. The four day celebration was billed as "The 5th International Festival in Praise of the Great Persons of Mt. Paektu." On the first day of the event, high school students marched in Pyongyang to express support for North Korea's statement criticizing U.N. sanctions on the country. North Korean woman gathered in the capital the following day to also express support for the statement. Citizens laid flowers at the statues of the country's late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang on Aug. 14. Soldiers also laid flowers and marched past the statues. On the same day, supporters of North Korea gathered to hold a rally on Mt. Paektu, which lies on the North Korean/Chinese border. Mt. Paektu is claimed to be the birthplace of the second leader of the Kim dynasty, Kim Jong Il, who died in December 2011. Kim Ki Nam (5th from L in front), a vice chairman of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, attended the rally. A gathering called "Praise to the Great Persons of Mt. Paektu," an event to sing the praises of North Korea's ruling Kim family, was held in Pyongyang on Aug. 15. Kim Yong Nam (L), president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of North Korea, made an appearance at the gathering. Kim Jong Suk, chairwoman of North Korea's Committee for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, spoke at the event. Guests included North Korean officials and representatives from elsewhere in the world. Aug. 15 also represented the anniversary of the Korean Peninsula's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, with signboards in the capital reminding people of the day and its events. The three Kims, Kim Il Sung (ca. 1912-1994), Kim Jong Il (ca. 1942-2011) and Kim Jong Un (ca. 1982-), remain omnipresent figures in North Korean society, with images and statues prevelant across the country. More popular galleries: GALLERY: Chinese tourists flock to North Korean border GALLERY: As international tensions mount, life goes on for N. Koreans GALLERY: The school that saved 320 from Japan's March 2011 tsunami - A popular Yoruba actor Mustapha Sholagbade has incurred the wrath of an ex lover - The actor recently married his new US-based lover in a lavish wedding - This angered one of his baby mamas who reigned curses on him on social media A popular Yoruba actor Mustapha Sholagbade has incurred the wrath of an ex lover for marrying another woman in a big wedding. Legit.ng earlier reported the bold move of the actor who married his new US-based lover in a lavish wedding. The wedding which was well attended by family and friends was not a happy news news to the actor's ex lover who wrote a long message, raining curses on him and tagging him a player. READ ALSO: Singer Tiwa Savage spotted smoking Shisha It is unclear which of his ex lovers sent the image shattering message as Mustapha is said to have two baby mamas who gave birth to baby boys for him in the same year. The actor, however, proved that making him a father is not the way to hold him down as he enjoys his new life with his foreign-based wife and in so doing, angers his ex. Mustapha Sholagbade's babymamas, Adewunmi and Juwon. Source: Google The pained ex exposed the actor as a player and gigolo. She accused him of sleeping around and breaking hearts of different women. The unnamed ex also painted him as a leech only attaching himself to rich women for money and favours. READ ALSO: Levels don change: Kcee and E-Money grew up in this "rundown" house She said: "Right from Laspotech, Odunfa, Ebute Meta as a whole. You are a play boy, gigolo, you sleep with girls and date them because of money. You take them home to your mum and she accepts them simply because she loves money than her life and later dump them because you feel they are not up to your taste and level." Mustapha Ololade sholagbade let God judge me if only I am telling lies. You think you can ruin people's life just to have peace and be happy. Its a lie, what goes around comes around. Everybody knows why you married your new American based lover. She made you have a court wedding because she knows You will still look for a fault in her after months of marriage. How old are you with 2 baby mamas. You will reap everything on earth by the special Grace of God. I know you would deny this but let your conscience judge you and remember the day you will be alone in your Grave. Mustapha and his new wife Source: Instagram, Gbera PAY ATTENTION: Read best news on Nigeria's #1 news app Watch Legit.ng video on who cheats more in a relationship between a man and a woman: Source: Legit.ng An Amazon pickup location is seen at the University of California in Berkeley, California, U.S. August 14, 2017. Reuters/Jeffrey Dastin/File Photo Amazons new Instant Pickup feature, which lets you order something on your phone and pick it up from a locker minutes later, may help the e-commerce giant conquer yet another industry in the months and years to come. I wouldnt be surprised if Amazon eventually started offering prescription drugs through Instant Pickup, predicted Cooper Smith, director of Amazon IQ research for digital firm L2. Today, its a can of Coke. Tomorrow, its your medication. Smith says Instant Pickups real targets in the long term arent the 7-11s and Wawas of the world but rather pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS (CVS). In May, CNBC reported that Amazon (AMZN) is getting serious about breaking into pharmaceuticals and plans on hiring a general manager this year to develop and lead a strategy on that front. Obviously, Amazon is long way off from such a scenario if it happens at all but Instant Pickup also signifies another small push for the e-commerce giant as it extends its reach into brick-and-mortar. That foray into physical retail includes much ballyhooed Amazon Go store, which employs a new kind of No checkout technology so people can just pick up what they want and go, is still in the experimental phase. The lone Seattle store is only open to Amazon employees at the moment. The company also just opened its seventh physical bookstore this May in New York City and, of course, announced that its buying the brick-and-mortar organic foods giant Whole Foods (WFM). Still, Amazon has a long way to go compared to some of competitors that have managed to integrate online and retail shopping. An interconnected retail strategy Home Depot (HD), for instance, offers a seamless interconnected retail strategy called Buy Online, Ship to Store (BOSS), which lets shoppers pick from over 300,000 items online more than 10 times the number of products in your average Home Depot location and pick them up at their nearby store. Its a compelling shopping experience that Best Buy (BBY) also offers. Story continues Of course, depending on what shoppers want, theres also something to be said about shopping in an actual physical retail store. If its a 4K TV, shoppers may seek out the advice of a Best Buy employee to help them make their purchase. People no longer go to stores for products per se, explained Scott Galloway, professor of marketing at NYUs Stern School of Business. They go to stores for people. They can find the same product online for less. What they need is when they need one expertise, someone to get them the right product faster and get them on the way home. Amazon may very well be on its way to offering the kind of in-store experience that consumers crave, but its certainly not there yet. For now, it will have to be content with dominating e-commerce. JP Mangalindan is a senior correspondent for Yahoo Finance covering the intersection of tech and business. Email story tips and musings to jpm@oath.com. Follow him on Twitter or Facebook. More from JP: north korea icbm The CIA has assessed that North Korea's Hwasong-14, the intercontinental ballistic missile tested twice in July, has the capability to reach the US with a nuclear payload, according to The Diplomat's Ankit Panda. Though the reentry vehicle, or the tip of the warhead that carries the nuclear device and plunges back down to earth at many times the speed of sound, disintegrated upon nearing the earth's surface, the CIA says that's only because it used a lofted trajectory, according to The Diplomat. Basically, North Korea wanted to demonstrate the intercontinental reach of the Hwasong-14, but could not safely do so by firing it at another country. If the US saw a North Korean ICBM heading its way, it may choose to respond with a nuclear counterattack. So instead, North Korea shot the missile nearly straight up in the air, and the missile landed just a few hundred miles away in the ocean near Japan. The CIA assessment says the reentry vehicle would have survived on a normal trajectory, and only broke up because of the extreme angle. The CIA report comes after other US intelligence assessments said North Korea can miniaturize nuclear warheads to fit them on ballistic missiles, meaning that US now maintains that Kim Jong-un has fully developed the capability to strike the US mainland. While the question remain about whether North Korea can accurately guide a missile to a target, much of the US's west coast is so populous that any detonation there would be devastating. NOW WATCH: This is the helicopter that will replace Marine One More From Business Insider DirecTV is on trial in federal court for allegedly deceiving its customers about the cost of their satellite subscriptions, and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission wants the company to cough up $3.95 billion in restitution. The trial kicked off Monday with opening arguments in U.S. District Court in Oakland, California, and is scheduled to last 20 days. FTC lawyer Jacob A. Snow said between 20072015, DirecTV signed up 33 consumers who had been duped by print ads that didnt clearly disclose that rates would climb after three months, then after a year, and that the company would charge an early cancellation fee. Snow also argued that the satellite television provider also buried those terms in fine print on its website. DirecTV made $3.95 billion as a result of those deceptive practices, he said, according to Law360. Related Link: AT&Ts DirecTV Now Revolution Begins DirecTVs Marketing Violated FTC Rules, Prosecutor Says "That's a lot of money, but it is because DirecTV's conduct affected a lot of people, Snow told U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr., who is hearing the case without a jury and will render the final decision. DirecTV lawyer Jeff Tillotson said that the FTCs restitution estimate is absurd. He argued that DirecTV clearly discloses the price increases in multiple places on its website throughout the purchasing process, and the FTC. The FTC sued against DirecTV, which since then was acquired by AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) in March 2015, alleging that DirecTVs marketing campaign for its two-year contract violated the FTC rules by not clearly disclosing its terms. ________ Image Credit: By Dwight Burdette (Own work) [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons See more from Benzinga 2017 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved. Richard Trumka Richard Trumka, the president of the AFL-CIO, said in a statement he is leaving President Donald Trump's manufacturing council due to the president's response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend. The AFL-CIO is the largest collection of labor unions in the US with more than 12 million members. "We cannot sit on a council for a President who tolerates bigotry and domestic terrorism," Trumka said in a statement. "President Trumps remarks today repudiate his forced remarks yesterday about the KKK and neo-Nazis. We must resign on behalf of Americas working people, who reject all notions of legitimacy of these bigoted groups." After coming under fire for not condemning white nationalists and neo-Nazis in Charlottesville on Saturday and only doing so after public pressure on Monday he then blamed what he termed "alt-left" counter-protestors for the violence during a press conference on Tuesday. Trumka becomes the fifth member of the manufacturing council to depart following Charlottesville following Merck CEO Kenneth Frazier, Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, and President of the Alliance for American Manufacturing Scott Paul. Trumka and the AFL-CIO previously said on Monday night that they were "reassessing" their involvement in the council. Former AFL-CIO deputy chief of staff Thea Lee is also leaving the council, she left the AFL-CIO a few months ago. Here is Trumka's full statement: "We cannot sit on a council for a President who tolerates bigotry and domestic terrorism. President Trumps remarks today repudiate his forced remarks yesterday about the KKK and neo-Nazis. We must resign on behalf of Americas working people, who reject all notions of legitimacy of these bigoted groups. Its clear that President Trumps Manufacturing Council was never an effective means for delivering real policy that lifts working families and his remarks today were the last straw. We joined this council with the intent to be a voice for working people and real hope that it would result in positive economic policy, but it has become yet another broken promise on the Presidents record. From hollow councils to bad policy and embracing bigotry, the actions of this administration have consistently failed working people." Story continues NOW WATCH: Wells Fargo Funds equity chief: Companies were being rendered obsolete long before Amazon emerged More From Business Insider Howard Schultz speaking at company forum on Aug 16. Courtesy of Starbucks Starbucks (SBUX) Chairman Howard Schultz on Wednesday held an internal meeting for employees in the wake of the weekends white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. I come to you as an American, as a Jew, as a parent, as a grandparent, as an almost 40-year partner of a company I love so dearly, Schultz said to employees. I come to you with profound, profound concern about the lack of character, morality, humanity and what this might mean for young children and young generations that are growing up at a time that we are imprinting them with behaviors and conduct that are beneath the United States of America. Schultz did refrain, however, from directly critiquing the President. Im not here today to specifically criticize or blame the President, Ill leave that to the media, to the bloggers. Ill let what he has done speak for itself. I think this meeting is for us, he said to employees. Schultz told the packed room of employees that an event like Charlottesville is a character test for our political leaders and government and that the need for moral courage and leadership has never been greater, according to spokesperson Linda Mills. I can assure you, as we always have, as a company, as an organization, that our culture and values and guiding principles will hold true, Schultz told employees. We will stand tall, and will be respectful of what the green apron represents. We need the belief and the faith in the country and the American people. It is hard in the midst of such a storm to maintain an optimistic view. I raise my hand, and I say I am optimistic about our country and the true promise of America. Mills explained that Schultz wanted to spend time talking to employees mostly to create a sense of community, hearing their own stories about racism and their view on the state of our country today. He spoke to our partners (employees) to reassure them of the moral fabric and resilience of America. But, mostly to create a sense of community where we all can come together in a safe and loving environment to share and try and heal from the ugliness and vitriol of the images from Charlottesville and the aftermath, Mills said, explaining that the meeting lasted about 90 minutes. Story continues This meeting follows Schultzs voicing his concerns about the direction of the country earlier this year. Starbucks has held Open Forums throughout the companys history at various important times, and today is one of those days, Mills said, adding that the company had a discussion about race after the unrest in Ferguson, Oakland and NYC. Schultz, who stepped down as CEO of Starbucks earlier this year, has been outspoken on a number of social issues over the years, including supporting same-sex marriage, advocating for tougher gun control regulation and addressing race issues. He told Yahoo Finance that he believes an emotional connection with the consumer about higher values also helps business. I think the currency that matters most is your values and the trust with the consumer, Schultz said. And I think thats what weve tried to do. If you look at all the things weve done around social impact. On Wednesday, President Trumps CEO councils were shut down after a slew of CEOs quit, distancing themselves from the President after his widely-criticized response to the events in Charlottesville. Nicole Sinclair is markets correspondent at Yahoo Finance Please also see: Why CEOs should stand up to Trump Why so many CEOs have been silent about Trumps handling of Charlottesville Robert Shiller and Jeremy Siegel tell us what they think of each others market forecasts Jeremy Siegel and Robert Shiller tell us whats next for the economy "Tainted" alcohol in Mexico allegedly killed a 20-year-old tourist and it's more common than you think. Authorities in Mexico have seized 10,000 gallons of potentially tainted alcohol from a seedy manufacturer and temporarily shut down two unsanitary serving locations in Cancun and Playa del Carmen,according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Of the 31 clubs, resorts, and restaurants in the areas searched by the Mexican government, one was a bar in the complex where 20-year-old Abbey Conner, from Wisconsin, drowned after drinking. Conner had been vacationing with her family at the Paraiso del Mar hotel near Playa del Carmen in January when, according to the Sentinel, she and her brother Austin visited a swim-up bar at the hotel. Both siblings were found floating in the pool hours later Austin suffered only a concussion and memory loss, however. abbey conner facebook Other vacationers at the resort also told the Sentinel they had experienced similar troubling occurrences after drinking at several of its bars some blacked out; others said they were assaulted. An attorney hired by Conner's family reported "low quality" alcohol being served at the bar. The incident does not appear to be an isolated one. drinking alcohol shots toast According to a 2017 report by Euromonitor International, as much as a third of the alcohol consumed in Mexico is illicit; another report found that several other South American countries suffer from the illegal alcohol trade as well including Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, and Peru. The booze can be made anywhere and include virtually anything. In addition to shady producers making illicit booze and selling it without any labels, manufacturers may also sell illegal alcohol under legal brand names and refill legal products with cheaper alcohol, according to the report. Other times, establishments have been found to serve alcohol not intended for human consumption such as the alcohol found in pharmaceutical alcohol, mouthwash, or perfumes and colognes. Story continues In addition to potentially poisonous booze, the Mexican government also found unclean conditions at nineteen of the locations they searched. The lobby bar at the complex where Conner drowned was found to have water leakage, a lack of disinfectant, plus alcohol that was expired and unlabeled. More From Business Insider kevin plank Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank resigned from President Trump's manufacturing council Monday amid growing scrutiny over Trump's response to the violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. In announcing his resignation, Plank said Under Armour "engages in innovation and sports, not politics." The sportswear company is now facing an onslaught of boycott threats from Trump supporters. But one analyst says resigning was the right move for Plank. "It was necessary; it was something he had to do," Sam Poser, an analyst for Susquehanna International Group, told Business Insider. "It's a good thing to see." Plank sparked boycott threats from the opposite side of the political spectrum this year after he called Trump "a real asset for the country" in an interview that turned the company into a political lightning rod. In the aftermath of those comments, Poser downgraded Under Armour and said Plank's praise for Trump made it "nearly impossible to effectively build a cool urban lifestyle brand in the foreseeable future." Plank later clarified his political beliefs in an open letter published in the Baltimore Sun, though he made no mention of Trump. "We are always mindful of the responsibility that we have to those who choose our brand, especially the young people who represent the bold and bright future of a diverse and inclusive America..." Plank said. "In a time of division, we aspire to be a force of unity, growth, and optimism for our city and our country." Plank's decision to resign from Trump's council further reinforces the statements he made in the letter and in the long term it's the right move for the company, Poser said. "Keeping politics out of it is the best thing he could do," he said. But for the time being, the company is still in hot water now with Trump's supporters, instead of his critics. Story continues Here's what people are saying on Facebook about his decision. NOW WATCH: 'Racism is evil': Trump condemns white supremacist groups after deadly protests in Charlottesville More From Business Insider Kabul has rejected Moscows call for the withdrawal of U.S. troops amid a debate in Washington over its future commitments to Afghanistan. Afghan presidential spokesman Najibullah Azad said he opposes the call by Russian presidential envoy Zamir Kabulov for the withdrawal of U.S. forces after Kabulov claimed their 16-year campaign had come to nothing. The U.S. military presence in Afghanistan has an important role in the fight against terrorism in the region, Azad told Radio Free Afghanistan on August 15. They are here because of our bilateral security agreement and in line with international law to help the Afghan forces. Kabulov, a seasoned Russian diplomat, has been involved with Afghanistan for decades. He told Russias Izvestia daily that Moscow was not opposed to a U.S. military presence there but is now calling for its withdrawal. The American campaign in Afghanistan has failed, he was quoted as saying by the Kremlin-funded RT television channel. Afghanistan risks becoming a global incubator of international terrorism. It has, in fact, already partially grown to become it. Azad, however, termed such demands as brazen interference in Afghan affairs. He called on Moscow to clearly spell out its demands. Russia needs to specify the concerns it has over the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan, he said. The Kremlin appeared supportive of U.S. efforts in Afghanistan until a few years ago, when Russian President Vladimir Putin praised it for taking on the burden of fighting terrorism. But, in recent years, Moscow has gradually extended its opposition and competition with Washington to Afghanistan. In addition to directly reaching out to the Afghan Taliban, Moscow has attempted to work with an array of Afghan power brokers and regional states including Iran and Pakistan. Afghan officials frequently accuse the two of supporting the Taliban. In an interview late last year, Kabulov outlined his countrys threat perception from the U.S. military presence in Afghanistan by questioning its scope. In Turkey, they have only one base. [But] in Afghanistan, they have the right to use nine big military bases plus almost 10 more, he told Turkeys Anadolu news agency. Why? If we did something like that in Mexico, would it not be disturbing for America? Afghan security officials, however, disagree. General Daud Amin, a senior Interior Ministry official, says a rapid withdrawal of U.S. forces would be disastrous for his country. It will precipitate a new war in Afghanistan, which will see Russia directly interfering here to protect its interests, he said.